Pop Culture Will Eat Itself » Music

Random Cover of the Week - Bon Iver Covers Okkervil River

Sean — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:31:32 +0000

Why is Bon Iver so cool? Because whether Justin is singing his own song or someone else’s, he puts every ounce of feeling and emotion into the performance and produces something genuine. Here he covers “Blue Tulip”, from Okkervil River’s latest album.

New Songs from The Broken West - “Auctioneer” and “Perfect Games”

Sean — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:31:22 +0000

Sunday Music Spotlight alums The Broken West are back. You may recall that they released their debut album, I Can’t Go On I’ll Go On, early in 2007, and their song “Down in the Valley” made our Best of 2007 list. Now they’re getting set to release their followup, Now or Heaven. It comes out September 9th on Merge Records, but you can hear two of the tracks right now:

“Perfect Games”

“Perfect Games” is just about a perfect pop song. It’s tight. It’s upbeat. And it’s got a hook that would give Peter Pan nightmares. These guys seem to have a knack for writing songs that get deeply embedded in your head and crawl out at random times…

“Auctioneer”

Slightly more chill than “Perfect Games”, but effective nonetheless. Is the piano riff sticky? Like a gecko in a glue factory.

Thanks to the good folks at Merge Records these aren’t the only two tracks check out before the official release. Head on over to their site to preview Now or Heaven and pre-order it.

Sunday Music Spotlight - Rose Hill Drive

Sean — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:57:30 +0000

Boulder, Colorado isn’t just for hippies anymore. A pair of brothers and a friend are rocking the patchouli stank right out of granola town. They rock so hard their neighbors signed a petition to kick them out of the neighborhood. And thus Rose Hill Drive hit the road and started their own private rock odyssey.

This odyssey has seen them open for The Who, Aerosmith, and Van Halen. Which is fitting because these bands represent the roots of the straight-ahead rock n’ roll that Rose Hill Drive is all about. A classic rock power trio, brothers Daniel and Jacob Sproul and friend Nathan Barnes grew up admiring these bands and soaked up the energy, swagger, and cajones required to play modern classic rock. The three formed Rose Hill Drive while they were still in high school in 2003. Only a few years later they have two albums under their belt, they’ve opened for their idols, and had Rolling Stone name them one of the 10 bands to watch in 2007.

This year saw the release of Moon is the New Earth, the band’s sophomore effort. It’s a solid album top to bottom, showing a range of musical and songwriting styles. These guys may be rooted in the past, but they’re clearly able to pull in more modern influences as well. Listening to the whole album it’s clear that Rose Hill Drive is more than just the sum of its influences.

“Altar Junkie”

“Altar Junkie” showcases two of the different sides of Rose Hill Drive. It’s a musical sandwich, with riff-based bread enveloping a meaty filling of tremolo guitars and vocal harmonies.

“Godfather”

Sounding less like The Who and more like Jet, “Godfather” shows some of the band’s modern sensibilities. It shows they’re not just classic rock sponges.

Videos

“Sneak Out”

“Trans Am”, Live

Links
Buy Moon Is the New Earth
MySpace
Official Site

Video for Calexico’s “Two Silver Trees”

Sean — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:44:55 +0000

Check out the video for “Two Silver Trees”, the first single from Calexico’s forthcoming album Carried to Dust. The album is due out September 9th.

Calexico - “Two Silver Trees”

Random Cover of the Week - Dylan Gets Uked

Sean — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:14:38 +0000

One of these days I’ll figure out my fascination with people covering songs on ukulele. Until then, let’s keep the madness going by seeing how the great Bob Dylan holds up to the uke treatment.

First up is our favorite teenage ukuleleist, Molly (aka SweetAfton23), with her take on “Don’t Think Twice, it’s Allright”

Next up is Boozelele with his take on “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”

Finally, Ken gives us “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”

RIP LeRoi Moore - Saxophonist for Dave Matthews Band

Sean — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:32:52 +0000

LeRoi Moore, the long-time saxophone player for Dave Matthews Band, died Monday at age 46. He suffered several injuries in a ATV accident in July, and died of sudden complications from those injuries. Moore was a founding member of the band, touring and performing with them since 1990.

