Zach Galifianakis Lends Kanye West a Little Redneck Cred

When I first read about the making of this video for Kanye West's new single "Can't Tell Me Nothing," it sounded like a joint effort between West and Zach Galifianakis. The story was that the two had met and hit it off at a comedy club where Galifianakis was performing. Although, if you watch the video, it seems as though Kanye amazingly managed to keep himself behind-the-scenes, as this clip has become another example of Galifianakis' odd brand of off-beat humor. I've seen the guy do stand-up and he was so drunk he pissed his pants right before before taking the stage. Nonetheless, he was pretty hilarious, interacting with/berating the crowd, playing the piano while rattling off one-liners, and just being downright zany. If you're a fan of this spin on the Kanye video, you should check out his other vids where he makes similar work on Anita Baker's "You Bring Me Joy" and Fiona Apple's "Not About Love." In my opinion, this video rendition of "Can't Tell Me Nothing" is far more interesting than the original version featuring West, which is surprisingly boring, and not nearly as imaginitive as Kanye's other new video for "Stronger," where he takes on a Godzilla-like persona (possibly a manifestation of his own self-image?). Either way, I'm always a big fan of hip-hop stars who aren't afraid to branch out and be original. There's no arguing that this video, with Galifianakis at the helm, is certainly an example of that mentality.

By the way, doesn't Zach Galifianakis look a lot like Sam Beam of Iron & Wine? And come to think of it, you never see those two guys in the same room at the same time. Just something to think about...

Bishop Allen is Actually a Band and Not One Person. Read On...

If you're unfamiliar with Bishop Allen, the Brooklyn-via-New-England indie-pop act, then you probably don't make too many rounds in the blogosphere because, in the words of Zoolander's Mugatu, these guys are "so hot right now." They garnered notoriety in '06 by releasing one EP per month, in the process churning out an eye-popping 58 songs in a year. Ryan Adams thinks that's crazy. Not only that, but I believe songwriters, and collective brain-trust, Justin Rice and Christian Rudder also attended Harvard, where, judging from what I've heard off of their new album The Broken String, it's possible they both majored in being awesome. That's a bit of hyperbole, but the songs do sound pretty good. Either way, I think it's safe to say that if this whole music thing doesn't pan out, you won't see these guys on the corner begging you for change any time soon. Check out the tunes below, courtesy of The Passion of the Weiss.

Bishop Allen - Rain [mp3]
Bishop Allen - Click, Click, Click, Click [mp3]

Hip-Hop Friday: Beastie Boys vs. the Cure

I'm willing to admit that mash-ups are easy blog fodder, especially when you're looking for hip-hop material. Not to mention, there isn't too much great hip-hop music being released at the moment. Hence, DJ Moule's mash-up between the Beastie Boys' "Root Down" and and the Cure's "Close to Me," courtesy of Between Thoughts and Expression. It's not the best mash-up I've ever heard, but it is oddly compelling if you give it a chance (the intro is a bit too long). Plus, I find it funny to picture Robert Smith throwing down with the Beasties.

DJ Moule - Close To My Roots (Beastie Boys vs. The Cure) [mp3]

The Arcade Fire Hoop It Up

A while back I read some blog rumors about the Arcade Fire being on tour and coming into contact with some fan and allegedly "stealing" the guy's basketball. At the time, it seemed like a pretty random and far-fetched story. After seeing these pics of the band runnin' ball, I have to admit that the tale has been granted a bit more credibility. I mean, who knew that the hottest indie-rock band in the world, and arguably one of the best bands, and probably the most original, to ever come out of America Jr. (AKA, Canada, eh) were such serious ballers? Not to get totally stereotypical, but I think I'd be far less shocked to see pictures of these guys slapping a puck around, or even throwing a baseball, surface on the internet. Dig the shot of Win Butler dunking (or at least touching the rim, which is more than I can do). Just one more reason why the Arcade Fire kicks more ass before breakfast then most bands probably do over the course of a career.

