The beast with 40 eyes

Having spent the past 72 hours or so listening almost exclusively to Michael Jackson, I've realized that I'll remember him differently than I thought I would.

I thought that I'd remember him most for his early hits- the universally loved dance songs that you hear at every wedding, and which absolutely kill at every wedding, regardless of the attendee demographic.

And yes, any discussion of my favorite MJ songs pretty much begins and ends with "I want you back". But that said, reviewing his solo work revealed, once again, just how dark his lyrics could get. Billie Jean is obvious, but even Thriller, which has, because of the video, become sort of cartoonish over the years, has some freaking dark subject matter once you strip away the halloween dance party veneer.

But the one that I love, somewhat inexplicably, even more than Thriller?

Smooth Criminal. Just a perfect, perfect song, about stabbin' a chick. Love it.

Oh, and one more tip of the hat to this 1978 demo of "Don't stop til you get enough". Hearing this makes me rethink my list of places I would travel if I had a time machine. CBGB's during the Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense tour still tops the list, but this comes close.

Quick hits: retro music

Mastodon: Oh crap this is amazing. Metal is back.

Japandroids: Terrible fucking name, great fucking band. Emo is back?

Arcade Fire on Pitchfork TV

YAY!

The best thing Pitchfork has ever done. They are hosting the new Arcade Fire DVD: Miroir Noir. Check it out before it goes down.

YAY!

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

If you don't get excited watching this, congratulations, your inner child is dead, and I really don't want to know you.

Requiem for a freak

RIP Lux Interior.

Oh when the sun goes down and the moon comes up
I turn into a teenage goo-goo muck
Yeah I cruise through the city and I roam the streets
Lookin for something that is nice to eat

You better duck,
when I show up,
the goo-goo muck.

I'm a night headhunter looking for some head
With a way-out body underneath that head
Yeah I'll get you baby with a little luck
Cuz I'm a teenage tiger and an goo-goo muck

You better duck,
when I show up,
the goo-goo muck.

The city is a jungle and I'm a beast
I'm a teenage tiger looking for a feast
Yeah I wan't the most but I'll take the least
Cuz I'm a goo-goo muck tiger and a teenage beast

You better duck,
when I show up,
the goo-goo muck.

Guilty Pleasures

I've been really enjoying Ladyhawke recently. In particular, the song "Back of the Van" should be played regularly at all roller and ice skating rinks. It's good nostalgia.

Best Albums of 2008 - an idiot's list

Here you go, my favorite albums of 2008.

1. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
2. Sigur Ros - Meo Suo I Eyrum Vio Spilum Endalaust
3. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
4. Metaform – Standing on the shoulders of giants
5. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
6. David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
7. Dr. Dog – Fate
8. Lil’ Wayne – Tha Carter III
9. Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer
10. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple

Notable by its absence - Bloc Party – Intimacy. I found this to be a misnomer.

Honorable Mention (cause I’ve only heard 1-2 songs on it so far, so can’t totally judge):
Drive by Truckers: the song Opening Act might be my favorite of the year. I guess I’m a lil bit country. The crescendo of that song begins, “As I’m driving North and the sun is rising over a Technicolor horizon”, which is the most perfect lyric I’ve heard in a long, long time.
Deerhunter: the song Nothing Ever Happened is my current favorite song.
MGMT: Kids is an awesome song. There’s at least 2 other tracks on here I like, so maybe I should get around to listening to the whole thing.

The God You Suck Award: Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend. Hatehatehate. Runner-up: Portishead. I heard “Machine Gun” about 500 times this year, and hate that song so much it kept me from listening to anything else on what I gather is actually a good album.

Thanks, Jose

I see problems down the line
I know that I’m right.
There was a dirt upon your hands
doing the same mistake twice
making the same mistake twice

Come on over and be so caught up
its not about compromising.

I see problems down the line
I know that I’m right
I see darkness down the line
I know its hard to fight.
There was a dirt upon your hands
doing the same mistake twice
making the same mistake twice.

Come on over be so caught up
its all about compromise.

I see problems down the line
I know that I’m right.

Don’t let the darkness eat you up

Home

An anthem for this holiday season, courtesy of David Byrne and Brian Eno.

Required listening

KEXP's John Richards is cranking perhaps the best show I've ever heard today.

I've already heard Dead Kennedys, Bob Dylan, and Leonard Cohen. Word.

What we got to say
Power to the people no delay
To make everybody see
In order to fight the powers that be

Late-Adopter Club: The Avalanches

The band Air France have an EP out, entitled No Way Down, that is getting all kinds of rave reviews. While I've yet to get my hot little hands on it, I have heard the title track, and it is indeed the poo. The album it's been most compared to is the Avalanches 2000 release, "Since I Left You", of which I am ashamed to admit I had never heard. Apparently I was too immersed in Hum, the Dismemberment Plan, and the Roots back then to appreciate music that actually makes you feel, you know, good. Anyway, I'm making up for lost time, grooving to the Avalanches, and wishing that summer will never end.

Bonus points for what I am 100% confident is the best use of a horse whinny sample in the history of music, in track 2, Stay Another Season.

A modest request

I recently heard LCD Soundsystem's cover of Harry Nilsson's Jump Into the Fire. It's the shit, yet is unreleased. If anyone has a copy somehow, can has send to mi plz?

Premature Rave: Fate

I just got my greedy little hands on an advance copy of Dr. Dog's yet to be released album: Fate. Hoo boy it's good. Like, maybe the best thing I've heard this year good.

Time will tell.

Kanye West has interesting priorities

So recently at Bonnaroo, Kanye was to go on around 8:30. He complained that it wouldn't be dark enough for his glow in the dark-focused performance to achieve it's full artistic expression. So they moved his slot to after main act Pearl Jam. He was slated to go on around 2:30 AM, a pretty ambitious plan, but hey, it's Bonnaroo. Someone'll still be up.

Of course, by the time the offloaded Pearl Jam's set and got Kanye's Magical Glowing Spaceship of Fun and Profit(TM) set up and ready to go, it was well after 4 AM. By then, the few fans remaining had begun chanting "Kanye sucks" and throwing beer at the stage.

Full story is here (blogger being a bitch about hyperlinks right now): http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/61460900

Kanye's retort: "This Bonnaroo thing is the worst insult I've ever had in my life," West wrote. "This is the most offended I've ever been ... this is the maddest I ever will be."

Really, Kanye? This makes you more mad than the federal response to Hurricane Katrina? This makes you more mad than the Rodney King verdict? This makes you more mad than communities plagued by senseless violence, the war in Iraq, and the 2000 election? Wow. That's some serious egotism. I've got an idea: go fuck yourself.

You delay a performance until after 4 AM, and you're damn straight I'm gonna boo your ass. While I am tempted to read into the racial dynamic (Bonnaroo=well to do white kids on drugs), no, I'm sorry. Going on at 4:30 is unnacceptable on every level, and I would boo Jesus if he made me stay up that late for the fucking Sermon on the Mount, much less your ridiculous fucking glow in the dark, Space Oddity wannabe bullshit.

Rave: Metaform

Just picked up Metaform's new album, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants.

It's really, really good.

This album has launched itself to top of the list for my summer partying purposes. At least the chilled out bbq-style parties.

HUGE bonus points for the Coming to America sample in I Feel Good.

Rave: The Virginia EP

The National dropped "The Virginia EP" last week, and it's great.

I'd write more, but I can't seem to listen to it all - I keep replaying the final track, a live cut of "About Today", from their debut release way back in the day. This track is seriously gorgeous. The National at the top of their game.

Fuck Vampire Weekend

Much like Jeff's hatred of Slap Your Glans Say Bleahhh, I just don't fucking get the hype. This band is fucking terrible. It's the worst kind of precious, twee shit. It's double worse for being constantly aware of its own preciousness. Go fuck yourselves in the earholes with rusty lobster hooks, you pathetic hipster douchebags.

Thank you KEXP

On Monday, I received a receipt documenting another installment of my annual donation to KEXP Seattle, praised in this space and elsewhere as the greatest radio station in the world.

Then, I came into work to a new computer, that magically can stream their audio live, in perfect quality, with no buffering stupidity (which was a problem on my previous machine).

Suffice to say, I've been listening all week thus far, and have learned a few things:

1) We were promised jetpacks = greatest band name ever. Though really it would work better as an album title. Still, awesome name. Their song Quiet Little Voices is anything but quiet, and is good.

2) Working for a Nuclear Free City = unfortunately named band out of manchester. They sound like the result of a focus group conducted in my high school memories, updated to modern day pop-crunch (aka, lots of Stone Roses, Jesus and Mary Chain influence). Their song Nancy Adam Susan (what's with the terrible names, people?) is the shit. I can't believe I didn't pick up on this when it came out last year.

3) Yep, KEXP is awesome, and if you live in Seattle or New York, you should feel very very lucky they're on your airwaves. If you don't, but have a cubicle, get yourself some decent headphones!

Best song of the year - early candidates

Opening Act, by Drive By Truckers (lyric of the year: "And I’m driving north as the sun was rising over a Technicolor horizon")

Unforgettable Season, by Cut Copy (dance song of the year)

Probably something off the new Black Angels - Doves, maybe? (best use of reverb since what's the frequency kenneth?)

Devastatin Dave Presents: The Worst Song of the Year contest

Our first nominee for 2008: Sharp Drest, by Mochipet.


Sweet lord this song is fucking terrible.


Devastatin Dave, on the other hand, is amazing.

Got a nominee? Put it in the comments. We'll revisit this at the end of the year.