In anticipation of April’s music chart, here is a preview of what you’ll find. This new album from The Kills is too much fun.
The Kills – URA Fever video March 31, 2008
The Lost review March 28, 2008
Wow, what a ride. Imagine American Psycho and Kids at a crosspoint, and you have this movie. First of all, the soundtrack was perfection, just a phenomenal selection of tunes. Marc Senter delivers a star-making performance, and should only have to wait for word of this movie to get around. The other actors are also up-and-coming, or welcome veterans like Ed Lauter. The end is certainly not for the squeamish, so don’t miss it. Rating: 9/10
NIN – Ghosts review March 26, 2008
This is going to disappoint most NIN fans, because this really shouldn’t be considered as a new album. Really it is instrumental, “daydreaming”, or ambient music that would be appropriate for film, but even then, it is just so-so. That is 18 of the 36 tracks make decent (some better than others) ambient music to listen to while writing a gothic story or something. And it seems Reznor recycles some of the same melodies over here. The chaotic noisy tracks almost are all worth dragging to the Recycle Bin. So don’t spend more than $5 on this, unless you’re going to remix some of it (which could be interesting). The real question is whether NIN will release a “real” album using the same selling strategy. Rating: 5/10
Puzzlehead review March 24, 2008
Have a notion you’re being remotely shut off? Puzzlehead creatively explores its Frankenstein origins with low budget aplomb. It proves it belongs in the same class as Primer and Pi. Like those, the score to this movie is what separates it from other mediocre arty films. It is an expertly chosen collection of classical music that works beautifully. It also doesn’t hurt to have a great actor involved like Mr. Galaida who plays both the Creator and the Creation. It moves at a slow pace at times, but still manages to hit all the right buttons-^\].*] Rating: 7.5/10
The Roots – Get Busy video March 24, 2008
This one kind of has me excited about the new The Roots album. Play it out before it gets played out-.
Yelle – A Cause des Garcons (Tepr remix) video March 17, 2008
I can’t believe the French are more musically advanced than the US right now, and can dance better than me. Things switchup in this video around the 1:40 mark.
Things We Lost in the Fire review March 16, 2008
Danish director Susanne Bier successfully makes her American debut with this picture. She has a knack of filming intricate melodramas that are very novel-like. The performances are what seals the deal in this flick, and Halle Berry has rebounded from Catwoman in a big way. Benicio del Toro continues to add memorable roles to his ouevre, and I only hope he didn’t have to dig too deep in his role as a heroin addict. If you don’t like “sad” movies then you should probably stay far away, because this does a stand-up job of pulling on those strings. Rating: 8/10
The Tough Alliance, Cut Copy, and The Black Ghosts at Karma March 13, 2008
I’m so confused… A couple of almost lip-synching kids stole the show last night. I’ll get to that in a second, but 5 songs into The Tough Alliance’s set, I realized OMG, these guys could be the next Depeche Mode, provided they don’t OD or commit suicide first. Their music sounds like if Manchester moved to Sweden and OMD had a love child with Abba. Like The Knife, these guys refuse to play “live” and prefer to have a mic and pre-recorded music playing over them. The result? It was the most entertaining show of the night. They were climbing speakers, playing drums off the ceiling, dancing with lights, and swinging all kinds of things over the audience. It was thrilling. After reading more about them, they have the sensibilities more of a punk band than a pop band (as this interview shows: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/47678-interview-the-tough-alliance Their created label website is bonkers: (thetoughalliance.com)
Don’t even think to call their music gay, because these guys might have a baseball bat aimed for your head. They’ll also be at Beauty Bar on Saturday if you want to witness a longer spectacle. (By the way Black Ghosts and Cut Copy were great-.)
SXSW: Dance Party, USA March 12, 2008
Austin is about to erupt into a frenzy of music from around the globe, and for us into electronic music, it’s usually the only time we get to see some of the artists we listen to. Here are some of the acts I would see if I could get around to them all:
Wednesday: Simian Mobile Disco (Antones 8pm), Freezepop (Prague 9pm), Walter Meego + Does It Offend You, Yeah? (The Parish 11-1), Cut Copy + Black Ghosts + Tough Alliance (Karma Lounge 10-2), Lindstrom (Thristy Nickel 12)
Thursday: Boyz Noize (Beauty Bar Backyard 12:30 am), Justice + Moby + MGMT dj sets (Playboy party at 301; good luck getting in-)
Friday: Dubfire (Skyy 12), Junkie XL + Tommie Sunshine + Moby (Vice 10:30-2)
Saturday: Deadmau5 (Skyy 11), Bloody Beetroots + Mstrkrft (Vice 10-1), 8bitpeoples (Molotov all night)
Hit me up if I’m missing anyone-.
SXSW– Santogold–The next M.I.A.? March 11, 2008
Santogold should be a next, actually-good big thing. She’ll be at Stubb’s at 9pm on Friday, but she’s performing right before MGMT, so it might be kinda crazy trying to get in. Here’s the video to “L.E.S. Artistes”
Awake review March 10, 2008
This movie might be the ultimate gauge on how much of a film snob you are. I know Hayden Christensen and Jessica Alba sounds like a recipe for disaster, but did critics actually get over this prejudice to actually watch this movie? There’s solid work from all the important players, most notably the first-time writer-director, the actors (perhaps Alba’s best performance), and the composer. Christensen, Lena Olin, and Terence Howard also shine in their roles. The two main problems I think people have with this movie are that it is manipulative, because things come together too easily, and that it is too ambitious for its own good. If the latter is the case, more directors need this problem. Rating: 7/10
SXSW Early Show: Digitalism and Chromeo (Free!) March 10, 2008
Digitalism and Chromeo will be at Stubb’s on Sat. March the 15th from 12-4pm doing their thang. It’s a free Scion event so you’ll want to RSVP (all you give is your name and email address–just show up early) over at: www.scion.com/austin
Check these videos out, first up is Digitalism’s “Zdarlight”, and then Chromeo’s “Bonafide Lovin’”:
SXSW – The Black Ghosts “Some Way Through This” March 9, 2008
They’ll be performing w/ Cut Copy, Gang Bang Deejays, and Tough Alliance on Wed. the 12th at Karma Lounge. This is going to be my #1 show for SXSW, and I’ll post videos for all these artists before the show. Check out the Skream remix of this song if you’re into dubstep rerubs, and for their other stuff, the remixes of “Face” by Switch and “Anyway You Choose to Give it” by Boy 8-bit.
New Nine Inch Nails 36-Track album: $5 download March 6, 2008
You can download the first 9 tracks for free, or the whole 36 track album with the gorgeous 40 page .pdf file for $5. For $75 you get it on Blu-Ray, and a Data CD of all the tracks to start making your own interpretations. Sounds fantastic so far, but I’ll probably post a review shortly. Get it here: http://ghosts.nin.com/main/home
30 Days of Night Review March 5, 2008
I own this graphic novel, and the major problem I believe with this movie other than the soporific pacing is its deviance from the novel. You got a storyboard already in place, just use it-. The New Orleans subplot and the late arrival of the vampire leader are a couple of things that should have stayed. Stick with the source material and stop trying to Hollywood-ize things. It just won the Coen brothers some Oscars-. Rating: 5/10
Justice at Stubbs March 5, 2008
Justice. A sold-out Stubbs. Complete bedlam.
DJ Mehdi opened, and it’s always a good sign when the opening act has the crowd eating from the palm of their hands, and that’s exactly what DJ Mehdi did. (Although Uffie strangely seemed to quell the mood of his set, and he quickly mixed out of it.)
Justice was next, and started playing the opening track on their new album as though they hit the play button on a CD player. But then they started introducing new elements into the mix, and before you know it the song and set turned into a sprawling remix of new and known material, mashed up, edited on the fly, and expertly paced to heighten the fervor of the crowd. Brand spanking new remixes of their hits “DANCE” and a 10 min. plus meltdown of “We are Your Friends” didn’t disappoint. By the second encore we were treated to their remix of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets”, meshed with vocals of some popular rap song, mixed with various new mutations of one of their works. Simply put, the show rivaled Chemical Brothers, NIN, and Orbital in their prime. I only wished I was in the miasma of people near the front who were crowdsurfing and going ballistic. I was able to shake hands with one of them and thank them for coming before the set, and I think Texas is alot closer to France now in their eyes.
Justice – DVNO video March 3, 2008
A brilliant video that makes the song 5 times better, this arrives just in time for Justice’s opening tour date here in Austin on Monday. That’s some sick graphic design skills, kid.
March’s Masterful 15 March 1, 2008
We’ve got alot of class electro, techno, and drum-and-bass ruling the chart this month. An Austin band and German dub make their mark as well.
1. Disrupt – Foundation Bit (album)
Best dub album I’ve heard in a decade. New technology is only going to make dub better. Put this in, sit back, relax, and blast off.
2. Shinichi Osawa – The One (album)
One of the better electro-rock albums to drop yet. Osawa employs vocals from Au Revoir Simone, Princess Supastar, and Freeform Five to throw one decadent party.
3. The Helio Sequence – “Back to This” + “The Captive Mind”
The singer sounds like a young Bono, and they also could be headlining arenas someday.
4. Vampire Weekend – “A-Punk”, “Boston”, + “The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance”
This is the kind of catchy indie rock like The Strokes that girls love, and guys get brownie points for introducing gals to.
5. Great Carnival Stuff (compilation)
This is the next-level house and techno sounds that are dominating European dance floors. Don’t miss the tracks by Wehbba, Swen Weber, Butch, or Oliver Koletzki.
6. Danny Byrd – “Junction 18″, “Round and Round”, + “Control Freak”
Energetic, soulful, and uplifting drum-and-bass. First-rate.
7. Justus Kohncke – “Yacht”, “Parage”, and “Spukhafte Fernwirkung”
Progressive house and Nu-disco doesn’t get much better than this.
8. Protest the Hero – “Palms Read”
This heavy metal straddles the line between wacky and wicked, but is mostly exhilarating.
9. DJ Marky + XRS – “LK (Danny Byrd mix)”
See my comment above about Byrd.
10. Telemetrik – “Cosmos”
Caution: The gnarly drop and bassline of this drum-and-bass track can cause dizziness.
11. Surkin – “Kiss and Fly (Tacteel remix)”
Glorious electro skullduggery.
12. Ghostland Observatory – “No Place for Me”
The best track off this Austin band’s latest CD. File under electro-industrial-pop.
13. Sebastian Tellier – “Roche” + “l’amour et la violence”
Saucy romantic synthmaking from this French crooner.
14. Modeselektor – “Black Block”
A techno DJ weapon to cause mayhem on the dancefloor.
15. Midnight Juggernauts – “Road to Recovery (Miami Horror mix)”
More electro-jacking-laser-rainbows.
