Press Color//Like Cancer

Local Summer Jams.
[Local! Music! Friday!]!
Tell me...what is this Local Music Fridays?

In August of 2006, my friend Cayden put on a local music festival in Ann Arbor called Lawnaroo. I played one of the shows (in a weird church space, maybe?) on the same night as a band then called Novel Citizen. Although 2006 is a while ago now, this band is still kicking and even has a snazzy new band name, Press Color.

Yes, the summer of ’06—that was a great one. It was my last summer in A2 and as a result, I was crazy. I spent most of my time hanging out with friends, drinking, bbqing and setting off fireworks. Actually, we were known to take monthly trips down to Ohio to eat a Waffle House and purchase cheap fireworks. Ohio, you are good for something.

This was also the summer where Emily housesat for some bougie ex-hippies out in Chelsea and we scheduled our lives around being at their gorgeous country house, outfitted with two pups, a tire swing, an ATV and a pond for swimming and kayaking, as much as possible. Golden, golden summer.

Anyway, at Lawneroo, I remember being impressed with how these guys sounded, especially for how young they seemed to me (I’M OLD). Now, getting a chance to listen to some of their newer recordings, I’m even more impressed. Press Color effectively blends funk and punk (pfunk? fpunk? ?unk?) into something pretty avant garde and new, not unlike the sound sometimes delivered by The Fall (although a bit more formal in presentation).



Like Cancer.mp3

Press Color is coming to NYC in June. Stay tuned for more info on dates.


Summer Jam: In the Summer of 2006, Cuban president Fidel Castro temporarily relinquished power to his brother Raúl after health issues. Also, Spinach contaminated with E. coli killed 2 and poisoned over 100 others in 20 states.

Beck//Where It's At

Awkward Angsty Adolescent SUMMER JAMS!!!

When I was 13 (1996 OH MY GOD), I went on this family trip with my mom, my stepdad and my (cooler, older) stepbrother Joel. I’m pretty sure we went to Massachusetts..or was it upstate New York? It’s all foggy. Here’s what I can remember from this trip:

1. Joel rented a car. It was a bright purple Neon. It was hilarious.
2. We spent a lot of time driving (and walking) around graveyards. Morbid fun! I think this may have been the best time we had.
3. We visited my 2nd cousin’s ice cream store. They let me make the bubblegum ice cream. I can remember pouring a bucket of rainbow Chiclets into a giant cold mixing machine.
4. At one point, Joel and I shared a hotel room. We were watching MTV when the (weird/awesome) video for this song came on. I changed the channel. Joel said, “Hey. Go back to that. That’s Beck. He’s cool.”

Although we’re not super close, I’ve always really enjoyed spending time with Joel, not to mention the fact that he has been pretty influential to my musical tastes. He has given me plenty of interesting albums and mixes over the years. He’s responsible for my discovery of Aimee Mann, Jon Brion, Jason Faulkner, The Greys and Ron Sexsmith. Oh, and uh…Beck?

Maybe it’s just that this song is inextricably linked to that weird ass summer (because, let’s face it, being 13 is odd), but whenever I hear Odelay (released in June of ’96, album name trivia), I literally SEE the summer. Glittery shimmery heat waves rise up off the asphalt, just like in that one part of the “Devil’s Haircut” video. The weird sonic pallet and the old school beat is crystallized as a quintessential summer sound to me.



Where It’s At.mp3

I got two turn tables and a microphone.

Summer Jam: In the summer of 1996, The Nintendo 64 video game system was released in Japan and The British rock band Oasis played the biggest free-standing concert in UK history at Knebworth, Hertfordshire.

Outkast//Hey Ya

It was the summer of SUMMMER JAMSSS!

So yesterday we were revisiting summer 2003. Today, let’s fast forward one year to summer 2004, in which I returned to the states after a long and weird time in Europe.

This was another song that hit the scene in the fall/winter season (of ’03). Even so, I’ll still always think of it as the jam of 2004, as it showed up at every dance party and bar that I hit that season.

“Hey Ya,” by classic ATL hip hop legends (and style mavens) Andre 3000 and Big Boi of Outkast, is one of those rare tracks that you feel genuinely excited to hear every time it starts bumpin’. The whole thing is brilliant. Outkast has always been known for pushing the envelope, so it’s no surprise that in terms of structure, rhythm and production, it (in addition from the song’s experimental parent album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below) was a real step forward for the genre. Of course, not to mention it’s just a solidly catchy track.

Like many summer jams, after the 516th time played, it’s magical charm starts to wear off. Even so, listening to it now after a fairly decent break kind of does make me want to jump up and dance. But that would be very inappropriate considering where I am now. So…I’m not going to do that. Although, it doesn’t mean you can’t.



Hey Ya.mp3

Now I wanna see y'all on y'all baddest behavior--
Lend me some sugar. I am your neighbor.
Shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it,
Shake it, shake it, shake, shake it, shake it, shake it ,
Shake it, shake it like a Polaroid Picture!


Summer Jam: In the summer of 2004, Ronald Regan died and my parents kept their American flag at half mast for like three weeks, which I thought was kinda creepy (and an extra weird way to return to the states from the UK). Saddam Hussein was also on trial for war crimes. Remember that? And they finally broke ground on the “Freedom Tower” at 9/11 (my daily commute gives me an update on how much progress has been made in five years on that one) and I watched from suburban NJ as James McGreevey got outed in BIG GAY SCANDAL and made a slimey fool of himself, which may have leant new meaning to “Don’t wanna meet your Daddy. Just want you in my Caddy.”Just a thought...?

Missy Elliott//Work It

It’s 90 today and we’re heating things up with a seaonsal preview: SUMMER JAMS!!!

While Missy’s Under Construction came out in the fall of ’02, I’ll always think of this song as a quintessential track of the summer of ’03. Yep, that summer.

Ali tried to buy a new Stereolab album. The cover and packaging looked fine, but the record inside was actually the single for this song. That and the fact that it was blaring out of every passing car on East U. contributed to it ending up on our summer mix.

I was recently telling the story of how in that particular summer, Ali and I attempted to cover up our previous tenant’s acid trip wall scribbles with pages of vintage books we pasted up. This was a brilliant plan, until the weather got hot enough to losen the art-school glue we used to affix our homemade wallpaper. Page by page, they slid from over our heads onto our faces while we slept. Rude awakening.

Not rude awakening: this song, which spent 15 weeks at the top of the charts and served as a soundtrack to many drunken college-era evenings. Missy is the damn coolest. Besides helping to popularize the term “Badonkadonk,” (Urban Dictionary, eat your heart out) she and Timbaland have serious beat and production chops, with this track serving as a shining example. In fact, Missy and Timbaland got their start as a production/songwriting team, crafting material for groups like SWV, Destiny’s Child and Aaliyah. All that know-how shows, especially on an album like Under Construction, which relied heavily on the “old school” hiphop sound. What also shows is how each track is a “MISSSSY. ELLLLLIOOTTTT. (sometimes ONE TIME!) EXCLUSSSSIVE.”

The video for this track won plenty of awards and attention, but I’ll always still love the video for “The Rain” most, with that awesome, awesome giant garbage bag-looking getup. Dude. What was that?



Work It.mp3

Picture Lil' Kim dating a pastor.
Minute Man Big Red can outlast ya.
Who is the best? I don't have to ask ya.
When I come out, you won't even matter.
Why you act dumb like, "ughhh, duh?"
So you act dumb like, "ughhh, duh?"
And the drummer boy go pa rum pum pum pum,
Give ya some some some of this Cinnabon.



Summer Jam:In the summer of 2003, 101.3 degrees in Kent became the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK and a sweltering heat wave took all of Europe by storm, causing the heat to rise to over 112 degrees in Paris. In other news, Martha Stewart and her broker were indicted for insider trading and (somewhat ironically) SARS (totally, totally) was declared to be contained by the Worth Health Organization. Did somebody say “Swine Flu”?

Pomegranates//Beachcomber

Golden rays, ocean breezes, Monday Mail.
What is Monday Mail?

I don’t know about where you are, but here in NYC, the weather was beautiful ALL WEEKEND LONG! I had a lovely time outside at a rooftop bbq, a backyard houseshow and the Brooklyn Botantical Garden. With that in mind, I officially declare it Summer Jams Week at OSS. To help you gear up for Memorial Day Weekend, all week we’ll be featuring quintessential jams from summers past as well as warm-weather-themed new jams.

This M!M! comes from a band whose new album makes reference to the nice weather (Everybody, Come Outside!) and whose sweetest song is called Beachcomber! It’s Monday. It’s 80. If you’re not stuck inside, break out the sunblock!

This from Clyde at Fanatic:

Artists such as French Kicks and Islands responded to Pomegranates’ dynamic live set by inviting them out on the road. Everybody, Come Outside! shows a marked improvement both creatively and sonically from its predecessor, channeling influences that range from Talking Heads and Brian Eno, to French Kicks and Fela Kuti.



Beachcomber.mp3

Pomegranates play Mercury Lounge on May 13th.


Summer Jam: The hottest summer on record in the USA was that of dust bowly 1936, when the average nationwide temperature was 74.6 degrees.