A weekly sampler of what we're listening to (new and old), and what we think you might like, too.
{LISTEN TO THEM ALL}
QUASI -- "Alice the Goon"
Bought my first Quasi album this weekend for $7 at CD Warehouse in Springfield (which might, shockingly, be the best music store in the city). As you all know, I love me some Janet Weiss, and her drumming here doesn't disappoint. Even more engaging is the band's use of acoustic piano (read: real, un-synthesized piano) on top of those sweet drumbeats and Superchunk-style guitars to contribute to their tuneful racket. (More Janet here, with sweet piano breakdown to boot).
GRANDDDY -- "Summer Here Kids"
I learned about Grandaddy two summers back from drummer/juggler friend Nick Laffey, but I didn't especially start listening until about a year later. I hesitated because my first impression was that the band was a fairly brash California pop punk outfit. Boy was I was wrong. They're more up the alley of, I'd say, The Flaming Lips + Weezer. They throw down a lot of moody distortion and soundscapes; some synth. A couple of their songs prove superb on the road.
ARCADE FIRE -- "Intervention"
I checked my iTunes and it says I've played this 14 times since Monday morning. 'Nuff said.
CHUCK MANHIONE -- "Feels So Good"
For a long time now -- maybe years -- I have heard this song every weekday morning at 10:30 a.m. sharp on the office radio, which is permanently tuned to WCSR. I think it serves as a theme for one of their morning programs. For months, the radio version (which might be cover, for all I know) was sufficient to satisfy my musical bemusement per diem as well as take me on a nostalgic daydream back to the Cadillac, Michigan, orthodontist's office where I had heard it countless times on the local "lite" FM mix. After months of casual query into the name of the song, I searched for "flugelhorn", found Chuck Mangione, and found this funky and listenable performance.
ARCADE FIRE -- "Rebellion (Lies)"
=/
GRIZZLY BEAR -- "Marla"
I love dark, minor waltzes - this is a really good one. Incredible atmosphere as well with a great transition into the dreamy middle section.
THE GUN CLUB -- "Jack On Fire"
When I first heard of the Bowerbirds I heard theirs was one of the best first full-length releases since The Gun Club. That was the first I'd heard of The Gun Club, but since John Darnielle thought theirs was a first full-length similar to the Bowerbirds', I bought the album.
I don't know if I agree with Darnielle's verdict, but it's a fucking awesome album, and this is one of my favorite songs.
(By way of explaining some other links: it's worth wondering what Jack White was up to when he futzed around with the lyrics here, and you might as well watch The Gun Club perform the song, because they are entertaining.)
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR: Maggie O'Connor
Maggie is a SadBear associate who graduated from Hillsdale last year. She now lives in Chicago and works as a web page designer for Sears. She maintains one blog that may or not be dead and another with our friend Carly that has transcontinental photos. She likes squids. She plays (ice) hockey. And she listens to good music.
-Jack
THE BLACK LIPS -- "I'll Be With You"
For some reason, I really like to listen to Black Lips at work. Everything becomes so fuzzy and focused, that I forget where I am until someone shakes me out of it. It's like having a magic music fairy that gets your work done and makes you forget that you are doing it at the same time.
I will admit that "I'll Be With You" is kind of slow, and the band has been said to sound "like a bunch of piss heads coming home from a late one." I guess I was in the mood for piss heads this week, because this song hit me hard.
Labels: mid-week mixes, music
Thanks to the TNV circulation crew, we're now delivering the Washington Post alongside our MG papers. And thanks to the Garners, I'm receiving this year's Sunday editions of the New York Times!
So I'm reading a lot. ...
The Atlantic and
Columbia Journalism Review too ...
In thinking of what else to do with the gift of the Times, I think I'll be saving the best layouts and headlines and stories for future manipulation into handmade books. And having just read a
cool CJR story about one woman's measurement of how much time she spends reading the Times, WaPo, and WSJ each day
and an Atlantic story about why news stories are too long these days, I have one other ongoing blogging idea:
I'm going to pit the WaPo against the Times each Sunday. My inkling is that the Times will win easily, but today's WaPo delivered some extremely strong A1 stories that spurred me to give them the nod over the longer, but less exciting Times.
