MGMT - Time to Pretend

In a world flooded with Internet-ese - seriously becomes srsly, oh really o rly - management becomes MGMT, a 21st century band with a lot of 1970s leanings. The duo, Andrew Vanwyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, from Connecticut, write psychedelic songs and have seizure-inducing videos and web site (but do check it out, it’s a hoot!).
I read somewhere a comparison to Klaxons, these guys are living in the past.

I don’t think they make any attempts to disguise their influences. In an interview with NME, when asked which other person he would be if he could, AV did say “Robert Plant circa 1973″ after all. But for the most part, he sounds more like Mick Jagger. Not exactly bad company either.
While “Time to Pretend,” has become a hit with the hipster and college crowds, “Electric Feel” is my favorite from “Oracular Spectacular.” Unfortunately, the rest of the album doesn’t quite rise to the occasion. Not horrid, but with only 4 songs out of 10 being really worthy, it’s not quite good enough either.
You can listen to a few songs on the site and watch the Electric Feel video here

The Swell Season - Gigantic
The Frames - Love Will Tear Us Apart

Earlier this month, I saw The Swell Season in concert (The Frames’ Glen Hansard and his “Once” co-star Marketa Irglova). A beautiful experience that made me love Glen all the more. Here are five reasons why he is made of awesome.

1. The man can sing, even without a mic. He started off the concert solo, standing on the edge of the stage with no microphone and sang his guts out on “Say It To Me Now.”

2. He’s gregarious. In fact, he has a hard time shutting up. But we got lots of cool tidbits about the songs and the stories behind them.

3. He’s funny. If his musical career ever fizzles out - I hope not - he’ll have no trouble bouncing back as a standup comedian.

4. He’s obliging. He was about to start singing a song, when someone in the audience interrupted him and requested the Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy song. He kindly obliged and laughed with us.

5. He’s generous. Even though he was the main focus of the concert, he wasn’t afraid to share the stage with a bunch of middle schoolers. He said someone emailed him about the Whitefish Bay Middle School Choir having learned to sing “Falling Slowly” and asked him if he’d be willing to go see the kids perform. He did one better - he invited them to come perform with him at the gig. And then my favorite part of the gig came: Glen Hansard on bass alone in front, with the choir behind him, singing the Pixies’ “Gigantic.”

And for good measure, I added his previous (sorry) OTHER band’s live cover of “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” I’ve heard many covers of this song - some either deviate so much from the original that you can’t even recognize; others are just pale imitations. This is just right, and the violin is a great touch. Enjoy.

Isn’t it sad that after all these years, I’m still excited when NIN releases new material? It’s even more exciting when it’s free!

Following the steps of Radiohead, Saul Williams and the like, NIN has self-released a new instrumental album: Ghost I-IV. Even taking it a step further by making the album available directly on bittorrent.

We’re very proud to present a new collection of instrumental music, Ghosts I-IV. Almost two hours of music recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I-IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.

Now that we’re no longer constrained by a record label, we’ve decided to personally upload Ghosts I, the first of the four volumes, to various torrent sites, because we believe BitTorrent is a revolutionary digital distribution method, and we believe in finding ways to utilize new technologies instead of fighting them.

We encourage you to share the music of Ghosts I with your friends, post it on your website, play it on your podcast, use it for video projects, etc. It’s licensed for all non-commercial use under Creative Commons.

We’ve also made a 40 page PDF book to accompany the album. If you’d like to download it for free, visit http://ghosts.nin.com/main/pdf

Ghosts I is the first part of the 36 track collection Ghosts I-IV. Undoubtedly you’ll be able to find the complete collection on the same torrent network you found this file, but if you’re interested in the release, we encourage you to check it out at ghosts.nin.com, where the complete Ghosts I-IV is available directly from us in a variety of DRM-free digital formats, including FLAC lossless, for only $5. You can also order it on CD, or as a deluxe package with multitrack audio files, high definition audio on Blu-ray disc, and a large hard-bound book.

And here is the link to the official torrent here.

Saul Williams - Black History Month
Saul Williams - Sunday Bloody Sunday
Saul Williams - List of Demands (Reparations)

Radiohead made a big splash recently because of their truly alternative way of providing their album, In Rainbows, via download where the listener gets to decide how much to pay. The move to cut the middleman created an incredible buzz throughout the music industry - and beyond.
Saul Williams, a protégé of NIN’s Trent Reznor (who also produced this record and whose voice Williams’ own uncannily resembles), went the same path for his latest album, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust, with much less success. It’s unfortunate because Williams has a wonderful way with words, and the music mixes hip hop and rock effortlessly - unlike those awful nü-metal bands.

The first two songs are from Niggy Tardust. I thought since today is the last day of Black History Month, it would only be fitting to have that song on. Sunday Bloody Sunday is indeed a cover of the U2 song. While Williams doesn’t quite have Bono’s vocal chords, he makes up for it with the instrumentation. List of Demands is from his self-titled 2004 album.

You can choose to purchase Niggy Tardust for $5 or download it for free from the site.

First up, is a band i never gave any attention to for large amounts of time; they came about pre-internet on my radar and were swiftly dismissed at that early time. For years they wallowed (ignored) out of sight and sound along my musically maturing journey; a foolish error, school boy stuff. Which is precisely the time it occurred, so that excuse is entirely valid and useful. That’s right, i am going to hide behind that one.

However, a couple of years ago perhaps, whilst milling around my now dearly beloved-yet-now-defunct Fopp record store, were they not playing the most joyous indie psychedelic pop songs i’d heard for ages. So inventive! Who the devil were these ingenious musical chameleons? Song after song did it not just delight yet never register who. Steal drums, bongos, harmonies….glitchy electronics, beats, echoed brass, then…a harmonica….then a rave breakdown? Loungy funk and electric-kissed vocals that sounded so like Air, but then it gets all fuzzy, washed out guitars that reminded me so fondly of those American undergrounds, then warbles right out into outer space….Who? The bloody Super Furry Animals?! Well, bugger my ignorance!

Super Furry Animals - Northern Lites
Super Furry Animals - Slow Life
Super Furry Animals - Ice Hockey Hair

Blur were always known. Course they were, in their media jousting with Oasis whilst Radiohead were clearly making the best guitar rock right under their noses. Big House in the Country charts and Song 2 on some FIFA computer game, i forget which, but i played it quite a lot. At least Coxon and Greenwood appreciated each other. Talents were obvious but clouded. But whilst Oasis went nowhere with their sound, and Radiohead went pioneering, Blur went and matured and got worldly. And they made an album i adore. An album that nestles so right in my groove of life just now, a loose but smartly together sound, a travelled sound, a hint exotic, spicy yet woody. You can hear Morocco and a hot orange sunset giving way to some inky blue abyss.
Think Tank burns some late night oil in my soul, coaxing and flickering. So i want to put a couple of tracks up to tick the night away…

Blur - Caravan
Blur - Sweet Song