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Channel: Kate Richardson – idolator

La Búsqueda De La Música Mexicana: Part 2

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Amigos, it’s been two months since our first expedition south of the border in search of Mexican music. Now that we’ve shaken off the mezcal hangover, it’s time to return to Mexico lindo y querido to have a look-see at two smart alt-rock bands that defy the multiple Mexican stereotypes I (impressively, no?) have managed…

Wild Moccasins Break In Their Touring Shoes

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Houston band Wild Moccasins will be playing two shows in Brooklyn this weekend: Friday at Death By Audio and Saturday at Union Hall. I wrote a feature about them last summer in relation to local music scenes, and it seems that a year later they’ve shed the cocoon and are flying like beautiful butterflies across…

An Idolator Enthusiastic Endorsement: Why You Should Drop Everything And Listen To Wye Oak’s “The Knot” Right Now

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Andy Stack and Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak are either two of the most talented musicians currently out there right now, or they’re aliens from a distant planet where all beings are born with the inherent ability to produce songs that are equal parts intelligent, emotional, challenging, and fun. Quite frankly I’m starting to think…

CMJ Day Three: A Triumphant Return To Mediocrity

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The disadvantage of being an “actual college student” while covering CMJ is that you have to, you know, go to college. When I got home from the Beach House show at 2:30 a.m. Thursday, I had to write my recap post then and there because I had class starting at 9:30. Which means that I was facing last night on three hours of sleep and a full day of school. Under the circumstances I decided to take it as easy as possible last night, so I headed over Pete’s Candy Store in Williamsburg hoping it would be a hype-free zone with seating. The good news is that I was right on both accounts; the bad news is that people are still trying to drive me slowly insane with generic folk. A more nuanced assessment of that situation, plus some Western swing, after the jump.

First things first: I again came up empty-handed on CMJ Bingo, this time because I was in an extremely low foot traffic area at a very small venue. However I will say that for the first time in my life I actually wished I had some Sparks, as I think the whole experience would have been greatly improved by being both drunk and a lot more energetic.

When I showed up Shelley Green was already strumming away on the narrow back room’s tiny stage. This girl really broke my heart because immediately I just knew that I was going to review her set with a snide and reductive comment such as, “Sounded like Fiona Apple’s 30-minute rendition of ‘I Will Follow You Into the Dark.’ ” And it totally did; all of her songs were simple strumming within a similar batch of chords (here I admit to being technically deficient when it comes to music–all I know is that they all sounded very similar and also very much like “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”). I really feel bad about being so dismissive because she was competent and earnest, and her voice was actually quite interesting, but at this point if you’re going to stand on a stage alone and emote with nothing but an acoustic guitar around your shoulder you have to be really really good. Only the most skilled of songwriters can make it work.

But in the interest of not being completely negative I will say that her song “My Balance” (which is on her MySpace) is quite charming and comes very close to having that magical combination of elements that make a song worth while, and her cover of “You Belong to Me,” during which she successfully channeled Judy Garland, was by far the shining moment of her set.

Next up was My Imaginary Friends. In their best moments this band played really entertaining Western swing, and in their lesser moments kind of boring standard piano pop:

“Hello Miss McGinty”

It was a treat to hear warm Americana-ish music (complete with mandolin!) in such a cozy setting, but unfortunately about half of the set was skewed toward the band’s piano songs, which were far inferior. If I had to give you a descriptive point of reference, I’d say they sounded a lot of like an edgier Sara Bareilles.

At that point I was fading fast, but I resolved to stay through at least one more band. Unfortunately that band was Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons.

The Wandering Sons, for some reason, were not present. Perhaps they’d had it up to here with Cory’s uniquely boring blend of adult contemporary and Zach Braff soundtrack. So it was just Cory, his acoustic guitar, and a female backup singer. To give yourself an idea of what this sounded, like listen to “So Wrong For Me” on his MySpace. I stayed through two songs and then had to leave because I was either going to fall asleep or be driven to the edge of sanity by the overwhelming banality.

I missed The Shivers. Judging from the MySpace they’re sort of interesting but I was so tired I never would have made it through the entire set.

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CMJ Day Four: Idolator Goes Back To Spain, Gets Carded

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After much begging, pleading, questioning of press credentials, and discussion of karma, the doorman at The Annex mercifully let me–and my hands, each of which was decorated with a massive “X”–into Friday’s “Sounds of Spain” showcase. I went in expecting to find mostly mediocre psychedelia and mumbly alt-rock (Spain’s genres of choice), and came out pleasantly surprised. I’d like to dedicate this post to that reluctant but accommodating door man; he was the only one to let me in anywhere on Friday. Join me after the jump for hot Spanish dudes and the unfortunate experience of being an actual 20-year-old college student at CMJ.

I am happy to report that I marked off the “mutton chops” square in my game of CMJ Bingo. And they were Spanish mutton chops, so I think I should receive some form of extra points.

Unfortunately for me the showcase apparently started promptly at 1:00, so the time I arrived I’d already missed Underwater Tea Party.

“The Untold Story about Mary and Nick”

For those who read Spanish, their blog is adorable.

So the first band I saw was Cuchillo. When they started their set I was skeptical because it definitely did have the retro psychedelia vibe that mars so much of Spanish rock, but they grew on me as a result of some of their more shoegazey tendencies.

“Breathing Again”

As you can see, they have lots of fun tricks like live recording and layering and playing the drums with maracas.

Next up was Aaron Thomas, who’s from Australia but now based in Madrid. He was pretty standard singer/songwriter fare, but good at it at least, and he had a great band. His music wasn’t compelling or cutting edge, but it was boppy and catchy and entertaining to watch live; kind of the musical equivalent of a boring sweater that you know is drab and kind of ugly but comfortable, and you like it anyway.

“Wasted or Crazy”

“Black Umbrella”

And the last band I saw before I had to leave was Depedro. This was the closest I saw to a truly “Spanish” band in the more traditional sense. They had a nice blend of rock and folksier Spanish genres (forgive me, despite my experience with the country I know virtually nothing about its musical history–but I believe they’re borrowing some elements from more traditional sounds; please correct me if I’m wrong). More than anything, their appeal was in their general loveliness.

“La memoria”

At the beginning of this video he says he was looking to create music which “transmits heat and hooks people.” I think that’s a pretty apt way to describe it.

I had to leave one song into The Right Ons‘ set (out of obligation, not disgust). They seemed like an OK rock band, albeit one that shares Spain’s slightly irksome obsession with ’60s rock. I also missed We Are Standard.

Just as I was about to set out for round two, I got a text from a friend I was originally planning to meet at the New York Noise showcase at Cake Shop about how they were strictly enforcing the 21+ rule at the door, so I thought I’d be cute and check out the hardcore/death metal showcase at Bowery Poetry Club. But when I got there a fight had just broken out. People were bleeding, so I decided that novelty metal coverage was not worth bodily harm and headed over to the nearby Lit Lounge, where I was informed by the doorman that the NYPD was cracking down, and no I could not get in, no not even with Xs on my hands, no not even with a press pass. Still determined, I walked down to the Lower East Side and tried to get into Arlene Grocery, mistakenly believing that it might actually be a grocery store with no door policy. I was wrong on both accounts. I thought for a moment about trying out Music Hall of Williamsburg to see Dungen and Late of the Pier, but then decided I was too tired and weary for such a hypefest, so I got some ice cream and went home.

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CMJ Day Five: In Search Of A Happy Ending

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Saturday’s Daytrotter/Take the Handle/SnowGhost Music showcase at Brooklyn’s Glasslands Gallery had two things going for it: Wye Oak was on the bill, and it was in the afternoon. Hoping it might end my CMJ coverage on a much-needed high note, I camped out for most of the afternoon and heard some genuinely recommendable music at a lovely, mercifully couch-equipped venue.

For starters, here’s where my CMJ Bingo card stands at the end of the festival: Almost had that diagonal! And for the record I nearly saw a band called I Wrestled a Bear Once, but according to the official rules you have to watch at least one song to mark off the square.

First up was Laura Gibson. I’ve been antagonistic towards solo acoustic sets this week, but Gibson somewhat redeemed the stripped-down singer/songwriter performance for me. While still treading in extremely well-worn territory she has a nuanced way with melodies and song construction, and her soft voice is confident and dynamic. She isn’t doing anything new, but she’s doing it incredibly well. Her music is very pleasant and thoughtful, and sometimes that’s all you really need.

“Come By Storm”

Next was Idolator favorite Wye Oak. If you feel like you hear a lot about this band on the site it’s because they’re just that good. And if you’ve never heard of them I refer you to Maura’s excellent writeup from last year, which is far and away a better and much more skilled description than I could ever conjure; if I may quote directly: ‘…the wall of sound they erected during their set was fortresslike, yet laced with hooks that forced you to focus on individual songs, instead of just the massive amount of noise they were producing.” That’s a perfect way to put it. There’s something enchanted about this band on record, and live they’re even more bewitching, especially for just two people. Their set was disappointingly short, but they played some great-sounding new songs along with a few from If Children.

“Warning”

“I Don’t Feel Young”

My favorite Wye Oak song:

Untitled (New song)

“I Want For Nothing” (Another new song)

Next was Cincinnati band Bad Veins. Built around crashing cymbals and soaring vocals, they’re a little hard to warm up to, but about midway through the set they’d charmed me. Unfortunately the songs on their MySpace don’t transmit quite the same energy as did the live show, so I don’t know that I’d necessarily go out of my way to get the album, but I had a nice time hearing them play live.

“Gold and Warm”

The last band I saw was Cut Off Your Hands, a pretty well-hyped powerpop outfit from New Zealand. To my pleasant surprise they were every bit as fun as the hoopla would suggest, with ferocious percussion and killer hooks.

“Still Fond”

Feeling a little antsy and with the dark cloud of a midterm season looming I left before The End of the World and Luke Temple played.

To close out our CMJ coverage, here is my official list of festival favorites:

PonytailNo KidsMirahBeach HouseCuchilloDepedroLaura GibsonWye OakCut Off Your Hands

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Jimmy Buffett To Swing Florida’s Vote With Nothing But An Acoustic Guitar And A Handle Of Rum

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This weekend, Jimmy Buffett will strap on his boat shoes and head down to Tampa so he can play a free concert in support of Barack Obama‘s attempt to take the crucial swing state of Florida on Election Day. But what will the slogan for this show be? Oh wait, I know.

Why Don’t We Get Drunk And Vote

OK, it’s actually called “Last Chance For Change,” but no matter the name, this is a huge coup for the Obama campaign. If there’s one group that runs the gamut from “nutty drunk liberals” to “straight-laced corporate types who enjoy the occasional fruity rum drink”, it’s Jimmy Buffett fans. And with any luck, the concert will go down something like this:

(Please watch this. I beg of you.)

Also, I’d like to give 10 demerits to the Associated Press for its lede: “The mayor of Margaritaville is jumping into this year’s political fray.” I henceforth ban any mention of Margaritaville from Jimmy Buffett article ledes.

Jimmy Buffett Information Page [BarackObama.com]Jimmy Buffett to sing for Obama [AP]

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Panic At The Disco Go Pastoral

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I spent part of my summer traveling around the country and talking to bandom writers (bandom, in case you are lucky enough to be out of the loop, is fan fiction about emo bands). The overwhelming consensus among my subjects was that the characterization of Panic at the Disco’s Ryan Ross (not the lead singer, the other one) had taken an abrupt turn from fragile emo kid to twee hippie. Judging from this video for their new single “Northern Downpour,” he seems to be angling for yet another shift: Middle school graduation attendee in 1975, complete with goofy haircut.

“Downpour” is paired with a sleepy, visually flat video with a little too much soft focus for my tastes. But the clip pairs nicely with the song, which is as lovely and lackadaisical as an early summer nap in a meadow (they’ve come a long way since their first single). The loose-to-nonexistent narrative and fuzzy, disjointed images make it a hard video to get excited about, but it stays out the way of the song and lets the band stand in the middle of a field and celebrate their new identity as purveyors of bucolic emo folk, so I guess we’ll call it a success. As a festive bonus, please enjoy their novelty Halloween song. (I can just imagine the horror genre bandom stories that this video will inspire.)

Panic At The Disco – Northern Downpour [YouTube]

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MIchael Jackson May Lead A Pack Of Synchronized Zombies Down The Great White Way

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If there’s one thing you can be absolutely sure of, it’s that Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” will never, ever die, thanks to awesomely crappy early-oughts pop-punk, bad rom-coms, and silly world record attempts. So it’s no surprise that rumors are now surfacing about Thriller: The Musical!

The New York Post’s gossip pages are reporting that the John Landis-directed video to the title track of his 1982 album – the biggest-selling in history – is to made into an all-singing, all-dancing stage spectacular.

No word yet as to whether Jackson would be involved, or if any of his other songs would be included, but if it went ahead, the musical would be produced Broadway heavyweight James Nederlander, whose credits include The Lion King, Rent, Wicked and Aida.

Honestly how did this not come about sooner? Talk about a cash cow. If there are two things that the crazed individuals of this world love to spend money on, it’s Michael Jackson and Broadway musicals. If the producers can figure out a way to fit in Clay Aiken, David Archuleta, and/or Tokio Hotel, this could be kryptonite to even the most punishing recession. And it’s not like someone hasn’t thought of bringing together the King Of Pop and the Princes Of Internet Mope-Rock already:

Michael Jackson’s Thriller set for stage? [Guardian]Michael Jackson feat. Tokio Hotel [YouTube]

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Idolator Live-Blogs The 2008 mtvU Woodies: Yes, For Real

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Well, I no longer live in student housing, Rilo Kiley is unfortunately not in the building, and I’ll play the modesty card and argue that I’m not nearly as hilarious as Maura suggests, but yes, here I am again in the mtvU blogging pit (of doom). Oh, it’s not all that bad. The music is really loud and the table is far too high (or maybe it’s the chairs that are too low) to type comfortably, but the staff is very friendly and there are free mini-hamburgers so we’ll call it even.

8:13 p.m. Some guy dressed like a frat boy on laundry day is singing a song about beer pong. COLLEGE!!!!!

8:17 p.m. Cool Kids are performing a crowd pleasing “SCREEAAAM!” type song and laundry frat boy is crowd surfing. I’m trying to figure out how blogs work so things might be a bit bumpy for a few minutes…

8:23 p.m. Best Video award goes to Motion City Soundtrack. They didn’t say which song! Oh well, the video director just yelled Texas A&M at the end of her speech, I think. What?

8:26 p.m. Just looked it up–that fratty guy’s name is Asher Roth. He was saying something on the red carpet about bringing back good times hip-hop. Are you confused yet? Don’t worry, we’re in this together. Also, I should mention that I’m publishing without an editor so it might get a little ugly.

8:33 p.m. Ok, I may have figured out how this works. Let’s go. The girl who played the rebel character in the movie Saved! just introduced Lykke Li.

8:37 p.m. Lykke Li is beating the shit out of a cymbal and playing a kazoo. COLLEGGEEE MUUUUSIIIIC! But seriously she sounds good live. If you like suspiciously adept Scandinavian pop artists she’s a good bet.

8:44 p.m. Some guy has joined Lykke Li on stage. Who is it? I feel as if I should know. Shit, everyone is waving their hands and they know who he is! It’s a kind of funky song. 8:50 p.m. You know, this event is a lot like college actually. Right now I feel just like I felt during my Natural Science midterm a few weeks ago: I didn’t study hard enough, and everyone else seems to know more than I do. It was Q-Tip who came out during Lykke Li’s song, by the way. See? Just like in Science I get a C+ in music blogging.

8:55 p.m. Chromeo just won the Left Field Woodie.

8:59 p.m. Haha I’m looking at Drake from Drake and Josh (a Nickelodeon show). He looks bored. The DJ just put on “Paper Planes” and the crowd is loving it. Rest assured that will be the go-to party song of the next three years. I’m eating some french fries that I stole and put in my jacket pocket.

9:05 p.m. Oh, shit, the DJ just Rickrolled us (there’s a big screen projecting music videos during the breaks). 9:08 p.m. Moby went to UConn

9:11 p.m. Best Music on Campus Woodie goes to…The Bride Who Wore Black. Emo-types who go to NYU, actually.

9:13 p.m. Mark Fucking Hoppus is on stage, man. I walked very close to him in the free food room and 13-year-old me was very pleased. He’s hot these days, I have to say. He’s being obnoxious, as usual. Introducing All Time Low. But he’s making fun of asymmetrical haircuts, so OK.

9:18 p.m. All Time Low: a decent pop-punk band seven years too late. Ohhh my, they have dancing girls in sparkly bikinis! Things just got a whole lot more like a pro football cheerleading session in here. 9:24 p.m. Ok, they gave away a Breaking Woodie award to There for Tomorrow, whoever they may be. 9:30 p.m. We’re in a commercial break, so let’s take a minute to reflect on the red carpet. One of my favorite moments was when I talked to the dudes from the All American Rejects about the documentary Okie Noodling (the band is from Oklahoma). I was telling this to my friend on AIM just now and she said something that I think more or less defines my career in music blogging: “You do realize you’re the exact person 14-year-olds want to kill. Like that ungrateful, smart ass person that gets to meet emo celebrities and talk bullshit with them.”

9:34 p.m. Debbie Harry wearing a heinous wig (oh God, does she have cancer?) introducing Santogold. Santogold lives up to hype–give her a listen. She’s currently wearing what looks like an LSU marching band uniform from 1985. It’s purple and gold lemme, matching eye shadow. She sounds good live. Everyone so far has been surprisingly up to snuff live and the sound is not half bad in here.

9:41 p.m. Spank Rock is here now in Santogold’s set. Do the Woodies just keep him around to terrorize the award show? He was outta hand last year, if I remember correctly.

9:44 p.m. An “internet comedian” is presenting the Good Woodie award (for bands that are charitable or something). The Guy from Jack’s Mannequin aka The Guy from Something Corporate won. Ok, ok I admit that I thought he was cute on the red carpet. Weird, squirrely, mustache-having, but endearing. He said he was afraid of the internet, and I respected him for that.

9:50 p.m. Break time at the Roseland Ballroom. Let’s talk red carpet. Yes, I did discuss the song “Konstantine” with the guy from Something Corporate (he was a good sport), Santi White of Santogold was really pretty up close, and apparently asymmetrical haircuts are still a thing. I think that’s about all you’d need or want to know, really.

10:00 p.m. All American Rejects making boner jokes, promoting their new album, being flippant about this awards show (the nerve!). They’re presenting Woodie of the Year. Lil Wayne, MGMT, Paramore, Santogold, and it goes to…Paramore. The dudes in AAR just mooned the audience with Paramore written on their asses. At least I think that’s what happened. I looked up and I saw ass. Anyway, Paramore won. The lead singer of AAR made a lurid thrusting motion. You know how it goes. 10:06 p.m. Vampire Weekend performing with Chromeo. Sounds like Vampire Weekend performing without Chromeo at this point. Oh wait, the heavier guy in Chromeo is doing some vocoder action. 10:10 p.m. Vampire Weekend is cute. Maybe that’s just my WASP roots talking, but I can’t help it. They sound a lot better than they did on SNL. Aaaaand now they’re playing A-Punk. Wise choice. The kids are loving it. Music for privileged white people in New York by privileged white people in New York.

10:16 p.m.: It’s done. Final thoughts when I get home.

FInal thoughts: This year’s show was about the same experience as last year’s, though perhaps a little more smoothly run, and with free food! Santogold was my favorite performance, but really everyone sounded decent to genuinely entertaining. It was not a half bad show, though the question remains: who cares? A few people flipping through the channels in dorm rooms will catch it, and I suppose a few who get mtvU on fancy cable, but beyond that the Woodies are relegated to live-blogs and internet photo galleries. And it’s almost a shame, too. Despite any crankiness, when I think about it the Woodies are short, reasonably relevant, not too self-serious, and an excuse for shameless erection humor, which is more than any other televised award show can say for itself.

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Michael Jackson Continues His Journey Toward Infinite Creepiness

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What is it about the spooky shell of a human known as Michael Jackson that inspires people to make such monumentally misguided decisions? Some people entrusted their children to him; now comes word that someone had the genius idea to advance him huge sums of money for an album he never produced and was never going to in the first place because he’s not capable of earthly functions anymore. Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa of Bahrain, apparently operating under the assumption that Jackson could somehow be restored to his previous glory, pumped millions into a record deal for Jackson in the hopes of reviving his career. Now Jackson claims that the money was a “gift” and Sheikh Abdulla is taking him to court in London for the sum of £4.7 million. Hold on, though–that whole series of events may be pretty sketchy, but it’s just not weird enough to be a Jackson story yet.

Michael Jackson could be made to fly to the High Court in London to testify in a breach of contract case, despite his doctor saying he is unfit to travel.

The court heard the singer was waiting on test results about an unspecified condition and that “even in a best-case scenario it would be unwise to travel”.

However, lawyers for Sheikh Abdulla Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa said he could be “bandaged up” and appear in person.

This “unspecified condition” is really just “being Michael Jackson.” But here’s the part that really gets the skin crawling:

The doctor has advised that Jackson would not be fit to travel regardless of the results.

But medical experts consulted by the defence team said that pathology results relating to such a condition would usually take 48 hours, Sheikh Abdulla’s lawyer Bankim Thanki said.

As Mr Jackson had seen the doctor ten days ago, Sheikh Abdulla was “rightly sceptical” about the doctor’s letter, Mr Thanki added.

The defence team’s experts also said that, even if test results were positive, it would be possible for Mr Jackson to fly to London with “suitable dressings”.

Suitable dressings?” OK, it’s official. Michael Jackson is now Jeff Goldblum in The Fly.

What else could explain such cryptic statements? Oh wait, maybe his crooked doctor is just being weird and vague because Michael Jackson is a desperate nutjob in need of an excuse to flee from his own terrifying reality. The question is, what’s going to happen when he runs out of money to pay doctors for their “Please excuse Michael from life today” notes? One shudders to think about the prospect of this narrative getting even more tragic.

Jackson ‘too sick’ for court case [BBC]

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Mark Hoppus Cranks The Blink-182 Rumor Mill

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It’s been four years since Blink-182 petered out after their peculiar Robert Smith phase (which was not terrible, but just something of a death rattle). In the interim Mark Hoppus has been blogging heavily and producing generic pop-punk, while Tom DeLonge has dedicated himself to exploring the deepest depths of nauseating self-importance. It seemed for a while that the once fantastically crude duo would never reconcile their divergent life paths. But! According to Hoppus’ latest blog post there may actually be a glimmer of hope for a second Belle Époque of fart jokes.

in the midst of everything else that has happened lately, tom, travis, and i have all spoken together. first through a number of phone calls, and then a couple of weeks ago we all hung out for a few hours. they’ve all been great, very positive conversations. we’re just reconnecting as friends after four years of not talking. it’s a good thing. obviously the first question for a lot of people will be “does this mean a blink-182 reunion?” the answer is none of us know. we haven’t talked about it at all. right now it’s just good for the three of us to see one another, reconnect, and let the past be the past. the events of the past two months supersede everything that happened before. life is too short.

There’s no telling what they’ll come out with if they actually do get back together, but here’s sincerely hoping that the re-formed Blink-182 is a little more “Dammit” and a little less “Down.”

Hello Again. [himynameismark]

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No. 78: Wye Oak, “I Want for Nothing”

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It used to be that you had to lurk on fan sites and wait for someone to post a concert bootleg to hear unreleased material from your favorite bands, but that process has since been boiled down to a single YouTube search. Case in point: “I Want for Nothing,” an unreleased track by Baltimore’s Wye Oak.

As with any band that I particularly like, I consistently check the YouTube results for Wye Oak to keep an eye out for new songs and good performance videos that I can watch as part of my elaborate life procrastination ritual. In April I found that high quality videos from an entire concert had been posted, and it was like Christmas morning. “I Want For Nothing” became daily listening.

As with most of the duo’s music, “Nothing” is kind of a hard track to put your finger on. The two adjectives that first came to mind were “slinky” and “grinding,” but then it occurred to me that those two words are actually somewhat at odds. The frantic guitar strumming and aching vocals lend a forceful urgency and messy uneasiness, but, as always with Wye Oak, there’s an ingenious melody buried underneath the noise.

(Side note: If you made a video montage of stupid cat shenanigans set to this song it would more or less define my experience of the Internet in 2008.)

80 ’08 (And Heartbreak)

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Heartbreak No. 1: “Mamma Mia” Misses The Essence Of ABBA

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In addition to choosing our 80 favorite musical recordings, people, places, movements, and events of the year, Idolator has also chosen eight of its least favorites of 2008. In the first Heartbreak, Kate Richardson looks at a movie that misses an opportunity to immortalize Sweden’s greatest pop group—and its greatest ’70s fashion plates—on the big screen.

I saw Mamma Mia three times in theaters this summer. On the one hand it’s a garish, uncomfortable, oftentimes embarrassing, poorly directed spectacle that somehow makes even Meryl Streep look like an amateur, but on the other hand… there’s a sort of feel-good vibe infused throughout the entire mess that made it strangely irresistible to me. I was fascinated by this movie, how something could be so outrageously awful and yet still somehow genuinely appealing.

Still, Mamma Mia remains a missed opportunity. I’ve never seen the Broadway show, but I’ve heard that it’s more or less awful. The movie was a chance to reverse that—to do justice to the brilliant concept of an ABBA musical and all the campiness it implies. The music is so tightly constructed and richly produced; it deserves a strong visual treatment, something along the lines of the band’s distinctive music videos, which were edited and choreographed with perfect symmetry. But instead of an homage to the order and geometry of ABBA’s music and aesthetic, the movie is a visual free-for-all of meandering dance numbers (“Dancing Queen,” for instance, ends with Meryl jumping off of a pier for no apparent reason), and indistinct cinematography. (What is an ABBA-themed visual experience without soft focus and four-way split screens?)

Perhaps none of that has a place in a mainstream film that’s not actually about ABBA, but a more ambitious movie could have conveyed the narrative while at the same time capturing the band’s glitzy, excessive essence. Instead, Mamma Mia is a fluffy mess. This clip just about sums it up: Meryl Streep’s face superimposed over a roulette wheel, Christine Baranski sitting on a jet ski on the deck of a boat:

80 ’08 (and Heartbreak)

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No. 74: Jenny Lewis, “Acid Tongue”

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In the era of Autotune, Jenny Lewis went analog. Acid Tongue is a testament to the sheer power of true musicianship. An organic, forceful album that feels like the upswing of a good beer buzz, it hops from folk to country to blues with impressive ease and effortless charm, and the title track is its triumphant centerpiece.

Unlike the sprawling, ambitious show-stopper “The Next Messiah,” “Acid Tongue” is a sweet, simple and utterly heartbreaking campfire singalong. With nothing but her acoustic guitar and a couple of backup singers, Lewis strips music to its core and proves that the singer-songwriter format can still pack a mighty punch.

Above all, “Acid Tongue” is timeless. So much of the music we consume now is either explicitly (in the lyrical content) or implicitly (the digital recording process) influenced by modern technology, but “Acid Tongue” exists outside of chronology. Before there was Pro Tools and the Internet and after both are obliterated in whatever futuristic technology apocalypse that awaits us, people were and always will be “a little drunk and lookin’ for company.” It’s a profoundly human song, and by far one of the most honest-feeling tracks I heard all year.

80 ’08 (and Heartbreak)

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No. 43: The Curious Rise Of Jobromance

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2008 will go down as the year that fan fiction and tribute videos finally realized their inevitable, terrifying synthesis. “Jobromance” is a generic term for a mashup of sorts, one made of a video consisting of Jonas Brothers content (which could consist of a picture, several pictures, or a video clip) and a corresponding narrative featuring the Jonas Brothers and other various teen stars, which is pasted into the clip’s “about” field.

For the month of April I followed emogurl810’s Jobromance saga. It was both entertaining and harrowing, and by the end I was only just barely staving off raging insanity. Depending on how you look at it, this new phenomenon is either a charming way for bored teens to exorcise their crazed hormonal obsessions and hone their creative writing skills, or it’s a gaping black hole of vapid, celebrity-obsessed idiocy and terrible grammar. I’m still not sure which, but it’s an interesting facet of culture either way, and if there’s anything that defines 2008 it’s the mass proliferation of YouTube and bewildering JoBro fandom.

Earlier: Crucial Recapping80 ’08 (and Heartbreak)

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No. 23: Santogold, “Lights Out”

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“L.E.S. Artistes” may be the punchy, widely hyped lead track on Santogold’s self-titled debut, but the real gem of the album is “Lights Out.” There’s an effortless appeal about the song that both enhances and downplays its greatness. Singer Santi White’s breezy vocals drift over the hefty bass line, while other hooky background elements—a fuzzy guitar riff, some floating backup harmonies—weave in and out of the track, creating an irresistible, almost maddening pop song.

But for all its strictly sonic goodies, perhaps the most appealing thing about “Lights Out” is its lack of grating Brooklyn-ness. The band’s home borough certainly shows through in the album’s numerous art-rock moments, but “Lights Out” is a safe zone—it’s tinged by the innate smartness that spans Kings County, but not spoiled by its pretension.

Ed. note: We’d be remiss not to mention the Bud Lime commercial:

Santogold [MySpace]“Lights Out” [YouTube]80 ’08 (and heartbreak)

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No. 12: Alphabeat Gets “Wonky”

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Let’s face it: Wonky Pop has not exactly moved mountains in the past year. America has not yet gone down to its collective river to pray to the shiny Nordic purveyors of high quality throwback pop, and at this point it appears as if this country likely never will be saved by scary-good Scandinavian music. (No, not even Annie.) But that certainly doesn’t detract from Alphabeat’s aggressive charm.

“Fascination” still glistens every bit as much as it did this summer, and yet is no more popular here than the day it was born into this world in a sunburst of fresh laundry and morning dew. And it’s not for lack of spunk or style. Behold this video for their song “10,000 Nights”:

Singer Anders SG (one of three Anders in the band) is—dare I say—way cuter than any of the Jonas Brothers, and he could beat them all at basketball. Just saying. But regardless of my own heartthrob proclivities, 2008 will go down as the year of the Jonas, and not, unfortunately for Alphabeat, the year we embraced a Hall & Oates revival.

Fascination [YouTube]10,000 Nights [YouTube]Alphabeat [MySpace]80 ’08 (and heartbreak)

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The Clique Girlz’ Sugary Sisterhood Might Be Turning A Bit Sour

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It seems that the understandably pallid career trajectory of nobody’s favorite tweensploitation group, the Clique Girlz, is maybe, finally going to pick up with a promotion deal for Baby Bottle Pop, aka “nipple-shaped candy.” But one fan site is disseminating the rumor that Ariel Moore (the blonde one (haha!)) plans on leaving the group before she can shill Michael Eisner’s sugary anatomically correct wares. At this point it’s just a rumor, but were it to come true (heaven forbid!), what would this mean for the Girlz? A giant purple nurple on their promotion deal? Resetting the Autotune to “two-part harmony” and forging ahead? Crassly casting a replacement? The Internet has a few ideas.

First we go to the original source of the rumor, Tommy2.net:

T2 Exclusive: We’ve learned that after a four year run with the Clique Girlz, Ariel Moore has decided to leave the group and their management. Over the next few weeks more details are bound to come out, although initially it looks as if she’s looking to do something new. So what does the future hold? From what we’ve heard, Ariel will be pursuing a solo career, writing and recording with some of the best in the business as well as experimenting with her sound. As for the Clique Girlz debut release Incredible, we’ll just have to wait and see?

Right, so, Ariel is definitely leaving and she’s contracting the oldest, whitest, most desperate producer she can find in L.A. to write a crappy dance track for her (at least that’s how I decode that paragraph). But the Clique Girlz Media comments section offers other opinions:

lol doubt it. I was just with my singing teacher on Sunday who taught them for years….things are going great.

Last sunday they started to film a pilot staring all three of them.

So she’s not leaving, and there’s a specific individual in New Jersey who taught these girls to sing like boozed-up cruise ship cabaret performers.

Personally I think Ariel sings an equal amount.

The problem is really with our own ears. Ariel sings more of the richer, deeper harmonies while Paris takes the melody or the top harmony. Paris has a very distinctive voice so you tend to hear/listen to her above the other voices blending more

.

We’re the problem.

I’ve been following the girls for a long time now and let’s be real. Things were not great. Anyone with half a brain could see she wasn’t being given the same opportunities as the other two girls, who happen to be the daughters of the groups manager and the groups sound person. Why is it that every time I went to a show Ariel’s microphone was turned way down, much lower than Destinee’s or Paris’s? Why is it that Ariel rarely got a chance to speak in the videos and when she did, they cut her off typically? Why is it that she got very little parts in most of the songs? Take a look at the music video for their song incredible. In at least two places in the video you can see Ariel just NOT happy. I have a friend who is close to the situation and she’s told me that there have been big issues for many months. That she hasn’t been happy for a long time and that there has been a lot of hatred, dishonesty, pain, suffering and emotional and physical and mental abuse from the manager of the group Lenore. Everyone I know knows its true cuz we keep hearing the same things from all sorts of kids that know the situation from closer up. what a shame that it had to come to this. i really hope ariel does decide to go solo because she deserves the chance to be successful in music. im not saying i dont wish the best for paris and destinee cuz they are really talented too but i think they have lost track of who they really are and their parents have let them down in a way no parent should ever let their kids down. what a shame its come to this

The most absurd thing about this paragraph is that she can only pinpoint two instances of unhappiness in that video.

Meanwhile, Daniel Radosh sheepishly asserts that this is perhaps a strategic move on the group’s part to “shed their, um, least conventionally attractive member… at the precise moment when their career most needs a jump start.” Considering the kind of people we’re dealing with here, this theory is not so far-fetched; however, I see it mainly as an insult to the group’s homogeneity. Perhaps Ariel is slightly goofier-looking than the other two (though I even fail to make that distinction, really), but in general terms they’re fairly indistinct.

But let’s dispense with the rumormongering and theorizing. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding, and in this case the pudding, as it were, is on Craigslist:

CASTING 13 to 15 year old GIRLS for the hit Teen Pop/Rock Group

Up and coming Interscope Records Pop/Rock Recording Group Clique Girlz have several upcoming live performances, tours and a pilot in the works. We are seeking one more girl to complete the group.

MUST be strong POP/ROCK VOCALISTS, who can HARMONIZE & MOVE WELL No taller than 5’3” please

AUDITIONS Saturday, 1/31/09 2:00pm (Open Call)

LOCATION: Center Staging – Studio 3 3407 Winona Ave. Burbank, CA 91504

Please bring head shot and resume. Be prepared to sing the National Anthem (acapella), 1 pop song and 1 ballad to track. Please bring a CD with BOTH music tracks only. One parent per child at the audition please. *MUST BE AVAILABLE TO TRAVEL*

Visit our website: http://www.cliquegirlz.com/

For further inquiries, please contact Susan Salgado at tripletcasting@earthlink.net

IMPORTANT NOTICE: If the Talent is from out of town, please make sure they make arrangements to be available for callbacks in the event they make it to the next level.

