Videos of the Week

Back to the grind again after the holidays. These videos kept me warm during the cold snap this week:



Gorgeous track from Wild Beasts, with an equally stunning video.



GCI dreamscapes punctuate this clip from Glasser.



Hitchcock-inspired clip from King Krule.



Psychedelic condiments provide merriment in this video from Surfer Blood, who were forced to make the video for next to nothing after their record label dropped them.



Wild clip from Disclosure.



Bizarre clip from dream pop duo jj.



Cool lights highlight this clip from Katy B.

Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx: We're New Here

Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx
We're New Here
Rating: Grrrr

Gil Scott-Heron's 2010 album I'm New Here was his first release in over 16 years. I will admit I have not followed Scott-Heron's career all that closely, so I can't attest to how that album stands up to the rest of the music in his catalog, but I will say it was a striking release. The music was minimal, ghostly, and cavernous, the perfect canvas on which to showcase Scott-Heron's gravelly baritone and seen-it-all survivor lyrics. Richard Russell, XL label founder and the producer of I'm New Here, approached Jamie Smith beat-maker and producer of The xx to re-contextualize the album, bringing it up to date with the latest sounds and trends. In addition to his phenomenal production work and instrumentation for his own band, Smith has recently been the go-to remixer for a wide array of acts, from Adele, Glasser, and Nosaj Thing; so, it made perfect sense to get the old guard and the new guard together. Interestingly enough, Smith only met Scott-Heron a couple of times at some gigs, and only communicated with him via traditional mail. Smith would articulate his approach for each track, and Scott-Heron would either agree or make suggestions. The resulting work, while not a track for track reworking of the album, is a fascinating album in its own right. The raw and gritty feel of I'm New Here, while still a background presence, is instead replaced with a brighter, more urgent pulse.

Smith, although only 22 years old, has a vast knowledge and respect for music of all ages and genres, and what could have come off as a ridiculous attempt to "modernize" Scott-Heron, is more a tribute to him and how he really is ageless and timeless. Smith draws inspiration from many different sources, even sampling Scott-Heron's vocals from older tracks and merging them with the new tracks. One of the standouts is lead track "I'm New Here," almost a spoken word performance featuring Scott-Heron's voice reminiscing about trying to pick up a woman, and counter's it with a pitch-shifted sample from Gloria Gaynor's "Cassanova Brown," which makes it a Rashoman-like recounting of the event.



The centerpiece of the album, "My Cloud," takes vocals for an unreleased track for the I'm New Here sessions and marries it to a lush, Four Tet soundscape, casting Scott-Heron as an R&B lothario:



Smith is careful not to tamper too much with what made the original tracks so special, usually adding minimal touches or surprising counterpoints. In only a couple of instances does he radically change a song. On the original album "NY Is Killing Me," the track was a minimal rush of handclaps and haunting atmospherics. The re-imagined track retains the paranoia and creepiness, but propels it forward with an almost reggaeton beat.



"I'll Take Care of U" is transformed into what could easily be an xx track. Smith uses all the weapons in his arsenal, creating a sweeping canvas of house music piano, haunting guitar work from The xx's Romy Madley Croft, and squiggly electronics.



Although Smith draws from many different genres, there is a nice cohesiveness, and thoughtful juxtaposition of styles within the flow of the record. Moving swiftly from dub:



to dubstep/sub bass explorations:



and even drum and bass:



The only thing that keeps this release from being higher up on my scale is the reliance on too many interludes. Five of the thirteen tracks are interludes, and some are less than twenty seconds long. I am assuming Smith incorporated them as a way to connect the longer tracks together, perhaps thinking the stylistic differences would be too jarring. Unfortunately, I think the opposite occurred, and it takes the listener outside the experience too often. With that said, however, it is a minor quibble and doesn't detract from the overall success of the record.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been trimmed or polished.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Videos of the Week

What a weird, strange week it has been. I need for things to get back into a more stable routine. To take my mind off all the craziness, here is the latest roundup of videos that are making me drunker than a Catholic priest on Saint Patrick's Day:

I've really been getting into the new "re-imagining" of Gil Scott-Heron's album by Jamie Smith of The xx. In all deference to Scott-Heron, I will have to admit that I enjoy this album better than the original. This is a great version of the track:



Coachella is thankfully coming up in a little over a month. Glasser is a band I am really interested in seeing. This is a live version of one of my favorite tracks on her album Ring:



I will have to give props to my friend Dan for making me listen to hardcore punk supergroup OFF! I love their album which is descriptively titled First Four Eps. 16 songs blazing over 17 minutes. Perfect.



Hercules and Love Affair released this cover of The xx track "Shelter" and take a plaintive ballad and turn it into a sexy house track.

Shelter (XX Cover) by moshi moshi music

Last week I posted the first video from the new Radiohead album The King of Limbs. Of course, due to the odd sight of Thom Yorke doing a choreographed dance routine, the inevitable parodies ensue. I've seen ones with Yorke dancing to Beyonce's "Single Ladies," but the funniest to me is this small clip of "outtakes." Classic.



Another band I am excited to see is the Canadian collective Broken Social Scene. This is a typically humorous video from them.



Dense, thick, viscous dubstep from Joy Orbison:



Although none of my Coachella compatriots shares my enthusiasm for seeing The Chemical Brothers, I am very excited about seeing their live set, as I have never actually seen them before. Here is one of my favorite videos they did. It is very creepy.



Planningtorock is a very strange, but very interesting performer in the same mode as Fever Ray. Love this oddly captivating video.



Lauryn Hill is playing Coachella this year and we're all betting she will put on a cracktastic set. She should be this year's Sly and the Family Stone.



This single from the new Lykke Li album Wounded Rhymes has vaulted itself into the top single of the year for me at the moment.

Mini-Reviews

Another attempt to keep up with the constant stream of new releases on a daily basis has failed miserably. Once again, I must clear off space from my hard drive and take a quick stab at a bunch of new (and some a little bit old) releases that have been taunting me.

Brian Eno

Small Craft On A Milk Sea
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Art rock and ambient music pioneer and renowned producer Brian Eno releases his first new album of solo material in over 5 years on the latest release Small Craft On A Milk Sea. The pieces flow in one of two discernible styles: ambient pieces which recall his most well known 70s work, or densely programmed, almost tribal like electronic tracks. The album suffers from a lack of fluidity from one track to the next, and the ambient pieces really bring nothing much to the table. Where the album succeeds is largely from the more programmed tracks, which skitter and scrape and create an almost unbearable tension. If the album had been sequenced more in that vein, it would have been a greater success.

Glasser
Ring
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Working in an intimate style that recalls strong, quasi-mystical female artists such as Bat for Lashes, Fever Ray, Zola Jesus, and Florence and the Machine, Cameron Mesirow who performs under the moniker Glasser brings forth an excellent debut. While it is thin on originality, she owns the songs, which have delicate drum programming, odd, Asian-influenced percussion, swirling strings and keyboards, and her gorgeous, flexible voice, bringing forth a truly beautiful vision. Really looking forward to what she does in the future.

Killing Joke
Absolute Dissent
Rating: Meh

First album in 28 years from the original lineup of 80s punk and post-punk stalwarts Killing Joke is almost a relentlessly dour affair. The first half of the album is a murky slog with lengthy tracks pummelling the listener with a mostly monotone pallet of industrial strength drum beats, guttural vocals, and metal guitar. Finally towards the end of the cd, they relinquish their grip and let some texture and contrast seep into the murk with tracks like "The Raven King," "Honour The Fire," and the almost reggae-like "Ghost of Ladbroke Grove." Had Absolute Dissent strove for more balance, the impact of the songs would have been stronger. As it is, the grey pallor that haunts the album sinks it.

Owen Pallett
Heartland
Rating: Woof Daddy

I had no idea what to expect from Owen Pallett before I saw him open for The National a couple of weeks ago. Based on his name, I guess I thought he would be another acoustic, singer-songwriter that I would most likely sleep through. Imagine my surprise when a very slight, almost fey, Canadian gay man sauntered on stage with a violin and stood in front of keyboard and bevy of loop pedals and proceeded to create his songs step by step with only the loop pedals. It was an amazing experience. I immediately bought Heartland, and have been completely awestruck as to how he recreated his intricate and densely layered songs in a live setting. Heartland is ostensibly a concept record about an ultra-violent farmer named Lewis, who is overseen by a godlike narrator named Owen. According to Pallett, the songs are one-sided dialogues with Lewis speaking to his creator. You don't need to understand or even follow this premise to enjoy the record which is almost filled to bursting with creativity and originality. The songs are almost Disney-like in their melodic beauty, but tempered with a more adult, and cynical bent. It is a brilliant record, and I can't recommend it highly enough.



Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been trimmed or polished.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Videos of the Week

I'm a little bit late with this post.  Friday I worked from home and just got caught up with work and housework and somehow the day got away from me.  So, better late than never, here are last weeks videos that made me get all sweaty.

Haunting and mysterious video from the new Glasser album.  She is like a more mainstream Fever Ray or Bat For Lashes.  Her cd is not great, but definitely shows true promise.

Funny video about someone wanting to go to law school.  It really gives me flashbacks to when I was interviewing and the stupid things you think and say.  Television and movies are completely wrong as to what an attorney's life is from day to day.  Most of the time it is bone crushingly boring or soul suckingly stressful.  I don't regret going to law school, but I do wish I had a little better understanding of what the practice of law entails.

Phoenix performed at Madison Square Garden this week, and in their encore, Daft Punk made a surprise visit, performing for the first time in 3 years.  Their appearance comes at the 3:00 mark in the video.  The crowd goes completely nuts.

Best Coast's album hasn't stayed with me that much, but this song sure has.  Pure amazing pop song.

Saw this commercial on the other night and just thought it was funny.  It's about the gayest thing ever.  Seriously, a Balenciaga tree?

Flying Lotus - Kill Your Co-Workers from beeple on Vimeo.

Amazing computer animated video from Flying Lotus.  Funny and very disturbing.

Another brilliant video from Massive Attack.  

Fan made video for one of the most beautiful songs I have heard this year.

Videos of the Week

This seemed like the longest week ever.  Thank heaven it is almost the weekend.  Here are the videos this weekend that made me holla!



Fun and funky video from Mumdance.  Makes me laugh; but also creeps me out a little. 



Glasser's first cd is really growing on me.  She is like a more accessible Fever Ray, Bat for Lashes, or Zola Jesus.  Trippy video.



Sweet little song, with an accompanying video which condenses the Star Wars triology into 2 minutes using only construction paper.



Really tight new song from Bryan Ferry.  His list of collaborators on the new cd is impressive: his former Roxy Music bandmates, Nile Rogers, Mani, Johnny Greenwood, Scissor Sisters, and Flea.



Was really impressed by his live show; he builds everything with loop pedals.  The cd can border on the twee, but it is still pretty wonderful.



Noise pop from No Age.  Never really cared for them much until this cd.



Although I was not overly impressed by their live show, The National is still a really good band.  This was a video for one of the singles off High Violet.  I still have a man crush on Matt Berninger.



Strange video from How To Dress Well.  The album is really good, but also frustrates me because it could have been brilliant.  It has more to do with some of his production choices than his songwriting.