Only Built 4 Reuben Linx

Yip Yip are from Florida and are c-r-a-z-y. You need crack pipes and Derrida books to understand this madness. They've toured with Austin Devo-likes Zom Zoms and if you ever saw both of them ever play together you would understand Niels Bohr and stare at Egon Schiele paintings all day. Outside is a painting.

Mogwai used to be fun but now they're all sleepy-eyed and dull.
Mr. Beast could have been interesting but instead it was just Erik Satie pianos, droopy riffs and the same loud/quiet paradigm that others like Mono and Explosions in the Sky are great at. Maybe I'm just bored with fuzzy guitars and slow, macho melodies. Cover art is fantastic, though.


I wish they could just mic the album cover.

Mystery Twin is a duo who makes pretty shoegazer pop. Their debut album, Petty Theft has just come and you should hide in the middle of a street with some large silver headphones and listen and listen.

Rock bands are all family. But, Blood on the Wall are, like, really related. The trio is following up their horny second album, Awesomer, by opening up for everyone's favorite status quo freaks, the Yeah Yeah Yeah's. They've toured with the Psychic Ills and Black Dice, so you know, they like homeless-looking people. And there's a brown guy in the band! Can you say Fader cover?



Dates, children:

4/3: Washington, DC ­– 9:30 Club
4/5: Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero
4/7: Boston, MA – Orpheum Theatre
4/8: Montreal, QUE – Metropolis
4/10: Toronto, ONT – Kool Haus
4/11: Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre
4/12: Cleveland, OH – Agora Theatre
4/14: Chicago, IL – Riviera Theatre
4/15: Milwaukee, WI ­– Riverside Theatre
4/16: Minneapolis, MN ­– First Avenue
4/18: Omaha, NE – Sokol Auditorium
4/19: St. Louis, MO ­– The Pageant
4/21: Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium
4/22: Salt Lake City, UT – University of Utah
4/24: Vancouver, BC – Orpheum Theatre
4/25: Seattle, WA – Paramount Ballroom
4/26: Portland, OR – Roseland Ballroom
4/28: San Francisco, CA – The Warfield
4/29: San Francisco, CA – The Warfield

Little Brother are a soulful, throwback rap trio that makes everyone who says the words "golden age" too much, happy. PETA love animals and want you to love them as well. For the record, I was veggie-ish for five years and fell off the bandwagon when I went to Mexico (in case you were wondering, they haven't got that word in the Spanish dictionary, yet). Story goes like this: PETA did an interview with Little Brother two years ago when they were vegetarians. Then, they started eating meat again. Well, two years later PETA posts the interview. Dante, of Little Brother, had this to say:

Them niggas is bonkers fam…..and I don't endorse them niggas IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM…..

Basically, me and Pooh went for a while where we had both stopped eating meat…and while we were vegetarian, PETA asked us to do an interview at the Rock The Bells festival….niggas was like, 'Cool…."

We ain't know them niggas was gon' run the shit TWO YEARS LATER after niggas done fell off the wagon……didn't they read my waing blog?

Plus, my problems with PETA run waaaaay deeper than that. To me, they come across as rich white folk who are privileged enough to fight a 'struggle' that the average everyday working person could really give a fuck about. Meat is murder? Get the fuck outta here with that bullshit! Meat ain't murder, its what's for dinner!


Somewhere, Morrissey is crying.

Parisian Isolee's new record of collected singles and old material is a perfect compliment to last year's brilliant Wearemonster. Pitter-patter beats and cross-eyed textures make drums squint. Like Ricardo Villalobos with thicker basslines, both producers are meticulous with surgeon-like precision.




For more juicy words on Isolee check out Philip Sherburne's review of Western Store.

Brian Eno- Unfamiliar Wind (Leek Hills)


I want to run outside and hug electric trees when I hear this. Brian Eno has changed the way I think about music which is what I imagine most musicians should be doing.

Thugs need hugs, too.

The Ladies- Black Caesar/Red Sonja


What these guys do with drums should only be done with laptops. Needless to say two people making Bad Brains-meets-Prefuse 73 drums is neat.

WE LIKE THE LADIES WE LIKE THE LADIES WE LIKE THE LADIES



The Ladies- Vacation, Asyphxia, Vacation

Eric B. and Rakim- Paid in Full (Coldcut Remix)


Classsssssssssssssssic!

Austin's Weird Weeds are one of the best bands the tiny capitol city has to offer. This trio has opened for Xiu Xiu and they're CD-R album, Hold Me is a great record of catchy melodies and complicated rock.

Listen to the record here.

And they're touring this fall. Pencil these dates:

Apr 12 2006 8:00P The Blue Theater Austin, TX
May 30 2006 8:00P The Proletariat w/Picastro! Houston, TX
Sep 7 2006 8:00P Baton Rouge Baton Rouge, LA
Sep 8 2006 8:00P Nashville Nashville, TN
Sep 9 2006 8:00P Knoxville Knoxville, TN
Sep 10 2006 8:00P Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC
Sep 11 2006 8:00P Baltimore Baltimore, MD
Sep 12 2006 8:00P Kutztown Kutztown, PA
Sep 13 2006 8:00P Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA
Sep 14 2006 8:00P Brooklyn Brooklyn, NY
Sep 15 2006 8:00P Manhattan Manhattan, NY
Sep 16 2006 8:00P Boston Boston, MA
Sep 17 2006 8:00P Western Mass Northampton, MA
Sep 18 2006 8:00P Cornell University Ithaca, NY
Sep 19 2006 8:00P The Bug Jar Rochester, NY
Sep 20 2006 8:00P Toronto Toronto
Sep 21 2006 8:00P Oberlin Oberlin, OH
Sep 22 2006 8:00P Chicago Chicago, IL
Sep 23 2006 8:00P St. Louis St. Louis, MO

I was listening to this album again yesterday by Michigan's Wolf Eyes and everyone should wake up with this noisy record. Burned Mind came out two years ago on Sub Pop but stands up there with other great white noise bands. Like an academic paper on the history of tejano music, this band will keep you white-hot. And keep yr ears throbbing.

