EAR FARM's December '05 mixtape

Some of the songs and artists featured on EAR FARM in December, put together in a nice list so you can download them. Make them into a CD and dance around tonight as you say farewell to 2005.

1. "The Loving Sounds of Static" by Mobius Band
2. "In The Belly" by Other Passengers
3. "Here Comes a Special Boy" by Freezepop
4. "Brakelights" by Man in Gray
5. "Motorcycle Man" by Tralala
6. "You Were the Sound" by Cheyenne
7. "Heartbeats" by The Knife
8. "Complications" by Limbs
9. "Natalie" by Bells Bells Bells
10. "It's Just Like You Say" by The Diggs
11. "True South" by The Isles
12. "Rough Gem" by Islands

Previously:

EAR FARM's October '05 mixtape

EAR FARM's November '05 mixtape

Weekend Live Music

Morphine Live @ Peabody's in Cleveland, 8 March 1994
(photo, from another show, from here)

1. "Lucky Day"
2. "I'm Free Now"
3. "Do Not Go"
4. "The Goddess"
5. "Head With Wings"
6. "Sharks"
7. "Whisper"
8. "Honey White"
9. "Cure For Pain"
10. "All Wrong"
11. "Shame"
12. "Yes"
13. "Thursday"

(sorry guys, had to remove the show to make room on the server)

Past EAR FARM Weekend Live Music has included live songs/sets by Sublime, Spoon, Ween, The Unicorns, My Bloody Valentine, New Order, Sufjan Stevens, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sonic Youth, Explosions in the Sky, and The Smiths.

Note

Hi all,
Had a friend in town with me the past few days so I haven't been posting like I usually would. But I do have a long post 90% ready to go it's just that there's an issue with my ability to host files. Anyway, status is to be determined on when this will be resolved so it may have an impact on what gets posted and when. Sorry and check back in a bit.
Until then, the bball game is important and the bowl may be a crap meaningless one but, GO PACK tonight against GW in bball and tomorrow morning against South Florida in football!!!

- Matt

UPDATE - okay, if you didn't notice...the issue has been resolved. the long post was just posted. oh, and NC State won the meaningless bowl game and, more importantly, also beat up on #12 George Washington in basketball! sorry, but i'm from NC and college basketball kinda means a bunch to me.

OPP

No Frontin' has the Islands song "Humans"

BiBaBiDi has a good Islands post where you can listen to the song "Volcanoes"

8+

Remember, this is a new weekly feature here on EAR FARM. Plain and simply put, a new song each week for listening/download. The only rule here: that the posted song is longer than EIGHT minutes. They'll be from my music library and only available for a limited time.

Keeping in line with Islands Thursday, here is today's song:

Islands - "Swans (Life After Death)", which clocks in at 9:32.

You know, I was once told that this song was written about recycling and at first I doubted that. Now, having seen the parenthetical titling in addition to giving a little listen to the lyrics...I'm not so sure it's NOT about some form of recycling. Isn't everything? "Swans (Life After Death)" will most probably appear on their soon to be released album and was originally found at Fluxblog. If you don't read that site daily you're a jerk.

Wanna be friends with the band, or at least fool yourself into thinking that you are? Visit Islands on MySpace. Oh, and the image you see was found at LastFM here.

In the recent past this song was featured on EF's 8+:
British Sea Power - "Lately"

Islands

I'm not playing that 'band to watch for in 2006' game. No how, no way. If I was, I'd take this moment to reiterate the fact that Islands come close to topping my list of bands whose 2006 album I can't wait to hear. You know them already, right? They're two thirds of The Unicorns plus something like 5 other people. Having heard a bunch of their songs online and when I saw them live recently I can safely say that you WILL like this band. Or, you will like them if you enjoy something along the lines of Graceland era Paul Simon mixed with Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? as well as some general free thinking creative song-ing.

The sounds, the wonderful sounds! What else can I say? I've been quite attached to ANYthing done by The Unicorns and things I've heard so far from Islands make me hopeful for what the future has in store. With that in mind, I declare today Islands Thursday*.

Visit Islands on MySpace

Listen:
1. "Rough Gem"
2. "Flesh"
3. "Abominable Snow"
(tracks 2 and 3 found at The Simple Mission right here)

*due to the massive lack of Islands related things online I think that Islands Thursday may actually only be made up of two posts, unless someone can point us in the direction of more...

(photo was found at the Secret Unicorns Forum Image Cave here)

I want my MTV

Best Videos of 2005 edition:

• Stephen Malkmus - "Baby C'mon"
• The Decemberists - "16 Military Wives"
• Animal Collective - "Leaf House"
• Wolf Parade - "Shine A Light"
• John Vanderslice - "Exodus Damage"

Want even MORE videos? search "I want my MTV" on this site for past music video related EAR FARM postings.

My favorite is the video for "Shine a Light".

***if you didn't figure it out, these videos were culled from posts on DoCopenhagen and Clever Titles Are So Last Summer about top videos of 2005***

Overlooked Albums from the 90's - #12

Seven by James

James could've been the UK's answer to R.E.M. Maybe some muddled vocals, a couple of college radio hits and videos and a song or ten that over-referenced pop culture and they'd have done it for sure...but they did alright for themselves anyway. I'll bet you've heard of this band because of their song "Laid" which was quite the 'alternative' radio/MTV hit back in 1994 (if you haven't, fear not) and I remember many people I knew back then got their album of the same name but probably didn't listen to it very much. The thing is, James' better album was the one released BEFORE they kinda hit it big here in the US.

The first mention I ever heard of this band was in some interview that Morrissey did where he claimed that his favorite current band was James. Like a good little disciple I ran out and got the only album I could find, this very one I'm writing about. I liked the first track or two but didn't really give the record much of a chance and shelved it. A year later, the song and album Laid came out and the previously mentioned mass interest ensued. This I was a part of (thank goodness) and I started listening to Laid a bunch and then realized I had this other album by James. Finally my sense of music kicked in and I gave the album Seven the kind of attention it deserves.

What you'll find in listening to this album is a band well in control of their sound and songwriting skills. It's full of grand arrangements and subtly right-on producing. Every song on here just soars. In fact, I went hang gliding in Kitty Hawk a few times and if I was going to do it again (with an iPod and in someplace like the rocky mountains where one can actually fly for extended amounts of time) I'd totally bring this album to be my hang gliding soundtrack.

Allmusic says:
"...a record that married the ambitious scope of the lyrics with a grand, anthemic feel. Horns give songs like the lead-off "Born of Frustration" and the surging "Sound" a certain majestic grandeur, sweeping without being overblown. Lead singer Tim Booth is in fine form, lending passion to the proceedings, yet maintaining an intimacy. They don't totally abandon the more jangly, folk elements of past albums; it's still there noticeably on tracks like the lovely "Don't Wait That Long" and the shimmering, sardonic "Next Lover." Other highlights include the dramatic "Ring the Bells" and the resolute title track, which is propelled by Andy Diagram's trumpet, Booth's assured vocals, and a thumping rhythm."

TrouserPress says:
"Seven refashions the septet into an English Simple Minds, spreading its wings across a grand polyrhythmic tableau in which everyone plays at once and nobody gets hurt. Against a surging model of dynamic textures in tautly controlled arrangements that employ the members' skills to the fullest, Booth keeps his singing dramatic but eloquent — more Liam Neeson than Charlton Heston, which serves to sharpen the vibrant music's focus. Whether topical ("Bring a Gun") or romantic ("Don't Wait That Long"), the lyrics are more considered and set lower in the mix, but the music's invigorating force is what makes the buoyant Seven James' first fully satisfying album."

I'd suggest this album to any fan of 80's or 90's college radio rock or fans of The Verve or even fans of U2 who like their more well known anthemic songs. Time for you to make up your own mind.

Listen to three songs from the album:
"Ring the Bells"
"Sound" (full version)
"Next Lover"

Previous Overlooked Albums from the 90's:
#1 - Saturnalia by The Wedding Present
#2 - The Inevitable by Squirrel Nut Zippers
#3 - This is Our Music by Galaxie 500
#4 - Dusk by The The
#5 - Fantasma by Cornelius
#6 - New Wave by The Auteurs
#7 - I, Jonathan by Jonathan Richman
#8 - Futureworld by Trans Am
#9 - Harmacy by Sebadoh
#10 - Cure For Pain by Morphine
#11 - God Fodder by Ned's Atomic Dustbin

if you'd like...
Pitchfork's top albums of the 90's
1st version of their list

Also, it appears another blog is onto this "Overlooked of the 90's" idea:
Top 30 'Other' Albums of the '90s

Band of the year poll - VoTe!!!

Clever Titles is having a poll to decide the band of the year. The ones running for election are ones that have been featured on the site this year as 'bands of the week'. Anyway, Bethanne asked that folks spread the word to get some more peoples voting in this thing so this post is the spreading, now you just need to go and VOTE.

The Isles

It's a damn good thing The Isles contacted me via MySpace because, like a jerk, I missed seeing them open for Islands and never thought twice about it. After checking out their songs I see that I missed out on a band I probably would've really dug.

Their sound is a blend of styles I love, 80's guitar driven British pop/rock and 90's indie rock. Something along the lines of The Smiths meet Pavement & Blur but those kinds of comparisons never end up telling the whole story. These songs are pop driven romantic melancholy rock that groove as much as they jangle. Music that makes you wish you had an afternoon to bimble about town visiting various used book/record stores. Though at times the guitars veer towards Interpol territory, the end product never seems as forced or 'put on' as that of the aforementioned band. Somehow, for a band hailing from New York, The Isles have found a perfectly natural English sound.

Visit The Isles on MySpace

Listen:
"Flying Under Cheap Kites"
"True South"

See them live:
6 January 2006 @ The Mercury Lounge
14 January 2006 @ Northsix

New York Times article on Indie Music

Juno sent a link to an article, here's a brief excerpt:

"Even as the recording industry staggers through another year of declining sales over all, there are new signs that a democratization of music made possible by the Internet is shifting the industry's balance of power.

Exploiting online message boards, music blogs and social networks, independent music companies are making big advances at the expense of the four global music conglomerates, whose established business model of blockbuster hits promoted through radio airplay now looks increasingly outdated.

CD and digital album sales so far this year are down 8 percent compared with the same period a year ago, according to Nielsen SoundScan data. And while sales of digital tracks through services like iTunes have risen 150 percent, to well over 320 million songs this year, that rise is not enough to offset the plunge in album sales. Overall sales are down less than 5 percent if the digital singles are bundled into units of 10 and counted as albums, according to estimates by Billboard magazine.

Still, despite the slide, dozens of independent labels are faring well with steady-selling releases by, among others, the Miami rapper Pitbull and the indie bands Hawthorne Heights, Bright Eyes, Interpol and the Arcade Fire. Independent labels account for more than 18 percent of album sales this year - their biggest share of the market in at least five years, according to Nielsen SoundScan data. (If several big independent companies whose music is marketed by the major music labels distribution units are included, the figure exceeds 27 percent.)"

Go read the rest HERE.

Die Romantik's Christmas video

Yesterday, Die Romantik sent me a message telling me that they had just put together a little special holiday song/video:

Second of all, merry christmas and happy new year (soon)! We decided to do something special for our friends & fans, and so wrote a new christmas carol to which we put together a music video.

It is a treat from us to all the people whom we want to thank - what better way to thank people than by doing it with what we do best - and so I wanted to invite you to see it.

We hope you enjoy it!

Best wishes,
Dominic & Die Romantik

Sometimes I really just love this band. I've been listening to them quite a bit lately so this sure was a nice holiday gift. Don't you want to see?

"A Die Romantik Christmas" by Die Romantik

This video, like the one for "Nachtmusik Für Linnea" that I previously linked to, was directed by Henry Joost.

Want to go see them? Live in NYC??
Die Romantik @ Sin-é this Friday the 30th of December

Weekend Live Music

Now that EAR FARM is hosting files I don't have to depend upon only posting things I find somewhere online. So, here is what I'd intended to post as a birthday gift to myself, instead it'll be a Christmas gift...from my favorite band:

The Smiths Live @ Irvine Meadows, Laguna Hills, CA, 28 August 1986
(photo, from another show, from here)

1. "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want"
2. "Still Ill"
3. "I Want The One I Can't Have"
4. "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"
5. "How Soon Is Now?"
6. "Frankly, Mr. Shankly"
7. "Panic"
8. "Stretch Out And Wait"
9. "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side"
10. "Is It Really So Strange?"
11. "Cemetry Gates"
12. "Never Had No One Ever"
13. "What She Said (with Rubber Ring intro and outro)"
14. "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore"
15. "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now"
16. "The Queen Is Dead"
17. "Money Changes Everything"
18. "I Know It's Over"

All were "released" on a popular bootleg called Thank Your Lucky Stars. There's more information about this show HERE if you're interested and I've got a bunch more live shows by The Smiths that I just might post in the future.

