Wolf Parade - Call it a Ritual.

call it whatever you will. (ha!)

Wolf Parade - Call it a Ritual.

Beirut- Monna Pomona

I may as well rename this blog to the beirut blog. I'm sorry, but this song is really good. I know they are mostly all good. But this one is exceptional. Like a mix from his Joys of Losing Weight album and the Pompeii EP to something like Gulag overtones. Also, they are going on tour super soon. My ticket to the show just came in the mail today. Word to your mom.


Monna Pomona

Sunset Rubdown Live!

Sunset Rubdown Live!

Live At Neumo’s

Score: Good Christ!

It’s been a while. I’ve been working on projects no one cares about, etc. So I thought I’d post a shawty today. It’s Sunset Rubdown, you guys! Fuck. It’s so good. Sunset Rubdown came to town a while ago but I wasn’t old enough to go. That was the day my soul died.

ANYWAY, it’s live so you can expect all the drunken screams. Spencer (who is a God by the way) is surprisingly soft spoken. His wild yelps are no indication of his real voice, which is found odd. But my beautiful falsetto isn’t really indicative of my voice. So maybe it isn’t that weird.

There are some nice new tracks on here. So enjoy it, it will probably be a month or two before Sunset Rubdown’s next album leaks.

I’ll be heading to Sasquatch(!) on Friday, so I probably won’t post anything. But then again, I never post anything anyway. I’m really just padding this post to make myself feel better. I feel good now. Do you?

Sunset Rubdown Live At Neumos

Beirut - Small Time American Bats - Record Review...Sorta.

Beirut

Small Time American Bats.

Score: 7.5

There is almost nothing on the planet earth about this record. From what I can tell, it’s before Zach Condon started to get heavily into Balkan music. But it’s still good! When I heard that Beirut would be abandoning the big brass and moving in different directions I got worried. I loved the brass and the sweeping melodies that came with it. After listening to a lot of Zach’s different stuff, I can sleep easy at night. The Real People, the Pompeii EP, and now Small Time American Bats, show that he is actually a great musician, not just a one trick pony. Even though I love the fucking trick. So let’s get down to Small Time American Bats. I think I read that it was recorded in 2002 or 2003. A couple years before Gulag Orkestar shattered all of us. There are only THREE (3) songs on the record, which means your joy will be short lived.

The first track is called “The Fish Inside of Me,” and while it is good. It is probably the weakest track on the record. Ugh, listen. Fuck this track by track bullshit. I can really appreciate the low production values and simplicity of the record. With Gulag, etc. It was all about being grandiose, but on these tracks he is just a normal kid making music in his basement. There is piano, a guitar and a drum machine. Oh and Condon’s beautiful voice to drive it along. Like I said, there are only three tracks. After the first track, shit starts to heat up with the last two, “We covered the west in phone lines,” and “The electric show.” Both are magnificent. Apologies for the shortness, but you know how Beirut leaves me grasping for words.

Beirut - Small Time American Bats

Ben Gibbard! Live!

Ben Gibbard.

Live At The 9:30 Club In Washington.

Score: Cool!

Ben Gibbard has, and probably always will be, the man who saved my life. The man who wrested my body from the dark grips of “alternative music,” think Linkin Park. Oh! How I suffered! One day I was searching around the internet, thinking about how my musical life had really gone down hill lately. I mean, yes, there was hip-hop (which I still enjoy), but there was also that genre of music that can only be described as the “Nickelback” genre. This genre is so grotesque that I am loath to even speak its name aloud, much like the students of Hogwarts are stricken with fear at the very mention of the Dark Lord Voldemort (fuck, man the movie and book come out soon). ANYWAY, my MP3 device was filled to bursting with His Dark Materials. The Materials being, Nickelback, Theory of a Deadman, and, oh Jesus, Default.

Are you shivering too? The hairs on my neck are standing at attention, like soldiers hearing their call to arms. UGH, ANYWAY, listen. I was searching around on the internet, thinking that I needed some new fucking flavor. I was typing nonsensical things into Yahoo (my search engine of choice at the time) when POW, this website stood out among all others. EPITONIC. I liked to say it, it was catchy and it rolled off of my tongue with such ease! “Click it.” A voice whispered. I did as I was instructed, who was whispering in my ear was not important, that they kept blowing lightly on the nape of my neck, was.

So I clicked Epitonic. *Click* Here has been clicked. I am on their homepage, it is so vast, as vast as the Pacific Ocean. How the FUCK am I supposed to choose which band to listen to? Well, if you are like me (and I very much doubt that you are) you pick the band with the coolest name. I went through tons of bands, some of which I still like to this day, but nothing really gripped me. I couldn’t connect. There was Three Mile Pilot, which I liked, but not enough to don the armor of indie rock until my body could bear it no more. Then I saw them.

Death Cab For Cutie. Exquisite. I downloaded the two or three tracks that were offered on the free. It was like the coming of the Apocalypse. This band, Death Cab For Cutie, had entered my world and brought with it a wave of destruction. Ben Gibbard had raised a war horn to his lips and crooned gently into it, vaporizing my beloved “alternative rockers” one by one with each concussion blast of his eerily angelic voice. The track was “Photobooth,” and I’ll never forget how it made me feel that fateful summer, like four years ago?! Fucking ridiculous. I still remember how fresh it was and how I felt so rejuvenated after hearing it. Like, here is something genuinely delicious to listen to, my ears agree that it is scrumptious. I would be ridiculed for years for listening to Death Cab for Cutie and Bright Eyes or, until it caught on. Which is just happening now! Those were bleak times indeed.

Years later, I still love Death Cab for Cutie, not as intensely as I did all those years ago. But something about their songs still resonate with me. I listen to Death Cab for Cutie when I am in the throes of (what could be loosely defined as) passion.

SO, this live show was recorded at a club, and as is the case with clubs, there are people. Annoying people. You have been warned! Also, the recording is a little spotty in some parts, but all in all an enjoyable listen, I really like his banter. A little nerdy. But at “music is for eating” that is what we are about.

Oh, and look at his fucking glasses. I love this man.

PS. The file is fucking huge.

Ben Gibbard Live.

Beirut! LIVE! At SXSW

Blogger is being a bitch and not letting me upload a photo of Zach Condon blowing into his trumpet or whatever, because that's why he's usually doing in pictures. Pretty self explanatory here, just a live Beirut show I came across in my journey to collect all things Beirut. Enjoy.

NOTE: I've changed all my file hosting to sharebee just to see if anyone even fucking downloads this stuff. the results will no doubt be terrifying.

Beirut Live At SXSW!

Sunset Rubdown - We've Got Broken Eyes- Track Review

Sunset Rubdown

We've Got Broken Eyes

Score: 4/5

This one is a bit of a rarity, seeing as it isn’t found on any of the Sunset Rubdown LP’s or EP’s. I can’t understand this, because it is by far (arguably) one of the best Sunset Rubdown songs to date. In We’ve Got Broken Eyes, Krug sets the tone of the song early quickly piling up, otherwise annoying as hell noises, to make beautiful ones. Which is one of Krug’s seemingly endless talents, making things that would otherwise sound horrible and making it sound like replacing them with softer, more universally enjoyable noises would just be “ridonkulous” . Upon writing this review, I listened to the song heavily, never once understanding what exactly in Gods name, Krug is shrieking about. Except for “Lord, I think the city’s been hypnotized/kiddies got a lot of shit in their eyes.” Now that is the Krug we have grown to love, even if you do know the words, you still don’t know what (if anything) they are pertaining to. There are parts where I doubt he is even speaking a dialect which is recognizable in North America, or even the world. Maybe C3PO knows what the fuck he’s saying, maybe not. At one point in the song, it sounds like Krug is singing twice, with one voice, saying different things in the same tone, it is truly bizarre, but that is the real genius here. We’ve Got Broken Eyes is so bizarre and jangled that I don’t know what’s happening; I’m confused, scared, and at times hungry. All I know is that when the song is done (6:58) My ears are ringing with joy but my mind is a smoking ruin.

We've Got Broken Eyes

Beirut LIVE! at The Holocene.

Beirut

Live at The Holocene

Score: infinity.


As the title suggests, this is the wonderfully delicious, Beirut, oh, and they are fucking LIVE. I have said on many occasions that I would trade a significant body part for the utter delight of seeing Beirut live, hearing those tamborine jangles dancing around the room and into my ears, to see Zach Condon blow heavily into his trumpet, just to fucking live it.

The performance takes place in Portland Oregon, at The Holocene sometime in 2006, and it is incredible. I won't review it, but the recording is almost flawless and the acoustics are wondrous. The banter is where it really excels, pieces of the performance are solely dedicated to it. For die hard Beirut fans like myself, there is another treat, there are some new songs, like "Closing Song" and "Transatlantic" there are also some covers (I think, since I heard the same songs in "Borat") the covers are "Ederlezi" "Siki Siki Baba" and "Brazil"

Just enjoy it, love it, penetrate it in ways you have only seen in erotic cinema, etc.

Beirut Live at The Holocene

MC Frontalot - Nerdcore Rising - Record Review

MC Frontalot

Nerdcore Rising.

Score: 9.4

As a raging nerd, I have always called out for a savior, someone that would banish the darkness of sports and “good looks” someone I could idolize. Throughout highschool I could only look to myself for unwavering strength as a nerd that enjoyed videogames, acne, and geeking on the computron. I would quote Star Wars with a stunning regularity and would try and cast spells on my foes, and when that was unsuccessful, I blamed it on my lack of experience points. In grade 11 I stumbled upon two heroes named Gabe and Tycho, they were the masters behind the extremely popular gaming webcomic Penny Arcade. For two years(and to this day), every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I would sit in front of my computer screen and squeal with absolute delight, these two people understood my plight because, they too, had suffered as I was suffering. They were/are a beacon of hope to all of my people. But they introduced me to someone who was at a greater “level” than they were at, this man, nay, demi-god named (aliased) MC Frontalot.

Upon hearing Nerdcore Rising, my heart filled with a white, pure light. Its holy glow penetrating all layers of clothing, it shone for days and days. From that day on, I vowed to convert as many people as I could to the nerd persuasion. Brothers and sisters, heed my call!
Nerdcore Rising opens with “Charity Case” a song about how poor he is, because nerds hate spending money on data. Like a true nerd, he understands this taking jabs at the RIAA and acknowledging that most people got his record off bittorrent (fuck!) not to mention a shout out to GI Joe. After hearing this song, I genuinely wanted to buy MC Frontalot’s CD. This record wields that much power.

On Nerdcore Rising, MC Frontalot rhymes about everything from Goth Girls (in “Goth Girls”) the war in Iraq (in “Special Delivery”) and even Penny Arcade (in “Penny Arcade Theme” original!) I’m not doing a great job of describing the actual music, but that’s the beauty of MC Frontalot, the beat almost become secondary to the words, the lyrics are original, genuine and hilarious at times, if you aren’t a nerd, some of it won’t make sense, but all in all accessible to everyone.

Plus, as a man/boy who enjoys “indie rock” the song “Indier than Thou” is incredibly accurate when “The Front” croons “I’m so indie that my shirt don’t fit.” and “Hipsterism is a religion to which you gotta be devout, you must be seen as in between unpopular and hated or else get excommunicated.” So true, Front, so true.

Some people complain that the CD is just a more polished version of the older songs on his website, and that’s true, but there is nothing wrong with sounding more polished as long as your record isn’t some sort of grey paste. I’ll give it a spin. and when someone fronts as much as the front..fronts, I’ll give it two or three…million! hundred!

Nerdcore Rising.