The Eternals are a nutso three-piece from Chicago with roots in dub, the Tortoise school of slow rock and German rhythms. Their High Anxiety EP is delicious and messy. And with a record to be released later this by Aesthetics, you should pencil these dudes in.

No, really, did we pay the light bill?

German-Chilean wonderboy Ricardo Villalobos is having his back catalogue of snobby European released singles re-released starting with the 12" Que Belle Epoque . According to wacko record store/label Forced Exposure:

"Since all of Ricardo's vinyl releases are sold out for a long time and most of all never have been released on CD in full length, we decided due to worldwide big demand to re-release his works. Reason enough for Mr. Villalobos to gently remix and re-arrange 'Que Belle Epoque' without losing it's original appeal as the original already has been critically highly acclaimed in early 2000 with comments like: 'stirring,' (Raveline 2/00), 'top class,' (De:Bug magazine 1/00), 'remarkable' (Groove 1/00)."

I remember asking Maseo of De La Soul once if he liked AOI:Bionix as it was coming out in a few months. I had heard some bad things about it, so I was wondering what he thought. He laughed at how absurd the question was, looking at me all funny. But, it was a real question: is it possible for someone to not like their own music? To know their records can be wick-wick wack. Was there such a critical space between him and I that he couldn't hear how bad that album was?

And then he said, "hells yeah, I do, of course!"

I think theres a lesson, not sure, though.

Scottish duo Boards of Canada may have come out with a so-so record last year with the Campfire Headphase but I like to give people a chance. Not you, Prince. TransCanada Highway is six tracks of more bearded magic. With remixes from Odd Nosdam, whose criminally overlooked record Burner, looks like they've made up for being mediocre. I want to play Boards of Canada for my nephew and niece, again.

Tracklisting:

01. Dayvan Cowboy
02. Left Side Drive
03. Heard From Telegraph Lines
04. Skyliner
05. Under The Coke Sign
06. Dayvan Cowboy (Odd Nosdam Remix)

Brazilian crooner and America's favorite ethnic singer, Seu Jorge, whose terrific record Cru last year topped Hold on to Young Ideas' best of list, which means nothing but we like to mention it anyway. Homedude finally lands on these shores as an immigrant, then he will be asked to leave. But, first! He's gonna play his heart out at the below places. I plan on seeing him at Central Park Summerstage. Be there. Unless, you know, you speak another language or whatever. Eww.


Dates:

03-30 New York, NY - Beacon Theatre *
03-31 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre *
04-01 Washington, DC - Lisner Auditorium *
04-27 New York, NY - Irving Plaza #
04-28 Miami, FL - North Beach Bandshell
04-30 Indio, CA - Empire Polo Field (Coachella)
06-16 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
06-18 San Francisco, CA - Sigmund Stern Grove $
06-20 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
06-22 Seattle, WA - Neumos
06-23 Vancouver, British Columbia - Centre for the Performing Arts (Vancouver International Jazz Festival) %
06-24 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Pyramid Cabaret
06-26 Minneapolis, MN - Cedar Cultural Center
06-27 Madison, WI - Union Theater
06-28 Chicago, IL - Metro
06-30 Toronto, Ontario - Harbourfront Centre
07-01 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
07-02 New York, NY - Central Park Summerstage
07-05 Boston, MA - Museum of Fine Arts
07-06 Quebec City, Quebec - Quebec City International Summer Festival

With last year's Thrills behind her, Ellen Allien's new record with Apparat is nothing short of awesome. I wasn't feeling Thrills as much as I loved Berlinette and this record, Orchestra of Bubbles is definitely peppy. "Turbo Dreams", the lead single is punchy Bpitch techno with hints of electric guitars that bump you upside the head.

The album comes out April 3rd.

You can hear the record streamed here.

Psychedelic rock has got you down? Bummed when you hear that Amon Duul song on that Toyota commercial? Well, sit down partner, cause 60's Houston-bred band The Red Krayola have a new album coming out April on Drag City called Introduction. And theres talks of putting together a documentary about this legendary band that hasn't always lived up to its great name.

Put that remote down and go grab that Neu! t-shirt.

With their follow-up to A New White called for hero: for fool being released later this year by Lex Records, those wiry dudes Subtle are looking for something to keep boredom away. So, they're releasing a CD/DVD collection of new material, remixes and the like for you in May. Wishingbone is a delicious mix from Beck, Hrvatski, Mike Patton and Ms. John Soda. I'll have MP3's soon.

If that ain't enough, they'll be touring all of April. Dates, everybody:

4-6 - Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory
4-7 - San Francisco, CA - Slims
4-8 - Eugene, OR - WOW Hall
4-10 - Portland, OR - Dougfir
4-11 - Seattle, WA - Neumo's
4-14 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock
4-15 - Chicago, IL - Bottle / Abbey
4-16 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
4-17 - Toronto, ONT - Lee's Palace
4-18 - Montreal, PQ - La Sala
4-19 - Boston, MA - TT
4-20 - New York, NY - Knitting Factory
4-21 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unit Church
4-22 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
4-23 - Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn
4-24 - Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon
4-25 - Austin, TX - Emo's
4-26 - Denton, TX - Hailey's
4-28 - Tucson, AZ - Congress
4-29 - San Diego, CA - Casbah

Liars- Be Quiet Mr. Heart Attack


Liars are hard to pin down. They started out as critical darlings during the New York garage rock blah blah of a three years ago even though they played post-punk. And after making a record Throbbing Gristle probably plays when they go to sleep, they scooted to Berlin and made their recent gem, Drum's Not Dead. Like Animal Collective but grown up and not in some dreamyland, they pound out druggy freak anthems for people not yet born.


