Switchblade Comb

The Ting Tings
We Started Nothing
Columbia
2008

thetingtings.com

1. Great DJ
2. That’s Not My Name
3. Fruit Machine
4. Traffic Light
5. Shut Up and Let Me Go
6. Keep Your Head
7. We Walk
8. Be the One
9. Impacilla Carpisung
10. We Started Nothing

All Music Guide: The Ting Tings — a scrappy, dance-oriented indie pop duo consisting of singer and guitarist Katie White and drummer Jules De Martino — formed in the Salford district of Manchester, England, in 2006. Quickly signed to the local indie label Switchflicker Records, the Ting Tings released their debut single, “That’s Not My Name,” in the spring of 2007. Following the limited-edition, tour-only single “Fruit Machine,” the Ting Tings signed to major label Columbia Records later that year. The flipside of the Switchflicker single, “Great DJ,” was released as the duo’s debut major-label single in March 2008, followed by the reissue of “That’s Not My Name” with a new exclusive B-side remix. “That’s Not My Name” rose to the top of the U.K. charts in May 2008, the same month that the duo’s debut album, We Started Nothing, appeared.

Rant: Columbia and other labels, you are fucking idiots for disabling YouTube videos from being embedded on other sites! Here I am trying to promote your band and nobody can hear what they sound like unless they click on the links I could have provided. The people that read blogs don’t like to spend a lot of time jumping around the Internet when they are reading a story. Uh, so frustrating!

Try to enjoy the poor audio quality live videos.

“Great DJ” (Live)

“That’s Not My Name”

“Shut Up and Let Me Go”

Great Bloomers
Great Bloomers
Reel Cod
2007

myspace.com/greatbloomers

1. Catching Up
2. Black Rising Fire
3. So Cool
4. Tied to the Love
5. Market of the Night

Yay for free CDs in the mail! I’m really enjoying this new EP by Toronto’s Great Bloomers. They are a young band working on their debut which should be out sometime next year. They aren’t playing many shows outside the Toronto area at the moment, but hopefully soon they’ll spread their great tunes across North America.

They are a five piece indie rock band who sound like at times Andrew Bird, Tapes ‘n Tapes, The Spinto Band, and a splash of the roots vibe of Wilco.

The EP will be available in the US via iTunes on June 24. (Already available on iTunes in Canada.)

“Black Rising Fire”
Poor audio quality, sorry. I didn’t get permission to post the mp3 so this youtube vid will have to do for now. At the 1:25 mark it sounds a lot like Andrew Bird meets Tapes ‘n Tapes.

MP3: Great Bloomers - “Catching Up”

MP3: Great Bloomers - “Market of the Night”

Off of Graduation, out now.

I find the politics behind the American anime industry to be one of the most fascinating areas of entertainment media, mostly because it’s had such a boom over the last few years and the industry, much like the music industry, weren’t prepared for the onslaught of free torrents. In the case of anime, it requires fan-subtitlers nabbing anime as it airs in Japan and translating it themselves.

While this is normally an illegal job I have deep respect for (it takes a lot of time with little payback, in most cases), the alias ‘Otaking’ has put together a 30 minute documentary delving into the drawbacks of the current fansub crop, pointing out the more recent anime fan community’s elitism as a major downfall. Fascinating and funny stuff, if you’re into this kind of thing.

The entire film is up on YouTube, with Part One posted above. Check out Part Two HERE, Part Three HERE, Part Four HERE, and the final part HERE.

(thanks to Japanator for the heads-up)

P.O.S. posted a cryptic myspace bulletin yesterday that just said “7.29.08.”

The Doomtree official website has the picture above as their front page.

What’s up? New Doomtree record? Big show? Or am I just the last one in on the secret?

Muja Messiah’s Thee Adventures of a B-Boy/D-Boy CD release show.

Hosts: Brother Ali and I Self Devine

Performances By: Muja Messiah, Black Blondie, M.anifest, Maria Isa and DJ Turtleneck

Sunday, July 27
First Avenue
Minneapolis, MN
8 pm | $8 | 18+

Muja Messiah ft. M.anifest - “Paper Planes”

Awesome poster by Amy Jo.

Featuring: Wars of 1812, The Debut, Spaghetti Western String Co., Romantica, Bella Koshka, Gospel Gossip, and more.

Stone Arch Arts Festival
Saturday, June 14 & Sunday, June 15
Historic Main St. and Father Hennepin Park
Minneapolis, MN
10am - 6pm | Free | AA

Visit More Cowbell for set times.

Pitchfork: How has recording for the new album been going?

Dan Deacon: I think it’s going amazing, but it’s been consuming and draining. Due to my really tight schedules, I need to finish it in a really short period of time so that it can come out this year. It’s a much darker album in tone, and elements of the story have been really weighing down on me. Not to say it isn’t a positive record, but it’s just more balanced in emotional range than Spiderman of the Rings.

The pieces are a lot more intense and mature on Bromst than on Spiderman of the Rings. I think anyone who’s been to one of my shows lately and heard the new stuff live would agree. When I was writing and recording SMOTR I was playing small house parties out of shitty amps or busted PAs, basically whatever I could get my hands on. So when I was writing songs I had to keep that in mind, making sure I worked within the parameters of my performance limitations. After that record came out, I started playing to larger crowds with much better PA systems. This allowed me to start working with a denser, more percussion-based pallet, again pushing the PAs as far as they could go, but this time filling them with as much space as possible with a fuller, richer sound.

As a result, my approach to writing changed. Not to say they aren’t dance songs, but they are more about mass movement rather than dancing at a party. They are more developed, focused pieces. Sort of like a culmination of my past few years of noise-based pop songs. There are still tracks that I think are the party-type jammers I’m associated with, but there are also a lot more tracks that are great for relaxing or just listening to. I think the music on Ultimate Reality [DVD/tour collaboration with Jimmy Joe Roche] is a good bridge between Spiderman of the Rings and Bromst.

Pitchfork: What are the plans for “Silence Like the Wind” at this point? Will it end up on the new record? Still be a single?

DD: It’s going to remain a single. It just doesn’t fit with the rest of the record. I might put it on an EP I plan on releasing a few months after Bromst comes out of material that I still like but that doesn’t fit the story/tone of the other pieces.

Pitchfork: What is Tay Zonday like? Is he for real?

DD: I only met him for a brief moment, and he seemed pretty surreal. Like someone whose idea lapped itself into a new reality that one can never escape. I wish he toured small clubs and tried to build a real fan base. I think a lot of people really liked his music and not the novelty. That Dr. Pepper shit fucked him.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE

Dan Deacon - “Silence Like the Wind” (Live in Omaha)

Special appearances by: David Cross, Stephen Hawking, Brittany Murphy, and Dan Castellaneta (voice of Homer Simpson, etc).

Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs comes out on DVD June 24.

Trailer

Viral marketing for The Wackness. Recently discovered footage of main character Luke Shapiro’s public access show from 1994. Not all that funny, to be honest.

The Wackness opens in Minneapolis at the Uptown Theatre on July 11.

Built to Spill 2008 Tour Dates

06.06 Lawrence, KS - Wakarusa Festival
06.07 Minneapolis, MN - The Cabooze
07.03 Quincy, CA - High Sierra Music Festival
07.19 Boise, ID - Expo Idaho Fairgrounds
09.08 San Francisco, CA - Slim’s
09.09 San Francisco, CA - Slim’s
09.10 Hollywood, CA - Troubadour
09.11 Hollywood, CA - Troubadour
09.12 Pioneertown, CA - Pappy and Harriet’s
09.17 New Haven, CT - Toad’s Place
09.18 Northampton, MA - Calvin Theater
09.19 Monticello, NY - ATP New York
09.20 Philadelphia, PA - The Trocadero
09.21 Philadelphia, PA - The Trocadero
09.22 Richmond, VA - The National
09.23 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
09.24 Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live
09.25 New York, NY - Terminal 5
09.26 New York, NY - Terminal 5
09.27 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre

Expect a new album sometime in 2009.

Built to Spill - “Conventional Wisdom”

Ratatat 2008 Tour Dates

07.07 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
07.08 Portland, OR - Holocene
07.10 San Francisco, CA - Slim’s
07.12 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
07.15 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg

LP3 is out July 8.

Ratatat - “Mirando”

Daily Swarm reported this story from In the Mix about Daft Punk returning to the studio and their longtime manager Busy P leaving the group to focus on Ed Banger Records full-time.

“The boys are in a studio in Paris at the moment,” he revealed to ITM. “And I can’t wait to listen to their new stuff! The good thing is that they are making music at the moment.” While those creative juices are flowing again, it’s not known at this stage when the new album might see the light of day. “They are slow, you know,” Busy P laughed when asked. “They are taking their time, and they have a right.”

Busy P also revealed that he recently decided to step down from the massive task of managing Daft Punk in order to allow him to focus all his energies on the Ed Banger record label. “I’ve stopped working with them really recently, because I want to focus and concentrate on Ed Banger and my artists, and my own career as Busy P.” But after managing Daft Punk for 12 years, it’s a safe bet that the relationship will continue to be a tight one.

From the Black Cab Sessions.

A (NSFW) single-channel edit of Get Confused, a multi-channel video installation that’s part of the exhibition “It’s Not Only Rock ‘n’ Roll, Baby!” at The Brussels Centre for Fine Arts, running from June 20th to September 14th.