Dear M.I.A: Knock it off.

Ed. note: This was written before the whole NY Times controversy!


Less than a decade on the scene, and two months before her eagerly awaited third album, M.I.A. is in a class alone. Maya Arulpragasam is a singular artistic force, pushing against musical boundaries and political sensitivities with equal aplomb. She is followed by a public that yearns to extract meaning from her every note, word, or Tweet.

So why the fuck is she attacking Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber?

Now, don't get me wrong, this isn't a plea to leave Gaga and Bieber alone. As much as I enjoy the music that the two put out, it's just pop. Neither is re-inventing the wheel; they're following in the footsteps of pop stars before them. And that's okay! Pop music can be iconic, especially with charismatic, interesting stars like these two. But it isn't high art. Lyrically, Bieber uses the word "baby" 9 times in the chorus of his number one hit. Gaga sings about disco sticks and fame monsters. Musically, they put out well-crafted, hook-filled R&B and dance music, respectively. Nothing groundbreaking.

M.I.A. is different. Her music is a true melting pot of influences and genres, her lyrics bombastic poetry. She is definitely not a pop star, but has had no trouble getting press, be it critical fawning or political commentary. Her personal connection to and pointed views on the Sri Lankan Civil War, discussed with greater depth elsewhere, are a defining part of her public image. Her dedication to Third World issues and subjugated peoples worldwide is admirable; she definitely isn't some Bono-come-lately. Her politics are personal; she has as much at stake as the political musicians of the 60s and 70s. So what happened?

A turning point here is the infamous video for "Born Free," a bit of cinematic ultraviolence that depicts genocide in very graphic terms. With classic shock rock tactics, M.I.A. made a video "so violent" and "so controversial" that it was banned from YouTube... promptly buying her another few news cycles, all about a clip that is not particularly novel or creative. The video for "Born Free" manages to combine the worst parts of collegiate political discussion and overwrought film school productions. It'd be less smug if Michael Moore directed it.

M.I.A.'s release of the "Born Free" video is part is of the same cynical media strategy that includes running to NME every month to shit on pop stars. It's not as if her album would have gone unnoticed, lost in Trending Topics to Justin Bieber's haircut. It's below her, and we should expect more from someone like M.I.A. She's too important to music, culture, and art in 2010 to punch down like this.

The Drop: The Simpsons make it pop with Ke$ha

The Simpsons has been a worldwide pop culture juggernaut for over twenty years. It holds most "long-running" TV records, it launched Fox into territory formerly occupied only by the Big Three, and its catchphrases end up in the OED. Emerging from a few less than memorable years, the show has become even more satirical and surreal as of late, albeit by sacrificing the sentimentality of its golden years.

Ke$ha's "TiK ToK" is a pop sensation in its own right, a #1 song that holds the record for most digital downloads by a female artist ever - the true mark of music business dominance in 2010. So, when last night's episode of The Simpsons bypassed its usual couch gag for a parody music video for the song, the move was totally unexpected but a natural fit.

Taking the ridiculous, self-indulgent lyrics at face value, the crew went for literal sight gags that involved big swaths of the Springfield universe. The minute long clip also shows off the ever-improving animation skills that remind us that The Simpsons is still the standard bearer of animated television.

Pop culture has always been at the heart of The Simpsons, so so-called purists who wince at what seems like an ephemeral tribute are not being intellectually honest. Ke$ha is not Poochie - it's a one-off gag that re-inserted The Simpsons into Monday morning water cooler discussion. That's something we still need. And it's not even the most obnoxious Simpsons musical crossover.

Crate Dig: Nine Inch Nails - The Perfect Drug

Song: “The Perfect Drug” by Nine Inch Nails
Year Release: 1997 – Year “Discovered” By Me: 1997
Reason Discovered: Music video on MTV

Why a fan?
In 1997, I was your average, slightly nerdy, suburban teen. I had a passing interest in music, but my CD collection at the time didn't go much further than The Presidents of the USA, No Doubt, Weird Al, and the Batman Forever soundtrack. Growing up, there was always music around or in the car, but it wasn't a defining characteristic in my life.

That all changed after I saw the video for Nine Inch Nails' "The Perfect Drug" (insert snarky video-on-MTV comment here). Mark Romanek, director of the infamous video for "Closer," spent $1 million on the gothic, blue-tinted homage to Edward Gorey. In it, Trent Reznor confronts the death of a child and falls into an absinthe-fueled abyss.

The video, like the song, is menacing, bold, and aggressive. All things that spoke to my barely-teenaged self. In the pre-mp3 age, I spent hours analyzing the song in a Midi file, breaking down the various tracks: the simple, repetitive guitar riff, the battling synth lines, and the staticky, drum-and-bass backbeat. Reznor's lyrics are classic Nine Inch Nails: questioning self-worth, twisted desire, and loss of control.

I was hooked, and soon picked up the Lost Highway soundtrack and Pretty Hate Machine. Other alternative rock staples would follow. Returning to school in the fall of '97, I was newly outfitted in band tees, JNCO jeans, and Airwalks (I tended more towards standard 90s skater gear than goth. No makeup or fishnets for me!). "The Perfect Drug" is the song that opened my eyes, not just to particular genres of music, but to a worldview and music-infused lifestyle that are still very much part of me, over a decade later.

Ironically, "The Perfect Drug" is Reznor's least favorite creation, due to the hurried production and overwrought video. Nine Inch Nails never played the track live. Still, the song is centrally important to who I am today, because it started my musical addiction.

Part of the True Genius Requires Insanity Crate Dig series.

The Drop: Time to party with Menya

Meet Menya - a brash, electroclash-meets-party rap group out of New York. Out of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, to be specific: the twentysomething trio of Good Goose, Coco Dame, and Angie Ripe (names changed to protect the not-so-innocent) are getting their musical education both in the classroom and in the club.

Angie Ripe and Coco Dame are Menya's sugar and spice, with Angie's sultry singing and Coco's fearless rapping over beats and keys by Goose. The no-frills set-up allows the band to oscillate between grimey, sex-fueled bangers ("Ripe" and "D.T.F.") and summery, synth-poppers ("Bushwick Baby" and "Sleepover"). They do each equally well, which makes the Menya experience fun and playful - but decidedly naughty.


