I'M BAACK (with Coachella highlights and a new Stereolab track)
After a very long and unexpected absence (here and here), c4 is back on the Orphan blog. Did ya miss me!??!?!?!
Of course you did.
Here's what else you missed:
1. In an interview with NME.com David Byrne (of Talking Heads fame) announced that he and Brian Eno have finished a new record which will be released before the end of 2008. He also alluded to the fact that a tour might be in the stars, so keep your ears peeled.
2. Coachella came and went. I didn't go, but from what I've seen so far, the highlights were totally:
Prince covering Radiohead (the video quality is poor, but the sound is the best of the 5 or 6 I found on youtube)
The Verve's performance of 'Bittersweet Symphony.' I can't believe how good it sounds.
If you went to Coachella and would like dispute either of these, feel free to get it all out in a comment.
3. Stereolab will release new material on 4ADat the end of the summer. The new record's called Chemical Chords and I scoured my feeds to find a track for you guys to preview. The scouring was not done in vain. Download a track from Chemical Chords: Stereolab - Three Women
4. Orphan Review contributor, miss Jessica (machinesaysno) has started an L.A. events blog. If you're looking for something to do, look no further. Just click here.
5. And finally, Orphan's own Fascinoma played an absolutely phenomenal set at the Silverlake Lounge last Tuesday. I feel sorry for you if you missed it, and am glad I didn't.
Final note: In the future, Orphan Review updates certainly won't be as few and far between as they have been lately, but make sure you subscribe to The Orphan Review via RSS so you don't miss a single one!
So Pitchfork told me that Andrew Bird is blogging for the New York Times now. What? You don't believe me? Alright, fine, maybe they didn't tell me, like, in person, but I did read it there which is pretty much the same thing. Duh.
ANYWYAYSSSS--
Being famous must be nice because you don't have to start small--you just get invited in to stuff that's already big. I'd probably be pissed if he were blogging ABOUT music for the NY Times, but since he's blogging about writing songs from a musician's point of view, it's totally forgivable. Cause in case you hadn't noticed, I'm pretty incapable of writing about music FOR musicians. In fact, I'm pretty incapable of writing about music for anyone other than people who don't know the first thing about the technical side of music. So it's cool. Bird's no competition.
EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT HIS WRITING IS POSITIVELY GRIPPING! Jeeze man. I totally wasn't interested in how to write a song, but go read his blog guys, seriously, cause remember how I said I wasn't interested? Well I am now. Taste the first paragraph:
In about a week I will load up my car with amplifiers and guitars and drive to Nashville to begin recording my next record. I don’t drive much anymore and I’m glad for that except that I used to write a lot while on the road. Solitude, boredom, and the desperate need to entertain oneself are ideal stimuli for songwriting.
Something made me want to hate this band before I'd heard a single song--maybe it's the name, or the seriously over-produced website I found when I googled them--but the music these guys make just won't let that happen. The Silent Years is a 6 piece band from Detroit with a freaking kazoo, a chihuahua, and a couple songs about being naked and dead. How fucked up is that? Singer Josh Epstein has this voice that I swear I've heard from 20 other bands, but I can't figure out which ones, so for some reason, he ends up sounding pretty unique. I'll be honest--the songs are not particularly outstanding, the lyrics are a little hokey (hokey enough to make me say 'hokey'), and I still don't get the little cartoon animals they put all over everything--but for some reason I feel strangely compelled to listen to this song over and over and over again until it blends into every other sound and becomes indistinguishable on its own. Which I feel is a good thing. Is that weird?
NEW PORTISHEAD SONGS: 3 Tracks/1 Video from ATP 2007
So we weren't lying before, guys. Portishead really does have new stuff, and I'm totally stoked that I'm still on the URB mailing list, otherwise I wouldn't be able to throw it at you guys. That's right--see, my internet is down, like I've mentioned 20 times before, but for some reason I decided to check my email at the internet cafe (this post is costing me like 5 bucks) and found this GEM in my inbox.
To click or not to click? Well, here's the rundown on what you'll find there:
3 live Portishead tracks from All Tomorrow's Parties last weekend 1 live video and some wholly unuseful comments following each.
