Are coming to a town near you, and are definitely worth seeing. They will be participating in the North bu Northeast music fest in Toronto this year from June 14-20, as well as making a pit stop in Buffalo on the 16th. I really dig their creepy take on folk rock.
Soooo the onslaught of trendy hipster driven, progressive indie rock performed by "art school" graduates spewing out of lofts in Williamsburg Brooklyn has grown exponentially in the last few years. Ever since LCD Soundsystem labeled it the place to be back in '05, music magazines everywhere have taken those 20 something blood suckers living off their parents money with wispy mustaches just a little more seriously. Some of it has been good (MGMT, Chairlift, Grizzly Bear) some of it has been horrible (Nurses, Suckers....a ton more). Anyways Fang Island falls into the second category. They are (of course) art school graduates, who I think try to "ironically" poke fun at their undergraduate degrees by making insanely weird videos to go with their increasingly annoying take on electronic indie rock. They take a little from LCD Soundsystem, a little from Empire of the Sun, Arcade Fire...and then they put a guy with a voice so nasal, he would make Matt from Matt and Kim, and Elvis Costello blush. Is it just me, or is the Brooklyn scene playing itself out? At least temporarily, with indie rock now hitting the mainstream (I mean it now wins "awards" on MTV) this also means "indie" itself has lost most of it's meaning. So is this their response? to produce something soooo "avantgarde" and artsy only the most hipster of hipsters will be able to sit down with the LP (on vinyl of course) and in the comfort of their loft/ studio apartment and play it at some house party as they all lay around and drink PBR? And with that note I'm even making fun of myself...I love PBR...and have been consistently called a hipster on a number of occasions (but neglecting my own hypocrisy), but even I can see through the ridiculous "indie" facade all these bands play to, if only to get a few nods from the independent music magazines...who are usually written by the same people anyway. End of rant.
And of course Pitchfork loves them. Surprise surprise.
Representing Gary Indiana, now relocated to Southern California, Gibbs has been releasing mixtapes since 2009. Although he has been compared to late industry greats (most notably Tupac Shakur) I think it's too early to draw comaprisons. However, that does mean I think Gibbs isn't woth paying attention to, quite the contary actually. With the re-emergence of lyricists in the hip hop industry (Skyzoo, B.o.B, Wiz Khalifa, J. Cole among others) Gibbs and his contemporaries have been shaking the industry at its core which is exactly the jolt hip pop needs right now. Hip Hop is well overdue for a revolution.
And did I mention that Pill is also featured on this track? That's another name you should become familiar with...
This album mashes up South Korean songs that I have (probably) posted on a guilty pleasure list or two with American pop and alternative rock staples. It's pretty awesome...
Tracklist: 01. Lolliphone 2 (Big Bang vs. Lady Gaga) 02. Run Up Run (Girls’ Generation vs. Muse) 03. Try To Say Aha (2NE1 vs. Santigold) 04. Wanna A Rude Boy (KARA vs. Rihanna) 05. Yours and I (Park Bom vs. Jason Mraz) 06. We Walk Because Of You (After School vs The Ting Tings) 07. Smooth Criminal Is Coming (Rain vs. Michael Jackson) 08. Because I’m Beautiful (SS501 vs. Akon) 09. One At A Time (TaeYang vs. Justin Bieber) 10. Sorry, Smells Like Easy Ding Dong (U-KISS vs. SHINee vs. Super Junior vs. Nirvana) BONUS TRACK 11. Burning Abracadabra FIRE (Brown Eyed Girls vs. 2NE1 vs. Sean Kingston)
I have been jamming to this song for a while but never remembered to post it on the blog! as you may know (also I have posted a ton of her stuff already) Robyn is releasing a new album this year, and I'm a tad obsessed with her, however I am also slightly obsessed with Erik Hassle (I posted one of his songs on my best of 2009 playlist) and Ellie Goulding who will most definitely be on my best of 2010 list! This cover is so beautiful and Erik and Ellie definitely make the song their own.
