It's a you and me house

Just got back from vacation, but while in Washington I saw an actual treehouse on the Evergreen campus. Just marvel at its awesomeness while you listen to these songs:

I'm From Barcelona - Treehouse.m4a
The Fiery Furnaces - Evergreen.m4a

The Emerald City, Pt. II: From Seattle

Yesterday I posted some songs all about Seattle, and many of those artists are also from the area as well (Nirvana, MxPx, Sir Mix-a-Lot). At the risk of being redundant, here's a few more songs from them, plus a ton from other local natives. Some you might know, some might be unfamiliar. Some are classic grunge, others are hip-hop, riot grrrrl, 70's rock, indie or folk, but they all run on the same theme: SEATTLE ROCKS!!

(What can I say? This city desperately needs the ego lift: by some counts it has one of the highest suicide rates in the world.)

Nirvana - Come As You Are (live).mp3

Pearl Jam - Hunger Strike (live feat. Corin Tucker).mp3

The Presidents of the United States of America - Volcano.mp3

Heart - Crazy On You.mp3

Foo Fighters - Everlong (live)mp3

Sir Mix-a-Lot - Buttermilk Biscuits.mp3

Death Cab for Cutie - Why You'd Want to Live Here.mp3

Minus the Bear - Pachuca Sunrise.mp3

Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out.mp3

Mudhoney - The Straight Life.mp3

The Blood Brothers - Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck.mp3

Blue Scholars - Blink.mp3

Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun.mp3

MxPx - I'm OK, You're OK.mp3

Hole - Miss World.mp3

Candlebox - You.mp3

The Long Winters - Blue Diamonds.mp3

Jimi Hendrix - Little Wing.mp3

The Emerald City, Pt. I: About Seattle

In honor of Jess' first-ever visit to the left west coast, I offer up some of the choices tracks about the jewel of the pacific. Sadly, some much-needed key songs about Seattle are missing (by Anti-Flag or Jeffrey Lewis, for example), so if any of you have these, feel free to share the love. Songs about Seattle (and her neighbors):

Nirvana - Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle.mp3

Todd Snider - Talkin' Seattle Grunge Rock Blues.mp3

Sir Mix-a-Lot - Seattle Ain't Bullshittin.mp3

See You In Seattle.mp3 (Theme to 1964 World's Fair)

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Seattle Wash.mp3

The Hot Toddies - Seattle.mp3

Jakobinarina - Sleeping in Seattle.mp3

Spacels - The New Seattle.mp3

Cop Shoot Cop - Seattle.mp3

Bobby Sherman - Seattle.mp3

Cameo Dance Orchestra - That Tacoma Home Of Mine.mp3

MxPx - Move to Bremerton.mp3

Andrew Bird - Goth Olympians.mp3

Tumwater High School Girls' Choir - Washington My Home.mp3 (State Song of Washington)

Say Hi - Northwest Girls.mp3

Stay tuned tomorrow for Part II: Songs by bands from Seattle!

Indie-rocking the vote

Just a quick link. A quick, confusing link:

Tunes Shape the Campaign via (Ugh) Fox News

Sure all these playlists are all silly and speculative, but does anyone else find this kind of weird and borderline disturbing? I have no desire to associate Justice with Hilary Clinton, Arcade Fire with McCain and Hot Chip with Obama (although he is totally ready for the floor...of the White House that is.) Personal politics aside, I think we can all agree that hip song selections should never sway the vote.

Hot Chip - Ready For the Floor (Soulwax Dub).mp3

We're One!

So This is What The Volume Knob Is For started exactly one year ago today. Despite binges of excitable over-posting and droughts of neglect, we'd call this venture a success, more or less. So while fellow blogger Jess is jet-lagged and sleepin' it off on my couch, we offer you this song in celebtration:

Sprites - I Started A Blog Nobody Read.mp3

Time to get away!

I am going on vacation. In just a few splendid hours I will be on a flight to Seattle, off to visit blog-mate June. In celebration I offer you this song. It'll have me dancing all the way to the aiport (or at the very least keep me awake for my 8 AM (eeks!) flight.

Time to Get Away - LCD Soundsystem

All Sufjan Stevens, All The Time

Some kindly folks dropped by recently to request fresh uploads of two Sufjan rarities off Seven Swans (vinyl version). Instead of having to go digging, here they are, plus a handful of other awesome rare stuff, because they just need to be out there. Enjoy!

Sufjan Stevens - Waste of What Your Kids Won't Have.mp3
Sufjan Stevens - I Went Dancing With My Sister.mp3
Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People.mp3
Sufjan Stevens - Far Physician's Son.mp3
Sufjan Stevens - Woman at the Well.mp3
Sufjan Stevens - The First Full Moon.mp3
Sufjan Stevens - I Can't Even Lift My Head.mp3
Sufjan Stevens - God'll Ne'er Let You Down.mp3
Sufjan Stevens - Bushwick Junkie.mp3
Sufjan Stevens - Jacob.mp3
Sufjan Stevens - Chicago (solo banjo demo).mp3

It's the devil's music.

Since this is a blog named after a Mountain Goats song, we're essentially obligated to blog about bands named after Mountain Goat songs. Especially when said bands winkingly reference tMG songs in their own songs. This leads us to "The Devil's Music" by The Hospital Bombers, a nearly inevitable, tongue-in-cheek nod to tMG's "The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton." Suffice it to say, this is one fun, albeit silly song. It's jaunty and upbeat, features cutesy boy-girl vocals and is pretty much the opposite of anything Jeff and Cyrus would approve of. It's OK. We'll still thank and forgive them.
The Hospital Bombers - The Devil's Music.mp3
the Mountain Goats - The Best Ever Death Metal in Denton.mp3

Jens Lekman @ Webster Hall, NYC & Brooklyn House Party, April 5, 2008

I'm not even supposed to be writing about this show. Before he burst into the evening's first song, Jens said he wanted the night to go undocumented. A show just between us and him. Not the internet. But sometimes secrets are too good not to share and last night was one of them.

