Music

Weekly Playlist: Bears!

Scott Mou  11/06/2009 02:30 PM

Bears are making the news this week. An angry mama bear attacked and killed two Palestinian militants taking a snack break in her den in Kashmir. In Eastern Germany, three bears in captivity are losing their hair–one is almost completely bald. And, of course, this morning, bears of a different sort–the Stearns kind–were taken to task in a Brooklyn courtroom.

What do bears have to do with music? Unclear, but it would be impossible not to notice the glut of bands with the word "bear" in their name. It's not quite as rampant as the use of "black" or "crystal" or, even worse, "wolf," but it's a bona fide trend. Of course, if the bears are taking over, it seems a better bet to join them, rather than fight:

 

The Dance Art Bears

MORE »

Tags: bear hands, minus the bear, panda bear, weekly playlist, scott mou, bear in heaven, playlist, art bears, Grizzly Bear

Music

Mixologists: Pink Martini

Darrell Hartman  10/30/2009 06:49 PM

The retro-minded, multilingual, virtuosic musicians of Pink Martini gleefully trip across boundaries with each new album. Splendor in the Grass, their latest, is no different. Jam-packed with unlikely excavations, inspired collaborations, obscure covers, and lyrics in languages ranging from Japanese to Neapolitan, it's a gift to music magpies the world over. We asked Portland, Oregon-based bandleader (and walking music encyclopedia) Thomas Lauderdale for an insider's tour of the track list.



Ninna Nanna
Written by Alba Clemente and Massimo Audiello

 

I was amazed that in the nineties, Alba had four children and stayed out really late at Jackie 60 on Tuesday nights.  We flew her out with at least six drag queens from there, and they sort of scandalized Portland. We wrote "Una Notta in Napoli," her first foray into songwriting, and I asked her if she'd ever consider writing a lullaby, so she and Massimo came up with "Ninna Nanna." In the middle of the song, I thought it made sense to sample Hugo Alfvén's "Swedish Rhapsody #1," which comes from a music box from my childhood.  It kind of just goes along with my whole idea that it's best to collaborate with people who are not songwriters, because what comes out is unbelievably beautiful.

MORE »

Tags: pink martini, Darrell Hartman, splendor in the grass, Thomas Lauderdale

Music

Weekly Playlist: This Charming Man

Scott Mou  10/30/2009 02:20 PM

For certain segments of the population, it was impossible to miss the report that Morrissey (now a half-century old) collapsed during a show this past weekend. Thankfully, he's since recovered and is continuing his tour. The incident reminds me of when, back in 2000, Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music was nearly killed on a commercial flight when a deranged passenger snuck into the cockpit, grabbed the controls, and threw the plane into a nosedive. At their age, both artists should be kicking back, getting tans, and enjoying themselves.

Besides wishing him the best, I've compiled a list of my five favorite Smiths songs, along with tracks from some oft-overlooked bands of the same era who share Morrissey's penchant for jangly guitars and wavering, literate vocals. And it's all great music for fall.


Girlfriend in a Coma The Smiths

MORE »

Tags: Scritti Politti, Orange Juice, Wedding Present, weekly playlist, scott mou, Felt, playlist, Go Betweens, Morrissey

Music

Fabiola Goes In for the Kill

Fabiola Beracasa  10/28/2009 02:10 PM

 

The first time I heard "In for the Kill" was in Paris during the Chanel couture show. If that weren't incentive enough to see them in New York (and it was!) my friend Richard Raymond, a film producer who has just worked on a film called Heartless (It's a thriller and a love story and a horror film—in one! And not yet out in America), was dying to go. The lead in Heartless is played by cutie pie-cum-heartthrob Jim Sturgess. Long story short, Jim's girlfriend is Mickey O'Brien,  keyboardist for La Roux.


Launch Mediaplayer »




Cronyism aside, the La Roux show was amazing. La Roux (the lady) apologized for her lungs, and explained she'd been forced to cancel a bunch of sets on her tour. Every time she put the microphone out in front of her, it meant she was winded, and that the audience should sing for her. But she trudges onward: I watched the tour bus drive away to Boston.

MORE »

Tags: La Roux, Jim Sturgess, Fabiola Beracasa, Richard Raymond, Mickey O'Brien

Music

Yoko Ono is Back in Plastic

Arsalan Mohammad  10/27/2009 09:39 AM

 

Over green tea, biscuits and strawberries at Reykjavik's Nordica Hotel, Yoko Ono took time out from promoting her Peace Tower project–the annual light sculpture that shoots up high into the Icelandic night each fall, between the dates of John Lennon's birthday (October 9) and the anniversary of his death (December 8)–to talk up her latest album, Between My Head And The Sky. Backed by a band directed by son Sean and featuring the best and brightest of Japanese avant-pop, the album sees 76-year-old Ono returning to the Plastic Ono Band, and sliding yet again ahead of the art-electro pack, for whom she remains the questioned godmother.


ARSALAN MOHAMMAD: The new album, Between My Head And The Sky, has a very eclectic mix of styles and sounds you cover.

YOKO ONO: When you look at my past albums, I'm always doing many different styles because I have so much love for each musical form. And it just comes natural to me. All those theme albums–with this, I didn't say... OK, it's a feminist album so we're not going to do this or that. But here, my body–my being–is there. So. I don't have to do anything. It just comes in, you know, it's just fun.

MOHAMMAD: I really like the opener, "Waiting For The D-Train." It's classic Yoko–shrieky, demented.

ONO: [LAUGHS] Aah, so glad you liked it! And you know, there was a debate about it. If you put "Waiting For The D Train" first, then people might think that, "Oh, this is just a screaming album" and they may not listen to it. But I thought, so if there's somebody like that, then I don't care, you know. [LAUGHS]

MORE »

Tags: Yoko Ono, John Lennon, Sean Lennon, Plastic Ono Band, Arsalan Mohammad

MUSIC POSTS FEED
VIEW ALL FEEDS
Follow us on Twitter