Kickball is easily one of the best bands in the northwest right now. When one is critiquing art its hard to feign objectivity but thats okay because this album doesnt want that. It wants you to get to know it. read: grower. Unlike most albums that grow on you though this one starts out good already and just keeps getting better the better you know it. read: good friend. When Jacob sings "You're a sunset sometimes pretty, oh my god" on 'sometimes' its probably the closest you can get to perfection. Everything on this album feels right, the length (songwise and albumwise) the parts in the songs everything. This far into kickballs existence they have got their un-formulaic formula down pat. On Orion they skate back and forth between breakdowns and something I guess you could call a verse covering similar ground but doing it differently every time, an aspect of kickball that makes them so loveable.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Video: Menomena - "Rotten Hell"
food fights and super slow motion. it's menomena with a new music video and there are some absolutely priceless facial expressions.
for my money, matt and kim did messy food & unrestrained childhood exuberance better in their video for "yea yeah."
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Freeway feat. Jay Z - Big Spender
HOTTT NEW TRAXXXXXX!!!!!!! (seriously, guyz!)
here's one to bump in your rides, bump it outside, Freeway feat. Jay Z - "Big Spender":
and new CARIBOU. from the forthcoming "Andorra," this track pulls no punches, makes no false claims, takes no prisoners, etc...
Caribou - Melody Day
DOWNLOAD THESE TRACKXXX, KIDSZ
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Mirah - Show Review
On Friday, Mirah was in town and she brought along some of her friends. Both openers, Lovers and Mecca Normal were complete unknowns to me, but it being a Mirah show, i made some educated guesses about their respective sounds (probably not death metal, i could safely postulate). Lo and behold, Lovers turned out to be fairly close to the Mirah mold. Guitar slung low and accompanied by only a sparingly used drummer, Carolyn Berk sang songs about love, lovers, and the like. She has a beautiful voice and a delightful way with words; i was pleasantly surprised.
Next was Mecca Normal, comprised of two unassuming, middle aged folks. The first couple songs were about the lead singer's experience with internet dating. This strange woman with an even stranger voice sang scathing, vindictive lyrics from the man's point of view: "i want cold, impersonal sex." All the while, the guitarist, who looked more dentist or shoe salesman than rock star shredded through the set with distortion on high. People laughed at her humorously jaded songwriting and cheered for the old man's rip roaring power solos.
Then, much to the damn-near packed house's delight, the diminutive, cute-as-a-button Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn took the stage. Her supporting cast was a revolving door comprised of members from Spectratone International (with whom she collaborated on her new album) and other friends. "My new album is about insects," she stated proudly. And amidst cello and accordion, she sang about ants, dung beetles, and glow worms. Mirah's always been an exceptional songwriter with an ear for both minutia and grandeur. The pounding, ominous drums of "Cold Cold Water" translated well live, lending that familiar, ominous tone to one of the night's standouts. With the full band, her songs really came alive, and the new material sounded great. Bringing the night to an end, during the encore, Mirah sang a stripped down remix backed only by her drummer's beat-boxing. A treat indeed.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Beastie Boys - Off the Grid
most alliterative moment in audiosurface history coming up in 3..2..1..
"bloggers behold! beastie boys go bizarrely beta band"
Monday, June 04, 2007
Rappers like Dance Music
kanye again. here he is all up in
daft punk's "harder, better, faster, stronger."
rich boy (i dont know who that is) and SMD
abx - i believe you should looka here
24 hour hotcakes
without any school work or even regular work to do, a man can really live a charmed, whimsical existence, free of obligation. granted, none of what i do on a day-to-day basis is useful, productive, or exciting in the slightest. in fact, i haven't felt this ineffectual in a long time. about-face aside, i have been listening to some devastatingly good tunes as of late. and "finding" such music makes me feel just a teensie bit better about myself as a human. not only because i feel as though i'm being a proactive music fan, seeking out music i wouldn't otherwise hear without hitting the streets (internet, that is -- and it IS a superhighway, so i figure the metaphor applies), but also because great music simply has that effect. it's an obsession, but a timeless and not entirely unhealthy one. thus, as someone who cannot create music, i do my best to be an observant, discerning, receptive, and ultimately loving audience.
here are some things i think you should hear.
jordaan mason - housewife part two
stunning. simple, lo-fi, barebones folk with haunting vocals.
jordaan onmyspace.
buy an album here ***even if you don't want to buy his album, click the link and you might want to, after you read what he has to say.***
mirah & spectratone international - gestation of the sacred beetle
new mirah.
buy here