Labels: Columbia Journalism Review, New York Times, newspapers, The Atlantic, Washington Post
Coming to a city near you (maybe)!
Jay Gilligan and company go back on the road this year with Shoebox Tour 2010, destined for about a dozen cities.
The show this year features English juggler/magician Luke Wilson, NYC-based juggler Sean Blue, St. Louis-based juggler Tony Pezzo, and of course, Jay Gilligan (Sweden these days).
All tickets will be $10, general admission, available at the door. E-mail SBT@shoeboxtour.com for any further information not found in the schedule below.
March 30- NYC, NY
March 31- Oddfellow Theater, Buckfield, ME, 7:30 pm
April 1- MIT, Boston, MA
April 3- 6122 Greene St. Philadelphia, PA, 8 pm
April 6- 112 W. Market St. Charlottesville, VA, 7 pm
April 11- The Art Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
April 12- Aloft Loft, Chicago, IL, 9 pm
April 15- Minneapolis, MN
April 17- St. Paul, MONDO Juggling Festival Public Show, 7 pm
April 23- Madison, WI
April 27- Findlay/Bowling Green, OH
Shoebox WEB SITE and BLOG.
Labels: art, Jay Gilligan, juggling
Each Friday we share our Web discoveries, mostly pulled from our RSS feeds and Twitter accounts. If there's something we should know about, please write to thesadbear [at] gmail [dot] com.DrewDesktop curlingDesigner Jessica Hische
one and
twoDespite rehab, the yellow lab won't sniff for bombs
Eyelash loversTypical women apply about six strokes of mascara per eye. Volume seekers ramp that up to about 30 or 40, then sometimes employ toothpicks, paper clips, pins or the backs of their earrings to poke through the clumps, CoverGirl executives say. "When we asked them why they do this, they blamed their lashes, not their mascara," says Esi Eggleston Bracey, P&G's vice president of global cosmetics, shaking her head. "That's when we knew we had an opportunity."
Hipster puppiesCountless limbs lostThe Arrogance of Toby Keith
Google's public dataJack says: Just found this today while working on that Chamber story. Is this new? I've been playing with it all day. I think we should try and do a post on it, where we basically just fuck around with data for our respective areas.
Slate wants mapsBad baseball beatLabels: fashion, google, links, maps, New York Times, Wall Street Journal
A weekly sampler of what we're listening to (new and old), and what we think you might like, too.
{LISTEN TO THEM ALL}
NO AGE -- "Eraser"
My jam this week (and it is a jam) is "Eraser" by No Age. There's something about this song, the anticipation of the slow build, build, build, then BAM! An explosion of dirty power chords and sloppy drums. Two heat-seeking missiles colliding in the sky. "WATCH HIM DIIIIEEEEE!"
THE FLAMING LIPS -- "Ego's Last Stand"
Amid a bizarre and barely accessible album, this song remains bizarre and barely accessible. I also hesitate to share this fan music video for the song. But given the right night, "Embryonic" has fit my fancies. In the car with Katie or friends, though, was ill-advised.
THE DEADLY SYNDROME -- "Eucalyptus"
I'm going to use this group again. I just got their whole album tonight, and if I like the rest of their songs as much as I like "Emily Paints" I'll be happy.
SUPER FURRY ANIMALS -- "The International Language of Screaming"
La la la la! Ooo! Ooo! Ooo!
CAT POWER -- "Werewolf"
The song is "Werewolf" by Cat Power. I've been thinking a lot about werewolves lately.
Enjoy the enthusiastic fan video. Especially Protein Shake Wolf around 2:58.
And about The Smiths selection put in for me last week: Although I do appreciate me some mammary glands, my Smiths choice is "I Know It's Over," and that's all she wrote.
