Watch Oberst/Ward/James/Mogis Folk Supergroup Monsters of olk Perform With the Roots on Late Night; Experience Shock as the Four of Those Guys Approach Some Level of Danceability for the First Time in their Lives; See Oberst Hear Bass for the First Time [Prefix]
The Fiery Furnaces’ Matthew Friedberger Calls Out Radiohead for Releasing Song About WWI Veteran Harry Patch, Claiming They “Brazenly Associate” With Things Others Find “Cool;” Meanwhile, Friedberger Thought Radiohead Released the Song About Music Innovator Harry Partch, and the Fiery Furnaces Are Releasing an Album that Contains Absolutely No Music [NME]
Stream New Asobi Seksu Track “Thursday,” Which is Pretty Good; Moreover, It is Thursday! Tripwire, Saving a Song Called Thursday, For Thursday? You Cheeky Devils. [Tripwire]
Scottish Post-Rockers Mogwai to Release Live Album, Special Moves and Live Documentary, Burning; Expect Them to Be Abrasive, Angry, Angular, and Contain Very Little Alliteration [Pitchfork]
Sufjan Stevens Calls the “50 State Project” a Joke, Implies It Will Never Happen, Confirming What All Intelligent Fans Realized When he Didn’t Release Another Album Two Weeks After Illinois [Paste]
Strap on Your Petticoats and Climb the Parapets! The Decemberists’ Antiquated and Verbose Frontman Colin Meloy is Writing a Children’s Book, More than Appropriately Called The Unfortunate Demise of Whitley Rackham; If the Book is Anything Like the Decemberists Career, Kids Will Find it Full of Promise, But Ultimately Just Kinda Shitty [Pitchfork]
Vivian Girls Launch Record Label, World Wide Records – Begin by Releasing a Compilation by Yellow Fever, and the Debut Single from Woods/Vivian Girls Super (Only in Extremely Scenester Circles) Group Babies [Brooklyn Vegan]
Pavement to Release Collection of Radio Sessions and Outtakes “Sometime;” NME Runs Story With Headline “Pavement Planning New Album Release.” NME Remains Hotspot for Facetious, Hyperbolic, and Counterfactual Headlines, Journalism Cries [NME]
compiled by Max Sebela
Stream Previously Unreleased Track From the Late Great Arthur Russell, “Come to Life,” Recorded in the Late 70s, Which Is Quite Lovely [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Stream New Track From Chicago’s The Lawrence Arms, “Demons,” Which Is Teeming With Midwestern Values (Which Really Just Means It’s Emotive, Non-Blushing Pop Punk); Ask Yourself When The Hell Spin Started Releasing “Exclusive” Tracks From a Local Chicago Band [Spin]
Fantastically Indie-fied Charity Compilation Dark Was the Night, Which Was Released in February, Raised Over $650 Thousand For AIDS Awareness [Pitchfork]
Arcade Fire Working on New Album For 2010? TwentyFourBit Lays Out The Evidence, Forgetting the Fact That Win Butler Has Said Over and Over Again That They Are Currently Writing Material For New Album [TwentyFourBit]
Stream First Official Them Crooked Vultures Song (Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, and John Paul Jones (For The Youngins, That Dude Was In Zeppelin)) Track, “New Fang,” Which Has Guitar So Filthy I Need To Take a Shower; Them Crooked Vultures Released November 17 [Pitchfork]
The Always Innovative Sufjan Stevens To Release “Album” Next Year, Which Will Contain “Songs,” Instead of the High Conceptual Art Pieces Rooted in the Folklore of the 50 States That Have Become So Blasé; Elsewhere, All Albums Contain Fucking Songs, Sufjan [The Tripwire]
NME Quotes Jarvis Cocker: “Pulp Could Reunite for Glastonbury 2010;” Elsewhere, Jarvis Cocker Never Said This In the Referenced Interview; I Make Toast to Poor Music Journalism (And to the Hope That Pulp Actually Does Reunite, Cheers) [NME]
Stream Weez(y)er Collaboration, “Can’t Stop Partying” Off Weezer’s Upcoming LP Ratitude in Which You Can Literally Hear Lil Wayne Lighting a Joint, Which is Risky Considering The Man Is Going to Prison [Idolator]
compiled by Max Sebela
Dickie Peterson, Bassist and Lead Singer of Foundational Metal Band Blue Cheer, Passes Away at 61 [Brooklyn Vegan]
Stream Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’s Bleak Theme From the Film Adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road; No Words, Just Grandiose Post-Apocalyptic Meandering [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Sufjan Stevens Is Going Through Serious Soul Searching, Questioning Point of Both The Song and The Album, Seems Loaded With Melancholia (In Other Words, Sufjan Stevens Feeling Exactly Like Sufjan Stevens) [Vish Khanna]
