Good Weather For Airstrikes

If you ever get a chance to see Architecture In Helsinki and you’re even a slight advocate of fun or exuberance, it’d be in your best interest to do everything in your power to make it out to see them because after seeing them bring down the house at the Avalon last week, I can assure you their live show is some of the most fun you’ll ever have. Though I missed opener Clue To Kalo, I was more than ready when the AiH collective took the stage in their colorful attire and quirky outfits.

Cameron Bird is a unique vocalist because of the cartoonish highs and lows his impressive vocal range enables him to reach, and his vocals definitely held up live, as did those of adorable back-up vocalist Jamie Mildred. The show was an absolute blast, and it seemed as if everyone in attendance was having the time of their lives, especially the group of what must have been more than 15 kids who apparently skipped their high school prom to attend the show. Bird had been informed of this before the show, and invited any of the couples in the group to take the stage, and one couple took them up on their offer and climbed up on stage to waltz to “Maybe You Can Owe Me” (pictured below). Bird went on to say that John Hughes (see: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Sixteen Candles, and The Breakfast Club) would probably end up making a film about them someday, but this comment was met with mostly blank stares and nod-and-smiles from the group, all of which were likely born after Hughes box office heyday (not that I was alive then either or anything).

The prom kids aside, the rest of the audience seemed surprisingly young as well, but the lack of indier-than-thou 20-something hipsters was certainly refreshing. Everyone in the crowd was moving throughout the entire show, and you’d have been hardpressed to spot a single person in the attendance who didn’t look like they were having an awesome time. Highlights included “The Owls Go”, “The Cemetery”, “Wishbone”, “Maybe You Can Owe Me”, and set-closer “Do The Whirlwind”. “Wishbone” was perhaps the single happiest two and a half minutes of my life, made even more enjoyable by the fact that during the horn-happy bridge, Jamie ran up to the balcony and threw confetti from the railing onto the crowd below, who loved it, before racing back down to get in place to continue her vocal duties before the bridge ended. The band also played an awesome new jam, introduced as “Derby” (if memory serves), which sounded really great and has me really excited for AiH’s next release. After leaving the stage at the conclusion of their regular set, the band returned to the stage to chants of “Whirlwind! Whirlwind!”, which closed the night out perfectly. Below is the setlist, which I got from Stereogum (here) but modified slightly because I know they played “The Owls Go” and I’m positive that “Maybe You Can Owe Me” was a mid-set highlight rather than a closer. I take special exception to the fact that “The Owls Go” was left off their recounting of the setlist, as the song contains what is easily the most adorable single moment in the history of music at the 2:54 second mark (which I owe Adrian for showing me). So yeah, below is the setlist from the show, with some mild guesswork at play at parts in regards to the ordering of the songs.

Setlist:
1. “Neverevereverdid”
2. “It’5″
3. “In Case We Die”
4. “Heart and Faces”
5. “Frenchy I’m Faking”
6. “Hot To Trot”
7. “The Cemetery”
8. “Wishbone” [highly recommended]
9. “Kraftwerk”
10. “Maybe You Can Owe Me” [highly recommended]
11. “Fumble”
12. “The Owls Go”
13. “What’s In Store”
14. “Derby”
15. “Do The Whirlwind” [highly recommended]

Also, because a) I’m a nice guy, and b) I’m sure most of you have those AiH tracks already, I’ve decided to throw in a handful of “Whirlwind” remixes for your enjoyment as well, which you can get at below:

MP3s:
“Do The Whirlwind” (Hot Chip Remix) - Architecture In Helsinki
“Do The Whirlwind” (Halma’s Remix) - Architecture In Helsinki
“Do The Whirlwind” (Metronomy Remix) - Architecture In Helsinki

Currently AiH are wrapping up the final dates of this tour, and have just finished a cover of The Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds”, which is to be featured on an upcoming Beach Boys tribute (which will also feature covers by Daniel Johnston and Iron & Wine as well) to be put out by Spanish label Houston Party later this year. Also, they’ve revealed that they just finished their first remix, of The Shout Out Loud’s “Very Loud”, which should appear on an upcoming Shout Out Louds single release. Finally, AiH will be heading into the studio soon to record the follow up to 2004’s incredible In Case We Die, due out in 2007, which should be excellent if the new songs they played last week were any indication.

So I finally saw the season finale of The OC this morning, which I had missed when it aired a week and a half ago because my roommate’s TV in my apartment works almost as well as the internet does (read: not at all). Plot-wise, nothing happened that I didn’t expect; not to say I’m prescient or all-knowing, but considering how we’ve been trained to hate Marissa for the entire season it’s not exactly a surprise that she was the one killed off. However, it was this climactic scene that debuted, for the second OC season finale in a row, a brand new Imogen Heap song.

Last year audiences were floored by Heap’s incredible “Hide and Seek”; this year we got Heap’s previously-unheard cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”. Like “Hide and Seek”, “Hallelujah” features an equally-sparse arrangement and uses Heap’ stunning voice as the sole vehicle with which to tug at (or in this case, to obliterate) your heartstrings. It’s rare that an artist can create a powerful peace of music without the use of any actual instrumentation, but Heap has done it before with “Hide and Seek” and proves here that she can do it again. I can’t say it comes anywhere close to topping Leonard Cohen’s original, or the Jeff Buckley version that made it famous, but it was a great treat regardless. Download the three aforementioned versions below, along with a great live version by Damien Rice, which begins as “Cannonball” and smoothly transitions into “Hallelujah”. Also, definitely head over to My Old Kentucky Blog, where Dodge has compiled a huge list of “Hallelujah” covers, featuring even more versions of the classic, including interpretations by Dylan, Bono, and Rufus Wainwright, as well as pretty much every singer-songwriter ever. Hallelujah:

MP3s:
“Hallelujah” - Imogen Heap
“Hallelujah” - Leonard Cohen [highly recommended]
“Hallelujah” - Jeff Buckley [highly recommended]
“Cannonball/Hallelujah” - Damien Rice

Speaking of Imogen Heap and The OC, the season finale also prominently featured another new Heap track during the stirring graduation scene, “Speeding Cars”, which I already featured here nearly two months ago, but am reposting due to its renewed relevance. However, when I posted that track, I received a ton of requests in the comments and via email to post another Imogen Heap b-side, “Cumulus”, so here that is as well. “Cumulus” is a swirling, swelling, string-laden instrumental track, as epic and beautiful as “Hide and Seek” was before it. I prefer “Speeding Cars”, which I think is even better than the A-side it supports (”Goodnight and Go”), but both tracks are worth the download regardless.

MP3s:
“Speeding Cars” - Imogen Heap
“Cumulus” - Imogen Heap

I’m home for Memorial Day weekend, so I’ll be posting as much as possible to make up for my lack of posts during the week, so keep an eye out for my review of the AiH show and an artist profile containing my new favorite song, as well as, you know, other good stuff. It’s a nice-ass day. Peace.

I officially kicked off my summer concert season in NYC this past week, catching Architecture in Helsinki last Thursday and seeing Art Brut, not once, but twice. That’s right, I saw Art Brut twice. I saw Art Brut TWICE (albeit fully clothed). Desperate puns aside, both shows were quite awesome, though the first goes down as one of the better shows I’ve ever seen (the second was just a brief eight-song in-store performance at Brooklyn’s Sound Fix) due to its incredible line-up, featuring three openers all incredible in their own right: The Chalets, The Robocop Kraus, and “Art Brut 47�, who, as speculated, turned out to be We Are Scientists.

[all photos courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan and Music Snobbery]

The Chalets were the penultimate highlight of the night, eclipsed only by the headliners, and they put on an absolutely awesome set, which I’ve already reviewed here. Next up was The Robocop Kraus, who were absolutely great. I hadn’t enjoyed the few recordings of The Robocop Kraus I’d heard preceding the show, but their excellent performance completely changed that. First of all, they were sooooo German. Second of all, their glitch-pop/guitar-rock fusion sounded awesome in a live setting, and they put on a great performance, with lead singer Thomas Lang venturing into the crowd on multiple occasions. My two favorite songs by them are “Laughter Becomes Tears� and set-closer “You Don’t Have To Shout�, both of which were the undisputable highlights of their performance and can be downloaded below.

MP3: “Theme From Chalets” - The Chalets [highly recommended]
MP3: “After Laughter Comes Tears” - The Robocop Kraus
MP3: “You Don’t Have To Shout” - The Robocop Kraus

Next up was the much speculated-about and anticipated performance by Art Brut 47, who turned out to be We Are Scientists as was rumored, though there was nary an Art Brut cover to be heard. They introduced themselves as being “in the vanguard of Art Brut cover bandsâ€?, but explained that they settled for an opening slot upon the real Art Brut’s arrival in town. Instead, they explained, they’d be playing We Are Scientists covers for the evening, and immediately launched into “Lousy Reputationâ€?. Their set consisted exclusively of tracks culled from their excellent 2006 major-label debut, With Love & Squalor, with the exception of brand new song “Ram It Homeâ€?, which is featured as the b-side on the CD-single re-release of “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurtâ€? (and is available for download here and below). Despite copious amounts of witty banter and excellent run-throughs of all the hits on Love & Squalor (not to mention Chris’ excellent sports-goggles), We Are Scientists proved to be a mere appetizer for the feast of a show that Art Brut put on. Download their new b-side “Ram It Home”, as well as a studio recording of the acoustic version of “The Great Escape”, below.

MP3: “Ram It Home” - We Are Scientists
MP3: “The Great Escape Under The Sea” - We Are Scientists

Eddie Argos and company took the stage and right away launched into the immediately-recognizable “Sweet Child of Mine� riff, which segued perfectly into “Formed A Band�, instantly setting the tone for what would be an incredibly enjoyable performance. Argos has a flawless stage presence, overwhelmingly likeable with his affable confidence and humor, and he had the crowd laughing throughout the show with his clever and impromptu lyric revisions and monologues. In “Formed A Band�, Argos revealed his intention to write a song more universal than happy birthday and perform it “FOREVER on Total Request Live!!!.� During “Moving To L.A.�, Argos shared his ambition not only to drink Hennessey with Morrisey, but also to drink beano with Brian Eno and Rose with Axl Rose as well. Before the final verse of “Emily Kane�, he stopped the band to share the fact that Emily Kane heard the song and had actually contacted him, and that he realized that in actuality it wasn’t so much that he was in love with Emily Kane, but it was more that he was in love with the idea of being in love when he’s 15. He went on to say that “Emily Kane� shouldn’t be viewed as a desperate plea to a long-lost love, but it should be instead be thought of as a celebration of moving on from ex-lovers and accepting that it wasn’t meant to be, and being happy for them instead of harboring resentment. Amidst applause from sentimental audience members, the group immediately launched into the final refrain of the song, before leaving the stage, only to return moments later for an encore that consisted of “18,000 Lira� and their international hit of a new single “Good Weekend�. Before the latter, Eddie took us on a tour of the pop charts around the world, reminding us that “Good Weekend� was not only #1 in Ireland, but in Germany, Australia, the Ukraine, the former Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria (among others) as well, despite maintaining only the #2 spot in the UK (“but we’re working on that�, he assured us). Then, after invoking chants of “Art Brut! Top of The Pops!� from the audience, the band launched into the song, the perfect finale to an incredible performance saw a typically-unaffected NYC crowd rocking out like there was no tomorrow and Art Brut coming into their own and beginning to realize their role as one of the world’s most popular bands.

MP3: “Good Weekend” - Art Brut [highly recommended]

Though “Good Weekend” is my favorite Art Brut track and was the highlight of the show, the band did treat the crowd to one brand new song, which Eddie called “Nag, Nag, Nag, Nag”. Fortunately, RySpace was in attendance and recorded an mp3 of the song for your listening pleasure, available here.

So as I finish up my reviews of the shows I attended last week, I figure I’d give you one more little treat today, a great recording of Bloc Party’s complete live set from their performance at Coachella last month, originally posted over on Blog Party. I took it upon myself to design some basic cover art for it in the typical Bloc Party style. The recording is near-perfect, and it’s a great set, featuring two brand new songs to be included on their as-yet-untitled sophomore album, though there are a some brief silences here and there due to stalls in the live stream that the audio was recorded from. Unfortunately however, I asked one of the higher-ups at VICE about the tentative September release date for the band’s next album, and apparently the album’s likely to be pushed back to a first quarter (hopefully January) 2006 release, which is some of the most soul-crushing news I’ve heard in a while. Regardless though, here is Bloc Party’s 2006 Coachella performance for your downloading and listening pleasure. Thanks again to James over at Blog Party for originally posting and hosting this, and if you like this you should head over there to download Bloc Party’s entire set from BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend Festival, which was recorded and split by bootlegging legend Dave Allen (so you know it’s high quality).

Setlist:
01. “Waiting For The 7.18″ [new song!]
02. “Positive Tension”
03. “Banquet”
04. “Blue Light”
05. “She’s Hearing Voices”
06. “Uniform” [new song!]
07. “This Modern Love”
08. “Like Eating Glass”
09. “So Here We Are”
10. “Helicopter”

Also, AT&T, who broadcast Bloc Party’s set live from Coachella, has now made available for streaming and viewing three songs from the band’s performance: “Banquet”, “Blue Light”, and “This Modern Love”, which you can cheack out here.

May 1st saw the re-release of We Are Scientists’ debut single, “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurtâ€?, and though it didn’t crack the UK top ten as I had expected and hoped (it reached #21), it did bring us two great new W.A.S songs as b-sides. “Be My Babyâ€?, which reached #2 on the American charts when it was originally released by The Ronettes in 1963, has frequently been covered by We Are Scientists at their shows, but it wasn’t until now that we are able to listen to a produced studio version of the track. But the real draw here is brand new song, “Ram It Homeâ€?, available only as a b-side on the vinyl release of the single. Thanks to the power of the internet, I’ve got it in my possession and have made it available for mass consumption, so download away. It feels like it’s almost a parody of sorts, a sexually-charged, over-the-top rock song (a la Eagles of Death Metal), which kicks in immediately with a face-melting riff that remains throughout the course of the song, which features laughable lyrics like, “All my friends ask if my girlfriend’s pretty, I said I don’t really know I only look at her tittiesâ€?. Guitar solos are in excess and are downright masturbatory in length, and even though this is obviously just W.A.S. fucking around and pushing the limits of chessy rock n’ roll, it’s still a good time to be had by all. Grab these two new songs, as well as the acoustic version of the title track originally posted on You Ain’t No Picasso two weeks ago, below.

MP3s:
“Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt” (Acoustic on BBC 1) - We Are Scientists
“Be My Baby” - We Are Scientists
“Ram It Home” - We Are Scientists

As a bonus, I figured that while I was posting W.A.S. b-sides I might as well go ahead and include the b-side from The Great Escape CD-Single, “This Means War”, as well.

Bonus MP3: “This Means War” - We Are Scientists

A year or so ago I downloaded some Chalets tracks from a music blog (I forget which one) that sang their praises, and while they piqued my interest for a little while I ultimately got over them and as a result of them not surviving the transfer from my old desktop computer to my new(ish) laptop, I completely forgot about them and haven’t listened to them since. However, at the suggestion of Rory and Kristin from VICE, who I met up with at Art Brut’s NYC show at the Knitting Factory last Wednesday, I arrived at the venue early in time to catch The Chalet’s opening set. Great call. I was completely floored by The Chalets, who played an awesome set and completely renewed my interest in them as a band, so much so that even picked up their debut LP, Check In, at the show after their set (another great call).

The Chalets are an adorable five piece from Dublin, Ireland, who play fun, spiky pop music, standing out an exciting anomaly in Dublin’s often morose and dreary music scene. The band is comprised of the adorable Pony (Caoimhe Derwin) and Peepee (Paula Cullen) on vocals and keys, supported by Chris Judge (who is also responsible for all of the band’s fantastic art direction) and Enda Loughman on guitars and backing vocals, and Dylan Roche on drums. After garnering an ample amount of buzz with their fantastic live shows and debut Nightrocker EP, The Chalets released their awesome debut LP, Check In, last September in Ireland, though unfortunately it’s still only available on import in the US.

[picture courtesy of Music Snobbery]

Live, The Chalets are one of the most fun bands I’ve ever seen. Their banter is witty, their outfits are adorable, Pony (who is incidentally dating Art Brut frontman Eddie Argos) is overwhelmingly attractive, and the songs sound amazing. Pony and Peepee have a kind of Pipettes-esque thing going on, as they both took the stage in polka-dot red dresses with retro hairstyles and most of their songs featured some form of cutesy choreography from the two lead singers. In my opinion, with the exception of headliners Art Brut, The Chalets upstaged every other act that performed after them at the Knitting Factory last Wednesday, which includes We Are Scientists, The Robocop Kraus, and Think About Life. Highlights included single “Sexy Mistakeâ€?, which ended awesomely with Peepee and Pony absolutely shrieking the chorus into the microphone, “Theme From Chaletsâ€?, my favorite song by the group, and the incredible “Love Punchâ€?, which sounded absolutely incredible live, completely eclipsing its studio recording counterpart. Below is the complete setlist, and all three of those aforementioned pop gems are available for download there. I’d [highly recommend] you check them out and if there’s anything right in the world, you’ll be hearing a lot more from these guys stateside in the near future.

Setlist (w/ MP3s):
1. David Boring
2. Sexy Mistake
3. Cloud Bound
4. Theme From Chalets [highly recommend]
5. Red High Heels
6. No Style
7. Nightrocker
8. Gay Holiday
9. Love Punch

Hello again, it’s been a little while. Unfortunately, the internet at my apartment is incredibly inconsistent and unreliable, so it’s nearly impossible for me to post anything from my apartment and I am as a result typing this in an internet cafe on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. Aside from my internet difficulties, I’m having an incredible time here so far. VICE is, to say the least, amazing. It’s just an incredibly awesome environment to work in, with people tossing new music back and forth all day long and free CDs and vinyl everywhere I look. I spent an hour after work yesterday just taking music off of the server and ripping it to my pod, and that was barely even enough time to get half of the stuff I wanted. But what does this mean for you guys? Well all the free new music obviously means more stuff for me to post on and more new music for you guys, but addVICE (who is based in the same office as the rest of VICE until June 1st), is moving offices and as a result are trying to get rid of the vast majority of their promotional material, which means some seriously awesome contest prize packs lay in the immediate future for you all.

I’m spending nearly all of my time working at the office, but I’m getting to go to incredible shows (be on the lookout for reviews of last Wednesday’s Art Brut show and last Thursday’s Architecture in Helsinki show in the near future) and just hang out with really cool and interesting people outside of work. But now you’re just getting bored and antsy waiting for the downloadable content, I’m sure, so let’s move on to the body of this post.

As I’ve made it known before, I’m a huge fan of Wolf Parade’s “I’ll Believe In Anything”, so imagine my delight when I discovered that Spencer Krug had previously recorded a more stripped down piano version of the song with his Sunset Rubdown side project, with the unabridged title, “I’ll Believe In Anything, You’ll Believe In Anything”. While I can’t say I prefer it to the original, it’s definitely a great alternate recording and those who feel Isaac Brock overproduced Apologies To The Queen Mary will may enjoy this sparser arrangement more than the original. Also, as a bonus, I’ve also included a great live video of Wolf Parade performing “I’ll Believe In Anything” that Sub Pop posted on their site a while back, a treat considering Sub Pop rarely commissions live videos, which you can and should download below. Also, for those of you who missed Wolf Parade’s newest video for “Modern World” when Ben posted it over on Videoteque a little while ago, be sure to head over there and get it now, as it’s excellent and one of the better videos of 2006 so far.

MP3:
“I’ll Believe In Anything” - Wolf Parade [highly recommended]
“I’ll Believe In Anything, You’ll Believe In Anything” (Piano Version) - Sunset Rubdown

Video:
“I’ll Believe In Anything” (Live) - Wolf Parade

This was just a “checking in” post of sorts, but rest assured we’ve got plenty more goodness in store for you in the near future, including profiles of some great new bands, exclusive new We Are Scientists material, and plenty of show reviews. Also, let’s all congratulate Everett on officially graduating from high school, as he had his last day of classes yesterday (this is also awesome because it means he has more time to post, but I guess the whole life milestone thing is cool too).

Regina Spektor was born in Moscow in 1980 but moved to the Bronx in New York as a nine year old. Coming from a family featuring a violinist father and a music professor mother, Spektor was predestined to be musically inclined. Her classical training in the piano began at age six, and she began writing her own songs as a teenager. She released her debut album, 11:11, in 2001, followed a year later by the aptly named Songs. It was Soviet Kitsch’s release, in 2004, that finally broke Ms. Spektor in the (semi-)public eye.

My first introduction to songwriter, singer, and pianist Regina Spektor was through an iTunes exclusive song by The Strokes, “Modern Girls and Old Fashioned Men”, where she and Strokes lead singer Julian Casablancas shared the vocal booth at the same time. Regina and The Strokes were also sharing a stage at that time, touring the United States together in 2003. The intro to “Modern Girls” is one of my favorites, and I remember being extremely put off when Ms. Spektor’s high-pitched vocals kicked in, and I took to changing the song as soon as her voice started slicing through the guitar line. Obviously, this was not the best first impression, and since then I’ve been extremely hesitant to give Regina Spektor a chance. 2004’s Soviet Kitsch received its due of critical acclaim, yet I maintained my stance that her voice was impossible to get through and I couldn’t possibly enjoy her music, and didn’t even listen to the album. Well, it turns out I was completely missing out.

Soviet Kitsch happens to feature one of the better folk/pop songs featuring a backdrop of strings that I’ve heard in recent memory, the outstanding “Us”. The first Regina Spektor song I listened to in full, it completely opened my eyes (ears?) to her outstanding voice, and since then I’ve been pretty excited for her upcoming release, Begin To Hope. In 2005, she released an EP called Live at Bull Moose, and in early 2006 came a compilation-of-sorts called Mary Ann Meets the Gravediggers and Other Short Stories, which collected songs from her previous three full-lengths, focusing on those featuring the fictional character Mary Ann. On June 13 of this year, however, Ms. Spektor will drop the official follow-up full-length to Soviet Kitsch, Begin To Hope. Four songs from Begin To Hope have been released on iTunes already as exclusive singles: “Fidelity”, “Better”, “On The Radio”, and “Summer In The City”. “Fidelity” is the early-frontrunner for my favorite, as it is the most reminiscent of “Us”. “Better” is more of a straightforward rock song (and the albums lead single), the difference being the emphasis put on the range and beauty of Regina’s voice. The track again capitalizes on Regina’s Strokes connection, as it features Strokes guitarist Nick Valensi on guitar, whose power chords provide the backbone for the song. “On The Radio” is the apparent favorite of the iTunes crowd, as it is the leading download of Regina Spektor songs, and it again prioritizes Spektor’s vocals, though from a less rocking and more storytelling standpoint. Finally, “Summer in the City” is a gorgeous ballad whose only drawback is it’s relative emotional detachment; Spektor is at her best when you truly believe in the suffering or ecstasy she is experiencing, and despite her fantastic voice, “Summer in the City” lacks that in a way that “Us” and “Fidelity” do not. So we’re forgoing posting “Summer in the City” in favor of “Samson”, originally from Regina’s Songs album, but reprised on Begin To Hope, presumably because it’s just so amazing - quite possibly the best song Spektor’s ever written. All the aforementioned songs can be downloaded below, as well as a remix mc DJ (the man behind the beat-tastic Sufjan remix album, Illin’ Noise) made for “Us”.