Peanut’s Playground is my bi-weekly verbal diarrhea. Every other Wednesday I plan to ramble about stuff I like (in my typically screwed up version of English) and hope you will like too. And in case you don’t… mweh.
In typical Peanut-style I’ve messed up my timeschedule and made (work related) appointments for about every single day in April and May. And what that means is….a quicky for today’s post and it’s about:
The Nippon Budokan
[Info stolen from wikipedia] The Nippon Budokan a.k.a. as The Budokan is an arena in the middle of Tokyo, Japan. I have no clue whatsoever what goes inside this arena besides the fact that a shitload of great live performances have been recorded there.
I’ve collected a few clips of the most memorable of those performances for your enjoyment. (Translation: these were the best ones I could find on Youtube while writing this article at the office) Yeah I’m a lazy basterd. Sue me.
You might have to turn up the volume a bit for some of these videos…
Good morning, my friends! Got your Cocoa Puffs all swimming in milk? Got you PJ butt-flaps buttoned up tight? Got you favourite pillow fluffed and ready for vegetating?
Yes, the fine folks in our beloved little community of music freaks and geeks have been scouring the intertubals of cyber love canals to bring you some pretty sweet musical videos.
First up… From grafista, the latest from bloggerin’ fave PJ Harvey and “The Words The Maketh Murder”:
Very cool… Next up, we have “Nightwatch” by the Acrylics found by Fulltext!
Now we step back a couple years, thanks to Isa and her classic find, “Frank Sinatra” by Cake…
Fulltext dropped in on vimeo and found us “Las Palmas” by Mia Riddle
Last night I had an unexpected dinner date which has left me kind of strapped for time. I certainly don’t have enough time to make a decent post (as if I’m able to do such thing at all) this Wednesday. So what’s a man to do? Well I do what I see people like Tsuru do when they haven’t got time to write: I whip up an article full of random youtubes found with the magical tool that is Google!
I know I said ‘random’, but in all honesty I do have some sort of theme to this article: POP!
If the word ‘pop’ is enough for you to look further without watching the vids, I do strongly encourage you to pay attention anyway. ‘Cause there ain’t nuttin’ wrong with pop. As long as it’s quality pop, and I do believe I have found a selection of just that for you. If you still don’t like pop after playing these songs, then there is something seriously wrong with you. Enjoy!
Happy US Thanksgiving everyone! Baby bird is safe at my place & Mama bird is in route, next up is a dead bird in the oven! WOOT! So, while we get on our first traditional US Thanksgiving in a million years — how do you cook a giant bird again? — you guys enjoy some viddys and have a wonderful day!!!
You know I love The New Pornographers, right? It has nothing to do with who’s in the “super” band, I mean, sure I love Bejar, Newman, Neko, etc, but really it’s just their amazing output that fills my heart with swirling joy.
With that being said, my only ONLY complaint about their albums is their lengths. Every time I listen, it seems as though after I had only just begun listening, bouncing around, singing every harmony I dare attempt, that it’s over… all too soon.
It’s my personal hell.
Beyond that, the only other thing that has annoyed me about this band, is the same thing that annoys me about every band that evolves their sound, it’s the bullshit critics bitching and moaning that bands done changed, oh why oh why can’t they go back to their roots, while all the while claiming they don’t want a Pinkerton II, etc. With the release of Challengers, critics started lamenting the lack of songs like “Mass Romantic.
I call bullshit.
Bands, like people, evolve and change. Your job, as a fan or critic or whatever, is to A) hope & expect that a band is following their hearts, souls, and inspirations truly, B) for you to either love it or hate it and C) hope beyond all hopes that if they break up, go to rehab, and/or find jesus, then reunite that they never ever EVER make another album.
Sorry. Reunions suck (hey, we’re friends again!). So do rehab albums. But I digress*…
*always wanted to use that
Don’t like Hazards Of Love, wish the Decemberist still sounded like “Red Right Ankle”? Then go listen to “Red Right Ankle” and shut the fuck up.
Weezer is probably the most glaringly obvious example. Weezer and I have finally and officially broken up — Hurley was the signing of the paper work, but Raditude was the official separation — but I will still listen to Maladroit, Blue, and Pink and I’m okay with that. Though… how you go from this:
To this:
Is beyond me.
So, Challengers came out and outside of the “return to form” “All Of The Things That Make Heaven & Earth”, most critics, unable to listen in the vacuum of it’s own release, were not all that impressed. Man were they missing out!
And now Together is out and it evolves from where Challengers left off, still more ornate, still meatier and less sugary, a bit more organic and absolutely gorgeous.
But, still, for me… Whenever “We End Up Together” starts wrapping up, though I’m excited to hear “Moves” again, I….. I want MORE! I… I’m not done yet!
Hypocritical balsphemy, I know. But, at least you know I’m honest.
So here’s what I did. I tried something out. I took these two slightly maligned, too slightly too short for my own needs pop gems and mixed them together, alternating track by track, adding in my two very favourite b-sides from their executive edition of Challengers — I still think that was a brilliant bit of marketing that I ate up with glee! It was the album that kept on giving!
The result of this mixture? Oh………. oh my!
A sprawling over one and a half hours of pop mastery!!! From when the strings of “Moves” kicks in until the syrupy vocals of Dan leads us on a bittersweet fade-out sing-along of “The Spirit Of Giving”, we flow up & down, fast & slow, the glorious harmonies, and look Pitchfork, twice as much Neko (see 5th paragraph)!
Now, this is just with a simple alternating tracklist with a couple b-sides tossed in, there are probably variations that may flow better for you, but man, talk about fulfilling!
It’s almost an over-indulgence, kinda like last night where, instead of making our home-made pizza on smaller pita bread, I made it on a larger naan bread, with chicken, onions, banana peppers, and then shredded up lots of goat gouda. Oh man, it was delicious and I didn’t stop eating until I had to unbuton my pants to breathe.
This, what I’m calling Together, We Are The Challengers Of… is that, by the time it ends you are so full of it’s deliciousness, the thought of some sugary sweet dessert spawns a wave of nausea! You struggle to breath as you lick your fingers, wipe your face, and think about how amazing the leftovers are going to be tomorrow……
10. Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk
11. All the Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth
12. My Shepherd
13. Failsafe
14. If You Can’t See My Mirrors
15. Unguided
16. Up in the Dark
17. Entering White Cecilia
18. Valkyrie in the Roller Disco 19. Fugue State
20. Go Places
21. A Bite Out of My Bed
22. Mutiny, I Promise You
23. Daughters of Sorrow
24. Adventures in Solitude
25. We End Up Together
26. The Spirit of Giving
I’m feeling dirty. Yeah, I’ve got that grimey, not showered in a week, feeling. It can only mean one thing… Grinderman’s new album is playing.
Skeezy. Shiny suits, greasy hair, and the smell of either cologne or Brylcreem — yeah, a y, no i, two e’s, no a’s — permeating the air.
Creepy.
But hey, it’s Grinderman and if anyone can get away with it, it’s these guys. Yeah, every song, save “Palaces Of Montezuma”, sound like it belongs in a Robert Rodriguez / Quentin Tarantino “joint”, but it works.
Go figure. And beside, the video for “Heathen Child” has boobs. Everybody wins!
Yeah, I’m late to the party on these viral meme video thingies (I usually am, unless I get caught up on Tosh.0 on amazon), but here they are & I’m larfing my arse off!
Rainbow Guy before…
Rainbow Guy after…
Antoine Dobson before…
Antoine Dobson after…
When life imitates art makes fun of life, we all win! Or lose? Or both!
Ah… lover’s rock is back. The self-described genre label for Stars, one of those bands, you know, a tsuru-staple band, a key band in the history of Tsuru & The Bride, a band who’s release is a minor event in our household, one that, love it or hate it, I was going to have to talk about it. Well, after a bunch of songs popping up on the intertubal superinfohighway of love canals and, finally, it getting the full stream effect over at the NPRs, it showed up on our doorstep and made it’s way into our ears and brainses… Yep, we’ez talkin’ about The Five Ghosts by Stars.
I love Stars. They are the kind of band that carries their hearts on their foreheads, love it or hate it, they have their opinions, right or wrong, and will gladly tell you how they feel with or without provocation. Sounds familiar.
When I first heard “Fixed” I was a tad nervous. Sounded pretty dancy and I was concerned the new album was going to be some synthy, drum machined dance thingy-thing. Well, in some respects, it is. In other respects it’s simple, cute retro pop — See: “Never Been Good With Change” — but no matter how synthy, if there’s one thing this band is and can’t help but be is that “lover’s rock” tag they gave themselves way back when.
These guys vomit their hearts at every turn, every lyric, every over-emoted string arrangement…. I love that. The world needs that. As the world churns out music and technology and iPads faster and faster, where the “latest 4G phone” is already nearing obsolescence before we even established a 4G network, there’s a sense of apathy and commodity about everything we do, use, touch, and need.
Yet, Stars take me to my young teenage bad-poetry writing impassioned about every cause rocking my Amnest Int’l shirt self, every emotion, love, hate, war, all amplified by 1,000. Thank you Stars, never lose your heart.
05 We Don’t Want Your Body
06 He Dreams He’s Awake
07 Never Been Good With Change
08 The Passenger
09 The Last Song Ever Written
10 How Much More
11 Winter Bones
Vid time! Here’s the “Making of 5 Ghosts” thing that went around and some classic gemmy gems!
Good morning cowpokes! It’s gonna be a good day, right? Right. And to help make sure that is so, here’s some viddy-vids to get the day started right!!! WOOT! Have a jim-dandy of one!
Oh man, I need some mojo, STAT! You ever get like that, where gumption & you are strangers? Yeah, I’m kinda there right now. Don’t know if it’s just all. the. stuff. going. on. or if it’s just a weekend of rain or if it’s just the denouement from so many exciting adventures??? Not sure, but your boy Tsuru is ready to shake off the funk!
Also, at the end of the day, there is the music. Always the music. If there is one thing I’ve learned in these years of bloggerin’ — BLOGGERIN’! WHAT’S YOUR PRICE FOR FLIIGHT! FOR FIIINDIN’ MIISTER RIIIGHT! It’ll be all right…….. tonight — is that if there is one constant, one thing I can always count on, one thing that will help me get my “groove back on” is that there is always, ALWAYS great new music to listen to and this time, it comes in the form of Fall Of Spring by Lonely Drifter Karen.
Now, I had/have no idea who or what a Lonely Drifter Karen is, it sounds like the nickname for that kind of girl, the hippie nomad of yesteryear, primed for a some horror movie character to pick-off somewhere in the middle of a crappy matinee flick.
*Begin scene*
Karen was a lonely drifter, wandering & hitchhiking her way across the country and back, where ever her heart or the wind would lead her.
Ch-ch-ch-ch Ha-ha-ha-ha Ch-ch-ch-ch Ha-ha-ha-ha
“What’s that nois–”
*machete plunges into Karen from a masked man*
A look of surprise & terror as she gives out a silent scream before crumpling to her death.
*End Scene*
I assumed this was not the case for this band so I went to the most respectable place I know for information, youtube, and I found all this! It’s like an AV Club Secret Santa Xmax Gift Exchange!
bicycles!
WOO! I’m sensing a definitely cutesy Francophile-type vibe — what the hell is that supposed to me? — involving clever instrumentation & maybe a bicycle! So, a load up of the and “Dis-In-Motion” starts off quietly & stark, there’s a sense of the carnival, some theatric, something involving a ferris wheel maybe, going on. In fact, the song play likes a date to the carnival!
80′S MONTAGE!
Oh wait, no, not THAT kinda sound, more like a Parisian carnival, all sepia tone with muted colours. More Amelie than Kenny Loggins (“Dangerzone era, not hippie era).
Though, I do suddenly have an urge to hear a really bad 80′s montage. This will do:
Niiiiice. So many memories. Lonely Drifter Karen is nothing like that, so go have a listen, I’m going to go find a Tab.
1. Dis-In-Motion 2. Show Your Colours
3. Russian Bells
4. Railroad
5. Ready To Fall
6. Something’s Scorching
7. A Roof Somewhere
8. Julien
9. Eventually
10. Side By Side
11. Wonderous Ways
12. Seeds (feat. Emily Jane White)
Photography from Disney World by Baby & Me! Get it?
Well, SXSW has come and gone. This year was SXSW’s biggest draw yet as thousands upon thousands of bands, bloggers, industry folk, sponsors, and, well, regular people like you all went down to Austin, all my exes live in Texas! Every one came out, saw hundreds of mini-concerts at hundreds of bars, houses, garages, basements, street corners, SUVs, dumpsters, etc, etc. BUT, in all the ruckus, only one band can win the lottery, only one band can walk away with the golden ticket!
And who had the magical chocolate bar? Who’s lucky numbered balls came through the wind-blown pipe???? FANG ISLAND!!!
Yep! Fang Island…. Who I, apparently, completely missed and didn’t even know existed until I read this totally scientifical and mathematical — by scienticians! — analysis. It looks like there may have been some close calls when bands like Neon Trees, Jonna Lee, The Antlers, GZA, and someone called XV (which probably got attention due to a bunch of drunklies thinking it was XX) made a play for “Most Popular” — NOTE: Most Popular does NOT equal “gained most fans”, whatever the hell that is, which went to an emo band named NeverShoutNever, oneword, whoevertheyare.
But in the end, out of the 1,223,319 bands that showed up to play nine 40 minute sets at 4,000 blog parties, it was Fang Island that left Austin, TX with the biggest trophy.
Mmm… Cheerios.
So, who is Fang Island? I went to my mainframe computer in my basement, logged on to my AOL account, did some Altavista searching and discovered they had an album out last year, a SELF-TITLED album with this adorable, yet slightly creep album art!
The band describes their own sound as “everyone high-fiving everyone” & anthemic and given how much I just LOVE to high-five…
And I never pass up a good anthem sing-along, I was suddenly super-excited super-DUPER-excited to see what I, a music geek, blogger, & SXSW-non-goer, was missing! Would this be the modern version of Andrew WK? Would this be Arcade Fire on PBR? One can only guess, so I pushed play.
The answer is yes. Fang Island DOES sounds like a modern version of Andrew WK, an Arcade Fire on PBR, it’s that song from the Wild Things promos, but without any of that pestering “thinking stuff” to get in the way. It’s all shallow emotion, college football rallies for hipsters, and you know what? I like it! It’s fucking fun!
Don’t believe me? Watch this…
Stupid… STUPIDLY AWESOME that is!!! Need more proof?
You gettin’ this?
So congratulation Fang Island, enjoy your new found hype & buzz & what not, ride it, use it, shape it, make it hard, and give it a happy ending because in this day in age, it won’t last long!
Share & share alike! I get lots of PR emails, why keep ‘em to myself? These are direct from my inbox to your ears, unedited & presented to you… Yep, it’s time for…
Here is an offstage session with EZRA FURMAN & THE HARPOONS, filmed at Café Europa in Vienna, Austria in late January: http://www.theyshootmusic.com
the band played semi-acoustic versions of “Walking The Cow” (Daniel Johnston cover), “Weak Knees” and “Falling Apart” (a song by The Sleeptalkers, the band of Ezra’s guitarist Andrew).
we hope you like the videos. if you do, we are of course happy about links, embeds (possible from http://www.youtube.com/theyshootmusic), etc.
tsururadio. The musical obsessions, meanderings, and field observations of Aaron Tsuru most often presented in mixtape format, the way the good lard intended!
Follow @tsurufoto
Peanut’s Playground is my bi-weekly verbal diarrhea. Every other Wednesday I plan to ramble about stuff I like (in my typically screwed up version of English) and hope you will like too. And in case you don’t… mweh.
