Saturday, September 24, 2011

The Nirvana - R.E.M. weekend

A break to the stream of fine new releases we've been presenting lately (there's more to come soon) for a toast to two of the rare few truly great bands that combined exceptional quality with huge commercial success (whether they wanted it or not).

It was twenty years ago today, September 24, 1991, that Nirvana released "Nevermind", their major label debut, a record that within a few months would shake the foundations of the record industry establishment and turn upside down the rock music landscape of the era. With no marketing tricks and ploys, just with the power of the sheer brilliance of Cobain's songwriting and the band's breathtaking live shows, Nirvana would soon take over the charts and, most importantly, would finally bring attention to the riches of the underground indie rock scene that was constantly bringing out great music throughout the '80s and early '90s but up to that moment had no chance of breaking through to a wider public.

To commemorate the album's 20th anniversary various limited boxes and "special" deluxe editions are being released next week, in my opinion exactly the kind of marketing ploy that was out of the picture 20 years ago - just another record industry trick to get people to buy expensively the music that they already have. My vinyl copy of "Nevermind" was bought a month later, on October 24, 1991, and I'm sticking to it 'til death do us part. I'm sure Kurt would agree with me. Of course that doesn't mean that we shouldn't celebrate the occasion. Records like "Nevermind" are few and very far between, so get your old copy out and take it for another spin today - here's the track that started it all:

Nirvana - Smells like teen spirit

Fast forward to September 21, 2011, a date that became historic due to R.E.M.'s announcement of breaking up after 31 years together. They were one of the very few bands I've been following for so long without ever losing interest in their output. Sure, the later period of those three decades was not on the same level as the extraordinary run between 1983 and 1992 when all the classic R.E.M. albums came out, changing the expectations of the level of success that could be achieved by an uncompromising alternative band, but R.E.M. never lost the ability to write great music and play great shows. The band's latest albums "Accelerate" and "Collapse Into Now" were rightly hailed as a return to form and somehow I'm sure that although they've said goodbye, there will still be great music in the future that will somehow involve Stipe, Buck or Mills or all three of them (and let's not forget Berry either).

Over at mixrgrill we have voted our favorite albums and tracks of the band and here is my personal selection (at least for the time being):

Top 5 R.E.M. Albums

1. Document
2. Murmur
3. Lifes Rich Pageant
4. Green 
5. Automatic for the people

Top 20 R.E.M. Tracks

1. The One I Love
2. Radio Free Europe
3. It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
4. Driver 8
5. World Leader Pretend
6. Pretty Persuasion
7. Begin the Begin
8. Drive
9. Fall on Me
10. Losing My Religion
11. Imitation of Life
12. Orange Crush
13. Finest Worksong
14. Leave
15. Accelerate
16. These Days
17. Maps and Legands
18. Bad Day
19. Uberlin
20. Catapult


R.E.M. - Driver 8

Thursday, September 22, 2011

HTRK vs. New War

With so many fine new releases lately, I barely have time to let one album sink in before the next one comes along, demanding my immediate attention! While Dum Dum Girls' excellent sophomore LP keeps streaming away, HTRK's "Work (Work, Work)" has also got me hooked in a big way after a couple of spins. It's not the sort of record that grabs you immediately like "Only In Dreams", but its slow motion, dark, atmospheric sound envelops you insidiously and draws you inside before you realize what's happening. Give it a try here:



And on HTRK's recommendation, listen and download below the debut single by Melbourne band New War. It is titled "Ghostwalking", its fluent grooves bring to mind a more laid back Rapture, and it also features two killer remixes by HTRK and Gossip. Apparently this free download is not going to be up for long, so grab it while you can here:


Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Dream time

How great is this? I'll just let the music do the talking - "Only in Dreams", 36 minutes of pure pop bliss from the Dum Dum Girls:

Dum Dum Girls - Only In Dreams (Full Album stream)

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Opening Nights 2011

This week we’re giving our record player a break as we’re getting deeper into movies at the 17th Athens International Film Festival which opened its doors this Wednesday and continues until September 25th.

Among the films scheduled to premier we have several entries, in and out of competition, that will appeal to music fans including “Upside Down: The Creation Records Story”, “Fix - The Ministry Movie”, “Backyard”, ”Inni”, “George Harrison: Living in the Material World”, “The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye” and “Hit So Hard”. The last two films were among those that I’ve enjoyed the most during this weekend, the former telling the incredible story behind the “Pandrogyne” project of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV) and his other half and collaborator, Lady Jaye, the latter shedding a light on the life and near death story of Hole drummer Patty Schemel. Check out the trailers for both films below and try to see them when you get the chance:

The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye trailer

Hit So Hard trailer


And here’s a clip of Hole performing “Violet” with Patty Schemel providing the beat at “Saturday Night Live” in 1994. Interestingly enough, the performance ends with Courtney Love adding a snippet of The Crystals’ “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)”:

Hole - Violet (Live "Saturday Night Live" 1994)

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Punk Rock Sunday featuring Cerebral Ballzy, Male Bonding, Off!

