my surreal moment of the day

Watching this video of an impromptu subway Thriller dance while listening to Architecture in Helskinki and having it sort of match up.

New Islands Music

The title pretty much says it all. There’s a new song from everyone’s favorite post-Unicorns group over at their myspace. (the song is “The Arm”) Their new album comes out 4/28 and it’s called The Arm’s Way.

The Islands – The Arm

New(ish) Trend in Music?

Correct me if I’m wrong, please, but the music scene seems to be taking on a pseudo-early-90s turn. What do I mean by that exactly? Well, remember in the 1990s when there was the “angry chick rock” explosion, led by Alanis Morissette, Liz Phair (before she sold out [Yeah, I said it]), and, to a certain extent, Gwen Stefani in No Doubt? There were many more, of course, but you get the idea. Anyway, chick music seems to be coming back with a vengeance, but it’s no longer angry. Apparently, the angry songstresses of the early 1990s have all gone on Prozac in the last decade, and what is emerging is an entirely new brand of “chick music.”

This new generation of chick music comes in two main breeds. The first is led by Colbie Caillat, Alison Sudol, known to most as A Fine Frenzy, and Ingrid Michaelson. If you’re unfamiliar with any of these ladies, head over to VH1–I realize that’s not the normal place for most of us to find new music, but bear with me–as they can’t seem to stop playing them. These ladies give us chick music that is incredibly chill and relaxing; songs you could probably take a bubble bath to; lyrics from an emo boy’s diary but sang with an actual girl’s voice; and melodies that you can seriously picture floating on the air. (Okay, maybe that last one’s just me…) The other breed of new chick music is represented by Regina Spektor, Amy Winehouse, and (Leslie) Feist: A really energetic, bouncy, quirky sort of music that makes you want to dance, or laugh, or blow bubbles, or do something pretty happy.

Do not misinterpret me–I don’t think this is a bad thing! Sure, this may be an estrogen overload for the men of the music world, but I am personally loving this. I’ll just be sad when the day comes that the Prozac wears off and girls have to be angry again. Personally, I enjoy shaving my legs…

New Kaki King track

Goddess of Acoustic Guitar and guest contributor extraordinaire Kaki King has a new album coming out on March 11 entitled “Dreaming Of Revenge.” You can hear a new track to whet your appetite.

New releases

With another year comes another year of albums. Some will pleasantly surprise us, while others will be bitter, bitter disappointments. In all likelihood, we’ll get a new hyped Black Kids-esque band and maybe an actual album from the Kids themselves. Chinese Democracy will not be released. Here’s a rundown of some interesting releases to hit stores in the next couple of months:

January
Cat Power – Jukebox (covers) (1/22)
Super Furry Animals – Hey Venus! (1/22)
Bullet for My Valentine – Scream, Aim, Fire (1/29)
The Mars Volta – The Bedlam in Goliath (1/29)
Protest the Hero – Fortress (1/29)
Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (1/29)
Chris Walla – Field Manual (1/29)
Xiu Xiu – Women as Lovers (1/29)

February
Hot Chip – Made in the Dark (2/5)
Nada Surf – Lucky (2/5)
British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music? (2/12)
Mountain Goats – Heretic Pride (2/19)
Raveonettes – Lust Lust Lust (2/19)
Goldfrapp – Seventh Tree (2/26)

As Filter always says, good music will prevail.

Book Review: Revolution on Canvas 2

 

Editor Rich Balling (The Sound of Animals Fighting) continues to fulfill his dream of collecting poems, stories, and essays by Indie artists in the most recent edition of Revolution on Canvas. The book is a great read for those seeking more creative work from their favorite bands. Submitters come from groups such as The Spill Canvas, Chiodos, Cobra Starship, and Balling’s first musical endeavor, Rx Bandits. The quality ranges from poems that are barely readable to insightful literary pieces like Elgin James’ (Dream Weaver) story about an adopted black girl living in fear of the Ku Klux Klan. Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy) continues to boast his talent with words in a poetic story, and Damon Daw of Nurses provides his explanation for why the music “industry,” or “business,” has become what it is.

It was a fun book to  pick up and drop, and, if anything, it makes a good coffee table book.

the new year

I went to see the Flaming Lips’ new year’s eve concert, which was held at the the cox convention center in downtown Oklahoma City. This was the largest of a myriad of events downtown. You might recall that the Starlight Mints played up at ND fairly recently. So you could have seen them play downtown instead if you wanted, or see a number of other performances.

This being the third time I’ve attended a Lips event that year, (yeah, I know) I kind of knew what to expect. It was a bit condensed this time, however, since they wanted to end at 11:30 so we could see fireworks. Honestly though, I wish they had gone on until midnight; fireworks are common compared to the Lips’ aesthetic. My description is more specific on an earlier post, but there were some additions to this show. For one, a Santa Claus dancer proposed to a Space Alien dancer on stage. The Space Alien said yes, then it was back to business; Coyne directed them each back to their respective ends of the stage. There were also more balloons, so many more balloons in fact that they struggled to send them down from behind the stage. Coyne said there were about 5,000 of them, and while I think that’s a bit exaggerated, it certainly felt like there were that many sometimes. I’ll include some similarities that I don’t think I mentioned last time about the Chicago concert. One consistency was that everyone was given a little red laser pointer. At one point, all the lights were turned off, and the screen directed us to shoot Coyne. He held a big, round, reflective shield and moved it about. Coyne was covered in dancing red lights, such that it was as if Coyne had become a mass of red particles. Psychedelic seems to be the word that is most used to describe the Lips lately, and the lasers and effects certainly support it. The atmosphere grew more somber when Coyne pushed play on a bugle that was outfitted with a speaker which played taps. Coyne explained to us that there are so few musicians capable of playing the bugle, and because there are so many more soldiers dying in Iraq, the military had to develop this instrument to accommodate the many funerals. Soon to follow was a politically inspired rendition of “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song,” which viewers felt a bit more ambivalent about here in Oklahoma; some shouted approval, while others were less pleased. This was ironic because, as Coyne remarked, one reason that song has a political tone is because it was received politically by Oklahomans at the famous concert at the Oklahoma City Zoo they performed a couple years ago. This, I believe, reflects a difference in the body of audience members. There were still many great Flaming Lips fans, but there were proportionately less of them than at a regular concert. Regardless, I can’t deny that no matter how serious and sad Flaming Lip’s lyrics get, their musical style is so entrancing that I’m still happy when I hear it. It’s a certain something you experience yet cannot adequately describe.

We had our own countdown at about 11:30. beforehand, Coyne read and showed us the lyrics to “Auld Lang Syne,” which was appropriate for me since I didn’t know the words other than “should old acquaintance be forgot.” So overall, I still enjoyed myself immensely, even though I had seen them perform a similar, albeit longer show in Chicago. Others I knew at the show told me they also loved it, and that they too wished that the Flaming Lips had gone on into the real new year.