Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Eugene McGuinness


So there's no real reason for me to like Eugene McGuinness. When I listen to his music and see him, my first reaction should be to compare him to Vampire Weekend, Beirut, etc., but I HATE those bands. The safe, nice boy, NPR friendly, bland-tacular music has just worn me out. But, somehow, Eugene McGuinness sounds different to my ears. Maybe its just because he's a Brit. Sometimes that's all it takes.

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Monday, June 22, 2009

Clipse and Kanye

Right off the bat, you should know I hate Kanye West. And not just because he's pompous. I dislike him because he has no flow. I hate him because he is seen as this trendsetting harbinger of all cool things to come, when in fact he's a late bird to almost everything. His taste is kinda crap, and so is his body of work. And yes that includes his production efforts.

Problem is, I love Clipse. And that love cannot be diluted, even with a Kanye guest spot.

Here's their new song, from their forthcoming Til the Casket Drops...

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Saturday, June 20, 2009

Buy the morning after girls


So after a long wait, the morning after girls finally officially released some new music. This should have come out a month or so ago, but there were some technical difficulties. Humbug. But it's a great taste of the full record to come in a month or so and it's only $2. So please buy it.

But after all the trials and tribulations, there's finally music for you to buy and listen to and fall in love with.

Please to enjoy:
the morning after girls- the general public EP

And while that's downloading, check out some pics of them taken by the fabulous Piper Ferguson.

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Top 10 for 2008


I have meant to post this for months (obviously). But I would be remiss to avoid posting it altogether. So here it is, my Top 10 records from 2008:


  1. Glasvegas- Glasvegas
  2. The Duke Spirit- Neptune
  3. Be Your Own Pet- Get Awkward!
  4. Sons and Daughters- This Gift
  5. Santogold- Santogold
  6. Elvis Costello and the Imposters- Momofuku
  7. The Enemy- We'll Live and Die In These Towns
  8. Coldplay- Viva La Vida
  9. The Roots- Rising Down
  10. The Last Shadow Puppets- Age of the Understatement



If you don't already have all of these, you should remedy that right now. 2008 was actually a pretty great year for music, and I was very happy to find that it was difficult narrowing it down to these 10. But each of the above records really delivered, and are still in heavy rotation even now, half way thru 2009.

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Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Check the comments

From now on, please check out the "Comments" section for each post. I'm just saying.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Esser

So I saw Esser last night here in NYC. I had heard of him and read about him, but something had kept me from checking him and his tunes out before. My bad.

After watching the video, if you know me, you'll understand why I dig it so much... the Fred Perry, the rest of the outfits and obviously his hair?!

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Tuesday, June 09, 2009

AEC Monthly Missive (missed)


So I submitted an AEC Monthly Missive that didn't run in TheTripwire. But I don't want it to totally be for naught. So I'll print it here instead. Some of this stuff I may have covered here before, and some of this might even be a bit out of date by now as well, but hopefully you will still enjoy.



Welcome back to another installment of the AEC Monthly Missive. One of the things we struggle with each month is where to draw the line. We want to keep everyone up to speed on things we see and hear from the UK, but we don’t want to bore you with bands/music/news, that you may already know about. We’d love to be strictly for the “headz,” but we are also here to help teach the uninitiated. So this month, we figured we would split it up.


For those in the know already, some of these releases/ bands might be old hat. But in case you don’t know them, here are some current basics that folks are chatting about.


La Roux- We sadly missed her NYC appearances a few weeks back, but we have honestly been impressed by La Roux. She walks the line of pop and critical darling carefully, and in the end, the tunes stand up to inspection. We had the feeling it would be all hairdo and major label bluster, but we were wrong. Quicksand will be a 2009 staple.

http://www.laroux.co.uk/


Bat For Lashes- We dug BFL last record and tour, but Natasha Khan has since added Charlotte Hatherley of Ash to the live band! The tunes are still solid and the live show is getting loads of praise. This will be the band your parents will hear about by the end of the year.

http://www.batforlashes.com/


The Horrors- We admittedly disliked the Horrors debut. For our taste, they just seemed to be lacking the bite, and even the bark, and basically only had the fur and the howl. But the band had Portishead’s Geoff Barrow produce their latest record, and it seems that he has had a serious impact. Much tighter sonically, spacious and cooler, the Horrors just might be able to deliver on their earlier promises.

http://www.thehorrors.co.uk/


Jarvis Cocker- Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker has always been a great personality. His music has also always been insightful and smart and cutting, but rarely has his work been considered “rocking.” He just changed that. Jarvis’s new song, “Angela,” proves he can rock with the best of them, pulling out his best mod stomp to date. If this is what we can expect from his next LP, we absolutely can’t wait. Get the track free at his site now.

http://www.jarviscocker.net/


The Specials- Reunions are so de riguer, and often from acts that haven’t even waited long enough to make us want them back. Not so in the case of the Specials. The reunion has caused plenty of noise overseas and folks are freaking out (including Fred Perry: http://www.fredperry.com/thespecials/) Playing all the old tunes at small venues and still killing it live, we can only hope they make it to our shores for a few dates.

http://www.thespecials.com/


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As much as the above acts already have plenty of attention, we think we should spend sometime on folks that are so far under the radar as well.


Big Pink- “On 4AD, and produced by Alan Moulder.” In theory, that’s usually enough to win us over, but The Big Pink also have great tunes. Dark, loud, noisy and smart, we have the feeling this release could be a big difference maker this year.

http://musicfromthebigpink.com/


Tom Allalone & the 78s- Most folks know we have a serious penchant for pure and simple rock and roll. Obviously, so do Tom Allalone &the 78s. They’ve got great outfits, great hair and flawless rockabilly, straight outta Kent. Check out the first single, “Hell Hath No Fury” and the new record, Major Sins Pt. 1, just released in the UK last month.

http://www.tomallalone.com/


God Help the Girl- Stuart Murdoch is not an unknown, but the leader behind the iconic Belle and Sebastian camp has a new project that is still flying below the radar. His new project is called God Help the Girl and won’t be released until late June, but is worth seeking out right away. It’s shimmering 60s pop feel is balanced by it’s heady fake movie soundtrack concept keeps it brainy and interesting.

http://www.godhelpthegirl.com/


The Enemy- For some reason, this trio has somehow slipped the American anglophile consciousness. We saw them last year, and their Jam/Oasis/Clash style blew us away. Tight musicianship, great stage personality and plenty to say as well, these Coventry boys just released their sophomore effort in the UK. Hopefully they will have a chance to hit the States this time with a bit more support.

http://www.theenemy.com/


Dizzee Rascal- On these shores, Dizzee had his moment but has since been somewhat forgotten. We just heard his new single, “Bonkers,” produced by Armand Van Helden, and were immediately reminded how great he can be. The rhymes, attitude and raw sounds are all there, and immediately beg for the track to be heard thru giant bassbins. Straight up CHOON.

http://www.myspace.com/dizzeerascal


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And finally, The Mighty Boosh has finally made it to the US.! Adult Swim has picked up the insane show, and thankfully given us something to do late on a Sunday night. There’s no point trying to explain the “plot” of the show, but if you are into the Adult Swim vein of comedy, and are a fan of such bands/musicians as Razorlight, The Horrors, Towers of London, Gary Numan, and Roger Daltrey, then this is the show for you. Obviously we love Noel Fielding (close friend of Russell Brand’s), but we also must admit that we have a total soft spot for Bollo the gorilla and Naboo the Enigma. Don’t ask, just watch.

http://www.adultswim.com/shows/themightyboosh/indexpage.html#episodes



Til next time.

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