Tag Archives: 4AD

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New National: Laugh Track (ft. Phoebe Bridgers)

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Video: The National – “Laugh Track” (ft. Phoebe Bridgers)

Directed and animated by Bernard Derriman. From Laugh Track, out now on 4AD.

I often think about the tweet where a guy went to see the National in concert: “The singer asked ‘how’s everyone doing tonight?’ and the guy next to me shouted ‘I’m getting a divorce’.”

That’s still funny.

Losing my momentum, losing my mind
Not enough to mention, not enough time
I can’t even say what it’s about
All I am is shreds of doubt.

Sure, the National is the embodiment of sad sack dad rock. But apparently the kids dig ’em. And why not? As Phoebe Bridgers recently told Amanda Petrusich in the New Yorker, “Something middle-aged men and teen-age girls have in common is the act of finding yourself, and being kind of self-conscious. Maybe some beliefs that you’ve held on to for a long time are finally being shed. The teen-age girl in me is obsessed with the National, and feels very spoken to and seen by them, maybe for the exact same reasons that they speak to middle-aged men.”

So there.

The National: web, bandcamp, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.
Shorties

New National: Your Mind Is Not Your Friend

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Video: The National – “Your Mind Is Not Your Friend” (ft. Phoebe Bridgers)

Directed by Jackson Bridgers. From First Two Pages Of Frankenstein, out April 28 on 4AD.

The song is good but the video is definitely worth watching. Matt Berninger’s brother Tom is our protagonist who’s having a bit of a psychotic episode at a playground. It’s a little flippant in its portrayal of mental illness but it still manages to be moving at the same time. You sympathize with Tom as he mopes around the playground, wanting to feel better. Teenagers are laughing at him and he’s making moms uncomfortable. (Phoebe Bridgers’ cameo is perfectly executed.)

You are like a child
You’re gonna flip your lid again
Don’t you understand?
Your mind is not your friend.

In the video Matt Berninger represents Tom’s mind, promising him joy but leading him astray. It’s goofy but well done. Directed by Phoebe’s brother Jackson, who also directed the video for the very first song we ever heard by his sister, her duet with Conor Oberst “Would You Rather” from way back in 2017. Lots of brotherly love going on here.

The National: web, bandcamp, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.
Shorties

New National: Eucalyptus

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Video: The National – “Eucalyptus”

Directed by Chris Sgroi. From First Two Pages Of Frankenstein, out April 28 on 4AD.

At this point every time the National releases something new, we have to ask if it would’ve made a better Taylor Swift song, right? In this case, I think it was the correct decision to keep it for themselves. If Taylor’s going to write a divorce anthem she’s not going to argue about divvying up the Cowboy Junkies and Afghan Whigs records.

Matt Berninger says, “Throughout the record there’s a lot of looking into the abyss and wondering if a relationship has run its course. ‘Eucalyptus’ is about a couple splitting up their possessions after a breakup — like, ‘What are we going to do with the spring water we get delivered, what’s going to happen to all these plants?’ It’s about all those little things you end up having to think about when you’ve become so connected to someone.”

It’s still weird to me that this band is as famous as they are. I like them fine, and I think “Bloodbuzz Ohio” is one of the great songs of its era, but what I like is rarely a good barometer of determining whether or not something will be popular. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The National: web, bandcamp, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.
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New Deerhunter video: Death in Midsummer

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Video: Deerhunter – “Death in Midsummer”

From Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared, due January 18 on 4AD.

You’d never guess by the happy little harpsichord riff that this song is a meditation on the futility of existence.

They were in hills
They were in factories
They are in graves now
They were in debt to themselves
And what is it made of now?

So it goes.

Deerhunter: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

Shorties

New Breeders video: Spacewoman

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Video: The Breeders – “Spacewoman”

Directed by Richard Ayoade. From All Nerve, out now on 4AD.

Kim Deal calls it “a sci-fi thriller with the soul of Harlan Ellison.” But it looks a lot like a lady walking through the woods in a hazmat suit.

We got a beachball in the stadium
Everybody’s havin’ fun
When you close your eyes
You spin in peace

The song’s a classic slow burner, and any excuse to listen to the Breeders is always welcome!

The Breeders: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

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New Breeders video: Nervous Mary

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Video: The Breeders – “Nervous Mary”

From All Nerve, out now on 4AD.

Kim and Kelley Deal are so cool. Check them out.

In the middle of a busy street in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, The Breeders took a brief break from touring to shoot a homemade video for ‘Nervous Mary’, from their 2018 album, All Nerve. Puppet versions of Kim and Kelley Deal – dressed in custom-knitted outfits made by Finnish fan and professional puppet-maker Milla Risku – go wild performing the song as their real-life counterparts sing live vocals off camera.

“Nervous Mary” is the story of an escaped farm animal.

Road goat
Run but she never got away
Hot road
Nervous Mary had a nervous day

Have you ever seen a wild animal running down a busy freeway? They look so terrified. These puppets, on the other hand, do not look scared at all.

The Breeders: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

Articles

Missed opportunity: Come on Pixies, you know we love you!

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You may have heard that the Pixies are celebrating the 30th anniversary of Surfer Rosa with a big box set.

Three CD and Three LP editions out on September 28th, 2018 with new artwork reimagined by original designer Vaughan Oliver and the bonus disc, Live From The Fallout Shelter – one of the earliest recordings of the band, a radio concert that first aired in late 1986 on WJUL-FM in Lowell, MA.

It’s cool that they’re digging up a rare old concert for this, but what a missed opportunity to reissue these classics with the respect they deserve by gathering up all the music they recorded during this era.

It’s easy to imagine what could’ve been.

We all know that Come On Pilgrim was originally recorded as a demo tape to try to get a record deal. It worked, of course, because 4AD heard it and signed the band. 4AD selected 8 of the 17 songs from the demo and released them as Come On Pilgrim, clocking in at a generous twenty minutes and thirty seconds of music.

Most of the remaining nine songs were subsequently re-recorded and released on later albums and singles. Songs like “Broken Face” and “Here Comes Your Man.” All of those nine original demo versions were eventually released by spinART Records in 2002. They’re awesome.

And there’s no reason they shouldn’t be included in a special deluxe anniversary edition. Especially since the 17 songs altogether add up to under 39 minutes.

Continue reading Missed opportunity: Come on Pixies, you know we love you! →

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New Breeders video: Joanne

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Video: The Breeders – “Joanne” (Michael Nesmith cover)

All Nerve is out March 2 on 4AD. “Joanne” is not on the album.

“Joanne” is one of my favorite songs of all time. I first heard it back in college when Leppotone supergroup Twister covered it live at Club Soda in Kalamazoo. I was already a huge Monkees fan but had not yet discovered the solo work of Mike Nesmith. It quickly became an obsession as I gathered up as many Nez albums as I could find in the used record bins.

Just recently, Nesmith reformed his “First National Band” and played some shows in California. Nez is the only original member since pedal steel virtuoso Red Rhodes and bassist John London are dead and drummer John Ware was not interested. But it’s still awesome that Nesmith is back into playing the style of country rock that he helped create years before Glenn Frey ever met Don Henley. (Just listen to “Papa Gene’s Blues,” which Nez wrote and produced for the first Monkees album in 1966.)

Anyway, Kim Deal does a fine acoustic cover, recorded — and apparently filmed — by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago. And while “Joanne” is not included on the upcoming Breeders album, it does appear as the b-side of the “Wait in the Car” single that is included in the vinyl bundle from 4AD.

The Breeders: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

Continue reading New Breeders video: Joanne →

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New Breeders videos: Wait in the Car

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Video: The Breeders – “Wait in the Car”

New single, out now on 4AD.

Good morning!

The Breeders are back with their Last Splash lineup (the Deal twins, Jim Macpherson, and Josephine Wiggs). Pretty exciting. Last Splash is still a great album and its production is so weird and trippy. Not much evidence that any new stuff is going to be that freaky sounding, judging by the new single, but “Wait in the Car” rocks and still has that classic Breeders vibe of fun mayhem.

Meow meow meow meow meow.

They’re releasing three variants of the single with different art and b-sides, and the one I’m most excited about features a cover of Mike Nesmith’s “Joanne.” Should be awesome. Can’t wait to hear it. (The other two b-sides are Devo’s “Gates of Steel” and Amon Düül II’s “Archangel Thunderbird.”

The Breeders: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

Continue reading New Breeders videos: Wait in the Car →

Shorties

New Torres video: Three Futures

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Video: TORRES – “Three Futures”

From Three Futures, out September 29 on 4AD.

In the last video from Torres we saw our hero walking around your Aunt Phyllis’ basement with a guitar. This new video is set upstairs in the same house, and this time Torres’ Mackenzie Scott is cast as three separate characters: the foxy housewife, the grumpy husband, and (once again) the cool guitar player. I.e., the participants in the love triangle described in the chorus where the narrator describes her three potential futures: “One alone and one with you / And one with the love I knew I’d choose.” It’s a new twist on the classic cheatin’ breakup song.

While the lyrics don’t offer much hope for the jilted lover, at least the video features a happy ending!

TORRES: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.