Campus A Low Hum 2010

Hi all, apologies for the delay.

At the end of January I had the grand pleasure of attending Campus A Low Hum 2010. I can't say enough good things about it, and you should definitely try to attend next year, if you have any way of getting to New Zealand, etc.

A couple of highlights:

Gaywyre

The heaviest of metals, from Wellington, New Zealand

So So Modern

This was one of the first songs I heard when I got to the Camp. It made me think of what it might sound like if Justice did a cover of Eye Of The Tiger. They're also from Wellington, New Zealand

AND - (not related to Camp a Low Hum)

I just last night was told about a band called Surfer Blood. They are literally blowing my brain right now...

Gaywyre - Battleshark (buy the EP)

So So Modern - Berlin (apparently "Crude Futures" is not yet available in the USA. But do buy it if you're in NZ or the UK)

Surfer Blood - Swim (buy the album)

Best albums of the decade?

My friend Dan S. (danschwartzblog.com) is wondering what people's top 10 albums of the years 2000-2009 are. Comments please

If your brother won't rock then your sister will

I've had a song from Dan's Rock & Roll mix (http://danschwartzblog.com/post/192889087/rock-roll) stuck in my head for maybe two months now. Well overdue for posting here. (Wo, that makes me feel old - Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Cochran - tells me that Eddie Cochran died at the tender age of 21! Also of note is the fact that Dave Dee of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick, and Titch, learned to play guitar on the guitar of Eddie Cochran's that was impounded after his death by automobile accident).

It somehow makes me think of a 1950s Ramones, I guess it is Rock & Roll after all so shouldn't surprise me so much. Consequently I am drawn to the melodic similarities between C'mon Everybody and I Wanna Be Sedated.

Eddie Cochran - C'mon Everybody (buy it)

The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated (buy it)

...and a new one just begun

In Josh K-sky's minimalist format:

Elephant Man - Sorrow to the World (edited short by yours truly because it's funny only at first)

Micachu - Calculator
(Buy it)

and, not least,

The Books - Take Time (look out for their track "A Dark Freezing Night" when their next album arrives)
(Buy it)

The Books are a guitar and cello and found sound duo from the northeastern USA that I find strangely relaxing, like riding on a train. They take audio and/or video footage, which they (digitally) cut up and splice, and combine with their own cello/guitar/vox, to create new experiences. As such, their stuff forms a considerably more coherent whole when you watch the video along with the audio:



anyways,
hope you all have fun new years'

Christmas

This time, you really did it.

Making believe He was just another baby boy.

Even so...

I don't intend to spend Christmas without you.

(see also)

An amazing transformation

It is true that many artists through the ages have radically redefined themselves, yet I believe that none have quite as profoundly as Alex Ebert. A few years ago, I had the fortune of seeing Ima Robot (a poppy dance rock band) live. Fast forward to this fall, at the treasure island music festival, and I'm watching Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, what I can only explain as a hippie commune that decided to write and play songs together. And then - here's the punchline - I discover that the frontman for both bands is...the same man! This long-bearded, dread-locked hippie is the pop-rocker I had seen just 3 years ago. And the music is just as different as Alex Ebert's appearance. And I just happen to be obsessed with both bands right now.

As per our new blog rules, I will not post links to the youtube videos. But I strongly encourage you to look them up yourselves and witness this astounding transformation for yourselves.

Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros - Home

Ima Robot - Creeps Me Out

And just for good measure, I'm also currently obsessed with Thao with the Get Down Stay Down:

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - Bag of Hammers

Shake! Shake! Shake!

Every Woman, Every Man

Ooh I have stage fright, there's members of the public watching (or not). Will we show up on Hypemachine do you think? I imagine my first song to be quite Hypemachine-y, it's very avant garde in its way, vocally like White Magic but without the mysticism. I could listen to it on repeat all day. Brendan will no doubt accuse me of being a hipster (again) for posting it.

Tune-Yards – Sunlight (Bird-Brains, 2009)
"I could be the sunlight in your eyes." Kills me that line.
Buy it.

There was an earlier mention of Discovery, whose album I love very much in a way that has surprised me. I had considered doing my post-before-last solely on them, but when I couldn't even decide on three songs to post let alone one, I gave up. So here I go again:

Discovery – Can You Discover? (Discovery, 2009)
Buy it.

I'm a real sucker for harmonies, I'm talking anything with more than two vocal parts - choirs, barber shop quartets, jingles, The Andrews Sisters, Motown, Queen, and as I recently rediscovered, The Housemartins' 'Caravan Of Love'. I saw the frankly quite odd music video on late-late-late night TV and went out and bought a beat up record for twice what it was worth ($4 as opposed to $2). I've decided to learn all the words and sing it to my kids one day...

The Housemartins – Caravan Of Love (Caravan Of Love, 1986)
Buy it.