Playlist for 12-25-14 (Christmas Edition)

My sister and I did a Christmas show for you! Here it is! Happy holidays!

Things that Are Square 12-25-14

(*) = New release

Eef Barzelay - Joy To the World - Bitter Honey

(*) Mark Kozelek - Silent Night - Mark Kozelek Sings Christmas Carols

The Lucksmiths - The Winter Proper - Spring a Leak

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow - No More Shall We Part

Jens Lekman - Cold Swedish Winter - When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog

(*) Los Campesinos! - A Doe to a Deer - A Los Campesinos! Christmas

Belle and Sebastian - O Little Town of Bethlehem - 2002-12-18 Peel Christmas Party

Okkervil River - Listening to Otis Redding at Home During Christmas - Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See

Merle Haggard - If We Make It Through December - 20 Greatest Hits

The Just Joans - Last Christmas - Seasonal Greet

Arab Strap - Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) - Unreleased

Tom Waits - Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis - Blue Valentine

The Halo Benders - Snowfall - God Don't Make No Junk

Galaxie 500 - Snowstorm - On Fire

Pedro the Lion - The First Noel - The First Noel

Low - Little Drummer Boy - Christmas

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Cold White Christmas - Etiquette

The Polyphonic Spree - Happy Christmas (War Is Over) - Unreleased

Kids of Widney High - Christmas Is the Time - Let's Get Busy

The Aquabats - Holiday Road - Holiday Extravaganza

RX Bandits - You For Christmas - It's A Punk and Ska Christmas Gone Wrong (For Grant in Tustin, CA)

The Pogues - Fairytale of New York - If I Should Fall From Grace With God

Bright Eyes - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - A Christmas Album

The Vandals - Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies - Christmas with the Vandals

Shannon and the Clams - All I Want For Christmas Is You - Ruin Christmas

The Sonics - Santa Claus - Here Are the Sonics!!!

eels - Everything Is Gonna Be Cool this Christmas - Electro-Shock Blues Show

Sufjan Stevens - O Holy Night - Songs for Christmas

Playlist for 12-18-14 (2014 Year End Wrap-Up)

Hey guys!

Sorry I haven't been good about posting the playlists. Busy around the holidays, you understand. But here's the playlist for the 2014 Year-End Wrap-Up I did. I hope you liked it.

Things that Are Square 12-18-14

2014 Year-End Wrap-Up Edition

(*) = New release

(*) Yoni Wolf - Somewhere There's a Feather - Snowjams

(*) Allo Darlin' - Crickets In the Rain - We Come From the Same Place

(*) Crying - Emblem - Get Olde/Second Wind

(*) Dads - Chewing Ghosts - I'll Be the Tornado

Frankie Cosmos - Dancing In the Public Eye - Zentropy

Girlpool - Plants and Worms - Girlpool

Angel Olsen - Hi-Five - Burn Your Fire for No Witness (For Sam in Santa Ana, CA)

Ought - Habit - More Than Any Other Day

Sun Kil Moon - I Can't Live Without My Mother's Love - Benji

Julian Casablancas + The Voidz - Where No Eagles Fly - Tyranny (For Michael in Irvine, CA)

A Silver Mt. Zion - What We Loved Was Not Enough - Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything

Amber Run - I Found - Pilot (For Alex in Costa Mesa, CA)

Martha - Cosmic Misery - Courting Strong

Big Ups - Goes Black - Eighteen Hours of Static

(*) Shellac - Compliant - Dude Incredible

(*) Cult of Youth - God's Garden - Final Days

ACxDC - Cheap Punks - Antichrist Demoncore

Babymetal - Gimme Choko!! - Babymetal

(*) Old Man Gloom - A Hideous Nightmare Lies Upon the World - The Ape of God

(*) Run the Jewels - Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck) (Feat. Zack De La Rocha) - Run the Jewels 2

(*) Milo - You Are Go(o)d to Me (Editorial Length) - A Toothpaste Suburb

FKA Twigs - Pendulum - LP1

QT - Hey QT - Hey QT

Baths - Ocean Death - Ocean Death

(*) Aphex Twin - minipops 67 (source field mix) - Syro

This world has never been in the awful shape it's in

Merle Haggard - "Jesus Take Ahold" (Hag)

There's a part of me that's telling me, "you know you disagree with this song on some level..." but the rest of me is too busy learning how to play it to care.

