June 2009
26 posts
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New Loudness Tuesdays
It’s Tuesday, so we’ve got new songs for you that will fry your brain — and you’ll like it! I’m sorry, that was way too cheesey wasn’t it? What do I think I’m some ’70s classic rock radio DJ or something? Sorry, sorry. I’ve had too much coffee today.
The Colorado-based Pretty Lights contribute the groovy “Maybe Tomorrow.” And...
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They Won't Be Coming Back...
When the weather gets too hot to do much of anything, I turn to the music of Midwestern postpunk dudes the Embarrassment. Not sure why — I guess songs like “Don Juan,” “Art Party,” “Drive Me To The Park,” and “Sex Drive” are just perfect little songs that remind me of suburban air conditioned living? I grew up in Miami, FL and humid heat just...
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The Band that Would Be King!
With so much great weird new and noisy garage-rock going down lately, I keep waiting for someone to come around and stomp it all up in a big-ass big-band manner a la Baltimore, MD’s brilliant Half Japanese (1976 - present). There are some fun, more-than-four-piece acts out there — Thee Oh Sees, Fresh + Onlys, and I think King Khan is like that (they sound it). But none have the insane,...
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So, it's about damn time!
As I’m sure you’re aware, nu-soul great Maxwell has finally returned from a lengthy, lengthy, rumor-laden, eight-damn-years absence to kick serious ass in the realm of Ultimate Smooveness. The album, BLACKsummers’night, isn’t out for two more weeks, but the three singles that have been teased from it are astounding. Supposedly it’s the first album of a trilogy, which...
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New Loudness Tuesdays
Tuesday’s here which means we’re laying down some rad new jams:
“Down In L.A.” by Munk, the nu-disco-ish act overseen by German DJ/ musician Mathias Modica, the same guy who runs the Gomma label. Clearly, it’s good to be the king; Modica’s collaborated with James Murphy and Asia Argento.
Next up is “Heart Shaped Box” by the Crest, an indie hip-hop...
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Prayers for Rain // Ishkur's Guide to Electronic...
Today was supposed to be the first 2009 Garden Party-a BK summer outdoor fete I’ve been doing for a few years now- but the day was forecasted to be another in a two-week run of gloomers. Despite a scheduled appearance from Shawn Ryan (of the excellent Dollar Bin Jams blog) all the way from Philly, last night, me and my DJ pal decided to cancel.
So this morning I kind of felt like a chump...
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Loudcrowd Pick of the Week
TY SEGAL, “The Drag”
I love the idea of a great one-man/ one-woman band. I’m not talking about your increasingly ubiquitous bedroom pop kind — your Paul McCartneys holed up in the studio obsessively playing all the instruments themselves. I am talking about a dirty, dragged-out, shit-kicking artist who’s playing percussion and a loud instrument and singing all at...
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Have you heard that song “At Last I Am Free” by the Pretty Lights in Tuesday’s “New Loudness” playlist? I did for the first time yesterday and was PSYCHED to hear the voice of visionary British singer/drummer/songwriter Robert Wyatt there, floating on top as his high register voice is prone to do. It’s not the first time the prog-rock great has collaborated with...
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New Loudness Tuesdays
We have three more killing new songs for you this week. “Happy Girl” by Who Made Who is a great track by these Scandinavian disco-rock geniuses who dress up in skeleton suits when they play live. Why does this song make me think of ESG and Queen at the same time?
Then there’s another song, “Introducing the Magic Eye,” by Math the Band, a group perfectly geneticall...
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The best underground/ indie/ alternative music scene in my lifetime happened in a small nation halfway around the world, a country that until those silly elf movies were made was mostly known for the fact that its inhabitants were a peace-loving people who happen to be outnumbered by sheep, at a ratio of about eight to one.
The music made in New Zealand on a handful of indie labels (well, mostly...
LIKE WHAT by TELONIUS
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Loudcrowd Pick of the Week
LIKE WHAT by TELONIUS
This is somewhat of a part two from a pick I posted a couple months back when I first discovered my love for Gomma’s newest newbie, Telonius. After developing an instant addiction to their cosmic disco version of “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick,” I went on a rampage trying to find anything I could hopefully throw into my record bag. But I had to wait for what I...
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Everyone Wants To Be A DJ, Especially In Broke-Ass...
Are you as tired as I am of all of these weird articles that (I assume) try to make the reader feel better by inducing sympathy for the rich, who now have to cancel vacations or eat fewer babies because of the economy, which sucks for everyone including the very rich? More likely the intent behind them is to induce severe shadenfreude, as some kind of grand distraction and as a means of pitting us...
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New Loudness Tuesdays
We have three killer songs this week. Classic! Nice Face is an awesome noisy garage-rock act who’ve released singles on several labels including Sacred Bones, which is finally getting recognition as one of the best labels in the country. Nice Face’s song “FUBAR Over You” expresses a sentiment we can all relate to.
Friendly Foes’ upbeat song “Get Ripped”...
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Crack is wack
Paul Reubens AKA Pee Wee Herman is/was a genius. Straight up. I’ve no interest at all in smoking crack cocaine, but the anti-crack commercial that he made during the PSA-loving “Just Say No”/ D.A.R.E./ “THIS is your brain on drugs” 1980s is pretty absurd, and might have had the opposite effect on many viewers. From the ominous synth and heartbeat sounds to the harsh...
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Major Lazer
REWIND: MAJOR LAZER WANTS TO RECRUIT YOU FOR HIS RENEGADE ZOMBIE-KILLING ARMY
Every Friday, we hit rewind to visit one of our older playlists. The following is one of our favorites from the Loudcrowd vaults.
Esteemed producer/ musicians Diplo and Switch seem kind of to have gone insane. And we mean that in the most fun/ loving way! See, they’ve created an album that’s supposedly been...
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LOUDCROWD PICK OF THE WEEK: BROKENCYDE!!!
The band that we all love to hate, hate to love, and secretly dig because they are so over the top in their amazing blend of supremely bad fashion and beyond-bad mixture of every single overly cheesey and ridiculously crap kind of music, Brokencyde — have a new video, featuring E-40. Looks like E-40 phoned in his appearance to the extent that he just appears in a painting in the video rather...
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Animal Instincts
REWIND: Every Friday, we hit rewind to visit one of our older playlists. The following is one of our favorites from the Loudcrowd vaults.
It must be hard being an animal around humans all the time, even one of those domesticated types that gets all kinds of treats, sustenance and warmth from us (mostly) un-hairy apes. People are constantly projecting ideas of what’s going on inside the...
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Listen To The Music Of The Traffic In The City
Last week, we at Loudcrowd played host on our final joint effort with Modular at their weekly bash Downtown Downturn. Resident DJ and label lady Jen Amadio (aka Cliktrax Jen) got the night going nicely and had me asking through most of her set, “What is THIS??” DJ Fucci and I jumped on and followed up with what we do best (we like to think so at least), giving the crowd a healthy dose of...
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New Loudness Tuesdays
What’s in a name? Why are so many song titles so boring and plain? I get why band names may be bland — all the great ones are already taken — but when it comes to a song the sky’s the limit, right? This week we have three new killer jams for you. And all of them have good names, from the evocative to the funny to the direct. You decide for yourself which is which: Rainbow...