This song is neither new nor any type of obscure, but today it’s my (sad, sappy) jam. I woke up, just about noon, with the melody stuck in my head. “Custom Concern” always resonated on some basic level, outlying a creative pitfall that every one hits every so often. The song is universal in its defeat, but comforting in that someone as brilliant as Isaac Brock can get down on his art. And then put it into one of the better songs Modest Mouse ever wrote. So if these past few rainy days have anyone else dragging their feet, throw This is a Long Drive For Someone With Nothing to Think About on for a spin and relax.

From This is a Long Drive For Someone With Nothing to Think About:

Modest Mouse – Custom Concern

And the buoyant, upbeat instrumental version, a bonus on The Moon and Antarctica:

Modest Mouse – Custom Concern (instrumental)

Looks like a pretty good lineup with big acts like Paul McCartney, The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, Leonard Cohen, Amy Winehouse, and the Killers and some up and coming indies like Fleet Foxes, Vivian Girls, Peter Bjorn and John, Band of Horses, Blitzen Trapper and No Age. Anybody planning on going after seeing the list?

(mp3) Fleet Foxes – Blue Ridge Mountains
(mp3) No Age – Eraser
(mp3) My Bloody Valentine – Only Shallow
(mp3) Band of Horses – Ode to Irc

Eagles of Death Metal are the product of Jessie Hughes and childhood friend Josh Homme (who also happens to helm Queens of the Stone age). The band formed after Hughes went through a divorce, and Homme came to his rescue. “I was married square going into an ugly divorce, when Josh says ‘Here’s a song I wrote,’ drives me across Hollywood in my mom’s car and now here I am talking to you,” he said in an interview with FHM. Pretty goddamn rock and roll. I wish I was friends with Josh Homme.

Regardless of their name, which speaks to something slightly more malevolent, they play throwback, 70s garage rock, amalgamating everything good the other side of ’83; bombastic, Stonesish riffs over fuzzy bass and a 70s sleaze fit for a velor suit and a vintage Camero. The riffs in “I used to couldn’t dance (tight pants)” pop between the speakers, channeling Keith Richards while Jessie Hughes croons soul over Motown harmonies: “It used to be a massacre/I never got a second glance/now I’m kinda lethal on the dance floor/check it, tight pants huh!” The lyrics jump from tongue-in-cheek fun of “I used to couldn’t dance…”to the straight, delicious sleaze of “High Voltage” (You want to hit it don’t lie/you want to come in from the west side/I want to be the showcase of her nasty boy collection.)

But midway through the album, they drop a truth bomb with “Now I’m a Fool.” It’s instantly infectious, a massive rock and roll ballad. Hughes uses falsetto in all the right places, the bassline is elegant and reserved, moving the song along, but not being too pushy, and the guitars shimmer over everything, a sparkling cloud nearly obscured by rain. Considering the content of the six previous songs, it’s hard to judge Hughe’s sincerity when he sings “Not to say you’re the one/but I put down my guns/and then you went Hollywood on me,” but it sounds like he just might have endured a devastating enough heartbreak to mean it.

From Heart On:

Now I’m a fool

I Used to Couldn’t Dance So Good (Tight Pants)

And this video…Jack Black, Josh Homme, David Grohl! See if you can spot any more cameos:

MySpace|Label|Amazon

Michael Ian Black (Stella, Best Week Ever, Sierra Mist spokesman) is one of the funniest comedians. Ever. I read a post about music on his blog yesterday and I thought I’d share it with you.

People ask me all the time “what kind of music I’m into.” I hate this question because what they’re really asking is, “Are you as cool as me?” I can answer right now. No. No I’m not. No, I’m not into that twee British act you read about it in Gravesitter or Thunderfuck or Quiznuts or whatever obscure music magazine you read. No, I didn’t go to the Bohemian Shithead concert the other night in Williamsburg. No, I’ve never heard of them, and no I don’t want you to burn me a CD of their “amazing new album.”

What’s on my iPod? Your dick.

Asking somebody what kind of music they’re into is exactly the same as asking them what their sign is, an attempt to discern something meaningful from the meaningless. What possible difference does it make? What are you going to learn from me if I tell you I like U2? That I’m into debt relief?

And there’s just no good answer. Turning the situation around, if I ask somebody the same question, here’s what I’m thinking based on their answer:

Jazz – douchebag
Classical – douchebag
Metal – douchebag
Country – douchebag
Rap – douchebag
Pop – douchebag
Classic Rock – douchebag
Christian Rock – douchebag
Alternative Rock – JUST LIKE ME!!!

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photo thanks to: kingpinphoto.com and NPR: All Things Considered

I have seen Wilco perform seven times before, but never have I seen them put on a show like they did last night at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. Simply put, Wilco is more vibrant than ever before. Jeff Tweedy appears healthier than I’ve ever seen him. I’ve never seen him play so passionately, interact with the fans so personally, or smile so much. If it weren’t for Wilco fine-tuning their music so magnificently, their enthusiasm could have deceived me into believing this was one of their first performances ever as a band.

Wilco performed many of their older songs that they don’t typically play. Perhaps it was the band’s decision to play their whole discography over a five-day period at Chicago’s Riviera theater that gave them this new renewed energy. Browsing their setlist’s from other shows though, including those in Chicago, I am led to believe that Wilco’s performance yesterday was one of their best ever. I would be surprised if it doesn’t eventually become a live album.

The 9:30 Club is a small-medium sized venue, perhaps housing a little less than a thousand people. Tickets for both shows sold out within ten minutes, which means the venue was packed with loyal fans (I mean, I wasn’t even able to pick up a ticket). Of course, many scalpers got their hands on tickets, but only loyal fans would pay the 200-400% increase from face value. With that said, it was awesome to see so many people singing along with songs from Mermaid Avenue, A.M., Being There, and Summer Teeth. At a break, a fan gave Jeff Tweedy a homemade Grammy, as the Foo Fighters robbed the band from the real one. Jeff Tweedy jokingly responded, “ Thanks for the Grammy. We already decided we didn’t want one.”

Nels Cline and Glenn Kotche are amazing musicians and fascinating to watch. I heard that Nels Cline is touring with 16 guitars, and he plays like a crazy man. Glenn Kotche is a phenomenal percussionist, and his creativity in making certain sounds is really entertaining. For example, last night he used a bunch of keys on the end of one of his sticks. I have no idea how he plays so much at one time, but respect him a lot for his talent. You should check out Kotche’s side project, and if you live in NYC, he is doing two solo sets with Bryce Dessner (The National) and Matthew Ritchie on March 13 & 14 at The Kitchen.

Thanks to Vox Populi (good review), here is an almost complete set-list (click “continue reading” to see it). I will be updating the list as soon as possible.

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It actually started out as one of those jam things I was talking about, where I just had a few friends who wanted to play more and we talked about getting together once a week and just jamming. We did that once or twice and I was like, “This is boring, I’m tired of jamming.” I want to actually play some songs. It comes and goes, the moods of what kind of music I feel like making. Sometimes jamming is just dull and boring, so I started learning some songs. I want to do this forever. I’d love to have this going on always, just to keep in practice of playing and recording but you don’t have to write the songs. We’re still interpreting music. I feel very much super involved in it. I feel as excited about doing this stuff as I have about any Built to Spill things, and I feel its every bit as valid as a Built to Spill record. (via Pop Matters)

Words from the mouth of Built to Spill frontman Doug Martsch. Click below for more of the interview.

In 2006, Martsch sold 7-song discs of the Boise Cover Band album Unoriginal Artists on the Built to Spill tour that year. Why I hadn’t heard about it, I have no idea. But what I am certain of is this: This is a treasue.

