Video of the Day: Pixies, “Here Comes Your Man” on “The Tonight Show”
Pixies were in Los Angeles to play a Doolittle gig a week ago, and stopped in with Conan for “Here Comes Your Man.” Honestly, I wish they had caffeinated a bit. Or played “Debaser.”
Them Crooked Vultures Full Album Stream
The self-titled debut by Them Crooked Vultures hits stores a week from today, but you can hear it now at StaticBlog. For those not entirely cognizant of the band’s significance, this is Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones. So it’s Queens of the Foo Zeppelin, or Stone Age Led Fighters or something like that.
Dueling Apps: Pandora vs. Last.fm, Round Nine: The Flaming Lips
My best iPhone music app experiences are currently with Pandora and Last.fm. I downloaded Pandora almost instantly once I got the phone, but I was pointed to Last.fm by a friend two weeks ago and since the two services are fairly similar in format and functionality, I decided it would be interesting to take one artist each day and build stations for them on the individual services. I will list the first 10 songs Pandora and Last.fm deliver for each artist, and then assess which service offered the best response.
Today, we stage our own fight test with The Flaming Lips.
Last.fm, hit me like you did the first time:
1. The Flaming Lips, “Do You Realize??”
2. Built To Spill, “Carry the Zero.”
3. Yo La Tengo, “Always Something.”
4. Ween, “Waving My D–k in the Wind.”
5. Pavement, “Mercy Snack: The Laundromat.”
6. Mercury Rev, “Goddess On a Hiway.”
7. Grandaddy, “Hewlett’s Daughter.”
8. Spoon, “Anything You Want.”
9. Animal Collective, “Daffy Duck.”
10. Dinosaur Jr., “No Bones.”
Pro: A thoroughly interesting list of bands that share a measure of creative spirit or DNA (in the case of Mercury Rev) with the Lips, and any list that pulls from Pavement’s Westing (By Musket and Sextant) is just solid golid in StaticBlog’s book.
Con: I love it and it’s our official rock song and everything, but isn’t “Do You Realize??” a little obvious??
Pandora, everything’s explodin’:
1. The Flaming Lips, “The W.A.N.D.”
2. Wilco, “How to Fight Loneliness.”
3. Radiohead, “Pyramid Song.”
4. The Shins, “Fighting in a Sack.”
5. The Flaming Lips, “The Spark That Bled.”
6. Modest Mouse, “Bukowski.”
7. Beck, “The New Pollution.”
8. The Smashing Pumpkins, “Perfect.”
9. Wilco, “Solitaire.”
10. The Flaming Lips, “Vein of Stars.”
Pro: The bona fides are all here: three great Lips tracks, plus Lips collaborators Modest Mouse, Lips touring mate Beck, Lips faves Radiohead (they covered “Knives Out” and did “Creep” with Beck in concert), they appeared with Wilco on the “Spongebob” soundtrack, they split an “Austin City Limits” episode with The Shins, and I first met Wayne Coyne at a Smashing Pumpkins concert at Norman’s Hollywood Theatre in 1991. It’s all covered.
Con: Ultimately, it’s just not as edgy as Last.fm’s output.
Advantage: A draw — both services saw two different but ultimately valid sides of the Lips. Either way, the Lips fan is well served.
Video of the Day: Golden Silvers feat. Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, “Arrows of Eros”
Perfect music to lift this morning’s dank clouds. Smile — that’s an order! True Romance is out now.
“Sesame Street” Turns 40
Four decades ago today, on Nov. 10, 1969, “Sesame Street” debuted on public television. As an original viewer, I can safely say that I probably learned to read a little faster, learned to count a little better, discovered music a little earlier and had my initial world view shaped a little broader by this show. Happy birthday, Muppet friends — your felt never looked fuzzier.
Check out this extended performance of “Superstition” that Stevie Wonder played on the “Street” in April 1973. It might just be the best thing you’ll watch all week.
A Deep Thought About the Apocalypse
With apologies and acknowledgment to Idolator, how long before Slate.com publishes a contrarian thought piece on “Why ’2012′ is Better Than ‘The Road”’?
Video of the Day: The Most Serene Republic, “Heavens To Purgatory”
You really shouldn’t leave your clothes, instruments and disembodied arms and heads lying around like that.
Static, Episode 24: Daniel Walcher
Interview
“Dishes in Her Dress”
“I Can’t Explain It”
“My Friends They Tell Me”
Dueling Apps: Pandora vs. Last.fm, Round Eight: Carrie Underwood
My best iPhone music app experiences are currently with Pandora and Last.fm. I downloaded Pandora almost instantly once I got the phone, but I was pointed to Last.fm by a friend two weeks ago and since the two services are fairly similar in format and functionality, I decided it would be interesting to take one artist each day and build stations for them on the individual services. I will list the first 10 songs Pandora and Last.fm deliver for each artist, and then assess which service offered the best response.
Today, StaticBlog shakes it up a bit by venturing into country with Carrie Underwood, who just released her third CD this week.
Pandora, play on:
1. Carrie Underwood, “Last Name.”
2. Rascal Flatts, “Feels Like Today.”
3. Taylor Swift, “Tim McGraw.”
4. Sugarland, “Want To.”
5. Carrie Underwood, “Wasted.”
6. Tim McGraw, “Please Remember Me.”
7. Faith Hill, “Breathe.”
8. Rascal Flatts, “Here Comes Goodbye.”
9. Kenny Chesney, “There Goes My Life.”
10. Carrie Underwood, “You Won’t Find This.”
Pro: In the Top 5, Pandora is just killing it in the pop-country category with strong tracks by Underwood, Taylor Swift and especially Sugarland, and there’s the Oklahoma commonality with Rascal Flatts.
Con: Pandora seems to lose the thread a little in the bottom five, when the tracks could find equivalency with just about any modern commercial country act. It’s almost as if the service ran out of ideas.
Last.fm, start the carnival ride:
1. Taylor Swift, “Teardrops On My Guitar.”
2. Allison Iraheta, “Cry Baby.”
3. Faith Hill, “Baby You Belong.”
4. Brooke White, “Dream On.”
5. Rascal Flatts, “What Hurts Me Most.”
6. Jessie James, “Blue Jeans.”
7. Brooke White, “High Hopes & Heartbreak.”
8. Matt Giraud, “You Make Me Wanna.”
9. Bucky Covington, “Hometown.”
10. Taylor Swift, “Tim McGraw.”
Pro: Well, there are two Taylor Swift songs to ease the pain of this list, a Rascal Flatts track and Faith Hill. But I think we see what’s happening here.
Con: Somehow, the brain trust at Last.fm decided that a Carrie Underwood request equals “American Idol” mixtape, so you get Matt Giraud, Bucky Covington, two Brooke White songs and Allison Iraheta — and no Carrie. Four years past her “Idol” win, Underwood’s appeal has far transcended that show. Epic fail.
Advantage: Pandora by a country mile.
Video of the Day: Jarvis Cocker, “Further Complications”
The former Pulp master takes the album art for his Steve Albini-produced second solo disc to its logical extreme in this video for the title track.
