Late Night Friday, Early Saturday Friday Five!

I had a party to go to earlier tonight, so I decided to go to that. Now that I had three cans of soda, I'm awake and ready to blog. So here you are, a late night Friday, early Saturday Friday Five.

St. Vincent - Surgeon (4AD Session). This is a crazy video. Look at her play the guitar riff at 3:16 - 3:31! I can't even play that! I should probably practice more than I do now.

St. Vincent covers Big Black at the Bowery Ballroom, 5-22-11. This is an awesome Big Black Cover. I never thought that she would do a Big Black Cover. it just felt out of the norm, but the plays it with just the right intensity.

Warpaint - Beetles. This is one of the better versions of Beetles that I've heard. It holds true to the original/album version, but this version just has an extra element that makes it sound amazing. Wait for the transition at 6:25!!

Warpaint - Elephants If you thought that the last video was good, watch this version of Elephants. It might be my favorite version. Everything sounds super accurate, and smooth, so it adds to the dimensions of the song. It is almost nine minutes, but every minute is worth it. Wait for the "ending" part at around 7 minutes.

Sonic Youth - Total Trash (1993/07/04). Today is Kim Gordon's birthday! Happy Birthday Kim!

The return of the Saturday six!

The busy part of my year is starting to end, so you know what that means! The Friday Five will be back along with my reviews! I have been saying that for a while, but I seriously have about five album reviews to finish and upload. Speaking of upload, I was going to upload this edition of the Friday Five yesterday night, but the embed code isn't working on my videos (I'm still working on it, but I can fix it soon. Anyway, enjoy!

St Vincent - Cruel. I love this song, and this video. Well, I like all of St. Vincents videos anyway, they capture the spirit of the song quite well.

Nite Jewel - Natural Causes. I like this "retro revival sound". I've been hearing it a lot recently. I just hope it doesn't grow out of control. This is a pretty good track, but it ends very abruptly (almost too abruptly for my taste).

Blouse - They Always Fly Away. Here is an example of " retro shoegaze revival" (in case you can't tell, I totally just made that up). But on a serious note, I really enjoy listening to Blouse.

Warpaint - Warpaint. This one is acoustic! Nifty!

Extra! Warpaint - Undertow. Here is another acoustic one. Oooh, they changed up the guitar riff a little.

And Finally, Classic Sleater Kinney! Check this out! Twenty Four Minutes of Sleater Kinney and Helium!

Make Up Monday!

Bonjour tout le monde! Happy Monday! (I can't believe that I just said this). I've been thinking about blogging and posting some reviews and other random things, but I just haven't had the time to. But now that I have the time to post, I will! I've still been crawling the dark cavern of Youtube for the best videos, and now, I present to you the best videos that I've found in my four week absence. Warpaint - Warpaint at Glastonbury Now this is the best footage of Warpaint that I've seen! Look at the clarity! Look at Warpaint! Look at them and all of their amazingness! Warpaint - Elephants at Glastonbury. Emily's voice is a little bit off, but who cares! (Can anyone read Stella's shirt? I think it might be related to one of the Crass Collective bands, but I'm not too sure. I have a shirt similar to that) CSS - City Grrrl. It's somewhat new! Watch this now! (something is telling me to dye my hair pink...) Ringo Deathstarr - Imagine Hearts. Much respect for Ringo Deathstarr. They are filing the Void that My Bloody Valentine left in my heart. That's a good thing! I'm buying their album soon, so keep checking back for a review! (BTW, thanks for the Retweet) Ringo Deathstarr - So High. (Even More)Ringo Deathstarr - Chloe. This song is packed with amazing! Then the wall of sound comes in and its like "BANG!". I never want this song to end. I'll say it again, I have much respect for Ringo Deathsstarr. St. Vincent - Your Lips are Red. I guess this can be considered "old school" St. Vincent. I feel like she is channeling a little bit of her inner PJ Harvey here. (I really want to learn the bridge. Its driving me nuts!) Oh goodness! Look at that audience! How lame is that! Anyway, just focus on the radical guitar work. That is all for now. I'm happy to be back. I don't have any Debate Meets to report to for a while, so I'll be here, music blogging my fingers off. See you soon.

Friday Five! Right on time!

Friday Five! Right on time!
Happy Friday! I had the day off today, and I did what I do best; I spent the day crawling though youtube trying to find the best new and intresting videos for my weekly collection of awesomeness! I have some new stuff, I have some old stuff, but just be happy that the Friday Five is back on regular schedule!

Warpaint - Jubilee. I read in this article that this was going to be on the newest album (I guess it was a leftover song?). Anyway, I hope this makes the cut onto the newest one because this song is great!

Beach House - Norway. This is from the Pitchfork Practice sesion. (Yeah, I know...). Why is everything so fuzzy?

Scout Niblett - Dinosaur Egg. This isn't your ordinary song about dinosoar eggs. This is an awesome song about dinosaur eggs! This really sounds great near the end.

Extra! Scout Niblett - So Much Love To Do.

Wild Flag - Romance. I was going to post this last week, but I got lazy and I just didn't do it.

Wild Flag - Romance from Merge Records on Vimeo.

Sleater Kinney - Wilderness (From big day out 2006). I hate to say it, but this footage feels old. Its old, but good, so that is all that really matters. (We get a history lesson too! How cool!)

The Summer Playlist Part Two.

Hey everyone! Happy July! I really wanted to post this yesterday, on the first, but I pulled something in my back, so I took the good desision to turn off my computer and relax for a while. A coupple of muscle relaxers later, I'm (somewhat) well rested, but my back is still in pain, so I decided to bring my laptop to me and post the second part of the summer playlist. This time around, I'm posting my most played songs from the last month (thanks Last.Fm!)

Beach House - 10 Mile Stereo. If you want to read my Beach House review, click here. As far as I can tell, this is the offical video. Kinda trippy right?


Extra! Beach House - Silver Soul. This is also an offical video that was approved by the band.I feel like this is a Summer song. I always play this whenever I'm outside.


Warpaint - Krimson. My sources tell me that a *new* Warpaint will be out later this week (I think it will be on the 7th. I'll post the link on my twitter when I see it). Looks like the drummer and guitarist switched places on this one. That's neat, I haven't seen that before. It sounds like this song will never end!


Wild Flag - Romance. (@ The Hi-Dive Seattle 11/12/10) Why isn't the album out yet! Quit giving us singles! Anyway, if you haven't heard it, here you go. (This is the Studio Version. It came out like a week ago.)


PJ Harvey - Hook. This is the best version that I've found.


Wavves - So Bored


Best Coast - Summer Mood. How could this not be on a Summer Playlist?


Death From Above 1979 - Romantic Rights. Apparently this is "super rare" it looks old to me, so that might be true.


Sonic Youth - Star Power (acoustic). They recorded this song for Gossip Girl. I personally hate that show, but at least we get to hear an acoustic version of Star Power!

The Summer Playlist Part One

Hey everyone! Welcome to the first Friday Five post of my Summer Vacation! I was kind of tired from final exams last week to post, but I thought that this week would be a good time because it is now officially my summer vacation! Expect more reviews and things, so stay tuned to your feed (or however else you get to my blog).

My Bloody Valentine - Sue is Fine Amsterdam '89. This is an awesome concert and I might upload it all later in a next Five installment, but fair warning, if you don't want to blow your eardrums or speakers out, TURN DOWN THE VOLUME!!! Thanks :)


PJ Harvey & John Parish - April aris Bataclan '09. Super nice quality on this on this one.


Here is a PJ Harvey interview for you to watch too.


Warpaint Beauty Bar interview '10. This is the best interview ever. If you have to watch one video this week, watch this one. (Wow they are BAKED) 4:43 is epic


Extra: Beetles @ Fort Worth Modern Art Museum '10. It took me a while, to figure this out, but this is only half the song. (Heck, did they play half of it?) Anyway, its pretty good.


Classic Sleater - Kinney! Ok, I used my time off to dig deep into my favorites list on YouTube, and I found these gems for you all. Enjoy the first 4 videos in SK's Coachella 2006 set.

