I Heart Black Kids

Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend (Official) (Source)

I love this song by the Black Kids!

Rain

Madonna - Rain (Source)

May has started in a pretty soggy way here in Seattle. I'm technically in recovery mode since the semester has ended, and I find myself transitioning into the summer months. My official duties as a teacher are over for now, and all I want is to bury myself deep into my comforter, which I've done successfully for most of this rainy day.

I re-discovered this music video of "Rain," by Madonna, which seemed pretty fitting for how I've thought about things - myself and larger forces out of my control - today. It brought me back to my budding Spramp self, completely enamored by Madonna's Erotica album, circa 1992 . "Rain" is on that album, and I always thought it was pretty oddly placed, but I loved it tremendously, and would play it on repeat all the time. When I found it today, I kinda let out a little whimper and found myself staring out into the cold, rainy Seattle day, fairly happy, a lot tired, and just ready for the craziness of the summer. Madonna should go Asian again ... lol.

BTW: I've had two different people ride in my car while I've had Madonna's Hard Candy on, and they've both been pretty unreceptive to it. I really do want to give it a chance.

Definitely more to come.

Falling Down

I've read some really negative reviews of Scarlett Johansson's music-video debut of "Falling Down," off her Anywhere I Lay My Head album. It's a Tom Waits cover. I actually kinda like it. Maybe I just think she's such a doll. I dunno.

WTF is Salman Rushdie doing in the vid?

Candy Hard

I finally got a taste of the complete Hard Candy album by Madonna, out today, and it'll take some getting used to. I was (and still am) completely enamored by her Confessions on a Dance Floor album - it's one of the best ones she's done - and this new album, I feel, is a radical departure from it. And sometimes radical transitions just sound awkward. I haven't been wow'ed by any of the songs yet ... maybe it'll grow on me.

I still heart Madonna.

Addendum: I just read the Washington Post review of Hard Candy. I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thinks some of the stuff on the album sounds "awkward."

It works best when Madonna isn't trying to act like she's down with the hip-hop kids, which just sounds weird. In "Heartbeat," for instance, over a stuttering beat accented by a cowbell, we find Madonna quasi-rapping the line "see my booty get down" over and over as Pharrell eggs her on: "A little lower, baby." Awk-ward! (Source)

I recommend: 4 Minutes, Give It 2 Me, Miles Away - and the remixes are fun (only available on the deluxe album version.

Check it:
Madonna [Official Site]

Save the Narwhals!

(Source)

The narwhals (a.k.a. the corpse whales) are the unicorns of the sea! Global warming has placed the narwhals on the most vulnerable list, even surpassing the polar bears (according to a recent study). Let's unite to save the narwhals! I think they're just as cute as polar bears - their horns are magical.

The narwhal, a whale with a long spiral tusk that inspired the myth of the unicorn, edged out the polar bear for the ranking of most potentially vulnerable in a climate change risk analysis of Arctic marine mammals. (Source)

Take a listen to The Weepies tune off Hideaway, "Antarctica," which I think is a fitting anthem for the narwhals. And yes, I know the narwhals live in the Arctic waters - the song still fits.


Check it:
Narwhals [Wikipedia]
The Weepies
The Weepies [MySpace]

Can't Go Back Now

Indiana, 2008 (Source)

I'm loving the new Weepies album, Hideaway. You should really buy it. It's wonderful.


Can't Go Back Now, The Weepies, Hidewaway (Nettwerk, 2008) [Courtesy of Good Night and Go]

Check it:
The Weepies
The Weepies [MySpace]

Let the Beat Control You Now

Tilly & The Wall, Beat Control Music Video (Source)

I am absolutely lovin' Tilly and the Wall! I love the technicolor freshness of their video for "Beat Control." The tune is super retro, infectious, fun, and rather sprampy, if I do say. It'll be hard to shake "the beat" out of my head. Tilly and the Wall are getting lots of rightly-deserved love lately - I mean, really, how can you not love them? How exciting - the group is soon to come out with a full-length album. From the press release:

Tilly and the Wall are ready to begin making noise about their upcoming full length set to be released June 17th on Team Love records. The album, produced by the acclaimed Mike Mogis, has no title. It could be called O because its cover is just that: an oval-shaped frame for the artwork that will go inside of it. O will have limited edition runs of handmade prints available by different artists that will act as the record’s cover, giving the band’s fans a unique piece of art for both their album and their walls.

Take a listen to one of the tracks of off O:

Cacophony, Tilly and the Wall, O (Team Love, 2008) [yummy!]

Check it:
Tilly and the Wall
Tilly and the Wall [MySpace]
Team Love

Murakami vs. Mariah

Mariah Carey - Touch My Body (Matt Price Remix) (Source)

I can't lie, I'm really lovin' Mariah Carey's single "Touch My Body," off her latest album E=MC2. In fact, I'm listening to it right now. Something has been happening to me lately - I'm getting really into what only a few months ago I would've considered "cheese". I've heard another song off the same album called "Migrate," which I'm a bit embarrassed to say, I kinda love. What is going on? My inner-gay is out of control! Stop the insanity!

I stumbled upon this fantastic video/music mash-up of a "Touch My Body" remix by Matt Price and a Louis Vuitton video by the acclaimed Japanese artist, Takahashi Murakami (I never did get myself that Murakami LV wallet that I was coveting for the longest time). Surprisingly, the video and the remix work fantastically together!

If you want the Matt Price "Touch My Body" remix, you ask for it by e-mailing: prezzo.price[at]gmail[dot]com

Check it:
Takahashi Murakami
Matt Price [Deja Nu]

Ur So Gay

Ur So Gay - Kate Perry (Source)

Happy 500th post everyone! What's more fitting than to feature the song "Ur So Gay" by Kate Perry. Because I am. Apparently Madonna hearts this song too. Enjoy!


Check it:
Kate Perry [MySpace]

Roh Roh

I got this update from "Bit Shifter" concerning the really cool "Around the World" mix that was attributed to Laromlab that I posted about awhile back. Thanks "Bit Shifter"! How lame of Laromlab. Boo!

The cover of Daft Punk's "Around The World" (attributed here to Laromlab) is actually the work of another chipmusician, Ikuma; Laromlab has been passing it off as his own for some time.

As it turns out, this is only one example of Laromlab's large-scale appropriation of other peoples' music, passed off under his own name. He has recently publicly conceded that all of the material on his recent full-length was in fact done by various members of European music group YM Rockerz. Tracks were lifted wholesale and unaltered, sometimes without even changing the original title.

Laromlab's admission and apology:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=3823699&blogID=372987131

Laromlab's now ex-label Mushpot Records has posted a summary of the situation:
http://mushpotrecords.com/news/?p=37

For those who enjoyed the hijacked music, YM Rockerz' homepage is at
http://www.creamhq.de/ymrockerz/
where more info and music can be found, and the MySpace profile for Ikuma, responsible for the Daft Punk cover above, can be found at:
http://www.myspace.com/ikooma

A more comprehensive detailing of the situation, tracking Laromlab's stolen off-album and live-performance music, can be found here:
http://technopolitan.se/~crazyq/dontcopythatfloppy/

Watch The Clock

4 Minutes, Madonna ft. Justin Timberlake (Source)

Does Madonna age? Initially I thought the song was pretty repetitive and mindless (and maybe I still think that ... hmmm), but it really has a way of infecting you, doesn't it? If anything, it's a pretty interesting video. What am I saying - I love Madonna! She brings out my inner-gay.

This vid might be pulled, so enjoy while you can.

Buy the video on iTunes.

Check it:
Madonna

This Is Ivy League

This Is Ivy League (Source)

I confess: I got wait listed at an Ivy League, only later to be rejected. But that's neither here nor there, just a free association with a new band on my radar that I'm really taking a liking to. Yup - the Brooklyn band's name: This Is Ivy League. Led by the very cute duo of Alex Suarez and Ryland Blackinton, the songs by This Is Ivy League are driven by really thoughtful lyrics and magnificent guitar arrangements ("Neither of them was particularly good at sports or academics but each was passionate about the guitar.") They remind me of a more upbeat version of Belle and Sebastian - music that you would perhaps listen to while sipping on a martini or any other classic cocktail. The songs have an air of being "neo-retro," but in an endearing way. While I think the whole album as whole is pretty fun and cohesive - I really love the song "Til the Day" (the guitar arrangement and lyrics are fantastic and sweet, done in that Simon and Garfunkel-sorta way). They would be well received in Seattle, I suspect. Do check them out!

Take a listen:


London Bridge, This Is Ivy League (Twentyseven Records, 2008)

Check it:
This Is Ivy League (MySpace)
This Is Ivy League (eCard) [You can sample the complete album]
Twentyseven Records

Order it:
This Is Ivy League (Amazon)

Wanderlust

Björk - "Wanderlust" (official video) (Source)

The New York Times has a great video feature of Björk and the making of her latest music video, "Wanderlust" (off of her Volta album). What's posted above is the 2-D version. The video is actually stereoscopic 3-D created by Encyclopedia Pictura. They essentially had near complete freedom to create the video, with a budget that went beyond $100,000, which took nine months to complete

I actually love the final product and would love to see it in 3-D. Parts of it reminded me of the dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History that have come to life. I absolutely love the buffalo!

View the New York Times video interview with Björk.

Check it:
Encyclopedia Pictura

A Ghostly Song

Édouard-Léon Scott's 1859 Drawing of His Phonautograph (Source)

The nerd in my loves this kind of stuff. Researchers have discovered the oldest recording of a human voice that predates Thomas Edison's phonograph recording of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" by twenty years. Édouard-Léon Scott, a Frenchman, built a photautograph to record sound, but not necessarily to play it back. Instead he built the machine to visualize sound. It took a bunch of smart people from First Sounds to digitally map and decipher the photaugram for the ghostly woman's voice to resurface - in 1860 she sang a 10 second clip of "Au Claire de la Lune."

The voice is really eerie, but I can't stop listening to it. It really has gotten my mind working. Technology amazes me.

Take a listen:
Au Clair de La Lune - a French Folksong, Anonymous, Scott photaugram (1860)

Read the New York Times article about the discovery.

Check it:
First Sounds

Madonna Does Vanity

Vanity Fair, May 2008 Cover (Source)

I am gay, after all.

Hard Candy releases April 29, 2008!

More Martina Remixed

Martina Topley Bird, "Poison" (Source)

More Martina Topley Bird in my inbox is always fantastic. Martina's new single is called "Poison" - off her latest album called The Blue God off of Independiente, releasing on May 12, 2008. We got the remix of "Poison" done by Van She (there are other remixes by Van She floating around on Sprampblog). I love the remix!

Take a listen:


Poison (Van She Remix), Martina Topley-Bird (Independiente, 2008)

Check it:
Martina Topley Bird
Martina Topley Bird on MySpace

Listen to Northern Portraits

Northern Portraits (Source)

The first few guitar riffs of Northern Portrait's single "Crazy," sold me. The Danish group reminds me a lot of the Trash Can Sinatras, who I love to this day. The group's first EP - The Fallen Aristocracy - will be released on March 31 by the Matinée label. I'm absolutely smitten by the single and look forward to the entire EP! If you love melodious guitar action with brooding vocals (think Morrissey), you'll love Northern Portraits. "Crazy" has definitely made my Spring 2008 SpramPod. Love it!

Formed in Copenhagen, Denmark in the Summer of 2007, Northern Portrait is a trio who’s raison d’être is the making of sophisticated pop music. Thus, Northern Portrait is the sound of elegantly driving guitars, the energy of sometimes gently outrageous lyrics and the mood of late autumn afternoons in the city. (Source)



Take a listen:

Crazy, Northern Portraits, The Fallen Aristocracy (Matinée, 2008).

Check it:
Northern Portraits on MySpace
Northern Portraits on Matinée

I Heart Leona

More like obsessed, but in a tame and controlled sort of way. If your inner-gay hasn't been bitten by the Leona bug, I'm telling you, it will soon enough. (Could the gay gene really exist?) My inner-gay was laying dormant for awhile, and then after hearing her rendition of "Run" by Snow Patrol, I was hooked. I also watched all of her performances on the British show X-Factor and sent all my friends over to Daily Motion to watch 'em. I get this way sometimes. Well, my gay bunny ears are still hard for Leona - get your mind out of the gutter - and the wonderful people at Made In Brazil has posted the remix of her single "Bleeding Heart."

Head over to Brazil for a listen: The Leonization Of America (With A Bonus Mix), Made In Brazil (March 25, 2008).

Check it:
Leona Lewis
Leona Lewis on Daily Motion
Made in Brazil

Listen to the Sunrise

The Electric Pop Group (Source)

I just received word about The Electric Pop Group's latest EP release, Sunrise. I am and have been completely enamored by the Swedish group. Their sound is a lovely mix of retro, ethereal strumming matched by an airy and very cute lead vocals. Sunrise EP releases on March 31, 2008. Buy it directly from the Matinée Website.

Brilliant Matinée debut from popular Swedish band The Electric Pop Group. The quartet astonished everyone late in 2006 with a self-released debut album that came out of nowhere to make numerous year-end lists and earn countless favorable reviews including comparisons to legendary bands on Creation Records (Razorcuts, Primal Scream, The Pastels, Jesus and Mary Chain) and Sarah Records (The Sea Urchins, Another Sunny Day, Brighter, and The Field Mice). As one of many indie record labels that took notice, Matinée made contact with them just as they started work on new recordings last summer and this EP is the first fruit of those sessions. Especially notable given the band’s name, this EP also marks the addition of acoustic guitars to their repertoire. (Source)

Take a listen to the first single:




I Could See the Lights, The Electric Pop Group, Sunrise (2008)

Check it:
The Electric Pop Group
The Electric Pop Group on MySpace

Je Veux Te Voir

YELLE "JE VEUX TE VOIR" New video !!! (Source)

I love the French electronic pop group, Yelle! What a fun video. Is the Tektonik craze still up and going?

Check it:
Yelle on MySpace