playlist, aug. 4, 2008

Radiohead - "The National Anthem"
The Notwist - "Gloomy Planets"
M83 - "You,0 Appearing"
The Orb - "DDD (Dirty Disco Dub)"
The Orb - "The Truth Is..."
Ozomatli - "La Temperatura"
Beck - "Gamma Ray"
Santogold - "L.E.S. Artistes"
The Tough Alliance - "Miami"
Modeselektor - "Let Your Love Grow"
Neon Neon - "Dream Cars"
Sexton Blake - "Making Love Out of Nothing At All"
Sufjan Stevens - "Come on! Feel the Illinoise!"
Dolly Parton - "The Tracks of My Tears"
The Avett Brothers - "Murder in the City"
The Geraldine Fibbers - "You Doo Right"
N.E.R.D. - "Spaz"
Cornelius - "Gum"
Subtle - "Sick Soft Perfection"
Atmosphere - "You"
Del the Funky Homosapien - "Situations"
Suede - "Animal Lover"
The Breeders - "German Studies"
The Loveseats - "Best Friend Forever"
The National - "Squalor Victoria"
Wolf Parade - "Soldier's Grin"
The Crystal Castles - "Courtship Dating"
Gorillaz - "Dirty Harry"
Crystal Castles - "Untrust Us"
Of Montreal - "Jimmy"
Hercules and Love Affair - "Raise Me Up"
Cibo Matto - "Spoon"
Duffy - "Mercy"
Ike & Tina Turner - "River Deep - Mountain High"
Flight of the Conchords - "Ladies of the World"

same as it never was

playlist, jul. 28, 2008

The Avett Brothers - "Tear Down the House"
Fleet Foxes - "Blue Ridge Mountains"
My Morning Jacket - "Evil Urges"
Duffy - "Rockferry"
Hortense Ellis - "Secretly"
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - "Tell Me"
Hercules and Love Affair - "Raise Me Up"
Beck - "Modern Guilt"
Spiritualized - "Soul on Fire"
The Futureheads - "Think Tonight"
Bloc Party - "Hunting for Witches"
Rademacher - "Arkansas"
Flight of the Conchords - "Foux da Fafa"
N.E.R.D. - "Spaz"
Atmosphere - "You"
Portishead - "Silence"
Burial - "Archangel"
Wolf Parade - "California Dreamer"
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "You Remind Me of Something (The Glory Goes)"
Mates of State - "The Re-arranger"
The Silver Jews - "Strange Victory, Strange Defeat"
Grant Lee Phillips - "The Killing Moon"
Why? - "Fatalist Palmistry"
Hot Chip - "Wrestlers"
The Black Ghosts - "Some Way Through This"
Cadence Weapon - "House Music"
Novalima Regresa - "Con La Capilla"
The Watson Twins - "Just Like Heaven"
Blake Jones and the Trike Shop - "I Roped the Moon Out of the Sky"
Mirah - "Lone Star"
Kien Lim - "T Baby"
Architecture in Helsinki - "Hold Music" (Max Tundra Remix)
HEALTH - "Heaven" (Pink Skull RMX)
The Notwist - "On Planet Off"
Eurythmics - "Who's That Girl?"
The Orb - "DDD (Dirty Disco Dub)"
Black Kids - "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You"
The Hold Steady - "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?"
The Republic Tigers - "Buildings & Mountains"

fluxcast!

One of my favorite music blogs for some years now has been Matthew Perpetua's Fluxblog. Perpetua has perpetually good taste in music, and he's a good writer to boot. Now he has begun a podcast called fluxcast. I'm listening to fluxcast #1, and it's very good. Get your copy here, and flux along. (There are two more so far.) I know I will be.

playlist, jun. 30, 2008

Joan as Police Woman - "Honor Wishes"
Mates of State - "Get Better"
The Watson Twins - "Bar Woman Blues"
Vampire Weekend - "Oxford Comma"
The Raconteurs - "Top Yourself"
Aesop Rock - "39 Thieves"
Odd Nosdam - "Untitled Three" (JB's OG Mix)
Why? - "By Torpedos or Crohn's"
Booka Shade - "Dusty Boots"
Kompis & Erlend Øye - "All Ears"
Pixies - "Where Is My Mind" [Live]
The Futureheads - "The Beginning of the Twist"
Cake - "Wheels"
TV on the Radio - "Staring at the Sun"
Anna Ternheim - "China Girl"
The Breeders - "Overglazed"
The Orb - "Lost & Found"
The Jay Tees - "Buck Town Corner"
Willie Nelson - "Sitting in Limbo"
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - "Beat (Health, Life and Fire)"
The Notwist - "Good Lies"
The Loveseats - "I Could Be Something"
Cat Power - "Song to Bobby"
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "For Every Field There's a Mole"
Shearwater - "Leviathan, Bound"
Earlimart - "Face Down in the Right Town"
Jimmy Reed - "Honest I Do"
The Same Shape - "Obvious Solutions"
Coldplay - "Lost!"
Wolf Parade - "Call It a Ritual"
Spiritualized - "Yeah yeah"
No Age - "Ripped Knees"
Styrofoam - "After Sunset"
Serge Gainsbourg - "Mickey Maousse"
Sister Carol - "Black Cinderella"
Easy Star All-Stars [feat. Toots and the Maytals] - "Let Down"
Sugar Minott - "The Dang Dang Song"
HEALTH//DISCO - "Crimewave" (Crystal Castles vs. HEALTH)
Portishead - "Machine Gun"
Cut Copy - "Out There on the Ice"
N.E.R.D. - "Spaz"

playlist, jun. 16, 2008

Stars - "Ageless Beauty" (Most Serene Repubic Remix)
Datarock - "I Used to Dance with My Daddy"
Ladytron - "Ghosts"
Enon - "Colette"
Subtle - "Day Dangerous"
Dalek - "Stagnant Waters"
Mylo - "In My Arms"
!!! - Heart of Hearts"
The Who - "Baba O'Reilly"
The Kills - "Cheap and Cheerful"
Hot Chip - "Shake a Fist"
Xiu Xiu - "I Do What I Want, When I Want"
Animal Collective - "Water Curses"
Fiery Furnaces - "Ex-Guru"
Ike & Tina Turner - "River Deep, Mountain High"
Santogold - "Creator"
Black Mountain - "Stormy High"
Asobi Seksu - "New Years" [Live]
Mark Ronson [feat. Maximo Park] - "Apply Some Pressure"
The Staple Singers - "Everyday People"
Vampire Weekend - "M79"
Spiritualized - "Sweet Talk"
Portishead - "We Carry On"
Norman Palm - "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"
The Avett Brothers - "Shame"
Sun Kil Moon - "Moorestown"
Flight of the Conchords - "Foux da Fafa"
Duffy - "Warwick Avenue"
The Cool Kids - "Mikey Rocks"
Atmosphere - "Guarantees"
Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves - "(Am I Just) Fooling Myself"
The Loveseats - "I Could Be Something"
Radiohead - "2+2=5"
DeVotchKa - "Transliterator"
Radmacher - "Argument"
Talking Heads - "I Wish You Wouldn't Say That"
Death Cab for Cutie - "Cath..."
The Herbaliser [feat. Jessica Darling] - "You're Not All That"

playlist, jun. 2, 2008

Radiohead - "Fake Plastic Trees"
Death Cab for Cutie - "Long Division"
Super Furry Animals - "Pan Ddaw'r Wawr"
M83 - "Kim & Jessie"
Lali Puna - "Micronomic"
Radiohead - "Idioteque"
LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends"
Tiefschwarz - "Warning Sign"
Bo Diddley - "Diddley Daddy"
Maureen Tucker - "Bo Diddley"
The Clash - "Janie Jones"
Bo Diddley - "Who Do You Love?"
Cornelius - "Gum"
Atmosphere - "Shoulda Known"
The Cure - "A Forest"
The Flaming Lips - "Free Radicals"
Malcolm Middleton - "A Happy Medium"
Morrissey - "The Closer You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get"
My Morning Jacket - "It Beats 4 U" [Live]
Tam - "No Cars Go"
Eagle and Talon - "Dropped Down"
Radmacher - "Today Is Different"
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - "Fear and Convenience"
This Mortal Coil - "Song to the Siren"
Hölderlin - "Peter"
The Fiery Furnaces - "Sweet Spots"
Asobi Seksu - "New Years" [Live]
The Breeders - "Bang On"
Colourbox - "Just Give 'Em Whiskey"
Elbow - "Mirrorball"
Why? - "The Hollows"
Subtle - "Exiting Arm"
Portishead - "Silence"
The Roots - "Don't Say Nuthin'" (Remix)
Busdriver - "Casting Agents and Cowgirls"
P.O.S. - "Living Slightly Larger"
Herbaliser [feat. Jessica Darling] - "On Your Knees"
Flight of the Conchords - "Inner City Pressure"

playlist, may 26, 2008

Kate Nash - "We Get On"
Jim Noir - "Look Around You"
The Kinks - "Do You Remember Walter?"
Spoon - "Don't You Evah"
The Dalloways - "Dirty Money and Filthy Love"
The Fiery Furnaces - "Ex-Guru"
Port O'Brien - "I Woke Up Today"
Mavis Staples - "99 1/2"
Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves - "It's Easier"
Mark Ronson [feat. Kasabian] - "L.S.F."
Neon Neon - "Raquel"
Hercules and Love Affair - "Hercules Theme"
The Presets - "My People"
MGMT - "Time to Pretend"
Super Furry Animals - "Lazer Beam" (Dangermouse Remix)
Ibid - "Pesticides"
Atmosphere - "Puppets"
Subtle - "Exiting Arm"
Dizzee Rascal [feat.UGK] - "Where's Da G's"
pc muñoz and the amen corner - "Skin City"
Patti Smith - "Redondo Beach"
Electrelane - "Bells"
Les Savy Fav - "What Would Wolves Do?"
The Hold Steady - "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?"
The Mountain Goats - "Get Lonely"
M83 - "Up!"
Final Fantasy & Ed Droste - "Possibly Maybe"
Why? - "Song of the Sad Assassin"
Portishead - "We Carry On"
No Age - "Things I Did When I Was Dead"
This Mortal Coil - "Kangaroo"
The Submarines - "Brighter Discontent" (Styrofoam Remix)
Kudu - "Playing House"
Santogold - "Unstoppable"
Cut Copy - "So Haunted"
Stellastarr* - "Sweet Troubled Soul"
James Pants [feat. Deon Davis] - "Crystal Lite"

