Friday, December 30, 2005

The Wind of Strange



So this is how you get your New Year's weekend started. On the way home from work, school, whatever, blast these songs by Dandi Wind, from her upcoming Concrete Igloo. It's new wave, with balls, and it throbs stronger than a New Year's hangover.

Flooded Grass (mp3)

Safety Dance (mp3) - from her myspace page, where you can also download the fantastic einsteinbrains and Balloon Factory, and listen to Apotemnophilia.

Happy New Year's!

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Sometimes Less Is More

I'm just about to go on break until the New Year, and, as bandwidth is about to be exceeded, so is the Smudge. So this might be my last mp3 post of the year...and the mp3 is coming down tomorrow.

Everyone's curious about what effect Sonic Youth collaborator Jim O'Rourke had on the new Beth Orton album, Comfort of Strangers, and how the album stands up to her previous work. If you're Jim O'Rourke, you know you can't get in the way of that voice, and you have to preserve the arpeggiated acoustic guitar & piano chords that hold her songs together and mark her as a singer-songwriter. You've got to try to not so much embellish those things, but to showcase them.

Here's the title track, written by Beth Orton, M. Ward, and Jim O'Rourke. After you listen to it, you're going to have to replay it. That isn't a recommendation. You'll be compelled to play it again, trying to figure out how a song that seems so lightweight can hit you so hard, and how a song that shouldn't hold up longer than two minutes makes you want to hear more when it ends at 3:12. All you get is all the song needs: bass, piano, light percussion, acoustic guitar, her voice, and great songwriting: I know there's an answer to your question/but I don't know if I can word it right/Say what you mean, don't tell it like it could be/I don't know, should I say it out loud?

O'Rourke & Orton could have gone deep with the percussion, and could have fully arpeggiated the guitar chords, rather than holding the first note and playing the last two together, but though the song would have sounded fuller, sometimes less is more.

Comfort of Strangers holds up. It's her best record yet.

Beth Orton - Comfort of Strangers (mp3)

(Another) Holiday Mix

The good people at Relative Theory Records, in Norfolk, Virginia, compiled a damn fine 24-track holiday* mix called "Wreck The Halls." You can download the zip file and cover art here. I love the fine print at the bottom of the page:

©® 2005 - All copyrights belong to their respective writers / publishers / etc. Used without permission.


I could use that last sentence for about 99% of my mp3 posts.

The tracklist is:

1. The Free Design - Christmas Is The Day
2. James Brown - Soulful Christmas
3. Run DMC - Christmas In Hollis
4. Stevie Wonder - What Christmas Means To Me
5. Wesley Willis - Merry Christmas
6. Polyphonic Spree - So This Is Christmas
7. Grandaddy - Alan Parsons in Winter Wonderland
8. Pat Benatar - Please Come Home For Christmas
9. Mogwai - Christmas Song
10. Danny Elfman - Edward Scissorhands Ice Dance
11. Carpenters - Carol of The Bells
12. Saint Etienne - My Christmas Prayer
13. Eels - Christmas Is Going to the Dogs
14. Low - Just Like Christmas
15. Erlend Oye - Last Christmas
16. Sam Cooke - Christmas Means Love
17. Rufus Wainwright - Spotlight On Christmas
18. The Raveonettes - The Christmas Song
19. Badly Drawn boy - Donna and Blitzen
20. Feist - Lo How A Rose E'er Bloomin
21. Sufjan Stevens - Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
22. Matt Pond PA - Holiday Road
23. Murder City Devils - Dead By Christmas
24. David Banner - It's Christmas Time

*The word holiday is from the Middle English holidai, meaning "holy day." So is "Holiday Mix" more politically correct than "Christmas Mix?"

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Things Are Going To Change

The Islands (ex-Unicorns, plus Richard Parry & the lovely Sarah Neufeld of the Arcade fire guest appearing) hold up under the great weight of indie hype. Take this song: these guys understand that there's nothing like upbeat apocalypse music with a country twang to soothe the weary shopper's soul this wartime holiday season. It has nothing to do with shopping, maybe something to do with war, but none of that really matters when the Day After Tomorrow is the day after tomorrow, now does it?

Well, okay, so the record won't be out until January, in the UK. I saw something glowing, and it's going to cause an early thaw.

Islands - Volcanoes (mp3)

Flippant dread. It's an American tradition. And apparently, the Canadian Islands get it, too.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

This Naked Flame of Suffering

...as much as it may sound like it, is not a line from an Arcade Fire song. It's from The Word, a short story by Vladimir Nabokov, in next week's New Yorker (International Fiction Issue).

The flowers spilled their humid sheen in flight; the sleek, bright beasts played, whirling and climbing; the birds chimed with bliss, soaring and dipping. I, a blinded, quaking beggar, stood at the edge of the road, and within my beggar’s soul the selfsame thought kept prattling: Cry out to them, tell them—oh, tell them that on the most splendid of God’s stars there is a land—my land—that is dying in agonizing darkness.

Suck I Do

Because I take forever to work out the "HARD" Sudoku puzzles.

The literature of Sudoku is growing. Check out these excerpts from recent publications:

Complexity classes such as NP do not measure the difficulty of any specific problem instance but rather describe the rate at which difficulty grows as a function of problem size. If we can solve an order-n Sudoku, how much harder will we have to work to solve a puzzle of order n + 1? For problems in NP, the effort needed grows exponentially.

Most discussions of the complexity of Sudoku refer to the work of Takayuki Yato and Takahiro Seta of the University of Tokyo, whose analysis relates the task of solving Sudoku to the similar problem of completing a partially specified Latin square. The latter problem in turn has been connected with others that are already known to be in NP. This process of "reduction" from one problem to another is the standard way of establishing the complexity classes of computational problems. Yato and Seta employ an unusual form of reduction that addresses the difficulty of finding an additional solution after a first solution is already known. In Sudoku, of course, well-formed puzzles are expected to have only one solution. Yato and Seta say their result applies nonetheless. I don't quite follow their reasoning on this point, but the literature of complexity theory is vast and technical, and the fault is likely my own.


Your fault and mine, dude. From Unwed Numbers: The Mathematics of Sudoku, a Puzzle That Boasts, "No Math Required!" in the Jan-Feb 2006 American Scientist.

We provide a simple linear time transformation from a directed or undirected graph with labeled edges to an unlabeled digraph, such that paths in the input graph in which no two consecutive edges have the same label correspond to paths in the transformed graph and vice versa. Using this transformation, we provide efficient algorithms for finding paths and cycles with no two consecutive equal labels. We also consider related problems where the paths and cycles are required to be simple; we find efficient algorithms for the undirected case of these problems but show the directed case to be NP-complete. We apply our path and cycle finding algorithms in a program for generating and solving Sudoku puzzles, and show experimentally that they lead to effective puzzle-solving rules that may also be of interest to human Sudoku puzzle solvers.


I don't need no stinking rules. All I need is a sharp pencil, a good eraser, and a few hours of uninterrupted time, so I can hit the Sudoku Zone for a few minutes here & there. From Nonrepetitive Paths and Cycles in Graphs with Application to Sudoku, in the 20 July 2005 Computer Science.

More on the Mathematics of Sudoku in Wikipedia.

Synth By Numbers

Synth Pop 101: Intro To The Break: See how the synth gives way to piano, followed with some na-na-na vocalizations, then the rhythm guitar throbs again, and lo, the synth comes back with the chorus. Meanwhile, the lead singer dances, flirts and plays with band members and the audience. Who cares what's being sung? The listener has no choice but to just go with the moment, captivated by the sights and The Sounds.

