Paul Hardcastle - Nineteen

Carl Orff - Gassenhauer

Vampire Weekend - Horchata

The Where The Wild Things Are movie made me soooooo happy. It’s really one of the sweetest things ever.

Karen O and the Kids - All is Love

Man, I have been neglecting my blogging duties terribly. Well, I do have a good reason. I got a new job. So, I haven’t had a routine started yet. But, that’s going to change… I swear!

Anyways, here are some really good songs that you have probably never heard before unless you are a superfan.

Tears For Fears- Everybody Loves A Happy Ending (this is off an album with the same title that came out in 2004, overlooked and underappreciated)

Jurassic 5- Long Road To Glory (this is an unreleased track by my favorite West Coast hip-hop group)

Donovan- Get Thy Bearings (just a great tune in the normal vein of Donovan songs)

Prince- Let’s Pretend We’re Married (This is off of 1999. Prince has a ton of songs that aren’t really known to the general public.)

INXS- The One Thing (Love this song, it’s one of their first “hits” in the USA, yet no one really knows this track)

Billy Idol- Flesh For Fantasy (One that fell through the cracks of 80’s)

Fever Ray killed it at the Webster Hall show a couple of weeks ago. Maggie and I got there early, so we got right up close to the stage. Unfortunately we had to suffer through the opening act, Vuk. I don’t want to waste your time or mine going into too much detail about Vuk, but I will say this – she plays the autoharp, she has a song called Accidental Mermaid and I couldn’t wait for her set to be over. Ugh, I hate being mean. Okay fine, she had some redeeming qualities – she managed to incorporate the word ‘anemone’ into a song and she was wearing a really cool necklace. Moving on. As a shorty, I was really psyched about the spot Mags and I had secured near the stage. I have a tendency to be late to shows, so I’m usually stuck in the back watching from some sixteen year old’s cell phone cam. As luck would have it, right before Fever Ray came on, an incredibly tall (and very attractive) drag queen made his way in front of us. I’m fairly certain it was the Swedish RuPaul, Rickard Engfors, who appears in The Knife’s video for Pass It On. When he swayed right, I had a clear shot of the stage. When he swayed left, all I could see was his anorexic clavicle, mocking me for being short and nearsighted. So about 50% of the time, I had an awesome view of the stage. I’m so glad for that, because Fever Ray put on a real show of a show. They incorporated the kind of theatrics you would expect to see at a giant stadium concert. There were smoke machines, laser beams, Victorian lampshades and hairy, tribal, occultish costumes that will cause nightmares for years to come. I felt like I was in a scene from one of their creepy videos. I loved every second of it and it made me wonder if I had missed my calling as a Goth/Raver kid. Think about it, ecstasy popping Wiccans….fun all around. I didn’t have any ultra religious Jesus visions (like I had at The Knife concert a few years back), but I definitely had a haunting, almost out of body experience. I want Karin Dreijer Andersson to decorate my bedroom and set my life to music — it would be so beautifully wicked.

Fever Ray - Now’s The Only Time I Know
Röyksopp – This Must Be It (feat. Karin Dreijer Andersson)
The Knife - Pass This On
Honey Is Cool - Then He Kissed Me

Some video clips from the show:

Wouldn’t be surprised if someone took our baby away….

The Cake – Baby That’s Me
The Flaming Lips - Silver Trembling Hands
King Khan & The Shrines – Que Lindo Sueño
The Nigerian Rhythm Group / Giles, Giles & Fripp – The Wind In A Frolic / Just George, Parts 1-3

And for the politically inclined:
The Drums – Let’s Go Surfing

A rock/hip-hop collaboration between The Black Keys, Damon Dash and Jim Jones is coming out in November. It’s called Blakroc and some of the album’s guest stars include: Mos Def, RZA, Raekwon, Q-Tip, Ludacris, Pharoahe Monch and the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Thrilling news!

Blakroc - Hoochie Coo (feat. Mos Def, Jim Jones and The Black Keys)

I am so very excited for the Fever Ray show coming up at the end of the month. I had a semi-religious experience at The Knife show a few years ago. Hoping for a repeat Jesus sighting.

So, yeah….this video is insanely creepy.

Fever Ray And The Subliminal Kid - Here Before

Vashti Bunyan – Here Before

So, it’s past your bedtime. You’re getting home from a party. You want to wind yourself down while maintaining that good feeling that you had from the night. Perhaps you met a really nice girl or maybe a really nice guy. Maybe you just had an awesome time with some of your best buddies? Or possibly just met some really cool people? Whatever it may be… nothing works better than some good music.

These are supposed to be listened to in order…

First off some good instrumental hip-hop-
Ras G & The Afrikan Space Program- Brasillain Dimes

Then some electro chill-out funk-
Dam Funk- 10 West (sidenote: Is everything this guy does just so damn good or what? No wonder he has that name.)

A little dabbling in some psych-electronica-
Harmonia- Watussi

Some indie rock electronica to pump you slightly back up-
Animal Collective-My Girls (sidenote: I think this might be in my top ten songs of all time.)

And then some Eno, to start the soft descent-
Brian Eno- And Then So Clear

Some dreamy distorted vocal stylings to bring the thinking on-
Expensive Looks- Shy Away

Now, the dreamy song that’ll help you ease your way home-
Ulrich Schnauss- A Letter From Home

Here’s the one that’ll really help you go into a trance-
Underworld- Banstyle + Sappy’s Curry