Metallica’s ninth studio album, Death Magnetic, has “officially” been out for little over a week, but what a week it was. Awarded a degree of media attention that could only have been eclipsed by Jesus coming back to release The Second Coming: A Hip Hopera via iTunes, Death Magnetic has grabbed far more headlines than your average run of the mill chart-topping, Rick-Rubin-produced comeback metal album probably ever should. From Jessica Simpson to Mrs. Sarkozy, foot-long beards to fine wines, it’s Metallica’s world…we’re just reading the headlines. So for this week’s countdown, we’re running back the top ten Metallica-related stories that dominated the week that was (with a keen eye towards avoiding any “magnetic” puns wherever possible). Read more…
Two days ago I went to log in to EAR FARM’s Facebook account and what to my wondrous eyes should appear? Nothing! It seems those few warning emails they sent weren’t simply empty threats: they did indeed intend to delete our Facebook account if we didn’t stop adding “friends” at an alarming rate. Guess they hate popular people?
Anyway, EAR FARM does not have an interactive page on Facebook anymore. The powers that be have killed it. In memoriam we offer up the following mix. EAR FARM’s Facebook is dead: long live EAR FARM’s Facebook!
Join the EAR FARM Group or become a fan of EAR FARM on Facebook.
EAR FARM’s Mixtape #26: Ode to EAR FARM’s Facebook Account
1. “Bookends Theme” by Simon & Garfunkel
2. “Banned In The U.S.A.” by 2 Live Crew
3. “Broken Face” by Pixies
4. “End of Freedom” by The Wilderness
5. “Making Friends” by Bishop Allen
6. “Something of an End” by My Brightest Diamond
7. “I Need All The Friends I Can Get” by Camera Obscura
8. “Ain’t No Right” by Jane’s Addiction
9. “Nothing Is Ever Lost or Can Be Lost My Science Friend” by Liars
10. “Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone” by The Walkmen
11. “Friendship Update” by The Go! Team
12. “No More” by Dirty Projectors
13. “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me” by Culture Club
14. “Like A Friend” by Pulp
15. “You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends” by The Wedding Present
16. “Shut us Down” by Brakes
17. “Shine In Exile” by Beat The Devil
18. “Never Going Back Again” by Fleetwood Mac
19. “I Miss You” by White Hinterland
20. “There’s A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends” by Morrissey
21. “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” by Edith Piaf
22. “Bookends Theme” by Simon & Garfunkel
*front image from HERE.
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8tracks is a simple way to create and share mixtapes that we’re now using in lieu of Muxtape, we may even like it more. Check back, as we post a brand new mix each week on Friday morning. You can see all of the EAR FARM Weekly Mixes HERE.
“Fragments of a Prayer” by John Tavener & Sarah Connolly which clocks in at 15:22.
The following is Part 1 of a four part 8+ series based upon songs from the film ‘Children of Men’, the film itself, and the writing of Jorge Luis Borges.
No one saw her disembark in the beclouded night, no one saw the gifted rowboat sink into the inviolable mud, narrowly evading the adversaries aboard The Tomorrow who’d taken her child. No one saw her arrive, but, after a few days, there was no one who did not know that the woman came from the East and that her home had been one of those numberless villages across the sea, where the English language has not been contaminated by The Gaels and where a third trimester is as infrequent as anywhere else. An air of uncertainty shrouded her just as heavily as did the aura of singularity that radiated from her core.
What is certain is that the woman kissed the mud, climbed up the bank with thoughts of her baby cradled so tightly she could almost feel her (probably, without feeling anything herself - unknowingly welcoming the blades which were lacerating her flesh), and crawled, nauseated and bloodstained, up to the circular enclosure crowned with a stone serpent or griffin - or was it a human infant? - which sometimes was the color of flame and now was that of ashes.
