This is music to have fun to. What separates it from other music of that ilk is that it is actually fun to listen to.
Check out one of the singles below:
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Action Bronson-Saaab Stories
Action Bronson released his latest EP collaboration with Harry Fraud. It is better than I could have imagined. Bronson is as quotable and funny as ever (I'm bout to buy an alligator for my birthday!) and Fraud makes a case for being the best producer out right now (and probably would be if Mike Will Made It didn't just make a Miley Cyrus song that slaps).
This is music to have fun to. What separates it from other music of that ilk is that it is actually fun to listen to.
Check out one of the singles below:
This is music to have fun to. What separates it from other music of that ilk is that it is actually fun to listen to.
Check out one of the singles below:
Washed Out "It All Feels Right"
From the upcoming LP Paracosm, out August 13
Close my eyes
Close my eyes
Think about the old times
What's it all about?
The feeling when it all works out.
Monday, June 10, 2013
New Okkervil River Record Coming Soon
Per Pitchfork, New Hampshire's finest, Okkervil River, is dropping a new record on September 3. It is apparently called The Silver Gymnasium but otherwise, this album should be brilliant.
For those that need convincin':
For those that need convincin':
George Pelecanos, Nick's Trip and the Music Therein
George Pelecanos has great taste in music and it bleeds through his work. Along with writing The Wire and Treme, the dude pens taut crime novels that are soaked in D.C. insider knowledge and music savvy.
I highly recommend his Nick Stefanos trilogy (which I finished this last week) not only for the entertainment value but also for the great music discussed.
Equally comfortable citing deep cuts in classic rock, funk, rap, college radio, R & B and soul, Pelecanos mentions the music playing in a given scene to enhance the mood and/or for the reader to gain further insight into the characters. Reading his books has turned me on to some great artists and some overlooked tracks.
Below are a collection of such songs culled from Nick's Trip and What it Was.
I highly recommend his Nick Stefanos trilogy (which I finished this last week) not only for the entertainment value but also for the great music discussed.
Equally comfortable citing deep cuts in classic rock, funk, rap, college radio, R & B and soul, Pelecanos mentions the music playing in a given scene to enhance the mood and/or for the reader to gain further insight into the characters. Reading his books has turned me on to some great artists and some overlooked tracks.
Below are a collection of such songs culled from Nick's Trip and What it Was.
Purgatory and the Accompanying Music
I am stuck in Purgatory. The map calls it Fort Wayne, Indiana but I know better.
Having traveled from Boston to Niagara Falls to Fort Wayne to Chicago to Fort Wayne to Jasper to Louisville to Lexington to Louisville now again to Fort Wayne in the last week and a half, I can say with conviction that this is the weigh station of the after-life. Nothing happens here and every action is judged (I'm staying with in-laws). It isn't the worst thing but it sure ain't the best.
The apartment I wanted in Chicago went to other renters and I am now in the process of getting another. Hopefully, our paperwork will go through and we can be moved in to our Midwest heaven by the end of the week. However, as I have found out again recently, the devil is in the detail. All I can do is hold my breath and bide my time.
IN OTHER NEWS
While in Lexington, I stopped by my favorite CD store to pick up some music. CD Central is one of the last brick and mortar bastions and it is being kept alive by young people. Located on the most popular street for UK students, it is surrounded by a fantastic pizza place, a campus bookstore, an incensed-soaked independently run bookstore/head shop clearly opened in the 60's and an all night eatery for those marathondrinking study sessions.
The moment Louisville's beloved Ear Ecstasy shut its doors, this spot became the best record store in the Bluegrass. My return trip was the first of its kind in three years, and stepping into the cramped space found me drowning in a wave of nostalgia.
---Flashback time--- *Twinkling chimes and gentle string music*
As a freshman in high school, I saw The Black Keys perform at CD Central, along with about sixty other people who knew what the fuck was good. I will never forget how LOUD this duo seemed, how cool I felt seeing them be so loud and how cool I thought Dan Auerbach was when I asked him to sign a CD for my sister's graduation gift.
Fifteen minutes after the Keys had ripped through a righteously raucous blues-rock set, I approached the lead singer for a John Hancock. He and the drummer had both signed copies of another disc for me during the designated signing session but I had purchased another album at the last minute to give as a gift to my older sister, who had first told me of the band.
Intently focused on the CD's he was rifling through, Auerbach didn't notice me as I approached but couldn't have been happier when he spotted me. He thanked me numerous times for coming out to the gig and gave some sage advice about autograph signing: "Whenever in doubt, just sign it 'Wish you were here'."
