nataliepo’s Neighborhood

In the spirit of giving, below are some free music. It's their gifts to you.

DOMINO? YOU MEAN DOMI-YES
dominorecordco.com

You know, I honestly don't know how Ryan does it, keeping up with the various 'tweets'. I personally think twitter become absolutely useless if you have more than 50 friends. There's also so much spam on twitter!

So, I mostly just have it filtered to reading our own twitter to discover new freebies. So below was sent out a few days ago:

weheartmusic
We♥Music

Check out the @DominoRecordCo Xmas Sampler - http://bit.ly/53Thv0 - Final Fantasy, Wild Beasts, The Kills, Franz Ferdinand & King Creosote.
11:49 AM Dec 14th from web

So I did download the eight-track sampler at dominorecordco.com, and was pleasantly surprise to hear a really nice long remix of "Can't Stop Feeling" by Emperor Machine. I normally don't even like remixes, but this one had my head bopping and really appreciating the song... it's like hearing an old song and suddenly it's new again.

I also really dig Joker's Daughter (for non-comic book nerds, yes the Joker had a daughter - I think she mostly fought the 70s Teen Titans). I love "classic" pop girl-group sound, and this band has the vocals and melodies. Although the subject of Gremlins and "Bouncing Liquorish Bears" may be on the weirder side.

OF DOVES AND FISH
harveysidfisher.com

Dovecote Records gathered three of their recording artists to do a mini-tribute to Harvey Sid Fisher. While I don't know much about Fisher, based on hearing the three covers by Mason Proper, Tim Williams, and Trevor Giuliani, I have concluded that Fisher was a bit of a strange songwriter and has a bit of an interesting "older" man's vocals... each of the modern artists do try and emulate the singing style.

My personal favorite is Tim Williams' rendition. Nice backup vocals and the repetitive "hit another wall" refrain.

If you want to hear these songs for yourself - head over to dovecoterecords.com and click on the "Download Now" link. There's no catch either, none of that "give us your email" thing. Just a nice little free EP.

OLD WAVE MIXTAPE
nouvellesvagues.com

Cover lover band of approval, Nouvelle Vague, made a 10-track free mixtape at whenyouawake.com.

Most of the tracks are by American artists, some classic from Roy Orbison ("You Got It"), Louis Armstrong ("We Have All The Time In The World"), Johnny Cash ("Ring Of Fire"), etc. There are a few weird ones (weird as in didn't fit in) like Sufjan Stevens and Rolling Stones... however, I will admit tapping my feet when I heard the intro to "Let's Spend The Night Together". There is the token French artist Serge Gainsbourg on the mixtape for good measure.

While I'm not entirely sure about the legality of this free download, but I think it's good promotions for the bands mentioned on the tape. Plus, it's a nice boost of ego, you know?

daffodilpublicity.com confirms these are their forth-coming North American tour dates:

Friday, Jan. 22, Philadelphia, PA, World Café Saturday, Jan. 23, New York, NY, Webster Hall Sunday, Jan. 24, Boston, MA, Somerset Tuesday, Jan. 25, Montreal, PQ, Metropolis Wednesday, Jan. 27, Toronto, ONT, Opera House Thursday, Jan. 28, Detroit, MI, Crofoot Ballroom Friday, Jan. 29, Chicago, IL, Logan Square Monday, Feb. 1, Denver, CO, Bluebird Tuesday, Feb. 2, Salt Lake City, UT, Urban Lounge Thursday, Feb. 4, Seattle, WA, King Cat

Friday, Feb. 5, Vancouver, BC, Venue Sunday, Feb. 7, San Francisco, CA, Regency Monday, Feb. 8, Sant Cruz, CA, Rio Theater Tuesday, Feb. 9, Los Angeles, CA, Henry Fonda Friday, Feb. 12, Dallas, TX, Granada Saturday, Feb. 13, Austin, TX, Mohawk Sunday, Feb. 14, New Orleans, LA, Republic Tuesday, Feb. 16, Miami, FL, Revolution Wednesday, Feb. 17, Orlando, FL, Firestone Thursday, Feb. 18, Atlanta, GA, Loft Saturday, Feb. 20, Washington DC, 9:30 Club

Too bad they're not going anywhere near Minneapolis, I would love to meet the band.