Liars- Let's Not Wrestle Mr. Heart Attack


But, just when you have them pegged for these simpletons, Angus and company drop one of the greatest mopey songs I've heard this year. Ready for Sofia Coppola to snag it for Lost in Translation, Again, its perfect music potion for cynicism.

Liars- The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack

Cool Calm Pete is one-third of New York rap crew Babbletron which I wrote about for Urb a long time ago. When an intern at the Def Jux offices played his demo for label manager DJ Ese and immediately signed them to the Embedded label. After Babbletron's debut was solid, Calm Pete's solo debut showed that he could bring heat like three jackets on.

Sleepy? Throw those pillows away and give his record a listen.

Bonnie Prince Billy- Ain't You Wealthy, Ain't You Wise

Bonnie "Prince" Billy, known to you nerds as Will Oldham, makes music from the olden days. Problem is I never lived those olden days. But, I love his music anyway. Three years ago, I discovered this troubadour when I saw him open up for Bjork in Colorado for thousands in a black T-shirt and peach-colored pants. With only a guitar and himself he wowed us. These songs are from his masterful Master and Everyone record.





Bonnie Prince Billy- The Way

Cornelius- Tone Twilight Zone

Named after the character from Planet of the Apes, Japanese surrealist pop star Cornelius has been a favorite of mine for years. I first heard him in high school when I picked up a copy of Fantasma and have been waiting for a follow-up to Point. These songs are from such record and I hope you like it.






Cornelius- Point of View Point

I had been waiting to see Spankrock for some time when I finally caught their brief set in Austin during SXSW. Normally, I don't complain about shows. But, I just couldn't believe how a terrible soundsystem ruined this set. These guys were bonkers later that week at Oslo but this show was doo-doo. And it wasn't there fault, not at all. But, when it takes half an hour to set up and then the hippie soundman, whose probably thinks KRS-ONE is a sports drink, mics these guys like they were Wolfmother. And then the same thing happened with Lady Sovereign right after! Way too long to set up and the same system cut her off mid-song twice. Horrific. Then, later on in the week, it took Ghostface (as it had in the past when I had seen him) an hour to set up and come on stage. But, thats just a Wu-Tang thing I guess. It took Love is All half that time and they had instruments! Of course, I'm generalizing a frustration, but for real, can people with CD players, a couple turntables and a laptop take that long?

I guess the answer is yes.

I love these dudes like I love my mom. Joselo is a sweetheart, I was fortunate enough to interview him last year for The Austin Chronicle. We talked books, mainly. Turns out he's a big Philip K. Dick fan and when I inquired if he had ever read Samuel R. Delany, he was said "Nova" was great. But, please listen to this song. Off of Cuatro Caminos it stands (or sits) as one of the best rock songs of the past five years at least. Mopey, smart, dense and produced by David Fridmann, its beautiful. And I give them credit for introducing a Beastie Boys-esque irony and humor into Mexican pop. I'm working on a book about these dudes, if that tells you anything. I'll stop now.

Cafe Tacuba- Encantamiento Inutil

Simply Saucer- Electro Rock


Like Amon Duul II was from Quebec, Simply Saucer played their ittie-bittie psychedelic hearts out. Grumpy guitars, wavy-haired riffs and bulbous basslines that I would love to hug. But, it doesn't stop there. Throwing in synthesizers and ten-minute songs gives these dudes German citizenship because they slanged Krautrock like crack. Cyborgs Revisited was there only album in 1975.


Simply Saucer- Here Come the Cyborgs, Pt. 2

Forget all that weak punk shit!


Melt Banana has always made me want to break things. Masked guitarists, affable singers that yelp like Minnie Mouse and one of the fiercest bands to ever play rock. Charlie I got back when buying albums from the internet was fresh. But, then some geeks introduced me to Napster and whamo! Listening to these songs years later makes me feel old. Heart was jumping like my peoples at recent illegal immigration protests. Like there was something out there.


Melt Banana- Introduction for Charlie

And they make you remember why bands like the Germs or Black Flag ever picked up guitars and threw down the deodorant. What.

Melt Banana- Tapir's Flown Away

I am going to be buying the Wonder Showzen hallucinatory dvd and you should too.Because I forgot what surrealism was.



AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Japanese music should have its own commercial where robots have their own jeans and some weirdo German band can do the music. And then pink light washes us like the cover of Loveless. Tokyo Art Beat, on the contrary, is real, and is where you should look if you want to dream of walking around Harajuku.

and then you walk on new york streets looking at cracked windows like burnt reflections. i wanted to tell you once that the white smoke from those oil refineries once made clouds, but back then i was just a kid.

Purple mountains and one that looked like a saddle. I was in Monterrey again. Streets here looked like pictures of Spain I saw once in a magazine, old and pebbled. I walked on the sidewalk, neon signs for drugstores glowing.

Then, I heard a woman scream, making me cover my ears because it was so loud.

Two cars, one a lime-green taxicab and the other a small two-door Japanese one, had just smashed into each other. Blood across the windshield. In the Japanese car, a couple is squirming to get out, moaning. The taxicab has a woman in it, middle-aged, long black hair, pressing her hands against her window, trying to get out. People start to crowd around.

I try to look away, but can’t move my eyes. I want to look.

And I hear the screams from the taxicab. Like the wails of a little girl: long, undulating, deep heartfelt cries of hurt. I can’t see her face. I try to walk over to the car but someone grabs me from behind, stopping me. I look behind me and its Tia Licha dressed in a flowery red dress like she wears every Sunday to Mass, her black hair done up nicely. Tears in her eyes. Her head is shaking, telling me not to look, not to go, but I can’t help it.

Mami was bleeding. I knew that much. But, instead, I look at the two cars, and notice how quiet it all is. The silence after a crash--how everything is so still. Tia Licha is behind me, sobbing. I looked at her, wanting to cry too.

“You looked so much like her. Your face, the cheeks--you have her cheeks. I loved her so much. But what she did I can’t forgive her for. She was strong, but she was hardheaded, too. And she got what God gave her.”

