SPIN Presents Purplish Rain

SPIN released a nice little tribute for Prince's Purple Rain recently and I just wanted to highlight it reel quick (get what I did there with the word pun? You know, because it was a movie soundtrack too?!). It features some well-knowns like the Twilight Singers and Of Montreal as well as some up-and-comers like Chairlift & Lavender Diamond. Click the image above to go to the site or use this link if you're feeling lazy: here. The password to put in the spot is 'keyboardist' (no quotes). They'll send you a link to confirm your email address and download the album. Check it out!

Wild Beasts - Two Dancers

Wild Beasts are another much-hyped band from the UK looking to break into the yankee market. If you're a fan of Bat for Lashes-esque theatrics or a near poly-sexual vocal style then you'll love Wild Beasts. The music contains more melody than Bat for Lashes and is therefore more pleasing overall, but it is still more of a mood-requiring sound that utilizes sparse instrumentation to create dense and almost primal sounds that contrast nicely with the smooth vocals of Hayden Thorpe. Tracks like "The Fun Powder Pot" or "We Still Got The Taste Dancing On Our Tongues" feature a steady plodding rhythm based background throughout, but some are deeper require more attention than like the first single "Hooting and Howling." While I'm really not a fan, I'd certainly recommend Wild Beasts to someone who is truly interested in more than just a catchy hook.

I kept:

"The Fun Powder Plot"

"Hooting and Howling"

"All the Kings Men"

"We Still Got The Taste Dancing On Our Tongues"

Grade: 5.7

No New EP From Radiohead

It's 2:30am and I just decided to check wallofice.com. To my surprise, the new leaked track (These Are My Twisted Words) has been posted on Radiohead's digital store as a free download. So, the enigmatic message was nothing more than to introduce the bands latest (and free) single. No EP unfortunately, but at least the new track sounds decent enough.

NEW RADIOHEAD EP OUT MONDAY?

So, the code has been cracked and it appears we may have a new Radiohead EP on the horizon (Monday to be exact). On August 12th, the track "THESE ARE MY TWISTED WORDS" was leaked with some cryptic message (see below). Someone figured out a hidden web address based on message and discovered the site: http://www.wallofice.com, which interestingly enough takes you to Radiohead's digital store. Coincidence I think not. Keep your eyes peeled and head over to wallofice.com on Monday morning.

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiii radiohead - these are my twisted words iiiiiii
iiiiiii iiiiiii
iiii artist.......radiohead iiii
iiii title........these are my twisted words iiii
iiii label........?????????? iiii
iiii cat.nr.......????????? iiii
iiii style........'dificult' iiii
iiii nr of tracks.1 iiii
iiii total length..5.32 iiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiii audio source.CD Advance iiii
iiii encoder......LAME 3.93 iiii
iiii quality......320kbps/44.1kHz/Joint Stereo iiii
iiii size.........12,70 MB iiii
iiii ripper.......sca[GG]er iiii
iiii rls.date.....2009-08-17 iiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiii i just wanted to reassure readers iiii
iiii that following representations iiii
iiii seeking confirmation iiii
iiii that before your very eyes iiii
iiii behind the wall of ice iiii
iiii that the box is not under threat iiii
iiii however they are set to remove iiii
iiii other boxes iiii
iiii in fact i have the list in front of me iiii
iiii i went to a briefing on their plans iiii
iiii and challenged them to tell me iiii
iiiii exactly what the cost would be iiiiiii
iiiiii iiiiiiii
iiiiiii they spoke in broad terms iiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiiii we're looking for: talented puppeteers iiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiii worms, disgruntled executives, sacked flies iiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiii genres: doomcore, folktronica, ukf iiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Flunk - This Is What You Get

The Norwegian pop group Flunk has made a career off of beautiful covers and the fact that their new record's name is taken directly from one of the most popular songs from arguably the greatest band of our era shouldn't come as a surprise. What does surprise is the level of the non-cover tracks on Flunks new record. The late-era electronic feel is oddly comforting in a weird trip-hop reminiscent way. As stagnant as most current era Trip Hop groups are, Flunk has managed to elevate their music to something with a better disposition. The record starts out with the very strong "Dying to See You" and "Common Sense," but achieves nothing more than mediocre until track six "Speedskating." After that, "Karma Police" is the last vestige of brilliance on the record. Ok, unfortunately it's not except for it's novelty. This version is sparse and not too exciting to be fair, but Anja Oyen Vister's voice keeps it interesting in a Nico-ean way. Gone is the smoothness of most of the rest of the record and all of the rough edges seem to be exposed on this track. It's worth one listen, really, as is most of this record.

I kept:

Dying to See You

Common Sense

Speedskating

Grade: 4.4

Jesse Rose - What Do You Do If You Don't?

Jess Rose is a British beat-maker based in Berlin who has a new head-boppin' release made almost specifically for short attention spans. The beats are mostly straight ahead and glitchy, but there are really too many different feels on the record. Ranging from glitchy dance, ala Justin Timberlake, to turntableism style sampling, and even near trance it's a virtual clown car of styles. The collaborations with Hot Chip, "Forgot My Name" & "Day is Done," is worth a name check at least and the understated pushing of the beat in "Pop Your Porn" makes me want to watch my MPG go down as the white lines go by faster. "Miss Taker" features remixer David E. Sugar and is a dance-floor banger. "Night at the Dogs" features an all too familiar jazz sample and "You're All Over My Head" starts off reminiscent of early Aphex works but takes a strange turntableism slant that is truly hokey. For all of the styles in here, I'd have to say Jesse Rose doesn't excel at any really. Maybe a little more focus would make the record more cohesive.

I kept:

Pop Yer Porn

Miss Taker (feat. David E. Sugar)

Grade: 3.8

Pitchfork's #1 album of the 90's

The guys over at Pitchfork have created a very respectable top 100 albums of the 90's. The number one album went to Radiohead's OK Computer. I'm happy to see something besides Nirvana's Nevermind at the top of the list (that's right Spin, I'm talking to you).
Check it here

New Radiohead track

...speaking of Radiohead. I found this new track the other day. It's a tribute to the last living British soldier who fought in World War I. Here's a YouTube video of the song and you can purchase it at their site for 1 quid! Is August going to be Radiohead month?

Radiohead Done With Albums!?

Just when you think we may be getting another great concept album from the mighty Radiohead in the coming years, Thom York has to go and tell the masses they're moving on from that approach stating, "None of us want to go into that creative hoo-ha of a long-play record again. Not straight off." So, then it's true. The CD is officially dead and the one band keeping it alive has abandoned the idea. I suppose this was inevitable but still quite sad considering we may never experience a Radiohead album the same again. At least we'll be seeing a plethora of singles from the band in the upcoming months but damn, I miss the concept album.
You can read the entire article on The Believer's website here