Phoenix

Thanksgiving. For years it’s brought people together to feast on turkey. In honor of this joyous American holiday, 20 Watts has decided to elucidate you, fine reader, on the many bands named after a variety of fowl. We bring you our very special Thanksgiving 20, based on artists named after a variety of avian creatures.

So what’s the very best of bird-themed music? 20 Watts’ STAFF has the answer in our tenth 20 installment. Watch for new 20s each Thursday, only on 20 Watts, and check out our previous 20s below!

U2 are looking more and more like aging Irish Porn Stars

PREVIEW: LISTEN to U2’s “No Line on the Horizon”

Just when you thought aging, self-absorbed rock stars couldn’t be more agonizingly full of themselves as displayed in the upcoming TV special of the 25^th Annual Rock Hall of Fame Awards/concerts — U2 strikes again in destroying everything that’s halfway decent about popular Rock music by headlining England’s Glastonbury 2010 Music Festival.

Despite the poor sales of this once-great band’s most recent album No Line on the Horizon, U2 still don’t know when to quit. Since playing on top of buildings in London and causing a carefully orchestrated and televised stir earlier this year didn’t work, perhaps Bono figures that their spanking new songs will resonate with an audience whose only relation to the band is that their parents had Joshua Tree playing in the background during their conception.

In the past few decades Glastonbury has had many classic and relatively younger bands headline at the main, “Pyramid” stage. The honor to perform such a slot is one which hot bands like Radiohead and Coldplay to Arctic Monkeys and Kings of Leon have thrived on. Aged and classic acts have played as well, but not as the focus of attention. Thanks to this usual past setup, it is clear that music festivals are for the young people and their newer music — a tradition that can be traced back to Monterey and Woodstock.

One would imagine that having a stage that looks like an alien weapon from the Halo video games might have suggested Bono and company were joining their outer space brethren after their current tour; however, to many a-one’s dismay they are headed to Glasto-organizer, Michael Eavis’ Worthy Farm. Either way, perhaps this is Bono and The Edge’s final attempt to communicate with aliens through crop-circles — or perhaps just a belated reference to the remake of the crap miniseries V.

– Charlie Weeks

New album Contra out Jan. 11

PREVIEW: WATCH Vampire Weekend’s “Cousins”

Unless you really have been under a rock for the past year or so, even if you don’t follow the indie music scene, chances are you have heard of Vampire Weekend. This extraordinary foursome released a self-titled  debut in early 2008 and immediately grabbed nationwide attention.

Finally, after what only seems like forever, they will be releasing their sophomore piece Contra. Due out in January the band has released a free download of the first track “Horchata” available on their official web page. Like the deal wasn’t sweet enough already, just a few days ago Vampire Weekend released the video for their first single “Cousins.” Full of bells, confetti and motion sickness, the video has Vampire Weekend written all over it. Don’t believe us? See for yourself.

– Irina Dvalidze, Multimedia Editor

Blakroc is set to drop from V2 Records on November 27th.

PREVIEW: VISIT Blakroc’s Website
WE GIVE IT: 17/20 Watts

Regardless of any preconceived notions you may have regarding rap-rock, it’s hard to ignore a group with a lineup as stacked as Blakroc.

With the bluesmen of the Black Keys laying the foundation for tracks featuring the likes of Mos Def, Raekwon, Q-Tip, ODB (from the grave, obviously), RZA, Jim Jones and others, the collaboration, headed by hip-hop mogul Damon Dash, was set to turn heads, if nothing else. With the release of the group’s self-titled debut though, Blakroc is sure to shatter any of your dispositions against the genre.

Taking on a clearly Delta Blues inspired sound, the guys from the Black Keys refuse to assume  a “backing band” roll throughout the record, and for good reason. Behind each of the notorious vocalists, the duo groove with a heaviness that would make their Delta predecessors proud.

Black Keys, who Dash has said are his favorite band, position themselves around the vocalists on the tracks, rather than behind, giving each track a noticeably more cohesive sound. Never is hesitation heard in the backing tracks on the record, leaving the remarkable vocal roster to perform at their best.

While the collaboration may seem at first to be nothing more than your run-of-the-mill rap-rock novelty, the lineup of vocalists from track to track is hard discount. While not every track is single-worthy, each is still a success in its own right. Nicole Wray’s vocals are some of the smokiest sounding on the record (see “Why Can’t I Forget Him”), featuring a relaxed longing that complements the Black Keys’ blues backing remarkably.

NOE, who has often been cited as sounding like Jay-Z (we believe it now), achieves a flow on “Hard Times” that would make Hova himself blush. Perhaps the most notable of the vocalists on the record, though, is Mos Def. His comfort with a live band is obviously attributable to his past work, but important nonetheless.

In the end, Blakroc takes the novelty associated with the rap-rock genre and shatters it. With a refreshing and groove-heavy sound, the 11 artists of Blakroc have effectively resurrected a dead concept, or at least reminded us that it could still be done well. At this point, I guess all we can do is sit back and wait for the sophomore release from rap-rock’s talented new entrepreneurs.

– John Luposello

Animal Collective deliver once again with their latest EP Fall Be Kind

PREVIEW: VISIT Animal Collective’s MySpace
WE GIVE IT: 17/20 Watts

Met with the tough task of following up one of the year’s best albums, Merriweather Post Pavillion, Animal Collective’s Fall Be Kind had to deliver big.  Lucky for us, the band that continues to rise to, and set the bar for the challenges of today’s music scene, was up for the assignment.

Fall Be Kind is everything Merriweather Post Pavillion is not. It’s raw, unstructured and loose. The tame pop conventions are gone, and in their place dance wild and schizophrenic sonic experiments in the mold of the band’s earlier material. Instead of aiming to recreate the sound of their hit album from January, Animal Collective remade their old sound in their new, more electronically-altered image.

Powered by looping samples, and catchy, chanting repetition, the EP’s tracks shift gears constantly from high to low energy. Songs like “Graze” and “I Think I Can” are some of the most intriguing, trippy arrangements the band has put together in awhile, and the constant tempo shift leaves listeners comfortably off-guard.

And then there’s “What Would I Want? Sky.” Borrowing from the Grateful Dead’s “Unbroken Chain,” the track’s initially perceived complexity gives way to a simple, continuous loop as infectious as anything they’ve every put out. It’s the perfect blend of the band’s respective styles from past and future, a juxtaposition of tribal vocals and crazed, frenzied electronic noise. By the end of the song, you’re convinced that “What Would I Want? Sky” is one of the greatest, most interesting pieces of work the group has ever put together.

Combining their more traditionally disassembled ambience with the euphoric electronic pop of their previous album, Animal Collective has once again produced a unique and sonically remarkable piece of work. Though only comprised of just five tracks, the Fall Be Kind EP makes its mark as the start of yet another chapter in the band’s increasingly-prolific career. I, for one, can’t wait to hear what’s next.

– John Cassillo

A live album highlighting the best of Waits' latest tour

PREVIEW: VISIT Tom Waits’ Website
WE GIVE IT: 15/20 Watts

Getting older and piling years onto his prolific career hasn’t worn Tom Waits in the least. In fact, age has had just the opposite effect on the veteran.

For a musician whose work is characterized by a signature blend of bizzaro-noire grittiness, aging has really just added a complimentary texture to the mix. On his latest effort, Glitter & Doom, time mingles perfectly with the polka rhythms, marimbas, bouncing horn lines that teeter like a drunken circus bear, and of course, the grizzled voice that isn’t going to get any less grizzlier any time soon.

This two-disk album of cuts from Waits‘ most recent tour showcases all these fine qualities at work. And the performances are as kicking as they’ve ever been, covering a satisfactory spectrum of songs from all fans’ favorite Waits’-eras.  The album has the right variety of energy levels, from the opening death-march rock of “Lucinda / Ain’t Going Down to the Well,” to the morbid “Dirt in the Ground,” and of course, “Goin’ Out West,” Waits’ hard rock satire of masculinity.

Overall, Glitter & Doom will satisfy the fans, as well as reassure them that Waits, who’s built his musical career on making audio caricatures of gloom, is still as vital as can be.

– Dan Powell

Weaver at the Loom

PREVIEW: STREAM Weaver at the Loom’s I Was Searching and Then I Found on their Myspace

Everyone loves Explosions in the Sky. As one of the most innovative bands in the current music scene, Explosions has inspired multiple artists to delve into the world of musical epics. One brainchild of the band is Weaver at the Loom.

Like Explosions, Weaver is comprised of four members who each contribute their musical talents. The difference between the two bands: Weaver features vocals in every song. As was described on their Myspace, Weaver masterfully combines “atmospheric elements of groups like Explosions in the Sky and The Album Leaf with the songwriting grace of compositional masters Death Cab for Cutie and Coldplay.” To add to this wonder, the lyrics of every song on the band’s only album, I Was Searching and Then I Found, flow together to make a story that could be comparable to Eliot’s The Waste Land. Much like Explosions, the album is meant to be listened to from start to finish.

With some of the most beautiful vocals I’ve ever heard and simple yet emotional instrumentation to compliment, I Was Searching and Then I Found could easily be classified into the coveted “album that I could never get tired of listening to” category. If you are listening to the album for the first time, here is what I recommend: play the album all the way through while reading the lyrics. It is honestly a spiritual experience.

–Elizabeth Vogt, Assistant Front-of-Book Editor

The Supremes are one of the many influential Motown acts to come out of the Motor City

City Sounds goes to the Motor City this week to listen to some of it’s native sounds.

Detroit is known mainly for it’s automobile industry, but a close second would be Motown.  As the birthplace of Motown Records, Detroit provided the world with one of the most important musical genres of all time. An influence to almost every other musical genre following it’s dominance, Motown and it’s notoriety still stand as the ideal for popular music.

Artists like Smokey Robinson, The Supremes, and Stevie Wonder topped the charts with hit after hit after hit, and it set a new standard for pop.  Motown reigned supreme (some pun intended) through the ’60s and into part of the ’80s. Even though the hits have dwindled in quantity, the quality of music is still heard around the world.

Motown put Detroit on the map, but it wasn’t the only source of great music.  Detroit also had it’s moments during the garage rock revival in the early 2000s with bands like The White Stripes, The Von Bondies and Electric Six.  It also presented the world with arguably one of the most influential rappers of all time, Eminem.

There’s plenty of great music from Detroit that will all be covered on Monday, November 23, from 11pm-1am on WERW. Tune in and listen up!

– Kyle Kuchta

PREVIEW: Check Out PJ Bond’s Blog

20 Watts brings you an exclusive video feature with PJ Bond, the couch-surfing songwriter virtuoso. Bond made a stop in Syracuse on his year-long international tour, which launched earlier this year. We interviewed him 221 days in. Hear what he had to say about what inspired this voyage, where he is heading next and a few of his spectacular pieces he performed for an intimate crowd last week.

– Produced by Jett Wells and Irina Dvalidze