Of course the show itself was as adorable as always. My third time seeing him and I still never tire of the witty banter, seamlessly woven samples and his impeccable girly backing band (plus Viktor Sjoberg). But then things got better. At some point during the encore Jens announced he was having a house party in Brooklyn. We were all invited. Now if you were at Jens last NYC show, you'll remember he promised to play an after show gig in Union Square, but got lost in Halloween weekend traffic and thus never made it to the park. He profusely apologized about the incident via personal email correspondence (!!! - just another reason we love Jens, he's a rock star that responds to emails) and a party it seemed would be ample compensation. Nothing would stand in his way. We hung around the venue a bit waiting for a glimpse of Jens and some details of this supposed shindig -until evil Webster Hall security guards kicked us out. Undeterred, we clung to the outside exit, amongst a mob of others until he came out. Excuse my fan-girl gushing, but what a friendly guy, so modest, so unpretentious. So willing to snap photos and autographs and just casually chat. One of my friends inquired about the Brooklyn party. Jens told us to take the Q to Beverly Road. "Uhh, and then where do we go?" I asked. "Someone will pick you up from the stop at midnight," he replied. Uh, ok. This would sound so incredibly sketchy coming from ANY other individual, right? But Jens made the request sound downright innocent, nearly magical, like an invite to a middle school dance from that boy you had a crush on forever, but you swore he never even noticed you existed. For the record my two friends and I have absolutely no sense of Brooklyn geography, but what the hell, we'll venture deep into an unknown borough for the potential awesomeness of a Swedish pop star after party.
We do it. We actually get there. Along with about 30 people. A gaggle of us just waiting outside the station. Every time a car passes by our heads turns. We collectively stop traffic about 17 times. Finally some Swedish speaking people come by. They tell us to follow. We walk down the block and arrive at a house. A bona fide house. There are houses in Brooklyn apparently. And here we are in some dude's living room listening to a highly danceable mix of synthey 80s pop, 70s funk and maybe a dash of old-school hip-hop. About an hour later Jens grabs the mic and sings "Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death" and "Into Eternity". Chanting along to "we're all gonna die, and we don't know how and we don't know when" at 1:30 in the morning is maybe the most liberating feeling in the world. After a downright shitty week, there is comfort in that universal sentiment. We are all gonna die, so we might as well embrace it and we might as well dance. And that's exactly what we did.

P.S. - I found an actual postcard sent by Jens on the bulletin board in the kitchen. To Gary, not Nina. But I found it amusing. Take a look (and also note the Kelly Clarkson ticket stub directly underneath, haha):


Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death - Jens Lekman (Scout Niblett cover)

Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes

I've been meaning to post this video forever. Visually, it's way trippy, like just what exactly is coming out of all those bodies?? Why, green, slime-like fluid and purple smoke of course! Duh. But even if you were being arrested with surrealist equestrian and watermelon-smashing imagery, you'd still be hooked by Santogold's catchy electro-pop meets MIA aesthetic. Check out her self-titled debut out April 29th.

Dance Music Pt. II: Indie-remix version

...because, deep down, hipsters really do like to dance. (At least in their living rooms when they think no one is watching).

Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (Black Dominoes Remix).mp3
Take some Graceland-inspired Afro-Carribean beats, add 4 years at Columbia University and a heavy dose of Upper Crust "Summer in the Hamptons, anyone?"... and then remix. Go buy Vampire Weekend first, though.

Patrick Wolf - Tristan.mp3 from Wind In The Wires
With heavy, plodding beats, this bruised-n-bleedin' cut is the ultimate in darkly sexy, brooding indie-fucks to go "down the road and not across the street" to. Recommended for that hot, dirty rough sex with your favourite indie boi.

Sufjan Stevens - To Be Alone With You (Pocketknife's Considerate Eagle Scout Remix).mp3 from Tambourine Dream
This soft fluffy DOWN-tempo song originally comes off Sufjan's very mellow album Seven Swans. (Get it? It's a pun, with "down" and "swans"... oh, never mind.) This is probably the last song I would ever expect to hear remixed, but it works incredibly well with a strong backbone beat, and some flourishes near the end that emphasize the minor chords.

The Cure - Close To Me (Closer Remix).mp3 from Mixed Up
This remix album covers most off the songs of one of the best albums ever, Disintegration, plus several other much-loved classics. For that angsty high school kid inside all of us, who was never understood! A change of tempo: this lighthearted, bouncy and up-tempo beat hits nicely with bright tambourine and light bells.

Le Tigre - After Dark (Morel's Pink Noise Vocal Mix).mp3 from This Island Remixes
A complex Jungle beat remix, richly layered with multi-textured beats and sophisticated synthesizer.

Future Bible Heroes - The World Is a Disco Ball (Rob Rives club mix).mp3 from The Lonely Robot EP
I used to work it out to this during my days as a campus foodservice slop-jockey, in college. This 8+ minute loop of thumping beats shows a side of Stephin Merritt that's less plucked acoustics and more computers. A good club mix for those nights when you just wanna dance, dance, dance.

Tori Amos - Raspberry Swirl (Lip Gloss Version).mp3 from Cruel
If any of these folks know dance, it's Tori. Frequently lending her tracks to entire LPs of remixed tracks, these club mixes are second-to-none. But going back to the roots, a really simple, clean remix of this track off From the Choirgirl Hotel highlights the late 90's best works.

Mirah - La Familia (Remix).mp3 from Joyride: Remixes
It's very important, when putting this song on a mix tape for someone (or even a muxtape), that you emphasize that the question posed in the chorus is a PONDERANCE ONLY and NOT a proposition... unless that is what you really mean. Hmmm, this could get complicated. The really light, tingly beats sounds familiar from "Cold Cold Water, but now perfected for dancing, and the chorus in the background is more straightforward, altered in a minor chord that taken on a more serious--rather than playful--sound.

Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire.mp3 from In Ghost Colours
So 80s! So dancey! So addictive! Not at all what you might expect from a contemporary Australian group, known for somehow recreating each song live onstage, each time resulting in a new but fabulous sound. I don;t know why this track isn't as well-known as some of their others; it blows them away. Put it on a loop and watch yourself plow through a mountain of paperwork or household chores.

Caribou - Pelican Narrows.mp3 from The Milk of Human Kindness
Not a remix; just a fantastic original cut off their super album. The dynamic interaction of the sounds are undeniably classically-based.

LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk Is Playing At My House (Soulwax Shibuya Re-Remix).mp3 from www.electrorash.com
A club remix to keep the party going. Complete with the background white noise of people chattering, bottles being recycled (because, you know, if you're playing either Daft Punk or LCD Soundsystem at a house party, you're probably recycling). This remix offers synthesizers, bells, electric guitar and all kinds of crazy shit with a hi-hat (and a suped-up tempo!) White people, get it on.

Annie - Heartbeat.mp3 from Anniemal
A sweet song of the bubblegum variety but with a perfect beat for a cool night.

ABX - The Trees Were Presidential (Andrew Bird vs. Youngbloodz).mp3 from thehoodinternet.com
Yeah, I realize a mash-up might be cheating, but it's just too awesome. Based on Andrew Bird's "The Trees Were Mistaken" off of the Soldier On EP. It gets the heavy treatment with some gangstas. The light and tinkly strings which flow and bounce intertwine beautifully with a hard rap beat and these down-n-dirty lyrics. Even Bird's sweet whistling is sampled here, from this track and also from "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left." Fantastic!

the Mountain Goats - Color in Your Cheeks (Mike's Remix).mp3
A spacey, dizzying remix based off this song from All Hail West Texas. It retains the distant feel and the tape hiss of the boom-box recording while adding some "2001: A Space Odyssey"-type beats and sound effects.

Jens Lekman - Sipping on the Sweet Nectar.mp3 from Night Falls Over Kortedala
Great song, boring video. The super 70's disco feel here, however, should keep you on your feet for some time.

Peter Bjorn & John - Young Folks (Datassette Remix).mp3
Based off the insanely popular (and rightfully so!) cut from 2006's Writer's Block, you probably won't recognize this song for the first few seconds, as the heavy, block-y ticks count off a surreal, futuristic beat. The whistling is replaced here with some super staccato synthesizers, and the chorus is amped up with slick, smooth sound effects that make the verses seem minimalist by comparison.

Soho Dolls - Prince Harry.mp3 from Ribbed Music for the Numb Generation
Initially minimalist in the verses and polished in the choruses the exceedingly bouncy beat, ultra British-ness and cheeky lyrics beg to be used as a girls' night out theme. Sing along: Save up all your USDs for British universities! This song is way too short for how much fun it is.

Interpol - Public Pervert (Carlos D Remix).mp3 from C'mere
A slow one to finish up the night with. Spoon, baby, starry nights.

Best. Song. Title. Ever.

I think Los Campesinos! just put Sufjan's entire "Illinois" track lisiting to shame with this awesomely ridiculous song title:

Los Campesinos! - This is How You Spell "HAHAHA, We Destroyed the Dreams of a Generation of Faux-Romantics".m4a

P.S. - Los Campesinos! debut full length album "Hold On Now Youngster..." was finally released in the US this week. Can I just remind you how much I really, really love this band?

Happy Birthday Jess!

Please join me (and Caribou) in wishing our dear blogger Jess a Happy 23rd Birthday today! <3

Caribou - Every Time She Turns 'Round It's Her Birthday.mp3

"You're a victim of your cautiousness"

It's been an unseasonably cold and rainy spring in New York. I ran out on my lunch hour today and trekked three blocks without an umbrella, in need of a little musical retail therapy to cure my seasonal blahs. Among the albums I bought was The Dodos' "Visiter." I like it. It sounds a lot like the way I felt prior to buying it--prickly, melancholy, and a little wounded. Think skeletal acoustic melodies, with an Animal Collective-like freneticness, but minus the squawking.

Winter - The Dodos
Red and Purple - The Dodos

Max Mix Muxtape

In case you've not yet discovered it, http://muxtape.com/ is a fabuu new site where you can upload up to 12 mp3s and they'll stream on your own page. The greatest part, however, is browsing through the hundreds--if not thousands--of mixes created by other users in just the past few days since the site was launched.

I made one:
http://sezah.muxtape.com/

It's based off a mix I made for my parents, of all people. Here is the complete mix, with all the songs for you to download.

18 songs/1:18:02 total time
Side "A"
Aesop Rock - Coffee (ft. John Darnielle).mp3
the Mountain Goats - Lovecraft In Brooklyn.mp3
Örtz - We Don't Talk.mp3
Jens Lekman - Sipping On The Sweet Nectar.mp3
Justice - D.A.N.C.E..mp3
M.I.A. - Paper Planes.mp3
LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great.mp3
Beirut - Scenic World.m4a
Manu Chao - Me Gustas Tu.m4a

Side "B"
Rihanna - Umbrella (feat. Jay-Z).mp3
Oliver Future - The Big Sleep.mp3
The National - Ada.mp3
Estradasphere - A Corporate Merger.mp3
Islands - Where There's A Will There's A Whalebone.mp3
Radiohead - Reckoner.mp3
Deerhoof - Panda Panda Panda.mp3
The Unicorns - I Was Born (A Unicorn).mp3
Patrick Wolf - The Stars.mp3

I beg you, please draw no comparisons to Jess' and my favorite Mux mix yet:
http://catbird.muxtape.com/

Lookout! New Silver Jews songs!

Albums by the Silver Jews can seem few and far between with releases coming years apart. Luckily David Berman and company are following up 2005's superb Tanglewood Numbers with Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea due out this June. Brimming with Berman's trademark wit, deadpan baritone and bitting lyricism, Lookout! contains all the qualities you've come to expect from the countrified indie-rocking collective. Lookout is looking to be one of my fave albums of the year.

Silver Jews - Suffering Jukebox.mp3
Silver Jews - Aloyisius, Bluegrass Drummer.mp3

And I'll take any excuse to post this absolute classic from 1998's American Water:

Silver Jews - Random Rules.m4a

I'm listening to Dance Music

I need to get moving today. Some inspiration for the morning:

FischerSpooner - Emerge.mp3 from #1
I fell in love with this song after seeing it used in a surreal meta-humorous Garfield strip. A PURSE IS NOT FOOD! YOU CANNOT EAT A PURSE!

Bill Withers - Use Me.mp3 from Still Bill
Old-skool beats. Real Soul-funk; classic R&B in the truest definition: rhythm AND blues. From the same genius that brought you the creative percussion on "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone." If you like that song, you'll love this one.

DJ Tiësto - Motorcycle (As the Rush Comes).mp3 from Nyana
Pure psychotrance trip-hop. The purest musical equivalent of peaking on Extacy. This entire album just flows so smoothly and even if you're not into rave music, this pulsing beat is great background music for things like cleaning, long drives or even studying.

Mr. Scruff - Get A Move On.mp3 from Keep It Unreal
A happy, upbeat dance song from the late '90s. I think it was even featured in an SUV ad a few years ago, which is sad, because this is such a great song: well-edited spoken word samples on a bouncy loop of beats.

Nine Inch Nails - Closer.mp3 from The Downward Spiral
The classic dance song must-have for the gothic types. even though I grew out of that phase when I was 16 (thank god) I could never outgrow this song.

Power Pill - Pacman Remix.mp3 from ????? The Internets?
Because video game music tends to have a solid beat in the first place (keeps you focues on those levels!) I love modern remixes of them. This is one of the best! I have no idea the original source of this track, so you should get The Altogether instead.

Chayanne - Salomé.mp3 from Atado a tu Amor
Some Latin flava. Chayanne may not be as well known in the States, but this ladies-man hipshaker is the male equivalent of Shakira. Less overtly cheesy and dancey than some of the more popular exports, this song stays truer to its roots with a more traditional beat and bright brass flourishes.

Lady Sovereign - Fiddle With The Volume (Ghislain Poirier Remix).mp3 from Vertically Challenged
This drum-n-bass remix is far superior to the original version of this song, IMHO. With a heavy grime-core backbeat, it's something to scare even the most musically progressive aging gen-Xer (haha).

mc DJ - UFO.mp3 from Illin' Noise
To end on a lighter note, this slow, dreamy, ethereal remix samples crickets and airy harmonies over a select loop of piano, strings and flutes. A good one to nod along to.

Para los lectores de habla hispana de VK

Estoy apesadumbrada si mi español es incorrecto:

VK tiene muchos lectores alrededor del mundo que hablan muchas idiomas. Lo apreciamos. Esta historia viene a nosotros de Daily Swarm. Jess vio esta historia y nosotros de las noticias pensamos que sería apropiado compartirla con usted:



(For you English speakers, the gist here is that Mexican mobs are beating up emo kids.)

Jess dijo: "On the one hand, it's not cool to persecute people for their beliefs, but on the other hand it's exterminating all the emo kids!"

El tablero de mensaje de Brooklyn Vegan dijo: "If we can only have this movement here, and include hipsters as well."

Mientras que no convengo necesariamente, es siempre un recordatorio fascinate de la energía y de la influencia que la música tiene en cultura de la juventud.

Cut Copy @ Studio B, Brooklyn, NY March 15, 2008

Cut Copy put on a truly awesome live show. These guys make perfect late night dance music, combining contemporary electronica with an 80s new wave sensibility. Plus, they get extra-cute bonus points for being Australian.

Many thanks to Amy for the fantastic photos. Also check out her most recent podcast which features a track by Cut Copy and several other great artists.

Hearts On Fire - Cut Copy
Far Away - Cut Copy

Easter mix

Just a few songs, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, about the bizarre Christian holiday. (You're lucky I'm not cracking out the way tasteless jokes).

The Doobie Brothers - Jesus is Just Alright.mp3

The Magnetic Fields - Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits.mp3

Sufjan Stevens - Enjoy Your Rabbit.mp3

My Brightest Diamond - Magic Rabbit.mp3

Tom Waits - Chocolate Jesus.mp3

Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit.mp3

Peter Peter Hughes - The First Day of Spring.mp3

Sleater-Kinney - Buy Her Candy.mp3

King Missile - Jesus Was Way Cool.mp3

Lyle Lovett - Church.mp3

Echo & the Bunnymen - Killing Moon.mp3

The Mountain Goats @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, March 19, 2008

We've written quite thoroughly about the Mountain Goats' live shows in the past (just check out June's past two posts). However their Brooklyn show was different - no, not just different -special. Because for about five brief seconds during the second encore John Darnielle reached his hands out into the audience, placed them on *MY* head and personally serenaded yours truly during "Houseguest". It was rapturous. Four days later, I'm still speaking in tongues. Check out the video evidence (you can blurrily make out the back of my head, a messy brunette ponytail), which is probably more notable for John's manically awesome dance solo towards the end. Many thanks to Bill for the video.

But that's not all that made the show stand out. JD opened with a 9 song solo set filled with more obscure songs and covers that I never thought I'd ever have the pleasure of hearing live, including "The Recognition Scene" "One Fine Day" and "Going to Port Washington". As much as I enjoy the full band set-up, there was a palpable intimacy present, which was lacking from past five times I'd seen them. And then of course Peter Hughes and Jon Wurster came out and they launched into full Heretic Pride mode. An overall outstanding show.
The Recognition Scene - the Mountain Goats (Live at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY March 19, 2008)
(Please note the brutally honest stage banter prior to the song.)

Going to Port Washington - the Mountain Goats (Live at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY March 19, 2008)

I'm Only Sleeping

So, so exhausted. I've been to 3 concerts in the last 5 days, which basically means going to bed by 2 earliest and awake at 7:30 latest ('cause some of us have jobs that sadly do not entail blogging). Anyways lots of photos, setlists and of course songs are on there way, so look for them over the next few days. But for now I need to recuperate from the past few awesome nights and thus I'm only sleeping.

I'm Only Sleeping - Elliott Smith (Beatles cover)

Everybody But Me

This is a weird little song. Sweden's Lykke Li makes the kind of minimal electro-pop music for people who feel completely estranged with scenes that generally thrive on electro-pop music. If you've ever felt alienated on the dance floor, you've lived in this song. So much girly angst. I love it.

Everybody But Me - Lykke Li

She & Him

It feels almost weird listening to She & Him's Volume One on CD - it sounds like it should be an old 45, tucked away in your dad's record collection somewhere between Patsy Cline and The Carpenters and uhh every 60s girl group ever. That might be an instant turnoff to some, but it shouldn't be. Please, don't let it be.

If you read as many blogs as I do (um not something I'm sure I should be proud of), you probably know by now that She is actress Zooey Deschanel and Him is indie-alt-folkie M. Ward. And together the pronouns join forces to create one of the most charming, old-timey albums I've heard in ages. Here's why it works: Zooey's voice is so damn effortless. She can coyly sing her way out of a paper bag if you ask me. She agily traverses sunny AM pop, twangy country ballads and melancholic folk with endearing, believable ease. I sincerely hope Volume Two is in the works. Stream the whole thing here, then run to the record store March 18 and buy it.

This is Not A Test - She & Him
Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? - She & Him
Got Me - She & Him

Black Lips @ Other Music, NYC 3/10/08

Prior to checking out Black Lips free in-store at Other Music I had heard very little of their music, but of the very little I had heard, I liked it a lot - or at least enough to wait on line for over 40 minutes outside on a chilly early March evening for a set that would last only half as long. Was it worth it the wait? Hells yeah!

