Watch Video For Passion Pit’s “Little Secrets” (The One With All Those Kids Screaming “Higher and Higher! Yay!”); Video Looks a Lot Like Tron, But Not Nearly As Good (It’s Only Marginally Better Than Tron Legacy) [Youtube]
Someone Decided a Sleigh Bells/Weezy Mash-Up Was a Good Idea; We Bring You “Fireman on the Ground,” Which is Terrifyingly Abrasive. Elsewhere, Check Out Our Pictures of Sleigh Bells Playing Our October Feature Show [Prefix]
Stream Brooklyn’s Crystal Antlers Covering Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” Which Is Great In a We-Sound-Like-High-Schoolers-Covering-Dylan Kind of Way [Fader]
Your Favorite Post-Collegiate, Post-Ironic, Afro-Bombastic Pop Band Vampire Weekend Announce Winter US Tour; Contra, In All It’s Fantastically Despised Glory, is Released January 17; Elsewhere, Stream New VW Track “Cousins,” Which I Despise Fantastically [NME]
King Khan and BBQ Show Issue Statement About the Band’s Arrest; All Interested Parties Remain Unphased and Unsurprised by Fact that These Guys Keep a Good Stock of Shrooms in Their Tour Van [Pitchfork]
Stream New Beach House, “Norway,” off the Upcoming LP Teen Dream, Released January 26 (I Know, Usually, at the Very Mention of Beach House, I Would Imply How Boring They Are. But, This Song Quite Gorg……. – Whoops, Fell Alseep Again (Kidding, It’s Really Good) [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Watch Possibly Seizure Inducing Video For Beyonce and Lady Gagas’ “Video Phone;” I Know You’ve Always Wanted to See Beyonce and Gaga Wield Enormous Guns…Give Into That Urge [Spin]
NME Releases Hilariously “NME-Esque” List of Their Top Albums of the Decade; Top Ten Includes the Strokes (at Number 1), Libertines (Number 2), Primal Scream (Number 3), The Streets (Number 9)…Well, You Get it. They Like Brit-Rock. A Lot [NME]
compiled by Max Sebela
The Beatles Get Their Own QVC Store; Weirdest Shop Item: Four Yellow Submarine Themed Baseballs. QVC: Get Authentic. I Want A Set Of Hard Day’s Night Styled Cricket Wickets [Idolator]
Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, Foo Fighter’s Dave Grohl and Led Zepellin’s John Paul Jones Debuted Their Very Original Sludge-Rock Band, Them Crooked Vultures (And Apparently, It Was Good) [Spin]
Stream Garage Punk Jay Reatard’s Upcoming Matador Debut LP Watch Me Fall; Released August 18 [NME]
The Upcoming $45 Million Dollar Spiderman Musical, With Music By U2’s Bono and The Edge, Facing Budget Problems “Mary Jane, My Spider Sense Is Tingling – Maybe This Is The Wrong Time To Put On A $45 Million Dollar Musical…Wait, No…That’s My Common Sense” [NME]
Watch New Video “I’m Good” From Virginia Rap Heroes Clipse (Pharrell Sings Really Poorly On It, and I’ve Never Seen Ex-Coke Dealers Having So Much Leisurely Fun); Till The Casket Drops Released October 20 [Pitchfork]
Microphones/Mount Eerie Guy Phil Elverum Does Really Great Interview In Village Voice; Calls Upcoming LP Wind’s Poem Loudest Album He’s Done (Also Has Called It His Best), Expresses Love Of Loud Things In General [Village Voice]
Arcade Fire Multi-Instrumentalist Owen Pallett, AKA Final Fantasy, Signs To Domino, Announces New LP, Heartland; Released “The First Week Of 2010” [Pitchfork]
Stream Brooklyn Garage Pop Trio Vivian Girls’ Two New Songs, “The End” and “Can’t Get Over You”; New LP Everything Goes Wrong Released September 8 [Myspace]
Popular Music Magazine Pitchfork.com Announces Plans To Present “The Decade In Music” Starting Next Week…Four Months Before Decade Ends. Well, So Much For Journalistic Perspective [Pitchfork]
Sufjan Stevens Announces Fall Tour (!!!!); Four New York Dates In October (!!!!); Fans Giggle Like School Girls [Asthmatic Kitty]
Stream Black Lips/King Khan & BBQ Show Supergroup, The Almighty Defenders’ First Song, “Cone Of Light” – This Track Is Throwback, Handclap Soul And Will Be On Repeat For Several Hours; The Almighty Defenders Released September 22 [Pitchfork]
by Max Sebela
August 5, 2009
The Mighty Hannibal
HOLY MUSICIAN, BATMAN…
“Larry Williams, Johnny Watson, Sam Cooke, Joe Tex. All my good friends are gone. I guess I’ve been left behind to turn out the lights.”
- from the liner notes of Hannibalism
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the relevance of old school soul to today’s music and nightlife. Walk into a reeling spasmodic party where DJs Jonathan Toubin or Josh Styles are spinning wild soul 45s all night, or peruse the Norton reissue section at Academy Records, or listen to the banged-up remnants of doo-wop on your latest Black Lips or King Khan & BBQ Show album, and you might agree with Shirley Ellis: “Baby it’s time to soul time!”
You could argue that rock ’n rollers have always appreciated soul music, or that I’m just focused on folks with tastes similar to mine, but when you overhear a couple of young girls at the bar in Greenpoint bitching about being “sick of all this soul music everywhere,” you can assume there’s some sort of resurgence going on. And I ain’t talking about silky Aretha or buttery Sam Cooke songs, either. I’m talking about the real nitty gritty: hip huggin’, jerkin’ the dog, and shakin’ and vibe-a-ratin’ music. I’m talking about King Coleman, Andre Williams, and the Mighty Hannibal, baby.
More on The Mighty Hannibal
Beastie Boys’ Eighth Studio Album, Hot Sauce, Drops Sept. 15 [Billboard]
Bjork Streams Album of Alternate Live Takes on NPR, Screens Film at SVA Tonight [Tripwire]
Opening Cinematic from “The Beatles: Rock Band” Game Revealed [Rolling Stone]
Black Lips and King Khan & BBQ Show Team Up as Almighty Defenders; Album Out In September [Prefix]
Old Folks Trash Wilco and Praise Yo La Tengo’s “Humpin’ Music” [Pitchfork]
Honey Hush! (And Check Out the Lineup for the Coney Island Rockabilly Festival) [Brooklyn Vegan]
Hey You Record Collectors, Pavement Vinyl Reissue Out Today [Tiny Mix Tapes]
Hey You Digital Collectors, Factory Records Digital Box Set Released on iTunes [Pitchfork]
Who’s The Boss? Ticketmaster or Bruce Springsteen? [Prefix]
Former Wilco Member Jay Bennett Died of Overdose [Rolling Stone]
compiled by Erin Sheehy
