People Fall Off Buildings

Zoe 5 [Dec 2009]

2011-06-14T14:58:00.004-04:00

I actually didn't get this to Zoe in time for her birthday in December 2009. I don't remember why but I was probably just being lazy. Listening back to it now, especially in comparison to the previously posted Zoe 2, I think it's fair to say that my tastes have evolved considerably since 2006. Which isn't to say that this mix doesn't have its fair share of instantly like-able tunes ("Distopian Dream Girl", "Temptation" and "Troubles Will be Gone" are all about as catchy as they come) but, unlike older mixes, it also goes in weirder directions with blissful instrumentals ("Hope", "Miami Morning Coming Down") and long spoken word epics ("Street Hassle", "The Three Great Alabama Icons", "End of Radio").

I've since done another mix for her (which I'll likely post sooner or later) which expands on some of the musical ideas explored here. I'm also currently dragging songs into a folder marked "Zoe 7" that I'll begin sorting through come November. I've mentioned it before, but making mixes is one of the ways in which I explore music and learn more about it.

I do hope, of course, that you, my faithful reader(s), find something to like here too.

Also: if you do like something, go buy the record.

Here's the track-list:

01. Lou Reed - "Street Hassle"
02. Built to Spill - "Distopian Dream Girl"
03. Dirty Three - "Hope"
04. New Order - "Temptation"
05. Drive-By Truckers - "The Three Great Alabama Icons"
06. Earth - "Miami Morning Coming Down"
07. The Mountain Goats - "Color in Your Cheeks"
08. Sonic Youth - "Sympathy for the Strawberry"
09. Silkworm - "Ooh La La"
10. Yo La Tengo - "Nowhere Near"
11. Smog - "Bloodflow"
12. Shellac - "End of Radio"
13. The Tallest Man on Earth - "Troubles Will be Gone"

And here's the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=C1QO1O90

Enjoy.

2011-06-10T13:28:00.000-04:00

a new war

a different fight now, warding off the weariness of
age
retreating to your room, stretching out upon the bed,
there’s not much will to move,
it’s near midnight now.

not so long ago your night would just be
beginning, but don’t lament lost youth:
youth was no wonder
either

but now it’s the waiting on death.
it’s not death that’s the problem, it’s the waiting.

you should have been dead decades ago.
the abuse you wreaked on yourself was
enormous and non-ending.
a different fight now, yes, but nothing to
mourn, only to
note.

frankly, it’s even a bit dull waiting on the
blade.

and to think, after I’m gone,
there will be more days for others, other days,
other nights.
dogs walking, trees shaking in
the wind.

I won’t be leaving much.
something to read, maybe.

a wild onion in the gutted
road.

Paris in the dark.

- Charles Bukowski

Stray Marvels: Lifter Puller - "Let's Get Incredible"

2011-06-05T12:39:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in my Hold Steady B-sides post from a few months back, Craig Finn is one of the lyricists I most admire. He's got a striking and original voice, complete with unique phrasing and offbeat imagery; oddly grounded and yet almost more poetic for it. He's never overtly surreal, his characters are exaggerated but remain tangible and realistic, and the streets and landmarks he speaks about are actual places you can go to. Add to that elements of crime fiction, The Replacements, wayward Catholicism and Bruce Springseen and you might begin to get an idea of what Finn---and The Hold Steady---are about.

Lifter Puller (or LFTR PLLR), Finn's first band (which also featured HS guitarist Tad Kubler as bassist on their final album), is a somewhat different beast, but no less interesting. More noisy and post-punk than bar-band, Lifter Puller offers an early peek at Finn as a developing lyricist and frontman. The song I'm posting here could even be read as a mission statement of sorts: a song-length dedication to the people druggies, lowlifes and music fans that make up Finn's vivid world.

I don't know about you, but when Finn sings the line, "Dude looks like Jesus / But sleeveless", I can't help but smile.

Here's the download link:

Lifter Puller - "Let's Get Incredible"

Enjoy.

People Fall Off Buildings Presents: An Introduction to... Built to Spill

2011-06-01T00:01:00.001-04:00

"In America / Every puddle / Gasoline rainbow"

"I wanna see movies of my dreams / I wanna see it when you get stoned on a cloudy breezy desert afternoon / I wanna see it untame itself and break its owner / I wanna see it now."

"Without me there's nothing / I'm the only thing that dies / If it came down to your life or mine / I would do the stupid thing / And let you keep on living."

"Every thousand years / This metal sphere / Ten times the size of Jupiter / Floats just a few yards past the earth."

"No one wants to hear / What you dreamt about / Unless you dreamt about them / Don't let that stop you / Tell them anyway / And you can make it up / As you go."

"You thought of everything but some things can't be thought / You thought of everything but one thing you forgot / Is you're wrong / And you better not be angry / And you better not be sad / You better just enjoy the luxury of sympathy / If that's a luxury you have."

"The plan keeps coming up again / The plan means nothing stays the same."

"Funny thing with blood / Try to stand but neither leg is awake / Just this side of love / Is where you'll find / The confidence not to continue."

"You were right when you said / It's a hard rain's gonna fall / You were right when you said / We're still running against the wind / And life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone / You were right when you said / This is the end."

"Yeah, it's strange but what's so strange about that?"

"When I was a kid I saw a light / Floating high above the trees one night / Thought it was an alien / Turned out to be just god."

"And when you know / How few things there are worth knowing / I suppose / Anyone who tries could forget."

"Most of us are wrong / Most of us agree."

"They don't want to think about the other side / Is that grass just greener 'cuz it's fake?"

"It doesn't matter if you're good or smart / Goddamn it / Things fall apart."

Here's the track-list:

01. Nowhere Nothin' Fuckup
02. Car
03. Distopian Dream Girl
04. Randy Described Eternity
05. Made-Up Dreams
06. Velvet Waltz
07. The Plan
08. Else
09. You Were Right
10. Strange
11. Goin' Against Your Mind
12. Traces
13. Wherever You Go
14. Hingsight
15. Things Fall Apart

And here's the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U52PC8YM

Enjoy (and share).

Stray Marvels: Joanna Newsom - "Only Skin"

2011-05-25T00:01:00.003-04:00

I meant to do a write-up for this before it auto-posted but I forgot to.

Anyway.

This is a great song. In fact, few can match it in terms of scale and pure beauty. Bill Callahan (Smog) even does backups near the end, his voice providing a lovely contrast to Joanna's.

I just hope she doesn't let Andy Samberg guest on her next LP.

Here's the download link:

Joanna Newsom - "Only Skin"

Enjoy.

2011-05-20T03:01:00.000-04:00

Let Me Count the Waves

We must not look for poetry in poems.

—Donald Revell

You must not skirt the issue wearing skirts.

You must not duck the bullet using ducks.

You must not face the music with your face.

Headbutting, don’t use your head. Or your butt.

You must not use a house to build a home,

and never look for poetry in poems.

In fact, inject giraffes into your poems.

Let loose the circus monkeys in their skirts.

Explain the nest of wood is not a home

at all, but a blind for shooting wild ducks.

Grab the shotgun by its metrical butt;

aim at your Muse’s quacking, Pringled face.

It’s good we’re talking like this, face to face.

There should be more headbutting over poems.

Citing an 80s brand has its cost but

honors the teenage me, always in skirts,

showing my sister how to Be the Duck

with a potato-chip beak. Take me home,

Mr. Revell. Or make yourself at home

in my postbellum, Reconstruction face—

my gray eyes, my rebel ears, all my ducks

in the row of a defeated mouth. Poems

were once civil. But war has torn my skirts

off at the first ruffle, baring my butt

or as termed in verse, my luminous butt.

Whitman once made a hospital his home.

Emily built a prison of her skirts.

Tigers roamed the sad veldt of Stevens’s face.

That was the old landscape. All the new poems

map the two dimensions of cartoon ducks.

We’re young and green. We’re braces of mallards,

not barrels of fish. Shoot if you must but

Donald, we’re with you. Trying to save poems,

we settle and frame their ramshackle homes.

What is form? Turning art to artifice,

trading pelts for a more durable skirt.

Even urban ducklings deserve a home.

Make way. In the modern: Make way, Buttface.

A poem is coming through, lifting her skirt.

- Sandra Beasley

People Fall Off Buildings Presents: An Introduction to... Earth

2011-05-01T00:01:00.000-04:00

Here's the tracklist:

01. A Bureaucratic Desire for Revenge, Part 1
02. Seven Angels
03. Crooked Axis for String Quartet
04. Raiford (Felon Wind)
05. A Plague of Angels
06. Coda Maestoso in F (Flat) Minor
07. Engine of Ruin
08. Hell's Winter

And here's the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FPEVVDTW

Enjoy (and share).

A Few Thoughts On The Upcoming Election

2011-04-28T17:09:00.009-04:00

There is, by all accounts, something supremely strange happening in Canada. What a month ago seemed like a pointless election has blossomed into something else entirely: an unprecedented opportunity to radically and permanently change the political landscape of the country that we live in.

From all manner of unexpected places we are hearing news of unimaginable upsets, bizarre turnarounds and shocking defeats. The people who never lose ground are losing it. The people who never gain ground are gaining it. People are starting to get strung out on hope again. It's exciting, and a little weird.

The fact is: there is no longer a clear leader in this race. For the first time in my voting life, no one knows exactly what will happen.

All bets are off.

As young Canadians we have a profound opportunity to make a wide-reaching and lasting impact on the future of our country. If we can manage to shake off our apathy and conquer our indifference then there is simply no imagining the Canada we can build.

You and I. Right now.

Moments like this are exceedingly rare. It is up to us to seize them.

Stray Marvels: Bob Dylan - "Blind Willie McTell"

2011-04-26T11:01:00.003-04:00

Blind Willie McTell died in 1959, just a few years before Bob Dylan became an international superstar. Decades later Dylan wrote "Blind Willie McTell", a brilliant tribute to his blues hero. Though the song was recorded during the 1983 sessions for his 22nd album, Infidels, Dylan, for reasons which remain utterly baffling, decided to omit the song from the final album. Thankfully the track was rescued from non-album purgatory and released in 1991 to instant critical acclaim. It exists now as a cherished b-side, arguably Dylan's best song of the 1980s (which isn't actually saying a whole lot). Dylan later went on to record several covers of McTell songs, such as "Delia" and "Broke Down Engine", for his two early 90s covers records, Good As I Been To You (amazing) and World Gone Wrong (equally, if not more, amazing).

Despite hearing this song (and the covers) when I was still a teenager, it wasn't until earlier this year that I finally decided to sit down and listen to some of McTell's original recordings.

More fool me, I assure you. Astonishing stuff.

Thanks, Bob.

Bob Dylan - "Blind Willie McTell"

Enjoy.

2011-04-20T00:01:00.002-04:00

Imagining Defeat

She woke me up at dawn,
her suitcase like a little brown dog at her heels.

I sat up and looked out the window
at the snow falling in the stand of blackjack trees.

A bus ticket in her hand.

Then she brought something black up to her mouth,
a plum I thought, but it was an asthma inhaler.

I reached under the bed for my menthols
and she asked if I ever thought of cancer.

Yes, I said, but always as a tree way up ahead
in the distance where it doesn't matter.

And I suppose a dead soul must look back at that tree,
so far behind his wagon where it also doesn't matter

except as a memory of rest or water.

Though to believe any of that, I thought,
you have to accept the premise

that she woke me up at all.

- David Berman

Jesse 2 [April 2007]

2011-04-15T00:01:00.003-04:00

When I posted Jesse 5 back in January, I went into (glorious) detail about why and how I make mix CDs, chronicling the process from the moment of inspiration (not wanting to pay for actual gifts) right on through to the finished mix. I also talked about the different ways I approach each mix depending on the personality and tastes of person I'm making it for (without forgetting to pepper in a little of my own idiosyncratic leanings, of course). In doing so, I also explained why every Jesse-mix contained exactly 22 tracks (and just how hard it is to cram that many songs on one 80-minute CD-R). Well, as it turns out, Jesse 2 actually contains only 21 tracks (!) which, you know, pretty much makes my whole struggle for mix-CD uniformity a moot issue.

Sigh. It was a noble ambition, nonetheless.

Regardless, Jesse 2 is an excellent mix. I know I say that about every mix I post but, well... why wouldn't I be biased? The thing I really love about making mixes for Jesse is that I get to throw unity completely out the window and just cram a wildly diverse roster of artists onto one track-list, creating some fun juxtapositions along the way. From electronica and punk rock to folk and hip hop, Jesse-mixes tend to have a little bit of everything that makes music great.

I know, I know. Lucky you.

Oh, and side-note: today is actually Jesse Leclerc's 27th birthday. Please wish him well. He especially loves it when people post sappy messages all over his facebook wall.

So get on that.

Here's the track-list:

01. Thom Yorke - "Black Swan"
02. Rancid - "Nihilism"
03. M.I.A. - "URAQT"
04. Bob Dylan - "Most of the Time"
05. Islands - "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby"
06. The Hold Steady - "Cattle and the Creeping Things"
07. Xiu Xiu - "Bishop, CA"
08. Neutral Milk Hotel - "The King of Carrot Flowers, Pt. 1"
09. Mission of Burma - "Nancy Reagan's Head"
10. Sunset Rubdown - "Three Colours"
11. Clipse [ft. Pharell] - "Mr. Me Too"
12. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - "Toby, Take a Bow"
13. The Velvet Underground - "Venus in Furs"
14. Modest Mouse - "Custom Concern"
15. Fiona Apple - "Parting Gift"
16. TV on the Radio - "Staring at the Sun"
17. The Clash - "Lose This Skin"
18. Menomena - "Muscle n' Flo"
19. Califone - "A Chinese Actor"
20. Junior Boys - "So This is Goodbye"
21. M. Ward - "To Go Home"

And here's the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=D72IIC09

Enjoy (and share).

Video Void: Wolf Parade - "I'll Believe in Anything"

2011-04-07T00:01:00.000-04:00

The first Wolf Parade album, Apologies to the Queen Mary, is a real wonder. It's one of those great rock albums that somehow manages to simultaneously sound both classic and forward-thinking. Along with "Shine a Light", "I'll Believe in Anything" is the album centerpiece. Spencer Krug is just a flat-out brilliant songwriter, and it's incredible that even here, on his first album, he's playing at the very top of his game. Most bands take a while to develop a sound and style of their own, but Krug and his cohorts set a high watermark with this release that they never quite managed to reach again.

I'm not really sure what, if anything, this video has to do with the song, but it's a lot of fun nonetheless. Despite seeming humorous at first, the clip ends on a melancholic note that, if not lyrically relevant, matches the longing mood of the song. I really love the cannon duel at the end, which reminds me a bit of Barry Lyndon (but with cannons instead of pistols, obviously). I'm not sure where it was filmed (nor can I seem to find it out via a brief internet search) but, well, it's all surprisingly legit-looking, which just makes the whole affair even more surreal.

Plus: cool wigs.

Here's hoping that their recently announced "indefinite hiatus" isn't actually code for "broken up" as many suspect.

Enjoy.

People Fall Off Buildings Presents: An Introduction to... Spoon

2011-04-01T00:01:00.001-04:00

"I had a feeling from the start of it / You could let me go if you wanted to."

"Outside between the bands / Everything comes back out / It's hard to put down / What you can't hold back / And this is like being alive / It flows right out of your mouth.

"I'm just a user / I don't make any of this stuff."

"You'll know by the look on their faces / When they pass you / You've been dropped off on the Texas highway."

"Don't want to be your victim for life / Don't want your exclusive right / I just want you to change my life / Change my life."

"I go to sleep alone / But think that you're next to me."

"One day it'll take / And they'll start to make / Shirts that fit right / Til then I suppose / I still got Dad's clothes / And that's alright."

"We go through all the same lines / Or sell out to appease / But go to sleep in a bed of lies / I made my own more than once or twice."

"We got out in stormy weather / We rarely practice discern / We make love to some weird sin / We seek out the taciturn."

"Religion don't mean a thing / It's just another way to be right wing."

"We could go kick down some doors together / Stay out til morning / Sharp as knives / The new war will get you / Will not protect you / But I will be there with you when you turn out the light."

"Now all I need is a crew / One that can act as if / One that can slay on cue / And sneeze and sniff / Uh-huh, alright / I'm going back to the water / Been landlocked too long ."

"When I turn my feelings on / I turn my feelings on inside / Feel like I'm gonna ignite / I saw them stars go off / I saw them stars go off at night / And they're looking alright."

"Clubs and sticks and bats and balls / For nuclear dicks with their dialect drawls / That come from a parking lot town / Where nothing’ll live in the sun ."

"I had a nightmare / Nothing could be put back together ."

"I wanna forget how convention fits / But can I get out from under it / Can I cut it out of me / It can’t all be wedding cake / It can’t all be boiled away / I try but I can’t let go of it / Can’t let go of it, nuh uh."

"All of the people you used to run into but never do now / They took off for the mystery zone ."

"I know nothing was planned, you just can’t help yourself / Some people are so easily shuffled and dealt / If there was only one of us you truly felt / We’re getting your all and it feels real good / But only briefly like high school poppers would / Where you lose a bit of yourself ."

Here's the track-list:

01. All the Negative Have Been Destroyed
02. Waiting for the Kid to Come Out
03. Car Radio
04. Advance Cassette
05. Change My Life
06. Everything Hits at Once
07. The Fitted Shirt
08. Anything You Want
09. The Way We Get By
10. Jonathon Fisk
11. Paper Tiger
12. The Beast and Dragon, Adored
13. I Turn My Camera On
14. Don't Make Me a Target
15. The Ghost of You Lingers
16. The Underdog
17. The Mystery Zone
18. Written in Reverse

And here's the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V0N5DE6C

Enjoy (and share).

2011-03-23T00:01:00.001-04:00

All My Pretty Ones

Father, this year’s jinx rides us apart

where you followed our mother to her cold slumber;

a second shock boiling its stone to your heart,

leaving me here to shuffle and disencumber

you from the residence you could not afford:

a gold key, your half of a woolen mill,

twenty suits from Dunne’s, an English Ford,

the love and legal verbiage of another will,

boxes of pictures of people I do not know.

I touch their cardboard faces. They must go.

But the eyes, as thick as wood in this album,

hold me. I stop here, where a small boy

waits in a ruffled dress for someone to come ...

for this soldier who holds his bugle like a toy

or for this velvet lady who cannot smile.

Is this your father’s father, this commodore

in a mailman suit? My father, time meanwhile

has made it unimportant who you are looking for.

I’ll never know what these faces are all about.

I lock them into their book and throw them out.

This is the yellow scrapbook that you began

the year I was born; as crackling now and wrinkly

as tobacco leaves: clippings where Hoover outran

the Democrats, wiggling his dry finger at me

and Prohibition; news where the Hindenburg went

down and recent years where you went flush

on war. This year, solvent but sick, you meant

to marry that pretty widow in a one-month rush.

But before you had that second chance, I cried

on your fat shoulder. Three days later you died.

These are the snapshots of marriage, stopped in places.

Side by side at the rail toward Nassau now;

here, with the winner’s cup at the speedboat races,

here, in tails at the Cotillion, you take a bow,

here, by our kennel of dogs with their pink eyes,

running like show-bred pigs in their chain-link pen;

here, at the horseshow where my sister wins a prize;

and here, standing like a duke among groups of men.

Now I fold you down, my drunkard, my navigator,

my first lost keeper, to love or look at later.

I hold a five-year diary that my mother kept

for three years, telling all she does not say

of your alcoholic tendency. You overslept,

she writes. My God, father, each Christmas Day

with your blood, will I drink down your glass

of wine? The diary of your hurly-burly years

goes to my shelf to wait for my age to pass.

Only in this hoarded span will love persevere.

Whether you are pretty or not, I outlive you,

bend down my strange face to yours and forgive you.

- Anne Sexton

Margaret [Early 2007]

2011-03-15T00:01:00.001-04:00

My friend Margaret isn't really that into pop music. She's a composer, so she's more into compositions and string quartets and atonality and other weird things like that. You know, highbrow stuff. I seem to recall her thinking that James' Best Songs of 2007 was a good workout mix but, generally speaking, we're both into fairly different music. She can write a mean string arrangement, though, which might come in handy (for me) somewhere down the line. And, even though she's friendly and nice, she writes some scary-sounding stuff, which also works out well for me, given my recent fondness for minor-keys and drone notes.

This is mix I made for her a few years ago---I'm guessing around early 2007, but I can't really remember. Margaret makes me mixes sometimes too. Mostly experimental compositions, sound collages, bird noises, treated instruments. Stuff like that. I actually hope to post one or two of them in the future (with her as-of-yet unreceived permission, of course). I think it's a good idea for artists to step away from what they know and explore other, less-familiar styles and ideas. I imagine Margaret feels the same way, at least to some extent. I doubt either of us will be switching teams anytime soon, though.

Rock and roll forever.

Here's the tracklist:

01. TV on the Radio - "Tonight"
02. Modest Mouse - "Lives"
03. Bright Eyes - "Hot Knives"
04. Liars - "Drum Gets a Glimpse"
05. Bloc Party - "Compliments"
06. Deerhoof - "Matchbook Seeks Maniac"
07. Spoon - "Chicago at Night"
08. Bjork - "Alarm Call"
09. Herman Dune - "My Friends Kill My Folks"
10. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - "Roberta C"
11. David Bowie - "Everyone Says 'Hi'"
12. Thom Yorke - "Harrowdown Hill"
13. Broken Social Scene - "I'm Still Your Fag"
14. Xiu Xiu - "Ceremony"
15. Pink Floyd - "Brain Damage"
16. Frog Eyes - "Bushels"
17. Rock Plaza Central - "We've Got a Lot to Be Glad For"

And here's the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=P35LSHR2

Enjoy (and share).

Stray Marvels: Operation Ivy - "Missionary"

2011-03-09T09:54:00.001-05:00

Back in September, I went to a wedding in Timmins (hometown of country-pop superstar Shania Twain) with my girlfriend and her parents. I hadn't met any of this side of the family before (including the soon-to-be married couple) but all were very pleasant and welcoming. To make a long story short: the service went well, the food was good, and before I knew it we were back in the car for our 9-hour return trip to Toronto.

Fast forward to a week or two ago when we received a letter informing us that the recently married couple was intending to sell off all their possessions, leave their comforts and dedicate their lives to spreading the word of God in Mali (an African country where the population is already 90% Muslim). The letter ends by asking for donations to help support the trek.

When I heard the news this song immediately popped into my head. It sort of sums up my problems with missionary work more eloquently than I ever could.

Operation Ivy - "Missionary"

Enjoy.

Video Void: Portishead - "Only You" [Dir. Chris Cunningham]

2011-03-05T10:35:00.000-05:00

If I were to make a list of the music video directors I would most like to work with, Chris Cunningham would definitely rank highly. Granted, his style probably wouldn't mesh too well with my more upbeat, lyric-heavy alt-country-folk-rock band, but I know for certain he would be a good match for my other, darker pursuits.

Ah, the dreams we dream...

Cunningham has made some great videos over the years. In fact, this probably isn't even my favourite clip of his. Which isn't to say that I don't think it's stunning, I do, only that he has several videos of equal or greater genius. Still, the underwater effect employed here is such an incredible idea, and really compliments the haunted nature of Portishead's sound. Apparently he had Beth Gibbons sing the song in a water tank, slowed the whole thing down, and then digitally inserted the shots into a darkened alley, adding a surreal and sinister overtone to an already suffocating clip.

Plus: creepy dancing boy.

Enjoy.

People Fall Off Buildings Presents: An Introduction to... Smog

2011-03-01T04:23:00.000-05:00

"Anyone who's ever had a hole in the heart / Knows how hard it is to start a new day."

"Well, you're a wild horse / On a collision course / With the sun."

"I'll never be a Bowie / I'll never be an Eno / I'll only ever be a Gary Numan / I'll never be a rock and roll saint."

"When I was seven / My father said to me / 'But you can't swim' / And I've never dreamed of the sea again."

"Prince alone in the studio / It's three a.m. / Prince hasn't eaten in eighteen hours / Dinner's burned on the stove / But Prince / He doesn't even know."

"Well I rode out to the ocean / And the water looked like tarnished gold / I rode out on a broken horse / Who told me she'd never felt so old."

"All your bridges and bras / Your cotton / And gauze / All your buckles and straps / Releases and traps / All your screws / And false nails / Oriental winks / And Egyptian veils."

"What cries home / Where cries from / A blood red bird lies in the woods / Weeping into dead leaves / With wing torn and jutting bone."

"Jean jacket and tie / Feel like such a lie / When I go to your house / I feel like I'm / Casing the joint / In the grocery store / In line behind a mother and a child / I'm going to take take that child."

"I lay back in the tall grass / And let the ants cover me / I let the jets fly / Not wishing for their destruction / Born to black in a perfect blue sky."

"And I swore I'd never lay like a log / Bark like a dog / I was a teenage smog / Sewn to the sky."

"I was raised in a pit of snakes / Blink your eyes / I was raised on cake / I couldn't memorize a century of slang / Or learn to tell the same story again and again and again."

"I route for the underdog / No matter who they are / Like the bank-robber / In the getaway car."

"And when winter comes / We'll borrow some / From the nearest washing line / And when summer comes / It's almost impossible / Not to have a good time."

"Oh god, can you feel the sun on your back? / Oh god, can you see your shadow, inky black / On the sand? / Oh god, can you hear the saltwater drying on your skin? / Oh god, can you feel my heart beating in my tongue?"

"We are far from flowers / Cut and dried / So let us thrive, let us thrive / Let us thrive, let us thrive / Just like the weeds / We curse sometimes."

"I saw a gold ring / At the bottom of the river / Glinting at my foolish heart / So my foolish heart / Had to go diving / Diving, diving, diving / Into the murk."

Here's the track-list:

01. Hole in the Heart
02. Chosen One
03. A Hit
04. Bathysphere
05. Prince Alone in the Studio
06. I Break Horses
07. All Your Women Things
08. Blood Red Bird
09. Ex-Con
10. Held
11. Teenage Spaceship
12. Hit the Ground Running
13. Justice Aversion
14. The Hard Road
15. Permanent Smile
16. Our Anniversary
17. Rock Bottom Riser

And here's the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VJQKZ1CJ

Enjoy (and share).

2011-02-26T20:29:00.001-05:00

To the Harbormaster

I wanted to be sure to reach you;

though my ship was on the way it got caught

in some moorings. I am always tying up

and then deciding to depart. In storms and

at sunset, with the metallic coils of the tide

around my fathomless arms, I am unable

to understand the forms of my vanity

or I am hard alee with my Polish rudder

in my hand and the sun sinking. To

you I offer my hull and the tattered cordage

of my will. The terrible channels where

the wind drives me against the brown lips

of the reeds are not all behind me. Yet

I trust the sanity of my vessel; and

if it sinks, it may well be in answer

to the reasoning of the eternal voices,

the waves which have kept me from reaching you.

- Frank O'Hara

Zoe 2 [December 2006]

2011-02-22T11:39:00.001-05:00

This is by far the oldest mix I've posted so far. It's also one of my favourites. Like my friend Jesse (whose Jesse 5 mix I posted a while back), Zoe is the other person I make birthday mix CDs for instead of giving actual gifts. Not that I think either of them mind. In fact, mix CDs aside, I can be a pretty mediocre gift-giver, so it's really a win-win for everyone involved.

That being said, if you want to be added to the birthday-mix-in-lieu-of-real-present list, just let me know. I'm more than happy to accommodate.

What I actually remember most about this mix is that, not long after I gave it to her, she requested another copy. Why? Because she lent it to a friend who, the story goes, loved it so much that she refused to return it. Which, despite being kind of a shitty thing to do friend-wise, was a pretty nice compliment for me.

Listening to it now, I'm mostly happy with it, though I'm not certain why I thought putting a "Love Will Tear Us Apart" cover on there was good idea (even one performed by a decent band like Calexico). Note to aspiring mix-masters: covers are cool (the weirder/rarer the better), covers of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (and, while we're on it, "Hallelujah") are, well... considerably less cool.

Also: remember Peter, Bjorn and John? Me neither. But they were pretty popular for about a minute there. I actually saw them open for Depeche Mode a few years ago (how I ended up there is a story for another blog-post).

One final note: I have never heard any other songs by Bound Stems but I think "Western Biographic" is pretty damn sweet.

Here's the track-list:

01. Swan Lake - "The Freedom"
02. TV on the Radio - "Snakes and Martyrs"
03. Band of Horses - "The Funeral"
04. Spoon - "Don't Let It Get You Down"
05. Joanna Newsom - "Peach, Plum, Pear"
06. Califone - "Our Kitten Sees Ghosts"
07. Bound Stems - "Western Biographic"
08. Modest Mouse - "Black Cadillacs"
09. Calexico - "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
10. Herman Dune- "When the Water Gets Cold & Freezes on the Lake"
11. The Hold Steady - "You Can Make Him Like You"
12. Sleater-Kinney - "Entertain"
13. The Thermals - "I Hold the Sound"
14. Sunset Rubdown - "The Empty Threats of Little Lord"
15. Peter, Bjorn and John - "Objects of My Affection"

And here's the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U26PIO47

Enjoy (and share).

People Fall Off Buildings Presents: An Introduction to... Silver Jews

2011-02-11T15:52:00.000-05:00

"On the last day of your life / Don't forget to die."

"There is a house in New Orleans / Not the one you've heard about / I'm talking about another house."

"O Dallas you shine with an evil light / Don't you know that God stays up all night?"

"Boy wants a car from his Dad / Dad says, first you gotta cut that hair / Boy says, hey Dad Jesus had long hair / And Dad says / That's right son but Jesus walked everywhere."

"All houses dream in blueprints / Our houses dream so hard / Outside you can see my shoeprints / I've been dreaming in your yard."

"So if you don't want me / I promise not to linger / But before I go I gotta ask you dear about the tan line on your ring finger."

"I've got two tickets to a midnight execution / We'll hitchhike our way from Odessa to Houston / And when they turn on the chair / Something's added to the air / When they turn on the chair / Something's added to the air / Forever."

"Sometimes I feel like I'm watching the world / And the world isn't watching me back / But when I see you, I know I'm in it too / The waves come in and the waves go back / The kids in the corner all covered in dirt / Caught trespassing under the moon / My father came in from wherever he'd been / And kicked my shit all over the room."

"Grass grows in the icebox / The year ends in the next room / It is autumn and my camouflage is dying / Instead of time there will be lateness / And let forever be delayed."

"And if we're like plug-in reindeer / Whose cords can't stretch far enough to fly."

"He bought a little land with the money from the settlement / And he even bought the truck that had hit him that day / He touched the part where the metal was bent / And if you were there you would hear him say."

"You know Louisville is death / We've got to up and move / Because the dead do not improve."

"When I was summoned to the phone / I knew in my bones that you had died alone."

"I'm gonna change the pattern of the stars / I'd like to horsewhip all these VCRs / Screw the soft rock and the salad bars / Let's turn our backs on all the movie stars."

"So you wanna build an altar on a summer night / You wanna smoke the gel off a fentanyl patch / Aincha heard the news / Adam and Eve were Jews / And I always loved you to the max."

"I've been working at the airport bar / It's like Christmas in a submarine."

"I saw God's shadow on this world"

"You got Tennessee tendencies / And chemical dependencies / You make the same old jokes and malaprops on cue."

Here's the track-list:

01. Advice to the Graduate
02. New Orleans
03. Dallas
04. The Frontier Index
05. Pretty Eyes
06. Random Rules
07. Smith & Jones Forever
08. Blue Arrangements
09. The Wild Kindness
10. Room Games & Diamond Rain
11. I Remember Me
12. Tennessee
13. Death of an Heir of Sorrows
14. Long Long Gone
15. Punks in the Beerlight
16. I'm Getting Back into Getting Back into You
17. There Is a Place
18. Suffering Jukebox

And here's the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TMLQKWAU

Enjoy (and share).

2011-01-30T22:18:00.000-05:00

Theology

"No, the serpent did not
Seduce Eve to the apple.
All that's simply
Corruption of the facts.

Adam ate the apple.
Eve ate Adam.
The serpent ate Eve.
This is the dark intestine.

The serpent, meanwhile,
Sleeps his meal off in Paradise -
Smiling to hear
God's querulous calling."

- Ted Hughes

James' Best Songs Of 2007

2011-01-26T18:27:00.000-05:00

Since my recent blog revival (and subsequent return to music-blog stardom), I've spent a lot of time trolling through bulky CD binders (remember those?), scouring hard drives (both internal and external) and raiding my friend's personal collections, all in search of old (and, in some cases, long forgotten) James-mixes. I've found some interesting stuff---much of which I will be posting in the near-future---but the real treat has been going back and re-listening to mix CDs I made years ago, even if some of them have aged better than others.

Another plus: I get to create brand new iPod-ready artwork for all my pre-2008 mixes. Because, really, who wants to stare at those damned beamed quarter notes?

Today I'm posting what is probably my personal favourite of the James' Best Songs of year-end mixes, James Best Songs of 2007. Why's it so great? Well, even though I'm not a believer in "bad" years when it comes to music (name me any year post-1964 and I'll name you ten great record from it), I do think that, for whatever reason, some years wind up being better than others (subjectively speaking, of course). Perhaps it's luck, or maybe some kind of karmic convergence, or possibly a large-scale record industry conspiracy... who knows?

Either way, it's hard to deny that 2007 ruled hard.

Hell, I can still remember the child-like euphoria I felt waking up at 4am on a Wednesday morning to download and listen to In Rainbows (which also meant having to skip my 9:30am class). I can't recall ever being so excited for a record (or as blown away by how said record was distributed, with only ten days notice, no less) and, as groggy and sleep-deprived as I was, I was not disappointed. The quality of the album also made me feel a lot better about dropping £40 on the deluxe discbox edition (which, of course, I chose to pre-order before listening to the record).

Kudos, Radiohead, kudos.

If that wasn't enough, "All My Friends" and "Paper Planes" were released, easily two of the greatest songs of the decade. Add to that great records from The National (whom I first heard in 2007 and who have since become mega-famous), Spoon, Arcade Fire, Iron & Wine and Liars, and you've got a year in music which is tough to beat.

That doesn't mean, of course, that 2008, 2009, and 2010 weren't also, musically-speaking, great years (not to mention great year-end mixes); they absolutely were.

But 2007? Forget about it.

Here's the track-list:

01. LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends" [from Sound of Silver]
02. Arcade Fire - "Keep the Car Running" [from Neon Bible]
03. Joanna Newsom - "Colleen" [from Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band]
04. Battles - "Atlas" [from Mirrored]
05. Spoon - "The Ghost of You Lingers" [from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga]
06. Kanye West - "Can't Tell Me Nothing" [from Graduation]
07. Feist - "I Feel It All" [from The Reminder]
08. Sunset Rubdown - "The Taming of the Hands That Came back to Life" [from Random Spirit Lover]
09. Justice - "D.A.N.C.E." [from †]
10. Black Lips - "Veni Vidi Vicious" [from Good Bad Not Evil]
11. Burial - "Archangel" [from Burial]
12. The National - "Mistaken for Strangers" [from Boxer]
13. Animal Collective - "Peacebone" [from Strawberry Jam]
14. M.I.A. - "Paper Planes" [from Kala]
15. Liars - "Sailing to Byzantium" [from Liars]
16. Iron & Wine - "Boy with a Coin" [from The Shepherd's Dog]
17. Radiohead - "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" [from In Rainbows]

And here's the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F4K1ZMTY

Enjoy (and share).

MDMA Mix [March 2010]

2011-01-23T11:08:00.000-05:00

I admit it, this mix probably doesn't work all that well as a soundtrack to an MDMA-trip. It's not that I'm against chemicals or anything---I know lots of people who use drugs for recreation without ruining their lives, becoming addicts or committing heinous crimes; I just feel that I'm much better suited to making mixes for drugs I'm actually partial to (like my previously posted Stoner Night Mix, for example).

Which isn't to say that the songs on here are bad, either. They are, quite obviously, wicked. Again, they're just maybe not that well-suited to an MDMA-trip, which is more of an uptempo, optimistic (and, usually, just plain sappy) affair. So, for those of you who dig the MDMA-vibe, I'm sorry if I got your hopes up (but don't worry, my club-ready New Order introductory mix is coming soon). I did honestly set out without the intent of making an MDMA-friendly mix (after being asked to do so by some friends) but, looking back on it now, I think it got away from me.

Oh well.

For the rest of my loyal readers (all seven of you!), here's another James-approved (and, it must therefore be reasoned, totally great) collections of songs.

Here's the track-list:

01. Slint - "Breadcrumb Trail"
02. Spoon - "The Beast and Dragon, Adored"
03. Neil Young - "Danger Bird"
04. Portishead - "The Rip"
05. TV on the Radio - "King Eternal"
06. Bob Dylan - "Jim Jones"
07. Frog Eyes - "One in Six Children Will Flee in Boats"
08. Charlotte Gainsbourg - "Heaven Can Wait (ft. Beck)"
09. Smog - "The Hard Road"
10. Sonic Youth - "Pipeline/Kill Time"
11. Destroyer - "The Bad Arts"
12. New Order - "The Him"
13. The Walkmen - "Wake Up"
14. The Futureheads - "Hounds of Love"
15. Woods - "Born to Lose"
16. Bob Dylan - "Talkin' World War III Blues"
17. Built To Spill - "Distopian Dream Girl"
18. Gil Scott-Heron - "New York is Killing Me"
19. The National - "Theory of the Crows"
20. Joy Division - "Atmosphere"
21. Rock Plaza Central - "Dear Don, There are Two Eight O'clocks in the Course of a Day"
22. Radiohead - "Talk Show Host"
23. Love - "You Set The Scene"
24. The Mountain Goats - "Pale Green Things"
25. Anne Sexton - "All My Pretty Ones"
26. Dead Man's Bones - "Pa Pa Power"
27. Guided by Voices - "Always Crush Me"
28. Liars - "Goodnight Everything"
29. Dinosaur Jr. - "Tarpit"
30. Johnny Cash - "Let the Train Blow the Whistle"
31. Lifter Puller - "La Quereria"
32. Modest Mouse - "Whenever You Breathe Out, I Breathe In (Positive/Negative)"

And here's the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=L18UHWRC

Enjoy (and share).