Check out this TGRIOnline exclusive remix of "Loose" by STAMPED DJ James Nasty. He gives a Bmore feel to a song that demands the listener "twist my arms / bend my legs / pull my hair / I like it that ooh I like it that." James Nasty and Menya - a perfect fit.

And while the band covers Top 40 pop songs by Justin Bieber and 3Oh!3, they have a knack for flipping the lyrical message into something a little more Menya-like: Kelly Clarkson's "I Do Not Hookup" becomes "(So what) I hook up," for example:


I've seen Menya rock a capacity-crowd show at NYC's Bowery Poetry Club and a cramped basement show at the 3rd Street Co-op here in DC; both were shows for the ages that left the crowd sweaty, breathless, and ready to party. Menya is returning to the DMV the weekend, playing two shows that promise more of the same. On Friday, Menya will be at the University of Maryland for The Get Down, with Bullfight Academy and Leftist. On Saturday, the band headlines the Faze Electro Dance Party at Jammin Java with DJs Ypset and Santi.

I had a chance to speak with Goose and Coco about the past, present, and future of Menya.

Where'd you guys grow up, and how long have you been performing as a group?

Goose: I grew up in northern Virginia and got out as soon as I could. As a group, we've been performing together about two years. Our first show was April of 2008. We were quite a sight then. I was dressed in really casual clothes- a hoodie and jeans. Angie and Coco were dressed almost entirely in sparkles and gold lame. There are pictures somewhere.
Coco: I was born in Manila, Philippines and grew up in Maryland, near DC.

What musical influences have resulted in the sound of Menya?

Goose: I'm obsessed with the production on late 90s and early 2000s hip-hop: Timbaland and the Neptunes, mainly. I'd like to think my contributions are a combination of that and my lifelong love of Stephen Merritt's projects.
Coco: Spank Rock, M.I.A., The Cure, Lil Kim, T. Rex, Prince, KRS-One. Artists who are lyrically clever or thoughtful, and are not afraid to expose themselves and put themselves on the line to speak their mind.

Your re-fix/re-mixes have put a fun twist on hit songs. How'd you come up with that approach to covering songs?

Goose: We're big youtube fans. We were seeing a lot of DIY parody-type videos and wanted to give it a shot with our own brand of silly potty humor. Plus it allows us to cover our favorite guilty pleasure pop songs. I love Justin Bieber's music a lot, actually. How lame am I?
Coco: I barely listen to the top 40, mostly because I only really listen to the radio waiting in line in a store, or when I am in the car with the band. Covering popular songs, even ones I didn't necessarily like at the beginning, has kept me interested in the mainstream for a new reason- to pull a song apart and create something fun!

You guys recently did a spring break tour which I believe is your most extensive touring yet. How did that go?

Goose: I loved the tour. I ate so many burgers and we got to have biscuits at a Cracker Barrel in South Carolina. Best moment that wasn't music related was swimming in Miami. Worst moment was the rain. There was so much rain on that tour.
Coco: Worst moment by far was getting a stomach virus. Luckily it struck the only day we did not have a show. My friend's mom was a sweetheart and helped me get better. I was upset because I couldn't join the St. Patty's festivities. Florida was my favorite state overall, and Charlotte has really wonderful drag queens! Met a lot of great people.

After seeing this video, I had to ask - how was meeting and playing with Andrew WK?

Goose: I've been a big AWK fan since I was in middle school when "Party Hard" came out. I gushed a little to him about how much I love his music at the show, which made me feel silly.
Coco: I really appreciate him opening up his venue Santo's Party House for us to throw a big show. The rumor that he is awesome is true- W.K. is a nice dude.

Any hints to what's next for Menya?

Goose: We're writing new songs in May, then touring for most of the summer and fall, mostly to places we've never been before like the midwest and hopefully up to Canada. The plan is to do about 50 dates before mid-August, which I'm booking now. After that, we plan on making our own organic fruit smoothies and outselling Lady Gaga.
Coco: I will probably grow my hair out from my mohawk until I can't stand it no more.

An Interview with Freddie Gibbs

"Rolling a blunt as we speak."

That would be Freddie Gibbs, on the phone from California, right before doing an interview with TGRIOnline on - of all days - 4/20.

As we've written before, true fans of hip-hop need to get familiar with Gibbs, an MC whose talent far exceeds his growing buzz. Gibbs is an unapologetic gangsta rapper, a throwback to an era that seemed to end with the back-to-back deaths of Biggie and 2pac. Repping Gary, Indiana, Gibbs weaves together real life tales about one of America's toughest cities with a slick cadence that is always on-point, whether with a Pac-like staccato or Bone Thugs-influenced rapid fire.

Gibbs has already had a career-making 2010, being named to XXL's Freshman Class and burning up SXSW. And his star continues to rise: his next mixtape, Str8 Killa No Filla, is slated for a late May, early June release, and an EP with The Alchemist (The Devil's Palace) will follow. For an artist dropped by a label - and not looking to make another deal - XXL and SXSW are essential parts of making his own way in the game. “It's vital. Without that, without blog exposure, I wouldn't exist," he confides.

Getting asked to play SXSW was a "blessing," one that Gibbs didn't take lightly: he played three shows a day and even did two studio sessions (one with DJ Burn One, and an exclusive for Ruby Hornet). His grind paid off: Entertainment Weekly put him in their "5 bands you should know" - the only rapper in their list. Gibbs enjoyed his first time at the Austin festival: "It felt like Woodstock or some shit... There were shows everywhere. It was trill."

Now based in California, Gibbs insists it won't affect his writing. “I'm Gary all day. Born and raised in Gary. Ain't nothing bout my music will change.” He attributes this to a universal sound that defies regional pigeonholing: "Most people can't put their finger on it." While a lot of peers only listened to Midwest rappers, Gibbs became more well-rounded by listening to everything, guys like Rakim and Scarface.

The strength of Gibbs' mixtapes is that they sound like fully-formed albums. "I do that shit on purpose. I sequence in a manner that tells a story, so you can let that shit ride." Str8 Killa looks to be another one you can just let ride. "Crushin' Feelin's," produced by Statik Selektah, is a piano and guitar driven slab of Southern-fried g-funk, where Gibbs coolly and confidently dismisses the rest of the game: "Rap ain't nothing but talking shit, I'm just the best at it." "Ghetto," over the beat from Milkbone's classic "Keep It Real," Gibbs gets political: "Government funds fill my city up with guns and drugs."

