Records Purchased 011009

Finally Punk Hypertension EP 7" (M'Lady Records)
Lover! No More Reasons 7" (Hozac)
The Wax Museums Magnet Part II 7" (Fashionable Idiots Records)
Tyvek Needles Drop 2x7" (What's Your Rupture?)
caUSE Co-MOTION! Baby Don't Do It 7" (What's Your Rupture?)
Wicked Witch s/t LP (EM / Honest Jon's)
Les 5 Gentlemen Plus Grands Succes LP (Belle Amie)
Pandit Prannath Earth Groove LP (Mississippi)
Various Artists Oh Graveyard, You Can't Always Hold Me LP (Mississippi)
Quincy Jones Plays Hip Hits LP (Mercury)
The Oh Sees/The Intelligence Split 12" (Mt. St. Mtn.)
Comet Gain Beautiful Despair 12" (What's Your Rupture?)
Gentleman Jesse & His Men s/t LP (Douchemaster Records)
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou Volume ONE "The Vodoun Effect" - Funk And Sato From Benin's Obscure Labels 1972-1975 CD (Analog Africa)

Bye Bye Florian

Florian left Kraftwerk today. In memory, here is this really weird "interview" with him from Brazillian TV in 1988.

Something Else Mix #2

A unique and decidedly mopey mix featuring: "OMGZ THAT ZOMBIES SONG FROM THAT RUSHMORE-GUY'S MOVIE ABOUT BEING UNDERWATER!", a maybe more beautiful version of an already beautiful song, my favorite vocalist of all time, a song of calm, groovy 60's country, one of Dylan's simplest and most elegant lyrics rendered with a bit of soul, a Spiritualized song that repeats the same thing over and over and over an what's with that because it gets better everytime, a song deceptively simple from my favorite record as a child, "I heard and old girlfriend/has turned to the church/she's trying to replace me/but it will never work", a great song with a better title, soul/lounge explosion (or as much as something like that can explode), my 100&, all-time favorite "loser" song, the best song on my least favorite B&S album, and a song displaying an almost depressing level of devotion.

Tracklist:
1. The Zombies "The Way I Feel Inside"
2. Jens Lekman "A Little Lost" (Arthur Russell Cover)
3. Scott Walker "Duchess"
4. Bill Fay "Be Not So Fearful"
5. Porter Wagoner "Lonely Comin' Down"
6. Rod Stewart "Mama, You Been On My Mind" (Bob Dylan Cover)
7. Spiritualized "Baby I'm Just A Fool"
8. Harry Nilsson "Think About Your Troubles"
9. Pulp "Bad Cover Version"
10. Beulah "My Horoscope Said It Would Be A Bad Year"
11. The Sapphires "Let's Break Up For A While"
12. Frank & Nancy Sinatra "Somethin' Stupid"
13. Belle & Sebastian "Don't Leave The Light On Baby"
14. Eef Barzelay "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire" (Live) (Ink Spots Cover)

Download Something Else Mix #2 (M4A version for iTunes with artwork and chapter titles) here.

Download Something Else Mix #2 (MP3 version with artwork) here.

Delia Derbyshire Gives Aphex Twin The Two-Fingered Salute.

This sort of stuff never ceases to amaze me. The existence of 267 tapes of the electronic music of Delia Derbyshire, the woman responsible for the electronic realization of the theme to Dr. Who, was just confirmed by an archivist at the BBC. Amongst those tapes was at least one "experimental dance" piece that sounds pretty much exactly like an Aphex Twin song. Only it was recorded in 1969!

Read the article and check out some terrific sound clips here.

And if you don't know who Delia Derbyshire is, click here.

New Genre Alert: French-Vanity-Dub

Well, okay, maybe there's only one French-Vanity-Dub album, but it's a doozy. In 1979, probably wacked out of his mind on a little more than just fame, Serge Gainsbourg hopped a plane to Jamaica to make a reggae album.

He enlisted the services of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, probably the greatest reggae rhythm section of all time, and the I-Threes, Bob Marley's female back-up trio. Gainsbourg thoroughly offended right-wingers by snarling and moaning his way through his country's national anthem, with the non-French-speaking I-Threes piping an offhand "Aux armes--et cetera" at the chorus.

The whole affair sounds pretty much as confounding as you'd imagine it. It's reggae, but with Serge piping his slightly unnerving, nicotine stained croak on top. I, personally, find the entire record kinda hard to listen to in one sitting. But one track at a time it's a perfect audio nightmare.

Download the song "Aux armes et caetera" here

The Kinks > The Beatles > The Rolling Stones

The Kinks are, quite simply, the greatest band ever to walk the face of the Earth. They could make "Powerman" the National Anthem and somehow this band would still be under appreciated.

It's tough to say exactly why The Kinks aren't given the same kind of massive respect that seems to be reserved solely for The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. By my count, The Kinks wrote just as many genre-defining anthems as either of those bands. Sure, they weren't as attractive as The Beatles, or as delightfully sleazy at The Rolling Stones (but they were, generally, more attractive than the Stones and sleazier than the Beatles. Although, it would arguably be harder to NOT be sleazier than the Beatles).

My infinity for The Kinks might stem from my overwhelming, unwavering and unabashed love for The Beatles. From about 6th through 10th grade I listened virtually exclusively to The Beatles. I think the only other music I took in at the time came from Seattle's only oldies station (unless you count KIXI, which I don't) the sadly re-formatted 97.3 KBSG. And at a certain point things that once seemed shocking and innovative, just seem, well, dull.

The Kinks touched on subjects that other bands of the time seemed to just gloss over. Without being overly preachy or heavy-handed, they crafted touching odes to an England that had never fully rebuilt itself after World War II. They had plenty of songs that went "yeah, yeah, I love you, yeah." But they also had songs like "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" and "Get Back In Line" which touched on deeper topics like personal isolation and the startling number of British people who were facing the day to day embarrassment of being "on the dole."

This is a two CD "best of"-ish collection. The first disc handles the generally poppier material and has all the singles that you are likely to know. And the second disc highlights the obscure gems and odd music-hall pieces.

Here's some tracklistings and download links:
Disc #1
1. You Really Got Me
2. Everybody's Gonna Be Happy
3. Tired Of Waiting For You
4. Who'll Be The Next In Line
5. Well Respected Man
6. Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
7. You're Looking Fine
8. Sunny Afternoon
9. Party Line
10. Dead End Street
11. David Watts
12. Love Me Till The Sun Shines
13. Waterloo Sunset
14. The Village Green Preservation Society
15. Do You Remember Walter
16. Picture Book
17. Animal Farm
18. Victoria
19. Drivin'
20. Lola
21. Powerman
22. 20th Century Man
23. Muswell Hillbilly
24 Celluloid Heroes

Download here

Disc #2
1. Just Can’t Go to Sleep (Mono)
2. Stop Your Sobbin’ (Mono)
3. Nothin' In The World Can Stop Me From Worryin' 'bout That Girl
4. Don't Ever Change
5. The World Keeps Going Round
6. I'm On An Island
7. Holiday In Waikiki
8. Too Much On My Mind
9. Fancy
10. I'm Not Like Everybody Else
11. A House In The Country
12. This Is Where I Belong
13. Lazy Old Sun
14. Death Of A Clown
15. Autumn Almanac
16. Starstruck
17. People Take Pictures Of Each Other
18. Johnny Thunder
19. Days
20. She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina
21. Get Back In Line
22. Strangers
23. This Time Tomorrow
24. Apeman
25. Skin & Bone
26. Alcohol
27. Sitting In My Hotel

Download here

(Note: Unfortunately the only way I could get iTunes to export these playlists was in .XML format. So...just load the MP3s into your iTunes like normal...then...choose FILE and then IMPORT from the top drop down in iTunes...and then...choose the .XML file. That should plop the playlist into your iTunes. If you don't have iTunes...um...good luck...)