MC Frontalot with Glen & Wil
Nerdcore rapper MC Frontlot‘s latest album Final Boss is out (has been for a month). It features Toad the Wet Sprocket’s Glen Phillips on a track called “Scare Goat” and Wil Wheaton (aka Wesley Crusher aka wilwheatondotnet blogger) on a track called “A Skit about Vocations.”
“Scare Goat” is awesome… it makes me wanna get the whole album.
You can download the song “Wallflowers” from MC Frontalot’s website here:
MC Frontalot – Wallflowers
~Dan – np: MC Frontalot & Glen Phillips “Scare Goat” from Final Boss
Congratulations
President Elect Barack Obama
a new John Zorn book & more MBD
A biography John Zorn by John Brackett is available by Indiana University Press. John Brackett is Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Utah. This is the full-length study of avant-garde American composer John Zorn.
http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=84773 (paperback)
http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=84699 (hardback)
“Brackett’s groundbreaking book . . . confronts Zorn’s contradictory modes of expression that couple the aesthetics of Stravinsky, Boulez, Duchamp and Godard with the transgressive sexuality and violence of Bataille, Genet and Maruo, brilliantly demonstrating how these powerful dualities of thought-real yet fantastic, pleasing yet horrifying-synergize to make Zorn’s compositional voice unique and seminal in the 21st century.” -Severine Neff, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Check out the Table of Contents
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And to be totally nonsequitur, here’s a cute new animated video for My Brightest Diamond‘s song “Inside a Boy“:
Oh, and by cute, obviously that is to mean killing aliens with marbles slung from a slingshot…
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Oh, and go vote. Tomorrow is D-Day…
~Dan – np: Piano Magic – Dark Horses -EP-
Ty Tabor, MBD, Sufjan/Dessner/Brams
Ty Tabor, guitarist from King’s X, will have a new solo album out in early December. Balance…
It will be streaming from his MySpace page shortly. Also for more info on his music, be sure to check out http://www.myspace.com/tytabor.
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Asthmatic Kitty (AK) just released a new My Brightest Diamond remix album digitally. It’s called Shark Remixes Vol 1 – Alfred Brown. It’s the first of four remix EPs. The other three remixers are DM Stith, Son Lux and Roberto Carlos Lange. For more info on this digital release, check iTunes or AK’s website.
AK also released a new compilation for Habitat for Humanity with a collaboration from Sufjan Stevens, The National’s Bryce Dessner, and AK co-founder Lowell Brams. Their trio is called Tidal River. For more information on AK’s Habitat compilation, go here.
~Dan – np: Medeski Martin & Wood – Radiolarians I
REVIEW: Skerik’s McTuff @ Sam Bond’s (Eugene, OR – – 10/26/08)
I saw Skerik and his Maelstrom Trio for the first time back in May (review here – Skerik’s Maelstrom Trio & Stebmo). Since Skerik’s from Seattle, it seems like he comes through Eugene more than occasionally, which is more than a-OK with me. This time was with a groovier, organ-and-sax infused jazz project, McTuff, led by organist Joe Doria. Think if Medeski Martin & Wood had a saxophonist, added more bop, swapped the bass for a guitar, and kept going with it… OK, maybe it’s not like MMW, but it’s in the same vein at least.
There was no opener… I walked in right as they were starting (nice!). McTuff features Joe Doria on Hammond B-3 organ, Skerik on tenor sax, Alan Coe on guitar, and D’vonne Lewis on drums. All four guys cut loose on the songs, but Skerik stole the show for me. I’m not too familiar with the McTuff band, but I like Skerik quite a bit. He sat by while the band jammed a lot, and then busted in usually after a few minutes on a jam. It’s was nice to hear the sax in this groove-oriented jazz band. It kind of makes me pine for the Bobby Previte’s Coalition of the Willing show that I missed in Columbus (OH) in 2006 (or 07?)…
Also, rarely do you leave Sam Bond’s Garage at 10:30pm and still be able to say that you just saw an hour and half of great music… usually it starts later and ends later. So, this tired guy is glad he got a get earful before heading home and to bed. They were going to go on for a 2nd set, but I had to head back home in order to get up early to go to Portland for work.
Here’s hoping Skerik makes it through Eugene a few more times before I’m too old to stay up past 10pm. ;)
The Appropriate Linkage:
- http://www.myspace.com/mctuffmusic
- http://www.myspace.com/43304272 (Skerik’s solo page with links to other Skeriky goodness)
- http://www.sambonds.com/
- A Great Jambase review
Now off on a work-scursion to lovely Portland…
~Dan – np: Medeski Martin & Wood – Radiolarians I
My Brightest Diamond doesn’t look down…
Well, actually she does look down…
First off, it may seem like I’m blogging like a fool the past few days… well, I apologize to fill your RSS feeder with so much blog kibble, but there’s a lot going on in the world of my favorite musics.
This blog goes specifically back to my second favorite Asthmatic Kitty artist My Brightest Diamond (Sufjan Stevens being my first favorite, but only by a banjo neck). Shara Worden (the brightest diamond) plays on top of a rooftop with her string quartet OSSO. It’s part of Pitchfork TV‘s Don’t Look Down series:
(Part 1 – click pic above)
Golden Star
Apples
(Part 2 – click pic above)
From the Top of the World
Black & Costaud
4 weeks until I get the chance to see MBD at WOW Hall in Eugene… woot!
~Dan – np: Fujiya & Miyagi on Seattle’s KEXP Live podcast
when björk meets yorke (redux)
The last time Björk and Thom Yorke (of Radiohead) got together was “I’ve Seen it All” on the 2000 EP/soundtrack Selmasongs (for the movie Dancer in the Dark). That was a pretty good pop affair (for a pretty dreadful movie, IMO).
This latest Björk and Thom Yorke collaboration produced a fun, cluster of sound that fits better within the experiment that is… Björk and Thom Yorke’s current musical psyche. One may say that their output doesn’t put any sense of “boration” in “collaboration.” But that may be considered a stretch; so let’s never say I tried to pull that off as a legit pun. Anyway, their new song is called “Náttúra.” It’s available on iTunes and other online outlets…
Náttúra is dedicated to the Náttúra Campaign in Iceland. You can find it at nattura.info and at nattura.grapewire.net. From Björk’s webpage…
The single was composed specifically to encourage active support for the Nattura campaign, which aims at collating and providing sustainable and eco-friendly options suitable for Iceland, and generating alternative ways to utilize it’s natural resources. People will be able to submit their ideas on the website for sustainable green workplaces for Icelanders. According to Björk, “It is now more important than ever before to emphasize a respect for nature…I believe that profits, technological advances and working together with nature can all go hand in hand. None need to be sacrificed at the expense of the others.”
The new single is written and produced by Björk and features Radiohead’s Thom Yorke on backing vocals, Brian Chippendale (Lighting Bolt) on drums, Matthew Herbert on synth/bass, and Mark Bell on additional electronic beats. Opening with a huge elemental swirl, “Nattura” then fires up an incendiary and fierce tribal rhythm. The song sees Björk firmly on the march in celebration of her homeland, in hopes that Icelanders harness its energy in a sustainable way.
Skerik’s McTuff bring his groovy, jazz combo to Eugene tomorrow at Sam Bond’s Garage… yay!
~Dan – np: Noctaluca –
Ron Howard as Opie & Richie Cunningham
Brilliant stuff… check out a new video of Ron Howard (as Opie with Andy Griffith & Richie with Henry Winkler) over on my friend J.Marie’s blog:
(click the pic)
I’d post it here, but WordPress(.com) doesn’t like many of the standard video embedding links.
~Dan
plover
The Plover record is out. It’s pay-what-you-want in many bandwidth options (including 320 mp3, FLAC, etc) via http://plovermusic.com/
It’s also streaming in its entirety via this widget:
Plover is Glen Phillips (from Toad the Wet Sprocket), Neilson Hubbard & Garrison Starr. I’m part way through it, and I dig it. It’s in the rock / pop vein…
http://plovermusic.com/
http://www.myspace.com/plovermusic
~Dan – np: Plover – Plover
a trio of music news
New Puscifer video… while CGI like the other Puscifer vids, it’s the first one that features a non-CGI Maynard James Keenan (complete with a bottle of his own Caduceus wine)… “Momma Sed,” brought to you by the A and F in ATF:
only the A & F in ATF… in that he doesn’t smoke.
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Ben Folds Five reunion show for The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner from last month’s MySpace Front to Back is now online in its entirety: GO HERE –> http://www.myspace.com/fronttoback
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The New Years’ Eve concert put on by Ipecac Recordings in San Francisco is set… Fantômas will be playing The Director’s Cut in its entirety. Openers: Tipsy & Zach Hill. It’s $45 and a long drive away; so it’s out for me… but go here if you’re interested: Great American Music Hall’s New Years 2009
Oh, and Breaking news: Beyonce has changed her name to Ra Tsass… or Hoo Kares… or Due Moss… or Sasha Fierce. Meh.
~Dan – np: Tesla – Forever More
This is… AWESOME.
I was gonna post a blog about a reminder about Orange Tulip Conspiracy‘s upcoming West Coast tour, Opeth and wrapping their latest video, or Will Ferrell and his George W. Bush stage production, or Wynton Marsalis on the Colbert Report, or a too cute for school puppy, or Kevin Smith doing a space film next… but it ALL got sidetracked due to this amazing new album cover (thanks EW blog):
Animal Collective‘s Merriweather Post Pavilion (due out Jan. 20, 2009)
THIS is NOT an animated GIF. It’s a regular, 1-layer jpeg. I downloaded it and it doesn’t have any funky layering going on. It’s all a trick of the eyes…
Wicked cool.
~Dan – np: VidyA – VidyA
Dear Elliott,
It’s been five years since you left us. Thank you for your music, even though you didn’t want to stay longer.
…
You are missed.
xo
…
~Dan – np: Elliott Smith – Figure 8 
Latest: Noctaluca, Puscifer/Lustmord, David Bazan’s Xmas
In order of awesomeness…
Noctaluca, one of my favorite Cincinnati-based rock bands (and quite frankly, one of my favorite rock bands regardless of local flavor) just put out their newest CD, Still the Wicked Rest. I ordered it the same time as their Live DVD, and somehow thought that the new CD was just a live thing, too. Well, when it showed up, I was all like, “hmmm… this looks like a legitimate studio CD.” And, well, it is a new studio CD. And it’s awesome. Think two-guitar hard rock (with a sound that’s equal parts Led Zeppelin & early Alice in Chains) with a strong singer-songwriter core, powerful vocals, and lyrics for the Rage Against the Machine set…
Noctaluca is fronted by singer-songwriter Jason Ludwig. His solo debut, PeLL MeLL, was one of my Top 10 from 2003. Right after he got a lot of local acclaim for this, he ditched gigging by his name and started gigging his new band, Noctaluca. In 2003, I snagged a copy of of the “Monkey Moon” radio single they had at a table at the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards. This was the only recorded Noctaluca until 2006’s long-awaited Towering the Sum. Towering the Sum was in a good group of favorite local CDs that year, as well as being in my Top 10 vocal CDs in 2006, too. All this to say that I LIKE NOCTALUCA. Being surprised with a new studio CD is well, awesomes…
And they start the new Still the Wicked Rest CD off with a re-recording of “Monkey Moon“… natch. It deserved to make its way onto an official CD… finally.
Check ’em out!
http://www.noctaluca.com/
http://www.myspace.com/noctaluca
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Next up in awesomeness… getting endless mileage out of the same songs, there’s a new download-only dub mix of Puscifer songs by the dark & ambient Lustmord. Puscifer is Maynard James Keenan (from Tool & A Perfect Circle). Lustmord has had his hand at remixing the Melvins, Puscifer music previously releases, as well as maybe A Perfect Circle song(s). My mind fails me, and I’m too lazy to check at this point. :) The new album is 53 minutes, 8 songs… and fits in with the Puscifer album as well as a darker dub sound. I’d recommend it if you like Maynard’s music, Lustmord’s music, dark dub, or remixes…
It’s available only at Puscifer’s store for now:
https://store.puscifer.com/
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Next up in awesomeness… still awesome, but it is Christmas music (of which I usually don’t like); so it gets last billing. David Bazan of Pedro the Lion put out another holiday-themed 7″ vinyl – a split of melancholy Jingle Bells & All I Want for Christmas. This was the first one since I’ve lived on the West Coast. The East Coast people got a 3 hour jump on the overnight email he sent out, and they snatched them all up… except for a few on Suicide Squeeze‘s website. I scored one… but barely.
A 1,000 quantity pressing may not be enough, bro.
~Dan – np: Tesla – Forever More
Flight of the Conchords – Live at Amoeba
Bret & Jemaine are Flight of the Conchords (formerly New Zealand’s fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo). A 52-minute in-store video from Amoeba Records (from April ’08)…
(click keytars for link to video… or just use the link below)
http://www.amoeba.com/live-shows/videos/flight-of-the-conchords.html
With poisonous gases, they’ll poison your asses…
~Dan – np: Frank Zappa – Joe’s Menage
astronome: a night at the opera
John Zorn’s Moonchild Trio (Mike Patton/Trevor Dunn/Joey Baron) is due out with a fourth recorded installment (The Crucible) later in 2008/early 2009. Their second installment, 2006’s Astronome, is getting a revised treatment for the stage. From the Downtown Music Gallery‘s newsletter this week:
ASTRONOME: A NIGHT AT THE OPERA!
Director Richard Foreman and musician John Zorn team up for Astronome: A Night at the Opera opening next year [2009] at Ontological-Hysteric Theater.
WATCH VIDEO FEED of rehearsals and see how Foreman develops this production… EVERY WEDNESDAY from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 26, 2008-Jan. 21, 2009 live from the Ontological-Hysteric Theater in Manhattan! [No rehearsals Dec. 24, 2008]
Tune in at http://www.free103point9.org
hmm… No word in the above weblinks if the Patton/Dunn/Baron Moonchild Trio (pictured below) will be in the production. I don’t know how it would work without them, but you never know. I mean, it could probably only be non-rad if they got Renee Zellweger to play Mike Patton’s parts. :) .
NYC trip in 2009 for me? Unlikely. But I can dream…
~Dan – np: Paul Brody’s Sadawi – For the Moment
update on OSI’s #3 album
As previously mentioned, O.S.I. (a band led by Kevin Moore from Chroma Key / Dream Theater and Jim Matheos from Fates Warning) is being worked on now. This just in from Mikael Åkerfeldt, lead “singer” / guitarist from OPETH, is that he’s contributing vocals to a song…
It’s a very moody song and completely unlike anything I’ve ever done before. I wrote the lyrics and the vocal lines for the piece that I simply decided to call “Stockholm“.
Cool… The album also features Gavin Harrison (from Porcupine Tree) on drums.
~Dan – np: Goddamn Electric Bill – Topics for Gossip
REVIEW: Yael Naim @ Aladdin Theater (Portland, OR – – 10/15/08)
Mini-Review
Well, I heard about Yael Naim a week ago thanks to the NPR World Cafe podcast… she’s a Paris-born, Israeli singer-songwriter. She’s been described as “a touch of folk and a touch of jazz, with mysterious and evocative words sung with a delicate and intentionally husky voice.” After just hearing of her, I found out that she was playing the Aladdin Theater in Portland the very next week. I was just going to head up to the Aladdin if I was up for it, and buy a ticket if they had some available. Well, thanks to the power of the internets, I got an email Tuesday morning from the Aladdin, and they were giving away 50 tickets to the first people who responded to their email. And, woot, I got a free ticket. Natch.
The opener, Peter Von Poehl, was… well… absent. So the replacement opener was Grey Anne. And she was… RAD! Very quirky, indie rock girl with an electric guitar, drum, accordion, butterfly wings, echoplex, and a stuffed giraffe. Fun songs, off the wall, nice textures, strong voice, confident, quirky… She’s from Portland; so I hope she makes her way down to Eugene sometime soon.
Yael Naim and her band were really good, too. They played Britney Spears’ “Toxic” as well. That’d make my friend Bruth happy. :) I enjoyed her set a lot, but I think my favorites of hers were the ones in French. There’s something about French music that’s just… FUN. Yann Tiersen, Jeanne Cherhal, Paris Combo, and… well, Yael Naim.
Next Aladdin visit for me… Jonatha Brooke and Glen “I sat on a glass table and might not be playing guitar for a while” Phillips. Yikes. :) I hope Glen’s arm is better to be at this show, because otherwise, I don’t think I’ll go. At the end of the day, I hope he gets better more than me being able to see him.
The Appropriate Linkage:
- http://myspace.com/yaelnaim
- http://www.yaelweb.com/
- http://www.myspace.com/perse (Grey Anne’s page)
- http://www.aladdin-theater.com/
~Dan – np: Radiohead – In Rainbows
Nailing Your Wife (with Nathan Fillion & Aria Giovanni)
OK… not suitable for work, though not porn… it’s a spoof with a somewhat predictable, but gruesome ending. It stars Nathan Fillion (from Firefly, Serenity, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Drive, Dr Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog, Desperate Housewives, etc) and Aria Giovanni (from porn). It was directed by James Gunn (from directory-type things, I imagine).
“Nailing Your Wife” (PG Porn) by James Gunn
with Nathan Fillion & Aria Giovanni
http://www.spike.com/video/pg-porn-pg-porn/3041858
(there might be a advertisement that plays ahead of the movie)
Update (12/19): There’s another one called “Peanus” (a take on Peanuts) with Belladonna:
http://tv.ign.com/dor/objects/14282753/james-gunns-pg-porn/videos/peanus_12_17_08.html
~Dan – np: Metallica – Death Magnetic
-Eyvind Kang
-Frank Zappa
Amazon.com mp3 downloads
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