Ex-Boyfriends - "Breathe Without Breaking": "These guys did a great set at the Eagle last night. They're just a three-piece, but their sound is so much bigger and fuller than that. They did a new song last night and I'm looking forward to hearing more from them!"
Longwave - "Satellites": "The searing guitar squall that kicks off the song is a great, modern example of the shoegazer-style rock that I can't help myself but love. The chorus comes off a little soft, given the rest of the song, but the choruses are solid and the aforementioned guitar parts are aces."
Tiger Trap - "Words and Smiles": "Since I referenced them yesterday, I figured I should give them a post too - especially since this song is, in many ways, in the same vein as "Oh No" from yesterday's post. Maybe a little sweeter sounding here, than AGSFB, but off-set by the lo-fi jangle."
All-Girl Summer Fun Band - "Oh No": "My new favorite song! It's almost too sweet to take, with its sugary all-girl vocals, but the song rocks, not unlike classic Tiger Trap. They're totally crushed out and so am I!"
Akinyele - "Put It In Your Mouth": "For the James Lo.
Oh yeah - not for the easily offended."
Swervedriver - "The Hitcher": "I know I recently blogged about another bonus track from Swervedriver's Mezcal Head re-issue, but that was a track I had already been familiar with prior to the re-issue. This track, however, is new to me and it quickly possessed me with its gauzy rock, simultaneously upbeat and dreamy, so I had to give `em another post."
The Avalanches - "Since I Left You": "To steal a phrase from Deee-lite, this is sampladelic, except squared...or probably even cubed, yet still eminently listenable. I hear that after going M.I.A. for a few years, these guys may even come out with a new record soon, which would be swell."
Spinal Tap - "Sex Farm": "Two different things just reminded me of this track, so I figured it was worth a blog post. Besides, how could this song not put a smile on your face?"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Zero": "While the YYY dance makeover initially got an eyebrow raise from me, it's already started to grow on me, popping in and out of my head all week. Am I the only one who hears a little Chrissy Hynde in the vocals, at least in some parts?"
Peaches - "Search And Destroy": "One more from the new War Child compilation -
The Peaches/Iggy Pop mutual admiration club continues with this Peaches take on the Pop classic. Peaches could have easily screamed her way through this (a la "Rock Show"), but she challenges expectations by delivering a fairly cool and calm rendition instead. She gets points for mixing it up, but I still would have liked to hear how she would have turned the punk into rough electro. I also still want to hear more of her and Iggy together after the "Kick It" face-off."
Lily Allen - "Straight To Hell":
"Isn't that intro already melded into my brain enough from last year already? And isn't it only a matter of time before someone does a mash-up of this version, throwing M.I.A. into the mix?"
Morrissey - "Bengali In Platforms":
"Am I the only one who thinks Danny Boyle has started to look like present-day Morrissey, just with a frightening smile? Granted, I can see why the man was happy at the Oscars last night, but every time they showed him, I just kept thinking "Scary Morrissey!"
I figured I might as well heighten the irony by using this particular song as I pointed this casual similarity out..."
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - "Inspiration Information": "I still prefer the Shuggie Otis original, but it's hard not to give the lovely Ms. Sharon Jones some love for taking it on for herself. It's just a great song. (As an aside, this is from the new Red Hot compilation, Dark Was The Night.)"
The Breeders - "Lord of the Thighs": "I know this should make more sense in the hands of Steven Tyler, but it's so much more awesome in the hands of Josephine Wiggs, here taking on lead vocals on this "Cannonball" b-side. Steven makes this song sound like a crass boast, but Josephine is calmer and more commanding, like your thighs already know who's boss. But, really, don't they?"
Yo Gabba Gabba! - "Party In My Tummy": "Dear goodness, this show is freaking great. I know it's a kids show, but it's surreal, charming, pro-indie rock and, so help me, the whole thing makes me think of Deee-lite. I'd be hard-pressed to think of any other time I've wanted to DVR a show for six year-olds. (Except for this one creepy episode where Elijah Wood did 'the puppetmaster'. That scared me. Badly.)"
Spent - "Good Luck Line": "A totally underappreciated band. I can see why they didn't have legions of fans - having three different vocalists (two male, one female) doesn't breed the most consistency - but catchy songs like this should have made up for it. It's a sugary rush (although not in any kind of fake pop way) that builds up to a rockin' ending, but with zero pretention - which is largely because it's tempered with a bit of bitterness: 'last in your good luck line / first to get fed up'."
The Cramps - "All Women Are Bad": "R.I.P. Lux Interior. The world is a much sadder place without The Cramps in it."
Paul Burch - "Isolda": "This is such a great song, I cannot believe I haven't blogged about it yet. A bittersweet song of longing - of wanting, but not needing - polished with sweet pedal steel, but naked in the delivery. It's too sad to be a love song - especially since he isn't in love, anyway - but it feels like a broken heart anyway. Understated, but amazing."
Pavement - "Grounded": "'...please! plea! boys are dying on these streets...'"
Swervedriver - "Planes Over The Skyline": "An excellent Swervedriver non-album track finally surfaces on the new re-issue of Mezcal Head. Not sure why this didn't come out when they did their reunited tour last year, but glad to have it now."
Guv'ner - "Wounded Birds And Vampires Own The Edge": "Creative anarchy! This song is one of the most infuriating and most amazing songs I know. It sounds like someone took four (or more!) catchy indie rock tunes and threw them into a blender - once you start getting into one hook or other element, it completely switches gears, every couple of seconds at that. It frustrated me terribly in the beginning, much like a repeatedly interrupted conversation, but over time it grew on me. I began to love the different elements on their own, fractured though they were, adding up to a greater sum, largely because the love had to be earned. It also helps that most of the chaos is held together with handclaps, always musical magic to me."
The Ting Tings - "That's Not My Name (L.A. Riots Remix)": "The Ting Tings' playful tune takes on a tougher edge in this remix. Plus, I know I'm a easy mark, but I do like how things get more electroclashy in some parts."
Rocket From The Crypt - "Born in '69": "The long-overdue RFTC album missing from digital finally comes through - awesome! This song is a particularly rockin' cut...as if any of their songs weren't, really."
Q-Tip - "Breathe And Stop": "It's been so long, I kind of forgot how much fun the first Q-Tip solo record is - and how sad it took almost a decade for the follow-up! (Not counting all the records he recorded that somehow never saw the light of day.)"
Blondie - "Youth Nabbed As Sniper": "Between the party tracks like 'Rapture' and 'Heart of Glass', it's tempting to think of Blondie as all fun and games - but that's forgetting this odd dark undercurrent that appears in many songs across all their records. From the second Blondie release (Plastic Letters), we get this paranoid tale of what sounds like teen espionage and romance - but no matter what it really is about, this song is not your standard pop fare."
The Breeders - "Do You Love Me Now Jr?": "Sorry, another Breeders song for you - I couldn't help myself. This is the third version of this track that the Breeders released, but for good reason. Originally appearing on the Safari EP, the band re-recorded an equally solid version for the Last Splash LP - which, in turn, got remixed by Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis and released on the Divine Hammer single. Here, J takes the studio version of the track and adds his own vocals to it, creating a somewhat awkward and touching indie rock duet out of Kim Deal's yearning original."
Beck - "Chemtrails": "Initially, this song didn't do much for me - it seemed too restrained, too muted. Now, after time, its eerie quality is oddly catchy, plus the quiet sections remind me of some Aislers Set songs, which is usually the last thing I'd associate with Beck."
Vanessa Daou - "Near the Black Forest": "I remember how semi-daring this was intended to be in `95, when it came out. The video was all pan-sexual writhing bodies and the album's lyrics were all based on the 'erotic works' of Erica Jong (or perhaps it was 'erotic poetry', I forget). All that aside, this is still a sultry little down-tempo number that captured the sexy vibe that holds up better than the rest of this project."
Tragedy - "Shadow Dancing": "I just have to point out that Tragedy is an "all-metal tribute to the Bee Gees" (ignoring, obviously, that this is an Andy Gibb song) and the name of their album is "We Rock Sweet Balls and Can Do No Wrong". Seriously. At least they fulfill expectations by putting cowbell in the chorus."
The Broken West - "House of Lies":
"At first, I was a little surprised by The Broken West's turn to new wave stylings, following their Byrds-y debut, but when the surprise wore off, I could see the quality songs - like this one - were still there."
The Breeders - "New Year": "Yes! Just in time for New Years! Thanks to Adam from Beggars from getting tired of my nagging and getting this album into the system :)"
Dead Or Alive - "Brand New Lover":
"I WANT SURPRISES!" - Dead or Alive
Tomorrow starts 2009 and I think we're all a little ready for something different, right? What better way to get ready for that with a little Mr. Pete Burns? (He's the frontman for Dead or Alive, for those of you who don't know.)
