26.2.08

5-4-3-2-1 THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!

Hey, Sharon! Remember this song? You still owe me a duet, goddammit. I am, however, willing to settle for a Gresham Flyers cover version.

Fuzzbox > International Rescue

Yeah! The monkey speaks his mind!

One of my brothers was taking trumpet lessons in high school. The instructor had told him to check out this contemporary band called The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. So my brother had this CD called, The New Orleans Album, by The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, just checking out styles and seeing if he was into playing trumpet. One day, I happened to be around and my brother was telling me a bit about the album, but he wasn't into it as much as he thought he'd be, so I borrowed it and really enjoyed it...and I still have it.

My favorite song on the album is called The Monkey. It's a cover and was originally written in the 50s, I think, and that's about all I know of it's history. The lyrics are pretty amusing; it's about a few monkeys sitting around talking about how there's no way that humans could have descended from monkeys ("why, the very idea is a big disgrace!"), because the humans are all fucked up and monkeys just don't do that shit. I like how the guy sings, "Yeeeeeeeaaaaaah!", and the rest of the band says
"Yeeeeeeeaaaaaah!", then the main guy says, "The Monkey speaks his mind!"

Anyways, it's a really cool album, do give it a listen. I promise you'll like it. Even the great Elvis Costello shows up for guest vocal duties on the track, That's How You Got Killed Before. I have no idea why I never got around to checking out anything else of theirs, but it looks like they're still going strong, so it's probably about time.

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band > The Monkey

23.2.08

Your Latest Crush

Yo Bay Area peeps! I've got a plug for some friends. There's a new indiepop club night in town, and it's called Your Latest Crush. The first night is gonna hit on Friday, March 7th from 9pm til 2am. The venue is the House of Shields in downtown San Francisco. It's super easy to get there by BART, bus, or car. So pop on along and help close the place down.

Their mission statement is as follows:

Playing danceable indiepop, tweepop, poppunk and electropop from the likes of Belle & Sebastian, The Lucksmiths, The Aisler Set, Stereolab, Camera Obscura, BMX Bandits, The Smiths, The Pipettes, Peter Bjorn & John, The Hidden Cameras, and many more....

They might even play your requests, just drop them a line at yourlatestcrush@gmail.com. No Jesus Jones, tho. I already tried, so don't even bother.

20.2.08

Used to be nobody could sneak up on Jesse James

Nick Cave just doesn't stop. In the past year or so, he has done the Grinderman album, the soundtrack for The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford, and his new album with the Bad Seeds, Dig! Lazarus! Dig! is coming next month. He even showed up at the end of the Jesse James film, singing a disparaging song about Robert Ford. How cool is that?

I've been listening to the soundtrack for a couple months now, and I've just seen the film. The music he and Warren Ellis came up with completely fits the somber and sorta hypnotic feel of the movie. It helped set the tone, but didn't overpower any of the scenes. Warren Ellis' violin has more emotion than the voice of any run of the mill top 40 singer. Simply gorgeous.

*EDIT* The good folks over at divshare have seen fit to delete this file from my account. What I didn't realize is that this album is released on MUTE which is distributed by EMI. Kinda weird given a few of my previous posts. So I guess it's my own fault for not doing my research thoroughly. Dunno what else to say. I mean, the album is really good, but I guess you should buy it used if you are gonna buy it at all. And use the RIAA Radar, too...

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis > Rather Lovely Thing (from The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford)

18.2.08

You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig.

I've just spent a good chunk of my weekend watching Sergio Leone films. Duck, You Sucker (aka A Fistful of Dynamite), A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Awesome, awesome, awesome. I wish I could be a gunslinger in the old west. Since I just finished this one tonight and it's totally stuck in my head, I'll put this up. It's from the end of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I wanna be like Clint Eastwood. Fucking badass.

This is from the scene in the movie where Tuco and Blondie are at the cemetery, and Angel Eyes shows up thinking he's gonna cash in on the gold they all have been searching for. Blondie (Eastwood) proposes a three-way duel to see who gets the gold. I love the long looks, the ice-cold stares and the hands creeping towards their guns. Brilliant.

If anyone's interested, I picked up the set from Amazon. It's got a $75 or $80 list price, but I found it for about $40ish, including shipping. It's really cool.

Ennio Morricone > Il Trielo (The Trio) (from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly)

11.2.08

All apologies and smiles, yours truly, ugly valentine


So they're all gone now
That took a long time
You're the only one
Who'd be my valentine
I didn't want that
To drive you crazy
I should've done something
I guess I'm lazy
Feeling down low now
Someone tell me what I should do
Because I've never been perfect
But I never meant to drag down you so
If I'm dragging you down now
I could wait in the lost and found
Just promise me you'll be perfect
And I promise that I'll come around sometimes
To say hello all smiles
Maybe it's time to let go
Probably doesn't even weigh that much now
So I'll drop it
I'll turn around fast
I'll shake your hand and take
Six steps back
We'll have a seat and light another cigarette
We'll have a drink for nothing to regret
We'll clap our hands when, when we hear that sound
We won't be sad now
We won't be feeling down
We could live or die
And have a great time
I'll be your valentine
What an ugly valentine
We could live or die
And have a great time
You'll be my valentine
What a perfect valentine
We could live and die be my valentine

Carissa's Wierd > All Apologies and Smiles, Yours Truly, Ugly Valentine

10.2.08

You don't know one little thing about love

I have no idea why it popped into my head, but I really wanted to listen to some Lone Justice the other day. Their first album dropped in 85, and I loved them from the get-go. I love that album cover (pictured above), it just has a classic feel to me, and she looks so gorgeous. It's kinda weird, because back then I wouldn't be caught dead listening to anything that had any sorta country twang to it, and yet there it was, my changing musical taste. Maria McKee, man her voice is something else; she can really belt out a tune. I've looked around a bit and was sorta pleased to discover that she's still recording and touring.

With the popularity of artists like Neko Case, Gillian Welch, Laura Cantrell, Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, Wilco, Ryan Adams (those are just off the top of my head, so please don't tell me I've forgotten so-and-so...I know I have); I wonder if Lone Justice would have more success had they started up in the mid or late 90s. Seems like maybe they were a little displaced or out of their time, which translated to poor album sales, personnel changes and eventually being dropped by the label.

So Lone Justice ended up making a pair of albums. The self-titled debut is pretty good, I'd say. Listening to it now, it still holds up for me, there are some really good songs, so pick it up if you can. I bet you can find it in the used bins for a few dollars. The second album, Shelter, is a different story. Apparently it was recorded by a completely different band, save for Ms. McKee, and, for my money, it just doesn't have the electricity possessed by the debut.

This track was their big "hit" way back when, and it was actually written by Tom Petty. His version of it isn't too bad, either, but we'll stick with the Lone Justice version for now.

Lone Justice > Ways To Be Wicked

7.2.08

Happy New Year!

Happy year of the Rat! If you are a Rat, then you were born in one of these years: 1972, 1984 or 1996. If you're older than that (gasp!), just go back every twelve years to find your year. According to the zodiac, Rat personalities can be charming, hard working and perfectionists. See? Rats aren't so bad now, are they? Be a proud Rat!

Moving along, this is the fantastic Asobi Seksu with a live version of New Years. I will guess that this is very tenuously related to the actual celebration of Chinese new year, but what the fuck. Plus it's sung in Japanese, so I don't even know what it's really about. No big deal, though, because this song is awesome. Anybody got any hOtt pictures of Yuki? Le sigh....

Asobi Seksu > New Years (Live from SoHo)

5.2.08

C'mon, lay your halo down

Always late to the party, I found out about Black Mountain less than two weeks ago. They have a new album called In The Future and it has been reviewed in a few of the sites I usually haunt, and I liked what I read and heard. Poking around, I found out that they were playing here and it was fairly cheap ($14!), so I went to check them out at The Independent last night. Their sound is kinda 70's rock (maybe metal) or somewhere in that neighborhood, and I really like the boy/girl singer dynamic. So I am at the show last night, and man oh man, that girl can wail. She was mesmerizing; seriously, I hardly took my eyes away from her. It was a really good gig. The album is pretty cool, although some of it can drag a bit. I think, though, that it comes with the style of music they're playing, which makes the plodding or dragging kinda inevitable. I've been listening to it a lot and, for the most part, I'd say it's engaging. They have music for you to download here, and of course, check out more music here. So far, this is my favorite track on the album.

Black Mountain > Angels

Rock n' rollin' til the break of dawn

The other day, a conversation popped up regarding They Might Be Giants. It reminded me of another of my favorite TMBG songs, We're The Replacements. Back in the late 80's, I bought a 3" CD just because it was the first time I had seen one. The band was TMBG (I didn't know who they were at the time), and the disc was a 4-track single, featuring the now-classic, Don't Let's Start. The second track on there is We're The Replacements. Very catchy and fun, and of course referencing the legendary band, The Replacements. I love the casual way he sings we're having a good time/rock n' rollin' til the break of dawn. Awesome.

They Might Be Giants > We're The Replacements

If the sun dies...

Hi, I am still here, just fighting off the residual effects of the flu. So, a couple weeks ago, I saw Danny Boyle's Sunshine. I really liked it, except for the lame-O ending. It could have been so much better. But what I really want to mention is the soundtrack that was done by Underworld. I went looking for it, but apparently there is no official soundtrack release. The music was really pretty, kinda ambient. Very fitting for an outer space sci-fi flick. I read a bit, and one of the tracks from the movie can be found on their latest album, Oblivion With Bells. Hopefully, the rest of it will see a regular release. Check out more Underworld here.

Underworld > To Heal