playlist, may 19, 2008

James Pants - "Dragonslayer"
Death Cab for Cutie - "Long Division"
Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk"
Port O'Brien - "I Woke Up Today"
Animal Collective - "Water Curses"
Kirsty MacColl - "Innocence"
Portishead - "Silence"
Billie Holiday - "I'm a Fool to Love You"
Mia Doi Todd - "In the End"
Bon Iver - "Re:Stacks"
Lady & Bird - "Suicide Is Painless"
Sonic Youth - "Superstar"
Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves - "Take My Love with You"
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - "Let Them Knock"
Gnarls Barkley - "Run (I'm a Natural Disaster)"
James Lidell - "Hurricane"
The Kingston Trio - "The Tijuana Jail"
Dizzee Rascal - "Hard Back (Industry)"
Santogold - "Creator"
Atmosphere - "Shoulda Known"
Flight of the Conchords - "Inner City Pressure"
Subtle - "The No"
The Ramones - "Beat on the Brat"
The Who - "Tattoo"
Sexton Blake - "Making Love Out of Nothing at All"
She & Him - "Take It Back"
Elvis Costello & The Imposters - "American Gangster Time"
Poplord - "Celia Somewhere"
M83 - "Couleurs"
Moby - "Alice"
Beck - "Strange Apparition"
T. Rex - "Mambo Sun"
No Age - "Miner"
The Afghan Whigs - "Debonair"
Yo La Tengo - "Shaker"
The Devil Makes Three - "Shades"
The Ruby Suns - "Oh, Mojave"
Elbow - "Grounds for Divorce"
Liars - "Army of Me"
Mudhoney - "The Lucky Ones"
The Flaming Lips - "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song"
My Morning Jacket - "Wordless Chorus"
Sun Kil Moon - "Heron Blue"
Spoon - "The Ghost of You Lingers"

playlist, may 12, 2008

Bush Chemists - "Rubber Dub"
Atmosphere - "Puppets"
Portishead - "We Carry On"
Subtle - "Day Dangerous"
M83 - "You, Appearing"
Animal Collective - "Water Curses"
Xiu Xiu - "I Do What I Want, When I Want"
Islands - "J'aime Vous Voir Quitter"
Belle and Sebastian - "Expectations"
Elvis Costello and The Imposters - "No Hiding Place"
The Black Keys - "I Got Mine"
Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves - "The Satisfier"
Scarlett Johansson - "Anywhere I Lay My Head"
The Spinners - "The Rubberband Man"
Mark Ronson [feat. Amy Winehouse] - "Valerie"
Dizzee Rascal - "Bubbles"
The Kills - "Cheap and Cheerful"
Yo La Tengo - "A House Is Not a Motel"
No Age - "Sleeper Hold"
Mudhoney - "I'm Now"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Phenomena"
Santogold - "Unstoppable"
M.I.A. - "Hombre"
Sally Shapiro - "Find My Soul" (Holy Fuck Remix)
The Go! Team [feat. Chuck D] - "Flashlight Fight"
Gorillaz - "Dare" (Soulwax Remix)
Shelby Lynne - "The Look of Love"
Jim Noir - "Day by Day by Day"
Elbow - "Grounds for Divorce"
Iron and Wine - "White Tooth Man"
The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir - "Aspidistra"
The Libertines - "Don't Look Back into the Sun"
Wye Oak - "Please Concrete"
Tickley Feather - "Sorry Party"
Nat Baldwin - "Lake Erie"
Radiohead - "Bodysnatchers"
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Baltimore"
The Dalloways - "Thomas Hardy and Me"
Sparklejet - "Emilio"
Son Lux - "Wither"
Flight of the Conchords - "Think about It"

playlist, may 5, 2008

Peter Bjorn and John - "Young Folks"
Portishead - "Silence"
Son Lux - "Break"
St. Vincent - "Jesus Saves, I Spend"
Battles - "Leyendecker"
Santogold - "Shove It"
Neon Neon - "Dream Cars"
The Danielson Famille - "We Don't Say Shut Up"
The Kinks - "Phenomenal Cat"
Supersuckers - "Hey Ya!" [Live]
The Who - "Armenia City in the Sky"
Jim Noir - "Ships and Clouds"
Shelby Lynne - "Anyone Who Had a Heart"
Sun Kil Moon - "Lost Verses"
New Buffalo - "Cheer Me Up Thank You"
Blake Jones and the Trike Shop - "Sun Up"
Islands - "Creeper"
Nicole Atkins - "The Way It Is"
Bis - "The Powerpuff Girls (End Theme)"
The B-52s - "Funplex" (CSS Remix)
Vampire Weekend - "M79"
No Age - "Miner"
Pixies - "Wild Honey Pie"
The Black Keys - "So He Won't Break"
Blake Jones and the Trike Shop - "Song for KFSR's Evening Eclectic"
David Bowie - "1984 / Dodo"
El "Paperboy" Reed & the True Loves - "It's Easier"
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - "100 Days, 100 Nights"
Cat Power - "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again"
Mexican Institute of Sound - "Dub-A El Tiempo Es Muy Largo"
Calexico - "Roka"
Nortec Collective - "Olvidela Compa"
Ozomatli - "La Temperatura"
R.E.M. - "Supernatural Superserious"
The Breeders - "Overglazed"
The Raconteurs - "The Switch and the Spur"
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "Today's Lesson"

playlist, apr. 28, 2007

Nancy Sinatra - "Day Tripper"
Colin Meloy - "Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect" [Live]
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - "Swimming Pools"
Sexton Blake - "Bette Davis Eyes"
M83 - "Kim & Jessie"
Neon Neon - "Raquel"
Hot Chip - "We're Looking for a Lot of Love"
Rademacher - "Machines"
El Olio Wolof - "The Tedious Task - A Fire Breathing Dragon"
The Dalloways - "Dirty Money and Filthy Love"
MGMT - "Time to Pretend"
Simian Mobile Disco - "Hot Dog"
The Rolling Stones - "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (Re-mixed and Re-edited by Soulwax)
Dengue Fever - "Tiger Phone Card"
Karen Marguth - "Marie Laveaux"
Dolly Parton - "Drive Me Crazy"
Cat Power - "New York / Ramblin' Woman"
Basia Bulat - "The Pilgriming Vine"
Nik Freitas - "Sun Down"
Akron / Family - "Ed Is a Portal"
The Bad Plus - "Tom Sawyer"
Sonic Youth - "Incinerate"
The Breeders - "Regalame Esta Noche"
The Kills - "U.R.A. Fever"
The Gossip - "Standing in the Way of Control"
Dizzee Rascal - "Wanna Be" [feat. Lily Allen]
!!! - "Heart of Hearts"
Yelle - "Jogging"
Jamie Lidell - "Another Day"
Flight of the Conchords - "Inner City Pressure"

Dizzee Rascal - "Sirens"
The Black Keys - "Strange Times"
The Kills - "Cheap and Cheerful"
The Gossip - "Yr Mangled Heart"
The Raveonettes - "Aly, Walk with Me"
Bats for Lashes - "Horse and I"
Islands - "Pieces of You"
Animal Collective - "Water Curses"
No Kids - "The Beaches All Closed"
Jim Noir - "All Right"
John Lee Hooker - "Chillen' Boogie"
Aretha Franklin - "Do Right Woman - Do Right Man"
Andre Williams - "Bacon Fat"
Parliament - "Chocolate City"
Marshall Crenshaw - "Someday, Someway"
The Detroit Cobras - "As Long As I Have You"
Shelby Lynne - "I Only Want to Be with You"
Colin Meloy - "We Both Go Down Together" (Evoking a Campfire Singalong) [Live]
The Breeders - "Bang On"
R.E.M. - "Man-Sized Wreath"
Editors - "French Disko"
Ladyhawk - "Night You're Beautiful"
Rademacher - "If U Got Some Magic"
Moby - "I Love to Move in"
Cut Copy - "Out There on the Ice"
The B-52's - "Funplex"
Edwin Starr - "War"
MC5 - "Motor City Burning"
The Stooges - "T.V. Eye"
Claude Young - "Detroit by Night"
DJ Axel - "Without Billie Jean" (Michael Jackson vs Eminem)
The White Stripes - "Hotel Yoruba"
Yelle - "Ce Jeu"
Neon Neon - "I Told Her on Alderaan"
Hot Chip - "Ready for the Floor"
MGMT - "Time to Pretend"
Fuck Buttons - "Bright Tomorrow"
El Olio Wolof - "Apathetic Apple"

apr. 17, 2008

The Cloud Room - "Hey Now Now"
Gorillaz - "Hongkongaton"
Th Gossip - "Are You That Somebody?" [Live]
R.E.M. - "Horse to Water"
Pixies - "Head On"
The Black Keys - "Strange Times"
Andrew W.K. - "Party Party Party"
Flight of the Conchords - "Inner City Pressure"
Hercules and Love Affair - "Hercules Theme"
Cut Copy - "Feel the Love"
The Rolling Stones - "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (Soulwax Remix)
Sunny Day Set Fire - "Stranger" (CSS "Wilderness" Mix)
Robert Plant & Allison Krauss - "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)"
Kelley Stoltz - "Everything Begins"
Sleater-Kinney - "Oh!"
Trollyvox - "Our Love Was"
El Olio Wolof - "The Tedious Task: A Fire Breathing Dragon"
The Ruby Suns - "Kenya Dig It?"
Rings - "Mom Dance"
The Kingston Trio - "Greenback Dollar"
Peter Bjorn and John - "Me and Julio Down by the School Yard" [Live]
She & Him - "Take It Back"
Belle and Sebastian - "The Blues Are Still Blue"
Nouvelle Vague - "Ever Fallen in Love"
ESG - "Six Pack" (Original Version)
The Orb - "S.A.L.T."
Stereolab - "Motoroller Scalatron"
Saint Etienne - "Avenue" (Gordon King Mix)
Bon Iver - "The Wolves (Act I and II)"
The Avett Brothers - "Paranoia in B-Flat Major"
Neko Case - "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood"
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - "Geography"
Aretha Franklin - "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)"
Jamie LIdell - "Figured Me Out"
The Kills - "Goodnight Bad Morning"
Colin Meloy - "On the Bus Mall" [Live]
Elliott Smith - "Thirteen"
Malcolm McLaren - "Love Will..."
DeVotchKa - "Transliterator"

playlist, apr. 14, 2008

Apr. 14, 2008

Colin Meloy - "Barbara Allen"
The Black Keys - "So He Won't Break"
Cadence Weapon - "In Search of the Youth Crew"
Thom Yorke - "Skip Divided" (Modeselektor Remix)
White Hinterland - "I Miss You"
DeVotchKa - "The Clockwise Witness"
New Buffalo - "Stay with Us"
Bats for Lashes - "What's a Girl to Do?"
She & Him - "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?"
The Mountain Goats - "Sax Rohmer, Pt. 1"
Why? - "Song of the Sad Assassin"
Lyrics Born - "Differences"
Blackalicious - "My Pen and Pad"
Macromantics - "Scorch"
The Argyle Pimps - "Handsome"
The Streets - "Two Nations"
Kimya Dawson - "Anyone Else But You"
Spoon - "Don't You Evah"
R.E.M. - "Horse to Water"
Black Mountain - "Queens Will Play"
The Raveonettes - "Dead Sound"
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "Today's Lesson"
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Cold Son"
Crystals Castles - "Courtship Dating"
Foals Antidotes - "Cassius"
The Kills - "Cheap and Cheerful"
Kelley Stoltz - "Your Reverie"
Tubeway Army - "Me! I Disconnect from You"
Clinic - "Memories"
Xiu Xiu - "You Are Pregnant You, You Are Dead!"
The Fiery Furnaces - "The Philadelphia Grand Jury"
Shout Out Louds - "Impossible"
Vampire Weekend - "M79"
Billy Bragg - "O Freedom"
The Raconteurs - "Five on the Five"
The Ruby Suns - "Tane Mahuta"
3 Na Massa [feat. Thalma De Freitas] - "Enladeirada"
Maps - "So Low, So High"
Justice - "Stress"
Matthew Dear - "Neighborhoods"
The Knife - "Na Na Na"

playlist, mar. 31, 2008

Joe Henry - "Civilians"
Yeasayer - "Sunrise"
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - "Am I Demon?"
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - "Beat (Health, Life and Fire)"
Son Volt - "The Picture"
White Hinterland - "Dreaming of the Plum Trees"
Magnetic Fields - "Drive on, Driver"
Stars - "The Ghost of Genova Heights"
Goldfrapp - "A & E"
The Kinks - "Picture Book"
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!"
Fosforo - "Esto Es Califas"
Supreme Beings of Leisure - "The Light"
Mia Doi Todd - "In the End"
The Black Keys - "Strange Times"
Joy Denalane - "Soweto '76-'06"
Cadence Weapon - "Real Estate"
Dj Bitman - "Blackbossa"
Santogold - "L.E.S. Artistes"
Invisible Conga People - "Cable Again"
Los Campesinos -
Super Furry Animals - "Suckers!"
British Sea Power - "Down on the Ground"
Kate Nash - "Mouthwash"
Poplord - "Your Favorite Weapon"
A Frames - "Black Forest I"
Black Mountain - "Wucan"
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Cold Son"
Beach House - "Wedding Bell"
The Raconteurs - "Salute Your Solution"
The Kills - "M.E.X.I.C.O."
The Rolling Stones - "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (Re-mixed and Re-edited by Soulwax)
Xiu Xiu - "I Do What I Want, When I Want"
Animal Collective - "Derek"
Foal Antidotes - "Olympic Airways"

mar. 24, 2008

No Kids - "For Halloween"
R.E.M. - "Perfect Circle"
Destroyer - "Dark Leaves Form a Thread"
The Fiery Furnaces - "Ex-Guru"
The Rolling Stones - "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (Re-mixed and Re-Edited by Soulwax)
Hot Chip - "Shake a Fist"
Eric B. & Rakim - Paid in Full (Derek B's Urban Respray)
Basia Bulat - "Before I Knew"
Sonic Youth - "Incinerate"
Dungen - "Familij"
Mott the Hoople - "All the Young Dudes"
Bon Iver - "Creature Fear"
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Hopscotch Willie"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Rockers to Swallow"
My Morning Jacket - "Anytime" [Live]
No Age - "Every Artist Needs a Tragedy"
DJ Shadow - "The Number Song" [Live]
P.O.S. - "Bush League Psyche-Out Stuff"
Vampire Weekend - "M79"
Billy Bragg - "You Make Me Brave"
Cat Power - "Lost Someone"
Xiu Xiu [feat. Michael Gira] - "Under Pressure"
Why? - "The Vowels Pt. 2"
Kevin Drew - "Broke Me Up"
Big Star - "The India Song"
CSS - "Knife"
MGMT - "Time to Pretend"
The Kills - "U.R.A. Fever"
Neon Neon - "Raquel"
Quando Quango - "Love Tempo" (Remix)
LCD Soundsystem - "Big Ideas"
New Buffalo - "Cheer Me Up, Thank You"
Of Montreal - "Jimmy"
Gomez - "How We Operate"
Gorillaz- "We Are Happy Landfill"
The Raveonettes - "Blush"
Murder by Death - "Fuego!"

playlist, mar. 17, 2008

Vampire Weekend - "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"
No Kids - "The Beaches All Closed"
Manu Chao - "Rainin in Paradize"
Neon Neon - "Trick for Treat"
Cadence Weapon - "Unsuccessful Club Nights"
Science for Girls - "You'll Never Know"
Thao - Swimming Pools"
The Good, The Bad & The Queen - "Herculean"
Gretchen Phillips - "Hello, Darling"
New Buffalo - "It's True"
The Mountain Goats - "Sax Rohmer #1"
DeVotchka - "The Clockwise Witness"
Basia Bulat - "The Pilgriming Vine"
Bon Iver - "Creature Fear"
Lou Reed - "Perfect Day"
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Elmo Delmo"
Eagle and Talon - "Dropped Down"
The Skatalites - "Freedom Sounds"
The Clash - "Janie Jones"
40 Watt Hype - "Strong Feet on the Concrete"
Dengue Fever - "Oceans of Venus"
40 Watt Hype - "Animated World"
The Aquabats - "Ska Boss (Ska Ba)"
Headlights - "Cherry Tulips"
Destroyer - "Foam Hands"
The Raveonettes - "Dead Hands"
The Grand Archives - "Miniature Birds"
DJ Axel - "Push It Fergasonic" (Salt 'N Pepa vs Fergie vs JJ Fad)
Rob Sonic - "Dyslexia"
Aesop Rock - "39 Thieves"
Amon Tobin [feat. MC Decimal] - "Verbal"
Why? - The Hollows"
Radiohead - "Bodysnatchers"
Burial - "Untitled / Archangel"
Del the Funky Homosapien - "Situations"
Hot Chip - "Shake a Fist"
Material - "Don't Lose Control"
Calvin Harris - "Certified"
Simian Mobile Disco - "I Got This Down"
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes" (DFA Remix)

check this out

Invisible Conga People - "Cable Dazed"

playlist, mar. 10, 2008

Del the Funky Homosapien - "Bubble Pop"
Billie Holiday - "Spreadin' Rhythm Around" (Lady Bug vs. Lady Day RR Remix)
Why? - "These Few Presidents"
Sleater-Kinney - "You're No Rock n' Roll Fun"
Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk"
Of Montreal - "Heimsdalgate Like a Promethean Curse"
Yeasayer - "Sunrise"
Jarvis Cocker - "Black Magic"
Mia Doi Todd - "Sleepless Nights"
DJ Axel - "Stand Up Fever" (Peggy Lee vs. Ludacris)
Nina Simone - "Sinner Man"
The Submarines - "Brighter Discontent" (Console of the Notwist Remix)
Mark Ronson [feat. Amy Winehouse] - "Valerie"
Subtle - "The Mercury Craze"
P.O.S. - "Living Slightly Larger"
St. VIncent - "Now Now"
The Go-Go's - "This Town"
Modeselektor - "Let Your Love Grow"
Burial - "Archangel"
Mylo - "Sunworshipper"
Björk - "Isobel"
Dump - "1999"
The Bee Gees - "Holiday"
Thom Yorke - "The Clock" (Surgeon Remix)
Matthew Dear - "Deserter"
Hot Chip - "The Warning"
diskJokke - "Some Signs Are Good"
David Bowie - "The Jean Genie"
Snowden - "Anti-Anti"
Tubeway Army - "Positive Thinking" [Live]
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes" (Scottie B. Remix)
Daft Punk - "Around the World / Harder Better Faster Stronger" [Live]
Super Lucky Catz - "Semi-Unconditional"
Bon Iver - "Skinny Love"
Beirut - "Nantes"
Destroyer - "Blue Flower / Blue Flame"

until i can muster up a real post...

