Friday Morning Soundtrack
iPod on shuffle:
1. The Smiths – “Hand In Glove”
2. The Twilight Singers – “East 17th”
3. Johnny Cash – “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”
4. The Walkmen – “Seven Years of Holidays (For Stretch)”
5. Bob Marley & The Wailers – “Is this Love”
6. St. Vincent – “Black Rainbow”
7. The American Analog Set – “Slow Company”
8. Better Than Ezra – “Good”
9. Mazzy Star – “Fade Into You”
10. Sound Team – “Get Out”
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Music News You Can Use
Some cool stuff for this chilly Thursday night:
1. 7 Worlds Collide mini-review
I’ve always thought this was such a neat project: 7 Worlds Collide. With Neil Finn at the helm, 7 Worlds Collide brings together talented, big name musicians for a good cause.
7 Worlds Collide released their latest effort, The Sun Came Out, earlier this fall and it’s AWE-SOME. The album features the likes of KT Tunstall, Jeff Tweedy, Ed O’Brien and the venerable Johnny Marr. Impressive roster for sure. This is the second album with the 7 Worlds Collide moniker on it and the purchase benefits international charity Oxfam. Here’s a great sample track (and one of my favorites) from the album:
This would make a wonderful Christmas gift. Hint, hint.
2. Upcoming Zorch shows
I’ve written about Austin’s superhero avant garde synthrock duo Zorch several times. And Shmu (one half of Zorch) was kind enough to point me in the direction of some of his excellent solo stuff.
They have several upcoming shows throughout December and in to January. Check out their schedule on their MySpace. They’re playing tomorrow night at Red 7 and again on Saturday (12/5) at Club De Ville. And look! Another show coming up right around the corner. Look at this neat poster:
I will be trying in vain to get to one of their upcoming shows. You should too.
3. The Arcade Fire announce new album and tour in 2010.
Per The Guardian (I love how they refer to them as an “indie mob” in the headline)
Arcade Fire are to release their third studio album in May 2010, Billboard reports. The mysterious follow-up to Neon Bible will be preceded by a single – and the band plan to headline at least one major summer festival.
Admittedly, these aren’t very juicy details. But after months of rumours, this is the first official confirmation. Take the news that Arcade Fire have again been working with Coldplay engineer Markus Dravs: it’s not the Montrealers who made the announcement, nor Dravs himself, despite allegedly having “been there for six months”. Instead, the news came from the band Mumford and Sons, who worked with Dravs on their debut album. “I keep asking Markus how [recording] is going and he’s like, ‘Yeah, it’s OK’, and I’m like, ‘What are the songs like?’ And he goes, ‘Better,’” Markus Mumford told the BBC.
YES.
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Tags: current events, listening, Music, News
Electropop Dance Party Wednesday
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Heads Will Roll”
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Tags: electropop dance party wednesday
Dawn Landes, “Sweetheart Rodeo”
I’ve been really lucky to have had people point me in the direction of some great music lately. Tonight I want to add Dawn Landes to that list.
Kentucky-born and Brooklyn-based, Landes released her lovely new album, Sweetheart Rodeo, just a few months ago. The album has received lots of good buzz of late and with very good reason. Landes has an impressive resume as both a sound engineer and musician in her own right. She’s had several songs featured in various TV series and on commercials already. Not too shabby.
First, as we usually do, let’s ooh and ahh over the pretty cover art:
Just from looking at it, one gets a vintage vibe, no? That’s perfect, because this album is hard to categorize and sounds like something from the late ‘60’s folk rock wave, but in all the best ways. Is it pop? Is it alt-country? Rock? All three?
While the entire album is spectacular, I want to focus on my favorite tracks. They’re really on different ends of the spectrum. The first one I listened to was “Romeo.” I noticed my foot tapping immediately and I couldn’t help but move my head back and forth. It’s got a catchy, upbeat sound that Landes’ sultry, velvety voice complements perfectly.
I’m also in love with the song “Young Girl,” track number one. It’s darker and more complicated and seems to have a harder edge than some of the other songs. When she sings, “Don’t you know, it’s time to rodeo?” it almost sounds like she’s challenging someone to come meet her for a fight, while still managing to be delicate and graceful. What I love about this album is the same thing I’ve loved about so many indie singer-songwriters of late: Landes is excellent at weaving stories. And the music to back her up is pared down, but never boring. If you’re looking for a low key album to listen to on these upcoming cold days in Austin, I recommend this one.
And-AND-Landes will be in Austin this spring! She’s playing Stubb’s on February 4th, 2010 with Justin Townes Earle. Check the tour dates on her MySpace.
She also has several other dates around the state throughout the early part of February.
Other places for Landes information:
Her pretty MySpace.
Her blog.
Her purty website.
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Tags: listening, Music, Reviews
Reading
If you have torn yourself away from the virtual library that is the Internet long enough to visit a real library, you know that the smell of old books — musty, slightly acidic, even grassy — is instantly recognizable. But is it quantifiable? And if so, might old-book odor prove useful to librarians and conservators charged with preserving collections?
Matija Strlic, a researcher with the Center for Sustainable Heritage at University College London, thinks it might. With colleagues in Slovenia and with the assistance of the National Archives of the Netherlands, he has published proof-of-concept research that shows that it is possible to understand both the composition and condition of old paper by analyzing the volatile organic compounds they emit.
Dr. Strlic said he got the idea one day at a library when he saw a conservator sniffing an old piece of paper, trying to determine what it was made of. “I thought, certainly a technique could be developed to do that more accurately,” he said. The approach is similar to breath analysis used to diagnose illness, he added.
He and his colleagues analyzed the volatiles produced by 72 samples of old paper of different types and in varying condition from the 19th and 20th centuries, using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. They found that some compounds were reliable markers for paper with certain characteristics — high concentrations of lignin or rosin, for example, which make paper degrade relatively quickly. Their findings were published in the journal Analytical Chemistry.
Portable devices that can detect volatile compounds already exist, Dr. Strlic noted. So with further research, he said, it may be possible to develop one for use in libraries and other places. Such an electronic nose would sniff the air around old books to find those that are so fragile they should not be lent out, for example, or are otherwise in need of preservation.
From “Digging Into The Science of Old Books” by Henry Fountain, New York Times, 11.16.2009
In addition to the smell outside after it rains, the smell of old books is probably my favorite scent in the whole entire world.
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Tags: Dialogue, reading
Today I’m dedicating the Electropop Dance Party to The Asteroids Galaxy Tour. Get ready for some sugary, psychedelic, jazz-laden electropop. Oh, and they’re Danish. And they’ve been referred to as a “collective of like-minded people.” They’d fit in like a charm in Austin.
TAGT first made waves in 2008 when their single, “Around The Bend” was used in a commercial for the iPod Touch. Since then, a few of their other tracks have been used in other commercials and episodes of “Gossip Girl.” This fall, “Around the Bend” could also be heard in the Vogue documentary, The September Issue. This band just looks cool.The lead singer, Mette Lindberg reminds me of Nico:
So. This six-piece band (with Lindberg and producer Lars Iversen at the helm) just released a full length album entitled Fruit. This might be the most fitting album title for a band I’ve heard in a long time. One look at the video for their first release off of Fruit, “The Golden Age,” and you’ll see what I mean. It’s all bright colors, happy days and sunshine. It’s fruity and sweet. I’ll admit, at first listen it was kind of tough for me to get into it, but as I listened to the track over and over it really grew on me. Now I can’t get the rhythm out of my head. And I love the album cover:
The album kicks off with “Lady Jesus,” a really funky tune with an infectious beat. Lindberg’s voice is stellar and I love how the acoustic guitar riffs manage to fit in really well. “The Sun Ain’t Shining No More,” has a 60’s pop feeling to it and the following track, “Push the Envelope” brings an epic sound that’s clearly influenced by the more bombastic side of 70’s funk and rock. I love how that song is so dense and there are so many different layers. “Satellite” brings things down a little bit. Instead of being heavy on synthesizers, guitars and horns, the song grooves and slithers along while Lindberg’s voice commands a towering presence. I love when she sings, “Think I need somebody. Are you somebody?”
“Crazy” is a unique track on the album. Compared to the other tracks, this song is noticeably more subdued and brings more of the psychedelic, trippy side of the band to the forefront. Lindberg’s voice is once again the centerpiece. “Around The Bend” is included on the album. “Sunshine Coolin’” is my second favorite track. I love how it sounds so modern and fresh, but it still has a ‘60’s throwback feel. You can’t help but shake your hips to this one. “Hero” takes a ballad-ish turn. It’s slower and more subdued, but again, with the strength of Lindberg’s voice and the sheer talent of the musicians, it’s not boring in any way. The album closes with “Inner City Blues,” which in my opinion is the best track on this record. I love how it’s kind of bluesy, but stays true to the band’s psychedelic brand of pop. And there’s this futuristic quality to it. Clearly, TAGT evokes all kinds of influences and images.
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour are interesting and different. They’re the perfect antidote to a long day at the office or the perfect band to include on a party soundtrack. Or for jamming out in your car while you’re stuck in rush hour traffic on Lamar. You can’t help but be in a good mood after you’ve listened to this record.
Check out the band’s MySpace here. It looks like they’re only touring in Europe for the time being.
Their page on iLike.
And their YouTube channel.
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Tags: listening, electropop
Joshua James, “Build Me This”
I’ve been listening to more Americana (I just felt so weird writing that for some reason,) and folkier tunes lately. Just that time of year I guess. I love how sparse and bare it can sound. It seems to fit the mood I get into as the year winds down. It getting darker earlier. It’s chillier in the evenings. It’s about that time to start feeling moodier. Although I try not to.
In light of this personal trend, I was really excited to learn about Joshua James. A 25 year old singer-songwriter from Nebraska, James has already released a handful of albums and shared the lineup with the likes of Ani Di Franco and David Gray. He’s had a song selected as NPR’s “Song of the Day” and he also looks a little like Jared Leto’s distant cousin, no?
James’ most recent album, “Build Me This” was released not too long ago and let me tell ya’ll, it is something really special. James’ voice has a whispery and raspy quality, but don’t be fooled. It’s soulful and heavy when it needs to be and is perfect for the dark themes he sings about: love lost, small town strife, religion, traveling, and so on. When listening to this album, those are the things I thought of. Moreover, it evokes strong imagery of the high plains and all that that entails: the vast expanses of empty, wind swept fields, small towns dotted here and there, isolation and so on.
The album opens with “Coal War,” which kicks things off with a big spark. There are tinges of country and southern rock throughout. Same with the next track, “Magazine.” The Americana, folk side rears its head on “Weeds.” He sings,
“We’ll all be damned when the sun don’t shine, and your broken words will come floatin’ back to you.”
“Mother Mary,” a favorite of mine, breaks into the middle of the album with a vengeance.
“Well I’m havin’ this baby,
The 1st of July
Job is a joke,
and there’s a bank account dry
The Lord loves his children
Like your Good Book does teach
Well, he burned these here bastards
And put shoes on my feet
Mother Mary, come”
In addition to loving the darker rock turn on “Mother Mary,” this was the track where I became absolutely enthralled by James’ writing. It reminds me of Neil Young or Greg Brown or Ryan Adams during the Whiskeytown days. I just love how James weaves these intricate stories about hardened characters and provides an accurate and honest account of a certain side of American life. James is an excellent story teller. “Annabelle,” the next track, is another one of those faster, rock influenced songs with the same lyrical sensibilities.
James calms things down again with “In The Middle.” He sings, “I got cold, black coffee on the right side of the bed. I picture you sleeping there next to me, with your toes all pretty red. And the misty gray sky morning hovers over your head. So will you meet me in the middle, like you said?” The album continues it’s slow denouement with “Kitchen Tile” and “Lawn Full of Marigolds.”
James explores a more ominous side on “Daniel.” The eerie beginning features James’ voice against nothing but a haunting organ, spare guitar riffs and a steady drum. “Tell my mother, I made it to the promised land,” he sings. And just when you think this is another slow, dark acoustic song, you’re in the middle of a rousing crescendo.”Build Me This” closes with “Benediction,” which I think is my very favorite track. Again, it starts subdued, but surprises you with strong, loud, rock driven riffs at the end. James brings his voice forward with a fury that made my eyes widen and my heart shake a bit. He sings, “Father, I have given up.”
I love this album. Love, love, love. I truly think Joshua James has a long career ahead of him and I will gleefully listen to each and every song, bad weather days or not.
Here’s where to learn more about Joshua James:
His very impressive MySpace, complete with tour dates.
His very pretty website.
And a recent(ish) review on Paste.
And this is really cool: Joshua James appeared on KGSR recently. The interview is lovely. He opens with a great story about sleeping in a dugout on the way to Lolapalooza.
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Tags: listening, Music, Reviews
Music News You Can Use
What’s up, kids?
1. Peter Squires Tour Diary blog
The first thing I want to talk about tonight is Peter Squires’ tour diary blog. I wrote about this very talented singer- songwriter a few weeks ago. Peter is now on a U.S. tour and is documenting the experience on his blog. I think this is such a neat idea. He’s posting about the ups and downs of the tour and it’s just really cool to read things from the artist’s perspective. He’s also posting video and pics of each of his gigs. Peter just completed a run of New England shows and will be making his way to Austin in early December. He’s scheduled to play at Flipnotics on December 11th. I will be there, and you should be too. His tour blog is here. Website is here. And a cute tour poster below:
2. Velvet Underground, or what’s left, to reunite for a Q&A at the New York Public Library
I thought this was a really cool idea. Basically, Lou Reed, Maureen Tucker and Doug Yule are appearing at the NY Public Library on December 8th to discuss the band and their music. It’s part of the library’s “Live From NYPL” series. I wonder if when he was playing at Max’s Kansas City in 1970, Lou Reed ever thought to himself, “Someday I’ll be 67 years old and will participate in a lecture at the New York Public Library.” More details here.
3. NPR Music Goodness
The folks at NPR, including Monitor Mix’s Carrie Brownstein (love) have spent the last couple of weeks covering the best music of the last decade. Lots of music blogs are doing the same thing, but I don’t think any of them have been quite as comprehensive as NPR’s. Check out this article: Memorable Songs, Artists and Moments: 2000-09. For this article, NPR sent out a survey to members of the music and arts communities and asked them: What is the one song, movement or artist that sums up the decade for you, and why? Lots of good answers.
Michaelangelo Matos also took some time on Monitor Mix a couple days ago to discuss the following point of contention amongst musicophiles: “What’s In An Indie?” This is a topic I’ve always found intriguing because I think it has more implications than simply “are you producing your stuff yourself?” I particularly liked this bit:
Indie isn’t a genre any more than alternative was, but it denotes something important about the music in its tent — where it came from, where it might go. The term will likely flip again soon, especially as the major-label system skids ever harder. Maybe alternative will come back into fashion the way the mullet did — slathered in irony, delivered with a wink. Whatever happens, context still drives how we think about music, however much we enjoy putting it all on shuffle, and the story of how it got from there to here will always make it sound even richer than it does on its own.
4. NME crowns The Strokes’ “This Is It” as their top album of the decade. What?
I mean, this album was okay…but the best of the decade? Really? It’s fun to go through the list, though, and reminisce a bit.
5. Blakroc album due on Black Friday
I think this is such an interesting project. The Black Keys have recorded an album with the likes of Mos Def, RZA, Q-Tip, Ludacris and others. Blakroc will be available on Friday. I’m eager to give it a good long listen. For now, I’ve gazing at the photos on the website.
6. The Walkmen’s negatives
Okay, so this isn’t really news. The Walkmen posted some negatives of their recent recording session on their MySpace. It just makes me happy to know they’re recording and have plans for a 2010 album. I can’t wait. Because I’m a geek, I searched them on Google News just now and found a review of one of their recent concerts in Chicago. Reading about how amazing their live performance was makes me hardly able to wait for them to come back to Austin. I love this:
Believe it or not, this North Eastern quintet remains indie-rock’s best kept secret. That might seem unfathomable to you, because really, everyone knows about The Walkmen. But what they don’t know is how remarkable they happen to be live. It’s not like they’re just a “solid” band, no, they are a solid fucking band. When they jump into “The Rat”, arguably the band’s key hit, they play it with enthusiasm and an energy that makes you think, “Hmm, did they just write this song?” Drummer Matt Barrick, slim cut and “high school” looking, tears away like he’s performing on The Tonight Show, while frontman Hamilton Leithauser storms the stage without moving once. Like I said, you have to see ‘em for it to make sense.
Finally, I’ve been spinning the new Them Crooked Vultures album nonstop. It’s stunning. If you haven’t listened to it yet, well, what are you doing?
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Tags: current events, listening, Music, News
Miss New Foodie, update
A couple of you e-mailed me to ask me how my food project has been going. First of all, it’s crazy to me that there are people actually reading this hot mess of a blog. Secondly, thank you so much for asking and e-mailing.
So, a couple of weeks ago I wrote about a new project I’ve taken on related to food. I challenged myself to cook a meal from scratch at least four times a week. The goal has been to eat better and more consciously. So far, this project has been really tough. It’s a challenge to find the desire or the energy to come home and make a meal after a long day of work, meetings, doctor’s appointments, etc. But, I’m happy to report that so far I’ve done it. I have the rest of this week (not including Thanksgiving Day) and a little bit of next week and it will have a whole month.
At night, once I’ve gotten myself into cooking mode, it’s actually been fun to go through the process of making the recipe. I’ve also learned a few things here and there as I’ve been making all these new dishes. For example, I had no idea butternut squash has seeds in it. I mean, it seems so obvious now, because it’s a squash just like a pumpkin, so it would make sense that it’d have a gooey web of seeds. But, having never eaten butternut squash before, imagine my surprise when I sliced into the bulb of the squash and a mass of seeds came out. Also, when you add fresh basil leaves to a wok recipe, they’ll shrivel up almost immediately. Little things that I’m sure are completely obvious to about 95 percent of the general population, but things I never knew.
An unexpected byproduct of this project (I think) is that I’ve actually lost a couple of pounds. I’m wondering if it’s because I haven’t really eaten any processed food. Intriguing.
Finally, when I started this I picked out many recipes that were completely vegetarian. I did that on accident, really. But, I never knew I enjoyed veggies so much. In light of this, I’ve been reading a lot about vegetarianism lately and it’s making a lot of sense. For various reasons I won’t go into detail on, I’m considering making the transition.
I wanted to share my favorite recipe so far. I got this from Everyday Food magazine.
Corn and butternut squash soup
Serves 4, prep time: 15 minutes, total time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 ½ pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks (approx. 5 cups)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 box (10 oz.) frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 ½ teaspoons curry powder
Coarse salt & ground pepper
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) vegetable broth
¾ cup heavy cream
Instructions:
In a large heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high; add squash and onion. Cook until onion is soft, about 7 minutes. Add corn and curry powder; cook until curry is fragrant, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add broth and simmer until squash is tender, about 25 minutes. In a blender, blend half the soup until smooth. Return to pot and stir in cream; heat through over medium-low, but don’t boil.
Per serving: 329 calories.
Seeds!
Filed under: Life, Me | 2 Comments
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