Episode 9: Fun Size

#1 of 4 October episodes,this week Brian talks dogs, Antarctica, and Pompton Lakes.

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So Percussion, Matmos
"Treasure" (mp3)
from "Treasure State"
(Cantaloupe Music)

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More On This Album

So Percussion: http://www.sopercussion.com/

Matmos: http://www.matadorrecords.com/matmos/

Ken Beck is part of CSO Comedy: http://www.csocomedy.com

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5 Song Shuffle Vol. 11 (New Glasses and Crazy Hair Edition)

My iTunes library, as of October 7, 2010, has 20,758 songs in it. Some are novelty downloads, some i have because i'm a completionist, some i rarely (if have ever) listened to. So, in this new blog segment, i will let shuffle pick out random songs (without personal editing to hide embarrasing and/or lame songs), and i will write about what i think of them, plus any details i an give about how it was procured. At current rate (and if my iTunes never repeats a song...) this will be the eleventh in at least a 4,000 part series.

Song #1 - "Last Rites" - kNIFE & fORK

No, i didn't hit the "caps lock" button on my keyboard, this is how Eric Drew Feldman's band spells their name. A really spooky, atmospheric, wonderful album is, so far, all we have from this band, but EDF told me at a recent Pixies show that he finished the second album recently. I hope we hear it soon. This one is called Miserycord, and is a perfect rainy day drinking coffee or a late night drinking whiskey type of record. Beautiful vocals from Laurie Hall on the record - i wasn't personally familiar with Laurie before k&f, but her old band has a great, bizarre name: Ovarian Trolley! Trust me, track down this record. Probably still available on cdbaby.com (it is - and eMusic).

Song #2 - "Horrible Party" - Essential Logic

I reviewed this album for a website i was working on in college (or at least i was supposed to...) - this is a band that formed out of X-Ray Spex and features lots of cool saxophone in a punk way - similar, in saxophoniness to something like James Chance, but less Motown. I really adore most of disc 1 of this album, a compilation called Fanfare in the Garden, and this track is especially cool.

Song #3 - "Laura's Theme #5 (You Trust Me Now)" - Nathan Johnson

20 second interstitial piece from the Brick soundtrack. SOOO GOOD (both the movie and the soundtrack). Bought this at Amoeba Music in Los Angeles just minutes after seeing the film with my buddy Scott at the Arclight down the street.

Song #4 - "Walcott" - Vampire Weekend

Hipster backlash be damned, this is a really good band. And this is probably my favorite song from their first album, shockingly titled Vampire Weekend. My buddy Geoff Goodwin recently offered me a ticket to see these guys at Carnegie Hall, and i'm really glad i went. I was a bit bummed that they were playing to a backing track for some of the tracks that involved more instrumentation than they had on stage. To me, that is a great time to fuck with the arrangements and do something unique. So, that part felt like a cop-out to me, but aside from that, they played every single song i wanted to hear and did a really nice job with them. They closed the show with this one. If you haven't heard this band, where the fuck do you live? Got this via Amazon i think...

Song #5 - "Too Many People" - Paul and Linda McCartney

McCartney's most vehemently anti-Lennon song (characterized visually on the Ram back cover by a beetle screwing another beetle doggy [or beetle?] style) - "That was your big mistake/you took your lucky break and broke it in two." Not nearly as mean as Lennon's "How Do You Sleep?," and probably just a better song too. I love Ram like i love Twinkies, and i love McCartney even more. Those two, along with Lennon's Plastic Ono Band and Harrison's All Things Must Pass all came out within the same 13 month period, and they're all fucking epic. Better than anything any of them would ever do again. The Beatles are dead, long live the Beatles.

'Til next time,
Brian

Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10

5 Song Shuffle Vol. 10

My iTunes library, as of October 6, 2010, has 20,723 songs in it. Some are novelty downloads, some i have because i'm a completionist, some i rarely (if have ever) listened to. So, in this new blog segment, i will let shuffle pick out random songs (without personal editing to hide embarrasing and/or lame songs), and i will write about what i think of them, plus any details i an give about how it was procured. At current rate (and if my iTunes never repeats a song...) this will be the tenth in at least a 4,000 part series.

Song #1 - "Crime News" - John Mulaney

Not really a song, but a minute or so of funny stand up from New York's John Mulaney's very worthwhile album The Top Part.

Song #2 - "Discipline" - Nine Inch Nails

Funny, i was just listening to The Fragile at work today, and here we are with another track from The Slip. This has a disco-y beat with some nice distorted guitar or keyboard on top of it. The fact that i'm not entirely certain is one of my favorite things about NIN; their samples never sound like samples, their guitars never quite sound like guitars, etc. Some nice vocals here by Mr. Reznor, as well - NIN are really way more of a dance band than people give them credit for - in the right situation, this could light up a dance floor.

Song #3 - "Tombstone Blues" - Richie Havens

Ah, iTunes, there you go again, playing another song from another album that has already been featured on 5 Song Shuffle. Richie Havens captures this Dylan song's atmosphere perfectly except that he seems totally in control here, where as in Dylan's original the song sounds like a train that's about to go off the tracks - Havens is seemingly a better conductor. This song has some of my favorite Dylan lyrics like, "The sun's not yellow; it's chicken." One of the better tracks from the I'm Not There soundtrack.

Song #4 -"Hear You Me" - Jimmy Eat World

I still tease my friend Dan about how whenever i'd see him for about 3 months in the summer of 2001, he'd start the conversation with "Have you heard the new Jimmy Eat World album? It's fucking awesome!" Well, he was right. I could take or leave anything they did before or since Bleed American, but i really do love this album. It's a really nice mix of uptempo songs and a few ballads like this one, which actually might be my least favorite song on the album, but that isn't saying too much. A very solid recording, but this is no "If You Don't, Don't."

Song #5 - "Sathington Willoby" - Primus

25 seconds of acoustic guitar and weird vocals from the best album Primus album, Frizzle Fry.

Let's go Texas Rangers,
Brian

Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9

Check it out...

Shazam! The Golden Age of the World's Mightiest Mortal

This is a beautiful new coffee table book of photographs of classic Captain Marvel memorabilia. My press copy was waiting for me when i got home today, and i absolutely adore this book. I'm interviewing its author, Chip Kidd, next week.

5 Song Shuffle Vol. 9

My iTunes library, as of October 2, 2010, has 20,723 songs in it. Some are novelty downloads, some i have because i'm a completionist, some i rarely (if have ever) listened to. So, in this new blog segment, i will let shuffle pick out random songs (without personal editing to hide embarrasing and/or lame songs), and i will write about what i think of them, plus any details i an give about how it was procured. At current rate (and if my iTunes never repeats a song...) this will be the ninth in at least a 4,000 part series.

Song #1 - "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" - Ramblin' Jack Elliot

This is from the soundtrack to I'm Not There, a movie i liked a lot, but a soundtrack that i find pretty disappointing. I was expecting more creative reinterpretations of the songs in the film, since the film itself reinterprets Dylan's life in such dramatic ways - however, most of the tracks are just blah - Rambllin' Jack does his best with this, but nothing about his version makes me not wish it was Dylan's version playing. Nice playing and all, just nothing special.

Song #2 - "Roadrunner" - Backbeat Band

Second track from the Backbeat soundtrack to get shuffled in here. I forget who's singing lead on this - maybe Mike Mills? (sound of Brian internetting) Yes, it is Mike Mills. One of my least favorite tracks from this album, but still lots of fun. You can almost hear Thurston Moore's weirdo-greatness trying to leak out the sides of his playing on these tracks. Also, why are a lot of '50s/early '60s rock songs roundabout stories about beating women?

Song #3 - "Marie Provost" - Nick Lowe

From the AMAZING reissue of Jesus of Cool that i got on eMusic in 2008. This album is so crazily ahead of its time and well written. I really should check out more of Lowe's stuff, but i really only know this album, his work with Elvis Costello and "Cruel to be Kind," one of the great pop songs of all time. This album drips intelligence and sarcasm and melody. Can't recommend this album highly enough.

Song #4 - "The Diaper" - Louis CK

Not a song per se, but a great bit of comedy about changing a diaper. Louis is the Elvis of comedy - let's hope he doesn't die on a toilet. From Chewed Up.

Song #5 - "Hats Off to Marriage, Baby" - the Wrens

From their album Seacaucus which, to be fair, i've never given much thought to. The Meadowlands is so different (and so amazing) that i've never looked back on their stuff with any real attention. I should - this song is fun. If you don't own The Meadowlands you probably have bad taste in everything. Why are we even friends? How many years must i rave about that album before you listen? Nice middle section of this song - maybe this song will be on my "Stuff to Listen to This Week" list this week. Yeah, i'm digging it.

'Til next time,
Brian

Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8

5 Song Shuffle Vol. 8

My iTunes library, as of September 30, 2010, has 20,723 songs in it. Some are novelty downloads, some i have because i'm a completionist, some i rarely (if have ever) listened to. So, in this new blog segment, i will let shuffle pick out random songs (without personal editing to hide embarrasing and/or lame songs), and i will write about what i think of them, plus any details i an give about how it was procured. At current rate (and if my iTunes never repeats a song...) this will be the eighth in at least a 4,000 part series.

Song #1 - "Debra Kadabra" - Captain Beefheart/Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention

If Zappa and Beefheart had a regular band, it might've been the greatest band ever. This comes from Bongo Fury, their joint album from 1975, but they worked together a lot - Zappa produced the infamous Trout Mask Replica for Beefheart, the Cap sang on "Willie the Pimp" on Zappa's Hot Rats. Zappa is dead, but Beefheart (or the actual guy, Don Van Vliet) is still alive, but has retired from music completely. Definitely not for the faint or heart or the unadventurous - but i love this.

Song #2 - "Heart Attack Man" - Beastie Boys

I think this song is pretty much the reason why people say that Ill Communication is full of fluff - the first half is a drunken recording, and the second is the lesser of the hardcore songs on the record. Most people slag on this Beasties album, but it was the first one i got, and i still love it very, very much. Bought this at Flipside Records in Closter in, i'm guessing, 1995. The end-ish of the song, when they drop the hardcore beat is the best part.

Song #3 - "Thanks for the Killer Game of Crisco Twister" - Minus the Bear

Ah, rum and coke - that is what this song reminds me of. In 2002, my friend Jeff Cech and i were the two representatives from WdSR in Pittsburgh at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York City. This reminds me of our last night there. We went to a party thrown by some company i can't remember (but i do remember meeting my rep with that company, Liz, who was super cute and handing out drink tickets), and Minus the Bear was one of the bands playing, and the only one that really mattered to me. I was transfixed by the band, partly because of the large amounts of rum and coke i had ingested, but also because they're really good. Other memories from that trip: Jeff chasing a subway rat at 3am, he and i wanting to get "CMJ girlfriends" (basically girlfriends for the 4 days in NYC), only to both pick the same girl as our potential CMJ girlfriend and her not really care about either of us, seeing VHS or Beta our first night there, getting fake IDs, and i think staying at the Hotel Pennsylvania. I might be making that last part up - i know we stayed there the next year. When i got back to Pittsburgh, i begged the aforementioned Liz for two copies of the Minus the Bear record - one for the station, and one for me. I still have the station copy of Highly Refined Pirates, because she only sent one. Sorry, WdSR!

Song #4 - "Gratitude" - Beastie Boys

From Check Your Head, the Beasties album i listen to the least of the classic 4 (to me, the classic 4 are Paul's Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication and Hello Nasty - the rest i could live without), but one that features their best instrumental playing, probably because Money Mark plays keys all over this album. It's funny how the Beasties are such an NYC band, but this and Paul's Boutique were both recorded on the West Coast. This song is pretty great, but its video is pretty lame, which is rare for a Beasties video. 2 Beasties songs in this shuffle, eh?

Song #5 - "Is This What They Used to Call Love?" - The Magnetic Fields

My friend Dan D'Ippolito turned me onto the Magnetic Fields with their The Charm of the Highway Strip record, but that record has yet to win me over as much as everything they've done afterwards has. This is from i, their record of songs that all begin with the letter i. This is sort of the transitional album between 69 Love Songs and the two-sides of the same coin Distortion and Naturalism, and it is probably their most solid single disc. The highs aren't as high and the lows aren't as low, but it is a really pleasant 14 songs. Stephin Merritt is one of the best lyricists working today, and this song is a fine example of why. He's also a very underrated vocalist, as this track also shows.

'Til next time,
Brian

Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7

Fall Mix 2010

Every season, i make a mix for friends/family to enjoy. This year's Fall Mix is called "The Only Thing on TV is the Good Morning News." It has 22 tracks, and i like it quite a bit. Let me know if you want one in the comments.

Brian