check out this blog:

stuffwhitepeoplelike

playlist, mar. 3, 2008

New Buffalo - "Cheer Me Up Thank You"
Dusty Springfield - "Just a Little Lovin'"
Kien Lim - "If Only"
Kien Lim - "Moonshine Girl" [Live in the KFSR studio]
Kien Lim - "No Question of a Sin" [Live in the KFSR studio]
Kien Lim - "Savior of the Skies" [Live in the KFSR studio]
The Avett Brothers - "Paranoia in B-Flat Minor"
Xiu Xiu - "I Do What I Want, When I Want"
Beirut - "In the Mausoleum"
Modeselektor [feat. Thom Yorke] - "The White Flash"
Dolly Parton - "Drives Me Crazy"
DeVotchKa - "Along the Way"
Vampire Weekend - "M79"
Why? - "A Sky for Shoeing"
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes" (Scottie B. Remix)
Hot Chip - "Ready for the Floor"
Bon Iver - "Skinny Love"
Cat Power - "New York / Ramblin' Woman"
Beach House - "Wedding Bell"
The Roots - "Don't Say Nuthin'" (Remix)
Aesop Rock - "Getaway Car"
Akron/Family - "Ed Is a Portal"
The YMD - "New Direction"
Belle & Sebastian - "String Bean Jean"
Elf Power - "Paralyzed"
Earl J. Rivard - "Mercedes"
Blake Jones & the Trike Shop - "Snapshots"
Karen Marguth - "Marie Laveaux"
Annette Ash - "Brown Eyes and Blue Hair"
Diskjokke - "Som Signs Are Good"
Snowden - "Anti-Anti"
Glass Candy - "Rolling Down Hills"
LCD Soundsystem - "North American Scum"
DJ Bitman - "Blackbossa"

playlist, feb. 25, 2008

Mia Doi Todd - "Sleepless Nights"
Bon Iver - "Skinny Love"
The Helio Sequence - "Shed Your Love"
Thao - "Beat (Health, Lie, and Fire)"
The National - "Mistaken for Strangers"
Cat Power - "Song to Bobby"
Grizzly Bear - "Shift" (Alternate Version)
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes" (DFA Remix)
Hot Chip - "Ready for the Floor"
Shriekback - "My Spine Is the Baseline" (1982 1212" Edit)
Cadence Weapon - "In Search of the Youth Crew"
Blake Jones & the Trike Shop - "Parade"
Kien Lim - "Theresa Baby"
Basia Bulat - "In the Night"
The Replacements - "Little Mascara"
The Raveonettes - "Aly, Walk with Me"
The Magnetic Fields - "Please Stop Dancing"
New Buffalo - "Cheer Me Up and Thank You"
Kelley Stoltz - "Everything Begins"
Vampire Weekend - "M79"
Jens Lekman - "Arms Around Me"
Ssion - "Clown"
Mahjongg - "Problems"
The YMD - "Drown Yr Hamster in Nail Polish Removal"
Mike Ladd - "Learn to Fall"
Karen Marguth - "I Can't Give You Anything But Love"
Abigail Nolte - "Take Me Home"
Andrew Bird - "Heretics"
Kate Nash - "Mouthwash"
Siouxsie & The Banshees - "Kiss Them for Me"
pc muñoz & the amen corner - "Skin City"
Kien Lim - "If Only"
Liam Finn - "Second Chance"
British Sea Power - "All in It"
Super Furry Animals - "Run-Away"
Modeselektor [feat. Thom Yorke] - "The White Flash"
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Dragonfly Pie"
Beach House - "Gila"

playlist, feb. 18, 2007

The Velvet Underground - "I'm Sticking With You"
Spoon - "The Ghost of You Lingers"
Black Mountain - "Queens Will Play"
Was (Not Was) - "Wheel Me Out"
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes" (DFA Remix)
diskJokke - "Some Signs Are Good"
Blondie - "Heart of Glass"
Kien Lim - "Only If"
The Avett Brothers - "Paranoia in B-Flat Major"
Jnny Lewis with the Watson Twins - "Run Devil Run / The Big Guns"
Cat Power - "Lost Someone"
Kelley Stoltz - "Your Reverie"
Modeselektor - "Let Your Love Grow"
Beirut - "Nantes"
Jens Lekman - "Your Arms Around Me"
Belle & Sebastian - "Sleep the Clock Around"
The Smiths - "The Headmaster Ritual"
British Sea Power - "Down on the Ground"
Blake Jones & the Trike Shop - "Virginia Woolf"
David Byrne - "Ex-Guru"
Snowden - "Like Bullets"
Sunny Day Set Fire - "Stranger" (CSS "Wilderness" Remix)
Yellow Magic Orchestra - "Seoul Music"
Neneh Cherry - "I've Got U Under My Skin"
William Shatner - "Common People"
Vampire Weekend - "M79"
Born Ruffians - "Red Yellow & Blue"
Xiu Xiu [feat. Michael Gira] - "Under Pressure"
Helio Sequence - "Keep Your Eyes Ahead"
P.O.S. [feat. Craig Finn] - "Safety in Speed (Heavy Metal)"
Common - "Be"
Odd Nosdam - "The Kill Tone Two"
DJ Bitman [feat. Juan Sativo] - "La Raza"
The Raveonettes - "Lust"
Beach House - "Wedding Bell"

playlist, feb. 11, 2007

Nancy Sinatra - "Day Tripper"
Chris Joss - "Magic Tubes"
Luxury - "Green Hearts"
Rancid - "Time Bomb"
Bonde do Rolê - "Geremia"
CSS - "Knife"
Justice - "Stress"
The Hold Steady - "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?"
Les Savy Fav - "Pots&Pans"
Sleater-Kinney - "Wilderness"
Xiu Xiu - "I Do What I Want, When I Want"
Magnetic Fields - "Three-Way"
Abigail Nolte - "Leftover Light"
Jason Collett - "Out of Time"
Cat Power - "New York" / "Ramblin' (Wo)man"
The Avett Brothers - "Paranoia in B-Flat Major"
Amy Winehouse - "Wake Up Alone"
James Brown - "I Lost Someone"
Big Star - "Feel"
Black Mountain - "Wucan"
Sonic Youth - "Superstar"
Supersuckers - "Sail On" [Live]
The Whigs - "Right Hand on My Heart"
Joanna Newsom - "Emily"
Panda Bear - "Bros."
Band of Horses - "Cigarettes, Wedding Bands"
Architecture in Helsinki - "Underwater"
The Dalloways - "Tiffy"
Beirut - "In the Mausoleum"
Feist - "Mushaboom" (Postal Service Remix)
Teddybears [feat. Neneh Cherry] - "Yours to Keep"
!!! - "Heart of Hearts"
Hot Chip - "Ready for the Floor"
Aesop Rock - "Bring Back Pluto"
Atmosphere - "YGM"
Cibo Matto - "Spoon"
Gary Numan - "Cars" (Flood Mix)
The Knife - "Neverland"
Battles - "Ddiamondd"
Daft Punk - "Da Funk / Daftendirekt" [Live]
White Williams - "New Violence"
Calvin Harris - "Colours"
Digitalism - "Home Zone"
Glass Candy - "Candy Castles"
The Raveonettes - "Aly, Walk with Me"
British Sea Power - "Waving Flags"
Kelley Stoltz - "Put My Troubles to Sleep"

playlist, jan. 28, 2007

Kelley Stoltz - "Put My Troubles to Sleep"
Supersuckers - "Sail On" [Live]
Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk"
Dengue Fever - "Seeing Hands"
Xiu Xiu [feat. Michael Gira] - "Under Pressure"
The Beatles - "Tomorrow Never Knows"
Animal Collective - "Derek"
The Magnetic Fields - "Three-Way"
Black Mountain - "Angels"
Aesop Rock - "Bring Back Pluto"
Radiohead - "Bodysnatchers"
White Williams - "Headlines"
The B-52's - "Dance This Mess Around"
British Sea Power - "Down on the Ground"
Belle & Sebastian - "Expectations"
Bob Dylan - "I Want You"
The Fiery Furnaces - "Ex-Guru"
Public Enemy - "Shut Em Down" (100dBs Mix)
Busdriver - "Kill Your Employer (Recreational Paranoia Is the Sport of Now)"
Basement Jaxx - "Where's Your Head At?"
Mika - "Grace Kelly"
Nina Simone - "Sinnerman"
Sleater-Kinney - "Words and Guitar"
The Whigs - "Like a Vibration"
Pinback - "Barnes"
The Boggs - "Melanie in the White Coat"
Bee Gees - "New York Mining Disaster 1941"
Cat Power - "I Believe in You"
Bright Eyes - "Four Winds"
Mark Ronson [feat. Lily Allen] - "Oh My God"
Hot Chip - "Shake a Fist"
Mike Ladd - "Learn to Fall"
The Smiths - "How Soon Is Now?"
Supersuckers - "Hey Ya!"
Interpol - "Not Even Jail"
Delta 5 - "Mind Your Own Business"
Daft Punk - "Around the World / Harder Better Faster Stronger"
Say Hi - "Northwestern Girls"

