Music Diary Project Day 5

I spent the morning freshening up on Destroyer for the show tomorrow night with Kaputt, Destroyer’s Rubies, Streethawk: A Seduction, and the Archer on the Beach EP. It should be a good time, I’m really looking forward to it.

After listening to LCD Soundsystem’s Sound of Silver, I’d had enough emoting for the day and listened to Darwin Deez (pictured) as I drove to the grocery store. Green Hills traffic really allows time for some good thinking about subjects like the thrilling nature of my life.

I also checked out this new track from Donnis and Dev and wondered what the theme on Free Gucci 3 is going to be.

I did not step foot in Grimey’s at all.

Top Eight Thursday: 24 February 2011

1. Arveene & Misk – Love & Lust
2. Toro y Moi – Still Sound
3. Das Racist – Swate
4. Darwin Deez – Bad Day
5. Chromeo – Hot Mess
6. Beastie Boys – Paul Revere
7. Mark Ronson and the Business Intl – The Bike Song
8. Arcade Fire – Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

Listen here

Instead of listening to the songs I have been assigned to listen to, I spent last night going through a few pages of RCRDLBL, and this Arveene & Misk song was definitely one of my favorite finds. It’s a solid dancefloor banger, and it’s just very immediately catchy.

Latest Clips: Odd Future, Bruno Mars, Darwin Deez, Tokyo Police Club, Deerhoof, and Das Racist

I wrote an editorial about Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (American Noise)

As much as the impact of social media is talked about, there’s a clearly different class of die-hard consumers who spend significantly more time on the internet than the typical casual user. The internet geek exists in a completely different cultural niche, with its own conventions and lexicon, as well as having the diverse base of knowledge that comes from the digital onslaught of information. These are the people who are aware of Odd Future, because Odd Future are themselves internet-savvy self-promoters. Social networking is hugely important in developing independent artists, and the teen rappers are the latest to profit from blog popularity.

I reviewed the latest from Bruno Mars (American Noise)

Fresh from a Grammy win for “Best Male Pop Vocal Performance,” Bruno Mars has released a new single that promises to keep building his reputation as a hit-maker. On the reggae-tinged “The Lazy Song,” Mars sounds every bit as laid-back as fellow Hawaiian Jack Johnson as he celebrates doing nothing at all. (Sitting inside all day is an effective method of avoiding stray grenades, as per his previous hit.)

I photographed Darwin Deez’s recent show in Nashville (American Noise), as well as reviewing it (American Songwriter)

Deez and his band are nothing if not self-consciously weird–the multiple choreographed dance breaks and Deez’s signature scraggly hair and pencil mustache are proof of that. Between-songs banter included an anecdote about the band being ejected from downtown lounge Tootsie’s for their strange appearances earlier in the day. However, it takes a good amount of charisma and energy to pull these things off, and the calculated camp works in Deez’s favor.

I photographed Tokyo Police Club and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (American Songwriter)

I photographed Deerhoof (American Noise)

I reviewed Das Racist’s track “Swate” (American Noise)