Amanda "Fucking" Palmer, who recently wrapped a west coast tour with husband Neil Gaiman, has been visiting Occupy sites around the country, making stops at Occupy sites in L.A., Oakland, Portland, Vancouver, and Seattle, in addition to her recent stops in Boston and Occupy Wall Street. "One of the most fascinating things outside of visiting the sites themselves is chatting to the locals in each town about their relationship to the Occupy movement,” notes Palmer. “Lots of locals are quietly stepping up and driving daily supplies to the sites, bringing food, bringing blankets, bringing water, tweeting news...it's the beautiful sight of a larger, empowered DIY culture taking positive control over their environments.” Now Palmer has teamed up with local Boston filmmaker & friend Michael Gill to create a video montage of images from the Occupy movement, backed with Palmer's ukulele version of "The World Turned Upside Down". The 1975 Leon Rosselson song about the Diggers movement was recently recorded at Boston's Mad Oak studios, after Palmer played it first to enthusiastic crowds at Occupy Boston and Occupy Wall Street. "It's actually the Billy Bragg version that I knew", says Palmer. "That song hit me to the core when I first heard it and it's a perfect song to share at Occupy. People have been singing along at the tops of their lungs. With lyrics like 'This earth was made a common treasury for everyone to share' you kind of couldn't pick a more perfect song to speak to the movement.” Michael Gill met Amanda Palmer when interviewing her for a documentary about local and recently deceased Boston music scene hero Billy Ruane. When discussing her plans for “The World Turned Upside Down”. Gill revealed that he had already created a short film of the arrests that took place at Occupy Boston. They quickly agreed on the idea and decided to collaborate on the video which was released today – watch it here! We encourage you to post and share. Palmer is widely known for having carved a career for herself using social media and direct fan support, she has been an innovator in creating new models in the music business
San Francisco’s Thee Oh Sees has had numerous incarnations over the years after initially being formed as a solo project by musician John Dwyer. The now five-piece’s latest, Carrion Crawler/The Dream, is an exuberant collection of groove-driven indie barnstormers. “The Dream,” a jubilant track, spans nearly seven minutes, combining gleeful guitar riffs with dance-laden rhythms. There’s a wide-eyed mania to the music that’s as terrifying as it is compelling.
After the success of Burst Apart earlier this year, The Antlers are taking an odd-and-ends victory lap that includes a few choice covers. Our favorite is their take on The xx’s austere “VCR.” Everyone (well, Drake and Rihanna, at least) has been flirting with and on top of The xx lately, and this is another interesting flip on their work that keeps the ice intact while adding galloping drums and wigged-out soundscapes. Find more on (together), which is out November 22 on Frenchkiss.