Art Brut

So, y'all ready for the next Brit band that's about to storm the US with a newer, sillier, snottier take on rock and roll? Like it or not, they're coming, and you are soon to hear the name Art Brut bandied about by hipsters and music geeks as the next Franz Ferdinand.

That statement may be a bit misleading, especially if it conjures thoughts of new and improved disco rock or dance punk or whatever the hell you want to call that pop-rock with the infectious backbeat and judicial use of high hat that the boys from Glasgow made so famous. You know what I'm talking about. Art Brut aren't doing that. They're doing something far sillier, far more basic--far more rock and roll, really.

They're ridiculous. Their songs are about themselves being in a rock band, themselves partying, themselves being themselves. It's absurdly self-referential, but that's the thing about it. As the singer says in "Formed a Band," "We're just talking... to the kids!"

Check out that track plus a couple others at their website.

http://www.artbrut.org.uk/release.html

I downloaded this CD from emusic because I was in a weird mood. (Apparently it's not available in stores in the US yet--ah, another great thing about emusic. And by the way, if you check out emusic and want to join, contact me first, that way you get a sweet trial offer and I get 50 free tracks for getting you to sign up. Everybody wins. Especially me.) I'm still not quite sure what to make of it, except for the obvious: It's silly; It's full of great hooks and catchy basic riffs; it's silly; and it's a hell of a lot of fun.

Check it out. It'll also be in the rotation over at RangeLife this week and, likely, many weeks to come. (RangeLife airs Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1 to 3pm, mountain time.)

Animal Collective

Animal Collective
Feels


I've resisted this band for a while now, based on a couple tracks I'd gleaned from various compilation CDs. It's weird. Its sounds are strange and delayed in ways that are hard to describe. The songs are assembled like they're a joint math-music project by genius kids on acid. Seemed to me that the tunes were either scary fairy tales that screeched in the night or teletubbyesque slackjawed daydreams.

But, I just downloaded the new album, and I may be changing my mind.

I'm on first listen as I write this, but man--and now I mean it in a good, intriguing, innovative sense--this shit is WEIRD.

Admittedly, I'm listening to this on crap computer speakers and haven't yet given it full attention or full stereo treatment, but so far, I'm being sucked in to this strange childish zap-brained netherworld. More to come, for sure.

Meantime, check out the first track, Did You See the Words, at the FatCat Records site, here. There are more to listen to, too. Flesh Canoe? WTF? And it's too bad Purple Bottle isn't one of the free listens. This is quite a track.

Statement

TV On the Radio, about whom I've written here before, have posted a free track and a very potent political statement.

Check it:
http://www.tgrec.com/bands/album.php?id=367

It's a track called Dry Drunk Emperor. Here's the chorus:

all eyes upon
dry drunk emperor
gold cross jock skull and bones
mocking smile,
he's been
standing naked for a while!
get him gone, get him gone, get him gone!!
and bring all the thieves to trial.

Guess who it's about...

Oh, and while you're there at the Touch and Go Records site, get ya a little learning on Dirty Three. I just got their new album, Cinder, and it's a good one. More to come on that later.

Back to the Life

We're back from the Big New Orleans Adventure, and it's now time to get back to normal life. Strange and hard to do so after all this, but it'll be good to get stable in the brain again.

So: Music.

I've gotten the big dump from friend Allison through her connection in Oregon, a certain someone involved in radio who's hooked me up to many a new band or latest CD. And all this from someone I've never met. God, I love this whole sharing business.

Cream of the crop so far: Lali Puna's offering of remixes and rare tracks, called I Thought I Was Over That. Fantastic stuff, much chill electronic beatifying and reworking of strong tracks by folks like Two Lone Swordsmen and Dntel. You can listen to a good bit of it at the Morr Music website. Lali Puna's take on (This is the Dream of) Evan and Chan is really something to get lost in. Taking the ethereal melody out and laying it on some skittering beat and nice effects, the track surprisingly does not suffer from the absence of trance-like fuzz or Ben Gibbard's vocals.

Other standouts include Koushik, some more chill deep thought electronic music that lives in the hazy fog between rock and dance music.

The most surprising thing to have captured my attention is the new album by Blackalicious, The Craft, which I'm really enjoying diving into. I've been through it a couple times now and it seems there's not a down or weak moment to be found. Great great beats and some outstanding vocal work. I know as much about hip hop as Brownie knows about disaster relief, but I'm enjoying checking this release through ears untainted by knowledge. Ignorance is bliss here.

Alright, back to normal. This ain't so bad.

Travel Blog

This week sees Cathy and I embarking on a different kind of trip. With the support of the Idaho and US Humane Societies, we are headed to New Orleans to help clear some dogs out of a temporary shelter that's about to close down. We'll be loading the dogs into a U-Haul and driving them from N.O. back to Boise where they'll either be adopted or placed in shelters until they're ok to be adopted.

None of you will be surprised to learn that Cathy's the one who's gotten us into this. However, I think you'd also agree that this is at least a worthwhile endeavor, and could be at most an adventure that will change our lives.

So, with camera and laptop in tow, we head out tomorrow morning on a flight for Houston. I hope to blog it at the travel blog, so check in over there if you're curious.