Posts Tagged ‘The Good The Bad’

Videos for the Veekend // 2|19 – 2|21

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

Ready for another round-up of some of my favorite music-related finds of the past week? Well, here goes:

Starting off is a grainy video that I included more because of the music and the musicians than the image quality. On a summer European tour date in Göteborg, Sweden, Massachusetts chanteuse Marissa Nadler teamed up with local Sarah Assbring (better known as El Perro del Mar) for a beautiful rendition of the Don Gibson classic “Oh Lonesome Me”:

One of my favorite concerts in recent memory was the Best Coast show I caught about a week and half ago. Well the videographers at the San Fran based site Truly Yours brilliantly captured Bethany Constantino and Bobb Bruno’s performance of “Crazy”, along with some back story showing how cool Bruno is (which I can confirm):

The next video is from one of my most anticipated SXSW bands, The Good The Bad. This midly NSFW vid for their simply titled “026″ captures the sex, drugs, and rock & roll this Danish band is known for:

Although the next one is just an audio rip of Gnonnas Pedro et ses Dadjes excellent track “Dadje Von O Von Non” (and a poor one at that, with the final 90-or-so seconds completely silent), ever since Chocolate Bobka featured it on his Sunday morning radio show, I’ve dusted off my copy of Legends of Benin and have been playing it a lot this week:

The guys over at IGIF labeled this video as of their favorites they’ve seen in a while. I tend to agree with them. Here is Fang Island‘s “Daisy”:

This final video is meant to get you pumped for the upcoming SXSW festival in Austin (only one more month!) Sit back, relax, and soak in the genius of Daniel Johnston as he performs “True Love Will Find You in the End”:

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Posted in Musical Musings, Slipped Through the Cracks, Youtube Finds | 1 Comment »

SXSW ’10 Preview #2 // The Good The Bad

Friday, February 12th, 2010

In comparison to their northern neighbors, Denmark doesn’t have as much of a reputation for being a musical hotspot. However, there are several Danish bands trying to change their country’s image and one of the latest and greatest is the surf rock group The Good The Bad.

I was fortunate enough to catch this band perform during the first warm-up day of the 2008 Roskilde Festival, where I just happened upon their set midway through and was astonished by the amount of energy they possessed. Going the strictly instrumental route (from the band: “We don’t need a vocalist anyway. The music speaks for itself. We use the music so we don’t have to say ‘I Love You’”), the group is a complete 180 from the cerebral acts like Explosions in the Sky or Eluvium — opting to rock out rather than create delicate soundscapes.

Playing mostly low-key venues in Copenhagen and around Europe, there is no doubt in my mind that they will shine at the dingy bar/club scene that’s 6th St. in Austin. Not only that, but with a sound that’s tailor made for the next Tarrantino film, they are sure to please the festival goers with their high intensity surf & flamenco tracks. With a spectacle to match the music, this group is a must see for SXSW ’10. Check out this live video from one of their shows in Copenhagen:

If you like the music, you can grab track #1 from their cleverly titled 001-004 EP here at the cost of an e-mail address, and, if their facebook page can be trusted, an LP seems to be on the horizon — so be on the lookout!

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Posted in Festivals, Musical Musings, Youtube Finds | 3 Comments »

Dick Diver // “Tender Years”

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

(Courtesy: Juhi Sharma)

I vaguely remember first hearing about the Australian band Dick Diver from a fellow Aussie girl oozing compliments about them during Portland’s Music Fest Northwest this past fall, however it took a certain Swede‘s year-end favorites list to properly jog my memory and steer me towards checking out their music. Although their myspace page doesn’t provide much fanfare, the two tracks featured, “Tender Years” and “Walk for Room”, make for great listens, with the former providing me with enough incentive to buy their Arks Up EP off of iTunes.

No doubt the band name and possibly the track title is a nod to the F. Scott Fitzgerald work — with the slinking melody of the song providing a good hypothetical soundtrack to multiple scenes in the film adaptation. Opening up with a slow paced surf & flamenco guitar line that the Danish act The Good The Bad would be proud of, the dusky tone is set from the beginning and escalates over the course of the five-minute song. Lines like “take one step back from the edge…” and “he loves you / and he don’t want you to die / not just yet…” sung by the vocalist in an Alex Kapranos-like fashion certainly heightens the film noir feel, leading the track through dark passages and corridors similar to The Raveonettes’ “Aly Walk With Me”. As expected, everything keeps building until the inevitable climax — and boy is it a payoff! Reminiscent of Woods’ opening of “To Clean”, guitarists Alastair McKay and Rupert Edwards absolutely slay the last 90 seconds of the song before abruptly resolving and leaving the listener with only a haunting last chord echoing in their ears.

Embarrassing to admit I know, but I think I would have a problem generating a Top Ten Australian bands list. If it wasn’t for Cut Copy and The Presets — both acts who are immensely popular in their home country — I would have to at least scratch my head to come up with some names off the top of my head. However, if I take anything from Dick Diver’s tunes it’s that I need to be looking more closely because there is definitely something going on — something great — in the land down under.

Dick Diver // Tender Years

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Posted in Musical Musings, Track Reviews | No Comments »