Driving > Disco

First it's a new Android phone that keeps me from blogging. Then today I get into Google+ and lose all sorts of productive time. But through both of these I've at least had good music to listen to.

I don't have a lot of information about Germany Germany, but I can tell you that I've been listening to their album "Adventures" nonstop for the better part of two weeks. Out of 17 songs on that disc, I love 16. The other one is only ok in my opinion but I think that is saying a alot, since I'm used to bands coming out with cd's that have 1-3 songs I love, 1-3 ok songs and the rest is filler.

Check out their Bandcamp page to listen/purchase music, or just listen to the youtube link below.


Transatlantic

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Oh look, my blog posts are as sporadic as my running stints...

Can't believe I haven't already posted anything about The Hold Steady. The facts:

-formed in 2004
-indie
-based in Brooklyn, NY
-feature songs that take place within Minneapolis, MN

From 2005's Separation Sunday, check out "Stevie Nix."

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Last published date: March 8, 2011. That can't be right. Must be a time zone thing or leap year right? Maybe I can blame it on busy season, right? I do work at an accounting firm and all. Ah, who am I kidding, I'm just lazy. Lazy and forgetful. What were we talking about again?

Oh yeah. #MusicMonday making its glorious return. James Vincent McMorrow is a little secret that I've been keeping to myself for a couple of weeks. To be completely honest, I don't really know anything about him. I tried to glean some information from his website, but did not find anything abundantly useful. Either that, or I've completely forgotten how to search during my hiatus. Anywho, here's some music that'll make you forget how stupid I just sounded.

James Vincent McMorrow - And If My Heart Should Somehow Stop (from Early In the Morning)(as a side note, this is not the "official" video for the song, as evidenced by the fact that there is no video at all, only audio. or, maybe it is the official video and dude is just some amazing minimalist. nah!)

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Another month, another post...

Nothing blantantly new to report here. Still in the midst of busy season, still listening to mashup artists 90% of the time. Although I've found a bunch of new (to me) mashup artists, I can see where people could complain about them all sounding alike over time. In retrospect, I think I may have been too hasty in my judgement of Kids & Explosions, when I said he was not quite as polished as Girl Talk. Kids & Explosions seems to be able to take lyrical audio and reform it into other phrases/sentences, which, again in my opinion, may take more talent than just smashing two track into each other. Picking two tracks that fit together musically takes a lot of talent, but choosing two that fit together muscically and have some relation logically is even more impressive.

And that brings us to today's post, another Hood Internet track. I've started to grow much more fond of the hood internet, because, rather than recycling the same old rap and rock/pop tracks that some folks do, these fellows tend to choose good sounding rap/r&b (regardless of its popularity) and mix it with indie rock. Naturally, they've become my new favorite listening pleasure of the moment.

Fire it up, Firemouse (Lil Wayne vs Modest Mouse)



Next week, new music...I promise!

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Keeping my "one post per month pace..."

Alright stalkers, I'm back in business, attempting to shine some light on your otherwise dark and mundane musical existence. I know your next question is, what were we supposed to do with all that time while you were gone, not dropping any musical knowledge on us? Well, the answer is, you should've been able to find something to do and or listen to while I was out. I could list all the various things that kept me from posting (beign on call, going to the GirlTalk concert, etc), but I'll spare you and sum it up with one word: laziness.

Moving right along, yet somehow staying on the subject of mashups, let me wax poetic about my newest musical infatuation The Hood Internet. Based out of Chicago, IL, Aaron Brink (aka ABX) and Steve Reidell (aka STV SLV) combine their powers to form The Hood Internet. They've been creating mashups since 2007, so while they are certainly not the oldest mashup artists around, nor the first I was exposed to, but I can honestly say they are cranking out some of the best mashups I've ever heard.

Like all other mashup artists I've run into, all of their music is free to download and completely legal, since it is all classified as samples. Check out their webpage and download some of their tunes. I'd have to suggest the mixtapes, as that includes the highlights of trakcs they've released, since the last mixtape. The most recent one (volume 5) was released February 7th of this year, so you know it's crisp.

