It’s not like I haven’t been busy. Because I have. Just a little too lazy to write on the interwebz re: what I have been up to. I know that there have been scads of first world humans out there waiting with baited breath for the next post. So– sorry, dudes. Anyway, John Mayer again last weekend. (above).
As if that wasn’t enough– JR threw up this piece on the High Line a block from my pad.
And another shot.
More meaningful words later, maybe.
Another golden band (dude) from New York= Hooray for Earth. They have been around for a few years, but I only recently discovered them. In my opinion it is the perfect mix of downtempo and electropop (if that is even a thing). Sharing the title track from the album “True Loves”. Spin it.
It has been a little over a week since MCA passed away. I have seen some very cool tribute art over the past several days. I thought I would share some of my favs. The image above is by none other than Shepard Fairey.
In the UK, AROE put up this burner, spinning off of the “License to Ill” album art. So Dope–
Last, but not least, is this “Gratitude” piece that Team Entree put up in MCA’s home boro of Brooklyn.
I’m still in shock. Honored that I was able to see those last couple of shows that they played in NY.
I had to throw in this photo from like 2008 or 2009 (long enough ago that I still thought it was a good idea to watermark my stuff, hahahah). It was at the LRG holiday party and Mick Boogie was DJing. Why is that relevant? Because Mick just put out a ridiculously cool Beastie Boys mix to commemorate the rock hall of fame induction. I pulled a quote from Hypebeast:
In honor of the Beastie Boys being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week… I thought it’s finally the right time to do a Beasties mixtape. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time… something people have asked me to do for a long time, actually… but I wanted it to mean something. Now, it’s finally the right time.
I present to you Grand Royal. 80 minutes of my favorite Beastie Boys rarities, remixes, demos, live versions, out-takes, and more. If you’re a Beasties fan, I guarantee you find something new and exciting on this mix!
Here is one of the tracks from the mix “Dope Little Song.”
You can download the whole mix over here.
Along with most other aspects of my life, this blog has been sucking pretty bad lately. I supposed that in large part it has to do with the fact that I don’t really write anything anymore. That isn’t to say that it was “so” awesome or something when I did actually put some words on a post. It is tough when so much that is currently happening in my sphere is unbloggable (in my opinion). To make up for it, I’m going to drop a music post that actually has some meat to it. It has been a while, I know.
The only way that I have been able to motivate myself to run lately, is by listening to music. Sunday when I was out pounding pavement, “Voodoo Chile” came on. It brought back a whole series of thoughts and memories.
I love the music of Jimi Hendrix. I love the idea of Jimi Hendrix. He and Jim Morrison, to me are enigmatic purveyors of the essence of rock. I imagine that the sensations I had listening to The Doors and Jimi Hendrix at a young age is probably similar to what the kids of today feel about Nirvana. I wonder what it must have been like to be a contemporary of Hendrix, to hear him play his upside-down backwards guitar live.
I had some friends that I played music with when I was in high school. At the time, we called ourselves a band. We would get together once a week (or whenever) and bang out our 5 or so original songs, followed by a few cover songs, followed by a jam session that would wax on until the neighbors called and asked us to shut it down. After that, we would generally do something like watch a movie, or talk about what gear we were going to save up for.
I remember one particular night after one of the aforementioned jam sessions, my friends and I watched a movie. One cool thing for me, is that I was the youngest member of the band. So, I was able to learn about what was going on with the older kids by virtue of hanging out with my band mates. It also means that my band mates were old enough to rent R-rated movies. I’m going to change some names to protect the innocent. So one night– there we were after band practice hanging out in Moel Marrard’s basement. Moel had a new release VHS from Blockbuster called “In the Name of the Father.” I hadn’t really even heard of it.
The film is a period piece depicting an Irish teenager who was wrongly convicted of any IRA bombing in Belfast. The film is extremely moving. My point of sharing this story is that, I was sitting there with Moel and the rest of band mates in the basement of the Marrard family residence. The movie had been on long enough that I was starting to get super captivated. Suddenly there was a very powerfully shot riot scene where all of the IRA kids were charging the cops with bricks and bottles. The soundtrack to that scene was “Voodoo Chile.” That was the first time I had ever heard it. I was blown away. The guitar, the biblical references in the lyrics, all of it. I couldn’t believe that I had spent 16 years of my life without having heard this song. The raw emotion that I felt seeing those riot images with Hendrix’s guitar blasting, literally gave me goose bumps. I almost get them just writing about it.
That was a really long way of saying that I really like this song. Turn your headphones all of the way up and give it a spin.
[img]
A good friend of mine tipped me off to the new Miike Snow album “Happy to You” this week. Seriously digging it. Here is Pretender
[img]
Punting again this week. It has not been a good one. I mean, here it is Thursday and I’m just now getting to AG. I love Lykke Li. Or that is, there isn’t much I have heard by Lykke Li that I don’t enjoy. Getting a bit thematic for a moment… sometimes I am listening to a track in the background while I’m doing whatever– suddenly I start paying attention to the lyrics and say to myself in my mind’s voice “totally.” Such an occurrence happened to me tonight when I was listening to “Everybody but me.” Check it.
