Well, there shall be a lack of posting here at Anti-Gravity Bunny until early next week as I'm taking off for the My Bloody Valentine curated ATP New York. Try not to be too sad. I know I won't. I'll try to take lots of pictures. For those unable to go, I leave you with this mix I made of some of my favorite songs from some of my favorite bands performing at the festival. And look, I did it all without Muxtape! Have fun while I'm gone and try not to miss me too much.
In case you're wondering, I put these in order of which the bands perform. So you can feel like you're actually there!
I watched Flatliners last night. Good movie. There was this Halloween party scene where Dave Stewart's "Party Town" was playing and everyone was dancing and having a good time out by the bonfire. It was the coolest. I totally wanted to be there. So I went to find the video online hoping that it would show more of the party with Dave Stewart & The Spiritual Cowboys playing. It makes sense, right? Well, instead of taking that route, they decided to make the video look like a preview for Flatliners, except they throw Dave and his band in every other shot, ending up making it look like a really weird movie, albeit one I'd definitely want to see. And is it just me, or are they not even using their second drummer? I mean, it looks like he's playing, but I'm pretty sure they just didn't want him to feel left out for the video.
I figured two in a row is nothing and decided to see how many new posts I could make that consisted entirely of videos before leaving for ATP. So, here's two more.
Shaky Hands - We Are Young I just saw this one on Pitchfork, and it's pretty good. The song is fun and the video is wonderfully care-free, looking like it was filmed some 50 years ago.
White Denim - Shake Shake Shake And that video reminded me of this video, which I never posted even though I wanted to. This song is totally awesome and gets stuck in my head all the time. And the video is full blown crazy weird fun. Yeah!
Two videos in a row? What what? Yeah, whatever. TV On The Radio takes precedent over my "spread the wealth" mentality. The video for "Golden Age" has monks, dancing cops, human heads turning into animals heads, Care Bear stuff, and a weird Power Rangers/Voltron/Captain Planet thing. So I obviously had to post it. "Golden Age" is from TV On The Radio's forthcoming Dear Science due out September 23rd. And if you've already seen the video, watch it again.
(Kinematic) Typography videos are amazing. They're ridiculous amounts of fun. I remember that one from the scene in Pulp Fiction where Sam Jack is going "English, mother fucker! Do you speak it!?" That's one of my favorites and it's amazingly done. Anyway, this one is for the song "Still Alive" from the video game Portal. Yes, more video game/music stuff. But you know what? This song is so awesome and catchy, it's totally worthy of all praise independent of it being in a game. Go ahead. Give it a listen and see if you ain't singing this bitch all through the week. People will look at you funny. Trust me.
Never before has an album so fully embodied my favorite audio and visual aesthetic (Tzesne's Cliffs Under The Mist is a close second, although too cliffy). There are few things I love more than the image of a seagull floating through a thick fog out at sea and Kiri No Oto sounds exactly like that. I almost changed my name to Grey (instead of Snow) when I got married and have been contemplating a seagull tattoo for quite a while (but am probably going to get one of the bunnies from this print that my wife made instead). I guess Lawrence English and I are on similar pages because his new album, Kiri No Oto (roughly translated as "the sound of fog") sounds pretty much like the first record I would make if I ever made music (and my follow up would probably sound a lot like Belong's October Language).
The entire album is simply beautiful. For the most part, it's very soft and always super subtle with very literal titles like "Organs Lost At Sea," "White Spray," and "Waves Sheer Light." And while this could be considered an "ambient" record, it isn't meant for sleepy-time. Not because you couldn't sleep to it (I assure you, you could) but because you shouldn't want to sleep to it. Kiri No Oto is full of such wonderfully fine delicacies you should want to spend the full 43 minutes sitting alone in a comfy recliner next to an open window blowing the cool salty sea breeze on your cheeks with a big pair of headphones on.
I just can't recommend English's new album enough. It's certainly not for everyone (not much I review is) but for those of you who have large gray pieces of art hanging on your walls just might be into this as much as I am.
