popwreckoning

Ever wonder how your personal or favorite website sounds? It’s a weird question to ask, we know, but we’re not talking about those websites that play songs automatically. We’re talking about the actual aesthetic sound of a website. If you weren’t wondering before, perhaps you’re wondering now.

Indie dance darlings Yeasayer must have pondered this question quite a bit. They’ve thought about it enough to come up with an algorithm to capture the sound of any website using samples from their single “O.N.E.”

To try it out head over to the band’s code organ here and enter the link to your favorite website. Make sure you have your speakers turned up and enjoy. The code organ scans the body html of the site and outputs it as a song. We tested it out with PopWreckoning.com and a few other sites, and sure enough, it works. Fun stuff!

Four white cubes stood in a row against the back wall of Omaha’s newly remodeled.

The sold out venue was packed with people waiting for Brooklyn city’s experimental rock group: Yeasayer.

Originally scheduled opener Sleigh Bells had canceled earlier in the day and while Omaha’s DJ Kobrakyle came to the rescue mixing tunes during the crowd’s wait, audience members shared their Yeasayer stories like they were veterans comparing battles:

“Yeasayer with MGMT at Slowdown? Yeah. I was there. I was one of the lucky ones.”

And if a person wasn’t sharing notes about if and when they saw Yeasayer last, they were busy wondering about those cubes.

Soon, the lights went down, and the giant cubes glowed with light. The front row of the stage was lined with synth stands that also glowed in a matching light. Yeasayer emerged and within moments, multiple members had grabbed mallets and the driving beats got the crowd-dancing.

As a group known for their fun dance numbers, a lot of their appeal rested in the two percussionists in the back row. The big arm movements of those two members were fun to watch and the heart of the band does rest in those big beats, but I was fascinated in watching the front row. I knew Yeasayer had multiple vocalists with different octave ranges that wove in and out of each other, but I never imagined some of the highest-pitched vocals would come out of the band’s tallest member. I have to give their guitarist/keyboardist props on his falsetto work.

My only disappointment with Yeasayer was the few brief moments that Yeasayer talked to the crowd. These moments consisted of awkward dialogue about how encores worked and about an unfortunate smell in the front row. This awkwardly brought the dancing to a jarring halt when the beats should have just carried from one song into the next.

But, I can’t be too disappointed. The set featured all the songs one could want at a Yeasayer show: “Rome,” “Ambling Alp,” “O.N.E.” and plenty more. It was a dance party in the pit that would continue even after Yeasayer’s performance with more djing from Kobrakyle.

Even without Sleigh Bells, this show was great time.
Set List:
The Children
Strange Reunions
Rome
Summer
I Remember
2080
Love Me Girl
Tightrope
O.N.E.
Mondegreen
Madder Red
Ambling Alp
//
2-song encore

Neon lights, outfits that have Karen O. jealous, and futuristic glowing instruments are just a few of the elements making up the new video of an apocalyptic club wasteland in the new video, “O.N.E.” by Yeasayer out by Secretly Jag.

Editor Jess recently got in touch with Brooklyn’s Javelin, an almost indescribable duo thanks to their unique musical methods and eclectic tastes. The pair kicks off a national tour this week, so we’re excited to have gotten to speak with the fellas before they hit the road hard.

Jessica McGinley, Popwreckoning: You guys have been making music as Javelin for 5 or 6 years now — while it’s great to hear that you’re “one the most notable acts to emerge this year” from the likes of the LA Times, is this sentiment at the same time frustrating since you’ve been making music for so long?
Javelin: We can’t blame anyone but ourselves for that one– it took us a long time to “throw our hat into the ring.” If we had pushed our music out there before “it” was ready (our music OR the world) maybe things would have happened differently… We like how it worked out.

JM: No doubt. I’m glad it got out there at all myself! How has the move from your native Rhode Island to Brooklyn helped push Javelin forward? Do you ever regret the change of address?
Javelin: We miss our friends and loved ones who we don’t see as often. I don’t think we regret moving to Brooklyn as many beautiful things have happened as a direct result.

