Musics.

Les petits pois

2008-08-27T06:37:00.000-07:00

I fully had plans to give you a full mix this month, but time has crept up on me, and with a great big "BOO!" it tells me that I am leaving Paris in 3 days, and I still have to finish drafts of my personal statement and academic statement for my fellowship applications.

I still want to share a few gems with you in the hopes that it whets your appetite for the month to come. I won't be around in September because Tyson and I are traveling for a few weeks, and then I have to move, so September will be crushingly busy. Yet fear not, I have some different plans for the blog in the upcoming months. I love the idea of monthly mixes, but they take me so blastedly long to prepare when I sit down to them. I might start posting more frequently but giving you only a few mp3s at a time. It can still compose a monthly mix, but you'll gather the cookie crumbs along the way.

Let me know what you think, and thanks for hanging on despite the hiatus. Traveling and researching and blogging is all so tricky to juggle!

1. Superbus--Ça mousse

This is the outlier from this pop-ska band's oeuvre, and I have to say that I wish they'd give up the horns and yells and follow this understatement theme. Soft and catchy, a bit bubblegummy without being twee. This one's definitely a head bopper. Oddly enough, I first heard it in a French karaoke bar while eating a burger laced with bacon and a fried egg.

2. Pony Up--The Truth About Cats and Dogs (Is that They Die)

This track from the Montreal band was first introduced to me by Harold, and it's been on steady rotation ever since. I highly recommend that you watch the video, as it's probably simultaneously the cutest, funniest, and saddest thing you've seen in a while.

3. Broken Social Scene Presents Brendan Canning--Hit the Wall

A fire truck on a rainy night pulls up to the blaze only to discover that they're too late and that it's rapidly spreading down the block.

4. Benoît Pioulard--Palimend

We'd all like to think that we don't judge books or albums by their cover, but this is one that you should.

5. Grouper--Heavy Water/ I'd Rather Be Sleeping

To say that this song has been an obsession of mine is certainly an understatement. It just gets under your skin and stays there. You don't expect it because it's so quiet, so fuzzy, so not real that you underestimate its potency, but once it's in it just won't leave. And your heart and guts wrench with the slight burst of the chorus. Poignancy at its simplest.

6. Emily Jane White--Time On Your Side

This album is the one that's been on the heaviest rotation since I've been in Paris these couple of months. It's interesting and compelling enough to listen to on its own merits, but its not so challenging or abrasive that I can't listen to it while I plow my way through book after book. It was a toss up between posting this one and "Dark Undercoat," which has the oh so good line, "and I was a deep bathtub would you sink down...to the bottom of my love." I suggest you pursue it. It's worth it, especially if you like Jolie Holland and artists of that nature.

7. Jolie Holland--Mexico City

Speaking of Jolie Holland, she does no wrong.

8. Richard Swift--Lady Luck

Quite different from his previous albums, but just as good. This one is soul and funk and falsetto. Groovelicious. You can download the whole EP here for free. He also recently did a Take-Away Show for La Blogotheque, which you can see here. If, for some reason, you'd rather read the accompanying article in French, go here.

Dans l'été

2008-07-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Saint Paul Cathedral in Paris. And this, fine folks, is where I live. See that brown door on the lefthand side of the picture? Yeah, that's the entry to my building's courtyard. And then I live on the 6th (American 7th) floor of that building, right next to the stained glass windows of Saint Paul's, right next to the bells. All of this I find very cool.

I also find the apartment in which I'm living to be one of my favorite places ever. I'm contemplating calling squatter's rights on Blandine, the woman I'm subletting from. In general, I'm smitten with my life here in Paris. Bakeries daily, sunlight until 10:30 at night, bustling streets, days spent in libraries with old French books, plenty of reading and plenty of espresso. Basically, this is what I've been holding out for while I've spent the last two slavish years in Chicago. And as I write this, I can hear a brass band outside the window playing songs in honor of Bastille Day.

Anyhow, enough of my personal reverie and on to the music, which, by the way, will all come courtesy of Blandine's CDs here in the apartment. So don your red, white, and blue cockade, lean back with a tiny cup of joe, and let the Francophony take you away.

(P.S.-The music descriptions will be in images this month.)

1. Paco Ibáñez- No sirves para nada

2. Drôle de Sire- La Comète

3. Noir Désir- Le Vent nous portera

4. Jeanne Moreau- India Song

5. Les Têtes Raides- Les papiers

6. La Tordue- Où va-t-on?

7. Magic System- 1er Gaou

8. Carla Bruni- Quelqu'un m'a dit

9. Manu Chao- La Valse à sale temps

10. Astor Piazzolla- Ausencias

11. Sergent Garcia- Hoy Me Voy

12. François Breut- Silhouette Miniscule

13. Compagnie Dankan- Tigani fo

14. Lhasa De Sela- Desdenosa

15. Steph en son- Au milieu de la fille

Fastern a jackhoppin hare

2008-06-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

The writing for this month will be brief to say the least. I'm back in Texas trying to wrap up some last-minute schoolwork before I head to Paris for the summer, so I'm not going to get a chance to write much about these songs. (Plus, my parents still have dial-up, and any internet use is enough to make one want to gouge one's eyes out with any of the numerous sets of deer antlers decorating our home.) But I think the music speaks for itself, so I hope you enjoy these summery, southern treats.

1. Old 97's--Singular Girl

2. Buck White and Ricky Scaggs with Ronnie McCoury--Sassyfrass

3. Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee--Old Jabo

4. Kate and Anna McGarrigle--Petite annonce amoureuse

5. Josephine Foster and the Supposed--Worried and Sorry

6. Angela Desveaux--Heartbeat

7. Rocky Votolato--White Daisy Passing

8. Max Avery Lichtenstein--Tarnation

9. Cynthia G. Mason--Surprise, AZ (Richard Buckner cover)

10. Lucero--Ain't So Lonely

11. Calexico--Sunken Waltz

12. Califone--Bottles and Bones (Shade and Sympathy)
Available on zShare here.

13. The Six Parts Seven--Sleeping Diagonally (Re.Made by Sam Beam)

14. John Fahey--John Henry

15. Eddie Pennington--Over the Rainbow

16. Elizabeth Cotten--Freight Train

17. Mississippi John Hurt--Nobody's Dirty Business

18. M. Ward and Coykendale--O Lazy Days

19. Clare Burson--Love Me in the Morning

20. Julie Doiron--Tonight is No Night

21. Neko Case--In California

22. Michael Hurley--Be Kind to Me

23. Reverend Horton Heat--Liquor, Beer, and Wine

24. Dolly Parton--Washaday Blues

25. The Chambers Brothers--Oh Baby, You Don't Have to Go

Also, coolest ever: before I head to the city of lights, I'm going to live it up at an awesome petting zoo, complete with goats, capybara, camels, coatimundis, lemurs, kangaroos, and llamas!

On a lark

2008-05-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of tracks that I've picked up from my scouring today. I'm prepping my iPod for the trip to California, so I thought I'd help you prep yours as well.

Kleerup (feat. Lykke Li)--Until We Bleed (Mikael's Cello version)

This album features Lykke Li, Robyn, Neneh Cherry, and Marit Bergman, which is the exact lineup I'd have in a dream where I'm sitting at a tea party making music on dollarstore toy xylophones while eating cupcakes and talking about sex. Needless to say, I can't wait to listen to the whole album on the plane tonight.

Slow Down Tallahassee--Electric Sun

From a Sheffield band that crafts a damn striking pop song. Simple, but delicious.

Today was my last day of teaching, and I got to talk about German footsoldiers in Napoleon's Russian Campaign of 1812. Thank goodness this class is almost over with. I've learned a lot, but man is it hard to talk about eating dog ears, worms, peas cooked in soap, coagulated horses' blood, and frozen cow fat for an hour and a half.

Triumphant Return

2008-05-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

I've finally returned to the blog after a couple month hiatus. What with figuring out a dissertation topic, applying for grants and teaching jobs, teaching, taking classes, running the workshop, composing my orals lists, and just generally trying to have a life on top of that, it's been somewhat impossible to update the blog. I got so far as to upload a batch of songs last month, but I didn't ever post them. Alas.

But here is a mix that will hopefully fill that longing that I know you've had for Carolyn tunes. Thanks to those of you who have stuck around despite the time off!

1. Santogold--Lights Out

Santi White is confident yet soft, daring yet reassuring, hard-edged but pillowy. She's perfected a blend of genres and styles from the last twenty-five or thirty years to create a highly satisfying pop album that will keep you tapping and smiling.

2. M83--Graveyard Girl

Another soft 80s throwback (a trend in most of my favorite music lately) resplendent with washes of sunlight, pastels, and loves that will always never be.

3. Strawberry Whiplash--Who's in Your Dreams

Like swimming in a pool of viscous gold.

While eating blackberry pie a la mode.

4. Marit Bergman--Walcott

Much cheerier than I am when I've had too much shellfish. A plea dotted with violins, soaring aaahhhs, and a time signature that feels not-quite-right at points, all of which makes it more compelling.

5. Lykke Li--I'm Good I'm Gone (CB Remix)

My obsession continues, but at least I'm gracing you with a remix instead of the exact version that's been circulating like mad in the blogosphere. I can't emphasize how good this entire album is, and, having seen her live a couple of weeks ago, I can now say that I can't emphasize HOW GOOD she is live. Amazing. Simply. Amazing. I want to move through life like she moves and shakes it on stage. If you don't believe me, YouTube this stuff. But be prepared to have a new addiction. Tyson can attest.

6. Gabo & Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo--It's a Vanity

From a compilation of 70s African psych-funk called African Scream Contest. There have been a number of compilations and albums of this sort emerging lately, and it seems like each one is better than the last. Gabo doesn't fail.

