Daft Punk recently released the first single, "Get Lucky," from their highly-anticipated new album Random Access Memories. Featuring Pharrell Williams on vocals, it's a rip-romping good time. If you haven't heard it, have a listen. Actually listen even if you have heard it because, let's be real, this song will put you in a great mood:
Yesterday, the UK indie-post-folk-pop band Daughter went to BBC Radio One to record (live, in studio) a cover of that song. If you don't know about Daughter, they're really good. They got some attention with their song "Youth," and are releasing their debut full-length album in the US on Tuesday (it's out in the UK, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand as of March 19). The first single from that album, "Still," is beautiful, and I'm very excited to hear the rest of this release.
Their Daft Punk cover is surreal. It opens fairly drily, but blooms into a deep and haunting landscape of sound. There's really no way to describe it, you just have to hear it. And remember as you listen that this was recorded live. Unbelievable.
That's really something. Daughter is a band on the verge, and I can't wait to watch them explode over the next few years. Expect to see them occupying important festival slots in the coming seasons.
Hodge-Podge from April 23, in which the theme is "Bossists" (i.e. bass players who are bosses) (i.e. bass players who front their bands). Classic rock of many different shades is played and discussed. Much fun is had.
Playlist (with bossist name in parentheses):
“Tom Sawyer” – Rush (Geddy Lee)
“Got To Get You Into My Life” – The Beatles (Paul McCartney)
“Roxanne” – The Police (Sting)
“I Can’t Tell You Why” – Eagles (Timothy B. Schmidt)
“Politician” – Cream (Jack Bruce)
“The Boys Are Back In Town” – Thin Lizzy (Phil Lynott)
“Gigantic” – Pixies (Kim Deal)
“Voices Carry” – ‘Til Tuesday (Aimee Mann)
“Jerry Was A Race Car Driver” – Primus (Les Claypool)
“Brain Damage” – Pink Floyd (Roger Waters)
“Twenty-first Century Schizoid Man” – King Crimson (Greg Lake)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I can safely, comfortably, and confidently say that I missed the memo on this one. A band I have given pitifully little attention to until now, Yeah Yeah Yeahs have just dropped their fourth album, their first since 2009's It's Blitz. It's called Mosquito and it rocks. A lot.
There was speculation among fans and critics in the lead-up to the album's release about the sound and direction the album would take, which is remarkable only because, in this case, it was completely and utterly wrong. Listeners expected a return to the band's raw, gut-busting, big-city rock origins, but instead received a contemplative emotional explication, anchored in layers of rumbling guitars, shimmering synthesizers, and heavily processed vocals. These elements aren't new in and of themselves; the band has always used them as decoration, but now they are foundation. They represent cornerstones upon which Karen O can layer her visceral and unrepentant vocals in ways that feel in turns warmly familiar and chillingly foreign to the well-versed listener. Five minutes into the album, it is clear that Mosquito is not simply a collection of dance-rock songs, nor is it an adventurous narrative, nor is it a social critique; Mosquito is a detailed work of emotional cartography, a hand-drawn map which may be considered at once a navigational asset and a brilliant work of art.
Ten shiny new songs from shiny new albums! Check it out! Next week I will have actually new Phoenix to play and, in the event that the Daft Punk song was not the real thing, I will have the correct version of that.
Playlist:
"The Sword By My Side" - The Thermals
"Spark" - Fitz And The Tantrums
"Let It Go" - The Neighbourhood
"Under The Earth" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
"Look… The Sun Is Rising" - The Flaming Lips
"Entertainment" - Phoenix
"Over The Love" - Florence + The Machine
"When The Moment Comes" - Mia Dyson
"Get Lucky" (hopefully) - Daft Punk
"Think Of Me" - Childish Gambino (Funkmaster Flex)
Today must be an important day, I guess. A bunch of cool new music videos and songs are dropping this morning. I've gathered a few of them here, check it out.