I had a little time to blog but nothing really to blog about so I thought I'd go on MySpace and search a random word (in this case, "bunny") and listen to one of the bands on the first page. I might do this more in the future but for now, I present you with Bunny Lake from Austria.
I listened to a couple of their songs and they're alright, nothing that compels me to listen to an entire album. It's dark disco punk rock stuff. But Shinichi Osawa thought it would be a good idea to take one of their songs, chop it up, drop the fidelity by about 10, and throw it around in a pile of dirt, making it better in the process. Good thinking Osawa! I commend thee for your troubles.
This track appears only on the Strobe Love 12", along with the original song and two other remixes. You can also find the original on Bunny Lake's debut full length, The Church Of Bunny Lake.
Not only are two of the coolest bands around touring together right now, they also recorded a split EP that they're selling only on tour and in limited quantities. Luckily for you, some dude (ie not me) put it up online for all of the free-seeking internet music nerds to download. Or maybe he just did it for those who won't be able to make it to any of the shows and just absolutely need this record. Fair enough, right?
So from what I gathered, there's no album art or anything, the CD just comes in a hand numbered sleeve. Hooray for minimalism. The EP consists of two tracks, one by each band remixing one of the other band's songs. Wait, what? Mogwai remixing Fuck Buttons and Fuck Buttons remixing Mogwai? Holy shit. Can this get any better? Yes. Yes it can. If (and only if) Fuck Buttons just happened to remix "Mogwai Fear Satan" then...well, then I would just might cream myself.
Obviously, this amazingly fantastic short but sweet EP is the crème de la crème. I can't get enough of it. My only complaint (and it is a major one) is that it's so god damn short. Come on guys. I sincerely hope this begets future collaborations cause HOT DAMN that would be the shit.
I found this freebie over on Forest Gospel (aka one of the best music blogs ever). WYLD WYZRDZ (caps required) is a one man noise/drone project, who also happens to record under the name Navigator. He's from the city of Salt Lake and he really knows how to make some uh-maze-ing music.
We Are Everyone opens with the gorgeous "Slope," an 11 minute guitar drone piece with plenty of thick high end feedback and soothing plicks. And it's very appropriately named because it's a track that starts out full force and slowly drops a layer or two every so often until all of the electricity is gone you're just left with quiet acoustic strums and an (occasionally layered) voice chanting/moaning with no rhyme or reason.
There's a few more tracks that are good in their own way but I feel like they're more filler than anything else, because it's the last song, "I Am Ocean," that complements "Slope." "I Am Ocean" is almost 20 minutes long and is one of the most soporific, sleep inducing songs I've heard this year. I'm pretty sure WYLD WYZRDZ meant for that description to be attributed to the song "Dream Sequence" though. And while "Dream Sequence" really does a really good job of evoking the, uh, dream sequence thing, "I Am Ocean" is the one that's getting the standing ovation from me.
This song is seriously awesome. It sounds like some weird guitar/organ/harpsichord hybrid being strummed/keyed at regular 1.5 second intervals throughout the whole track. Of course, there's your traditional guitar pleasantries that give the song some depth, but this is really about the hypnosis. I actually go into some sort of trance when I hear it and if I'm not careful, I will find myself asleep only 4 minutes into the song. Literally. It's probably not safe to listen to it while driving and only while you're lying down if you plan on taking a nap.
"But wait, you called this record a freebie..." Yes, it's free. Go download it now from WYLD WYZRDZ' website. And while you're at it, grab Beach Party Forever!. Also, on the Magic Goat website, you can grab some Navigator albums, including Loop Dreams: Volume One. I doubt you'll regret it. And if you ever felt like being a good person, you could always buy one of the physical copies from A. Star.
Here's a new regular series type thing that I hope to actually keep up (unlike CineSounds and Staples). I'm gonna call it Catch Of The Week, although it will probably happen both more and less than once a week. Anyway, I thought it would be a way to share whatever songs have been stuck in my head lately, and possibly give me a chance to get them out of my head by writing about them. And if you have a better idea for a name, by all means share it. I'm not attached to the name Catch Of The Week at all. I think it's pretty cheesy and only slightly clever.
