Sunday Shuffle

I got tons of class work to do this week before Christmas break. Geography papers and an exam.

Damn it.

Here are some songs I picked randomly:

MP3: Stars – On Peak Hill
MP3: Stephen Malkmus – Malediction
MP3: Gemma Hayes – Nothing Can
MP3: Vetiver – Farther On
MP3: Feist – Now At Last

Mark Mallman: Heavyweight Champion of the World

        

MP3: Mark Mallman – Turn On of the Century

I can’t get this song out of my head (not that I want it to). It’s just so damn catchy much like the rest of the songs in his latest album, Between the Devil and the Middle C. Oh, interesting fact: this Minnesotan rocker/piano man once performed a marathon 52.4-hour song back in September 2004. Yeah, crazy.

visit his official site
Mark Mallman on myspace

Don’t Freak Out On Me

Oklahoma band Evangelicals offer a tribute to Halloween with this light and easy song replete with acoustic guitar, tambourine goodness and ghoulish yet cute backing vocals.

MP3: Evangelicals – The Halloween Song

Buy their CD at Misra Records
Evangelicals on myspace

Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins: Fernando

      
Everyone who knows me personally knows that I love Rilo Kiley and in turn, I love every thing Jenny Lewis does (if you haven’t seen Jenny Lewis’ heart- breaking turns in Troop Beverly Hills or the obviously Nintendo-bankrolled The Wizard, get thee to Blockbuster/Netflix). So imagine my excitement when I heard that J Lew was making a solo project with the help of the lovely Watson Twins. When I got hold of her debut album, Rabbit Fur Coat, I ate it all up and listened to the songs non-stop for days. It’s one of my favorite albums of the year, as of today.

Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins have a new song out and they perfomed it at Conan last week. Give it a listen:

MP3: Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins – Fernando

And no, it’s not an ABBA remake.

Video of J Lew and company perfoming Fernando at Conan:

(watch it before NBC takes it down!)

visit the official site
visit their myspace

Worry not, munchkins

          
Apologies for my lack of world-changing views over the past week or so, but I have been abducted by a rich 30-something man who fancied my unique brand of intrigue and has taken me snowboarding in Argentina.

Actually, I lie. I’ve just been busy, slacking, and running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Cheers to all the people concerned about my wellbeing. I’m as mentally unstable as ever!

But I shall be divvying up some new textual intercourse and vomiting it on this blog in the very near future. Cheerio!

Peter Bjorn and John: Young Folks

      

MP3: Peter Bjorn and John – Young Folks
—-

you meet at myspace, of all places. you message her. it was something witty. she answers back. she’s interested. you message back and forth for days. you share interesting tidbits about yourself. she does too. she shares some stories and so do you. you ask for her if she wants to chat on AIM. she gladly obliges. you chat. you chat for long periods. you don’t care about the time. she doesn’t either. she thinks you’re nice. more than nice. great. you think the same of her.

days later you talk on the phone. you talk about your imperfections. she shares hers as well. she likes you just the same. hours seem to disappear. you stick around and see a few nights through. you love every minute of it. you plan to meet after several chats. you haven’t looked forward to anything like this in your entire life.

—-

Peter, Bjorn and John are from Stockholm Sweden. Peter & Bjorn met as teenagers and in 1999 they met John. Since then it’s been hundred of gigs, 2 albums, many ep’s & singles, lots of love and lots of fussing and fighting.

visit them at myspace

Asobi Seksu: Citrus

When you’re a big dork like me, any kind of music infused with shoegaze guitars and sweet J-pop vocals is good. Asobi Seksu’s latest LP Citrus takes it to the next level, making lush pop that isn’t too saccharine sweet; providing just the right amount of doses. It’s lovely shoegaze and it’s very, very good.

Here are some songs:

MP3: Asobi Seksu – Strawberries
MP3: Asobi Seksu – Thursday

visit the band’s website

The Hidden Cameras

The Hidden Cameras is finally releasing Awoo in its entirety and I like what I’ve heard so far. One thing is for sure, I’m gonna be aurally digesting their recent album for these coming few weeks (or more) once I have it on my hands.

MP3: The Hidden Cameras – Lollipop

I didn’t catch anything singer Joel Gibb said even after the first few listens but I thought the song was good just the same. Jangling strings, happy keyboards and disjointed phrases — It got me dancing and that’s just fine by me.

order The Hidden Cameras’ Awoo at iTunes

Outkast: Idlewild Blues

It’s not “Hey Ya!” catchy (come on, let’s set some realistic expectations here) but it’s still pretty damn good.

MP3: Outkast – Idlewild Blues

Black Bear

Indie surprises come in all shapes and sizes and this one in particular comes in a shape of a bear, a Black Bear that is (haha, that sentence was so bad, sorry). Black Bear is one-man band Sam Beebe from Seattle and his debut LP, The Cinnamon Phase, explores his life as a twenty-something in a modern paranoiac world filled with drum machines, keyboards, and a $12.99 organ bought at Goodwill. Highly recommended if you like The Unicorns, Grumpy Bear and/or Casiotone for the Painfully Alone.

MP3: Black Bear – Black Bear
MP3: Black Bear – I Believe In Immediacy
The aforementioned drum machine is put into good use in this fast-paced, melodic ditty that’ll surely stick to your head after a few listens. It’s a good song for gloomy rainy days when one looks for aurally-appealing tunes.

Black Bear on Myspace
Buy The Cinnamon Phase

Ciara: Get Up

With a hook undetectable on the first listen, Ciara’s “Get Up” has the makings of another dance-music pop hit. But is it coy hooking or just a lack of personality? I tend to think it’s the latter. Ciara emerged at a time when the diva was an endangered species — since the diva’s always bigger than her songs and Ciara’s function is to emit as little personality as possible so as not to get in the way of her songs, I’ve always thought of her as the anti-diva. But even if she’s just a bland girl, her music isn’t and thru it, she is at the forefront of R&B’s re-embrace of dance music.

MP3: Ciara – Get Up

The Long Winters: Pushover and more

The Long Winters are John Roderick on vocals, guitars, and keyboard, Eric Corson on bass and back-up vocals, Mike Squires on guitars and keys and Nabil Ayers on percussion. In their Putting the Days to Bed LP (available on July 25), they have created crafted a must-have indie-pop album with such songs as the breezy opening track “Pushover”, the mellow and heartfelt “Teaspoon” and “(It’s A) Departure”, a robustious power-pop gem.

MP3: The Long Winters – Pushover
MP3: The Long Winters – Fire Island, AK
MP3: The Long Winters – (It’s A) Departure

[Pre-order the Putting the Days to Bed LP]

The Pipettes: Pull Shapes

Imagine polka dots, doo wop and 60s girl group singers all lined up on stage and you'll get "Pull Shapes" from Brighton band The Pipettes. String crescendos, foot-tapping drum beats, retro keyboards, the obligatory hand-clap breakdown, sweet voices and addictive pop hooks endear and entice you into dancing. And even though you don't know how to, you just smile and dance anyway and appreciate the song for what it is: pure girl-pop fun.

MP3: The Pipettes – Pull Shapes

Bonus MP3: The Pipettes – Dirty Mind

Official website
The Pipettes on Myspace

The Boy Least Likely To cover “Faith”

         

One of my favorite albums last year was from merry pop band, The Boy Least Likely To. Their last release, Best Party Ever, was just pure pop bliss — an album about death, fear and despair masked under dementedly cheery and jolly instrumentation that was surprisingly good. And now here they are covering George Michael's 80s hit "Faith" tweaking it by adding recorders, banjos and hand claps. Unadulterated twee pop goodness:

MP3: The Boy Least Like To – Faith

from their last album, Best Party Ever:

MP3: The Boy Least Likely To – Be Gentle With Me
MP3: The Boy Least Likely To – The Battle of the Boy Least Likely To

Lego my baby!

Ladies and gentleman, as early as June, I think I've found the perfect gift for myself. Behold:

I think every boy goes through Lego toy stage in their childhood. When I was 6, I had one that was a complete and fully-furnished house and the other was a pirate-themed island filled with brick sharks and crocodiles. 'Twas kickass I tell ya, KICKASS! The Lego Chess set is only $49.99!

I say it's worth every penny.

——–

random mp3 spewing:

MP3: Laura Veirs – Secret Someones (lovely drumming)
MP3: Jens Lekman – Pretty Shoes
MP3: Cold War Kids – Hospital Beds