Buy Bjork Box Set on a Budget [Prefix]
Swine Flu (Quite Literally) Stealing the Show [The Tripwire]
M.I.A. One of TIME’s 100 Most Influential [Pitchfork]
Download Free Dinosaur Jr. Farm MP3 [Brooklyn Vegan]
Neutral Milk Hotel Not Making Music, But Saving Carousels in Massachusetts [The Tripwire]
Lil Wayne Caught Up in Copyright Lawsuit [Prefix]
Justin Gets His Drink On [Idolator]
Datarock Track Pays Tribute to Talking Heads [SPIN]
Governors Island Having Host of Summer Shows [Brooklyn Vegan]
compiled by Elana Jacobs
HIDDEN GEM
Butt Trumpet
Primitive Enema
1994 | Chrysalis Records
“Novelty music” is an umbrella term that covers more than Tiny Tim, “Weird Al,” and whoever else gets covered on Dr. Demento. Not that I’m turning my nose up at “Weird Al” or anything, but some “novelty” records – like Ken Nordine’s Colors, a series of audio vignettes about different shades of refracted light – get labeled as novelty or “exotica” due to their sheer intellectualism. Then there are those records, on the opposite end of the spectrum, that are so vulgar and stupid you can’t help but laugh at them.
Butt Trumpet, who claim to be the only punk band other than the Sex Pistols to sign to EMI, fit tightly – and proudly – into the latter category. Formed in 1991 by Thom Bone, the band has gone through many permutations, the most notorious in 1994, when a major-label deal with Chrysalis Records put the words “Butt Trumpet” into the mouths of adolescent idiots all across the nation. The album they produced, Primitive Enema, is a troglodytic punk/metal fusion stuffed with scatological humor and bellowing/whiny lyrics, rife with what Bone, may or may not consider his rhetoric. Primitive Enema was required listening for a fifteen year old kid weaned on Primus and Beavis & Butt-head.
More on Butt Trumpet | Primitive Enema
FRESH BAKED
The Mountain Goats and John Vanderslice
Moon Colony Bloodbath
2009 | 4AD
B-
Another quarter, another Mountain Goats record. On the heels of their one-two Satanic Messiah EP and Kaki King collaboration, Black Pear Tree, they’ve got another tour-only release, a collaboration with songwriter, producer, and Tiny Telephone Studio owner John Vanderslice. I’ve always loved – loved – Vanderslice’s production technique, and the sounds produced through Tiny Telephone. And way back when, I was pretty impressed by Time Travel is Lonely and Cellar Door. But neither held my attention for very long. I’ve yet to explore his more recent, even more acclaimed, albums. I will now. Moon Colony Bloodbath isn’t very good. It feels strange typing that – it is a John Darnielle project – but it’s true. It’s pretty slight. It’s still good enough to warrant a serious listen though – and Vanderslice is good enough to shame me for ignoring him.
More on The Mountain Goats and John Vanderslice | Moon Colony Bloodbath
Rock World Laments Passing of John Weller [Times of London]
New Museum Getting in on the Music Scene [Brooklyn Vegan]
Department of Homeland Security Dissuades Border Crossing…By Releasing an EP? [Idolator]
The L Magazine Announces 8 NYC Bands You Need to Hear [The L Magazine]
Little Guys Are Suffering, But Major Music Events Still Getting Sponsored [Reuters]
Old Phones Get You Free Downloads [NME]
The Wilco Album, Wilco (The Album) [Prefix]
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart Embrace Beverly Cleary [The Tripwire]
Iggy Pop’s Endorsement of Switcover.com Causes Controversy [Prefix]
compiled by Elana Jacobs
JEZEBEL MUSIC FEATURE
The verdant warmth of spring has at last sprung and we’re counting down the days until JezebelMusic.com’s May Feature Artist – Miracles of Modern Science – dazzles and dazes us at the Feature Show at Public Assembly on Thursday, May 14. With openers Gunfight!, Phil and the Osophers, and Kittens Ablaze, Miracles of Modern Science will headline NYC’s most electric and eclectic night of live music.
Where many bands use strings as additional, extraneous instrumentation to fill up the sound of their songs, at the core of Miracles of Modern Science (long for MOMS) are mandolin, upright bass, cello and violin. Along with a drummer and matching silver space suits, MOMS brings its sparkling strings and danceable pop rock creations to the stage at Public Assembly May 14.
For show details, click HERE. See you there!!!
Dan D’Ippolito
HOLY MUSICIAN, BATMAN…
Every Radiohead fan I’ve met has something specific that first reeled him or her in: a gorgeous song, a remarkable album, or an awe-inspiring concert. For me, the fascination has been two-fold: in Radiohead, I have found that rare simultaneous experience of limitless emotional pull and intellectual inspiration. Despite the countless times that I’ve heard nearly every single one of their songs, each listen exposes another masterfully executed detail, a new sonic element, to my ears.
Lately, I’ve been especially enamored by bassist Colin Greenwood’s rhythmic and melodic bass fills and grooves. Greenwood has shown enormous versatility throughout Radiohead’s 24-year career of shifting artistic directions, always setting the right mood in performance. He establishes an entire song with one simple bass groove (as in Hail to the Thief’s “The Gloaming”) or provides its basic melodic structure (as in a song like “Bones” from The Bends). Regardless of how prominent, Greenwood’s bass lines play an integral role in creating Radiohead’s characteristic sound.
More on Colin Greenwood, Radiohead
SEE IT LIVE
JezebelMusic.com @ Mercury Lounge
April 27, 2009 | Bowerbirds & Bell
[All images copyright 2009 Jen McManus]
Bell
Bowerbirds
Yeah Yeah Yeahs It’s Blitz! Tour Won’t Hit Brooklyn [The Tripwire]
The Scoop on Snoop [NYTimes Arts]
Rihanna Tries to Reclaim Rocks [Rolling Stone]
New iPhone Apps Search Blogs [CNET] and Spin Records [Prefix]
Village Voice Siren Fest Still at Coney Island – Initial Lineup Announced [Brooklyn Vegan]
Eminem’s Relapse Track List Leaked [Prefix]
No Age, Deerhunter, and Dan Deacon, Oh My! [Pitchfork]
Decemberists Appear on Colbert Report [Videogum]
Destroyer and Sunset Rubdown Schedule (Separate) NYC Shows [Brooklyn Vegan]
Sonic Youth Summer Tour [Prefix]
Rooftop Films Returns [Brooklyn Vegan]
compiled by Elana Jacobs
