Track of the Day: And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - “The Porpoise Song” (Monkees cover)
In memory of Davy Jones, member of one of the few fake bands to make a real musical impact, I present today a Monkees track, originally from their movieHead. And if you are wondering why I chose to use the …Trail of Dead cover, it’s because this version just so happens to be far superior to the original. Sorry Davy, it’s just gotta be said.
Track of the Day: We Are Augustines - “Headlong Into the Abyss”
I was thoroughly obsessed with a band called Pela in 2005. Their EP All in Time crossed my desk, and while I slept on it, MZ didn’t, thank goodness. It was one of those records that got spun every day, and we both constantly tried to shove it down the throats of everyone who crossed our paths. We wrote about them for Anthem, we wrote about them for Ground Control (multiple times), we put them on year-end, year-middle, deathbed etc. mixtapes. They came on our radio show and ended up playing a 14 song acoustic set of almost completely new material. Unequipped with a wristband at SXSW, I actually paid 20 bucks to get into a club since I hadn’t seen them live before. Anyone who knew me during that time has heard me talk about them, and they probably were glad when the band broke up before releasing their sophomore album, just so I wouldn’t talk about them anymore.
Then a few days ago, I finally got tipped off to We Are Augustines (not being in the industry anymore means some things come at me a bit slower). And the love started to bubble up again. Some of those songs on the radio show make an appearance on Rise Ye Sunken Ships, and I couldn’t be happier. Literally, I walked around the other day, headphones blasting, grinning even more like an idiot than I normally do as an American in Paris. Just listen.
Track of the Day - Say Hi (to Your Mom) - “The Stars Just Blink For Us”
Here is how I get every French person ever on my side: I play them Say Hi (to Your Mom). Something about it speaks to their psyches. I’ve never, ever met a French person who doesn’t immediately fall in love. Tonight, I couldn’t get it out of my head, which may mean I myself am turning slightly more French, or just that I spent too much time tapping my coins on the bar in a rhythmic fashion. Either way, this will brighten your day, no matter how bright it already is.
(While Eric Elbogen has shortened the name to Say Hi for the last three albums…it’s just a lot more fun to say the project’s original name.)
Track of the Day: Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta
I have a tendency to overthink things, to spin into a downward spiral of second-, third- and fourth-guessing myself, and generally blowing things out of proportion. This is both a good and bad thing. It’s what makes my stories so amazing, made my basketball career so lacquer-bench filled, and my huge ideas so deceptively random seeming. For the good stuff, I let it run wild. For the not so good stuff, I developed a technique that I will now share: Whenever I start overthinking and getting bogged down in minutia that might not actually exist in reality, I sing Harvey Danger to myself. And then I’m clear-headed again. Try it, it works.
P.S. - While they may have been a one-hit wonder, Harvey Danger didn’t deserve to be. Their first album was fantastic, and their others (there are two more) are also a hell of a lot of fun. So check them out.
This is steak tartare. Have you ever been talking to someone as you read something, and end up actually saying whatever it is you were reading? Because that’s exactly how this ended up in front of me. Potatoes were great, salad was great, weather was alternately great and crap, and my raw hamburger meat tasted mostly like pickle relish. Sure, my palate is developing…but it hasn’t quite developed this fast just yet.
Chicken cordon bleu, a hamburger patty, a slice of Canadian bacon, lettuce and a fried egg smothered in creamy pepper sauce. If this was a meme, it would be “eat ALL the animals!!!”
Track of the Day: The Bird and the Bee - Polite Dance Song
This is definitely an album that crossed my desk a few years ago, but with the sheer amount of music I was listening to at the time, I slept on it big time. However, my friend Sylvie’s obsession with this track has rubbed off on me, and now I can’t get it out of my head.
For extra bonus fun, watch the amazingly awkward video, directed by Eric of Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Good Job:
www.vimeo.com/2128833
Track of the Day: Ash Black Buffalo - Misery is the Pilgrim’s Pasture
I’m a lyrics guy, but sometimes instrumental stuff (think Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai, Sigur Ros (Jonsi’s voice is an instrument, don’t dispute me)) hits me just right. This is one of those times
Track of the Day: Superwolf - Blood Embrace
When I walk through museums, especially modern art museums, I like to think about possible soundtracks. Usually it’s instrumental or electronic, but today in the Centre Pompidou, for some reason, I couldn’t shake Superwolf’s “Blood Embrace.”
Something about the sharp edges and negative space of some of the pieces I was seeing, and the tendency (self-implied) of some artists to see themselves as the only source of beauty in a world of pain (not unlike I see myself as the only source of high-fives in a culture sadly lacking) seems to accompany the despair that creeps from Will Oldham and the various snippets of what I assume is film dialogue. Also, this album is ridiculously awesome on vinyl, and the band is the source of one of the best tour anecdotes I’ve ever heard (sadly NSFW, which makes it not safe for here).
