Please Jack White, Don't Kick My Ass!

(Remember when JW beat the fu%k out of lead singer, Jason Stollsteimer, of the Von Bondies? Dang, that's an ass beating (see picture right.))
Anyways, Jack White's other band, the Raconteurs, have got a brand new album. After one cursory listen to the new album, Consolers of the Lonely, I like it a lot more than the White Stripes' last album. Personally, I like Jack White more when there's less of him. Undoubtedly, he's a fine guitarist, singer and songwriter, but his music can be suffocating. The inclusion of Brendan Benson and those other two guys that can really play the bass and the drums. If the White Stripes are television in black and white, the Raconteurs are color, not high-def, mind you. "Salute Your Solution" immediately grabbed me.

The Raconteurs -- Salute Your Solution

Salute Your Solution

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Check out my Muxtape!

http://TheShimm.muxtape.com (just figured that out how to make hyperlinks--I'm a total bad@ss)

I'm not sure if any of you read the Stereogum blog, but they introduced me to Muxtape.com. Basically, you can post mixes on the site and tout your mix-making skilz by making your muxtape available for all the world to see and hear. I'm not sure I totally get it. Full disclosure: most of these songs have already been on The Shimm before; this is a just a practice muxtape.

Diamond Hoo Ha

I thought this album art was pretty lame-0.

Supergrass!

Supergrass's In It for the Money is one of my favorite brit pop albums. Another one of those albums I have never stopped listening to. "Richard III" begins at a torrential pace, picking right up where the title track ends. I don't know what else to say about the song except that it rocks.

Unbeknownst to me until like 5 minutes ago, Supergrass just released another album entitled Diamond Hoo Ha, which is sold out on Amazon. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing but the Hoo Ha album cover sucks righteously.

Supergrass -- Richard III

Richard III

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Rock For Riley IV -- Margot & Nuclear So and So's

On April 4th, next friday, naptown's very own Margot and the Nuclear So and So's will be headlining Rock for Riley IV at the Vogue Theatre in Broadripple (in naptown). RfR has done an incredible job raising awareness and benjamins for Riley Children's Hospital in Indy, one of the great children's hospitals in the world. Big ups to all the doctors, residents and medical students at the Indiana University Medical School for putting on great shows year after year and raising big bucks for a great cause. "Skeleton Key" is one of my favorites off their first album. (Oh, and Bon Iver will be opening up for Margot).
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Margot & the Nuclear So and So's -- Skeleton Key

Skeleton Key

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Lemonheads

Apparently (reviewed at www.Pitchforkmedia.com today), there's a brand new collector's edition of the Lemonheads' It's a Shame about Ray. By Ray, the Lemonheads had been through 3 line-up changes and made already a few half-decent punk/power pop albums. This was the Lemonheads at their finest and certainly at their most consistent, and an album that throughout the years I have continued to listen to (still on my ipod).

Lemonheads -- The Turnpike Down

The Turnpike Down

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Decibel/Josh Weinstein

Where Josh Weinstein begins and Decibel ends, I do not know. All I know is that Decibel featuring Josh Weinstein is playing tonight, March 27, at Sullivan Hall, located somewhere in the Big Apple (drive around, you are bound to run into it). It starts at 7:30 PM and tix are $10.

Decibel/Josh Weinstein -- 4 a.m. autobus blues #2

4 a.m. autobus blues #2

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Josh Weinstein -- Ripoff with Drums

Ripoff with Drums

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My Morning Jacket (By Special Request)

This isn't new My Morning Jacket. This is one of my favorite, perhaps lesser-known MMJ tunes entitled "Can you see the hard helmet on my head?" which is one of the few songs I know that ends in a question mark. It also reminds me of the following: 1.) the "helmet head" sketch from Saturday Night Live from 3/17/1990 (Rob Lowe was host), of which not a picture or video exists anywhere on google, youtube, or the NBC web site and 2.) "Cabbage Head" from the Canadian sketch comedy group, the Kids in the Hall, which may not be nearly as "Helmet Head." I guess we'll never really know, now will we, unless we buy the whole damn season on Blue-Ray someday in the distant future. .

