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)

Franz Ferdinand "L. Wells"

This might be my favorite Franz Ferdinand song. And its not even on a damn album!

Ugh...eBay here I come...

Bye Bye Florian

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

The Bees "Chicken Payback"

Right after returning to Seattle from Boston, my storage space was broken into. My entire CD and DVD collection (along with my guitar gear and DVD player and TV and a bunch of other stuff) was stolen. As crushed as I was I was wholly relieved when I discovered that NONE of my LPs had been touched. I supposed that the thieves thought the vinyl was worthless.

As time goes on it has become more and more apparent that ONE box of LPs was stolen. And that box contained the records that I used to DJ at the Bus Stop. Thankfully, back then I was mostly using CDs to DJ, having yet to realize that the only real exercise I'll ever get is by walking huge bags of records to sundry DJ appearances.

I had a promo 10" of this track by a British band called A Band Of Bees (they are only called Bees in the UK because people in the UK are far too busy to be bothered to pronounce all those extra words). A Band of Bees are a classic British band in the sense that they have like, 4 albums and a sound that goes down about as well in the US as a collaboration between Jay-Z and Linkin Park (oh wait that actually happened).

In any case, I'm wishing I had that 10" right now as this jam is a total keeper even if it is just a soul pastiche. The video is quite clever as well.



And the b-side had a goddamn Madlib remix (of course). But through the magic of the internet you can and listen to it without having to buy it out of the back of some meth head's van.

Download The Bees "Chicken Payback (Madlib Soul Distortion Vocal Remix)"

Top Top Ten Lists for 2008

The “I WORK IN THE INDIE ROCK INDUSTRY” Top Ten of 2008 List:
1. Tallest Man on Earth – “Shallow Grave”
2. Born Ruffians – “Red, Yellow and Blue”
3. Dr. Dog – “Fate”
4. Dutchess & The Duke – “She’s The Dutchess, He’s The Duke”
5. Vivian Girls – “Vivian Girls”
6. Kanye West – “808’s & Heartbreak”
7. Jay Reatard – “Matador Singles ‘08”
8. Spiritualized – “Songs in A & E”
9 . Throw Me The Statue – “Moonbeams”
10. Young Rival – “Tour EP”

The “HEY LOOK, WEIRD/OLD STUFF” Top Ten of 2008 List:
1. John Baker “The John Baker Tapes Vol. 1 & 2”
2. Rodriguez – “Cold Fact”
3. Natural Snow Buildings – “The Snow Bringer Cult”
4. Fennesz – “The Black Sea”
5. The Shop Assistants – “Will Anything Happen”
6. Porter Wagoner – ‘The Cold Hard Facts Of Life/Soul Of A Convict”
7. Chico Magnetic Band – “s/t”
8. All Those LPs I Bought on Mississippi Records esp. “Fight On Your Time Ain’t Long”
9. Scott Walker “’Til The Band Comes In”
10. Wavves “Wavves”

The “BEST FORMAT IS THE 7”” Top Ten of 2008 List:
1. The Barbaras – “Summertime Road” b/w ”Day At The Shrine” & “Flow”
2. Wounded Lion – “Carol Cloud” b/w “Pony People”
3. The Strange Boys – “Woe Is You & Me” b/w “Baby Please Don’t Go”
4. Ruben & Lacey – “Jackson” b/w “Let The Good Times Roll”
5. Times New Viking “Stay Awake EP”
6. Sexy Kids – “Sisters Are Forever” b/w “Drown Me”
7. Jacuzzi Boys – “Island Ave.” b/w “Dream Lion” & You Should Know”
8. caUSE Co-MOTION – “I Lie Awake” b/w “You Don’t Care” & “Cry For Attention”
9. Demon’s Claws – “Fucked on Ketamine” b/w “Always Be My Friend”
10. Dirtbombs “Sherlock Holmes” b/w “Nothing To Do”

The “REALLY REAL” Top Ten of 2008 List:
1. Girls
2. Beers
3. Records
4. Friends
5. Voting
6. Sleeping
7. Not Sleeping
8. Internet
9. Puppy Cam!
10. Fun

Nobunny on Chic-a-go-go

Seriously, his show at the Funhouse in January can't some soon enough.

Records Purchased 120708

Ursula Bogner Recordings 1969-1988 CD (Faitiche)
Wavves s/t LP (Woodsist)
Nobunny Love Visions LP (1234 Go! Records)
Svarte Greiner Man Bird Dress LP (SMTG Limited)
Thee Headcoatees Girlsville LP (Hangman Records)
The Intelligence Fido, Your Leash Is Too Long b/w Shitty World 7" (Plastic Idol)
Demon's Claws Fucked on Ketamine b/w Always Be My Friend 7" (Rob's House)

Wounded Lion "Pony People"

I love this song deeply and bizarrely. Probably my favorite single of the year.

