Before Haircut
This dog has got it good!
For Jen, your dog is cute too
But this dog is really cute!!
Waking up for the dayAll these songs are about dogs, except for that Built to Spill single, that song is just badass.
Showing newest 84 of 122 posts from March 2009. Show older posts
Showing newest 84 of 122 posts from March 2009. Show older posts
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Dog Theme
Before HaircutThis dog has got it good!For Jen, your dog is cute tooBut this dog is really cute!!Waking up for the dayAll these songs are about dogs, except for that Built to Spill single, that song is just badass.
More Weird Pop Music
Pangea at theShimm is apparently in a weird pop mood this week, even though technically the Brazilian Girls hail from Brooklyn not Brazil. David Byrne pops up on this song contributing hip-hop-esque vocals, sort of. Interesting year for David Byrne cameos.
Monday, March 30, 2009
War-Child Heroes Compilation: Catching Up
This is the other notable compilation that came out recently. For those that haven't rushed out and bought the Dark Was the Night compilation, shame on you. It's a good cause, and, moreover, it's good music that can't be found elsewhere. I don't particularly love Bowie's "Heroes;" the original is way too frosty for my taste. for that reason, i've been slow to check out this compilation. But i've been told by a good friend of mine that this Bob Dylan cover by Beck on the Heroes compilation is hot shimm. I've been derelict and haven't actually listened to it yet. But the hit-to-miss ratio for Beck is heavily weighted in the "hit" category, so i post this with a fair amout of confidence.Do That Stuff!!! Ah, do that stuff!
Uninformed music fans refer to George Clinton's band as "P-funk," which i think it eventually became officially known as a way of referring to the later iterations of his band the P-Funk Allstars. I avoid all that stuff like the plague. George Clinton's brain is likely all but fried these days and has been for probably 20 years. So for those that want to be accurate. There were two George Clinton bands--Parliament and Funkadelic. The former focused on psychedelic r&b/soul and the latter focused on psychedelic funk-rock. If you ask me, Funkadelic is the more interesting and consistent of the two bands. Eddie Hazel on guitar is simply phenomenal, and he dominates on early Funkadelic albums. And while Funkadelic was supposed to Clinton's more uncompromising band, he simply gets weird on Parliament albums with ideas that would take firm root in the era of hip hop. Clinton was simply way ahead of his time. And his music has been sampled repeatedly, but his influence remains somewhat obscured. Anyways, the keyboard riff on "Do that stuff" was sampled on Royksopp's "Happy Up There." this is by no means my favorite Parliament song but you need to know where shimm comes from, i think.
Heavy Music Monday, part II (Warning: Scary white guy vocals)
dumb album coveri bet you thought there wasn't going to be a Part II to Heavy Music monday. You assumed that I wouldn't have any other new heavy music to rock your medula oblongata. You were wrong. Mastodon just released Crack the Skye this past month, and I have been avoiding it. Mastodon are the thinking man's heavy metal band. As musicians, they are, technically, total badasses, occasionally do sing melodies (more nowadays than before), and they deal with heavy themes like 4 basic elements (earth, wind, fire, and air). But they honor their committment to metal by serving up searing guitar solos and crunching powerchords (good) and scary guy-monster man singing/groweling (meh). Scary guy vocals are not exactly my thing--it scares small children and my wife. So i am a little hesitant to completely recommend Mastodon to most music fans, but for those who want the heavy shimm, this is right up your alley.
