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All Going Out Together


Younger Bums


Faith Healer (Official)

"Big Sky"

Big Sky definitely ranks pretty high up there amongst my favorite Kinks songs, so I was pretty happy to see that one of my favorite bands (and WFMU's resident cover band) Yo La Tengo took on the song back in 1986 on their debut LP Ride The Tiger. It's a very faithful cover of the song, maybe even a little too faithful, but they definitely do it justice. I only recently picked up Ride The Tiger and while they're not yet at their peak, it is a really really great first album. Grab the zip file for both versions of Big Sky and my favorite track from Ride The Tiger, The Cone Of Silence.

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From The Fire: Part 3

David Byrne - Uh-Oh
(Amazon Link)



I was extremely happy when we pulled this one from the box of burned cd's because it is just one of those albums I had always wanted to pick up, but for some reason or another never did. First off, this is easily my favorite album cover from ANY Byrne project, solo or otherwise. Every time I look at it I smile. And the album does it's best to live up to it. Coming out 4 years after Naked (wait, whaaaaa? $0.85 on Amazon? Get that!), the final Talking Heads album, Byrne pretty much picks things up right where that album left off by continuing to fuse and filter the rest of the world's music through his own unique and brilliant sensibilities. While there may not be anything here as instantly catchy and beautiful as Totally Nude or (Nothing But) Flowers, it's still well worth your time. Let's face it, it's David Byrne, just watching the guy step up to the plate is exciting. Enjoy the three tracks here, and if you just can't get yourself enough Byrne, pick up a copy of Look Into The Eyeball ($1.70! What's going on here???), for me, it's the best of his solo work.

In the zip you'll find three of my favorite tracks from the album:

1. Now I'm Your Mom
2. Hanging Upside Down
3. A Million Miles Away

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SZ July '08 Mix

Hey, haven't posted in a looooong while, so I figured I put together a mix of the tunes I've been listening to a lot of lately. Hope you enjoy it!

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Track List

1. Socs Hip -Lilys
2. Akula Owu Onyeara -The Funkees
3. Army of Ancients - Dr. Dog
4. Bros In Arms - The M's
5. Achoo - Sparks
6. Fairfax Rag - Harry Nilsson
7. I'm Lost Without You Here - Rocketship
8. fri/end - Thurston Moore
9. Bonnie - Big Dipper
10. Seven Fingers - Black Francis
11. Amplifier - The dB's
12. The Sublimation Hour- Destroyer
13. Million Dollar Bash - Fairport Convention
14. Soy Solo Para Ti - Victor Boa Y Su Musica
15. Gone - Travel by Sea

“Lovey Dovey” & “Nip Sip”

The Clovers popped onto my radar after Oxford American featured their amazing cut One Mint Julep on their 2007 music edition. I’ve since got a copy of this outstanding compilation featuring 22 brilliant Rhythm & Blues tunes. These tracks just ooze doobie-di-does, bar room smoke and truly inspired vocal arrangements. Two of my favorites are Lovey Dovey (so that’s where Steve Miller got the line, “really love your peaches, want to shake your tree”), and Nip Sip (the White Light / White Heat of R&B drinking songs). Dig the tunes…

Retread Sessions

Thanks to the great blog Flux=Rad I now have a new regular pit stop on the internet: The Retread Sessions Vimeo Page. Great acts like Akron/Family, Jose Gonzalez, Do Make Say Think and many more are up on the site already. I really love the aesthetic of these videos. Here's a particularly awesome one below. If you like the sample, make sure you go to the actual Vimeo page to watch 'em in HD.


No. 6 Bill Callahan - "Nothing Rises To Meet Me" from Retread Sessions on Vimeo.

Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Been

Do I really need to tell you about this album? Isn’t that album cover enough? No? Ok, here we go…

I’ve only recently discovered Spider John Kroener, but already the encroaching stages of obsession are upon me. First, I stumbled across Running, Jumping, Standing Still (psst…) and just let it play day in and day out, but that wasn’t enough. I needed to hear more. So I immediately got Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Been, and it’s absolutely brilliant. To crib a sentiment from the liner notes, he makes these well-worn songs sound fresh again, as if he’s the one who originally wrote and performed them. Hell, the guy even rescues Cotton-Eyed Joe from it’s jock jam peril, that alone earns him major kudos. Here’s a couple of diddies that go down particularly easy, enjoy…

“Headache” Video

You gotta love randomly typing “Frank Black” into a youtube search and getting an awesome video you never knew existed for one of your favorite songs. This thing is hilarious, (especially those back-up singers). Still have to pick up that new mini-album, heard it’s pretty great. Enjoy…

Big Dipper!!!

If you listen to The Best Show On WFMU, you may be familiar with the Boston rock band Big Dipper. Not only has Tom Scharpling sung their praises on his show, he also contributed to the liner notes in the box set. That solid endorsement coupled with the tracks posted on their myspace page was all I needed to go out and buy the beautifully packaged 3-disc set. The compilation collects all their minor label albums along with a whole disc full of unreleased material. "That's all fine and well Danny, but how's the music?" you ask. Fucking awesome! Just song after song of pop rock gems. There's 49 tracks here that are thankfully rescued from obscurity and so far I'm loving them all. Honestly, there's nothing I can say here that Scharpling doesn't put perfectly in his liner notes, so after you sample these tracks, I HIGHLY recommend you pick up the very reasonably priced box set. And if you just want to listen to the tunes, you can download all 49 of them on Amazon for a mere $9. I'm posting All Going Out Together, Loch Ness Monster and Faith Healer from the particularly strong first disc, but rest assured, there's lots more where those came from!

Unhalfbricking

For the last week or so I've been completely hooked on Unhalfbricking, the album from the influential British Folk Rock band featuring Richard Thompson and a bunch of other amazingly talented musicians. The whole album is just beautiful, but these two tracks are my favorite: Million Dollar Bash, one of three Dylan covers here, and the long jam A Sailor's Life. If you think I'm out of my mind during the first couple of minutes of A Sailor's Life, please hang in there, you'll know what I mean when Thompson and fiddler Dave Swarbrick take over. I'm expecting the follow up to this album, Liege & Lief, in the mail any day now, if it's anything as brilliant as this, I'll be a happy man.

50's & 60's Magic, Part 2 of 2

As promised, here's the second installment! Keep those oldies alive!

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50's & 60's Magic, Part I of 2

So my friend Pedro, (aka memofromturner) put together this really great compilation of 50's and 60's songs. I've been listening to them all morning and it's fantastic. It's like listening to Magic 104.3* without the lame car commercials, but there's also stuff in here Dick Biondi would never play. Enjoy Part 1, check in tomorrow for the next batch.

*On a side note, I just learned that the Oldies Station I grew up listening to in the Chicagoland Area has recently changed to a Jack FM, is nothing sacred?

Zip!

Unit 4 + 2 - Concrete and Clay

I'm hooked on this song right now! And this video just rules, such a simple, straightforward concept that thematically ties in with the song's chorus. Why can't more things be this easy to digest?

Get It!

New Smoking Popes Musics!!!

While sifting through the news section over at Pitchfork, my jaw hit the keyboard when I saw that Smoking Popes had a new album in the works. And while it's not coming out until early next year, they've put a few tracks on their myspace page, and they're sweet!

Growing up in Chicago, I got to catch these guys play their hearts out at the Metro all the time. I'm reasonably sure that they headlined the first show I ever went to without my parents. I came home with the near perfect punk pop ep Get Fired and played it to death on my shitty boombox. Here's two of my favorite tracks from that ep, Not That Kind of Girlfriend and Let's Hear It For Love.

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.