I think everyone got tired of Moby the moment his entire album was used to sell us stuff, so I wouldn't have thought that the guy-who-kind-of-looks-like-michael-stipe would have been able to do much more to rekindle interest in his work, but apparently the sampler that has been released on Moby's site has been raising a few eyebrows.
Check it out for yourself.
Edit: I just listened to it - *yawn
Jona Bechtolt, aka YACHT, and one half of the Blow has made instrumental versions of I Believe In You, Your Magic Is Real, and Paper Television available for download.
Get them at his site.
Now, get working on those mash-ups! ("Pile of Gold" would work nicely with The Knack's "My Sharona"...)
Here's a great video clip (not sure whether it's official?) for the Thom Yorke-sampling 'Us Placers'.
Canon Blue (aka Daniel James), is an artist on the label Rumraket, which is also where you can find arists such as Grizzly Bear, Slaraffenland and Amiina - the label itself is run by Efterklang.
I hadn't heard any of his music until I got word that his new "Halcyon" EP was available for a free download, so I pressed play without any preconceptions - I can't express how great it is to discover an artist this way, without any pressure or hype from industry-bodies.
Basically, James writes acoustic/folk music, but covers the lo-fi nature of it all with an electronic veneer. And that's all I'm going to say - I want you to judge for yourself. Consider it an early Christmas present.
Canon Blue - Halcyon EP
Goldfrapp, who recently announced their new album Seventh Tree, which will be released early next year, have just announced the first single will be a track entitled 'A & E'. I have no idea what that stands for, but no doubt all will be revealed when the single is released digitally on the February 3rd.
From what little the band has said about the forthcoming release, there seems to be hintings toward the band returning to the lush sounds of Felt Mountain, away from the electro-glam of Black Cherry and Supernature, especially when you look at the artwork for the 'A & E' single..
Also, couldn't help noticing a clown theme emerging between Alison Goldfrapp and the woman I always confuse her with, Róisín Murphy...
Bad news as one of the concerts I was really looking forward to this summer has been cancelled. Brazilian baile-funk outfit Bonde Do Role have had to cancel their upcoming Australian tour over December/January for reasons currently unknown, meaning the band will not be making their scheduled appearances at Falls Festival, Field Day, Southbound Festival, Sydney Festival or any of their headlining dates.
If you bought a ticket for their headlining shows in Melbourne, Adelaide or Brisbane, you can get a refund from the point of purchase.
Well, while last week's dates for Cut Off Your Hands were cancelled due to Nick's injuries he sustained when jumping from 15 feet to the stage, the nice folks at Etch 'n' Sketch have made the band's new video available in delicious Quicktime format (no pesky youtube!) for you to grab.
The clip features the band building things up, and yes, tearing things down. What more could you ask for? And if you say "a live gig", well then, you'll just have to wait.
To grab the clip for your very own, click on the picture above; the username is "Cut Off Your Hands", and the password is "video" (all without quotation marks). Too easy.
It's funny how sometimes, you can just tell from an album whether or not a band will tear it up live or not. Such is the case with The Black Lips, whose debut major-release album, Good Bad, Not Evil, conveys the impression that during their time in the recording studio, the sound-proof walls barely held them in.
Hailing from Atlanta, The Black Lips, known for their raucous live shows, would have had a hard time making a studio-based album that anywhere near matched the intensity of their earlier live album, Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo. Thankfully, this album is not only filled with quality material, but a wide range of it as well. While a large proportion of tracks, such as 'Bad Kids' and 'It Feels Alright' are still carry the band's raw sound, the band changes it up on tracks such as 'Veni, Vidi, Vici', which is a summer tune backed by a calypso-style loop, while Southern country music can be heard on the track 'How do you tell a child that someone has died?'
While many bands of the same ilk as have tried for so long to record studio albums that emulate their live shows, The Black Lips have realised that such a feat would be impossible, and to some degree, a waste of time - instead, they've released a brilliant album that perfectly complements their live shows, showing a different side of the band.
So get the album, and their earlier live recordings if you can find them, and make sure you see the guys when they hit our shores in a couple of weeks. If you're in Melbourne, try and get to their gig at the Tote, with Eddy Current Suppression Ring, who deliver the most intense live show of any Melbourne band. Seeing both bands on stage will be something special.
Tour dates are:
Meredith Festival - December 15
Oxford Art Factory, Sydney - December 18
The Arthouse, Melbourne - December 19
The Tote, Melbourne - December 21
Vice Records have a couple of Black Lips tracks available to download:
Black Lips - Not A Problem (Live from Tijuana)
Black Lips - Cold Hands
Good Bad, Not Evil is out now through Etch 'n' Sketch and Vice Records Australia
Note: if you're going to buy this album, then make sure you get the Australian exclusive edition that comes with with a live DVD of the Black Lips live in Israel - that alone should be worth the price.
More Canucks coming our way, and this time it's Toronto supergroup Broken Social Scene. While the band hasn't released anything since their self-titled album, one of the band leaders, Kevin Drew, has released his 'Spirit If...' album.
While the Laneway Festival has it billed as 'Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew', these sideshows will include a mix of BSS hits, and newer works by Kevin Drew, played by the whole band.
And given that Feist is one of the sometime-singers in the band, maybe it's not too much to hope for some special encore guests? I'm just sayin'..
Note: Lucky Brisbane fans get to see BSS label-mates Stars play as well in the same show, the rest of you will have to pony up for separate tickets if you're a fan of both bands.
Melbourne: The Corner
Arguably one of the biggest acts for next year's laneway festival, Feist, has announced a couple of sideshows for fans who prefer the acoustics of an indoor venue.
Tickets go on sale December 10 - buy one before anyone who's seen an iPod decides to.
Tuesday 26 February 2008 – Prince of Wales, Melbourne
Tickets from Ticketek or Prince Bandroom
Friday 29 February 2008 - Metro Theatre, Sydney
Tickets from Ticketek or Metro Theatre
While not officially released, Takashi Murakami (the same artist responsible for the cover art on Graduation) has created a short film for the intro track, "Good Morning", in which the stylised bear that's been the theme of all 3 of Kanye's albums, finally gets what he set out for all those years ago.
This video is currently being shown at the Murakami exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in LA.
So it seems Radiohead have set a bit of a trend; while not in the same epic vein, The Mars Volta are offering a new track to download for free over at their website. The fee? completing a slide puzzle of course. If you don't have the patience (or sheer talent) to complete the task - there's always The Hype Machine...
Head over here to try your hand
