Tube :: 3 Inches of Blood :: Goatriders Horde

I may actually comment on this later, but for right now, just dig this crazy noise.

Tube :: Menomena :: Rotten Hell

A busy schedule has kept me from my music video watching lately, but I'm just starting to catch up now. The first video to really catch my eye is the new offering from Menomena. I'm really worried that since their amazing record Friend and Foe came out in January, it'll get skipped over on most critics end-of-the-year lists, where it most certainly deserves a spot. But hopefully this new video will remind everyone just how great Menomena are. The video documents a cafeteria food fight, and while it doesn't sound like it, it's definitely one of the most beautiful videos in recent memory and a definite contender for best video of the year (right behind that Battles video for 'Atlas'). Enjoy!

Bonus! Here's more food fight goodness for you!

Tube :: Kanye West :: Can't Tell Me Nothing (Zach Galifianakis Version)

This has probably already been on every blog imaginable, but it's too good not to post. Zach Galifianakis has struck again, good children! Head here to check out his new video in which he lip synchs to Kanye West's 'Can't Tell Me Nothing.' And he's brought along special guest Will Oldham (aka Bonnie 'Prince' Billy)! It's pretty hipsteriffic. There are tractors, cows, fields, clogging, and chainsaws. And as an added bonus, here are two other Galifianakis synching videos. They have both brought me lots of joy, and I hope they do the same for you.

GoGoIndieCritic :: Spoon :: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Since their move to Merge with 2001’s Girls Can Tell, Spoon has been pushing at their own boundaries like a painter who’s created a beautiful portrait but can’t help adding just one more brushstroke every time he passes the canvas, slightly changing the image without tarnishing its appeal. The Austin band’s sixth album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is perhaps the most successful of these attempts even though on a first listen, one prays for a return to the hooks of Gimme Fiction’s 'I Turn My Camera On' or even the recondite lyricism of 'The Beast and Dragon, Adored.' However, this album is the definition of a grower; the blue-eyed soul and roguish hooks sneaking up behind you when you least expect it.

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga manages to perfectly encapsulate exactly what Britt Daniel and Co. are all about as well. On the Jon Brion-produced pop gem 'The Underdog', horns blast over jangly acoustic guitar as Daniel kicks against the pricks, crooning, 'You got no fear of the underdog/ That’s why you will not survive.' Their compassion for the middle man striving against the comforting pressure to just be mediocre is again revisited on 'Finer Feelings' where Daniel sings, 'Sometimes I think that I'll find a love/ One that's gonna change my heart/ And I'll find it in Commercial Appeal/ And then this heartache'll get chased away.' Here, the liberal Memphis paper’s name holds an interesting if not immediately obvious double meaning, right before the song drops out and is replaced with untraceable crowd noise and filtered talkback.

This album also cements Britt Daniel as one of the finest frontmen in music today. His sleepy Elvis-Costello-by-way-of-Texas drawl creates an alienating yet alluring dynamic that fits the band perfectly.

4.5 of 5

Spoon The Ghost of You Lingers

Spoon Rhthm and Soul (Live)

Buy Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga here.

Stay In :: The Ones That Got Away Vol. 2

I swear I'm getting some posts together. I had all these amazing plans for updates every day this week, but flat tires and general life stuff have gotten in the way, so I'm afraid I have to be lazy today and just link you to one of my favorite blogs I Guess I'm Floating where today he posted the second installment in his The Ones That Got Away series, a collection of rare tracks and b-sides from bands currently blowing up the blogosphere. I highly recommend The National and Spoon tracks, but everything there is worth checking out. You should just head down to the bottom and download the zip file (with pretty artwork!).

New Noise :: Due East + Magnetic Flowers

Two of my favorite local bands have been hard at work in the studio this year and recently posted some of the fruits of their labors. Due East played an amazing show here in town last week with Cory Branan, and then I followed them up to Raleigh to see them open for Cory and American Aquarium. I might post a review of that show later once the pictures get back, but in the meantime, I'll just say that it was well worth the drive. The only disappointment was that I kept forgetting to get a copy of Due East's album from the guys. Luckily for me (and you, gentle reader), they've posted some tracks on their myspace page. Here's a favorite of mine. It perfectly captures the heartbroken smiles Due East tries to invoke with their music. And the line 'Sometimes one and one make none' is a way more astute mathematics-meets-monogamy observation than Ryan Adams' new satellite radio hit 'It Takes Two.' Make sure to check out the other tracks on their MySpace page, and swing by New Brookland Tavern on July 15th to see the guys play and maybe pick up a copy of the new CD.

Due East One and None

Due East on MySpace


The hits keep on coming with Magnetic Flowers and their upcoming album Presents, Pasts, and Futures that you can grab at their CD-release show at The Whig on August 17th. This is a terrific track that showcases some of the great dual (and triple) vocals that these guys can do. And the explosive end to the song is just too much fun. Again, head to their myspace for more goodness.

Magnetic Flowers Widescreen Version

Magnetic Flowers on MySpace

Get Out! :: 07.12.07

Get Out! is indierocket!'s guide to getting down in the Soda City.
Those Lavender Whales; Sleepwalk, A Robot :: Art Bar :: 9 p.m.

Full disclosure: On a personal level, Aaron Graves — the brains of this Nashville-via-Columbia operation — is one of my favorite people in the universe. That said, we here at indierocket! love us some Those Lavender Whales. The brainchild of the erstwhile No Way Jose! drummer, Those Lavender Whales eschews the Nintendo riffs and flashy techno-wizardry of his former band, but that doesn't mean it's any less fun. On the contrary: The music of Those Lavender Whales is like a rich hearth fire on a cold winter's night — warming, comforting and inviting. Graves' simple, somber alt-folk tunes get by on strong imagery, witty wordplay and wonderfully lush arrangements that make excellent use of the slide whistle, bells and other found-sound-type instrumentation. Its upbeat power owes much to Elephant Six-ers the likes of Elf Power and Of Montreal, and songs such as "When You Think About Space and Realize How Big it Is and it Gives You That Strange Feeling" recall Masters of the Hemisphere and Michigan-era Sufjan Stevens. Playing with Graves tonight will be two of his No Way Jose! comrades: Jordan Blackmon (also of Brave Horatius and Alaska the Tiger) and Chris Gardner, who are two of my other favorite people in the universe. Sleepwalk, A Robot hails from Phoenix and plays acoustic, coffeeshop singer-songwriter emo-pop buoyed by electronic beats and flourishes. Damage: $3.

Get Out! :: Cory Branan + Due East @ The Whig :: 07.11.07

In a fitting bout of kismet, the first time I saw Cory Branan was during my first visit to The Whig. (My first Taco Tuesday, in fact.) Since then, I've become a huge fan of Branan, seeing many shows and finding many live bootlegs. (I've also eaten many 50-cent tacos since then as well.) Branan is, without a doubt, one of the best singer-songwriters in alt-country today; his songs are filled with compelling characters and self-effacing wit and interspersed with some hilarious stage patter. Branan also has the ability to play his songs differently every show, crafting a fascinating dynamism that must be seen to be believed.

And we all know how I feel about Due East. In fact, the day after this show, I'm heading up to Raleigh to see Due East, Cory, and American Aquarium. It should be a blast and a half. But if you can't make it all the way up there, then definitely don't miss your chance to see Cory and Due East at the Whig. And hey, it's a free show, and there's two-dollar pints as well. You can't lose!

Cory Branan on MySpace (Check out some of the live tracks!)

IndieRocket's quick profile on Branan

Due East on MySpace

Musings :: Dave Mustaine: Republican?

As much as your indierocketeers hate regurgitating other blogs' content, this was far too funny to pass up. Idolator linked this morning to a United Nations Dispatch article critiquing — and using more than 1,800 words to do so — Megadeth's "United Abominations." There are plenty of choice passages in critic Mark Leon Goldberg's work — we share Idolator's favorite: "At this point, you can hear French spoken in the background. The only thing I could decifer was, "Nous besoin d'ordre mondial," meaning, "We need global order." This apparently upsets Mustaine, because he launches into a monster guitar solo! " — and Goldberg does a fine job of trashing Mustaine's fact errors and lyrical absurdities. (Not to mention Mustaine's apparent belief in and references to pre-millenialist Christian mythology, his apparent confusion of Hamas and Hezbollah and his complete misunderstanding of what the United Nations, you know, does.)

But can Goldberg pull off the solo in "Hangar 18?" Somehow, I doubt it.

Critic Watch: Megadeth Smackdown Edition [UN Dispatch, via Idolator]

Backtrack :: Judee Still :: Jesus Was A Cross Maker

Sorry for the NSFW content, but I found that picture too compelling not to post. One of the saddest and least known stories in rock and roll history, Judee Still was a predacessor for Joni Mitchell and Carole King, but besides having this amazing track covered by The Hollies (which was recently featured in Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown), she never received any commerical note. It's one of those songs that I've always wanted to hear the lyrical explanation for, but never found much written about. I certainly have my interpretation, but I'd love to hear others or the actual account of what it's all about. Anyway, enjoy!