Music Snobbery

Watch This at Your Own Risk

2010-02-09T23:34:26-05:00

I saw this on Thighs Wide Shut and within 10 seconds I did the proverbial face-plant.

These are X Factor contestants Jedward mashing Under Pressure and Ice Ice Baby. I wonder where they thought of that idea? It's Global Thermal Nuclear Fail when a special guest joins them on stage. Try to stick with it as much as you can.

The High Wire: Balancing Act

2010-02-09T00:00:00-05:00

Apparently, that photo was taken under a red heat lamp that keeps rotisserie chicken warm.

Coming in from the UK to the give your dreams a soundtrack is The High Wire. Are they high? If you mean high on loving melodies, delicate pop prowess and sweet boy-girl vocals, then the answer is "YES!" my friends. Like contemporaries The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The High Wire takes inspiration from all those early 90s shoegazer bands (think Teenage Fanclub), but rather than cranking up the fuzz, they turn on the fun meter.

What I find appealing from the three-piece is that they don't push to hard into that dream-pop territory. You get the feeling that they rather get people moving then floating above everything. You can hear that in a song like The Midnight Bell. It's got a little bit of a dance beat.

So far, the band has already played to stadiums last year when they opened up for Coldplay. Back in 2008, they were around during CMJ, so I just suck that didn't know about them two years ago.

They are set to release their debut called The Sleep Tape in March on Grandpa Stan Records. I predict it won't put you to sleep at all.

Before you take that disco nap, check out their first single, Odds & Ends:

Live Blogging the Super Bowl's Music Angle

2010-02-07T21:55:00-05:00

9:50pm: Let's wrap this up. The Who showed that they are 20 years past when they should have called it a day and need about a million dollars of fireworks and lighting effects to look somewhat alive. Arcade Fire's promos for the NFL Network was just the part of 'Wake Up" where they go OHHHHH OHHHH OHHH HOHHH OOHHHHO OHHHHHH. OOOOOOOOOOOHH OOOHH. Hell, if the ads help with Haiti relief, do it. Maybe in twenty years, they'll play halftime.

That's it for me. I'm going to watch District 9 with the director's commentary.

9:47pm: Wow, New Orleans is rocking. A true American story. The Saints earned every inch of field. Even if you don't care about football, you have to recognize how this team lifted the spirits of the team. USA! USA! USA!

9:44pm: And Saints do it! Awesome win. Will be remembered for all the ages.

9:38pm: Wolfmother's "Woman" for CBS promo. By the time you read this, Andrew Stockdale will have fired the whole band.

9:30pm: Interception! Saints on their way to winning. New Orleans will be partying for five weeks straight after this win.

9:27pm: There's that Cheap Trick ad that takes Dream Police and changes it to Green Police. That's just high comedy there.

9:22pm: "Staying Alive" for CBS promo featuring that goth chick from NCIS.

9:21pm: "Funky Stuff" by Kool & The Gang for Honda

9:15pm: Bill Withers's "Aint No Sunshine" for video game Dante's Inferno. it's a comeback year for Bill with that Gorillaz song.

9:06pm: I think Beyonce would appear in an ad for toilet bowl cleaner if you paid her enough.

8:57pm: More Arcade Fire. Money from this ad goes to Haiti relief.

8:53pm: ELO's "Don't Bring Me Down" for Budweiser.

8:52pm: ha ha ha. It's The Heavy's "How You Like Me Now?" for KIA. Man, can I call it.

8:50pm: That Google ad should have had "how to get laid in paris".

8:39pm: I was wonder when I was going to hear Blur. It was for crappy beer with Lance Armstrong. As I've said many times, "Song 2" doesn't belong to Blur anymore.

8:30pm: Stevie Wonder punches Tracy Morgan when he "sees" a VW car. Get it? It's funny because he's blind. I didn't even realize it was a Grizzly Bear song, I had that part of my brain erased with memories of their music.

8:25pm: RT @sportsguy33 The White House just announced that the Who's halftime show will be classified as an act of terrorism on American soil.

Agree, for once, can we have an act that is under 50 years of age to do these things?

8:23pm: WHOA! Sean Payton has the biggest balls in the history of football -- an onside kick. About 85% of Americans who don't know football are being explained what an on-side kick is.

