You may remember how I blogged about Feist appearing on Sesame Street? (Check out the entry here.) Well it happened. And here is the video.

As you watch it, you realize the lyrics have changed. To me, it seems a little brainwashy. As I mentioned before, Feist’s song is on Sesame Street because of it’s Apple commercial fame. Because of it being an advertising jingle, children are familiar with from hearing it before. Now, they are learning from it? I love the song, but I don’t know, it just rubs me the wrong way.

I do like the actual video, and I don’t care that it makes me a hypocrite. It resembles Feist’s music video style (which is shooting in one long shot, with no cuts.) That is a stylistic choice that throws back to her fans that know her beyond just the iPod nano.

Fleet Foxes are the next big indie band from giant indie label, Sub op. After years of bringing great indie artists to the spotlight, it’s only expected they bring another “soft, but hard” and “quiet, yet unexpected” and other contradicting cliché type group into indie acclaim. Enter Fleet Foxes, with their self-titled EP. With a whopping 9 out of 10 on pitchfork media and reaching #1 on the CMJ charts, there may be more to this 5 piece from Seattle’s suburbs that meets the ear.

Thinking about their sound and influences, a few things come to mind. One, they are from the suburbs, two, they are from Seattle, and three; there is a strong folk sound on each track. Beware these are just unconcrete thoughts, with that said, let’s being. I’m from the Suburbs and let me tell you. There is nothing to do there. It’s boring. And like a ghetto, the only way to leave is by being unique or successful. And Fleet Foxes succeeded.

Their Seattle area also brings another stream of consciousness connotation onto Fleet Foxes and their indie scene all together. A connotation I will try to explain. Seattle music brings to mind one major reference, Nirvana and grunge. And before you leave an angry comment, let me explain. Fleet Foxes are not grunge, nor am I calling them equivalent to Nirvana in influence. However, grunge was a movement in music that grew momentum in the 90’s. Could it be that the folk influences of this Seattle band along with the folk renewal of the indie scene be the “grunge” movement of today? Even though this folk movement (or any movement) will have as large of an impact as grunge did, it still has this sweeping effect in new releases in the indie realm. For an example, Sigur Ros’ 2008’s Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust and Animal Collective’s Water Curses are more folk pop than their ambient and noise beginnings (respectively).

Onto Fleet Foxes’ music: Comparing them to Sub Pop family members, the Shins, Fleet Foxes has got the beat with their stronger harmonies, fluctuating emphasis on volume and varying instrumentals. Fleet Foxes would have made Garden State a better movie.

The album opens up with folk-lyrics but progressively built with “Sun It Rises” and gets stronger with its single “White Winter Hymnal”. I’m glad this is their single because I really like it. There’s breeziness to it and the harmonies build on each other that lead to an instrumental climax. “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” resembles the 60’s folk revival with its simple guitar playing and tempo changes. Even with its older influences and classic structure, it avoids being “retro”.

Also, people (especially haters) have been saying that all new music is just rehashed old music. And the Fleet Foxes could be accused of that. With the apparent influences by classic rock artists like the Beach Boys, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Simon & Garfunkel, and Bob Dylan, they are combining the sounds they know with a style they have created, which ends up being an album “delicate, yet strong”, “aged, but fresh” and “peaceful and commanding”.

Rating: B

The first time I heard Skamper was on a compilation someone sent me in an attempt to court me (the song being “She Called It Happy”). It was electro-based but crazy contagious. But that was ages ago, and the courting attempt did not work. And really, that was the first and last time I’ve come into contact with Skamper. Until now…

High energy emerges from a dark dingy room on Skamper’s Thunderbeast (from Second Floor Noise). There are strong riffs accented by electronic keyboard scales with an element of futuristic. Skamper combines the grunge and the grit of one scene with the glitter and glam of another. there are few tracks that lack luster (like “Sugarhate” and “The Garden”) but they are forgivable with track like “#9″ and “Ladyfingers”, which are bizzare but strong in beat and/or energy.

If someone was going to try to court me again using Skamper, even with Thunderbeasts’ high points, it wouldn’t work. That is both a warning and my total conclusion on the album.
1. Don’t make me mixes with Skamper on them and
2. It’s alright, even enjoyable on some tracks, but overall, it is not as catchy as “She Called It Happy” and not all that attention grabbing.

Rating: C

Girl Talk  - Feed The Animals (Illegal Art)

In Feed the Animals, Greg Gillis’, the man of Girl Talk, greatest strength is soaking the popular top 40 tracks of today with the riffs, choruses and sounds of yesteryear in nostalgia. And that’s what he did in his latest album, Feed The Animals. If he did not depend so heavily on the classic rock connections (including some oldies, but goodies from the 90s), it would not be getting the acclaim it would be getting (including a whopping 8.0 on Pitchfork).

Now let’s put this album in context with today, outside of it just being noise and beats. Feed The Animals is successful the same reason why iTunes is the largest retailers of music, and why singles and “ringles” are the “current future”. People buy for the familiar. They buy what they hear constantly on the radio (the Top 40 playlists), they buy classic re-mastered albums, and they buy compilations of all their favorite songs from the 70s, 80s, and 90s for their familiarity. Girl Talk gives that to them in a catchy way. He combined Busta Rhymes with the Police, two artists that haven’t been heard from recently but are known, at least by name. He brings 2 (or 3 or 4) samples of singles together from different times and puts it into an ultimate party mix, a mix where all the sounds we hear are familiar enough to sing-a-long to.

However, will you hear any of that at a party? No, probably not. Here’s why – people get excited when they hear a long forgotten favorite. (As an example, at the parties I go to, when Styx or Hall & Oates comes on, people hit the roof.) And as soon as a “hey, I love this song” level has been reached, that sample has been laced into another and is transitioning out into another old favorite. The listener reminiscences and the rest of the track and its carefully sculpted samples are left by the way-side.

But I’m not really reviewing. It’s an incredible album – anyone who is addicted to pop music or even pop culture should definitely, at the very least, appreciate the craftsmanship and expertise that Girl Talk puts into this very congruent album.

I listened to this album a minimum of three times before even picking up a pencil. It’s really incredible. There are a few breaks where the samples are too short, too choppy or just too many and fall into his biggest weakness from Secret Diaries. However, he carries one of his largest strengths from Night Ripper, his previous release. When Night Ripper was first released I heard it called “Jock Jams for kids in hoodies”. Jock Jams were compilations made from slightly dated electro-inspired hits and I had about 3 volumes. Girl Talk infused Jock Jams with every musical influence from television, the largest source of pop culture in America, including infomercials selling “Now” compilations and Greatest Hits, to the theme songs, like Dawson’s Creek or MacBook’s Air. But, oh my god, does it work! And it’s hella hot. In this energetic, high-octane music fest, Girl Talk produces an album ready for summer.

Another favorite thing about this album is how it was released. Playing off Radiohead’s 2007 release of In Rainbows, Girl Talk also let his consumers name their own price. Only, when you enter in your own price, you find out you don’t have to pay anything and can just download it for free. Why the unnecessary hoops? Irony? Maybe a little, but he, or they (from Illegal Art, the label), use this technique to survey why the price listed were listed as such. That is brilliant for this particularly “underground” artist. This type of release is something really of the future. As I mentioned in a previous post, this release supports the theory of having two emerging economies, one based on reputation, which Gillis is building, and one based on attention, which this album is deserving. The style of this release is almost as brilliant as the album it’s self.

The music snob and small connoisseur in me loves the album because it’s a pop music test. It’s like the speed round in name that tune. Let’s just say this, I’m good. (For a cheat sheet… check this out.)

Track list:

1. Play Your Part (pt. 1)
2. Shut The Club Down
3. Still Here
4. What It’s All About
5. Set It Off
6. No Pause
7. Like This
8. Give Me A Beat
9. Hands In The Air
10. In Step
11. Let Me See You
12. Here’s The Thing
13. Don’t Stop
14. Play Your Part (Pt.2)

Rating: A

Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid (Polydor)

Miss me? Here is another review from the Polydor released album The Seldom Seen Kid from Elbow. On the same lines as Liam Finn, Elbow’s album is filled with complicated melodies that come off as simple and beautiful.

From the enchanting “Starlings” to the desperate “love ballad” of ” An Audience with the Pope” to the dismal (and chanting) “The Fix”, the songs have movement and as trite as it is to say, sound different from track to track. Although, those adjectives describe a sad and depressing album, I assure that’s not what you’ll get. The album is sincere and honest, which is a must have in today’s music.

This album has already been featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered’s Spring Preview and is expected to be mentioned a lot more.

Track Listing
1. Starlings
2. The Bones Of You
3. Mirrorball
4. Grounds for Divorce
5. An Audience with the Pope
6. Weather To Fly
7. The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver
8. The Fix
9. Some Riot
10. One Day Like This
11. Friend Of Ours

The Death Set - Worldwide (Counter)

Fuck yeah! Finally a full length from cult favorites, Death Set. I wrote about their teaser EP, MFDS, a few months ago, and lucky for everyone, the attitude, high energy from that EP lasts for 25.5 minutes over 18 tracks on Worldwide. The album moves extremely fast each track averaging less than 2 minutes. It’s aggressive and spaz-tastic. It’s electro-induced, punk-rock influenced, it’s the mother fucking death set. (And for you who haven’t heard the album, the choice language refers back to their track “MFDS”)

Honestly, I would love to see these guys live. I feel like the magic of their on stage performance would transform the tracks into an incredible experience beyond just being really infectious punk pop.

Favorite tracks include, obviously, “Negative Thinking”, “Death Set Anthem”, “Intermission” and “Superzero” with its unstoppable beat. “MFDS” is attention grabbing with it’s Lil’ Jon similarity and hilarity.

The speed and length of the album goes well with the intensity and sound of the album. Any longer, the spastic-ness would become annoying. Dad, this isn’t for you.

Track Listing:
1. Solve It
2. Listen To This Collision
3. Negative Thinking
4. Intermission
5. Spaz
6. Cold Teeth
7. Around The World
8. Impossible
9. Superzero
10. Day In The Wife
11. Bla!
12. Moving Forward
13. MFDS
14. Had A Bird
15. Peak Oil
16. This Song
17. Heard It All Before
18. Selective Memories

Rating: B

Well happy birthday to me! Well in a matter of days. I’ll be leaving Shanghai and heading to Beijing. Now, readers, I hope you haven’t felt neglected with my lack of posts. I‘ve been very busy with creating plenty of new stories (most of them being true).

I went to Hooters with 4 of my new favorite people. My roommate surprised me with a Hooter’s birthday. You know what I am talking about. When you tell a waitress someone in your party is having a birthday and they sing an annoying song and give you cake? Well, that’s what happened. Now, “We are Hoot-as” and “girls, give me a beat” will never be the same again.

And when I do eventually go back to the States, I feel I will be under-appreciated. Now, I’m not drama mama over here, but you have to try to understand. I get stared at over here. I get to pose to get my picture taken, or some times taken paparazzi style. I even get smiled at and said “hello” to (in English or Yingyu). My eyes have been called “filled with ocean” and I’ve been told I spoke Chinese very well, however, that compliment needed to be translated.

In fact just the other day, I got my hand shaken, had a short but successful conversation in Chinese and even joined in a group photo. That group tried to sneakily take my picture. They pretended to pose in front of me so I’d be in the background, or just randomly take pictures until they got one of me. And as much as that game is sometimes fun, I finally just gave them my camera and asked if I could be in a picture with them. They gladly obliged, and were even surprised. Then we had a nice conversation in broken English.

Another observation I’ve made while here is that not knowing or needing to know the date is a positive thing. Time here, with my schedule, doesn’t matter. I guess that’s what vacation is all about. It’s refreshing to be like I know my birthday is coming up, when exactly, I’m not sure but it’s coming up (hence me celebrating the big 2-1 for a few days before and after). But while dates and times aren’t important here and I’m not squandering my time, I can’t help but think about what I will be doing for the rest of the summer and even what I need to do to prepare for my senior year.

That reminds me, for those of you who read/read (past tense) the blog for musical purposes, I know for sure that there will be stacks and stacks of albums waiting on my desk to be reviewed, so hang tight.

And going back to the Hooter’s situation: Before we all left, I saw a table of what looked like Americans. I went over to speak to them and they were actually international students. I asked one of the blonde blue-eyed girls if she gets stared at. She said she’s been here for 5 years and still gets asked to pose. I also asked if the middle finger was universal, the consensus was yes. But that’s besides the point.

The point and lesson to be learned is that next time I want to take a picture of a stranger (for having a funny mustache or a fashion faux pas) I need to be even more discreet because it’s pretty obvious even when you think you are being sly.

Another thing I learned is that celebrity-ness can kinda suck, especially on bad days or during bad moods. So, I suppose if I was to be a D list or on the E list, I wouldn’t mind so much. In fact, I’d enjoy that. Think about it. Being able to live with the occasional fan asking for a photo or gasping at your presence. And of course, all my fans would be pretty awesome, of course.

]]> http://saraknee.wordpress.com/2008/06/12/how-do-you-get-on-the-deans-list/feed/ saraknee I'm a Hoot-as Girl! Posing! http://saraknee.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/sleepless-in-shanghai/ http://saraknee.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/sleepless-in-shanghai/#comments Fri, 23 May 2008 05:06:34 +0000 saraknee http://saraknee.wordpress.com/?p=59

Just thought I’d share. everything is going swimmingly.

Let me sum up my adventures so far in a very LiveJournal way: I’m hungry. And tired.

First of all, I’m jetlagged. It’s the 4th day here, and let’s face it, I’m still trying to figure out when I should to go to bed to the get the optimal amount of sleep in the optimal sleep schedule.

I’m hungry. The food here is hard to order, and sometimes hard to eat.

We walked by a place serving dog. It’s true. It’s not a myth. Tomorrow we will go to the Shanghai museum. My roommates have dietary restrictions. One is kosher, so jewish, and the other is pescitarian, so only fish eating.

So I’ll be living off rice and next week I’ll probably resort to American food. We, roommates and few others, made a pact not to go to American dining until, at least, next week. It’s really hard.

Only one of the people can communicate in Chinese, the rest of us are hungry. He can order but without him we are hungry. Yesterday, Edmond (the Chinese master) went out with his family, and was gone for the day. We resorted to pointing at other people’s tables and crazy hand signals.

The other day, our group found an egg serving place. Below is the photo. It was called I Love Eggs(squared)

But that’s my summary. For more pictures check this OUT
Now I am going to attempt to find some white rice, my favorite and only fall back for food.

May 18th:
6:00pm – Leave home
9:15pm – Arrive at Philadelphia Int’l

May 19th:
1:30am – Board the plane

May 20th:
4:00am – Unboard the plan
5:30am – Board bus to East China Normal University
6:30am – Arrive at University
7:10am – Meet for breakfast
9:00am – Meet for University Tour
12:00pm – Meet for lunch
1:00pm – Tour downtown Shanghai
4:00pm - Grocery Shopping for bottled water

At 4:30am, yes, am, 10 students arrived in Shanghai from the Hofstra trip. After getting to the JFK airport at 9pm and eventually boarding a plane at 1:45am, the 15-hour flight wasn’t so bad. My iPod refused to work. It wanted to be plugged into my computer and then my computer wouldn’t acknowledge it. So then the iPod felt neglected and refused to work even more. As we were landing, I made the iPod feel loved by trying again, and sure enough it worked. Besides a flight without music, and distracting language barriers, you could assume it would sucks, but in hindsight, what could you expect from a long flight?

There were movies, like The Emperor’s New Groove, and in-flight exercises along with someone that may cause future annoyances and amusement. From this point on, let’s call him Dwight.

In the early morning, Shanghai is covered in this fog. This “fog” may also be known as pollution and isn’t the most appealing part of China. Less than half the class at studied Chinese before, which leaves us up a creek without a paddle when it comes to the Chinese river of language. So we rely on our professor to make all the connections and communications for us. And that expectation isn’t totally out of bounds. In fact, he will gladly help translate our questions and concerns. He will also leave us to fend for ourselves on these tours. Such as, dropping us off at breakfast and meeting up a few hours later, which is fine. But giving us a tour of the University, then saying he has to go and believing in us that we know how to get back to the dorm/hotel building.

Which brings me to our lodgings:
Our lodgings aren’t bad. We assumed they’d be more dorm like. Instead they are more hotel like. In fact a nice old couple is staying down the hall from us. The boys are paired up and the 3 girls are all together in a “suite” of sorts. There is a cleaning lady, which makes me slightly nervous because I don’t want to get anything stolen or have to hide my belongings before I go out.

But for a first (half) day, things are going swimmingly. We 10 are enjoying ourselves. And I have a calling card…, which I will mostly use for texting capabilities. So please don’t be offended if I do not call you. There’s a better chance I will email you, or you can email me. See, flexibility. That’s the name of the game, especially in this strange land of the East.

Also, there haven’t been any earthquakes. And I will add pictures eventually.

Love,
Sara

P.S.
Want a post card? Email me with an address, because let’s face it, who uses snail mail anyways?

As the semester winds down, I need to take some time to pack up my room, pack up for China and get my studies done. This means, sadly, one thing. I will need to take a hiatus on my blog. If you feel so inclined you can still follow me on twitter.

I have projects, papers and test galore that will keep me rather busy until the 15th. And, leaving for China in just 14 days! Can you believe it? I can not.

When I come back, I’m sure the CDs will be stacked high on my desk. So the reviews will start rolling back in when I get back to the states, but this blog is gonna turn into a LiveJournal type master piece as I begin to document my days in Beijing.

Have any tips for this young traveler? Or any suggestions what should be on my playlist for the 14 hour flight?

Enjoy your spring, blog readers.

Sara Knee