Stream “This Is It,” a Posthumous Michael Jackson Recording Featured in the Upcoming Jackson Documentary This Is It; “This Is It” and This Is It Making Good Case For This Not Really Being It, Unless “It” Is Mediocre Jackson Material [Pitchfork]
Musicians Come Together In London In Debate On Future of the Music Industry – While Everyone Familiar With Daft Punk Know They Have Already Figured It Out: Become Robots [NME]
Stream New Brooklyn Fuck-Core (Yeah, I Just Invented That Genre) Giants Lightning Bolt, “Flooded Chamber” – A Tribal, Ecstatic Blitzkrieg of Sound and Drums, Which I’m Pretty Sure Samples Radiohead’s “Pact Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box” at The Beginning; Garden of Earthly Delights Released Tomorrow [Stereogum]
Stream New Fall Out Boy, “Alpha Dog” – Which Is a Hilarious Amalgamation of Overproduced Cock-Pop, and Gang Vocals That Slightly Resemble The Bee Gees; Elsewhere, My Readership Confused As To Why I Post New Fall Out Boy Song [Idolator]
I Like Elvis, But Not Enough To Dig Up His Body or Anything Weird Like That…Hmm…How Can I Show My Love For The King? I Know! I’ll Buy His Hair! (Yes, This is Real) [The Tripwire]
Stream Burial (That UK Dub-Guy Who…You Know, Everyone Loves) and Flying Lotus (That L.A. Glitch-Guy Who…You Know, Everyone Is Sort of Indifferent Towards) Collaboration; As Such, Track Is Sort of Unremarkable [Gorilla vs. Bear]
compiled by Max Sebela
Watch The Pixies Play “Hey” and “Monkey Gone to Heaven” on First Night of Playing Doolittle In Its Entirety – For Doolittle They Are Certainly DO-ing A Lot…Cough (I Am So Sorry); They Play New York November 23rd and 24th [Spin]
Kanye West and Lady Gaga Officially Cancel “Fame Kills” Tour; Somehow, Life Manages To Go On Smoothly [Idolator]
Irish 90s Girl-Mopers The Cranberries Reunite (Coming To a Raisin Bran Near You); Announce New York Date November 17th At Nokia Theater [Brooklyn Vegan]
Sufjan Stevens To Record Instrumental Album For Asthmatic Kitty’s Library Catalog With The National’s Bryce Dessner – Seriously, Who is This Sufjan Guy, and Why is He Making Headlines Every Fucking Day? Will Someone Just Shut Him Up?! (I’m Sorry Mr. Stevens, Please Don’t Go Away Again…We…We Love You) [Pitchfork]
Conservative Pundit Glenn Beck Praises Muse; Muse Asks Glenn Beck To Stop Praising Them…Listen Here; Elsewhere, Did You Hear What Glenn Beck May or May Not Have Done? [Stereogum]
Watch Jack White’s New Dead Weather Video For Horsehound Track “I Cut Like a Buffalo;” Instead of Watching This Video, I Analyzed How Much White Looks Like Willy Wonka in Its Still Frame [Spin]
compiled by Max Sebela
ART OF SONG
The Middle East
“The Darkest Side”
The Recordings of The Middle East
2009 | Spunk
If you’re in New York right now, you know that there is already that melancholia of winter in the air. After an unseasonably cool summer, I looked around today, and saw an anxiousness in the peacoats and wool hats already pulled over other New Yorkers. Maybe we feel like we’re in for a harsh winter, and might as well get used to it. Maybe, though, as the decade comes to a close, we are starting to attempt sorting out how exactly we came into the 2000s with a millennial push in our collective step, and how, just ten years later, you can almost see us limping out. Cold is harsh punishment, and it feels like we deserve it.
In some way, it’s this thought that’s been motivating what I’ve been listening to recently; New Years seems like a strange time to reflect on things like that; it is intrinsically linked to looking forward instead of back. Instead it’s usually fall easing into winter. And, in the search for new music that gets this sense just right, I’ve come back mostly empty eared. It seems like most noteworthy bands this year are clinging to summer – Brooklyn tropical garage bands like Small Black and Beach Fossils are just now gearing up for their releases (both of which are quite good, and we’ll be seeing reviews of soon). And, just as I resigned that I would write about one of those bands for this week’s Art of Song, I stumbled on Australia’s The Middle East (a fitting title when thinking about putting a cap on this decade), and their song, “The Darkest Side.”
Finger-plucked guitars stand alone for a few seconds, till breathy, slightly falsetto-ed lyrics quiver into the melody. “Love/ Was the air in your mother’s lungs/ When her father tore her fences down/ plastic bags and your Panadol was out.” Panadol, another brand name for Tylenol, lingers with you for just a second – there’s a resignation that takes place, hopelessness in accepting that nothing will really dull the pain.