Heavy Music Monday, part I
On the strength alone of "Brown Beauty" (poop reference?? if so, ew that's nasty), i might have a new favorite heavy instrumental rock band. Some guy on Amazon.com likened them to Mogwai but with more of classic hard rock focus in the vein of early Black Sabbath, i think that's an apt description. What to listen for? The guitarist Danny Barria is ferociously talented--he's apparently mastered every bad@ss guitar pedal in his arsenal. To these ears, his style sounds sort of like a hybrid of Tony Iommi of Sabbath and Billy Corgan. This is high quality, uncliched hard rock. Enjoy.Sunday, March 29, 2009
The Whitest Boy Alive is underrated
The Whitest Boy Alive may not drink milk especially well, but they are one of the coolest bands with one of the cleanest sounds today and their new-ish album (not great but definitely good) Rules hasn't gotten one iota of respect. God, America pisses me off when we focus all of our attention on Lady Gaga or T.I. (or that autotuned wanksta in the top hat) and we forget all about the cool indie-pop that continues to press boundaries. Pay these dudes their due--i'm not asking for much, maybe a Volkswagen commercial?? They got a funny name that should attract some attention, and Erlend Oye is a certifiable underground star. And yet all i'm hearing is crickets on this side of the pond. I may be beating a dead horse here, but I ain't stopping.Re-introducing the Passion Pit...and everything is going to the beat
Probably the highest-profile Boston-based music act these days, Passion Pit, have one uniquely, slightly annoyingly catchy song "Sleepyhead," which one NPR rock critic described (and I paraphrase) as a song with like 6 hooks mashed together and glued together with something hard to exactly define. It's experimental pop in fine form--I've got much lower expectations for the rest of the album which i haven't listened to, lest than i begin to resent Passion Pit for raising my expectations. This is remix is pretty cool too. It's that kind of insightful music criticism that you've come to expect from Pangea and TheShimm.com--I wouldn't want to disappoint you.Friday, March 27, 2009
Royksopp Remix
So I mentioned yesterday that I only listened to "Happy Up Here" once and didn't notice at first the obvious P-funk sample (the name of which is currently eluding me at the moment--a mix cd goes to the person that helps me figure this out--leave it in the comments). This remix of "Happy up Here" is actually worth listening to--it's not some drum n bass/techno remix where all the soul of the song is removed and replaced with pulsating beats. And, interestingly, the Datassette remix kind of makes "Happy Up Here" its own by only occasionally allowing that P-funk keyboard riff to creep up in the mix.Thursday, March 26, 2009
New Royksopp -- Happy Up Here
Still digesting the new Royksopp album. Loved their first album and was ho hum about their sophomore album, The Understanding, at first but it's a grower. Still don't love it though by any means. So i listen to their third album Junior with some skepticism. Will it be all atmospheric beats with soothing yet forgettable Scandinavian vocals like the second album or fun squiggly synth-led grooves like their first album like Melody A.M.? If Pitchfork is to be trusted (and they aren't; I'm not being bitchy but they got their heads firmly lodged in their butts most of the time), this album is supposed to be a balance of the two. I dunno bout that, but i like "Happy Up Here" after just one listen. Lady Rock that is pretty catchy shimm
I know diddly about Holly Conlan, nothing. All i do know is the her fem-rock ditty "OK" is pretty ok. I like it, really. It's good pop-rock in the vein of maybe Sara Bareilles (sp?) but a little less insistent--less of a guilty pleasure but a pleasure no less. Just something you could play in the car w/ another dude and you wouldn't totally embarrass yourself. I mean you could embarrass yourself, but it would be no fault of Holly Conlan.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Mid-Afternoon British Invasion Interlude
Of all the well-known and celebrated British Invasion bands, (with the sole exception of maybe the Who and I'd argue against it) the Kinks are the least well-known and the least celebrated. There is maybe the perception that the Kinks were the most inscrutably British, that their ruminations on the disappearance of British village commons and the old English way of doing things (ah, the old Empire was grand...for Brits, anyways) were impossible for Americans to understand or appreciate. And perhaps rock critics are right in that regard, but it says next to nothing about the Kinks' music and the songwriting abilities of Ray Davies. I mean, I've never seen a Waterloo Sunset but the song is gorgeous and isn't that the most important thing to get?Anyways, the Kinks always got a modicum of respect in the States for producing an occasional single for nearly 2 decades, but their mid 60s and early 70s albums get unfairly ignored. For my money, the Kinks' best album is its Australia-set-in-WWII/War is Hell concept album Arthur or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire. The story not only makes some sense but the tunes hold up great today. One of my favorites is "Brainwashed," an insightful or at least inspired anti-war tune, that also demonstrates the incredible power of Dave Davies' power chords. It's not heavy metal or hard rock even but those ferocious power chords (displayed prominently on "You Really Got Me") still pack a punch.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Mid-Tempo Rock Tunes Worth Listening To
These are songs that have been kicking around my iTouch for quite some time that haven't gotten the proper attention until now. Dear Independence by the Blue Van, if it got any press, mostly bad-mouthed for being derivative. I think there are a handful of good songs on it. The Hives' Black and White Album is pretty underwhelming and yet there a couple of songs that deliver the goods. Do they have a style that seems a wee bit outdated now that garage-rock seems to be way past its born-on dating? well, yeah a little but "Three Little Words" is one hell of a rock tune that a band like AC/DC would kill to be able to write these days so maybe the Hives shouldn't be written off just yet. Lastly, Liam Finn, son of New Zealand pop-rock legend Neil Finn, wrote an interesting, yet slightly forgettable major label debut. His vocal similarities to his father maybe hurt him in some unimaginable way; put him with his pops on the next Crowded House album. He's a talent that will hopefully continue to improve over time. "Energy spent" is one of my favorites.Oh and I forgot about that French Kicks tune way down there. That's another album that i continue to appreciate--not a ringing endorsement, mind you, but it's a grower.