(sorry guys, had to remove the show to make room on the server. expect more live shows from The Smiths in the future on EAR FARM)

Past EAR FARM Weekend Live Music has included live songs/sets by Sublime, Spoon, Ween, The Unicorns, My Bloody Valentine, New Order, Sufjan Stevens, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sonic Youth, and Explosions in the Sky.

The Raleigh Ringers

Sorry about the lack of posts but it's that busy time of the year...
Anyway, one more for today and then you can expect a "Weekend Live Music" post tomorrow from one of my favorite bands as a gift to myself (and people like me). On with the fun!

Watching TV the other night I ran across something that kept me entertained for what seemed like minutes. I happened upon The Raleigh Ringers playing a Christmas concert. Who is THAT? That's what I wondered...and I grew up in Raleigh.

The Raleigh Ringers is an internationally acclaimed, advanced community handbell choir based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Since its founding in 1990, The Raleigh Ringers has been dazzling concert audiences with unique interpretations of sacred, secular and popular music, including famous rock ‘n’ roll tunes arranged just for handbells.

All I can say is wow. These guys really know how to work their bells. Nothing else I can say will tell you any better than seeing and listening for yourself. Sure, it may not be something you really want to LISTEN to very much (it scares my cat, kinda hurts my ears at times)...but that's okay these are just soundclips. Watching these people groovin' and jammin', man, I think Christopher Guest could do a prittay prittay funny movie about them.

Video:
“Christmas Eve ( Sarajevo 12/24)”

Audio:
“Sing We All Noel”
“Stairway to Heaven”
“Free Bird”

snip·pets

Guitar Fest To Salute Springsteen's 'Nebraska'

Johnny Cash film to be screened in infamous prison

Flaming Lips Release The Soft Bulletin Reissue

Lil Kim, The Game: Last-Minute Music Nerd Gift Ideas

Stylus finally finished their top 50 of '05 list...and Sufjan's not #1!

Review: Handel's 'Messiah' in radiant redux

8+

This is a new weekly feature here on EAR FARM. Plain and simply, a new song each week for listening/download. The only rule here: that the posted song is longer than EIGHT minutes. They'll be from my music library and only available for a limited time.


First song, British Sea Power - "Lately", which clocks in at 13:59.

This song appears on British Sea Power's flawless debut album The Decline of British Sea Power and I remember first listening to it and thinking to myself "oh bliss! bliss and heaven...gorgeousness and gorgeousity!"

I think I had a dream soon after that where I was stuck inside the video for "November Rain" by Guns n' Roses (except in the dream, the church was on a seaside cliff) and I was dressed up like an old-school British infantry soldier, you know the "red coats"? Well the storm in the video got really fierce and windy, and the skies a very dark dark grey, and quickly Slash and Axl got blown off the edge of the cliff as I stood there and smiled. Then I took to the sky and floated around the gloomy coast for a while. A tall American dressed in an historic British infantry outift flying around the dark skies of an unknown seashore - happy to be rid of Guns n' Roses, if just for a little while. The whole time, the entire dream, THIS song was the soundtrack.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah CONTEST #2 - WINNER announced!

So, the response to EAR FARM's second contest was even better than the first two. Lots of people sent in emails with suggestions for "lesser-known artists" and I've just started to scratch the surface of checking some of them out. IF any of them are featured on here, the person who told me about the band will get a mention too...at any rate, a winner was chosen completely at random (a drawing if you must know) and notified, so congrats to the winner!

I want my MTV

The Faint edition:

• "I Disappear"
• "Agenda Suicide"

Want even MORE videos? search "I want my MTV" on this site for past music video related EAR FARM postings.

snip·pets

Radiohead album - the band speaks

Pet Shop Boys, Erasure Ready New Albums

Wired's 10 Best Tech Podcasts of 2005

All Songs Considered's Top Albums of 2005

Overlooked Albums from the 90's - #11

God Fodder by Ned's Atomic Dustbin

Here's an overlooked band for you. Because of their hit song "Grey Cell Green", most people probably see Ned's Atomic Dustbin as a one-hit wonder. A Flock of Seagulls of the 90's or something. I'm here to tell you that's just not the case.

Back when I used to wear silly outifts alot (serious, like these red denim shorts, Morrissey t-shirts, and Doc Martens) and thrash around at Lollapalooza shows I used to watch (and videotape) 120 minutes every sunday night to get my fix of current and good music. When I first caught the video for "Grey Cell Green" (sorry, can't find it anywhere) on MTV I was hooked. My band mates and I were playing the song a week later (my late 80's era Peavey amp really helped mimic the guitar sound Ned's has going on). Then I bought the album and, funny thing, every song was a good song! I must've listened to this album hundreds of times driving to and fro back then...

Allmusic says:
"God Fodder, their first major release, is arguably their best. Featuring college radio hits like "Kill Your Television" and "Grey Cell Green," it's a consistently satisfying blend of frenzied, melodic rock, with the occasional touch of quirkiness; the band's use of two basses (one playing "normal" basslines, the other scratching out harmonic riffs) keeps their sound light and hooky enough to put quite a distance between their oeuvre and that of the average grebo or punk band."

Now, granted, their sound is VERY 90's sounding. Not that that's a bad thing, but I'd love for someone to remaster the orignal recordings here and give the whole album a little more low end punch. That aside, what we've got here is a very fine collection of pop rock songs. Back in the staleness of the early 90's this record was a breath of fresh air...in fact I'd go so far as to say that that is EXACTLY what they sound like - 'a breath of fresh air'! Huh? I'm serious. And their music is catchy pop/punk rock, who doesn't like that? Plus, as a super bonus, one of the songs ("Selfish" - listen below) on this album opens with a quote from Die Hard. Yes, I was sold immediately back in 1991. Check out three of my favorite songs on this album below and see what I mean.

