Skippin' Little Stones

Soz, longtime no update etc.

YOU MAY RECALL recently or not so recently I guess one of my entries was about WEEN and how they are unfairly preconcieved as a novelty duo! But this is wrong. Ween are quite different from Flight of the Conchords, see?

Well. This entry will follow a similar theme of discrimination- N*E*R*D. THEY ARE NOT ONLY A HIP HOP GROUP! I mean, sure, their first album is kinda like that but it is also my least favourite. They make a meeeean pop song. Look at Wonderful Place from their second effort, Fly or Die. The title track is also good!

Their new one follows this trend but rather than lose momentum in the second half (as I feel fly or die does) it's solid all the way through. So don't just dismiss N*E*R*D as mindless rap music. They make rad tunes, yo. You Know What is funky. It is my favourite.

LISTEN.

N*E*R*D - You Know What
N*E*R*D - Spaz
N*E*R*D - Love Bomb

Box with Cross is Examinable

Every year during SWOTVAC/Exam period I latch onto some artist as my 'study music' as play the shit out of them. Previous stars of this ritual have been artists such as Decoder Ring, Autechre and Dntel. I generally prefer robotic, emotionless repetition to study to, you see. It helps with the concentration and memorisation of facts. For me, anyway.

This semester instead of finding some new light beatz to coach my note taking I decided to just chuck all of the previous study-fuel artists into one giant playlist and hit shuffle.
It's working out quite well. Not only am I studying efficiently, but I'm also rediscovering some choice tracks that I had momentarily forgotten.

GOOD LUCK WITH EXAMS TO ALL MY FELLOW STUDENTS.
Here are two of my favourites to help you out.

Junior Boys - Bellona









Dntel - Life is Full of Possibilities

Peen

I get the impression that Ween are largely written off as a comedy/novel music group, and not one that someone might listen to repeatedly for long-term enjoyment.
This is wrong.
Ween are not only amazingly versatile musicians who can do country music, showtunes, bizzare soundscapes (often all on one album) but also make mean ass pop songs that are up there with Jens Lekman or Sufjan Stevens' 3 minute wonders.

In particular, the album White Pepper is fucking amazing. Sure, it might be a parody on anything the Beatles ever did, but so is most modern music, and this shit is rad. Rather than front-loading all the good tracks at the front of the album, the thing is solid most at the beginning and ends of the record, with the only real lull for me being cheesy Bananas and Blow.

So yeah. Give Ween a chance. Start with White Pepper, it's grouse. Move on to the Mollusk, or Quebec. The latest, La Cucaracha might not be the best, but it's still got some choice cuts too.

Ween - Even If You Don't
Ween - Pandy Fackler
Ween - Stay Forever

LIGHTGLOBES WASH UP ALL ALONG THE BEACH

Because sometimes I'm a sentimental bastard too, damnit.
Some other songs that remind me of my birthday: The Cure's A Thousand Hours, Junior Boys' Birthday, Ryan Adams' Shadowlands. All really cheery tracks.

Something for Kate - Deja Vu

the slip

There is a new Nine Inch Nails album. It's very Bowie in that the first half are standard rock/pop songs and the second half are brooding instrumental types.
I like it. Especially the songs Echoplex and Head Down. You can download it for free at nin.com.
Did I mention that the album cover is one of the greatest I have ever seen?


Nine Inch Nails - The Slip

BANDFEST BANDFEST BANDEST

Hello, this is Luke! Again!

Tonight is Bandfest, the UQ Colleges annual Battle of the Bands competition, hosted by the college that I live at, International House. We have to organise the whole fucking thing and the other colleges bitch and moan etc. HECK YES.
Anyway.
My task in the Bandfest organisation was to select the house music to be played over the speakers between the bands. And pick the song/s for the air guitar competition (WOMAN!)
That was fun. I was only asked to undertake this task because everyone where I live knows that I am a giant music nerd. Album art is cool, ok?

In other news, Nine Inch Nails released a new song by some weird phenomenon, and it's not that amazing. I think Trent has gone completely off the hook and is just making music like crazy without actually listening to it afterwards. NOT THE WAY TO GO.

Here is a good knock knock joke that my friend Heidi invented:
KNOCK KNOCK/Who's there?
BOO/Boo who?
OH I DIDN'T KNOW MORRISSEY LIVED HERE!
Many lols ensue. ------>

Some music I have been addicted to lately are DFA Remixes of other songs. My favourites are She Wants to Move from N.E.R.D. (who I think are hideously overlooked as pop masterminds) and My Love from Justin Timberlake. BUT SRSLY, ALL DFA REMIXES ARE GOLDEN.

Finally, it's time to talk about new music o'clock. I got an album called Antidotes by a band called Foals and it's pretty good. They kind of remind me of Q and Not U and Bloc Party combined, featuring the brass section from TV on the Radio. Have a listen.


Foals - The French Open
Foals - Cassius








ENJOY!!

Come to Australia, that would be totally choice.

My favourite New Zealand band is a toss-up between Die! Die! Die! and The Mint Chicks. Luckily for me, Die! Die! Die! decided to pop over the Tasman to do a tour up the east coast and I got to see them. It was a good show, despite the fact that I had a few too many and was falling over even more than normal. The highlight of the show was either when he came into the crowd and I got a go on the mic, or finding $20 at the bottom of the mosh. Amazing all round- the only disappointment that there was no merch on sale for me to go around with Die! Die! Die! plastered across my chest.

ANYWAY.

The Mint Chicks are also great, and are touring NZ for the first time since relocating to the US late last year. It would be really, really, really nice if they could also pop over for a show ! Heck, I even got to see The Ruby Suns at the beginning of the year, for free!
I highly recommend checking out anything by either Die! Die! Die! or The Mint Chicks. They're not very similar though.

SONGS!:

Die! Die! Die! - People Talk
Die! Die! Die! - Blinding








The Mint Chicks - Opium of the People
The Mint Chicks - Fuck the Golden Youth
The Mint Chicks - Take It, I Don't Want It







So yeah, fingers crossed for The Mint Chicks in Australia!