We previously featured RAC (Remix Artist Collective) meddling with Cougar favourites Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros to great effect. It is always a pleasure to hear them re-craft my favourite indie hits and it’s cool that they have taken on Tokyo Police Club (for the 6th time!!), given that we featuted them the other day.
This time it is for a worthy cause; by donating to the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) through the band’s website you will get a download the video, and receive both the RAC and DOM remixes of “Wait Up (Boots of Danger).” Once again 100% of each sale will be donated to the ASPCA®.
It is hard to believe that Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros‘ album was released over a year ago now when the tracks still sound so fresh and many people are just discovering them. Still the band show no sign of slowing down.
‘Desert Song‘ is one of the more melancholic moments on the album and it’s stunning video just adds to the mystique.
‘Up From Below‘ has now been given a special Deluxe release with new tracks, videos and other bonuses. If you don’t already own a copy you should. No really, it’s that good!
Edward Sharpe & Magnetic Zeros have received loads love here at Cougar HQ since I caught them live in London. The band has been on the road for what seems like forever and you’d be hard pressed to find a harder working band.
Almost a year to the date I first heard the track, ESMZ‘s released a distinctly vintage feeling video for the amazing ‘Home‘. With the hot weather hopefully approaching again there is no reason for it not to become the anthem for this summer too.
Out of intense envy for everyone who is going to SxSW I considered a silent protest for the duration of the event. However, having featured Nevada‘s Burning Man Festival a few days ago I figured the awesome Austin event deserves some Cougar loving too.
Besides, as you can see from the flyer above the guys at Vagrant are putting on showcase next week is below featuring some of the bands we have been covering on these pages. If you are out there drop by and make sure you tell them Cougar Microbes sent you.
Talking of Vagrant bands, It has been a while since I have written about Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and that just can’t be right so here is a new remix of ’Home‘. Considering this is my personal favourite track anybody fiddling with is heading into risky territory. I’m glad to say André Anjos of RAC manages to pull it off creating a track that is unique in its own right yet doesn’t hide the source material entirely from the listener.
TRACK:
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Home (RAC Mix)
The Pixies were one of my most cherished bands growing up and to date Doolittle is my favourite album. To catch the Boston legends on two occasions was an absolute treasure. The culmination of 15+ years of fandom!
August 2009 will remain a memorable date in Cougar history. Having briefly spun the 10-piece’s debut album in the build up I attended the Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros show at the Lexington with a mixture of bemusement and curiosity. It took just 45 minutes to convert me to their cause and it took two more shows for their album to became my top album of the year.
If Charles Manson and The Manson Family had focussed their energy on creating memorable pop they might have reached a fraction of the talent Ed Sharpe and co. possess
This weekend I sat down to plan my gig calendar for the next few months. I can’t believe its already February and already there are some classic events coming up. Before we even notice it will be festival season again.
Still, this year will have to deliver very highly considering the quality of shows I witnessed in 2009. My highlights were as follows:
There is something primordial about watching a crowd of 19’000 go mental watching The Prodigy on the outskirts of Paris. The fact that the festival also offered up classic performances from Birdy Nam Nam, MGMT, Metric, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was an added bonus.
As far as rock legends go you could do much worse than seeing either Shakey and The Boss live. The fact that I saw them play back to back at Hyde Park this summer was Epic. Both lived up to their legendary status and my I concluded my weekend as a very happy man.
I have already said several times on these pages that Tim Kusher is a songwriting hero of mine. Back in July I finally saw him live fronting Cursive at the intimate Camden venue. The fact that they picked and mixed discography and the relative closeness to the stage made this a night to remember and led Kenny to drunkenly label it “a religious experience for the atheist“.
Good luck with living up to that 2010
TRACKS:
The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die ? Liam H Re-amped Version
My choice of #01 album of 2009 should come as no great suprise to regular Cougar Microbes readers and anyone who has spoken to me over the last six months. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros gate crashed my music collection last summer, when I first heard ‘Up From Below‘, and soon enough became the guests of honour following 3 amazing live performance around London.
I have written so extensively about the exploits of the Californian 10 piece that it is obvious they struck a chord with me. It has been years since I have become obsessed with a band, and with my self appointed critic status justifiably so. However ES&M0 came along and reverted me to a sparkly eyed music fan once more.If your heart doesn’t warm to the spine tingling emotions displayed on ‘Home‘ then there may be nothing more the doctors can do for you.
As I wrote back in August: for the past few weeks it feels like I have joined my own cult group devoted to producing heartfelt psychedelic pop music.
The spirit of The Merry Pranksters lives on into 2010.
Anyone who has been within earshot in the past few months will know that I absolutely love Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. Since catching their scintillating live performances in London this August I have kept their album on repeat.
I have secretly been keeping tabs on their endless tour hoping to intercept them at some point. I was particularly keen on either one of the bands homecoming shows in Los Angeles or the sold out performance New York‘s Bowery Ballroom this comingtuesday.Sadly I am unlikely to be flying over to see the band in the near future…
Fortunately there is now a way to watch the Bowery Ballroom show from the comfort of my own livings room thanks to rVibe‘s new service. The company stream HQ concerts using their exclusive technology to anyone with access to the internet. Just log in, buy a ticket and watch a fully produced live show from your computer.
Log in on Tuesday November 17th, at 10:00 PM EST through www.rvibe.com and enjoy the show!
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