So if you haven't heard, the Jackson 5 have "discussed" concert dates, and are currently "in the studio." I shudder at the thought that a Jackson 5 reunion tour might be in the works. I mean, seriously, The Jackson 5 was a really cute idea when Michael was like 6 years old and had an afro. Who wouldn't swoon at the idea of a bunch of teen-aged boys, fronted by a kindergartener who sings about getting his girlfriend back? It's freaking adorable.
For the record: I will be the last person to claim that these kids weren't talented and that the Jackson 5 wasn't great, but COME ON! A reunion tour? Could they possibly do anything more embarassing? Let's examine the evidence:
MY POINT: the only way this won't go down in history as the most shockingly pathetic comeback since, like, THE DAWN OF TIME, is if they've come up with some fan-fucking-tastic new material. Hey, it could happen...
Alright, please feel free to let me know if you're sick and tired of hearing about all this reunion shit, but I'm seriously starting to think that my token 90's bands got together one day and decided to make 2008 my favorite year since 1994. I just got word that we can add another to our (quickly expanding) little list of "Holy God Are You Kidding Me?" comeback releases.
That's right. A new release from one of my favorites, The Breeders is coming our way. The scheduled release date for The Breeders' upcoming Mountain Battles,on 4AD, is April 8th, 2008. Don't remember The Breeders? C'mon...don't make me do it...*coughcannonballcough*...
Whatever. I hate that some of you would make me stoop as low as to name what was essentially their 'one-hit-wonder'--so I'm not gonna do it.
But let me confirm these little details for you:
THE BREEDERS ARE TOURING IN 2008 THE BREEDERS ARE PLAYING AT COACHELLA IN 2008 Kim & Kelley Deal are definitely still in the band you can sneak preview a track from Mountain Battles on The Breeders' MySpace page for the next 7 days. Go fucking do it.
GOLDFRAPP joins the party with new album in February 2008
First Portishead. Then My Bloody Valentine. Then we get word that Love and Rockets is playing this month (I've since heard that they're playing for 5 minutes, what will only be one song, and a clash cover, at that. Sorry to get your panties in a bunch about it.)
Anyway, Goldfrapp joins the party with news of a new record, called Seventh Tree, to be released (on Mute) sometime in February of 2008. Other than the track list, which was FINALLY revealed, and that it's going to be very different from 2005's Supernature, everyone's being pretty tight-lipped about the whole record.
Seventh Tree Track List: 1. Clowns 2. Little Bird 3. Happiness 4. Road to Somewhere 5. Eat Yourself 6. Some People 7. A&E 8. Cologne Cerrone Houdini 9. Caravan Girl 10. Monster Love
Subscribe to the Orphan Review feed for up-to-the-minute info on the impending Goldfrapp release as well as all the others... oh and dudes be sure to let me know if you get any of these tracks before the album is released. i promise i won't tell on you!
I've practically been obsessing over it, I know, but better to freak out over things I can fix than to go ballistic over the fact that I invited a boy to Thanksgiving dinner and he cancelled on me 3 hours before we were scheduled to make our entrance. Considering the fact that this was the first boy who I had deemed worthy enough to subject to the wrath of my entire extended family in over 3 years, I'm pissed. And rightly so.
I stayed up all night, so sue me. At least I was productive. Here's what I have for you this time:
ContraStream.com--a new social music network with a Digg-like interface that actually has GOOD music on it. Users can submit indie albums to be "hyped" or "dropped" by other users, and can also discover new music through videos and audio tracks embedded on the site. In my first 10 minutes on the site I found the Crystal Castles/HEALTH record, Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog, Battles - Tonto, and this:
The band is called Black Kids, and the track is called 'I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You' off of their demo, Wizard of Ahhhs--which, according to Pitchfork, isn't available for purchase in stores but rather as a free download on their myspace page. I checked, and trust me, it isn't. All downloads on the Black Kids MySpace profile have been disabled, and as of November 14th they've been named one of Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 10 Artists to Watch.
Good news for you, though. You can download it here. Just right-click and select "Save Source As." Happy Black Friday.
