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++San Francisco's Wolf Larsen sums it up pretty well when calling herself a combo of Leonard Cohen and Cowboy Junkies. (Hmm, probably best to avoid doing a face merging of those entities.)
++An arsonist is on the loose in L.A. and got Jim Morrison's old Laurel Canyon house last night.
++Charlie, Karl Blau's #1 fan...
++"Bathe in a forgotten sonic dreamscape?" Where's the dang memory foam pillow when you need it?
This archive video with Sir Groovyteeth making eyes at this Linda Blair lookalike is completely gratifying and works out much better than had they gone with the Y U No guy, which is the direction I'd have gone...
Pitchfork calls Colleen Green "coffee for your ears."
++This isn't music related but I just love it.
++Via the Needle Drop, today's song is from Britsters Comet Gain and it's one of those weird ones that I want to keep reaching to turn off because it's too damn noisy but can't because it's also pretty good. (I realize that last inane sentence might be the nadir of all the reviews I've done on this site. But it stays because it's TRUE.)
The band's album Howl of the Lonely Crowd is out now and was produced by Edwyn Collins, who is not to be confused with 'hobknocker' Wade Collins.
++IFC describes The Hairs music as "blown out and bulging." Sounds painful!!
++Was listening to 100.3 The Sound this morning and they were talking about how Led Zeppelin's Babe I'm Gonna Leave You was written by Anne Bredon. She heard the band using the song and agreed to continue to let them use it on the condition she'd get royalties and she still gets 50% of its profits, which probably helps support the old arts and crafts biz.
++Eh, I don't know, I don't know what the fuss is about Kanye's skirt over pants "Jennifer Aniston in 1998" look. If he wanted to be really daring and 90s he'd go full on Empire waist.
++This tweet inspired me to look up the new Low album, but I'm not hearing any ritualistic sacrifices?
I think I've written before about how the movie Beautiful Girls had one of my favorite soundtracks. Holy schnikes, it will be 16 years old soon! Anyway, I adore this song from the movie by Pete Droge but the video is hilariously stuck in time/time capsule material.* Things were so intense and message heavy in the 90s. (Well, I guess you could argue that Beyonce's still keeping the message dream alive today, too.)
Droge has a cute website, his own record label called Puzzle Tree and is working with Shawn Mullins and Matthew Sweet these days. Yes, definitely feels like I've already covered this territory but the song above always gets stuck in my craw and I tend to bring up the soundtrack every few years.
++Too punny.
++Hats off to director Eric Gross who directed this thoughtful video by Yellow Ostrich for the song Whale from a few months back. There's a sense of mystery that carries throughout, and the music syncs up perfect to the action in the video (like when the song breaks and he dives into the water). I think in the end dude succumbs and joins the robe people, no?
++Yo, I updated the SOG YouTube page with a few recent favorites. These are highly recommended so definitely check them out!: Kendrick Lamar, ADHD; Orchid, Capricorn; Slow Club, Two Cousins; Max Richter, Luminous; Ron Ron Hey Honey; Ed Sheeran Small Bump and lastly Brandon Flowers' The Clock Was Ticking which might be my favorite discovery of the past year.
++Ooh, Ed Sheeran plays Hotel Cafe on 2/12/12.
++Know who doesn't get enough respect? Danny Elfman, who not only composed the theme for the Simpsons, but he did the brilliant This Is Halloween, Dead Man's Party and the music for the Pee Wee Herman movies. His wiki is pretty fascinating, what with the malaria, hearing loss and how he dated Kim Gordon...
Here are samples of Elfman's fave composers (he's got impeccable taste): Bernard Herrmann, Franz Waxman, Nino Rota, Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
++SO glad to see a relatively new video of people dancing that doesn't include the Sprinkler move.
++There are "at least" 6 bands named Orchid (this is the one I like). An unusual name choice for a doom metal band. Why not Hawkmoth, dudez?
++C'mon Wikipedia, allz I want to know is who produced the Kendrick Lamar ADHD track. Cool Tupac story, though. (Update: Answer-->Soundwave of Digi+ Phonics!)
++This video by Wilhelm Tell Me is not really doing it for me. I like the song though! They missed the opportunity to show more of the charismatic, sneering lead singer comically getting in between the couple trying to smooch. That would've broughten more laffs, but definitely wouldn't be cool enough for these days.
Just checked in over at Neon Gold cuz they're always ahead of the curve and they're excited about the new Alex Winston (of Sister Wife fame) album King Con, that just like everything else, will be coming out in February. I vurry much like this song (a Black Keys cover??) but am even more excited to see if and how Star Slinger mashes and hashes it up.
Update: Yes, here we go. Holy funkay:
Brian Lindegren aka Mux Mool is a Star Trek fanatic who stays up all hours and surviving on beats and energy drinks. The name Mux Mool came from a post asking fans to submit names for his project and Mux is short for "multiplex (or)..the streaming of many types of information through one channel and Chac-Mool is an ancient Meso-American statue of a reclining man."
Mux Mool's Planet High School touches down in February.
++Does David Guetta ever stop smiling?
(Update: I'm building a case for 'no.' Exhibit A: Firsthand observation.)
++Here's the perfect song for chilly weather, in the vein of one of my fave acts : The Cardigans. LA's Erica Sister and Bruce Brother of Blondfire, have long flirted with success and after 10 years of recording together MTV's Hive thinks 2012 might finally be their year.
I'm not going to do a year-end song list but if I did Kendrick Lamar and his unique pronoounciation would be on it...
++Stella McCartney, Emma Bunton and Lulu to cameo in new Muppets AbFab episodes.
++Not to be outdone, Selena Gomez will pop up in the new Harmony Korine flick.
++Tony Bourdain is on the latest WTF podcast and while I'm only halfway through, it's the greatest conversation between two like minded types right at the epicenter of music, comedy and food aka the best topics evah. Recommended.
++Can't believe I missed this! She's coming your way Toronto.
++Uh oh, I feel another supergroup forming.
++The Chemical Brothers have a concert film called Don't Think coming out on 50 screens on February 1st. Their cinematographer used 20 cameras so that viewers could immerse themselves in the concert experience at Japan's Fuji Rock Festival.
See a snippet below. It all sounds very 'Enter the Void'-like.
King Charles isn't exactly my cup of tea, but yous gotta appreciate the fact that he goes all in. No one dances in their videos anymore; who does that? King Charles apparently. Plus he's (they?) already carved out a persona and aesthetic which takes some acts years to do.
These songs are begging to be put on a soundtrack or used in a Big Bang Theory/Zach Braff sitcom theme song. Videos prettily directed by the always brills Autumn de Wilde.
LCD's James Murphy and Pat Mahoney are still surreptiously making their way around different towns under the name 'Special Disco Version'. The duo plays Grand Central in Miami as part of Art Basel tonight. Special Disco Version is being described as a travelling record-playing party.
Update: Just found this video of Murphy and Mahoney and they aren't kidding about the disco.:
