Good Weather For Airstrikes

So it’s taken me quite a while to get around to my coverage of the third and final day of the Great Escape, but I had a ridiculously hard time trying to figure out how to embed streaming audio in my posts because, contrary to what you might expect, I’m not that internet savvy when it comes to the technical side of things. That said, rather than actually spending my time figuring that all out, I just kind of kept putting it off and writing posts on artists I was more excited about featuring, but I’ve finally gotten my shit together and hammered out the final segment. Keep reading for my complete Great Escape wrap-up and full, exclusive coverage of the best performance of the weekend.

RIPCHORD (7:00 PM, Beach Club) [MySpace]

Ripchord have a sound that’s something like Liam Gallagher fronting a more rocking hybrid of the Arctic Monkeys crossed with the Fratellis and, uh, it’s not all that unique. I liked, but didn’t love their debut single and didn’t have terribly high expectations for their live show. But all that said, they proved to be quite the pleasant surprise. So much so that I blew off Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip just so I could see the rest of their set and hear how “Lock Up Your Daughters” translated to a live setting. The choice paid off as I heard DLS vs Pip wasn’t all that great and “Lock Up” proved to be one of the best songs I heard all week, that gloriously addictive central riff whipping the crowd (well the first two rows at least) into a frenzy and getting everyone in attendance thoroughly into it. Other tracks like “Back of a Van” and new single “Backstabber” (out last week) didn’t fail to impress either, and Ripchord were undoubtedly one of the most pleasant surprises of the weekend for me.

MP3: “Lock Up Your Daughters (And Throw Away The Key)” - Ripchord

NEON PLASTIX (8:00 PM, Revenge) [MySpace]

Then it was over to Revenge to catch Neon Plastix in all their 80’s-ass synth-drenched glory. With endearingly cheesy vocals, a very flamboyant lead singer and enough synths on stage to rival Hot Chip, the Neon Plastix were very loud and very fun. They’ve got like a Phd in fun noises which they produce using a combination of those aforementioned synths and a fully-stocked sampler and yeah, they were pretty great. That said, they definitely have a bit of work to do in the on-stage chemistry department, as the energy and presence of the drummer and lead singer carry the band while the keyboardist, guitarist and bassist all kind of just go through the motions as routinely and uninterestingly as possible. Not all of their tracks were solid gold hits or anything, but there were enough highlights to warrant me getting way psyched to hear more from them, including an awesome guitar-and-sampler heavy instrumental track with a borrowed looped vocal that sounded what you might imagine a live performance of a remix to be like. And then there’s “On Fire”, an undeniable JAM if I ever heard one, and they closed with it brilliantly, just as I’d hoped they would. The lack of “Dreams”, my other favorite track by them, was a bit of a bummer, but hey - did I mention “On Fire” is one of my favorite electro-jams of like, ever?

MP3s:
“On Fire” - Neon Plastix ((highly recommended))
“Dream” - Neon Plastix

JACK PENATE (9:30 PM, Beach Club) [MySpace]

After being unable to get in the night prior, I was able to gain entrance into Jack Penate’s performance at the Beach Club on Saturday night. I liked a few tracks off Penate’s demo and loved his debut single on the up-and-coming Young Turks imprint, “Second, Minute or Hour”, but still only made the call to catch him at the Beach Club after failing to gain entry to both the Kate Nash show at Pressure Point and Kid Harpoon’s full band performance (which I heard was AMAZING) at the Pavilion Theatre.

It turned out to be a decision of the Very Good variety, as Penate is a brilliant live performer with more good tracks in his arsenal than I’d given him credit for. “Second, Minute or Hour” sounded great, as did an awesome - if short-lived - cover of “Everybody Dance Now”, but my favorite track of his set was upcoming single “Torn on the Platform”, which you can and should get at below. Dude just signed with XL and has a very bright future ahead of him, and with an album due out in July and “Torn on the Platform” preceding it as a single in late June, you’re about to be hearing Penate’s (like Pinata, only ending in a “-te”) a lot more in the coming weeks. Also, he allegedly just recorded a track (a few tracks?) with Mark Ronson, which is at least 5,000 different kinds of REALLY EXCITING. Just sayin’.

MP3s:
“Second, Minute or Hour” - Jack Penate ((highly recommended))
“Torn On The Platform” - Jack Penate

PALLADIUM (10:30, Hector’s House) [MySpace]

I don’t even know where to begin with this lot. I guess a good place to start might be declaring their show at Hector’s on Saturday night the best damn performance of the entire festival, yeah? Aside from that though, it’s hard to know where to start when you’ve got a band as fresh, unique and, well, ridiculous as Palladium. I mean just look at them. You’ve got Ryan Cabrera over there on the right, the pied piper chillin’ there in front and center, a dude with a pink sideways visor on the left and then the bloke at the back looking way too serious considering the dudes he’s surrounded by. But all appearances aside these kids can play, yo.

With a fully-loaded arsenal of chart-toppers that seem to be freshly plucked from 1982, Palladium dazzle you with an incredibly polished (even in a live setting, just check out those live demos below) sound that’s just bursting at the seems with sprightly, candy-coated keyboard flourishes, unbelievably catchy vocal structures and a general fabulousness that you just don’t find in most bands nowadays. They also score points in the endearment department sporting ridiculous names like The Fez, Peter Pepper, Rocky Morris and Rufio Sandilands, and their live show features the incredible backing vocals - as powerful as they are soulful - of the one and only Queen Shezar. And really, listening to these incredibly accessible, radio-friendly tracks seemingly tailor-made for the charts doesn’t exactly give you the impression that the band will be all that brilliant live, but with the surprisingly remarkable guitarmanship of the Fez, the ebullient keys of Mr. Sandilands and the addictive vocal melodies of Peter Pepper and the Queen overcoming you from every direction, you can’t help but get like way into it.

Naturally, the band just signed a massive deal with Virgin and will be releasing their debut single, “Happy Hour”, at some point in the coming months. The track is a slice of pure, unadulterated pop glory, the kind of song you wouldn’t find out of place in the opening scenes of some off-Broadway play involving varsity jackets, finger-snaps and elaborate choreography routines. “Midnight Service” might be the best of the bunch and finds Rufio setting his keyboard to Maximum Panflute and just letting the good times roll. Downright masturbatory solos (vocal, keyboard, guitar, you name it) are everywhere you turn here and I just might have a problem with it if it weren’t wrapped up in such an addictive, endlessly blissful package. “High Five” is great as well, but doesn’t quite reach the heights of the other two tracks, even though it’s hard not to be fully down with it from the second that “Woo!” hits at the 30-second mark. But listen, this band is going to be extremely polarizing - I mean, I’m well aware I should not like this - but after an absolutely brilliant performance in Brighton that had all eyes at Hector’s firmly transfixed on the stage for the entirety of their set and drunk girls literally falling to the floor they were so into it (or… out of it, I guess) I really can’t get enough. Here’s to your new guiltiest pleasure and the soon-to-be most polarizing band in Britain.

Just one issue, though. Their management specifically requested that I not make the tracks available for download as they’re not final versions, hence the streaming audio options below. I still strongly advise that you check these kids out though, if only so you can say that you knew them back way back when… though on second thought, when they’re firmly entrenched in the Top 40 this time next year with backlash that could rival that generated by Mika, you may not want to be advertising that publicly all too much. So yeah, sorry about this streaming business, but trust me, it’s worth it. Have I ever led you astray?

STREAM: “Happy Hour” - Palladium ((highly recommended))

STREAM: “Midnight Service” - Palladium ((highly recommended))

STREAM: “High Five” (Demo) - Palladium

With day one behind me and having finally found a hotel room for the remainder of the weekend, I caught a mid-day train back to Brighton and began to prepare myself for another night of great new music. Upon arriving I settled into my new digs, met up with Nicky and Arif for some food and began to prepare myself for another awesome night of music and debauchery.

I was all psyched to start my night off right with the one-two punch of Cut Off Your Hands and I Was A Cub Scout at the Drowned In Sound-curated showcase at Zap, so I made my way down to the seaside venue early so as to get a prime spot for the show.

ROLO TOMASSI (Zap, 7:00 PM) [MySpace]

I arrived at seven o’clock sharp, totally pumped to get my shit rocked by Cut Off Your Hands, but they, uh, weren’t there. Instead, Sheffield hardcorists Rolo Tomassi were taking the stage. Bummer. I’d heard a lot of praise bouncing around for Rolo over the last few months and the band looked like a nice bunch - four shaggy-haired fellows and a cute lead singer in short khaki shorts and a white top - as they took the stage. But as soon as they launched into their first song it became immediately apparent that this was NOT my thing.

Maybe it’s because I prefer my vocals sung (or even spoken) and not screamed, or maybe I just couldn’t handle such violent, abrasive shrieks (nay, roars) coming out of such a seemingly delicate, nice young girl, but yeah, this wasn’t for me. It was kind of like The Exorcist in a way. You’re like, “What a cute little girl” and then a few minutes later it’s all “OH JESUS” and you kind of want to run away. I didn’t run away, as I wasn’t about to miss out on I Was A Cub Scout, so I stayed and endured the rest of their set. The musicianship was impressive and the clever use of samples and electronic flourishes set them apart from most of the hardcore bands I’ve heard/seen, but yeah - never again, please. Feel free to check out their MySpace if this sounds like the kind of thing that gets you going, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Whatever, I was still pumped for I Was A Cub Scout. But unfortunately, they took like 30 minutes to set up and by the time they were finally ready to take the stage, I was in serious danger of missing the Video Nasties and I was NOT about to let that happen.

VIDEO NASTIES (Corn Exchange, 8:00 PM) [MySpace]

After basically sprinting across town we rolled up just as they were launching into the second track of their fantastic double A-side debut single, “3 New Ideas”, and it sounded great. The Corn Exchange was a massive venue, the biggest I saw all weekend, and while the crowd there only filled the front quarter of it, they did a good job of making it seem like they played that kind of place all the time, filling the place with their keyboard-heavy brand of catchy Britpop. “I Wanna”, the other track on that impressive debut, sounded brilliant as well, but unfortunately none of their other tracks they performed reached the same heights of their debut. Maybe it was just the wrong venue or maybe they just weren’t the kind of songs that clicked the first time you heard them or maybe they just really weren’t that good. Either way, I look forward to finding out when their follow-up single, “Doo Dah”, comes out in July on the consistently excellent WayOutWest label.