Rather than the self-described "bullshit" that most rappers put on mixtapes, Gibbs would “rather give a cohesive piece of music that tells a story.” For a reason: “Not enough people know me. I still have to tell them who Gibbs is. Whether it's about robbing and jacking, or pussy, I incorporate the story in the rhymes, like you could put it to a movie.”

On 4/20, the subject of weed was bound to come up. A few live performances have been scuttled when the MC reached for a blunt on stage. "I'm used to smoking on stage, in hole-in-the-wall clubs. All these grimey-ass clubs in Gary... everybody be in that motherfucker smoking.” Smoking on stage is “taking it back to the crib," so while some cities will pull him off stage, it doesn't sound like he's gonna stop. He even dropped a new track at 4:20 on 4/20 for weedsmokers, "Personal OG," that he was putting the final touches on when we spoke.


In 2010, Gibbs will keep grinding. “I'm not dead or in jail for a reason,” he says. "As long as I keep my integrity and represent my area, the checks will come.” Apart from the mixtape and the EP, he's also working on a project with Bun B, Chuck English, and Chip the Rippa. “I'm willing to work with anyone who has hard shit that I respect.” Gibbs will also continue collaborating with fellow XXL Freshmen Pill and Jay Rock. He has some shows in the works for this summer, and will be at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago. But this is just the beginning of a journey for Gibbs. “I'd rather have a twenty year career than a two year career in this shit.”

The Verge - Girls, Girls, Girls

Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the edge of a breakthrough. After a look at the beginnings of another British Invasion, it's time to return stateside for some female-fronted indie rock.

Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, the Dum Dum Girls signed to indie stalwart Sub Pop last year on the strength of a couple lo-fi EPs and literally one live performance. What started as a solo project by Kristin Gundred (aka Dee Dee) grew into an all-girl rock band that harks back to 60s girl groups, both in sound and style. Gundred had previously found success as a singer/drummer with garage rockers Grand Ole Party.

The Dum Dum Girls play jangly, fuzzed-out indie pop that makes audiences want to do The Monkey and The Swim. Their wall-of-sound is as much Phil Spector as it is Black Tambourine, the short-lived yet influential DC band that played in similar sonic territory in the early 90s. The lead single off of their debut LP I Will Be, "Jail La La," is a sing-a-long headbopper which tells the grim tale of waking up in the county jail.


Visually, the band is all-black and throwback, swaying like dashboard hula dancers. The retro feel is completed with Danelectro and Rickenbacker gear that firmly plants the Dum Dum Girls in a distant time and place. It is a bit gimmicky, but it flows naturally from their name and completes the live experience, as it did at a recent DC9 gig, opening for Male Bonding.

(photo courtesy Matt Dunn)

Screaming Females may share a nominal theme with the Dum Dum Girls, but that's where the similarities end. The Screaming Females play pure rock: aggressive, guitar-driven, ear-bleeding rock music. Here, the screaming female is actually singular: Marissa Paternoster, on lead vocals and guitars, screeches and shreds with reckless abandon. The band muscles their way through hard rock history, from the Sabbath-inspired sludge of "Skull" to the proto-punk of "I Believe in Evil." "Buried in the Nude" gives you a taste of the cacophonous attack that the Females unleash, along with the band's psychedelic sensibility.


Coming out of the New Brunswick, New Jersey basement scene, the band is a DIY tribute to rock bands past. With a full, heavy sound that overwhelmed the 9:30 Club when opening for Ted Leo last week, I can only imagine the damage the band did to young punks and metalheads in basements across the Garden State.

Next time the Dum Dum Girls and the Screaming Females come to town, they'll be headlining. It may not be a movement a la riot grrrl, but the music they make certainly rocks. And once you get past gender issues and expectations, isn't that what really matters?

Dubstep Dossier #1

These days, it seems as if there is no escaping the grimy hold of dubstep, from its syncopated garage beats to its nihilistic basslines. The subsonic sound, after percolating overseas for the better part of a decade, is finally coming of age and gaining wide acclaim and acceptance in the US. We at TGRI have done our part to educate and illuminate, and our message remains the same: don't fear the wobble!

With that in mind, I'm launching the Dubstep Dossier, a new column that will highlight some of the exciting new music that is loosely joined under the banner of dubstep. Rather than let The Verge get choked up with bass blasts, the Dubstep Dossier will try to keep up with a scene that is on to the next one by the time I hit 'publish.'

Detractors often point to a stereotypical, melody-less aural assault and dismiss all dubstep as sonic noise. As with any musical style, some people do it right and some do it wrong. Bass for bass sake is nonsense; the strength of quality dubstep is the set of outside influences that each producer and DJ brings to the table.

The biggest dubstep tune of late is Doctor P's "Sweet Shop." It lit up the floor, both at Rusko's recent Baltimore gig and Tittsworth's set during Scottie B's Birthday at the U Hall, and is a perfect example of dubstep alchemy. While it launches with a piano-driven loop, house breakbeat, and ravey "take me higher" vocal, "Sweet Shop" quickly descends into a brutal breakdown: a machine-gun synth over a simple, mosh pit boom-bap. Alternating between the two styles creates a schizophrenic dance floor experience, like dropping Ecstacy and sipping syrup back-to-back.


If house-dubstep crossovers are not your thing, how about we bring back the mash-up? Dubstep can be a terrific backdrop for hip hop; the early 2000s garage/two-step scene had a symbiotic relationship with the grime scene, featuring artists like Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, and Kano. Putting hip hop heavy hitters over dubstep mastery by Rusko and Joy Orbison is a no-brainer.

Rusko x Outkast x Lil' Wayne:

Stuntin Like Your On My Mind Baby by Greg Golterman

Joy Orbison x Lil' Wayne:

Dubstep is here to stay, so stay tuned to the weekly Dubstep Dossier and you won't feel lost and confused when your favorite DJ drops a true Bristol banger. And remember, don't fear the wobble.

The Verge - British Invasion

Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the edge of a breakthrough. Last week's column profiled a few forward-thinking, left-field beat makers, but now it's time for a quick look across the pond.

