Toronto - So I was listenin to Australia’s Cut Copy’s album “In Ghost Colours” and I noticed a familiar riff/crescendo in the hit song “Hearts On Fire”
Check out the 2:20 mark of both songs. Are they similar? my ears say so.
The other song in question is the hit song from German electro dual Digitalism called ‘Zdarlight’.
After searching within the depths of the music blogosphere, it looks like I’m a bit late writing about this indiepop band. I suppose my laziness is partially to blame as I’ve been listening to these guys for the past month or so. For the benefit of the peeps who don’t know, This Is Ivy League is a New York duo of Ryland Blackinton and Alex Suarez hell bent on ushering in a summer of blowing bubbles, croquet in the park and patting small children on the head.
If you enjoy bands like Camera Obscura or Pas/Cal, chances are you’ll dig this album. There seems to be a song for any occasion - the strum and jangle of ‘London Bridges’ is perfect for a tandem bike ride, while the lovely acoustic (and my favorite) ‘Viola’ is great for sipping a cup of tea indoors on a rainy Sunday.
TIIL seems to be one of those bands thats on the cusp of making it big, but they just need one of their songs to be featured on a cell phone or car commercial and they’ve got it made in the summer shade.
4/5
Video for ‘London Bridges’
I don’t know of anyone out there is like me, but when I really like a song I’ll play it on repeat until I can’t stands it no more. The same applies to certain aspects of songs. It may be a 10 second hand clap or a kick ass guitar solo that makes me wheel the track back so I can listen to it over and over. Here are 4 of current my faves:
The Radio Dept. - Pet Grief: I love how this track just ends in a burst of different instruments…or synthstruments.
Oasis - It’s Gettin’ Better (Man!): My favorite track on perhaps their most under rated album “Be Here Now’. If this outro doesn’t want to make you play air guitar, you have no rock n’ roll in your soul.
Super Furry Animals - Sex, War and Robots: Country twang with an orchestral backing. What’s not to love?
Tokyo Police Club - In A Cave: I loves me some hand claps.
(Toronto) Really, this show was a maybe for me, but when Rickys’ friend had an extra ticket, it became a must see.
We got there in time to hear the opener, The Mobius Band. I felt bad when they took the stage and started playing because they essentially played in the dark. The low mood that was used to illuminate the slew of instruments on stage as people entered the Phoenix, also served as performance lights for the Mobius Band. Needless to say, seeing them live didn’t want me open up iTunes to listen to them again. Bring on the Black Kids.
Since they formed in Jacksonville, Florida two years ago, Black Kids have:
-Got press in NME after performing at the Athens Popfest
-Released an EP for free download
-Got a ‘Best New Music commendation and an 8.4 from Pitchfork
-Signed with Quest Management (who manages Bjork and Arcade Fire)
-Named one of the best new bands of 2008 from Rolling Stone
-Recorded their first full length, Partie Traumatic with Bernard Butler form Suede
-I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You debuted at #11 in the UK.
So yah, they are riding some momentum into this year for sure. I guess the most obvious thing that I was interested in seeing was if they were actually Black or not. Upon them taking the stage I found out that the Black Kids are two-fifths black. The five-member ensemble took the stage in the usual American Apparel hoodies and T’s and reminded me, visually at least, of The Go Team! As for their sound, they have some catchy, dance tunes that I am sure will be re-mixed and released in the coming months.
Their stand out single “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You” was the highlight of the show for sure. If you are a band and you are selling a t-shirt with the title of one of your songs on it, it had better be a good tune. Songs that I hadn’t heard, such as I Wanna Be Your Limousine and Look At Me When I Rock Wichoo (it is really spelled that way too) were pleasant surprises that were not included on there downloadable EP earlier this year.
Apparently at their live show, their front man, Reggie Youngblood, starts every song with “Hey Toronto…” I’m not too sure how they are going to feel about this in Boston on May 12th. Maybe he thought we in attendance couldn’t remember where we were? I hate that shout out shit that bands do.
Ricky made a good comparison on the way home that they seem to be on the same track as Vampire Weekend. The lead singer has a unique sound, they are fun, and they are getting lots of press. They’ll be back in the coming months for a headlining show, guarantee.
Overall, a good show. When they come back, I want them to be louder with more energy.
After Black Kids, Cold Cut went on. If you saw them and want to leave a note about their contribution to the evening, please do.
Toronto - Lunchtime conversations are always a great source for blog related crap, so since the topic de jour this week was Iron Man, we came up with a bunch of video games that would make good video games - Splinter Cell, Castlevania, Metroid ..Mario Kart (my suggestion). But that stuff is boring. However, not many songs are made to movies so without hesitation here is the first one - obviously, one of my favorite songs of all time.
Common People
This 1995 hit by Pulp can practically write itself (look at the lyrics). However, lets hollywoodize it.
Plot: A coming of age rom-com/police drama. Veronica (Blake Lively) is a posh party girl living on her daddy’s (Robert De Niro) allowance. She drives some expensive car, eats expensive food and treats non wealthy people with disdain. This all changes. After another embarrassing incident involving cocaine, strippers (who get naked) and a unicorn at some prestigious social gathering, her parents decide to cut off her bank account and force her to graduate college in order to regain her bank funds.
Off to St. Martins college Veronica goes, to grab a degree in something easy - Arts. Readjusting to common people life is tough, but she is aided by her quirky minority friend, who is always helpful and comes from some poor family (fat chick from ugly betty). She finds that she likes some quiet art student named Sven (Topher Grace) who has immense artsy talent. Despite all her best flirtatious efforts, she is unable to get his attention. He confesses they can never be together because she is rich and can never relate to the common people. However, Unbeknown to Veronica, Sven in actuality is an undercover cop assigned to Veronica in order to reach her father, who is a crime overlord in charge of smuggling Eastern European strippers illegally into the country.
A determined Veronica goes thru a montage where she somehow goes thru some major character development, probably to some Pulp song - maybe “Something Changed”. I am unsure. Meanwhile Sven is conflicted by his increasing feelings for Veronica and his loyalty to his job, as he is being pressured by the Chief (Samuel L Jackson) to get the arrest. Anyways, fast forward to the graduation ball or some sort of dance, and Sven finally confesses his love for Veronica while dancing to the song “Common People” and all things are happy.
Then they leave the party and Veronica gets mistakenly shot down by Veronica’s dad’s henchmen - who were really after Sven. An angered Sven methodically (and with a lot of weapons), mows down all the gangsters (chow yun fat style) while making it to Veronica’s dads house. When he finally disposes of all the henchman, he encounters a saddened father, ready to die after realizing he just accidentally killed only daughter. Seeing that the damage has been done and understanding that both have lost someone important to them, Sven and Veronica’s father make peace and Sven is offered the job of being the #2 guy in the mafia which he happily takes since he’s probably going to get fired as a cop for killing 25 gangsters anyway.
The movie ends with Sven calling Samuel L Jackson on the phone and saying the exact same thing that Keanu Reeves said to the Matrix at the end of the first movie. Then he drives away in a black lamborghini to the same song that Keanu Reeves flew away to.
Boom. 100 million dollars right there.
Got something similar? leave a comment.
I love Kathleen Edwards. I have been wanting to review here latest, Asking For Flowers, for quite some time now. Seeing Kathleen grace the cover of the Canadian music essential publication Exclaim! this month finally got me off my ass.
Kathleen is an Ontario based Canadian singer/songwriter. Compared to other singer/songwriters, there is something about Kathleen that really makes her stand out . She isn’t as alternative as Basia Bulat, not at country as Christine Fellows and not as poppy as Sarah Harmer. Kathleen is just a fantastic, honest singer who will send the shivers up your spine.
In her Exclaim! interview she mentions that the last thing she wants to do is write about her life. This really surprised me as I would assume that all her songs would be personal ones. I mean, what else do singer/songwriters have to sing about? After listening to Back To Me in 2003 I thought to myself, ‘Shit, somebody hurt this girl real bad’, and as a male listening to it, I felt guilty for something that some other asshole did to her. On Asking For Flowers, Kathleen can still pierce you with some gut wrenching, honest lyrics, which is what she does best and why I keep listening. I still get the feeling that she is hurting, but now, in 2008, she is going to kick somebody ass because of it.
Here is my favorite track from Asking For Flowers, Sure As Shit. Girls who play guitar and swear get the OK from the Panic Manual.
You sure as shit
Know me better than anybody else
And for that in my heart I am hopeful
So I helped you pack your bags
And I folded up your snap shirts
And when you come back it will already be the winter
If you look at other girls working out in the night time
I don’t mind but I don’t want to know
I just cried a little.
