...and a new one just begun

In Josh K-sky's minimalist format:

Elephant Man - Sorrow to the World (edited short by yours truly because it's funny only at first)

Micachu - Calculator
(Buy it)

and, not least,

The Books - Take Time (look out for their track "A Dark Freezing Night" when their next album arrives)
(Buy it)

The Books are a guitar and cello and found sound duo from the northeastern USA that I find strangely relaxing, like riding on a train. They take audio and/or video footage, which they (digitally) cut up and splice, and combine with their own cello/guitar/vox, to create new experiences. As such, their stuff forms a considerably more coherent whole when you watch the video along with the audio:



anyways,
hope you all have fun new years'

Christmas

This time, you really did it.

Making believe He was just another baby boy.

Even so...

I don't intend to spend Christmas without you.

(see also)

An amazing transformation

It is true that many artists through the ages have radically redefined themselves, yet I believe that none have quite as profoundly as Alex Ebert. A few years ago, I had the fortune of seeing Ima Robot (a poppy dance rock band) live. Fast forward to this fall, at the treasure island music festival, and I'm watching Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, what I can only explain as a hippie commune that decided to write and play songs together. And then - here's the punchline - I discover that the frontman for both bands is...the same man! This long-bearded, dread-locked hippie is the pop-rocker I had seen just 3 years ago. And the music is just as different as Alex Ebert's appearance. And I just happen to be obsessed with both bands right now.

As per our new blog rules, I will not post links to the youtube videos. But I strongly encourage you to look them up yourselves and witness this astounding transformation for yourselves.

Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros - Home

Ima Robot - Creeps Me Out

And just for good measure, I'm also currently obsessed with Thao with the Get Down Stay Down:

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - Bag of Hammers

Shake! Shake! Shake!

Every Woman, Every Man

Ooh I have stage fright, there's members of the public watching (or not). Will we show up on Hypemachine do you think? I imagine my first song to be quite Hypemachine-y, it's very avant garde in its way, vocally like White Magic but without the mysticism. I could listen to it on repeat all day. Brendan will no doubt accuse me of being a hipster (again) for posting it.

Tune-Yards – Sunlight (Bird-Brains, 2009)
"I could be the sunlight in your eyes." Kills me that line.
Buy it.

There was an earlier mention of Discovery, whose album I love very much in a way that has surprised me. I had considered doing my post-before-last solely on them, but when I couldn't even decide on three songs to post let alone one, I gave up. So here I go again:

Discovery – Can You Discover? (Discovery, 2009)
Buy it.

I'm a real sucker for harmonies, I'm talking anything with more than two vocal parts - choirs, barber shop quartets, jingles, The Andrews Sisters, Motown, Queen, and as I recently rediscovered, The Housemartins' 'Caravan Of Love'. I saw the frankly quite odd music video on late-late-late night TV and went out and bought a beat up record for twice what it was worth ($4 as opposed to $2). I've decided to learn all the words and sing it to my kids one day...

The Housemartins – Caravan Of Love (Caravan Of Love, 1986)
Buy it.

The people speak, I hear them say "you won't last another day"

Autumn aka "Fall" seems to always make me think of this band:

Acid House Kings - Do What You Wanna Do

Secondly, I had the grand pleasure of seeing the Happy Boys live in concert the other weekend. They have a great new website now - here. In this way I discovered that they have several songs that I'd never heard before. This is one of my favs:

The Happy Boys - Back In Time

And, of course, it's just been Halloween. This is my current fav Halloween song. Written by Burt Bacharach:

The 5 Blobs - The Blob

Fresh Up Outta Gary, Indiana

Seeing as we just went public and I've been guilt-stricken by my not posting anything except ridiculous/amazing sand-art clips in clear violation of policy, I'm gonna come correct with three amazing songs by one amazing rapper.
Freddie Gibbs is a weed-smoking, gun-totin' gangsta rapper without a major label deal. This places him in the 2nd percentile in terms of 'chances of being amazing', but he's defied the odds and is clearly the messiah.
He's put out a few mixtapes, and the two I've heard have been just perfect. The first is called (and this you have to respect just for its cock-eyed audacity) The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs, and follows a fairly trad mixtape setup, in terms of being a mix of original tracks and some versions on other beats. I'm mainly totally in awe of it because it opens with a song called GI Pride which is basically an enormous jack of the triumphant chords of What a Feeling, bka the theme from Flashdance. He tells this incredible gutter history of his piece-of-shit town (called Gary. Gary!) over the most aspirational white soundtrack, the same one which launched Bruckheimer/Simpson onto an unsuspecting world. it's too cool. Anyone who's ridden around in a car with me lately knows how it goes. I probably haven't listened to any single song more this year.
Even better than Miseducation... is its follow-up, entitled Midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik. It's still resolutely unglamourous (guests with names like D-Edge, Pill and California Pudd help with that). This time there are no re-cuts, instead the beats are slowed to a crawl like your mind fogged up with good weed. County Bounce is pretty much perfect, nostalgic, hazily twinkling its way amidst a sea of bass and falsetto vocals. But Freddie's a hard man, so it never loses its anchor in the streets and corners of a dead end town.
Last up is a pretty dirty rap over the immortal '93 Til Infinity instrumental. It's not so great as the first two, but shows what a fantastic rapper he is when the BPM rises, and I could listen to that beat roll forever. Freddie Gibbs. Remember the name, dudes. And if you like it go get Midwest... here. It's free and legal, unlike almost anything described within.

Freddie Gibbs – GI Pride

Freddie Gibbs – County Bounce

Freddie Gibbs – How We Do ('93 Til Infinity Freestyle #3)

Direct proper downloads using opendrive.com. Seems very good thus far.

Initial Public Offering

People.

Due to overwhelming albeit not-quite unanimous opinion, this blog shall be a public blog effective immediately. tell your friends, tell you grandparents.

Other things that I've heard, and I tend to agree, are that:
-this is a blog about music. Post mp3s, not links to YouTube videos (please). (Unless of course it's youtube in addition to an mp3, in order to emphasize the point, a la this post..)
-this is a blog about music. Post links that with one click will allow one to download a track, not a link to another site that will allow one to download a track after one waits for 30s or pays some money (please).

I won't be enforcing the latter two particularly, but please. It's not hard to do this. As has previously been mentioned, DropBox (https://www.getdropbox.com/ ) makes it ridiculously convenient to do this. Admittedly it requires some software installation so may not suit everyone. Alternatives to DropBox include (and here I'm just checking old posts from the blog):
-storing it on the RealGroove website
-OpenDrive (formerly boxstr)
-and i'm sure there are others. ...

ANYWAYS

RAD I LOVE YOU ALL,
keep on blogging
,b

P.S. I strongly believe that a site like this will encourage people to explore more music and discover new artists so if any artist or the people at Blogger think differently please contact me first before suing me or taking down this blog! (brendankayes at gmail)

all up in the blogs

Indefensible delay, but here’s three for august, september and october:

Metronomy – Not Made For Love

After totally ruining any chance of balance in my favourite songs of last year list (heartbreaker/a thing for me/my heart rate rapid) metronomy came out from some sort of retirement break up scandal with a total 2009 classic. This song is every reason why i love the XX album – but no matter how good that album might be, no individual song reaches these depths of r&B indie (without the fake folk) synthetic depression optimism amazing. When we were on the beach that night...

Not Made For Love.mp3

Mariah Carey & Gucci Mane – Obsessed

SO DAMN MASSIVE. With some kind of liquid swords synth stabs meets trunk rattlin’ ciara at her most thrilling. Who would have thought a Mariah Carey diss song on Eminem would be anything other than unbearable rubbish rather than the most exciting thing you will hear in a club this year. And it definitely helps that Gucci mane gets all jah rule nonsensical barking over the chorus. Lyin’ that you sexin’ me...mariah you on fire.

Obsessed _Feat Gucci Mane_.mp3

Vybz Kartel - Yuh Love

I don’t know if this is quite the pick from what has been a documentary worthy return to form for vybz kartel in 2009 – but this typically weird love song is definitely on serious repeat. Of course vybz hides his least misogynistic rubbish lyric (not saying much) on a production by the relatively unknown brooklyn producer dre skull rather than waiting approximately 2 days for the next big jamaican production from stephen “di genius” mcgregor or russian. You and me baby, it ain’t no lie...

Yuh Love.mp3

A most excellent cover

Kylie makes this song her own, yet retains the spirit of the original. Good job.

You make my dreams come true

I just saw 500 days of summer. Is Joseph Gordon-Levitt the hottest, coolest, most stylish man on earth?!?!?!?!?!? There's this karaoke scene where he covers the pixie's 'Here Comes Your Man' and woah. Seriously ladies, check it out.