I've been listening to this record a lot lately for two reasons. One: it's the fucking best. Two: I will be seeing Built To Spill perform it in it's entirety at ATP NY in 9 days. The whole album is truly great but for some reason I get the first track stuck in my head more than the rest. Mostly the part where he goes "I'm gonna be perfect from now on. I'm gonna be perfect starting now." Yeah, that never goes away. "Velvet Waltz" is a pretty close second in catchiness the only problem is that I don't know any of the words to it. That's pretty annoying.
Say what you will about The White Stripes and their talent, but I really love them. I don't think I've heard a record of theirs I didn't like and Get Behind Me Satan has a lot of good songs. "Take, Take, Take" isn't even one of my favorites and I don't know a lot of the lyrics, but "I hate to bug ya ma'am, but can I have your autograph? And it was all that I needed!" is something that repeats in my head all the time.
That catchiest of the catchy. Especially during the summer. Whenever I'm even slightly sweaty and I go to hold my wife's hand, I have to sing this song. "I'm getting tired and I'm sweaty but I still wanna touch ya if ya let me. Because we hugged a few times and it was special." And then "My hand slipped into your hand and it was awesome and you were special." I swear, Elise and I sing this back and forth to each other like 10 times every week. Not in a gross way, though. 'Cause we don't do it in public. Or if we do, it's super subtle and people just think we're being weird.
Wow. Sometimes black metal bands are hilarious. The liner notes for Auriga Dying say the band consists of Boethius on communications on 90000065B on transmissions. I mean, does communications mean vocals? Does it even matter? And does 90000065B really think his name is hardcore? 'Cause it's not. Like, at all. It sounds more like the name some nerdy computer whiz gave himself who makes electronic music using only his motherboard and a Talkboy. I'm sure he's going for that random star name thing, but come on. 90000065B? Really?
But names aren't everything. I mean, yes, Auriga is the name of a constellation, and Auriga Dying has celestial references throughout, including a quote inside that reads "Sleep my beautiful planets, and I shall awaken you not..." But that doesn't really matter. It all boils down to the music. And in that respect, Empire Auriga wins. They are fucking awesome. Grim, chugging, buzzing, and cinematic black metal. Hell. Yes.
Auriga Dying is black metal, yes, but it's also got some other stuff thrown in (like all good records). There's definitely some industrial percussion, especially on the track, "Dreaming Of Breath And Stars," and there are bits of shoegaze and ambience as well. All in all, a solid combination, which Empire Auriga pull off making it sound like they've been doing it for ages, when in fact, this is their debut album. Not too shabby guys.
This album isn't constantly going full blast, though. Empire Auriga know the importance of dynamics and they end the album with a few half soothing/half terrifying lullaby drones. The last track, "Dust And Ether," is a gorgeous spacey song with sprinkles of far away noises, sounding much like what I would expect floating in space to sound like (except for that whole "no air" thing).
I highly recommend Auriga Dying and I'm pretty psyched about any future releases from Empire Auriga. I mean, how could I not be? This record is so fantastic. It's out now on Moribund Records and can be purchased on their website. Also, head on over to Empire Auriga's website to listen to "Sorrowsong," another great track from Auriga Dying.
So, a little while ago, I thought for a minute that I might like Robyn. It was definitely surprising to me that I was even considering it, but I'm not that close minded that I would totally brush off something like Robyn just because she's Robyn. I mean, that video for "Konichiwa Bitches" is great, and I liked the song enough to check out her new album. Well, lets just say I wasn't too impressed and am no longer interested. At least I still have "Konichiwa Bitches." Those robot and video game noises are too cool to ignore.
