cinema and long walks on the beach

21 Jan
I am finding (very) early on in this endeavor that most of my favorite untz is a bit emo, and most of my favorite emo a bit untz. I shouldn’t be surprised.

Today’s Emo: Metaphysical / Long Walks on the Beach

While Metaphysical has upbeat undertones, the band name  and song title alone make this track categorically emo. Everything about Long Walks on the Beach is cool, from sole contributor Fritz Kramar’s I just woke up voice to his song titles like “I didn’t want to make out (I wanted to kiss)” to the animal loving artwork on the LWOTB site. The band self categorizes as “bedroom pop,” and I’d happily play this in my bedroom, but I’d even more happily play this on a drive with the windows down on a sunny friday afternoon, leaving work, on my way to a mountain escape in Tahoe. Convenient timing.

“Not all we know is what we see / but I’m looking at you, you’re looking at me.” Simple beats, can’t help but smile lyrics, mild sexual innuendo, and an easy acronym. #emo

Today’s Untz: Something Good Can Work (The Twelves Remix) / Two Door Cinema Club

Although the first strike of sound in this track makes you think you are delving into yet another remix of Bulletproof, The Twelve’s subtle blend of untz into this already dance worthy song makes it another Friday afternoon anthem. I discovered Two Door Cinema Club a couple of weeks ago thanks to Hype Machine, and their album Tourist History is now on heavy rotation. Two Door Cinema Club reminds me of a more American sounding The Kooks (funny because they are Irish) with a dash of Death Cab for Cutie. This discovery came with great timing, because they are playing Coachella this spring.

The Twelves, a fantastic dj duo from Rio, are also doing a show in SF at the Mezz in early February. They will hopefully rock this song and I will inevitably dance my face off and temporarily forget where I am. #untz

Happy Friday.
Tor

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whiskey rivers and crystal castles

16 Jan

Emo (pronounced /ˈiːmoʊ/) A style of rock music typically characterized by melodic musicianship and expressive, often confessional lyrics.

Untz The official rave or techno sound of a pulsing beat, usually written with an umlaut (two dots) over the ‘U’.

Greetings to my first posting of the Untz and the Emo. You can expect tri-weekly updates of my favorite dance and indie songs, and perhaps some thoughts on what makes them so great.

Today’s emo: Down in the Valley / The Head and the Heart

To begin, a band I have done nothing but inundate everyone I know with since the first time I heard their album, the Head and the Heart. They may or may not have contributed to the inspiration behind the title of this blog, and are one of the reasons I got inspired enough to create one in the first place. Thus tweetathons, spammy Facebook posts, and enough youtube links in my gchat status to their achingly emo live shows to undoubtedly have trained some of my friends to stop bothering to click on my gchat status forever.

Ryan Adams vocals, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros cacophony of sounds and instruments, and simple yet sigh inducing lyrics (“I know there’s California / Oklahoma / and all of the places I ain’t ever been to / but down in the valley / the whiskey rivers / these are the places you will find me hiding / these are the places I will always go”) have made The Head and the Heart’s debut my favorite album of 2010.

These are the places I will always go. #emo

Today’s untz: Not in Love / Crystal Castles featuring Robert Smith

Risking a bit to have a somewhat emo-y first untz song, but this song has had me rocking out in my cube during the past week, and then wanting to down shots of patron while pre-gaming at a party intentionally hosted without patron this weekend. Crystal Castles borrows the lead singer of the Cure, turning the regular baby cooing like (but still awesome) vocals of this song into something both inteligible and all too tangible. “We were lovers / now we can’t be friends / fascination ends.” Might as well dance it out. #untz

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