Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Bonny Billy & The Picket Line - Ohio River Boat Song

With my turn at the end-of-the-year post, I was going to post a 2009 favorite of mine -- the collaboration with Kentucky gentleman Will Oldham, alias Bonny Billy here (and better known by the moniker Bonnie Prince Billy) and bluegrass outfit The Picket Line. This one was unfortunately a bit overlooked because it was a vinyl and digital-only release. So I managed to scrounge up a digital copy and was all set to put it up on Youtube, but the mp3 has some sort of write protection that blocks it from working in Moviemaker.

So you get this, Bonny Billy and the Picket Line, live in Lexington!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Goat.'s Farewell to 2009

Don't ask me why this is fitting. It just is, ok?

(For the record, things couldn't be more perfect between two crazy beings two thousand miles apart. But it was a hell of a fight on both sides to get to where we are. And now you'll all have to suffer the autobiographical whimsy of one smitten-ass farm animal for a while.)

Monday, December 28, 2009

Kanye West- Family Business

For some reason I thought I should end the...00s...with something off this album. It's weird that this album came out...what, six or seven years ago? Christ. That shit flew by. Anyway, I've somewhat gone off the shit, but this is a nice track, and to some extent it was this sort of quasi-conscious hip hop from around that time which really got me interested in...well, a lot of stuff. Anyway. Yea? Yea.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

El Perro Del Mar - Change Of Heart



I heart Miss Assbring.


Happy holidays and new year and all that good stuff. Be safe.

Andy Williams - Can't Get Used To Losing You

I don't know, man. This song's just really catchy. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas. I saw Sherlock Holmes, and I'd recommend it. It was fun, but not quite as gay as I'd hoped. Maybe in the sequels.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas

Poor Jesus, can't catch a break. First he was crucified, and then his birthday fell to a Jew to celebrate in song on this blog.

I'm taking two. You must suffer through the terrifying:



If you want to appreciate the sublime:

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Spacemen 3 - Ode to Street Hassle

In which our three spacemen heroes meditate on walking with Jesus.



It is a clamorous holiday; this is a hidden calm song, based on the recurring theme from the epic Street Hassle. Get away from your people for a minute and pull yourself together.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Robert Earl Keen - Merry Christmas from the Family

Here it is, a bit of southern-fried alt-country raunch for your holidays. Merry Christmas, y'all.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The Flaming Lips - She Don't Use Jelly

Yes, yes, yes, I get it. I'm pretty far behind. Way. Behind. I haven't even wrapped presents that are supposed to be open in four hours.

But there was something that happened tonight.

That scares the ever loving shit out of me.

But I'm praying that it continues to do so, if that makes any sense at all.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Jacques Dutronc- La Fille Du Père Noël



It was this or Christmas in Hollis (or whatever that's called), so there you go.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Bill Callahan - Too Many Birds



Okay, I just came across this album a few days ago and I am already thinking it is maybe my favorite album of the year. This song in particular floors me every time.

(I just realized that Tyler posted another track from this earlier this year that I missed because it was near the end of last spring's semester. So hugs to you, Tyler. I am just late to the party.)

Saturday, December 19, 2009

The Magnetic Fields - Washington D.C.

Earlier this week, as you probably know, the Washington D.C. City Council voted to approve same-sex marriage in the District. I was at work when this happened, but got an email alert. I walked over to my boss (a gay dude living in California), and told him what had happened. Seeing his face light up with excitement, I was reminded of how not-abstract this issue is. "They have no excuse now. How can California continue denying us our rights?" he said/asked, a little bit giddy. This is a defining issue of our time. There is absolutely no excuse for continuing to deny American citizens the rights afforded to the ruling class. These aren't partisan political points; these are civil rights, and those who oppose them will be ashamed as are those who opposed similar movements throughout the 20th century. I already used Mississippi Goddam here, but everybody knows about New York, everybody knows about Maine, everybody knows about California goddam. And I mean every word of it.
So here's Washington D.C. It fits me to a T.


Thursday, December 17, 2009

Breakfast In Fur - I Don't Care

Here are local heroes Breakfast In Fur with what would be their single if they were a commercial band.



Come to town, their live shows are area events, and they always close with "Blue Moon".

