You should keep your good friends

William Onyeabor - "When the Going Is Smooth & Good" (Anything You Sow)

I am the night

Perturbator - "I Am the Night" (I Am the Night)

Perfect for those nights you want to feel like you're part of a rebel, cyberpunk hacker organization trying to take down a robot-controlled government in dystopian 1985.

Feel like i blew my soul out

EMA - "3Jane" (The Future's Void)

EMA's most recent album, The Future's Void, is maybe not quite as good as her incredible debut, but that's a high bar to reach. Though it's definitely growing on me as I listen to it more.  It's a bit colder and noisier, but Lord knows there are moments of incredible intimate beauty (video above). Also, one time my band opened for her at the Detroit Bar and she said I had very good stage presence. She doesn't know it, but that was one of my all-time-favorite compliments, and I will defend her from all harm if possible.

Playlist for 7-17-14

Hey everyone!

Just as a heads up, I will be getting a sub for this week’s show because I’ll be down at Comic Con getting drunk while surrounded by people dressed as Finn. Feel free to tune in, you just won’t hear my mellifluous voice. And I’ll be back next week. :)

But if you miss me, think of all the songs we’ve listened to together:

Things that Are Square 7-17-14

(*) = New release

William Onyeabor - When the Going Is Smooth & Good - Anything You Sow

(*) OOIOO - Kecuput Aneh - Gamel

Stereolab & Nurse With Wound - Simple Headphone Mind - Simple Headphone Mind

Althea & Donna - Uptown Top Ranking - Uptown Top Ranking (For Sydney & Taylor in Tustin, CA)

Man Forever - The Clear Realization - Ryonen (With So Percussion)

Hella - Biblical Violence - Hold Your Horse Is

Rodan - The Everyday World of Bodies - Rusty

Owls - Anyone Can Have a Good Time - Owls (For Sam in Santa Ana, CA)

Quicksand - Head to Wall - Slip (For Leah in Anaheim, CA)

Wire - Ex Lion Tamer - Pink Flag

Augustus Pablo - Stop Them Jah - Augustus Pablo (For Omar in Irvine, CA)

Slowdive - Alison - Souvlaki

Dean & Britta - I'll Keep It With Mine (Scott Hardkiss Electric Remix) - 13 Most Beautiful

Allo Darlin' - Let's Go Swimming - Allo Darlin'

Black Tambourine - I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend - OneTwoThreeFour

(*) Martha - Cosmic Misery - Courting Strong

Joanna Gruesome - Sugarcrush - E.P.

School Knights - Prom Queen - Rush S.K.

Jens Lekman - You Can Call Me Al - Unreleased

The 6ths - San Diego Zoo - Wasps' Nests

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Nashville Parthenon - Etiquette

Parenthetical Girls - Weaknesses - Privilege

The New Pornographers - Sing Me Spanish Techno - Twin Cinema

Dump - 1999 - That Skinny Motherfucker with the High Voice?

Jónsi - Grow Till Tall - Go

Mogwai - Take Me Somewhere Nice - Rock Action

(*) The Antlers - Refuge - Familiars

The Good Life - Inmates - Album of the Year

Mark Kozelek - Rock 'n' Roll Singer - What's Next to the Moon

Smog - Dress Sexy at My Funeral - Dongs of Sevotion

(*) Plaid - Hawkmoth - Reachy Prints

Genre research project 58/1359: Japanese Hip Hop

Japanese language Hip Hop. The subject matter is atypical of Hip Hop due to Japan's vastly different racial and social makeup: Hip Hop is almost exclusively a fashion statement in Japan, and many of the lyrics deal with various Japanese lifestyles and other materialistic topics such as food, technology and clothing. The vibe is often loose and eager to entertain while emulating African-American culture, a mostly mysterious entity to Japanese citizens. Some performers will go so far as to wear blackface on stage.

After all this work she's still built to sail

Songs: Ohia - "Not Just a Ghost's Heart" (Ghost Tropic)

I'll wish for shoulders bold and broad

Mineral - "Gloria" (The Power Of Failing)

Genre research project 57/1359: Samba-Reggae

Samba-Reggae is a percussion-focused style from Bahia, Brazil, originating in the 1980s and 1990s in the Bahian carnival's afro-blocos. Initially characterised by the fusion of Partido Alto and Reggaeton, it was influenced later on by Merengue and Salsa.

With a perceived stagnation of Axé music in the 1990s, connected to its immense growth in popularity and extensively forced commercialisation, Samba-Reggae gained an opportunity to expand its influence and strength in the Bahian musical culture, later reaching popularity outside Bahia, in connection with the continuing influence of the Axé music scene.

The genre mostly seeks to recreate African percussive sounds, intending to celebrate Bahian black roots of Bahian culture through primarily beat-driven compositions, with the addition of atabaques, pandeiros and other representative instruments of the Reggae and Samba musical movements for the background sound focused in these genres. The Samba-Reggae dance is another representative element from the genre, serving as complement and background, being performed accordingly with the rhythm of the drumming.

Playlist for 7-10-14

Man,

I really gotta get better at posting these things on time. I'm sure there are thousands of people waiting for me to post these playlists, and by waiting so long, I'm keeping them in horrible suspense. "What Built to Spill song did he play this week? Oh God! I simply cannot sleep without knowing. This is a waking nightmare from which I can never escape." I'm sorry. Here you go, my love.

