I love the balloons and I love the footie, but in a recent FA cup game, balloons and soccer became inextricably linked. Its not unusual for players to be forced to dodge items thrown from the stands: pennies, flares, bags of urine... and often reams of toilet paper or streamers can impede play to some extent. But this might be a first: balloons tossed by Manchester City fans contributed significantly to a goal against their beloved side. The defender did not know which orb to swing his boot at!
__________________
Here's a young 'un with a whole heap o talent:Adele (Hometown Glory). Even if she does allow her handlers to plunk her on a London rooftop on a frigid day.
__________________
Some nifty family photos with even niftier colour commentary (the rest of this blogsite is worth the trip too).
From Boston (America) would you welcome please... The Young Republic (they've been around a while)... featuring country-tinged indie pop (though a little more violin than fiddle).
The stop-motion video for "Modern Plays" got one member of this household chalk-full of artistic ideas... and luckily we just happen to have, no lie, 12,468 pipe cleaners in our crawl space:
Academy Award Nominated (Best Picture!!!) "Juno", The-Best-Movie-I-Have-Yet-To-Actually--You-Know--Like--See, has unearthed to the masses the awesomeness that is Washington State's antifolk hero, Kimya Dawson...
Song :: You Cream My Pants by Strip Squad A pretty good, though obviously ludicrous, song that one shouldn't google when in the office environment. Moves from ludicrous to absurd when the chorus kicks in and you find that you can't help but sing "you cream my pants" along with these crazy Swedes. Reminds me of mid-80's Canadian punk heros The Dik Van Dykes (listen to the classic "Curling" here).
Media-shy Morganza To The Gulf are set to release “hope your guardian genius” on Seattle's 2nd Best Coffee label. Although no one has ever heard their music, this emo band’s debut is surely bound to please. After all, they describe themselves as mixing witty, razor-sharp lyrics with masterfully precise emocore notes - all wrapped up in a zydeco-infused sensibility that does not betray their Louisiana roots. Plus, they are said to wear furry costumes like, 24-7!
Catch them on tour now in the Outer Hebrides. And look for them performing in May at LifeisGoodapalooza with fellow emo darlings Nitzana, grunge rockers Hyperion Wastewater Treatment Plant, art-house minimalists La Vie en Rose, industrial krautrockers (via Pakistan!) Moder Gorob and zany alt-punk-metal dudes Buff-headed Coucal. These bands rule the (un)school.
No MP3s are currently available but here’s a lyric sampler from the titular track…
“Plastic signs Sorting times Blinds are boxing up the lines hope your guardian genius
Mixing must Eternal rust Flailing pixies in the dust hope your guardian genius
We betray! Hope your guardian genius We delay! Hope your guardian genius”
The Polyphonic Spree have just released a video for the excellent "we crawl"... a splendid stroll through the lives of this 20 plus member band and their families.
Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before
Here's a classic example of a young band trying a little too hard. Jerky body movements, over-the-top fringe and related hair stylings, "ironic" mustache and, worse of all, overused high-torso guitar positioning (don't these boys know that that will cause all sorts of long-term tendon damage by the time they're 40!?!). The song is kinda catchy though not that original these days (but worth the effort) and at least the flapper girls make some interesting birdies with their hands... but that's about it.
Foals could really learn a thing or two from Scandinavia. Here's the simple beauty (audio and visual) of Iron and Rust by Sweden's Pinto... featuring handclaps.. which, though soon to be relegated to the "overused" bin, are not only integral but hugely appropriate given the finger-context of the video.
Melbourne’s Hunters & Collectors, arguably one of Australia’s finest exports, were at their prime in the mid to late 1980’s and finally called it a day - after a few waning years of unfocused mediocrity - in 1998. Their best single was certainly “throw your arms around me”, but here’s a video for a song that’s perhaps a bit more indicative of what they were all about… “say goodbye” has all the horns, semi-shouty vocals, prominent bass lines and cutting guitars of a classic H&C tune. Plus, singer Mark Seymour channels The Fonz in the video!
“Throw your arms around me” and “say goodbye” form part of Hunters & Collectors’ cache of great relationship-based tunes. However, they were also political, and though perhaps not as up-for-it as fellow Aussies and part-time travel mates Midnight Oil, H&C did do their share of ranting (by the way, Peter Garrett, the baldy/ gargantuan former front-man of the Oils, was recently appointed Australian Environment Minister following his party’s November election victory. A bit of a departure from the days of those wildly flailing hands and on-stage scaffold jumping - or not?).
Recently I noticed that Mark Seymour has himself a sustainable solo career and, upon initial review, he sounds pretty good. Though, with song titles like “Jerusalem”, “Hell broke free” and “Feel the Lord” it would appear he’s had a “visitor”!?!
