Da Comrade! on DIY [VIDEO]

I first saw Da Comrade! perform way back in November of 2009. They played at a house in Allston, and I fell hard (both figuratively and literally... I passed out on a pals couch after their set). They had a sax, a cello, grumbling-to-twisted vocals, and one member was sporting a green Eagles cap. Since they were from my hometown, I sized them up, and guessed that they were from West Philly. I was right.

And what does being from West Philly mean? Take any art form  (visual, poetic, auditory) and fuse it together with inspiration from comics, records, museums, friends, friends of friends, cultures, beer, newspapers, streets, Ethiopian cuisine, patterns, some Fellini, a dash of architecture, and the "damn, we're broke, lets get creative" mentality.

And this is familiar right? Da! comes out of a DIY supported community, one that helps shape their vaudevillian-doom-metal aesthetic that I've grown to love and play constantly on my musical electro device.

WECB's interview with Da Comrade! last month turned into a thoughtful conversation on the DIY scene, a scene that so many of our favorite local musicians work, grow, and thrive in. Ch ch checkout the video above.



Thanks to Kristy Robinson for her editing skills.

Check out Da! on social sites. Their working on new record yo!

Poly Styrene "Virtual Boyfriend" -- Bad Placement

Unfortunately, with a modern boom in the popularity of electronic music, there is an abundance of tracks that fall slowly into generic, unappealing sound. This often happens where music better suited for film is produced as a track, or when an artist lacks innovation or creativity.

The track ‘Virtual Boyfriend,’ and the two accompanying remixes, bundled in a download by artist Poly Styrene; all give the vibe of a bubble-gum, pop anthem from the eighties. When the vocals kick in the song enters into a Barbie play world colored with poorly conceived sound progression.

So the music is not worthless, it could benefit a Disney movie, or it could be a satire on modern teenage divas. As far as music produced to stand on its own, and add to the quality and productivity of electronic music, Virtual Boyfriend falls short of what I feel merits a quality recommendation.

PJ Harvey & Thom Yorke "This Mess We're In" [VIDEO]

Ya know what's good to dig? PJ Harvey's Let England Shake. At first it is hard to audibly digest, if it were a food I would say its a tangy asparagus but anyway, once you adjust to Harvey's pitchy trembling vocals, you'll feel good because it sounds nice. Think about it, it's an album chock full of rich light sounds, hardly any calories really. Try the clap happy track "The Words That Maketh Murder"  as your first serving, then follow it with "In The Dark Places" a moody tune with well executed tension. My favorite track is "England." It sounds as if Harvey's voice was superimposed onto Harvey's voice for a terribly coordinated sing-along round. I thought, hey, this would be cooler if Thom Yorke was singing this song and with that lingering in my mind for a month, I decided to visit the old tube box. There I found a video for "This Mess We're In" a collaboration between Harvey and Yorke. This isn't new, and I don't know why or how I started this with an awful food analogy, but here's the video:

-m

p.s "The Words That Maketh Murder" clap happy?! Did you listen to the lyrics? But it's so catchy!

NEW ORLEANS LIVE: Lady Baby Miss & The Tigerman [VIDEO]

Lady Baby Miss & The Tigerman, NOLA

We were on a mission. It was Mariella's 21st birthday and she had just finished her first legal drink, a Jack & Coke, and my sparkly wings were  feeling cramped. So we left The Maison, a jazz bar on Frenchman Street, in search of Siberia, the venue Pile played a week or two earlier. On our walk to the French Quarter, I had seen black on white pressed posters exclaiming  something along the lines of "Siberia! Show! Sunday or Saturday or anyday maybe!" When we left The Maison, we searched the poster filled poles and walls for sign of Siberia. We had to find the address that would tell us where we wanted to be. We found it, ripped it off and headed toward St. Claude, walking among a stampede of neons and living skeletons. We had to cross St. Claude to find Siberia but some sort of energy was keeping us below the entranceway to The Allways Lounge. This pull was a muffled blues with, could there be a piano inside as well? "But Siberia" I said and Mars yanked me into the dim and glowing lounge.

a smattering of videos

New music video by Emerson Filmmaker Molly Adams out this week for electronic artist Cristoph Andersson's song Metropol.

Molly Adams juxtaposes her faiiirly twisted vision with an otherwise cheery track and comes out with a visually stunning and creatively edited vid. Enjoy this Emersonian produced, not-so-pretty in pink, tea party, visual splooge... explosion.

Metropol - Christoph Andersson from Molly Adams on Vimeo.

I stumbled across this gem while procrastinating in the library. Drake & Lil Weezy v. Jack Johnson. Shutup Mike, i think this is dope

Pile In Studio "Came As A Glow"

Thank you Kristy Robinson

Skeletonbreath and Da Comrade! Ready to Tear It Up at DDG Jan. 30

So the super neat site "the deli" a local music guide for major music cities, posted an article about my number one favorite band from Philly, Da Comrade!. They've been finishing up recording, and will hopefully release their full length LP in 2011. Read the article here: Skeletonbreath and Da Comrade! Ready to Tear It Up at DDG Jan. 30

And check out a video I made for them this summer: a not-so-often-seen acoustic performance of their song "Old Alpha"

"Old Alpha" by Da Comrade! (fundraiser video) from margaret bateman on Vimeo.

