Tuesday, January 31, 2012
The Lovely Bad Things and Christopher Walken - "I Just Want You to Go Away" LIVE
We have been waiting for the official music video for "I Just Want You to Go Away" from The Lovely Bad Things Burger Records EP (on cassette) and the soon to be released Vinyl from Volcom Entertainment - New Ghosts / Old Waves for some time. Rumor has it that it may be produced by a friend of the band in the next couple of months. We love this song and jumped at the chance to be part of a Live Performance 3 camera guerilla shoot. Of course, the goal in shooting a live concert is always in trying to capture the raw energy and the nuances in the performance. While the Lovely Bad Things always pump up the energy, it was clear after the first 4 songs of their set that the fully engaged dancing audience had to be a large part of the focus. The energy in that room transferred from the band to the audience and back again was amazing. We captured the sound with a stereo pocket recorder (Zoom Q3) as well as stereo mics from the photographers pit camera. Guerilla Film making with awesome results that make you feel like you are at the show. One of my favorite moments is the guy fist pumping right on the guitar down beats! Produced in association with Volcom Ent, Assembly Line Productions and us, American Pancake. Enjoy!
P.S. Some people have been asking me about Christopher Walken mentioned in the title of this blog. Well it refers to one of the coolest t-shirts I have seen that Camron Ward is wearing. I have been racking my brain trying to remember what particular movie that pic is from. Anyone know???
http://lovelybadthings.tumblr.com/
Monday, January 30, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Death Hymn Number 9's Punk Ghoul Revelry
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Adler Bloom
Death Hymn Number 9
Death Hymn Number 9 Facebook
DEATH HYMN NUMBER 9: DEATHLY AFRAID OF MIDGETS- LA Record Interview
Territorial Antelope takes down Mountain Biker- Ouch!!
Damn, this is one of the craziest video I have seen in a long time. I think if you are into mountain biking you may not want to ride through a South African savannah. I've heard of the cycle of life but Evan Van De Spuy could of lost his life on his cycle! As he was riding in a race in KwaZulu Natal South Africa this 300 lb Antelope comes out of nowhere and takes him down hard. It is some scarey shit but amazingly Van Der Spuy was not seriously hurt even though his helmet was shattered. This goes to show you how important it is to wear your bike helmet! Later Van Der Spuy tweeted that he is "stable with nothing more than a very stiff neck" as he thanked his team mates for all their help.
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Sharky McWilliams
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Princeton- Remembrance of Things To Come - Album Review
Princeton has always worn more than one musical face. From the tropical 80's post punk of Calypso Gold to the wonderfully erudite Bloomsbury EP that, to me, embraced the musical DNA of the Beatles, The Kinks, and ELO, Princeton has never been content to not creatively stretch themselves. With all the wonderful and varied music that Princeton has put out, it doesn't surprise me that they would embark on a collaborative journey with the Los Angeles New Music Ensemble on their latest album, Remembrance of Things to Come. According to the press notes, Jesse and Matt Kivel elected to not play their instruments much but allowed the 7 piece ensemble to layer their arrangements over Ben Usen's piano and David Kitz's drums and percussion.
The result is an ambitious, if sometimes, somewhat over produced affair. Princeton does not, however, ever make bad music and overall this is a great record. Some of the bright spots for me are:
"Grand Rapids" awash in pearly synths and whether claps feels like mid 90's club music, sultry and dense like people looking to hook up. The programmed feel only accentuates this feel, it rushes to it's destination in a flurry of sounds.
"Holding Teeth" pulls you in a dozen directions. While the strings, percussion, and more- busy about like down town Tokyo, the vocals extend out slowly, the lyrics sung smooth and sustained. The contra-position here can be, at first, dizzying bu there is method to this madness. As "Holding Teeth" slows down dynamically in it's last throes it feels like you are resting after a long race and by the time the horn starts marrying the vocal lines you are hooked into this amazing emotional opera.
"Oklahoma" has a lush acoustic piano sound that I really love. The chords with a very slight touch of dissonance sewn around a deliberate beat. This song ended much too soon.
"Andre" is my favorite song on this album. It is superbly produced, it has open spaces that let you breath in between staccato strings and belly xylophone strains. This composition has a revelatory feel that builds and lifts you up out of your seat. It has compositional elements that remind me of Ohbijou's wonderful Metal Meets album that I love so much. Jesse vocals are laced with introspection as he sings the evocatively askew refrain- "There is a knife... there is a knife slowly sinking."
"Loise", more so than any of the other songs on Remembrance of Things to Come feels a bit raw and like a live performance. I love this. The musical arc ebbs and flows until it simply expands and grows into a stirring cacophony of orchestration only to come down again. The acoustic guitar and piano strains add a special element to this composition making the entire piece feel much more organic than some of the other material on display. It is an amazing and fitting end to Remembrance of Things to Come.
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Adler Bloom
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Company Cars- Sounds of Noise Video Premiere
Company Cars Official Video by Sounds of Noise from American Pancake on Vimeo.
Sounds of Noise is playing at the Prospector in Long Beach tonight premiering their official video for "Company Cars" at their video release party. American Pancake is pleased to be a part of this event by producing the video in conjunction with S.O.N. records. For those of you who are not lucky enough to see Sounds of Noise live tonight, you can see the video for the first time here at American Pancake. Enjoy all the 80's music video conventions and a killer tune.
Mellow Drama - Louise Burns: Album Review - "casts a large stylistically diverse shadow"
Originally published on 9/3/2011 - AP is revisiting this review while our first produced music video is wrapping up.
Listening to Louise Burns' debut album - Mellow Drama makes you wonder if she is one of those "old souls" as the songs embody the emotional weight of someone twice her age. This is no doubt due to the fact that she has been in an industry that can crush creative spirits since she was eleven years old, has had major success and her share of bruises as well. In Mellow Drama, Burns has crafted a reflective body of songs that are innately rock and roll. When she croons out to "What Do You Wanna Do" (that has a kind of Buddy Holly-esque swing and sweetness) she imbues the song with a potent rockabilly swagger. The song jams with a beat that is punctuated by hand claps and punched up with a nice guitar riff. In the folk rock "Teen Angst" her cigarette smokey vocal conjures up images of a young Stevie Nicks as the shuffle beat creates a day dream dance of a song. Burns sounds vulnerable singing "Standing outside in the pouring rain, no one knows why we are built this way... can't be depressed, no I can't be insane... so why do I always feel this way" and pulls at your heartstrings when she pushes her voice into those higher registers. "Clean" is a bit psychedelic and trancy with it's guitar melody often times shadowing the vocal melody. It is a bit of Mazzy Star in tone with traces of (dare I say) Duran Duran. The chorus is lush, as is the overall production. One wonders if Burns is playing all the instruments here- as the production notes state: Burns played nearly all the instruments on the record.
This record is full of gems and "Drop Names Not Bomb" (in my mind) shines the brightest or at least casts a particularly unique glow. From the first downbeat, the keyboard progression is filled with pathos all the while kicking with energy. The cadence of the melody is bouncy but the way Burns sings "drop names not bombs... his private Vietnam... crowned with the smoke stark halo... hey this man's gonna be a star" - the words fall from her lips matter of factly like she is conversing with you at a back yard party instead of singing. Not all the songs sweep you up with their infectious energy but some of the darker songs infect you just the same. "Island Vacation" with it's one two, one two step time is a twisted little waltz of a song full of some stark imagery. This vacation sounds like a bitter affair, the lyrics hold you like a straight jacket, "I had a dream that when I was asleep someone came to my room and filmed me. Watched me toss and turn. Wonder what they learned? When I woke up my nose was bleeding" and the refrain "Lady, oh lady, who will dry your cheeks? Who will dry your cheeks? Who will pay for fancy vacations?" This dark vacation sits next to another song that has a touch of the crazies. "Sea Song" with it's faster piano waltz sound has a narcotic fairy tale feel. Another surprise is "Ocean Grey" which tonally takes a severe departure from the rest of the album. Mostly clouded in a descending keyboard riff, synth swirls and a programmed beat it is a bit of dark dream pop with a kiss of 80's new wave.
Mellow Drama casts a large stylistically diverse shadow. For Burns, who penned all the songs, with the exception of "Gypsy's Wife" (a Leonard Cohen song), Mellow Drama is a startlingly good debut album. The music is captivating and not overly produced. One thing to note is that Burns is particularly adept at writing bridges which seems to be a lost art these days. Her bridges wonderfully elevate her songs. Her melodies never fight with the music that embrace them and her lyrical content compels you to wonder about the back story behind them. During a time when many artists prefer to play in the shallow waters of pop music it is refreshing to find Louise Burns swimming past the breakers and diving in deep waters.
- Adler Bloom
Listening to Louise Burns' debut album - Mellow Drama makes you wonder if she is one of those "old souls" as the songs embody the emotional weight of someone twice her age. This is no doubt due to the fact that she has been in an industry that can crush creative spirits since she was eleven years old, has had major success and her share of bruises as well. In Mellow Drama, Burns has crafted a reflective body of songs that are innately rock and roll. When she croons out to "What Do You Wanna Do" (that has a kind of Buddy Holly-esque swing and sweetness) she imbues the song with a potent rockabilly swagger. The song jams with a beat that is punctuated by hand claps and punched up with a nice guitar riff. In the folk rock "Teen Angst" her cigarette smokey vocal conjures up images of a young Stevie Nicks as the shuffle beat creates a day dream dance of a song. Burns sounds vulnerable singing "Standing outside in the pouring rain, no one knows why we are built this way... can't be depressed, no I can't be insane... so why do I always feel this way" and pulls at your heartstrings when she pushes her voice into those higher registers. "Clean" is a bit psychedelic and trancy with it's guitar melody often times shadowing the vocal melody. It is a bit of Mazzy Star in tone with traces of (dare I say) Duran Duran. The chorus is lush, as is the overall production. One wonders if Burns is playing all the instruments here- as the production notes state: Burns played nearly all the instruments on the record.
This record is full of gems and "Drop Names Not Bomb" (in my mind) shines the brightest or at least casts a particularly unique glow. From the first downbeat, the keyboard progression is filled with pathos all the while kicking with energy. The cadence of the melody is bouncy but the way Burns sings "drop names not bombs... his private Vietnam... crowned with the smoke stark halo... hey this man's gonna be a star" - the words fall from her lips matter of factly like she is conversing with you at a back yard party instead of singing. Not all the songs sweep you up with their infectious energy but some of the darker songs infect you just the same. "Island Vacation" with it's one two, one two step time is a twisted little waltz of a song full of some stark imagery. This vacation sounds like a bitter affair, the lyrics hold you like a straight jacket, "I had a dream that when I was asleep someone came to my room and filmed me. Watched me toss and turn. Wonder what they learned? When I woke up my nose was bleeding" and the refrain "Lady, oh lady, who will dry your cheeks? Who will dry your cheeks? Who will pay for fancy vacations?" This dark vacation sits next to another song that has a touch of the crazies. "Sea Song" with it's faster piano waltz sound has a narcotic fairy tale feel. Another surprise is "Ocean Grey" which tonally takes a severe departure from the rest of the album. Mostly clouded in a descending keyboard riff, synth swirls and a programmed beat it is a bit of dark dream pop with a kiss of 80's new wave.
Mellow Drama casts a large stylistically diverse shadow. For Burns, who penned all the songs, with the exception of "Gypsy's Wife" (a Leonard Cohen song), Mellow Drama is a startlingly good debut album. The music is captivating and not overly produced. One thing to note is that Burns is particularly adept at writing bridges which seems to be a lost art these days. Her bridges wonderfully elevate her songs. Her melodies never fight with the music that embrace them and her lyrical content compels you to wonder about the back story behind them. During a time when many artists prefer to play in the shallow waters of pop music it is refreshing to find Louise Burns swimming past the breakers and diving in deep waters.
- Adler Bloom
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Two Way Mirror - Crystal Antlers - AP Album Review - "a stellar piece of work"
Originally Posted July 17, 2011
The Lovely Bad Things - ICEE CREEPS - Official Video - AP REVIEW
Directed by Aaron Paustian with cinematography by Matt Fore, ICEE CREEPS is little piece of strange art that would have Federico Fellini scratching his head. While your average director would approach such a high energy song with equally high energy imagery and quick edits, Paustian smartly slow things down and perfects a one shot foray into something in between a fever dream and a David Lynch comedy. It plays out like a diorama of family dysfunction that quickly runs amok while The Lovely Bad Things stare blankly into space. Ah, yes, Mr.Carroll, life is but a dream.
- AP
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Listen to the New War on Drugs Track "Don't Fear the Ghost"
As reported on Pitchfork Media- hit this link and check out a new War on Drugs Track:
See complete PM article here: WAR ON DRUGS
CIAO-
AB from AP
Monday, January 9, 2012
So Tough! So Cute! Favourites From 2011 | So Tough! So Cute!
More than interesting smattering of favorites from "So Tough! So Cute!
So Tough! So Cute! Favourites From 2011 | So Tough! So Cute!
So Tough! So Cute! Favourites From 2011 | So Tough! So Cute!