MP3s:
“I Wanna” - Video Nasties
“3 New Ideas” - Video Nasties

SCOUTING FOR GIRLS (King & Queen, 8:30) [MySpace]

Then it was off to the King & Queen pub for Scouting For Girls, one of the bands I was most excited to see at the festival, and they didn’t disappoint in the least. They opened brilliantly with an absolutely phenomenal rendition of “Elvis Ain’t Dead”, my favorite track by them, and while it easily all could of gone downhill it most certainly didn’t. The title track of their upcoming debut EP, “It’s Not About You”, followed and continued with the theme of enormously feel good, better-than-Air-Traffic (I said it!) piano rock. The incredibly endearing “I Wish I Was James Bond” and a few other ace tracks followed, before they closed perfectly with “Keep On Walking”, also available on the upcoming EP that’s out on Epic on June 25th and currently topping my Most Anticipated Debuts list. Now that Air Traffic’s gone all Keane on our asses (just wait for “Shooting Star” to drop next month), Scouting For Girls are officially the next great British piano-rock band to get excited about. Look for this lot to be all over the charts in no time at all.

MP3s:
“Elvis Ain’t Dead” (Demo) - Scouting For Girls ((highly recommended))
“Keep On Walking” - Scouting For Girls

AIR TRAFFIC (Audio, 9:30 PM) [MySpace]

Alright, I know I just called out Air Traffic on the mainstream-as-shit direction they’ve decided to go in, but that said, those first two singles (”Just Abuse Me” and “Never Even Told Me Her Name”, to be specific) will forever hold a cherished place in my heart as two of the most fantastic pieces of piano-centric pop to ever grace my ears. For that reason alone, I headed over to Audio with an optimistic attitude. And… they were decent. In their defense, the venue didn’t suit them at all (wayyy to small), had a fairly poor sound set-up and was absolutely PACKED, three elements that aren’t terribly conducive to a great live show. Still, the hits (”Just Abuse Me”, “Never Even Told Me Her Name”, “Charlotte”) were fantastic and their were a few other great tracks sprinkled throughout their set, but it was by no means a brilliant performance. I won’t pass a final judgment on them until I get a chance to hear all of Fractured Life, their debut album (out July 2nd), but let’s just say I’m significantly less excited about this band than I once was. But hey, we’ll always have those two initial singles.

MP3s:
“Just Abuse Me” - Air Traffic ((highly recommended))
“Never Even Told Me Her Name” - Air Traffic ((highly recommended))
“Shooting Star” (Demo) - Air Traffic

Despite very close set times and the tiny size of the Red Roaster Cafe, we did our best to get over there in time to catch Jack Penate, but… failed. At one point in the mad squeeze to get in, Luke Pritchard (of the Kooks) emerged from the doors and put an arm around Nicky on his way down the street, sending the ridiculously attractive (and ridiculously in-high-school) girls behind us into fits of near-hysterics as soon as they realized who he was. Thus, they proceeded to tag along with us as we followed Luke to the Willy Mason gig that was about to start across town. Alas, we were shut out yet again, as Mason was the hottest ticket in town on Saturday night, so we headed back down to where we started at Audio to catch Kid Harpoon’s acoustic performance, which was - suffice it to say - not a bad alternative in the least.

KID HARPOON (Audio, 11:15 PM) [MySpace]

I’m gonna be real with you: I was pretty fucking drunk at this point. That said, I know I had an awesome time and that I really loved it when he played “Riverside”, the only song of his I knew heading into the weekend, but any further review beyond that would just be pointless. But here, download his debut single, “Riverside, below - it’s really really great.

MP3: “Riverside” - Kid Harpoon ((highly recommended))

After Harpoon we parted ways with our underage compatriots (I promise) and made our way back to the hotel, at which point I made the conscious (alright, semi-conscious) decision to drink more with my friends rather than catch the brilliant Transgressive showcase across town. I had a great time, but certainly regretted it in the morning when I woke up with a substantial hangover and the realization that I passed on three of the best bands of the weekend (Mechanical Bride, Battle, Foals). But whatever, it happens. Check back tomorrow for coverage of day three and an exclusive review of the best band of the entire weekend. Cheers.

My flatmate Troy finally (finally) got the internet set up, so you can expect things to get back to normal around here in terms of more regular posting. So yeah, commence rejoicing and shit. Most importantly though, it allows me to at long last post my coverage of the incredible Great Escape festival last weekend, which was just… awesome in every sense of the word. So without further adieu, let’s do this.

The Ocean Rooms was where it was at on Thursday night, with early performances by Make Good Your Escape and The Moths that promised to get the weekend off to a brilliant start.