Genre Research Project 85/1362: Jazz poetry

Jazz poetry emerged during the 1920s as a form of poetry incorporating the style and the rhythms of Jazz, which simultaneously began to expand amongst the African-American communities of the US. The earliest so-called jazz poets, such as Carl Sandburg, only included jazz in their poetry as a thematic element, predating the first wave of authentic jazz poetry in which authors such as Langston Hughes embraced the musical aspects of jazz, especially its rhythm and repetition. Hughes' first book, The Weary Blues is considered the first collection of genuine jazz poems.

The genre gained great popularity during the Harlem Renaissance, as many poets merged poetry and jazz continuing the trend started by Langston Hughes. This movement was revived during the 1950 by the poets of the beat generation, who in many cases included jazz poetry as part of their characteristic Beat Poetry. This heterogeneous group of poets included Amiri Baraka, Jack Kerouac and Sterling Brown. Some authors, like Lawrence Ferlinghetti, usually collaborated with jazz ensembles, giving rise to the definitive fusion of jazz and poetry. Albums which clearly convey this musical blend include Poetry and Jazz at the Blackhawk by Kenneth Rexroth, who is considered the founding father of the San Francisco Renaissance.

During later decades, a third wave of jazz poetry was spearheaded by Gil Scott-Heron and Jayne Cortez with different approaches. While the former included jazz elements as a mere artistic device used to evoke his Afro-American origins, the latter focused her poetry on the melodic patters and cadences of jazz. Scott-Heron's work preceded the rise of Hip Hop, amongst whose derivative forms is Jazz Rap, which encompasses many formal aspects of poetry jazz, and renders them with modern hip hop production methods. Nevertheless, jazz poetry continued to be cultivated, along with the many other branches of contemporary poetry, during the past few decades by poets like Hayden Carruth and Yusef Komunyakaa.

[Editor's note: This is exactly the kind of hidden treasure I'm hoping to find with this project. This is fantastic.]

She can't keep her trousers on

Polaris - "Ivy Boy" (Music from the Adventures of Pete & Pete)\

I feel like everyone probably knows how good the theme song to Pete & Pete is, but turns out the rest of the album is pretty strong, as well.

You won't survive the information age

Pedro the Lion - "Letter From a Concerned Follower" (The Only Reason I Feel Secure)

2014: The year Kyle decided to get real, real into Pedro the Lion.

Horror from beyond the stars

Darkspace - Dark 4.19 (Dark Space III I)

Black metal/dark ambient with its eyes to the Stygian blackness of space. I'm super into everything about this album except their inability to properly use Roman numerals.

God's garden

Cult of Youth - "God's Garden" (Final Days)

The year-end best list is getting a lot of restructuring in these last couple months of 2014.

Playlist for 12-11-14

Look at all the great songs I played this week!

Things that Are Square 12-11-14

(*) = New release

Songs: Ohia - Didn't It Rain - Didn't It Rain

(*) R.L. Kelly - I Cannot - Brown Horse

Regina Spektor - Carbon Monoxide - Soviet Kitsch

Smog - Let's Move to the Country - Knock Knock (For Chris in Anaheim, CA)

Eric's Trip - Behind the Garage - Love Tara

(*) Allo Darlin' - Crickets In the Rain - We Come From the Same Place

Another Sunny Day - You Should All Be Murdered - London Weekend

The Wedding Present - Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft - George Best Plus

Beat Happening - Cast a Shadow - Black Candy

The Get Up Kids - Don't Hate Me - Four Minute Mile

Pedro the Lion - Rapture - Control

American Football - Never Meant - American Football

(*) Dads - Chewing Ghosts - I'll Be the Tornado

(*) Old Man Gloom - Burden - The Ape Of God

SubRosa - The Usher - More Constant Than the Gods

John Maus - Hey Moon - We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves

(*) Torn Hawk - I'm Flexible - Let's Cry and Do Pushups At the Same Time

(*) et aliae - Baby - Shh#ffb6c1

(*) Andy Stott - Faith In Strangers - Faith In Strangers

(*) Panda Bear - Mr Noah - Mr Noah

Playlist for 12-4-14

Look at all the great things I (and intern Katrina) played last week!

