Blog: either/or

I am surprised that we haven't covered Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, and also pleased because I get to cover them. They have a name as ridiculous as our blog posts, so we are totally kindred spirits. Also, they write some fine music. Pangea is all about heartbreak and separation, but it's also really sweet and full of delightful puns. In case you're looking at the title and wondering about it, Pangea was the name of the conglomerate of land that existed 300 million years ago. It split up over the years to form [...]

Too busy to look at either/or this week? Can't be bothered scrolling down? Well, here's the week's worth of posts in one handy list! Nujabes – Counting Stars WTCHS – Adult Crimes Calotype – Insomnia Song Vic Chesnutt – Flirted With You All My Life Éric Serra – GoldenEye Overture Air – La Femme D’Argent The Polyphonic Spree – Love My Way

So the Polyphonic Spree are still kicking around, and they still have roughly half a billion members in the band. You'd think that huge collection of people would lead to completely incomprehensible music, but that is not the case. Instead, the bulk of the group is put towards contributing some wonderful backing vocals, giving their alt. pop tunes a wonderful choral glow. This is a cover of the Psychedelic Furs song , and it comes from an EP that also had a cover of Nirvana's Lithium : colour me intrigued! I haven't heard it yet, [...]

Anyone who's into chill out will have heard this tune before. Failing that, you'll certainly know who Air is. Those who don't, well... you probably don't like chill out music! That is a grave affliction in itself, but we'll sort that out later. This is as smooth as butter, and provided you find butter sexy, then it's as sexy as it too. It's pretty clear why Air and Zero 7 are generally mentioned in the same breath, as they both feature the use of catchy bass riffs and substantial use of real instrumentation that give their stuff a [...]

So I've been having a James Bond marathon lately, and I remembered just how interesting the GoldenEye soundtrack was. Granted, it was kind of panned back in the day (though the film itself wasn't), owing to its rather radical departure from the bombastic brass and strings which were standard fare for the series until that point. But if there's one thing that Serra's soundtrack did (and you can hear it in this track), it was to give the film a very Russian feel. Given that the film deals with a lot of Russian stuff, this is a pretty good thing! [...]

Vic Chesnutt is a guy I learned about from semi-randomly picking out CDs at the library. You could grab as many as you wanted so why not, right? Flash forward to the present day where he's now dead, which inexplicably makes me more interested in his music. This song in particular is about death, and released a few months before he killed himself, so my morbid fascination knows no bounds. If you can handle his somewhat strange vocals, the music and lyrics will more than make it worth your while. Seriously R.I.P., Mr. Chesnutt. [...]

I'd argue that this song is probably not the best one to listen to if you suffer from insomnia as it probably isn't going to lull you to sleep. Or maybe it will! I am not sure what your sleeping/listening preferences are. Now that the lousy introduction is out of the way, here is Calotype, the one-man pseudonym of a fellow called Larry Hess. This is a rather intriguing mix of folky, electronic downtempo, which might not be to everyone's taste. But for those who tastes eat this up, then hello! No [...]

Back in the 90s when the cassette tape reigned supreme, I was listening to a wide selection of... utter crap. I will certainly not be divulging what I was listening to back then, but there are many people that grew up to the muffled sound of alternative rock being blasted out by a tape, which is what these fine folks (or folk, I'm not really sure) are harking back to: the EP this track comes from is only available on cassette! There's something wonderfully rebellious about this track: it's messy and wild and there's something about it that [...]

If you decide to open up your window on this fine Sunday evening and listen to world of the night, you'll need some music to go along with it. Luckily for you, I have the perfect music for you! It is just as well you read either/or before deciding to open your window, eh? Anyway, Nujabes is the pseudonym of Japanese DJ Jun Seba (it's his name reversed, geddit), who is sadly no longer with us. As with most great chillout/downtempo, there is a hearty mix of jazz thrown into the mix, giving it that perfect, star gazing [...]

Too busy to look at either/or this week? Can't be bothered scrolling down? Well, here's the week's worth of posts in one handy list! George Fenton - Prelude CC Cowboys - Harry Austin Wintory - Apotheosis Sébastien Tellier – Fantino Mason Jennings - Sing Out Chris Isaak - Solitary Man The Cardigans - Please Sister

The Cardigans! They're fairly popular, or used to be, but they are also quite good (unlike Nickelback) so here they are for your aural pleasure. If I only listened to the songs of theirs that I've heard from the radio, that would mean they only have two songs. As it turns out, that is not the case! I tried to think long and hard about what song to put in here, and settled on this one from Long Gone Before Daylight . They haven't released an album since 2005, and that makes me a saaaaaaad panda! Get it together [...]

Well, I can probably embarrass the Hughster and myself with this post: I quite like this Neil Diamond song, and I believe Hugh loves Chris Isaak. Then again, I also have some Chris Isaak tunes in my playlist. Hrm! Anyway, this is a wonderful cover of the song by that imitable crooner. As you may know, I am no great fan of the more mainstream forms of country music, but there's some about Isaak's singing that's just plain sexy and... goodness me, I'm coming over all flush! Solitary Man by Chris Isaak [...]

Mason Jennings is just one of those dudes I love too much, I can't post just one song and say that's enough. This one's from his relatively recent album, Blood Of Man . 20092s recent, right? Eh, who cares. This is probably one of my ideal songs that I could listen to forever and not get tired of. It starts off haunting, and just gets more haunting, and STOP READING AND JUST LISTEN, DAMN YOU! Sing Out by Mason Jennings on Grooveshark

So, I'm currently just smashing the keyboard and hoping that something coherent comes out, but there's a good chance it won't make a lick of sense! I am utterly knackered, and it is times like this that I need to curl up with some 'feelings' music. I can't even think of the word to describe it! This tune features on the Lost in Translation soundtrack, a film that I absolutely adore: there is a tonal mood to the film that tickles me just right, helped in no small part by its excellent music. [...]

I've been playing video games for a darn long time now, and while little of the more stupendously popular titles released these days does much for me, there are still a huge variety of unique, enthralling games that come out of left field to give real weight to the validity of gaming as a relevant narrative experience. While I haven't had a chance to play Journey yet, how could you listen to this piece and not be captured by the world it paints? Something I Want Today - Buy [...]

This is the tune that started off in that wonderful zombie movie, Dead Snow. If you haven't watched it, and enjoy zombie movies, then get crackin'! Anyway, as this song is Norwegian, and I do not speak Norwegian, I cannot speak to the quality of the lyrics. But it's some damned fine country-tinged rock sung in Norwegian, and how many times will you get to say you've listened to that in your life? The answer - not too damn many! Harry by CC Cowboys on Grooveshark

I could wax lyrical about the awe-inspiring beauty of this planet and well, I'm going to! This piece comes from Planet Earth, a BBC documentary series that came out in 2006. If you only ever see one nature related documentary series in your lifetime, make it this one: it's filled with all manner of gorgeous visuals that capture the utter brilliance and majesty of this little blue planet that we inhabit. Sucks to be any other planet without life on it, I can tell you that!

Too busy to look at either/or this week? Can't be bothered scrolling down? Well, here's the week's worth of posts in one handy list! Parov Stelar - Booty Swing Sharon Van Etten - Serpents Thievery Corporation - Mandala Interpol - Untitled The Soundtrack of Our Lives - Sister Surround Can't Stop Won't Stop - Up and Away Katzenjammer - To the Sea

Here's another Norwegian group for you, because can you really have too many? No! This group is harder to classify due to them knowing how to play ten million different instruments, but some... poppy/folky/cabaret? Sure! It is also sung in English, which is helpful to judge the quality of the lyrics. In this case, amazing lyrics, along with amazing music, amazing singing, and just other general amazingness. Amazing! Amazing! Thanks to Doug for the suggestion on this one! To the Sea by Katzenjammer on Grooveshark

I think the key to making rad hip-hop, at least for my picky ears, is to add brass! Brass tends to give it more of a swing/rhythm and blues feel, which harks back to hip-hop's origins. Also, it just seems to make it super darn catchy. These guys have been featured in YouTube videos about various wholesome outdoor activities (like World's Largest Rope Swing ), and I have to say, it just works! Something I Want Today - Buy this tune