halloween checklist
- wear costume
- be safe
- don't accept any unwrapped candy
- stay in large groups
- eat lots of ghost meat
- listen to halloween songs (example below)
Friday, October 30, 2009
darling, if you go i'll be sad
i love when a band manages to do justice to a classic.
john wayne to michael caine: 'no sued shoes'
Right after I got there, I was staying in the Beverly Hills Hotel. I saw John Wayne in the lobby, and I was gawking at him. He said, “What’s your name?” He’d just seen Alfie. Wayne became a friend. He gave me advice, like: “Talk low, talk slow, and don’t say too fucking much,” and “Never wear suede shoes, because one day, Michael, you’ll be taking a piss, and the guy next to you will recognize you, and he’ll turn toward you and say, ‘Michael Caine!’ and piss all over your shoes.” I couldn’t make this shit up.
yawn :: kind of guy
four-piece from chicago. think vampire weekend meets animal collective.
if you like the song, you can download the whole album for free from the band over at their site.
male prima donna
the next "i'm on a boat?" probably not. but still so funny. everyone shines in this video, but ryan the temp/bj novak in guyliner is probably the clincher. watch it here.
florence + the machine do letterman
probably my least favorite song on the album. but still, buy this album now.
white denim : paint yourself
new track by white denim is excellent! full of nostalgic-upbeatness. great bass-work. has a real allman brothers vibe to it.
timber timbre for free
timber timbre is offering their self-titled debut for free for a limited time. go here.
happy birthday brownbearwantshoney!
one year ago today, i made my first official post on this here blog. to be honest, i'm a bit surprised that i'm still doing this, considering the low traffic. i guess i just enjoy putting stuff out there. if one or two people get turned onto something new every once in awhile, i suppose it's worth it.
but i do have to say, with the utmost sincerity, that i am very grateful for my few friends that do read this blog regularly, even if they do so for no other reason but to humor me/stroke my ego. it means more to me than you know.
<3 u.
<3 u.
st. vincent :: "the party"
i first listened to st. vincent on a train going from arcachon to bordeaux in the summer of '07. i remember playing "marry me" (off of marry me) over and over and over again. something about annie clark's voice combined with the lyrical content and the gentle glock and bells in the background felt very apropos as i rest my head against the glass window and stared at the grass and hills and little towns.
i've loved st. vincent ever since, but never has one of her songs resonated so profoundly with me until "the party."
marina & diamonds video : "obsessions"
i posted on this gal/song many moons ago. here's the video accompaniment.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
aimee mann covers the decemberists
aimee mann is one of my favorite songwriters. "the engine driver" is one of my favorite decemberists songs. sort of a no-brainer.
sweden's answer to monsters of folk: tutankamon
tutankamon is a swedish indie supergroup of sorts, composed of members of peter bjorn and john, the shout out louds, the concretes and the plan. personally, i think it suffers from the same things that monsters of folk does in that the respective member's/group's most appealing characteristics are muted when combined with the others, which sort of leaves the group dynamic a little uninteresting at times. listen over at their myspace. my favorite is "ohohohoh."
freelance whales
freelance whales are apparently the band to watch this season. they seem to be making a big splash (wordplay!) at cmj this year, often being touted as the hottest unsigned act. i like what i've heard so far, although at times it can come off a little twee. give it a listen.
the whigs :: in the dark
you can download the catchy new whigs song for free over at rcrd lbl. wait for the chorus.
don't f* around with love
this is an actual/real song from the 50s, originally penned as a single but released as a b-side at the behest of the group's manager (for the radio-single version, the song was re-recorded with "mess" replacing the expletive). it's a little disconcerting to hear a song that has its sound so firmly planted in an era marked by social and political conservatism littered with one of our language's most crude words. it's also a little liberating.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
1,001 rules for my unborn son...the book
walker lamond, a writer and television producer, started this site for his (you guessed it) unborn son. it turned into a book. a book worth owning. full of americana-type advice on how to be a good man (e.g. "eat lunch with the new kid," "in her dad's eyes, until you marry her, you're not in the picture," "all drinking challenges must be accepted"). would make a great gift for any guys/girls expecting a son, or for any guys that still need some guidance how to be (or at least how to act like) a man.
the author
the book
yeasayer announce sophomore album details
title: odd blood.
release date: february 9, 2010.
label: secretly canadian
tracklist:
01 The Children
02 Ambling Alp
03 Madder Red
04 I Remember
05 ONE
06 Love Me Girl
07 Rome
08 Strange Reunions
09 Mondegreen
10 Grizelda
02 Ambling Alp
03 Madder Red
04 I Remember
05 ONE
06 Love Me Girl
07 Rome
08 Strange Reunions
09 Mondegreen
10 Grizelda
cocktail hacker
ever since my most recent trip to the violet hour, i have had a renewed interest in cocktails (i.e. drinks that consist of more than rum and coke). happily, i just found an awesome site run by two coloradans whose mission is to educate the ignorant public (such as myself) on the joys/intricacies of creating your own cocktails at home. and although these guys aren't professionals, they ain't amateurs either...just check out their liquor cabinet.
stream devendra banhart's 'what we will be'
you can stream the entire album over here. "first song for b" is particularly lovely.
anco (and brown bear) love baby seals
sadder than ever that i didn't start my "baby seals...rub 'em, don't club 'em" line of t-shirts last year like originally planned.