And speaking of surprises, did you know that this is what Pete looks like today?:
Indeed.
But enough about Pete...here's to the end of `08.
Richard X (with Deborah Evans-Strickland) - "Walk On By": "Isaac Hayes' take on this song was simmering. This version is more...well, apathetically prissy. Deborah Evans-Strickland, who provided the classic vocals for The Flying Lizards' cover of "Money (That's What I Want)", curtly notes "Don't stop." like a bored model - no heat here, but that's intended. It's like they put the song on a catwalk in a bizarro-world London department store."
Chaka Khan - "Caught In The Act": "As you may have noticed from past posts, I love it when people spell words out in their songs OR turn words into acronyms, especially when it's not super-obvious. Here, Ms. Khan makes sure you know the title of this song, in that manner so dear to my heart: "Caught in the act.../C! I! T! A!!!", making the initials a proclamation of their own. You know, like it's an acronym you might already know and use...or not. Coupled with the then-edgy 80s synth production (still better than much similar fare from the same time), I still get a little giddy over this song."
Crowns on 45 - "Undercover": "The verses are filled with swinging handclaps and male-female vocal trade-offs, all in fun, like a great house party. The chorus give the swing a harder edge, with excellent screaming that I've loved ever since I heard this song years ago. (And I don't mean 'screaming' as in a sudden switch to screamo or anything like that - it's still in the same tone as the rest of the song.)"
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The English Beat - "Too Nice To Talk To": "No sappy holiday music at this blog. Just dance to this, whether today is your holiday or not!"
The Piano Classic Players - "Smells Like Teen Spirit": "I had to post this because these folks have turned Nirvana into a piano recital - and for an album called "The Most Relaxing Piano Classics Ever Made" at that!!! It may sound prettier than you expect, but still..."
Kings Of Leon - "Be Somebody": "It's interesting how this song has such a 'big rock sound' - I guess that's where KoL is these days - but it's the chorus that works the best, despite being somewhat at odds with the rest of the song."
Franz Ferdinand - "Ulysses": "New Franz Ferdinand single. Not my favorite song of theirs, but it's interesting."
Primal Scream - "Detroit": "And speaking of 'dirty and druggy', here's another song that meets the same description, just in a very different way. For example, 'dirty' here is more about the sound and less about the sex, unlike yesterday's post..."
Jack Oblivian - "Vice Party": "What else would you call a song that sounds this dirty and druggy?"
Kanye West - "Flashing Lights": "I seem to keep catching the Nip/Tuck new season ads that feature this song - so every time I get the stuttering keyboard line out of my head, the ad runs again and the song comes back."
Western Keys - "Please Rock": "The details are a little foggy, but I believe I saw Western Keys opening for another band and was intrigued enough by their performance to pick up their EP. Sadly, that was years ago and it seems like the band vanished after this release (and some live shows), but luckily some of their fractured and joyous indie rock, like this track, remain."
Aimee Mann - "Deathly": "'One act of kindness could be...deathly' has the capacity to be super-emo, but with Aimee's nuanced delivery, she makes it just part of a complex portrayal of emotional fragility. Juliana Hatfield's light-and-sweet backing vocals also add to the vibe."
The Crystals - "He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)": "The first time I heard this song (in a bar, years ago), I thought it was a joke - a novelty song, recorded in girl-group style. Imagine my horror to find out it was real, real, real. I can only imagine Phil Spector got them to record it because he had a gun. It's so messed up that I can't help but be perpetually amused by it."
Glasvegas - "Geraldine": "You can't tell me that the intro isn't catchy in the best U2/Snow Patrol kind of way - and when it repeats with the "oooooooo" vocals on top of it - even better.
(You can hear it in the new Rhapsody ad too, btw.)"
Morrissey - "Boxers": "Melancholy-as-comfort - or, perhaps, revelling in light gloom - as only Morrissey can do it."
Giant Sand - "Satellite": "Often, Giant Sand's Howe Gelb is too far off into his own strata for my enjoyment - but his skewed delivery here plays as a nice counterpoint to the oft-rocking backing track. The female backing vocals ('sateliiiite') are also a nice touch."
Rob Zombie - "Dead Girl Superstar": "This song is a bit Zombie-by-Numbers - but the dialog samples are first rate, even the way they're manipulated for the song. I'm not sure if it's more Russ Meyer or not, but it certainly sounds like it comes from one of his tough-and-sexy girls."
