Brother-elli annouced last week that his new band has both a name and webpage: Landline. I love the name, since I've tried to get a land line in my last two apartments but have been twarted by that damn concept known as practicality. Also, contemporary land lines don't actually run through the telephone wires anymore -- they are all cable-based. For a band name, though, the concept works perfectly: something wanted purely for frivolity and entertainment, unlike the droning necessity of cellular communications (I'm talking to you, users of the speaker phone option.)
Anyway, I'm really excited to check out Brandon and the band when I go home in May to take care of wedding "stuff" -- the show will definitely be a much needed distraction!
Who knew? Little Stevie Martin is not only a writer and comedian...but he also plays a wicked five string! His new album, "The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo," is on current rotation around the house here. Mark is working on playing along, and I've even worked up a little tambourine beat to go along.
I just got tickets to our first concert of 2009 -- the Mountain Goats with John Vanderslice, accoustic!
"We are going to light out for the Territories in a van with two acoustic guitars, some notebooks, our soundman Brandon and a pouch full of charms against ill omen. We are going to get elemental. We are going to stomp our feet and hammer at the strings until we get what we want from them. We, a couple of guys named John, are going to tour, is what we're going to do. We're going to stand alone onstage and play our guitars and sing old songs & new, and then we'll probably play together. We are going to sit side by side with our acoustic guitars like two out of the five guys on the Five Man Acoustical Jam album, only with fewer Tesla songs. Because the whole point of playing an acoustic guitar is not to unplug. It's to get raw and draw blood."
I am SO excited, partly for all the acoustic goodness and partly because the show is not at The Middle East like the previous two times we've seen the band in concert. The Somerville Theater = seats, beer, and no need to get into an aggressive elbow match, or pour my beer into someone's backpack in retaliation for assholian crowd behavior.
New Year's week means some of my favorite things -- end of the year lists! My goal while I cozy up to The Prof and cook some hearty beef stew to welcome 2009? I will listen to as many of the Pitchfork and Paste Magazine's Top 50 Albums of 2008 as possible before the clocks strike midnight!
It's been quite a while since I developed full fledged swooning over a boy band (OkGO=my last,) and I was starting to think I'd lost that loving feeling. Luckily, local duo and Harvard alums Chester French have revived me. Called "retro pop preppies" by the media, Maxwell Drummey and D.A. Wallach, darlings of Pharrell (he signed them to his Star Trak/Interscope label after C.F. rejected another offer by Kayne) are rocking my workdays.
The band is named after sculptor Daniel Chester French, sculptor of the John Harvard statue (yes, the one with the lucky foot) in Harvard yard. Plus, 23-year-old Drummey recently married 19-year-old British socialiste Peaches Geldof in a Las Vegas ceremony after dating for only four weeks, which gives me a new reason to read the Daily Mail online again! (Peaches-related articles are listed here.)
Spin Magazine named C.F. one of the best new bands of 2008, and they've even made Stereogum cynical:
"Then we have the Ivy League rock of Harvard grads Chester French, which is funny when you ricochet it off the Ivy League rock of Columbia grads Vampire Weekend. But Chester sound more like Weezer-lite than lite-Graceland. That, and they're not very good. They had a song on Entourage, though, and Pharrell signed them to Star Trak/Interscope. So, yeah, they'll show us. Take a listen at their MySpace. One of them majored in African-American Studies. That's not a joke."
I CANNOT WAIT for this album to release! Until then, I'll just continue my addictive and looped listening of the four catchy songs on Chester French's MySpace page.
I haven't mentioned Brother-elli's band in a bit, but am glad to report that he's embarked on a new project: The Singles Collection. Basically, he's recording one song at a time and posting them on the Ruckus & The Trousers' MySpace page. (Check the tunes out -- they're catchy! "Listen Up" is my current favorite.)
Perfect instant aural gratification to help speed you through this week before the holiday.
The masses may recognize Ms. Deschanel as the quirky character in movies like Almost Famous, Eulogy, Failure to Launch, and as a shower torch singer and deadpan Santaland inhabitant in Elf.
Turns out that the ingenue is a singer in real life, too, as half of the L.A. cabaret group 'If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies' (with fellow actress Samantha Shelton). Now, she's in another duo: with songwriter M. Ward as She and Him...and releasing an album in mid-March.
I've been listening to the 'leaked' (?) tracks on my commute and in the office. Verdict? Solid. Personally, I like Deschanel's speaking voice, sort of dark and rich with a sweetness underneath and unique inntonation. Her singing is very similar...like a shot of espresso poured atop a scoop of Belgium chocolate ice cream.
Anywhoo, for those of us more reluctant to drop trow in public, we can still privately enjoy the quirky tunes of Songs To Wear Pants To. Maestro Andrew will whip up a song based on a suggestion (for free, if he likes the ideas you submit) or for money (and you get an MP3 of the song.)
Some recent hits on the list:
SONG #0021: CELTIC TECHNO BURRITO Instructions: I think you should write a song about a man ordering a burrito and being extremely intimidated by the size of it. The music should be Celtic techno, or any other blend of two genres that would not be caught eating a burrito together.
SONG #0291: MUFFIN PUFFIN (Paid Song) Instructions: Late-period Beatle-y rock...I have a cousin who has a list of words she finds hilarious. I'm looking for a song that simply lists them. There should be a chorus that begins the song with the words "muffin puffin" repeated a few times. I'd like the first verse to list the words fork, tree, knob, tub, frilly, chimney, and pudding. Then a second verse with the words custard, coupon, emu, llama, shmeejay, and flapdoodled.
Guess my parallel to that song would be called "Scanty Panties" <shudder>
SONG #0026: A RAP SONG IN WHICH NONE OF THE LYRICS CONTAIN THE LETTER E Instructions: How 'bout a rap song in which none of the lyrics contain the letter "e"?
SONG #0292: DINOSAURS ARE SWEET Instructions: Dinosaurs are sweet. Please write a song about how sweet they are. Include your favorite kind, and either a soulful piano or organ.
Sounds like a Ween song. Unless...Barbarian Baby King, did someone learn how to use his mother's computer? (note the dinosaur jammies)
I loved the response to last year's post about the All Songs Considered Listeners' Best CDs, so I surfed on over there to see if the 2007 list was ready yet. The ASC list is set to post on December 20, but they linked to another "best of" list (from WFUV 90.7 FM, Public Radio from Fordham University in New York City) that I thought looked pretty good. Thoughts, anyone? I've only heard #5, #7, and #9.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
WFUV Best Albums of 2007
1. At My Age by Nick Lowe
2. We'll Never Turn Back by Mavis Staples
3. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon
4. In Our Nature by Jose Gonzalez
5. Back to Black by Amy Winehouse
6. Country Ghetto by JJ Grey & Mofro
7. In Rainbows by Radiohead
8. West by Lucinda Williams
9. Sky Blue Sky by Wilco
10. Live at Massey Hall 1971 by Neil Young
* * * * * * * * * * * *
ASC also links to a list from WXPN 88.5 FM, Public Radio from the University of Pennsylvania, of Top 10 Kids' CDs of 2007. I understand from the mams and paps I know that it's particularly hard to find albums both kids and adults can stomach over MANY listens. In fact, I'm gonna to buy the BBK a few of the suggested albums for Christmas.
Listen to "Poopsmith Song" by Over the Rhine from For the Kids 3...totally addictive! I was singing the chorus non-stop all last night at home.
"Poop in the potty, poop goes in the potty Poop in the potty, poop goes in the potty
Not in the yard, you're on your honor Don't go gettin' no ideas from the neighbor's weimaraner"
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