Top Ten Thursday: Masters Of Originality

With the release of Nine Inch Nail’s new album, as well as the random tracks that artists like M.I.A. and TV On The Radio have been dropping lately, we thought the topic of original artists was a good thing to focus on this week. Artist in particular that unmistakably have their own sound. Vocally, musically, production-wise; upon the first moment you hear it, you know who it is. Something that didn’t exist prior to, and something that even if attempted to be replicated, it has not happened in the same fashion since. In this respect, artists such as The Beatles or Led Zeppelin (who were extremely original for their time but have been copied a billion times over) don’t exactly qualify. Naturally this lends itself to be a very current list, but we would love to hear any arguments as to what we missed. Now onto the list of what we find to be the most uniquely original artists in music:
10. Mystikal

Weak List Wednesday: This Week’s Five Best Tracks

Bam! Just like that, artists began dropping tracks from the sky upon us all this past week. With the slight dry spell we have hit here in the late summer, it is nice and refreshing to have a breath of new music scattered upon us. It also is a pleasant reminder of some albums we have to look forward to this fall. So I decided to take advantage of these new single track releases by throwing out this list. There were in fact quite a few other songs dropped this past week as well, so you should dive into those as well, but these were my favorites. This was an impromptu list that I just constructed myself, so if something on the list does not sit well I am held solely responsible, and no blame should be put on the rest of the LxL team. Enjoy:

5. Nine Inch Nails – “Everything”

The most shocking song I’ve heard from NIN in … probably ever. Not due to any shocking lyrics or grossly aggressive industrial beats, but because of how poppy it is. That is right, welcome the poppiest, most new wave influenced song to ever exist in the Nine Inch Nails catalogue. I have to say I love it. The sound fits Reznor well, and although it may take a bit of getting used to from NIN, it’s a new trick for an old dog, and I love it.
 

Pitchfork Music Festival 2013 Recap

On the surface level, I think it’s natural to have some preconceived notions of what a festival put on by Pitchfork may be like. Pretentious I would imagine is the first thing that would come to many people’s minds. An uppity crowd filled with music snobs and young folks more focused on style than substance. You’d probably also assume that following suit with any other festival/venue it would provide nothing but overpriced food and beverages that would be moderately annoying to wait in line to get as well. The lineup can also be a bit off-putting for some. Unsure of all the names on the lineup seems to be a problem for even dedicated music followers at times as Pitchfork likes to stick with very highly acclaimed (even if it is themselves in fact acclaiming them) list of acts. Not to mention the staggeringly small number of acts for a three day festival that pales in comparison to that of a Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, or Coachella.

After attending this festival for the second time, I have to say that I am continually amazed at how far off base all of these notions are. Every one of them. The crowd is amazingly genuine. It is smaller than most fests, but people there seem to be genuinely into music. I attribute this largely due to the fact that Pitchfork’s lineup is not conducive for the teenie-bopper types that are looking to attend a three day festival to simply see one show a day whether that be Monsters of Men or fun.. All of the fans at Pitchfork seem to genuinely be there to enjoy all music. As far as price goes, there is hardly a bar in Chicago where you can get craft beers for $5, let alone a spectacle venue. Food is also moderately priced, from local Chicago restaurants, and very delectable. The lineup, whether you know the artist or not, is wonderful. Every act you see there (or at least that I saw there) is someone I would pay a full priced ticket to see as headliners. And the fact that this number of acts on the list is smaller than most, only provides strong set times, and less conflict from overlapping acts. All-in-all it has to be the US festival with the most bang for your buck. Now let’s get down to brass tax shall we?

I attended this year on Saturday/Sunday only. Friday I was at a Pearl Jam concert at Wrigley Field that will be worthy of it’s own post at a later time. So below is my quick few-sentance recap of what was one of the more surprisingly great festivals/weekends of my 2013:

M.I.A.’s New Track: “Bring The Noize”

M.I.A.
“Bring The Noize”
 

M.I.A.’s new album that was supposedly due out in April, has been shelved by the studio once again. Apparently the album she turned in was a bit too positive. (Too positive? Is that a thing?) So in an attempt to maintain M.I.A.’s controversial demeanor, the studio thinks it needs to be reworked to be able piss people off again. In the meantime however, she did drop this little gem last week. It’s a fast-paced, spastic freak out track that has me wishing she was just able to drop the album already. Here, listen for yourself:

Santigold Review: NOT a Santogold Review

Santigold
Master of My Make Believe

As a big fan of Santigold’s first album (back then, known as Santogold), I was eagerly awaiting this follow-up. Santi has a very unique way of crafting her music. “Unique?”, you may say, “doesn’t she just sound like M.I.A.?” Well on the surface, yes, this is an easy comparison to make. However, Santi’s second album helps demonstrate her drastic differences between M.I.A., and portrays why she deserves the praise she gets.