Bonzo Dog band Hunting Tigers

They bite
They scratch
They make an awful fuss
It's no use stroking them and saying "puss puss puss"
Oh
Hunting tigers out in India
Out in, out in, out in India (yuh)

field school week

since this space never listens to radio, watches t.v. or rarely ventures farther than the neighborhood po-boy shop, word from the outside takes awhile to filter in. but when the good stuff eventually does get through, well, we get really excited...

such is the euphoria felt as we discovered the music of peter and david brewis, two brothers from sunderland england. together (under the guise of 'field music'), and separately, they are making sounds that can only be labeled as 'prog-pop'.

it is a smart, 21st century music loaded with heavy rhythmics, thought out lyrics, sweeping brian wilson harmonies, and loaded beatlesque melodies. the stuff they are doing is really like nothing we have heard before, yet reminds us of a whole lot of other things, xtc, yes, squeeze, todd rundgren, genesis, the police, peter gabriel, and even some gershwin in it all, of all things. it really is that good.

one find led to another, even better find. then another, then....

well, the lineage is kind of like this, 'the futureheads', (in which david brewis played drums, tho no longer), 'field music', (where the brothers got together to make one great angular pop album and some b-sides), 'school of language', (the first solo project, done by peter, very guitar heavy and hook laden), and'the week that was' (this is david's band that is the album, a lush sonic experiment that works on so many levels at once...).

with each step up the music gets infectious, denser, quirkier, and more complex. the brewis brothers have changed our musical world with their craftsman-like vitality and modern pop rock pop sensibilities.

we can't wait to hear what they do next!

and here are some mp3s of david and peter brewis doing what they do best, by way of yousendit for a week or so...

the futurehead - hounds of loves (mp3)
the futureheads - manray (mp3)

field music - a house is not a home (mp3)
field music - give it lose it take it (mp3)

school of language - keep your water (mp3)
school of language - disappointment '99 (mp3)
school of language - poor boy (mp3)

the week that was - learn to learn (mp3)
the week that was - the good life (mp3)
the week that was - scratching the surface (mp3)

where to find them...

the week that was on myspace

school of language website

field music on myspace

the futureheads official site

brewis bros interview (at bandstand busking)

david brewis' hit list

dark night of the soul

the biggest buzz this week was not who won 'amerikan idle', it was over an album by three unlikely collaborators featuring a cast of support singers that will probably never get a proper release.

danger mouse, (he of the band 'gnarls barkely' and the controversial beatles/jay z mash-up 'grey album'), mark linkous, (he of the uber-sad 'sparklehorse'), and david lynch, (he who made 'eraserhead' and 'twin peaks'), have teamed up to produce a captivating piece of lush, near hypnotizing music. the songs are sung by various artists such as iggy pop, wayne coyne of the flaming lips, julian casablancas from the strokes, jason lytle, frank black of pixies , suzanne vega, vic chesnutt, james mercer of the shins, gruf rhys of the super furry animals, nina peerson from the cardigans and even david lynch (or so it says).


the announcement of the release later this summer of a book of photos by lynch that was to include the album was dampened by the fact that emi records has put the kibosh to the music part of the project...

as stated on npr.org...
An unnamed spokesperson for Danger Mouse says that "due to an ongoing dispute with EMI" the book of photographs will "now come with a blank, recordable CD-R. All copies will be clearly labeled: 'For legal reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.'" When contacted, EMI declined to comment and wouldn't confirm whether the label is even involved in the project.

the record was leaked earlier this month and is now all over the net. the problem is that a lot of the files are misnamed or tagged. so i took great pains to fix it up so i can put it on the blank cd when i get the book. i just thought i'd spread the love and this fine record while i was at it... so enjoy!

and here, in its entirety, ripped from npr.org, in the correct order, with all the tags fixed, is the album in 128kps mp3 for a week or whoever gets to it first, via yousendit.

danger mouse & sparklehorse - Revenge (Flaming Lips)

danger mouse & sparklehorse - Just War (Gruff Rhys of The Super Furry Animals)

danger mouse & sparklehorse - Jaykub (Jason Lytle)

danger mouse & sparklehorse - Little Girl (Julian Casablancas of The Strokes)

danger mouse & sparklehorse - Angel's Harp (Frank Black of The Pixies)

danger mouse & sparklehorse - Pain (Iggy Pop)

danger mouse & sparklehorse - Star Eyes (I Can't Catch It) (David Lynch)

danger mouse & sparklehorse - Everytime I'm With You (Jason Lytle)

danger mouse & sparklehorse - Insane Lullaby (James Mercer of The Shins)

danger mouse & sparklehorse - Daddy's Gone (Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse and Nina Persson of The Cardigans)

danger mouse & sparklehorse - The Man Who Played God (Suzanne Vega)

danger mouse & sparklehorse - Grim Augury (Vic Chesnutt)

danger mouse & sparklehorse - Dark Night Of The Soul (David Lynch)

the official 'dark night of the soul' site
(go order the book now! after all you'll need a blank cd to put these tunes on. right?)

when you wish upon a waterspout.

last night was a regular hang-around-the-house kinda saturday evening. on, or about, 10:30 we were doing our normal routine, s.a. was watching some world war II documentary on her computer, i was doing some equally important music listening on mine, and the dogs were sleeping, as usual.

the first hint of something gone awry was a clap of thunder that wasn't quite... well, then another loud BANG! we ran upstairs and hung onto the backroom balcony looking at a fireworks show (the result of a blown transformer a few blocks away) with wind-whipped debris flying willy-nilly thru the air. we ran back in soon enough as the rain started to pummel us like wet fists.

the pounding wind and rain continued with brilliant lightening and booming thunder for another 20 minutes. after it stopped we ventured out to wander around finding insulation and pieces of aluminum gutter and siding all over our yard and flooded street.

well, we were told to expect a bit of rain sometime during the night, but what we got was a frightening close-up of mother nature when she is pissed... luckily no one got hurt and just one lowly sno-ball stand was damaged.



and here is a short viddy i found that someone shot last night. the clip itself is not very enlightening (except at 28 seconds in when the transformer explodes), but you really need to listen to the young girl samantha in the background completely lose it! (i'll bet she is a blast to hang out with during an evacuation...)

The Video Went Here
But It Was Replaced
By Another, Not As
Silly Thingy So You'll
Just Have To Take My
Word On It, It Was
Funny. But Now Its Gone.

finally, a few mp3s of some stormy music, here for seven days or whenever the wind stops... via yousendit.

the wizard of oz - cyclone (extended version)
r.e.m. - white tornado
sonny boy williamson II - the sky is crying
lowell george - can't stand the rain
roy brown - let the four winds blow
the kinks - there's a change in the weather
the rolling stones - gimme shelter (live '73)
dr. john - storm warning
bob dylan - shelter from the storm

bourbon and st. ann

...on a rainy day during the french quarter fest.

Field Music - A House is Not A Home