Nashville trio The Ettes have a new record out called Wicked Will via Krian Music Group. One of the songs, “Excuse”, has a terrific new Tom Scharpling-directed video starring none other than Patton Oswalt. Pretty clever use of $81M if you ask me.

[Buy Wicked Will by The Ettes from iTunes]

Santi White (the one known to the world as Santigold) has managed to keep her head in the game as she headed back into the studio to create the follow-up to her wildly-successful self-titled debut album. After all, fusing elements of Jazz, Reggae, R&B, Hip-Hop and Punk Rock into something entirely new requires precision and attention. But know that she is capable of this feat, ladies and gentlemen, is why I got very excited to see that new Santigold songs are beginning to emerge. This song, “Go” featuring Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, is no slow-burner. It’s a statement of fact when you get to that place everyone wishes they could get to.

“People want my power and they want my station” — I feel you, Santi.

Speaking of anticipated new albums, The Strokes new album is due out tomorrow, 22 March 2011. To put it mildly, Angles [Amazon] is freaking everyone out. Their recent appearance on Saturday Night Live was flawlessly executed, and their showcase on Friday at SXSW 2011 nearly caused a riot to ensue, proving the band’s 5 year hiatus has done nothing but improve their quality. Some might even say (including me) that Angles is such an essential album, its excellence overshadows the band’s seminal debut Is This It [Amazon]. Here’s the official video for “Under Cover of Darkness” — it speaks for itself.

The Strokes – Under Cover of Darkness

[ Purchase Angles [Vinyl] from Amazon ]

If power pop is really not your thing, you’re probably in the wrong spot. To my excitement, it happens to be the thing of Vancouver, BC darlings Mother Mother whose third studio album, Eureka, is due for release on 15 March worldwide.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: Sometimes real musical gems come strolling out of left field wearing bright colors, and count this album among them. Eureka’s great strength is in how it effortlessly floats seamlessly between bubblegum pieces of power pop, candied new wave and rock, never becoming altogether an effort of puerile attrition nor a stiff cardboard copy of the genres it bleeds into.

Don’t get me wrong: Mother Mother knows how to inject some rather dark lyrical overtures into their soaring harmonies. But it informs the work we hear without bringing us down in the process. Not merely individually good songs, the album as a whole is the sum of its magnificent parts. The songs come crystalline across the wire like an elegantly crafted thank you letter to Jellyfish, The Cars, Jon Brion, Jason Falkner, The Grays, and Matthew Sweet, all the while maintaining the band’s (and each song’s) individuality. There’s unbridled joy in Mother Mother‘s harmonic blasts, well-worth the broad attention and accolades they deserve. If there’s any justice, this should be the album for the summer of 2011.

Mother Mother – Chasing It Down
Mother Mother- Baby Don’t Dance

[ Mother Mother will appear at SXSW [sched] Friday, March 18, 2011 11:00 PM at Swan Dive (615 Red River Street) ]

Ichiban (Number one) in the world (Candidly, it is however Kakkoii (Cool) without affectation.)

The new Shonen Knife album, “Free Time” is a product of Japan’s invincibility, with nearly three decades of releases and thousands of shows to their credits, the girls of SK offer an English version of their 2010 Japanese release “Free Time” to the fans in North America. Shonen Knife’s latest CD “Free Time” is hard and is also pop, and it is mellow and kitsch as well. You can listen to those kinds of sounds only on the new “Free Time” album being released on Good Charamel Records in North America on August 31st 2010 with 2 US bonus tracks. This is an exposition of the Rock. Shonen Knife is also joined by Osaka comedians 50 Kaitenz on the album as guest vocalists.

Very very active Shonen Knife!!!

In 2007, they released an album “fun! fun! fun!” in Japan (an English language version will be released on vinyl in the US for the upcoming “Free Time” tour in September of 2010). Over the past few years they’ve been very busy playing lots of shows, performing on a kids album for “Powerpuff Girls” with a video aired daily on Cartoon Network, they enjoyed a successful 2009 North American tour, recorded a cover song for an AC/DC tribute album and played at many, many rock festivals including “Matt Groening’s “All Tomorrow’s Festival” in the UK and Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, Texas. Their 2009 “Supergroup” tour titled “Shonen Knife – Live at the Mohawk” is to be released on Good Charamel DVD in July of 2010 in the USA.

Free Time will be out in the U.S. August 31st on Good Charamel records.

Shonen Knife 2010 North American Tour Dates
09.08.10 Wed   Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
09.09.10 Thu   Vancouver, B.C. @ Biltmore Cabaret w/ Jeff The Brotherhood
09.10.10 Fri   Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
09.11.10 Sat   Oakland, CA @ Uptown Night Club
09.12.10 Sun   San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
09.13.10 Mon   San Diego, CA @ Casbah
09.14.10 Tue   Los Angeles, CA @ Spaceland
09.17.10 Fri   Austin, TX @ Red 7
09.18.10 Sat   Dallas, TX @ The Loft w/ Lovies
09.19.10 Sun   Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar w/ Grass Widow
09.20.10 Mon   Northfield, MN @ The Cave
09.21.10 Tue   Chicago, IL @ Schubas
09.22.10 Wed   Kalamazoo, MI @ The Strutt w/ Grass Widow
09.23.10 Thu   Cincinnati, OH @ Midpoint Music Festival
09.24.10 Fri   Pittsburgh, PA @ 31st St. Pub
09.25.10 Sat   New York, NY @ Asia Society Museum
09.26.10 Sun   Washington, D.C. @ Rock and Roll Hotel  w/ Grass Widow
09.28.10 Tue   Brooklyn, NY @ Knitting Factory (Brooklyn)
09.30.10 Thu   Montreal, QB @ Cabaret du Mile End
10.01.10 Fri   Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
10.02.10 Sat   Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place

GOOD CHARAMEL SITES
www.goodcharamel.com
myspace.com/goodcharamelrecords
twitter.com/goodcharamel

SHONEN KNIFE SITES
www.shonenknife.net
www.myspace.com/shonenknife
twitter.com/shonenknife ]]> http://loudersoft.com/5333/shonen-knife-announce-north-american-tour-dates/feed/ 0 http://loudersoft.com/4065/top-songs-of-2008-loudersoft/ http://loudersoft.com/4065/top-songs-of-2008-loudersoft/#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:50:30 +0000 E.J. http://loudersoft.com/?p=4065 Last year, I procrastinated heavily. I think there were a lot of good records that came out the last couple of years, but I started to think that for every record that came out, there was an equal number of these “best-of” lists being bandied about. At first I thought, “Wow, it’s finally happened. Everyone’s a music critic.” Then, with this pervasive thought entrenched in my gourd, I started reading these other lists before making my own.

I suddenly felt small.

So deadlines for the “best of 2007″ rolled around, and I was in a tailspin, dogged by the massive amount of music I had encountered. I kept reflecting on these words of Billy Corgan that I’d read years ago. Billy had once quipped to, I think, Rolling Stone, that, “Not every year can be a great, or even good, year in music.” This thought just stirred in my head and fed into some neurosis. The thought actually fucked with me; maybe 2007 wasn’t that great? Or was it? So I slacked until it was way too late to really do it with any fervor.

Newsflash: Shit aint happening like that this year. I’m past all that, and this year’s going to be different.

I don’t know if my opinion is necessarily better or worse than anyone else’s when it comes to music. I’m a long-time deep music fan who combs the trenches for something new and different, someone who’s been doing that for years. I have an opinion about music which is informed by all that, but I don’t pretend to know what is or isn’t “good” or “the best”. If you love hip-hop, you’re going to think a different album is the #1 album of the year than I am (even though I love hip-hop). If you love indie rock, same thing.

