Filed under: Releases of the Week | Tags: Bob Marley, Ezra Koenig, M.I.A., The Very Best, Vampire Weekend
The Very Best's album delivers a fresh selection of afro-beat pop
PREVIEW: DOWNLOAD The Very Best’s “Warm Heart of Africa” (Ft. Ezra Koenig) MP3
WE GIVE IT: 14/20 Watts
The Very Best bring an eclectic and global sound to the scene with their new album Warm Heart of Africa. Fans of anyone from Vampire Weekend to Bob Marley will have no trouble falling in love with the voice of Esau Mwamwaya and the rhythmic beats provided by producers Johan Hugo and DJ Tron. This trio revives a sound that has been missing from music for decades.
While each song has a very different feel, the flow of the album as a whole is not disrupted. Boredom is not an option as the pace of the album moves from relaxing, to racy, from one song to the next. Unlike most artists in today’s afro-beat genre, this album provides a natural, rather than forced sound. Wirth this in mind, The Very Best do a perfect job in combining traditional African music with the modern twist it needs to be relevant. (more…)
Filed under: News of Note, Uncategorized | Tags: Jay Leno, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lady GaGa, Phil Selway, Pitchfork, Radiohad, Rihanna, Thom Yorke, Vampire Weekend, VMAs, Wilco
Kanye talks to Jay Leno the day after the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards
PREVIEW: Watch Kanye’s interview with Jay Leno and Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye’s performance of “Run This Town.”
After the Kanye West publicity stunt/VMA debacle Sunday night, the rapper sat down with Jay Leno on Monday and publicly apologized, Pitchfork reports. After giving a heartfelt apology, and shedding some tears when Leno asked West what his late mother would have thought of his disrespectful act, he performed “Run This Town” with Jay-Z and Rihanna. [Previous 20 Watts Coverage:20 Watts Reviews Jay-Z's "Run This Town"]
In other Kanye news, SPIN.COM reported that he and Lady Gaga would join forces and hit the road together this winter. The entire tour will comprise of 34 stops and it starts November 11 in Pheonix, AZ and will end on January 24 in Dallas, TX. The nearest Syracuse date is Buffalo, NY on December 20. If you saw Gaga’s VMA performance you know that this will literally be the craziest winter tour. [Previous 20 Watts Coverage: Lady Gaga's New Music Video/Short Film]
According to Pitchfork, Vampire Weekend has announced details regarding their second full-length album. The album entitled Contra, will be released January 12, 2010 and the tracklist is currently available on the band’s website. [Previous 20 Watts Coverage: 20 Watts Reviews Discovery's The LP]
NME.COM reports that Radiohead drummer Phil Selway will release a solo album. Selway will sing on the album and be joined by Wilco members Glenn Kotche and Pat Sanzone, solo-artist Lisa Germano and bass player Sebastian Steinberg. The albums release date is unknown at this point.
NME.COM also reports that Radiohead’s frontman, Thom Yorke, is set to perform “The Reckoner” after a showing of the new climate change film “The Age of Stupid.” The performance will occur via satellite transmission from a mysterious undisclosed location. [Previous 20 Watts Coverage: Radiohead Leak Track? "These Are My Twisted Words", Radiohead Wrote A Song That Would Suit A Funeral? No Way!!]
- 20 Watts Staff
Filed under: Editor Picks | Tags: Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend, Ra Ra Riot, Girl Talk, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Grizzly Bear, The National, All Points West, indie rock, Dirty Projectors, hip-hop, Jay-Z, Williamsburg Waterfront, Seasick Steve
Jay-Z is apparently a huge fan of Grizzly Bear
PREVIEW: Download Jay-Z’s “Run This Town” (Ft. Rihanna and Kanye West) MP3
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 20 Watts Reviews Jay-Z’s “Run This Town”
With Jay-Z prepping the release of his ridiculously hyped new album, The Blueprint 3, it’s surprising that he would have time to go to any concerts — much less Grizzly Bear’s free appearance on the Williamsburg Waterfront (previously graced by Girl Talk and Dirty Projectors this summer) this past Sunday, Aug. 30. However, the rapper did the 12,000 hipsters at the waterfront one better, by giving the indie rock scene one of the most notable stamps of approval it’s ever received:
“The thing I want to say to everyone — I hope this happens because it will push rap, it will push hip-hop to go even further — what the indie rock movement is doing right now is very inspiring. It felt like us in the beginning. These concerts, they’re not on the radio, no one hears about them, and there’s 12,000 people in attendance. And the music that they’re making and the connection they’re making to people is really inspiring. So, I hope that they have a run where they push hip-hop back a little bit, so it will force hip-hop to fight to make better music, because it can happen, because that’s what rap did to rock.” (MTV) (more…)
Filed under: Features, XCLUS!VES | Tags: All Points West, Jay-Z, Ra Ra Riot, The Knux, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeahs Yeahs
–Jett Wells
Filed under: Releases of the Week | Tags: Animal Collective, El Guincho, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, J-Kwon, Sigur Ros, tUnE-YaRdS, Vampire Weekend
Tune-Yards' Merrill Garbus separates herself from other 20-something DIYers with her debut Bird Brains EP
PREVIEW: Download tUnE-YaRdS’ “Sunlight” MP3
In today’s music world, do-it-yourselfers are no longer that novel. With Garage Band, file-sharing and internal microphones on every teen and 20-somethings’ laptop, pretty much anyone can throw a couple of songs together and release them upon the internet. Enter Merrill Garbus, the one-woman show that is tUnE-YaRdS. In the newly-crowded fields of basement experimental and noise-folk, respectively, it has become harder and harder to stand out amongst the rest. Yet Garbus, with just a handheld recorder, ukulele and some powerful, off-balance drum parts, has managed to separate herself in a big way.
The aforementioned drums are probably the main reason why Marriage Records picked up BiRd-BrAiNs, which started 2009 as a “pay what you want” release on tuneyards.com. Each song has a different texture and style, sampling genres from folk to electronic to hip-hop and more, but it’s the percussion parts that link them. Failing to fit any known time signatures, the drums swiftly fall on upbeats and downbeats, take large chunks of time off and then hit within half-seconds of the other. However, as the chaos increases throughout the album, those same beats, as off-kilter as we may perceive it all, are what keeps these tracks together. (more…)
Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot colab falls short
PREVIEW: Download Discovery’s “Orange Shirt” MP3
PREVIOUS DISCOVERY COVERAGE: Interview with Wes Miles of Discovery/Ra Ra Riot, Wes and Rostam in Discovery, Summer Playlist
If you’re looking for Vampire Weekend or Ra Ra Riot, trust me, this isn’t the place. Not to say that fans of either band will be completely lost when first wandering into Discovery’s LP, but it’s a far cry from the breakout debut albums both artists produced in 2008. Encouraged by their respective successes of the past year or so, Ra Ra Riot’s Wes Miles and Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij embarked on an electronic pop side project. The results are Discovery, a quirky, if not hip, tribute to everyone’s inner auto-tuner.
If there’s one thing LP does not do without, it’s energy. With the help of a few (and by a few, I mean a lot) of synths, Miles and Batmanglij harness each of their respective bands’ finer and more valiant moments, and channel it into coherent, downright giddy pop. And that’s what I can appreciate. The guys didn’t try to reinvent the wheel here. They just tried to take something they separately enjoyed and excelled at, and collectively apply it to a new, yet slightly similar medium. They know they’re not DJs, nor are they rap artists, pop superstars or synth demigods. Simply put, they’re just Wes and Rostam, and they enjoy making electronic music on the side (stressing the side, of course). (more…)
Filed under: Features, XCLUS!VES | Tags: Discovery, Ra Ra Riot, Vampire Weekend, Wes Miles
Wes Miles, famously known as the lead the singer of Ra Ra Riot and member of experimental-pop group Discovery, took time to talk with 20 Watts about his career and future ventures. Discovery’s debut album LP releases on July 7th (XL).
20W: How long have you and Rostam (from Vampire Weekend) been working on this album?
Wes: We started working on the album in 2005. We wanted to explore more pop music. It took four years to make it. It took so much time because when our other bands picked up the pace, there was less and less time to work on it.
20W: How did you two hook up?
Wes: Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend introduced us. We met on New Years going into 2004. We bonded over our love for vocal harmonies.
20W: Discovery’s sound is so much different than that of Ra Ra Riot or Vampire Weekend. How did this sound come about?
Wes: It’s always been an interest of mine. We wanted a different set of parameters, musically. We just wanted to record a album and not worry about going live. Before Rostam and I hooked up, I wanted to start a synth-pop band and Rostam wanted to start a hand-clap band. Those two were very inclusive of each other.
20W: Did you guys ever think ahead: what if this thing got really big?
Wes: We never thought about getting big. We want the best for the album, but we never thought about it.
20W: Is there a tour on the horizon?
Wes: We probably wouldn’t tour. If it got big enough, we’d work on a second album before that.
20W: Dirty Projector’s Angel Deradoorian guest performs on the album. What was your reaction when the band got in that car accident recently?
Wes: They what? I didn’t hear about that. I’m good friends with those guys.
20W: Is there a new Ra Ra Riot album coming up?
Wes: We are just starting to think about that. We’ll probably start at the end of the year and hopefully make a Spring 2010 release.
20W: What’s with the remix of Ra Ra Riot’s “Can You Tell” on the Discovery album?
Wes: It’s not really a remix or a cover. It’s just the second path of the same song. Rostam and I worked on that song before it became Ra Ra Riot’s song.
20W: Is this the first of many sideprojects for you?
Wes: It’s always fun to make music with new people. Maybe. There aren’t any other projects coming up, in particular.
20W: One last Ra Ra Riot question. Your new Fall tour is going to hit Ithaca, NY, but not Syracuse. What’s up?
Wes: We had a big show there in the spring. We didn’t want to overstay our welcome.
20W: You could never do that.
–Jett Wells
Filed under: Editor Picks, Industry News | Tags: Animal Collective, Passion Pit, Ra Ra Riot, Vampire Weekend
I feel like the biggest loser and don’t deserve to bare the honor of writing for 20 Watts because I totally missed this amazing turn of events. Wes from Ra Ra Riot and Rostam from Vampire Weekend are Discovery?! I noticed Discovery on the Stereogum playlist a month ago, and didn’t even realize it. I thought it was just some new electo pop duo with decent psyadelic rhythm, but now I’m absolutely shocked Wes and Rostam are behind this.
I only found out today after I recieved the record in my email box.
Despite my cluelessness, I’m more than happy to say that LP by Discovery is absolutely and and undeniably awesome. I’m biased being a Cuse alum and a total Ra Ra Riot fanatic, but LP kicks major ass. I’m on track 5 as I write this rave review, and it’s laced with Passion Pit-esque pop hits. Wes sings in all of them, including the remixed “Can You Tell,” which is magical at the very least. Except the track is renamed “Can You Discover?”
The sound is really similar to Passion Pit’s Reeling, which is also a great album, but LP shows a whole different side to Wes. There were rumors that Ra Ra Riot was eventually going to fizzle out with no new album in sight, but Discovery proves that Wes has an undying heart for playing music, and Wes is much more talented and versatile than I ever thought.
The songs have the same upbeat nature that Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot are known for. Discovery is way better than Vampire Weekend, because I don’t really care for light-weight afro-pop. Each song has a great bubbly dance beat and great synth-pop mixes with lots of Animal Collective sound experimentation, except Discovery is way more accessible and tangible. I’m not saying Discovery is better than Animal Collective…at least not yet.
The album comes out July 7th, and is destined to make more noise than Ra Ra Riot down the road. I’m saying it right now, Discovery could go farther if they stick to it. They can equally spar with Passion Pit in the ring, and Discovery has a much more marketable sound than Ra Ra Riot’s classical influence. Something tells me that this might be just a side project that Wes is just playing around with. Let’s hope he keeps it up.
Jett Wells, Reviews Editor
Filed under: Editor Picks, Features, On-Campus Artists, Scene Around Town, XCLUS!VES | Tags: bloc party, Girl Talk, Handsome Furs, Katy Perry, Kings of Leon, Lily Allen, M.I.A., MGMT, Phantogram, Ra Ra Riot, Vampire Weekend
Could M.I.A. perform at SU next year?
My buddy Nathan Mattise forwarded me this survey, formed by University Union, that might decide next year’s music headliners at SU. The list of possible headliners is ridiculous–it can’t be real.
As for possible headlining acts, it asks you to grade the following: MGMT, M.I.A., Kings of Leon, Vampire Weekend and others. It would be utterly amazing to land MGMT or M.I.A. for next year’s Juice Jam, but how could this be true? University Union has less money than ever and still falls short on SU concerts every year, despite getting Bloc Party and Ra Ra Riot for last year’s Juice Jam (which I missed because I was in London! God!).
It gets even more ridiculous when it asks us to grade the possible supporting acts. Hold your breath, because these are headlining-quality acts: Lily Allen, Handsome Furs, Girl Talk, Katy Perry, and others. Girl Talk, a supporting act???!! Are these guys nuts?! This alone slashes the credibility of the survey.
It’d be a miracle to land any of these names for next year, but don’t give your hopes up.
Just to be annoying, I added a request for Phantogram next year. Hey, you never know!!!
–Jett Wells, Reviews Editor
Filed under: Emerging Artists, Free 4 All | Tags: Chester French, Clinton Sparks, Common, Diddy, electro, Harvard, hip-hop, Interscope, Lady GaGa, Love The Future, mixtape, Pharrell, Talib Kweli, Vampire Weekend, Wale
Anxiously awaiting Chester French’s new album Love The Future (April 21, Interscope)? Do you have no clue who Chester French is? Either way, you must peep their free new mixtape, Jacques Jams, Vol. 1: Endurance. This star-studded jump-off is replete with retro appeal, but don’t let that fool you. Heavy electro and hip-hop influences give this mixtape a smooth shine and fresh new-car smell.
Curated by Boston native Clinton Sparks, the mix’s guest list includes such established and emerging figures as Diddy, Pharrell, Common, Talib Kweli, Bun B., Kardinal Offishall, Lady GaGa, and Wale. The list goes on! Stay posted, these Harvard grads are the Massachusetts answer to Columbia’s Vampire Weekend. Hey Bandersnatch, try getting these dudes soon before they’re too hot to handle!
– Trevor Kiv, Web Editor
