Thursday, March 26, 2009

after decade of blizzard and drought we crucified the sun...



i figured it was time to make a longer post as the next two weeks are going to beyond busy, even for procrastinating on the internet. that was about 2 hours ago as my shitty stolen wireless keeps cutting in and out, making up-loading all the more difficult (the nerve of my neighbours, i thought they would understand by now past midnight their bandwidth is purely for my use)... so, ive made an extended playlist with extended rants instead of working on three school papers and a conference paper which are all due in two weeks. the songs are sort of all over the place, but ive put them in an order i think fits nicely, so i suggest you listen to them that way...




























the constantines remind me of a lot of things: concerts at louis' with young eyes that aren't so innocent, the cd in the background when we slept on your floor in first year making out, the radio show staple, wandering around cuba listening to on to you and feeling again, warm beer and cigarettes in the alley after the concerts, tamborines, too much wine and dancing in the living room, songs sung in my range, songs that dont remind me of you, deeann finding tyler's twin, my little sister, making great coffee at midnight.... this is no gentleman's blues.
  1. bright eyes - papa was a rodeo (magnetic fields cover)
  2. bright eyes - four winds
  3. cuff the duke - ballad of a lonely construction worker
  4. the constantines - thank you for sending me an angel (b-side)
  5. the constantines - fuckin' up (neil young cover)
  6. the constantines - why i didnt like augest 93' (elevator to hell cover)
  7. the constantines - sea line woman (nina simone cover)
  8. the constantines - young lines (alternate version)
  9. the constantines - our age (alternate version)
  10. the constantines - stringe birds (alternate version)
  11. the constantines - i will not sing a hatefull song (alternate version)
  12. the constantines - st. you
  13. wooley leaves - people and planets























memory was an elephant sitting in the room - racing eyes looking for unfamiliar clothes - your hustle is on, a hedgefox in the snow - but what you didnt know is she smiled at me - entire cities played as i drank whiskey smuggled in from a gatoraid bottle - she looked across the room and smiled again with no disguise - and you can gather your acolytes - it takes a fire to confess a flood and mine is a body which can't be burnt away
  1. st. vincent & the national - sleep all summer (crooked fingers cover)
  2. entire cities - turbines
  3. entire cities - accountant dreams
  4. entire cities - talkers
  5. entire cities - cop song
  6. entire cities - coffee
  7. entire cities - the woods
  8. red river - something good
























once i drove out to jasper with my girlfriend and best friend. the elk were in rutt, we had never set up the tent before, the summer was coming to an end, and i drove, i drove; on the way home i was driving 160 through the fog east of north battleford listening to godspeed you black emporer. before we reached our destination we stopped in edmonton, there was watersliding, the blue bullet and record stores, there was smog-lambchop-electralane-dump-preston school of industry purchased (a strange panacea for a soundtrack). i remember buying foreign beer at a middle eastern grocery/alchohol store (the irony didnt strike me at the time), we tried to crush the japanese beer cans on our heads, we learnt not to mess with the japanese.
  1. adrian orange & her band - window (mirror) shadow
  2. smog - dress sexy at my funeral
  3. smog - cold blooded old times
  4. smog - hit the ground running
  5. bill callahan - eid ma clack shaw
  6. bill callahan - santa maria (versus cover)
  7. lambchop - low ambition
  8. lambchop - flick
  9. lambchop - d. scott paisley
  10. lambchop - women help to create the kind of men they despise
























do you like fleet foxes? do you like bonnie 'prince' billy? do you like cabin and bedroom recordings? if you answered yes to any of the above questions listen to mimicking birds, i came home drunk and downloaded their album along with a bunch of crap, then the next morning decided to give them (actually him) a listen because i liked the name (i deleted the other albums without a listen)... this is brilliant, its familiar, its strange... listen to this if nothing else...
  1. mimicking birds - rivers, veins, and roots
  2. mimicking birds - home and somewhere else
  3. mimicking birds - the loop
  4. mimicking birds - plastic seeds