If I sat down and tried to pinpoint the one unifying factor in the music that I listen to and enjoy, it would have to be “music with a soul”. It doesn’t have to preach an ideology or start a movement, it doesn’t have to be anthemic or angelic. It simply has to get me to stop what I’m doing and go, “What in the hell is this?” When I become awestruck, the music will stay with me.

This list represents the songs released in 2008 (to the best of my knowledge) which caught me in my tracks, got me to stand up and take notice, gave me a reason to write and feel good at the end of the day that I was telling everyone a new secret or spreading the good news. I hope you’ll enjoy these as much as I have enjoyed hearing them.

1 – Voxpop – “The Boomerang Generation” (unsigned)

When this London four-piece popped this song into my inbox, I had no idea what I was getting. They sent a sweet and humble letter along with it asking me to please share with my readers. The song is dynamic in a string of ways: it’s a pop song, it’s a protest song, and it’s filled with the kind of energy I love to hear. Far and away, this is my favorite song of 2008. Let’s hope that 2009 will bring us a Voxpop album to hear & enjoy.

2 – Lil’ Wayne (produced by Bangladesh) – “A Milli”

The song is inescapable. You couldn’t get away from it most of this entire year & it took some folks a minute to get with the program. But love or hate Lil’ Wayne, this song was a cornerstone of 2008 stereos, parties, clubs, remixes, and just about everything else. Respect.

3 – MGMT – “Time to Pretend”

I am extremely proud of MGMT and happy for them — what started as an experiment in their dorm room at Wesleyan has blossomed into an anthemic world-wide phenomenon. This song was on the tips of every tongue that knew its words and could relate. This song is great because, plainly, it paints a portrait of a certain truth (to which you’re either hip or you’re not). The song’s intent, along the group themselves, seem to lack the pretension that the press wants to heap on them. I, for one, can’t wait to hear what their work with The Chemical Brothers is going to sound like.

4 – Santogold – “L.E.S. Artistes”

Santi White is an operator of the highest order: she’s the real deal, wearing every helmet she comes across with dignity and sheer style. Performer, songwriter, executive — she can do it all and do it all well. In the song “L.E.S. Artistes”, Santogold has both capitalized on and captured a portrait of a time in music and arts that has seemed fairly desperate. If ever an anthemic line was needed by those on their way to whatever success, “I can say I hope it will be worth what I give up” should be the mantra to which they adhere.

5 – Estelle (feat. kanYe West) – “American Boy”

It took me a long time to get into this record, but once it stuck with me I was sold. The maturity of Estelle’s progress as a performer and singer is impressive, her vocal prowess unmistakable. The marriage of her style with kanYe’s flows make the song as world-class as it purports to be.

6 – Lord T & Eloise (feat. 8 Ball) – “Back From the Business Trip”

If you’re from down in my neck of the woods, you know that Lord T & Eloise were everywhere this year, selling out (and overselling) venues everywhere. Word of mouth has been kind to them with good reason. Not just because I told you so (and I did tell you so), but because they gave 300% to every packed out venue they set foot in and ripped every microphone they touched. “The Industry” still haven’t figured out how to classify LT&E, but they need to stop thinking about it and just blast their jams. Aristocrunk is on the move.

7 – Aimee Mann – “Looking for Nothing”

As Aimee Mann carries on her journey as a songwriter and performer, she continues to craft elegant pop song structures around stories that evoke the wistfulness of a by-gone era with distinction. Fully modern in their presentation and execution, her 2008 release was a peerless collection of satisfying, soul-wrenching odes, perfecting a sound she has long been masterful in shaping and humbled by creating. “Looking for Nothing” represents her finest material, and one of the most perfectly-penned songs of the year.

8 – Meg Hutchinson – “Home”

From time to time, it seems to me that the least liked (or known) songs are often the most loved. Folk singer-songwriter Meg Hutchinson has, perhaps, suffered from a curse of virtual anonymity this year, but by no fault of her music. Some songs cannot be reviewed effectively; they can only take on meaning to the listener through time and circumstance. It is my great hope that others will come to find the deep-ceded affection that I have found for this song, an ode to appreciation for the things we all take for granted far too often.

