For this week’s Remix Friday, we’ve got some tight jams that are sure to make their way onto your weekend playlist. The remixed tracks are songs originally done by MGMT, Drake, Justice, Wu-Tang, Kid Cudi, Ratatat, Kings of Leon, Phoenix, Imogen Heap, Feist, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The remixing artists are Chiddy Bang, Matamatics, Starters, Benny Benassi, DJ Slink, Alex Metric, Diplo, and A-Trak. Listen to all of them and enjoy.
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People criticized Scarlett Johansson’s album, Anywhere I Lay My Head because her vocals were hidden beneath layers of effects. However, this time, teaming up with Pete Yorn, Scarlett Johansson’s music career could flourish with the release of the duo’s album, Break Up. The idea came to Yorn when, after days of insomnia, he finally got some sleep. Yorn claims it came to him in a dream and as soon as he woke up, he was on the phone with Johansson.
Two years before Johansson released her Tom Waits cover album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, Yorn had already planned the entire album. He had hoped to recreate the magic found in the late 1960s recording of Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot’s “Bonnie & Clyde” and, despite not knowing what Scarlett Johansson’s voice sounded like, Yorn thought she would be perfect for the part. “For some reason the image I had in my head and the context of the project, Scarlett just seemed right for it. In fact, when I asked her if she would do it I didn’t even know she could sing. … I knew that she was very talented and it was like an afterthought. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m sure she can sing.’” (Alternative Press) [read more…]
After ten years of working for fame and fortune, these southern church boys have finally made it. They have thousands of fans around the world, a top ten single for the last six months, and a platinum album. But what could they possibly be missing? That’s right, a live DVD. Kings of Leon is due to release their first ever live recording on November 10, 2009. The recorded show is live from the UK, the first nation to embrace the band and invest in their music. The band is well-known and well-loved in England which would explain why they would choose to have their performance recorded there. The DVD should prove to be one of total awesomeness.
[read more…]
You do a lot of questionable things with a few beers in you walking down Boston’s Commonwealth Ave. at 3 a.m. Sometimes you think it’s good idea to down a giant 5-dollar sausage from Che-Chi’s or piss in a public alleyway… I don’t know, sometimes it just makes sense.
It was one of those nights, and my friends and I were butchering an impromptu version of ‘Knife.’ We decided that it wasn’t even a song, but a movement. Then I saw them live for the first time at Bonnaroo, covered in sweaty filth (which made sand floors a really poor choice), but when the waltzing strings of ‘Lullaby’ started, it didn’t matter. It wasn’t even normal; the performance was inhuman.
Grizzly Bear is a funny name for such a calm and refined band. When my friend told her mom she was going to a Grizzly Bear show, the response was utter disgust – to think we’d find entertainment in watching ferocious animals claw each other.
Not to say they lack ferocity. I saw Grizzly Bear the second time around at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston, and I’ve never been so undividedly engaged, even with the audience seated the entire time (except when we started dancing to the closer ‘On a Neck, On a Spit’). Grizzly Bear has a mesmerizing sort of style — beautiful in sound, stealthy with instrumentals and haunting in harmony.
After the show I was able to (obnoxiously) flag down Chris Taylor, the square-jawed blondie responsible for the oh-oo-oh-oo-ohwah in ‘Knife’ as well as other wonderful harmonizations, bass and wind instruments. Chris is a person of impressive skill and kind demeanor. I shook his hand and before I knew it, he’d politely agreed to a phone interview. I didn’t jump up and down until I left the theatre.
To me, it’s safe to say the world (at least the blogging world) has fallen in love with Grizzly Bear, but in talking with Chris we focused less on the group and more on him. He has teamed up with Lust Boys’ Ethan Silverman to create Terrible Records in which they will release a series of 20 split 7 inches. The first of these comes out today, October 13th. It’s entitled CANT and features Arthur Russell and Chris Taylor himself.
Be sure to check it out! But first read this interview with Chris Taylor to learn more about Terrible Records, his musical background, his childhood dreams, and his love for cooking. (Endearing, right?!) [read more…]
Currently on their North American tour, Grizzly Bear made an appearance last night on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. They played their hit song from Veckatimest, “Two Weeks,” with Beach House member Victoria Legrand. Legrand is also featured with Grizzly Bear on the song “Slow Life,” which is part of the upcoming soundtrack for Twilight: New Moon. Check it out.
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Halloween 2009 has finally arrived. Hopefully by now you have some idea of what your costume is, whether it’s balloon boy, Billy Mays, Patrick Swayze, Kanye with a Hennessy bottle, the Geico money stack with eyes, or zombie Michael Jackson (alright, maybe that’s a little too soon). Or maybe pop culture costumes aren’t for you? Then the classics are always a safe bet. If you’re a guy, it’s usually a pirate/vampire/zombie/mummy/beer keg/sports star/superhero. If you’re a girl it’s usually a sexy _______, where the blank is any occupation ever.
With Halloween just three days away, I figured that now would be a great time to show some love to Friendly Fires and their hit single “Skeleton Boy.” The track is off of their self-titled debut album, which was released in late 2008. It’s a great song with an even cooler music video. For all of you up here in Boston, Friendly Fires is playing at 
