The Raveonettes - “Last Dance”
Fuzzy pop. I can’t get enough of it, and few bands deliver it with the consistent quality this Danish duo does. The Velvet Underground/Jesus and Mary Chain/Wall of Sound influence was felt as far back as the band’s first album, the fuzzy, noisy rocker that was Whip It On, but as the band has matured, The Raveonettes have more clearly brandished their love for 50s rock and roll/pop melodies and rhythms (including a great cover of “My Boyfriend’s Back”). In short, this band is all about juxtaposition, and I dare say the Raveonettes are making some of the best pop music out there these days.
This track, off their 5th studio album In and Out of Control (out on October 6), is almost indescribably awesome. The music feels like a dead-ringer for a prom-night anthem, while the lyrics are all about love and drug addiction. Juxtaposition indeed.
You Say Submissions, We Say Guest Posts
Tuneage is currently written by 10 music fans, covering a range of genres from indie rock, dubstep, jazz, and electro. But there’s always more, and no matter how dedicated we are, we can’t possibly find it all.
That’s where you come in. We’ve built up an awesome community around our mutual love of music, and we want to tap into that more. We want to make all of you guys contributors too.
The greatest thing a music lover can do for other music lovers is share the wealth. So do us a favour, won’t you? Share the wealth and write us a post.
We’re open to anything: concert and album reviews, audio and video posts, more general posts about a particular genre or scene, and whatever else you can think of. If it’s about music, we’re listening.
Not to get mired in details, but we do have a few guidelines for potential submitters to keep in mind. They’re all on the submissions page, but I’ll reproduce them here too:
- if we publish your post, you will be credited by name and a link (if you provide one).
- As well as a name and link, please also include an e-mail address, in case we need to contact you about your post.
- Try and keep it brief, unless the topic absolutely demands more length. Hopefully you’ve been reading long enough to have a rough idea of our style.
- If you’re submitting an audio post, you’ve probably already noticed that’s impossible: don’t worry about it. We’ll sort out the audio, you just take care of the words.
- We can’t guarantee your submission will be posted, but ultimately, it’s up to you: if your post’s good enough, we’ll publish it.
- If we publish your post, we may make some minor edits to it. We won’t change the meaning of anything you write, we just have some stylistic conventions we like to stick to.
- We don’t pay for posts, though we do put your words in front of thousands of rabid music fans.
Sound good? What are you waiting for?
The XX - “VCR”
This post has been a long time coming. I’ve been listening to their album (also available in MP3 format) for weeks, and so have at least two other members of Tuneage and almost the entire internet. So what’s the hold up? Well let me put it this way: which fucking track do I post? The whole album is just great.
With the level of hype breakout artists recieve from bloggers, it’s easy to be cynical, but The XX — a band with an average age of just 19 — are one of the most deserving recipients of the hype that I’ve heard in some time. You’d be a fool to skip this one.
Girls - Album
Islands - Vapours
Monsters of Folk - s/t
PoBPaH - Higher Than the Stars EP
Volcano Choir - Unmap
WWTB
I hope you’ve been saving your money, because this is a good week to spend it all on music…
- Girls - Album (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
- Islands - Vapours (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
- Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
- Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Higher Than the Stars EP (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
- Volcano Choir - Unmap (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
We’ve written about Caroline Smith and the Goodnight Sleeps before. Their songs are delightful and as the video shows, they can pull it off in nearly any setting. Since our last post they have even recorded a Daytrotter Session.
This weekend they embarked on a westward tour with shows in California, Texas, Iowa and everywhere in between. You can check out their myspace page for the dates. If they are coming anywhere near your town I would recommend that you go hang out with them.
Kings of Convenience - “Mrs Cold”
It’s been raining here in Nashville for almost a week straight now, and with rain forecast everyday for the coming week as well, this calls for some rainy-day music. And the Kings of Convenience are the order of the day.
The Norwegian duo is a folky, two-acoustic-guitar outfit who play simple yet string-heavy music. And while the arrangements are relatively simple (and decidedly pretty), the real magic these two possess is in their vocal harmonies. The Kings sing in harmony the way only Simon and Garfunkel used to, and that kind of harmony I can listen to day in and day out (especially on Sunday mornings and rainy days). “Mrs Cold” is one of the first tracks on the Kings’ third studio album, Declaration of Dependence, due out October 20th on Virgin Records; however, if you’re stuck in the rain the way I am and want to hear more now, I recommend starting at the beginning with Quiet is the New Loud.
Peter, Paul and Mary - “Leaving on a Jet Plane”
In 1961, former Bob Dylan manager Albert Grossman wanted to put together a folk music super group. He gathered Peter Yarrow (the good looking guy), Paul Stookey (the funny guy), and Mary Travers (the tall blonde). Together they formed the aptly named Peter, Paul and Mary. They began performing in a coffee shop in Greenwich Village but quickly attained superstar status, with all three of their albums in the Billboard top ten by November of 1963. They parted ways in 1970 to pursue solo careers, but they reunited in 1978 to protest nuclear energy and began recording and touring together again.
Although they were probably best known for their song “Puff the Magic Dragon”, it was their final single, “Leaving on a Jet Plane”, which was their only song to reach number one on the Billboard charts.
In 2004, Mary was diagnosed with Leukemia which hampered their touring efforts and forced them to cancel several shows while she recovered. She received a bone marrow transplant and was thought to be on her way to recovering. Unfortunately, on September 16th, Mary Travers passed away due to the side effects of her chemotherapy treatments. She was 72.
The Dodos - Time to Die
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3
Muse - The Resistance
A Sunny Day In Glasgow - Ashes Grammar
WWTB?
This week may not have much, but there’s still stuff worth buying.
- The Dodos - Time to Die (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
- Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3 (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
- Muse - The Resistance (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
- A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
Crack the Sky - ”A Night On The Town (With Snow White)”
Styx, Rush, Boston, Yes… these are all house hold names in the world of progressive rock. One name that is not as familiar is Crack the Sky who opened for all of the biggest prog-rock bands of the day. They were even thrown off tours for outplaying the headlining act. Their self titled debut was heralded by Rolling Stone Magazine as 1975’s “debut album of the year”.
As with so many bands both then and now, distribution problems derailed their success. When the album was played on the radio people couldn’t find it in stores. They disbanded in 1980 even though it didn’t last long. Crack the Sky reformed in 1981 and have been performing ever since with their latest release coming in 2007.
The Beatles - “All My Loving”
On September 9, 2009, the Beatles will be reintroduced to America with the remastering and rerelease of their entire catalog. This date also marks the release of The Beatles: Rock Band.
Each album will feature the track listings and artwork as it was originally released in the U.K. and come with expanded booklets including original and newly written liner notes and rare photos.
With all of the likely hype that is about to happen over the next couple of days, we at Tuneage would like to remind you of how it all began. The above video is the Beatles first appearance on American television which occurred on February 9, 1964 on the Ed Sullivan Show.
