M is for Myg

Thanks to everyone who came out last night for the kickoff of (n)eXt and big ups to Esteban for getting on the decks and turning out the funk for the late crew. Jump below the fold for the podcast, set list, and synopsis of what was served. We’ll be back next week at the same time slot (7 p.m. SL time) at Clockwork in Topgol [SLurl]. Watch this space for the growing schedule of great music at Clockwork.

(n)eXt 7/16/07 - Right click here and save to download the podcast

Spoon – Rhthm & Soul 3:30 (from GaGaGaGaGa)
Apostle of Hustle – My Sword Hand’s Anger 3:14
The White Stripes – Little Cream Soda 3:45
!!! – Yadnus 5:13
Bloc Party – Hunting for Witches (RAC mix) 3:24
Interpol – The Heinrich Maneuver 3:29
Satellite Party – Wish Upon a Dog Star 4:45
Blonde Redhead – 23 5:19
Fields – Song for The Fields 5:47
Les Savy Fav – The Equestrian 3:16
Tigers and Monkeys – Rave On 4:19
Matthew Dear – Deserter 3:56
Explosions in the Sky – Welcome, Ghosts 5:44
Pelican – Far from Fields 5:18

Sable getting down with Absolut abandon. Here are the details on the tracks:

Spoon – Rhthm & Soul (from GaGaGaGaGa)
This past week was Spoon’s week. Despite the big major-label debut of Interpol, no one could touch Austin’s favorites for pure delivery on all the hype (the fact that the album was leaked months ago has given a fans and critics time to digest the material and pronounce it the best thing ever). The ubiquitous coverage has even caused the kool kidz to start complaining about all the attention the Brit Daniels’ posse is getting. While I’m not convinced this is the best Spoon album yet, I don’t really care. I’m a die-hard fan and this record holds no let downs and lots of the subtle surprises that have come to define the band over the years. Guaranteed to age well.

Apostle of Hustle – My Sword Hand’s Anger
Marc Bolan meets Pavement for all you slacker city glam freaks out there. I liked this one the first time I heard it, and I like it more 10 plays later.

The White Stripes – Little Cream Soda (from Icky Thump)
The hardest rockin’ song ever written about pop.

!!! – Yadnus (from Myth Takes)
Another endlessly danceable retro postpunk groove from this NYC outfit. With a bigger sense of irony and cool, !!! have managed to give this sound more life than it had the first time around.

Bloc Party – Hunting for Witches (RAC mix)
All right, I know, this is a remix of a song that’s three years old. Sue me. I dig this band. I dig this song. I dig this remix. You should hear it at least once.

Interpol – The Heinrich Maneuver (from Our Love to Admire)
With all the money behind them, Interpol should have been able to k.o. Spoon this week, but as it was they came off like the footnote. I still like them, but the lyrics on this one reach a new low in arrogant slack hipster behavior. I can smell the fucking ether from all the coke these boys are breathing backstage while they act all jaded about all the groupies they find so annoying but indulge nevertheless. And c’mon, what’s up with the stupid lazy song titles? Okay, you irritated guys like me. Tell me I “don’t get it.” Hope it was worth it. This is your corpus, your shot at posterity, and you’re going to be remembered (or not) for lazy puns. Way to reach for the brass ring.

Satellite Party – Wish Upon a Dog Star
On the other hand, Perry Farrell seems to have learned over the years. “Wish Upon a Dog Star” suffers from a dopey title, but that’s nothing new for the man. Musically speaking it’s a strong track, has a good driving-down-the-PCH-at-4 a.m. feeling to it. Maybe a little long, but a solid 80s club feel to it. I would have been stoked to hear this at City Gardens’ 90-cent dance night back in the Trenton days.

Blonde Redhead – 23 (from 23)
Blonde Redhead stay in their own world and make a record truly deserving of the 4AD label. Not that Blonde Redhead isn’t deserving of any and all attention as an impressive trio in their own right, but with an uncanny ability to take original ideas and meld them with classic post-punk sounds, this track is the best My Bloody Valentine track since Only Shallow.

Fields – Song for The Fields
This song takes way too long to get going, but the last four minutes rock so hard I’ll forgive them. Another track for your next carpod mix.

Les Savy Fav – The Equestrian
They may be talking about horsemanship here, but this track goes right in the alpha dog pile. Very few can rock it like this—and Tim Harrington does it bearded and shirtless to boot.

Tigers and Monkeys – Rave On
Singer Shonali Bhowmik gets a lot of attention for being a Pakistani American woman in a rock band. Whatever. She’s got rock in her like few do and would be notable even if she was your typical suburban white dude. The energy of this track makes up for the clichéd title/chorus and the band brings all the way home. Definitely a group to watch.

Matthew Dear – Deserter (from Asa Breed)
The master of micro house shows us he can craft a downtempo pop tune as good as any axe-wielding songsmith. Caught this producer/dj a few back at a Ghostly International showcase at CMJ. While not as impressive to me as L’Usine that night, the kids were already blowing him up and getting off on his massive house breaks.

Explosions in the Sky – Welcome, Ghosts (from All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone)
Speaking of ghostly, Explosions in the Sky continues to demonstrate postrock relevance even in the face of forbears Godspeed! You Black Emperor and Mogwai. Here they lay claim to all further uses of “achingly beautiful.”

Pelican – Far from Fields (from City of Echoes)
The latest from the Chicago sludge/doom purveyors. Huge. Massive. Remarkably uplifting for their genre.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 17th, 2007 at 7:00 pm and is filed under (n)eXt podcast, Burgess, DJ, Music, podcast.