MONTY PYTHON -- "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"
Yes, it is a scene. But it is also a song.
VIOLENT FEMMES -- "American Music"
This was the first Violent Femmes song I heard, and my favorite song of theirs that isn't from the first two albums. In the linked performance, I think Victor DeLorenzo is particularly fun to watch.
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR: Drew Allison
Drew once loved the band 311 so much that he was the ridicule of some a**hole seventh-grader punks. So he pretended to like ska, and eventually did. Then he liked better music, went to school in Boston, got on at a men's fashion boutique, began to dress like a "mod Scandinavian rocker," got featured in the Philadelphia City Paper for his bowtie and eventually "got over" listening to good music. Three parts comic book nerd, one part reckless big city bike rider; once tried to share his beloved Stella Artois with a Lowcountry crab. That's Drew. He shares things on a tumblr.
-Tony
ELVIS COSTELLO -- "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding"
WIth the recent acquisition of Vuze, I have been on a dowloading frenzy. Gathering full discographies of The Kinks, Rolling Stones, The Misfits, Common and others. In short, shit I should have had long ago. This has resulted in a constant blaze of rediscovery, and thus timing could not have been better for Chase to throw me a bid for this week's Mid-Week Mix.
While the short list included both Lola and Dedicated Follower of Fashion by The Kinks, Where Do You Go To (My Lovely) by Peter Sarstedt, Making Time by Creation and If You find Yourself Caught In Love by Belle & Sebastian...it is Elvis Costello's (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding that's got me rockin' and rollin' all week long.
There's been no part to the past three days that have found me unwelcoming Elvis Costello's Very Best of Collection. Of the 42 songs, this is the first, and as far as I can see it, the bestest of the very best. It's got all those little components that makes the daily walk to work feel like a mid-80's music video. And that poignant color blocking album cover chillin' in the bottom left of my iTunes is a welcome addition to my hodge-podge desktop.
Labels: mid-week mixes
Katie's blog and Etsy shop are for real now, just in time for our "end of February" deadline we set 6 weeks back.
For now, her books for sale are mostly of the blank journal/sketchpad type, but books-as-art will follow soon, and we're always taking ideas for content. If you have a collection of, say, postcards, they might make a great book.
So please take a look and spread the word about these super cool handmade books!
:: linenlaid&felt blog
:: linenlaid&felt Etsy shop
Labels: art, books, etsy
Each Friday we share our Web discoveries -- culled (if "culled" had a positive connotation) from our RSS feeds and Twitter accounts, etc. If there's something we should know about, please write to thesadbear [at] gmail [dot] com.
Breast Whisperer and squeeze
Twitter: Conan & Ozzie
Taxing illegal drugs
Dino lingo
Man sues Royals for being hit in the face with a hot dog by mascotA Kansas man sued the Royals earlier this month, alleging that just such a flying sausage struck his left eye, detaching his retina and causing cataracts.
11 things about Natty LightDick Ebersol's power playsRogert Ebert's last words
Suspect crashes into treeJames Summerlott, 27, was hunting pigeons in the backyard of his home on Pembroke-Oak Grove Road around 3:30 p.m. Monday when he noticed an unfamiliar vehicle in his driveway, he told the Kentucky New Era in a phone interview.
Summerlott went inside, carrying his shotgun, and saw his TV lying on the floor. He had left the front door unlocked. A man walked out of his bedroom, and Summerlott held him at gunpoint while Summerlott called 911, said Chris Miller, spokesman for the Christian County Sheriff’s Department.
“He seemed a little frightened, I’ll be honest with you,” Summerlott told the New Era. “I would be too.”
Holly's Housesijustmadelove.comPhotoshop can cook (Thanks, Will!)
Three newspapers in thirty-nine minutesFormer prom king now living anonymously among commonersBob Costas and Al Michaels: Greatest sportscasters ever?Doctor charged in medical marijuana caseNo more blind spotLabels: baseball, beer, crafts, crime beat, drugs, links, New York Times, sports journalism, The Onion, Twitter
