May 2013
2 posts
7 tags
New Grass - Dirty Projectors: The Socialites...
Worlds colliding: our favorite new act from 2012 (AlunaGeorge) flips a track from our favorite record of last year (Swing Lo, Magellan) with signature elegant restraint. As recent history has shown, Amber Coffman’s voice lends itself to all sorts of contextual variance, but seldom has a remixer so effectively framed its unadorned timbre. This delicate interpretation places Coffman firmly...
5 tags
April 2013
1 post
5 tags
March 2013
3 posts
13 tags
New Grass - DJ Marfox x Akwaaba: Keep Calm &...
Here at TEAMWERK, we fux with Akwaaba Music because they do stuff like hyping a largely unknown mid-aughts Portuguese-Angolan fusion genre called Tarranxinha with a free mixtape. And when they do such things, it behooves one to take advantage.
Keep Calm & Listen To Tarranxinha consistently hits on some of my favorite music pleasure-centers: groove, arrangement, creativity; but I’m...
14 tags
New Grass - Justin Timberlake, The 20/20...
In the week since JT’s new album leaked, about a million people have tried to impress each other by seeing who could rush out their reactionary response the quickest. SPOILER ALERT: most of those “reviews” aren’t very good. Still, the internet’s obsession with this unreleased artifact has really got me thinking about immediacy & access as cultural signifiers,...
11 tags
New Grass - Kool AD: 19 and 63 [2013]
“Playing Ohio: spinach. laying in phyllo- filo dough, Dostoyevsky, Cee-Lo, bro. Tower of Power, Welcome to the O.”
Victor Vazquez typifies the East Bay artist. His resumé includes punk bands, electro-pop groups and rap crews, and all of those credits manifest in his work as Kool A.D. On last year’s 51 and its brethren, this year’s 19 & 63 (each named for an AC...
February 2013
2 posts
18 tags
Podcast - Fucked Up Love Songs
In which we get fucked up and play fucked up love songs.
Not for the fain—yyeah forget it.
[stream.download.share]
-Patrick Shipp, Tim Garvey, Chloe Crossman, Regina Marinaro & Jacob Smith
New Grass: My Bloody Valentine - m b v [2013]
And now: A Few Words on the New My Bloody Valentine LP Entitled m b v, Written without Having Read Any Other Words of Particular Substance on the Matter.
Between 1991, a year which saw the release of Loveless, and 2013, a fuckload of things happened, we all got on the internet and grew up, and My Bloody Valentine watched their legacy become secure. Kevin Shields reportedly prepared a ton of...
January 2013
1 post
4 tags
LIST JUST IN
Because we know how much you love lists and how much you love reading year-end lists after the year’s end, here are a couple of ours:
SPENCER OWEN’S LISTS (both in alphabetical order):
TOP 20 RELEASES OR RELEASE COMBINATIONS
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti - MATURE THEMES
d’Eon - LP
Daughn Gibson - ALL HELL
Deerhoof - BREAKUP SONG
Dirty Projectors - SWING LO...
December 2012
4 posts
13 tags
Podcast: The TEAMMIES!
YO THOSE OTHER YEAR-END FAKE AWARDS SHOW PODCASTS ARE WACK. THIS IS SRSLY THE ONLY ONE U NEED.
[stream.download.share]
-Patrick Shipp, Jacob Smith, Michael Ulrich, Michael Prentice, Spencer Owen, Tim Garvey and Alyssa Ilves.
[[MORE]]
RETURN OF NYC HIP HOP: Action Bronson & The Alchemist: Rare Chandeliers
MOST UNIQUE FEMALE VOCAL: Fiona Apple: The Idler Wheel…
MOST AUTUMNAL...
6 tags
FLASHBACK PODCAST: The Christ Mass
HEY HEY HEY!!! Since the internet is mostly dead today, WHY NOT CHECK OUT TEAMWERK’S CHRISTMAS PODCAST FROM LAST YEAR?!?!
(you know you wanna reblog it, too.)
22 tags
Podcast: It Changed Me
Beyond the oversimplified rubric of like-it-or-don’t-like-it, there’s room for far more nuanced and meaningful rankings, such as: those pieces of music that are immediately impactful and permanent in your tastes and consciousness. It could be your first listen to the scratchy analog recordings of Robert Johnson, or perhaps it was that time your mom played Debussy’s Clair De...
