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).
Girls Hardcore XXX “Lust For Life” is a Major Letdown
- story Peter Macia
It’s really hard to put into words how disappointing it is to see a bunch of indie rock sites post the title “Girls ‘Lust For Life’ Hardcore XXX Edit” and then after watching the video come to find out that it’s just a bunch of shirtless girls and one guy singing into another guy’s dick. Maybe we’ve been living in New York too long, but this is basically what happened on the train ride to work today. Plus, the girl next to us was listening to Flo-Rida really loud on her headphones. Talk about hardcore. If you haven’t yet read our Girls cover story, you may not be as unsurprised by the free-spiriting in Focus Creeps‘ directors’ cut, but don’t let that be an excuse not to read it—or enjoy watching a bunch of SF bros and ladybros have a little fun for the camera. (via MBV via P4k)
Video: Girls, “Laura”
- story Matthew Schnipper
One of the things we learned about Girls when doing our cover story on the group is that, though it sounds like it’s about an ex-girlfriend, “Laura” is really about a friend. About the song, Christopher Owens, the band’s songwriter, says:
“Laura,” is about Laura. It’s directly to Laura. Laura was Liza’s [Owens' ex-girlfriend] best friend, and when Liza and I started hanging out all the time and going out, Laura got mad at me because I was taking her best friend away, kind of. At first, Laura liked me a lot, like, “Oh, he’s great. He’s great.” And then as she realized, “Oh, I’m never going to hang out with Liza now,” then it was like, “Oh, Chris sucks.” So then I’d be like, “Oh, she sucks.” And we had this feud. It’s so juvenile. You sound like 15-year-old girls. It was horrible. But as soon as it was all over, I thought to myself, “You really like Laura.” I think she’s great. So the song is about like, “Let’s be friends again.” Both of us wanted to be friends again, but it’s hard to go up to somebody that you’ve been fighting really hard for two years—well maybe not two years, one year or something—and say like, “I’m sorry, let’s bury the hatchet and be friends.” It’s hard to do that.
So Owens wrote the song and gave it to her as an apology and a white flag. She accepted. That’s her in the video, too. Watch it at NME’s site.
DJ Mujava f. DJ NonSense, “Superstar” MP3
The Buffetlibre DJs are incredibly prolific with their remixes and have been instrumental in Barcelona’s ongoing love affair with house music, but for their new project they’re stepping up their game something serious. Collaborating with artists from 50 different countries, they’re releasing a massive digital album called Peace, which will be available on the internet in January for a pay-what-you-please price starting at two euros—all proceeds will go towards Amnesty International’s efforts in global humanitarian aid. That is, friends, what you might call hot hot heat—particularly when the list of participating artists includes Micachu & the Shapes, current FADER cover stars Girls, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Marc Almond, Bonde do Role, mum and a jillion others from places like Palestine, Serbia, Greece, China, Iraq, Norway and Ghana. This track, of course, reps South Africa, with the king of township funk getting super freaky with mondo drums and a hot sample reminiscent of the best diva you left behind in your ’90s dark crystal epoch. Also if you happen to be in Budapest this weekend, there’s a Peace party on Saturday at Merlin Club starring Frankmusik, We Plants are Happy Plants and Buffetlibre.
Download: DJ Mujava f. DJ NonSense, “Superstar”
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posted on Sep 30, 2009 in MUSIC VIDEO tags Bonde Do Role, Buffetlibre, DJ Mujava, electronic/dance, Girls, Marc Almond, Micachu & The Shapes, Ryuichi Sakamoto
Stream: Girls f. The FADER, “Life in San Francisco”
- story THE FADER
- photo Jason Nocito (F63)
Buried in our cover story about San Francisco sweethearts Girls, is the nugget that the story’s author, Matthew Schnipper, sang backups on one of their songs during a trip to their Tenderloin practice space. That song, “Life in San Francisco,” will be released tomorrow as the b-side to the new “Lust For Life” 7-inch and you can hear it now. Schnipper’s vocals are as buried as the nugget was, as the last time he sang in public was at his bar mitzvah. Aside from his questionable singing, it’s a great song.
Stream: Girls, “Life in San Francisco”
FEATURE: Girls
- story Matthew Schnipper
- photo Jason Nocito
Sitting on an unmade bed on a sunny California afternoon, Christopher Owens and JR White are an odd couple. Owens is lounging propped against the wall beside a Smiths poster with White balled up in the middle of the mattress, knee to his chest. Owens’ hair is long and stringy, but matted in tiny clumps, as though he’s washed but not thoroughly rinsed. Read More
Slideshow: Sandy Kim’s Photos of Girls
- story Matthew Schnipper
Sandy Kim is pretty short, has a ton of hair, a broken orange backpack and always loses her camera. When that happens, she just gets a disposable and keeps taking pictures. It’s this lackadaisical tenacity we’ve admired so much about her and her photography, how they always looked kind of busted but warmly worn in and comfortable. Like many young photographers, she’s made her friends her subjects—landscapes of young women, tattoos and San Francisco fog—and within that fold of friends are her best friends and FADER’s current cover stars Girls. Over the time we’ve known Sandy, our experience of Girls has grown exponentially, following her photos of them on her blog, from house shows, late nights and terrible magazine photo shoots, she’s accompanied them constantly, allowing us to be eternally voyeuristic with one of our most beloved bands. We asked her to narrate a slideshow of her favorite photos of the band, because our experience of Girls has been so much mediated by hers.
Open Bar With Girls
- story Hanly Banks
Maybe there’s something wrong with associating acoustic with nascence, but this performance, often whispered and attended by a very cute dog and a couple of people who walked by on the sidewalk, seemed like watching Girls‘ songs—”Summertime,” “Solitude,” “Darling,” “Ghostmouth” and “Morning Light”—being birthed, even if they are already very fully grown. On a rainy day this summer, we got up close and personal with the group, just in from California. They were staying at a nice hotel, they said, and had gotten a good night’s sleep. You can see the dew lifting in their head bobs.
Girls Full Album Stream & Giveaway
- story THE FADER
- photo Jason Noctio (F63)
Not that we suggest skipping around a very well sequenced record, but imagining you’ve already heard Girls‘ “Lust For Life,” “Hellhole Ratrace” and “Morning Light,” just make sure you listen to “Lauren Marie” and then “Curls” into “Darling.” Our current cover stars have released one of the years best albums of simple, loving guitar pop. And if this stream of Album makes it clear that collection of songs deserves more than an minimized browser window open to enjoy, we’re giving away a signed copy of the vinyl LP along with a pair of tickets to the Girls show of your choice on their upcoming US tour to two lucky people. Dates are after the jump. Leave your favorite song from Album in the comments and register with your real email address so we can find you.
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 Girls’ “Hellhole Rat Race” 10-inch coupled with a thorough thinking about how surprisingly kick ass The Babies are. Download Girls’ “Solitude” and The Babies “Meet Me in the City” and read Schnipper’s thoughts after the jump.