And such lovely people.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Magic Sam - All of Your Love

Where would I be without the record store? Not discovering a genuine badass like Magic Sam, for one.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Talking Heads - Road to Nowhere

I bet you thought I'd post the Ozzy song with the same name. DON'T LIE! I posted some crazy shit on myspace about this some while ago, about transcending from Zakk Wylde's "appealing to teenagers" guitar to... Byrne and his accompanying accordion.

Already a week into the second year of O-Dub-Y... And craziness happens.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Joe Henderson- El Barrio

I don't know. Here's a nice, random thing. I was going to do a Christmas thing today, and then I realized I have another thing before that, so I guess I'll do it next time. Anyway.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Oscar, I am sort of short on dough so I made you a mixtape for your birthday. I hope that is okay with you. Keep having wild years, in any case.

Alright, so I did a mix. I don't think anyone else is doing one, so I am going to look like an asshole who keeps doing things years after everyone else ceases to care, but I guess maybe it is too late to save that part of my reputation. Anyhow. I am actually uploading two versions of the mix. One version I mixed together in garageband into one track, which makes it flow a little smoother (plus it includes an intro and closing statement from your truly!) and sounds kind of cool, but the downside is it is sort of annoying if you are not going to listen to it in one go, because then you have to remember the time that you left off at and it is a disaster. The other version is just the mp3 files all thrown together and blah blah blah boring, but maybe you want to download that version, whatever.

(Hopefully you will listen to this and then yell at me and tell me that my taste in music is yucky and also maybe you will include something about me being an asshole, but it will be okay because at least you listened!) ((And for what it is worth you will call me an asshole either way so I win no matter what!)) ((((Wait, what?)))) ((((((((Oh no, exponential parenthetical growth!))))))))

One track version!

15 track version.

1. Deli - Delorean - Ayrton Senna EP
I am pretty sure I posted this at some point this year. It is just a pretty fun thing to listen to while you are driving!
2. This Tornado Loves You - Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Yeah yeah Neko Case is sort of the best.
3. God Help The Girl - God Help The Girl - God Help The Girl
This one I don't think I would have ever heard about if not for Aaron, so yeah, big hugs there.
4. Yalira - The Very Best from Warm Heart Of Africa
These guys are pretty fun to listen to if you are in a good mood.
5. Chains, Chains, Chains - Elvis Perkins - In Deerland
Elvis, on the other hand is more for if you are in more of a brooding mood. Okay, maybe not the best of songs to group together, but awkwardness is sort of a thing on this mix.
6. Stay Off The F*%$#n’ Flowers (feat. Raekwon) - Blakroc - Blakroc
See, a bit of an awkward transition here. Anyhow, it is a fun album.
7. My Night with the Prostitute From Marseille - Beirut - Holland EP
(Jebus, I feel like I posted most all of these songs at some point this year and have nothing new to offer.) Oh wells. I am a bit of a Zach Condon fanboy. Let me be.
8. Hardcore Gentlemen - Tanya Morgan - Brooklynati
I have listened to this song so much this year and I still giggle every single time he goes "DUN DUN NAH!" (Is that how you would spell it out? I do not know.) But yeah. Every time.
9. Sailing Home To Bodymore. - (Just listen to the thing) - lol
OKAY I DON'T REALLY CARE WHAT YOU DO BUT JUST LISTEN TO THIS ONE SONG PLEASE. (Really, I spent most of the time I was working on this thing doing this one song, which is just mixing quotes from The Wire over a song from the Where The Wild Things Are soundtrack and it was really fun to do and I think it is sort of funny and stuff. AND HOPEFULLY YOU WILL LISTEN TO IT!) ((If you are listening to this on the one track version you can just skip to about the 25 minute mark to listen to this and appease me.))
10. The Privateers - Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
Oh yeah, so the reason I added in the Karen O/Bunk/Bodie funfest was because there was the problem of how do you transition from the Tanya Morgan song to anything else on this mix. So my answer was to be silly. But now we are on to Andrew Bird. I love Andrew Bird. Did you notice my moniker is Andrew spelled backwards? That is how much I love this guy! I think this (or maybe the Neko Case) would be my favorite album of the year.
11. 40 Day Dream - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Up From Below
Actually, this is another contender for album of the year. "Home" was my favorite track, but I decided to go with this, because I had already posted "Home" and this is a good tune too and why not!
12. All Your Secrets - Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
You guys know I love Yo La Tengo. They are so good.
13. Dreams-Come-True-Girl (Ft. Karen Black) - Cass McCombs - Catacombs
I think I read about this album on Pitchfork and it mostly caught my attention because I saw his name and I was like "what the hell is a guy with the first name Cass doing being reviewed by Pitchfork? Aren't there lots of colleges in need of a good starting quarterback? (because his name sounds like a QB's, you see.)" and so that is why I checked it out and it turns out it is a great great album. I was humming the chorus for weeks. Now just imagine him on the football field!
14. Run Chicken Run - The Felice Brothers - Yonder Is The Clock
I have still not really forgiven Aaron for holding out on us last year with the Felice Brothers. This is just a perfect band for me.
15. Lucky Day - Tom Waits - Glitter And Doom
And then you have the obligatory Tom. (The rest of this is mostly between me and Tyler.) I like this version of this song a lot, actually. The version on The Black Rider is all circus-y and wild--which is the point on that album, of course--but it really hides the sheer beauty of this song.
Hugs to you, Tom.

And to you, O.W.Y. It's been a good year.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps

When I was in high school, I had to wake up tremendously early every morning (this surely is relatable). For fear that I would oversleep, I would wake up a solid hour earlier than I had to, and drag myself downstairs to let television seep into my brains. Eventually I realized that TBS reran two episodes of Saved By The Bell back-to-back in that timeslot, but for a long time I was blissfully ignorant of my appointment with Bayside High; I used my time watching the music videos MTV and VH1 ran in the 6-7 a.m. hour. By and large these were music videos that would not make it to their afternoon music video series (e.g., TRL); they were old, pretty cool music videos, or they were barely-run singles for bands that were almost big. Occasionally they were early releases of videos that were about to become big (I cannot tell you what "Hey Ya" looked like to a guy just barely waking up). This falls somewhere in between the latter two categories.
What made music videos so impressive for me was when, and this was rare, the musicians revealed themselves to be decent actors. As a fan of Jim Jarmusch, I am sincerely always mentally casting musicians in acting roles in my theoretical future films. (Neko Case, I will write a movie around you, I promise.) I found this music video to be completely beguiling, lyrically and visually, but I maintain it is Karen O's broken vulnerability that sells the unsettling nature of this song and video.
In terms of this blog's berfday, something I am duly observing but sheepishly attempting to circumvent, having not been present for its birth, this song clearly (to me) occupies the mental space between something damaging ending and something new (and more lonely) commencing. Sometimes all you can do is share music with your friends (or with people whom you don't know at all) in a blog with a pun title, but those expressions of feeling are sometimes all it takes to deal with the feelings themselves. I tried to play this song for (Dan) once, at the corner of Hawthorne and Orchard, but he wasn't into it. I hope you like it now Dan.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Radiohead - Everything in its Right Place

In honor of the imminent end of "Perdidos".

I've been a very, very slow adopter of Radiohead (just ask my brother). They were doing the best albums of the aughts on the "All Songs Considered" podcast and when they got to Kid A they played "Morning Bell" which of course I'd never heard but which totally punched me in the junk. So you win, Steven, I like Kid A now. (I know the rest of you have listened to this one a billion times, but its new to me.)

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Oscar's Wild Years Retrospective Omnibus


This post, like so many others, begins in Harry's car near the end of some endless suburban night. I remember that we were on the Bypass in the dark, heading towards New Rochelle when he began the necessarily convoluted explanation of the Rogue's Gallery box set. After churning through some really interesting, unusual shit, we hit something ethereal and haunting that took us right out of night-Westchester and into a softer world. Here was some unbelievable vocalist, and then we found out that Mary Margaret O'Hara was the sister of one of our favorite character actors, and acquired her only album. I have been meaning to post a song from Miss America ever since Harry sent it to me, and this one perfectly sums up, well, a year in song. O'Hara's songs are wildly eccentric, veering through beats and themes as her voice stretches and even hiccups.

Joy is the aim:



I mention this because, well, you just form personal connections to this stuff. And now I've got personal connections to this stuff, acusuv you guys. And hugs!

Monday
John Coltrane - Alabama
Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie - Hot House : Erics is reliable with the jazz,
Eric B. & Rakim - Microphone Fiend : and the classic hip-hop,
Eddie Gale - The Rain : and this insane epic.
Blu - Just Another Day
Madvillian - All Caps : Late nights, Roger gets to talking MF DOOM

Tuesday
Sam Cooke - Bring It On Home to Me (Live at the Harlem Square Club) : I don't always like Aaron's newstuff, but this is one of my favorite songs, hugs.
Blossum Dearie - I'm Hip
Jean Ritchie - Careless Love
McLusky - To Hell With Good Intentions : Just like old times.
Henry Thomas - Bull Doze Blues : Lou's all over the place, I really like his turns as a music historian. Henry Thomas is pure condensed joy.
A. A. Bondy - When The Devil's Loose

Wednesday
Jewel & The Rubies - Kidnapper : Tyles!
James Cotton - There's Something on Your Mind
Bongos Ikwue - Woman Made the Devil : The smoothest, coolest song.
Dennis Brown - Westbound Train : Not just the intro, we've done really well with Songs About Trains.
Gil Scott-Heron - Whitey on the Moon
Ted Hawkins - Sorry You're Sick : "What do you want from the liquor store/ something sour, or something sweet?/ I'll buy you all that your belly can hold/ you can be sure you won't suffer no more"
Betty Wright - Mr. Lucky

Thursday - as for me, the couple I'm really happy to have found this year:
Marion Black - Who Knows
Tennessee Ernie Ford - Sixteen Tons
Rex Griffin - The Last Letter

Friday
Bruce Springsteen - Roulette : I didn't know about this one.
The Pop Group - She is Beyond Good and Evil : This band is crazy and Craigles reminded me to listen to them
The Kinks - Last of the Steam Powered Trains
The Replacements - Date to Church : Lots of fun, and then the special guest shows up.
The Ink Spots - I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire : What a bizarre pairing. In the soundtrack-makers' pantheon with the guys who advised Weeds
Mike Watt - In The Engine Room : Belongs on Rogue's Gallery

Saturday
She & Him - Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?
The Mountain Goats - Woke Up New : I was really glad to hear this one again.
William Shatner - Common People : This one too!

Sunday
Toots & The Maytalls - Love Is Gonna Let Me Down
Mick Harvey - Out of Time Man : ask my old roommates how many times I listened to this.
The Avalanches - Since I Left You
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes - Home
El Perro Del Mar - God Knows

Next year in Jerusalem..

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The Rising Sun - Do What You're Doin'

I didn't have anything special planned for Berfday Week (TM), but here you go, another track of Numero goodness from the Outskirts of Deep City album.



Keep doin' what you doin', O-Dub-Y.

Monday, December 7, 2009

HAPPY BERFDAY, OWY!

I wanted to post this before I hit the sack. I have a long day at my current training evolution right now, so I might not be around much. If I am, I'll edit this post accordingly.

For now, it's been 365 days since Tyles set this ball in motion. I posted how the rotation has changed over the course of one year... And here we are. Letting the special needs kid post the birthday song. Since I've been harping to all my less-than-stellar-intellectually fellow Marines about how much I enjoy watching The Ladykillers, I found this... most fitting for the occasion. Shine on, fellow music nuts. Let it shine on.

P.E.- 911 is a Joke

Yea, sure, why not.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Phoenix - Love Like A Sunset

Hello!



I do like this album a good amount actually. Okay!


And bonus feature is the Sex Offender Shuffle!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Otis Redding - These Arms of Mine



I'd be happy posting anything by Otis, honestly.

Friday, December 4, 2009

The Highwaymen - The Devil's Right Hand

The original Steve Earle version plays in Brokeback Mountain when Ennis meets the Linda Cardellini character in the bar. It's probably better, but this one is twangier, which is what I was looking for. Johnny Cash also recorded a sparse, bluesy version solo on one of his late-period albums.



Ian Stuart, of all people, also recorded a version with one of his bands, and I guess all one can do is enjoy the irony of that sack of shit recording a song by one of the all-time great leftist rabble-rousers. I'm not posting his version, I'll post this instead:

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Louis Jordan - Saturday Night Fish Fry

Today, early early rock n'roll (Rock Around The Clock, Reelin' and Rockin, You Can't Catch Me etc clearly owe to this recording) from a performer I just found out about on Monday.



Next week, to roughly coincide with our one-year anniversary, two good songs I just thought of, one looking backward on a year's accomplishment, the other looking forward to newtimes. Additionally I'll be taking a look through my favorite posts by day of the week and linking them into a all-congratulatory list.

Hugs!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem feat. Muppets - Bohemian Rhapsody

So the credibility just took a nose-dive for Tuesdays.... Eat it. At least Tyles can redeem us tomorrow.

And Animal is the awesome anyway.