Category
from the vault
Pete & The Pirates, Tommy Sanders’ other outlet when he isn’t Tap Tap, just released a couple of live Take Away Show-style performances from Austria for They Shoot Music Don’t They. They do 2 songs, “Blood Gets Thin,” a haunting b-side from a 2009 single, and “Mr. Understanding,” from their full-length, Little Death. I was excited to see these because I really had very little hint at what the band looked like from liner notes and their lack of U.S. touring, but through the magic of youtube related videos, I’m now looking and realizing that they have a whole bunch of videos online for me to go through. I’m on it.
totally awesome
“Read the shirt: pro-motor.”
Marv Won released his debut, Wayne Fontes Music last month, which finally makes available hearsay favorite “Stomp.” “Totally Awesome” is the latest video from the album, and is named after the gem of a Tracy Morgan sample from a movie of the same name that kicks off the track. Rio Data and Marv Won pepper the song with wit to rival Ricky Gervais at a Palin family gathering. And the cartoonish antics of Nathaniel Hall and Che Patterson’s video play off the insanity of Big Tone’s beat. It may have been straight-to-video, but being a Tracy Morgan and Half-Baked fan, Totally Awesome went straight to the top of my rental list.
favorite albums 2009
I’m the last man standing at hearsay this year, so sorry for the poor year-long and end-of-year showing. But I wanted to share my picks all the same, here they are.
topomodesto’s favorites 2009:
01. Diamond District – In The Ruff [mixtape sampler]
Released, at first, for free in order to grab attention; the fantastic boom-bap production, athletic [...]
favorite songs 2009
Most of these found their way onto the monthly mixes, with the exception of some of the more well-known songs. Here they are for you, provided again in a nice Muxtape-style Opentape format. Enjoy.
: BEST OF 2009 MIX :
[2008 list]
favorite videos 2009
After making my lists in 2006 and 2008, Matt & Kim finally hit the top by taking it all off. A couple unofficial versions of videos this year, which I think is pretty cool, but also probably says a little something about the economy. I don’t know if it really should qualify, but I’m also [...]
meet me on half moon street
I have sort have removed myself enough from the music blogomasphere enough that I really don’t know what people are picking up on of new music. I mean, I know people are crazy for Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective, but I mean more at the Chin Up Chin Up/Beirut level of exposure. You know, for [...]
favorite songs 2008
Up until the time that we started this site, I used to do yearly mixes with a selection of my favorite tracks. It didn’t really fall into listmania, because the mixes were more organically selected than a top 10 or so. I would normally post this at the end of the month (year), but Mixwit is shutting down, which presumably means the mix won’t work in a week or so. In which case, HERE’s an opentape (muxtape-like) version that doesn’t embed as well as Mixwit does. Too bad the RIAA didn’t realize earlier what they realized yesterday and just leave these streaming mix sites be… it was a way for us all to share music without explicitly doling out mp3s.
people say freed is the brains behind team hearsay
So what does that make me? The hearsay.
Freed has come through with a whole bunch of good recommendations in the past few weeks… namely The War On Drugs and Sunset, though I take full credit for The Lord Dog Bird – even if I’m generally embarrassed to claim it because the name is so ridiculous. He also pointed out Grouper, which may be sort of mellow/slowcore for me, but is still pretty smurfing good.
every night finds us rocking and rolling
Are you kidding me? Out of nowhere, a duet of “Lost Coastlines” by Will Sheff with Carl Newman The New Pornographers. Will has performed a couple acoustic versions of this song recently, first on WOXY and then on NRK P3 (live from Norway), but I really think that having the second vocalist is half of what makes the song. I’m still a bit partial for their Motown-style bass and drums from the album version, but I dig the back and forth, and that Will switched places this time around. The original is below… How amazing is Jonathan Meiburg’s voice when he chimes in with that baritone “sit down?” The Stand-Ins, the appendix to last year’s The Stage Names, is out on September 9th.
the end’s not near
I love the video for The New Year’s “The End’s Not Near” probably even more than I liked the song in the first place. I know I’m sort of breaking my promise not to flood the site with Pitchfork.tv videos, but this one is worth it. I like the playfulness of the moving camera and bicyclist, but I think what really makes it is the color of the dawn sky over – what is it – an overgrown parking lot next to an out of use airport? Their website says they have a new album coming out in September. Happy 4th, kids.