Grizzly Bear Get Their Dicks Out Of Their Hearts

Yesterday was not a completely eventful day in the blogosphere, but via GvB I did discover one of the best tracks I've heard in a long time. Grizzly Bear, who's Veckatimest album is easily one of the year's best thus far, recently put out their newest 7" for the single "While You Wait For the Others". The real story here though, is the b-side which finds Mr. Blue-eyed Soul himself, Michael McDonald, taking over lead vocal duties over the Grizzly Bear instrumental.

While his voice is a little jarring when it comes in on the first verse (especially if you've just listened to the A-side), he quickly wins you over by verse 2 with his gut-wrenchingly soulful take on the track. It also gave me an experience I haven't had in some time, which is being somewhere and not being able to get back to my car simply because I knew I had this track in there waiting for me to hear it again --and even upon subsequent listens it didn't disappoint.

The only thing that would make this track any better is if it was featured in a new episode of Yacht Rock.

MP3: Grizzly Bear - While You Wait For The Others (Original Version)
BUY: Grizzly Bear - Whil You Wait For The Others (feat. Michael McDonald) from iTunes.

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Album Review: Jones Street Station - In Verses

Upon waking up this afternoon, two things pleasantly surprised me as I light up a cigarette, crack open a recovery beer and sit out on the back porch trying to remember how I got this rip in my jeans. One was that I wasn’t as hung over as I thought I would be, which is always a plus. The other was the sultry sounds of the latest record from Jones Street Station called In Verses floating calmly and consoling through my swimming head.

This Brooklyn based group of 5 has really come up with an interesting northern twist on a southern style of music with a fusion of pop, a dash of Americana and a sprinkle of soulful country-folk. It’s as if Ben Kweller, U2, Explosions In The Sky and Iron and Wine met at a bar, got drunk, had a one night stand and nine months later, out popped a bastard child named In Verses.

In Verses starts off slow and dreamy, quietly drawing you in and then builds in complexity and strength into a driving anthem in songs like “Evergreen” and “Slow Lights”. The odd uses of folk instruments like the electric effects of the mandolin and the interesting picking style of the banjo somehow work well together mixed with piano, keyboards and guitar distortion.

The clarity of the mix on In Verses is unbelievable and quite impressive.

The intricate melodies in “Winter Waltz” are as tight and complex as a gymnast’s hair bun. Then out of no where, you get a very catchy, country-folk driven song like “Flyover State” where you get the first real taste of the crunchy harmonica that has become unique to Jones Street Station’s sound. And just when you think the record has already passed it’s peak, you get betch-slapped right in your ear holes with the screaming climax of “Neville”, where JSS even invited friends from the metal-band Goes Cube to “sing along.”

Having four lead singers in the group, there are always different styles of music that are going to be brought to the table. Some work well and others don’t really fit the mold of what the final outcome should be. A funky, soulful song called “Open” is very different in style from the rest of this record. And though it is a good song, personally I don’t believe it fits the flow of the last stretch of the record.

In Verses sends you bittersweetly off into the night in “Engram” with the distant moan of the harmonica, the AM radio tone of the electric guitar and a simple drum beat that fade slowly like the tail-lights of a lover that you wish wasn’t leaving. One last thing I will say is that with many records, it takes a little getting used to, and though In Verses was nothing like I expected, it continues to grow like a stubborn weed in my head.

MP3: Jones Street Station - Neville [buy on iTunes]

*Edit-->For more JSS, check out their recent Daytrotter session.

- Cory Coleman [c]

Top 5 Music Venues In Denton, TX: A Piece Of Factual Opinion

Many people feel that Denton “isn’t the same anymore” since Fry Street has been uprooted. Personally, I don’t really miss any of what was destroyed… mainly because it got rid of the street rat punk infestation and the damned stench of body odor masked with patchouli (You know you smelled it). Plus, I got to see an awesome structure fire at the ol’ Tomato… I digress, though... But all of a sudden, it was as if a veil was lifted off everyone’s eyes, and now they all wonder, “where the music went.”

From the days after the demise of places like Rick’s Place, Fry Street as well as Denton’s former epicenter for live bands, the music has slowly faded from Fry Street only to be replaced by backwards caps and fake tans. The music drifted east, separating its immediate blood relation to the college scene, and started to blossom into a multi-layered existence of its own.

Denton is a music town. Flat out. The music is a hardy, organic vine that thrives the climate in the strangest soil when nothing else will… no matter what. But where is the music going on? Certainly not on Fry Street… And whatever happened to the Fry Street Fair; one of Denton’s most important annual events?... As dead as my hopes of becoming a champion unicyclist or a good writer... Luckily, a few local visionaries put together the first annual NX35 music conferette back in March of this year; Denton’s version of SXSW that took place at many of the town’s surrounding music venues.

“What venues?” some say of the city where a square the size of a South Dallas pregnancy center is considered the “downtown”. Many people, places and music venues seem to pass like afternoon shadows in Denton. Those venues that have withstood the changing seasons stand silent, ordinary, immortal; hiding in the basements and back alleys of the city. And they will be the monumental “ruins” of Denton when all else is forgotten or lost…

But enough of that now. So…8…9…10! Ready or not, here I come!… With a factually opinionated breakdown of the top 5 music venues in Denton, TX!

5. Boiler Room - Although this place is the newer of the top 5, this basement bar seems to be finding its nitch in Denton’s music world fairly quickly. With a stage low to the ground and the room being not unlike a long hallway, the sound carries very uniquely and solidly in the low-lit Boiler Room from front to back. The drink specials are adequate. The bartenders, clientele and sound techs alike have not yet settled to really define what style of bar Boiler Room is going to be, but it looks like it will be promising with a little patience.

4. J&J’s basement - You might say, “Really? J&J’s?” And I say “yes.” It may be in the dank, low-lit basement of a pizza place, but… it’s in the dank, low-lit basement of a pizza place! A pizza place that also serves ice-cold Schlitz beer, both upstairs and down, for $1! How is that not awesome? Though the sound system is far less than one in the music world would call “good”, it is an environment unlike any other in Denton. Low ceilings with creaking boards from people walking above, string-lit brick columns and old church pews make up this classic, intimate venue that caters from anything like thrash-metal to folk music.

3. Rubber Gloves - This venue is revered due to the fact that it is really the only venue that has survived the storms of changing seasons in Denton. Open since 1997, this rehearsal space has been the little hide-a-way venue literally “on the other side of the tracks” that many of the bigger artists that come through town will only play at; simply because of its eclectic history. Located just a stone’s throw from the square, RG offers more of the underground, scenster, indie, folk and experimental styles of music that Denton is privy to. It’s kind of a hit-or-miss with the sound at RG, though. With the room as small and low as it is, the stage could be lower to the ground to help control the way the sound turbulently bounces around this small square floor. But regardless of the sound quirks, anyone’s prescription can be filled at the bar, where along the back wall in big letters is spelled “PHARMACY”. Cool people, a laid-back environment and a genuinely good show are usually always found on this side of the tracks.

2. Hailey’s - Probably the biggest venue in Denton, Hailey’s is the most lavish of the top 5. Since the early oughts, Hailey’s has catered to most of the popular and indie-pop shows that come through town as well as the very notorious “Dance Nights” the venue hosts weekly. And understandably so, with the 52 beers on tap as well as the industrial deco and large ballroom and stage area, who wouldn’t want to play there. Not to mention the fact that Hailey’s has some of the best sound guys around. Though the sound disperses quickly out from the stage directly across the wide expanse of a rectangular room, which is a little unconventional, these sound artists, one might say, can set it up solid for whatever kind of performer comes through. Know that you will hear a good show at Hailey’s… even if the band sucks.

1. Dan’s Silverleaf - From its turquoise concrete walls and American flag made of beer cans to the mounted mule deer and Texas-sized whiskey shots, everything inside and out of Dan’s Silverleaf make this venue the watering hole of choice for many folks in Denton. Voted best sound and best venue by the Dallas Observer a few times over, Dan’s is not the biggest of venues, yet one of the most pleasant to ever see a show. Dan’s caters mostly to the folk, country and rock types of shows… and tastefully, I will add. There is a well-proportioned stage in front of a wide floor expanse littered with tables and chairs. Both are guarded on either side by two fully stocked bars. Dan’s is a very intimate bar full of friendly bartenders, friendlier people and, personally, the most excellent sound system in town.

Dan’s has also recently became a non-smoking environment, which is not cool for me as a smoker, but all I have to do is walk outside to the large patio that is filled with wooden picnic tables that are filled with the regulars that are filled with good laughs. On any given night you might see a weekly line-up of the likes of: Mon.-James McMurtry, Tues.-Doug Burr, Wed.-RTB2, Thurs.-The O’s. No joke. This year, even, The Denton Annual Mud Bug Boil was rained out, so Dan literally told everyone to come on over to his place. The entire rest of that day, nearly every band that was to play the rained out festival played at Dan’s… And I don’t know of another place that would or could be that generous and accommodating. You are always guaranteed a good time at Dan’s Silverleaf.

-Cory Coleman

Album Preview: Girls - Album

The first time I heard Guided By Voices, was smack-dab in the middle of the shoegaze heyday. The Verve, My Bloody Valentine and Ride were teaching us that music could be distorted, yet beautiful at the same time. The first time my needle hit the vinyl and played GBV’s, ‘I Am The Scientist’, I was charmed by their ability to record great pop songs while operating under the constraints of a 4-track player and nothing else. The lo-fi genre spawned a few great bands (Truman’s Water, Strapping Field Hands), but reached it’s end upon the dissolution of Pavement.

It’s a new millennium and lo-fi has defied the odds and the logic to rear its head again. Groups like Vivian Girls have tried to re-insert the genre into our consciousness and San Francisco’s Girls new self-titled record is the latest to try and capture our hearts. Unfortunately, the success of lo-fi was always dependant on great songwriting and Girls don’t even come close to hitting the mark. In it’s inception, lo-fi existed by necessity. Robert Pollard had nothing more than a four-track player at his disposal when GBV started. In this modern era, there’s no “need” for lo-fi. It’s a gimmick, so the ability to write a great song is its only hope for redemption.

The first song on the Girls album is ‘Lust for Life’, which defies logic by having nothing to do with Iggy Pop. By the time you reach the end of the record, you wonder if Girls even knows who The Stooges are. So self-absorbed in sounding different, they seem to forget the path they are meant to follow. Instead they try out to massacre a different genre of music on every song.

‘Big Bad Mean Motherfucker’ pisses on….I mean pays homage to the memory of The Beach Boys with a bad surfer song, made worse by bad singing and bad vocals.

Hellhole Ratrace was recorded a year ago and got quite a buzz in the blogging world. Re-recorded for the album, they’ve taken a 3 minute raucous, rock song and turned it into a 7-minute (?!) self-indulgent drug trip.

Not all music has to be glossy and perfect. There is a place in our world for lo-fi, but not just for the sake of covering up an inability to write an entire album’s worth of songs.

MP3: Girls - Hellhole Ratrace (Album releases 9/28)

-Todd Cochran

Todd Cochran is a special contributor. Read more of his fine work over at his site The Dumbing of America.

Interview: Corn Mo from .357 Lover

SubEx: We’ve already proclaimed on our Twitter feed that your upcoming album “Diorama of the Golden Lion” is this generation’s “Bat Out of Hell.” How would you describe the album’s sound in non-Meatloaf-related terms?

Corn Mo: Glammy - a bit of Sweet, a bit of Mott the Hoople, a bit of Queen, a little Cheap Trick, a little Judas Priest and some Conway Twitty.


SE: You really have one of those voices that sounds good singing just about any type of music, and you’ve also played in jazz bands, country bands, metal bands, glam bands, etc. What is your favorite genre to play and/or sing?

CM: Metal. Although, when I’m at the karaoke bar I usually do Kid Rock. And I’m fucking good at it.


SE: Along those same lines, is there anything you haven’t done, musically speaking, that you aspire to?

CM: Real opera. Although I am studying the song cycles of Franz Schubert. I want to do a concert of the Winterreise someday.


SE: What was the first song you ever illegally downloaded?

CM: I’ve never illegally downloaded a song, but I once bought Van Halen 2 on a dubbed cassette from the big kid in school.


SE: What's the best bargain you've ever found at a garage sale or thrift store?

CM: A $75 accordion.


SE: I think it’s pretty well-known that you got your start in our own backyard (Denton area) how did you end up moving to New York? One press-release I read mentions “…a bed of nails, a magician and a wager” what’s the rest of that story?

CM: I was booked to open for the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus at Club Clearview. After the show, I invited them to crash at my place. The second time they came through, the musician of the group told me he was leaving and advised that I join the circus and move to NYC. It was the best tour I have ever been on. I hooked up with the aerialist.

I became really good friends with a guy named Magic Brian. We did a sideshow at the Meadowlands one day and they needed someone to lie on the bed of nails. I’d never done it before so I asked for a lesson. The guy said, “You just lay on ‘em. Oh, and don’t get up with your elbows.” I had to take off my shirt and wear a leather vest. The Discovery Channel was there to film my first attempt at the bed of nails. There is no trick. It really hurts. After the show, Ward Hall, the boss, asked me to put my shirt back on since I don’t look good in just a leather vest. Magic Brian, who has the body of a collegiate wrestler, was asked to finish out the day with the nail act. I moved the fat man’s belongings to the fat man’s area and then took tickets for the geek act, which was my friend Okra reading in a den of snakes. My back was still sore at 5pm that evening and Magic Brian was even worse, having done 12 shows that day. That’s the only time I benefited from being a fat ass.

The wager is when Kinko the Clown, Magic Brian and I would dare each other to eat the worst meat product we could find at the gas stations on the tour. It was stupid.


SE: Growing up in Texas how did a love for sports/football conflict with a love for music/playing instruments?

CM: I moved from Texas to Kentucky for a couple of years and then back to Texas. During my freshman year, I was in jazz band and I played football. I hated football. Everyone was too zealous about winning. I just wanted to have fun knocking people down. My jazz band teacher offered to let me be in the marching band the following year if I learned to play saxophone. I would be in the drum corp in marching band and play saxophone in concert band. I made out with more girls in marching band than I did being on the football team.


SE: Speaking of Denton, J&J's or The Tomato? And how does Denton pizza compare to NYC?

CM: Dave, the bass player for .357 Lover, worked at the Tomato. He told me they rarely cleaned those pizza trays. One day, he told his boss that people were complaining about bugs in their pizza. The boss told him to charge for extra toppings. Dave walked out.

However, I liked their pizza. I still have a Flying Tomato poster.

I do prefer J&J’s. I like their pizza more and I like $5 pitchers of Shiner. It’s a great place to see a show, too.

NYC pizza is really good depending on where you go. However, J&J’s trumps Ray’s Original. Ray’s sucks ass. But Lombardi’s is amazing. They say it’s the water that makes the crust so good up here. The trade off is that I can’t get breakfast tacos up here. I have to make my own and that includes the tortillas. And there is no Shiner up here. And Lone Stars are $4 or more.


SE: And how do you feel about the destruction of Fry Street?

CM: I haven’t seen it since it was destroyed but I know someone in Denton had been wanting that area gone for a long time. I think the same guy that owned that used to harass Recycled Books to the point of creating water damage and staging a break in. And I think he’s the reason the Argo was closed. I may be wrong. Anyhoo, that was a great place to play. I got my start playing at Kharma Café.


SE: Ultimate night out in the big city of Denton, Texas. Where does it start, and what is one thing you have to see/do?

CM: It used to be getting a 6pack of Schlitz on McKinney and Bell and heading to the Good/Bad for an art show or rock show. I guess now it would be going to J&J’s to get pizza and then decide if you’re going to stay there to watch a show or go to Dan’s or Rubber Gloves or any of the other fine rock clubs. OR pick up a 12-pack and head over to Wally Campbell’s house. He usually grills Earl Campbell Hot Links and quail that he shot himself. He has a fallout shelter in his backyard for making out in. I miss Shiner. OR going to Mazatlan and then to Holiday Lanes for a bucket of beer and bowling. I hope the guy with the oversized TAZ shirt is still wandering up and down the lanes cheering on the bowlers with his wireless mic.


SE: Ever attend an infamous solstice mushroom party (usually at the same tiny house with a multi-tiered fire pit)?

CM: In Denton? No. Wait is what rich people do? I’ve never seen a multi-tiered fire pit. I did whippets on Fannin St. Is that close?


SE: Outside of your musical endeavors, you also do some blogging over at Digital City; Which do you more enjoy, being the interviewer or the interviewee?

CM: Being an interviewer is work and I try not to look like an idiot. I enjoy the follow up questions the best. Being interviewed is easier since I have the answers.


SE: Describe something that's happened to you for which you have no explanation.

CM: Tim Delaughter “gave me” to David Bowie. [video proof]

It made no sense to anyone but I hugged Bowie and he smelled delicious.


