Filed under: Genre Columns, Indie Rock, Music Theory | Tags: Alex Turner, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, Bob Dylan, cousins, Crown of Love, EP, Fleet Foxes, Funeral, humbug, Led Zeppelin, MySpace, Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), Neon Bible, Pete Doherty, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Rubblebucket, Sun Giant, The Beatles, The Libertines, Up The Bracket, Vampire Weekend, Wake Up, Whatever People Say I Am That Is What I Am Not, Wilco, YouTube
With bands like Vampire Weekend and Arctic Monkeys making mediocre follow-up albums, will the same happen to Fleet Foxes?
Vampire Weekend just came out with a new single “Cousins” — and what a disappointing pile of shit! You’d figure that after making their debut album with so many great tunes, they’d be bound to make a more brilliant follow-up album. Unfortunately, with “Cousins” it sounds like the sun just rose on a Monday morning for this skeleton crew. To be fair, Vampire Weekend are not the only band that seem to be facing this problem. Throughout the decade a whole lot of new Indie bands with brilliant debut albums have been popping up—where they have barely been able to create a worthy-enough follow up.
The list goes on and on with bands and artists that got their big break this decade on both sides of the pond. In Britain, bands like The Libertines and Arctic Monkeys each released debut albums that were universally adored by critics and new fans alike: Up The Bracket and Whatever People Say I Am, That Is What I Am Not—the latter of which is currently the UK’s fastest-selling debut album (note: Britain’s Got Talent star Susan Boyle recently topped this accolade with her I Dreamed a Dream album). Nevertheless, these two bands–led by the apparent songwriting genius’ Pete Doherty and Alex Turner – never seem to have been able to top their debuts with their later works. (more…)
Filed under: Features | Tags: apples in stereo, Are You Sleepy?, Beat Happening, Beulah, Big Star, Cannibal Sea, Circulatory System, dusk at cubist castle, elf power, Fun Trick Noisemaker, In the Aeroplane over the Sea, Jamboree, Jeff Mangum, live at jittery joe's, Love It! Love It!, music from the unrealized film script, Nana Grizol, Neutral Milk Hotel, new magnetic wonder, Odessey and Oracle, of Montreal, olivia tremor control, on avery island, pet sounds, Radio City, Ruth, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the 20, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, the coast is never clear, The Essex Green, The Gay Parade, The Gerbils, The Zombies, When the Red King Comes, When Your Heartstrings Break
The Elephant 6 Collective
A record label. A collection of musicians. An ethos. A cult. The Elephant 6 Collective is all that and more. Based in Athens, Ga. (after originating in Denver), and formed by Bill Doss, Will Hart, Jeff Mangum and Robert Schneider, it started out as a way to record and release their psychedelic influenced lo-fi pop. It soon spiraled and transformed, with other artists joining and band members working on each others’ albums. Eventually, it became less of a recording company than a pool of artists who shared a similar style and philosophy about making music. And it was from this pool that some of the greatest artists of the genre’s modern era — Neutral Milk Hotel, The Apples in Stereo, of Montreal and The Olivia Tremor Control to name a few — got their start.
So what’s the very best of trip-hop? 20 Watts’ MARC SOLLINGER has the answer in our ninth 20 installment. Watch for new 20s each Thursday, only on 20 Watts, and check out our previous 20s below!
Filed under: Editor Picks | Tags: pavement, Space Ghost, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Stephen Malkmus, The Beatles
Late in Pavement’s career, Space Ghost approached Stephen Malkmus with a glorious offer. Playing under the pseudonym the Beatles, the Stockton, California slacker indie band made a special appearance on October 24, 1997 on Space Ghost Coast to Coast. The end result is one of the craziest performances Pavement ever put on. Often overlooked, Pavement’s appearance on Space Ghost is a wonderful addition to any fanboy’s collection of rare clips and bits.
For those who have never seen the show, Space Ghost Coast to Coast mainly consists of non-sequiturs, pop culture icons, and a healthy dose of hilarious events. Pavement was asked to play on the show and then perform a cover of the theme song for the ending credits. Due to various contractual obligations, the band could not use their stage name and had to settle for something a little more obscure, The Beatles. This rare gem shows the band at their most playful even when relationships were growing tense. Check out both performances on Matador Records’ reissue, Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition.
Until then, here’s The Beatles!