The Xponential Music Festival

I spent the majority of this past weekend at the WXPN summer festival in Camden, NJ, which they were calling the "Xponential Music Festival" this year. This explains why I was unable to post because it was so damn time consuming, but nonetheless, certainly worth attending. My own personal highlights included sets by the Cat Empire, Will Hoge, the Swimmers, Ryan Shaw, and a surprise appearance by Rhett Miller. I've posted some of my own photos below so you can relive the experience with me. Enjoy.

Ryan Shaw

Rhett Miller

Marc Broussard

the Fratellis

the Swimmers

Will Hoge

the Cat Empire

Martin Sexton

Fountains of Wayne

The Philadelphia Skyline

Apologees

I realize it seems I've been shirking my responsibilities as a blogger as of late. I haven't posted since Thursday, but I promise I'll get around to posting something soon. So if you're looking for new content, hold tight and I'll get to it. Until then, stay up...

New Iron & Wine

Iron & Wine has a new album due out in September, but because Sub Pop is about the coolest record label around, they made the first single available for free download via their website. In my opinion, it's not I & W's best tune, but it sounds decent and it's beginning to grow on me.

Iron & Wine - Boy With A Coin [mp3]

Band-I-Know-Nothing-About-of-the-Day: Animal Collective

I don't know anything about Animal Collective, and I'm willing to admit that. In fact, when I'd seen the name listed in the "popular artists" section on elbo.ws I thought it was a project involving a group of hip-hop producers. That idea was based on a Danger Mouse interview I read where he mentioned such a project, although I think he was calling it the Underground Animal Collective. I don't think this is the same thing, but apparently this track by Animal Collective is pretty popular in the blogosphere. I can see why, it's a cool song, albeit not quite what I was expecting when I first heard it. It's called "Fireworks" and you can sample it yourself courtesy of The Late Greats (even though it's referenced there in a somewhat less than flattering way).

Animal Collective - Fireworks [mp3]

Throwback-Video-of-the-Day: Tom Waits

I heard this song for the first time in quite a while today on one of the many XM satellite radio stations. If you're not familiar with this song at all, this is vintage Tom Waits, and if you're not familiar with Tom Waits, then you're probably wondering if this is how the guy always sings. The answer is yes. To this day, I find it amazing that he ever managed to become a successful musician with the kind of career longevity that he's had. His singing style is certainly an acquired taste. To me, it sounds a bit like sandpaper with a hangover, if you can imagine that concept sonically. Regardless, there is no debating that dude is a true original and one hell of a songwriter. Case and point, witness the simultaneous combination of off-kilter genius and hilarity displayed in this video for "The Piano Has Been Drinking."

Catching Up to the Annuals

North Carolina's the Annuals play lush, quirky indie-pop that sounds like the type of tight, hook-happy tunes that Brian Wilson would be pumping out if he were fronting an up-and-coming rock act today. Their only LP Be He Me came out in the fall of '06. The main reason I'm posting about them now is because I was a bit late to arrive to the party. I'm just now finding out about them, and mostly what I'm finding is that there really isn't much to dislike about these guys.
Annuals - Bleary-Eyed [mp3] (from Happy Clap Music)
Annuals - Brother [mp3] (from The Presidential Award for Aural Fitness)

Okkervil River are Coming to Philly

I've just become aware that one of my new favorite bands Okkervil River will be playing Johnny Brenda's in late September. For those of you who are not familiar with the band, they're a smart, catchy folk-rock outfit from Austin who manage to churn out both hooks and clever lyrics, making them sound altogether terrific in the studio. One would imagine they'd be a strong live act too. I suppose now I'll have the chance to find that out first-hand in September. They're new album Stage Name is set to be released on August 7th. Be sure to check out the tracks below, the first of which I believe is slated to appear on that album. Both tracks are posted courtesy of the band's own homepage, where you can also find several more free downloads.
Okkervil River - "Our Life is not a Movie or Maybe" [mp3]
Okkervil River - "The President is Dead" [mp3]

