eyepod

Jarvis is still running the world

2006-10-12T10:55:00.000-07:00

One solo album to rule them all!

Jarvis Cocker - Jarvis

Tim Burton hearts The Killers

2006-09-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

It's true. Tim Burton is directing the video for the next Killers single, Bones, off their new album Sam's Town. Brandon Flowers prematurely declared that the video for When You Were Young was going to be "the best music video of the last 20 years" (it wasn't the best video of even the last 20 days). What's he gonna say now that Burton is working on the new one? The vid itself will contain Burton's signature stop-motion animation and I'm very curious to see the result.

The Killers - Bones

You know the name, you know the number

2006-09-21T01:16:00.000-07:00

Hey hey, long time no blog. But the occasion is fairly important so I decided to stop being bored and share the new Bond theme song, You Know My Name, written and performed by Audioslave's Chris Cornell.

Chris Cornell - You Know My Name

Casino Royale looks pretty damn cool and I'm convinced that Daniel Craig will make a great 007 so stop with the hating!

How do you dream?

2006-08-22T15:54:00.000-07:00

Michel Gondry, director of a bunch of music videos and Eternal Sunshine Of A Spotless Mind, is quickly becoming the go-to guy for quirky modern romances. He even wrote the screenplay of latest one, The Science Of Sleep, starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg (Serge's daughter) as two people who fall in love... in and out of their dreams. I bet Charlie Kaufman is proud.
The soundtrack features Jean-Michel Bernard's, er, dreamlike score and a cover of Lou Reed's If You Rescue Me sung by the cast themselves, among others. Even Gondry himself demonstrates his drumming abilities.

The Science Of Sleep OST Sample (4 tracks: Ulcer Soul by the Hollowz, If You Rescue Me, Golden The Pony Boy and one instrumental)

O Decemberists

2006-08-18T05:15:00.000-07:00

Waves of psychitude are rocking my body... The Crane Wife is here and it's amazing. Should I post it or will Colin Meloy be mad??? Hmmm...

Badly Drawn Springsteen

2006-08-17T06:17:00.000-07:00

No, not really. The new Badly Drawn Boy single, Born In The U.K., is quite brilliant, methinks. Catchy, quirky, too damn short. Just like this post.

Badly Drawn Boy - Born In The U.K.

Art imitating life....

2006-08-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

Found this over at Stereogum and it, like, spoke to me.

Sprites - I Started A Blog Nobody Read

Today In Chat: Scarlett O'Hara & Rhett Butler

2006-08-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

Tara_Girl says:
if u leave me, i'll die :(

R-for-Rulez says:

Stroke goes solo!

2006-08-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

And he actually sounds pretty good! Then again, he always sounds good, it must be the hair...

Says his MySpace page:
Albert Hammond Jr. will release a solo album entitled "Yours To Keep" exclusively in the U.K. through Rough Trade Records on Monday, October 9th. "Yours To Keep" was recorded at New York's Electric Ladyland Studios, LoHo Studios, and Cabin In The City with Hammond, Jr. as guitarist and vocalist together with Josh Lattanzi on bass and Matt Romano on drums. That basic trio has been augmented on various tracks by Julian Casablancas, Jody Porter (Fountains of Wayne), Ben Kweller, Sean Lennon, Chris Feinstein, Mikki James, Sammy James Jr. (The Mooney Suzuki) and Ryan Gentles. The album was produced by Greg Lattimer who first came to attention as vocalist with New York's Thin Lizard Dawn in the late-nineties. The album comes in addition to Albert's role in The Strokes - he is not leaving the band.

Tracklist:
'Cartoon Music for Superheroes (Goodnight)'
'In Transit'
'Everyone Gets A Star'
'Call An Ambulance'
'Blue Skies'
'Back To The 101'
'Bright Young Thing'
'Scared'
'Holiday'
'Hard to Live in the City'

So here's a small preview of his album, with 3 songs ripped from MySpace (doesn't 101 sound veeery Strokes-y? Strokes-esque? Strokes-ian?) and a sort of demo for In Transit that was recorded for a Strokes documentary.

Albert Hammond Jr. - Yours To Keep Sample

Enjoy your holidays!

Waiting...

2006-07-23T06:20:00.000-07:00

So the new Decemberists album The Crane Wife has arrived at Pitchfork HQ. Now all we have to do is sit here and wait patiently for some nice person to grab it and unleash its musical goodness all over the Internet!

Fun stuff to do while we wait:

Watch The Big Lebowski: The Fucking Short Version
Pre-order Pinky And The Brain: Vol. 1
Completely change our minds about Harry Potter's uptight on-screen aunt. (Yes, that's Saffron Burrows and yes, they are a couple.)
Cringe at the thought of a naked Dakota Fanning.
Download the new Elton John-penned Scissor Sisters single, Don't Feel Like Dancing.
See what (who) James Blunt is doing while the rest of us are making fun of him.
Discover if we are ready to die by going through yet one more list of 50 Must-See Films.