– Chris Parker, Assistant Advertising Director
Filed under: Issue 19, Issue 19 Lofi | Tags: Jimi Hendrix, the Black Keys, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, The Beatles, Buddy Holly, Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, Bob Dylan, lo-fi, Syracuse University, Nebraska, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dinosaur Jr., Mouth's Cradle, Bears in America, beck, The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, Modest Mouse, Maroon 5, GarageBand, Devon Stewart, Ween, John Frusciante, Tascam Portastudio, The Basement Tapes, The Band, Logic Pro Studio, Devon James Stewart, Aux Records, Rascal Flatts
Devon Stewart rocks the Shaefer studios while working on his self-titled solo project
Lil Wayne. Kanye West. Maroon 5. Rascal Flatts. Music purists loathe them for at least one reason — Auto-Tune, a downloadable audio processor that corrects vocal and instrumental blunders in order to attain perfect pitch. By using this program, a producer can fill in a recorded performance’s holes, smooth its edges and polish its smudges. Everyone must use this to attain musical nirvana, right? Negatory. In fact, musicians that admire large holes, adore peculiar edges, and worship pesky smudges are alive, well and plentiful. They are lo-fi artists.
Lo-fi is a shortened form of “low-fidelity,” fidelity meaning the extent to which an electronic device such as a radio or television can accurately reproduce a sound or an image. Taken literally, lo-fi can be defined as low-quality sound. (more…)
Filed under: Releases of the Week | Tags: falsetto, Freddie Mercury, Mika, pop, The Beatles
Mika returns with another album full of high-energy jubilation
PREVIEW: DOWNLOAD Mika’s “We Are Golden” MP3
WE GIVE IT: 16/20 Watts
Mika’s latest installment in his series of feel-good, Freddie Mercury-esque ballads comes to us in the form of The Boy Who Knew Too Much. From the starting beat of the bass drum in lead track, “We Are Golden,” it is obvious that Mika has plans for his listeners to be entirely involved and ready to sing and dance their way through their places of work or study.
Sounding a tad too much like a Broadway chorus, Mika manages to take a basic drum rhythm, a few chords on a bass and random hints of mysterious synthesizer in the background, and turn it into an epic piece of world-saving music. Alternating between soprano climaxes and occasional speaking section, Mika engages the listener in the fun he and his usual background choir are undoubtedly having while recording. (more…)
Filed under: Editor Picks | Tags: beck, David Byrne, Devendra Banhart, haih or amortecedor, Nirvana, of Montreal, Os Mutantes, rita lee, The Beatles, The Flaming Lips, The Stooges, tropicalia
Os Mutantes, back in action, released a new album last week
PREVIEW: DOWNLOAD Os Mutantes’ “A Minha Menina” MP3
Most American listeners know tropicalia bands like Os Mutantes from their influence on artists like Nirvana, Beck, David Byrne, of Montreal, Devendra Banhart, and others. However, in their day, this crew of noted rockers, inlcuding the legendary Sérgio Dias and the internationally known Rita Lee, were known in their country as Brazilian equivalent to The Beatles.
With their 2006 reunion spearheaded by Dias, Os Mutantes have been playing shows on world tours alongside the likes of aforementioned Banhart and the equally psychedelic The Flaming Lips. They also released their first album in over 35 years – Haih or Amortecedor – last week. Unlike The Stooges‘ attempt at a comeback, Os Mutantes’ actually produced great music.