Hip-Hop Friday: Pharoahe Monch

It's been eight years since the release of Pharoahe Monch's last studio album, and despite having remained active during that period with cameos on tracks from other artists such as Talib Kweli and the late J Dilla, many of his hardcore fans have been eagerly anticipating the follow-up to his initial LP Internal Affairs. It appears they're long wait is finally over with the release of Desire, and while it may not pack all the punch of its predecessor, it does feature some killer tracks like "What It Is" and the title cut (posted below courtesy of Blogs are for Dogs). As a bonus, I've also posted Monch's remix of the Amy Winehouse hit "Rehab" (courtesy of nialler9) which, despite him only laying down a single verse, blows away Ghostface Killah's remix of the same song (and I actually like Ghostface's version, so that's saying something).
Pharoahe Monch - "Desire" mp3
"Rehab" (Pharoahe Monch Remix) mp3

Music from "Once"

Glen Hansard, frontman of the Frames, stars in a new motion picture titled Once. He plays a Dublin street musician who falls in love with a woman, possibly another street musician. Clearly, I'm not ultra-familiar with the plot of the film, despite having read a very positive review in the paper recently. What I do know, however, is that, from what I've heard, the movie's soundtrack sounds very promising. Below is a tune called "Falling Slowly" performed by Hansard (posted courtesy of Achtung Baby!: My Chernobyl Love). It's got a very sentimental ballad feel to it, but it's also very catchy. Check it out, and also see the movie if you get the chance, because there's nothing like a good indie flick done right.
Glen Hansard - "Falling Slowly" mp3

The Police, John Mayer and Kanye West Save the World

In case you missed the twenty-two hours of Live Earth coverage over the weekend, I've decided to post one the performances that I felt stuck out among the rest. This performance took place during the Police's set when they were playing "Message in a Bottle" (one of my personal favorites in the Police canon). What makes said performance intriguing isn't so much that they allowed John Mayer sit in on the song (I've heard Mayer cover the song live in the past by himself, and he does a nice job). What is somewhat eyebrow-raising, however, is when they brought out Kanye West from backstage after the first third of the song and allowed him to freestyle his own verse. All in all, it was a bold, if not completely well thought-out, idea. The freestyle had potential, and my hopes were high, but ultimately the execution was less than inspiring. In fact, for lack of things to say, Kanye started rhyming about Al Gore and and sinking into generic hip-hop performance buzz-phrases like repetitive "uh-yeah's" and imploring the crowd to wave their hands around "like they just don't care." And while it was disappointing to see Kanye stoop to spitting such rap cliches (a move that has never been a problem for the "Louis-Vuitton-Don"), I believe there are actually two ways of viewing this performance. The first is as a veritable train-wreck, which it kind of was. The second is to look at it as somewhat refreshing, if for no other reason, then for the the genre-bending, ego-obscuring effort of it all. It's pretty respectable for the Police, who are everyone's favorite classic rock legends of the moment, to not only share the spotlight with a young, budding rock star in John Mayer, but also sharing it with an explosive, egotistical, brash young hip-hop star, who also happens to be one of the most polarizing figures in popular music. In a way, for me, it reaffirmed that maybe some of the acts that participated in this global festival actually did care about the cause more so than the spotlight. Why else would these three huge acts be plowing through a classic song that they clearly didn't rehearse together (hell, Sting couldn't even pronounce Kanye's name correctly)? Maybe that's naive logic, but remember, sometimes it's naivety that allows people sleep at night. You can judge for yourself.

Random-Video-of-the-Day: Flight of the Conchords

Believe it or not, I'm still having issues posting mp3's thanks to spotty service from MediaMax, so I'm forced to put up another video. With that in mind, today I've decided to draw attention to my new favorite TV comedy, and the brightest, most original new show on HBO (no, it's not John from Cincinnati). It's Flight of the Conchords, the best thing to come out of New Zealand since Steinlager and wool. The show is about a Kiwi folk duo who have relocated to New York City, only for hilarity and zaniness to ensue. The band, consisting of Jermaine Clement and Bret Mckenzie, search for love, success, and an overall sense of equilibrium by bumbling, redeeming, and randomly breaking into song along the way. This particular clip is my favorite tune from the show. After being confronted in an alley by a pair of street hoods, Jermaine and Bret, AKA Hiphopopotamus and Rhymenoceros, spit hot lyrical flames and drop some ill dance moves, much to the confusion of their would-be attackers. If you haven't seen the show before, this scene is a good sampler, plus it's downright hilarious.

