New PBJ Out, oM Release Pushed Back

The new Peter Bjorn and John album Seaside Rock came out yesterday, and while it is a unique collection of instrumental songs and monologues, as a whole it doesn’t blow me away quite as much as the first single did. Still worth a listen though.

In other album release news, of Montreal has pushed back their Skeletal Lamping release date from October 7 to October 21. Guess all those "different iterations" turned out to be a little more to handle than they anticipated! They have been busy though, find them this fall in a Spin feature and gracing the cover of Paste Magazine. Oh, and then there's this...

Freedom of Press?

I had heard about the ABC camera man who was assaulted by St. Paul Police outside the Republican National Convention, but I did not know the extent of what happened outside the convention until today when reading the liner notes for Ted Leo’s new EP Rapid Response. How was this treatment of the press and protesters not covered more prominently in the mainstream media? It’s a violation of the First Amendment in the freaking Bill of Rights for christs sake!

I generally try to stay away from discussing politics, especially in a blog forum, but I felt that this could not be ignored (and it had to do with a band recording, so it fits into the site). It is no secret that I am a left wing democrat, but whether you are democrat or republican we should all be able to agree that the treatment of these people outside the RNC was wrong and unconstitutional. I am glad that someone decided to stand up and say something. Ted Leo and his band decided to record this EP to raise awareness and contribute to the causes Democracy Now! and Food Not Bombs. (You can read the liner notes and purchase Rapid Response here.)

Let’s try to be vigilant citizens and inform ourselves of the issues and get out and VOTE on November 4th.

Velvet Underground meets Deerhoof?

I was listening to woxy this afternoon, when the dj described this band’s sound as “Velvet Underground meets Deerhoof.” Really? But then they played the song, 'Black Rice' by Women, and surprisingly, it actually sounded a little like Velvet Underground meets Deerhoof. I did not think that mix could exist, alas, I was wrong.

And then they followed it with a Velvet Underground track. Very clever, Shivvy, very clever.

Rock out at Denny's

This is probably one of the most hilarious things I've ever heard. Denny's and rock bands.

Denny's has just rolled out this "Rockstar Menu" with the items created by bands, and it's only available between 10pm and 5am. Seriously, Eagles of Death Metal pancakes - shaped like hearts. Watch Jesse Hughes "take over" the kitchen here.

Man, I was at Denny's between 10 and 5 all the time in high school, and there was nothing this cool going on.

mmm... I totally want the Taking Back Sunday "Taking Back Bacon Burger Fries" right now. So disgusting and delicious.

Spiritualized

Spiritualized was amazing at the Metro Monday night. Tankboy does a better job putting it into words than I could. Read his blog here.

All Songs Considered also has a podcast of their show at Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club on July 25 you can find here.

**I can’t believe I just blogged about Britney Spears…

Last night I watched the MTV Music Video Awards and I realized that I have no idea what is going on in the world of popular music. I say that I love music, but I had no idea who most of the artists nominated were, or just wondered how those could be the acts chosen over others I know. (I was excited to see The Ting Tings play though, even if it was just into a commercial break.)

MTV certainly does not have the cutting edge that it had in the 80’s when it was breaking barriers and setting new standards. It has become like a corporate monster machine that churns out teen idols like the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus. Even the much-talked-about Britney-Madonna kiss was so staged, it had no real edge. Breaking the rules became the scripted thing to do for MTV without any real innovation or progress. What happened to the days of Rage Against the Machine climbing the stage scaffolding in protest? Or Snoop Dogg being arrested right after performing on the show?


And for the record, there must be some sort of deal with Britney Spears to resurge her career, because everyone knows this girl’s cred is in some serious need of assistance after the last year… Apparently last night was her first time winning a Moonman, and she won three. While I don’t know her new material, there is no way it could be as good as her days of red plastic jumpsuits and snake dancing. (I have to admit… I was a big fan of Brit-brit during her heyday because I was a dancer and she was a spot-on performer.)

Skeletal Lamping Leaked

of Montreal’s latest album, Skeletal Lamping (set to be officially released October 17 on Polyvinyl) leaked on the internet last week. Stereogum and Pitchfork must have already got their hands on it: Stereogum already did a “premature evaluation” of the album, Pitchfork posted a new track, I even heard an unreleased track on an internet indie station. I’ve been listening to it non-stop for the last three days and its fantastic.

It starts and ends with a bang. "Nonpariel Of Favor" starts immediately with a hectic hyper fast beat. There are a couple slower, quieter songs in the mix ("Touched Somethings Hollow" and the slightly creepy "Women’s Studies Victims") to give you a little break from the party so your head doesn’t explode. The closing track and first single released off the album, "Id Engager", honestly didn’t give me much to be excited about, of course it was fun and dancy, but luckily isn’t representative of the rest of the album.

The album appears to continue on the manic trip that we were introduced to at the end of Hissing Fauna where Kevin Barnes alluded to his freaky desires, but never went this explicit. No more ironic depression set to bouncy pop tunes, here are the times of slinky yet still bouncy tunes with a sexual undertone. Okay, make that overtly sexual. Lyrically, it sounds like of Montreal has grown from a fantasy loving child to a horned up adolescent. With lyrics like “We can do it softcore if you want, but you should know I take it both ways,” “I want to make you come 200 times a day,” “ejaculate till its no longer fun,” “I wanna be with you my pleasure puss, I wanna know what its like to be inside you / I wanna know how it feels,” I think I’m blushing. And there are a lot more innuendos where those came from, half of which I probably haven’t even noticed yet!

Skeletal Lamping will be available for purchase in many different packaging formats: “CD, LP, T-shirt, tote bag, button set, paper lantern, and wall decal set. Each item in the Skeletal Lamping Collection includes both the digital album and its unique packaging of the album art.” A creative way to still profit in this new age of file sharing.