Hear the upcoming—due out April 13—MGMT album, Congratulations, streaming from their website. Apparently there is a poor-sounding version already making the bot torrent rounds and the band would prefer that their fans hear a version with higher fidelity. I’ve had a promo copy of this for a few weeks now, and I must say that I think it’s absolutely magnificent. At first I didn’t hear anything that grabbed me like Kids and The Youth did. But allow this one some time and it will indeed grab you. It’s more subtle than Oracular Spectacular, but it’s a fine follow-up to that classic debut. With songs titles like Song For Dan Treacy and the playful Brian Eno, you can see where their heads are at. These guys are on fire. Highly, highly recommended. So far it’s my favorite album of the year.
Below a rare video of the Television Personalities featuring Dan Treacy (Grant Morrison loves him also). It’s obvious to hear his influence on the MGMT sound. Let’s hope they start a Dan Treacy revival. About time!
Norway’s Serena-Maneesh is, in my semi-questionable opinion, one of the only neo-shoegaze/ noisepop/ whatever outfits worth listening to. They make wonderfully multi-layered records and are a force to be reckoned with live. Today their new LP No 2: Abyss in B Minor is released on the venerable label 4AD. Southern California music fans are encouraged to come out to see them tonight at the Troubadour. Your humble bloggist will be making a rare stage turn, dusting off my old Medicine gear and joining S-M onstage for a couple of numbers. Come say hello !
Fucking great video for “Feel It” by Brian Jonestown Massacre by Jon Audarson. I just watched this about five times in a row.
It seems like there’s a new documentary on Punk Rock all the time and they all tread fairly predictable paths. Still, this episode of the great BBC series Seven Ages of Rock, titled Blank Generation is one of the better ones I’ve seen. In six parts on YouTube.
Swen’s Weblog drops 50 hours of Autechre DJ sets, downloadable for free from Archive.org. Sweet god of glitch! Entries include:
27h set for xltronic radio in 2006
A 12h mix on 23–24 February 2008 to coincide with the release of Quaristice.
A 12,5h Mix, on 2–3 March 2010 to coincide with the release of Oversteps
(Swen’s Weblog: 50 Hours of Autechre)
Always the savvy marketer, Zappa sure knew how to reach his audience, eh? As seen in Daredevil #38.
And here’s another piece of obscure Zappa ephemera, a Clio Award-winning soundtrack for a Luden’s Cough Drops TV commercial that he did in 1967.
This 12” single, the only release by Czukay and Plank under the Les Vampyrettes guise, is one of my favorite slabs of vinyl, period. Deep, dark, menacing, surprising, timeless, tantalizingly brief. Play loud, startle your cat.
It’s difficult to make a music video anymore that people actually pay attention to. Lady Gaga, sure, but she’s got all the money in the world at her disposal when she makes a video. But San Francisco-based indie rockers Xiu Xiu, known for their angsty assemblage of heavily orchestrated chamber pop noise have released a new clip for the title track of their new album Dear God, I Hate Myself. It’s low budget but has a gimmick that makes it so you just can’t turn away. Even if you want to. You have been warned.