My Favorite Artists (Part 2 of 5): Nizlopi

I was going to follow up Benjy’s post with one about my home state, Connecticut. An island of tranquility between Boston and New York, Connecticut remains neutral by not offering much of anything. It’s a small state with big money, Martha Stewart, Joe Lieberman, and a silent “c.” As a result, Connecticut is the butt of quite a few jokes and the subject of exactly zero songs.

So, Nizlopi. Based in the UK, they seemed an obvious choice for today after seeing Hot Fuzz last night. I discovered Nizlopi in early November, and their music pretty much defined my first semester at college. The band consists only of a singing guitarist (Luke Concannon) and a beatboxing bassist (John Parker), but they achieve an impressively full sound in the studio.

My favorite thing about Nizlopi is that they come up with incredibly catchy melodies while maintaining their musicality, individuality and British humor. They offer guilt-free upbeat music with witty lyrics and distinct personality. I love literally every song off their debut album, Half These Songs Are About You, and the following EP, ExtraOrdinary.

There’s not much else to say about them, except that they’re the only band I know named after a Hungarian girl (Luke’s school crush), and that they’re currently #1 on my “top artists I want to see live” list. I had a hard time choosing which songs to post, since they’re all so different and so good. “JCB” and “Girls” are their two singles, and “Flooded Quarry,” “Helen,” and “Freedom” are my three personal favorites. “Glastonbury” is a little different, but is a good example of the type of music on the EP and is another of my favorites.

Nizlopi – JCB
Nizlopi – Girls
Nizlopi – Flooded Quarry
Nizlopi – Helen
Nizlopi – Freedom
Nizlopi – Glastonbury
Pete Seeger – Yankee Doodle (CT’s state song)

Buy the CDs here. Really, buy them. Not to support the artist, but for your own good.

-danny

Last two weeks of camp

The year’s gone by like the last weekend of summer. Two weeks from today marks the end of our first year at university level, and the beginning of my trip back to my home in Ohio.

The Canals leaving camp.

So, before we top off the school year with a series of forthcoming guest posts, I’ll let you familiarize yourselves with my peoples. The name Ohio comes from the Seneca word ohi:yo, meaning “beautiful river” or “large creek,” the original name of both the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers. Serving as both the “Mother of Presidents” and the Midwestern Bridge between east and west coasts, this state has served as a pillar of sturdy leadership and a hub of pastoral tranquility for over two hundred years. And so, as a reflection of these values and as an homage to my secondary residence, the state of Ohio, I have compiled this humble yet powerful list of songs.

Damien Jurado – Ohio
Kyle Andrews – Amos in Ohio
Randy Newman – Dayton, Ohio-1903
Sun Kil Moon – Carry Me Ohio (Alternate Version)
RJD2 (A Columbus native) – Ghostwriter

-Benjy

All You Really Need Is A Dollar And A Dream

If there’s anything I like more than exclamation points in song lyrics, it’s exclamation points after phrases like “tofu penis.” That’s what makes Carmen Borgia so appealing – he takes a good thing and puts his own, usually better, spin on it.

Carmen was my boss when I interned at DuArt Film and Video in NY two summers ago. He used to tell me that he’s been fascinated with sound since he was a little kid in Ohio, and that he’s just never stopped experimenting. He wrote most of the songs on his debut album, North, and plays most of the instruments – steel string guitar, ukulele, musical saw, and accordion, to name a few.

Some of the tracks are a little repetitive, but I’ve been hooked for the last few days. This is one of the only albums I’ve heard that consistently makes me laugh out loud, but not every song is filled with absurd humor. Some are hilarious, some simple and sweet, and others slightly melancholy. He describes the music as “avant-folk” and the album as “an almanac for watchful and upbeat travelers; a documentary roadtrip by Greyhound, Chevy, train and rocket.”

I’d like to think that my days spent organizing DVDs and stuffing envelopes served as inspiration for at least one of these tracks, but I’ll probably never know for sure.

Carmen Borgia – Domenic Rom
Carmen Borgia – All You Really Need
Carmen Borgia – Swan Song
Carmen Borgia – Slim

You can find the lyrics and some more free downloads here, or buy the full album here.

-danny

Dig this ditch: The Switch

The dry spell is over! After two long, soulless years of waiting, it’s finally here. As a follow-up to his 2005 release, Lost and Found, Will Smith is letting loose his spin-off reality TV show based on the smash hit single, Switch.

Maybe if he read any of my letters it'd be true, but for now...

The Switch, a Los Angeles rock group not affiliated with Will Smith, was recently featured on An Aquarium Drunkard to promote their first release, Hello Today. After enjoying the handful of live tracks there, I popped over to iTunes to snag the whole EP. To be honest, I’m more partial to the live songs than the studio EP, but don’t take my word for it, listen up:

The Switch – Country Song (live at Aquarium Drunkard)
The Switch – Just Smile (live at Aquarium Drunkard)
The Switch – Tongue Tied
The Switch – Living In Another World

-Benjy

The Beginning Of The End Of The RIAA

The demise of the RIAA has been a long time coming, but a new music service, Amie Street, might speed up the process. Amie Street is the way music should be: DRM-free, market-priced, high quality, and legal. Founded in July, the site allows independent artists to sell and promote their music in an innovative and profitable way. All music on the site starts out free, and the price increases to a max of $0.98 per song based on popularity. About a month ago they signed a deal with Nettwerk Music Group, bringing mainstream artists such as Barenaked Ladies to the site.

