New Stuff From Jess!

So between summer, internships, moving to Salem, getting jobs and switching cars, I lost my passion for finding new music. But now that I've had a few weeks to breathe, I've discovered some great stuff! Hope you enjoy!




This is I Am Oak. My dad actually found this band, cause he is cooler than I am. And by that I mean that he smokes lots of weed and explores Youtube for hours. They have that "indie folk" thing I've been craving lately. They sound a bit like Midlake but better, in my opinion.




My father also discovered Figurines. Based out of Denmark, they started out in the mid-90's and kind of sound like Modest Mouse.




Kishi Bashi is cool. This is the first track off his EP, Room for Dream. He recorded the whole album himself, being a multi-instrumentalist and all. If you watch any live videos, he will probably strike you as an Asian Andrew Bird, sans whistling.




When I saw Iron and Wine, The Low Anthem opened. I am in love with this band. They have this orgasmic mix of beautiful vocal melodies, harmonicas, organs and obscure world instruments. And clarinets!? Oh my god I love this band.




Youth Lagoon is one I just found like, today. It's a guy, he recorded the album in his bedroom. Sounds a lot like Beach House, but more trippy.

A Few New Thangs That I Like

1. Superheavy - "Miracle Worker"

Umm...I love this. Mick Jagger(!), Joss Stone, Damian Marley, A.R. Rahman, and Dave Stewart. SuperHeavy was built by Mick with the intent to merge different 'cultures' of music into one awesome sound. I first heard the song alone without a video, and to be honest, I'm not a big fan of the official music video (it felt a little corny to me). This video however is not official, it's just a compilation of pictures of the band. My favorite part of the song is...Mick. I guess I'm sort of cheating at the "new music" game because none of these artists are new per se, but I really like what is happening here. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next from these guys. Their first album Superheavy will be released in just a mere 9 days! Exciting.

Sidenote: Lately I've been reading Keith Richards' bestselling autobiography, Life, and it has been awesome, I definitely recommend it. The writing is sharp, creative, endearing, and has made me laugh out loud several times. For all those who make broad, negative accusatory statements about Keith (I'm looking at you, customers at my work who sneer at the cover while I'm reading), I suggest you read his shit first and remember that he is one of the greatest guitarists of all time (tenth greatest, according to Rolling Stone). We also have almost the same birthday, represeennnt.

2. Florence + the Machine - "What The Water Gave Me"

Florence, Florence, Florence. I'm still blasting "Dog Days Are Over" in my car, but alas, it is nearly time for the new album to be released! Apparently the album is still untitled, but it is due out on October 31st. Check out this new track, it's very moody and atmospheric. I'm reminded of Fleetwood Mac quite a bit (I know, here I go bringing the new music into the past again...), but I'm sure that's already been said about the band previously in general. I actually don't mind this music video, Flo, can I borrow that hat?

3. Ganglians - "Jungle"

Yep, digging these guys. What's with that band name? It's a 'gang' of 'aliens', actually. I always love to see a band with a sense of humor, I wish there were more bands that didn't take themselves too seriously. Based in Sacramento, this track is off their new album Still Living which was released on August 23rd. I haven't heard the whole album, nor have I heard their first one, but so far, so good.

4. Mumford & Sons - "Untitled" aka. "Home"

These guys are great, another band that everybody seems to already know about so I'll spare the redundant details. Anyway, we don't have a release date or a name yet for the new album, but it is supposedly going to be reaching our ears later this year. Their first album, Sigh No More, came out in October 2009, so I'd say it's about time for number two. This song is untitled as well, however fans and critics have been calling it "Home". It was written in tribute to people met by the band on the road, and I feel like you can sense the worldliness of that idea in the sound. Good stuff.

my life, my swag

Hello droolycats! I am in the middle of finishing up my masters dissertation! Lately I have been listening to my thesis anthem, The Bad Girl Workout Plan, while I write. Listen along! The whole thing is excellent, but my favorite part starts at 14:28.
Bad Girl Workout Plan by djlilray

ALSO, I accidentally made a really excellent hipster breakup/rebound mixtape. this is hilarious because i am a) not seeing anyone and b) not going through a break-up, but I am c) a giant hipster. (recently in Urban Outfitters I was mistaken for an employee.) Enjoy.



01. abducted - cults
02. bedroom eyes - dum dum girls
03. romance - wild flag
04. get some - lykke li
05. heavy cross (RAC mix) - the gossip
06. we can't stop [ft ne-yo] - jj
07. try sleeping with a broken heart (alicia keys) - chad valley
08. indestructible - robyn
09. super bass - nicki minaj
10. last friday night (tgif) (viceroy poolside remix) - katy perry

Yes, i can hear you judging me from over there for the last few tracks. Thanks. I bet you'll secretly love them anyway. Download this mix, which i have pretentiously named 'this is not a love song' here.

I will will become this animal / Perfectly adapted to a music hall.

Hello Droolycat! First of all, I have to share this majestic video of Andrew Bird playing in a church. It will blow your mind.

Second, I've been working on this new mix which I think you guys should check out. See, in high school I was an avid progressive rock fan. Popular in the 60's and 70's, this genre abandoned the typical verse-chorus-bridge song structure for something more complex and story-like. Being a band kid, how could I resist a form of rock which was highly influenced by jazz, classical and world music, and favored obscure time signatures? I could not. I have learned since going to college that most people think prog is funny. Well, here's my attempt to argue that it is real and influential music! I tried to choose the most accessible tunes from each of these artists (which was hard since the average prog song is about 15 minutes long). Anyway, give it a try!



Finally! Watch this sweet video of Genesis playing "Firth of Fifth" in Dallas, 1977. I think you'll at least appreciate Phil Collins during his "caveman" stage. This has got to be the peak of his career.

Coverpalooza!

I love this playlist! It is so full of awesomeness. I really took some time in crafting this collection of songs. Despite the fact that there are 30 tracks, which is longer than usual, I was cutthroat. Great bands can cover other great bands, but the results just aren't always special enough to stand alone as a cover song. I think that the best cover songs are made carefully and abstractly; someone else supplied the music and lyrics, so what happens next? It's great for one artist to pay homage to another, and the best way this is done is if the cover song diverges from the original in a new perspective, while still retaining the integrity of the original. It is hard to do, but it is also incredibly fun to do. Fun is another criteria for creating the best cover song, it should always be fun. For my own ukulele covers, I often use Chordie.com to search for chords.

Adele! She does some amazing covers, here is a Buzzfeed article listing some of her others. This song would be on the playlist however Grooveshark did not have the file in their library. Lame!

I was really blown away by the Cee Lo Green cover of Band of Horses' "No One's Gonna Love You", it might be my favorite on the list (aka. I can't stop listening to it). I didn't even realize that it was on his most recent album, The Lady Killer (2010). I was really into Band of Horses during freshman year of college, they're wonderful to listen to during the fall/winter. Second place favorite might be the Benzedrine Monks of Santo Domonica's cover of Queen's "We Will Rock You", just because I love to imagine them standing in a church in their robes, rocking it out.

To come up with some ideas for this playlist, I used this awesome website called The Covers Project. It is a searchable database with comprehensive listings of many, many bands covering others. Obviously though, the place with the most covers, updated constantly from all around the world, is YouTube. There are some fantastic unknown musicians who do fabulous covers that we would never hear, had it not been for YouTube.

EDIT, 09/7/2011

I was going back through older posts of mine, and realized that Grooveshark is not an ideal way to share playlists in the long term. One of my lists from earlier this year went from having about ten songs to...three? While I am not exactly sure where the songs come from on the website, the fact of the matter is, they disappear and it affects my lists, causing me to lose whatever I worked to share with you in the future. So, from now on I am going to make cuts like this with the list of songs, just so they are never lost. I suppose any site besides a direct link to the song may do this as well, YouTube isn't forever either. So, anyway, click the link below for a listing of the tracks.

things heather hates

We spend a lot of time on this here blog talking about music we really love.

What about music we really hate?!

I went through my iTunes the other day, looking for some. And then I remembered I make a concious effort to not curate music I hate on my hard drive. But then I was curious about something I'd really not want to listen to for any extended period of time (ie. more than 30 seconds). I have a bunch of artists I don't really like, per se, but upon revisiting them 2-5 years later, I love them (see exhibit a: Hot Chip. God DAMN was I missing out. I'm just getting into them now- good thing I saved those three albums of theirs!)

But this still doesn't solve my mystery of music I really hate... or does it?

Here are some things that I, Heather, cannot stand to listen to:

1. Rap-Metal.
Why did this have to happen.


2. Modern Pop-Country Music.
I actually really love country music - old stuff (Johnny Cash!) to newer alt-country (Neko Case! Wilco!), bluegrass (Crooked Still!) and even Dolly Parton (yes I said it, you guys can stop taking me seriously now...) But this shit? Terrible.


3. Musicals.*
I really dislike when people leap up out of nowhere and start singing and dancing. Musicals, therefore, I something irrationally hate. Maybe this means I don't like fun, I don't know.

* I make four exceptions to this rule: 1) Mamma Mia, as I sometimes get drunk for the sole purpose of watching the DVD (and the entire thing is people singing - they don't stop singing OR dancing, so it's sort of okay); 2) Rocky Horror Picture Show; 3) Hedwig and the Angry Inch; 4) The Muppets. #2, 3 and 4 are weird enough as it is, so adding more unnecessary weirdness is just entirely campy and over the top and therefore enjoyable!

4. Matchbox 20.
Fuck off, Rob Thomas.

Until very recently, one of the few things I knew about my sometimes-boss Gary was that he really liked Slayer.

So when he recently told me that he was starting a club night, I had my apprehensions. Was he going to try to make a metal club night? What would that even sound like? This night is advertised as "Italo-Synthpop-Funk + Other". The first three sounded great, but what would constitute "other"? Slayer??

Well, It turns out that I was very wrong. Gary has spectacular taste in music, as his promo mix shows:

Osmium Mix July 2011 by I_Fear_Satan on Mixcloud

Tonight's the first one, but a bunch of my friends are back for their graduation this weekend, so I don't think I'm going. But you best believe I am coming to the next one...

what the hell is 'chillwave' ?

I have no idea. I keep hearing (about) it. It sounds like some sort of new hipster thing that we'll look back on and laugh & laugh. Remember emocore or whatever that was? Thursday and Taking Back Sunday and stuff? That was hipster music before there were hipsters, right? (how appropriate.)

BUT WHATEVER TODAY WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT CHILLWAVE. I have three mixes for you, which I did not make but rather gratuitously lifted from Perfect|Midnight|World. I think these generally fall under the category of "chillwave" though.

I'm going to need you to suspend your hipster disbelief for approximately 3 hours, as I think i have accidentally found the perfect trifecta of summertime soundtracks: one for when it is too hot to move, one for late-night rides, and one for quietly putting on while having friends over. I've been writing and listening to them a lot, too. I think these might actually just be perfect anytime playlists, really...

1. Cloudy Busey - Broken By Inertia
2. Warm Speakers - Waves
3. Summer Heart - Simple Minds
4. Teen Daze - Let’s Fall Asleep Together
5. Art Imperial - The Inbetweener
6. Seapony - Dreaming
7. Cheerleader - New Daze
8. Saskatchewan - Dreamboat
9. All Tiny Creatures - Holography
10. Beach Fossils - Plastic Flowers
11. Women - Bullfight
12. Guards - Swimming After Dark
13. Ham1 - Ghost Loop
14. Dirty Gold - California Sunrise
15. Eddie the Wheel - Nearsayerfive
16. Kids on a Crime Spree - Sweet Tooth
17. Real Estate - Younger than Yesterday
18. We Are Trees - Teenage Heartbreak
19. Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr - If It Wasn’t You
20. Still Corners - Endless Summer
21. Banjo or Freakout - Go Ahead

download DREAMING IN SHADE here.

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1. Soccer Legends - Leeroy
2. Chad Valley - Acker Bilk
3. Active Child - Playing House (Ft. How To Dress Well)
4. Washed Out - Eyes Be Closed
5. Pulsprogramming - Island Answer Anywhere
6. Dead Gaze - Take Me Home or I Die Alone
7. All Tiny Creatures - Breathing Set
8. K.C. Accidental - Ruined in ‘84
9. Teen Daze - Watch Over Me
10. Atlas Sound - Quick Canal
11. John Maus - Hey Moon
12. Porcelain Raft - Come Closer
13. Film School - Sick of the Shame
14. Zaza - Don’t Bleed Me
15. Arrange - Golden Neighborhoods
16. Stumbleine - Wasted Summer
17. Trouble Books & Mark McGuire - Floating Through Summer
18. Asche and Spencer - Under the Stars
19. Neighbors - Bad Timing
20. Zola Jesus - Run Me Out (Acoustic)

download BENEATH SUMMER STARS here.

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1. Ducktails - Sitting
2. Girls Names - I Could Die
3. Teen Daze - Cliff Jump Love Song
4. Beach Fossils - Face It
5. Flake Music - Deluca
6. Grandaddy - Summer Here Kids
7. Real Estate - Out of Tune
8. Dream Cop - Beach City / Carol I Know
9. Thee Oh Sees - Corrupted Coffin
10. Tyler Jon Tyler - Seperate Issue
11. Dom - I Wonder
12. Atlas Sound - Day Out
13. Pavement - Grounded (Alt. Version)
14. Cloud Nothings - Forget You All the Time
15. Black Tambourine - By Tomorrow
16. Surfer Blood - Catholic Pagans
17. Yuck - Stutter
18. Pinback - Tripoli
19. Youth Lagoon - July
20. Dead Meadow - I’m Gone

download WARM WEATHER GHOSTS here.

You are welcome.

And I can still hear my old hound dog barkin, chasin down a hoodoo there

What would summer be without some CCR? I know for me it would be a pretty bland and quiet one, and who wants that? I adore Creedence, they are definitely one of my favorite bands of all time. When I was in high school, I went through a vinyl phase after rescuing my mom's old record player from certain doom in a box in the basement. Then my grandparents donated their old records to me, so I was good to go. My number one favorite record out of the whole collection...a slightly ragged but still rockin copy of Cosmo's Factory. I would recommend this album to a new listener, but while you're here you might as well check out this amazing compilation I've made of great CCR jams. I burned this mix to a CD in high school and I've still got it on consistent rotation, most specifically in the car for highway driving. This thing's been road-tested, and the Dude abides, hold on to those CCR tapes.

EDIT 7/7/11: I changed the link above of Cosmo's Factory from the Amazon.com CD purchase page to their downloadable option, which is only $6.99! It's worth it.

2001: A Rock Odyssey

Remember when the 'new' millennium arrived?

Besides a shift in our clocks, there was a garage rock revival that changed the face of alternative music forever. In 2001 I was thirteen years old, and I quickly fell in love with the White Stripes and the Strokes when they arrived on the scene. My affection for the genre only deepened with the arrival of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Hives, the Libertines, the Stills, and eventually the Arctic Monkeys and Bloc Party. Yeah, I love my indie pop now, but before that the speakers in my bedroom were flooded with louder, back-to-basics grooves. I still pop in the White Stripes' Elephant and zoom down the street in my car from time to time, yell-singing "I think I smell a rat!". In high school, my first concert was the Strokes in Boston, at age fourteen. I didn't get to see the White Stripes until age eighteen, but it was still worth it then. Currently, the White Stripes are broken up, who knows what happened to the Hives, and the Strokes are making a dismal attempt at becoming a band again. Even I can admit this, and I was obsessed with Julian Casablancas from the first time I heard "Last Nite". Ah, well. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for some talented new groups to arrive, to pick up where these guys left off in the middle of the last decade, keeping the original soul but injecting some new juice. Anybody wanna start a band?

This playlist is full of songs that I loved when I was in high school, that I think represent the mood and time well. I'm no expert on where genres end and begin, but I think this compilation is pretty awesome and worth the time-traveling.