New (old) Madvillain Video

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Filmed in 2004 and off there debut album Madvillainy, released for the first time on Stones Throw 102: In Living the True Gods.

Madvillain - Accordion


Madvillain is the moniker and stage name for the underground hip-hop collaboration between MF DOOM (MC) and Madlib (producer).
Their debut album Madvillainy was met with critical acclaim for its unique approach - short songs, obscure lyrics, few choruses and a sound which was generally unfriendly to commercial radio. This was directly opposite to the formulas of popular hip hop of the time. The album features a host of guests from stones throw including MED, Wildchild and Doom/Madlib aliases Viktor Vaughn and Quasimoto respectively.

While the video isnt groundbreaking if it gets a few more people into Mf Doom and Madlib it will be something.

MP3> Madvillain -Accordion








MP3>Madvillian [Four Tet Remixes]-accordion








MP3>Madvillian [Four Tet Remixes]-money folder








And finally a song off Mf Doom excellent album MM Food (one of my favorite hip hop albums of all time) one beer remixed by madlib

Mp3>MF Doom -One Beer (Madlib Remix)








MF DOOM and Madlib are currently working on a second installment of Madvillainy. One track, 'Monkey Suite', was premiered on Fat Beats Radio in July 2006.

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the dvd Stones Throw 102: In Living The True Gods is out now and features other great video like this other Madvillain video
Madvillain - All Caps



the dvd also features
Music videos:
Madvillain “Monkey Suite”
Madvillain “Accordion” (previously unreleased)
Oh No ft. J.Dilla and Roc C “Move”
Quasimoto “Rappcats Pt. 3”
J Dilla “Nothing Like This”
MED “Push”
James Pants “Do a Couple of Things”
Madlib “Take It Back”
Gary Wilson “Gary's in the Park”
Quasimoto “Bullyshit”
Aloe Blacc “Busking”
Roc C ft. Aloe Blacc “My Life”
Lootpack “Crate Diggin’” (prev. unreleased on DVD)
Baron Zen “At The Mall”
Stones Throw Singers “Rain Of Earth”

Bonus features:
• J Dilla, 2003 interview in The Netherlands - previously unseen in its full length form.
• “Move” Behind The Scenes
• Quasimoto (?) Live at Justice League Fimed in San Francisco, CA, Summer 2000
• Jaylib Live at Conga Room Filmed in Los Angeles, October 2004
• Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf “Studio Time 92” - a newly assembled mini-doc of the group, with VHS footage circa 1992.
• The Funky 16 Corners Rehearsal, 2001

BORIS make a nice loud Statement

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Genres jumping experimental trio Boris have a new video for there song Statement of there up coming release Smile

BORIS "Statement"


Smile is due for release on 04/29/08

31knots

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31Knots is a band founded in Portland, Oregon by guitarist Joe Haege and bassist Jay Winebrenner. In 1998 the band added Joe Kelly as a drummer; in 2003 he left and was replaced by Jay Pellicci of Dilute. Early albums explored the limits of a guitar-bass-drums rock trio, while more recent work has added samples, piano, and increasingly skewed songwriting that push 31Knots' music into an ever more difficult to categorize genre.

31Knots -The Corpse And Carcass


31knots - Darling, I


31Knots - Beauty

John Zorn

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John Zorn (born 2 September 1953 in New York City) is an American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist. He owns the Tzadik record label and has worked with a large number of experimental musicians, particularly in improvised music, incorporating modern classical music, jazz and even death metal and grindcore as well as having produced music to include most styles.

As a child, he played piano, guitar and flute. He went to college in St. Louis, Missouri at Webster College (now Webster University) where he discovered free jazz, before dropping out and moving to Manhattan. There he gave concerts in his small apartment, playing a variety of reeds, duck calls, tapes, etc; almost anything (sometimes he played "musical optics" which involved no instruments or sounds at all, but rather the arrangement of lights and objects in a dark room). In the mid 1980s he signed to the Elektra-Nonesuch label. Since then, Zorn has been quite prolific, usually putting out several new records each year. His breakthrough recording was perhaps 1985's The Big Gundown: John Zorn Plays the Music of Ennio Morricone, wherein Zorn offered a number of often radical arrangements of Morricone's famed songs from various movies. The Big Gundown was endorsed by Morricone, and incorporated elements of traditional Japanese music, soul jazz, and other diverse musical genres.

In 2006, John Zorn was awarded the MacArthur "Genius" Grant, which honors a wide variety of individuals who have achieved an extreme level of excellence in their respective fields. It provides winners with 500,000 dollars over a five year period. Zorn was awarded this grant due to his progressive exploration of radical Jewish music.

