With Reflektor due out next Tuesday the Arcade Fire has shared (for a limited
time) a full stream of the two
disk one hour and twenty-five minute LP via one very long repurposed lyric
video of the 1959 film, Black Orpheus. It’s a whole lot to process with
nine of the thirteen songs being over five minutes in length often galloping
towards climaxes of cacophonous orchestral jams. A record most certainly
for people who enjoy full LP’s more so than random radio singles so if that
sounds like your cup of tea then like myself you will love this.
Sticking with the Red Bull Music Academy theme we follow up
the latest episodes of H∆SHTAG$
with 12 years of DFA: Too Old To Be New, Too New To Be Classic, a short
documentary that gives an inside look at the legendary NYC label that got the
indie kids to dance.
Featuring music and appearances by LCD Soundsystem, TheRapture, Holy Ghost!, The Juan MacLean, Shit Robot, Sinkane, YACHT and many more, the 13 minute film investigates DFA’s
birth in 2001 to where they are now with
insight from the the label’s founders LCD
Soundsystem‘s James Murphy, Jonathan Galkin, and Tim Goldsworthy.
Pitchfork recently released a behind-the-scenes video on the large art installation they helped produce with artist Doug Aitken. The project was entitled Song1and took place at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington DC last April. With the help of 11 high-def projectors a video was broadcast on the exterior of the building featuring multiples versions of the 1934 classic "I Only Have Eyes for You" by The Flamingos reworked and re-imagined by musicians such as Beck, Lucky Dragons, Devendra Banhart, James Murphy, No Age, etc..
Aitken chose this song because he associates it w/ "sonic wallpaper", something we have heard so many times on radio, TV, etc.. that it has lost its meaning and essentially fades from our consciousness. In this project the song is warped and poked at from every angle hoping to create something new.
On May 11th, the Hirschhorn had what they call "a happening" which was a live concert in conjunction with Song 1 in which many of the musicians in question including Animal Collective's Geologist created live soundtracks outside on the lawn of the musuem to accompany the video display. The was also broadcast live on Youtube.
Former LCDSoundsystem frontman James Murphy hit up London's Boiler Room to do some DJing recently delivering a 50-minute mix for our enjoyment. Hopefully the venue will throw up Kuedo’s recent performance at the club which was streamed live two weeks and was equally dope.
Here is the much hyped new video "DoYaThing" by the Gorillaz, starring James Murphy & Andre 3000. It carries on in the usual Gorillaz style, using the artwork of Jamie Hewlett (Tank Girl) this time in 3D.
To be honest, the video is actually kind of boring and the song isn't really integrated into it that well. That is fine because the song is pretty boring as well. The 3 sets of musicians attached to this song have been out of the main stage for a bit and it kind of feels like a quicky attempt to jump back in. I prefer the 2D design and look that Hewlett and the Gorillaz had established but do like the attempt to try something new and envision it in a 3D realistic world.
We were all extremely excited when it was announced that the next "Three Artists. One Song" project for Converse would involve the Gorillaz, Andre 3000 and James Murphy. This trio follows the success of the previous such project which brought together Vampire Weekend, Kid Cudi and Best Coast. The collaborative track is called "Do Ya Thing" and you can listen to a large chunk of it below as well as watch the making of the music video.
Gorillaz are also designing a collection of kicks for Converse with four variations on the classic Chuck Taylor All Star sneaker.
“On April 2nd 2011, LCD Soundsystem played its final show at Madison Square Garden. LCD frontman James Murphy had made the conscious decision to disband one of the most celebrated and influential bands of its generation at the peak of its popularity, ensuring that the band would go out on top with the biggest and most ambitious concert of its career. The instantly sold out, near four-hour extravaganza did just that, moving the thousands in attendance to tears of joy and grief, with NEW YORK magazine calling the event "a marvel of pure craft" and TIME magazine lamenting "we may never dance again." SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS is both a narrative film documenting this once in a life time performance and an intimate portrait of James Murphy as he navigates the lead-up to the show, the day after, and the personal and professional ramifications of his decision.”
