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Album Review: Pepe Deluxe Spare Time Machine!

Posted in Music Reviews with tags , , , , , , , , , on Thursday, June 25, 2009 by Nicholas Blexrud

Pepe Deluxe“Talk about a Jumble” are the opening lyrics of Pepe Deluxe’s 2007 release of Spare Time Machine. Pepe Deluxe hails from the capital of Finland, and consists of two main members; Vellu Maurola aka DJ Slow and Torni Paajanen aka JA-Jazz. Enough with the background, Spare Time Machine consists of many layers; vintage synths, rockin’ beachy guitar, funky horns, and hippy-bongo drums, possibly something out of a classic surf flick. But the most memorizing flavor of Deluxe’s ice cream sundae is definitely their understanding of space and vocals. The way these two intertwine, almost genetically, XY chromosomes or the meeting of sperm and egg, is beautiful. I am one who likes tripped-out, psychedelic phrases with lavish lyrics (The Mars Volta, Super Furry Animals, Animal Collective) that Pepe Deluxe is simply  an emotion to put memories to, and I thank them for that.

You can check out a couple of there sick ass  vintage 60’s sound, with clashes of psychedelic-funk with epic builds and robust, tripped out lyrics on MYSPACE.

Would love to see em live, but they haven’t updated their website for a year…

Cheers Anyway to Pepe Deluxe!

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Monday Music Video Roundup: Twin Cities Week on MTV2, Animal Collective, Neko Case, and more

Posted in Monday Music Video Roundup with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on Monday, June 15, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Vodpod videos no longer available.
LIVE PERFORMANCE VIDEO: Tapes ‘n Tapes, “SWM” (live at Backyard BBQ from MTV2 Twin Cities week exclusive)

According to Gimme Noise, the Minneapolis metropolitan area has taken over the airwaves at MTV2 and MTV2.com this week, where they’ll be hosting interviews and performances that they taped two weeks ago during Soundset and such. To start the week off, Subterranean has posted a video of the local boys in Tapes ‘n Tapes showing off their acoustic skills on a rendition of “SWM”. Pay attention to MTV2.com throughout the week for more performances with TC artists such as P.O.S., Mike Mictlan, and more.

For today, I’m back with a round-up of the week in music videos and live performances that I cared to watch (except for one – if I find a d/l of the awesome Faith No More set from Download Festival that I live-streamed, I’ll be sure to post it later). Enjoy the list I’ve compiled; you’ll need to set aside a good chunk of time if you want to watch them all!

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From The Rail: Sights and Sounds of Animal Collective Live @ First Ave. 5/20/09

Posted in Audio, Concert Reviews, From The Rail, Video with tags , , , , , , , , on Thursday, May 21, 2009 by Erik Burg

AC Avey tall close      It’s been a long wait since the release of Merriweather Post Pavillion, since this show was announced, since the tickets went on sale. May the 20th seemed like it would never arrive, and as I spun everything from Spirit They Came to their newest live tracks, the prospect of seeing Animal Collective live seemed more myth than reality. 

      But enough of the deification. The show has obviously come and gone, but the hype surrounding these guys both as a live act and on record is sure to stay. I got the chance to see the trio last year at the Pitchfork music festival, and they were good. But the set was very short and the band seemed a little passive with their enthusiasm of actually headlining the festival. Last night though, Animal Collective took the stage and commanded an energy from start to finish like few bands can. It was captivating and jaw-dropping while at the same time extremely fun and enjoyable. 

      The set list was great as well. Obviously playing plenty of tracks from Merriweather, the band also managed to open with the older “Chocolate Girl”, played “Chores” and “Fireworks” from Strawberry Jam, and also knocked out “Who Could Win a Rabbit” from Sung Tongs. Highlights of the night include the comparatively stripped down yet overly amazing version of “My Girls” and the five minute breakdown in the middle of “Fireworks” that came as close to a guitar or drum solo that you could ever see from Animal Collective. 

      Stage set-up was even stunning. The lighting for the show was spectacular, that is unless you get seizures easily. For the rest of us though, we were treated to strobing color almost constantly, making the sight of Panda Bear singing on “Guys Eyes” even more beautiful than I ever imagined. The giant ball that hung above the stage, along with the giant optical illusion, err, album cover in the background made sure that stage was completely utilized.

      It’s a tour and concert I want to be proud to tell my kids about someday. You saw Woodstock? You saw Hendrix? You saw Ringo? I saw Animal Collective, one of the most influential and boundary pushing bands of my age. Describing how important they are to music might be cliche, but Animal Collective might be one of the only bands from this entire subculture worth talking about years down the line.

      So there’s plenty of video and photos for you to check out of course. Please excuse my terrible half-singing half-yelling along to some of the songs, I apologize. Enjoy! 