Naked City - Snagglepuss


John Zorn / Moonchild - Possession


Painkiller

Bear vs. Shark

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Bear vs. Shark was a post-hardcore band from Highland, Michigan. The members of the group have known each other all their lives with some members forming friendships as early as pre-school.

The band actually formed during their college years when the members were playing in separate projects. The group's original drummer Brandon Moss left the group and was replaced by Ashley Horak. They cited classic rock and punk as influences to the group's unique sound.
Since the release of Right Now You're in the Best of Hands..., the band has toured the United States extensively headlining & opening for other major acts such as Coheed and Cambria. The group quickly gained attention from fans and fellow musicians as well. The group is also known for their high-energy stage show most notably by Marc Paffi (Vocals), who is known to move around the stage frantically during performances. Most of the band members also switched playing instruments during their sets, which was a regular occasion. The group's name has no real significant meaning other than the fact that the members believed that it would be very memorable, though it has been circulated that the band's name comes from the shape of Michigan; colloquially, it is said to look like a bear fighting a shark.
On December 21, 2005 the band posted on their website that they decided to call it quits. Although the band didn't cite any specific reason for the break up John Gaviglio (Guitar, Bass) was featured in the December issue of Alternative Press where he did an op-ed piece on the hardships of touring extensively

Bear Vs. Shark Catamaran


Bear vs. Shark- 5, 6 kids LIVE

list of gigs

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Woh the gigs are coming thick and fast over the next couple of month and May in particular is shaping up to be packed to the gills. Without further a do some class up coming gigs.


Menomena February 29 The sugar club
Menomena are an experimental rock band from Portland, Oregon, made up of Brent Knopf on guitar, keyboards, glockenspiel; Justin Harris on bass, guitar, baritone sax and alto sax; and Danny Seim on percussion. All members of the band share singing duties.

Menomena - Rotten Hell



Ballroom #74: Kling Klang (Rock Action) Friday, 28 March in the Lower deck.
Kling Klang are a five piece kraut-punk band from Liverpool, consisting of four synth players and a drummer.Formed in mid 1999, as a 3 piece using only cheap synths and old drum machines, in 2001 they became a 5-piece outfit
click herehere to see there video for there awesome tune Heavydale
been dieing to see theses guys live so im mega physed about this and its in the lower deck too happy days.


The Ex. play Whelans on 24 April.

The Ex is an anarchist band from the netherlands. They formed in 1979 at the height of the original punk explosion and have released nearly twenty full length albums since, making them one of the longest-lived and most influential punk bands (along with The Fall) still in existence. They are known and respected worldwide for their longevity, their explosive, energetic live shows and their political edge.

Foggy Notions Presents: Deerhunter Thursday, 08 May Whelans
Deerhunter began in 2001 with the ambition of fusing the lulling hypnotic states induced by ambient and minimalist music with the klang and propulsion of garage rock.Their live performances almost always leave audiences polarized, and have been referred to by Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs in NME as bordering on "a religious experience."

Deerhunter "Lake Somerset"

Foggy Notions Presents: Health Friday, 09 May Whelans
HEALTH are an American noise rock band from Los Angeles, California. HEALTH have been described as having "artfully crafted noise and raw synth, haunting monotone vocals, and drum skills that are borderline insane

Health - "Heaven"


Foggy Notions Presents: Man Man Sunday, 11 May Whelans
Based out of Philadelphia, PA, Man Man is an experimental indie band that incorporates Eastern European and circus-esque styles in their music, creating a unique sound. The band consists of Honus Honus (lead vocals, piano, organ, persussion), Pow Pow (drums and other various percussions), Cougar (trumpet, guitar, percussion), Sergei Sogay (bass, synths, percussion), and Chang Wang(sax, percussion).

Their style has been compared to a mixture of Tom Waits, Frank Zappa, and Captain Beefheart. Man Man is known for their distinctive live shows where the members of the band dress in white tennis outfits and don war paint. During their sets the band does not take breaks between songs in order to keep a constant energy level

Man Man - Feathers and Engrish Bwudd (Live)


Yeasayer Tue 13 May Whelans
Yeasayer (pronounced "yay-sayer") takes place in the future, somewhere in the Middle East where citizens wear turquoise robes, live in crystal towers, and overindulge on Peter Gabriel albums.

Yeasayer- 2080


Marnie Stern 16th May new upstairs room in Whelans
released one of my favorite albums of last year shes just amazing and very easy on the eyes.

Marnie Stern "Every Single Line Means Something"


XIU XIU have confirmed for Whelans 22nd May.
Xiu Xiu (pronounced "shew shew") is an experimental band originally from San Jose, California and currently based in Oakland, California. The band is named after the main character of the 1998 Chinese film Tian yu (a.k.a. Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl 天浴).

Xiu Xiu was first formed in 2000 and is the main project of singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart, who records with friends on his home computer and has been touring with his cousin, Caralee McElroy, since 2003. Past members include Cory McCulloch, Lauren Andrews and Yvonne Chen. Some, including McCulloch, have played in previous bands with Stewart such as Ten in the Swear Jar and IBOPA.

AIDS Wolf play dublin on the 21 May with support from Bats
A noisy experimental band with "improv tendencies," AIDS Wolf are good friends with the The Unicorns, Wolf Parade, and others in the Montreal indie scene, but their chaotic sound has much more to do with Whitehouse and An Albatross, two bands they've shared the stage with.



a drunken boat in tower

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Dublins own Drunken Boats album "Cut the Engines, Raise the Sails" is now available in Tower Records on Wicklow St(its also available in Road Records too).Check out some of the tracks on his myspace here

The Notwist To Play Dublin

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German indie rock band The Notwist are set to play the Button Factory on June 7th; tickets are €17.50

Acher, Acher, and Messerschmidt formed the group in 1989 in Weilheim, near Munich. In 1990 they recorded their self-titled debut, a grunge-metal oriented LP. 1992 saw the release of Nook, which has an indie rock sound, while their 1995 album 12 contains their first flirtation with electronics. Martin Gretschmann (aka Console) joined the group in 1997. Shrink, released in 1998, is a jazz-electro-rock album which in some ways anticipates Radiohead's Amnesiac. The album Neon Golden (released in 2002) put them on the map for American listeners, with its heartfelt sentiment and catchy tunes.

The Notwist - Pilot

The Notwist - Pick up the Phone


also well worth a listen is 13 & God which is a a supergroup with Themselves and The Notwist.

13 & God - Superman On Ice

A Perfect Place Trailer

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Short film with score by Mike Patton



This short film was directed by Derrick Scocchera and features an original full-length soundtrack by Mike Patton. The film stars 30 Days of Night's Mark Boone Junior and The Devil's Rejects's Bill Moseley as two bumbling crooks trying desperately to dispose of a body. The DVD, released through Ipecac, will also include a CD of the entire Patton soundtrack.

In other Patton news
The Mondo Cane Album could possible be released this year (in case you didn't know Mondo Cane is Mike Patton's group (with Roy Paci (Corleone), an orchestra, choir etc etc etc) which plays Italian songs from the 50's and 60's.)

Mondo Cane - Che notte


Mondo Cane ("20 km al giorno")



Zombi

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Zombi is a progressive rock duo from Pittsburgh, consisting of Steve Moore on bass and synthesizers and Anthony Paterra on drumsThe group makes use of looping to create multi-layered compositions. They have toured with Don Caballero, Isis, Orthrelm, The Psychic Paramount, Daughters, Red Sparowes, These Arms Are Snakes and Trans Am.

Producing work that is epic in concept, sound, and artistic approach, Steve Moore and A.E. Paterra, the masterminds and multi-instrumentalists behind Zombi, have re-imagined the architecture of progressive rock and dynamic instrumentals -carving a niche in underground music distinctly their own
The band's signature sound, achieved using only electric bass, drums, and a collection of analog synthesizers, is deceptively lush considering its two man skeleton crew ensemble. Moore's bass playing and meticulous synthesizer programming interacts seamlessly with Paterra's controlled, precision drumming -as if each man is anticipating his counterpart's next move. Punctuated by Moore and Paterra's seasoned songwriting skills, each Zombi song -whether grand in design like "Night Rhythms" from Surface To Air or powerful and driving like "Orion," the opening track on Cosmos -is entirely autonomous and true to the duo's creative vision.

Zombi - Surface to Air, Part 1


Zombi - Orion


MP3> Zombi-Serpens








MP3>Zombi - Digitalis








MP3>Zombi - Surface To Air







Jel the MPC ninja

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Jel (born Jeffrey Logan) is a hip hop producer and rapper for the anticon. label. He is apart of the hip hop duo Themselves and is also heavily involved in the bands Subtle and 13 & God.

He was but a young buck, wet behind the ears and not all that wise. But if Jeffery James Logan—Catholic-born Chicago son, one-time Chuck Berry enthusiast, junior high schooler— knew one thing, he knew that he needed to play the drums. If he knew another thing, it was that he wouldn’t get to, no matter how much angsty teen protest or sullen-eyed brooding he put into the cause, because, well, some jock kid was in better with the gym teacher.

So Jeff—the SP-1200 beatmachine master we now know as jel—took up the coronet. Thankfully, the SP found jel shortly after Christmas one high school year. He’d been helping elderly women pump gas as part of a long-term scheme to turn fuel into money into circuitry into sound. He still had the tapes from the year he fell in love with music—1989 radio broadcasts from 105.9 WGCI, The Rap Down with Franky J and Disco Dave—and had been desperately searching for a way to feed his intense attraction to beat-making ever since his first urges were denied. With cash clenched tightly in young fist, he marched to the nearest music store and happily bought the cornerstone of his entire sound: the SP-1200. Revenge on a gym teacher never felt so sweet. And jel never looked back.

The next few years were spent mostly in two places. When jel wasn’t locked away in his room with his new mechanical love, he was helping out behind the scenes at Northwestern University’s radio station. At home he’d cut, chop, record, and tap; on campus he’d pass his tapes along to local DJs and emcees that would stop by the station. jel’s friend and radio partner Kevin Beacham introduced him to the hip-hop that came before, the secrets of the drum machine (i.e. how to cheat to 10-second sample time), and —most importantly—a certain nasaltoned Cincinnati rapper who went by the name of Dose One. The rest of jel’s story is the beginning stages and steady fruition of an entire movement in sound. In 1996, he quit art school in favor of the chills. In 1998, his first collaborations with Dose saw the light of day (Hemispheres). In January of 1999, the debut Themselves LP Them was finished, and by Spring of the same year, work would begin on the seminal Deep Puddle Dynamics project. And from that record—which included jel and Dose One, Sole and Alias of Portland, Maine’s Live Poets, and Slug from Atmosphere—the concept of Anticon (or the tag: anticon) was somewhere born.

Today jel lives in the Oakland Bay Area with the same SP-1200 he purchased as a teen. They left the Midwest together in a concerted effort to defy genre with a collective of like-minded individuals and instruments. His crunchy punched-out beats and swells of low-bit atmospherics have become anticon trademarks, highly sought after by artists around the globe. jel was one of the first, if not the very first musician to use the a drum machine in live performance like a drum kit with little to no sequencing. Using the pads on the drum machine, jel plays each snare, bass kick, cymbal and loop with his fingers. And his raps ain’t half bad either. To date, jel’s list of collaborators includes Can’s Malcolm Mooney, Stephanie Bohm from Ms. John Soda, Mike Patton, Wise Intelligent of Poor Righteous Teachers, Black Thought of the The Roots, DJ Krush, Mr. Dibbs, Sage Francis, Atmosphere, and just about the entire anticon roster, naturally.

jel is currently a member of themselves (with Dose One and Dax Pierson), Subtle (a cello-drums-samplers-guitar-keyboards-winds and words sextet on Lex Records), and 13 & God (themselves and the The Notwist).

jel sweetcreaminit live bedroom mix


JEL - To Buy a Car


some choice cut off jels Greenball 3rd

MP3>Jel - Strickly








MP3>Jel - '06 Remix








MP3>Jel - Oh Hosanna








ps i love everything anticon puts out its just an amazing label

Down I Go

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Rupert from bats recently went over to London to record some guest vocals on the new Down i go record 'Tyrant'.


Well if you missed Down I Go on there legendary sell out tour of Ireland last year with bats they sound like Earthquakes, tidal waves, swarms of disease carrying mosquitoes, burning houses, sinking ships, exploding reactors, starving dinosaurs, Bostonites drowning in treacle, fatal coughing fits, burning hair, stock market crash, planes falling from the sky...

With records called This is Disastercore (a retrospective of the world's worst disasters. Including songs about The Hindenburg, The Great Plague, The Challenger Space Shuttle, Chernobyl, the Extinction of the Dinosaurs, the sinking of the Titanic and many more. )
This is Dinocore (a musical experiment fusing the stories and profiles of prehistoric monsters with the music of metal and hardcore) and This is Robotcore (all about robots). There new record is called Tyrant mmm wonder what thats about.

check out the little video rupert made of the recording session


Down I Go - A Wasp In A Jar


also to see the debauched tour antics of both bands last year click here see them get their rats out
myspace
website

House of the rising post-rock

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Over the last Few years Japan has released some of the finest Post-rock/ math-rock to be heard. Im going to try and just give a brief introduction into some of my favorite Japaneses bands

But first just to clear up a few things about post rock and math rock
The term post-rock was coined by Simon Reynolds in issue 123 of The Wire (May 1994) to describe a sort of music "using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbres and textures rather than riffs and powerchords."
Originally used to describe the music of such bands as Stereolab, Disco Inferno, Seefeel, Bark Psychosis and Pram, it spread out to be frequently used for all sorts of jazz- and Krautrock-influenced, instrumental, electronica-added music made after 1994. Bands from the early 1990s such as Slint, or earlier, such as Talk Talk were influential on this genre. As with many musical genres, the term is arguably inadequate: it is used for the music of Tortoise as well as that of Mogwai, two bands who have very little in common besides the fact that their music is largely instrumental.
Closely related to post-rock is the genre known as Math rock, characterized by more percussive timbres, and more dissonant harmonic gestures.

LITE
LITE is a more math rock oriented instrumental music. Formed in 2003 in Tokyo.LITE played many gigs around Tokyo and self-released two demo CDs.
They have released one mini-album, "LITE", and one full-length ("Filmlets") through Transduction in the UK and Cargo in Europe.They toured the UK and Ireland in 2006, and have received critical acclaim in Japan. In July 2007, they played at Fuji Rock Festival in Japan and followed that with another UK & Ireland tour in September, co-inciding with a split release with Funanori (Kaori Tsuchida from The Go! Team and Mike Watt from the Minutemen). Titled "A Tiny Twofer", the split CD features three songs each
MP3>LITE - I miss seeing all








LITE "Human Gift"


Mono
Mono are a post-rock group from Tokyo, Japan. The songs, all of which are instrumental, are usually focused on layered guitar melodies. Strings and pianos are also prominently featured in some songs. Mono are known for their powerful live shows and their complex guitar work. Their first EP, titled "Hey, you" appeared in September, 2000. So far, they have released four full albums: "Under The Pipal Tree", "One Step More And You Die", "Walking cloud and deep red sky, Flag fluttered and the sun shined" and "You Are There". They also have several other records, including a remix album, a collaborative split record with Pelican, an album collaborating with World's end girlfriend and another EP, titled "Memorie dal Futuro".

MP3> Mono - are you there








Mono - Moonlight


Miaou
Miaou is probably the most delicate and fragile side of the Japanese post-rock scene.They reach a very deep emotional level without the need of screaming or exploding in noise.Miaou were formed in 1999 by Tatsuki Hamasaki and sisters Mayumi and Hiromi Hasegawa.
Their 2005 release, 'Make These Things Alright' saw Miaou develop their sound with a wider range of instruments, and truly mark themselves with a unique style in Japan

MP3>Miaou -boom 0








miaou - tiger note


Toe
They’re less math than Lite.Sometimes technical sometimes simple and sweet.Toe is comprised of Kashikura Takashi on drums, Mino Takaaki on guitar, Yamane Satoshi on bass guitar, and Yamazaki Hirokazu on guitar. Toe has formally played with this line-up since the band’s inception in 2000. The vast majority of the music is instrumental and features the swift and acute drumming of Takashi. The band is also known for its melodic, clean guitar settings. Additionally, the compositions have repetition from typical rock motifs, but use very subtle changes in beat and rhythm to form a unique sound. The band has changed their sound over their musical tenure by incorporating acoustic guitars, rhodes piano, and vibraphones in their most recent releases

MP3>Toe -Mukougishi Ga Shiru Yume








Toe - Everything Means Nothing



Envy
Since their formation in 1992, Envy has become a dominant band in the independent hardcore and screamo scene in Japan. Their music has evolved over the years to incorporate hardcore, screamo, and most recently, the epic tendencies of post-rock. Envy is characterized by their ability to master screamo's loud-soft dynamic to evoke both crushing brutality and gentle beauty, often within the same song.
The band has become increasingly popular among the post rock scene in the last few years for their incorporation of Mogwai-esque sound and composition dynamics into more traditional screamo songs. This new influence can be most easily identified on their last three releases, "All The Footprints You've Ever Left And The Fear Expecting Ahead" released by Dim Mak,"A Dead Sinking Story" released on Level Plane and "Insomniac Doze" released on Temporary Residence Limited

MP3> ENVY -Scene








Envy - A Warm Room


Pissed Jeans

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Pissed Jeans are a rock and roll combo from Allentown, PA.The sound of their music is a combination of sludgy bands from the early Eighties,like Flipper and Tad, and the noise assault of the Jesus Lizard.

In an interview with Tony Rettman of Blastitude, Pissed Jeans' singer described their sound and intent with the following: "The idea was to start a different kinda punk band focused on dead ended carnal cravings, sexual depression…that sort of thing. Mainly we just wanted to bludgeon the listener with dull, monotonous droning rock music that just sucks the energy out of you, the musical equivalent to watching a toilet flush."

Pissed Jeans - I've Still Got You Ice Cream


MP3> Pissed Jeans-closet marine








Pissed Jeans are another amazing band playing ATP Vs Pitchfork in may

Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake

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Sufjan Stevens: Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake



The video is by multimedia artist Deborah Johnson, aka CandyStations,

POPaganda: The Art and Subversion of Ron English

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Ron English is a contemporary pop artist who explores popular brand imagery and advertising.

POPaganda: The Art and Subversion of Ron English



More of Ron English amazing work can be seen on his website here

Playall

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The Books story began in 2000, when Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong met through a friend in New York City. Sharing similar interests but different backgrounds in acoustic music and found sound, Zammuto and de Jong experimented and plunked away with sound.

Their music is a mix of aleatoric, electronica, folk, and acoustic music (de Jong is a cellist and Zammuto plays acoustic guitar and electric bass), incorporating samples of sounds, speech and music.They have released three albums Thought for Food (2002),The Lemon of Pink and Lost and Safe (2005) all on Tomlab.
Their live shows consisted primarily of live acoustic performance (cello, guitar and vocals), played with prerecorded electronics and synchronized video

The Books - The Classy Penguin (live)


The Books - An Owl With Knees (live)


In 2007 they released a DVD of the synchronized videos they they play at the live shows it is available to buy from there website here
below are links to some of the footage from the DVD.

smells like content
Be Good to Them Always
classy penguin

ExitingARM

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new subtle album "ExitingARM" on the horizon 13/05/08 is the release date.
they have released one track "unlikely rock shock" so far to wet out appetite (i for one am very wet)

MP3>unlikely rock shock








also they have a video on myspace (inside)ExitingARM
A brief capture of both the men and meaning behind... subtle,
and the making of "ExitingARM"...
our post-modern-pop opus
and the 3rd installment in
the epic of HourHeroYes
check it !

Les Savy Fav on Conan O'Brian

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more 8bitness

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In a kinda follow up to my post about 8bit genius Rob Hubbard i now offer more retro computer game aural pleasure in the form of the advantage

The Advantage are an American indie rock band from Nevada city, California that specialize in doing covers of music from old Nintendo Entertainment System games. They have covered songs from numerous games, including Mega Man, Castlevania and Metroid.

MP3 marble madness, race 2








MP3 ducktales, moon








MP3 - Castlevania III - Boss Music/Willow - Village/Megaman II - Bubble Man








MP3 - marioblastermaster live








MP3 - Wizards & Warriors - Tree Trunk/Woods/Victory










The Advantage plays Mega Man 2 Flashman


The Advantage performing Metal Gear - Jungle, Bomberman 2 - Wiggy, and a very short cover of Cake's "The Distance


more songs and vids on there myspace page here

Apse

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Apse is an American rock band signed to Spanish label Acuarela Discos. The band has has moved through many different musical styles since its inception, weaving together at various times shoegazer, heavy metal, gothic rock, post-punk, prog-rock, industrial, and post-rock influences; while at the same time dabbling in tribal, experimental, ambient and ethereal atmospheres.Some have called it "post-post rock." Many, the band included, don't know what to call it. It is perhaps that indescribable quality that has led to a growing fan base in Europe, where live performances seem to have taken on a great intensity.
Apse's lineup has changed with almost every release; singer Robert Toher and drummer Ezer Lichtenstein are currently the only members with the group since its start in 1999. The rest of the band includes Michael Gundlach, Austin Stawiarz and John Mordecai.

They play ATP vs Pitchfork in May

Apse The Crowned


Apse (Tanned Tin 2006)

ワールズ・エンド・ガールフレンド

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World's End Girlfriend (ワールズ・エンド・ガールフレンド) is Katsuhiko Maeda, whose love for music began when he started listening carefully to his father’s collection of classical music, around the age of 10.

Worlds End Girlfriend began making music with tape recorders, piano, and guitar at 12. During his teens and early twenties, he made around 600 tracks in every style imaginable, with every combination of instruments and equipment he could lay his hands on.
Placing the solo musician's music into one well-defined genre is difficult, as it blends elements of electronica and post-rock to create a unique style.


world's end girlfriend - Scorpius Circus



World's End Girlfriend - Fragile Fireworks

8bit forever

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My post today harks back to a simpler time , a time of 8bit gaming and games on tape, yup you got it the Commodore 64. (I never had one myself but i remember going over to a friends house and waiting for the tape to load playing one level and then waiting on another tape to load ....ah good times)


But my post isn't really about the C64 it about Rob Hubbard (not the crazy sciencetologist guy).
Rob Hubbard is a music composer best known for his composition of computer game theme music, especially for microcomputers of the 1980s such as the Commodore 64. His work showed the real potential of both the Commodore 64's sound hardware and the ability of good music to improve the gaming experience.In the late seventies, before scoring games, he was a professional studio musician. He decided to teach himself BASIC and machine code for the Commodore 64. His first game soundtrack was for Thing on a Spring, a platform game for Gremlin Graphics, Hubbard created a theme that mixed violins, electric guitars, and amusing basslines. Hubbard went on to write or convert themes for many games on the C64 before moving on after the C64 peroid to composing for PC -games and Sega Mega Drive.
below is a selection of some of Robs scores on the C64







mp3 Crazy Comets Main Theme








mp3BMX Kidz Title Theme








mp3One Man and His Droid Title Theme








mp3Monty on the Run Main Theme

Recently Rob has been playing with the C64 orchestra. The C64 orchestra perform their music, with scoring done by Rob Hubbard himself. The game scores that are to be performed include the following Rob Hubbard compositions: Delta, Commando, Monty on the Run, One Man And His Droid and International Karate. They also are doing the scores of Jeroen Tel another master in the 8bit composing field.
Commodore c64 orchestra plays Monty on the Run by Rob Hubbard

Something For Your Eyes And Ears

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This is a mix off the 2007 Caribou tour cd.

On the 30min mix Dan Snaith shows his mindset with a mix of songs that are as varied as the ingredients that make up Andorra, and complements Andorra perfectly. The artwork above was done for us by the amazing eleanor and you can check out more of her work on her myspace here.

I had to make it smaller to fit on the page but a full size version can be found here (it should be the album art on the mp3 when you download it)

click for mp3

Glass Candy

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Ever evolving, reinventing, ass shaking ushers of early death disko, Glass Candy have traveled from bare bones stripped down honky tonk disco rock to equal parts digital and analog, to synthesizer/drum machine heaven with a side of sexy bass and live drums. Always with a giant dose of visual stylized perfection. Born in Portland in the late late 90's, and taking over the world in the mid 2000's. Current line up is Ida No on vocals and barefoot dance, Johnny Jewel on sythns, guitar, and production, and Dusty Sparkles on drums.

Glass Candy - Digital Versicolor


Glass Candy - Nite Nurses


Glass candy are on the line up for ATP vs Pitchfork

peel session

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gonna pull theses gems from my vault its Boom Bip and Doseone on a John Peel session and then followed by cLOUDDEAD on a John Peel session. Bryan Hollon, aka Boom Bip, is a producer and musician who experiments with many different genres and has developed a sound of his own. His music is mostly instrumental, but over the course of his career he has collaborated with several vocalists. Boom Bip And Doseone have one album together Circle.John Peel heralding Boom Bip as a "modern day Captain Beefheart".
cLOUDDEAD is a musical group consisting of the hip-hop musicians Doseone (Adam Drucker), Why? (Yoni Wolf), and Odd Nosdam (David Madson). Generally Drucker and Wolf provide the group's vocals while Madson produces the music. Occasionally Madson's vocals can be heard, while Drucker and Wolf provide music, especially for the group's second album.
cLOUDDEAD's sound is notoriously hard to define, and although it is undoubtedly grounded in 'traditional' hip-hop, influences as varied as electronica, psychedelic music and indie rock can be heard.
The group's name comes from a nonsensical knock-knock joke Drucker's sister told him when she was 6 years old. The joke runs like this:

"Knock-knock" "Who's there?" "Cloud" "Cloud who?" "Cloud-dead"

Boom Bip and Doseone







cLOUDDEAD








cLOUDDEAD






Songs from the Black Hole

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Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo came out last week and i was able to get my grubby mits on a copy.

What had my juices flowing was that some of the track on the cd where lost tracks from Songs from the Black Hole, Songs from the Black Hole is an unreleased, unfinished Weezer album. A space themed rock opera/musical, it was originally envisioned as the follow-up album to The Blue Album, but over the course of recording, the album's concept was discarded and the album was transformed into Pinkerton. Its story arc follows: a five-person (plus one mechanoid) crew of a spaceship on an important mission, our noble protagonist Jonas is given a meaty role while crewmates Wuan and Dondo are one-dimensional avatars for womanizing and partying.

Blast Off!







The leadoff track for Songs from the Black Hole is a dramatic rock song with a high-reaching melody and shifting dynamics. The lyrics are a conversation between the main character Jonas and his shipmates Wuan and Dondo. Jonas is excited yet reserved about the prospect of doing what he thinks is his dream job. Wuan and Dondo are much more upbeat about the experience. In the middle of the song M1 (the mechanoid) interjects via vocoder to remind them of the task at hand. In the last verse we find that a female character has entered the scene and that Jonas had a ‘relationship’ with her back at Star Corps Academy

Who You Callin’ Bitch?







Jonas and Maria continue the conversation started in Blast Off!

Superfriend







The song is a conversation between Jonas and (presumably) Laurel. In it, Jonas chides himself for giving into the seduction of Maria, even though he does not love her. Laurel urges Jonas to grow up and be better than that. Jonas finds himself smitten with Laurel, but she can see through his act and tells him to get real.

if all this is a bit weird remember these were written with the help of painkillers as Cuomo healed from leg surgery.

the album in general is good, has weak and strong moments, but the real thing for me was to be able to hear some tracks off Songs from the Black Hole. That said is also has Cuomo doing an Ice Cube cover (The Bomb), and most of the tracks were recored before 1996.

well, i leave you with the demo version of Buddy Holly off Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo.







Albums Of The Year 2007

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Wow this was much harder then I though it was going to be and i'm still not sure if i'm entirely happy about it. there was just so much good music in 2007
in no particular order what so ever at all (was hard enough getting the list down no way in hell am i going to number them)

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Hella - There's No 666 In Outer Space

There's No 666 In Outer Space is the fourth full length album by Hella, It is the first Hella album to feature the new expanded five member line up, and is also the first to feature vocals on every track.A lot of people when this album came out where like: 'its not Hella'. Zach Hill's drumming remains a spastic frenzy. Spencer Seim's guitar still soars with high-speed precision weirdness. I was hooked from the first listen.







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Panda Bear - Person Pitch

For an album constructed from so many constituent parts, Person Pitch is amazingly warm and inviting at times, wrapping around the ears, nestling the head, and squeezing like a nice familial bear hug after years of no contact.







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Marnie Stern - In Advance of the Broken Arm

Her debut record, In Advance of the Broken Arm, is culled from songs written by herself in her bedroom over a two-year period, with production and drum work by Hella's Zach Hill. oh yeah she can really play guitar (she shreds). She plays using the hammer-on technique, making it all kind of sound like Steve Vai soloing constantly over OOIOO tracks. This album combines utterly maddening complexity with candyfloss pop hooks. (oh and shes a fox too)







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Other Men - Wake Up Swimming

"I'm a little girl when I'm around you /
I'm a screaming little bitch"
Rob Crow does it again (his 435th band i think). Heavy Vegetable are back under the Other Men moniker. Other Men have turned away from the fractured and discordant heaviness of Heavy Vegetable in favor of a decidedly more poppy and compact style.
Poppy it may be at times, but this album also rocks.







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Battles - Mirrored

had to put it on the list (wanted to leave it off cuz everyone has heard it and knew it would be on Robs list but i just couldn't). i saw theses guys three times this year and every time was just as exciting as the last an amazing record that defies classification, an experimental tour de force.Since Rob already posted my fav song off mirrored heres a bonus track of the Japanese version of mirrored.







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Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover

This album quietly creeps under your skin.great attention to detail is on show on this record. i have no idea what Spencer Krug is singing about but there is some very complex though processes going on.







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Chrome Hoof - Pre-Emptive False Rapture

I only just recently got this album, and it jumped up and slapped me in the face and my jaw is still on the floor. its future code sounds will melt your face. my mission in 2008 is to see chrome hoof live.







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Holy Fuck - LP

An exciting blend of aggressive rhythm and nuanced, skillfully manipulated noise.







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Les Savy Fav - Lets Stay Friends

A more focused les savy fav , they have refined there music to a science.You can almost taste Tim Harrington's sweat as you listen to it.







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Adebisi Shank - this is the ep of a band called Adebisi Shank

all the engery of there spazzout live performances is captured on the Ep, it pounds out of the stereo and puts images of flaying limbs in my head. much heft.







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the ones i wanted to much to add but didnt have the space. all the releases on Armed Ambitions this year ( terrordactyl ,vimanas, Herv and bats), Thee More Shallows - Book Of Bad Breaks, Subtle -Yell&Ice , Old Time Relijun - Catharsis In Crisis, Of Montreal -Hissing Fauna, Odd Nosdam - Level Live Wires, Jesu - Conqueror , Jel - Greenball 3rd , Elliott Smith -New Moon , El-P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead , Crippled Black Phoenix -A Love Of Shared Disasters, Big Business - "Here Comes The Waterworks".

i could easly keep going but i have to stop and i'm sure i'm leaving something out i love but well, so is life. ....................liars -liars, dan deacon - rings of spiderman, and beastie boys the mix up see knew i would forget some