Chapstick Weekly v4

Chapstick Weekly-ish

For the prudent gentleman or gentlelady

Steam Rollin' Freight F'n Train Mix

Germany to Germany – Ratatat 

LOST CONTROL UFO! REMIX3 2 – The May Fire 

Heavy Heart – Ghostland Observatory 

Untrust Us – Crystal Castles 

Treehouse – I'm from Barcelona 

Wanderlust (Ratatat Remix) – Bjork 

Sleepless – Apparet & Ellen Allien 

Pop the Glock – Uffie 

Till We Got You And Me –  Cassius 

Wrestlers (Sticky Dirty Pop Mix) – Hot Chip

Trash the Rental (Crystal Castles Remix) – Sohodolls 

Sweaty (Shazam Remix) – Muscles 

Little Bit – Lykke Li 

I Liked the Boys – The Long Blondes

Hold On – Holy Ghost!

Fool for Love (Sebastion Remix) – Das Pop

Martha Ann – David Karsten Daniels

Albums in my Car

Elbow, The Seldom Seen Kid 

Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, Dust of Retreat

Ratatat , Classics 

Elvis Costello, Momofuku

Justice, Cross

Hot Chip, One Pure Thought EP

Local Band, Mardelay

Well, hello spur of the moment decision!  I am reviewing Mardelay, a local Indianapolis band that contains my friend, Mo (alias Emily Richardson), in the capacity of Cello/Keys/Backing Vocals. 

I caught up with them on Saturday night at the Mine Shaft in Broadripple, but...let's rewind to a more distant past momentarily.  To Birdy's.

Birdy's Nightclub, a mile-ish distance from the Broadripple strip has a creeping decoration of wall-to-wall band flyers, posters, stickers, and other memorabilia.  It is a place for a band to come and cut their proverbial teeth, giving local bands an opportunity to share the stage with rising national acts, and to perform in the shadow of famous after-hours appearances including Prince.

The high stage sits in an isolated corner of the room, no less than 16 ft. away from the tall tables and chairs that line the back wall between the back door and the bar.  A balcony overlooks this expansive, mostly unused, dance floor from the far side of the room.  There are vacant pool tables in well-lit back rooms.

Mardelay played their second set of the evening, the first being at another small local place.  Their singer had strep throat or something of that nature.  

Even so, their performance was practiced and dignified.  Opening unexpectedly with a guitar/cello duet with a primacy on vocals, the band quickly silenced the surrounding chatter and replaced it with a melodic intro.

As the other band members meandered casually onto the stage, their instruments added to the mix, eventually providing a full-fledged onslaught of overdriven sound.  I was surprised and pleased to see the incorporation of keyboard on a few songs, as well as background vocals on several tracks.

Although the grace of this introduction song was not quite captured again, the band's sound seemed to be very deliberate in its style and presentation.  The members obviously have been working hard together, and their ability to take cues from each-other on stage was apparent.

Mardelay's EP release is expected this July.  Check them out!

What's New to Me and Maybe New to You

The Bird and the Bee

Who is this band?  That's what all the kids are saying aka what is the general response upon first listening to this group.  The crystaline peals of the lead singer's voice ring true, but make it incredibly difficult to sing along to.  And you're going to want to!  The catchy, meaningful lyrics of their bouncy songs are irresistible when it comes to singing them loudly (generally incorrectly).  Also, I find myself dancing with a funny crooked neck when this music is on.

I'm from Barcelona 

"I have built a treehouse!  I have built a treehouse!  Nobody can see us: It's a You and Me House!" with a banjo/mandolin/oohs/aahs backing and full-on danceability.  I think they are probably not from Barcelona, as I, for some reason, can't really picture a Spanish treehouse.  Imagining that such things exist are beyond me.  This band reminds you of something you can't quite put your finger on, but don't really feel pressure to dwell on.  (ps. they are Swedish.)

Wildbirds & Peacedrums

Wild as in Amazonian rainforest wild!  Their music is such an amalgam of styles and influences that it is literally impossible to classify – and it sounds as if it's all created between a Swedish songbird and a Nord drummer.  And it is! As Swedish pop duos go, they match the Scandinavian eccentricity that you'd expect, ranging from jumprope chants (with the backing of hand-made peacedrums) to nostalgic blues in the scope of each song.  Any way you look at this band, it is a fun listen with its own brand of energy: an experience in itself.

In Case You're a Dummy

Buy the Ratatat, Classics disc.  The building, diving, powerful music is good for all occasions.  Don't be alarmed! It is instrumental.  Four sets of cascading guitar riffs and melodies, harmonizing synthesizers, driving beats, and all-around well-produced effects.  This album has some danceable tunes, but the most enjoyment can probably be had as driving background-music inspiration.  Katie Jones once said that this would be one of the best CD's to have in the background of a runway show.  And she knows things like that.  

The Alamo: Broken Social Scene, Broken Social Scene 

Remember Broken Social Scene, Broken Social Scene?  What a revelation of music!  What a revelation of the soul itself.  This extremely large band leaves an extremely large impression on your understanding of music by the end of this self-titled release.

The collection of talent on this band is astounding.  And, to use the expression, the combination puts everything in its right place.  

The creation and execution of each track is organic, with instruments and harmonies playing delicately off eachother as if they were two trees that had grown together, their branches playing into intricate patterns as they grow seamlessly, unmistakably together.

From straightforward, rocking tracks, to songs with elaborate percussions, confusing songs about getting cortizone in your eyes or Canadian armament, and songs whose lyrics will cause a knee-jerk reaction on a first date, this album can do nothing but please the avid music listener.

Technology for Sounds: iLike 

Omg, I'm totally like reviewing a facebook app.  But!  Lo-and-behold!  It is an independent app!  You can plug this directly into iTunes for recommendations, band updates and more!  iLike, despite its connection to a shameless social network site, is a wholly useful and integrated piece of technology.  After loading in the titles of bands, the application automatically updates you when bands post local shows, new videos, blogs, photos, music, etc. etc. The "Local Shows" utility of this application is worth getting on facebook just to make use of.  Within the facebook world, you can also dedicate songs and videos using this application, making it another useful way to share music.

Some Things Are Funny

Like Solo Dance Parties.  We all have them.  Don't deny it.  Here is the first ever! Chapstick Weekly Self-Help Solo Dance Party Tips and Tricks Recommendations and Techniques List!

1. Always dance with your eyes open.

What is closing your eyes going to do?  You might run into something besides.  It is good practice to have your eyes open, in case you decide to muster up the courage to dance in front of other people.  You don't want it to look like you're on drugs, or that you are picturing making out with yourself.

2. Make a serious face.  Really serious.

This makes you look more serious.

3. Try to wear what you would ordinarily wear.  

It is a romantic thought that you would dance around in your underwear, or bare foot, or in a snow suit, but really.  Stripping by yourself is silly, a stubbed toe is dangerous, and you'll quickly overheat in a snowsuit.

4. Take risks that might get you caught dancing by yourself.

Like leaving the door unlocked after you have invited guests over.  I have tried this a lot, and no one has ever really thought it was weird for me to be dancing by myself.

5. Try dancing to a Chapstick Weekly Mix.

That's why they are there, dummy!  The songs may inspire you to move in an unexpected way.

6. Don't move your arms so much.

Everyone remembers the Elaine.  Even more so, arm movements generally are a lazy way of dancing.  Once you eliminate the arms, moving everything else becomes much more important.  Then you can really get down to business.

7. Name your dance moves.

If you feel like you look like some sort of exotic animal, the name will probably be appropriate.  Other name suggestions include: out-of-date appliance brand names, city street names, former vice presidents, and backyard game items.

8. One thing to Note:

Once you are a stage performer, I encourage you to break all these rules.  Where would we be if frontmen didn't dance in snowsuits, smiling, eyes closed, with their arms outstretched like they are a four-year-old make believing they are an airplane?

In summary, a wise man once told me, "If it feels good, do it."  And that's all she wrote!  For your dancing!

Next Week: 

Margot & the NS&S's Interview, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! and more gloss for those puckering kissers.

Chapstick Weekly v3

Chapstick Weekly-ish
For the prudent gentleman or gentlelady

Livin’ and Sinnin’ Mix

Oh, Heaven Isn’t Real – David Karsten Daniels
True Affection – The Blow
Said So What – French Kicks
Downtown – Heloise & The Savoir Faire
I Want to Be Buried in Your Backyard – Nightmare of You
Free to Stay – Smoosh
Kill the Director (CSS Remix) – The Wombats
Sad Sad City – Ghostland Observatory
Mr. Sexy Boy – Chin Chin
Grounds for Divorce – Elbow
Secret Identity – The Jealous Girlfriends
Jackie Junior (Junior Boys Remix) – Sally Shapiro


Albums in my Car

Colin Meloy, Colin Meloy Sings Live!
Cassius, Au Reve
Apparet & Ellen Allien, Orchestra of Bubbles
Broken Social Scene, Spirit If
Smoosh, Free to Stay
VHS or Beta, Night on Fire


Ghostland Observatory: A Recap

Entering the Metro to a DJ mix from DJ Bald Eagle (you don’t like DJ Bald Eagle, well you can giiiiit out), smoke machines on overdrive, and volume turned low, I didn’t know quite what to expect. Ghostland, new on the national scene from Austin TX, is a simple duo that creates a lot of sound with their music.

Once the concert began, little was needed in way of expectations. Ghostland erupted in a fury of energy, lights, and innovative music that was among the best I’ve seen live. The music man, playing drum, keyboard, electronic things, keyboard, etc. and decked out in a cape remained relatively fly-on-the-wall, but the front man.

I know I say wow a lot, but wow. His entire being displayed the vivacity and wonder needed to lift an entire Metro crown up on his shoulders and still dance under the weight. Wearing his hair in American-Indian style braids, sunglasses, a light leisure suit, and crotch-highlighting tight white pants, he moved to the inspiration of the music he was creating. We, in the crowd, all followed suit.

Worth mentioning is the incredible light/strobe/fog display that the band used. I haven’t seen a lot of concentration on light work, as it seems most bands leave the light effects up to the house. But the more intense light show definitely contributed to the overall experience of the concert.


What’s New to Me and Maybe New to You

Smoosh
This band will put a smile on your face. They are just the typical friendly, unpretentious, musically talented indie-pop duo. Except for that they are sisters under the age of 16. This album was created as a duo, but the third sister has recently joined, making this literally fun for the whole family. Music is heavy on the piano, features lush, intelligent vocals with minimalist bass and guitar parts strewn about. A great find!

Apparat & Ellen Allien
This recent collaboration between Apparat and Ellen Allien is hard to place, as you could hear this in a salon, an upscale trendy restaurant, or on a stereo while you’re getting ready. The solid combination of influences puts some enjoyable drumlines, bass, and vocals in the air that ranges in moods from pensive to heartbroken to danceable, and will have you look up toward the end of the album and say something to the point of “Is this still the same disc? This is amazing.”

Caribou
Caribou caught my eye on the Free Design remix album, and has recaptured my attention with their release Andorra. This release starts of solidly with a quick tempo, and adds layers upon layers of complicated harmonies for a beautiful presentation. Andorra is a tiny undiscovered country in Western Europe, which is a lot like Caribou – independent, sovereign, and I have no clue where they came from. Side note: Microsoft Word recognizes Andorra as a real word.


In Case You’re a Dummy
Buy the Magic Numbers, Those the Brokes disk. This disc has been out for awhile in Europe, but its recent re-release in America sadly went relatively undiscovered. Every song on this album is great. Let me emphasize that again. Every amazing song on this precious album is delightful. They have the sort of hopeful heartbrokenness that can only be experienced by those people that have been there. This album includes some quicker songs that you can’t but to dance to, and some that will draw you in, pull you face down in the dirt, then make you feel better about life in the end.


The Alamo: Radiohead, In Rainbows

Remember Radiohead, In Rainbows? Wow. And that song Reckoner? Religious. Radiohead outdid themselves again because, really, who else remains for them to out do?

Reviewing Radiohead is hard to do. What remains to be said, really, and what could I possibly add to the minds of already fervent fans, feverish first-time listeners, or those that are utterly unexposed?

Let me relate to you a story instead. Taylor and my adventure to see Ghostland Observatory in Chicago ended with a short road trip across the great state of Indiana to a lakehouse on the east side of the state. Across the way, we traded playing tracks on the iPod, where we came across Reckoner.

The minimalist presentation of this song - its full percussion sound, gently flowing simple guitar/bass melody, the scent of a piano in the distance – all presents a vast changing of the tide on an empty shoreline from which surfaces Thom Yorke’s voice, a strongly solitary presence that breaches from the waves only to retreat again before the song ends. This is what music can be.

This song leaves me breathless upon every listening. And it is just one song on an album that is inevitably crowded with songs that challenge your understandings of what a single band’s limitations are in diversity, talent, presentation, spirituality, and getting down to a personal level with a listener that they will never meet.

Technology for Sounds: Tour Filter

I wandered into this site while looking to buy my Ghostland Observatory tickets. And, although I haven’t spent a good deal on this site, it really pushed my mind for a loop. Like everyone, I have trouble keeping track of all the music I want to see live. This is an easily-accessible site that simply lists all the concerts in your area, concisely, with links to where to buy tickets. Voila.



Some Things Are Funny

Like Live Local Music. Let me rant for a moment, if you will. Or just let me continue ranting.

So I went down to the local place of Spin Nightclub in Indianapolis. They are full of the revival of the Indianapolis local music scene. If it can be called such a thing as revival, as my memory doesn’t extend backwards far enough to remember a thriving local scene.

I also went the Slippery Noodle, where, as far as I have noticed it, pace has never gone slack in providing live music to Indianapolis.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t really make it a habit of hanging out at either place often.

The scenes are utterly different. You’ve got your Indie Rock/Junior Hiphop/Bad Punk/Old Favorite Local Bands From A Happier Era/Open Mic thing going on at Spin. Then you’ve got some Blues going on at Slippery Noodle.

The technical music talent at Slippery Noodle looks to be much better. By much I mean head and shoulders knees and toes better. The typical musician’s range of blues knowledge and skill allows them to skate seamlessly through Allman Brothers and Stevie Ray Vaughan songs. Slide guitar, complicated solos, band chemistry, and other crucial elements make the music good every night here. And you may not hear one original tune all night.

The opposite, in its extreme, exists at Spin. There is rarely anything that jumps out at you as extreme technical skill, innovative solos, band chemistry, etc. Just local bands playing their original songs. And by original I mean songs they wrote that are not usually that original anyway. Songs that sound like everyone else’s other songs. Same lyrical topics, same uninspired 4-bar verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus. Same slowed-tempo drum-clanging musical-cacophony ends to every song that sounds the same as each last one.

The best musical nights at Slippery Noodle are the ones where they play blues favorites. That’s easy. Playing good original music is in most ways much harder.

The best musical nights at Spin still are the ones where bands are brought in that aren’t exactly local anymore. What is lacking in the local talent? What separates the original new bands from the old ones?

In my opinion it is music innovation, all the same. You want to write new songs? Well, write them like the new songs that are having success. Play the freaking keyboard (I didn’t see one keyboard between three bands the other night at spin). In fact, play anything electronic. That’s where the world is headed, in terms of new music.

I don’t mean change your f***ing name to Paul Oakenfold and get your tongue pierced. I mean, mix it up a bit and get some sort of loop machine, effects panel, sampler, delay pedal, something, and incorporate it into your music. It doesn’t even have to sound that electronic. A keyboard would probably do it!

The all-conventional-instrument bands play traditional forms of music. Traditional forms like blues, folk, and rock & roll. Indie has embraced electronic instrumentation. Harsh but true.

I’ve mentioned over 35 bands in these 3 newsletters. Everyone has something electronic going for them with the exception of 1. Sammy Hagar and 2. Colin Meloy Sings Live. Let’s admit Sammy Hagar, reborn today, would not be able to play anywhere. Colin Meloy sings just he and his guitar.

People included are such as Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, and Ray Charles who used the maximum amount of technology available to them to record and play music. Others include top downloaded Hot Chip, top iTunes rated Ghostland Observatory, Radiohead, red-hot Tokyo Police Club, and everyone else!

Why? Because even if you’re not into electronic music, using the latest available technology to produce music is a requirement of the times. The only exceptions are if you are bursting at the seams with talent, in which case, you are probably going to be playing complex blues covers at the Slippery Noodle.

That’s that. Play something with buttons, keys, and knobs. Or fade away into mediocrity. Rant over.


A little side note: No, I didn’t say anything about the new Portishead album. And that is just like saying something. Loudly. As in with a mouth hot with the fiery heat of blah.

Next Week:
Broken Social Scene, Justice, Elbow, Wildbirds & PeaceDrums, and more gloss for those puckering kissers.

Chapstick Weekly v2

Chapstick Weekly (so what I’m a little late.)
For the prudent gentleman or gentlelady

Summer Sinsemilla Mix

Beck – Girl
Paul Simon – Late in the Evening
Badly Drawn Boy – Once Around the Block
The Little Ones – Cha Cha Cha
The Pinker Tones – Sonida Total
Ray Charles – Mess Around
The Rolling Stones – Can’t Always Get What You Want (Re-Mixed and Re-Edited by Soulwax)
Sweet Emotion – Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon
Mixel Pixel – Sinking Feeling
Radiohead – The Reckoner
Heavy Metal – Sammy Hagar

Albums in my Car

Ghostland Observatory, Robotique Majestique
Heavy Metal, Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack
The Koop, Koop Islands
Radiohead, In Rainbows
Does it Offend You, Yeah?, You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Into
Matt Pond PA, Last Light

There’s my Chippie. There you are Chippie.

First thing’s first, the live bake-off went great.

We arrived in Chicago at full speed, parking a few blocks away from the Vic. After unloading a few tickets, we made our way into the already over-crowded Vic just as Hot Chip opened up with their first track.

The Vic is the Old Victorian Theater – and it is an old Victorian theater. The layout includes downstairs and balcony seating areas, with a large dance floor up front. We didn’t really get an opportunity to explore through the venue, but we did pound our way up to the front area very quickly.

As the show was All Ages, there was a wide spattering of disrespectful, inconsiderate people of all ages throughout, all happy to spill your beer on your face then stare at you as you tried to move about in a danceable fashion.

This being said, after 10 minutes or so, I was well on my way to being a beer-smelling sweaty bastard, dancing precariously close to the drug-riddled, teenaged neighbors, and generally greatly enjoying some of the best live music able to be heard.

I love Hot Chip. I can’t tell you enough how much I love them. I am unphased by their recent boom in popularity. I was disappointed when the concert ended....but I was re-enlivened when they announced an after-party at the Metro.

So, to the Metro I went to enjoy hours more of dancing and drinks before I tumbled back to the Swissotel for the night to sleep and dream right through the biggest midwest earthquake in years.


What’s New to Me and Maybe New to You

Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Don’t let the poppy punctuation fool you, they are diverse and danceable. Their new CD inspires your ass to get moving, is innovative, expressive, and generally well put together. With tracks titled “Attack of the 60 ft. Lesbian Octopus” and “Being Bad Feels Pretty Good” how could you go wrong?

Ghostland Observatory
Solid. An all-around solid band who greatly deserve their recent attention. They are an amalgam of Japanese De-Ionizing Foot Pads and 3 a.m. Strong Coffee, ready to point your toes to the dance floor and scream at you if you start falling asleep. If you get a chance to see them this summer, take that chance and take a friend. I am feeling a wide range of appeal here.

Bonobo
With a little help from Bajka who also makes appearances with Radio Citizen, Bonobo has created a beautiful album. If you’re a tracks person, check out “Days to Come,” the title track of the album, it will get you a solid taste for the complex instrumentation, lyrics and playful harmonies of this group.


In Case You’re a Dummy
Buy the Mark Ronson, Version disk. You’ll laugh (When you hear ODB’s rendition on Toxic. Yes, the Brittany Spears song), you’ll cry (When you hear ODB’s rendition on Toxic), and you’ll burn a few calories as if you were on a spin master. His unique mixes and remixes combine influences from all around, but most noticeably from genres that include a large amount of horns, backbeats, singing soul girls, and getting in the mood to do something experimental. Sexually.


The Alamo: Air, Moon Safari

Remember Moon Safari? That album that so precariously combined influences from Serge Gainsbourgh, early Beegees, Van Morrison, and the Beach Boys? The album that started it all, changing the ever-present drumming beat of electronic music in popular listening to a more sublime, artistic and unmistakably French electronic wonderland.

Burn yourself a copy, dust off your old copy or buy the new re-release and pop it into your favorite stereo. You’ll be toe-tapping to Sexy Boy and Kelly Watch the Stars within minutes with a Nostalgic smile on your precious chapped or unchapped lips.

You’ll catch yourself saying things like, “I saw the Sexy Boy video late night on an MTV Amp. That was a cute little monkey.” or “The first time I got high, I listened to Moon Safari on repeat. It was soooooo French.”

This album is timeless, under-represented, and more than worthy of a daily listening.


Technology for Sounds: Muxtape.

Clay showed me this one www.muxtape.com. You can get on, make your own .mp3 mix or listen to others. Upon an hour’s perusal I listened to a few cool remixes and made a few notes on other bands to watch out for. This site looks to be in its infancy, but is worth checking out on the strength of its original idea. I can truly see this developing into something great, or influencing other sites to include similar functionality.


Some Things Are Funny

Like Heavy Metal the movie and Southpark. Here is a dirty confession: I downloaded Sammy Hagar from iTunes. I am consistently listening to it daily. There is something decadent to thinking about large breasts and head banging to my soul’s content.

There is a picture of Sammy in a boxing ring, red, oversized codpiece included, on the iTunes artwork. Is Sammy Hagar a sexy bastard? I’m assuming that its undeniably so. He is the current embodiment of the less extreme, more acceptable type of debauchery that people have come to accept as “Heavy Metal.”

Also on the soundtrack was music from Devo, and those bad-asses, The Blue Oyster Cult. We all know these guys know how to rock! Right? Can I get the pinky and first finger symbol and some head nodding?

Probably not until you are desperate enough to get yourself stoned off of cat urine (see Southpark episode “Major Boobage”) would you really think you could rock out to Devo. Even so, the super-straight, super-conservative heavy metal-ers out there would never get close to a cat’s genetalia. This is ironic, in the whole irony sense of the word.

The genre dilution that happened with Heavy Metal is embodied by this soundtrack. Commercial Capitalism at its finest! Thank you Southpark for introducing me!

ps. Portishead just released a new album, and that’s no joke, buster.

Next Week:
Portishead, Radiohead, Ghostland Observatory, Caribou, and more gloss for those puckering kissers.

v1

Chapstick Weekly
For the prudent gentleman or gentlelady

Top Tracks List

Crimewave – Crystal Castles vs. Health
Duke Dumont – When I Hear Mu’Sic
Tokyo Police Club – Your English is Good
Shine – Ashbury
Hot Chip – Boy From School (Erol Alkan’s Extended Re-Work)
The Koop – Koop Island Blues
The Kills – Cheap and Cheerful
Instituto Meicano del Sonido – Escribe Pronto
Ghostland Observatory – Dancing on My Grave
cLOUDDEAD – Dead Dogs Two (Boards of Canada Remix)
Neon Neon – I Lust You (feat. Cate Le Bon)

Albums in my Car

Flying Lotus, 1983
Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles (Bonus Track Version)
Tokyo Police Club, Elephant Shell
Justice, Cross
Hot Chip, Coming on Strong
Gnarls Barkley, The Odd Couple

Smooth Lips and Hot Chips

Here’s a hot tidbit. One of the current members of Hot Chip is also a current member of LCD Soundsystem. Here’s a hotter tidbit: I’m going to see them on Thursday in Chicago.

Clay, Taylor, me, and the elusive Katie Jones are travelling up to the windy city for some Hot Chip music. Guarunteed ridiculousness will ensue.

I am going to karate-chop a live panther. Right in the neck or square in the head.

I am also going to participate in a live bake-off on stage as a piece of performance art with inspiration provided by the music of Hot Chip.

Not really either of those, but I do expect to shake my legs to rubber and wear clear through the soles of my shoes by the end of the show. If you haven’t seen the surprise 70’s twist that Taylor can get himself locked in, or the Fashionable Flamingo demonstrated by Katie Jones, then you can’t imagine the amount of fun that this event will produce.

Packed in the imaginary suitcase: a 6 ft. rubber dinosaur, 4 tablets of Metamucil, one 60lb oxygen tank, 14 clean pairs of white underwear, a late-model defibrillator, one unisex bed pan, and 60 individual servings of salted cashews.

What’s New to Me and Maybe New to You

The Crystal Castles

Wowpants. There are some tracks on their Bonus Songs release that will literally make you grab onto your socks. Are you looking for something danceable with an extra helping of sprinkles? You’ll be picking small sugary crunches out of the cracks of your dance shoes for weeks.

Flying Lotus

Let’s not forget that there was once a strong genre of music called lounge which can also be called downtempo. Flying Lotus is the glorious return of sitting and sipping and listening to music. It is also recommended for mid-day back massages, late-night rendezvous, and two-person bathtubs.

Colin Meloy

The singer for the Decembrists, his live album just came out, and is very good. His voice is haunting, his lyrics penetrating, and his guitar-playing more than adequate. He’s one of those guys that a guitar player looks at and thinks, I wish I were him.

In Case You’re a Dummy

Buy the Calvin Harris, I Created Disco disk. Don’t think about it, just do it. You’ll be dancing before the end of the first song, and you won’t stop until you break something or someone. He created disco, and that says a lot.

The Alamo: Hot Chip, Coming on Strong

Chip. Chipchip.

Don’t forget Hot Chip, Coming on Strong. Their first proper (to use the British word) LP and a gem (ps. it’s probably the Hottest Chip), you can hear tantalizing lyrics such as “Even Stevie Wonder can see things,” “I was stunned by your revelations, then I forgot them,” and “Riding in my Pugeot, hey! 20-inch rims with the chrome, now, hey! Blaring that Yo La Tengo, hey hey. Hey hey.” You can’t go wrong on this album, and it’s like running into an old friend at the local produce section, then running into them again later on at the Hot Chip concert.

Where’s my Chippie?

I still can’t decide if all of their references are intentional, but I think even they would say it doesn’t matter. Let it play, put your windows down, go for a drive, and try not to dress like the lead man in Hot Chip, who seems to encourage wearing inappropriate outfits in appropriate situations.

There you are Chippie...There’s my Chippie.

Technology for Sounds: Pandora Radio

If you haven’t at least looked at Pandora Radio, go there and try it out for the day. www.pandora.com. You set up your music liking and it will really play some great tunes. Like any radio though, it has its drawbacks. You can, however, add friends, see what your friends are listening to, skip songs, view music profiles and offer reviews. Also a Plus: You can put it on your google home page. It’s worth a look and listen.

Some Things Are Funny

Like Bob Dylan and the Pulitzer Prize. You know, right now. At this very moment. That I am writing. “Bob Dylan – Mr. Tambourine Man” is the #3 YouTube rated video. How does stuff like that happen? It seems like news pushing news pushing pop culture is a swirling porcelain fiasco where nothing really advances.

I mean, I went and saw Bob Dylan play this summer. It was awful. If I hadn’t been with my family, I would have left. Him being awful now, doesn’t quite speak to his majesty during the great years, obviously. That sort of backwards logic doesn’t work on me, so don’t even think about giving me the Catholic guilt.

He was awful and that’s that.

Bob Dylan received a special citation for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power." That impact has come and gone. The only impact he is having on young artists now is finding a second career before they turn 70.

What impact is he having now? The #3 Youtube download. In association with his Pulitzer mention, Bob Dylan rises to the top of Youtube with one of his most over-played, easily-interpreted lyrics.

Is anyone else finding this to be crazy? I am. I mean, the song was used in Dangerous Minds as an example. Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, bring me some drugs because that’s what the kids are into.

The true influence here: don’t make anything too hard to understand. If you do, you may get respect for it, and a mention in a Pulitzer Prize ceremony (although he didn’t win anything). But you will be most well known and remembered by your barely-masked drug references

Side note: On Youtube, #2 is “amazing guitar player” (I’m not even going to watch that, although I’m now very tempted to. Someone watch it and let me know if it’s worth my time).

Side note: Sark (European Island) abolished the last remaining feudal system in Europe. This is ironic, if you think about it.

Next Week:

Ghostland Observatory, AIR revisited, Mark Ronson, The Magic Numbers, the Hot Chip Recap, and more gloss for those puckering kissers.