The Pixies
Here comes your man

https://rcpt.yousendit.com/758571643/11a334334e0db5c153a6028cfdf7355f

Here is the amazing dance sequence - another highlight of the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2seAJsrtIbQ

One of my favourite NZ bands, Bear Cat just released their album, Xiong Mao. This song was my pick for a competition that Duncan and I judged a year or so ago and we got so much hate for liking it. Yes P-Money, that's right.

Bear Cat
Red Panda Blues

https://rcpt.yousendit.com/758569625/8a2a29c9a1326be64ebd90d753be7d9e

Also, i really like '80s synths and girl vocals. And this song ticks both boxes.

Au Revoir Simone
Shadows (The Teenagers mix)

https://rcpt.yousendit.com/758567113/c92e154dd12cb6f909968f90723c174b

That is all. Please comment. I never get any comments.

now that we're midway through october...

here's that miike snow i alluded to last time around, this one seems to get stuck in people's heads (plus it appears the lead singer is some kind of hipster jesus):

another catchy tune, from a band made up of vampire weekend and ra ra riot:

drake is supposed to be the next big thing, but i pretty much got sick of his last single, and i can't say i understand this video - it's too long, features too many other artists & product placements, and why is lebron in it? but that said, i do listen to it when it comes on the radio: YouTube - Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne & Eminem - Forever (embed kindly disabled by universal music group)

p.p.s.

by my count we're at about 69 songs posted so far. who has some free time? someone needs to post the first power hour mix...

Songs that make me happy

Hello. This is my first post and I hope you like it!

I have been obsessed with the first two songs for quite some time, and the third, well it just makes me smile. Hope it make you smile too.

-Sarah

The Stranglers - Golden Brown

The Beta Band - Squares

Datarock - I will always remember

This is my first time using yousendit, so please let me know if the links don't work.

Basshunter is sick

Basshunter has been out for a while but I was reminded of his brilliance today when I got an email from a friend about Basshunter's smash..."Now You're Gone"




His other videos follow the same story line...

Pumped A Lot Of 'Tane Down In New Orleans

I love pop songs that make being lonely sound like the greatest thing ever. Dude was a total hottie too (and OG hipster - sunglasses on at all times.)
Scott Walker - The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore (1966)

I found this version of Hot Chocolate's 'So You Win Again' by a South African pop band - it's amazing how much a song can reveal about itself when you strip away the sequins.
Copperfield - So You Win Again (1977)

Chris Brown Syndrome in full effect – I absolutely love Ike with Tina. I really don't want to but... you know. This is their version of CCR's 'Proud Mary'. It's got a super slutty spoken word intro, and I love how in the build up you hear Tina's voice crack a bit as she sings "Rolling on a river," just from sheer restraint. Sister is chomping at the bit to let rip, and then she goes for it full throttle and it's like nothing else in the world. Listen to it loud.
Ike and Tina Turner – Proud Mary (1971)

Proud Mary live on Soul Train 1971 (YouTube)

PS

PS I was wondering if people for sure prefer this blog to be private, or if a switch to 'a public option' would be preferred (cue torrent of inflammatory propaganda, cf. American healthcare reform "debate"..).

Calcium mines, buried deep in your chest

October kind of snuck up on me, feel like it's almost already over. Which of course it's not.

First song has been something of a summer anthem among some of the people I've been hanging out with in SF. One could be forgiven, I think, for mistaking this for a new Andre Benjamin single. I like the line "we're always happy, that's the living in The South philosophy".

Mungo Jerry - In The Summertime

For my second song I was planning to post Warren Zevon's "Keep Me In Your Heart", a song I discovered on one of Josh's recent mixtapes. Quite amazing I think, although quite arguably overly sentimental, like the worse parts of John Lennon's catalogue. I quite like it tho.

But that got me thinking about this other killer Zevon track, also new to me recently via another of Josh's mixtapes. And Dan Braun the author reminded me of it recently. I can't quite keep the narrative straight, something about Denmark and the Congolese and Berkeley. Enjoy

Warren Zevon - Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner

I discovered Andrew Bird via my flatmate and got the latest album. At times amazing, often too cerebral for me and a bit annoying i.m.h.o. But this track started appearing in the back of my brain in the latter half of September, and now it is part of me.

Andrew Bird - Oh No

I couldn't see in feets

three French songs
Dieu que c'est beau
Gaby oh! Gaby
Un autre monde

Throw Your Head Violently Now, To My Fist

Prom night:
Jeremy Jay – Will You Dance With Me? (Slow Dance And Love Everlasting EP, 2009)

Earnest successor to Elliot Smith, whom I love dearly:
Beerjacket – Drum (Animosity, 2009)

Scottish emos upset at girls having fun:
Twin Atlantic – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper cover)

Pomp, Pageantry and Public Space

The infantry stands, and holds out its hands. Bells are going to ring. Birds are going to sing! And all the people from the village will be there to congratulate us.

Pop music creates community through mass intimacy: to everyone, the same private feeling behind her own closed door. It's no wonder that there aren't more songs about grand public moments. Here are three.

Pencil Rain - They Might Be Giants

The Crowning - A Camp

A Wedding in Cherokee County - Randy Newman

Our houses will crumble, the city will fall. The thunderous clatter of splintering wood and lives that are claimed. Why must everybody laugh at my mighty sword?

All songs MP3@254kbps.

And Nothing Else Matters

now that it's september...

i must say i'm surprised, albeit pleasantly, to be the first person to post the best song/video release of 2009: YouTube - Shakira - She Wolf pretty much everything about it is perfect. the title, the kylie/annie-like beat, the hyper literal lyrics (a direct translation from the spanish version?), the crazy dance moves (shoulder shimmy), the bodysuit, and of course, the howl.

i'm pretty sure i entirely missed the boat the first time around with this band, but their songs have been stuck in my head since i first heard the album, so here goes: YouTube - Vampire Weekend VS Miike Snow - The Kids Don't Stand A Chance (this remix gives me a chance to introduce miike snow as well)

and, in honor of the brendan's 30th, and the first annual sunset to sunrise marathon: YouTube - Walking In L.A.

How Did I Become So Obnoxious?

People,

We are all living in a psychological war.

Wait that's just in the song, I don't mean it. What I was meaning to say is that, by popular demand, three is once again the magic number. I disavow any knowledge of posting more than three songs, and of any connection, expressed or implied, to Andrew Simperingham. The one part of my previous ramblings that I would like to enshrine in ComeInThrees law is that one does not need to post all of those three songs at once. i.e. no more than three songs per month is the only rule. Simple? ComeInThrees purists are of course encouraged to continue posting all three songs in a single post, as the name implies.

Now we're down to business. I only get two songs as I posted one earlier in August.

P!nk - Please Don't Leave Me

I certainly never anticipated posting a song by P!nk to this blog, or by anyone else with an explanation mark [sic] in their name for that matter. Partly I have to admit being inspired a little bit by the AMAZING songs of Dunc's previous post. But mostly it was another driving-and-listening-to-the-radio moment (cf. The Rolling Stones - Out Of Time), driving to Santa Cruz in fact, and hold the phone - who the f*ck is singing this one? The most genuine amalgam of country music and pure pop that I've heard ... since maybe Bonnie Tyler or something. And proof of how long and strong Country's octopus arms are at sneakily getting fingers into the pie of pop music, at least of the American kind. Reminds me less of P!nk's contemporaries than artists like the already mentioned Bonnie, Dolly Parton, and even Mary Gauthier. (dammit i was gonna post a link to the song "That Way" by Ms. Gauthier but apparently it's disappeared from the YouTube. Anyways, check her out if you get the chance, phenomenal).

Neil Young - Natural Beauty

"...into an anonymous wall of digital sound"

YOU CAN'T F*CK WITH A LYRIC LIKE THAT!

'nuff said, except for the other part I especially love, where there's some kind of metaphor comparing an action replay of the "moment of defeat, play[ed] back over on the video screen" (this cat has a real thing for video screens/flat screen TVs, wicked), of presumably a bucking bronco rider at the rodeo getting thrown from his horse, with the moments of defeat in his own life, and consequent reflections from the video screen "somewhere deep inside [his] soul".

At least that's how I read it.

brand new Chevrolet

brand new pair of seamless pants

Fade out into crowd noise into nature noise LOVE IT!

Hi everyone,

When brendan first invited me to contribute to this blog, I doubted there was anything new that I could add (largely given that for the most part I just make my own playlists from Zeke’s music and he is already a good sharer). But, then I re-read brendan’s blurb and realised newness is not so much the point of all this, but rather, nowness – and in particular, those songs that you can not get out of your head. I am definitely one of those people that totally gets noises (its not just music – I think I hear my cell-phone ring all the time when it's not) stuck in their head; while I often have one song playing over and over on repeat at any given time, more commonly, its one single verse, or one beat of a song. Right now, it’s a single word; the opening word of the royal thai anthem – a rather haunting and beautiful “Kaww-weee” sung by what sounds like an eight year-old girl. I can’t stop singing it! This anthem is played at the start of every movie screening, along with a really emotive video; everyone stands, to not, is total disrespect of the king and can lead to criminal charges. The video itself is pretty wild - I can’t really say more without the threat of lèse majesté charges – but check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJiqEJPlznA

Given that I can not hear number one, without thinking of Bangkok, I’ve kind of created my own additional theme for songs number two and three (I’m sticking with the three rule for now, I like things in threes). They are also both songs that every time I hear, I can not but think of the other two cities that we have lived in since leaving Auckland. And since, at the time we lived there, I could not get them out of my head, I figure they qualify for some kind of retroactive/retrospective nowness.

