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Live covers: Linda Perry and Courtney Love do "Rhiannon"
2007-09-20 22:58:00
This may have been on the old blog, but it's worth reposting. It's a camera-phone video of Linda Perry (4-Non Blondes, "What You Waitin For" writer, a few other awesome things) and Courtney Love performing an acoustic set at the LA Gay & Lesbian center. It begins with a cover of "Rhiannon" that's insanely cool to watch if you're a fan of Linda and Courtney (which I still I am no matter how ridiculous she gets in her personal life).
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Covers: David Choi makes "Gimme More" suck less
2007-09-19 23:18:00
Singer/Songwriter David Choi has Youtubed an acoustic pop-rock cover of Britney Spears' "Comeback" "song", the Danja-produced "Gimme More ". He does a really amazing job with it and made me forget how awful the original was. It just proves the original sucked because of the vocals and nothing else. The beat was really well-done and it was written well enough (by bullshit-pop standards of course), but Danja should be shot for letting her vocals be processed to sound like that. We all know that a computer is responsible for 90% of how her voice sounds on the album, so why the hell couldn't he process her vocals to not be annoying as fuck? We may never know, but at least we'll still have David Choi's awesome version of it.
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Music videos: Mark Ronson (sorta) featuring Amy Winehouse
2007-09-18 23:32:00
You may or may not have heard the story behind the falling out between Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson -- the short version is that she ditched the shooting of the "Valerie" video to go on vacation or for something pointless like that. Well, this is the result. Instead of Amy singing in the video, we see a look-alike and a few other girls lip-syncing the track. It's a cool-looking video, but I was distracted by thinking about how it would have been different if Amy got her shit together in time for shooting the video. Oh well. By the way, I will never figure out how MTV got the awesomeness of Mark Ronson to show up to that VMAs shitfest. He was one of the few good qualities of the show.
More About: Videos , Music , Music Videos

Random Track of the Day: W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.
2007-09-18 00:04:00
"D.A.N.C.E." always annoyed the crap out of me, but this Wale song makes me not mind it. "W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E." was easily my favorite song on the Wale mixtape (If you haven't heard it, Google it, because it's brilliant). The awesome lyrics (Was the only one a little surprised when he called out the Lindsey Lohan-Samantha Ronson situation?) somehow manages to salvage a sample from a song that I hate so much.
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Friday randomness: Rilo Kiley watches Paris Hilton sex tape
2007-09-14 22:10:00
Yeah, you read that right. No music today because I'm leaving town in five minutes, but I have just enough time to post this bizarre little gem from Youtube:
More About: Paris Hilton , Watches , Randomness , Paris , Hilton

Covers: The Pixies cover Jesus and Mary Chain
2007-09-13 18:36:00
Not a whole lot of time to post today, but I found a vid on Myspace of the Pixies covering "Head On" by the Jesus and Mary Chain. They really rough up the song and give it an abrasive edge, which works a lot better than you would expect it to. Pixies - Head On [Live]Add to My Profile | More Videos
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Live Music: The Duke Spirit on Henry Rollins Show
2007-09-13 04:13:00
The Henry Rollins Show is in Audioclash's top friends list on Myspace for a reason. That show has some amazing musical guests and it's hooked me on a lot of bands I didn't know about before. The most recent is an amazing band called The Duke Spirit. They peformed "Lasso" from the upcoming Ex-Voto EP. I don't want to put them in "A box", but if I had to compare their sound to an already-established artist, I would say they're half-way between The Sounds and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. So if you love both those bands, you'll probably die unfulfilled if you don't check these guys out.You can listen to the studio version of the song on their Myspace page.
