So the New York Times profiled our dearly beloved Animal Collective the other day. As I read through trying to picture the imagery writer Jon Caramanica was creating with his words such as "bee-swarm synths," I was also struck with the thought that he had a thesaurus by his side while composing it. That or had the Dictionary application open on his Mac. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't, but I sure did after reading it. While it's rather easy to deduce what the words represent without knowing the exact dictionary
definition, I thought it'd still to be rad to seek a few of them out. It's something I try to do with all words if they're not already a part of my everyday vocabulary. The dictionary is my favorite book.
Four words I picked, their definition and their usage in Caramanica's album/show review:
obfuscated
render obscure, unclear, or unintelligible: "Chaos has long been one of this band’s strengths, but “Merriweather Post Pavilion” is Animal Collective’s least obfuscated album..."
propulsive
the action of driving or pushing forward: "It’s propulsive and balanced, tenderly written and almost unrelentingly optimistic."
onanistic
masturbation or coitus interruptus: "The group churned through most of “Merriweather Post Pavilion” in
overly dutiful, sometimes onanistic fashion..."
morass
an area of muddy or boggy ground: "The group churned through most of “Merriweather Post Pavilion” ... as if wading waist-deep
through some gluey morass."
How will you use them in a sentence?
The situation he describes in his review is a bit disheartening and totally different from when I saw them live at the Roseland in 2007. Could it because they're actually playing material from the album their supporting on this go around rather than a set disproportionately heavy on brand new stuff as is usually their pattern? I totally get they're "not in a new place right now" and don't want to be forced to jump ahead to material for their next album yet. I'm actually kinda looking forward to knowing that I'll get to hear my fave Merriweather cuts. Could it just be that particular show Caramanica caught? I do hope so. And actually, I think that's it, especially after reading Brooklyn Vegan's take on a show the following night, a show that officially turned BV into a convert.
My fave part of the article is when he draws comparisons to TV on the Radio's output and Dear Science in particular towards the end. He concludes that both acts are still "willfully difficult" which couldn't be more on the mark in my opinion. I'll never forget the assertion that "Animal Collective are never a band I listened to for lyrics" in the Pitchfork review of Strawberry Jam. Even as AC continue to adopt more traditional song structures and lyrics with more accessible themes whose inspiration easier to dissect - all on top of increasingly audible vocals, the fact remains the group is still a long way from the greater population's listening tastes and it suits them fine. The songs aren't created in a way to be easily digestible and pop radio isn't going to be a destination built on compromise. Wouldn't it be awesome if they got there though? Hands up if you play Jonas Brothers' "Burning Up" right before "Leaf House" because the transition is kinda perfect? Okay, just me...
Animal Collective are in Portland May 25th. If I'm in town, I'll be there. Am considering my animal costume now...
There are many reasons to recommend El Guincho's blog Discoteca Océano. Composed entirely in Spanish, obviously the best scenario is if Spanish is your native tongue, followed by if you've studied the language or if you're presently learning it as the blog's pretty cool and interesting material for retaining/practicing, eh? And it's still great if none of the above apply to you because that means you get to make best friends with Google Translator! You've got the occasional free remix MP3s, youtube clips, the tour diaries (including one on their Portland appearance), reggae-centric mixtapes, a cool list of links (including previously mentioned Awesome Tapes from Africa) and perhaps favorite of all - my personal favorite - it's pretty pic heavy; pretty pic heavy with pictures of pretty Spanish boys. Sometimes in their underwear. Yeah, I kinda forget to hit subscribe because I was too busy drooling over Pablo, Felix and Aleix...
One spaced out reggae remix example of said posted MP3s:
Oh my my, we are mid-way through the first month of the new year! Excitement! While I felt that 2008 was both overwhelming and under-whelming, all signs are pointing towards good vibrations in 2009!... even if I'm already feeling sick and antisocial.
I'm happy to say I already have my favorite Portland band of 2009 already picked out. Explode Into colors FLOORED me at Holocene's NYE shindig and then again the other weekend at Dekum Manor (see post header pic).
Without further ado, let's have a little round up of my 2009 blog posts so far posted elsewhere on the internets:
How I spent my NYE:
At Holocene I FINALLY saw Explode Into Colors after everybody and their brother had been singing their praises to me for quite some time.What I don't mention in my review of that set was what happened afterward. DJs happened. Crowd atmosphere became weird weird weird - like
a highschool dance/frat vibe about it. Like not the normal bump and grind that comes with a plethora of drunk people in one room, but shot-gunning and body glitter. Linger & Quiet scored major
points by playing Mickey Moonlight's Sun Ra cover as part of their set
and I did enjoy when Hot Mess segued from Lil Wayne's "A Milli" onto Purple Ribbon Allstars' "Kryptonite" and then into Outkast.
