This video and song are just too eerily beautiful not to post. I love the saturated green filter in the video and the piano interlude towards the end of the song gets me every time, very dream-like! Despite the minimal and repetitive lyrics, "Lovely Bloodflow" manages to still be an endlessly interesting piece.
Baths is solely made up of 21 year old L.A. native, Will Wiesenfeld. In his Pitchfork interview, Wiesenfeld reveals that growing up he was greatly influenced by Bjork, which strongly comes through in his own music and visuals. If you get a chance make sure to listen to his other tracks from the 2010 album, Cerulean, especially the song "Animals"-you will not be disappointed! Baths will be rolling through Austin on Saturday, February 5th at the Mohawk and I couldn't be more excited!
This track is perfect for laying in bed all day with the one you love. The 50s/60s instrumentation and dark lyrics greatly remind me of Jesus and Mary Chain and The Velvet Underground.
I so badly want to slow dance to "Blood Red Sentimental Blues" and pretty much anything else that has a soothing twain to it. If you are unfamiliar with the music of Cotton Jones, then I suggest you acquaint yourself with this Maryland band because their melodies are quite beautiful.
Grizzly Bear's music always has interesting melody changes that are at first a bit jarring, but at the same time make complete sense. All in all a very innovative band with gorgeous harmonizing vocals. And every single one of their music videos are worth watching more than once.
In the man-dominated music world of the 70s, sister duo, Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, were quite the inspirational trailblazers for every woman in rock that proceeded them. The first time I ever heard "Magic Man" was while watching Sofia Coppola's film adaptation of The Virgin Suicides. The wailing guitars in the intro hypnotized me instantly!
The Killers cover of Joy Division's "Shadowplay" is so good that I think I even like it better than the original-I blame the cover's more dance friendly beat for this preference.
Lately, when I'm in a blues rock mood I look no further than The Black Keys. I commend them for bringing back this classic sound along with it's hazy production value and singing-through-a-fan quality. You'd never guess that only two scrawny white dudes make up this band.
I am eagerly awaiting the new album from Austin based band, Explosions in the Sky. I've never been a huge fan of strictly instrumental music (I love lyrics), but these guys know how to move you without words using their intricate post-rock sound.
Back in my high school days I was quite the little metal head, which meant I listened to SLAYER...a lot, and still do when I feel the need to wile out and head-bang. Plus their melodies change so seamlessly back and forth and who can resist the guitar, THE GUITAR?!
A very uneventful week indeed, as I couldn't do much else but lay in bed, listen to music, and haphazardly take pictures around my house. The list for this week is pretty somber and slow, which describes the last couple of days perfectly. Now I'm looking forward to an exciting weekend which includes a trip to San Antonio, a cheesy Christmas sweater party, old friends, family, and some more intensive Christmas shopping.
Sad songs will forever be my favorite because they are just so honest. After listening to this track over and over and over again I've realized that the lyrics describe a girl who is afraid to commit, while her boyfriend relentlessly tries to change her mind. "Anyone's Ghost" comes from the National's fifth studio album, High Violet. If you haven't listened to it's entirety yet,then I highly recommend you do so!
I know, I KNOW. I am pretty obsessed with the Knife, so it's no wonder why Fever Ray, Karin Dreijer Andersson's solo act (one half of the Knife), is on this list. I guess I just can't get over how odd and pleasing her sound is all at the same time.
Beach House are undoubtedly one of my new favorite bands. Victoria Legrand's vocals sound just like warm honey and I adore how this particular track drones and creeps on for entirely too long-sometimes what I criticize about a song is the aspect that I love most. Weird, I know!
If it weren't for the wasted years that the Stone Roses annoyingly had to spend in a legal battle with recording companies, then I imagine they would have been as famous as Oasis (whom they influenced). The band sprung up in the late 80's/early 90's right in the middle of the Madchester music scene (in Manchester, England of course), which mixed alt rock, dance music, and psychedelic rock. "I Wanna Be Adored" clearly is the cry of a generation.
I really had never listened to Neko Case until a few months ago and now she's constantly on repeat. I grew up listening to country, amongst other genres, in my little border town and her music simply reminds me of those roots. Plus, I'm a huge fan of modern country music with substance that doesn't sound like it's trying to cross over into the realm of mainstream pop.
I pretty much got from point A to point B all while listening to the Crystal Castles album last weekend, it had been a while. The album reminds me of a dear friend who has been living in California for the past year, but I recently got word that he is moving back soon! After perpetually listening to it I remembered how much I enjoy "Vanished", which strangely enough sounds unlike the other tracks on the album.
The first track from their very first album, Turn On the Bright Lights-also their best album to date. Every time I need to calm my worries I put this album on and it always does the trick, especially this soothing song. And I actually did this several times through out my dreaded cold this week. As I have a deep love for post-punk I also feel the same for pretty much all post-punk revival bands. Yeah, my musical taste is easy to figure out.
"Little Girl" comes from the Dark Night of The Soul album, which I've already ranted about in a previous post. It is sung by Julian Casablancas and unmistakingly sounds like what we love most about the Strokes complete with all the distortion. This track is perhaps the most upbeat on the record.
I first discovered this Elliott Smith song when watching Wes Anderson's brilliant film The Royal Tenenbaums years ago. The scene in which this song reigns (as if it's its own character) is when Richie attempts suicide in the bathroom. As soon as I heard the first chord I was from thereon a self-proclaimed Elliott Smith junkie and immediately bought up all of the albums my little town could offer.
Dark Night of The Soul is the haunting, collaborative brain child of Sparklehorse and Danger Mouse, and now it's mine, all mine bahahaha! A looong drool-worthy list of talented singers also grace the album and spotlight different tracks, which includes:
-James Mercer, the Shins
-Jason Lytle, Grandaddy
-Julian Casablancas, the Strokes
-Frank Black (Black Francis), Pixies
-Iggy Pop
-Wayne Coyne, the Flaming Lips
-Gruff Rhys, Super Furry Animals
-Susan Vega
-Vic Chestnutt
-Nina Presson, the Cardigans
...and last but not least
Fucking David Lynch!
-WAIT! He sings?
-Yes, yes he does. He writes lyrics too-sounds exactly like his films would if they could sing.
Now as soon as I read this beautiful, beautiful list I almost exploded with overwhelming music-nerd joy.
But wait, there's more!
You think a musical collaborative gem, such as Dark Night of The Soul, would stop at pleasing your ears only? HA! They slapped me silly in the face (yet again) because in tandem with the album is, indeed, a photo book shot by king of creep, David Lynch, and is said to be "a visual narrative for the music" (thanks Wikipedia). And sadly, only 5000 golden copies were made.
Photos by David Lynch
I swear, much like this album, Wikipedia is the gift that just keeps on giving. While googling this collaboration I pulled a Wiki page up explaining that the phrase, dark night of the soul, is actually "a metaphor used to describe a phase in a person's spiritual life, marked by a sense of loneliness and desolation". Yep, that pretty much sums up the whole melancholic, isolated, grainy feel of the work, which does nothing but reel me in even more. Strangely enough, the album title and its gloomy connotations seem to have become a self-fulfilling prophecy for the untimely misfortunes surrounding the project:
-On Christmas day of 2009, Vic Chestnutt passed away from an overdose on muscle relaxants. In a 2009 interview, he had admitted attempting suicide a handfull of times in the past, but as he nonchalantly put it, "it didn't take".
-Lead singer of Sparklehorse, Mark Linkous also committed suicide in March of 2010. He tragically shot himself in the heart with a shot gun outside of a friend's Knoxville home.
-The legal dispute with record label EMI almost kept the album from ever being released. Details of the argument have been kept pretty hush hush on both ends. Although, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that money was the issue-big business conflicts are always cash-centric, especially where greedy, soul-draining record labels are concerned.
Wow, sorry for being such a Debbie Downer!
