Yesterday, Eels released the second music video from their latest album, Tomorrow Morning. The new video, for 'Baby Loves Me', has a really quirky and low-budget feel to it, a big contrast to the high-production and completely awesome video they released for 'Spectacular Girl' back in July. You can watch them both out below, and be sure to check out the whole new album - I personally think it's the best music (frontman) E has made in years.
What a guy.
mp3: Eels - Baby Loves Me
An unusual Eels video, but possibly one of my all-time favorites from the band's 15-year career. Love the combination of the songs innocent lyrics/sound and the video's plot.
mp3: Eels - Spectacular Girl
Showing posts with label alternative. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alternative. Show all posts
September 23, 2010
Eels videos from Tomorrow Morning
Etiketter:
2010 albums,
alternative,
US,
video,
vizitrone
- mp3: Animal Collective - Leaf House. From Sung Tongs, 2004
- mp3: Dirty Projectors - Gimme Gimme Gimme. From Rise Above, 2007
- mp3: Yeasayer - Ambling Alp. From Odd Blood, 2010
- mp3: MGMT - Congratulations. From Congratulations, 2010
What do all the above songs have in common?
They were all made in Brooklyn! Although it is New York's most populous borough, it still amazes me how much good alternative music has been made within the confined space of these 70 square miles in recent years. I remember there was a lot of buzz about Brooklyn's alternative music scene around 07/08, and in the past two years several of the bands from that period have reached out to bigger and bigger masses, achieving world stardom - like the above four bands.
Animal Collective have since moved away from Brooklyn, though, appearently being tired of the whole place and its people - which they made a point of in their song 'For Reverend Green' (my favorite Animal Collective song, off 2007's Strawberry Jam), where they depicted Brooklyners as 'wasted' and 'depressed'. MGMT have stayed in Brooklyn, but recently announced that "If the fabled Brooklyn music scene does exist, we're definitely not part of it".
The Hundred In The Hands
But there are still numerous interesting new bands emerging from Brooklyn's vibrant music scene today. My most recent discovery is The Hundred In The Hands. This indie pop boy-girl duo lists accessible pop music such as the Kinks, Beatles and Michael Jackson as their main inspiration, something that was evident on the first few songs they recorded. On their debut EP This Desert, however - which is out on May 18 - they showcase a more "ethereal, gauzy side" of their tastes (to quote the band).
To me, the darker soundscape, vocal style and drum machines are slightly reminiscent of the best moments of Ladytron. Ghosts (my favorite track off the EP), with its downtempo, dark but soothing sound, should also be perfect for anyone who loved the XX's debut album and is looking for something new in the same mood. The rest of the EP wanders between different styles, but always combining guitar and coldish electronic sounds in a way that brings artists like New Order, The Cure and (the already mentioned) Ladytron to mind. Check them out for yourself, and I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do!
mp3: The Hundred In The Hands - Ghosts
April 27, 2010
New video: Mew - Beach
Etiketter:
alternative,
danish,
dream pop,
scandinavian,
video,
vizitrone
Mew's official music video for the track 'Beach', off their 2009 album No More Stories Are Told Today I'm Sorry They Washed Away No More Stories The World Is Grey I'm Tired Let's Wash Away, is finally out!
mp3: Mew - Beach(alternate download link)
The members of Danish dream pop / alternative rock band Mew first met each other in the early nineties, when the four founding members worked together on a 7th grade art project. Their project consisted of an art film combining self-composed music with self-recorded video, and was a strong hint of what to come - lead singer Jonas Bjerre still loves to combine video and music in interesting and artistic ways, something Mew fans all over the world know to appreciate.
In all their live shows, bizarre and fascinating backdrop videos always run behind the band for the entirety of the show. These are actually all made by Bjerre personally, who in the meantime between directing his 7th grade art video and breaking through internationally with Mew in 2003 actually for a period also worked professionally with post-production and special effects. For an example of Bjerre's work, check out the absolutely stunning backdrop video for 'Comforting Sounds' (if you're impatient, 4:20 is when the magic begins).
Although Bjerre doesn't produce the official music videos for the band himself, the world is always in for a treat when a new Mew music video is released nonetheless. Due to the band's love for interesting and experimental imagery, they always work with really interesting young up-and-coming directors. 'Beach' was directed by 29 year old Danish director Lasse Martinussen, who also did their last video (Repeaterbeater), and it's truly bizarre and unique - in that special Mew way.
While Beach arguably is the most straigthforward, sweet and bright song on the album, almost naive-sounding compared to other tracks such as the dark New Terrain or the complex and labyrinthian Introducing Palace Players (my absolute favorite track of 2009!), the video is far from naive and sweet. The cheerful song, compared with dark, perplexing and unnerving images, makes for a fantastic music video that makes me once again reconfirm my deep love for these Danish pop geniuses. Enjoy!
mp3: Mew - Beach(alternate download link)
The members of Danish dream pop / alternative rock band Mew first met each other in the early nineties, when the four founding members worked together on a 7th grade art project. Their project consisted of an art film combining self-composed music with self-recorded video, and was a strong hint of what to come - lead singer Jonas Bjerre still loves to combine video and music in interesting and artistic ways, something Mew fans all over the world know to appreciate.
In all their live shows, bizarre and fascinating backdrop videos always run behind the band for the entirety of the show. These are actually all made by Bjerre personally, who in the meantime between directing his 7th grade art video and breaking through internationally with Mew in 2003 actually for a period also worked professionally with post-production and special effects. For an example of Bjerre's work, check out the absolutely stunning backdrop video for 'Comforting Sounds' (if you're impatient, 4:20 is when the magic begins).
Although Bjerre doesn't produce the official music videos for the band himself, the world is always in for a treat when a new Mew music video is released nonetheless. Due to the band's love for interesting and experimental imagery, they always work with really interesting young up-and-coming directors. 'Beach' was directed by 29 year old Danish director Lasse Martinussen, who also did their last video (Repeaterbeater), and it's truly bizarre and unique - in that special Mew way.
While Beach arguably is the most straigthforward, sweet and bright song on the album, almost naive-sounding compared to other tracks such as the dark New Terrain or the complex and labyrinthian Introducing Palace Players (my absolute favorite track of 2009!), the video is far from naive and sweet. The cheerful song, compared with dark, perplexing and unnerving images, makes for a fantastic music video that makes me once again reconfirm my deep love for these Danish pop geniuses. Enjoy!
- mp3: Eels - I Write the B-Sides
- mp3: Eels - Hidden Track
- mp3: Eels - Jehova's Witness
- mp3: Eels - Rotten World Blues
Keeping it simple - here's Eels' Rotten World Blues EP (2002). Eels hardly need any introduction, but if you'd still like one, here's my introduction that I wrote for Esoteric Mumblings earlier.
The four songs on this EP are from the Souljacker sessions, which was the most hard-rocking period in Eels' career so far. While Eels frontman Mr. E these days most often writes out of moods such as loneliness, nostalgia and grief, accompanied by the piano and acoustic guitars (though sometimes in combination with electric), the tracks on this EP are written more out of annoyance, anger or a desire to just 'rock out' with electric guitars, like E probably would put it himself.
Jehova's witness, leave me alone!!
Jehova's witness, I'm not at home!
- Gorillaz - Some Kind of Nature (feat. Lou Reed)
- The Velvet Underground - I'm Waiting for the Man
- The Velvet Underground - Heroin
- The Velvet Underground - Here She Comes Now
- Lou Reed - Vicious
- Lou Reed - Street Hassle
Like practically every other person on the planet, I like Gorillaz' new album Plastic Beach. There are a lot of great tracks, but the one that stands out the most to me definitely is Some Kind of Nature featuring Lou Reed. I'm a huge Velvet Underground and Lou Reed fan, and had high expectations to the track ever since I first saw it on early Plastic Beach tracklists. Hearing one of my musical heroes rap for what must be the first time in his long career was simply awesome, and the track is overall really catchy and sweet.
My addiction to Some Kind of Nature has brought me back into one of my Velvet Underground / Lou Reed periods, and I'm constantly listening to them again. Here are some of my favorite Reed tracks of all time:
From The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)The Velvet Underground - I'm Waiting for the Man
The Velvet Underground - Heroin
In my two favorite tracks on the album, Reed does exactly what made the whole album famous - he very frankly, explicitly and nonchalantly explores themes that until them had been almost non-existant in 'pop' music, such as drug abuse.
From White Light / White Heat (1968)The Velvet Underground - Here She Comes Now
Here She Comes now, from the Velvet Undergound's second album, is one of my favorite slower and 'nicer' tracks by the band. The beautiful little tune is drastically different from the heavier Waiting for the Man and Heroin, but showcases the same amazing songwriting talent.
From Transformer (1972)Lou Reed - Vicious
After the Velvet Underground disbanded in the early seventies, Reed made the solo album Transformer, where he explored more accessible pop and glam sides of himself. The album is the most famous for the major hit "Perfect Day", but my personal favorite is the powerful and feisty "Vicious". So full of attitude, and apparently inspired by Andy Warhol, who once told Lou Reed that he 'should make a song about someone vicious'.
From Street Hassle (1978)Lou Reed - Street Hassle
The title track of Reed's 1978 solo album Street Hassle is a wonderful example of his lyrical talents - essentially an epic 11-minute long poem reading of rough New York underworld social realism poetry set to guitars. The long song is split into three parts - "Waltzing Matilda," "Street Hassle," and "Slipaway", and features Bruce Springsteen on vocals for a short while on the final third part. Amazing and powerful track.
As a musician, you're bound to meet a lot of 'interesting' and 'alternative' people. While most 'interesting' people are great and fun to be with, we all know that some of them are just plain annoying. And incredibly pretentious. Imagine then, that you're not only a musician, but even a 'alternative' or 'indie' musician - you surely must be regularly dealing with masses of annoying 'alternative'/'interesting' people – both amongst your social network/scene and amongst your own fans. And it really seems like this is frustrating certain musicians a lot, at least judging by the lyrics of the six songs I'm presenting you today.
What kind of 'alternative' people really get on the nerves of the songwriters of Beck, CSS, Eels, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, of Montreal and Wilco? Let's find out, and let's indulge in some of the most sarcastic and satiric song lyrics out there, filled with genuine contempt and strong suppressed pent-up annoyance which must have been built up over a considerable period of time.
Beck seems to have (had) a major frustration with a vegetarian, wannabe poet 'alternative'/hippy lady in his life:
mp3: Beck - Nitemare Hippy Girl
CSS's Luísa Hanae Matsushita (aka Lovefoxxx) has a background as an illustrator and fashion designer, before she moved on to music and became world famous as the lead singer of indie rock / synthpop band CSS. Apparently she left the fashion world because she was completely sick of the people in that particular industry. In the following lyrics however, she leaves the fashion world's many annoying people alone, and instead kicks the same direction as Beck - towards people with no real talent who're full of themselves.
mp3: CSS - Art Bitch
For a biting, sarcastic and spiteful critique of the fashion industry's superficiality, though, you have to look no further than Eels' "Fashion Awards". One of frontman Mr. E's beautiful 3-minute acoustic guitar and string based beauties, the track sounds quite harmless and harmonious until you start paying attention to the hilarious lyrics:
mp3: Eels - Fashion Awards
Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in my opinion does one of her greatest vocal performances of all time in the track "Art Star" off one of their early EPs. She switches naturally between loud and intense screaming, innocent and cutesy humming and ridiculing monologues mimicking young and hip artists:
mp3: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Art Star
Kevin Barnes of of Montreal has apparently had it with elitist snobs who pride themselves so highly on knowing all 'high culture' authors/composers/directors 'worth knowing' and look with contempt at anyone who can't namedrop and/or enjoy them. While the highly cultivated Barnes himself makes countless references to painters, directors, authors and more in his band's song lyrics, he makes it very clear in the sarcastic "Art Snob Solutions" that he doesn't want to be perceived as one of those jerks who think they're superior because of their 'cultural capital'.
mp3: of Montreal - Art Snob Solutions
Similarly, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy also seems annoyed at people who feel superior for knowing/namedropping the right artists. In "The Late Greats", however, he targets his mockery specifically at indie music fans. Enjoying music that's not considered part of the 'mainstream' is all well and good, but making it a major point to avoid music that is in any way known to the general public, or even deliberately and consistently picking music that's "so indie that they'll never play it on the radio", is pretty pretentious.
While Wilco made music throughout the 90s, their real breakthrough didn't come before 2002's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. "The Late Greats" is a track from the first album they made after having 'become famous', 2004s A Ghost Is Born and I'm sure it must have been meant as a tongue-in-cheek mockery of some of their 'former fans' who chose to distance themselves from the 90s 'unknown' alternative band once it started having some real success and publicity. Judging by Tweedy's mockery, he can't have been very sad to see these people go.
mp3: Wilco - The Late Greats
What kind of 'alternative' people really get on the nerves of the songwriters of Beck, CSS, Eels, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, of Montreal and Wilco? Let's find out, and let's indulge in some of the most sarcastic and satiric song lyrics out there, filled with genuine contempt and strong suppressed pent-up annoyance which must have been built up over a considerable period of time.
Beck seems to have (had) a major frustration with a vegetarian, wannabe poet 'alternative'/hippy lady in his life:
mp3: Beck - Nitemare Hippy Girl
yo, she's bustin' out onto the scene
with nightmare bogus poetry
(...)
she's cooking salad for breakfast
she's got tofu the size of Texas
she's a witness to her own glory
she's a never-ending story
CSS's Luísa Hanae Matsushita (aka Lovefoxxx) has a background as an illustrator and fashion designer, before she moved on to music and became world famous as the lead singer of indie rock / synthpop band CSS. Apparently she left the fashion world because she was completely sick of the people in that particular industry. In the following lyrics however, she leaves the fashion world's many annoying people alone, and instead kicks the same direction as Beck - towards people with no real talent who're full of themselves.
mp3: CSS - Art Bitch
I poo on a plate and get it published on visionaire
(...)
I have no port-fo-lee-o
Cuz i only show
Where there's free al-co-hol
For a biting, sarcastic and spiteful critique of the fashion industry's superficiality, though, you have to look no further than Eels' "Fashion Awards". One of frontman Mr. E's beautiful 3-minute acoustic guitar and string based beauties, the track sounds quite harmless and harmonious until you start paying attention to the hilarious lyrics:
mp3: Eels - Fashion Awards
let's go down to the fashion show
with all the pretty people that you don't know
we'll sit down in the velvet chairs
we'll hand awards out for best hair
and if we don't win one well then
we'll blow off our heads in despair
we'll blow off our heads in despair
Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in my opinion does one of her greatest vocal performances of all time in the track "Art Star" off one of their early EPs. She switches naturally between loud and intense screaming, innocent and cutesy humming and ridiculing monologues mimicking young and hip artists:
mp3: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Art Star
I got a dealer in Tokyo
I got a rep in Paris
I got an agent in Cologne
Shit, I got a gallery in New York
It's a madhouse, this modern life
Kevin Barnes of of Montreal has apparently had it with elitist snobs who pride themselves so highly on knowing all 'high culture' authors/composers/directors 'worth knowing' and look with contempt at anyone who can't namedrop and/or enjoy them. While the highly cultivated Barnes himself makes countless references to painters, directors, authors and more in his band's song lyrics, he makes it very clear in the sarcastic "Art Snob Solutions" that he doesn't want to be perceived as one of those jerks who think they're superior because of their 'cultural capital'.
mp3: of Montreal - Art Snob Solutions
Come on artists, the day is here!
And your mission is very clear
Put an end to the bourgeoisie
And death to everyone who's never heard of me
Similarly, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy also seems annoyed at people who feel superior for knowing/namedropping the right artists. In "The Late Greats", however, he targets his mockery specifically at indie music fans. Enjoying music that's not considered part of the 'mainstream' is all well and good, but making it a major point to avoid music that is in any way known to the general public, or even deliberately and consistently picking music that's "so indie that they'll never play it on the radio", is pretty pretentious.
While Wilco made music throughout the 90s, their real breakthrough didn't come before 2002's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. "The Late Greats" is a track from the first album they made after having 'become famous', 2004s A Ghost Is Born and I'm sure it must have been meant as a tongue-in-cheek mockery of some of their 'former fans' who chose to distance themselves from the 90s 'unknown' alternative band once it started having some real success and publicity. Judging by Tweedy's mockery, he can't have been very sad to see these people go.
mp3: Wilco - The Late Greats
The best band will never get signed
K-Settes starring Butcher's Blind
Are so good, you won't ever know
They never even played a show
You can't hear 'em on the radio
(...)
The best song will never get sung
The best laugh never leaves your lungs
So good, you won't ever know
I never hear it on the radio
Can't hear it on the radio
February 19, 2010
New Broken Social Scene song – "World Sick"
Etiketter:
2010 albums,
alternative,
brendan canning,
broken social scene,
canadian,
feist,
indie rock,
metric,
stars,
vizitrone
Download: Broken Social Scene - World Sick
Broken Social Scene's first new record in five years (not counting the "BSS Presents" spinoff series) is set to be released on May 4. The band is finally reuniting properly, as all regular members are making contributions again, even the ones who have been immensely busy with their side (main?) projects for the past few years
I'm especially excited about all the three girls being back aboard the Broken Social Scene ship again - the three of them are all incredibly talented, and although they've had great success outside BSS recently – Emily with Metric, Amy with Stars and Feist with her solo career – they've now been kind enough to come back to enhance the BSS core guys' new album Forgiveness Rock Record with their creative talents.
The album name, cover artwork (see above) and the album's first new song (download above) were all presented to the world just a few minutes ago. It's all very promising (what an epic and very BSS-esque cover illustration!) and I'm quite excited for May now. Let the hype begin – and I hope the indie legends' new effort will live up to it.
I've been excited about the reunion of Pavement for some time. They're one of the best alternative rock bands of the 90s, but dissolved in 1999 - when I was thirteen years old, which means I was born a bit too late to ever have a chance to see them perform live.
Last week, I decided that I want to go to the Roskilde Festival next year, which I haven't been to since 2007. And today, Pavement were announced as the festival's first headliners! Very nice pre-Christmas gift.
And speaking of Christmas arriving soon, and Pavement being back soon, here's an amazing classic Pavement song with an OK music video starring all band members dressed as Santa Claus:
Last week, I decided that I want to go to the Roskilde Festival next year, which I haven't been to since 2007. And today, Pavement were announced as the festival's first headliners! Very nice pre-Christmas gift.
And speaking of Christmas arriving soon, and Pavement being back soon, here's an amazing classic Pavement song with an OK music video starring all band members dressed as Santa Claus:
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