It’s close to midnight; Lazy Saturday’s lurking in the dark.

(Editor’s Note: I’m all over the map today.  I feel like there’s been a kind of fallow period for me; work and school have been a bit more intense lately, so I’ve been listening to old music that I know I love instead of plumbing the depths for new music to wrap my brain around.  It’s been about aurally cloaking myself with comfort these last couple of weeks; kind of listening to the musical equivalent of homemade macaroni and cheese.  This week, however, I got blasted with all sorts of good stuff: new tunes from bands I love, news on shows I’m going to love going to, videos that are sweet and all sorts of other assorted goodies.  This influx of good shit, paired with getting two papers out of the way, has shaken me out of my funk. You, dear reader, get to reap the benefit.  It’s a big money, big nuts and a big fat [some sort of material] sack kind of day.  Word.)

We got turned on to Young Buffalo a couple of months back and have been spinning their Catapilah demos incessantly since then.  Jim Barrett, the globe-hopping bon vivant at the core of the band, dropped us a line the other day, passing along good news for folks who hear great things in Young Buffalo’s music.  The Mississippi-based trio have some confirmed dates in New York City (January 15th @ Goodbye Blue Monday, Brooklyn with Ava Luna and January 16th @ Glasslands, Brooklyn with BELL), with plans to hit other East Coast locales (sucks to do it in winter for a band from the south, but such is life).  There are also plans to record an EP in the cold months.  Dude also shot us a new tune, that we’re proud to share with you.  It’s got a lot of the stuff that we loved about the Catapilah work; the vaguely African rhythms, the just out of reach, mellowly complex vocals (dig the breakdown at fifty five seconds), but there’s a slightly more overt electronic thing going on here as well.  It sounds a touch more metallic (as in something made of metal, not Slayer) to my ear.  It’s also got a rawness that’s probably an artifact of the demo process, but which also gives a nice low-fi anti-luster.  It still sounds like Graceland making love to The Byrds, so I’m still loving it.  More critically, I’m super happy to have five songs from Young Buffalo to play over and over.  We’ll keep you abreast of new material and more tour dates as they come available to us.  (We’ve got our fingers crossed for a Cleveland date; we’re kind of east-coasty, right?)

Young Buffalo – Speak EZ

I’ve written in this space that I’m a touch concerned about Contra. After a ton of listens to “Horchata,” paired with a strong urge to like it, I’ve kind of concluded that it sucks.  There are approximately fourteen seconds (00:17 – 00:32) that I love (and that remind me of what I loved about the self-titled record); the rest is bloated and awkwardly self-aware and, perhaps worst of all, not very cool.  That first record exuded coolness.  It was dripping with the kind of secret-handshake/tastefully graying father in a country club and brass-buttoned blazer/going up to Bryn Mawr to catch up with the fillies coolness that folks in the middle of the country with degrees from state schools look at enviably and drool over  Look, that’s shallow.  But, it was a shallow record.  Fun as hell and one that I listen to all the time and one that I anticipate listening all the time for a long while, but not exactly Sartre, right?  Just pop music done well with some cool flourishes and a good vocabulary.  And cool as hell.  “Horchata” sounded like a band from Minnesota trying to sound like they grew up summering in the Hamptons.  Which is douchey. (People from Minnesota should sound like they’re from Minnesotta.  See: Husker Du.)  Vampire Weekend, for me, was about 70% about the tunes and 30% about the vibe.  I’ll take the Pepsi Challenge on the first five songs on that record (“Mansford Roof” – “M79″) against (more or less) any side one in the last five or so years (with a few obvious exceptions, probably, but it’s in the discussion, at least).

All this to say that it freaked me out that “Horchata” is as clumsy as it is.  Now the good news: “Cousins” is great.  Fast and catchy and hummable and danceable, laced with frenetic percussion, bouncy bass lines, jangling guitars and, most importantly, cool as hell.  I want to take “Cousins” to see a movie a French movie and eat bad Thai food with it after.  We’ve got a bitching live version, which, if you haven’t heard, you’re going to love.  I’m stoked about having this conversation every time something leaks from Contra.  Let’s hope that there are way more “Cousins” than “Horchata”s on this thing.

Vampire Weekend – Cousins – Live, 2009

It’s no secret that we love Megafaun.  Dudes are talented, their records are good and they put on an amazing live show.  Tack on “make sweet videos” to that laundry list of laudables.  (I can never remember if alliteration is hacky.  Thoughts?)  “Impressions of the Past” has long been one of my personal favorites on Gather, Form and Fly, so it’s cool to be able to get it into your ears if you haven’t heard it yet.  (Seriously.  Buy this record.  You are going to love it.)  The video makes me wish that MTV was still a television channel.  (It is?  Oh shit.  My bust.)  The song’s radical shifts lend themselves to the quick-cut still photograph method used in the video.  The first time I watched it was on the edge of my seat for the vocal part; the visual aesthetic is established early on, so I knew there’d be a visual leap to accompany the sonic one and I was geared up to see how it worked.  I was not disappointed.  You won’t be either.

http://www.vimeo.com/7293049

I’m a big November fan.  I like autumn (and, strangely, raking leaves.  No reason.) I like falling behind, as it makes me feel like I’m sleeping in every day.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, hands down.  This year, as an added bonus, Medeski, Martin and Wood are coming to beuatiful and historic Kent, Ohio on the 17th.  We’ve talked at length about MMW in the past, but it is always a pleasure to see them live.  They’re always going to do something that you’ve never seen on stage before, take some chance that no one else will take, make music happen in a way that is new and fascinating.  I’ll be in Kent on the 17th, alternating between standing still, in lock-jawed awe of the trio’s collective brilliance and shaking my ass with wild abandon (while trying to take notes for a post on the thing).  First beer is on me if you make it to the gig.  (Do they even sell beer in Kent?  I’ll assume so.)  We’ve got a track from the upcoming Radiolarians boxset below; there’s an amazing amount of material in this thing, including the disc of remixes that the cut below comes from.  I’ll be putting it on my Christmas list if anyone still hasn’t gotten me something.  (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)

Medeski, Martin & Wood – Flat Tires – DJ Logic Re-Mix

Part two of the Morphine live batch rounds us out today.  It offers a nice bit of symmetry to Lazy Saturday, as I saw MMW for the first time opening up for Mr. Sandman and company.  The saxophone solo in “Do Not Go Quietly Unto Your Grave” is particularly soul-searing.  Enjoy.

Morphine – Do Not Go Quietly Unto Your Grave – Live, 1997

Morphine – Mary, Won’t You Call My Name? – Live, 1997