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jason on 04/25/2011 at 03:30PM
The Paparazzi's Rococo Tape: Classic Pop Seven Years In The Making
I first heard the Paparazzi song "The Rococo Tape" last year on one of the great Ampeater Free Music Archive compilations, and it was at the top of the pops (my pops), packing a ton of unconventionally hook-y ideas into less than two minutes.
I didn't know much about the group at the time, but Cleveland guitar hero and frequent WFMU guest Doug Gillard heard me play this song on WFMU before and he plays with Erik Paparazzi himself in Bambi Kino, so they brought some copies of this Serious Business Records release when they played live on Joe Belock's show earlier this month.
Turns out Erik Paparazzi originally recorded this album Rococo way back in 2003/2004, but didn't finish it until last year. Maybe because he's devoted more time to his other projects (like backing up Cat Power) or maybe it's because, even though the album has a real breezy organic almost lofi feel, it's clear that a lot of compositional craft went into each these nine tracks. Reminds me at various times of Big Star, Julian Lynch, some displaced Elephant 6...
The LP/CD is out on Serious Business Records, and while they're selling digital copies on iTunes, they also put the whole album up for free download here on the Free Music Archive and Soundcloud. Please listen, and if you enjoy, you are encouraged to help spread the word! Let's hope we'll soon hear more from The Paparazzi.
jason on 03/07/2011 at 09:30AM
March On FMA & WFMU (Mix) // Favorite FMA MP3?
What is your favorite mp3 on the FMA? I realize that's not an easy question -- I like pretty much every track I've heard here among the 33,000. But this mix includes a freeform dozen of my 450+ "Favorites": MWE's 'Turkish Metal / Balkan Brass', Raleigh Moncrief, Thick Business, Zoë Keating, FMA hero Lucky Dragons, Karl Blau the super Northwesterner and member of Earth, Dustin Wong formerly of Ponytail, Rafter, Bay Of Pigs, and The Paparazzi...
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The road songs by Kenneth Higney and U Can Unlearn Guitar are also available on the premium I've compiled as a thank you gift for people who donate to WFMU during my marathon show this Thursday. The premium's titled ULTIMATE ROAD TRIP, and it comes in three MP3 volumes. The first volume is the Ultimate Road Trip, and it gets mailed to you as a CD with my own handmade artwork. The second is for 'Alternate Routes,' and the third is for 'Off-Road Trips'. The rest of the tracks on this mix will be included in WFMU's USB drive full of mp3's from the Free Music Archive, one of many cool station-wide swag items. For some reason it says there'll be 100 mp3's on the jump drive. Well, we did the math and it turns out we can fit closer to 150 mp3s on a 2GB drive, so if you have any suggestions, we're all ears! Leave a comment here or in the forum to let us know about your favorite FMA find! You can read more about the fundraising drive happening over at WFMU, the station that birthed the FMA, over at Marathon HQ. It runs thru March 13th. When pledging by phone or online or (especially during my show Thurs 9am-12n ET), tell 'em the FMA sent ya! |
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jason on 11/01/2010 at 12:00PM
Ampeater Music BreakThru Radio Compilation: Liturgy, The Paparazzi, Megafaun, Kashka & more
Digital 7-inch blog Ampeater Music unleashes another 15-track mix featuring highlights from their vast catalog (119 releases to-date!). This mix was crafted for BreakThru Radio's 'Anatomy of a Blogger' program, which 'casted these tunes plus an interview with Ampeater's co-founder Ben Heller. He picked out a great mix, and I'm partial to NYC's so-dark-it's-light-black-metallers Liturgy, The Paparazzi's kitchen-sink pop jam, Toronto's show-stopping synth-popper Kat Burns (KASHKA), and the dynamic open-air folk of Megafaun.
Ampeater joined the FMA earlier this summer with a mix made especially for WFMU, featuring Cerberus Shoal, Little Women, Mount Eerie, Debo Band, Pistolera, Normal Love and more -- check it out here