Get ready to groove, get ready to bobble, and most of all, get ready for pure vanity.

7. Cof Cof--Caribbean Boy

Xylo-click-clap. Dance on sand. Clap. Clap. Click. Clap. Barefoot now, shimmy. Clap. Click. Xylo-bass, take it away. Laugh. Rinse. Repeat.

8. Pas Chic Chic--En chaine et en vogue

The sound of Montreal in a 1970s Russian takeover--all during a solar eclipse.

9. Late of the Pier--Broken (Fairy Lights remix)

Kitsune is a French label putting out the danciest of the danciest electronic right now. In fact, sometimes it can get a bit too dancy, so dancy that you refuse to dance out of sheer obstinacy. We all know how pleasure can be a bit too intense at times.

But that said, this track on their Maison 5 mix is just the right amount of dancibility, with shirred guitars, enough darkness to keep your blood sugar from skyrocketing, and moments of slow-down so you can catch your breath. And that beginning...well, let's just say that 3 seconds in I was hooked.

10. Tafra--Oh, Daniel

A serenade for my dear, dear friend.

If any of you are familiar with Jeeves and Wooster, the background music makes me think of Bertie's club friends who form a banjo band. It comes during a pretty offensive episode, but it's not without its merit.

11. Withered Hand--I Am Nothing

When I look over in the nighttime darkness, see a vague shadow, and decide that it's time to come clean.

12. Meg Ashling--Move Down the Line

Envision a 1950s secretary, spurned and singing before her typewriter, clutching the edge of her seat, an eyebrow raised to the blank page before her. The stockings are going to come off, the hair is going to come down, and the red pen is going to escape from the desk drawer.

13. Thao Nguyen--Beat (Health, Life, and Fire)

A fleet of parachuting squirrels rain down on a Planter's factory. This is the moment of victory, of being settled for the winter, of never having to stash. This is pure security in a world offering its best.

14. The Watson Twins--Just Like Heaven

It can in no way hold a candle to the original, but it's such a winsome song that any version is guaranteed a modicum of success. And who can deny the Watson Twins?

15. Yelle--Tristesse/Joie (acoustic on Fair Game)

Vastly different from the original bleepiness. Now it's like setting sail on a calm bay to watch golden fish swirl around each other in the slightly green depths. They duck and bob, weaving a slow, delicate tapestry of salt and sunshine.

Before it was like sticking your head in synth blender. A pleasant synth blender, but a blender nonetheless.

16. Mr. Gnome--Pirates

Dumb band name, and a dumb album cover, but I'm drawn to the whispery, watery huskiness and the droplets of piano. This is a painstorm, and the thundercrashes only externalize the what the rain already sings.

17. Atlas Sound--Recent Bedroom

A creepily delicious album in its entirety. In the particular, I'm reminded of James's song from Twin Peaks.

18. Scarlett Johansson--Falling Down

I wanted to like this album. I really did. And part of me does. But her voice is so hidden in the layers of sound, it's almost like they wanted to cover her with a sheet of vinyl instead of draping her in lo-fi gauze (which I think was the intent). This is one of the songs in which you can actually hear her voice, which is compelling in its own way, but then the mandolin and subvoices come in about a minute in, and she disappears again. I'm going to be loyal to the idea and to my conviction that she has a relatively interesting voice, but all in all, I wish the execution had been a bit less weighted with trappings.

19. Electric President--Graves and the Infinite Arm

Brittle fingers in a pale gray room, grasping at a gently swishing curtain. A broken child wanders in bearing crumpling flowers. He places them on the window sill and stares with saucer eyes. Even the quiet clack of death cannot make him hobble back into the hallway, and he only draws nearer as she draws nearer to the dim white glow.

20. Secret Shine--Know

Tyson recently got us tickets to see My Bloody Valentine in September. I bet we'll see these guys there.

21. Rio En Medio--Let's Groove (Earth, Wind, and Fire cover)

Makes me think that my spare minutes spent playing with GarageBand could yield something of interest. Also makes me think that no one should keep the boogie down.

Snow melts, spring comes

2008-03-05T18:49:00.000-08:00

I can't wait until Chicago's this verdant (and natural)! The snow has started melting, but it's still deceptively cold--that kind of cold when you walk outside without gloves, thinking it's going to be brisk and delightful, only to discover instead that it makes you immediately want to scream "sonofabitch" and dash back inside. I know that most of you are safely entrenched in sunny, relatively warm climes, climes that inspire dancy music and the bright aural colors of spring, but this is my last chance to give homage to the bleariness of this industrial winter, so the songs will be considerately less rhythmic, decidedly less candy-coated. However, as I mentioned, the snow is melting, so there will be some hope in there. These are the tunes that I like to listen to when it's a brilliantly sunny day, with blue peeking over the University's spires, all while having my nose nipped by that bastard Jack Frost.

As a note before the music begins, Google Pages doesn't allow files bigger than 10 Mb, so a couple of the songs are hosted through zShare. I'll label them when you get there, but don't forget that you can't just right click and download those.

1. Au- Boute

Tyson's friend Cary played this in the car on our drive through the gorge up to the mountains when we went skiing at Mt. Hood recently, and one of the first things I did when I got back to Chicago was to purchase it on iTunes. The crescendos are delicately timed, and the swells of cymbals and clicks flare for brief, brilliant moments before they disappear into the quieter (but just as full) background of the song time and time again. Listening to them is like wrapping yourself in a sweetly noisy cloud.

2. Beach House- Master of None

I don't know how I missed Beach House when this album (Beach House) first came out in 2006, but I'm glad to have found them now. Made up of Victoria Legrand (Michel Legrand's niece) and her childhood friend Alex Scally, Beach House is a gossamer concoction of organs, gently plucked guitars, and floating vocals. This album mesmerized me when I first heard it, and I've been swooning over its ethereal, sweet hauntingness ever since. Beach House came out with another album (Devotion) this year, but in all honesty, I've been so hung up on this one that I haven't gotten around to listening to the new one. My guess is that it's great.

3. Arthur & Yu- Absurd Heroes Manifestos

Welcome back to the 1960s. Echoey and pared down, the lo-fi tendencies of this recording complement the folky back-and-forths of the song. This is the sound of placid psychedelia.

4. A Sunny Day in Glasgow- Ghost in the Graveyard

While I've been in a very lo-fi, shoegazey mood lately, I tried to restrain myself for the most part. This is as shoegaze as this mix gets, and yet, it's not that same "I'm ripping off My Bloody Valentine" brand that we're all so used to hearing (and which I have to still admit to loving). Yes, there are the fuzzy elements there, the melody coated in reverb, but if you listen closely, there's another soundscape occurring in the fuzz. Shifting sounds create an auditory tangle around and through the static, binding the vocals in undulating swirls of tonality, not stopping at a mere white noise echo. This album sort of passes you by on the first listen; you feel like you've heard it a hundred times. But then you hear one sharp little moment, one bit of clarity that somehow still sounds blurry, and you start to realize that something more intricate than emulating is happening here.

5. The Legends- Make It All Right

The catchy handclap pop of the sixties + the bristled distortion of the eighties = candied noise pop to the max. Without the noise, it'd be boring, and without the hookiness, it'd be unremarkable, but together, it's two and a half minutes of the most saccharine romp through a wall of sound you've ever had.

6. Peter Bjorn and John- Objects of My Affection

This is like an indie pub song (without the repetitive lyrics that drunkards could remember). It's the kind of thing that kids in England would want to sing while swaying back and forth, holding each others' shoulders. This is the kind of song that makes me think of Cambridge and its cobblestones.

7. Battles- Atlas (zShare)

This was one of Chad's favorite bands from recent years, and when I was preparing for a presentation yesterday, this track came up on my iPod shuffle. I had forgotten how productive this stuff makes me; it's why I worked to Black Dice's "Snarly Yow" all through senior year of college. Driving beats and mesmerizing vocal patterns form the strangest "white noise" you've ever heard; after a while, they just become the background to whatever it is that you're doing. And then a break comes. Staccato. The rhythm continues. But. Something. Is. Different. And you're sucked in all again. Plus, this track is just so much fun; if I'm not working to it, I'm definitely dancing.

8. Nat Baldwin- Lake Erie

Tyson took a shining to "Domed Branches" when it was on Said the Gramophone a little while ago, so I thought it'd be fun to post another track from the forthcoming MVP. While I don't think "Lake Erie" is quite as good, it's got the same general feel--melisma to the max and a vocal performance that doesn't fall into the trap of the background music. Baldwin's voice leads the song instead of following.

9. Dappled Cities- Try Not to Breathe

From the Stereogum tribute to R.E.M.'s Automatic for the People. I've never gotten into the whole R.E.M. thing; I'm sure there's something there, but for the most part they just bore or irritate me. But my mind started to change the teensiest bit after this compilation, and this track is one that I find really listenable. It's not the catchiest of songs, but something about the instrumentation really grabs me. They didn't go with the strummy guitar and sporadic tom beat; instead, there's something more sonic to grapple with, something layered and hidden and hiding.

10. The Brother Kite- Hopeless and Unsung

This track is listless where most other Brother Kite songs aren't, slowed down to evoke an emotion instead of foot taps. The comparisons usually refer to the Beach Boys, which I can certainly hear, but at the screamy zenith of his voice, Patrick Boutwell sounds like a more echoey, Phil Collins. Don't let this be a deterrent. No, embrace it as the musical deconstruction of the Collinator. Or just think that I'm off my rocker. It's subtle, but trust me, it's there, coming in the [hazy] air at night.

11. Handsome Furs- The Radio's Hot Sun

The Handsome Furs website describes the music thusly: Dark and minimal while noisy and earnest, the point of this duo was to be as sparse and repetitive as possible with the help of little more than vocals, guitars, and a drum machine. Disenchanted vocals thinly resonate while cloaked in a frenzied undertone of fear and uncertainty, all punctuated by bare drum machine beats. Their debut is a record of melancholic tendency and heartfelt desire; a stripped down symphony relegated between city and country, and made for ears of either side.