16 tags
Podcast: Hella Halloween
In just two days, the streets will be overrun with children in masks and make-up, while basements and living rooms everywhere will be littered with despondent teens and twenty-somethings getting high and watching Re-Animator for the 19th time. Whatever’s your pleasure, you probably don’t want to hear the same ol’ shit you’ve heard every year. That’s why you should...
November 2012
2 posts
16 tags
Podcast: The NEW New Jack Swing
If you’ve been following along at home, you’re now well-aware of New Jack Swing’s enduring legacy. And if you’ve been doing your homework, you have now heard all six-and-a-half minutes of Bobby Brown’s “Don’t Be Cruel,” replete with all four rap verses. You’ve surely gone back and given Cooleyhighharmony a reappraisal. Hell, you might have...
21 tags
Podcast: New Jack Swing
In Hour One of our New Jack Swing coverage, we look at the genre’s origin story, from Prince and Jam & Lewis to Teddy Riley and Michael Bivens. We’re talking perms, home-made midriff shirts, and pleated pants with waists ascending ever-upward, like so many asymmetrical hi-top fades. These are the jams you Roger Rabbitted to. Click through for the full track listing AND a...
October 2012
2 posts
16 tags
New Grass - Various Artists: The Man With The Iron...
In 2002, Quentin Tarantino hired the RZA to executive-produce the soundtrack to his career-affirming, two-volume revenge fantasy, Kill Bill. After striking up a friendship based on their mutual love for kung-fu movies, Tarantino had first brought him on as a consultant for the project, but the RZA’s immense knowledge of, appetite for, and collection of rare music made one thing abundantly...
15 tags
Podcast: Shitpop!
Love it or hate it, pop has been the dominant meme in American music for over a century. And due to the lowest-common-denominator effect, the music that evokes the deepest emotions, pushes the furthest boundaries, or imparts the wisest message is not usually the music that sells the most records. BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN THAT OTHER STUFF IS ALL BAD. These are the songs that fill dance...
September 2012
3 posts
9 tags
New Grass - Flying Lotus: Until The Quiet Comes...
Whether they’ll admit it or not, Flying Lotus is the jazz world’s most important spokesman. He’s not actually a “jazz musician,” per se — the often-insular, sometimes-stodgy world of jazz hasn’t quite opened itself up enough to consider laptop composers in its ranks, and that’s actually kind of the point. Jazz is both the most forward-thinking and...
19 tags
Podcast: Summertime In The Town
You’re probably asking yourself why we’re posting a summer-themed podcast in mid-September. First, Oakland has one of the most consistent climates of any city in the world, generally hovering around 67°, give or take a few degrees. Second, the Bay Area usually experiences a sharp spike in temperature in late September; it’s what white devils call an “Indian...
7 tags
Real Live Flesh: Why? @ the Great American Music...
Honesty Time: when I see two drumsets onstage, I generally assume I’m about to endure some overblown bullshit. The dueling drummer setup provides an opportunity to build complex parts that provide texture without stepping on one another, but what it really provides is a chance for an artist to stroke his or her ego in a very grotesque, public way. [see: Lauryn Hill’s performance at...
August 2012
3 posts
6 tags
One Sentence - Animal Collective: Centipede Hz...
Centipede Hz sounds like the bros who recorded Merriweather Post Pavillion realized that they’re also the same bros who recorded Here Comes The Indian.
-Patrick Shipp
5 tags
One Sentence - Kisses: Funny Heartbeat [2012]
“Funny Heartbeat” sounds like Destroyer circa Kaputt, if Dan Bejar wasn’t so drunk and sad all the time.
-Patrick Shipp
4 tags
Dear Jawn - John Cale: I Wanna Talk 2 U
Fuzzy falsetto vocal overdubs with slick wah rhythm guitars? Found photo cover art with fluorescent bubble letters? ”I Wanna Talk 2 U” seems the work of a man who’s been listening to some Ariel Pink. (There’s a dumb metaphor in there. Something-something-full-circle.) While maintaining a direct, psych-infused pop structure, “Talk” bears a number of lovely...
July 2012
4 posts
5 tags
One Sentence - Fang Island: Major [2012
Remember when you ran down the steepest hill in the park, arms wheeling wildly, air rushing into your mouth faster than you could breathe it in, momentum carrying you long after you thought your legs would give out?
stream here
-Tim Garvey
6 tags
One Sentence - Ben Folds Five: Do It Anyway [2012]
The reason “Do It Anyway” succeeds as something other than a cash grab is that it harnesses the winking thrust of Ben Folds Five’s golden-era “punk rock for sissies” sound.