8:14pm: So the NFL is running out bands to do these halftime shows. U2 was the best halftime of all time -- the one after 9/11. The worst was the year before that with Britney Spears, NSYNC and Aerosmith. I can see Pearl Jam doing one. Maybe Dave Matthews Band, Kings of Leon, Jay-Z. You know who really should do a halftime show? Flaming Lips. Have Wayne come out in his bubble over a crowd and have the world's largest gathering of furry animal costumes.

8:13pm: And it's over. No smashed guitars. It was what it was. A lot of fireworks. The Boss didn't need that last year.

8:09pm: It would great if they had David Caruso on just to put on his sunglasses right before the YEAHHHHHHHHH

8:07pm: They coached the crowd to sing along or that's some nifty audio engineering.

8:06pm: It's the CSI melody section. Hey, this is on CBS.

8:04pm: Baba O'Reilly. Remember that scene in Freaks and Geeks were Lindsay calls it "Teenage Wasteland" and Ken corrects him. Classic

8:03pm: They didn't do the crowd running towards the stage this year. Instead it all lasers and crap.

8:02pm: Okay, they looked at each because they are not singing together.

8:01pm: Here we go. Pre-recorded The Who! Starting with Pinball Wizard.

8:00pm: She's going the distance ... she's going for speed. I've seen Cake in concert once. The opening act ... Spoon. Oh snap!

7:54pm: Boston's "More Then a Feeling" for the lottery.

7:53pm: Not sure if that's Gotan Project for Acura. It sounds like them. Actually, it's a band called Bajofondo. The song is called "Pa' Bailar - Siempre Quiero Mas". Thank you, internet.

7:52pm: The Who's "My Generation" remixed by Will.I.Am. Violation. Unnecessary. Will.I.Am, the biggest corporate tool in music today.

7:43pm: It's almost halftime with The Who. I finally got around a few weeks ago to watching their documentary DVD, Amazing Journey: The Story Of The Who. It has some great insight into the early years of the band. There was a lot of trivia I didn't know and it details some of the band's well known history, the meaning of Townsend smashing guitars, the whole mod rock scene, the death of Keith Moon and the tragic Cincinnati show where 9 people died. What I found interesting was how Daltry and Townsend tried to justify their existence now. They claim that they still get along, but watch as the two play halftime. I bet you they never look at each other.

7:38pm: Kiss. The biggest sell-out one-hit-wonder band of all time. They are the Michael Bay of 70s rock bands, all style, all flash, no substance.

7:37pm: That car commercial with Michael C. Hall is creepy. It's a bunch of static shots of guys with Hall doing a voiceover about the mundane things people do every day.

7:34pm: That's some Manning Face on the sidelines. He looked like Nicholson at the end of The Shining.

7:27pm: And there's the Arcade Fire for the NFL Network's 15-second promo.

7:25pm: Pierre Garçon just dropped a big pass. That's a great name, it sounds like a French New Wave director -- Godard, Truffaut, Garçon.

7:20pm: Holy crap. Leno, Oprah and Letterman in the same promo. They had to have done some crazy CGI for that.

7:05pm: Okay, T-Pain we get it. It still doesn't make you relevant or worthy of attention.

6:53pm: Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" used for Navy NCIS. apparently, that show is the most popular program on TV. I don't know anybody who watched that show. Must be a red state kind of show.

6:47pm: Oh dear lord. The Super Bowl Shuffle by the '85 Chicago Bears reworked for Boost Mobile. That was pretty funny, with Jim McMahon in a motorized scooter. One of the players wears a leopard print thong. As Mike Singletary would say, "Can't do it."

6:44pm: Jimi Hendrix's "Fire" being used for Survivor promos. Do you think if he were still alive, he would play the halftime? He would be 67.

6:38pm: Ah, yes. There's the song "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" by Tomoyasu Hotei, that was made popular in Kill Bill.

6:35pm: Now that some actual football is being played, We do know that we can expect Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" to be used for a PSA for Haiti relief, Cheap Trick to appear in an ad and The Who to play halftime.

6:25pm: Another reworked classic. "Light My Fire" for golf clubs.

6:20pm: Carrie Underwood sings the National Anthem. Good job.

6:18pm: Queen Latifah sings "America, The Beautiful." And now she takes off her ear pierce. Uh oh. Awkward! Don't worry, only 60 million people are watching. And now they do a little REMIX!!!! I remember when she use to rap "Who you callin' a ho?"

6:15pm: It's been 10 minutes and we've heard Jeff Bridges twice. The dude abides. I haven't seen the movie that will win him an Oscar, Crazy Heart. I will though.

