Press photo merged with press photo because the smirk was too much to bear
It starts out with a variation on the opening of “Walk like an Egyptian” set to hyperactive mode. Then it evolves into Blink 182, or a number of similar bands of that era with names with numbers in them (Sum 41?). The blistering, hop-hop beat only ever slows down for the pestering chorus that insists, “That I’m just having fun, that I’m just having fun, that I’m just having fun, with youuuuuu-uuu-uuuu, with youuuuu-uuuu-uuuu, with youuuu-uuuu-uuuuu” (well, clearly), and the bridge that goes, “Huuhhh-huhhh-huhhaaa-huhhhh”. If rebellion to intellectualism is your thing, this song is a champion of low brow. Embrace it.
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Cherry-picked new* music for making your Monday morning smell like geraniums. Download the magic potion.
Tracklist
1. “Beautiful People” by The Books, The Way Out
2. “O Family” by Callers, Fortune
3. “Wide Awake” by Beach Fossils, Beach Fossils
4. “Blessa” by Toro Y Moi, Causers of This
5. “Crushing Limbs” by Anni Rossi
6. “I Was Denied” by Thee Oh Sees, Warm Slime
7. “Love More” by Sharon Van Etten
8. “Adequate Sheen” by Tony Castles
9. “Fishage” by Beaters, Fishage 7″
10. “Distant Whistling” By Elephant Micah, Echoer’s Intent
I was never a huge fan, yet I’m really surprised at Phosphorescent’s new song “The Mermaid Parade”. The voice is pretty as usual (great for singing forlornly about wolves), but this entire song is one boring melody repeated incessantly, with lyrics that attempt to invoke the salty smell of a sultry evening (I guess?) but fail to capture anything at all: the emotion is really flat (for being a sentimental song), and there’s not even an imagery or a rhyme that claims a territory in your brain. Did I mention there’s way too much bluesy guitar? That’s probably why The Tripwire thinks it’s “an American classic”, and that’s the only reason I’m terrified. Listen to it, what do you think?
PS. Just listened to it again. The ending is just horrendous.
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Kristian Matsson, who goes by the name The Tallest Man on Earth, knows what to expect from New York. Last night he played Highline Ballroom for the first time, a higher capacity venue than Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg, and sold it out in advance. This was an all-age show, which meant an avalanche of super excited young fans (“I don’t think you should go to school tomorrow”, said one little thing to the other after the show ended). The fans sang in the words that Kristian left out (“in your eyes babe”, “leather”). Someone yelled out something in Swedish, and Krisitian claimed the translation was “you fucking pussy”. He mocked the girl who yelled, “Say something in Swedish”. He addressed the impracticality of too many requests: “That Jackson Browne Cover”, “I Fall to Pieces”. “How can I sing them all?” is what he said, “We’ll be here all night”.
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Paavo Hanninen and I sat on the internet, pretending to be in a Victorian room. The walls were a deep green, owing to the vintage wallpaper, and the armchairs were oversized and maroon. It was raining outside, so Paavo brought out a bottle of Jack Daniel’s.
I said, “I don’t know if you’ve heard of Yellow Fever, but I was listening to them on my iTunes, and a song I’d never heard before, by a band I couldn’t recognize, came on. It was dreamy pop with jingly guitar floating in space. I thought, How do I not know who this is? Sounds like someone relatively famous.”
Paavo put his glass down and leaned in, “Who was it?”
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The Tallest Man on Earth’sThe Wild Hunt came out today, woo-hoo. Ever since I got my hands on it, I’ve listened to each song a crazy number of times (except the last one, “Kids on the Run”, because I just can’t get into the piano arrangement).
In addition to the generation-defining “King of Spain”, my current favorites are the folky-punchy “You’re Going Back”, which is full of swagger and youthful arrogance: “You said, driver please, don’t go that fucking way”; and the oddly aged “Thousand Ways”, in which the line between comedy and tragedy is all but faded: ”But I’ll always be blamed for the sun going down with us all / But I’m the light in the middle of every man’s fall” and then, “I bend my arrows down [?] in circles and I shoot around the hill / If I don’t get you in the morning, by the evening I sure will”).
Club 8′s new album The People’s Record, coming out on May 12, is a treat for the oncoming summer. Take it with you for the lying about in the park watching kites! The band is Swedish, comprising of Karolina Komstedt & Johan Angergård. I actually like the rest of the album better, but here’s “Western Hospitality”. Before I looked them up I thought they were Brazilian, and if I paid no attention to the lyrics, which is in English, I’d think this song was a vintage Disco number from a 70’s Bollywood movie. Not kidding, check out disco songs from 70’s Bollywood movies.
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hooves on the turf is a mostly-music blog based out of brooklyn. i can be reached at hoovesontheturf [at] gmail [dot] com - please send me your lovely music as an attached mp3 or an mp3 link. if i like what you send, i'll be sure to ask for more.
Evan Hammer: and now i’m excited too! thanks for the new band.
Jens: Where can I order t-shirts from the Tallest Man On Earth online? Is it possible at all?
nat lyon: three cheers for secret garden! it’s been too long.
jamie: Yo! You should definitely check out this awesome video MPLS.TV just shot of Dark Dark Dark this week for City...
sarahana: they were taken with the new iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app
