Well I managed to throw up a bunch of tracks on the server this morning so I could put up a little Christmastime mix for all of you. Anyone that knows me knows that although I'm Jewish I'm a sucker for a Christmas tune. I wish everyone a safe and Happy Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, New Year and anything else that may fall over the next few days. I'm hoping to get one more post up before I skip town and maybe get a guest post or two up, if not I'll be [...]
At the end of the year, we're offering up some MP3s that we never got around to posting for one reason or another. Aimee Mann continues to write great songs. MP3: Aimee Mann - "Thirty One Today" from @#%&*! Smilers...
Here it is, folks, the first of two CD-length mixes from me this holiday season. I had a hard time whittling this down to fit onto one CD, but the primary reason for making these two mixes in the first place was to give my friends CDs at our Christmas party. I hope this album doesn't bum you out too much -- if you're worried about it, don't listen to any of it till Tuesday, when I'll post the antidote, entitled "Have Yourself A Magical Little Christmas." Tracklist: 01 - Judy Garland - Have Yourself A [...]
Last year, I procrastinated heavily. I think there were a lot of good records that came out the last couple of years, but I started to think that for every record that came out, there was an equal number of these "best-of" lists being bandied about. At first I thought, "Wow, it's finally happened. Everyone's a music critic." Then, with this pervasive thought entrenched in my gourd, I started reading these other lists before making my own. I suddenly felt small. So deadlines for the "best of 20073 rolled around, and I [...]
CARDINOLOGY - Ryan Adams and the Cardinals Nice and pleasant sounding CD, but not nearly as good as last year's "Easy Tiger" on the song-writing side. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals: Natural Ghost Video: "Fix It" on David Letterman MySpace | Website | Label: Lost Highway Records | BUY Ryan Adams at Bridges Auditorium ATTACK AND RELEASE - The Black Keys [...]
I'm sorry to report that their is no movement on the Christmas spirit front. Not even after having a Christmas tree thrust upon me, a spell of Christmas shopping and a Christmas party on the weekend. Though, sitting in the warm late Spring sun at a barbecue doesn't really summon up the Noel for me. I suppose if it's going to happen at all, it will be watching Boy Z open presents on Christmas morning. I do have some good holiday news, however - a couple of friends have offered up their house for the week after Christmas [...]
Anyone ready for some last second huff 'n puff scrounging for tickets? Aimee Mann 's 3rd Annual Christmas Show at Birchmere in Alexandria, VA. MP3: Aimee Mann - "Thirty One Today" Ra Ra Riot at Ottobar in Baltimore. MP3: Ra Ra Riot - "Suspended in Gaffa" Colbie Caillat at the 9:30 Club (really?) in D.C. MP3: Colbie Caillat - "Capri"
The year is soon coming to an end, the college students are done the first semester and heading home and looking for something to do. Quite a few shows during the week for those looking for something to fill the time usually spent working or studying. Photo from artist myspace Playing back-to-back nights at the Birchmere, Aimee Mann is having a sort of homecoming (born in Midlothian, VA). Out on tour promoting @#%&*! Smilers , these shows Monday and Tuesday are sure to [...]
aimee mann // long shot broken social scene // anthems for a seventeen yr old girl the cure // close to me the national // slow show
To suggest that all true Christmas music is kidsong is only a slight oversimplification. Put aside the tales of holiday romance and heartbreak, allow for the minor exception of a few overly religious holiday hymns, and a surprisingly large percentage of the melodies in the frosty air this time of year is kidmusic. And why not? We are, after all, products of a culture which weans its adults on a steady diet of commodification fetish through childhood tv. Religious or secular, Christian or otherwise, the way we come to Christmas springs - at least [...]
Tune in tonight at 8PM (EST) to enjoy the show! Special guests include Nellie McKay & Grant-Lee Phillips. Further info can be found here. Aimee recently recorded a Daytrotter session. MP3: Aimee Mann - Thirty One Today
My week at Breakthrough Radio ends with today's entry, and as promised, I'd like to take this opportunity to offer a little thanks and good cheer for the season. What follows is a repost, originally shared last year on Cover Lay Down under the title The Twelve Jews of Christmas: Folk Covers of Holiday Classics by Jewish Songwriters ; though for obvious reasons its interest is seasonal, it remains one of my most popular posts ever, and I'm happy to share it – and a bonus non-cover – here today. Enjoy! [...]
Aimee Mann practically saved my life in high school. I'm not kidding. Jon Brion-produced I'm With Stupid was another brilliant and life-changing gift from Joel. Every track is golden; every bitter, deadpan word was one that spoke directly to the feeling of disaffected outcast youthfulness that I had at 16 in the suburbs of New Jersey. To this day, this album sits at the top of my desert island necessities. You may know Aimee Mann from her role in one of my favorite guilty pleasure bands, Til' Tuesday (80s hit: [...]
When Aimee Mann released One More Drifter In The Snow in 2006, she promoted it with a Christmas variety show tour that combined songs, skits and storytelling from her and various special guests. To promote the tour, she did a couple of short videos in which she conspires with Paul F. Tompkins on the best way to ask her various celebrity friends to participate. Part 1 stars John Krasinski , Emily Procter, Patton Oswalt , and a great cameo that I won't ruin by telling you [...]
If you are planning to see the Christmas show on Aimee's tour, there might be spoilers in this post. Check Aimee Mann's Website for dates and venues. This was no doubt our last concert for 2008. As we stood outside the beautiful art-deco Wiltern Theater Saturday night, me with my two cameras, one of the venue people came out and announced that no cameras would be allowed inside. The day before when I called and talked to a live human being, it had been OK. So the cameras went back to the car, [...]
top o' the morning. so, the van dyke clan done got our selves a christmas tree yesterday! we spent the majority of the day picking it out, or at least it seemed as such. to me nothing says christmas like picking out a dying tree at your local home depot! the boy, mac, had a shitload of fun decorating it, and he only broke 5 ornaments this year! that was done from last years 7. good job, mac! keeping with the holiday cheer, i have compiled what i have so elequantly [...]
Click here to view the embedded video. The Office star John Krasinski and Grammy-award winning artist Aimee Mann perform the Christmas classic ???Winter Wonderland??? live at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles on Saturday, December 6, as part of Aimee Mann ???s Third Annual Christmas Show. And here's where I tell John to stick to The Office, though if I had a chance to sing Christmas songs with Aimee Mann I would be there in a [...]
Here's the second of 2006's two Christmas mixes I compiled. The mixes from '06 and '07 (stay tuned!) don't have covers uploaded, since I made all the covers by hand with paper cutouts and stickers and such. I'll probably put together covers for this year's two mixes, though I'm planning to continue with the handmade covers for the hardcopies my friends get. Now, for about as long as they've existed, I've been a fairly faithful reader of two music blogs: You Ain't No Picasso and WFMU's Beware Of The Blog . But until December '06, [...]
Here's one of the two CD mixes I put together in 2006 for all my friends. (Come back Sunday for the second one, Have Yourself A Mellow Little Christmas, and I'll also explain how Christmas music was my introduction to MP3 blogs.) Two years ago, I was celebrating having a computer and regular net access for the first time in literally years. Also, for the first time in ages, due to changes in my job, I was really digging on Christmas music, and the spirit of peace and love I hadn't gotten much of for years. This is a nice [...]
blowin your cover
Glorious Noise
She'll Grow Back
Loudersoft
speed of dark
City Pages - Gimme Noise
A Free Man
Knox Road
Instrumental Analysis
bee charmer
Cover Lay Down
the music slut
One Sweet Song
Page 300
Captain's Dead
The Sly Oyster
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Metric -"Speed The Collapse"
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