Caribe y la compu

It's been a while since I posted anything - the 10-6 job, the 50 minute commute and with the various after-work activities/shows just don't leave time for seven posts a week. However, while a post a day just isn't compatible with the current life, a post every weekend should be manageable.

And so I'll be shooting for that, then.

Rita Indiana is, I believe, New York-based Dominican, but she throws down a sweet version of electronically twisted merengue that still manages to keep a fair bit of soul. This particular track is all about Facebook addiction - even if you don't speak Spanish, it's got a nice grinding groove to keep your hips occupied.

Rita Indiana
"Maldito Feisbu"

Toxicity

This has made me seriously consider the work of Britney Spears - is it possible that this much beauty is hidden away in her other songs as well?

Or, The Whale
"Toxic"

Follows directions well

Brings a smile to my face every single time.

Freeway & Jake One
"Throw Your Hands Up"

Heaps good

"Heaps" is an underused intensifier 'round these parts, and I just might start using it and see if it catches on.

This video is so Australia I want to give it some vegemite and a VB...

Murph N Platonic
"Heaps Good"

As to war

If I ever get filthy rich, I'm going hire these people to make videos for me full-time.

SubAudible Hum
"Aaron's Western Assault"

Sartorial distincions

I actually can't tell whether this is a parody or legit...

Far East Movement
"Fetish"

Pass it along

Before there was Musical Youth, there were the Mighty Diamonds. A bit cheesy, but I kind of like it anyway.

Happy 4/20 y'alls!

The Mighty Diamonds
"Pass The Kutchie"

Vipers

Somehow, somewhere we seem to have lost the term "viper" for a gentleman (and, presumably, lady) that can hold their weed.

It's 4/20 tomorrow, and I'm sure Bob Howard would've been most down.

Bob Howard
"If You're a Viper"

Timing is everything

And with this we end Triple-J "Like a Version" week.

It's almost wrong that somebody so innocent-looking, wide-eyed and downright young be able to pull off this song so well.

And it's that "almost" that makes it glorious.

Lisa Mitchell
"Romeo and Juliet"

Problems

Right, so the Gourds version of Gin & Juice is classic and came first, but this is along the same lines but much more wry.

I like wry.

Philadelphia Grand Jury
"99 Problems"

Been trying to meet you

Every so often the greatness of The Pixies bears keeping in mind. I mean, they don't change much, but I found myself posting this against the objections logical-brain would surely have voiced were it allowed to speak while this song was playing.

Eskimo Joe
"Hey"

We'll be singing

So this is off of the similar BBC show "Live Lounge" but since Angus & Julia Stone are from Australia I figure we can let it slide.

I love how the audience just seems to not know what to do with this.

The answer, obviously, is to sing along, but everybody seems to be a bit shy until the very end.

Maybe if they'd included the "We'll be singing/When we're winning" intro?

Angus & Julia Stone
"Tubthumping"

"Kids" these days

Y'know, I had kind of written off The Kooks, then they come along with a cover of "Kids" that works with only two guitars and microphones.

The Kooks
"Kids"

You can dance if you want to

So I recently stumbled upon Australian awesome-radio Triple J's program Like a Version, and the awesome just keeps on coming. Consider:

1. Australia=awesome. Full stop. Taking-it-outside is available for those who disagree too enthusiastically.
2. Being unable to think of a better title for a program=awesome.
3. As somebody who likes mashups, odd covers and re-imagination of music in general, this program of different artists doing wicked interesting covers of other songs=awesome.

And so I will be posting choice selections this week.

This is Whitley doing the most haunting version of "Dancing Queen" you have ever heard.

Go ahead, laugh. Then listen.

Then admit I was right.

Whitley
"Dancing Queen"

Afro-jazz harp

No actual video, which means it's (again) that good.

Dorothy Ashby plays afro-jazz harp.

With so much soul it's almost painful.

Incidentally, here's Frank Sinatra's take on the same track - easier, less urgency, and a whole lot less soul.

Dorothy Ashby
"There's a Small Hotel"

It's what's for breakfast

It's The Pogues singing about whiskey, so there's no way this could be bad, but this is good stuff even by their very high standards.

Every so often, the day just calls for a bourbon breakfast, and a looooong nap after. Which is partially why I didn't get a haircut yesterday. (Aside from the fact that there were no Manhattan-bound trains where I live).

But, y'know, totally worth it.

The Pogues
"Streams of Whiskey"

On the road again

Sometimes you just want to listen to something pretty and heartfelt to take your mind off of everything.

As somebody who tends to wander a great deal, it helps if it's a song about living in many places.

Woodpigeon
"I Live a Lot of Places"

Optimum

Hip hop needs more in the wide-eyed optimism department, is all I'm saying.

P.O.S.
"Optimist"

Felt up

That's Murs AND Slug AND Aesop Rock, who produced last year's A Tribute to Rosie Perez.

Comes with a shiny, yet slightly creepy video.

