Well that didn't take as long as I thought it would. Here is a dreamy indie mix for you. Not dreamy in a David Cassidy kind of way..too old?...uhh in a David Hasselhoff kind of way?..whatever, I give up. What I mean is the first several songs contain the word dream. They also have a floaty ethereal feel to them. They are otherworldly transportation devices that will carry you above the daily grind atop a floaty pillow of pretty pop music.
Several of the features on this will be coming to town and were mentioned in this post. It kicks off with the Morning Benders song, "Excuses," here is the video that was in the last post in case you are lazy.
It sticks with that sort of vibe for awhile and picks up later. Here is one from the more lively section. It's by J. Roddy Walston and the Business. I think it's a super solid track. These dudes from Baltimore tear it apart
Here is their track, "Brave Man's Death." It's off of their self-titled sophomore LP which is due out July 27, courtesy of Vagrant.
Jeffro's loves The Local Natives make two appearances as well.
Here is one of their tracks from the mix, "Camera Talk."
You guys took my previous advice and went to the Insane Clown Posse show right? How was it? Did you guys figure out how magnets work?
Well I hope you enjoyed yourselves. I only went to one show out of the many that were posted...and no it wasn't the Wondergirls one. I saw Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings at the Warfield and it was awesome. The Dap Kings are seriously one of the greatest live bands ever. The Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings concert experience is at the top of my list for quality shows. Sharon has way too much energy for being in her 50's, she never misses a note, she belts everything out with so much skill it's unbelievable, and she can get down with a James Brownsian flare that will put anyone to shame. You add this together with the solid backing of the Dap Kings and you have one of the best concerts I have ever been to. Look, Zumbi from Zion-I and his twitter agree with me.
We were actually standing right next to him when he tweeted this but I didn't want to bother him, or creep him out by whispering, "I love your band," in his ear. I will say this though, that dude is a gentleman, he was carrying his girl's purse for her and he went to go get her a bottle of water. That's a keeper, I make girls carry everything for me, even my keys, because I don't like the way they rub against my delicate legs when they are in my pocket. Plus it's easier for them to hand and then light me a cigarette when they already have that stuff in their possession. All I have to do is snap, it's easier for everyone that way.
Onto business. Shows you should go to and creepily watch someone tweet at behind the jump.
Tupac it's your birthday, Happy Birthday Tupac. *grabs animated crotch* Like there is any other kind of crotch, Am I right? *Wink*
Cheers to the man responsible for my present day closet being full of leather overalls, what worked for him works for me...right? I will take your silence as approval. I know when you look at me you automatically think, "Thug Life." Well just like there is much more to me than that, there was much more to Tupac Shakur. Did you know that he attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he studied acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet? Or that he performed in Shakespeare plays and as the Mouse King in The Nutcracker? That his family life was full of political activism, revolutionaries, and criminals?
He was a complicated man, who was cast as the personification of violence in hip hop, of rap music gone bad. He wasn't perfect but he was a gifted artist. He had flow, and a poetic thread that wove throughout his songs. I always respected Tupac for writing songs and not couplets. They were complete verses, they didn't jump from one subject to the other just pairing two sentences of rhymes together. He crafted them as a whole and I feel like that skill is not as prominent with the hip hop artists today. They do punchlines he did songs. He filled the check boxes for me when I was younger, nice flow, good voice, nice rhymes, great delivery, and subject matter that really touched on the issues I was dealing with in my upper middle class home...hmmm.
Even if he wasn't speaking to me he had me interested in the topics he covered. Dude wrote the party jams and the serious shit and he did it with undeniable skill. Happy birthday 2pac.
Today is the anniversary of Ella's passing. If she was alive today she would be 93 years old. In my opinion Ella Fitzgerald has one of the best voices in musical history. I don't think many people would disagree with that statement but if you do, we can settle this by the jungle gym after school, I will fight you, I'll fucking bite you, shout out to the atrocity that was Puffy and the Godzilla Soundtrack.