Introducing Micachu and the Shapes
Mica Levy a.k.a. Micachu is apparently the new big, white indie-rock hype coming out of London. I can only assume that Micachu and her band, The Shapes, will be performing at SXSW. There's already a bandwagon apparently forming around her, and it's probably hyperbolic and completely overblown. Other songs didn't grab me at all, but "Golden Phone" is admittedly a lot of fun. Give it more than 30 seconds to shake-off its excessive artiness and the pop-essence of the song emerges, and it's, to repeat myself, a lot of fun, even it's just some jittery beats, some spare acoustic guitar and Micachu's infectious vocal. Is this new music worth making a big freakin' deal over? No. And will the British music press overdo it on the importance of Micachu? Yes, but that doesn't mean you need to completely write her off. "Golden Phone" just might be her golden moment. The Shimm is all about collecting these golden moments and saving them for you and for posterity.
Eastbound and Down/Kenny Powers is the Shimm
I was alerted to HBO's Eastbound and Down like only a week ago. That was long enuf for me to watch all six episodes which are freakin' stellar. I laughed my g-ddang a$$ off. My favorite tv show of the year by far.
"Too Little, Too Late" Comparo: Jo Jo vs. Dan Rossen
Please note that TheShimm is not endorsing JoJo. She is quite striking, looks-wise, but her R&B-pop music is not that interesting. But Dan Rossen of Grizzly Bear and Department of Eagles interprets this shitty little R&B he-did-me-wrong pop ditty into a acoustic-folk-pop song worth remembering. I really like the concept and really love how this mundane song becomes something incredibly affecting in his hands. Having talked to a couple music fans of mine, i feel like i'm in the minority on the genius of Grizzly Bear, Dept of Eagles and Dan Rossen. They seem to be of the opinion that Grizzly Bear has no hooks and that they fail to build an apex into their songs. I think they have failed to truly appreciate the quiet strengths of Grizzly Bear and Department of Eagles--both are similar in their ability to capture small, incredibly beautiful moments. While this isn't a band to turn to for heavy guitar-based indie rock; this is a band that expands the rock n roll form in a meaningful way that emphasizes minor-key melodies the way other rock bands have relied upon distorted-crunchy power chords, raw vocals, or punchy choruses. Are their radio-friendly tunes on Veckatimest? Not really, but there are songs that seep their way into my brain by virtue of Grizzly Bear's affecting melodies--it's pop music , i hesitate to say, for the most evolved for rock music tastes. Did I mean this post to be a defense of Grizzly Bear? Do I realize i posted this Dan Rossen solo cover a few weeks prior? yes, but I didn't think i had done it justice. Moreover, hearing the source material makes his cover that much more impressive, i think anyways. Friday, March 20, 2009
Old Indie Pop Rock That Remains the Shimm
"I sure wish i was as talented as i was gay," (not that there is anything wrong with that).Old indie-stuff that remains important shimm
If you want my honest opinion, go out this weekend and buy the Meat Puppets' II and Up on the Sun, their 2nd and 3rd albums which are totally classic. You won't be disappointed; this is Pangea from theShimm talking here. But if you're a no good free-loading, economically screwed individual (like Pangea himself), then download "Away" and mutter away to your cheap-ass self about how you need to listen to more early Meat Puppets.
Passion Pit: Sleepyhead is boring a hole in my brain
Passion Pit is likely to be a star of blogs and SXSW, but that doesn't mean you have to care. You don't. You can listen to the sped-up vocals in the first 10 seconds and decide this isn't music for you. Let the hipsters and the bloggerati have at it. Ok, you close-minded fool with limited ability to appreciate rock music....Let's digress for just one second. I don't do this whole blog thing for nothing. I work under the presumption that rock music is still a living and breathing thing. Sometimes it doesn't feel like it, i agree. But rock music remains an art medium that continues to attract interesting people. The Passion Pit from my newly adopted home town of Boston are not the best that rock has to offer, but they do something, at least once, that is sort of interesting that is equal parts pop, electronic, hip hop and indie. Is it slightly annoying? Umm, i think a little. For the hipsters and the bloggerati though, there is something to Passion Pit that is not completely wrong.
What You May Have Missed, Pt. 1
Grizzly Bear -- Fine for Now
Wild Light -- Canyon City
Goblin Cock -- We got a Bleeder!
Doug Martsch -- Window
The 1900's -- Age of Metals
Neko Case -- Maneater
WOMEN -- Shaking Hands
Phoenix -- 1901
MP3 File
Wild Light -- Canyon City
Goblin Cock -- We got a Bleeder!
Doug Martsch -- Window
The 1900's -- Age of Metals
Neko Case -- Maneater
WOMEN -- Shaking Hands
Phoenix -- 1901
MP3 File
Trio of Mid-Tempo Tunes and Weird/Bad Album Covers
Cooler than it is Weird
Good Song on a Weak Album
Me likey "Age of Metals;" Me Hate this Album CoverThursday, March 19, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Grizzly Bait: Very Willing to Remove these Links--Testing the Popularity of this Blog
I'm pretty sure these dudes know how money they are
Veckatimest Island is in Dukes County, Massachusetts (i think it's that small island on the bottom left )I have by no means fully digested Veckatimest yet, but my opinion from slightly underwhelming to just short of incredible (I'm not really liking "Dory" so far) in the course of one hour must indicate something. Am i subject to hyperbole? yes, guilty as charged. Am i blowing the importance of Veckatimest and Grizzly Bear out of proportion? not in the slightest. this is time capsule music; the aliens/people from the future digging this up need to here this shimm. And the production is spot on.
Still Baiting a Grizzly Bear, Part II
ain't that bridge purty?
don't you dare hate on them for recording in Cape Cop, that is reverse classism and that's like so wrong, dude. don't be that guy/gal. You'll make the guy on the bottom left cry and then you'll feel like an a-hole.All cheekiness aside, Grizzly Bear will be releasing a new album in May and it is the bomb. All you Animal Collective fans need to put down the crystal meth/nitrous and start paying attention to Grizzly Bear--a far more enjoyable, yet still challenging album in comparison to Merriweather Post Pavilion.
The indie-rock debate of the year will be this exact topic: which was the more profound indie-rock album of '09--Merriweather or Veckatimest. My money is on Veckatimest in a big f@cking way--not that Merriweather was bad or anything (it certainly was interesting) but Veckatimest makes me extremely excited about the state of indie rock. They have totally delivered on the promise more than hinted at on Yellow House. To prove my point/obsession, i'll keep posting tunes off this album until i get the word from the band not to anymore(i got no problem w/ that). It is superb; kudos are certainly due to this amazing band.
The indie-rock debate of the year will be this exact topic: which was the more profound indie-rock album of '09--Merriweather or Veckatimest. My money is on Veckatimest in a big f@cking way--not that Merriweather was bad or anything (it certainly was interesting) but Veckatimest makes me extremely excited about the state of indie rock. They have totally delivered on the promise more than hinted at on Yellow House. To prove my point/obsession, i'll keep posting tunes off this album until i get the word from the band not to anymore(i got no problem w/ that). It is superb; kudos are certainly due to this amazing band.
Baiting a Grizzly Bear
Veckatimest Island, Massachusetts (off Cape Cop)
First Impression: You're Weirder, Subtler than I expected; just like "Yellow House," a total grower. I no doubt will be entranced by this album for many months to come.More new Wild Light
In terms of catchy pop-ditties, this album from New Hampshire-based Wild Light is deeper than i expected. "California on my Mind" stuck to my brain like taffy and no "Canyon City" is only slightly less catchy.The Theme is Jason Schwartzman: Actor/Drummer/Coppola Extraordinaire
If my Hollywood genealogy is correct (and it is, i wiki'ed it), Jason Schwartzman is the son of Talia Shire (Adrian in Rocky), who is the sister of Francis Ford Coppola and maybe Nicholas Cage's aunty. All of that should have made Jason a total cocksucker/overindulged Hollywood brat, but he defied the odds and has made a real career for himself in the arts. I like Phantom Planet; they could be perhaps my favorite L.A.-based band in the past 10 years. I'm sad to see them break-up (given Alex Greenwald's (sp??? yes, my memory is better than i realized) excellent voice and songwriting chops). Jason Schwartzman, having made a career for himself in film, was forced or quit being drummer for PP after just one album. Since then, he's gone under the moniker Coconut Records, which i'm discovering late (thanks bro for the tip) and produced a couple albums I haven't heard. In fact, i've only heard "Drummer" and it's heavily self-referential (Schwartzman is so fucking meta--no wonder he gets along w/ Wes Anderson). In spite of the cheekiness of the lyrics, a good song lies beneath. Even the album art is kind of interesting. Jason Schwartzman is a talent in film and music. It's almost too much to take. I heard he gets a discount on Coppola wine too. Some families get all the breaks, i guess.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
New Phoenix: 1901
If it were up to me, i think i'd have named this tune "Falling" not "1901." Not that it matters-- "1901" is pretty good. Not gonna get all gushy about the pop-rock songwriting prowess of French anglophiles Phoenix. My knowledge of french pop rock music is admittedly very superficial but I would have pegged Phoenix for being Dutch or Norwegian. I should also mention that Phoenix features a bass player by the name of Deck D'arcy, which i think is pretentious and awesome all at the same time. Welcome back Phoenix, you frogs are ok with me.WOMEN: new indie-rock shimm worth hearing
You gots to check this shimm out. It's indie but oooh so satisfying.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Swedish Pop Interlude
Warning!!! i know shit out about TeddyBears, don't go rushing out to buy Soft Machine. Anyways, this version featuring Swedish pop-rock star Annie isn't actually on the album, and the original version kind of sucks. Someone remixed it, added a pulsating beat and Annie's vocals and made it much cooler. interesting album art, i must say.Squeeze
Not even a teenager yet, i was turned on to Squeeze on their late 80's hit "Hourglass" which still holds up nicely these days. Dig that saxophone and those awesome blue eyed soul-anglo style vocals. There are some who consider Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook the Lennon-McCartney of the 1980's, that's perhaps a stretch but their songwriting was for a time top-notch. 45's and Under remains their landmark album, even if it's well-selected singles collection. "Another Nail in my heart" is one of those great post-punk, anglo-pop-rock tunes of the early 1980's. Squeeze's impact in the U.S. was marginal at best, but most Americans no shit about good music, so i find that hardly consequential. Squeeze were the shim, suck on that America.Let's Get Progressive, Part II
To this day (Bono dissed the indulgence of prog rock in this latest issue of Rolling Stone), progressive rock gets a bad rap for being over indulgent and for causing raw psychedelic, hard rock music to become soft as the 1970's wore on. But prog rock can't be entirely blamed for American-wannabe-prog rock bands like Foreigner, Styx and Journey. I still love my early Genesis, Yes, King Crimson and Supertramp albums. fuck Bono.
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