Plug Awards Announce 2008 Nominees
A look at 2008’s Plug Music Awards tells us that, though it may not be groundbreaking indie-underdogs, this year’s ceremony may be one of the most interesting competitions between independent titans in recent history. Who wouldn’t take note of an Artist of the Year battle between El-P, Animal Collective, and Radiohead? Hmmm. Predictably, Justice, Of Montreal, and Arcade Fire are up for nearly every award. Exciting.
In addition to the big dogs, there are some diverse newcomers that may illicit interesting results. Best New Artists include Deerhunter, No Age, Dan Deacon, and Battles, to name a few. Wouldn’t it be rad to see Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox pull some sick Kid Rock moves on Dan Deacon? More than a few XLR8R staffers have their fingers crossed. Other categories include Best Male and Female Artists, Album of the Year, Best Metal Album of the Year (Go Om!), and, ahem, Magazine of the Year.
For those eager to take part in the democratic process of crowning your favorite artists, you can vote via the Plug website until February 8, 2008. The corresponding awards ceremony and concert goes down in New York City on March 6.
The Hyped Nominees
Album of the Year
Justice † (Downtown/Vice/Ed Banger)
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings 100 Days, 100 Nights (Daptone)
The National Boxer (Beggars Banquet)
Band Of Horses Cease To Begin (Sub Pop)
Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)
Of Montreal Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (Polyvinyl)
El-P I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead (Definitive Jux)
Radiohead In Rainbows (self-released)
Battles Mirrored (Warp)
Arcade Fire Neon Bible (Merge)
Panda Bear Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
Beirut The Flying Club Cup (Ba Da Bing)
Artist of the Year
Animal Collective
Arcade Fire
Band Of Horses
Battles
El-P
Justice
Of Montreal
Okkervil River
Panda Bear
Radiohead
Spoon
The National
New Artist of the Year
Bat For Lashes
Battles
Dan Deacon
Deerhunter
Justice
Los Campesinos!
No Age
Sea Wolf
St. Vincent
Vampire Weekend
White Rabbits
Yeasayer
Female Artist of the Year
Annie Clark (St. Vincent)
Bettye LaVette
Emily Haines
Emma Pollock
Katrina Ford (of Celebration)
Marissa Nadler
Marnie Stern
Natasha Khan (of Bat For Lashes)
Nina Nastasia
Sally Shapiro
Scout Niblett
Sharon Jones
Male Artist of the Year:
Andrew Bird
Dan Deacon
Devendra Banhart
El-P
Jens Lenkman
John Vanderslice
José González
Kevin Barnes (of Of Montreal)
Nick Cave
Noah Lennox (Panda Bear)
Sam Beam (Iron & Wine)
Zach Condon (Beirut)
Song of the Year
Battles “Atlas”
Gui Boratto “Beautiful Life”
Panda Bear “Bros”
Justice “D.A.N.C.E.”
The National “Fake Empire”
Bright Eyes “Four Winds”
Arcade Fire “Keep The Car Running”
Grinderman “No Pussy Blues”
Of Montreal “Suffer For Fashion”
Spoon “The Underdog”
Menomena “Wet And Rusting”
Sea Wolf “You’re A Wolf”
Musab on Hierocast Episode X
For those who know little to nothing about Minneapolis-born veteran rapper Musab, the latest Hierocast (for those who can’t put two and two together, that’s the Hieroglyphics Imperium podcast) is a good place to start.
The 30-minute episode, number 10 in the ongoing series, features three tracks from Musab’s 2002 album Respect The Life, which was produced by longtime collaborator A.N.T (of Atmosphere) and became and indie hip-hop classic. These tracks are followed by a few from Musab’s September 2007 debut for Hiero Imperium, Slick’s Box. Both fans and those less in the know should enjoy the sliver of history from this streetwise rapper’s career.
KILN “Fyrepond”
Michigan-based band KILN may refuse to perform in a live setting, but don’t let that distract from the trio’s ability to compose profoundly complex and textured post-IDM. Rooted in a sea of effected live and electronic instrumentation, “Fyrepond” is just a taste of KILN’s experimental mastery. Taken from the band’s recently released long-player Dusker, this single may make even the most sober ambient enthusiast go comatose.
Exclusive Download: KILN
The next release from the esteemed Ghostly International imprint comes in the form of electro-acoustic trio KILN (a.k.a one of the few bands that makes textured, experimental instrumentation exciting). Although the band refuses to play live, it has a prolific release history that spans ten years and several labels like Infraction and Division.
