Astro "Ciervos"

[mp3] Astro "Ciervos"

We had been hearing a lot bubbling up about Chilean electro-pop outfit Astro, but hadn't checked them out until we caught Pareles' write up about them Sunday in the NYT playlist. Their self-titled album (out now) is a delectable sampling of modern synth sounds and South American melodies that call to mind a more straight edge El Guincho. Here's the video for "Ciervos" above.

Tonight: Wild Beasts and Roman Candle

[mp3] Wild Beasts: "All The King's Men"

[mp3] Roman Candle: "They Say"

It's a busy concert week here in NY. We may be the most excited about tonight's show at the Mercury Lounge though which features the quickly rising stars Wild Beasts and Stark friends Roman Candle.

Headliners (8:30 p.m.), the Wild Beasts just received a positive review from Jon Pareles in today's New York Times to go along with their Best New Music tag from Pitchfork. The best part about this English group is that they pretty much deserve all of the accolades they've been receiving. Pareles drew out all the accurate references the 'Beasts draw from, most notably Dirty Projectors, New Order and, of course, the Talking Heads. The Wild Beasts' new record Two Dancers runs the gamut from dark, brooding, English melodies, to more sharp and pointed dance-rock. Two Dancers came out on Tuesday via Domino. Wild Beasts played Joe's Pub on Tuesday, Mercury tonight and Union Pool tomorrow.

Rounding out tonight’s oddly pared bill is openers Roman Candle (7:30 p.m), the smart Nashville-based pop-infused indie rockers who come equipped with more than a tinge of southern roots. Their extremly well-crafted songs are light and generally quite plesant. Exhibiting all the latter in fine form, Roman Candle's recent release, Oh Tall Tree in the Ear, is a crisp and entertaining record reflecting the true genuine qualities of this hardworking and simply put, extremely nice band -- they are great guys (and gal) that put out a good record and are bound to put on a great performance.

NYT Hits the Nail on Grizzly Bear's Head

Photo: Chad Batka for The New York Times

[mp3] Grizzly Bear: "Cheerleader"

UPDATE: Thanks to a commenter who directed us to Nico Muhly's site where the frequent GB collaborator is moderating a pretty heated discussion on the merits of the NYT review.

It was Saturday night at Hi-Fi -- a day after the Grizzly Bear show at NY's Town Hall. We met a fellow cavort who also attended the show Friday. We asked what he thought. He, oh so predictably, blurted "it was the most amazing show" to which we replied, "actually, it wasn't." When pressed, he quickly amended his statement, concurring with our arguments as to the show's many flaws. Our theory is that, when pressed, about 5% of the audience actually wholeheartedly enjoyed the Grizzly Bear show, despite the effusive standing ovation and weekend of sold-out New York shows. We are the target demographic for Grizzly Bear: fans willing to go the distance for great music. After Friday, we won't be going the distance when it comes to traveling to any more Grizzly Bear shows. Read more of our take on Friday's show, and Ben Ratliff's spot-on review of the show in the New York Times after the jump.

There is no denying the talent of these musicians. They are all amazing vocalists and Ed Droste and Dan Rossen are pretty A-list songwriters as well. There were moments of beauty and excitement Friday night. [Correction] "Lullabye" was particularly lovely. Yet, the tension would build, and never fully release or resolve itself. Even the amazing "Two Weeks" hit fell flat. Most of the show was really boring, and heavily sleepy. Two or three on our row were dead sound asleep through most of the show. We nodded off a few times before the string section came out. The sound was muddy, and most of the nuances that succeed on their records were lost. Besides a joke about tweeting from the stage, the entire show was as serious as a funeral, stand-offish, and as Ben Ratliff writes, extremely "cold." We could go on at length here, and after some beer on Saturday night, we did. But, we'll leave it to the pros here. Ratliff perfectly summarizes the show in his piece for the Times. Read it, and enjoy his writing, because in all honesty, you probably didn't really enjoy the Grizzly Bear show that much.

Two Great Songwriters Get Their Due

The younger siblings always seem to have it better. Often making the same mistakes as their elders, but avoiding the pit-fall consequences that inevitably befell those that came before. Such is the case with Steve Earle, the protege of legendary artist Townes Van Zandt. This Sunday, the New York Times sought to give Mr. Earle the proper recognition he deserves, something they may have failed to offer to Mr. Van Zandt. Perhaps realizing their fault, Anthony DuCurtis used adjectives such as "genius" to describe Townes Van Zandt.

While we're not here to re-write Mr. DuCurtis' feature, we're here to direct you to the piece and tip our hat (again) to the genius of both Mr. Earle and Mr. Van Zandt. They lived parallel lives, both struggling with addiction, and for the most part, staying within the shadows of the mainstream music industry. Yet, like the dutiful younger student he is, Earle sought to correct the mistakes of Van Zandt by getting clean and taking the right steps to correctly position himself in the eye of the industry at large. Steve Earle's latest album, Townes, comes out tomorrow and is an amazing tribute to his mentor. Earle's record does its best to reveal mistakes already made and to light the path for younger proteges in hopes that they can avoid the traps that so ensnared two of the greatest songwriters of the modern era.

Call to Readers in China, We Have Free Music Too!

Alexander F. Yuan/Associated PressKai-fu Lee of Google Greater China, in Beijing on Monday.

This post goes out to our readers in the greater-Asian continents: Yeah, we see you on our analytics, and we want to see more!

Blogger, for those of you know don't know, is a subsidiary program of Google. In recent NYT news, the geniuses at Google said they will now offer free music links to China, something unavailable in any other reach of the globe. Why China you ask? For starters, over 300 million Chinese are Internet users; it is said that over 99% of the music downloads in China are illegal; and, I had to Google this, China's population stands at 1,319,175,333. Check out this sadistic site.

What does this all mean? It means that we, as an emerging blog, would love to express our non-communist-enforcing, non-illegal downloading love to our Chinese readers. There are plenty of you: Come ravage our free music, tell your friends, and return any and all the time.

Google will serve as our international liaison. Here's to corporate exploitation! Get some.

Lots of Music Coverage in Today's NYT

Photo by Kyle Dean Reinford for BV

This weekend held a full plate of music in NYC, and today the New York Times offers up its views on the boomer rock, indie rock, and post-boomer/indie rock that took place in the city. Also included is a non-committal, but good review of the new Neko Case record.

A great, if not cryptic review of Grizzly Bear and Final Fantasy with Nico Muhley and the Brooklyn Philharmonic at BAM by Nate Chinen. NYT Review HERE. Additional coverage at Brooklyn Vegan.

A surprisingly bad review of David Byrne at Radio City by Jon Pareles. By all first-hand accounts we heard, it was amazing. Hmm. NYT review HERE.

A not surprisingly bad review of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks revival at MSG Theater by John Caramanica. NYT Review HERE.

Neko Case & Bela Fleck album reviews by Jon Pareles and Nate Chinen HERE.

BONUS: A strange graph of the "Top Three Albums of 2009" (sans Animal Collective.) HERE.

M.I.A Sends an Ambiguous Message to Sri Lankans

Photo: Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

We stumbled upon an interesting article regarding M.I.A in the strangest of places in today's NY Times. On the front page of the International section, writer Thomas Fuller reports on the uneasiness of some Sri Lankans with regard to M.I.A's implicit support of the rebel group the Tamil Tigers in some of her lyrics and images in her music videos. The Tamil Tigers have been fighting in a decades long civil war with the Sri Lankan government. The United States and European countries consider the Tigers a terrorist group, although Amnesty International lays blame for human rights violations on both sides of the conflict which has killed over 70,000 people. This is clearly a prickly issue to tackle as M.I.A has come out against all forms of terrorism, but also hopes to bring to light what she refers to as "genocide" being carried out against the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. Clearly worth a full read of the Times article which is HERE.

“Being the only Tamil in the Western media, I have a really great opportunity to sort of bring forward what’s going on in Sri Lanka,” she said in an interview on the PBS program “Tavis Smiley” last month. “There’s a genocide going on.”

