Here's how I imagine the formation of Ungdomskulen (Wiki). First, visualize the scene: a group of talented instrumentalists in Norway are weaning themselves on giants of metal to form a cover band, studiously perfecting songs from System of a Down, the Gothenburg sound, early Metallica, Black Sabbath, prog.
They can't really figure out their sound, so this is the natural default. All of a sudden, Arctic Monkeys, Built to Spill, Bloc Party and a swarm of other post-punk, dance-punk, new wave and indie-rock bands burst through the radio and these guys think it's hilarious. Then the metaphorical light-bulb over head moment.
"Let's make a parody of these guys framed within our metal and classic rock leanings. Let's make it amazing yet playful and better than the source."
And here we are...enjoying their newly released video for "Modern Drummer," a track off their 2007 LP Cry Baby. Video after the jump, but MP3 right here, right now.
Ungdomskulen - Modern Drummer
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Friday, April 18, 2008
Sound Off: Ungdomskulen
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Architecture in Helsinki: New Video, Remix
Given my propensity towards Blast, is it any wonder I also have a thing for big collectives of multi-instrumentalists with precious music and marching-band-like characteristics? In line with this, I adored Architecture In Helsinki's (Wiki) second LP In Case We Die.
Their third album suffered from some slumpage. But hey, don't let that deter you. They are still loads of fun live.
AIH also preimiere their video for "Like It Or Not" along with an El Guincho remix.
Video after the jump, MP3s right here baby.
Architecture in Helsinki - One Heavy February 2008
Architecture in Helsinki - Like It Or Not (El Guincho Remix)
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Rousing new Dan Deacon video
Pitchfork.tv obsession continues. Dan Deacon's new video for "Okie Dokie" off Spiderman of the Rings premieres today. Get at it. "Crystal Cat" has been up there for a while now.
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Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Blast! returns
So in another time, I was a marching band geek. I loved every second of it. Needless to say, when we heard about the musical Blast! (Wiki) making its way to the Kennedy Center in the early oughties, we snatched tickets post-haste.
It was a great spectacle, translating everything good about marching band (more specifically drum corps) into a tight, high-energy stage show. The deal is that drum corps participants in the Star of Indiana decided it was silly to accrue all these specific talents only to "age out" at 21, when you aren't allowed to march anymore. So they arranged Blast.
No hash-marks? No problem. They just drew a giant grid on the stage. It was truly a great show. But as fast as it exploded and won a Tony and an Emmy, it had faded. Blast returned with a whimpering puff of smoke in the form of the horribly under-publicized Blast II: Shockwave show.
Blast is again coming through, hoping third time is charmed like the first. They play 3 shows at the Lyric Apr 25 & 26. I am very curious to see if they have recaptured some of the first show's magic. Taste the glory in these 3 tracks from the official London album release. "Loss" is an epic heart-breaker, "Malagueña" sizzles with intensity and the arrangement of "Appalachian Spring" is absolutely electric. But hearing these tracks is only half the experience...check some spectacular video after the jump.
Blast! - Malagueña
Blast! - Appalachian Spring (Copland)
Blast! - Loss
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Air documentary! Free!
Fucking Air. I love them. Pitchfork.tv nails it again with another potentially great one-week exclusive.
And while I was over there, I stumbled upon everyone's favorite blog-lash victims, Vampire Weekend. Fuck the haters, "A-Punk" is a spectacularly addictive song. Check the P4K vid after the jump.
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Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Tilly and the Wall get their O faces ready
As close as your indie cred allows you to get to mainstream, multi-million dollar pop, Tilly & the Wall are set to drop their third release, the album O, this June. To help you get pumped and fill your ears with candy-coated catchy choruses, I present to you track 3 off O, the happily galloping romp that is "Cacophony."
Tilly and the Wall - Cacophony
And earlier this year, Tilly et al released this video for new single and limited 7" release, "Beat Control," on Stereogum.
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Tuesday, April 8, 2008
PitchforkTV, I give my you my productivity...
Damn you Pitchfork. You have me converted. I am officially never going to get anything done. This series of personal faves the Thermals playing on a rooftop in NYC just put me over the edge. I'm officially hooked. There's also a killer Radiohead performance.
Score: P4K=1, AS=0.
For those of you unaware, Pitchfork Media launched a new web-based 24-hour music channel called Pitchfork.tv for exclusive video content of all sorts relating to music, from music videos to live performances to documentaries. This must be how amazing MTV felt back when they actually used the channel for music.