I was watching Children Of Men last night, one of my most favoritest movies ever, and thought to myself, I really need to find out who does that "Zen music" song that Michael Caine's character plays to Clive Owen's character when they're smoking pot in the beginning of the movie. It's supposed to be ironic because the song is all fucking crazy drill n bass type stuff with a dude screaming. I remember the first time I saw Children Of Men in theaters, I heard that song and thought to myself, "Whoa, that song is awesome, I need to find out who did it." And then I never really bothered, either because I never remembered to or out of sheer laziness. Well, as I expected, this song as a whole is great, and I'm really happy to know that it's Aphex Twin that gets the job done. Although, when the song is played in the movie, it sounds a lot scarier, almost like they remixed it or something, because the track that I have doesn't sound exactly like the one used in that scene. Maybe it's just that whole "out of context" thing. That usually fucks stuff up a bit.
It's only appropriate that if one member of a band does a solo record (Spencer Seim of Hella, who recently released sBACH) the other member(s) should as well. Hence we have drummer extraordinaire Zach Hill (also of Hella) releasing his solo debut. Of course Hill has performed in numerous other bands (Flössin, The Ladies, Nervous Cop, Team Sleep, Goon Moon, Damsel, etc.) and mostly in his regular band, Hella, but never before has he released a straight up solo record. The closest either Hill or Seim has come is Hella's double "solo" album Chirpin' Hard/Church Gone Wild. I'm not exactly sure how it went, but I believe each of them wrote their own respective records and helped each other out when it came time to actually play the music. That's why it was still technically a Hella record. But Astrological Straits is a true Zach Hill solo record. Well, almost.
Astrological Straits has plenty of guest musicians. There's Les Claypool, Dean Spunt and Randy Randall of No Age, Marnie Stern, and many other people Hill has worked with in the past. But no matter how many guests show up on Straits, this is still undeniably a Zach Hill record. His signature unhuman-like drumming is found throughout and honestly, isn't that why we listen to Zach? I mean, have you ever seen this guy live? The man is a living blur. I don't know how he moves that fast at all, let alone with any sort of precision or premeditation.
So fear not, there's no mistaking that Astrological Straits is a solo record. It's two discs of mayhem, and truthfully, sometimes it's a bit much. I could probably do without the second disc, a single half hour long song titled "Necromancer." It starts out with Marnie Stern telling a strange story about a father with triplet daughters, one of which died and the other two who have special abilities. Then it goes into free form, semi-jazzy craziness with Hill on drums and Marco Benevento on piano. It's totally awe-inspiring, but not the sort of thing you listen to more than once or twice.
And that goes for a portion of the first disc, as well. It's a lot of noodling, that kind of reminds of Hill's collaboration with Orthrelm guitarist Mick Barr on the record Shred Earthship. The main difference being Astrological Straits is less metal/noise and more pop/jazz/noise weirdness. Seriously weird, too, like when Zach Hill sings (yup) it sounds like Charles Manson as an alien. It's pretty appropriate for the music, but that doesn't make it any less bizarre.
I really like Astrological Straits as a record but there are definitely some songs that stand out among the rest. And, I feel somewhat lame for saying this, but my favorites are the more pop oriented tracks, like "Stoic Logic" and the single "Dark Art." I'm not saying I don't like the more chaotic songs, because I really do. I just like the catchy ones better. No harm in that, I guess. I don't think it makes me any less a fan of Zach Hill, 'cause lord knows I am instantly gratified with anything he touches. So lets end on that. A high note. I love Zach Hill and Straits only confirms my faith in him as a musician. Yeah!
Here's the video for "Dark Art" directed by Scott Cramer and Zach Hill.
Aaaand while we're at it, here's the video for another highlight, "Hindsight Is Nowhere" directed by Katelyn Reeves, Mike Rafter, and Zach Hill.
I Want To Review Your Music If you make music and you want it reviewed on my blog, just send me an e-mail. I would love to hear what you're making and give you a little more exposure in the process.
Disclaimer All of the music on this site is for promotional and sampling purposes only. If you enjoy it, please consider buying the record or going to see the band live. They will appreciate it, I promise. If you own the rights to a song on this site and you would like it removed, please contact me and I will do so as quickly as my tiny paws allow.
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