These people, they're crazy. Their music, its spectacular.

-margaret 

things i am most stoked for right now 2011

The Go Team- Rolling Blackouts

Mogwai-Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

The Cave Singers- No Witch

Tennis- Cape Dory

Earth- Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light

... in no particular order

AND LETS NOT EVEN TALK ABOUT NEW DIDDY (shutup everyone else on the staff, this song is dope.)--

(and if you are even mildly motivated you can download all of these)

Google Earth and CMJ 2010

A collection of the venues we interacted with over the course of this year's CMJ Marathon. We highlighted some of our favorite artists from week, and located the places where we were denied due to age restrictions. We had a wonderful time and met a lot of great people. Hells yea for college radio.

John Lennon - Gimme Some Truth

While John Lennon's album Gimme Some Truth is by no means "new" music, I thought this was worth a post.

In tribute to Lennon's on his would be 70th birthday, Yoko Ono has released a remastered version of all of Lennon's solo releases, entitled Gimme Some Truth. The remastering was a long process, Yoko along with a number of other music producers from EMI took on this 121 song challenge for John. In her letter explaining her choice to remaster her late husbands work (http://imaginepeace.com/archives/11567) Yoko explains that John was there with her, guiding her and looking over her shoulder while working on this project.

Although I am a little skeptical about THAT statement one thing is for sure, the final product is beautiful. Where previously John's voice was buried in muddled mid level frequencies, it now rings beautifully out above allinstrumentals.

Sadly there are no youtube videos of the remastered work, so go buy it (really)... its awesome

(I personally would have preferred posting one of my favorites "Woman is the N***** Of The World" however it doesn't quite fit regulation)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN

Mavis Staples- You Are Not Alone

With Staples album You Are Not Alone the dialogue between the past and present is beyond clear. While Mavis’ beautifully bass-y classic voice is still intact in her 70^th year, I found myself less than convinced that the clean and modern production value was compatible to her soulful sound (brought to you by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy). This can be heard pretty clearly in “I Belong To The Band”, where although the song has ties back to the 1970s, the gospel style hand claps sound so compressed I’d make the mistake of thinking they were canned sounds and not made by people at all. (That is not to say that I don’t absolutely love this song).

Despite the unmistakable quality in tracks like “To Christ There Is No East Or West”, they never penetrate my taste due to the overwhelming presence of Jesus. Despite my love for gospel, I’m in it for the music… not the religion.

“Creep Along Moses” is the strongest track on the album. It is the perfect dichotomy of catchy and religious… a balance I’ve rarely heard struck. The drums mimic a train chugging along, and the guitar twangs sparingly above with gospel singers ‘creepn along’.

Tracks: Don’t Knock, You Are Not Alone, Creep Along Moses, I Belong To The Band, Last Train, Too Close/On My Way To Heaven

Chiddy Bang

so fresh. from philly.

Rego - From The Royal Arcade

Following her successful self-released EP Learning To Be Lonely, Rebecca Rego’s From The Royal Arcade continues to display her distinct, sultry voice and knack for nostalgic, homegrown lyrics. The music itself consists of Rego’s acoustic guitar dancing with quiet piano support and twangy electric guitar evoking a wistful southern charm. Don’t be mistaken: Rego’s strong voice (which ranges from that of a young girl full of wonder to a mature vixenish woman) takes center stage as she sings about growing up, lessons learned, and life in general. It’s hard not to fall under her charm on bouncy songs like “Caterpillars” and “Dye Your Hair Red” and the amorous “After The War” and “Gave Me”. If you’ve ever been vaguely interested in country music, Rego’s From The Royal Arcade is an accessible and highly enjoyable folksy listen.

4/5

"Astronauts" off of From The Royal Arcade

Jeff the Brotherhood

This punk/ grunge duo from Nashville are on the road to promote their new album "Heavy Days" Review coming soon (hopefully!) My heart broke when I found out they won't be in Boston until June 16 when I'll be halfway across the country. But you should all check them out and see if they're coming to your city over the summer!

P.S. Check out "I'm a Freak" on their myspace. So great!

OK Go- This Too Shall Pass MUSIC VIDEO

We added OK Go's new album Of The Blue Color Of The Sky not too long ago, and the band has recently released their music video for their single "This Too Shall Pass". I thought it was pretty damn neat and thought maybe some other Emersonians (or whoever you are) might enjoy it as much as I did.

Although you may be sick of the treadmill viral vid from a few years ago, this is a new & perhaps equally fun one.

PS.If you were a fan of Mousetrap as a kid, i can't liking this music video will be a big stretch for you...