Looking for Beck's "Leopard-Skin Pill-box Hat?"

It seems that a lot of people are coming here looking for this...It was the song that closed the Academy Awards last night during the summer 2009 preview, and it was just. the. thing. I posted it forever ago, and it's long gone. Good news is, you can and should get it from the new War Child presents Heroes
compilation, out tomorrow, and help provide humanitarian assistance to war-affected children in some of the most devastated regions of the world.

Check out the track listing:

1. Beck (Bob Dylan - "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat")
2. The Kooks (The Kinks - "Victoria")
3. The Hold Steady (Bruce Springsteen - "Atlantic City")
4. Hot Chip (Joy Division - "Transmission")
5. Lily Allen feat. Mick Jones (The Clash - "Straight To Hell")
6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs (The Ramones - "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker")
7. Franz Ferdinand (Blondie - "Call Me")
8. Duffy (Paul McCartney - "Live And Let Die")
9. Estelle (Stevie Wonder - "Superstition")
10. Rufus Wainwright (Brian Wilson -" Wonderful & Song For Children")
11. Scissor Sisters (Roxy Music - "Do The Strand")
12. Peaches (Iggy Pop - "Search And Destroy")
13. Adam Cohen (Leonard Cohen - "Take This Waltz")
14. Elbow (U2 - "Running To Stand Still")
15. The Like (Elvis Costello - "You Belong To Me")
16. TV On The Radio (David Bowie - "Heroes")

Andrew Bird, Live on KEXP, 1-22-2009

Download here (mp3).

Hey Mr. Big!!

This is wrong.



And of course we have just the song.

The Dils - Mr. Big (mp3)

from Class War

Antony & The Johnsons, Live on The Current, earlier today.

And from last night's Letterman:

Neko Case - The Next Time You Say Forever

It's a minute and 46 seconds of Neko Case, and I know, I know, it's not enough. But Middle Cyclone is out in less than 2 weeks. Even better - she's probably coming to a town near you, soon.

Neko Case - The Next Time You Say Forever (mp3)

Lily Allen, Live on KCRW, Earlier Today

You can't not love Lily Allen, can you?

Calvino & Millhauser in The New Yorker

The moon is old, Qfwfq agreed, pitted with holes, worn out. Rolling naked through the skies, it erodes and loses its flesh like a bone that’s been gnawed. This is not the first time that such a thing has happened. I remember moons that were even older and more battered than this one; I’ve seen loads of these moons, seen them being born and running across the sky and dying out, one punctured by hail from shooting stars, another exploding from all its craters, and yet another oozing drops of topaz-colored sweat that evaporated immediately, then being covered by greenish clouds and reduced to a dried-up, spongy shell.

What happens on the earth when a moon dies is not easy to describe; I’ll try to do it by referring to the last instance I can remember. Following a lengthy period of evolution, the earth had more or less reached the point where we are now; in other words, it had entered the phase when cars wear out more quickly than the soles of shoes. Beings that were barely human manufactured and bought and sold things, and cities covered the continents with luminous color. These cities grew in approximately the same places as our cities do now, however different the shape of the continents was. There was even a New York that in some way resembled the New York familiar to all of you, but was much newer, or, rather, more awash with new products, new toothbrushes, a New York with its own Manhattan that stretched out dense with skyscrapers gleaming like the nylon bristles of a brand-new toothbrush.

- from The Daughters of The Moon, by Italo Calvino, on TheNewYorker.com

From the beginning we were prepared, we knew just what to do, for hadn’t we seen it all a hundred times?—the good people of the town going about their business, the suddenly interrupted TV programs, the faces in the crowd looking up, the little girl pointing in the air, the mouths opening, the dog yapping, the traffic stopped, the shopping bag falling to the sidewalk, and there, in the sky, coming closer . . . And so, when it finally happened, because it was bound to happen, we all knew it was only a matter of time, we felt, in the midst of our curiosity and terror, a certain calm, the calm of familiarity, we knew what was expected of us, at such a moment. The story broke a little after ten in the morning...

- from The Invasion From Outer Space, by Steven Millhauser, from last week's TheNewYorker.com.

Juana Molina, Live on KEXP 2-10-2009

It's a "multilayered folktronic meditation," in the words of the KEXP feedwriters. Download here.

She'll be on KCRW today.

1,000,000.

You might think that upon 1,000,000 hits (TODAY), TSOAF's author(s) might write a piece exceeding 50 words. Nope. Still, thanks for visiting! TSOAF soldiers on for you, dear downloader, piece-free.

R.E.M. - 1,000,000 (Live at Tyrones, Athens GA 9-23-1981)(mp3)

A conversation from last night:

Me: The Smudge will reach a million hits tomorrow.
Julie: Congratulations.
Me: I wonder what's next.
Julie: 1,000,001.

