baa

art brut - modern art

I like this song because it reminds me of that sort of feeling I sometimes get listening to music where I feel so happy and excited by it that maybe I could explode.

It's times like this a person ends up playing air guitar. I dance in my truck alot. I like to freak out the squares.

I hope you dig it.

fight fight fight

american music club - all your jeans were too tight

The track I've put up today is from the No Alternative record that frequented many a used record bin in the late 90's. It was a compilation to raise money for something, I think. Or maybe it was just an excuse for Soul Asylum to cover "Sexual Healing". In any case, this song IS NOT sexual healing.

There's a small bit of something like irony in this track title, because for some reason when my waist size went down, all my jeans got too short. Now I'm left with a bunch of too short pants. Short isn't tight. Whatever.

I don't have a link today.

P-E-O-P-L-E-C-I-T-Y

air - people in the city

Today's track is from Air's third album, which was received with less than stellar reviews, but I happen to like. I caught them live in Chicago on the tour for this album, and nearly fell asleep at the wheel driving back to Indianapolis after the show.

Sebastian Tellier opened with Pamelia Kirstin (or Pamela Kirsten, perhaps) on Theremin. Air have good lights. Theremin is a fantastic instrument. Pamelia Kirstin appeared to be quite attractive when dimly lit.

Someone at work keeps sending me emails that don't make any sense.

Today's link is dirtyradio, pushed by the fine folks who brought you Underworld (the musical group, not the book).

SPECIAL EDITION

sufjan stevens - concerning the UFO sighting near highland, illinois



Sufjan Stevens, "a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist" (allmusic.com), is steadily growing in popularity amongst those in and out of the know. What I'm trying to say here is that they're playing his music at Starbucks.

In any case, Sufjan had decided to write an album for every state in the union. It started with "Michigan", and album I've never heard. I've got to admit that the thought of a guy just turning out 50 albums turned me off to him immediately.

The latest installment (or perhaps I should say the second installment) of this project is "Illinois". For some reason I decided to check out Illinois yesterday, and to my surprise, track #1 is titled "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, IL".

As you may of may not know, I grew up in Trenton Illinois, a small town just nine miles south of Highland. I know all about this UFO business, because if you're from a town like Trenton, you pay attention when the next town over has a bunch of very detailed websites and a Discovery Channel special devoted to its' UFO sighting. I mean... I've been all those places the UFO was sighted.

The song doesn't mention Trenton, of course, but it does mention Lebanon, which is 7 miles west of Trenton. But Sufjan pronounces it "Leb-ah-non". In Lebanon they pronounce it "Lebenen" or something like that.

Anyway, Sufjan's album is pretty good. Amazon's editors seem to like it, anyway. Pitchfork gave it a 9.2. I give it a thumbs up for giving me a poetic reminder of home.

uh ah uh

aesop rock - labor

Continuing with the theme, here's an artist at letter A.

I prefer "No Regrets" from the album, but I've already posted that. So take this instead, second best but worthy enough.

I like Aesop Rock because he sounds like some sort of super-wise poetry robot. He should have a long beard and a mechanical arm. And maybe another arm that's a tree branch. A mechanical-poetry-plant-robot. Dashes are important.

Have a link.

ALPHABETICAL

!!! - pardon my freedom (extended)

I'm just going to go through my mp3 directories alphabetically, starting at "!!!", and pick out songs.

The track today may be mislabled. I don't have any idea where I got it (though maybe it was the barbara h and fuck buddies blog), and I don't know anything about the band, other than the name !!! is pronounced "chick chick chick". I don't know if this is really an extended mix. I don't know if it's really !!!. I do know that I like it when people sing "like I give a fuck about that motherfuckin' shit" because it sounds like something someone who just learned to cuss would say.

OK. No one should download this. I'm actually daring you.

Here's a link to Round The World By Bike, because it's what I'm reading today.

worth repeating

One of my favorite things to do it to pull up the stats from my various webpages and see where the visitors are coming from. That stats for this particular page (linked at the bottom) never fail to entertain me.

For example, did you know that someone in the UK was looking for "wife fucked by a man hung like a horse" and found this site?

and here's how.

nut covered raisins for lunch

hater - down undershoe (TRACK #77 - THE PIERRE TURGEON MEMORIAL TRACK

I kinda doubt anyone looks at this blog anymore, so this is going to be the first in a long string of photos of my ass. I figure it works for the ladies.

Nah nevermind.

I posted a Hater track many moons ago, and I explained that Hater was a Soundgarden side-project kinda-thing, and yesterday this track came up on shuffle on my ipod, and now I present it to you.

This cereal is kinda gross.

Pierre Turgeon was my all time favorite St. Louis Blues hockey player, but they let him go via free agency, and he was never the same.

The Blues are really horrible now, but I don't watch hockey, so good riddance. That's what you get for letting go of Chris Pronger (my second favorite all time Blue).

what about us?

the fall - ride away

Give it a chance give it a chance.

Comments?

i am getting good

fiona apple - not about love

A few things about this song.

1) The drumming is a mess. In a good way.

2) When it swings around to the chorus and she steps on that pedal on the piano in the pause before the drum comes back in... I enjoy that.

3) I like it when she starts singing almost too fast for the music to keep up with.

4) "What is this posture I have to stare at?" That's what he said when I was sitting up straight.

I thought that maybe this Fiona Apple album was a pile of crap at first (I'm actually a Fiona Apple fan, so I have high expectations) but after giving it more listens I think it's pretty good. I mean, more songs about some dude that did her wrong. Maybe that's getting old. I still dig it. She still seems like she's too smart for anyone.

Anyway, this song is one of the better ones, if you ask me.

what a fantastically different experience

my morning jacket - wordless chorus

Well, I'm back from Japan, and strangely enough I can't think of any music I would associate with the trip. I'd be willing to be that this is because my Ipod crashed on day 1 and it took me most the rest of the time to get it back half-resorted.

Today it is finally back to some sort of normal. I DID buy some cds while I was in Japan, and then a couple more when I got back, which means that I've bought more music in the past week or so than I have in over two years. Hmm.

Today's track is from My Morning Jacket's new album Z. My Morning Jacket sound like Blind Melon in a cave, if you ask me. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.

Last night Gina and I went and saw a comedy show in Indianapolis, and My Morning Jacket were playing next door, and although I don't really go to shows anymore I felt like maybe I would have had a good time at the My Morning Jacket show. But alas...

This song is pretty good, I think.

JAPANANNANNA

The blog is currently closed while I go get lost in Japan. See you in two to three weeks, when I will return triumphantly. Perhaps.

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.

getting darker earlier

the constantines - on to you
radiohead - i froze up

I suppose it's amazing how much music I've missed in the last couple of years considering how on top of things I like to imagine I am. I think the reason this happens is because I tend to be skeptical about every review I read.

To be honest, I download enough music that I can't even keep up with what I've stolen.

I did buy the M.I.A. album last week because even though I had already downloaded it, I thought enough of it to actually pay for it.

I guess that absolves me of my sins.

Alright. The Constantines are a band I had to keep listening to to get. This happens from time to time. Now I really like them, and I'm sure in another year I'll think they're boring (this happens to every band I ever like, pretty much). For the time being, enjoy the fact that when he sings "ooh ooh I'm on to you" it sounds like the timing is off. And that when the music does come back in suddenly it makes sense. That's a wonderful musical revelation of discovery and I don't know what the fuck this sentence is supposed to be. Did I mention that it gets dark too early now? I'm going to end up fat again.

Track 2 today was ripped from a RealPlayer stream of Radiohead's Christmas webcast a couple years ago. Look, I like Radiohead more than any other band, and I know there's some sort of stigma that goes along with that if you're a music snob, or maybe even if you're not. Guess what? Fuck it.

I could go on about how the band somehow pulls off these huge sounding records and blah blah blah.

I Froze Up is a very small sounding song. The audio quality here is surprisingly good. I like the words.

Leave a comment, you freeloading bitch(es).

house cleaning

pj harvey - one time too many

My girlfriend and I are preparing a room for our new guest, an old friend of mine who will be staying with us for anywhere up to two years. I'm not sure if this is a bad idea or not, but I'm really fond of the idea of having extra money lying around (he's paying rent).

Last night we started cleaning out two closets in order to make space, and I came across quite a bit of music from my past. Most of this was in cassette form, and although I was really quite tempted to go buy a tape player in order to listen to classics from bands like Metal Church and Duran Duran. How's that for variety?

I ended up throwing it all away. It was cathartic.

I did find some mix cds, though, one of which contained the PJ Harvey track I've posted today. I think this was from a soundtrack, and I'd guess it came from around the time she recorded the To Bring You My Love album.

This track is a 3 minute slice of perfect, and once again makes me realize that I have no idea what the hell happened to the real PJ Harvey.

i have no idea where i was

arcade fire - cold wind
queens of the stone age - the blood is love

I'm so excited by someone I don't know leaving a comment (see the previous post) that I've forced this entry. But that's ok, because they're all forced anyway. On to the music...

First up is Cold Wind by The Arcade Fire. I don't really know where I stand on The Arcade Fire. When I first heard "Funeral" I thought it was fantastic, but it hasn't stood up that well to repeat listenings. I can't ever make it through the whole thing. Part of the reason for this is that I saw what they looked like in some video on MTV. The other part is because I generally hate Canadians.

That's not true; it's just that I wrote "Part of the reason" and then realized I was going to need to say more. Saying "I generally hate Canadians" seemed funny. But it isn't. "I love lamp" is funny.

Alright already. Six Feet Under (a show on HBO) is ending next week, and last night's episode featured "Cold Wind". When it started playing I thought "is that Arcade Fire?" and figured it had to be because of the trademark warbling and the way the song seemed like is kinda sucked but it also seemed good. There's some sort of redemption in this song. I haven't figured it out yet (mainly because I'm just sort of listening to it for the first time right now). But I think it's the part that goes "HEY HEY HEY".

Like I said, this song might suck.

The second triggidy track (you're allowed to hate me for writing that) is "The Blood Is Love" by Queens of the Stone Age. QUOTA are one of my favorite groups because they allow me to pretend I'm covered in fire tattoes and drive cool cars.

Speaking of cool cars, I used to own one of these.



QOTSA make me want to own it again, and run over little kids, and sleep with girls that wear leather underwear.

and now this

depeche mode - policy of truth
the fall - the birmingham school of business school

Two for today, starting with Depeche Mode's "Policy of Truth". I always thought he was saying "upon a sea of truth" up until the time I downloaded this album 3 months ago. I downloaded this because of a glowing review by a former pitchfork writer. I've owned "Songs of Faith and Devotion" for a long time (it seems to be pretty common in used cd bins), but I don't think I ever really appreciated this band until recently. What's amazing about this track (for me, anyway) is that it's got these horrible synthesiser sax stabs, and I still enjoy it. Usually synth sax stabs are a deal breaker.

Track 2 is The Fall's "Birminham School of Business School", which is long and rambling and Mark E. Smith goes Rawarwarwarwrawrawrwarawrawrwraw and it's fantastic. When I like a Fall song, I really like it.

Ok. Let me know how it goes? Do you enjoy The Fall? Radiohead's Thom Yorke does.

blues explosion!

the cardigans - do you believe
blind melon - car seat (god's presents)
bob dylan - bye & bye

The Cardigans track is here because it came up on shuffle on my ipod this morning and it sounded good. I like The Cardigan because Nina Person has a great voice and doesn't sound like anyone else. Something I've noticed from my musical wanderings is that alot of indie (or whatever) female singers sound the same. And by that I mean "not that good, really". Kind of like how there's 27 different rock stars running around now sounding exactly like Tool's singer.

I posted the Blind Melon track because I still think Blind Melon were great. This track kind of has two parts (the car seat part and the god's presents part). The car seat part was written by Shannon Hoon (who's dead and buried somewhere not too far from where I am right now) and the god's presents part was written by Shannon Hoon's grandmother when she was young. If I remember the story right, Shannon found the poem in her attic and decided to use it in the song. Shannon also had a ring of bugs tattoed around his neck because he was afraid of bugs and some voodoo lady told him that it would keep them away. I think that's a great reason to get a tattoo, and I wish it was my story.

I posted the Bob Dylan track because it reminds me of old people wearing seersucker suits, drinking tea and lounging in grand gardens. And I tried playing guitar along with this Dylan album (Love and Theft) once when I thought I'd pick the guitar back up, and I couldn't even figure out what planet it was coming from. It didn't work with any scale I ever learned. I'm horrible at guitar and should sell it and buy another bike. I'm ok at riding a bike.

Now taking requests.