Archive for the 'walkmen' Category

The Walkmen

Published by
billy
at August 5, 2008 in album, indie, mp3, music and walkmen. 5 Comments

One of my favorite bands has released their latest album and I must say it is quite brilliant.  In a smooth step The Walkmen have chosen to release their album, You & Me, exclusively on music retailer Amie Street’s web store.  The full album download is only five dollars and for each album purchased five dollars is donated to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.  You can download individual tracks, buy the full album, or stream the entire album simply by following this link.

I love the fact that these boys from New York have released their album for a mere five dollars and I’m also pleased they chose to do so with a nontraditional retailer {aka not iTunes}.  The fact that each album sale helps fight cancer is the icing on the cake.  Kudos to The Walkmen.

mp3 : The Walkmen - In the New Year
mp3 : The Walkmen - Four Provinces

The album is full of amazing songs.  I’m not yet sure if this album is at the same level as Bows+Arrows, but I must say up front that it is a classic Walkmen creation.  Almost every track contains sprawling guitar soundscapes and Dylanesque style vocals.  There are ballads as well as rockers here on You & Me and from the start to the end you’ll love every second.  And saying that is saying a lot.  The album clocks in at over fifty minutes in length and contains fourteen tracks.  For a five dollar download this is one album whose value simply cannot be beat.  I would look for You & Me to be all over top ten lists in a few months {I’m almost sure it will be on mine}.

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Memoirs of a Blogger : Langerado Day 2

Published by
billy
at March 13, 2008 in american bang, beasite boys, built to spill, chk chk chk, festival, g love, indie, langerado, langerado 2008, live, mp3, music, rap, shool of rock and walkmen. 8 Comments

I woke up today around 6:30 in the morning. It was strange wandering through the tent community with just a hint of the dawn peeking over the horizon. It was as if all the energy of the festival was asleep, peaceful, for this brief breath of time. There was no music thumping through the grounds, no one was even stirring, except for me. For some reason I was awake and restlessly treading the Florida grass beneath my still weary feet. But it was beautiful and it served to drive home in my mind something that had been sitting on the edge of my consciousness for awhile. There is a certain pervasive dichotomy apparent throughout Langerado. There are hippies and hipsters, bloggers and real media, jam bands and indie rockers, Beastie Boys and R.E.M., addicts and scenesters, freezing rain and sunshine, soft woven melodies and freak out dance rock. Yet here we all are, set to enjoy another day of music and sunshine and in this moment it is apparent that Langerado wouldn’t be the same without all of these opposites crammed together on one site.

First on the list for day two was American Bang. They might have had the American part down {they sound a lot like mid 70’s alt/folk/southern rock revival}, but they seem to have lost the bang somewhere down on the road. They were best when they were aping currently relevant music such as The Strokes, RHCP, or Kings of Leon, or when they put some swagger in a few songs and came up with a sound similar to Rolling Stones. Other than those few moments though they fell short of the musical energy put forth by the School of Rock All Stars. Their set consisted of a bunch of straight up 70’s sendups, featuring songs by Dusty Springfield, Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, and Van Halen to name a few. They might need a bit more polish and panache, but their set rocked. Hard.

Next up was Matt Pond PA. Until I saw them preform live I never realized a) how good they are, b) how effortlessly they make music, c) just how much they have in common with bands like Band of Horses and Weezer {in an undistorted sort of way}, and d) how much front man Matt Pond looks like the character Desmond on LOST {and their lead guitarist, Steve, really looks like a young Daniel Farraday}. When they played they sounded great, but when a technical issue arose during their set {Matt later told me that both a guitar and an amp broke simultaneously} their set disintegrated into nervous laughter and bad jokes. Luckily they eventually got extra equipment working and they continued to have heads bobbing along to their breezy style of indie pop.

mp3 : Matt Pond PA - Halloween

I thought they were at their best when they were playing as if no one was actually watching them. During one song some beach balls were floated about and Matt, in true despair, looked to his drummer and mouthed “Not the beach balls.”

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Next up, and on the same stage, were The Walkmen out of New York City. I’ve been a fan ever since I picked up a copy of Bows and Arrows on a trip through Beijing a few years back and I was definitely looking forward to hearing their somewhat legendary live sound. For all the hype I was not disappointed in the least. The channeling of Dylan continued on and off throughout their show and oh my is it brilliant live. They simply exude a type of rock star cool that permeated the depths of the hot Florida sun. Their recording process translates beautifully to a live set and, simply put, they killed it hard for a full hour. You could not fit a more complete three album set into an hour long show {especially considering they included new songs from their upcoming studio release}. They were good enough that even Matt Pond and ANR were in the audience to catch their show.

mp3 : The Walkmen - Louisiana

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After The Walkmen I walked over and caught a terrible live set by G Love. Maybe it’s just too much Special Sauce for me to handle, but I thought his show sounded flat, boring, repetitive, and a bit too much like a bad version of Kid Rock.

Next on the list for the day was !!! {aka Chk Chk Chk} and, simply put, holy shit. I have never had that much fun at a live concert before. It was non-stop energy from the opening beat to the closing of their sweat drenched show. The entire show was laced with infectious, no holds barred, crazy dancing and there wasn’t a moment during which front man Nic Offer stood still or took a breather. If you’ve not had the chance to see !!! yet I recommended it. Nic’s dance moves and antics on stage can only be described as a spastic mashup of later day Michael Jackson mixed with Napoleon Dynamite. Honestly, after watching this set I’ve come to realize that I will never need to do drugs, all I need is another !!! fix.

mp3 : !!! - Must Be The Moon

During part of their set Nic made fun of the festival’s hippie-centric masses by saying “If I’d have known it was this kind of festival I wouldn’t have cut my hair.” After a chorus of well deserved boos he replied “No no, we like you guys…. kinda.”

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From there it was a brief stop at the Built To Spill set which was equal parts R.E.M., Death Cab, and TV On the Radio, as long as it was pure guitar driven sonic bliss. I couldn’t stay long though as their set was due to run up to the start of the Beasties and I wasn’t going to miss the Boys’ opening song.

The last act for the night, well my night anyway, was the always famous three MCs and One DJ. After keeping the crowd waiting a healthy seven minutes Mix Master Mike {who by far is the one person who’s aged well in this mix} took the stage and scratched the masses into a crescendo of anticipation. From that point on, though, it was Ad Rock, Mike D, and MCA who owned the stage and our hearts. They blasted through favorites like Body Movin’, Money Making, and What’cha Want then slowed their frantic set list down a bit {as both they and the crowd caught their breath} by playing a few songs off of their latest instrumental album. Whether they were spittin rhymes or playing their instruments the Boys were on the top of their game and even though they look old {especially my favorite MCA} they brought the noise to Langerado. Of all the shows during the festival this was easily the most packed event of the weekend.

mp3 : Beastie Boys - Ch-Check it Out
mp3 : Beasite Boys - Body Movin’

For their encore they came out and ripped through Intergalactic, Ch-Check It Out, and ended by brining the house down with Sabotage. Upon finishing they thanked the crowd and Ad Rock mumbled “elect a democrat” while Mike D kept repeating something with the phrase of “one last summer y’all” embedded into it. Who knows, maybe this is the last tour they’ll take before officially signing off?

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Day 2 is over, but there are still two more days to come. What a brilliant fest.

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SS Mix vol. 1 - Just Say Words

Published by
admin
at July 17, 2006 in american dollar, band of horses, beta band, dashboard confessional, ea mix, feist, guster, long winters, magic numbers, mix, mp3, music, pheonix, regina spektor, snow patrol, strokes, sufjan stevens, thom yorke, walkmen, weakerthans and zach williams. 3 Comments

And so begins the Summer Sounds series of mixes. Previously I’ve posted a slew of EA mix albums for download, and those will continue again this autumn when I return to my studies in East Asia. For now, it is summer, and here we go.

To download the entire mix in one sweet little package get it
here - at yousendit
here - at megaupload

for individual song downloads click below

01 : Dashboard Confessional - Don’t Wait : Yes, this song is on every list over the past few weeks. Yes the album is out and waiting for you to own it [overstock.com has it for 7.99]. But, it serves as a great kickoff to the summer. This is what summer music has always been for me, and in this mix you’ll find more of the same. Breezy, light, lovely, made to spin on the beach, it’s all here.

02 : Guster - New Underground : Everyone has said that the new Guster album is a departure for their original sound, but let us all face it, every band out there grows up and matures. In fact, the best bands are the ones that change over time. Trust me, turn to any band that has staying power [at least 10 years] and compare track one of their first album to track one of their recent album and you’ll see that this is just the standard of growing up.

03 : Phoneix - Long Distance Call : Sounding like the fresh new mashup of The Strokes and Maroon 5, this French group has a clean, crisp sound that in one way or another grabs your attention. Earlier in the year I recommended their latest album, and I say again, it will not disappoint you. This is my favorite track of the disc, but the rest is really solid.

04 : The Magic Numbers - Love Me Like You : I got their album almost seven months ago, listened to it twice and almost threw it away. Instead I filed it away and let it collect dust. And then a few weeks ago I saw them play this song live on Conan and they blew me away. Since then their disc has been getting heavy rotation and here I go promoting them again.

05 : The Weakerthans - (Hospital Vespers) : One of the most underrated bands since the year 2000. I don’t know if it’s due to marketing or bad word of mouth. Maybe they play horrible live shows. I just don’t understand why this band isn’t up there alongside Death Cab or Dashboard as undergound breakout artists. They’re talented, they play superbly, and their lyrics tell stories that you care about in the end.

06 : Zach Williams and the Ramparts - Hospital Bed : Zach Williams is on the same level as Asher Lev. Great folk revival that pulls a lot of its morals and lessons from their Christian roots. Much akin to Page France or Sufjan Stevens. I am a firm supporter of Zach Williams and am even considering a myspace petition to get them to change their ridiculous band name. But, I will allow them to call themselves whatever they want as long as they keep making songs like this.

07 : Band of Horses - The Funeral - I just realized that on this mix there are two songs with the word hospital in their titles followed by a song called The Funeral. Maybe I should quick throw something by The Arcade Fire on here. Maybe that would be a bit cliched. Maybe it’s all a subconscious reflection on the fact that while I was making this mix my father passed away. I’ll never know. But I do know that if I die, I want this song played at my viewing, preferably as a live show by the Band of Horses.

08 : Thom Yorke - Like Spinning Plates : Radiohead will always and forever be at the top of my list of favorite bands. They are far and away the best live show I have ever seen, and I have been around the block. This little rendition comes from when Thom Yorke played a solo show where it is basically Thom and a piano. I love how this song captures the idea of total heart and head confusion. How it captures what it feels like to be lost, and to know that you are gone.

09 : American Dollar - Everyone Gets Shot : In almost every single one of my mixes I’ve found a way to include an instrumental piece, and here it takes a prominent position. The mix takes a definite left turn after this piece, assuming before this slice of heaven from American Dollar was going in a straight line of melancholic and mostly new music. The next five tracks focus mainly on the voice of lead singer, and so this track serves as a little musical sorbet to reset your palate.

10 : The Strokes - I’ll Try Anything Once : Originally a demo take for what would later become You Only Live Once, my first band to hit the obsession mark in my collection, The Strokes, gave this song away for free on their website as well as including it as a b-side on their second single from the album First Impressions of Earth. Although it’s obviously a rough cut with some fuzzed keyboards and Julian’s scratchy vocals I think I like this version more than the jazzed up, full band version that’s on their third album.

11 : Regina Spektor - Samson - I can never decide if she uses Biblical imagery because she believes it or because it tells compelling stories. But in the case of this song I don’t care what her motives are. Now, true to Spektor’s past, this is one of two or three great songs off of the album it’s found on, where the rest are mediocre at best. And I would say that she benefits from the age of digital downloads, where kids buy one song at a time. Anyway, this song is great.

12 : Snow Patrol - Set the Fire to the Third Bar : I don’t know why bloggers and critics have trashed on the latest effort by these lovely Brits. This is exactly the type of music they’ve always made. Strong anthemic ballads. Songs that soar and reach peaks reminiscent of Coldplay or earlier Radiohead. And on this track there’s a nice duet vocal with Martha Wainwright, quite a fine catch for such a song.

13 : Feist - Mushaboom (Postal Service Remix) : The original version of this song was included on an earlier mix, one of the EA mixes, and it was good enough to make a second go round. This time Jimmy Tamborello and Ben Gibbard have put their own twist and some of their own vocals on it. They don’t change the chemistry too much, but they easily give the song a little bit of an upper, a nice beat, and the pure genius of Ben Gibbards voice.

14 : The Long Winters - Ultimatum (Live at WOXY) : What do you get when you combine one of my favorite bands with one of the best radio stations out there? You get sheer genius. Where the album rendition shines with it’s production, sometimes, almost to the point of being overproduced, this live version illustrates how the song is brilliant regardless of how it’s reworked. And, if you read this blog enough, you’ll find that I’m almost always a sucker for the stripped down version of anything.

15 : The Beta Band - Al Sharp : This song is truly a blast from the past. Very rarely do I find a friend who actually has a Beta Band album on their shelf. And also, just as rarely, do people not fall in love with this quirky little band after the give them a chance. They’ll probably always be a fringe band, but I’m not sure that will ever phase the Beta Band at all.

16 : Sufjan Stevens - The Perpetual Self : Everything is lost, oh oh, but I know that you can take it to the Lord. Everything you want, oh oh, is it all that you can gather for yourself? I love Sufjan not simply because his music sounds great. Although a huge part of his allure is the fact that he is a master when it comes to arrangements, the bigger draw for me is that his lyrics are intensely intelligent. He writes brilliant songs, and I guess he would after basically going to school to be a creative writer.

17 : The Walkmen - Another One Goes By : What a perfect ending to this mix. I probably should have saved this song for the ending track to the summer, but it found it’s way into my heart and thereby onto this site. I can see this song being played on season finale’s from The O.C. to North Shore to the end credits to any big romantic comedy over the next five years. I would even go so far to request this as the last dance at prom, if I was ever to go back in time to attend that wickedly weird even we call prom. It fits great as an ending.

EA Mix vol. 5 - Going Home

Published by
admin
at June 8, 2006 in ben gibbard, ben kweller, boyz ii men, brendan losch, bruce springsteen, david gray, dntel, ea mix, josh garrels, mix, mp3, music, neil diamond, phantom planet, primitive radio gods, simon and garfunkel, stars, supertones, walkmen, weakerthans and zach williams. 1 Comment

EA Mix vol. 5 - Going Home

This mix was prepared while I was living overseas this past year. It wraps up the EA Mix volumes for this school year [vols. 1-5, EA standing for East Asia]. I put a lot of thought into these songs, the order they are arranged in, and especially the lyrics they contain. It’s always good to be going home.

download the full mix in .zip format
yousendit : here
megaupload : here

[click on the song titles below for individual mp3 downloads]

01 : Neil Diamond - America : The line, “They’re coming to America,” is repeated again and again in this classic by the former sequined wonderboy of Vegas. This song comes from his glory days and kicks off the album with the appropriate flair.

02 : Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA : Ok, ok, I know that this song is about a guy, born in the USA, who is figthing in Vietnam. But I grew up with Mellancamp and Springsteen on the radio and it came down to a Born in the USA versus Smalltown battle. The boss just wins that fight my friends, and this song proves that the old guys know [or knew] how to rock.

03 : Simon and Garfunkel - Homeward Bound : Some of these songs are so ridciulously obvious that I feel a bit embarassed having to explain their inclusion. I mean, honestly, if they line “I wish I was homeward bound” doesn’t scream “put me on this mix, then I don’t know where to find lyrics more appropriate to this collection.

04 : Boyz II Men - It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday : Again, blast from the past songs battled it out for inclusion here on the mix. This time it was Boyz II Men against Michael W. Smith’s Friends are Friends Forever. I know this song is cliched, overplayed, trite, etc., yet it still fits perfectly with the overall mood of the mix. And it serves to transition from the older kings of music into the new kids on the block [of course, figuratively speaking]

05 : The Weakerthans - Left and Leaving : “My city’s still breathing, but barely it’s true. Through buildings gone missing like teeth. The sidewalks are watching me think about you, sparkled with broken glass. I’m back with scars to show, back with the streets I know will never take me anywhere but here.” The Weakerthans were the most underrated, overlooked band of the year 2000. Maybe it was all the Y2K buzz, maybe it was mad-cow, or maybe we just missed something great in the process of understanding that 2000 really wasn’t the new millenium [or was it?].

06 : Brendan Losch - You Go You Leave : “Cause you go, you leave, you’ll never come back.” Plaintive is the best word I can think of to describe this song by Mr. Losch. I met, discovered, became efriends with Brendan on myspace and so I don’t mind plugging his musich at each and every turn. And I love this line, half way into the song, “are you even listening to me, cause I feel like you were never there.” I can just imagine that line being spoken aloud to countless of my friends as they drift in and out of conversations this summer back in the states.

07 : Primitive Radio Gods - Standing Outside a Broken Telephone Booth with Change in my Hand : Yes, it’s true, there were bands with obscenely long song titles well before Sufjan came along. And just like Mr. Stevens, when you make gorgeous music, you are allowed to take all the liberties you desire with your song titles. For some reason this song has always reminded me of coming home. Maybe it’s the line “the plane takes off from Baltimore and touches down on Bourbon street,” or maybe it’s the repetitive chorus of “I’ve been downhearted baby, ever since the day you left.” Whatever it is, this song feels like home to me, and I love the lyrics.

08 : Zach Williams & the Ramparts - Hospital Dream : I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, but they need a new name for their band. Sure, Zach is the frontman, maybe even the overall controlling genius, but still, the last band I knew that made it huge with a name like this was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers [or Max Weinberg and the Max Weinberg Seven - kudos to Conan]. Maybe it’s the “the” bands fault, but for whatever reason bands with “and the” in their name never seem to make it. And I really want Zach and company to thrive. He’s a great song writer, could easily be signed by Barsuk, and could make a killing if he moved to Chicago, Seattle, or Portland. But enough on that, this song is gorgeous.

09 : Phantom Planet - California : I know, I know, this song is overplayed as well. But as my friends are flying home from East Asia most of them will be landing first in California. And it just made sense to put a song that yells “California, here we come” over and over again on the mix. Not to mention that even though this song almost pushed them into T.V. song jingle embarrassment [see the Remembrants and the Friends theme song for one shining example] Phantom Planet has pressed on to reinvent their sound and their image.

10 : Stars - On Peak Hill : I love Stars, and stars. Both the noun and proper noun. And I felt like this song really had a home time feeling to it. It seems as if it’s a song taken from life in a small little town where you can talk about “the time I was five at the top of Peak Hill, and the wind almost took me away.” I could just imagine flying over oceans and looking out the window, back in time, and thinking about all those little stories and anecdotes that only make sense when you’re back home.

11 : David Gray - Shine : I feel if people besides Dave Matthews fans ever bought into this Brit then this song would be featured on all graduation mixes, goodbye finales, and funeral episodes for the rest of time. I mean really, just listen to the man sing. “And ours is a road that is strewn with goodbyes. But as it unfolds, as it all unwinds, remember your soul is the one thing you can’t compromise.” The whole song is a sad and yet strangely hopeful goodbye, after all “who knows what’s waiting in the wings of time? Dry your eyes, we’re gonna go where we can shine.”

12 : The Walkmen - Hang On, Siobhan : This is a song to a person with quite possibly the best name ever. Siobhan. Pronounce that correctly before listening to the song and you have won a free ticket to my heart. Really. From the first time I heard this song I’ve been in love with both it and the boys that crafted it. The opening line through the last straining lyric, it’s all amazing. “So hang on, Siobhan, we’re coming home soon.”

13 : Ben Kweller - Lizzy : Ben Kweller, or as he references himself in song and print, BK, is one amazingly talented individual. Granted, his early stuff with Radish might have been a little overrated, but when have music magazines [either in print or online] ever really been accurate at predicting the future? Anyway, this little ditty hails off of BK’s debut solo album from about five years ago, titled Sha Sha, and tells the story of two people spending time apart for the first time. “Lizzy I write our scene; telegraph, telegram, telephone, telling you I’ll be home soon.”

14 : Josh Garrels - Going Home : Question, how on earth could I not include a song titled “Going Home” on the going home mix? Question, how could I not continue to promote someone with as much tallent as Josh? I couldn’t find a reasonable response to either of those questoins, so Josh is here. “I’m going home. She’s, she’s going home. We, we’re going home. Going home when we die, we’re going home in the sky. Going home by and by, we’re going home to live with Christ. Hallelujah.” Writing out the lyrics does not do justice to this boys brilliance.

15 : Ben Gibbard - Recycled Air (acoustic) : Taking a music track, created by someone you’ve never met, and writing lyrics for it has to be hard. That alone would have qualified this song, as originally released by the team of The Postal Service, for the mix but Ben Gibbard takes this song to new heights with his solo rendition. Making it ever more melancholy, chill, and sad along the way. And the song is about flying away in an airplane. “I watch the patchwork farms, slow fade into the oceans arms. Calm down, release your cares, the stale taste of recycled air.”

16 : The Supertones - So Great a Salvation : Who would have ever thought I would include a throwback song from a Christian Ska band? Especially when it includes the line “Woke up this morning and I just had to pack up all my life. Just read through James’ book, start to pray and I ask God for a wife.” Doesn’t really seem like my bread and butter, I know, but the chorus is “Why me God? Why should you chosoe me? Your team God, can you use even me?” And I think that’s something we all felt this year, that we all go through, so it made the cut.

17 : Dntel - Last Songs : Such an appropriate ending to a mix album commemorating the end of living overseas for a year. I always have songs that, in my own little world, would fit perfectly in the soundtrack of my life. And this song always reminds me of that wait in the airport for that last flight on your way home. The one wait where you have to sit alone because all your travel friends have caught their flights and it’s just you from this point until you’re actually home. That’s what this song is to me.

And this concludes the broadcast of EA Mix albums for the time being, stay tuned for two new mixes in a new series, SS, coming soon this summer. Be aware, there is so much more good music in this world. Don’t limit yourself.

Check back often.