In honor of KILN’s recently-released Ghostly long-player, Dusker, the band has given XLR8R readers a free, exclusive download of the single “Fyrepond,” for those introspective moments. If you own a Kranky, Touch, or ~Scape release, take advantage of this piece of post-IDM mastery.
Dusker Tracklisting
1. Fyrepond
2. The Colorfreak
3. Templefrog
4. Rustdusk
5. Airplaneshadows
6. Flycatcher
7. Arq
8. Rua
9. Korsaire (Airplaneshadows Rebuild)
10. Sunsethighway
11. Tigertail
Takashi Murakami: Pop Life
To coincide with a series of comprehensive Takashi Murakami exhibitions–beginning in Los Angeles last month and traveling through Brooklyn, Frankfurt, and Bilbao–Paul Schimmel, the Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, compiled Murakami (Rizzoli/MOCA, $65), a striking, oversized coffee-table tome that tells the visual story of the renowned Japanese pop artist.
The book, which mirrors the exhibition’s display of sculpture, painting, and “consumer objects,” adds notes from Schimmel and his peers, and celebrates an artist who’s found worldwide acclaim for his fusion of traditional Japanese painting with otaku culture and street-art elements. It also considers Murakami’s keen business sense–he cites Bill Gates as an influence and built a company, Kaikai Kiki, to manufacture and market his designs–and his high-profile collaborations, most notably the ubiquitous Monogram Multicolore line of Louis Vuitton handbags. That famous pattern, a Technicolor explosion that revitalized the once-stiff French luxury brand, made Murakami a household name in the West and is the best example of his unique art-through-commerce approach, which has made him a creative and corporate entity.
Mainly though, Murakami examines Murakami the artist, a direct descendant of Warhol and Haring, with their rare ability to seamlessly combine high and low art–introducing westerners (Murakami even designed Kanye West’s Graduation album cover) to vivid, anime fantasies.
Earmint “Thank You Thank You”
Radiohead isn’t the only band to be giving away full-length albums. Self-motivated DIY man and hip-hop artist Earmint created an album of 10 tracks he is distributing for free through his website, with many alternate versions of the release’s CD artwork available at his FLICKR account. In the vein of Sixtoo, Madlib, and others who clearly know their samplers inside and out, the man born Robert Krums delivers track after track of crisp, soulful beats with much versatility. Did we mention the entire album is free?
Various The Second Marriage Records Compilation
It seems like Portland’s got an average of two bands for every block, and at least one of them is pretty damn good. That certainly plays a role in the fact that about every comp to come out of that Cascadian band/artist breeding ground takes up two discs. The latest showpiece from the flagship of Northwest weird, Marriage Records, gives us a 26-song marathon that passes as easily (though a hell of a lot more interestingly) as a walk to the corner. Highlights include Privacy’s dust-coated folk lullaby “It’s a Fever,” Mt. Eerie’s live-recorded, shattered, perfectly awkward metal tear “In Moonlight,” and Yacht’s latest grungy, “yay”-vibe-filled “Don’t Stay in Bed.” Well worth tracking down.
Cristian Vogel Double Deux/Delicado
Bucking the trend of machine beat’s penchant for dehumanizing the soul, Cristian Vogel and choreographer Gilles Jobin humanize the machine in their stage performances Double Deux and Delicado. Dancers drift around the stage, collapse, and arise in contorted fashion to Vogel’s symphony of digital failures and looped drones that mimics blood passing through the head. The noise embodies the friction of human logic and irrational emotion. Vogel departs from his signature minimal techno, although “DD Engine” pulsates well to a fractal-funk rhythm. Despite many fascinating moments, the music cannot be fully appreciated without seeing the dancers at work. Listeners are instead left with a claustrophobic experience that sadly seems endless.
Booka Shade: Booka Shade: DJ-Kicks
When artists like Erlend Øye are given a crack at this series of sonic time capsules, unexpected delights occur, as they do on this volume from golden boys Booka Shade. Like Øye, they’re not DJs, and this glimpse into their personal musical world is what you’d expect, but better: disco/electro influences Cerrone and Yazoo butt against modern soundalikes like Lopazz, Booka exclusives like “Numbers,” and oddly brilliant pairings like John Carpenter’s “Arrival at the Library” layered with Mlle Caro and Franck Garcia’s fantastic “Far Away.” Listen close for Booka rhythm tracks peeking out here and there. They’ll undoubtedly reappear on a future DJ-Kicks with tributes of their own.