There's not much to add to that description, except maybe the informational tidbit that the band is made up of Dan Boeckner (from Wolf Parade) and his wife Alexei Perry, a short story writer.

12. Bulent Ortgacil- Benimle Oynar Misin

Coming straight at you from a future Wes Anderson movie! Well, at least it sounds like it should. Bulent is the Turkish equivalent of Nick Drake, and this track is the title track from his 1973 album. I've never gotten into the Drake, really (I know, probably more blasphemous than my dislike of R.E.M.), but Bulent and I get along just fine, for some reason.

13. Orillia Opry- I Lied

The name of the band tells you that you're going to get a little country, and the "Orillia" part of the name connoted a bit of filigree, some curlicues or something delicate and pretty. Both of these are simultaneously true and not true (so much for a truth value of 1 or 0). There's the lonesome feeling, the guitar strum, the male/female duet about loss and love and a leaving lover, but there's no twang, no sharp edges, only forlorn softness sometimes broken up by a voice cracking with shame. And there's no gilding on this tune. It is what it is. And pretty is what it is, but it's not lace-covered and draped in velvet. It's spare and honest.

14. Bikeride- Moonracing

Just right for when the snow is falling and the sky is indigo around you, as your feet hit the pavement with crunchfalls and slippery caution. There's the softness of the flakes on your eyelashes, the lazily drifting bits of cold swaying from the sky, but then there's the accumulation, the iciness that results from their mingling, and the bitterness of the winter night. The full moon is overhead, casting its luscious light, but it doesn't diminish the swamp of darkness all around.

15. Skuli Sverrisson- Seria

This strikes me as a more woodsy version of an Eluvium song; it feels like chasing a river, trying to follow it from its beginning to its end, but always knowing that it will keep slipping away, one gushing rush ahead of you, and your footfalls will always fall short. There's a beauty to it, a poetry, but it doesn't mask that beneath all that beauty is longing and lust and disappointment. It's like watching a home video of someone who has passed away or looking at photos of a lover long since gone. Everything becomes sepia-toned.

16. Let's Go Sailing- Sideways

When I used to work at KSPC, I got a free promo EP from this L.A. band, and it escaped my radar for a while, only to revisit me last quarter on shuffle. I've remarked a number of times that my favorite type of music is that which evokes multiple emotions or which says one thing and means another, and I guess Let's Go Sailing is another example. They describe themselves on their website as "full of rainbows and fairies" but also with a "darker side...full of lost and neglected stuffed animals found at the side of the road." I would have characterized it as wistfulness, but maybe that's why their description is better; there's something young, innocent, and naive about it all, and that's why it can so effectively wrench your heart.

17. Fikret Kizilok- Soyle Sazim

Kizilok gets classed with Turkish prog rock and sometimes psych folk, but there's not much of that in this brief gem. It's just a love song gone a little wrong, a little off-key and a tad off-kilter. The guitar skitters while his voice sidles up to the frail stylings of the female singer, and while I don't understand the words, I do understand the song.

18. Oren Lavie- Her Morning Elegance

This guy's voice is a little too loungy for my taste, and the lyrics really do nothing for me, but I'm a sucker for Rhodes and non-cloying twinkling. And then the cello comes in, and we all know what a sucker I am for that. I'm still very borderline on whether I really like this song, but the instrumentation is just so compelling. Oren Lavie, how did you know to use some of the few instruments I can't refuse? If you had tossed in an accordion, I would be all over this, and there'd be no holding back.

19. Taken by Trees- Too Young (TTA Remix) (zShare)

I first heard about Taken by Trees because of a cover that Victoria Bergsman (of The Concretes) had done of "Sweet Child of Mine." It's a cute enough cover, but not anything earth-shattering, but there was something about her shaky little voice that I really liked. And that's where this song comes in. It's sort of wan and wobbly, but it refuses to be melancholy, relying on the vestiges of exuberance peppering the background to keep the happiness hanging around.

20. Jackie-O Motherfucker- Hey! Mr. Sky

Jackie-O's been all over the place. From 30-minute experimystical soundbaths to 3-minute folk fingerpickings, it's been consistently hard to pin them down. This track is from their 2005 album Flags of the Sacred Harp, which is no less eclectic but overall, more focused on crafting what people would usually consider "songs." This is one such song, and it's got more structure than the Motherfuckers are used to, but it's still loose and wandering and dark, keeping all the elements of what make me like the band to begin with.

-------

I keep plugging Said the Gramophone, and I can't emphasize enough how much I like the work that the guys over there are doing. They recently held a video contest, and some of the entries were simply amazing. Catch them all here. But one of them has been stuck in my head for a while, and it keeps coming back to me. It combines creepiness, modernity, and oldworld academics in a way that I can't help but feel is a commentary on this whole skewed, strange, antiquated system that I've elected to become a part of. I know that it probably has more to say about art, but I'm going to be a bit solipsistic and interpret it in the name of academia. Regardless of your interpretation, though, I'm going to recommend that you watch it:

Woodhands - Can't See Straight from Timothy Moore on Vimeo.

And finally, I'd like to say thanks to all of you who gave me feedback over the last month. It was really useful, and I think that, for the most part, the blog is going to stay the same. There may be some subtle shifts, but the monthly mix will stay. And I really appreciate everyone who reads this; it's really nice for me to have an excuse to listen to music and share it with others. Plus, it gets me out of preparing for that presentation I have to give in my Encyclopédie class this afternoon.

Can't escape those Swedes. Ever.

2008-02-13T07:37:00.000-08:00

Okay, okay. I know I've been going Scandinavian-crazy lately, but I'm too excited to contain myself with this post!

One of my favorite artists of last year, Britta Persson, just released another album, Kill Hollywood Me, and while I've only had a chance to listen to half of it, it's remarkably good. It's less sparse and more upbeat than Top Quality Bones and a Little Terrorist, but still an album with eyes brazenly downcast. Instead of slipping into your heart, layer by layer, Britta inches in this time, drawing attention to each move, each syllable, each pound of the drum and staccato pianokey hit. She seems stronger, less content to be the beautifully quiet girl, and while the album still doesn't have any standouts like "Winter Tour" or "This Spring" for me, as a whole, I find it much more compelling.

Here's a live performance of "Cliffhanger," the opening track. She's not the most engaging onstage personality, but you can get a taste of what I mean by the confident downness of this album as opposed to the slyly strong meekness that characterizes "Winter Tour" (also below).

[Buy Kill Hollywood Me]

(and maybe get some Hello Saferide while you're at it)

Femme = Bondage mistress?

2008-02-11T18:19:00.000-08:00

Well, color me surprised that this is the first Google image response for "femme." Or perhaps I'm not that surprised. I suppose it beats the first Google image response for "lady":

Anyhow, this month's mix is all about the womanly singer. For the most part, I'll leave descriptions off this month except for where I find them particularly interesting because a) of time issues, b) I'm not sure about the format of this blog, and I'll speak more about this after the music. Until then....

1. La Laque- Secret

2. Lykke Li- Window Blues

3. Francoise Hardy- Je N'attends Plus Personne

4. Ms. John Soda- No. one

5. The Noisettes- Signs

6. Ashlee Simpson- Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)

Okay, I know you're thinking, "What the hell is ASHLEE SIMPSON doing on here?" But all I can say, with shrugging shoulders, is that Timbaland was the producer, and he only produces catchy-ass magic.

7. Charming Hostess- Dali Tzerni

8. unknown- [Untitled]

From a compilation called Cambodia Rocks. There are no track or artist names, which makes it difficult to give or discover any extra info about the music, but the whole album is really quite good.

9. The Kingpins- L'Aventurier

10. Wir Sind Helden- Die Konkurrenz

11. Lederhosen Lucil- Ooo...OMG

12. She and Him- Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?

She and Him is the duo of the ever-so-lovely-and-crushworthy Zooey Deschanel and the equally delightful M. Ward. Their album comes out on Merge on March 18.

13. The Do- At Last

Thank you French iTunes for cluing me in. I'm really liking what I've heard of this album. It evokes a more pronounced, female Neil Young vibe. Sadly, it's not out in the States, to my knowledge.

14. Kylie Minogue- 2 Hearts

Oh, pop love. How you do grip me.

15. Denali- Hold Your Breath

16. Glass Candy- The Chameleon (a capella)

Not entirely a capella, but the classification is theirs, not mine.

17. Robyn- Eclipse

18. Cibelle- Green Grass

19. Natalia Lafourcade- Invierno

For some reason, Google Pages decided that they didn't like this upload, so I've put it up on zShare for your consumption. As an additional pain-in-the-ass step, though, you'll have to go to this link to retrieve it. But trust me, it's quite good. This is from the newest EP from the singer featured on that Captain Melao song a few months ago.

20. Au Revoir Simone- Fallen Snow

Okay, so now to business. I'd like some feedback from you guys about a couple of things. First, I'm not really sure how many people read this blog, and if you do, whether you'd prefer for me, like this week just to shut up and give you the music with info where necessary, or if you like the descriptions.

Also, do you like the once-a-month format? I've been considering maintaining it more like a regular music blog, just posting whenever I come across a particularly gem-like treasure (both old and new) like I did with the Lykke Li, but I certainly won't have time to update daily.

What do you guys think? Now that the blog has been operative for a few months, would you like to see more frequent postings with fewer songs, would you like less description, more description, or do you like it just the way it is? Fear not about my feelings, dear ones, because this is more for you than it is for me. I love sharing the music that I like, so my soul will be thrilled with any of these options, so I'd like to know how this sharing will make you happiest.

