Category Archives: Entertainment
We’ve Only Just Begun….
KLYAM has only just begun… Today Twitter, Tomorrow the World!
Chris
CLYHSY Side Project…
![UM01 2pnl_insert. [Converted]](https://klyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/um-nature-is-a-taker-cover.jpg?w=300&h=295 "UM01 2pnl_insert. [Converted]")
That doesn’t involve Alex Ounsworth! Shocking…I know. I dig receiving updates via e-mail from these side projects of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Thanks to an update in September, I was informed of Flashy Python. His LP turned out to be one of my favorites. Ounsworth is also releasing another solo album on October 20. I’m really looking forward to that! Now, we have Uninhabitable Mansions. The group is made up of the likes of Robbie and Tyler from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Annie Hart from Au Revoir Simone, Doug Marvin from Dirty on Purpose, and Chris Diken from Radical Dads. Their album Nature Is a Taker is available now for digital purchase! They are also playing at TT The Bears @ 11 PM on October 25 for 10 singles.
1. “The Speed Is Deceiving” – 10
2. “Big Kick” – 9.7
3. “Do You Have A Strategy” – 9.8
4. “Midnight Topography” – 9.6
5. “Maps Not Accurate” – 9.9
6. “The Brain Is A Slow Wave” – 9.7
7. “Static State” – 9.6
8. “This Drift” – 9.9
9. “Ex-Explorers” – 9.9
10. “We Already Know” – 9.9
Comments: This album is very Pains of Being Pure at Heart sounding. It’s, in fact, becoming status quo to use Pains as a reference point for bands of this “throwback-pop” sound. What really does it for Uninhabitable Mansions are two things in particular: vocals (lead and backing) and keyboards. That’s not to downplay the good old gui-tar, which is the principal instrument in “Midnight Topography.” Lyrics, which CLYHYS and its well-received side projects like Alec Ounsworth and Flashy Python have always been masters at, are just as beautiful as you could imagine. “Only you could make me believe your masterful eyes which you pass off as business as usual…it’s just just just society’s way,” a voice speaks on “Maps Not Accurate” in a tone only a teeny notch above a whisper. Tracks like “The Speed Is Deceiving” and “The Brain Is A Slow Wave” are mind-blowing. On many occasions I conjured up sounds of Galaxie 500 — an awesome slow-core band to be compared to. If you have an hour or so of boredom, just play these songs. Sit back and relax. If you fall asleep, that’s fine. I don’t think I’ve felt as much of an emotional connection to any band as I have with UM. And I’ve only known them for an hour. This is the album I’ve been waiting to hear all year.
Grade: 9.8
Handsome Furs Bangkok
I partake in the Chinese phenomenon of “parking” myself.
Blogosphere Truth In Advertising Say WHA?
Does a moment pass when Kim Kardashian isn’t selling? If she’s not hyping her workout video, she’s touting her online shoe club, her new book or her sisters’ “reality” TV spinoff, a gripping look inside their high-end Miami boutique.
Shameless self-promotion is the stock in trade among the famous-for-being-famous crowd. But should the self-described “Armenian Princess” have to tell the world if she’s getting paid for the endless stream of products — Famous Cupcakes, Balenciaga shoes, Quick Trim weight loss capsules — she touts seemingly round the clock as one of the most popular users of the micro-blog site Twitter?
Slow news day at “The Los Angeles Times.”
Animal Collective “Fall Be Kind”
Animal Collective is releasing something new on December 8. It’s called Fall Be Kind. EP or LP? Probably EP, but not much is known at this time. Stay tuned…
The Year 2000
Blackalicious – Deception
Radiohead – The National Anthem
CD Review: Run Rabbit Run
Band: Sufjan Stevens/ Osso
Label: Asthmatic Kitty
Release: October 6, 2009
1. “Year of the Ox” – 9.5
2. “Enjoy Your Rabbit” – 8.7
3. “Year of the Monkey” – 9.2
4. “Year of the Tiger” – 9.5
5. “Year of the Dragon” – 9.6
6. “Year of the Snake” – 9.3
7. “Year of the Horse” – 9.2
8. “Year of the Sheep” – 8.6
9. “Year of the Rat” – 9.0
10. “Year of the Rooster” – 9.4
11. “Year of the Dog” – 9.5
12. “Year of the Boar” – 9.4
13. “Year of the Lord” – 9.6
Comments: I was never much of a classical guy. I’m still not much of a classical guy. I can’t analyze classical music for shit, but I’ll say this: there are a lot of musical spasms. Fast/slow/fast/sloow/sloooow/slooow/FAST/FAST/FAST. And these spasms really make the music stand out. The music seems to be partially influenced by traditional schools of thought, but overall this album seems most likely to fall under the “experimental” category. When it comes down to it, this is a brilliant work of art. It’s not everyday that I take time out of my mainly rock diet to listen to this kind of music. I probably should.
Grade: 9.3
Idiot’s Guide To Swallowing Pills
So yesterday was the first time in 18.5+ years that I swallowed a pill. I actually never attempted to swallow a pill until a couple of weeks because I was afraid of choking. I tried out a big multi-vitamin a couple of weeks ago and I simply couldn’t get the damn thing down my throat. That’s because my method was logically retarded. You can’t just put the thing any where on your tongue and expect to swallow it. You will probably get a reflex, like I did, that will prohibit it from ever going down. The best and easiest way (I am 2 for 2) is to just place it on the way way way way back of your tongue, almost down your throat. Take one average sip of water and it will go down. If you can’t swallow it like that, you are an idiot.
CD Review: The Strange Boys and Girls Club
Band: The Strange Boys
Label: In The Red Records
Release: March 3, 2009
1. “Woe is You and Me” – 9.4
2. “They’re Building the Death Camps” – 9.4
3. “Should Have Shot Paul” – 9.6
4. “MLKs” – 9.5
5. “This Girl Taught Me a Dance” – 9.7
6. “For Lack of a Better Face” – 9.6
7. “Heard You Wanna Beat Me Up” – 9.5
8. “No Way for a Slave to Behave” – 9.8
9. “Poem Party” – 9.7
10. “To Turn a Tune or Two” – 9.7
11. “Most Things” – 9.6
12. “A Man You’ve Never Known” – 9.8
13. “Then” – 9.6
14. “Who Needs Who More” – 9.6
15. “Probation Blues” – 9.8
16. “Death and All the Rest” – 9.6
Comments: Former label mates with the likes of Black Lips and Jay Reatard, The Strange Boys possess all attributes of vintage garage rock. Sounds similar to a cross between The Almighty Defenders LP and Black Lips!. The cow-punk of “Should Have Shot Paul” is as refreshing as can be for such an old-time melody. The thing too about these songs are they short and sweet…at times I feel like I want to hear perhaps another verse or the chorus again. “This Girl Taught Me a Dance” sounds like R&B inspired Bob Dylan, particularly in vocal delivery and lyrical structure. It’s probably a shame that not many will come to realize how good an album this is. If you aren’t the old time rock and roll type, you might cast this off as just another attempt at reliving the past. Well you know what? Sometimes we need to bring back the old times! I don’t remember the old times too well (they are ~ forty years my senior) so it’s kind of an amazing thing to hear a modern band do this kind of stuff. I asked someone in my house: “What decade does this sound like it’s from?” “The Sixties” was the response. I’m not shocked. This is easily the best sounding album coming from this style of music in 2009.
Grade: 9.6
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 