Most importantly, they must be willing to relocate to Los Angeles, CA at their own expense. This group is going to blow up and just came back from a successful tour with CHEETAH GIRLS.

Please visit their website (http://www.cliquegirlz.com) and get familiar with their music and submit accordingly. The vocals must fit a Pop/Rock vibe; NOT Pop/R&B. We don’t want to waste the Talent’s time.

Thanks for understanding!

“Pop/Rock vibe; NOT Pop/R&B! We want white girls? You hear?! White!” But really my favorite part of the ad is the breezy “Thanks for understanding!” at the end there, as if to say, “We want to take your short, blond tween daughter, interrupt her education, dress her in hyper-sexualized clothes, tour her around mall parking lots, use her image to sell nipple-shaped candy, then dump her back on you in a couple of years with low self-esteem and a penchant for party drugs. Thanks for understanding!”

Ariel Moore leaving the Clique Girlz? [Clique Girlz Media]Breaking: Clique Girlz are breaking [Radosh.net]

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La Búsqueda De La Música Mexicana: Part 1

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Recently the New York Times ran a feature about working-class Mexican immigrants using their cell phones rather than iTunes to buy and listen to music, which, as you can imagine, has sent both music and telecommunications types into a tizzy. The poster children of this new era of regional Mexican cell phone music are the members of Los Pikadientes de Caborca, a ragtag group of musicians from rural Sonora whose song “La Cumbia del Río” went viral via cell phones and eventually landed them a record deal with Sony. The song is fun and bouncy and exactly the kind of thing that one should play through a cell phone, but Mexico is a huge country of almost 110 million people and it’s, you know, right next door. So I figured it was high time that coverage of Mexican music delved a little deeper than business models built on novelty songs.

First a note about my methodology: as the consistently least professional member of the Idolator team I did not turn to charts and statistics for my information; instead, I asked a Mexican friend of mine to give me a list of bands that she likes from her homeland. I invite any knowledgeable readers to please add to the discussion, because obviously I will have missed a lot of great bands.

Let’s begin with the past. Caifanes were huge in the late-’80s Mexican Rock en Español scene. According to Wikipedia they made their debut in 1987 at a club called—and if only all venues could all be named so awesomely—Rockotitlan. Their first album came out in 1988, and had the following singles:

“Mátenme porque me muero” (“Kill Me Because I’m Dying”)

Even if you don’t like the song you can at least learn from the title how to be really melodramatic in Spanish.

“Viento” (“Wind”)

So by this point let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room: They’re a little bit like The Cure. But they at least have the decency to write good Cure-like songs, and to tell you the truth the more or less blatant ripoff doesn’t really bother me.

“La negra Tomasa”

This is probably the most interesting of theirs that I’ve heard. Basically what they did here was pout all over a cumbia, and that’s certainly an interesting approach if nothing else.

The band lasted until 1995 and their latter-day sound took a turn towards that territory of gauzy mid-’90s radio rock where the Gin Blossoms and Blues Traveler live.

“No dejes que…”

So ineffectual, and yet so pleasing.

The lead singer eventually went on to form the massively popular band Jaguares.

Now turning to present-day Mexico: Natalia Lafourcade, who, according to my friend, is “un poco pija pero es buena” (“a bit of a spoiled rich kid but she’s good”). In this way and many others she is much like Lily Allen: kind of a small cute girl with a good enough voice, “quirky” fashion sense, and really excellent producers. “Azul,” from her most recent album Hu Hu Hu, is exemplary (embedding has been disabled by request, but the trip all the way over to YouTube is worth it).

The other single off her new album, “Ella es bonita,” is also quite winning:

What Lafourcade and her producers seem to have smartly learned from Gwen Stefani is that you really can’t go wrong with a marching band in the background. Both “Azul” and “Ella es bonita” have that super-satisfying cacophonous horn/drum stomp, plus nice little glockenspiel riffs, and the one-two punch totally works on suckers like me.

Comparing her to Lily Allen is perhaps a bit harsh, since it appears from various live videos I’ve seen that she has decent guitar chops. Two singles from her 2005 album Casa stand out in particular:

Casa” (embedding disabled) This is a great mixture of bossa nova and pop, and hey… is that a portrait of Salvador Allende on the mantle? Right on.

Un pato“ More or less straight up bossa nova. This song was used in the opening credits of the excellent Mexican film Temporada de patos, which makes it even better. Here’s a live performance:

And, finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention that she and her band also recorded a cover of “Piel canela” for a Tin Tan tribute album. Here’s the original:

And for those of you who are not so easily sucked in by evil pop producers there’s Control Machete, a rap group out of Monterrey with an early-’90s West Coast sound.

“Así son mis días”

“Humanos mexicanos”

If ever there was a subject for socially conscious rap it’s immigration and cultural hegemony, so I’m glad to see these tíos doing it.

You may remember this song from the movie Amores perros and/or a Levi’s ad from a while back:

“Sí señor”

So that concludes the first installment of our musical journey south of the Río Bravo (that’s what they call the Rio Grande in Mexico!). Future installments of this feature to come, but, again, feel free to make suggestions in the comments section.

Control Machete [MySpace}Natalia Lafourcade [Myspace]

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