Oh, those Swedes...

2008-02-06T09:36:00.000-08:00

So, as Rachel and Tyson can attest, the Swedes just have it. And I'm jumping on the bandwagon for another Swedish obsession. LYKKE LI! She's so freaking adorable, and I've gone ga ga. Yes, I was on the Robyn bandwagon both when I was 14 and 2 years ago, and now here's another popstress for me to love.

Just listen and watch and see if you don't follow suit....

Lykke Li in a bathroom: Soundvenue

Lykke Li with a bunch of other Swedes (Robyn included, as well as Adam and Bebban (Shout Out Louds), Daniel (The Concretes), Lars (Laakso), and Mikael (Hjalmar).

And finally, here's more Lykke cuteness:

I can't wait for her album to come out in the States. Sheesh.

A full post will come soon, but for now, I'm off to a France Chicago Center talk. Adieu!

A New Year for Monkfish

2008-01-16T14:06:00.001-08:00

I've never been a great fan of New Year's as a holiday. Too much introspection, too much consideration of past wrongs, past rights, just too much thought about the past in general. And then there's that whole looking to the future thing. There's too much of that too. But then I find myself here, ready to put together this month's mix, and here it is, the New Year's mix. The forward and the back. The old and the new. A place for both, and both in their place.

The inspiration for this month's playlist can be credited to Myron, my external hard drive who houses and cuddles all of my music. As soon as I returned to Chicago, ready to bah humbug the new year into being, determined not to think about the past or the future in any systematic way, Myron decided to quit. And much of my music decided to call it quits on me too. Luckily,

some of it is salvageable since I kept a backup drive that had been updated not-too-long ago, but I still haven't taken the time to transfer my treasures onto a new, hopefully-more-reliable external.

So....this mix will very much be in the wistful vein of New Year's. One old song, kept on CD instead of computer, followed by one new, downloaded within the past week.

1) The Kinks- Waterloo Sunset

The fullest emptiness possible. Or the emptiest fullness? A three-minute paradox to please the sensibilities.

2) Bowerbirds- In Our Talons

Dejected folk instruments imitate the nestedness of nature while a trembing of finches collides with a murder of crows to create choral, but still strangely intimate, vocals. (P.S.- How cool are the names for collective animal groups?)

Bowerbirds recently toured with John Vanderslice and the Mountain Goats, which should tell you a lot about their overall sound. From their newest album Hymns I also reccommend "My Oldest Memory," which is streamable at their website.

3) The Beatles- Honey Pie

Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime gal...

The Beatles of the 20s.

I love it.

4) Mobius Band- A Hint of Blood (Daytrotter Session)

I think the folks over at Daytrotter put it best when they called the Mobius Band's latest album Heaven a delightful pan of Jello-O Jigglers. Wiggly, elusive, and just a little bit more fun than you want to admit, this song about the band's sometimes dysfunctional relationship embodies that gelatinousness to a T while still being vegan- and vegetarian-friendly.

5) Elvis Costello- Green Shirt

This is one of my favorite songs. Everything about it is absolutely perfect. It's so understated that it's easy to overlook at first, but then you start noticing the way he enunciates the "s" on the end of "minutes,"the perfect entry of harpsichordesque jabs of synth, the subtle mounting

of beats and layers. This song changes a million times while managing to sound the same throughout. It's the perfect example of pop minimalism.

6) Department of Eagles- No One Does it Like You

Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear has vocals so much like Richard Swift that I had to look it up to make sure it wasn't him! Just test me; here's a live recording from an in-studio I did with Swift at KSPC.

Aside from that, the jangly, shadowed background reminds me a lot of a less-pristine Bat for Lashes. Again, simplicity rules the roost.

7) David Bowie- What in the World

And here comes Bowie with an Atari overlay of erratic bubblepop bleeps and overt seduction. Counter to the sonic nature so much of the rest of Low, this song holds on to the mood lyrically as a winsome tribute to the fear of love.

8) Brooks Strause- You Gonna Need the Devil

His voice is so raw that it's almost a turnoff, but for some reason, this blackbackhillsofTennessee song grabs you by the guts and refuses to let go. This man must surely have a mountain man beard. I can't see it any other way.

9) Iggy Pop- Cry for Love

A rainy night in a fast car on deserted city streets. Soul searching, deep, plunging into the abyss, all while maintaining irresistible charisma and undeniable sex. Violins cry a melody of pure rock. This skinny, hideously sinewy man can somehow churn out so much pheromonic allure that any woman's heart must surely wrench in its wake.

10) Prototypes- Je ne te connais pas

Garage rock punk rock handclap pop. It's got the gritty synth, the steady, static drumming, chanting "yeah" choruses, and fuck--it's in French! It's a wheezy, pausing version of the seventies squished into the voices of young girls. Who the hell knows what era this embodies, and who the hell cares?

11) CCR- Hey Tonight

Seeing as how they're one of my dad's favorite bands, I certainly got my share of CCR growing up. My dad's first purchase when he graduated from college was this gigantic piece of furniture that had speakers, an 8-track player, and a record player built in. It's still in our living room since he refuses to let me mother get rid of it, and while it's now covered with family photos and my dad's two succulents (which he loves dearly for some reason), I remember listening to CCR on vinyl as a kid, dancing around the living room while my dad strummed along on the guitar or banjo.

12) Yeasayer- 2080

This is probably my favorite track of these new ones. Almost drowned out with minimal, muddled fidelity, this song still grabs you with compelling melodies and an equally harnessing voice. It's layered in all the right places, and grants you the feeling of floating while still keeping you tethered to the tune. The rest of the album can't rival this song, but it's still

ethereal in the same way if you feel the need for quiet, urgent escape. And for some reason, it gives me a delightful soupcon of Peter Gabriel, as irrational as that may seem.

13) Nina Simone- Suzanne

The first of two Suzannes on this mix, Nina Simone's track gives you soulful longing, solitude, and smoothing, soothing peace. There are teases, flirts, and trills, and it's all carpeted with a voice dark enough, thick enough, and aching enough to feel real and honest. I love how Nina's voice always carried the song instead of the other way around. And it occurs to me as I listen to this song that Antony from Antony and the Johnsons borrows more from this chanteuse than he ever did from Cher, as I previously believed.

14) The Brunettes- Small Town Crew

This may tie the Yeasayer song for my current favorite. This is indie pop at its most sophisticated. All of the typical elements are there--horns, a sweet voice, la las, and gentle, fuzzy guitar--but they aren't arranged in all of the typical ways. They've become something more structural, more mature, more meaningful, but just as fun as indie pop has always been. By the time the time change at 2:08 comes, you're already so ensconced in the song that it feels as if that moment has always been on its way; there's simply no other way that that melancholy shift could go.

15) Ann Sexton- You've Been Gone Too Long

No, not the poet with bipolar disorder who wrote devastatingly beautiful, charged poetry before she killed herself in 1974. This 1970s Sexton is decidedly happier and decidedly more in charge.

16) Celebration- Pressure

"Pressure" certainly lives up the name of Celebration's latest album The Modern Tribe. Something raw and primal invades this tonal track, and the song moodily swirls around the vocals instead of bolstering them. The variation comes from what could almost be a sparse, but powerful, a capella performance from Katrina Ford. Celebration are friends with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and TV on the Radio if that tells you anything, and members of both bands appear on this release.

17) Lou Reed- I Love You, Suzanne

The second of our Suzannes is the recipient of kicky, punchy lovebegging. Holding promises of autonomy, ability, and independence in the face of the restraint of his unrelenting ardor, the song at once frees and traps its namesake. Lou Reed, while a man who walks on the wild side, is not wild enough to relinquish his heartgrip.

18) Bye Bye Bicycle- Sirens

Bye Bye Bicycle's bio on MySpace describes their sound thusly: "Bye bye bicycle (Cykeltjuvarna) is, soul-beat gimmicks were hooked on top P!O!P! product, which simply reinforced their danceable version contained a insanely sparkling vocal with untempered emotion, guitar riffs twisted into blink of virtuosity, so hurry up to these 4 jangle-indie songs on their myspace site, you would easily ever want to play 'em again."

I have no idea what that means, but it sounds good to me.

19) Graham Nash- Military Madness

An ever-pertinent song, I'm sure we'll all agree. Kick it, Graham!

20) Ferraby Lionheart- Under the Texas Sky (Daytrotter session)

I first listened to Ferraby Lionheart judging by name alone, and I was very pleased to be adequately rewarded. He's a less-crazy Devendra Banhart, a less-pompous Ryan Adams. He's compelling, soft, sweet, and sprinkled with gentle reverb. This song was the result of driving across Texas and looking at cacti. Ferraby says, "I think I started to feel the isolation of the cactus, like maybe they had emotions, and developed a sympathy for them. It seemed romantic." Adorable.

21) Bob Dylan- Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat

I really want a hat like this. It'd never leave my head. Ever.

22) Kate Nash- Skeleton Song

I honestly can't tell whether I like Kate Nash, but something about her has been intriguing me this week, so I decided to bite the bullet and include a track. She's essentially a less clever, British Regina Spektor, which might be the two reasons that I can't decide. I like Brits, as we all know, but I prefer the sauciness of Miss Spektor, which seems severely lacking (although tried for) throughout the whole Nash album. Whether I'm being too hard on her wit, you can decide, but I still think there's something charming about her (not to mention that she's incredibly cute!).

Quick, quick, quick!

2007-12-17T13:32:00.000-08:00

Eep! The break has snuck up on me, and I'm heading back to Texas bright and early. Today will be filled with all kinds of errands, cleaning, packing, shoveling snow (thanks, Daniel!), so the mix will have to fall to the wayside this month. Instead of being entirely lazy with it though, here's a mini-mix of songs that have been tickling my fancy lately. They're in no real order, so the flow may not be the greatest of great, but at least the songs can speak for themselves.

