and...

camille - janine 3

nikki note: try both these camille tracks, i guess.

I'm discovering this Camille album at work, so it's just sort of playing in the background, and I hear this sort of grunting sounding thing...

Here's the track. I have no idea what's going on, but I found it entertaining.

freedom fries

camille - ta douleur

Bjork did this medulla album recently, which was done without any instruments, just voices laid on top of each other to make songs. She had Rahzel and Mike Patton and all these people that could do interesting things with voice. It was a fine idea. But it sucked.

Camille is French. I know this because she sings in a language that sounds like French. Apparently she had the same sort of idea as Bjork, because her album Le fil is also an accapella sort of thing (though is sounds as though the bass parts are done with some instrument). The difference? Camille's album actually sounds good.

Camille sort of has this breathy Fiona Apple thing going on as well (or at least I hear it), and that makes it even better. This song also has some sort of doowopy kinda thing going on.

Anyway, enough about it. Give it a listen. I think you'll find it enjoyable and wonder how I am so in tune with everything. You'll say "why that Mike is a genius! He exposes me to so many wonderful things!"

Then you will think about ways to repay me.

pop

john frusciante - second walk

I've been listening alot to John Frusciante's Curtains and Shadows Collide With People albums, two albums in a series of six albums he released over the course of a year.

This track is short, which is a good thing because I'm running out of web space. I like the guitar solo.

oldplay

doves - 45
doves - there goes the fear

Don't get me wrong. I like Coldplay enough. But sometimes when I'm not feeling like a 45 year old woman, I like my Britrock with a bit more attitude, and that's where Doves step in.

Doves are great because they answer the question "who fits in between Bends/Ok Computer era Radiohead and current day Coldplay?", and they do it with just a little bit of old r&b flavor (I said "just a little bit").

The first track is 45, a b-side from the Black and White Town single, I think. It starts off with this sort of sinister feel in the vocals (I don't have any idea what the lyrics are; They might be about puppies) but then this sort of swooping Edge-like guitar line comes in and saves the whole thing before it starts to remind me a little too much of a Rush song.

The second track is There Goes The Fear from the album The Last Broadcast. It's a song that builds and builds and I really can't even convey how completely great it is. And it ends so fantastically perfect. I really enjoy it when a song is so good that I can't explain it in words.

Enjoy.

quickness

neil young - only love can break your heart
saint etienne - only love can break your heart

Neil Young is great any way you take his music, and I think a great illustration of that can be shown by listening to the original and cover versions of "only love can break your heart".

Saint Etienne's version is probably something Mr. Young never had in mind, but the strength of the melody shines through.

Ok gotta go.

i can't

mali music - le relax

I may have mentioned before that I'm a huge fan of Blur. Because of this I'm also willing to give Damon Albarn's side projects a chance. That might be a lie. I never actually listened to the new Gorillaz album.

I did convince my girlfriend to buy the Mali Music album, though, because I thought I might like it. Well, I don't. Not much. I think she liked it for a little while though, so all was not lost.

Today's track is from that album, and is the sort of thing that works well if I'm not paying too much attention to it. But you may enjoy it more than I did. It's certainly not unlikable.

* * * * *
Please someone recommend me something good and fairly unknown to listen to. I need some good memorable music for my upcoming Japan trip. Last time it was Jim O'Rourke's "I'm Happy and I'm Singing and 1,2,3,4" and a newfound appreciation for the power of neo-soul.

I'm going to need some help this time around though. So please, please... recommend me some music for a 14 hour airplane ride and a country filled with overwhelming lights everywhere.

sore ankles

charles mingus - freedom part II (aka clark in the dark)
happy end - kaze wo astumete

I'm not going to pretend to know anything about Charles Mingus, or jazz even. Now watch as I do what I just said I wouldn't. I took a class in college once. I'm completely qualified. I think I got a B.

I can recall reading about Mingus a little bit in Miles Davis' autobiography, and I think he disliked white people. Or maybe that was Miles. The problem with reading is that you have to be able to comprehend what you've read. Stupid reading.

Anyway, today's first track is from "The Complete Town Hall Concert", and album of a live show that apparently went way wrong. As far as I can remember, people were playing wrong parts at wrong times, the audience had no idea what was going on, and the japanese invaded half way through the show and forced the band to spell really difficult words.

I like this track because the horns (and I don't know a french horn from a croissant) sound huge. It also sounds like whoever is recording is moving all over trying to get the best sound from whichever instrument is soloing, or something along those lines. The recording is fucked. But not in a way that makes the song unenjoyable. I'd say it almost works in a way that makes the song more enjoyable.

I really had to exercise restraint to not but the word "more" in italics in that sentence.

Secondish today is a track by Happy End called Kaze Wo Astumete, which in Japanese means "a whale's vagina".

Big ups if you got that one.

This track is from the Lost In Translation soundtrack. I'm going to Japan in less than a month. These two things are completely unrelated.

I like this song because it's a good happy sorta thing. And you should too, because.

Remember when I wrote ok? That was great. Now I suck.

KHTR - 103.3

broken social scene - 7/4 (shoreline)

KHTR was the St. Louis radio station I listened to as a kid. They had all the choice Kenny Loggins cuts, which is all you need when you're a kid. I really think that worst thing about bring a kid up in the world today is that there's no new Kenny Loggins jams.

The track today is a leak from Broken Social Scene's new album. The vocals seem sort of muted here, and I'm wondering if this is a mastered or unmastered copy. In any case, I guess the band wasn't that happy about the leak, and I'd put up a link to the statement, but then they'd have a direct link to a blog leaking a track. Duh.

Here's what the dude said:

Nevermind they took it off their site, probably because it sounded stupid.

But something I discovered at the site is that this must be the single.

That figures.

Anyway, rock out.