10 posts tagged “music”

Hello, poor neglected Vox thing!  This will be a lazy post today because I've already got all the mp3s uploaded and ready for listening/download in this helpful Box.net folder.  (If you should, in the future, decide to sign up for a Box.net thingy, please use lunarcurtain@comcast.net as a referral and I think I get...something.  Maybe?  I think so, I'm not sure, but I thought I'd mention it just in case, hah.)

Anyway, this week's month's selection is a lot of The Mountain Goats.  I first heard these dudes 5+ years ago when Napster was still huge and free and they were a featured artist.  "Family Happiness" was the song, and it was so raw and visceral that I don't know why I stopped at that one.

Then a month ago my brother told me about this awesome song he heard: "Southwood Plantation Road" by The Mountain Goats!  I remembered they were pretty rad five years ago, and now I present you with the aforementioned folder.

Track list:

1. Cold Milk Bottle
2. Cotton
3. Dance Music
4. Family Happiness
5. Going to Georgia (Live)
6. Going to Georgia
7. Jenny
8. Love Cuts the Strings
9. Southwood Plantation Road
10. The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton
11. The Black Ice Cream Song
12. There Will Be No Divorce
13. This Year
14. You Or Your Memory

ALSO!  Of Montreal's new album, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? is due out on Jan. 23, and because they are AWESOME, they've put up a full preview here, and also a download of "Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse,"  which I guess is the first single.  I love them, oh.

I'm tired and stressed for several reasons and needed to go to bed an hour ago, but sometimes you stumble across a piece of brilliance that you have to share.

Well, first, for the hell of it:

Nada Surf - Popular (rcsa)
Not the brilliance I was talking about, but I do really like it.  Has Nada Surf really been around that long?  Am I really that old/young?  Why is my dog barking to go out, when she was just out an hour ago and there are possibly big snarly dogs still stalking around out there?  It was scary, and I had to throw plastic shelving at them.

Anyway, without further ado:

Sufjan Stevens - Dumb I Sound (rcsa)
I know I just went over Sufjan, but I came across this one and it's rivaling The Henney Buggy Band for my affections.  The ending (the last minute or so) is creepy and gives me chills when I'm sitting here in the semi-dark listening to it, but the beginning is so beautiful.  The flute gets me every time.

Ta, dudes and ladies, I'm going to sleep.

Now crossposting over to LJ, just to annoy everyone over there.

I've been on a giant Sufjan Stevens kick lately, and I blame it on Jeremy giving me a copy of The Avalanche.  I can't believe some of these are only B-sides.

I know a lot of people don't like him, and I don't really know why. 

This is everything you need to know about Sufjan, in a nutshell:
It's pronounced "Soof-yahn."  His parents belonged to Subud, "an inter-faith, non-religious spiritual community."  He plays the banjo.  He has a very soft voice.  His songs are complex and meticulously arranged.  A lot of his songs (mostly on Illinois and Seven Swans have strong religious references, but don't let that put you off him--he does it in a way such that it's not beating you over the head with it.  He's not preaching it to anyone else: it's his own faith he sings about.  Jeremy's not religious and he's got more of his music than I do.  And according to WikiPedia, because I am too lazy to reword it:  "Beginning with Michigan, Stevens announced an intent to write an album for each of the 50 U.S. states, although in interviews he wavers between utter sincerity and self-deprecating irony when describing the idea."

He also has a funny sort of sense of humor, to wit:  Apparently a while back there was news of he and Rosie Thomas having a baby, and Pitchfork reported it, because Pitchfork is a bunch of idiots and indie fucks and I like their logo but their site is slow as hell so I just don't bother anymore.  So Sufjan eventually sent a response letter which I think is awesome (as reported by stereogum, which I do like):

A few things:

a) First of all, I would like to thank everyone who called or sent notes of congratulations about the news of my baby. I am so proud.
b) Secondly, the baby is a hoax. I had nothing to do with the baby hoax. I was as shocked as everyone else about the baby. Matthew's story was so convincing I almost believed it myself.
c) Thirdly, something you need to know about Rosie is that she's really weird and she's really funny. When she's not singing songs, she dresses up in a neck brace and wears broken reading glasses and delivers pizza as a dimwit named "Sheila Saputo." This is not the behavior of a normal person. So it's no surprise that she could pull this off, this imaginary baby. But the fact is, Rosie is not carrying my baby. As far as I know, we spent quality time in the studio, not in bed. If Rosie's pregnant, it's not my baby. Maybe it's Denison's baby. Maybe it's an alien baby. I don't know. All I know is that the baby is probably going to grow up to be a clown, or a mime, or a bassoon player or something funny like that. Most babies come out crying, but Rosie's baby is going to be born laughing its butt off.
d) Fourthly, the fact that an internet news site printed a story about my baby without consulting me first is insulting. I mean, it's my baby. Maybe I have things I'd like to say about the baby too. Such as: it doesn't exist.

Yours,
Sufjan Stevens

He's pretty awesome.  It helps me think of him as an actual dude instead of some soft-spoken, musical demigod.

..Right, so, music.  :)

Some of these are more pared-down, intimate songs; others are the complex multi-part arrangements I mentioned before.  I think I'll start with my favorite, which is off the B-sides album.  I am a sucker for horns.  So here we go!

Sufjan Stevens Mini-Sampler
01.  The Henney Buggy Band [rcsa]
02.  Come On!  Feel the Illinoise!  [rcsa]
03.  Casimir Pulaski Day [rcsa]
04.  John Wayne Gacy, Jr.  [rcsa]
             (Yes, he did write a song about a serial killer.  It's beautiful.)

One for Christmas:
05.  Sister Winter [rcsa]

And totally his best lyrics ever:
06.  Super Sexy Woman [rcsa]

Next time I'll do Sergio Mendes or Of Montreal.  Maybe the former, because I've been putting him off.

I have a hole in my pants.  :<

Just a little bit more for my lovelies.  (I am so procrastinating.)

So today I apparently have a taste for a bit of 70s-inspired funk/R&B (I love me some horns) (and wakachika wakachika).  Yeah, I don't get it either.  It actually started when I flipped on the TV this morning and caught the end of Jay-Z's "Show Me What You Got," which is really inspired by the Public Enemy song of almost the same name--but they both sampled Johnny Pate's "Shaft in Africa."  And I was sitting there watching this video and it occurred to me that the only reason the song is appealing at all is due to "Shaft" (and the other one they sampled, "Malik" by the Lafayette I am too tired to look up the rest of the name of this Band).  Jay-Z can kindly go back into retirement.

Then there was the big Kanye West hissy fit (life is so hard, Kanye!).  Again, that song would have nothing going for it (in my book) but for Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up."

That is what I've brought for you today.

Oh, and some John Legend.  He does use a sample or two but he's got a great voice to back it up.  (Whoa Nelson.)

Also on the menu, just because I feel like it, is a weeee bit of The Incredible Moses Leroy, which is unrelated to any of the above (being distinctly 80s-inspired rather than 70s).  I've got lots more of him but it would require importing the CD, which would require me to get up out of my chair.  Sorry.

Onward!

01.  Johnny Pate - Shaft in Africa  [RCSA]
02.  Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up  [RCSA]
03.  John Legend - Maxine [RCSA]
04.  John Legend - Ordinary People [RCSA]
05.  John Legend - Save Room [RCSA]
06.  John Legend - Stay With You [RCSA]
07.  The Incredible Moses Leroy - Everybody's Getting Down [RCSA]
08.  The Incredible Moses Leroy - Transmission C [RCSA]

*Just to clarify, please note that this is all I know of funk/R&B.  I guess you call that funk.  Seems more funk than soul but as I just said, I don't know what I'm talking about.  :D

Next time:  Sufjan Stevens?  Sergio Mendes?

Vox needs more dark layouts.

Neglecting this thing a bit, so here's a few little things.

In honor of my awesome Halloween costume (pictures forthcoming eventually), here's Freezepop's cover of the Jem! theme song.  (for saving)

Also:

The Bees (US)
Had to tack on the (US) because of infringement issues with a UK band by the same name.  I think the UK band has changed their name to A Band of Bees, but I really wish our Bees had also changed their name outright, because that (US) is just clunky.  Anyway.  Name issues aside, I like them a bunch.

• The Country Life (for saving)
  
• Imaginary Girl (for saving)
  

There is no fun way to end this because it's really just, I'm sneezy and I think I've got bronchitis, and I need to get to bed, and HO SHIT VIBRATING CELL PHONE ON DESK MAKES SCARY NOISE.

Grab bag today.

i.  Once Around the Block
I bought Badly Drawn Boy's The Hour of Bewilderbeast back in 2001 and it was because of this song.  Five years later it's still my favorite song in the history of everything.  I can't even talk about it in words.

ii.  Elevate Myself
I don't know a lot about Grandaddy, which is unfortunate, but--I've got this song, and it's sort of become my latest chin-up-stop-being-so-down-on-yourself-Nichole song.  I'm mostly posting this because I was leaving PE class today and this was the video playing on all the TVs on the cardio balcony.

And now the main event: (The) Apples in Stereo (I like it without the article).  They're part of the fabulous (!) Elephant Six Collective, which also includes Of Montreal (technically part of "The Extended Family") and Neutral Milk Hotel (I'll get to them some other time).  They're fun and upbeat (mostly, except when they're a little melancholy), sort of Beatles-esque and dreamy, low-fi '60s pop/rock-inspired.  Instead of giving you crappy commentary, which I am not at all in the mood to do, here's some music.  :P

01.  Benefits of Lying (With Your Friend)
02.  Go!
03.  If You Want to Wear A Hat
04.  Strawberryfire
05.  Show the World
06.  Please

Okay, that's already one over my usual 5!  Actually I think I could really use some of this right now.