Love, and happy holidays!

P.S.-Note that there's a new sidebar feature. Now you can listen to the songs without downloading them if you wish. The code, size-wise isn't perfect, but it's what I could do in a jiffy, and it only works for the most recent mix even though the others may still be listed.

1) Vampire Weekend- Bryn

Terrible band name, great jig. Often compared to Paul Simon; I see it, but I don't think they've had their kodachrome taken away. More swell. More indie prep. More pep.

2) Cortney Tidwell- The Missing Link

Starts off sounding hopeful, ends out sounding like a blissfully charged romp through despair.

3) Broadcast 2000- Get Up and Go

It's nice when tinkle doesn't equal twee.

4) Sea Wolf- The Cold, the Dark, and the Silence

Irving bandmember crafts a compellingly weary pop ballad.

5) Mickey Green- Oh!

One instance in which model-gone-singer actually works. Feist's French producer pumps out the jams.

6) Marissa Nadler- Yellow Lights

Ethereal voices always strike me more than others. See: Diane Cluck, Eisley, so on and so forth.

7) Bon Iver- Skinny Love

Falsetto isn't always wrong. Bon Iver knows how to temper his dulcet, castrati verses with a pounding, bleeding chorus.

8) Indurain- The Moment

Cheer city without warm washes of sound.

9) Nena- Lass Mich

German popfrau lives on beyond 99 Luftballoons.

10) The House of Love- Shine On

Another stupid band name, but a good 80s slit-wrist song with a beat.

11) Chameleons UK- The Fan and the Bellows

1981 thunder. Touches of lightning.

If you're in the mood for Christmas cheer, check out the Christmas mix at Swedesplease. I'm not a huge fan of Christmas music, but these songs are way better than the same old classics.

Also, Sean over at Said the Gramophone, my favorite music blog, has just put out a list of his 50 favorite songs of the year. You can download them all one-by-one or in one great big lovable zip file.

Coziness comes early this year.

2007-11-12T16:40:00.001-08:00

Ahh, it's nearing that time of the quarter when the stress becomes so palpable that it oozes from your pores and leaves a greasy trail in your wake. It's certainly nearing that time of the quarter when sleep becomes ever more precious, when no amounts of caffeine can improve the haze that your brain perpetually labors in, when your mind just aches to rest. And this is the nature of the beast. This is what I love doing, what I love feeling, regardless of how much I might kvetch.

But even things that you love need some space sometime, and this stress-shadow is no exception. So this month's mix is devoted to a really mellow, mostly instrumental, complete bliss-out series of songs. Maybe it can be your Thanksgiving tryptophan music. Maybe it can just lull you to sleep, or maybe a nice sip of steaming chai can roll along your tongue while these melodies roll across your ears. Any way it goes, I hope you enjoy.

NOTE: 2 MP3s are still being stubborn and not uploading, but I thought I'd go ahead and post this anyway. I'll add them as soon as I can get the kinks out. Or, alternatively, you can email me, and I'll send them to you.

1. Team Sleep- Cambodia

As I mentioned, stress is looming large, so the descriptions this month won't be terribly detailed, but I might have a few interesting tidbits to impart.... Team Sleep is the more lo-fi, less rocking side project of Deftones frontman Chino Moreno. If you're a Deftones fan, you might recognize this sound from the song "Teenager" on the band's third album (White Pony), which was originally not supposed to go on the album. It struck such a positive chord with the other band members and fans alike that it did, indeed, finally end up there though, and it led to Chino taking Team Sleep more seriously and writing more original material in that dream-poppy, white-noise covered shoegaze style.

2. The Fiery Furnaces- Teach Me Sweetheart

Brother and sister! From Illinois! This is from their 5th album Bitter Tea. There's a lot of backmasking on this album, and this track (while it reveals only swirls of off-kilter instrumentation and no secret lyrics) is no exception.

3. Tujiko Noriko and Ludovic Poulet- Black Spirit

Tujiko Noriko was a senior-year-of-college find, and I fell instantly in love with her album Blurred in My Mirror. This is from a 4-track EP that she and Poulet (of Portradium) put together at the behest of French visual artist Saadane Afif in 2004. Afif asked musicians to write music in reaction to one of his exhibitions, and this CD is a response to "Melancholic Beat," an exhibition held at the Folkwang Museum in Essen, Germany. Lili Reynaud-Dewar composed sets of lyrics directly connected to particular artworks, and Noriko and Poulet then crafted the music.

4. Matmos- Lipostudio

This track is the first from Matmos' 2001 album A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure. The album's samples come primarily from medical procedures, and as the title of this track might suggest, the noises are...yes...from a liposuction. Matmos are great lovers of the humorously quirky concept album, and alongside their work in porn soundtracks, in 2006 they released an album dedicated to 10 of their heroes called The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of the Beast. Ever-cheeky, ever-witty, these boys craft intelligent (but still accessible) electronic music to be reckoned with.

5. Madvillian/ Four Tet- Great Day (Instrumental)

From a 2005 remix album. Four Tet rocks my world.

6. Tunng- The Wind Up Bird

Experimental folktronica at its best. The Books came out to great acclaim in 2004, and then the genre's heyday waned a bit after The Lemon of Pink's popularity. I'm partial to Tunng over The Books, so if you were a fan of the aforementioned New York acousticans, you should be prepared for the melancholy stylings of Tunng. Their most famous song (if one can say that their songs are famous to any extent) is actually a cover of Bloc Party's "Pioneers" that appeared on the Bloc Party remix album.

7. Oneida- Run Through My Hair

I was recently told that Oneida, of Oneida silverware, began as a free love sex colony, and they made silverware to support their lifestyle. I hope that this is true. And I hope that this band knew that before dubbing themselves.

8. Susumu Yokota- Traveler in the Wonderland

One of, if not my absolute, favorite experimental samplers, Yokota branched out a bit for this album, adding a lot of sonic texture by using copious samples of famous classical works (in contrast with his previous minimalist works). He still shows immense restraint, letting the samples float in and out of one another, pacing them perfectly so they become entirely new compositions rather than a plain ol' mash-up. Brilliant.

9. Rachel's- Water from the Same Source

I love this whole album, but for some reason, I always find myself coming back time and time again to this track in particular. I remember watching flashes of lightning backlit by a deep purple sky from the second floor of Clark I (dorms for you non-Pomonans) the first time I ever heard this song, and that moment has been seared into me. It strikes me as one of the most fitting musical moments I've ever experienced.

10. Max Richter- On the Nature of Daylight

Mostly known for being a composer, a fun little fact about Max Richter is that he produced the 2005 Vashti Bunyan album Lookaftering. This man has his hand in several good pots.

11. Azure Ray- Sleep

Deliciousness incarnate. Or insonicarnate. I'm devastated that they are no more.

12. Felix Laband- Whistling in Tongues

If you decide that you really like Felix Laband you might have a hard time tracking down this South African musician. He tends to be reclusive, and he has no official website or other source of biographical content. But you can get his first two albums from African Dope Records, and his latest album is available on Compost Records.

13. Sia- Breathe Me (Ulrich Schnauss Remix)

The Four Tet version of this song is my absolute favorite, but the Ulrich Schnauss is perfect for zoning out and just letting the waves wash over you. Sia is a tiny, giggly blonde British woman, and you may recognize her as one of the voices of Zero 7. I have no idea how you fit so much huskiness, feeling, and strength in one little happy package, but Sia definitely nails it.

14. Timonium- Populations

Thanks to Kenn at KSPC for introducing me to Timonium when this album came out!

15. Takako Minekawa- Sleep Song

This song is a lot denser than Minekawa's other music, but you can still sense the lightheartedness for which she's so beloved. An avid fan of French pop music and krautrock (what an interesting combo....), she's put out a pretty prolific 9 albums on Emperor Norton and Polystar.

16. Fennesz- Rivers of Sand

I tried not to go too minimalist with this mix because I know that most people don't share my love of the avant-garde blips and fuzz, but I decided that Christian Fennesz was going to be my one lapse since I love this song so much. Fennesz is all about texture, and this song is so lovely in the way that he mixes so many layers so richly. If you find that you're interested in any of this minimalistic stuff, I have a lot more, and I'm always happy to talk about and share it.

________________

In non-mellow mode, my new obsession is The Hood Internet. They've got some of the best mash-ups I've ever heard (consistently!), and it's all really great music. I highly, highly recommend that everyone download the entire first mixtape (a link is available on the sidebar), and as I write this, I'm eagerly downloading the second one which was just released today (the 12th). Hooray! Dance party!

Cos you can feel the sin.

2007-10-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

Howdy,

It's time for another installment, and for this month's mix I decided to go upbeat and themeless. So, with no further ado, I'll break into it with a nice little mash-up:

1. 50 Cent and the Jungle Book- If I Can't (In the Jungle with Baloo Mix)

I've had this for quite some time, but in light of Fiddy's recent release and my love for Amanda, who took a shining to this mash-up on our road trip, I thought this would be a good way to get the ball rolling this month. With horns, some ah-ahs, and rollicking machismo goodness, this song completely screams "gritty kiddy."

2. I'm from Barcelona- We're From Barcelona

It’s hard to imagine a cheerier song. With a chorus of la-las (or na-nas?), handclap-esque snare, and an abundance of tinkly xylophone, this song would elicit a sway from the stodgiest of gents. Love is a feeling that they don’t understand, but they certainly do give it to you. Polyphonic Spree, watch your backs; I’m from Barcelona is coming for your chorustastic, blissful cult sound.

3. Ezra Furman- Mother's Day

Ezra Furman is a wannabe Dylan in the best possible way. Lyrics of street corners, youth, the loss of youth, tempting eyes, and the soundlessness of fury rake over a frantic, repetitive strum, giving the listener a solid sense of the untargeted urgency of uncertainty, all erupting in one final FUCK. Yes. Okay. All right.

4. Spitfires and Mayflowers- Pirates

I love how many pieces this song has; it’s a 5-minute patchwork where the disparate time signatures, tones, and vocal approaches all come together to make a passionate, organic whole. The sweet break at 1:58 downright gets me, and then when you add the lilting, disjunctive lyrics about incest, it just all comes together as a fully-functional oddity. I’m not a huge fan of the breakdown/ band intro that starts at 3:32, so my feelings certainly won’t be hurt if you skip it, but I love the rest of the song so much that I’m more than willing to forgive that non-functioning bit of weirdness.

5. The Pipettes- Why Did You Stay?

Amanda, I can’t thank you enough for introducing me to these little British cuties. In under two minutes, they pack in a killer 60s pop song with brilliant harmonies, a catchy chorus, and oodles of feeling. They’ve certainly got the neo-retro thing perfected.

6. Emily Loizeau- Boby Chéri

This lady knows how to do cabaret pop. This stumbly piano fingers, French melody comes from her first album, L'autre bout du monde (2006).

7. Ceci Bastida- Ya Me Voy

Thank you KCRW for another stellar recommendation, and thank you iTunes for giving this song to me for free. (Really, people, check the free iTunes songs every week; there are always 3-a Discovery Download, a Latin one, and the normal free download- and while they mostly suck, sometimes you get awesomeness.) Getting back to the charming Ceci, all it takes to get a darkly cute (and pissed) tune like “Ya Me Voy,” is the combination of a melodica, charmingly nasal Spanish, and tin can bops.

8. Instituto Mexicano del Sonido- El Microfono

Funk dance party time! Walk down a leaf-littered street and let and the crisp air hit your cheeks while you listen to this. You’ll develop a swagger, the movements of passersby will seem to fit to the beat, and you’ll really want to groove. And grooving is all you can really do. "The Institute" is comprised of only one man, Camilo Lara, who knows how to blend hip hop and cha cha like none other. This track is from Piñata, Lara's second album.

9. Flying- Minors

What a weird little number, and after several listens, oh how I love it. This is what happens when two songs become one and then get played over a sound effects CD. Rife with strange 60s organ trills, guttural growls, scratches, and howling distortion, this track makes me think of an All Hallow’s Eve Parade. Witches, wolves, and grubby creatures wind their way through jack-o-lantern lit streets searching for the lost soul the song describes. How fitting that this mix comes just in time….

10. Charlotte Hatherley- Behave (Luke Smith remix)

I’ve had this song for a while, and miraculously, I’ve never paid any attention to it until it popped up on shuffle last week. And goddamn it, I’m hooked! I can’t explain why, how, or even what, but something about this song really does it for me. It’s a typical popatrix song threaded through rattles, bleeps, and off-key synth. This is a slightly off-kilter and off-beat tune that inspires body-moving.

11. Enon- Sabina

Enon’s an old favorite for some of you, I know, and if you listened to indie radio at all during the dancerock craze, I’m sure you’ve experienced the Enon at least once. The New York posse recently released a new album, Grass Geysers…Carbon Clouds, which definitely holds up to the greatness of High Society, in my opinion, and pretty sufficiently trumps Hocus-Pocus. You may notice the continued theme of the 1950s-ish handclap beat music. I didn’t notice in making my “upbeat” mix that all of them shared the “dada. da.” but apparently my subconscious finds this beat winsome.

12. The Clash- Police On My Back

I have several Clash albums on vinyl, but since I've been record playerless in Chicago, I had forgotten how much I loved this band until they popped up again on a mix Tyson made for a car trip. I've been mildly obsessed with The Clash and this song in particular since then. Lyrically simple and really damn catchy, you just can't go wrong.

13. Division Day- Tap Tap

It’s time to get some Claremontians in here. The bassist of Division Day, Seb Bailey, was a Pitzer kid back in the day, and I remember when KSPC got their first EP, which was one of the first records I ever reviewed at the station. That EP, The Mean Way In, was recorded at John Vanderslice’s studio in the Bay Area, and while it was an all right release that showcased their clear, croony, slightly melancholy pop sound, only one of the songs really did anything for me. Three years later I saw them at the Silverlake Lounge opening for Minus the Bear, and I was happy to find that their songwriting had met up with their sound. This track is from their latest album, Beartrap Island, out recently on L.A. pop label Eenie Meenie Records. They also recently contributed to a covers album on Roxy Music, and you can hear one of the songs, "More Than This," on their MySpace page. I also like the song "Tigers" which you can also hear there.

14. Apostle of Hustle- National Anthem of Nowhere

Kind of bleary. Pretty muted. Certainly couldn’t be called optimistic. But still, Apostle of Hustle manage to keep some hustle in the tune. To make such a melancholy tune without sacrificing the driving rhythm is definitely an ability that I like.

15. Agent Simple- Friday

The name of the band says it all. Simple. And they certainly prove that simplicity is all that’s needed to craft a good song.An almost Arab Strap booming, depressed, speech-sung singer repeating the same few lines over and over is paired with a cutesy, one-word female vocalist, a jangly guitar riff and castanets. Casta-FUCKING-nets! ‘Nuff said.

16. Yael Naim- New Soul

When I first heard the opening lyrics, I thought this song would be…well…blech. But then the horns and the sine curve of the tune (up, down, up, down, up, down) soon won me over. And, as I’m sure you’re learning, I’m a fan of the gibberish singing. Ba-buhs may be my personal favorite singing gibberish, but la-las work too. Oh, and that same handclap beat appears again. Weird.

Naim was born in Paris and raised in Israel, where she received a classical education in jazz. The album that "New Soul" appears on is a collaboration with David Donatien, a West Indian drummer, and most of the songs are in Hebrew.

17. Chauntelle DuPree- One More Day with You

AND SURPRISE! I’m officially breaking the upbeatness because I didn’t want an entirely cheery CD. Fall is also the time for some gray bleakness, and this song is perfect for the season. Now, my guess is that most of you don’t recognize the singer’s name, but if you’ve spent any time around me at all, you very well might recognize the way she sings. This is the eldest sister in Eisley, the one who never sings on the records, and this is a song that she recorded at home a few years ago. (My guess is that the male in the song is Josiah Holland, Chauntelle’s longtime flame who, once upon a time, went to ETBU and who now is in a band of his own.) It’s not like a typical Eisley song; it’s much more stripped down, much more mature, much more…normal. I’m glad that Eisley sings about mermaids entwined in shrubberies and that they have kept their quirky Rhodes-loving sound, but it’s nice to hear such an awesome other side. I hope you agree.

18. Amy Annelle- Will Try

This is another bleakish song, but one that’s rosy with the dawn. The cover of this album is perfect for the tenor Annelle’s music: faded grays and blues, the cold emptiness of the morning, no one in sight. But peeking over the horizon is the brilliant pinkish orange of faith, of the results of effort. Quietly optimistic, despite all the monochromaticity, Amy Annelle has certainly mastered the sinesthesia of hope.

19. Radiohead- Nude

Ahh, yes. The new Radiohead album. I’m sure you have it or know about it or have heard about it, but I still needed to give you a taste just in case you hadn’t heard it. It’s not as jaw-dropping as some of their other albums. There are no moments that made me stop breathing, that made me sit utterly still. But overall, this is a pure, beautiful, and masterfully constructed album. It hangs together perfectly and builds a mood as only Radiohead know to do. I chose this track, not because it’s my favorite; this isn’t an album for a favorite. I chose it because it keeps up this vaguely optimistic thread that we’ve been running, and because it keeps the light of hope burning in the carverns of downtempo. And because Thom Yorke allows himself to become Ariel from The Little Mermaid at the end. Catch those last twenty seconds and tell me that there’s no singing for Ursula happening!

20. Al Green- Jesus is Waiting

Al Green is such a master, and this felt like the ideal way to round out this mix. It’s lowkey but still headbobby and fun. All in all, there’s not much I can say about this song except that I think it’s perfect in just about every way.

________________________

Also, I highly recommend the latest Contrast Podcast about time. There are some not-so-clever interludes (yes, that means you Pogoagogo), but overall, who can argue with a mix that has The Smiths, Rancid, Bob Dylan, Wesley Willis (God, that song cracks me up), Flight of the Conchords, and ballboy? For those of you unfamiliar with Contrast, Tim Young compiles a weekly themed mix from the submissions of other music bloggers. It's a good way to find blogs and songs that you like, and it's a good way to entertain yourself at work when your iPod runs low on battery.

And for those of you who liked the Midlake tune from the first mix, they recently did an on-air for Sound Opinions, a Chicago Public Radio show (thanks, Harold). You can find the episode online here if you're interested. Sadly, they didn't play my favorite songs from the record, but the songs they did play still sound pretty nice.

And lastly, I'm excited to find out about 5 minutes ago that Richard Swift has a newish album! I used to swoon majorly over his music, and he was the first artist I ever engineered live sound for, so for that reason, he's still got a special place in the Carolyn Music Cosmology.

All right, over and out for this month. Please let me know what you think! Or what you'd like to hear. I have some ideas that have been simmering, but with the hecticness of school, I haven't had the time to flesh them out. Hopefully soon I can crank out a really good thematic mix.

Je reviens

2007-09-21T09:16:00.000-07:00

Bonjour,

Large and semi-dark on the horizon looms my return to the rigors of my grad program. In light of this fact, this month's mix features music that makes me think of France or French history. BUT, because of my reluctance to leap right back into school (and thinking) yet, I chose only songs that evoke France in sentiment, name, lyrics, etc.--not in language. So welcome to Frenchness without French....