The Sounds - Painted By Numbers (mp3)

Monday, December 19, 2005

Purpostus!!



Bert Williams, largely forgotten today, was the first African-American star: the most famous “colored man” in America during the early years of the twentieth century. The team of Williams and Walker put together the first all-Negro musical comedy to play a major Broadway theatre...their popularity among audiences both black and white allowed them to force the integration of first-class theatres around the country...through it all he continued to perform in blackface, embellished by giant lips painted over the cork, an ill-fitting suit, a preternaturally unhurried style of locomotion, and a cringing “Uh-huh, boss” lazy drawl. According to another Follies colleague, W. C. Fields, Williams onstage was the funniest man he ever saw, and offstage was the saddest.

Both Williams’s reputation and the remaining record of his work—a number of scratchy vocal tracks, some suggestive photographs and reels of film—make one long to ask: What on earth was he thinking? How does a mind maintain its balance when professional pride is so bound up with personal shame?...


-from BEHIND THE MASK: On the minstrel circuit, by Claudia Roth Pierpont, a review of Caryl Phillips' novel "alternately fascinating and frustrating novel 'Dancing in the Dark' (Knopf)," in the Dec 12 New Yorker.

Bert Williams mp3s:

Eve Cost Adam Just One Bone
Oh Death Where Is Thy Sting
Purpostus

From Bert Williams 1915-1921.

Friday, December 16, 2005

Friday Live - Pixies

eMusic has a new exclusive double-disc live Pixies album, titled Hey - Live Pixies. It features 28 stellar live tracks from various venues--highlights of their reunion tour. You need a membership to get the album. If you've been thinking of becoming a member but haven't yet, I highly recommend you go ahead. They've got an encyclopedia of great music. Browsing through their collection is like immersing yourself in a dusty record store.

Anyway, Hey goes something like this:

DISC 1
1. Planet Of Sound (Manchester, England - 8/30/2005)
2. Debaser (Norfolk, VA - 12/6/2004)
3. Gouge Away (New York, NY - 12/16/2004)
4. Ed Is Dead (Washington, DC - 6/13/2005)
5. Bone Machine (Cleveland, OH - 6/8/2005)
6. No. 13 Baby (Leeds, England - 8/272005)
7. Holiday Song (Raleigh, NC - 6/12/2005)
8. I Bleed (London, England - 6/2/2004)
9. Is She Weird? (Leeds, England - 8/27/2005)
10. Caribou (New York, NY - 12/12/2004)
11. Crackity Jones (Norfolk, VA - 12/6/2004)
12. Something Against You (Washington, DC - 12/7/2004)
13. Into The White (Raleigh, NC - 6/12/2005)
14. Dead (New York, NY - 12/11/2005)

DISC 2
1. La La Love You (Los Angeles, CA - 6/2/2005)
2. Cactus (Edinburgh, Scotland - 8/28/2005)
3. Wave Of Mutilation (UK Surf) (Indianapolis, IN - 6/7/2005)
4. Mr. Grieves (Indianapolis, IN (6/7/2005)
5. Nimrod's Son (Washington, DC - 12/8/2005)
6. Subbacultcha (Leeds, England - 8/272005)
7. Monkey Gone To Heaven (Denver, CO - 6/5/2005)
8. Velouria (Toronto, Ontario - 7/9/05)
9. Wave Of Mutilation (San Francisco, CA 5/30/05)
10. U-Mass (Boston, MA - 12/9/2004)
11. Here Comes Your Man (Newport, RI - 8/6/2005)
12. Hey (Dublin, Ireland - 8/23/2005)
13. Vamos (Washington, DC - 12/7/2004)
14. Gigantic (Norfolk, VA - 12/6/2004)

This post goes out to our young friend, co-worker, concert buddy, exotic food experimenter, and greasy hashbrown donor, Randy, whose last day at work was yesterday. Among others, I saw Final Fantasy, Arcade Fire, The Hives, and The Pixies with him. We'll miss seeing your mug every day, RC. But we'll still get out for lunch or a show.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Sufjan REM Cover

Clever Titles Are So Last Summer has a non-rocking Sufjan cover of REM's The One I Love here.

High School Reunion - Uncovered



A few days ago, I mentioned how much I love the High School Reunion compilation. The two covers I posted are fantastic, and there's so much more worth listening to: The Dresden Dolls' 80's-baroque cover of Pretty in Pink, Frank Black's dark Repo Man, and solid covers of Somebody's Baby, A Million Miles Away, Weird Science, The Specials' Little Bitch, I Melt With You...you get the point.

Earlier this year there were compilations with companion discs. There was Verve Remixed 3 and Verve Unmixed 3, there was Motown Remixed and Motown Unmixed, and even last year, we had Daniel Johnston Discovered, and UnCovered...so where's the High School Reunion Uncovered?

Here.


isn't she?

Jackson Browne - Somebody's Baby (Fast Times)
Plimsouls - A Million Miles Away (Valley Girl)
Tom Petty - American Girl (Fast Times)
The Vapors - Turning Japanese (Sixteen Candles)
Oingo Boingo - Weird Science (Weird Science)
Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me) (The Breakfast Club)
Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes (Say Anything)
Thompson Twins - If You Were Here (Sixteen Candles)
The Specials - Little Bitch (Sixteen Candles)
The Psychedelic Furs - Love My Way (Valley Girl)
Echo & The Bunnymen - Bring On The Dancing Horses (Pretty in Pink)
The Cars - Moving In Stereo (Fast Times)
The Psychedelic Furs - Pretty In Pink
Pixies - Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf) (Pump Up The Volume)
The Smiths - Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (Pretty In Pink)
Modern English - I Melt With You (Valley Girl)
Wayne Newton - Danke Schoen (Ferris Beuller's Day Off)
Iggy Pop - Repo Man
Orchestral Manoeuvers In The Dark - If You Leave (Pretty In Pink)*
The Replacements - Within Your Reach (Say Anything)

* If You Leave is not on the High School Reunion compilation. I don't have I Go Crazy by PC Munoz, so I substituted in the OMD.

NOTE - These are coming down tomorrow.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Beck vs. Mae-Shi: Que Onda Guero

Mae Shi are offering a really good Beck remix, not found on Guerolito.

From yesterday's message to many mp3 bloggers:

On the eve of the release of Beck's Guerelito, we
offer a Beck remix you won't find on the remix CD:

"Que Onda Guero (Team Shi Latino 96.3 Remix)"

So much of Beck's '90s output was a mythologizing of
the 80s Los Angeles he grew up immersed in –
lowriders, mariachi, turntables and microphones. Sure,
it's patronizing at times – "Odelay" was his gringo
approximation of "orale," as in "orale vato" – but for
some, it's the perfect whiteboy synthesis of
pre-Rodney King Riots Los Angeles.

However, the sound of the city has changed. With this
remix, local L.A. surprise punks The Mae Shi have
tried to capture the sound of a summer in Los Angeles
in 2005 – the sound of Daddy Yankee selling out
Staples Center, the sound of narcocorridos booming
from the car next to you as you drive down Pico Blvd.
This year saw a new radio station take over the
streets of Los Angeles, Latino 96.3, a bilingual
station "blazing reggaeton and hip-hop." In the hot
windows-down summer of 2005, the station was
impossible to ignore, and its rise in public presence
coincided with Daddy Yankee's newfound ubiquity (as
well as his ability to sell out Staples Center).

"Que Onda Guero (Team Shi 96.3 Latino Remix)" is The
Mae Shi's attempt to capture the sound of 2005 in the
same way Beck captured the sound of 1985.

Back to School With Kristen and Matt

My High School Reunion CD, which features covers of 80's movie songs, finally came in the mail yesterday. It was worth the wait. For the most part, the songs are faithful and reverent, yet almost always fun. It's already one of my favorite compilations of the year.

Matthew Sweet - American Girl (Petty cover) (mp3)

Kristin Hersh - Wave of Mutilation (cover of Pixies' UK Surf version) (mp3)

Monday, December 12, 2005

Nellie McKay Got It Right



Dear Nellie,

Recently, according to Defamer, you had a meltdown at a recent performance. A reader reported:

She was talking to the audience about the problems she’s been having with Sony and someone shouted “Shut up and sing!” This seemed to touch a nerve with dear Nellie. After politely explaining to the miscreant that “If this continues with Sony, I will leave the music business, BITCH. And NEVER SING AGAIN,” she started screaming and crying and “They say I’m just pulling a Barbra Streisand,” and “You have NO IDEA WHAT I’M GOING THROUGH,” and corporations are raping the world, etc.


You tell 'em, Nellie. Raping the world with greed(leavingartistscrumbsofthepie)&greenhousegasses&rootkits&whatnot.

You tell 'em, but please, PLEASE do not stop singing!

First of all, I'm going to try to see you at the Birchmere in January.

Second...what would we do without your spunk & flair? And now, you've got ditties like your Beatles cover on This Bird Has Flown, and this euphorically harmonic duet with k.d. lang, from your forthcoming Pretty Little Head:

Nellie McKay & k.d. lang - We Had It Right (mp3) (radio rip)

And third and finally, if you quit, that would leave us with the likes of...er...Rick Springfield?...well, this defamer commenter doesn't care so much:

My God, I've lost touch. Who the fuck is Nelly McKay and why should I care? Write more articles about Rick Springfield, for Christ's sake, man! I care about REAL entertainers!


YEAH! REAL entertainers, for Christ's sake, man!

See (and hear) you soon.

With all our love,

The Smudge

Friday, December 09, 2005

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Happy Birthday Teri Hatcher. Here's A Little Gift From The Smudge.



Happy Birthday to Teri Hatcher, who turns 41 today. You'll always be one of our favorite Desperate Housewives, though we know that you're neither, despite the caption on the above photo.

To celebrate your birthday, we dedicate this song to you:

Commodores - Brick House (Original 12" Mix) (mp3)


What's a Brick House? Ms. Funkyflyy knows.

Bull Moose Jackson Pulls Out His Big Ten Inch...

...record. But of course, it's not the size of the classic blues record, it's how you use it. 1952, King Records.

Bull Moose Jackson - Big Ten-Inch Record (mp3)


The young boys don't do anything for Little Esther. She likes her men like she likes her whisky - aged & mellow. 1952, Federal Records.

Little Esther - Aged and Mellow Blues (mp3)


Both songs taken from Dealing With The Devil: 25 Essential Blues Classics (out of print).

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

The Ballad of Tourettes



La Ballade de Tourette (mp3) may be the most tragic, poignant song you hear about Tourettes today. The fake French band, Nous non Plus (Us No More or Neither Do We), previously named Les Sans Culottes before a lost legal battle, touche your heart with lyrics like these:

Personne dans mon cœur
Mes propos orduriers n’attirent que les fumiers,
comment leur expliquer qu’je suis sage?

that is:

Nobody is in my heart
My dirty language only attracts lecherous men,
how to explain that in reality I am a good girl?


Not so touching, or even more touching, depending on how you look at it, is One Night in Paris (mp3), a warped tune about Paris Hilton (via SPIN.com)

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Pabst No Ribbon

Yesterday afternoon, Uncle Tom, RC666 and I shared our bad feelings about Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. It was a tender moment among men. I concluded the conversation with the proposition that one of them should eat about a dozen deviled eggs, chase them with a six-pack of Pabst, and see what happens. They're thinking about it. Meanwhile, any takers out there in the blogosphere?

After our talk, I thought of the following Untamed Youth tune with profound lyrics, from Children of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The Second Psychedelic Era, and a related companion piece from the same collection, which, by the way, makes a fantastic gift for aficionados of the off-center.

The Untamed Youth - Pabst Blue Ribbon (mp3)

The Swingin' Neckbreakers - I Live For Buzz (mp3)

Sunday, December 04, 2005

I wanna walk around with you

Isobel Campbell's voice is delicate and refined, and carries schoolgirl charm. Mark Lanegan's is harsh, and carries a bit of barroom menace. Put them together, and you would expect...well, maybe you wouldn't know what to expect. What you probably wouldn't expect is to hear them sound convincing in this infectious lullaby.

(Do You Wanna Come) Walk With Me - Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan (mp3)

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Never thought I'd do it!!






All-

This weeks food review post is brought to you courtesy of my lady love Sugarduck! I promised her this week that we would try the infamous Gingerbread Latte from Starbucks. Now now for those who know your Uncle Tom, Starbucks is generally off limits. Often times too bitter to even look at let alone consume your Uncle Tom tries to avoid any intestinal distress related to coffee consumption. But a promise is a promise and it is too hard to say no to the one that you love. We found a local Barnes and Noble/Starbucks in Rockville, made our order and it was then that I was able to try this famed concoction. ONE WORD..... DELICIOUS AND AMAZING (okay that's two words, but it's that damned good I tell you). The gingerbread flavor mixed with the milk was perfect. I can certainly see how it can become addicting, especially if you happen to live near a Starbucks and unless you live in Appalachia there are at least 217 Starbucks located within 2 miles of your home. If you do live in Appalachia, can you tell us more about the Blue People? I would accept any sort of information that you can pass on. Since I am left without my usual work companions this week, I don't know if I will get to any other food review. I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving!!

-Uncle Tom

Beck.com

The revamped Beck.com features four new songs on a snazzy Flash boombox. They're worth checking out, especially "Untitled Song 2," but Beck isn't meant to be played on tinny computer speakers. Well, okay, yeah, he is, but he wasn't meant to be played solely on tinny computer speakers. I saved the audio to burn a CD for my trip to Pennsylvania tomorrow. Yes, that means I'll be away (again) for several days. Until then, here are a couple of tinny Beck mp3s:

Beck - Untitled Song 2 (mp3)

Beck - Shake Shake (Black Tambourine) (adrock remix) (mp3)

Also, preview the remix album, Guerolito, here.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Beth Orton - Conceived

I heard Beth Orton's new single, "Conceived," twice today - on WRNR (Annapolis) this morning, and on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic online stream this evening. Something about Beth Orton's music grabs me. Maybe it's her unique voice, with that mysterious accent. Maybe it's the straightforward melodies, always pure and clean. Whatever it is, it cuts through the pop clutter and sounds new without coming off as trying to be avant-garde. I may or may not have been Soulseeking her forthcoming album, "Comfort of Strangers," due February 7th. I haven't found it yet. Too bad, because I have a feeling the winter would be a lot warmer with it.

Download "Conceived" at Some Velvet Blog.

Monday, November 28, 2005

Ohhhhhhh, The Weather Outside Is Frightful, Christmas Music Is Not Delightful...


...but Vince G is always welcome at the holidays

Tired of Holiday music already? Tempted to grab some of the nearest gift ribbon to strangle that person in the next cubicle who keeps playing Jessica Simpson's or Garth Brooks' Christmas album?

Let me offer two ways to preserve your sanity along with your sexy:

1. Fast-forward to New Year's Day, 12" style:

U2 - New Year's Day (12" wave remix) (mp3)

2. Next time someone asks, "Don't you have any Christmas music?" play this, only this, over and over:

Daniel Johnston - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree (mp3)

It's weird, it's fun, and the food is amazing.