Stray Marvels: Built To Spill - "Cortez The Killer"

2011-01-21T17:51:00.000-05:00

Ah... the weekend at last.

Let's start this one right:

Built to Spill - Cortez the Killer

Also: if you happen to be looking for some good beer to drink, why not check out my friends Bob's blog, appropriately titled Bob's Beer Blog.

Enjoy (and keep warm).

The Hold Steady - Desperate Pageant: B-sides & Rarities

2011-01-17T10:51:00.001-05:00

Update: after the fall of Megaupload, all my blog links went dead. Since there's been demand, though, I re-uploaded this one. I do remain adamant, however, that the band should be issuing this collection officially because these songs deserve a proper release.

***

A song without an album is a funny thing. Many listeners assume---sometimes correctly, sometimes not---that the non-album track must have been discarded (or, at least, hidden away) for a reason. After all, why would any band sentence a song to a life of scarcity and fan-only obscurity if it were truly great? Or even very good? Bad songs have to go somewhere, right?

Right?

Well, maybe... sometimes.

Though I've certainly heard my fair share of lackluster tunes released as B-sides or as bonus tracks tacked onto the album proper, I've also come across quite a few hidden gems that more than justified sifting through all that sonic refuse. On rare occasions, I've even come across what can only be described as a treasure trove of album-free brilliance. Maybe it has something to do with talent (or a lack thereof), or else maybe some bands are simply less concerned with quality-control that others. Regardless, is there anything better (for a music fan, anyway) than finding out your favorite band has over an hour's worth of non-album material that is as good, if not better, than much of their LP-based output? It's a rare thing, sure, and often requires quite a bit of online crate-digging on behalf of the fan, but some bands truly do reward the effort.

Which brings us the The Hold Steady.

People who know me personally know how near and dear this band is to my heart. As a fan of lyric-heavy music, Craig Finn is something of an idol; a completely original and staggeringly inventive voice in a world that favours sing-song platitudes and overly-sentimentalized cliches. His densely woven, acutely detailed tales of degradation and redemption in the American Midwest sound like nothing before them. And yet, with the Hold Steady backing him, Finn's speak-sing-yelp mutates into something strangely familiar, traditional but somehow totally unique. Like classic rock from the future. For many, especially those who didn't grow up in the same sort of drug-addled chaos and druken confusion that Finn so loves to chronicle, The Hold Steady never really clicks. But, for me (and, I suspect, the many people I've introduced the band to who have grown to love them just as dearly) The Hold Steady is that band. The one where the singer isn't just singing, he's singing to you.

I guess it's like Finn says, "certain songs just get scratched into our souls."

The collection I'm positing here took me around four months to finish and contains every non-album studio track released prior to their latest and, sadly, weakest (though still pretty good) album Heaven Is Whenever. I've tried to arrange the songs as chronologically as possible, in order to preserve context (though some thematic adjustments were made). Though I plan to do a Hold Steady introductory mix at some point in the future, this compilation serves as a excellent summary of their style and progression over the course of their first four albums. In fact, I would easily rank this collection, which I have taken the liberty of dubbing Desperate Pageant: B-sides and Rarities, above at least two (and perhaps more) of their actual LPs, such is the quality on display here.

I would also like to thank the online Hold Steady community for helping me, both directly and indirectly, to complete this compilation. Some of these songs were actually e-mailed to me by other fans and are, generally speaking, impossible to find online, legally or otherwise.

Please, if you like the band, go out and buy their records or, at the very least, go and see them live. I assure you that very few bands are as compelling a live act as The Hold Steady.

Here's the tracklist.

01. Milkcrate Mosh
02. Hot Fries
03. Curves & Nerves
04. Modesto Is Not That Sweet
05. You Gotta Dance (With Who You Came To Dance With)
06. 212 Margarita
07. For Boston
08. Girls Like Status
09. Arms And Hearts
10. American Music [Violent Femmes Cover]
11. Teenage Liberation
12. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? [Bob Dylan Cover]
13. Ask Her For Adderall
14. Cheyenne Sunrise
15. Two-Handed Handshake
16. Atlantic City [Bruce Springsteen Cover]
17. 40 Bucks
18. Spectres
19. Take Me Out To The Ballgame

And here's the download link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?v64d126keqbbhkx

Enjoy (and share).

Jesse 5 [April 2010]

2011-01-11T11:34:00.000-05:00

Every year for his birthday---in lieu of an actual gift---I give my roommate Jesse a mix CD. I don't remember when I started this tradition, though I imagine my finances were not in the best shape, but I do think there is something to be said for the lost art of making gifts. Too often, come birthday or holiday time, I am forced to select a present for this person or that person and, without much inspiration, I end up purchasing some item or another that, though enough to fulfill the great invisible gift-giving social contract, still feels, to me, somewhat... hollow.

In my eyes, mix CDs are a great alternative to all the charade and skulduggery that is modern gift-giving. Hell, they are as fun to make as they are to receive, especially if the recipient is that just-right kind of person who loves good music but, for whatever reason, can't seem to discover it on his/her own.

Like Jesse, for example.

The one I'm posting here, Jesse 5, is the latest (and definitely largest) of the Jesse mixes, crafted for the occasion of his 26th birthday. It's also the last one I intend to make him, at least for the foreseeable future. Why? Well, the kinda-downside to living with someone is that the awesome new music you're listening to doesn't sound quite so fresh to them after they hear you blaring it non-stop in the living room for weeks. So, I decided that---at least until we no longer share occupancy---this mix would be the last. Of course, this called for something special. But what? Then it hit me.

I had to attempt the oft-fabled double mix.

And so it began.

I don't prescribe to that many rules while making mixes, but I do follow one or two that I think help insure quality and originality. Here are a few of them:

1) Never start a mix with the first song from an album and never close a mix with the last song from an album (too obvious, too easy).

2) Never put two songs by the same artist on the same mix.

3) Never put the same song on mixes for two different people.

4) Always try and include at least two songs by female artists.

Though I admit to having broken all of these self-made rules at least once, this is, generally speaking, the code I live by.

Amateurs, take note.

To make things more complicated (for me), I've also established certain recurring rules for mixes made for specific people. Though it wasn't planned, the first two mixes I made for Jesse both contained 22 tracks. So, from the third one onward, all Jesse mixes contain 22 tracks. That's a lot of music, which usually means that CD-R is packed to the brim. It also means I have to get creative, finding cool shorter songs to fill gaps, and making sure longer songs earn their place.

All Jesse mixes also contain at least one Bob Dylan song, because Jesse (and everyone else, for that matter) needs to listen to more fucking Bob Dylan. I also occasionally find ways to sneak in even more Dylan via covers.

This mix in particular is also interesting because, similar to my Stoner Night Mix, it is separated into darker and lighter halves. Again, the first part (disc one) is filled with songs of a darker nature, more despairing and desperate both lyrically and musically than those found on the second part (disc two), which is considerably more hopeful and optimistic in tone. While this was challenging (and not totally rational, given the already lengthy list of criteria), it was definitely a refreshing experiment, and one that I think, in the long run, made for a more satisfying mix.

When I first began making mixes it was mostly a game of drag-and-drop from my mp3 library. As I got older, however, I began taking my time and paying more attention to detail; digging deeper for better and stranger songs while also discovering more and more amazing music in the process. That's another beautiful thing about mixes, they are for and about more than just the specific person you are making them for. They're also about the mixer himself (or herself).

For me, mix CDs are like musical time-capsules. They remind me of the things I've loved and the things I've lost, and how much (or little) I still have left.

And that's why I'm so very glad that I can begin sharing them with you. I sincerely hope that some of you enjoy listening to them as much as I enjoyed making them.

I sincerely doubt that's possible, though.

Here's the track-list:

Disc One:

01. Earth - "Tethered to the Polestar"
02. The Feelies - "Original Love"
03. Joy Division - "Passover"
04. Bonnie "Prince" Billy & Matt Sweeney - "Death in the Sea"
05. Sonic Youth - "Catholic Block"
06. Brian Eno - "Everything Merges with the Night"
07. The Mountain Goats - "Lovecraft In Brooklyn"
08. The Cars - "All Mixed Up"
09. Deerhunter - "Cassette Cathedral"
10. Black Flag - "My War"
11. Smog - "Bathysphere"
12. Mekons - "Club Mekon"
13. Antony & the Johnsons - "Hope There's Someone"
14. Wire - "Used To"
15. Art Brut - "Stand Down"
16. Radiohead - "Up on the Ladder"
17. Bob Dylan - "Cold Irons Bound"
18. Big Black - "Fish Fry"
19. Jana Hunter - "Recess"
20. Sebadoh - "Drama Mine"
21. Lifter Puller - "Star Wars Hips"
22. Sean Moriarty - "The Brown Thorn"

Disc Two:

01. The Futureheads - "Decent Days and Nights"
02. Neko Case - "Vengeance Is Sleeping"
03. New Order - "All Day Long"
04. Loudon Wainwright III - "The Swimming Song"
05. Dinosaur Jr. - "Freak Scene"
06. Taken by Trees - "My Boys"
07. Radiohead - "Lull"
08. Drive-By Truckers - "Self Destructive Zones"
09. John Cale - "Buffalo Ballet"
10. The Magnetic Fields - "Take Ecstasy with Me"
11. Lou Reed - "Nobody's Business"
12. Steve Reich - Nagoya Marimbas"
13. Big Star - "Thirteen"
14. Silkworm - "Dead Air"
15. Wilco - "Via Chicago"
16. St. Vincent - "Apocalypse Song"
17. Pixies - "I've Been Tired"
18. Fennesz - "Got to Move On"
19. Andrew Bird - "Fake Palindromes"
20. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - "Nothing Without You (Tery Bina)"
21. Yo La Tengo - "From a Motel 6"
22. Destroyer - "Don't Become the Thing You Hated"

And here's the (mammoth) download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=40JRMDSO

Enjoy (and share).