My Morning Jacket -- Can you see the Hard Helmet on my Head?

Can You See the Hard Helmet on my head?

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More New Music!!! The Raveonettes

My wife tells me that maybe my blog would be more popular if I posted more new music. I thought I was...anyways...I really like "Dead Sound" off the Raveonettes' new album, Lust Lust Lust (which I don't think is a reference to governors of New York or mayors of Detroit; I think I could write jokes for Leno, seriously). Like the White Stripes or the Black Keys, the Raveonettes pretty much have one sound, they make the most of it on "Dead Sound." It totally belongs in a Tarantino or David Lynch movie.

The Raveonettes -- Dead Sound

Dead Sound

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Death Cab is Baaack!

Is Death Cab for Cutie emo? Does Emo require the use of eyeliner? Do members wear eyeliner or those leather wrist bands with little metal spikes or have some massive tattoo on proud display (if you got it, might as well flaunt it, I guess)? I'm not sure. I'm not really into Emo unless Death Cab, Elliott Smith (RIP) and Interpol are emo.

Categories aside, "I will possess your heart" is the first single off the not-yet-released new Death Cab album Narrow Stairs. One of the contributors at Stereogum likened it to Phish before lead-singer Ben Gibbard begins to sing which is a pretty apt description. It sort of jams effectively if not a little aimlessly.

Death Cab for Cutie -- I will possess your heart

I Will Possess Your Heart

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Groove Armada -- Remember them back in '99?

Back in college, I thought the future of pop/electronic music were bands like Air, Stereolab and Groove Armada. All these bands sought to blend experimental pop, lounge, krautrock, tropicalia and electronica in very different ways into something very modern and very relaxed. In a lot of ways, these bands are a reflection of that calm period between the Cold War and 9/11/01. I don't have much to say about "Pre 63" except that it is one of the best tunes off an underrated album Vertigo.

Groove Armada -- Pre 63

Pre 63

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Big Star

Big Star's #1 Record/Radio City is another absolute classic. Eating dinner last night, the tv show, featuring Neil Patrick Harris, How I met your mother, used "Thirteen" off #1 Record. (It should be noted that originally these were separate albums; only in the cd-era did they get repackaged onto one cd.)
Big Star is in that pantheon of bands like the Velvet Underground and Moby Grape whose impact on popular music far exceeds actual album sales. In the early- to-mid 1970's, Big Star along with the Raspberries were American bands that sounded British or wanted to, so-called anglophiles, in the tradition of the Beatles or the Kinks. However, Beatlesque pop ditties weren't in fashion and Big Star never got the acclaim or the big bucks lead singer and songwriter, Alex Chilton, sought. #1 Record, it was not. Popular opinion be damned, it should have been

Big Star -- Thirteen

Thirteen

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Two for Tuesday

Slaraffenland are pretty damn cool--probably the best band hailing from Copenhagen. But, I'll be quite honest, my knowledge of good Danish bands is very slim. The band distinguishes itself by its use of horns. And for some reason, the leader singer of Slaraffenland vaguely reminded me of the lead singer of one of the very best art-rock/post-punk bands of all time, Pere Ubu. And that's really not hyperbole. Here's what Robert Palmer (music critic, not the singer) said of them in the New York Times, wrote: "Pere Ubu was either ahead of its time or out of step altogether; the band's earliest music sounds as if it could have been recorded yesterday, and is likely to keep sounding that way for some time." Simpy put, in the late 1970's, Pere Ubu sounded like no one else. Today, still, no one really does what Pere Ubu mastered on its first two classic albums--The Modern Dance and Dub Housing. "Street Waves" is one of the more conventionally rockin' Pere Ubu tunes. Pere Ubu did an amazing job of straddling the line between art and rock--they were weird but not too weird. That's a pretty pathetic description but oh well.