9 – Erykah Badu – “Honey”

Erykah Badu….man man man. A soul diva and performer of the highest order, she just continues to release albums (and songs) that turn my knobs, nahh mean? Seems like on every record she releases, it’s the “bonus track” that really contains an actual bonus to it. New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) will likely be in my year’s best, and this song represents to the fullest what Ms. Badu is laying down.

10 – Portishead – “We Carry On”

I didn’t know what I was going to do when I heard a new Portishead album was on the way. With so much time gone between records, I couldn’t have imagined them being in bed with their old sound. I remember my shock as darker and moodier sounds came from my stereo; it was everything that I could have hoped for. This song was my #1 favorite from Third, an album I continue to love and be fascinated by.

The Rest Of The Best (Click Individual Songs in the Playlist to Play, or play for continuous stream in order)

11 Bon Iver – Skinny Love
12 TV on the Radio – Halfway Home
13 Raphael Saadiq – Love That Girl
14 Blitzen Trapper – Sleepytime In The Western World
15 Grace Jones – Williams Blood
16 Teenagers – Starlett Johannson
17 Al Green – You’ve Got The Love I Need (feat. Anthony Hamilton)
18 Adele – Chasing Pavements
19 Q-Tip – Manwomanboogie (feat. Amanda Diva)
20 Oasis – The Turning
21 Treasure Fingers – Cross The Dancefloor
22 Kutiman – Music Is Ruling My World
23 Smoking Popes – If You Don’t Care
24 Chad VanGaalen – Bare Feet on Wet Griptape
25 Benji Hughes – So Well
26 Friendly Fires – Paris
27 Brazilian Girls – Good Time
28 John Elliott – The Ballad of Wallace Green and his Dog
29 Bob Dylan – Dreamin’ of You
30 Department of Eagles – No One Does It Like You
31 Ssion – Street Jizz
32 The Roots – 75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction)
33 Charles Hamilton – Brooklyn Girls
34 Sigur Ros – Gobbledygook
35 Jamie Lidell – Another Day
36 Gossip – Listen Up (Punks Jump Up Remix)
37 Of Montreal – Gallery Piece
38 Fujiya & Miyagi – Knickerbocker
39 Anthem In – Down
40 Blood Red Shoes – You Bring Me Down
41 Graham Weber – Italian Lullaby
42 Oh Snap!! – Bill Cosby Sweater (Hostage Remix)
43 Beck – Chemtrails
44 Thunderheist – Jerk It
45 T.I. – Swagga Like Us (feat. kanYe West, Jay-Z & Lil’ Wayne)
46 Coldplay – Death and all His Friends
47 Ivan Colon – Gabriel
48 Cut Copy – Far Away
49 Monsters are Waiting – Don’t Lie
50 Beach House – Gila

(Ed. Note: I’m reposting this with updated information, so if it looks like you’ve read this, you have — but now you can go buy the record)

I’m so sick and tired of all the bullshit, aren’t you?

I am so tired of being force-fed the idea that clowning on a style that you used to do is supposed to be clever and cool. Weezer’s completely over-hyped and under-delivering 2008 release, aka the Red Album, is getting one mention in this column and one only: every time you see another article hyping Weezer, remember that there’s a conspiracy out there of people trying to steal a piece of your soul. With all due deference to Weezer (a band whom I have loved and admired for many years), the new record just didn’t cut it, boys. I know that next great Weezer record will be here someday.

But today is not your day.

Meanwhile, only through some modern miracle did the byline of a reformed Smoking Popes happen my way this morning along with a copy of their new album, entitled Stay Down. Now, you know something? I have always liked Smoking Popes & I’ve always felt like they were treated like redheaded stepchildren to Rivers & Co., turning out a series of records and touring incessantly, putting on energetic live shows that were consistent. Smoking Popes have finally made the jump to legendary status, and you should sit up and take notice. More after the jump.

Smoking Popes – Welcome to Janesville

The core of the band is a family affair, one that consists of brothers Eli, Josh and Matt Caterer. The brothers decision to split the band in 1997 (and brother Josh’s subsequent conversion to Christianity) threatened to be the end of what was, and is, an incredibly influential part of the 1990′s pop-punk movement. However, after a few additional reawakenings and off-shoots, the band reformed to little fanfare in 2006 and began touring and playing a series of Josh’s new songs. In April, Neil Hennessy from The Lawrence Arms joined them on drums. That pretty much brings you up to now.

What I can tell you about their new album, Stay Down is more than just the masterpiece of power pop that I want it to be. It’s an album filled with well-written songs, unshy about its influences and proud of them. It makes it hard, after listening to this album a few times, to put on records by those with lesser talents or vocal mastery than the brothers Caterer.

I feel strongly that this is one of those albums that people should be calling “the album of the summer 2008″ because, unlike the red-headed step child that a certain other band gave birth to, Stay Down comes across as what it’s meant to be: a truly inspired and long overdue piece of work.

It’s signature pop-punk blended with these gorgeous Sinatra-influenced three-part harmonies that Smoking Popes have always been known for. But unlike some of their earlier recordings, I really hear Josh’s voice in full clarity. What sets Stay Down apart from previous Smoking Popes albums (as I remember them) is the overwhelming consistency of the quality here. The time signatures and guitar work, the songwriting and the performances really highlight how soul bankrupt other recently-released pop-punk albums are.

Do yourself a favor, Weezer fans. I’m a Weezer fan, too, ok? I find it a crime against nature that Weezer is allowed to do an album that is just average & have it praised to the high heavens while, just days before it’s released, I can’t find a single piece of press about this unbelievable new Smoking Popes release. Stay Down is so good, it might make you forget about…..uh…what was that band called?

Furthermore, I want to apologize to the Caterer brothers for going on and on, throwing up the comparison between the two records; however, in my own defense, I feel like it’s the only way I can get anyone to blow the smoke out of their eyes, to find this needle in the haystack of the internet and pay attention to the incredible album you’ve created.

Now that I’ve drawn you the best picture I can, I’m going to give you a sneak peek at one of the tracks from this album. As soon as I can tell you where to buy it, I’m going to do it right away. If you love pop-punk, indie pop or anything of the like, you would be doing yourself a favor to find Stay Down somewhere and buy it immediately. This album is waiting, needing to be heard so badly.

Smoking Popes – If You Don’t Care

I guess you can visit Smoking Popes on their MySpace page for updates until I find out what’s going on.

UPDATE: I guess this is available from iTunes by clicking here — NOW GO GET IT

Chris Pizzello / AP

MSNBC is reporting that a lear jet containing former Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker and one of Hollywood’s favorite deejays, DJ AM (real name Adam Goldstein) crashed early this morning near Columbia, SC.

Four people were killed in the crash, identified as Charles Still, 25 of Los Angeles, Chris Baker (best known as Travis Barker’s Publicist), 29, and the two pilots, Sarah Lemmon, 31, and James Bland, 52. Witnesses on the scene indicated that at the time of the crash, both Goldstein and Barker were seen fleeing the wreckage engulfed in flames from head to toe.

Both are in critical condition at a burn center in Augusta, Ga., about 75 miles southwest of Columbia. Travis Barker, according to MSNBC, was performing Friday night at an event alongside Perry Farrell, the former Jane’s Addiction singer, as well as Gavin DeGraw and Goldstein. The two had performed together recently at MTV’s 25th Annual Video Music Awards.

UPDATED 11:35am: TMZ has learned Travis Barker has been burned from the waist down, but he is expected to survive the plane crash. DJ AM’s face was severely burned and is being tended to right now.