So, technically, I didn’t watch this, but my roommate did!
This is not a new thought, but it is a thought nonetheless: People, in the stands, used to sing the national anthem. Now they politely watch some celebrity do it. Probably with live autotuning.
Is this a problem?
Anyway, here are some American minstrels. Are they good? Let’s find out:
Charles Bissell – It Ends With A Fall
This is a little gimmicky in its lo-fi-ness, but there’s some meat underneath.
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And a Nigerian. But Nneka was on the TV, just like football! I’m not really a fan of this song, but she rocked out on Letterman:
Helen Earth Band is the latest incarnation of brothers Marc and Adam Allen, who previously played together in the criminally-underrated San Diego band, Counterfit. Counterfit was known for its unique blend of Southern California pop-punk and midwestern emo, drawing comparisons to bands like Mock Orange and Braid.
With Helen Earth Band, the Allen’s have built upon their old sound, drawing on new influences and instruments. Their latest single, “(We All) Talk With Knives,” is a pitch-perfect example of this progression.
The song swirls in a complex web of guitars, vocals and keyboards. The guitar lines feed off of one another in increasing complexity over ever-changing time signatures, all the while retaining a subtlety that prevents them from ever getting in the way. The vocals are similarly complementary, passed between the two primary vocalists and regularly augmented by the inclusion of a third vocal line. What they may be talking about in terms of content, I haven’t the faintest idea, except that its with knives, which can’t be a good thing. In any case, it’s not what they sing, but how they sing it. And damn they sing well.
I’m not going to lie; when I saw a link to a Diggy Simons freestyle on VladTv.com, I clicked on it thinking it’d be good for a laugh. But I must say, the lil man sure can rap and apparently I had missed the boat on the release of his first mixtape, The First Flight, which was released on December 2, 2009.
If you’ve ever seen Run’s House on MTV, then you know who Diggy is. If not, all you need to know is he’s the 14-year-old son of Run DMC member Rev Run. He actually spit a song on the show, but he’s improved much since then.
I had two major doubts about Diggy: 1.) While he undoubtedly has rap and hip hop in his blood, his older brother JoJo is less than impressive on the mic and 2.) Adolescent rappers just aren’t always impressive. They still have that whiny pre-puberty voice. See Lil Twist, who actually appears on the “Make You Mine” track. Diggy’s voice sounds pretty mature and his rhymes are actually pretty slick.
When The Soft Pack (at the time still called The Muslims) released their self-titled 12-inch I thought to myself, “This is garage rock.” The San Diego-based band had no intention of reinventing the genre. In fact, it played more like a Best Of. No surprises, but everything you could ask for in 10 garage rock songs, all in one place. Fast forward two years and the band is once again releasing a self-titled album, this time under their new, less controversial name The Soft Pack.
The problem with doing something so — I guess — unoriginal, is that you need to completely nail it. Unfortunately, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, they missed the mark here. Matt Lamkin, whose nonchalant vocals have always been a part of the band’s apparent Cali vibe, sounds much more like he doesn’t care at all versus being too cool to care. It’s really hard for me to call the lyrics uninspiring because I’m well aware that’s sort of what they are going for, but strictly going through the motions doesn’t become acceptable just because you admit to doing so. There needs to be something to justify repeat plays of the album that isn’t “because I’m reviewing it.”
Of course, if The Soft Pack come to town I would be more than happy to pay the 10 bucks to see them live and not just because I want to hear them play their old songs either. I can see this record translating much better in a live setting. Partly because it’s a little overproduced, but after seeing them at Don Pedro’s I have a feeling they can pull these tracks off. As long as they play Extinction too. Answer to Yourself, one of the better tracks off the album, is embedded below.
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Sumptuous, melodic, well-composed, earnestly written — What can’t you say about Andy Lehman & The Night Moves’ new album, Lowcountry?
Oh yeah, their next show is at a high school. And the one after that, too.