JM: David Byrne‘s Luaka Bop label will be releasing your first full-length, No Mas, on April 20th. How different was the process of creating and recording No Mas from the self-released Jamz and Jemz demos and the Thrill Jockey 12″s?
Javelin: Well, Jamz n Jemz was recorded over a long period of time and was always changi

ng around, like a greatest hits album. We wanted the Thrill Jockey and Luaka Bop releases to be distinct from one another and cohesive in a way J+J wasn’t (by design, mind you). It still feels like channel surfing the radio, but maybe on a good day where the radio knows what’s going to go with what.

JM: You have such a variety of sounds and have said you’re not trying to figure out “your sound”; has this helped or hindered with trying to find a core audience?
Javelin: We have yet to see the result of our practices on a mass scale, but I think our sound is more cohesive than we think. When I describe how different we think we sound from song to song, many friends tell me it all goes together and to stop worrying. We are starting to realize that old truth that whatever you make, it’s yours. Our core audience maybe has been built by our live show, which has a way of making everything gel.

Javelin – “Oh! Centra”

JM: After giving No Mas a few spins, I would definitely agree that its very cohesive. Oh, and awesome. For the recently released 2 12″, you allowed fans to send in their own record sleeves, which you screen printed and then, for a another $5, you also screen-printed a provided t-shirt or hoodie for custom merch. Who came up with this great idea and how challenging was it to actually execute?
 What was your favorite record sleeve from all the submissions?
Javelin: Bettina who runs Thrill Jockey came up with the idea for people to send their records and t-shirts in– The Wall Street Journal actually called and was interested, which is an achievement for any enterprise. We haven’t seen any of the sleeves that were sent in yet, but the good folks at TJ are documenting the entire run. The sleeves we have seen really look amazing.

JM: The Wall Street Journal? Yowah. Thanks for still talking with me! From what I’ve read, your live show is something very special and very unique. Does anything in the live show match up to what you’ve recorded or is there a lot more improv based on whatever cassettes you’ve been able to find in the thrift shop that day?
Javelin: Well, there is definitely a lot of cohesion between our live / recorded musical thing. That video to which you are referring (where we take thrift cassettes and make a song out of them) is only partially representative of how we work– it is maybe one way that we work, but then we usually add way more of our own sounds and take away even more sounds that aren’t ours.
But YES improvisation takes place throughout our live performance. Tom [van Buskirk] gets on the mic and improvises lyrics, sings lyrics that were once improvised, or straight steals other peoples’ vocal parts and lays them over Javelin beats. And George [Langford ] plays electronic drums standing up and dances, which livens our songs up big time. But all the songs we are playing now in our set are songs that, if you’ve followed our releases, you will have heard before.

JM: I’ll be at the Philadelphia show on Friday, so I’m definitely excited to see you fellas do your thing. How did you get involved with playing at one of my favorite museums, MoMA, and what was that experience like?
Javelin: We were invited by our friends Graffiti Research Lab to play at the screening of a movie they had made for a Poprally event. We brought along our dancer friends from Providence, who were at the time known as Jazz Hand Job. It was surreal. One of the male dancers’ homemade underwear snapped open, revealing serious junk shots every now and again. Our moms were present!!!

JM: Whoa! Sounds like quite a show. You guys just finished up a tour with Yeasayer in the UK and this week are hitting the States hard for the next couple months. With less than a week in between tours, how do you unwind and then psych yourselves up again?
Javelin: Time at home with our lovely ladies, Miami weddings, hanging out with our pets. Then go!

JM: “Miami weddings” sounds like a show on one of those lady networks…that my roommates and I may or may not watch all night long on Sundays…But back to the topic at hand: How does touring in the UK differ from touring in the US?
Javelin: The audiences are, in general, a bit more reserved (as you would imagine). But ultimately people really love music and pay attention to good music there so it isn’t as if they are ignoring you. Plus we totally lucked our way onto a deluxe tour bus with Yeasayer so that will soften any bruised egos.