Hip-Hop Friday: DJ Axel

When I was in Europe a few Summers ago, I came across a television show on MTV Europe called MTV-Mash, or something to that effect. It was basically a video show which was centered on a series of doctored music videos featuring two oddly-paired songs (and their respective videos) combined, or "mashed," together. You'd see the Cure paired with Nelly and Eminem paired with Shakira, etc. That was my first exposure to the mash-up phenomenon. I was shocked. Mash-up's have become far more prevalent and widespread in the years since then. Some are good and some are terrible, but when it's done right, it's a pretty brilliant form of recycling. It's also probably an enjoyable undertaking for DJ's and people of that ilk.
Peter Axelrad, AKA DJ Axel's, new album Breakin' the Law features a series of fresh mash-up's that are, at their best, very listenable, and at their worst, at least somewhat intriguing. For me, much of the album is a little too similar to last year's Rock Phenomenon mixed-tape by DJ Vlad, which essentially uses much of the same type of material, combining rock samples with rap vocals. Nonetheless, I've decided to post two of my favorites from Axel's collection, courtesy of his official website (you can check out more of the album there). Basically, the first song is here because, in my opinion you just cannot go wrong with a Bob Marley sample, regardless of what you do with it. The second is here because I found it to be the most interesting track of the collection. It combines 50 Cent and Lena Horne, in the process giving both songs a strangely original feel, even though everybody's heard the originals many times before. After all, isn't that what recycling is supposed to be all about?
"Could You Be Kick Pushed and Loved" (Bob Marley vs. Lupe Fiasco) mp3
"Rhythm Inferno" (Lena Horne vs. 50 Cent) mp3

Dr. Dog Covers Architecture in Helsinki

For whatever reason, the band Architecture in Helsinki (who aren't from Helsinki at all, but rather Australia) arranged for several specific bands to cover their song "Heart it Races" which will appear on a yet-to-be-released album. The three bands they chose are Dr. Dog, Hey Willpower, and the Soft Tigers. I won't pretend to know a whole lot about the latter two bands, or about Architecture in Helsinki for that matter, but I am a fan of my fellow Pennsylvanians Dr. Dog. And having begun to really appreciate their old-school rock sound on their latest LP We All Belong, I don't hesitate at all to say that their cover of "Heart it Races" is their studio high watermark. It sounds fresh and polished, without losing any of the retro charm of their previous recordings. Oh yeah, and it's catchy as hell too.
Dr. Dog - "Heart it Races" mp3

The Arcade Fire Rock, Even in an Elevator

MediaMax is apparently still broken, so here's another video. It's The Arcade Fire playing "Neon Bible" inside an elevator. This clip is taken from a longer version, which provides a bit more context for why they are in an elevator. It's worth checking out here. But for now, here's the shorter version.

Throwback-Video-of-the-Day: Jeff Buckley

This is a video for Jeff Buckley's first studio single "So Real," circa 1994. Quite frankly, it's about the most bizarre music video I've ever seen. I've seen it many times and I'm still not quite sure what kind of message they were trying to get across when they put together this footage. Between the ape costumes and the bicycle riding and Buckley's blatant 'wife-beater' tan at the end of the video when he's running shirtless in the street, not to mention the interlude with the people rocking out with bags over their heads, I'm not really sure how it all ties together and what it's supposed to be saying, other than simply manifesting an overly-conscious attempt to avoid the glossy, pretty-boy pop star label, which is why Jeff insisted on this song being his first single in the first place. Anyway, for what it's worth, here's the video.