Okay!  So Pinback, not such a big hit.  Got it.  :)

Next time: Oh, I dunno.  Spoon?  The Decemberists?  Dealership?  Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66?  Fantastic Plastic Machine?  Of Montreal?  Apples in Stereo?

Any one of these strikes anyone's fancy, even if you just like the name, say hey.  I think the Decemberists might be a little too well-known for my purposes but at the same time I dunno if anyone on this f-list has heard (much of) them.

I don't feel ready for tomorrow at all.  Oh well, here goes nothin'.

In this issue:  Pinback, the delicately beautiful lovechild of Armistead Burwell "Zach" Smith IV and Rob Crow.  There are lots and lots of projects under the umbrella of genius of Mr. Crow (and others, tangentially related), but Pinback is my favorite.

I don't even know how to go about talking about them.  I first found them way back when Napster was still around, when it was still free; Napster used to have spotlights on different bands and as soon as I heard "Tripoli," it was love.  Their efforts since their debut Pinback (aka This Is A Pinback CD) have only gotten better.  A Pinback song is the kind of song that, at first, you hear but don't really listen to, but fifteen minutes later you find that you've got that hook stuck in your head.  It's just that there are so many layers.  Rob Crow has a voice that sounds like it couldn't possibly come from this kind of pudgy, occasionally bearded guy.  But it's perfect for this kind of music.  I could recognize it anywhere (like when I was listening to Team Sleep's "11:11" [yes!] and immediately thought, "That's Rob Crow!"  And it was.).

Anyway, picking out five Pinback songs is even harder than picking out five D-Plan songs (which has nothing to do with loving the Plan any less, because I don't).  So I think to make it easier on myself, I'm limiting myself to just the more recent stuff (from either Blue Screen Life or Summer in Abaddon), because that's what I've got on my computer.  The older stuff is on a CD that I'm honestly way too lazy to rip right now.  :D  Maybe we will have a Part Two.

Onward and upward!  (Before I start, I should direct you to The Rob Crow fan site for all your lyrical needs, and pretty much anything you would ever need to know about Rob Crow ever except maybe blood type and dental records).

Five of My Favorite Pinback Songs, Not Really In Any Order At All, With Very Lazy Commentary.

01.  Penelope
I mentioned this one in a throwaway comment on lj.  This is about a FISH.  We all know about my own dead fish problems, but I am just amazed that such a gorgeous song could be written about a fish (Zach's girlfriend's fish, to be specific).  Apparently, though, this has become that song for them, the one that everybody always requests at shows so they're burnt out on playing it and that is unfortunate.

02.  Seville
Sheena Bella walks and / Sheena Bella strays
And THAT is the bit that will get stuck in my head.

03.  Non Photo-Blue
Yeah, that hyphen looks misplaced to me, too. 
It took me a few listens before this one really caught me, but when I was skimming tracks to figure out which was going to be my fifth, I knew this was the one.  The piano is wonderful, right after crossword filled in non photo-blue.  But if you haven't noticed the vocal layering, (hopefully) you'll notice now.

04.  Sender
It had me at "ACUTE ANGLES."  :)  And there's some really nice piano (?) that pops up at about 1:45.

05.  Fortress
And this was the first taste I had of post This Is A Pinback CD Pinback.  The one complaint I have of early Pinback stuff is that it's all pretty medium-to-slow tempo, and while the hooks where there, they just weren't jumping out at me as indie rock until this.  Also, how can I not love a song that manages to take the phrase Safe as a cootie-wootie wit' you and make it work?

I really wish I was more familiar with them, but it's been only recently that the lightbulb really went on over my head and I realized how complex this music is.

As far as everything else under the umbrella and/or tangentially related, Rob Crow's discography gives you a pretty good idea of how expansive this man's talents are.  I think I heard a bit of Heavy Vegetable years ago, but it was hard to come by; Optiganally Yours is just bizarre (listen to "Geppetto" and "Poodleman" if you don't believe me--the latter, for example, is about getting an unwanted mullet haircut in the middle of the night).  I've enjoyed what I've heard of Thingy--the unidentified Pinback song I loved for years turned out to be a Thingy song after all ("Cut").  I regret that I've not heard any Goblin Cock.  :P

Meanwhile, Zach Smith's got Three Mile Pilot, which really is a lot like Pinback but without Rob Crow's vocals.  In fact, I've had the chorus to "Glitter Wave" stuck in my head for most of the day.  And from 3MP we jump to Black Heart Procession, which I don't like quite as much but is still worth a listen (especially "Release My Heart" and "Not Just Words").

WHEW OKAY.

I wonder how much media you can upload before VOX comes by and tells you to cut the shit out.

Okay, let's try this again.

Once upon a time I decided this should be some sort of travelogue, but that requires one to actually travel, which requires one to have (a) time and (b) money, and I don't have much of the latter because I am soon to be without much of the former.  Everyday I think about just hopping back on the train and poking around in New York or Boston for the day--I know enough of the latter to get around, I think, but New York is a mess in my head.  And why does it take less than three hours to get from Baltimore to New York but ~five from New York to Boston (on the regional, because I do have to pay a little [$5! my poor wallet] for the Acela)?  I was always under the impression that New York was relatively close to Boston but I guess it's sort of halfway.  And that shows you how much I travel, and why this will not necessarily work.

In the meantime I've been kind of hooked on the Dismemberment Plan, which is unfortunate because they broke up three years ago.  I guess it's taken almost that long for them to really grow on me; I'll be the first to admit that they're not for everyone.  There's a certain amount of spasticness and discord and chaos present in almost every D-Plan song that can be jarring to the wrong ears.  But the lyrics are irrepressibly clever and I'm really a sucker for anything danceable anyway.

That, and Travis is cute.

So in this post I present to you:
Five of My Favorite Dismemberment Plan Songs Which May or May Not Be In Any Particular Order and Also Maybe With Accompanying Commentary If I Feel Like It.

01.  The Ice of Boston
Easily my favorite D-Plan song ever.  Partly because of lyrics like:

Mainly because knowing about that would involve knowing some pathetic, ridiculous, and absolutely true things about myself that I’d rather not admit to right now.

But mostly because of this: 
Woke up at 3 A.M. with the radio on, that Gladys Knight and the Pips song on
About how she’d rather live in his world with him than live in her own world alone
And I lay there, head spinning, trying to fall asleep, and I thought to myself: “Oh, Gladys, girl, I love you but, OH!  GET A LIFE!”
Brilliant. And hilarious.

02.   The Face of the Earth
I don't know what it is that I like best about this one.  I mean, clearly it's a great song.  But it's somewhere between the opening strains and the lyrics about little details like the "fingers hooked around my belt" and the idea of only knowing someone for a short time but grieving when they disappear.  Or something like that, I guess.  :D

Already this is getting all disorganized with the pictures and all but oh well, deal with it.  (Please~!)

03.  The City

All I ever say now is good-bye.

Just listen until you get to that line.

This is the hard part.  I'm so skewing my Last.fm data.  Okay, we'll go with

04.  The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich

Because it's frantic and fun to sing and fun, period. 
Joe got caught on board a boat with seven tons of opium / in a Singapore harbor--color us embarassed!

05.   Superpowers
The polar opposite of The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich, both lyrically and in terms of Travis' vocal quality--much deeper, subdued, that they almost don't sound like the same person.  I think this was also the first song I ever heard by the Plan so it has a warm fuzzy place in my heart.  :)

I've got to stop now or I'll be here all night.  You can hear mostly everything they've done at the website, if you can put up with the RealAudio. 
Or you can do like Joel did and just find a torrent somewhere.  :)

Anyway, other songs I love but can't be arsed to put up here: 
Bra, The Things That Matter, The Love War, Do The Standing Still, One Too Many Blows to the Head, What Do You Want Me To Say?, The First Anniversary of Your Last Phone Call, A Life of Possibilities, Memory Machine, I Love A Magician, Time Bomb, Ellen and Ben, Gyroscope, Girl O'Clock (oh man, Girl O'Clock), Back and Forth, and Close to Me.

I think Maaya had the right idea with just doing text links.  I feel like I made this with Homestead or something.  And there's mostly accurate lyrics here, but you're on your own because I'm tired of updating now.  :)

Next:  Pinback or something.

Fortunately this requires nothing but pajamas.  And even then...

I, uh, have no idea what to do with this.  I think maybe one day when I actually have some animations handy to put up I'll post them here.  That is, until I actually cough up some money and time and get a real website.  :/

The hard part is that I've got my hands in way too many things.  Five LJ accounts (one of which is paid, and one of which is dead), Last.fm (okay, so that's different, sort of), and now whatever this is.

I had a chat with Jeremiah last night and reading over it now, it's really kind of funny, mostly because I say things like, "If there were, you know, actual dudes abounding, it would help."

Honestly.  Dudes.  Abounding.

I talk like a term paper with swear words.

As my olive branch to the world of VOX, here's a...thing.  I found this song a little while ago and it was quite good.  It's written about the artwork of Henry Darger.  The percussion is TAP DANCING.  That's kind of awesome all on its own.