"I came to your party dressed as a shadow and you never knew, you never knew I rolled through the halls like a velvet wave, as quiet as an empty stage I blackened your eyes and stole the light from your glass But in the cold calm of the morning, lay like a death-kite on your lawn I came to your party dressed as a shadow, without invitation, without a motive I parked three streets from the moonlight - the soft walk to your house on a silver string You were dancing in the backyard to a biscuit-tin beat I slunk between the notes, posting them off to the night This is symptomatic of you and me : I have jars full of your breath I have shelves of your words but you have nothing of me but a space where I would be " -piano magic
  1. kurt vile - beach on the moon (recycled lyrics)
  2. kurt vile - my best friends (dont even pass this)
  3. smokin' hot bitch - steel city
  4. night control - star 131
  5. forest fire - forute teller
  6. foreign born - vacationing people
  7. yellow city - culver city
  8. leafcutter john - seba
  9. piano magic - i came to your party dressed as a shadow
Download Playlist:
part 1 - http://www.yousendit.com/download/UmNMYURNTkxvQnZ2Wmc9PQ
part 2 - http://www.yousendit.com/download/UmNMYURBYTJLVlZjR0E9PQ
part 3 - http://www.yousendit.com/download/UmNMYURPZDV0NjljR0E9PQ

also I found a couple of live links for albums of some of the stuff i've put in this 'mix'. these links arn't mine (bolachas, hipinion, etc) so they could be taken down at any time....
mimicking birds lp- http://rapidshare.com/files/211547758/Mimicking_Birds_-_Mimicking_Birds_-_2009__acoustic_____.zip
entire cities lp - http://rapidshare.com/files/164456317/EC-DR.zip
contantines tour ep - http://www.mediafire.com/?dtzmznijgiz

















all images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinosonic/

any other business



Item 1:
Alix has asked me to re-up the hayden cover of famous blue raincoat, here it is https://www.yousendit.com/download/UmNLRm8zcHZ0TWswTVE9PQ
Also if anyone has an actual account (not free or trial accounts) for mediafire, rapidshare, yousendit, etc and would be willing to share, let me know. As well, if anyone wants anything re-upped or has an idea for what to post leave a comment, I like comments....


Item 2: I had a radio show for four or five years, now I dont. Buuuut, I have some friends who do a podcast (tyler and alice to your right) who you should listen to at http://awkwardsilencesradio.blogspot.com/ . And, I have a friend at uvic (aliya) who has a show you can also download as a podcast at http://beakerandhoneydew.tumblr.com



Item 3: my friends in slow down molasses (who I have posted before here) are on tour. Go support them
Slow Down, Molasses
“I'm an Old Believer" Eastern Tour Dates:
March 20 – Amigo's Cantina, Saskatoon, SK w/ The Lazy MKs
March 28 - Lo Pub, Winnipeg, MB
March 29 - The Apollo, Thunderbay, Ontario
March 30 - The Garage, Sudbury, Ontario
March 31 - The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto, Ontario w/ Brasstronaut
April 1 - The Black Sheep Inn, Wakefield Quebec w/ Sarah Hallman & Jay Crocker
April 2 - L'Hemisphere Gauchei, Montreal, Quebec w/ Debaser & KIMIKI
April 3 - Chaucer's, London, Ontario w/ Julie Doiron
April 4 - Phog Lounge, Windsor, Ontario w/ Valery Gore & Wax Mannequin
April 5 - The Attic!, Guelph, Ontario w/ The Skeletones Four
April 7 - The Casbah Lounge, Hamilton, Ontario
April 8 - Rancho Relaxo, Toronto, Ontario
April 9 - Renee's Cafe, South River, Ontario
April 10 - The Black Pirates Pub, Thunder Bay, Ontario
April 11 - TBA, Kenora, Ontario
April 17 - Amigo's Canatina, Saskatoon, Sk w/ Attack in Black & Shotgun Jimmie




meeting adjourned.

Friday, March 20, 2009

waking up from hibernation to fall asleep again...



i wanted an excuse to make a post including some friends and acquaintances
from back home who make spoken word and the hip-hop
which has been the soundtrack to my hibernation
....

so this is the mystery mix?





images: fffound.com

something to keep? hit repeat....


whiskey and street-meat for supper,
i'm waiting for my second serving,
three new songs i heard this week,
i have never learned to hit repeat moderately,
and really were you expecting another young folks or amsterdam?




1. Peter, Bjorn, John - Lay It Down
2. Surf City - Dickshakers Union (V.2)
3. Thee Oh Sees - Peanut Butter Oven






and im sorry,
i cannot help it,
i have a better taste,
in music, literature, and art,
but somehow my laces are always untied



images : http://www.ryanmrozowski.com/portfolio.html

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

crushing so hard

so, st.vincent (annie clark) has a new album (actors) coming out in may which i am eagerly anticipating. i really enjoyed her last album (marry me) and i have been listening to the single that has been released of the new album called the strangers... what can i say, they lyrics are amazing and strike me everytime i listen, the foot-tapping beat is wonderfully simple, a little rock break-down at the 2:41 mark is brilliant, etc etc etc.... here is a link for the song, check it out,
http://www.box.net/shared/ck9myxusrr

after marking 10 essays i decided to reward myself with some youtube time (i live a sad life) and started watching some take away shows st. vincent has done.... and then i started crushing bigtime on this texas chanteuse.... sigh, someday someday.... anyway, check out some of the videos below they are worth the time...


St Vincent: What Me Worry? from shoottheplayer.com on Vimeo.







Thursday, March 12, 2009

hidden valleys of the inland empire...

So I figured I would share two artists that put albums in the last 6 months that went under the radar. Then I decided to add two other artist that I really enjoy that people may not be aware of (not because they put out 50 cassette tapes of drone, but artists that are accessible and more people should hear). I've sort of come to the realization there is no point in 'hording' stashes of music or sharing it with only select people, so hopefully someone likes the stuff i'm posting here...

To start off with, I've been listening to 'You Can't Have What You Want' by Papercuts non-stop for the past two weeks. The album is on Gnomonsong Label of Andy Cabic (the genius behind Vetiver) and Devendra Banhart (the guy who spends his nights behind Natalie Portman). Papercuts is Jason Quever who has played with the Skygreen Leopards (who I have posted here before) and other member of San Fransico's Jewelled Anters Collective. The album, which features contributions from Beach House, has the haze of quaalude dreams, reverb gauze, lazy summers and smoke-filled rooms feel (whatever that means) that rests in an 'unforced' 60's nostalgia (like the enjoyable 1/5th of BJM songs) of French Pop, Spaghetti Westerns, Beach Boys, and The Zombies. This is definitely the best album I've heard in a long long long time..


  1. Papercuts - John Brown (off the album Can't Go Back)
  2. Papercuts - Dictator's Lament
  3. Papercuts - The Machine Will Tell Us So
  4. Papercuts - Future Primitive
  5. Papercuts - You Can't Have What You Want


The second artist I wanted to highlight is I Am Oak. Although it's difficult to find any information on this band (which is the project of Dutchman Thijs Kuijken) I think it only adds to the allure. The album 'Ols Songd' beauty rests in its bedroom recording simplicity, Thjis vulnerable falsetto (like a less agnsty jeff magnum, or croony zach condon), enigmatic lyrics written either by a genius or someone learning english, and deceivingly simply classical guitar playing; as a result, I've spent the last couple of months figuring out how to play a lot of the album which has proven more difficult than I expected. This is one of those albums to listen to while looking pensively out windows after arriving home at 4am....

  1. I Am Oak - I Am Sound
  2. I Am Oak - Furrows
  3. I Am Oak - Covers Cover
  4. I Am Oak - Firm Hands
  5. I Am Oak - Islands More Islands
  6. I Am Oak -Yojihito

The other two artist I thought I should highlight are Karl Blau and Colourbook. Karl Blau is a Portland based musician who has worked with Phil Eluvium among others, his songs are eclectic and tough to cage but his vocals are similar to Smog and his lyrics playful which reminds me of Pavement and other early 90's bands. I originally started listening to Karl Blau after hearing the painfully addicting track 'Mockingbird Diet' in demo form (which is the one I will post as the album version is a little too slowed down for my taste). Colourbook is from Victoria, they are friend of friends, most of the guys in the band play in a lot of other Victoria projects, they like yelling/chanting, angular guitar riffs, and, continuing with my theme of making stretched comparisons, sort of sound like Wolf Parade (but in their own way, not like Blackhat Brigade). I really wish they would put out another album...

