New Radiohead Album: THIS YEAR

New Radiohead Album: THIS YEAR

Let the internet obsession begin! ateaseweb.com reports:

Radiohead are making progress in the studio. The band started recording past Winter and are currently in the studio working on the last bits. Ed O’Brien said it will be a matter of weeks till it’s finished and hopes to see the release before the end of this year. ‘It has got to. I hope so’

Guitarist Ed O’Brien was a guest on Adam Buxton’s show on BBC 6 Music today, saying he thinks the new Radiohead record ‘is the best record we’ve ever made’. Ed: “We’re in the heart of the record. It’s genuinely exciting. It’s very different from what we did last time. It’s really nice to be doing this. It’s so good to be making music with the band that you feel is still as good as it’s ever been.”

Best record they have ever made? Bold words mate. Read more about it here.

Conan Covers Creep

Conan Covers Creep

Big Fan of Phantogram

Big Fan of Phantogram

Phantogram.
I just wanted to jump on this before it was old news. I was bumbling around the blogosphere the other day and stumbled upon a new-ish band from New York called Phantogram.
I haven't really stopped listening to them since (minus an interlude for the new Yeasayer track, which is pretty sweet).
I've been trying to think of ways to describe Phantogram's sound, but I will let them speak for themselves:

"We wanted to incorporate all our own influences and created our own sound that's a combination of Serge Gainsbourg, sampling and Detroit hip-hop. How I explain it to the customers who come into the restaurant where I work is that we sound like a combination of Kanye West and Radiohead" - Singer, Sarah Barthel

Well I don't really hear the Gainsbourg, but I can get behind the Kanye/Radiohead description. Phantogram has attempted to layer two genres that are rarely successfully combined (If it's safe to call Kanye West and Radiohead genres)--and they pull it off.
As far as other influences, lets just throw in School of Seven Bells, Beach House, The xx, TV on the Radio, and M83 for good measure.
All genre confusion aside, Phantogram just write good songs. Barthel's voice is dynamic and nuanced as it soars over thick beats and subtle electric guitar lines. The songs are crisp and fresh; new but utterly familiar. I highly recommend it. Lets just start with the first two tracks of their forthcoming LP Eyelid Movies:

Phantogram :: Mouthful of Diamonds
Phantogram :: When I'm Small

This Week in WTF?

This Week in WTF?

Mix and Match! Flea, Thom Yorke, Weezer, Lil' Wayne, Danger Mouse, James Mercer

So, this week has been a doooozy for WTF collaborations. First of all, Thom Yorke, from Radiohead or something, will be playing two shows with his "solo" band in L.A. the Sunday and Monday. The bass player in said band is none other than Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, which makes me go "...?" The band also includes Radiohead's producer Nigel Godrich who is like the George Martin of Radiohead. According to Thommy, the strange band is just “for fun” and in a truly inspired comment he said, “We don’t really have a name and the set will not be very long cuz .. well .. we haven’t got that much material yet,” on Radiohead's blog. Brilliant. Plus I think he reads teen girl novels. I hope this means Radiohead's next album is completely mid 90's funk and they will all wear cock-socks during shows.

But wait! The fun continues. You know how Weezer is all weird and goofy and does whatever they want? Well apparently Rivers Cuomo got cough syrup enthusiast Lil' Wayne to rap on a song for Weezer's forthcoming (and radically titled) album, Raditude......?... OH! Get it? Like Weezer and Weezy? Perfect sense, right? Again, in rather inspired comment, Cuomo said "Any other rapper would've just done, 'Yay, we're partying! Let's drink and have fun,' but [Wayne] gave it the edge I was looking for." But really Weezer doesn't need any help in that regard. I mean, what is edgier than "Pork and Beans"?

And finally, the most promising of WTF collaborations. You know Danger Mouse, the guy who created The Grey Album, produced DangerDoom, and is half of Gnarls Barkley? He is definitely now in a band, tentatively called Broken Bells, with The Shins crooner James Mercer. This one makes me go "...?..!" So yeah, they have a release planned for early 2010 on Columbia Records.

Via P4k, "Mercer and the Mouse are apparently in it for the long haul and already have plans extending past their first album." Legit!

UPDATE: somehow I left out the other indiefolkie/hip hop collab. GZA and Devendra?!? As DiS writes:

So, though their mutual respect and the prospect of them working together is fairly clear, just what sort of material they'll produce is not. Rapping over folkish guitar lines and arrangements? Or some ROUGH BEATS backed by some ethereal whining? Or, perhaps, just something completely left-of-field like, I dunno, them covering the songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein. We can't rule anything out at this stage but we wait with a ridiculously high level of anticipation.

YES!

Radiohead Recording New Album

Radiohead Recording New Album

Radiohead! At the recent The Great Escape festival in Brighton, England, bassist Colin Greenwood said the band have returned to their Oxford studio and are working with producer Nigel Godrich. Further offering clues into their writing process, Greenwood stated "It’s at the stage where we’ve got the big Lego box out and we’ve tipped it out on the floor and we're just looking at all the bits and thinking what’s next?" Radiohead writes music with legos! Or something like that. As for clues about how Radiohead's next offering will sound, Radiohead just finished a tour of South America with Kraftwerk which Greenwood described as a "brilliant experience". In a complete overreading of the full release from BBC's 6music, Greenwood declared that his love for Kraftwerk is not only about "the beats but I love their melodies too. They seep into your brain and stay there."

P.S. This is BCB's 100th post! The year is still young and we are gearing up for the summer so thank you to all who have read thus far and be certain to stayed tuned. This is a great year for music and things are only going to get better.