The Tape

Thanks to Sean Healey Presents and The Key Club for helping set this up.

The Tape Interviews M1

Bonus: Sound check of “Hip-Hop.”

Diplo/Dead Prez- Dip Hop

The Steps are a lovely up-and-coming rock ‘n’ roll band from Austin, Texas. The first single off of their self titled debut album is entitled “Dagger”, and was produced by Chris
“Frenchie” Smith (Dandy Warhols, Explosions in the Sky, Jet). The song is a solid, straight-forward indie rock track that reminds me of a mix somewhere in between The Strokes and Franz Ferdinand. They’ll be playing a date at SXSW, so look out for them in ‘09. Enjoy a video and the mp3 for the lead single, “Dagger”.

The Steps- Dagger

Every time there’s a huge song off an album, like “My Girls” off of Merriweather Post Pavilion, tons of remixes are sure to pop up. The first remix of the song that crossed the blog radar was the Mexicans With Guns version. I am not a fan at all of this remix, and I think it just got posted for having the words “My Girls” and “Remix” in the title. There are really only two good remixes/edits of the track. Hatmatik did a great little edit entiitled “Hatchmatik’s Disco Bootleg” which does exactly what it says. Doesn’t stray very far from the original, but it has the perfect amount of flair for it to be thrown in a DJ set. Gigamesh’s version is more of a true remix. If you don’t know Gigamesh by name (or by the previous stuff of his we’ve posted here), you’ve probably heard some of his work, as he is 1/3 of DiscoTech. His remix takes a bit more synth to the track, and really hits its stride around the 3:15 mark. Definitely worth a listen. As a bonus I’m gonna toss in my own remix of My Girls here. I took it in a somewhat different direction than these two, but I hope y’all like it.

my-girls-hatchmatik-disco-bootleg

Animal Collective - My Girls (Hatchmatik Disco Bootleg)

Animal Collective - My Girls (Gigamesh ‘Proper House’ Remix)

Animal Collective - My Girls (Swine Forkbeard Remix)

Garage rock maniacs, Black Lips are back with a vengeance. Making sure to top their last album, Good Bad Not Evil, the band comes back louder and more rocking then ever before. This album is sure to be different for the band, who are following their most successful album to date. They emerged from the pack with a stellar album, and now expectations are very high in anticipation for 200 Million Thousand. 200 Million Thousand features catchy guitar lines, simple but tasteful drum parts, and howling vocals that really makes the album what it is. The album came out yesterday, and I have to say, it really is a great rock album.

The album starts off with “Take My Heart”, which has sort of a call and response guitar line that ends up trading fours with the vocals. The percussion on this song is a really nice, subtle touch. They may be a little hard to hear, but the congo drums add some nice flavor to the already fiery track, thanks to the guitar solo. Skip a track, and we arrive at “Starting Over”, which is probably my favorite song of the album. The track starts off with lead singer Cole Alexander, screaming melodically with a reckless abandon. I guess you could say that all of their songs have a reckless abandon, but on this song stands out. Moving away from the melodic yelps, the song turns out to be quite catchy. It features a real nice hook with the phrase “Gotta keep movin’” being repeated. Another one of my favorites is “Trapped In A Basement.” I’m not 100% sure, but I have a good feeling that this song is about that fucking insane Austrian guy who locked his daughter in his basement and then proceeded to have seven kids with her. Black Lips getting political, I like it. On that note, I also noticed another thing. It seems like the band is really not afraid to say anything. That idea came to me when I looked and saw song titles like “Big Black Baby Jesus Of Today” & “I Saw God”. They’re not necessarily controversial, and I personally find them very entertaining, but I have a feeling that some people don’t see the humor in these titles.

One thing I notice about this album is that most of the songs have more depth then on previous albums. The songs are not only longer as a whole, but they also have more layers to them. If you liked Good Bad Not Evil, you’ll love 200 Million Thousand. If you’re still skeptical, grab a couple of mp3’s below, and watch the video for “Short Fuse” below.

Black Lips- Short Fuse Video

Black Lips- Starting Over

Black Lips- Short Fuse

Bell is a Russian-born classically trained pianist, who grew up in Alaska. She has spent the past couple of years making the transition from classically inclined pianist, to super rad experimental/electronic artist. Her 2008 EP gained some buzz, and she’s following that up with a limited edition 7″/digital single that will be released on March 24th. The A side to that is “Magic Tape”, which you can download below if you so desire. The song starts off with some vocals that belong in some type of lucid dream, and as the song progresses a nice vocal pattern starts to layer the original vocals. The song has a fantastic climax, which peaks at just the right time. There’s a hell of a lot going on throughout the song, but Bell does a wonderful job accenting her vocals in certain places to really compliment the song. Check her out on Myspace, and make sure to keep a look out for her… I feel like there are big things in store for her in ‘09. Tour dates are below, make sure to see her in a city near you.

Tour Dates
Mar 2 La Sala Rossa - Montreal, QC *
Mar 3 El Mocambo - Toronto, ON *
Mar 4 The Pike Room at Crofoot Ballroom - Pontiac, MI *
Mar 5 Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL *
Mar 6 Illinois Wesleyan U.-Young - Bloomington, IL *
Mar 7 7th Street Entry - Minneapolis, MN *
Mar 10 Chop Suey - Seattle, WA *
Mar 11 Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, OR *
Mar 13 The Independent - San Francisco, CA *
Mar 14 Troubador - Los Angeles, CA *
Mar 15 The Casbah - San Diego, CA *
Mar 16 Detroit Bar - Costa Mesa, CA *
Mar 18 Club De Ville (Brooklyn Vegan SXSW Showcase) Austin, TX
Mar 19 Scholz Garden (twosyllable / I Guess I’m Floating SXSW party) - Austin, TX
Mar 23 Bloomington, IN - Cinemat #
Apr 25 Washington, DC - Rock ‘n Roll Hotel %
Apr 26 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church %
Apr 27 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge %
Apr 28 Brooklyn, NY - Monkeytown %
Apr 30 Boston, MA - TT The Bears

* = w/ Asobi Seksu
# = w/ Lemonade
% = w/ Bowerbirds

Bell- Magic Tape

Fol Chen describe themselves as “that mysterious black object that the creepy family is staring at on the cover of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Presence’ album”. I describe them as exciting, theatrical, and extremely catchy, like a pop super group formed out of unused children’s instruments, tinker toys, robotic limbs, and a paper maché heart. Their music has a huggability and quirkiness to it like an overloved teddy bear missing a limb.

Their debut album “John Shade: Your Fortune’s Made” starts out with a beat that Radiohead might have made if they were trapped in a ball pit. The Believers uses slightly demonic vocals and instrumentation to create a somewhat foreboding atmosphere that swells into a sort of trance led by a warbling drum and then washes into an acoustic guitar outro. While the first song might be a bit deterring, No Wedding Cake starts off on a good foot right away with a danceable beat, a cutesy guitar riff and some funky electric piano sounds. The chorus feels like an assembly line marching band but with bells and a lo fi synth leading the ensemble. The song is really fun and makes you want to dance along right away. You And Your Sister In Jericho slows the pace down with an instrumental lead by some light guitar, a Casio type beat, and a somber string and brass section. The Idiot brings back the energy that Fol Chen gets so right with a staccato beat and a constantly shifting song that remains fun all the way through. Red Skies Over Garden City (The Ballad of Donna Donna) is labeled a ballad by its parenthesis but the Red Skies Over Garden City part remains the most accurate part of the title as the song seems quite specific to a location and not much of a ballad. Winter, That’s All is the most aggressive song yet with a very Metronomy synth line over a furious drum beat, which works pretty well. Cable TV is probably the best example of Fol Chen’s style, combining some ethnic instrumentation, a danceable beat, strings, references to robots and a kind of self aware lyricism that lends itself to being cute as well as hip. Please, John, You’re Killing Me takes a turn from the previous music by using a much more real feeling drum beat with a much more guitar driven song and luckily for them and us it ends up working out. The Longer U Wait follows the formula exhibited so far, with some slightly offputting whispered vocals and almost urgent backing vocals. The song is good but not Fol Chen’s best as it takes too much from songs like Cable TV and then injects a more experimental vibe. The album ends with If Tuesday Comes, a more traditional song the climaxes in cathartic shouting vocals backed up by awesome operatic stabs from backup singers.

Overall Fol Chen succeeds enormously with their album, the mix of electronic, ethnic, and experimental instrumentation coupled with the danceability and inherent likeability of their sound proves to be a fun listen with songs like Cable TV and No Wedding Cake grabbing hold of you right away and making you feel all warm inside. Check them out.

Fol Chen - No Wedding Cake

Fol Chen - Cable TV

Here’s a pretty unique combination for you: model + electronic musician. Snowcone (Christy Dawn) is setting a precedent for models everywhere. Having spent her last year modeling in China, Christy killed her time by looking up Ableton Live tutorials and soft synths. Think the (even more) poppy and feminine side of FrankMusik or Miami Horror. She has two remixes out right now, of current chart toppers “Just Dance” and “Circus.” Her remixes of the pop songs give them both just what they need; a little more synthy flair and bigger drums. They’re not quite “bangers” in that sense, but they’re certainly good for the dancefloor. Her original song “Love Allegiance” is quite a lot like Kap10Kurt or the previously mentioned FrankMusik. Maybe a little bit of Shinichi Osawa thrown in there. On the whole her music is really good, and to be honest it’s pretty shocking to hear this coming from a woman who makes a living off her good looks.

Snowcone - Love Allegiance

Lady GaGa - Just Dance (Snowcone Remix)

Britney Spears - Circus (Snowcone Remix)

On March 18th, Colin Meloy and co. will be playing their upcoming album, The Hazards of Love at a South By Southwest showcase. They’ll be playing the entire album straight through, and are offering their fans (in association with Imeem) to design the poster for the event. The winning design will be personally picked by the band. You can enter the contest right here. The concert will feature some special guests, including My Brightest Diamond singer Shara Worden. Opening will be The Avett Brothers, and Heartless Bastards, who are one of the bands that I regret not giving enough attention to. If you’re not attending South By Southwest like us (school sucks), you can stream it at NPR’s website. You can listen to all the tracks on the band’s Myspace, and if you like what you hear, you can pre-order the album here.

THE DECEMBERISTS ON TOUR
May 19 - Hollywood Palladium - Los Angeles, CA
May 20 - Fox Theatre - Oakland, CA
May 21 - McDonald Theater - Eugene, OR
May 24 - Wilma Theatre - Missoula, MT
May 26 - Fillmore Auditorium - Denver, CO
May 27 - Uptown Theater - Kansas City, MO
May 29 - Riverside Theater - Milwaukee, WI
May 31 - The Pageant - St. Louis, MO
June 1 - Lifestyle Communities Pavilion - Columbus, OH
June 3 - Tabernacle - Atlanta, GA
June 4 - Memorial Auditorium - Raleigh, NC
June 5 - The National - Richmond, VA
June 6 - Tower Theatre - Upper Darby, PA
June 9 - Bank of America Pavillion - Boston, MA
June 10 - Radio City Music Hall - New York, NY
June 11-14 - Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival - Manchester, TN

Colin Meloy- We Both Go Down Together (Live)

Beast is a fantastic collaboration between Canadian producer Jean-Phi Goncalves (most notably produced for Lauryn Hill) and singer Betty Bonifassi, who did the soundtrack for The Triplets of Belville. Emerging from the Montreal music scene, this up-and-coming duo are both originally from France. They describe their sound as a combination between Rage Against the Machine and Portishead, which may sound a tad bit ridiculous… Until you hear the music. The music features the biting, female vocals that Beth Gibbons features in Portishead; and the funky, in your face beats that Rage Against The Machine are known for.

The lead single, “Mr. Hurricane” is a fantastic track that features a funky drum beat and guitar line, that beautifully leads into a choir backed chorus. I’d say that her vocals have a bit of a chant to them, but calling it “hip-hop” is too general of a label for this song. I’m very excited to hear what the rest of the album sounds like. Check out the band on Myspace, and download the track below. Pre-order their debut album, here.

Beast- Mr. Hurricane

Squirrelhouse is a band out of well named Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Their music ranges from frantic and fun garage rock songs (The Hunter), to more laid back while still moving jams like Monster pt.1 and 2. And then my personal favorite: a poppy number complete with bells and backing vocals called Fours. Fours sounds like the song the two love interests find each other to, and amongst the droves of people reunite for a final kiss as the sidewalks empty and the future seems uncertain. That’s probably too deep of a reading and you’re free to imagine it in many other settings. If you’re feeling the need to be charmed by some fresh noises out of an awesomely named town definitely check these guys out.

Squirrelhouse - Fours