On the Road

Well today I'm heading off to go back up to school. I leave for Dallas today to spend some time with CC (my sister) and then tomorrow morning me and a buddy are off to Arizona for the wedding of some friends, and then back on up to Utah on Saturday/Sunday. Wish me luck. Here's another travellin' mix from me to you.

Patrick Wolf-Get Lost
Jens Lekman-Run Away With Me
Arcade Fire-Keep the Car Running
Camera Obscura-Let's Get Out of This Country
The Decemberists-We Both Go Down Together
Okkervil River-Lost Coastlines
Midlake-Head Home
Bright Eyes-I Must Belong Somewhere

Spend New Years Eve with YACHT

Join YACHT For New Year's Eve from Jona Bechtolt on Vimeo.

This is a really neat idea that YACHT has come up to be able to spend NYE all across the globe. YACHT themselves are in France so spend some time and make a video for them if you've got the time and ability.

YACHT-I Saw Gold (from the Worried Noodles compilation)

Little Bit

So, mashing. What about mashing two versions of the same song? So, there's the Aether remix of "Little Bit" and the version where rapper Drake makes it into a duet. And put them together? You get meh. I know I didn't do an amazing job but the idea was funny so I thought I'd share.

Lykke Li - Little Bit (Aether Remix ft. Drake)(Copfy edit)

Remixxed

Well a post similar to this was taken down earlier so I wonder if it happens again.

Hercules & Love Affair-You Belong (Hercules Club Mix)
Friendly Fires-Photobooth (Mock & Toof Remix)
Foals-Astronauts And All (Barringtone Remix)
Long Blondes-Giddy Stratospheres (Findo Gask Remix)
Hey Willpower-Uh Uh Uh (Strategy Remix)

They're Just Bein' Mae Shi

The Mae Shi VS. Miley Cyrus See You Again from the mae shi on Vimeo.

"Since U Been Gone" 2008. Or 2009.

The Mae Shi-See You Again

Far Too Long

Hot Chip has made a new EP available online. It's a collaboration with Robert Wyatt and Geese. The songs are reinterpretations off Made in the Dark. Nothing drastically different really, but nice for the Hot Chip completist.

You can sign up here and get the first free mp3 "Made in the Dark" then they send you a link to download the other, "We're Looking for a Lot of Love" via your own e-mail. Cool!!

Blogger has taken down two of my last posts. It's really frustrating because there's a lot of good stuff I wanna share but they take it down. Does anyone have any ideas what I can do? I don't know what to do about it and it's kinda depressing.

Christmas in the Room

It just wouldn't be Christmas without a good ol' Christmas tune by Sufjan.

Sufjan Stevens-Christmas in the Room
from his new Christmas ep Sufjan Stevens: Songs for Christmas Volume 8: Astral Inter Planet Space Captain Christmas Infinity Voyage

For more Sufjan Christmas fun, check out his site at Asthmatic Kitty.

KLANG!

'Round here we really love the Rakes. And we are overjoyed that they have announced a new album titled KLANG on March 23rd in the UK (probably in the US the 24th, the same day as the Decemberists' Hazards of Love!! Too much excitement for one day!). The album will be preceded by the first single "1989," which you can get a sneak peek at above in the unofficial video filmed during the recording of the album. And here's the tracklist:

You're In It
That's the Reason
The Loneliness of the Outdoor Smoker
Bitchin' in the Kitchen
The Woes of the Working Woman
1989
Shackelton
The Light From Your Mac
Muller's Ratchet
The Final Hill
Never Get Married

The Rakes-The World Was a Mess But His Hair Was Perfect
(From their previous album Ten New Messages)

Ellie Greenwich

Parenthetical Girls always kind of gave me the creeps. Thank you video for continuing the creep.

Parenthetical Girls - "A Song For Ellie Greenwich" from judesays on Vimeo.

Parenthetical Girls-A Song for Ellie Greenwich (mp3)
Their new-ish album Entaglement is available via Slender Means Society

Top of 2008 #1

I love this album so so much. The lyrics are astounding, the songs are so catchy, the artwork is beautiful, I can't stop listening to this CD. Will Sheff's storytelling abilities fill the songs with rich imagery and tongue-twisting lyrics.Their songs are full of modern-day disillusionment, rock stars passing their prime, groupies getting tired, and relationships gone sour.