Song number two/NYC is “New York I Love You” by LCD Soundsystem. While I love it, this song sounds rather depressing and doesn’t really reflect the tone of my time in NYC; but the police state they sing of was one of the most discussed issues of our time there and this song was on everyone’s repeat.

Song number three/Colombo is “Paper Planes” by MIA. Not quite as ubiquitous in Colombo as song number two was in NYC (I think we were pretty much the only people in Sri Lanka actually playing this at the time - Sri Lankans are into bollywood and don’t know who MIA is) but “If you catch me at the border I got visas in my name” was totally on my mind-repeat.

I went with youtube postings; the sound is not so good but the king-love in particular is best seen as well as heard….

X jazz.

fat house cat

This is the first time I've written on the internet I am a bit nervous and I don't know how to add the links to the songs.
I've been wanting to post Flightless Bird, American Mouth for a long time but I kept waiting cos I didn't have three songs. I first heard it while watching Twilight, a film which I liked a whole lot more than I expected. and it's also a song about me because I am a flightless bird hehe
I've just come back from Japan so I have a second song to add: the theme song from Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence
and I still can't think of three

DO YOU LIKE SCARY MOVIES?

So i was looking through some old cds the other day and found this mixtape that i'd made for Brody when we first started dating (lame, gross, weird, whatever i know). And this Andre 3000 song has been on my mind ever since. It's pretty fucking choice i reckon. It's from that double album that Outkast did a while ago which weirdly is one of the first LPs i bought on vinyl. Anyway, check it.

Outkast - Prototype
https://www.yousendit.com/download/YkxMTkFrNXZlcEpjR0E9PQ

Next up is a song that Zeke got me on to. T Pain has always been a favourite of mine, ever since the amazing 'Can i buy you a drink'. This song is just so amazing/hilarious/don't even know what you're trying to do T Pain?!?!?! But he got chains and gold teeth. Which is all that matters really. Andrew Lloyd Webber would be proud.

T Pain - Phantom
https://www.yousendit.com/download/YkxMTkFwY3ltMEt4dnc9PQ

And lastly, this song from the new Kills album has been quietly growing on me. Really into the Kills. Think Alison Mosshart is one of the hottest ladies on earth.

The Kills - Last Day of Magic
https://www.yousendit.com/download/YkxMTkFzR3NsUjgwTVE9PQ

Turn the lights on

Sorry I'm late. Really glad the new model is proving successful, and it's lovely to see you all on the internet. I'm going to post three songs, because it's good to obey conventions, and the name sorta implies you should and if I was allowed to do more I would, and so on.
The first song I'm posting is the new Beyoncé single, which should imply the kind of ubiquity which would render posting it a pointless exercise. But I get the feeling many of you mightn't have heard it. Just because it's kinda stalling worldwide, entered low at 39 in NZ, peaked at 91 on the Hot 100. Australia has it at number two, but that country's appreciation for music exists entirely outside of the general run of play for the rest of the world, and is the exception that proves the rule. Whatever, Sweet Dreams (which used to be called Beautiful Nightmare, which is a more appropriate title, even though you have to admire the audacity of naming a song after one of the most lauded & loved songs of the '80s, the decade it most prominently pays homage to) is a perfect song. Works in the car, 'the club', or just sitting down at home with a few good mates. I don't think anyone will do anything demonstrably better this year.
Taylor Swift's Fearless is pretty much my favourite album of the year. Every song is just so hooky and perfectly crafted, and the lyrics capture the sensation of being a teenager with way more honesty than most revisionist pop-punk emo whinings (not that I've got anything against pop-punk/emo whinings, just saying they tend toward caricature). I could pick literally any song on the record, but I'm gonna go with Forever and Always, because that little circular line "it rains in your bedroom/ everything is wrong/ it rains when you're here/ and it rains when you're gone". And has those chugging guitars which are becoming more prevalent in pop at the moment. Kills me.
Lastly, and I've changed my mind three times about this, trying to figure out whether I should post a song I admire (PNC's Bazooka's Theme, Tourettes' Letting Go, Haunted Love's Sleepwalkers) or one that I've listened to a lot lately (Jordin Sparks' No Parade or SOS, The Gossip's Love Long Distance – memorably compared to M-People by Joanna Hunkin) or one that I straight up love. I've decided to go with Miley Cyrus' Full Circle, because it fits all three categories, and as its parent album's been kind shelved while The Hannah Montana Soundtrack does its thing, it looks like it'll never be a single. It kinda reminds me of Kids in America, a pure, crystalline new wave anthem that Jett loves as much as I do. The chorus is straight killer, and I'm convinced it could've been as big a hit as See You Again had Hollywood (records) realised what they had with the song. Compared to freakin Fly on the Wall anyway. Esp given what happened with Taylor Swift's similarly perky You Belong With Me.