Here at the Smudge, we love pho. As you can see on the right. So to brighten up our Monday, from Khoi Vinh's account of his recent trip to Saigon:

I was born here but I left when I was three and a half. So just being back, in the midst of the quotidian and the unremarkable, is profound in a very private, intimate way. It's more than just being a visitor to a place one cherishes; it's like playing tourist in another course of events, sightseeing the attractions of a life I might have led if it weren't for, you know, global politics and war and all. Everywhere and everything is a could-have-been for me, superficially strange and foreign but, in an emotional way, also deeply familiar. It's weird, it's fun, and the food is amazing.


No recipes. A link to photos on Flickr though.

http://www.subtraction.com/archives/2005/1123_first_day_ba.php

Please enjoy.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Prince's 12 Inches

Since I'm going to be away until around Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, I'm going to sign out with a couple of impressive mp3s for your long holiday trips, and wish our U.S. readers/downloaders a Happy Thanksgiving.

We are thankful for each other, and for you.

Prince - Little Red Corvette (12")

Prince - Raspberry Beret (12")

Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim


Elis Regina

When it comes to bossa nova, it's often sexier when you don't understand the words.

From Fotografia: Os Años Dourados de Tom Jobim, a compilation of the best of bossa nova legend Antonio Carlos (Tom) Jobim, released yesterday.

Águas de Março - Tom Jobim, Elis Regina (mp3)

Só Tinha de Ser Com Você - Tom Jobim, Elis Regina (mp3)

Fotografia - Tom Jobim, Elis Regina (mp3)

Lunch Time Review


Well, it's been awhile since your Uncle Tom has been a part of the smudge so today I am going to try something different. We here at the smudge enjoy the occasional dining out experience and by occasional I mean up to 4x a week. So with that being said, I am going to try and be a good blogger and post my review of the restaurant of the week. This week it was Hard Times Cafe in Bethesda. Since Canowine's Maryland Terrapins were playing yesterday in beautiful Maui and it was a locally televised game, we were expecting a crowded restaurant. We were pleasantly surprised that no one else was there and were ready for some fast service so that we could return to work defending our great Nation. We started with some appetizers of Texas Hot & Spicy chicken fingers that were excellent and had just the right amount of heat to satisfy the pallet. We then moved on to the entrees with RC666 and myself ordering Frito Chili Pie with Terlinqua Red sauce, Canowine ordered the Chili Bubba with Cincinnati Red and Terlingua Red. The Frito Pie turned out perfectly. The moist chili sauce softened up the fritos so that they were tender and not too crunchy. Canowine commented that his cornbread was the same with the sauces accenting the sweet cornbread superbly. Speaking of the Terrapins, they pulled off a 98-69 win over Chaminade whose name brings me back to a great little skit from The Muppet Show. Here is a link to a video clip for your enjoyment. Keoki found this orginally for us on the smudge so lets take the time to thank him for that. Canowine and the rest of the Terps will be playing Arkansas today so we wish him luck and we hope that his flight back from sunny Maui is pleasant (please bring us back some kick ass souvenirs). This is the first of what I hope to be many reviews of your local dining establishments, so if anyone has any suggetions for us, let me know and we will be happy to try out your requested restaurant. I will also be giving food and culture reviews from and about Korea when I will become a temporary resident starting in April 2006. Enjoy folks!!

-Uncle Tom

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

When The Adults Cry



In the Year Of Our Lord Nineteen Eighty Something, the hard-rockin' White Lion tamed their monster sound a bit and shat out this ballad, which, as you may remember, was about the plight of crying children. They touched the world with their social conscience.

This song kinda makes you want to cry, doesn't it?

Great White, er...no, White Lion - When the Children Cry (mp3)

Grave Nick Cave

If you've seen Nick Cave play, you know how sinister and dangerous he appears on stage. And you know how his music eats away at you, claws its way into your mind as you resist its dark truths. Listening to him is like sinning.

These creepy, minimalist mp3s are from his movie, The Proposition, a violent western set in Australia, starring Guy Pearce and Emily Watson. The OST will be released in the U.S. early next year.

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis mp3s, from The Proposition:

The Rider #2

Down To The Valley

Monday, November 21, 2005

Not My Experience...Not Even Ribbon



They say
the first love's most important.
That's very romantic,
but not my experience.

Something was and wasn't there between us,
something went on and went away.

My hands never tremble
when I stumble on silly keepsakes
and a sheaf of letters tied with string
— not even ribbon...


-excerpt from First Love, by Wislawa Szymborska, taken from Poetry Daily.

Levitating the Furniture



Listen as you read:

Idil Biret - Chopin - Polonaise-fantaisie in A flat major, Op 61 (mp3)

...When he listened to music, he listened with his whole body, as longingly as a condemned man aches for the sound of distant feet perhaps bringing news of his release. When spoken to, he didn't hear. Music dissolved the world around him just as it dissolved the laws of artistic unity, and at such moments Konrad ceased to be a soldier.

One evening in summer, he was playing a four-handed piece with Henrik's mother, when something happened...They were performing Chopin's Polonaise-Fantaisie and Henrik's mother was playing with such passion that the whole room seemed to shimmer and vibrate...It was as if music was levitating the furniture, as if some mighty force were blowing against heavy silk curtains, as if every ossified, decayed particle buried deep in the human heart were quickening into life, as if in everyone on earth a fatal rhythm lay dormant, waiting for the predestined moment to begin its fateful beat. The courteous listeners realized that music is dangerous. But the duo at the piano had lost all thought of danger. The Polonaise-Fantaisie was no more than a pretext to loose upon the world those forces that shake and explode the structures of order which man has devised to conceal what lies beneath. They sat straight-backed at the piano, leaning away from the keys a little and yet bound to them, as if music itself were driving an invisible team of fiery mythical horses riding the storm that circled the world, and they were bracing their bodies to maintain a firm grip on the reins in this explosive headlong gallop of unshackled energies. And then, with a single chord, they ended...

...The Officer of the Guards...said, "Konrad will never make a true soldier."

"Why?" asked his son, shocked.

...calmly, with the assurance of an expert, he said, "Because he is a different kind of man."

-from Embers, by Sandor Marai (Knopf)

Friday, November 18, 2005

Quote of the Day #2: Sergeant Kaplan

It's [Robert Kaplan's Imperial Grunts] about stories of individual soldiers and Marines—not generals and colonels, but sergeants and corporals. They don't lose morale, they don't get discouraged. On the ground, American soldiers and Marines speak a common language where they communicate very directly without nuance. It's a world of practicality, of mechanics, of doing things. It's not about thinking or imagining, it's about doing. What I've found is, never ask a sergeant what he feels; ask him what he does and he'll talk for hours...

Look, once we're fifty, all of us wonder, What would it have been like if we had done something different? That's very normal. I've been very satisfied with being a freelance writer for the last third of a century. I've had a great life. But if I were forced to choose an additional life, being a career soldier certainly would be something that would appeal to me. I think I would have enjoyed it better as a non-commissioned officer.


-From Warriors for Good, an Atlantic interview with Robert Kaplan

Field Music - If Only The Moon Were Up (video)

Field Music's latest UK single, out Monday, is "If Only the Moon Were Up."

Here's the super rad video: .mov / .ram

Quote of the Day: Welcome to the (sex) machine

"Here I am, this divorced Christian guy, not promiscuous at all, and here I am with a sex machine...I will require anyone ordering a machine from me to provide proof of marriage and a signed statement of intent to use only within that marriage. Kind of like a gun dealer that requires proof of age and proof of passage of a firearm safety test before selling someone a firearm. Sexual arousal is a doorway to a person's very soul and isn't to be messed with lightly."