JM: I am stoked to see you Friday in Philly at the Trocadero with local favorites Man Man. What can Philadelphia expect from your performance?
Javelin: Sweat stains and hollerin’.

JM: That’s how we like it here! You join up with Yeasayer again in April — after having toured the UK with them, are you excited to get back together through the US?
Javelin: Very much so. Those guys still owe us money.

JM: Ha! Lastly, after doing a search on music scrobbler site last.fm, I found three other results for bands with the name Javelin: a visual kei (glam metal according to Wikipedia) band from Japan; a metal band from Germany; and a stoner/doom metal band from Boston. Has this caused any problems? Some long-haired dudes in sleeveless shirts looking to head bang and looking all confused from the front row.
Javelin: No mishaps yet. We were thinking about throwing a show in New York where we invite every band named Javelin and any band with the word Javelin in their name (Javelins, The Javelins, Javelina…). Maybe once we get them all into one room there would be a free for all, a meleé– but the idea is that we are all in the same gang.

JM: I like it. Bold move. If you can do it anywhere, New York is the place. Javelina is local, so maybe your people can talk to theirs and get that party started. Thanks for talking, guys. See you Friday.

Friday, March 5, 2010
Javelin with Man Man and The Skin Cells
@ The Trocadero
1003 Arch Street, Philadelphia
8PM | all ages | $14

Check Javelin’s MySpace page for more upcoming tour dates!

Javelin: website | myspace | @ DC9

Live Photos: Mary Chang

Odd Blood by Yeasayer is the follow-up to the band’s 2007 debut release, All Hour Cymbals, for which the band garnered much-deserved acclaim. All Hour Cymbals is filled with urgent and complex songs driven by thick electronic ambiance and shouted/sung vocals which often lay low in the mix, requiring you to listen more forcefully (and rewarding you for your efforts). Odd Blood is scheduled for release on February 9, 2010.

The album begins promisingly enough; the first track (entitled “The Children”) lets the listener know that they are in for, if nothing else, a strange but fun and interesting journey. The last 45 seconds of this track are especially stellar, with a thudding bass backing a hauntingly catchy synthesizer riff and relentless percussion. Track two, named “Ambling Alp,” is a song that some may be familiar with due to its early online release. This is an engaging and easily accessible song with a sing-along chorus and affirmative and positive lyrics: “You must stick up for yourself, son; never mind what anybody else done.” “Madder Red” follows and is easily the stand out on this album. This track is energetic and highly danceable, yet multi-layered and intriguing enough for a “headphones in your room” listen. The bass rattles and rolls its way through piercing guitar licks and barely audible backing synthesizers. The vocals suit the song perfectly, and the “ooh ooh” refrain is catchy beyond belief. “Madder Red” is dance party ready and well-equipped for longevity.

After this highlight, however, Odd Blood seems to lose its way. “I Remember” ambles through four minutes of electronic noise, building and promising a crescendo that never really comes. “Grizelda” offers more of the same, burying earlier driving percussion in the mix and leaving the listener wanting. Patience with the album will occasionally be rewarded; “Love Me Girl” delivers a giant pay-off in the closing minute in the form of a start-stop bass line and soaring vocals, and “Mondegreen” is a caffeine-fueled romp that dares you to sit still. However, these moments can be easily lost amidst weaker and ultimately forgettable offerings.

Overall, Odd Blood is often charming and exciting–and often frustrating, and it ultimately shows more potential than it delivers. With every effort to put the band’s previous album aside and gauge this album on its own merits without comparison, it’s still difficult to be more than mildly enthusiastic about this release. Is this disc worth a listen? Definitely. The strong parts of the album are well worth the price of admission. Just remember: patience is a virtue.

Track Listing:

1. The Children
2. Ambling Alp
3. Madder Red
4. I Remember
5. O.N.E.
6. Love Me Girl
7. Rome
8. Strange Reunions
9. Mondegreen
10. Grizelda

Written by Marc Gray

Yeasayer is pleased to announce a full US tour beginning in April to support their fantastic upcoming full-length, Odd Blood. This follows three US dates in February – a performance at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles and two already sold old shows in New York City, at Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Odd Blood will be available on February 9, 2010 via Secretly Canadian (Mute elsewhere). First brewed in the frosty hills of Woodstock, NY at the Marotta lair, then transferred to the steely sweeps of NYC, Odd Blood took many layers to finalize, but with all things Yeasayer the outcome is spectacular. Filled with Yeasayer’s own take on pop pleasures and experimentation, the band has once again carved its own path through that ice cold glacier that is modern pop/rock.

Tour Dates:
Feb. 5 – Natural History Museum / Los Angeles, CA
Feb. 8 – Bowery Ballroom / New York, NY
Feb. 9 – Music Hall of Williamsburg / Brooklyn, NY
April 3 – 9:30 Club / Washington, DC
April 4 – Cat’s Cradle / Carrboro, NC
April 5 – Orange Peel / Asheville, NC
April 6 – Masquerade / Atlanta, GA
April 7 – Hi Tone Cafe / Memphis, TN
April 8 – Granada Theatre / Dallas, TX
April 9 – House of Blues / Houston, TX
April 10 – The Parish / Austin, TX
April 11 – The Parish / Austin, TX
April 14 – Club Congress / Tucson, AZ
April 15 – Rhythm Room / Phoenix, AZ
April 17 – The Fillmore / San Francisco, CA
April19 – Wonder Ballroom / Portland, OR
April 20 – Neumos / Seattle, WA
April 21 – Commodore Ballroom / Vancouer, BC
April 23 – In The Venue / Salt Lake City, UT
April 24 – In The Venue / Denver, CO – In The Venue
April 25 – Waiting Room / Omaha, NE
April 26 – Gargoyle Club / Saint Louis, MO
April 27 – Varsity Theatre / Minneapolis, MN
April 28 – Majestic Theatre / Madison, WI
April 29 – Metro / Chicago, IL
April 30 – Grog Shop / Cleveland, OH
May 1 – Lee’s Palace / Toronto, ON
May 2 – La Sala Rossa / Montreal, PQ
May 3 – Paradise / Boston, MA
May 4– Webster Hall / New York, NY
May 5 – The Trocadero /  Philadelphia, PA

Yeasayer: website | myspace | @ bonnaroo

The long-awaited second album from New York’s Yeasayer. will be titled Odd Blood and will be released February 9, 2010 on cd/lp/mp3 formats via Secretly Canadian in North America.

The band promises more exciting news and surprises when playing the Guggenheim Museum in NYC October 30.

Tracklisting:
01. The Children
02. Ambling Alp
03. Madder Red
04. I Remember
05. O.N.E.
06. Love Me Girl
07. Rome
08. Strange Reunions
09. Mondegreen
10. Grizelda

Yeasayer: website | myspace | @ bonnaroo

I’ve always really liked Simian Mobile Disco, the production and remix team, which I guess you could call a band. They formed from the ashes of Simian and the members consist of James Ford and Jas Shaw. Their music is electronic based but always original and most of the time, a little out there. “Audacity of Huge” is a track off of their last studio release Temporary Pleasure. I didn’t think I liked it at first but I actually really do. It’s just so damn catchy.

.Simian Mobile Disco – “Audacity of Huge”
The song starts off very odd. The sequencers bubble like hot water, releasing up and down bleeps that get your head bopping in almost no time. We’re treated to a strangely auto-tuned voice that is reminiscent of a robotic dog barking. The chorus sounds like a trippy group of Gregorian Monks. It’s just a twitching, funky, electronic piece of production with nonsensical lyrics about Joey Ramone, PM Dawn and Damien Hirst, to name but a few. Best part of the track is vocals, they’re youthful and sleek, and sung by Chris Keating of Yeasayer.

.Dada Life Guerilla Fart #10 Remix
I don’t even know where a title like that comes from. The mix itself is a similar production the original and it’s hard to tell them apart. The Dada Life mix is a little harder and faster, with a bit more of a techno touch. But the vocals and overall progression of the words are allowed to run through. The biggest difference is that this mix splices the song at various points to interject its own musical compositions. Slight, but noticeable.

.Allez Allez Remix
This is another one of those mixes that hardly has a sound similarity to the original. The only part that sticks it the underlying bass riff. Otherwise everything built on it is much more ethereal, instrumental, softer and significantly more peaceful. It feels very airy and dreamy. It’s a great tune to have on in the background or at a party when you’re aiming for something a little more low key than dance heavy.

.Simian Mobile Disco Space Cave Version
Done by the originals boys, this is a re-working of their own. Very similar in progression but stripped raw, hence the Space Cave name. It’s very clubby, trancey and for those ‘out of your mind’ dance experiences. No vocals here, just pure beats and bleeps.

Simian Mobile Disco: website | myspace

Day 3 of Bonnaroo promised to be huge. Unfortunately, after going to bed after 4 am and waking up to the ridiculously humid weather in Tennessee, the only thing I could foresee being huge was my headache. I honestly don’t know how some of those people can show up to this fest and hardly eat or sleep, while drinking and doing drugs and still function enough to make it from band to band. Is there some secret Bonnaroo trick that I was missing as a first timer?

After downing a few Advils and using a water bottle to semi clean up, we made our way back to the main grounds for Day 3. Though it was early in the morning, already ILO and the Coral Reefer AllStars were getting a lot of buzz. And rightly so, turns out this basically was a set of Jimmy Buffett and friends singing his songs. It was weird to see a usual headliner start things off.

So as Buffett was making his way down Margaritaville, Joshua and I made our own visit to Dearland and caught Elvis Perkins in Dearland. I had seen these guys before and they were just as bombastic, if not more. Constantly switching between instruments and tempos, the guys give folk tunes an edge. Just as before, the drummer really impressed when he came out from behind the set with his one man band get up. There was just one sad moment in this set when Perkins tried to get Becky Stark, who was at Bonnaroo on Saturday to perform with the Decemberists, to join him on stage for a song she had performed with them on the record. It must have been too early for Stark because the boys had to play on without her.

Like a ping pong ball, we bounced back to the Which Stage to catch a bit of Heartless Bastards. With a name like that, I was expecting something completely different and was pleasantly surprised by the front woman’s voice rock voice with a bit of a twang.

Bon Iver was next on the agenda and this group was apparently high on the list for many as Drew Barrymore and Justin Long were spotted in attendance. It was a good set to watch and for “Yo La Tengo” the boys in Elvis Perkins in Dearland even came back out to join in the number.

Saturday was a busy day, so Joshua and I had to split up for a bit to catch all the acts that we wanted to see. Having a love for redheads, he went over to That Tent to see indie darling Jenny Lewis who rocked her solo works and was even joined by Elvis Costello for a number.

Meanwhile, I stuck around This Tent for Of Montreal, which I think was the smart move. Their theatrical performance was one set that was not worth missing and whether you like their often high-pitched sound or not, I recommend seeing them at least once in your lifetime. In fact, this performance was so big, I gave it its own post.

We couldn’t miss the legendary Wilco, so Josh and I regrouped to walk over to the What Stage for some Jeff Tweedy action. As we were walking there, I had to stop to see the band that was rocking the Troo Music Lounge. Alas, BrakesBrakesBrakes, we will meet again. With the recent death of a Wilco player, and knowing that Tweedy has a tendency to be a bit more of a curmudgeon than most, I was surprised with how genuinely excited the band seemed to be at playing Bonnaroo. They delivered all the hits and left the crowd pleased, but as usual, there were so many cool things going on at Bonnaroo, it wasn’t long before we were off to see our next bands.

