Stop Okay Go

Figures Sold Separately

If you're like me you're sitting at home watching Wipeout eating Goop G.O.R.P. and thinking that you want to say that you're a fan of Major Lazer but you're concerned about feeling buffoonish for not knowing all the members of the Major Lazer posse. There are a lot of them and it's easy to get confused. I KNOW! As they say in those vague pharmaceutical commercials, it is a source of anguish for millions of Americans. So I'ma break down the cast of characters:

• Major Lazer : According to Spin magazine, the cartoon "laser-limbed" vampire killer that serves as the inspiration for the latest project of producers Diplo and Switch.  Philadelphia native Diplo is probably best known for remixes like the one here and for being one of M.I.A's exes.

Besides the ever-present Santigold, the Major Lazer album Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do  has a host of cameos by largely Jamaican artists who value a good formal salutation before their name:

• Ms. Thing:  Real name Nateshia Linesay. Former cosmetologist known for her quick witted dancehall and hitting the top 10 in Jamaica.

• T.O.K.: The New York Times once called them "the world's greatest reggae dancehall boy band."
• Mr. Evil: Backed up Sean Paul in last year's Back It Up.
• Mr. Lexx: Rises in the morning, puts on pants and makes money everyday.
• Mr. Vegas: The more mellow, Maxi Priest guy in the bunch who here teams with Jamaican's answer to Ronnie Specter.
• Mister Mister: No association with the Major Lazer project whatsoever.

Recommended: (Major Lazer is on tour now.)

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The English Lott

 

-Attention Montreal, there's a Stevie Wonder show close to you tomorrow night if Soul Strut is to be believed.

-Attention Houston: The charmingly named country band Clay Walker and the Largest Land Based Fireworks will be hosting a party for 4th of July. Oh excuse me that's not the name of this band,it really is a display of the largest land based fireworks.

-Best Coast's song Up All Night should be used in a romcom, right at the part in the middle where the boy has done something to mess things up with the girl and is looking forlornly out the rain-soaked window. Or, like, pretty much any Michael Cera movie.

-Aw heck...it's awful difficult to assign the easy blue-eyed soul label to someone, like Pixie Lott, when the video is in black and white. How's a hack writer to do her job?? The English Lott will be releasing her album will be releasing her album Turn It Up on September 9th and interestingly has another album coming out with Electronic Arts in simlish for the Sims 3.

Dance 123 Dance

Got this video from Pitchfork.tv obviously, from an album by David Pajo released in April of this year called Scream With Me. The album, available only on vinyl, is boiled down acoustic interpretations of Misfits songs. I'll cop to this being the first time I've heard of David Pajo who our source for today, The Decibel Tolls (thanks!), calls "the most important guitarist since the late 80s."

Listen to the two widely divergent versions and Pajo's precise pluckwork on The Insomnia Song, below.

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Quickies

-Kellie Pickler and Kid Rock have supposedly been secretly dating for more than a year now. "Seems someone in the relationship might be a little embarrassed about breaking the news, we just can't decide who." Heh.

-U2 is doing both the music and casting for Spider-Man the Musical. Nice work on the picture, Rolling Stone.

The Nines Have It

  

The Shane Acker-directed, Tim Burton-produced film 9 comes out on 09.09.09, not so coincidentally.

The CGI/stop motion film  about ragdolls or "stitch dolls" battling machines is not to be confused with the Daniel Day Lewis musical, called Nine, that also comes out this year.

I'm curious to see what bands will be on the soundtrack.  The trailer features "progressive rock outfit" Coheed and Cambria's song Welcome Home.

The band is currently on the "Heaven and Hell" tour with Ronnie James Dio.

Undivided

 

VNV Nation will be playing Club Nokia this coming Saturday. Their name suits them well what with their impassioned, call-to-arms, nation-building sound reminiscent of, yup, Laibach, the Hold Steady, Springsteen or any other act that testosterone carriers bond over prior to administering what's scientifically known as "high fives."Then they up and throw in a bit of Bob Mould/Coldplay senstivity and electronica into the mix to create something a little unexpected.  (They even have a motto.)

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Whatever Happened To

 

Hey speaking of a great vocal hook, I got this in the inbox yesterday: the Don Diablo remix of one of my all time favorite songs by the Roots featuring Cody Chesnutt, this time called The Seed 3.0.. all updated, sparkly and new-like and sheeet.

Why oh why does Cody not get used more? Thom Yorke likes him...that oughta be good for something...

Heads up London, Fresh Prince fan Don Diablo will play Glastonbury on the 28th.

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Designated Singer

Much as I love hip-hop, I still love the value of a good vocal interlude amid all the bluster and huffin' and puffin'. That's where the quiet storm of Matthew Santos comes in, threading his way into your brain. When Santos isn't punching up (his label boss) Lupe Fiasco's tracks, he heads his own folk project.

Pretty Much Amazing has Lupe's latest offering with Santos, Shining Down.

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SMDTV

Funny, just yesterday I was thinking that the phrase "Audacity of Hos" would be a good name for something because hos are pretty audacious when you think about it. Anyway, this is called "The Audacity of Huge*" by Simian Mobile Disco from their album Temporary Pleasure that will be coming out on the 18th of August and features songs by Telepathe, Beth Ditto, Alexis Taylor and Jamie Lidell among others. Close enough. (via Current.) 

*A song about materialism that I think could be answered by this Shania Twain song a la Annie's Anthonio vs. Anthonio's Annie. Or, alternately, Mimi and Eminem.

Yo Yabba Dabba

It only makes sense that with the return of Robin S., Ms.Crystal Waters wouldn't be far behind.

Beat Thrillerz on Myspace

(via)

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NardGwar

-Michael Ian Black says in praise of Weird Al:

"More importantly, he was the first to put Dick Van Patten in one of those music videos. Also, many of his songs aren’t even direct parodies. His latest, “Craiglist,” is a riff on the Doors. Not any song in particular, but the entire oeuvre, which is my favorite word. Ray Manzarek even plays keyboards on the song, which is one of the reasons it sounds so Doorsy."

-B.Ackerlund, Lady Gaga's 'first official' stylist and wife of director Jonas, talks about the Thierry Mugler robots, Swarovski encrusted wheelchairs, and other ambulatory devices used in the Gaga's Paparazzi video (that Jezebel compares to an old Helmut Newton shoot). Hmm, the glamorization of medical supplies. Kinda feelin' it I guess but what it's missing is a scene where she pours Cristal Metamucil over her AARP card, imho.

-Who *hasn't* Nardwuar interviewed??

-Robyn Hitchcock allies himself with Peter Buck and two other members of R.E.M.'s studio band in a project named 'Venus 3.' Not quite supergroup status?

 -A really necessary Listzomania remix with a really long name (via 4'4"):

Daughters

Regina Spektor's excellent new song Laughing With picks up speculating on God's actions where Joan Osborne left off with the song 'One of Us?'

People are always wondering what's up with God.  Maybe it's God's enduring mysteriousness, mystique and stubborn refusal to Twitter that keeps'em comin' back.

In other news:

-Speaking of surreal videos, for my dollar Patrick Daughters, who did Feist's 1-2-3-4 jazzhands Danskins video, is still the best director out there. Creeeepy......

-Brendan Benson is back with a new album called My Old, Familiar Friend slated for an August 18th release. BB works with Foo Fighters producer Gil Norton.

There Where

 
I got to wondering what The Blow has been up to and the answer is, besides Yacht... not much. Khaela and Jona have gone their separate ways and there doesn't appear to be anything new in the works. This is a real shame since I loved Khaela Maricich's work and her menacing voice, especially on the minor hit Pile of Gold back in '06. Here's what is known:

-Info on Khaela's previous band 'Get the Hell Out of the Way of the Volcano' and some duets she did with Jenn Kliese.

-A recently updated blog that Maricich runs called The Touch Me Feeling, ....which led to....

-Art Garfunkel's List of Favorite Books which includes a book by Stephen King, who is known for writing his own lists of favorite *music*.  Wrap your head around that!

