Jan 28, 2007, 11:49am
swoon
I don't know a lot about Allen Toussaint. What little I know i've learned from Allmusic. I know that he's earned a place in the Rock n' Roll Hall Of Fame for his work with The Meters, his production work, arranging, session work and solo records. And I know that he made one of my favorite records of all-time in 1975's Southern Nights . Southern Nights is the kind of record that makes crate digging worthwhile. Or at least the modern-day equivalent of crate digging, file sharing. Much in [...]
Dec 25, 2006, 10:28am swoon
"Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing (Live on Musikladen)" "You & I (Live on PBS)" "Close You You/Talk Box" "Heaven Help Us [...]
Dec 20, 2006, 10:28am swoon
One year before she released her critically acclaimed Killing Me Softly (Atlantic, 1973), Roberta Flack released a duet album with long-time friend and former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway. Though the album was a commercial success, highlighted by "Where is the Love?" and their version of "You've Got a Friend", it marked the beginning of a very trying time in both of their lives, a period during which the close friends wouldn't speak or record any music together. Hathaway, an undeniably gifted singer and piano player, had found success on his own in [...]
Dec 13, 2006, 11:08pm swoon
1989 was great time to be 15 years old. I was a high school freshman, my first year in a public institution after spending the eight previous years in private Christian schools. The people I met were unlike any I?d encountered before and music was one of the primary forces that seemed to attract me to the friends I was making. One girl in particular seemed to regard me as her personal project, molding me like clay into a guy who didn?t just take what the radio had to offer but searched around for things outside of [...]
Dec 7, 2006, 7:48pm swoon
...disposable but enjoyable. So ends the Allmusic blurb on Nick Heyward's solo work. Former frontman for Haircut 100 cum Brit-rock tag-a-long, Nick Heyward had a fairly productive career with occasional hits ("Whistle Down The Wind", "Love Plus One", "Blue Hat For A Blue Day") sprinkled in between your traditional late-80's anglo-pop songs. But it wasn't until he jumped ship on Haircut 100 and recorded his first solo album that Heyward really created something of a special record. Heyward was never as clever as [...]
Nov 30, 2006, 12:38pm swoon
It's easy to take on a new relationship with a song like "Smells Like Content" after watching it performed: the projector displayed behind The Books (Paul de Jong and Nick Zammuto) flashing key words as they play, like a 21st century "Mediate" for geeks; complete with found music and the subtle hint of a swirling hiss of sound escaping hearing range behind the words. This, combined with what those words actually say throughout the course of the song, is enough to make "Smells Like Content" one of the most intriguing and [...]
Nov 24, 2006, 10:46pm swoon
Relationships. Most people go through quite a few of them before finding one that works, and by a few I actually mean dozens. A song like Squeeze's "Letting Go" is a subtle lament to all of those that collapse. By 1991, Squeeze's status as a hit machine was little more than a memory. The album Play was the band's first (and only) issued on Reprise Records, but it was also the first time since East Side Story that Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook had written with a larger concept in mind. [...]
Nov 20, 2006, 11:54pm swoon
I remember first time I heard "God Only Knows" the way most adults remember childhood memories: my parents are there, I'm wearing something made of terrycloth, and the recollections even look aged in my mind. Colors blend, things are a strange shade of golden brown, and there is shag carpet. As an added bonus, I have a perm. My dad pulls out the box of records and Pet Sounds is one that he and mom both agree on (typically mom was rolling her eyes about Edgar Winter or "Mountain Jam", and dad was making fun of [...]
Nov 18, 2006, 1:21am swoon
Brevity. The brevity and punch of a song like The Zombies "She's Not There" is unmistakable and undeniable. Just as fast as the song comes on the radio it's coming to an end and you want to hear it again (and maybe once more after that). It's a song that packs enough gusto to call it a day after only a couple of minutes and leave the listener wanting to lift the needle and start it over. That's got to be the hardest thing in the world, as an artist, knowing the song you [...]
Nov 17, 2006, 11:43am swoon
People have tried to convince me Rilo Kiley was fantastic. I just didn't bite. People tried to tell me this solo Jenny Lewis record was fantastic. I just didn't care. The record floated around in the blogosphere and beyond and I went about my business. Then one day I stumbled upon the video for Lewis' "Rise Up With Fists!" and played it probably three times in a row, and right then and there I knew I was hooked on this song. At first it was probably a combination of [...]
Nov 16, 2006, 9:34am swoon
People have tried to convince me Rilo Kiley was fantastic. I just didn't bite. People tried to tell me this solo Jenny Lewis record was fantastic. I just didn't care. The record floated around in the blogosphere and beyond and I went about my business. Then one day I stumbled upon the video for Lewis' "Rise Up With Fists!" and played it probably three times in a row, and right then and there I knew I was hooked on this song. At first it was probably a combination of [...]
Nov 15, 2006, 10:22pm swoon
People have tried to convince me Rilo Kiley was fantastic. I just didn't bite. People tried to tell me this solo Jenny Lewis record was fantastic. I just didn't care. The record floated around in the blogosphere and beyond and I went about my business. Then one day I stumbled upon the video for Lewis' "Rise Up With Fists!" and played it probably three times in a row, and right then and there I knew I was hooked on this song. At first it was probably a combination of [...]
Nov 5, 2006, 8:01pm swoon
I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again… buried within Fleetwood Mac’s cocaine-soaked epic Tusk, lies a complete left-field classic. On par with, but so different from, their critically-acclaimed first two albums. I was late to the game on this one. Assuming it to be 1980, and therefore yucky. But after finally breaking down and giving it a spin, I slowly sifted through the brown sand and… found god gold. It’s not Stevie Nicks that carries the album, there’s nary a Christine McVie tune worth concerning yourself with (well, one co-write), Mick’s just is tall, googly-eyed drumming [...]
Oct 24, 2006, 1:33pm swoon
You're not going to make a name for yourself as a Toronto band these days unless you have a membership of at least six, and preferrably more. Ohbijou successfully engage us with intimacy rather than grandeur on their new album Swift Feet for Troubling Times , though. Sure, it's one of those well-arranged, well-orchestrated pop records that the kids go wild for now. Yet somehow its twinkling pianos are warmer and its cascading strings are softer and its delicate, but never fragile, vocals give it an edge over others because the songs [...]
Oct 21, 2006, 9:45pm swoon
Halloween Mix '06! Gut an overripe pumpkin, refreshen your phony forehead blood, slip a smoldering chunk of dry ice into the toilet tank, and turn the volume way the fuck up. If you can make it through the torturously irritating first track (to say nothing of the movie it's lifted from), you can make it through anything in the world. Also, for the purposes of dark holiday exploitation, metaphorical monsters and/or werewolves in titles count as the real thing. Let's just make that the rule. Happy Happy Halloween! 1. Silver Shamrock Montage - Halloween III [...]
Oct 16, 2006, 3:52pm swoon
Nearly 30 years ago, Tim Finn made the unfortunate mistake of inviting his brother Neil to join his band Split Enz . Since that time, he's been living in the shadow of his younger sibling. Forgive me if that sounds disingenuous, because I do believe Tim to be quite a capable singer/songwriter in his own way. Over the years, he's released numerous solo albums since the demise of Split Enz and, alongside Neil, was in Crowded House for a short time. Additionally, the brothers have released two albums as a duo. [...]
Oct 15, 2006, 10:49pm swoon
I'm not an expert on the music scene in Lawrence, Kansas. Truth be told, I'm not even sure I know a human who lives in Lawrence, Kansas. No offense to the (surely) fair city, it's just a rare day when I stumble upon something incredible in my inbox and discover it comes from ... Kansas. Don't let my unusual relationship with the plains dissuade you: I really don't know what the hell I'm talking about. A friend described Lawrence as "indie rock heaven" - and given the fact that a statement like that [...]
Oct 12, 2006, 2:26pm swoon
The Scandinavian peninsula, and Sweden in particular, is proving to be an endless well whence good music springs. Most recently, I've been enchanted by Man Overboard , the third album by Stockholm duo Montys Loco -short, often simply constructed songs that betray the influence of everyone from PJ Harvey to Cocteau Twins to their homeland's own The Concretes . If ever there was a reason to combat global warming, preserving the climate in which music like this can be created should surely be considered. [...]
Oct 12, 2006, 3:34am swoon
Jarvis Cocker , who put his band Pulp on indefinite hiatus in 2002, briefly changed his name to Darren Spooner and formed a new band Relaxed Muscle in 2003, recorded songs with members of Radiohead for the most recent Harry Potter film as Wyrd Weird Sisters , all while still finding time to make guest appearances and write material for numerous other performers, finally has an album of his own coming soon. Imaginatively titled Jarvis , it's due out November 13 in the UK on the Rough [...]
Oct 11, 2006, 2:00pm swoon
SXSW Launches TV Joint Venture For two decades its platform for breaking new acts like Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs and James Blunt has been a well-kept industry secret. That will all change at the 21st annual SXSW in the wake of a groundbreaking deal between America’s biggest music festival and music/entertainment television producer Blaze TV to create a joint venture company, South By TV (SXTV), which will deliver the best performances from the March 2007 festival to a global audience. During last year’s event, more than 1,400 bands played at 60 venues in [...]
Download: James Blake Live Album (Unofficial)
Lana Del Rey - Without You (Kill Paris Remix) [Dubstep]
My Funny Valentines
Miike Snow - “Paddling Out” Jacques Lu Cont Remix (MP3 Stream)
Iron & Wine and Patty Griffin
