Archive for May, 2008

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Sterogum Presents…Enjoyed: A Tribute To Björk Post

May 30, 2008

Came across this in the tag surfer and looks interesting…

Sterogum Presents…Enjoyed: A Tribute To Björk

The link to listen/dowload for free and the blurb from Sterogum:

Welcome

After completing and launching Drive XV, our tribute to R.E.M.’s Automatic For The People, we gathered at 11th St Bar one night to figure out which album we should tackle next. OKX, our inaugural step into the compilation world, had been a no-brainer: 2007 was OK Computer‘s 10th Anniversary, and we wanted to honor the milestone. This time, though, when we started off thinking of possibilities based on release dates — Drive XV was celebrating 15 years of Automatic after all — nothing seemed quite right. (We’ve already discussed our decision not to go with the recently 10-year-old In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, for instance.)

After discarding our release-date almanac, someone suggested Björk. It was late, and we don’t remember who said what, but it was a great idea. Debut, her first post-Sugarcubes album came out in 1993, which could count for a nice and even 15 years in 2008, but Post was the obvious choice: It’s a stronger album top to bottom — a culmination of her work to that point. It includes any number of iconic tracks and due to the richness and variety of Björk’s self-described “spastic” palette, an infinite number of interpretive possibilities. Think, for example, of “It’s Oh So Quiet,” Björk’s big-band cover of Betty Hutton’s “Blow a Fuse,” the almost industrial noise of “Army Of Me,” the wispy, avant ambiance of “Cover Me,” etc. When we spoke with Björk about her thoughts on Post, our choice seemed even more appropriate.

I listened to it when we did the surround mixes of it like two or three years ago [Note: Post was re-released in 2006 with surround sound mixes] and I have to say I was kinda surprised how the odd spastic thing of the album had actually aged well. I was very aware of it at the time that I needed to be musically promiscuous and have almost every song [a] different mood/style and so on. The picture on the cover is me on Piccadilly Circus (Times Square of London) too excited, too many things, Bright Lights Big City kinda thing, and me eager to consume. So my musical heart was scattered at the time and I wanted the album to show that.

We also asked the contributors for their thoughts on Post. Accordingly, each track has its own page with the artist’s statement, as well as a dedicated comment section, so please click around.

Completing Enjoyed took a number of hands and plenty of elbow grease. We are deeply thankful to Björk for taking time out of her tour to answer our questions and offering commentary. Þakka þér kærlega, Björk! We’d also like to thank to Scott Hansen for his gorgeous album art, Phillip Klum for the absolutely amazing job mastering the project, the video team of Jon McMillan/Matt Neatock/Raphael Rodriguez/Shea Hess for shooting the band interviews, everyone at Sacks & Co., and Haukur S. Magnússon for help with our Icelandic. Finally, a major major thank you to all the bands for their participation — folks juggled hectic tour and personal schedules and managed to get us amazing interpretations of Björk’s originals. All is much appreciated.

As you may have noticed, this is our first compilation without Roman Numerals in the the title: We took the name from track “Enjoy.” Of course, we also get the possible plays on “Post.” We are bloggers, after all.

Enjoyed Cover

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Obscure Sound

May 30, 2008

As a blogger with not much time and fairly un-eloquent language when describing music/gigs, I love when I come across music blogs that are well written and have some excellent music content.

To go along with the already great sites of Nialler9 and GraveyardshiftShane I have recently come across another two Irish bloggers who have some great posts about music and gigs. So head on over to No Ordinary Fool and Hardcore For Nerds when you have a few minutes!

They really do have great content but the best new find over the last couple of months is from a post on Captain Obvious’s page:

Obscure Sound is simply a superb site and while I recognize a few of the groups there is such a plethora of new artists that I feel like I have overdosed over the last couple of days! Even a few pages into his archive and there are at least 8 groups that I will just have to get the album- I am nearly afraid to go back any further in case I am found asleep on the keyboard from pure exhaustion and the Obscure Sound banner branded into the monitor for eternity!  So if you have the time head on over to him but be warned that you will be there for more than just a few minutes.

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New Sigur Rós Album, Free mp3 and Video

May 27, 2008

Great news from Sigur Ros-good luck in trying to pronounce the name of their new album though!

Nicked from their MySpace bulletin:

Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust

album cover

Sigur Rós
If you can not read this newsletter, please click here to view.

Sigur Rós will be releasing their new album worldwide the week of June 23. It is called Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust.

You can download the first track “Gobbledigook” and watch the video right now on SigurRos. com.

This is the official announcement sent out by the record labels today…

Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
(English spelling: Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust)

Sigur Rós will be releasing their fifth album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (English translation: with a buzz in our ears we play endlessly), worldwide the week of June 23.
The first track from the album, entitled “Gobbledigook,” is available worldwide for free download via SigurRos. com.
The video for the song is also on the website.

A pre-sale for the album will begin on SigurRos. com on June 2. A special deluxe edition of the album to be released later in the year — featuring a “Making Of… ” book, a film and more — will also be available to pre-order on the band’s website as of June 2.
A stream of Með suð í eyrum… will be available to hear on SigurRos. com on June 9. Lastly, a plethora of Sigur Rós goodies — exclusive clips, information on tickets for upcoming shows throughout the year, etc.
— will be available to those who sign up for the mailing list on SigurRos. com.

Með suð í eyrum… was co-produced with the band by renowned producer Flood, and was recorded in New York City (at Sear Sound Studios), London (at Assault and Battery Studios and Abbey Road), Reykjavík (at Álafoss, the band’s studio, as well as a church in Reykjavík), and Havana, Cuba. Whereas Sigur Rós’ last release — the critically-acclaimed documentary Heima, chronicling their free tour throughout Iceland — took the band to their homeland, their newest creation, Með suð í eyrum… is the first album in the band’s career to be made outside of Iceland. It is also their first album to feature vocalist Jón “Jónsi” Thor Birgisson’s vocals in English on one track (the remainder are sung in Icelandic).

Inspired by the unfettered feeling of the acoustic performances filmed during Heima, Sigur Rós decided to adopt a looser approach in the writing and creation of their brilliant fifth album. The material for the album was written, recorded and mixed entirely in 2008 and is being released just one month after its completion. The album glows with the perfect imperfection of live takes, the sounds of fingers playing guitar strings, cracked notes, and a stark, upfront presence not found in previous Sigur Rós recordings, moving away from reverb-soaked guitar sounds towards something altogether more affecting. The record also contains some of the most joyous music the band has ever recorded.

Opener “Gobbledigook” sets the tone for Með suð í eyrum… with its shifting acoustic guitars, playful vocals, time signature swings and swirling percussion, while “Inní mér syngur vitleysingur” (“Within me a lunatic sings”) sparkles as one of the most anthemic songs Sigur Rós have ever written. “Festival” is epic in its elation and scope, “Illgresi” features one of Jónsi’s finest vocal melodies over a lone acoustic guitar, and “Ára bátur” is the largest musical undertaking in the band’s career, as it was recorded live in one take with the London Sinfonietta and London Oratory Boy’s Choir, a total of 90 people playing at the same time. The band also utilized the talents of their string-quartet friends Amiina, as well as a five-piece brass section on certain tracks, in addition to introducing the Mellotron into their writing/recording process for the first time on this album, highlighted on one of the most tender and beautiful songs on the record, “Fljótavík.

The spirit of Með suð í eyrum… is best captured by the album’s stunning artwork, contributed by acclaimed visual artist Ryan McGinley. McGinley first met the band when he photographed Jónsi six years ago; the album cover was taken from a flyer for McGinley’s most recent exhibit, “I Know Where the Summer Goes,” which happened to find its way into Jónsi’s inbox just as the band was deciding on how to best visually represent their new collection of songs. The result is a perfect synergy of the aural and the visual.

The tracklisting for Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (with a buzz in our ears we play endlessly) is…

1.   Gobbledigook
2.   Inní mér syngur vitleysingur
3.   Góðan daginn
4.   Við spilum endalaust
5.   Festival
6.   Með suð í eyrum
7.   Ára bátur
8.   Illgresi
9.   Fljótavík
10.  Straumnes
11.  All Alright

Sigur Rós will be playing shows all over the globe throughout the summer and fall to preview material from Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, including a special set at this year’s Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.
The tour dates are:

The June tour dates…
6/5/08 Guadalajara, MEX @ Teatro Degollado
6/7/08 Tepoztlan, MEX @ Festival La Colmena
6/8/08 Tijuana, MEX @ Planeta Tijuana
6/11/08 Omaha, NE @ Orpheum Theater
6/12/08 Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater
6/14/08 Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
6/16/08 New York, NY @ Grand Ballroom
6/20/08 Neuhausen ob Eck @ Southside Festival
6/22/08 Scheesel, Bremen @ Hurricane Festival

More worldwide tour dates will be announced soon.

Sigur Rós is: Jón Thor Birgisson (vocals, guitar), Georg Holm (bass), Kjartan Sveinsson (keyboards/piano), Orrí Páll Dýrason (drums).

http://www. sigurros. com
http://www. sigur-ros. co. uk
http://www. myspace. com/sigurros

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Song For Lovers

May 26, 2008

To add to my cheesy love songs posts recently…this one has come back into my head again- from the excellent album A Mouthful from The Do which I had posted about a while back.

The reason why lyrics have been standing out a bit more to me these days is that Wonderful Woman is now Wonderful Girlfriend and well…even I can be susceptible to cheesy lyrics with some sunshine in my life!

So anyway…gushing over and here is the tune!

Song For Lovers

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Cut Copy

May 26, 2008

Came across Cut Copy in the blog surfer yesterday. An Australian group with an 80’s electro pop sound- nothing original with whispers of so many 80’s groups but fairly decent and there are a couple of of toe tapping tracks that would get me up on the dance floor. According to their MySpace site they will be at Electric Picnic so might be worth checking them out there.

Light and Music

Hearts on Fire

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Quick one on Broken Social Scene…

May 21, 2008

Last of the Quick Ones- frantic gig week finally over so might get some time to put up proper posts from now on!

Broken Social Scene

What a brilliant gig! I wasn’t that familiar with all of their music so not too sure what to expect- wow would be an understatement- these guys are simply astounding musicians! It was like reading the Lord of The Rings Trilogy all in one go- long but such a page turner that you are actually disappointed when it ends and want that little bit more. I can see why they keep on coming back to Dublin with the vibe there- they actually seemed reluctant to leave the stage and the crowd would have happily listened to them for another few hours.

There have been other groups over the last week that I have enjoyed more but gig-wise this is probably the most enjoyable so far this year- everything aligned perfectly between the music, banter and downright humour of the band members. They are really just a big family on stage that are so comfortable with each other that it feels like you are a member of it as well; and the ethos that the band has is excellent.

Great to see so many friends at it- couldn’t turn around without bumping into somebody! Look forward to seeming them the next time they are in town…and it seems they never stay away too long!

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That Post-Weekend Feeling…

May 19, 2008

A personal post for once. Quiet around these parts but for a good reason. The gig week is nearly over and didn’t make any of the ones at the weekend since I met up with the previously mentioned Wonderful Woman on Friday and well…she is a quite a Wondrous Woman indeed so the other gigs took a back seat!

Heard a song this morning in a cafe which sums up that post-weekend feeling…Starship’s Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now.  80’s yes and unquestionably cheesy…but for once the lyrics gave me a smile!

Can’t guarantee the quality of the YouTube since I am posting in work…

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Quick one on Battles…

May 16, 2008

Bloody. Brilliant. Gig.

I wasn’t sure if they could live up to their Tripod gig last year but they bloody well did.

Thats not to say that everything was shiny bright and new- its always hard to live up to the first time that you see one of your favourite groups live-especially when the first time was the Tripod gig that was so damn good.  I think it was probably the exact same set list as last time and I think that some tunes were actually better in Tripod- but conversely some were better in Vicar St.  Thought that some of the earlier tunes were just a little by rote but by the end they were really stormin and as always John Stanier was a damn joy to watch. This is the type of gig where it is great being a tall bastard and for once not the nice-gig-guy who stays in the back- was bang in the middle and I am sure there was more than one person cursing me.

Went onto Club Phantasm with the mate Derek & Co afterwards…bring on the caffeine!! Do they have a dialysis machine that you can use with coffee??

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Battles- Vicar St Gig Times

May 15, 2008

For anybody going to Vicar St here are the times the groups will be on….approximate of course and looks like I will be on the Nightlink…will be worth it!

From Toutless:

Mod note: Info from promoter
Limited tickets will be available from the box office from 18:15. (no indication if these are standing or balcony though -Toast)

19.00 DOORS
19.45 – 20.45 CHROME HOOF
20.45 – 21.00 CHANGEOVER
21.00 – 21.45 RED NECK MANIFESTO
21.45 – 22.15 CHANGEOVER
22.15 – 23.30 BATTLES

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Quick One on The National…

May 15, 2008

Bit disappointed…all the elements were there for a great gig but it was only a good gig with the occasional great moment…and indeed only one brilliant one with Squalor Victoria. Sound for the guitars seemed far too loud , the drums muted, and loud again for the horns and occasional strings. Berningers voice sometimes lost in the cacophony but he does have a great voice which still shone through. So all the elements there but just not done to their best.