Hello all,

Just a reminder that the next round of signups for Listen Up! Vermont, Round Five, is coming right up — the last date for notification is December 11. This is the ONLY opportunity in 2010 to join; the next round will not be until January 2011.

If you are interested in participating, the fee for schools for 2010 is 3.25% of your materials budget, and for publics, 4.75%. Discounts may be available depending on your materials budget. For publics, this will also gain you access to the Recorded Books downloadable audio book
program in September 2010.

To express interest in joining, please fill out the information required in the following form:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGJlWGVUalNHb1JIbVhicklFTGpyX3c6MA

For each new library, there is also an administrative fee the GMLC must pay to OverDrive. This fee pays to set up your library on the OverDrive system, as well as supporting new rounds of training.

Questions? Please contact me at schase@stowelibrary.org. Again, in order to participate, we must know of your interest by December 11.

Thanks!

Local improv group RARE BIRD SHOW recently appeared on the Rep Radio podcast to discuss their work and improv in general.

Listen in as they discuss their approach to playing, themes that arise in their shows, how they handle suggestions, their philosophies on format (Alexis is ready to meet you on a street corner to discuss this topic with her fists) as well as other projects they are involved in.

Listen In (Runtime: 30 min)

And while you’re at it, be sure to check out their shows this Friday and Saturday as they share a bill with FLETCHER as part of the PHILLY IMPROV THEATER’s shows at the Shubin.

these are a few of my favorite [holiday] things!

vanilla lattes in starbucks holiday cups;

sprinkles’ chocolate peppermint cupcakes;

a toasty fireplace;

warm christmas socks;

twinkling lights;

and anthropologie’s jewelry advertisements.

after all, it is the most wonderful time of the year.

The Fame Monster was released on 11/23

I used to not know quite what to do with Lady Gaga. The message of Just Dance seemed to be the wrong one – hey, ladies, get plastered in the club, doesn’t matter if you’re a mess, just dance – but against her other songs, and most importantly in complement to Gaga’s videos, I realized that the seemingly base contents of her songs are actually a very clever commentary.

With The Fame Monster, Gaga continues on her bent to be the voice of a lost post-feminist generation. There are more songs about dancing up in the club, about emotionally abusive boyfriends, allusions to sexual escapades and lyrics that feel like they should be trite, but in the mouth of Gaga, in that silky-smooth, powerful voice and against the brilliant melodic constructions, they’re poignant. Pop princesses like Britney created the simpering hook-up generation, and Lady Gaga is responding to it – both reflecting and making bold statements about the behaviors in which she and her peers engage. The Bad Romance video showed it all – women being used up, sold off and treated like sexual objects. No thank you.

If ever one could liken a pop album to crack cocaine, this is it. Though The Fame Monster only features eight tracks, they are all winners, each sultry and seductive in their beats and melodies, but each oh-so different. From the rough-and-tumble desperation of Bad Romance to the slinky-boppy Alejandro, the raw laying-bare of Speechless to the manic fucked-up-starlet mantra Dance in the Dark, The Fame Monster is a complex musical smorgasbord. The eighties aren’t a decade I’ve been keen to see come back, especially musically, but The Fame Monster is “retro” in the best possible way. Gaga’s synth club pop harkens back to the 80s in the style of Depeche Mode, occasionally Duran Duran and brief moments of late 80s Bowie.

Bad Romance, the lead single that produced an amazing video, has the best lyrics of the bunch, with such provoking lines as “I want your ugly, I want your disease, I want your everything as long as it’s free… I want your love and I want your revenge, you and me could have a bad romance.” I think PopJustice put it best: “Poker Face reinvented.” YES.

Alejandro is Gaga’s “La Isla Bonita,”meets Ace of Base’s “All That She Wants” – boppy island undertones plus a layered synth, as she laments “Don’t call my name, don’t call my name Alejandro, don’t wanna kiss, don’t wanna touch, just smoke my cigarrette and hush” and the chorus is just a sung chant of Alejandro, Ale-ale-jandro. For added dramatic flair, there is a sweep viola line that starts off the song, and comes back in at the end – very Moulin Rouge “Tango de la Roxanne.” Monster is the second “obvious” single track, and one getting a lot of buzz among fans. It features a lot of synthy drum beats… I’m not sold on it, but it undeniably has a great hook and is very danceable.

On Speechless Gaga shines like she never has before. It’s a proper ballad, where she not only showcases her impressive song-writing skills, but also her dramatic, nuanced voice. Gaga has a background in burlesque shows, and you can hear the raw, textured jazzy tone she takes on here, imparting this sad love song with great feeling. It’s just another reminder of what a talented vocalist she is – she can be slinky and smooth on a frothy pop piece, but then pull out such a vocally complex and powerful performance here. Popjustice said this might end up being Gaga’s “Beautiful,” and I agree.

Dance in the Dark is the most 80s of them all, in the most delightful fashion, with a backbeat reminiscent of “Maniac,” and an echo effect and stuttering background male vocal that screams early 90s club pop. It’s an ode to the put down woman, and one can’t help but wonder if Gaga is drawing on personal experience here.  Telephone is the most frothy, least “meaningful” track on The Fame Monster, but it’s also one of the most fun. A much better Gaga/Beyonce collaboration than Videophone, Telephone is a typical ‘girl up in the club’ anthem, as it lambastes a clingy boyfriend for texting and calling incessantly when all she wants to do is dance. But the melody and the hook are infectious, and you’ll find yourself singing along not even half-way into the first listen. But as always with Gaga, just because the meaning of the song it trite, that doesn’t mean the music is – Telephone starts with a pretty, trilling harp intro, and later integrates busy signals and ringtones into the bridge in such a way that they create their own percussive beat. Clever! Then Telephone finishes with an overlay of “sorry this caller cannot be reached” automated responses — win, win, WIN.

At first, I was torn on So Happy I Could Die and Teeth – the former a throwaway pop ditty on first listen and the latter a bizarre bayou chant to rough relations, and more musically interesting than melodic. But after trundling through and giving them repeat listens, they hook into your brain like all the others, and while they may not be single material, they round out the album nicely.

It’ll be most interesting to see the videos to come from The Fame Monster. With The Fame, they got progressively better, more provocative and each with a bigger message. Bad Romance is a lot to live up to, but so many of the songs on The Fame Monster could use the benefit of Gaga’s theatrical visuals, which often times lend a deeper meaning to the songs — how many artists can say the same? (Nowadays? Not many) Gaga’s beautiful ballad Speechless, about her parents’ relationship, will hopefully have as sweeping a video as it is as a song, showing a broken, co-dependent, dysfunctional love. Though not the best candidate for a single, I’d just love to see what visual Gaga lends to Dance in the Dark, seemingly an ode to brilliant women put down by emotionally abusive men. In a Madonna-esque move, the latter part of the song features a cheeky rap, which gives a shout out to Judy, Marilyn, Sylvia and Diana. Not too often you hear a pop song lament the brilliant and tragic Sylvia Plath.

Gaga’s got something.

My prayers were answered by Kim Peine of the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library in Williston: a chart comparing the OverDrive and Recorded Books audio programs!

This will be handy for your staff and patrons; why not link to it from your web site?

http://www.williston.lib.vt.us/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=292&Itemid=43

Thank you, Kim!

I have created two new FAQ pages to help librarians with our two downloadable audio book services:

Listen Up! Vermont FAQ
Recorded Books One Click FAQ

There are differences between the programs — the two most important being:

• all titles on Listen Up! are iPod compatible when transferred to an iPod using a PC
• only mp3 formatted titles from Recorded Books can be used with an iPod, regardless of the computer you are using
• the vast majority of titles on Listen Up! are one-copy, one-user, and are checked out for 7 days. Titles do not expire off a portable device, but do expire on your computer.
• titles on Recorded Books are always available, are checked out for 21 days, and do expire off your portable device and computer

A chart comparing the two would be great. Any volunteers out there… ?

Today, like yesterday, my masochism knows no bounds. My Monday morning blues have bled into Tuesday, and all I want to do is while away the hours at my day job, looking like I’m hard at work but really writing in my blog, browsing clothes I can’t afford online, and listening to songs that make me want to kill myself. Naturally, there are reasons for this, including, but not limited to:  1) certain alcohol-induced activities I partook in this weekend that should have made me feel guilty but actually didn’t at all, 2) it’s day two back at work after four and a half solid days off, with three more to go before the weekend, and 3) the lack of snow in San Francisco around the holiday season is, as always, getting me down. So fuck Macy’s and Bing Crosby and everyone that’s freaking out about Santa’s beard being an H1N1 incubator. Let us drown our sorrows in all the eggnog and brandy we can down before the viscosity of the raw egg mixture down our throats makes us gag (if the reality of Bob Dylan’s forthcoming Christmas album didn’t make us do that already). And yes, that’s what she said. The soundtrack to this festive attempt at self-annihilation? The Clientele.