I looked back at the two cars.

Then, I woke up.

* * *

Wearing a white Kafka T-Shirt that read in small letters You Didn’t Love Him Enough across the bottom and a striped tan-colored scarf with some dark blue jeans, I blinked. Two white kids, both wearing jeans way too big for them, stared at my bright green Adidas. Sitting on a new bus, an old blue and white iBook laptop warmed my legs. I was coming home from work. I had wasted another day typing HTML code and copyediting some teenager’s dumb blog entry about what clothes she bought today. I wanted to walk out of the office, not say a word to anyone and never come back. But, I had rent to pay.

I worked for this huge company that had recently bought out the webzine that hired me. It started in a tiny two-bedroom apartment in Los Feliz and after it got in all kinds of magazines and a bunch of other websites, this huge media company bought them out. Thousands of kids went to it everyday to share shit about their lives and I helped sell it to marketing firms. I looked at my wobbly reflection in the window.

Numbing my dark brown hands, the sun was going down.

Hitting a bump, the bus almost threw my laptop on the ground. Grabbing it, I saw an opened blog--someone’s photos. Nameless person, someone I had never met or probably would ever meet, took one photo a day in LA and would post it. Every time I opened the site, I would remember the same thing.

I had never seen a picture of Mami’s face before. I didn’t even know what she looked like even though Tia Licha told me I looked just like her. They say she didn’t like pictures taken of her, that she avoided cameras. And years later, no one had any pictures of her, not that I knew of, not even baby ones of her in Monterrey or ones of her holding me like I imagine she did, when I was little.

I’m twenty-five and never been out of the country.

Looping on my laptop was a video clip that I left open from when I was at my office fifteen minutes ago, of the president giving the middle finger to the camera when he was running for governor. I looked up and watched the people on the bus. Pakistani couples, two of them, talked to each other in an almost perfect English about the recent earthquake. An old black man, had to be at least seventy, sat a few seats from me flipping through The Los Angeles Times business section, shaking his head and coughing periodically. I looked at my black calculator watch that I bought from a thrift-store off of Fairfax. Driving was for everyone--rich, poor, probably even the homeless. But, if you were really, really poor, you rode the bus. I was on this thing because I wrecked my car two weeks now, now stuck in a shop off of Pico, next to all these other repair shops. These people make their living on the death of others, watching cars crumble like paper bags of fast food. And they smile when you walk in the door.

Like the dream I had last night.

I looked down again, at the computer screen with the huge glare. I smelled my own breath and it was kind of nasty from the Italian food I had on a late lunch. Reached for my bright red purse to see if I had some gum, but there was nothing but a blank sheet of paper, pictures I cut out from last week’s LA Weekly, my driver’s license and a credit card. With my left hand, I scratched my thin nose. Dark brown fingers moved nervously. I pushed my clear plastic frames from sliding down my nose.

Loud giggles took my eyes off the screen. With a whispery voice, the girl across from me was talking real loud, and then, in a split second, she jumped out of her seat and slammed her feet on the floor, hitting the tips of my shoes because my feet were stretched out. Hurting, I looked at this damn girl like I wanted to kill her. But she sat down again and didn’t even see me. She just kept talking to this sitcom-looking guy. Short, choppy brown hair, clean-shaven face: he was what white girls always got. I never, ever talked loud in public places and I hated people who did. I kept my mouth shut and just listened.

“Yesterday, I was watching MTV en español. I was stoned as hell and they had all these crazy videos from Mexico on there. Weird electro bands like Mannequin Lazer, PLASTICGOD, Niña, and some DJ who wouldn’t stop smoking cigarettes. Blurry and shit, I couldn’t think straight!”

I took a second to look around the bus, to see if anyone else was listening, which they weren’t. My toes still hurt. Buzzing made me turn around and I listened to the shitty elevator jazz coming out of the thirty-something woman’s white iPod ear buds next to me. I wanted to rip those little white headphones off and eat them.

Juiceboxxx is Wisconsin minstrel rap. Electro dirtyness with white rap and it is great. I wrote about him in my XLR8R column and for good reason. With one record under his sleeve, its like listening to Le Tigre rhyme.


Seriously.

Juana Molina's new album comes out in May. Son is a self-produced gem, where she is more polished than on Segundo and the tiny beats are richer. Warm voice hums over microphones. Long hair is probably waving as the speakers pitter-patter.

Imports are usually the business of geeks (what are you looking at me for?) but this is definitely worth hunting down. DJ Krush takes the Boredoms catalog and it sounds just like you would imagine. Japanese people make machines sound real.


And I can't wait to hear what the Boredoms do next.

Ghostface's new syllable-punishing opus comes out tomorrow (for you old-timey folks who like to still trot down to the record store as opposed to downloading). Fish Scale is reportedly like Supreme Clientele but better. Verbs get beat up and nonconformist beats wiggle their toes.


Ghostdini is back.

The Knife's Silent Shout is indeed one of the best techno records out. But, don't take my word for it.

Most of you scruffy-haired people have already heard Drum's Not Dead but please listen to it again. Angus' voice is like watching a tree grow. 'The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack" is the best mopey post-rock song this year, thus far.

MP3's soon.

LA's The Smell, along with Denton's Rubbergloves, are probably two of the grimiest music places in America. I watched two members of the Animal Collective play one of the best shows of my life two years ago at Rubbergloves. Then, when I asked one of them dudes what they listened to, he was like, "minimal techno" and walked off. With venues becoming clean and new like rap, these two places are worth visiting if you're ever in the area.

You never know who you'll see.

Purple rocks are not to be lived under but rather looked at. And, if you haven't been under those magic rocks you should know Arthur magazine is New Yorker for us other people. Example: Hua Hsu, whose blogging up a storm nowadays, interviewed My Bloody Valentine there once (!), M.I.A. did a great interview with them once and theres always these neato ads for music. Reading its free pages is always like going to the library with an Uncle who sells LSD.


Green beards are the future.

Manu Chao- Bienvenida a Tijuana

Minstrel pop is in like DJ Screw tapes always will be. But, Manu Chao, son of a lawyer, nomad, plays UN pop; transcultural, messy, hopeful and loud. Clandestino is a classic but not in the Rolling Stone way, more in a way that regular folks love. Open ears, messy hearts.


This track is from his live record which is nothing like the echoey, large political statements his albums are. Dance, please.

My Robot Friend!!!!!

Art Prostitute is a magazine and gallery in Denton that brings dumb hot street art from all over the world. With two owners that know what they're doing and a history that includes Kozyndan and David Choe, we love them.

KRAVETS|WEHBY gallery in New York, stuffed in the thousands of galleries in Chelsea is simple and messy with wonderful paintings. Aaron Romine recently showed there and we love love love love love .




(Apologies for the lack of posts, I'm still trying to catch up after SXSW, but know that we have some great stuff coming up including new Subtle mp3's, a new Juana Molina record, Flosstradamus mixes, an interview with Xiu Xiu and some Liars mp3's.)

Last week Big Juss told me that EL-P, Len and him were working on a new record to be done in 2007. Believe it folks, the originators of DIY rap are back.


Crank out your Timberlands and dictionaries.


More news as it develops.

KAREN O HAS SLEPT ON THE SOPHOMORE SLUMP.



MP3's COMING SOON.

Austin writer Bruce Sterling makes books look like Kid606 tracks; narratives as laptops. And when glancing through a local bookstore I came across his recent collection of short fiction that he worked on as a "Visionary in Residence" at the Art Center College of Design. With neat little introductions to each story which aren't necessary but still worth the page flip, its a book for people who think literature is a graying thang in English departments. Never!


TV remote is around here, dude.


Seriously.

Leadbelly- Midnight Special


Grunge heroes and lonely music editors all wish they could have the exorbitant sincerity of blues musicians. And when everyone from deadprez to Jay-Z rap about struggles we know where it came from.


Who knew roots could be wires?

David Cross is shorter than you think, but quite affable. Shepard Fairey, Blockhead, Steve Aoki and others whizzed by me Saturday night at the Levi's/Fader party when those meanies wouldn't let us in to see Ghostface zip through a weak selection of his hits. But I still bobbed my head to "Ice Cream". SXSW is about tiny moments, usually blurred by drugs, too many beers and wide-eyed socialites. Wednesday, I accidentally stumbled downtown to see ittie-bittie Flaming Lips finish a show I'll forever wish I saw in its entirety. Black Sabbath covers ("War Pigs") and Wayne dancing around like tomorrow he would have no legs. Then, after the show was over I see a shaggy-haired lanky white dude walking off and notice its David Fricke. Dark out, people rushing into the streets, he stood under white light and scribbled on his notebook. Now, I come from the Greg Tate school of music journalism but I still got giddy. Turns out he's really sweet, a bit far-out and anachronistic, watching him talk was like I was hearing a Rolling Stones roadie or something. Thursday night, I zipped over to the Vice day party and ran into Catchdubs(who has a nice collection of photos of the streets), finally meeting this nice dude. Saw Suroosh Alvi, Kid606's geeky ass, Daedalus, Busdriver and probably the entire city of Brooklyn at Victory Grill. And then came the madness; Spankrock's sound troubles, Lady Sovereign's sound troubles. Those Vice dudes can't pay for a good soundsystem, too busy spending money on cheap coke. Left that, had great Thai, walked around the psychedelic peoples walking around Austin at night (dude with a plant in his shirt mumbling to himself, for example). Like a Mardi Gras for hipsters. Then, we got in free to see Islands who were bonkers. Two Asian violinists and a mop-topped singer and some other guys sounded like The Unicorns but, you know, better. Subtitle joined them for a song; which is more historical than its sounds I think. And then we stumbled over to Plush where local DJ Merrick Brown spun Isolee until my legs were numb.



Yellow sunglasses are the future. I saw Spankrock too many times this past weekend (shout out to Alex for getting us in the Oslo show!). Friday night, Cul de Sac was awesome and loud (cross earrings and film scores!). Thursday night there was a Tigerbeat6 afterparty at 2:30 AM at moody Karma Lounge where Drop the Lime DJ'd some of the grittiest techno and gutter house I ever heard. Shout out to my XLR8R peoples (Ken, Brianna and Vivian) who danced their San Francisco bootys off. Busdriver rapped with some country dudes at some show, I think. That must have been nutso. Beastie Boys played a secret show Thursday night, which I heard was bonkers.




Saturday night was the highlight because it's what this whole thing is about; drinking cheap beer and watching great bands play a few feet away from you for free. I saw Baltimore rawk crew Celebration kill it at this Todd P party on the Eastside. Then, I sat through some really shitty bands to see the nicest DJ duo I've seen in a minute, Chicago's Flosstradamus. Like a smarter Hollertronix, these guys mashed up Ray Charles, Mike Jones, old breaks and oldies into a dance party where it started out being three people and by the end of the night was dumb packed. People were walking up from the streets, local Mexican folk who heard the bass were grinding with the white hipster ladies. Then, at about 1 AM, we walked past Carribbean Lights were London's Sway was getting nasty with some nationalism and anti-downloading rah rah. But, on the flipside, dude can rhyme.



And then, I went home and slept for days.

And we still have three days to go.


I'll tell you about it later.


(all pics by the gf!)

David Fricke and accidentally seeing the Flaming Lips (they covered Black Sabbath!).


More on this later.


Scribble.

These people will be in Austin today!

WOMEN MAKE MOVIES

Keren Ann- Nolita



Syrupy-voiced Keren Ann sings like a purple bird. Like Gainsbourg, she's French and moody."Nolita" is from her record of the same name and is simply one of the prettiest songs I have ever heard.





Maybe she's related to Antony and the Johnsons.