Andrew Bird, live on KCRW, today.

Listen here:


Video should be up tomorrow.

Amazon offers Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" FREE for V.T.'s Day

Clicky.

School of Seven Bells, Live on The Current, 2-10-2009

If I Work 'Til The Close Of Day, Lord (TGIF)

If I walk in the pathway of duty
If I work 'til the close of day, Lord
I shall see the great king in all his beauty
When I've gone the last mile of the way, Lord, yes sir

When I've gone the last mile of the way, oh yeah
I shall rest at the close of day
For I know there are joy awaiting
When I've gone the last mile of the way

The Soul Stirrers - The Last Mile of the Way (mp3)
Troy Ramey and the Soul Searchers - By The Power Of God (mp3)

New on the yPod

Y-Rock on XPN has a podcast, and the beautiful XPNers recently made the following in-studio performances available for download:

Phantom Planet (2-6-2009)(originally recorded in Jun 08)(mp3)
Ra Ra Riot (1-23-2009)(mp3)

After reading the news on The Rentals' latest project, you might be itching for something like this:

The Rentals (1-25-2008)(mp3)

Puritanically Yours.

The Kool-Aid is so drinkable.

Parenthetical Girls - Puritanically Yours (mp3)
Kanda - In Celebration of Karaoke (mp3)

The shortest one word post ever.

Oi!

Sab Gray & The Royal Americans - Wasted in D.C. (mp3)
Brassknuckle Boys - Day After Day (mp3)

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart (Live on KEXP 2-9-2009)

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart played a live in-studio set for KEXP, broadcast today. They also played the Black Cat tonight, on the other coast...if you were there, let us know how it was.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart (Live on KEXP 2-9-2009)(mp3s):

Doing All The Things That Wouldn't Make Your Parents Proud
Come Saturday
Kurt Cobain's Cardigan
The Tenure Itch

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart was released last Tuesday.

Franz Ferdinand - Live, Koeln, 2-4-2009 (FM)

Here's one thing on my list of things to do before I, well, you know: Go to a rock concert in Germany. With Germans.

Franz Ferdinand - Live, Koeln (Cologne), Kulturkirche, 2-4-2009 (mp3s):

No You Girls
Send Him Away
Live Alone
Take Me Out
Ulysses

From this set.

It's a recession-friendly 10 bucks for Tonight:Franz Ferdinandon Amazon.com.

Andrew Bird, Live at the 9:30 Club, 2-3-2009

NPR broadcast Andrew Bird's performance at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday. You can listen to the entire concert here.

Andrew Bird - Live at the 9:30 Club, 3 February 2009 (mp3s):

Oh No
Effigy
Not A Robot, But A Ghost

Also, download Loney Dear's entire opening set here, or stream it here.

Oxford Americana

Here are a few bits of Americana from a couple of Oxford American Southern Music samplers. The first two, taken from the same compilation (Vol. 6), are polar opposites.


Ann Savoy & Linda Ronstadt - La Chanson d'une Fille de Quinze Ans (Song of a Fifteen Year Old Girl)(mp3)

The Collins Kids - Hot Rod (mp3)

The Staple Singers - Will The Circle Be Unbroken (mp3)

Perfect Unpop

Copies of Peel Show Hits and Long-Lost lo Fi Favourites, Vol. 1
are getting rare: one in stock at Amazon.

Beneath lo-fi, these are Ludd-fi, and it's mighty ironic that you're going to listen to these songs on your computer and/or iPod.

The Monochrome Set - He's Frank (Slight Return)(mp3)
Language School - Tours (mp3)
The Vibrators - Whips and Furs (mp3)

A.C. Newman - Live on WFMU 1-31-2009

The New Pornographers' A.C. Newman recently visited Terre T's Cherry Blossom Clinic show on WFMU and played 6 songs in-studio, broadcast on Saturday, in support of his new album, Get Guilty.
'Twas glorious. Listen to the entire performance here.

Palace at 4 AM
The Heartbreak Rides

Bloc Party Live on KCRW 1-29-2009

On tour now. Yeah, you'll be looking for tickets after watching this.

Bloc Party - Halo (Morning Becomes Eclectic 1-29-2009)(mp3)

Sometimes a little 'tude hits just the right spot.

The Stolen Minks - Stop Talking:

Everybody.

True.

Bunny Sigler - Everybody Needs Good Lovin' (mp3)

Take them bowling.

In the spirit of keeping things heavy, deep, and gravely serious, here's a profound earworm from Camper Van Beethoven, who I listened to a lot back in college, in my what-else-is-there-to-do days. Once it's in there, there's no getting rid of it.

