In case you were wondering how the video shoot went for Boy Crisis’ “Founting of Youth” at McCarren Park this past weekend, the band has now posted a few “behind-the-scenes” pictures of the on its Myspace page:
Boy Crisis and its women in action
Standin' around
Check out all the photos here.
-Drew
Filed under Film, Jam of the Day, Music
If you happen to be a nerdus maximus and read the Wired Science blog on the regular, you might have seen the piece a month ago about the results published in Science magazine of a 20-year-long study of rhesus monkeys. The study seems to show that “caloric restriction” (i.e. eating less than you “should”) actually produces changes in the body’s metabloic functioning that in turn may serve to lengthen life and increase the quality of life in primates (and maybe humans, too!). This is not entirely new thinking, but “[t]his is the first study to show that caloric restriction slows aging in a primate species. And of course, we’re primates, too. It’s a lot more relevant to humans than the mouse.” Sometimes science just pummels you with common sense. EAT LESS, BE LESS FAT. Maybe not exactly the fountain of youth that the story’s title suggests.
Not like I coughed up any dough for this research, but for my dollar I’d much rather take a sip off of the new “Fountain of Youth” track from Brooklyn’s favorite panty-dropping, party-starting fivesome, Boy Crisis. Part of what the Village Voice just dubbed the “Wesleyan mafia” along with MGMT, Amazing Baby, Bear Hands (not in the article, surprisingly), Das Racist, and a bunch of others, the group is comprised of Tal Rozen and Victor Vazquez on vocals (Victor is also known as Kool A.D., one half of the DR crew), Alex Kestner on bass and laptop (among other things), Lee Pender on guitar, and Owen Roberts on drums.
The first time I ever heard these guys play, I knew it would only be a matter of time before some major swooped in and picked them up by the spandex, which is exactly what happened last fall when Ben James signed them to B-Unique/Atlantic Records. Since then, the group has spent a lot of time selling their vision of danceable, freaky-deaky, Bowie/George Clinton funkiness to audiences across the pond, including gigs at the Glastonbury and Isle of Wright music festivals. They also had an opening spot for Katy Perry up in Boston recently – here are some great behind-the-scenes photos from our friend Ben Rowland of the show.
Apart from the touring, the boys have also been putting the finishing touches on their first full-length, tentatively titled Tulipomania. I had a chance to listen to a near-finished version of the record a couple of weeks ago, and let me tell you, its “japanties are makin me hot,” to borrow a line from the album’s first single, “Dressed to Digress.” To be honest, I’m not that into the studio-version of “Dressed to Digress” (it sounds a little thinner, bass-wise, than the pre-deal versions), but “L’Homme,” “Ganglion of Lightnings,” and “1981” all sound amazing. But why didn’t “Strawberries” make the album? I guess we can’t have everything we want in life. As to the new fare, I think Victor’s vocal patterns strongly shaped “Murder Murder Murder” and “Sex and Violence,” both of which have similarly sparse openings followed by catchy choruses of tightly rhyming lines. “Bang Bang Bang” sort of follows the same pattern, but with Tal recycling the lyrics from an older song over some horns and super-sleek production. God-damn Boy Crisis is catchy as hell! Essentially, all of the tracks are bangers; I can’t wait for the release.
I think that “Fountain of Youth,” the opener, is probably my favorite (at least of the newer tracks). And though they still haven’t released the actual music video for “Dressed to Digress,” this past weekend the band got together with their friend Jordan Fish to shoot a new music video for “Fountain of Youth” featuring a lot of women “relatively scantily clad” and “covered in paint at some point,” according to the casting call. I can’t give away too many details, but according to one female acquaintance on the set for the shoot, the women are carrying around Tal and Victor on some sort of “chariot.” Check back for updates.
As a video appetizer, last week Boy Crisis posted a link to an “ULTRAVIDEO MEGAMIX” for “Fountain of Youth”, so check it out while you wait for the real video full of scantily clad painted women. Boy Crisis is forever, like Wu-tang!
Boy Crisis – Fountain of Youth:
-Drew
P.S. Boy Crisis wins! It’s EV2BK.com’s 100th post!
Filed under Jam of the Day, Music
Whether or not you will like Providence rock band Deer Tick hinges on how you feel about lead singer John McCauley’s voice. His raspy, booze-soaked sound makes it seem like he’s been around since the 60’s and probably kickin’ it with the likes of Bob Dylan and Tom Waits (judging by his vocals), but he’s actually really young. Deer Tick’s new album Born on Flag Day, was just released in late June on Partisan Records and is being supported by a new tour that kicked off this past Saturday at the Bella Terra Festival in Barrington, MA.
McCauley started the band as a solo project in 2004. Dennis Ryan soon joined the band on drums along with Christopher Dale Ryan on bass and Andrew Tobiassen on lead guitar. Deer Tick’s music is a combination of blues, folk, and grungy country. They released their first studio album, War Elephant, in 2007.
In May 2009 they were the very first band profiled on BriTunes, a new online-only music interview series hosted by NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams. You can watch his short but pretty cool interview with the band here.
They are playing tonight at the Prospect Park Bandshell with Grace Potter & The Nocturnals and Jones Street Station, so if you like what you hear, go check them out and rock your way into the weekend.
Dear Tick – Easy:
Also check out “Smith Hill,” the second single off of Born on Flag Day, below.
Deer Tick – Smith Hill:
-Melissa
Filed under Jam of the Day, Music, Performance
So I know that we’ve already posted a couple times about Das Racist, but it’s kind of inevitable given that homeboys are eeeerrywhere these days. New York magazine just wrote a story (in the print edition, even!) in which they describe the duo as “sawing the legs out from under hip-hop as they celebrate it.” And a couple of weeks earlier, the New York Times ran a review of their recent show at Union Pool, in Williamsburg, in which the central argument seemed to rebuke most of DR’s detractors by asserting that “their sloppiness is a mask for detailed, affectionate hip-hop parody, name-dropping KRS-One and Asher Roth as easily as W. E. B. Du Bois and the literary critic Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak.” Hima and Victor seem to pretty much have NYC on lock at this point.
If you weren’t able to make it out to the Union Pool show, then you’ve got a shot tonight, as they will be headlining at the Bowery Ballroom along with supporting acts Gordon Voidwell (listen to “White Friends”), POPO, and Old Money.
Get ready for some madness! In the meantime, here’s a video to fuel the fire (but don’t worry, they aren’t only a “fast food rap” group.
Das Racist – Chicken and Meat:
-Drew
As a fan of both My Morning Jacket and George Harrison, when I heard about the first Jim James solo EP where he covers some of George Harrison’s best songs, I was intrigued. James (the singer, songwriter and guitarist of My Morning Jacket) initially recorded the songs after George Harrison’s death in 2001 as a way of coping with his passing and paying tribute to his music. The resulting EP, Tribute To, is an intimate, beautiful homage that features simply James’ voice over acoustic guitar, and it does not disappoint.
James says that he wasn’t sure that the songs would ever be released until he was approached at a restaurant by animal rights activist, Jenny Brown, who asked him if he could perform a concert to benefit her animal sanctuary in Woodstock, NY. A few months later he decided to release the EP and donate a part of the proceeds to Ms. Brown’s Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. James saw a clear connection to the work of the sanctuary and the life that Harrison, an animal-lover and vegetarian, lived. As he told the Times, “George was one of those people that always seemed to be a good inspiration for other humans, seemed like he was a very socially conscious person, a very responsible person.”
The 6 song EP, released on Tuesday, includes covers of two songs that Harrison wrote for The Beatles, “Long Long Long” and “Love You To,” as well of four songs from Harrison’s critically acclaimed album All Things Must Pass, which was released after The Beatles broke up. You can preview and buy the whole EP here and listen to the original version of “Long Long Long” off of The Beatles White Album here. “Long Long Long” is, in my opinion, one of the great Beatles love songs and it’s often overlooked in their extensive catalog of hits. This cover is sure to remind people how beautiful Harrison’s lyrics really were.
Yim Yames – Long Long Long:
The above spelling is not a typo, by the way. Jim James decided to go by the moniker “Yim Yames” for his solo projects, I guess as a joke or something? Whatever makes you laugh dude…
-Melissa
Filed under Jam of the Day, Local News, Music
I’ve always had a soft spot for Weezer, and this merely affirms and strengthens the love:
Weezer – Kids / Pokerface (cover of MGMT / Lady Gaga):
Thanks go out to Matt from The Music Slut for this. Twitter in the house.
-Drew
P.S. OK, so we’ve had a lot of MGMT on the site recently; whatever, they’re good!
East Village to Brooklyn 