29.4.08

You can move like you're made out of vapor

I've been making a mix for a trade that's been going regularly, for the most part. The fun thing about making a mix, for me, is digging through my collection to try and find gems that my recipient may not be aware of. As a result, I listen to stuff that maybe I haven't listened to in a while and perhaps find something I should be listening to more often. I'm not trying to out-obscure anyone, I don't feel like my knowledge is that great. I'm just dropping stuff that I'm into and stuff I think the recipient might like as well.

On a tangent, I also ran into this article, the other day, lamenting the death of the mixtape. I sorta see the writer's point, but I don't think it's a lost or dead art. Yeah, it's easier to compile a mix now, but there's still a lot of thought that can be put into it. It's the same as anything; you get out of it whatever you put into it. And he wonders why he's not feelin' the love.

In any case, what I came here to say is that I have rediscovered Blondie's
Slow Motion. Man, I love this song. It's got that Motown and 60's girl-group feel; it's a whole lot of fun. Someone could totally come up with some retarded choreographed dance to go along with the song.

Blondie are pretty cool. Sadly I wasn't really into them when they were going. I kinda liked them, but any enjoyment I got was killed off by my younger sister when she got the 7" of
The Tide Is High and played it to fucking death. Seriously, it was that and Olivia Newton-John's Magic. And the fucking Human League's Don't You Want Me. Man, she killed me with that shit.

In the late 80's, a chance reading of an interview with Debbie Harry and Chris Stein piqued my interest in them again. One of the amusing quotes I still remember from that interview was when Debbie Harry responded to the accusation of Blondie selling out. I'm paraphrasing from hazy memory here, but she said something like "Yeah, we sold out; but at least we were the first ones to do it." Man, that cracked me up to no end for some reason. Awesome.

Anyway, check out
Slow Motion, it's on the Eat To The Beat album, which could possibly be my favorite Blondie album. Actually, I'm not sure; Parallel Lines is pretty goddamn good, too. Take your pick.

Blondie > Slow Motion

26.4.08

Sing a song

Sheesh, man...I've just had the longest week ever. Well, at least it seemed like it. Working all day, and out every night this week. So yeah, I've been pretty wiped out, and I don't even get to sleep in tomorrow. Wah.

Anyways, taking the carpool in to work the other day, I heard Earth Wind & Fire's
Sing A Song in this dude's car. This song was the fucking jam when I was a kid. Totally reminds me of when my dad would come pick up my sister and I from school in the evenings, and it seemed like it was always playing on the radio on the drive home. This, and Shining Star, were a couple of my faves. If this doesn't put a grin on your face and get your feet tappin', then you got some serious fucking probs.

Earth Wind & Fire > Sing A Song

19.4.08

When breakups go wrong

Ha, oh man...I heard this song today. I had completely forgotten about it. I once lived with these three people (two guys, one girl), and we all worked at the same place. One of the guys and the girl were a couple, no big deal, right? Not until the girl starts seeing another guy. It was another guy from work, too. So my housemate finally finds out about it and he's like devastated. Girl moves out to who knows where, and living with this guy is like walking around a minefield. Probably the worst thing, from my perspective, is that this guy locks himself in his room, turns up his stereo and plays Chris Isaak's Somebody's Crying, over and over and over and over. I mean, it's cool...we've all been there before, right? It's a cool song, and I like it okay, but it just got to be unbearable after a while. And when he wasn't blasting the Isaak song, it was some godfuckingawful song by Seal. Thank goodness I can't even remember the title to that one.

Chris Isaak > Somebody's Crying

14.4.08

You straightened my brother out?

For some reason, I think I've surfed past The Godfather on television like two or three weekends in a row. I love that movie, but it just seems weird that it's on every weekend. WTF? However, I am always reminded of this track, I Set My Face To The Hillside, by Tortoise. The first half of the song recalls the part in the movie where Michael has gone to hide out in Italy after shooting the corrupt police captain and another prominent mobster. I think my favorite scene was when he went to Las Vegas to see about buying a casino, and Moe Green tells Michael how he had to straighten Fredo out because "he was bangin' cocktail waitresses, two at a time!"; to which Michael replies, "You straightened MY brother out?" Moe Green pretty much sealed his fate with that statement.

So yeah, check this song on the Tortoise album, TNT, and also check out their site here. It looks like they also have some music to sample there as well. Lastly, you can pick up CDs over at Thrill Jockey, which is the label they're on.

Tortoise > I Set My Face To The Hillside

12.4.08

Smiles have all turned to tears

Recently, I've been infatuated with the Afghan Whigs. I started out backwards, first getting into the Twilight Singers last year, and now diving into the Whigs' back catalog. I remember first hearing of them when Gentlemen came out in the early 90s, but I wasn't impressed at the time. There's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said about them and Greg Dulli's tortured/anguished style of singing. One thing I really like is that all of the songs seem to be about drugs, alcohol, and women (not necessarily in that order). I mean, really...what more could you want?

Their covers are pretty inspired, too. I'm posting their version of The Supremes' classic Come See About Me (which is available on the Uptown Avondale EP), which I really like. They slow the song down some, Dulli sounds like an addict begging for another hit, singing won't you hurry/come on/and see about me/see about your baby. I dunno, this time around, I'm really feelin and lovin it all. As I wrote elsewhere on the world wide web, I wish I had gotten into them while they were still going. I've been checking out some of the live vids on youtube, and it woulda been great to see them in their prime. Ah well, so it goes...

The Afghan Whigs > Come See About Me

7.4.08

Lord, I'm 500 miles from my door

I am taking off for a few days, I'm going on a little road trip. Just for fun, I'll be trying to send Twitter updates (if I remember). It's on the right side of this page, underneath the LastFM widget, if you are interested.

You can find this track on the Innocence Mission's Christ Is My Hope album. As mentioned on their site, "All profits from the sales of this record continue to be donated to hunger relief charities", which makes everyone a winner.
I know some peeps might look at that title and wonder about listening to a Christian band. They're not Christian, per se, or rather, they don't fit the popular definition of what a Christian band is; but their lyrics do contain a lot of religious and spiritual references. The thing about them, I guess, is that the songs are more about personal experiences and beliefs, without coming off as preachy. The songs are like little short stories; the band doesn't try to convert or judge anyone and there's no moral to the story, which makes it easy to listen to and accept. Plus, Karen Peris has the voice of an angel. Do check them out, if you haven't already. Also, you can stream a few random tracks here.

The Innocence Mission > 500 Miles

4.4.08

It's not what you thought

I saw this a few years ago and I thought it was really cool. Then I couldn't find it for the longest time. I would do random searches from time to time but nothing came up. I looked again the other night, and it has finally shown up again. It's Aimee Mann's Wise Up set to clips from Neon Genesis Evangelion (specifically, The End of Evangelion). They totally fit together and it's very fucking cool.

1.4.08

Every good thing I had...abandoned me

I was watching House tonight. I've never really seen it before last week (and that was an accident), and that episode was pretty cool, so I thought I'd check out this week's episode. Funny thing is, the company that employs me has a House online store (don't worry, you don't have to buy anything). I've just never bothered to check out the show. In any case, I thought that tonight's episode was pretty good (the main plot was a couple of high school sweethearts who turned out to be half-brother/half-sister because the boy's father had had an affair with the woman next door), but the icing on the cake was that Michael Penn's Walter Reed played at the end of the show. It was a pretty good musical moment; House was being arrested in retaliation for his disrespectful treating of a patient (who happened to be a cop) while Penn is singing, "Every good thing I had, abandoned me." Man, I fucking love that line.

Grab this track from Penn's woefully underrated album, Mr. Hollywood Jr. 1948, and check out other tracks here.

Michael Penn > Walter Reed