Regina Spektor calculated

Far.
Regina Spektor has had 4 amazing cracks at making albums. Each one a delightful combination of punky anecdote, melody, piano, and most importantly, Regina.
Far; being Regina's fifth studio album is one immediately identifiable as being one of those that you just instantly know you'll be listening to for a long time, you know that should your iPod ever decide to kill itself after a long battle with depression, it will be one of the albums straight back onto your new one!



Much like the first verse of "far": In half an hour, one can almost know mathematically how much she rocks.

Ok, so for those of you who havent had the fortune of listening to a Regina Spektor song/album, Here's how you do it.

Step 1. Obtain Album
Step 2. Open Mind
Step 3. Make sure you're the only person within audible range,
Step 4. Eliminate all major forms of exciting visual stimulation
Step 5. Play CD

It is imperative for proper listening (in my opinion) to really listen to this album to enjoy and appreciate Regina's beautiful lyrics to their potential.
This is because rather than writing a song, it almost seems like Far's tracks are written as short stories. Short stories, with morals, endings, underlying messages, clear and honest sentences and metaphor, sung over a delicious bed of drums, bass and that all too familiar style of piano.
Poetry and Prose, perfectly matched.

A noticeable difference from Regina Spektor to most other modern day artists is the intense and vivid imagery you get when you listen to her sing.

For example:
"The Wallet", a short story about connection with strangers, is a simple honest song. When she starts singing about finding a wallet, you can instantly see the wallet, you can see the items she describes, you can see how it ends.
But after its done, you have the same sort of satisfaction and closure you have after reading a great book. You don't need to keep listening to the song to appreciate it more or just for the sake of hearing it again.


Above all this, the reason why Far works so well is because Regina doesnt take it too seriously.
Instead of making bold and righteous statements about God, love, war and society, Spektor stands back and decides not to take it seriously.
In some respects, the way she writes and performs is almost a mockery to the uptight and pretentious nature in which we live.

In the midst of everything, 'Far' lulls you off to LaLa-land like you've just been read a bedtime story.

Amazing right? well in comparison to 'Begin To Hope' (2006), 'Far' has got a long way to come.

m4a - The Calculation
m4a - Folding Chair
m4a - Human Of the Year. (by far my favourite)


~Ronan.

Break-time

Hey sexy blog babes,

We at AATS made an unspoken pact that if Ronan started posting about musical farm objects we’d have to embark on a homicidal rampage ending with a group suicide.
Instead however we’ve decided to just put AATS to rest for a little while and come back in a few months from now all sexified and pimped out ready to fill your minds with our trash talk.
Seeing as though we have been doing this for over a year now, it wasn’t too bad an effort, especially since it has been scientifically proven that our collective attention spans last for only one entire episode of 30 Rock (and that’s only because 30 Rock is so good it’s like a TV’s orgasm).
For those of you who care about us, the reasons we’re taking an official break are as follows:
Ronan is off to Europe for a little while to experience life as a maimed gypsy-woman.
Summer has been forced to go into rehab for her serious addiction to Grizzly Bear, followed by a short stint in a psychiatric ward for admitting to like Lady Gaga (don’t worry folks, her shock treatment will not be as painful as listening to ‘Love Game’).
And I am off to America to buy a gun (because I’m not allowed to do that in Australia) and then off to Canada to get drunk (because I’m not allowed to do that in America).
So sit back, relax (like this fine fellow below us) and we’ll see you very soon.




Catch yer’ later fuckerzzz


Lucy

bow down to the tractor blues.

for those of you with no musical talent:
in your faces.
HA!



~ronan

New Music Time

Its been about a month since my birthday, an occasion on which i bought some great new music.
i think its been long enough to give a good shot at how good i think they all are.
and im sure you want to know.

its a long post so if you want to cut down, theres three albums featured, if you want to skip ahead for convenience.
PJ HARVEY | A WOMAN A MAN WALKED BY
the YEAH YEAH YEAH'S | IT'S BLITZ
CONOR OBERST AND THE MYSTIC VALLEY BAND | OUTER SOUTH



Pj Harvey & John Parish - A Woman A Man Walked By.
They don't come much more classic than PJ Harvey and this album is by no means an exception.
Now i don't proclaim myself by any means a Huge Polly Fan, her albums are notorious for having a few tracks that are a little weird, her songs often don't exactly fit into the pop - easy listening category and often require intense listening, but its something else that always draws me in.

A Woman A Man Walked By is one such album. Debuting with its single 'Black Hearted Love', one doesnt have to look far to appreciate PJ's talent and consistent inconsistency.

if you're a fan; go for it, you'll never look back.
if not, you might find yourself on a pretty weird trip - probably not knowing what to think.
__________________________________

The Yeah Yeah Yeah's - Its Blitz.

like my old time fav' Bertie Blackman, the Yeah Yeah Yeah's newbie 'It's Blitz' has gone with the trends of todays music and turned rock into Electro.
I'm not saying this is a bad thing at all - for me it highlights how adaptive a band can be - whilst still maintaining a high level of awesomeness.

It's Blitz is pumped with songs that make you want to crush eggs and dance on the broken shells, then comes the next track and you've come to your senses; but before the next song has begun, you're pashing the person next to you.
its a wild trip.

Karen O's howl is as great as ever, except now its in a place complemented by synthed beats and electro melodies.
a balance of dance anthems, and comparitively slow paced, balladic tunes is exactly what i look for in this type of album.
The Yeah Yeah Yeah's deliver flawlessly.

_______________________________________

I must admit, i bought this album as soon as i identified the lead musician,
Conor Oberst, - Hailed as the next Bob Dylan (insultingly enough while the current one is still alive)

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band | Outer South.

to cut it clean, its a little bit country, its a little bit rock and roll.
its a little bit folkey, and shit I love it!

if you asked my (even if you didn't) i'd tell you that good folk music is hard to come by these days, and its all the sweeter because of it.
Even though you'd probably disagree that its folk at all, my point remains the same.

im not quite sure what the connection is between the mystic valley band and conor oberst is exactly - but i think its great how its not like CONOR OBERST and the mystic valley band
even though thats why i bought it, the reality is that the mystic valley band are a great band in their own right. Conor doing most of the singing and (presumably) some of his famous writing, doesnt take over, and if anything - his prescence will shoot them into further popularity.

stand out tracks are : The Air Mattress, Slowly (Oh So Slowly) and Ten Women.
as well as the myspace track 'Nikorette'.

_____________________________
thats all for today kiddos.
im half way through Little Birdy's amazing new one 'Confetti'. it should be done soon.
when i finish that i'll upload some tracks from the other ones here

Coming up also - june 23rd is Regina Spektor's upcoming album - which i am eagerly awaiting.
its gonna be a busy season.

Also, Also, Lucy has been at Lily Allen this weekend, and im sure she's gone and got herself up to no good. hopefully she'll give you the speil.

~Ronan

Today is the Day

In lieu of a review (because seriously, I could gush about this record for a whole lot longer than you're willing to read), I'll just say that Veckatimest is one of the best records I've heard since Kid A.

[MP3] Grizzly Bear- Two Weeks (Fred Falke Remix)

-Summer

I Died. Twice.

So, this is my friend Marny and this is her amazing cover of "Karma Police":

You can hear more of her songs (which are really, really good) and a few covers on her MySpace page. I recommend that you do that now.


-Summer


PS: Marny wanted me to mention that she was "laughing at the interwebz and Christopher Walla's tweets...not just spontaneously laughing."

An Kaki

I love Kaki King and I love An Horse, but you know what I love more than Kaki or An Horse?

Kaki covering An Horse:




That's about it for today.

-Lucy

P.s if anyone is keen to help accommodate myself (a very friendly Aussie) (and two other very friendly Aussies) anytime during the 25th-29th July (in L.A)
or 1st- 10th Aug (NY or Montreal)
or has any accommodation tips/ suggestions, please email me at: lucy.dayman@gmail.com. Thanks! no filthy creeps, please

It's Gonna Be Okay

Once a year, I fall in love with a pop star. Last year it was Rihanna, this year it's Lady GaGa.

I can only listen to Radiohead and Grizzly Bear so much before I start to feel unbearably sad. I need an upbeat, carefree little pop record to balance it all out. This is where GaGa comes in. I've been quite stressed out the past two weeks, worrying about being a failure, ect, ect...and each time I feel like this, I find myself reaching for my iPod and playing "The Fame" from start to finish. And, amazingly enough, I'm able to have a bit of fun and completely forget about my problems for 57 minutes and 12 seconds.  

So for that and that alone, I am asking that you ignore the fact that it's the complete opposite of what we all listen to and just trust me on this one: Lady GaGa is someone you need in your life. 

Oh, and by the way, it feels nice to be back.

-Summer

i didn't join twitter

Because this video more than suffices for every other site in the entire internet.
Twatter? Fuckface? Myshit?
I want to fuck you. (by Mr P.)






holy fuck this is funny.

~ronan

And that's why I joined 'twitter'

Yeah so I too (like Summer) have signed away my life/ personal details/ soul to twitter.
But unlike a lot of twitter users I try not to be a complete narcissist, I use my account mainly for stalking purposes as opposed to self-wankery.
Anyway whilst stalking I came across this:

(I hope this 'embed code' thing works) it's pretty much the only remix of 'Back In Your Head' that I actually like. Most of you guys have probably heard it, but fuck you I'm gonna post it anyway 'cause you're not the boss of me and I can do whatever I want ok?

oh and check this out, links to sites like these are the REAL reason I joined twitter: http://whythefuckdoyouhaveakid.com/ (the kid in the sex shop is the best)

-Lucy