Chief, “Mighty Proud” MP3
- story Matthew Schnipper
Every once in a while, Levon Helm of The Band opens his upstate New York home to friends and family (and those with about a hundred bucks) and has a Midnight Ramble, an open group session of riffs and trills. We have not been, unfortunately, but friends who’ve attended describe the communal twang as universally transcendent. We want to go to both relive the ’60s blowing-in-the-wind freedom, and to celebrate the fact that the era’s unwieldy creativity still breathes. Chief, new signings to Domino, have clearly felt similar pangs, as evidenced by “Mighty Proud,” from their 7-inch released earlier this week. They’re long-haired flannel and denim wearing dudes like many of us, but they’ve earned their stripes (or patterns), with smoky hooks and group singalongs of tracks tailor-made for union rallies. We’d say they were born in the wrong era but then we’d have no peers.
Download: Chief, “Mighty Proud”
Fan Death, “Cannibal” MP3
- story Matthew Schnipper
- photo Matt Lutton (F58)
For all you New Yorkers and people who may one day visit New York, please make your way to Brooklyn’s Bedouin Tent on Atlantic Avenue between Bond and Nevins (closer to Bond). They make the most sumptuous pita you’ll ever eat. They also bump major Arabic jams while you eat off wooden plates, many of which sound mysteriously similar to the tangy opening disco moments of Fan Death’s “Cannibal.” A Canadian duo of self-confessed Cure lovers, they’ve opened their door to Bollywood and balalaikas on this plucky track. They’re still well within their comfort zone of goth-disco—admittedly, a strange enclosure to be comfortable in—but they make it work, brushing against the ends with soft opium strokes. Actually they’re Canadian so it’s probably not opium so much as whatever beer is on sale at Tim Horton’s. They play Canadian disco in the donut drive-through we heard.
Download: Fan Death, “Cannibal”
Washed Out is Going to Call You Back Soon
- story Matthew Schnipper
Sorry, he’s been away and he just got married and things got really busy. But, seriously, he’ll call you back really soon, sorry to keep you waiting.
Gil Scott-Heron, “Where Did the Night Go” MP3
- story Matthew Schnipper
The beat for this track by the legendary (check the Wiki) Gil Scott-Heron sounds like a collaboration with Burial. Not that it’s actually Burial (XL head Richard Russell produced the forthcoming album), but it has the same night flair and downtrodden synth buzz. We experienced some shock when XL nonchalantly put up clips from Scott-Heron’s new album, including a cover of Smog’s “I’m New Here” (which they didn’t mention was a Smog cover). Russell later explained he’d played the song for Scott-Heron who wanted to cover it. We’re still surprised by this, and now by the hyperfuture tone he’s taking on “Where Did the Night Go.” This is sure to be a confusing album, a meta listen, but hopefully that self-conscious “What the fuck? Gil Scott-Heron?” thing will fade.
Download: Gil Scott-Heron, “Where Did the Night Go” (email not required, but they’d love it if you gave it)
Schnipper’s Slept On
- story Matthew Schnipper
Each Tuesday, FADER editor Matthew Schnipper highlights an underappreciated recent release he thinks we need to know about. This week it’s Black to Comm’s Alphabet 1968 album. Listen to the entire album, buy it and read Schnipper’s thoughts after the jump.
Itemized: Bjorn Copeland’s Silk Scarf for United Bamboo
- story Matthew Schnipper
Every week a different FADER staff member will pick a clothing item or accessory that he or she has lately been spending a lot of time with—or would like to—and write a little love letter to it. We would’ve done a column on who we’re dating but that seemed a little bit much. This week Matthew Schnipper writes about the silk scarf Bjorn Copeland designed for United Bamboo.
Video Premiere: Christy and Emily, “105 & Rising”
- story Matthew Schnipper
This video by Christy Edwards of Brooklyn folk duo Christy and Emily is an eloquently composed silhouette animation, interspersed briefly, but frighteningly, but a lot of people running from something ominous. “105 & Rising” has an Apocalypse Now feel, both in sound and in vision, the latter made explicit by use of images from the final days of the Vietnam War. 105 is the emergency threshold of the human fever, though it could be just the heat outside. Either way, “& Rising” is not a good sign, and the song’s got a wary strum to match the possible ensuing mayhem. Christy and Emily’s debut is out today and they have a release party for it at The Stone in New York City December 9th. Details of all the players are after the jump.
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Stream: Girls Live on Minnesota Public Radio
- story Matthew Schnipper
No better place to have a sad song in your sweet heart than the cold top of America. Girls played new song “Heartbreaker” along with insta-classics “Ghost Mouth” and “Lauren Marie.” Wish we were there, amongst the only times we ever envied Minnesota from New York. Girls vs Kirby Puckett (RIP).
The Field, “I Have the Moon, You Have the Internet (Gold Panda Remix)” MP3
- story Matthew Schnipper
By that logic, The Field could have asked Buzz Aldrin to remix this track, but he went with the other side of the title, giving it to a dude who pretty much just has the internet. Maybe he is talking directly to Gold Panda, recent Dollars to Pounds-er whose path does not stray particularly far from The Field’s, though with a more micro than macro view of texture. The Field shocked a lot of folks with his first album and then maybe didn’t with his second, where the original of this song comes from. Gold Panda has yet to release an album, but—with help of his internet—has begun to whir some sensations. This is a seven-minute long track, longer than a decent commercial break, long enough to read a good amount of the NY Times online, long enough to put on your iPod when you take the elevator downstairs to get a bagel from the dude with the cart. It’s good for all those things, not necessarily distraction but not focus, either, music for breezing through, music for when you might have something better to do but why bother when you’re already coasting.
Download: The Field, “I Have the Moon, You Have the Internet (Gold Panda Remix)
Video: Animal Collective, “In the Flowers”
- story Matthew Schnipper
Jason Dill stars in this video. He’s the dude that crashed at the Osbourne’s house for a while. It would be sweet if he could hook up Ozzy with the Animal Collective dudes. Shred + flowers + skating + dancing = “Sweet Leaf/House. Watch Abby Portner’s “In the Flowers” video here or at the Animal Collective website.
