of Montreal at Madison Theater

Last Tuesday, I caught the avant indie band of Montreal at the Madison Theater in Covington, KY. Having seen them at Pitchfork about five years ago, I knew I was in for a very interesting show. I was not disappointed. With confetti, costumed dancers/crowdsurfers and, of course, great music, even the opening acts, Chappo and Yip Deceiver, contributed to the overall weird-ness of the show!



Mini setlist:

Chappo - "Hell No"

Yip Deceiver - "Obnoxia"

of Montreal - "Spiteful Intervention"

Jack White's World Record

Strange news came out this week. Apparently, a few years ago, Jack White tried to set the record for the shortest concert when he was The White Stripes were still a thing.



The concert occurred in St. Newfoundland, Canada. Jack and Meg set up, look at each other, play one note, then thank the audience and leave the stage. Unfortunately for Jack, The organization behind the Guinness Book of World Records felt that the feat could become too trivialized to be included in their books. Jack wasn't too happy about that.

This got me thinking of what other music-related records are currently being recognized by Guinness, so I looked up some records on their website. Here are some of my favorites.

Song Sung in the Most Languages

"Earth Passport" by Liquid Blue, sung in nine languages.



Most No. 1 Music Videos

Madonna, with nine number 1 music videos on the US Music Video Chart.

"Like a Prayer"

Most Hit Records by a Royal

Princess Stephanie of Monaco, who has had several hit records in Europe with the album Rendez-Vous.

Jack White may have a chance yet to be included among these musicians. The Guinness organization has challenged Jack to set a very different record, the most metaphors in a given concert. A strange record, sure, but good luck to Mr. White on setting it!

Mispronounced Words

This is so stupid, but I find it somehow hilarious. For about the past year, the YouTube channel PronunciationManual has been posting horribly mangled "pronunciation guides" for a number of brands, people and products. It's a riff on the PronunciationBook channel, which actually teaches you how to pronounce the words.

The pronunciations here end up sounding like a strange mix between the Sims language and someone with only a cursory knowledge of Western languages. Let's see how to say some of my favorite things:

New Music Tuesday - 05/08/2012

Damon Albarn - Dr Dee

In between a new single from the Gorillaz and comeback performances with Blur, Damon Albarn somehow found the time to create an opera about the 18th-century medical and scientific advisor to Elizabeth I, John Dee. The opera itself ran last summer in Manchester, England. Now, to give the world a taste of the production, the soundtrack is being released. While certain songs certainly do sound, well, operatic; there is still enough of a taste of Albarn's voice and style to feel connected to everything else that he has done in his prolific career!
"Apple Carts"

Here We Go Magic - A Different Ship

Here We Go Magic is one of those bands that exists at a crossroads between seemingly disparate genres, but do a generally masterful job of blending them together. They have a kraut-rock influence, but cross it with enough pop to make it fun and enough folk to make it accessible. They continue with their sound here, becoming even more comfortable on their third full-length album.
"How Do I Know"

Iggy Pop - Après

Maybe age is calming the punk legend. Iggy Pop is 65 years old and made a name for himself spearheading the punk movement and as a major fixture in glam rock. On this and his previous release, Préliminaires, he's made markedly more subdue music. Abandoning punk and glam for French jazz and pop, he's made a massive shift. Somehow, despite my love of The Idiot and Lust for Life, I don't hate this direction. His voice is strangely well-suited to the style.
Iggy Pop on "La Vie en rose"

S. Carey - Hoyas

Another folk drummer steps out (though, again, not for the first time) from behind the kit for a go at the solo thing! This time it's Bon Iver's drummer S. Carey, who released his debut album, All We Grow, about two years ago. He takes on a sound similar to his main act, with a tinge less falsetto. He is, I think, further proof, that drummers aren't only good for providing a beat!
"Two Angles"

OK, I'm a Dork

Sherwin-Williams (yes, the paint place) recently released a browser add-in called Chip It! The add-in allows a user to take a picture that's online and find up to 10 of the colors in the picture.

Presumably, it's meant to be a tool to allow users to find a paint color to match a beloved picture or swatch of fabric. But me being me, I've been using it to find the colors on my favorite album covers!

I don't actually have any current plans to create room themes around any of these albums, though the ease of using this tool may make that a future project!

Protest Radiohead!

It's no secret that the members of the Westboro Baptist "Church" are a little wacko, if not outright disrespectful. They've protested countless military funerals in the name of protesting homosexuality, threatened protests of funerals for victims of terrorist attacks (they were told they would pretty much be arrested on spot if they showed up in Norway, however). They have also held real and threatened protests of the funerals of famous public figures for real and perceived moral failings.

Seems, however, that they've gotten sick of the funeral scene and have now taken to protesting concerts! Their first target? Radiohead! Apparently, their main attack on the band was for producing "mediocre" music...I guess they fell on the negative side of the divide over The King of Limbs.

It's pretty ridiculous. I almost wonder if they've finally realized how not seriously the world takes them and have decided to give up any semblance of seriousness in their mission.

"Creep" (I think it's a fitting song to describe these people)

This my jam: WU LYF - "We Bros"

I love music that seems to be in contradiction to itself and WU LYF (World United, Lucifer Youth Foundation) is the perfect example of that style. The guitars here are jangly, they almost sound like Real Estate could be playing them. The vocals and rhythm are harder, though, angry and harsh-sounding. The interplay between the two is incredible.

Avey Tare - "Oliver Twist"

Although I've never read the book, from what I know about Oliver Twist, I don't really see what this song has to do with the story. It's still a great song, though. Avey Tare, of Animal Collective, recently released a trippy animated video to go with it!



Not really sure what the video has to do with the novel, either.