Vishuda!

I made the acquaintance of most of the members of Vishuda back in July at the Summer Slaughter show at the HOB Sunset edition. I subsequently became facebook friends with Michael the bass player and have systematically bitched out on seeing them live ever since (it's not entirely my fault, of the half-a-dozen or so shows they've played since I was out of town for two of them and working for another - just saying). In a random facebook snafu earlier I was reminded of my oversight and found myself searching youtube to see if footage existed as the band is currently - I believe - in the process of recording their debut record.

What I found isn't the best footage, but it's the content that interests me to no end. I really dig the sound and style here and think that both on recording and in the flesh these guys probably command total props and attention.

You can check out more about Vishuda on their very elegant website here.

The National - Conversation 16

The album High Violet by The National has been sitting in a pile for... hell, almost three years now I guess. I gave it a listen but never connected with it. I think my exact words after that previous listen was, "It's wine and cheese music". That's not a bad thing, it just doesn't come up much in my house.

Two weeks ago I discovered Bret Easton Ellis has a podcast. It's fantastic. I downloaded and listened to all the episodes (there's only a handful so far). During one of them - I think the episode where Chuck Klosterman is his guest - Ellis mentions that he has been listening to The National because, he supposed, he is white and over forty years of age.

I chuckled at this, thinking yeah, wine and cheese music.

Yesterday I listened to the newest of Ellis' podcasts where he interviews Matt Berninger, The National's singer. The podcast began with a snippet of music - it was the second verse of this song - and I was instantly haunted by it. I listened to the entire conversation Berninger and Ellis had, came home and dug out High Violet, hoping this song was on it (at the time I did not know the name of the song or what album it was on. For that matter I didn't know the name of the album I had as it was a burn someone gave me). Using Internet Music Database I found the name of the album and sat down to listen to it. I have not stopped since.

This is definitely not an all the time band for me but what I initially dismissed as a "wine and cheese" tone is actually a very sophisticated band big on sparsely appropriate arrangements and intelligent lyrics that are often much more fun than they appear to be given their delivery (this song is a perfect example of that by the way). High Violet has a very similar tone to some of Ellis' novels, a tone I refer to as "Haunted".

New Pixies Video for Magdalena

The Pixies have increasingly been the go-to on how to do a tasteful, relevant and successful reunion. Let's hope it continues because I don't know about you but after EP 1 and EP 2 I am definitely ready for MORE.

The Isley Brothers - Make Me Say It Again Girl

From The Isley Brothers' 1975 The Heat Is On. My wife just found this song tonight - I was drifting in and out of sleep and this was playing, near the end, and as I put my feet more firmly on the wakeful side of consciousness my thoughts were of how truly epic this felt. Not "The Wall" epic, but almost... transcendent. There's a lot of 90's rap/R&B that was influenced by this. You can hear it, especially the refrain as the song fades out.

Drinking With Comics

The premiere of the new web-show where myself and two colleagues discuss comics while drinking excellent beer. First up, Miracle Man, Rick Remender, Fraction's Hawkeye, Guardians of the Galaxy and Hoegaarden. Beautfiful, delicious Hoegaarden...

If you dig it, please take a moment to like us on youtube and possibly even pass us on with a repost of a facebook bump or whatever! Thank you!

Portishead - We Carry On

An abandoned lot. A half circle of headlights illuminate figures dancing in fog. Something nearby awakens.

The Knife - We Share Our Mother's Help

This song is just so awesome it's not even funny. The Knife is apparently beginning a US tour go to their site for the dates.