Things that Are Square 12-4-14

(*) = New release

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Nashville Parthenon - Etiquette

Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers - If I Can't Trust You With a Quarter (How I Trust With My Heart) - Starlight Hotel

Woody Guthrie - Do Re Mi - Dust Bowl Ballads

Ghost Mice - Survival - Andrew Jackson Jihad/Ghost Mice Split

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Cannibal's Hymn - Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus

(*) R.L. Kelly - The Great Big World - Brown Horse

Hefner - The Sad Witch - Breaking God's Heart

Dear Nora - This Will Be Our Year - Three States: Rarutues 1997-2007

Herman Düne - This Will Never Happen - Not On Top

(*) Dads - Chewing Ghosts - I'll Be the Tornado

Tullycraft - Josie - The Singles

(*) Ought - New Calm, Pt. 2 - Once More With Feeling

(*) Cut Hands - The Claw - Festival of the Dead

Xenia Rubino - Ultima - Magic Trix

How to Dress Well - Lover's Start - Love Remains

Grey Reverend - Everlasting - A Hero's Lie

Shy Girls - Still Not Falling - Timeshare

Blood Orange - Sutphin Boulevard -Coastal Grooves

Wise Blood - Alarm - ID

Deerhunter - Helicopter - Halcyon Digest

Aphex Twin - Avril 14th - Drukqs

Naive Thieves - Anxiete - Vamonos

The Middle East - Blood - The Recordings of the Middle East

Timber Timbre - We'll Find Out - Timber Timbre

Avi Buffalo - Overwhelmed with Pride - At Best Cuckold

Teenage Fanclub - The Concept - Bandwagonesque

I'm kinda scared I'll lose my mind like last time

R.L. Kelly - "I Cannot" (Brown Horse)

I still very much enjoy the music of R.L. Kelly

I’m a frail evergreen, be a bauble hanging off of me

Los Campesinos! - "A Doe to a Deer" (A Los Campesinos! Christmas)

In case you wanted that unrequited love kinda Christmas.

That fuckboy life about to be repealed

Run the Jewels - "Oh My Darling Don't Cry" (Run the Jewels 2)

The annual "Run the Jewels shoots to the top of the year-end-best list" post.

I refuse the right to be silent

Vince Staples - "Hands Up" (Hell Can Wait)

This song isn't about Ferguson, but it's obviously still about Ferguson.

Genre Research Project 84/1362: Algerian Chaabi

Chaabi is a traditional music of Algiers (Algeria), formalized by El Hadj M'Hamed El Anka.

Originally from the Casbah, Chaabi first appeared in the late 19th century, inspired by vocal traditions of Arab and Berber Andalusian music, also the home of Flamenco music. Chaabi simply means "folk" in Algerian.

A typical song features mournful, Arabic/Berber vocals, set against an orchestral backdrop of a dozen musicians, with violins and mandolins swelling and falling to a piano melody and the clap of percussion beats. While it shares many set themes with Flamenco - love, loss, exile, friendship and betrayal, Chaabi is part of a deeply conservative tradition and its lyrics often carrying a strong moral message.

At first Chaabi remained a scandalous genre, thriving behind closed doors or in specific locations called "Mahchachat" (cannabis dens), where the admirer of this music would go to drink coffee, tea or smoke. By the late 1950s, however, it had become the people's music, played at weddings and religious festivals; and El Hajj Muhammad El Anka, "the father of chaabi" also nicknamed "the cardinal", ran courses at the Algiers conservatoire. El Anka dedicated 50 years of his life to Chaabi, and died in 1978.

Oh, it's gonna get bad

Dads - "But" (I'll Be the Tornado)

How cool is it that we don't have to pretend not to like emo anymore?

How come it upsets you so?

Eric's Trip - "Behind the Garage" (Love Tara)

That's the generally accepted sign for "not having a care"

Ought - "New Calm, Pt. 2" (Once More With Feeling)