Nice.

Real nice.

Murs & Aesop Rock & Slug
"Felt Chewed Up"

Fun with bunnies

Standard-sounding, solid garage rock, except that Nobunny performs in a huge bunny mask. Professionally formed to look like a rabbit. On his head. While he plays garage rock.

As one might expect, the video is somewhat...unorthodox...

And good, good fun.

Nobunny
"I Am a Girlfriend"

A ukelele and a microphone

You know when you have mad talented friends and you say to yourself, "Jesus, this singing-in-the-living-room is better than 95% of the stuff out there?"

This has got that feel to it, but the sound is too clean and precise to be them just hanging out, and the video is too silly to be anything but. Echoes of CocoRosie that way.

Sweet song too.

Anne Heaton ft. Rose Polenzani
"Where Your Scar Is"

The (original) Jazz Singer

It's hard to get more classic jazz than the first song Al Jolson played in The Jazz Singer, right after changing movie history by saying, "You ain't heard nothing yet!" - they don't make solos like this anymore, certainly.

Complete with slightly out-of-sync audio for that authentic old-school feel.

Al Jolson
"Toot Toot Tootsie"

This is my church

I have no idea where this is, but it's a shame there weren't more people to hear this haunting, earnest and almost-but-not-quite-jaded young lady sing a very lovely song.

There are obvious influences from Mazzy Star, but I hear a little Joanna Newsom in the rounding of the vowels (though definitely not the pitch) as well. It's also hard to make guitar playing so simple not boring.

But she does.

Quite, quite well.

Happy Easter, y'alls.

Bosque Brown
"White Dove"

Just the Factz

Day before yesterday I won tickets to check Mickey Factz live. I had never heard of Mickey Factz before, and was struck how he approached hip hop more like a writer rather than, say, a battle MC - more nuance and meaning and less posturing.

Then I stumble upon this video with him and The Cool Kids doing a whoooole lot of posturing.

Given that it's got a nice accordion-ed beat and actual videos of him are not particularly prevalent, away we go.

Mickey Factz ft. The Cool Kids
"Rockin N Rollin"

This post has been brought to you by the shape, "triangle"

The video is a bit rough, but the song is solid late night walking-to-a-party-in-a-rough-neighborhood electro.

That's actually a genre with me.

It sounds like this.

Hounds of Hate
"I Like Triangles"

Run!

The weather is improving and I keep thinking I should maybe get back into exercising. Running even, maybe.

You know what definitely doesn't go well with lungs on fire, a slight queasiness and unpleasant sensations in your knees?

A slow paced, waltz-time, slightly Doors-influenced, somewhat carnivalesque track about not being able to get the runner's high.

Though it's great for cooking, I've found.

The Marches
"Runner's High"

Wired

A simple song on a simple theme with slightly silly costumes and a solid garage feel.

I have a feeling this would be a great show to catch live.

The White Wires
"In My Bed"

Every house has its memories

Memoryhouse
"The Waves"

Subterranean beat-ing

I'm still not sure what the guy is saying at the beginning, but this is some nice, tight, on-the-fast-side jazz from the movie-based-on-a-Kerouac-novella.

Andre Previn is most known as a classical pianist and conductor, but he more than dabbled in jazz when he was young in the 60's.

Andre Previn
That bit where he appears in The Subterraneans

Booming

A bit distorted at the beginning, but it gets a little cleaner as it goes along. Not much, but enough to make it solidly listenable.

Kind of like that part in the movie where the hero (stoically, determinedly, heroically) is off to do something that Needs To Be Done, and is resting on the way there, thinking about the events that have led up to the present.

Except much better.

BoomSnake
"My Pretend Friends"

Cannibalism!

Dirty Projectors cover - if you don't know the original, dude, get that fixed first.

A stripped down, less jagged and warmer version of the song. Not much interesting in the video, but it almost works better that way.

Yellow Ostrich
"Cannibal Resource"

Daysed

Dreamy, lazy-day music for watching people go by to.
This is what it feels like to be ridiculously tired, but happy nonetheless.

Ned Collette + Wirewalker
"Aspect"

Orchestral beauty

Montreal-crafted instrumental beauty, this.

I live relatively close to Coney Island, and so am very much looking forward to the generalized carnival atmosphere of the summer. Won't be quite like this, but I'm sure a magician or two, some games and a couple of human oddities will be a part of every weekend.

Though it must be stressed that it's really a bad idea to wander off to a carnival alone when you're seven or so.

Bell Orchestre
"The Upwards March"

Cloudbusters!

Classic Kate Bush redone by lo-fi electronic guy/band Vitaminsforyou.

With huge fricking machines and 80's-style-come-back aesthetics from the original video as a bonus.

Vitaminsforyou
"Cloudbusting"

Clouds

It's finally spring in New York.

Almost.

It's raining today but here's to many more days like last weekend: clear skies, neither cold nor warm, and a patch of grass to enjoy it all on.

Savath & Savalas
"Child"



PS - The "are'nt" is an interesting comment on English. It's easy to see how it would make more sense to put the apostrophe between the words as a marker, instead of substituting it for the vowel.

Keynote

I want to be able to play upright bass like this. It gets lost in the tune later on, but the beginning is quite tasty indeed.

These are the sorts of songs that become standards - straightforward without being dull, easily understood yet containing a universal message, and a good fusion of melody and rhythm.

All delivered in a quite appealing, unconcerned fashion by the classic Carmen McRae.

Carmen McRae
"I'm Going to Lock My Heart and Throw Away The Key"

Fever pitch

This is the side project of Brent Knopf from Menomena, and you can hear them a bit in that rhythmic, distorted quality to the music.

The video, however, involving animation, that 1895 style and guns that shoot birds, is absolutely magnificent to my mind.

Ramona Falls
"I Say Fever"

Next stop: Fulton Street

I've never actually gotten out, but I pass by the Fulton St. stop all the time on my way to Manhattan from Brooklyn.

Yes, the video is British but the song/band is from Brooklyn - modern technology, no?

Fulton Lights
"Sideways Glances and Coded Speech"

Ave Felix

No video, and when there's no video that song had better be pretty bloody good.

Which this is.

You ever feel aggressive-yet-delicate, with massive destruction performed in a tasteful, light-handed way?

Of course you do.

Just now you have a theme song for it.

Felix
"Death to Everyone But Us"

Mindful

Now, I'm well aware that the whole "toys come alive in the middle of the night" thing has been done to death, most obviously and most recently by that marvelous bit of animated entertainment, Toy Story. The music in this video warms the heart, splitting the difference between haunting and endearing without going either melodramatic or sappy. Hard to do, so respect there. The production value of the video, alas, has less to recommend it.

But that's OK, because 1) it's cute as all hell, and 2) it manages to be a little less innocent and a lot wiser than the aforementioned Pixar, and so comes out a lot truer to life as a result. Or, at least, truer to my life.

Just the thing for sorting out some things in your head, I reckon, and so Che, this one's for you.

Complete with a touch of banjo.

Do Make Say Think
"In Mind"

All the single ladies

As long as we're on the old-school soul/funk vibe, you know what's better than a little soul in your life?

A little soul in your life and Fellini.

Lee Fields
"Ladies"

The Giving of Dap

Yesterday I noticed I hadn't posted anything about the Dap-Kings and figured it was about time that changed.

Straight out of Brooklyn, this is as close as you're going to get to that classic soul/funk sound live these days.

They have shows at the Apollo Theater March 30 and May 1, hopefully I can work that out...

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
"100 Days and 100 Nights"

Bear necessities

I always had a soft spot in my heart for The Jungle Book as a child, in part because I had a soft spot in my heart for Baloo.

Still do, actually.

The good Mr. Astatke is the Fela Kuti of Ethiopian jazz, and you can hear the influence of US soul in the sound; incidentally, the same sound groups such as the Budos Band and Dap Kings are tapping into these days.

Tasty.

Mulatu Astatke
"Yegelle Tezeta"

The beat goes on

It's Metric. Not sure if an introduction is really necessary.

Just sit back and absorb the awesome.


Metric
"Help I'm Alive"

Caribe

The funny thing is that there's a good chance one of these days I'll own a small one room hut by my mom's place-to-be in Puerto Rico and so actually have a house in the Caribbean.

No AC and with chickens running around, but still, right?

FM Belfast
"Por Avion"

After sunset

All sorts of shit goes down in the city at night, is all I have to say.

Coconut Records
"Nighttiming"

Back

This is not the official video for this track, but IMHO the classic black and white images work quite well with the nostalgic, regretful quality to the music and the chorus that exclaims, "I want you back."

You can't bring back the past.

All you can do is appreciate it.

Local Natives
"Airplanes"

The revolution will be a performance space

This melding of political protest and masked performance reminds me of Mexico City's Super Barrio.

The underlying track is solid house, but the video is all the more remarkable given that this is a Kenyan group obviously referencing the post-election unpleasantness in their country - quite effective despite the camp.

Just a Band
"Usinibore"

After holding steady

About a week ago I won tickets to see the good Mr. Nicolay at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. Previously the keyboardist for The Hold Steady, he now lives in Brooklyn and finds himself more able to indulge his artistic whims.

Which is to say it was a most interesting show, the audience almost didn't know what to make of his half-comedian, half-entertainer; half-tragic, half indulgent attitude to the whole thing and the...we'll call it dignified pace to his music.

One of these days I will probably actually pay to see him.

And I will hopefully be in a position to sing along.

Franz Nicolay
"The Ballad of Hollis Wadsworth Mason, Jr."

Decidedly

Among the most influential jazz pianists you've never heard of, this is him playing "Undecided" in a most decisive fashion.