This circle was a temple which had been consumed by ancient fires, engulfed by the vaporous bog, and whose god no longer received the prayers of men. Kee, the name she’d been given (or perhaps had given to herself), stretched herself out beneath the pedestal and rested, thoughts of her child clutched and cloaked and safe. She had given birth, a daughter, they took her. She was awakened by the sun high overhead and was not astonished to find her wounds healed; she closed her eyes and slept, not through weakness of mind, body, or spirit, but through determination of will. She knew that this temple was the place required for her indomitable intent; she knew that the overbearing trees had not succeeded in strangling the ruins of another temple downstream which had once belonged to gods now burned and dead. She knew that her immediate obligation was to dream.
Toward midnight she was awakened by the disconsolate shriek of a bird. Tracks of bare feet, some figs and a gun warned her that the men of the region had been spying respectfully on her sleep, soliciting her potential, or afraid of her magic. She felt a chill of fear and sought out a niche in the crevassed wall where she concealed herself among obscuring leaves.
The purpose which guided her was not impossible, though supernatural. She wanted to dream a girl; she wanted to dream her complete in studied detail and impose her on reality. She’d done it before and needed to test her ability to do so again. The undertaking had exhausted the entire expanse of her mind; if someone had asked her her name or to relate some event of the past week, she would not have been able to give an answer. Not even as images of Theo and prison camps and Dylan and war filled her mind. Memory was fleeting, fuzzy. Intangible. Therefore, this uninhabited, ruined temple suited her, for it contained a minimum of visible world. The proximity of the workmen also suited her, for they took it upon themselves to provide for her basic needs anonymously. The rice and fruit they brought were nourishment enough for her as she consecrated to the sole task of sleeping and dreaming. They would aid her, passively, unsure of precisely what or why they were helping.
Initially, her dreams were chaotic; then in almost no time they became academic in nature. Kee dreamed that she was in the center of a rounded colosseum which was more or less the burnt temple; clouds of silent onlookers filled the rows of seats; the faces of the most distant ones hung many centuries away and as high as the stars, but their features were well-defined and obvious. She felt as though she were leading a class and thus lectured her pupils on anatomy, obstetrics, and magic, none of which could very well be separated in today’s world. The faraway faces listened uneasily and tried to answer knowingly, as if they guessed the truth buried behind nearly twenty years of improbability, or that they themselves might be ripped from the heavens of imagination and thrust into the real world if only through exhibiting an understanding. Asleep or awake, Kee thought over the answers of her phantoms, did not allow herself to be fooled by visions of others, and in an enigmatic manner sensed a growing intelligence. Somewhere among the nameless faces would be another - one to replace the daughter torn from her grasp aboard The Tomorrow - another soul worthy of participating in the universe and joining Earth as the second baby in a generation. Unlike any other person on the planet, she had created life. A child. And she was going to do it again.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Buy Children of Men (Music from the Motion Picture) HERE.
*front thumbnail and top photo from HERE
EAR FARM’s 8+ is a weekly feature that showcases songs longer than 8 minutes. Click HERE to see the songs recently featured in EF’s 8+.
Not only is Dungen set to release another staggeringly psychedelic album on the unsuspecting masses (their fourth full-length, and in a Zeppelin-inspired move appropriately titled 4), but they’re also considerate enough to kick off an accompanying US tour here in New York during CMJ. 4 drops on Kemado Records on September 30th; Dungen drops in on the Music Hall of Williamsburg on October 24th. What else do you want to know? Well, judging by advance single “Satt Att Se” (listen below), the drums still sound amazing. Other than that, let’s go straight to the press release, shall we? Read more…
Whether by design or sheer coincidence, two seemingly unrelated Top 100 lists have popped up within the past week to forge a sort of perfect storm of pointless analysis and time-wasting critique. The lists themselves are enormously interesting and informational; it’s my own uncontrollable urge to conflate the two that presents the black hole of inanity. Vain hopes of unlocking the hidden synchronicity amongst their ordered logic consume me. Numbers swell backwards and forwards in a taunting ebb and flow. 100 to 1 and 100 to 1. What’s the connection? Your asses are mine, lists; show yourselves. Read more…
