Beck's New Video

Beck's video for Timebomb is pretty awesome, but I couldn't help but think of another socially conscience video (see below) I thought was totally awesome back in the day! Here's a hint... Crystal Pepsi anyone?

The Dead Trees

Any band that cracks the top 4 on Malkmus's myspace (check out sweet tracks from his new album while you're there) is definitely worth checking out. Run over to daytrotter and download the four songs from their session, you won't be disappointed. For your listening pleasure I'm streaming Television, a beautiful slice of Wilco-esque folk that's destined to find a home on many playlists.

On Myspace
6 Song EP - Fort Music

CO-OP

Depending on what song you’re listening to, CO-OP is either making your toes tap or making the earth shake, and occasionally, both. Mixing elements like upbeat keyboards and Eno-esque vocals with grind core guitars sounds like it’d be a tough trick to pull off, but that’s just what they do, exceedingly well. Below I’m posting a track more on the toe tapper side of things called Lo Volume. I often find myself visiting their myspace page just to hear this song. They haven’t released anything official yet, but I’ll be sure to post something when they do. If you’re in the LA area tonight, be sure to catch their show at The Scene.



Bonus Video, this is older and their sound is moving in a different direction, but who can resist a video about two misunderstood friendly robots…

From The Fire: Part 2

Jimmy Smith, Midnight Special



I was really happy to see this one in the box of burnt CDs. I've owned it for years on vinyl along with it's companion piece, Back At The Chicken Shack; both of which were literally recorded on the same day in 1960 (ahhh, the golden days of Blue Note!). And even though Chicken Shack is probably the better of the two, Midnight Special gives it a run for it's money. Smith, along with Stanley Turrentine, Kenny Burrell and Donald Bailey, sounds loose and relaxed on these long playing jams. You can just feel the good times. My favorite is the opening and title track Midnight Special, check it out below.



*Bonus Track, while trolling around imeem I found this awesome Jimmy Smith cover of Suicide Is Painless (The Theme From M.A.S.H.), not sure what album it's off of, but it's really good!

California Girls

Oh man, the new The Magnetic Fields album, Distortion, is just beautiful, but so far the stand out track for me has to be California Girls. I'm not sure if Stephin Merritt penned this song or not, but the lyrical wit really shines on this one; taking the well defined notion of what California girls mean in popular culture, and turning it on it's side. And musically, it's shimmering guitars and far away vocals make the whole thing feel like a dream, (that pretty much goes for the whole album too).

Private - My Secret Lover

I learned about these guys from my friend Kyle over at Side Selecter (great new playlist this week btw) and I keep forgetting to post about them. I don't know much about them other than that they're from Copenhagen, Denmark and that they sound a ton like Thriller era Michael Jackson. Really though, what more would you need to know, right? Below is the title track from their album My Secret Lover. It's so infectious and fun you won't even bother wondering why they keep saying "my bullets in the gun".

Okay, now the bad news, this album is impossible to find for a reasonable price anywhere, and it's not available through download on Amazon or iTunes. So if you need a copy... well, you know.

From The Fire: Part 1

Brian Eno and John Cale, Wrong Side Up


So, me and some folks I work with found two full boxes of smelly, ash filled, smoke damaged CDs on the WB lot yesterday. It turns out that once you ditch the cases and wipe off the discs, not only are they perfectly fine, but there's a lot of great albums in there! So I'm starting this little series and I'll update it as I absorb this new found music.

Today's installment is the 1990 album from art rock figureheads Brian Eno and John Cale, Wrong Side Up. I've had it on repeat all morning and I don't think I'm going to break that cycle anytime soon. This album lives up to the promise of the two names on the cover and I HIGHLY recommend picking it up, ideally in a box of scorched CDs. Here's the link!

For your listening pleasure, here's the first two songs off the album, they'll win you over immediately.

Jake Shimabukuro On Conan

What a performance! I have to get this album right away!

Jake Shimabukuro's Website
Gently Weeps - Åmazon Link

My friend Pedro has a last.fm page where he's recently started posting quick hit recommendations. This guy is a music expert, so you're bound to discover some gems! Here's the link...
memofromturner's last.fm

Groovallegiance

One Nation Under A Groove came out near the end of Funkadelic's unstoppable reign of creative output, and to me at least, Groovallegiance is one of the most remarkable tracks among their numerous accomplishments. It's laid back Caribbean vibe mixed in with melodic keyboards and Michael Hampton's guitar work make this song pure magic. It's one of the only songs I can honestly say feels short at 7 minutes.

Devon Williams - Elevator

This video isn't going to be set the world on fire any time soon, but the song Elevator more than makes up for it. This fella's opening up for Destroyer in May and from listening to the tracks on his myspace he's very worthy. While you're there you can download Elevator as well. He was also in a pop punk band called Osker that's worth a listen.

The World's Greatest Music Collection (Seriously, it is)

Got an extra $3,000,000? If you do, you may want to pick up this RIDICULOUSLY GIGANTIC music collection that ebay user jpaulhenderson5a4e has put up for auction. If anyone's up for splitsees let me know. Here's a bit of his description...

From Thomas Edison to American Idol, this is the complete history of the music that shaped and defined five generations. 3 million records and 300,000 CDs containing more than 6 million song titles. It's the undisputed largest collection of recorded music in the world. About half of the recordings are new and never played, and every genre of 20th century music is represented. There are countless rare recordings worth hundreds, or even thousands of dollars each on the collectibles market. Organized and cataloged, the collection is meticulously maintained and housed in a climate-controlled warehouse. The estimated value of this amazing collection is more than $50 million.

Pret-ty amazing. Pret-ty pret-ty amazing. See the ebay page here!