Teddy Wilson
"Undecided"

Brownbird holler in the Brooklyn night

Brownbird Rudy Relic is a friend of my friend Heidi, and a once upon a time last month a whole crew of VISTAs went to see him play a small bar in Brooklyn.

He's an old-school holler bluesman; there's no amplification of any type in his shows, instead it's all about playing hard and singing loud, jumping around the stage like a man possessed. (There's one part where he stood on a chair and hopped it forward, while still playing his guitar. Quite masterfully done, actually.)

This video doesn't come close to capturing the soul of the show, but it's a fun little trip through the NY subways and streets.

Brownbird Rudy Relic
"Lonely When You're Here"

Residential

So the first week I was in New York I won tickets to see The Residents with Heidi my coworker, a show that would have been much better had there been seating and had my bag been slightly less heavy (damn you, awesome selection of cheap books at The Strand!) All very cinematic, somewhat creepy and better thought of as a story than a show. Not a whole lot of dancing. This video is only about a minute, but it's a good representation of what the whole show was like.

The Residents
"Act of Being Polite"

Washed Out. Not clean.

So perfectly 80's there's no way it could actually have been from the 80's, the cheesiness is almost (almost) too much to handle.

Mellow track with something of an (ahem) suggestive video.

Washed Out
"Belong"

Marimbeando

Presenting the hypnotic sounds of a man and his marimba, a bit rough around the edges but with no shortage of soul.

(Incidentally, for some reason this kind of tune always reminds me of holler blues...)

Jose Antonio Torres Gualajo
"Torbellino Pacifico"

Empirical

I suppose if you're going to shamelessly appropriate somebody's style, you could do a lot worse than David Bowie. To be fair, a lot of their other music is not as Bowie-esque, but I think it's indicative that this is my favorite track from them.

Empire of the Sun
"Without You"

Win!

I won tickets to this show and will be going with my kind-of supervisor (I report directly to the person she reports to but will be working with her on some other things she has control over...)

She was extremely excited about this band, which I had never heard of.

But it looks like the show will be solid enough indeed...

Rogue Wave
"Like I Needed"

Polite swing song

Some smooth and swinging satisfaction for your Monday.

Almost a bit too smooth, I would prefer this to be a bit more rowdy - more hollering, notsomuch with the suits.

Although still well worth listening to.

Mills Brothers
"Swing It Sister"

Les Taxis au Paris

My experience with Paris is limited, but I can understand how somebody could have deep love for their city similar to that felt by New Yorkers, Londoners, cariocas or chilangos. Any resident of any big city, really.

Everything you'd expect from 80's new-wave synthpop - the hairstyle, the synthesizers, the style - except in French.

Taxi Girl
"Paris"

Oaklan', mano

Los Rakas are of Panamanian heritage, currently residing in Oakland; you can see the flag of the former and the streets of the latter throughout.

While the video is a tad silly in its mannerisms, it's in that same awkward, overly enthusiastic teenaged manner, before everything gets so complicated.

The underlying track, by contrast, is quite complicated, with the best use of flute before Invincible and a beat that splits the difference between reggaeton and hip hop. Which is what happens when you are of Panamanian heritage currently residing in Oakland.

Be proud of where you're from. Wherever that is.

Los Rakas
"Mi Barrio"

Lullaby of Bird, Andrew

We all know Andrew Bird rocks like a mountain range; no need to get into that. This is almost 8 minutes of Birdy bliss with some appropriately low-fi animation to go with it.

Beautifully beautiful.

Andrew Bird
"Lull"

It lives...

Remember psychedelia? The messed-up, colorful WTF? of the 60's, arguably most permeated into pop culture by Magical Mystery tour?

It lives. Apparently in Pennsylvania, where Black Moth Super Rainbow do their thing with an Air-inspired electronic sound and with much of its innocence gone by the wayside.

Black Moth Super Rainbow
"Sun Lips"

Could just be me

A Mexican band bringing a lush full sound with a definite dubstep beat and quite the imaginative video.

It's not exactly inspiring, it's not exactly introspective (it's not exactly a lot of things).

I could see the video being a series of first dates, with no idea how it all turns out.

RH+
"You Could Be Me"

Super Mario world

This video doesn't showcase the awesome virtuosity that Franco was capable of on the guitar, but trust me, this is the awesomeness Vampire Weekend is aspiring too.

Now including late 80s/early 90s outfits, coming to a hipster near you in about 5-6 years.

Franco Luombo
"Mario"

Greenland

Here's something you don't hear everyday: "My name is Nive. I ‘m an Inuk, a real eskimo from Greenland. Seriously. I play music, mostly on my little red ukelele and with some help from my friends."

This song of hers, "Room", is on a music compilation I've been listening to. I always liked the homely feeling of the song, but never cared to look her up. As it turns out, I was interviewing Giselle Webber last Sunday and she said she had collaborated with her. Nive recorded part of her album in Montreal and worked with a number of great local musicians, including Alden Penner from Clues. Small world.



stat!