Slaraffenland -- Show me the way

Show me the way

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Pere Ubu -- Street Waves

Street Waves

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A Tribute to Epilepsy featuring Sean Paul

This is in no way an endorsement of Sean Paul or of his objectifying of women . this is not an endorsement of Sean Paul's music or even an endorsement of this song. This is song is really annoying... so annoying in fact that it actually one lady (surprise, surprise it wasn't some Ned Flanders -type white dude.) to have an epilectic seizure . I'd recommend her to stay away from Gnarls Barkley as well. Don't believe me, see http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/18/earlyshow/health/main3726674.shtml

Gnarls Barkley -- Going On

"Going on" might be the hottest track on Gnarls Barkley's new album--it grabs you in the first 10 seconds. In other Gnarls Barkley news, "Run" is the first single, BUT in spite of the presence of Justin Timberlake (yeah, that's him at the beginning) in the video, Mtv has been banned it on the grounds that it might induce seizures. So on that note, please check out the video to "Run."

Gnarls Barkley -- Going On

Going On

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El Michel's Affair -- This One's for My Baby

El Michel's Affair is probably my favorite instrumental soul group making records these days. They are butter-smooth without ever saying a word. This is premium neo-blaxploitation soundtrack/baby-making music (no, not Tyler Perry movies). "This one's for my baby" comes off a new compilation Fallin' Off the Reel Vol. II, available for purchase in its entirety on Amazon.com or iTunes. Please note that if you can't get down to this, something is seriously wrong with you.

This One's for My Baby -- El Michel's Affair

This One's for my Baby

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My Bandfriend -- Fleet Foxes

Ok, if I haven't converted a horde of new Fleet Foxes, I'm not sure what else can I do. Here's a couple songs that I love off their eponomously named EP, which is fantastic. How this band wasn't signed by a major label or even Subpop sooner is totally beyond me.

Fleet Foxes -- In the Hot, Hot Rays

In the Hot, Hot Rays

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Fleet Foxes -- She Got Dressed

She Got Dressed


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Pavement and Stephen Malkmus and Jicks

I've posted an older SM tune a little while back to hype up the Stephen Malkmus and Jicks show at the Vogue in Indianapolis on March 22, 2008. For those uninitiated, Pavement carried the indie/grunge rock banner for years after Cobain's untimely death. They exuded the grungy, no guitar-solos ethic that permeated the very hot pacific northwest in the early to mid 1990's. The song "My first Mine" is off one of their earliest records Westing (By Musket and Sextant), an album along with Slanted and Enchanted that doesn't seem nearly as vital today.

Anyways, Pavement's lead singer, songwriter and lead guitarist has carried on after Pavement's demise. To this day and to their credit, Pavement has never reunited (reaffirming their indie-rock principles bedded on the Neil Youngian notion that it's better burn out then it is to rust--the fucking Eagles do reunions. I may learn to eat these words but until then...indie rock don't do reunions.) That hasn't stopped Malkmus from going forward and making weird yet slight more polished music in the meantime. "Elmo Delmo" is a freakin jambo; Malkmus is a goddamn stinky hippy living in Portland, Oregon, which coincidentally is where Sleater Kinney was based. This kick-ass trio of females (including Janet Weiss on drums) unfortunately have broken up to Malkmus's benefit.

Pavement -- My First Mine

My First Mine off E.P. Westing (by Musket and Sextant)

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SM and the Jicks -- Elmo Delmo

Elmo Delmo

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Please insert a "not" between "I'm" and "expecting" on that last sentence down there. my bad

Obama for President

I just really thought that speak yesterday was powerful and above all so fresh. This is not just some rehashed JFK, MLK or Jesse Jackson speech. It seemed like for once Obama was talking about race relations in this country in a way that might actually move the dialogue forward . I'm expecting the KKK and Louis Farrakan to singing kumbayah together anytime soon, but he spoke quite effectively to centrists, moderates and others that want .... Change.

Nothing's Shocking?

At the behest of my wife, I am cutting this post very short. Suffice to say, alot of Jane's Addition seems a little dated, but "Standing in the shower...thinking" is still great little song. I thought this was hot shit back about 16 years ago, damn I am getting old.

