THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
www.theymightbegiants.com
Yeah, I know their album isn't out for another month, but I'm so excited that John and John are back. I've been a fan since that "brand new album, from 1990", Flood.
They Might Be Giants is one of those bands that I've followed throughout the years, although I have to confess, I wasn't so into their simpler kids albums (No!, Here Come the ABCs, Here Come the 123s, Here Comes Science) or their more experimental side (The Else). In many ways, I feel that their forthcoming album, Join Us, is a return to "classic" TMBG.
"Can't Keep Johnny Down" is the lead single from Join Us, although a catchy and easy-to-follow number, I find that Flansburgh on vocals is extra nasally on this song. Especially when he stretches out his lyrics. It does bring me back to "The Statue Got Me High" though. In similar cases, I think their new songs reminds me of their earlier songs. Maybe it's just me, but "Judy Is Your Viet Nam" made of think of "Twisting", while "Cloisonné" free-jazzy track reminded me of "She Was a Hotel Detective", and "The Lady and the Tiger" with its funk made me think if Beck had covered TMBG's version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". You aren't going to get these song references unless you've been listening to old TMBG, but let's just say that if you're a fan of their old songs, you'll love these new songs. It's not like you know how Weezer just tries and re-release The Blue Album over and over again, but never quite getting it right? TMBG gets the formula right, their songs are smart, funny, and quirky... just how I like them. This is the TMBG that I've been waiting for, thank you John & John.
A couple of announcements before I leave. TMBG is having a contest to make their video for "Can't Keep Johnny Down", see Cat Linnell talk about it here:
youtube.
Videos are to be uploaded to YouTube and posted on the official TMBG Facebook page. All videos linked there will be voted on by the Facebook friends of TMBG, but the winner will be judged by Judge John Hodgman and Hodgman alone. Submission deadline is July 15th.
- Winner will receive $1000 bucks and a pizza from the pizzeria of their choice. The video will be posted on tmbg's you tube channel as well as posted on TMBG’s podcast -- so lots of people will celebrate your efforts.
- Select runners up will also receive the pizza of their choice
They Might Be Giants new album, Join Us, is the recording that their fans have been waiting 20 years for! Impossibly catchy, sometimes strange and always original the album is a stunning return to form. On Join Us we find the Brooklyn originals have returned to rock and to their singular sensibility that made them an instant phenomenon in the world of alternative rock. Join Us will be released in all digital and physical outlets July 19, 2011 through Idlewild/Rounder Records.
They are closing out their Summer tour (missed them in Toronto), but returning in September, which hopefully, I'll catch them in Minneapolis in October. Can't wait to see how their new songs will be played out live. Join Us, again, will be out July 19th, 2011, on Idlewild/Rounder Records.
KURT METZGER
myspace.com/kurtmetzger
Kurt Metzger is probably most famous for his voice role of Randall the zombie on "Ugly Americans", and if you don't have Comedy Central, you've probably never heard of him either.
Well, his stand-up album, Talks to Young People About Sex is coming out this week (June 28th). The hour show was taped at Helium Comedy Club in Philadelphia, and although usually soundboard recordings sounds good, I found the recording quality not as good as other stand-up albums (perhaps it's the way Metzger talks or that I hear the audience too loudly).
The first thing that hit me was that some of these jokes seems really dated, especially about the BP oil spill and Tiger Woods' infidelities. Maybe it was funny then, it should be funny now? In five years from now, will "young people" know about Tiger Woods? I'll give him "Jersey Shores", that's pretty recent and recyclable guidos are funny.
Anyway, what I do like about Metzger is that, as the title suggests, the album centers around sex, but he's not raunchy. He even makes rape and fisting funny, and that's hard to do.
During his stand-up he reveals that he used to be a Christian minister, so suddenly, I realized why Metzger doesn't use excessive profanity... but at the same time, I thought he was holding back all these sex jokes all this time.
Talks to Young People About Sex will be out this Tuesday on Comedy Central Records. You can hear previews on the widget (sorry iPad users).
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THE SHOW IS THE RAINBOW
myspace.com/theshowistherainbow
I missed The Show is the Rainbow when they came through town (Minneapolis), so I've decided to give their album a review. The Show is the Rainbow is basically Darren Keen, and his album Tickled Pink was just released on limited edition 12" vinyl and digitally last week (June 21st) via Illegal Art Records. The cover artwork, by artist Jimmy Lee, is so not-safe-for-work that I'm including a censored artwork on this article.
As expected, the audio is kind of lo-fi and DIY, which usually means that this kind of music is probably best as a live performance (where I can see the energy bursting on stage vs recorded in a studio somewhere).
"Banjo Solo" and "Don't Vote" are the stand-out tracks for me. The latter is a little more upbeat and features a weird mix of hip-hop/rap and electro with warpy effects, while the former is a weird instrumental track - but it's good. You can hear more of his songs at soundcloud.com.
Like I said, he's probably really fun live, so here's the rest of his tour dates:
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June 15 | New Orleans, LA | Siberia
June 19 | Phoenix, AZ | Trunkspace
June 21 | Los Angeles, CA | Good Hurt
June 22 | San Diego, CA | Bar Pink
June 24 | San Fransisco, CA | Hemlock Tavern
June 27 | Portland, OR | Someday Lounge
June 28 | Portland, OR | Ash St. Saloon
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June 29 | Seattle, WA | Sunset Tavern
July 3 | Boise, ID | Bar-B-Q
July 4 | Salt Lake City, UT | Bar-B-Q
July 7 | Denver, CO | Rhinoceropolis
July 8 | Denver, CO | 3 Kings Tavern
Sept. 6-30 | New Zealand
Oct 2011-Feb 2012 | TBA
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"WEIRD AL" YANKOVIC
www.weirdal.com
I've been a fan of "Weird Al" for a long time. A friend of mine got his debut album in high school and we were passing it around. I remember my favorite song wasn't even a parody, it was
"Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung".
After he shaved his mustache and got rid of his glasses, I guess I stopped following him, although I have always thought his song parodies were funny and clever.
So Weird Al's 13th studio album,
Alpocalypse, came out last week (June 21st), and is enjoying a nice boost of publicity, thanks to his six million+ views (another 6 million on youtube) to his
music video for "Performed This Way" (parody of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way"). You know what's funny is that I haven't heard Lady Gaga's version and after hearing Weird Al's spoof, I think I get the gist of the song.
Weird Al, in keeping with the times, parodies songs that I don't listen to ("You Belong with Me" by Taylor Swift, "Party in the U.S.A." by Miley Cyrus, etc). That's awesome that Al, in his 50s, still knows (and enjoy?) pop music.
Alpocalypse will probably do really well in sales, again, thanks to the Gaga's legion of fans, but considering that I'm not one of them, I'll have to skip the album. Sorry Al, we still love you though.
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