David Bazan - "Please, Baby, Please"

I became of David Bazan's work back in college, listening to his previous project Pedro the Lion. At that particular time I was hooked on most of the Jade Tree record label bands. I haven't been overly impressed with his solo stuff to date but I came across this song and just can't get it out of my head.

He's currently on tour, playing solo in people's living rooms. Seriously.

Dirty Projectors

I fell in love with this band a few months back and then grew tired of their album quickly. Unfortunately too many of their songs are too repetitive. But there is also some intricate guitar work and melodies that draws me back...

Here is "No Intentions" performed at an in studio performance for Sirius. You have to love the harmonizing female vocals - which says a lot coming from me; I loath harmonizing...

French Kicks

My love of the French Kicks stretches back to my early college days. If you've never heard or seen them they are definitely worth checking out. The Kicks tour maybe once a year and it's usually pretty short so make a point to go see them if they come around.

This video is an "acoustic" (they're still using electric guitars, aren't they?) set featuring "Carried Away" and "Love in the Ruins".

Awesome.

Great Expectations

I want to hate Gaslight Anthem, I really do. At first listen their music seems like what it is - a rip off of Bruce Springsteen, punked up a bit. Then I found this acoustic version of "Great Expectations":
The Gaslight Anthem - Great Expectations (acoustic on AP)

Which led me to give them another chance. Their stuff grows on you - quickly. The more I listen the better they get.

And for the record - The Boss is a bit of a guilty pleasure, so that may bias my opinion here.

The Impossible Cool

Here is a blog dedicated to awesome photos of "cool" icons. All of them are celebrities in some way but photographed in a fashion that is lost today. Each photo is a link to wiki info about the particular person. Worth a look.



The Impossible Cool

Let the Right One In...

Summer is sucking up all of my time between obligations, work, traveling and having good times overall. Thus a lull in production here...

Just watched a great Swedish movie last night. About vampires. I know what you're thinking... Swedes make movies? Good ones? And a good vampire movie? Isn't that an oxymoron? Don't get me wrong; I enjoy the occasional vampire movie, but by definition they are usually cheesy and cliche. If that's what you're in the mood for then they're great.

But I digress, this movie was genuinely good - great plot, great directing and incredible acting by some talented kids. A little slow in spots but one of the best movies I've seen in quite a while...

B-boy...

I've always wished that I could breakdance. It's on that list of "cool" stuff that just isn't something I'll ever be good at due to a combination of natural clumsiness and poor balance. (see also: skateboarding, surfing, etc.) But I still enjoy it and this guy is one of the best. Who knew Italians were good at breakdancing?

Hip Hop

I'm a lover of all intelligently crafted music, no matter what genre. Hip hop is one genre that I have to be in the mood for. With warm weather around the corner, my latest mix has the perfect feel for enjoying sunny days with the windows down and the sunroof back...
http://8tracks.com/idinspired/hip-hop-mix-1

Plastic Jesus

On with my love of intimate live performances... I was reminded the other day of the scene in "Cool Hand Luke" in which Paul Newman plays this song after learning of the death of his mother. An amazing scene from one of my all-time favorite movies...

Astral Weeks

Van Morrison, especially his early stuff, will always hold a special place for me. Discovering his music represents a part of my life that I'll always hold dear,and I have Jannette to thank for that. While I'm not a huge fan of the Frames, and I'll admit I haven't seen the movie "Once", Glen Hansard has blown me away with his reinterpretation of Astral Weeks. I love covers, especially when the artist makes it his own and Glen has managed to do just that with one of my favorite Van songs from his first solo album, which is incredible from start to finish if you've never experienced it. Here's a clip from one of his solo shows:

Volkswagen

When I bought my MINI I was a bit torn between this car and the Golf GTI. I've always loved Volkswagens, but they're quality has been shit in recent years. You can't farm out production to Mexico and expect the quality control to be up to German standards. That said, Volkswagen has an incredible marketing department and comes out with consistently good ads. Here is an excellent example:

Thanks to John for this.

White Lies

These guys officially qualify as my current "band of the moment". Take equal parts of the Killers (their decent stuff, not the trash they've been putting out lately) and Echo and the Bunnymen, add some 80's Tears for Fears/Depeche Mode-ness and voila - White Lies. All of this is meant as a compliment. Album comes out next month; or if you're like me, just buy it on ebay now.

8 Track

I have found what looks to be the best solution thus far to my quest for a replacement of my beloved Mixwit. I'm addicted to mixtapes, creating them and listening to other's. You can actually track the parts of my life by going through the old mixtapes (CD's really, and playlists more often now).

This is the first mix from the latest mixtape site.

The Take-Away Shows

This is another one of those websites in which all I could think about when I stumbled upon it was, "how did I not know about this before?!" Similar to the Black Cab Sessions but in any impromptu location. Please enjoy as much as I do:
The Take-Away Shows

In trying to decide which to post here I was torn. There are so many incredible performances on here but it came down to two. I ultimately went with Beirut's "Nantes" because it was the video that lead me to this site. Bloc Party's "This Modern Love" was a close second, not only because it's my favorite song of theirs but also because they performed so honestly that it sent chills through my body...

