Apparently, this is the closest we’re going to get to a rumored Mr. Bungle reunion. The song comes from a 7″ vinyl release by Trey Spruance’s Secret Chiefs 3. Spruance was the lead guitarist and keyboardist for Mr. Bungle, which has been inactive since 2000. Mr. Patton contributes vocals for Side A, which is a cover of Jacques Brel’s “La Chanson de Jacky.” Hopefully, this will hold us over until Patton releases the next Tomahawk record, which is expected later this year! You can download “La Chanson de Jacky (feat. Mike Patton)” here or stream it below [via GunShyAssassin]:
[These pics are from Jeff Mangum's Paramount Theater performance last October. Due to the strict no-photo policy, images are difficult to come by]. Last night’s Jeff Mangum show will be the last for the foreseeable future in our area, and it brought most of the 1000+ at Irvine Auditorium on the campus of UPenn to tears. This was our sixth show, including the five-song mini set in NYC two years ago, and it proved to be one of the most memorable. It was our second time with balcony seats, as the only show in Philadelphia sold out in 34 seconds back in November. Luckily, the acoustics of the auditorium were comparable to the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park. We skipped out on Neutral Milk Hotel alum Julian Koster’s The Music Tapes after a tedious opening set in Brooklyn several days earlier. Koster told the same long-winded, mythical stories he told during the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour. A 30-minute set would have been just right, but the band played on for an hour (equal stage time as Mangum).
Mangum entered stage right with his normal humble but slightly paranoid demeanor, but you could tell he was getting used to and was enjoying performing again after a large string of dates over past few months. He started right into “Two-Headed Boy Pt. Two” to a completely silent audience. It was so quiet you’d have to question, just for a second, if they were into it. The raging applause, yelps, “thank yous,” “we love yous,” etc. quickly put to rest that thought immediately. One of the highlights of the night was the accompaniment of Julian Koster’s singing saw during fan-favorite “Engine,” just as he did earlier in the week in Brooklyn (during a show I missed). Koster hit every note perfectly, and the song never sounded better. An additional highlight was another performance of the ultra-rare “Little Birds,” Mangum’s take on religious baptism, in which he sings in a raised voice, “knowing God in heaven could have … never could forgive him | So I took a hammer and I nearly beat his brains in.” Like most of his songs, the imagery taken from Mangum’s lyrics is both disturbing and beautiful. In the end, the highlight of each and every show was my personal favorite, “Oh Comely.” You can check it out the performance below [via NewJawnVideos] (poor video, decent audio):
One of the best surprises of the night featured The Music Tapes walking in from the rear of the auditorium at the end of “Two-Headed Boy.” On Neutral Milk Hotel’s opus In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, “Two-Headed Boy” is followed by the trumpet-heavy instrumental track “The Fool.” The Music Tapes made it about 2/3 through the main aisle in the orchestra section and stopped, playing the trumpet part of “The Fool” in the middle of the crowd. Mangum has previously told everyone to leave their seats, and approach the stage. The aisles were full, and the entire audience was standing by this point. The trumpet wasn’t mic’d but supplemented Mangum’s strumming guitar masterfully. Jeff and company exited the stage when the song ended. Mangum returned for a two-song encore after thunderous applause from the eager crowd. He went right into “Song Against Sex,” from NMH’s first album On Avery Island. He then finished the set with an epic performance of “In The Aeroplance Over The Sea.” I’ve heard the song live several times before, but it was always missing Koster’s singing saw, which adds a beautiful eeriness to the dreadfully hopeful track. Koster entered once again with saw in hand, and the NMH bandmates played a masterful live version of the song.
Jeff had previously announced these were the last shows for now, if not forever. And he kind of confirmed that last night when a fan shouted “see you soon” from the audience. Jeff responded “maybe” with obvious hesitance and doubt in his voice. One can only hope for anything more, including new music. In the meantime, we will revel in memory of these amazing shows that we never dreamed would happen.
Here is last night’s setlist:
Although Jeff didn’t play the song, listen to Fishpork’s favorite track of 2011, the previously unreleased “Ferris Wheel on Fire” below:
After seeing Eric Copeland open up for Avey Tare late last year at Johnny Brenda’s, the new Black Dice album is something we’ve been greatly anticipating. The record will be called Mr. Impossible and releases on April 10 via Ribbon Music. In the meantime, the New York based trio provide a taste of the new album with “Pigs.” You can stream and download “Pigs” by Black Dice (click down arrow for download) below:
This list may fly in the face of most “best of” lists for 2011. Excluded are the overrated Bon Iver, James Blake, and the array of wince-inducing rap projects that have been embraced by particular hipster circles. Included are some albums that have been relentlessly bashed by the indie blogosphere, but ones we loved, such as The Strokes, Radiohead, and White Lies, as well as some that were completely ignored this year (Feersum Ennjin and Saul Williams).
We don’t call ‘em the best, just our favorites. These are the records that got the most plays on our iPods this year, our favorite albums of 2011:
Crystal Castles gave an early Christmas present to fans yesterday by posting a remix of the previously released “Leni,” a remix of a GoodBooks song by the same name. If you listen closely you can hear a sample of the last verse of The Knife’s “We Share Our Mother’s Health.” You can stream and download “Leny (ADAT rmx)” by Crystal Castles (click down arrow for download) below:
Jeff Mangum came out of hiding to officially release some brilliant old tracks from the archives, Keaton Henson put out an achingly powerful single from 2010′s self-released Dear…, and a lot of deaf music reviewers shit on The Strokes latest collection of songs (except for us, of course). 2011 welcomed back our all-time favorite artists and introduced us to new favorites. Narrowing down the year’s best was especially difficult this time around, but here is our very biased list of 25 favorite tracks from 2011 (give the page a minute to load the embedded clips):
1. Neutral Milk Hotel – “Ferris Wheel on Fire”
2. Keaton Henson – “You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are”
3. The Strokes – “Machu Picchu”
4. Feersum Ennjin – “Hate The Sun”
5. Modeselektor – “Pretentious Friends”
6. HEALTH – “Goth Star (Pictureplane cover)”
7. Tapes ‘n Tapes – “Nightfall”
8. M83 – “Midnight City”
9. SONOIO – “Enough”
10. Radiohead – “Codex”
11. Panda Bear – “Alsatian Darn”
12. Keaton Henson – “Strawbear”
13. The Antlers – “Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out”
We missed this one back in August, but here it is before we reveal our favorite songs of 2011 this week. Keaton Henson’s amazing “You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are” isn’t an obvious choice for a remix, but Raleigh, North Carolina’s Constrobuz puts in an impressive effort on his take of Henson’s solemn tune. Download “You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are (Constrobuz Remix)” by Keaton Henson here or stream it below:
The intensely introverted UK artist/musician has no plans to play live shows any time soon … at least in the traditional sense. On the heals of a successful 2011 spurred on by positive word-of-mouth from newly hooked fans, Keaton has decided to stream live online performances in what he’s calling his “Forts” series. These streaming shows will comprise of a hybrid that mixes live performance with elements of the music video. We’re warned that all is not what it appears … with a twist. We were lucky enough to catch the first rare streaming performance by Keaton Henson this afternoon here in the U.S. and look forward to the rest of the series. Henson will certainly make an appearance on our favorite tracks of 2011 list next week! Check out a recording of the “Forts” live performance stream below:
Tracklist:
1. You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are
2. Strawbear
3. To Your Health
While 2010 may have been the year we got to see Jeff Mangum play five songs, who would have thought we’d get to see three full Mangum sets in 2011?! It’s hard to compare that experience even in a year that was loaded with unforgettable performances. We were also lucky to catch James Murphy bid farewell to LCD Soundsystem, Tapes N’ Tapes proved why they are one of the best live bands on the planet, and Portishead blew the roof off of Asbury’s Convention Hall twice in ATP headlining performances. ATP recently announced that it will be returning to Asbury Park next year for another round of I’ll Be Your Mirror Performances, a guarantee that 2012 will have much live music to look forward to. Until then, here is our very biased list of favorite shows of 2011:
Just received an awesome tune from our friends at Fanatic. Los Angeles-based musician Faris McReynolds, who also makes music as the minimalist avant-garde pop project One Finger Riot, takes a totally different songwriting approach as alter-ego Exdetectives on Take My Forever due January 31st from the Post Planetary record label. Upon hearing this new track, Dinosaur Jr. was the first band to come to mind for me. Here’s what McReynolds says about it: “I’m paying tribute to the music of my youth. Britpop bands like Blur, Ride, and Elastica, first wave indie rock like Dinosaur, Jr. and also The Beatles which I didn’t hear until after I’d gone through punk. This music is about being straightforward and letting the songs do the work. It’s loose, casual and direct. Hopefully something I didn’t plan for comes out of that approach.” [via Fanatic]
Download “The Lawn” by Exdetectives here or stream it below:
Apparently, this is the closest we’re going to get to a rumored Mr. Bungle reunion. The song comes from a 7″ vinyl release by Trey Spruance’s Secret Chiefs 3. Spruance was the lead guitarist and keyboardist for Mr. Bungle, which has been inactive since 2000. Mr. Patton contributes vocals for Side A, which is a cover of Jacques Brel’s “La Chanson de Jacky.” Hopefully, this will hold us over until Patton releases the next Tomahawk record, which is expected later this year! You can download “La Chanson de Jacky (feat. Mike Patton)” here or stream it below [via GunShyAssassin]:
[These pics are from Jeff Mangum's Paramount Theater performance last October. Due to the strict no-photo policy, images are difficult to come by]. Last night’s Jeff Mangum show will be the last for the foreseeable future in our area, and it brought most of the 1000+ at Irvine Auditorium on the campus of UPenn to tears. This was our sixth show, including the five-song mini set in NYC two years ago, and it proved to be one of the most memorable. It was our second time with balcony seats, as the only show in Philadelphia sold out in 34 seconds back in November. Luckily, the acoustics of the auditorium were comparable to the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park. We skipped out on Neutral Milk Hotel alum Julian Koster’s The Music Tapes after a tedious opening set in Brooklyn several days earlier. Koster told the same long-winded, mythical stories he told during the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour. A 30-minute set would have been just right, but the band played on for an hour (equal stage time as Mangum).
