POSTS BY: Shopping BagSeptember 7th, 2011 by Shopping Bag Joy Formidable video “It’s Over”July 5th, 2011 by Shopping Bag Joy Formidable updatesFor those of you living in the lower states, catch the Joy Formidable this summer as they wrap up the last leg of their American tour: Aug. 3 Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Joy Formidable is releasing a new digital EP called “Roarities,” featuring a collection of remixes (by The Naked And Famous & Innerpartysystem) as well as live tracks from their recent London Koko headliner show, including “A Heavy Abacus (Live).” It’s available exclusively on iTunes now, everywhere else on July 12th and will be FREE with all purchases of The Big Roar from participating independent record stores.
And last but not least is the new video for the studio version of “A Heavy Abacus” made by Christopher Mills: April 14th, 2011 by Shopping Bag The Joy Formidable Live in ChicagoI got the chance to see one of my favorite new bands from Wales while I was in Chicago recently. The Joy Formidable put on a great show and should not be missed. The energy of the albums is amplified 100x when you see them on stage, and their performance was flawless. The Lincoln Hall venue where I saw them was small but had outstanding sound & acoustics. Find a couple more on YouTube. March 8th, 2011 by Shopping Bag New Joy Formidable video for “Whirring”Aside from being one of my favorite JF songs, this video is very bizarre and interesting with its meld of low-fi, CG, flared out colors and weird images.
January 1st, 2011 by Shopping Bag Bag these 11 from 2010
Everyone needs to rush out and get Ghostface Killah’s “Apollo Kids”, without a doubt the best hip-hop release of 2010 (maybe the past 3 years.) Ghost has one of the best flows in the game (“In the Biz” and “How You Like Me Baby?”), soulful loops (“2getha Baby” and “Purified Thoughts”), fresh breaks (“Superstar” & “Starkology”) and a venerable cornucopia of guest appearances (“Troublemakers” and “Street Bullies.”) Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” shares the top spot for album of the year. While I’m not a huge Arcade Fire fan, and their concert in LA this past fall didn’t blow me away, something keeps bringing me back to this album. They’ve taken their multi-instrumentalism to new levels with this release and turned the “rock-n-roll” dial up to 11 on songs like the instantly catchy “Ready to Start” (perhaps my song of the year), “Modern Man,” “Month of May,” and “Half Life II (No Celebration),” while still doing a bang up job on the slower, dramatic numbers like “Half Light I,” “Suburban War,” and “Wasted Hours.” Tied for album of the year is the cinematic masterpiece TRON: Legacy. Daft Punk layer warm, analog syths (“End of Line,” “End Titles,” & “Derezzed”) into Hans Zimmer-influenced compositions that remind me of the scores from Dark Knight (“Rectifier” & “Disc Wars”) and Gladiator (“Fall,” “Arena,” “The Son of Flynn,” & the tribal sounding “”Rinzler”). Which makes sense, as the Daft boys turned to Mr. Zimmer for input and direction when tackling this score. Trent Reznor re-released his seminal debut album “Pretty Hate Machine” with some remastering help from Tom Baker. These are tracks I’ve listened to a million times: the remastering, while not making them sound different, has allowed me to hear things that the previous mix (and perhaps my old, worn out NIN cassette) did not allow. Trent produced a website to coincide with the re-release that features vintage videos and performances that you have to see. Sharing the same home state and a similar sound to one of my all-time faves Avail, The Riot Before plays punk rock in the vein of Hot Water Music that never falls short on their album “Rebellion.” The Riot Before relies on gritty vocals and advanced songwriting (see “What I’ve Missed” and “Uncharted Lands” and “A Good Sense of Style.”) This is probably the best sounding and most refreshing punk album to come out since Against Me!’s 2003 album “As The Eternal Cowboy.” Michael Cassette’s “Temporarity” is an analog synth, techno pop masterpiece. He manages to capture the tones and sounds of nearly every classic house record that I bought between 1992-1994. More than just a 4/4 beat, this record has some serious melodies (try “My Name Is Michael Cassette” and “Crockett’s Theme”), awesome trance-like builds (try “Magenta Sunset” and “Kilimanjaro”) and even some great vocals (try “Through the Windows.”) The debut album “Forget” from Twin Shadow is something you won’t soon forget. This album runs the gamut from soft, synthy tracks (see “Tyrant Destroyed” and “Castles In The Snow” and the title track “Forget”) to bouncy 80s pop (see “I Can’t Wait” and “Shooting Holes At The Moon” and “For Now.”) The dude looks like a 60s troubador, has soul like a 70s blaxploitation film, and is backed by beautiful organic synth music like the 80s. The all instrumental trip-hop album “Familiar Voices” by Incise is the perfect album for listening to while working. The organic beats, layered synth and jazz samples create a laid back, mellow vibe that’ll have you slowly nodding your head while you vacuum. Standouts are “A New Beginning,” “Time,” and “Kick It Back.” This is for people who love hip-hop beats (like I do) but also appreciate smooth, Dave Koz-like jazz (like Phantasmo does.) The Swedish duo A Swarm of the Sun composes atmospheric, moody post-rock songs with influences ranging from movie scores to metal music to electronic music. Their full-length album “Zenith” is Sigur Ros with the amps turned up to 11: swirling, ethereal, and heavy. This is metal music played at half-speed through molasses in a giant echoing cavern. Standouts include “This One Has No Heart,” “Refuge,” “Lifeline,” and the 10-minute title track “Zenith.” Listen to this album during your video game marathons with all of the lights turned off. Sarah Jaffe “Suburban Nature” reminds me of a folksy, female version of Pete Yorn: her voice cracks with weariness but never wanders from the melody. She’ll carry you on her chorus (as in the single “Clementine”) and steal your heart with her ballads (“Better Than Nothing”). The album brims with beautiful instrumentation that sounds familiar and modern (see “Summer Begs”), haunting and delicate (see “Stay With Me” and “Wreaking Havoc”), with phrasing that resonates with the heart and the head (see “Watch Me Fall Apart.”) December 19th, 2010 by Shopping Bag Six degrees of hilarity!Caught this on Comedy Central tonight while watching Vegas Vacation: |