Chavez - "Break Up Your Band": "Some find this song abrasive, but I think the high guitar contrasting with the thundering bass, driven by the pummeling drums, is amazing. So is the video, which is also sad and awkward in the best (intentional) way."
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Star Ghost Dog - "It Happens All the Time": "Great song, weird band name. The intro may not grab you at first, but the "ooohs" are sweet and sad and the chorus is pure melancholy sugar rush. You know, pogo and cry, but in a great rock'n'roll way and not some stupid emo way. Please do enjoy - I stumbled on this band at Brownies in NYC years ago and am now trying to make up for the fact that no one else did."
Superchunk - "Iron On": "Lyrics like 'iron this on when you get home' almost sound like hipster posturing, but Mac's vocals are so impassioned and earnest that he could sing commercial slogans and they would still sound like an emotional imperative, like it does here."
Ministry - "Effigy (I'm Not An)": "There's something about Al J dressing up in faux-goth-Brit trappings that makes me think of Halloween dress-up...thus my Halloween post today."
Mahogany - "One Plus One Equals Three Or More": "I know I'm breaking my own rules by blogging the same song twice (a first!), but I'm obsessed with this song and couldn't stop myself. Plus they were owed bonus points for making phrases like "inverse the arc with positension" sound cool. This is the way to the new connectivity..."
The B-52's - "Funplex": "This song from the new B-52's record is classic Kate and Cindy - especially the catchy chorus - but, although I am usually a big fan, it could have done with a little less Fred. Still, the nonsensical call-and-response exchange of "'Hey lady!' 'What?' 'What lady?' 'That lady!'" tickles me. (It sounds better in the song, trust me.)"
Grace Jones - "Warm Leatherette": 
Blue Man Group w/Venus Hum - "I Feel Love": "...and, while nothing can top Donna Summer's masterful tranced-vocals-vs.-Kraftwerk-future original, Blue Man Group and Venus Hum's aggro-percussive take on the track is also worth noting. The original depends on a strangely icy cool, while this version throws all abandon to the wind. They also get extra credit points here for replacing the key synthesizer line with odd percussion, somehow playing the same role in the song while giving it a different tonal quality."
Donna Summer - "I Feel Love": "...and you can't talk about Moroder without this song, so here it is."
Giorgio Moroder - "Chase": "Classy Euro-disco, from the movie Midnight Express, no less. I think the SF Muni system would be much more enjoyable if they played this on the buses, etc., 24/7...not like it isn't already a mega-loop on its own already.
(This track does also recall Giorgio's later Never Ending Story score as well.)"
Juliana Hatfield - "Universal Heart-Beat": "I freaking *love* this song - rock me, Juliana!
An aside: I used to have the Only Everything poster in my bedroom when this record came out. In the photo, Juliana was posed with her wrists pointed up to the camera - which, in my morbid interpretation of the photo, was her offering her wrists up and crying 'I've given you only everything'...which was kinda goth, don't you think? Kinda goth for me, anyway. I'm sure the photo was completely light-hearted to anyone else..."
The Jesus and Mary Chain - "Something I Can't Have": "JAMC had a great skill for making songs like this that could be up-tempo, distortingly loud, catchy - and yet completely melancholy. This song has bounced around compilations for a while (I believe it's originally a b-side), so I'm glad to see it find a home on the new JAMC box set."
The Crystals - "Girls Can Tell": "Allegedly the inspiration for the title of Spoon's Girls Can Tell LP, this is a tasty slice of girl group harmonies."
The Psychedelic Furs - "So Run Down": "Well, I'm not so run down, but I am definitely under the weather."
Blondie - "Sunday Girl (French Version)": "This popped into my head while I was getting my lunch, for no reason at all. And, yes, specifically the French version, again for no reason at all."
My Bloody Valentine - "Only Shallow": "Last night, My Bloody Valentine played S.F. and washed away all the fears of them not being able to pull it off live, despite the many years out of commission. "Only Shallow" was a particular highlight, sounding even more aggressive than it does on record, with the 'distorted whalesong' (I can't explain it any other way) reaching even more extreme heights. Of course, this did not compare to their set closer which, as one fan in attendance recalled in a press article, sounded like a jet crashing at 300 miles per hour for 20 minutes. It was literally 20 minutes of noise that is hard for me to put into words and I'm sure I'll never hear anything like it again."
Jack White and Alicia Keys - "Another Way To Die": "I think this is definitely one of the hipper Bond themes, but I think Jack White oozes through the music so much already that I wish he wasn't singing and let Alicia Keys have her own rock-belting, Lisa Kekaula moment instead."
Liz Phair - "Nashville": "I can't quite explain why, but this song sounds like what I feel like right now - well, at least the sleepy, quiet part up until the horns at the end. That part, not so much."
Spoon - "Nefarious": "A classic song from Spoon's under appreciated first record (Telephono) that I had resigned myself to never hearing live again. I've been seeing Spoon live since 1998 and, for reasons unknown (although I assume it has to do with their acrimonious split with their original bassist who appears on Telephono), they hardly did songs from that record then, let alone anytime afterwards. Then, last night, hell froze over and they did "Nefarious" live at The Fillmore. I almost died - it's still amazing."
Spoon - "Me And The Bean": "...as heard last night, live at the Fillmore. It's amazing how this can be such a classic Spoon song when they didn't write it - it's a cover that originally pre-dates Girls Can Tell - but it always carries so much emotional heft that you'd never know it. There's something very sad about this tune, but I still think it's a love song."
Spoon - "Advance Cassette (alternate)": "In advance of my two nights of Spoon at the Fillmore, I wanted to highlight this exclusive alternate version of "Advance Cassette", originally from Series of Sneaks. Here, it's Britt solo and it's a strange take of the song, but still captivating. Can't wait to see them live tonight!"
Skee-Lo - "I Wish": "It got played out at the time, but it's kind of nice to hear again after all these years."
Land of Talk - "Some Are Lakes": "New Land of Talk - finally! It's a bit quiter and more mellow than I would have expected, after their first EP, but it's still tastily bittersweet. I look forward to the full-length."
Kenny Rogers - "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In)": "It's hard to think of country Kenny (or his Roasters) being this groovily psychedelic, but lo and behold, here he is. Oh, and:
'Nice marmot.' "
The Juan Maclean - "Happy House (Original)": "Juan gets things even dancier than before, while also continuing my love affair with LCD Soundsystem's Nancy Whang. The piano loop gets a little repetitive when you're just listening to it, but I bet it works great on a dance floor."
Portastatic - "Race You Home":
"I'm torn between being excited to finally have this track on something besides a 7" - and feeling like this private moment between myself, a record player and this fairly naked song from Mac, over a decade ago, has been exposed. I guess that's the ongoing challenge of being a fan of 'indie rock' - the frustration of no one knowing the music you love and the frustration when other people finally do."
Evelyn 'Champagne' King - "Love Come Down": "A bit of a non sequitur, but something about the last two days' songs made me think of this song...so here it is."
Ready for the World - "Oh Sheila": "Wow - thanks to Universal putting out a hits disc split between The Jets (see yesterday's post) and this band, I've been reminded of some of the best Prince that wasn't, you know, actually Prince - but not for lack of trying."
The Jets - "Crush On You": "Hey Tim Q - when we were at that party this weekend and you said that so-and-so just wanted to talk about The Jets...this is who I thought you meant. Not the football team. Just goes to show you the kinds of things that wind up being a frame-of-reference in my mind. (And I was wrong, they're Samoan, not Tongan.)"
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes": "I heard this song a million times this weekend and it got drilled into my head even more than before. It's still probably the strangest song to turn into a 'hit' in a while. Just count the gunshots in the song..."
Cut Copy - "Future (Rhapsody Originals)": "Check out this hot alternate version of 'Future', live from the Rhapsody Rocks Austin party earlier this year."
Junior Walker - "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)": "Nice and smooth - one of my favorite 'oldies radio' tunes."
The Futureheads - "With Every Heartbeat": "Interesting, snotty yet potentially sincere take on the Robyn tune."
The Rolling Stones - "Some Girls": "Get it?
It makes sense, at least in my mind."
Peaches - "Hot Rod": "Initially, the first Peaches song I heard (and often!) was 'F*ck The Pain Away' and I was really irritated by it. I figured I must hate her - but, eventually, I started hearing other tunes and her obvious button-pushing sex songs (no pun intended) really started to grow on me. It didn't hurt that I really liked how she used keyboards, making them sound dirty and rough, instead of glassy and pristine.
She really brought things to a new level for me when I later booked her for a Rolling Stone Originals performance. She came into the studio with a gold handbag that said "BITCHES" on it and...well, see for yourself:
There you go. It takes some stones to do that, mixing sexy and ugly (bruises!!!) like that."
Cranes - "Jewel": "There's something disturbing about listening to a song that sounds like it's being sung by a four year old being possessed by the spirit of an adult. It may walk a tightrope between creepy and pretty, but it winds up being more listenable than you would expect from this description.
(Well, they sometimes tip the scale over to creepy - check out "Lilies" - 'Goodbye, goodbye / I'll miss you!'.)"
The Spinanes - "Noel, Jonah And Me": "I love the bass, but the Spinanes prove you don't need one to have a great song. Rebecca Gates' sweet and sultry vocals pair up with her rough riffs, along with Scott Plouf's pounding drums, and you have more than enough rock on their own."
50 Foot Wave - "Long Painting": "Throwing Muses' Kristin Hersh proves that sticking around in music for more than a few years doesn't mean that you eventually have to mellow out. In fact, her 50 Foot Wave songs might actually be the most aggressive music she's ever done, bellowing and rocking so hard it sounds like it hurts."
Belly - "Sad Dress": "This is a great album of twisted pop - in that many elements are standard pop-rock, with cooing female vocals, but there's a dark undercurrent that runs throughout, both musically and lyrically. Here, frontwoman Tanya Donelly closes off the song singing sweetly, but it takes a second to realize she's singing: 'I'd chew my foot off / to get out of this dress'. Not exactly shiny and happy, but it's the crunch that goes with the sweet and makes this album so subtly complex."
Stevie Wonder - "Did I Hear You Say You Love Me": "Agressively exhuberant, this is a hard and funky courting song, with Stevie and his backup singers going all out. The horns add a lot, especially around the song's 2:45 mark, when they briefly go counter to the lead melody, adding extra drama to the tune."
Spoon - "All I Got Is Me": "How awesome is Spoon's Britt Daniel? He's so awesome that he'll put an A-List song like this on what's essentially a remix EP, throwing it out there like these songs grow on trees for him. Hey, that's ok, so long as he keeps putting them out there for us to hear - Más Spoon, por favor!"
The Cure - "New Day": "I first discovered this Cure b-side on the b-side of Standing On A Beach - the cassette version of Staring At The Sea, the first Cure singles collection, which included the b-sides to many of the singles' a-sides. I recall once listening to the track on my headset at school, in class. The room was silent, but I didn't think anyone could hear the music...which they didn't, until the 1:05 mark on the song, when Robert Smith shreiks out "NEEEEWWWWWW DAAAAAY!" like a cat in a grinder - and the room suddenly broke out into laughter. To them, it did sound like a maimed animal's scream cutting through a silent room...which led people to ask just what the hell I was listening to."
The Broken West - "Hale Sunrise": "Is there a bad song on this album? I think not. They're different every time, but at some point in most every song, the harmonies and handclaps kick in and I just melt. Here the tone is a little darker, but no less juicy."
The Rock*A*Teens - "Losers, Weepers": "I know most folks would probably find this song a little dissonant - and it's hard for me to argue with that. The lead vocals might be a little rough, but I dare anyone to proclaim that they're not very impassioned. When coupled with the garbage can Phil Spector backing instrumentation, it's lo-fi grandeur that feels very retro and very timeless, all at once."
Steely Dan - "Only A Fool Would Say That": "I'm excited that folks are actually treating today like a real Friday by playing Rock Band outside of my office - but since all I can hear in here is the horse carriage CLOMP! CLOMP! CLOMP! of the drum kit, I had to make the mood in here a little more nice and easy...and this song is very nice and easy. You go, Donald Fagen."
"Addendum, 30 minutes later: I love Steely Dan. I just want you all to know."
Imogen Heap - "Not Now But Soon": "New Imogen Heap single. Not radically different from her previous work, but just as magical - still multi-layered without being overproduced, with her unique vocals up front."
Metric - "Hardwire": "The song starts off like a piano bar and a dance club sharing the same wall, sounds bleeding through from one side to the other. By the end, a rock venue has displaced the piano bar, while frontwoman Emily Haines wails (pleads?) "You hardwire / I'll try to play the guitar!". I think the song has been remixed since the original, self-recorded version the band self-released around 2000, but it's still great."
Sebastien Grainger - "American Names": "...and speaking of Sebastien, here he is, resurfacing on his own with this new track. It's pretty much unlike any DFA79 material - if anything, it's more in the vein of the first Stills record - but it's just as good."
Does It Offend You, Yeah? - "Let's Make Out" (Extended Mix): "Ex-DFA79 frontman Sebastien meets up with the DIOYY boys to yell at you about making out in this sexed-up extended mix."
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