Dead Flowers: Anglophiles Anonymous

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Sonic Youth: Theresa's Sound World

Labels: Sonic Youth

Primal Scream: Shoot Speed Kill Light

Labels: Primal Scream

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Supergrass: Tales of Endurance (Parts 4, 5, & 6)

Labels: supergrass

Monday, June 23, 2008

The Verve: Love is Noise (Myspace Rip)

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Labels: the verve

Anton Corbijn on "Fresh Air"

Director Anton Corbijn joins Terry Gross to talk about his brilliant Joy Division movie, Control.

[Interview Link]

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Labels: anton corbijn, fresh air, Joy Division, youtube

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Ida Maria: Live at Kings College SU, London

Setlist:
1] Intro
2] Morning Light
3] Louie
4] Queen Of The World
5] Drive Away My Heart
6] Leave Me, Let Me Go
7] Forgive Me
8] Keep Me Warm
9] Better When You're Naked
10] Oh My God
11] Encore Break
12] Stella
13] We're All Going To Hell

Recorded by Powermonkey 2008-06-02.

[Download the whole show here]

Labels: Ida Maria, live, powermonkey

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Thoughts on
Sigur Ros: Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust

Just to shatter any sense of impartiality from the outset, I'll say this: I've always been a big supporter of Sigur Ros. I imported their first widely released single "Svefn-G-Englar" from Iceland, and a few months later, did the same with their international debut Ágætis Byrjun. Years later, I gave ( ) a 10 on my first blog. After some initial skepticism, I came to love the textured Takk almost as much, if not more, than their earlier records.

Which made that fall day last year all the more troubling. I went into Starbucks to buy a cup of coffee, the location being a strip mall and the alternatives being Burger King, Popeye's, and that place where they toast subs. While I waited there for my tasteless, over-roasted, hard-working-farmers-of-Ethiopia-cheating blend, a familiar voice came through the overhead speakers. Jonsi. "Hljómalind". In a fucking Starbucks.

Now maybe this is something that every Herbie Hancock, Joni Mitchell, or Paul McCartney fan has gone through, but I doubt it. You see, Sigur Ros were always special. They were always my little secret. But now, the cat was well and truly out of the bag.

Sigur Ros' music was always a distillation of more complicated acts: Radiohead, Godspeed You Black Emperor, The Cocteau Twins, et al. "Hljómalind" and much of Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust are a distillation of that distillation. Straight-forward arrangements, pretty melodies, luscious string tones. Nothing jarring. Perfectly pleasant.

But we're not talking about pure indie pandering here. Whereas Coldplay have taken similar source material and triangulated their sound in an almost Clinton-esque manner, Sigur Ros are more Barack Obama: reassuringly progressive, but maybe lacking some desired punch.

Opener and preview track "Gobbledigook" is a bit of a red herring--it's leaden acoustics and dull melody don't really do justice to the rest of the album. Tracks 2 and 4 ("Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur" and "Vid Spilum Endalaust") are like the best moments of Takk edited down to four and 3 and a half minutes respectively. Elsewhere on the record, Sigur Ros tread familiar ground. A widescreen epic like "Festival" would not feel out of place on previous records.

So try as I might to disown them for cozying up to the Starbucks/Banana Republic set, I have to admit that I still love Sigur Ros' music. Rumors of a drastic change in sound have been greatly exaggerated; what we're presented with is the essence of the band's music and the continuation of an already impressive winning streak.

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Labels: reviews, sigur ros