Camper Van Beethoven - Take The Skinheads Bowling (mp3)

Taken from Popular Songs of Great Enduring Strength and Beauty

TV On The Radio - Heroes (Bowie)

Posted at Stereogum just a few hours ago.

And here's Arcade Fire playing it in Cleveland, last March.

Tuatara & The Minus 5 Live on KEXP 10 Dec 2008

Scott McCaughey, Peter Buck, Barrett Martin, and Dave Carter in the KEXP studio to perform 4 songs: The Old Carving Knife, Missionary Death Song, Rage On Regardless, Ambulance Dance Hall

Download here.

Andrew Bird - Fitz & Dizzyspells

I spent this weekend with Andrew Bird's Noble Beast , lost in its lyrical and harmonic density, carried over the craggy cliffs in wild euphoric bursts of violin, whistles, and other surprises hidden around and between troubling verses. Grounded, groundless, dizzying.

Andrew Bird - Fitz & Dizzyspells (mp3)

Andrew Bird widget by 6L & Daxii

Also, check out this article on Andrew Bird from the NY Times Magazine. Excerpt:

Andrew Bird hates rehearsing. He counts on the sense of peril that he gets onstage — that feeling that everything can unravel in an instant — to keep him inside his music and prevent him from succumbing to self-doubt. So last month, when Bird was preparing to go on tour with his new backing band, he decided that instead of practicing the songs from his new album, “Noble Beast,” they would play two surprise shows at the Hideout, a working-class-bar-cum-indie-rock-haven in a deserted industrial neighborhood in his hometown, Chicago.

It was a ridiculously small venue for Bird. In September, he drew some 13,000 people to the open-air auditorium in Chicago’s Millennium Park. The Hideout’s official seating capacity is listed at 73, though a few hours before the doors opened one of the bar’s owners told me, only half-jokingly, that the actual number depends on who’s onstage. “When Andrew plays,” she said, “we can squeeze in a lot more because so many of them are skinny girls with glasses.”
...

M. Ward - To Save Me

On Hold Time,M. Ward explores individual spirituality, philosophy, mortality, love, forgiveness, and the sweep of time.

That's all.

The usual. But in addition to the usual universal themes, and the familiar techniques in his unique songwriting style, there's a new swagger in his songs, a new danceability to them. Maybe his collaboration with Zooey Deschanel sparked something in his creative center. I know it's early to start naming best-of's for 2009, but of all of this year's releases so far, and there have been some good ones already, I'm stuck on this one.

Here's a song that I imagine the great Daniel Johnston would appreciate.

M. Ward - To Save Me (mp3)

I'll be seeing him at the Trocadero Theater in Philadelphia on Feb 20th (one of the few U.S. shows that is not sold out), with the Vivian Girls opening. How good is that going to be. If you'll be there too, let me know.

Tone Loc's Loc'ed After Dark Gets Deluxe Treatment

That's right, on January 27th, Delicious Vinyl (thanks guys) will release the Deluxe Digital Edition of Tone Loc's classic, Loc-ed After Dark, with "Wild Thing," "Funky Cold Medina," and six rare bonus tracks...who saw this coming?? Not me. I'm thinking, though, that it would be even more delicious in vinyl.

Tone Loc - Wild Thing (Moguai Remix)(mp3)
***NOTE: Link removed after receiving a takedown notice. This track was noted as approved for posting in the promotional e-mail, with an "approved" link. Gotta love it.***

Also:

MYSPACE MUSIC EXCLUSIVELY PREMIERES NEW FRANZ FERDINAND ALBUM

From press release:

MySpace Music, the world's premiere online music portal, is proud to announce the world exclusive of Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, the 3rd album from the band Franz Ferdinand. Starting today, January 22nd, MySpace users across the world will be able to stream the highly-anticipated album for free, giving fans a chance to preview it before the official release on January 27.

For more on Franz Ferdinand and to stream Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, visit their MySpace Music profile at http://www.myspace.com/franzferdinand.

Lizzy Strikes Again

The skull mirror. Nice touch.

REM Live at Tyrone's, Athens, Georgia, 4-10-1981

A little context here: 11 Days before this show, President Reagan was shot by 25-year-old John Hinckley, the son of a wealthy oil exec, to impress Jodie Foster.

This live performance of Rockville has none of the drunken twang of the album version. Or should we say that the album version is nowhere near as much fun as this one?