What's Mine Is Yours @ Coachella '06. Wait for the epic solo @ 2:20. Man, it keeps going through the rest of the song too! Epic!
Looks like the embed link isn't working, so click the link >>>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFM--FCa7gE&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Rollercoaster @ Coachella '06. Carries intro thing was great, why did they just start the song? Anyway, if you really listen at :55 - 1:44 Were they trying to tune this song down? (I doubt it...) but the rest of the song is good.


Sympathy @ Coachella '06. This is the next song. Why did they have to play a sad song after a good one? Oh well (I'm not dissing their choice though). Anyway, looks like they fixed the drum set right in time... (This might be me, but they all look equally pissed while playing this song...)

Warpaint - Exquisite Corpse Review.

I loved The Fool so much, I thought that I would just go out and buy Exquisite Corpse and listen to that too. I'm happy I bought it because it is a great EP to listen to, especially if you are a Warpaint, or Dream Pop Fan.

Stars
This one starts off mellow, and stays mellow. The bass drives this one along right off the bat and it stays with the song untill the end. Great way to start off this album.

Elephants
This is (probably) Warpaint's best known song. This is the first Warpaint song that I heard. I was watching the infamous Coachella set (go watch that now! Lets get this to 100,000!). The first time I heard it, I remember thinking that "There was so much going on! This band is awesome!". Everything is just right with this song, the bass is heavy, but it isn't too heavy because you get that sick guitar melody going on, and the vocals just have the right amount of effect on them, so they aren't really annoying (2:40 -2:45 on the album version). The shift that occurs in this song at 3:40 excites me every time I listen to it. Very class. If I had to classify this song, I would call it Punkgaze because it is too fast to be Shoegaze and too effects heavy to be punk. Either way, if you don't move around when this song is playing, then there is something seriously wrong with you (I'm looking at YOU hipsters...)

Billie Holiday
This is a cover of Mary Wells "My Guy", except they insert Billie Holiday at the beginning and end. You probably heard this song before. It isn't too complex, it isn't fast, it isnt' slow, and it is just at a good pace. As you might can tell, they slowed this down and added the experimental elements. Basically this is Corpse's "Baby". This song WILL get stuck in your head, even if you listen to it once (ahem, Coachella set anyone?). Warpaint is really good at "warping time" like I said in my last review. I don't know how they do it, but this song sound like its 4 minutes long, but its 6! How did this happen? They are hitting to Sonic Youth teratory now (I mean, who else can make a 7 minute song sound like 3 minutes?). That is an interesting loop at the end though.

Beetles
I wonder of Warpaint knew Mika Miko because the lyrics sound somewhat similar. Anyway, nice opening lyrics. As usuial, the bass is driving this song along again and it sounds great. I don't know how they do it, but this song does not sound like a 7 minute song. This song really gets intense after 2:25 and up until the 5:25 mark.

Burgundy
Burgundy is like the leftover part of Beetles because it practically sounds the same. I like that; it's like Beetles never ended. The lyrics take a step back this time and we really focus on the bass and drum combo that set this band apart from the rest right now. If you are listening to Burgundy for the first time (even if you are not) I recommend listening to the lyrics and make a mental note of what sounds good. I like how this song got fast right around 2:37. I didn't expect that this song would pick up. It's great. I thought that it would have taken The Fool for Warpaint to set up their song structure, but that isn't the case, for their first E.P. they established a pretty good foundation.

Krimson
And right when you think that the album is practically over, Krimson comes on "Wow, is the last song?" but it isn't! By itself Krimson is one hell of a song. I think it might be up there with the more popular tracks from The Fool. Ok, so stick with me on this one: Burgundy and Crimson are similar colors, and Burgundy and Crimson are similar songs (or they are lyrically speaking). It's great because it is like two sides of the same song! Great way to end an album.

This does not sound like an EP at ALL. It sounds more like the first couple of songs from an album (like a 12 track album). If you haven't gotten this, EP Go buy it now!(you might want to pick up The Fool too just so you won't have to get it later. Fair warning, this EP is HIGHLY addictive, and you might not stop playing it when you listen to it. I highly recommend this EP and The Fool. I'm sure you will like it too.

Friday Five: Rapture Playlist Edition.

Happy Friday everyone! I have swollen tonsils so I can't really do as much as I want to do, but I still made time for the Friday Five this week. This time around, I'm posting some songs from my appropriately titled "Rapture Playlist".

Blondie - Rapture. You know...Just in case the Rapture *Really* happens this weekend...(Yes,I know the whole rap).


Sonic Youth - Kissability Live in Amsterdam 1989. This is an AWESOME set. I want to watch the rest of it if I can find it. I'm like the Church that they are playing in.


Extra! Sonic Youth - Silver Rocket Live in Amsterdam 1989. If you listen carefully, you can hear a lyric change.


Warpaint - Elephants Later with Jools Holland. This aired on the 13th of May, so its somewhat new. I think that this is a better version than the one from Coachella that I posted not too long ago, and I still think that it is better than the album version! (Hey, is Stella dressed like a droog? Anyway, she is killing it on the Drums).


Extra! Warpaint - Undertow Live on Later with Jools Holland. This one was a bummer because it feels a little rushed. If you want a good live version, then just watch the Coachella set (its 2 extra minutes and it has an awesome drum solo!). (P.S. If you like Warpaint, Check out my album review for The Fool. I will have another Warpaint review up soon)


Classic Sleaater Kinney
Bannned From the End of the World. This is the prefect song for a rapture playlist right?


Buy Her Candy (Echo Lounge Part 11). I can't believe that they messed up. Awesome Video anyway.


Fine, I just had to add in part 12 too... Dig Me Out. The bands reaction to the fans onstage is priceless.


Hidden Bonus Extra! Sonic Youth - Nevermind (What was it Anyway). This song has been in my head all week and I couldn't stop listening to it, so I found the video for the song. If you want to have fun, try to find Sleater Kinney! (no seriouslly, I had no idea that they were in this video) (Hardcore SK fans, is that Carrie's Dog?)

The Monday 15!

So last week, I was Debating at the National Qualifying Debate tournament Friday and Saturday,so I had no time to do the Friday Five. I was celebrating the end of debate season this weekend, so I had to delay the "Friday Five" to Monday. Don't worry, I found some good stuff over my break, I've been watching videos like crazy, so enjoy these 15 (!) videos.

Warpaint - Undertow. Hate me if you want to, but I just got into this band not too long ago. I didn't know what I was missing, and wow. I'm just at a loss for words here. To me, their music sounds like a modern day version of the Cocteau Twins (one of my favorite bands)


Extra! Warpaint Bees From Coachella '11


Another Extra! Warpaint - Elephants From Coachella '11


Free Kitten - Smack. I've been trying to find their early realeases on Vynil, but I'm not haveing any success. I could aways download them, but I'm not a huge fan of downloading music.


More Free Kitten! Teenie weenie Boppie


PJ Harvey - On Battleship Hill. This is the last of the "Let England Shake" videos. I still have to post more of them, but I'll save that for later weeks.


LiLiPUT - Turk and Split Live. I think that the opening part is in German, but that doesn't distract from the music.


The Pretenders - Mystery Achievement Live in France '79. This is some amazing footage. Its clear, and it soungs good. This might be my favorite live version of this song.


Extra! The Pretenders - Up The Neck Live in France '79.


Black Tambourine - Throw Aggi Off The Bridge.


Extra! Black Tambourine - Black car


Helium - Superball. I used to listen to a lot of Helium, I don't know why I stoped listening to them because they are a pretty good band.


Even more Helium! Honeycomb.

Even more WILD FLAG videos!

Future Crimes - From South By Southwest '11. This was a while ago, but I wanted to show you all this anyway. Its addicting!


IFC Interview. I find this interview kind of awkward, but I'd still watch it.

Warpaint - The Fool Album Review

What do you get when you combine the Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, A Healthy Dosage of excellent drumming, a sea of guitar effects, Dream Pop, and a hint of Shoegaze? You get Warpaint. Their 2010 album "The Fool" is probably one of the best, if not the best album that I have heard in my life. This is not an overstatement or hype by any means. Warpaint has done something phenomenal, and should be proud that they have done something truly amazing with this album.

To be honest, I didn't "really" know about Warpaint, until last week when I was watching the Coachella Live stream on YouTube and something told me that I should be watching this live stream. So I did, and I heard one of the songs, and an alarm bell went off in my head "Oh! I didn't know that they played this song." I was probably fooled by the harsh sounding name, but I knew who they were all along.

Name aside, Warpaint is one of the most exciting bands that I have heard this year, and I just can't wait to see what else they have in store. I have a feeling that more people are going to learn about their music, and enjoy it. So let me say this; Warpaint, if any of you happen to stumble upon my little blog, and read this album review, keep up the good work! Don't stop creating awesome music just because you gained new fans!

Warpaint is basically, the modern combination of every band that I love in my music library. Everything just songs so complete when I listen to Warpaint. Instead of listening to a playlist with 5 different bands, I can just play Warpaint all afternoon and be quite satisfied.

Track By Track Analysis


Set Your Arms Down
This one starts off slow, but the bass and vocals makes you want to keep listening. The vocals are so gentle and so powerful at the same time. Its almost like a paradox, how can something this mellow exist with such powerful music? It almost feels like this song can break in two at any moment, and shatter like glass. Set Your Arms Down is a Great way to start off this album.


Warpaint
"Warpaint" is the prime example of time slowing when you play this album. I think that this one could start a little bit better, but I always forget about the beginning when this song gets to the 2:00 mark. Everything after that is just golden. Just listen to the guitar work on this one. It is almost hypnotizing when you listen to it. Listen to the mini solo at 5:16.

Undertow
I haven't had this album for a long time (4) days, but I'm always playing this song no matter what I'm doing. I play it in class, I play it when I'm typing, I play it when I'm walking around, I just play this song whenever I'm doing anything. I don't really care if it is almost 6 minutes long ((5:53) to be exact). I just love this song. I know that this will be in my "Top Tracks" in my listening library very soon, if not by next week. I love the tempo changes in this song. I lost count, but it really doesn't matter when the tempo changes, but how it effects the song. I might like this song so much because of all of these tempo changes. Its like eating a chocolate chip cookie, you find something new with every bite.


Bees
To me, this song is an extension of Undertow. Just change up the lyrics, take out the tempo changes, and add even more guitar, and then you get this song. I should point out that the Drumming is very good on this song. It goes right along with whatever the 2 guitars are doing. The high point of this song is the post noise break epicness of 2:35. That makes the song for me.


Shadows
I don't really like this opening; it hides the fact that this is a great song. That aside, "Shadows" moves really fast when you listen to it, despite it being one of the "slower" songs on the album. I could even go on to say that this is the ending of the last song. That could work, but even if I was wrong, this is a really nice song. I like the occasional piano highlights engrained this one.


Composure
When this song starts playing, I automatically think "Cocteau Twins". Let me say this now; Warpaint is this generations version of the Cocteau Twins. That might be a long shot, but I honestly think that this is true. Just look at the guitars, the vocal delivery, and the powerful sound. It might not be explicitly stated when you compare both bands directly, but the comparison holds its weight.

Baby
For me, this song starts off the second half of the record. It is a lot slower than the previous song. And it just sounds pretty good. It is a simple song really, and I'm not going to try to over analyze it too much.

Majesty
Majesty is the longest song on the album (6:35). It is one of the strongest songs on the album, and it sounds great after baby. I love how this song gradually builds up and and just sounds so complete at around 2:22. The bass plays an important role of keeping the song together in this song because everything else "slows down" in this song. To me, this song feels a little bit like My Bloody Valentine, but that might just be me.

Lissie's Heart Murmur
This song is musically a combination of the last two songs. Its slow, it has the intensity of the first half of the album, it is a work of art, and everything just sounds complete. Like Baby, I don't want to over analyze this because it is great as it is.

As a whole, "The Fool" is a game changer, in the genre and in the modern music world as a whole. But, it it isn't quite prefect yet. If Warpaint wants a prefect album, they have to work on beginning and ending songs effectively. If they do that, and just incorporate everything that they did in this album, they are in line to make another amazing album. I know that they can do it.