Are we in the midst of another British invasion? If musical trends are cyclical, then we're due for the onslaught of UK acts that descends on our shores every twenty years or so. Last year, Little Boots and La Roux lit up dance floors and the bloghaus (if not sales charts). Last night's Florence and the Machine show sold-out the 9:30 Club, and acts like the XX, Marina and the Diamonds, and VV Brown continued to build buzz at SXSW.

Here at TGRI, we've been championing these acts for a while now. So what's next?

Ellie Goulding, the BBC Sound of 2010 winner, is at the top of the list. The 23-year old singer-songwriter released her album Lights on March 1st, and debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart. No word on a US release yet, but she continues to amass critical kudos while touring the crap out of Europe.


She's also shaping up to be the next La Roux. While her poppy brand of electronic-tinged folk is strong on its own, remixes by other artists elevate the songs to the next level. London DJs Jakwob and Russ Chimes have put Goulding's lilting vocals and melancholic melodies over beats that take the songs from the coffeehouse to the dancefloor. Jakwob reaches for the love-step wobble, while Russ Chimes brings in the backbeat/piano loop to craft a real house banger.



Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed (Russ Chimes Remix) by Russ Chimes

Everything Everything is an indie band from Manchester that also appeared on the BBC Sound of 2010 poll. Do they have what it takes to shake up a stagnant indie rock scene, and join Vampire Weekend, Passion Pit, and Phoenix as legitimate cross-over acts? Only time will tell, but on the strength of six songs, they were signed to Geffen in advance of a full length due some time this year. While indie-dance-synth-pop is not novel territory, Everything Everything does it with a dedication to robust riffs and distinct vocal harmonies. Frontman Jonathan Everything (the entire band does the Ramones thing) utilizes a few different styles, from a syncopated sing-speak to an impressive falsetto, that is stronger and less piercing than that of Passion Pit's Michael Angelakos.

The band's breakout single, "MY KZ UR BF" (or "My Keys, Your Boyfriend") has the potential to be the next "Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance." With a sing-along chorus and a new wave-meets-math rock construction, the song is catchy and danceable enough to get beyond its too-cute-by-half abbreviated name. The band's creative videos show a sense of humor lacking from some of their peers, and will only help them breakthrough, especially when a middling band like OK Go has turned the viral video into an art form.





These are just two of the sounds coming out of the UK. If you don't want to be an Anglophile like me, just keep an eye on The Verge - I have a feeling we're only at the beginning of this invasion.

Film Review: The Runaways

As a film genre, the biopic is a well-worn standard. There’s the meteoric, rags-to-riches story, followed by the inevitable fall and hard-earned redemption. If Joseph Campbell was alive today and lived in Hollywood, he’d write biopics.

In particular, biopics about musicians suffer even worse fates, always relying on the same tropes: abusive or absent families, drug and alcohol abuse, and failed personal relationships. These form the building blocks for what we know about the rock and roll lifestyle, after the band leaves the stage.

With this in mind, I wasn’t expecting much from The Runaways, a film that chronicles the ephemeral career of the groundbreaking band of the same name. But unlike recent classics like Ray and Walk the Line, The Runaways fails to rise above the limitations of genre to craft a captivating film.

The Verge - Left-field Beat Makers

Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the edge of a breakthrough. Last week's column profiled some throwback house music stylists, while today I'll take a look at a few forward-thinking, left-field beat makers.

For all our talk of dubstep, you might think that anyone producing electronic music that isn't equipped with a four-on-the-floor beat must describe their music in that way. Clearly, this isn't the case, as a whole crop of producers are making music that defies easy classification. With influences from hip hop, turntablism, jazz, and R&B, among others, these artists tend towards the atmospheric and orchestral rather than danceable hits and boom-bap bangers. This is background music for an edgy tea house, or for partaking an herbal refreshment at home.

One of the most prominent purveyors of this sound is Flying Lotus. First gaining notoriety for producing the bumper music on Adult Swim, he eventually signed to like-minded record label Warp and began releasing a steady stream of music soon after. His highly anticipated sophomore record, Cosmogramma, is set for release on May 3rd.

The jittery, laser beam electro of Cosmogramma's "...And the World Laughs with You" features a brief, heavily processed appearance by Radiohead's Thom Yorke. The song builds over a stop-start rhythm, adding fuzzy synths like so many blankets on a cold, rainy day before devolving into a beat somewhere between jungle and minimal.

Flying Lotus - ...And the World Laughs with You by greenplastic

He also produced for R&B chanteuse Muhsinah on her slept-on 2009 release The Oscillations: Triangle. The DC native and Foreign Exchange collaborator brings out the sultry side of FlyLo's music on "Lose My Fuse," a swirling beat and bass combo acting as the perfect soundscape for her vocal style.



Tokimonsta, a Flying Lotus protege and member of his Brainfeeder Records family, produces a more hip hop based sound. The LA-based artist played a live set at SOVA back in January, and rather than DJing, she manipulates and tweaks beats live. Her remixes give tracks a grimy, lo-fi character, that re-create the music in exciting new ways. Here's her take on Lupe Fiasco's "Kick Push:"



Check out Toki's free 2008 Attention Deficit mixtape, which includes remixes of "How High" by Meth and Red and "A Mili" by Weezy. Her debut EP Cosmic Intoxication is due on Brainfeeder on April 29th.

FlyLo's Warp labelmate Hudson Mohawke makes music that glitches and shimmers like CPUs singing love songs. At 15, he was the youngest ever UK DMC finalist. At 24, he's an in-demand producer/DJ, quickly making a name for himself. His compositions are dense, moving, and groundbreaking. "FUSE," off his 2009 Warp record Butter, is a massive tune full of bubbling synth lines and percussion that crashes through your speakers:



Technology not only allows electronic music to be made in new ways, but it also expands the breadth of sounds and styles that exist. Thanks to the diffusion of music made possible by file sharing and a robust Internet culture, more artists in the mold of Flying Lotus, Tokimonsta, and Hudson Mohawke are over the horizon and on the verge.

Japandroids @ Rock & Roll Hotel - 3/29/10

Indie rock is defined by trends. Call it revival, tribute, or pastiche, but bands that fall under the generous umbrella of "indie rock" are constantly going back to the well of rockers past for inspiration. A current trend finds many bands aping the sound of shoegaze pioneers like My Bloody Valentine, creating huge walls of fuzz that wash over the listener like waves of static.