MAKE GOOD YOUR ESCAPE (Ocean Rooms, 7:30 PM) [MySpace]

The unfortunately long line at the wristband pick-up point meant we had to miss out on Fear of Flying’s 7:00 PM performance at Audio, so Nicky and I headed over to the Ocean Rooms to catch one of his clients, Make Good Your Escape, kick off the night there with their loud-ass brand of brooding, epic art-rock. First and foremost, Make Good Your Escape have a Phd in LOUD, and their thirty-minute performance alone likely ensured that I’ll be needing a hearing aid by my 30th birthday. That said, I wouldn’t have had it any other way, and I thoroughly enjoyed being rocked to my very core by the hometown favorites. Musically, they make their money on incredible percussion sections (they’ve been described as having a “lead drummer”), Mike Yates powerful, empassioned vocals and a unique guitar sound centered on diamond-cutter riffs that slice back and forth through the mix and set the band apart from their like-minded peers. They roared through their set, dedicating every single song to the Spinto Band along the way (don’t ask me) and making me less and less bummed about missing Fear of Flying with each passing song.

Make Good Your Escape proved to be the perfect start to a weekend of brilliant live music, and their live show had me extremely eager to check out their recorded material as soon as I got home. In a slightly unfortunate turn of events, I found that some songs strayed dangerously close to emo territory, something that I hadn’t picked up in their live show (my ears were probably just too busy bleeding to pick up on it, however). That said, last year’s Never Look Back Here Again mini-LP remains an extremely impressive debut, and I look forward to catching them at least one more time before I return to the US at the end of June. It’s not for everyone, but be sure to download their excellent upcoming single (I think) “The Return” if this sounds like your kind of thing.

MP3: “The Return” - Make Good Your Escape

LOOK-SEE PROOF (Ocean Rooms, 8:10 PM) [MySpace]

Next up were Look-See Proof, an energetic four piece from Hertfordshire who I stuck around for as there were no other intriguing shows at that time in the vicinity of the venue and I wasn’t about to miss a second of the Moths, the band I was most excited for at the festival. I wish I could say I was pleasantly surprised, but… I wasn’t. Despite searing guitar riffs and a nice double-pronged vocal attack, they were very same old, same old indie rock, nothing terribly special and definitely nothing to get excited about. Onto the Moths then…

THE MOTHS (Ocean Rooms, 9:00 PM) [MySpace]

It’s getting to be a bit ridiculous how much I love this band. Their debut 7″ is a record for the ages, an incredible triple A-side single, featuring three incredible tracks all worthy of the loftiest praise. Seriously, a lot of young bands would sell their collective souls for one single as good as any one of these, and the Moths went ahead and dropped three at once their first time out. I’d hoped this meant that they just had so many incredible tracks at their disposal that they could afford to waste (well not really “waste”, per se) three on their debut single, and so I was excited to hear how a complete set from them would hold up against those initial tracks.

They opened incredibly strong (maybe a bit too strong), blowing their load early dropping all three tracks off that immaculate debut - “Games”, “Wild Birds” and “Valentine” - in order right off the bat. That said, I’m very excited to report that there really wasn’t a terribly significant drop-off in the quality from the first three songs of the set. “Tell Me” and next single “Tumbling Down” sounded fantastic, but it was the closing track “Night Is On Fire”, with it’s self-referential “like moths to the light” lyric, that was the best yet-to-be-released song of the night. After the show, the band explained that it will likely be the B-side to the next single (though personally I think it should be the other way around), and I can’t fucking wait. Long live the Moths, who with the recent signing of The Wombats and Dead Disco to 14th Floor Recordings and 679 (respectively), can be touted as the best unsigned band in Britain.

I want so badly to make all three tracks from the single available for download, but that would be all kinds of unfair to the band, so download the brilliant “Valentine” below and the demo of upcoming single “Tumbling Down” below as well and then, y’know, actually buy the single.

MP3: “Valentine” - The Moths ((highly recommended))
MP3: “Tumbling Down” (Demo) - The Moths

After the Moths it was off to catch Ghosts at the Barfly. Unfortunately though, they were incredibly delayed, and as 10:15 turned into 11:00 and then 11:30, I bit the bullet and caught the last train back to London as I still hadn’t found a place to crash. Thus, I missed out on Ghosts (though I heard their set ended up being played by PA problems and devolved [in a good way, apparently] into them singing the theme songs from soaps with the audience) and Shameless, but all in all it was a good start to what would prove to be an unforgettable weekend. Check back for my coverage of day two and three tomorrow, when shit really got good.

I’m currently having the time of my fucking life at the Great Escape in Brighton (and yes, I have found a place to stay), so to tide you over until I’m able to post my full recap of my weekend, here’s the latest installment of She’s In Control from the ever-lovely Rya Backer.

Hello again, my fair doyens and doyennes of cyberspace! I hope you’ve been well this past week as I’ve been just itching for your digital company once more.

