Don't want no Abba Zaba, don't want no Almond Joy

This is hilarious, it was in yesterday's paper. Some dude built a 6 foot tall, anatomically correct, chocolate Jesus, called "My Sweet Lord". It was supposed to be in an exhibit in New York, but now it's been canceled due to public outrage. The gallery director even resigned after the exhibit was shut down. Guess we'll never be rid of censorship. Here's a pic of the choco Jesus; "Only a chocolate Jesus can satisfy my soul."
And with that, it's George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" and Tom Waits' "Chocolate Jesus". Classics!

DEATHMATCH!

In this corner, it's The Jesus and Mary Chain > Head On


And in this corner, it's the Pixies > Head On


I gotta roll with the Pixies version, even though the JAMC are the originators of this one. There's no right or wrong answer, I just feel that the Pixies version simply has more fire to it.

Your eyelashes tickled my neck, with every nervous blink

This track is soooo five years ago, but I still really like it. I've had Dntel's "Life is Full of Possibilities" album in my rotation all this week. I think I may actually like "Fear of Corners" more, but the Ben Gibbard's vocals mix so perfectly with the music and electronics on this one. Too bad the Postal Service album that resulted from this wasn't nearly as good as this one track. I mean, I thought the Postal Service album was okay...but most people went nuts for it and I don't think it is as good as they say it is. Live and let live, I guess. Check out "(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan".

A friend of the devil is a friend of mine

Another one for the unlikely covers department. Ministry doing the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil", live at the Bridge School Benefit in 94. If you don't know, the Bridge School "is an educational program dedicated to ensuring that children with severe speech and physical impairments achieve full participation in their communities through the use of augmentative & alternative means of communication (AAC) and assistive technology (AT) applications."

It's an annual event (usually in October), and the first benefit was held in 1986 at the Shoreline Theater, located in Mountain View, California (about 45 miles south of San Francisco). It's always organized by Neil Young and his wife, who have several children with severe learning disabilities, hence their involvment with the Bridge School. There's an abbreviated list of past performers over at Wikipedia, if you wanna see who else has played there. It's pretty much split between bands I'm into and bands I'm not so into and it seems like the lineups have been lacking these past few years.

As for this track, if you knew the music of Ministry and you heard this randomly, not knowing it, you probably wouldn't even come close to guessing it was them.

There ain't no second chance against the thing with forty eyes

Okay, sorry for posting the same artist twice in a row, but this is too good not to post. It's Petra Haden covering "Thriller", a cappella style, and I think it's amazing. She even does that hiccup thing that MJ does. Check it out...

The only thing to live for is today

Tom Waits' "I Don't Want To Grow Up", as covered by Bill Frisell and Petra Haden. Pretty much sums up how I'm feeling today. Man, her voice is perfect and pristine.

You need to look at the other side

I recently caught Dave Chappelle's Block Party. What a cool flick, it's the next best thing to hangin out with the man himself. Anyways, I never knew who sang this song. I mean, I like some hip-hop but I wouldn't consider myself an afficionado or anything. So yeah, I liked this song but I never felt compelled to look it up. So now I know it's Common and Erykah Badu. The whole call and response thing at the beginning is pretty fun and the beat is nice and laid back. This live version from the Block Party soundtrack is pretty sweet.

Repose In Blue

I've recently discovered Eluvium. The "band" is actually one guy, Matthew Cooper. I've actually seen him live a few years ago, supporting Explosions in the Sky. I remember liking his set, but I was very much into EITS at the time, so Eluvium sorta got lost in the shuffle. Cut to now, there's a new Eluvium album out, called "Copia". It's really lovely stuff, very ambient, kinda reminiscent of Eno. I said "kinda", so don't get all huffy. It doesn't necessarily sound like Eno, just reminds me of him. Just listen to "Zerthis Was A Shivering Human Image" from the "Lambent Material" album and you'll hear what I mean.

I would post that track because I completely adore it, however, at fifteen and a half minutes, it's much too long for you ADD-afflicted people. Therefore, I will post this track, "Repose In Blue", that's "only" 9:18, roughly 33% shorter than the Zerthis track. Maybe you can sit through it. To me, it sounds like a soundtrack to a movie that has a bittersweet ending. Sorta sad, but a little bit hopeful or triumphant. I love the fireworks sounds at the end of the track. It just makes the whole thing worthwhile, to me.

In any case, I'd recommend any of the Eluvium albums you can find. Check em out over at Temporary Residence Limited, there are some more mp3s you can listen to as well. He's also touring with EITS (again!) this spring, so keep your eyes peeled for that. And I hope you make it through this track.

Got a bad desire...

So I recently discovered that Tori Amos is having a new album, "American Doll Posse", in May. There was once a time when I really loved her music and couldn't wait for whatever single or album was coming next, but that time is gone. I downloaded her last album, "The Beekeeper", and couldn't get past the first couple tracks. I dunno, she just doesn't do it for me anymore. So I put on some of the old skool stuff that I used to listen to constantly. This track, a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire", was right around the "Boys For Pele" era, like mid 90s or so. It was on the VH1 "Crossroads" compilation, which was a collection of live performances from their archives. I'd guess that it's out of print now.

New PUFFY single!

I'm not sure what it's called but it's pretty cool. Also included are covers of The Beatles' "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and ELO's "Don't Bring Me Down". I really like the ELO cover. "Lucy" is good but it has been done to death.

PUFFY > Don't Bring Me Down

Guilty Pleasure #2045

I think I read about this on some year-end best-of list in December and decided to check it out for the hell of it. This is just ridiculously catchy cotton-candy pop sung by Australian twins known as The Veronicas. What more could you want? Check out their album, "The Secret Life of..."; if you don't agree then perhaps you should stop being so serious. ^_^

There are a lot of people at Versailles today

I watched Marie Antoinette this past weekend. I really enjoyed it, as I have enjoyed Sofia Coppola's other films, Lost In Translation and The Virgin Suicides. Once again, Coppola has hit a home run with her musical tastes. Maybe I'm biased because I apparently love the same types of music as her, but her choices fit perfectly. My absolute favorite moment of Marie Antoinette was when the newly crowned couple were descending down the stairs, and The Cure's Plainsong explodes from the speakers. Fucking perfection. Another fave was when MA was wandering the fields while Aphex Twin's Avril 14th played. Again, it fits perfectly. I mean, really, there are tons of little moments like these that I really enjoyed. I like how the film presented Marie Antoinette as is and didn't seem to judge her. Another quality of the movie I enjoyed was how it captured a moment or a feeling, much in the same way Coppola did in LIT or TVS. That's my interpretation of it, anyways.

Aphex Twin > Avril 14th

You don't know how lovely you are

I'm no fan of Coldplay, but I don't hate them either. A long time ago, I probably would have, but I can't really be bothered to hate any band these days. It's just not worth the time and effort. I mean, if they make someone happy and they're able to carve out a living for themselves, then more power to them. If I don't like em, I just won't listen or buy their albums; so there's nothing to complain about and we can all happily coexist. Easy lemon squeezy.

That said, I adore Aimee Mann's cover of Coldplay's, "The Scientist". I'd have to say it's an improvement on the original. Her voice is just so clear and expressive, she really wraps her voice around the lyrics. I feel like the song fits her better, but that's just me. Also know that she's one of my faves, so I could be slightly biased. I've been listening to Ms. Mann since I heard the first Til Tuesday album way back when. Old school. Anyways, if you feel like tracking it down, this cut can be found on the 2-Disc Special Edition of her album, "Lost In Space". The first disc is the LIS album, which is really great. It actually took me a long time to "get" LIS, but it was completely worth it. The second disc of the special edition is a solid collection of bsides and live tracks. It's packaged like a little book, with artwork and notes; a really nice touch to make it worth the extra few dollars. So yeah, check it out...

Let's get electrified

I love it, but I don't know much about this song. I first heard it on the soundtrack for the movie, Vanilla Sky. Man, I really hated that movie. Even before it was fashionable to slag off Tom Cruise. I think it wasn't even so much him, as it was the character he played. He was just an arrogant jackass. I even watched the original film, Abre Los Ojos, because I figured that one would be much better than the American remake. Bzzzt, wrong answer. I didn't like ALO any better. The main character is just such a self-centered, whiny little bitch. Seriously. I did, however, like Cameron Diaz in Vanilla Sky. Sadly, she reminded me of a girl I used to date. Sheesh.

In any case, you can find this track on Leftfield's "Rhythm and Stealth" album. Rap legend, Afrika Bambaataa, drops some cool vocals and this track completely rocks. Also, make sure you check out Chris Cunningham's video for the track, it's fucking brilliant. "Do you need a hand?"