Moving along now to the actual music. Here are three of my favorite tracks, bare with me as two-thirds of which are described through hypothetical substance abuse:
I really can't illustrate this in any other way than a heroine-induced love song, tragically begetting itself time and time again.
Oh Black Francis, how you light up my life! This raucous track best goes down with a bottle of Jack and a carton of cigarettes, preferably while wasting away at some dark, grungy dive bar.
The eerie title track. This is one of two songs performed by David Lynch and it's definitely reminiscent of Tom Waits' coarse, repetitive sound. The production transitions nicely from a rough, old-world victrola-like recording to a more glossy, coherent sound, as if a haze has been lifted mid song.
Speaking of David Lynch...
I barely discovered today that he directed one of the four short films celebrating the Lady Dior bag by Christian Dior. Each short stars French beauty, Marion Cotillard and the Lady Dior in four colors-black, red, blue, and grey. Lynch created the third film of the installment, entitled Lady Blue Shanghai.
You can watch the first two films of the Lady Dior saga here, called The Lady Noire Affair and Lady Rouge. The fourth and final film, Lady Grey was released today-you must check out the hour glass scene in the very beginning, 'tis amazing!
These shots were snapped before I met my friend for coffee and some impromptu vintage shopping on Sunday. I honestly wasn't planning on buying for myself as I'm in the process of searching for the perfect gifts for others with the holidays just around the corner and all. While harmlessly browsing around Blue Velvet I looked to the back of the store and saw a girl trying on a faux fur leopard print coat complete with a hood (I'd been looking for the perfect one for about 2 years now). The queen deep down inside of me screeched for joy and anxiously waited for that girl to TAKE OFF MY NEW COAT! She did and rightfully put it back on its hanger, so I, of course, ungracefully made a dash for it. I ran to the mirror to try it on and gawk at my lustrous find, then something truly serendipitous happened. The very moment I pulled the fur over my shoulders The Knife's "Pass This On" blared over the speakers-in other words, it was meant to be!
The rest of my Sunday night was spent preparing for a small party/large gathering at mi casa for my friend's Mexican-themed birthday party to take place that same night. We went on a hilarious trip to Fiesta to find all of the necessary accoutrements-a piñata, loads of Mexican candy, Jarritos soda for mixers, Dos Equis, and chips and queso of course! For the event I ditched the pictured knit sweater as I had to wear my new purchase-not very Mexican I'll admit, but I just told people I was in the Mexican mafia. I will definitely be taking pictures of the ridiculousness that is my new fuzzy coat/robe real soon.
Wow, this week has been hectic. I have had little to no time to post anything as I have been preparing my house for Christmas, attending concerts, and pretty much covering for three people at work this week-I'm gunna quit I can feel it! Not sure exactly when, but hopefully in the next month or two. Thankfully, I have my ever-present music, especially these nine tracks, to keep me going through all the craziness and lulls that life brings.
The perfect song for daydreaming about traveling anywhere and everywhere...not just New York. I tend to nod off to fantasy land on a daily basis and often find myself in Spain-this will be a reality one day! Besides that, "I have nothing to do today but smile" is a beautiful sentiment.
This song slowly drives me crazy-going round and round and getting absolutely nowhere. BUT it's probably one of the funnest tracks to casually slip into temporary insanity to. Planningtorock hails from Berlin and not only writes her own music, but also creates her own maniacal music videos.
Pixies are KING! Kim Deal's brooding bass lines have this ability to zero in on your dark side and draw out a sort of deliberate, menacing confidence you didn't know existed. "Gouge Away" especially has that effect.
To me, Metric's music is the epitome of girl rock-in your face, brazen, and completely unapologetic all rolled up into tracks you can shamelessly dance to in front of your mirror. This track is from their 2003 album, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?
I recently discovered Baths this week and cannot stop listening to this strangely beautiful track along with it's eerily imaginative video-the perfect visual compliment.
Neutral Milk Hotel were, indeed, ahead of their time when they released In The Aeroplane Over The Sea in 1998, undoubtedly influencing musicians like Fleet Foxes and Beirut. Jeff Mangum's painful lyrics are nothing less that true poetry. Most of the songs on this album are loosely about Anne Frank and the hardships of defining and concealing her sexuality while also hiding from the Nazis. It's evident to me that he wishes he could go back and save her from everything.
About one month ago my friend gave me a copy of their album and I've pretty much been listening to its entirety non-stop. Miike Snow (I don't even know how your are supposed to pronounce Miike??) definitely makes me think of a modern day BeeGees, but of course far less cheesy. "Silvia" is my favorite track because of all the build-up it creates.
The swinging 60s sound of this classic track is so infectious with its persistent one-note keyboard and wailing surf rock guitar. Certainly makes me want to dance like Edie Sedgewick all weekend long.
This particular song is part of Tomorrow, In A Year, a musical collaboration between The Knife, Planningtorock, and Mt. Sims created for Danish performance group Hotel Pro Forma's opera, which is based on Charles Darwin's On the Origins of Species. Last Halloween I had the great, GREAT pleasure of hanging out with Matt Sims (Mt. Sims) and showing him all the wonderful things about Austin while he was in town for a show. To know him is to love him-I have never met anyone more genuine, kind, and imaginative than Matt and I absolutely love his work.
Photos from Help I'm Alive, Bart Everly, Last.Fm, Ultra 8201
(No records were harmed in the making of these photos)
Recordings don't get much better than by way of a classic vinyl ,especially when you consider the audibly natural grain of music that commonly gets flushed out in modern media. Although, I think the main reason why I love to listen to and collect old albums so much is because of the time warp factor. They make me feel closer than ever to a period (the American counter culture ,of course) in music that I wish I had witnessed first hand, along with the social movements of the time.
On the material side (OH bad pun) this is what I try to wear when I'm hanging around at my house relaxing, but to be honest nothing beats a good pair of dare I say... SWEATPANTS! Yes, I truly love them dearly for their functionality and comfort, but grudgingly agree that most are hideous, sloppy, and even tacky if you consider the Juicy Couture track suit epidemic of the early millennium (seriously, middle aged women should not walk around with the suggestive word "Juicy" stamped across their asses, scratch that no one should). BUT we can all thank the genius Alexander Wang for somehow making the dreaded lounge-wear chic and sophisticated for the first time EVER!
One of the most talented and riveting individuals I've come across on the inter-webs has to be the brilliant Derrick Brown. His shows consist of cleverly merging music, poetry, and comedy into one highly entertaining and charming act that would even impress those most opposed to the thought of poetry. The video above of "The Kurosawa Champagne" is perhaps my favorite of his works because of how deliberate his tangled words are in conveying an exhibition of emotions through powerfully sincere, imaginative metaphors. Plus, it's a love poem that isn't cheesy and boringly typical, just beautiful!
My favorite lines:
‘Dear, in the morning let me put on your make-up for you. I’ll be loading your gems with mascara then I’ll tell you the truth…’
I watched black ropes and tears ramble down your face.
Lady war paint.
A squad of tiny men repelled down those snaking lines
And you say,
"Thank you for releasing all those fuckers from my life"
and
Your boots are a soundtrack to adultery.
Thank God your feet fall in the rhythm of loyalty.
(GENIUS)
With quite the cult following, Brown travels all around the country, as well as Europe, dazzling audiences with his unique act and has also toured with an impressive loot of musicians like Cold Ward Kids and The Decemberists. Hailed as one of America's top 5 poets, the man is of course published and started his own press called Write Bloody Publishing. I highly recommend watching ALL of his videos-he even has a ridiculous video of when he was on some low-budget dating show.
Every Friday I'll be posting a small playlist of songs that float and flutter in and around my existence. These are the tunes that keep me going through my days as they inspire, console, and interpret my outlook on matters of sorts-think of it as a continuous soundtrack of my life, if you will. This particular set is definitely geared towards the cold weather to come and change in general.
