'dusk till dawn' | ladyhawke
i can't help it. i'm in love with ladyhawke.
i see a restraining order in my near future.
'dusk till dawn' is the new single and the video is 346 kinds of awesome. bang, bang, bang on the wall from dusk till dawn. for real.
ladyhawke '08.
trust.
→ ladyhawke: dusk till dawn | video
→ ladyhawke: dusk till dawn [the shoes remix]
SONG OF THE DAY [#368]
SONG OF THE DAY [#367]
'run run' | those dancing days
chalk up another for sweden. this time it's all-girl super funster band, those dancing days. i guess these gals have been around for a while now, but i'd never heard them until this past week. where have i been? these be some super great and fun songs.
my gosh, sweden. what up??
'run run' and 'hitten' [the first two singles] are right up there as two of my favorite songs this year. i really love them both. it's pretty easy to hear the northern soul/motown influences. and let's be honest, the musicianship leaves a bit to be desired; but the songs are so wonderfully upbeat and melodic that's it really pretty easy to overlook the minor flaws [i think it actually adds to the charm]. after all, from what i've read, 1/2 the band barely graduated high school. geez. i didn't even know my right hand from ear when i was 18.
the real star of the dancing days show, and what sets them apart from their contemporaries, is vocalist linnea jonsson's vocals. she quite a gifted vocalist who actually knows how to use her vibrato [she also gives beth rowley a run for her money in the 'poofiest hair of the year' contest']. trust me, kiddos, a couple doses of her voice and you'll need a&e to come do an intervention. [me, i wouldn't accept treatment. i love me some linnea jonsson. isn't she about the cutest thing you've ever seen?]
those dancing days' debut album, 'in our space hero suits,' drops october 8th. run [or click], don't walk, to your local store [physical or digital] and buy it! highly recommended.
→ those dancing days: run run | video
→ those dancing days: hitten | video
all for a good cause
my sister morgan has spent the last couple of weeks organizing a charity sale for christian and stephanie jackson, a couple from arizona who were recently in a plane crash and critically injured. the co-pilot on the flight was killed and christian and stephanie remain in medically induced comas while their bodies try to heal from the extensive burns and injuries they sustained. i hear skin grafts and months of recovery are in their mutual future. meanwhile, their children are staying with family while mom and dad work on getting better.
always one to volunteer her time and talents, morgan put out the message on her blog that she was going to organize a charity sale on an etsy site. the call was answered and amazingly so. packages began pouring in from all over the country, and even all over the world. today, the day before the sale is to begin, she's still getting dozens upon dozens of packages from people who just want to help. i sometimes get pretty cynical about the world and selfish we, as human beings, can be; so, it's refreshing and humbling to see just how many good and sincere people there are in the world. with all that's going on in the world right now, these great people have given their time and talents [everything for sale is handmade, i believe] for someone they don't even know. way to go, people from all over the world. you inspire me!
i suggest you check out the site first thing tomorrow and if you see something you like, buy it! the hot ticket item is a hand made doll modeled after stephanie and crafted by the ridiculously talented christine. my sister has received so many inquiries about the doll that she and christine decided to auction it off. may the highest bidder win! [i have a feeling it will fetch a pretty penny or two.]
all the proceeds go to christian and stephanie's recovery and every purchase comes with a free CD by rachelle call. so, if you feel like you want to do something good and get something cool in return, be there tomorrow morning and buy with confidence!
SONG OF THE DAY [#366]
'paper planes' | i'm from barcelona
not to be confused that other song of the same name, sweden's answer to the reindeer section, i'm from barcelona, is set to release 'who killed harry houdini' on october 14. i think the first single is this one here.
wow, talk about one catchy song! i know i sound like a broken record, but those swedes know a thing about catchy songwriting. and not only that, but lead singer guy emanual lundgren rocks a seriously mighty mustache! catchy songs and horrible mustaches are always cool, so i'm from barcelona is double cool. check 'em out.
→ i'm from barcelona: paper planes | video
→ i'm from barcelona: oversleeping | video
→ i'm from barcelona: britney [yes, it's exactly what you think it is]
SONG OF THE DAY [#365]
'paris is burning' | ladyhawke
i'm still not quite convinced this song was recorded in 2008, 2007, 2005, or even 2000. i'm fairly certain it was recorded in 1988. it's just far too 80s to have been recorded on the north side of the turn of the century.
actually, i'm sure it was recorded about the same time as the movie of the same name starring matthew broderick and michelle pfeiffer was playing in theatres. that was a good movie. at least it was the last time i saw it. i was probably 14 or 15 and the apex of cinema was 'goonie' and 'explorers.' all i remember about the movie is matthew broderick running around in brown clothes and people calling him mouse or pip or some other diminutive nickname, rutger hauer transforming into a wolf, michelle pfeiffer transforming into a hawk and lots of snow and ice. i'm not even sure i have that right, but that's how i remember it.
richard donner films aside, ladyhawke, the singer, is actually a kiwi who became an aussie who became a londoner. her debut, 'ladyhawke,' [september 23 in the US] is a positively tasty blend of retro 80s pop. it's like bananarama or kim wilde had a wild party with gary numan, or something. oh hey, wait -- ladyhawke's real name is pip brown. what a crazyrandomhappenstance! maybe i got pip brown and matthew broderick confused. [it's nearly one a.m. can you tell?]. at any rate, she's great. i spy a phenomenon, so check her out.
i really need to go to bed. lohrke out.
→ ladyhawke: paris is burning | video
→ ladyhawke: paris is burning [cut copy remix]
→ ladyhawke: paris is burning [paris senflamme mix/french version]
SONG OF THE DAY [#364]
'everything is borrowed' | the streets
warning: you WILL need a hanky when listening to this song and watching this video.
it's always amazed me how a kid [well, he's no longer a kid] like mike skinner can sing about video games and fine ladies one second can absolutely devastate you with his emotional honestly the next. it's either a great cosmic goof or a testament to mike skinner's prodigious songwriting skills. yeah, i'm inclined to believe the latter, too.
i didn't really jump on board the streets bandwagon until 'a grand don't come from free.' to me, that album is still one of the seminal albums of the decade and every bit the equal, if not superior, to 'original pirate material.' concept albums are usually disastrous affairs, but 'a grand don't come for free' manages, quite easily, to wrestle free from any preconceived notions or biases towards or against the so-called concept album. it's a massive album. absolutely massive. of course, for me, like most people, the highlight was 'dry your eyes.' if you've not heard it yet, well, you're in for a treat.
after a bit of a misstep on his third album, mike skinner returns with 'everything is borrowed.' rumor has it this is the last streets album. i sincerely hope it's not the case 'cos there's absolutely no one in music today like the streets. we need him. he keeps things interesting and exciting. just take a listen to 'everything is borrowed' [video below]. not only does it feature the fantastically pretty and #3 on matt's hottie hall of fame, amelia warner, it's another example of mike skinner's unpredictability. just when you think you've got him figured, he throws you a knee-buckling curveball. mike skinner making a video about being foreclosed and kicked out of his. ouch. maybe mike skinner, the perpetual adolescent has finally grown up. if he keeps making music like this, i could care less 'cos as the man says, 'just when i discovered the meaning of life they changed it.' embrace unpredictability. it makes like grand.
→ the streets: everything is borrowed | video
→ the streets: dry your eyes | video
→ the streets: it's too late
SONG OF THE DAY [#363]
'more than you know' | the coral sea
well, i survived las vegas. just barely, though. yesterday was one of the longest days of life [no transportation of my own, lugging a suitcase around fremont street for a couple of hours, losing my phone for about an hour and a half and canvassing the golden nugget and plaza hotel for it and then convincing the maid at the nugget to double check my room after i'd checked out, three and a half hours at the airport listening to the wheel of fortune slot machine over and over and over, etc]. and i gotta say, i'm really glad that what happens in vegas stays in vegas. place kind of gives me the heebie jeebies. but enough of that...
on to the music! the coral sea are back at it. boy am i glad. their second album, 'firelight,' was released on august 8th and much like its predecessor, 'volcano and heart,' it inhabits that place somewhere between the shins and mercury rev. yep, you read that correctly. it's kind of interesting because those those bands are, of course, american and so is the coral sea [they call santa barbara home]. i don't know why it's interesting. it just is. hooray for good american bands. there just aren't enough. so check out both their albums for they are mighty.
→ the coral sea: more than you know
→ the coral sea: look at her face | video
SONG OF THE DAY [#362]
'metropolis' | faded paper figures
i should be packing for las vegas right now as i'm heading straight from to sin city tomorrow after noon. i'm not all that excited about, to tell you truth. at least the business part of it. i don't gamble. i don't club. i could care less about the blue man group. i could really care less about celine dion. i do kind of want to see the thunder from down under. ]just kidding!] but most of all, i hate schmoozing. i really dislike the phoniness of it--or at least the perceived phoniness. but i shouldn't really complain. my airfare is paid for. my meals will all be paid for. i have a per diem, allegedly. but i don't know what it is. if nothing else, it will be a chance to get out from behind the zion curtain for a couple of days.
the best part of the whole trip is that my bff's cecilia and barbie are meeting me there. that i'm VERY excited about [that and i got a cool light grey, pinstripped suit, new shoes, and pastel blue tie! hot!]. cecilia is driving up from l.a. and barbie is driving down from the s.l.c. [barbie and cecilia are sisters, incidentally]. i have r-a-d friends. i really do. i'd rather sit on my hotel bed with those two and watch episodes of the office and eat popcorn and drink diet pepsi. that's way more entertaining that yukking it up with a bunch of suits. but what can i do? duty calls. i guess. maybe i will eat my weight in steak at some buffet a while i'm down there. that'd be fun.
anyway, here's some great music for you. i've been enjoying these kids for the last couple of days. they are faded paper figures from irvine, ca [where, god willing, i will be one year from now]. my friend tyson summed up their debut album, 'dynamo,' best: it's the album death cab desperately wanted to make when the set out to record 'narrow stairs.' i think that's a pretty fair statement. 'narrow stairs' wasn't a bad album by any means. i'm just sayin'. actually, tyson was just sayin', so if you're gonna flame someone, flame him.
i'm sure some critics will cry 'derivative!', but i think it's a fine little album. better than fine, actually. 'dynamo' has plenty of hooks, plenty of wide-eyed optimism, and most importantly, a sense of fun and good times while keeping it emotionally real. i'm really, really digging these kids. i hope you will too. check 'em out 'cos they are mighty! you can buy the album here. so go do it. now.
→ faded paper figures: metropolis
→ faded paper figures: being there
SONG OF THE DAY [#361]
'at least' | baby dayliner
'the end of the line is lonely, like a heart with a homey, like a star without a galaxy, like a star without a movie.' so begins 'at least,' baby dayliner's opening salvo from his criminally underrated and under appreciated sophomore record, 'critics pass away.'
in the oddest event in the annals of recorded history, baby dayliner actually played provo, utah a couple of years ago. when i first heard he was coming, i was sure it would be immediately by the sound hoofs clopping against concrete and the four horsemen of the apocalypse came strolling through town. fortunately, it wasn't the end of the word, for baby dayliner rocked the house! i think my sister vanessa, my friend jeff, and i were the only ones there to actually see baby dayliner. we were surrounded by a bunch of kids who seemed to have been plucked off some bizarre indie-wannabee fruit tree. i think i'm just getting old...
at any rate, baby dayliner stepped on stage, i whooped and hollared while the rest of the crowd stood in disbelief, quite unsure what to make of the unnaturally tall, kevin bacon/buster poindexter love child standing before them in a suit, hair slicked back, and accompanied only by what appeared to be some sort of karaoke machine. me, i was all smiles. i knew what was about to happen.
needless to say, baby dayliner immediately won the crowd over and had the place a-rockin' by the end of his set. i heard more than a few people ask him after the show, 'so, what's your name again?' a little while later vanessa, jeff, and i were standing at the back of the venue when i perchance turned around and saw baby dayliner himself [real name: ethan marunas]. my first thought: dood, you are tall. second thought: dood, you rule! he was very cool, very down to earth and was geniunely surprised that we were there to see him and not the starlight mints.
listen to these few songs here and he'll bring down your house, too. [and check out this video, and this video! rad.]
→ baby dayliner: at least
→ baby dayliner: house and confusion
→ baby dayliner: nature's clause
SONG OF THE DAY [#360]
'baby you got me wrong' | florian horwath featuring nina persson
put nina persson a tube of chapstick, i'll buy it. put nina persson on a box of cheese product, i'll buy it and make mac & cheese. put nina persson on a yo-yo, i'll learn to walk the dog. put nina persson on your song, i will play it over and over and over.
of all the voices out there, i really don't think there's a one that gets me more than nina persson. the natural vibrato, the ever-so-slight rasp that always sounds two notes away from collapse. sigh. the fact she's a superfox only makes things better. but that's another story for another day. let's get back to our pal, florian...
ok, let's not. back to nina. nina, will you marry me? i love you. er, um, yeah. i know she's married already and all, but hey, i fellow can always fantasize, er, dream, right? [i threw in some additional nina persson from her solo album under the name a camp because i can].
anyway, check out this awesome little song. in all seriousness, it's a near-miraculous deut between the two. you can find out more about florian here and here. so go check it out.
florian's second album, 'sleepyhead,' hit last april.
SONG OF THE DAY [#359]
'the cutter' | echo & the bunnymen
true story: i used to have a poster identical to the poster on the left. it was a great poster. it even had the words to 'lips like sugar' on it. i have no idea what happened to it. i wish i did.
another true story: last night as i was driving home, i was listening to echo & the bunnymen. the bunnymen, much like new order, is a band that i've always loved, but a band that i've come to appreciate more and more in recent years. these days i listen to the bunnymen just as much as i listen to any contemporary bands. and i gotta say, the bunnymen smoke every last one of 'em.
anyway, when i got home i popped in gilmore girls season one -- yes, you heard that correctly. what can i say? i love quality tv and gilmore girls is quality tv. in one scene, a distraught rory plops down on her mother's bed in said mother's childhood bedroom. what, perchance, did i see hanging just above the headboard? an echo & the bunnymen poster. no lie. it was one of those little providential moments that make me smile.
true story part 3: when i was living down in l.a. back in the late nineties, the bunnymen were going through their renaissance. i was lucky to see them twice--once in l.a. and once at the spreckles theatre in san diego. those were fantastic shows! my only other bunnymen experience had been in 1989 when ian mcculloch played the paladium in salt lake city. what a nutty show that was! brilliant, but nutty.
it's funny to me how many youngins associate echo & the bunnymen with donnie darko, as if 'the killing moon' is the bunnymen's sole claim to fame [the same could be said for 'lips like sugar']. 'the killing moon' is only the tip of the iceberg, my friends. if nothing else, i hope that movie inspired a lot of people to go back and discover, or revisit, the vast echo & the bunnymen catalogue.
with so many incredible bunnymen tunes choose from, it was hard to choose any favorites; but i'd be hard pressed to choose any songs i love more than these...
→ echo & the bunnymen: the cutter | video
→ echo & the bunnymen: silver | video
→ echo & the bunnymen: seven seas | video
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