More on The Middle East | “The Darkest Side”
Lily Allen, Who Recently Quit Music, Reissues Some of Her Music, Performs Music With Dizzee Rascal, Seems Completely Immersed In Music [Idolator]
Portishead Working On Follow-Up to Last Year’s Third; “It Could Be Out In a Year’s Time,” Meaning It Hopefully Won’t Take Another Decade [Pitchfork]
Stream Karen O’s Where The Wild Things Are Soundtrack In Full; Feel All Fuzzy Inside, Grow Tired of the Seemingly Constant Clap Tracks [Stereogum]
British Post-Punk Dudes The Futureheads Working On a “Complicated” New Album; I Can’t Decide If It Would Be Sweeter If It Were This Kind Of Complicated, Or Some Other, More Complex Kind of Complicated [Prefix]
UK MC Lady Sovereign Arrested In Australia After Spitting In Someone’s Face; According To Twitter, Sovereign Believes Spitting “Nasty,” But Being Punched In the Head, Nastier [NME]
Watch New Andrew Bird Video For “Anonanimal” – Does This Remind Anyone Else of Day of the Tentacle? 90s Point And Click Adventure Game Fans? Too Niche? Guys? [Rolling Stone]
Stream Upcoming Air Album Love 2 In It’s Entirety; Simultaneously, See Who Else Is Currently Streaming Love 2 (Currently, There’s One Person In Siberia Listening, Probably Trying To Warm Up With Some Sweet, Breathy Air) [Prefix]
Nathan Williams From Wavves and Jared Swiley From Black Lips Got Into a Bit of a Scuffle, And Somehow Williams Won (Sort Of…He’s Just A Little Guy); Swiley Continually Calls Williams The F- Word (No, The Other, Really Bad F- Word) [Brooklyn Vegan]
Hey It’s Monday, We’re All Feeling A Little Down…Here’s A Couple New Sufjan Stevens Songs; Oh No, Now I’m Feeling Really Down [Pitchfork]
Stream Devendra Banhart’s Awesome Remix of Phoenix’s “Rome” – Devendra Being Good At Remixing Is Always Surprising, Like Remembering Cher Won An Oscar [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Watch Video For Taken By Trees’ (Victoria Bergsman, That Girl Who Whistles and Sings on “Young Folks”) Cover of Animal Collective’s Merriweather Banger “My Girls,” Re-imagined As “My Boys” (Its Stupid. Plain and Simple) [Stereogum]
compiled by Max Sebela
Joe Satriani’s Lawsuit Against Coldplay, Claiming That “Viva La Vida” Had Ripped-Off “If I Could Fly” Dropped, Most Likely Due To Out of Court Settlement (Too Bad – Satriani v. Coldplay Could’ve Split As Many Lines As Roe v. Wade [Brooklyn Vegan]
Stream “N/A,” A Track By Seattle Locals Naomi Punk, All Sung By Rwandan Children (Meanwhile, Ryan Gosling Feels He Loves Children More…But Not In That Way) [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Stream a Piece of Sufjan Stevens’ Indie-Orchestra Suite The BQE, Entitled “Movement VI – Isorhythmic Night Dance with Interchanges” (First Impression: Eh, It’s Not Tha — Oh! So Pretty!) [Asthmatic Kitty]
Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah Records Lewdest Song Possibly Ever Recorded; Watch Video (Read: Pornography); You’ve Been Dethroned, Three 6 Mafia, Your “Knobs” Will Be “Slobbed” No More [Videogum]
Stream New Times New Viking LP Born Again Revisited In Its Entirety; Released September 22 [Matablog]
San Francisco’s In the Tube-d Girls Announce Fall Tour; Album Released October 22 (And I Promise It’s Really, Really Good! Stream It Here!) [Brooklyn Vegan]
Masked Rapper DOOM, Formerly Known As MF DOOM, Announces Odds and Ends Compilation Unexpected Guests; Allegedly Working With TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek [Pitchfork]
Scarlett Johanson, Courtney Love, and U2 To Headline AIDS Benefit Concert At Carnegie Hall…(Not) More Importantly, Spin Calls The Trio “Music’s Biggest Stars;” Blows Last Vestige Street Cred [Spin]
New York’s Favorite Ivy-Leage Post-Afro-Poppers (New York Hates You, Chester French) Vampire Weekend Formerly Announce Sophomore Album Contra; Released January 12, 2010 [Spin]
Stream Jim James’, Conor Oberst’s, and M. Ward’s Supergroup Monsters of Folk’s Debut Self-Titled LP; Released October 22 [Stereogum]
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
