Category Archives: Music

Band of the Week: Deerhunter

As the year is winding down, we figured for this final Band of the Week (for 2010) we would go with not just a cool band we think people should hear, but rather one of our favorite bands of the year and whom we feel are one of the best bands in music right now as a whole: Deerhunter. Personally, I love much of Deerhunter’s previous work, but their recent release Halcyon Digest seriously moved me and affirmed their status as one of my all time favorite bands (top ten) and as Honorary KLYAMers. Great work guys! Can’t wait to see you next year.

CD Review: Outside [2011]


Band:
Tapes ‘n Tapes
Release: 1/2011
Label: Ibid Records

1. “Badaboom” – A
2. “SWM” – B+
3. “One In The World” – A-
4. “Nightfall” – B-
5. “Desert Plane” – B+
6. “Outro” – B-
7. “Freak Out” – B+
8. “The Saddest Of All Keys” – B
9. “Hidee Ho” – A-
10. “People You Know” – A
11. “On and On” – A-
12. “Mighty Long” – A

Comments: Tapes have always had a ‘bigger’ feel to them, but it seems more manifest on this record. They can pull a ballsy Kings of Leon on “SWM” and a fine orchestral sophisticated, extralocal Vampire Weekend esque swag on “One in the World.” The horns don’t disappear on “Nightfall,” which is a bit of a mess of a song. “People You Know” has a moderate Walkmen feel complete with a soothing organ and a tranquil rhythm. Just awesome. On that note, the last four songs on here rule; the sound that dominates on these songs is the sound that won me as a fan of the band. T+T keeping things simple and slowed down is best. I’m going to try to let the lower graded tracks grow on me. There’s a lot to like on here.

Grade: B+ (88)

Tapes ‘n Tapes play at the Paradise Rock Club on February 3, 2011.

Band Recommendation: The Carbonas


Last.Fm Blurb: “The Carbonas (formed in 2001) hail from Atlanta, GA, home to some of the most exciting new bands to hit the scene in quite awhile. Along with The Lids (now defunct), Black Lips, and up-and-comers like The Frantic and Beat Beat Beat, The Carbonas are turning Atlanta into the next Seattle. Or Chicago. Or something like that. You know what I mean. After releasing an LP ages ago, they jumped to the front of the hot bands list with release of the jaw-dropping “Frothing at the Mouth” EP over the winter, which had reviewers worldwide spitting hyperbole all over themselves.”

The Deal: I’ve always heard about the Carbonas, but never really gave them a sufficient check-out. It’s never too late to get into a band, so even if I’m a decade late on this one that’s all right. I really like what I’m hearing. Counted amongst members is Gentleman Jesse who plays bass.

Song: “Phone Booth”

Live Footage Of The Day


Honorable Mention: Nobunny @ The Strange, Los Angeles – A fight at a Nobunny show? Nah-uh! Brief synopsis: Nobunny performs ‘Live It Up’, but cuts it short as a mess of shit brews in front of him. Even a request from Nobunny for “everyone to stop fighting, please” was made, but did not prove to be much of a difference maker. I felt bad for one of the club’s employees as he seemed pretty chill about wanting the audience to calm down and let the show go on, but there were some individuals in the front who just weren’t cooperating….one even attacked the man with her shoe (as seen in the video). The PA guy I got to admit was pretty hilarious at the end there: “And you guys are fucking school teachers? What the fuck?! Is that what you are teaching our youth of America? Be drunk bitches at shows? That’s not girls. Not drunk girls. Not drunk women. Drunk bitches!” Some other guy gets on and says “So on a lighter note, did anyone hear that Captain Beefheart died today?” I wonder what happened after this footage cuts out. [WATCH]

Top PrizeThe Growlers @ Crazy 8’s, Cathedral City, California – A/V quality is not the best, but it is good enough! Captures the essence of The Growlers quite well. It’s great seeing such a nice crowd of people that are quite into the performance, especially the extremely fine ladies (girl in the green, word!) up in the front.  [WATCH]

Who Did It Better? “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”

Well, hello there. I hope all of you are having an amazing Christmas! So, let’s dig into today’s segment of Who Did It Better, shall we? There are so many different versions of this Christmas classic, but here are some notable ones.

Old Blue Eyes sings his heart out.

I really dig the backing vocals.

And here Conor tops Sinatra with this Bright Eyes version.

This song exemplfiies what is great about BE: extremely passionate, somber vocals, practically whispering the words.

And here’s the grandaddy of them all:

Judy Garland- Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

This is my favorite Christmas song; it is not a jingle nor a carol and has more emotion than just about any other holiday song one cares to name. Specifically, I adore this version because of Judy Garland’s exceptional vocals, it just makes the music feel all the more sentimental, in a very good way.

But, what do you guys think?

Feliz Navidad From Tandoori Knights/CD Review

Bloodshot Bill and King Khan!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJMmEw2Hx-w&feature=player_embedded#!
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Title:
Curry Up, It’s The Tandoori Knights
Release: 11/2010
Label: Norton Records

1. “Pretty Please” – B+
2. “Bucketful” – B-
3. “Roam The Land” – B-
4. “Tandoori Party” – B-
5. “Books and Ribs” – B-
6. “Bandstand” – B+
7. “Big Belly Giant” – B
8. “Into Her Arms” – B+
9. “Dress On” – B-
10. “Lovers Moon” – B-
11. “Brown Trash” – B-
12. “Beauty and The Feast” – B-

Comments: About time for a review of this record, which is surely something else. The story is warm one: rockabilly Indo-Canadian Bloodshot Bill gets together with fellow Indo-Canadian, garage/punk/soul master Arish King Khan and they decide to make a record. They could’ve stuck to a traditional script that utilized the best of both worlds as Bill and multi-talented kingpin Mark Sultan did when they got together and recorded The Ding-Dongs. Curry Up sounds like a natural export of Hindustan, at least as soon as the guitar begins on “Pretty Please”. Bill takes the lead vocals on pretty much all of the tracks, which kind of makes this sound pretty Bloodshot Bill-esque. Bill’s vocal flexibility and plethora of musical skill means that he can pull something like this off pretty well. King is heard sparsely on this record, which is disappointing as a bigger King fan. These songs are quite humorous, making me think I probably shouldn’t take this record too seriously! As a cheesy one-off, it is what it is. At the apex of funniness is probably “Into Her Arms,” a tale of falling into the octo-arms of some nice Indian lady. What’s the purpose of the eight arms? Well, “one to whore me, one to score me, two to spank me, four to thank me!”

Grade: B/B- 

The Ravers Manifesto

“Our emotional state of choice is Ecstasy. Our nourishment of choice is Love. Our addiction of choice is technology.
Our religion of choice is music. Our currency of choice is knowledge. Our politics of choice is none.
Our society of choice is utopian though we know it will never be. You may hate us. You may dismiss us. You may misunderstand us. You may be unaware of our existence.
We can only hope you do not care to judge us, because we would never judge you. We are not criminals. We are not disillusioned. We are not drug addicts. We are not naive children…
We are one massive, global, tribal village that transcends man-made law, physical geography, and time itself.
We are The Massive. One Massive.
We were first drawn by the sound. From far away, the thunderous, muffled, echoing beat was comparable to a mother’s heart soothing a child in her womb of concrete, steel, and electrical wiring.
We were drawn back into this womb, and there, in the heat, dampness, and darkness of it,
We came to accept that we are all equal. Not only to the darkness, and to ourselves, but to the very music slamming into us and passing through our souls: we are all equal.
And somewhere around 35 Hz we could feel the hand of God at our backs, pushing us forward, pushing us to push ourselves to strengthen our minds, our bodies, and our spirits,
Pushing us to turn to the person beside us to join hands and uplift them by sharing the uncontrollable joy we felt from creating this magical bubble that can, for one evening, protect us from the horrors, atrocities, and pollution of the outside world. It is in that very instant, with these initial realisations that each of us was truly born.
We continue to pack our bodies into clubs, or warehouses, or buildings you’ve abandoned and left for naught, and we bring life to them for one night.
Strong, throbbing, vibrant life in it’s purest, most intense, most hedonistic form.
In these makeshift spaces, we seek to shed ourselves of the burden of uncertainty for a future you have been unable to stabilise and secure for us.
We seek to relinquish our inhibitions, and free ourselves from the shackle’s and restraints you’ve put on us for your own peace of mind.
We seek to re-write the programming that you have tried to indoctrinate us with since the moment we were born.
Programming that tells us to hate, that tells us to judge, that tells us to stuff ourselves into the nearest and most convenient pigeon hole possible. Programming that even tells us to climb ladders for you, jump through hoops, and run through mazes and on hamster wheels.
Programming that tells us to eat from the shiny silver spoon you are trying to feed us with, instead of nourish ourselves with our own capable hands.
Programming that tells us to close our minds, instead of open them.
Until the sun rises to burn our eyes by revealing the dis-utopian reality of a world you’ve created for us, we dance fiercely with our brothers and sisters in celebration of our life, of our culture, and of the values we believe in:
Peace, Love, Freedom, Tolerance, Unity, Harmony,
Expression, Responsibility and Respect.
Our enemy of choice is ignorance. Our weapon of choice is information. Our crime of choice is breaking and challenging whatever laws you feel you need to put in place to stop us from celebrating our existence.
But know that while you may shut down any given party, on any given night, in any given city, in any given country or continent on this beautiful planet, you can never shut down the entire party.
You don’t have access to that switch, no matter what you may think. The music will never stop. The heartbeat will never fade. The party will never end.
I am a raver, and this is my manifesto.”