I waa not going to do a Halloween post this year. But I saw these amazing jack o'lanterns from Dan Gordon's Song of the Day and decided to do a quickie. So here ya go.
Misfits - Vampira
The Clash - London Calling
The Clash - Straight to Hell
diiv - Doused
Sonic Youth - Halloween
Sonic Youth - Disappearer
Kool Thing (remixed)
Civil Civic
Tapes 'n Tapes - Badaboom
The Pack A.D.
Radiohead - Paranoid Android
Radiohead - Give up the Ghost
The Cult - Honey From a Knife
Ken Stringfellow - Superwise
Calexico - Splitter
Violent Femmes - Country Death Song
Violent Femmes - I Hear the Rain
The National - Afraid of Everyone
The White Stripes - Walking With a Ghost
Atoms for Peace, AKA Thom Yorke, Nigel Godrich and Flea, have given listeners another taste of the group's forthcoming album (next year, supposedly), via Pitchfork. It's a skittery, mechanical tune except for Yorke's vox, which seem to always rise above. Not that different from Yorke's solos stuff or even some of Radiohead's work, is it? I like it anyway. Not sure what Flea is doing with these guys, can anyone enlighten me?
No time for weighty, introspective posts these days, but we can spew out some gems that snagged our eye, with no theme, rhyme or reason.
Big Audio Dynamite and Mick Jones were never revered like Joe Strummer, but I see no reason he shouldn't get his due. I loved Strummer's records since he made his "comeback", but B.A.D. has probably got more play over the decades, especially while Strummer was moving through his wilderness years. In retrospect, Big Audio Dynamite's first album was ahead of its time, don't you think? Big Audio Dynamite are the latest to get back together, playing shows and recording a new album, according to slicing up eyeballs.
Another reunion/reformation? The Darkness! Insert your own catsuit/falsetto joke here. I loved A thing Called Love, especially the way it sounds like Justin Hawkins sounds like he says "Fing Called Love".
Sat on this one for awhile, 'cause I'm pretty sure everyone was Radioheaded out. But Robotanists covered all of King of Limbs within 24 hours of its release (thanks to At Constant Speed). It's a free download, but you may want to check it out and grab it quick - I notice someone has removed all but one of the King of Limb tracks I posted from Soundcloud, so this might disappear soon as well.
Never heard of Foster the People, and I certainly don't like the name, but SXSW always brings out something interesting. Somebody wrote that they were a synth band and name-dropped Duran duran, but I think they sometimes sound like a cross between MGMT and World Party.
The best hardcore band of all time, Bad Brains, are now working on a new album for a late summer 2011 release. "Stand by for the 'realist' we have ever written," says Darryl Jenifer. Duff McKagan (!) has written a brief article on the band's greatness for ESPN, I'm not sure why, but check it out here.
Radiohead's King of Limbs was just released on Friday, and there have been some comments to the fact that it only contains 8 songs, which speaks to the fervent desire of fans for anything Radioheady. There are approximately 9429 reviews of the album out there already, so you don't need mine. I'm just chiming in to provide some live versions, remixes/mash-ups, and covers (that they're already out there also speaks to the fanaticism of fervent fans). Pick a few and add 'em to your album to make what you feel should be the proper number of songs for a complete experience. The Great Lotus and Hall North remixes are exceptionally fine, if you ask me.
Okay, last time I posted about Radiohead, it turned out to be a rumour. This is the real thing, with an interpretive dance by Thom Yorke for the first video, including a touch of Axl Rose-type serpentine swagger. The band has released the digital version of their album King of Limbs one day early, so you can buy it now instead of tomorrow. My fave so far is Morning Mr. Magpie. The band's website offers this info about the digital version:
Radiohead's new record, The King Of Limbs, is presented here with a choice of two digital formats:
•MP3 version is a 320K constant bit rate file. •WAV version is a full CD quality uncompressed digital audio file. •One lucky owner of the digital version of The King Of Limbs, purchased from this website, will receive a signed 2 track 12" vinyl.
Of course, there's also a special version available:
Radiohead's new record, The King Of Limbs, is presented here as the world's first* Newspaper Album, comprising:
•Two clear 10" vinyl records in a purpose-built record sleeve. •A compact disc. •Many large sheets of artwork, 625 tiny pieces of artwork and a full-colour piece of oxo-degradeable plastic to hold it all together. •The Newspaper Album comes with a digital download that is compatible with all good digital media players. •The Newspaper Album will be shipped on Monday 9th May 2011 you can, however, enjoy the download now. •Shipping is included in the prices shown. •One lucky owner of the digital version of The King Of Limbs, purchased from this website, will receive a signed 2 track 12" vinyl.
Here's the full tracklist:
1) Bloom 2) Morning Mr Magpie 3) Little by Little 4) Feral 5) Lotus Flower 6) Codex 7) Give up the Ghost 8) Separator
Whole albums of covers can be hit-and-miss affairs. Bowie's Pin-ups album was pretty good, but it was arguably done at the peak of his powers, whereas Duran Duran put out their covers album, Thank You, after their comeback album. Both records were probably done to get something out there without the pressure of writing enough new material, but Bowie's was full of fire and passion, while Duran Duran's just sounded tired. Def Leppard put one out not too long ago which was similarly mediocre.
So doing a whole album of cover songs can be a risky proposition. It can seem like the easy way out, especially if slavish imitations add nothing to the original versions. Peter Gabriel recently released Scratch My Back, his own covers album. One would be hard-pressed to argue that Gabriel is at his creative apex, since aside from soundtracks, he releases a pop/rock record every 8 or 10 years these days.
Then again, Gabriel is not Duran Duran or Def Leppard, he's always done things in his idiosyncratic way. Scratch My Back is no different,since he decided to record the whole thing with orchestration intead of stock rock instrumentation - no guitars, no drums, for example. Gabriel has also managed to get the artists he's covered to record a Peter Gabriel song, except for David Bowie, who is busy hibernating (supposedly Brian Eno is going to reciprocate in Bowie's stead). So far, Bon Iver has covered Come Talk to Me, Stepehn Merrit (Magnetic Fields) has covered Not One of Us, and Paul Simon has done Biko. I've heard rumblings that Arcade Fire and Radiohead might not get their songs done, but we'll see.
Heroes (David Bowie) The Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon) Mirrorball (Elbow) Flume (Bon Iver) Listening Wind (Talking Heads) The Power of the Heart (Lou Reed) My Body is a Cage (Arcade Fire) The Book of Love (The Magnetic Fields) I Think it's Going to Rain Today (Randy Newman) Apres Moi (Regina Spektor) Philadelphia (Neil Young) Street Spirit (Radiohead)
According to Stereogum, Sneaky internet snooopers have somehow discovered this image, which looks like Radiohead artwork to me. A new song people are calling These Are My Twisted Words is also floating around out there, and further web digging is now leading some to believe Monday, August 18 will see a new EP called Wall of Ice released on the band's website.
Tried to find a clip of 15 Steps on the Grammys, but a good one seems hard to find. But Thom Yorke's working on the marching band's choreography is amusing nonetheless. Did anyone else think Yorke's serpentine sway looked a bit like Axl Rose's snake swagger?
mp3s will be posted for a limited time and are for promotional purposes only. If you like it, buy the albums, go to the shows, buy the t-shirts - support the artist so they can keep on keepin' on. Artists - if you would like an mp3 or video removed, please contact me directly at chrisyakchart@hotmail.com.
If you've got something Scruffy should hear, same email. Snail mail is cool too.
Scruffy the Yak 34 Allenby Cres Winnipeg Mb R2C 3J4
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