I’m becoming more than a little tired of all these electro-hipster-indie-aggregations that are just doing the same thing again… and again… and then getting their hipster weiners blown by Pitchfork, who in turn convinces all the bros that they’re uber kewl cutting edge pioneers. They currently feature a pile of hot garbage in the Best New Music section (well… i’ll give The Antlers a chance… and I do enjoy the Dirty Projectors and Mos Def’s most recent efforts). On top of this, I’ve heard the PF reviewers don’t even get to grade the albums, they are handed a number and told to write a fitting review… Pitchfork you’ve changed bro… you’ve changed.
“I’ve met all those dudes [at Pitchfork]. Fuck them,” Keller says. “They’re doing well, or at least Ryan. He doesn’t write anything; he just grades all the records. When you review records for Pitchfork, you don’t get to grade them. I was talking to Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion, who got a good review but only a 3.0 rating. He called the reviewer and said, ‘Hey, thanks for giving my record a good review,’ and the kid said, ‘I got fired for it.’ ”
-Travis Keller, Buddyhead founder, who tells us how he really feels in this LA Weekly article.
This brings me to my point: I’m very excited to go see an original. Hate if you wanna, but Animal Collective really is the coolest thing since sliced bread and blue jeans…or in this case, flannel shirts and chuck T’s.
AnCo is performing this Friday and Saturday, August 14th and 15th in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Get tickets here and I’ll see you there.
Bonus Travis Keller quote: “One reason Keller started Buddyhead was because he “didn’t really give a shit about anything on the Internet. People ask me to describe Buddyhead like, ‘Is it like Pitchfork?’ Well, yeah, if we were virgins and bed-wetters. I don’t have Steven Malkmus’ weenie in my mouth. I like Pavement but not that much.””
Collaboration of the Year (thus far):
This Atlas Sound/Panda Bear collabo (via Pitchfork) just blew my brains out of my ears. The combination of these two is smoother than PB&J, crispier than a BLT, more fertile than sperm and eggs. Here’s what Atlas’s Bradford Cox had to say about the origin of this little gem:
“I toured for a period in Europe with Animal Collective, whose band dynamic was very inspirational to be around. On the bus, we often played improvised iPod games. We would take turns formulating a theme or unifying concept and then play three songs. The goal would be for everyone to try and figure out the theme. During one of these games, someone played ‘What Am I Going to Do’ by the Dovers. I was amazed at the hook– a weird organ thing with drums and electric bass. I mentioned to Noah [Lennox] that someone should really sample that riff. He agreed and he taught me a little about sampling and matching up beats. This ended up as the collaborative effort ‘Walkabout’.”
Toots & The Maytals – Funky Kingston
Best Discovery of the Summer: I’m gonna dig into the crates for a second here and take it back a few decades, I’m really getting into Toots & The Maytals, who popped out a string of hits in the 60s and 70s (you’ve heard Pressure Drop). If you haven’t heard, give this track a listen and fall in love. And if you are familiar, do like the tagline for The Notebook 2 says and get ready to fall in love all over again.
Ganglians – Voodoo
Amazingest New Shizz:
A friend introduced me to these sillies and described them as “Beach Boys on acid”… although I’m pretty sure the beach boys were on acid. Nevertheless, listen to this song. Ganglians are the latest-greatest on the Brooklyn-based Woodist label, who also gave us these folks: Kurt Vile, Wavves, Woods, Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls and more.
“Ganglians are wild men– they make music that gets fresh air all up in your teeth and gums.” – David Bevan for PF.
Deltron 3030 – Things You Can Do
Old Skool Flava:
Listening to some of that Deltron 3030 lately and can’t get over how head-bouncingly catchy “Things You Can Do” is, which says a lot for a song that’s almost 10 years old. Turns out he’s speeding up opera singers to get that effect. Score one for the fat lady.
“…set in the year 3030…tells of the fight against huge corporations that rule the universe by Del’s alter ego, Deltron Zero. The lyrics were written in less than two weeks and are characterized by extravagant allusions to futuristic outer-space themes in the tradition of Afrofuturist works by Sun Ra and George Clinton.”
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