-Patrick Shipp
7 tags
Real Live Flesh: Cadence Weapon & Liars @ The...
Cadence Weapon is a soulful dude. With an unflinching smile, earnest banter, and dance moves that are equally indebted to Lil B and James Brown, the man brims with a natural, commanding charisma befitting a man seven years deep in the game. His recent record, Hope In Dirt City, showcases a refreshing ambition that is impressive, and charming even when it doesn’t completely work....
7 tags
Mouth To Mouth: Liars
TEAMWERK: Hi, Julian, thanks for talking to us. First of all, I just wanted to ask how you’re doing, and how’s the prep for the new tour coming?
JULIAN GROSS: That’s going really good, actually. We’re really busy, which is a good thing…better than to not be busy. (chuckle)
TW: (laugh) — of course. So I’ve read before that you guys had some...
June 2012
1 post
6 tags
One Sentence - Indian Wells: Night Drops
The latest release from Bad Panda Records provides the perfect soundtrack for my nagging fear that beneath the pageantry of professional tennis lurks something truly sinister.
free download
-Tim Garvey
May 2012
5 posts
8 tags
One Sentence - Balam Acab: Ass Pop [2012]
I’m not at all surprised that the one-off, jokey track called “Ass Pop,” tagged as “STOMACH BUBBLE FAKE TRAP” music would be my favorite thing that Balam Acab has ever released.
-Patrick Shipp
6 tags
New Grass - Liars: WIXIW [2012]
Last year saw the tenth anniversary of Liars’ foundation, and WIXIW, their first record since, bears markings of relative maturity. Its refinement of the band’s more esoteric inclinations speaks to the gloom they’ve cultivated throughout their career, and delivers on the oddball pop ambitions of 2010’s Sisterworld. Gone are the noise-fetishizing blastbeats of yore,...
7 tags
One Sentence - Nu Sensae: Swim [2012]
I was about to say that I’m sure these dudes listened to a lot of golden-era Hole in their youths, and then I saw this photo.
-Patrick Shipp
6 tags
One Sentence - Norah Jones: Little Broken Hearts...
Though it’s stylistically “new” (in that produced-by-DangerMouse kinda way), Little Broken Hearts is exactly in line with the rest of Jones’ oeuvre of nice, inoffensive, classically-inflected, polite tunes.
-Patrick Shipp
4 tags
RIP - Beastie Boys: Bodhisattva Vow
Since he converted to Buddhism from Catholicism, my father has always been interested in making the religion accessible to Americans. When he first got his copy of Ill Communication, he was obsessed with this song. Hearing musicians as successful as the Beastie Boys rap about Buddhism in an informed and respectful way was more than he could ever have hoped for. I had to listen that song like...
April 2012
5 posts
10 tags
Real Live Flesh - tUnE-yArDs & Ava Mendoza score...
In the early days of silent film, the role of the house musician was utilitarian: they were tasked with drowning out the mechanical clickety-clack of the projection machine. When left to their own devices, players would inevitably opt for virtuosic, emotionally stirring pieces like Chopin’s Etude Revolutionnaire, often tragically unaware of what was happening onscreen (usually physical...
4 tags
Dear Jawn - Ed Schrader's Music Beat: Jazz Mind...
The first time I saw Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, they opened for Dan Deacon. I anticipated Wham City weirdness, but bass guitar and a single floor tom is not an instrumental setup I’d expect to mesh well with his sound. It didn’t. People in the audience were visibly uncomfortable with their dark, minimal punk. It totally ruled.
Jazz Mind manages to capture that experience...
7 tags
Real Live Flesh - Jeff Mangum @ The Fox Theater,...
In 2009, I saw Animal Collective at the Fox in Oakland. Their opener was Grouper, a solo guitarist specializing in hazy, droning pieces. Her music is intimate, subtle and focused — not the kind of thing you want to see in a two-thousand-person theater. As she sat, nearly motionless, forging through her 30-minute set, the crowd shifted and rumbled continuously. Neither performer nor...
5 tags
Dear Jawn - Curren$y feat. Wale: What It Look...