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New Music Tuesday: Kanye, 50, Alicia Keys, Rogue Wave, and Hot Hot Heat
2007-09-11 23:00:00
The two biggest releases this week are obviously "Graduation" and "Curtis", but I already recapped those last week, so I won't go through them again. Here's the post.New stuff: New Alicia Keys single, called "No One", the lead single from her third album. Her voice sounds a little more strained than usual, and the song is a lot more basic than what we're used to hearing from her, but it's still a solid effort. Should play well on the radio. Rogue Wave has a new album called "Asleep at Heaven's Gate". One of the best American indie rock albums to come out in the last few months. My favorite song from the album, "Lake Michigans", plays like The Shins with a little more bite.Hot Hot Heat 's new album "Happiness Ltd" is out. The album is pretty basic stuff for indie music and doesn't really take any chances, so it didn't really do much for me, but I still really love the track "Give Up" and have ever since I found a bootleg of it a few months ago. Plays like a more indie version ...
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Details on new Melissa Auf Der Maur album
2007-09-11 00:32:00
Details about Melissa Auf Der Maur 's new album are finally coming to the surface. All the ideas and tracks are in place, now we just have to wait for a label to pick it up, since Melissa and Capitol are no longer together. This article showed up in my Gmail Google Alerts, and it tells you everything you need to know about the concept album that's being released side-by-side with a short film and a comic book. Excerpts:"Former Smashing Pumpkins/Hole bassist Melissa auf der Maur has completed her second solo album, "Out Of Our Minds," and it's part of a multidisciplinary Viking-themed project that includes a short film and comic book. They will all be released under her initials, MADM (pronounced "madam"). "MADM represents an eternal female force, travelling through time and space, on the hunt for the 'heart,' be it a human's heart or the heart of the universe," auf der Maur told Lowdown in an exclusive interview. "It's almost like a myth or fairytale that is explored in all el...
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Random Track of the Day: The Dollyrots
2007-09-07 22:18:00
You may not know the Doll yrots' name, but you've probably heard one of their songs before. "Because I'm Awesome" is now plastered all over a set of nation-wide Kohls commercials, giving them more exposure than ever before. "Because I'm Awesome" is the kind of pop rock song that may annoy you at first, but slowly gets stuck in your head and digs itself into your memory until you can't forget it. In a good way. Here it is:
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Live music: Amy Winehouse
2007-09-07 00:35:00
I always thought "Love Is A Losing Game" was one of the more boring songs on "Back to Black", but seeing Amy perform it live completely changed my mind about it. She pumps so much emotion into it onstage that it's almost as affecting as BtB's title track. Only the best live performers can really engage you with a not very interesting song, which is totally what she does here. Amazing work.
More About: Music , Live Music , Amy Winehouse , Live , Winehouse

Music Videos: Snow Patrol
2007-09-05 22:18:00
I really liked Snow Patrol 's last album ("Eyes Open"), but my biggest problem with it was that most of the time SP sounded like the were trying really, really, hard to sound epic. "Shut Your Eyes" was one of the few songs that sounded almost completely effortless, which is why it was one of my favorite songs on the album. It's now the most recent single from "Eyes Open", and now it has one of my favorite videos in a long time. It's brilliantly directed and put together, and I dare you to look away after you click the play button.
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New Music Tuesday: Hard-Fi and Calvin Harris
2007-09-04 22:45:00
This week, the only release I'm really excited about is the UK release of Hard -Fi's new album "Once Upon a Time in the West". The whole album is available for streaming on Myspace. The opening track, "Surburban Knights", wins Audioclash's "Best New Song of the Week" award. I knew I loved it four seconds after it started. It has that same fun, euphoric, makes-you-want-to-scream-out-the-lyrics effect that "Gold Lion" had. The whole album is pretty amazing as well. It's much more diverse and dynamic then H-F's first album. They've really evolved into a much more exciting and interesting band. This is already one of my favorite albums of the year. "Surburban Knights":Also, Scottish producer Calvin Harris's album "I Created Disco", is now available in the US. It was released in the UK last June. Something about the guy annoys me, but I've really come to respect his work as a producer. It's so unpretentious and uncomplicated and just fun to listen to. Here's "Acceptable in the 8...