  1. Karl Blau - Lake King's Daughter
  2. Karl Blau - Arco Iris Arledadore De La Luna
  3. Karl Blau - My Johnny
  4. Karl Blau - Mockingbird Diet
  5. Karl Blau - Dragon Song
  6. Karl Blau - Before Telling Dragons

  1. Colourbook - Lung Fun
  2. Colourbook - The Wimbledon Riot
  3. Colourbook - Spout/Her
Here is the link to download the songs I've listed :
https://www.yousendit.com/download/UmNKd0VDSWVVbS92Wmc9PQ

Also, if you're interested, here are the links to download the Papercut's and I Am Oak albums. They are not my links so I can't guarantee how long they will be up for
Papercuts: http://www.mediafire.com/?tzaljym4uj0
I Am Oak: http://rapidshare.com/files/173364655/I_Am_Oak_-_Ols_Songd_-_2008.zip

Finally, go see these artists live or buy there albums....


All images of Soviet playing cards in the Mayan theme from http://englishrussia.com/?p=2127 , sort of a weird funny story behind them if you check out the link....

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

oh shit got real


you know things be gettin' real when the sleepless goat is bustin' out the ghetto rap.... shiiit, i think that girl in the lulu lemon pants and tops with the ugg boots and a tattoo in hebrew is packing heat.... and those guys serving me with the iron and wine beard in flannel and the other with the knitted sweater must be 'street'.... (i shit you not, i shit you not)....

Anyway, i figured i'd post two covers for all their dead homies....

  1. Superwolf (Bonnie Prince Billy & Matt Sweeny) - Ignition (live R.Kelly cover)
  2. James Eric - Mrs. Officer (Lil Wayne cover)
download:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/U0d3ZUN0UnFCTW14dnc9PQ

anyway, i should get back to reading foucault, but thanks for letting me keep it realz....


image from my wonderful sisters blog at http://jessb.tumblr.com/

Sunday, March 8, 2009

one of us cannot be wrong.

"So you're the kind of vegetarian
Who only eats roses
Is that what you mean't
With your beautiful losers?"
-Leonard Cohen


So I have tickets to see Leonard Cohen in March and amazing seats (thanks Iain). I am beyond excited for this concert as Mr. Cohen is one of my all time favourite poets, let alone song writers. I was going to post a bunch of his poems but I really couldnt decide after flipping through numerous books of his for an hour. So with the exception of above, I'll just post some song lyrics.












"I lit a thin green candle, to make you jealous of me.

But the room just filled up with mosquitos,
they heard that my body was free.
Then I took the dust of a long sleepless night
and I put it in your little shoe.
And then I confess that I tortured the dress
that you wore for the world to look through.

I showed my heart to the doctor: he said I just have to quit.
Then he wrote himself a prescription,
and your name was mentioned in it!
Then he locked himself in a library shelf
with the details of our honeymoon,
and I hear from the nurse that he's gotten much worse
and his practice is all in a ruin.

I heard of a saint who had loved you,
so I studied all night in his school.
He taught that the duty of lovers
is to tarnish the golden rule.
And just when I was sure that his teachings were pure
he drowned himself in the pool.
His body is gone but back here on the lawn
his spirit continues to drool.

An Eskimo showed me a movie
he'd recently taken of you:
the poor man could hardly stop shivering,
his lips and his fingers were blue.
I suppose that he froze when the wind took your clothes
and I guess he just never got warm.
But you stand there so nice, in your blizzard of ice,
oh please let me come into the storm. "
-One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong

















Ok, here are some lesser known covers of Leonard Cohen songs (sorry jeff buckley) for download:
  1. Gus Black - Hey Thats No Way To Say Goodbye
  2. Beirut - Hallelujah
  3. Holly Figueroa O'Reilly - Everybod Knows
  4. Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem - Heart With No Compassion
  5. Martha Wainwright - Tower Of Song
  6. Anthony - If It Be Your Will*
  7. Hayden - Famous Blue Raincoat*
  8. Josh Ritter - Chelsea Hotel #2
  9. Lambchop - Chelsea Hotel #2
  10. Cassisa's Wierd & Sam Beam - Chelsea Hotel #2*
  11. Regina Spektor - Chelsea Hotel #2*
  12. The Walkmen - The Old Revolution*
  13. The Walkmen - Lady Midnight
  14. The Walkmen - Passin' Through
  15. Marissa Nadler - Famous Blue Raincoat*
* = brilliant
Download Link:
https://www.yousendit.com/download/U0d3blFIcHY5RmJ2Wmc9PQ

"It's four in the morning, the end of December
I'm writing you now just to see if you're better
New York is cold, but I like where I'm living
There's music on Clinton Street all through the evening.

