Vampire Weekend has been getting a lot of press over their new album lately. Personally, I think it’s effing fantastic. Rock out to track 2:

This one’s about God. Rock out!

So today I was having a pretty solid fridge cleaning session, and I decided a little bit of music would be nice.  I ended up going for a full Radiohead shuffle, which I thought would fit the mood pretty well, but I remebered thinking to myself, “This will be good, but I might have to skip a couple songs, like those ones on Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief.”

Turns out, I did have to skip a few, but not any Amnesiac songs (mostly HTTT, which I still don’t like very much).  In fact, I ended up stopping every now and then, and looking up at that crazy red-orange album art, surprised that I was loving life at that moment.

I remember when I first got Amnesiac; I was about 16ish, thinking I was all bad ass music listener because I knew Radiohead.  I ended up spinning it a couple times in my car, trying desperately to like it, and then ending up stuffing it in to my CD case and never listening to it again.

This first impression apparently lasted for years, because I don’t remember listening to it after that.  After today, though, I think I’ll give it a few more spins.

*Updated with working video, I don’t know why that youtube one all of a sudden broke.

Or, how Crossfire was just as much a joke in 1986 as it was in 2004.

Or, John Lofton is a jackass.

Source here

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

Reading a newspaper, I saw a picture of birds on the electric wires. I cut out the photo and decided to make a song, using the exact location of the birds as notes (no Photoshop edit). I knew it wasn’t the most original idea in the universe. I was just curious to hear what melody the birds were creating.

I sent the music to the photographer, Paulo Pinto, who I Googled on the internet. He told his editor, who told a reporter and the story ended up as an interview in the very same newspaper.

Here I’ve posted a short video made with the photo, the music and the score (composed by the birds).

h/t Anthony (via Facebook)

Have time for a 3 minute break? Check this out.

It’s a video from an event back in June called “Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus.” It was a panel of men (John Schaefer – the host, Daniel Levitin – scientist and Bobby McFerrin – musical artist) discussing the relationship between the human brain and music to better understand the relationship between the two.

The man in the video is named Bobby McFerrin. Most know him from his #1 single “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Here he making his case for the pentatonic scale.

If you like this I suggest checking out the World of Science Festival Vimeo Channel, it has a lot of additional material.

Additional Resources

World of Science Festival Website
World of Science Festival Vimeo Channel

UPDATE — I don’t know why those videos aren’t playing, but you can watch them here 

I’m not sure how many of your are Phoenix fans, but I just came across these videos of them playing live. They are amazing.

via Pitchfork.

Holy shit, this song is great:

So I was going to post some sweet blues I discovered while riding my bike yesterday, but someone requested some funk, and one name came to mind. That’s right… Ryan Shaw. He’s real talented, and could have easily became a hip hop / new-school R&B singer, but instead, he writes and sings what he likes the best, which happens to be Funk and Motown.

For those that went on the Mayercraft, you’ll agree that Ryan was by far the most entertaining artist on the boat (yes, more than Jay May). The two songs below show both sides of his music. The first is pure dance funk. The second resembles old school doo-op, kinda like Gene Chandler, The Chevrons, Frank Zappa, etc.
When you hear doo-op, you expect bad quality recordings. When you hear someone like Ryan do it, it’s real rare and refreshing to listen to. Kinda like drinking a nice tall glass of Joe’s homemade orange juice.

I got a juicer by the way…

I was going to post some videos of his performances on the boat, especially the one with his bass player going all nuts, but it’s shitty with embarrassing dancing and drunkenness. I’ll think it over. In the meantime, enjoy.

Ryan Shaw – Do the 45

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Ryan Shaw – I’ll be Satisfied

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It’s hard to get noticed when you have a purely instrumental band, but that’s one of the many beauties of funk (and blues). This funk band uses a lot of percussion and Afrobeats to infect people with their talent. Budos records in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and perform quite often in the city apparently. After listening to the entire album, I’d say they have a heavy Spanish influence, which usually doesn’t mix well with funk, but what do I know. I’m just an Italian boy from the suburbs talking about the blues. Enjoy your evenings.

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This is a really great series. Breakfast @ Sulimay’s is a group of 3 elderly folks who review indie rock in a diner in Philly. It’s pretty awesome. In this review they talk about Dan Deacon and The Doves.

Enjoy.

The whole compilation is actually pretty fantastic.

AKA: I”m fucking stoked as hell for the Animal Collective show on May 16th in Toronto.

All,

Earlier, over Mexican food, Eric & Phil were discussing the phenomenon known as “The Musical Phase”–that is, a period of time where a certain album or artist dominates our musical preferences.  While this wasn’t a new discovery, and in fact has been the topic of many a conversation at 440 Bergen Street, they decided that it deserved a little attention and love.

Since Juice The Blog was nearly always on their minds (if not somewhere just nearby), they rather immediately happened upon the idea to create a shared calendar in collaboration with the JTB community, where temporally appropriate albums and artists could be scheduled at their menological peak for all to enjoy.  May we present to you our Calendar….

A Year in Music: A Calendar.

Please feel free to add but not delete your musical preferences, for as we all know, overlap is a good thing. You can schedule your bands or albums for however short or long seems natural. Be sure to share any other information in the details section deemed necessary for maximum appreciation. Also, make sure your events are set to repeat yearly.

If you are interested in contributing, leave a comment on this post requesting an invite and you will be contacted by e-mail.

With Love and Affection,

Phil & Eric, 440 Bergen St.