Chicago to London: Cool Kids on Black Cab Sessions

Chi-city hip hop duo, The Cool Kids, were in London recently promoting the full-of-flava Bake Sale. They had time to drop some freestyle rhymes in the back of a black cab for the 50th episode of Black Cab Sessions. Enjoy.



Don't forget to see Cool Kids at Lolla Friday night at the BMI Stage (7:00pm).

Make friends and hear more Cool Kids @ http://www.myspace.com/thecoolkids.

-J2

Finally: The Flaming Lips' "Christmas On Mars"

It's been a long time coming, but Wayne and the boys have finally completed their epic film, Christmas On Mars. Originally aired at the Sasquatch! Festival in May, the film is now set to be released on DVD in time for Christmas 2008. We're not sure that the whole plot element is really the point, but here's the description:

"The long awaited feature film by the Flaming Lips is set in outer space on the surface of Mars. The double failures of a clunky old oxygen generator and an exotic but finicky gravity control pod have conspired to weaken the resolve and psychological judgment of the crew and the film's protagonist Major Syrtis. This means he has horrific hallucinations that are centered around the artificial birth of the Christmas baby. An alien super-being arrives and with his otherworldly powers fixes the oxygen generator but it's the station's genius mechanic who fixes the gravity problem."

Right. Anyway, there will also be a soundtrack accompaniment to the film which is sure to be just as bizarre and enjoyable. Here's the trailer:



-J2

Next Big Thing Alert: The Minor White

Minor White was an American photographer whose work in the '50s and '60s remain as immaculate testaments of how the mundane - if tweaked just right - can elicit the strongest emotions. He is quoted as saying that a photograph could "...yield an image with specific suggestive powers that can direct the viewer into a specific and known feeling, state, or place within himself."

Without a doubt, music holds that same power, and Pennsylvania boys, The Minor White, are talented purveyors of its spirit. Self-described as "something of a noisy country jazz quintet, I guess" they have been compared by others to Elliott Smith, Wilco, and Dr. Dog. Their 2007 EP, Daily Vacation, was an eclectic mix of folk, waltzes, and guitars that adds up to all things Americana.

They've now completed their full-length debut, Old Theatrics, due out in October on Prairie Queen Records. Consisting of a pair of brothers - the Williams (frontman Roy and keyboardist Kevin) and the O'Haras (drummer Shane and bassist Ian) - and one guitarist/vocalist/co-lyricist in Kyle Wall, The Minor White have crafted ten tracks of American music that is timeless and universal. Again, tweaking the mundane to create that old familiar feeling that seems specific to everyone. At its core, Old Theatrics is immediate, accessible pop music that is quite simply beautiful. The same way a black and white photo of a barn captured in the right light never ceases to captivate.

mp3: "Old Fashioned Drinker (In a River of Glue)"

mp3: "I've Burned Down Every House"









Get the EP, Daily Vacation.


Make friends and keep an eye out for pre-order info @ http://www.myspace.com/theminorwhite.

-J2

Girl Talk: The Video Mash-Up

Around one month ago, Greg Gillis (aka, Girl Talk) released his latest mash-up masterpiece, Feed the Animals, via the whole digital-name-your-price venture. Get your own copy at Illegal Art. Here at the middleCoast, we've been hooked to the GT ever since the gruff, sinus-filled voice of late great Notorious B.I.G. could be heard over "Tiny Dancer" . After naming our (undisclosed) price for Feed the Animals, realizing and appreciating its merits upon a few repeated listens, we also noticed a definite fatigue setting in. Fact of the matter is, it's kinda difficult to listen to a full album of Girl Talk mash-ups because of the very reason they are brilliant - each song is simply too dense, too schizophrenic, perhaps, to be able to absorb more than a few songs' worth at one time. Really we're just too slow to be able to keep up with so many samples.

Thankfully, someone with way too much time on his hands is here to help. Pairing the original video clips with the sampled tracks, the music video for "Still Here" is like a Cliff's Notes to the song. Now you can use your eyes and ears to pick out each of the obscure riffs and beats. And there really is nothing quite like seeing Thom Yorke at a microphone singing while hearing the hook from "No Diggity".



Apparently, the man with too much time on his hands is YouTuber Bunny Greenhouse, who has a few other GT video mash-ups posted if you enjoyed that one.

Be sure to catch Girl Talk in Chicago at Lollapalooza August 3rd.

-J2

Under the Radar: The Acorn

While we at The middleCoast pride ourselves on staying current with the best new music, we frequently miss remarkably talented acts, failing to bring you, the reader, necessary knowledge. Of course, if you really wanted to stay completely current with the best new music, you'd be reading Pitchfork right now instead of The middleCoast. Nevertheless, we present a new feature for the times artists slip through the cracks: Under the Radar.

The Acorn make music best described as: Of the Earth. Or, Earthy. Organic, if you will (but not in the annoying marketing-ploy version of the term). Their brand of Americana is admittedly eschew, as they hail from Ottawa, but like their Canuck compatriots - Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade - their sound is small-scale epic, focusing on the specific to signify the universal. Simple melodies over chants, stomps, and dense (but balanced) arrangements featuring instruments from various regions, as well as field recordings, give them an all-natural vibe. The Acorn likely fit into whatever box you'd also categorize Fleet Foxes or Firewater or Beirut, but in the end they just happen to be really great indie rock.

Glory Hope Mountain is the latest release, out through Paper Bag Records. At heart it is a concept album from singer/songwriter Rolf Klausener about his mother, Gloria Esperanza Montoya (hence the album title). In a stunningly intimate portrait, Klausener tells of how Gloria was orphaned in her native Honduras - her mother's death in childbirth and her father's abuse - and her subsequent journey to Montreal in the '70s. Klausener's rendering of her life, however, is a subtle weave, and there is no heavy-handedness in the dealing of the material.

Check out the beautifully crafted video by director Christopher Mills for "Flood Pt. 1":


Unfortunately, The Acorn made their way through Chicago earlier this year, so it may be a spell before we get another chance to see them live. And if these tracks on HearYa.com are any indication, they give a masterful performance.

Make friends @ http://www.myspace.com/theacorn.

-J2

Radiohead Are From The Future: "House of Cards" Music Video

In case you didn't know just how unconventional Radiohead are, now they've made a music video. Nothing shocking about that, you say? Well this particular video was created without using two minor elements somewhat important to most film-making: cameras and lighting. The not-even-remotely-satisfying explanation that "3D plotting technologies collected information about the shapes and relative distances of objects" doesn't begin to click with us. But it sure looks cool:

"House of Cards"


If you really want to know more about how they did that, Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR are the two companies at play, and you can watch the making-of video here.

-J2

Next Big Thing Alert: Onili

Out of Tel Aviv by way of Paris comes the multi-talented Onili. Citing seemingly random artists, she describes her influences to include Prince, Bjork, Outkast, and Henry Rollins. Imagine Lily Allen meets Brazilian Girls, produced by Justice. In addition to producing and deejaying, Onili also fronts her band of the same name, and actually opened some European gigs for Allen last year. Now they are finishing up work on the debut LP, First Kiss.

The first single, "Games", is instantly catchy funk-pop that begs you to dance along. It has been floating around awhile, and its EP includes three remixes from Israeli producers Sabbo, KUTIMAN, and NDV, as well as an a cappella version. You can listen to samples and purchase the mp3s here on CD Baby.

Here is live video as they perform the original (did we mention Onili also happens to be quite nice to look at?):


The song on repeat in mC offices today, though, is the sultry "Sentimental". Is it me, or does she vocally riff like Anthony Kiedis circa Blood Sugar Sex Magik for a bit in this:


So we're hooked. If you want to hear more, both the band's website and myspace page are streaming more tracks. But with no release date announced we'll have to wait a bit longer for our First Kiss.

-J2

Friday Flashback: Dead Kennedys

In 1980 the Dead Kennedys released their debut album, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, giving Californians their own version of what it meant to be punk. With what came to be known as hardcore, Jello Biafra and the Kennedys dropped combative, left-wing lyrical messages saturated with wit and sarcasm over a sped up rockabilly and surf-rock sound. The result was nothing short of revolutionary, and the establishment they decried took notice.

It was the biting, satirical sarcasm that allowed the band to preach its anti-authority, anti-capitalism, anti-conservatism message without actually being preachy. Their album titles alone elicit chuckles: Plastic Surgery Disasters, Bedtime for Democracy, Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death. Underlying the humor, always, was a statement. And almost 30 years later, now, we could still benefit from paying attention.

The seminal track from that seminal debut is "Holiday In Cambodia". Yuppie-baiting lyrics set to an ominous sonic backdrop make it quintessential Dead Kennedys:

Lyrics:

So you been to school for a year or two
And you know you’ve seen it all
In daddy’s car, thinkin’ you’ll go far
Back east your type don’t crawl
Play ethnincky jazz to parade you snazz
On your five grand stereo
Braggin’ that you know how the niggers feel the cold
And the slum’s got so much soul
It’s time to taste what you most fear
Right Guard will not help you here
Brace yourself, my dear…

It’s a holiday in Cambodia
It’s tough, kid, but it’s life
It’s a holiday in Cambodia
Don’t forget to pack a wife

You’re a star-belly sneech, you suck like a leech
You want everyone to act like you
Kiss ass while you bitch so you can get rich
While your boss gets richer off you
Well you’ll work harder with a gun in your back
For a bowl of rice a day
Slave for soldiers ‘til you starve
Then your head is skewered on a stake
Now you can go where people are one
Now you go where they get things done
What you need, my son…

Is a holiday in Cambodia
Where people dress in black
A holiday in Cambodia
Where you’ll kiss ass or crack

Pol Pot, Pol Pot, Pol Pot, Pol Pot….

And it’s a holiday in Cambodia
Where you’ll do what you’re told
A holiday in Cambodia
Where the slums got so much soul

For fans of absurdity, check out this video below. It's The Foo Fighters performing the track with Serj Tankian on vocals at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. They actually do a really fantastic job with the song, but you'll notice it appears that all but approximately four members of the in-studio audience are completely oblivious to (a) who the Dead Kennedys are, (b) that the song is essentially making fun of them, or (c) who Pol Pot is. I really hope Biafra hasn't ever seen this...



Official Dead Kennedys website.

-J2

Best o' the Blogosphere: Thursday Roundup

Stereogum reports on the VH1 Rock Honors episode coming up this Saturday in which bands like The Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, and mC faves The Flaming Lips pay tribute to one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) rock 'n' roll bands of all time, The Who. They even have this great footage of the Lips practicing for the performance (stick around as it gets really good at about the 3:20 mark):


Pitchfork is streaming new music from Brazilian Girls and Q-Tip.

Rock Daily gives us a snippet of new Kings of Leon material being performed live.

Stereogum also gives us the new Beck music video for "Gamma Ray".


Man Man cram into the back seat for the latest Black Cab Session:


The free mp3 of the day at Spinner is Chromeo, "Bonified Lovin" (Yuksek's Remix).

And don't forget that KEXP will be live in Chicago next week, broadcasting from Engine Studios. You can sign up here to see a live performance from the likes of Mahjongg, The Watson Twins, and The M's. John and Cheryl will then be broadcasting live from Pitchfork Music Festival's ridiculously good lineup next weekend.

-J2

Can't Get Enough of the Fleet Foxes

Way back in March, we told you all about how Fleet Foxes were poised to become the next great indie darlings. Their EP, Sun Giant, was absolutely beautiful, and their eponymous debut LP is rightly regarded as one of the best releases of the year. In the UK, this Seattle quintet has blown up beyond your blogospherical atmosphere and into the real world, competing with Coldplay for tops o' the charts. Just the other day Chicago's WXRT fit the Foxes into a rush hour lineup (somehow, breaking into F.M. radio seems like a measure of success, assuming you're an indie band and not a Disney-backed starlet).

Here they are with a startling claymation video for "White Winter Hymnal":


And a Black Cab Session performance from Robin Pecknold of a deep track - Judee Sill's "Crayon Angels":











Go get the album.


Make friends @ www.myspace.com/fleetfoxes.

-J2

Sneak Peak: New Music From The Silent Years

The Silent Years certainly garnered their share of attention in 2006 and 2007 with their self-titled debut LP. Thanks in large part to the single, "Someone to Keep Us Warm", Spin named them Underground Artist of 2007 (whatever that means) and CMJ named them an artist to watch as well. Now the band is generously letting fans download the album for free - get it here.

With their sophomore album, The Globe, due out in August, The Silent Years are about to get even bigger. This latest effort is a cohesive collection of densely layered tracks produced by Chris Coady, who has worked with the likes of TV on the Radio, Grizzly Bear, and Blonde Redhead. The Globe is a thing of beauty, nearly perfect on so many levels. Hailing from Detroit, The Silent Years are no Rock City garage band, more likely honing their craft in the attic or on the roof. Their songs reach gloriously upward, and The Globe progresses in that direction with shades of a concept album. The lush compositions are themselves grand assertions, and Josh Epstein’s lyrics and vocals follow suit. The album title is the metaphor at play, a symbol of scale in each direction, and the songs shift naturally from the microscopic to the universal. As detailed over on Daytrotter, Epstein describes the premise of the new album:

“We were watching the film 'Powers of 10' which they used to show in middle school science classes. In the film, the camera starts out, framed on a couple having a picnic. Every 10 seconds, the field of view expands by a power of ten — the picnic becomes Chicago, Chicago becomes North America, and soon you’re seeing the Earth in the context of its solar system. This got us thinking about the similarities between mankind and all other components of the universe. An atom is to a cell, as a cell is to a man, as man is to the Earth, as the Earth is to the universe, etc.”

Here are a couple of standouts from the upcoming release:

"On Our Way Home"

"Open Up Our Eyes"

You can pre-order The Globe on Amazon.

Hear more and make friends @ www.myspace.com/thesilentyears.

-J2

Alex Turner Is The New Damon Albarn

I guess there is just something about über-hipster frontmen of wildly popular Brit-pop bands that makes solo and side projects somewhat an inevitability. While the smoky-voiced Londoner Damon Albarn made a name for himself leading Blur before going on to front super-group The Good The Bad & The Queen and two hip-hop infused Gorillaz albums, the smoky-voiced Sheffielder Alex Turner established his rep with Arctic Monkeys and is now lending his vocals to mini-super-group The Last Shadow Puppets and the hip-hop talents of Dizzee Rascal.

Turner and Miles Kane, of up-and-comers The Rascals, released their first album as The Last Shadow Puppets, The Age of the Understatement, in May on Domino. Their vocals meld perfectly, and it's often difficult to tell which one of them is singing at which point. The 1960s throwback sound of lush, symphonic orchestration somehow still remains simplified as pop, and the arrangements give the feel of spy movie mystery. While the Arctic Monkeys do what they do and do it well, this album (produced by James Ford, of Simian Mobile Disco fame) may alter the Monkeys' sound altogether, as Turner seems to be channeling Bowie and enjoying every minute.

Here is the title track:

Fellow Brit, Dizzee Rascal, released his critically acclaimed, Maths + English, earlier this summer as well, and Turner makes his appearance dropping the hook between Dizzee's grime-laden verses.


Fortunately for us, Turner is only 22 years old; considering what Albarn is still accomplishing at the age of 40, Turner is poised to dominate popular British music for decades to come.

-J2

Neave Television Is Better Than Television Television

For those of us without cable, no need to worry. This is way better than anything you'll find on regular TV: http://www.neave.com/television/.

-j2

Top 5 Band Names of Actual Bands Playing in Chicago Soon

As you loyal mC readers know, we love discussing band names. Like a first impression on a blind date, a band name subconsciously establishes a positive or negative connotation for the audience right off the bat. A great band name can bring in a crowd strictly on comedic curiosity (I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness), while a band with a poor name has to work that much harder to prove its worth (Chin Chin). So once again, we give props to the bands with the best names making their way through the Middle in the coming months:

5. Plastic People of the Universe @ The Hideout, 9/18 (and again as part of The Hideout Block Party, 9/20)

4. Urge Overkill (a classic, AND they're from Chicago) @ Bottom Lounge, 7/12

3. Thao With The Get Down Stay Down @ Empty Bottle, 8/9

2. Natalie Portman's Shaved Head @ Subterranean, 8/14

1. Dr. Acula* @ Reggie's Rock Club, 7/22

*Full disclosure: Dr. Acula not only made the list but jumped directly to numero uno because we were under the impression that the name is a direct reference to the '80s classic film, Monster Squad, in which Dracula is disguised as a friendly neighbor, Dr. Acula. However, our memory is for shit, and that may not actually be the case - it may have just been that the letters D-R-A-C-U-L-A were jumbled in some way to create a phony name, and then the kid has to descramble them to decipher the true persona. Nevertheless, since the band name made us think of the movie at all, it remains number one. In related Monster Squad news, you can buy the two-disc 20th anniversary edition on DVD for 15 bucks, or watch the whole thing in six-and- a-half minute chunks on YouTube for free. By the way, if you're really only interested in viewing the famous "Wolfman's got nards" scene, go straight to segment 9.

ANYWAY, numbers 2 and 3 on the list are really great up-and-coming acts. Here's a sampling:

Thao With The Get Down Stay Down, "Bag of Hammers"


Natalie Portman's Shaved Head, "Me + Yr Daughter"


-J2

It's Cool in Iceland

Head on over to Pitchfork.tv for a one-week-only, chapter-by-chapter screening of Screaming Masterpiece, an in-depth look at the music scene and history of Iceland. Filmmaker, Ari Alexander Ergis Magnusson, has created a fascinating exploration into the sonic landscape that so appropriately matches its geographic landscape. Björk and Sigur Rós are the most recognizable artists included, but their countrymen and peers provide some brilliant insight along with their own musical talents.

-J2