Bill Baird
"Surfing"
Bill Baird, best known for his work in Sunset, has released a deliciously experimental album called Silence! on Autobus. We just posted a review of it, so we thought — HEY, LET’S POST A BILL BAIRD VIDEO IN THE CHOCOLATE GRINDER TOO!! And here, after weeks of preparation, is both the post and video.
• Autobus: http://www.autobusrecs.com
Arcade Fire
“We Used to Wait” [interactive video called “The Wilderness Downtown”]
With help from the Google “Chrome Experience” and HTML5, Chris Milk has “milked” state-of-the-art web technology to create an “utter”ly weird multi-window, interactive video experience called “The Wilderness Downtown,” where trees will literally (well, graphically) pop-up right outside your childhood window and birds will fly onto your doodling. The video features Arcade Fire’s “We Used to Wait,” off their acclaimed album, Nacho Time!! (TMT Review). Check it out here: http://thewildernessdowntown.com
• The Wilderness Downtown: http://thewildernessdowntown.com
• Arcade Fire: http://www.arcadefire.com
• Merge: http://www.mergerecords.com
Sufjan Stevens
“I Walked”
Sufjan Stevens apparently likes walking.
The track is off his forthcoming full-length, The Age of Adz, due October 12 via Asthmatic Kitty.
• Sufjan Stevens: http://www.sufjan.com
• Asthmatic Kitty: http://www.asthmatickitty.com
Twig Harper & Daniel Higgs
Clairaudience Fellowship interview
Thrill Jockey has released some seriously awesome shit lately — Imbogodom, Fennesz Daniell Buck — and are releasing even more later this year, including more “experimental” albums by Barn Owl, Oval, Sam Prekop (The Sea and Cake), Dustin Wong (Ponytail), and, perhaps the oddest of all of them, Twig Harper (Nautical Almanac) & Daniel Higgs (artist, Lungfish). Check out the video above, which sees Harper talking about his and Higgs’ new album, Clairaudience Fellowship, due September 21.
• Thrill Jockey: http://www.thrilljockey.com
Ted Leo and The Pharmacists
“Bottled In Cork”
Message to Ted Leo and The Pharmacists: sorry for not reviewing The Brutalist Bricks, your Matador debut! As a kind gesture, we’ll allow you to check out your new video for “Bottled In Cork.” Hope you guys like it!
• Ted Leo and The Pharmacists: http://www.tedleo.com
• Matador: http://www.matadorrecords.com
Grass Widow
“Fried Egg”
Eschewing songwriting hierarchy, dismissing apolitical gender readings, and blurring the musical distinctions that typify “form” and “content,” San Francisco-based trio Grass Widow definitely ain’t your typical all-female rock act. According to the band:
We want to thrive in our scene as musicians, with a focus on our musicianship first, not our gender. Our goal is to normalize the role of gender in our craft and have an avenue to express our intelligence and our love of music. We acknowledge that movements of the past created by or affecting women in the art and music worlds are hugely influential, but there is potential for the original sentiments to lose potency if the meaning is misinterpreted or not redesigned for a modern context. Even the riot grrl movement is kind of antiquated. You never really hear people talk about that ‘new riot grrl’ band. We owe a great deal to that lineage but it’s time for something new. We want to be portrayed as the responsible, thoughtful people that we are.
And thoughtful people they are: Grass Widow are playing Beijing’s Tanglewood Music Festival later this month before returning to the US for more dates throughout September. Their second full-length, Past Time, is out today on Kill Rock Stars, making this particular Chocolate Grinder post utterly relevant.
• Grass Widow: http://myspace.com/grasswidowmusic
• Kill Rock Stars: http://www.killrockstars.com