1. John Cale- Paris 1919

I'm going to kick it off with the title track from Cale's 1973 album, which pulses with strings and marches staccato-ly on until 2:22 when it bursts into a classical moment that sounds as if it came straight from the fairytale ending of Snow White. And then the hustle and bustle of the driving beat returns, and the ghosts of Paris and the steady throngs of passersby on the streets keep marching. There's a fantastic (although very true to the original) cover of this song by Final Fantasy, but I decided to give you the original from a really classic rocker.

2. Sunset Rubdown- A Day in the Graveya rd II

This song by Spencer Krug (the man behind Sunset Rubdown's eclectic brevity) may not immediately whisper "France" to you, but I think that, sonically, it combines a lot of elements that evoke Paris for me; there's a constant buzz of white noise combined with a sweet, simple melody that's always just not-quite-right--a tad too dissonant, scattered and rough around the otherwise beautiful edges. Plus, the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise is one of the better known attractions of Paris, so why not think of spending a day in the graveyard?

3. Metric- Patriarch on a Vespa

With a title like that, who can't see the obvious connection with French stereotypes? Beginning with the line, "Promiscuous makes an entrance," Emily Haines' pleasing, smooth voice collides with one of Metric's darker guitar lines which enters whinily and becomes distorted and rife with cascading scales.

4. Rainer Maria- Life of Leisure

Wow, the way this is going, you guys must be starting to think that I find France to be a place of darkness and sadness. This is, in fact, not the case, but for some reason, I feel drawn to songs that mix some element of loneliness, melancholy, or anger with the tinkly and dulcet. They feel so much more real and surreal all at once, and, generally speaking, they remind me of the tenor of a lot of French historiography. The Enlightenment, seemingly a period of free thought and intellectual liberation often contains so many more nuanced, unclear, and downright unsavory elements, and the Revolution is still taught, in many cases, in contradictory terms: as both a gore bath and the liberation of the oppressed.

Okay, unnecessary rant over. This song is another that is angri-sad with a lovely lady singer. It's good. And it talks about learning French, which I still need to formally accomplish.

5. Berlin- The Metro

Lyrically, this is one of my favorite songs. Historical allusions and poetic language come together quite simply (but effectively) in a bouncy 1980s hit. If it's your type of thing, System of a Down did a really angry cover of this song that I find strangely satisfying.

6. Vic Thrill- Circus of Enlightenment

Well, I'm honestly not sure that this song calls the French Enlightenment to mind; it's a catchy, repetitive, and mildly annoying but still lovable diddy that, alluding to zen, plays itself out in spirals. While this one may fit the theme by title alone, I still find it to be a uniquely invigorating, head-boppy tune that everyone should have the chance to bop to.

7. The Decemberists- The Legionnaire's Lament

At this point, everyone knows of The Decemberists. This I know. BUT this is my chance to highlight the lyrics of one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands. Colin Meloy blends words like "joie de vivre," "charabanc," "fecund," and "laudanum," seamlessly and effortlessly into a single song that tells a really vivid story of a 19th-c. French soldier stationed far away from his homeland. Meloy is easily one of the best lyricists out there, and his words always keep me coming back to this band time and time again. Plus, there's accordion!

8. The Minders- Waterlooville

The Minders are a nice, natural follow-up to The Decemberists. Both bands are from Portland, and both share (or shared at the recording times of these two songs) a band member--Rachel Blumberg.Blumberg has also been a member of Norfolk and Western, and she's played with M Ward and Corinna Repp, among others.The Minders are great at creating 2- or 3-minute pop songs that evoke a 1960s vibe, and "Waterlooville," from their album Cul-de-sacs and Dead-ends is no exception.

9. Joni Mitchell- Free Man in Paris

I must admit that I'm not a huge Joni Mitchell fan; I started off thinking that she was amazing, and then my love of her waned for some unknown reason. Regardless of the overall waning, I still think that she's got some great songs, one of which is this song from Court and Spark. It really makes me want to wander.

10. The Left Banke- Walk Away Renee

This little song is truly a classic that most of you have probably heard. I was planning on including a bit of information on it, since I didn't remember a lot more than the fact that it appeared on The Wonder Years once upon a time and that Paul Saint-Amour really fancies it. In my admittedly brief search for information on the song, I realized that the tune has a relatively extensive Wikipedia entry. Someone really must have loved this song.

The French connection? The Left Bank, of course!

11 &12. Soko- I'll Kill Her
Deon Jackson- Love Makes the World Go Round

Ahh, Paris, the city of love... There are many sides to love, and these two tracks show just a couple variants on devotion. The first track, by Soko, an incredibly adorable French duo, was one of my favorites several months ago, and I'm sure that I shared its delights with some of you. But for those of you who have not yet tuned in, this is simultaneously the cutest and creepiest love song that I've encountered in a while. The accent is winsome, and the sentiment is almost equally so--until you realize that she's plotting the death of her unrequited love's lover.

But on a brighter, much brighter, note, Deon Jackson croons his little heart out about how much love can make us feel fine. Combine this with some Eartha Kitt and Louis Armstrong's version of "La Vie en Rose," and you have a nice little grouping of oldies to make some coq au vin or bechamel sauce to. Imagine Julia Child swaying along to this tune as she bastes a chicken with butter, apron flying as she twirls to place the roasting rack in the oven.

13. Pinback- Rousseau

Ahh, Rob Crow, such a softie. There's always a muted element to Pinback's songs, the feeling that you're blocked from some fullness of sound, the full force of the emotion Crow is imparting in his lyrics. Pinback can craft the most beautiful, layered songs, and yet they still feel gray, sleepy, and ominous. For this mix I debated whether to include "Rousseau" or "Montaigne," but ultimately, I had to go with my boy Rousseau. So amusing, so clever, so cheeky.

14. Le Tigre- Fake French

We start off again with sickly sweet vocals sassed up by some serious bass, but Le Tigre play off this oh-so-awesome French pop technique to spice it up even more with less melodic, choppier spoken verses in simple, declarative sentences.

15. Emilie Simon- Song of the Storm

Emilie Simon's The Flower Book is easily one of my favorite albums from last year. She's got the tinily alluring voice of a diminutive French chanteuse, but it's placed over harsh, fragmented electronic beats. My favorite track from the album is a really amazing cover of Iggy Pop's "I Wanna Be Your Dog," but I'm sure I've shared it with multiples of you, so I wanted to give you another track to clue you in to how great the entire album is. And goddamn, the girl's got some serious fashion....

16 & 17. The Action Slacks- Joan of Arc
David Garza- Joan of Arc

The first of this martyrly duo popped into my life on a mix from Mark Fletcher, back in Cambridge, despite the fact that half of the band hails from Los Angeles and appeared on a neighboring indie radio station with some frequency (I later discovered). This song is one of those that will sort of pounce on you. At first, you almost write it off as being too early-90s, and then something clicks. You. Realize. how. fucking. fun. it. is. Handclaps, quick beats, a little French emperor and some death. And there's even a tambourine!

The second Joan anthem is the first's antithesis. Downtempo, stripped, and melancholy as all hell, this track floats hopelessly where the other dogpaddles frantically.

18. Keren Ann- Seventeen

Keren Ann was born in Israel, and lived in Israel and the Netherlands until the age of 11 when her family moved to France. She now lives in Paris, and I think that this track is almost as "French" as you can get without having it sung in French. Keren Ann combines lush orchestration (all of which is composed, if not played, by Keren herself) with a melodic but slightly husky voice to evoke singers and eras long past.

19 & 20. Aaron Sprinkle- Genevieve
Old 97s- Adelaide

These two songs hold a bit of particular meaning for me as far as French history goes. My senior year at Pomona was crucial in cementing my desire to be a French historian; until that point, I had been applying to medieval/ critical theory programs for literature. That, is, until Gary introduced me to the letters of Genevieve de Malboissiere to her best friend Adelaide Meliand. Genevieve was a remarkable girl who died from measles at age 19 (in 1765), and her letters are really colorful, lively, and witty. I'll spare you the details of her numerous accomplishments, but basically, she's the kind of girl I'd like to think that I would have been or would have been friends with back then, and I found myself loving every minute that I was working with her letters. So I thought it fitting that I add a couple of songs for Genevieve and Adelaide, and to top it off, these are a couple of my favorites. Aaron Sprinkle has worked with all kinds of people (including Eisley), and I've been listening to him for ages, since he was in Rose Blossom Punch and Poor Old Lu, and the Old 97s are good ol' Dallas boys.

21. Laura Veirs- Parisian Dream

Violin-heavy, unlike a lot of her other music, this track makes me think of a couple of French bands, Louise Attaque and Noir Desir. Laura Veirs was a blogosphere favorite a year and a half ago, so you may have heard her there, but you might also recognize her from the tour she did with The Decemberists and the track that she sings on, "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home by Then)," on their latest album, The Crane Wife.

22. John Williams- Theme from Sabrina

The movie Sabrina is probably best remembered as the Audrey Hepburn version, where a young girl finds her way to cooking school and Paris, and comes back to wow the man that she has always loved, only to realize that she's actually in love with his brother. This track comes from the score to the newer version, starring Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond, and Greg Kinnear, which was one of my favorites when I was younger.

23. Radical Face- Asleep on a Train
Radical Face is the side project of Ben Cooper, half of the brains behind Electric President, a great electronic band signed to Morr Music. Originally named "Radical Face versus Phalex Sledgehammer," Cooper pared the name as much as he pared the music by which he had formerly been known. Radical Face's album Ghost is less bleepy and crackly than Electric President's offerings, and it's a much, much quieter album (which I didn't think was that possible). Understated and almost non-existent, this track is perfect for a hazy, gray early morning with the horizon glistening with dew.