As with most of my recent musical suggestions, due to language, I'd have to say that this would qualify as NSFW:

Stuntin like Black Rock - from The Hood Internet Mixtape volume 3 (hopefully this is obvious to you, but this mashup features Birdman & Lil Wayne vs Black Rock)

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My first belated post of 2011!

Not really a lot of information I can give you about Kids & Explosions, as I literrally just found out about him/them/? last week. Continuting in my recent trend of mashup artists, Kids & Explosions is, in my humble opinion, not quite as polished as Girl Talk, though they may be more "truly" mashup than old Greg Gillis. (as an aside, the more I listen to Girl Talk, the more I think that mashup does not fairly describe what it is that he is doing; that is to say, I think he may have invented a new genre altogether, but that is a debate for another time)

Kids & Explosions appears to do a more focused job of mashing two tracks together. There may be more musical data in each track that I'm identifying, but it sounds like a much more traditional mashup (lyrics from one song/music from another) than most of the recent artists I've been listening to.

The afore-linked website is not really safe for work, much like K & E's music, but the pricing model is the same as Girl Talk's: pay what you think the music is worth. Good times!

Here's the only youtube video I could find of a Kids & Explosions track that was not overtly laden with nsfw language. While it's not the best example of his talent, it at least is something you can listen to without blushing (I hope). You can of course stream all of the tracks from the latest album on Kids & Explosions' website, but you already knew that cause you already cliked that link huh?

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The last Monday (#Music or otherwise) of 2010!

Broken dreams and shattered promises. That's all this blog has been about lately, and that was just the readers! Management offers no guarantees of posting frequency nor satisfaction, implied or otherwise, etc etc, ad nauseam.

What can be said about Greg Gillis that has not already been said? Hailing from Pittsburgh, PA, Girl Talk can be succinctly summed up in one word: mashup. As much as a I love a good circular posting, I'll just say that I have covered mashup artists before, so I won't bore you with the logistics. What sets Girl Talk above any of the others I've heard (so far), is the concept of synergy. On his latest album "All Day," all of his tracks are made up of between ten and thirty snippets of other songs. Many of which I wouldn't even bother to give between 10 and 30 seconds notice to otherwise, but the sum of the parts are much more than the individual tracks.

Now, before this thing turns into an all out yearly wrapup, let's just get to the good stuff. Also of note, I do believe this is the first time I've had to drop a NSFW tag on a #MusicMonday post, in this case, due to explicit language. Spoiler alert: much of Greg Gillis' work combines pop music with rap lyrics, if that gives you any insight into the type of language you'll be subjected to below. Enjoy!

(edit: almost forgot, you can download Girl Talk's "All Day," for free, from his record label's website and, might I suggest, that you download the seamless version, as that is how it was meant to be listened to...and it is much better, imo)

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#MusicMonday - 12.6.10 - Katy Perry

Now that I've got your attention...

Haha, you really thought you'd find a Katy Perry track on my super serious music blog? Good call. Anywho, after a longer than usual hiatus (holy crap - October 25th...really!?!), D > D is back in full force. Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battle station! Nah, I'm just kidding. I'm still as lazy as ever and will definitely underdeliver, unless you come here looking for a total slacker environment, in which case you'll probably be satisfied. I guess in that case, I'm actually overdelivering while simultaneously underdelivering, if that is possible.

Moving right along, we are still getting used to having a (almost) 3 week old in the house. Everyone's sleeping schedules are all messed up, mine included, and I even get to go back to work while still adjusting, though I am extraordinarily grateful for the two weeks of paternity leave that my employer so graciously provided.

During the two weeks of paternity leave, I had planned to take a sabbatical from running. It actually turned out to be all of November...as well as a few days in October...and a few days in December, but I'm proud to say that as of this morning, I'm 5 miles closer to my goal of 400 miles in 2010, with only 40 more to go!

I can't really think of much else too exciting, at least nothing that I'm ready to elaborate on currently, so I'll leave you with the insider information on what you all came for: my Halo Reach career. Currently I'm a commander grade 1, but I'm hoping to shoot up the ladder to General in no time! And yes I realize that none of you care about Halo. But do you realize how much that hurts me?