-Jon Traven, a sex-machine inventor, as quoted in The Sex Machines Next Door, in Wired.

Friday Live

Here are today's Friday Live mp3s:


Fiona Apple - Never is a Promise (live on letterman)

PJ Harvey - You Said Something (live on letterman)

Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime (live extended mix)

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Quote of the Day #2: Stud Farmer

"I am opening up a stud farm," Fleiss declared from her Hollywood home overlooking the Sunset Strip. "I am going to have the sexiest men on earth. Women are going to love it."

-From Heidi Fleiss plans 'stud farm', from CNN.com

Quote of the Day: On Rootkits

"Most people don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"

- Thomas Hesse, Sony BMG's president of global digital business, in an NPR interview on Sony's copy-protection scheme. From Real Story of the Rogue Rootkit, in today's Wired.

The Sounds, Live on Carson


The Sounds have finished their new CD, to be released in Spring 2006. They played one of the new songs, "Queen of Apology," on Carson this Tuesday.

This is what it looked like:
Sounds - Queen of Apology (Live on Carson) (.avi video)

And this is what it sounded like:
Sounds - Queen of Apology (Live on Carson) (mp3)

The lines and the hiss are from too much signal amplification on my cable. But you get the idea.

You can listen to the album version on their myspace page, or a low-quality webripped mp3 here. If you liked their debut CD (you should have), you'll like this song.

The Sounds are playing tonight at the Hiro Ballroom in NYC.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

The Quote of the Day is from the Washington Post's Micro-Porn article

"I don't have one gay friend who would not have the new iPod," he [Michael Lucas, founder of Lucas Entertainment Inc] said. "Gay people are much more technologically advanced."

- From "Mini-porn could turn into mega-business," in Monday's Post.

Elliott Smith's Blues

Unreleased Elliott Smith material has been popping up here and there lately, including live unreleased songs at Elliott Smith B-Sides, as reported by Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands.

Last Thursday, someone posted this concert on the Live Music Archive, which includes this cover (mp3) of the Beatles' "Yer Blues." It's chilling when he sings:

The eagle picks my eye
The worm he licks my bones
I feel so suicidal
Just like Dylan's Mr. Jones
Lonely wanna die
If I ain't dead already
Ooh girl you know the reason why.

Black cloud crossed my mind
Blue mist round my soul
Feel so suicidal
Even hate my rock and roll
Wanna die yeah wanna die
If I ain't dead already
Ooh girl you know the reason why.

Weekly Cheese

I tried to post a crap song yesterday, but the one I was looking for, which shall remain unnamed, is apparently so bad that it has disintegrated from cyberspace and left no trace.


Donny Osmond, Captain of Cheesy Cliche

So, I'm left with no choice but to leave you with this shiny gem from a teen idol and role model extraordinaire: Donny Osmond. If being a great role model correlated with making good music...well, if only. He is a rebel, though, and he has a heart made of stone. That's how these awesomely original lyrics go, anyway:

So you heard that I'm a rebel with a heart made of stone.
I got a restless spririt that nobody can own.
If a picture tells a story won't you listen to mine,
I'm searching for the answer but it's so hard to find.

You'll see much deeper when you read between the lines,
'cause there's a fire burning in my eye.

Like a thief in the night, who can't get enough,
I am willing to fight,
'cause I'm a soldier of love.
Like a shot in the dark when the going gets rough,
I'ts a state of the heart
when you're a soldier of love.

I'm willing to fight.


The lyrics speak for themselves, and so I have nothing to add, except for the mp3, for your listening pleasure.

Donny Osmond - Soldier of Love (mp3)

It's About To Get A Whole Lot Harder

This track from The Films' The-Films EP is a damn good straight-ahead rock song that doesn't try too hard to be one. Complete with hand claps and genuine guitar solo.

The Films - Black Shoes (mp3)

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

The Junco Partner EP

Here are seven takes on a blues staple, from James Wayne to James Booker to the Hindu Love Gods to Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros, each with its own personality & soul.

Junco Partner mp3s, by:

James Wayne) (Sittin' In With Harlem, Jade & Jax, Vol. 1)
Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five (Let the Good Times Roll - The Anthology 1938-1953)
James Booker (Junco Partner)
(Live) - Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros (Give 'Em The Boot IV - VA)
Dr. John (All By Hisself: Live At The Lonestar)
Professor Longhair (Rum and Coke)
Hindu Love Gods (Warren Zevon with REM's Buck, Mills & Berry) (Hindu Love Gods)

Monday, November 14, 2005

Not Q & Not U



It was sad to see Dischord's Q & Not U disband, but I'm excited about the new projects - drummer John Davis is working with Laura Burhenn, and Chris Richards, a.k.a. Ris Paul Ric, has released the excellent, challenging Purple Blaze.

In a concert review, Popmatters said:

In talking with Richards, you realize how humbling it is to tour like this: a man, a car, a map. Completely free of rock star posturing, Richards is doing some serious soul searching on this go-round. The same can be said of his music. He is touring to support Purple Blaze, a quiet and haunting affair recorded and mixed earlier this year.

Armed with his black, duct-taped guitar, Richards opened the set with one of the strongest songs in his solo repertoire, "Valerie Teardrop" -- a compelling number that brought to mind Gary Jules' cover of "Mad World" in its emotional resonance and delivery. The psychedelic freak-outs that were the one-two punch of "Hanging from the Grapevines" and "Up in My Window" dissolved into a fascinating (if troubling and noisy) collage of sound.


Dusted magazine recently reviewed Purple Blaze, and concluded:

Purple Blaze has the material and the determination to become a dorm room classic, but the intelligence and restraint shown here lead to far more. It’s sentimental, explicit pop for people who don’t need their own pimply emotions whined back at them, and if Richards keeps up this level of quality on future releases, the world is his, ready to take.


It's one of those albums that you listen to, and it does something to your psyche, but you're not sure exactly what. You are sure, though, that you want to hear it again, now. So you pop it back in, and it's as challenging as it was the first time. Richards assaults your psyche with his acoustic guitar, incisive songwriting, and some subtle, organic effects via Tim Hecker. Once they get hold of you, you're theirs.

Ris Paul Ric mp3s, from Purple Blaze:

Purple Blaze

Valerie Teardrop

Ris Paul Ric is playing at the Black Cat tonight.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Final Fantasy Does Bloc Party

Owen Pallett and his drummer played a violin & drums version of Bloc Party's This Modern Love a couple of weeks ago. This very kind fellow posted a video of it here (megaupload). If you haven't had the chance to experience the energy of his live shows, this video will amaze you.

Here's the mp3:

Final Fantasy - This Modern Love (Live Bloc Party Cover, 10/25/05)

Please don't download the mp3 without also checking out the video. You won't quite get it if you don't see it.

Also, the Final Fantasy live performance on WFMU is here.

The tracklist is:

1. Spell for a Weak Heart
2. The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead
3. If I Were a Carp
4. What Do You Think Will Happen Next?
5. This is the Dream of Win & Regine

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Remains of the Day

A while back, Keoki posted the two best tracks from the Corpse Bride soundtrack, the moving Victor's Piano Solo and the playful The Piano Duet.


You might try to hide and you might try to pray
But we all end up the remains of the day
-from "Remains of the Day"


Those tracks motivated me to see the movie and buy the soundtrack. It's fantastic, and does what a good soundtrack should - enhances the movie and keeps it in your mind long after you've seen it.

Here are two more of my favorite tunes, both darkened with warped humor.

Remains of the Day (mp3)

Tears to Shed (mp3)

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

The Weekly Poo: Jamie Walters

Nearly every day, I have to listen to this guy Randy urging me to bring back the weekly Shittiest Shit Ever Shat feature. So today I resurrect the poo.