6:11pm: The Colts come out to theme to CSI: Miami. Cue David Caruso, "Looks like our victim ... *puts on sunglasses* .... wasn't ready for some football." YEAHHHHHHHHHHH

6:07pm: The first of the ads that takes a classic song and re-imagines it. This time Ritz crackers takes Earth, Wind & Fire's "Let's Groove" as done by a marching band.

6:00pm: Are you ready for some commercials? The festivies begin with an intro by Jay-Z and Rihanna set to "Run This Town". You have Jay backed by a whole orchestra intercut with scene of the Colts and Saints. They have some shot of coaches Sean Peyton and Mr. Excitement himself, Colts head coach Jim Caldwell. He's perfect the no emotion stare. They could have gotten a cardboard cutout. At the end of the clip, Jay-Z holds the Vince Lambardi trophy over his head. It's the one thing Jay-z has done in his career, win the Super Bowl. All he has to do is buy a team. I think he can do it.

Summer Camp -- Are You Ready For the Summer?

2010-02-05T00:55:22-05:00

I have on good authority that THE band to watch at this moment right now -- not tomorrow, not yesterday -- is a band that nobody knows. Literally, someone is pulling a fast one on us bloggers. There's a myspace page set up for a band called Summer Camp. The demos they have streaming on the page are impressive in its simplicity. It's boy-girl vocals over some lo-fi, dream pop beats. I've listen through the songs twice and there's something magical happening in these tracks. It's pop stripped of pretension and scenester athletics.

Here's the kicker -- nobody seems to be able to confirm if it is a band. Their official website is a picture blog of vintage photos from the 60s, 70s and 80s. They haven't played an official show or released an official band photo. They might Swedish musicians living in London. Heck, they might be giants for all we know. They are listed as playing SXSW.

This is the bio they have offered up:

Hi. Thanks for coming to us! We met at summer camp when we were fourteen. The nights went on forever and we thought we would never get old.

They told the Guardian some tidbits:

We also love Motown and the Beach Boys, and 80s pop like Cocteau Twins, Altered Images, Talking Heads and XTC. Stiff Records is a big influence – Wreckless Eric, Jona Lewie, Ian Dury and Devo. We just love synth-pop, though, ultimately. And we kind of imagine that we're writing songs for an 80s teen movie. John Cusack is a huge influence on us. ... "That came about completely by accident," they said. "As things started happening it made sense to carry on being secretive, as it takes the pressure off us slightly. Plus, we don't like how you can know everything about a band these days – we're nostalgic for mystery. People will find out soon, though, and probably be disappointed that we're not actually Cheryl Cole and Moby. Or are we ...?"

Mobes, have you been moonlighting again?

I think I have my new favorite band, they are influenced by the Cusack.

In the meantime, check out the hi-jinks on the song, 'Was It Worth It"

Those Darlins / Pine Hill Haints @ Maxwell's: Chicken, Pizza and Glitter

2010-02-04T01:19:38-05:00

The constantly traveling gals of Those Darlins continued their New Jersey visit tonight with a stop in Hoboken. While Wednesday night is usually not prime for rocking, the Darlins made sure that they had a party on stage none-the-less.

The setlist:

Wild One
Snaggle Tooth Mama
Money
Cannonball Blues
Ringy
222
Who's That Knockin' At My Window?
DUI or Die
Cactus
Lonesome
Hung Up On Me
Bump
Prankcall
The Whole Damn Thing
Red Light Love
Shakin' On Over Here

I have a soft spot for that peculiar genre where country/western crosses with rock-a-billy. You have bands in vintage clothing, a trailer trash attitude and serious guitar chops. Those Darlins (not to be called Them Darlins, Little Darlins or Oh My Darlins) come from Tennesse, a hot bed of that classic, never out of style brand of music. I liked them when they opened up for Ida Maria, I thought they were just sensational tonight. Yeah, having 30-40 people in the room didn't translate into a good crowd experience, but the stuff on stage was good times. They still shimmied, shaked and spit beer to all their crackling hillbilly tunes. They even took to the floor to jam out for the final number.

You can't go wrong with a band who sings about drinking, eating chicken and being up to no good. Now, if they sang about donuts and making fun of other people, they would be my favorite band of all time. With a band like Darlins, you do have to love the genre in all its southern glory. For the most part, it's all upbeat songs that have a sense of humor and an interesting story to tell.