There She Goes Again (Velvet Underground)
Little Girl (Syndicate of Sound)
Don't Go Back To Rockville

Also, here's Syndicate of Sound's version of Little Girl:

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS TOUR WITH FUJIYA & MIYAGI, RELEASE "IAMUNDERNODISGUISE" SINGLE AND ALPINISMS ON VINYL

SVIIB

Sign me up! School of Seven Bells press release:

If School of Seven Bells (Benjamin Curtis from the Secret Machines and the twin Deheza sisters from On! Air! Library!)' full-length debut, Alpinisms, is divided between two stylistic imprints - one consisting of heavenly drones and soaring melodies, the other built upon tribal beats and hypnotic, incantatory vocals - then "Iamundernodisguise," the album's second single, is most definitely the latter. Ghostly International will release School of Seven Bells' "Iamundernodisguise" on 7" vinyl and digital download on February 17th.

A sinister electronic calypso marked by ping-ponging percussion and one of the Deheza sisters' slinkier melodies, "Iamundernodisguise" teases out School of Seven Bells' darker side within the parameters of a concise, catchy pop song. Repetition is the key here, as the Dehezas sing breathy, cryptic promises ("I am neither walker nor sleeper / I am neither sister, brother, son, nor daughter") over and over as the beat goes on. B-side "Trance Figure (Nobody Remix)" takes the Dehezas' already-detached vocals into even more foreign territory with the help of West Coast producer Nobody.

In the wake of a recent cross-country tour with M83, School of Seven Bells will be joining Fujiya & Miyagi for a set of US dates in February before heading to Europe for the next few months. Alpinisms will also be available February 24th on 180-gram limited edition vinyl.

School of Seven Bells Tour Dates:
1/16 New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge (self-titled Magazine party w/Free Blood, The Juan MacLean)
2/06 Wellesley, MA - Wellesely College
2/07 Princeton, NJ - Terrace F. Club
2/11 Minneapolis, MN - 7th St Entry w/Fujiya & Miyagi
2/12 Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge w/Fujiya & Miyagi
2/13 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick w/Fujiya & Miyagi
2/14 Alfred, NY - Alfred University Knight Club w/Fujiya & Miyagi
2/15 Boston, MA - The Paradise w/Fujiya & Miyagi
2/18 Philadelphia, PA - The Trocadero w/Fujiya & Miyagi
2/19 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club w/Fujiya & Miyagi
2/23 Dublin, Ireland - Whelans
2/24 Glasgow, Scotland - Captain's Rest
2/25 Leeds, UK - Cockpit
2/26 London, UK - Cargo
2/27 Manchester, UK - Night & Day
2/28 Bristol, UK - Start the Bus
3/01 Brighton, UK - Audio
3/04 Brussels, Belgium - AB Club
3/05 Paris, Ile-de-France - Le Point Ephemere
3/07 Munster, Germany - Gleis 22
3/08 Berlin, Germany - Bang Bang Club
3/09 Hamburg, Germany - Molotow
3/10 Cologne, Germany - Studio 672
3/12 Vienna, Austria - Flex
3/13 Munich, Germany - Atomic Cafe
3/14 Milan, Italy - La Casa
***SXSW***

The Walkmen on KCRW.

Video up now.

Neko Case - Blog for Charity

Neko Case - People Got A Lotta Nerve (mp3)

Yes, I know that this song, the first single from Neko Case's forthcoming Middle Cyclone, has been out there for a week, which is like an mp3 blog year. Still, I'm getting in on it too, because for every blog that posts the song and/or iLike user who adds it to their profile, Neko Case and ANTI- will make a cash donation to Best Friends Animal Society.


The promotion runs up to February 3, 2009. Five dollars will be donated for every blog post and one dollar for every user of iLike that adds the song to his/her profile. More details here.

Today's Spam: Kiti S., who needs loving and true.

Subject: Looking for a nice guy, not a hearbreaker
Saturday, January 17, 2009 3:36 PM
From: "Kat S"
To: canowine@yahoo.com

My dear friend

I may not get to see you as often as I like. I may not get to hold you in
my arms all through the night. But deep in my heart I truly know, you're
the one that I love, and I can't let you go http://[url deleted]
I have not been dating for some time and though I am looking into it, I will be
somewhat particular. My first love is traveling and I love boating and water
activity. I've lost my life to bad circumstance, and I am learning to live all
over again possibly as a much more appreciative and better person. Family values,
morally correct, trustworthy, meaningful, loving and true are what I need.

Looking forward to hear from you
Kiti S

Ida Maria on KCRW

The rising Norwegian rock star was on Morning Becomes Eclectic last Monday. This young lady has some serious passion, and you'll see it come through below. Her album is called Fortress Around My Heart.