One-and-Twenty Blackbirds Baked in an Uzzle-Pye

2007-08-26T15:49:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I've been desiring a music blog of my own for quite some time, but I've never felt that I had the dedication or the drive to maintain the damn thing. Finally I've struck a compromise between my longing and my practicality, and I think that I can commit to posting a single mix CD each month. So here you are--the first tray of music delectables offered up by my discriminating hand.

I was planning on including the tracks as a zip file so that you could download them in one click, but alas and alack, my University of Chicago webspace doesn't allow such girthy files, and it's just marginally over the Googlepages limit. I will try to rectify this in future postings or try to figure out some more efficient method of posting, but for this time, you'll just have to satisfy yourself with individually downloading each track. Or, you could look on the brightside, right click to open in a new tab (or new window if you haven't caught on to the greatly superior tab-browsing), and listen to the track as you read my (attemptedly) brief comments about it.

And finally, this blog isn't really about how well I can talk about music, like a lot of music blogs. I'm actually just more interested in giving my friends new songs that they may not have heard. So, while my descriptions are present, they certainly aren't fully thought-out or seeking to valorize my own cleverness, and one should consider (or not) them accordingly.

And without further ado:

Mix 1:

Asobi Seksu-"Strawberries"
Hooray for shoegaze, and a double hooray for "playful sex," which is what this band's name means in Japanese. This track is from the band's second album, Citrus, which came out in 2006 and positively oozes My Bloody Valentine-ness. Swirling guitars, walls of noise, distortion, and vocals that both melt into the aether of the song and stab the listener with an embossed hook...all the things that great sneaker-staring is made of.

The Wrens-"Surprise, Honeycomb"
The Meadowlands is still one of my favorite albums, but lately, this track from Secaucus has taken a lease on my brain, and head-bobbing necessarily follows. Somehow rawer than the tracks on The Meadowlands but with more decipherable lyrics, "Surprise, Honeycomb" has become one of my favorite songs from one of my beloved bands.

Lush-"Etheriel"
I guess that this has been the summer of shoegaziness for me, so here's another track with lovely buried vocals. In 2001, 4AD released a greatest hits album for Lush, taking four or five songs from each of their albums (1989-1996). The band dropped a lot of the distortion as time continued, and Ciao! (the greatest hits album) places all of the songs in reverse chronological order, so as you listen to the whole record, it gets fuzzier and fuzzier. While I'm a fan of the clearer, brasher pop that Lush put out near the end of the band's career, I'm still partial to the swoony, drippy stuff that closes the album.

Minus the Bear-"Pachuca Sunrise"
Most of Minus the Bear's stuff makes me want to check out and play hours of video games. They've got that blippy, twangy edge of The Advantage without the actual gaming tunage, and in my head I always amplify the blippage and try to figure out what kind of video games the songs would fit. But "Pachuca Sunrise" is a little different. This song, while some of the twang element that I love is still present, doesn't make me think of RPGs and first-person shooters; instead it makes me a little sappy and wistful.

Capitan Melao-"Estelar"
Generally, iTunes' "Gratis Cancion de la Semana" keeps me in steady supply of bad reggaeton, poorly-produced pop, and traditional Latin music (yay bachata!), but a few weeks ago, they rewarded my "I'll take anything if it's free" perseverance with this cute little gem. Aside from the driving beat and the sweet lyrics, that gibberish ending really gets me....

Goldfrapp-"Number 1 (Mum remix)"
Iceland's tiniest meets Germany's silkiest. And finally none of those creepy child vocals from Mum. You can't go wrong sans child. You just can't.

Kaki King-"Second Brain"

I was first drawn to this album by its awesome cover, and I was delighted to discover that King delivers music to match. It's dark and brooding while keeping so many light elements. Xylophones never sounded so pensive.

Horse Feathers-"In Our Blood"
This is my second-favorite track from Horse Feathers' album Words Are Dead. (I've probably given half of you my favorite track, "Falling Through the Roof," so I abstained for this mix.) One of, if not my absolute, favorite albums of last year, this record just plain makes me want to cry. I can't put it anymore delicately than that. A good, solid weep. Every time it comes on my iPod when I'm walking down the street, I have to focus on something other than the music in order not to look despondent, and yet, I'm too compelled by the music to skip any of the tracks. So if you ever see me looking bleary and teary on the streets of Chicago, this very well may be why.

Midlake-"Young Bride"
A great big cheer for Texas bands! Most of you probably know of my love of Eisley, and this band is largely responsible for getting those little nymphlets into a recording studio to begin with. Midlake's first full-length album Bamnan and Slivercork was a bit too saccharine Radiohead for my taste (although that doesn't mean that I didn't listen to it copiously), but the newest album, The Trials of Van Occupanther is pure delight. I thought this was a particularly compelling track for this mix because of the numerous weddings looming in the future (Bowen, Brett! Lori, Jason! Gill, Jeff! Jonwyn!). But maybe one should just heed the title for my tidings. Not the lyrics about the old-lookingness and the trials ahead and snow and winter. Just the title.

Animal Collective-"Fireworks"
I'm not usually a great fan of Animal Collective, but this new song makes me want to stand up and declare victory. I'm not sure what it's a victory of or who it's a victory for, but there is something victorious in those ee-ee-ee-ee-ooo-oo-ooos and that rickety rackety guitar roughness. An undulating victory, but a victory nonetheless.

Japanther-"Seventy Nine"
Japanther's Dump the Body in Rikki Lake was one of my favorite albums during my stint at KSPC, and they were incredibly fun in concert at the Smell despite the 5 power outages that night and the homeless crazies that kept wandering into the club's alleyway. This is from their latest Menlo Park release, Skuffed up My Huffy. Quick, distorted, and catchy, these guys got it goin' on. And yes, one of the members still looks like a fucked-up Matt Damon.

Nat Baldwin-"Within Walls"
More undulation, what can I say? And a slightly Beirut-esque singer who really loves scooping.

Andrew Bird-"Fiery Crash"
Oh, Andrew Bird, you lyrical god. You're the only man that can rival my word-nerd ardor for Colin Meloy. To use "apropos" in a song is so you, and it is oh so me. I'm still not sure that Armchair Apocrypha (the album from which this comes) rivals Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs for the coveted title of "favorite," but you've still got that certain je ne sais quoi.

Band of Horses-"Our Swords"
It took a little while for me to realize that the band "Horses" that I liked quite a bit, but from whom I only had a couple songs, was the same as the later-dubbed "Band of Horses." But once this epiphany was granted, and I realized that they had a track about St. Augustine and falling on swords, I was as giddy as a Frenchman in a discotheque. Reviews say that the lead singer sounds like Jim James of My Morning Jacket, but I don't hear it. They're both lovely, but one naturally sounds like Kermit the Frog, and one just has a bit of reverb.

Spank Rock-"What It Look Like"
For some reason, I love the fact that Spank Rock lets the verb "is" become "i-." It's as if he doesn't even need that "s." He just flat out doesn't need it, yo. He's got Spank, and he's got Rock, and he's gonna find out what it i-. Spank Rock put out a killer comp for Fabriclive that had some sassy CSS mixing in it, among other things, but this little pizzicato number is still my favorite offering from the Philadelphia duo.

Hafdis Huld-"Tomoko"
It may not surprise you that this little lady is from Iceland. Again, they have some pretty amazing (and weird) crooners. If her voice sounds familiar, she's the former singer for Gus Gus. If it doesn't then just relish her for this banjo-happy diddy. She's also got a song about wearing diamonds on her belly, but it doesn't quite rival the subdued animosity "Tomoko." It reminds me of the Soko song with which I was recently obsessed ("I'll Kill Her") for some reason. Perhaps it's just the understated vitriol, masked by a sweet, accented voice and pleasant pop instrumentation, or perhaps it's just that the word "Tomoko" is reminiscent of "Soko."

Vio/Miré-"Wood Splitting"
Da dum da da da. Makes me miss Texas and hayfields and walking on dirt roads in the far too hot sun. Da dum da da da.

The Mountain Goats-"Pet Politics"
KSPC favorites covering the Silver Jews track from The Natural Bridge. This appeared on the music compilation put out by McSweeney's The Believer last year, which was comprised entirely of covers.

Destroyer-"Painter in Your Pocket"
I know that Destroyer is old news at this point and that many of you have already encountered this track, but I've been unable to stop listening to it recently, and I couldn't very well ignore it for this mix. Dan Bejar would have been angry with me, and I wouldn't be able to bear it if he snubbed me. Plus it's a good down-tempo to start rounding out a CD. You see, there's method to this seemingly random madness. Oh, and there's more falling on swords.

Songs: Ohia- "Two Blue Lights"
Songs: Ohia has long been one of my favorite bands, and coming to Chicago, I thought I would understand even more the things about which Jason Molina sings. That hasn't actually been the case, and it took me until this summer to even begin liking the city, but I can certainly understand the melancholy that comes across so strongly in everything Songs: Ohia has put out. This is a wonderful, sad city. And what was similarly sad was that I saw Magnolia Electric Company (Songs: Ohia's sister band) the other night at the Empty Bottle, and Jason Molina is the most devastatingly unattractive man that I've ever encountered. Now, I don't need a musician to be attractive to appreciate his/her work. But I was absolutely taken aback by this man; there wasn't a modicum of handsomeness there. He was about 4'9" and plagued with a receding hairline, bad clothing, a tad of chunkiness, and a unibrow that would embarrass the Swedish Chef. Poor, poor Jason Molina. No wonder Songs: Ohia makes for such great depression music.

Silent Land Time Machine-"Everything Goes to Shit"
A one-man, self-recorded symphony from Austin. The song is strangely upbeat for its otherwise-indicating title, and you get swept up in the currents of about 16 different instruments and competing rhythms all at once. Try to isolate each element for an interesting sonic experience; it'll astound you how well they all work together once you realize how polyphonic the piece is.