Dream Covers

sooo here's my random rambling thought of the moment:

I would LOVE to hear my friend Alex Gruenburg cover Serge Gainsbourg. just once. kthanks:)

Yeah Yeah, Yeahs?

so earlier i mentioned i was still unsure of new YYYs (a record i was REALLY looking forward to)...and well, i like it...2 of the songs anyway...(i think 'Zero' is awful btw). i mean, it's no 'Fever To Tell' or anything...like for me 'Fever' still reigns supreme but it's definitely a progression i think. I am mainly enjoying 'Heads Will Roll' and 'Soft Shock', a lot.

St.Vincent!

Can I just say how excited I am for new St.Vincent!!!! Just heard her new one 'The Strangers' and love it. It has this really interesting like carnival-esque rhythm going on. it makes me think of gramophones...Her songs are sooo interesting and unpredictable. I think I'd add her to my dream label thinking about it, I really love what she's doing. I'm just excited for 09 in general, theres just a lot of good music going on...wow.

Another artist I'm currently listening to a lot of is Bat For Lashes. I first heard her, oh maybe a year ago or so ago ('Prescilla'). I dont love her or anything...i guess her voice is just a little too 'pretty' for me; like i'd really like to hear other things she can do vocally, but I really dig what she's got going on. I love her use of instrumentation. She utilizes some of my fav. ones including the harpsichord, and i think she has some really interesting rhythms going on. And 'Horse and I' is just, kind of blew me away actually...I was really surprised and taken by that song. Again, the harpsichord, the strings there are just gorgeous and I love the marching band beats. She's doing some great stuff I'm really excited about. and i dig 'Daniel'!...ha...i didnt at first..like compared to 'Prescilla' it was meh..but it's growing on me i like it i do.

'Shake That Devil'/'Producer' Extension

so 'Shake That Devil' by Antony and the Johnsons is pretty genius...I first heard it a few weeks back on npr and was blown away. finally bought it last week off their 'Another World' EP.

This would definitely fit under my examples of 'story-song' structures that work. i love the way it opens, sort of haunting almost hymnal-like..and then how it transitions into something else, into another song almost. this btw, is one of the only Antony & the Johnsons songs I like. the song really blows me away...'Another World' is really good too.

and speaking of EPs, the Ettes put out a good one that i just bought as well...'Danger Is'. i LOVE 'No Home' and well, thats pretty much it but i literally cant stop listening to it. 'Lo and Behold' is pretty good, real catchy and she sounds awsome live.

The Kills

so i'm currently (re)obsessed w/the Kills. theyre coming this month and i'm stoked. theres something about their dry, lo-fi take i just love. theres a lot of that garage revival stuff happening but something about them is just different. and i'm all over it...from the first time i heard them, around this time last year actually. i'm finding i'm just really obsessed w/the drum machine sound in general right now. theyve taken it to another level i think.


current jibberish in my head: shuh shuh shuhhwink!

'Tetris'/'Comet-songs'

So i just got back from walking my dog...Bjork's 'all is full of love' came on shuffle mode. I noticed what i love about that song and many others, is the way they take form, their structure. Like the song is as much about taking shape and evolving, this reflexive quality...the song reveals itself. it's like, it begins in pieces and over the duration of the song, those pieces come together and as i was walking, contemplating this, i realized it's sorta like the game of Tetris...

Or like the song is just a pit-stop along the way almost. like these sounds are comets or vagabonds traveling along, and every now and again they stop/explode/collide at various points; maybe earth, maybe the moon or the gas station or wherever and come together making the song. like the song is a result of these stops or intersecting points along the way. in other words i love that 'this is the song and how it got here'-structure.

Then at the end of 'All is full..' i love how it sort of unravels again. this raveling then unraveling...oh and the undulating beats and sounds..how they just kind of float along. this is also heard in Bjork's 'Desired Constellation' especially. that's actually when I first thought of songs in this way..the song literally floats.

Currently listening to: Star's "Your Ex-lover Is Dead" and early Shins, esp. 'Caring Is Creepy'

Speaking of Conan

I can't mention Arcade Fire w/out mentioning Conan O'Brien. Besides being one of my favorite comedians (I'm having major w/drawl here...June can't come soon enough), it's his show that introduced me to some of my fav. bands; including Arcade Fire, as well as Death From Above 1979 (R.I.P). Just stumbled on this--I post for obvious reasons:

http://jetcomx.com/2009/03/17/the-6-best-musical-performances-from-late-night-with-conan-obrien/

Paralysis--Arcade Fire

So Arcade Fire has long been a favorite of mine. Like they're probably my favorite band. Truly epic. ("Funeral" i think will always reign supreme btw...we shall see..)

'Neighborhood #2/Laika' (a 'perfect' song) just played on some streaming radio i had on. I almost wish it hadn't...like, I have this thing w/such music...I have to put songs like that away for awhile...vault them so to speak. It's museum music...I can only take them in small doses. They paralyze me. and it didn't fail to do it again this time. (They're not on my 'dream label' btw, b/c i stand no chance of course!)...I still need to see 'Miroir Noir'.

little backstory: I first discovered them on Conan O'Brien in 04...i couldnt believe what i was hearing...i hurriedly searched tour dates...my f-ing luck, they had just passed thru the night before w/Death From Above 1979 (no joke)...September 05 I traveled to NYC to see them play Central Park. David Bowie made a surprise appearance. I had to sneak 'behind' the show...sold-out of course and no scalpers...but i still saw them and it was unreal.

To this day I'll never be able to explain the effect they had on me....definitely 'turning-point' music. One of those pivotal moments..life before/after Arcade Fire....

Currently listening to: Cursive's 'The Recluse', early Modest Mouse, The Menahan Street Band/Dunham Records (thanks NPR!), some early T.V. On the Radio