To The Maxx

young charlie brand came west from distant arizona. or so i’m told.

he left behind his past life as a lone multi-instrumentalist making glorious bedroom pop under the name miniature tigers. at least that’s how i think the story goes.

he arrived in los angeles with little more than a hobo sack in his hand and the songs in his head. his goal: to assemble the greatest band ever as a means of bringing this music to the world. okay now maybe i’m mythololgizing a bit too much.

anyway, he found ‘em.

miniature tigers make charming, approachable, pitch-perfect pop that proudly wears its heart on its sleeve. this is some of the most unabashedly sincere music i know.

i had heard one song, entitled “The Wolf” last year at some point or another and kept returning to it. i would sum the song up as two and a half minutes of great choices. every creative decision is not just right, but perfect. that song instantly made me feel like i was in on something special.

six months passed…

i was with my buddy shawn and we were walking towards canter’s deli late at night. we spotted a big group of people talking in the lobby and as we opened the door shawn realized he knew them. we said hi, made introductions, etc. the group walked out onto the street and shawn said to me “they’re this band called miniature tigers.” i go: “i love that band.” this was after only hearing “the wolf” and whatever else was on their myspace page at the time. but it’s true. i did love that band. so we went outside and talked a little more. it was nice to put faces to the music.

last night i finally saw miniature tigers play a show, at the knitting factory in hollywood, in the alterknit lounge.

obviously they’re wonderful live. the harmonies are totally on point, the rhythm section is super tight yet simultaneously sloppy (in the best possible way) and, most importantly, you look at the stage and see five people having a great time. it’s infectious.

i can’t think of a more appropriate name for this band than miniature tigers. charlie’s songs are like these tiny little epics. they are small but ferocious. fragile but strong. miniature tigers.

DOWNLOAD: MINIATURE TIGERS “WHITE MAGIC” (ysi)

You can find “The Wolf” on some blogs here.

(myspace) (blog)
(the album’s not out yet, but when it is you’ll be able to buy it from their label)

sounds like it could be the opening title theme to a buddy cop zombie film

DOWNLOAD: TUSSLE “TRAPPINGS” (ysi)
(buy) (myspace)

sounds like it could be the end credit theme to a postapocalyptic art film

DOWNLOAD: TULSA DRONE “HUNTSMAN” (ysi)
(buy) (myspace)

i turned on my stereo today because i wanted to play a cd. but the amplifier was set to “tuner” so the first thing i heard upon turning everything on was the radio.

it was set to 88.9. that’s kcrw.

i was not prepared for what happened next.

immediately some really wild sounds came crashing out of my speakers.

i heard an aweome beat, some little whirring noises and these lyrics:
shake your body like a salmon/floating upstream

and then….. amazingly…… the reception cut out and all was static.

such a tease!
i had to hear more!

i googled “shake your body like a salmon.”

and i found these words: The Salmon Dance – The Chemical Brothers featuring Fatlip)

long story short, the new Chems’ album, We Are The Night, comes out on July 17 and contains this song with Fatlip (former member of The Pharcyde and subject of the brilliant Spike Jonze doc “What’s Up Fatlip”) and also features collaborations with Klaxons and Midlake, two bands I dig. the few tracks i’ve heard are way better than i’d expect from the late-career Chemical Brothers. the one with Midlake is gorgeous. i’m impressed.

anyway, here is the song that bleeped out into my living room and got me excited. it is catchy, funny and supremely danceable. it is also educational, thanks to those handy facts from one Sammy The Salmon.

DOWNLOAD:
THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS (FEAT. FATLIP) “THE SALMON DANCE” (ysi)

(preorder) (chems myspace) (fatlip’s myspace)

in an earlier post I mentioned a new Jay Reatard 7″ called “I Know A Place.” this “semi-acoustic pop single” is a something of a change of pace for the memphis based punk/new waver. the b-side is a terrific cover of The Go-Betweens.

but the a-side….. the a-side….. this is a song so catchy that you’ll do a double take and be all like “i KNOW i’ve heard this before!” it sounds like shit from some seminal underground band like The Clean. but it’s not. it’s new shit. it’s good old jay reatard. i can’t wait until he plays a show in los angeles. i have to say he’s among my very favorites right now.

through the magic of the internet, i stumbled across a really nice rip of the single and wanted to share the a-side with those of you who are phonographically challenged. get ready for two minutes and nine seconds of pure lo-fi bliss.

PLAY THIS SONG TEN TIMES IN A ROW AND PLAY IT LOUD!

MP3: JAY REATARD “I KNOW A PLACE”
(buy) (myspace)

just back from the bonnaroo music and arts festival in manchester, tn.

the trip was busines and pleasure, so i didn’t really have time to discover any great new bands or anything like that… mostly running around. it was a fun time, but i’m super congested from all the dust. it was dusty, dig?

this man’s ass was hanging out.

britt daniel (spoon), wayne coyne (the flaming lips), bob weir’s arm (grateful dead), pete yorn, nathan followill (kings of leon) at a little press conference.

i’ve never seen so many blissed-out burnouts in my whole life. this girl was definitely on something…. some trashcans.

a picture of me and ricky watching spoon, sippin’ free wine.
and a picture of spoon.

went to the comedy tent:

saw demetri martin, who was excellent. check him out here. then we saw flight of the conchords who have a new hbo show. they were funny, but i think i like them better on tv than live.

then we met demetri and he took a picture with pete. they kind of look alike. one is greek the other is jewish. both are from jersey.

then we saw the police. it was cool to see the police, but the whole experience was more like seeing a really good police cover band you know? anyway, we were right in front, so sting looks very pixelated.

this is what a huge crowd looks like from the stage. i let sting take this one.
(not actually true)

this is the white stripes‘ cool red and white gear.

the head of the dude from wolfmother.

right after pete played, we had popsicles. then we went home.

now i’m home.

happy wednesday. i want to bring two songs to your attention. they are both on the trippy psych tip, but in entirely different ways.

i’ve been a big fan of Caribou for some time. caribou is dan snaith, though he use to be called manitoba until getting slapped by a lame lawsuit from handsome dick manitoba. snaith creates tripped-out, kinda proggy electronic pop music. more and more, his tunes have developed a really organic feel… sounding closer to a “band” than a man in the studio. a few years ago he began touring with live musicians and that seems to have further influenced the sound of his fourth full-length, the forthcoming andorra (out Auguest 21 on Merge. it is a tremendous record, full of glitchy harmonies and beyond-intricate drum programming (snaith comes from a family of mathematicians). i enjoy his records so much, i’d love to see how he adapts the studio work to a live setting (speaking of which, i saw lcd soundsystem on sunday night and was blown away by their ability to play those songs with such precision and energy — reminded me of the live footage i’ve seen of talking heads).

here is the first track from andorra, which i think perfectly fuses his live-band, “nuggets”-esque impulses with electronic composition.

DOWNLOAD MP3: CARIBOU “MELODY DAY” (ysi)
(myspace) (buy old caribou music)

whenever i’m in new york i always drop a large sum of money at other music, one of the best record stores i know of. so this last time, i was there and this amazing music was playing… i assumed it was brazilian, because they always have a killer assortment of wild tropicalia gems. so i went to the front and inquired as to what was playing and the girl was like, “that’s El Kinto.” i went back to the brazilian section and couldn’t find it…. then i found it in the “psych” section. score. el kinto were not brazilian…. but Uruguayan! so they sing in spanish, but the music is straight up “nuggets” style psychedelia. anyway, Lion Productions recently released a reissue of the complete El Kinto jams and another one of Eduardo Mateo, who was the whacked-out force behind El Kinto.

Here’s a song from the record that I really gravitated towards… I think it was the song playing in the store when I realized I needed more information. the chorus is soooo right.

DOWNLOAD MP3: EL KINTO “PIPPO” (ysi)
(buy)

now i’m going to bonnaroo.

sorry for the absence, regular readers… if you do, in fact, exist.
i was on a quick trip to new york.
pleasure, not business.
but i’ve been told that absence make the heart grow fonder.
and i know from experience that it’s true.

before i left, i planned this massive memorial day mixtape post, but then i didn’t have enough webspace to host the massive file that was the mix. and then i had to leave town. i’ll put it up eventually. it’s over one hour and it’s the shit.

i was so busy in new york that i barely cracked open my laptop over the course of my journey. which was a nice change of pace.

here are the bands i saw in new york, in the order i saw em:

1. animal collective at south street seaport, friday june 1.

wow wow wow. i had seen them before, at last summer’s coachella. both shows were in beautiful and unique outdoor spots. but this was a very different show. no guitars. no deakin. just three men with machines. the best was hearing a bunch of new jams, especially this one calypso style crazy dance song that they played right when my friends and i made our way up front, directly in front of one of the speakers. i had shown up alone and immediately ran into a gaggle of friends on the side of the stage. so anyway, we navigated our way up front and they started playing this song and we just all started jumping and going crazy. i was jetlagged and it smelled of b.o. everywhere cuz of all the kids (the kids come out for a free show, i tell ya), but i didn’t really care. there was nowhere else i’d rather have been.

Here, now, is that song. It is not on the their forthcoming album, Strawberry Jam. It was written only a few weeks ago. And it moves me in multiple ways.

MP3: ANIMAL COLLECTIVE“UNTITLED” (ysi)

This recording is from a show in Austin, TX, on May 27th. I saw them in New York 4 days later… so this is pretty much exactly what it sounded like. The Austin show in its entirety, including a bunch of new jams, can be found here.

buy animal collective related stuff here.

———-

2. boy crisis at club midway, friday june 1.

boy crisis are my friends and this was their first new york show (their second show ever, actually) and i was happy to hurry from south street seaport to the east village to witness the festivities. the show was a fun time and they definitely packed the house with mad homies because the following band, the flesh, didn’t play to half as many people… this is my favorite song of theirs, one to which i’ve done much air-humping. i hope that it inspires you in a similar fashion.

MP3: BOY CRISIS “DRESSED TO DIGRESS”
(myspace)

Then I saw the flesh do “death connection,” but that’s it.

———-

3. it lives at don pedro’s, monday june 4.

first off, don pedro’s in brooklyn is a nice place to see a show. it’s grungy, but feels clean. the drinks are cheap and cold. the people look good, but are nice. anyway, saw a killer three band bill.

these guys were first. apparently it was like their fourth show ever or something. sure had me fooled. the stage is so small at don pedro’s that the girl playing bass had to stand offstage, in the audience.

really liked their sound. on their myspace it says Rock/Grunge/Psychedelic. and that’s pretty much it. with a killer drummer.

go to their myspace and listen to HEAVEN’S DANCER and marvel at a super strange chord progression.

———-

4. next up on the bill was yeasayer.

i had heard of yeasayer. read about em’ on the blogs. even downloaded a few mp3s. i was already a fan. i was very excited to see them.

yeasayer is an incredibly fun band. the music is odd, yet soooo catchy. and there’s a strong spiritual vibe, but like crunchy hippy kind of spirituality. the spiritual nature of the music seems sincere to me…. at least i hope it is… i want it to be unironic, despite the presence of an ironic moustache and an ironic haircut amongst multiple band members.

there’s a picture of the drummer above, because he seemed to steal the show. not only does he play crazy electronic gear over a regular drumkit, but he has insane chops. remarkably insane. i enjoyed watching him much more than i enjoyed watching the frontman, whose “channeling of the spirit” sometimes seemed a bit forced.

don’t get me wrong, though. i love this band. and this song is already my summer jam. this is magic.

MP3: YEASAYER “2080″
(myspace)

———-

5. the night ended with entrance.

entrance is guy blakeslee:
left-handed axe weirdo hendrix man making psycho cult leader psychedelic blues noise.
the entrance band…. that’s guy, entrance, plus paz lenchantin on bass and derek james on drums. these are three unbelieveably talented musicans. the kind of band that you see and then you go home and flail out on the guitar for hours, knowing you’ll never really get to that place but its totally healthy to pretend.

here’s one of my favorite songs of theirs: “silence on a crowded train,” performed at SXSW. imagine guy wearing a creepy white robe/dress.

IT WAS A FUN TRIP!

Next weekend….. BONNAROO!