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…

in which we discuss yet another cover of willow smith’s timeless dance hall anthem that leaves the original so far in the dust it’s hard to remember it exists at all.

also, i adore this trend of actual artists covering top 40 nonsense. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again: the best way to undermine a crap song is to validate it completely. mocking something stupid by making something wonderful out of it. i’m so glad i was born in a post-modern world.

love these guys. especially their commitment to album themes. they’ve released albums of just love songs, songs that start with the letter i, distorted songs, and this particular album was their ‘no synths’ albums. their next project: only synths. now that should be good. -d

…so i’m posting two. -d

another great recommendation, this time from my unseasonably hip uncle. just a real solid bit of indie pop rock. knew nothing about these guys when i got this a few weeks ago, and still know nothing about them, other than the fact that now i want to know more about them. and that sort of looping logic is about all your gonna get from me at the end of a long friday. let’s do this. -d

speaking of obligatory posts. i fell completely in love with these guys back in their eponymous days. and while this first single didn’t completely blow me away, i’m still in awe at those crisp, echoey vocals. plus i’m a sucker for a good tempo change. can’t wait for the full length. -d

it sounds like autumn in spain. which is the most perfect image my feeble mind is capable of conceiving. plus the album name (and the cover with the creepy little girl in costume) seemed like a fitting sendoff to a halloween weekend.
also by way of a follow friday-esque shout out (and coming clean about shamelessly stealing people’s ideas), all the songs this week came from an autumn mix i downloaded from a music blog suggested to me by and written by two people respectively, both of whom are far more knowledgable and far deeper into music than i’ll ever be. the blog of the suggester. the blog of the writer. -d

this was a tough one. 1 more day left in 90s week, and 196 songs left to choose from. ultimately (and obviously), i chose this one, #72. for a few reasons: one, because nothing says 90s to me like REM. two, because i love few things in this world as much as a good nightswim. and three, i don’t remember there being that much pretty music during the 90s. there was a lot of energy, a lot of anger and, towards the end, a lot of crap, but not much simple, pretty music. and sometimes, after a week of beats and bass lines, it’s nice to wind down with some simple, pretty music. -d

*plus, John Paul Jones did the string arrangement. what the…!?

love this guy. this song especially. glitchfolk anyone? -d

there are few fake genres as near and dear to my heart as sleeping music, so chances are they’ll be popping up a lot here (especially on good long days). turns out i struggle to put my brain to bed most nights. it’s usually a group effort, with jose frequently pulling much of the weight. the common complaint is that his songs all sound the same. i say and how, and keep it coming. i can combine “in our nature” and “veneer” intro a shuffled, looped playlist w/ a 10 second crossfade, and know that a) i will fall asleep within 30 minutes, and b) should i wake up at anytime in the night, i will hear the same soft, hispano-swedish crooning and plucking that put me to sleep the first time. -d