Do you remember the early 2000s when female singer-songwriters were all the rage? We had Michelle Branch, Vanessa Carlton and Rachel Yamagata, Priscilla Ahn...well you can add Sara Jaffe to that list. She makes pleasent introspective music...and Paste Magazine apparently likes her a lot. I find her easy to listen to, she hasn't blown me away yet like say "Laura Marling" has or anything but I will be patient with her. She definitely has some talent to work with.
They came to Buffalo with Laura Marling...and I didn't get to see them! I'm kinda bummed out, expect to hear much more from these guys throughout the year. I have been listening to them non-stop for this entire week.
I am so stoked I found this! I loved Yelle when she broke out with this French dance anthem (Cause des Garcons)...and now Robyn has done a cover of it? Epic! Andd Yelle has done a cover of Robyn's "Whose that Girl" I'm freaking out.
"Fembot" "None of Dem" and "Dancing on my Own" are the newest tracks released by Robyn for her latest album "Body Talk Part 1" (release date is sometime in June). I am pretty stoked, Robyn is probably my favorite solo artist. It's a bit more electronic than her last album, which is saying something since she definitely used "The Knife" and other notable producers on her last album. I do miss Robyn's more "soulful" vocal presentation like on the last album, however the beats on these latest tracks are pretty raw. If you are going to listen to one track and only one, make it "Dancing on my Own" it's pretty obvious this is going to be the first single, mostly because it's the catchiest.
It has been about 3 months maybe even more since I created one of these lists, why? Because I haven't been listening to ANY Korean pop at all...my musical diet has consisted of angry West Coast rap and mellow indie folk rock for the last few months...but I'm tired of that now, and have have been craving something lighter. Plus I missed airing my dirty musical laundry over the Internet.
Girls' Generation - Run Devil Run if you can remember, I posted Girls' Generation's "Oh!" a while ago (and it's also quite an addicting song. anyways the MV for "oh!" had the girls running around in cheerleader uniforms acting like stereotypical "girls" which I semi resented, but the song was so good, I ignored the obvious "gender" roles. Anyways this song, which is equally addicting changes things up and has the girls as the alternate 'bad girls.' I like. I will also post "Oh!" below.
KARA - Lupin You have no idea how happy I am that KARA have returned to their bad girl roots...the cutsey image was beginning to annoy me.
TVXQ! - Mirotic So yeah...haven't been listening to K-pop for a minute and boy do I miss the horrible haircuts and cheesy dance routines, I'm sort of nostalgic haha.
2NE1 - Follow Me It's no secret that I'm obsessed with the group, and I will freely admit this in public. The South Korean "TLC?" I think so.
T-ARA - I Go Crazy Because of You As you can imagine, I haven't been following K-pop for a few months...so there is a ton of stuff I'm listening to now...and I HATED Bo-Peep, but I love this.
After School - Bang You know what I miss most from K-pop? The horrible misplacement of English words...this song covers it.
Lee Hyori - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang I missed Lee Hyori, and she's back just in time for me to get reacquainted with K-Pop...perfect. Although I could do without the "Lady Gaga" inspired hair. Digging the song though.
Gummy - There is no Love Ok, on a more errm "serious" note, Gummy is an older South Korean artist that I really like on a not so superficial level. In fact she has a very strong, fresh voice and sound.
Ahhh May is upon us! And "TheMusicGeeK" is a little over a year old! Quite fantastic i must say, but of course I wouldn't still be blogging if it wasn't for readers! And I want to thank everyone who has ever even GLANCED at my humble blogspot address. Now for this month's playlist: The Joy Formidable - The Whirring As my friend Shelly would say "oh man this is sooooo you" and you know what? she's right....
All Get Out - Water and God Imagine if folk Rock used amps.
Lupe Fiasco - I'm Beamin I am waiting on his album to drop (Lasers) until then...we have this.
Tiesto VS BLK JKS - Dreaming Made right before FIFA World Cup South Africa, this global collaboration is pretty radical.
Pearl and the Puppets - Because I Do Maybe not cutting edge, or experimental, but I do like her voice, and the song is sweet.
Keane and K'naan - Stop for a Minute A rad collaboration between 2 of my favorite musical acts that start with the letter K.