Now, I would talk about the London-based band’s new album, Bonfires on the Heath, but everyone else is already doing that, and sheep-like behavior isn’t going to make me feel any better. No, as I was browsing their tunes on MySpace, I came across this sad little gem of a song: “(I Can’t Seem to) Make You Mine.” If ever there was a more beautiful way to express the futility of unrequited love, I haven’t come across it. So go and stand under the mistletoe by yourselves, people. ‘Tis the season.

The Clientele – (I Can’t Seem to) Make You Mine

Who: The Clientele

What: Strange Geometry

When: 10.11.2005

Where: London, England

Why: “I can’t seem to make you mine / Through the long and lonely night.”

How: Merge

Listen up…Adam James

One of the things I love about living in a community of artists and songwriters is that I get to hear new artists and songs all the time.

Today, I had a Baja Burrito lunch with Adam James.  He’s one of the 61 people who auditioned at the Bluebird a few weeks ago, and stood out from the pack.  He amusingly started his audition by telling the audience that ”no, this is not a wig. This IS my real hair” (or something to that effect!) Adam is Nashville newbie and just relocated here from Edwardsville, Illinois. He’s got a cool Ryan Adams/John Mayer vibe, and is self-proclaimed “no auto-tune.”

He hasn’t recoded an album yet, but here’s a great live acoustic song called Steady Stream of Tears.

You can listen to more on his MySpace page.

Welcome to Music City Adam!

-Johnny T

Favorites from So You Think You Can Dance

As a former dancer/choreographer, I listen to music and often wonder, “What would I do with this if given the opportunity?” And although I’m not currently working in the dance community, it’s always exciting to think of the possible marriages between music and movement. This is why I love the show So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) and think it’s such an important showcase for both choreographers and musicians.

Over the past few years that SYTYCD has been on the air, I’ve discovered and rediscovered some amazing artists, both old and new, whose music has appeared in pieces on the show.  Today’s “Two for Tuesday” selections come from two very different artists and two vastly different dance pieces.

Download #1: “Koop Island Blues” by Koop featuring Ane Brun. Anyone who watches the show will remember Mia Michaels’ infamous “butt dance.” This song makes me feel like I’m in a speakeasy in Paris and gives me an extra dose of sass as I walk through the village to work.

Download #2: “Your Ex-Lover is Dead” by Stars. Travis Wall choreographed a gorgeous contemporary piece last week about lovers who were reunited after a ten-year period apart. It was incredibly moving and expertly danced but it was the song that stayed with me. I downloaded it immediately and have had it on a steady rotation all week long. The lyrics are chillingly familiar but the cello will warm you all over.

Here’s to a most inspired Tuesday!

Of all the bands these days eking irony out of choosing a misnomer of a moniker, Girls is hardly the first, nor is it the most scandalous. Starfucker, for one, wins in both the shocking and incongruent categories. Besides, lead singer and co-founder Christopher Owens wears his dirty blonde locks long and is, in all honesty, prettier than me. But his story isn’t. Not to harp on everyone’s tough luck in these trying times, but this frontman spent his childhood as a member of the Children of God cult, which sometimes forced his mother into prostitution and let his little brother die due to an unwavering aversion to modern medicine.

Unlike Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, however, his savior came in the form of a millionaire he met in Texas (where he had escaped to as a teen) and swept him off to San Francisco, where he met Chet “JR” White, with whom he formed Girls. In true down-this-destructive-dirt-road form, the pair dallied in drugs while writing their debut, Album, but they managed to strike a chord that was equal parts Beach Boys and heartache (as it’s mostly about a breakup with a girl). Girls performs at Swedish American Music Hall tonight and at Bottom of the Hill on Saturday.  If you don’t have tickets yet, the tough luck is yours—both shows are sold out. 

Girls – Hellhole Ratrace

Who: Girls

What: Album

When: 9.22.2009

Where: San Francisco, CA

Why: “I’m sick and tired of the way that I feel / I’m always dreaming and it’s never for real.”

How: True Panther

With a name like that, it’s a shame Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson isn’t planning on pursuing the presidency. But even if he were inclined, he’d have the road before him paved with obstacles beyond our current commander in chief sharing a name with a particularly unpopular dictator, like a history of drug abuse and bouts of homelessness in which he often made benches into beds on Coney Island. Oregon-born, he spent much of his youth traveling around with his comedian father—but after moving to New York and trying to make it in bands that never made it big, he started on a downward spiral that got him kicked out of the very clubs he was playing.

But things are looking up for the recently reformed singer/songwriter. Having released his much-lauded eponymous debut last year, Saddle Creek signed him this August, and the new record, Summer of Fear, was produced by Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor. As he can also claim TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone as his friend and co-collaborator, he probably won’t be drinking—or sleeping—alone this holiday season. He’s currently touring with These United States, and if you missed him at Hotel Utah on November 6, check out his tour dates elsewhere.

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson – The Sound

Who: Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson

What: Summer of Fear

When: 10.20.2009

Where: Brooklyn/Oregon

Why: “Sometimes it fills you up / Most times it lets you down.”

How: Saddle Creek

legendary french designer christian lacroix waved goodbye to the fashion world at his last fall couture show in Paris. money woes ended his 22-year-long career, but his extravagant influence will never die. as a man of class, he bid farewell and left tears in the eyes of fashionistas everywhere.

dailymail.co.uk

Two for Tuesday: Sensitive Guys with Guitars

Remember back in the day when the Top 40 radio stations had “Two for Tuesday?” They’d play two songs from an artist and the 98^th caller would win drink tickets to the Hunkabunka Ballroom in Sayreville or something equally as useless. The Hunkabunka has been long closed due to underage drinking and other shenanigans, but “Two for Tuesday” will officially live on in this blog.

While I love all types of music (and I do mean ALL) I’m an absolute sucker for sensitive dudes with guitars. This Tuesday, I give you two excellent selections from two of my faves.

Ray LaMontagne

Download #1: “Sarah” by Ray LaMontagne. Picking one Ray LaMontagne song is close to impossible, but after seeing him live last week, this one in particular continues to make a recurring appearance on my iPod. It reminds me of one of my all time favorite Bob Dylan songs, “4^th Time Around,” and the lyrics and melody take you to that same melancholic place (“Now I see just how young, how scared I was/ Eyes closed tight throwing punch after punch at the world/…is it ever gonna be the same?”). Stunning and sad–when Ray sang it you could hear a pin drop. (From the album Gossip in the Grain).

Download#2: “Orange Sky” by Alexi Murdoch. I’ve been hearing about Alexi Murdoch for a while now from some of my songwriter friends who have compared him to Nick Drake, but it wasn’t until I heard this song on “Coffee Shop” on Sirius radio that I really started listening to him (“When I am alone/ When I’ve thrown off the weight of this crazy stone/ When I’ve lost all care for the things I own/ That’s when I miss you”). “Orange Sky” clocks in at over six minutes yet begs for an immediate second listen to see what you’ve missed the first time around. From the album Time Without Consequence).

Alexi Murdoch

I hope you enjoy my sensitive bearded man selections and as always, I welcome all suggestions from new or old artists. Happy Tuesday!

Natalie Imbruglia's Come To Life came out in the UK last month

Style: part folk-rocky Lilith fare, part hyped-up synth pop, with moments of extreme quirk

First reactions: When I blogged about Want, the lead single for Natalia Imbruglia’s newest album, I remarked that I was eager to listen to the full album. Want, a synthesized clubby piece, exhibits such departure for Natalie, whose style across the years has been characterized by soulful mid-tempo ballads full of strummy guitar lines, much like her mega-hit Torn. Most of the tracks on Come To Life are nothing like Want, however, and in some ways it’s like you’re listening to three different albums, smushed together. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it took some getting used to, Want being such an atypical (anti-thetical) teaser track.

Sounds like: early 2000s Natalie, with moments of Kylie Minogue and Coldplay (the tracks Chris Martin contributed to are pretty obvious)

Track Listing
1. My God
2. Lukas
3. Fun
4. Twenty
5. Scars
6. Want
7. WYUT
8. Cameo
9. All The Roses
10. Wild About It

Best/Middling/Worst tracks: It is tricky to qualify the tracks on Come To Life like I would on any other album, because it depends on which style on the album you are most inclined towards. I’m a fan of the Kylie-esque synth stuff, so my favorites are Want, Cameo and Wild About It. But honestly there is no one song on the album that I think is bad, though there are some tracks that aren’t to my personal taste. The various tracks accomplish different things, and I can see a large cross section of music fans enjoying it. That said, those who were hoping that Want signified a new direction for Natalie will be either happy or disappointed to hear that about half the album is still pretty typical of her style, especially All The Roses (a melancholy ballad, reminiscent of Shiver), My God and Scars.

The album version of Want is a real treat, as it is longer than the radio/video edit, and has some more complex orchestrations at the beginning and end, making it a more satisfying track overall. Thinking on how I feel about Want now that it’s been on my playlist for a month, I’d say my only criticism of it is that it feels somewhat truncated. The album version is a perfect answer to this. Cameo is Want 2.0, and like Want, it features a slinky synth base, and has a delightful playful, naughty tone. It’s Natalie’s most Kylie-esque track — there are definitely moments where you have to listen hard to distinguish the two.

Wild About It is a unique track on Come To Life; it is unlike any of the other songs, and generally unlike anything I’ve heard from Natalie. From the playful, clinky percussion line that runs through, to the punchy lyrics, underscored by a strumming bass, it’s a joyful track, that’s simply fun to listen to. Natalie recorded a video for the song this summer, though it wasn’t an official single. It’s cute, and make me like the song even more.

Then there’s the Chris Martin tracks, the most obvious of which is Fun, which could have been a Coldplay song if worked a little differently. Lukas and Want are the other two Martin-penned tracks, and you can definitely hear them going together. I would also throw Twenty in with this bunch, in that it has a similar whimsical pop quality, but Twenty is less “skipable” than I’m finding Fun and Lukas are on subsequent listens.

WYUT and All The Roses are in the “middling” category for me — I enjoy them, don’t skip past them to get to other tracks (they are surrounded by Want, Cameo and Wild About It, so that says a lot), but when I pull up Come To Life on my playlist I don’t go to them first.

Verdict: A good album with a few more promising potential singles, but I personally wish more of the album leaned in the direction of Kylie-esque pop. I’m kind of over the strummy guitar songs and the Coldplay stuff, but I know there are plenty of people for whom those aspects of Come To Life will appeal. You can actually almost split the album down the middle — tracks 1-5 are “old school” Natalie + Coldplay and tracks 6-10 have an edgier pop feel. Right now it looks like Want, Cameo and Wild About It are the tracks that, in a year’s time, I’ll still be listening to.

Just a friendly reminder — before things get crazy with the holiday season, be sure to return your 2010 Listen Up! Vermont agreement. You can drop your agreement in the mail to PO Box 264, Middlebury, Vermont 05753, or fax to 802/253.4808.

Your invoice will be sent after we receive your agreement; payment is not due with your agreement.

Also, think about making a two-year agreement to the GMLC’s audio book projects: payment is not due at this time for the second year (membership year 2011), but making a two-year agreement will obtain your library a discount on your 2011 fee.

Thank you!

This week the Ambassadress of Dubstep Mary Anne Hobbs graces the West Coast with her lovely presence once again at the Scion House Party along with Plastician, SCUBA and 12th Planet. The show is at the Roxy on Wednesday, November 18 and is free with RSVP here.

Earlier that day catch the SMOG showcase on Mary Anne Hobb’s Experimental show on the BBC Radio 1 from 6-8PM Pacific Time as she features some of the filthiest bass talent from madhouse Los Angeles including DLX, 12th Planet, EMU, Pawn and Evol.

You know when you fall in love with a song so completely that it seems as though, if you were unceremoniously banished from your current life and relocated to the outermost recesses of the world—say, on the smallest island on an archipelago off the coast of Antarctica—and forced to live in solitude without books, crossword puzzles, or any type of human contact, as long as you were able to listen to that one splendid song nonstop, that would be food enough to feed your soul for the rest of your living days?

Well, that’s how I feel about “Wolves.” One-man band Phosphorescent (Matthew Houck) brings us his slow-burning, Southern-tinged sound from Brooklyn by way of Athens, Georgia. Listen to every second of the six-plus-minute song below, or check him out live in KEXP’s Cutting Room Studios here. The second LP since 2005’s Aw Come Aw Wry, and the one that fell right before the band released To Willie (a—you guessed it—Willie Nelson tribute album), Pride impresses with Houck’s strong songwriting skills and untarnished, organic feel.  Currently touring in the U.K., hopefully Houck will bring his beard back stateside soon.

Phosphorescent – Wolves

Who: Phosphorescent

What: Pride

When: 10.23.2007

Where: Brooklyn, New York

Why: “Mama, there’s wolves in the house / Mama, they won’t let me out.”

How: Dead Oceans

The Bad Romance video came out today. The Fame Monster comes out 11/23.

Lady Gaga is an inexplicable creature. Her style and her videos are bizarre, generally grotesque show pieces with big hair, tons of bling and high life gone wrong storylines. If she were some manufactured pop princess, her antics would be laughable. But Lady Gaga is a proper musician, of the most incredible kind: she writes obscenely melodic, catchy, beautiful music. She hit it big in the UK and Europe with her debut album The Fame long before she was a hit in her native United States, but oh, Lady Gaga has arrived. I know what you’re thinking: hun, you’re a bit behind.

But I think Lady Gaga has gone and topped herself, again, with her new single and video Bad Romance. It’s the first single from her second album, originally meant to be a bonus CD for a deluxe rerelease of The Fame, but has morphed into its own separate release. Popjustice says it’s pretty amazing, and with the new single, I’d have to agree. It’s like Gaga’s previous work: melodic, singable, danceable and a little crazy. I just watched the video, released today, and my jaw dropped. Check it out:

What is Lady Gaga smoking, and can I get some? The imagery is poetically grotesque, like a Gothic Flannery O’Conner story — bizarre, twisted and beautiful. No surprise that it was directed by Francis Lawrence, who also directed I Am Legend, as well as music videos for Britney Spears (Circus) and Justin Timberlake (Cry Me a River). The plot as such is reminiscent of this year’s Taken — Gaga is part of a sex auction, bid on by a vodka sloshing mobster type, and trussed up for his pleasure. She gets her revenge by burning the bed. This “storyline” is intercut with almost maniacal dance sequences, which are a bizarre mash-up of an aerobics class, the Charleston & Thriller. Many say that poor Lady Gaga isn’t very pretty, but I think she has some stunning moments in the Bad Romance video (the upclose sans makeup beauty shot reminds me of Natalie Imbruglia’s Want video). And the fashion is just… wow. You couldn’t pay me to walk in those shoes.

It also includes a nice shout out to True Blood in the beginning, recalling Gaga’s recent collaboration with hot True Blood Swede Alexander Skarsgård. MTV says the video is symbolic of Gaga’s emerging as a new artist, but I’m not sold on that symbolism as such. It’s just an absolutely enthralling video, one you want to watch over and over again, not just for the song, but for the lyrical imagery before you. They just don’t make videos like this anymore. Or rarely, at least.

Like with most Lady Gaga songs, against my better judgment, I love it. People are going to be talking about this video, and I think Gaga is looking at her fifth U.S. number one single. Wow. I’m speechless.

Não sei se foi porque eu tinha muita vontade de ir a um festival em um parque de diversões que eu amay o Planeta Terra desse ano. Achei ótima a locação, o parque funcionando durante as apresentações, o serviço okayam, sem tumulto e nem a chuva que caiu durante parte da noite conseguiu tombar com o evento que foi ótimo. Me diverti pencas nos brinquedos que praticamente não havia fila nenhuma e dava pra vc ir zilhões de bilhões de vzs. Pelo menos eu fui, rs! O parque estava todo iluminado, com a praça de alimentação funcionando, muitos bares espalhados pelos dois lados do parque além do estacionamento onde rolava o palco principal. Muita gente bonita, todos os hipsters de SP estavam lá. Foi divertido ir na montanha russa com o pessoal da moda de SP, eu pelo menos achei bem digno! Ex Vjs que parecem não conhecer o tempo e nunca envelhecerem como a Sabrina (dos tempos do Disk MTV, Top 10), Gastão (amor de adolescente da minha ameeega) e o Edgard que eu tive que fazer a tiete pq não é sempre que o cara aparece assim do seu lado no meio do nada neam? Ele e a Marina Person são os meus símbolos para a MTV aqui no Brasil, fatão! A nova geração tmbm estava lá…mas nem confiança pq hj os tempos são outros! Sorry! Fora que foi uma delícia dançar em frente ao Castelo dos Horrores, com música boa, maçã do amor e algodão doce cor de rosa neam? Eu achei chic, achei digno e achei delícia.

Copacabana Club só deu para pegar o final do show pq foi quando eu cheguei no festival, mas pelo menos deu pra dançar os hits mais conhecidos da banda, que vestiam figurino fundamento do pessoal do B.Luxo. Ahazô! Achei belo!

Primal Scream foi divertideeenho mas não empolgou. Muita colocação? Loucureeenhas? Não sei, só sei que foi meio assim neam? Mas eu dancei mesmo assim e nem confiança. Achei okayam. E perdi parte do show brincando igual a uma criança no Playcenter, só percebi que já estava rolando enquanto estava no looping de uma das montanhas russa. Aliás, adorei a idéia de deixar o brinquedos mais legais funcionando durante os show, foi bem diverteeedo, sem fila e com cara de show na Europa. Ponto para a organização! Eu pelo menos me diverti pencas!

Sonic Youth é sempre Sonic Youth neam? O show foi meio que sem grandes hits, mais no fundamento do álbum mais recente mesmo. Só que as guitarras, o som da banda eu diria que é impossível de se confundir. E Kim Gordon? Linda, lôra, tah magrona, tah gatona e tah gostosa e continua sendo uma das minhas musas do rock. E eu me pergunto: Hey Joni, when will all these dreams come true? Foi o show imperdível da noite, fato!

Iggy fez alôka neam? Só consegui assistir o começo e o final do show dele…tudo porque o Ting Tings começou quase no mesmo horário e ai já viu neam? Mas deu pra ver o começo do show com um dos monstros vivos do rock e o final, com direito a bundeeenha do Iggy e tudo mais. Euri e quero ser ameeego do Iggy, me liga tah?