Also, the first song:
Ida Maria - Morning Light (mp3)

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa reflects on the social and political dimensions of skin color

In the Washington Post Magazine Obamanauguration issue.

excerpts:

Daddy Red's left eye was blue. His right eye was gray. They said in his youth that his hair had been blondish. It was still straight. His real name was Wesley Pittman, and he was my step-grandfather, a white-looking black man married to my black paternal grandmother, Elsie. People walked big circles around him because he was known to have killed a man when he was 20. The story went something like this: Both men were on horseback, circling each other with drawn knives, dusk falling on Red's pale skin and the other man's black skin. By the time the sun set, only Red was sitting upright in the saddle.

...

"Look a man in the eyes. Especially a white man. Always look him in the eyes."

"Yes, sir."

"Something else."

We held each other's gaze. He drew the words out of himself.

"Never work -- for no man -- who can't treat you with respect."

His words hung in the air. They felt like a rule or law that I had to obey. Now, words from an overheard story began to make sense. I could hear Mama Elsie saying, "My daddy don't work for no white man."

Today's Spam Message is from Sabina Love, a quiet and sincer girl who loves honesty and truth..

I just got this in my Yahoo inbox:

Hi
I am sabina by name a quiet and sincer girl. I love
honesty and truth. I trust people very much. I like
nature quiet walks in the parks holding hands
listening to the whispering breeze and the songs of
the birds; admiring the smiling eyes of my lover, I
hope to meet my true love, I will give him all
myself completely.i wait to hear from you.i whish
you will know me well and sew me on picture.i hope
to meet you soon,
sabina
sabinababy207@yahoo.com

David Byrne sounds like the future.

Where is David Byrne NOT these days? All the better for us.

David Byrne & Dirty Projectors - Knotty Pine (mp3)

From the Red Hot album Dark Was The Night, which ALSO includes, among others, Sufjan Stevens, Feist with Grizzly Bear, Feist with Ben Gibbard, the Decemberists, Grizzly Bear, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, The National, Bright Eyes, Spoon, The New Pornographers, Antony, The Books with Jose Gonzalez, Blonde Redhead, Bon Iver, Andrew Bird, My Brightest Diamond, Dave Sitek of TV On The Radio and Riceboy Sleeps (Jonsi from Sigur Ros).

Kyle Andrews Feels So Real, But.

I don't know, something about digital music that begs questions of an existential nature. & then, the whole business of digipop, a double illusion. It's so bright, but the undercurrents are so unintentionally unsettling. Maybe it's just me, or maybe I'm an illusion, too. And couple this with thoughts of the Hudson River crash today, with people coming out of the plane on the water - you half expect Jack, Hurley, Kate, and the rest of the Oceanic Six to show up on a TV interview next.

Kyle Andrews - Naked In New York (mp3)
Kyle Andrews - Sushi (mp3)

The Daily Flashback: Darkwing Duck. Let's Get Dangerous.

Remember DD?

Alexandra Hope

You really can't argue with that, now can you. No, but the real turn-on is her music, in which bare, agressive, and raw arrangements both contrast and blend with her Spector-popgirl delivery. It's a sexy push-pull effect, the masculine/feminine duality, like PJ Harvey but with more sweetness, and each song leaves you wanting more.

Alexandra Hope - Invisible Sunday (mp3)

Download the feminine, raw Whatever You Want here.

Jolie Holland - Live on WXPN 1-13-2008

On some days, everything sounds the same: eh. Like today. Until now, that is - I'm listening, right now, to Jolie Holland playing some songs for WXPN, and it's gorgeous, different without trying.

Listen here.

Viva Voce to Unveil New Record Soon

Viva Voce returns as a 4-piece (Anita & Kevin Robinson, plus Evan Railton and Corinna Repp)with a new album due out in the coming months.

A few details from vivavoce.com:

1) Viva Voce has a new record on the way in 2009. It's a doozie! We're putting the final bits on it now and are excited to let it be heard. Its definitely a heavy mover and a bit more angular than "Get Yr Blood Sucked Out". I dunno, you be the judge. Will post release info when we get it.


2) Viva Voce has a tour in March! We've spent the better part of last year writing and recording, and we've been busting to hit the road again. So we shall do so with a vengeance! We're heading down to SXSW with our friend Rafter en tow, then make our way back to Portland.

The Daily Flashback Returns: Pepsi Commercial with Michael Jackson and Alfonso Ribeiro, 1984

Alfonso Ribeiro went on to become Carlton Banks in "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air."



Before he was Carlton, though, he let aspiring breakers and poppers in suburbs everywhere behind his curtain:

Thelonious sounds like an adjective.

But we all know that he's either a verb or a noun, and sometimes, both.

