TumblNina

I had a really hard time picking just one song from Zoe...

Sat, 05 Feb 2011 00:09:24 -0500

I had a really hard time picking just one song from Zoe Keating’s One Cello x 16 Natoma to share since the layering of the cello in each track is so aurally novel and beautiful. I tried generating a random number, but Matlab picked 8, “Legions (Aftermath)” and that track was least representative of the album as a whole in its slow fade out. I ended up picking “We Insist” since it was under 10 mb so I could upload it without degrading the sound quality. Like on the rest of the tracks in this album, this song tells a beautiful multi-layered narrative via the cello.

I am a sucker for songs that entail clapping, and Peter, Bjorn,...

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 22:54:00 -0500

I am a sucker for songs that entail clapping, and Peter, Bjorn, and John’s “Eyes” from their forthcoming album, Gimme Some (March 29),has some nice ones and is generally a nice little ditty to bop around to.

That said, I was largely underwhelmed by the rest of the album. Some of the lyrics were nauseatingly cliché, and the beginning drum beat of “May Seem Macabre” sounds exactly like Bloc Party’s “She’s Hearing Voices.”

Mos Dub’s “History Town” comprises two of my...

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 23:20:00 -0500

Mos Dub’s “History Town” comprises two of my favorite things: impeccably placed and timed samples of Desmond Dekker’s “Shanty Town” and multiple references to Brooklyn (by Talib Kweli and Mos Def). This one is on 2010’s Mos Dub. Thanks to Justus for the steady flow of good music.

I heard Mazarin’s “For Energy Infinite” rather...

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 19:33:39 -0500

I heard Mazarin’s “For Energy Infinite” rather early this morning before heading to the mountain and it set a nice synth-poppy mood for the day. Thanks to Greg for finding it in a video game.

I was very excited to hear Bad Books’s cover of Built to...

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 23:30:31 -0500

I was very excited to hear Bad Books’s cover of Built to Spill’s “The Plan” from the moment I heard a riff from the track during their sound check and setup at an ApKmicroshow - you can watch the video here - and it sounded awesome, as most things Built to Spill do. Bad Books posted the song and video recently so I thought I would share the awesome.

I have spent many days listening to Maps & Atlases’s...

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 23:28:52 -0500

I have spent many days listening to Maps & Atlases’s 2010 release Perch Patchwork trying to pick a favorite song, and I finally settled on the closing track, “Perch Patchwork.” They remind me in certain tracks of the Dirty Projectors in their vocal intonations, and have a few lovely instrumental tracks as well. This album is beautiful - thanks to Lauren for bringing it to my awareness.

(A continuation of yesterday’s song of the day post.)

My Internet is being wonky (autocorrect suggested wimpy, which is also true). Song of the day: Maps...

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 23:41:14 -0500

My Internet is being wonky (autocorrect suggested wimpy, which is also true). Song of the day: Maps and Atlases - “Perch Patchwork” - to be linked to/uploaded (and elaborated on) when I have stronger Internet.

Some songs are incredibly pleasing to my ears for reasons I...

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:18:15 -0500

Some songs are incredibly pleasing to my ears for reasons I can’t explain. Dreamend’s “Interlude” on So I Ate Myself, Bite by Bite is such a song on an overwhelmingly great album - overwhelmingly in the sense that far more of the album is great than not great, not in the sense that I am overwhelmed by its greatness. It is just over 2 minutes long, instrumental, and very lovely to wander around the produce section of Wegman’s to.

I loved Penny and the Quarters’s “You and Me”...

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 23:20:17 -0500

I loved Penny and the Quarters’s “You and Me” almost as much as I loved the movie I heard it during, Blue Valentine. “You and Me” is a lovely little 70’s soul ditty. Blue Valentine is one of the best films I have ever seen, to which I credit Derek Cianfrance’s unique approach to creating the film (discussed by Ryan Gosling in a recent interview with Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air).

The Rural Alberta Advantage’s “The Ballad of the...

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 22:24:37 -0500

The Rural Alberta Advantage’s “The Ballad of the RAA” has a sort of alt-country sound, the vocal intonations and violins of Our Lady Peace, and some bell sounds that remind me of Oh No! Oh My!. That is a weird combination, and I like it.

I wanted to listen to more of Yellow Ostrich after hearing a few...

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:00:19 -0500

I wanted to listen to more of Yellow Ostrich after hearing a few amazing covers, and “Whale” from 2010’s The Mistress is such a great original track of theirs. I like songs about the sea, and their clever instrumentation, so this is my song of the day.

Today’s song of the day is more of an audio of the day...

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 23:26:48 -0500

Today’s song of the day is more of an audio of the day - Jennifer Egan reading Lore Segal’s “The Reverse Bug” on the New Yorker: Fiction podcast (11/19/10). I caught up on the past few months’ fiction pieces and I found this story to be so fantastic (both in the sense of a superlative and as a very bizarre story) that it stuck out from the podcasts I have listened to and any short fiction I have recently read. I have never heard such a beautiful and thorough discussion of genocide, and since I have not had much time to listen to music today, I am sharing this short story instead. It is 44 minutes with an introduction and commentary, and wonderful for an early drive on a weekend morning.

You should stop reading here if you plan on listening to it!!! But I suppose only if you like surprises.

I was struck by how poignantly Lore integrated the telling of multiple seemingly discontinuous tales, how the stories turned out to be so elaborately connected (and in such a short space). The addition of a science fiction element (the technology imagined for this reverse bug) to a story with so many historical elements - the stories of characters who had lived through or had relatives impacted by WWII in a number of countries at a number of times - really seemed to bring the story to a different plane. There is so much happening in this story, and all of it there for a reason, and so beautiful.

I am a sucker for clapping, whistling, and fiddles in songs, and...

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 23:57:07 -0500

I am a sucker for clapping, whistling, and fiddles in songs, and Andrew Bird has these in spades in “Section 8 City” from 2010’s Fingerlings 4 (Gezelligheid Chicago).

This Monday’s mix of the month is a mix Adam Gonzo made...

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:53:00 -0500

This Monday’s mix of the month is a mix Adam Gonzo made for the Live at Home series in July (I guess I am a bit behind on mixes!). It had me at Yo La Tengo. Full tracklist below.

Yo La Tengo — Let’s Save Tony Orlando’s House
Beach House — Zebra (Them Jeans Drum Edit)
Steely Dan — Do It Again (12” Maxi Mix Version)
Hall & Oates — Private Eyes
Fleetwood Mac — You Make Loving Fun
Fully Fitted — Shake It (Bladerunners Edit)
DJ Technics — Everything (Supa Mix)
The XX — Shelter (Them Jeans Drum Edit)
Fleetwood Mac— Little Lies (Skinny Friedman DJ Edit)
Hercules & Love Affair — Blind (Frankie Knuckles Remix)
Kanye West — Love Lockdown (Cousin Cole Remix)
Pumpkin Patch — Doobie Bras
Phelps — Pitfield Girl
SugaSwing Session — Sayin’ It and Doin’ It
Cymande — Brothers on the Slide (Ruffy & Tuffy Edit)
Caribou — Odessa (Junior Boys Remix)
Michael Jackson — Rock with You (Potions Edit)
Sharam ft. Kid Cudi — She Came Along (J. Re-Edit)

The Slits’s “Earthbeat.”

Sun, 09 Jan 2011 23:32:57 -0500

The Slits’s “Earthbeat.”

Shit Robot’s “Triumph!!!” is wonderful and for...

Sat, 08 Jan 2011 19:01:36 -0500

Shit Robot’s “Triumph!!!” is wonderful and for some reason makes me think of the Magic Kingdom ride Space Mountain, but as a remix. Thank you, Justus, for keeping me apprised of all things James Murphy.

When I put on Nadastrom’s Moombaton remix of Win...

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 23:57:00 -0500

When I put on Nadastrom’s Moombaton remix of Win Win’s “Releaserpm,” I instantly lose my thoughts in the instrumental introduction, hear Lizzie Bougatsos’s (Gang Gang Dance) vocals, and wonder where the past minute disappeared to, never wanting that minute back.

I had to listen to this and the original version many times to pick a favorite, but the trance-y beats in this track are a great fit for the lyrics, and the version I am more inclined to listen to on my snowboard tomorrow.

Caption: You can either hang out in the Android Loop or the HURD...

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 09:20:52 -0500

Caption: You can either hang out in the Android Loop or the HURD loop.

And here is the Daytrotter Session version of Architecture in...

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 23:16:52 -0500

And here is the Daytrotter Session version of Architecture in Helsinki’s “Heart it Races”, which Yellow Ostrich’s cover of “Tightrope” reminded me of in its drumming and perfectly fitting random sounds. I love those hollow drums, and if anyone can give me a more technical name for them, it would be much appreciated!

When Yeasayer’s “Tightrope” came on my...

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 23:10:25 -0500

When Yeasayer’s “Tightrope” came on my shuffle, I was ecstatic. How nice it was to be reminded of such a great track (from the Dark Was The Night compilation, which I always like to refer to as “That cd related to that Red Hot concert at Radio City where Sharon Jones brought the entire venue to its feet”).

Then, I heard Yellow Ostrich’s cover of this song, and I was blown away within the first few bars by the hollowed-out drum sounds, which reminded me of Architecture in Helsinki’s 2007 Daytrotter Session version of Heart it Races (which I can’t seem to find anywhere to link to, so I will have to upload the one that I have in the following post). Then the harmoniously guttural low-fi un-un’s in the background. And then the string tone, then the squealing computer noises in the background, and then the return of those drums, the humanoid sounds, and the mellifluous flow between each of these seemingly discontinuous and unrelated sounds. Yellow Ostrich took such an amazing song, and found such unexpected ways to enhance it, that I would consider dubbing it my song of the year if only there weren’t 359 days left.