Celebrities Speak Out Against the Seal Slaughter. Learn More.
Celebrities Speak Out Against the Seal Slaughter. Learn More.
kol album update
nme reports that kol's fifth full-length is slated for a 2010 release, and that drummer nathan followill has stated that the band currently has eight new songs written and ready.
talking to billboard about the new album, nathan has said "there's stuff that sounds like radiohead. there's stuff that sounds like thin lizzy. there's stuff that sounds like the band."
the middle east :: blood
jeez louise this song is good. starts out achingly gentle and ends with a jubilant Sufjan-esque chorus of oohs and ahs, horns and glockenspiels.
the mp3
amazon daily deal: flight of the conchords' "i told you i was freaky"
you can grab fotc's sophomore album for under five bones over here. not quite as great as their debut, but still accomplished and entertaining. my favorites are probably "hurt feelings" and the r. kelly inspired "we're both in love with a sexy lady."
beach house album info
beach house's third album (and first for sub pop), teen dream (such a perfect name for a beach house album), will be released on january 26. the release will come with a dvd containing a video for every song on the album. tracklist below.
01 Zebra
02 Silver Soul
03 Norway
04 Walk in the Park
05 Used to Be
06 Lover of Mine
07 Better Times
08 10 Mile Stereo
09 Real Love
10 Take Care
02 Silver Soul
03 Norway
04 Walk in the Park
05 Used to Be
06 Lover of Mine
07 Better Times
08 10 Mile Stereo
09 Real Love
10 Take Care
"used to be"
i think we can all agree that jordin sparks' song "battlefield" is pretty much the worst. but battlefields of love aren't all bad (esp. at the 3.22 mark)...
nagging questions
the british psychological society's research digest asked 23 top psychologists to write 150 words on their nagging questions about themselves. pretty interesting. you can read all of them over here. one of my favorites was on overcoming irrationality.
no age live at the MOMA for the spike jonze retrospective
i haven't spoken much about no age on this site, but over the last year or so i have become a big fan of the punk-noise they make. enjoy.
Friday, October 16, 2009
new magic numbers :: "hurts so good"
great song full of hazy harmonies by the uk brother-sister/brother-sister band. download it for free by signing up for the mailing list HERE.
new drummer video :: "feel good together"
drummer is a side-project band composed of drummers from other bands, including patrick carney.
local natives :: "wide eyes"
doesn't have the same 'fleet foxes-feel' that the excellent "airplanes" had, but it's got a really nice charm of its own. shows promise for the band to develop a sound of their own. check it out below.
have you seen this man in your dreams?
the history:
"In January 2006 in New York, the patient of a well-known psychiatrist draws the face of a man that has been repeatedly appearing in her dreams. In more than one occasion that man has given her advice on her private life. The woman swears she has never met the man in her life.
That portrait lies forgotten on the psychiatrist's desk for a few days until one day another patient recognizes that face and says that the man has often visited him in his dreams. He also claims he has never seen that man in his waking life.
The psychiatrist decides to send the portrait to some of his colleagues that have patients with recurrent dreams. Within a few months, four patients recognize the man as a frequent presence in their own dreams. All the patients refer to him as THIS MAN.
From January 2006 until today, at least 2000 people have claimed they have seen this man in their dreams, in many cities all over the world: Los Angeles, Berlin, Sao Paulo, Tehran, Beijing, Rome, Barcelona, Stockholm, Paris, New Dehli, Moskow etc.
At the moment there is no ascertained relation or common trait among the people that have dreamed of seeing this man. Moreover, no living man has ever been recognized as resembling the man of the portrait by the people who have seen this man in their dreams."
this is pretty creepy/cool. i really like the idea of some sort of unseen connection of the human subconscious, or like a collective human consciousness. you can peep the website dedicated to itHERE.
cory chisel and the wandering sons do kexp :: "born again"
really like this song and this performance. it's just oozing earnestness. a road-weary young band just trying to make it. the singer looks greasy and unshowered, most of the band's skin is adorned with permanent memories of their travels, and the song itself sounds like it would fit nicely in a movie as musical accompaniment to a cross-country driving montage. perfection. mp3 below.
interesting article about the future of record labels in light of some potential forthcoming copyright hiccups. you can read it here.
grizzly bear's chris taylor releases solo song
multi-instrumentalist chris taylor has released a song under the moniker CANT. sounds exactly the way you would expect a grizzly bear side project to sound.
notorious big v. miley cyrus v. hannah montana
not quite up to hood internet standards, but this mash of biggie and miley cyrus is kind of catchy.
kol: live at the o2
kol are set to release their first ever dvd on nov. 10, 2009. it will be a dvd of their june 30 performance at london's o2 arena. tracklisting below.
