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Friday's Songs of the Week

aftertheshow — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:55:22 +0000

This Friday, After The Show picked 2 songs for Songs of the Week.

1. “Slayer” by Giant Drag:

Giant Drag — Annie Hardy and Micah Calabrese — released their debut album Hearts and Unicorns in 2005, and they’re currently working on releasing their second album.

2. “The Summer” by Coconut Records:

Coconut Records is Jason Schwartzman — actor, former drummer of Phantom Planet, and brother of Rooney’s Robert Schwartzman.”The Summer” is from his sophomore album Davy.

Uh Huh Her Webisode

aftertheshow — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:56:09 +0000

As Uh Huh Her continue to work on recording their second album, here’s a webisode from last year that the band made to promote their first album, Common Reaction.

In the video, look out for Jacques Brautbar (Buckley alumnus and former guitarist of Phantom Planet) as Uh Huh Her’s guitar player.

Miniature Tigers - Tell It to the Volcano

ivanrdz — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:17:40 +0000

Miniature Tigers es una banda de indie rock formada en Phoenix, Arizona. La banda esta liderada por

Space Rays: "California, Here We Come"

James Lafayette Delgado ("Jimmy") Riggs — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:46:45 +0000

Not long ago I was having a beer at Poe’s Tavern on Sullivan’s Island (see The Gold Bug) with an old friend from school who is now working in energy regulation out in California. We were trading stories about the “clean tech” revolution in our respective regions (e.g. Southeast vs. California). I was rather proud of the push to develop offshore wind, and various proposed solar farms. Then he dropped this bomb on me, as reported by The Guardian UK (see the Charlatans UK):

It sounds like an idea drawn from the wilder shores of science fiction: a set of solar panels in outer space that would beam enough clean energy back to Earth to power half a million homes and could one day potentially help save the planet.

But a leading American power company is hoping to turn the stuff of speculative fiction into reality by supporting a project that would put solar panels into orbit.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which serves San Francisco and northern California, has agreed to buy electricity from a startup company claiming to have found a way to unlock the potential power supply in space.

The initial plan is for the firm Solaren Corp to provide some 200MW of electricity. Solaren, which is based in Manhattan Beach, California, says it will launch a satellite with an array of solar panels around 22,000 miles above the earth’s equator using existing rocket technology, and then convert the power generated into radio-frequency transmissions. The radio waves would be beamed back down to antennae in Fresno, California and then converted into electricity and fed into the regular power grid, PG&E said.

As the Guardian article points out, a project of this sort has been attempted before, most notably by Blofeld, the supervillain behind SPRECTRE. Unfortunately, James Bond unraveled that plot, and delayed the clean energy future by decades.

Enough solar power hits the earth every day to power the United States many, many, many times over. Out in space it is even easier to harvest solar power without the interference of earth’s atmosphere, which scatters the suns rays, and reduces the efficiency of earth bound solar panels. As Grist points out:

Pentagon’s National Security Space Office found that just a one-kilometer-wide band of space in earth orbit receives enough solar energy in just one year nearly equal to “the amount of energy contained within all known recoverable conventional oil reserves on Earth today.”

Sucks for the “drill baby drill” crowd, but pretty damn promising for the rest of us monkeys.

Amazingly, the California Public Service Commission is poised to bless this sci-fi wi-fi project. And why not? It is being developed privately at no cost to the ratepayer. Costs are still speculative but it appears to be in the ballpark of a nuclear power plant, which today’s engineers have about as much experience building as geosynchronous solar power plants.

What’s often lost in the (entirely justifiable) head-hanging that goes on regarding our country’s decade plus long abdication of leadership on energy & climate change issues is the degree to which states, particularly California, have remained trail blazers.

In fact, despite its perpetual backsliding, the U.S. basically invented all the major solutions to today’s energy problems (nuclear, solar, wind and energy efficient building sciences) — much of the incubation occurring the states, not in Washington — only to see other nations commercialize them (with coordinated federal-government-level support) and dominate their respective markets (see France, Germany, Denmark, and increasingly, China). The present administration appears to by trying to reverse this trend.

We should be thankful that states like California allow us a tenuous grip on an opportunity that is rapidly slipping away: the opportunity to lead the way in the transition to a low carbon economy — while reaping the massive economic benefits of the transition.

MINI COVER UP (O.C. Spaced-based Solar Edition):

JJAMZ Will Record Album

aftertheshow — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:39:38 +0000

2 hours ago, JJAMZ announced on their Facebook that they will record an entire album instead of the previously announced EP.

So, this means more songs — JJAMZ will record more songs to make a full-length album.

JJAMZ is Jason Boesel (Rilo Kiley), James Valentine (Maroon 5), Alex Greenwald (Phantom Planet), Michael Runion, and Z Berg (The Like).

a girl and a band called Phantom Planet, part 1

hamsterguppies — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:40:04 +0000

When I was 16, life to me was all about Phantom Planet. Forget O Levels. Second to the Beatles, they set my teenage heart aflame. And plus they were a whole lot younger and cuter than the Beatles. When I’m feeling nostalgic, I have quite a sizeable Phantom Planet stash in my room to rummage through – relics of 1999! Including vhs and cassette bootlegs which I really should convert to digital soon. I even did a Geocities web shrine, which is now lost forever, but thankfully the guestbook is still around somewhere.

Oh Phantom Planet, how I wish I’d seen you live back in those days! Sadly I was a poor student surviving on pocket money and minimal side income earned during school holidays, so there was no way I could afford to fly to California to catch them live, as much as I wanted to.

Thankfully there was ebay and Napster, so I made do with bootlegs. So yes, I have a lot of Phantom Planet audio to share, in what I hope to make a regular feature! If all you know about Phantom Planet is California (The OC theme song), hopefully you’ll be pleasantly surprised. In my opinion, Phantom Planet was severely underrated. Or maybe I’m just ranting with biased ears. It’s ok. A girl can still dream. (Hmm… isn’t it amazing that reminiscing about Phantom Planet has inspired a full fledged real blog post!)

Phantom Planet – Goodbye
This is from a Phantom Planet demo cd I bought from ebay back then.

In the next Phantom Planet update, I’ll post the awesome Hey Now Girl video. (I promise I won’t turn this into another shrine.)

UPDATE: Click here to check out the video. I’ve uploaded it on Youtube, but somehow I can’t enable the embed settings… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6CWZT-7Lpk

California here we comeeeee....

love1025 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:16:28 +0000

this song has a lot of meaning to my life.

a) my first memories of my husband {boyfriend at the time} were many dates/hanging out watching the OC after he cooked me dinner

b) my CD i made for my husband {boyfriend at the time} when I moved 9 hours away for school for 2 years. he listened to the song every time he came down to visit me.

c) we “moved” to california this summer for a brief period and this song was blaring on our road trip across country

now I get to add another letter on this list….

d) one of my besties is getting married this weekend in her home state of California! HORRAYYYY!

I am off to my little mini escape for an amazing weekend with amazing people in my life. There are really no words for when a close friend gets married and you get to see them on the happiest day of their lives. life is good.

I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman

aimeecynthia — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:49:30 +0000

Have you guys heard this song!? First, the remix of California by Phantom Planet, and the Nat Portman reference, AND K-Os. Love it. It may be old (I’m sure it’s on the beat every other song) but it’s still pretty fresh for me.

R.I.P.

Dane — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:12:43 +0000

From the “Ugly Cake” competition at the Ohio State Fair
Columbus, Ohio

The Flametrick Subs – Creepy Dead Folk

Phantom Planet – The Living Dead

Zombina & The Skeletones – Zombie Hop

Radio Ads – Astro Zombies

Alex Greenwald Solo Songs

aftertheshow — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:26:35 +0000

Since Phantom Planet broke up/went on an indefinite hiatus last year, here’s a couple of solo Alex Greenwald songs for you to enjoy.

