Lizzyville

"Endless" Unreleased Michael Jackson Songs Coming to a Store Near You

The Michael Jackson stories just keep coming. Not surprisingly the musical savant reportedly has hundreds of unreleased songs stashed away at Neverland. They apparently are part of a "contingency plan" for his children "in the event of bankruptcy," The Telegraph says. Let's just hope they get out to the public in some fashion that MJ would be okay with! Says AP:

"Michael Jackson had a mountain of unreleased recordings in the vault when he died — music that is almost certain to be packaged and repackaged for his fans in the years to come. The material includes unused tracks from studio sessions of some of Jackson's best albums, as well as more recently recorded songs made with Senegalese R&B singer and producer Akon and Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am. Read the rest.

A public affair?

In other MJ news, The Washington Post says that Jackson put his "multimillion-dollar estate in a trust for his children and mother." The Post also suggests that Jackson's funeral and/or memorial service will likely be big, public affairs that will allow fans to participate in the farewells. The funeral will apparently not take place at Neverland, according to MTV.

Video | Dirty Projectors - "Stillness Is The Move"

Silliness Is The Move.

In the event that you haven't visited Pitchfork or several other music blogs yet today...or if you prefer my soothing black-and-white color scheme and extreme selectivity.

[Via Pitchfork, I might add]

Video | Marina and the Diamonds - "I Am Not A Robot"

Fabulous.

But who is she? you ask.

Video | The Commercial for "The Girls' Guide to Rocking" by Jessica Hopper

[Via SFJ's New Yorker blog.]

Jessica's blog

Video | The Temper Trap - "Sweet Disposition"

I love Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, and therefore will probably love his film "500 Days of Summer," on which this song is featured. The Temper Trap are from Melbourne, Australia. Good luck finding their stuff but this movie should really help them over Stateside! Meanwhile, you can stream on their MySpace page.

"Falling Down a Shit Spiral" | Chris Weingarten a k a @1000TimesYes at the 140 Characters Conference

No explanation required, except what Rob Harvilla said:

his "brief remarks on the future of music criticism (it has none) are vivid, sardonic, and incredibly profane, to the crowd's unending delight. Indicative phrases: "gilded geekazoid," "falling down a shit spiral," "people have awful taste," and "Fleet Foxes fuckin' sucks." During that last bit Chris ascends to Bill Hicks/gospel-preacher heights of divine fervor. Love the hat, too."

"Crowdsourcing killed indie rock...you know why? Because crowds have awful taste. People have awful taste."

He is basically saying that Twitter is all about the WHAT. Critics provide the WHY, but seem to think that Twitter leaves no room for whys.

"That's what we're missing in a world without music critics...the because."

AMEN.

Here is Chris on Twitter.

Learn more about what he is doing here.

Foreign Born - "Winter Games"

At turns, Foreign Born's LP Person to Person reminds me of The Constantines, James, DeVotchKa - a mainstay of Park Slope's Tea Lounge during my tenure - the Arctic Monkeys, the Shout Out Louds, even the Verve. In other words, they remind me of years gone by, and that's not a bad thing. The band hails from L.A. and has previously released an album called On the Wing Now and two EPs. They are allegedly a favorite of Edward Droste of Grizzly Bear. Here is my fave track (so far) from their new album, which is out June 23 on Secretly Canadian:

Foreign Born - "Winter Games"

Find out more via their MySpace page.

Hey, Nice Lady | A Mini-Tribute to St. Vincent

Photo: Kirstie Shanley for PopMatters. Read her review and see more pics of SV's Chicago show.

For all you haters who said her short haircut looked bad (I am one of them), take a look at this pic and be forced to retract your statement! She is stunning! The hair is amazing! The lipstick is perfect! If you need a good reason to continue to wear the 50 SPF sunscreen you bought last week, this is it! That Brooke Shields commercial where she reveals her skin damage is another!

St. Vincent aka Annie Clark recorded her latest album, Actor, on freaking GarageBand in a hotel in Paris. Need I say more. GarageBand rules (once you learn you can alter the master track to a setting called Slick Pop). Here's the video for the title track:

Read a recent interview with Annie in the Village Voice.

Video | Animal Collective - "Summertime Clothes"

It's what you would expect: colorful, happy and seizure-inducing.

Directed by Danny Perez.

[Via Pitchfork and Gorilla vs. Bear.]

John Vanderslice - "Too Much Time"

John Vanderslice in the bathroom of Union Hall, Brooklyn

What did I do when I was living an a sweltering hot city in a room the size of an ironing board in an apartment that had a (working) washer and dryer in the garden but no window in the kitchen? I got a job at Ralph Lauren and wore uncomfortable heels to the encouraging delight of my much older, more monied co-workers. I also listened to John Vanderslice every day for weeks, including during the off hours in Ozzie's Cafe on 5th Avenue in Park Slope where I wrote a novel inspired by the beautiful places of my childhood.

