Monday, February 26, 2007

playlist, feb. 26, 2007

My show tonight:

Richard Swift - "The Songs of National Freedom"
Andrew Bird - "Imitosis"
Lavender Diamond - "Rise in Springtime"
Apples in Stereo - "Can You Feel It?"
Of Montreal - "She's a Rejecter"
Ozomatli - "When I Close My Eyes"
Malajube - "Montréal-40ºC"
Stereolab - "Vodiak"
Blake Jones & the Trike Shop - "Virginia Woolf"
Kristin Hersh - "Shock"
José González - "Stay in the Shade"
Josh Ritter - "Girl in the War"
Neko Case - "John Saw That Number"
Calexico - "Corona"

Interview with Kien Lim, live in the KFSR studio:

Kien Lim - "The La La Song"
Kien Lim - "No Question of a Sin" [Live]
Kien Lim - "The Bitter Song" [Live]
Kien Lim - "Savior of the Skies" [Live]
Kien Lim - "Silverstar"

Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - "Happy"
Karen Marguth - "Dress Me Up, Dress Me Down"
Nouvelle Vague - "A Forest"
Beck - "Broken Drum"

Interview with Vince Thomas, live in the KFSR studio:

Vince Thomas - [Live in the Studio]

The Shins - "Sleeping Lessons"
Calla - "Sanctify"
Marnie Stern - "Vibrational Match"
Bloc Party - "Song for Clay (Disappear Here)"
LCD Soundsystem - "North American Scum" (Radio Edit)
Macromantics - "Moments in Movement"
Busdriver - "Casting Agents and Cowgirls"

Saturday, February 24, 2007

blossom deerie

more blossoms

More blossoms. These are in Concord, CA, where I'm scoring essays today.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

what if your blood weren't you

Check this out--this is gonna be my next Halloween costume.

Monday, February 19, 2007

playlist, feb. 19, 2007

Here's what I played tonight; thanks for listening:

M. Ward - "Cosmopolitan Pap"
Bob Dylan - "Rollin' and Tumblin'"
Nic Armstrong & the Thieves - "Broken Mouth Blues"
Miho Hatori - "Today Is Like That"
Panóptica - "Güero Canela" (Nortec Mix)
Pigeon John - "Do the Pigeon"
Kashmere Stage Band - "Zero Point, Pt. 1 & 2"
Amy Winehouse - "Rehab"
Peter Bjorn and John - "Paris 2004"
Lismore - "1979"
The Hold Steady - "Chillout Tent"
TV on the Radio - "I Am Walking the Cow"
Daniel Johnston - "Like a Monkey in a Zoo"
Beck and Thom Yorke - "I'm Set Free" [Live]
Calexico / Iron & Wine - "Sixteen, Maybe Less"
Our Lady of the Bells - "Oh My Oh My"
Macromantics - "Scorch"
Kudu - "Playing House"
Subtle - "A Tale of Apes I"
Subtle - "A Tale of Apes II"
Beck - "Think I'm in Love"
Lily Allen - "Smile"
Yo La Tengo - "I Should Have Known Better"
The Sleepover Disaster - "Over the Top"
Weezer - "Why Bother"
Kristin Hersh - "In Shock"
Editors - "French Disko"
Elbow - "Picky Bugger"
Casey Dienel - "Doctor Monroe"
Beirut - "Scenic World" (Version)
Of Montreal - "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger"
Bloc Party - "The Prayer"
David Bowie - "Soul Love"
The Sparks - "(Baby Baby) Can I Invade Your Country"
The Submarines - "Brighter Discontent" (Styrofoam Remix)
Barbara Morgenstern - "The Grass Is Always Greener"

stubbs the camellia

Here is the first full blossom on the camellia that John and I planted in our yard this past October. Our fantastic cat, Stubbs--a beautiful manx who adopted us when we were living in our apartment--had just suddently and inexplicably died, and we felt that beneath this camellia plant would be a fitting burial spot for her. The camellia has sported bulging buds for the past several weeks, and I worried that the freeze would kill them off, but not only has the camellia survived, the buds are now opening, and these gorgeous white blooms are appearing.

I used my cell phone camera (I still don't have a digital camera) to take this picture, and I used blogger's mobile phone blogging feature to send it along to my blog. So I'm feeling particularly shrewd today. Apart from that, I've excavated my desk, and for the first time in months, I'm able to sit on a chair and type at my computer like someone concerned about his posture.

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable President's Day holiday. To cap it off, join me this evening for my stint on the Evening Eclectic (90.7 FM for Fresno area folks or www.kfsr.org to stream it live).

Sunday, February 18, 2007

turns out i was a vampire myself

Last night John and I watched the excellent documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. The film is about the music, art, and oh-so-troubled life of Johnston, who was a sensation in the Austin, Texas music scene in the mid-80s before his manic depression went into overdrive, and he found himself in and out of jail, wandering the streets with no home, and committed to various mental health institutions.

D and DJ is a moving and mesmerizing account of an all-American boy from West Virginia who wants to become famous--either for his comic book style artwork or for his plenitude of songs, seemingly composed on the fly and recorded through primitive cassette tape recorders. When he finally makes his way to Austin and begins performing at various clubs, he gains an almost cult-like fan base, who hoard his tapes and collect his drawings. But when the film shows Johnston singing--both in early, as well as in more recent footage--I'm struck at how his expression is at once pained and elated. Behind a microphone, he seems both terrified and completely at home.

The film provides its viewers (or at least this viewer) with one of those haunting "there but for the grace of God" moments of self-reflection. Johnston's childhood and adolescence seem so very typical, and yet, he is clearly seriously stricken with a condition that makes him behave as though he were possessed by the demons he feels are infiltrating and controlling the world. You want to feel more horrified that he causes an elderly woman, fearing for her life as he makes his way into her apartment and charges at her, to leap from her second-story window and break both her ankles. But you also recognize that forces beyond his control--guilt and compulsive behavior from an over-zealous, fundamentalist Christian upbringing and a particularly acute inability to comprehend the world in which he so manically moves--function as strings on a confused and forlorn marionette of a man. Watching Johnston sort through explanations for his behavior, you can't help but wonder about the nature of the gulf (at least one hopes it's a gulf) that separates the viewer and Johnston.

I discovered Johnston's music last year through my friend, Charlie. (I'd actually known and loved Yo La Tengo's version of "Speeding Motorcycle" long before, but I hadn't known it was a cover of a Johnston song.) The songs will inevitably irritate a general listenership, largely for Johnston's high-pitched vocals that make Neil Young's voice seem mellifluous. But I've come to find a number of them truly moving and beautiful. Many critics have suggested that Johnston's favorable reception has more to do with either a fascination with or sense of pity for the artist's battle with depression, and I'm this accounts for at least some of the buzz about his music. But the lyrics--for all their naivete and childishness--often entail astute observations about love and loneliness, good and evil, and the difficulties we all face in merely getting through the day (we all walk our cows). I find many of his melodies beautiful and intricately construed, and his instrumentation, which often sounds like someone carelessly pounding away at his piano or sawing through the nylon strings of his guitar, complements the melodies rather well.

The film came out nearly a year ago, and clearly I'm a little late in joining the Johnston discussion, but if you haven't yet seen the film, check it out. You don't have to love the tunes to appreciate the movie. Make sure you also spend some time with the extras, where you see a touching mini-film of Johnston in a gorilla costume, on a ladder, and holding a barbie doll, while his father circles around him with a toy airplane.

Here is a link to a blog that has posted various versions of Johnston singing "Speeding Motorcycle." I don't know how long the links will be up. Head over to iTunes or eMusic and get your hands on "Walking the Cow" and "Devil Town," as well.

Here's where you'll find his official website replete with many examples of his artwork.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

this year's love mix

For the past few years this time of year, I've made John a Valentine's Day mix CD . Here's the line-up for this year's mix.

Animal Collective - "Grass"
Jens Lekman - "Run Away with Me"
Camera Obscura - "Let's Get Out of This Country"
Jim Noir - "I Me You I'm Your"
The Blow - "Parentheses"
Bloc Party - "I Still Remember"
März - "The River"
Adem - "X is for Kisses"
Hot Chip - "So Glad to See You"
Feist - "Mushaboom" (Postal Service Mix)
Calexico / Iron & Wine - "Sixteen, Maybe Less"
The Sad Snowman - "My Wandering Days Are Over"
Jonathan Coulton - "Drinking with You"
The Decemberists - "Bridges & Balloons"
Elliott Smith - "Thirteen"
Antony & the Johnsons - "You Are My Sister" [feat. Boy George]
Tom Waits - "Sea of Love"
Arthur Russell - "Hiding Your Present from You"
Herbert - "We're in Love"
Petra Haden - "God Only Knows"
Christianne Neves - "Miniatura 3: Outra madrugada"

love will

Last night Shane, Elena, and I spent an evening chowing on suprisingly edible card casino fare (try the Frech Dip); playing pool and darts at our favorite downtown dive, where John joined us; and misbehaving in various ways at the Den. I only just now, at noon, managed to drag my ass out of bed. Clearly I'm too old for this. I just thank my lucky stars I don't teach on Wednesdays.

So I was on my morning stroll through the music blogosphere and saw that Matthew Perpetua over at Fluxblog had written that J. Edward Keyes, who is a staff writer for eMusic, had "found the holy grail of mash-ups: Malcolm McLaren's mix of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' and 'Love Will Keep Us Together.'" I'm a sucker for a well-conceived mash-up, so I immediately bounced over to Keyes's blog and downloaded it.

It's a strange, haunting, halting mix of the Captain and Tenille's huge hit you know and love to hate (or hate to love) and Joy Division's legendary ur-text of goth angst. I'll let Keyes's describe it for you, but be sure you also read about the evening he first discovered it after attending a disappointing New Order show.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

peanut butter love


Over at Stones Throw Records, Peanut Butter Wolf has created a Valentine's Day Mix that you can download for free--but only through Feb. 14.

Click here for a description, a playlist, and a link to download it as an .mp3 file.

While you're there, check out the very cool roster of artists recording for Stones Throw: Madvillain, J Dilla, Aloe Blacc, Quasimoto, and Georgia Anne Muldrow, among others.

And the Chrome Children, Vol. 2 compilation is still entirely free, so nab that, too.

Monday, February 12, 2007

free music for the children

Head here for Loose Cuts 3--six free tracks from Loose Cuts Records. Townes Van Zandt, The Mendoza Line--you can thank me later.

playlist, Feb. 12, 2007

What I done did tonight:

Lonely, Dear - "Saturday Waits"
Camera Obscura - "Let's Get Out of This Country"
Cibo Matto - "Spoon"
Scissors for Lefty - "Lay Down Your Weapons"
Amy Winehouse - "You Know I'm No Good"
Chicks on Speed - "Song for a Future Generation"
Peter Bjorn and John - "Sitar Folks"
Asobi Seksu - "Thursday"
Argyle Pimps - "Cat That Works"
Lily Allen - "Smile"
Blondie - "Rapture Riders" (The Doors vs Blondie)
Subtle - "Middleclass Stomp"
The Streets - "When You Wasn't Famous"
Sparklejet - "Emilio"
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "Goodbye to Mother and the Cove"
Mew - "Snow Brigade"
Birdmonster - "Balcony"
The Gossip - "Jealous Control Girls"
Ramblin' Jack Elliott [feat. Lucinda Williams] - "Carless Darlin'"
Lavender Diamond - "You Broke My Heart"
Gomez - "Cripple Creek"
Black Lodge Singers - "Mighty Mouse"
Calexico / Iron & Wine - "He Lays in the Reins"
Joanna Newsom - "The Sprout and the Bean"
Minus the Bear - "Drilling" (P.O.S. Redo)
Macromantics - "Miss Macro"
The Good, the Bad & the Queen - "History Song"
James Brown - "Lost Someone"
Aloe Blacc - "Long Time Coming"
Cocteau Twins - "Heaven or Las Vegas"
Thom Yorke - "Harrowdown Hill"
Bloc Party - "I Still Remember"
Maps of Norway - "Matches"
Rademacher - "They Are Always into That"
Xiu Xiu - "Boy Soprano"
Deerhoof - "Believe E.S.P."
Of Montreal - "Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider"
Teddybears [feat. Neneh Cherry] - "Yours to Keep"
Busdriver - "Secret Skin"

