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Blivit – Unhand the World

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Blivit – Unhand the World (Orchard)

The bio for Blivit makes note of the band’s lack of guitars—which, of course, is fine. There are plenty of bands that get by without them. But every song on Unhand the World has what appears to be a guitar in it. In reality, it’s singer/keyboardist Jeremy Dyen setting his machine to a particularly guitarish tone. Why go out of your way to make your keyboards sound like guitars? If you’re ideologically opposed to putting one on your record, that’s fine—but find a different tone for your Casio, for Christ’s sake.

Unhand the World escapes the listener directly after hearing it, a bad omen for this batch of alt.rock bar-band filler. Sounding like a clueless Ted Leo fronting an average college band, Blivit’s sound is vague, unfocused, and more than slightly tired. Sadly, this album is simply unlistenable. It bores within the first 15 seconds. Blivit isn’t a bad band per-se, but Unhand the World simply wallows in its inability to be (or even fake being) energetic and driven.

There’s a lack of solid production ethos on Unhand the World—everything sounds flat, but instead of holding a fuzzy lo-fi charm, the album sounds more like a garage-recording gone wrong. And though the band’s other credits are reputable (opening for Weezer and The Roots, Dyen appears on John Legend’s new Get Lifted), Blivit underlines the damage that can happen when studio musicians get ahead of themselves and try to be rock stars.

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Music From The O.C. Mix 4

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Music From The O.C. Mix 4 – Soundtrack (Warner Brothers)

With Top 40 radio languishing in irrelevance and MTV all but a new Soap network, where’s a kid to find hip new music? On “The O.C.,” of course.

And The O.C. Mix 4 delivers. Whether you’re a sobby 14 year old girl fresh on her first break-up and looking to Imogen Heap’s “Goodnight and Go” for solace, or a hipster who dreams of the day when ELO’s Jeff Lynne will produce an album for the Shins and then happily stumbles upon AC Newman, we got you covered. Sure, there’s no Ryan Adams, but there is another Oasis-lovin’ Anglophile giving his best with Matt Pond PA’s cover of “Champaign Supernova.”

Whether you’re Chino or Cohen, there’s plenty on this mix to help you bag that Doe Eyed Fawn or Summer. So, put the top down and crank up the Aqueduct, it’s going to be another great season in the sun.

Check out the Glorious Noise interview with OC music supervisor, Alexandra Patsavas. Be sure to catch up on all of the previous Glorious Noise OC coverage.

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Interview with the Music Supervisor for The O.C.

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Music From The O.C. Mix 4You know what the best job in the world has got to be? Music Supervisor. Especially for a hip TV show where the main characters love indie rock.

So I just spent 15 minutes on the phone Alexandra Patsavas, the music supervisor for “The OC.” Warner Brothers is releasing the fourth volume in its series of Music from the OC Mixes (review), and Patsavas is making the rounds talking to dorks like me so people will go out and buy the new release. She seems like a very nice person who really does love great music as much as you and I do. No surprise there, I guess, because the music choices on the show are stellar.

So you’re probably wondering how someone ends up becoming a music supervisor? I was too. So I asked her.

Patsavas: I’m from Chicago, and I started out booking clubs in Champaign during college. I eventually moved out here and got a job working for Roger Corman. [Editorial note: some of this is paraphrased due to the lack of a telephone recorder – Ed.]

GLONO: It’s obvious that music plays a huge part on the show.

Patsavas: Definitely. Music is a character on the show.

GLONO: How’d that come about?

Patsavas: Josh Schwartz is totally into indie music. And from the very beginning, there was always a big focus on the music, and on indie rock in particular.

GLONO: Have you ever had any pressure from FOX to put certain songs in episodes that maybe they own or whatever?

Patsavas: None whatsoever. There’s really been no pressure at all.

GLONO: Anyone ever offer you money to get a song on the show?

Patsavas: No, never.

GLONO: Really?

Patsavas: No, they never have. Really.

GLONO: How do bands get their songs on the show?

Patsavas: We get sent around 400 to 500 cds a week.

GLONO: What are the last cds that you actually went out and bought and paid for?

Patsavas: Let me think. I just bought the Dears. Oh, and Death Cab. They’re going to be on camera in an upcoming episode…

GLONO: At the Peach Pit?

Patsavas: The Bait Shop. But I realized I didn’t have all their cds, so I went out and picked up the rest of their releases.

GLONO: Any other exciting music coming up in future episodes?

Patsavas: We’re going to have Bloc Party. And Spoon! We’re going to have the new Spoon.

GLONO: That’s cool. I just heard a thing about how “WKRP in Cincinnati” will probably never come out on DVD because they don’t have the rights to use the music anymore. That’s not going to happen to “The O.C,” is it?

Patsavas: Ha ha. No, they clear for all TV and video. The industry changed a lot with DVDs.

GLONO: Back to the OC Mixes. How come there’s only, like, 12 songs on them? There’s obviously plenty of room for more?

Patsavas: I honestly have no idea. But Warner Brothers Records has been very good to us. Sorry I don’t really know about that, but I can talk all day long about how great the new Aqueduct album is.

GLONO: What’s the deal with that Boys II Men song in that one episode? That was hilarious. And awesome.

Patsavas: That was all Josh. That’s him being inspired, and writing to the scene.

GLONO: Ha. But it really is amazing how much good music you fit into the show. Ever have any licensing problems with a song you really wanted to use?

Patsavas: That’s actually one of the things I’m proudest of: bands who never license for TV who we’ve got. Like Bright Eyes, Beck, the Beastie Boys…

GLONO: I think you expose a lot of great music to a lot of people who wouldn’t otherwise hear it. You’re not going to hear it on the radio or on MTV.

Patsavas: I hope we’re playing that role. The whole team is extraordinarily involved in the music.

GLONO: I’m surprised how well music fits the scene. Although I’m not sure if I believe that Caleb would be playing Kings of Convenience at his cocktail party…

Patsavas: He might! But really, we choose the songs that fit the emotion of the scene.

GLONO: Oh yeah, I know. Hey, one final question.

Patsavas: Uh oh.

GLONO: Any chance you can kill off Marissa?

Patsavas: I love Marissa.

GLONO: She’s got to die.

Patsavas: No way, I love Marissa. I do.

So there you have it. The person with the best job in the world. After the interview I discovered that she also supervises the music for “Carnivale” on HBO. I love that old-time crazy shit. What a wild record party you could have at her house! Mixing it up between Death Cab and Cab Calloway. Fade from Sufjan Stevens to the Carter Family.

Be sure to catch up on all of the previous Glorious Noise OC coverage.

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