First is Florence + The Machine's original contribution to The Great Gatsby's soundtrack, "Over The Love." It's great. Cinematic and bold as Florence always is, but refreshingly delicate and pensive. It's a beautiful track, and an incredible addition to the action-packed soundtrack. Let's hope the film lives up to it's music! Listen to Flo's song below, and look at the tracklist here via GQ.com.
Second, a new album that is on its way to shelves next week. LA alt-rockers The Neighbourhood are dropping their debut album I Love You. on Columbia (April 23), and it's incredible. Their EP I'm Sorry… has been turning heads for a few months, and this band is on the verge of becoming the next big thing. The remarkable part is that they are doing it without buying into the system of "manufactured music" that produces fad after fad. This band has guts, originality, and purpose. The album is very good. Get into it here, and buy it next week.
Up next, two new music videos, both for songs released on albums last year. The first is Sara Watkins's "You and Me," which appears on her sophomore album Sun Midnight Sun (Nonesuch). The song is great, and it seems to hit much closer to home than her first solo album (self-titled, 2009), which took some liberties in exploring the edges of country and folk music. That album was certainly a success, but I think that this one takes the lessons learned during all that adventuring and brings them back to Nashville. I'll be spending some time with this album after listening to "You and Me." Check out the beautiful video, directed by Russ Kendall:
The second video is for "Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, which appears on their debut full-length album The Heist (Independent, 2012). Forgetting about "Thrift Shop" for a minute, this is the song to bring the house down. "Can't Hold Us" is enormous, and it's one of my favorites from the dynamic duo. The video is everything you expect it to be: loud, outrageous, overblown, and absolutely awesome. The alternate intro/outro to the track is also really incredible. It's hard to put words to this, so just watch it knowing that whatever your opinion of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis happens to be, this video will probably uphold it:
A note on the "Can't Hold Us" video: it is officially posted to Ryan Lewis's YouTube channel, and if you visit the video page and click "Show More" below the video, you'll find a really worthwhile message from Ryan about how this video was made, who deserves credit, and why it's hard to designate specific roles for people involved in this kind of project. It's a nice reminder that this, like more or less everything, is a work created by devoted individuals, and can't be reduced to anything less.
That's it for now. Yesterday was US release day for Mosquito by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Terror by The Flaming Lips, and Desperate Ground by The Thermals. Stay tuned for posts on some/all of those albums in the coming days and weeks. Keep rocking.
A handful of cool new alternative songs, followed by a handful of cool older alternative songs. Discussion of new releases from Phoenix, The Flaming Lips, James Blake, and Justin Timberlake.
Apologies for the abrupt beginning, I failed to start the recording at the right time, so my first couple of sentences were cut off. Basically I said that I came across the Phoenix song last week and was planning to play it to close last week's show, but then Roger Ebert died and I decided to play a snippet from the Vertigo score in his honor. This performance of "Entertainment" is form this great video.
Playlist:
“Entertainment” (Acoustic) – Phoenix
“Try To Explain” – The Flaming Lips
“Myth” – Beach House
“Overgrown” – James Blake
“Blue Ocean Floor” – Justin Timberlake
“Periphery” – Fiona Apple
“Now I’m All Messed Up” – Tegan and Sara
“Phantom Limb” – The Shins
“Inkless” – The Smashing Pumpkins
“Out Of My League” – Fitz And The Tantrums
The End Groove from April 4, 2013. Some great new low-key indie electronic/acoustic songs, as well as cool world/blues and hip-hop tracks. In memory of Roger Ebert, we close the show with a portion of the score from Alfred Hitchcock's classic film Vertigo.
Playlist:
"South Dakota" – Magic Man
"Dismantle and Rebuild" – The Ramona Flowers
"Still" – Daughter
"Breathing Underwater" – Metric
"Lions In Cages" – Wolf Gang
"Amidinine" – Bombino
"The Baddest Man Alive" – The Black Keys & RZA
"Toy Soldier" – Katie Hampton
"Falling" – Haim
Theme from Vertigo – Composed by Bernard Herrmann (in memory of Roger Ebert)