Thelonious Monk Quartet - Rhythm-A-Ning/Epistrophy (Tivolis Koncertsal, Copenhagen, 17 April '66)(mp3)

Insound Free Digital Mixtape

Sign up for Insound's newsletters, which are indispensable anyway, and get a free digital mixtape with songs from:

A.C. Newman
Faunts
Matt & Kim
Volcano Suns
Golden Triangle
J. Tillman
Of Montreal
Pidgeon
Owen
Cotton Jones
Funeral Party
Cut Off Your Hands
Goblin Cock
Lisa Hannigan
Fiction Family
Blue Giant
Loney Dear

This promo is available for one week only, so sign up now if you want it.

Okkervil River - Pop Lie (Live on Letterman 1-7-2008)

Since everything has already been said about this great band, here's a little bit of Okkervil River trivia that you might not know, and you probably won't find anywhere else. The letters of the band name, rearranged, spell "I love Rikerkrv." Eerie but true.

Okkervil River - Pop Lie (Live on Letterman 1-7-2008)(mp3)

And the performance on YouTube (Via Catfish Vegas):


From The Stand Ins

New Eleni Mandell, "Artificial Fire," out Feb 17th

Smudge fave Eleni Mandell collaborated with another Smudge fave, Inara George (of The Bird and The Bee), on her forthcoming album, Artificial Fire. Clearly, it's going to be marvelous.

Eleni Mandell - Artificial Fire (mp3)

The Rosebuds, Live on KEXP (2009)

The Rosebuds played KEXP a few days ago - the live in-studio set is available as a podcast. Get it here (mp3).

Rewind!

Botticellis.

BuffetLibre's Rewind Tour 2009 is up for download now, and woe to the deprived mp3 downloader that misses out on this. A big surprise for me: Cherielynn Westrich, formerly of The Rentals, is in a Canadians cover of Moroder's "Neverending Story." Also - Starfucker covers Cyndi Lauper, Headlights dress up XTC in casiotone, Botticellis tame Whitesnake (yes, Whitesnake) into dream folk, and the cover that got me there in the first place - Au Revoir Simone's contemplative treatment of ELO's "Here Is The News." If you get where I'm going with all this, yeah, it's like a big 86-song compilation of sexy, a recession compilation if there ever was one, and bonus - it sounds way better than free.

Au Revoir Simone - Here Is The News (mp3)
Starfucker - Girls Just Want To Have Fun (mp3)
Canadians feat. Cherielynn Westrich - Neverending Story (mp3)
The Botticellis - Here I Go Again (mp3)
Headlights - Making Plans For Nigel (mp3)

Get the other 80.

The People's Choice.

Frank Brunson & The People's Choice want to break in whatever new media player you received for the holidays, with funk style. The funk is truly classic - in 1971, "I Likes To Do It" peaked at #38 on the "U.S. Pop Singles" chart, and #9 on the "U.S. Black Singles" chart. "Big Ladies' Man" made neither, but still charmed the hell out of me. Both of these were taken from the first Philadelphia Roots compilation (Soul Jazz), which is scarce on both CD and vinyl. Happy hunting.

The People's Choice - I Likes To Do It (mp3)
The People's Choice - Big Ladies' Man (mp3)

2009: Post #1 - On Change.

The official buzzword of 2008 was "change." "Hope" was just as commonplace early in the year, the first word's inseparable partner, but before summer gave way to fall, it started to fade, as the new global economic crisis started to set in the collective consciousness, transforming from story lines into everyday realities, as housing values plummeted, credit card rates rose, people were laid off, jobs disintegrated, and businesses locked their doors for good. And so, in 2009, the change that we may desire most is a few extra quarters jingling in our pockets.

What will all of this mean for the arts, and for music? Will people visit fewer exhibits, buy fewer CDs, and hang with friends at the local bar rather than pay 15 bucks to see a live band? The last recession, for better or worse, spawned a flannel revolution, with Kurt Cobain in his dingy striped sweater and a tattooed cheerleader as catalysts for the ascent of grunge, and an indie movement that spawned thrift store chic as a fashion trend. Both of these movements were, at their essence, middle fingers held up to 80's greed, materialism, and flashing neon lies.

Maybe this year will yield a deconstruction, and creative reconstruction, of the arts, music, and mass media. The forecast for mass consumption of media can't be good, and in the absence of monetary support, things fall apart quickly. Maybe this year will see an audience rejection of pointless reality TV shows, and magazines with instant celebrities-for-no-reason-than-their-zip-codes will sit on shelves collecting dust. Maybe we'll see actual music videos on MTV again. Maybe people will listen to the radio more. Better yet, maybe the kids, whose parents have just cancelled their cable and killed their high-speed internet connection and thus their online gaming portals and myspaces, will pick up cheap guitars, start bands, and become the new middle finger. All one can do is hope.

