New Finds

To make up for the lack of posting, I am going to list some of my new favorite bands/albums for the summer.

1. State Bird - Mostly Ghostly



This album is pure genius and a lot of fun. Every track brings a different element, and the instrumentation is diverse without sounding overdone.

2. Man Man - Rabbit Habits



While this album has received some negative press for their new sound, I believe that their new tone is more controlled and mature. Even though many old fans were disappointed, this album is great and still exhibits a great amount of creativity.

3. E for Explosion - I Explode



This album is the new project of Jamison Covington, half of the pop-rock duo, JamisonParker. After their fall out, both Jamison and Parker went their separate ways, and fans have patiently waited for new material. Basically, if you enjoy JamisonParker, you'll love this album. It sounds very similar to Best Mistake, but the sound is a little more electronic.

4. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight



Another solid album, where each track is distinctly different. The sound is reminiscent of Wolf Parade and Les Savy Fav, but is still original.

-Clio

Summertime and the Living's Easy

Before I say anything, I would like to apologize for the lack of posting, I assure you; however, that as time progresses we will get back on track.

I would like to address that Beirut will be on what seems to be their last tour for quite sometime. Zach Condon announced that after the U.S. dates they will be taking a brief hiatus. Here's the letter that was posted on Beirut's site:

It's with great regret that I have to tell all of you that Beirut is canceling their summer European shows. My reasons for doing this are many, a lot of them personal, but I still feel I need to provide something of an explanation.

The past two years have been a mindblowing experience. From the first indications that people were putting songs from Gulag up on their blogs to our incredible tour of Australia and New Zealand that we just completed, everything that has happened has been beyond anything I'd ever hoped could happen with the music I wrote and recorded in my bedroom. Once things started happening, I decided I wanted to do everything as big as possible. So, I set about putting together a large band, and giving that band a huge sound, and making the most spectacular records we possibly could.

I know this can sound like an artist shithead kind of comment, but going through all that really does have its low points along with the highs. The responsibilities of gathering people around your vision, working with great people like those who work directly for the band and those at the label, wanting to insure that every show is as good as humanly possible so that every single person in the audience sees that we put in a real effort, all of that leads to a lot of issues in terms of doing right by people who have done you right.

It's come time to change some things, reinvent some others, and come back at some point with a fresh perspective and batch of songs.

Please accept my apologies. I promise we'll be back, in some form.

-Zach

The remaining tour dates are:

May 28 2008 8:00P
Grand Ballroom San Francisco, California
May 30 2008 8:00P
The Wiltern Los Angeles
May 31 2008 8:00P
The Wiltern Los Angeles
Jun 2 2008 8:00P
Santa Fe Brewing Co. Pub and Grill Santa Fe, New Mexico

If these dates aren't sold out already, I strongly recommend that you attend.

-Clio

Blondelle; Music Journalism; Music

Hello Lads,

In an attempt to forget that I have a major final exam this bloody Tuesday--it's a German exam, go figure--and that I have to study for the thing, I have started writing this post. yep.

In recent months, days, hours, I have been wondering what it means to be a rock critic. A music journalist. ROCK JOURNALIST. What does it mean? Does it mean that I have to kiss some butt, get on the good side of a band, praise it, and then write a review in hopes that the band will read it and be glad that I am kissing its butt? No...no...NO! It's all pure bollocks. That's not what LESTER fucking BANGS said. Yes. I know. You have no idea who this man is, I barely even know a few things about him, but after reading some "last interview of Lester Bangs," I have figured out something, something grand and at the same time something that places me in a quandary. Something that makes me question everything in the vicinity of what I want to do this summer, of what I want to do after undergraduate school, of what I want to do as an old fart. haha. I am not rambling about music, it seems, but i AM. Believe me, I am. I love music. Music and writing are my terrible pains, loves, and desires. I write in a blog, I am one half of Pop! Music, but what does this give me? What does this make me? I write posts for a blog, and I kiss the butts of bands. Is this what a rock critic does? NO! NO! Not at all. Hahahahaha. But I've nothing more to say. I'm already going against the mainstream flow, and there is nothing else to type. I have no voice, if I had a voice, I would be writing reviews that YOU, the reader would want to read, not because of the bands that I am praising or slaughtering, but because I am a good writer and you want to read my stuff. Yes. I need to think about you, you the reader.

WHAT THE HELL? SCARLETT JOHANSSON has an album covering Tom Waits music. I have not listened to it, nor do I want to. I have listened to its first released song, whose bloody name I do not know, and will not type upon this window, and it reminded me of a decrepit Nico. Is she Nico? Is she trying to copy Nico's voice? I mean, I'm no fan of Nico, but THE VELVET UNDERGROUND and NICO was by far a great album, and a good collaboration. Okay. Fact is, Bangs spoke about this, he talked about the music scene dying because everything that we are listening to is a broken down trend that we are fed so that we buy and keep on maintaining music that is pure trash. This is, of course, is the really raw interpretation.

I know nothing of Tom Waits. Sincerely, I have no idea is his songs are good or not, but just the fact that someone can put out an album in the hopes to earn more money just amazes me and it just pisses me off that people who already have money, already have a career want to expand in a field that is already filled with bad music that is being fed to us, and in a field where the good music is left behind in the shadows of nothing just because it does not follow the trends of specific mainstream things.

Which now tells me to type the reason why I wanted to post a post: Blondelle broke up. I'm not saying they were GREAT, heaven knows that I only deem some bands as great, but, they were a piece of work. They were a band still evolving in their sound, still in need of much growth, growth that would perhaps lead them into greatness, and now this happens. I know not the reasons for the break-up, though I hope someday I can claim to know what they were/are. Go on to their myspace and download one of their songs, and let me know what you think. Or don't let me know what you think. It doesn't matter, in any case.

I know, I know. You think I'm a bloody hypocrite because, surely, I just dumped poop on Scarlett, and then praised Blondelle. Well, damn, you got me, but, not in the least. I do think Blondelle had substance. I do believe that in years to come, they would have been the mainstream poop that we are told to buy, and then they would have died as artists, once they followed the follies of the scene, of the world where music means cash and nothing else. German,