The top-five-Australian-bands-from-a-bygone-era-compiled-by-someone-who-has-never-been-to-Australia are… 1. Hunters & Collectors 2. The Church 3. Midnight Oil 4. Hoodoo Gurus 5. The Go-Betweens
Of course, Australia has had its less-than-stellar moments, having foisted both Air Supply and Men at Work upon the world-wide masses. But who am I to complain? I stood by idly as Canada unleashed, on an unsuspecting world, the likes of Gino Vannelli, Platinum Blonde, that guy who “wore his sunglasses at night”, Headpins (actually, I liked them - Darby Mills rocks!) and, most recently, Nickelback. Sad, sad, sad.
For Hunters and Collectors, their music stands the time better than most - Human Frailty (1986) and Ghost Nation (1989) being two essential albums.
La Blogothèque, through their beautifully orchestrated and filmed series “Take-Away Show”, has recorded videos for all songs on Beirut’s 2007 album, Flying Club Cup. As he wanders the streets of Paris playing “Nantes”, main man Zach Condon’s bandleader skills are highlighted so effectively that they continue to defy his age. Twenty two year-old bastard!
I’m not a big fan of the pigeonholing or labelling that circles the world of pop music but I have been known to follow a popular, labelled-to-death genre or two. Although, while “Shoe-gazing” was tightly defined by fuzzy guitars and the literal gazing at shoes (as opposed to looking out at the audience) and “Twee” has its gentle harmonies and thinking-person’s persona, labels such as “Britpop” and “80’s music” inherently mean nothing.
The marketing of the music “industry”, led in the UK by past-their-prime rags like the NME, creates sub-groups and over-promotes bands (and subsequently dumps them) for the sole purpose of shifting units. Thankfully, this master-plot is coming undone through “the wonders of the digital age”! And... straight from that digital realm come minnows Mikrofisch, an electronic, low-fi duo with Germanic roots that so happen to sport a few desirable songs…
In reference to the above lyrics, I will admit to purchasing multiple albums from both Coldplay and Keane, and I also have to admit that, after repeated listening of both bands’ “piano-rock”, their music adds up to not much more than boring, mindless drivel. And that’s not to say that I don’t like boring, mindless drivel ‘cause I do. I just don’t need for piano-rock to spawn a thousand imitators. The other bands listed in Mikrofisch’s shite diatribe can pretty much be summed up as one-time darlings of the music tabloid brigade (ie: the next, best thing). Known as “garage-rock” bands, they also share that shouty, return-to-guitar-rock-but-in-a-fake-kinda-way popularized by groups like Franz Ferdinand and any number of bands sporting matching outfits.
Meanwhile, you can download Mikrofisch’s entire, non-drively album for free from their website. One small iota of proof that them corporate walls keep-a-crumblin’ and that an unheralded band like Mikrofisch can put their money where their drum machine is.
The comedy/singing duo Flight of the Conchords have been the latest, greatest and hottest thing for a while now... here's their hilarious turn at rapping in the "gansta-folk crossover" Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros. Its spot on right down to the camera placement and "arms open wide" dance (I'm sure that's what they call it in the 'hood - arms open wide - sounds like a scene from STNG).
Scott Feschuk, in his annual "words to add to the dictionary" column, has come up with this hum-dinger...
celine n. the fear that a longstanding blight on one's country, who for years has been safely ensconced outside one's national borders, may now be tempted to return: Citing a growing nationwide celine, the prime minister ordered immigration officers to apprehend William Shatner on sight.
Celine Dion is from Quebec. Not Canada. She says so herself. So blame Quebec for her being unleashed upon America. And blame Las Vegas for allowing her to recently terminate her self-imposed incarceration where she could only harm those who harm themselves.
Stereogum has posted a timely anti-Celine clip but even though it makes glorious fun of her I couldn't sit through the entire thing. After all, it features not only her but That. Voice.
Campaigning for a better Canada in '08... Campaigning for Celine's singular American citizenship... This is FBS, signing off...
I love the balloons and I love the footie, but in a recent FA cup game, balloons and soccer became inextricably linked. Its not unusual for players to be forced to dodge items thrown from the stands: pennies, flares, bags of urine... and often reams of toilet paper or streamers can impede play to some extent. But this might be a first: balloons tossed by Manchester City fans contributed significantly to a goal against their beloved side. The defender did not know which orb to swing his boot at!
Here's a young 'un with a whole heap o talent:Adele (Hometown Glory). Even if she does allow her handlers to plunk her on a London rooftop on a frigid day.
