End of the Month Music Btchfest - September 2015

They Might Be Giants

Dial-A-Song Round Up! pt. 9

Incredibly strong (and adorably sweet) start to the last moments of the third quarter of TMBG's year of Dial-A-Song with "Definition of Good". Damn it, Linnell...making me feel... Although a more cynical man than I might say that, musically, it sounds a heck of a lot like "Meet the Elements".
Also, the award for Laziest Dial-A-Song video goes to..."Definition of Good"! I know there have been simpler or more simply executed videos, but this could have been made in a half hour on iMovie. Congrats.

Wow. "Trouble Awful Devil Evil". Yet another contender for Best Song? And, while the video is simple, perhaps, to a fault, it works perfectly and feels intentional...unlike "Definition of Good". Seriously though, the video could have been a static shot of a used coffee cup and the song would have elevated it. Jesus, great work guys. Continued love of the juxtaposition.

While I don't dig comparing Flans songs to Linnell songs, there are times when one must. For instance, after getting four stellar Linnell tracks in a row and then a much-less-than-stella Flans track. "Say Nice Things About Detroit" just seems kind of plodding and artless after this barrage of goodness. Not awful, just awfully forgettable.

Rounding out the penultimate quarter we have a great little Flans ditty called "Moles, Hounds, Bears, Bees, and Hares".
It's about death.
Just kidding.
It's about murder.
Not really.
Or is it...?
The video will kill you with its cuteness though.
Fair warning.

And speaking of death...TMBG played (almost) all of Apollo 18 this month at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Review coming soon to SoundBlab.

And, finally, Why?, the new kids album, has a release date: November 27th. Why? will have 18 tracks and will be delightful, you got me? You'll dance forever.
Pre-order (and get a shirt and a yo-yo!) here.

Nine Inch Nails

Happy 16th birthday to The Fragile! Celebrate your sadness with three new* Fragile-era shirts! You can wear them or use them as tissues to dry your eyes as yet another year goes by with no news on the deluxe re-issue! When Trent Reznor fucks you in the ass, he doesn't just fuck you in the ass, he makes sure to wipe his shitty cock on your drapes! That stain'll never come out!!!

Beck

At a recent charity event at Largo, Beck did a short set which included special guest Andy Dick. The confusion was palpable.


At a recent VO booking, during some downtime, the engineer put on the Frank Zappa doc, Baby Snakes. While I was only familiar with a tiny slice of this madman's full discography, I spent some time with him this month. Jesus. Like early Mad magazine, more twisted "Weird" Al Yankovic and a horny teenager all jumped into some toxic sludge...
What a brave, weird goddamn artist.

Prince also unleashed his latest upon the world. HITNRUN Phase One is...sometimes...very cool. While there are a few genuinely interesting moments with Prince doing things I've never heard him do before, there are a lot of familiar strokes, and, occasionally, you'll witness the saddest thing one can witness: Prince trying too hard. "Ain't About 2 Stop" has this thick, filthy synth paired with some vaguely Arabic horn sting, with Prince kind of...rapping?...over it, "Like A Mack" has more vague rapness to it with some great guitar licks, funky horns and even some 8-bit blips, although it also has him utter the "word" "thots", which makes me very, very sad. "Fallinlove2nite" is candy club pop that will rot your teeth out. "X s Face" features Prince making monkey noises and then cajoling someone (presumably that very same monkey) to "take the banana". At times, HITNRUN Phase One can feel like a kind of remix/mash up/club sampler of his two previous works, ART OFFICIAL AGE  and PLECTRUMELECTRUM.
Look.
It's goddamn odd and it's goddamn Prince and he's not going to answer any of your goddamn questions.

And, finally, "Writing's On The Wall", the theme for the new Bond film, SPECTRE, has arrived. Hey...I know it's Sam Smith doing what Sam Smith gets paid to do, but...maybe he's a bit too effete on this? The music is great; mysterious and dark and everything it should be, but...yikes, some of those high notes are...completely nontesticular. And James Bond has testicles.
LOTS of testicles.

* not new

A review of "Cooties"

Much in the same way* This Is The End was spawned from the sentence "I want to see Jonah Hill raped by a demon", Cooties was* spawned from the sentence "children are fucking monsters".
You ever watch "Glee" and then, for whatever reason, one of the Saw movies and then think, "you know, I'd like to see these folks get together and do something"? If you said "yes" to this**, then you should probably see Cooties.
Cooties is a grisly horror comedy which tackles the zombie apocalypse from a pretty novel microcosm: grade school, with Patient Zero portrayed as a young girl who has eaten a tainted chicken nugget. Although the tried and true zombie movie beats do, eventually, rear their undying heads (Jump scares abound! Hey! The lights are out!) they, at least, seem lovingly crafted and are spaced out nicely by some pretty sharp writing. The entire cast does a great job of being the typical horror movie ensemble, with Elijah Wood as the Timid Protagonist, Rainn Wilson as the Slightly Grizzled Badass Weirdo, and Alison Pill as the Adorable Spunky Love Interest, although poor Jack McBrayer is, yet again, cast as Jack McBrayer.***

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how excellent writers Leigh Whannell (of Saw and Insidious) and Ian Brennan (of Glee) performed as Doug (the Awkward Science Guy) and Vice Principal Simms, respectively. Then there's the fantastically horrid**** opening as well as a post-mayhem, slow motion playground montage that will make you cry with laughter and then chill your tears.

The only real downside to Cooties is the ending, specifically in the sense that it doesn't really have one*****. Seriously, it just ends. But, if you can accept the non-ending and just want something not quite as funny, clever, and scary as Shaun of the Dead or Housebound, then rub your eyes all over Cooties, because it was made for you.

Cooties will be in select theaters and available on VOD Friday, September 18th.

* I'd imagine.

** Especially if you said "yes" out loud.

*** Anderson! Tarentino! Fincher! Coens! Please help this dude before it's too late!

**** Fantastically horrid mainly because of its accuracy.

***** Oh, also the kinda racist cameo by Peter Kwong as Ninja Janitor, Mr. Hatachi.

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - August 2015

They Might Be Giants

Dial-A-Song Round Up! pt. 8

"I Haven't Seen You In Forever"
Wow. A round. That is so goddamn old school... Love the "oompha" drums as well.

"Omnicorn"
Flans has stated that this has been in the works a while and it kind of feels like it's been overworked and tweaked to death. While the subject matter is great, the sound is a bit Disney Kids.

"Another Weirdo"
I don't think I've been this bummed that an instrumental didn't have lyrics since Nine Inch Nails released Ghosts I-IV. Way to hurt me, Johns.

"I Made A Mess"
This is what I want from Why?*: a freaking madrigal*** about making a mess.

"What Did I Do To You?"
In case you were ever wondering what too much kids music does to the Johns, you have your answer here, in this marvelous, glitchsynth backlash. Fantastic.

And, for the first time this year, TMBG did not have a show of the Music Hall of Williamsburg on the last Sunday of the month, but, they will return next month with Apollo 18 and every Sunday after that with more stuff! Stuff! WOO! STUFF!!!!

Beck & St. Vincent

Two of my favorite artists sharing the stage with Taylor Swift...
Hm.
Okay; if the three of them did a collabo a la Love This Giant, I'd be interested as fuck, I think it would be an excellent test of Swift's artistic mettle if nothing else, but my cynicism won't allow me to see this as more than a perfectly planned marketing gimmick for Beck to get global attention for his new song and (GODDAMNITMOTHERFUCKER) forthcoming album, St. Vincent to get more mainstream notoriety and Swift to get some artistic clout/cred.
Also, no one seems to have a clear copy of the whole fucking thing.



Richard D. James just wasn't producing enough stuff for my taste, so I'm glad he finally upped his game by releasing his first music as AFX in over a decade. It's an EP called fsd-mid1fht-galt598983%****, and I've reviewed it!!! Yes! Reviewed it! I!

Also released this month; the debut LP from the industrial supergroup, Primitive Race, consisting of performers and producers who've worked with EVERYONE in the genre for the past forty fucking years. It's pretty awesome, if you like industrial. If you don't like industrial...you probably shouldn't bother. Review here, if you would like to bother. Special attention should be given to their debut EP, Long In The Tooth, which is mainly PR and Raymond Watts, AKA Pig. This motherfucker...is filthy in the same over-the-top way that Larry Flynt was. Is. Was? Is Larry Flynt dead? Hang on... Nope, he's alive. Holy shit. Way to go, Larry!

And, finally, I discovered that Rasputina has released yet another album! Self released, it appears and that would make sense. For the most part, Unknown tends to ramble in a not-as-fun-as-their-usual-rambling fashion, but there are a few truly beautiful, haunting moments; specifically "Bridget Manners", "Indian Weed", "Untitled I", "Hymn Of The Wormwood Women" and the title track. Still haven't given up on these psychos and I never will.

* The new They Might Be Giants kids album, remember? Coming soon.**

** Real soon, not "Reznor soon".

*** I think this could be considered a madrigal...I don't think I know exactly what that is...

**** Just kidding, it's called orphaned deejay selek 2006-2008