Flight of the Conchords

You know starting life over in a new city with hardly any real possessions is more of a challenge than I was expecting. Not to say its been difficult, but man it takes a long time to get everything set up, which is a shame cause that's time I could be using to listen to music. Anyways, since I haven't really listened to much lately as I've only now got a desk (thank you IKEA) and my speakers set up, I'm doing another half-assed post. This one still will rec some music, but in a different form.

Flight of the Conchords, billed as New Zealand's 4th most popular folk parody duo, made their television debut this year with the premiere of their series on HBO. I know this is old news, but now that the season is over I thought it would be good to go back and look at some of their songs and why I think they're not only talented musicians, but also great comedians who put on a hilarious show.

The basic premise of the show follows the struggles of the band Flight of the Conchords, comprised of Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, as they try to make it big in New York. The show is pretty similar to a British comedy with clever dry wit and awkward situations, but also adds a musical touch as the guys often break into song during the episode; singing about the situations they encounter. Though they bill themselves as more of a folk band in the show, the songs they actually perform span a wide range of musical genres, and I think its a big show of their talent to be able to write in so many different formats.

I initially was not a fan of the show, and especially the songs. But after going back and watching a couple more episodes I found the humor in it and really began to love the show. The combination of songs they perform along with the themes and situations they develop make for a pretty funny show, and I think it will continue to grow in popularity. So for this post I'm just putting up the links for a couple youtube videos that I think show some of their best work.

Like I said the show's first season has ended, but you can catch the episodes OnDemand on HBO, or if you don't have access to HBO, the Season 1 DVD comes out November 6th. So check out the show if you haven't seen it yet, and I'll try to actually get to some real music sometime soon now that I'm getting settled in.

Flight of the Conchords - Business Time

Flight of the Conchords - If You're Into It

Flight of the Conchords - Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros

Flight of the Conchods - The Humans are Dead
from a live conert

Flight of the Conchords - Sello Tape



-Alec

The Evolution of a Band Part III: Slowreader

Tensions between the drummer and the rest of the Impossibles hit a breaking point. Pat was kicked out of the band, a replacement drummer was brought in for what the Impossible called their last tour ever. The Impossibles as we know them ended with a show in Austin, TX in June of 2002. However Rory and Gabe, the brainchildren behind the Impossibles, still had the itch to make music. Soon after the breakup, they began writing demos in their tiny apartment in Austin for a new concept called Slowreader and released in late 2002 a self-titled album.

Slowreader seemed to complete the transformation and maturation of Rory and Gabe. Their new take on music was much more atmospheric, with light guitar strumming, breath-y vocals, and sparse key arrangments floating in, out, and around the basic melodies. Gabe takes over all singing duties this time, and really softens his voice to fit the new style. Sometimes it feels like he is quietly crooning in the corner of your room, and other times like his voice is cascading down from the ceiling as you lay in bed.

Honestly, I really didn't like this CD when I first listened to it. I wanted more Impossibles, more rocking, more to dance to. About 2 years after this CD was dropped, I came back to give it another shot. And I will say without question that it is one of my top 10 or 15 favorite albums of all time. Lay back and take it in, breathe with it, close your eyes, and perhaps fall asleep to it. Here are a few songs.

The first is 'Every Part of Nothing', which is the most upbeat on the album. It kicks of with some light strumming, while an easy drum beat kicks in during the first verse. Gabe lets his voice sail smoothly on it's own until Rory adds some harmonies in the choruses. The production has some nice electronic stylings that keep the song pushing ever so slightly. 'Anesthetic for the Amputee' is a personal favorite of mine. I'm not really sure why I like it so much. Maybe the emo-ish lyrics, maybe the catchy chorus, maybe because it's well done. The last track is 'Fallen on the World'. This track is one I was talking about earlier that falls down from the ceiling. Lay in bed and listen, and enjoy. Also, compare with old Impossibles and new Impossibles...interesting, eh?

Slowreader - Every Part of Nothing

Slowreader - Anesthetic for the Amputee

Slowreader - Fallen on the World

Concert Review: The Format, Limbeck, Steel Train

Time to backtrack a little here to a concert tour that rolled through the midwest earlier this month. I'm surprised we forgot to write a review on this, but somehow it slipped through the cracks even though Kyle and I both saw it in different cities.