In Lowcountry, Lehman and his cohorts take a style of music that seems destined to be derivative and reinvent it into a fresh sound in all 11 tracks — no small feat. What stands out most here is that even though these are unabashedly pop songs, they draw much of inspiration from the crude oil of country music, which heartens the thin broth of pop-rock where they firmly land.
Andy Lehman & The Night Moves are an unabashed product of Greenville, South Carolina (I could tell they were from South Carolina before I even looked it up — and that’s a good thing) whose sound would play well anywhere. Great bands know who they are, and don’t shy away from it — a strategy that works so long as who you are is good. Albums of this quality from a young band make it plainly obvious that these guys benefit greatly from a range of favorable influences.
Hipsters Read: Country Music is Not Terrible.
But what really pulls Lowcountry together is the masterful production, which draws the rhythm elements into a space of their own. The one real question mark is how well this album would translate to live performance – since it seems to rely on many subtle and extra-band (a term I have just invented) sounds. But then again, with melodies this good, it’s even harder to imagine a band so talented screwing it up
But don’t worry Mauldin and Hillcrest High Schools, you’ve got a good one on your hands.
So, we are late today. And by today I mean this was supposed to be three days ago. In honor of that, I bring you not one, but two Hype Machine-related posts. (Because of that, no theme in this one. For that just scroll down. Er, up. To the one you probably already read.) Go crazy, kids.
This first one I forgot what it is since I copied it here. I liked it, I guess.
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But Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn, how could I ever forget you? The blog compared it to The Andrew Sisters, which is quite apt, but it’s too good to be a copycat. Adorable radio stage folk singin’.
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Ginger Ninja.Why is your name so terrible? Oh, you’re from Denmark.
This is pretty stupid. Like really stupid. But endearingly earnest.
These things in the Most Pop were good, because they are not disco remixes (see next post).
Lo-Fi-Fnk – Marchin In
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Stephen Marley – Hey Baby
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Visit the Merge Records store today to download the new Fall Hard EP by Stockholm’s The Shout Out Louds. Below is their new video, directed by Ted Malmros, the band’s bass player, and his brother Tom Malmros. This will give you just a little taste for what you’re in store for when they release their new record, Work, on February 23rd, 2010. After the jump you can also find North American tour dates, perhaps we’ll see you at the NYC dates?
Guitar. That’s a quick and easy one-word description for the debut full length from Florida based band Surfer Blood. On their debut record, Astro Coast, they nail the clean and propulsive thrust of records like Weezer’s Blue Album and The Strokes’ Is This It. And while some may be quick to lump them in with the growing ranks of bands who have all heavily invested in reverb pedals, Surfer Blood display the chops and the songwriting skills necessary to help them avoid becoming a one-trick gimmick.
Like their peers in Real Estate, Surfer Blood utilize their guitars in a way that doesn’t shove them down the listener’s throats. But while Real Estate tend to smear the lens in vaseline and shoot straight into the sun so to speak, Surfer Blood take a more streamlined approach. Opener Floating Vibes is indicative, featuring interlocking riffs over a sturdy backbeat. While the guitars on this track do explode from time to time, it’s always in the guise of a tasteful solo. By the time the handclaps and “bah-bah” backing vocals come in, Surfer Blood have completely betrayed their power pop leanings and you can remark to yourself, “Man, it is so nice to hear Weezer sound like Weezer again.”
Elsewhere, such as on their buzz-bin (they’d appreciate that distinction) anthem, Swim, lead singer John Paul Pitts’ hoarse shouting tops a series of titanic riffs and stop-start drumming. The key to Surfer Blood’s appeal lies in the fact that behind the guitar heroics and shimmering textures, these are great pop songs. Lyrically is where Surfer Blood run the risk of falling into cliché, as a lot of their songs recall mid-90s emo poet laureate’s like The Promise Ring and Christy Front Drive. But this is a minor complaint on an album that ultimately serves its purpose as an enjoyable fist-pumping indie record. In a year where we’ve seen that term used and abused to the extent that all it takes is some facial hair to be indie, Surfer Blood seem proud to know on which side of the fence they stand.
I’m not going to lie; when I saw a link to a Diggy Simons freestyle on 
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