Despite the audible awkwardness of Wale’s continued search for an identity that sticks, he sounds great on “What It Look Like.” His chuckling, relaxed delivery is more heavy-Wiz than the guttural Rozay-lite thing he was dabbling with a year or so back, and his wordplay is expectedly on-point. The pairing is uncharacteristically logical for the dude who featured GaGa on his...
8 tags
Real Live Flesh - Das Racist & Main Attrakionz @...
I’m still not sure about the difference between Main Attrakionz and Greenova Underground, but both heavily-overlapping camps were out in full effect Friday night. Respect where it’s due — with a lackluster crowd in an oddly shaped room, Squadda B and MondreM.A.N. snarled and spat their shit like vets in a sold out stadium. Dudes can rock a set; within minutes, they’d...
March 2012
6 posts
6 tags
One Sentence - J Cole feat. Missy Elliott:...
J Cole’s performance is passable, but Missy merks his whole shit in one line, “We rock the boat: Poseidon.”
-Patrick Shipp
10 tags
Real Live Flesh - Shannon & The Clams, Heavy...
[photo source]
Shannon and the Clams are my favorite Bay Area garage rock band for a number of reasons. First, and most importantly, they manage a seldom-seen balance between the syrupy cuteness of the late-50s surf they love with the unmitigated fervor of the punk on which they were surely raised. Secondly, it is actually impossible not to enjoy oneself at their shows. The aforementioned...
5 tags
One Sentence - Nas: The Don [2012]
After a decade of failed attempts, new Nas finally sounds like old Nas.
-Patrick Shipp
4 tags
Real Live Flesh - Apparat @ 1015 Folsom, 3/9/12
With his master’s touch in the studio and his composer’s ear for exposition & development, Sascha Ring has made his name creating finely-tuned, synergistic worlds of slow-building sound. When music is as methodical & controlled as his, a live rendering can sometimes sap the original’s nuances. Though Apparat has long been a TEAMWERK fave, and though we leapt at the...
5 tags
One Sentence - RZA: Into You
In which the RZA continues to be the Wu affiliate with the most longevity.
-Patrick Shipp
[via.]
5 tags
One Sentence - Tanlines: Mixed Emotions [2012]
To say Tanline’s Mixed Emotions gave me “all of the feelings” would be trite internet hyperbole; it did, however, give me most of them and certainly all of the positive ones.
Stream Mixed Emotions here
-Tim Garvey
February 2012
5 posts
14 tags
Podcast - Songs In The Key Of Laugh
What do Jonathan Richman, R Kelly and Amazing Transparent Man have in common? Comedic genius, that’s what. Whether intentionally or not, the tracks in this episode are downright hilarious. Deliberately avoiding the minefield that is “musical comedy,” we compiled a list of some of the funniest shit we’ve ever heard committed to a tune.
[stream/download/share.]
...
6 tags
Dear Jawn - The Park: These Are The Days [2012]
The Park sounds like Daft Punk transplanted to the Bay. With classic Moog-era analog synths, vocoded robots crooning new age aphorisms, and a proto-fusion chord progression, bits of “These Are The Days” could fit well on French House records by the likes of Air or Sebastian Tellier. But the half-time groove beneath the double-time hi-hats cuts the warmth with a spacious funkiness...
4 tags
Dear Jawn - No Gold: Good And Bad [2012]
Look - I’m no singing snob, but when attempting something atonal, confidence is crucial. Without it, the notes become mush and listeners wonder if you’re singing something decisively chromatic or if you just can’t stay on key. “Good And Bad” seems like a classic case of someone with questionable skillz doing some tonal wandering, and as such, it should be...
8 tags
Seen Your Video - Madonna: Super Bowl Halftime...
Well folks, it happened. The Super Bowl Halftime Show was watchable for the first time in over a decade. (For y’all keeping track, 99’s Chaka Khan/Stevie Wonder/Gloria Estefan Indulge-a-thon was the last one.)
Last night, Madonna did the smart thing and gave the people what they wanted: classic jams and an overblown spectacle. ”Vogue” and “Like a Prayer”...
4 tags
January 2012
4 posts
7 tags
"All's well that ends well, oh we will through...
In my short lifetime there has been nothing quite like the Books. I will never forget the first time I heard their music. My brother had purchased The Lemon of Pink (2003) on vinyl and played the album at a small gathering at our parent’s house. I was completely enraptured by the intricacies of the album and totally hooked on the idea of something so strange and different. What young...
