Rating: 5.5
Is is really that complicated Art Brut? You write a rock song. You write lyrics to go over it. In the lyrics you talk about nostalgia, and growing up, and awkward moments of a relationship – that sort of thing. You do about 10 of these bad boys, take it to a producer who makes it sound really pretty. You call the album It’s A Bit Complicated. You go on tour. You call trucks lorries.
Rating: 7.0
Six LPs into their career, Austin’s Spoon has become pretty ubiquitous for an indie rock band. Their singles, including “I Turn My Camera On” and “The Way We Get By” turn up all over the place, including an enlightening video of a dancing robot on YouTube. Spoon has also provided the soundtrack for a movie (Stranger than Fiction) and has done commercials for Jaguar. While the awful truth may be that the majority of fans at a Spoon show would list the O.C. as their point of entrance, Spoon’s songwriting has been consistently good for a decade: look no further than Girls Can Tell (2001) or Kill the Moonlight (2002) for proof.
The Underdog [mp3]
On September 25th, 2007 Arts and Crafts will release In Our Bedroom After The War, the new album by Stars. You know what else starts here? Beautiful Skin.
The Night Starts Here [mp3]
NME: UNKLE to play first ever live show. Stream: “Burn My Shadow” from upcoming album War Stories.
See you later DJ Shadow
Seattle Powerpop is celebrating their one year anniversary tonight at the Sunset Tavern! Featured bands include: Sgt. Major, Dept. of Energy, Shake Some Action!, The Small Change, Andy Werth and The Knast.
NME: Peter Hook on the new Joy Division biopic: “The way I always like to look at it is that you can judge how good a film is by how many people go to take a piss during it, and only two people went for a piss – Bernard and a 70-year-old woman.”
Aversion: Peace out Sub Pop. Rogue Wave signs to Jack Johnson’s label?
Weird new Art Brut vid for “Direct Hit” featuring pears and togas:
Rating: 9.5
Thank Jesus, Allah, the Easter Bunny or any other minor deity that Young God Records have just re-released Lisa Germano’s 2003 masterpiece, Lullaby for Liquid Pig as a 2xCD reissue with an extra disc of home recordings and live tracks. The original version went out of print quickly as the initial record label that put it out went bankrupt. This stunning piece of music was originally released after a five year hiatus in which Germano pondered the idea of ceasing to make music altogether. Luckily, she did eventually come around and in doing so recorded this album, which is a crimson cascade of wine, broken glass and sheer beauty. Lullaby for Liquid Pig was conceived as a record about alcohol dependency and the subsequent acceptance of both her addiction and depression. It is a gorgeous album that flows like a late night lullaby, which features some hazy production and gentle ripples of intoxicating psychedelia.
Broken Social Scene co-founder Kevin Drew’s solo album Broken Social Scene Presents: Spirit If… comes out September 18th. The following song- TBTF sounds very BSSesque.
TBTF [mp3]
