Kenny’s New Favorite Song

I have a friend named Kenny, and this is his new favorite song. I generally wouldn’t write an entire blog post for something like this, but he really loves this song, and I just felt like the world needed to know that it rocks him harder than anything he’s ever heard. The other day we were talking about some important musical turning points – Proto-Punk, No Wave, the birth of Hip-Hop. Yet for some reason, he just kept bringing up Bon Jovi’s “I’m Your Man,” a song recently released as a teaser for Jovi’s upcoming “fan album,” saying that nothing that has ever existed in the past, or would exist in the future, can compare.

According to my friend Kenny, Bon Jovi has revitalized music. He went to explain that the new album, entitled Burning Bridges, would bring back the day of album sales. He let me know that every song will be so good, people will not be interested in only purchasing a single or two; they will line up outside Sam Goody, money in hand, ready to pounce on the “hottest set of tracks the world has ever seen.”

In case you haven’t heard it, here’s the video for Kenny’s new favorite song.

DUVV: Paranoia (Chance the Rapper Cover)

Everyone should check out this DUVV cover of Chance the Rapper’s “Paranoia.” I’m not much of a Chance the Rapper fan, but “Paranoia” is a decent song, what with having Nosaj Thing produce it and all. On DUVV’s version, the production work was done by Falls, and although NJ’s OG version was low key and “chill,” as the kids say, Falls takes the rework into a much dreamier realm.

Top image via DUVV’s Twitter

Corey Feldman, Still Alive and Trying

Yesterday Stereogum reported that a St. Louis Cardinals minor league affiliate called the State College Spikes issued an apology for an appearance by Corey Feldman at one of their games. Feldman was given the opportunity to throw out the first pitch and then put on a performance as Corey Feldman & The Angels, which is a band that exists. Apparently people thought The Angels were a little too under-dressed, but it seems the performance itself was what came off as most offensive. It was so bad, in fact, that it was mentioned in the team’s official statement.

I am not the type of person that is willing to get up in front of a baseball stadium and perform a song, so I guess I have to give anyone who is able to do that a little credit, even if the stadium in question only managed to sell slightly more tickets than a White Sox game. However, having the guts to get in front of a crowd and having the talent to belong in front of a crowd are two different things, and Corey’s band certainly lacks the latter. I don’t know what it’s like to be completely hard up for money (this site pulls in billions every quarter), but this whole attempt by CorFeld to stay in the limelight seems pretty desperate. Does anyone remember his 2013 video for the song “Ascension Millennium,” which sounded like it was made by a twelve-year-old using Fruity Loops? At least we should hope this is just desperation, because after watching the video of the performance below, I think we are all going to want to believe that the whole charade was done for something outside of true self-belief in talent.

Blvck Ceiling Releases Drag Remix of Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse”

Picture from Blvck Ceiling’s Soundcloud

Even though drag sort of died out after the whole Salem craze, I still dig it, and there are a lot of producers making some nice tracks. Blvck Ceiling would be one of these artists, and it just so happens he dropped a pretty cool remix of Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” a few days ago. The juxtaposition between Perry’s vocals and the darkness of the backing music is pretty awesome. I’m a Katy Perry fan to begin with, as embarrassing as that is, but this rework brings the song to a completely different place.

Korn Loser Desperate for Attention

image via billboard.com

Apparently Jonathan Davis thinks that President Obama is using Miley Cyrus as a distraction while he passes “police state” legislation. Really? I’m thinking maybe Obama could pull out some more stops than unleashing Miley on the world if he was trying to slip things past the population. Maybe Miley was created in a lab just to serve the Left’s Draconian world takeover! Or maybe Jonathan Davis is just feeling left out of the limelight. Remember, this is a man now going under the name J Devil and who said Korn “was dubstep before dubstep existed.” So now we know exactly who to blame for dubstep.

I just hope he doesn’t have enough power to convert the four people that still listen to Korn into crazy conspiracy theorists.

For more on J Devil’s theories, take a look at the NME article here.

Black Atlass Releases “Young Bloods EP”

I’ve been championing Black Atlass since I first heard his self-released Black Atlass EP last year. After being picked up by Brooklyn’s Fool’s Gold Records, two tracks from that album were properly re-released. “Paris” and “Paris (Instrumental)” started to get buzz, and soon the world was waiting for the Montreal crooner to drop his next work. Well, yesterday was the day, and now we can finally listen to his Young Bloods EP.

I’ll do a full review of this record once I have some time to give it some solid listens. My initial opinion is that it does not disappoint, although I think two of the tracks are practically ruined by rapper XXX.

In the meantime, enjoy this video for the opening track “Blossom.”

Stream Beck’s New Album “Morning Phase”

If you like Beck, which you should, you may be interested in listening to his 12th LP Morning Phase. Many are comparing it Sea Change, which I understand, but I think the new album has more of an ethereal flavor to it. Either way, it’s pretty good, so check it out.

Jump to the original NPR page here.

New Tycho Album Out Soon

I almost peed my pants with excitement a few months ago when Tycho uploaded a new track to his Soundcloud page. A month or two after that, he uploaded another new song, and his label, Ghostly International, provided a release date (March 18) for his new full-length Awake. Pre-orders were announced about a week ago, along with word that there would be a limited pressing of 2,000 colored vinyl copies besides the normal release.

I’m clearly stoked about receiving my limited version in the mail, but in the meantime I have been relegated to listening to the pre-release tracks over and over. “Awake” and “Montana” are both excellent works, and if they are any indicator to what will be on the LP, Awake should easily compare in quality to 2011’s Dive, which was generally regarded as a fantastic album. The sound is more instrument based and sounds a bit more post-rock than past releases, but the structures and style are still undeniably Tycho, which means we can all look forward to the lush, warm pieces we have grown accustomed to. Hopefully the weather here in Chicago will start to cooperate shortly after March 18 so the music will fit the scenery. Anyway, check out the “Awake” and “Montana” below.

Stream Twerps Debut Full-Length

As I sit here on a particularly shitty Chicago evening sipping scotch and thinking about how crappy my allergies are making me feel, I am comforted by the sounds of Australia’s Twerps, the nice little garage four piece responsible for the fantastic track “Dreamin.” Are you, like, totes jel? Well, fret not, because you too can sit back and stream the self-titled LP via Gorilla vs. Bear.

Enjoy.

Dirty Projectors / Bjork Project Manifests Itself on Vinyl

Domino USA announced today that the excellent, digital-only EP of Mount Wittenberg Orca is getting the full vinyl treatment on October 24th:

The deluxe LP of Mount Wittenberg Orca features 180-gram heavyweight virgin vinyl pressed at 45RPM for maximum hi-fidelity resolution. The sleeve is comprised of a 12×12″ three-dimensional lenticular cover of Mount Wittenberg, so realistic that you can almost smell the junipers. Inside is a gorgeous 12-page large-format full-color booklet with stills from the original YouTube films of the Mount Wittenberg environs by director Matthew Lessner (“Stillness Is the Move”), a full-text libretto of the suite and complete liner notes.

Check the effervescent a capella march “On and Ever Onward” on Soundcloud here. My original review, part of my 5 favorite last year, is below…

Dirty Projectors & Bjork – Mount Wittenberg Orca EP

David Longstreth’s concept-heavy albums draw an equal amount of scorn or adoration, depending on your patience with dissonant signature-switching pop experiments.  Less than a year after D.P.’s incredible Bitte Orca, (which won them tons more fans, among them me and Solange Knowles), no one really expected Longstreth to really surface with anything else so soon.  Wrong-o. Mount Wittenberg Orca is an one-off excursion that went so incredibly well, they were compelled to record it — for Smithsonian’s sake, hahaha.  In early 2009 Brandon Stosuy of Stereogum successfully connected Dirty Projectors and Bjork to collaborate for a Housing Works benefit show.  Needless to say, they hit it off.  A year later, the EP was released so those of us not living in Brooklyn / SoHo could hear its genius.   The orchestration is sparse, the vocals are sharp and precise, and the twin vocal knockout of The Dirty Projector’s Amber Coffman and Angel Deradoorian, oh yeah, and some lady named Bjork are  incredible.  The group’s vocal harmonies are goose-bump inducing.  Longstreth, always one for vocal and harmonic interplay, puts his female collaborators front and center and they shine.  The album is non-profit digital-only download, and you can buy it here for 7$ with all proceeds going to the National Geographic Society to create international marine protected areas.