Listen:
"Kill Your Television"
"Selfish"
"Until You Find Out"


Previous Overlooked Albums from the 90's:
#1 - Saturnalia by The Wedding Present
#2 - The Inevitable by Squirrel Nut Zippers
#3 - This is Our Music by Galaxie 500
#4 - Dusk by The The
#5 - Fantasma by Cornelius
#6 - New Wave by The Auteurs
#7 - I, Jonathan by Jonathan Richman
#8 - Futureworld by Trans Am
#9 - Harmacy by Sebadoh
#10 - Cure For Pain by Morphine

if you'd like...
Pitchfork's top albums of the 90's
1st version of their list

Also, it appears another blog is onto this "Overlooked of the 90's" idea:
Top 30 'Other' Albums of the '90s

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah CONTEST - LAST chance to win free tickets!

Those in the know, already know. For anyone who missed it before, there's less than 24 hours left for you to enter yourself in EAR FARM's 2nd, and final, contest to win TWO tickets to see Clap Your Hands Say Yeah live on New Year's Eve. So go, go and enter. And best of luck to all.

UPDATE: The contest has ended and a winner has been notified. Thanks for reading!

OPP

You Tube has SNL's amazingly good "The Chronic of Narnia Rap"

berkeleyplace has some excellent mashups, my favorite being "DJ BC’s Crazy 80s". Stars on 45 indeed.

Clever Titles Are So Last Summer has a great post about some holiday tunes

Yeti Don't Dance links to some Editors songs and talks about how fast their upcoming show just sold out. I really messed up by thinking I could get tickets ONE hour after they went on sale.

Pitchfork releases top 50 albums of '05 list

Their top 10:
10. Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
9. Cam'ron - Purple Haze
8. LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
7. Animal Collective - Feels
6. Deerhoof - The Runners Four
5. Antony & the Johnsons - I Am a Bird Now
4. M.I.A. - Arular
3. Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll
2. Kanye West - Late Registration
1. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

To me, that was very predictable. What do you guys think??

See the whole list, 10 at a time, HERE

Today's NEW releases

Personally, I won't be buying any of these. Not that they're UNinteresting but...

• Ryan Adams - 29
• Bob Marley & The Wailers -Man to Man[BOX SET]
• Miles Davis -The Cellar Door Sessions 1970[BOX SET]
• The Notorious B.I.G. -Duets: The Final Chapter

You?

snip·pets

Britney Spears Sues Us Weekly For $20M

David Gilmour Unveils North American Tour Dates

Iran bans Western music

BANDS - The Syrup Room, 16 December 2005 (Print, Limbs, Bells Bells Bells, The Art of Shooting, Susu)

JezebelMusic helped put together a very cool show this past Friday night. Sadly I missed seeing Print, so I'll have to find another time to check them out...but I heard they were LOUD. Word.

On to the bands I did see.

Limbs









Limbs caught me a bit by surprise. I had checked them out online and liked their stuff (it reminded me of Pinback + Interpol, which might be surprising to the guys in the band) , but not as much as I liked it once I saw these guys live. I'm interested to catch them live again because in person they had a catchy raw rock sound - either way, listen to this song of theirs: Limbs - "Complications"


Bells Bells Bells









Bells Bells Bells was kinda the opposite for me. Hearing their music online I could tell they were drawing from influences that I love (maybe some PJ Harvey, Souixsie) but then live I wasn't that impressed. Given how many factors go into such opinionatings, I'm not letting that sway my opinion too much. Listen: Bells Bells Bells - "Natalie"


The Art of Shooting









Do I have a music crush on The Art of Shooting? So what if I do? Look, Amy and Kelly rocked that motha on Friday night and the crowd loved them. LOVED. And I realized that their drummer Oliver reminds me a bit of Stephen Morris in his playing...who was the girl on keys?










Anyway, sorry about the blur there on the pictures and yes, that's Billy from Other Passengers there front and center in the 2nd picture rocking out to The Art of Shooting. K, listen time. This song is one of the better songs I've heard this year, by anyone. I'm not kidding. EAR FARM has linked to it before, and there's more goodness like this on their EP so go GIT it: The Art of Shooting - "Lost in Boredom"


SUSU









I missed seeing SUSU the last time they played and if I can help it, I won't miss them again. This band did NOT disappoint me and the whole time I was just left thinking 'they sound so damn GOOD'. They have a CD release show coming up at Sin-e in January and I'd not be surprised to see them moving on up the ranks of the NYC scene soon after that.










In fact, I'll be going to see The Wedding Present at the Bowery Ballroom in March...SUSU should totally be the opening band! Proof? Here: SUSU - "In The Pool"

UPDATE - I forgot to mention it but if you were there on Friday night, how about you share YOUR opinions of the bands here in the comments, k?

snip·pets

Pitchfork's top 50 singles of 2005 - #1? Antony & the Johnsons - "Hope There's Someone"

Starbucks Unveiling Hear Music Coffeehouses

Rush Bringing Vintage Performances To DVD

Stylus Magazine’s Top 50 Albums of 2005 -> #50-41

Filter's "top ten favorite albums of 2005" feature thus far, done by various musicians/artists

The Knife

Watching New York Noise recently I caught a music video by a Swedish band named The Knife:

"The Knife was formed in the summer of 1999 when the sister and brother, Karin and Olof Dreijer, made some recordings together. Earlier, Karin played in a band called Honey is Cool. Olof had been working with different music projects. The cooperation worked out fine so they continued with hardware recordings of acoustic instruments mixed with midi and sampler programming. The Knife continued working sporadically until February 2001 when the album “The Knife” was released at their own label, Rabid Records.

The debut album was received with both anger and happiness. Some were furious and didn’t understand anything of it and got quite provoked, while some thought it was what they always had been waiting for. One year later The Knife started working in the studio again."

Read the rest of their bio HERE...

Anyway, I liked the video and like the song even more. Totally touching on my weakness for synth-pop it sounds like a Human League kind of thing, or maybe what I was hoping Annie was going to sound like. What is that, a Prophet 5??

Listen/download:
The Knife - "Heartbeat"

Not everything is "chocolate boxes and roses". Looking for their video to this song I came across something I'd rather not have, the terrible video for "You Take My Breath Away". Yikes.

Well, we'll always have "Heartbeat". And you can also go see the band on MySpace.

Some recent goings on for The Knife:
"‘Deep Cuts’ lead single ‘Heartbeats’ has entered the nation’s conscience after being covered by fellow Swede José Gonzalez. Originally released in 2003 in Sweden on The Knife’s own indie label Rabid Records. The Knife will return with a new album ‘Silent Shout’ in March 2006, more news very soon!"

New stuff on EAR FARM

If you've been reading EAR FARM for any amount of time, you may now notice a few changes.

there's a newly designed banner at the top up there...see?

even more sites have been added to the links, go check them out as I find all of the sites listed under links worth reading.

EAR FARM has joined the Filter Music Alliance, check out the banner low on the right side of the page

from this point forward, EAR FARM will be hosting MP3s via EZArchive. this is going to mean that I'll be able to share music much more easily and directly - enjoy!

Weekend Live Music

Explosions in the Sky live @ the Bowery Ballroom, NYC, 12 December 2005

1. "First Breath After Coma"
2. "New Song"
3. "Six Days At The Bottom Of The Ocean"
4. "Have You Passed Through The Night?"
5. "Memorial"
6. "The Moon Is Down"

(sorry guys, had to remove the show to make room on the server)

***since that's only 6 songs, here's a little bonus for you - an entire Wilco show from Montreal, June 28, 2005. may take some time to download but it's great, so go get it. thanks go out to The Perm & The Skullet for pointing us in the direction of this one***

Alexandra Scott

Alexandra Scott found EAR FARM on MySpace a few days ago and I was immediately hooked on her music. For that very reason I wanted to try and give it a little time so I wasn't just posting a knee jerk reaction but you know what? Sometimes right when you hear something new you tell yourself "I like this...I'm really going to like this", and sometimes it's the truth.

Alexandra's songs are an interesting and inventive, literate mix of acoustic and electronic sounds. I can hear a ton of different influences in her music...some Suzanne Vega in "Good Girl" (partial song), Exile in Guyville era Liz Phair in "I Want A Boy" (partial song), as well as some Emmylou Harris and early Beck throughout (and many more actually). And you know what else? I can hear the South in her songs, I like that.

Now, I can almost guarantee that many many more people will be listening to her stuff sometime in the near future. Sure it's not a race, but if you want to WIN and start listening to her before those people...follow these instructions:

#1 - go visit Alexandra Scott on MySpace and check out her music (my favorites on there are "Please Don't Wake Me" and "Good Goddamn")
then
#2 - go visit her official site and hear a bunch of samples of her other songs (my favorites here are the already mentioned "Good Girl", "I Want A Boy" and then also "All I Ever Do Is Let You Go")
then
#3 - by this time you'll want to buy some of her music (I already did, yesterday)
then
#4 - if you're lucky enough to live in one of these places, you can go see her live!

Alexandra Scott live dates:
29 December 2005 - Gravity Lounge, Charlottesville, VA
17 January 2006 - Pete's Candy Store, Brooklyn, NY
14 February 2006 - Pianos, New York, NY

I want my MTV

Revolver Film Company edition:

• Rush - "Closer to the Heart"
• ...and They Will Know Us by the Trail of the Dead - "Another Morning Stoner"
• Broken Social Scene - "Pitter Patter Goes My Heart"
• Unicorns - "Jellybones"
• Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - "She Said"
• Interpol - "Obstacle 1"
• The Cure - "End of the World"
• Graham Coxon - "Bittersweet Bundle of Misery"
• Futureheads - "Decent Days & Nights"

There are still many more videos you can find at Revolver Film Company's site. Awesome, they rule.

Want even MORE videos? search "I want my MTV" on this site for past music video related EAR FARM postings.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah CONTEST #2!!! (MORE free tickets!)

EAR FARM has two more tickets to give away, here's the deal:
You can win TWO tickets to the sold out Clap Your Hands Say Yeah New Year's Eve show at Irving Plaza. To enter, email earfarm@hotmail.com (subject CONTEST) and tell me ONE 'less well-known' band or artist on MySpace (or anywhere else) EAR FARM should check out.
The contest will end Thursday Dec 22nd, 2005 @ NOON EST. A winner will be chosen at RANDOM from everyone who sends in an email and someone will get a very nice FREE Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Festivus present. EAR FARM will NOT share your email address with anyone and you will not be put on a mailing list.

These are the last two tickets I've got for this show but don't you worry - there'll be more giveaways in the future!

By the way, everyone who entered the previous CYHSY ticket contest is welcome to try again on this one...and if you don't have any bands to recommend, I suppose that's okay too...just send an email anyway and you'll be entered in the contest!

UPDATE: The contest has ended and a winner has been notified. Thanks for reading!

BANDS. The Syrup Room. 1oo Ingraham Street - Friday, 16 December, 2005

You guys all know by now that EAR FARM endorses The Art of Shooting (EF'd here and here) and SUSU (EF'd here)...WELL, let me tell you that they're BOTH playing tomorrow night, at the same venue!!!

LOOK

Seriously, that is some good news. Well, assuming there's no strike it's GREAT news!

As a bonus these other bands will be playing tomorrow night too, and I've checked them all out a bit [hyperbole alert] and THEY ALL sound really amazing - maybe the greatest collection of bands in one night EVER!!!
Okay for real, all of these bands make good music, at the very least I'll betcha it will in fact beat whatever else you may have going on tomorrow night for $6 entertainment.

The lineup (times are from JezebelMusic)
9:00: Print
9:30: Limbs
10:00: Bells Bells Bells
10:45: The Art of Shooting
11:30: SUSU

Cheyenne

The Flaming Lips told me (via MySpace) that I should go checkout Cheyenne when they play tonight at Lakeside Lounge. I love that bar.
Even though I can't go (work X-mas parties - boo!) I checked them out. Good thing 'cos their tunes I've heard so far ARE good things. I'm just scratching the surface of checking them out here, so bear with me, but there's a Silver Jews + Grandaddy thing going in their music. And, have they been on The OC yet? They will be, unless they're too close to "country"-sounding for that show...lookit me, like I've ever even seen one episode. Anyway, listen time.

MP3s:
"You Were The Sound"
"Houses"

And you should also go to these places to listen to them:
Cheyenne on MySpace
HERE you can stream their whole album

Remember - they're playing in NYC tonight at Lakeside Lounge.

2005 Unsilent Night (the Christmas Piece)

Juno sends the following:

Every year since 1992 I've presented Unsilent Night, an outdoor ambient music piece for an INFINITE number of boom box tape players. It's like a Christmas carolling party except that we don't sing, but rather carry boom boxes, each playing a separate tape which is part of the piece. In effect, we become a city block long stereo system!

In 2005 the New York event will happen on Sunday December 18th. We will meet at the Arch in Washington Square at 6:45 pm, begin at 7 pm and proceed eastward to Tompkins Square Park, where the piece will end around 8 o'clock.

Read more about it here

a Stereogum contest

Spreading the word here because the more people who participate in this contest, the more interesting the results will be AND well, the prize is a good one.

Who knows if it was the cancelation of the NHL season, the new Pope, or the mere existence of Arcade Fire, but 2005 was the year indie rock got bigger than ever. There were so many great albums, and at least a couple of instant classics, so we decided to open up Stereogum's end-of-year list to everyone. The three of us can't agree on a top 100, much less a top 20.

The deal: CLICK HERE to vote on Stereogum's 2005 Readers Poll and we'll randomly select a winner to receive the TOP 20 ALBUMS OF 2005 as determined by your submissions. That way at least one of you won't feel guilty about downloading most of them.

Sorry, I'm not linking directly to where you vote. To vote you'll have to go to Stereogum yourself.

Now, in the comments I will leave my answers to this poll, as will you.

Overlooked Albums from the 90's - #10

Cure for Pain by Morphine

I've gone back and forth about which Morphine album to pick here and actually whether or not Morphine's albums have really been overlooked. I mean, to me, they're one of the best bands of the 90's: they had amazing live shows, two classic albums, and a sound that was COMPLETELY their own. In a decade full of sound-a-likes that's not something you can say about a whole lotta bands. Well, after talking to some people whose musical opinion I value, and searching for ANYthing slightly Morphine related online with disappointing results, I've reasoned that the band is indeed under-rated and I've decided on Cure for Pain as the album to talk about here as being criminally overlooked.

In 1993 I used to hit up my local CD Superstore all the time. You could go there and have them open ANY disc in the store so you could sit down at one of their stations and listen to it, to see if you wanted it. What a concept! I used to just browse and pick random bands and check out their CDs, like 10 at a time sometimes. I found Stereolab this way in 1992 and, in 1993, I picked up Morphine's Cure for Pain because I thought their band name was 'cool'. As soon as I got to track two...as soon as the trademark slide bass came in on "Buena", I was hooked. Didn't even listen to the rest of the album - just stopped it after track two and bought it, and never looked back. I saw the band live four times and was blown away each time, bought everything they put out, and was slightly devastated to hear of the tragic death of bassist/lead singer Mark Sandman in 1999. People know 'of' this band, and probably this album because of the aforementioned "Buena", but Morphine never got the very large fan base their PERFECT sound deserves.

I could just as easily have picked their third album here, the near perfect Yes, but upon listening to them both again last night I decided on the album that first made me love this band.

TrouserPress says:
"Cure for Pain refines the sound and Sandman's terse, hard-boiled lyricism: "Thursday" could have been taken straight out of a Jim Thompson novel, a tawdry met- her-at-the-poolhall scenario in which violence lurks in the not-too-distant future. "A Head With Wings" and "Buena" both rock more ferociously than anything on Good."

Read what AllMusic had to say about Cure for Pain.
Read what Rolling Stone had to say about Cure for Pain

Listen to my three favorite songs on this album (these will take a while to download):
"I'm Free Now"
"Thursday"
"Cure for Pain"


Previous Overlooked Albums from the 90's:
#1 - Saturnalia by The Wedding Present
#2 - The Inevitable by Squirrel Nut Zippers
#3 - This is Our Music by Galaxie 500
#4 - Dusk by The The
#5 - Fantasma by Cornelius
#6 - New Wave by The Auteurs
#7 - I, Jonathan by Jonathan Richman
#8 - Futureworld by Trans Am
#9 - Harmacy by Sebadoh

if you'd like...
Pitchfork's top albums of the 90's
1st version of their list

Also, it appears another blog is onto this "Overlooked of the 90's" idea:
Top 30 'Other' Albums of the '90s

I want my MTV

HSI Productions edition:

Sigur Ros - "Glosoli"
Kanye West - "Jesus Walks"
Outkast - "Miss Jackson"
The Hives - "Two Timing Touch and Broken Bones"

all videos from HERE

Want even MORE videos? search "I want my MTV" on this site for past music video related EAR FARM postings.

OPP

The Perm & the Skullet posts about WXYC's Webcasting CD...go GO!

berkeleyplace has THE TOP 20 COVER SONGS AND MASH UPS OF 2005

Stereogum loved The Giraffes @ Bowery Ballroom 12/13/05

One Louder posts Madlib, Optimo Mixes

U2 top tour of the year

From HERE:
"U2's Vertigo tour was the top-grossing trek of 2005, according to year-end figures from Billboard Boxscore that will be published in the Dec. 24 issue of magazine, which hits newsstands Friday (Dec. 16). Vertigo reported grosses of $260 million and drew more than 3 million people to 90 concerts, all of which were sell-outs."

EAR FARM likes to make things easy to read, here's a list culled from that article so you don't have to read paragraphs and things.

Top concerts of 2005
1. U2, grossed $260 million
2. Eagles, grossed $117 million
3. Neil Diamond, grossed $71 million
4. Kenny Chesney, grossed $63 million
5. Paul McCartney, grossed $60 million
6. Rod Stewart, grossed $49 million
7. Elton John, grossed $45.5 million touring (plus another $30 million via his Las Vegas show)
8. Dave Matthews Band, grossed $45 million
9. Jimmy Buffett, grossed $41 million
10. Green Day, grossed $36.5 million

Funny but I've seen a bunch of shows this year and the only one off that list I saw live this year was Paul McCartney. Anyone else see any of those acts? Wonder how much they'd all be raking in if their ticket prices were actually reasonable...

Explosions in the Sky & Wilderness @ Bowery Ballroom - 12 December 2005

That's Wilderness








That's Explosions in the Sky






I was going to go see Explosions in the Sky and Wilderness last night because (well frankly because I'm a fan of Public Image Limited and Wilderness reminds me a bit of them...but more on that later, tomorrow maybe) I like Wilderness and enjoyed seeing them previously at Mercury Lounge. Alas, it was not to be so I held a private "contest" and gave the tickets to two friends of mine. Yes, a stipulation was that at least one of them must give us EAR FARM types a report on what they thought of the show. Nothing in this life is free I tell you. Enough out of me...without any edits on my part, I'm now turning it over to Mike:

"I feel as though I'm in an awkward position here. I'm aware of earfarm's official stance on the Wilderness (you like them), and yet I can't deny that loud voice in the back of my head that unfortunately wasn't loud enough to block out singer James Johnson's awful Rollins-lite barking during the show.
I'm a bit out of the loop with this band, granted. I only heard their album for the first time a few weeks ago. It was on in the background, I was focusing on backgammon, I enjoyed it, makes sense. They deserve to be background music, I'm telling you there's absolutely nothing compelling about this band. The guitar player is quite good but when every song is a midtempo drone that lazily lilts between two root notes in order to pad Johnson's "range", you're in for a snoozefest.
It's mostly Johnson that bothers me. Jesse thought he was tripping on acid with all of his weird David Byrne-like 'once in a lifetime' gestures. With his glasses on, he looked like David Cross doing the robot dance; with glasses off, he looked like Rob Corddry in a mime routine. What's this have to do with their music? exactly.

Yeah, so there you have it. My honest opinion. Sure most won't agree but this is just one hump's opinion who got free a ticket.

Explosions In The Sky were pretty wonderful though. Another band I've never properly heard. They are fantastically tight, incredible arrangements, my favorite blend of dissonance, melody, and swelling dynamics and rhythms. I'm sure they've heard this a few thousand times since first plugging in down in Austing but here it goes: "guys, get a singer and you'll be one of the best bands in the world." I'm sure I'm vulgarizing their aesthetic by suggesting that, but after an hour of pure instrumental goodness, no matter how sweet the sounds are I need vocals, maybe just a personal thing. If it means they run out and get James Johnson I take it back.

So, do what you want with this review, if its too long or mean or what have you feel free to edit. pictures attached. they're kind of blurry. sorry, blame sierra nevada seasonal. thanks again for the tickets dude."

No editing desired. EAR FARM actually really likes a variety of opinions and welcomes such things, granted that review WAS long and blurry, I mean it was 'mean'...aw heck, anyone else go to the show and agree or disagree? Speak.

Half of The Smiths reunite for Manchester v. Cancer

From the official Manchester v. Cancer site:
"Manchester v Cancer is the idea of ex-Smith, Andy Rourke, following news that his manager’s sister and father had been diagnosed with cancer. Andy and his new company, Great Northern Productions Ltd decided to group together to raise £1million to fund cancer research at Manchester’s Christie Hospital, Europe’s largest cancer treatment and research centre.

Picking up the phone to friends, Andy quickly found that most people’s lives had been touched by cancer in some way and everyone wanted to help. And more famous faces and bands are set to confirm over the coming weeks."

Well, it was recently just announced that Johnny Marr has agreed to join the lineup for this show - what's that? The two guitar players from The Smiths* together on stage again!? Wonder what they'll play...? Wonder what the chances are that another ex-Smith joins them? We shall see.

Other excellent artists like New Order and Badly Drawn Boy (and a few more even) are also set to play.

(of course you can read more about this and talk to others about it over at Morrissey-Solo)



*also, if you hadn't noticed...there's no 'official' site for The Smiths so I try to give you some different, but good, links whenever they happen to come up.

Today's NEW releases

Funny how as Christmas nears the new releases start really stinking. Nothing out today that I'll be buying but I wouldn't be mad if I found myself listening to these:

• Beck - Guerolito
• Billie Holliday - The Complete Verve Studio Master Takes[Box Set]

Anything I'm missing that's worth a darn?

Tralala

I first saw Tralala not too long ago (September 2004) at Rothko when I was there to see no band in particular. They were called "Tight Fit" then, if memory serves me correctly. I must say I wasn't blown away, but there were elements of their sound that struck me as something I wasn't really hearing anywhere else. A new band that wasn't building on a foundation solely made of post-punk/indie rock?! Really though, what current NYC band reminds you of songs like "Leader of the Pack" by the Shangri-Las and "I Will Follow Him" by Little Peggy March? Seems to me these guys picked up Beauty and the Beast by the Go Go's and decided that the best songs from that album were the ones when The Go Go's let go of pop and let punk/rock drive the vocals. That perfect spot somewhere between glam and trash.

Long story short, Tralala has come a long way in a short time. They recently opened up for Broadcast and played shows on the west coast with Ted Leo & The Pharmacists. They have an album you can buy on Amazon or on iTunes, they just recently released a Christmas themed EP Fa La La La La with Tralala out now on Audika, and they're playing this Saturday, the 17th, at Mercury Lounge. See? It's not too late for you to get in on the fun.

Listen:
"Motorcycle Man"
Tralala's recent appearance on WMFU's Cherry Blossom Clinic (here they play a bunch of their songs including all of their X-mas songs)

Man in Gray

I could go on with my own version of why you should check out Brooklyn's Man in Gray. How, if you like Sonic Youth and/or Sleater-Kinney, you might want to listen to these songs of theirs. But I prefer the description from their MySpace page:

"One pretty guitar with a fair share of wah, one ugly guitar with more than a smattering of skronk, one punk pedigree bass and one jackhammer drummer. Screaming and whispers from Tina, born a star. Songs about shock, awe and why Feb 14th is dumb. A little dancey, a little trashy, yet somehow always classy."

Wicked. Let's listen, shall we?

"Brakelights"
"Incommunicado"

You can buy their music HERE or HERE.


UPDATE (13 December) - just got a note from the band that they have a fresh, NEW WEBSITE and some demos from the new album you can listen to by going HERE and scrolling all the way down. is it me or do these guys REALLY need to play a daytime set at next year's Siren Festival?

snip·pets

The Decemberists Sign to Capitol Records...

...and so does Prince

Sound Opinions' Best of '05

Coachella: 2006 Dates Set, Documentary Due

Ian Brown walks offstage/pelted with plastic bottles in Ireland

Weekend Live Music

Sonic Youth Live @ Roskilde Festival, Denmark, 26 June 1998
(photo, from another show, from here)

1. "Anagrama"
2. "Sunday"
3. "Female Mechanic Now On Duty"
4. "Karen Koltrane"
5. "French Tickler"
6. "Wildflower Soul"
7. "Hoarfrost"
8. "Ineffable Me"
9. "Heather Angel"
10. "Death Valley '69"

Sonic Youth Live @ Roskilde Festival, Denmark, 1 July 1993 (incomplete show?)

1. "Candle"
2. "Self-obsessed and Sexxee"
3. "Stereo Sanctity"
4. "Starfield Road"
5. "Drunken Butterfly"
6. "Theresa's Sound World"
7. "Total Trash"

All were found HERE. There's much more to be had there if you're interested.

(sorry guys, had to remove the show to make room on the server)

Past EAR FARM Weekend Live Music has included live songs/sets by Sublime, Spoon, Ween, The Unicorns, My Bloody Valentine, New Order, Sufjan Stevens, and Neutral Milk Hotel.

Depeche Mode @ MSG - 8 December 2005

Okay, so I didn't pony up the $$ to go see them two nights in a row BUT there's a post about last night's show that you Depeche Mode fans out there HAVE to see.

In my post about the Wed show nghia commented "awesome song list. don't have tix yet gonna go out there tonite and scalp them. did they check bags for cameras, i wanna take pics if i get in." Well, lucky for all of us nghia got tickets AND brought a camera. The picture you see here is a result of that but you REALLY need to go see this post on Crackers United for more great pics and a VIDEO of "Everything Counts". Go now.

Wired's "Audiophiles Unite!" special report

From A Music File by Any Other Name:
"Finding music on the internet is getting easier by the week as legit and less-than-legit file-trading services show up by the dozens. Given all of the options, the number and variety of file formats can be ultimately confusing for the uninitiated.
Today we'll study the most popular audio formats and the players that support them. We'll look strictly at audio-file formats that utilize lossy compression, because the small file size and ultimate portability of compressed audio files has afforded them huge popularity, not to mention near ubiquity, on the web. We'll also be looking exclusively at downloadable, and not streaming, file types."

The author then continues to explore audio compression and digital audio file types. Worth a read if this stuff has confused you in the past.

From Audiophiles Unite! Draws Feedback:
"We are no longer limited to a CD's delivery format of 700 MB (that's only a 10-minute download now), so why is my music still being ripped by Apple Computer, Napster and Musicmatch from a CD in the first place? The music on a CD is compressed to begin with! I want what comes from the studio, whatever the file size, before it's ripped, before the highs and lows are taken out, and definitely before it's compressed. That's future-proof, that's what the internet allows and, most importantly, it will finally shut up the vinyl people. -- Adam Emery"

Amen to THAT! There are a few more responses from audio nerds that are worth reading at that link above which is just a response to a series of articles you can read here ("Old Rips: May They Rest in Peace"), here ("When Hi-Fi Meets the IPod"), and the article mentioned previously here ("A Music File by Any Other Name"). Any audio-dork/music nerd/audiophile/wanna-be should read those articles, if you haven't already.

US of ATP

"The lineup has begun to take shape for next spring's United States of ATP (All Tomorrow's Parties) festival, which will be held May 12-14 and May 19-21, 2006, at the U.K.-bred fest's longtime home at Camber Sands in East Sussex, England.

As previously reported, a different band will curate each day, with the Shins, Mudhoney, Sleater-Kinney, Devendra Banhart and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs all committed. Dinosaur Jr. is stepping in for Ween, who has pulled out of the festival for undisclosed "personal reasons."

Read more

US of ATP official site

snip·pets

U2 pay tribute to John Lennon

Mercury Rev pay tribute to John Lennon

The Cure, Postal Service, Snow Patrol Cover Lennon

Strawberry Fields, NYC remembers John Lennon

I went up to Strawberry Fields here in Central Park today to kind of pay my respects to John Lennon, his music and what he stood for, and to just see the scene in person. There were a TON of people out: some quietly paying respect, a large group formed around a band that played Lennon songs, and even the obligatory 'blame the CIA' guy. There were also people getting pictures of themselves taken on the street in front of the Dakota where John was shot. There is a candlelight vigil at Strawberry Fields in the park tonight at 10:50pm.

In memory of John Lennon

John Lennon (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980) was one of the greatest artists in history. His legacy as a songwriter is unmatched and yet his impact on humankind has had a much greater reach than just his music. Twenty five years ago today he was murdered. It's impossible for me to do justice to all of the good he brought to the world.

Read about John on Wikipedia
ABC News - John Lennon Remembered 25 Years Later
SF Chronicle - John Lennon's strange sort of immortality, now 25 years long
BBC News website marks the 25th anniversary of his death
And many, many more

Radio Clips:
Fluxblog today posted "recordings scanning the airwaves of NYC (listen) and LA (listen) on the night John Lennon was murdered twenty-five years ago today"

Having trouble giving direct links to music videos, so go HERE on Lennon's official site to watch a bunch of great videos.

Soon to be posted: Pics from Strawberry Fields here in NYC

Recommended purchases:
Lennon Legend - The Very Best of John Lennon DVD
John Lennon - Anthology [BOX SET]

Depeche Mode @ MSG - 7 December 2005

Depeche Mode played Madison Square Garden last night and I'm so so glad I got tickets. It was one of the best large arena shows I've ever seen. This was like a classic Depeche Mode show from way back, the entire audience was really into every song and waving their arms along with Dave - the audience singing along to "Everything Counts"...oh man. But the band, the band sounded fantastic.
I didn't bother with pictures but I'll find some in a bit, there were a TON of cameras there. By the way, they're playing at MSG again tonight and there are very good seats still available on Ticketmaster.

Oh, and the setlist:
Intro
A Pain That I'm Used To
John The Revelator
A Question Of Time
Policy Of Truth
Precious
Walking In My Shoes
Suffer Well
Damaged People
Home
I Want It All
The Sinner In Me
I Feel You
Behind The Wheel
World In My Eyes
Personal Jesus
Enjoy The Silence
(encore)
Somebody
Just Can't Get Enough
Everything Counts
(encore #2)
Never Let Me Down Again
Goodnight Lovers