NEW DEATH CAB VIDEO – CATH…
Hey everyone, quick update today just to show that Death Cab have uploaded a new video for Narrow Stairs standout “Cath…”. Check it out below and be prepared for a much bigger update tomorrow, woo!
Death Cab for Cutie – “Cath…”
BEN GIBBARD COVERS RILO KILEY/STARS
At a recent solo gig for Rhapsody, Ben Gibbard gave the acoustic treatment to some Narrow Stairs already classics such as “Cath…” and “Grapevine Fires”. However, the real excitement came when the Death Cab for Cutie frontman covered tracks from Rilo Kiley (”Silver Lining”) and Stars (”Your Ex-Lover is Dead”), and our friends over at Stereogum have the videos. Go check them out immediately to see how lonely songs like these can be somehow made even lonelier by the inimitable voice of Gibbard. Breathtaking stuff.
Death Cab for Cutie – “Cath…”
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JIM JAMES/CONOR OBERST/M. WARD MAKING RECORD?
It would seem that according to this Pitchfork story, our favorite Kentucky troubadour, My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James, is collaborating with none other than Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes fame and M. Ward (the Monsters of Folk anyone?) to release a record of original work. Sweetness! Also noteworthy is James’ mention of releasing a solo record under the pseudonym Sec Walkin’, a nod to the title of one of the tracks off MMJ’s new record Evil Urges. Could this news be any cooler really? Read the whole story here and stay tuned for further developments on what promises to be a truly groundbreaking country record.
My Morning Jacket – “White Rabbit”
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NEW BAND CHEER – THE CARROTS
When all-female Austin punk group Finally Punk went on indefinite hiatus (though they promised they hadn’t broken up…) this central Texas town truly lost one of its greatest rock and roll acts. However, from the ashes of the riot grrrl wreckage comes the Carrots, a doo-wop group recalling 50’s all-girl acts such as the Ronettes and the Shangri-La’s, featuring several members from Finally Punk. Austin’s answer to the undeniably catchy sounds of bands like the Pipettes, the Carrots spin a wonderful pop sound but retain the subversiveness of the former punk act with a kitschy wink to their audience on tracks like “Beverly” and “Secret Since ‘99″. Definitely worthy of attention, even outside of the Austin area, so go check them out immediately. No mp3s floating around of these gals but here’s a rad video of them playing “Beverly”.
Any comments?
NEW RIVERBOAT GAMBLERS SONGS/VIDEOS
Today’s recurrent theme seems to be bands that one can devote their entire lives to, starting of course with Austin punk giants the Riverboat Gamblers, who just played their first show in Austin in six months this past Saturday at Red 7. Of course Cannibal Cheerleader was there camera in hand and once again the Gamblers put on a fantastic set fitting of the greatest live punk act this reporter has ever seen. Lofty praise maybe but it only seems fitting for a band whose boundless energy outlives rocky lineup changes and a music industry constantly on the verge of collapse. The Gamblers showcased some new tracks from their as-of-yet-untitled fourth LP, including “Alexandria” as shown below. Check out these videos and tell us what you think!
Riverboat Gamblers – “Alexandria”
Riverboat Gamblers – “Black Nothing Of A Cat”
Riverboat Gamblers – “Rattle Me Bones”
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CRYSTAL CASTLES UPDATE
CC favorites Crystal Castles recently responded to a request for a statement regarding the ‘crystal theft controversy‘, which is a series of accusations leveled at the band that decry them as thieves of samples from the works of ‘chiptune’ artists on some of their tracks. Here’s what Andy from their Toronto label Lies Records had to say:
“In 2004 CC was 100% samples. They stopped using samples in 2005 and started using their own sounds. The band became popular 2 years later thanks to their remixes for Klaxons, GoodBooks, and Bloc Party. Their success has nothing to do with these early obscure sample-based tracks. These songs have not been heard by many people until now.
I myself wanted to release Insecticon but I could not find Lo-bat to seek his permission. There is no contact for him on his website. Ethan Kath in an interview dated June 2007 says Insecticon will remain unreleased because no one can find Lo-bat to ask permission.
Lo-bat himself has talked to the band’s manager on the phone and said that he himself thinks the controversy is ridiculous. It is clear that the band has never profitted or performed these ancient tracks.
The track Insecticon is actually a mash-up which uses the vocal track from the CC guitar track “Insectica” and mashes it with Lo-bat’s “My Droid” for fun, not profit.”
For my money this statement, along with the other Crystal Castles facts uncovered in the comments section of the previous post on the subject, clears up the controversy as we know it. However, I feel that this will not be an end to the argument so I am, as always, interested to hear comments from readers.
In other news Crystal Castles will soon be trekking through North America (but missing Texas, grr!) and then it’s on to the UK in late summer. Swing by Austin again you two!
Crystal Castles Vs. Bloc Party – “Hunting For Witches (remix)”
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YEAH YEAH YEAHS STUDIO UPDATE – LP3 ON THE WAY
Here at Cannibal Cheerleader we always swell with excitement whenever we hear any tidbit of news from one of our favorite bands the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Today’s update concerns a recent post by the band on their Myspace that reads as follows:
“Smells Like Record 3…
COOKING IN THE KITCHEN
Yeah Yeah Yeahs have been hopscotching down the road less traveled- from a barn in the Northeast to a ranch in the Southwest on our journey for the next sound. Why go RURAL? We’re not yet sure ourselves, but one thing the city don’t have that the country got is SPACE and there has been plenty of spacing out in the studio as of late.
KITTEN FACTOR
Fuzzy soft muses aka kittens have played a major role in the writing process of YYYs current and past records. Show Your Bones was written in Sam Spiegel’s home studio amidst the birth of a litter of kittens, little gold lions scrambling around. Amazingly therapeutic, nothing turns a frown upside down (there are many frowns in the record writing process) as a purring kitten in your lap. Alas our favorite kitten of all beloved SQUEAKER arrived just in time for record three! Abandoned by his mother, we’ve watched him grow before our very eyes from a blind and helpless little thing into a frisky and fierce little beauty- much like the tunes we’re writing. Go figure.”
The post is then followed by this picture:
Sounds like Karen O., Nick Zinner, and Brian Chase are going for a spaced-out, country feel on this record? However it sounds you can be Cannibal Cheerleader will be first in line to give that sucker a listen.
PS. We want a cat named Squeaker!! Here’s a spaced-out YYY song to quench your thirst for the time being.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Gold Lion (Solo Acoustic – Karen O. Version)
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ACL SCHEDULE POSTED
Thanks to our friends over at Soundcheck Magazine for letting us know that the Austin City Limits Festival has put up their official schedule for the three days of the event. Check it out here.
From what we can tell (besides the fact that ACL seems to have slimmer and slimmer pickings each year), is that Jenny Lewis is running into N.E.R.D., we’re going to have to run between Conor Oberst, the Black Keys, then back to Beck, and Sunday might just be the best day of the fest (what with Stars, Tegan and Sara, Neko Case, the Raconteurs, Band of Horses, and Gnarls Barkley all packed in). Whine as we might, you know that we’ll be there, rain or shine@
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DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE REVIEW
A quick note: my review for Death Cab for Cutie’s Narrow Stairs is up on the Soundcheck Magazine website. Check it out over there and I’ll copy/paste it down below. Comment if you like it!
“Death Cab for Cutie
Narrow Stairs
Atlantic
It’s lonely at the top. That seems to be the message of Narrow Stairs, the newest offering from rock’s unlikeliest of superstars, Death Cab For Cutie. For better or for worse, it is undeniable that indie has crowned Ben Gibbard and company as the kings of a tender flock. There seems to be something remarkably Cobain-esque about the meteoric rise of Death Cab for Cutie, though, while Nirvana was an outward explosion of punk nihilism, Gibbard’s experience feels more like an emotional implosion, a fiery inner carnage that replaces distorted guitars with heart-searing poetics. With a legion of lonely boys and girls hanging themselves on every lyric, Death Cab can clearly feel the strain of fame on their newest LP. This pressure comes across in the form of their bleakest, their most terrifying, and, surprisingly, one of their most engaging works to date.
Ben Gibbard’s overwrought, angst-ridden lyrics – though they may strike some as naïve – nonetheless come across to modern listeners as more genuine in their devices than most modernist poetry. His pathos clearly strikes a chord in the hearts of the music community: uncertainty and despair are no longer the flavors of the day but staples of our modern lives. Death Cab for Cutie evoke images both creative and familiar on brilliant standout tracks like “Grapevine Fires” and “Your New Twin Sized Bed”. Gibbard’s continued flights with heavy-handedness nonetheless ring as distinctly frank and authentic, and he is no more honest than on Narrow Stairs. As opposed to viewing the flecks of white in a world of black as Death Cab did on 2005’s Plans, the new record remarks pointedly on society in shades of gray. Fundamentally, it must be understood that Gibbard plays the part of a poet, not the esteemed indie-rocker delivering kitschy hits about the most sensitive of subjects. He channels the former slightly in the track “Soul Meets Body”, but soon morphs into a Kerouac-like scribe reminiscing about “the place where your soul had died” in “Bixby Canyon Bridge”.
It is over this canvas of loneliness that producer and guitarist Chris Walla attempts to erect a sound, and the results recall a garage-band strumming away in an empty, abandoned house. Acoustics bounce off empty walls, and the music provides an air of claustrophobia that furnishes a feeling of closeness to the listener. However, this closeness is not the warmth of past Death Cab releases, but an unnerving proximity that magnifies scars of weariness and age that Gibbard and company now wear. It imparts an almost voyeuristic view of a band at their most vulnerable and engaging. The group has expanded their sonic palette not with expansive soundscapes but with instrumental virtuosity, as slinky guitar parts quiver over tracks like “The Ice Is Getting Thinner” and “Pity and Fear”, and swirling keyboard parts give way to a return to crunchy guitars on songs such as “Long Division”.
To describe Narrow Stairs as “frightening” would not be wholly inaccurate. The creepiness of the five-minute intro to first single “I Will Possess Your Heart” represents the lengths Death Cab for Cutie have stretched in crafting this record. The slow build of the instruments to a plaintive tale of stalkers and obsession invokes dark and graphic images. This track paired with “Cath…”, the story of a withered and abused woman alone in the prison of outward appearances, place Narrow Stairs as the coronet on the canon of the Death Cab discography. These somber sagas of all-too-familiar characters stick like barbs into the listener, slowly seeping their meaning and effectiveness into them, making the record a grower and a headphone masterpiece. To this end, Narrow Stairs is, in many ways, the group’s crowning achievement. This is a crown of thorns: delicate and difficult, weaving and at times off-putting, but, for Death Cab for Cutie, ultimately bloody and beautiful.
-John B.”