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Monday, April 7, 2008
Neutral Milk Hotel tribute
One of the most universally revered artists to emerge from the nebulous genre of "indie" is Neutral Milk Hotel. Lead by the ever-elusive and mysterious Jeff Magnum, their music introduced some highly progressive elements into the indie world and characterized by their lush-yet-rickety, multi-instrumental sound, populated frequently by slightly off-key notes and Magnum's distinct fragile and raw vocals.
Simultaneously presaging and pioneering indie-folk, artists such as the Decemberists owe a certain debt to NMH (though they are not nearly as related as some detractors of Colin Meloy et al would have you believe).
Their criminally short career was capped by their second album, In the aeroplane over the sea, an opus that takes some artists decades, and some forever, to produce.
There are some truly gorgeous videos, my personal favorite probably being the minimalist "Two-headed boy II" and "Communist Daughter." If you can't find something in this melange to move you, you are truly a stone-cold heart.
Neutral Milk Hotel - Two-Headed Boy
Neutral Milk Hotel - Holland, 1945
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Sunday, March 30, 2008
Yelle: get your fille
I have a crush on a little French fille named Yelle. This is both a musical crush and a physical one. Emotionally...not so sure. How do the French just get electro and synth so much better than us?
Check video after the jump. Here are some tracks off her upcoming LP Pop Up, to be released this week!
Yelle - A Cause Des Garçons
Yelle - Je Veux Te Voir
Yelle - 85a
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Je Veux Te Voir
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Preview - Matt and Kim, The Death Set @ Lo-Fi Social Club
You should get your ass to this show. It is guaranteed to be ridiculous. Friday morning be damned, live for Thursday night. It will likely sell out AND be sweaty as all get-out. Be prepared for a spazz-dance workout, you wacky kids! This could be the show of the week. I highly recommend you pick up Matt and Kim's self-titled debut here and the Death Set's latest release Worldwide here.
But for now, take these complimentary magical, musical pills and get pumped:
Matt and Kim:
Matt and Kim - "No More Long Years"
Matt and Kim - "Verbs Before Nouns"
The Death Set:
The Death Set - "Negative Thinking"
The Death Set - "Impossible" (Dan Deacon Remix)
Are you ready to go bonkers?
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New Thrushes video for Heartbeats
New video from the kids in Thrushes in anticipation of their Heartbeats Remixed CD, coming out in May. Be sure to check em out, opening for Raveonettes this Friday at the Ottobar (info on flyer to the left).
While you're at it, check out our interview with the band and an MP3 of "Trees" here!
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Monday, March 17, 2008
Wye Oak in a Yaris at SXSW for Stereogum.
Our latest, Merge-signed hometown heroes Jenn and Andy of Wye Oak, get together with Stereogum and play "I Don't Feel Young" in the back of a Toyota Yaris tooling around Austin at SXSW. Check the video here.
Maybe I can get them to play "Family Glue" in my Scion tC.
Stay tuned for part 2 of our interview coming in the next few weeks.
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Thursday, March 13, 2008
Brother Ali @ The Ottobar
Writing about Brother Ali presents a problem. On the one hand I feel dwelling on his background undercuts his music; he even feared this, being so reluctant early on to discuss his race that some mistakenly reported him as African-American.
But on the other hand, an MC isn’t exactly a detached writer striving for Negative Capability. And as his career has progressed, Ali has been increasingly vocal about his Midwestern roots and what the region's artists have to offer compared to coastal hip-hop, as well as his race and background.
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So, quickly here are the Brother Ali factoids. He is a white Mid Westerner that raps, and by white I mean very white. In fact, Brother Ali is an albino, and legally blind as albinos tend to be. He is also a Muslim. I could speculate all day long how these factors may contribute to knowledge of outsider status and thus lyrics that are deeply introspective at times, but also full of braggadocio and ego.
Instead, let's look at his music. Ali's penchant for the "golden age" of hip-hop flavors his music with sound similar to oft-cited influence KRS-One and now-defunct and heavily old-school influenced Jurassic 5. He has a distinct, timeless-quality to his flow, a strong voice and great sense of lyrical timing.
His politically charged track "Uncle Sam Goddamn" has generated a flurry of press, including being featured as the August 2007 "Hip-Hop Quotable." The song has been opposed and criticized by many including the recording industry and most notably a cell-phone company that withdrew sponsorship, shortening part of Ali's tour.
The single "Take me home" has been received with less controversy, resulting in a music video in rotation at MTV. But how do I truly resolve the issue of Brother Ali’s music versus his press sheet bio? In the end, I’ll take the cop-out, and decide after his March 25 show at the Ottobar.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Desperate for Evil Urges from My Morning Jacket?
If you are anything like me, you are absolutely foaming at the mouth with anticipation for My Morning Jacket's upcoming release Evil Urges, salvation comes in the form of a YouTube-like stream of videos live from their recent stop in Houston.
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I'm Amazed
Highly Suspicious
Thank You Too
Sec Walkin
Aluminum Park
Smokin from Shootin
Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Part 2
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Album Review: Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
OK kids, get your giggles out. Yes, this duo from the UK, comprised of one Andrew Hung and one Benjamin John Power, is called Fuck Buttons (Wiki). Ludicrous name. But to the matter at hand. This week, a copy of their debut full-length called "Street Horrrsing" dropped in my mailbox and I popped it in for a listen.
If you aren't ready to be immersed and engulfed by sound, or despise repetition and noise, please turn this review off now.
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For those of you who stuck around, Fuck Buttons' debut album is 50 minutes of experimental aural immersion. It's like watching the sunrise at the end of the world perched on a precipice in some exotic mountain-range...or just running around the city on little-to-no sleep.
Their music combines abrasive and aggressive elements (muted-screech-and-scream vocals, driving tribal percussion) with the mesmerizing and soothing elements of looped synths or fuzzed-out static noise and drone. Often the effect is an odd, serene beauty laden with tension and dark undertones, as if a steady dirge in anticipation of the death of some unknown aspect of humanity.
Described as electro-psych-drone, Fuck Buttons deliver tracks that are well-metered and absolutely mesmerizing. But this is not music for the impatient. There are only 6 tracks on the album, with 5 clocking in at-or-above 8 minutes in length. Not so easily digested, the tracks individually don't necessarily blow you away. But when you sit and listen to the album in its entirety, the effect is profound.
The twinkling keys that begin the album on lead track "Sweet Love for Planet Earth" are a gentle, innocent introduction into Fuck Buttons' dystopic album and world. Their patent drone enters aligned with the keys, but eventually taking it over as the lead musical voice (one of their most effective techniques, blending drone). Wailing vocals lend a sense of turmoil beneath the swirling mix of drone and keys.
The simplest, shortest track "Ribs Out" is one of the most haunting I've heard in ages. It recalls some demonic ritual in the depths of an unknown rainforest with reverbing primal yelps and screams set upon a tribal beat that sounds like chattering bones are being used for drum sticks.
The much previewed and lauded first single "Bright Tomorrow" presents probably the most uplifting moments thanks to the bright keyboard line and major key drone that enters near the 3 minute mark. But eventually the track turns to a darker, more crushing drone that provides a perfect leads into the final track, "Colours Move." My personal favorite, this final track absolutely soars and destroys. The couplet of the last two tracks reminds me very much of Danny Boyle's 2007 film Sunshine, where a group of astronauts 50 years in the future attempts to re-ignite our dying sun.
And I couldn't think of a more appropriate parallel; Fuck Buttons very well may reignite the power of experimental and noise music for many and stand as a shining example of its versatility and viability. Fuck Buttons open for fellow noise-nik Caribou (Wiki) on March 21st when they hit Rock and Roll Hotel in DC. Their debut LP, Street Horrrsing drops in the States on March 18th.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Your metal spring in Baltimore
Okay, okay.
I'll be upfront - I know next to nothing about Metal. My boyfriend likes a bit of metal, so I can only recall names of CDs I see on our collective shelf. I can tell you what I like, but not really why. My credentials are next to none: I've seen Mastodon a handful of times. That's it.
Anyway, from what little I know, early May is going to be pretty big for Metal lovers in Baltimore.
Meshuggah (Sweden) , Ministry (Chicago, Illinois) , Hemlock
April 26th
Rams Head Live
Baroness (Savannah, Georgia), Converge (one of my personal favorites --A.S.), Genghis Tron, and The Red Chord
May 1st
Ottobar
Pelican (Chicago/LA), Circa Survive, Thrice
May 6th
Rams Head Live
(videos and such after the jump)
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Meshuggah - New Millenium Cynide Christ (the boyfriend's fav. Meshuggah song)
The whole song, with a youtube fanboy video can be seen/heard here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZvPM9D4hws
Ministry - Jesus Built My HotRod
Baroness - Wanderlust
Pelican's Last.fm website with lots of streaming MP3s (no videos)
This is what happened in 2003 when Converge played the Ottobar:
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
LO MOdA Live @ Creative Alliance
Part 2 of our exclusive recordings from the Wye Oak/LO MOdA show at Creative Alliance this past Saturday (courtesy of Jeff the Baltimore Taper). LO MOdA opened for Wye Oak with a fantastic set.
Their music is like the sinister and brooding lovechild of Fugazi, Q and Not U, Talking Heads, !!!. Kinetic bass, angular guitar work and definition-of-urgency vocals all laid atop a lush, exotic foundation poured by the drums and viola.
And at the Patterson, this provided the perfect soundtrack to the spliced clips from Turkish Star Wars projected onto the back wall.
Stream the set after the jump or download the MP3 or FLAC files. Thanks again to Jeff for excellent work.
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LO MOdA - The Plagiarist, Live @ C.A.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Wye Oak Interview (w/ Andy Stack, Jenn Wasner)
We here in Baltimore are fucking spoiled. I thought it couldn't get better than the Beach House release...but hell if Wye Oak didn't give an equally intense show for their final hometown show before SXSW and their return for If Children's Merge re-release party at the G-Spot.
Baltimore-based duo Wye Oak (formerly Monarch) played a spectacular live show at the Creative Alliance by Patterson Park this past Saturday. If you weren't there, fear not! Thanks to our newest friend the Baltimore Taper, we here at Aural States are hooking you up big time with an exclusive on a live recording of the show.
Stream Wye Oak's entire set below. Click song titles to download MP3s.
Wye Oak - Intro.mp3
Wye Oak - Please Concrete
Wye Oak - Warning
Wye Oak - Magic Johnson
Wye Oak - I Don't Feel Young
Wye Oak - Family Glue
Wye Oak - Mary Is Mary
Wye Oak - Half A Double Man
Wye Oak - Untitled
Wye Oak - I Want For Nothing
Wye Oak - Obituary
And to round things out, Andy and Jenn sat down, then moved around alot, with me before Lo Moda's set for part 1 of a 2-part interview. Read it after the jump. Read Part 2 here.
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Aural States- OK guys, let's start out with a little bio.
Jenn Wasner- We both grew up around Baltimore. Started playing music together in high school...just kind of in different bands. It wasn't until I guess a couple years ago...
Andy Stack- We went away for college, then came back.
JW- And then a couple years ago...we found ourselves both in Baltimore and decided to start a band. It started out two of us playing together, actively searching for other bandmates. But eventually realized it wasn't going to happen..but also we could do it our own way, just the two of us. With a little bit of work and effort. So, we've been playing as a 2-piece with drums, keyboard, bass, guitar. It seems to be going pretty well I guess. I dunno...what else as far as bio...We both live in Baltimore, Hampden now.
Aural States- Baltimore born-and-raised?
ASt/JW- Pretty much, in the suburbs earlier, but close enough.
AS- What's your musical background?
ASt- We both studied music at school. Like extracurricular kind of things, but nothing special.
JW- I took piano lessons for a long time.
ASt- I went to music college for a while...
AS- Where?
ASt- Berklee up in Boston. Lived there for a while, and now I'm finishing up at UMBC. Jenn was an English major.
JW- Yeah, I was kind of like...I took piano lessons but other than that I'm pretty much self-taught. I discovered myself.
AS- So you stated that you started as a duo, but were looking for others. Are you still looking to expand?
ASt- I don't think we're uniformly opposed to the idea. We work really well together (most of the time), we have a system in terms of the live sound now. In terms of recording the duo element isn't really limiting because we can track everything again.
JW- I think generally, for us right now, we really prefer to keep it small. As far as our schedules, it's already hard enough to find time to rehearse, practice, write and play when we're living in Hampden and there's just 2 people's schedules to coordinate. I can't imagine trying to incorporate a third person.
ASt- We've been in larger bands before, but it's just...pretty convenient at this point. We can tour on the cheap...
JW- and we both really know what kind of sound each other is going for, and how to ask for it. What each other is capable of. It works out being pretty easy to communicate where it's just the two of us.
AS- How much of that decision is connected to your romantic involvement?
JW- As far as playing together with others? I don't think it'd be really that hard...
ASt- We definitely play in groups with other people so it's not like that doesn't work. It's not like our personalities or personal lives clash with that...
JW- I think it's always gonna kinda be our songs. We have bands with other people, we play with them, but it's other people's songs. I think the only thing that qualifies this band as Wye Oak is that it's our music, our songs. I don't think if other people play with us that would really change that at all. But it was, from the get-go, just the two of us. And I think it will stay that way for a while.
AS- Is there any stylistic change for you when other people are added?
ASt- Definitely, but I think it depends more on the group. Our other main band we play in, Noble Lake, is a completely different sound. It's this psychedelic Americana stuff...pretty much all acoustic instrumentation.
JW- And it's great to have an opportunity to do something like that, to get time and have a hand in a lot of different sounds and styles. It really opens your perspective up to create things that, in your own music, you wouldn't necessarily do. And it's just fun! Like our set list tonight...some songs go one way stylistically, then there are others that go the opposite way.
AS- Tonight is mostly off If Children?
JW- Probably like half and half. If Children's been kicking around with us for a while so...
ASt- Even some of the new material doesn't feel new. We've been playing it for 5 or 6 months.
AS- So the Merge deal. Let's talk about how that happened. (Congrats by the way)
ASt- Thanks! It was a huge stroke of good luck. It was actually originally through the blogging community. We self-released some stuff and I did my best to sort of work some PR. Sent out a lot of emails that were extremely...
JW- You just did like a press machine gun...
ASt- Yeah, and I just tried to be as nice as I could, to try and make friends where it counted. We got written up by some really nice people and I guess Merge saw it and contacted us. They just kinda sat on it for a while and we never expected anything to happen. There were other possibilities were had planned out, other labels that were interested...
AS- But then...right after New Years...
JW- Pretty much out of nowhere, they sent us an email that was just like "We're still listening to the record an awful lot...how would you be interested in..."
AS- An email?!
JW- Yeah, just completely out of the blue. Literally that's how it happened.
ASt- And it's the kind of label that...it's the perfect place for us to be right now, obviously.
AS- They are based in NC right?
ASt- Yeah, in like Durham. But it seemed shocking to us...that a label...would just up and ask us over email. Without asking for like, nude pictures or something like that or wanting to know our police record.
AS- Or thinking..."oh man, someone's account got hacked."
JW- Yeah, like what is going on.
ASt- But they just did...
JW- It just goes to show how down to earth and cool they are.
ASt- Exactly, it's not a major label. Obviously they have financial interests and extremely successful bands, but they also are not running such an enormous corporate enterprise that they can't take chances on people like us. So we just got lucky with that.
JW- I feel like that's how it should be. If you like a band enough...but sometimes these days it doesn't really work that way. It's more about how many Myspace friends you have or how many hits your webpage gets. But they never really asked any of that stuff. They just said "We like your music." It's weird, it's fantastic, unexpected and really heartening. That alone made me feel very very comfortable with going into the agreement.
AS- How has it been? How has it influenced you? I read somewhere that you were nervous about them not having seen the live show, and it being too different from the record.
ASt- It scared the shit out of us. They hadn't seen the live show. We toured down through the South for the first time in January. We played for all them. They really liked it and now we're gonna do their SXSW show.
AS- Yeah, with Destroyer I saw that.
JW- It's...terrifying.
ASt- Yeah. So I mean, trepidation about the label has passed. Now it's just trepidation about being artists, continuing to make art that we can live with.
JW- I mean, I don't feel like they're putting us in directions that we don't want to go.
AS- The re-release of If Children, is that something you wanted?
ASt- That's what we wanted. They gave us that option...
JW- They asked us if we were even interested in doing that at all, and although its been around for a while and the songs are kind of old for us...we put so much time and so much of ourselves into making that record. And now, I want as many people to hear it as possible. I think it deserves to be heard and I couldn't turn that down. I couldn't say no to that. I'm thrilled that they were interested in it enough to put it out. It's great.
AS- Are you excited about SXSW?
JW/ASt- Yeah it's great!
JW- I've never really been to Austin, I've heard it's really cool. We were thinking about going last year, but...
ASt- It's expensive and if you don't have some name recognition...it's hard to get any shows.
JW- It's gonna be cool. They told us they are gonna take us to get really really good barbecue. It's absolutely mandatory. Looking forward to that.
AS- Great. So, let's talk a little bit about your process. "Where are the songs born?"
ASt- Very individually.
JW- Pretty isolated.
AS- For you, is it an actual process or is it something more spontaneous?
JW- The process is pretty separate. I've never really understood the idea of writing songs collectively. I've tried to do it before and it's never really worked.
ASt- It's too...I dunno...emotionally charged. It's like there's a vulnerability that goes along with writing...
JW- ...that you just don't feel comfortable exposing.
ASt- As close as you can be with somebody, I don't think either of us has ever felt that comfortable.
JW- We pretty much write em then bring em to...the group *laughs* and work out the arrangements together.
AS- Music or lyrics first?
JW- Depends. But I've found that since we started playing with this setup I've kind of started writing songs with the setup in mind. The idea of how we're gonna have to play it is always in the back of my mind. It changes the way the notes come out. If you try and do it one way, and you think that way works, then it's not gonna work. As soon as you start thinking too hard about it, the whole thing just goes completely out the window. You've got to be on the line of being serious about it but also somewhat relaxed, otherwise you can scare away the creative process if you're too uptight.
AS- How long did it take you to assemble the tracks for If Children?
JW- Maybe like a year.
ASt- Noooo. It took maybe 5 months.
JW- Felt like a year!
ASt- It was on and off. It was like October '05 to January '06.
AS- That's not bad at all.
ASt- Yeah, and that's with all the mixing. I did a little bit of remixing for the Merge release. Not every song, but a couple songs. Little sections of songs that we were so distraught about for the original release. Every last mistake...
JW- ...we hear a thousand times.
AS- What else is different on the Merge release?
ASt- "I don't feel young" is the biggest. But the average listener won't really hear any difference.
JW- It's pretty much the same. The art is the same, the name is different.
ASt- It's remastered but that's about it. And you know, they were into that.
JW- With the idea behind the re-release being to expand the audience.
AS- I think it's going to be received pretty well. For one, I feel like Pitchfork has almost adopted Baltimore as kind of this redheaded musical stepchild it wants to spotlight.
JW- I think you're right about that. A lot of sites have adopted Baltimore.
ASt- They definitely have, but there's just so many unknowables in a CD release you can't really be sure...
JW- I'm just thrilled to be associated with Merge so I'm not sweatin it. I'm excited and we haven't even started recording yet. Having this out gives us more time to work and record the new record.
ASt- I hope that it does well enough where the label feels justified in putting it out and...
AS- ...letting you guys do your stuff.
ASt- Yeah, we wanna keep it moving. We already have almost a record's worth of material.
AS- How is it stylistically compared to the old record?
JW- You'll hear some of it tonight! It's kind of all over the place. I feel like the last record was by no means every song that I've written in the last five years. For this new one, since we have more time to work with it, I feel like we can write songs, play them around, see how they fall. And if they're not up to snuff, we can pick and choose our favorite songs for the record. It takes a lot of pressure off. I don't have to be like "write an album...now!"
ASt- When we recorded If Children, a lot of the arrangements that ended up on the record came together through the recording process. We didn't go in with a final goal of where we wanted the song to go. I think we were expecting it to go the other direction for the new record. We've been playing with the duo setup for a while, we have a live show we are getting more comfortable with arrangements.
But as it turned out, we already did one recording session, and we ended up scrapping most of the material because we ended up coming back to the idea that even though we have the duo setup, we don't necessarily want that to transfer over to the record.
We want to rely on the studio for arranging and multitracking. To let different instruments come in. Instruments that you'd never see in the live show. Piano, upright bass. Instruments like that will definitely still come into the recordings but not the live show. It's just not practical.
AS- That actually hits on the last big thing I wanted to go through with you tonight. The difference between how you approach the live arrangements versus the recorded arrangements. Like you said, you have so many other voices/instruments in the studio...
ASt- In the studio we both play a bunch of instruments that don't work live. Like piano, upright, sax...maybe someday we'll have like 5 tour buses and we can fill up the music. I don't think we allow ourselves to think that way. It's so impractical to think of us...super huge band. We want to be able to be economical. We like having the smaller feel.
Maybe someday...but we don't feel like we're cutting ourselves short with just the two of us. If anything, it's a nice challenge to look at all the different ways you can expand the sound of the group without adding different members. It's also exhausting.
AS- Yeah, like when you are doing double duty on stage...
ASt- We played in some bigger groups with 5 or 6 different people at times. I loved it, I loved being able to focus on one thing. It lets you enjoy it more. When you both have a lot of variables to keep under control between songs, within songs, it's like a real mentally taxing thing to do.
AS- Do you think it brings you closer to the music in performance? It obviously changes your experience of playing the music.
ASt- Yeah. I mean, it's just different. The thing that probably brings us more into the music is that its our music, our songs. I mean mostly it's Jenn's songs, at least when we play live. We're both so connected to the songs we ultimately begin to be a mouthpiece for the music. All of the instrumentation, the way the million different amps and keyboards on-stage are all just to be able to get to the song. Which worries us. I think at first we thought there might be a little too much gimmick, like with what I do.
AS- Almost like people would shutdown and think "oh they're just showing off."
ASt- Yeah, and that's not the impression we want.
AS- How do you approach the live arrangements? How is the live experience different than the recorded?
ASt- Everything is more raw, everything is more immediate. You have the visual component of people playing it. It would take 10 people to re-create the album and we just don't have that. So we do double duty where we can, we try to do guitar stuff to make it sound fuller than it normally would be...
JW- You know, I've realized that it's important to remember that a song is a song. No matter how you play it, it should be able to be enjoyed. Whether its unplugged on an acoustic guitar or on stage with 10 people, it should still be the same song. We don't feel like we need to recreate the album live. We already captured that completely independent moment in time. And the live show is another thing in and of itself.
Continue to Part 2...
Friday, February 29, 2008
Black Cab Sessions are genius...and Beach House "Heart of Chambers" video
So...fancy yourself a Daytrotter fan? Well they've got nothing on these guys. Welcome to Thunderdome. The gauntlet has been laid, my dear friends.
The gist is this: grab your favorite indie artists, including Spoon, Daniel Johnston, Okkervil River the National, and Elvis Perkins...stick them in the back of a cab and have them play. Whilst driving around. Genius.
In other news...Beach House's record release went swimmingly last night at the G-Spot. Check out their latest video, just released, for track "Heart of Chambers" after the jump.
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Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Stars Interview (w/ Amy Milan)
Aural States- What impulses fuel your work? AS- How did the latest album materialize? AS- How do you feel it differs from your previous work? AS- Describe the general themes, as you see them. AS- You're lyrics are very much narrative-driven. What draws you to this structure of song-writing? Major lyrical influences? AS- There was a fairly well-publicized scuffle between Torquil and the Microsoft of indie-web-coverage, Pitchfork. What are your feelings on that situation now that things have cooled? AS- Torquil once commented that he thought the idea of pop was partly an exercise in the ridiculous, that "It should be simultaneously beautiful and profound and ridiculous." Could you say a little more about that concept and how you think this perception informs your brand of pop, specifically on the latest album? AS- You've mentioned a lot of your canonical influences like the Smiths and New Order, but what are some peers that you feel are really knocking it out of the park, in any genre? AS- How was your European tour? AS- Do you prefer international or North American tours? AS-Parting words for Baltimore-area fans and readers?
Stars are one of the many indie darlings spewing out of our more caring and common sensical neighbor to the north known as Canada.
Amy Milan (also of BSS), while touring in Australia, took a few brief moments to briefly, yet whimsically, answer some questions I emailed over to her.
See what she had to say/text/email, along with a few vids after the jump...
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Amy- Sad faces, alcohol, light, dark, death, sex
Amy- In bedrooms and basements. Late nights and forgiveness.
Amy- I never know how to answer that question-stars is a band that has a certain flavour that is present on all of our records. We love hooks.
Amy- Drug dealer love, sex love, gay footballer rough sex love, ambiguous sex, ambiguous desire.
Amy- People are interesting. Every person has a story that could break your heart.
Amy- Oh god, I honestly can’t even remember the whole thing.
Amy- Its ridiculous to care about two crack dealers who are in love. But it is the most beautiful thing in the world for them. It is ridiculous to have a sample in a keyboard called “sounds of time” but maybe in fact it IS the sound of time.
Amy- You go “domakesaythink”!
Amy- Lots of love from the peeps in the towns with many steeples.
Amy- I love it all.
AS- Have you played Baltimore?
Amy- NEVER!!!
Amy- The Wire is the best television show in history. I hope that Bunk comes to our show.
