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awesome song & dance day! - "swimming pools"
2008-05-25 15:51:00
awesome song day! is a spontaneous feature, when i am moved by a song's singular awesomeosity and feel the urge to share its awesomeness with all of you. the song below is awesome.thao & the get down stay down - "swimming pools"buy we brave bee stings and all from kill rock stars.you know her, i love her, here's thao's new video for "swimming pools."
More About: Swimming , Dance , Song , Awesome , Pools

"couples"
2008-05-24 20:30:00
"look at us, we used to rip off the fall. we rip off eno now, and sing like jerry hall." - the long blondesmaybe if i had noticed the changes on the long blondes's myspace page, "couples" would have been less of a surprise. the new sleek black background, the quote above, the "new wave / idol / pop" description - i should have expected a different kind of band from the one that wrote my superfave someone to drive you home. but, really, i don't check myspace pages often enough to take notes on their aesthetic evolutions (except for team robespierre's, because a) they don't have a real website and b) i'm on it and vain). so i had nothing but awesome expectations for "couples", expectations that were dashed about fifteen seconds into "century." to top it all off, i've now come to the realization that "century" is probably the best song on "couples". the blondes were in town this weekend for two shows, and it was no accident that i didn't go to either - everything about "cou...
More About: Couples

awesome song day! - "21st century pop song"
2008-05-23 15:15:00
awesome song day! is a spontaneous feature, when i am moved by a song's singular awesomeosity and feel the urge to share its awesomeness with all of you. the song below is awesome.hymie's basement - "21st century pop song"buy their self-titled record from lex.hymie's basement, a collaboration between why?'s yoni wolf and fog's andrew broder, is pretty awesome. recorded in 2003, this album is a study in suburbia epitomized by its first track, "21st century pop song." delivered in wolf's characteristic discontended deadpan, and buttressed by broder's unsuspectingly playful arrangements, hymie's basement captures the reckless bravado, gnawing self-doubt, and sheer tedium of "normal" american lives, a concept sold to us by the silver screen. wolf preaches like a boy in the trenches of suburban malaise, wrestling with shallow archetypes of humanity - the beer-swilling sports fans ("let's root root root for the home team, shout like you're dead at the tv screen"), the aimles...
More About: Song , Awesome , Century

songs i'm sent: sportsday megaphone
2008-05-17 17:24:00
ready for a surprise? i'm totally into this new british one man band! like, i never saw that one coming either.londoner hugh frost is the mastermind of sportsday megaphone and self-described purveyor of "elaborate karaoke," a concept he describes with, well, this (he also uses lots of vocoders & walkie talkies during live shows). frost recently sent me the the two songs that are on his june 16 7" release, LA, and though this is only sportsday megaphone's second release, he is planning for the future (and how). his debut so many colours / so little time is due out in august on rob da bank's sunday best label, but he's already slated to play bestival (not surprising) and zoo thousand festivals, in addition to a couple dates around england with i was a cub scout. the songs (grab both below without delay) are more hopped-up than many of frost's one man band colleagues, and his lyrics are quite vitriolic. "LA" is a furious anti-scientology diatribe, written while frost was...
More About: Songs

arm's way
2008-05-16 20:43:00
islands just sent me/their myspace friends a special request to tell everyone that arm's way is streaming at their myspace, and to go see them next week (ok, 8 days from now) at webster hall, if you live in nyc. i have my ticket already.

at war with walls and mazes
2008-05-16 20:40:00
i got excited about son lux back in the day (february) and then didn't really do a whole lot about it, because, frankly, i thought the single "break" was significantly better than the rest of the album. i listened to at war with walls and mazes for a couple weeks without getting hooked, and it eventually got retired to the pile of "what could've been" records without me really noticing it. but i woke up today, with exciting plans about riding my new bike to the olafur eliasson exhibit at moma, and of course it was fucking raining. goddamnit. so, wallowing in my own self-pity, and with my music player pointed at the "S"s, i kinda accidentally found myself listening to at war with walls and mazes for the first time in a long time, and i've realized it's definitely a better album than i originally gave it credit for.the major issue i had with it originally was how indistinguishable the music is, the songs often identifiable only when maestro ryan lott's lyrics change. assembl...
More About: Walls

i'm from barcelona & thao @ brooklyn masonic temple, 5/1/08
2008-05-05 00:30:00
i've been extremely fucking busy as of late, friends. i don't even know if anyone still reads mr. mammoth anymore. i don't blame you if you've gone away, since i haven't been able to offer anything in nearly a month. i am still extremely fucking busy, but i'm going to try hard to find time to balance my working life with my blogging life, though i don't doubt that the scales will continue to tip towards work, since blogging don't pay jack. but it's a labor of love, so forgive me if the lapses between posts remain; i'm doing the best i can.one reason i've been so busy is that i've taken a couple jobs at live music venues around the city, which rocks for me, because now i get paid to see shows! but since i'm working the bands, i don't have time to really think about whether it's any good or not (hence, no postings about shows i work). but working in concertry has really made me much more aware of how important technical quality is to performances - ultimately, a g...
More About: Barcelona , Temple , Brooklyn , Masonic

small-time machine
2008-04-03 17:33:00
if there's one thing you can bet the farm on (and in these times, even that won't get you real far), it's that when there's a new one man band in town, mr. mammoth is going to have something to say about it. enter jason drake, the mastermind of hypeworthy cassettes won't listen, brooklyn's new buzz boy and savvy merchandising maven (he has a deal with the indiefied fashionistas brooklyn industries: they sell his clothes, he plays at their stores, 6 times last weekend). so, in addition to his rather shrewd business mind (he also self-released and distributed his first "physical" album small-time machine recently - check the "think indie" badge on its cover), what makes cassettes won't listen worthy of a minimum of six listens? well, the more than passing resemblance to the postal service, for one (i heard there's a new album - can anyone back me up on that?). but a lot of people have covered the give up territory since then, and a pale imitation is gonna have a hard time ...
More About: Machine , Time , Small , Time Machine

marino
2008-03-31 07:53:00
"crayon"all this caribou talk has gotten me hot and bothered, and i've spent the better part of the last hour and a half rewatching the marino videos, all of which are happily found on youtube. the videos, all designed by irish collective delicious 9, were originally backdrop visuals, but were so good (no joke) that they were collection for dvd production, and bundled with 4 songs from the milk of human kindness's sessions.i think delicious 9 have really captured a beautiful part of caribou's essence - "jacknuggeted" and "pelican narrows" especially capture the music's optimism and naivete, that sense of everything feeling new and rather exciting. one of my favorite features common to most of the videos is their thematic link - the characters all belong in a conjured world with dancing canaries, organ-pounding grandmas, and xylophone-rocking teddy bears, a world i could certainly use a lot more of. the videos, of nearly every song on both the milk of human kindness and up in ...

caribou & fuck buttons @ bowery ballroom, 3/28/08
2008-03-31 06:25:00
even a casual reader of this blog will be aware of the fact that i am a superhuge caribou fan. they won the inaugural "band i blogged about most" title, clocking in with six individual posts, and though this is their first '08 entry, i've lost none of my rabid fervor for dan snaith's psychedelic electronica, which is why i returned to see them yet again. they have been on tour pretty incessantly since andorra's release last fall, and i've seen them three times since then, so i didn't think they'd have much new work to bring to the table, just their plain old awesomeness. but i was wrong - dead wrong. in their downtime (what downtime?), snaith and one of caribou's touring members have reworked all of their projections, and refashioned many of their songs - necessary changes when you hit the same cities twice in six months, but still pleasantly surprising. but the best change caribou could've made for this tour is the inclusion of the peerless fuck buttons, for whom, i w...
More About: Fuck , Caribou , Buttons

it's been a long time since i rock and rolled
2008-03-27 16:49:00
i just needed to take some time off.if all goes according to plan, i hope to return to rocking and rolling your lifestyle by the end of the week.seriously though, will someone please explain what, exactly, is so compelling about noise rock? i so don't get it.
More About: Time , Rock , Long

yeasayer's take away show
2008-03-12 17:47:00
heads up, y'all."2080"
More About: Show

awesome song day! - "back burner"
2008-03-12 16:57:00
awesome song day! is a spontaneous feature, when i am moved by a song's singular awesomeosity and feel the urge to share its awesomeness with all of you. the song below is awesome.isobel campbell & mark lanegan - "back burner"sunday at devil dirt will be released may 5 on v2 records.this song makes me want to be a heavy drinker.
More About: Song , Awesome , Back , Burner

anticon. offers up unreleased son lux track!
2008-03-12 16:35:00
anticon. have been busy boys. in addition to the superfabulous alopecia they dropped yesterday, awesome mr. mammoth fave son lux released his at war with walls and mazes through the collective as well. i'm still digesting the record, but at first blush, it is spectral, slightly haunting, and idiosyncratic, and very very good. to celebrate its release, anticon. is offering the unreleased track "do" for download. grab it below and see son lux at his multiple sxsw dates or opening for why? on march 22 in nyc."do"
More About: Unreleased , Offers , Track

alopecia
2008-03-11 17:59:00
if you're a sensible person, you downloaded alopecia back when it leaked in january, and if you're a smart person, you've been absolutely floored by it since then. it's deft, snide, totally off the wall, and super super good.here are some reasons why?1. "the vowels pt. 2" - i'm not a ladies man, i'm a landmine2. "good friday" - sucking dick for drinks tickets at the free bar at my cousin's bat mitzvah3. "these few presidents" - i thought 'there is no paved street worthy of your perfect scandanavian feet'4. "the hollows" - i curse the last six months i've been hiding behind a mustache5. "song of the sad assassin" - i feel like a loop of the last eight frames of film, before a slow-motion lee harvey oswald gets shot in the gut and killed6. "gnashville" - sometimes i claim to know a guy but can't tell you what his hands look like7. "fatalist palmistry" - you countin' blessings cuz your net worth oughtta be less cream than your best dream8. "the fall of mr. fifths" - i'm u...

songs i'm sent: from LA SCALA
2008-03-07 18:24:00
songs i'm sent will now be a semi-often feature about songs that appear in my inbox. the feature's full name is: songs i'm sent that are okay, probably kinda catchy, but not really deserving of the kind of thought and energy that goes into a full album review, but more than just an awesome song day! because they probably have more than one good song, so it's gonna be real informative and light on the opinion. you can figure out for yourself why i'm going with songs i'm sent.alright, let's get this party started. the band with the honor of deflowering my latest inspirational brainwave is la scala, a chicago band that plays music that has nothing to do with their namesake. a pretty decent mix of post-punk, continental gutter pop, and shoegaze-worthy guitar lines, the harlequin, la scala's debut ep, has just been released on hometown highwheel records. in my ever-growing list of people whose names i wish i had (you'll remember the last two were finbar mallon and slim moon...
More About: Songs , La Scala

don't delay! act now! this limited-time offer is only available for limit
2008-03-06 19:01:00
i am in a mad dash out the door, and don't really have the time to remind you how good efterklang's parades was, or to tell you that, to celebrate their 5th year of being a live band, efterklang is giving away a sweet fucking live mp3 of their new song, "mirror mirror" on their website.soo, yeah, that's what's up.if you live in europe, you have no excuse to not see efterklang when they play in your respective city in the next month or so.if you live in america, all i know is that they're playing new york in may, and i will fucking be there.don't you just want to be friends with these guys?
More About: Time , Limited , Offer

