Today, I discovered that a new Puffy single, R.G.W., is out, and it's an Xmas song, to boot. I'm liking this much more than some of the recent stuff they've done with Butch Walker. From what I've read, they worked with Tamio Okuda on this, which is a nice change. I really love the Beatles moment when they sing "Love, love, love." The video is kinda cute, too.
Hanging out with cousin tonight. Hadn't seen her in a while, so we were catching up on our latest obsessions. Roundabout conversation led to a discussion of David Bowie, Ryuichi Sakamoto (she had just purchased a movie called Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence) and Yellow Magic Orchestra. I remember the first time I had heard Computer Games, I was in junior high school at the time. Back then, this is what the future sounded like.
I always forget about these guys for some reason, and then I run across it randomly and wonder why I don't listen to them more often. Despite my memory lapses, this is a pretty good song. The band is Dive, an early 00s Japanese band. I really don't know much about them, except they're sorta in that same vein as Ride, JAMC, MBV. You get the picture. Thankfully, this is not a J. Geils Band cover.
Alright, peeps, you may say it's too early or whatever, but I've got my Christmas lights going because I felt like it. And with that, the Christmas music begins. I give you, R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas, from Christmas In The Stars: The Star Wars Christmas Album. What's amusing about this track is that it features a then-unknown 17 year old Jon Bon Jovi (listed as Jon Bongiovi). According to Wikipedia, Jon's cousin, Tony Bongiovi, "co-produced the album and ran the recording studio at which it was recorded, where Jon was working sweeping floors at the time." And the rest is history.
Star Wars Singers > R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas
I always feel weird when I say I like some band or song that I heard for the first time on, say, Pitchfork or whatever. If you know me at all, you know I'm pretty far from hipster-indie-snob. But, if you're looking for new music, you have to hear it first somewhere. Sometimes it's your friends who point you in the right direction, sometimes it's a snooty music site (like this one!). And while I'm on this subject; yeah, it's easy to dislike Pitchfork and call them pretentious or snooty, but the fact is they cover a lot of the music I enjoy and that's why I continue to read them and other music sites. I don't have to agree with their opinions, I just want information, to know what's going on and what's coming out.
So, with my dull dialog out of the way; I really like this song, Dreaming, by Seapony, whom I've never ever heard of before catching a blurb about them on Pitchfork. It's hazy and dreamy, complete with fetching 60s girl-pop vocals. Easily worth the 2+mb of space on your hard drive. If you like this, they also have a free 3-track EP if you click here.
Another late year discovery for me is The Secret Sisters' self titled debut album. I don't really know a lot about country music, but these girls seem old school, to me. It sounds genuine, earnest and timeless. Short and sweet, the album clocks in at just under half an hour. And while the album may have been recorded in the past year or two, it's heart seems to be at least four or five decades old.
A lot of these songs are covers, from what I've read, and you can hear the love and respect for the material. They don't try to outdo anyone with overwrought histrionics, the not-so-secret Rogers sisters (Laura and Lydia) inhabit the songs and create their own space within them. I love their voices and harmonies, they totally transport me to somewhere else. I'm looking forward to hearing more from these lovely ladies.
I just stumbled onto Sweden's Sad Day For Puppets last week, and I'm completely hooked. Kinda jangly dreampop, ethereal female vocals, an endless supply of hooks and maybe even a little shoegaze thrown in. Reminiscent of Lush, in a way. Little Light is from their 2008 album, Unknown Colours. They also have a new album, Pale Silver and Shiny Gold that just hit about a month or so ago.
Hey, kids! Rejoice, for there has been a Michael Penn sighting! This video was just posted a few days ago, hopefully an album will follow soon. I love the line about a mob being a democracy, he always has a way with a phrase.
A little mix for the waning days of summer. For some reason, it's a little heavy on covers (8 outta the 27), but there's no real rhyme or reason for the tracks. They just sounded good at the time. So stick this in your iPod, turn it up and go. Feel free to praise or clown me in the comments section. Click on for the tracklist and link. Enjoy!
As much as I love Spiritualized's Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, I never knew that there was an "original", version of the title track. I just made this discovery the other day (I know, I'm always late to the party). The original vision incorporates the melody and lyrics from Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling In Love, which only makes the song more sweet and melancholy. Apparently the Presley estate objected to this union early on, but finally relented some 12 years later, when the album was reissued in 2009. Like I said, I adored this track already; this version wowed me.
Spiritualized > Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
I suspect The Raveonettes' cover of The Stone Roses' classic, I Wanna Be Adored, will likely place a lot of peeps squarely in the "hate it" category, but I really like it. It's straight ahead and doesn't really change anything save for the vocals, Sharin Foo's icy femme voice as opposed to Ian Brown's original male vocal. Don't get me wrong, I love the original, but I definitely have room for this version as well.
This was done in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Doc Marten's. There are a handful of other cover songs for this project, and you can listen and download the rest of the tracks here.
The past couple days, I've been listening Kathryn Calder's new album, Are You My Mother?, on repeat quite a bit. Seems to me that the album is tinged with an underlying sadness, even in the more musically upbeat songs. I looked at a couple reviews and learned that she wrote and recorded (most of?) the album while she was helping to take care of her mother, who passed last year.
Not having gone through an experience like that, this song, Low, captures what I think it would feel like to watch a loved one drifting, fading away. Her vocal is haunting and plainly beautiful, the way she sings "you gotta roll under, I gotta roll under, too", in reference to the rising tide. Take a deep breath and plunge underneath the wave. It's not a solemn dirge and she doesn't seem to be crying bitter tears about the unfairness of it all. It's very poignant, that realization that it was a good run despite the fact that the end is looming up ahead. Check the backup vocals and the organ, they have a hymnal quality to them, lending an almost church-like, celebration of life feel to the song.
Unfortunately, the reality and shadows are still there, and this song might be something you would whisper under your breath, almost like a mantra, while sitting in a hospital at 4am, holding someone's hand, waiting. You gotta roll under.
Another great song of summer. When it released, it was everywhere, basically all over my RSS feed. I resisted a bit, initially, because of the title and the hype. Then I thought I'd check it out and now I can't get Cee-Lo Green's Fuck You outta my head. It's ridiculously catchy and a whole lotta fun. The video is pretty entertaining, as well. It's too bad the rest of the album doesn't hit until early December, I'm anxious to hear the other tracks. But, we have this for now, so turn that shit up!
On the heels of Sun Kil Moon's latest album, Admiral Fell Promises, comes a 4-track EP called I'll Be There. The Jackson Five's I'll Be There is already a great song, and this is just a guy and a guitar, but Mark Kozelek is able to channel the essence of the song in a way that not many others can. Also, check out the Stereolab and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone covers on the EP, they're equally excellent. I picked this one because I'm hoping Madcat Joe writes about the Stereolab one.
Fever Ray have covered Mercy Street, which is one of my all-time favorite Peter Gabriel songs. Apparently, Fever Ray have been playing it live from time to time, but I sadly did not get to witness it when I saw them in San Francisco last year. In any case, we have the tune now. I love it and it's going to drop on 7" before the end of the year.
I've been meaning to post this but I've been deathly ill due to excessive drinking and carousing. You know how it goes.
In any case, this band is Still Corners and this song, Wish, will drop in about a week. All I can say is, wow. This song is so perfect, short and sweet. It's like a hazy memory of a summer you dreamt about in the future. And if you want more like I do, you can listen here.
So, I went to see Blondie last week. Even though it was 3/5 of the original band, I felt compelled to go and see them before they went away for good. One of my favorite quotes is from Debbie Harry, in a Rolling Stone interview from the late 80s, I believe. The writer asked her the inevitable question about Heart of Glass and the whole "selling out" thing, and she responded (and I'm paraphrasing here), "Yeah, we sold out. But at least we were the first ones to do it."
Nothing makes a summer quite like unrequited love.
Best Coast's Crazy For You might be the album of the summer. Sunny pop gems about love (unrequited and otherwise), boys, cats and weed. What more could you want? Turn it up, open the windows and sing along at the top of your voice.
I stumbled onto Janice Whaley's Smiths Project a short time ago (via Slicing Up Eyeballs, which is a cool 80s sorta alternative music blog). She's basically trying to cover every Smiths song by the end of this year, and it looks like she's on track to hit that goal. You can go to the blog and listen, and you also can download tracks here. As of this writing, there are 32 tracks for your downloading pleasure. I also grabbed her widget thingy (man, that sounds dirty) from which you can listen here, as well. That is, if you're lazy and don't want to navigate away from here. Anyway, I think her endeavor is very cool and anyone who is a fan of The Smiths should give it a listen. And really, who doesn't like The Smiths?
Has anybody else been listening to Katzenjammer? I recently got a hold of their debut album, Le Pop. Originally released in EU over a year ago, it just dropped here in the States last month. My initial encounter wasn't positive, I think you definitely need to be in the mood for a listen, at least the first time. My repeat listens got much, much better. This album is like a vaudeville show, or the soundtrack to a maniacally dark carnival, whirling out of control. These girls are a lot of fun, and that's a great promo pic up there.
Check out this title track, it's pretty inspired and infectious.
