Tuesday, July 29, 2014

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.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

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


Tuesday, July 22, 2014

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.

Monday, July 21, 2014

After all this work she's still built to sail


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

Friday, July 18, 2014

I'll wish for shoulders bold and broad



Mineral - "Gloria" (The Power Of Failing)

Thursday, July 17, 2014

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.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

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


Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Scuttle


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

Monday, July 14, 2014

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.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

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)

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

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

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

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.