Stop Okay Go

Skills Incarnate

++A quote from Broken West's Ross Flournoy:

"Now that some people know who we are, I don't feel like we have to come out with guns blazing and introduce every melody in the first five seconds of a song," he says. "These songs aren't as immediately catchy, but they're more rewarding because they build over time."

The Broken West:  Down In The Valley.mp3

++This isn't related to music but whatever...Seth Meyers talks about "Frenemy" and "Staycation" being added to the dictionary and laments the lack of love for "Fartface." I'd like to lobby for "Spam-pede" myself.

++Oh my my, Oh hell yes: Keller Williams, not be mistaken for the realty company Keller Williams, performs "Freaker by the Speaker" below. The acoustic guitarist, who sometimes defies description, will be playing NY, NY on the 11th.*.:

Keller Williams: Last Dance With Mary Jane.mp3

(*Be careful not to stare too long at the picture of Alan Parsons in the right sidebar. He will destroy us all.)

Are You Gonna Show Today?

-When you're Lenny Kravitz, who needs a swank South Beach pad when you work here??
Kravitz is the proprietor of a 2,500 square foot, state of the art recording studio...a magical realm where signatures sign themselves apparently.

-Figure out your NPR name.

-I love reading the highly creative, often repetitive, constantly reinvented (they are all "formerly" something else) names of bands performing at The Smell. Do the Coconut Coolouts (playing July 13th) ever play chill-outs and cookouts? Another favorite: Bipolar Bear. (July 18th).

Coconut Coolouts: (Please Don't Break Me Out of) Party Jail.mp3

Dog Days of Summer

For a little change of pace, let's take a cue from Gawker and see what the Twitterati are sayin'. I think it's some kind of FCC requirement that every story be related to the Twitter phenomenon this year.

• @Atrak: will be performing with Treasurefingers, Theophilus London and Dam Funk on varying dates all across the nation on the 10,000 lb Hamburger tour. They should be careful with that, because some dillweed out there will demand their money back if there isn't an actual 10,000 lb. hamburger presented each night (...or else I've been watching too many episodes of Judge Joe Brown.)
• @Cut_Chemist: went to see No Country and Badmeaningbad play IRL.
• @AmandaPalmer: is helping her friend retrieve a camera lost at a gathering of ninjas.
• @JusticeAlive: aka JusticeAllah aka J-Live recommends the book "Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity" by Hugh MacLeod.
• And, of course, the sometimes deep @JohnCMayer.

Theophilus London: Ultraviolet.mp3

Put Your Manos Al Aire

-A guy on KBig this morning said that the promiscuous Nelly Furtado is working on a new album called My Plan, which will be Spanish songs with Juanes. The guy on the radio complimented Furtado's stunning eyes saying that they are blazingly bright like the colors of a child's imagination. This is what I get for listening to the radio. The album comes out stateside on the 29th of September.

-Get Festy: One of my faves, the hypertalented manufacturer of mood music, RJD2, will be one of the headliners at this year's BEMF aka the Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival, happening on August 8th. He will be joined by THE Juan Maclean.

 

-Introducing: Listen to the soothing Afro-Peruvian sounds of Lima's Susana Baca. Her album Seis Poemas gets its official release on September 1st on Luaka Bop:

Susana Baca: La Canoa.mp3

Kitchen Sink Drama

Spank Rock did a show with the Black Lips last month where they announced that they'll soon be coming out with another full length, the first since their last album in 2006 Yoyoyoyo. Since then they've been keeping good company with Neon Neon, The Chemical Brothers and 2 Live Crew, among others. Here's something from this past year:

Heartsrevolution: Ultraviolence.mp3

About Love

-French rockers The Plasticines will be touring coast-to-coast with Cobra Starship. Their debut album About Love will be in stores on August 4th.

-Subterranean played this dreamily filmed video by the Noisettes for the song Never Forget You the other night. Noisettes make me forget that I'm getting kind of tired of retro:

-12 Music Bloggers Worth Following.

-From the list above: How To Experience Chuck Klosterman IV Without Buying It, Reading It, Or Pretending To Have Read It.
I wonder if this is one of those things like Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz where you can cue the music to line up with the book.

-Evan Rachel Wood told Bono to make his music less depressing and causes skull-crushing urges in Marilyn Manson.

-New Black Crowes.

-A band that did one of my favorite songs from a year or so back, Boys and Girls in Love, have a new album out called Welcome to the Walk Alone.

Broadcast News

The brothers Meese, crafters of "tight pop" have a new album, Broadcast, that came out yesterday. Could it be that there's a new emerging music scene in.. Denver? Hmm.

Meese: Taking The World On.mp3

Figures Sold Separately

If you're like me you're sitting at home watching Wipeout eating Goop G.O.R.P. and thinking that you want to say that you're a fan of Major Lazer but you're concerned about feeling buffoonish for not knowing all the members of the Major Lazer posse. There are a lot of them and it's easy to get confused. I KNOW! As they say in those vague pharmaceutical commercials, it is a source of anguish for millions of Americans. So I'ma break down the cast of characters:

• Major Lazer : According to Spin magazine, the cartoon "laser-limbed" vampire killer that serves as the inspiration for the latest project of producers Diplo and Switch.  Philadelphia native Diplo is probably best known for remixes like the one here and for being one of M.I.A's exes.

Besides the ever-present Santigold, the Major Lazer album Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do  has a host of cameos by largely Jamaican artists who value a good formal salutation before their name:

• Ms. Thing:  Real name Nateshia Linesay. Former cosmetologist known for her quick witted dancehall and hitting the top 10 in Jamaica.

• T.O.K.: The New York Times once called them "the world's greatest reggae dancehall boy band."
• Mr. Evil: Backed up Sean Paul in last year's Back It Up.
• Mr. Lexx: Rises in the morning, puts on pants and makes money everyday.
• Mr. Vegas: The more mellow, Maxi Priest guy in the bunch who here teams with Jamaican's answer to Ronnie Specter.
• Mister Mister: No association with the Major Lazer project whatsoever.

Recommended: (Major Lazer is on tour now.)

Major Lazer: Hold the Line.mp3

The English Lott

 

-Attention Montreal, there's a Stevie Wonder show close to you tomorrow night if Soul Strut is to be believed.

-Attention Houston: The charmingly named country band Clay Walker and the Largest Land Based Fireworks will be hosting a party for 4th of July. Oh excuse me that's not the name of this band,it really is a display of the largest land based fireworks.

-Best Coast's song Up All Night should be used in a romcom, right at the part in the middle where the boy has done something to mess things up with the girl and is looking forlornly out the rain-soaked window. Or, like, pretty much any Michael Cera movie.

-Aw heck...it's awful difficult to assign the easy blue-eyed soul label to someone, like Pixie Lott, when the video is in black and white. How's a hack writer to do her job?? The English Lott will be releasing her album will be releasing her album Turn It Up on September 9th and interestingly has another album coming out with Electronic Arts in simlish for the Sims 3.

Dance 123 Dance

Got this video from Pitchfork.tv obviously, from an album by David Pajo released in April of this year called Scream With Me. The album, available only on vinyl, is boiled down acoustic interpretations of Misfits songs. I'll cop to this being the first time I've heard of David Pajo who our source for today, The Decibel Tolls (thanks!), calls "the most important guitarist since the late 80s."

Listen to the two widely divergent versions and Pajo's precise pluckwork on The Insomnia Song, below.

The Misfits: Where Eagles Dare.mp3

Pajo: Where Eagles Dare.mp3

David Pajo: The Insomnia Song.mp3

Quickies

-Kellie Pickler and Kid Rock have supposedly been secretly dating for more than a year now. "Seems someone in the relationship might be a little embarrassed about breaking the news, we just can't decide who." Heh.

-U2 is doing both the music and casting for Spider-Man the Musical. Nice work on the picture, Rolling Stone.

The Nines Have It

 

The Shane Acker-directed, Tim Burton-produced film 9 comes out on 09.09.09, not so coincidentally.

The CGI/stop motion film about ragdolls or "stitch dolls" battling machines is not to be confused with the Daniel Day Lewis musical, called Nine, that also comes out this year.

I'm curious to see what bands will be on the soundtrack.  The trailer features "progressive rock outfit" Coheed and Cambria's song Welcome Home.

The band is currently on the "Heaven and Hell" tour with Ronnie James Dio.

Coheed and Cambria: Welcome Home.mp3

Undivided

 

VNV Nation will be playing Club Nokia this coming Saturday. Their name suits them well what with their impassioned, call-to-arms, nation-building sound reminiscent of, yup, Laibach, the Hold Steady, Springsteen or any other act that testosterone carriers bond over prior to administering what's scientifically known as "high fives."Then they up and throw in a bit of Bob Mould/Coldplay senstivity and electronica into the mix to create something a little unexpected.  (They even have a motto.)

VNV Nation: The Great Divide.mp3

Whatever Happened To

 

Hey speaking of a great vocal hook, I got this in the inbox yesterday: the Don Diablo remix of one of my all time favorite songs by the Roots featuring Cody Chesnutt, this time called The Seed 3.0.. all updated, sparkly and new-like and sheeet.

Why oh why does Cody not get used more? Thom Yorke likes him...that oughta be good for something...

Heads up London, Fresh Prince fan Don Diablo will play Glastonbury on the 28th.

Don Diablo vs. The Roots: The Seed 3.0. mp3

Designated Singer

Much as I love hip-hop, I still love the value of a good vocal interlude amid all the bluster and huffin' and puffin'. That's where the quiet storm of Matthew Santos comes in, threading his way into your brain. When Santos isn't punching up (his label boss) Lupe Fiasco's tracks, he heads his own folk project.

Pretty Much Amazing has Lupe's latest offering with Santos, Shining Down.

Lupe Fiasco (feat. Matthew Santos): Superstar.mp3