But her political views rankle some people at a time when most Sri Lankans are clutching to the hope that the rebels, branded by the United States and European nations as a terrorist group, are on the verge of military defeat by government troops.

“Frankly, she’s very lucky to get away with supporting, even indirectly, perhaps the most ruthless terrorist outfit in the world,” said Suresh Jayawickrama, a songwriter based in Colombo.

Hipsters Rejoice! Let It Grow, Says NYT

The New York Times reported this morning that beards are on the way out. Yes. Shave them, but leave the mustache. That's right, David Colman says mustaches are now the way to go. So groom up.

We decided to throw together a quick Top Five Indie Mustaches as depicted in GVB Polaroids after the jump...

Let us know your favorite indie musctahers.


Number 1: Jared Swilley (Black Lips)
Number 2: King Khan
Number 3: Man Man
Number 4: De La Soul
Number 5: (update) Brandon Flowers. Fist Pump: Greg.

RIP - Odetta

Legendary folk/blues singer Odetta passed away yesterday of heart disease, she was 77. Sad news. See below from the NY Times obituary.

Odetta sang at coffeehouses and at Carnegie Hall, made highly influential recordings of blues and ballads, and became one of the most widely known folk-music artists of the 1950s and ’60s. She was a formative influence on dozens of artists, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Janis Joplin.

Her voice was an accompaniment to the black-and-white images of the freedom marchers who walked the roads of Alabama and Mississippi and the boulevards of Washington in the quest to end racial discrimination.

Rosa Parks, the woman who started the boycott of segregated buses in Montgomery, Ala., was once asked which songs meant the most to her. She replied, “All of the songs Odetta sings."

Odetta sang at the march on Washington, a pivotal event in the civil rights movement, in August 1963. Her song that day was “O Freedom,” dating to slavery days: “O freedom, O freedom, O freedom over me, And before I’d be a slave, I’d be buried in my grave, And go home to my Lord and be free.”

Digital Sales Surpass Physical at Atlantic Records

"Atlantic, a unit of Warner Music Group, says it has reached a milestone that no other major record label has hit: more than half of its music sales in the United States are now from digital products, like downloads on iTunes and ring tones for cellphones."
-NYT

According to the New York Times, Atlantic Records is reporting that digital product sales have accounted for 51% of its revenue in the fourth quarter. This marks the first time this has happened on a major label level. While everyone seemed to expect it, the reversal in overall profit has come sooner than most expected. As the NYT reported, labels have long hoped that a rise in digital sales would offset the slump in physical profits. Yet, at this time that hope seems to have evaporated. Labels are exploring many options surrounding the "360 model" which includes sharing profits from ticket and merch sales, but a suitable and sustainable model has not yet emerged. Read the full article HERE.

Good for Gang Gang?

Photo Credit: Robert Wright for The New York Times

The NYT 's gave Gang Gang Dance a pretty nice spread in today's Arts section. Also acting as a pseudo-CMJ-artist-highlight-article, journalist Melena Ryzik discusses Gang Gang's move from cult status to "band of the moment." So, in other words, they have increased their terror level to magenta, now up from chartreuse.

We can't ascertain whether Gang Gang care about their new-found public championing. Doesn't seem that way. Anyway, we are really enjoying their new album, so who gives a shit about trendiness. Anyway, read for yourself.

Oh and Happy CMJing! Leave us comments about artists that really rock out with their proverbial cock out this week.

Myspace

After the jump.

Gang Gang Dance -

Saint Dymphna

RATING: 85

Release Date: Oct.21, 2008 (The Social Registry)
Who: Lizzi Bougatsos, Brian Degraw, Tim Dewit and Josh Diamond
Where: New York, NY
___________
Gang Gang Dance - "House Jam" - mp3
Gang Gang Dance's (GGD) newest album takes its name from the patron saint of outsiders, taboo subject matter and general disorder* -- OK, that's interesting enough even before spinning the record. Classified by some as "neo-tribal," GGD's combination of rustic rhythms, chants, drones and electronic beats does produce a feeling of musical Africanism -- more specifically, techno Africanism (coin that term.)

Saint Dymphna seamlessly transitions from song-to-song making the album a no-hassle dance party CD or the perfect set-it-and-forget-it background music.

GGD have done well to harness the popularity of their previous LP God's Money, tweaking and tightening their sound to better suit the more pop-centric needs of today's listening audience. That alone makes Saint Dymphna more accessible; they don't stray far from the well-established exoticisms inherent in their music -- it's now just more refined.

Album highlights include "Blue Nile" equipped with chest-vibrating-bass-thumps and ominous choral and guitar drones. "Princes" uses MIDI-like synth riffs to drive the Sean John-style vocals that seem to creep out of nowhere. Other tracks to check out: seemingly Daft Punk-inspired "Holy Communication" and 70s pop-influenced "House Jam."

You never really know what you're going to get next with this album and that's its major selling point.

* The Social Registry

Do the D.A.N.C.E

Even Justice can't compete with Matt Harding whose YouTube clip has generated over 4-million views, as reported by the New York Times. Taking place in 69 different locations around the world, Harding is dancing his way into history — wow that was bad. Our major qualm with this video is the music choice (obviously.) There are monumentally better musical tracks to accompany this video. What a great idea though. It kind of reminds me of the chubby Star Wars kid video. Regardless, it's good entertainment.

After the jump.

David Byrne Plays Building Piano

Play That Building Dave.

What? Like you were expecting anything less?

No one knows what goes on in Mr. Byrne's mind. Even those of you who took the time to read Byrne's cognitive journal (or book if you could call it that) Arboretum, still probably couldn't tell you. Byrne must have just been bored, so why not lock himself in the Battery Maritime Building and create a musical installation. Thanks to the New York Times for this story, but being that they ARE the Times, of course they wouldn't let us embed the video. So follow the link. It is worth it.

Oh David, what will you think of next?

MGMT - "Electric Feel" Video

So we went to a LSD-induced Lord of the Rings gathering with MGMT in the woods and a dance party broke out. Who knew the moon had a molten center of psychedelic liquid? There must be something said for the musical talent of the seemingly Chuck E. Cheese-like house band of animatronics tucked back in the trees - how do they keep such a steady beat? A grizzly bear on lead vocals, a tuxedoed gorilla pianist, some sort of three-toed sloth on bass and a dog drummer? What an eclectic mix. In this fantasy forest, animal horns double as microphones, 40s are Technicolor and motorcycles can fly. The moon is fragile though folks, so if you crash your motorcycle into it, it WILL EXPLODE. Thanks for this gem MGMT - send me an invite to the next Rave in the woods.


After the jump.

Gearing Up for Summer Releases

The New York Times recently published the "notable albums scheduled for summer-season release" list - yes, the list that ultimately accounts for $20 spending sprees and mornings feeling bad about yourself for doing so. Remember how you felt after buying Tyler Ramsey's A Long Dream About Swimming Across the Sea?. Yeah, we are talking about that CD store walk-of-shame.

But, those worth mentioning include: Weezer - Weezer, Adele - 19, Emmylou Harris - All I Intended to Be, My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges, The Hold Steady - Stay Positive and Conor Oberst- Conor Oberst.

Look to Stark for future reviews.

Hipster Artists v. MTV Blockheads - Round 1: McKibbin Lofts

This week I learned that MTV plans to film the 21^st season of The Real World in Brooklyn. Like most shows on MTV, Real World seems almost exclusively populated with some combination of attention-seeking/racist/arrogant/homophobic/drunken/sexist /painfully stupid excuses for human beings. (I generalize, but if you’re over the age of 17 and you’ve watched this program or any of its asinine spin-offs lately, I suspect you’ll agree.) They haven’t picked a location yet, but The New York Observer speculated about both Carroll Gardens and Williamsburg as possibilities.

Gawker was quick and clever to outline their own plan, calling for the series to be filmed in the McKibbin Lofts, which brings me to my point. Profoundly uncool non-hipster that I am, I first read about McKibbin last week in The New York Times, which presented the two-building complex as a squalid haven for New York’s most recent generation of struggling artists, akin to “Greenwich Village 60 years ago, or SoHo 30 years ago, or the East Village in the 1990s.” Fascinating, I thought, scanning the related slide show of artsy black and white photos depicting the trendy, creative-looking folks who live in these sprawling industrial relics.

Then I read the story. According to the Times, these kids are effectively sleeping in cubbies, sometimes windowless, often with bedbugs. It’s loud, and occasionally people steal your stuff or piss outside your door. There are lots of parties, but some of them are lame. This is the new Utopia for starving creative types? The music/art/film that defines my generation may be spawned in these massive former industrial buildings barely suited for human habitation? I mean, I get it – artists are supposed to starve and this probably just a stop along the way and fodder for the craft, but it all seems a bit homogenous to me.

Together, the McKibbin buildings house about 600 of what the Times terms “mostly white hip young things.” Located in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the surrounding neighborhood is a rough and different demographic. These buildings are effectively islands, and one resident interviewed in the Times story says: “You don’t have to leave this building, with the exception of food. I don’t really speak to the locals.”

If art is borne of originality and imagination and McKibbin is home to a bunch of carbon copy hipsters who don’t see much reason to leave the compound, just what brand of creativity does this environment foster? I’ve never been to the lofts, and surely a few Gawker posts and a Times article don’t tell the whole story. Based on what I’ve read though, I’m all for tossing the next group of Real Worlders into McKibbin and seeing what happens. Even if no one learns anything from their differences, hipster artists v. MTV blockheads would make for damn entertaining TV.

Ashley Herriman - Stark Contributing Writer

Photos: Christian Hansen for The New York Times

Vetiver: Thing of the Past

I've really been loving the new Vetiver record Thing of the Past. I agree with Ben Ratliff of the New York Times in that there are many reasons to not like this record, chief among them the fact that covers records are often fraught with peril. Yet, on Thing of the Past, Vetiver manages to navigate these dangers by selecting obscure songs that also happen to be really good. Vetiver enlists folk icon Vashti Bunyan to give the band's pastoral folk that tinge of authenticity so many folk acts strive for today. The sound is warm, summery and downright pleasant. Thing of the Past seems to hit its mark by giving the listener the experience of discovering some forgotten record, blowing away the dust and enjoying something old for the first time (see cover art).

Enjoy the tune "Blue Driver" below.

Vetiver - Blue Driver - mp3

Download

Gawker Media to Sell Sites

On Monday, Gawker Media announced the sale of three sites, including Gawker music blog Idolator. The site will join ex-rival Stereogum, at Buzznet, which is a musically-focused social networking site that doesn’t like to adhere to the “social network” label. Buzznet may or may not be trying to orchestrate a mass grab of existing music blogs.

In a widely circulated internal email announcing the sale, Gawker publisher and acting managing editor Nick Denton said simply, “Why these three sites? To be blunt: they each had their editorial successes; but someone else will have better luck selling the advertising than we did.”

Fair enough — Idolator was one of Gawker’s two poorest performers and the sale was first rumored late last year. Denton further noted, “…We've been waiting for the internet bubble to burst. No, really, this time. And even if not, better safe than sorry; and better too early than too late.”

Denton’s reasoning seems sound and his conclusion logical, but it begs all kinds of questions about the future of new media and Internet advertising. According to a New York Times article published last November, ad spending on social networking sites is growing rapidly and expected to continue. These issues are bound to be explored further in the coming weeks as rumors of a Yahoo-AOL deal continue to swirl in the wake of other high-profile acquisitions, like News Corp’s purchase of MySpace. The underlying point seems to be that no one quite has this game figured out yet, and in the face of widespread-financial uncertainty, Denton’s circumspect decision to enter “the bunker” may prove a wise one.

Reference:

CNET

AlleyInsider.com

- Ashley Herriman (guest contributor to Stark)