Vancouver's Japandroids get fuzz, but rather than waves, they release blasts of distorted guitars like a fire hose. Playing Rock and Roll Hotel last night, the band captivated a packed house for over an hour with aggressive but fun garage rock.

Guitarist Brian King and drummer David Prowse split the stage like Solomon's baby. Like other notable duos, chiefly Death From Above 1979, they compensate for the lack of a bass guitar with a full-frontal sonic assault, all muscular chords and non-stop drumming. Earplugs are necessary, but the sound is clear despite being extremely overdriven. The riffs are familiar and catchy, recalling alternative rock from the mid-90s and early 2000s, be it grunge or emocore. While they share vocal duties, King takes the lead, with a charming blend of mania and Canadian aw-shucks pleasantness. They're genuinely appreciative but self-deprecating, like when King told the crowd that they didn't deserve applause after an unsatisfactory (to the band) performance of "Hearts Sweats."

Japandroids played most of their Pitchfork-approved record Post-Nothing, along with older material, including a cover of Mclusky's "To Hell with good intentions" and obscure songs like "Body Bag." After a brief intro, the band kicked into high gear with "The Boys Are Leaving Town," where Prowse's extended drum fills mirror the chorus: "will we find our way back home?" On "Rockers East Vancouver," King took the opportunity to "dance around and play guitar like an asshole," his favorite part of the set. After a bit of hypnotic sludge that bordered on stoner rock, the band launched into standout "Young Hearts Spark Fire," with it's sing-along chorus of "We used to dream / now we worry about dying / I don't wanna worry about dying / I just wanna worry about those sunshine girls."



Opener Love is All, a five-piece from Sweden, played a set of bouncy punk and pubhouse rock. Lead singer Josephine Olausson, looking like Steve Zissou in her striped shirt and orange skullcap, sings slightly off-kilter rallying cries, reminiscent of other Scandinavian singers like Ida Maria and Lykke Li. Unfortunately, the band was pushing into the red, and the resulting cacophony sounded unfocused and repetitive. The band could stand to take a cue from Japandroids and perfect the mixing; it's a shame that the rollicking songs on the recently released Two Thousand and Ten Injuries were lost in a bad mix.

Hard Jams: Eminem - Bad Influence

(Part of TGRIOnline.com's on-going focus on "hard jams.")

After listening to the Dead Wrong remix, I was reminded of a track that was the hardest jam I had ever heard at the impressionable age of 15. Hidden amid the nu-metal of the End of Days soundtrack was Eminem's non-album cut "Bad Influence," a companion piece to The Slim Shady EP's "Role Model" (which is namedropped in the song).

Resigned to his role as musical bad boy, Em relishes his media image and hits his usual talking points. He attacks his peers (Brandy, Ma$e, Lauryn Hill), and promotes violent misogyny ("Looking for hookers to punch in the mouth with a roll of quarters"), drug abuse, and suicide. The song is a sarcastic nod to the PMRC-crowd. Fuck a subliminal message, Em puts his suicide solution right there in the chorus.



The first two verses are pretty pedestrian for Em, but the third kicks off with the sickest 12 seconds that he's ever laid down, both in terms of lyrics and flow:

My laser disc will make you take a razor to your wrist
Make you Satanistic, make you take the pistol to your face
and place the clip and cock it back
and let it go until your brains are rippin' out
your skull so bad to sew you back would be a waste of stitches.

I vividly recall replaying that rhyme over and over again. Even at 15, we got the joke. Clearly, Em didn't have the power to make us end it all. But he had the power to point to the idiocy of authority figures and shine a light on their ignorance, which is actually empowering to most teenagers. Once again, Emimen got the last laugh. And that's hard.

The Verge - Disco / Funky / House

Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the verge of a breakthrough. Following up on last week's exploration of rising dubstep stars, this week's topic is emerging sounds in house music.

Hercules and Love Affair released one of the most exciting albums of 2008, a journey back in time to the coke-fueled sounds that lit up Studio 54, Paradise Garage and Crisco Disco. DJ Andy Butler's disco-house project utilized a live band that included Andrew Raposo on bass, Morgan Wiley on keyboards, and Nomi Ruiz on vocals. Post-tour, the trio has continued making music as Jessica 6, covering similar sonic territory; they classify their sound as "contortionist jazz exotica," a tongue-in-cheek name for their sultry, soulful disco. Jessica 6 opens for electroqueer act Dangerous Muse on April 2nd at the U Street Music Hall. The video for their lead single, "Fun Girl," gives you an idea what to expect from the group.



While the most talked about EDM sound coming from across the pond may be dubstep, a more dancefloor-friendly style deserves your attention: UK funky. This brand of house music substitutes the typical snare sounds of house for African and Latin percussion, adds in a touch of R&B vocals, and keeps the rhythm brisk enough for a cardio workout. You've probably heard some funky mixed into house and electro sets, from Crazy Cousinz' "Do You Mind" to Geeneus' remix of "Show Me Love." UK funky lends itself to the hip roll rather than the fist pump, a welcome development in clubs everywhere. "Give It Up" by DJ MA1 (featuring Sim Simi) is a perfect example of a UK funky banger, and it first appeared on Geeneus' Volumes One, a great introduction to the genre. Check it:



Staying in the UK, a house music producer in the dubstep stronghold of Bristol fights an uphill battle for exposure. Julio Bashmore is doing just that, DJing and producing a mix of deep house that includes elements of disco, dubstep, and funky. Called "the next Joy Orbison" - as if Joy Orbison's time has already come and gone - Julio Bashmore combines the disparate strands of UK EDM into a signature sound that is enigmatic and experimental. He recently did a fantastic mix for Vice which is available for free on their site, and here's a mix he did for Crazylegs:
CRAZYLEGS 004.3: mixed by JULIO BASHMORE by crazylegsclub

The Verge - Dubstep

Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the verge of a breakthrough. This inaugural column is inspired by the life-changing bass of the U Street Music Hall, and will focus on a few of the subsonic sounds coming to a system near you.