The album consists of “reggae” covers of old soul tracks and even a little David Bowie. Since the release of You In Reverse Built to Spill have been touring constantly, but shy of the studio–this fills the void a little. If they are coming ANYWHERE near you, go see em. If you missed em, here’s the song of the day:

MP3: Boise Cover Band – “Ashes to Ashes (David Bowie Cover)”

This album is DEFINITELY worth the purchase: Newbury Comics | ShopIndi

More Doug Martsch related covers:

MP3: Boise Cover Band – “I Love You More (Lee Williams And The Cymbals Cover)”

MP3: Built to Spill – “Re-arrange (Gladiators Cover)”

MP3: Built to Spill – “Freebird (Lynyrd Skynyrd Cover) – Live”

and of course:

MP3: Built to Spill – “Cortez the Killer (Neil Young Cover) – Live”

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Hello everyone,

So I have a few things I would like to quickly bring up. The first thing is irrelevant to most of you, the second is a favor I need to ask of you. The third is “the best of Indie Muse”–Mp3′s that hopefully you will like. Indiemuse.com has been here for a while, but some of you are newcomers. For those of you who don’t have time to go through all of my first band posts, I want to aggregate some of the Mp3′s so you can have a listen. If they are on this site, it means we endorse them. We don’t post for quantity–we post for quality. We want Indie Muse to be a place where you can come if you have similar music tastes, and find music that you will hopefully like. We aren’t hot shots who think we are so cool or more “expert” than you in regards to independent music, because we run a music blog. We simply love music and want to share our tastes.

1) If anyone has extra Wilco tickets for either night (February 26 or 27th) at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC, please let me know. Those of you who have visited the site before know Wilco is my favorite band, and I’ve been following them in Chicago for a long time. I still haven’t washed my hands since shaking one of them with Jeff Tweedy, while he sang “Hummingbird.” But yeah, getting tickets has been a disaster. I won’t bore you with the details.

Wilco -  More Like The Moon 

Wilco – Radio Cure (live-kicking the television)–brilliance at its finest. This live version makes me want to weep. I can’t believe I missed this show in Chicago. Please, if you have extra DC tickets I can purchase. You will be my savior.

2) Musicfloss.com. Do you like the domain name? Not as a replacement domain for this blog, but for a little music website I’m working on. I can tell you a little bit more about it later. But the domain name..if you can offer any feedback, it would be greatly appreciated. Your opinion really matters to me here. Don’t worry, it’s not a site that sells dental floss that plays music, although that would be a good idea. I just want to know if it’s catchy, easy to remember..non-offensive. Thank you in advance for your help.

3) Like I stated earlier in this post, I like every song we put on Indie Muse. But these five are some of my older favorites..and I posted them back in 2006, when I first started the blog. Expect more “recaps” in the upcoming weeks. If there is an artist that you like here, type their name into our search on the left hand sidebar to see the original post.

Gary Jules – No Poetry

The Weepies -Gotta Have You

The Scourge of the Sea – Waterwings

Jeremy Messersmith – Beautiful Children

Ugly Casanova – Hotcha Girls

UPDATE: The soundtrack has been released on Rhino Records, and can be purchased digitally. Click HERE for iTunes link. If you prefer a physical copy of the album, it releases January 8th, and you may pre-order it for $9.99 (or DRM free mp3′s for $8.99) at Amazon.com by clicking HERE.

Thank you to those who have commented. I appreciate the positive feedback, and am glad those of you who have seen Juno have enjoyed it!

____

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to attend a free screening of the movie Juno in Washington DC. It is a quirky movie directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking) about a 16 year-old girl who becomes pregnant [preview below]. Although, at times the humor felt a little forced, this was a very enjoyable movie to watch, that I highly recommend you go see when it releases in December. If you are in a big city, it is possible that Fox Searchlight is offering several free screenings before then, so you may want to check that out HERE.

The soundtrack for Juno was carefully selected, and played a big part in the movie. Given that you most likely haven’t seen the film yet, it’s not all that important to go into how the music was woven into the film, but I am going to share the soundtrack list plus samples with you, because the music was fantastic.

In the official trailer, one of the songs you hear is “Anyone Else But You“ by The Moldy Peaches, and you will hear it several times within the film[listen below]. It almost feels like this movie was written as a picture book for this song, as both are obscure and spark a very similar feeling. If you love this song, you will probably love this movie. If you like this song, you will probably like this movie. If you hate this song, get off this site right now.

Ellen Page, the pregnant girl Juno in the film, is credited for giving the film the sound that is has. Peter Sciretta, over at /Film spoke with the director Jason Reitman, who states:

“At one point, I asked Ellen Page before we started shooting, ‘what do you think Juno listens to?’ And she said ‘The Moldy Peaches’. She went on my computer, played the songs, and I fell in love with it. Diablo and I discussed putting a Moldy Peaches song in it where the characters would sing to each other. I got in touch with Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches and she started sending me her work, which was beautiful, and that became a lot of the soundtrack.”

Again, thanks to /Film, here is the soundtrack (with some mp3 samples) to the movie:

“Anyone Else But You”
Performed by The Moldy Peaches
ALSO performed by Ellen Page and Michael Cera

“Tire Swing”
“My Rollercoaster”
“So Nice So Smart”
“I Like Giants”
“Reminders of Then”
“12/26″
“Loose Lips”
Written and Performed by Kimya Dawson

“Tree Hugger”
“Sleep”
Performed by Kimya Dawson and Antsy Pants

“Once I Loved”
Performed by Astrud Gilberto

“All I Want Is You”
Written and Performed by: Barry Louis Polisar

“Besame Mucho”
Performed by: Trio Los Panchos

“A Well Respected Man”
Performed by The Kinks

“Doll Parts”
Written by Courtney Love
Preformed by ??????

“I’m Sticking With You”
Preformed by The Velvet Underground

“Dearest”
Performed by Buddy Holly

“Why Bother”
Performed by tHe drop

“Superstar”
Performed by Sonic Youth

“Piazza, New York Catcher”
“Expectations”
Performed by Belle & Sebastian

“All the Young Dudes”
Performed by Mott The Hoople

“Sea of Love”
Performed by Cat Power

“Vampire”
Performed by Antsy Pants

The past few weeks I’ve been listening to some of The Shivers music off their new album, Phone Calls. Keith Zarriello, who seems to be the only consistent member of the Brooklyn band, has a variety of interesting music, and can also be noted for his songwriting. His music ranges from folk/country, to more lo-fi/alternative. However you want to classify his music, it is quite relaxing, and his love song “beauty” on Charades is a masterpiece (as anyone who has heard the song will confirm). Some of his songs over the years have also been pretty obscure to say the least…you’ll have to hear for yourself.

In 2004, The Shivers released Charades, an overlooked album that definitely has something going for it. I never knew that much about the band (maybe you can help me out if you know more), but from what I have read, it sounds like Zarriello has had quite a range of experiences. I read some interview hosted by his old record label, Whiskey and Apples, having something to do with being a mime and working on an organic farm in Montreal, but I try to take everything I read with a grain of salt, so I’m not really confident I know the whole story. From what appears to be another interview done with Kulterblog, Zarriello states, “A big part of our music and experience is social and political activism. We are working to help the underprivileged children of the world and we are active members in the 9/11 Truth Movement (ny911truth.org). We think we are at an imperative time on this earth when people must get involved to prevent the evil powers that be from doing any more damage…. We believe in peace, love and respect for all humans and animals!” A portion of the proceeds for Phone Calls will go to a young Indian girl whom the band sponsors.

Album- Charades (2004)

The Shivers – Beauty

The Shivers – L.I.E.

Album- Phone Calls (2007)

The Shivers – The Road

The Shivers – Half Invisible

The Shivers – New Direction

myspace|label| you can buy albums, including Phone Calls, directly from band at CD baby.

You read it right, hopefully– How To Cure Dyslexia. If I’m not mistaken, this EP is the bands first released recording, but on Feburary 5, The Tempo of Bicycles and Boats, will be released as a full album. If the album is anything like “Take It Outside,” listeners can expect lo-fi music with lower chords, giving a “haunting-like” quality to it. Some songs on the EP are sung, while others are mellow instrumentals.

David Miller, the main man behind HTCD, hails from London. His recording process for the upcoming release is quite unique. He wanted to record the album as a “live art recording installation,” meaning he wanted to find a venue to record at, and open up the recording process to the public. In his own words “the process of making a record should be seen as a work of art, as much as the finished recorded product itself.”

Take It Outside:

How To Cure Dyslexia – Jo’s

How To Cure Dyslexia – Little Else

Myspace| iTunes