Anywho, have a good Monday and hopefully I'll surprise you with mutliple posts in the same week!





















And for anyone that actually scrolled down this far, consider this your reward/punishment!

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Looking back over #MusicMonday history, you're probably asking the same question I am at this moment...

How can I be doing a second Sufjan Stevens post, when there is not an "official" Modest Mouse post? The answer, I have no idea. Though they have nothing in common and don't sound anything alike, anyone who knows me, knows that both acts are in the upper echelon of my music universe (I should really just draw that out sometime and post a picture of it, but it would more than likely destroy the internet due to awesome overload so maybe I should just not do it). Run-on sentences notwithstanding, Sufjan Stevens has done it again, in my opinion. October 12, "The Age of Adz," dropped, hailed as a "departure" from his usual sound, it sounds more like him than anything I've ever heard, if that makes any sense.  

August 20th was the release date of "All Delighted People," an EP that, after a few listens, made me think it was the pinnacle of Stevens' work. It deserves a post all to itself (as do all of SS's albums), but today, we're here to listen to the Age of Adz. I was just thinking about how I would delve into the discussion for this cd, especially for anyone unfamiliar with Sufjan's work, when I remembered that the point of #MusicMonday (besides being a cheap excuse for a recurring blog post) was just to shed a little light on my playlist. To show the world what I was listening to at the moment. I could drop 10,000 words this disc and probably still not accurately share all of my feelings for it. I will try that at some point, but not tonight, Which is good, it's time for you to listen, then get back to work!  As usual, none of these videos are the "official" versions.

I walked


Too Much


Age of Adz




You can listen to and purchase the entire album (and download some tracks for free) at:

Sufjan Stevens' bandcamp page

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10-4 Good buddy...

So, after the Taylor Swift/Kanye West thing from last year, I decided I was pretty much done with Kanye.  There was nothing particularly special about Kanye's self-centered, music star attitude, it was just that he was so full of himself, it really turned me off to his music.  I don't really have any interest in Taylor Swift either, it was just one of the best examples of arrogance and audacity, not to mention that what he did was just plain rude.  And, you know the best way to let any company or figure know that you are not going to stand for their actions:  don't give them any of your money.  

The problem comes along when you hear Kanye's music.  Regardless of whether you are a fan of rap/hip-hop/whatever it is that he calls himself currently, you can't really argue with the fact that he is, at the very least passionate about his performances and probably extremely talented to boot.  Throw that into the mix, along with an SNL performance (which I am a self-admitted sucker for) and you've got yourself a new fan.

I'm certainly not the biggest fan of K-Dub, but I do enjoy his music.  I would say that this post is a departure from my usual fare, at least here on D > D, but I could probably start every musical post with that disclaimer, and then the departure becomes the norm, now doesn't it?

Watch Kanye's "Power" performance on SNL, before the NBC police pull the video offline and release the hounds on me.

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Music Monday - Galactic

Greetings from an old friend...

Remember me? The name is Matt. This is Driving > Disco. A "blog" I believe is the technical term. Who knew that blog actually meant "a lame webpage that is updated once or so a month." Cause I'm slow with the updates, I...oh nevermind. This post is one in a series called Music Monday. Today's featured artist is Galactic.

Galactic is as much of a jamband as they come, although with much more of a jazz/funk flavor. I don't recall actually having seen them live, but I have listened to a fair amount of their live shows and can tell you that they know how to get a jam going.

Hailing from New Orleans, Louisiana, for today's song, we'll be travleing to the Orient, all the way to club QUattro, in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. This particular show was from 3/28/2010. Here is "Wild Man."

"Wild Man" from Galactic's Ya-Ka-May album:

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#MusicMonday - 8.24.10 - The Knife

Do I realize its not Monday? Yes. Do I care? No.

Have I not posted in like a month? Yes, er no. I actually put up the blurb about RememberReach.com last Friday. I did not realize at the time that the site required facebook interaction. Not the biggest deal in the world, but if you read the TOS, you'll see that you are authorizing them to access your data, regardless of whether you are signed in or not, anytime day or night, etc etc. Just seemed like a lot of access for something that should barely require an email address.

Despite the possible invasion of privacy, I'm still unbelievably excited for Halo: Reach.

Isn't this a music post? Yes, yes it is. This post is a little bit of a deviation, even for me. If your eyes just got all big at that, then you may want to go ahead and hit up the next entry in your Google reader. What we got here is The Knife: an electro-pop duo from Sweden. Sounds right up my alley you say? Well shows what you know about my alley. Also, how many times do I have to tell you STAY OUT OF THERE!!1!

The track we're going to listen to today is from an album entitled Tomorrow, In a Year. It is an opera (gulp) based on Charlie Darwin's On the Origin of Species (big gulp). Now, I'll be the first to go on record as saying that I don't buy any of Darwin's theories, but I did listen to the entire album and I didn't really hear anything about anything, that I recall. Maybe it was in Swedish, maybe I wasn't paying close attenion, maybe it was some mixture of the two. Any way you slice it, I heard it and thought it was weird. But then I kept thinking about and humming parts of it to myself, so I gave it another listen. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the danger of having an open mind about music. You can listen to something, even an opera about evolution, form a Swedish electronica act and start to like it. Strange times we're living in.

(Now I have listened to the audio itself about twenty times so far, but I have not actually watched this video - which I should point out is not the "official" version - all the way through.  Watch at your own risk!  Probably nothing bad, just some weirdness.)

"Colouring of Pigeons" from "Tomorrow, In a Year," a collaboration between The Knife, Mt. Sims and Planningtorock. (it's 11+ minutes, so I know you won't be around to see the part at the end about how to get $50...)








...can't believe you watched the whole thing. There is no $50, sucka!

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#MusicMonday - 8.1.10 - Beck

Everyone's favorite hillbilly from outer space...

I had a decent mockup article written (in my head) that compared Beck to another one of my favorite artists, the Black Crowes. In my opinion, they share a lot of common ground. Musically speaking, they don't really remind me of each other, but in other aspects they seem similar to me.

Mention TBC to anyone and they'll probably say "I liked that one song they wrote...Hard to Handle." Despite the fact that Otis Redding actually wrote that song, its true that that was a big hit for the Crowes...from their 1990 release Shake Your Money Maker. Compare this to one Beck Hansen. Mention him to your average person on the street and they'll say "oh yeah, Loser," referring to his "breakout hit" from his 1994 release Mellow Gold. (this is where I planned to also compare their touring schedules, writing processes and sales figures, but I could not find concrete evidence for all of these items - enough for a nice little table - so I cut all that...sorry)

The thing that makes the above comparisons tie into each other is that for both Beck and the Black Crowes, those two songs, while notable in their respective histories, were basically footnotes in their careers. The Robinson brothers' band has a enourmous catalogue, that will have to have it's own post at some point in the future to be fully appreciated. Beck has eleven studio albums under his belt and has similarly produced a metric ton of content, only to be remembered by a one word song from almost 20 years ago.

While I'll be the first to say that there are a lot of "artists" out there whose entire musical career should be erased from the collective consciousness of human kind, there are a few, such as Beck, who rise to prominence from a song; said song gets killed on the radio (the whole "blessing/curse" phenomenon); general public gets sick of said artist and puts them behind the back burner, effectively rendering them dead to them, in the music world at least.

Here is "Elevator Music," from 2006's The Information. One of my new favorite songs and albums...




And how could any Beck post be complete without a listen to "Beercan?"

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Due to lack of time, we present a #MusicMonday post, only thirty years late...and you thought my regularly scheduled posts were late!

October 8, 1980.  I was approaching my third birthday.  Empire Strikes Back had been out for around 5 months.  The Talking Heads release "Remain in Light."  I didn't say my musical tastes are always on time.  In fact, I'm usually pretty late to the game.  This is where I usually use the "hyperlink last several words in the phrase that all link to examples to prove the point I was trying to make," gimmick, but I'm honestly too tired to even fool with it tonight.  

