Last Friday night I was out late watching my beloved OKC Thunder lose a heartbreaking buzzer-beater to Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. It was great game, but I was really hoping to see game 7. When I got home, my sweet wife had fallen asleep on the couch with the TV on and the hilarious Jimmy Fallon had rolled over to the enigmatic and mundane Carson Daly. For whatever reason I ignored my usual impulse to turn him off and just sat down to veg for a few minutes. To my delight he was wrapping up Music Week on Last Call. And surprisingly enough he was in the middle of an interview with a pretty interesting hip hop duo called Chiddy Bang.
Chiddy Bang is a pretty typical product of the current music scene. They haven’t even released an album, yet they are already getting a feature spot on late night television. And their one big hit that helped get them noticed is one of the guys rapping over an MGMT sample. They are just two guys that met in the dorms their freshmen year of college. A kid that could rhyme and actually deliver and a musician that grew up with computers and knew how to lay down a beat. They may not be super original, but they are a ton of fun. These youngsters show a lot of promise, and I am excited to hear what they come up with next.
My favorite discovery of the past week would have to be a brand new folk group called The Ooks of Hazzard. They are brand new and as far as I know only have one song, but I absolutely love them and can’t wait to hear more. Their first song is a video of the group performing the uber catchy MGMT hit, “Kids.” When I first saw them all lined up with just a bunch of ukuleles, an accordian, and a cajón drum, I had no idea how they were goin to pull off the best electronic-dance hit of 2008. But they more than just pulled it off. This video is fantastic. The vocals are a little rough at times, but overall it has a fun rough country sound, and I appreciate that they all take their turn singing. I think it adds to the feel of the performance. I just hope this isn’t the last we hear of these guys.
While there has been no talk of a follow-up to 2008′s phenomenal Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust, Sigur Rós fans have much to be excited about. The Icelandic frontman, Jon Thor Birgisson has had a busy 2010 so far. He has written and recorded a new “solo” album that is set to be released digitally on April 6th along with a limited edition box-set. The new album, Go, follows in the poppy footsteps of Med Sud and I believe is his first record to be written and recorded in English (although you can hardly tell that upon first listen). On a recent session BBC Radio session Jónsi plays a stellar cover of MGMT’s “Time to Pretend” which is much better than anything off of MGMT’s new record. He also has collaborated with contemporary classical composer, Nico Muhly to shoot a video for one of the first singles from the new record, “Kolnidur.”
Last Friday night I was out late watching my beloved OKC Thunder lose a heartbreaking buzzer-beater to Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. It was great game, but I was really hoping to see game 7. When I got home, my sweet wife had fallen asleep on the couch with the TV on and the hilarious Jimmy Fallon had rolled over to the enigmatic and mundane Carson Daly. For whatever reason I ignored my usual impulse to turn him off and just sat down to veg for a few minutes. To my delight he was wrapping up Music Week on Last Call. And surprisingly enough he was in the middle of an interview with a pretty interesting hip hop duo called Chiddy Bang.