More About: Music , Tuesday , Hard-Fi

Album leaks: Kanye vs 50
2007-09-03 23:29:00
You all know the story. Kanye vs 50, two of the biggest egos in the industry, Graduation vs Curtis, blah blah blah. Now that the albums are both floating around on the internet, America can listen to both albums and decide who the winner is. In my opinion: Kanye wins in a landslide."Curtis" exists for one reason and one reason and one reason only: so Curtis Jackson III can remind you how fucking tough he is. He really has nothing else to say. The album really doesn't do anything new or interesting, and except for "Ayo Technology", the entire first 2/3 of the album is forgettable and sounds exactly the same. It's a little hillarious that Fitty said that Kanye raps like a robot considering that he (50) sounds like he's sleepwalking through every track. He's taken that laid-back sound so far that he sounds completely bored with what he's talking about. And at the same time, the album takes it self so damn seriously. And honestly, I don't think I would dislike this album as much a...
More About: Album , Leaks

Remixes: Bitter:Sweet's Blackjoy Remix
2007-09-01 01:18:00
Damn you iMeem and your 30-second samples! I may not be able to find a place to embed the Blackjoy Remix of Bitter :Sweet's "The Mating Game", but I can link to where you can buy it. It's a 6-minute long remix, and not a second is wasted. Just as good as the original, if not better.
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Acoustic: Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Gold Lion" (Sad version)
2007-08-31 01:19:00
Here's one of those acoustic versions that completely turns the original song inside-out. "Gold Lion " by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was an amazingly fun song that made you want to jump up and down with the "Ooh-ooh! Ooh-ooh! OOH-ooh!" (fans of the song know what I'm talking about). Then, they recorded an acoustic version for the iTunes store that turned it into a tragic ballad that sounds completely different, but still very recognizable. Amazing stuff. YYY's label banned their full songs from iMeem, but you can buy the whole song here.
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New music Tuesday: Aesop Rock and Collective Soul
2007-08-29 23:25:00
Aesop Rock , definitely one of the most amazing artists in the Alt-Hip Hop world right now is back with new album "None Shall Pass". The title track has damn good lyrics, and I really have no idea how this guy is able to put words together the way he does. The distant, trip-hop-like beat also really adds a lot to the song. The best new song of the week:By the way, "Float" is an amazing album, and you need to buy it right now.Also in hip hop, Nelly's new single "Wadsyaname" was released yesterday. It's not bad. I won't spend too much space on it since you've probably already heard it on the radio by now:Finally, Collective Soul 's new album "Afterwords" is now available. I couldn't find anything from the album on iMeem or Odeo, but here's the iTunes link to check out what the album sounds like. It's pretty good, and isn't nearly as pop-sounding as its first single "Hollywood" made it seem. Next week: Hard-Fi and Calvin Harris.
More About: Music , Tuesday , Collective Soul

Random Track of the Day: Curve
2007-08-29 01:19:00
If you're a fan of Garbage and want to hear the band that they borrowed their sound from, here's Curve . They had a lot of success in the UK during the 90s, but a lot of people I talk to hear in the states don't know much about them. "Gift" and "Come Clean" are two of my favorite albums, and here's "Gift"'s opening track, "Hell Above Water" on iMeem. It sounds like a really amazing B-Side right off of "Version 2.0".
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Live Covers: Ben Folds covers Liz Phair
2007-08-28 01:21:00
I actually don't know where this came from, but I found an audio recording of Ben Fold s covering "Chopsticks", a song from Liz Phair's second album "Whip-Smart". It just makes me laugh when everyone in the audience screams and cheers with joy when he delivers the line "We can fuck amd watch TV..."
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B-Sides: Nine Black Alps
2007-08-24 19:45:00
Last year, before releasing "Everything Is", the Nine Black Alps put out a self-titled EP that caught a lot of peoples attention. Most of the EP later showed up on "Everything Is", the only modification being that "Cosmopolitan" was re-recorded in a different key. However, "Attraction", both the second best song on the EP (the original "Cosmopolitan" being the best) and the song introduced me to the band, was left off the album. It's as good as anything else on the album, but was probably held back because the tone was so different from everything else on the LP. In case you missed the EP, here's "Attraction" on iMeem:
More About: Sides , Lack , Nine Black Alps , B-Side

Covers: Garbage does Ramones
2007-08-23 23:10:00
Here's the thing about covers; to quote a wise man named Keith Malley, "You can always make a song rock harder". That's what Garbage did when they covered "I Just Wanna Have Something to Do" at a Ramones tribute show. They took a simple mid-tempo punk song, pumped it up to 150 BPM, slapped some electric guitars on it, and made it a different song. A song that rocked harder. Your mileage may vary on whether you like this version better, depending on your tolerance for Shirley Manson, but if you like both Garbage and Ramones, you WILL love this. Just so you know.
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Random track of the day: Blaqk Audio
2007-08-22 19:19:00
Blaqk Audio 's album "Cexcells" was released last week, and I forgot about it. If you don't know about them, Blaqk Audio is an electro-rock band side project of some members of A.F.I., the only emo-looking band from the '00s that I really have no problem with. The vocals on "Cexcells" do nothing for me, but the production on the beats and instrumentals is amazing. I bought the entire album on iTunes just so I can pull the songs apart and use samples of the instrumentals. Check it out on iMeem.
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New music Tuesday: Imperial Teen, Rilo Kiley, Imperial Teen, MIA, New Porno
2007-08-21 18:39:00
Lots of new stuff today. It's a big week for indie rock.First of all, Rilo Kiley and MIA's new albums were released today. We told you about "Kala" last Wednesday and "Under the Blacklight" yesterday, so check out those posts for more info.Imperial Teen is finally back after a five year hiatus with "The Hair, The TV, The Baby, and The Band", an album named after the projects that IT's members worked on during their hiatus. The album is more of the simple, happy-making indie rock we've come to expect from them. It's fun, but not much of a step forward for the band. It's probably the safest thing to do after coming off a long break, but hopefully their next album is a little more adventurous. Their website, imperialteen.com, was relaunched today, and you can listen to four of their new songs. Here's the album's first single, "Shim Sham":The New Pornographers new album "Challengers" is now available. It has the same problem as Imperial Teen's new record: entertaining, but more...
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New Rilo Kiley: Best of "Under the Blacklight"
2007-08-20 16:12:00
Rilo Kiley's new album, "Under the Blacklight", is now available for streaming on Myspace. It's a great album, and people who hated "The Moneymaker" will probably be relieved by how non-sellout the album is. The sound of the album is exactly halfway between "Moneymaker" and "More Adventurous", so their sound evolves without being completely changed. They also do a little experimenting with synths, which doesn't always work, but they pull it off a few times. And also, the lyrics are just as amazing as what you would expect from Jenny Lewis. Turns out that "Moneymaker" didn't mean that RK has given up on good lyrics; they just made a superficial song about a superficial industry (porn). In other words, I was right. The rest of the album has A+ songwriting. Most of the album is about the dark side of sex; porn in "Moneymaker", hookers in "Close Call", accidentally having sex with 15 year olds in "15", and probably other stuff I missed the first time. "Dreamworld" is easily my favo...
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Covers: Maroon 5 does Oasis (surprisingly well)
2007-08-16 15:35:00
I'm not really Maroon 5 's biggest fan. Actually, I thought that their last album was soulless crap compared to what they proved to be capable of on "Songs About Jane". I just have a problem with bands settling for much less than what they're able to do. But sometimes I get reminded that they actually are a good band who's just been a little lazy the last year or two. They covered Oasis 's "Don't Look Back in Anger", and did a surprisingly good job. It's acoustic and doesn't have the "big sound" of the original, but Adam Levine performs it well. Hopefully they can get some of this skill together for a better third album.
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Album stream alert: MIA on Myspace
2007-08-15 16:48:00
If you go to MIA's Myspace page, you'll notice that instead of listing a genre in the header, it just says "Other". MIA's the only artist I can think of (except Bjork, who I can't stand 99% of the time) who is so out there that you can't assign a genre to her. The only reason I even label MIA-related posts as "Pop" is because I have to call it something. Myspace is now streaming MIA's entire new album, "Kala", for the entire week before it's release next Tuesday. I didn't have much time to listen to it, but it sounds like it's the kind of fun insanity we've come to expect from her. The only thing holding it back is that doesn't have any clear standouts for singles like "Galang" or "Bucky Done Gun". The only Kala track I really didn't like was "Mango Pickle Down", which I really didn't get. You can listen to the whole album and judge for yourself at:http://www.myspace.com/mia
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New Music: Matt Nathanson, Wyclef Jean, and John Lennon
2007-08-14 15:23:00
It's mostly a slow week for new music, but a few good things came out today. First, Matt Nathanson's sixth album, "Some New Hope", was officially released. It was leaked a few months ago, but you can officially buy the album at iTunes now. It's a good album, and he hasn't lost any energy after 6 records. You can listen to the entire album at VH1's website. For fans of: "Execution of All Things" by Rilo Kiley, "Under the Iron Sea" by Keane, and "Everyone's In Everyone" by Patrick Park. Best track: "Car Crash":Also, Wyclef Jean has a new single featuring Akon, Lil Wayne, and Mia. It's called "Sweetest Girl", and it's better than I thought it was going to be. Nothing amazing, but it sounds good enough. If this gets sold right, it could easily be a hit single.powered by ODEOAlso, just an alert that the John Lennon catalog has FINALLY been made available for online purchase. This is really slow week, but next Tuesday the blog will explode when new albums by Imperial Teen, M.I.A.,...
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Live covers: Paolo Nutini covers Gnarls Barkley (Well)
2007-08-13 16:33:00
"Crazy" is a difficult song to cover, mostly because musicians try to imitate Cee-Lo's voice/style and fail. Or they are too flat and put no emotion into it (See Nelly Furtado) or pussify it until the song is just annoying (See Justin Timberlake). Paolo Nutini covered this song last year and did a great job of avoiding that trap. He makes the song his own, and his version could have easily been a hit single off of "These Streets" if Gnarls Barkley hadn't come first. His cover is from a performance at the Zomerparkfeesten in Venlo, Holland, and he seems like an amazing live performer. His North American tour starts in September, and I'm willing to sell my first-born child to get a ticket to his St Louis show on October 14. He's hitting 30-something cities in the States and Canada, and you can find the full list at his Myspace page.
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Remixes: Better Than Ezra
2007-08-10 14:41:00
Yes, I know Better Than Ezra is very 10 years ago. But I'm not going to care for the next five minutes, and if you like remixes, you should do the same. "Juicy", from 2005's "Before the Robots", is so different and so far out of left field for BTE that it doesn't even sound like one of their songs, and that's even more true for the remix. It's the good kind of remix; it makes the song more exciting and dynamic without destroying it with reverb and effects. It came from an EP of four other remixes of this song. You can buy any of the remixes from that EP here.
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Live Music: Jesus and Mary Chain
2007-08-09 15:34:00
There aren't that many bands from 20 years ago that still sound amazing when they perform live in 2007. Fortunately, Jesus and Mary Chain is one of those bands. I found plenty of Youtube vids of their Coachella reunion earlier this year that had shit audio quality, but I finally found one that sounds clear. It's "Head On", and it sounds just as good as it was on the album recorded 18 YEARS AGO.
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