Fikak!: March 2010

'24' Gets "Jacked"

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Well, you could see this coming from as far away as just about any one of the plot twists of the past 3 seasons: 24 will come to an end at the conclusion of this, the eighth, season. Sort of. According to EW.com, a movie franchise is already in the works, which could be really interesting. Relieving Jack and Co. of the constraints that exist because of its "real-time" format could do a lot of good, and, according to Keifer Sutherland, this version of 24 will definitely not be held within those same confines. Can't say I blame them. As Keifer also states in the article, “The writers are producing the equivalent of 12 films a year, which is unheard of." Good point. Ironically, this season has done a much better job of keeping me on my toes than either of the past two. That is, until they pulled out the old "there's a double agent that's infiltrated CTU" plot twist again. Anyway, now that this has all been decided, maybe it will heighten anticipation a little bit as this season winds down. We shall see. I wonder what they're gonna do with the clock sequence at the end? Maybe it will explode or something...

New The National: "Bloodbuzz Ohio"

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Thankfully, The National's High Violet will finally be released the 10th of May, and, little by little, pieces of the puzzle are being set loose. We've already had the privilege of hearing "Terrible Love". Today, "Bloodbuzz Ohio" was made available as a free download. In case you can't tell, I'm absolutely giddy. Enjoy:

Local Natives

Local Natives are a relatively new band from Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California. Their new record Gorilla Manor came out Feb. 16, on French Kiss Records. It took me a little while to really get into, but now I basically just can't stop listening to it. They don't really remind me of any specific band, but parts of songs remind me of things like My Morning Jacket, Fleet Foxes, Midlake, and even a little Beach Boys. So just check it out because it's really good. Here is a video of them playing an acoustic version of Sticky Thread.

2 New Broken Social Scene Songs!

BSS' Forgiveness Rock Record will be out on May 4. Other than that, I think the title pretty much says it all.

Rogue Wave Hit Late Night w/ Fallon

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Rogue Wave rocked Jimmy Fallon's show last night with "Solitary Gun", which, when it's all said and done, might be the most enduring track from their new album, Permalight. On a side note, I'm wondering if anyone behind the stage had actually ever heard this song before the pre-show warmup, or if they'd ever even heard of the band itself. If not, they do a decent job of faking it, but it just seems kinda like some weird Late Night version of MTV Beach House or something. I don't know; maybe it's just me. Anyway, enjoy:

The Lonely Island's "Boombox" Gets the Proper Vid Treatment

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Finally, the second-best song from Incredibad gets a video that matches its excellence. So grab yourself a boiled goose, sit back, and enjoy:

Enemies

Enemies is an instrumental/prog/math rock band from Ireland. I didn't know they made music like this in Ireland either. Anyway, they had an Ep and 7" a couple years ago that were both amazing and they are supposed to have a new full-length out sometime this summer on Richter Collective. There's no official release date yet, but chances are, I'll post something when there actually is. So check 'em out. If you're into The Mercury Program, Maserati, Cinemechanica, and the like, you'll dig it. Here are a couple videos of songs from their Ep.

Bits of Parrots

Feed Me Seedless

Nurse Jackie - Season 2

Season 2 of Nurse Jackie starts Monday, March 22nd! This is just another in the string of great Showtime shows. I'm really looking forward to this because the first season left off on a major cliff hanger. If you haven't been watching, you should totally check it out. It's got Edie Falco, it's about drugs, blood & infidelity, and is easily the best hospital show...maybe ever. Sorry Grey's Anatomy, ER, Scrubs, Hawthorne, & etc. fans. If you're into mediocrity this may not be for you.

The XX play "Islands" on Jimmy Fallon

Well, I saw this on tv the other day and thought it would be easy to post here. That didn't really seem to be the case. Never the less, here it is...kind of. I couldn't find just the band playing anywhere, so if you really want to watch it, here is the whole episode. I know it's kind of stupid but just skip to the last little hash mark. I'd have to say it's worth it.

Deftones - Rocket Skates

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Here is the new video from the Deftones upcoming album "Diamond Eyes." This comes after the, at least, semi-completion of the album "Eros" which the band felt didn't meet their expectations. Sergio Vega, the bass player from Quicksand played bass on "Diamond Eyes" in place of Deftones original bass player Chi Cheng who was in a terrible car accident and subsequent coma. The album comes out May 18, 2010. Our prayers go out to the Deftones, Chi and his family.

New Music: MGMT "Flash Delirium"

This is the new single from MGMT's upcoming album "Congratulations" that comes out April 13, 2010 on Sony/Columbia.

Drive-By Truckers play Letterman

This is Drive-By Truckers playing "This F*cking Job" on Letterman, March 13, 2010. It is the single off their new album "The Big To-Do" that came out on Tuesday on ATO Records. Enjoy!

It's Finally Here: HBO's The Pacific

Saturday, March 13, 2010

It's taken over a year of waiting, but The Pacific has finally arrived. It debuts tomorrow night on HBO, and, by most accounts, it was well worth the wait - it has thus far received a cumulative score of 87 on Metacritic (equating to "Universal Acclaim" on their scale). Some have even gone so far as to declare it better than Band of Brothers (which was also produced by Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, & HBO), though I'm not sure that's really possible. I guess we'll see. Until then, chew on this (be warned: this trailer contains both graphic images and "colorful" language):

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EW: Batman vs. Superman

It's the 75th anniversary of DC Comics, so some guy named Darren Franich over at Entertainment Weekly posed the idea of settling the Batman vs. Superman argument once and for all. He proposed two different ways to interpret the argument: (1) Which of the two has been able to evolve over 3/4 of a century and stay interesting, and (2) Who would win in a fight?

I don't think that anyone can come up with a realistic argument for Superman when it comes to question #1. Despite the extreme valleys that the Batman franchise has suffered through (i.e. an embarrassing television show in the 60s and two hideously terrible movies in the mid-90s), the peaks have been too high, and the potential for a completely human character with flaws is just so much greater than a perfect superhero with limitless power and no true equal.

In regards to question #2, Franich takes the lame, inside-the-box angle, without even really mentioning that in the only legitimate confrontation the two had (Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, which is regarded by many to be the greatest graphic novel of all time), Superman flat out gets dealt with - by a 55 year-old Batman no less.

I better stop before I really get rolling. In the words of Linda Richman of Coffee Talk, "I'm a little verklempt, talk amongst yourselves..."

Overdue: Broken Bells on Letterman

Earlier in the week, Broken Bells performed the crap out of "The High Road" on The Late Show. Tried to post it then, but YouTube wouldn't have it. So if you haven't seen it already, here ya go; better late than never. Also: If you're one of those honest people who didn't download this entire album a month and a half ago, it was officially released this week. Enjoy:

New Music: Minus the Bear's "My Time"

Friday, March 12, 2010

We've already discussed how much potential there is for 2010 to be great musically. The first 1/4 of the year has seen some solid releases, but I'm guessing when we look back in December, May is going to be the month when the first year in this new decade either blew the doors off the place or revealed itself as a boring disappointment. On the 4th alone, Minus the Bear, New Pornographers, and Broken Social Scene all release records (sorry, the new Papa Roach record isn't a contributing factor). Later that month we'll also get new releases from Band of Horses, Tokyo Police Club, and The National. In other words, May is going to be stupid, so get your headphones ready. MTB just released the opening track from Omni, "My Time", for download, and it's definitely not doing anything to temper my excitement or anticipation. Check it out, and if you dig it, you can go here and swap your email for a legal download.

New Track for Neon Indian

If anyone is interested. Download here.

Sleep Paralysist

The National Perform New Track on Fallon

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The Late Night pipeline to great music is still breathing. The latest: The National, who as of right now might be the best band this side of the Atlantic, performed "Terrible Love" last night. It's a new track from High Violet, which comes out in May. Enjoy:

COLLISION COURSE!!!!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

The world should really know about this movie. It looks like a blast. Just had to post it with Leno flashing his silver spoon around lately.

New (and Semi-New) Music Roundup 3/6/10

The Weekend = get caught up on new music. Gonna keep this short and sweet:

New Rogue Wave album Permalight was released this week. After extensive listening, I find it to be a pretty solid pop/rock record all the way through, even the semi-cheesy tracks ("Permalight" & "Good Morning"). Favorite track, so far, "Right With You":

Peter Gabriel's indie cover album, Scratch My Back, is mostly just kinda weird, but his cover of Bon Iver's "Flume" is really, really cool:

Really looking forward to Broken Social Scene's Forgiveness Rock Record (out May 4). Check out the first released track, "World Sick":

Broken Bells self-titled album hits stores next week, and they've released the second best song on the album, "Vaporize", as a single since the last time I mentioned them:

New album confirmations: The National (High Violet, May 11), Minus the Bear (Omni, May 4), Band of Horses (Infinite Arms, May 18).

Gorillaz' (?) new album Plastic Beach is out there floating around in cyberspace. Gotta say the initial listen left me unimpressed. The first single, "Stylo", sounds like it was ripped straight from my favorite Super Nintendo game Top Gear 3000, which is cool, but it doesn't have much else going on. That being said, the video is really cool, if you're into that sort of thing:

Last but not least, Spoon were on Letterman recently. "Got Nuffin'":

Toro Y Moi

Friday, March 5, 2010

Hey Fikak! I'm Toro Y Moi. I wanted to introduce myself to you and whoever might read your blog. I know it may be a little cumbersome to ever bring that name up in conversation but you can actually go ahead and call me by my real name, Chazwick Bundick. I'm not so sure if anyone has listened to my new-ish full-length album, Causers of This, but its really pretty dope. I'm going to guess and say that as soon as you start listening to it you'll wanna say, "Geeez, enough with the chillwave crap." Don't. Although it seems like the hip thing now and the cool thing to get in to, but dadgummit, most of it is pretty flippin' good. One of the cool things about it too is that we have the skills to take one of those awful songs that you hate to remember and turn them into some serious grooves. So, if you think you're music library might have enough of this type of music then go ahead, pass me up. But if you really don't care about current trends and the popular scene and just go for what you dig then I say you should get me. I won't disappoint you. Also, if you feel like we're on the same page I also have an EP that you can probably find floating around out there on the World Wide Web. If it helps your decision making process, I'm pretty tight with Earnest Greene. You know. That dude who calls himself Washed Out. Here are some songs to sample while you fold your laundry or something. Well, I've gotta go do some awesome again. Peace in the Middle East.

Blessa

Thanks Vision

Human Nature (MJ cover)

Repeated (The Longcut)

Steel Cage Match: Green Day vs. Weezer

Thursday, March 4, 2010

I've been thinking about this one for a while now and I want to know what other people think, so this is kind of a survey. My main question is "Green Day vs. Weezer: Who has had the bigger downfall?" In my opinion, they were both great bands at one time and now are just pretty awful. Green Day had the first two on Lookout! that were pretty damn good, Dookie is fantastic, and Insomniac isn't bad. Weezer had the Blue Album and Pinkerton, both basically perfect, and maybe you could at least say the Green Album was ok, maybe. Now there are all kinds of ways to look at this, like "If you had free tickets to see either one now, who would you rather see?" Would you rather have the chance of hearing Welcome to Paradise followed by American Idiot or Say It Ain't So followed by Beverly Hills? Also, "If you were on a deserted island and had to pick between having Green Day's entire catalog or Weezer's for the rest of your life?" Or maybe just "Who has the better overall career?" You decide! I don't know that I have a definite answer but I have some good thoughts. And, there are probably some other bands that could fit into this discussion but I can't think of them off the top of my head. So, let us know what you think!

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