The first, called “The One You Know,” is a slow-ish, trance-like song:

The second song, inspired by multiplayer video games, is called “MMORPG” and is more upbeat than “The One You Know”:

Celebu-rock

kEspo — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:36:15 +0000

Every morning when I go to a certain coffee house, I have to look at Scarlet Johansson’s face. Unfortunately, she’s not modeling. No, her pretty mug is on the cover of her new album Break-up with indie darling Pete Yorn. Don’t get me wrong. I love her acting chops, but it seems every time I turn around to get a cup of coffee a new actor or celebrity is making a go at music, saying they’ve been doing music all their life suddenly. To be honest, there are a select few that actually should be dabbling in music. There’s a reason why they’re actors or celebrities first and musicians second. Johansson’s attempt at Him & Her’s Zooey Deschanel style doesn’t compare to her acting. The album sounds good enough, but most of that goodness is coming from Yorn. You’d know what I’m talking about if you heard her solo album Anywhere I Lay My Head. I see the same problem with LANDy, fronted by actor Adam Goldberg, who’s music sounds very similar to band mate Aaron Espinoza’s other group Earlimart. It just seems like actors and celebs need too much help in the music department. So, isn’t that a sign they should stick to what they do best? Hint, hint: Lindsay Lohan, Heidi Montag, Paris Hilton. And what about Phantom Planet? Jason Schwartzman got me all hooked and then left the band. It’s dissapointing… But I don’t hate all celeb music. Even though he’s been tagged as a royal Hollywood douche, I like Jared Leto and his brother in 30 Seconds to Mars. I also really like Juliette and the Licks, fronted by Juliette Lewis, in addition to Keanu Reeve’s Dogstar and Ed Westwick’s Filthy Youth. I am also digging the most awesome celeb-music find: Jada Pinket Smith fronting metal band Wicked Wisdom. However, her band like Dogstar and the Licks were on a top ten of worst celeb bands. Sorry guy, but Montag and Lohan are much, much worse. I guess I’m just a picky celeb music consumer. They’re my ears aren’t they?

And now a celebrity Band of the Week that’s a musician first…Julian Casablancas!

I’ve never met a person who hates The Strokes. How can you, with their cool melodies. It seems their commitment to music kept their rich kid background from making too much of an impact. Casablancas is the son of famous modeling agent John Casablanca. Casablanca’s solos project seems to be rooted in the same place at The Strokes melodies, with some added electronic assistance. I love the first single “11th Dimension” off his solo album Phrazes for the Young coming November 3. Look out for the singer in LA to do some live shows. He’s awesome live.

Until next time, don’t be “wilted and faded somewhere in Hollywood.” Courtney Love- K

Life Behind The Table

carolynandjoeshow — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:07:37 +0000

EPISODE 39

Everyone, welcome back to the land of the living and to the Carolyn and Joe Show, Carolyn and Joe! This week, Carolyn and Joe talk about life behind the table of their Curls Studio Carnival Tour 2009. Yes, stories of being behind the table at comic book conventions. Enjoy!

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Phantom Planet: "I Don't Mind"

aftertheshow — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:50:36 +0000

Here’s a high quality video of Phantom Planet in Denver, playing an acoustic version of “I Don’t Mind.”

Recorded on the Honda Civic Tour with Panic at the Disco, this video features Alex Greenwald, Ryan Ross, and Sam Farrar.

Song of the Day 2: JJAMZ

aftertheshow — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:30:02 +0000

Our second song of the day, “Cleverly Disguised,” comes from LA supergroup JJAMZ.

Members: James Valentine (Maroon 5), Jason Boesel (Rilo Kiley), Alex Greenwald (Phantom Planet), Michael Runion (Jenny Lewis), and Z Berg (The Like).

The video for “Cleverly Disguised” is from JJAMZ’s first show ever, at LA’s Echoplex earlier in the year. Michael Runion sings lead on the verses, and Z sings for the choruses.

JJAMZ have a Tumblr and MySpace, both of which have not been updated in a while.

Gossip Girl Music: Season 1

Alicia Agarrabeitia — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:00:11 +0000
No, I don’t watch Gossip Girl. I used to. I watched the first season. Only reason I felt compe

Upcoming Albums: Young Veins, Alex Greenwald, Jason Boesel

aftertheshow — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:12:07 +0000

At After The Show, we’re looking forward to 3 upcoming debut albums by…the Young Veins, Alex Greenwald, and Jason Boesel. These albums are all either currently being recorded or are in the final stages of completion.

