My Poproks

Set to run during the forth quarter’s two minute warning on Sunday, the new Sunsilk commercial for the Superbowl features clips of songs by Marylin Monroe, Shakira, and Madonna. Rolling Stone writes that Madonna received $10 million for the spot (wells worth it)!

Coincidentally, Forbes named Madonna the top earning woman in music yesterday on their first ever “Cash Queens of Music” list.  Madonnalicious earned $72 mil from June ‘06 to June ‘07.

In other Madge news, In the midst of filming her new video for “4 Minutes To Save The World” (featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland), Madonna reportedly sang “Happy Birthday” to JT on set, who turns 27 today. The video is being shot in London for Madonna’s upcoming untitled album due in April.

Peter Moren (via Sweden via Peter Bjorn and John) is releasing his debut solo album The Last Tycoon on April 8th on Quarterstick Records. Pitchfork posted some cool photos of his show last night at the Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles (his second solo outing). He’ll be DJing tomorrow night in San Francisco at Proof Bar (and at SXSW on the 12th). Pitchfork also posted the tracklisting for the record:

1. Reel Too Real
2. Missing Link
3. Old Love
4. Le Petit Coeur
5. Tell Me in Time
6. My Match
7. This Is What I Came For
8. Twisted
9. Social Competence
10. Gaze at the Sky for Long

More pics…

9.5

I received an email yesterday from someone wondering my opinion on Vampire Weekend. My initial response was that this was another product of the music blog hype machine in this Pitchfork age; Where one rave review can turn into 10 can turn into 100, and before you know it the band is selling out headlining gigs at the Bowery Ballroom. Well, this is me eating my words. Take a picture, it will last longer.

A closer listen to this record reveals the undeniable truth that this…unfortunately…is an amazing, amazing record. I say ‘unfortunately,’ because I dislike “hype” bands with the strongest bias. I dislike the term “Hype Bands.” The only hype band that has been worthy of the ludicrous amounts of praise that they have received are the Royal Arctic Monkeys of England (“How many pingbacks can I get out of this post?” she wondered). A great record? Yeah. The greatest thing since Poptarts? No.

I’m not going to sit here and brag about how I first posted about this band 12 years ago (OK, 1), how it’s the best record of the year no matter what comes out from this point forward (regardless of the fact that it’s January). I’m not going to link you to their student film trailer, or live performances from their unconventional concert at Roosevelt Island, OR the debut of their new song “White Skies” from the Bowery show this week. I just don’t buy into hype that easily.

Now, on to the record. It seems to be the censuses that the backlash of this over-hype will be minimal. This is due entirely to the fact that every song on Vampire Weekend’s Self Titled XL Recordings debut is, in a word, stellar. Forget the world-music-afro-beat genre dropping you’ve been hearing about (though, clearly, it is a huge influence – and the band was first “hyped” on an African music blog). This is pop music. And it’s great pop music. The clean island-influenced style, catchy melodies, and Ezra Koenig’s swirl-y vocals recall the best of early Police; or early Paul Simon; or the Talking Heads at their most rebellious; or, yes, even Peter Gabriel (who is cleverly name-dropped in the cleverly titled “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” which paints a picture perfect bedroom in a picture perfect weekend house with a sandy lawn, Louis Vuitton…and Peter Gabriel too).

Forget the fact that they are rich New York City boys from Columbia University who sip cosmos on the Lower East Side after the gig discussing fresh sea food and Bazillion funk (I don’t know if this is true, but can’t you just see that?) with friends named Blake and Bryn (who have “a new face” and “eyes like a seagull”…?). Even though they do poo poo Wellfleet, Provincetown, and even Hyannisport (it’s “a ghetto”) on album highlight “Walcott,” you don’t get the sense of snobbery as much as irony from the snooty references. After all, they’d rather chill in Jersey.

Between the 80’s ska infused pop of “A-Punk” and the classical strings of “M79,” there is no possibility of pegging this band with any one style, genre, bla bla bla. The student-professor love story that takes place in one of the most expensive schools in the country on “Campus” (”You’re out on the stone and grass/And I’m sleeping on the balcony after class”), is hardly regular subject matter for an album by an underground four piece from NYC.

You can call this Afro-pop, Reggae-post-indie, ‘Upper West Side Soweto,’ whatever you’d like. You can hate on the hype and hope to Delancey that this is a terrible record. Alas, this is 11 perfect pop songs on a perfect debut album, no matter how you toast it.

Sorry, Matt.

To promote MJ’s 25th Anniversary Edition of Thriller, this viral vid of Tube riders in London breaking into the “Thriller” dance was shot, apparently, on the Nothern Line (Yellow poles)! I’m gonna make this an early pick for My Poproks Favorite Youtube Video of The Year.

You should be more than familiar with Australian born vocalist Daniel Merriweather, who brought to life Mark Ronson’s “Stop Me” off of the critically acclaimed cover album Version (and I know, not theoretically a “new artist” - How Grammy of me). If not, then here you go.

To date, Merriweather only has two singles; “City Rules” with rapper Saigon (yup, the dude from Entourage), and “She’s Got Me” from Mark Ronson’s 2004 album Here Comes The Fuzz. Merriweather’s debut album, Love and War, due May in the UK and June in the US on Ronson’s Allido label, is already majorly Ronsofied (he is also producing it).

The lead single “Chainsaw” (now up on his Myspace page) is an infectious 60’s style Pop-R&B track in the vein of Ronson’s other prodigy, Amy Winehouse. Still riding the wave of the success of “Stop Me’ (Version is nominated for a ton of big awards on both sides of the pond), the funky instrumentation and smooth vocals should push him into the spotlight with no trouble. Let’s just hope he doesn’t end up on Youtube with bleach blonde hair smoking on a crack pipe. Daniel, crack is whack!

You can check out other new tracks, “For Winter” and “I Think I’m In Love,” on his Space, as well as a slew of live performances of “Stop Me.”

*Since you’re here, you can also check out the new Mark Ronson video for his reinvention of Radiohead’s “Just” (Featuring Alex Greenwald of Phantom Planet), the 4^th single off of Version.

I am incredibly amused by this break-up letter recently posted on SPIN, written by Murderball director Dana Shapiro (who was oddly mentioned in my last post. That’s what they call a “changeover”…I think), and comprised of lyrics from 69 different break-up songs. The full letter, appropriately titled “My Bloody Valentine,” below:

Click here for the song index!

Dear __________,

Your picture is still on my wall. A little black cloud in a dress, with your chrome heart shining in the sun — so pretty when you’re unfaithful to me. You don’t look different but you have changed.

It’s coming on Christmas. They’re cutting down trees, they’re putting up reindeer. It’s so cold in this house. I can’t stand the rain against my window. The bed’s too big without you. I’ll be sleeping with the television on, talking to the shadows from one o’clock till four, thinking how it used to be. It’s a desperate situation. All I perceive is wasted and broken. Yeah, we still go to dinner sometimes, but we don’t sneak a kiss when the waitress turns around. I’ve been forgotten.

You don’t love me and I know now. Nothing hurts like someone who knows everything about you leaving you behind.

Everybody’s high on consolation. Who would’ve thought that a boy like me could come to this? I go walkin’ after midnight, doing anything just to get you off of my mind. Confidentially, I never had much pride. But now I rock a bar stool and I drink for two. And then the jukebox plays a song I used to know:

“I used to fart under the covers and she’d just laugh.
She even cleaned my balls when we would take a bath.“

There’s always something there to remind me. I saw two shooting stars last night — I wished on them but they were only satellites. Is it wrong to wish on space hardware? It’s not a question, but a lesson learned in time. Did you stand by me? No, not at all. Tell me, where did you sleep last night?

Oh shit. Don’t speak. Shut up, ’cause I know all about it. You keep lyin’ when you oughta be truthin’. Heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend who heard it from another you been messin’ around. Your cheatin’ heart, headed for the cheatin’ side of town. Kind of evil make me wanna grab my submachine.

You thought you could keep this shit from me? Into the arms of Mr. Rebound — that alley-cat-coat-wearin’ crumbcake, like a matador with his pork sword. You swallow his kids? Lookee here, honey — you don’t need to be coy. Why’d ya do it? What’cha gonna say now? Lift me up, hold me, just like you told me you was gonna do. That’s what I thought — you’re pitiful.

I wish I was as mellow as, for instance, Jackson Browne, but “Fountain of Sorrow” my ass, motherfucker. I’ve lost my equilibrium, my car keys, and my pride. There’s only so much wine you can drink in one life, but it will never be enough to save you from the bottom of your glass. I’m glad that you’re sorry, but it’s too late, baby, now it’s too late. Cry me a river. Here’s a quarter, call someone who cares.

Wait. Give me my money back, you bitch. And don’t forget to give me back my black T-shirt. Take my picture off the wall. Give back my TV. I don’t wanna walk around with you. I don’t like a thing about your mother and I hate your daddy’s guts too. You can tell your dog to bite my leg. I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes — you’d know what a drag it is to see you. You’re just…a fuck. I can’t explain it ’cause I think you suck. I’m taking pride in telling you to fuck off and die. Die, die, my darling. Just shut your pretty mouth. Don’t call me anymore. And the next time your ass gets horny, go fuck one of your funky-ass friends.

I’d show you everywhere you’re wrong but I’m never talking to you again. If the phone doesn’t ring, you’ll know that it’s me.

Loveless,

__________

The Juno Soundtrack took over #1 in the Billboard 200 this week, knocking out Alicia Keys, and selling 65,000 copies (thanks to all those Oscar nods). It’s the first #1 album that Rhino has ever had (am I the only one a bit surprised by this tidbit?), and the first soundtrack to reach #1 since last year’s Dreamgirls.

I was just thinking of how amusing this must be for a band like The Moldy Peaches, who were on my ‘Least Likely To Ever See #1 on Billboard’ list, right next to Sonic Youth (who are, coincidentally, now crossed off the list as well). The band’s songs “Anyone Else But You” and “Superstar” are featured on the soundtrack, respectively.

“Anyone Else But You” was nominated for an Oscar as well, but for it’s use in the documentary Muderball in 2006. The corky New York City folk band has written such favorites as “Downloading Porn With Davo,” and “Who’s Got The Crack.” Love it.

By the way, I got another Sonic Youth album…and it sucks.

It’s just noise!

After some issues with embedding on the Def Jam site, the video for Jay-Z’s third American Gangster single, “Pray,” has finally made it’s way onto Youtube. The video features a live performance of the Diddy (2/3’s of The Hitmen) produced track, and Beyonce on vocals.

Indie darlings, Death Cab For Cutie, announced via their website that their “really weird” new album will be titled Narrow Stairs. The follow-up to their 2005 Atlantic Records debut is due in late May.

The band also posted a link to the ecard for guitarist Chris Walla’s new video, “Sing Again.” The song is the first single off of his new solo album, Field Manual, which was released yesterday on Death Cab’s long time indie label, Barsuk. If you order the record on the Barsuk website by February 4th, you will receive 3 MP3 bonus tracks.

Death Cab will also be playing the Saturday date at Coachella this April (with Portishead headlining).

EDIT: Tracklist & release date…

This was posted last night on both Kanye West’s and Billionaire Boys Club’s blog. Wow. Kanye’s subject line? “The End of the World As You Know It!!!!!”

Dates coming soon…

“We hope you guys have been holding on to your Billionaire Boys Club & Ice Cream glow in the dark pieces.” -BBC

No. For real, That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. I want one the size of a Billboard to hang in my apartment.

It will surely be way better than those wretched Star Wars prequels.

A few months after announcing the controversial title for his new album, Nigger, Nas settles in with XXL to discuss the record, the state of the music business, his feud with Jay-Z, and politics.

“The same guys come out in every situation,” Nas said about the reaction to Don Imus’ comments last year, ”Al Sharpton, I should send him a new pair of gators, ’cause I know his shits have got to be worn out, with all that marching he doing. They need a different approach.”

XXL also tried their best to get him to admit he didn’t like being on Def Jam, but he was pretty PC about skirting the issue. When asked if he’s really satisfied at the label (run by his one time rival), Nas said, “I don’t know. I can’t find too many people that’s happy anywhere in the state of the business right now.”

You can check out a full preview of the interview here.

N.E.R.D. appear to be putting the finishing touches on their upcoming third album N*R*3*D, due out this spring on Interscope. This, at least according to a post entitled “Finishing touches?” on the Billionaire Boys Club blog, complete with in studio photos.

You can also check out a stream of the rumored first single, “Everybody Nose,” an energetic jungle hip hop anthem (described by Pharrell as “Red Bull with growth hormones in it”).

…for all the girls standing in the line for the bathroom.

REM announced some spring/summer dates with Modest Mouse and The National (sweet) in support of their bazillionth record (kidding), Accelerate, due April 1. It’s been over 10 years since I’ve seen REM (Monster, ya heard?), so it may be time to catch “The One I Love” live again…especially since I barely remember the first time.

Michael Stipe told Q Magazine of the new record, “”I think the songs on Around The Sun are great, but in the process of recording we lost our focus as a band. Now, that focus is back. And it’s razor sharp.”

The band is also playing the Langerado Festival in Florida, March 8.

Dates? Yes, please.

May
23–Vancouver–Deer Lake Park
29–Los Angeles–Hollywood Bowl
31–Berkeley–The Greek Theatre

June
03–Denver–Red Rocks Amphitheatre
06–Chicago–United Center
08–Toronto–Molson Amphitheatre
10–Raleigh–Walnut Creek Amphitheatre
11–Washington, DC–Merriweather Post Pavilion
13–Boston–Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts
14–Long Island–Jones Beach Theater
18–Philadelphia–Mann Center for the Performing Arts
19–New York City–TBA
21–Atlanta–Lakewood Amphitheatre

More REM.

The Mars Volta The Bedlam in Goliath
You gotta hear the story about the ghost, and you gotta see the video for “Aberinkula.”

The Helio Sequence Keep Your Eyes Ahead
On this, their 4th full length out on Sub Pop, lead singer Brandon Summers learns how to sing again after damaging his vocal chords. Sounds like he can still sing, and we can confirm that he practiced to Dylan. Confirmed.

Natasha Bedingfield Pocket Full of Sunshine
I love Natasha Bedingfield , I’m not embarrassed to say. I think if music could be adorable, this would be it. The new single with Sean Kingston is…well, adorable. It’s no surprise she named a record Pocket Full of Sunshine. Listen to this, and you’ll see. Everything is going to be OK.

Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend
The eccentric ska-afro-indie New York City buzz band Vampire Weekend’s debut officially hits stores, and sells out a bunch of shows on their upcoming tour. Whether you like it or not, it will be the most original indie buzz band you’ve heard in a long while.

Check out a complete list of releases for tomorrow at Newmusictipsheet.com.

I’m not sure if it was the security bag checks, the white table cloth underneath the rows of beer, the excessive press turn-out, or all those Nike dunks and matching Yankee caps, but something about Flavorpill’s One Step Beyond at The Museum of Natural History seemed bigger than just a day at the museum. Harder, better, faster…stronger.

Check out my full review of the event at Blogyourvisit.com, the NYC Pocket and Travel Guide Blog!

Crazy.

The anticipated sophomore album from Super-producer Dangermouse and Mega-vocalist Cee-Lo (Goodie Mob), otherwise known as Gnarls Barkley (otherwise known as the best band in the world) officially has a name…and a release month. The Odd Couple is set to hit stores in April, according to the duo’s website.

Rolling Stone got a sneak preview of some of the tracks, and bragged about it on the blog (bastards!). However, you can listen to a new track off of the record, “Run,” posted on Mission Freak (Seems they got shut down and had to remove the file - rats! Get it from here, quick).

Gnarls Barkley advises you to sign up on their site for the mailing list to stay in the know, and mentioned in their myspace blog that they only want their biggest fans to know the deets of the new record.

So sign up!

8.5

Set for a physical US release in April (almost a year after its XL digital only release) on the indie rap label Def Jux, Dizzee’s third effing bangin’, critically acclaimed record Maths + English is “grime” at it’s best. More simply, it’s hip hop at it’s best. This record has a little bit of everything (including fellow Brits Arctic Monkeys and Lily Allen), and features eclectic, innovative beats, clever wordplay, and an East Ender accent that makes it so you can not mistake Dizzee Rascal for anyone else. Though Boy In Da Corner may still be my personal favorite, this is coming up from behind faster than the BPM on “Temptation.”

7.5

The first great record of 2008 has already arrived, and it goes by the name Oracular Spectacular. You don’t know MGMT, the electro-pop duo from Brooklyn, but you’ll recognize the songs. The partially cooky 80’s keyboards, the reverb and echo heavy classic rock vocals, the 60’s power-pop choruses, and the disco funk bass lines are all too familiar. Most likely, it’s meant to be that way. Andrew Vanwyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, who started out doing genre parodies and joke songs, never intended to make a serious record. Their Sony debut is just that.

“Time to Pretend,” the album’s first track, is a joke song within itself. The uber-distorted sounds and dance beat make it as sarcastic as it is catchy; “Let’s make some music, make some money, find some models for wives.” Sounds like a plan that only a song like “Time to Pretend” could bring to fruition. Other plans inslude, but are not limited to; “move to Paris” and “shoot some heroin.” Rock ’n’ Roll. The album quickly changes pace on “Weekend Wars” and “Youth,” both a sort of folky electronic classic rock tribute to all of the above.

The lead single, “Electric Feel,” brings the disco funk I mentioned earlier in modern/retro Scissor Sister style. Some overly dramatized high pitch vocals and swimmy “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” keys make the song almost an audio caricature of what it’s meant to be; “Oh girl, shock me like an electric eel/Oh baby girl, turn me on with your electric feel.” Throw in a video that looks like it was made on a $500 budget with an audio visualizer program for Windows 3.1, and…basically, it’s all kinds of awesome.

Album highlight (my personal favorite, whatever), “Kids,” is described by the band as a song “filled with all those college feelings: naivety, idealism, nostalgia, happiness, sadness.” It’s also filled with catchy everything, and sort of reminds me of what The Killers would sound like if they didn’t listen to so much Bruce Springsteen (not that that’s a bad thing…you know what I mean).

Make no mistake, these are a couple of hipsters from Brooklyn; they used to perform 15 minute sets that would feature experimentation with one new song per show, and their debut EP was released by a bunch of NYU students. This is a heavily synth laced electronica album, but other influences of classic rock and pop are ever-present on Oracular Spectacular. The combination makes it arguably more interesting than most of their “dance-rock” peers, and any mix where the keyboard is the loudest track is A+ in my book. Not taking itself seriously is the most important thing this record accomplishes - and, in retrospect, makes the songs even that much better.

Portishead officially announced via their site that their third album (Third) will be released April 14 on Island Records after an 11 year hiatis. Nothing else was posted, other then the track number (11) and the run time (49:13).

The Bristol band was also announced Wednesday as the headliner for Coachella on Saturday April 26th, along with Kraftwerk and Death Cab For Cutie. The band performed at the ATP festival in December and played some of the new tracks (”Hunter,” “Mystic,” “Machine Gun,” “Peaches,” and “Wicca”). 

The band also announced a slew of UK and European tour dates for the coming months.

Oporto Coliseum Wednesday March 26
Lisbon Coliseum Thursday March 27
Milan Alcatraz Sunday March 30
Florence Sashall Monday March 31
Munich Tonhalle Wednesday April 2
Berlin Columbiahalle Thursday April 3
Copenhagen KB Halle Friday April 4
Cologne Palladium Sunday April 6
Amsterdam HMH Monday April 7
Manchester Apollo Wednesday April 9
London Hammersmith Apollo Thursday April 10
Edinburgh Corn Exchange Saturday April 12
Wolverhampton Civic Sunday April 13
Brixton Academy Thursday April 17th.
Coachella Festival Saturday April 26
Paris Zenith Monday May 5
Brussels Forest National Thursday May 8
Barcelona Primavera Sound Thursday May 29