M83 is the French electronic group that will be supporting The Killers at the Verizon Wireless Theatre here in Houston on Monday, February 2, 2009. I saw them perform this song last night on Connan O’Brian. I LOVED it and now I am IN LOVE with this band. Little did I know that, after deciding last night to post it today, the song would come with such a hilarious video. This video looks like it could have been inspired by the movie comedy Blades of Glory. Check out the 2008 album Saturdays=Youth.
Category Archives: Music
“Dark End of the Street” by Cat Power
2008’s Jukebox was a collection of covers by Cat Power (a.k.a Chan Marshall). Dark End of the Street is a follow-up EP of the Jukebox overflows. It’s a 2008 release as well, but it came out in December. Have a listen to the reinterpreted title track while you view a photo slideshow of the alt-folk singer-songwriter.
“Used to Be” by Beach House
This 7″ single off of the album, Devotion, was released back in October. Pitchfork, the indie publication and media website, has been covering this group since their birth and has provided us with their latest video, “Used to Be.” The duo hailing from Maryland is due to perform at SXSW following an appearance in Houston at the Orange Show Center on March 17th.
“Jai Ho” by A.R. Rahman
In light of my plans to see the movie Slumdog Millionaire tomorrow, I thought I would post the theme “Jai Ho” by composer, A.R. Rahman, who produced the score for the movie. This movie cleaned up at the Golden Globe Awards winning four nominations. The repeated ‘jia-ho’ break-down, which preludes the lyrics in stacatto, is my favorite segment of the song. This also was the portion that was aired every time members of the project took the stage to accept their award. Upon tuning in for the awards, I had never heard the song. So, every time they played the little stage procession fragment I kept saying to myself, ‘man, that’s a cool song. I’ve gotta download it.’ Below please find the Jai Ho Dance Video led by 18 year old principal actor, Dov Patel, and actress, Frieda Pinto.
“Little Toy Gun” by HoneyHoney
Suzanne Santo and Ben Jaffe make up the pop duo HoneyHoney. Their debut record entitled First Rodeo came out November 4, 2008. Four of the songs are from the EP Loose Boots and seven of them are new original songs. This video was directed by Kiefer Sutherland who also makes an appearance.
“Pictures” by Madi Diaz
It’s not too early to start your preparation for South By Southwest folks. Rumors emerge everyday of new artists suspected to be in attendance. You can find this one under video links in the official SXSW website. Madi Diaz recorded her first solo album, Skin and Bone, in 2007 and now has a collaborative EP with fellow Berkley graduate, Kyle Ryan, entitled Ten Gun Salute. The native Philadelphian is scheduled to perform in Austin on March 18th at 8pm during the SXSW lineup. No venue has been posted yet.
Magnetic Concert Review
I worked for 13 ½ hours on Saturday. Around 11:30pm I pleaded with one of my managers to set me free. I explained that I had been at work all day, but more importantly that I had a concert to get to. A friend of mine was playing at a place called the Milan Pavilion. Caleb is the lead singer of a band called Magnetic. Ladies, if you’re a sucker for long beautifully maintained dreadlocks you might just melt if you saw my buddy Caleb.
The whole event of poetry, art, and music took place from 6pm to 2am and when I arrived with my friend and co-worker, Cesar, we perused the area admiring some art that was on display.
By the way, Cesar and I managed to dodge the cover charge. We must have looked lost but nobody bothered to point us in the right direction. We made our way through the back door while $10 was being collected at the front entrance. We only realized it once we were safely inside. That’s not the first time I’ve ducked the cover folks. I’m kind of notorious though I don’t try to be.
I trailed timidly behind Cesar as he made his way to the bar. I was a little apprehensive. I like a good dive as much as the next person but this place was just a bit sketchy for my taste. The red carpet and the odly and randomly placed outdoor-wedding-alter-type interior archways made me feel like I just walked into some kind of fun house. Or better yet, like I was entering the set of a horror film and at any moment the scary clowns were going to close in on me. Furthermore, when I glanced at the mounted television what I saw was an old Godzilla trailer. It was a step down from the House of Blues which was the last venue I saw them play.
It is evident that the group embodies a fusion of each members musical background. Caleb was raised on gospel but now plays the frontman with the soulful pipes. It’s not a surprising progression for him as soul originated from gospel, right? A more bluesy form of it anyway. The size and arrangement of Mike’s drums led me to believe that he was trained strictly as a jazz drummer, but Caleb informed me that he plays everything. Wu is the lead guitarist who, naturally, contributes harmonizing vocals as well. Throughout the set there were several moments when I found myself fixated on Rob Rrias and his bass playing. I have always been fascinated by the bass. It started years back when I saw Nickel Creek in concert and they had a stand in acoustic bass player. It was difficult to listen beyond the genius mandolin playing of Chris Thile to explore other components, but I did and I discovered that the bass was a very integral part of the whole. It was easy to listen to the bass guitar after I had come to that conclusion. Magnetic is one of those bands that allows you to focus on each part and clearly see how it fits in and what it brings to the overall soul, funk, and blues sound. I always say that my eyes can hear too. I say this because it seems as though you can hear one specific instrument so much better when you look at the person playing it.
They did a cover of Bill Wither’s “Aint No Sunshine” and Wu and Caleb alternated the 26 consecutive ‘I Know’s’ in the song. No, I never counted. My dad told me when I was little. The song came on the radio and our conversation went something like this, “Jen, guess how many times they say ‘I know’ in this song?” “I don’t know dad how many?” “26.” Now, whenever I hear the song I find myself asking whoever I am with if they know how many and, in most cases, when they don’t I will inform them.
It was during this song when I noticed that Wu looked like my boss Chad. Cesar laughed in agreement when I mentioned it.
I’m beginning to learn the songs as I’ve seen them perform three times now. If they had an EP, or even a demo, I would have them down for sure. Get on it guys! Oh, I’m just messing with you.
Most of the songs are really catchy. As Cesar said, “I want to sing along but I don’t know the words.” I’ve really come to like the song “Inevitable” which was played towards the end of their set. It has a nice guitar solo. Wu is like the sax player of a jazz band. You don’t need him for the beat but when he’s doing his thing all eyes are on him. I guess that goes for any lead guitar.
There is one song that stuck out for me the first time I heard them play. The song is called “How Long” and Caleb has pulled it from every other show I’ve seen. The song is calm and steady in its repetition until the little wrap-up jam session at the very end. The well written lyrics tell me that the song is about forgetting our insecurities. We must recognize what we have to offer and must, furthermore, expose those qualities from within us. If you follow the link above to the band’s myspace page you can listen to this song and others. Sorry I don’t have any embeddable audio for you.
Jen’s Cover of “A Dream” by Priscilla Ahn
Hello all. I hope this Friday evening has you eagerly anticipating whatever weekend antics might come your way. For some reason, today I simply feel like doing whatever I can with whatever I have at my disposal to somehow make this weekend superior to other ordinary weekends. To start I thought I would dip my toe into the pool of podcasting. So, my experimentations of the past hour have produced this little sample. I might want to ad that the product of this test run was achieved in a very primitive way. I went into my my tiny closet, laptop in tow, and shut the door to avoid all interfering noises while recording. I was just going to talk into the thing but on my way home from work I played this lovely song and thought that I would sing it for ya as my first podcast. Yikes! Here goes nothing…
[audio:A Dream.mp3]“A Dream” cover by Jen
“Pony (It’s Ok)” by Erin McCarley
Jim Fusilli of the Wall Street Journal has compared this native Texan to Fiona Apple and Feist. Erin McCarley’s debut album, Love, Save the Empty, was released on Tuesday. Tracks from this album have been featured on episodes of several drama series, including One Tree Hill. As I have mentioned before, One Tree Hill is my guilty pleasure. In my defense it has also been a source for a lot of really great music. I will be seeing Ms. McCarley supporting Brett Dennen on January 22nd at Warehouse Live so keep an eye out for the concert review!
[audio:101-erin_mccarley-pony_(its_ok).mp3]“Pony (It’s OK)” by Erin McCarley
And here’s the video for “Love, Save the Empty.” You’ll see footage from the move, He’s Just Not That Into You, because the song is part of the soundtrack.
“Jenny” by The Click Five
“Jenny” by The Click Five
Did you listen to the mp3 link above? This song was written about me. Are you puzzled because you know me and, therefore, you know that I go by Jen and not Jenny? I haven’t been Jenny since high school.
Read the lyrics below and your confusions should evaporate like a pavement puddle when the sun emerges. You should come to the conclusion that any Jennifer who goes by Jennifer or Jen would still be referred to as Jenny in a song like this. Are you still asking yourself why? Well, my friend, the answer to your question is that Jenny is a more suitable name for someone commonly described as a tease. And the Jenny illustrated in these lyrics is just that.
You know I’m only messing around. I just love finding songs with my name in them. Other recent ones include “Jenny Don’t Be Hasty” by Paolo Nutini and Mike Daughty’s “27 Jennifer’s.” Now I have found this 2007 single by five Boston based alternative-rock Berkley grads.
She calls me baby, then she won’t call me.
Says she adores me and then ignores me.
Jenny, what’s the problem?
She keeps her distance and sits on fences.
Puts up resistance and builds defenses.
Jenny, what’s the problem?
You leave me hanging on the line.
Every time you change your mind.
First You say you won’t, then you say you will.
You keep me hanging on, and we’re not moving on.
We’re standing still, Jenny. You got me on my knees.
Jenny, it’s killing me.
She needs her own space. She’s playing mind games.
Ends up at my place saying that she’s changed.
Jenny, what’s the problem?
I’m trying to read between the lines.
You got me going out of my mind.