playlist, jan. 21, 2007

Wilco - "Sky Blue Sky"
King of Prussia - "Spain in the Summertime"
Jens Lekman - "A Postcard for Nina"
The Decemberists - "Yankee Baronet (I Will Be Home Then)"
The Beach Boys - "Hang on to Your Ego"
Iron & Wine - "Lovesong of the Buzzard"
Joan as Police Woman - "Eternal Flame"
Nino Moschella - "Better Off"
Gorillaz - "Hongkongaton"
Fiery Furnaces - "The Philadelphia Grand Jury"
Yeasayer - "2080"
Mike Ladd - "Housewives at Play"
Apparat - "Hailin from the Edge"
Una - "Fading in C# Minor"
40 Watt Hype - "On and On"
U2 - "Pride"
Mavis Staples - "Eyes on the Prize"
Common [feat.The Last Poets] - "The Corner"
Michael Franti - "Love'll Set Me Free" (Acoustic Version)
John Lennon - "Give Peace a Chance"
Bob Marley & the Wailers - "One Love" (Cordovan Remix)
The Moldy Peaches - "Anyone Else But You"
Dengue Fever - "Tiger Phone Card"
Burial - "Archangel"
Saint Etienne - "Avenue" (Gordon King Remix)
Glass Candy - "Rolling Down Hills"
Vivian Goldman - "Launderette"
The Cure - "The Walk"
White Blue Yellow & Clouds - "Seeing Stars"
The Crystals - "Uptown"
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - "Let Them Knock"
Tone-Loc - "Wild Thing" (Peaches RMX)
Radioactive Cauliflower - "Monster Pedals"
Black Mountain - "Stormy High"
Les Savy Fav - "Pots&Pans"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Isis"
Pinback - "Off by 50"
Jesus and the Mary Chain - "April Skies"
Tender Forever - "How Many"

googling sex

So I'm teaching a graduate level seminar on Queer Theory (for the first time), and I'm beginning the course with Freud's Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. Last night as I was reading through the first essay, on the "aberrations," I ran across a reference to the tertiary sexual characteristics. I'm familiar enough with the distinction between the primary (those features related to the genitals and to reproduction) and secondary sexual characteristics (those that are not directly related to reproduction--such as bodily hair and pitch of the voice), but I hadn't recalled reading about tertiary sexual characteristics.

So I did what I often tell my students not to do, and I googled the phrase. The second hit was a reference to a work by Albert Moll from 1909, called The Sexual Life of the Child. (Freud references this work in the Three Essays.)

When I clicked on the link, I was taken to an facsimile image of a page from a 1912 English translation of Moll's book, and the relevant passage appeared before my eyes. (Click here to see what I mean.) Is that neat or what?

Apparently I'm a little late in discovering the magic that is Google Books, but I'm pretty stoked to some more exploring. I guess I'll need to rethink my mandate to my students that they not google topics that they are researching.

playlist, jan. 14, 2007

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - "Tell Me"
Thom Yorke - "The Eraser"
Charlie Louvin [feat. Jeff Tweedy] - "That Great Atomic Power"
Joan Baez - "Silver Dagger"
Saint Etienne - "Like a Motorway"
Dengue Fever - "Seeing Hands"
Mexican Institute of Sound - "Hip Hop No Pares"
The Flaming Lips - "Free Radicals"
Gang of Four - "Damaged Goods"
The Go! Team - "The Power Is On"
Kid Creole and the Coconuts - "Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy"
CSS - "Let's Make Love to Death from Above"
The Avett Brothers - "Shame"
Nick Lowe - "Hope For Us All"
Mark Ronson [feat. Lily Allen] - "Oh My God"
Pulp - "Common People"
Rademacher - "If U Got Some Magic"
The Bad Plus - "Tom Sawyer"
Radiohead - "Bodysnatchers"
Karen O & the Million Dollar Bashers - "Highway 61 Revisited"
Blake Jones & the Trike Shop - "Snapshot"
Feist - "Sealion"
Beirut - "In the Mausoleum"
Bebel Gilberto - "Caçada"
Vampire Weekend - "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"
DJ Bitman [feat. Jimmy Fernandez] - "El Diablo"
Aesop Rock - "None Shall Pass"
Morcheeba - "Wonders Never Cease"
Glass Candy - "Rolling Down the Hills" (Spring Demo)
Matthew Dear - "Deserter"
Junior Bloomsday - "Nervous Habitats"
Yeasayer - "Sunrise"
Sonic Youth - "Reena"
Sparklejet - "The Heart Will Lift You"
Band of Horses - "No One's Gonna Love You"
Blonde Redhead - "Top Ranking"
LCD Soundsystem - "New York I Love You But..."
Burial - "Endorphin"
Daft Punk - "Da Funk / Daftendirekt"

oh wait, one more

The videocast for Radiohead's "Jigsaw Falling into Place":

best music video of 2007?

I think it's got to be this one for Animal Collective's "Peacebone":



Next best? My vote goes to the vid for Battles' "Atlas":

playlist, jan. 7, 2008

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - "How Long Do I Have to Wait for You?" (Ticklah Remix)
Vampire Weekend - "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"
Yeasayer - "2080"
King Tubby & Friends - "Satta Dread Dub"
The Libertines - "Can't Stand Me Now"
The Dalloways - "Cotty's House"
Anna Ternheim - "China Girl"
Sara Valenzuela - "Ya No"
Rilo Kiley - "Give a Little Love"
Bas for Lashes - "What's a Girl to Do?"
Modeselektor - "2000007"
Material, Nona Hendryx - "Bustin' Out"
Chromatics - "Hands in the Dark"
Hot Chip - "Over and Over" [iTunes Session]
Man Man - [Live at The Cellar Door]
El Olio Wolof - "Earthworms Can't Dig This"
TV on the Radio - "Province"
Akron/Family - "Ed Is a Portal"
The Avett Brothers - "Paranoia in B-Flat Major"
Burial - "Ghost Hardware"
Neon Neon - "Raquel" (Radio)
CSS - "Knife"
Radmacher - "What Yr Used to Back at Home"
The Shins - "Sealegs"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Rockers to Swallow"
The Long Blondes - "Giddy Stratospheres"
The Hold Steady - "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?"
The National - "Squalor Victoria"
Aesop Rock - "None Shall Pass"
El-P - "Smithereens"
Busdriver - "Kill Your Employer (Recreational Paranoia Is the Sport of Today)"
DJ Bitman - "Shine"
Radiohead - "Nude"
Arcade Fire - "Keep the Car Running"

playlist, dec. 17, 2007

Una - "Casa del Fuego"
Sally Shapiro - "Christmas Anorak"
The Spinners - "The Rubberband Man"
Spoon - "Don't You Evah"
Cookie Jar - "The Island"
Petra Haden - "God Only Knows"
Yo La Tengo - "Fourth Time Around"
The Walkmen - "The Christmas Song"
Common [feat. Lily Allen] - Drivin' Me Wild"
Gorillaz - "Dare" (Soulwax Remix)
CSS - "The Knife"
The Submarines - "Brighter Discontent" (Styrofoam Remix)
Supersuckers - "Hey Ya!"
Andrew W.K. - "Don't Call Me Andy"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Rockers to Swallow"
The Pretenders - "Tattooed Love Boys"
Sleater-Kinney - "Rollercoaster"
Sparklejet - "Emilio"
Darlene Love - "Winter Wonderland"
LCD Soundsystem - "North American Scum"
Junior Bloomsday - "Swans to Greet You"
Beirut - "Forks and Knives (La Fête)"
The Smiths - "The Headmaster Ritual"
The Mary Onettes - "Void"
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - "100 Days, 100 Nights"
The Staple Singers - "Uncloudy Day"
Julia Dawn - "Beautiful"
The Gossip - "Are U That Somebody"
DJ Bitman [feat. Julian Peña & Tea Time] - "Tropilove"
El-P - "EMG"
James Brown - "Go Power at Christmas Time"
Nicole Atkins - "Maybe Tonight"
Wilco - "Walken"
Okkervil River - "No Easy Way Down" [Live]
Andrea Echeverri - "Baby Blues"
The Avett Brothers - "Paranoia in B-Flat Major"
Patti Page - "Frosty the Snowman" (Rondo Brothers Remix)
Daft Punk - "Around the World / Harder Better Stronger Faster"
Chromeo - "Fancy Footwork"
Calvin Harris - "Acceptable in the 80s"

playlist, dec. 10, 2007

Band of Horses - "Detlef Schrempf"
Gorillaz - "Feel Good Inc." (Stanton Warriors Remix)
Hot Chip - "And I Was a Boy from School"
Sally Shapiro - "Anorak Christmas"
Low - "Just Like Christmas"
The Sleepover Disaster - "Over the Top"
Dave Gahan - "Saw Something"
Burial - "Archangel"
Radiohead - "Nude"
Darlene Love - "Marshmallow World"
Mark Ronson [feat. Amy Winehouse] - "Valerie"
Junior Bloomsday - "Nervous Habits"
Rademacher - "If U Got Some Magic"
Jens Lekman - "I Remember Every Kiss"
Feist - "The Park"
Antony & the Johnsons - "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
Matt Morgan / Sufjan Stevens - "We're Goin' to the Country!"
Beirut - "Cliquot"
Moby - "Everytime You Touch Me"
Daft Punk - "Da Funk / Daftendirekt" [Live]
DJ Bitman [feat. Juan Sativo] - "La Raza"
Common - "The People"
The Go! Team - "Doing It Right"
Blake Jones & the Trike Shop - "On Christmas Tree Lane"
Wilco - "Sky Blue Sky"
Devendra Banhart - "Seaside"
Okkervil River - "April Anne"
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - "Humble Me"
Akron / Family - "Ed Is a Portal"
Soulsavers - "Revival"
Animal Collective - "Fireworks"
Snowden - "White Christmas"
Division Day - "Tigers"
Les Savy Fav - "The Year Before the Year 2000"
Sigur Rós - "Í Gaer"