It's Easy Being Green!

Well, if you are at all familiar with my blog, you may have noticed a new look. I'm going green for a while, as I was getting bored with the spots. I've also been playing with the new user-friendly features that blogger.com has provided, so take a gander off to the right and see what I've added. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you can listen to Captain Whiffle's radio station--courtesy last.fm.

Last.fm is one of my favorite music sites. Check out my last.fm page here, and you can see what this service offers. After downloading the last.fm software, you can create charts that track your top-played artists and songs. You can also listen to other last.fm users' radio stations and join groups of people who share your musical manias.

And speaking of music, as DJ Prof, I'll be hosting my segment of the Evening Eclectic again this evening from 6 to 9 p.m., so feel free to tune in (90.7 FM) or stream the show live (at kfsr.org); I'm always up for a call, so don't hesitate to ring me up at 559-278-2240 during the show. I'm trying to make sure I post my playlists here on my blog for anyone who cares to check out what I've played on a given night. The station's website also gives you access to other DJs' playlists, so check that out, too.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Roguericious!

Here is the great new image that will grace Rogue Festival posters and t-shirts:




You'll be seeing this around Fresno during the next month and through the festival, which runs from March 1-10, 2007 in a variety of venues in the Tower District and elsewhere. I'm the t-shirt guy this year, so be sure you set aside a mere twenty bucks to get and don your own shirt and become the envy of all who gaze upon your majesty.

Check out the Rogue Festival's webiste for more information about this and previous years' festivals.

See you at the Rogue!

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

playlist, February 5, 2007

Norah Jones - "Thinking about You"
Laura Cantrell - "California Rose"
Lady & Bird - "Stephanie Says"
Teddybears [feat. Iggy Pop] - "Punkrocker"
Peter Bjorn and John - "Young Folks"
The Decemberists - "O Valencia!"
Sloan - "Who Taught You to Live Like That?"
The Raconteurs - "Intimate Secretary"
Miho Hatori - "Sweet Samsara Part II"
Coco Freeman feat. Franz Ferdinand - "The Dark of the Matinee"
Tom Waits - "Sea of Love"
Forro in the Dark - "Forrowest"
Karen Marguth - "Marie Laveaux"
Kien Lim - "For Always"
Blake Jones and the Trike Shop - "Snapshots"
40 Watt Hype - "Muevete"
Andrew W.K. - "Don't Call Me Andy"
Bloc Party - "Hunting for Witches"
Hot Chip - "Arrest Yourself"
The Mello-Tones - "Flying Saucers"
Jolie Holland - "Springtime Can Kill You"
Astronautalis - ""Wait Till You See My Kids"
Subtle - "Middleclass Kill"
Busdriver - "Casting Agents and Cowgirls"
Macromantics - "Scorch"
Presets - "Are You the One?"
Beirut - "Scenic World" (Version)
The Replacements - "Left of the Dial"
Massive Attack - "Teardrop"
Ben Gibbard, Ben Barrett - "Joga"
Badly Drawn Boy - "Born in the U.K."
Badly Drawn Boy - "Degrees of Separation"
Of Montreal - "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger"
The Books - "Be Good to Them Always"
Deerhoof - "Perfect Me"
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "Yankee Go Home"
Yo La Tengo - "Beanbag Chair"
Arab Strap - "Turbulence" (BIS Remix)
The Good, The Bad, and The Queen - "Kingdom of Doom"
The Shins - "Australia"