In between seeing Explode Into Colors and taking in the DJ action, I slipped away to Backspace.
I encourage you to check out the comments on the post and the particularly rad and insightful path they take.
I am beaming about the ad. SO PROUD! This is arguably bigger than when the trio released its self-titled debut in the fall of last year. Seriously. And it's a vindication of what I've been saying all along: Starfucker's songs were meant for ads! I mean I mentioned the fact to Josh the first time I ever contacted him through MySpace back in 2007 and when I profiled Starfucker in URB magazine, I closed the piece with:
(PS - Don't you love magazines who ask you to submit tons of stuff (copy and photos) for free, but say they'll pay you for one piece and then a year later you still haven't been paid? Yeah. Urb rocks in that department)
"It’s hard to hold a grudge against Benoît Pioulard mastermind Tom
Meluch when he’s supplying my eardrums with such sincere, yet near
indecipherable, lyrics that glide over richly textured sound collages
created within the confines of his bedroom. The problem? Only his
bedroom is getting the privilege of such performances since he doesn’t
play out very often. If he were to reverse his stance and take up a
residency—even for just for a single evening—in a local venue more than
three times per annum (his 2008 tally) this coming year, not just my
ears, but my eyes would know the pleasure of such a reclusive musician."
So Mike from Reporter rocks. I have finally started frequenting his late-night fry cart on Hawthorne. Potato Champion is now my hands down favorite place in Portland. Hands down. More than the woods, more than select segments of train tracks in SE, more than the boardwalk near the police horse stables in NW. The cart is ALWAYS playing good music and one night a weke back it was playing El Guincho. I start dancing. Mike mentions this rad African mixtape blog that has the original song El Guincho samples in "Antillas" on it. We start talking about African music and it's prevalence of late. In return for the blog recommendation, I tell him about DJ Mujava's "Township Funk" which I initially heard in that trusty Mickey Moonlight podcast.
So do gravitate over to that post to hear the El Guincho song and the song "Pelina" by Oriango & Kipchamba that it samples. Chris from Gorilla vs. Bear got the comment thread going and it must be noted that he's taken an extra swoon-worthy polaroid of El Guincho in the past. Weigh in in the comments over there about whether Paul Simon or David Byrne is to blame for Vampire Weekend. A continuing discussion which gives me to the excuse to link Ladysmith Black Mambazo's Lifesavers ad from the 90s. Brilliance!
Holy shit! It's all disco! Authentic disco! Insanely easy to listen to. As I mention in the post, Mickey Moonlight's Ed Banger podcast was the be all and end all of mixes, so much so that I didn't listen to another for the entirety of 2008. His was just TOO good. So I missed this Guns N Bombs one when it first surfaced.
On the radio:
And last, but certainly not least, Monday of last week I appeared as a guest on Arya Imig's Sound Judgment radio program on KPSU. It was fun. For two hours and 15 minutes I played some of my favorite songs, plus rambled about being high on life. Wanna listen? The broadcast is available to download or stream in three parts:
So 2009's theme? The year of the novel and the music video. Those will be my two areas of focus. And a move to New York for who knows what reason (interning at Partizan and auditioning for musicals).
Though 2008 felt like a non-event that I'm all to happy to leave behind, there were moments of amazingness and hard fought accomplishments. I met my goal of creating 10+ concert posters for local venues. I became a "DJ" for a brief second there. And photography really took off. I landed my first cover (Willamette Week's Best New Band issue) and had images appear in Rolling Stone and Blender and too many more. Plus my photos of Bon Iver served as his UK publicity shots and I really really wanted to do publicity shots in 2008. I'm also proud of putting together the series of outdoor concerts under the banner of Lost Gospel. It kinda all went to hell, but it was ultimately a positive experience. A trying and tiring positive experience. those last two sentences apply both to Lost Gospel and the year 2008 in general.
I didn't want to do a year-end post on here because I was soooooo ready to move on from 2008, but a couple other sites did including Rolling Stone and Pitchfork, both of which my photos appear in their round-ups.
* according to last.fm which wasn't able to accurately record when you
listened to a song on repeat until mid-way through 2008. Otherwise Born Ruffians woulda been
higher.
If you watch James Blunt's latest video for his disposable single "Love, Love, Love," you may notice a familiar foxy face. Yes, Antonia, former drummer for the Teenagers gets behind a pastel drum kit in his latest clip, as shown about 30 seconds in. It opens with an introduction sequence much like that of Outkast's "Hey Ya" video, only Ryan Phillipe's hotness is absent. Never fear, foxy Antonia is here!
So do I just sit around watching James Blunt and waiting for his latest videos? Oh hells no. I sit around watching Kinga Burza's Partizan page. There's many things that keep me as a fangirl for her even when she's producing appealing visuals for James Blunt. I mean when you can use her as an excuse to love Katy Perry ("Huh? I'm not watching this video because I LOVE the song. No! I'm watching it because a distinguished director made it... yeah...), you can never turn your back.
