Since 5:43pm yesterday evening, the sun and rain have been engaged in some sort of wild tango the sunshine whips the rain furiously across the dance floor, the rain stomps forcefully upon the sunshine. One moment is blue and gold, the next is streaked with gray. Lightning and thunder have me constantly looking over my shoulder and out onto the City rooftops. All that I can see is wet and droopy and confused. This type of weather makes me wonder what we've done wrong. Why are we being punished? I blame it on Elizabeth. This is what happens when people go on vacation.
I'm getting excited about the Show. You know what Show I'm talking about. I have this good feeling that I'm going to rock it. Hmm, thinking back, I've actually had this good feeling before every show I've attended. Then, I get there, I shake somebody's hand, and I get sick. Disappointed and fatigued, I get left in the dust. The guys call me names. But, that's not going to happen this time. No, it isn't. Today is a new day.
On Tuesday, September 14thtwo days before my 33rd birthdayAnti- Records will release Grinderman 2, the second studio album from Nick Cave’s heathen child, Grinderman. And we are in for a treat. The review will appear in our October issue, but I’ll just let you know now: The album is violent, powerful, horrifying, and hilarious.
My review of Flying Lotus' fourth full-length album, Until the Quiet Comes, is scheduled to appear in our November issue, but this short film, directed by Kahlil Joseph, does a fine job of depicting the record.
Fred Mills reviews Beirut’s new record, The Rip Tide, in the November issue of Stereophile, due to hit newsstands on October 18th. The album, released by Zach Condon's Pompeii Records, is in stores now. Here's Sunset Television’s video for the lead track, “Santa Fe.”
The video for Colin Stetson’s “The Stars in His Head” (Dark Lights Remix), directed by Isaac Gale and Dan Huiting. Kinda lovely, kinda creepy, kinda perfect for this chilly, gray day.
Colin Stetson's powerful record, New History Warfare, Vol.2: Judges, available from Constellation Records, was reviewed in the July 2011 issue of Stereophile.
Stephen Price, Editor at Stash Media (“the world’s largest library of animation, VFX, and motion design”), directed me to this video for Hauschka’s “Radar,” the lead track from the excellent Salon des Amateurs.
I've been enjoying Julia Holter's Loud City Song. Mark your calendars: The album, Holter's third, will be released by Domino Records on August 20th. Previously, we heard the delicate opener, "World."
Julianna Barwick has released a live video for “The Harbinger,” from her new album, Nepenthe.
Curiously, the album version alwaysalwaysreminds me of the opening chorus to The Rolling Stones’ 1969 hit, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” Here, though, whatever hint of triumphant rock’n’roll that may exist in “The Harbinger” is replaced by the impressionistic strokes of cold, windblown colors and sheer textures. We hear the crunch of gravel beneath footsteps, the lapping of waves, sniffles, the chimes of an iPhoneall of these elements are captured, looped, and folded into the piece.
Shara Worden, My Brightest Diamond’s enchanting vocalist, explains: “In November, the great composer Gorecki died and I remember that weekend clearly, listening to the work and reading the lyrics in his beautiful Symphony No.3, the lament of a mother who has lost her son in war. This was the context in which I started writing ‘Be Brave.’”
“Be Brave” is the first single from My Brightest Diamond’s upcoming album, All Things Will Unwind, Worden’s response “to a world unwinding.” With the video, we gain a look into the recording process, but also a look into Worden’s heart and mind.
My review of Neneh Cherry and The Thing’s upcoming album, The Cherry Thing, is scheduled to appear in our August issue. Last month, we heard the band’s version of Suicide’s “Dream Baby Dream.” Now we can check out the video for “Accordion,” a selection taken from MF Doom and Madlib’s 2004 album, Madvillainy.