The Mellow Streets
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]Download So last month, Mike Skinner came back for another bout as The Streets. This is the first Streets album I’ve liked on the first listen. Does that mean he’s losing his touch? Possibly, possibly. Fans of his earlier work, please note that the slow beats and flat narrative [...]
Nothing For Me Here
[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Download The third track on James Cavanaugh‘s The Charm of Hugo and the first one I really heard. I like some of the other tracks, but I love this one. Those disconnected moments of travel are always so affecting.
The Raindogs
Posted on | July 4, 2010 | No Comments
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I do love my country rock records. This track from The Raindogs fits the mold, but what really makes it special it the Celtic-like violin. The violin solo in the second half is truly the best part.
The original poster, Captains Dead, is experiencing technical difficulties, but you can read his original post through the Google cache.
Damien Jurado – Arkansas
Posted on | June 26, 2010 | No Comments
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There were so many Seattle artists that I never came to appreciate. Damien Jurado is near the top of that list – up there with David Bazan. And even this new album isn’t very compelling. The songs sound too same-y when queued up as an album. The stories are all loosely tied to geography, which would normally interest me. Here, I fade after four minutes.
Via Tune the Proletariat.
The World Atlas
Posted on | June 21, 2010 | No Comments
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World Atlas – Girl on a Boys’ Bike
World Atlas‘s self-titled EP sounds like it is a lost Belle & Sebastian EP from the Jeepster years that has finally been released in the States after years of being a highly sought rarity. In fact, it sounds so much like Belle & Sebastian that it is a little unnerving. World Atlas is like a cover band that decided to step it up a little. Listening to the EP I feel a little used, but I also feel swaddled in the lost innocence of days past.
Via Magnet.
The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Wins
Posted on | June 19, 2010 | No Comments
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The Flaming Lips – Do You Realize
Last year I discovered The Flaming Lips’s Yoshimi Wins live release on the dear, departed Lala. When the service shut down, this is the first album that I downloaded from eMusic so I could keep spinning it at work. The pace is perfect for writing.
Live Wilco
Posted on | June 13, 2010 | No Comments
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Norah Jones – Jesus Etc. (Live)
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Captains Dead posted the mp3s for two Wilco shows last week. I’d never heard Wilco live before and they were playing during what I consider the prime years – Mermaid Avenue / Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I always love hearing old favorites played live. It strips the song of all the production and reduces it to the essence, the walking around under your breath version of the song.
While searching for the original Captains Dead post, I found this Norah Jones cover and just had it include it. Via Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands
White Ravens – Sparks
Posted on | June 1, 2010 | No Comments
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I’m still undecided about what this song. Fun or obnoxious? Lively or dull? Scissor Sisters style hooks with, with – with what? I leave it to you. From the forthcoming album, Gargoyles And Weathervanes. Via The Mad Mackerel.
Jeremy Messersmith – Wasting Time
Posted on | February 7, 2010 | No Comments
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Jeremy Messersmith – Wasting Time
From the amount of polish on this song, it is hard to believe that it is a cast off b-side from an album still being recorded. I can’t wait for the full album from the collaboration between Jeremy Messersmith and Dan Wilson, formerly of Semisonic.
Via Borangutan
Josh Ritter – Blame It On The Tetons
Posted on | February 1, 2010 | No Comments
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Josh Ritter – Blame It On The Tetons
Blame It On The Tetons is a very Modest Mouse tale of emotional dissatisfaction and escapism. In fact, it is a Modest Mouse song off of Good News for People Who Love Bad News. But ever since I heard this cover, it stopped being their song. Mr. Ritter sells the longing for solace much more sincerely than Modest Mouse ever did. Blame it on the Tetons and be done.
From Josh Ritter‘s Girl in the War EP via Cover Lay Down.
Year Change – Semisonic
Posted on | January 3, 2010 | No Comments
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Semisonic – This Will Be My Year
Semisonic had more good songs, but it never had another good year. Nonetheless, this song always stands me in a positive mood. Over the next week, I’ll post some of my other favorite “year change” songs. I hope you enjoy them.
Enjoy It
Posted on | December 5, 2009 | No Comments
Chamillionaire – Good Morning
Overall, the whole H-Town rap scene has somewhat slowed. Some of my friends even look at me strange when I talk about versions that are Screwed and Chopped. What can I say? The mid-decade extravagance is over. Still, Chamillionaire is fun. Enjoy his guiltless appropriation of Free Fallin’.