A dear gang

2006-07-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

The Dears, a.k.a. the second best reason not to blame Canada (after Arcade Fire, bien sur), will mark the end of the summer with the release of their third album, Gang Of Losers. Alas, it's already out there!

The Dears - Gang Of Losers

I haven't heard it too many times (damn you, Lily Allen), but I think I like it more than No Cities Left. I'm not sure, though. Right now I just want little Alfie to get off his lazy arse and use his brain. (Damn you, Lily Allen.)

Smiley is as smiley does

2006-07-18T09:20:00.000-07:00

Gnarls Barkley's new video for Smiley Faces is better in its 4:13 min. than Forrest Gump was in its 287431792 hours. Plus: Dennis Hopper, Dean Stockwell and David Bowie, man!

I don't know how to do the YouTube link thingy so just click here.

These boots are made for Eleanor

2006-07-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

The mighty Franz Ferdinand are releasing the fourth single off You Could Have It So Much Better and it's a reworking of the song Eleanor Put Your Boots On. Goodbye McCartney, hello Mr. Folk. Yes, FF go all folk on us, complete with a banjo. The 2 new b-sides, Ghost In A Ditch (sung by Nick) and Wine In The Afternoon are interesting in their experimentation, as always.

Franz Ferdinand - Eleanor Put Your Boots On (reworked)
Franz Ferdinand - Ghost In A Ditch
Franz Ferdinand - Wine In The Afternoon

They also recorded a new children's song for a charity album, per Belle and Sebastian's request. It's called Jackie Jackson and it could have easily jumped out of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Franz Ferdinand - Jackie Jackson

Post of shame

2006-07-15T03:28:00.000-07:00

Rebecca: This is so bad it's almost good.
Enid: This is so bad it's gone past good and back to bad again.

Presenting...
Paris Hilton - Stars Are Blind

Pet Shop Boys and Two Other Boys

2006-06-20T17:28:00.000-07:00

Here are two excellent quality rips from the Pet Shop Boys BBC2 radio concert that took place last May in the Mermaid, London. The one is Rufus Wainwright's version of Casanova In Hell (truly Rufus-esque) and the other is... well, Robbie Williams performing Jealousy! Robbie and PSB are currently working together on his upcoming dance album, from what I hear. I have to say that the BBC Concert Orchestra (or whatever it's called) makes the Boys' songs sound positively epic.

Pet Shop Boys & Rufus Wainwright - Casanova In Hell (live)
Pet Shop Boys & Robbie Williams - Jealousy (live)

(P.S. Rufus Wainwright's initials: RW. Robbie Williams's initials: RW. I'm just saying!)

The boy and girls from Oz

2006-06-20T06:03:00.000-07:00

"My baby is soft, yeah he's shooting tigers, my baby he's such a fucking liar
My baby, boo yeah, looking for a 19-20-20, 19-20-20
My baby, oh yeah he's leaving town
My baby doesn't want me around"

Energetic, punchy, jump-around-y girl rock reminiscent of early Yeah Yeah Yeahs from Australian trio The Grates. Perfect for the summer. (Some clever wordplay could have occurred but didn't -- e.g. "The Grates! Great for the summer.")

The Grates - 19 20 20

The Grates - Lies Are Much More Fun

La la leaks

2006-05-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

A couple of nifty album leaks today: 21 Illinoise leftovers and new Neil Hannon & co.

Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche

The Divine Comedy - Victory For The Comic Muse

2x20: Two For The Road

2006-05-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

What the hell happened on this week's LOST? An uninteresting episode's final minutes turned out to be the most shocking ending of this season and maybe the whole show. And although the real-life motives behind this development are painfully obvious (despite the continuous denials of the creative team), these last 2 minutes advanced the plot in a way that the whole season failed to do. Holy fuck. Now give us our war!

In honor of Hurley's reference to that scene the film Say Anything and in not-so-loving memory of those who were written off the island, let's remember a classic from the time Cameron Crowe used to make good films.

Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes (Live on VH1)

(Since we're on the subject of visual entertainment, I would advise you to head over to Amazon.com and spend all your money on the Criterion Collection DVD sale. Yes, SALE.)

Lorelai's playlist... sort of

2006-04-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

The final scene in the latest Gilmore Girls episode The Real Paul Anka featured this oldie (are we allowed to call something from the 80s an oldie or is too bold and depressing?) from Sparks, a great great band:

Sparks - Angst In My Pants

The season finale of the show features appearances by Yo La Tengo, Mary Lynn Rasjkub (24's Chloe and one-time flame of Jon Brion sings?!) and Sonic Youth, who will play the first single from their new album, Rather Ripped, called What A Waste.