If this isn’t the future of music, I don’t know what is. It’s perfect for browsing – they provide 85 seconds of preview for each song, which is important since so many of the artists are completely unknown. They have an effective recommendation model that rewards the customer for promoting quality content. They’re growing fast – just this week albums by State Radio, Hem, Griffin House, and Josh Rouse are being released (and even big names like these start out free). And best of all, the artists pocket 70% of their sales and not a penny goes to the RIAA. The only downside is that I know I’ll be spending a few hours a day this week discovering new music instead of doing something more productive like catching up on Tivo or playing FIFA.

Here are a few songs I heard for the first time and bought today from Amie Street. When you register they give you $1.00 for free, so I basically haven’t even spent any money yet. I also posted a few Griffin House songs, and his CD Upland will be released on the site tomorrow (along with Hem’s Funnel Cloud). Join today and help turn the slow, painful death of the RIAA into a fast (but hopefully still painful) one.

Patrick Park – Your Smile’s A Drug
Jack Zerby – Said
Princeton – The Indifference Curve
Selfish Gene – Daylight Savings (had to get this for the band name, pretty good song though)
Jets Overhead – This Way
Griffin House – Tell Me A Lie
Griffin House – Waterfall

-danny

Spring Fling Flight Test # 1

Since the legendary Spring Fling concert is coming up in three days we thought it would just prime to take some time to go moonlighting with the three main attractions.

To start off, there’s Eef Barzelay of Clem Snide. I know a number of folks out there aren’t thrilled about this choice to open at the ‘cert, but I happen to think that with a little magic in the air things could rock like a cradle. With lyrics like, “if a Civil War buff can love a diamond in the rough, it’s great,” it couldn’t be anything but golden. Anyway, I saw Eef open for Damien Jurado back in 2006 at the World Café Live, and since then I’ve become a fan of both Clem Snide and Eef’s solo stuff. He’s an energetic and absolutely hilarious performer. Granted, those people I’ve heard spewing garbage like, “he’s going to be too mellow for the Fling show,” do have a point. Eef was (and most likely will be) just his voice and a guitar, singing goofy folk ballads. Hopefully the audience will be able to chill out a little and laugh along with him.

Eef Barzelay – Ballad of Bitter Honey
Eef Barzelay – I Wasn’t Really Drunk
Clem Snide – Action
Clem Snide – Happy Birthday

Buy Clem Snide's most recent album here.

-Benjy

Can You Spot The Difference?

-danny

The Best Team In The World

Kurtis Blow – Basketball

One of the bookshelves in my bedroom is dedicated to the New Jersey Nets. It’s a remnant of my middle school years, when I was proud to be the only Nets fan in Westport to enjoy the team's rise from perennial loser to king of the tri-state area. Six years later, being the best NBA team in New York/New Jersey/CT is about as exciting a distinction as being the best Rec Intramural team in Fisher/Ware/Riepe (a title the Delicious Corn came within 2 mercy rule losses of securing).

Since I haven’t added to my memorabilia collection in almost a decade, I tend not to pay much attention to it. Over spring break, though, this magazine caught my eye:

There is so much to say about this image that I really don’t know where to begin. I guess I’ll start with the simple fact that Todd McCullough is featured on the cover of SLAM (that’s his big, white, Canadian mug right on the “L”). Keep in mind that this is a publication that bills itself as “The ‘In Your Face’ Basketball Monthly Magazine” and includes segments with names such as “Sla – of – the – month.”

Not only is Todd prominently displayed, but the headline “The Best Team In The World” is referring to his team. SLAM is claiming that Todd McCullough is a starter on the best basketball team on Earth, while featuring the likes of AI, KG, Kobe, MJ, Stockton, the other TMac, and Lebron James ON THE SAME COVER. It looks like one of those pictures you’d take home from Bar Mitzvahs where they’d crop your face into a movie poster or the cover of TIME magazine’s “Man of the Year” issue. I honestly think the juxtaposition would be no more striking if Benjy were photoshopped in to replace Todd.

Anyway, I felt like the best team in the world deserved a post on The Canals, and I’ve created a playlist with songs for each player (excluding Keith Van Horn – I only remember him for his high socks and couldn’t think of any musical representation for that, but I’m open to suggestions) and for the Nets as a unit of basketball domination. Once you’ve finished listening to Kurtis Blow’s greatest hit, try these out. They actually happen to be some really good songs.

Rocky Votolato – White Daisy Passing (Todd McCullough)
moe. – Captain America (Jason Kidd)
DJ Danger Mouse – Justify My Thug (Kenyon Martin)
Elbow – Grace Under Pressure (Kerry Kittles)

Josh Rouse – Jersey Clowns
Khia – The Nets, Are Back

-danny

Jacob Schutz, poet laureate of The Canals

Aside from being the musical institution that it is, I feel that The Canals is also both a cultural and literary experience by definition. Thusly, I publish this photo with accompanying piece of prose:

From left: Jacob, Alex
Jacob: This is after I won my appeal and was released from prison.
Benjy: You must have really liked prison.
Jacob: No. See, what I'm thinking is, "Boy I am glad to be out, but who will take care of little Jerome in cell 3B, who will only have his coffee if it has two sugars. And what about Lamar, who cries himself to sleep everynight." I won the freedom of my soul, but lost the soul of my freedom.

From now on I will keep a look out for other tidbits worthy of our recognition. Who knows, maybe someone will someday dethrown Mr. Schutz as the poet laureate of The Canals. Anyone could be next. Yeah, even you... Panama Lee.

P.S. Here are two slightly relevant songs that are also just plain great:

Yo La Tengo -- Mr. Tough
Little Feat -- Trouble



-Benjy

BEAM TO KILL ARMY AT 200 MILES, TESLA'S CLAIM ON 78TH BIRTHDAY

A recent episode of Future Weapons with Richard "Mack" Machowicz showcased the awesome power of a new riot control device called the "Silent Guardian." This massive ray gun fixed atop a military vehicle induces the sensation of fire on the skin, making the dispersion of crowds a piece of cake. In my mind it's the sissified descendant of Nikola Tesla's "peace ray," otherwise known as the "death ray." Unfortunately, after an unsuccessful attempt to market the weapon to the US War Department, Tesla's plans were seized and locked away by the FBI for fear of public safety.

In the 2006 film "The Prestige," (my hero) David Bowie plays (my other hero) Nikola Tesla convincingly enough to make me wish that the "Silent Guardian" was both silent and deadly.

David Bowie -- Heroes


-Benjy

Undaunted Something

Last Sunday, JC and I had to give thanks. Thanks to World Café Live, WXPN, and YRock for hosting a free members-only concert featuring Dr. Dog and, unexpectedly, the folk duo Jeffrey and Jack Lewis. The main event, Dog MD, rocked as usual, so I won’t go into detail about them. The Lewis brothers, however, were an entirely different breed of musicians. Cut from a more indie-folk cloth than the Dog, the brothers led by singer-songwriter Jeffrey, played sped up Subterranean Homesick Blues-ish poems put to music. They played mostly songs of sob stories lamenting a failed career in comic book illustration and the fickle and unappreciative ways of the music industry. A little to heavy-handed for the likes of me and JC, the brothers laid it on pretty thick with lyrics like, “maybe the world would be better off if we were all uncreative drones.”

I don’t want to judge too much, but it seemed that Jeffrey sang the songs as fast as he did because he knew the lyrics sucked. What we did appreciate, however, were the low budget “short films” with accompanying performed soundtracks. Less films than slideshows featuring Jeffrey’s Daniel Johnston-esque illustrations, these performances had lighthearted stories about multi-handed monsters, nuns, invincible heroes, and villains named Celery Sam. Was it enough to redeem them? Ask JC. Anyway, I’ll let you judge for yourselves.

P.S. It’s two in the morning, and I think I’m starting to like these tracks. In a way.

Jeffrey Lewis – Don’t Let the Record Label Take You Out to Lunch
Jeffrey Lewis – The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane

Buy the Lewis brothers' newest album here.

-Benjy

Mind Your Manners

A few weeks ago I put in an order to have my windows fixed. Friday afternoon I found this note on my desk:

“Carpenter was here to fix windows. I have to order new windows for repair. To access window had to stand on shelf. Sorry I broke shelf. If it’s a problem call 573-3822.

-Rob"

My first reaction was anger. I use that shelf to hold my alarm clock, lamp, cell phone, hand sanitizer, magazines, and books. My second reaction was disbelief. I couldn’t believe that he thought the shelf could have supported him, and I couldn’t believe that he thought it potentially wouldn’t be a problem that he broke it.

But I didn’t stay mad for long. The carpenter was sorry that he broke shelf. That one, simple word softened the blow of the whole incident, much like my bed must have softened the blow of his fall from the windowsill.

Never underestimate the power of good manners—the carpenter and these artists clearly don’t.

Jim Bianco – Sorry
Sufjan Stevens – The Dress Looks Nice On You
Sly and the Family Stone – Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
Wilco – Please Be Patient With Me
Dispatch – Walk With You
The White Stripes – I’m Finding It Harder To Be A Gentleman

Few notes about the music. Jim Bianco is a great new artist with a unique voice. You can buy his CDs here. The Sufjan song is my favorite of the past week and the first I learned on guitar. The Wilco song is off their new album Sky Blue Sky, to be released on May 17. I'm pretty sure that we're literally the first blog to post this song, so maybe that will help our average of 3.5 unique hits per day.

-danny