Covers.

Here's my playlist of sweet covers. I found it really hard to narrow down the options for Richie Havens- everything he does is magical. Also, for this live version of "North Country Girl," Pete Townshend stays true to the melody and acoustic guitar part from Dylan's "Girl From the North Country." However, I recommend checking out his recording on the "All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes" album (1982). It's funnier, and much more 80's.

The tracklist (in no particular order) and Youtube playlist can be found below. Enjoy!

1. The Man Who Sold the World - Nirvana
2. North Country Girl - Pete Townshend
3. Rocket Man - Pusifer (Maynard James Keenan & Steven Drozd)
4. Crystalised - Gorillaz
5. Rebellion - Benjamin Francis Leftwich
6. Smooth Criminal - J. Viewz (sassy jazz version)
7. Handle With Care - Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins
8. Mercy Street - Fever Ray
9. Barbarann - The Who
10. Blackbird - Crosby, Stills & Nash
11. Stand By Me - John Lennon
12. Rocky Raccoon - Richie Havens
13. Won't Get Fooled Again - Richie Havens

Riot Grrrls, Pt. 2

Hey All! I'm sorry that I've neglected Droolycat as of late...I promise to contribute more often! Today, I've decided to respond to Heather's challenge with a Riot Grrrl (or at least, women who rock) playlist of my own! I've included a link to each song on YouTube.

Erase Errata - "Tax Dollar"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0nCCKaf5bU

Melt-Banana - "Shield for Your Eyes, A Beast in the Well on Your Hand"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ6Sk8Aj-SQ

Lydia Lunch - "Suicide Ocean"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGmqNi8J3mk

Julie Ruin - "Breakout A-Town"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlr56kDYWvk

X-Ray Spex - "Art-I-Ficial"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abu2otMwDo4

The Pandoras - "It's About Time"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrVsQJgjD98

Cibo Matto - "Birthday Cake"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI5j22h6OdA

Hanin Elias - "No Games No Fun"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgOP4OPEq88

Suffrajett - "Mr. Man"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXA6MqYWrw0

Lolita Storm - "You Make Me High (When You Go Down Low)"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdZlEZ6K5Pw

Destroy All Monsters - "You're Gonna Die"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmsTcey5e20

Lydia Lunch - "This Side of Nowhere" (Lydia Lunch gets two songs on my playlist because she's that awesome)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R5bETC_wvA

Marie Moor - "Pretty Day"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np5nPeW4YbU

Au Pairs - "America"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k2CIcdYNzA

Sea Goats in Space!

Happy Birthday David Bowie! You are one of my favorite musicians of all time. In honor of Bowie, I have created a Capricorn-filled playlist. I wasn't surprised to find that most Capricorn bands seem to be drawn to psychadelic/space-rock, which actually makes this playlist flow pretty well. Even the Del Shannon number has a Jetsons-type jingle in the middle of it.

"Are You A Hypnotist??" ~ The Flaming Lips (lead singer/songwriter Wayne Coyne, born January 13)
"Lady Stardust" ~ David Bowie (born January 8)
"Runaway" ~ Del Shannon (born December 30)
"Astronomy Domine" ~ Pink Floyd (Syd Barrett, born January 6)
"Fever" ~ Elvis Presley (born January 8)
"House of the Rising Sun (Animals Cover)" ~ Joan Baez (born January 9)
"Dazed and Confused" ~ Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page, born January 9)
"Stay With You" ~ John Legend (born December 28)
"Dancing Barefoot" ~ Patti Smith (born December 30)
"Life On Mars" ~ David Bowie
"Andy Warhol" ~ David Bowie
"Space Oddity" ~ David Bowie
"Bowie Song" ~ Flight of the Conchords (Jemaine Clement, born January 10)

Note: This playlist will play all tracks in order, once started.

Had to end with a grand-Bowie-finale. That's pretty freaky, Bowie!

Happy New Year!

So I've been planning to compile my favorite cover songs for quite some time, but I became discouraged by a number of disgraceful covers I've heard recently. However, my inspiration has been restored by this. It's a version of Rocket Man by Steven Drozd of the Flaming Lips and Maynard James Keenan of Tool. Definitely worth a listen, and expect a Covers Mix in the near future!

riot grrrls

Hi Droolycats, happy new year! Team Droolycat has big plans coming up for your ears early this year, which you'll be hearing about soon, I'm sure. Anyway, long story short, I got a little bit distracted while working our upcoming surprise.

+++
Besides Belle & Sebastian and being a fucking hipster, there are two other things I really, really love, which sometimes surprises people:

1. 90s riot-grrl punk and everything derivative of it
2. Trashy pop music

(I will save us all from #2 for now.)

I follow a bunch of blogs and a few months ago, one of them featured an all-female mix. While I love this sort of thing, half of it ended up being some quiet acoustic things - which I appreciate, of course, but wanted to see a mix that was purely girls rocking. Since then, I've been thinking about how I would approach this myself, and finally got around to making it just now.

I set myself some rules: there must be at least one woman in the band (ideally two - i made an exception for Beach House), and they had to sing. By the end of it, I kind of succumbed myself - it's harder than you'd expect!


(picture from flickr)
01 heavy cross - the gossip
02 black tongue - yeah yeah yeahs
03 oh! - sleater-kinney
04 eau d'bedroom dancing - le tigre
05 i'm good i'm gone - lykke li
06 combat baby - metric
07 soft shock (acoustic) - yeah yeah yeahs
08 we got the beat - the go-go's
09 dance song '97 - sleater-kinney
10 divine hammer - the breeders
11 he war - cat power
12 undertow - warpaint
13 walk in the park - beach house
14 stratford-on-guy - liz phair
download this mix here

For more ladies rocking out, check out the following:
Bikini Kill I tried so, so hard to get them on there, but it just didn't make sense in the playlist. They practically invented riot grrl. Kathleen Hanna's amazing, and she gets a shout-out via Le Tigre, but you guys, BIKINI KILL.
Julie Ruin Kathleen Hanna's side project between Bikini Kill & Le Tigre
M.E.N. JD Samson is a former member of Le Tigre and this is her new band. They rule.
Bratmobile
PJ Harvey
Patti Smith
Vivian Girls sort of a 2000s-noise-rock response to riot grrl.
The Corin Tucker Band Sleater-Kinney is one of my favorite bands - I was very sad when they broke up after their album The Woods. this is the latest from their (former) lead singer.


What would be on your female-only mix?

Since high school I have been making a yearly mix cd of songs/bands that I've been listening to all year for some friends at home. I usually would burn a big pile of copies and give them out to friends- it's a fun little gift to give people.

Since I've been in London for the past week, I've been annoying the other hotel patrons by playing these songs over and over again, but I finally finished this year's edition of The Chrismukkah (what, it's a good word) Mix, and I thought you guys might be interested too. Merry Christmas, team droolycat!

(Those of us who frequently follow my posts might recognize some of these tunes - sorry for posting them repeatedly!)

tracklist
01 i didn't see it coming - belle & sebastian
02 miami - foals
03 good intentions paving co - joanna newsom
04 someone great - lcd soundsystem
05 i heard it through the grapevine - the slits
06 john, i'm only dancing - david bowie
07 tighten up - the black keys
08 12:51 - the strokes
09 inspiration information - sharon jones & the dap-kings
10 one - yeasayer
11 not in love (ft. robert smith) - crystal castles
12 used to be - beach house
13 all the wine - the national
14 abel - the national
15 snowfall - esquivel

download the chrismukkah mix 2010 here

If all things go to plan, tomorrow i am booked on flight #3 back to the States. This Time Tomorrow is one of my favorite songs about flying:

i hope i make it home sometime this year! wish me luck...

Snowy Mix

Snow! It is finally here, and while it may not accumulate to much, at least it feels like winter finally. I think the mixes we make for wintertimes are sometimes the best ones. I remember winter 2007 when I came home from my first semester of college, I got in a very wonderful Animal Collective (Sung Tongs + Feels)  cocoon, complimented by some eccentric retro pop. Actually, I've never really left that mode. Anyway, if you can't go out because of the weather, might as well listen to fantastic music. What music makes you feel comfy, cozy, warm-all-over? 
Warning about this playlist: I've been really into Bollywood music lately...

Extra: Beach House just released this new track, "I Do Not Care for the Winter Sun", what do we think? I was completely in love with Beach House last winter, but I think I'm done with them now...? Love Victoria's voice, but I need something new, I don't know what. 

GET ME BACK TO MY CONTINENT

As you may have heard, the UK is experiencing an extreme weather event (six inches of snow, not the 2 feet they're making it sound like) which is causing airports to shut down, flights canceled, etc. Basically nobody can get anywhere. I've been trying to get back to the states since Saturday - I had no problem getting from Glasgow to London, but then I sat on a plane on the tarmac for 3 hours while we waited to be de-iced, and then that flight was canceled, despite the fact that we had just sat there for 3 hours. Long story short, everything was canceled or overbooked indefinitely, so I got myself on another flight from London > Paris > Boston for the 21st, but then my flight from London > Paris was canceled. Everyone's trying to get back home, so all buses and trains anywhere are booked until sometime into next year. Luckily I was able to cancel my flight from Paris to Boston. I am now booked on a third flight from London to NYC on Christmas Day.

Thankfully I am not still sitting in Heathrow Hell (the below picture is 100% true - those are people sleeping under tinfoil for warmth)

but rather in a hotel in Windsor, London - with all my bags, a bed, and a shower. I am VERY grateful to be here (I've been here since Saturday night) - it was a good plan to get a hotel room after I got myself on a new flight; shortly thereafter I was kicked out of Heathrow itself. More people kept showing up, and if you had alternate plans you were being asked to leave to make way for more people.

But in the meantime i present to you my ANTHEM OF HEATHROW HELL 2010

YES.

Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy with Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly from Will Ferrell

Merry Christmas?

Janelle Monae!

Check this woman out. Janelle Monae, you may have heard her single "Tightrope" which features Big Boi of Outkast fame. I actually saw Ms. Monae live in Summer 2009, when she opened for No Doubt. Well, I was expecting Gwen Stefani to steal the show fashion-wise, but Janelle put up a stiff competition with her awesome bouffant and retro menswear outfit. And she can sing!

I have been playing "Cold War" over and over in my car, what a great driving song. My favorite part is how just when you think it is just another 2010 pop song...two minutes in some guitar action blows in out of nowhere and carries the whole thing away. Thank god, some pop stars still like guitars. I mean, yeah, I can dig some electro beats, but I'll take some classic Queen over Lady Gaga any day.

If only to wish Janelle a belated birthday, (it was yesterday, December 1st!) have a listen to "Cold War", and definitely check out her website to listen to her entire album, The Archandroid (originally released May 2010). Ugh, I just think she is the coolest. Her and Lady Gaga should probably battle, and then the both of them should unite and lock Ke$ha away somewhere where we never have to hear her again. While on the subject, I'm not concerned about The Bieber, he's pretty much doomed anyway.