Beyoncé – Sweet Dreams

Taylor Swift – Forever and Always

Miley Cyrus – Full Circle

All are direct link downloads, so just right click/control click and save target as etc. Thanks!

Oh, recently.

Recently, my life has been going in a steady two week cycle of meeting some beautiful new thing at 2 in the morning, waking up the next day and falling in love, getting too attached, and then watching as they run off as they leave me and my libertine ways in favor of the pressures and responsibilities of real life. These three songs have pretty much been my anthems during this period, but I like to think of it as more having to do with the fact that they're great on their own merits and not seeing anything of my current state reflected in them.

So, yeah, enjoy.

Gilchy Dan - Cowboys and Gangsters (i must warn you this song is rather long, and if you haven't heard 'Deputy of Love' by Don Armando [a much finer song], your mileage might be a bit off).

The Horrors - Primary Colours

Babyshambles - The 32nd Of December

STOP THE PRESSES!

With everyone being all positive and thanking each other for the amazing music and just how great it is to be alive in 2009, I feel inspired to break what is pretty much the only rule of ComeInThrees (although, technically, I'm not breaking any rules. As the person who writes the rules, it is very easy for me to change the rules to ensure that I am not infringing. The observant among you will have noticed that I have in fact already done so, the stated rules now emphasize posting a "few" songs per month that capture your "immortal nowness" (cf. Andy Simperingham), and de-emphasize the magic number three) to post some indie-rock kumbaya.

Quiet Company - On Husbands & Wives

I'm confident that this song can save the institution of marriage in much the same way as We Are The World saved Africa.

My flatmate played this album on Sunday, and I was instantly taken by this song in particular. I went ahead and bought the track immediately (from their rather spiffy website: http://quietcompany.bandcamp.com/ - if you like this track you'll prolly like the album) and must have listened to it ten times since then. I'm rushing this straight to press because I understand that August can be fairly brutal in Auckland, and that, short of skipping the country to visit Los Angeles and Las Vegas, you may need something unexpected and cheesy-yet-sincere to help you to keep smiling. Also, like I wrote in my last posting, it's been annoying to spend a month thinking too much about what songs would be good for the blog, and then "saving them up", so that by the time I posted them I wasn't nearly as obsessed with them any more. This cuts both ways, because the main reason for having the three rule in the first place was to prevent too many impulse posts of crap songs, which is arguably what this current posting represents. On the other hand, I want to have a more real-time interaction with this thing going forward, I'd rather post songs maybe one at a time, while I am obsessed with them, rather than always three at a time, weeks after the fact. But mostly I just want to know that when I am singing

Love is less what you say, and more what you
do / And who y'spend the rest of your life with /
I'm gonna spend mine with you, gonna spend mine with

you,

that y'all will be singing along with me.

But please give me feedback on this. If you think the "three rule" is necessary then that's that. Although I find it hard to believe that a revision that is partially inspired by a Christmas spent with Andy Simperingham could be bad...

You Know I Like My Girls a Little Bit Older

Watched slightly-above-average "indie" comedy Adventureland last weekend. Intensely good power-pop soundtrack, where I discovered these guys. The harmonies kill me dead:
The Outfield - Your Love (Play Deep, 1986)

New year's resolution, decided that instead of being all, 'I'm like, totally into music from the 60s' just because I own a Herman's Hermits record, that I would spend some time actually buying and exploring:
The Zombies - I Can't Make Up My Mind (Begin Here, 1964)

Janet Weiss from Sleater-Kinney's other band, her and her boyfriend I believe. I guess you could call it Pavement-esque. The pauses are so gut-wrenching, like a drunk nodding off to sleep (if I wanted to be dramatic I could add, "for the very last time..."):
Quasi - When I'm Dead (R&B Transmogrification, 1997)

Thanks heaps for Superchunk and La Bionda inspirations, Superchunk esp. I love that song.

Come In Threes 4 lyf,
Leonie

All He Wanted To Do Was Outrun The Sun

..that Pum Pum track is nutso.

But anyways, thanks everyone for making this pretty great already. We've had postings from Amsterdam, Auckland, Los Angeles, Bangkok and San Francisco. (still waiting on our friends in France and Germany, tut tut *emoticon*). The only downside I've noticed so far is that my neurotic brain spent a not negligible amount of time and energy last month thinking about what songs I might post in August..yikes.

Getting right along with it, here's a few tunes:

You Don't Know What's Going On

Out Of Time - The Rolling Stones . I only consciously heard this song for the first time about a month ago. Since then it's been haunting me like a banshee.

I Ain't Got The Power Any More

Quicksand (demo version) - David Bowie . This is another classic that has long been a favourite. But I only heard this version fairly recently, and it's like love all over again. I'm a sucker for double-tracked vocals; this one is a goodie for the headphones.

Everyone Can Carry On, Except For We Two

Everyday - Slade . This is really a recommendation from Christina. She's been trying with considerable success to get me into Slade recently (who Kurt Cobain allegedly described as "a band that would never bend over"), and this song is a total monster. I'm also a sucker for guys who sing as if with megaphones in their voiceboxes (cf. Against Me!).

Apologies for posting three songs within the classic rock genre! I guess that's where things are at right now. Actually I've been listening to "I'd Rather Walk Than Run" rather a lot this past month too, thanks Robb for putting me onto that. Thanks also for the DropBox tip, this software is so convenient it's a little bit like magic.

Anyways, until next time,

b.

now that it's august...

...i suppose it's time to add my songs from last month:

YouTube - Hall & Oates You Make My Dreams Come True

YouTube - Pum Pum - Lee "Scratch" Perry

YouTube - I wanna be your lover - La Bionda

all of the videos are worth a watch as well, for different reasons.

july link up right nanana

totally love this blog! thanks everyone...

not quite sure if this is one song or three or five, but it definitely makes the grade of music that i can't stop listening to. the rhythm is an update of a forgettable ("classic") uncle bob track called coming in from the cold and further proof that he was simply more marketable than the current crop of totally ignored, totally more compelling and arguably more worthwhile jamaican artists. there's something so joyful and guarded about all the artists singing on it and a kind of we are the world feeling of everyone being in the studio together - which is almost certainly not the case. Like all great rhythms it's got the holy trinity of a new artist you've never heard of totally running the show (angel doolas - who has 46 friends on myspace WOT) sizzla singing falsetto about colonial systems and the big acorn reggae remix.

x

http://www.zshare.net/audio/633661460b454725/

1. Gyptian - Life

2. Angel Doolas - Trickster

3. Buju Banton - Time & Place

4. Sizzla - Do It Right Now

5. Acorn - Nanana

Winter's hanging around

So i went to see the September issue the other night and was really into the soundtrack. Upon some internet research i found this amazing Ladytron song that somehow i'd totally missed when it was released. anyway, it's kinda chilling, and fits Anna Wintour's steez in the doco really well.

https://www.yousendit.com/download/Y1RweFVjNnlEa1VLSkE9PQ

secondly, i am obsessed with this song right now. i love adele's voice and i think this song is super super powerful and beautiful. the piano is amazing.

https://www.yousendit.com/download/Y1RweFVYTWNveE1LSkE9PQ

and thirdly, this is one of my all time favourites. a beautiful song about heartbreak with incredible lyrics about being the other girl and waiting for things to change.

https://www.yousendit.com/download/Y1RweFVZQTY3bUFLSkE9PQ

I really hope these links work - my first time uploading files. Such a nerd.

Also, massive props for Brendan for making this blog happen. It's such a great idea and i've already really enjoyed dowloading some amazing songs.

Kerryanne x

I'm in Love With a Robot

"The Girl and the Robot" -- Royksopp (feat. Robyn)

Röyksopp Feat Robyn - The Girl And The Robot / NEW
Uploaded by PeteRock. - See the latest featured music videos.

hi everyone

first up I’d like to say this is an AMAZING idea Brendan, I’m super excited about this blog. well done!

ok so I just got back from spain and the two albums that we seemed to listen to the most during cocktail hour were the phoenix album wolfgang amadeus phoenix and the new gossip album music for men, so I’m posting my two favourite songs from these albums but I really love the whole albums and I would really recommend having a listen to them if you haven’t already. I’m also posting a robyn song in honour of my new baby girl robyn ivy greive who is keeping me awake at 4am right now so I can post this.

love

niki

ps I've probably uploaded these wrong, but forgive me, I've never done it before and I'm very tired!

Gossip - Men in Love
http://boxstr.com/files/5727058_vqlhz/07%20Men%20In%20Love.mp3

Phoenix - Lisztomania
http://boxstr.com/files/5727072_lzruc/01%20Lisztomania.mp3

Robyn - Because of Boys (Yelle cover) http://boxstr.com/files/5727059_yyrny/01%20Because%20Of%20Boys.mp3

Deadline Distractions

My three faves are currently preventing me from spiralling into a work-related vortex of anxiety. I don't know if it's because they're particularly soothing, or just because they're absorbing enough to distract me from my thoughts AND FOR SOME COSMIC REASON THEY ALL START WITH S.

The new Dirty Projectors album is pretty awesome, but the single Stillness Is The Move is like 10 different amazing songs rolled into one. RnB for crackers? Perhaps:
Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is The Move

Modlang is a Czech Republic pressing plant/record label I believe, so the actual author of this song is a bit of a mystery to me, but it's off the Rough Trade Counter Culture 5 compilation. Power-psych-pop with a completely foreign crunchy electronic bassline:
Modlang - Slaughtered By The Sun

An oldie but a baddie; Fei and I bunkered down in a remote beach house for a few days when she was here a couple weeks ago. With only Hauraki (hard rock FM radio station) for company, Queensrÿche made an appearance while we were drunkenly licking our wounds and I haven't been able to stop listening to it since:
Queensrÿche - Silent Lucidity

I've not got permission to download helpful software for the posting of songs, so these ones will expire in 7 days c/o YouSendIt. Sorry for that.

June

Here's a few tracks:

Sunday Morning Coming Down

The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton

I'd Rather Walk Than Run

Also, for those of you that haven't heard about dropbox, it's definitely the best way to share files short of your own server.

June 2009 - BK

Ok here's my first posting. This things a bit of an experiment, basically feeling the loss of MixTapeMassive, feeling the distance from my L.A. crew, my N.Z. crew, and as I've long felt that communication is best done via music or the internet or preferably both at once, I thought it'd be nice to stay up with what's what by telling people what tunes are stuck in your head recently. So it's not intended to be an outcooling each other contest with knowledge of obscure sh*t or whatevs, in fact quite the opposite, more like a 'haha Can't Get You Out Of My Head has been stuck in my head all month, how embarrassing, plus I just heard this great tune by Johnny Cash that I'd never heard before' kind of deal. Not that there's anything wrong with obscurity and coolness either..

SO. The only rules are to post no more than once per month, and to post no more than three songs per post. The idea is to have a wide variety of voices, and not to overwhelm people with content. As an experiment, and as extra for experts, it'd be cool if you could also upload the actual mp3s, and point a link on your posting to direct people there (I like to use http://www.boxstr.com/). I'm not sure how long that'll last, but I figure an mp3 here and there is not gonna kill any artist, to the contrary I strongly believe that a site like this will encourage people to explore more music and discover new artists so if any artist or the people at Blogger think differently please contact me first before suing me or taking down this blog! (brendankayes at gmail)

So, recently I've been listening to a bunch of random stuff. My favo(u)rite three tunes of the bunch are probably, in no particular order:

My Boyfriend's Back, as performed by the Paper Dolls

Learned to Surf, by Superchunk

and, Love Against The Wall, by Gyptian

They can be downloaded here:

http://boxstr.com/files/5608178_hzbrq/BrendanJuly2009.zip

churs,b

P.S. I'm not sure if a single .zip file or three mp3 files are easier for people to manage? (please let me know..). The individual mp3s can be downloaded here:

http://boxstr.com/files/5608136_xt6ul/18%20my%20boyfriend%5C%27s%20back.mp3

http://boxstr.com/files/5608137_x7bvy/01%20Learned%20to%20Surf.mp3

http://boxstr.com/files/5608135_2nitb/05%20Love%20Against%20The%20Wall.mp3

(you can right click and 'save as' them if using a pc. If using a mac, I'm not sure - mac users please let me know whether you're able to get the songs to play either from the .zip file or the individual files, or both)

P.P.S. Also let me know if there are other people you want me to invite to join as contributors. I think we can have up to 100 people..