mike house's house
2008-03-05 02:23:00
congratulations to mike house, bassist of superawesome team robespierre, for devirginizing the village voice's cribz spinoff, indie cribz (you know, it's like, ironic, but still semi-serious...). mike takes us into his now-legal apartment building, a ex-squat house that guiliani sold to a housing nonprofit, the urban homesteading assistance board, which mike and his friends run (and will someday own). we see his bathroom, his roof (fucking awesome view, man), his inexplicable tupperware full of rotten crabs. mike also looks like he hasn't slept in 2 weeks, so mike, if you're out there, go to bed!team robespierre is currently on a tour of the south east (richmond on wednesday), and play ten (count 'em, ten) shows at south by southwest. surely you can find at least six opportunities to see them.watch the video here."88th precinct"thanks to reader mike lawson for the tip!
More About: House , Mike

leak of the week - attack & release
2008-03-04 17:49:00
in an environment where innovation is often valued above competence and inspiration trumps talent, the black keys are bold iconoclasts, sticking to the same guns on attack & release that they first displayed on the big come up, an album that, in itself, bucked the trend of ingenuity above genius with its intensely throwback, medium-fidelity blues. no great lover of the blues myself, i picked up the band's third LP, rubber factory in 2004 mainly from peer pressure, and found it to be a well-written album, if not particularly tailored to my tastes. i listened to it time and time again, trying to become obsessed with their magic, but it wasn't an album i turned to for pleasure, and in time i gave up on the black keys and rubber factory. in 2006, i had no reason to feel differently about magic potion or chulahoma, yet, i (unsurprisingly) find myself drawn to, and a pleasurable listener of, the keys's most recent album, the leak of the week, attack & release. (incidentally...
More About: Release , Week , Leak , Attack

cadence weapon @ mercury lounge, 3/2/08
2008-03-03 18:35:00
note: born ruffians headlined. don't like 'em, didn't see 'em, have nothing to say about 'em.poor cadence weapon. the guy puts out two brilliant albums, nearly wins the inaugural polaris prize, and is pitchfork's favorite son, and he still can't buy a break (though i understand he does good business in beats). currently on tour in support of afterparty babies (due out on tuesday), the crowd that received him last night in new york was appreciative, if somewhat confused. i made a fuss about "limp-wristed hipsters" when he opened for final fantasy in november, but seeing him a second time makes me realize how silly that statement was. cadence weapon's whole aesthetic is an attempt to promote a new style of rap, dance-rap, or party-rap, or whatever, and shopping it to effete indie rock fans (for example, the people who were there for born ruffians, the night's headliners), is just not going to be successful.the crowd last night made a few valiant attempts to show their ap...
More About: Lounge , Weapon , Mercury

awesome song(s) day!, courtesy of stars and sons!
2008-02-29 18:45:00
awesome song day! is a spontaneous feature, when i am moved by a song's singular awesomeosity and feel the urge to share its awesomeness with all of you. the song below is awesome.stars and sons - "if it's good for me" & "comfy now"download the goat show ep right here, sans payment.earlier this week, i got an email from michael lord, asking me to give his band stars and sons (uk) a listen, and if i would like a cd. so, i clicked my way over to their myspace to give them a test listen, when i saw that they were being so generous as to give away their debut, the goat show ep, for free, and asking just a pound or two through a paypal button. now, nothing piques my interest like free music, and i downloaded it right then and there.though stars and sons is a new band, they already seemed to have their own impenetrable mystique (maybe), surrounding mike lord, who is supposedly "dead(ish)." there are pictures of the band on their myspace photo page, but they are all wearing black-...
More About: Stars , Song , Awesome , Sons

everything's perfect
2008-02-29 07:45:00
i'll tell you what - if you're sick of hearing about team robespierre, you best point your browser elsewhere, because i am so fucking in love with this band that it's scary. in lieu of going to their showpaper benefit tonight (sorry guys, but it's cold and bushwick is far away), i'm gonna rap at all y'all about the excellence of their debut album, everything's perfect. you might remember that i was at its release party (along with matt & kim!), and i really haven't stopped listening to it since. though i've been listening to them for over two months (since i picked up their fake gold sampler at the yeasayer show), i still haven't really nailed down what, exactly, i love about them so much, but i know that i fucking do.a team robespierre song is, fundamentally, a short debilitating burst of energy, released as a mix of anger and joy that provokes little of the former, and much of the latter. on everything's perfect, they tackle subjects such as gasoline ("gasoline...
More About: Perfect

children of the unicorn
2008-02-28 21:45:00
when forces out of your control collude and create a band that combines an appreciation for sensitive and poignant artwork, intuitive understanding of humor, and top-notch shtick metal, the best thing for you to do, really, is just turn up the volume. also, have you seen anything half as cool as that tattoo in the past six to eight months? if you have, i'm totally jealous, cuz this tattoo is the mothereffing bomb.that amazing arm belongs (collectively) to children of the unicorn, a band of self-described "old jaded guys" who remember the intense emotional and kickass power of guitar solos, and are re-spreading the gospel of metal, ironically titled song by ironically titled song. children of the unicorn rock so hard that you can't help but laugh, flick your bic, and unironically raise your hand in the ancient salute of potbellied kiss fans everywhere.i saw children of the unicorn at highline ballroom a couple weeks ago, and was totally stunned by their set. they performed with...
More About: Children , Unicorn

leak of the week - volume one (she & him)
2008-02-26 06:41:00
even if there's nothing wrong with love, it can still be a painful bitch. just ask zooey deschanel, whose vocal turns on volume one prove her an experienced victim of the human condition. in between starring in a wide and generally beguiling all comers with her big blue eyes, deschanel partnered with americana all-star m. ward for the much-hyped, grammatically-incorrect superduo she & him. lauded since their collaboration was formally announced, she & him's eponymous first release, volume one, is due out on merge on march 18, and (despite merge's murderous efforts to keep a lid on it), leaked last week. but don't go rush out and rustle up a copy - getting your hands on a volume one advance isn't nearly good enough to make breaking the law worthwhile.of all the significant records that have leaked this year (some counts are as high as sixty), volume one ranks among the most anticipated. especially beloved since 2006's post-war, ward's contribution factored signific...
More About: Week , Leak , Volume

who needs english? - yelle
2008-02-22 22:15:00
it's not every day that i get scooped by the new york times. we both got to foals, but i was totally left in the dust about yelle, france's newest and coolest export. urbaneye gave us the heads-up about the smart-mouthed star in advance of her show on tuesday, her first on american soil, but too late for me. however, the "more than sold out" show seemed by be a writhing success, with as much pompadour as pomp for the wildly enthusiastic crowd.if there is such a thing as a continental pop niche in the united states, yelle is definitely poised to dominate it. forget the fact that her debut album pop up has no stateside distribution. forget the fact that there are only one or two tracks on the hype machine or elbo.ws. a myspace phenom who has been steadily garnering acclaim for two full years, 2008 will be the year yelle takes over over here... maybe. sure, yelle's shows sell out across france and her hip-thrusting houseclash beats (produced by grandmarnier) are well-suited f...
More About: English , Yelle

king creosote @ queen's hall, 9/29/07
2007-10-03 11:25:00
though it holds over 1000, edinburgh's queen's hall felt more like a rather spacious pub for saturday's king creosote gig. shaggy, chronically unshaven, and humble, kenny anderson - the man behind king creosote and fife's fence collective - acted like the show was no more than a pub session, albeit it with a slightly bigger crowd. the prolific recluse was totally at ease for the entirety of his hour-and-a-half set, telling jokes and stories, and chatting comfortably with friends in the audience. the crowd seemed to be solid fence faithful, cheering on the pictish trail's impressive guitar solos and chuckling at inside jokes about lone pigeon (a.k.a. gordon anderson, kenny anderson's brother, who now performs with the aliens), while king creosote ate it up. one of their few gigs in scotland, and the only one near fife, the queen's hall was packed with friends, family and fans, who cheered the almost-hometown heroes on for two encores, the last song a raucous version of the ali...
More About: King , Hall , Creosote

kc rules tonight
2007-09-29 15:53:00
so, tonight i'm off to see king creosote at queen's hall, which i'm totally psyched for. after his really nice set at connect, i've been eagerly waiting for this show, which should be especially good as it's his first proper scotland gig on this tour. i'm heading back to new york early on monday, and might not get around to doing another post this weekend, so i'll leave you with some old kenny anderson (a.k.a. king creosote) tracks, and one from his new album, bombshell.when i get back home, expect a flood of concert reviews in addition to this one. at the very least, i'll be hitting up nina nastasia on wednesday at mercury lounge and subtle (who are opening for minus the bear) on friday at warsaw., both of whom i'm incredibly psyched for.khartoum heroes - "cat-gut," from khartoum heroesskoubhie dubh orchestra - "long pockets, short arms," from spike's 23 collectionking creosote - "nooks," from bombshell.a great place to buy all three of these albums is at avalanche rec...
More About: Rules , Tonight , Rule , Toni

mr. mammoth gets a makeover!
2007-09-28 10:08:00
you might've noticed something new about mr. mammoth today. no, he didn't get a haircut or lose any weight, but he did get some way effing cooler - a brand spankin' new look! tearknee, our lovely artistic mastermind, designed and drew the header that you now see on the top of the page. we're really pleased to finally give mr. mammoth a recognizable face and a new colo(u)r scheme, and we hope you like it as much as we do. if you have any suggestions, leave 'em in the comments.to celebrate, here are some rare-ish tunes.panda bear - "bonfire of the vanities," take pills single b-side. buy panda bear stuff at paw tracks.caribou - "stones," from the 2007 tour release. buy caribou stuff directly.
More About: Makeover

the go! team w. operator please @ edinburgh university, 9/25/07
2007-09-27 16:10:00
i had a rough morning today. i could barely turn my neck, there was a dull ache in my right arm and a shooting pain in my left, and even though my ears are still ringing, i didn't mind in the least, because the go! team put on a great show last night. it was the third time i had seen them in a month (the other two being connect and abc), so there weren't any surprises, just pure, sweaty pleasure. i'm not going to bother with a full review, just a few thoughts i had about the gig, some pictures, and a bit of video.you might be aware of how strongly mr. mammoth dislikes big venues. well, potterow (one of edinburgh university's student unions) was certainly not big. in fact, it was a pretty sweet space. its short, arched ceiling, nice wide stage, and bar at the back made for a great show, as the crazy-as-shit crowd proved. i had initially been disappointed to find out it was an all-ages show at the door, but the crowd seemed anything but. though it was the first night of the nme fr...
More About: University , Edinburgh , Team , Operator , Go Team

september 25 is the best day ever!
2007-09-25 01:35:00
...if you're looking to go broke on a bevy, nay, a slew of excellent independent releases set loose today. the obvious choice is the shepherd's dog (no shit), but dig deeper, and september 25 will reward you in ways you could not have dreamt. faced with a list longer than my arm, there are two albums released today you might overlook, but do so at your peril.two gallants let loose with their third LP, the appropriately titled two gallants (buy), and telephone jim jesus returns with more excellent glitch-hop on anywhere out of the everything (buy). you could also shill out for the excessively-blogged about bang bang boom cake (buy), or tunng's good arrows (buy), but those come without the mammoth stamp of approval. one album that was released last week but disappointingly overlooked was jesca hoop's kismet, which will be reviewed here soon-ish. no matter what, if you're looking to empty your wallet this week, you won't be denied. if you need me, i'll be out shopping.two ...
More About: September