playlist, dec. 3, 2007

Band of Horses - "Is There a Ghost"
Charlotte Gainsbourg & Calexico - "Just Like a Woman"
Okkervil River - "Plus Ones"
Liz Phair - "Winter Wonderland"
Big Star - "The India Song"
Beirut - "In the Mausoleum"
Ls Savy Fav - "The Equestrian"
Adam & the Ants - "Kings of the Wild Frontier"
Rilo Kiley - "Breakin' Up"
Rademacher - "Machines"
The Fiery Furnaces - "Japanese Slippers"
José González - "Down the Line"
Radiohead - "Jigsaw Falling into Place"
Anna Ternheim - "Lovers Dream" (Naked Version)
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "I've Seen It All"
Snowden - "Christmas Time Is Here"
Akron / Family - "Ed Is a Portal"
Céu - "Malemolência"
Joan As Police Woman - "Real Life"
Amy Winehouse - "Love Is a Losing Game"
Saturday Looks Good to Me - "Apple"
Darlene Love - "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"
Daft Punk - "Around the World / Harder Better Stronger Faster" [Live]
Chromeo - "Tenderoni"
Feist - "My Moon, My Man" (Boys Noize Remix)
New Order - "Regret"
C.S.S. - "Knife"
Poplord - "Quigley Park"
Billy Bragg - "All Fall Down"
The Mary Onettes - "Lost"
Manu Chao - "Rainin' in Paradise"
Dennis Brown - "Oh Mother"
M.I.A. [feat. Afrikan Boy] - "Hussel"
James Brown - "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto"
Dave Gahan - "Kingdom"
White Williams - "New Violence"
Junk Science - "Slojo / Pop Rocks" (Extended Disco Edit)
Prefuse 73 [feat. School of the Seven Bells] - "The Class of 73 Bells"
Federico Aubele - "En El Desierto"
The Kid Named Miles - "Ring of Fire"

'cause i got it going on

I've been home with a cold I picked up from my nieces and nephews over Thanksgiving, and, now that my computer has come back from the Apple store with a brand-spanking-new hard drive (and, yes, I did have a pretty current backup, so I'm pretty stoked), I can catch up on blogging, email, and surfing the web.

Over at 17 dots, Bryan Robbins made a passing reference to some Aphex Twin/Hip-Hop mash-ups by someone calling himself 100dBs. There are some good ones, and all merit a listen. I was also happy to be reminded how good Aphex Twin is. You can download the bunch for free here. My favorite tracks are "Planet .215061," "Breathe, and Stop Using Home Made Polysinths," and Drop Alberto Like It's Hot."

playlist, nov. 19, 2007

White Williams - "Headlines"
New Order - "Regret"
Sondre Lerche - "Let My Love Open the Door"
St. Vincent - "Marry Me"
Brady Earnhart - "Stephen Crane"
Iron & Wine - "White Tooth Man"
Yo La Tengo - "I Feel Like Going Home"
PJ Harvey - "The Devil"
Thom Yorke - "The Eraser"
White Rabbits - "Kid On My Shoulders"
Rademacher - "If U Got Some Magic"
Rilo Kiley - "Dreamworld"
The B-52's - "Downtown"
pc muñoz and the amen corner - "Skin City"
Junk Science [feat. Cool Calm Pete] - "Words from the Pedro"
Balkan Beat Box - "BBBeat"
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes"
TV on the Radio - "Dry Drunk Emperor" [Live]
Andrew Bird - "Darkmatter"
Beirut - "In the Mausoleum"
The Fiery Furnaces - "Navy Nurses"
Animal Collective - "Fireworks #1"
Battles - "Leyendecker"
Radiohead - "Jigsaw Falling into Place"
Stephen Malkmus & the Million Dollar Bashers - "Maggie's Farm"
Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - "Follow the Lights"
Hem - "Not California"
Neil Young - "Only Love Can Break Your Heart"
Mark Ronson [feat. Paul Smith] - "Apply Some Pressure"
Easy Star All-Stars [feat. Toots & the Maytals] - "Let Down"
Bonde do Rolê - "Office Boy" (Architecture in Helsinki Remix)
CSS - "The Knife"
LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends"
Calvin Harris - "Merrymaking at My Place"
The Same Shape - "Laid Down"

are we not dell?

Devo is back with a great new song called "Watch Us Work It." Dell is featuring the song in a television ad, but the music video by Jonas Åkerlund (from which the ad is excerpted) is much better. Watch out; both the song and the video are addictive.

now the neighbors can dance!

Lately, Pitchfork has been spotlighting some fan-generated music videos, and today they've posted a video for the Arcade Fire's "Neighborhood #2 (Laika)" from the band's much ballyhooed 2004 debut, Funeral. You can read what Pitchfork's Mark Hogan has to say about it here.

The video was made as part of a film school project, and it features some charming kids preparing for their school talent show. My favorite scene is when the kids literally start bouncing off the walls in a stark white space (a racquetball court?) that somehow evokes the spooky hallway scenes from Kubrick's The Shining, but replacing fear with fun.



Here's the official (and much creepier, though still beautiful) video for the song:

you kill the joe, you make some mo'

OK, maybe everyone else on the planet knows about these Terry Tate Office Linebacker vids, but I just learned about them thanks to my very cool brother.

Enjoy:

playlist, nov. 12, 2007

Bettye LaVette - "Somebody Pick Up My Pieces"
Bebel Gilberto - "Caçada"
Neko Case - "Buckets of Rain" [Live]
CSS - "Knife"
Dump - "Pop Life"
The Shins - "Sealegs"
Poplord - "Poptimistic Pete"
Spoon - "Don't You Evah"
Rademacher - "If U Got Some Magic"
Radiohead - "15 Step"
Beirut - "Cliquot"
Antony & the Johnsons - "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
The Clientele - "Here Comes the Phantom"
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - "100 Days, 100 Nights"
Massive Attack - "Be Thankful for What You've Got"
Cornershop - "Sleep on the Left Side"
The Shout Out Louds - "You Are Dreaming"
Tegan and Sara - "Relief Next to Me"
Karen Marguth - "Marie Laveaux"
Julia Dawn - "Falling"
Sally Shapiro - "Anorak Christmas"
Jens Lekman - "Maple Leaves" [7" Version]
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "Is This Love?"
Big Country - "Harvest Home"
White Rabbits - "The Plot"
Dirty Projectors - "No More"
Of Montreal - "Voltaic Crusher / Undrun to Muted Da"
Iron & Wine - "White Tooth Man"
Mavis Staples - "99 1/2"
Bob Marley and the Wailers - "Soul Shake Down Party" (Afrodisiac Sound System Remix)
Ticklah [feat. Tamar-kali] - "Want Not"

montpellier (france, cont.)

On the morning of July 8, I made my way to the Gare de Lyon via the metro (love the Paris metro) and boarded a speed train bound for Montpellier in the south of France. I sat with a very friendly mother and daughter pair from British Columbia, and we had a nice chat about Paris and the places they were going to visit next. The train ride took only about 3 1/2 hours--not a lot of time considering I was traveling from one end of the country to the other. I became an instant fan of speed trains, and I'm really looking forward to the day when I can zip from Fresno to the Bay Area or to LA on the speed trains we so desperately need in California.

I arrived in Montpellier a little too early to check into my dorm room, so I found a good bakery and ate a sandwich in a park near the train station. I then boarded the TAM, Montpellier's light rail system--which is probably the best public transportation system I've ever used--and headed over to the university dorms. After a few misadventures (I was sent to the wrong floor, given the wrong key, etc.) I checked into my little room, and was thrilled to see that I had my own itty bitty bathroom, complete with toilet, sink, and shower. (I'd been told I'd be sharing a bathroom in the dorms.)

Montpellier is basically a big college town; it is home to the oldest medical school in Europe, and it is a lovely place to visit, despite the fact that other coastal towns tend to get all the love from travel books. In fact, the 17th-century philosopher John Locke once wrote, "I find it much better to go twise [sic] to Montpellier than once to the other world." This, however, doesn't prevent the Lonely Planet guide to France from snidely observing, "Paradise it ain't."

While it may not be paradise, Montpellier is a lovely place to visit. Its history as a hub of trade in the Mediterranean shapes its architecture, its cuisine, and its population. The pace of life is decidedly andante, although it is still a vital and bustling city with its fair share of tourists. I spent my first afternoon wandering about the place de la Comédie and the esplanade Charles de Gaulle, which are pleasant places to meander, enjoy the trees and fountains, and have a coffee. There are lovely examples of Beaux-Arts architecture here, and it's easy enough to dodge the tourists by wandering off into one of Montpellier's many side roads or alleys.

In fact, Montpellier is great for wandering, as the city center is a maze of small roads and alleys and home to a number of 17th-century mansions (hôtels particuliers) that have been converted into living spaces, shops, or museums. Swallows continually circle above the city, often darting downward and swooping through the alleyways. In the early evening, I headed over to Le Corum--the ultra-modern complex where the Enlightenment Congress was being held--registered for the conference, and went to the wine and cheese reception.

In my previous post, I indicated that the French were not at all rude to me, but I will have to say that French eighteenth-century scholars (dixhuitemists) are not the friendliest bunch. I couldn't at all join any of their conversations, and a few practically pushed me to the ground in their mad grab for wine and nibbles. I couldn't find any of my Irish/US/Canadian/English colleagues, so, having had enough of being ignored and jostled by French enlightenment scholars, I wandered off to enjoy a delicious meal of salad with goat cheese crostini, chicken breast in mustard sauce, and crème brullée.

