The (s)Wheat Spot!

Best .gif Ever.

Vince "Champion" Young as Uncle Rico Dynamite? Wow.

posted by paul @ 2:10 PM 0 comments

Akron/Family tonight in Austin - Cat Power tonight in my Head

So, (s)Wheat Spot! faves Akron/Family are playing at Emo's tonight, and I'm all giddy inside. I saw these guys when other (s)Wheat Spot! faves Pilotdrift opened for them [and Angels of Light] in the Spring, and they blew me away. They have an amazing live show.



If you're near the ATX, look for me there. Hopefully pics will follow. Song follows now.

Dylan pt.2 [via An Aquarium Drunkard - a good blog with a great Wilco-reference name]

Also...

Listened to the new Cat Power album, 'The Greatest' about a million times today and yesterday, and I keep going back and forth between thinking it's bound to be one of the best albums of 2006 [or as I told Brett, "the Illinois of 2006"], and thinking that it teeters on overdoing it.



My favorite ditty on the album [other than the title track, which you can get here] is the hauntingly sad 'Lived in Bars'. Enjoy.

Cat Power - Lived in Bars [via the CAMERA As PEN]

posted by paul @ 11:00 PM 0 comments

New Week installment 4: New Midlake

I've been following Midlake, from my hometown of Denton, TX for years now, and I've been waiting to hear their new album ever since I heard their last album 'Bamnan and Slivercork'. I may have to wait a little longer, but Bella Union has included a new Midlake track on their most recent sampler. Enjoy.



Midlake - Roscoe [from SKATTERBRAIN]

Live Midlake video from 'Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson' [from Midlake.net

posted by paul @ 7:51 AM 1 comments

Marfa

Marfa is this little pop. 2000 town just north of Big Bend National park in the middle of nowhere West Texas. Everything about the surroundings remind you of desolation. We drove for half an hour sometimes before seeing another car on the highway. The music had to compliment the surroundings...
Cat Power - The Greatest [via Matador Records]



Yo La Tengo - Beautiful World [live]

The funny thing about Marfa is that on the weekend there are all these New York/LA/Austin Hipsters that come in and enjoy the triving arts scene there. Back in October, Yo La Tengo played a show there at the Thunderbird Hotel. There was a great article in the Austin Chronicle about Marfa on a Tuesday in December, questioning whether the hipsters are ruining the town they put on the map. Well, my friend Chris and I took a trip there on a Tuesday in December ourselves, just to see what Marfa had to say about it.



And what's a buddy trip without a Sufjan song about two guys on a roadtrip themselves?

Sufjan Stevens - Chicago [acoustic] [via mp3 online]

posted by paul @ 3:02 PM 3 comments

New Week installment 3: New Shins

Ever since Zach Braff took the Shins from mixtape masters to every college girl's indie crush, the next Shins record has been highly anticipated. Well, let the hype begin. My guess is that prior to it's release, the hipster backlash will be in full effect, and no one will expect it to be as good as it actually will be.

Prediction: this album will outdo their previous two albums in lyrical quality and musical maturity. Write it down. You heard it on the (s)Wheat Spot! first.

Enjoy.

The Shins - New Song [live 1/07/06] [via You Ain't No Picasso]

Bonus! The Shins - Pink Bullets Video [iPod compatible mp4, from m3 Online]

posted by paul @ 10:56 PM 11 comments

New Flaming Lips/Sufjan Live

iTunes has a the new Flaming Lips song 'Wand' from their forthcoming LP 'At War With the Mystics'. I say it's a winner. It really doesn't tread much new ground for the Flaming Lips, but it is a welcome change from the phoned-in singles released for soundtracks over the last few months. The track has a great groove, a mind-burning guitar riff, and some effective [however not novel] vocal effects. Plus, I'm never going to fault a band for using live handclaps in a beat.


Pitchfork gave it 3 1/2 stars, so take that for what it is.


In other news, the New York Times has a review of a Sufjan live show from the Allen Hall of the Rose Ballroom in NYC. It's a glaring review, so, bravo Sufjan.

Man of Metropolis Steals our Hearts [live @ KCRW] [from Music for kids who can't read good]

posted by paul @ 4:32 PM 1 comments

New Cat Power

Ok, the (s)Wheat Spot is back, ladies and gentlemen. It's a new year, and we've got some new music. Cat Power's Myspace has her entire new album 'The Greatest' available to stream until it's release. Also, you can pre-order 'The Greatest' [which they keep insisting is NOT a Greatest Hits comp] at Matador Records on either CD or LP Vinyl. [As an aside, I think that record labels should include a password for a free iTunes download for any album they sell on vinyl. That way, we can have the vinyl and still listen on our iPods. I mean, I want the vinyl, but we're a portable society, and if I can't play it on my iPod, i just can't listen to it as much. But I digress...]

Apparently, for this album Cat Power is aiming for the Hi Records soul sound from the 1970's. I don't know about all that, but what I do know is that the title track, available for download from Matador [and the (s)Wheat Spot!] is one of the most haunting songs I've heard in a while, and I can't stop listening to it. Enjoy.

Cat Power - The Greatest

posted by paul @ 8:46 AM 2 comments