Japan is still my favorite imaginary country. But, my favorite real magazine is Japanese. I am boggling my mind in trying to understand all this science. Relax is what the clerk would be reading if Pitchfork magazine had a physical store. And he would not be able to speak Japanese.

Giant Robot has it sometimes, get it!

Nas- Halftime


History never sounded so hot. "Halftime" is Nas at his best; golden rhymes, solid flow, razor-sharp wit and a Large Professor beat that is easily one of my favorites in rap.


And one of the nicest verses:

It’s like that, you know it’s like that
I got at him, now you never get the mic back
When I attack, there ain’t an army that could strike back
So I react never calmly on a hype track
I set it off wit my own rhyme
Cuz I’m as ill as a convict who kills for phone time
I’m max like cassettes, I flex like sex
In your stereo sets, nas will catch wreck
I used to hustle, now all I do is relax and strive
When I was young, I was a fan of the jackson 5
I drop jewels, wear jewels to never run it
Wit more kicks than a baby in a mother’s stomach
Nasty nas has to rise, kid, surprise
This is exercise til the microphone dies
Back in ’83, I was an mc sparking
But I was too scared to grab the mic’s in the park and
Kick my little raps cuz I thought niggaz wouldn’t understand
And now in every jam I’m the phucking man
I rap in front of more niggaz than in the slave ships
I used to watch c.h.i.p.s, now I load glock clips
I got to have it, I miss mr magic
Versatile, my style switches like a faggot
But not a bisexual, I’m an intellectual
Of rap, I’m a professional and that’s no question, yo
These are the lyrics of the man, you can’t near it, understand
Cuz in the streets, I’m well known like the number man
In my place wit the bass and format
Explore rap and tell me nas ain’t all that
And next time I rhyme, I be fould whenever I freestyle
I see trial niggaz say I’m wow
I hate a rhymebiter’s rhyme
Stay tuned, nas, soon the real rap comes at halftime

Sunset Rubdown- The Men are Called Horsemen There

Sunset Rubdown- Stadiums and Shrines II

Shut Up I am Dreaming is one my favorite records this year.

Boogie math rock.

Australia/Baltimore's The DeathSet make nervous beats, loud electro and it's only two white dudes. Guitars think, drum machines get beat up and everyone has fun. Punk for the thirty-first century or something.

And then we all wake up in the morning as unicorns.


Australia is weird.

Friends don't need introductions, but I thought DJ Jester could definitely use some shine. He's done the two turntables to death with Kid Koala and on his own. The only reason I'm telling you to stick around until Sunday is because last time I saw Mikey spin he made a thousand Of Montreal fans dance to 50 Cent over some nameless country and western instrumental: its that real, peoples.

And, as he let us know, it might be his LAST show.


He'll be playing at Emo's Jr. on Sunday, March 19th, 8PM.


(PS the above image is his new mx cd which drops in May, I'll post MP3's of it later)

Finnish producer and DJ KIKI (on the right) is the first in Bpitch's new mix series called boogybytes where the remixes are original, the mix itself obviously is as well and even the cover art. Wild times, I tell you. But, seriously, you can hear the mix in pieces here.

I want to start my own club when I hear this record.

vs.




Science-fiction writer Samuel R. Delany and Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio look like father and son. Dinner table talk was probably more interesting than the history of Western art. Ever.

Montreal is where I would go if the sky was drawn by Adrian Tomine's fingers. Because that is where I would find Aids Wolf, a band that is comfortable playing in their underwear to strange people. They're noisy, with voices born out of distortion, nonlinear and have a woman singer. Freak outs at the end of songs, formless songs, songs without melody, songs where guitars grow beards, ear chewing songs--for these I live.

LOVE THEM.

Thumbs down to Austin peoples, they gave French DJ Feadz the worst welcoming he could possibly get while playing at the AMODA event. First off, no one knew who homedude was, which is downright depressing. Instead, everyone really came for the weakest and super lame Laptop Battle which was actually like watching a slow kid play with Legos. I was befuddled and wanted to get thugged out when at one point before Feadz could even come on they asked the mostly post-rave crowd if they wanted to hear some Paris DJ or these horrific laptop battle guys and they screamed "laptop battle"!!!

How could the special invitee not be wanted?

Somehow, he still played even though no one wanted but me, the GF and Jeff the Magic DJ went up to the front all New Kids and the Block and shit and heard one of the most bonkers DJ set probably in my life. Thrashy techno, Missy Elliott, knucklehead house, Three Six Mafia acapellas, more Berlin techno and even more laser rap, shit was insane!!!

And, the whole time, almost everyone was standing there, cross-armed.


I realized then why I'm moving to New York.


PS IN THE WORKS IS A JEFF THE MAGIC DJ vs HOLD ON TO YOUNG IDEAS mix cd


OH NO!!!!

Berlin's Bpitch Control label has been one of my favorites for the past few years now. Modeselektor, Smash TV, Ellen Allien have made some of the most memorable records of the past five years. Feadz, a French producer and DJ, who has done some excellent stuff for Bpitch will be in Austin tonight for this. I'll be there if you want to say hi.


Pink converse are allowed.

Lightning Bolt- Megaghost


They make ears into jelly and probably don't shower. Drums bleed. Two people and the history of noise. I think they play weddings, too.

(painting by Temper BMC)



B.I.G RIP

(Via Hua Hsu/Poplicks)

Tom Ze- Defect 2 Curiosidade

Tom Ze- Defect 4 Emere


I was in high school when I found out about Tropicalia. Os Mutantes threw my ideas of Latin-American psychedelia for a loop and made me be proud of being a weirdo Mexican kid. Then, Tom Ze came after and I shot into the clouds, being both perplexed by his homemade avant-garde aesethetic (he makes his own instruments) and his pop sensibilities. Blending Brazilian folk with Sgt. Peppers sounds, political lyricism and transnational pop he's made David Byrne want to be him for about twenty years now. And he somehow managed to convey a working-class psychedelia; out-there music with a consciousness. These two tracks are of a later album of his, the first I found, on Byrne's Luaka Bop label.

Brazilian writer Oswald de Andrade's Cannibal manifesto is sort of an aesthetic precursor to Tropicalismo. And its one of the best pieces of psychedelic literature ever written.

People are from Brooklyn. They sound like Sonic Youth if Kim Gordon wasn't Kim Gordon and sang like she was born in France. Sneezy percussion, forthwith guitars and competent drums. Bored?

See them on Wednesday, March 15th at the Balcony at the Ritz, 11:00PM.


(PS the above image is the first thing that popped up when you google people)

German R&B videos??


I want to pokey my eyes out.



(Via Hua Hsu aka Yee!)

J-Live- Nights Like This

J-Live- I'm a Rapper (Interlude)


High school English teacher/great emcee J-Live is the kind of rapper I miss, not that homedude is dead or anything. But, All of the Above is one of my favorite hip-hop records of the past five years. "Nights Like This" is a delicate song which is hard to do in rap (Ghostface's "All That I Got is You" being another one of course) and "I'm a Rapper" is one of the funniest skits ever cause it uses the nuances of the emcee for comedy. Pick this record up if you never did.

For those in the dark: Flaming Lips will be at SXSW this year. They'll be playing on Wednesday, March 15th at Fox and the Hound at 1:00 AM. I remember seeing them with Beck a few years ago and Wayne was complaining about Radiohead not playing "Creep" and we were all laughing ha ha ha ha but then Beck out of nowhere started creepily playing "Creep" and then Wayne started singing and then we all got wide-eyed because Beck was covering Radiohead and Wayne was probably talking through a plastic nun but I don't remember and it was both beautiful and historical but ittie-bittie historical not all Mussolini historical and I probably laughed more. Sigh.


Run-on sentences are like crack.

Swedish electro dudes Quit Your Dayjob like to shake things your 4th grade Science teacher probably wouldn't approve of. They sound like Devo, no really.

You need them.


They'll be playing Friday, March 17th at the Drink, 1:00AM.

Australian band that sounds like Isis kissing Merzbow kissing Lightning Bolt.


They'll be playing Friday, March 17th at Emo's IV at 9:00PM.


Bring earplugs and donuts.

I wrote about the new Kieran Hebden/Steve Reid record for Stop Smiling.





Laptop jazz for the Pitchfork generation.

Punk legend and natty dread Don Letts puts together compilations for a living? Dream j-o-b. His Trojan records comp is one my favorite records of the next million years. Dub is about Barry White-deep bass, hip-hop's roots and the most non-rockist of feelings. And here are some songs off of that compilation that are juicy examples.




John Holt- Stealin' and Stealin'

Lloyd and Claudette- Queen of the World

Gregory Isaacs- Mr. Know it All

Sixtoo- Storm Clouds & Silver Linings

I listened to this again today for the first time since it came out. Canadians rarely make beats that make my ears perk but Sixtoo was definitely killing it on this track. Hearing Damo Suzuki is always like licking ketamine off of purple monsters but this is just straight bonkers.


LET'S ALL RUN AROUND SINGING CAN SONGS!! WAHOOO!!!!!

Borges- 1968 Harvard Lecture


From this album:




A 30 minute lecture recorded in 1967 and '68 of the chatterbox Argentinian critic and writer. He goes all Young Jeezy and gets thug with old poetic works. And even quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson when he said that "arguments convince nobody... because they are presented as arguments". Plus if you speak Spanish, you can hear how he confuses the rosy-cheeked Harvard students!



*He would have probably started a metal band if he wanted to.

Brooklyn's Barbez is a group of Russian folk weirdos and psychedelic rock connoisseurs. Named after a neighborhood in France, this sextet is lead by the vocals of St. Petersburg's Ksenia Vidyaykina and from their debut album you can imagine how great their live shows can be.


Barbez-Fear of Commitment

They'll be playing on Wednesday, March 15th at Oslo, 11 PM.

New Orleans duo Belong sound like Austrian laptop whiz Fennesz, but more goth. Like godspeed you! black emperor gone digital, their excellent record October Language is moody music. Not for those who want to shake a leg, but more for those who want to close their eyes, read a book or text message their moms about how this band sounds like My Bloody Valentine.




They'll be playing on Wednesday, March 15th at Habana Calle 6 at 10 PM.

From their humble beginnings in Boston in 1989, this quartet of post-rock originators have been making noisy beauty almost nonstop. With nine albums and collabos with Damo Suzuki of Can and one of the most haunting albums of the past decade, Death of the Sun their performance here in Austin is not to be missed. Violins, tiny beats, bouzuki, synths and pot-bellied drums is what they use to make slow, thunderous brainy music.

Cul de Sac will be playing on Friday, March 17th at Emo's IV at 11:00 PM.

Casino vs. Japan made one of my favorite records of the last several years. Whole numbers play the basics used analog machines to get that Boards of Canada sound but somehow made it like pressing forward on a cassette player. With soft glitches and tiny pulses, this still remains a great album worth digging up. These two tracks are just some of the highlights.


Casino vs. Japan- Moonlupe

Casino vs. Japan- Slo Bid Bellwave

New York violinist Tony Conrad is a historical figure in avant-garde music. Considered one of the first minimalist composers in the late '60s and working in the mediums of film, performance and video, Conrad has been making new compositions to be performed around the the country and is showing up here in Austin. I came to know him through his drone work with German krautrockers Faust and am excited to go see what he's up to now.


He'll be playing on Thursday, March 16th at Central Presybterian Church at 10:00 PM.


History, people.

With his Tigres Del Norte meets South Park Mexican (pre-imprisonment) steez, Chingo Bling is a tamale hustler to the heart. Irony is too much for this Houston rapper as swooshed iced-out ostrich boots (like the ones pops wears!) are a symbol of this Weird Al.


A huevo, que si.


He'll be playing on Thursday, March 16th at the Back Room, 11:30 PM.

Uh oh. Ghostface and Greenlantern have just put out one of the most bonkers mixtapes ever. First track alone makes feel all warm cause it reminds me of that mid-90's grimy rap.

"Straight computer shit, we logging on from the sky and all that shit"


I can't wait to hear Fish Scale.

Generation Ecstasy writer and blogger, Simon Reynolds' new book on post-punk was domestically released last week. Voice gave it an excellent review and so did Slate which finds Simon talking about it personally. I am in the middle of reading the British version (which is way more visually appealing than the American one). Thoughtful, lucidly written and heavy with PiL prose its necessary rock scholarship.





Pull out those old Orange Juice records and close your eyes.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah on David Letterman.


Philly, where you be?

Yes!

I should post MP3's of this soon.

I can't believe they robbed Brokeback Mountain. Though, to be honest I haven't seen Crash, here is a conversation with Can't Stop, Won't Stop writer Jeff Chang and Sylvia Chan about race and Hollywood.

(Via Zentronix)

Last night? Surrrrreal. Triple Six won?


"Thank the Academy, luh the Academy..."



I remember listening to these dudes in high school and to see them on the same screen as George Clooney or Paul Giamatti: I couldn't believe it. This has to change American Studies programs forever, right?

Celebration sounds like ketamine rock. Organs scream, microphones fly and Andre the Giant basslines bubble speakers. Rock music for people tired of standing around at shows, cross-armed, staring at space rather than move your booty. This David Sitek-produced trio is going to be a nutso live.


They'll be playing Thursday, March 16th at Club de Ville at 1:00AM.


Yee-haw.

Brooklyn producer Caural has been around for a while smooshing beats together like laundry day. His remix on Nice Nice's Uh Oh EP was easily my favorite for the lazy fizzled beat and how he integrated the brilliance of the original. And, if you can, listen to his great new record on Mush.




He'll be at Zero Degrees on Thursday, March 16 at 10:15 PM.

Pink shirts and Hot Chip-esque cultural synonyms; Best Fwends are joyful noise. They're from the same place I went to college in, an ittie-bittie art town called Denton. Out of that indie-rock hegemony, this duo breaks synthesizers like cookies. Like an American Plastilina Mosh mixed with hints of Boredoms irrationality and a lo-fi Tigerbeat6 ethos, Best Fwends is definitely worth watching.

They'll be coming to town on electric balloons and playing on Friday, March 17th @ 11:00 PM at Latitude 30.

Bring a towel cause its gonna get sweaty.

San Francisco's Beer and Rap is a DJ who also scribes for the trill blog We Eat So Many Shrimp, and gets dirty dirty with the hedonism. Dude puts out zines, promotes 'ardcore rap and probably has a VIP seating at AA meetings all over. He'll be doing the hosting on Thursday, March 16th at Club One 15 for this turntable commune:

DJ Stef 8:00 p.m. San Francisco CA Hip Hop/Rap
Dj Ceeplus & the House of Bad Knives 8:45 p.m. Houston TX DJ
Oxy Cottontail and Catchdubs
Ross Hogg 11:30 p.m. San Francisco CA Hip Hop/Rap
The Rub: DJ Ayres & Cosmo Baker 12:30 a.m. Brooklyn NY DJ

Ceeplus is a friend of a friend and Catchdubs is too.

Check this gig out!

Music journalist Nick Sylvester, Pitchfork scribe and Village Voice up and comer faked a conversation between three dudes for a lame article and now has been suspended. He's also been removed from the Pitchfork staff section. New York media gossip site, Gawker, has been having a wonderful time with this.

I guess this means no more convoluted, bloated adjective-ridden reviews in Pitchfork.


Oh no.

Brooklyn's Au Revoir Simone sounds like Broadcast and Stereolab making out. More whispery and austere, the trio is definitely worth listening to. Their album, verses of comfort, assurance and salvation is like floating with pink clouds.

They'll be playing on Friday, March 17th at Latitude 30, 8 PM.

Local Devo on ketamine dudes, Zom Zom's are just what they look like: eccentric, organized and probably German. Not much else to talk about. Wear your yellow jumpsuits. They'll be getting sorta funky on Wednesday, March 15th at the Blender Balcony at the Ritz, 9 PM.

Be there or don't be.

Portland's Nice Nice make noisy white r&b. They sound like Timbaland is living inside the bodies of two white dudes. Listen and become robotic.


Blog of the Week:

20 Jazz Funk Greats is one of the most bonkers MP3 blogs around. And naming yourself after Throbbing Gristle record is geenius. With recent tracks by Kurtis Blow, Terry Riley and from the new TV on the Radio album, its definitely worth keeping on your daily roll.

This French DJ quartet still does the turntablist thing, which, as we all know, is so 1995. But, history be damned, they make it interesting with gloomy cuts and morose beats. You know, all French and stuff.

They'll be playing Saturday, March 18th at Oslo at 9:30 PM.

In my last XLR8R column I talked about the 3rd grade meme of "no-ground" which is what we all live when we smash our iPods together. What I was really getting at was, is there still musical separatism? I live off of genres, they are my friends, we go out to dinner sometimes, but I don't (or do I?) like when they get snobby and tell other styles to go play with their own kind. Ain't talking about mash-ups here, folks, but rather a broader idea of underground vs. overground. If MTV is to music what KFC is to chicken, then does the democratization of music, or the Myspacing of music mean that a virtual community can make a musician or band popular? Hell yes is the feeling and concrete answer. But, can they sustain popularity through mere virtual promotion? Or do the dinosaurs of media (TV, print, radio) matter that much? Music companies are falling. And thats neato with me, but where does that leave promotion of your own art? Will blogs take over print magazines when they're getting more hits than that rag at your neighborhood Barnes and Noble?

# posted by M Dilla @ 1:39 PM