The tour featured The Format as a headliner backed by Limbeck, Steel Train, Piebald, and Reuben's Accomplice. The core lineup of Format, Steel Train, and Limbeck is one of my favorite to see, and I think a great example of bands with similar styles getting together to put on a great show. The show opened with Reuben's Accomplice who played a decent set but nothing spectacular.

Steel Train, who we wrote about earlier this winter, has finished their style change and have completely shed their jam band roots now. We've already covered this before, but I just wanted to point out that their old style is now officially dead, and if you never got a chance to see it you missed out cause it was a hell of an experience.

Limbeck played another great set. I love how simple these guys' approach to music is, and really their only goal with their sound is to make songs that you love to listen to. I've written about them before, but since then I've picked up their third release, Limbeck, and it's a really good album. It's better I think than their last release Let Me Come Home, so I'm gonna post a couple new songs from them.

Limbeck - Big Drag

Limbeck - Sunset Limited


And finally there was The Format. As the headliners they did everything expected; they just got up there and played the music they play so well. Lead singer Nate Ruess's voice soared over the crowd, which was difficult where I saw them, a very small venue filled with people who knew every word to every song. I was somewhat surprised to see how many people knew their second album Dog Problems so well. While its a good album, I don't think it compares to Interventions and Lullabies. Their show has expanded now as well to include a larger touring band and even a horn player. This helps give them a fuller and broader sound, which is something more evident on Dog Problems. I wouldn't say that this detracts from their sound at all, but honestly I don't think its necessary either, the strength of their song writing abilities is enough to propel their music.

Even though I saw them in a small venue, most of the tour was in much larger venues, and I think this is evidence of Format's growing popularity and their leap to the next level. I don't know if they'll ever be Top 40 material, but they've got the sound that transfers well to mainstream so I wouldn't count them out. And just in case you're not a Format fan, here's a couple songs to get you started.

The Format - The First Single (Cause a scene)

The Format - Time Bomb


-Alec

ps - never saw Piebald, $3 pitchers at the downstairs bar were just too tempting

The Evolution of a Band Part II: Post-breakup Impossibles

As The Impossibles parted ways in 1998, the members all went in their own directions. Rory, the real brainchild behind the band continued to play for bands such as Animal Chin and The Stereo, while Gabe Hascall continued to write music on his own. In 2000, both had hit a bit of a roadblock and reunited in Austin, TX (the birthplace of the Impossibles). They decided to 'get the band back together' with a few new demos that Rory and Gabe collaborated on. Craig, the bass player, left his band Cruiserweight to rejoin, and drummer Pat came back as well.

The new style of the Impossibles was a more in-your-face style of rock and roll. With their new record, Return, gone were the ska-influences (much to the chagrin of old-school fans), and here were crunchy guitars, feedback, and some yelling at the mics. Listening to the tunes from their earlier years and comparing them to what they were now shows how a band can mature. More poignant lyrics, not singing along with the guitar lines, fun breaks, and room for the members to really showcase their style of rock are what The Impossibles now brought to the table. I really enjoy Return as an album. It's very obvious to feel what they were trying to get at and how they were trying to reinvent themselves. The loyal fanbase accepted the album after they spun it a few times, and the Impossibles seemed to be more popular than they ever were before the break-up.

Now, Gabe and Rory really didn't care for their drummer come 2002, so they decided to get a fill in drummer for what they called their final tour which ended in Austin, TX. Here was the end of the Impossibles as a band. Before they broke up, they did release one more 4 song EP called Brick Bomb that many critics called their best work. I have posted 3 songs below. The first two, 'Never Say Goodbye' and 'Hey You Kids' are from Return, and they really display the rocking out that the Impossibles began to emphasize. Guitar solos mixed in with harmonies during the choruses dominate, while strong guitar lines provide an always-strong background. The last tune is from Brick Bomb, and it is a bit more subdued, yet still holds the quiet intensity that songs on Return really had going for them.

Compare with their old stuff, and enjoy! Which do you prefer? Did they get back together a third time? Hmm...

The Impossibles - Never Say Goodbye

The Impossibles - Hey You Kids

The Impossibles - Disintegrationisthebestalbumever

Kanye West Graduates

When we first started writing this we did a couple album reviews, but never really got back to them, I think partially because that it seems unnecessary to write about music everyone has already heard of. However, I want to write about Kanye's newest release Graduation for a couple reasons. 1) I'm in the process of moving and haven't really developed any other posts to write about. And more importantly 2) Kanye has been key in expanding the audience of hip hop to new areas and I think what he creates (good or bad) is very important in the world of music.

Graduation is Kanye's third release, and he is working under high expectations, both from critics and himself alike. Kanye has been very influential on me and was really one of the reasons I started listening to a lot more hip hop and rap. What I have always loved about him is his ability to draw from so many influences into his music. He creates rap songs that use sped up soul samples, string arrangements, and drum beats all blended together, and I think really pushed the ideas of production in the hip hop community to a new level back in the beginning of the decade. Lyrically he also has a knack for creating unique songs which often touch upon topics that are ignored by most other rappers.

So how does his new album fit in with these ideas? In short, I think Kanye has put together another great album. Despite some people who had told me that it wasn't very good, I tried to listen with an open mind and found that there are some damn good tracks. No there aren't the evocative, powerful songs from his previous albums such as "Jesus Walks" and "Diamonds", but there are still some great tracks.

I like to look at this album in two ways, one with Kanye as a producer and the other with him as a rapper. As a producer I think he has kept up his game, and the beats he has created are still up to his usual standards. Where the album lacks a little is in the lyrics and rapping. Kanye has never been the greatest MC, but has made up for this with creative lyrics. I was less impressed by the lyrics of the album and rhyming of this album compared to his previous efforts.

I think this album will go down as acclaimed by critics, do well in sales, but be pretty well ignored by the college crowd that first brought him to prominence years ago and who believe he has become over hyped and lost his touch.

To sum it all up, I think there's a great album here, not as good as College Dropout but comparable to Late Registration (Not top 10 rap album all time like Kanye said either). There are a couple pretty weak tracks which is unusual for Kanye's standards, but nothing too bad. I'm posting some of my favorite tracks thus far, and I definitely encourage you to give them a listen, especially since I think some of the singles released so far are not the best representation of the album.

Kanye West - Champion

Kanye West - The Glory

Kanye West - Bittersweet Poetry

The evolution of a band: Part I - Early Impossibles

It has always fascinated me how bands and songwriters constantly evolve and reinvent themselves. Some fans love how a band evolves, 'matures', and keeps them on their toes. Other fans accuse bands of 'selling out', 'losing their identity', or 'just sucking' with their later albums. Well, for my next couple of posts I will take you on a journey that will chronicle mostly one guy, Rory Phillips.

To be honest, the Impossibles were the first independent band I ever got into. Max played them one day while we were fixing some speakers in 'theater' at school. And I was like 'holy shit, these guys are cool.' Max and I ended up going to their last show in Milwaukee, which was actually my first real concert. We went in the pit, got sweaty, belted out the lyrics, and left with ringing in our ears. From then on I was hooked to constantly listening to new music, going to shows, and talking about it with buddies. Now I'm a big dork and write about it too.

The Impossibles had been a band from '94-'98 and then broke up. When I first heard them, I wanted to go to their show, but Max sadly told me that they had broken up. I was stuck with their only real CD...Anthology. So what was better as an adolescent high school kid than cheezy lyrics about things like teddy bears and magic eight balls, ska guitar riffs, and sing-a-long choruses. Nothing. Well, the Impossibles had it.

The first posted track is the one that started it all....and it is about that said magic eight ball. My English teacher in high school asked me to bring in a song to analyze how people can use music as well as poetry to convey important feelings. I brought in this one, and the lesson pretty much flopped because there is only so much one can say about dice in a plastic ball. The second track, 'So Much', showcases their early ska sensibilities. The ska guitar riff, simple drumming, and languid singing lead into a bangin chorus that gets the mosh pit going. Just imagine losing your pre-pubescent voice shouting the chorus while getting smashed between a 300 pound dude and a punk chick. Can't ask for much more. The last tune displays the rockish-side that made us 16 year olds feel pretty badass. 'The Week of August First' was one to jump on your bed and sing in your room with a broken drumstick as your mic.

So, pretend you are still in High School....dumb down your music sensibilities, and love the early Impossibles for what they were. Enjoy!

The Impossibles - Eightball

The Impossibles - So Much

The Impossibles - The Week of August First