New Music / Music Video: Arctic Monkeys, Cornerstone

10.23.09

Song: Cornerstone
Artist: Arctic Monkeys
Album: Humbug
Label: Domino / Warner Bros.
Notes: 2nd single from LP
Analysis: ‘Cornerstone’ has a simple, slowly-strummed sweetness to it that Arctic Monkeys songs don’t usually go for, as far as I know. Here, Alex Turner sings a tune about (or at least what I interpret as) wanting to pretend that every woman he meets is a different woman in particular, and in the end settles for the woman’s sister. It’s the kind of song that I picture will get the crowd of a Monkeys show swaying back and forth and singing grinningly.

New Music / Music Video: Frightened Rabbit, Swim Until You Can’t See Land

10.22.09

Song: Swim Until You Can’t See Land
Artist: Frightened Rabbit
Album: The Winter of Mixed Drinks
Label: Fat Cat Records
Notes: 1st single from LP
Analysis: ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ is a song about abandoning all hope and getting the hell out of dodge before the worst hits the horizon.

Dip a toe in the ocean. Oh how it hardens and it numbs.
And the rest of me is a burgeoned man
built to collapse into crumbs.
And if I hadn’t come down
to the coast to disappear,
I may have died in a land-slide
of the rocks, the hopes and fears.

New Music / Music Video: Death Cab for Cutie, Meet Me On the Equinox

10.21.09

Song: Meet Me on the Equinox
Artist: Death Cab for Cutie
Album: New Moon (OST)
Label: Atlantic Records
Notes: 1st single from LP
Analysis: Death Cab has had a great 2009 thus far. Riding the success of their near-perfect 2008 LP Narrow Stairs, they released two of my favorites from the album: ‘Cath…‘ and ‘Grapevine Fires‘ as singles this year, followed by the equally-superb The Open Door EP followup that further cemented my admiration of this band. ‘Meet Me On the Equinox’ is a track written specifically for the soundtrack to a teen-fad film franchise of the last couple of years; New Moon.

Music Video: The Killers, The World We Live In

05.21.09

Song: The World We Live In
Artist: The Killers
Album: Day & Age
Label: Island Records
Notes: 3rd single from LP
Analysis: If you weren’t feeling the first two singles (‘Human’ and ‘Spaceman‘) from The Killers’ late 2008 release, you might enjoy ‘The World We Live In’ a little bit more. It’s less house music and more prog rock anthem. The video’s a little too icey for my springtime/summer mood, but it’s shot really nicely and Brandon’s wardrobe is only slightly less outrageous than previous videos. It’s as close to Hot Fuss as the album gets, which is the best compliment that I can give a Killers song lately.

Music Video: Modest Mouse, Satellite Skin

05.15.09

Song: Satellite Skin
Artist: Modest Mouse
Album: No One’s First And You’re Next EP
Label: Epic Records
Notes: 1st single from EP
Analysis: Modest Mouse is one of the most important bands in of my generation for me. Back in early 2004 when Good News for People Who Love Bad News came out, they really cracked my taste in music wide open. Before I heard that album I was mainly big into the emo/post-hardcore genre, as well as alternative metal & popular hip hop stuff. But Modest Mouse really introduced me to a lot more sounds and types of music, which happened perfectly right before I went away to college, which was also obviously a huge turning point in my life. Not to get all sentimental, but to this day that album is one of my most played favorites, and I’ve since caught up greatly on the group’s influences, influencees, and learned to love so many new bands and genres in a way that I never could have had I not been given a copy of their cd in 2004. With that out of the way, ‘Satellite Skin’ is a new Modest Mouse track off of their upcoming EP of unreleased joints from the Good News sessions, as well as the We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank b-sides. The sunny, crunchy tune has a bizarrely cool video to go along with it featuring walking birdhouses, alien cults and a disgusting patch of pulsating hairy flesh. You have to wonder how Tool music video animator Kevin Willis could even think up an idea for a storyline this odd, but Modest Mouse is a very imaginative band also so I’m sure they had something to do with it.

Music Video: Phoenix, 1901

05.14.09

Song: 1901
Artist: Phoenix
Album: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Label: V2 Records
Notes: 2nd single from LP
Analysis: Phoenix is arguably one of the hottest bands around right now, thanks to some Saturday Night Live exposure and a stellar new album. I love music videos that can play with lighting effects and come out looking better than an over-expensive cgi’ed video would. That’s pretty much what we have here for ‘1901′, Phoenix’ hyper second single. For those who haven’t heard Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix yet, ‘1901′ is a pretty good representation of everything about it; re: it’s really good.

Album Review Catch-Up, Part 1

05.14.09

There has been so much music coming out over the past few months that I’ve been neglecting a lot of album reviews for the simple fact that I don’t have a whole lot of time. By the time I finally sit down to do an album writeup, there’s 4 or 5 other albums that have my interest. It’s a blessing and a curse to live in this digital age, as we have so much great music right at our fingertips, but not enough time to digest and enjoy it before something new comes along. This especially a problem for someone like me, who loves collecting EVERYTHING. So for the sake of catching up with myself and saving myself time in the future (although a few of these reviews I have half-done already, but am scrapping in favor of this format), here is part one of all of the albums fit for coverage – now in bite size:

New Music: Dinosaur Jr., I Want You to Know

04.30.09

Song: I Want You to Know
Artist: Dinosaur Jr.
Album: Farm
Label: Jagjaguwar Records
Notes: 1st single from LP
Analysis: Now that‘s some artwork. Indie rock legends Dinosaur Jr. are on their ninth record in almost 25 years, and don’t sound like they’ve aged a bit.

Music Video: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Young Adult Friction

04.30.09

Song: Young Adult Friction
Artist: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Album: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Label: Slumberland Records
Notes: 2nd single from LP
Analysis: Don’t let the band name fool you…alright well the music is just as wimpy as it sounds like it’d be. But it’s catchy and at least fun to listen to. It’s also probably the first song that I could ever classify as “library rock”. From the punny song title to the lyrics making reference to moldy pages and microfiche; the song also ends with a singalong chant of “don’t check me out“. Get it? It’s a dorky tune, but that’s the charm.

Music Video: Ducktails, Landrunner

04.30.09

Song: Landrunner
Artist: Ducktails
Album: Landscapes
Label: Olde English Spelling Bee
Notes: 1st single from LP
Analysis: The greatest cartoon theme song of all time is Ducktales. That’s a fact. It’s only natural for a group to finally name themselves after such a classic. This is the first song I’ve heard from them, and it’s all instrumental. I have no idea if all of their stuff is like that, but I like what I hear. It’s a trance-inducing guitar track set to some artsy animation. Easy stuff to kick back to this weekend.