To hear a song by the Young Veins (two ex-Panic at the Disco! members, Ryan Ross and Jon Walker), go to the band’s MySpace.

To keep tabs on Alex Greenwald’s debut solo album, follow him on Twitter. It will be interesting to hear his own music apart from the Phantom Planet label. Interesting note: Greenwald produced the Young Veins’ debut album.

Jason Boesel (drummer of Rilo Kiley and Conor Oberst’s Mystic Valley Band) is the last of the 4 members of Rilo Kiley to produce a solo/side-project album.

Follow him on Twitter for details and information.

Blast From The Past: Phantom Planet

aftertheshow — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:42:16 +0000

Blast From the Past

For any Phantom Planet fans, here’s a blast from the past — 10 years, to be specific. This video, shot in 1999, features the song “In Our Darkest Hour.”

This version is slightly different from the one that appears on 2002’s The Guest — the tempo is a little slower and some lyrics are different. Look out for PP’s old drummer, Jason Schwartzman.

California - Phantom Planet

starkravinglefty — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:13:10 +0000

Written for a road trip.

Phantom Planet - California

pontifex — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 20:09:51 +0000

Despues de tres semanas de vacaciones recorriendo la costa oeste de los USA y una semana más para recuperarme, aquí estoy de nuevo con energías renovadas. El vídeo de hoy, como no podía ser de otra manera se titula California, y es que ha sido una delicia de viaje recorriendo la costa de California desde San Francisco hasta San Diego, sin prisas, sin planes, y para serles sincero sin muchas ganas de volver a la rutina…

Que tengan buena semana yo, como dirian los Beach Boys, he vuelto con buenas vibraciones .

American Impressions...

tommylander — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:51:03 +0000

It’s my second full day back in California, and here are some random observations:

1. The cool thing about family (and very good friends) is that even though you haven’t seen them for months (7 to be exact), it can still feel like you never went away.

2. On the other hands, family members (at least in mine) seem to communicate exclusively in imperatives (the linguistic term for commands). Eat this. Do this. Watch this. You should. You’ve gotta. Why don’t you? I know it all comes from love, but seriously, in the words of Michael and Janet, “Makes me want to scream.” But that being said, no one will ever love me as much and as unconditionally as my family does, especially my mom. So can’t complain too much.

3. It sure is quiet in suburban Southern California. No blaring loud music and dancing girls in front of cell phone stores. No laundry men screaming in the morning for people to give them their dry cleaning. No trucks with loudspeakers telling everyone about vegetable sales. It’s so quiet here that the silence feels noisy, if you know what I mean.

4. Driving is fun!

5. Driving to a home-made mix CD is REALLY fun!

6. The public library is almost like heaven itself. And the books are FREE!!! (for three weeks, anyway)

7. It IS a small world after all. My trip to Wal-Mart led to a run-in with a Romanian girl that I went to grad school with. She wasn’t very happy and told me all about how her linguistics degree turned out to be worthless and she couldn’t find a job anywhere. I wasn’t sure what to say, except “Well, good luck!”

8. Mastering the self-checkout counter at Wal-Mart can lead one to feel like a genius!

9. I don’t get soft shell tacos at all. If that’s your thing, why not just get a burrito? Tacos are supposed to be CRUNCHY; am I not right?

10. The Tennis Channel is a good thing. A very, very good thing.

California – Phantom Planet

Phantom Planet - The Guest (2003)

normens — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:13:41 +0000

Pēdējā laikā biju ļoti aizrāvies ar dažādu indie un popa disku recenzēšanu. Nu ir laiks atgriesties pie klasiskāka roka!

Kā jau daudzi būs pamanījuši LNT ir atsākuši demonstrēt lielisko seriālu O.C. Un tā kā man šis seriāls ļoti patīk, un tajā ir lieliska mūzika, nolēmu, ka jārecenzē kāda no grupām, kas dzirdama tā skaņu celiņā. Un tad es sapratu, ka nav labākas izvēles par tituldziesmas California izpildītāju Phantom Planet disku The Guest, kurā ir iekļauts arī šis skaņdarbs, recenzēšanu. Uzreiz piebildīšu, ka esmu izvēlējies apskatīt nevis oriģinālo 2002. gadaizdevumu, bet gan gadu vēlāk radīto pārizdevumu, kurā ir četras papildus dziesmas.

Ieraksts sākas ar California – dziesmu, kuru zin teju ikviens, bet kuras izpildītāji daudziem ir nezināmi. Manuprāt, gabals ir lielisks, un ļoti, ļoti spēcīgi atklāj albumu! Ne velti tas ir tik populārs! Pēc tam seko Always On My Mind, kas atgādina kaut ko no Beach Boys repertuāra. Tomēr, lai cik tas pārsteidzoši arī nebūtu, dziesma lieliski iederās albumā, un skan ļoti labi! Patīkams, neizsakāmi saulains gabals, kas rada noskaņu par kādu siltu un patīkamu vietu, uzskatu, ka bezgalīgi daudzās filmās to varētu izmantot skaņu celiņā. Lonely Day, lai gan sākas lēni un man nepārāk patīkami atkal izvēršās par priecīgu un manāma ausīm tīkamu skaņdarbu. Jau pirmajās trīs dziesmās ir dzirdams aizraujošs poproka un alternatīvā roka savienojums, kas disku tikai uzlabo! Arī ceturtā dziesma, ir diezgan stipri atšķirīga no iepriekšējām – tā ir balāde One Ray of Sunlight, kas, manuprāt, ir viena no ripuļa virsotnēm.

Pēc daudzveidīgā un daudzsološā sākuma, arī Anthem neliek vilties – tā ir klasiska, diezgan lēna, alternatīvā roka kompozīcija, kas ietērpta ļoti jaukā un vieglā meldiņā, jauki papildinot kopējo noskaņu buķeti. In Our Darkest Hour ir pagaidām roķīgākais gabals visā platē, nedaudz atgādinot Foo Fighters mierīgākos gabalus. Arī par šo kompozīciju kritiskus vārdus teikt negribās. Jau no pirmajiem Turn Smile Shift Repeat akoridem mani pārņem diezgan liela interese par šo dziesmu, jo tā tiešām ir netipiska. Pieņemu, ka grupas faniem būtu kaut kas par to iebilstams, bet vismaz man tā atgādina Radiohead labāko gabalu (manā izpratnē) līmeni. Arī saksafona skaņas, kas sākumā ir gluži negaidītas, patīkami papildina dziesmu. Pēc Hey Now Girl, kas ir vēl viena alternatīvā roka dziesma ar nelielām pankroka iezīmēm mani pārņem sajūta, ka gadījumā, ja es nezinātu, kas izpilda The Guest, es padomātu, ka tā ir kādas filmas par vietu saulainu pludmali skaņu celiņš, kurā sakopoti daudzu mūziķu darbi. diezgan neraksturīga muzikālo stilu dažādība priekš rokgrupas.

Nobody’s Fault, kas iesāk diska otro pusi, ir kārtējā diezgan labā dziesma, kas gan uz pārējo fona samērā nobāl, un pilda tādu kā pelēkās masas funkciju. Vien atšķirība no “vidējās” pelēkās masas ir tāda, ka šī dziesma ir tiešām forša. Sekojošā All Over Again atkal ir roķīgāka dziesma, kas labi varētu derēt publikas uzkurināšanai koncertos vai ballītēs. Lai arī tas man ir liels pārsteigums, arī Wishing Well nedaudz atgādina Radiohead.Viss, sākot no vokāla, un beidzot ar izpildījumu, jo īpaši sākumā, šķiet līdzīgs šai blicei, vien himniskā vidusdaļa, manuprāt, nepiestāv skaņdarbam. Divpadsmitās dziesmas izvēle ir lieliska – lēnā un mierīgā Something Is Wrong, kuras pavadījumā ir dzirdama tikai akustiskā ģitāra ir veiksmīga izvēle pirmā izdevuma noslēgumam.