Notion
Be Somebody
Taper Jean Girl
My Party
Molly’s Chambers
Red Morning Light
Fans
California Waiting
Milk
Closer
Crawl
Four Kicks
Charmer
Sex on Fire
The Bucket
On Call
Cold Desert
Use Somebody
Slow Night, So Long
Knocked Up
Manhattan
Black Thumbnail
Be Somebody
Taper Jean Girl
My Party
Molly’s Chambers
Red Morning Light
Fans
California Waiting
Milk
Closer
Crawl
Four Kicks
Charmer
Sex on Fire
The Bucket
On Call
Cold Desert
Use Somebody
Slow Night, So Long
Knocked Up
Manhattan
Black Thumbnail
it's cold. keep warm.
so it's pretty cold right now and we've just barely stepped into the fall. and rumor on the streets is that the midwest is heading towards one of its coldest winters yet. but all is not lost. there is a way to keep your oven warm and your buns toasty. it's uniqlo. uniqlo's 'mission' is to make quality clothes available for super-realistic prices, and they've just come out with a new "heattech" line of clothes (undershirts, waffle long sleeves, and half and full-length long johns [ranging from about $10-16]). you can head OVER HERE to learn about the heat generating/retaining technology as well as scoop the gear. it's kind of like under armour, except you won't break the bank. and you won't look like you're heading off to protect this house. you'll just look warm.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
small black
small black is a band that falls into that new 'chill-wave' (or is it 'lo-fi) genre, or whatever they're calling it. i really hate that name. i mean, i understand its usefulness: it helps to be able to use a quick tag when trying to describe a new band's sound. but i still hate it. it makes me feel like what could/should have been an organic branch or growth or development in sound in regards to new artists is turned into a fad or trend. the main problem being that trends and fads in music seem to be particularly susceptible to overexposure and subsequent backlash (e.g. the afro-pop influence effect). sorry for the digression. not sure what my point is, but i really like this band's little ep. it's so 'chill.'
rapheal saadiq does tiny desk concert
saadiq plays three songs. the second song feels a little flat, but the first and third are great. the whole thing radiates a sort of retro-gospel/soul feel. the perfectly tailored black suits with matching thin black ties and black wayfarer gasses don't hurt none, either.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
New AnCo Album Due Out This Year?
Rumors flying around that Animal Collective are going to be releasing another(!) new album in 2009. This is based on an Amazon page, which lists the album title as Fall Be Kind, Domino as the record label releasing the album, and December 8th as the release date. Whether such an album actually exists and, if so, whether it will see the light of day in the beginning of December remains to be seen.
Editors Do MTV Acoustic: "Papillion"
Interesting to hear what this song sounds like without the heavy synths.
Girls Do P4k's 'Don't Look Down': "Lust For Life"
I don't quite agree with the amount of hype slopped upon this band, but I do love this song. It just oozes out California-sunshine-stoner/slacker-vibes.
Happy 75th Birthday, Bloody Mary
Freeman's recipe:
2 ounces Polish potato vodka
2 ounces tomato juice
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/3 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 dash Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon caperberry brine, from the jar
2 pinches celery salt
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon freshly grated or prepared horseradish Ice
2 to 3 caperberries.
2 ounces Polish potato vodka
2 ounces tomato juice
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/3 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 dash Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon caperberry brine, from the jar
2 pinches celery salt
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon freshly grated or prepared horseradish Ice
2 to 3 caperberries.
Grizzly Bear Do P4k's Cemetery Gates: "Foreground"
UPDATE: Something went wrong over at pitchfork. I'll repost the video when it becomes available again.
Required Listening
The Electric Wire Hustle are from New Zealand, but on this song they sound like they're soaking in and using the best of America's black musical traditions of the past three or four decades to awesome affect.
New Los Campesinos! Song: "There Are Listed Buildings"
This one is as good as anything else they've written, which is saying alot because everything else they've written is pretty dang good. P4k puts it best: "It's a bursting track---soaring horns, "ba ba" hook, zipping guitars..." Stream it below.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
P4k interviews Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig. You can read the interview by CLICKING HERE. I've always enjoyed everything about this band, both musically and visually. This interview only pushes that love forward. Ezra seems like he might be one of the least oblivious/ego-centric musicians ever.
Animal Collective Cover/Remix Phoenix's "Love Like A Sunset"
I like this. Alot. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD.