Posted by pootytang October 10, 2008
Posted to obscura  on second thought 
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14 plays so far

The Psychic Paramount - Echoh Air

Admittedly this is just a huge guitar solo with lots of distortion and a killer rhythm section, but it rocks.  hard.  relentlessly.  beautifully.

The first time I listened to this album I thought the simplicity of the concept was a flaw.  I have come to think the opposite.  Who can’t use some heavily distorted rocking guitar solos every now and again?

Posted by whitneymcn October 10, 2008
Posted to new skin 
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59 plays so far

Johnny Cash & Bonny Prince Billy - I See A Darkness

How’s this for a re-imagining of a song? Take a song that you wrote and recorded, and perform as a backup singer on a new recording of it.

It probably takes a while to sort all of the ego implications of that scenario, but on the other hand: if Johnny Cash calls and asks to record one of your songs, what is there to say except “of course, sir, and may I bring you a cup of coffee as well? Decaf? How about a nice danish?”

Posted by whitneymcn October 9, 2008
Posted to mashups 
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28 plays so far

Krazydad - Dark Side of the Whip

I will simply quote this mashup’s creator:

It suddenly occured to me as I was driving to work yesterday that the songs “Crack that Whip” by Devo, and “Breathe” by Pink Floyd are oddly similar (did I mention it’s a loooong drive?)

It is genuinely bizarre how smoothly the songs fit together. Plus I now have to go try to sync Devo albums with The Wizard of Oz.

Thanks to thetapeleader for finding this.

Posted by jenrobinson October 8, 2008
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26 plays so far

Joanna Newsom - Peach, Plum, Pear

I sent the following email to my brother and sister a couple weeks ago. This pretty much says it.

from    Jen Robinson
to    B Robinson, L Robinson
date    Sun, Sep 28, 2008 at 5:53 PM
subject    this weekend’s music obsession

So - I’m kind of an obsessive music listener. When I get hooked on a song, I listen to it like a thousand times in the span of a couple days until the compulsive desire to PLAY IT AGAIN fades.  This surprises you, I’m sure.

This weekend’s OCD song is a tune called Peach Plum Pear by a harpist/pianist/harpsichordist named Joanna Newsom.  Like all her music, it’s really peculiar, but it’s wicked gorgeous.  If you’re hanging out tonight with a few minutes to kill, enjoy my obsession with me.  Put on your headphones or turn up the speakers. It’s not good background music, but it’s worth a timeout.  If you don’t immediately love it, listen again.  If you still don’t love it, turn it up and listen again.  If you still don’t love it…  then I guess you just don’t like it, which is reasonable (and probably the popular opinion) but something I can’t understand.

Posted by machinetext October 7, 2008
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34 plays so far
Elysian Fields - Rope of Weeds. Driving home from work (back when I lived in a city where I drove) at 3am and listening to a local college radio station, this song nearly killed me. I unconsciously slowed the car to a crawl, completely hypnotized by Jennifer Charles’ voice; her slow-burn repetitions stop time. The song requires some suspension of your more critical facilities (see lyrics, brush work), but there is pleasure here in surrender. Headphones, volume, close your eyes, give in.
Posted by newspeedwayboogie October 6, 2008
Posted to hushed astonishment 
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18 plays so far

Koko Taylor & Willie Dixon - Insane Asylum

Find me a better vocal than this one, anywhere, anytime.

Posted by whitneymcn October 2, 2008
Posted to openers 
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33 plays so far

Brightblack Morning Light - Everybody Daylight

Feeling stressed? Twitchy? Discombobulated? Over-tired and over-caffeinated?

Drop Brightblack Morning Light’s eponymous 2006 album on, and about fifteen seconds into Everybody Daylight you’ll start feeling better. I promise.

Posted by whitneymcn October 1, 2008
Posted to obsession 
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40 plays so far

Mountain Goats & Kaki King - Thank You Mario But Our Princess Is In Another Castle

There are all sorts of reasons that this song shouldn’t work. The lyrics are an imagined narrative from a video game. The chords are occasionally, pointlessly absonous. The chorus is a line too short.

It’s just off, and yet I have listened to this song at least once per day, every single day since it was released. It was literally the soundtrack of my dreams one night. I recruited a co-conspirator across the country to buy me a copy of the 7”, because it’s only being sold at shows and I’m afraid they’ll be sold out by the time the tour hits New York. I need help.

Posted by pootytang September 26, 2008
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39 plays so far

Michael Hurley - Sweedeedee

Perhaps you have heard the Cat Power version of this song.  She nails it, without a doubt, and it was through Cat Power (who also covers Hurley’s ‘Werewolf song’ and ‘troubled waters’) that I discovered Michael Hurley.

As far as which version is better, I tend to go back and forth.  Recently I have favored this one.  Both versions remove me from wherever I am (subway, work, bus, earth) and take me to a somber Greenwich Village apartment where two down on their luck lovers are doing their best to get by.

If you enjoy this track, I would check out his most recent release, The Ancestral Swamp, on Devendra Banhart’s Gnomonsong label.

Posted by newspeedwayboogie September 26, 2008
Posted to hushed astonishment 
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55 plays so far

Shangri-Las - It’s Easier to Cry

Simply, a perfect song.

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