Rusko, the king of wobble, dropped the video for Woo Boost this week. The track is the lead single off his Mad Decent debut, O.M.G! As I’ve written about previously, Rusko is leading the way in the dubstep world with a singular sound that is aggressive and abrasive yet eminently listenable, like Charlie Brown’s teacher on acid. The video is the perfect visual complement to the ostentatious tunage. Obnoxious and glaring, the clip is a collage of broken video effects, swirling fluorescents, and a Union Jack-draped Rusko rocking a keytar. It is a total guilty pleasure, in all of its seizure inducing glory. The most defining visual is Rusko tearing through the green screen; it’s like watching the violent birth of something twisted and wrong. Enough words, watch the damn clip:

Artist Spotlight: Gills and Wings

Richmond pop-rockers Gills and Wings are all about surprises. While their band name suggests an airy, twee-pop sound, it’s a misnomer: their music is dynamically rich and densely orchestrated, a throwback to a time when Queen ruled arena rock. Not content to simply rehash the songs of Freddie Mercury and Brian May, however, Gills and Wings add to their sound with the progressive electronic streak of Muse and the symphonic sensibility of Jon Brion. Playing on Saturday at DC9, they had no trouble painting the small venue with a major key palette of sounds.

The quintet augments standard rock instrumentation with Korgs and a drum machine, allowing the band to play with melody outside the range of your run-of-the-mill indie band. It also allows them to faithfully recreate the arrangements of their self-titled EP. Guitarist Alex McCallum manipulates his ax into making sounds that are more string quartet than Fender Jaguar (thanks to the trusty eBow, an electronic take on what Jimmy Page tried with the real thing). Santiago de la Fuente's harmonies complement the impressive vocal range of lead singer Danny Reyes, whose powerful singing voice is unrivaled in modern rock music.

The setlist covered their EP, along with a few new songs. Contrasts keep the listeners guessing, as sing-song lyrics over arpeggiated chords turn into full-throated cries, backed by chugging riffage and the pounding drumming of Andrew Hackett. As their songs take dramatic turns, the dynamic ebb and flow lends an operatic feel to the whole performance. Closing the set was standout track “Rebirth of a Nation,” a satirical look at the American Dream, with a chorus that calls for fists-in-the-air rocking out.

Modern pop-rock, or anything that could crossover these days, is usually too paint-by-numbers to really excite anyone, but Gills and Wings have the talent to surprise audiences, and shouldn't be missed. Catch them tonight at Jammin Java in Vienna. You won't be disappointed.

The Drive-by Truckers and the Southern Rock Opera

Part of TGRI Goes Country Week at TGRIOnline.com.

I'll admit it. The idea of a country music week on TGRIOnline took the form that many ideas on this site do: entirely out of left field, counter-zeitgeist, yet totally necessary. We're all music snobs to some degree, and if you answer "what type of music do you listen to?" with "everything... but classical/rap/country," that's a deal-breaker. So, with my musical depth of country music knowledge in the shallow end of the pool, I decided to let a band that understands country music to do the heavy lifting.

The Drive-By Truckers released The Southern Rock Opera on September 12, 2001, when Ground Zero was still an open-wound on the American psyche. Ironically, the album's dramatic arc focuses on a plane crash that happened nearly 25 years earlier: the October 20, 1977 crash of Lynyrd Skynyrd's charter in Gillsburg , Mississippi. The album is a meditation on Southern history, culture, mythology and music: a meta concept album very much of the 2000s but heavily rooted in the generations preceding it.

The Truckers are based in Athens, Georgia, but most of its members hail from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, a place where some truly classic soul, R&B, and country rock music was made. The Shoals even show up in "Sweet Home Alabama:" "Muscle Shoals has got The Swampers, and they've been known to pick a song or two." And since band leader Patterson Hood is the son of Swamper bassist David Hood, the Alabama-Skynyrd -Truckers connection is deeper than any concept record gimmick. Call them alt-country, call them southern-rock, but the Drive-by Truckers haven't just lived the Southern, country music experience - they're a part of it.

Like many great concept albums, The Southern Rock Opera tells a familiar story: the rise-and-fall of a band called Betamax Guillotine (a stand-in for Skynyrd), formed through Hood's life experiences. Act I is about a Southern kid growing up in Alabama, trying to reconcile his love of the South and Southern rock with the ghosts of the South. In Act II, the kid grows up and gets to be like the rock stars he idolized, with the same bad decisions and tragic consequences.

The music is a modern take on the Skynyrd tradition: a three-guitar attack that lays down crunchy riffs and soaring solos. Hood's vocals have the gravelly, whiskey-washed tone of classic country, not the pop-twang of anything on CMT . And when he's not singing, Hood's spoken words literally narrate the story. The lyrics hit the traditional cultural touchstones: hard living and hard drinking, joy riding with loose women. But the greater story is an honest look at class and poverty that informs the Southern experience, laid out as the "duality of the Southern Thing:" the pride and shame of a region (and country) still feeling the repercussions of centuries of racism. "The Southern Thing" is Southern Rock Opera's "Another Brick in the Wall," paying tribute to rock operas past, and can be summed up in one lyric: "To the fucking rich man all poor people look the same."

If Lynyrd Skynyrd / Betamax Guillotine are the heroes of the opera, the villain is George Wallace, Alabama's governor for life who will forever be known for his work for the segregationist cause. Wallace's eponymous song is a bluesy number, narrated by the Devil (a fellow Southerner, according to Hood), who welcomes him to Hell, not for his political record, but for his blind ambition and for being a pawn for most of his life. Hood knows that racism will forever be associated with the South because of men like Wallace; for this, he cannot be forgiven.

The album is filled with musical and lyrical references to the greats of the arena rock era, before it got silly and bloated and turned into cock rock and hair metal. "Ronnie and Neil" explores the controversy between Ronnie Van Zant and Neil Young (another look into the duality of the South). And while the narrator never saw Lynyrd Skynyrd , he saw .38 Special, AC/DC, Molly Hatchet, Ozzie Osbourne (with Randi Rhodes), and dropped acid at a Blue Oyster Cult show. A life both saved and doomed by rock and roll.

The final three songs of Act II, "Shut Up and Get On the Plane," "Greenville to Baton Rouge," and "Angels and Fuselage" find Betamax Guillotine following the path of their idols to the logical conclusion. When life is "dirty needles and cheap cocaine / some gal's old man with a gun," death is a cold bitch right around the corner, and there's no use fighting it. So as the engines start failing, our narrator can only think of "smoking by the gym door, practicing my rock-star attitude," and how for a Southern man, your dreams can only take you so far.

Dispatches from Suburbia: Miami's Design District

While my first night back in South Florida took me to West Palm Beach, my second found me in the opposite direction, deep in Miami’s Design District. The neighborhood is across Biscayne Bay from South Beach, and gentrification has spawned over a hundred galleries, showrooms, boutiques, and eateries in a formerly run-down section of downtown Miami.

The first stop of the night was the Wynwood Social Club, a mixed-use arts venue, for acoustic duo Raffa and Rainer’s album release party. The Wynwood has an open, community room vibe, with local art on the walls and found furniture throughout; I enjoyed the show from a PanAm airplane seat. Opening the show was (not that) Danielle Steele, a singer-songwriter not even out of high school, with a quirky sound that evokes Regina Spektor. Next up was scene veteran (not that) Jesse Jackson, who played a combination of banjo, ukulele, and harmonica in a short set that found him covering both Elton John and James Taylor; standout number “If Wishes Were Horses” was as haunting and bluesy as ever.

Confession time: trying to experience the Miami scene like eating from sample plates at Whole Foods was a mistake; I left the Wynwood way before I had my fill. Still, it was worth it to see a bit of Miami's burgeoning folk scene. For the brevity, I’ll blame the night’s second destination: the Vagabond, to see Surfer Blood. I’m all about nightlife on a budget, so when I saw “free before 11” and “$1 PBR and Rolling Rock,” I made the fateful decision to leave early and hustle down North Miami Avenue. When neither of these promises was true, I was already inside the venue and pissed off. I hate being nickel and dimed and I hate false advertising, so the Vagabond gets poor marks for both.

ANYWAY, once inside the club and easing my spirits with America’s Best 1893, I was able to objectively judge my surroundings. Unlike Respectable Street, Vagabond is all about the décor and hipster chic; if you want a more upscale clientele, you invest in the look and feel of your club. The bar’s DJ was spinning the usual fare, and the only difference between the crowd and one at say Nouveau Riche was the smoking (something I could have sworn was banned in civilized society, but I digress).

A bit after midnight the crowd migrated to the back room, which was another dance floor with a small stage set up. Tallahassee’s Holiday Shores opened the show and play lo-fi, surf pop. Heavy on the Brian Wilson influence, the band could stand to tighten up their ambitious arrangements. Still, the music was light and danceable, and not unpleasant. What was unpleasant was the blaring electro/techno between sets - wasn’t this a rock show? Luckily, Surfer Blood quickly took the stage, and the Palm Beach quintet showed the crowd how it’s done.

Together for less than a year and riding a wave of buzz from their performances at CMJ, the band plays a catchy mix of indie pop and garage rock. The songwriting reminds me of Blue album Weezer and early Shins, without the pretension of Vampire Weekend, or the host of other blog bands that have gone to this well before. The vocals are drenched in reverb, the guitars unleash waves of fuzz, and the percussion even touches on the Afro-pop flavor that is so en vogue right now. Their debut album, Astro Coast, was recorded in a University of Florida dorm room, and drops in January. They’ll be doing a few dates in the US before heading to the UK, and by the time they return, Astro Coast will be the sound of 2010. Mark your calendar for February 24, when Surfer Blood, Holiday Shores, and Turbo Fruits descend on DC9, bringing a little bit of Florida sunshine to the DMV.

Next Dispatch from Suburbia: Rusko at White Room.

Photo of Surfer Blood at the Vagabond by Ian Witlin, Miami New Times.

Little Dragon @ Liv, 11/22/09

Little Dragon, one of Sweden’s finest imports, returned to Liv on Sunday, after wowing a DC audience on the same stage four months ago. The band, fronted by Swedish-Japanese chanteuse Yukimi Nagano, is touring in support of Machine Dreams, the follow-up to their 2007 self-titled debut, released earlier this month.

A Little Dragon show is essentially a Yukimi show. With all due respect to keyboardist Hakan Wirenstrand, bassist Fredrik Kallgren Wallin, and drummer Erik Bodin (all talented musicians), the main attraction is clearly their lead singer. Yukimi, looking particularly nymph-like on Sunday, is a shark on stage: you have to wonder if she’ll expire if she stops moving, as she sings, dances, and contributes additional percussion to the mix. Her vocal performance finds her modulating and contorting her already unique sound, keeping the audience on its toes.

The band’s performance, much like that of the Foreign Exchange, is greatly enhanced by live percussion, supplemented but not supplanted by programmed ones. The hypnotic rhythms are given a greater sense of urgency than on record. And on Liv’s top-notch sound system, the overall sound is vibrant and powerful: you can feel the bass in your soul.

After taking the stage, the band launched right into Machine Dreams opener “A New” and never looked back. For the next 100 minutes, the band captivated the audience with songs from both of their records, seamlessly transitioning between both. The electronic swing of “After the Rain” was accentuated by Yukimi’s intense yelping. The band is tight, whether embarking on a junkyard percussion breakdown on “Test” or speeding up “My Step” for a better dance floor reception.

Yukimi’s stage banter is always at a minimum, but she did ask if the band could play “a song about nightmares:” Machine Dreams standout “Blinking Pigs,” a new wave tour de force with a killer synth bassline. Her crowd engagement is unparalleled, however, as “Looking Glass” finds her dancing through the crowd, tambourine in hand. It’s clear why she’s greeted with cries of “we love you Yukimi!” at all of the band’s shows.

The crowd seemed worn down by the end of the set, as only truly hardcore revelers were still dancing through the extended outro that ended “Runabout.” However, the encore provided the perfect capper, as the sinister bass rumble of “Wink” became a never-ending jam, transitioning to “Constant Surprises” and back to “Wink.” The band took hold of a house groove and didn’t let go. For fans of Little Dragon, a band that seems to have burst onto the scene out of nowhere, it can all be summed up in the refrain: “Constant surprises / Coming my way / Some call it coincidence / But I like to call it fate.”

Still haven’t heard this phenomenal band? Check out the Couch Sessions x DJ Supa Kool DJ Uncle Q mixtape, a Tribute to Yukimi Nagano. You won't be disappointed.

