“Static Holiday Sessions” Extra: Sam Lang, “Angels We Have Heard on High”
Call it an audition. StaticBlog wishes all of you Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings and Happy Holidays.
“The Static Holiday Sessions”
Since its inception in February 2009, Static has showcased some of the most talented musicians in the area, including The Flaming Lips, Maggie McClure, the Pretty Black Chains, Jabee, Graham Colton and Colourmusic, but with the Static Holiday Sessions, the music series takes a new turn in time for Christmas.
Taped at Urban Roots in Deep Deuce and sponsored by Fowler Volkswagen, the Static Holiday Sessions features inspired duet pairings between past Static guests and a few future performers, as well. These performances include Jabee and Dr. Pants on the Run-DMC classic “Christmas in Hollis,” Daniel Walcher and Skating Polly on John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over),” Matt and Joe Stansberry doing “White Christmas,” Sherree Chamberlain and Brine Webb on “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” K.C. Clifford and Jami Smith on “Draw Near,” and Cami Stinson, Cara Black and Jeremy Thomas on “Silent Night.” This special debuts Wednesday in the video section of NewsOK.com and at static.newsok.com. In addition, audio files can be heard on Ferris O’Brien’s thespyfm.com.
I’m so proud of this episode, and would like to thank Jonathan Fowler of Fowler Volkswagen, Dave Morris and our amazing video crew at NewsOK, Nathan Poppe for shooting photos during the session, the good people at Urban Roots and the amazing collection of talent that showed up and celebrated the holidays with us.
Dr. Pants and Jabee, “Christmas in Hollis”
Cami Stinson and Cara Black, feat. Jeremy Thomas, “Silent Night”
Daniel Walcher and Skating Polly, “Happy Xmas (War is Over)”
Matt and Joe Stansberry, “White Christmas”
Sherree Chamberlain and Brine Webb, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
K.C. Clifford and Jami Smith, “Draw Near”
Photos: Static Christmas Special
Here’s another reason to get excited about local music.
George Lang and the Static film crew headed to Urban Roots in downtown Oklahoma City and invited several bands to perform Christmas classics.
Here’s a list of the songs and local artists.
• Matt Stansberry & Joe Stansberry — “White Christmas”
• Dr. Pants & Jabee — Run DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis”
• Daniel Walcher & Skating Polly — John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over)”
• Sherree Chamberlain & Brine Webb — “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
• K.C. Clifford & Jami Smith — Their original song “Draw Near”
• Cami Stinson & Cara Black — “Silent Night” feat. Jeremy A. Thomas
You can check out videos from all these performances on Wednesday Dec. 22.
-Poppe
Video of the Day: Fujiya & Miyagi, “Yo Yo”
What looks like a frustratingly literal video in the beginning becomes a war between antique toy enthusiasts. Watch this guy go “around the world” on these unsuspecting vaudevillians, and then get his comeuppance.
– Lang
Video of the Day: Bear Hands, “Crime Pays”
This is just bad news all around. It’s either a cautionary tale or a how-to video. What — you’re impressionable? Go away kid.
– Lang
Video of the Day: Sleigh Bells, “Infinity Guitars” (Unofficial)
I love pizza, and most likely, you love pizza just as much. But it is possible to love it a little too passionately, and sometimes, pizza doesn’t love you back.
– Lang
PIZZA PARTY [ SLEIGH BELLS - "INFINITY GUITARS" ] from Matthew Wells on Vimeo.
Video of the Day: The Go! Team, “T.O.R.N.A.D.O.”
On the surface, the Brighton band’s leadoff track from the forthcoming 2011 disc “Rolling Blackouts” isn’t doing anything the group wasn’t committing to groove on 2004′s superlative “Thunder, Lightning, Strike”: cop-drama horns, old-school rhythms and Ninja’s wild-style rapping. The difference here is that the sound quality is light years beyond 2007′s still-muddy “Proof of Youth” and the energy is simply top speed. This is how M.I.A. should have sounded this year.
– Lang
P.S. Kudos to Matt Carney for the assist last week — much needed, much appreciated and well done all the way.
Video of the Day: Delicate Steve, “Wondervision”
Ever wonder what a one-on-one basketball game between a pair of indie musicians would look like? Well I’ll give you a hint: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook these guys aren’t.
Delicate Steve - "Wondervisions" Video (Feat. Nat Baldwin) from stereogum on Vimeo.
Delicate Steve is Steve Marion’s (gray tank top) instrumental project, who’s shown here hooping it up against Dirty Projectors’ bassist, Nat Baldwin (orange tank top). Everything about the video is terrifically throwback, from the grainy film stock to their black Chuck Taylors, with a surrealist semi-cheesy mood set by whirling keyboards and Steely Dan guitars.
–carney
Video of the Day: The Walkmen, “Holiday Road” (Lindsey Buckingham cover)
Happy December 2nd! Here’s a little Rickenbacker guitar sound to get you into the holiday season that might simultaneously remind you of one of my all-time favorite movie characters, Cousin Eddie.
The Walkmen cover "Holiday Road"
Also, Lisbon is one of the year’s best records. Definitely worth the $10 at Amazon.
–carney
Music Review: Girl Talk, “All Day”
Rating: 87
In public life, Greg Gillis does two things very well. First, he crafts the best mash-up records on the planet. Then, he twists them inside and out for crazed audiences the world over, something I’ve covered for this blog in the past.
In fact these shows have proven so lucrative that he can afford to give away his record for free, though that may just be a tactic to avoid a trip to court. Regardless, Gillis is the well-listened brain behind the largest (the record clocks in at a gargantuan 71 minutes) and most sample-heavy (373, according to his Illegal Art label’s site) mash-up record ever.
All Day is that record, his fifth, which stands out from his previous body of work, boasting a handful of mash-ups that leave you scratching your head, wondering ‘How did he ever think of that?’ The combination of Soulja Boy’s “Pretty Boy Swag” and Aphex Twin’s “Windowlicker” wins that category, hands down, with the horn section from Jean Knight’s 1971 hit on STAX records, “Mr. Big Stuff” backing Wale’s “Pretty Girls” coming in a close second.
Girl Talk plays at Cain's Ballroom earlier this summer. Photo courtesy of Michael Cooper.
The listener’s reminded of the mash-up DJ’s reliance upon instant pop recognizability from the get-go track, “Oh No” where Gillis, ever the unsubtle one, lends some of Ludacris’s most powerful lyrics (“Move”) to Black Sabbath’s eternally-heavy “War Pigs” in the kind of mash-up that gets a damn party started. He anchors All Day, like all his other records, with modern hip-hop and 90s alt-rock but he’s unafraid to range out into other territory as well. The Beastie Boys hop on track during “Jump On Stage,” their terrific 1985 “got more hits than Sadaharu Oh” lyric meshing with Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life” in the kind of way that gets your feet kicking.
All Day was no doubt born of on-the-road experimentation. Just be careful if you ever see him live; Hearing “Party in the USA” combined with M.O.P.’s primal verse from “Ante Up” might be enough to drive the teenagers to start riot.
–carney