Sonic Youth - What A Waste

Gratuitous pic of the day

2006-04-14T05:31:00.000-07:00

Devendra Banhart in VMan magazine.

The Strokes cover The Ramones

2006-04-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

I was walking down the Lower East Side the other day with this song on my iPod. Appropriate, n'est-ce pas?

The Strokes - Life Is A Gas

Clap your hands, child...

2006-04-11T05:28:00.000-07:00

Tilly & The Wall! A folk-pop quintet from Nebraska with a tap dancer instead of a drummer and cheerful melodies with darker undertones. Their album Wild Like Children is hand-clappingly good! Spread the excitement.

Tilly & The Wall - Fell Down The Stairs
Tilly & The Wall - You and I Misbehaving
Tilly & The Wall - Nights Of The Living Dead

The start of something?

2006-03-31T13:44:00.000-08:00

I discovered Voxtrot when I heard The Start Of Something, which is your basic Smiths song without the drama. But first impressions can be misleading and after further research (=downloading) they proved to be much more than Smiths clones. The irony of their name is not lost on me, either. Since I'm not much of a writer, I'll just copy what Pitchfork has to say about them ("songs with deft arrangments and charming melodies that evoke Belle & Sebastian, Morrissey, and the Lucksmiths, but with jagged, rumbling guitars remindful of early Cure and, sometimes, Joy Division") and their two EPs. And then I'm gonna post both of those EPs because this is just the kind of person that I am.

Voxtrot - Raised By Wolves EP & Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives EP

Prophets or pawns?

2006-03-23T08:57:00.000-08:00

Today I will post a song I like. (I'm already starting to regret it, as the page just... won't... load so I had to steal the first link I could find. Thanks, Nick baby, whoever you are.)

Guillemots - Trains To Brazil

Postmodern girl power

2006-03-22T08:22:00.000-08:00

They wear polka dot dresses and sing catchy pop tunes that are unashamedly 50s. Their mission is to "turn back the clock to a time before The Beatles ruined everything". Such a bold statement takes guts and a whole lotta fun attitude and the Brighton trio has both -- in spades.

The Pipettes - Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me
The Pipettes - Dirty Mind

The Long Blondes simply ROCK. They made a punk Hitchcock tribute (Appropriation... By Any Other Name), they play in the occasional library, their Christmas song (Christmas Is Cancelled) was last year's must in holiday playlists... and, alas, they are still unsigned.

The Long Blondes - Separated By Motorways
The Long Blondes - Autonomy Boy

BONUS: Probably on Mischa Barton's iPod: The Like. Pitchfork finds them "terribly charming". Whatever.

The Like - June Gloom
The Like - Bridge To Nowhere

Les "enfants indies" aiment Serge

2006-03-09T17:31:00.000-08:00

A few golden boys, girls and Brian Molko have teamed up and recorded a compilation called "Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited", in which they pay tribute to chanteur et compositeur francais Serge Gainsbourg. The covers are in English, bien sur, and some collaborations seem inspired, to say the least. (I mean, Cat Power and Jack White's top model wife Karen Elson sing Je T'Aime... Moi Non Plus?!)
The full tracklist is:

01 Franz Ferdinand and Jane Birkin: "A Song for Sorry Angel"
02 Cat Power and Karen Elson: "I Love You (Me Neither)"
03 Jarvis Cocker and Kid Loco: "I Just Came to Tell You That I'm Going"
04 Portishead: "Requiem for Anna"
05 Faultline, Brian Molko, and Francoise Hardy: "Requiem For A Jerk"
06 Michael Stipe: "L'Hotel"
07 Tricky: "Au Revoir Emmanuelle"
08 Marianne Faithfull and Sly and Robbie: "Lola R. For Ever"
09 Gonzales, Feist, and Dani: "Boomerang 2005"
10 Marc Almond and Trash Palace: "Boy Toy"
11 Placebo: "The Ballad of Melody Nelson"
12 The Rakes: "Just a Man With a Job"
13 The Kills: "I Call It Art"
14 Carla Bruni: "Those Little Things"

When fun songs happen to serious people

2006-03-01T05:04:00.000-08:00

Case in point #1: Ben Gibbard, the one-man band behind Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service and the personal god of every self-respecting emo kid, is not all gentle sensibilities and bittersweet romances. He can be shallow (and also disrespect "preppy clothes")! And you can't get more shallow than Avril...

Ben Gibbard - Complicated (Avril Lavigne cover)

Case in point #2: Even punk rocker Ted Leo (of Ted Leo and The Pharmacists) can't deny the infectious nature of Kelly Clarkson's Since U Been Gone (and throws in a little bit of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Maps)

Ted Leo - Since U Been Gone/Maps

Boyfriends will be boys

2006-02-28T03:49:00.000-08:00

A tribute to the most elusive species ever. Which one will you pick?

The Ex-Boyfriends - Him Or Me
The Boyfriends - I Love You

(The Ex-Boyfriends are a gay trio from San Fransisco and they play excellent poppy rock; The Boyfriends' sexual orientation is unknown to me but they're irresistibly British and of course they sound like The Smiths.)

Life after Doherty...

2006-02-22T05:57:00.000-08:00

...sounds pretty good! Ex-Libertines frontman Carl Barat is Doherty-free and back with a bang bang. His new band is called Dirty Pretty Things and could the first single, Bang Bang You're Dead, be a not-so-subtle dedication to his former bandmate/creative accomplice/personal burglar? Given their tumultuous, I-wish-I-knew-how-to-quit-you relationship... hey, I'm just saying.

I knew all along
That I was right at the start
About the seeds of the weeds
That grew in your heart

Self satisfaction for the factions
Who formed to tear us apart
Oh I gave you the Midas touch
As you turned round to scratch out my heart

Oh what did you expect?
Oh tell me what did you expect?
To lay it on my head?
So is it all upon my head?

Bang bang you're dead!
Oh I'm so easily lead
Bang, bang, you're dead!
Put all those rumours to bed
Bang, bang you're dead

I knew all along
But I was loathed to believe
There was nothing but spite
Fury and lies in the words that you weave

Bring our illusion to a conclusion
With all our unsold dreams
Put it to bed, kick it in the head
Oh won't they just let it be

Bang bang you're dead!
Oh I'm so easily lead
Bang, bang, you're dead!
Put all those rumours to bed
Bang, bang you're dead

Bang bang bang bang you're dead

Dirty Pretty Things - Bang Bang You're Dead

On their official site there's also a new live video, Deadwood.

You know the "after", but what about the "before"?

2006-02-16T04:29:00.000-08:00

Is anyone curious about the life and times of Alex Kapranos before he "formed a band" called not Art Brut but Franz Ferdinand? The Mind's Construction Quarterly is (OK, was) so let them provide the words and I'll take care of the music.
"The Karelia was Alex Kapranos’s first stab at fame, incorporating many of the elements -- smart lyrics, intuitive song structures and disregard for conventions -- that have gone to make Franz Ferdinand so popular. They are all-but-unknown because they were so out of sync with the zeitgeist, or indeed any zeitgeist. Their album, Divorce at High Noon, produced by Bid from The Monochrome Set (whose early material is surely as much an influence on the Franz Ferdinand sound as the oft-mentioned Josef K), is a unique and beautiful artefact. Divorce at High Noon was criminally ignored in 1997, released at a time, quite unlike the present, when authenticity was prized above all else. It suffered relegation to the pigeonhole of theatrical indie pop, garnering a few lukewarm reviews in the Melody Maker. Their sound was like a cross between a flapper band of the 1920s and a jazzy French chansonnier of the 1940s, but informed by post-punk inventiveness, with a smidgen of the self-conscious British humour of the Bonzo Dog Band."

Life was a cabaret for Alex, obviously. I'd love to see the way he dressed back then.

The Karelia - Divorce At High Noon
The Karelia - To His Coy Dietress
The Karelia - Love's A Cliche

And the obligatory Smiths cover:
The Karelia - Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want

And now for something completely different...

2006-02-14T06:04:00.000-08:00

Instead of a predictable choice of love songs, break up songs, make up songs and generally of Valentine's or anti-Valentine's songs, today I will break new ground by posting songs not by title or content but by the band's name... which happens to coincide perfectly with the theme of the day, nonetheless.
Love Is All is Sweden's latest export, an eclectic, indie mix of pop, garage rock and electronica. Pitchfork loves them, the MP3 bloggers love them, John Peel loved them and maybe you'll love them if you give them a listen. If not, Celine Dion is probably playing on your local radio station.

Love Is All - Make Out Fall Out Make Up
Love Is All - Spinning & Scratching
Love Is All - Talk Talk Talk Talk

Yeah yeah, they're back.

2006-02-13T09:26:00.000-08:00

You've heard the remix, now get the real deal. Karen O and her friends (a.k.a. Yeah Yeah Yeahs) are releasing their second album Show Your Bones in March and this is the first single.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion

As a bonus, here's the b-side:
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Let Me Know

Moz forgives us. All is good in the world again.

2006-02-13T09:10:00.000-08:00

I made one post and decided to delete the previous version of the blog because I was bored, but I could not NOT share the new Morrissey single. And I thought Italy was going to make him less sad... On the other hand, thank God he didn't watch any Benigni films. ("Benigni is me, Braschi you'll never be")

Morrissey - You Have Killed Me