EAR FARM’s Three for Free: three EF approved, free and legal MP3s posted whenever the mood strikes us. This time: three from Miniature Tigers. Click on the song name to listen to the song. Read more…
Yet again, KEXP has proven itself worthy of your daytime listening attention. Just a reminder to set your respective browsers or radio dials to KEXP.org or 90.3 FM (in Seattle, 91.5 FM here in NYC during select hours) to catch any or all of the following in-studio guests and performances going down throughout the week:
Balkan Beat Box - Tuesday September 16, 6:00pm
Laura Marling - Wednesday September 17, 8:00am
Okkervil River - Wednesday September 17, 4:00pm
Darker My Love - Thursday September 18, 8:00am
CSS - Thursday September 18, 12:00pm; Listen: “Rat Is Dead (Rage)”
Human Highway - Friday September 19, 8:00am
Ra Ra Riot - Friday September 19, 4:00pm; Listen: “Each Year”
Joan As Police Woman - Saturday September 20, 12:00pm
Meat Purveyors - Saturday September 20, 3:00pm; Listen: “Car Crash”
Obelus + ndCv + Caitlin Sherman - Saturday September 20, 6:00pm
The Sight Below - Saturday September 20, 8:00pm
And be sure to visit KEXP’s programming listings to get a handle on the rest of their upcoming guests strolling through between now and November. Highlights include Dr. Dog, Blitzen Trapper, Dead Confederate, Port O’Brien and…..well just go and see for yourself, there’s tons.
As always, you can scroll through all of their archives of past performances HERE.
above photo of Human Highway from Jonny Leather
XKCD is “a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language” published three times per week by Randall Munroe, a former contractor for NASA. It’s my favorite regularly updated webcomic and well worth checking out each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Today, here on EAR FARM, we’ve collected ten of our favorite xkcd comics that deal with music in one way or another. Stop. Collaborate and listen.
- 10. Keeping Time (below)
- 9. The Perfect Sound (below)
- 8. Digital Rights Management (below)
- 7. Boombox (below)
- 6. Guitar Hero (below)
- 5. Important Life Lesson (below)
- 4. With Apologies to The Who (below)
- 3. Music Knowledge (below)
- 2. Rock Band (below)
- 1. M.C. Hammer Slide (below)
A bit of sad news for us Pink Floyd fans, from Yahoo! News…
LONDON - Richard Wright, a founding member of the rock group Pink Floyd, died Monday. He was 65.
Pink Floyd’s spokesman Doug Wright, who is not related to the artist, said Wright died after a battle with cancer at his home in Britain. He says the band member’s family did not want to give more details about his death.
Wright met Pink Floyd members Roger Waters and Nick Mason in college and joined their early band, Sigma 6. Along with the late Syd Barrett, the four formed Pink Floyd in 1965.
The group’s jazz-infused rock and drug-laced multimedia “happenings” made them darlings of the London psychedelic scene, and their 1967 album, “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” was a hit.
In the early days of Pink Floyd, Wright, along with Barrett, was seen as the group’s dominant musical force. The London-born musician and son of a biochemist wrote songs and sang.
The band released a series of commercially and critically successful albums including 1973’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” which has sold more than 40 million copies. Wright wrote “The Great Gig In The Sky” and “Us And Them” for that album, and later worked on the group’s epic compositions such as “Atom Heart Mother,” “Echoes” and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.”
But tensions grew between Waters, Wright and fellow band member David Gilmour. The tensions came to a head during the making of “The Wall” when Waters insisted Wright be fired. As a result, Wright was relegated to the status of session musician on the tour of “The Wall,” and did not perform on Pink Floyd’s 1983 album “The Final Cut.”
Wright formed a new band Zee with Dave Harris, from the band Fashion, and released one album, “Identity,” with Atlantic Records.
Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985 and Wright began recording with Mason and Gilmour again, releasing the albums “The Division Bell” and “A Momentary Lapse of Reason” as Pink Floyd. Wright also released the solo albums “Wet Dream” (1978) and “Broken China” (1996).
In July 2005, Wright, Waters, Mason and Gilmour reunited to perform at the “Live 8″ charity concert in London — the first time in 25 years they had been onstage together.
Wright also worked on Gilmour’s solo projects, most recently playing on the 2006 album “On An Island” and the accompanying world tour.
Listen: “The Great Gig In The Sky” by Pink Floyd
*above picture of Wright performing in 2006 from HERE
Well, it’s finally here, and it’s holed up in a dark corner of a Ukranian speakeasy in the East Village as we speak. Wait, what? That’s right, The Flaming Lips’ long-awaited (and long-delayed) outer space Christmas pageant getdown Christmas On Mars is making its New York City premiere today at the Kraine Theater within the KGB Complex (85 East Fourth Street).
But why the KGB as opposed to say, a real movie theater? It’s very simple, dear reader, and I can spell it out to you in seven words (or eight depending on how you feel about hyphens): ZETA BOOTIS MEGA SUPERSONIC SUPER-SOUND SURROUND SOUND SYSTEM! Read more…
The Rosebuds have a brand new album, titled Life Like, set to be released by Merge Records on October 7th. It’s their fourth full-length and represents a bit of a return to the organic sounds that drove 2005’s Birds Make Good Neighbors. Guest appearances on the record include Portastatic’s Matthew McCaughan, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, and Ashley Stove’s Jim Brantley. You can hear/download the title track below and can stream the entire record on Merge’s site (link below).
Listen: “Life Like”
Stream the entire album HERE.
Pre-order Life Like HERE.
Visit The Rosebuds on MySpace.
The best words in music don’t always have to flow forth from painfully constructed song lyrics. Often enough, it’s the peripheral white noise of everyday idle chatter, catty back and forths, out-of-context quotes, musings, ramblings and ill-advised blog postings surrounding the actual music that provides the most fun and enlightenment for the armchair frontman.
Part “they actually said that?” part “wow, that’s fairly interesting” part “no shit dummy” part “Musicians: they’re just like us! (in that they also speak and write?)” and part “oh that quote must belong to Courtney Love”, we offer you a bit of a roundup of the latest words heard round the campfire over the past few days. Turn your thinking caps off… Read more…
How is it fair that in addition to preternatural good looks and universal health care, the Swedish population is also blessed with an uncanny ability to write great pop music? I’m not sure myself, but I mean come on, there’s no denying the unlimited hooks and sugary singalongs crammed throughout the back catalogs of any of these extraordinary Swedes: I’m From Barcelona, Jens Lekman, Peter Bjorn and John, The Shout Out Louds, The Cardigans, ummm, ABBA?
And though it smacks of sonic profiling, we just had a hunch that Marching Band could up the depleted stores of pop serum in EF headquarters once we realized they were from Sweden. And deliver they did. Read more…
In anticipation of The Bell House’s grand opening on September 18th (following a private opening on the 17th), I did a little reconnaissance mission this past Thursday in order to get a firsthand look. My curiosity was rewarded, because Jack (Skippy) McFadden - co-owner and booker of the Bell House (and booker at Union Hall) - graciously agreed to take me on the grand tour of the premises as the fully realized vision of the space continued to take impressive shape around us.
Armed with a camera and perhaps an inappropriate number of questions, I compiled the following picture tour to give you 20 vicarious views of Gowanus’s newest gem, The Bell House. But first, here’s what Skippy had to say in a press release circulated just hours after my visit there… Read more…
EAR FARM’s Three for Free: three EF approved, free and legal MP3s posted whenever the mood strikes us. Today, more good stuff from the inbox! If you haven’t heard already, Secretly Canadian Records is set to release Trying Hartz (First Fruits ‘94-’04), a retrospective celebration of all things Daniel Smith (the man behind the family affair that is Danielson), on November 4th. “Animal In Every Corner” is a pretty awesome freebie from the forthcoming collection to tide you over until then.
Elsewhere, Magic Arm, aka Marc Rigelsford, aka EF Band of the Week back in early February, offers us a B-side recording of the Serge Gainsbourg classic “The Ballad of Melody Nelson”, which he had performed at a show honoring the esteemed singer and since incorporated into his repertoire. And finally, “From Stardust to Sentience” marks the first single from High Places’ new self-titled album, due out on September 23rd on Thrill Jockey Records. Read more…