hearsay

baths

I’m really really loving this new Baths album, from my neighbor just down the (really really long) street in nearby Chatsworth, CA. And this video of Will Wiesenfeld performing live has me amped for his show next week. Sorry, Farrah! I might need to bail on that Beach Fossils / Here We Go Magic show…

here we go

Just about covers where we’re at (Needless to say, but I enjoy the new Broken Social Scene).

july 2010 mix

Before I even did a mix dedicated to delta blues, I was determined to do a mix of vintage soul. At the time I was obsessed with the Numero Group's Eccentric Soul series (I still am), and it the first pass I took at doing a soul mix was too single-sourced to merit posting. My knowledge of soul is ever expanding from a number of sources - hip-hop samples, Mississippi Records' tape series, and good old self-motivated research - so it was just a matter of time before I felt a mix would be deserving of the month's focus.

living in colour

It’s honestly not my favo(u)rite song off their new album, but it is a good song all the same and I like the video of ‘day in the life’ moments from their recent US tour.

june 2010 mix

Believe it or not, I actually tried quite hard to avoid making this month's mix too current - starting with Wanda Jackson's incredible haunting 1961 country/rock "Funnel of Love," as well as including a few 90s tracks that I think are just as good now as they were 15 years ago. RIP (Gaunt frontman) Jerry Wick.

have you got a minute?

I can't be the only person who grew up on Superchunk and then spent my early adulthood enamored with Les Savy Fav. (LSF lead singer) Tim mentioned last week that he sang "Precision Auto" with Superchunk at San Miguel Primavera Sound (that's in Spain), which is like the 90s punk rock version of the Arcade Fire/David Byrne on-stage pairings of 2005. For those who can remember back to 2007, Les Savy Fav covered "Precision Auto" at Citysol in New York. Here's a video of the event, courtesy of bittermelodies on Youtube. Kudos to them for taking a relatively watchable video... there's no way I would have been able to keep a steady hand while bouncing around like a maniac had I been there. And I still say that On The Mouth is my favorite Superchunk album, although I have absolutely nothing against the later releases.

breakneck speed

"It's good to be back" indeed. From the sound of "Breakneck Speed," it sounds like a return of the Tokyo Police Club that dominated indie rock music bloggery of 2006/2007, before an overly/inappropriately-produced debut LP popped their hype bubble. I like the song Alot. The video has a similar feel to the one for "Your English Is Good." Looking forward to Champ, which comes out on 8 May. You can pre-order it from their website and get a few tracks as digital downloads, including the aforementioned track.

dave gets all mr. rogers on the national

"What is that? You made that, right?"

may 2010 mix

It's one of those months where I really don't have time to properly write up the mix, but let's see what I can do here in the next couple of minutes. Basically as soon as I heard "An Apology," I knew that Future Islands would find a way onto a mix. "Beach Foam" goes back to their 2008 album, Wave Like Home. I am on pins and needles for their new album, In Evening Air, which comes out on May 4th. The other song off that they've leaked is "Tin Man," which from what I can understand of the lyrics is brilliant take on heartbreak, told through an appropriation of The Wizard of Oz's most robot-like persona. You'd have to be a fool... or at least an older brother traveling to see you little sister's graduation, to miss their L.A. shows 5/21 + 5/22 at Sync Space and The Smell, respectively.

solar needs to come clean

I am saddened by the loss of Gang Starr MC, Keith Elam AKA Guru, to a battle with cancer Monday. And while I think that his memory should be for his life's work, contribution to hip-hop and culture as a whole, I am troubled by the letter that was purported to be his final message to family and fans. If Guru was indeed in a coma since February until his passing, the letter would seem an obvious forgery. There are 5 other points in the letter that I find hard to swallow.