What is this, a diary? John Vanderslice is being featured as one of five summer artists to listen to obsessively in a feature I'm writing for findingDulcinea (read this summer reads article in the meantime). In my research I found myself on Largehearted Boy, who I think was one of the first people to ever link to Lizzyville who wasn't my friend or relative or place of work ("Top Albums of 2006," I believe it was). I found his A to Z Guide to Music Downloads, which in the "V" slot features none other than John Vanderslice, who features a hefty amount of his back catalog as free downloads on his website.

I first heard about John Vanderslice in Jane magazine, another reason why that magazine never should have folded. Below is "Too Much Time," which might be the most straight-forwardly pretty song he's ever written. It's available FREE on his site, which is where I got it from. Enjoi!

John Vanderslice - "Too Much Time"

[via JohnVanderslice.com]

John is stopping by the MHOW tomorrow night 6/12 and Bowery Ballroom on Saturday 6/13. Tickets.

Micachu's Second Mixtape, this time with XL Artist Kwes - "Kwesachu"

The busy Micachu of Micachu & the Shapes has a new mixtape out with the young producer and recording artist Kwes. Titled "Kwesachu," which sounds like a sneeze, this is another free gift from Micachu following last year's "Filthy Friends."

Discovery - "Orange Shirt"

I have gone there. Partly because this cover is so pretty and partly because I find this man (Wes Miles) to be a great inspiration in how to use the voice you've got as I go about recording some special little ditties that I will share with you one day soon.

Discovery - "Orange Shirt"

For all you betes out there, this band is Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend plus Wes Miles of Ra Ra Riot plus contributions from Angel Deradoorian of Dirty Projectors and Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend.

Discovery on MySpace

Album coming out on XL on July 7.

Up North, Chantal Kreviazuk Composes Beautiful Songs for Herself & Others

Having Canada in my genes and a few years of living there in my memory, Chantal Kreviazuk holds a special place in my list of favorite singer-songwriters. She has written songs for Gwen Stefani, Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson and many others, and has released several albums of her own. She's been active for over a decade, has kids with husband Raine Maida (lead singer of fellow Canadian staple Our Lady Peace), and emphasizes in the below videos for Frequency TV that following trends in songwriting is a mistake; following trends is one thing, but "educating yourself" is quite another.

Thanks Ann, CEO of Holier Than Now, for the tip.

One Day Only, One Day Only, That's All Live Nation Has to Spare*

Look at that face! Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino

According to Billboard, Live Nation is unveiling a one-day mega-sale in which all service fees will be eliminated from tickets to amphitheater shows it produces. Says Billboard, "The 24-hour sales event is being billed as the biggest ticket promotion ever, which would be hard to dispute."

Upon further inspection, Live Nation is actually offering some sort of similar sale every Wednesday for the rest of the summer. Live Nation staff explained that service fees are usually about one-third of the ticket cost. But it feels like so much more.

So on June 3, buy tickets via Live Nation and cry a few less tears once you reach your shopping cart.

*UPDATE: According to CNN, Live Nation is still charging fees on its inaugural no-fee Wednesday. Learn about the b&#@^it fees that are still being charged here. Thanks @writesites for the tip.

"Idiot Heart" Is Neither Here (Sunset Rubdown) Nor There (Wolf Parade), Just Amazing

Photo: Anna Bauer for Fader

Sunset Rubdown's Dragonslayer will be released on Jagjaguwar on June 23, about a year after Wolf Parade's inconsistent but primarily addictive At Mount Zoomer. Zoomer felt far more Dan Boeckner than Spencer Krug, and Boeckner just released one of 2009's best albums with Handsome Furs' Face Control, the most Boecknery of all. Sunset Rubdown's music is often quieter, its structures more organic and fluid, and its lyrics more poetic and cryptic. But on "Idiot Heart," the first single off Dragonslayer, something stunningly different is happening.

As the second track on the album, "Idiot Heart" suggests the rest of the album will be similar: bold, energetic, adventurously rocking (guitar-heavy), with sharp but sparse vocals and maybe more of the tinselly keyboard that appears in this song's chorus. The guitar's melody is the centerpiece here. It's melodically innovative, with curling little phrase-end accents and a sturdy, powerful rhythm that holds the experiments in line. The lyrics are straightforward, if metaphorical, with standouts like "I've never been much of a dancer / but I know enough to know you gotta move / your idiot body around" and the kicker:

I hope that you die
in a decent pair of shoes
you got a lot more walking to do
where you're going to

Sunset Rubdown - "Idiot Heart" (via Pitchfork)

They only gave it a 6/10 but this is a rare, rare occasion when I don't agree.