It’s been about three months since we posted up “Forever” and Ghostface Killah’s comments about his upcoming R&B record, Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City. Here’s a little recap:
“How long you gonna be 40 years old and actin’ like you still sellin’ cracks and you on the block and you doin’ this and you doin’ that when times is more serious, man. We in a fuckin’ recession, B! Ain’t nobody gettin’ no money, man! We gotta stop lyin’ to ourselves and lyin’ to the fans. And the fans gotta stop bein’ so dumb and ignorant, and know it’s time to talk about grown-man situations. Shit that happen in the real life, inside your household, your love life, your personal life…”
The album, GFK’s last for Def Jam, is set to drop next week on September 29, 2009, but it’s already been getting some rave reviews, and today Ghostface actually teamed up with imeem to offer a streaming version of the whole record free online. 2dopeboyz has it up also in case you don’t have an imeem account.
All I can really say is that this whole album is dope; Ghostface really delivers on his promise. My man has a whole rap about being paranoid fantasizing about a new man enjoying his ex-woman! Real talk. But I’m a sucker for a slow R&B jam, and Tony Starks (AKA Ghostface Killah), so I guess it’s not surprising. Early favorites from the first few listens are opener “Not Your Average Girl,” “Guest House,” “I’ll Be That,” and “Goner,” and even though the “Back Like That” remix was originally on More Fish, it really pops here in the smooth R&B, love song context. This record will be spun for many a baby-making session/fireplace cuddle this winter, fo sho. If you think that I’m sweating the album too hard, I would say to you just pardon my gangster, a line from what I assume is the first official single, “Baby.” Check out the video for it below. Run, Ghostface, run!
Today, Julian Casablancas, frontman for The Strokes, debuted a video on his website of the first track off of his first solo album Phrazes For The Young called “11th Dimension.” The album is not set to drop until October 20th but he gave a sneak preview of his new sound at a short eight-song show at small venue in Tokyo at the end of August. From what we’ve heard, he sounds really solid on his own. “11th Dimension” is complex and catchy and it grows on you more with every listen.
The undeniable influence on the verses of this track is David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel,” which is ironic since Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel,” which marked the end of his “glam rock” Ziggy Stardust phase, was his first hit since 1969 to not feature Mick Ronson on guitar and he played all the instruments himself…..kind of like Casablancas is doing here sans Strokes? As he says in a video on his MySpace page, his intention with Phrazes for the Young was “to capture the catchiness of modern music but at the same time was to get the power and seriousness of classical music or older music.” Bowie was the first thing I heard at the start of this song and he built on and changed it in a really interesting way so it seems like he accomplished his goal, and we’re happy he did- this album promises to be hot.
As a final update to our series of posts about the new “Fountain of Youth” video from Boy Crisis, here’s the official final version, directed by Jordan Fish, which they just posted earlier today.
Boy Crisis – Fountain of Youth:
Boy Crisis is also playing a show tonight at Cameo Gallery, in Williamsburg. Come see what they’re wearing this time!
It looks like we finally have a release date set for the new Boy Crisis record, Tulipomania! According to their myspace blog, we can expect an October 5th release (both in stores and online), although I think that you may be able to pick up a copy in the U.K. already. Also, the first single, “Fountain of Youth,” will be released on September 28th. Get psyched!
So last night we had a chance to see them play at Mercury Lounge, and it was a blast. The band got all dolled up in matching costumes (taken from the set of the “Fountian of Youth” video shoot earlier this month), and were surrounded on either side of the stage by the very girls that were holding them aloft in the video:
Boy Crisis @ Mercury Lounge, August 25, 2009
They played kind of a short set, but it included a lot of the new material (“Elementary Particles” was the opener, followed by “Bohemian Grove,” and later on “Fountain of Youth” was probably one of the best songs they played all night). And before they jumped into the encore of “Dressed to Digress,” we were hit with a pretty great cover of “In the Air Tonight,” the Phil Collins classic! Check it:
Boy Crisis – In the Air Tonight (Live Cover @ Mercury Lounge):
The place was pretty dark for this one, so the video quality isn’t top-notch, but the magic shines through in the vocals.
Tomorrow, Epic will release (on CD and digitally) the new Modest Mouse EP titled No One’s First, And You’re Next, which has been in the works for a while now and collects the band’s most recent 7″ releases (like these two for Vinyl Saturday). The EP will also include two other tracks that have been released recently but are hard to locate, such as “I’ve Got It All (Most),” which was originally the B-side to the “Float On” single and also included with the deluxe two-disc edition of Good News for People Who Love Bad News. Here’s the track listing:
No One’s First, And You’re Next:
01 Satellite Skin
02 Guilty Cocker Spaniels
03 Autumn Beds
04 The Whale Song
05 Perpetual Motion Machine
06 History Sticks to Your Feet
07 King Rat
08 I’ve Got It All (Most)
I guess I’m going to have to hit you with another Pitchfork link for a review, but I can tell you that when I first heard “I’ve Got It All (Most)” back in 2003 I listened to it on repeat for a few days and lamented the fact that it wasn’t fully worked out and on the record. But hey, now it’s here and readily accessible for everyone!
Modest Mouse – I’ve Got It All (Most):
And in a turn of shameful self-promotion, EV2BK has got it all (most) figured out too! Not sure how many people noticed (likely headcount=zero), but we recently were able to start setting up EV2BK.com! No need to remember that pesky ev2bk.wordpress.com address, just hit us up directly on EV2BK.com going forward. More good news to share soon!
Last Thursday, Brooklyn band, Hollands played a midnight show at Fontana’s. I got to sit down with the lead singer and guitarist, John-Paul Norpoth, before the show. Norpoth shared his ruminations on their first EP, Faces, now available on iTunes, and the band’s focus on the September release of their second EP, Mother.
Norpoth is the only current band member who contributed to Faces. He wrote it in ’03 and ’04 and recorded it from ’05 to ’07. It was originally a side project that he worked on while he was in the band Butane Variations. Although proud of the record, Norpoth seemed anxious to move away from it and eager to concentrate on the new direction that the band is taking with their sound. He described Faces as being “dated stylistically” in comparison to where their sound is now. Revtone Digital Music, an online distributor, was the driving force behind the release of Faces, though Norpoth was at times hesitant about the delayed release of his old material when the band is so focused on the new.
There are four core members of the band, John-Paul Norpoth on guitar and vocals, Jim Robertson on bass, Jannina Barefield on violin, and Kenny Grohowski on drums. Barefield was not in attendance at the performance, leaving it to the three boys to put on the show. Norpoth has a classical music background; he studied at the New School with all of his current bandmates. Norpoth and Barefield sometimes play smaller duo gigs minus the drum and bass. Additional jazz and string musicians frequently join the core band members, to create what Norpoth described as their desired “broad musical sound.” Norpoth explained, “In addition to our rhythm section, sometimes we play with an organist/pianist and three string players… The band can grow to be quite large. The songs work in all settings and I guess I like to fit the venue with whatever seems necessary.” For the intimate space at Fontana’s, the three-person band was just the right fit.
After performances by experimental ambient-rock band Venice is Sinking, and urban-Americana band And The Revelers Fell, the headliners of the evening, Hollands, took the stage just after midnight. They opened with an energetic drum-driven cover of Gillian Welch’s “Look at Miss Ohio.” “Over and Out,” from Faces, a rollicking rock jam, kept the energy high while Norpoth reassured the crowd, “It’s late but we’re going to keep you up.” Later in the set, they slowed things down with the sonic, rock-a-billy jam “Lungs of Steele,” showcasing Norpoths’ melancholy, wistful vocals, but kicked it back into high gear when Grohowski started “Strong Arm” with a rhythmic punch, and they really hit their stride. Despite a broken string and guitar switch before the more delicate “Coughing Boy,” they picked it up in the second half when Robertson’s memorable bass line came in and led into another standout track “Goldie Hawn.” They closed the show with the psychedelic, airy, “Air Conditioned Heart,” a perfect song to enjoy on a long summer night.
Check out a couple of the songs from Faces here:
Strong Arm:
Coughing Boy:
You can preview more of their upcoming stuff on their myspace page.
Hollands has a sound that is simultaneously nostalgic, current, and timeless. They span musical styles and decades with influences as varied as classical music, Wilco, the Flaming Lips, and Paul Simon. On “Air Conditioned Heart” Norpoth’s wronged, bluesy vocals are featured on a folk-rock track that sounds like the Grateful Dead and Arcade Fire joined forces. Hollands is a band to watch. We are looking forward to the September release of Mother, and, having heard just the trio, I’m anxious to check them out when they have a fuller band.
They are touring in upstate New York for the rest of the month before they return to perform at Pete’s Candy Store on August 21st.
East Village to Brooklyn 