When I think of perfection from a female vocalist she is right up there at the top of the list, almost the opposite of how I rank Puffy and lyricists. It was one of the purest, most captivating voices ever. She exuded class as she waltzed over Louis Armstrong's trumpets, scatted alongside Chick Webb and his Orchestra's big band medleys. An orchestra that also featured a notable fellow member, in the person of Louis Jordan who I also adore. But that's another post. Ella put in work with the best musicians of her time, and she done did it well. You could say she, "Kept doing it, and doing it, and doing it well" but that would be weird and give me chapped lips from licking them too much, so you shouldn't say that. With a recording career that spanned 59 years and snagged her 14 Grammy wins, it's hard to pick favorites from her abundance of quality material. Her interpretations of songs are frequently my favorites in song battles, how can you resist the lull of her siren song, the cleanliness of each note? It's utterly mesmerizing stuff that just soothes and relaxes. It makes me think of coffee shops, hammocks, lazy, happy days, enjoying the sun. Timeless and iconic performances by one of the best that ever did it. I salute you Ella, R.I.P. and thank you for sharing your voice with us. Some of my favorites below.
Back from a brief stint on the east coast visiting relatives, I'm dishing up another installment of 13 Songs. This mix started out with a whole bunch of The National songs (get their new album, High Violet, now!), then ended up a mostly upbeat 'summer jams'-esque compilation of some of the more poppy tunes I've acquired lately. Check out in particular the new Vampire Weekend single (from the new Twilight soundtrack [*sigh*, bring on the haters; it's not my fault they keep putting out good soundtracks for crappy movies]) as well as a hard to find Shins song (from a 2009 Merge Record compilation of covers) and a recently-released Arcade Fire single. Enjoy.
Did anyone grab this Jay-Z x Radiohead mashup? It's been around for awhile. Personally I wasn't feeling it. "The American Gangster" soundtrack was remixed, mashed up, and re-done like 74,000 times and this was one of the weaker versions.
I had an opera one, 70's funk, Led Zepplin, some random French dude, one made by a fan a pair of wind chimes and someone dribbling a meatball, just way too many to count. If you didn't grab it and you want it, you can get it here.
While I can't fully endorse the album I can stand behind this video produced and directed by Jason Cacioppo, starring, Hyun-Jung Honji Wang. It's purdy, she's purdy, and she can get down. Trust me doing those moves in heels is not easy...or so I have heard.
This video has been flying all over the web. As an associate professor of webology I had to analyze it...for academic purposes. The craziest thing about this video to me is who the model is. The model in this video is Daisy Lowe, Daisy Lowe is Gavin Rossdale's daughter. The fact that people are jocking Gavin Rossdale's daughter means I am fucking old. My girlfriends used to looove them some Bush/Gavin, now the spawn of their teenage crush is some current teenager's crush. It's just not right I tell you. *Shakes fist at a teenager*
Here is another music related video. This two year old footage has recently caught fire, who knows how these things work. The video shows the cover band Rick K. & the Allnighters -- "America's Most Exciting Show Band" -- playing ZZ Top's "Sharp-Dressed Man." How fucking intense is the drummer? AMAZING!!
Kero one has a new album in the works. From Kero's bio.
"Considered by some as a mogul in the jazzy hiphop genre, Kero One, a San Francisco rapper/producer/DJ, stands as a true testament to the do-it-yourself success story."
Here he is getting his collabo on with the smooth jazziness that is Esna. The album, "Kinetic World" drops on June 15. You can pre-order the album, at Plug Label store.
Thao, who I fucking love in case you didn't know has a new video. The Thao and The Get Down Stay Down "Body Video" is directed by Dianna Agron (Quinn Fabray on Glee). It's in support of Oxfam America.
I guess they are skype buddies, totally not jealous...just let me be alone for a second. Diana also has some other videos with Thao where she sings live with the band, giving her assists on, "Bag Of Hammers" and another song or two. Sounds awesome huh? Yeaaaah Diana kind of sucks live in the video, she seems to be a tad bit off to me. Also how bad was her version of, "A Man's World?" She has a pretty pop voice but there is not a lot of power or depth to it, she needs to stick to the sweet and sugary, her toned down version of, "Say A Little Prayer" was spot on. Anyway, instead of the aforementioned horrible live performance video in it's place I give you the official video for, "When We Swam."
