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
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