This track from the marveled, electronica veterans' latest album, Heliogland, has gotten my attention because of its gothic nuances.
In particularly, the consistent, marching band drums give me that sense of forging through some daunting life crisis while keeping your wits about you, and the oh-so melodic vocals are the perfect soothing overlay.
Gal group Warpaint sure are turning heads with their dose of unadulterated psychedelics. To display their level of notoriety and talent-the artists opened for alt-indie rockers, Sonic Youth, in Austin as part of an after show for ACL 2010. Actress, Shannyn Sossamon, and former Warpaint drummer recently directed the band's latest, stunning music video for "Undertow".
Ryan Gosling (yes, the actor), his pal Zach Shields, and the Silverlake Conservatory children's choir make up Dead Man's Bones. Their one album is completely conceptual as it focuses on the supernatural. Seriously, who doesn't want to hear wee kiddos sing "My Body's A Zombie For You"?
White Dress is one of my favorite local acts. The sultry vocals and garage sensibilities will warm you to your very core-just in time for the dropping temperatures. If you're in Austin they will be playing tomorrow, November 14th, at The Hole In The Wall. You can check out more of their musichere.
Air Waves just performed at FunFunFun Fest and she has also recently relocated to Austin (SCORE!). "Lightning" always brings a smile to my face and the tinkering bells make me daydream about the upcoming holidays-bells always do that to me.
I keep finding myself listening to The Kills time and time again. I love the dark, brooding rocker attitude their sound exudes along with their intuitive lyrics. The pair have awe-inspiring chemistry on stage, not to mention Alison Mosshart's rock chic style is perfection.
Cyber punk has been taken to a whole new level by boy/girl duo HEARTSREVOLUTION. The visionary pair meld piercing thrash vocals with cosmically metallic electro-pop beats, undeniably creating a sound that could have very well beamed in from the future. Currently, the artists are busy in the studio recording their new album, "Ride or Die", which is to be released this year. I know you are probably reminded of Crystal Castles at first listen; I was too. BUT after thoroughly tuning into HEARTSREVOLUTION I found that their innovative sound is far more dramatic in an intensely contagious, in-your-face manner. There is nothing subdued about these vocals.
That's not all though-even their choice of tour transportation is electic. For their 2011 tour the duo has teamed up with Austrian crystal powerhouse, SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS, to create the first ever crystallized ice cream truck to tote the artists across the country in. And yes, this bejeweled beast will most certainly be serving up icy treats at their shows. If you visit their website you'll also find the opportunity to join their HEARTSCHALLENGER army, where open-minds and creative thinkers are encouraged to ban together to achieve a "revolution of the heart". I love how these guys are connecting with their fans-very inspiring!
All of these tracks make me want to "Dance Till Dawn":
The ever-growing FunFunFun Festival kicks off today in Austin, TX and will be blaring through the entire weekend at Waterloo Park. The four year-old music extravaganza has been nationally acclaimed for its DIY, underground aesthetics and will showcase four different core stages separated by genre: Punk/hardcore, indie rock, hiphop/DJ, and even comedy scenes. Sadly I have to miss out on this non-stop musical experience, but have created a playlist of featured FunFunFun artists to keep me going through my mournful weekend.
Fun electro-pop beats laced with smooth French vocals Part emo, part post-rock, these guys have been intricately developing their diverse sound for 10 years
Dreamy melodies that rest somewhere between dance and pop
Mysterious boy/girl duo from New York who dole out that 60s pop sound, while twisting sugary-sweet vocals and sinister lyrics together
Former hardcore musician tries his hand at experimental-synth (with hooks!) and succeeds admirably Israeli garage/punk trio who pull off crazy stage antics including lighting their equipment and themselves on fire Guitarist (even steel guitar!) and composer who repeatedly defies genres with her intriguing sound-I'm really sad to miss her. This group really needs no description as they have been picking up national hype for their innovation-you can hear a string of their influences from The Breeders to Roxy Music For nostalgic reasons and an uninhibited, rowdy good time...