Use the precious moments that you save from reading my extended dialogue, to listen to "The Great Curve," from the aforementioned album.  

You know, if I had thought about it, I could've waited until October 8 (or there abouts) and done a whole "30 year anniversary" post about the whole album.  There would've been tables and graphs and "remember whens," and words...so many glorious words.  Why is it I'm not writing a book again?  But the point is this.  D > D isn't about just posting for the sake of posting.  Especially when it comes to my music-related posts, you really are getting an insider glance to the inner workings of what I am listening to at that moment.  With no additional cost!  Now that is QUALITY!  Enjoy!

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Were you hoping for the #MusicMondaTuesday bit?  Sorry, I don't do that bit anymore.  That is SO March 2010...

Ok Go is an "alternative, power pop, dance," group (nice to see alternative sneaking up in here amongst all the indie bands), originally from Chicago, IL that has since relocated to LA. With only three studio albums to their name, since forming in 1998, some might say that they are a little slow to release material. As with 99.999% of my musical selections, I prefer quality over quantity, as I'm sure all of you do also.  

Similarly, I'm sure most of you will remember the video from "Here It Goes Again," (from 2005's "Oh No") below from the "treadmill video," that you're probably shaking your head to as you read this. Well, things have taken a drastic turn between 2005 and 2010. Their current album, "Of the Blue Colour of the Sky," features "a much more funky, dancy, yet melancholy sound to it, drawing influence from Prince."

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The Avett Brothers. I think it would be safe to call them bluegrass. No country. Actually folk. Well, this could take a while.

Though they've been around in their current configuration since the year 2000, I have only had Scott and Seth Avett's eponymous band on my radar since about 2005. However, it has only been since 2009's "I and love and you," that they have gotten back into my regular rotation.

We both know I could do ten, maybe eleven thousand words on these guys without taking a breath.  Perhaps I'll get you an "Avett Brothers redux," post in the not too distant future, but I'm too busy working on something new to go into great detail at the moment.  For once, I'm going to do you a solid and let the music speak for itself. In case you haven't noticed by now, I have a thing for banjos. If you dislike banjos, I'd suggest you do not listen to the following.

The Second Gleam - Murder in the City


I and Love and You - January Wedding


Emotionalism - Die Die Die

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If surfwax is wax for your surfboard, does that mean Soulwax is wax for your soul?

While recently looking for some high tempo music for exercising, I made a profound discovery. The high beats per minute found in electronica is sometimes equaled (or exceeded) in dance music. A quick visit to wikipedia in order to define differences between electronica, techno and dance music left me further confused. I know wikipedia likes to compartmentalize items, but, for several musical acts that I had long referred to as electronica, I was met with the following genre labels:

alternative dance
big beat
breakbeat
dance punk
EDM (electronic dance music)*
electro
hardcore techno
house
rave
synthpunk
trip hop


* - any time I have to define an acronym in print, immediately after typing it, I always feel like an old person that is disseminating information to fellow old people ("NO FRANK, I SAID THEY WERE DOING PCP...SEE, PVC IS THIS PLASTIC..."), almost always in the context of it being a 'codeword' for some sort of illicit drug


Ok, where was I? I don't remember. Anyway, one of the purveyors of dance music that I found, was a group of two dj's that go by the name Soulwax. They've apparently been around since the 9th grade (1992 for you weirdos that are not the same age as me) and are quite popular in the Europe. The first album of their's that I was exposed to is "Nite Versions," from 2005. What is extremely interesting (to me at least) about this album, is that it is remixed versions of the 2004 album "Any Minute Now," also from Soulwax. And I was impressed when the Beastie Boys sampled their own music on later tracks...these guys remixed their whole album!!

The track that I've selected from each album today is apparently about a drug. After watching the video, I think it may be about many drugs, but drugs are bad (m'kay) kids. The only thing I want getting high is my heart rate, and then only when I'm working out. Just say no, etc. Ok, now that all the 1980's drugwar propaganda has been spread, onto the music! I chose "E-talking" because, in my opinion, it is the track that is changed the most between the original and the remix. Take a listen to both cuts and tell me what you think.


E-talking (from Any Minute Now)


E-talking (from Nite Versions)

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Here comes the Nersh...it's Kangfirmed!

Ok, please excuse my phantasy tour flashback (phlashback?), but I've only just begun to get interested in Bill Nershi et al. Coming from a Leftover Salmon pedigree, I was naturally interested in all things Drew Emmitt. One of those things turned out to be The Emmitt Nershi Band. So, after listening to a few tracks, knowing that Drew Emmitt was handling the mandolin duties, I was left wondering whose incredible guitar work I was enjoying. Turns out, it was the Nersh.  

I was never really a big fan of the String Cheese Incident, not that I ever gave them much of a chance back during my Panic only days. I didn't have time for any new music. Ironic, that now, I consider myself to not have enough time to listen to all the new music that comes my way. Nershi himself has been quoated as saying about HTHS that "this band takes the music back to the kind of shows SCI did when it began," so maybe I don't know what I have been missing. Might have to check them out at some point.

Now for the bad news. I could not find any high quality videos for the group on youtube. Most were Honkytonk Homeslice and other musicians/groups or were of such poor audio caliber, that I refused to subject you to them. So, how should I, a simple purveyor of music, expose you to a musical group, sans music? Luckily, youtube, as the saying goes, is not the only game in town. You'll have to expend a click or two more than usual, but if you follow this ilike.com link, you'll be rewarded with not one or two, but five tracks for your enjoyment ("Shot in the blue," is one of my personal favorites).

In closing, I'd like to leave you with a little multimedia. We return to our familiar stomping grounds (youtube), but, rather than let myself be overtaken by the veritable link-fest that follows, I'll just let the music speak for itself.

New Monsoon with Honkytonk Homeslice doing their version of the venerable "Stagger Lee"
4-29-2006

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I've always thought of myself as having a heart of gold...

Neil Young, one of the greatest musicians of our time, had been on my list of "most despised people," for a long, long time. Part of it was an aversion to musicians that were considered "classic." Part of it was just me wanting to "discover" music on my own. Either way it was stupid. Neil Young is obviously extraorinarily talented. I won't go into all of his many talents, and for once, I'll spare you the history lesson.

From Harvest - Old Man

As an aside, my favorite lines from the song would have to be:

Doesn't mean that much to me
To mean that much to you.

Thank you Neil.

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 Oh to be Jack White. 

Dude is only a couple of years older than me, but has been a professional musician since 1990. That would be since he was 14, if you are keeping score at home. Whatever, I had a badass Sega Genesis when I was 14, but I'm not the one on trial here, so let's just move on.

The White Stripes came about in 1997. Clearly, you are familiar with the White Stripes. So you already know the level of musicianship we are dealing with here. The White Stripes could go about a hundred different directions with a song, which was impressive, considering it was just drums and guitar (bass or otherwise), with a piano thrown in every now and then for good measure. What I'm saying is, for two people, they could go a lot of ways, musically speaking.

In 2005, White assembled the Raconteurs. I gave "Broken Boy Soldiers" (their first release) more than a few listens and really got into "Consolers of the Lonely" (their second album). Either of these two bands would've been enough for 99% of the musical "talent" that we are presented with today. But, they were not enough for Jack White.

Fast forward to 2009 and witness the birth of the Dead Weather. White plays drums and sings, Alison Mossheart from the Kills, Jack Lawrence from the Raconteurs and Dean Fertita from Queens of the Stone Age are also along for the ride. After listening to both of the discs, I'm still not 100% sure what genre to stick the Dead Weather into, and I guess that is what is the greatest thing about them. They are something between garage rock and blues. I don't know what "type" of music they play, but I know I like it.

So, on the eve of the release of "Sea of Cowards" (which you should've already been previewing for free, completely legal, from npr.org), I thought it would be fitting to take a listen to the Dead Weather.

"Die by the Drop" from Sea of Cowards

"I Cut like a Buffalo" from Horehound

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