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06/21/2010

MGMT/Tame Impala @ The Fillmore Detroit 6.16.10

I had very mixed feelings about the MGMT and Tame Impala show last Wednesday at The Fillmore Detroit (aka the State Theater before The Fillmore became a chain of venues). On the one hand, I was pretty excited to see MGMT live at last since I’ve had 3 chances at festivals and none of them have worked out for various reasons I won’t go in to. And I have been absolutely reeling over this Tame Impala album the past couple of weeks, so I was more than stoked to see these guys in the height of my fasciation with them. On the other hand, I’d heard some not so good things about MGMT’s live shows, and I knew it was going to be tweenypalooza which I don’t usually love. But as I always try to do, I went into it with an open mind ready to form my own opinions.

After some crazy scheduling mishaps at the very last second and thanks to a Tigers game taking place across the street from the venue, we rushed downtown as early as we could to secure a parking spot and a place for Tame Impala. After learning that my friend Anne Marie can literally do just about anything she wants with no hesitation, Tame Impala took the stage. First impressions: Holy crap, they look like super young Australian hippies! I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised because I’ve listened to their music and have reveled in its psychedelic goodness, but I guess I just didn’t think they would look so young. But really, when it comes to fantastic music, age don’t mean a thing. The two guitars, bass and drums (just a classic setup for a rock band) sounded just as great as the album if not better. I was a little worried about all of the crazy pedal effects on the album not holding up live but the guys can work their pedals with the best of them.

What was maybe the most surprising part of Tame Impala’s performance? At times, they straight up became a jam band! There were at least two or three times when I suddenly would just feel as if I was in the 10th minute of an ambient Phish jam for a few moments before they would head back into the main theme. I feel really fortunate that I was able to see these guys live so early in a career that I think has enormous potential.

Tame Impala – Jeremy’s Storm

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Up next was MGMT. They took the quasi black light laden stage and played a pretty good mix of tracks from both Oracular Spectacular and Congratulations. Lead singer Andrew VanWyngarden came out wearing some sort of blue animal hat much to the delight of the girls in the front row who were screaming like they were watching the Beatles in their first ever US appearance. I was worried one of the gals was going to pass out or something. The backdrop of the stage was a few giant shapes (including one reminiscent of the wave on the cover of Congratulations) that seemed to have images being projected at them from the inside leading to some pretty cool and crazy visuals.

So now back to my attempted lack of expectations. In the end, sure, MGMT wasn’t the greatest live band I’ve ever seen. And sure, I felt a little old among the sea of tweens (every single one of which had purchased a t-shirt that night. I can’t even fathom how much the band made on merch sales alone). But you know what else, I still had a lot of fun, because I let myself instead of talking myself out of it. And you know what else? The songs from Congratulations actually had me bopping my head most of the time, so I think I even like the album more than I thought I did. And I have to admit that it takes some major cajones for a band to play what is essentially a 12+ minute slow song in the middle of a set. I was a little worried that the balcony was going to collapse during “Kids”, but it was nice to see both MGMT and Tame Impala on stage basically goofing off the whole song, trading tambourines and maracas. Because music/shows should just be about having fun.

MGMT – It’s Working

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Check out the pics below. Do you hate this new gallery view or like it? Or do you not care? Check out even more pics from the show on the dailybeatz Flickr page too.

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06/10/2010

Stevie Wonder – We Can Work it Out

I am a sucker for Motown. Maybe it’s because I’m a fool for my home town Detroit (well, just outside of Detroit, if you want to get technical), a city that is way more alive and vibrant than you would think by listening to anything you hear on TV. Sure, there are lots of places for improvement and it’s got its problems, but there really is so much to see and do, which I’m glad I’ve been able to realize these past few years. In one night downtown, you can hit up Tigers game, then head over to the Museum of Contemporary Art for a high school dance themed dance party (with booze of course), and then head over to Eastern Market for an erotic art show and then close out the night at Cadieux Cafe for some feather bowling. What’s not to love about that? But, despite all the doom and gloom you hear about on TV, nobody can ever take away the fact that Detroit is the home of Motown, and is there really anyone who doesn’t love Motown? I recently caught this FANTASTIC Stevie Wonder cover of the Beatles’ “We Can Work it Out” over at The Stu Reid Experiment and it was love at first listen. Head over to his site to hear Aretha Franklin and Al Green cover the Beatles as well.

