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January 28, 2005
Final Fantasy
First, get a new band name. You don't name your band after a video game unless it's Bionic Commando.
Second, Final Fantasy is one man, Owen Pallett. He is from Toronto and belongs to another band called Les Mouches and I read somewhere that he is connected to The Hidden Cameras. I saw him open for the Arcade Fire in San Diego a couple of weeks ago. Just him and his violin. He'd play an a few bars and had a toy that turned them into loops and he'd sing and play on top of the loop. Quite fantastic. He also played violin with the Arcade Fire. My ear is still ringing from that show.
Posted by jimweed at 01:34 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
January 23, 2005
More from Iceland
These Mugison files are courtesy of C. Wool. It's hard to know which ones to include. I have referenced the beauty of Iceland before and once again I point to that wonderful place (where I've never been). How can one not have a romanticized impression of Iceland, given what little one knows about it? If earth ever communicates intergalactically with other planets, our spokespersons should hail from Iceland and I mean that.
All manner of Mugison-related things at MugiWeb.
Posted by jimweed at 03:00 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 21, 2005
Playing With Mephisto
Komeda is a band made up of real musicians from Sweden. They used to furnish live accompaniment for silent films which requires some wizardry. The moniker comes from the Polish jazz artist Krzysztof Komeda who did the soundtrack to Rosemary's Baby. Komeda often gets compared to The Cardigans.
"Happyment" is a five-star song from an older album What Makes It Go? Observe the cascading xylophone about 50 seconds into the song. It's a roller coaster. Also: violins.
"Brother" is from the new album Kokomemedada which is their first album in 6 years. Still growing on me. This song takes about 1:20 before it gets going. Get the album here.
Posted by jimweed at 12:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 18, 2005
I'm Back (I know it's been tough on you)
Fiery Furnaces - Here Comes The Summer
One of the reasons I haven't updated for a bit is that I've been down in San Diego for a long sunny weekend that involved going to the sea, falling asleep on the beach, riding beach cruisers on the boardwalk, sitting in a futuristic hot tub, witnessing a pancake that is bigger than your lung, and breaking my vow to never eat at JBX (2x). I also saw the Arcade Fire last night at the Casbah. My ear is still ringing and I don't think I'm going to say anything about that show until my ear stops ringing (what I do have to say will likely involve superlatives). I flew back early early this morning and even though I got wolfsleep on the plane, I'm still pretty worn out.
So here are a couple of tracks from the new Fiery Furnaces 10-song EP. I retrieved them from the MP3 circuit about a month ago. I really like the analog-sounding bass thing that comes in half way through "Here Comes the Summer." These songs are more accessible than most of their stuff. The image is a poster from methanestudios.com which makes custom posters for concerts--a rather impressive catalog that would make a good gift.
F. Furnaces are in SLC on Sat. April 23, which is where I will also be.
Posted by jimweed at 06:33 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 11, 2005
Note to Self: I Don't Really Care
McLusky - She Will Only Bring You Happiness
McLusky - Without MSG I Am Nothing
So McLusky broke up. They brought me happiness for about five minutes. If I was really that sad about it, I'd be comforted by the fact that the main guy will still be around under some clever moniker.
These songs are pretty fantastic and were already in the queue to get posted up here. McLusky comes from Wales and was produced by Steve Albini and always gets compared to the Pixies. I can see the comparison (especially the grit in "MSG") but they care much more about being clever than the Pixies ever did. Clever can be fun but it's not something that you would ever really take to bed with you or put in your time capsule.
Scoop is that The Unicorns also broke up.
Posted by jimweed at 10:16 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 09, 2005
Bloodthirsty Lovers
Bloodthirsty Lovers - The Mods Go Mad
Bloodthirsty Lovers are from Memphis, TN. I found this last week on another MP3 blog and I haven't been able to figure out which one. The intro is kind of eh, but after that it gets a little shoegazer-y with some nicely augmented and unpredictable chords. He seems to have good control of his voice. I suggest it.
Posted by jimweed at 09:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 07, 2005
From Bottle Rocket? (Part 2)
A while back I put up a song by Calexico I thought was in the movie Bottle Rocket. It was recently drawn to my attention that the Calexico version is a cover of the original Love version that appears in Bottle Rocket. So here is the original song by Love, a folk/psychedelic outfit from the olden days. Thanks to Mr. Burma for the heads up.
Baby Lemonade - Clap Your Hands
Baby Lemonade - Underground DJ
Baby Lemonade is an LA band that plays backup for Love (I guess Love still tours but sans the original lineup). Baby Lemonade I found in 1998 at a sampling station in a CD store in St. George, Utah. It got a lot of PT for a few months. Pretty straight-forward melodic rock/pop.
Posted by jimweed at 08:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 03, 2005
Winter Single #3
Au Revoir Simone - The Winter Song
Think Stereolab with a little more direction. This track is called "The Winter Song" and so far it is THE winter song. It was the most end-of-the-yearish sounding track with bells I could find and I regret not putting it up before damn 2005 started. I was intro'd to Au Revoir Simone at one of my favorite MP3 blogs, Mystery & Misery.
More info on Au Revoir Simone here. They have posted a few MP3s at their website. As far as I can tell, the band is four American women. I think they got the band name from Pee Wee's Big Adventure, one of the greatest movies ever.
Posted by jimweed at 01:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack