Ranh Ranh!

another guest post from Mac Star

2008-02-12T15:08:00.000-05:00

It's All About The Songs, Silly!

Here's some songs, new and old, that are all about the songs. Pretty stripped down, singers and their songs. Some are covers, most are originals, all have personality and something special happening.


Song Name		Artist



Mockingbirds		Grant Lee Buffalo


You're a Wolf		Sea Wolf


Just a Little Lovin'		Shelby Lynne


Too Long		Yael Naïm


Alaska		Dr. Dog


Human		Civil Twilight


Twice		Little Dragon


Couldn't Sleep		Milosh


You Don't Have to Believe Me		Eric Hutchinson


The Way I Am		Ingrid Michaelson


Metal Heart (2008 Version)		Cat Power


This Will Be Our Year		Ok Go


Second Chance		Liam Finn


Falling Slowly		Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova with Marja Tuhkanen and Bertrand Galen


Winter Killing		Stina Nordenstam

guest post from Mac Star

2008-01-07T13:24:00.001-05:00

Macstar's Notable 50 of 2007

Here's some tracks that i've come across in this year of '07. The is not meant to be a "best singles" list or even an artist's "best tracks", but they are definitely songs and bands you should know about, get to know, and listen to.

Song Name, Artist

Lullaby (Mountain), The Acorn

Rehab Amy, Winehouse

Intervention, Arcade Fire

Fluorescent Adolescent, Arctic Monkeys

What's a Girl to Do?, Bat for Lashes

Atlas, Battles

Devastation, The Besnard Lakes

Again & Again, The Bird And The Bee

Archangel, Burial

Volver a Comenzar, Café Tacuba

Melody Day, Caribou

Mr Blue (New Version), Catherine Feeny

The Pills Won't Help You Now, The Chemical Brothers

Fancy Footwork, Chromeo

Bubbly, Colbie Caillat

The People, Common

What a Job (featuring Snoop Dogg & Andre 3000), Devin The Dude

All My Life, DJ Harry

Ok, It's Alright With Me, Eric Hutchinson

1234, Feist

Business Time, Flight of the Conchords

Whistle for the Choir, The Fratellis

Sad Sad City, Ghostland Observatory

Grip Like a Vice, The Go! Team

Beautiful Life Gui Boratto

Boy With a Coin, Iron & Wine

I'm Your Man, Jacob Golden

The Opposite of Hallelujah, Jens Lekman

Teardrop, Jose Gonzalez

D.A.N.C.E., Justice

We All Want the Same Thing (feat. Lupe Fiasco), Kevin Michael

All My Friends, LCD Soundsystem

Twice, Little Dragon

Add Your Light to Mine, Baby, Lucky Soul

Boyz, M.I.A.

Just, Mark Ronson featuring Phantom Planet

Grace Kelly, MIKA

Gunpowder & Lead Miranda, Lambert

Dashboard, Modest Mouse

Start a War, The National

Bro's, Panda Bear

The Magic Position, Patrick Wolf

Young Folks, Peter Bjorn and John

Two, Ryan Adams

Love Song, Sara Bareilles

The Underdog, Spoon

Take Me to the Riot, Stars

The Con, Tegan and Sara

You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told), The White Stripes

See You At the Lights, 1990s

quick guest post from Marion

2008-01-03T20:07:00.000-05:00

I have enjoyed State Radio's "Year of the Crow" (admittedly I enjoy
anything even remotely related to Dispatch) and Stephen Kellogg's "Glassjaw
Boxer". I also have liked the tunes I've heard so far from Pete Francis's
upcoming (2/08?) record "Iron Sea and the Calvary".

gues post from Avram

2008-01-02T17:51:00.000-05:00

Since it's Friday and I'm wired on espresso and chocolate:

My tops for 07ish:

Current heavy rotation:

1) Black Kids - (they only have a myspace page)

2) Girl Talk - Night Ripper

3) Barr - Summary

4) The Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam

5) Jim Becker and Coleen Burke - Sountrack to Interkosmos

Those are the newish ones. Here are some old ones I'm heavy into:

1) Gil Scott-Heron - Pieces of a Man

2) Sparklehorse - Vivadixiesubmarinetransmission

plot

3) Leonard Cohen - Death of a Ladies' Man and New Skin/Old Ceremony
(I know there are two albums there, but deal with it.)

4) Everything by Joe Frank

5) The Ex with Tom Cora - Scrabbling at the Lock

6) All Sonic Youth from the 1980s

The "gonna get big" picks for 08:

1) The Black Kids

2) Two Gallants

3) Bjork/Panda Bear (well, it's an idea)

4) The Frames

5) Iron and Wine

6) Architecture in Helsinki

7) The Klaxons

8) The Animal Collective

Shows to look out for:

1) Wilco doing their entire catalog in order of release (a la cheap
trick)

2) The Boredoms with 88 drummers on August 8th

guest post from Elliott

2007-12-28T15:07:00.000-05:00

I don't think any of these bands were technically new this year, but
I'm pretty sure I first heard them in 2007...

Deerhunter
http://myspace.com/deerhunter

The Besnard Lakes
http://myspace.com/thebesnardlakes

Pharaoh Overlord

The Twilight Sad
http://www.myspace.com/TheTwilightSad

bonus:
my little brother's band, javelin
http://myspace.com/hotjamzofjavelin

guest post from Chris

2007-12-27T20:40:00.000-05:00

I'm not really an "... of the year!" kind of guy, but Rachel Unthank and The
Winterset came to my attention recently. Would probably be destined for big
things if they weren't annexed in the Folk section.

http://www.myspace.com/rachelunthank
www.*rachel**unthank*.com/

guest post from Martin

2007-12-26T18:41:00.001-05:00

From Sweden the most magnificent singer since Jeff Buckley saw the
light of day:

Moto boy - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flaGOFYZ9i8

The US band I'm looking forward to buy plane tickets for and place on
a Swedish stage in 2008 is Chromatics

http://www.myspace.com/chromaticsmusics

guest post from Julian

2007-12-26T18:40:00.001-05:00

if there's one artist that blew me away: Julia Kent with her debut Album
"Delay"
http://www.myspace.com/Julia_Kent that is.

Apart from that i'd like to mention the following albums:

M.I.A - Kala (XL Recordings)
Burial - Untrue (Hyperdub)
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (DFA)

Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)

Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino)
CocoRosie - The Adventures of Ghosthorse & Stillborn (Touch & Go)
Boxcutter - Glyphic (Neuton Med)
Mira Calix - Eyes Set Against The Sun (Warp)
Whitehouse - Racket (Susan Lawly)
Throbbing Gristle - Part 2: The Endless Not (Mute)
Alvin Lucier - Ever Present (Mode)
Rechenzentrum - Director's Cut (Mille Plateaux)
Stereo Total - Paris <-> Berlin (Disko B)

My concert of the year was by the way Fennesz & Rechenzentrum @
Volksbühne Berlin.
Music website discoveries of the year:
http://awesometapesfromafrica.blogspot.com and http://www.toneshared.com

Most tragic moments in music this year: To hear about the deaths of
Alice Coltrane and Lady Jaye Breyer P.Orridge

guest post from Thomas

2007-12-26T18:39:00.002-05:00

Without being too redundant, i present my top 10 (in no particular order of
course):

1. Various Artists - After Dark
2. Justice - + (cross, not plus)
3. Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block
4. Robert Plant and Allison Krauss - Raising Sand
5. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
6. Jay - Z - American Gangster
7. Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquest of Josh Ritter
8. Various Artists - Coming Home: Fats Domino Tribute
9. Lyle Lovett - It's Not Big It's Large
10. Lil' Wayne - Da Drought 3

guest post from Bryan

2007-12-26T18:39:00.001-05:00

I'm not a "music critic" anymore -- this list simply represents my favorite
albums of the year, for anyone who cares. Happy Holiday, from Bryan:

1 Wilco - Sky Blue Sky (Nonesuch)
2 Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand (Rounder)
3 Lewis Taylor - The Lost Album (Hacktone)
4 The Valerie Project - The Valerie Project (Drag City)
5 Leslie & The Badgers - Leslie & The Badgers (Self-Released)
6 Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall 1971 (Warner Bros./Reprise)
7 Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
8 Band of Horses - Cease To Begin (SubPop)
9 The Clientele - God Save the Clientele (Merge)
10 Lucinda Williams - West (Lost Highway)
11 Future Clouds And Radar - Future Clouds & Radar (Star Apple Kingdom)
12 Iron + Wine - The Shepherd's Dog (SubPop)
13 Jim Ford - Sounds of Our Time: The Harlan County Album + bonus tracks (Bear Family)
14 Elliott Smith - New Moon (Kill Rock Stars)**
15 Gram Parsons & The Flying Burrito Brothers - Live At The Avalon Ballroom 1969 (Amoeba)
16 Nick Drake - Family Tree (Island)
17 Dungen - Tio Bitar (Kemado)
18 The Broken West - I Can't Go On, I'll Go On (Merge)
19 Steve Earle - Washington Square Serenade (New West)
20 Kevin Ayers - The Unfairground (Lo-Max)

guest post from Joseph

2007-12-26T18:38:00.001-05:00

My top 10s (warning: I'm a corny pop guy at heart) :

ALBUMS:
1. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights
[Every single person I know who has heard this album has raved about it
to others; I wish that word of mouth had really done something.]
2. Josh Rouse - Country Mouse, City House
3. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
4. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
5. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
6. Polyphonic Spree - The Fragile Army
7. VA - Binky Griptite's Ghetto Funk Power Hour
8. Travis - The Boy With No Name
9. Ryan Shaw - This Is Ryan Shaw
10. Annie Lennox - Songs of Mass Destruction

SINGLES:
1. Jens Lekman, "The Opposite of Hallelujah"
2. Hellogoodbye, "Baby, It's Fact"
3. Josh Rouse, "Sweetie"
4. Orson, "Ain't No Party"
5. MIA, "Jimmy"
6. Marilyn Manson, "Heart Shaped Glasses"
7. The Gossip, "Careless Whisper"
8. James Blunt, "1973"
9. Musiq Soulchild, "Buddy"
10. Maroon 5, "Makes Me Wonder"

If remixes are allowed, then toss in there Frankie Valli & the Four
Seasons' "Beggin' (Pilooski edit)."

guest post from Nick

2007-12-26T18:37:00.002-05:00

*60 Watt Kid* - local bayarea boys did some amazing sheet on their
Absolutley Kosher debut - it's a folky-ADD version of the beach boys, in the
vein of Fiery Furnaces & Animal Collective - superbad.

http://www.myspace.com/60wattkid

guest post from my friend Will

2007-12-26T18:37:00.001-05:00

http://www.myspace.com/creaturecreature

Creature are one of many Montreal acts which tore it up at SXSW this year. Believe - that French-Canadian city is punching well above its weight! Pigeon hole it under Disco slash Punk slash Pop, Creature come with a healthy dose of sarcasm (the female singer is called "Cowbella") and some of the best pop production I've heard in over a decade.

guest post from my friend Scott

2007-12-26T18:34:00.000-05:00

I think the best album of the year is Tillbaka Till Samtiden by Kent. Here are some
links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k2RdYza8OQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RhDR-ks6vI

Best email tips of the month

2007-12-06T19:30:00.000-05:00

"The song is the single and the single sucks" from BARR

somewhere described as cubist pop, which seems about right...

also

A cool Josh Ritter song performed at Los Angeles' Natural Museum of History.

Even plants enjoy music

2007-12-06T13:07:00.001-05:00

Read the article here.

2007-09-10T11:02:00.000-04:00

Indeed, the lad needs tunes...and we're coming to discover that he's a jazz baby. Luckily for us, I've discovered Jazz Pour Tous's long list twin brother, Jazzna, our notre nuestro unser Jazz!

Remember, "Jazz doesn't belong to anyone! Jazz is like birds all free!". I'll let you contemplate that while you dither over which albums to download. Not all the links work, but it wouldn't be fair if it were any easier....

For Mama

2007-09-09T22:38:00.000-04:00

This cover comes courtesy of Michael

Petra Haden-Thriller

For Linus

2007-09-07T18:20:00.000-04:00

The lad needs tunes!

I Feel For You

What a day!

2007-09-06T20:54:00.000-04:00

First the good news:
Linusblog

then the bad

A te, o cara from I, Purtani
featuring Arleen Auger

and

Che gelida from La Boheme

Update

Che Gelida on You Tube

I love expressive eyebrows

Welcome To The Andy Summers Show

2007-08-06T11:20:00.000-04:00

I saw the Police last week at Madison Square Garden.
There is so much to say about it that I don't know where to begin.
This review in The Times get's it mostly right.
Sting's voice was ragged out. He sprayed some prescription concoction in his mouth between every song. He seemed most comfortable when the audience was singing every word, er, vowel sound with him. Such as in this:
Reggatta De Blanc
On The Bed's Too Big Without You K-Rock and I walked behind the stage to get a closer look at Stewart.
To me, it was more obvious that Sting and Stewart just don't have the same sense of time. Sting's shoulder sullenly pounds out the beat while Stewart just plays what he feels.
By far the biggest surprise of the evening was 10 long guitar solos by Andy Summers. Who would have thunk it? In this old version of Driven To Tears (which $250 Police fans seem to love more than any Synchronicity track) you get a feel for Andy's solo style-- Long sustained notes with whammy bar, a little too reminiscent of Alex Lifeson, trippy Jazz licks that may or not be intentional, and a sense of architecture that builds and builds. This is what made the show so enjoyable. Sting's voice was hurting, ergo, Andy played long solos. LONGButmusicalandspontaneoussoundingones, unlikemostarenarock/popsolos!
And the crowd cheered.
And EEE-OOH-ed.

If you don't click on any of the links, click on this one and watch the brawling!
Vintage Police

[choose title from lyrics below]

2007-07-21T11:09:00.001-04:00

Okay, I didn't know this, but maybe man-about-town Jeff did: David Byrne is dating Cindy Sherman. That's almost as cool as Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson. In honor of these guys, here are four songs. The Cindy Sherman song was difficult--I turn my camera on? Hey-ya? Mexican Radio? Something by the Oxford Camerata?

mp3: Talking Heads, Artists Only "I'm cleaning, cleaning my brain"

mp3: R.E.M., Camera "Will you be remembered? Will she be remembered?"

mp3: Lou Reed, Romeo Had Juliette "Something flickered for a minute, and then it vanished and was gone"

mp3: Laurie Anderson, O Superman "And when force is gone, there's always Mom"

So then I got thinking not just about cool couples, but about couples performing together.

I know Alex has been dying to do a Fleetwood Mac post, so I won’t touch that one. I’m tempted to post an Indigo Girls track just to point out how that one girl trails off every line with Neil Diamond’s vocal phrasing, but I won’t. Besides, I’m not sure if they were ever a couple.

For some reason, the next couple performing together I thought of was Richard and Linda Thompson. Years ago, I saw Richard Thompson play with bass monster Danny Thompson (no relation[!]) and Michael Jerome on drums (my third-favorite Texas African-American alternative-rock drummer [behind Earl Harvin and Michael Hale]). The set had a perfect pace and variety. Each musician did jaw-dropping solos (the sort of show where there are, like, 2 girls in the crowd). I actually forgave RT for wearing a brooch…on his beret. Then he came back two years later, fedora instead of beret, charged $40 for a solo show, talked too much and played “Oops, I Did It Again” as if lame hipster bands hadn’t been covering that song for, like, eighteen months. Fuck you, Richard Thompson, sort of. No, he’s not starring in a Pete Seeger biopic. Nice backing oohs though.

Mp3: I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight “I need to spend some money, and I just can’t wait”

As this is a music blog, though, I’m required by law to say something about Sonic Youth, esp. whilst on the subject of couples making music. One summer, my roommate listened to nothing but Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa’s Thingfish, and some Sonic Youth song that sounded like a vacuum cleaner with a nickel stuck in it. I apologize if that describes several Sonic Youth songs. Here’s one that I have grown to love, mostly because of the bass.

Mp3: Theresa’s Sound World "I know I'd love her to stay"

Then there’s Yo La Tengo. I hadn't heard of them until they opened for The Sundays at Liberty Lunch in 1990 (Luna opened for The Sundays two years later [!]). Now, I've only thought about this for a split-second (this is the internet, after all), but I think YLT can kick Sonic Youth’s ass. TWO TIMES. Especially because YLT’s bassist weighs, like, two-fitty easily and can take out Thurston Moore with a high kick to his shins. In my head, YLT titled their most recent ab-lum with Sonic Youth in mind. I won’t post “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind” because every blog in the world posted that a year ago. But I really want to.

Mp3: Tried So Hard "It seemed that everything was going fine"

Mp3: Deeper Into Movies "I've been getting messages from outer space...By your window in the sky"

Mp3: Little Eyes "Don't you know you're sleeping much too long?"

So which couples did I forget?

K-Rock on Letterman!

2007-07-16T08:45:00.000-04:00

Good friend Konrad Meissner will be on David Letterman on Wednesday. He is playing with Teddy Thompson, who by now is probably really sick of being referred to as Richard Thompson's son, or as Rufus Wainwright's sidekick.

Check Out all of the shows Konrad is playing this month. Pretty Amazing.

Birdy Nam Nam, that's good.

2007-07-13T13:03:00.000-04:00

You know, I always made a distinction between musicians and DJs, until today.

Check it out.

birds and batteries

2007-06-13T16:03:00.000-04:00

check them out

or check them out here

but please, check them out