moosico

gosh this is fascinating stuff. composer who wrote the music for...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:24:00 -0800

gosh this is fascinating stuff. composer who wrote the music for all those original MTV promos (think astronauts and animations) contributes a few Eno/Byrne-inspired “found vocals” songs to a terrible John Travolta movie. the label loves them and asks for a followup (The General’s Daughter 2!! YES!!), which of course never pans out but ultimately results in a solo album full of fascinating remixes of southern spiritual/blues field recordings. chris douridas has been playing this stuff on kcrw for years, and today i finally tracked it down. and not only is the whole album unbelievably good, but his cuts from the soundtrack are unreal. sadly the guy died a year after this album released. his last major work? the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider video game soundtrack. fascinating.

i’ve dug this song for a while. not sure how i only saw...

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:59:38 -0800

i’ve dug this song for a while. not sure how i only saw this video tonight. it is…spectacular. -d

without anybody really asking, pitchfork once again weighed in...

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:26:00 -0800

without anybody really asking, pitchfork once again weighed in on their top 100 tracks of 2011. and like every year, the selections alternately reflect a need to be cool and different and indie, and an immediate knee-jerk compulsion to distance themselves from those lame people who try to be cool and different and indie. and yet here i am, reading, writing about and even linking to the list. i clearly have the same love/hate relationship w/ pitchfork that they have with themselves. and who am i kidding? i bounce between beyonce and bon iver with the best of them. either way, this track topped the 2011 list. good song? of course. best song? of course not. but as a band that personifies that careful balance between indie and pop, for this list, it’s pitchfork perfect. -d

last saturday was one of my favorite days of the year. the...

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:22:00 -0800

last saturday was one of my favorite days of the year. the annual holiday tapas party. 5.2 of my favorite people in the world, welcoming in the christmas season a la española: in a warm kitchen, surrounded by copious amounts of chorizo, queso manchego, olive oil and rioja. (we did add a little a lo americano to the evening. but it’s not really a christmas party without a flying polar plunge from the top of a garage into a 47 degree pool, is it?). since that night, everything feels different. it’s christmas. or hypothermia. probably a bit of both. either way, the christmas music came out in full force this morning. starting with this. -d

an otherwise exasperating day at work today was brightened by a...

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 22:15:00 -0800

an otherwise exasperating day at work today was brightened by a rousing late afternoon round of Name that 90s Song (thank you rhino records Whatever! box set), during which i was reminded of what a great song this is. despite the absurd vocal looping at the end of each chorus. seriously listen to it. they hold that note for like 16 measures. ridiculous. great song tho. -d

i’ve always respected feist as a member of that exclusive...

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:45:00 -0800

i’ve always respected feist as a member of that exclusive club of female vocalists that i actually listen to willingly. but this. oh man. this is something different altogether. it’s impossibly good. certainly her best, and probably one of the best of year. and if you ask me, it never gets better than this opening track…-d

a great great sound from our boy shugo. it’s off the first...

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:41:00 -0800

a great great sound from our boy shugo. it’s off the first of a pretty interesting series of EPs called ‘vicious circles’ being released by this canadian record label called hand drawn dracula. basically they take a couple of great bands, and get them to cover the crap out of each other. in volume 1, we get shugo tokumaru covering black moth super rainbow and holy f**k, black moth super rainbow covering holy f**k and shugo, and of course a great shugo cover by holy f**k. this track is the standout for me, but the entire effort is pretty solid. certainly worth the facebook like required to download the EP for free. i mean, f**k. -d

i love my job. every day is different, i’m never bored and...

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:03:00 -0800

i love my job. every day is different, i’m never bored and i love the people i work with. my only beef is that after a day on the computer, the last thing i want to do is come home and tumble. but every morning i come into work, i start up chrome, i see tumblr on my startup tab, and i get this nagging feeling. i miss it. i miss sharing that old song that perfectly underscores my day. i miss discovering that new song that totally makes my day. so i’m done. with not doing it. i’m going to try to set aside a little time every day. maybe i won’t have time everyday. but hopefully if it pops up on my calendar every single day in that magic moment right after lunch and right before the after-lunch crash, i’ll be able to sustain this thing. here’s hoping. weirder things have happened. you know, like when ‘Smile’ finally got released.

i love this album, and i love the metaphor it sets up. it’s life. it’s full of insanity and turmoil and desperation and lots and lots of noise. but it’s also full of beauty and magic and uncompromising originality, all wrapped in a package that somehow both embraces and defies the epic battle the album represents from production to release. boom. -d

*this is from the absurdly exhaustive 5-disc everyone-hates-mike-love-athon that came out a little while ago. it’s actually really good. it’s just a bit much.

i still consider this guy to be one of the finest songwriters in...