What's up, Doc?

Before there was Dr. Beat, there was Dr. Jazz.

Woody Herman is classic swing/big band leader - funny how he seems to not know what to do with his hands until he picks up the oboe.

Woody Herman
"Get Me Doctor Jazz"

It's all right in Sweden

Yeah, there are obvious Vampire Weekend-like African guitar influences, but with a sense of humor. A deadpan Scandinavian sense of humor, extra-dry, yet innocent.

It's all right.

Elias and The Wizzkid
"Mr. Right Guy"

Go, go, go!

Original rockabilly, Carl Perkins was the guy who actually wrote and recorded "Blue Suede Shoes." Heard tell the Beatles got a hit out of this one but it's a rougher sound than the four lads from Liverpool, very much in keeping with the image.

Carl Perkins
"Matchbox"

Z to the A

Malaysia, of course, was part of the British Empire once upon a time, leaving a residual level of English.

Which is no doubt why Zee Avi can have fun going back and forth between Malay and English in this ever-so-cute track with her ever-so-lovely voice. A translation of those parts not already in English is here, but it's much more interesting this way, I think.

Zee Avi
"Kantoi"

Drama! Courage! Arm wrestling!

So the video is a bit silly, what with the power-tripping arm-wrestling fantasy and all, but at least they're well aware of it all. (A gorilla costume is a clear indication a video doesn't take itself seriously.)

The song itself manages to strike a good balance between drone and a beat, melody and dissonance. It's like a theme song to a remake of a cheesy 80's movie written as a collaboration between Queens of the Stone Age and Bon Jovi.

Epic video win, brothers and sisters.

"All Your Wars Are Won"

Big hearted

Last time I posted South African hip-hop, it was in Afrikaans and I had no idea what the MC was saying. This time, the flow is in English, and it's good - honest and open-hearted without bordering on the melodramatic, relentless without being aggressive at all.

Cheesiness aside, it's good to listen to your heart.

Proverb
"Heartbeat"

Take me, take me to the riot

As a proud nerd, I find a pop band named after the Venetian Republic referencing the riots at the premiere of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring most bracing. Especially when you throw in those outfits. It's edifying to think that people once cared about the representation of art enough to riot over a complete disregard for the conventions of classical dance. As opposed to, say, because their soccer team won/lost.

And before you cry, "Decemberists," The funny thing is that beyond a little dissonance at the beginning, there's nothing objectionable at all in the music - it's all sugary-sweet, silk-smooth indie-pop. Instead, I'm going to cry, "Stars."

Know anybody that's offended by Stars?

Me neither.

The Most Serene Republic
"The Men Who Live Upstairs"

Infrastructure

There's a lot to respect about Gil Evans in addition to his work with Miles Davis. He was as much an arranger, conductor and bandleader as a pianist (in this video he's the guy in front conducting), laying a lot of the foundations and structure for what came later. Infrastructure is one of those things that you don't notice until it starts falling apart.

Listen.

It's so solid, you can almost feel the steel and concrete.

Gil Evans Orchestra ft. Miles Davis
1959 session

Some things never get old

As previously mentioned, Senor Coconut is a German guy who spent some time in Chile, where he was inspired to create a mambo tribute to Kraftwerk. He hasn't looked back since.

Here he takes on the classic featured-in-that-VW-ad Trio song "Da Da Da" with the help of some classic-Bond-inspired, scantily clad vintage babes.

Happy Valentine's day, y'alls.

It's good to be the Coconut.

Senor Coconut
"Da Da Da"

Another

Zero flash, zero frills, zero pretensions, this song is the music equivalent of a hole-in-the-wall place that only does one thing - tacos, say, or noodles, possibly kebabs, depends on where you are - but does it solidly and in a manner that satisfies.

Patrick Porter
"Wait for Another"

Escape-goat

Claymation is more than A-OK in my book.

This is the sound of a person with a big heart resigning themselves to something less than ideal.

Thanks to Daytrotter for turning me on to the dreamy, spacy, almost-surreal-but-not-quite sounds of these here The Heligoats.

The Heligoats
"You Win"

Alone, together, xtatic

I'm not sure when a video about "learning how to be alone" is set to a track that is all but guaranteed to make the dancefloor explode unto joyful chaos, convincing everybody to look into the eyes of your friends as if to say, "This song is full of shit. You are not alone."

That's one take.

The other is to say that, yes, we are all individuals, but we are all individuals together, right here, as the dancefloor erupts.

Another track best heard out of speakers bigger than you are.

Crystal Fighters
"Xtatic Truth"

That 80s-60's sound

Yes, this is a band from the 80's that was inspired by the sound of the 60's.
As such, it sounds a hell of a lot like the bands these days that are inspired equally by the 60's garage sounds and the more streamlined 80's sound.

All you'd need to do to make it hit-ready nowadays is speed it up a bit, but I kind of like it slow and grinding like this.