Patrick Wolf foi loucurinhas neam? Uma versão menino de Lady Gaga no quesito figurino pelo menos e menino talentoso viu? Toca vários instrumentos e me fez dançar um pouco, mas foi bom ouvi-lo do alto dos brinquedos do parque tmbm. Achei chic!

O show do Ting Tings foi incrível tmbm, super dançante, pra divertir mesmo. Claro que tocaram o seu álbum praticamente inteiro e todos os hits é claro, mas foi um show curto eu diria. Deu vontade de mais! E me lembrou muito o CSS, achei o mesmo fundamento. Mas achei digno e me diverti pencas. When nothing makes you feel good, then nothing makes you feel good.

O set do N.A.S.A foi absurdo e certamente um dos pontos altos da noite. Com uma batida incrível os DJs colocaram o Playcenter para dançar e muito ao som de muita música eletrônica com fundamento rock e hip hop, com samplers conhecidos e que todos nós por algum motivos temos uma relação afetiva com eles. A video art do show foi uma atração a parte. Quase chorei com o little MJ ainda na época dos Jacksons 5, mas foi quase. Eu chorei mesmo e literalmente com a imagem do Kurt Cobain, gigante no centro do telão e um sampler de “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, com um dos rifles de guitarra mais conhecidos do mundo do rock. Chorei como criança, me emocionei pencas e me senti como tal, grunge e aos 13 novamente. Lindo! E como se tudo isso não fosse o suficiente, a presença tímida de Spike Jonze (sim, ele estava lá, eu não disse pra vcs?) no cantinho do palco, fazendo alguns takes da performance e da platéia e sendo obrigado a ouvir o meu griteeenho irritante de “I Love U Spike”, que ele retribui com um sorriso mais tímido ainda e um pequeno aceno. Quase morri! Mas eu tinha que me declarar para ele neam? Afinal, era o Spike Jonze C@r@lho! O homem que fez o brilhante “Being John Malcovich”, além de ter feito o recentemente lançado “Where The Wild Things Are” pra mim é claro, eu sei que foi. E esse foi o meu encontro com Spike Jonze, que eu vou contar um dia para os meus netos, ahhhhhh vô!

No final do show dos caras, todo mundo foi para o palco, técnicos de som, luz, organizadores e Sipke Jonze pulando e dançando ao som do excelente set dos Djs mais incríveis do momento, prontofalei!. E eu amo o Jégonza tmbm, só pra registrar!

ps: Edgard, eu tin amo! Adoro o seu circo, a sua caragem ou whatever e acho que o horário do Altas Horas deveria ser seu, prontofalei!

O saldo da noite foi superpositivo ainda mais pra mim que nem iria no show e meio que ganhei o convite em cima da hora de uma super querida da minha sala da pós que fez a phina pra mim. LOVE quando eu não crio muitas expectativas e acabo me surpreendendo? Música boa, diversão…LOVE! Achei a locação perfeita, fácil de chegar pra todo mundo, fikdik ae para os próximos festivais hein?

E se no ano que vem rolar de novo e no mesmo lugar eu estarei lá! Guilt recomenda!

E tragam o Kings Of Leon pel’ amour!

É isso ae quereeedos leitores, eu vou passar esse finde muito bem acompanhado não? Iggy, Primal Scream, Sonic Youth e Ting Tings! Vou me jogar é claro! Vou tentar fotografar mas não prometo nada hein? Estou com tanta coisa atrasada, tantos eps novos que eu ainda não vi ,uma pilha de filmes que eu ainda não assisti e que eu pretendo diminuir pelo menos em 1 filme no finde, fora outras coisas mil neam?

Mas prometo que vou fazer a Kate Moss e ahazar no festival! Meosonho ir num festival em um parque! Acho incrível a idéia!

ps: quem estiver por lá por favor me localizem hein? Sou fácil de distinguir hein? Rá! Quero encontrar pelo menos um leitor hein? imagina que emoção? Euri

Bom, é isso ae pessoal, smacks e um finde demônia do rock pra vcs!

At the risk of making a habit of highlighting more upbeat tunes (and interrupting my generally steady stream of virulently melancholy indie rock), I bring you the new single off of Yeasayer’s highly anticipated sophomore effort, Odd Blood, due out in February. I was especially pleased to learn of the free download after enjoying the genre-scoffing band’s “Tightrope” this morning at yoga class as my instructor played Dark Was the Night in its entirety. There is a reason I get up at 6 am on Thursdays, and it might have as much to do with Erika’s like-minded music selections as it does with my downward dog.  

For some reason I’m getting an image of Daniel from Karate Kid in my mind when I listen to the chorus: “You must stick up for yourself, son / Never mind what anybody else done.” Potential Bat for Lashes and Yeasayer collaboration? “Daniel” + “Ambling Alp” mashup = genius. I think the previous Orwellian apocalyptic vision Yeasayer painted in “2080” (off of debut All Hour Cymbals) would meld well with Natasha Khan’s nightmarish cinematographic aesthetic. No tour dates announced yet, but it’s only a matter of time. For what it’s worth, at least we have the track list:

1. The Children
2. Ambling Alp
3. Madder Red
4. I Remember
5. O.N.E.
6. Love Me Girl
7. Rome
8. Strange Reunions
9. Mondegreen
10. Grizelda

Yeasayer – Ambling Alp

Who: Yeasayer

What: Odd Blood

When: 2.9.2009

Where: Brooklyn, NY

Why: “You must stick up for yourself, son / Never mind what anybody else done.”

How: Secretly Canadian

I was planning on doing a full album review of Cheryl Cole’s new album 3 Words, but found upon listening to it that, well, I didn’t want to. The point of Listen Up, as I’ve established it, is to call attention to things (particularly British pop music, under-heard in the U.S.) worth listening to, and 3 Words really isn’t. With one exception: the toe-tapping, sure-fire club hit “Stand Up.” Hopefully it will be the album’s third single (apparently title track 3 Words is next, after Fight For This Love, the album’s misleading (also good) first single), but even if it isn’t, I still want to call attention to it. Take a listen:

Cheryl Cole's solo debut is pretty disappointing

But, I would still like to pass comment on Cheryl’s solo debut, in lieu of a proper review. There are two results that come from a starlet breaking away from her girl-group roots and striking out on her own solo career. Put plainly: sink, or swim. Cheryl Cole of Girl’s Aloud has sunk pretty far into the abyss of forgettable UK pop with her solo debut. Despite lead single “Fight for this Love” going number one this past week, the album from whence it came, 3 Words, released last week, is a bit of a plunker. The one notable exception is the aforementioned Stand Up, and despite producing and song-writing input from Black Eyed Peas will.i.am, 3 Words is nothing but a collection of lacklustre R&B pop ditties. The songs are so unremarkable that Cheryl, who has an admittedly remarkable voice, sounds weak and ordinary.

And then there is the inevitable comparison to Girls Aloud. 3 Words has far too much in common with Girls’ Aloud’s last album, Out of Control (and we all know how I feel about it, though I’ve never reviewed it officially), and not enough in common with, well, any of their previous offerings. There’s just no polish, no glitz to Cheryl’s album and it’s really just a bit boring. Cheryl Cole is a media darling, and has quite a hefty back story to her. But Fight for this Love is the only song that hints at her interesting rise to fame, and her marital problems, and the rest are just there.

Let’s be thankful she’s keeping her day job(s) — Girls Aloud is said to be planning another album for release in late 2010, plus she’s got the XFactor.

Oh, Canada. You lay claim to a cornucopia of maple products, hockey, and inhabitants who are friendly but have funny accents. Thank you for giving our comedians a wealth of fodder—there is much to chuckle aboot. Montreal-based band Land of Talk, however, is no laughing matter. (Especially with lyrics like “Maybe when I die / I get to be a car / Driving in the night / Lighting up the dark” from “It’s Okay.”) Two years after releasing the well-received Applause Cheer Boo Hiss EP, a full-length album arrived in the form of 2008’s Some Are Lakes, and the title track alone likely has sated the thirst of all of those left parched while waiting for a proper debut.

The band currently consists of singer and guitarist Elizabeth Powell, bassist Joe Yarmush, and drummer Andrew Barr (of The Slip). Pitchfork reports that Some Are Lakes was produced by Justin Vernon, the backwoods music master behind Bon Iver; one of the tracks, “Troubled,” was recorded in the same cabin in which Vernon recorded his Lazarus-like, falsetto-full For Emma, Forever Ago. So rest assured that, even with more upbeat, punk-inspired numbers, this record runs the emotional gamut, with Powell’s ethereal vocals stealing center stage. Come show your support of our northern neighbors at Café du Nord tonight. Eulogies and Nightmare Air open.

Land of Talk – Some Are Lakes

Who: Land of Talk

What: Some Are Lakes

When: 10.7.2008

Where: Montreal, Canada

Why: “We’ve seen how sick wind blows / But I’ve got your bovine eyes / And I’ll love you like I love you / Then I’ll die.”

How: Saddle Creek