I’ve discussed on this site before what a big fan of DMB I was in college. I have many great memories that are codependently intermingled with the band’s music: hearing certain songs brings back memories, and certain memories will get a song stuck in my head, without even hearing it. That makes this particularly sad news for me. By way of tribute, here’s what I think is his best solo ever put on an album, in the band’s classic cover of Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower”:

“All Along the Watchtower”

New Video from I’m From Barcelona

Sean — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:15:58 +0000

Last week we got an update from our favorite whistling Swedes. This week its our favorite misnamed Swedes. I’m From Barcelona is set to release a new album called WHO KILLED HARRY HOUDINI? on October 14th. But you don’t have to wait until then to get an idea what the album will be like. The video for the first single, “Paper Planes” is out now, and while it doesn’t have anything in common with the M.I.A. song, it does feature a sing-a-long chorus and some of the best elevator music you’ll ever hear.

More info at I’m From Barcelona’s site

Sunday Music Spotlight - Smile Down Upon Us

Sean — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 02:05:20 +0000

On the Sunday Music Spotlight we’ve had lots of groups who use MySpace to get the word out. We’ve even had groups whose members live in different countries. But Smile Down Upon Us ups the ante a bit. Not only do they use MySpace for publicity, they actually MET on MySpace. And not only do they live in different countries, they live on opposite ends of the world, and they’ve never actually met face-to-face. Yes, that’s right, they’ve never met in person. They’re truly the epitome of the possibilities collaboration via the internet. Oh yeah, and their music is good too.

The tale of this internet-age collaboration begins in London. Keiron Phelan, part of the duo Phelan Sheppard, had a little time on his hands while his partner, David Sheppard, was off writing a book. While poking around MySpace he found Japanese artist moomLooo and was impressed enough with her work to drop her a line. She wrote him back and the two started exchanging ideas. He wrestled Sheppard away from his Brian Eno biography and into a studio in the basement of a ukulele shop. They recorded tracks in ProTools and sent them off to moomLooo in Japan. She added her parts, files went back and forth, and 14 months later an album was born.

Listening to Smile Down Upon Us you’d never guess that the musicians knew nothing about each other when they created it. You would just think it was made by an eclectic band, keen on using a wide range of instruments and musical styles. This diversity adds to the distinctive vocal work moomLooo adds to the mix. She sounds at times like Bjork, able to capture a childlike innocence in her voice. The combination is full of paradoxes: it kind of sounds like other avant-garde pop groups, but manages to remain distinctive. It makes great background music, yet holds up to close listening. And it makes you want to know more about a band that doesn’t even know each other.

“My Body Continents”

One of the more up-tempo songs on the album, “My Body Continents” showcases the layering that runs through the majority of the songs.

“Child’s Walk”

If this song was an instrumental it would be very good. The flute, guitar, organ, and drum intro is great. But then the vocals kick in about 2 minutes in and push it from very good to great.

Videos
“A Girl of Skin Couloured Blanket”

“Rayla No Lullaby”

Links
Buy Smile Down Upon Us
Official Site
Smile Down Upon Us on MySpace
Phelan and Sheppard on MySpace
moomLooo on MySpace

New Song from Peter, Bjorn & John

Sean — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 02:18:22 +0000

Everyone’s favorite whistling Swedes are back. Peter, Bjorn & John’s single “Young Folks” was seemingly everywhere last year, and the band will have a tough time topping it. Their new album, Seaside Rock, is due out September 23rd, but you can hear a song from it now. “Inland Empire”, like much of the album, is essentially an instrumental. And it’s totally different than “Young Folks”. Good, but different. Check it out:

via StereoGum

Video for The Bowerbirds’ “In Our Talons”

Sean — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:56:54 +0000

You may remember The Bowerbirds from a Sunday Music Spotlight feature last year. If not, let me catch you up real quick. Last year I went to see The Rosebuds in DC, with no real idea who the opening bands were. When the second band setup all they had was an accordion, a violin, a bass drum, and an acoustic guitar. A little odd to say the least, and I certainly had my doubts about what was about to happen. Those doubts went away as soon as they started playing.

Their album Hymns for a Dark Horse came in at number seven on my Top 10 Albums of 2007. Their song “In Our Talons” ended up at number 19 on the songs of the year list. The band just released this video for the song: