Sunday, May 30, 2010

Vampire Holiday

One of my favorite songs on Contra from Vampire Weekend - "Holiday". Nothing too deep, but perfect for a warm spring day, thinking of a summer vacation.


Saturday, May 29, 2010

The Dø do for free

The samplers found on Amazon's MP3 page are really great ways to find new music. A new one called Six Degrees Records Global Grooves Sampler is one of my latest favorites. All kinds of great rhythms and different sounds. Here's the one from The Dø, a group that has shown up on a few samplers, including the Amie St. download sampler mentioned in last week's notes.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Joker's Daughter

A favorite find from last year, Joker's Daughter is yet another project where the prolific Danger Mouse is involved. In this case, he's working with Greek singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Helena Costas. You can find Joker's Daughter covering a Cure song on Vehement Flame #4 too.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Pacific Theater

Heard Pacific Theater as it wrapped up Melody du Jour on WZBC. Liked the sound of Taj, but I couldn't even find it on Napster. So I went to their website and grabbed this video, also from their debut CD, Animals At Night. Good stuff.


Lions from Whale Heart Records on Vimeo.


Invisible

Justine Bennett, a folk rocker from the US West Coast, will be in Vehement Flame #5, if I can ever find the time to finalize it. Set list is ready, music imported, commentary and links need to be added. This weekend?

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

AC Newman now

Very interesting interview with one of the members of my favorite band at the moment, The New Pornographers. Pitchfork magazine asks AC Newman about various things, like favorite books, movies, songs etc. Read the transcript here or listen to the podcast here:

Monday, May 17, 2010

KB Pictorial

A Kate Bush Pictorial, set to an alternative version of "Hounds Of Love":

Friday, May 14, 2010

Bruins Rooters

Local boys The Dropkick Murphy's sing a Bruins rah-rah song. They're going to need all the help they can get tonight!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Broken Bells

Until I listened to The New Pornographers Together, the Broken Bells' eponymus debut was my favorite new CD of 2010. Here's the opening song, which was released a few months before the CD came out. It's called The High Road.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Streaming Horses

You can stream Band of Horses entire upcoming CD, Infinite Arms, on their website in a cool viewer. Check it out here.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Vehement Flame #4 shownotes

Show notes for Vehement  Flame #4 : Local and Birthday

The incredibly talented, and busy, Sarah Howells, used to front for the now defunct Halflight. I heard a cut from them and ordered their 6 song CD from England and really like it. Now she has a couple gigs going, including Paper Aeroplanes and Al Lewis & Sarah Howells. She is all over the place. Here's Sarah doing a Ryan Adams cover with Francesco Borod:

00:00:54 Worship - Halflight (My Disguise 2007)

I first heard the great driving guitars of the Heartless Bastards on this mixtape - Winter Selection 2010 mixed by Midimúm. I really like the CD this id from. The band lineup changed a bit for their latest CD, The Mountain and the sound softened. Still pretty good, but I got this one first.
00:03:22 Into the Opening - Heartless Bastards (All This Time 2006)

Here's one of my favorite releases from 2009 and one of the coolest sounds you'll hear.
00:07:42 Opening Bell - Tyondai Braxton (Central Market 2009)

A favorite "alternative" band from the 80s, Juluka is a South African group featuring Johnny Clegg, they had a few minor hits.
00:13:04 Scatterlings - Juluka (Scatterlings 1982)

This is a local band who really hit it out of the park with this 2009 release. I immediately grabbed their other release, Diamonds In The Dark, which has a more country-fied feel to it, but is still really solid. Hear more cuts on their web site.
00:18:51 Do It For Free - Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles (The Stars Are Out 2009)

21 April was Robert Smith's 51st (!) birthday and I love The Cure, so I had to throw one Cure song in here. I probably own more Cure CDs than any other group (well, perhaps besides Dead Can Dance - I'll have to count), so it's hard to pick just one song, but I'm sure there will be more in the future. Here's a random one from their huge double CD effort of 1987, perhaps at the peak of their creative powers.
00:21:40 Like Cockatoos - The Cure (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me 1987)