The food in Montpellier was fantastic. The main reason I chose to stay in student housing was that I wanted to spend my money on food, and I'm glad I did, because I didn't at all hold back when forking out for meals. That evening I had my first good night's rest in France, and, after a modest breakfast of bread and coffee in the student cafeteria (a week's worth of these was included in the price of the dorm room), I got ready for a full-day's worth of sessions on such exciting topics as 18th-century law and theories of science in the enlightenment!

Um, not really. It was far too beautiful a day to be stuck in a stuffy room listening academic presentations, so instead I wandered the city again. I came across the Cathédrale St-Pierre, which sports some very large 15th-century columns that create a sort of odd front porch. Inside were some cool paintings, including "The Fall of Simon the Magician" by the 17th-century Montpellier artist Sebastian Bourdon. At lunch I watched a couple of drunks nearly get into a fight, and then went back to my dorm where I had a refreshing nap.

During an outdoor evening concert in the place Royal du Peyrou, I finally found my friends--Sally, Nancy, Katherine, and Caroline, all of whom are bonafide speakers of English, even if they all evince their own peculiar accents. From that point on, we basically became a rogue gang of eighteenth-centuryists, avoiding the conference as much as we could possibly get away with. By the way, the place Royal du Peyrou is another beautiful promenade where you'll find a hexagonal water tower (the Château d'Eau) and the nearby 18th-century Aqueduc de St-Clément. A statue of Louis XIV presides over the place. The Arc de Triomphe, just to the west of the promenade, serves as a gateway to the city center (see above). We got tired of waiting for the post-concert wine reception, so we all went off to dine at Roule Ma Poule, a student hangout with good salads (I had the Roquefort) and festive lights on its patio.

Next: how Sally, Nancy, Katherine, and Caroline avoided attending the conference by taking excursions to the beach and to a fantastical walled fortress!

france, finally

Many moons ago I determined to write some posts about my trip to France. I considered blogging while I was in France, but I didn't always have access to the Internet, and let's face it: I was too busy doing interesting stuff to be wasting my time sitting at a computer and writing about it all. That said, I really didn't mean to wait four months to give this account, but . . . merde happens.

My reason for going to France was to attend the Twelfth International Enlightenment Congress: Knowledge, Techniques, and Culture in the 18th Century. But before you go running off to YouTube to search for something more entertaining, take heart in knowing that I am not going to be saying very much at all about the conference or about the 18th century. (This is mainly because I didn't spend much time doing anything conference related. I was in France, for goodness's sake!) Thus, rest assured that these next few posts will be largely unenlightened. I mean, enlightenment-free.

(If any of these pictures look too small, just click on them, and they should appear as larger versions in your web browser.)

I won't say much about my experience getting there, except to say that it takes a really long time to get from Dallas to Paris. And that I've become a big fan of the international terminal at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, where you can sip margaritas at a variety of bars and restaurants as you while away your 3+ hour layover.

I arrived in Paris the morning of July 7, and I spent the first day checking into my cosy hotel (it really was called the Hotel Cosy) and wandering about in search of sustenance. You need to realize that I don't speak a lick of French (well, maybe just a lick, and, after having been there for a week and a half, I think I speak maybe two licks now), and so getting myself some lunch proved absolutely futile. I would walk into an establishment and say something like "bluh blah bluh bluh bluh," and, surprisingly enough, this would not cause a plate of those yummy French vittles to appear before my famished self. I also learned (mainly through a series of quizzical looks, grimaces, and pointing at signs) that the French don't do lunch after 2:00 p.m.

So, I did the next best thing, and wandered off to the Cimetière du Père Lachaise. This is a great big cemetery where the remains of such luminaries as Edith Piaf, Molière, Gertrude Stein, Isadora Duncan, Georges Bizet, and Richard Wright are interred. The place makes for a lovely walk, and the weather was beautiful, so I spent a few hours paying my respects to some of the most important folks of the last few hundred years, and was generally thrilled to be standing before the grave site of, say, Oscar Wilde.

When I found myself before the headstone of Jim Morrison--one of the most visited sites in the cemetery--I was surprised to find that I had Jim all to myself; no one else was around. Shortly after this, some cemetery police people pulled up next to me and began to say things in urgent and loud tones. I finally came to understand that the cemetery was closed, and I would have to leave immediately. Good thing they found me, because as charmed as I was by the place, I wasn't prepared to spend the night there. (Not without a Ouija board and some warmer clothing, anyway.) Besides, I was getting really hungry at this point. So after a crypt keeper let me out through the side gates, I wandered off in search of food again.

I finally steeled myself, and walked into the Crêperie Bretonne on the Rue de Charonne. If you're ever in Paris, and you're in the mood for a tasty crêpe, this is a good choice. I recommend the buckwheat galette with ham and cheese. And be sure to try the cidre de Rance, a lovely dry cider that they serve in traditional Breton stoneware.

I should mention here that all those stories I'd heard about the French being rude and snooty proved to be untrue. I never once had a bad experience with anyone in Paris or elsewhere in France. The trick is to make an effort with the language. Even when whatever I tried to say sounded like I was about to spit a mouthful of oatmeal onto the floor, the people seemed pleased that I was taking a stab at speaking in French. And for the most part, I kept trying. In any case, at this crêperie, a young man walked in and blurted out "Can I get a crêpe to go?" My server, who had just recently demonstrated that she spoke perfect English when helping me decipher the menu, merely gave this guy quizzical looks and shrugs as if she couldn't understand a word he was saying. And I can't say I blamed her. The kid came across as insolent. The least you can do is learn how to say "Me wantee!" in French. On the other hand, maybe I just got better service because I was so much more attractive than the other guy.

I then wandered back to the Hotel Cosy (and got really lost trying to find it again) and spent a generally sleepless, jet-lagged night before rising early to catch an early train for Montpellier, the site of the conference.

Stay tuned.

i want one!

I don't know why I find this so funny, but I crack up each time I watch it.

Thanks to Neil's friend over at Facebook for posting it on his wall.

playlist, nov. 5, 2007

Yo La Tengo - "Fourth Time Around"
White Rabbits - "The Plot"
Radiohead - "15 Step"
The National - "Ada"
Architecture in Helsinki - "Heart It Races"
Earlimart - "Fakey Fake"
Rockfour - "Goes Around"
Arcade Fire - "(Antichrist Television Blues)"
Beirut - "Forks and Knives (La Fête)"
The Avett Brothers - "Shame"
Iron & Wine - "Boy with a Coin"
Feist - "My Moon My Man"
The Velvet Underground - "Sweet Jane"
Nick Drake - "Hazey Jane II"
Belle & Sebastian - "Lazy Line Painter Jane"
Caribou - "She's the One"
José González - "Teardrop"
Blake Jones & the Trike Shop - "Our Pile of Bones"
Julia Dawn - "Beautiful Lie"
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - "Humble Me"
Karen O & the Million Dollar Bashers - "Highway 61 Revisited"
Band of Horses - "Is There a Ghost"
Sigur Rós - "Hljómalind"
Devendra Banhart - "So Long Old Bean"
Manu Chao - "Besoin de La Lune"
Bonde do Rolê - "Geronomia"
Calvin Harris - "Merrymaking at My Place"
Time Zone [feat. Afrika Bambaataa & Johnny Lydon] - "World Destruction" (Original 12" Version - Bill Laswell RMX)
Prefuse 73 [feat. School of Seven Bells]- "The Class of 73 Bells"
Mexican Institute of Sound - "El Micrófono"
Maritime - "Be Unhappy"
Babyshambles - "Carry on Up the Morning"
Earlimart - "Answers & Questions"

be brainy - it's free!

A live radio session by The National has appeared over at Sixeyes' blog, and while I'm not prepared to call Boxer the album of the year (so far I'm still partial to M.I.A.'s Kala), listening to the set reminds me how good Boxer is. Matt Beninger's not-quite-monotone voice is dark chocolately rich--more bitter than sweet--and the songs themselves are smart and brooding with surprisingly catchy melodies. The album, with great production by Padma Newsome, sounds much better than these in-studio takes, but it's a good place to start if you haven't yet heard Boxer. You also get the added bonus of an as-yet-unreleased song, "You've Done It Again, Virginia." Read what Joe has to say about the session and the song over at 17 dots.

Snag the free session here.

roasty toasty

Yesterday John and I went to a wine tasting and hors d'oeuvres party, and I made parmesan crisps and and spicy pumpkin seeds. These tasty nibbles are super easy to make! Here's how.

Parmesan Crisps

Preheat your oven to 400°
Grate a bunch of parmesan cheese. (Don't use the store-bought powder stuff. It won't melt, 'cause it ain't really cheese.)
Scoop heaping tablespoons-full onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving about 1/2" gap between each parmesan pile.
Let them cook for 3-5 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
After they've cooled, remove them with a spatula.

Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

Preheat your oven to 350°.
In a bowl, mix together 1 cup green, raw pumpkin seeds, 2 tsps. lime juice, 1/8 to a 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, 1 tsp. chili powder, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Spread these on a rimmed cookie sheet, and let them bake for about ten minutes, stirring them at least once. They should be crisp and puffy.

Both of these are great on their own, but they also make for nice additions to salads. The pumpkin seeds are good with thick, creamy soups and pasta dishes with rich, creamy sauce. The pumpkin seeds are a good source of zinc, while the parmesan crisps are a good source of fat!


Happy Birthday, APJ!

Tomorrow night I'll be playing a set of Jane (Jayne) songs for airplaynejayne's birthday, so tune in to 90.7 KFSR or head to kfsr.org to stream the show live (6-9 pm Pacific time).