People Fall Off Buildings Presents: An Introduction to... Modest Mouse

2011-01-07T13:19:00.001-05:00

To put it simply: there's a lot of bands I like.

And then there's Modest Mouse.

Who better then to inaugurate my new (and hopefully ongoing) mix series, People Fall Off Buildings Presents: An Introduction to..., which aims to present a brief career retrospective of some of my favorite bands in hopes that it helps introduce them to a wider audience or, in some cases, reintroduce them to people who may have written them off prematurely.

Now, I know that Modest Mouse isn't exactly an obscure band (especially their post-"Float On" stuff), but I think much of their earlier (and, to me, far more impressive) work has gone largely unnoticed in the wake of their surprising success (Kidz Bop 7, anyone?). As such, this compilation leans heavily on lesser-known material from the first half of their career, beginning with their first single, "Broke", from 1996. Still, songs from every era (including the ubiquitous "Float On") are included here, though I opted not to include any songs from their shelved 1994 debut (later released as Sad Sappy Sucker in 2001). I've also tried to arrange the songs as chronologically as possible, in order to present a clear picture of the band and their progression.

So, please, have a listen. There are few bands as singular as Modest Mouse and even fewer that I love quite so dearly.

Here's the track-list:

01. Broke
02. Dramamine
03. Custom Concern
04. Tundra/Desert
05. A Life Of Arctic Sounds
06. The Fruit That Are Itself
07. Teeth Like God's Shoeshine
08. Trailer Trash
09. Bankrupt On Selling
10. Never Ending Math Equation
11. 3rd Planet
12. Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes
13. Alone Down There
14. Life Like Weeds
15. Float On
16. Bury Me With It
17. Parting Of The Sensory
18. The Whale Song

And here's the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PP8T6JWK

Enjoy.

James' Best Songs Of 2008

2011-01-03T12:08:00.000-05:00

From what I recall, 2008 was a pretty good year.

I finished school, which was nice. I still don't have a decent job (or any job, for that matter) or make a decent living, but I remain glad to be rid of academia and the cloying, isolationist environment it fosters. Which isn't to say that I hated school, quite the opposite, just that after five years of it I was happy to have it over and done with.

And I still am.

This was also the year that I moved out of my kinda-first apartment (after a fairly acrimonious split with my longtime roommate) and back in with my parents for two long, agonizing months. The plus side of this was that Pamela and I found a much better new place, which I reside in to this day.

I'm sure some other stuff happened too. I think I got my wisdom teeth out that year.

Oh, and, of course, The Dark Knight came out and delivered on a prayer that most Batman fans thought would never be answered. I think some other people might have went to see it too . . .

Musically there were some real high notes. Portishead returned and, even though I didn't really care about them before, I did (and continue to) love their Third album. We also got some really good records from Destroyer, The Hold Steady, Deerhunter and The Walkmen, among others.

So, yeah, a pretty good year all around, and one you should definitely re-visit. Like right now.

Here's the track-list:

01. Portishead - "Magic Doors" [from Third]
02. Destroyer - "Foam Hands" [from Trouble In Dreams]
03. No Age - "Teen Creeps" [from Nouns]
04. Hercules and Love Affair - "Blind" [from Hercules and Love Affair]
05. The Hold Steady - "Constructive Summer" [from Stay Positive]
06. Spiritualized - "Death Take Your Fiddle" [from Songs in A&E]
07. Cut Copy - "So Haunted" [from In Ghost Colours]
08. Fleet Foxes - "White Winter Hymnal" [from Fleet Foxes]
09. TV on the Radio - "Stork and Owl" [from Dear Science]
10. Vampire Weekend - "Oxford Comma" [from Vampire Weekend]
11. Department of Eagles - "Around the Bay" [from In Ear Park]
12. Wolf Parade - "An Animal in Your Care" [from At Mount Zoomer]
13. Beach House - "You Came to Me" [from Devotion]
14. Fucked Up - "No Epiphany" [from The Chemistry Of Common Life]
15. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "Lie Down in the Light" [from Lie Down in the Light]
16. Deerhunter - "Nothing Ever Happens" [from Microcastle]
17. Bob Dylan - "Red River Shore" [from The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 – Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006]
18. The Walkmen - "In the New Year" [from You & Me]

Here's the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QJ7PX5SC

Enjoy.

Stoner Night Mix [January 2010]

2010-12-31T16:32:00.000-05:00

I've recently decided to go back and start posting some old mixes that I've made over the years, both for specific people and otherwise, along with a short write-up reflecting my current thoughts on what past-James might have been thinking/digging when he made said mix.

Let's begin:

Earlier this year, my roommate Jesse asked me to make a mix for him and his new (and now former) boyfriend, Andy, to listen to while indulging in a little smoked cannabis (something Andy was largely unfamiliar with). As a vocal advocate of the ancient tradition of "getting high and listening to rock music", I happily accepted the challenge and went about crafting a suitable stoner night mix. From what I recall, Andy and Jesse enjoyed it immensely. Here's hoping that you will too, even if you don't play in the grass.

For the people who raise an eyebrow at the inclusion of certain songs on my list, please keep in mind that I am very much a lyrics-guy and, as such, I find a revelatory verse to be just as awe-inspiring as any extended jam-band guitar theatrics or murky, oscillating atmospherics. Not that I excluded those, of course, but my mentality here was both to cover all the bases and to make a mix that I personally would love to listen to while high. And, at least in the latter regard, I can claim some measure of success.

Also interesting to note is how the mix is informally separated into two sections: the first half (tracks 1-9) being much darker in key and character then the last half (tracks 10-18), which is much warmer and of a brighter tonality. I'm not certain why I did this, and it certainly isn't totally consistent (no one will argue that "End Of Radio" is a warm song) but there was some deliberate effort on my part to begin in a dark place and move towards the light.

In my own work I strive to mix feelings of dread and tension with those of beauty and hope, and perhaps this mix is something of a reflection of that ideal. Or maybe it was just an accident, a pattern I noticed and expanded on. Who knows.

Either way, I hope that a few of you get some enjoyment out of it (preferably gathered around a bong). Please share it freely.

Here's the track-list:

01. Smog - "Permanent Smile"
02. Talking Heads - "Memories Can't Wait"
03. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - "Lament"
04. Liars - "Broken Witch"
05. Jonny Greenwood - "Eat Him By His Own Light"
06. The Velvet Underground - "The Murder Mystery"
07. The Mountain Goats - "Ezekiel 7 And The Permanent Efficacy Of Grace"
08. Joy Division - "The Eternal"
09. Sonic Youth - "Trilogy"
10. Rock Plaza Central - "The Things That Bind You"
11. Fever Ray - "Keep The Streets Empty For Me"
12. Neil Young - "Powderfinger"
13. Shellac - "End Of Radio"
14. Silver Jews - "The Wild Kindness"
15. Radiohead - "Last Flowers"
16. Pavement - "Fin"
17. Bob Dylan - "Not Dark Yet"
18. Pink Floyd - "Dogs"

And here's the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DWO2I3DW

Enjoy.

P.S. If you are lacking in a reliable green energy source, please do not hesitate to contact me.

James' Best Songs Of 2010

2010-12-17T03:03:00.001-05:00

So, yeah, I know I haven't updated my blog in a year. For a guy who spends much of his time chatting about music over the internet, you'd think I'd have invested more in this kind of thing.

But here we are.

Moving on. I'm back! Well, at least long enough to post my yearly best songs list.

It's been a hectic year for me. I'm playing in three active bands now which, don't get me wrong, is great, but consider also that I am the sole songwriter in two of them. Yeah . . . that's a lot of work. What this means is that I've listened to way less new music this past year. Which is a shame, but it's a small price to pay for being able to do what I love with the people I like for the people I am ambivalent toward but would like to have pay me. Did that make sense? Regardless, expect to be facebook concert-spammed very, very soon.

As some of you will surely notice, this year's list is shorter than last year's. In fact, it's the shortest list I've done since I first started making them in 2005 (though I didn't start giving them away to people until 2007). Now, despite what I said earlier, I did listen to a ton of great records this year and not all of them were included on this list. Unlike last year's two-part behemoth, I opted to start the new decade with a short, concise list of the songs I loved the very most in 2010. While I enjoyed doing it the other way, part of me felt I had to work too hard to fit in songs by bands that, while great, make better albums than they do singles. Also: this was way less work.

Anyway. Feel free to download it and share it with friends. And please let me know what great songs/records I missed out on. Being a music fan means constantly playing catchup and I'm sure there were a ton of record released this year just waiting for me to love. Hopefully I can find the time before the onslaught of great new music begins again in 2011.

As much as I hate to say it, this might be my last year doing this list. Though I'll never stop listening to new music and giving it to/forcing it upon friends, I'm usually too busy writing my own songs these days to listen to songs by anyone else. Total gift/curse, believe me.

Oh, and if this does happen to be my last year I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate Spencer Krug on being the only artist to have a song on every year-end list I've ever done. It really baffles me how prolifically brilliant this guy is. Seriously, dude releases like two albums a year and he is only getting better (some might argue that point, but no one could argue that he's getting worse). My guess is that he is actually some kind of wizard (which would explain all the dragon references).

Here is the list:

01. LCD Soundsystem - "I Can Change" [from This Is Happening]
02. Gil Scott-Heron - "New York Is Killing Me" [from I'm New Here]
03. The Hold Steady - "The Weekenders" [from Heaven Is Whenever]
04. Joanna Newsom - "Good Intentions Paving Company" [from Have One On Me]
05. Liars - "The Overachievers" [from Sisterworld]
06. The Tallest Man On Earth - "Troubles Will Be Gone" [from The Wild Hunt]
07. Wolf Parade - "What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had To Go This Way) [from Expo 86]
08. The National - "Anyone's Ghost" [from High Violet]
09. Woods - "Death Rattles" [from At Echo Lake]
10. Grinderman - "Heathen Child" [from Grinderman 2]
11. Spoon - "Out Go The Lights" [from Transference]
12. Arcade Fire - "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" [from The Suburbs]

And here is the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GWDIZE6J

Enjoy.

James' Best Songs Of 2009 [Part One & Two]

2009-12-19T09:08:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: Part Two is now available. I've updated the link so that it's all one giant file. Enjoy.

Since this is my first year posting on Facebook (to which this article is now linked), I’ll explain: At the end of every year I select my personal favorite tracks released within the preceding 12 months, zip them up, and then post a link where anybody and everybody can download the mix. The idea is to give people who aren’t crazy music nerds (like me) a chance to sample some of the truly great stuff that came out this year.

Obviously I can’t listen to absolutely everything, so don’t be offended if you’re favorite band isn’t on here (unless your favorite band sucks). This is just the stuff I’ve listened to over the past year and liked/loved. If you don’t like it/love it/aren’t interested, well . . . don’t download it. Simple enough.

Usually I limit myself to one CD-R worth of material, but this year I’m changing things up a bit. Because I liked so much stuff this year and didn’t want to exclude any of it, I’ve decided to release a second disc worth of extra songs.

I know, I know. I spoil you.

Please share this with absolutely anyone you want and also: let me know what you think

Oh, and I even made iPod art (included in the .zip). How cool is that?

Here’s the tracklist:

Part One

01. Grizzly Bear – “While You Wait For The Others” [from Veckatimest]
02. Dirty Projectors – “Stillness Is The Move” [from Bitte Orca]
03. Sonic Youth – “What We Know” [from The Eternal]
04. Thom Yorke – “All For The Best” [from Ciao My Shining Star]
05. Phoenix – “1901” [from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix]
06. St. Vincent – “The Strangers” [from Actor]
07. Built To Spill – “Life’s A Dream” [from There Is No Enemy]
08. Dead Man’s Bones – “Lose Your Soul” [from Dead Man’s Bones]
09. Bat For Lashes – “Daniel” [from Two Suns]
10. Woods – “Rain On” [from Songs Of Shame]
11. The xx – “Crystalised” [from xx]
12. Animal Collective – “My Girls” [from Merriweather Post Pavilion]
13. The Antlers – “Two” [from Hospice]
14. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Zero” [from It’s Blitz]
15. Bob Dylan – “I Feel A Change Comin’ On” [from Together Through Life]
16. The Mountain Goats – “Hebrews 11:40” (from The Life Of The World To Come]
17. Sunset Rubdown – “You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)” [from Dragonslayer]

Part Two

01. Animal Collective - "What Would I Want? Sky" [from Fall Be Kind]
02. Taken By Trees - "To Lose Someone" [from East Of Eden]
03. The Thermals - "When We Were Alive" [from Now We Can See]
04. Radiohead - "These Are My Twisted Words" [self-released single]
05. Bill Callahan - "Eid Ma Clack Shaw" [from Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle]
06. Dinosaur Jr. - "Over It" [from Farm]
07. Bon Iver - "Blood Bank" [from Blood Bank]
08. Fever Ray - "If I Had A Heart" [from Fever Ray]
09. Girls - "Lust For Life" [from Album]
10. Japandroids - "Young Hearts Spark Fire" [from Post-Nothing]
11. Neko Case - "This Tornado Loves You" [from Middle Cyclone]
12. Destroyer - "Bay Of Pigs" [from Bay Of Pigs]
13. Sunn O))) - "Alice" [from Monoliths & Dimensions]
14. Rock Plaza Central - "O Lord, How Many Are My Foes" [from . . . at the moment of our most needing]

And here's the download link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=S352YD1I

Enjoy.

P.S. If any of you want either the 2007 or 2008 mix, let me know and I’ll send you a link for those as well.

Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan [1962]

2009-12-07T21:46:00.000-05:00

I was attending a birthday gathering for a friend at a local bar a few nights back when I explained to said friend (and fellow Dyan fan) my desire to use my newly minted blog to embark on a career long retrospective of Bob Dylan’s mountainous body of work. Imagine my surprise then, when another member of the party chimed in, with considerable derision, “Yeah, except all his albums sound exactly the same”. I, of course, became immediately defensive and was in turn met with a line of argument so juvenile and problematic that I won’t do said person the dishonour of recounting it here.

Reflecting on it now, I remain baffled as to why anyone would make an accusation of sameness against an artist as consistently complex and challenging as Dylan. This is, after all, the man who was booed and harassed throughout his entire 1965 tour exactly because he refused to stay the same. This is the man who mastered the folk tradition on his first album (Bob Dylan) and then proceeded to revolutionize it⎯and protest songs in particular⎯on his next two (The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and The Times They Are A-Changin’) before releasing a dashed-off collection of surrealistic love song (Another Side Of Bob Dylan) and then abandoning the folk scene altogether to completely revolutionize rock and roll on his next three (Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde). Even John Lennon has been quoted as saying that when he first heard “Subterranean Homesick Blues”, one of Dylan’s first electric singles, he thought it was so “captivating that he wondered how [he] could ever compete”.

And that’s just his career from 1962-1966. In 1967⎯after three straight rock masterpieces⎯Dylan switched gears once again and released John Wesley Harding, a haunting, biblical country album (whose companion collection of homemade recordings, The Basement Tapes, is a stylistic wonder in itself).

And that’s just the first five years of a career that has now lasted nearly fifty. In that time Dylan has produced 33 studio albums (not to mention countless live records and B-sides compilations), a highly acclaimed book of memoirs (Chronicles: Volume One) and a variety of paintings, drawings and other artworks that are frequently exhibited all over the world.

I could, of course, go on and on. But I’ll stop here. And, in the off chance I haven’t yet made my point allow me to assure you that, by the time my 34-post retrospective wraps up, I most certainly will have.

So, without further ado, let us begin:

For some, Dylan’s career begins with The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, his second album and the first on which he wrote all the material (well . . . mostly), but it was actually an album of folk covers (with one very notable original) that introduced Bob Dylan to the world. And so it is with this oft-overlooked LP that we must begin our journey.

Bob Dylan’s first album, self-titled and released in 1962 when he was only twenty years old, didn’t sell very many copies, nor did it garner him that much attention outside of the small circle of dedicated folk fans who, having already witnessed his burgeoning skill as a performer, suspected the young man’s potential and spread the word best they could.

Listening to Bob Dylan now, it’s not hard to see why this record gets ignored so often, it really is a proto-Dylan record: necessary in order for what came next but in many ways disposable, especially in light of his later work. The voice that barks the title track “You’re No Good” is familiar, but suffers from an affectation that, while harmless and well-emulated, is nonetheless the sound of a confident performer who has yet to fully establish his own distinct voice. Which is fair enough, Dylan had only just begun to pen his own lyrics and had yet to build up the confidence necessary to step out on his own as a songwriter in a scene where most singers just played the old classics. Few dared to write their own material and, whenever they did, well . . . they just stuck to the script.

But it wasn’t the 1920s anymore. The depression was over; the world had changed. And the music had, too. Rock and roll was a living, breathing thing and it was slowly shaping itself into the genre to beat, at least among the younger generation of post-war babes: young men and women that were just about to enter an increasingly troubled, post-atomic society (in which America was slowly becoming a force to be reckoned with; the new global superpower). The folk traditionals and the depression era ballads by men like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger were beautiful and whole and amazing in their own right but these were different times and, in the Greenwich Village folk scene, few had truly realized this.

At least not yet.

As far as an album of folk covers go, Bob Dylan is perfectly serviceable. The performances are raw and passionate and sparkle with real energy and authentic emotion. But they can’t be more than what they are, which is old, familiar and well-worn folk songs. Songs which, while sturdy and powerful, no longer spoke the language of the world into which they were introduced. That is, of course, with one glorious and unexpected exception.

“Song To Woody” is the first song of any substance that Bob Dylan wrote (as he himself puts it in Chronicles: Volume One) and it a harbinger of everything that was to come. Though now it might seem like small, even insignificant track, it is argugably the song in which Dylan the performer becomes⎯forever and always⎯Dylan the artist. Even if the song is only a homage to what came before, it is the absolutely the first step toward what Dylan would soon become: an audacious, challenging and strikingly original creator. And, if "Song To Woody" is, perhaps, not quite the total revelation of a fully-formed artist, it is certainly the catalyst for everything that was about to come, for in little over a year Dylan would return his next album, and with it a first single that would leave little doubt to his singular talent--- a song called "Blowin' In The Wind".

The rest, of course, is history. A history which I’ll be revisiting over the coming weeks and months.

So look out.

For now, I’ll leave you with two free downloads (including the aforementioned Guthrie tribute) and the suggestion that you give Bob Dylan a spin. If only for the sake of introducing yourself to some really excellent old folk songs. The fact that they happen to sung by a man who would soon change irrevocably the very definition of the word “song”, and in the process would alter forever the course of popular music itself, is just icing on the cake.

Enjoy.

MP3: Bob Dylan - "Man Of Constant Sorrow"

MP3: Bob Dylan - "Song To Woody"

Child Of God - Cormac McCarthy

2009-12-05T11:14:00.000-05:00

One of his early novels⎯his third to be published—Child Of God is not a book on the same scale as Cormac McCarthy’s later masterworks, such as Blood Meridian, but is nonetheless a gripping and stylistically unmatched character study from a man who seems always able to boil his narrative down to its barest essentials and, in doing so, reveal the hidden (and often horrible) depths of madness and depravity to which mankind, with its dark and troubled heart, so readily descends.

Set in the early 1960s in a backroads town in East Tennessee, Child Of God tells the haunting and deeply disturbing tale of one Lester Ballard, an impoverished outcast whose unfathomable lusts escalate into unspeakable acts of violence and degradation. In a lesser writer’s hands the story and its many frightening events could have easily turned to exaggerated horror-pulp, but McCarthy is (and apparently always was) rather adept at handling this kind of lost soul, imbuing Ballard with a vulnerability that, while never allowing for sympathy, still manages him some level of humanity despite his growing list of terrible deeds.

His prose is, as ever, brilliant: spare and minimal, evoking only the barest details required by the story but feeling somehow more detailed for it. His depictions of nature, which are many, I find especially beautiful. Here’s an example:

The hardwood trees on the mountain subsided into yellow and flame and to ultimate nakedness. An early winter fell, a cold wind sucked among the black and barren branches. Alone in the empty shell of a house the squatter watched through moteblown glass a rimshard of bonecoloured moon come cradling up over the black balsams on the ridge, ink trees a facile hand had sketched against the paler dark of winter heavens.

Pretty gnarly, eh?

It should be noted for fans of The Road, that while that book is bleak and depressing and clearly the work of the same writer, it is not indicative of his more consistent style or themes. I’m not saying that to scare people off, as I do hope that more people start reading McCarthy (which seems likely since so many of his books are currently being made into films). I just thought it was worth pointing out.

Enjoy.

Wings Of Desire [Dir. Wim Wenders]

2009-11-30T18:41:00.000-05:00

Those of you who read the above title and assume, as I once did, that you are unfamiliar with the film in question are, most unfortunately for everyone, quite mistaken. You see, Wings Of Desire is a film that most people (and by people, I mean, of course, North Americans) are at least somewhat familiar with. Why is that? Because, as is too often the case with foreign-language masterpieces such as this, Hollywood decided it needed to do an English-language remake. Because, obviously, subtitles are like, totally lame and hard to read. The steaming pile of --- poorly acted, schmaltzy, Goo Goo Dolls-soundtracked, completely-misses-the-point-in-every-conceivable-way --- shit in question?

Why, City Of Angels, of course.

But let’s not get stuck on that. Sure, after watching Wings Of Desire my hatred for the Hollywood whore-factory that allows such bastardizations to be made (and, even worse, to be made with great financial success) is freshly re-ignited. However, none of this is the fault of the film being discussed here, and I fear focusing too much on what-they-got-wrong-in-the-remake will overshadow and obscure all-they-got-right-in-the-original, which, to be quite honest, is just about everything.

Wings Of Desire, released in 1987 and set in Berlin, tells the story of an angel who grows tired of his ageless immorality, spent endlessly observing, but never experiencing, human life, and decides to forsake his painless but (literally) black-and-white world in order to join the ranks of the living, with all its myriad colours, even if that means suffering; even if it means eventually having to die.

Deeply philosophical, meditative, beautifully acted and gorgeously shot, with a terrific soundtrack, Wings Of Desire is the kind of movie that one watches not realizing that their mouth has fallen open in complete and utter awe. A love story, certainly, but one built with such graceful artistry, such appreciation for the minute and all-important details of life and what exactly it is to be human, that it reaches a level of transcedance and evocation that great art so often attempts but so rarely achieves.

A special mention must also go the work of Peter Falk, better known to older generations as Lt. Columbo, who plays himself (and perhaps a bit more) in what is easily the most inspired bit of stunt-casting I have ever had the pleasure of viewing.

I, for one, am now very psyched to see some of Wenders’ other films (Wings being my first foray into both his work and German-cinema in general). Criterion, ever the handy resource, is releasing Paris, Texas early next year, till then I suppose it’s the video store for me.

Enjoy.

Smog - Knock Knock

2009-11-29T12:31:00.000-05:00

I tried once, maybe five years ago, to get into the band Smog. Spurred on by my enjoyment of the single "I Feel Like The Mother Of The World" I decided to download some random albums of theirs (or, more accurately, his, because Smog is undoubtedly a one-man show), in this case Red Apple Falls and The Doctor Came At Dawn, to see if perhaps this was an artist worth obsessing over. Turns out that Bill Callahan (who is Smog, though not anymore) was worth my adoration, I just didn't know it back then, listening to each album only once before relegating them to the eternal abyss of the modern hard-drive.

After Joanna Newsom, Callahan's then-girlfriend, released her album Ys., which featured a Smog-guest vocal on centerpiece song "Only Skin", I briefly considered giving his work another chance. But it wasn't until this year's Bill Callahan solo-album (for he has, as of late, retired the Smog moniker), Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle, that I decided to return to the Smog catalogue and reap the many rewards that, it turns out, were always there waiting for me.

Which brings us to 1999's Knock Knock, my favourite-so-far Smog album (though I thing both Red Apple Falls and Dongs Of Sevotion are absolutely amazing, too). Rumoured to be (and certainly sounding like) a breakup album about Chan Marshall (a.k.a. Cat Power), Knock Knock is a harrowing collection of mostly dark, minor-chord laments on love and loss, often very slow and always very minimal. That isn't to say that the album doesn't have its moments of brevity, but even lighter and/or warmer-sounding songs like "Teenage Spaceship" and "Hit The Ground Running" deal with lyrical themes and ideas that are either mournful or troubling (or both), though with more hidden optimism than some of the more relentlessly negative numbers.

Lyrically, Callahan is ever-full of evocative imagery. Probing the coldness and isolation of mankind with a poet's keen and steel-eyed gaze. Not to mention that "Cold Blooded Old Times" is a title so good that it wouldn't seem out of placed next to the name Cormac McCarthy. Sample lyric:

Cold-blooded old times
The type of memories
That turn your bones to glass
Turn your bones to glass.

Awesome, eh? It's just too bad the song got placed on the not bad soundtrack-wise but awful film-wise High Fidelity OST. Bah. Oh well.

So kids, the lesson here is this: listen to more Smog. Or else, maybe, just don't write things off after hearing/seeing/reading/dating them once. Because sometimes the second (or third) time is the charm (and sometimes shit just sucks, but I digress . . .)

Oh, and there's a song from the album available for download below so no excuses . . .

Enjoy.

MP3: Smog - "Hit The Ground Running"

The Complete Monterey Pop Festival [Dir. D.A. Pennebaker]

2009-11-28T09:58:00.000-05:00

To say I have a soft spot for rock and roll is something of an understatement. I find the form so stupidly transcendant I often wonder at the scale of my adoration. That being said, I'm not terribly well versed in concert films/documentaries, I mostly get lost in "the album" and ignore the visual documentation though the reasons for this are a bit more complex than one might think.

Obviously I've seen The Last Waltz and Stop Making Sense, and I've seen Don't Look Back and Dig! and The Devil & Daniel Johnston (the latter three being certainly more documentary than concert) but when it comes to concert films, that is, films in which live performances of songs or sets are recorded, well . . . these days the whole affair is just so tepid and anti-septic and, dare I say it, boring that I've sort of checked out for the most part. I think the problem mostly has to do with the lack of actual film-makers (and by this I mean artists) making films about music and the abundance of bands who allow artless but techinally sound cameramen to make their concert films --- scratch that, because these aren't films, they are just video-recordings of shows --- which are generally straight-to-DVD and feature mostly unabridged sets shot in a perfectly accessible manner with quality sound (and now in HD!) but lack totally any and all sense of soul.

That's why when I see something like Monterey Pop, directed by D.A. Pennebaker (who also did the Dylan-doc Don't Look Back), my mind is so thoroughly blown; my eyes entranced for the entire proceedings. And I was high, too, but that's beside the point. Because Monterey Pop is a film. It's not just a recording of a band (or, in this case, a bunch of bands) playing. It captures more than just music, it captures everything about what makes music great in an inventive and emotionally evocative way: the colours are vibrant and swirling; the cameras cascade from inventive shot to inventive shot; the bands explode off the stage, brought to life before our very eyes. No one performing here is simply going through the motions, each band gives a spirited performace, some even going to far as to be maniacal (both Pete Townshend and Jimi Hendrix brutally destroy their guitars, the only difference being that Hendrix sets his on fire first). In truth, none of the bands on here are favorites of mine (well, except Hendrix, and I do enjoy The Who and Otis Redding quite a bit) but the way the film is paced, the way it so clearly demonstrates the love for its subjects (and the powers which they possess) pulls me past all that, invites me in, holds me. Not to mention that the very long and absolutely stunning closing performance by sitar master (and Norah Jones seeder) Ravi Shankar made me hop over to eBay the very next morning to purchase some of his used LPs. Talk about learning something new.

It's also worth noting that this deluxe boxset features an extra disc with complete sets by Hendrix and Redding, the former set being nearly three times as long as the latter. Oh, and it also includes over two hours (!) of outtake performances. All that combined I can't see why any fan of rock and roll (or, specifically, I guess, classic rock, though that title is troublesome) would not want to see this. As for me, I feel an intense desire to go back and explore this mostly dead style of music film-making, which is convenient since Criterion (who do a great job with this package) is releasing Gimme Shelter, a Rolling Stones performance-documentary about the tragic Altamont killings, this upcoming Tuesday.

Now if only I could get P.T. Anderson to make an epic Radiohead concert film then all would be right in the world.

Enjoy.