To the uninitiated The Presets are Julian Hamilton and Kimberley Moyes, Aussie wizards of demented electro pop. Their debut album Beams hit Australian shores late 2005 and the ensuing singles 'Are You The One?', 'Down Down Down', 'Girl and The Sea' and 'I Go Hard, I Go Home' have become bona fide dance floor fillers and faves on both radio and TV. While the guys may have been a little quiet on the studio side of things, as a live concern they've sharpened their collective tools to become one of the most in-demand live acts in the world - with almost 300 shows across 20 countries in the past 18 months alone. There's a palpable sense that all this live experience has carried its energy into the studio. 'My People' is gargantuan. A snarling beast of a record, it bristles with fuzzy scratches of guitar snaps, bubbling arpeggiated synths and an instantly memorable, call-and-response, chanted hook. The song sounds like the rattling of an electrified disco zombie chain gain.
It's future pagan. It's a call to arms to party. Are you in? (Read full post)
Orphan C4 says: Orphan digs Modular Records. And being the insomnia-inflicted night owl that I am, I listened to the aforementioned track. It rules. It's like, Killers-esque inspired techno. Now, ask anyone who knows me, and they'll tell you two things:
I don't like the Killers.
I don't like techno.
But dude, seriously, thats like saying I don't like raisins. Cause I really don't like raisins, but if they're covered in chocolate I'll eat handfulls of 'em. So yea. I may not like techno, and I may not like the Killers, but when they're smooshed together into the same track they become oddly inspiring. So get inspired, cause here's "My People" by The Presets, embedded right here so you can be lazy.
Since the unexpected & unconventional release of Radiohead's In Rainbows, (which is, in my not-so-humble opinion, their best album to date) the blogosphere buzz on music industry news, rumors, and reviews has grown exponentially. The most recent hype you'll undoubtedly encounter while cruising through music & tech blogs alike, is the alleged inaccuracy of the data used by comScore to support a claim: the "name your price" guerrilla marketing technique used by Radiohead for the October 10th release of In Rainbows, was unsuccessful. Apparently all that Radiohead achieved was some serious, industry-wide panic. Read Radiohead's argument: comScore's data is inherently accurate.
Ho hum. I am so sick of hearing about Radiohead. Well, at least I was--until today. While conducting top secret Orphan research on Last.fm, I came across the music networking site's overall (we're talking SITE-WIDE) charts section--I was completely bowled over by the data it displayed.
According to The Daily Swarm, My Bloody Valentine has finally really recorded some new material. This news excites me. My Bloody Valentine is freaking awesome & before my hard drive crashed I'm pretty sure I owned everything that they ever released. As well as most of Kevin Shields' solo stuff. This would include the Lost In Translation soundtrack & some other weird bootlegs.
Not familiar with mbv? Sucks for you, but I'm willing to forgive you AND to give you a taste. Yea yea, I know. I'm too kind. Courtesy of imeem, here's 'Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)' from their 1988 release Isn't Anything.
**The band is also expected to be included in the line-up for Coachella 2008. Stay tuned for more details.
My Hard Drive Ate My Music Collection: #1: Through The Wilderness, A Tribute To Madonna
With all of the "Radiohead-destroyed-the-music-industry" hype that's circling the net right now, you've doubtlessly heard that NIN & Madonna have (in their own way) followed suit. So I'm not gonna talk about that. I also feel like there's a more important issue at hand--this weekend something horrible happened: my external hard drive crashed and took with it my 100+ GB music library. As a result, I've freeloaded from the internet's countless mp3 blogs. This is post #1 in a series of what we can call, "Desperate Picks" or, "My Hard Drive Ate My Music Collection And These Are The Highlights Of What Was Available To Highlight."
I've heard some of this, and I must say--it's certainly not bad. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Lavender Diamond, Giant Drag, and Mountain Party are all great artists and I am definitely interested in hearing them do their best Madonna. If you're interested and would like to hear more, I've taken the liberty of directly linking to some available downloads (courtesy of stereogum). But please consider the fact that all proceeds benefit Raising Malawi, so buy it (even if you only buy one album for the next 6 months). Orphans with AIDS need the ten/twelve/however many dollars you know you'll only spend on cigarettes anyway (after you download the album from someone on soulseek).
Official Track List (Manimal Vinyl, 29 October 2007)
Jonathan Wilson "La Isla Bonita" Golden Animals "Beautiful Stranger (Blues)" Winter Flowers "Live To Tell" Mountain Party "Material Girl" Jeremy Jay "Into The Groove" Ariel Pink "Everybody" Giant Drag "Oh Father" The Tyde "Hung Up" Alexandra Hope "Lucky Star" The Chapin Sisters "Borderline" Apollo Heights "Dress You Up" The Bubonic Plague "Who's That Girl?" The Prayers "Cherish" Lion of Panjshir "Crazy for You" Lavender Diamond "Like A Prayer" Siddhartha "Holiday" (iTunes only) Pangaeans "Impressive Instant" (iTunes only)
I don’t understand why this record was so anticipated. It is exactly what the title claims—Most of the Remixes We’ve heard it all before, and all of it is pretty hard to swallow in one gulp—it gave me a stomach-ache. I think that if my hard drive hadn’t crashed I probably wouldn’t have listened to it 6 times in a row, like Audioscrobbler forces me to admit. But the mash-up is king, and Soulwax tends to reign supreme in that region so I must give credit where credit is due.
1. If you’ve ever wondered whether or not it would be possible to turn Kylie Minogue’s, Can’t Get You Outta My Head into a really freaking cool track (and I have no idea why one would ever wonder such a thing, but) the answer is yes. Yes it is possible to turn that over-played-what should’ve been 90’s-house hit into an uber-hip track that fits comfortably between a remix of Justice’s Phantom Pt. II and Gorillaz’ DARE. Thank you Soulwax.
2. I must also admit that the remix of Six Days is seriously out of control. I mean, so out of control that it almost promotes me to use the phrase 'off-the-hook.' Almost. But I fail to understand the connection between the original DJ Shadow track and the B-52’s song that Soulwax threw into the mix, but suffice it to say that a track once conventionally added to playlists called 'chill-out' now unduly deserves to be included in something (equally conventional, but) closer to ‘dance-groove’ or [insert generically titled dance playlist here].
So yea—while sometimes, the compilation does get a little bit too ravey, and at other times has me wondering if Soulwax could actually be serious about releasing something so cheesey—I assure you that when taken in small doses it will not allow your fingers to turn into glow sticks, and will not have you rolling on the floor. But if rolling on the floor's your bag, and you live in Europe, then check out Soulwax/2 Many DJ's at Night Versions, where they'll be performing these remixes live. Those of us in the US will have to be content with playing the CD over and over again.
1. Looking For A Thrill: An Anthology of Inspiration (2005) dir. Braden King--This documentary was released in honor of Thrill Jockey's 10th anniversary. It's basically a collection of over 100 interviews with some of the greats, in which they describe their own moments of musical inspiration. Highlights include interviews with Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi), Mike Watt (Minutemen, fIREHOSE, Banyan, etc), Steve Albini (Rapeman, Shellac, Big Black, etc), Bjork, and Thurston Moore (who actually got to see Suicide @ CBGB's in '74--not many people can boast about that.) View the trailer:
2. The Last Waltz (1978) dir. Martin Scorsese--This documentary of The Band's last show includes performances by Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Muddy Waters, Van Morrisson, and more. Highlights include Joni Mitchell with The Band, performing Coyote, and the superstar-studded finale:
3. Gimme Shelter (1970) dir. Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin--It was a toss up between this flick & the Rolling Stones' Rock 'n' Roll Circus (1968), but I could probably write for days about Rock 'n' Roll Circus (for reasons such as this performance by The Who), so in the interest of space & time, Gimme Shelter wins. The film chronicles the entire story of the free 1969 Rolling Stones concert that took place at San Francisco's Altamont Speedway and was policed by the Hell's Angels. What could've been a totally rad idea resulted in the death of (at least) 2 (allegedly) innocent fans, and is marked as the concert that "ended the 60's". View the trailer:
SIA: The name I’ve heard a gazillion times. Well since our own little orphans Eagle and Talon had gone on tour with her and the Six Feet Under hit single, I thought it was time to experience the Australian wonder-ess.
Last night’s sold out show at the El Rey Theatre opened with Willoughby. A super tall guy with a warm calm voice (Gus Seyffert) backed with another tall guy (Charlie Wadhams) on tambourine and vocals and a short dude (Bram Inscore) on bass and a guy whose size I couldn’t tell that was playing drums. It was the perfect set and they even did a cover of John Lennon’s “I’m Losing You”.
Well where do we start with Sia? As soon as the curtains opened the whole band had on glow in the dark children’s painted outfits on. It was likes these floating cartoons performing. After the first song finished Sia introduced her new friend who had just performed with her, it was actor Giovanni Ribisi’s daughter who is like 8 years old or something. Sia told the audience they made a song together and broke out into a fully structured song called “Little Black Sandals” that they sang together.
As the show progressed the set was dressed with neon lights shaped like children’s drawings of big palms trees and flowers that lit up different colors to the beat. Behind a backdrop of a painted rainbow and a smiley blonde girl stick figure.
Of course the audience went wild when she announced her hit “Breathe Me” and as I lurked across the room I could see a thousand mouths singing along. It really struck me then how powerful one song on a television show can connect a room full of music lovers.
She was such a charmer and kept asking the audience if they needed anything, particularly a beer or a hug. At one point into her set she pointed out some Aussies in the room and told the audience not to buy them beer because they were underage. Then she almost dedicated a song to them called “The girl you lost to cocaine” but realized in the same second into the attempt that it wasn’t appropriate so she corrected herself and dedicated the song after to them.
Sia is on tour her North America and UK tour now and you definitely wont want to miss it, so you better check yo’self before you wreck yo’self. Put an Australian accent with that…
Dude, daft punk seriously pisses me off. I mean, just look at the photo: Will someone please tell me what the hell this is about? They swear like it’s ok to be this cool. You know that song from Grease 2 that Michelle Pfiefer sings, about how she wants a to date a bad ass--I think it’s called “cool rider”, right—ok well Electroma ascribes a whole new meaning to the letters she sings in the chorus (C-O-O-L R-I-D-E-R). Not to mention that it’s ALSO the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Ever. In fact, Daft Punk should really consider re-writing the book called “How To Be Cool”--I’d totally buy it.
Some highlights of the film are as follows:
THE SOUNDTRACK. It’s amazing. And get this: Daft Punk isn’t even on it. And seriously, these guys actually have really good taste in music.
Curtis Mayfield – ‘Billy Jack’ A Sei Voci Ensemble - ‘Miserere’ Todd Rundgren – ‘International Feel’ Brian Eno – ‘In Dark Trees’ Linda Perhacs – ‘If You Were My Man’ Jackson C. Frank – ‘Dialogue’ Sebastian Tellier – ‘Universe’ Haydn – ‘String Quartet in E Flat Major Op. 64, No. 6’ Chopin – ‘No. 4 in E Minor [24 Preludes, Op.28]’
While sifting through my (very, very, vast) iTunes library, searching ANYTHING I hadn't heard within the last 3 months, NOTHING piqued my interest. I shit you not. So I dug around on myspace and found a few new artists that I dub, "Entirely Worth Listening To." Why should you respect my opinion? Because I totally know what I'm talking about. Here's proof:
Black Black these kids are good. true--a little rough, but i think the roughness is done on purpose. they totally get close to the depth of Young Marble Giants, but definitely have the raw sound/lyrics of The Moldy Peaches. Black Black is on the right track. ha. that rhymes.
Cat Hair Ensemble i love this!!! i seriously love this. the name is absolutely disgusting and i sneeze just thinking about it, but these dudes are extremely talented musicians. AND THEY HAVE AN ACCORDION, FOR CHRIST’S SAKE! i mean...they make me want to take muscle relaxers and then dance the tango to a polka, but with a midget. they have totally been bitten by the party animal.
dawn Landes oh god. could this GET any better? she's sifted through dumpsters to steal table scraps from every halfway decent female artist over the past 20 years, and has managed to make it pretty perfect. listen to picture show. it’s really freaking good. and she's super cute, too.
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