The Almighty Oracle

When I reviewed Amanda Palmer’s first solo effort, Who Killed Amanda Palmer? I wrote : “Oasis is fun in the contrast between the happy music vs. the theme of the verses.” Well, the song just got funnier with its video. It’s colourful, quite well edited, seems like they all had a blast filming it and tends to put a silly grin on my face.

What do you think?

And because it’s a theme in the song, here’s what I got in the mail today :

It’s autographed and everything!
27 days to travel from NY to France. *no comment*

Amanda’s words about the video :

never again will you be able to see me get drunk, date-raped AND get an abortion ALL IN ONE VIDEO!

look out for special appearances by beth (my assistant), emily (my manager), michael (my boyfriend), becca (best known for her role in the “girls just wanna have fun video” as my drunk comrade-in-arms) and many others….truly a family effort.

special thanks, of course, to my main man michael pope, who did a brilliant job directing this one (as usual) and to brianna olson, who produced with class. big thanks also to jakob ludwick, who loaned us his loft in brooklyn to shoot this shiznit, the crew,
and all the extras.

dedicated, with love, to sarah palin.

xxxx,
AFP.

Lyrics for Oasis : Continue Reading »

mel :: Oct.30.2008 :: Amanda Palmer, Oasis, Video :: No Comments »

Mark your agendas for January 27, 2009. [if you already have a 2009 one, that is!] Why? you should ask. Well, because it’s the release date for Andrew Bird’s new album Noble Beast.

The tracklist is :

1. Oh No
2. Masterswarm
3. Fitz and the Dizzy Spells
4. Effigy
5. Tenuousness
6. Nomenclature
7. Ouo
8. Not A Robot, But a Ghost
9. Unfolding Fans
10. Anonanimal
11. Natural Disaster
12. The Privateers
13. Souverian
14. On Ho!

The first song to appear on the internet, thanks to Pitchfork, is Oh No. It features violin, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, soft drums, simple vocals with sweet harmonies, hand claps and wonderful wistling working together to build one very enjoyable song. Andrew Bird is basically an extraordinary violonist who seems to master everything he intends to do. Seeing him live solo is one of the most amazing showsince he has to build every song from scratch with violin, guitar, xylophone, whistling and singing. Can’t wait for the go everywhere possible 2009 tour! But first, January 27 : Noble Beast. I’d add it to my wishlist but Christmas comes a month too early.

Oh No : 

mel :: Oct.25.2008 :: Andrew Bird, Noble Beast, Oh No, Song of the Day :: No Comments »

Power rock bending over the punk line is all I can come up with to describe Kids Love Lies‘ music. But it’s not the label that matters (ever!), it’s the way you feel listening to the sharp bass, heavy guitars and accompanying drums topped with great vocals (with a  British accent!). My take : bouncy.

They’ve got contagious energy and undeniable talent. The band is only one year old but they’re pretty solid and I can’t help but see them making a success in a near future. They’ve just released their first single Switch Off and are looking into releasing a new one in early 2009. Until then, follow them on myspace! I don’t quite understand why Chimera is getting less plays than the other songs – probably because it’s slower – but I believe the guitar melody is very good.

Anyway, here’s Hex : 

mel :: Oct.22.2008 :: Chimera, Hex, Kids Love Lies, Song of the Day, Switch Off :: 4 Comments »

Gossip’s latest myspace bulletin said :

Subject: New demo up
Body: Practice tapes, wanna check it out?

We are recording our new record….thanks to everyone that has been patient…it will be done soon!

x

The new song is 1000 Things and it’s got some sexy drum & bass lines. The guitar/vocals dialogue is intriguing. I’m not convinced by the vocals themselves, though. What happened to Beth? Had I not known the song is by Gossip, I’m not sure I would’ve recognized their glorious singer right away. But ok, this is just a demo, I’ll wait for the new record to come out to voice a true opinion on this.

mel :: Oct.21.2008 :: 1000 Things, Gossip, Song of the Day :: No Comments »

I have a thing for Australian bands. The accent, of course. But there’s more than this in An Horse’s music. The duo, Kate Cooper (guitar + vocals) and Damon Cox (drums + vocals), play some indie pop/rock that’s catchy with a good depth to it despite the simplicity of the drums/guitar combination.

Their debut EP, Not Really Scared was released in April 2008 and features 5 songs that stick with you long after you’ve listened to them.

Tracklist : 

1. Postcards
2. Company
3. Warm Hands
4. Camp Out [That Kaki King covered for her DayTrotter Session as Gloves Off]
5. Shoes Watch

Even though I pretty much listen to the whole EP on repeat, Company is the one song that I relate to the most lately, hence this choice.

Lyrics : Continue Reading »

mel :: Oct.19.2008 :: An Horse, CD Review, Company, Damon Cox, Kate Cooper, Not Really Scared EP, Song of the Day :: No Comments »

She popped the question. I knew it was coming but somehow hadn’t given the subject much thought so I didn’t have anything too articulate to reply.

Continue Reading »

mel :: Oct.19.2008 :: Random :: No Comments »

Well, BionicBabies are Austrian; BionicBabies are Katrin Ebner (vox+guitar), Danijel Tomic

(guitar), Tom Heiss (bass + vox) and Markus Bergmann (drums).

Their debut album, Are Bears just came out a couple of weeks ago and arrived in my mailbox after a 13 day trip from Vienna, Austria [Random fact : It would take a little less than 13 hours for a human being to travel the same distance]. I honestly have been listening to it non-stop for about 4 to 5 hours, call me crazy if you want, I just love it.

The 12 songs on Are Bears are pure alt. rock bliss. The saturated guitars, the sharp drums, the easily recognizable voice and the omnipresent bass [you know how annoying it is when the bass is too shy, the music lacks some punch] are the perfect ingredients for a receipe that works really well. From All Eyes On Me and its drums+bass intro to the closing Monsters, the energy never runs out. The 4 demo songs that had been released back in 2006 have been re-worked for this album and it’s all for the better [don't get me wrong, they were good songs to start with!], the back-up vocals on Break The Walls are surprisingly lovely.

Tracklist : 

1.  All Eyes On Me
2. Headfirst
3. Happy End
4. I Know The Truth
5. Break The Walls
   Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.
6. Best Side
7. Don’t Think
8. How My Heart Beats
9. Naked On The Ground
   Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.
10. Part Of The Chaos
11. #3
12. Monsters

In a perfect world, BionicBabies would be known and loved worldwide and play gigs everywhere including my area. Let’s help them on the world domination plans. Click here to help them in the gotv contest ["the winner get's to play at artsy fartsy fashion shows." - Tom's words].
Visit BionicBabies on myspace or their official website. Buy Are Bears here or here.

mel :: Oct.16.2008 :: Are Bears, BionicBabies, CD Review :: No Comments »

Back when I started with this blog, I posted a quite short review for …music video?’s second album Now That My TV Has Wings, I’ll Never Be Lonely. Up until a couple of days ago, it was the only release I owned and somehow I can’t imagine how I could not get Fireproof Your TV, their debut album earlier.

The 13 songs on the album mash up pop, rock and electro to make this quite unique style …mv? has the secret of. Watercolors is the first song I heard when checking out …mv? on myspace forever ago and years later, it’s still as brilliant as it was with the insisting beat and piano chords,  best way to start off the CD. The rest flows in quite smoothly and flawlessly.

My personal favs are Figure Of Speech, Watercolors, Another Borderline Emergency, Abandoned Highways and Lost At Sea but I can’t help playing the whole album on repeat. And I’m not a natural electro fan.

Tracklist :

1. Watercolors
2. Lost At Sea
3. Another Borderline Emergency
4. Somewhere Between Blue And Gray
5. Nobody’s Around
6. Everything Up To This Point Has Been A Waste
7. Postrockfeelgoodsongofthemillenium
8. Glossolalia
9. Figure Of Speech
10. Blow Up Doll
11. Abandoned Highways
12. TV Screen
13. The Waltz

Figure Of Speech :

Watercolors :

Abandoned Highways :

For all the …music video? lyrics, click here [too simple design by yours truly]. You can [digitally] buy Fireproof Your TV and/or Now That My TV Has Wings, I’ll Never Be Lonely for as cheap as $7.77 on e-junkie or $8.99 on amazon or iTunes. Go to …music video?’s myspace for the links and more.

Wes McCanse and Paul Jenkins are …music video?
photo by Joe Odea

mel :: Oct.15.2008 :: ...music video?, Abandoned Highways, CD Review, Figure Of Speech, Fireproof Your TV, Paul Jenkins, Watercolors, Wes McCanse :: 1 Comment »

More than just the song of the day, I’ve been obsessing over this one for the whole weekend. Shake That Devil is song #3 on Antony And The Johnsons‘ new EP, Another World. The EP features : Another World, Crackagen [one of the first songs Antony has ever written], Shake That Devil, Sing For Me, Hope Mountain.

While the basic piano/voice structure appears on songs #1,2,4 and 5 (and is wonderful as always), Shake That Devil stands out for it’s a capella -> drums -> brass section quite unusual progression. I guess that’s what makes it addictive.

Even though only the title track from this EP will appear on the new album that should be released in early 2009, I think it’s a very good sign for what’s to come.

Lyrics :
Continue Reading »

mel :: Oct.12.2008 :: Another World EP, Antony and the Johnsons, Shake That Devil, Song of the Day :: 4 Comments »

I was born with the CD (yes, the first CD player was sold on October 1st, 1982 so just around the date I was supposed to see the world for the first time – but I got tired of waiting and decided to satisfy my curiosity sooner) but raised with cassette tapes. Oh, the glorious days spent glued to the radio trying to record that one song with enough timing to have every single note of it.

I bought my first CD in 1991 (take a wild guess at which one it was! King of Pop, anyone? – I was 9 and already had a good taste back then, may I say so myself – mainstreamly popular but still, good!) but since then I purchased more than 500 of them – most after year 2000. As much as I adore the music behind everything, I care about the cover art just as much. I’ve been known to buy some CDs only because their front cover looked good – truth is the music ended up pretty cool, too. So that’s what really brings me to vinyl : the bigger cover art! Despite the fact that I don’t own a turntable (yet).

So, for now, I collect vinyls for the visual part (picture discs are sweet!) except for that one time I made my mother listen to Gossip’s Standing In The Way Of Control through that big stereo system of hers. Of course it sounded so familiar yet so different at the same time, due to the stereo, due to the support too. That album on vinyl had a warmer sound, if that makes any sense.

All of this overly personal details about my life are only here to prove one point : vinyl is way older than I am yet I think it may just as well be one of the best means to listen to music – even with my little experience in the matter. I’m only starting a collection, after all. And there’s a very nice marketplace that’s starting up as we speak that specializes in vinyl and will fonction to help support independent artists, labels and record stores (and if you’re a music lover, you should care about that, too). It’s like fair trade, for music. It’s called Nylvi and you can visit their website via this link. You know you want to!

mel :: Oct.07.2008 :: Nylvi, Random, Vinyl :: 2 Comments »