The Stems
"Tears Me In Two"

Happiness is a warm pulse cannon

This is how you do happy in Scandinavia - with full awareness that things might not be so good in the future and a hefty dose of comical wanton destruction.

Plus any video that gives respect to Space Invaders gets my respect right back.

Royksopp
"Happy Up Here"

Swing sweet, low countries

Rita Reys is the grande dame of jazz in the Netherlands. Her occasionally noticeable Dutch accent works like a slightly-off beat, adding a nice little twist to the clean, expressive voice and the understated, solid performance by the band.

Slow, sweet and mellow, just the thing for spending a rainy afternoon in an Amsterdam coffee shop, or even coffeeshop for that matter...

Rita Reys
"Waltz For Debby/Green Dolphin Street"

Che

Once upon a time in San Francisco's Chinatown, there was a young lady that expressed strong interest in acquiring a cheongsam. Said young lady looked so fabulous in it I would have immediately purchased it her, had finances permitted.

This same young lady has a birthday today, and has expressed a preference for upbeat music, possibly involving a banjo or a mandolin, and this video makes me smile long and deep every time as well as featuring that same style of dress.

Che, this one's for you, and the dress I'll get for you one of these days...

紅庭 (Red Chamber) and The Jaybirds
"Katy Hill"

B to the r, the o, the ok, to the lyn is the place where I stay

To be fair, Mos Def was probably not thinking about Bensonhurst. But, yeah, I'm finally back from my Philadelphia orientation and settling in, so even if the MC is Brazilian, the video is 100% Brooklyn courtesy of the mad talented Gadja Monteiro.

"Tambor" means drum; I like drums.

Marcelo D2
"Meu Tambor"

From Gandja Monteiro on Vimeo.

How not to die

I don't post classical music much, but it seemed more than appropriate as yesterday I was (finally) able to attend a performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade, which has been one of my favorite classical pieces since I was a kid.

Everybody pretty much knows the story of the 1,001 nights and the value of a good cliffhanger ending, we'll let the San Diego Symphony provide the introduction.

I'm just going to say that solos don't come much more lyrical than this, especially with the violin.

And I'd like to thank my new friend Jen for making it all possible...

Moscow Symphony, Arthur Arnold conductor, Elena Semenova violin solo
Rimsky-Korsakov "Sheherezade, First Movement: The Sea and Sindbad's Ship"

Film editing: good for something after all.

Once upon a time (call it 1953) there was a classic musical by the name of The Band Wagon, featuring (among others) Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. One of the scenes was so brimming with awesome that it served as an inspiration for Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" video.

And then somebody took that song and edited the footage from the original movie to fit it:

Michael Jackson, ft. Fred Astaire & Cyd Charisse
"Smooth Criminal"

Nonpolitic

First off, it has to be said: the name is kind of...tacky. I mean, it's kind of like the guy who chose the name Ayatollah - there's a certain amount of eye-rolling and, "Bloody hell, not this nonsense again."

Terror MC is from Cape Flats, South Africa; this is all in Afrikaans, so I have no idea what he's saying, but it's the mark of a good MC that he keeps your head nodding even if you have no idea what he's saying.

The underlying track appropriating classic Barrington Levy with a nicely balanced mix of bass, classic drum machine sounds, horns and strings doesn't hurt, too.

Freedom. I'm a fan.

Terror MC
"Liberate Yourself"

Analog is bliss

You can read all sorts of things into the fact that Analog Girl is from Singapore. The nerd in me would note how the notoriously controlled Singaporean environment might have influenced a girl growing up.

Thing is, with a driving-yet-diffuse beat and an offhand, almost dismissive melody with a trace of a mischievous smile, that part isn't in charge when I listen to this.

Analog Girl
Live at Bliss, Taipei

Jazz, Getz, you, "Nowhere"

Stan Getz is best known for his bossa nova, especially the album Getz/Gilberto with Tom Jobin as well as Jao Gilberto and his wife Astrud. Their version of "The Girl from Ipanema" in particular.

This is him in 1960 before all of that went down, showing that warm, smooth tone didn't come out of nowhere.

Stan Getz Quintet
"Out of Nowhere"

Not a mashup

And we finish off the ESL series with Federico Aubele. He's from Argentina; given the 70's vibe of the video, and the nasty business going down in Argentina then, you can understand the vaguely menacing vibe in the track. Solid respect to the tango influence in the style of the accordion as well as the singing.

It's like a mashup between some old-school Portishead or Massive Attack and some choice tango and Latin American protest-folk.

It works better than it sounds.

Federico Aubele
"Postales"

Pa Nueva Yor'

Off to New York today.

As one might expect, there's a vibrant Latin music scene in New York, from old-school salsa bands to latin-inspired afrobeat and rock bands that just happen to sing in Spanish. Mostly. Pacha Massive is part of all of this, a part that is almost too smooth for my tastes. Almost. It's hard to overestimate the appeal of a lively, lovely Colombian bassist with a voice like soul made sound.