– Eric Vilas-Boas, Production Editor
Filed under: News of Note | Tags: accuradio, American Gangster, Converge, David Letterman, EMI, Fuck Yeah Fest, FYF, iTunes, Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Kurt Vile, Massive Attack, MGMT, Music Hall of Williamsburg, Neon Indian, Nine Inch Nails, NME, No Age, Paul McCartney, Pitchfork, Radiohead, Ratatat, The Beatles, The Beatles: Rock Band, The Blueprint, The Blueprint 3, Thom Yorke, Torche, Trent Reznor
Kid Cudi releases new track "Pursuit of Happiness" featuring MGMT and Ratatat
PREVIEW: DOWNLOAD Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness” MP3
Pitchfork posts new Kid Cudi song “Pursuit of Happiness” featuring indie gods MGMT and Ratatat. The single will be the third off his upcoming album Man on the Moon: The End of Day, to be released September 15, 2009. The single alludes to his search for weed (Cudi’s drug of choice) as the pursuit of happiness — a theme highlighted nicely by MGMT and Ratatat’s synthpop beat. Catch a live performance of “Pursuit of Happiness on tonight’s “The Late Night Show With David Letterman.” [Previous 20 Watts Coverage: Editor's Pick #71: Cudi Gets Psychedelic]
Rolling Stone reported the change of release dates for Jay-Z’s new album The Blueprint 3 from its planned Friday drop date to today, a more conventional Tuesday release. While the move means the album no longer drops on the eighth anniversary of the first Blueprint, it should assure Jay the top spot on Billboard’s albums chart. The album is his first release since 2007’s American Gangster. [Previous 20 Watts Coverage: 20 Watts Reviews Jay-Z's Blueprint 3, Editor's Pick #168: Jay-Z Endorses Indie Rock]
RS also reported that Nine Inch Nails has changed the date of its final show to September 10. The band was due to end its performing career on Sunday, September 6, at Los Angeles’ Echoplex, but after frontman Trent Reznor’s short illness, the final concert will now be Thursday at L.A.’s Wiltern. Over the last few weeks, the band has also performed shows in New York and Chicago on its “Wave Goodbye” tour. [Previous 20 Watts Coverage: Editor's Pick #147: Alice in Chains' "A Looking in View", Trent Reznor Announces Final Nine Inch Nails Tour Dates]
Paul McCartney told NME.com that he would like The Beatles’ catalogue available for download. According to McCartney, record label EMI is to blame for the band’s inaccessibility on the Internet. “We were having problems with iTunes — well not iTunes, EMI was the problem — with downloading which we’d like to do because that’s how a lot of people get their music,” McCartney said. The Beatles: Rock Band drops tomorrow, so this problem will be partially solved for players who can download songs from the Rock Band website. Rock Band developers Harmonix have plans to offer more Beatles albums and tracks for download in the future. [Previous 20 Watts Coverage: McCartney and MGMT, Beatles and iTunes Fail to Reach Agreement]
In other Beatles news, web radio heavyweight AccuRadio announced today that it will begin broadcasting a series of Beatles-themed channels tomorrow to celebrate the release of the Beatles’ remastered collection. The channels will include “Beatles Plus” — more or less all Beatles’, all the time — as well as the obviously named “Just Covers” and the intriguing “Beatles and Friends,” which claims to contexualize the remastered catalog with other bands and songs from the time. AccuRadio’s apparently endless roster of free niche radio stations also includes such appetizing options as “Sea and Sand,” “Canadian Pop” and “Hiptronica” — whatever that means, we’re into it. [Previous 20 Watts Coverage: Beatles Rooftop Performance, Beatles Rock Band Trailer]
Neon Indian, whose debut LP drops October 13, has announced the dates for his upcoming world tour. Unfortunately, he will not be stopping in Syracuse, but you can catch him in NYC at the Music Hall of Williamsburgon October 24. [Previous 20 Watts Coverage: 20 Watts Interviews Neon Indian]
Kurt Vile, after losing his job as a forklift operator, didn’t have much recourse but to pursue music full-time. Former lead guitarist of The War on Drugs, Vile released the albums Constant Hitmaker and God Is Saying This to You in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Now he’s hard at work on his Matador Records debut and has just released the album’s lead track “Hunchback.” Supposedly more of a rocker than the rest of the album, “Hunchback” follows a Youngian thread. [Previous 20 Watts Coverage: Yo La Tengo’s Popular Songs (Matador Records)]
British trip-hoppers, Massive Attack sat down with the magazine for a little Q&A about their career, the upcoming Splitting the Atom EP and their next full-length effort, set for February. Also included with the interview was the scenic, Thom Yorke-esque number “Bullet Proof Love,” which will be featured on Splitting the Atom, out next month. [Previous 20 Watts Coverage: Radiohead's "These Are My Twisted Words"]
No Age, Converge and Torche tore up Saturday’s FYF Fest in Los Angeles. Mixing genres from metal to hardcore to punk, the festival, formerly known as Fuck Yeah Fest, aims to raise awareness for the California state parks system. SPIN has pictures of the mayhem as it unfolded this weekend. [Previous 20 Watts Coverage: Free NYC Dirty Projectors Show on July 19th]
– 20 Watts Staff
Filed under: Releases of the Week | Tags: apples in stereo, Elephant 6, elf power, hilarie sidney, Neutral Milk Hotel, of Montreal, powerpuff girls, robert schneider, The Beatles, the olivia tremor control, The Velvet Underground
The Apples in Stereo release a collection of their best work
PREVIEW: Download The Apples in Stereo “Energy” MP3
WE GIVE IT: 14/20 Watts
Whether you have heard of The Apples in Stereo because you are a hardcore indie music fan, or you just used to be addicted to their Powerpuff Girls promo song, there is no doubt as to this band’s musical genius. Consistently compared to The Velvet Underground and The Beatles, critics agree The Apples in Stereo aren’t like most bands today.
Emerging from The Elephant 6 Recording Company, a collective of American acts that included The Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, Elf Power, and of Montreal, The Apples in Stereo are most notorious for the radiant, cheery lyrics and bubbly, ’60s inspired resonance.
Finally, after over a year of inactivity, The Apples in Stereo are releasing #1 Hits Explosion. A compilation of the band’s most notorious singles and “hits,” it includes such releases as “Energy,” “Ruby,” “Signal in the Sky” and “The Rainbow” in its sixteen-track ensemble.
The album serves as a chronicle of the band’s evolution, exemplifying the sound and the direction they have been developing since the early ’90s. Despite it being full of the tracks we have grown to love, you can clearly hear the evolution in the sound, and technique to the fullest. (more…)
Filed under: Positive Jam Reviews, Uncategorized | Tags: The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, The Hold Steady, Stay Positive, Boys and Girls in America, Rubber Soul, Bon Jovi, Wanted Dead or Alive
The Hold Steady headline Positive Jam on Sept. 6
PREVIEW: Download The Hold Steady’s “Both Crosses” MP3
WE GIVE IT: 16/20 Watts
This review is part of 20 Watts’ exclusive Positive Jam coverage. Check out the rest here!
The Hold Steady’s newest album, Stay Positive, is the Brooklyn quintet’s fourth full-length venture into alcohol-tinged, rocking Americana music.
The band’s incorporation of both keyboards and guitars into its sound, as well as the storytelling ability of singer (or would “ranter” be a more appropriate title?) Craig Finn, has earned the band completely justified comparisons to the Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. Perhaps consequently, the band’s last release, 2006’s excellent Boys and Girls in America, became a smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
On Stay Positive, we get a lot of the same: arena-ready rocking with a healthy dose of small town, middle class memoirs. But we also get something new from them — a willingness to experiment with different sounds and song arrangements. Stay Positive is almost for The Hold Steady what Rubber Soul was to the Beatles: an album showcasing a band on the verge of something deeper while still sticking to its conventional songwriting format. (more…)
Filed under: Releases of the Week | Tags: Anthony Kiedis, Let It Be, Light, Matisyahu, The Beatles, Youth
Hasidic Jewish reggae singer Matisyahu releases his new album Light
PREVIEW: Download “On Nature” MP3
WE GIVE IT: 10/20 Watts
Matisyahu’s new album, Light, is more or less the exact antithesis of his previous breakout album, Youth.
Youth was one of the more refreshing listens of 2006 — a fun, catchy and free-flowing reggae album from the unlikeliest of sources — a Hasidic Jewish singer (real name Matthew Miller). Its identity may have been a bit unorthodox, but Miller seemed genuinely comfortable in his element, and ultimately gave us one of the year’s most consistent albums.
Now, three years later, we get Light, which not only sounds contrived and forced, but also, at first listen, seems to have been made by a completely different artist. Much of the natural reggae sound that made Miller’s earlier work so great has vanished, replaced instead with more hip-hop influences that don’t always work in the context of his songs.
While this approach has afforded Miller a fresh new library of beats to drive his songs (look no further than the opening track, “Smash Lies,” for proof), it has also brought a number of unwanted side effects, including some absolutely silly and overtly simplistic lyrical content.
In spite of it all, Light does showcase a few brilliant moments. The album’s centerpiece is “On Nature,” which ranks among Miller’s best songs to date. It’s an infectious piece of reggae-pop, and Miller delivers his environmentalist message (“We are men of nature / We are made from the earth”) with more passion than anything else on the album.
