Song #18
I Can Be A Frog - The Flaming Lips
Combining my favourite things at the moment, Karen O and The Flaming Lips.
Currently watching The Fearless Freaks, by Bradley Beesley. It arrived on the day the whole ridiculous Erykah Badu vs. Wayne Coyne beef started, so I think it was obvious who I was backing from the start there.
(Source: Spotify)
Song #17
We Can’t Be Beat - The Walkmen
Album - Heaven
Here’s that new Walkmen album, as promised. It’s a pretty relaxed one, with a much cleaner sound than their previous albums. The band never seem to progress, but frankly, they plateaued at a pretty damn good level. No stand out tracks beyond the first track so far, but it’s interesting to think this is still the same band that belted out seminal teenage hits like The Rat and Little House Of Savages. Almost every single one of their songs stands out as a timeless treat, something you can imagine being played by an undervalued house band at an East Coast American high school prom, or bowling alley, or ballroom. Somewhere still relying on a mirror-ball for scatter-shot ambience.
They seem to have nailed the East Coast preppy vibe in a way that is nowhere near as cloying and short-lived as Vampire Weekend. They’re like the children of the protagonists in a Richard Yeats novel grew up and formed a band.
(Source: Spotify, via omglolrofl)
Song #16
Maps - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Album- Kats Karavan - The History Of John Peel On The Radio
Been getting back into Yeah Yeah Yeahs in a big way lately. Their three major albums were just diverse masterworks of unbridled, sexy, cocksure awesomeness. Reading about Karen Os recent psycho-opera, last performed in Sydney, I’m seriously hoping for a DVD release, or at the very least, an OST release.
Creators Project videos about ‘Stop The Virgens’ (sic) - well worth a half hour, for incredible costumes, sets, music and the beautiful Karen O.
(Source: Spotify)
Song #14
Brains - Lower Dens
Album - Nootropics
This album is a stormer. Talk about bucking the sophomore slump.
Which reminds me. Grandaddy are coming back…
(Source: Spotify)
Song #13
Venus - Television
Album - Marquee Moon
I always think this song could have been in the soundtrack for a John Hughes film where James Spader plays a technically proficient guitar player trying to seduce Molly Ringwald, while Anthony Michael Hall is the overlooked bass player.
It’s a weirdly specific thought.
(Source: Spotify)
Song #12
New Year’s Eve - The Walkmen
Album - Bows + Arrows
Looking forward to the new album, such a consistent and underrated band.
(Source: Spotify)
Song #11
Sister Saviour - The Rapture
Album - Echoes
Boy were The Rapture ahead of the times.
(Source: Spotify)
Song #10
Fist Heart Mighty Dawn Dart - Ty Segall
Album - Ty Rex
From the Record Store Day 2011 EP of T Rex covers, Ty Segall reinterprets some excellent source material and makes it into something even more special. Even though it’s not his original work, his new arrangements are some of the best work he’s ever done and eased us into the more chilled out style that defined Goodbye Bread.
(Source: Spotify)
Song #9 (not strictly):
The Last Days of the Suicide Kid - Charles Bukowski
“the nurse stops the wheelchair, breaks a rose from a nearby bush,
puts it in my hand.
I don’t even know
what it is. it might as well be my pecker
for all the good
it does”
(Source: Spotify)
Song #7:
Third Ave - The King Khan & BBQ Show
Album - Invisible Girl
This song seems to herald Mark Sultan’s future solo work, but still has that King Khan lo-fi edge that’s a bit lacking in a lot of his songs. The powerful vocal turn on ‘Who Knows How To Run?’ mixed with the Rhythm & Blues/Rockabilly arpeggio style all add up to a pretty timeless, sentimental classic.
(Source: Spotify)
Song #6
The Union Forever - The White Stripes
Album - White Blood Cells.
The first three White Stripes albums had such a consistent but varied run of excellence. Son House covers, songs about Citizen Kane, A Capella tracks, acoustic tracks, screaming guitar tracks. The later albums had more of a thematic consistency, but I prefer being kept on my toes.
See the linked video for The Union Forever, which syncs Citizen Kane footage to Jack White’s quotation heavy lyrics to perfect effect.
(Source: Spotify)
Song #5
To Be Of Use - Smog
Album - Red Apple Falls
This is one of the saddest songs of all time. Bill Callahan has gone through a few similar phases to Buck 65:
- Young, reckless and misogynistic (‘Be Hit’ vs. ‘Centaur’)
- Middle of the career, stride hitting excellence (Red Apple Falls, Knock Knock, A River Ain’t Too Much Love vs. Square, Secret House Against The World, Talkin’ Honky Blues)
- Older, more restrained, relaxed and happy, with better production, but slightly less edge (Smog becoming Bill Callahan vs. 20 Odd Years and Situation)
Song #4
45:33 (Prince Language Remix) - LCD Soundsystem
Album- 45:33 Remixes
I fully respect that James Murphy designed 45:33 with the supposed remit of a soundtrack carefully structured to reflect the different stages of a run, in the face of the fact that he has never exercised and has no insight into running. And yet, if you’ve ever tried it, it works. And not just that, it lay down the groundwork for some of Sound Of Silver, and featured the above track, which is one of the best LCD Soundsystem songs of all.
RIP LCD Soundsystem, I hope you’re legacy of Shut Up And Play The Hits is as perfect as it looks. (PS. As the documentary is being released by Oscilloscope, here’s a good place to put RIP MCA)
(Source: Spotify)
Formerly OMGLOLROFL.
This site is to streamline all of my social internet use into it's simplest form.
I will limit myself to one photo, one song and one comment per day. These will be numbered. Original content will take precedence, but exceptional circumstances may force my hand.
