10.29.2010

this is some dumb music. i am, however, in full support of the unapologetic, big rock maneuver, ninetiesness of the whole thing.

these videos are laughably bad. wow.

but the guitarist is hot.

balances out.

have some blood red shoes:



and

10.28.2010

going to see frightened rabbit on saturday, so i've been revisiting their three records.

here's one from each.

their debut, sing the greys:



second effort, and my favorite, midnight organ fight:



new record, the winter of mixed drinks:

10.27.2010

i think i'm going to do batch updates of a few days worth at a clip.

for some the ten minutes it takes to do this have been elusive of late.

ON TO THE MUSIC!

live recordings of some pretty great songs from that laura marling lady i was all in a huff about a few weeks ago.

good stuff.



and...

10.26.2010

definitely today's song.

"i ain't no hero in the night."

10.25.2010

and...now we're back up to date.

i owe john for this one.

10.24.2010

once upon a time isaac brock wrote songs that could wreck my day. and it was good.

this is one of them.

10.23.2010

a solid live recording of my favorite built to spill song.

10.22.2010

while i generally trend more toward the white light/white heat end of the velvet underground repertoire, this song feels like a warm blanket.

10.21.2010

just pretty to start. 'round about the 2.5 minute mark it takes a swing at you.

the song is way too long, though. and a WARNING: after about the 7 minute mark it goes quiet and then has a bunch of crowd noise cacophony. I suggest not listening to that.

10.20.2010

bombast.

10.20.2010

i've fallen into arrears again. shit been busy.

in the five days since i last posted i will admit to mostly listening to old music. aural comfort food. so the make-up days going up now will be of that variety.

thing have felt occasionally menacing of late. a bit sinister, even.

this is among my favorite songs on the creepy side.

10.19.2010

aaaaaaand, because when it came on my headset as i was stepping off of the train this afternoon i smiled so suddenly i nearly cracked my face:

10.18.2010

i'm on a run of girls with guitars.

there are worse things.

this record is pretty great, i'll assume you're already listening to it.

10.17.2010

okay, last sky larkin song.

i kind of fell down the rabbit hole on this band.

10.16.2010

oh hell yes, pop music!

from their first record:

10.15.2010

first of a couple sky larkin songs that i'm posting.

liking the dirty guitars and clear voice.

from their new record:

10.14.2010

catching up. i was listening to things, really.

first:

nice makeup, guy.

the glam pose is not really my thing, but it is a catchy song.

10.13.2010

another to be filed under voices i can't ignore: james carr.

10.12.2010

i will never be able to ignore will johnson's voice.

10.11.2010

this song is remarkable.

listen.

10.10.2010

on sunday solomon burke died.

known best for his work in the middle 60's, i've always been most fond of his 2002 record, don't give up on me.

it really is something spectacular.

so, my favorite of his songs:

10.9.2010

the video is pretty clever.

enough so that i actually stop paying attention to the song sometimes.

i'm not sure if that's a good thing.

10.08.2010

caught myself humming this walking back from work.

the owl at about :42 really makes the video.

10.7.2010

this somewhat older gem popped up on my headset on random this afternoon.

still pretty awesome.

also, a great video.

10.6.2010

so mavis staples put out a new record last month. jeff tweedy produced it.

i am given to like this sort of thing.

i, predictably, think it is awesome.

10.5.2010

marnie stern is the fucking truth.

a chick with a guitar making unapologetic rock music?

shit damn yes.

10.4.2010

oxford collapse just keeps delivering:

obnoxious video, though.

10.3.2010

bringing it down more than a bit.

this is a pretty little bit of song, though.

10.2.2010

pop music!

HAVE SOME!

10.1.2010

playing catch up.

oops.

here, have some king khan. this shit is ridiculously awesome and awesomely ridiculous.

9.30.2010

i am in full support of what these young gentlemen are up to:

9.29.2010

it's pretty blippy.

i kind of dig it though.

9.28.2010

so, yeah, i'm on a bit of a sad bastard songs kick.

nothing wrong with that sort of thing.

anyway, i've posted a couple of other songs from dan mangan on here. here's a third.

i'm oddly a sucker for the lines: "this is good, but as far as i can tell / it's still heavy as hell when it's good."

here's hoping i'm not alone on this one. i'll try to step out of all of the maudlin tomorrow.

laura marling

just hit the youtube and watch this chick sing a few songs.

sitting with a guitar and a mic, she gets it done.

she is, in fact, legit.

9.27.2010

hell of a voice.

9.26.2010

so, i've been trawling the polaris prize shortlist for music.

here you go, the canadian tom petty:

9.25.2010

i'm definitely late to this whole thing.

micachu. the recorded stuff is interesting and, sometimes, inspired.

this, however, really caught my ear.

super english:

9.24.2010

have some new british sea power.

no big surprises here, but they remain consistently good.

9.23.2010

some hooky pop, right here:

9.22.2010

who likes time capsules? this guy!

yo, seriously, check out the morning benders.

damn.

referencial

the pharcyde video being referenced by the shad video posted below:

9.21.2010

more from shad, who i posted some time way back in june or so.

nerdy, canadian, hip-hop. yeah.

sometimes he overreaches, but i'm charmed.

9.20.2010

spent the 20th sick, on the couch, watching the first four episodes of treme. hell of show.

this particular mix of music, setting and dialog stands among the better pieces in the show so far, and is my "song" of the 20th.

9.19.2010

enjoy a bit of weird british rock trivia.

the la's, managed to implode, release a critically adored record that was pieced together by steve lillywhite from abandoned sessions, and then bad-mouth said record in the press.

the song that you should have known them for in 1988, had they not melted down:

post record release/lillywhite break (skip to about 3:00 if you don't want to sit through the somewhat combative interview):

9.18.2010

you know, i was never in on the whole feist thing. i was doubly not a fan of the song "1234."

however, this version of that song manages to strip out all of the over-reaching production and insipid, predictable percussion and just leave behind what is really a hell of a song. i'm indifferent to the second track in the video, but had this been the version of "1234" i first heard i might have been on that team.

patient, personal. good shit.

9.17.2010

fell momentarily behind again. the start of the new school year has thrown me off.

catch up time.

this track came up in a documentary i watched on friday, reminded me of how much i loved it when it hit in college and still dig it now.

9.16.2010

i am a sucker for the big, cliche rock maneuver.

9.15.2010

don't be distracted by the repetitive bellsandwhistlesness of the song or that it is at least a minute too long.

give it the time.

it's pretty good.

9.14.2010

what the shit?

william burroughs writing about led zeppelin and interviewing jimmy page. it gets odd.

at one point sonar dolphin communication is discussed.

in honor of that bit of weird, have some zeppelin:

9.13.2010

trotting out about every trite hip-hop trope they can get their hands on, kanye and the customary endless list of guests put this thing out onto the internet.

no wonder it makes me feel like i'm back in high school, driving with the windows down after work, listening to whatever comes on the top 40 radio.

i'm amused. although it is way too long at over five minutes.

9.12.2010

first: FOOTBALL. that is all.

second: i'm going to drop three songs today (the 14th) to make up for missing sunday and monday. been a bit busy.

third: here we go.

this track is springsteen as all getout. while i still haven't fully come around on "the boss" i do have a weakness for some particular markers of music quite similar to his.

i'm liking it.

9.11.2010

today's song(s) of the day is the abbey road medley.

walking home from a truly disappointing scotch tasting saved only by good company and a standby bar, "golden slumbers" came on and set my evening right.

some of my favorite moments from the band, right here.

make sure you stick around for "her majesty" at the end if you're among the few who aren't familiar.

9.10.2010

it's just, well, pleasant. that's a good thing.

9.9.2010

if desaparecidos weren't as good as they were:

9.8.2010

while i was a huge fan of alligator, and thought that boxer was a well-executed record, and have enjoyed a few songs from sad songs for dirty lovers, i never really cottoned to the national's most recent record, high violet.

i'm still not fully on board, but this is a pretty solid song (despite sounding like what a robot from the future would make if asked for a "national song"), and matt berninger's uncanny resemblance to a young, bearded william hurt in this video weirded me out enough to post it.

seriously. shave off twenty years.

...time travel. the only way.

also

you should go here and download this radiohead concert film. for free.

show was in prague the audience had flip cameras, cut the footage with the soundboard mix, and POW! concert film.

free.

radiohead.

go.

9.7.2010

john sent this one my way:



i'm a big fan of the long winters, specifically john roderick's melodies.

back to work

instructions from a trusted source:

trust.

9.6.2010

today i am 30. woo.

another track from the new les savy fav record, root for ruin.

it's pretty exceptional.

this track, in particular, fits with the turning 30ness of the day.

sounds like a pavement song, crosses back and forth over the line between bitter and sweet, hits heavily on the janus complex associated with growing up.

now, i will eat tacos and enjoy my last bit of leisure before school starts up again tomorrow.

enjoy the labor(less) day.

9.5.2010

failed to post yesterday as i spent most of the day on the couch...recovering.

so, what would have gone up:

9.4.2010

posting from my brother's phone at a drink up for my 30th birthday.

a fitting track.

9.3.2010

after the david bazan posting i've listened to a lot of pedro the lion today.

have some:

9.2.2010

meant to do this last night, but got in a little too late.

david bazan, of moderate notoriety for being the nucleus of pedro the lion, sings this little bit of something.

been stuck in my craw the last few days.

9.1.2010

had a brief bit of conversation about wilco over drinks tonight, so i'm digging into the file and pulling out a couple of favorites.

even if you stop by here to just hear something new, give 'em a listen. they are that good.

1.) it starts out confounding expectations with a lyric that is so dark as to throw off the weight of the major chord progression that props it up. what the song does, ultimately, is shuffle off its own structure and dissolve into something much grander. an intentionally broken song about being broken.

2.) "when i forget how to talk, i sing." this song is about a number of things that i'm sure you can decode, each of which is treated with grace and difficulty. while i do actually like the more upbeat numbers, this is easily among my favorite songs from summer teeth.

3.) it is tough to narrow down what would be my favorite song from this band.

i'm still partial to "i'm always in love", and have fond memories of my youngest brothers and singing the song "poor places." i will forever be laid low by the guitar heroics in the back half of "at least that's what you said." the raw, slow, diffused anger of "misunderstood"(incidentally, the end of that live version is fucking incredible) is often the first thing i start to toy with when i get the chance to plug a guitar into an amp.

but nothing from this band will ever fuck me up quite like "radio cure" did the first time around.

still does.

and once i can finally pry myself away from the emotional reaction i have to the song i start paying attention to how immaculately produced it is.

there are few things this good.

8.31.2010

more from sleigh bells.

i posted "crown on the ground" from these two back in may, unsure of whether i really liked it or not.

i've decided.

i'm definitely behind sleigh bells. they have big guitars, sing-songy pop fun, and enough joyous aggression to chop through even my most apathetic day.

8.30.2010

first, this song feels like a tether connecting me to some of the more buoyant brit-pop i was listening to at the start of college.

second, i'm still not sure how much i like the song, catchy though it is. still listening, though. that must say something.

third, a bit after video gets to the obvious (and lame) photoshop sequence, it takes a dark turn. watch until the actual end.

i did not expect it.

8.29.2010

dropped the ball last night and forgot to post.

recompense:

this video is still undeniably cool.

8.28.2010

first, happy birthday jason.

28.

second, an over-long kanye west track with an arm-length guest list.

still pretty slick, though.

8.27.2010

i'm not entirely sold on this song.

however, as a curiosity, this track from sufjan stevens' forthcoming record, the age of adz, does represent a surprise.

there are no acoustic guitars.

just saying.

8.26.2010

digging a bit here.

liam finn is the son of new zealand musician (and crowded house front-man) neil finn. in 2007 he put out a pretty solid record titled i'll be lightning, from which today's song originates.

however, before the studio version link, take a look at this live performance on letterman in early 2008:

the guy spends the song recording guitar loops and then sits behind a drum kit for the crescendo. this is what sold me on liam finn.

here's the recorded version:

8.25.2010

another one from the like.

really enjoying this record right now.

thanks go out to john for the tip.

8.24.2010

well, i have no defense against something like this...

8.23.2010

oh hell yes, cee-lo.

8.22.2010

the love language's 2009 eponymous record is entirely the recording document of one man, stuart mclamb, churning out some lo-fi pop that would make both rob pollard and the starlight mints equally proud.

have some:

8.21.2010

a track from this new orleans emcee's 2009 record, this ain't no mixtape, caught my ear yesterday and stuck in my mind tonight.

enjoy.

8.20.2010

"sexy breakfast" from the skeletones four is one of the more subtly interesting pieces of music i've heard in a while.

really cool melodic choices and interplay between the guitars, keys, and vocals.

here's a myspace link (which i will try to replace in the next day or so)

Sexy Breakfast by The Skeletones Four

you can also check out a video of them doing it up in someone's living room right here:

THE SKELETONES FOUR - Sexy Breakfast from Mitch Fillion (southernsouls.ca) on Vimeo.

8.19.2010

THEY ARE CALLED CEREBRAL BALLZY!

let me be perfectly clear.

this band is called cerebral ballzy.

i am in full support of these little brooklyn skate fuckers.

8.18.2010

this song is exactly what i wanted to hear today.

damn.

thank you, grouplove.

8.17.2010

heh. local h.

now, i remember being pretty fond of "all the kids are right" when it hit the radio in 1998, so i fell down the rabbit hole after hearing this song again for the first time in years, and found that local h released a record in 2008 titled 12 angry months.

witness, the chicago-based duo performing this weird bit of power ballad cheese from their most recent record:

but it's hard to say anything too bad about a band that did this:

In the summer of 2007, Local H played an early morning show at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago before a White Sox game. Tickets to this show were only available by spotting Scott Lucas in public and speaking the phrase "Attention all planets of the Solar Federation, we have assumed control" directly to him. [from wikipedia]

local h: an intact time capsule from the latter 90's, keeping it awesome.

8.16.2010

i posted a track from the forest city lovers in july, i think. here's another.

charming little band, right there.

8.15.2010

walking down the street, getting rained on just a bit, i caught myself whistling the refrain from this track.

8.14.2010

catchy little bit of something from the late elliott smith.

the overwhelming cleverness of the lyrics grates a little bit, but the sound suits a lazy sunny day.

enjoy.

thanks to sean for this one.

8.13.2010

it's in french.

i have no idea what it's about/what he's saying.

it's from 1977, and i heard it for the first time today.

enjoy.

8.12.2010

i've never been a big tv on the radio fan, but this song sat nicely today.

late night listen

currently giving a late night spin to the res, talib kweli, graph nobel collaboration idle warship's 2009 mixtape, party robots.

i'll drop something tomorrow about how it goes.

hopeful.

8.11.2010

first, be prepared for a bunch of people to fawn all over this song.

it isn't good.

write m.i.a. off for what she is now: uninteresting, trading on controversy, and thoughtless in music and politic.

there was a time when the first of those three wasn't true. that is over.

but she might get a critical pass because of what people thought she was or was going to be.

and, to be fair, she had a couple of exceptional moments.

honestly, if "XXXO", sounding exactly as it does, came out of [insert name of disposable female pop singer] rather than m.i.a. you would dismiss it out of hand.

be honest.

now, today's track.

which doesn't suck.

enjoy some solid pop music from 2001.

8.10.2010

this one comes courtesy of someone in the comments section for this deadspin article about the flaming lips and their record, zaireeka.

read the article, then give this track a listen.

back tomorrow with something newer than 1997.

maybe.

8.9.2010

i spent just shy of nine hours on an amtrak train today.

it was by turns relaxing and completely infuriating.

when i got back to my apartment and checked my email, i had this track as a recommendation. it couldn't better suit watching pennsylvania go by, crossing jersey, and emerging in manhattan.

...additionally, CAUGHT BACK UP!

8.8.2010

i was a huge fan of frightened rabbit's second album, midnight organ fight. big fan.

i was somewhat disappointed with this year's offering, the winter of mixed drinks. that said, i did keep coming back to the first couple of tracks.

so, here's the first song.

pretty sure i like it.

or at least i'm making a pretty convincing argument to myself.

8.7.2010

sometimes, to quote high fidelity, you just want to "listen to something [you] can ignore."

this is that song.

it's fine, really. i know nothing about it beyond it being pleasant and ending before it became unwelcome.

sometimes that's enough.

8.6.2010

just returning from a long weekend away, and need to make up a few days (posting this on the 9th).

so...here we go.

i posted an internet release from wavves sometime in june, i think.

neither of these songs stand up to the crashing, sneering, juvenile rebellion of that track ("cool jumper"), but i'm still pretty fond of them.

8.5.2010

posting from outside of the nyc until monday, so i might rely a bit on easy calls.

or i might lean on things that any of the few people reading here suggest in the comments...help is appreciated.

for now, enjoy the lead track from a rock opera about robot horses at war.

this song felt particularly right during the train ride into southwest pa.

have some rock plaza central.

and a cover of "sexy back" from the same band.

bit of extra

my favorite video recording of my favorite nirvana song.

guitar drops connection?

throw that shit away, let pat smear handle it, scream.

don't ever forget how good this band was.

8.4.2010

so, there's this song that i'm sure you know.

and here's a demo version of it before it became exactly that song you know.

enjoy some "say it ain't so" demo.

thanks go to said the gramophone for this one.

unlikely i'd have stumbled upon it without them.

8.3.2010

this song is great.

the video is outstanding.

8.2.2010

the capstan shafts, a band (guy) of which i am particularly fond, has a new record coming out later this month.

to be fair, the capstan shafts is entirely a man named dean wells who plays every instrument on his songs.

between the beginning of 2004 and the end of 2008, dean wells has produced well over a dozen eps and albums as the capstan shafts.

he is perfectly, amazingly, crazy.

first, a longtime favorite of mine from the 2005 release, halaluah moancoaxers! :

now, an early track from the record due later this month. the first proper capstan shafts album in two years.

edit: "quiet wars" wasn't playing correctly before. fixed.

8.1.2010

i love covers.

really.

hearing someone really throw themselves into someone else's music reminds me that even artists i love have their own musical fantasies.

it makes my singing while unpacking boxes seem a little bigger.

here's a sloan cover of the joni mitchell track, "a case of you."

7.31.2010

today my youngest brother, zach, turns 15.

i get to close out the run of old favorites with a birthday dedication and a great old song.

happy birthday, zach.

love you, man.

7.30.2010

before billy idol would become well known for "mony mony" or "white wedding" he was part of a punk band from round about the middle 70's called generation x.

they were great.

poppy as hell and wearing the influence of the who all over their fashionably torn sleeves, generation x managed to put out some solid punk that stands up reasonably well against the more lauded (the sex pistols) and the more talented (the clash) bands of the time.

have some pre-awful mtv image billy idol.

7.29.2010

the last couple of days went postless as a consequence of moving and internet issues. i'm rectifying that now.

this is, by far, my favorite r.e.m. song. i remember, distinctly, going into the shitty chain record store in my local mall in greensburg, pa, buying the cassette single for this song, and then sitting at home listening to it over. and over. and over. and over.

enjoy the tail end of old favorites july.

7.28.2010

as a kid, one of my favorite records to pull out was my dad's copy of the singles compilation, 45's and under, from the band squeeze.

i was drawn to it, beyond the music being catchy as hell, because i thought the cover was sweet.

and it is.

today, a cat named bishop has undergone the trauma of figuring out a new home.

for bishop, the comfort of another old favorite of mine. one that i first encountered because i liked the cover art.

7.27.2010

in the last few days of packing and moving, so i'm likely going to stick with posting old favorites for the balance of the month.

here, have some:

7.26.2010

i, generally, can't stand cat stevens.

this song is the one exception. for a moment, he actually manages to gin up some righteous sounding anger out of that sleep-inducing moonshadow, wild world voice of his.

it's been a hell of a month.

7.25.2010

checking in, i must have forgotten to hit "publish" last night.

so, here's what should have been:

another track from frontier ruckus.

7.24.2010

posting late.

technically it's the 25th, but i don't count the next day until i've slept. i'm on time.

edit [7.26.2010]: the shit i wrote for this post was retarded. portions of this post have been redacted along with an added reminder to not write hammered.

this song still rules.

enjoy.

go out and listen to this whole album.

it is remarkable.

7.23.2010

settle in for a minute, i've some text today.

round about 1966 a band called the 13th floor elevators created, according to some music critics and historians, psychedelic rock with their first album, The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators.

this song was well ahead of the curve.

for the record, the weird, percussive warble you hear is a man playing a jug into a microphone.

the harmonica and voice you hear, spitting and aggressive, come from roky erickson.

his is a story worth knowing.

between 1965 and 1968 erickson was fronting a band that was well ahead of the more folk-focused music coming out of san francisco at the time.

and in 1968, after a run that included the expected hallucinogenic chemicals and plants as well as some dalliance with speed and heroin, erickson had a nervous breakdown and was diagnosed schizophrenic.

a year later, erickson was arrested in his home state of texas with one joint on his person, sentenced to time in a low-security mental hospital from which he went awol a few times, and was finally put in a hospital/prison for the criminally insane.

surrounded by inmates that included multiple murderers in their ranks, erickson underwent electric shock therapy over the course of 3 years until he was finally released in 1972.

after his release, roky continued to produce solo records, for a time maintaining that he was an alien, and periodically falling back into drug abuse and ever increasing psychosis until his last appearance on a shared bill with the butthole surfers in 1987.

between 1987 and 2001, roky erickson was looked after by his mother and remained untreated for either his schizophrenia or any other medical need. until his youngest brother, a tuba player living in pittsburgh, won custody of roky.

in the nine years between roky moving in with his brother, getting medical treatment, and re-engaging music, he has not just performed in new york, at the coachella festival, and across europe, but (much more importantly) achieved a level of independence and quality of life he had lacked for decades.

all of this leading up to roky erickson releasing a new full-length album a few months back.

i've enjoyed the 13th floor elevators for a while, and finally caught the 2005 documentary you're gonna miss me today, which focuses on erickson's battle with mental illness and family struggles (a film that i, actually, do not recommend for a number of reasons better explained elsewhere).

i'd never looked much into the band or the man that gave it its sound before today, but having done so, hearing these songs makes me unspeakably happy.

glad that this guy is back making things again.

happier that he's back with us at all.

nothing quite like a comeback story, is there?

7.22.2010

first, some filthy garage noise coming out of san francisco.

a personal weakness of mine.

second, on the catchier end of the ramshackle noise continuum:

7.21.2010

enjoy a bit of throwback psychedelia courtesy of deerhunter:

7.20.2010

no, i don't know what he's saying.

nope, don't care.

enjoy some summer:

7.19.2010

some fuzzily produced, noisy rock for today.

enjoy new ruins:

Stance by New Ruins

the internet is giving me some guff, so a myspace link will have to suffice.

(once it redirects to myspace, click the track, "stance.")

edit:

the internet has righted itself. click here to listen: