Albums »Come on Pilgrim

by The Pixies (1987)

I vividly remember listening to Come on Pilgrim with headphones in my room after receiving it as a birthday present and being absolutely thrilled by the lyric “you are the son of a motherfucker”. Ha! Foul language and my parents would have no idea!

Beyond that, The Pixies were just game changing for me. Rock music sounded new and different and that old stuff just didn’t work anymore.

The Pixies were angry, whiny, melodic, silly, serious, inventive, and straight forward all at once. Only an underground band at first that only got air time on college radio is now considered “classic” even by old classmates that wouldn’t have been caught dead at the time.

Come on Pilgrim is still one of my favorites and the band’s first rough release. It still packs a primal punch and there’s not a bad song on it.

It’s hard to write about an album that’s kind of been with me for so long and is so familiar but if you somehow missed this one, it’s a must.

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Posted on February 4, 2012

Albums »Bang Bang Rock & Roll

by Art Brut (2005)

If you described Art Brut to me: tongue in cheek, hip, indie, in the same art wave boat as Franz Ferdinand, I’d probably tell you I wasn’t interested.

But songs kept popping up on shuffle and every time I’d be loving if and wondering who it was.

The catchy tunes with Eddie Argos’ stecato speak/ singing are infectious and they manage to be humorous without being cute or obnoxious.

Bang Bang Rock and Roll seems to be universally adored by critics and I agree with them.

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Posted on January 9, 2012

Albums »Best of 2011 – Albums

The best albums recommended this year will make you want to dance in the streets, take you back to a 60’s you never knew, beg you to tap your toes and sing along, make you stretch your head in bafflement, get your mojo revved up, and make you want to make out with both Serge and his lovely Jane. Have fun!

1. Cartagena!

2. Part One

3. Ella and Louis

4. Wicked Witch

5. Grinderman

6. Histoire de Melody Nelson

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Posted on January 1, 2012

Albums,Laughs »2001: A Space Odyssey Soundtrack

Various Artists (but Kubrick’s vision) (1968)

An epic soundtrack to an awe inspiring film.

Listening to the 2001: A Space Odyssey Soundtrack will make your day seem significant and very weird.

And while we’re at it, how awesome is this monolith action figure?

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Posted on November 23, 2011

Albums »Trash Yeye

by Benjamin Biolay (2007)

Benjamin Biolay certainly pulls inspiration from his fellow Frenchman Serge Gainsbourg in style (there’s smoke in these strangely sultry songs) if not in content (it seems the horniness is more low key here – but I admit I can’t speak a lick of French, so who knows.)

Trash Yeye manages to feel modern all the same even as some tracks could be long lost Serge.

Stirring but lazy, this album is actually perfect for foggy days like today.

It goes well with battered woolen trench costs, scarves, and if not cigarettes then at least an espresso and faraway intellectual gazing from cafe windows.

Biolay is a big producer, brother (to Coralie Clement), and lover (once married to Marcello Mastroianni’s daughter) in his home country but less known here.

This will be a nice introduction. I know you’ll get along famously.

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Posted on November 10, 2011

Albums »Part One

by The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band (1966)

Part One by The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band began and it was like putting on a long time favorite album that I had never heard before.

While the Zappa cover Help I’m a Rock grates me in the same way Syd Barrett’s ode to bikes and Donovan’s to his shirt do, incredibly lovely songs like the first two tracks Shifting Sands and I Won’t Hurt You took hold of me completely. I am in love with this album.

I’ll bet money that within a year you will be hearing this in those hip bars. It’s just so lovable, cool, odd, and best of all (in many peoples opinions) a bit of a secret.

But wait! That’s not all. Not only are you getting the scoop on a highly listenable album that rivals (my favorite band of the era) The Animals but you get one hell of a back story.

See, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band was a pet project of one Bob Markley, a trust fund jerk (according to band mates) who wanted to be a rock star and had the money to kind of make that happen.
After minimal success he then went on to play the part of a beach dwelling bohemian, landing in hot water with young girls, then even hotter water with some lady in Detroit and ended Howard Hughes style nuts sitting on tons of inheritance in an insane asylum. Read all about it here.

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Posted on November 4, 2011

Albums »Stand By Me Soundtrack

Various Artists (1986)

The whole apartment’s been alive with the sounds of third grade as Jim and I been nostalgic for the Stand By Me soundtrack.

I imagine we weren’t the only ones that treasured that well worn cassette tape.

I choreographed a dance to Lollipop and always somewhat dramatically cried during the title track as the thought of River’s bar fight demise was too much for my eight year old heart to bear.

The album steered me towards a 1950’s obsession that lasted a few years – lucky for me I was hosting birthday parties in the age of Fuddruckers.

Now I’m a mom and I’m old and my baby Van is grooving to his favorite track “Get a Job”.

It’s one of the coolest things about parenthood really, that things you loved from your youth get revisited by new eyes and ears and suddenly being eight years old doesn’t seem far away at all.

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Posted on October 24, 2011

Albums »Wicked Witch: Chaos 1978-86

by Wicked Witch (1978-86)

Hands down Chaos 1978-86 is the weirdest album I’ve discovered.

You know how they can record your thoughts as those grainy distorted images? This is kind of the music version of that. So lo fi it feels like it’s inside this awesome basement musicians own mind and his mind is filled with spooky sounds, avant-garde takes on cop movie soundtracks and strange interpretations of Parliament and Rick James.

I feel like this oddity will only grow on me more and more as it seems to offer new sensations every time we listen to it. So I was almost hesitant to write about it until it had totally washed over me, but it’s really too cool, bizarre, and unique to keep a secret from you all any longer.

I really want to thank the blog Music to Flip You Around for introducing this to me (during a random image search). You can get a down-loadable zip of the album from them too.

We have a new creative hero in our house, and his name is Wicked Witch.

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Posted on October 9, 2011

Albums »Come Away With ESG

by ESG (1983)

First awesome Spotify discovery! I don’t know why, but since I found Come Away with ESG on a pitchfork list I expected it to be inaccessible. Instead it’s incredibly fun and infectious. I can’t imagine anyone not being driven to dance and smile by these snazzy tracks.

If you had told me ESG was some new darling of the moment I’d believe it because the sound is timeless and refreshing but they are old school 80’s Bronx mixing hip hop, dance, disco, punk and everything else fun. You like fun, right?

They look like fun, real ladies that you share the subway with too. Standing for emerald, sapphire and gold ESG consisted of four cool sisters who, without much credit added a new sound to the scene.

Fun stuff. How come no one told me about them before?

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Posted on September 23, 2011

Albums »Marvin Gaye Live in Miami

by Marvin Gaye

I was excited to broaden my horizons with Spotify. Friends know that give or take a few artists I am hopelessly ignorant of most new “cool” music (LCD Soundsystem, Beirut, Animal Collective… the list goes on and on and on).

I also have a lot of catching up to do with bands from the past (was curious to finally give a good listen to XTC, Husker Du, Mission of Burma… again the list goes on and on).

So what do I do with the few hours of work time I have to discover a new album? Spend it grooving to Marvin Gaye Live in Miami. What can I say, I know what I like and may just be stuck in my ways more than I’d like to admit.

I can’t find much information about these performances which seem to be cobbled together from several dates. Even the year is unclear, though a very touching medley sung for Tammi Terrell indicates its after her tragic death in 1967.

The recordings themselves are not very professional, they’re noisy and muffled but Gaye is vibrant, charming, and heartfelt.

He ends Let’s Get It On with a plea to turn the lights off and get busy that aches with sexed up desperation and woos the crowd by taking breaks to sip honey tea and asking women from the audience to dance with him.

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Posted on September 12, 2011