For those unfamiliar with the band, Black Lips play fast, brash, ramshackle indie rawk. Their scrappy aesthetic is busting with energy. Just listen to "Bad Kids" with its call-and-response vocals, playful fuck-all lyrics and elastic-y bassline it's the sonic equivalent of a superball manically bouncing off the walls before erupting through the ceiling. Every song sounds equally effortless, as if crafted from the ether with agile drunken ease.

Being one of the last people in the tiny 100-person capacity venue, as well as being incredibly short, I didn't actually see much of their quickie performance. (Note the above photo of the video camera taping their set - if you squint and look at the screen you can see the band, that was essentially my view.) But boy did they sound great.

Brooklyn Vegan did nab some amazing pics though:


Bad Kids - Black Lips Off last year's Good Bad Not Evil
Not A Problem - Black Lips

the Mountain Goats @ the Doug Fir in Portland, Ore. 2/25/2008

The Portland show, like the city, was both smaller and much more "laid back"/ less enthusiastic than Seattle, in my opinion. On the other hand, it was also much more intimate setting. After reading the insightful and hilarious interview with John Darnielle in the Portland Mercury, I was almost fully recovered from my break after seeing them just 48 hours earlier in Seattle and ready for another go in a new state. Excessive fangirling ahoy!

Once again, I fail at setlists (which are, as you all know, completely irrelevant to the experience anyway). Here's what I got, completely disordered:

• You or Your Memory
  
• Autoclave
  
• Sax Rohmer
  
• See America Right
  
• Lovecraft in Brooklyn
  
• This Year
  
• Palmcorder Yajna
  
• San Bernadino
  
• New Zion
  
• Love Love Love
  
• Exit Portland Oregon
  
• No Children
  
• Houseguest
  

Peter is always dressed somewhere between "dapper" and "impeccable" during shows, but here he completely outdid himself. Fantastic striped suit with a new vest, eye-popping kercheif and this salmon shirt. It was bloody brilliant, I swear. Fuck the Oscars, and "Oscar fashion." Peter was the best dressed man I've seen since my husband on our wedding day.

There was more dancing. This time, I avoid all sorts of disco dances; however, I'm not sure I wold have been completely out of place at either the Grateful Dead or INXS--nor would it be unfair to draw parallels to the requisite Guy Enjoying Himself, sadly. What's mainly disappointing is that in my own living room, dancing to tMG involves much more spinning than is usually permitted at shows. (And you can forget the grande jeté.)

Someone was even awesome enough to crack out a fine bottle of hooch for the band, which was then shared around the audience. Tempting as it seemed, I was determined not to catch "the crud" which had been floating around the city that week (I did anyway).

The libations were only enough to build tolerance for the endlessly more obscure requests (not counting "No Children!" screamed between every song) until finally some guy in the back said "Anything Pre-Tallahassee!" His wish was granted with the undoubtedly local favorite Exit Portland Oregon: "Goodbye, Portland/You tried to kill me/I don't blame you, I can't blame you/I don't blame you"




There was this girl standing just to my right. She was even shorter than I am, and I'm rather short. She did not budge an inch the entire time. Even when she was being lovingly serenaded by John during Houseguest! She was just as moved during the rockingest moments of Lovecraft as during John's mini-lecture about Chaucer. It was, for lack of a better word, bizarre. I know it's "cool" for indie-emo-hipster-types to stand absolutely still at shows as a display of appreciation, but come on.

At one point, John leant down to me during "Love Love Love" and--this was really almost embarassing-- I had been singing along JUST FINE until then, but the moment his dark eyes latched onto mine... all I could do was stand there slack-jawed and brain dead. I totally blanked, right at the one moment I should really not have. Instantly mortified, I couldn't hold his gaze and I bowed my head, and he moved on. Perhaps I should be consoled, however: during one point, John himself forget the lyrics in the third verse, and a handful of us in the front row helped him out.



What happened after that is somewhat of a mystery. The second encore provided us with No Children ("If I'm gonna play this song, you are obliged to put the fuck out"). I had been long craving to belt out that unadulterated vitriol at the top of my lungs in some place besides a car, and this time backed with a few hundred others. The emotion was intense. I was feelin' it. And when I reached out my unlovable, drowning hand, I felt a POP in my right arm, just above the elbow, and intense pain.

What the fuck--I actually managed to somehow injure myself simply from pure rocking. From the best I can determine, I either sprained something or pulled a tendon; either way, for nearly a week I could not extend my right arm without considerable pain now. This, truly, was a battle scar of pure love, and one I was honored to carry.



Flattery is too weak of a term to express how I felt when Peter stopped by to say hi to me onstage. After the show however, John came out to mingle and say hi to someone who had stuck around. I was compelled. This time, I will say hi. Buuuuut, I chickened out, like always. I already was the proud recipient of two fantastic high-fives and a failed serenade of Love. (And let me tell you, there is an art and skill to high-fives. This man has them down solid and proper.) I hid behind the merch booth and said "Thank you, John," mostly to myself.

tMG - No Children (live).mp3
tMG - So Desperate (live).mp3
tMG - Heretic Pride (live).mp3

Much thanks to Brian Latta Photography for the pics. Click on 'em to go to Flickr and see more. (Please ignore the swooning girl in the sequins up front--sadly, that was me). And here's video from the show. Autoclave:

the Mountain Goats @ Neumo's in Seattle 2/23/2008

HOLY CRAP! I think I had trouble typing this because I could't see well or think too straight. You see, John Darnielle blew my mind while Peter Hughes totally melted my face. It's bound to happen when you're so close to the stage (you can see me in the yellow dress up front). I don't have a complete set list because I am terrible at them, but here are most of the songs, not in their correct order:

• Autoclave
  
• Sax Rohmer #1 (JD had to bring out lyrics)
  
• Love Love Love
  
• Lovecraft in Brooklyn
  
• Pigs That Ran Straightaway Into The Water, Triumph Of
  
• San Bernadino
  
• You or Your Memory
  
• New Zion
  
• Michael Myers Resplendent
  
• Heretic Pride
  
• In the Craters of the Moon
  
• Sept 15, 1985
  
• You or Your Memory
  
• Hast thou Considered the Tetrapod
  
• Going to Georgia
  
• Houseguest (Nothing Painted Blue cover)
  
• Palmcorder Yajna (with Ben Gibbard!)
  
• This Year
  

I didn't even get a single picture because I was way too busy rocking. Thankfully, many fantastic photo-bloggers were present and got some great shots. Click on the pics to go to their Flickr accounts and see more!

I danced. Feverishly. I don't think I've gotten my heart rate pumping that hard since I used to run cross-country. And that wasn't even during the show, that was when I ran into Peter before the show. My husband and I were keeping warm at a coffee shop 'round the corner waiting for the doors to open. I was outside when Peter came out. I got a chance to talk with him a bit, which was fantastic. After a while, Jon Wurster came out and I got to meet him as well. Fabulous. (I did not meet John. I am too shy.)

There were so many nice and awesome people there, like always. The best opening act tMG has is just listening to the conversations happening all around.



The show itself: while it seemed they were plagued with technical problems (same with Jeffrey Lewis & the Jitters, who opened) but honestly? It's not as noticible as it probably seems from stage. I had a feeling that Peter, John and Jon actually had the three best seats in the house. What's mind-blowing is that even if the music were only so-so, it'd still be a great show because they have such stage presence, such love for the audience give and take. But music is phenomenal! They love to give, and they rock so hard giving it!

This is what made me dance so weird and sweat so hard doing it. Stupid yellow rayon dress. My oversight is that it's so fitted that I could not raise my hands up and wave them as much as I wanted to. Probably a good thing--after John's extollation that "I don't know who sent out the memo, but you can dance to indie music! It's OK!" I sadly let loose and began to do "the hustle" to "Love Love Love." not my highest moment, for sure.



Thank god for encores. If the set had just ended when I first thought it would, I might have cried. But not one, but two encores later, I was both enthralled and exhausted. Having Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard join for Palmcorder Yajna just about made most of us lose our minds. (Seattle loves local people.) I was probably not the only one screaming like our mothers probably did for Elvis. Which makes total sense, because let's face it: John Darnielle is Elvis Prestley and he fucking knows it.

tMG - In the Craters on the Moon (live).mp3 (a much more subdued version, IMHO)
tMG - Houseguest (live).mp3
Ben Gibbard - Palmcorder Yajna.mp3

The Wolves (Act I & II)

This recent video for Bon Iver's "The Wolves (Act I & II)" perfectly compliments the songs natural imagery and visceral beauty.

"I just got broken up with and we weren't even dating."

Received the following email yesterday (names have been changed):

You need to work some magic. I feel like I just got broken up with, and we weren't even dating. Steve sat me down VERY nicely and wanted to clarify with me that he doesn't return the feelings I so clearly and artlessly display for him on a regular basis. I am a mess. I feel broadsided. He was WONDERFUL about it which sucks because if he was an asshole, I would be angry and bitchy and feel justified in hating him. As it is, his actions were carefully and deliberately designed to preserve our friendship, which he hopes, sincerely, will last forever.

And it probably will.

But I still feel like I just got run over by a dump truck. And I'm angry at myself because oh shit have I been here before; I'm walking in relational circles.

So, here's my request. I would like for the mix masters of VK to make for me and my stupid wounded heart a playlist with the theme, "I just got broken up with and we weren't even dating."

If you all don't have time, by all means I understand. But I think it would make for an excellent theme, and a good challenge, anyway.

We ladies here at VK know your plight and feel your pain. Here's an hour and a half of tunes we wrangled together to commiserate and help you deal, in confusion sadness and anger (or lack thereof):

Barcelona - Why Do You Have So Much Fun Without Me.mp3

The Bens - Bruised.m4a

The Beatles - I'll Follow the Sun.mp3

Beulah - Landslide Baby.mp3

Brendan Benson - Feel Like Myself.m4a

Eamon - Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back).m4a

Jude - I'm Sorry Now.mp3

Lady Sovereign - Love Me Or Hate Me.mp3

The Lucksmiths - A Hiccup in Your Happiness.m4a

The Magnetic Fields - I Thought Your Were My Boyfriend.mp3

The Magnetic Fields - The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be.mp3

The Mayflies USA - I Was the One.m4a

of Montreal - Eros' Entropic Tundra.mp3

OK Go - It's Tough To Have A Crush When The Boy Doesn't Feel The Same Way You Do.mp3

OK Go - Get Over It.mp3

Rufus Wainwright - 14th Street.mp3

Rufus Wainwright - Danny Boy.m4a

Smashing Pumpkins - An Ode to No One.mp3

The Smiths - I Know It's Over.mp3

Sufjan Stevens - Dumb I Sound.mp3

They Might Be Giants - Snail Dust.mp3

Tori Amos - Cruel (live).mp3

Tori Amos - Over It (B's Over the Pool mix).mp3

Tori Amos - here. in my head..mp3

The Vandals - My Girlfriend's Dead.mp3

Wilco - We're Just Friends.m4a

And I found this boy...

Wow, apparently it took till 2008 for me to hear the best pop song of 2007. But boy I'm glad I finally did. This might seem like a hyperbolic statement, however Maia Hirasawa's "And I Found This Boy" is truly masterful. Overflowing with brassy bombast and orchestral theatrics and lyrics that are at once vulnerable and defiant, I want to give this song a giant hug and then dance through the streets Broadway style and then drink and cry alone. It's just that overwhelming. When Maia sings "And don't say I'm desperate, I'm not!" with her Japanese-Swede pixie vocals (sort of akin to Bjork except elventy bazillion times more girly and thus awesome) you know EXACTLY what's she's feeling -the simultaneous liberation and discomfort of denial.

And I Found This Boy - Maia Hirasawa
I wish I hadn't been here before

2 recent Umbrella songs!

Two recent cover/collaborations involving umbrellas, eh.
All the Umbrellas in London - Arcade Fire (Magnetic Fields cover)
This version features a graceful poignancy lacking in the original. It's hauntingly restrained, which is refreshing coming from a band that is usually anything but.

Umbrella - Rhianna and The Klaxons
The R&B princess joins forces with Britain's leading rave-rockers for a spacey take on last year's massive summer jam. All together now: Ella, ella, eh, eh. (It never gets old)

DVNO

Time to dance your way out of the weekend with Justice's latest video for "DVNO". Note the awesome old-school graphic:

I'd like to be someone / you could finally learn to love again

You know how there are some bands where all you have to do is listen to a 30 second snippet of any of their songs and you know exactly what that band is about, like they are just that sonically and aesthetically consistent and cohesive? Well Beach House is most definitely one of those bands. Much has been said about the Baltimore-based duo's gauzy dream-pop sound. Languid shoe-gazy guitar, droning organ loops and of course Victoria Legrand's rich Nico-esque vocals make for some reliably haunting music. Their recently released sophomore album Devotion doesn't stray far from their self-titled debut. And in this case, that is most definitely a good thing.

Heart of Chambers - Beach House
Gila - Beach House

"The Nun's Litany" - Live on Fair Game

Here's a live rendition of the Magnetic Fields' "The Nun's Litany" with Stephin Merrit on lead vocals, as mentioned in my previous post. It's an interesting contrast to the album version not only because of the male perspective, but because of the stripped down arrangement.
The Nun's Litany - The Magnetic Fields (Live on Fair Game)

Torture Playlist

You can't make some news stories up. You really can't. And sadly we're not. But it has recently come to light that, right alongside waterboarding, the U.S. government is using music as a form of torture against military prisoners. Apparently there are some things worse then simulated drowning -the Bee Gees for instance. Quite frankly I could probably come up with a more torturous playlist (Celine Dion is glaringly omitted for instance). Mother Jones has the entire mix here. Listen at your own risk.

Bodies of Awesome Sounds

Bodies of Water are easy to compare to other artists. The band consists of a husband and wife and a whole bunch of their friends. Not unlike the Arcade Fire. And speaking of the Arcade Fire, Bodies of Water also display the same sombre, delicate dignity that can be found of 2005’s funeral.

You might find it odd then that the next band I choose to compare Bodies of Water is the Polyphonic Spree. Because while they are as stately as the Arcade Fire, Bodies of Water also share the Polyphonic Spree’s manic exuberance. The joy and delight that hangs from every note the fragile army plays can also be heard on Bodies of Water’s debut, Ears Will Pop and Eyes Will Blink. And then there’s the fact that the Polyphonic Spree are a whole bunch of people singing together, using their voices as instruments, and Bodies of Water are a whole bunch of people singing together, using their voices as instruments.

Who next shall I liken them to? Fellow Volume Knobber June’s one true love, Sufjan Stevens. It’s not so much the sound of the band that brings Sufjan to mind, rather the content. The religious undertones of Seven Swans are echoed here. Although where Sufjan leans towards the personal, Bodies of Water’s focus is more on the theological. The album abounds with surrealist Christian imagery at its best, with water gushing from rocks and hearts being licked. And that’s just in the opening track. But please don’t get the idea that this is a “religious” album. It isn’t anymore than Seven Swans is.

So what do you get when you cross the Arcade Fire, the Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens? An incredibly original debut album. Ears Will Pop and Eyes Will Blink is a layered, complex and awesome piece of art that insists upon repeat listens, much like In The Aeroplane Over the Sea, (and a happy tenth birthday to you, little anne frank album).

Download;
Our Friends Appear Like The Dawn
These Are The Eyes
I Guess I'll Forget The Sound, I Guess, I Guess



BUY

Cough Coughing

I am currently suffering from the most obnoxious cough ever and am hoping it doesn't devolve into anything beyond a minor respiratory infection. Anyways, I'll use my illness as an excuse to post this video. Menomena's "Cough Coughing" is one of the more bizarre videos to be released last year - I don't exactly know what a monster made out of garbage bags has to do with this song. But this it's just so intriguing nonetheless.

The Magnetic Fields @ Town Hall, New York, NY 2/22/08

It's been four years since the Magnetic Fields have toured, but you'd never know it from the impeccable tightness and professionalism of their live shows. They played for a little over two hours (barring a fifteen minute intermission), giving ample time to old and new material alike. Songs off "Distortion " sounded even better the live acoustic setting, freed of the noisy reverb of the album. Melodies and lyrics that got somewhat buried shown through the striped-down piano and cello arrangements.

Highlights included a slowed-down piano version of "Take Ecstasy With Me" and Stephin Merritt (rather then Shirley Simms) singing lead vocals on "The Nun's Litany". Hearing his lush baritone utter "I want to be a topless waitress...I want to be a porno starlet" was utterly hilarious. Of course there were plenty of 69 Love Songs as well, "All My Little Words", "Grand Canyon' and the majestic "Papa Was A Rodeo" among them. The band continues their four night residency at New York's Town Hall tonight and tomorrow. While both shows sold out months in advance, you still might have a chance at picking up an extra ticket at the box office an hour or so prior to the show. Believe me, it's definitely worth a shot.

Sadly I forgot my camera. However I can assure you Stephin Merritt stuck to his wardrobe color of choice.

The Nun's Litany - The Magnetic Fields

Throw Me the Statue on La Blogotheque

Just yesterday I purchased Throw Me the Statue's brand-spanking-new album Moonbeams. Just today the band appeared on La Blogotheque's Take Away Show. There is nothing more awesome then watching a band you recently discovered playing xylophone and making deliriously catchy music on a random ferry ride. Check out album highlight "About to Walk"

Throw Me The Statue - About to walk
Uploaded by lablogotheque

Throw Me the Statue - Lolita
Uploaded by lablogotheque

And they also cover Guided by Voices "My Valuable Hunting Knife"

Throw Me the Statue - My valuable huntikng knife
Uploaded by lablogotheque

"I try to be cheerful but I can feel myself deflating all the time"

YES YES YES! FINALLY.

It's been three years since the British boys of The Boy Least Likely To have released an their debut album The Best Party Ever, which is quite possibly the finest, indie pop record of the 00s. No band combines peppy melodies, eclectic instrumentation (think: glockenspiel, banjo, clickity-clack percussion and recorder solos) with melancholic lyricism and wide-eyed innocence and wonder. It's sad scary world full of monsters and spiders and the onset of adulthood. We might as well clap our hands and sha-la-la while we have a collective twee panic attack.

So finally, finally, finally they have release a new song, which is said to appear on a new album due out sometime this summer. "A Balloon on a Broken String" doesn't stray far from their amazing twee template. The chorus is utterly endearing right from the first listen. And check out these lyrics:

I'm a balloon on a broken string
I'm not attached to anyone or anything anymore...
I'm sad and alone
But you'd never know it to look at me

SIGH.

Balloon on a Broken String - The Boy Least Likely To

And here's a near-classic track of their 2005 album The Best Party Ever
I See Spiders When I Close My Eyes - The Boy Least Likely To

Wait for the Summer

I haven't seen a video this visually dazzling in a long, long time. Get lost in a barrage of images - all those bugs and apples and snowflakes and shadowed handclaps somersault past you with confounding delight. The song ain't half bad either. Yesayer's "Wait For the Summer" might just be the perfect antecdote to all your winter blues.

You know how sometimes you get songs stuck in you head. And the only way to exorcise yourself of them is to impose them on someone else? Well now is one of those times. Here are a few random earworms currently running through my brain - and hopefully yours will be next.

Took You Two Years to Win My Heart - Final Fantasy
Such a heartbreaking melody, and oh can't get enough of those strings.

Lolita - Throw Me The Statue
Completely addictive twee-pop, replete with handclaps, glockenspiel and lyrics about wanting that special (younger) someone.

Skeleton Key - Margot & the Nuclear So and So's
I don't know much about this band. But I do know they've written a pretty perfect pop song.

Songs to love to, songs to make love to.

For all you lovers out there...

Jeff Buckley - Lover You Should Have Come Over (live).mp3

Ben Lee - Dirty Mind.mp3

The Beatles - Love Me Do.mp3

Tenacious D - Fuck Her Gently.mp3

Air - Sexy Boy.mp3

Nina Simone - I Loves You Porgy.mp3

Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man.mp3

Touch & Go - Would You...?.mp3

Howie Day - Lick My Lips.mp3

Barry White - Can't Get Enough of Your Love.mp3

Nina Simone - Feelin' Good (Joe Claussel Remix).mp3

Sufjan Stevens - Super Sexy Woman.mp3

Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice?.mp3

Smashing Pumpkins - Dancing in the Moonlight (Thin Lizzy cover).mp3

Bob Dylan - What Was It You Wanted.mp3

Van Morrison - The Way Young Lovers Do.mp3

Cibo Matto - White Pepper Ice Cream.mp3

Rufus Wainwright - Instant Pleasure.mp3

U2 - Your Blue Room.mp3

Holcombe Waller - Fireflies.mp3

Handsome Boy Modeling School (feat. Cat Power) - I've Been Thinking.mp3

Don't need no valentine, not anymore

Richard Hawley don't need no valentine. Neither do you. If you've never heard anything by the British crooner, then check out the gorgeous "Valentine" for a well-needed introduction. The sweeping strings are downright epic.

Valentine - Richard Hawley

He's just looking for his queen of carrot flowers.

Ok I am going to be completely honest and admit I have absolutely NO IDEA where I found this, but it is currently making me giggle. It's a comedy sketch featuring New York alt-comedian Aziz Ansari in which he interviews a dude pretending to be an angry, agressive Neutral Milk Hotel-er Jeff Mangum. He wants to kill Beirut and get a reality dating show on VH1 ala Flavor of Love ("There's nothing neutral about that"). It's completely ridiculous and absurd and maybe even disrespectful but really it's all in good fun. It's also quite apt given tonight is the season three premiere of Flavor Flav's aforementioned reality show and yesterday of course marked the 10th anniversary of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Yeah BOY!

PSNYC Blog Radio - NMH with Aziz Ansari

How strange it is to be anything at all

Today marks the 10th(!) anniversary of the release of Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Many of you out there have been living and breathing the gospel of this un-follow-up-able album for some time now. Perhaps almost too much has been said of its beauty. Impenetrably transcendent lyricism set alongside hauntingly accessible melodies -questionably the best album of the last decade, but without a doubt, the most life-affirming. It always leaves us left knowing there's no reason to grieve.

In The Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel

Oh and hey, Stephen Colbert is a fan?!

The (Obligatory) Vampire Weekend Post

If you attended a liberal arts college, particularly a prestigious Northeastern one, chances are over some point during your collegiate experience you were awkward, pretentious or angsty, or some combination thereof (lord knows I was). See here's the weird thing, the boys of Vampire Weekend, fresh Columbia grads mind you, succeed in making music that is neither of those three adjectives. Perhaps this is why the blogs are buzzing about them?

For a debut record, their self-titled album is remarkably confident and ridiculously upbeat. While the Louis Vitton name-dropping and abnormal amount of lyrical references to Cape Cod and obscure punctuation (I'll admit it, I had to wikipedia "Oxford Comma")might seem a bit on the bourgeois-ivory-tower-academia side, there is a self-knowing and all too amiable sweet nature belying the music. There is also a hint of privileged white-boy exoticism. All the strings and tropical percussion just make me want to sip Bartles & James on a yacht. I assure you, this is not a bad thing.

Oxford Comma - Vampire Weekend
Campus - Vampire Weekend

Year of the Rat

...Begins today. Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Sufjan Stevens - Year of the Rat.mp3
Badly Drawn Boy - Year of the Rat.mp3

"And we drank to absent votes, at the chance that you were right"

If you live in one of 24 US states holding primaries today we hope you made it to the polls (even if you were just writing in rock stars).

And now a song by a distinctively Australian band. It's called "To Absent Votes". And here are some choice lyrics:

They're packing up the polling booths
And pulling down the posters
As the sun sets on the primary school
And the streetlights flicker on
Across the town your mother left behind
At a bittersweet sixteen
You’re trying to convince me
That the government is gone

And you’re not one for anecdotes
But remember our delight
As we drank to absent votes
At the chance that you were right

Enjoy!

The Lucksmiths - To Absent Votes.mp3

Silent as a Movie

Wakey! Wakey!’s live album Silent As A Movie has been getting an awful lot of play time on my iPod recently. There is something about Mike Grubbs voice. The way he belts is powerful. Yet he also knows how and when to exert vocal restraint, which is especially effective on sobering ballads such as “Cokehead”. The album also does a great job of highlighting his eclectic piano playing, oh so beautifully from the jaunty and upbeat to the poignantly somber. I likey.

Fallin' Apart - Wakey! Wakey!
Cokehead - Wakey! Wakey!

And check out this truly transformative cover of Alicia Key's "For No One":
For No One - Wakey! Wakey!

New Mountain Goats song!

You got it here first!! NPR is currently streaming their live show, Weekend America, in which they are debuting a brand spankin' new Mountain Goats song about Super Tuesday called "Down to the Ark." You can't download it yet, but you can stream the song on the site and check out the lyrics.

Go here!

EDIT: If you missed the show, in which they played the new song and John Darnielle talking about it, you can subscribe to NPR's Weekend America podcast and listen to it there (it's at the very end of the show), and stream it at the site (see link above).

Every Of Montreal cover. Ever.

Well almost. You Ain't No Picasso has just posted a whopping 52! covers songs by the likes of everyone's favorite glam-tastic E6 band. Get 'em while they're hot.