Jane's Addiction -- Standing in the Shower...Thinking

Standing in the Shower...Thinking

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Band of Horses

Believe it or not, I have some friends in New York that hadn't heard the BOH. "What?!!", I exclaimed. For most of my naptown hustlers, we've been fans of the BOH for the past couple years. So for my New York friends, start with this and dig this friggin great band.

Band of Horses -- Weed Party

Weed Party

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Special Post: Get Better Chatham

Ok, got some sad news today. My dog's off-and-on boyfriend, Chatham, was diagnosed with bone cancer this past weekend and he's only 18 months old. Our neighbors, Steve and Mary, are obviously devastated, but we're hoping for the best. (That picture to the left isn't Chatham, but he's a golden lab.) We hope Chatham gets better...

...And so as a tribute to Chatham who loves carrying huge sticks around, I am posting this Fleet Foxes tune "Ragged Wood." Actually, as anyone who has been reading attentively in the past week or so knows I like the Fleet Foxes. Well, it's official I have a favorite new band and I am so in love with the Fleet Foxes--OMG, we are going steady! They are friggin excellent. "Ragged Wood" appears off their eponymously named album pictured below. To be quite honest, I haven't really heard the whole thing, but "Ragged Wood" is just beautiful.

Fleet Foxes -- Ragged Wood

Ragged Wood

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South by Southwest (Won't Be There)

My friends Lauren and Chris live in Austin and South By Southwest music festival is this weekend. While I hadn't heard a lot of the new artists showcased this weekend, there are a lot of already established bands performing all over Austin this weekend. In an effort to get Lauren to see the bands I recommended her seeing, I've posted the following songs.

Rogue Wave -- Nourishment Nation

Nourishment Nation

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Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin -- Glue Girls

Glue Girls

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The Helio Sequence -- Keep Your Eyes Ahead

Keep Your Eyes Ahead

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Nada Surf -- Always Love

Always Love

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Tapes N Tapes -- Just Drums

Just Drums

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The Octopus Project -- Bees Bein' Struggling

Bees Bein' Struggling

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Happy Feet!

I'm not a huge fan of techno music by any means, most of it really isn't that great to dance to, plus techno seems almost like a relic from the pre-9/11 era. But that said, the Chemical Brothers are the token techno act in my music collection and at least some of their music still holds up pretty well almost a decade later. To contradict myself yet again, Push the Button was pretty marginal, so to my pleasant surprise "Marvo Ging" popped up on my ipod yesterday and the song like a fine wine sounds better after a few years of neglect in my external hard drive.

The Chemical Brothers -- Marvo Ging

Marvo Ging

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The Clash

Hateful -- The Clash

Hateful

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Cake

Today, I'm just not that inspired, but so as not let you guys down, here's a good cover of the Muppets "Mahna Mahna" by Cake.

Cake -- Mahna Mahna

Mahna Mahna

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A Band of Bees/The Bees

In the U.K., the band is known as The Band of Bees, while in the U.S. they are known for legal reasons as The Bees. At times, The Bees really sound like a lost British Invasion group. Other times, they go for blue-eyed soul.

A Band of Bees/The Bees -- This is for the Betters Days

This is for the Better Days

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God Bless Amorica

Back in 1994, pubic hair was not nearly as popular as it is today, so my copy looked like the one on the left. This was the third album by the Black Crowes and sort of a departure from the more straight-forward southern blue-rock boogie music that made them famous.

The Black Crowes -- High Head Blues

High Head Blues

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Handsome Boy Modeling School

So Jack Johnson is apparently headliner material for 2 of this summer's biggest music festivals. Well, I guess he's a pretty safe choice. Fine, I won't bitch too much. Occasionally, I even enjoy some of his songs like this tune, "Breakdown," from White People by the Handsome Boy Modeling School. Handsome Boy aren't as funny as Prince Paul and Dan the Automator think they are (it doesn't much more funny than this album cover.) Despite their talents as producers, this album falls flat pretty much except for "Breakdown," which features Jack Johnson and that's why I mentioned him in the first place.

Handsome Boy Modeling School Featuring Jack Johnson

Breakdown

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New(er) Music Thursday!

As Tall as Lions


Fleet Foxes


So I thought I'd post some newer music that I've been enjoying recently. I posted a Fleet Foxes tune from their new E.P. earlier in the week. "White Winter Hymnal" to my knowledge isn't on any album but it's gorgeous. As Tall As Lions sounds to me like Keane--vocals and keyboards are front and center. Ha Ha Tonka have a pretty lousy name, but there are a couple of real standouts from Buckle in the Bible Belt, "This is not a cure for the common cold" is one of them.

Fleet Foxes -- White Winter Hymnal

White Winter Hymnal

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As Tall As Lions -- Ghost of York

Ghost of York

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Ha Ha Tonka -- This is Not a Cure for the Common Cold

This is not a cure for the common cold

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Unbelievable Truth -- Settle Down

I hope I haven't maxed out my blogger account or my internet is tweaking, but I couldn't get a picture of the Unbelievable Truth album uploaded. Anywho, I came across this album while I was a freshmen in college as a "College Representative" for Virgin Records, big ups to U of M - Ann Arbor and Wayne State. That job wasn't as cool as I thought it was going to be, but I most likely wouldn't have heard Unbelievable Truth. Pretentious-sounding name? 'fo sho, but the Truth, are notable, other than for making a pretty good album, for lead-singer, Andy Yorke, being the younger brother of Radiohead's Thom Yorke. "Settle Down" demonstrates Andy Yorke's powerful pipes and a great tune.

Unbelievable Truth -- Settle Down

Settle Down from album "Almost Here"

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Arnold

Working my way through my music collection alphabetically and in regards to other unsung albums I dug in college. I distinctly remember Rolling Stone comparing Arnold to Radiohead. Not so sure about that, but Hillside is highly listenable and the band harmonizes nicely--"Fishsoundz" is from that album. Years later at a music store in Indy, I came across a promotional copy for a eponymously-named E.P. that is still available on iTunes (but wasn't for sale at Amazon.com, which seems weird to me), which is where "Wild Colonial Girl" comes from.

Arnold -- Wild Colonial Girl

Wild Colonial Girl

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Arnold -- Fishsoundz

Fishsoundz

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The Apples in Stereo

About sophomore year in college (Go Blue!), I was pretty obsessed with this album. The Apples in Stereo were part of the so-called Elephant Six Collective that included Neutral Milk Hotel, Elf Power, Of Montreal (I think) and a few others (anybody remember Beulah?). Of those bands, the Apples were always my favorite, and this my favorite album of theirs.

But I'm not sure time has been that kind to the Apples. At the time, they were sort of a throw back to the mid-to-late sixties psychedelic rock and Brian Wilson, which maybe seemed like a perfect contrast to Matchbox 20 or Limp Bizkit or whoever else was burning up the Top 40 charts in those days. Today, this album to these ears seems a lot less vital, but nevertheless "About Your Fame" is easy on the ears.

Lead singer of the Apples in Stereo, Robert Schneider, appeared on The Colbert Report last year to perform the Colbert tribute, "Stephen Stephen."

The Apples in Stereo

About Your Fame

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Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes sort of sound like My Morning Jacket and Band of Horses given their penchant for reverb. A lot of Fleet Foxes tunes like "Drops in the River" start with just vocals and reverb, and the songs are slowly fleshed out with additional instrumentation as the songs progress. This Sun Giant E.P. is available only through Sub Pop for now (click the title if you want to be directed to Sub Pop.)

Fleet Foxes -- Drops in the River

Drops in the River

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Catfish Haven

The guy in the middle, there, is George Hunter--lead singer and guitarist for Chicago's Catfish Haven and now the proud recipient of my Stephen Colbert WristStrong bracelet. Catfish Haven played The Rock for Riley Showcase Series Birdy's last Saturday with the Redwalls in Indianapolis. Catfish Haven were more rock than soul on saturday, but "Crazy for Leaving" allowed the band to breathe a bit. The mp3 file posted is from Catfish's performance at Austin's South by Southwest in 2007.

Catfish Haven -- Crazy for Leaving

Crazy for leaving

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