Fucking great pile of weird in the video too.

Something Else Mix #3

This was going to be a simple "this sounds like this" post about the similarities between 80's/90's pop group The Shop Assistants and the new dirty garage pop group Vivian Girls. But the more I listened to the two groups the more I realized that there are a hell of a lot of new bands that sound a hell of a lot like classic C86 groups (not to mention the shambolic glory of The Modern Lovers).

And then the news came this morning that the Shop Assistants singles collection Will Anything Happen is FINALLY getting reissued. And so, in a fit of productivity, I got this mix together.

Tracklist:
1. Love is All "Wishing Well"
2. The Modern Lovers "I Want To Sleep In Your Arms"
3. 14 Iced Bears "Come Get Me"
4. Orange Juice "Love Sick"
5. The Close Lobsters "Just Too Bloody Stupid"
6. Josef K "Chance Meeting"
7. Fire Engines "Candyskin"
8. caUSE Co-MOTION! "Who's Gonna Care?"
9. The Shop Assistants "I Don't Want To Be Friends With You"
10. Vivian Girls "Where Do You Run To"
11. Black Tambourine "Black Car"
12. Kurt Vile "Freeway"
13. The Honeydrips "I Wouldn't Know What To Do"
14. Tallulah Gosh "Tallulah Gosh"
15. Loft "Why Does The Rain"
16. Crystal Stilts "Converging in the Quiet"

It should be noted that many of the older tracks on this mix come from the wonderful CD86 compilation.

Download Something Else Mix #3 (M4A version for iTunes with artwork and chapter titles) here.

Download Something Else Mix #3 (MP3 version with artwork) here.

"The Walkmen Are An Indie Rock Band"

YACHT "Summer Song"

YACHT - Summer Song from Jona Bechtolt on Vimeo
Nothing like a little frame story to enable you to get away with a real low budget video. Also, for some reason, I find the guy who plays the "video company boss" or whatever to be oddly charming. Someone get him in a bit part in a Wes Anderson film.

Serge Gainsbourg "La Javanaise"

I've had this song sitting on my computer desktop, waiting to post for about two months. So, here it is...one of my favorite early Serge songs. A great mix of chanson and a early 60's girl group, doo-wop sound.

Lyrically the song seems to be about Serge's of the letter "V." The letter, and it's sound, dominate the song. I did a bit a Googling and found one reference to the song being about a trend amongst French teenagers to add additional v's to words. A bit like a few years back when everyone was adding "-izza" to everything.

Watch serge sing the song, hold the cigarette, but never smoke it. Amazing. I'm pretty anti-smoking, but I'll be damned if he doesn't make it look so fucking cool.



Download Serge Gainsbourg "La Javanaise"

Squeeze "Argybargy"

In honor of Squeeze's impending "reunion" (only a sorta reunion...its only Glen Tillbrook and Chris Difford...no Jools Holland...sigh) show at the Showbox on September 16th, I purchased the painfully excessive double disc version of their finest album Argybargy.

But why a TWO DISC version of an LP that is 3.99 or less in every Half Price Books in the US? Quite simply because it's the ONLY version of this album on CD, a fact that is fully absurd. Can't get an LP on yr iPod...well, okay, you CAN. But I can't.

There are probably no better pop singles of the era than "Pulling Muscles (From a Shell)", "Another Nail in My Heart" and "If I Didn't Love You", the latter of which contains on of my favorite lyrics of all time ("Singles remind me of kisses/Albums remind me of plans"). Some of the other tracks can be a bit clunky, but on the whole I find the album quite a bit more charming than the "singles and filler" clusterfuck that was Cool For Cats or the Argybargy follow-up, East Side Story.

This expanded edition of the album has a cracking live show on the bonus disc (if you want it you'll just have to shell out the bucks for it...not everything in life is free internet-mooch), which has me fully excited to see the band in just under a month. Well, not too excited. I know better than to get my hopes up lest I be shocked into a coma when gaggle of middle-aged men lurch onto stage. But, if they play "Vicky Verky", I'll probably scream.

Download Squeeze Argybargy Disc #1 (Original Album + Bonus Tracks)

Joki Freund "Yogi Jazz"

I don't like jazz much, as a rule. And the jazz that I do like tends to fall into two distinct categories.

The first category includes reocrds that go "Bomp BOMP Zing WHIZZZZZZ HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOnKKKKKKKkkKkKkkK! Shhhuuuuuuuuufffflelele SSSSSSsssSSShuuuuufflffflffle...Crack Crack Crack BANG!" You know, the kind of thing you listen to once and then file away in the iTunes only to have it either #1. pop up unexpectedly; scaring the crap out of you while you are trying to read or #2. pop up unexpectedly while you are doing the dishes and mix really well with the sounds of the wet dishes clinking together.

The other category is what I like to call "Charlie Brown" jazz. Basically light jazz that wouldn't sound out of place in an animated film about 1950's Paris.

So why in the world I own this piece of rare 1960's German jazz? Quite simply, it comes down to one factor: Jonny Trunk.

Jonny Trunk operates a small cult record label in London called, appropriately enough, Trunk Records. I adore this label and feverishly gobble up everything it releases, from horror film soundtracks to BBC Radiophonics to airy folk. But my most treasured records from the label tend to be these odd bits of British Jazz that toe the line right in between my two favored schools of jazz. Sort of like if Pig Pen played the piano in the Peanuts band instead of Schroeder.

This album was featured on Trunk's "Recommended" page in April with the following praise: "There is no way on earth I am ever going to get a real one of these Lps, so when I heard the Japanese had issued it on compact disc I went and got one. And very pleased I am too. Not only does it have one of the great, iconic jazz sleeves but it has to be one of the great, faultless sessions ever recorded. It's the unexpected rhythms that get me here."

And, as it was the only one of his recommendations that month that I could easily find, I bought it. And here it is.

RE-UPPED HERE: Download Joki Freund Yogi Jazz

Download Joki Freund Yogi Jazz

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.

Hockey Night in Canada

The CBC lost its rights to play the Hockey Night in Canada theme this year so they are holding a contest where people upload their own themes and then the top rated/voted song will become the new theme.

This is currently the highest rated theme:

Click here to hear "a beautiful theme encompassing the heart of hockey"

The gun shots and foghorn at the end really seal the deal....

Orange Juice "You Can't Hide Your Love Away Forever"

This record seems almost genetically created to fit into the "Things Eli Likes" catagory. Let's just see what we have here: Warblely, almost obnoxious vocals. Fey, heart-on-the-sleeve lyrics. Huge poppy hooks. Pasty white band members. Sly, Beatles-referencing album title. Yup. Pretty much just what I like.

This was Orange Juice's first proper full-length after a run of increasingly amazing 7"'s on the Postcard label. The released version is substantially different from the version that was re-issued as part of the The Glasgow Schoolby Domino in 2005. While that version was scrappy and raw, this proper version sparkles with a weird disco sheen that hints at the slightly yucky, white-bred funk that the band would adopt in it's subsequent releases.

But as far as I'm concerned, this is Orange Juice is all of its nervous, awkward glory. Members of both Franz Ferdinand and Belle & Sebastian have said that this band was a huge influence of their musical endeavors and, frankly, Orange Juice sound like the perfect amalgam of both those bands.

Download: Orange Juice You Can't Hide Your Love Away Forever

Two Songs. Same Subject.

Topic: No Homo Man-love.

The Sincere Version:
Of Montreal "Tim, I Wish You Were Born A Girl"

The Funny Version:
Flight of the Conchords "Bret, You Got It Going On"

Sub Pop 20 Weekend

Hey! Sub Pop turned twenty this weekend! They even did a thing about it on Evening Magazine! John Curley talked about Wolf Parade! And they listed Patton Oswalt's name as "Oswalt Patton!"

I was lucky enough to know someone who is important enough to be invited to the super fancy party at the top of the Space Needle on Thursday night (yeah, I'm bragging a bit...so what?). The party was pretty great. Free foods. Free drinks (if you were willing to stand in line for about 20-30 minutes to get one). Bands played (Death Vessel, Sera Cahoone, Kelley Stoltz). Bands were there (SHINZ!). I went with Sarah from Hardly Art and she took some pictures...but she seems to think its 1968 and took them with real film, so we'll see if i ever get a gander at them.

I also went to the Sub Pop comedy show at the Moore Theatre. Everyone was pretty great (Todd Barry, Eugene Mirman, Kristen Schaal) except David Cross, who was clearly having an off night or something, and Patton Oswalt who was the funniest person ever in the history of time. Patton came out and did an ENTIRELY NEW 40 minutes of material. And, as my good friend Joan pointed out to me, it takes most comedians at least a year to write that much new, hilarious stuff. This guy is like the filthy Bill Cosby. A comedy machine.

Now is a probably a good a time as any post my most favorite, least talked about Sub Pop release.


Download: Zumpano Look What The Rookie Did

Released during the dizzy ascent of "alternative" music, Look What The Rookie Did's gawky, nervous pop music was part of Sub Pop's shift away from being a "grunge" label. This is pretty much the standard template for almost every pure pop band for the last 14 years. Sentimental, self-deprecating, straight-forward and a wee bit quirky. You know, all the things I like. This record also features the songwriting talents of one Carl Newman who would later go on to staggering success with The New Pornographers. But, honestly, I think this record is better than at least half of the New Porno's stuff.