As a side note, they had a large supply of glitter at their disposal. They met a guy the previous night at Asbury Park who owns a glitter company. What would you do with an endless supply of glitter? Me, I would guess throw at random strangers.

On tour with the ladies is Pine Hill Haints, who occupy the same territory at their travel mates. They have a beaten, jug band quality. They use a washboard, beaten up guitars and a bass string tied to a mop that's attached to a washtub. Musically, they might be a little darker then the girl, but they still have plenty of hollering during their set. They reminded me of Revered Horton Heat, Souther Culture on the Skidz and Squirrel Nut Zippers.

One of my weird favorite things in pop culture is the Country Bear Jamboree at Disney World. I love those goddamn bears. Pine Hill Haints made me think about those happy times.

The bands have with them a homemade quilt that resembles a pepperoni pizza. That's crafty artwork there.

MGMT Forced to Sing "I've Got a Feeling" on Grammys Red Carpet

2010-02-03T09:26:21-05:00

As if attending a Grammy Awards ceremony is torture enough, the cats from MGMT, Silversun Pickups and assorted fish-out-water bands have to deal with questions from vapid reporters. "What are you wearing?" "What's it like to be nominated in this category?"

The Jimmy Kimmel Live crew sent their resident crazy guy, Yehya (pronounced Yah-Yah), to the red carpet to created havoc with his portable karaoke machine. Their song of choice, that annoying Black Eyed Peas song that will send me to me to an early grave.

Watch as the MGMT gang try to put on a brave face.

New Young Pony Club Get You What You Want With New Album

2010-02-03T00:39:49-05:00

Giddy up! The catchiest, danciest Aussies via UK band this side of the funky beat finally have some new music to dish up. Time will tell if they can top the good time dance rock of Fantastic Playroom. It's been five years since "Ice Cream" dropped and I still got that song stuck in my head.

Their sophomore album, The Optimist comes out on March 8. Here's the tracklisting:

1. Lost A Girl
2. Chaos
3. The Optimist
4. Stone
5. We Want To
6. Dolls
7. Before The Light
8. Oh Cherie
9. Rapture
10. Architect Of Love

Here's the latest video from that album. It's called "Chaos".

Top 5 Things That Happen At Shows That Make Me Think It's Groundhog Day

2010-02-02T00:33:41-05:00

5. The guy at the door checks my I.D. even though I'm there every week and sometimes I wear pants. People under 21 don't wear pants. Pants are so mayo.

4. The lights get lowered and people start cheering, even though the house music is still playing. (*hint* -- look for the guy waving a flashlight, then you can scream).

3. Somebody yells "Freebird" or some obscure B-side.

2. Some near-do-well will take flash photographs with their point and shoot, thus blinding the performers.

1. The opening act says, "Hi, we're such and such. We come from Brooklyn. We have two more songs for you. We have merch in the back."

Editors Make Tumbling Cool in New Video

2010-02-02T00:20:57-05:00

Their latest album isn't lighting a fire underneath my collective musical pilot light. Le sigh. Try again fellas. In any event, Editors released a video for their single, "You Don’t Know Love," one of the more tolerable tracks. If I knew therapy sessions would feature black suited acrobatics making sweet non-penetration love, then I would sign up. Check out that hair whipping ninja action.

The video was shot feature film director/cinematographer, Christopher Doyle, who shot one of my favorite film's, Chungking Express..

Wakey! Wakey! Releases Album This Week and Goes Primetime

2010-02-01T00:00:00-05:00

My boy Michael Grubbs is ready for his closeup. The leader of local band Wakey! Wakey! has been toiling away on his latest opus, Almost Everything I Wish I'd Said the Last Time I Saw You. The album gets released this Tuesday, and it features Grubbs homegrown peppy electric pop sound and heartfelt piano-based ballads.

1. Almost Everything
2. The Oh Song
3. Twenty Two
4. Square Peg Round Hole
5. Dance So Good
6. 1876 - The Brooklyn Theatre Fire
7. Feral Love
8. Got It All Wrong
9. Light Outside
10. Car Crash
11. Take It Like A Man

You can listen to "Twenty Two" over at Spinner.

A new album is not all that M.G. is up to these days. He's been doing some acting over in L.A. He plays a bartender of The CW teen drama, One Tree Hill. I have no idea what that show is about, but I'm sure it features good looking late 20s year-old actors playing teenagers.

In any event, here's Senor Grubbs taking questions from his new fans.