The Walkmen have a new album out, and it looks like they have the whole thing available streaming from their myspace! It doesn't sound too different from past albums, but that's not a bad thing. I've liked pretty much everything I've heard from them. They have a very unique style that sounds kind of like Bob Dylan except with everything driving and distorted, and then some latin influence thrown in every once in awhile. Not that there aren't sparse moments; the overall arrangements in addition to the vocals can have quite a range in expression.
This is one of my favorite SNJ songs. I'm so happy to find it has a video! Two years ago there was no trace of this song online.
In 2006 I spent two months living in Brazil. I checked out many music stores and attended a few concerts, but could not for the life of me find the underground & Brazilian hip-hop scene. Everyone I asked led me to Will I. Am and Wyclef. (Note: Neither Brazilian, nor underground.) (It probably didn't help that I don't speak the language.)
My final week there I found a music store that seemed to carry more titles by independent artists. They had a little boom box there and would allow customers to pop in CDs. I spent a couple of hours there listening to crappy song after crappy song, then I came across Somos Nós a Justiça. I immediately snapped up both CDs available. Their sound is chill, their flows are tight, and although I cannot understand every word, it's clear the lyrics are meaningful. If I could find SNJ music reviews, I'm guessing reviewers would throw them into the "enlightened" or "conscious" hip-hop category.
Somos Nós a Justiça have no Myspace, but one album is on Amazon for purchase and small song "samples" are available for listening. Another site shows the same album available for free download, but of course I cannot endorse that. (If you're still interested, click here.) You can also find their sounds at lastfm.
SNJ's story is available here, but it is in Portuguese. My gleaning is that they came from northern Sao Paulo and started making music in the 1990s. Their members have changed a lot over the years due to various problems. They put out a simple CD-R that hugely impacted hip-hop. They defend respect, honesty, personality, dignity, and humanity. They have taken part in events defending workers and the Black movement. They have exploded on the radio and in shows.
After discovering Little Joy a little while ago, I thought to myself, "isn't there another side project of a Strokes member?" Albert Hammond Jr. is the rhythm guitarist of the Strokes and he has a couple albums out under his name. I've only heard the most recent one, Como Te Llama? but it wasn't too bad. There is a definite Strokes influence, but maybe a little more poppy? Allmusic says that his first album, Yours to Keep, was better and a little more original, so I'll have to check it out. Here's a live, acoustic (minus the bass) performance of a song from that album:
I want one of these so badly. Too bad the smallest model is $500, not to mention they are somewhat scarce and sell out every time they introduce a new batch. I would love to create and perform something with samples like this. The minimalist design is pretty cool, too. There a ton of videos of people using this if you're interested, this was just the only one I saw that incorporated a little bit of actual instrument playing. You can go to their website for more info and videos.
People Under the Stairs (who often go by PUTS) are a hip-hop duo from LA who have been kickin it since the late nineties. Click here for their myspace, and here for their website (which mysteriously ends in .uk.)
They have about a million CDs (okay, their website says 39), but my favorites are The Next Step, O.S.T, and ...Or Stay Tuned. That might just be because those are the ones I've listened to the most, however.
I adore People Under the Stairs for a few reasons. Their beats are super chill and sometimes funky and jazzy. Also they can rhyme well and have a sense of humor. On of my favorite lines ever from them is "I shoot the gift like NRA members on Christmas." It's from the song "Time to Rock Our Shit," shown in this Youtube video:
I heard these guys a little while ago on a late night talk show of a former MTV host that I'm a little embarrassed to admit I was watching, but they were really good. I looked them up and learned that they are a project of Farbrizio Moretti, the drummer of The Strokes, Rodrigo Amarante, a Brazilian singer/guitarist, and Binki Shapiro, an LA-based singer. The album sounds like it's produced just like a Strokes album, but if the Strokes had a Brazilian singer and a female singer and were influenced by old island music. Here are some acoustic live videos of a few of their songs:
Alright, so I admit when I started writing this post it was about Fiction Family, the new project of Jon Foreman of Switchfoot and Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek. But after listening to their songs up on their myspace and not being incredibly impressed (the album's not out until next week), and then doing some research and realizing that Sean Watkins is not the lead singer/songwriter of Nickel Creek, I decided to just go with Nickel Creek since I haven't mentioned them yet on this blog. Not to say that Fiction Family won't be worth a listen, especially if you're a fan of Switchfoot. And if you really are interested, they are playing at Abbey Pub in Chicago tomorrow (Thursday) night.
Chris Thille is the lead singer/songwriter/mandolin player of Nickel Creek I was hoping for. I only have their album Why Should the Fire Die? from 2005, but there are a few solo acoustic songs on that album written by Thile that are really nice. The full band arrangements lean more towards either pop or bluegrass and are pretty good, too. Here's a video of "Jealous of the Moon" from that album:
(Sean Watkins is the guitarist/background vocalist on the right)
I have to admit, I'm not very familiar with All-American Rejects and I'm not a big fan of Britney. Still, this is pretty awesome. They cover her new single "Womanizer" and then drift into a little bit of "So Happy Together" by The Turtles. Their instrument choice is unique and includes a miniature accordion and beer bottles. The above video has also prompted a whole slew of people to cover Britney's "Womanizer," and their videos can be found on Youtube too. Here's Lily Allen's cover of "Womanizer":
My next music post might involve a cover too. They can be fun, no? PS, Thanks to Fancy Llama for pointing this out!
Local indie folk band Ragged Claws has made a new EP available for free download here. It's a little ragged (... sorry for the pun), but not bad. Some of the melodies remind me of old Bright Eyes. Enjoy.
This past week, The Hype Machine and Blog Fresh Radio have been going through the top artists, albums, and songs of 2008 based on votes of the music blogging community (whatever that means). You can view these lists and listen to the full albums streaming here, or you can listen to the podcast radio version that goes through one song from each artist. Here is the radio countdown so far:
I recently got a hold of The Best of the Rykodisc Years by Josh Rouse. I wondered how it was that I had never heard of this guy when he already had a best of album, but then I looked on Allmusic.com and they agreed it was a little early for a best of album, but that it was still good. It is good. He's a great songwriter, and from the looks of it somewhat prolific (8 albums in the past 10 years), so I think we can look forward to hearing from this guy for a while. His songs are usually mellow and slightly melancholic, yet upbeat and poppy. Here's "Directions" (though there were quite a few of his songs up on Imeem if you want to listen to more):
I rang in the New Year to these guys counting down then playing Auld Lang Syne. It was awesome. Click here for their myspace page & to check out their music.
Smoking Popes are a rock/punk/indie/choose-your-favorite-term band that I fell for back in high school because of the poppy-ness mixed with meaningful lyrics. (Anyone noticing a trend in my tastes?) They are from the Chicago suburbs (holla!) and started to make it big in the mid-nineties. A few years later they broke up and left tons of fans broken-hearted. In the meantime a few of them made music with a spiritual theme via a band called Duvall. Well they're back together now & have a new album out. Woo hoo!
Here's a video of an older song called "I know you love me."