Whereas The Stage Names kind've dragged on towards the end, I feel The Stand Ins gets even stronger towards the end. The last three full songs "On Tour with Zykos," "Calling and Not Calling My Ex" and "Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed On The Roof Of The Chelsea Hotel, 1979" are some of my all-time favorites by Okkervil. They mature more and more each album, it's so incredible. So that's why The Stand Ins is my album of the year for 2008!

Okkervil River-Calling and Not Calling My Ex
Buy The Stand Ins from Insound.

Top of 2008 #2

Seriously who knew this album would be so huge? So awesome? Their first CD had some great singles, but In Ghost Colours, start-to-finish, I can't find a single song I skip. It's borderline perfect. I could see every song becoming a single and having success. This was definitely the year of Cut Copy as it very much should have been. These boys deserve the success they're having and I hope they keep up the grooves.

Cut Copy-Nobody Lost, Nobody Found
Buy it from Insound.

Christmas is Coming Soon

"Unless you happen to belong to one of those rare, perfect, Norman Rockwell families, spending the holidays with your loved ones can have its ups and downs, its highs and lows - this Christmas album which benefits Amnesty International serves as a soundtrack to such an experience, documenting and representing the entire spectrum of emotions and feelings you might face during the most wonderful time of the year."

We all know that Christmas season is upon us, with its sickening, sticky, saturated Christmas songs like "All I Want for Christmas is You," "Feliz Navidad" (which really only has four lines), and the worst Christmas song offense in the history of Christmas music, "The Christmas Shoes."

Christmas is nothing like a little Thomas Kinkade painting, but the stress and often unhappiness of the season is very wrapped up in sparkly paper and bright tinsel of the awful Christmas songs heard almost any store you visit, be it the Central Market, the mall, that favorite indie record store, or your own FM radio station.

There's a CD that was released at the beginning of the month called I'll Stay Til After Christmas that does an excellent job capturing the up's and down's of the season. It features old well-known songs and some new ones too. With artists like My Brightest Diamond, Au Revoir Simone, Blitzen Trapper, Parenthetical Girls, Bosque Brown and Sally Shapiro, it's enough to make anyone's stocking burst. There are some people I've never heard of that make some great tunes (The Papercuts, Au, to name a couple). And to wrap it all up with a huge Good-Will-To-Man bow, it's all put on by Amnesty International. Let it be the soundtrack of your Christmas time breakdown, or the best day of sledding ever.

Blitzen Trapper-Christmas is Coming Soon
Buy it on iTunes.

P.S. I put up a new header. Do you like it? Hate it? Wish there was something vaguely horsey up there? Let me know what you think! Please.

Top of 2008 #3

Hands down, Hot Chip is one of my two favorite bands making music right now. I mean there are a lot of bands that I love their work, but only two whose I really choose to follow very closely (the other being the Decemberists, if you haven't noticed). Made in the Dark is exactly why I love them. They can bounce so many different styles of music, and do it well, that it makes me sick. In a good way.

The fact that Made in the Dark has floor-fillers like "Ready for the Floor" and "One Pure Thought" and "Hold On," and then throw in slow james like "We're Looking for a Lot of Love" and "Made in the Dark," along with the quirky nerd jams like "Wrestlers" and "Don't Dance." The album spawned handfuls of remixes too. I just love their shape-shifting abilities and am always eager to hear something new from these guys.

Hot Chip-Made in the Dark
Buy Made in the Dark on Insound.

Top of 2008 #4

I'm really pleased that on my top ten there's quite a few new artists. I'm glad that there are still bands out there that can impress me as much as these bands have.
Hercules & Love Affair became an overnight success. Releasing their self-titled debut on DFA would help, but also that the record was just so likable didn't hurt either. The music is an infusion of disco, jazz, pop, and well, Antony. I'd always loved Antony Hegarty's voice, and hearing it to danceable music wowed me. But over all, H&LA makes me even more excited to see what they have in store for their sophomore record. In the mean time I'll keep groovin' to this one.

Hercules & Love Affair-Athene
Buy it from Insound

Top of 2008 #5

The Mae Shi has always made interesting music, but sometimes to the point of the unlistenable. HLLLYH is their most melodious album to date, and it's full of those glitchy beats we all love. Also full of biblical references, HLLLYH is Mae Shi at their most focused.

The Mae Shi-Lamb and the Lion
Buy HLLLYH.

VISIBAS

VISIBAS MiniMix
(23.8 MB, 19:51 Min)
Islands-Creeper
Man Man-El Azteca
Beck-Que Onda Guero (The Mae Shi Latino 96.3 Remix)
The Blow-Hock It (We Two Remix)
Hot Chip-Shake a Fist (Diplo Remix)
Bobby Birdman-Victory At Sea (E*Rock Remix)
Tracy + the Plastics-What You Still Want

Enjoy this little mix I made! It's got some really great stuff on there. Turn up the bass! (And no, I don't have to start every mix with an Islands song but they are great starter songs)

Top of 2008 #6

I've been a fan of Fujiya & Miyagi since their last album, Transparent Things. I love the casual yet persistent beats, but most of all I love everything about the vocals. Singer David Best's voice is almost a whisper on most tracks, but he's just so lovable with his goofy lyrics that fit into the groove of the basslines perfectly. Lightbulbs is just a very solid record by these Kraut-lovers. Am looking forward to what the future holds for these boys.

Fujiya& Miyagi-Hundreds & Thousands
Buy Lightbulbs from Insound.

Part of the Weekend Never Dies

Where would you like to be on a drizzly, cold, blustery day like today? Me, cuddled up basking in the glow of a new-to-me speaker system bleating out the new DVD Radio Soulwax: Part of the Weekend Never Dies. Maybe you've heard of Soulwax, or 2 Many DJ's, or Radio Soulwax, or maybe Nite Versions. Or maybe you too are very confused as to the difference (if there is one) between all those titles. The documentary settles all that near the beginning so don't you worry.

Part of the Weekend Never Dies does a really good job of what (I think) it meant to-showing the real pains of being on tour all the time. Take for example the brothers who are part of the band Soulwax, and the DJ's known as 2 Many DJ's. They usually play as a band, and then later as DJ's. In one point they mention being in sound check at 6 PM and not finishing until 4 AM for several months on end.

The documentary is a star-studded affair, including interviews with some of dance music's biggest stars like James Murphy, Erol Alkan, Justice, Tiga, Nancy Wang, Peaches, Klaxons, Kitsune, etc. The disc includes another live film of Soulwax's Nite Versions, which is full of audience antics and crazy awesome music. The film awed me to be truthful. And my respects to Soulwax for all their work as one of music's hardest working groups.

Part of the Weekend Never Dies was directed by Saam Farahmand. Watch a trailer here. Here's my favorite Soulwax remix:

The Gossip-Standing In the Way of Control (Soulwax Nite Version)

Buy Part of the Weekend Never Dies from Insound.

Top of 2008 #7

Sometimes I get worried about finding new artists to love. When I got home the first CDs I went hunting for were bands I already knew before I left. I didn't really know where to turn for new bands to look out for. But, luckily enough, Friendly Fires have received a decent amount of attention from the blogs for various awesome singles, remixes and a cover of another new-comer,Lykke Li. Friendly Fires' debut is a well-crafted album full of catchy hooks, guitars, and everything else that should make you weak at the knees.

Friendly Fires-In the Hospital
Buy Friendly Fires from Insound.

Top of 2008 #8

Little Joy is the perfect recipe. Just three simple ingredients make Little Joy's debut album a smashing success:

1 Part Devendra Banhart+1 part The Strokes+1 Cute Girl = Little Joy.

Ya got it? Ok. Their album is an almost flawless breezy pop monster. That sounds as if a Stroke and some dude who plays sometimes in Devendra's band got together and made music. Oh...wait...

Little Boy-Brand New Start

Buy Little Joy on Insound.

Top of 2008 #9

Metronomy's second LP Nights Out is filled with interesting bits. From the amazing "Heartbreaker" to the goofy/creepy "Radio Ladio" there's always something interesting to hear from this London trio.
The LP plays out like a night out on the town filled with the upbeat moments and depressing bits. The singer said it was sort of an ode to those nights out that just left a little to be desired. Everyone knows the feeling, and hearing it as a soundtrack to your own disappointing night out on the town is hauntingly dead on. Some moments of Nights Out really have me feeling sort of frenetic, and other moments of pure dancefloor hits. There's a little bit of something for every type of mood.

Metronomy-The End of You Too

Buy Nights Out on Amazon.

Beach Baby

Bon Iver is releasing a new EP called Blood Bank on January 20th. The EP contains 4 fresh new cuts from indie's new poster boy. The songs are chilling, seamless additions to last year's For Emma, Forever Ago.
Here I've got the song "Beach Baby," which could almost be a "Re: Stacks Part 2" It's really a beautiful track. Also look for the haunting auto-tuned(!!) "Woods" on a blog near you...
Bon Iver-Beach Baby
Pre-order your CD or 12" from Jagjaguwar now!

Hazards of Love Tracklist

Paste Magazine got out a few more details about the Decemberists' new LP Hazards of Love. It will be released March 24th on Capitol Records. And here's the tracklist:
1. Prelude
2. Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won’t Wrestle the Thistles Undone)
3. A Bower Scene
4. Won’t Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)
5. Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)
6. The Queen’s Approach
7. Isn’t it a Lovely Night?
8. The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid
9. An Interlude
10. The Rake’s Song
11. The Abduction of Margaret
12. The Queen’s Rebuke / The Crossing
13. Annan Water
14. Margaret in Captivity
15. Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)
16. The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise)
17. Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)

Looks like a real epic tracklist if you ask me!

The Decemberists-Culling of the Fold (Demo)
Colin Meloy-The Rake's Song (Live)

Previously on Dreams of Horses: Hazards of Love

Top of 2008 #10

Little Marnie Stern's big album This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That is well-known by now for it's comically large title, and Marnie's abilities to rock out. Her finger-tapping guitar-playing is admirable by slobber boys everywhere, and by anyone who wants to be able to rock out. The cd is a solid affair. So what if her singing isn't the best-when did that ever matter? Rock's history is full of mediocre singers. The cd is an awesome creation.

Buy it on Insound.

Marnie Stern-Transformer

Top of 2008 #11

I couldn't get down to 11. I'm sorry. So after almost 6 weeks of playing catch-up I think I've got this whole "year 2008" thing down. And after days of listening to albums not only from this year and 2007, I've picked out the best from the good. And we're gonna start counting down backwards-style that's so common for these lists. Welcome.

If you've never seen the Fiery Furnaces live, then maybe you won't get this record or be able to sit through two discs of it. But when they play live, they cut up their songs and then re-hash them all over the place. One second they'll be playing something off of Blueberry Boat and then kooky guitar lurches into a riff straight off Bitter Tea. I wasn't able to see them tour in support of Bitter Tea or Widow City., so I'm really glad they made this album. It's just like hearing them live. And I love it so much.

The Fiery Furnaces-Japanese Slippers

Buy Remember on 3xLP from Insound
Or 2xCD

Grand Ole Playlist

Check out this rad playlist that Kim of Matt & Kim fame made for RCRDLBL. It has some great songs by M&K ex-tourmates Best Fwends, the firecracker Kid Sister, mad DJ A-Trak, and of course, Matt & Kim. While you're enjoying the jams, look up Matt & Kim's Flickr. Then just try and sit still till Matt & Kim's new record Grand is in your hands next year. Check out potential tour dates where you live supporting Cut Copy(!!) next March on their MySpace.

Inside the Corrections

Just found this diddy on my iTunes and love it. It's a New Buffalo track that was originally featured on her album The Last Beautiful Day. This version however was featured on a self-titled EP with guest appearance by DOH fav Jens Lekman. Yay! He is currently on tour in Asia (if you're from there, great) with Viktor Sjöberg.Tour Dates follow the mp3.

New Buffalo-Inside (The Corrections) (ft. Jens Lekman)
Dec 4 - Shanghai, China - JZ
Dec 6 - Bandung, Indonesia - Dirgantara I IPTN
Dec ? - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - TBA

Buy The Last Beautiful Day from Insound or iTunes

Guilt Bookstore

So this news about a possibly-bionic hand bringing back the Long Blondes is the best news of the week. Maybe I will be able to see them after all! For those of you who don't know, the band broke up because their guitarist injured his hand. Lame. And for those of you who don't know who I'm talking about, shame on you.

The Long Blondes-Guilt (Dan Carey Mix)

Here's the video for "Guilt." Kate with dog actors!

And speaking of things that make me happy, a new episode of ThunderAnt!!

"The food was so good in the airport that I never left the airport." Sometimes I feel like them when I'm going through new CDs I get in the mail. But definitely not that bad.

Autorretrato

Sorry for the heavy lack of posting!! I'll get on it. In the mean time here's a mix I fixed up of some tracks I've been liking.

Autorretrato Mix
(32.93 MB, 28:44 Min)
Envelopes-Party (Sportsday Megaphone Remix)
Ratatat-Seventeen Years
Flying Lotus-Parisian Goldfish
Lucky Dragons-Ivy Girls
Panther-Puerto Rican Jukebox (Lips and Ribs Remix)
Best Fwends-Get Away From Me
Stereolab-Self-Portrait With Electric Brain (YACHT Remix)
Copy-A Slight But Delicious Warble