 

AC Panda singing

AC Avey bubble

 

AC Geologist

AC Panda red

AC Panda and Avey flash

AC Avey side

AC Avery and Panda Green

AC Avey B and W

 

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Animal Collective Tour Kick Off This Week, New Release and MP3 Follow

Posted in Audio, Concert Dates, Downloads, Music News, News with tags , , , , , , on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 by Erik Burg

DT AC cover      As I sit in my new favorite cafe here in La Crosse, The Root Note, I day dream about May the 20th. It’s the day Animal Collective, along with opening act Grouper hit the main room at First Ave. It’s a concert that sold out like country music shows do at the Xcel Center. So yes, anticipation is brewing.

May 18 @ Royal Oak Music Hall, Royal Oak Michigan: SOLD OUT

May 19 @ Riverside Theater, Milwaukee Wisconsin: Tickets (!)

May 20 @ First Avenue, Minneapolis Minnesota: SOLD OUT

      So the fact that Animal Collective and NPR teamed up last night to stream the band’s set form the 9:30 Club in Washington DC was all the more reason for me to get excited. It was essentially a look inside the band’s tour, a two hour romp through the Baltimore trio’s best work. And you’re more than welcome to stream the entire thing for yourself at their archives, or even just check out the set list. 

Stream Animal Collective live @ the 9:30 Room, Wash. D.C.

      You would think that selling out nearly every venue on their tour was enough, but Animal Collective have now officially released andanimal-crack officially sold out of The Animal Crack Box vinyl set that everyone and their mother have been salivating over. The triple-vinyl box set collects various live tracks and unreleased material from the bands tribal years from 2000-2003 period. If you happened to have $92 laying around and happened to be on the internet and happened to stumble upon the first blog that wrote about it (Pitchfork) you might have been lucky enough to load the page fast enough to get a copy. Oh well I guess, The rest of us poor souls will just have to wait for the MP3s to come leaking out of some dude’s basement. 

      Until that time though, you can check out the new track that Panda Bear, Avey, and Geologist have been playing live. It’s working title is “Bleed” and can be had in a handy MP3 form already thanks to Collected Animals. “Bleed” seems extremely unpolished still, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the track still evolve even over the length of this tour. The track sounds a little too mythical, a little too slow, but the Avey and Panda melodies are a nice treat none-the-less.  It’s not as good as the other new live track, “What Would I Want Sky”, but it shows once again the talent that these three men have at crafting music seemingly on the fly. Grab it below:

Animal Collective – “Bleed”

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Yeah Yeah Yeahs + Bass + Glitches = all this stuff

Posted in News with tags , , , , , , , , on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 by Erik Burg

So the Yeah Yeah Yeahs new album It’s Blitz! finally hit shelves this week. Everybody and their mother has already heard it. Everybodyzero1 and their brother already loves it. It’s first official single, ‘Zero.’ has gotten more than its fair share of remixes too. The original is great though, so a few of these kind of disappoint me though, I have to say. But let’s get started:

‘Zero’ Disco Weirdos Re-Edit. The longest of any of the remixes featured on here, Disco Weirdos have seemingly found the key to a good remix of the track. Plenty of bass, but unlike the other mixes I’ll get to, these bumps are timed great. Booming to the cry of “Zero,” the bass adds a great kick when at first it seemed destine to just be like any other remix of any other track ever. The last half of the track adds another layer of high pitched synth over-lay that adds a lot of excitement to the song as well. What comes of all this is the perfect club single, it kind of gives of a little bit of a ’90s feel too it at the end too, but I love it. 

‘Zero’ MSTRKRFT Remix. As much of a fan as I am of MSTRKRFT, I have to say this right away: “Come on guys.” Not only was your new album a huge let down, but now this?! What Disco Weirdos did right, these guys did wrong, too much bass right from the first line. The all treble and echoing breakdown in the middle is nice, but seriously, it takes a lot more than deep hits to keep anybody interested. Sorry, but feel free to pass on this one.

‘Zero’ N.A.S.A. Remix. Again, a highly touted group that I was overly excited to hear make a run at this track, but the result… pretty boring. It’s sort of the middle ground between the first two mixes, it has the treble breakdown with glitchy and skipping vocals, but with little bass when it maybe should have more. In the end, it’s hard to tell this one apart from what MSTRKRFT brought to the party, making their effort seem all the more average. 

‘Zero’ Erol Alkan Remix Preview. First off, this is only a minute long preview, and the full length isn’t quite out yet, so with a grain of salt I suppose. I’ve gotta imagine this edit is going to run a pretty long length too, because in the 1:10 preview there is about a one word vocal sample. I like what what I hear though, It’s a bit more house-y too, and feels massive compared to the other tracks. “Shellshock” is the one word we hear from Karen O, and then Erol slaps you over the face with all the bass. It’s silly how good this mix could be, so get excited.

Oh yeah, and did I mention THIS is happening. Be excited people, be very excited.

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The Hood Internet with another stellar mash-up

Posted in Audio, Downloads with tags , , , , , , , , on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 by Erik Burg

They just keep coming, whether it’s individual tracks or entire mixtapes, the Hood Internet impress me every time they come out withhoodinternet new material. This time it’s all-time great Ghostface Killah and Beirut getting all jammed up together. Half the track comes from new Beirut material as well, otherwise known as Real People Holland, which is kind of cool. Ghostface sound slightly ridiculous over the top at first, but I’ve really come to like this song on my second listen. Check it out for yourself and see what you think, and if you enjoy there is TONS of other material out there from the Hood Internet as well.

MP3: The Hood Internet – Ghostface Killah vs. Beirut “Save Me Concubine”

OR

MP3: The Hood Internet – Animal Collective vs. Paper Route Gangstaz “Animals Collecting Money”

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Sufjan Beat

Posted in Art with tags , , , , on Friday, January 30, 2009 by Erik Burg

This is kinda-sorta-maybe the funniest thing I’ve seen in a while. Parody magazines of the old Tiger Beat generation with a twist of today’s indie hype madness. Sometimes It’s nice to be able to laugh at one another, and this is the perfect valve for such feelings.

sufjanbeat1

Issue 1

Issue 2

Issue 2

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Animal Collective @ First Ave May 20th

Posted in Concert Dates with tags , , , , , on Friday, January 23, 2009 by Erik Burg

Tickets on sale now for Animal Collective live at First Ave. on May 20th. The band is touring in support of their new album Merriweather Post Pavillion, pictures from their New York shows and links to live mp3s at Brooklyn Vegan.

Jump on these soon as it’s sure to sell out.

Ticketmaster

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Merriweather Post Pavillion Influence Mixtape

Posted in Downloads with tags , , , , on Monday, January 12, 2009 by Erik Burg

Wondering where Animal Collective got their ideas for one of the best albums released in the past few years? Maybe you just want to know what’s on Panda or Avey’s iPod? Well look no further friends, because an eight track Mixtape was recently released for your listening pleasure. Initially created for customers who pre-ordered the January 20th CD release of Merriweather, copys have been making their way around the web all day as recipiants of the “rare and limited” tapes have been spreading the word about how much AC apparently loves Erykah Badu.

I’m anxious to give this mix a listen to not only because I’ve heard of only a few names on the list but also because of the way AC draws upon so many different sources to create their amazing music. Too bad I’m stuck in class right now, but oh well. Maybe if I get ambitious I’ll get a review up, but for now I’ll let you be the judge.

Rough Trade exclusive: Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavillion Pavillion mixtape

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Review: Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavillion

Posted in Music Reviews with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on Thursday, January 8, 2009 by Erik Burg

Pretty Much Amazing: “Take the time to really listen and understand what direction Animal Collective is trying to go. If you do, I think you’ll find a band you can really get behind: A band that makes music for music lovers.”

Pitchfork: “Although it will be tagged as Animal Collective’s “pop” album, Merriweather Post Pavilionremains drenched in their idiosyncratic sound, a record that no one else could have made.” “But Merriweather feels like a joyous meeting in a well-earned, middle place– the result of all their explorations pieced together to create something accessible and complete.”

merriweatherpostpavillion

Not much has been left unsaid about Animal Collective’s newest album Merriweather Post Pavillion. Those two quotes above give a fine example of the kind of perfection and praise that this album is receiving, and has been receiving for weeks now.

My personal history with Animal Collective has been a bit rocky, I have to admit. At first I hated the group for their music, it was just so weird and different and felt so disjointed upon first look, but when I took the time to listen to an album all the way through it became quite apparent that they truly were making music for music lovers. And Merriweather is no different, an album steeped in more harmonious vocals and musical clarity than any of their other works, this disc is one of the most impressive I’ve heard in a very long time. 

Tracks like “My Girls” and “Brother Sport” are monstrous songs that will catch you by surprise if you’ve never listened to Animal Collective before. As the P4K reviewer said, this disc is certainly their “pop” album, and that’s why it has so much potential. “My Girls” is their most accessible track to date, but that’s not to take away from it because it’s probably going to go down as their finest track ever laid down as well.  “Brother Sport” reminds listeners of AC member Panda Bear’s incredible album Person Pitch released in 2007. 

animal_collective_says_boo

It really would be easy to go on about Merriweather for thousands of words, but there would be no reason, because like any other Animal Collective album this just has to be heard and an opinion formed on your own, not through reading this review or another number of the thousands now out there. All I can say fro sure is that this is AC’s best album, most accessible album for first time listeners, and and album that will be talked about for years to come. 

9  9.5  10/10

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