Useless Clatter..."Slow Jam News" Jimmy Fallon feat. Barack Obama

      I almost didn't post this because in my head I wasn't sure if I considered this music.  Up there with the Black Keys and Beach House, I thought this video wouldn't fit well with the original reasons I started a blog on in the first place.  I was also telling myself that posting this video would be partaking in the on-going interet war on politics.  And the last thing I want to be is political.  But what the heck, this is hilarious. Besides, if I really wanted to I could just go ahead and tag this as The Roots.  And this was too good to pass up.  

      On his show "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," Fallon hosts a recurring segment called "Slow Jam The News" in which he delivers the week's tops stories to the back beat of hip hop artists The Roots.  Its gotta nice little groove to it and yesterday President Obama payed the NBC studios a visit and did the song with Fallon and the Roots live on Late Night.  The President used his time in the song to talk about his promise to keep students loans down after recent news has resurfaced surrounding the oncoming July 1 expiration date of Stafford Loans, the country's largest federal student lending program.  This would result in an increase in student loan prices, up to a $1,000s more.
      Whether you like him or not, you have to admit he  delivered it here along with The Roots and their groovy rendition of "Hail to the Chief."  Those guys can really break it down.  Despite the humorous intention of the skit, the President was still touching on some very serious issues.  He  hardly cracking a smile at Fallon's remarks, "Preezy of the United Steezy" and "the Barackness Monster." He is pretty cool.
      "Lets keep the rates down on college loans," spelled out in a slow jam by President Obama himself.  I'm with you on that Mr. President.  [I didn't want to mention his squeak at the end, but its there: 4:28]

                       

Free Music Fridays... #1

      New category alert! Yes we got something new at TUNEclatter and it's exactly what it advertises- selections of perfectly free and legal music, ready to be downloaded right here.  Each week I will scour the endless facades of the internet for any available and legal downloads of my liking.  Most free songs on the web come from emerging artists who are kind enough to offer up their songs in return for the free publicity.  The descriptions will be brief and the reception is for you to decide.  If you like it take it, if not carry on.  Besides, what's the point of finding free music if there's no one to share it with?

   + I will try and make this a regular post on TUNEclatter on Friday of each week. [We'll see how long that lasts.] At least we got one!

===============================================================================================

1. "Not Title (Molly)" John Maus
A groovy, techno-y pop song with a splendid '80s vibe to it.  Like a hyped-up Joy Division track.
| http://www.1forthepeople.com/2012/03/new-track-john-maus-no-title-molly.html#more |

2. "Time" Athletes
Another Joy Divison-esque song with a more genuinely nostalgic feel to it. A little slower, no techno.
| http://athletes.bandcamp.com/track/time |

3. "The Only Place" Best Coast
The title track from the upcoming album due May 15.  A perfect hippity, So-Cal theme song to kick start the oncoming summer months so desperately in our sights.
| http://soundcloud.com/wichita-recordings/best-coast-the-only-place |

4. "Gossip" Starlight Girls
With the high pitch organ screams this spooky pop song sounds like it should have been released closer to Halloween.  But all the better that its here right now. [You can actually download their full self-titled EP all for free!]
| http://www.1forthepeople.com/2012/03/album-download-starlight-girls.html#more |

5. "Tomorrow" Parakeet

A side project from the female bassist of Yuck, "Tomorrow" is a riff-driven, hard-hitting rock song with a warm heart coming in the form of Mariko Doi's congenial voice.

| http://parakeetmusic.bandcamp.com |

Hear This..."Hooray For Tuesday" The Mantles

      To anyone who did not already know, Tuesday has been scientifically proven to be the worst day of the week. [SOURCE]  That's especially bad news for those of you who thought the worst was over when Monday ended.  Well according to science, its not; and everyone knows you can't argue with science.  But like every other week, we will prevail, but not without the help from such courageous pizza corporations like Pizza Hut and Dominos offering us reasons to look forward to the dreaded day.  [Pizza Hut has two Tuesday specials actually, here's the second.]  College basketball keeps fans distracted during the season with games every week on recurring 'Super Tuesdays.'  And then of course, there's the real Super Tuesday- that one political thing with all the primary presidential elections that most young people completely forgot to tune in to.  Because unlike the Dominos deal, that's only once every four years.

So to keep up with the recent attempts to resurrecting Tuesdays, I'm reaching all the way back to 1998 to share with you the unofficial celebratory anthem of Tuesday by the Denver-based band The Minders.

      "Hooray For Tuesday" is a proclamation of praise for everyone's most hated weekday.  Sure anyone can make a song about how great Friday is (anyone...), but it takes a little more skill to excite people about a Tuesday.  They do a convincing job on it too.  The confident opening horns and drum sequence give me a sense of hope that what they are telling me is true by law.  And what they say is exactly what everyone wants to do on a Tuesday- leave the mundane monotony of their cubicles (especially these people).  The weekend is an eternity away and who wouldn't mind waiting it out in the unadorned paradise they sing of.

      But then again, if you're not going away and you're not about to sit down and watch a college basketball game with the Tuesday pizza deal of your choice, then what do you have to hooray about?  We're probably all in the same boat at this time of the year, punching it out on this very average Tuesday.  So take a moment and share the splendor of Tuesdays, if its only for a few minutes.

Useless Clatter...New Category For '"Review"'

In my experience, when an artist of my liking comes out with a new album I always seek it out, regardless of what critics say.  Whether Pitchfork or Rolling Stone give it a 9 or a 3 doesn’t matter because in most cases, my previous attachment to the band gives me reason to accepting the new material regardless of public opinion. 

      That being said, I am introducing a new category on TUNEclatter titled “Review.”  It’s important that the word contain those quotations because as I previously stated, I don’t stand by reviews of music as much as I do for movies.  What I will begin to attempt with this new category is not to give the album a rating as much as I would like to comment on the new material in terms of its sound comparison with the artist’s previously released album. 

      On my other blog, FILMclatter, I have a category titled ‘Why See This’ in which I state the reasons why I believe a particular movie is worth seeing.  In other words, I would rather just promote the movies and music I love as opposed to giving a mark of criticism to everything I can.  There are plenty of people out there doing the same thing, so I see any effort of my own to be rather trivial. 

      Above all though, I have always found myself interested in looking at the particular change in style a band encompasses over the years and therefore feel that comparing albums in that matter is a much more noteworthy thing for me to write about as opposed to shelling out the 100^th review of an album months after its release. 

+ The first albums that will be “reviewed” then will be from the San Francisco indie band, Girls. Their two albums being Father, Son, Holy Ghost from last September and their debut feature, Album, from 2010.

Audiovisuals...Father John Misty- "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings"

      From what I've gathered, I would say that you can pretty much classify music videos into three categories-

1. Videos that consist of random shots of the artist/band preforming the song interlaced with more random shots of the artist [or in the case of a band, the lead singer] walking around aimlessly in an attempt to make some story. [ex.] [worse example]

2. Videos that take on a narrative form, in which the sequence of shots makes up a short story, almost like a short film. This video eliminates the useless shots of the artist/band preforming/singing the song [ex.] [ex.]

3. Other- The very general fall back category for the videos that do neither of the first two categories. [ex.]

     This particular video for the recent single of Father John Misty, the now former drummer of the Fleet Foxes, probably falls across my second and third categories.  

     "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" is the title and like the recent movies, Martha Marcy May Marlene and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, the title pulls together four words that could easily be rearranged and no one would even figure.  'Hollywood Cemetery Forever Sings' would make more sense to me, but whatever.

     And that is exactly what this video feels like.  Seriously, it has more settings than many full length movies.  There's the road, the hipster funeral, the hipster party, and the forest, which then turns into a some sort of dreamy nightmarish sequence of the girl fighting some mysterious woman and everything's painted red. And then she wakes up back on the road where it all started.

     Like the lyrics, the video follows a young girl mourning the death of her grandfather.  But the video looks too complex to be just that.  Also, it seems too perfect that the girl of the video is played by the same actress who plays April Ludgate, the emo girl from Parks & Recreation (Aubrey Plaza).

     While I really love the song, I am not sure I can say the same about the video.  Without a doubt, its one of the best directed videos I've seen in a while.  But at the same time, its one of those hipster projects that maybe I'm not hipster enough to instantly embrace as masterful art.  I will say though I enjoy watching it and its definitely worth a click.  After watching the video a handful of times, on every view, something new managed to slip its way into the video that I had not seen before.  Its like the Black Swan of music videos.  (48 Hidden Images in Black Swan)

+ If you like "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings," a couple other Father John Misty songs are up on Grooveshark- and if you're a fan of the Fleet Foxes than his stuff should suit you too | tny.gs/GY59hj |

Useless Clatter...2012 Album Releases [Apr+May]

      Now that March is coming to an end, I see that my most anticipated albums of 2012 post- (Jan-Feb-Mar) is becoming a bit useless.  So I’ve finally found some time to browse about the web aimlessly and put together Part II of the list which includes April and May.  Despite only being two months, it’s packed very tightly with plenty of new releases from some of my favorites like Best Coast, The Dandy Warhols, and The Brain Jonestown Massacre [and that’s not even counting the Willow Smith album out on April 3^rd]  I've also seen the convenient release from bands I have recently discovered like Alabama Shakes and Father John Misty, who I literally discovered this morning.  

      I couldn’t find many for June at this point [plenty of rumors] but figured I would wait a bit and post that later.  Of course, if I missed anyone important or you feel generous enough to send a complimentary recommendation my way feel free.

+ Album artwork and preview tracks/singles will be updated when the info arrives.

April 3
Of Monsters & Men- My Head is an Animal
 

April 10
Alabama Shakes- Boys & Girls

 

Hear This..."Myth" by Beach House

      Since their third album, Teen Dream, from 2010, Baltimore duo Beach House have remained relatively quiet.  When the music site Consequence of Sound released news of an upcoming album from them in February, the post was mysteriously deleted.  Thankfully, the news has officially resurfaced and confirmed as truth.  Beach House does in fact have a new album in the works titled Bloom and its set to be released May 7th.  With that comes the release of the album's first single, "Myth."

      While never really indulging too far into the likes of dreamy, transcendent pop music, I've taken a liking to Beach House.  Ever since hearing their song in the trailer for that weird looking film, The Future, I have since considered myself a fan.

      The new song is mot much of a change from the band's trademark sound, but that's no bit of criticism on my part.  "Myth" is an especially cool track.  Its constant synth back-beat mixed with Victoria Legrand's voice gives the song a peaceful tone.  For a few seconds at the refrain when the guitar kicks in with one simple strut, everything becomes amplified and doubly intense, serene, mesmerizing-however you want to call it.  The song can really hypnotize you if you are not careful.

      In short and to take from its lyrics, "Myth" is a"momentary bliss" of sound and with it, we can expect more good things from these two come May 7th.