Brilliant, TA!

I lied about TA and the story about the National.

Sorry.

This is true, though: TA introduced me to Angus & Julia Stone, and now I realize that I need to move to Brooklyn so that I can discover more bands from Australia.

And hang out with Matt.

Spotify coming to the USA!

About half of you out there are tuning in from the USA, so assuming any of you are repeat visitors you'll be happy to know that Spotify is coming to the USA (since I often link to tracks or acts in Spotify).


Click here!

Once part of the movement you can check out tons of music and a few lists I have made available:

On my mind - what I'm currently listening to

Running list

My door openener

TA (see previous post) told me about how the National formed as a band.

Apparently Matt Berninger had a huge loft in Brooklyn were he used to hang out with friends. TA told him he should do something more inspiring than just play pool and smoke, so Matt started a band.

TA told him to book a concert at Radio City Hall, and that he needed to create some kind of a signature act, like walking through the audience with a really long microphone cable.

I think he might be lying, though. In fact, I made all of that up. I'm the liar.

Previous blog posts about the National:

Matt explains why they are different live.
My thoughts after seeing them live.

Inspiration

Friend TA (who makes films) pointed out where Radiohead might have been inspired when making the video for Lotus Flower:

The Radiohead version:

Really like this.

Post Punk music for a post punk oldie.

I might have a new favorite band.

Good Winter

Bon Iver's music, especially the 2007 debut For Emma, For ever ago, is the kind of stuff that makes me want to share my thoughts here.

This review of his latest album, Bon Iver, makes me wonder if I should be writing at all.

Brilliant stuff, both the review and the music.

footastic!

Enjoyed a great Foo Fighters concert the other night.

Dave Grohl really is an entertainer and seems to have a big heart and large sense of humor.

Was struck by how the Foo Fighters remind me of the Pixies, more so live than on album.

Apparently, Dave has a drinking problem:

Going bananas about monkeys

The Arctic Monkeys' latest album "Suck it and see" is brilliant!

I know it sounds like a cliché, but they really have "grown up"! (And presumably, so have I, since I get it.)

Sound and lyrics clearly illustrate the passing of time compared to their first two albums. They even managed one or two Beatle flirts...

Singles so far:

Franz's offspring

Might be an illegitimate child.

Pretty cocky, at any rate.

This is what you get when parts of Franz Ferdinand meet up with others: Say hello to Box Codax!

Great coffee, shitty croisant.

A good friend put me on to My Morning Jacket long ago, but for some reason I didn't react.

Now I've suddenly discovered that they're behind loads of good stuff.

But,

their albums aren't solid. Pity.

This is brilliant, though:

Those dancing days

Saw the Charlatans yesterday.

The band were pretty much as I remembered them: a Stone Roses / Oasis / Happy Mondays mix and as much as I enjoyed the concert it's not what I brought home from the evening.

When the band finished their set a DJ took me on a trip down memory lane. Hit after hit from the indie / alternative scene time stamped "90's" filled the dance floor and I remember thinking of a few tracks he didn't play that I needed to dig up when I got home:

Looking for hot stuff

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are on the move! According to this article on Rolling Stone a new album will be out later this summer - new guitarist and all...

Event though I imagine that they have their best years behind them I'm curious to hear what their new sound is like.

While we wait: three classics!

Primates online

The Arctic Monkeys will be streaming their new album from their home page (www.articmonkeys.com) shortly.

I like the single they have released so far and hope I get a chance to listen in tomorrow.

Missing vocals

This cover of "Paranoid Android" indicates that Thom Yorke's vocals might be quite important for Radiohead's sound.

Just a bit.

Worlds collide and now I need to dance

Ian Brown - the front man of the Stone Roses.

Behind one of guitar pop's greatest albums ever.

After a few years and then some more, an interesting second attempt.

Not long ago, this wonderful solo accomplishment.

  

Now this.

I want to cry

In the car this morning I listened to The National "High Violet" and was reminded of how just about every track is amazingly good.

The anguish I feel as each track comes to end quickly turns to astonishment as the following track turns out to be just as good, if not better.

This emotional roller coaster almost makes we want to cry.

The only album I have previously experienced this with is Radiohead's "OK Computer".

Not running.

I recently listed 7 favorit covers.

Might have included this version of "Running up that Hill", had I heard it.

Actually, I probably wouldn't have. But it's quite nice, none the less.



The original:

My neighborhood executive

When I was 17 I worked at a packaging factory, and for various reasons the Managing Director offered me a ride in to town one day (punctured tire on my bike).

When we got into the car he took off his jacket, loosened the tie, put on a torn jeans jacket and turned up the stereo. We listened to the Stones and talked about music for the duration of the trip.

Not exactly what I had expected.

At a garden party last weekend I struck up a conversation with P., a nice chap with a lot of hair. Turns out he's a senior executive at an IT consultancy. It also turns out he's a musician and a fan of the Japandroids.

Covering Franz

The first time I heard Franz Ferdinand I had just checked into a hotel room and MTV or some other music channel was on the TV. "Take me out" came on and I remember frantically looking for pen and paper to jot down the name of the band.

They recently released and EP with covers of their own music - one of them is by LCD Soundsystem.

So, here is that cover, followed by Franz Ferdinand covering Britney Spears. And to top it all off, a favorite LCD Soundsystem track. (No, I don't have a favorite Britney track.)

Live Cohen

I've been thinking of listing my favorite concert experiences. (I KNOW you care).

Or maybe just sharing my favorite live recordings.

How an act performs live is quite central to my overall rating of that act. Partly, I feel that real musicians should be able to perform live - I mean, you can pull of just about anything in a studio these days.

Also, experiencing an act live often adds new flavors to my perception of the music and the people behind that music.

One act I would have liked to experience live is Leonard Cohen. I had the chance a year or so ago, but (oddly) couldn't be bothered to organise the excursion.

There's something about seeing live acts old enough to be my parents, and that were shaking the world in the 60's and 70's that makes me want to say "oh grow up and get a fuckin life".

Problem is, I'm the one who doesn't have a life... They (the elderly rock stars) are doing just fine.