Things that Are Square 7-10-14

(*) = New release

Sir Richard Bishop - Rasheed - Salvador Kali

(*) The Antlers - Surrender - Familiars

Low - Medicine Magazines - Things We Lost In the Fire

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Love Letter - No More Shall We Part

The Angels of Light - Two Women - How I Loved You

Jacob Borshard - Batman Summer of 89 - Unreleased

Jens Lekman - I Don't Want to Die Alone - The Opposite of Hallelujah

Frankie Cosmos - Dancing In the Public Eye - Zentropy

Kimya Dawson - The Competition - Remember that I <3 o:p="" you="">

Paul Baribeau & Ginger Alford - Hungry Heart - Darkness On the Edge Of Your Town

Defiance, Ohio - Petty Problems - The Great Depression

Nothing Painted Blue - Houseguest - Placeholders

Orange Juice - Blue Boy - The Glasgow School

Mercury Rev - Opus 40 - Deserter's Songs

Galaxie 500 - Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste - Peel Sessions

Built to Spill - Velvet Waltz - Perfect From Now On

Arab Strap - The Long Sea - The Red Thread

(*) Martha - Bubble In My Bloodstream - Courting Strong

Big Ups - Goes Black - Eighteen Hours of Static

Arab on Radar - Capt Mouth - Queen Hygiene II

Shellac - Mama Gina - 1000 Hurts

(*) Trap Them - Salted Crypts - Blissfucker

Pig Destroyer - Trojan Whore - Prowler in the Yard

Lustmord - Babel - The Word As Power

(*) Wolves In the Throne Room - Turning Ever Towards the Sun - Celestine

(*) OOIOO - Jesso Testa - Gamel

Fela Kuti - He Miss Road - He Miss Road

Danny Brown - Smokin & Drinkin - Old

Kids & Explosions - Use Your Words - Shit Computer

Wise Blood - B.I.G. E.G.O. - '+'

Say Hi To Your Mom - Blah Blah Blah - Impeccable Blahs

Scuttle

Stereolab & Nurse With Wound - "Simple Headphone Mind" (Simple Headphone Mind)

Genre research project 56/1359: Classical Crossover

Classical Crossover is a term applied to artists that use strong classical influences in their music, but ultimately have an accessible and popular sound to reach out to a wider audience.

My loose lips are sinking ships

Arab on Radar - "Capt Mouth" (Queen Hygiene II)

She stands in a dress of shrapnel

Pig Destroyer - "Trojan Whore" (Prowler In the Yard)

Playlist for 7-3-14

Hey, babies,

Sorry for taking so long to post this, but it's been a busy/cruddy week. But think of it this way: from right now, there's only 48 hours until we're together again! Won't that be lovely? I agree. It will be lovely. But until then, let's remember all the good times we had together:

Things that Are Square 7-3-14

(*) = New release

Angel Olsen - Forgiven/Forgotten - Burn Your Fire For No Witness (For Sam in Santa Ana, CA)

Elliott Smith - Independence Day - XO

Jonathan Richman - Parties in the U.S.A. - I, Jonathan

Os Mutantes - A Minha Menina - Os Mutantes

Frankie Cosmos - Buses Splash with Rain - Zentropy

The Magnetic Fields - The Book of Love - 69 Love Songs

Momus - Lucky Like St. Sebastian - Circus Maximus

Paul Baribeau - Only Babies Cry - Paul Baribeau

The Microphones - I Want Wind to Blow - The Glow, Pt. 2

(*) Emperor X - H.M.S. Blank Mediterranean (feat. Oliver Witchow) - The Orlando Sentinel 

American Football - Never Meant - American Football

(*) The Antlers - Doppelganger - Familiars

(*) Ought - Habit - More Than Any Other Day

Titus Andronicus - A More Perfect Union - The Monitor

Wipers - Youth of America - Youth of America

(*) Martha - 1997, Passing in the Hallway - Courting Strong

The Pastels - Nothing to Be Done - Truckload of Trouble

(*) Cloud Nothings - Now Here In - Here and Nowhere Else

(*) Heathers - Dare - I Know

(*) OOIOO - Atatawa - Gamel

ROVO - Horsess - LIVE at 日比谷野音 2003.05.05 - Man Drive Trance Special

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Born in the U.S.A. (With Concern) - Advance Base Battery Life

Say Hi to Your Mom - These Fangs - Impeccable Blahs

Casiokids - Finn Bikkjen! - Topp Stemming På Lokal Bar 

Sigur Rós - Ekki Mukk (D33J Remix) - Unreleased

RJD2 - Smoke & Mirrors - Deadringer

DJ Shadow - Building Steam with a Grain of Salt - Endtroducing.....

Mariah Carey - Touch My Body (Cyril Hahn Remix) - Unreleased

Perturbator - Naked Tongues (Feat. Memory Ghost's Isabella Goloversic) - I Am the Night

Four Tet - Sun Drums and Soil - Everything Ecstatic

Dosh - Naoise - Naoise EP

(*) Nightmares on Wax - I Am You (Live in Chicago) - N.O.W. Is the Time

Genre research project 55/1359: Midwest Emo

Midwest emo emerged as a style of Emo in the mid-1990s. Its advent is usually credited to Sunny Day Real Estate, who combined elements of their native Seattle, WA's Indie Rock scene with the Post-Hardcore music propagated by Washington, D.C.-based Dischord Records. The music tends toward alternating loud and soft dynamics; off-key, strained or "whiny" vocals with little screaming; and "twinkly" arpeggiated guitar parts. Other prominent artists in this genre include Mineral, The Promise Ring and Texas Is the Reason. Artists such as The Get Up Kids and Jimmy Eat World, whose earlier output can be described as Midwest emo, helped to lay the foundation for what would become Emo-Pop.

The genre's name stems from its high prevalence in cities such as Chicago, Madison, Kansas City and Cleveland, but the style is in no way limited to the Midwest, as exemplified by Sunny Day Real Estate and Texas is the Reason.