YOU HAVE TO SPEND MONEY TO SAVE MONEY
www.hannspree.com

I don't work for Best Buy, but I wanted to pass along this deal, since it is almost a crime to not buy it. It is $140 for HANNspree 23" HD LCD 16:9 Widescreen Monitor. That's cheap, considering the same monitor would've cost at least $700 a few years ago.

I did buy it and setup was very plug-and-play easy. It came with a disc for a Windows Vista driver, but if you just have XP, it would just recognize the monitor. Hooking it up on the PS3 using the HDMI cable (not included) was also easy - however I did not like the long pauses as PS3 auto adjust when it plays bluray discs (I suspect this has to do with determining that it's a compliant display since HDMI is notorious for anti-piracy junk).

Compare to the old CRT monster monitors, this 23" is superlight - even Mr Burns can easily move the monitor around. The product page lists 9.9lbs, but it feels like it's only one or two pounds.

The monitor does have built-in speakers, but it sounds tinny. Not exactly awesome audio, but for $140, that's just a bonus. I recommend buying monitor headphones and plugging it in the monitor for clearer audio. And speaking of audio, since this is marketed as purely a monitor - there is also no remote control access. If you need to turn down the audio, you have to adjust it on the monitor itself.

Despite my complaint, this is one of best image display I've own. It's native 1920x1080 is pretty sweet when I'm playing Dragon Age (since now I can have more items in the "quick" slots at the bottom).

* practically free

I had a couple of vertebrae fused last October, and so I've been away on a health sabbatical of sorts.  The cold weather is not helping!  I feel so odd saying that I will welcome some warm temperatures again, especially after we got some lovely snow in my home area last weekend.  But when you have metal in your body, or nerve damage, or both, you start feeling the barometric changes more.

I wanted to take a moment to share some other music blogs I have been reading here at VOX.  I promise I will be back with more music, including 2NU's last offering.  (Who is 2NU?  Stay tuned...)  But until then, allow me to share some other blogs of interest, including a side project of mine.

Burl Veneer’s blog was spotlighted at [music is good] recently, with his observations on genre labels as a guide to exploring music, particularly with spiritual jazz.  It's a retrospective look; according to his profile, he is "recapturing the thrill of [his] college radio years, on a smaller scale." It's a very nice sentiment for those who have become rather jaded with corporate/mainstream music as of late, and are still looking back to younger days when one's music experience was more visceral.  I don't mean to say that such leads to an abandoning of new territories in listening opportunities, but for those of us who have outgrown commercial markets and are generally exasperated with what's on the radio airwaves, there is a shift in perspective, is there not?  I remember that for myself, I went back for a time to what I had discovered musically in eight long years of college and university and when I had expressed similar thoughts.

(On a side note, it seems to me that many of the resources I looked at when writing reviews here seem to be very similar to what friends of mine looked at writing for university and college publications, or what they played for college radio.  But I digress...)

Those that have followed my reviews here know that I'm a big fan of mashups and bastard pop.  It's always been a satirical commentary for me, in some part, on how the commercial industry likes to come back to familiar hooks and "radio-friendly" licks-- how else can two or more songs, especially when they seem so radically different, come together?  They can come together, all right, in a rather slick way that can express an entirely new idea that is different from the sum of the mashup's parts.

Mashup Fans is one VOX group devoted to the mashup genre.  For a time it was active, but sadly, due to recent inactivity ( it appears to have succumbed to the splogger disease that has been infecting VOX like a cancer.  If you stick to the Media section, however, you'll find some great mashups and other mixes.  Do me a favor, if you're a mashup fan, won't you?  Go see if you can turn the tide.  Upload some stuff and send Darren a message to see what you can do to revive the group.

Monday Monster Mashup is my side project.  When I started the group, the idea was I would post something every Monday, although clearly, I haven't kept it that regular as of late.  I've included video mashups that accompany mashup tunes whenever possible, although there are some obstacles.  Since Warner Media Group has been throwing its weight around like a 800-lb. gorilla, some of the YouTube videos I've been using have been muted or audio swapped.  I don't think this bothers many mashup artists too terribly much; the savvy ones cover their buttocks by urging listeners to support the original artists.  Even if they don't make such a noble token gesture, most see the genre as transitory-- if the corporate suits kill a work on grounds of copyright infringement, they will have moved on to something new anyways.

BOOTLEGS and MASHUPS is more oriented to bootlegs, according to the description, although, really, I'm not sure what the focus is right now.  If you can follow the rambling posts of late, you're doing better than me.  Anyways, two of the hosts, moien and Ground Countrol To Major Tom, run music-oriented blogs in French, and it turns out there is a sizeable community of French-speaking music bloggers here at VOX.  The following are written in French, unless otherwise specified:

• 

  blog de The Dude
  The Dude’s Blog (Blog de The Dude) has a general focus-- nothing too specific, but that's fairly within the spirit of things at W♥M-- write about what you like.  Obviously, his username is taken from The Big Lebowski, which was referenced by Vu in Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In).  His latest post covers his album picks for 2009.
• Aurelio’s blog is a little more general than even that--"Un cocktail de musique, ciné, bouquins, bonne bouffe et rigolade" (A mix of music, film, books, good food, and comedy).  He hosts Albums 2009, so some of his latest posts have also been about his selections of music in 2009.
• niggytardust writes in English and French, so if you don't speak/read/write French, you have an English option.  More of a rock focus.
• Ground Countrol To Major Tom focuses on new artists and independent music.
• Music Is My Radar is written by moien

There are probably some ones I'm forgetting to mention, but I trust that you may explore their Neighborhoods and discover more.
 
Novelty Records is hosted by W. B. Mook, who wrote reviews for W♥M for a time.  You know what "novelty songs" are, right?  Sure you do!  If you don't, according to Wikipedia, it's a genre of music that was coined in Tin Pan Alley to describe a division in popular music that started in 1910 and continued in the '20s and '30s.  But to put it more simply, the term includes most anything that has been classified as parody or comedy music.  In short, it's just about everything that Dr. Demento has spun on his radio show-- you know, that funny-looking bearded guy with the top hat that helped launch Weird Al Yankovic's music career.  (Look for him-- Dr. Demento, that is-- in his music videos and the movie UHF.  Have a Twinkie weiner sandwich while you do so, okay?  It's good, but not like Yappy's Dog Treats-- I promise!)

So there you have it.  I'm probably just scratching the surface, but most of these bloggers and Vox Groups specifically mentioned (if not all) have contributed to W♥M in some form or another, so have a look around.

 12/15/2009 23:56:22 ♥ jaklumen ( / jaklumen.vox.com)

This is another one of those videos that, despite being 11 years old,  you could easily convince me was made this year. Apart from Ol' Dirty being dead of course. Sometimes it really feels like nothing has really happened musically since 1998 (which is coincidentally the same year I started working).

Featuring Kelis on vocals for the chorus and samples from Slick Rick's "Children's Story" and Michael Jackson's "Beat It" (yes, that was the drum loop that you were trying to work out where you'd heard it from) the video is based around the blaxploitation film "Dolemite", the trailer of which contains the classic line

"I'm the one who killed Monday, whooped Tuesday, put Wednesday in the holiday, called up Thursday to tell Friday not to bury Saturday on Sunday"

Artur's birthday ... feel free to stop by

First thing I’d like to say is, if you really love a band and you get the chance to see them play in Adelaide, take that chance. I am now a firm believer the people in Sydney are at least seven times more rude than anywhere else.

So, Jarvis Cocker is about to wrap up his second solo Australian tour this weekend and I managed to see him at both the Metro in Sydney and the Gov in Adelaide. Now… both shows were equally as excellent musically, the sound was much better in Sydney, but the atmosphere in Adelaide was just so much more amenable to such an apparently accommodating chap such as Jarvis Cocker. 

What do I mean by accommodating? Well he’s very generous with the chocolates (can’t say the same for the girl in Sydney who would only stretch as far as giving me half a square of a chocolate – I didn’t care that it was Jarvis’, I didn’t want to ruin your chances of selling it for $15 on ebay, I just wanted chocolate) and drinks (but hopefully not a nasty strain of Jarvicoccus Aureus – oh microbiology jokes, so hilarious) and quite amenable to having a good old chat with the audience. 

One thing I was especially impressed with was that between the two shows, I can’t recall one thing he repeated saying. (Might have had something to do with the cheat sheet he had attached to his set list). Although, I am well known for being easily impressed. 

All the tunes were there: Angela, Black Magic, Further Complications, Fuckingsong, Homewrecker and even You’re In My Eyes, the disco song, which I have professed to dislike intensely, but actually got me dancing. I must say, there’s something about the really loud parts of Jarvis’ songs, most notably in Black Magic, that just sends a shiver down ones spine. The man, again, lived up to all expectations (after two sneaky pretending-the-show-was-over-and-walking-off-stage moments), wrapping up the set with a lovely rendition of Running the World.

Aside from his witty banter about such profound topics as koalas and why they don’t just eat something else (because what they actually eat doesn’t give them enough energy to do anything other than sleep when they aren’t eating), being attacked by an emu and whoever’s birthday it happened to be on that day (someone had been doing their research), by far the greatest thing of all was Jarvis’ trademark dance moves. He must really have an excellent sense of balance, a lesser man would have been a pile on the floor if they tried to pull off some of the leg-flailing movements that Jarvis can do.

Adelaide 1 comment Britpop Christmas Party - December 23rd

Special mention also goes out to Martin Craft (you may remember him from the Australian band, Sidewinder); support act and guitarist within Jarvis’ crew. Talented guy; quite a musical contrast to Jarvis both within the song subject and the feel of the tunes. Slow, and wispy, a single acoustic guitar, a synth and a saxophone. Nice.

Brilliant.

(Thanks to Miss Kristen who followed the man around the country and took these pictures)

On a side note, I just wanted to thank everyone who came to the Abercrombie hotel for britpop last week and want to draw your attention to the Britpop Christmas party happening on the 23rd. Could very well be the last one! Get there!

Sally

sally@weheartmusic.com

As you can tell, we still don't have a metal reviewer. Anyway, for the metal fans in your family....

GOBLIN COCK
myspace.com/goblincock 

First of all, I love the name and theme. All the band members have RPG elements to their name, like singer Lord Phallus (Rob Crow) and guitarist Larben the Druid. You can tell that this San Diego doom metal band are fans of comics (due to their self-titled Bagged and Boarded) and the Terminator movie (that's a famous line, "come with me if you want to live"). From the cover artwork, to ancient runes, it's safe to assume these guys are also into Warhammer and D&D stuff, pretty geeky - and proud of it!

I don't have their debut album, but based on listening to Come With Me If You Want To Live, I can see why they were nominated for the PLUG metal album award (they lost out to Fantômas). Come was designed as a whole album, from the instrumental introduction music "Hissless" through all these film/movie references. You can hear movie samples in some of their songs, like "Trying to get Along with Humans" and "Ode to Billy Jack" (which is really about those 70s movies).

Some of the songs on this album sounds too clear and sounds too slow to be classify as metal. On those songs, they seem more like early 90s grunge music (think Soundgarden, not Nirvana).

Not really sure where Goblin Cock will exists in Rob Crow's ever-growing band involvement. He's still in Pinback, Heavy Vegetable, Physics, Optiganally Yours and Thingy. Plus earlier this year, his other band, Aspects of Physics, just released their third (in a trilogy of album) called Marginalized Information Forms 3: Other.

Come With Me If You Want To Live is available now from Absolute Kosher Records. Recommended if you don't take your metal too seriously, and enjoy the adolescent geekiness of the band.

Trivia: "Beneath the Valley of the Island of Misfit Toys", another instrumental, seems to be derived from Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Valley of the Dolls, and Rudoph the Red Nosed Reindeer (he ends up on Island of Misfit Toys).

METAL RETARDATION
metalretardation.com

When I first read Bill Zebub's name, I chuckled a little at his nod to the lord of the flies (Satan). So the guy has a sense of humor, and you can hear a lot of that humor in his interviews for his magazine, The Grimoire of Exalted Deeds, on this DVD collection.

Unfortunately, sometime his questions goes on too long (note: the bands are the star, not the interviewer), and sometime the questions have nothing to do with anything. I'll give you an example, during the George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher from Cannibal Corpse, Zebub had a long question about Almond Joy and Mounds. I won't give away the punchline, but when it was delivered, neither myself or Fisher cared much for it. The same feeling of "I don't get it" or "I don't care" came up again when Mathias Nygård, from Turisas, had to endure the shark jokes.

I'll have to admit, there are some some gems like the Cannibal Corpses and Nevermore interview, however the footage is unwatchable due to poor lighting. The filming is very gorilla-style, often with just Zebub and his camera. Some footage looks like it was taken from old VHS tapes, while some of the more recent footage looked incredible. The uneven quality, the lack of transition (these are quick clips going back and forth), uneven audio levels... these things made the program really hard to enjoy.

It doesn't feel like there's a purpose or direction - just random questions and answers. Personally, I feel this whole disc should be a "bonus" disc of some other feature. I can't recommend this unless you're a fan of The Grimoire of Exalted Deeds or the bands on the disc (Finntroll, King Diamond, Type O Negative, Gwar, etc).

Extras includes Band Introductions & Skits, Darkthrone Phone Interview and Venom Phone Interview. The phone interview also includes topless women. The "area" are censored, so it's not entirely pornographic.

PAGAN METAL: A DOCUMENTARY
billzebub.com ♥ thegrimoire.com

Like Metal Retardation, the Pagan Metal DVD begins with a disclaimer that if you don't appreciate this film, then you are "too gay". What are you twelve? I feel like I have to defend myself and any reviewers out that that doesn't like this documentary - I do own and watch a lot of movies and documentaries.

What makes a good documentary for me is to keep me interested in the subject. Like for instance, if the band is talking about, say Norse gods, the editor should insert an image referencing said god. I will say that to keep us entertained, between sessions of interviews, you're shown some live footage of various Pagan Metal bands. My favorite is Turisas, only because of that crazy looking violin player.

Usually really good documentaries tries to do answer three questions: 1. Where did (subject) came from and its origin? 2. What exactly is it and why do people like it? and 3. Where does it go from here? Unfortunately, this documentary doesn't really address any of these questions. I'll grant you that Zebub did try and ask the Pagan past, but the interviewees, such as Korpiklaani, were unprepared to answer.

The one shining light out of this is Primordial's Alan Averill (note: the DVD does not credit the interviewee, I am guessing it is the singer). Everything he had to say was intelligent and smart, and even if it had nothing to do with Folk or Pagan Metal, it sure made a whole lot of sense to me. There's a section where he talked about in the "old" days when he was doing his fanzines, he would swap a lot of tapes. Compared that to today's file-traders, he feels like it's too easy and unfulfilling. Maybe it's a generational thing, but for old fanzine editors like myself and Sally, we still want to own the vinyl or CD if we like what we've heard on cassettes, or later minidiscs and cd-rs. What does this this have to do with Pagan Metal? Well, I think it's relevant because how else are people going to hear Pagan Metal - the radio stations aren't going to play it.

So, if you are wondering why Pagan Metal is have taken over the Black Metal scene in Europe and interested in hearing some of these bands (Korpiklaani, Finntroll, Leaves Eyes, Tyr), then I'd recommend this DVD to you. Although, I wouldn't call it a documentary, this is more like a series of interviews with these bands. Between Metal Retardation and Pagan Metal, I would, without a doubt, recommend Pagan, because it has a theme and a purpose.

The extras ? There are none, unless you count the Rated R trailer for Assmonster prior to the feature.