Tā kā recenzēju pārizdoto versiju, pēdējo dziesmu kvartets ir tāds, kādu parasti diskos neiekļauj, un tieši tāpēc ar dubultu interesi to klausos. Tas sākas ar California demo versiju. Lai gan īpaši daudz demo dziesmas neklausos, jāsaka, ka šī ir viena no kvalitatīvākajām, ko zinu - visu cieņu ikvienam grupas loceklim, jo tā daudz neatšķiras no īstās versijas. Pēc tam seko Always On My Mind (dziesmas, kas izklausījās pēc Beach Boys) Londonas versija. Nezinu, kāpēc tieši Anglijas galvaspilsētas vārdā nosaukta šī versija, bet fakts ir tāds, ka roķīgākā un nepieradinātākā dziesma platē šajās skaņās izklausas daudz labāk. Man nezināmu iemeslu dēļ, šajā diskā nav iekļauta tituldziesma The Guest, tomēr ir tās dzīvais izpildījums. Uzskatu, ka izvēle ielikt tieši šo dzīvo versiju ir neslikta, jo paveikts tas tiek kvalitatīvi, un arī dziesma ir ļoti laba. Kā noslēdzošais skaņdarbs ir izvēlēta dziesmas This Is What You Get demo versija. Varbūt tas izklausīsies muļķīgi, bet tā kā to pirmo reizi dzirdēju braucot ar moci austiņāss no sava Ipoda, nemaz nezināju un nenojautu, ka tā ir demo versija. Domāju, ka tas ir augstākais kompliments, ko šāda dziesma var saņemt!

Lai gan Phantom Planet daudzi uztver kā viena hita brīnumus, es uzskatu, ka tā nav tiesa. Viņiem ir daudz labas dziesmas, kuras, diemžēl, ir palikušas masu nenovērtētas un nepamanītas. Tomēr tas viņiem netraucē radīt labas kompozīcijas, un es uzskatu, ka ikvienam, kuram zemāk dzirdamās dziesmas šķiet kvalitatīvas, vajadzētu iegūt The Guest. Jo albums ir lielisks, un es nebaidos no apgalvojuma, ka tas ir viens no labākajiem diskiem šajā desmitgadē.

Dodu albumam 9,5 zvaigznes no 10.

Ļoti atvainojos par slikto skaņas kvalitāti, bet, diemžēl, labāku atrast man neizdevās.

Headed back to CA...

Alexander Mendez — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 07:55:54 +0000

We’ve been on the run
Driving in the sun
Looking out for number 1
California here we come
Right back where we started from

Miniature Tigers Announce New Tour Dates, Release New Songs

modernmystery — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:11:02 +0000

Ah, summer is actually almost over and we’re already thinking about the fall a bit. What better way to start off the season with a few concert dates with one of our favorite new bands, The Miniature Tigers. The boys will be hitting the road again starting on September 8th with indie band Fun. Jump on these tickets fast as the shows are selling out quickly!

In other news, Charlie Brand has been posting some B-Sides from ‘Tell It To The Volcano’ on his twitter. Wow, can these guys possibly get any better?

Give these new tracks a listen ‘Roaring Twenties’ and ‘River of Blood’

Sep 8 2009 8:00P
Kilby Court w/Fun Salt Lake City, Utah

Sep 9 2009 8:00P
Club 156 @ U of Colorado Boulder w/Fun Boulder, Colorado

Sep 11 2009 8:00P
The Shelter w/Fun Detroit, Michigan

Sep 12 2009 8:00P
The Intersection w/Fun Grand Rapids, Michigan

Sep 13 2009 8:00P
Club @ Water St. Music Hall w/Fun Rochester, New York

Sep 15 2009 8:00P
North Star Bar w/Fun Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Sep 16 2009 8:00P
Great Scott w/Fun Boston, Massachusetts

Sep 17 2009 8:00P
Mercury Lounge w/Fun New York, New York

Sep 18 2009 8:00P
Jammin’ Java w/Fun Vienna, Virginia

Sep 20 2009 8:00P
The Drunken Unicorn w/Fun Atlanta, Georgia

Sep 22 2009 8:00P
Rocketown w/Fun Nashville, Tennessee

Sep 23 2009 8:00P
The Firebird w/Fun St. Louis, Missouri

Sep 24 2009 8:00P
Schubas Tavern w/Fun Chicago, Illinois

Sep 25 2009 8:00P
Triple Rock Social Club w/Fun Minneapolis, Minnesota

Funny People Soundtrack Showcases Jason Schwartzman

ashleycollman — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:05:39 +0000

Jason Schwartzman is one of the (few) highlights of Funny People

PREVIEW: Download Coconut Records’ “Wires” MP3
RELATED COVERAGE: Where the Wild Things Are Soundtrack, 20 Watts Reviews (500) Days of Summer OST

Judd Apatow’s latest film Funny People, certainly isn’t as funny Superbad, but it does stand out in the music department. Though the soundtrack is laced with mega-artists like three former Beatles, Neil Diamond and James Taylor, the real star is one of the stars of the film, Jason Schwartzman.

Schwartzman is one of the few people in the entertainment industry to delve successfully in both movies and music. He does have genes in his favor, as the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather) and the grandson of Academy and Golden Globe Award-winning composer Carmine Coppola. Not to mention, he’s Phantom Planet’s former drummerand his brother fronts pop-rock group Rooney.

In Funny People, he got an acting part and a job co-writing the film’s score. The film’s soundtrack features three songs from his solo band Coconut Records. Though his music isn’t very well-known, it fits right in with the more classic music of the movie.

Schwartzman recently released a new Coconut Records album in January, but first album Nighttiming is a good place to start. It features Zooey Deschanel and Kirsten Dunst, which isn’t surprising considering Schwartzman’s knack for mixing movies with music.

– Ashley Collman

Franz Patrick's Summer 2009 Playlist

Franz Patrick — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:32:56 +0000

I know I talk a lot about movies. Way more than a normal person should.

But hey, I listen to music, too.

I.
[Wake up, Franzie. Get ready for class.]
Skins Theme – Fat Segal
Balamb Garden – Nobuo Uematsu
My Patch – Jim Noir
My Generation – The Who
Campus – Vampire Weekend

II.
[Walking to campus, where every pathway is a runway.]
America’s Next Top Model Theme – Tyra Banks
The Fame – Lady Gaga
Great DJ – The Ting Tings
Disturbia – Rihanna
Gonna Be on Top – Tiaan Williams

III.
[Driving to the beach with the windows down.]
California – Phantom Planet
You’re the Only One – Maria Mena
How Do You Sleep? – Jesse McCartney
Black or White – Michael Jackson
Surfin’ U.S.A. – The Beach Boys

IV.
[Getting a tan and jumping in the ocean.]
Breathe – Michelle Branch
Soak Up the Sun – Sheryl Crow
Folding Chair – Regina Spektor
Things I’ll Never Say – Avril Lavigne
Stacy’s Mom – Fountains of Wayne

V.
[Driving to the city while eating on the car.]
Talkin’ Bout a Revolution – Tracy Chapman
Godhopping – Dogs Die in Hot Cars
Sheepdog – Mando Diao
Sour Cherry – The Kills
Vlad the Impaler – Kasabian

VI.
[At the movies. Guess what we're watching?]
New Batman/Superman Adventures Theme – Shirley Walker
Tangiers – John Powell
Raid on the Castle – Harry Gregson-Williams
Molossus – James Newton Howard
Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – Santa Esmeralda

VII.
[Club I: Before Midnight.]
Boys Boys Boys – Lady Gaga
Funkytown – Lipps, Inc.
Tribulations – LCD Soundsystem
Robot Rock – Daft Punk
I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked – Ida Maria

VIII.
[Club II: Past Midnight]
She’s Lost Control – Joy Division
Deceptacon – Le Tigre
Wildcat – Ratatat
Ready Steady Go – Paul Oakenfold
Yeah (Pretentious Version) – LCD Soundsystem

IX.
[On the way home. Everyone is tired and cranky.]
Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
All My Friends – LCD Soundsystem
Mad – Ne-Yo
If It Makes You Happy – Sheryl Crow
Tears Dry on Their Own – Amy Winehouse

X.
[Good night, Franzie. Sweet dreams.]
We’ve Been Had – The Walkmen
Clean and Sober – Anya Marina
The Hill – Markéta Irglová
The Blower’s Daughter – Damien Rice
Sleep – Melissa Etheridge