I’m crazy for Queens Of The Stone Age. When I lived in Boston, they played a “guerilla” show at Newbury Comics and even though doors didn’t open until 8:00 pm, I started waiting for a wristband at 3:30 that afternoon! It was so worth it; all 19 feet of Josh Homme passed his bottle of rum for the cramped audience to share, and I got to hear relatively acoustic versions of nearly all my favorite songs while pretending to make eye contact with the ginger-headed singer himself. When Derek sent me leaked songs from QOTSA’s new album, “Era Vulgaris,” I damn near slipped into a happiness-induced coma. Once again, it was worth the wait.

Derek’s not the biggest fan of QOTSA, and I’m well aware that they’re an acquired taste. Because you’re wondering, I think they’re a great band that consistently puts out great albums (usually with several fancy cameos) that are meant to play really loudly, and put on an even fancier live show. I’d rather not ruminate over all the songs (seriously, it could be a while), but here are my two cents on the tracks:

I played “3’s & 7’s” for my niece and nephew, because their ears are relatively virginal to all things loud and rocking. My four-year-old niece explained that the song made her want to “do splits and cartwheels,” and my seven-year-old nephew screamed that the song was making him “go crazy!!!” (in a good way). So, there you have it: may the splits, cartwheels, and craziness ensue… But seriously, I predict it will be the “Go With The Flow” of this album as there isn’t one element of this song that isn’t catchy.

MP3: “3’s & 7’s” - Queens of the Stone Age

“Sick, Sick, Sick” is the first single off the album. It features a fancy cameo by Julian Casablancas, however, it’s pretty blink (close your ears?) and you’ll miss it. I’m crazy about this song because QOTSA always speed up their songs live, and I can’t even imagine how much faster this can go… oh, but how I salivate at the very notion.

MP3: “Sick, Sick, Sick” - Queens of the Stone Age

My favorite QOTSA song ever is a B-side called “Infinity”, which can be found on the soundtrack for “Heavy Metal 2000″ (the edgiest title ever) and on the Japan-only release of Lullabies To Paralyze. This is my go-to song whenever I need to get totally fucking pumped. Just listen to those drums! The guitar at the end! There’s something very sexy about this song, but what do I know?

MP3: “Infinity” - Queens of the Stone Age

Mark Lanegan is the former lead singer of Screaming Trees and pretty much an honorary member of QOTSA. He’s quite a legend in his own right (trivia: he inspired Kurt Cobain to cover “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” on Nirvana’s episode of “Unplugged”), and has this very Tom Waits-esque, gravelly voice. One of my favorite songs of his is “Methamphetamine Blues” off 2004’s Bubblegum. Josh Homme plays guitar on this track.

MP3: “Methamphetamine Blues” - Mark Lanegan Band

Speaking of amazing live bands, seeing LCD Soundsystem in the flesh is… in a word: religious. I’ve yet to see the new lineup featuring Hot Chip’s very own Al Doyle, but I digress… I’m here to talk about his new single, “All My Friends,” off his new album that’s so good I needn’t fast-forward through any of the tracks, “Sound Of Silver.” I really like this song because it’s like a seven-ish-minute-long coming-of-age-fest (“I wouldn’t trade one stupid decision for another five years of life”… deep!). Meaning, yeah? Unfortunately, I’ve been afflicted with the attention span of a fetus, so I have trouble sitting through the song’s first four-and-a-half minutes, which are pretty morose in comparison to how into-it James Murphy gets by the song’s end. Thus, I present to you the radio edit; consider it the “Cliffs Notes” version of the real deal.

MP3: “All My Friends” (Radio Edit) - LCD Soundsystem

Also, one of my favorite guilty pleasures, Franz Ferdinand has recorded an abbreviated version of the song (as has the Velvet Underground’s John Cale). Theirs sounds exactly like how you’d expect for it to sound: Alex Kapranos’s extremely sexy voice with guitar-driven danceable instrumentals. That’s not to say it’s a bad listen, in fact, if any of you are gym-goers, this track will probably end up on your like, “Treadmill Mix Vol. 29” or something. The ending is nothing like that of the original (ooooh, spoiler!), and I feel like it’s something you can be either be totally nuts about or detest … I’m siding with the former.

MP3: “All My Friends” - Franz Ferdinand

I’ve been reminded several times in the comments that I am, indeed, of the female persuasion (more nudes on the way, you fleshthirsty gents!). So, the least I can do is recommend a song for the female readers – an estrogen-rich track that’s just perfect for hair braiding and getting stoned (uhm… I mean, watching “Saved By The Bell” re-runs!) with the gals.

“Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time,” from Jarvis Cocker’s new album, Jarvis, is a sonic kick in the pants. It’s like Jarvis himself is reminding me how much of my life I’ve pissed away on totally shortsighted douchebags. But that’s for another blog.

MP3: “Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time” - Jarvis

He’d initially written the song for Nancy Sinatra, and I quite like this version as well… pending on what time of the month it is (oooh! Lady humor! I went there!).

MP3: “Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time” - Nancy Sinatra

One of my favorite things in the world is a good music video. Derek and I have been known to talk about and watch these promotional vehicles for extremely long spans of time. So it’d be only right for me to include a video review on the weekly.

Sometimes, I cry out for Chappelle’s Show in the middle of the night. I don’t think I’ll ever get over the fact that there will never be a new episode ever again, and I double don’t think I’ll ever get over the fact that one of the greatest phrases ever said on that show went completely overlooked. In the classic “Racial Draft” sketch, when my beloved Wu-Tang Clan was taken under the wing of the Asians, Gza declared, “Konichiwa, bitches!” as a salutation to his new brethren. Be still my beating heart, for that was an epic line. At long last, Robyn has immortalized the saying in her song of the same name. I was totally obsessed with this song like two years ago, namely because it’s got some of the filthiest lyrics this side of Lil’ Kim. Basically, the track is an extremely danceable big-up to herself. But again, I’m not here to talk about that. I’m here to talk about the 10-gallon mindfuck that is the new video for the song.

MP3s:
“Konichiwa Bitches” - Robyn
“Close To Konichiwa” - The Cure vs Robyn

Here’s a brief rundown of the video, in which Robyn:
- Talks to a monkey about a beat she wants.
- Boxes a man in a kangaroo suit.
- Turns into a silver microphone.
- Toilet papers aforementioned man in monkey suit and stuffs him in her trunk.

Okay, please watch it already. Robyn, I wish I’d “shown you love” sooner.
Video: “Konichiwa Bitches”
Artist: Robyn
Director: Fredrik Skogkvist
Watch: [YouTube]
Download: [Quicktime • 52 MB]

So, I hope that holds you over for another week. I miss you all already, and let’s go Mets.

Ever since “Waiting For The 7.18″ became my favorite track on that new Bloc record, it’s been a dream of mine to drive to Brighton on the weekend. And now, thanks to the Great Escape festival, I’ve got a pretty fucking good excuse to.

Like a smaller SXSW or a bigger CMJ, the Great Escape is the biggest festival of the spring in the UK. Or as the Great Escape website so eloquently puts it, “The Great Escape is by day, a series of insightful interviews with leading figures from the music industry; by night, a festival of the very best new artists from across the globe, with over 150 bands playing 20 different venues and all within a short walk of each other.” So yeah, color me wayyy pumped. I mean, just check out the list of artists performing. Willy Mason! The Maccabees! The Noisettes! Fear of Flying! Kate Nash! The Moths! Air Traffic! Jesus, I’m excited.

The only problem? I got on the bandwagon a little late in the game and while I’m all set as far as tickets and transportation is concerned, I’m fucked for accomodations. Seriously, there are over thirty hotels in the area and not one’s got a single availability. You better believe I’m still going, I just might end up sleeping on the streets tonight. That would suck, like, a lot, so now here’s the part where I appeal to any Brighton readers I’ve got out there to be ridiculously kind and consider letting me into their home for any of the three evenings. I’ve got a few leads so far with bands I might be able to crash with and people who know people in Brighton who might consider taking me in, so I can’t definitely say I’ll be sleeping on the street otherwise tonight, but anything would help. So yeah, here’s my mobile number: 0798 220 1585. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you’ve got a couch I can crash on. Sure, asking for a place to stay with random strangers on the internet is pretty much the sketchiest thing I’ve ever done, but as you can see, I’m desperate as shit.

Here’s hoping for a great weekend full of good music and me not having to sleep on the streets.

MP3: “Waiting For The 7.18″ - Bloc Party

Cheerio, bitches. This is a most excellent time for me, as I’m abroad in London spending the next six weeks doing the one thing I love most: surrounding myself with good music. Not sure why I neglected to bring this up until now, but here’s what’s up. Last summer Vice gave me one of the best experiences of my life in my six-week internship there, so I obviously had to up the ante in 2007. Thus, here I am back in the motherland, doing all kinds of exciting shit and just generally living the dream. Below is a comprehensive breakdown of how I’m keeping myself (very) busy here.

Mondays and Tuesdays I’m in Covent Garden working at the Clinton’s legal firm as an intern/personal scout for Nicky Stein, a tastemaker of sorts in the British music scene and one of Britain’s preeminent music lawyers. This dude represents everyone that matters in the UK in 2007. Seriously, name a band set to do big things this year and he’s probably got them on his client list. The Kooks? Check. Hadouken? Check. Air Traffic? Check. Cajun Dance Party? Check. Vampire Weekend? Check. The list goes on and on (and on). My job? Checking out hot unsigned bands on MySpace by day and going to shows to see said hot unsigned bands for free by night. Did I mention I’m actually getting paid for this? Sometimes life is beautiful.

Wednesdays find me interning at XL Recordings, the home of The White Stripes, Ratatat, Thom Yorke, Cajun Dance Party and like fifteen other bands I fucking love. Suffice it to say, I’m way pumped about that, especially since this summer will see the release of a new White Stripes album and the beginning of teenage up-and-comers Cajun Dance Party’s rise to stardom. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays I’m working with Imran Ahmed, who runs XL subsidiary Abeano Music (home to I Was A Cub Scout and To My Boy), is a head writer for the NME, the curator of London’s biggest indie club night (FROG @ the Mean Fiddler) and has his own radio show on BBC6. In other words, dude is doing everything I want to be doing in four years. Long story short: this summer is going to rule. Hard.