Looking forward to seeing them play around and about the five boroughs.

Pacha Massive
"All Good Things"

The following is brought to you as a public service

Today our friends at ESL bring us pure camp, with a video full of stern warnings about inappropriate lifestyles and a tune that sounds like just the sort of thing that might be playing in a good-times 60's flick.

Only better.

Chris Joss
"Danger Buds"

Dancing, happiness and vinyl

And we continue our ESL journey.

More dance-y and less lounge-y this time, also more of a bossa-nova/funk feel.

One of these days, when mass and volume are less of a problem I'm going to buy vinyl. That would be very silly given present circumstances, but not as silly as the question, "Do you want to dance and be happy?"

Seriously..

Nickodemus
"Funky in the Middle"

Beat that!

Still on the ESL vibe.

This is not an expression of deep emotion, nor is it a song protesting injustice. Nossir, this is straight ahead, bouncing--at-a-club, check-your-brain-at-the-door dance music.

Remember big beat? Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, et al?

It seems the sound is back.

Ursula 1000
"Hello! Let's Go To a Disco!"

Coconut. No lime.

As a kid, I remember visiting Puerto Rico and my mother's uncle climbing up a tree with a machete to cut down fresh coconut for us. Tasty as all hell. This seems to have been filmed in South Asia somewhere, but the coconuts are quite similar.

This week we present videos from the DC-based Eighteenth Street Lounge (ESL - clever, no?) record label. The one associated with Thievery Corporation.

Nice loungy tune to have, oh, I don't know, maybe a pina colada to...

Ocote Soul Sounds
"Coconut Rock"

Preacher-man

Jimmy Smith, the master of the Hammond organ, shows us the soul.

Halleluya, brothers and sisters.

Jimmy Smith
"The Sermon"

Jarred

I'm not exactly sure what this song is about, and they certainly don't break any new musical ground - this is straight-ahead light-indiepop here - but it's an interesting idea for the video, and they pull it off with consummate cuteness.

With extra adorability as everybody dances at the end.

Immaculate Machine
"Jarhand"

Experiments in consciousness

Duchess Says
"Black Flag"

I have no idea what the video is about, but it captures the retro early-80's electro sound of the track (dialed up to 12) most beautifully.

Choose life

It's my birthday today.

It's my birthday and for some reason I feel compelled to post this video. The performance by the actress would have been enough to win it a post, but in...well, not quite celebration, but in recognition of the shit that can happen if you don't keep yourself grounded, it seems appropriate to post it on the day that I view as a celebration of life and living.

I like to think that there's a third ending, the one that actually happened, the one where the guy stays grounded, the one that then allows him to make this video. The one in which he, in fact, chooses life.

If you only watch one video this month, this is the one to watch.

Cinnamon Chasers
"Luv Deluxe"

These Birds can sing

Just a stripped-down, bare-bones, and absolutely beautiful version of an old Motown standard from another Aussie band.

Birds of Tokyo
"Heard it Through the Grapevine"

Dancing in Barcelona

"Fugaz" translates to something like "fleeting" in English.

Kooky and cute with a metallic sheen the Pinker Tones sound kind of like Daft Punk taking a load off. The video features Barcelona, their hometown, and made me ever-so-nostalgic for my study-abroad days there.

(1:19=priceless!)

The Pinker Tones
"Fugaz"

Old-time sound

Once upon a time three siblings, all under 20, listened to a lot of vinyl. This then inspired them to grab an RCA mic, plug everything into an 8-track and set it all down on some of their very own vinyl.

Nothing too surprising. Except that this tale does not unfold 1950's US South, but rather modern-day Kentish Town, London, England.

Oh, and their mother was a drummer for The Raincoats.

Baby don't you want to go?

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis
"Going Up to the Country"

It's love, you see

It's MLK Day in the USA, and there will (appropriately) be a great deal of commentary about how far the struggle for equality has come, and how far the struggle still has to go.

This video is not about that. It's about this MLK quote:

"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it."

Plus today is the birthday of somebody who is most fond of jazz & the Little Prince.

Vero, esto va para ti.

Nat King Cole
"Nature Boy"

Listen to Johnny

This is what Johnny Depp thought of the 13th Floor Elevators in 2005:

"Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators...[t]hey were basically the first psychedelic-rock band. 1965. And if you listen to old 13th Floor Elevators stuff—Roky Erickson especially, his voice—and then go back and listen to early Led Zeppelin, you know that Robert Plant absolutely copped everything from Roky Erickson. And it's amazing. And Roky Erickson is sitting in Austin, Texas; he's just there. And Robert Plant had a huge hit. It always goes back to those guys, you know? I love those fucking guys."

No arguments here.

About the only way we could improve this is if, say, we could include Bettie Page somehow...

13th Floor Elevators
"She Lives In a Time Of Her Own"



Yeah. We got that.

That's cold

Officially the album Canadians most heart, it might make sense that this poll was taken in Canada, in December, and this is winter music, pure and simple.

And by that I mean literally pure and literally simple - slow, deliberate yet tenuous, with plenty of space, plenty of ambiguities and a fragile, dark quality most appropriate with dealings with the devil.

Here's to summer, y'alls.

Timber Timbre
"Demon Host"

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Another Australian band with a decent tune, awesome video and excellent title for the track, more of a garage-rock/punk feel with a different kind of vintage this time.

I'm wondering if there's some mineral in the water that makes so much from Australia so awesomely awesome.

The Kill Devil Hills
"Cockfighter"

The pleasant sounds of the apocalypse

A friend of a friend designed a poster for this Aussie band, and I looked into them out of curiosity.

Sometimes it pays off.

The song itself is pleasant enough, but the cinematography is excellent - it's like this song was featured in a movie and they just excerpted clips from it - and "Lullaby for the Apocalypse" is a most excellent song title indeed.

Charge Group
"Lullaby for the Apocalypse"

Feist-y

An excellent, soulful reworking of the original by their compatriot, the inimitable Leslie Feist.

Not sure how I feel about the camera effects. It's good to have two different perspectives, but many of the effects are just distracting.

Good beat. Great voice. Nice video.

Respect to the north, is all I've got to say.

Bonjay
"Honey Honey"

The Lime and Butterscotch

This video is unfinished, which means that this song is much more polished than the video that accompanies it.

Good thing the song is nicely polished indeed. (Almost too polished, actually, making references to the sounds of soul, house and indie without actually committing.)

Good stuff nevertheless.

Drop The Lime
"Butterscotch"

Word.

This goes out to all those jazz-loving word nerds who say tomahto.

We were actually taught phonetic script in my course, and I got the distinct impression that I was the only person in the class who found it fun.

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
"Let's Call The Whole Thing Off"

Hometown crowd

Para todos los argentinos, todos los porteños, y todos en la ciudad de la furia!

There's nothing quite like a hometown crowd. Seeing Mos Def in Brooklyn or the Dropkick Murphys in Boston is not the same as seeing them in, say, Houston.

Soda Stereo is the Argentine equivalent of David Bowie, The Clash and The Pixies all rolled into one. Their final show as a band, in Buenos Aires, in the River Plate football stadium was one of those "I was there" shows you tell everybody about later.

I wasn't there, mind you, but I saw Los Fabulosos Cadillacs - another Argentinean institution of a band - in the same stadium and I can only imagine what this show was like.

Soda Stereo
"De Musica Ligera"

Polish. It's nice.

Unlike someone else, I have never seen Man Man live. As such, I can only speculate as to whether this is one of those bands whose music works better as a soundtrack than live.

Nevertheless, as a fan of Alice in Wonderland (and things 1899 in general) I am quite fond of the visuals in this video. More so than the song, which isn't bad but could use some polishing.

Unlike the video, which is so polished it positively gleams.

Man Man
"Banana Ghost"

Wegue!

More kuduro out of Angola-via-Portugal. Portuguese speaking, at any rate.

I have no idea what "wegue wegue" is, but damned if it doesn't look like a whole lot of fun.

Buraka Som Sistema
"Kalemba (Wegue Wegue)"

Shall we dance?

An excellent melding of all the elements of smooth rock (only with a more prominent horn section) and nice surreal visual. (Always loved those Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire flicks too.)

I want to go to there. With you.

Chin Chin
"Go There With You"

Haircuts in a heatwave

There's a fair amount of automatic respect for anybody who was a founding member of the The Skatalites; there's even more respect for the frontman of one of the bands that was created following the break up.

This song brings a smile to my face every time.

Tommy McCook
"Heatwave"

It's summer in Australia. And Argentina. South Africa too. Sigh.

Your RDA of mellow-dreamy good-time bizarreness.

Yawn.

Neon Indian
"Deadbeat Summer"

Diz is good stuff

With his trademark off-angle trumpet, Dizzy Gillespie demonstrates why he is one of the greatest jazzmen ever.

Straight up greatest.

As in, ever.

Dizzy Gillespie Quintet
"Lorraine"

La lanterne magique

More than a little Magical Mystery Tour, only with an obvious French accent and stop-motion animation.

Old style aesthetic completely intact.

Lucky Elephant
"Reverand Tisley and his Magic Lantern"

Run!

This was shot in Bangkok.

I know because I was a kid there in the 80's and recognize some of the sights, only intensifying the nostalgia of the 80's saturated sounds.

French electro-pop with that French electro feel - intensely felt, stop-and-start, and rich in its perspective.

C'est tres jolie, non?

Pony Pony Run Run
"Hey You"

Black and white style

Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari are both in the public domain, which means The Walkmen were allowed to use the originals for their old-time-style video. And we all know I like to party like it's 1909, so there we go.

I have a feeling that, yeah, 2010 is going to be a good year.

The Walkmen
"In the New Year"