thus spake drake: yeah yeah yeahs

Showing posts with label yeah yeah yeahs. Show all posts

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Now Downloading: New Releases 09.29.09

Compared to last (and especially next) week, it's a sparse one for new releases. The Avett Brothers major label debut tops the list, at least for me. The other headliners are mainly compilations, one being the 7 Worlds Collide benefit album (featuring Jeff Tweedy, Neil Finn, Johnny Marr and more) along with soundtracks Where the Wild Things Are (Karen O & friends) and Whip It! (a hodgepodge including Jens Lekman). Then there's a new one from the mostly reunited Alice in Chains, and releases from Hope Sandoval, Zero 7 and Whip It! contributors The Ettes & Landon Pigg.

Playlist: New Releases 09.29.09

The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

With their major label debut, The Avett Brothers have continued to expand their sound from the simple folk trio of their beginnings. Rick Rubin must have heard them as another The Jayhawks (whom he kind of owns), as with the harmonies and the lushly arranged ballads (like the title track) filtered through Southern sensibilities. (The brothers seemingly rewrote "Let it Be" several times here.) Sure, there are a few uptempo numbers (like the exceptional "Kick Drum Heart"), but it's the slower numbers that rule the day. There is some exceptional songwriting here, which bodes well for future releases.

Free AOL Album Stream

Karen O and the Kids - Where the Wild Things Are OST
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Monday, April 13, 2009

Ear on TV: Week of 04.13.09 - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Last week's headliner, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, continue their network television attack with appearances on Letterman Tuesday and Fallon on Wednesday, as if taking direction from the title of their latest album, It's Blitz. And with the added exposure, lead singer Karen O seems poised to become this generation's Deborah Harry*.

*If I'm dating myself by referencing Blondie, than so be it.

Their appearance on SNL this weekend was even better than advertised (scroll down for video) with David Pajo (Slint) sitting in on keyboards and a surprise rendition of their 2003 hit "Maps" as their second song of the night. The song is still a hipster staple, while also garnering new fans through Rock Band 2, so perhaps it isn't such a surprising choice.

Meanwhile, Letterman is host to New Pornographers band mates A.C. Newman and Neko Case on different nights (Monday and Wednesday). Case appears in support of her hit album Middle Cyclone, while Newman is out in support of his second solo release, Get Guilty, and is bringing the great singer/songwriter Nicole Atkins along with him for the appearance. Is Nicole Newman's new Neko? I dunno, but it was fun to put all those Ns together in a sentence.

Other highlights of the week are on a channel I don't get, FUEL network, a place for extreme sport and music. Their The Daily Habit always seems to line up great acts week in and week out, and this is "New York Week," highlighted by a special The Hold Steady performance, which I hear was a very loud taping. Before that, though, FUEL airs a recent sold-out Eagles of Death Metal concert in Hollywood, for their Check 1, 2 series on Monday night. Perhaps it's time I call my provider again and ask why I can't get this channel.

Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, April 13
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Lily Allen (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: A.C. Newman and Nicole Atkins
FUEL: Check 1, 2: Eagles of Death Metal
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Amazing Baby
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: The Airborne Toxic Event
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Sara Watkins and John Paul Jones
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Cold War Kids (REPEAT)
Tuesday, April 14
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Mims
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Brett Dennen
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Adele
Wednesday, April 15
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Neko Case
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Busta Rhymes
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Duke Spirit (REPEAT)
Thursday, April 16
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Pete Yorn
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Jonny Lang
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Elmo
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Lykke Li (REPEAT)
Friday, April 17
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Franz Ferdinand
FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Hold Steady
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Ben Harper
SUNDANCE: Sigur Ros: Helma: Sigur Ros
Saturday, April 18
PBS: Austin City Limits: Van Morrison

Monday, April 06, 2009

Ear on TV: Week of 04.06.09: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

If the schedule below smells like déjà vu, it's because the talkies are on vacation this week and are giving us a full slate of reruns. At least there's another Saturday Night Live this week, which this year has usually meant a quality music choice, thanks to Hal Wilner, who hasn't been this adventurous since his days booking Night Music. After Phoenix's amazing performance the other night (three songs!) Wilner and SNL follow that this week with New York's own Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Compared to Phoenix, it's a slightly less daring choice, to be sure, but it continues the trend of great and gutzy musical guests chosen for the program (Fleet Foxes, TV on the Radio, Ray Lamontagne). YYY's latest, It's Blitz, saw it's release last week to rave reviews and finds the band incorporating some eighties dancefloor sounds into their punk attack. Singer Karen O's brash attitude should serve as the yang to the yin of this week's host Zac Efron.

Elsewhere, you have to dig deep, but Sundance has been broadcasting great music films every Friday night, and this week it's the recent Pixies tour film, loudQUIETloud (2006,) on the docket. The film follows the dysfunctional indie band through their much ballyhooed reunion and tour in 2004. In it we find that despite them sounding great on stage, off stage Kim Deal still has a beef with Black Francis, and the rest of the band has gotten paunch and bald. Some things change, while others remain the same... we're still waiting on that new album, by the way.

Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, April 6
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Motley Crue (REPEAT)
FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Bronx
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (REPEAT)
Tuesday, April 7
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: MSTRKRFT (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Cursive (REPEAT)
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Prince (REPEAT)
Wednesday, April 8
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Bell X1 (REPEAT)
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Millencolin
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Prince (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: The Virgins (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: N.A.S.A. (REPEAT)
Thursday, April 9
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Les Claypool (REPEAT)
FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Ringers
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Naturally 7 (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Gabriella Cilmi (REPEAT)
Friday, April 10
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: U2 (REPEAT)
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Less Than Jake
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: PJ Harvey & John Parish (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: M83 (REPEAT)
SUNDANCE: loudQUIETloud a film about the Pixies: Pixies
Saturday, April 11
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
PBS: Austin City Limits: Femi Kuti (REPEAT)

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Now Downloading: New Releases 03.31.09

Blame the Winter Music Conference for this week's more paltry offerings, but there's still plenty to poke sticks at. The new one from Yeah Yeah Yeahs has been in Rhapsody for nearly a month, but I'm finally getting round to it here, along with the latest from Peter Bjorn & John, Great Lake Swimmers, Malajube, P.J. Harvey, Adam Franklin, Gomez and a live album from legend Leonard Cohen.

Playlist: New Releases 03.31.09

Peter Bjorn & John - Living Thing
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

It's inevitable that folks will want to compare the songs in Living Thing to that one song ("Young Folks") that has (unfairly) shaped US perception of PB&J, a band who's now been around for ten years already. Seeming almost like a reaction to the immense popularity of Writer's Block, Living Thing makes no effort to equal it's predecessor in carrying any radio radio songs. Sure, there's a couple that will be popular in smaller circles, like "It Don't Move Me" and "Lay It Down," but even the latter song has a radio-repellent refrain of "Shut the f*ck up boy, You are starting to piss me off." It joins Lily Allen's "F*ck You" as another profane song that my 4-year old dangerously would start singing upon first listen.

Free AOL Album Stream

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

It's Blitz leaked earlier this year and forced YYY's hand in pushing the release date, so as a result it's been available digitally for three weeks already. Just one more curveball for the band, whose last album, Show Your Bones, started out as a Karen O solo project. After weathering calls of sellout after that subdued release, the art-punk trio roard back with Is Is, and once again are on the move. It's Blitz is undoubtedly their pop album, with a bit more emphasis on synth sounds and some more dance-friendly rhythms backing the guitars. The first two songs set this stage, with "Zero" and "Heads will Roll" shedding all signs of their garage revival sound. After that, though, the songs move back into more familiar YYY territory, but on the whole it's still far more commercial sounding than past releases, and that's not such a bad thing, seeing as where they started.

Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

1000 Islands is an archipelago on St. Lawrence River, that lies between Canada and the US. GLS use this as the backdrop for their latest release, Lost Channels, both in concept and in where they recorded it. As such, the album straddles the border between US and Canadian folk inspirations. It's a mostly solid listen, with highlights being the tracks "Pulling a Line" and the opener "Palmistry."

Free AOL Album Stream

More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
Malajube - Labyrinthes
P.J. Harvey and John Parrish - A Woman A Man Walked By
Adam Franklin - Spent Bullets
Gomez - A New Tide / Free AOL Album Stream
Jim Gaffigan - King Baby / Free AOL Album Stream
Leonard Cohen - Live in London / Free AOL Album Stream
Wolves In The Throne Room - Black Cascade
The Whitest Boy Alive - Rules
Thunderheist - Thunderheist
Flo Rida - R.O.O.T.S. / Free AOL Album Stream
thenewno2 - You Are Here (Free AOL Album Stream)
Pansy Division - That's So Gay / "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" [mp3]
Queensrÿche - American Soldier / Free AOL Album Stream
REISSUES
Bob Dylan - New Morning
Bob Dylan w/ the Band - Before the Flood
Bob Dylan w/ the Band - The Basement Tapes
Bob Dylan w/ the Grateful Dead - Dylan and the Dead

tags: music, album review, yeahyeahyeags, pbj, indie rock, new releases, rhapsody

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Soundtracking Wednesday Night: Bionic Birdhouse

Since there's not really a show that's consistently warrants special musical attention on Wednesday -- a night of primarily freshman series -- here's a grab-bag of what went down.

First, congratulations are in order for Pushing Daisies, who gets picked up for the full season. I guess congratulations are in order for television viewers as well, who have shown the good taste to make this quirky show a hit. Last night, for the second time this season, Olive (Kristin Chenoweth) breaks out into song, this time with Aunt Vivian (Ellen Greene) singing harmonies on They Might Be Giant's "Birdhouse in Your Soul" (see video). It was brief, but probably just the right amount of singing, as Olive's turn at "Hopelessly Devoted To You" dragged on a bit too long a couple episodes ago.

Hearing Chenoweth and Greene singing was kind of an anticipated event, given their musical history. Chenoweth most recently with her role as Glinda in Wicked and Greene with her memorable role as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. Combine that with the precious pairing of They Might Be Giants with Pushing Daisies and my twee meter nearly burst.

Meanwhile, Bionic Woman made great strides with their fifth episode in, showing that fill-in showrunner Jason Katims (performing double-duty with his Friday Night Lights) might have the ship righted after the rocky start. Just in time, too, as another Jason (Cahill) is now stepping in to take the reigns -- for good, one hopes. Cahill comes on board with experience with a Sopranos pedigree, which is well respected these days, especially given the products that Sopranos vets Matthew Weiner (Mad Men) and Todd Kessler (Damages) recently put out. As far as music goes, you can't help but wonder if Katims had anything to do with the upgrade on that front as well, as songs from Ben Kweller, Rilo Kiley and Ani DiFranco spiced up the drama a bit this time out, much like FNL. Thankfully, Jason Cahill worked under David Chase, a man who understands the importance of music, and I'm guessing some of that rubbed off on him. Let's hope so, anyway.

Lastly, I'm just including some of the songs from ladies choice dramas Gossip Girl and Private Practice, because I either just skimmed through (GG) or didn't bother to watch (PP). Though, from what I could tell, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Nekta and Beck livened up an otherwise droll masquerade ball, but that's all I'm dishing on GG, JQP.

Playlist: Soundtracking Wednesday Night - 10.24.07
1. "Birdhouse In Your Soul" - They Might Be Giants - Pushing Daisies, Ep 104
2. "Nothing Happening" - Ben Kweller - Bionic Woman, Ep 105
3. "Silver Lining" - Rilo Kiley - Bionic Woman, Ep 105
4. "Recoil" - Ani DiFranco - Bionic Woman, Ep 105
5. "Kiss, Kiss" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gossip Girl, Ep 106
6. "Guess Who" - Nekta - Gossip Girl, Ep 106
7. "Timebomb" - Beck - Gossip Girl, Ep 106
8. "Happy Ending" - Mika - Gossip Girl, Ep 106
9. "What I've Done" - Until June - Private Practice, Ep 105
10. "Mas Que Nada" - Sergio Mendes - Private Practice, Ep 105

tags: music, television, soundtrack, pushing daisies, bionic woman, gossip girl, they might be giants