There are a few drawbacks, however. Most of you have probably noticed a glaring lack of activity around here as of late, but neither time nor reliable internet service have been in large abundance for me over the past week or so and unfortunately none of that’s really changed since I’ve gotten to London. My flat in Willesden Green, while nice as shit, will have no internet connection until May 22nd when its apparently going to be installed, and even though internet cafes are in abundance here, I need the FTP program on my laptop (not to mention the music) in order to upload tracks to the site. Clinton’s has no wireless set-up, but XL’s got the hook-up, even though I’m only there one day a week. I’m at shows every night so I don’t exactly have a surplus of time, but I’m confident I can work something out. And just for those of you who are wondering, Rya finished her second column for me this weekend, but as I said, I can’t upload shit at the moment so it will have to wait until closer to the weekend.

But yeah, the best summer ever stars now. You down?

MP3: “London’s Alright” - The Tacticians

You may not recognize the name, but you’re probably familiar with the work of my main man Elliot Jokelson. Remember that incredible video for Pinback’s “Fortress”? You know, the one that’s one of the best animated videos of the last five years? Or maybe you can recall the amazing video for TV On The Radio’s “Staring At The Sun”, with all its synthetic neon glory? Still no dice? How about that epic clip for TVotR’s “Dreams”? Well, long story short: this guy is the man when it comes to consistent music video brilliance.

That said, it’s been over a year since we last heard from him, and what a long wait it’s been. Wait no more though, as we’re here to debut his brand new video for “Born of a Star” by Brooklyn up-and-comers Holy Hail. Elliot’s always scored big in the special effects department and his latest effort is no different, fucking you up with some crazy optical effects that I might refer to as “swirling fractals” if I were the kind of douchebag that pulls pretentious terms out of his ass just because he can (oh wait, that sums me up pretty well). So yeah, I’ll just defer to Elliot on this one:

“When I first heard ‘Born of a Star’ I was immediately struck by its primal, unembellished drum and bass line. In keeping with that aesthetic I set out to contstruct a video armed only with variations on a simple theme… Basically the idea was to use these gradual variations to move from a representational image into a completely abstract image.”

The sparse arrangement of the track is perfectly reflected by the minimalist structure of the video, but the special effects are enough to keep things interesting and make this one of the year’s finest post-production accomplishments. Jokelson’s done it again.

Video: “Born of a Star”
Artist: Holy Hail
Director: Elliot Jokelson
Watch: [YouTube]
Download: [Quicktime • 20 MB]

Also, make sure not to sleep on the track itself, as it’s fucking great. Sure, it took a little while to grow on me, but once it gets in your head it’s there to stay. Plus, they’re signed to a UK label, so you know they’re good. Download the original and Shir Khan’s sufficiently ill remix below.

MP3s:
“Born of a Star” - Holy Hail
“Born of a Star” (Shir Khan Remix) - Holy Hail

Hey. I’ve been done with school for about a week now and have been down at UVA and UNC catching up with friends, seeing some great shows and engaging in all sorts of general debauchery, hence the lack of posts around these parts as of late. I’ve got a few in the works right now and things should be back to normal around here next week, and I know Rya’s putting the finishing touches on her next post as we speak. It looks like you guys were feelin’ the first installment of She’s In Control (it’s not every day we get 40+ comments), so yeah - there’s something to look forward to.

Most importantly though, I’m pretty sure I’ll be making my radio debut in about an hour and a half, guest co-hosting my dear friend Kirsten’s radio show here at UVA, so make sure to go here and tune in via streaming audio from 1-3 AM (EST y’all) if that sounds like something you’d be interested in. The theme of tonight’s show is remixes - which is like, what I do - so I’m looking forward to it. So yeah, if you’re up and feel like hearing my voice and shit, tune in.

Greetings, citizens of the Blogosphere (errr… readers)!

I’m Rya (21/F/NYC… that’s how you kids talk, right?), Derek’s friend, classmate, and former co-intern at Vice. Every week, I will grace you with a new edition of Rya’s Romantic Review (Ed’s note: we are definitely not calling this that) where I use this little cyber soapbox to talk about music I (wait for it…) love! Derek asked me to write this column because I really like music, but my taste tends to diverge from Derek’s a good bit at times. If I had to put my finger on my favorite music genre… well, I couldn’t, because that’d be lame. So, I really hope you like this or else it’s back to the streets for me.

I’ve just received a radio-rip of Interpol’s new single, “The Heinrich Maneuver.” Please take this with a grain of salt as I know I’m physically and emotionally incapable of creating music any better. However, I feel the same way about this song as I do for orange juice: if it’s in my fridge, I’ll take some, but if it’s not, I’m not going to be all that disappointed.

The thing is, I really like Interpol. Back when I was young and hip and had my ear to the ground, I purchased Turn On The Bright Lights the day it came out. Enjoyable story: on the day of my senior prom, I happened to see none other than Daniel Kessler on the street (in typical, all-black, fancy Interpol garb, mind you), and I asked him to be my arm candy for the evening’s festivities. He said no, but you can’t hold a grudge forever. Hold on, let me pick up that name I just dropped… anyway, the point is I’ve waited long enough for this album and I don’t really hear anything new.

A friend once sent me this link that played two Nickelback songs at the same time and they turned out to have the SAME fucking song structure but different (beautiful, duh) lyrics and chords. While “The Heinrich Maneuver” isn’t a carbon-copy of the rest of their repertoire, it comes pretty close (what’s up, “Slow Hands”?). I guess my verdict is that it’s pretty harmless; I can already see it being played on shows that my fellow females might congregate to watch in the common room of a dorm - which is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just that unlike such gems as “The Specialist” and “Roland” where I have to stop whatever I’m doing when they’re being played, “The Heimlich Maneuver” is background music. To be fair, the vocal harmonies are a pleasure and a joy to listen to, but there’s not much else here. I’ll keep you posted if the rest of this song ever grows on me.

MP3: “The Heinrich Maneuver” (Radio Rip) - Interpol

My first favorite album of all time was Odelay by Beck and I listened to nothing but that album for over a year. It got to the point where I listened to it so much that I wore it out and had to spend my allowance to go to the Sam Goody on 61st and 3rd (now inhabited by Dylan’s Candy Bar) to get another copy (on cassette, of course). If I had a penny for every time I listened to this during my formative years I’d be too busy diving into my pool full of Cristal wearing a bikini made of unicorn hair and diamonds to write this. That entire album spoke to me, but “The New Pollution” was something else. I brought that song in as my “show and tell” song in sixth grade. My printer was broken so I had to handwrite the lyrics, and this was before song lyrics were online, so I thought I knew the words by heart, but I wasn’t positive so the whole thing was riddled with question marks. But the point is, when I played that song in class, everyone thought I was the biggest loser ever because, you know, it wasn’t Ace of Bass or whatever sixth graders were listening to at the time. But Beck and “The New Pollution” taught me that it was okay not to care if people thought I was totally lame for listening to something that wasn’t force fed to me on z100. In a lot of ways, I was alone in my own, prepubescent new pollution, and I knew I’d turn out just fine. How deep, I know.

MP3: “The New Pollution” - Beck

Up until The Information, I would’ve considered myself a Beck Superfan, and I’m a little too well-versed in his catalogue. “Minus” is one of my favorite songs ever because, well, it gets me really pumped. In retrospect, I don’t know how my lanky body never suffered from any form of whiplash when I’d head bang to this track all by my lonesome at the ripe age of 10.

MP3: “Minus” - Beck

Beck sampled my beloved Beastie Boys’ drum track from “So Watcha Want?” in “E-Pro” off his 2005 release, Guero. Obviously, a mash-up had to be made, and this one’s actually prett-ay, prett-ay, great.

MP3: “So Whatcha E-Pro?” - DJ Erb (Beastie Boys vs Beck)

What would a romantic review be without a love letter? I harbor crushes on many a musician, but Chromeo’s Dave 1 ranks very high on my list of Unattainable Love Interests. I thought I could best express my adoration for their new track, “Fancy Footwork,” in an open letter to the man himself.

Dear Dave 1,

I remember the time you came into the Vice office and I had to leave to get an iced beverage not only because your presence added 100,000 degrees (Celsius!) to the already scorching room, but because I knew I’d do something extremely embarrassing if I stayed within the same confines. It’s not just your good looks, your delicate mustache, your candidacy for a PhD, and the fact that you’re a Semite that I’m extremely attracted to you.

You’re also very talented.

It goes without saying that She’s In Control was an extremely enjoyable album - a pleasure and a joy to listen to. When my friend, Webmaster Derek Davies, sent the Fancy Footwork EP my way, the songs were, in a word, tasteful. I was especially taken however, by the eponymous track (the original, classic version).

MP3: “Fancy Footwork” - Chromeo

There’s really nothing wrong with this track – it’s a real rug-cutter, you know? I need to show off my fancy footwork when this song blares through my iHome (the world’s shittiest joke of electronic equipment ever… but I digress). I love your slight accent. At least I think you’ve got an accent, the point is your diction is way sexy - especially that moment at 1:59 when you casually go “eyyy!”… melt my heart a little more, why don’t you? I extra love that beat, those synths, and I know I just spoke volumes about the angelic timbre that is your voice, but I could really enjoy an instrumental version of this song. I’d play it at all my cocktail and tea parties (I’m extremely sophisticated, Dave 1… or do you prefer Mr. Macklovitch?). I no longer work at the magazine that supports your record label, but I do pray that our paths cross sometime in the not-so-distant future. In all likelihood, it will be when I pay to be in your company to hear this song live.

Love (or should I say… amour),
Rya

Speaking of Chromeo, fancy footwork and rug-cutting in general, my friend Nick made this and well, I suppose it speaks for itself.

That’s enough out of me for now. I really hope you enjoyed our time together because I have a lot more to talk about, and I have all the time in the world. Please leave me feedback, but don’t be a dick, okay?