Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Wardicus Wednesdays #7 - We're Back

It's 55 degrees outside which can only mean one thing:

LEGS. I cannot wait for underclassmen to return from island nations that end in 'a' and start showing off their newly bronzed bipeds! Soon Battell Beach is going to be covered by youngsters trying to soak up the ever increasing rays of sun. Of course, they won't realize that while doing so, their backs are getting covered in mud. Afterall, It's only March and it's still Vermont. So while you're weathering out that final snowstorm, here's songs to get you ready for summertime.


ww7



The first song is Countdown (Sick for the Big Sun) by French pop masters Phoenix. These guys basically wrote the soundtrack for my summer three years ago with their debut, It's Never Been Like That. Their new release, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, is slightly more disco, but equally as bubblegum .



Next up, we've got Now We Can See by The Thermals. I've loved this band for a long time now with their unique brand of talk-rock that makes me miss Thompson. (I never thought I'd say that.)



Hells fucking YES. Metric. It's been four long years since the last real Metric release and I definitely have not been disappointed with Fantasies. Granted, nothing can touch OWU, but this will definitely piss off my roommates for the next few weeks when I wake up to the album on full blast every morning. Also, I'd like to take this opportunity to officially propose to Emily Haines. Emily, you are the coolest older woman in the world and are incredibly sexy (in a weirdly Canadian way).



Next up is the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Zero is the first single from new album It's Blitz!. They've traded their Sonic Youth sound from Fever to Kill for more synths ala Blondie, but that doesn't mean it's not good. They've managed a nice balance between punk and pop. So if you were disappointed by Show Your Bones, don't worry. The YYYs are as cool and as rockin as ever.



Finally, we've got The Decemberists with The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid. For the new album, The Hazards of Love, hyperliterate frontman Colin Meloy wrote a rock opera, casting Becky Stark (Lavender Diamond) as Margaret, the doomed protagonist, Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) as a forest queen (appearing in the song) and featuring Jim James, Robyn Hitchcock,and Rebecca Gates. Listen closely and you might hear Comfortably Numb on The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned) or The Who's Tommy all over the fucking album. Rather than rip-off these giants of the 70's, the Decemberists channel them, crafting a narrative that's enjoyably poppy, but also get my head banging every time Chris Funk starts shredding and the Forest Queen starts belting. If you've not been listening to this album on repeat for the past few weeks, get on it. Oh, and for a bonus: NPR has the whole thing live at SXSW.

c'est tres tres bien

it is, how you say? the spring break? and i am sitting in my house, writing le thesis.

this video is beautiful beautiful beautiful. sufjan stevens also on la blogotheque.
i have been meaning to post this and share it with everyone, but i guess dave's post subconsciously inspired me even more.



in station news, streaming is back!!

LISTEN TO WRMC HERE 24/7/365!

also lots of things are going on over break: cds getting graded and subsequently added, promoters getting emails, sweet shows getting planned, so be excited for the next two months of 'rmc! because i am excited enough for BOTH OF US!!

xo rachael

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

decaying blog to sigur ros

I have no idea what is going on around here. Shit has obviously hit the fan. I blame Ernest.


Sigur Ros - Við spilum endalaust - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Here is a Take Away Show produced by La Blogotheque. Its sweet and simple.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Cacophonic Bubonic Shit the Made Me Choke


SALEM - DIRT from ACEPHALE on Vimeo.


Salem is as erie as it is beautiful. According to Uncle Pinglewood: "If you kidnapped Bauhaus, tied them up in your basement, tortured them with slo-mo Houston hip-hop and performance art pornography, then killed them, their ghosts might have sordid dreams about a record like this."

Check a few of their jams here

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Baggin Up the Tree: I move units like Starcraft


A hoy-hoy,

Baggin' up the tree is a serious banger. Check out the ultra high-def music video --directed by Sam Morrill--for the song by Brooklyn hip-hop duo Jonny Rooms and Dutch Master Spence. They have just released their debut album, Statutory Rap.

Lyrics to listen for: "All day all night, baggin' up the tree. We got more work then the ma-fucking
Chinese."

"Lines off my G-3 nanosaur 3-D, nobody does blow off a PC."



Download single here.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Dan Deacon

Basically this is turning into a place where I just talk about how much I like a handful of bands/people who play music. One of them is Dan Deacon.

He is just that fantastic.

The new Deacon album, Bromst, comes out March 24. Pitchfork.TV has some great footage of Deacon in the studio and Deacon playing some of the new songs for the first time in December with his ensemble band.

Taking his unique live shows and adapting them to include a band seems like it wouldn't work at first but with a bit of fine tuning and some practice I think he'll be able to come up with something delightful. At least I hope he does by May 12 so that when he comes to Higher Ground we all can get crazy.