In the meantime, here's a farewell song from the neon 80's.

Cyndi Lauper - Money Changes Everything (Live, 1984 FM Broadcast)(mp3)

Also, here's a Tom Gray (The Brains, the songwriter) performance of the song:

The Daily Flashback: Run DMC - Christmas In Hollis

The Raveonettes - Come On Santa

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays, everyone.

The Raveonettes - Come On Santa (mp3)
Bell X1 - How Your Heart Is Wired (mp3)

via Filter.

Love Makes the World Go Round

...instead of just making the big rock in space go round.

Johny Osbourne with Bunny Brown - Love Makes The World Go Round (mp3)

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This is about that time of year where we start to draw a collective blank. Distractions are flung at us from everywhere: do we have everything that we need for the holidays what do we need to finish at work they already have too much maybe we've been eating too much lately we hope she likes what we give her the economy sucks and we're so close to our limit and our jobs are not as secure as they were... ... ... ...stop.

And so, something random.

But still, something good.

And keep in mind, as the late David Foster Wallace might say: It's not about us.

Throwing Muses - Juno (mp3)

Boss Hog - Live on WFMU 12-20-2008

It seems like ages since those racy (Cristina Martinez, hello!!) Boss Hog videos were played on late-night MTV. And here's the band now, sounding as racy and unfiltered as ever, live in studio for Terre T's Cherry Blossom Clinic on WFMU.

Before you listen, a bit of history, from their web page:

Cristina Martinez and Jon Spencer met on the feast of Immaculate Conception in 1985 at a Jesus & Mary Chain show at the original 9:30 club in Washington, D.C...Boss Hog started in 1989 as a last minute fill in for a cancelled group at New York’s famed CBGB’s. Cristina assembled a group of rag-tag players to form the original all-star line up of Boss Hog. It included members of Pussy Galore, the Honeymoon Killers and Unsane. A constantly rotating cast of misunderstood misfits. Very angry, very volatile. The perfect medium to express their rage, their confusion, their sense of humor, their love of music...

Boss Hog - Trouble (Live, Cherry Blossom Clinic, 12-20-2008)(mp3)
Listen to the rest here.

And a racy vid:

Top 10 of 2008.

1. Beck - Modern Guilt

As bleak and penetrating as it is groove-suffused, Modern Guilt is at its surface beat-heavy danceable psych pop, but at its heart, it's an exploration of spiritual emptiness set in a labyrinth of illusion and routine. It is an album of good music and hard questions.


2. TV On The Radio - Dear Science

Some of this year's most arousing rock and soul/funk sounds are herein, from this 'post-racial' college favorite.


3. Okkervil River - The Stand-Ins

A line in any of Will Sheff's songs says and implies more than most entire albums by ordinary songwriters. The Wrens' Charles Bissel allows for an added dimension and extra punch to their songs. The Stand-Ins proves that poetic rock isn't necessarily an oxymoron.


4. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

Raw, Reader, Raw!!!


5. The Kills - Midnight Boom

Listen to Midnight Boom.
Get a room.


6. The Raveonettes - Lust, Lust, Lust

Hands down the year's best road album. Too bad I have the wrong car for listening to this album - something like this would be more appropriate:



7. The Submarines - Honeysuckle Weeks

Suspiciously sunny, and at first listen, maybe too bright to be taken seriously. Confirmation: You, Me, & The Bourgeoisie was in an Apple commercial. But taken in the context of their marital reunion, it becomes just the substance that we need.


8. Vivian Girls

...which has more balls than the boys have.


9. The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely

Worth the price of the album just for the Zep-like vocal break in the title track. The rest of the album is a riot of riffs, licks, and hard luck drama. And though I didn't see them live, I heard them on the internet radio live, and I could swear that my computer started sweating.


10. R.E.M. - Murmur (Deluxe Editon) - Disc 2

I would have placed this at #1 if I weren't already cheating. I'm not blaspheming when I say that I'd rather listen to the live bonus disc than the remastered studio album, which many critics regard as both R.E.M.'s best album AND the best album, period, of the 1980's. This is a reminder that yes, they were that good.

The Daily Flashback: Sonic Youth - Drunken Butterfly (Live on Jools Holland, 1992)

Band of Susans - Too Late (Wire)(1989 Peel Session)

From 1989. Band of Susans, who do not exist on iTunes, were a noise guitar band with a tendency toward the epic. Here, though, is a live, tight Peel Session version of Too Late.

Band of Susans - Too Long (Wire)(1989 Peel Session)(mp3)

The Daily Flashback: Q and Not U - Last show at Ft. Reno, Washington, DC

Okay, this didn't exactly happen ages ago, but it was sooo good, it's blogworthy, and I was there. I think I see myself up there near the front.

