Catch up

What’s the haps, kids? Oh no, that so doesn’t sound like me. Perhaps if I said it enough times?

Soo I’ve been away from my blog for ages but if I tell you what I’ve been up to, you might possibly die of envy. I’ve been in New Zealand for about seven months, studying to be a proper “hack” and doing all sorts of odd jobs — from waitressing at a feral diner in north Auckland to acting as a blood-thirsty Roman for a Gladiator-style US television drama.

With such a luxe life, blogging obviously had to take a backseat. So right now I’m going to resist the urge to indulge in some defensive, self-deprecating humour, and get straight on to what’s been happening on the music end.

One of my fave jobs here so far has been writing for a student mag (no, not at the university I attend).  What a defector!

Every fortnight, I profiled a Kiwi music band, wrote a feature and a wee coloumn called newsbot — a news roundup from the perspective of a self-obsessed, obnoxious robot .

I wrote a few music reviews as well, some alright and some worse than doped-out Sonic Youth at a concentration camp in Somalia.

Even though it was hard to balance all that with my intense journo course, I really enjoyed it as it gave me a chance to meet some very cool people.

I will soon be posting some of my work here, so I have something to show for my AWOLness.

In other news, I’m currently interning at Yahoo! Xtra. I’ve never interned before so this is awesome and slightly nerve wrecking.

In fact I was so nervous the night before it started, I could hardly get any sleep. Weird, cos I managed to sleep perfectly okay before I flew out to NZ in Feb. But I soon realised I had no reason to be so anxious. Companies love interns!

Everyone at Yahoo has been so nice to me, that as a sign of appreciation I even did what every intern worth her salt would do — I offered to make coffee! But everyone was way too nice to accept that.

I’ve got another week there and I’m so not looking forward to it ending. So far they’ve given me two new albums to review — Dimmer’s Degree of Existence and Tahuna Breaks’ Black, Brown and White. Appararently Tahuna Breaks are currently topping iTunes New Zealand chart. AND I’m interviewing them tomorrow. So excited!

Aaah I’m so going to have another sleepless night!

Iain Petrie – I’ll Stay By You

Thanks to Mikey Serpico, we have a great review of Iain Petrie’s album I’ll Stay by You. Petrie’s music is as laid back as it can get. It’s a perfect listen after a hard day at work, when all you want to do is relax while having a quiet drink.

The Moon Upstairs – Guarding the Golden Apple

Laidbackness thanks John Macky for submitting a fantastic review of The Moon Upstairs who have recently released their latest album Guarding the Golden Apple.

Gifted Children Records – US

Release date: June 26, 2007

OMG Oh My God’s Latest Album ‘Fools Want Noise’ Out Now

Laidbackness: Thanks to Jason Kaumeyer for submitting this information. If you are a fan of the Chicago based band Oh My God (OMG) there’s some good news for you all…

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“Apes have been employed…babies want their toys…Fools Want Noise! Here comes the crashing, thrashing, utterly smashing new album from Oh My God—their first recording with guitar, their most searing set of songs ever. Oh My God’s notorious blasts of organ overdrive, grinding bass, precision drum attacks and contagious vocal hooks have never packed such a jolt.”

The album comes out June 28^th on the brand-new Chicago label Split Red Records…the four-piece incarnation of the band hits the road now. The OMG website is getting a total revamp with audio-visual tour logs…Giuseppe Andres (of Troma fame) has already directed one video and another is on the way….say it: OH MY GOD!!

CD Release Show on Thursday, June 28th at Schubas

Schubas Tavern in Chicago

3159 N. Southport

Chicago, IL 60657

773-525-2508

$10 cover at the door show starts at 9 PM

 

Ages 18+

CD Release Show on Friday, June 29th at Schubas

Schubas Tavern in Chicago

3159 N. Southport

Chicago, IL 60657

773-525-2508

$10 cover at the door show starts at 10 PM

Ages 21+

PAST PRESS:

“Oh my god is a power trio with a twist: instead of a guitar it has an organ, but it’s so jacked up and cracked out you couldn’t be blamed if you mistook it for a Hiwatt half-stack. On their fifth album, “Fools Want Noise,” they mess with their own formula, enlisting the help of guitarist Jake Garcia.” –Chicago Reader

“FOOLS WANT NOISE blazes out of control…a thumping, surging, thrashing, bashing 16 track rollercoaster ride…O’Neil pilots this kamikaze mission successfully with tremendous vocal range and power…punk-rock-thrash with a soul. (4 out o 5 stars)” –Chataqua Region Word (NY State)

“Chicago glam-pomp trio of my god’s live shows are legendary for their lack of inhibition (on the part of the audience as well as the band).” –The Onion

How To Achieve A Disconnect: The Long Winters

Like fragrances and colours, music has the power to change not just one’s state of mind, (which is actually kind of obvious) but also the trappings in which one endures the dullest of quotidian events. Turn on a nice piece and see the hottest of summer afternoons transform into the most pleasant and delightful of evenings. I am sure most Indie lovers have experienced that first hand. The Long Winters is exactly the kind of band that bolsters the trust of us indie-gummers in surrealism. Musical surrealism, that is.