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 15:48:00 -0700

i still consider this guy to be one of the finest songwriters in the history of american popular music. just timeless stuff. he could have recorded this yesterday.

so much for old music.

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:56:48 -0700

so much for old music.

moosings: comfort music

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:50:00 -0700

full disclosure: this is a hiatus apology, masquerading as a deep thought. both genuine, but both spades.

i’ve noticed that when life gets really busy, i tend to fall back on old habits:

i eat like crap. (lots of popcorn and hot tamales).
my language goes to crap. (though, is it really swearing if it’s in a north english accent?)
i fall asleep watching crappy shows on Netflix. (have you seen the new BBC Robin Hood? it’s terrible. i can’t stop. plus it makes me swear in a north english accent.)

but in addition to the crap habits, i’ve also noticed that when things get crazy, i eat and drink comfort music. the normally insatiable drive to discover new stuff all but disappears. i stop scouring music blogs, i stop listening to KCRW, i stop clicking on RCRD_LBL emails and i hunker down in my own iTunes library with the stuff i know and love.

things have been really busy lately. i had thought, since i wasn’t finding any new music, i had nothing to share here. but moosico isn’t about new music. it’s about good music. and if there is music that i habitually fall back on to get me thru the tight spots, that’s exactly the kind of stuff that a self-curated music blog should be built around. so. apologies for the break. here’s a beach boys song.

granted, it’s a sweet extended demo cut of an awesome,...

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:48:00 -0700

granted, it’s a sweet extended demo cut of an awesome, obscure and kind of weird beach boys song from an incredible double cd called Hawthorne, CA: Birthplace of a Musical Legacy, but it’s comfort music nonetheless. man could these guys sing. and brian wilson was a genius. a total weirdo, but a genius. -d

finally seeing these guys at the largo tonight. james vincent...

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:33:00 -0700

finally seeing these guys at the largo tonight. james vincent mcmorrow is opening. the creators of my two favorite albums of 2011 playing in my favorite venue in LA. i’m literally sick with anticipation. if they start the show with the riff that starts this song, i might actually die.

one more day. just one more day until…

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 12:39:00 -0700

one more day. just one more day until…

the second (and in my opinion, better) of the two new arcade...

Thu, 26 May 2011 12:11:00 -0700

the second (and in my opinion, better) of the two new arcade fire songs that were released this week. this one features david byrne on backing vocals, and honestly would have made a perfect addition to the original suburbs album. wonder why they waited on it…

arcade fire debuted two new songs on some british radio show...

Wed, 25 May 2011 12:05:00 -0700

arcade fire debuted two new songs on some british radio show yesterday. they’re available now as a single on itunes, and will be released as a part of the suburbs deluxe edition cd/dvd combo on august 2. which will also feature the ‘scenes from the suburbs’ short film by spike jonze. which by itself is reason enough to get it. i’ll post the second song tomorrow. -d

catchy little track off yuksek’s latest EP ‘On A...

Tue, 24 May 2011 17:10:00 -0700

catchy little track off yuksek’s latest EP ‘On A Train’. it’s got warm summer night swims written all over it. well, summer night swims anyway. -d

*full length due out june 23. allegedly. his official site is mysteriously devoid of any reference to this or any other new music. hm. interesting.

from the ‘personal jesus 2011’ remix EP due out next...

Mon, 23 May 2011 15:24:00 -0700

from the ‘personal jesus 2011’ remix EP due out next week. full 3 disc album of depeche mode remixes due out june 7. you can’t wait. -d

to commemorate opening night of blip festival 2011, my favorite...

Thu, 19 May 2011 15:11:00 -0700

to commemorate opening night of blip festival 2011, my favorite 8bit remix of all time. -d

*blip festival is an all 8bit new york city music festival. if, like me, you’re stuck on the west coast this weekend, dailymotion is streaming a good chunk of the performances. as always, i’d recommend checking out animaniguchi.

yet another great album to come out this year without me knowing...

Wed, 18 May 2011 16:46:00 -0700

yet another great album to come out this year without me knowing it. and from someone i dig so deeply. so disappointing. unlike the album, which takes his r&b groove and expands it into all sorts of neo-retro genres. and this track - a sort of bo diddly homage with a nashville edge - is by far my favorite. -d