this would be so much easier if i were on drugs (new PJ contest!)

http://www.pearljamtengame.com

If someone can either explain to me how to crack the new Pearl Jam 3D Rubix Cube Matrix game, or give me some private lessons, or possibly powerful mind-clarifying substances — that would be much appreciated. To not excel at something Pearl-Jam-related is maddening. Ha. At least the soundtrack is good… if I could get past level one it might be even better.

Pearl Jam is reissuing 1991′s Ten this month, and I am very excited to have one of the Legacy Editions to give away in my first official Pearl Jam contest. Whee! Been waiting for this since I was 13.

NEW CONTEST:
Win a Ten Legacy Edition (2-disc set in mini-LP style slipcase)

· Disc 1: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered (original mix)
· Disc 2: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered and remixed by Brendan O’Brien, plus six bonus tracks: “Brother,” “Just a Girl,” “State of Love and Trust,” “Breath,” “2,000 Mile Blues” and “Evil Little Goat”
· Re-designed packaging

If you’d like to enter to win, leave me a comment with your favorite Pearl Jam moment from any of their songs — live version, album version, full stanza, exhalation, guitar solo, scream — have at it. I just mostly like talking about this stuff. The various rad reissues come out March 24th, and this contest runs through Sunday night.

Also, speaking of Brendan O’Brien and his remix work on the reissue, I was just reading tonight in the Rolling Stone with the (excellent & eloquent) Sean Penn interview about O’Brien’s reprisal on the new PJ album due later this year, and I hear a fall tour may be in the works. A September show in Colorado would be so nice, don’t you think? Hmm.

Monday Music Roundup (+ contest!)

One night last week when I should have already been asleep, instead I sat up in bed scrolling through Failblog archives and absolutely dying laughing. Along with the FYP blog (for example: omg), Failblog is my new favorite — for reasons like this or this, or this or this.

That’ll start your Monday off right; so will these songs.

Hospital Bed
Seabear
The opening violin stirrings of this song are breathlessly gorgeous, heart-stoppingly so. After the condensed symphony of the first seconds, it transforms into la-la-las and quiet plucking and patter that sounds like rain on the cabin roof on that one night, so black, during the storm. I could hear you breathing.
Seabear is from Iceland, and this song is off their 2007 album The Ghost That Carried Us Away [and brought to my attention by this fine set of ears]

Help I’m Alive
Metric
I posted this last week as part of that gigantic hour-long mp3 from my set at the Larimer Lounge, but it is such a fantastic song that it deserves a starring role. Emily Haines is a sometimes-member of Broken Social Scene and Metric, in addition to putting out solid solo albums. Make no mistake, this is a kickass girl-rock moment on par with the riffs of Veruca Salt’s “Volcano Girls,” with the danceability of Blondie and Hello Stranger. Over the shadowy industrial chugging there bursts a golden sheen of ’80s rock and snarl. My favorite, favorite part comes at 1:17 — one of the absolute best moments in a song I’ve heard in months. Listen/try to sit still. You can’t. You’ll dance. This is the leadoff track from the forthcoming 2009 release Fantasies.

A Song For Milton Feher
Richard Swift
I saw Mr. Swift open for Wilco on the blessed day that they converted me to raving lunatic fan. I remember being impressed by his toe-tapping poppy, piano-based compilations and huge head of curly hair. Apparently Milton Feher is a classical dancer, and I have no idea what this song is on about, but it’s a catchy blend of sunny pop sensibilities and synthesizers. This track was first on Swift’s free EP Ground Trouble Jaw last year, and will also be featured on the forthcoming full-length The Atlantic Ocean (both via Secretly Canadian). [thanks Bruce]

Black Lung
Cedarwell
I love the homespun charm in this song, the way it sounds like it’s being recorded in someone’s kitchen. The double-tracked vocals have a shimmering air of transparency that reminds me of Bon Iver’s home projects. Cedarwell is a man named Eric Neave from Wisconsin, and there’s a pretty little breakdown at the end with campfire clapping that always makes me smile. Find a dozen more songs for download on his site, with a donation suggested. Thoroughly lovely. [via MOKB].

Back From Exile
Nickel Eye
While The Strokes continue to consider offering us a new album, bassist Nikolai Fraiture has become the latest Stroke to embark on a side journey with his band Nickel Eye (get it? Nikolai?). The album brings old poems of Nikolai’s to musical life, and features Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Regina Spektor.

CONTEST: You can win one of these autographed 7″s I’ve got (pictured below on my kitchen table, “Brandy of the Damned” b/w “Back From Exile”) just by leaving a comment for me. Discuss Strokes side projects if you wish, or something else I will find entertaining, and I will pick two random winners. Contest runs through the end of this week, and the Nickel Eye album (The Time of Assassins) is out tomorrow on Rykodisc.

New contest :: Flight of the Conchords Season 1 on DVD

I got me a sweet kiwi-bird necklace from New Zealand the other day, one that you wish you had. Its shiny loveliness hails from the same shores as one of NZ’s finest recent exports, the Flight of the Conchords folk duo. If you missed out on Season One, you can catch up on the hilariousness here (and maybe start with this) and prepare for Season Two which launches January 18th on HBO. You can stream the first episode of the new season in its entirety.

We also gots a new Fuel/Friends contest to win you some Flight of the Conchords swag! Leave a comment (maybe with your favorite FotC line if you’ve seen it) to win:
+ Season 1 of Flight of the Conchords on DVD
+ an FotC notebook
+ an FotC guitar pick (rock. on.)
+ an FotC poster and some FotC postcards (“Born to Folk”)

I’ll pick a random winner after one week. And I’m mandated to be all ethnocentric and imperialistic here, and only have this contest open to U.S. residents (I know! I know there are lots of you elsewhere). Sor-ry.

Bowie dream-sequence awesomeness

Bowie – Flight of the Conchords (one of the funniest things about David Bowie ever recorded. I love his music but I have an ongoing, chronic fear of him.)
Ladies Of The World – Flight of the Conchords

BONUS: Rip of the Flight Of The Conchords theme song
(makes a great ‘lil addition to a mix)

Autumn de Wilde turns her lens on Elliott Smith (new contest)

Insound is teaming up again with Fuel/Friends to give away another music prize — the book Elliott Smith by Autumn de Wilde. This is “a portrait of the beloved and troubled singer/songwriter by those who knew him well. Complementing de Wilde’s riveting, personal images are ephemera, handwritten lyrics, and revealing talks with Smith’s inner circle, many speaking here for the first time. Also included are a foreword by Beck Hansen and Chris Walla, and a live CD of unreleased solo acoustic performances.”

Autumn de Wilde also did the video for Elliott’s “Son of Sam”: [thx]

Enter to win the book here through December 10th (and even though there is no confirmation page after you submit your name, I am assured it is working). Looks pretty sweet; I’ve been listening to a lot of mopey Elliott Smith lately. The book is part of Insound’s Holiday Gift Guide.

Angeles (live on KCRW) – Elliott Smith
Trouble (Cat Stevens cover) – Elliott Smith

New contest :: Calexico’s moustache hat poster

Insound is partnering with Fuel/Friends to offer a sweet limited-edition Calexico poster designed by the fearsome Jason Munn of Small Stakes in San Francisco. If you are a fan of the burnished southwestern wilderness in Calexico’s music, moustaches, or excellent poster design, this is the contest for you. Enter to win here, and the lucky reader will be announced next Tuesday.

There’s a whole series of posters and hoodies Munn’s designed for artists like The Hold Steady, The National, Okkervil River and Grizzly Bear. It’s part of the Insound 20 project to benefit 826NYC, and I like the clean and direct graphic punch of the entire collection.

Some of my favorite Calexico sounds:
Always On My Mind – Calexico with Iron & Wine (live on NPR)
Banderilla – Calexico (from the Sprout soundtrack)
Two Silver Trees – Calexico (from the newest release, Carried To Dust)

Good luck!

“La la laaa laaa” :: Yael Naim live session / contest for Aspen show

The lovely French-Tunisian-Israeli songstress Yael Naim (ah, yes — from that commercial … aaand now you’re singing it all day) stopped in at the Frontstage Studios in France at the beginning of this year for an absolutely charming, lighthearted set of acoustic tunes. I’ve been enjoying the casual ukelele vibe of her performance all day. There’s some singing in French and a Britney Spears cover, so yeah — take a listen.

YAEL NAIM, LIVE IN PARIS
January 2008
New Soul
Paris
Find Us
Lonely
Toxic (Britney Spears cover)

NEW CONTEST: Yael is currently on tour, swinging through the Belly Up in Aspen on Sunday, October 19th. Colorado peeps, would you like to go? I’ve got a pair of tickets. Leave me a comment, maybe say something nice. It’s still random winners but still you can always say something nice.

[audio via deaf indie elephants]

Okay, so who wants to go to New Orleans for the Voodoo Music Experience?

Me! I want to go explore New Orleans and see some bands like R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Old 97s, Thievery Corporation, Mars Volta, Ghostland Observatory, and Sharon Jones with her sassy Dap Kings.

The Voodoo Music Experience takes over New Orleans on October 24-25-26th. Fuel/Friends has a pair of tickets to the festival to give to one of you guys because we love you. Please note, transportation no es includio. So get yourself to N’awlins and I’ll help you rock. Leave me a comment and tell me something interesting (oh, and how to contact you) and we’ll do a random drawing next Monday morning.

Don’t know how you do the voodoo that you do, as some wise sage once said.

PS On the contest tip: Two of you still need to claim your Brian Wilson prizes (kouzie and Jamoo, I’m talkin to you).

Another new contest :: Delta Spirit/Dr. Dog on Saturday in Denver

Here’s a quicklike last-minute contest for a show in Denver this weekend, since the last one went over so well. On Saturday night, Philadelphia’s Dr. Dog is playing the illustrious Hi-Dive with the sunshiney sounds of San Diego’s Delta Spirit, and I’ve got a pair of tickets to give away.

People, Delta Spirit has put out one of my favorite albums of the year with their aptly-titled Ode To Sunshine. There’s a raw and vital early ’60s Rolling Stones rock taste laced through those sweet bluesy piano melodies. Songs like “Strange Vine” and “Parade” flirt with the reverb-laden surf guitar of a thousand Southern California beach parties from summers long faded. There’s a yearning and an excitement running through the handclaps and hearty singalong sections of this album that are the domain of the young and the hopeful.

But my favorite description of Delta Spirit might be the one that said they’re “the Violent Femmes gone sepia.” Although they don’t scrape those same depths of streetpunk/outsider yowl that the Femmes always evoke for me, singer Matt Vasquez definitely does let all the ragged edges of his voice bleed in a very real way that keeps the album authentic. This album lovingly revives the sound of vintage America but with a rough-hewn edge, and is absolutely delightful.

Plus — if we’re gonna go on looks, I’ve always remembered (with a smile) the way that Amrit wrote that Vasquez looks like he unwinds between shows at The Peach Pit.

Trashcan – Delta Spirit

NEW CONTEST — WINNER GETS:
- One pair of tickets to Delta Spirit & Dr. Dog @ Hi-Dive (Sat. 9/27)
- Delta Spirit’s Ode To Sunshine CD
- Copy of RAGGED Magazine (www.raggedmag.com)

To enter, please EMAIL ME with DELTA SPIRIT SHOW as the subject line, and I’ll decide on a random winner over my coffee on Saturday morning. Because of the short notice, I’ll probably call you to let you know, so please include a phone number if you’re cool with that. I promise not to crank call or drunk dial you.

Ode to Sunshine is out now, seeing a wide re-release on Rounder Records, who were wise to snap these guys up.

New contest :: Fujiya and Miyagi’s knickerbocker glory

I have no idea what Brighton’s Fujiya & Miyagi are enticingly chanting over their sleek electronic beats in this song, the first single from their new album Lightbulbs (out now on Deaf, Dumb & Blind Records). With a sound described as “maybe Serge Gainsbourg with a PhD in electronics backed by David Byrne’s Eno-produced scratchy guitar mixed by MF Doom,” this album is effortlessly cool.

FUJIYA & MIYAGI: “KNICKERBOCKER”

If you are confused by the lyrics but dig F&M as much as I do (or want to give em a shot) I have a prize pack for a lucky winner — one copy of the new album Lightbulbs and a Fujiya & Miyagi tshirt.

Have at it in the comments if you’d like to win.

F&M OCTOBER SHOWS
Oct 22 – MERCURY LOUNGE NEW YORK
Oct 23 – WEBSTER HALL NEW YORK
Oct 24 – PARADISE BOSTON
Oct 25 – BOTTOM LOUNGE CHICAGO
Oct 27 – CHOP SUEY SEATTLE
Oct 28 – THE INDEPENDENT SAN FRANCISCO
Oct 30 – THE TROUBADOUR LOS ANGELES

Side note: Pretty sure he might have gotten that shirt at Target.

OTHER CONTEST UPDATE:
The winners of the Brian Wilson contest are:
Vinyl album – jeremy v.
7″ vinyl single – kouzie
CD – Jamoo

All the comments were marvelous and I very much enjoyed being transported for a bit while reading through them all. Winners, please email me with your addresses (although you are all winners in my book).

New contest :: Brian Wilson’s Lucky Old Sun (vinyl)

Brian Wilson returned last month with a new album, the sunny citrus-bedecked That Lucky Old Sun. In the 4-star Rolling Stone review, David Fricke refers to the music of Wilson and the Beach Boys as “healing.”

I paused over that word and rolled it around several times in my head. I’ve decided that Fricke’s simple summation is one of the best descriptors of Brian Wilson projects that I’ve ever read, and one of the reasons for Wilson’s perennial popularity. The sun-dappled melodies, the luminous harmonies — I’ll never grow tired of letting them wash over me, and never realized before how they do heal a little bit of the brutality of life.

NEW CONTEST:
We’ve got three sweet prizes to give to three readers:
* One limited-edition 180 gram vinyl copy of the new record
* One 7″ vinyl single of “Midnight’s Another Day”
* One copy of the new album on CD, for the turntable-less

So if you want to enter, please leave me a comment specifying which of the three you’d want (vinyl, 45 single, or CD), and I’d love to hear about your favorite moment in a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson song. Contest will end Wednesday.

In the meantime, you can stream the album here, and be sure to watch the lovely video of Brian’s appearance on the fabulous Black Cab Sessions in London (with all five of his band members wedged in there with him!). Listen to how lovely those acoustic harmonies sound whilst zipping around the streets of foggy Londontown:

That Lucky Old Sun (Black Cab Sessions) – Brian Wilson

My favorite collection of Beach Boys songs is still probably the unvarnished purity of those 1967 rehearsals that Justin posted a few years back. The stripped arrangements let their voices shine in a near-celestial way.