We're back on the road with It It Anita and I'm currently writing this from the van. We always play the same songs while on tour and of course there is always a Weezer moment. And now Pinkerton pops up. I remember the immediate effects it had on me, when I bought it in 1996. The first track. The intro. The feedback. The bell. The distorted synth. The guitar riff. And Rivers, tired of sex, lamenting about his frequent and meaningless sexual encounters, and why he's not able to find true love. I can't remember exactly but I was probably asking myself the same questions at the time, during my teenage years. These days, things are much easier regarding sex and love, so my main question nowadays is just which song will I talk about in two days.
Damien
Talking about great naming (this one might really become a recurring theme); calling your band "Title Fight", both honest and funny. Right after alluring artwork, it's my top trigger to discover new pieces of music (I never pretended to be something close to original). Anyway, it is also an excellent excuse to refer you to Mr. Preston's work. Yes, many of you will say that music-related tattoos are lame AF... but I like them (sometimes, often) especially when it's done well. Like pizza...
mrnvdb
One year ago, we were listening to some International Anthem playlist with my friend Olivier, when suddenly the Spotify algorithm brings out a song by The Durutti Column. I've never listened to this band, thanks Spotify for making me discover this album released 42 years ago, the year I was born. This track has all I need from a song. A strange loop — some birds in this one —, a regular and metronomic beat and some sparkling guitars.
Summer is over and let's be honest, this one was quite sketchy.
Damien
Great song and band names, intriguing cover art, and trance-inducing sounds. You don't need much more to get me. Have a nice day, have a nice life and listen to sad music.
mrnvdb
I think I'm going to talk a lot about the Canadian scene (I did with Hayden) and not only about Constellation (Godspeed You! Black Emperor's label) but also about the constellation that surrounds a band - that released only one album but that makes it to the famous "Top 10 albums I'll take to finish my life on a desert island" - namely, The Unicorns. So today it's a sweet folk song with Human Highway, one of Nick Thorburn's projects right after The Unicorns. I wouldn't take this album to a desert island, but it's worth listening to during this Sunday brunch.
Damien
To wear the "screamo" label and sing in French is either wanting to be hated or not giving a shit at all. Well as they say: Je ne suis pas ici pour aimer ou détester tout le monde (I'm not here to love or hate everyone). Yet this is the perfect mix of everything I like in a song – that I'm not able to list – and something unidentified obnoxious to my ears. Brilliant !
mrnvdb
Because Sonic Youth and Pavement is always a good idea, a project put together by Julie Cafritz (Pussy Galore) and Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) who surround themselves with Mark Ibold (Pavement) is a double good idea. The opening loop — I assume it's the DJ Spooky touch but I can't be sure — serves as a backbone to the song and makes this little gem groove from beginning to end. Never Gonna Sleep was released in 1997, and is somewhat similar to what the Chemical Brothers could have produced, on the other side of the Atlantic, in Manchester, at the same period. But in the noisy classy newyorky Kim Gordon's way.
Damien