(Was hoping to find a Simon & Garfunkel song on one of King's lists. Alas, King only gives props to Paul Simon in his writing. Poor Garfunkel, always a bridesmaid.)

Anyway, here's Maricich singing more sweetly from the Blow's Paper Television:

Sunrise Special

Sorry I've been so busy lately!

Here we have The Go! Team Remix of Black Moth Super Rainbow's Twin of Myself.
All you aspiring DJs (and okay even you a*s perspiring DJ's..) will want to add this to your summer rooftop bbq playlist.

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'Eating Us' the album by BMSR is out now on Graveface Records.
Headsup sexy Eastcoasters with the mosters, BMSR are about to bring their bizarre stage show to a club near you. Tourdates after the

                                                JUMP!

Quickies

-Available now on iTunes and Amazon: Dots To Connect A Tribute to The Prids featuring covers by bands like A Place To Bury Strangers, The Upsidedown and the Suffocation Keep. Proceeds go toward helping pay for the medical bills of members of The Prids, who were severely injured when their van popped a tire and crashed on the I-5.

-Hmm. The Jonas Brothers are #49 and rising on the Elbo.ws hot artist chart.

-Let's Visit Burma: Ozomatli shines a light on Aung San Suu Kyi while in Southeast Asia.

Heart Shaped Hair

Dude, KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic just played the Noisettes' song I Am Atticus, above...and wouldja talk about gawgeous!

She sounds like an old medicine woman; a shaman-ette.
It is one of those songs that is peculiarly sad yet empowering.

Rolling Stone deems the London trio and lead singer Shingai Shoniwa, with her "rye whiskey voice," hypeworthy.

An older song:

New Boyz Edition

Someone just sent this to me...New Boyz have a bonafide disposable summer/dance/ringtone rap hit on their street calloused hands. These guys are from LA and did the song on their own, got a bunch of You Tube hits and (::twinkling Cinderella sound effect::) got signed to Def Jam. Viral homegrown videos are so well produced these days!

Mirrorballboogiepoptabulous

It's amusing to hear about an American artist from someone overseas. That someone, as usual, is Bobby over at B-Town and as usual he brings the good goods. It's like the idea got bounced around the world a few times before arriving back on home soil.

Alan Wilkis is from Brooklyn and found his way into the spotlight after having some of his songs featured in Good Magazine spots.

An older song, Burnin', off the album Babies Dream Big can be found below. The lazy Duane Allman-ish riffs, the falsetto and the echo effect ...which could have possibly sounded a genre-mixing mess somehow all work together nicely here:

alan wilkis' burnin' mp3 was here and it was good.

You Look Mahvelous

-Elizabeth and the Catapult's song Taller Children with its refrain "We're all just taller children" is about how many of us are still kids at heart. So don't feel bad about the $5.95 you just shelled out on that cool ass Water Rocket.

The band's debut album is out now.

taller children mp3 used to be here

-Refinery 29 gives an old album by The Tough Alliance A New Chance. (Yay.)

-I had the 80s on XM radio playing as background music and Martha Quinn was doing a "guess the comedian" game along w/bad Steven Wright impressions (in that endearingly cheery and enthusiastic way she does) and I thought she must at times feel like her life is a Twilight Zone episode where she forever got stuck in the 80s.

-Faith No More starts a joke Live at Brixton. Now with more "bombast."

I Am Captain Folk

-Update on the Jim James/Conor Oberst/M.Ward project: There should be a graphic that places where these bands, such as Tinted Windows, fall along the supergroup scale.... somewhere between as Under the Radar says, "a runaway Traveling Wilburys-like success or a M.O.R. Highway novelty." Although I'd argue that the Traveling Wilburys were actually a very successful novelty.

Regardless of the outcome, I do get a kick out the concept of the supergroup and how this particular band has named itself "Monsters of Folk." Hee hee. This shows a certain amount of tongue in cheek and some much needed humor. The side gig is a probably a good way for seemingly serious, lonely and hard-crafting musicians (wanting to preserve their indie cred) to let off some steam and be reborn into something goofy and bro-tastic.

I wonder if at concerts each individual guy will be introduced the way they do at NBA games.

-Lykke Love. (via Fek)