Ok. I am going to admit it. I am overwhelmed. It's 75% good overwhelmed and 25% bad overwhelmed. I'm leaving New York in January and trying to tie up numerous creative, logistic and relationship loose ends. CRUNCH TIME. Whenever I feel desperation start to set in, I just listen to Joy Division, because that shit is seriously depressing...and it can't be as bad as all that, can it? The jams are, of course, also seriously awesome. This song is from 1978's Warsaw (which was also an early name for the band, along [...]
I drank a Starbucks coffee at 6pm last night and ended up being totally wired until 6am this morning. The result is that I'm totally weird and spacey right now, so if this makes no sense at all, that's why. Pick-me-up? Why, yes, please. How about this classic hit from the 90s? It's smooth. It's funky. It was predictive of what was coming at the time, and what is now here. Actually, some of the lyrics are downright dystopian, touching on genetic modification and our technologies changing the way that we live and interact with others. It was [...]
I'm back, again, from California. I arrived yesterday on the red eye and was met immediately with cold grey sleet. Welcome home. No coincidence that my friend who works at the neighborhood coffee shop asked me, "are you gonna make it?" when I went in to order my afternoon cuppa. I thought I'd let America's own soul reverend express this feeling for me, as only he can. I've had many a sweet memory to which "The Rev." has provided the soundtrack--washing dishes at the co.op where many friends lived in Ann Arbor, slow dances [...]
Northern Music for a SoCal Friday: Local Music Friday What's up with Local Music Fridays? It's been a while since I was able to deliver a proper Local Music Friday and I don't want to keep you waiting any longer. It seems a little wrong to be posting this from where I'm sitting in this Orange County 90 degree heat, since this music is so, well, northern. It's right for tbe cold-weather, perfect for cozying up in [...]
By the explicit request of my righteous sister, I present this song, "Mi Swing Es Tropical," a collab between Quantic (AKA Will Holland, a British expat now based in Colombia) and New York DJ Nickodemus. I'm not sure how the song first came to my attention. It was featured in an iPod ad with a particularly Latin flavor. It was also included on a mix that was given to me. It really is a sweet song, proven by the fact that everyone I play it for instantly loves it. [...]
By the explicit request of my righteous sister, I present this song, "Mi Swing Es Tropical," a collab between Quantic (AKA Will Holland, a British expat now based in Colombia) and New York DJ Nickodemus. I'm not sure how the song first came to my attention. It was featured in an iPod ad with a particularly Latin flavor. It was also included on a mix that was given to me. It really is a sweet song, proven by the fact that everyone I play it for instantly loves it. [...]
I had a hard time waking up today. It's grey outside and my life is constantly oscillating from feeling "fun" to feeling "out of control," much more than usual. It's kind of interesting to be at once so conscious of this feeling and also basically helpless to change it. This song, another I can't believe I hadn't yet gotten around to posting here yet, seems especially appropriate to my mood today. It's got a few things going for it. The first is that it's incredibly catchy and instantly memorable. Guitars and spacey synth interweave [...]
Lost in Space: Monday Mail What is Monday Mail? Hey guys. Sorry I've been so MIA. How was your CMJ? BBQLOL. Mine was cool. I mostly stuck with bands of friends, including Drunken Barn Dance , Chris Bathgate, Matt Jones , In Tall Buildings and NOMO . Even with a relatively modest schedule, I still felt burnt or dead by the end. This old [...]
Hi pals. Can you believe I've never posted this song before? Can you believe it's fall already? Can you believe it's actually mid-October? You know once we hit Halloween, it's all totally over. Time becomes a complete and total vacuum until New Years. Whoa. I am not really ready for it yet. Some of you may have noticed that this blog has gotten a little...uhm...less reliable. This fall-to-winter period is bringing a lot of ch-ch-ch-changes to my life. As a result of some of these, I am sad to say that this blog is going to get [...]
Embarrassing, I know, but I think I first heard Del the Funky Homosapien's (or Del tha Funkee Homosapien) solo work while playing Tony Hawk with Als at some ungodly hour in East Lansing, Michigan. The track featured on the game was "If You Must," a strangely fabulous track that basically focuses on the virtues of personal hygiene. Of course, I had been listening to Gorillaz for quite some time. I loved Del's work on that stuff, knew he had a solo career, but for some reason just never bothered to look [...]
Back for the Attack: Monday Mail What is Monday Mail? I took the red eye in this morning from LA. I really think the red eye is drugs. There's nothing quite like wandering around JFK at 5:30 AM, riding the A train pre-commuters and then watching the sun rise from Nostrand Ave. The west coast was fantastic. It's so bright and shiny out there. I went to the beach, swam a lot and of course spent lots of QT with A. I also saw The [...]
Hey guys. I'm going to be taking a few days off. I bet you can guess why. Until then, enjoy this: California Dreamin'.mp3 All the leaves are brown And the sky is grey. I been for a walk on a winter's day. I'd be safe and warm If I was in LA.
Music for a Rainy Friday Local Music Friday What's up with Local Music Fridays? Happy Friday to everyone. I am a little late on this one because I meant to put it up last week, but, as per usual, life got ahead of me and so here I am, having finally caught up. This band, The Umbrella Men , played my house last Saturday. It truly was one of the most fantastic 50/50 [...]
So, funny story. Last night dear friend Michael Beauchamp came to town to play a show with his new band, Red Tail Ring (more on that later). The show was fun. We hung out for a while and then went to fetch the band's van. Problem: they couldn't exactly remember where they'd parked. We walked around Alphabet City for a solid 40 minutes with a shitton of equipment searching for it. No luck. Finally, I said that I would watch the pile [...]
Today is my last day at the company I've been working for for almost four years. Crazy. I didn't really expect it to feel traumatic, but it does a little. I suppose I'm terribly nostalgic under this thin veneer of snark when it comes down to it. What ended up being the weirdest part was packing up my desk, so I thought I could discuss this song, a perfect ode to the virtues of the desk, and by extension, the dependable pleasure that can come with a job well done. The original version of this song [...]
Another Reason to Love LA: Monday Mail What is Monday Mail? Hi guys. I don't know if I've told you this yet, but this blog is soon to be a Southern California-based affair. Since I am an East Coaster/New Yorker through and through, I've been doing my best to think of reasons why living in Southern California might be cool. It hasn't been easy by any means. Here's what I got so far: 1. Be back with the girl I love 2. It's warm everyday! 3. [...]
Thanks to me watching WAY WAY WAY too many episodes of Yacht Rock today, I am kind of in the mood for some cheesy 80s shit. Thank god for Was Not Was. Not Yacht Rock at all, Was Not Was is a super weird/very experimental band from suburban Detroit. In the 80s, they mashed together a lot of genres, including funk, jazz, disco and pop, with poetic and political lyrics. They got back together in the mid-00s for a reunion of sorts. This song, inexplicably about life in prehistoric times (where the [...]
I stumbled upon this band and track on an Arts and Crafts sampler. Like the label, the band is from Toronto. They're presumably named for frontman Reg Vermue. I think the thing I love most about this song is all that sassyness, combined with sax for max effect of course. I feel like I'm getting told and it feels...well...like I want to be told. It's also pitch perfect in the way it elicits a late-night rowdy dramatics--not that they're ever mentioned by name...but it's certainly what comes to mind for me. [...]
Recently, I realized that I have never posted a Smiths song here. To me, that's almost unfathomable as I believe them to be one of the Best. Bands. Ever. My biggest problem: which song? With the RARE exception of a few duds (ahem, the overdramatic vegan anthem "Meat is a Murder"), pretty much every Smiths song is perfect, amazing and beautiful. In a rare move, I went with this on the shear basis of numbers. Even though "How Soon Is Now?" was the band's biggest single, this is clearly everybody's favorite…and there's a reason. [...]
Recently, I realized that I have never posted a Smiths song here. To me, that's almost unfathomable as I believe them to be one of the Best. Bands. Ever. My biggest problem: which song? With the RARE exception of a few duds (ahem, the overdramatic vegan anthem "Meat is a Murder"), pretty much every Smiths song is perfect, amazing and beautiful. In a rare move, I went with this out of sheer numbers. Even though "How Soon Is Now?" was the band's biggest single, this is clearly everybody's favorite…and there's a reason. The [...]
One Sweet Song
Princesse - Tell Me | MP3
Prince – Controversy (Mighty Mouse Re-Edit)
Beck - 'I Just Started Hating Some People Today' [Listen]
[LISTEN] Gotye (Passion Pit Remix)
Azealia Banks – ’1991′ & ‘Van Vouge’