Darth Earl Jones

Watch this:

playlist, oct. 29, 2007

Joan as Police Woman - "Eternal Flame"
Kevin Drew - "Gang Bang Suicide"
Massive Attack - "Man Next Door"
Radiohead - "Weird Fishes / Arpeggi"
Matthew Sweet - "Divine Intervention"
Joanna Newsom - "Coleen"
The Fiery Furnaces - "Japanese Slippers"
Love - "The Red Telephone"
Bebel Gilberto - "Caçada"
Beirut - "A Sunday Smile"
Galactic [feat. Ladybug Mecca and Nino Moschella] - "Squarebiz"
Prince - "It"
Sage Francis - "Got Up This Morning"
Mexican Institute of Sound - "Hip Hop No Pares"
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - "Humble Me"
Dionne Warwick - "Walk on By" [Live]
The Shout Out Louds - "Tonight I Have to Leave It"
Of Montreal - "She's a Rejecter"
Dwight Yoakum - "I Want You to Want Me"
Spoon - "The Underdog"
Sonic Youth - "Silver Rocket"
Sparklejet - "How Long"
LCD Soundsystem - "Time to Get Away"
Patrick Wolf - "Get Lost"
Rockfour - "Goes Around"
Sufjan Stevens - "Chicago" (Multiple Personality Disorder Version)
Rilo Kiley - "Close Call"
Julia Dawn - "High-Horse Man"
Blitzen Trapper - "Devil's A-Go-Go"
The Rolling Stones - "Happy"
Iron & Wine - "Resurrection Fern"
PJ Harvey - "When Under Ether"
Thurston Moore - "Frozen Gtr"
TV on the Radio - "Province" [Live]
Born Ruffians - "Merry Little Fancy Things"
Stars - "Window Bird"
Yo La Tengo - "Sometimes I Don't Get You"

playlist, oct. 22, 2007

Bettye LaVette - "Talking Old Soldiers"
David Dondero - "One Legged Man and the Three Legged Dog"
Brady Earnhart - "Get Right Back"
The New Pornographers - "The Myriad Harbour"
St. Vincent - "Jesus Saves, I Spend"
Feist - "1234"
Abigail Nolte - "Take Me Home"
Aspen Hollow - [Live Track]
Radiohead - "15 Step"
Rilo Kiley - "Silver Lining"
Mexican Institute of Sound - "A Girl Like You"
Nouvelle Vague - "Making Plans for Nigel"
Arctic Monkeys - "D for Dangerous"
Minus the Bear - "Ice Monster"
Asobi Seksu - "Thursday"
Electrelane - "To the East"
Arcade Fire - "Keep the Car Running"
R.E.M. - "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
They Must Be Russians - "Don't Try to Cure Yourself"
The Raconteurs - "Intimate Secretary"
Blake Jones & the Trike Shop - "Virginia Woolf"
Jens Lekman - "A Postcard to Nina"
P J Harvey - "When Under Ether"
Beirut - "A Sunday Smile"
Patti Smith - "White Rabbit"
The Sleepover Disaster - "Over the Top"
Thurston Moore - "Wonderful Witches + Language Meanies"
Kevin Drew - "Gang Bang Suicide"
Iron & Wine - "Boy with a Coin"
Honeycut - "Exodus Honey"
Nino Moschella - "Inside Yourself"
Danger Doom [feat. Talib Kweli] - "Old School"
The Go! Team - "Grip Like a Vice"
M.I.A. - "Boyz"
Galactic [with Ladybug Mecca and Nino Moschella] - "Squarebiz"
Enon - "Colette"
Animal Collective - "Peacebone"

playlist, oct. 15, 27

P J Harvey - "The Devil"
Hot Chip - "No Fit State" [Live]
Gary Numan - "Metal"
Feist - "Mushaboom" (Postal Service Remix)
Nino Moschella - "Are You for Real"
Forro in the Dark [feat. Bebel Gilberto] - "Wandering Swallow"
Tom Waits - "Hold On"
Cookie Jar - "The Island"
Okkervil River - "John Allyn Smith Sails"
Neko Case - "Star Witness"
My Morning Jacket - "Wordless Chorus"
Kings of Leon - "Knocked Up"
Akron/Family - "Ed Is a Portal"
Animal Collective - "For Reverend Green"
Beirut - "Postcards from Italy"
Nina Nastasia & Jim White - "Our Discussion"
Manu Chao - "Besoin de la Lune"
Honeycut - "The Day I Turned to Glass"
Betty Davis - "If I'm Lucky I Might Get Picked Up"
UNKLE - "Persons & Machinery"
Supermayer - "Us and Them"
Dwight Yoakam - "I Want You to Want Me"
Blake Jones and the Trike Shop - "Parade"
The Fiery Furnaces - "Ex-Guru"
Kevin Drew - "Safety Bricks"
Thurston Moore - "Fri/End"
Of Monreal - "She's a Rejecter"
Subtle - "A Tale of Apes I & II"
Common [feat. Lily Allen] - "Drivin' Me Wild"
Iron & Wine - "Boy with a Coin"
José González - "Teardrop"
Stars - "The Night Starts Here"
Bettye LaVette - "Somebody Pick Up My Pieces"

playlist, oct. 1, 2007

Kevin Drew - "Safety Bricks"
Arcade Fire - "No Cars Go"
The Go! Team - "Keys to the City"
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - "Nobody's Baby"
Talking Heads - "What a Day That Was" [Live]
Stereolab - "Motoroller Scalatron"
James Figurine - "Apologies"
Subtle - "Middleclass Kill"
Ibid - "Pesticides"
Odd Nosdam - "Fat Hooks"
Mexican Institute of Sound - "Para No Vivir Desesperado"
Busdriver - "Sun Shower"
Sonic Youth - "Candle"
Fiery Furnaces - "Ex-Guru"
Grace Jones - "Warm Leatherette"
Bettye LaVette - "I Still Want to Be Your Baby (Take Me Like I Am)"
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes"
Animal Collective - "For Reverend Green"
Tortoise & Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "Daniel"
Elvis and the Attractions - "Watching the Detectives"
Spoon - "The Underdog"
Okkervil River - "John Allyn Smith Sails"
Abigail Nolte - "Sand in My Guitar Case"
Minus the Bear - "Knights"
Bo Dylan - "Mos tLikely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)" (Mark Ronson Re-Version)
Rufus Wainwright - "April Fools"
Stars - "The Night Starts Here"
LCD Soundsystem - "Someone Great"
Donna Summer - "I Feel Love"
Ladytron - "Destroy Everything You Touch"
!!! - "Heart of Hearts"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Kiss"
My Morning Jacket - "Anytime" [Live]
Patti Smith - "Within You Without You"

playlist, sept. 17, 2007

Patti Smith - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Emma Pollock - "Acid Test"
Interpol - "Pioneer to the Falls"
Prinzhorn Dance School - "Up! Up! Up!"
Bats for Lashes - "Tahiti"
Cinematic Orchestra - "That Home"
Matthew Dear - "Deserter"
Joe Henry - "Parker's Mood"
Mavis Staples - "We'll Never Turn Back"
The Shins - "Sealegs"
The New Pornographers - "Myriad Harbour"
Caribou - "She's the One"
Blake Jones and the Trike Shop - "Parade"
Nino Moschella - "Are You For Real"
Honeycut - "Crowded Avenue"
Busdriver - "Dream Catcher's Mitt"
Manu Chao - "Politik Kills"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Is Is"
Animal Collective - "Unsolved Mysteries"
Shout Out Louds - "Your Parents' Living Room"
Caribou - "She's the One"
Nina Nastasia & Jim White - "I Write Down Lists"
José González - Down the Line"
Brady Earnhart - "Manalapan"
Julia Dawn - "Target Practice"
Rilo Kiley - "The Moneymaker"
Betty Davis - "If I'm Lucky I Might Get Picked Up"
Lymbyc System - "Idle Wires"
Mexican Institute of Sound - "El Micrófono"
The Go! Team - "Titanic Vandalism"
M.I.A. - "Jimmy"
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - "Tell Me"
The Section Quartet - "The Man Who Sold the World"
Stars - "Sleep Tonight" (Junior Boys Mix)
Peter Bjorn and John - "Objects of My Affection"
Devendra Banhart - "I Feel Just Like a Child"
Gnarls Barkley - "Gone Daddy Gone"
Cibo Matto - "Spoon"

playlist, sept. 10, 2007

Manu Chao - "Rainin in Paradise"
Federico Aubele - "La Esquina"
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - "100 Days, 100 Nights"
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals - "Needed You Tonight"
Dennis Brown - "Black Liberation Time"
Zapmama - "Go Boy"
Battles - "Race:In"
Animal Collective - "Chores"
Modest Mouse - "March into the Sea"
Metric - "On the Sly"
Psapp - "Hi"
YACHT - "We're Always Waiting"
!!! - "All My Heroes Are Weirdos"
Cansei de Ser Sexy - "Let's Make Love to Death from Above"
Shout Out Louds - "Tonight I Have to Leave It"
The Go! Team - "Doing It Right"
The New Pornographers - "Myriad Harbour"
Caribou - "Sandy"
Rilo Kiley - "Silver Lining"
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - "Sons of Cain"
Smashing Pumpkins - "Doomsday Clock"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "10 X 10"
Joe Henry - "Civilians"
Nina Simone - "Sinnerman"
Paul Van Dyk - "Sabotage"
Dntel - "Natural Resources"
Una - "Angels at My Door"
The Sea and Cake - "Too Strong"
Patrick Wolf - "Magpie"
Simian Mobile Disco - "I Got This Down"
Talib Kweli [feat. Norah Jones] - "Soon the New Day"
Feist - "Mushaboom" (K-OS Mix)
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes"
P.O.S. - "De La Souls"
Mark Ronson [feat. Lily Allen] - "Oh My God"
Thurston Moore - "Frozen Gtr"
Pinback - "Barnes"
Earlimart - "Answers & Questions"

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.