May 2009
31 posts
5 tags
GEORGE PERKINS + THE SILVER STARS Cryin’ in the Streets
I’ve been obsessing over this soul 45 on the Silver Fox label from 1970, the Civil Rights lament “Cryin’ in the Streets” by George Perkins and the Silver Stars. This song just fucking slays me. I have to stop whatever I’m doing when I listen to the thing. George Perkins’ intense falsetto alone is so...
MATH THE BAND, Why Didn’t You Get A Haircut?
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LOUDCROWD PICK OF THE WEEK: MATH THE BAND, WHY DIDN’T YOU GET A HAIRCUT
I’m so glad I found out about Math The Band this month. This act brings together the caterwauling group vocal style of Los Campesinos! for their anthemic choruses, the gimmicky ’80s computer sound of 8-bit programming for much of their music, the hyperactive ultra-nerd-dom of Dan Deacon, and the distorted...
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New Loudness Tuesdays
We have some great tracks up this week; Fol Chen’s “No Wedding Cake” is superb. Also featured this week are the great E*Rock’s remix of L.A.-based lap-pop great Bobby Birdman’s “Victory at Sea.” Originally released on the deluxe, limited (and currently stalled, unfortunately) vinyl-only label Fryk Beat, the song’s a real stunner of crooning and crunk...
6 tags
Loudcrowd & Modular Records @ NYC's Downtown...
PSSSST! NYC people. We are having a party tonight!
As you may already know, we at Loudcrowd have been sponsoring Modular records’ scintillating Downtown Downturn event, a merging of superior DJs from our partnership with labels such as Fools Gold’s Nick Catchdubs and DFA’s Marcos Cabral (of Runaway) and Nomi (of Hercules and Love Affair). Modular, as I’m sure...
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D+D Rules — And I Don’t Mean Dungeons + Dragons, Sorry!
One of the best things about being close to a dozen years older than thirty is that I’m suddenly immune from hipsteritis. What the kids do is merely interesing to me; it doesn’t bother. Huge oversized glasses or Kanye windowpanes? Trucker hats or… damn bowler hats? I just don’t care. That doesn’t...
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LOUDCROWD PICK OF THE WEEK: HERCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR SHADOWS
Exactly one ear ago, Hercules and Love Affair released the now club anthem “Blind.” They released a single which featured the original, two Frankie Bones remixes, a Serge Santiago remix, the essential “club” mix, and one additional track that for some reason or another, was excluded from the album that dropped a...
HERCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR, “Shadows”
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THE REELING
Have you seen the video for Passion Pit’s “The Reeling,” yet? It’s really well done — very cool effects! That’s not something I usually say, either, “very cool effects.” I don’t go see movies for their seamless integration of CGI effects, or whatever. But the combination of fake film grain, stop motion and whatever that...
AZEDA BOOTH Fiji Inn Hearts
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New Loudness Tuesdays
AZEDA BOOTH Fiji Inn Hearts
The Calgary, Alberta-based quintet’s 2008 debut scored a very respectable 7.9 from the Pitchfork kids. The website understandably likes the group’s melodic/ noisy lap-pop, saying that they “render lullabies on the scale of anthems.” You can download a free 8-song EP from the band to check them out further right here.
Also featured this week is...
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Blue Tang
Not sure if you’ve seen this yet, but this designer named Logan Walters created a bunch of re-imagined Wu-Tang album covers that are super well executed and kind of funny. He took ten of their many group and solo releases and reimagined them as Blue Note covers: a simple idea, well-executed.
I like his description for why he did this: A little while ago I put a bunch of...
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LOUDCROWD PICK OF THE WEEK: FLESH INTERNAL OPS
Claiming Chic as a major influence, then mentioning in a chorus that last night, a DJ saved her life? Clearly, she’s not too cool to go solid gold on you… or on a track. A perfect strings intro grabs hold instantly and is followed with a simple beat accompanied by tambourine. You’re guided through with vocals that are almost like a softer Cristina...
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TOTALLY ZONED
Been listening a lot today to 39 Clocks, the early ’80s German synth-punk duo of Juergen Gleue and Christian Henjes. Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of them — even a lot of my most obscurer-than-thou friends never got hep to them. I only know this stuff myself because I used to live with a WFMU DJ. Now we can all revel in their alluring and studiedly cool...
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Copy Fist
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New Loudness Tuesdays
COPY Fist
Part twee part heavy metal, Copy reflect the late 00s trend of self-aware, rock-influenced electronica. With echoes of Ratatat’s humor and Holy Fuck’s soundscapery, Fist begins with Warrant-esque chord ripple and sequence through an 8-bit journey that could have been the soundtrack to Bubble Bobble. A neat blend of simplicity and intention.
Also featured this week are...
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MUSIC FOR BIRDBRAINS
The Interent connection here at home is super wonky; it’s funny how aggravated a thing like that can make me. I’m trying to download some music, and it’s taking longer than I want it to, so I get all “Hulk Smash!” and stuff, right away. On to the more physical world — I don’t know about where you live, but here in the Pacific...
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Santigold brings the heat with her top ten
REWIND: Summer in the City
Every Friday, we hit rewind to visit one of our older playlists. The following is one of our favorites from the Loudcrowd vaults. To complement our warm-it-up playlist, Santigold put together her own top ten list of jams; an eclectic, mostly vintage blend of hotness. We’re excited that (without solicitation) she picked Major Lazer’s new single Hold The...
Sneaker Pimps Spin Spin Sugar
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SPIN SUGAR
If you grew up in the ’90s like I did, with the tag “club kid” forever taped to your back, you’ll probably get the reference here. In fact, I remember spraining my ankle pretty badly to that track when I was 19, doing that ridiculous rave move where you’re bouncing from foot to foot with all your weight on the outsides of your pinky toes. I’m pretty sure I picked that one up...
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REWIND: …FSTR STRNGR
Every Friday, we hit rewind to visit one of our older playlists. The following is one of our favorites from the Loudcrowd vaults — our “Bangers” playlist brims with tracks from the Toronto-based duo Mstrkrft, as well as some of their peers. Of course, Mstrkrft were not the progenitors of their revved-up sound. Jesse Keeler and Al-P helped to bring the heady,...
TELONIUS “Hit Me With Your Rhythm...
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LOUDCROWD PICK OF THE WEEK: Telonius Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
There have been numerous versions of this track released over the past thirty years, including of course the 1978 original by Ian Dury and The Blockheads. Telonius (linked to fellow Gommarians Munk and Leroy Hanghofer) came up with what I may have to declare my favorite rock to disco cover to date. It’s got that perfect slow...
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Crystal Stilts Converging in the Quiet
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New Loudness Tuesdays
CRYSTAL STILTS Converging in the Quiet
This weekend I had a conversation with my local liquor store employee Randy on how the standard hip-hop approach to writing music is somewhat similar to a singer-songwriter or folk artist’s intention. His thoughts: simple messaging and repetition make for ease of listening and unostentacious experience.
I find this true for my new favorite addition to...
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STORMY TIME MUSIC: Destroying New Buildings
The weather here in Portland was kind of weird this weekend. Saturday started out warm-ish and sunny; then it got overcast and downpoured and hailed, and then it was cold and then sort of sunny again. I celebrated this crazy manic depressive weatheration by staying inside and listening to my favorite Einstürzende Neubauten record, Drawings of Patient...
Major Lazer Hold The Line
—Santigold and...
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Santigold and Major Lazer help warm us up
So, global warming is clearly upon us. And while 85F in the Northeast seems mostly convenient (ask Williamsburg’s residents, who blithely circulated last weekend in gauzy sundresses and cut-offs), there’s that other feeling; a combination of scared and guilty. It’s in the little things you see, like a new breed of freshly hatched flies zooming around your apartment, or the Ritter...