Welcome to the March issue of Antiquiet. Let’s start with a roundup of what I’ve been listening to over the past week or so: New Moby, new Morcheeba, new Goldfrapp, an independent band called The Builders And The Butchers, the latest Mars Volta record, and some old stoner rock: Five Horse Johnson and Sasquatch. Read on for links and video…
Moby / Alice (Single)
I didn’t even know Moby was working on anything. Probably because I haven’t really given a shit about Moby in awhile. Animal Rights was an awesome fucking record, and he killed live on the Play tour, but I can only take so much techno music from bald Christian vegans.
But I checked out this track on the iTunes store and it hooked me bad. I sent it to everyone I know.
The video for Alice was directed by Andreas Nilsson (The Knife, Jose Gonzalez) and features MCs Aynzil and the 419 Squad on vocals. Moby’s new album Last Night will hit stores at the end of this month. Maybe it won’t suck.
Morcheeba / Dive Deep
What the hell… Morcheeba changed vocalists again?! I didn’t trip too hard when they replaced Skye with Daisy. I heard they replaced Daisy with some other chick at the live shows… But I never caught any. Whatever. I grabbed this album to find nearly a different singer on every track, a la Massive Attack or Zero 7.
But I dig it. The first track, Enjoy The Ride, is really great. The album runs a gamut from instrumental folky stuff to french vocals over acoustic guitar to britsy hip-hop. It’s been on heavy rotation for the past couple of days and I’m happy to say it’s worth checking out.
The Builders And The Butchers / Self-Titled
My buddy Chris Laughter linked me to this Portland-based indie band’s MySpace the other day, inviting me to their show at Spaceland. I had to miss it, but I fell in love with the music and bought the whole album from iTunes that night. The track Bottom Of The Lake is fucking awesome.
Goldfrapp / Seventh Tree
Great music to have non-violent sex to. If you’re into that.
No, but seriously… I love Goldfrapp. I never know what’s coming next with her, but I always love it. This one is stripped down and sounds closer to Felt Mountain than Supernature but I’ve been going to sleep to it every night.
Five Horse Johnson / The Mystery Spot
Sasquatch / II
So Johnny and I have both been rocking a lot of Clutch lately, and we’re all over that Company Band EP he discovered. It all got me prowling iTunes for more shit like it, and I turned up a good bit of rock most furious. At the top of the list is Five Horse Johnson and Sasquatch.
The kids call it stoner rock.
But I love it and I don’t smoke shit.
The Mars Volta / The Bedlam In Goliath
I almost wasn’t going to mention this one because I’ve had it for a month or two and I figure everyone already knows about it. But this album is so good, I want to mention it just in case.
People seem to either love The Mars Volta or hate them. Especially when it comes to their live show. They have a tendency to zone out and just make noise for 5 minutes at a time, frustrating the casual listener who could otherwise get down with the rocking shit in between. This tendency has been evident on most of their records. Everyone loves At The Drive-In, and most people loved De-Loused In The Comatorium. But after that, the fans seemed to drop off. The consensus was that every album just had a couple great tracks (that were like 20 minutes each), and a lot of noise in between.
Well this one might not get the same criticism. Of the 12 tracks, 11.5 are actual songs (Soothsayer has some weird shit going on in it), none hit the 10 minute mark, and most of them fucking rock.
Also, their new drummer is a fucking madman. My stepbrother tells me his name is Thomas Pridgen and he was a gospel drummer.
In case you missed them on Letterman:
About Skwerl
Kevin "Skwerl" Cogill was taught his first computer programming language by his Mother's marijuana dealer at age ten. His first job involved hustling TicketMaster lines on behalf of a New Jersey concert ticket broker at age fourteen, followed by a job in graphic design shortly after graduating high school and trade school simultaneously in 1998. He built his first website in 1996 or so, and continues to do things the way they should be done, rather than the way everyone else does. He's a bit of an asshole, but he's fiercely loyal to his friends, and to fellow fans of good music.Born and raised in Philadelphia, Skwerl now resides in Los Angeles.