And here's a great cover from Joker's Daughter, a really interesting duo of Helena Costas, a Greek Cypriot born in London and the ever present and clever Danger Mouse, who just seems to be everywhere these days. This is from a collection of Cure covers, and was originally on The Cure's 1985 release "The Head On The Door".
00:25:17 Kyoto Song - Joker's Daughter (Perfect As Cats : A Tribute to the Cure 2009)

Speaking of massive double LP efforts, my 70s flashback for this episode is the classic album from 1973, Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road". Only one CD, but still many great songs on this CD. Bernie Taupin wrote some amazing songs and Elton gives this ballad a real jazzy treatment. I really should add a few more Elton John CDs to my collection, as the ones released around this time (e.g., Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, Honky Chateau) were EJ at his height, before his personality became bigger than his music.
So save your audition for somebody
Who hasn’t got so much to lose
’Cause you can tell by the lines I’m reciting
That I’ve seen that movie, too
00:29:11 I've Seen That Movie Too - Elton John (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 1973)

Hope to catch this up and coming group in concert in a few days, as they are playing locally. Loved their sound since I first heard it on Stereogum and am glad to see the CD is finally available domestically. Be sure to grab a copy of the MP3 on their site.
00:35:07 Generator 2nd Floor - Freelance Whales (Weathervanes 2010)

A short lived NH female rock group, She's The Car features the powerful voice of Grace Read. Teenage girls from NH putting out this professional sound - wow!
00:39:46 Vibeke - She's The Car

The iconic indie label Ghostly International recently released a 2 disc set called Horizon Line / Ghostly By Night. The first one, Horizon Line, contains remixes of songs by GI's stable of artists. This one is a electronica piece by Tycho. You can grab it free in a bunch of places, like XLR8R.
00:46:04 Adrift (Shigeto's Adrift A Dream Mix) - Tycho (Horizon Line 2010)

Speaking of free music, here's a great compilation from Stereogum - DRIVE X - Stereogum tribute to Automatic For The People by REM. Here's the lead cut from it:
00:51:02 Drive - The Veils

The Cruel Sea was an Australian rock group from the late 90s and did some great heavy guitar rock.
00:55:19 The Honeymoon Is Over - The Cruel Sea (The Honeymoon Is Over 1993)

Vehement Flame #4 : Local and Birthday

Download Vehement Flame #4 mp3 (56mb - 58 minutes long)
(click little Play button to listen now)

Subscribe To Podcast

Citay, Halflight, Heartless Bastards, Tyondai Braxton, Juluka, Sarah Borges and the Broken Records, The Cure, Joker's Daughter, Elton John, Freelance Whales, She's The Car, Tycho, The Veils, The Cruel Sea

Playlist
00:00:00 Return From Silence - Citay
00:00:54 Worship - Halflight
00:03:22 Into The Opening - Heartless Bastards
00:07:42 Opening Bell - Tyondai Braxton
00:13:04 Scatterlings - Juluka
00:18:51 Do It For Free - Sarah Borges and the Broken Records
00:21:40 Like Cockatoos - The Cure
00:25:17 Kyoto Song - Joker's Daughter
00:29:11 I've Seen That Movie Too - Elton John
00:35:07 Generator 2nd Floor - Freelance Whales
00:39:46 Vibeke - She's The Car
00:46:04 Adrift (Shigeto's Adrift A Dream Mix) - Tycho
00:51:02 Drive - The Veils
00:55:19 The Honeymoon Is Over - The Cruel Sea

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Together, Pornographically speaking

The New Pornographer's Your Hands (Together), from their new release, Together from Matador:

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Gabby Plays Solo

From their Radio City Music Hall gig, here's Gabby from Rodrigo y Gabriela going solo: