God damn, these guys blew my mind in Austin. One of my favorite live performances and one of my favorite albums from ’09. What a voice, what a drummer. These Aussies are going to be huge. Mark my word. Check out their new video for the track “Sweet Disposition” off the album Conditions. Then sing out loud with me…”A moment, a love, a dream, a laugh, a kiss, a cry, our rights, our wrongs….Won’t stop till it’s over/ Won’t stop till you surrender.”
How do I love thee, Ty Segall? Let me count the ways. Here’s a new video that cropped up for the track “I Wear Black” from the duo Ty Segall and Mikal Cronin (of Charlie and The Moonhearts) off their album Reverse Shark Attack. Whatever that means.
I’ve been obsessing over this track from Norway’s Lindstrom & Christabelle’s new album, Real Life is No Cool. Which, by the way, has to be the best album title of 2010. I like to keep my eye on Lindstrom, Norway’s Prince of Disco. He’s quite prolific and always up to something cool. Usually I can take or leave most of what comes out of the electro pop genre but every now and then there’s a gem you just can’t resist and this track is one of them.
J’adore Le Temper Trap. Really, I do. And it was as much of a surprise to me as it probably is to you. For one, I typically loathe male falsetto vocals. I don’t know why, I just do. But The Temper Trap is different and the sole exception in this category. Lead singer Dougie Mandagi’s falsetto voice is beyond comparison and in a realm unto it’s own. Their debut LP, Conditions, has ruled my airwaves for many months now. And finally, the Melbourne-based band that has won over Europe and Australia is headed our way. They are scheduled to play San Francisco’s The Fillmore on March 12. I suggest you get tickets and see fame in the making.
Seriously. I’m coveting muscle cars? What’s wrong with me! I’ve never done that before. First it was the little old lady in the pristine 1974 Ford Mustang taunting me every morning as I drive down Van Ness en route to work. Now this parks next to me on a daily basis, begging for my affection. Well, you have it pretty lady. Every time I see you I want to rip off my clothes and have hot, sweaty sex on your benchseat. And I didn’t even know your name. I do now. Dodge Charger. Year? You tell me.
Damn, what a badass car. It’s so Clint Eastwood. And you can’t have a badass car without some badass music. Bristol, England’s Malachai will do quite nicely in this beauty, thank you very much. Their new album, Ugly Side of Love, is as raw, vintage and hot as this machine. Just check out the track “Snowflake” and see for yourself. Perfection.
As I’ve stated before, j‘ai taime Charlotte. Her latest album, IRM, is one of my favorites this year. Both her and her music are impossibly sexy, cool and hip on all levels. Even if the subject matter is on the topic of a head injury she endured after a water skiing accident in which she had to undergo surgery and countless MRIs (or IRMs in French). So when Flaunt Magazine sent me photos from their recent issue featuring shots of Charlotte snapped by famed photographer Kurt Iswarienko, how could I refuse?
IRM, produced by Beck, is out now. Get it if you haven’t already.
Those who know me know how deep my obsession runs for the Brooklyn, by way of London, based band called Alberta Cross. A band I feel like I’ve been waiting for all my life. They hooked me with their EP, The Thief and The Heartbreaker, in 2007. Left me waiting (what felt like) an eternity for their debut LP, The Broken Side of Time, that released last fall, and even longer for their tour to hit the West Coast.
Thankfully, the wait ends tonight at San Francisco’s Bottom of the Hill. And I know, just like their debut album, it will be well worth the wait. I had a chance to catch up with lead singer, Petter Ericson Stakee, before the show to talk to him about the album, the tour, and what took him so long.
The OCMD: How’s the tour going so far? I’ve been waiting so long for you to come to California. Is this your first official West Coast tour?
Petter: It’s going great. We just played the Troubador last night in LA and sold out which was great. And yeah, I’ve been waiting a long time to get out here too. I love it out here. We’ve been out this way before for some gigs and a few festivals – like Coachella and the Download Festival. But this is our first official West Coast tour.
The OCMD: You grew up in Sweden and London –both of which have distinct musical influences– yet your sound has such a retro Americana/ blues-rock vibe. How did that come to be?
Petter: I grew up listening to loads of different music. I do think we have a bit of that blues/Americana thing but we also have a lot of English influences in us too. Growing up there, we listened to a lot of bands like My Bloody Valentine and The Verve so there’s definitely a mix of influences for us.
The OCMD: You now live in New York. What inspired the relocation?
Petter: I’m living in Brooklyn now and it’s great – a really inspiring place to live with a lot of energy and amazing bands. We had a hard time the last year or two and when we went to New York for a festival, we met so many amazing bands and were so inspired that we decided to make the move. It’s been good for us but there’s so many places in America we still want to see. We really loved Austin, Chicago and the whole West Coast is really amazing.
The OCMD: I’ve read that Alberta Cross is actually an anagram. Is that true? Can you tell us what it means?
Petter: It is true. But I’m not going to tell you what it means.
The OCMD: Is there a prize if we figure it out?
Petter: [laughs] Sure, as long as it’s not too much money.
The OCMD: If Alberta Cross is an anagram, is the song “ATX” an acronym? What does it stand for?
Petter: Yeah, it stands for Austin, TX. The album was recorded down in Austin. We thought it would be a good idea to get out of New York and the City and record in some place new. And we really loved it there. It’s a beautiful place, full of great people and great music. So we really just wanted to name something after it.
The OCMD: Speaking of Austin, will you be there again this year?
Petter: I think we probably are but we have quite a busy tour schedule so we’ll have to see if we can work it out. I hope we go, definitely. I’d love to go.
The OCMD: Broken Side of Time is one of my favorite albums of 2009, though it seems more dark and brooding than The Thief & The Heartbreaker EP. What was happening for you when you wrote it?
Petter: I think the album got that vibe because of the stuff we were going through at that time. We were in London and in kind of a dark place. We left our label and were feeling lost and broke. Then we moved to New York. It was really exciting but we were still kind of in the same situation for a while. And when we moved here Bush was still the president. So it was a crazy time and that definitely inspired the vibe of the album. We’ll see where the next album takes us.
The OCMD: What are the plans for the next album?
Petter: We’re writing stuff all the time and we’re recording stuff that we might release pretty soon.
The OCMD: Alberta Cross + Hacienda = one kick ass live rock show. Are you excited to tour with them? I saw them support Dan Auerbach last year where they pulled out a cover of The Animals “Inside Looking Out” that literally melted my brain.
Petter: Yes, we’re doing the whole tour with Hacienca. We saw them when they were touring with Dan Auerbach and met them down in Austin. They’re an amazing band and good friends of ours now.
The OCMD: Speaking of covers, I have a real soft spot for them and loved the cover of John Lennon’s “Steel and Glass” you did. Are you planning to play more? Can I make a request for one tonight?
Petter: Ohhhh, we’ll see. That’s kinda soon. We are definitely planning to play some more cover songs, but we don’t have that many right now. We’re working on a couple. Covers are fun. It’s always fun to play other people’s songs. But “Steel and Glass”, yeah, we might play that one.
Leave it to The Flaming Lips to take one of my least favorite Pink Floyd songs and turn it into an obsession. The Flaming Lips reinterpretation of Pink Floyd’s legendary Dark Side of The Moon is out now.
Typically I loathe the actor turned singer/songwriter schtick. But Charlotte Gainsbourg is the exception. The arbiter of everything cool and indie, the woman can do no wrong. At least in my eyes, but I admittedly have a crush. So let me break it down for you and see if you agree.
She’s the daughter of British actress, singer and style icon Jane Birkin and French actor/singer Serge Gainsbourg. (That pedigree alone is enough cool quotient to last a lifetime.) Is a critically acclaimed, award winning actress in her own right with an impressive roster of cool indie films under her belt – like La Bûche, Jane Eyre, Lemming. This year she won Cannes Film Festival Best Actress for her role in Antichrist. Musically, she’s turned out two albums and has worked with the likes of her father Serge, Madonna and French pop star Etienne Daho. And her upcoming album, IRM, was produced by non other than Beck himself.
Due out January 26, the minimalist album title, IRM, (French for MRI) was inspired by Gainsbourg’s frequent MRI’s she endured after suffering a brain hemorrhage from a water-skiing accident in 2007. “I had to do so many [MRIs] and every time I was in that tube I was thinking it would make great music,” she’s quoted as saying. And great music it did make. Her lyrics on the album’s single, “IRM”, offer a detailed, psychedelic journey into her experience and sets the tone for the album. Which, you can hear, is amazing.
Only Charlotte can make an MRI cool and straddle the realms of indie film and music with credibility and aplomb. She’s effing rad. If I could be half as cool as her I’d be so happy.
After drowning myself in Atlas Sounds’ ‘Logos’ for the past few weeks, the discovery of Tune-Yards was the perfect experimental elixir to divert my attention. Like Bradford Cox, Tune-Yards, is a solo project comprised singularly of New England native Merrill Garbus. Her debut album, Bird Brains (note: this is the second Bird Brains entitled album to be featured on the OCMD in a week! hmmm.), released on vinyl by 4AD Records earlier this year. Recorded on a digital voice recorder and assembled using shareware mixing software, she’s produced an impressive DIY album infusing intoxicating drum patterns and tape loops with a worldly vocal rhythm reminiscent of M.I.A.
“Want Me To” is a track from the recently released ‘Bird Droppings’ digital EP.
the OCMD 