Anyone else in the mood for some punk rock? I was recently enjoying this KCRW podcast with two hours full of punk and post-punk classics presented by Henry Rollins which inevitably led to even more punk rock listening over the week. The current depressing socio-economic situation just begs for a punk rock resurgence but for some inexplicable reason people seem to prefer to listen to Kanye West and Jay-Z goin' on about the pressures of super-stardom or to inoffensive, escapist chill-wave. Anyway, here's some brand new punk-inspired music from New York's Cerebral Ballzy who recently dropped their self titled debut on Williams Street Records, and from London's Male Bonding whose sophomore LP "Endless Now", streaming in full below, is out now on Sub Pop:

Cerebral Ballzy - Cutting Class

Male Bonding - Endless Now (full album stream)

Encore: The video for "Black Thoughts", a one-minute blast of pure hardcore punk from the Keith Morris-fronted "supergroup" Off!, featuring the handiwork of Raymond Pettibon (off last year's ace LP "First Four EPs"):

Off! - Black Thoughts

Saturday, September 03, 2011

New Releases: July - August 2011

Now that we're all back to business, it's time to catch up with all the latest interesting album and single releases of the last couple of months, just to make sure that nothing important slipped under the radar while we were all too busy with our summer plans:

Albums

STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS - Mirror Traffic
THE HORRORS - Skying
ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER - Last Summer
BEIRUT - The Rip Tide
MOONFACE - Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped
WOODEN SHJIPS - West
MALE BONDING - Endless Now
SHE KEEPS BEES - Dig On
THE COOL KIDS - When Fish Ride Bicycles
WASHED OUT - Within And Without
CSS - La Liberacion
CRYSTAL ANTLERS - Two Way Mirror
SCREAMING TREES - Last Words: The Final Recordings
CEREBRAL BALLZY - Cerebral Ballzy
WIDOWSPEAK - Widowspeak
BALAM ACAB - Wander / Wonder
SOFT METALS - Soft Metals
MARIA MINERVA - Cabaret Cixous
THE WAR ON DRUGS - Slave Ambient
UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA - Unknown Mortal Orchestra
I BREAK HORSES - Hearts
LITTLE DRAGON - Ritual Union
KANYE WEST & JAY-Z - Watch the Throne
LIL WAYNE - Tha Carter IV
WU-TANG - Legendary Weapons
ZOMBY - Dedication
DIMBLEBY & CAPPER - Choose Your Head
MIRACLE FORTRESS - Was I The Wave?
RICHARD BUCKNER - Our Blood
WOLF GANG - Suego Faults
GOLD-BEARS - Are You Falling in Love?
BRILLIANT COLORS - Again and Again
ARMY NAVY - The Last Place
BROWN RECLUSE - Evening Tapestry
THE MEN - Leave Home
ARAABMUZIK - Electronic Dream
RAZIKA - Project 91
PURE X - Pleasure
CUT OFF YOUR HANDS - Hollow
MEDDICINE / ASSS - Split
PICTUREPLANE - Thee Physical
SLEEPER AGENT - Celabrasion
HARD-FI - Killer Sounds
AZARI AND III - Azari and III

Singles & EPs

CULTS - Go Outside
HTRK - Eat Yr Heart / Sweetheart
GRINDERMAN - Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man
ARCTIC MONKEYS - The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala
VERONICA FALLS - Bad Feeling
HOLD KISS KILL - Neon Girls / Death Pleasures
TOM VEK - Aroused 
WILCO - I Might / I Love My Label
BRIGHT EYES - Jejune Stars
CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH! - Same Mistake
BATTLES feat. GARY NUMAN - My Machines
BEASTIE BOYS - Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win
BJORK - Cosmogony
CAT'S EYES - Over you
CSS feat. BOBBY GILLESPIE - Hits Me Like A Rock
THE VACCINES - Norgaard
THE JOY FORMIDABLE - Heavy Abacus
YUCK - Shook Down
WASHED OUT - Eyes Be Closed
VONDELPARK - NYC Stuff And NYC Bags
SPANK ROCK - Energy
BLACK MILK - Brain / Royal Mega
XENO & OAKLANDER - Staircase
DANGER MOUSE & DANIELLE LUPPI - Season's Trees / Rose With A Broken Neck
STILL CORNERS - Cuckoo
BLEEDING KNEES CLUB - Have Fun / Bad Guys
GRASS WIDOW - Milo Minute EP
PYLON / DEERHUNTER / CALVINIST - Cover + Remix
BRAID - Closer to Closed EP
LOVE OF EVERYTHING - Sooner I Wish
DOM - Family of Love EP
S.C.U.M. - Amber Hands
SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO - Gizzard
AUTRE NE VEUT - Body EP
RAZIKA - Why Have We To Wait
HOLLIE COOK - Remember (Walkin' in the sand)
JENNY & JONNY - Animal
RICHMOND FONTAINE - Lost In The Trees
SOCIAL DISTORTION - Gimme The Sweet And Lowdown
THE FLAMING LIPS feat. LIGHTNING BOLT - I Wanna Get High But I Don't Want Brain Damage

And as a fall preview, here's the track that made my week: listen and download below "Bedroom Eyes", the first proper single off "Only In Dreams", Dum Dum Girls' sophomore album. The track, according to Dee Dee, is "a special sort of confusion and frustration brought on by lack of sleep". Enjoy:

Thursday, September 01, 2011

1985: Top 50 Singles

Our '80s Singles project is going steady: head over to Cool Music Database for the list of our Top 50 Singles of 1985 topped by one of The Smiths defining songs, the glorious "How Soon Is Now?".

Unbelievably, this pop masterpiece was originally released as the b-side to "William, It Was Really Nothing", but on January '85 it finally got its own release as a single, backed by "Well I Wonder". By that time most Smiths fans already had the song in their record collections on way or the other (it was also included in the '84 compilation "Hatful of Hollow"), resulting in an unflattering chart placing, reaching only as far as number 24 on the UK Singles Chart. But is there anyone who truly believes that the pop charts have ever told the truth about the history of pop music?

Listen to most of the tracks in our Top 50 in the widget below and go here for the missing entry at number 23.

The Smiths - How Soon Is Now?