Category: Artists (Page 62 of 262)

Steal This Song: Oh Mercy, “Lay Everything on Me”

April 5, 2010 /

There are few ways to get our attention faster than comparing an artist to Neil Finn. It’s a double-edged sword, though; there are scores of artists who try to emulate Finn brothers Neil and Tim, but almost none of them succeed in replicating his signature blend of rich melodcism with a healthy dose of neurosis. Still, when someone dares to make the comparison, we listen.

And, if the song turns out to sound more like the Go-Betweens than the Finn Brothers, we listen again. And again.

oh mercy

Alexander Gow and Tom Savage. The new McLennan and Forster?

“Lay Everything on Me,” the first single from Melbourne quartet Oh Mercy, feels like a lost track from 1987, the kind of thing that would have received heavy airplay in the early days of 120 Minutes. Think the Immaculate Fools, Danny Wilson, the aforementioned Go-Betweens, or if you want a modern-day comparison, Jupiter One. It’s insanely melodic guitar pop, with a simple, driving drum beat (and lots of cowbell) and a bare-bones scratch guitar line. But this is no retro hipster douchebag band cashing in on a movement; they simply favor melody over an ironic pose or sonic gimmicks – as it should me, damn it.

The band’s debut album, Priviledged Woes, is set to drop in the States soon, and after a dozen spins of this song and a quick glance of the songs on their MySpace page (which features a nifty cover of the Cardigans’ “Lovefool” that they recorded for an Australian radio station), it can’t come soon enough.

Oh Mercy – Lay Everything on Me

Alternative, Artists, CD Reviews, Downloads, Pop, Steal This Song

Just filling you in: The Black Keys

April 2, 2010 /

I am running on fumes right now and will likely crash at any minute. I’d like to blame it on an eight-hour work day, but I’d be lying. No, the real reason I’m absolutely exhausted is because I just completed an excruciatingly long draft for a fantasy baseball league. We’re talking 24 teams and 22 rounds of rabid attention, filled with both bouts of glory and misery. It’s consumed my day, and now I’m left in a crumbling, yet mildly accomplished state. Still, I wanted to post something.

To the delight of many, The Black Keys will release Brothers on Nonesuch Records on May 18. I’ve got two of their full lengths and an EP, and I’m just waiting for the band to produce something truly great. I know they’ve already reached an impressive level of popularity, but I feel the band is capable doing something more sonically challenging. Well, we now have a new song on their MySpace called “Tighten Up” (apparently the album’s first single), and it definitely is a step in the right direction. I love that rhythm change toward the end. It comes out of nowhere.

Artists, Songs

Video: Janelle Monáe’s “Tightrope”

March 31, 2010 /

I don’t know much about this Janelle Monáe chicka, but I’m definitely into this song. Another young and talented musician that’s gone over my head, Monáe has been on the scene, more or less, since 2007.

There’s a fashionable futuristic theme shoved in your face, which you’ll have to subscribe to instantly if you are to enjoy the video. But I found myself forgetting about the visuals and plot simply because I was caught up bobbing to the beat. While listening to this song my body and is a prisoner to the music — I couldn’t handle paying attention to anything else. That’s a good thing.

Either way, this video is at least mildly interesting. Big Boi from Outkast is waddling through there, if that’s your thing.

Artists, Videos

A reunited Libertines to stumble into Reading and Leeds Festivals

March 31, 2010 /

Predictable? Maybe. Kind of awesome? Certainly. For the first time in six years, the Libertines are about to perform as a complete band. And where do they plan on gracing audiences? The UK’s Reading and Leeds Festivals, which are fine choices, really. Guns ‘n Roses, Arcade Fire, Weezer and Modest Mouse will also join the fray.

From The Independent:

The Libertines released two albums, 2002’s Up the Bracket and 2004’s The Libertines, before breaking up in 2004 due to disagreements between guitarist Pete Doherty and co-frontman Carl Barat. Last May, three of four group members performed together during a concert by Doherty’s band Babyshambles, suggesting that a reunion might be near.

Tickets are now on sale for both festivals, which take place simultaneously in the two UK cities and feature the same lineup. The capacity is about 80,000 at the Reading site and about 70,000 at Leeds.

The Libertines were one of those “in” bands I took a chance on a few years ago. They were getting so much publicity at the time that I couldn’t help but be discouraged. But the praise was nonstop, so I took the bait.

They blew me away. It’s a shame really, that they were/are lumped in the “garage band” genre. They offer so much more than the Strokes, Hives, Vines, whatever. The Libertines were just of the same time period, and leaps and bounds more interesting. The songs actually go places, and your body submits willingly, wrapped in the beat and all those slurring hooks. Listen to their self-titled album and you’ll know what I’m talking about. Try me: “Can’t Stand Me Now,” “Music When the Lights Go Out,” “What Became of the Likely Lads.”

The band just wanted to play rock music, in the vein of the The Who and the Rolling Stones more than anything. The Clash? Please. I dig the Clash, but they had a focus and agenda from their formation, despite the childish “punk” tag. With the Libertines, it never felt like they were going anywhere since they didn’t have interest in dealing with fame. Helplessly diverted by their self-destructive nature, coupled with their sheer talent, is what made them so enticing. How could a band be so obtrusively pretentious, yet inherently genuine and endearing? In a strange way, the Libertines were out to eliminate themselves and embarrass your tastes. Of course, this is in large part to Pete Doherty, who, despite his shortcomings as a human being, is more reminiscent of a classic (not classy) rock star than any other current musician. Now the band is getting back together to play some shows. There you go.

I know I strayed from the topic at hand, but none of us were going to make it to England, anyway.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

Artists, News

Codeine Velvet Club: Codeine Velvet Club

March 30, 2010 /


RIYL: The New Pornographers, Nancy Sinatra, John Barry

Here’s the awful truth about life as a musician: when they’re not recording, touring, shooting a video, or doing press – in other words, when they’re not acting like a musician – they get bored, really quickly. It only took Jon Fratelli, lead singer and guitarist from Scottish trio the Fratellis, a couple days of down time after a lengthy tour commitment to get the itch, and before he knew it, we was recording an entire album of ’60s-styled boy/girl pop with a friend of his wife.

Codeiene_Velvet_Club_01

All people should be so productive at the brink of exhaustion; the resulting collaboration, Codeine Velvet Club, is a swinging collection of soundtrack music for an imaginary film. (Think Madonna’s I’m Breathless, only cooler, and ballsier.) Fratelli’s partner, chanteuse-in-the-making Lou Hickey, is like a poor man’s Neko Case, but the imperfections of her voice work in her favor more often than not. (Contrary to what the suits would have you believe, personality matters just as much as technique, if not more.) The vampy “Vanity Kills” slinks like a film noir femme fatale, and the charging “I Would Send You Roses” has an unforgettable, if breathless, chorus. Two showstopping ballads anchor the album’s middle, as “Nevada” and “Reste Avec Moi” could both pass for lost Bacharach compositions. The cheeky bastards even did a period-piece cover of the Stone Roses’ “I Am the Resurrection”; amazingly, that works, too.

Codeine Velvet Club is a most pleasant surprise, especially considering it comes hot on the heels of Fratelli’s underwhelming sophomore effort. There’s a statement in here somewhere about how it took a couple Scots to make a good old-fashioned American pop record, but we’re not really in the mood to point fingers – we’re just glad someone still remembers how it’s done. (Dangerbird 2010)

Codeine Celvet Club MySpace page
Click to buy Codeine Velvet Club from Amazon

target=”_blank”

'60s, Alternative, Artists, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 Eat Sleep Drink Music

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