I hear that you're building your little house deep in the desert
You're living for nothing now, I hope you're keeping some kind of record.

Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?

Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You'd been to the station to meet every train
And you came home without Lili Marlene

And you treated my woman to a flake of your life
And when she came back she was nobody's wife.

Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see Jane's awake --

She sends her regards.
And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I'm glad you stood in my way.

If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me
Your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free.

Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried.

And Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear"
-Famous Blue Raincoat


all images from google image search, aka various places...

Friday, March 6, 2009

broken strings and other things...




whiskey at 4, garage music at 4:30, full pack of cigarettes; this is no vanity post but, rather, the way to begin a friday night... if i cant escape this city, full of fucking idiots and posers, at least i can get lost in it...


dont tune your guitars
dont tune your guitars
you dont owe anything to them
dont tune your guitars
they're only here to say they were
dont tune your guitars
welcome to flannelgrad
dont tune your guitars


  1. real estate - suburban beverage
  2. real estate - old folks
  3. the black lips - short fuse
  4. the black lips - katrina
  5. little girls - youth tunes
  6. little girls - what we did
  7. coachwhips - pb+j
  8. the muslims - nightlife
  9. the muslims - extinction
  10. the muslims - right and wrong
  11. the muslims - on my time
  12. the walkmen - lost in boston
  13. the walkmen - the rat
  14. the ponys - i wanna fuck you
  15. the ponys - another wound
  16. the ponys - lets kill ourselves
  17. no age - eraser
  18. times new viking - times new viking vs yo la tengo
  19. a place to bury strangers - missing you
download link: (also i generally put mixes in order, and spend some time doing so, try it out)
https://www.yousendit.com/download/U0d4ZFhsUnJBNkZFQlE9PQ















i miss my fins
i miss prairie folk


images: probably from fffound, deviant art, and le love, to lazy to source... go find it yourself...











Wednesday, March 4, 2009

circling pronouns at riverend.




"Now there grows among all the rooms, replacing the night's old smoke, alcohol and sweat, the fragile, musaceous odor of Breakfast: flowery, permeating, surprising, more than the color of winter sunlight, taking over not so much through any brute pungency or volume as by the high intricacy to the weaving of its molecules, sharing the conjuror's secret by which -- though it is not often that Death is told so clearly to fuck off -- the living genetic chains prove even labyrinthine enough to preserve some human face down twenty generations . . . so the same assertion-through-structure allows this war morning's banana fragrance to meander, repossess, prevail."
--Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow, V10



Riverend:
  1. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Is This The Sea/My Home Is The Sea
  2. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Beware Your Only Friend
  3. Califone - Michigan Girls
  4. Califone - The Orchids
  5. Fleet Foxes - False Night On The Road
  6. Great Lake Swimmers - Various Stages
  7. Great Lake Swimmers - River's Edge
  8. Hayden - Starting Over
  9. Josh Ritter - Girl In The War
  10. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
  11. Neko Case - I'm An Animal
  12. Phosphorescent - Cocaine Lights
  13. Red Red Meat - Gauze
  14. Vetiver - On The Otherside
  15. Vetiver - On A Nerve
hxxps://www.yousendit.com/download/U0d6YUlsT01mVGF4dnc9PQ



"When all the numbers swim together and all the shadows settle
When doors forced open shut again a flytrap and a petal
My eyes burn and claws rush in to fill them
And in the morning after the night i fall in love with the light
It is so clear i realize and here at last i have my eyes

When all the figures sound retreat the soft skin starts to shrivel
When dreams made real become less sweet the orchid and the metal
My sex turns and claws rush in to spill them
And in the morning after the night i fall in love with the light
It is so pure i can arrive without the fear of seeing my eyes

When all the characters full size and every moon is level
When all the spirits burn in lies as center grief by steel
My eyes burn and claws rush in to fill them
But in the morning after the night i fall in love with the light
It is so clear i realize and now at last i have my eyes "

-Genesis P-Orridge/Psychic TV

image credits in order:
Irina troitskaya http://irtroit.com/category/editorial/
Jody Rogac http://jodyrogac.wordpress.com/
Le Love http://leloveimage.blogspot.com/2008/12/ill-meet-you-there.html