Jamie Walters: Teen Idol 4-Eva!

If you browse your local record store's Teen Idols Bargain Bin, you might come across a Jamie Walters CD. Today's poo, How Do You Talk to an Angel (mp3), is from the soundtrack to The Depths. I mean The Heights. Jamie Walters was clearly influenced by Richard Marx. You can hear it in the please-shoot-me-now lyrics, the musak sax, and the guitar licks that you hear the-guy-who-still-sports-a-rattail playing in Guitar Center. I'd say he's just a notch below the Marx-man, and maybe just a notch above Don Johnson. Yes, I'd say he's nestled comfortably between the two. Picture that, Gay Men Of The World Who Are Stuck In The 80's.

Speaking of rattails, the one thing he has going for him is his uncanny resemblance to everyone's favorite Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, played by Hayden Christensen. I only mention Hayden because acting-wise, he's just a notch below Jamie Walters.


How Do I Talk to a Padme? Not very well, if you ask Anthony Lane.

Anyway, back to Jamie Walters. Where has he gone? Perhaps he, like many before him, has taken a sabbatical to ponder the meaning of that unnatural space between Tori Spelling's boobs, as they existed when he was on Beverly Hills, 90210.


Tori's terrain features.

P.S. Don't come looking for me when you find yourself humming this tune this afternoon.

Bloodshot in Earshot

For 11 years, Bloodshot Records has been home to no-nonsense acts who record beautifully jacked-up tunes. Bloodshot sums up that tradition in their new compilation, For a Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records.

As Popmatters put it,

What's to be made of Bloodshot Record's 11th anniversary compilation, For a Decade of Sin? It's not a retrospective, culling seminal tracks from the first decade of the self-proclaimed "insurgent country" label's releases, but rather all new/unreleased music. And a good chunk of the 42 artists represented on this compilation aren't even members of the Bloodshot family! Not that these facts makes the album any less enjoyable, but still: Weird.


The weirdness lives on.

The Meat Purveyors' Little White Pills (mp3) starts as a southern rocking foot-stomper, but gets groggy when the the lyrics turn to the pills:

(allegro)
I was always tired
I was always blue
I found something that'll cure my ills
I'm talkin' about those little white pills

(adagio)
Those little white pills got me feelin' fine
They hurt my stomach and sharpen my mind...


Porter Hall, Tennessee lament fallen friends in a cover of Jim Carroll's People Who Died (mp3):

Teddy sniffed some glue, he was 12 years old
Fell from the roof on East Two-Nine
Kathy was 11 when she pulled the plug
on 26 reds and a bottle of wine
Bobby got leukemia, 14 years old
He looked like 65 when he died
He was a friend of mine

Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends, and they died


And Nora O'Connor's Two Way Action (mp3) is simply gorgeous.

It's available at Amazon.com for 13.99...that's 42 songs for 14 bucks. At 33 cents per track, it's a steal.

Saturday, November 05, 2005

Annoying Word of the Day - Colour

The word colour spelled by a British or Canadian: okay.

The word colour spelled by an American: Drop the "u." It doesn't make you sound any smarter.

But, Soft! What Light Through Yonder Window Breaks?

It is Higher (mp3), the new single by Soft.

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend them your ears!

Soft make good rock music, cleanly played. Ever heard a song and thought, "this would be a great song to hear live?" Higher is one of those songs. I hope that when they go on tour again, you'll sing this one along with me.

From the self-released Soft EP.

Annoying Word of the Day

I'm pleased to announce a new feature on the Smudge: The Annoying Word Of The Day. It will be an adjective (most of the time) that is likely trendy and overused, and ought to be stabbed and sent directly to The Big Lexicon in the Sky. Words that might make you want to gag yourself. Words that that guy who says "in a nutshell" or "modus operandi" in office meetings might use.

This feature might not last long. In fact, today might be the first and last edition.

Suggestions are always welcome.

Today's word is:

twee

As in:

Ooh look, it's turning into Indie Pop Day here at Pitchfork News! Rose Melberg's back in action, the Clientele are spicing up their vinyl with free MP3s, and now twee gods/goddesses Belle and Sebastian have announced a tour in support of their forthcoming album, The Life Pursuit. Alas, only British and Irish dates have been scheduled as yet, so us B&S fans across the pond will have to keep tugging on the sleeves of our cardigans in anticipation.
(from Pitchfork)

This feature is inspired by Slim Clady, who went on a quest for adjectives to replace "awesome" earlier this week.

Friday, November 04, 2005

Friday Live - All Beck

Last month, Uncle Tom, Sugarduck and I saw Beck in Camden, New Jersey. Heavy rain, flooding, and Tom's broken down car almost ruined the night. They were stranded in the rain as the roads closed around them, and as the minutes passed, the waters rose. Luckily, they made it to the show, and warmed up with a beer and dry concert tees (fittingly, this one):



I hope that their wet memories fade and the dry ones remain, especially the memories of these songs. Maybe the surrealism of the night will permanently burn the entire experience into our neurons. One thing is for sure: the dinner table percussion during Golden Age and Clap Hands was unforgettable.

These mp3s aren't from the Camden show we attended, but they sound pretty much the same.

Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime/GoldenAge/ClapHands-Live in Japan 7-30-2005 (mp3)

Do You Realize? (Flaming Lips Cover) - Live in Detroit 9-22-05 (mp3)

He's A Mighty Good Leader/Hotwax - Live in Detroit 9-22-05 (mp3)
Lost Cause - Live in Detroit 9-22-05 (mp3)

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Kiss Me



It's about to get real hot in the room you're in. Private Show bring summer back on Departure Lounge - World Grooves:

Private Show - Kiss Me (mp3)


Ive Mendes can make the coldest of hearts sweat, with just a bossa nova whisper.


Ive Mendes - A Bierra Bar (Sao Benitez Lush Mix) (mp3)

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Impressive Jazz Reworks

On this collection, remix and reverence co-exist comfortably. After all, Impulse never held preservation as a primary directive. It prioritized new sounds and new technologies, and treated all of its musicians as innovators, as revolutionaries in their own right. Perhaps that’s the label’s true calling card, the real reason behind the continued reverence. From the most challenging jazz to the most traditional, Impulse made it all sound equally, eternally modern.


- From the Spectremusic review of Impulsive! Revolutionary Jazz Reworked

II B.S. (RZA's Mingus Bounce Mix) (mp3)

Iconic bassist and composer Charles Mingus' output on Impulse Records remains his most alive, his most soulful and his most contemplative. "II B.S." not only showcased Mingus' lyrical bass-playing (especially its momentous intro), but also the rebellious, fiery nature that colored Mingus' life. The RZA is the production mastermind behind the Wu-Tang Clan, the Staten Island collective that turned hip-hop on its head with their gritty, grimey street-reared albums over the last decade. RZA, who has become a masterful composer in his own right (check his score for Jim Jarmusch's "Ghost Dog," or Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" movies), turns Mingus' original inside out, playing with the windblown horn stabs and chopping up the song's rhythms into a playful jazz-bounce.
-from vervemusicgroup.com

Mizrab (Gabor Szabo / Prefuse 73 remix) (mp3)

Gabor Szabo's free-wheeling, self-taught guitar style, personified the limitless creative palette that jazz had appropriated in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This composition, from the 1972 album of the same name, was one of his most astounding. The gorgeous, original "Mizrab," has become a favorite of many jazz-heads through the years, so it is no surprise that Prefuse 73 aka Scott Heren, chose to remix it for his contribution to Impulsive. Prefuse 73, who splits his time between Atlanta and Barcelona, has a wonderfully experimental sensibility when composing music, using electronics, samples and new ideas in sound compression to create formed, melodic mosaics. Here, he replicates Szabo's passionate guitar playing with his own fractured electronic melodies and the result is pure elegance.
- from vervemusicgroup.com

Monday, October 31, 2005

Antony Haunts

Antony's eerie vibrato might be the most haunting thing you hear all day.

From last week's performance on Letterman:

Antony & The Johnsons - You Are My Sister (Live on Letterman): mp3 / avi

Friday, October 28, 2005

Plantman Knows

While I was away on my trip, I met this guy who knows former Pavement drummer Gary Young. Gary played drums one of his band's songs. We sang this one together in class.

Gary Young - Plantman (mp3)

TGIF...

And TG I'm home. The sun shines down, and it's a perfect day for this:

Prince - Let's Go Crazy (12" Special Dance Mix) (mp3)

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Sloppy Drunk Blues



Carr was the most influential male blues singer and songwriter of the first half of the 20th century, but he was nothing like the current stereotype of an early bluesman. An understated pianist with a gentle, expressive voice, he was known for his natty suits and lived most of his life in Indianapolis. His first record, "How Long — How Long Blues," in 1928, had an effect as revolutionary as Bing Crosby's pop crooning, and for similar reasons. Previous blues stars, whether vaudevillians like Bessie Smith or street singers like Blind Lemon Jefferson, had needed huge voices to project their music, but with the help of new microphone and recording technologies, Carr sounded like a cool city dude carrying on a conversation with a few close friends.

...although Carr died of an alcohol-related illness shortly after his 30th birthday, what made him a key figure in American music was his records, not his lifestyle. His followers dominated blues for more than 20 years and affected every aspect of the African-American pop scene.


-from elijahwald.com, originally printed in the New York Times.

Mp3s from Leroy Carr: Complete Recorded Works 3 (1930-32):

New How Long, How Long Blues, Part 2
Sloppy Drunk Blues
Hard Times Done Drove Me To Drink

Monday, October 24, 2005

Hahn and Zhu's Mozart Sonatas



From Minnesota Public Radio:

All four of these sonatas display a different personality. That's the great thing about Mozart, Hahn explains, "His writing is distinctive, and intriguing. You can identify his music immediately." The fact that Mozart was able to pull off composing one completely original work after another is a testament to his amazing ability. This new collection of Mozart sonatas with Hilary Hahn and Natalie Zhu is a wonderful testament to their talent, and to the legacy of a composer who has touched generations of music lovers.


The Intro is fascinating - listen to it before you listen to the tracks.

Wolfie is smiling.

Mp3s from Mozart: Violin Sonatas K. 301, 304, 376 & 526:

Intro (Hilary Hahn on women's equality in these sonatas)
Mozart - Sonata for Piano and Violin in F, K.376, 1. Allegro
Mozart - Sonata for Piano and Violin in G, K.301, 1. Allegro con spirito.mp3

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Erotic City

Whether you're standing on the dance floor or kneeling in the convent, this 12" is guaranteed to bring out the freak.

Prince - Erotic City (12") (mp3)

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Half Note, Fully Satisfied

For twenty-something dollars, Coltrane and his Quartet will take you places you never imagined.

From the two-disc live album One Down, One Up: Live at the Half Note:

Afro-Blue (live)(mp3)

The title track alone is worth the cost. I'm not posting the best stuff on the album, though, because that would be bad form.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

I've Got The Blues, & An Uncanny Sense Of Smell...

It seems about half of the bluesmen from the 1930's were blind. You know, plus or minus a few percentage points.



Blind Boy Fuller mp3s:

What's That Smells Like Fish
Big Leg Woman Gets My Pay
(from Blind Boy Fuller, Vol. 4, 1937-1938)

Sweet Honey Hole
(from Truckin' My Blues Away)

Friday, October 14, 2005

Whirlwind, Heat, and Flash



Yes, my royal friends, although I cannot hear you plainly, I know what you are murmuring.

The words to Louie, Louie are printed on Disc Two of Goo, Deluxe Edition.


Sonic Youth mp3s:

Isaac

Can Song

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Blind Willie, Satisfied

Here in the northeast, the rain continues to fall, but I'm still satisfied. Still, the blues feels right in this weather.



Blind Willie Johnson mp3s (from Praise God I'm Satisfied):

The Rain Don't Fall On Me

Praise God I'm Satisfied

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Why You Love Helena Noguerra



Because Helena looks great in chocolate. No, not the color...the food!


She wears chocolate well, at the Salon Du Chocolat.

Ummm...oh yeah, she sings pretty, too.

Helena mp3s, from Nee Dans La Nature:

Je T'aime Salaud

I Can't Get You Out Of My Head (...thinkin' 'bout ya, Kylie Minogue!!)

Friday, October 07, 2005

The Comas Videos

I just noticed that The Comas recently added videos for Tiger in a Tower and Sister Brewerton to their website, to go along with the other vids they posted (RealPlayer required).

The Strokes - Take It Or Leave It (.mpg video, Live on Letterman)

People have mixed feelings about the leaked Strokes songs. I've only heard "Juicebox," and I love it.

Here's an old clip from Letterman that might sum up how they feel about the hype/anti-hype.

The Strokes - Take It Or Leave It (.mpg video, Live on Letterman)

Pete Seeger & Arlo Guthrie - Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (Live)

Wasn't Scorcese's documentary on Dylan fantastic? I loved the footage of Pete Seeger, sweating and dismayed after trying to pull the plug on Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival, but the plug wouldn't give.

No plugs in this favorite of Dylan fans.

Pete Seeger & Arlo Guthrie - Don't Think Twice, It's Alright (Live) (mp3)

From Together in Concert

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Ramones - MTV Medley

This is taken from the 1995 MTV Movie Awards. It's the Ramones, playing a medley of all the nominations for Best Movie Song, in about 2 1/2 minutes. The nominated songs were:

Above the Rim (1994) - Warren G.
- For the song "Regulate".
Lion King, The (1994) - Elton John
- For the song "Can You Feel the Love".
Pulp Fiction (1994) - "Urge Overkill"
- For the song "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon".
With Honors (1994) - Madonna (I)
- For the song "I'll Remember".

Ramones - 1995 MTV Movie Awards Medley (mp3)

Monday, October 03, 2005

Sia - Breathe Me video

Astralwerks describes it as "an amazing clip created with 2,500 Polaroids, proverbially making this video worth 2,500,000 words."

Real: Hi / Lo

Windows Media: Hi / Lo

Five Years Of The Arcade Fire

The Arcade Fire covered David Bowie's Five Years during their show in Austin on September 25th. They also played intense versions of No Cars Go and Headlights Look Like Diamonds. You can download the torrent here (registration required, and worth it).

Arcade Fire (Live, Austin, 9-25-05) (mp3):

Five Years (David Bowie cover)
No Cars Go
Headlights Look Like Diamonds

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

There Goes My Bandwidth. Here's a Recipe.

Yes, my bandwidth limit has been exceeded, and I can't do anything about it until I get back home.

So today, instead of serving up an mp3, I've got a recipe for you, from Venus Magazine. It's Country Cornbread, from Viva Voce singer Anita Robinson's kitchen.

Country Cornbread

1 Cup Martha White self-rising cornmeal mix
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup light sour cream
1 cup creamed style corn

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together well and pour into a hot, greased iron skillet.
Bake at 325 F for 30 minutes.

Let me know how it is. I won't be able to cook it for a while.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Thirteen is your lucky number.

...When it's an Elliott Smith cover of Big Star. There's supposed to be a version of this on the Thumbsucker soundtrack, but I don't know if it's this one. No matter. Here's a version.

Elliott Smith - Thirteen (Demo, Big Star cover)

Don't bother Daddy during the Superbowl, I will take you to the emergency room on Monday

from Scientific American, Watching World Series Causes Drop In Hospital Visits

When is an emergency not quite an emergency? According to a new study, the answer depends on how well your favorite baseball team is doing. A report published in the October issue of the Annals of Emergency Medicine reveals that the number of visits to emergency rooms in Boston-area hospitals was inversely related to how well the Red Sox performed in the 2004 World Series.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

The Piano



I was able to drag Julie to the Freer Gallery to look at this and other great paintings at Pretty Women: Freer and the Ideal of Feminine Beauty, which closed at the Freer Gallery this weekend.

Gonzales - Gogol (mp3)
Gonzales - Manifesto (mp3)

Both tracks from Solo Piano.

Monday, September 19, 2005

Brian Wilson - Love and Mercy (Live), Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine (Live)

I'm not home, and I can only access the internet at the local library for the next six weeks. That means two things: 1) No guarantees, and 2) Shorter posts. Not that I ever guaranteed anything or wrote long posts in the past, anyway.

So here are a couple of mp3s from the ReAct Now! broadcast for Hurrican Katrina victims. These tracks were not made available on through Sony Connect, where you can purchase other downloads while contributing to the Red Cross or Salvation Army.

You can still watch the streaming video of the performance at mtv or vh1.com.

Brian Wilson - Love and Mercy (Live)(mp3)

Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine (Live)(mp3)

Friday, September 16, 2005

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies) Live on Letterman (mp3 and avi)

Last night, the Arcade Fire summoned Thor and brought great thunder upon Letterman's studio audience with a rousing version of Rebellion (Lies). Here is a large video (avi) file and the mp3 to stir your blood.

Yes, I still heart the Arcade Fire. Even more than David Bowie does.

Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies), Live on Letterman 9-15-05: audio (mp3), video (avi)

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

The Like - Live on KCRW



When I got home from my weekend trip yesterday, my copy of The Like's Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking was waiting for me on my doorstep.

Just a few minutes later, I visited the KCRW site and was surprised to see that The Like was playing in the KCRW studio on MBE with Nic Harcourt.

Here are the songs (mp3s) from their giggly, energetic performance.

June Gloom
Mrs. Actually
What I Say And What I Mean
The One
(So I'll Sit Here) Waiting
Too Late
Waves That Never Break

Watch the entire show here. It's worth a look. The Like are frighteningly hot.

See their video for "What I Say and What I Mean" here.

Buy their CD.

Beck Live Acoustic Performance of Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime

Watch this brilliant solo acoustic guitar and harmonica version of Beck's cover of the Korgis' Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime and other live performances from the ReAct Now Concert for Katrina victims here. Beck makes this version raw and spare, but no less soulful than his cover on the Eternal Sunshine soundtrack.

Download the song, and all of the other live performances from the benefit, here. Your 99 cents gets you mp3s of rare live performances and help victims of Katrina. All proceeds are donated to The American Red Cross, The Salvation Army and America's Second Harvest.

Friday, September 09, 2005

The Ramones - I Don't Want To Grow Up (Video - Live on Letterman, 1995)

I'll be on the road Monday, and possibly Tuesday as well. So here's something to make up for my absence.

It just might bring a tear to your eye.

Ramones - I Don't Want To Grow Up (Live on Letterman, 1995) (32.3MB mpg video)

The only thing missing is Dee Dee.

This one is especially for Arethusa, to whom I promised a Ramones post a long time ago.

Wang Dang Doodles

For today's Friday Live, here are a few versions of the blues classic, Wang Dang Doodle.

PJ Harvey - Wang Dang Doodle (Man Size CD Single)

Ratdog - Wang Dang Doodle (1997-07-12 - Polaris Amphitheatre)

Grateful Dead - Wang Dang Doodle (1990-10-22, Festhalle)

Howlin' Wolf - Wang Dang Doodle (From Best Of)

Radiators - Wang Dang Doodle (8-19-2004, State Bridge Lodge, Bond, CO)

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Trumpets Underwater

New Orleans is a jazz town, but also a funk town, a brass-band town, a hip-hop town and a jam-band town. It has international jazz musicians and hip-hop superstars, but also a true, subsistence-level street culture. Much of its music is tied to geography and neighborhoods, and crowds.

All that was incontrovertibly true until a week ago Monday. Now the future for brass bands and Mardi Gras Indians, to cite two examples, looks particularly bleak if their neighborhoods are destroyed by flooding, and bleaker still with the prospect of no new tourists coming to town soon to infuse their traditions with new money...

"A lot of the great musicians came right out of the Treme neighborhood and the Lower Ninth Ward," said the trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, temporarily speaking in the past tense...Mr. Ruffins, one of the most popular jazz musicians in New Orleans, made his name there partly through his regular Thursday-night gig over the last 12 years at Vaughan's, a bar in the Bywater neighborhood, where red beans and rice were served at midnight. Now Vaughn's may be destroyed, and so may his new house, which is not too far from the bar.

On Saturday evening Mr. Ruffins flew back to New Orleans from a gig in San Diego, having heard the first of the dire storm warnings. He stopped at a lumberyard to buy wood planks, boarded up 25 windows on his house, then went bar-hopping and joked with his friends that where they were standing might be under water the next day.


- From Jazz Musicians Ask if Their Scene Will Survive, in today's NY Times.

Kermit Ruffins - When I Die (You Better Second Line) (mp3, 2004 sxsw)

White Stripes, Live on KCRW

Yesterday morning, KCRW played an energetic White Stripes MBE performance. The songs are below, and the entire broadcast, including the illuminating interview, is here.

The White Stripes - Live At The Village (mp3s)

The Denial Twist
Red Rain
My Doorbell
As Ugly As I Seem
Folk Singer (Brendan Benson Cover)
Instinct Blues
Sugar Never Tasted So Good

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Did you know my name?

This sounds like They Might Be Giants without the quirkiness, singing for - I don't know, the Wallflowers?? Gasp... But behold, it is actually pleasing to the ear.

Randy Weeks - Transistor Radios (Demo) (mp3) (radio rip)

Friday, September 02, 2005

Three REM Non-Album Tracks

Why Not Smile is one of my favorite Post-IRS REM songs. The version on Up starts slowly with harpsichord and fingerpicked acoustic guitar, an intimate setting that helps Stipe relate to a sad listener. The song builds in complexity and tempo as he brings the listener to jubilance.

This version, taken from the Daysleeper EP, remains spare and quiet, and you almost feel as though the singer is asking himself the question. He wants you to be happy, but how can you when you hear the pain in his voice. The harpischord is gone, and the more sustained fingerpicked guitar notes linger. And the organ with the electric guitar...

REM - Why Not Smile (Oxford American Version) (mp3)


Tongue is more playful. This is a pretty straightforward version from the Vancouver Rehearsal Tapes. The electric guitar is huge when it comes in at just over the 2:00 mark.

Tongue (Vancouver Rehearsal Tapes) (mp3)


The Nightswimming EP version of Belong is less jangly and more of a folk song. The always contemplative Stipe has a way of transporting you into a different setting as you listen to REM songs, and you are in the room with a young mother and her child, watching her hopeful, worried eyes as she speaks to the child by the thin pane of glass that both separates them from and connects them to the world.

Belong (Live, Charleston, WV 4-28-91) (mp3)

Even if you have all of REM's albums, don't overlook the EPs and singles. You'll find little treasures on each.