Stevie Wonder – We Can Work it Out

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05/27/2010

Thursday Remix Roundup #2

It’s time for another remix roundup! Here are a few pretty neat remixes that we’ve liked recently when going through the ole inbox.

First up is Professor Purple, the name of Jeremy Malvin, a University of Michigan student (GO BLUE! [<-- yeah, that just happened]) who just decided to start making some remixes. And judging by how much we like his take on Crystal Castles’ “Celestica”, we think he should continue.

Crystal Castles – Celestica (Professor Purple Remix

Up next, a remix that actually arrived in my text message inbox from our friend and contributor hockboi during a recent trip to Miami where he proposed to his longtime girlfriend (She said yes, we’re still not sure why). Congrats to them. I think this Calvin Harris remix of Passion Pit’s “The Reeling” probably came out last summer, but I’d never heard it before, and it’s been 80+ degrees all week (perfect for a jam like this), so it counts.

Passion Pit – The Reeling (Calvin Harris Remix)

Up next, a remix that won me on subject title alone, but ended up being pretty enjoyable. You had me at “Sleigh Bells meets a fly ass mexican jew”. It turns out that it’s Speak, the self proclaimed 34th best rapper in the world rapping over the top of “Infinity Guitars” by Sleigh Bells. Unfortunately, the Sleigh Bells part of the song still sort of hurts my ears in “It hurts my ears but I kind of like it but kind of hate it because it hurts my ears” sort of way. You can download a free EP from Speak right here.

Sleigh Bells feat. Speak – Infinity Rap Bars (Infinity Guitars Remix)

And last but certainly not least, making her second appearance (out of 2) in the Thursday Remix Roundup is Kelis, whose “Acapella” has been mashed up/remixed/somethinged with “Tomorrow Never Knows”, one of my favorite songs by the Beatles evarrr, by London’s Plump DJs. I had a class about the 60s in college and we learned that this song was sort of revolutionary because nobody else had ever played a track backwards in a song before, or something like that.

Kelis vs. Beatles vs. Plump DJs – The Volcano Coalition

We hope you’ve enjoyed this second installment of Thursday Remix Roundup. Til next time.

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03/01/2010

the magnetic fields – i dont believe you

What better way to start out the week and the month than with a track from The Magnetic Fields? The band, led by Stephin Merritt, recently released “Realism”, the last of their no-synth trilogy. And today, we bring you one of my favorites of their multitude of songs, a track from “i”, released in 2004, the first album in the aforementioned trilogy. And, you guessedit, every song on the album begins with the letter “i”, much like a Jeopardy category with “i” in quotations.

I was a fan of “I Don’t Believe You” even from the opening lyrics, “So you quote love unquote me”. Just a very clever use of hand air quotes in a non-visual medium. And the chorus, with its harmonies reminiscent of “You Won’t See Me” by the Beatles and its slow-picked banjo in the background, is just a mish mash of folk-rock warm fuzzies. I don’t know about you, but I happen to really enjoy this folky side of the Magnetic Fields, as you should, because it’s good. Do you think they will return to the synth for their next album? Do you think they will release another album? Is this the end of the Magnetic Fields? In today’s society of fear, all we can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

The Magnetic Fields – I Don’t Believe You

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01/22/2010

jaydiohead – lucifers jigsaw

for all you playas out there who were enamored a few years back by the grey album, the jay-z and beatles mashup record from danger mouse, you might have been excited to learn about jaydiohead, a mashup project of nycs max tannone, which combined jay-z tracks with, you guessed it, radiohead. the original was released in early 2009 and “the encore” containing 5 more tracks was released mid 2009. both are available for download on the jaydiohead site.

“lucifers jigsaw” might be one of my favorites from these releases. i think its because the fast paced lyrics of jay-zs “lucifer” match up perfectly with the frantic music of radioheads “jigsaw falling into place”. plus it contains the classic lyrics “im from the murder capital where we murder for capital”. if you are a jay-z or radiohead fan, even if you are a purist, these mashups are definitely worth a listen. and if you hate either jay-z or radiohead, maybe these songs will provide a nice digestible introduction for you. and if you hate both of them, then youve got big problems. real big. right jerry? and you probably enjoy waterboarding kittens in your spare time. sorry for giving you that mental image tony. i know how much you love cats, and especially kittens.

jaydiohead – lucifers jigsaw

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07/12/2009

badfinger – day after day

badfinger

happy sunday y’all. did you read that in the voice of britney spears? did anyone see on the soup last year when she had her big comeback and someone came out dressed as her and was just like “im ok y’all!”? that was hilarious. but i digress. todays song is a classic from the archives by uk group badfinger. this song is one of my favorite songs ever and the music just makes me feel good, which is odd because it seems like its a totally sad song, but like i said i sometimes choose not to listen to lyrics. the other good part about this song is that it was responsible for me getting new computer speakers in college. whenever i would listen to it, all i could hear was bass. and after not being able to adjust the bass, i bought new speakers, and music sounded so much better again. but holy cow, this band has a crazy sad and weird story.

it seems as though the basic gist of the story is that the band got involved with an american businessman who had some questionable financial practices that in the end led to them losing gigs and album deals and causing lots of legal problems. its a long weird story and im not sure of the details but everyone should read about it on their wiki page. but the crazy part is that not one, but two of their key members ended up committing suicide. and they both seemed to be sort of a result of arguments and drama surrounding money/royalties/etc. but dont take my word for it. anyway, without knowing any of the dark history, please enjoy todays track. its one of my favorite oldies, although its sort of borderline classic rock as well, but its a great song that oft gets forgotten about. it seems as badfinger in their prime was always compared to the beatles, but i just dont see the similarities.

badfinger – day after day

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06/16/2009

the white stripes – im bound to pack it up

meg white of the white stripes

i have a funny family story involving the white stripes. its not funny at all unless you know the parties involved and since most of you dont, im pretty sure this wont be funny at all. in fact, you probably wont talk to me ever again after reading this. but 2 or 3 summers ago, way way after the white stripes became uber-famous, one of my cousins got a text from another cousin that just said “hey, have you ever heard of the white strips?” and i know he wasnt talking about white strips. funny, right? and then i found 5 dollars.

truth be told, i was a little late to the white stripes train, but not too much i guess. i do have my old roommate bobby to thank for introducing me to them freshmen year, even if that son of a bitch tricked me in the process. he would often listen to todays track, im bound to pack it up, from their album de stijl, and one day i asked him who it was by and he told me the beatles. and ill be damned if i didnt believe him for a good 3 months until i tried to find this elusive beatles song with no luck. i know hes probably reading this right now with that big goofy smile getting the last laugh, but youll get yours bobby, youll get yours. of course meaning that im going to destroy him in mario kart wii, perhaps the best game ever.

was it really that naive of me to believe him though? with maybe the exception of the last verse where jack white sings way up high and almost hits the note he planned on (part of the beauty of this track), it really could be mistaken for a beatles song with the simple guitar and percussion, vocals that could arguably mistaken for a beatle (again with the exception of the end of the song), and the once-strummed final chord is vintage beatles. and what about the “ba-da-ba-da-ba-baaaahs” interspersed within the chorus? yeah, pretty sure nobody would ever make that mistake but me. this is also a ridiculously easy song to play if youre just learning guitar, so its got that going for it too, which is nice. this is the grit of the white stripes (strips?) at its finest.

side note : to insert the little player below theres a bit of code i have to type every time, including the word “titles”, and without fail, it always makes me think of “ill take famous titties for $500.”

the white stripes – im bound to pack it up

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