There are a couple of remixes on here, most notably this HEALTH track from the remix album, DISCO, that they put out after apparently realizing that the average listener prefers the dancey stuff to the mass of noise that they usually record. There’s another Under Electric Light track on here, this one from their earlier Blue EP, and a TV On The Radio cover from Ned Collette that I stole from a Cokemachineglow podcast a couple years ago. Ned sounds like an Australian Nick Drake or Bill Fay, and his songs have a sweet Bon Iver-ness to them that works well both on lazy summer weekends, as well as late-night driving. I think there’s something special about music that can do that.

PS - This Joan Of Arc track is a three and a half minute masterpiece.

[banner photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum]

July 2008 Mix
01 Blue States - Allies
02 HEALTH - Tabloid Sores (Nosaj Thing Remix)
03 The Coast - Tightrope (Tokyo Police Club Remix)
04 Kevin Drew - Frightening Lives
05 Blind Willie McTell - Little Delia
06 Under Electric Light - Sitting Here
07 Ned Collette - Hours (TV On The Radio cover)
08 Close Lobsters - Just Too Bloody Stupid
09 Nina Simone - Do What You Gotta Do
10 Joan Of Arc - Ne Mosquitos Pass

I only just listened to one track so far, but it sounded like the Girl Talk that I wanted to hear. If you really need arm twisting (you can always just pay $0 for it if you really want to), Pitchfork has a sample.

We’re so hard-wired as humans to define ourselves through the shit we buy […] that we produce alternative consumer cultures where the objects we own mean what we want ourselves to mean and then we turn around and say we live a different way than our parents.

Talk about getting into the mindset of the band you are reviewing.

On a complete and unwarranted side note, I know they pushed themselves in a different direction on Mount Zoomer, and I can certainly appreciate that… but I still want to hear “Cathedral Bells” as a b-side or something.

: Wolf Parade - Cathedral Bells (live 2006) :

It is abundantly obvious that Zooey Deschanel has a fantastic voice. And Matt Ward makes a good companion, supplying the production know-how and vintage take on folk and wall-of-sound pop to support her voice. I don’t find their album especially inspired; they pull off some songs well in a nostalgic manner, with fine effort but without the thoughtfulness that makes Cat Power’s latest an engaging take on standards (and non-standards), or the inventiveness that is embodied by the artists that they are approximating. In the end, despite a number of original compositions, the album comes off as a karaoke performance: it is an enjoyable display of talent, but for the most part I would rather spend my time with a Patsy Cline album. Or one of Neko Case’s, for that matter.

That aside, Zooey (and her voice) is a gem and, save the omission of album standout, “Sentimental Heart,” these are three of the best tracks from the album. In this stripped-down format, “Change Is Hard” might even come off better than the studio version.

: 01 Take It Back :
: 02 You Really Got A Hold On Me :
: 03 Change Is Hard :

The tracks are a nice compilation of the best material since Nicolas Fromageau left the band after the stunning 2003 release Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts. Arguably, Gonzalez has not been able to match that finally crafted sophmore release, but this collection has certainly come close.

: 01 Kim & Jessie :
: 02 Graveyard Girl :
: 03 Skin Of The Night :
: 04 Don’t Save Us From The Flames :
: 05 Coleurs :

Among the reasons I love Okkervil River is the thought and effort that goes into the creation of their albums. People have focused on how much of a shift The Stage Names was from Black Sheep Boy, and what is surprising to me is how similar the approach is. Just as Black Sheep built off on the theme of a Tim Hardin ballad, The Stage Names showcases Will Sheff’s scholarly knowledge of music in an entire album built on influences of Joni Mitchell, John Cale, ? & The Mysterians, and The Beach Boys (amongst others). The difference this time around is that the point of departure was diverse, rather than singular - resulting in a more varied listen than the emotionally dark Black Sheep Boy. I also like the way that Okkervil uses their influences: it isn’t as simple as appropriating the sound of a band like Joy Division, they create a dialog with music history by appropriating lyrics and re-contextualizing them, a technique that is much more prevalent as a way of recognizing one’s elders in hip-hop than indie country, or whatever we are calling this genre these days.

In that regard, the interview (which I’ve omitted) is the highlight of the WOXY session; where we get Will’s explanation of the Golden Opportunities mixtape that the band released, footnoting with covers the songs that helped to shape The Stage Names. Still, the 4 songs they play (each from a different album), all presented without drums, are an interesting offset to their more upbeat and rocking album versions. “It Ends With A Fall” is my favorite.

[image and session by WOXY]

: 01 Lost Coastlines :
: 02 A King & A Queen :
: 03 A Hand To Take Hold Of The Scene :
: 04 It Ends With A Fall :

There are a couple local bands in this mix that I’ve listened to for some time but never got around to including: The Movies and Demolisten-regulars and last-month Spaceland residents, Mezzanine Owls. Usually this is the part of the post where I go through the bands one-by-one, but even more frequently I am lazy, so instead here’s a quick plug of the new French Kicks album. It’s good. See, wasn’t that easy? It’s also their third ridiculously good album in a row (that makes a ’string,’ right?). And, barring a surprise rating from the arbiters of taste, are totally discounted (I’m predicting a rating in the 5-range from the Fork and in the 60%-range from the guys who didn’t bother to check the band lineup in their review of the last album). And while I definitely associate individual songs with each album, the consistency is such that you could easily confuse what was on what, much as one might look back and place “Like Spinning Plates” on Kid A instead of Amnesiac. But whereas those two albums were spawned from the same sessions, the Kicks’ albums are spaced apart at even 2-year intervals (throughout which there have been band lineup changes). “Abandon,” the album opener would have been the obvious selection for the mix, but “All Our Weekends” is probably my 5th favorite song from the album (yeah, it’s that good…), so it just had to be included.

[banner photo by me, from London]

June 2008 Mix
01 The Movies - Rock In The Slingshot
02 Oh! Custer - Post
03 Oranger - Crones
04 The Chameleons - Nostalgia
05 The Grace Period - Bartley Ride Armor
06 French Kicks - All Our Weekends
07 Shannon Wright - Everybody’s Got Their Own Part To Play
08 Saturday Looks Good To Me - Meet Me By The Water
09 Superchunk - Detroit Has A Skyline Too (acoustic)
10 Mezzanine Owls - Moving Ground

I found out about Evan the way that me and the rest of the lazy blog world learns about new music: he emailed me a sample and it sounded pretty boss. “The Yellow World Of ‘83″ is an undeniably solid track with a health dose of bass and a kick-ass serving of reverb. The song made it on to the April mix, and his cover of “Never My Love” is equally Evantastic, with heavy sampled drums anchoring a true to the original but much less sleepy version of The Association’s classic ode to everlasting commitment.

For the record, ‘I want that’ Detroit shirt like a Tupperware housewife wants a seaworthy model frigate.

: Evan Voytas - Never My Love : (The Association cover)
: Evan Voytas - The Yellow World Of ‘83 :

I’m off for two weeks to the UK + Ireland. We’ll have a good time.

: Clear Tigers - Boredom :