My review of Holocene's election night shindig is up on LocalCut. I left all my drunkness out. It was so magical! I had too many favorite moments, but one notable one came when they announced Obama had won single women's vote and so many ladies screamed. My thoughts? That is the only time single women are going to scream merrily about being single. Yes, Obama brings about many firsts.
At this point I'm hoping the media will cool it with all this stuff about him being black - if we're moving beyond race, stop making a big deal about it. I mean yes it must be acknowledged, but now let's move beyond it. And if we must address his color, he isn't black. He's brown. His election is victory for EVERYONE, not just those of us who identify as RGB #ab5c00 and I feel that much of the media coverage is marginalizing that fact.
(Photo byStephenBurch) Guess who is here this Saturday? Well, you shouldn't have to guess. You should have the hot pink poster firmly ingrained in your mind - the hot pink poster featuring a sliver of Miss Kate Jackson's face advertising the Long Blondes gig at Doug Fir. Yes, before Arctic Monkeys there was but one Sheffield band to sing the praising of and that is the Long Blondes. Wanna go to the show in Portland? Now is you chance (if you're 21 and over)! Yes - you can win a pair of tickets here! The entry is pretty simple. For the chance to receive a plus one, email over your name and the Long Blondes song title included in this previous DJ setlist/podcast:Party All the Time We Are Wolves DJ Set Podcast. The email address? Notontheguestlist (at) gmail.com! Whoo! Good luck! Entries due Friday, May 30th by one pm. So jump on over to that post and find out! It's my favorite song by the five-piece. A random entry will win!
So are you psyched for their US tour? I am, as I've never seen them live! Even while I lived in the UK. And not only will I be able to see them live on Saturday, they'll be behind the decks later in the evening at Dunes as apart of Brace Paine's Situations club night. Fingers crossed he spins some SSion and I'm curious to hear what they select. The Kills played "Club Action" just a couple weeks ago there which I can't say I was counting on int he least, so I wonder if the Long Blondes will go against type and hit us with the bangers.
The Kooks are late onstage by a half hour so far. I just shot some polaroids of them. Luke is wearing a white turtleneck and they performed an acoustic Kid Harpoon cover for us on their bus. Pics to come. The drummer and I talked about their myspace secret show this upcoming Tuesday at Backspace. I think it's weirdly cool they're playing two all-ages show in a row in Portland. He didn't know what I was talking about haha GOD was he nice though... And authentically nice too! It's now been 35 mins since their billed start time and they're still not on. Beastie Boys are though-overhead.
We're on the look out for hot girls right now to stand in the front for the Kooks because if you build it, they will come I.e. Luke will have reason to take his sleaze off the stage and make the fest's first "moment." A girl can dream. Chona and I just made our way back from the ice cream man truck where we got an ice cream sandwich and lime popcicle. We also got some viewing in of Death Cab's Chris Walla hanging with both Tegan and Sara who were super talkative during their mainstage set. We passed White Rabbits during the walk and they waved. It's enjoyable when a band can still recognize you after you've shot them. An instant sobriety test haha. While we wait for the Kooks to go on, the Wookie stage is playing Kid Rock. They've already played Korn and Sum 41. When will Limp Bizkit be heard?
Blake and I are watching Dave Allen blog. We'd been discussing how there's been no break out moment or bands' but Dave has video of Rogue Wave on stage with Cold War Kids to close CWK's set. While I'm not such a fan of either band, that's probably the most exciting moment to happen yet. Thank god tomorrow looks stronger though. Yeasayer and Flaming Lips just may pull something out of their hats. Hopefully... But don't quote me on that. I've noticed that being cynical is very in vogue.
They're a lot more country-pop-ish than I expected. Of course my interest in catching a minute of them was spurred by their Lemony Snicket connection. Malkmus is walking in front of us. We're getting icecream backstage. Just did portraits with White Rabbits who for some reason "didn't feel" Starfuckers set last night in Portland.
They're on their 4th song and Chona (stereogum photog), Blake and I are doing the robot. They are SO good!!! Loving the two drummers - all of us are. It sounded like they played the song "Untitled" as song number two, but way reworked. Golly are they swell! This is the longest I've stayed at a set yet.
Blake, Douglas (whose doing the words about the fest for Pitchfork) and I have just gotten on the interstate heading in the direction of the fest site. Our soundtrack is of course being provided by the Metronomy remixes on Blake's i-pod. The first act of the day for us will be Cold War Kids who Blake's been gripping about. Today's other acts include the Cure, the Kooks,WHITE RABBITS, Malkmus and more.
But hank williams still is. Just ran to catch final 2 songs of the national who I just found out were presently on. They closed with Mr. November. They were much more upbeat than I expected.
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