Kokolo - Girls on Film (Duran Duran)

Yes, it's the Duran Duran song. And yet, it's not.

Kokolo - Girls On Film (Duran Duran)(mp3)

Here's a golden little Wiki nugget:

Girls on Film was originally written by Andy Wickett, Duran Duran's previous singer before Simon Le Bon. The original demo of the song has a very peculiar sound that differs somewhat from the final album version recorded in 1981. When Wickett left the band, Duran Duran bought the song from him for £600 and made him sign a waiver removing his rights to the song.

From the Soul Shaker, Vol 5 compilation that I posted from yesterday.

The Daily Flashback: Radio Shack cellular phones that you can take with you! Liberating!

Deeper Funk.

Heavens, me.


The Diplomettes

Diplomats of Solid Sound - Trouble Me (mp3)
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - Keep On Looking (Kenny Dope Remix)(mp3)

From Soulshaker, Vol. 5, a recently released new deep funk compilation.

..."to meet him at the pier by way of the Green Line bus. As always, she was late."

For Tom.

The Kills - Live in Tokyo 12-8-2008

The Kills - U.R.A. Fever (mp3)
The Kills - Pull A U (mp3)

Download the entire concert as a torrent here.

Also:


Midnight Boom
is one of the year's best albums.

Lizzy Grant - Kill Kill video

Lizzy Grant, you got it. I'm transported.

Lizzy Grant – Kill Kill @ Yahoo! Video

Motown Gifting

The Complete Motown Singles, Volume 11A: 1971, is out now, the perfect gift for the classic soul addict. Level up the gift with the Classic Motown Block Tee:



mp3s from The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 11A: 1971:

Stevie Wonder - We Can Work It Out
Letta - I Won't Weep No More
Smokey Robinson - Crazy About The La La La

Sara Lov - My Body Is A Cage (Arcade Fire)

Sara Lov, formerly of Devics, is doing her own thing nowadays, like this cover of Arcade Fire's My Body Is A Cage.



Download (.mov)
Listen to more on her myspace.

Long Winters concert film

The Long Winters have a limited edition concert film out, called Live at the Showbox, recorded in 2007, in support of their excellent album, Putting The Days To Bed.

Here are a few tracks from the DVD:

Scared Straight
Clouds
Cinnamon

Get the DVD here.

The Daily Flashback: Have you played Atari today?

How do you get the entire family together for an afternoon of interactive fun??!!!

Y La Bamba

A young lady keeping herself company, shooing the pain away with a song, a lone guitar, and a voice recorder.

Y La Bamba - Alida St. (mp3)

From Alida Street

The Daily Flashback: GH - Frisco sings "Lady of My Heart" to Felicia at their wedding

Here are some of the YouTube comments on this clip:

Why don't they have this on I Tunes?

I used to sing this song to my ex wife, just like this, and she had the same look in her eyes that Felicia did. I miss that look so much it hurts...even after a couple of years without her, I can't stop thinking about her...I'll always love her!

does any one have a clip when frisco sang to felicia while she was with colton back eposide 89?

Felicia is an Aztec Princess. That's why she is dressed that way.

Frisco & Felicia were the all time BEST supercouple ever!...

Aren't they all dead now?

So sweet. I'm gonna cry now. I loved Frisco and Felicia.

Depeche Mode - Live, FM, Amsterdam, 1983

Depeche Mode - Live in Amsterdam, 1983 (FM Broadcast)(mp3s):

Everything Counts
Just Can't Get Enough

The Daily Flashback: Earth, Wind & Fire - Come on Children, Live in CA, 1974

School Disco

Wasn't that last video fun?

Here's the mp3. Reminisce. Clear some space. This is music for action.

Bis - This is Fake D.I.Y. (mp3)
Bis - School Disco (mp3)

From This Is Teen-C Power!

The Daily Flashback: bis - This is Fake D.I.Y.

A classic that you might have forgotten about.

I am such a bore. I can't take it any more.

It's not easy knowing when to let go
When you want to hang on, when you write a bad song
So simple saying the things you believe
But no one knows what I mean. No one knows what I mean.

I am such a bore
I can't take it any more
But school's out forever
And I'm never gonna let it go. I'm never gonna let it go.

Dear Nora's songs are fleeting numbers, with unadorned electric guitar baring simple chords and melodies beside the heartbroken harmonies of bared adolescent pain. Cheers to that.

These three songs combined add up to just over five and a half minutes.

Dear Nora mp3s from Three States: Dear Nora Rarities 1997-2007:

Up On The Roof
When You Write A Bad Song
Second Hand