SE: The title character in your rock opera “Alice Wakeman” got his name because his mother had sex with rockers Alice Cooper and Rick Wakeman, and couldn't be sure who the boy's father was. If Cooper and Wakeman got into a fight, who would you put your money on?

CM: Wakeman is a giant but Alice is scrappier. Once, two guys did a comedy show and made fun of Wakeman during their set. They had no idea that Wakeman was there. He knocked on their dressing room door to tell them how funny they were but they were scared shitless and wouldn’t let him in. I think Alice Cooper could kick Rick Wakeman’s ass but only because Rick Wakeman would allow it. Afterwards, he would write an epic album called “Alice Are You Having a Laugh - The Odyssey”. Alice would counter with an album called “I’ll See You on the Nightmarish Golfcourse.” They will both be very good albums.


SE: What’s your favorite Neil Diamond song?

CM: I have two favorites: I am I said and Coming to America. I was a ringmaster in a circus in Alaska and requested to sing the latter during the finale. I sang it twice a day and it never got old.


SE: What was the last thing you regret buying?

CM: Sesame Chicken from a Chinese place on 23rd and 7th.


.357 Lover's latest album "Diorama of the Golden Lion" is out September, 29th. SubEx highly recommends for anyone even remotely into hammy rock-opera goodness.

-SubEx

Memory Tapes Takes on East of Eden...Already

What I love most about the zeitgeist of the blogosphere is everyone's focus on the present. No longer must a song be required to prove it can stand the test of time before another artists dares to cover it. In fact, some would argue that if your song isn't remixed half a dozen times before it's official release date then you have failed to gain a significant amount of "buzz".

So it's not entirely unexpected, I suppose, that Memory Tapes has already reworked the single from Taken By Trees' upcoming "East of Eden" album (which Morrow previewed yesterday) despite the fact that it doesn't release until September. On whole I'd say the concept is less confusing than the Memory Tapes moniker itself.

The Weird Tapes/Memory Cassette/Memory Tapes issue was cleared up for me by a recent Pitchfork article, which are all basically the same person (New Jersey Native Dayve Hawk). In short, Weird Tapes came first, Memory Cassette is his more feminine alter ego, and Memory Tapes is the obvious amalgamation of the two. (And now you know the rest of the story).

MP3: Taken By Trees - Watch The Waves (Memory Tapes Version)

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Album Preview: Taken By Trees - East of Eden

Victoria Bergsman, former Concrete lead singer, has followed up her debut album “Open Field” with a slightly less familiar sound. An album borrowing heavily from other cultural backrounds, East of Eden is strongly influenced by traditional Spanish guitar through most of the disc, but marinates in middle eastern and Swedish waters as well. The cut Tidens Gang showcases her native tongue, and contrasts with the following song Wapas Karna , which features an accordian centered Arabic luncheon.

The album is a great demonstration of how a talented songwriter and vocalist, can be experimental and decidedly different in song selection, and yet maintain a cohesive feel throughout. “My Boys,” a very close cover of Animal Collective’s “My Girls”, gets excellent treatment, removing the Jupiter arpeggio, and allowing the song to breathe without it’s constant tension. Fans of The Concretes may be disappointed in the subtler material, but the spacey and ethereal timbre of Victoria’s voice works very well here.

Notable Lyric: “When you’re alone, and you long for friends, and then you with your friends, you want to be by yourself, I hope you’ll find, some piece of mind” - Greyest Love Of All

I give it 3.5 out of 5 redwoods

MP3: Taken By Trees - My Boys (Animal Collective Cover)

-Morrow

A Call To Action

Here at SubEx we strive to support local music as much as possible in whatever way we can. This may include asking bizarre requets of you, our readers. Today, we ask that you vote for a Chipotle jingle. It's not just any old catchy mass-marketed tune. No, this pied piper's song, leading the consumer to the capitalist's chopping block, was created by the revered local band, Oso Closo. Their submission, dubbed the "Oso Closo Burrito" (steak, peppers, onions, black beans, cheese, sour cream, guacamole) has made it to the finals in the My Chipotle Burrito competition. So, we're asking you, dear SubExers, to lend Oso your support as they seek to acheive Chipotle glory. One can only hope that, upon victory, they will declare guacamole henceforth free for all men and women.

Vote here, and be sure to give it 5 stars.

MP3: Oso Closo - Oso Closo Burrito

~Jenn

Dallas You Are About To Be Dazzled

Perhaps the fact that Dazzler guitarist Andy Marlow was formerly a member of LA dance/punk outfit Ima Robot should be the lead attraction of tonight's show at Fallout Lounge, but for me that really doesn't touch the fact that lead vocalist Neil Schuh still rocks the keytar. And the 80's dance-jam fun doesn't end there, they make extensive use of vocoders as well to fill out their oh-so-choice vocal harmonies.

But I don't mean to pigeonhole these guys as some sort of novelty act, these guys can really play. Not only are they extremely talented players, they are currently owning the new breed of 80's dance rock like nobody else at the moment. Throw in some fancy keyboard runs by bonafide virtuoso Michael Gold and you have an exciting and catchy mixture that guarantees good times at Fallout Lounge tonight.

While still in the process of recording their debut, "Dancing On A Comet's Tail" you can sample some of their fine jams on their MySpace. Personally speaking, "Yesterday's News" has been in pretty heavy rotation on my iPod these last couple of weeks.

MP3: Dazzler - Yesterday's News

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Tuesday Timekill

We've got a handful of remixes this morning that we've been sitting on for a little bit, but now's as good a time as any to pass them along.

First up is Houston DJ (and SubEx fav) Dave Wrangler whom we hope will soon make his way up from the armpit of Texas to do a few sets in D town. Sure we've heard countless remixes/mashups involving Dead Prez's "Hip Hop," but this mashup (with Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah) is the first we can think of that pushes the tempo and makes us feel a little nervous.

Then comes Hypem legend Don Diablo who for once is having one of his own tunes remixed. This time Louis La Roche, who we guess will be soon be a Hypem staple in his own right, is the man responsible inducing all the hip-shaking. According to Diablo's Twitter feed yesterday he recently secured a visa for a US tour, which we can only hope brings him through our fair burgh.

U-Turn is another DJ that didn't appeared on our radar until he decided to take on Lissy Trullie. While his remix of "Boy Boy" is part 80's new wave/part spy film intro, above all it's still Trullie's attitude that makes the track shine. Afterall, nobody does attitude like an ex-model.

Sure Taken By Tree's adaptation of Animal Collective's "My Girls" into their own "My Boys" version is technically not so much a remix as it is a cover, but really who cares? We are so in love with this track (which appears on the Swede's upcoming "East of Eden" album) right now. The gentle crooning of Victoria Bergsman settles in so perfectly over the subdued rhythms sparse instrumentation that dare we say outdoes the original? (Shock!)

MP3: Dead Prez vs Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah - Hip Hop (Dave Wrangler remix)
MP3: Don Diablo - I Am Not From France (Louis La Roche Remix)
MP3: Lissy Trullie - Boy Boy (U-Turn Remix)
MP3: Taken By Trees - My Boys (Animal Collective Cover)

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Wake Up To The New Purple One

Have you ever wondered what Prince would be like if he were a 20 year-old indie artist? (Really who would?) The answer nonetheless is Sliimy, a sensation in the underground French electro scene. So underground in fact, the English language version of his Wikipedia page was recently deleted by one of their moderators. Don't worry though, he will be a household name stateside soon enough as he was recently added as the first artist on Perez Hilton's upstart record label. (Does that make him un-hip before anyone's even heard of him?) Enjoy him whilst purifying yourselves in the waters of lake Minnetonka (while you still can).

MP3: Sliimy - Wake Up
MP3: Sliimy - Wake Up (Buzz Junkies Club mix)

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Album Review: 100 Damned Guns - Musica De Tormento

It’s hard to take careful notice of much in the stirred-up anthill that is Crazy Fort Worth. With the constant traffic, infinite train crossings and crackheads scurrying to and fro, it’s safer to just keep your eyes ahead, really. But one diamond has surfaced in the rough city and has heads turning. Peculiarly enough, and what has local geologists baffled, is that this stone came in the shape of Musica De Tormento; the new record from Fort Worth’s own 100 Damned Guns.

Released on March 31, 2009, Musica De Tormento has quickly gained buzz in the Alt. Country scene, with the group already being well recognized from their first release in 2007 called Songs of Murder Pain And Woe. Musica was nominated this year for FW Weekly’s 2009 Album Of The Year and has only gained in popularity since then.

With the energy of music that explodes out of the speakers, you come to find out that pressing play on Musica is like simultaneously pulling the trigger of, well… about a hundred damned guns… Ironic observational humor anyone?

We all know the classics of “outlaw country”. Waylon. Willie. Merle. But 100DG have put a new mark on the term, and Musica De Tormento is simply good outlaw country music. It has all the essentials. There’s hopelessness, booze, murder, abuse and lost love to name a few. Hell, they have freakin’ “Guns” in their band name… That’s always badass.

There is little filler in Musica. Most of the songs have a driving guitar/mandolin melody stacked with chicken fried fiddle licks and intricate, throat grindin’ harmonies, sung by both front men Judd Pemberton and Dave Sherrill, on songs like “Ain’t That Bad Anymore” and “Go Back To Sleep.” The instrumentation and music arrangements are tight and concise throughout the whole record. The solid train beat of the drums sounds like “the little engine” that could kick your ass. The bass is gettin’ slapped like it talked back to mother in church and the dobro whines like a hound on the trail. There’s even a couple of sweet, little two-steppin’ numbers like “Anna Lee” for all the ladies out there… and guys too, just to be fair.

Lyrics like “Life ain’t worth a damn” become an ingrained thought to the recollection of life’s dark times with the ballad “Hard Row To Hoe.” A thrashing, new spin on the Texas classic “Red River Valley” helps one appreciate the roots of Texas music. The simplicity of songs like this helped shape what we know of as “country music” today, and it’s refreshing to see bands remember that.

Musica ends strongly with a dark comedy about a father and son and murder called “Old Barbwire.” It really makes you think of all the good ol’ times with dad after he’d been drinking “adult’s juice” back behind the shed again.

From beginning to end, Musica De Tormento is an eyebrow raisin’, knee slappin’, foot stompin’, air punchin’, honky-tonk, country symphony. The only bad part of the record was when it stopped playing… Oops!… There had to be a cliché in there somewhere, right? But hey, then all you have to do is just “pull the trigger” again and POW!… Yeah. I said POW!

MP3: 100 Damned Guns - Broken Bottle Blues

-Cory Coleman

Cleaning Up My Desktop

In the same vein as Cory’s “Cleaning Out the Inbox” posts, this is an attempt to cleanse myself of those dozen bits I’ve started over the course of the summer. This may get random. You’ve been warned.

After dropping the gratuitous first article in their two-word name, The Gossip hath been reborn Gossip. You now will refer to them as such. Got it? Good. And despite this ridiculous name change, Gossip’s yet-to-be-hard-released-in-the-US, Music for Men, does whisper of a reinvention. Beth Ditto and crew has taken their signature screechy punk and added a fresh coat of pop gloss. On "Heavy Cross," Beth's raspy tone works surprisingly well with a disco backbeat and some fancy guitar work by Brace Paine. My favorite song from this album (with one of the oddest videos I've seen in awhile...YouTube it, seriously), "Love Long Distance," shines with a consistent thumping drumbeat that is continually layered over and stripped down by sparkling synth noise. However, Gossip purist, have no fear. They have not lost their edge in the face of all this glamor. Throwing in references to homosexuality has always been one of Gossip's signature moves and they are still spreading the love through their music. The title track offers the repeating chorus line "Men in love...with each other" set to the perfect, if not a bit trite, tinkling strains straight out of Studio 64. Also there's "Spare Me From The Mold" that opens with a throaty cough and explodes into standard Gossip fare. If anything, Music for Men proves that you can take the girl out of the Arkansas grease and gussy her up in Chanel's best, but she'll always be just a bit dirty in all the right places.

Looking for great porch-drinking music? How about a backing track for those drunk dining moments? Or that perfect song to complement a DUI? Those Darlins have got you covered! These fine ladies from Tennessee caught my ear ‘round about SXSW time, but I didn’t get a chance to see them while I was in Austin. It was quite the tragedy, but luckily for me (and you) they’ve finally released their very first album, Self Titled. Including such classic songs as “DUI or Die” and “Red Light Love”, this fun find is not to be missed, even by non-drinkers. Those Darlins offer a classic country sound (complete with whoops, banjo and church-quality harmonies) that never feels strained or hokey. Also, I’ve heard they’re quiet incredible live. So, be sure to stop by The Cavern on October 29th to witness the ensuing spectacle and those tiny red shorts.

Like a headline stolen from The Onion ("Two White Dudes Create This Year's Best Reggae Album"), Major Lazer (a collaboration of all-star producers Diplo and Switch) is full of contradictions as well as the kind of music that drives you to dance. On the opening track, "Hold The Line," a heavily-sampled sound that made Santigold famous (as well as Santigold herself) can be heard, while a more traditional tone is favored on "Can't Stop Now." "Mary Jane" starts out as a thinly veiled reference that erupts into a full-blown herbal worship complete with some wicked marching band backing. You can even find material that sounds like it was streaming straight off the local Top 40 station ("Keep It Going"). From the odd (auto-tuned baby cries) to the standard (cheesy Jamaican accents), Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do is the kind of album that can keep the party going all by itself.

MP3: Gossip - Heavy Cross
MP3: Those Darlins - Red Light Love
MP3: Major Lazer - Hold The Line (LehtMoJoe Remix)

~Jenn

St. Vincent Goes Solo Acoustic For Grandcrew

When you strip away all the fancy John Congleton production and string arrangements from St. Vincent's latest album what you are left with is simply the mesmerizing Annie Clark. She recently sat down for the Grandcrew folks to film her performing a couple of songs from Actor solo acoustic style. Although it's extremely cliche to say so these bare-bones arrangements really show off how beautiful these songs really are. And what's more they allow her to really display her guitar prowess like never before; from the Spanish style strumming in "Actor Out of Work" to the intricate fingerpicking in "Strangers" Clark's classical training is more than apparant.

Really the only bad thing there is to say about this video is the fact that it's only two songs long. It's pretty safe to say if St. Vincent ever did decide to do an entire solo acoustic release there would be a pretty sizeable audience for it, but really who couldn't use more Annie Clark in their lives?

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A Tale of Two Sortas

Tuesday we previewed Danny Balis' solo release, and today our good buddy over at Bona Fide Darling has a nice little write-up of "Mount Pelee," the recent solo release of Balis' former Sorta bandmate Trey Johnson. It's drastically different than Too Much Living, due laregly to Johnson having the boys from Shibboleth serving as his backing band. While both records were written after the death of a mutual bandmate, it's interesting to see the different directions each artist went.

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The Blueprint For a Kickass Video

On Smash posted the new Jay-Z video this morning for the Blueprint III single "Run This Town". While it's not my favorite song Jay-Z, Rihanna, or even Kanye have been a part of, you can't argue with the epicness of the viddy. Guns, explosions, Jay-Z in Juggalo gear, Rihanna looking like some sort of sexy super hero, this video has it all. Not that anyone took Jay-Z all that seriously when he "retired" awhile back, but from what we've heard from Blueprint III so far, at least I don't think anyone will argue that he's pulling a "Brett Favre".

MP3: Jay-Z - Run This Town (feat. Rihanna and Kanye)

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Inglorious Bastards: The Soundtrack

As genius as Quentin Tarantino is at making movies I think its safe to say he's just as genius at putting together soundtracks.

"When I'm writing a script," said Tarantino once, "one of the first things I do is find the music I'm going to play for the opening sequence. I can't go forward until I figure out how I'm going to start - what the opening mood music will be. As I'm writing, I go through all those songs, trying to find good songs for fights, or good pieces of music to layer into the film. Looking for that music is finding the rhythm that the movie has to play in. It's me finding the beat."

Whether it's bringing back a somewhat forgotten classic like "Misirlou," (Pulp Fiction) going with lesser-known covers like Urge Overkill's "Girl You'll Be A Woman Soon" (Pulp Fiction) or Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" (Kill Bill), or just finds that perfect obscure gem like "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" (Kill Bill) the choices he makes are so optimal that it's often hard to hear them afterward without conjuring up images from the silver screen. I know personally I can't hear Stealers Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle With You" without seeing visions of Mr. Blonde cutting off Marvin Nash's ear.

That being said, I thought it would be an interesting exercise to listen to the Inglorious Bastards soundtrack before seeing the film just to get an idea of how visionary Mr. Tarantino really is. As best I can tell from the music alone Inglorious Bastards seems to be some type of spaghetti western. All kidding aside, I can't wait to see this Friday night.

Main Theme From Dark Of The Sun (Album Version) - Jacques Loussier

Cat People [Putting Out The Fire] (Album Version) - David Bowie

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