This came as a surprise (seeing as I didn’t know Jay and Erykah were together) to me. Jay Electronica and Erykah Badu had a child at 1:30 PM on yesterday. I as well as everyone at Mind Inversion would like to congratulate Jay & Erykah on the birth of their new born daughter. Hopefully we get to hear some new material from Jay as well in the next few months, I can honestly say I can’t wait to hear what’s in store for us from Jay.
Spotted at OKP
Recently the Minnesota music community gained a valuable addition when the Uptown Minneapolis-based internet TV show Northern Outpost launched at vimeo.com/northernoutpost. It’s a much needed visual outlet for local music artists that showcases the musicians with studio performances and interviews filmed at their coopted Owl Recording studio which air bi-weekly at Northern Outposts’ website. They’ve already gone through two episodes (that we unfortunately failed to mention here), and now they’re on to the third where they are featuring St. Paul avante-garde/mathrock group The Yoleus. In addition to a live performance of The Yoleus’s driving, bass-heavy rhythms and dissonant guitar theatrics at Owl Recording, the band gives a brief interview where they discuss topics ranging from the current local music scene to the nature of guitar-based instrumental music. It’s a really great show, and it looks like they’ll have an entire season of excellent local artists to come.
Stay tuned for more episodes; they’ve got 4 and 5 filmed already! And don’t hesitate to click the links below to visit all of their previous episodes.
Episode 1: Andy Elwell (01/02/2009)
Episode 2: Kill to Kill (01/16/2009)
Episode 3: The Yoleus (01/30/2009)
The official video for “No Excuses” off of the amazing 2008 swedish pop masterpiece release No Way Down. After watching the video go out and find a copy of the album, you won’t regret it. I promise. Enjoy!
David Barnes delivers again with the album art
Following the release of one of 2008’s best albums Skeletal Lamping, Of Montreal recruit Mr. Everything Jon Brion to mix up some of the albums better tracks. Having worked in the past with Elliott Smith, Kanye West, and Spoon, and also helping produce the soundtrack to Boogie Nights, Eternal Sunshine, and Magnolia Brion certainly has a hand for crafting magnificent tracks. So my hopes were undoubtedly high for those various reasons.
Disappointment from Of Montreal, however; is few and far between. Any band that covers “Day Man” is in good regard for a long time. This EP follows in that pattern pretty well, delivering to fans of the LP some pretty good material that’s a little more ready for the dance floor than the original recordings. The one downfall of this release is that it really doesn’t offer much in the way of anything “new” at all, like I said, the tracks just get a nice shape up for dj’s planning to play their most sexually explicit set of all time.
The reconstruction of “An Eluardian Instance” really doesn’t deviate from the original at all, but what it adds in the repetition and tempo change is welcome. The acoustic version of Eluardian though is quite a treat. The track isn’t stripped down to its absolute bare bones, and I might dispute calling this “acoustic,” but the slow rythm brings out the beautiful voice of Kevin Barnes and more importantly the lyrics become more apparant than ever. And what is Skeletal Lamping worth without the lyrics? Not much.
“Gallery Piece” gets the Brion treatment next, and the last three tracks all play off the same cut. Including the remix and the extended remix is an instrumental of the remix. It’s an exhausting task trying to listen to all three of these front to back, taking away from the feel of this actually being an EP rather than a single or a 12″. The original remix is great though, and it’s definietly the higlight. This cut gets the biggest mix treatment, shortening from the lengthy album version to a more friendly version that plays pretty quickly. The extended cut repeats itself so much that it’s almost annoying to listen to after the five minute mark, but die-hards will still love. (I kind of still did).
If you listened to Skeletal Lamping and loved it, or maybe even just liked it, this EP should definetly be in line for a purchase. The tracks are fun and play fairly fast, catering to the busy lives we all lead. So save some time, practice your dance steps, and come 200 times a day with the Jon Brion remix EP.
7.5 sexual escapades out of 10
For these final minutes of your Sunday evening, I highly encourage you to light up, kick back, and enjoy this adventurous new track of polyrhythmic progressive/post metal from Boston, MA group Irepress. The group’s press sheet states that the band will “readily find appeal with fans of Battles, Cynic and Explosions in the Sky alike”, and I’m inclined to agree with it. While much of the song vibes off of Meshuggah-esque abstract brutality and dissonant hardcore, “Cyette Phiur” is a shoegaze/post-rock epic at its heart. I never thought I would be able to say that I really enjoyed a song integrates both gang vocals AND a string section, but when it works (as it does here) I’ll be the first to admit it. It’s rare that a progressive metal band sounds so at home in such foreign territory, and they’ve got me interested to see what other ideas they’ve pulled together. So far it sounds genius..
Listen: “Cyette Phiur” (from Sol Eye Sea I, in stores 2/17)
Also worthy of note is that Irepress and Fargo, ND (..almost MPLS..) post-metal prodigies Battlefields will soon be heading out on a massive U.S. tour to support the release of their new albums including a 4 day stint in Austin, TX for SXSW. They’ll be in the metro on March 11th for a show with Dark Castle and Vernal Pool. Keep reading for all the tour dates… Continue reading
Do you ever take for granted the ability of being able to hear? If this statement rings true at all (or you want a great read) I highly suggest that you take a look at this issue of the Second Supper. Briana Rupel and Adam Bissen have some very good articles in this issue that shouldn’t be missed. Adam Bissen decided that he would take a day where he would not hear anything. He put earplugs in his ear and had noise canceling headphones on all day. The result is very surprising and interesting when Bissen finds out what it’s like to have no sense of hearing. Briana Rupel has a great story about Wendy Arndt who became deaf when she was just one year old. It hits home with Bri because they are friends. Wendy is a very talented individual who plans on doing big things, and was actually named Miss Deaf Wisconsin in 2008. She is a very special individual because she transcends the bridge between the hearing and non-hearing world (read the article to find out why).
Brett Emerson does one of the most bold things that I have ever heard. He takes his iPod out of the mix (doesn’t use it, only in certain cases), listens to talk radio in the car and only listens to albums for reviewing purposes (but he “acknowledges reviewing as a slippery slope”). I honestly don’t know what I would do if I pretty much took all of my favorite music out of my life. I wouldn’t be the same person, I can definitely tell you that much.
You will also find, of course, the usual assortment of regular articles that you have grown to know and love. Do yourself a favor and give yourself a healthy portion of Second Supper.
Solid Gold and Military Special played to another full venue on January 28th, 2009 at the Uptown Bar in Minneapolis. Enjoy these photos:
Solid Gold
Vodpod videos no longer available.
I caught this video over at 2DopeBoyz, and I have to admit it’s really good. Babu recently did a DJ show in Chicago (I really wish I could have made it) and he did an interview with Ruby Hornet TV. Basically he talks about a wide variety of topics like being able to get into DJing these days, things with Dilated Peoples (The group and the side projects), Duck Season 3 and getting out of the “bedroom” DJ mode. Babu is one of the most down to earth and humble cats you will hear about. This interview is well worth the 13 minutes of my time, I’m learning knowledge from one of the best.
According to a news article that I found on Digg the Swizz Government found a “pot” farm buy using Google Earth. Apparently the bust yielded 1.2 tons of Marijuana and valuables and cash worth over $780,000. Personally I think this is absolutely insane. Is there anything you can really hide from Google these days? I mean yeah it’s a cool feature that you can find things via satellite, but it’s a little crazy. Granted these guys were kind of dumb just growing weed in the middle of a cornfield, but that’s not the principle of the matter at hand.
Apparently authorities found the marijuana field which was just about two acres hidden amongst a field of corn. According to the article they were looking for the address of two men that were supposively involved with the drug ring, and they stumbled upon this field of “green acres”. This group of people have apparently sold somewhere near seven tons of marijuana in the last 5 years.
I can honestly tell you that if this is the actual cover for Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2, I would buy it solely for the album cover. This track is complete hotness if you know what I mean. Anytime that you get Ghostface and Raekwon together you know you are going to have an almost instant classic on your hands. Make sure you check out the track and go get Only Built for Cuban Linx 2 when it comes out. OBC2 is going to be one of the best albums of this year, mark my words.
MIND INVERSION 