Thus, my elder sibling has a CD signed: "To Leslie, Wish you were here", and I have a moment I will never forget.
---Return to present---
I was in the market for a few records I had been listening to a lot recently but had neglected to purchase, along with some country classics--I was particularly interested in buying some Dolly Parton.
I snagged the new Wild Nothing EP and the Kurt Vile record that I had been wearing out. I also picked up Warren Zevon's Excitable Boy from the $5 rack because I was on a road trip and you have to have Excitable Boy on a road trip. You just do.
Alongside the Zevon record was Springsteen's Nebraska. I scooped that up along with The Dramatics' greatest hits and Sonic Youth's Goo.
To my surprise, CD Central had no Dolly Parton. It wasn't that they didn't have sections designated for her--they did--they were simply out of stock. It seems Ms. Parton is as popular as ever in Kentucky. As a consolation prize, I settled on Loretta Lynn's greatest hits, which turned out to be the disc played the most on this trip. Funny how life can go.
I will get around to making a playlist for these records in the near future and I will post it here, along with a review of the content.
For now, I have to go eat breakfast in silence.
Did I mention there isn't even a radio in this house?
Am I sure this isn't hell?
Having traveled from Boston to Niagara Falls to Fort Wayne to Chicago to Fort Wayne to Jasper to Louisville to Lexington to Louisville now again to Fort Wayne in the last week and a half, I can say with conviction that this is the weigh station of the after-life. Nothing happens here and every action is judged (I'm staying with in-laws). It isn't the worst thing but it sure ain't the best.
The apartment I wanted in Chicago went to other renters and I am now in the process of getting another. Hopefully, our paperwork will go through and we can be moved in to our Midwest heaven by the end of the week. However, as I have found out again recently, the devil is in the detail. All I can do is hold my breath and bide my time.
IN OTHER NEWS
While in Lexington, I stopped by my favorite CD store to pick up some music. CD Central is one of the last brick and mortar bastions and it is being kept alive by young people. Located on the most popular street for UK students, it is surrounded by a fantastic pizza place, a campus bookstore, an incensed-soaked independently run bookstore/head shop clearly opened in the 60's and an all night eatery for those marathon
The moment Louisville's beloved Ear Ecstasy shut its doors, this spot became the best record store in the Bluegrass. My return trip was the first of its kind in three years, and stepping into the cramped space found me drowning in a wave of nostalgia.
---Flashback time--- *Twinkling chimes and gentle string music*
As a freshman in high school, I saw The Black Keys perform at CD Central, along with about sixty other people who knew what the fuck was good. I will never forget how LOUD this duo seemed, how cool I felt seeing them be so loud and how cool I thought Dan Auerbach was when I asked him to sign a CD for my sister's graduation gift.
Fifteen minutes after the Keys had ripped through a righteously raucous blues-rock set, I approached the lead singer for a John Hancock. He and the drummer had both signed copies of another disc for me during the designated signing session but I had purchased another album at the last minute to give as a gift to my older sister, who had first told me of the band.
Intently focused on the CD's he was rifling through, Auerbach didn't notice me as I approached but couldn't have been happier when he spotted me. He thanked me numerous times for coming out to the gig and gave some sage advice about autograph signing: "Whenever in doubt, just sign it 'Wish you were here'."
Thus, my elder sibling has a CD signed: "To Leslie, Wish you were here", and I have a moment I will never forget.
---Return to present---
I was in the market for a few records I had been listening to a lot recently but had neglected to purchase, along with some country classics--I was particularly interested in buying some Dolly Parton.
I snagged the new Wild Nothing EP and the Kurt Vile record that I had been wearing out. I also picked up Warren Zevon's Excitable Boy from the $5 rack because I was on a road trip and you have to have Excitable Boy on a road trip. You just do.
Alongside the Zevon record was Springsteen's Nebraska. I scooped that up along with The Dramatics' greatest hits and Sonic Youth's Goo.
To my surprise, CD Central had no Dolly Parton. It wasn't that they didn't have sections designated for her--they did--they were simply out of stock. It seems Ms. Parton is as popular as ever in Kentucky. As a consolation prize, I settled on Loretta Lynn's greatest hits, which turned out to be the disc played the most on this trip. Funny how life can go.
I will get around to making a playlist for these records in the near future and I will post it here, along with a review of the content.
For now, I have to go eat breakfast in silence.
Did I mention there isn't even a radio in this house?
Am I sure this isn't hell?
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