Partly because I knew my mom would kick me if she knew I skipped him, I went to That Tent to see some of Elvis Costello. I guess in this case, mother knew best, because Costello is a classic for a reason. He had me charmed the moment he waved his hat as he walked on stage.

From here I went over to the Decemberists, who were acting out their tale of the Hazards of Love. Not too different than when I saw them a few weeks ago, Shara Worden, really was the brightest of all the gems in that band. Although, I must admit, that Stark wasn’t as wispy and a lot more confident this time around. They ended with a cover of a Heart song.

Meanwhile, Josh was watching the rock storm that was Mars Volta. They were delivering old hits and new songs off their soon to be released album.

Nobody was up against the Boss, so Josh and I regrouped for Bruce Springsteen. Bruce was there to please and which was noticed by the crowd who was yelling “Bruuuce” not “Boooo”, which sound surprisingly similar when chanted by thousands. I preferred the people shouting “Bruceroo” instead. Not only did he bring out all the hits, but he even played requests from the crowd. That’s right, as a response to a crowd request, he even played “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” in the middle of June. If anybody can get away with that, it is the Boss.

Josh and I split again and he went to shoot NIN‘s final show on American soil. A weird mixture of sadness and great joy filled the crowd as they said goodbye to Trent Reznor amid a mix of smoke and stage fire.

I left early to see some of Yeasayer. I walked by a weird circus sort of performance on the Sonic Stage before witnessing the beauty that was Yeasayer’s set up.

Yeasayer played amidst a stage filled with glowing orbs of different sizes. Their indie yelps and synth heavy tunes resonated nicely off the orbs.

Ending out the night was MGMT. This finally explained Drew Barrymore’s strange face paint from earlier as I soon learned that it was actually quite common for MGMT fans to don facepaint for the group a la the “Time to Pretend” music video.

The band played songs from their album, about three new songs and were even joined by Chairlift‘s Caroline Polachek for a few numbers. That Tent was glow stick central as the crowd danced away to the band’s too cool for school rock tunes. If you couldn’t see, which was the main complaint from this packed tent, I wouldn’t worry. The guys weren’t that crazy on stage and mostly just delivered a tight sound.

Another late night, but overall a fun day. Just one more recap to go and loads more pictures. Look out for Day 4…

Bonnaroo: website | Day 1 | Day 2 | Of Montreal @ This Tent | Spotted: Drew Barrymore | Quick News 1 | Quick News 2

This year’s Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival will be held June 11th through 14th in Manchester, Tennessee. All general admission and VIP tickets go on sale this Saturday, February 7th at 12 ET.

LINE UP:
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Phish
Beastie Boys
Nine Inch Nails
David Byrne
Wilco
Al Green
Snoop Dogg
Elvis Costello
Erykah Badu
Paul Oakenfold
Ben Harper and Relentless7
The Mars Volta
TV on the Radio
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Gov’t Mule
Andrew Bird
Band of Horses
Merle Haggard
MGMT
moe.
The Decemberists
Girl Talk
Bon Iver
Béla Fleck & Toumani Diabate
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Galactic
The Del McCoury Band
Of Montreal
Allen Toussaint
Coheed and Cambria
Booker T & the DBTs
David Grisman Quintet
Lucinda Williams
Animal Collective
Gomez
Neko Case
Down
Jenny Lewis
Santogold
Robert Earl Keen
Citizen Cope
Femi Kuti and the Positive Force
The Ting Tings
Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Kaki King
Grizzly Bear
King Sunny Adé
Okkervil River
St. Vincent
Zac Brown Band
Raphael Saadiq
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Crystal Castles
Tift Merritt
Brett Dennen
Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue
Toubab Krewe
People Under the Stairs
Alejandro Escovedo
Vieux Farka Touré
Elvis Perkins In Dearland
Cherryholmes
Yeasayer
Todd Snider
Chairlift
Portugal, The Man
The SteelDrivers
Midnite
The Knux
The Low Anthem
The Delta Spirit
A.A. Bondy
The Lovell Sisters
Alberta Cross

Bonnaroo: website | tickets