New Tricky!

Finally, something to really get excited about in my random ramblings! Tricky has a new album (this time I'm 90% sure it really is new) called Knowle West Boy. I must say, it is sa-weeet. Tricky is the granddaddy macdaddy father of trip hop, and he does not disappoint with this album. He seems to have taken a slightly different track than other great trip hop groups like Massive Attack and Portishead. His song construction is less experimental and more conforming to early trip hop style. However, his sound production and mixing don't disappoint and he still conveys an unparalleled etherealness and cool vibe in every track. I'm looking forward to exploring every little nuance to this album in the coming weeks. Right now I'm just smiling at having finished the first pass and feeling relieved that this man is still making music.

Too Old

OK, anonymous caught me yet again. I wish I knew who that person was, since they seem to have all the facts that I don't. Apparently I rely too heavily on iTunes to find new music. The Eraser was out for a loooong time before it was available on iTunes, hence my confusion.

Fortunately, this blog really only has two purposes, and neither of them is to alert the public to new and awesome music. First, it helps me stay in touch with a few people scattered around the world; and second, it forces me to listen to more music than my daily grind would otherwise permit so that I have something to write about.

So, what's the music connection of the day? I don't really have any. I spent the weekend camping in Door County, WI where they only listen to oldies and country. I didn't have any mindblowing experiences there musically, but I sure did have a good time. My kids slept in a tent, avoided poison ivy, avoided falling in the lake with their clothes on, and generally made this the first bona fide success in full Kennedy-family vacationing.

AFI and Thom Yorke

Two radically different directions to take today. First, the good news: Thom Yorke's solo album The Eraser is out (has been for about a month now) and I don't think it disappoints in the least. It's basically Radioheadish, but focuses on Thom's voice and amazing electronic production instead of the rock sounds of the rest of the band. From what I hear he's not ditching the group, just needed to get some stuff out of his head. I, for one, am happy he did.

Now for the bad news. Apparently I am a closet goth/emo kid. For months now I have been rocking out to a song on the radio and in Guitar Hero 3 without knowing the name of the song, the name of the band, or the content of the lyrics. I was appalled when I finally looked it up this week only to find out the band is AFI, the song is Miss Murder, and it's basically about suicide. Blargh. I feel dirty.

Radio Blues

Ever since moving to the land of never ending drama involving football players with strange, frenchy last names I've been mildly impressed with the quality of the radio stations here. There are at least three stations that don't make me want to cry with their repetitive playlists and poorly concealed editorial allegiances to the corporate powers-that-be, which is three more than most other places I've lived.

But my most favorite radio station 102.1 disappointed me this week. They have a nightly "cage match" between new songs, asking listeners to call in and vote for which song they like more. There are several problems with this style of polling, but it's not at all uncommon in radio, so I just have to grin and bear it. No, my problem is not that respondents are self-selected by their availability and access to phones. Nor is it that the quality of a song can rarely, if ever, be ascertained in one listening (and over such a low-fidelity device as an FM radio). No, my problem is that when the radio station tells me they have a new song I expect it to be NEW.

My knuckles turned white and my eyes got all squinty as I heard the radio DJ announce that the contender in the cage match would be none other than MGMT. The song, sadly, was not a new single, not even the now-available single off their forthcoming album. It was Time To Pretend off of their first album and that also appears on the 21 soundtrack.

On the plus side, the song rocks and I enjoyed myself. If you haven't listened to MGMT, check out this quote from their official site about the band's beginnings:

Andrew and Ben began staging a series of "these obnoxious, noisy live electronic shows -- we never planned on having it be a recorded project -- where we would write these weird techno loops and arrangements that we could play with live. Most of it was running live off the computer and we had a turntable plugged into some guitar pedals, a radio, and a tape player. It was all electronically generated at that point. We would write a new song for each show and our shows would be 15 minutes long."

MGMT is currently on tour with Beck. (this is erroneous - see the anonymous contributor's comment)

More Fair Fare

Got out to see another county fair concert a week and a half ago. It was a triple bill: Blues Traveler, Collective Soul, and Live.

Blues traveler is still traveling, and still kicking ass. That Popper dude sure knows how to blow the old mouth organ. Seriously, it was mindblowing how much air that guy has. Highlight of their show: a rendition of Devil Went Down to Georgia where he played the fiddle parts on the harmonica. Crazy.

I've heard Collective Soul on the radio before and I was kind of hoping they would rock. They didn't.

Live rocked the house, though they didn't rock quite as hard as I would have liked. As much as I was looking forward to seeing Live I think I liked Blues Traveler more for overall entertainment. However, they did play I Alone and a bunch of other old hits and I have to admit I stood next to the speakers and, uh, let loose with my inner headbanger. It was somewhat embarassing, but worth it.

NOW....on to more electronic matters....

I found a great album to run with. Ursula 1000 :Here Comes Tomorrow. It's not the newest thing on the block (released in 2006), but man is it fun. He's got this nice modern twist on old-school funk/soul samples and original vocal recordings that makes him stand out from the million other remixers out there in my opinion. You may recognize the first track "Kaboom!" from a cell phone commercial last year (or something like that). The rest of the album isn't quite as fun/jumpy/pop sounding as that one, though. He does some very interesting and subtle things throughout. For example, "Electric Boogie" (track 4) sounds like some seriously retro trash even before you get past the title. However, to me it sounds like a sweet combination of Prince and Justin Timberlake, both in the production and in the vocal style. I have no idea who he uses for his vocals (it might be Ursula himself) but it hits my workout right around the time I'm getting warmed up (somewhere in the middle of my second mile) and gets me juiced for the run.

Where Are They Now?

Remember that old VH1 show? Its aim was to catch us up on the activities of music stars of yore. I felt like I was in an episode last night.

Wisconsin has an incredibly large number of opportunities for live music, not least of which are the county and state fairs. At the county fair last night I got to see both Soul Asylum (remember Runaway Train?) and Everclear. Despite the mosquitos and hint of goat in the air it was a great time. Mostly it was fun because Jodi is an Everclear fan and she danced oh-so-cutely while they were on.

Neither band's performance really wowed me. Soul Asylum's music has always been a little tame for my taste, and Everclear's songs all sound alike (literally, when they started playing their encore I asked "Haven't they already played this one?"). However, what really struck me was the enthusiasm and sincerity that both bands displayed. Neither of them seemed to be overly depressed at having to play the Waukesha County Fair, despite not being able to pronounce "Waukesha" and making, by my estimation, barely enough to cover the busses and booze for the show. It was fun seeing a couple of once-big-time bands still enjoying what they do and making ends meet the best way they can.

Summerfest Report

One of the nice things about being in Wisconsin is Summerfest. I finally had a chance to get down there and it was a blast. Many thanks to Chris and Dan for organizing things and getting tickets for us.

Ironically, Matisyahu (the artist we went to see) doesn't really fit well with the usual musicofsound fare. There was very little electronic influence, no processing, nothing really innovative sonically at all. In fact, his music is very much a message of peace and understanding, perhaps more pertinent to a musicofmeaning blog. That being said, it was nonetheless the best time I've had in the city since moving here. Matisyahu was energetic, entertaining, and very talented. He sang, rapped, beat-boxed, and danced...all while wearing his orthodox jewish attire (complete with hat and shawl). I was keenly aware of the positive message of his songs (even though in many songs I could only understand half the words or fewer), and Chris mentioned to me how he feels uplifted when listening to his music. I'll definitely be purchasing some for my own listening. In fact, at my son's birthday party yesterday we used some of his free music online to play musical chairs with the kids.

Pass me some more trip-hop...I'll pass on the pop....

Two noteworthy albums to discuss (neither is terribly new). First, Portishead is amazing. One of history's quintessential trip-hop bands has done it again with their album Third, and it's truly amazing. Listening to Third reminds me of the first time I heard Massive Attack's Mezzanine.....first, this sounds horrible....then, hmmm there's something interesting going on here....and finally, this speaks to my soul! They have reinvented trip-hop for this decade and I'm betting that soon other bands will be stealing once again from this staple of good electronic music.

Second, Madonna's Hard Candy makes me about as sick to listen to as looking at her 50-year-old self in the dominatrix outfit on the cover. There's nothing new here. In fact, it takes the worst of Madonna's admittedly impressive career and smears it together with a hodgepodge of half-hearted efforts from some of the world's best producers. Forgive me if you disagree, but I simply can't afford to give this album a second listen (I didn't even bother to give you a link). The most recognizable track, 4 Minutes, is fairly catchy (I think it's also the first single from the album), but it's JT who makes it shine, not the matriarch of fake british accents. Maybe her nursing home neighbors will appreciate it more than me.

On the plus side, Ace finally sent me some JUSTICE to listen to and I'm digging it. It's from the Essential Mix series on UK radio. Not only did they find time to mix in the Chemical Brothers, some classic funk, and some of their own modern european techno, but they did it with such style I am forced to overlook the fact that they are french... If you want your ears tickled, check them out. The most amazing thing to me about JUSTICE is how their music speaks to me. I can actually hear a message/emotion/signal/whatever you want to call it that seems very intentional and purposeful in each of their songs. It reminds me of how some classical music is supposed to be heard. Why I have an ear for JUSTICE and not for Mozart with regards to the "meaning" of the song I cannot say.

Running and Music

I found something on iTunes a couple of weeks ago that I'm ashamed to admit I bought. When I hear someone mention using "techno" in some sort of workout routine (think cheesy, thumping, aerobics instructor music) it makes me cringe. It lumps things like Paul-Oakenfold-ten-thousand-person-rave-music with truly amazing electronic music like the Chemical Brothers in the same way that "Indie Rock" is the new catch-all genre for anything that doesn't play on pop radio (remember "Alternative Rock"?).

So, when I saw Drive, a release by the Crystal Method that iTunes calls a Nike+ Original Run, I was skeptical. It's 40ish minutes of Crystal Method music, mostly previously released, mixed with the idea of creating a tempo and mood suitable for a good run. Since I'm a fan of the CM, though, I decided to give it a try, and I have to say I was not disappointed. The music seems to build and kick exactly when I need it to, so for me it accomplished exactly what it claims. For the most part it's not mind-blowing electronic music, but it is a cool idea and one that I think iTunes will continue.

Of course, my power song is still Knights of Cydonia by MUSE. Nothing beats it for pumping me up when I hit the wall....yet.

Change of Pace

OK, I know its been ages since I posted anything, and several of you have been on my case to change that. So, here goes...

I'll no longer be doing my weekly radio show. Had a little falling out with the station management at WCCX. I wish them the best, but they are going a bit more commercial and poppy than I care for.

That being said, I still have a lot of music to share. Since my last post I've discovered MUSE and MGMT. I can highly recommend both. Today, however, I'm particularly excited about a rapper out of DC named Wale. The main elitaste website is pretty ugly and clunky to my eyes (maybe the myspace generation likes them like that), but you can get the direct download of Wale's Seinfeld-based mixed tape here.

Anyway, I think I'll pick up with this blog and use it to keep track of cool stuff I come across. Feel free to send me cool stuff via email or comments.