Amanda Palmer @ the State Theatre, 11/19/09

(Photo courtesy Don Whiteside)

Sometime during her Thursday performance at the State Theater, Amanda Palmer joked that, “We’ll see where the fucking spirit takes us, yo.” Her tone was facetious, but the sentiment was true. After opening the night with an enlightening music business Q&A before openers Nervous Cabaret took the stage, Amanda Fucking Palmer (as she’s affectionately known to her fans) embarked on an evening of pure Brechtian punk cabaret brilliance. Whether solo or accompanied by the Nervous Cabaret, playing songs off her solo debut (last year’s Who Killed Amanda Palmer?) and crowd-pleasers from the Dresden Dolls catalogue, Amanda Palmer gives the crowd what it wants.

The Nervous Cabaret is a Brooklyn-based band that looks and sounds like they belong in a Bayou blues bar. Their name is misnomer: there is nothing “nervous” about these guys, who are all swagger, in their thrift-store suits and pork pie hats. Bandleader Elyas Khan, somewhere between Lemmy and Johnny Depp, spits and howls without abandon, his vocal runs tinged with Middle Eastern melodies. The band has a keen understanding of dynamics, knowing when a guitar or trumpet riff is enough, and when the entire band should scream like their heads are on fire. They’re also the perfect opening act, hyping the crowd for what for what is sure to be a total bacchanalian affair: what else explains the bassist’s creepy goat mask?

Emerging from the back of the house in a procession resembling either a funeral or a wedding, and decked out like a goth Moulin Rouge performer, Amanda Palmer launched into the dour tale of unrequited (and forbidden) love, “Missed Me,” off the Dresden Dolls eponymous debut. Predictably, the crowd went wild.

While last year’s tour with the Danger Ensemble tended towards performance art, Palmer’s utilization of such a versatile backing band in the form of the Nervous Cabaret pushes the performance into rock show territory. Songs on WKAP that were either stripped down or dropped altogether the last time around benefit from this arrangement, with horns standing in for strings on powerful, rollicking songs like “Astronaut” and “Runs in the Family.”

Fittingly, the band left the stage, as Palmer keyed the intro for “Ampersand,” a song that finds an empowered Palmer soldiering on alone; it’s impossible to not read into the lyrics some of the underlying tensions that led to the dissolution of the Dresden Dolls. After “Ampersand,” it was time for Ask Amanda, where Palmer takes questions from the audience. Palmer is a performer 24/7, and no facet of her life is off-limits or out-of-bound; her engagement with fans, directly and through social networking, serves as a template for other “noncommercial” artists who struggle to push units and stay solvent.

The jazzy swing of “Mandy Goes to Med School” allowed the band introductions to veer into solos by the talented five-piece. Sandwiched between covers of the Ting Tings’ “That’s Not My Name” and the Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun” was fan-favorite “Coin Operated Boy,” with the lyrics taking the transgressive twist they always do.

A special, DC-metro-area-only treat was Palmer’s duet with her father Jack, doing his best Johnny Cash impersonation, on the haunting Leonard Cohen classic “One of Us Cannot Be Wrong.” For the second encore, Palmer brought the band back on stage for “Oasis,” the tongue-in-cheek, major key ode to date rape, molestation, and abortion. Replacing the bridge with a rousing cover of “Twist and Shout” reminded the audience what they love about this talented performer: she’s hilarious, she’s inappropriate, she’s Amanda Fucking Palmer.

The xx @ DC9, 11/15/09

Acts that play DC9 usually unload their gear from the backs of their own vans and cars, so the sight of a truly rock-and-roll tour bus outside the club on Sunday meant only one thing: “It” band of the moment The XX had rolled into town on a bus befitting their bloghaus buzz.

Since forming in 2005, the XX has gone from West London high-schoolers to underground sensation on both sides of the pond. And while the majority of the 2009 British invasion has tended towards danceable electropop (Little Boots, La Roux, et al), the XX refocus their pop and R&B influences inward, crafting soulful indie rock that is dark and sexual.

The riptide of hype has already swallowed one member, as guitarist/keyboardist Baria Qureshi recently quit the band after an exhausting slate of CMJ showcases. The XX soldier on a three-piece, as her departure has caused the band to improvise and adapt arrangements, without much margin of error.

Opening the night was Jon Hopkins, an electronic music producer whose songs are glitchy and atmospheric, sounding at times like outtakes from a Clint Mansell score, and at others, instrumentals begging for a female vocalist, a la Zero 7 and Frou Frou. The pulsating drums and sweeping synths rang the gamut from dubstep to drum-n-bass, firmly on the “electronic” side of an electronic/dance music Venn diagram. Unfortunately, watching Hopkins manipulate his gear is not particularly captivating. The crests never broke and he seemed to out stay his welcome. However, it was the perfect music for an opener, leaving enough ambience and mystique in the air for the main attraction.

To rousing applause, the XX took the stage. The band’s youth (they’re all 20!) was on display throughout the night, but not in an unpleasant way. The set list stayed relatively close to the record, with a few covers mixed in: their masterful reworkings of the funky club track “Do you mind?” and the Womack & Womack hit “Teardrops,” a song recorded before the band members were born. Oliver Sim (bass and vocals) seemed genuinely excited by the band’s first trip to Washington; his reference of Ben’s Chili Bowl was earnest and unrehearsed. And while they missed their marks or played the wrong notes a few times, it reminded the audience what they are witnessing: gifted songwriters whose talents belie their age and experience.

In front of a display emblazoned with their stark logo, the goth-attired trio worked through twelve of the fifteen songs they have committed to record (their cover of Florence and the Machines “You’ve Got the Love” was sorely missed). The interplay and counterpoint of Sim’s smoky vocals with the breathy ones of guitarist Romy Madley Croft are just as sorrowful and emotive as on record. Jamie Smith, manning a drum machine, samplers, and the occasional live percussion seems to have picked up the slack after Qureshi’s exit, especially when dropping the otherworldly bass sounds of songs like “Fantasy.”

If not immediately engaged, the sold-out crowd was won over by the time Croft plucked the opening riff of the surprisingly danceable single “Crystalised,” and remained enraptured until the call-and-response crescendo that ended the set on “Stars,” a song that finds the band at its most Chris Isaac-like sound. Here’s hoping the band can survive the further strain that is all but assured as more people hear the record. This is the rare next-big-thing that doesn’t rely on gimmicks, parlaying a high Pitchfork score into no more than hipster namedroppings. If they can survive this rough patch intact, I’ll be front and center when they play the 9:30 Club in April, a venue where their tour bus, buzz, and crowd will all be in sync with their talent.