Triumph

Ever since I was a little kid I've always wanted a motorcycle. I think every kid wants one at some point. I'm at that point where moving to a major city is looking ever closer and losing the car for public transport is going to be part of that move. But if you've got a motorcycle you don't need to be entirely dependent on the subway, buses, etc. Ah, sweet freedom...

So it's time to pick one up and get that license. What kind is the question? I've always liked the older sportster types; you'd never catch me owning a crotchrocket. If you know me you know that I also have an affinity for most things British. Never had a strong desire to live there but they always have all the cool stuff: cars, motorcycles, clothes, music... Triumph and Norton bikes have always been what I imagined myself ending up with.

When I was in junior high school like many boys I was addicted to martial arts movies. I watched them all, no matter how awful they were. And none were more awful than the Jean-Claude Van Damme movies, but I watched them all. In one particular Van Damme movie that came out around that time, "Nowhere to Run", he finds an old Triumph in a barn and fixes it up. I was sold, that was what a motorcycle was supposed to look like. That was the motorcycle for me. I wanted to go in old barns searching for such a treasure and fix it myself; after which I would run around and fight off my imaginary attackers I'm sure.

If you can make it halfway through this unbearably exciting trailer you are rewarded with a few quick glimpses of said motorcycle.


The Triumph Tiger. A simple and yet exciting bike. Perhaps this could be the one.

Never too late

So I realize I'm a little behind in posting this but hey, I've been busy. I'm incredibly pleased with the turn our nation is taking politically. We may not understand our economy but things are looking up for us open-minded folks.

I'm happy that someone I voted was actually elected this time, I don't think I could have dealt with another four years of disappointment. We're all ready for that magic word of 'change' that is being thrown around so loosely. I don't expect it to happen overnight; I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't happen during Obama's presidency. The man has a great deal of cleaning house to do and I'll stand behind him as he makes what I expect to be good decisions, as well as when he'll make the inevitable bad decisions.

Part of his allure is his charisma and charm. Now I understand why parent's generation talked about Jack Kennedy they way they did. Who couldn't be intrigued by a guy that looked like this in college:
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1866765_1815160,00.html

Music Sites...

One of my favorite distractions within the wonderful internet are the many music sites out there. There are so many great resources and I'm constantly finding new ones and wondering how I didn't know about them before. Today was no exception. I found two fantastic sites:

http://www.blackcabsessions.com/sessions.php
Videos of artists performing in a Black Cab in London. And you should know by now how I feel about videos, but more importantly I love live acoustic performances. Something about the music being stripped down to its core really appeals to me.

http://stereogum.com/
Full of MP3, streams, videos and just general info gathered conveniently in one place.

And here are some old standbys:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/
Similar to Stereogum but much more well known. Great for reviews.

If I want to find out background info about a band, it's members and how everyone is related I'll go to http://www.allmusic.com/

http://www.nme.com/home
The Brits always find good stuff first it seems.

And I leave with a song that can't get out of my head at the moment,even if I wanted to:

Michel Gondry

You may have heard his name in relation to the few movies he's put out - Eternal Sunshine, The Science of Sleep or more recently, Be Kind Rewind; or the fact that he directed Dave Chappelle's Block Party. But Michel Gondry should be known first and foremost for his music videos; that dying artform that I loved so much through my formative years and is now slipping away. At this point he has made more than 60 videos. His childlike imagination seeps into all of his projects, showing a creativity that I find often lacking lately.

Bjork has had Gondry direct nearly all of her videos, which explains why they're so damn good.

"Hyper Ballad"


"Declare Independence"


You've got to love the transforming cardboard in Beck's "Cell Phones Dead". Reminds me of The Science of Sleep:


Remember Cody Chestnutt? He almost had a single several years ago with "Look Good in Leather" but received my recognition for the Roots covering his song, "The Seed", which he sang on. There is much more to him than that and here is "King of the Game", a simple song beautifully sang:

Optimism?

This is a new venture for me, the whole blog thing. I know I'm way behind the times on this one. This is more for me than for you but if you get something out of it as well, then great. I've been influenced by a certain someone's blogging; thinking that perhaps it could be cathartic for me...

By nature I consider myself equally two things: a realist and an optimist. This year has given me quite a difficult time with the latter. So many things didn't go as planned in 2008 and more things went horribly wrong. As such I find myself in an interesting state of limbo, in so many ways, with so many paths set out before me at the moment. On the up side I've met some truly incredible people and still managed to do some interesting things this last year. So instead of continuing down a pessimistic course I'm officially going back to being an optimist. You can hold me to that...

But this isn't going to be all sappy and self-pitying so enough of that.

In large part I want this to be a dumping grounds for all of the internet bits that I find intriguing and want to return to. In the spirit of that:

These guys are the next Jam. Fantastic.


In finding this I also found that FR were on Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill. That really pisses me off. I love them unconditionally at this point, but it still pisses me off.



Banksy: