Saturday, October 16, 2010

I Have Nothing "On Michael Jackson."


Saturdays are weird.  To whit, we just had in three young people in the 14-18 year old range, who collectively bought about 25-30 records, spending a total of $54.  Many were from our 99 cent or 5/$1 bin, obviously.  A sampling of what they bought:

Styx - II
George Thorogood - Bad to the Bone
OST - Fame
Air Supply - Greatest Hits
Alan Parsons Project - I, Robot
Hall and Oates - H2O
Wham - Make it Big
etc.

...and now I have 60 year olds wondering what a CocoRosie is, and if we "have anything on Michael Jackson," (which I diplomatically do not respond to sarcastically).  Saturday.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Watch Ariel Pink Play a Glowing Sewer Mutant

"Borrowed" from Pitchfork

Watch Ariel Pink Play a Glowing Sewer Mutant on Sci-Fi Internet Television Show "The Multinauts"













Earlier in the year, we reported that bedroom-pop kingpin Ariel Pink would make a cameo in an episode of "The Multinauts", a new internet sci-fi television series. The first episode of the series, titled "Flashback", features the Pink cameo and is now online. Pink actually plays two characters and gets a significant chunk of camera time in the episode.

"The Multinauts" is an affectionate parody of old zero-budget, amiably ludicrous sci-fi shows like "Doctor Who". It comes soaked in VHS fuzz and packed with knowingly awful special effects. There's also a mohawked, fetish-gear-bedecked villain named Oysters Rockafeller, which should give you some idea of what you're in for here.

Pink plays a glowing sewer mutant, delivering lines like, "The vibes are burning my cortex." He also dons some stupendously ridiculous headgear and performs his song "Flashback" with Haunted Graffiti at an interstellar dance party. I have to commend the band's professionalism; they keep playing even as a bloody lizard-monster attack kills most of the guests at the party. A character on the show calls them a "saga-wave" band, which, as genre descriptors go, isn't bad. As an actor, Pink is about on par with the rest of the show's cast, which means he probably won't step to an Oscar podium anytime soon.

You can watch the full episode below. Be warned: It could be considered NSFW, especially if you work in an office that frowns upon unbelievably fake-looking gore.



Posted by Tom Breihan on October 13, 2010 at 11:25 a.m.

Saturday, October 09, 2010

Superchunk - Majesty Shredding

"Borrowed" from Cokemachineglow



Superchunk

Majesty Shredding
(Merge; 2010) 
 
The members of Superchunk are getting older, yet their music hasn’t really aged since 1990. It’s still, impressively, music brimming with the urgency of youth. Majesty Shredding, their first album since 2001, represents a return to their classic sound following a period of experimentation in the late ’90s. It helps that they haven’t been collecting dust: Majesty Shredding is unbelievably fresh for a band whose members could conceivably have parented many of today’s young indie rockers. However, Superchunk’s seasoned professionalism manages to sneak through in the form of carefully controlled, airtight arrangements. The album is irresistibly catchy indie rock through and through, but a bit more chaos and less control could make it something great.
Majesty Shredding starts off with a bang and barely comes up for air throughout its full forty minutes. It’s relentlessly bouncy, from “Digging for Something”’s chorus of “Oh-oh-oh!” to the excellent, tightly wound “Crossed Wires.” The guitars are crunchy but clean, the leads stringently melodic, and lead singer Mac MaCaughan still projects a breathless, powerful wail. This may seem by the numbers, but Majesty Shredding is at its heart the sound of a band having fun, and loving what they do. There’s passion here, and it’s why the album holds up so well on repeat listens.
The best songs on the record are less pure pogo-ing pleasure and more anxious. “Fractures in Plaster” is a classic angst anthem, and “Learned to Surf,” with its two short and sweet verses, manages to turn a looping, repeated chorus into something interesting, changing emphasis and melody. “When I learned to walk,” MaCaughan sings, “you know humans roamed the earth / I can’t hold my breath anymore / I stopped sinking and learned to surf.” It’s these kind of slightly off-kilter generalities that Superchunk specializes in. While late-career reunion albums are often pigeonholed as reflections on aging, settling down, etc., the beauty of Superchunk is that it’s only as personal as it needs to be. These melodies and lyrics could be the soundtrack to anyone’s problems, and we’d all like to think they suit ours the best.
Majesty Shredding is an energetic return to form for Superchunk, and they’ve retained the sound that made them indie stars on records like No Pocky For Kitty (1991) and Foolish (1994). The band is less lo-fi and noisy, perhaps a little bit too precisely packaged. They’ve lost some of their rougher edges, but it doesn’t do as much damage as you might think. The passion is still there, surging through MaCaughan’s voice and Jack McCook’s guitar. And that’s what will keep listeners coming back to these indie rock survivors time and again.
:: myspace.com/superchunkmusic

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Belle and Sebastian contest

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Do you know how to write about love ? Are you a huge Belle & Sebastian fan ? Well, Think Indie and Matador records has a contest for you. The first 10 people to buy the new Belle & Sebastian download “Write About Love” out Oct 12 (Link will go live on that date) from Think Indie will get a code that allows them to enter a special contest. The code will be emailed to you after your purchase (not immediately, we aren’t NASA). The contest is a 300 word essay contest about love. The band will judge the entries. The winner will have Stuart Murdoch fly into your town. He will hang with you for the afternoon and then write a song about you. That song will be featured on a limited edition seven inch.


To recap, buy download, get code, click banner below and follow instructions. Good luck and good writing.


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