But then again not all songs (genres even) possess that sort of clout. Hip hop, as it is, is yet to get over certain parts of female anatomy– take that homies, ner ner. Admittedly though, even Indie fails to produce such gems regularly. Most of the time, one has to feel content with commonplace tunes. Well as long as it is Indie and tolerable anything goes. Example: Field Music – A House is Not a Home, Love of Diagrams – Pace or the Patience, etc. What were they thinking? It is an atrocity considering how much indie-maniacs like us are in love with all things “obscure”. Obscure reminds me I was going to make this post all about The Long Winters and not turn it into one of my whine sessions. I am tempted to say wine sessions.

The Long Winters are from Washington. Yes, Washington again. The self confessed paranoid John Roderick forms the core of The Long Winters. This singer/songwriter is capable of churning out melodies that prove to be handy whenever you are in that state of ethereal disconnect. However, the USP of the band lies in its lyrics. It is a skill to be able to put complicated thoughts across without being cheesy. “John Roderick writes songs that make you feel like you’ve been talking to someone really interesting in an airport for the last hour and, although you know you’ll never see them again, you just told them your whole life story and a part of you will love them forever. “ (Source: The Long Winters website).

My favourite song by The Long Winters is Delicate Hands (Ultimatum). In fact, this is the first Long Winters song that I heard. Needless to say, I immediately fell in love with it (I want to feed you butter-rum candy/but someone beat you to me/beat you to me/someone beat you to me). This is indie at its best. Even though it fits the bill perfectly, let us just forget about the obscure criterion for just once and concentrate on the tune for what it is. I am sure you’d concur it is quite nice.

Pushover from their latest record Putting the Days to Bed is lyrically not as good as Delicate Hands but it kind of makes up for that by flaunting stronger riffs. Fire Island, AK is well groovy and that is why me likes it loads.

Other songs that deserve a mention: Scent of Lime (The Worst You Can Do is Harm), Stupid, Blue Diamond (When I Pretend I Fall)

Songs on LB’s MP3 player: Delicate Hands, Stupid, Fire Island AK

Till we meet next time…

Keep moving forward (Meet the Robinsons style)

Megha

The Long Winters Discography

Putting The Days To Bed (2006)

• Pushover
• Fire Island, AK
• Teaspoon
• Hindsight
• Sky Is Open
• Honest
• Clouds
• Rich Wife
• Ultimatum
• (It’s A) Departure
• Seven

Ultimatum (2005)

• The Commander Thinks Aloud
• Ultimatum
• Everything Is Talking
• Delicate Hands
• Bride And Bridle (Live)
• Ultimatum (Live)

When I Pretend To Fall (2003)

• Blue Diamonds
• Scared Straight
• Shapes
• Cinnamon
• Bride And Bridle
• Blanket Hog
• It’ll Be A Breeze
• Stupid
• Prom Night At Hater High
• New Girl
• The Sound Of Coming Down
• Nora

The Worst You Can Do Is Harm (2002)

• Give Me A Moment
• Carparts
• Samaritan
• Mimi
• Medicine Cabinet Pirates
• Unsalted Butter
• Government Loans
• Scent Of Lime
• Copernicus
• Shanty Town

Airplane/Primitive – The Slip (Music Video)

What I wouldn’t give to see them live.

Indie Track Review: Airplane Primitive by The Slip

Airplane Primitive/Saw it and thought it was some kind of bird

Question: What do you get when you cross overwhelming melodies with subtle emotional effects?
Answer: Airplane-Primitive by The Slip

Get over banal rock that does nothing but flaunt pretty guitar hooks. I know I like that but there is a limit to everything. The Slip are here with their avant-garde yet sensible style of indie rock.

The Slip are two brothers and a mate:
Brother 1 – Andrew Barr (drums)
Brother 2 – Brad Barr (guitar/vocals)
Mate 1 – Marc Friedman (bass)

They are powerful with their melodies and even more powerful with the kind of rockstar-less aura that they have. How can they be such geniuses and yet be so laidback? There’s nothing pretentious here. Their latest album Eisenhower is a proof of that. Eisenhower is exactly the kind of music that made me get over my aversion towards blogging and spurred me towards writing about indie.

Airplane-Primitive is one of the most guitar-intensive tracks from Eisenhower. It is also one of the most guitar-intensive indie tracks I have heard in a long time. The six-stringed melody interlaced with cymbals and harmonica is what makes Airplane/Primitive such an overpowering tune. 7 minutes is too short a playtime for this song because by the time one absorbs all the melodies and discovers, leave alone comprehend, all the layers the song is already over. One has to hit replay.

Give the song a listen and I bet that by the time it ends, you’d be surprised that you spent your last seven minutes nodding your head to indie!

In case you agree/disagree, feel free to leave a comment on here.

Megha (Don’t watch Apocalypto)

Airplane/Primitive lyrics in case you are interested:

It’s the day before the rest of my life
And I feel like Dylan Thomas
Says my muse if you stay I’ll go
If I’m not lying I’m not being honest

It’d be the death of me to keep her pace
And my bride I haven’t even laid eyes on
But my ghosts they come to me these days
My companions from the day I was born

Airplane primitive
Saw it and thought it was some kind of bird
It landed, he made up his mind
Can’t, can’t live

Airplane primitive
Saw it and thought it was some kind of bird
It landed, he made up his mind
Can’t live knowing that there’s some other world

Well come with me on one last run
Then I swear I’ll join you in the sun

Airplane primitive
Saw it and thought it was some kind of bird
It landed, he made up his mind
Can’t live knowing that there’s some other world

Where men fly up in the sky
Strapped himself to the wing for a one way ride
And in the air, above a cloud
There his soul stayed when his body fell down.

Airplane primitive
Saw it and thought it was some kind of bird
It landed, he made up his mind
Can’t live knowing that there’s some other world

Where men fly up in the sky
Strapped himself to the wing for a one way ride
And in the air, above the clouds
There his soul stayed when his body fell down

The Subways – At 1 AM (Music Video)

One of the songs from the playlist I was going to post in January. It is kind of old but I still love this tune!

Laidbackness Indie Playlist: March

Sonapani in Uttaranchal

“I’m going up to the mountain
Gonna reach with both my hands
I’m going up to the mountain
There’s so much here I don’t understand”

(Jenn Franklin – Impasse 900)

It feels good to finish work and be home on time. I know I have been away for almost two and a half months. The conscientious employee that I am, I have been working on the weekends, have been doing late hours, etc. But work alone did not keep me away from blogging. I spent a weekend up in the mountains. Was lucky enough to experience snow fall for the first time ever! I knew I had to go up there when I couldn’t get the Impasse 900 tune out of my head! I absolutely love the song.

Anyway so my “tighter than India’s budget and bigger than its population explosion” playlist is finally here! To be honest, none of the songs I had on my mind when I wrote the last blog entry is fit enough to be on the playlist now. Reason one, I have milked them too much and reason two, I have been spending a lot of time listening to newer stuff and making mental notes in the office. Therefore the playlist with newer songs:

1. Shake Some Action – Damaged

2. The Shortwave Set – Casual Use

3. Jeremy Enigk – City Tonight

4. The Broken West – Down in the Valley

5. Modest Mouse – Dashboard

6. Kaiser Chiefs – Ruby

7. The Go Find – Dictionary

8. Jenn Franklin – Impasse 900

9. Jenn Franklin – What Took You So Long

10. Creeping Woods – Eternity is a Long Time

11. Kristin Hersh – Blackstone

12. LCD Soundsystem – Get Innocuous

13. Bloc Party – Hunting for Witches

14. Million Billion – Inhuman

15. Money Mark – Pick Up the Pieces

16. Malcolm Middle & Alan Bisset -The Rebel On His Own Tonight

 

17. Dean & Britta – You Turned My Head Around

That is it from me for now. Like always I’d love to hear what you think about these songs. You know how to reach me!

Megha

You Got the F.E.A.R ;)

I had to do this post to recommend F.E.A.R by Ian Brown. My dear friend Andy Dodd sent this song to me last week and I have to say it is so totally fantastic! The BRIT GIT that he is, he couldn’t just send the song without throwing in an amusing little puzzle. “When you listen to it, see if you can work out what is special about all the words?” I think I know the answer but I haven’t heard back from him yet. So, let me ask you this. What is special about the words? Can you figure out the hidden link?

Feel free to leave a comment on here or send me an email (see the Contact Laidbackness link ).

Sorry for keeping this one short. I have a great playlist all sorted out. Music as tight as India’s budget and as overwhelming as its population explosion. I will be posting it very soon. So don’t forget to check back.

P.S: I also really like Aaj Ki Raat from the movie Don (the new one). I think they’ve done a good job on that one.