January 7, 2007

Arts & Entertainment as
Stuff I’ve Been Listening To

 

 

    
 

Luke Downloaded:
: LCD Soundsytem — Sound of Silver
Simcoe Andrew Bird — Armchair Apocrypha
arts and Various Artists — Juno (Music from the Motion Picture)
entertainment

editor Listened To:

Japandroids — Lullaby Death Jams EP
The Hives — The Black & White Album
Cuff the Duke — Sidelines of the City

LCD Soundsytem — Sound of Silver record doesn’t live up to these claims—it wouldn’t really be funny if it

It pains me to admit it, but I kind of slept on LCD did— but it’s a frenetic reminder that while the boys in The Strokes and
Soundsystem’s (a.k.a. the musical project of producer and DFA The Vines are probably busy waiting tables somewhere, The Hives are
Records founder James Murphy) sophomore record. I don’t know still kicking out the jams.

what it was, but something about Murphy’s first record—in which
he basically read pages of VICE magazine over gimmicky dance
beats like some kind of techno Stephen Malkmus— didn’t quite grab
me. Now that Sound of Silver ended up on just about everyone’s
‘best of’ lists for 2007, I decided to give Mr. Murphy another
chance. I’ve since changed my tune, and come around to the fact that the one-two punch of
“Someone Great” followed by “All My Friends” is probably the best 14 minutes and three
seconds of music released last year.

Cuff the Duke — Sidelines of the City
Whether it’s the country-fried

Canadiana of songs like “If I Live or if

I Die” or the absolutely huge guitar of

future classic “By Winter’s End,” these

five boys from Oshawa are the undisputed

heirs to Canada’s alt-country throne.

  

Andrew Bird — Armchair Apocrypha

According to the little dictionary widget on my Macbook
(how’s that for product placement?), “apocrypha” is defined as
“biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon
of Scripture,” or more loosely as just “writings or reports not
considered genuine.” I really have no idea what this means in the
context of Andrew Bird’s eighth studio album, but I do know that
the record takes me right back to Bird’s jaw-dropping performance
last year at Bumbershoot. Bird’s skill as a classically trained
violinist and his utterly unique take on indie and folk arrangements made for a mesmerizing
performance, and it’s all on display on his latest record. As good as he is as a musician and
composer, he’s an even better wordsmith, and Armchair is most definitely his crowning lyrical
achievement. The record is packed with esoteric musings on everything from biology to
psychology to Thomas Pynchon, and little gems like “life is too long / to be a whale in a cubicle
/ nails under your cuticle” can be found hiding around every one of the album’s many corners.

 

 

eeu Various Artists — Juno (Music from the Motion Picture)
Wreuacily teteitigert 5 ‘ i.
ect ! If you’re not already a fan of New York’s anti-folk
torchbearers The Moldy Peaches, you will be after watching Juno.

eel

 

Scsndisbis < Luliehy Death Jane EP Take the challenge and win great prizes

  
 
   
  
 
 
 

Already a strong contender for best album title of 2008, my

_ favourite local band’s second EP takes their tear it down and build Starting February 2008, student teams
t up again post-punk to a place that’s darker, edgier and louder. will engage in a series of challenges while
Way louder. Brian King steps up his singing —meaning he actually competing for some incredible prizes.

_ sings instead of just shouting —and David Prowse pounds the skins

_ with the force of a Mack truck crashing into a brick wall. If you find Prizes include MacBook computers,

_ yourself hungry for one of the best bands to come out of Vancouver software, video games, whale watching
in ages, and don’t want to wait until the EP finds its way onto the tours, skiing, kayaking and rafting experi-

shelves of Zulu and Scratch, you can find Japandroids’ “Darkness on the Edge of Gastown” on ences, and more.

From Blown Speakers’ (itcameoutmagical.blogspot.com) Four Pillars Mix, an online mixtape
with proceeds going to keeping Vancouver’s safe injection site running.
Apply online by midnight, January 13, 2008.
The Hives — The Black & White Album

So it would seem that The Hives are a bunch of geniuses.
How else can you explain such an awesome album title? Placed
in context of the Swedish quintets’ shameless self-aggrandizing,
The Black & White Album pokes fun at almost the entire canon of Why don't you join us. It’s worth it!
modern popular music (The Beatles, Jay-Z, Prince, and Metallica
to name a few) while simultaneously suggesting that The Hives
not only belong at the top of the heap, but are also capable of
encompassing everything that came before them. Of course the Sponsored by: 3}¢ BC CAMPUS.CA

 

 

 

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