[img]
Going for a major throwback today. I have really been digging on the sounds of the 70’s lately. I have been a huge fan of Led Zeppelin since I discovered them in my youth. The track I’m sharing today is “Good Times, Bad Times.” This is not only my favorite Led Zeppelin track, in my opinion it is a perfect example of everything that a rock song should be. Spin it.
[img]
First things first. Jake’s Mag turns 200, with this post. Second thing second. I have been on a bit of an electronica kick again lately. Here is relatively old Booka Shade track. It’s called Body Language. Check it. Third things third. I am about to add the running widget back to my sidebar. Tomorrow morning I plan to go running. Outside. I know. We’ll see how far these chubby little legs o’ mine can carry me after a winter’s worth of atrophy.
[img]
You may recall Crystal Fighters from the soundtrack of this longboarding vid. And to be quite frank, I had kind of forgotten about them until I was listening to a playlist that my homey Matt posted on EFOG the other day. CF turned up remixed in the mega-45min track at the end. Made me feel like sharing it today. Here is “At Home.”
[img]
For all of the many reasons that I am annoyed by Facebook, it is times like these, that it totally redeems itself. I discovered tonight via the social network, that two of my favorite local ska bands from HS are doing a reunion show in July. I wrote about Stretch Armstrong about a year ago, over here. It’s one of those events that I may justify a weekend trip to the land of Zion. I hope that I can make it work.
[img]
I actually posted about this video on EFoG in December, but thought it was worthy of sharing on here as well. For people who are hoping that this video is pervy, you will be disappointed. Despite the sort of racy thumbnail of the video, it is very tame. Here is what I said on EFoG.
I came across this vid the other day on OEN. I have to say that I was quite fond of the track and the imagery in the vid. Beyond having an older euro-spec Audi, this video (shot with a pair of Canon 7Ds), offers up a captivating cut that melds well with the song. The track is by Bombay Bicycle Club. It’s called “Lights Out, Words Gone.” The video was made by Karim Huu Do. Enjoy it, below.
I can’t say that I love everything RJD2 does. But I like enough of it to keep some of his tracks on my playlist most of the time. He isn’t your run of the mill 00’s dj. As odd as it may sound, I like a lot of his “live” stuff better than what he does in the studio. I particularly like a breezeblock set that he once did for the BBC’s Radio 1. But it’s 28 minutes long. So, I’m not going to share it on this post. I feel like a lot of the stuff on his albums is a little bit too overproduced and busy. Anyway, as I mentioned above, he has enough good stuff to keep him interesting. The track that I’m sharing today is from “Since we last spoke.” It’s called “1976.” Which is a dope year. Listen here.
[Img]
Possibly one of my fav’s right now, I like so many things about Cut Copy. The vocal style is reminiscent of so many of my favorite 90’s faves. Actually their style altogether is very 90’s-esque. I also give ’em extra points for being Aussie. The track that I’m sharing today is from “Zonoscope.” It’s called “Blink and You’ll Miss a Revolution.” Spin it.
[img]
I was thinking about doing a Christmas song theme for every Tuesday in December. That is what initially caused me to revisit the band Sun 60. They have that song “Merry Xmess” that was popular in the mid-90’s. Actually, I think it was probably their only popular song. When I say popular, I mean it was played a couple of times per week, for a few months on some alt rock radio stations. When I dug out the disc (one of the handful of physical CDs that I hung onto before purging my entire library last summer), I remembered a different song on the disc that I liked much better. So, that is the one that I’m sharing. There goes the whole Christmas idea for this month. Maybe I’ll pick up with it next week. Until then, here is “Treasure.”
[img]
Sepalcure: This NYC based electronica duo has been getting under my skin, as of late. They are like Dream Cop with a boost in tempo. In addition to their ridiculously cool electronica tracks, Praveen (above left) is the dude behind Percussion Lab. Here is “Pencil Pimp” from their self titled album.
[img]
If you read Boooooom, then you already saw these guys once this week. Yeah, that is where I discovered The Dø. And I’m so glad that I did. There are elements in their tracks of all of the female vocalists that I adore. Plus the dude sort of looks like a young Johnny Depp. This track is called “The Calendar.” Check it.
For those who were wondering, Ear Full of Gold is now two posts deep. I can’t say that I have had the privilege of penning either of them. Which actually bodes well for those who read EFOG, because Joe’s prose is much more meaningful than the the tripe that I’m banging out on this fancy bamboo keyboard of mine.
[img]
Today, instead of sharing some music that I like. I’m introducing the unofficial launch of the idea that I have talked about on various occasions in the past. Yes, I’m referring to ear full of gold. It was an idea that my friend Joe and I came up with, about a year ago. Joe has been putting together the design for a while, and we just got something up and live, last week. Very, very soon, there will be discussion of music on there. For now, just check out QWAOBWSTT.
