playlist, aug. 27, 2007

Una - "Fading in C# Minor"
Billie Holiday - "Glad to Be Unhappy" (DJ Logic Remix)
Calexico - "Roka"
Josh Ritter - "Right Moves"
Joan as Police Woman - "Eternal Flame"
Dead Can Dance - "Frontier"
M.I.A. - "Boyz"
Karen Marguth - "Dress Me Up, Dress Me Down"
Madeleine Peyroux - "Between the Bars"
José González - "Heartbeats"
Okkervil River - "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe"
TV on the Radio - "Province"
John Vanderslice - "The Parade"
Wilco - "War on War"
St. Vincent - "Marry Me"
Tegan and Sara - "The Con"
Common [feat. Lily Allen] - "Drivin' Me Wild"
Gipsy Kings - "A Mi Manera"
The New Pornographers - "Challengers"
Spoon - "Don't You Evah"
Matthew Dear - "Fleece on Brain"
Apparat - "Holdon"
Von Südenfed - "Fledermaus Can't Get It"
Justice - "Newjack"
Honeycut - "Shadows"
Nino Moschella - "If You Believe (You Will Be Strong)"
Blake Jones and the Trike Shop - "RedWhite&BlueSoBlue" [Live at KFSR]
Caribou - "Melody Day"
Joanna Newsom - "Cosmia"
Architecture in Helsinki - "Heart It Races"
M.I.A. - "Jimmy"
Feist - "I Feel It All"
Mark Ronson [feat. Amy Winehouse] - "Valerie"
The Blow - "Parentheses"
The Decemberists - "The Perfect Crime #2"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Down Boy"
Battles - "Race:In"
The Knife - "Like a Pen"
The New Young Pony Club - "Hiding on the Staircase"

more records than the kgb

Last Tuesday, M.I.A.'s sophomore release, Kala, was released in the U.S. on Interscope records. Because it was released the day before in Britain on XL, I was able to get my ears around it early through emusic, thereby snagging the extra track, a duet with Timbaland, which is available only on the British version.

I'd been reading a lot of hype about this one, and I'd heard a handful of tracks that were released over this past year, but I'm here to tell you to believe the hype: Kala could very well be the album of the year.

If you're not familiar with M.I.A., she is Maya Arulpragasam, originally from Sri Lanka, and, on the strength of her first single, "Galang," she was propelled into indie/club/dancehall/electronica stardom. Her first full-length Arular was my favorite album of 2005, and Kala is turning about to be my favorite of 2007. I can't stop playing it. It's especially great driving music, cranked up high and vibrating the windshield.

Arular was edgy, catchy, and smart club music with a conscience; it took jabs at U.S. imperialism, child prostitution, and world poverty. Kala is every bit as edgy. Taking up a similar set of social concerns as did Arular, it investigates the effects of consumerism, immigration, and a global economy intent on widening the gap between those who run corporations and those who work for them. M.I.A. is socially conscious, but not thoroughly clear as to the implications of her own place in a world that looks East, West, North, and South to devour and recreate new forms of culture. She's at once ironic and sincere in confessing her attachment to the products and pleasures she enjoys as a result of Western imperialism (cell phones, French fries, watching Lost on cable). And even when she asserts herself as a leader of the "third world democracy," she seems insecure as to her supremacy while questioning any desire for supremacy over others.

The first track, "Bamboo Banga" begins with M.I.A. quoting the Modern Lovers' "Road Runner." It's an apt metaphor, as many of Kala's songs have her spitting lyrics fast and furious, and throughout she demonstrates her quick wit and her ahead-of-the-pack innovations. The track is a head banger and hip shaker, filled with M.I.A.'s trademark vocal phrasings with high-pitched up-turns.

In "Boyz" she asks "How many boyz there are?" but rather than offer up a range of masculinity, she suggests that boys are fundamentally "rowdy" and that each is capable of starting a war. The pounding techno beat both underscores and obscures M.I.A.'s discussion of men's capacity for violence. On "Jimmy," M.I.A. speaks from the point of view of a woman who may not fully understand that penchant for violence, but begs to be implicated in it. The song is basically a recasting of "Jimmy Jimmy Aaja Aaja," a swirling disco Bollywood tune, but M.I.A.'s lyrics are decidedly contemporary:

When you go Rwanda Congo
Take me on ya genocide tour
Take me on a truck to Darfur
Take me where you would go.

The woman who pines for Jimmy only glances at these African catastrophes, and instead worries about the static on Jimmy's satellite phone and when she can be alone in his arms again. Still, this backdrop of political massacre strikes me as integral to a song that muses about the possibility love in an age of genocide.

On Kala, M.I.A. continues the musical plundering of '80s music that fueled the Diplo/M.I.A. collaboration, Piracy Funds Terrorism, Vol. 1. There, the Bangles, the Eurythmics and Prince were the victims (or beneficiaries) of such piracy, and they were so seemlessly integrated into M.I.A.'s tracks that they were less samples or mash-ups than outright claims of ownership. In "20 Dollar," M.I.A. turns to New order and the Pixies. The song is built on a fuzzed-out loop lifted from "Blue Monday," and M.I.A. harmonizes via vocoder. The lyrics continue to explore the issues she raised in Arular's "10 Dollar": the intertwined nature of money, sex, and power, especially for non-Western people who turn their eyes and ears to the West and are willing to trade in Qrans for Cadillacs to escape life in the shanty town. But whereas "10 Dollar" told the story of a young Lolita turning tricks to secure a travel visa, "20 Dollar" comes off as more autobiographical:

I was born out of dirt like I'm porn in a skirt
I was a little girl who made good with all what I blurt.

In "10 Dollar," M.I.A. sang about the China girl prostitute in third person; here she takes up a more immediate first person, thoroughly appropriating Black Francis's lyrics, chanting "Where is My Mind?" as a means of expressing confusion as to who she is and where she belongs.

My favorite track from the album is "Paper Planes," which is at once lovely and creepy. The song, which takes up issues related to immigration, fittingly borrows the bass line from The Clash's own pointed meditation on immigration blues, "Straight to Hell." Part of what makes M.I.A. so effective here is her deadpan delivery; she never emotes; she simply allows the serious implications of her lyrics to work their way into the listener's consciousness. The speaker in this song is making and selling paper planes at the border, and is, at first, solicitous:

I fly like paper, get high like planes
If you catch me at the border I got visas in my name.
If you come around here, I make 'em all day
I'll get one done in a second, if you wait.

But by the chorus, you realize that this paper plane peddler's desires are more deadly:

All I want to do is BANG BANG BANG BANG
and ka-CHING, and take your money.

Here the track incorporates the sounds of a firing gun, the ejection of a freshly fired casing, and a cash register's bell. The effect is eerie. The sentiment is at once chilling and sensible. Haven't we all had murderous fantasies about those who are appear to be better off, seemingly at our expense? Of course, you=the listener here, and the sense of threat is palpable. I'm even more unnerved when M.I.A. sings, "Some some some I some I murder / Some I some I let go" like a child intoning a nursery rhyme. There's a context for this brand of gangsta, and it's not in any way gratuitous. This is purposeful and pointed. At folks like me. Still, this is the song I repeat most often.

All the tracks on Kala are stunning in their own right, and I highly recommend it. They are suffused in insistent, infectious beats that take hold of you and refuse to let you go. If you buy only one new album this year, this should probably be it.

Visit M.I.A.'s website to watch videos for "Jimmy," "Boyz," and "Birdflu." Read J. Edward Keyes's spot-on review of Kala here. And check out Yancey Strickler pre-release discussion of it here.

la pose

The other day I was visiting a friend's mypsace page, and I watched a few Parker Posey clips that he had embedded. I was reminded of just how incredibly sharp, funny, and biting she can be. Anyone know what she's up to lately? Here's a bit from The House of Yes (which also features Tori Spelling in her finest moment) and an outtake from Waiting for Guffman. The first clip will make you squirm in your seat. The second will have you squirming on the floor.

Back to Louisville

This morning, as I was applying a lovely shade of lemon grass to my dining room doors, I was thinking back to last night's post about the AP English Literature reading in Lousiville, and I realized that perhaps I should be offering up a few suggestions for things to do and see if ever you find yourself in that fair city. Here are some dos and don'ts for enjoying the site of "the most exciting two minutes in sports":

1) OK, I didn't see the Kentucky Derby, so I can't really speak to that one. It's probably just fine if you have plenty of mint juleps and a broad-brimmed hat.

2) Check out the Speed Art Museum on the campus of the University of Louisville. It has a fabulous collection of modern and contemporary art, as well as some good 17th- and 18th-century Dutch, Flemish, and French paintings. I saw a Warhol of police dogs attacking Civil Rights protesters that I'd never seen before.

3) Splurge on a meal at Proof on Main, a fine restaurant John took me to for a birthday meal. Even if you don't have a meal there, order the Oleana, which is kind of like a mojito with a vanilla bean. And have a gander at the weird replicas of bleating, lassoed goats hanging from the walls. You might just end up going vegetarian.

4) Wander back to the 21c Museum, which is just off the bar at Proof (see #3). There are some very cool installation and video pieces on display, and the men's urinal is pretty much just a wall of glass, down which flows sheets of water that prevent would-be looky-loos on the other side from checking out your goods.

5) And this isn't the only see-through urinal in Lousiville, oh no! If you head over to Boots--a gay leather bar within walking distance of downtown--you can stand before a glass and chain-link fence urinal, the other side of which is a bench for guys who love to watch men pee at them but just aren't into the mess. If your imagination is failing you, here's a picture of what I'm talking about:


Pretty nifty, huh?

Heads up: you gotta have some leather on to get to where the urinal is. And athletic shoes don't count. So how did I get in, you ask? The owner of the bar was kind enough to loan me his boots, which almost fit me. Oh, and, sorry ladies, but it's pretty much a guy thing at The Hole at Boots.

6. The drag show LaBoy LeFemme at The Connection (just next door to Boots, see #5). Nobody does drag like middle America does drag!

7. Karaoke at Q Starbase. Advance warning: these are some serious karaoke-ers, and they will mess you up if you mangle your rendition of "Total Eclipse of the Heart."

8. You thought I did nothing but guzzle cocktails at Louisville's gay bars? Well, think again. I also hung out at the bar at the Seelbach Hotel. This is where Daisy and Tom Buchanan of The Great Gatsby were married, but it's called something slightly different in the novel; I don't recall what. (There. I thought about it again.) I can recommend The Seelbach Cocktail. While you might not think that champagne and bourbon make for a good combination, I found it eminently drinkable.

9. Avoid 4th Street Live unless there's really something you want to see going on there or you're really in the mood for some uninspired kitsch. It's all chain restaurants, drunken brides-to-be in veils, clutching dildo bouquets, and Colonel Sanders impersonators. It's like Vegas's Fremont Street Experience, but without all the classic neon.

10. I guess you ought to order and consume a Hot Brown. I did. I was expecting a little more from what I understand to be a legendary Louisville dish, but it's essentially a turkey, cheese, and bacon casserole. Not that I have anything against that! But ultimately, it was more about being able to say I ate something with such an unappetizing name.


So there you have it! Your own guide to what to do, what to avoid, and what maybe to do while in Louisville, Kentucky! I'll probably be there again next year, so check this spot in summer 2008 for an update. At the very least, I'll make an effort to visit some different gay bars.

the case of the expiring passport

I promised you this tale of woe, so here it goes. Spoiler alert: although it is a tale with some truly hair-raising moments, it ends happily, and in a future post, you'll get to read about the fruitful uses to which I put my new U.S. passport.

All through the first half of 2007, I'd been planning and looking forward to a trip to France. The primary reason for this visit was work-related, as I was invited to participate in an academic roundtable tantalizingly titled "Queer Taxonomies," and it was an opportunity for me to get working on a piece I'm writing about sapphic-minded ladies and their maids in 1720s British literature. I won't bore you with further details on that topic. Let's just say it's turning out to involve a discussion of "Welsh flummery."

I guess planning is too strong a word to use for the way in which I was preparing for this trip, as I waited until nearly a month before the conference to arrange for my flight (mindblowingly expensive), pay my conference fees (ditto), and secure my lodging (refreshingly economical). You see, John and I were originally going to go together, spend a week in Montpellier, where the conference was being held, and another week in Paris, eating and drinking as much as possible. Well, the flights to Paris were prohibitively expensive, and because only I was getting University funding for the trip, we made the difficult decision that I would go it alone. We would look forward to a trip to Paris--sans academic commitments--sometime next year. Besides, John's passport had expired, and it was going to take him anywhere from six weeks to three months to have it renewed.

I, on the other hand, was resting on a bed of assurance, knowing that my travel dates were from early- to mid-July, and that my passport wouldn't expire until August. This was until my friend Shane alerted me to the possibility that an airline might not allow me to board unless I had at least a good six months before my passport expired. He'd heard about people being turned away at airports for this reason.

Thinking I'd better check this out, I went to the local passport information office and inquired. And, yup, turns out Shane was right. I even drove over to the American Airlines counter at Fresno Yosemite International (FYI!--or as airport-naming powers that be insist upon, Fresno Airline Terminal, or FAT) to verify this alarming bit of news. The woman at the counter confirmed it. I wanted to rant about the meaning of the word expire, and how if the expiration date was good enough for the U.S. government, it should be good enough for American Airlines. But I refrained.

Now, why this information isn't more widely known--printed on the flight itineraries that the airlines themselves generate, for example--I don't know. But in the increasingly disappointing realm of airline effectiveness, this seemingly important detail can go uncommunicated to would-be passengers who have drawn perfectly reasonable conclusions about the validity of their passports. At this point, I invite you to go check the state of your passport. I'll be here when you come back. If you now find yourself clutching your soon-to-be useless passport in one hand and locks of perfectly good hair in the other, bouncing from foot to foot and screaming to the high heavens, "now how am I going to get to Tehran???"--then take some deep breaths. What I have to tell you may be heartening.

The stern but not unyielding woman at Fresno's downtown branch of the U.S. Post Office gave me some hopeful advice, almost all of which turned out to be bogus. She gave me a 1-800 number that I should call to make an appointment to visit the closest passport agency in San Francisco. She told me to get a date--any date--and then head over to San Francisco and, in the we hours of the morning, wait in long lines in the hopes that the armed guards barring the agency entrance might relent and let those without appointments for that day enter the building and then wait in more lines.

You think you've experienced automated telephone service hell, but, trust me, unless you've grappled with this one, you have not. The first hurdle is getting beyond the "we're sorry, call volume is through the roof right now. Try calling back at, say, 4 a.m." And even if you do set your alarm and wake up at 4 a.m. and call that damn number over and over and over, you may not get to the next stages, where, until you've become familiar with the system's idiosyncrasies, you will learn that "I'm sorry. There are no more appointments available." I found that the trick is never to request an afternoon appointment. This inevitably leads to the "none available" answer, followed by a click and a dial tone and your screams of horror at the sound of such ominous noises. I found I had to stick with morning appointments--God knows why--which I did, and, finally, I was successful in securing an appointment date, time, and confirmation code.

The problem was that my appointment was for a mere few days before I was to leave the country, and I wanted to get some sleep between now and then. So, I planned a very sudden trip to San Francisco and left on a Wednesday, planning to stay until Friday, just in case I needed two full days to stand in line at the agency. I'm lucky to have even found a hotel room at all, given that SF's Gay Pride (scroll down, way down) events were coming up that weekend, and I hadn't factored these into my plans.

Well, to make a long story short (I know, too late), after a fitful night in what appeared to be a child's single bed, amid truly terrible decor involving geese in bonnets, I ended up arriving at the U.S. Passport agency in San Francisco bright and early on a Thursday morning, necessary documents in my hot little hand.

What I learned there was that you didn't really need an appointment, after all. Sure those good little citizens who had dutifully gone through 1-800-GOV-HELL to secure an appointment were admitted in first. But in the end, everyone in that line got in. Once inside, I enjoyed some pretty friendly and relatively prompt service. The only hitch was that I had arrived two weeks and one day prior to my departure date, and the folks at the agency are only supposed to help walk-ins who show up within two weeks of their departure date. Luckily, the woman behind the bullet-proof glass barrier pitied me when I began to panic and shriek, "but I drove all the way across the California desert to do this and I'm staying in a geese-filled, South-of-Market hotel room!" She nodded with understanding: "well, in that case..."

So I turned in my forms, paid my exorbitant expediting fees, and came back that afternoon to pick up my new passport. Inside were a rotten photo of me and my many chins and a few too many images of bald eagles for my taste. Still, it was a valid passport! It was going to get me where I needed to go!

Afterward, I walked into the nearest brew pub, downed some tasty IPAs, and had a lovely salad with flavorful cheeses and candied walnuts, all the while gazing at attractive, tattooed and shaven-headed men, who were watching some sports event on the TV. (Ah, San Francisco.)

If there is any wisdom to be gleaned from this story, it's this: screw the rules, and just show up! Life is too short to spend it pacing around the house on your cordless shouting "yes" and "no" at an automated voice recognition telephone system at four in the morning. And, hey! It's San Francisco, so how bad can it be?

versectitude

Well, another summer has nearly flown by, and I'm no better a blogger than I was this time last year. Sigh. Some great things have happened this summer, however, and I want to get some of them down while I can still recall them. It'll happen piecemeal.

This past June, I was in Louisville, Kentucky spending my sixth (count them--six!) year scoring AP English Literature exams. I know what you must be thinking: "how do I get in on this gig?" Well, you have to be either a high school or college English instructor, and you have to be willing to give up the first week or so of June to sit in an overly-air-conditioned conference center and grade essays for eight hours a day.

My previous years as a reader were spent in Daytona Beach, which sounds glamorous unless you've actually been to Daytona during the first week of June. The only folks there that time of year are leathery beach bums and very pathetic frat boys who seem not to have gotten the memo as to where and when Spring Break was going to be. Daytona does have a fine beach (if you're into that sort of thing--I'm not much of a sand guy, myself), but the only other attractions include a Bubba Gump's and more souvenir shops (think alligator heads and Confederate flag-wear) than you could possibly imagine. OK, I'm sure there are other charms, and most of the people I hung out with really loved it there.

But moving the reading to Louisville was a step in the right direction, as far as I'm concerned. In Lousiville, there is a real downtown with some pretty good restaurants, museums (not just the Louisville Slugger one, but art museums, too), watering holes with many kinds of bourbon, several gay bars that stay open really late, and a view of the Colgate Factory across the river in Indiana. (It's cooler than it sounds.)

The real reason I keep returning to score essays for Educational Testing Services, however, is to see my same-time-next-year AP English Lit reading pals. For the past six years I've spent my birthday (June 5, in case you hadn't yet marked your calender) with these folks, and this year I turned the big Four-O with them. John even came out to meet them and celebrate this milestone with me. We had a party in my hotel room--a suite, in fact--and the hotel management was called up to tell us to keep it down. You know it's a party when party-pooping authority figures come a-knocking!

As far as the essays were concerned, there weren't near enough howlers this year. I was scoring the third essay or open question. Students were asked to choose a novel or play and discuss how a past decision played a pivotal role in a character's present state. In other words, choose a work with a character and a plot, and you've got it made. By the end of the reading, I felt certain I never wanted to even think about The Great Gatsby, Death of a Salesman, or Beloved. Ever. Again.

There were a couple of bright moments, however, and I'm happy to share them with you.

Here are some of the most interesting coinages I came across:

poingrent
peripety
vermit
versectitude

and--I kid you not--Se la V.

I read about the "great ball and chain of being," and discovered that The Great Gatsby was, in fact, written by Ella Scott Fitzgerald. I also encountered examples of insightful character analysis, such as, "Lady MacBeth wasn't very nice at all," and "As a young man, Gatsby was not well endowed."

But the prize for most entertaining response goes to the poor young writer whose essay was comprised entirely of this observation:

"I've only read one work on this list. A Streetcar Named Desire. I think it's a kind of Volkswagon."

Mock me and my choice of summer activities if you must, but really, folks, you can't find this stuff on the Comedy Channel. And I haven't even told you about the cafeteria food we're served thrice daily.

Stay tuned for my harrowing tale of the expiring passport.

playlist, aug. 21, 2007

Zap Mama - "Moonray"
Architecture in Helsinki - "Underwater"
The Magic Numbers - "This Is a Song"
Travis - "Selfish Jean"
The New Pornographers - "All the Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth"
David Dondero - "When the Heart Breaks Deep"
Bebel Gilberto - "Caçada"
Una - "Casa Del Fuego"
Ulrich Schnauss - "In Between the Years"
The Polyphonic Spree - "Running Away
Robbers on High Street - "The Fatalist"
Born Ruffians - "Piecing It Together"
The Dalloways - "Clarissa, Dear"
Pela - "Your Desert's Not a Desert At All"
Lavender Diamond - "The Garden Rose"
Elliott Smith - "Thirteen"
Julia Dawn - "Falling"
Forro in the Dark [feat. David Byrne] - "Asa Branca"
Feist - "Sealion"
Spoon - "The Ghost of You Lingers"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "10 X 10"
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes"
Common - "The People"
L.A. Symphony [feat. Posdnuos] - "Universal"
Björk - "Innocence"
St. Vincent - "Now Now"
Bats for Lashes - "I'm on Fire"
Caribou - "Sandy"
Battles - "Leyendecker"
Interpol - "The Heinrich Maneuver"
The Boggs - "Melanie in the White Coat"
Sleepover Disaster - "One More Chord"
Dinosaur Jr. - "Almost Ready"
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - "Bomb.Repeat.Bomb"
TV on the Radio - "Wolf Like Me"
Mark Ronson [feat. Kasabian] - "L.S.F."
M.I.A. - "Jimmy"
The Cure - "In Between Days"
Tom Vek - "I Ain't Saying My Goodbyes"
Josh Ritter - "To the Dogs or Whoever"

playlist, aug. 20, 2007

Tegan and Sara - "I Was Married"
Interpol - "No I in Threesome"
The Real Tuesday Weld - "Bathtime in Clerkenwell"
Gypsy Kings - "Mi Manera"
The Magic Numbers - "You Never Had It"
Stevie Wonder - "Masterblaster (Jammin')"
Common [feat. Lily Allen] - "Drivin' Me Wild"
The New Pornographers - "My Rights Versus Yours"
Jonathan Coulton - "Skullcrusher Mountain"
Charlie Louvin - "Great Atomic Power"
Earlimart - "Everybody Knows Everybody"
Spoon - "The Underdog"
Uni and Her Ukelele - "I'm on My Way"
Caribou - "Melody Day"
Mark Ronson [feat. Paul Smith] - "Apply Some Pressure"
M.I.A. - "Jimmy"
New Young Pony Club - "Ice Cream"
Snowden - "Anti Anti"
Joanna Newsom - "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie"
Feist - "The Park"
Josh Ritter - "To the Dogs or Whoever"
T. Rex - "Cosmic Dancer"
Okkervil River - "John Allyn Smith"
St. Vincent - "Jesus Saves, I Spend"
David Dondero - "The Prince William Sound"
The Sea and Cake - "Middlenight"
The Clientele - "From Brighton Beach to Santa Monica"
L.A. Symphony - "Passionate"
Shape of Broadminds - "Changes"
Brother Reade - "Let's Go"
mansbestfriend - "Dedemma Speaks"
Justice - "Genesis"
Digitalism - "Pogo"
Honeycut - "Shadows"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Kiss Kiss"
M.I.A. - "Boyz"
Bonde do Role - "Solta O Frango"
Bitter Sweet - Bittersweet Faith" (Thievery Corporation Remix)
Feist - "Mushaboom" (K-OS Mix)
Battles - "Race:In"
Sonic Youth - "Within You Without You"

playlist, aug. 13, 2007

Mark Ronson [feat. Daniel Merriweather] - "Stop Me"
Serge Gainsbourg - "Requiem Pour un Con"
Belle & Sebastian - "Act of the Apostle"
The Sea and Cake - "Sound & Vision"
Architecture in Helsinki - "Heart It Races"
Cookie Jar - "The Island"
Gogol Bordello - "Wonderlust King"
Socalled - "You Are Never Alone"
K-OS - "Crabbuckit"
Bullion - "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times"
Dälek - "Bricks Crumble"
Tortoise & Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "Daniel"
Okkervil River - "John Allyn Smith Sails"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "10 X 10"
Sonic Youth - "Silver Rocket"
Pavement - "Summer Babe" (Winter Version)
Super Lucky Catz - "58 Steps"
Sufjan Stevens - "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!"
St. Vincent - "All My Stars Aligned"
Arcade Fire - "Black Mirror"
Interpol - "Pioneer to the Falls"
New Young Pony Club - "Hiding on the Staircase"
Apparat - "Limelight"
Von Südenfed - "Fledermaus Can't Get It"
Patrick Wolf - "Accident & Emergency"
T. Rex - "Bang a Gong (Get It On)"
Bonde do Rolê - "Geremia"
Common [feat. Lily Allen] - "Drivin' Me Wild"
Battles - "Race:In"
Tegan and Sara - "Relief Next to Me"
Simon & Garfunkel - "The Sound of Silence"
Spoon - "The Ghost of You Lingers"
Hot Chip - "My Piano"
Nick Lowe - "Hope for Us All"
Robbers on High Street - "The Fatalist"
Calexico - "The Guns of Brixton"
Mavis Staples - "In the Mississippi River"
Stars - "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead" (Final Fantasy Remix)

playlist, aug. 6, 2007

Freelance Hellraiser, "We Don't Belong"
The Go! Team - "Huddle Formation"
Feist - "I Feel It All"
Architecture in Helsinki - "Heart It Races"
Ozomatli - "La Termperatura"
Frightened Rabbit - "The Twist"
The Knife - "Neverland"
Battles - "Ddiamondd"
The White Stripes - "Icky Thump"
Tegan and Sara - "The Con"
Son Volt - "The Picture"
Essie Jain - "Glory"
The National - "Mistaken for Strangers"
Okkervil River - "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe"
Lavender Diamond - "The Garden Rose"
Johnny Cash - "If You Could Read My Mind"
M. Ward - "Beautiful Car"
Spoon - "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb"
Yo La Tengo - "Beanbag Chair"
Mark Ronson [feat. the Dap Horns] - "God Put a Smile on Your Face"
Bob Marley and the Wailers - "African Herbsman" (King Kooba Remix)
Common [feat. Lily Allen] - "Drivin' Me Wild"
Blake Jones and the Trike Shop - "Clever Things"
They Might Be Giants - "The Mesopotamians"
Peter Bjorn and John - "Young Folks"
Nouvelle Vague - "Dancing with Myself"
The Cure - "Close to Me"
Interpol - "No I in Threesome"
K-OS - "The Rain"
Teddybears [feat. Neneh Cherry] - "Yours to Keep"
!!! - "Heart of Hearts"
Honeycut - "The Day I Turned to Glass"
The Boggs - "Remember the Orphans"
Sparklejet - "We Get in a Hurry"
1990s - "You Made Me Like It"
St. Vincent - "Paris Is Burning"
John Vanderslice - "Time to Go"
Earlimart - "Answers & Questions"
Digitalism - "Digitalism"
The Chemical Brothers - "All Rights Reversed"
Beastie Boys - "Off the Grid"

playlist, aug. 1, 2007

The Black Keys - "Just a Little Heat"
Billy Bragg - "Sexuality"
My Morning Jacket - "Anytime" [Live]
Spoon - "Underdog"
Feist - "My Moon My Man"
A Tribe Called Quest - "Can I Kick It?"
Mark Ronson [feat. Robbie Williams] - "The Only One I Know"
Arcade Fire - "Wake Up"
Blonde Redhead - "The Dress"
Caesers - "(Don't Fear) The Reaper"
Julia Dawn - "Beautiful"
Feist - "I Feel It All"
Zap Mama - "1000 Ways"
Billie Holiday - "Pennies from Heaven" (Count de Money Remix)
Lily Allen - "Littlest Things"
Cibo Matto - "Beef Jerky"
Thee More Shallows - "Freshman Thesis"
Stevie Wonder - "Masterblaster (Jammin')"
Bob Marley - "Soul Shakedown Party" (Afrodisiac Sound System Remix)
B-Side Players - "Unplug This Armageddon"
Gorillaz - "White Light"
40 Watt Hype - "Controversy"
They Might Be Giants - "Take Out the Trash"
The Zutons - "Valerie"
The Cure - "The Caterpillar"
Björk - "Innocence"
The Chemical Brothers - "A Modern Midnight Conversation"
LCD Soundsystem - "Someone Great"
The Avett Brothers - "Die Die Die"
The National - "Apartment Story"
Nina Simone - "Sinnerman"
Tom Waits - "Rains on Me"
Peter Bjorn and John - "Let's Call It Off" ( Girl Talk Remix)
Royal City - "Is This It?"
Mika - "Billy Brown"
Patrick Wolf - "The Magic Position"
Jarvis Cocker - "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time"