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Tuesday , November 10, 2009
Soundtracks: Awesome Swedish Indie Pop Chanteuses
first row, l-r: Jonna Lee; the cover of Frida Hyvonen's Until Death Comes, which I adore; El Perro del Mar
second row, l-r: Sally Shapiro; Lykke Li
If there's anything about autumn 2009 that I will remember besides the dude(s?) I'm dating and the vast, varied interiors of Columbia University's Butler Library, it's my foray into spiritual Scandinavia. The journey continues this week with a detour into the world of Swedish indie pop. As we all know, the Swedes are responsible for ABBA and Ace of Base, both of whom I actually have a soft spot in my heart for. However, they also have a knack for a particular kind of honey-voiced singer, usually making well-crafted, clever pop music. It's slightly ridiculous to lump these diverse artists into one entry just by virtue of their Sweditude, but you can't deny it -- there's something particularly smart and Swede-y when you hear all these songs together. This entry might be the closest that a blog posting at nogoodforme.com might come to sounding like an episode of "Grey's Anatomy," except the soundtrack for "Grey's" would never feature a song with a lyric about male genitalia or anything remotely Italo-disco. I already hyped a few Swedish musicians like Fever Ray and Little Dragon in another Heavy Rotation, but consider that a warm-up to this mini-Magnum Opus.
FRIDA HYNONEN
"Once I Was A Serene Teenaged Child"
Sometimes my knee-jerk reaction to a girl with a piano is to run and hide 'cause I'm kind of a jerk. But maybe I'm mellowing out as I get older -- I'm more and more intrigued by this minimalist set-up. Frida Hyvönen often gets compared to Laura Nyro for a certain homespun flavor to her piano-playing, not to mention deeply personal songwriting with lyrics that would make a zine girl in the late 90s proud. I was hooked with the first two lines of this song, which I would write out except that I hate to think what kind of evil spammer this would draw to nogoodforme.com. The cover of the record that this song comes from -- Until Death Comes -- is one of my favorite album covers of all time. The whole record itself is fantastic, mostly due to the raw honesty of Frida's worldview, which nails the most slippery aspects of being a girl with intelligence and a certain calm bravery. Feeling confused yet oddly powerful? This is a good song for you.
JONNA LEE
"There Was Me"
I first got turned onto Jonna Lee with her cover of Nitzer Ebb's "Violent Playground." It's the most unlikely of covers, because Nitzer Ebb usually made super-abrasive, brutally punishing industrial music at their peak, and Jonna simply makes really lovely songs that highlight both the fragility and steeliness of her voice. Her latest record, This is Jonna Lee, is stylistically diverse, but there's a sweetness with an undertow of melancholy through it all. This is smart pop for smart girls, similar in vein to Aimee Mann and other songwriters with a knack for elegant understatement and emotional nuance. I like how this song sounds all tough, but the lyrics get more and more vulnerable as they progress. Been there, done that, yes!
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Tags: chanteuses, foxiness, indie pop, spiritually Scandinavian, Sweditude
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by Kat in Soundtracks
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Tuesday , November 3, 2009
Soundtracks: Zoé Wolf from the Konki Duet
I love it whenever Zoé Wolf from the Konki Duet does something with a guitar. I love the whole of Konki Duet, of course, but there's just something so classic and intimate about a girl, a guitar, and some home-recording equipment. This is a song that will hit that "I liked a boy who is just so UNKNOWABLE" spot so well, it will take your breath away.
Tags: heartbreak, intimacy, relationships, The Konki Duet, Zoé Wolf
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by Kat in Soundtracks
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Thursday , September 10, 2009
nogoodforme ix: Our Favorite Albums of the 1980s
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Tags: 60s psych, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, Adam "MCA" Yauch, bubbles, codename: Pollyanna Jerkface, De La Soul, Dukes of Stratosphear, fake psych, Flea, Guns N' Roses, Jane's Addiction. Satanicism, John Lennon, Madonna, Mike D, onion rings, Prince, Rites of Spring, the 1980s, The Beastie Boys, The Pixies
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by Liz in nogoodforme IX
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Monday , August 31, 2009
nogoodforme ix: Our Favorite Albums of the 1970s
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Tags: bad babysitters, Bruce Springsteen, cars, Cheap Trick, confidence, high school, Iggy Pop, Imagine, John Lennon, Joy Division, Laura Loves the Beatles, Lisa Crystal Carver, nastiness, Neil Young, New York City, Pacific Coast Highway, Patti Smith, Paul McCartney, RAM, smoking weed, Television, The Stooges, three-legged dogs
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Thursday , August 20, 2009
nogoodforme ix: Our Favorite Albums of the 1960s
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Tags: 60s psych, Better Than The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Count Five, dudes, funerals, heaven, hotheads, Jan & Dean, Laura loves the Kinks, Mick Jagger, Micky Dolenz, Neil Young, Ray Davies is a genius, Rolling Stones, spiritual decapitation, The Beatles, the most magnificent assholes in all the world, The Nice
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by Laura in nogoodforme IX
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Friday , December 5, 2008
Soundtracks: Lily Allen, "The Fear"
A little treat to lead you into your weekend: the video for Lily Allen's new single, out on Dec. 9! It's like a 60s Brit version of Marie Antoinette: super-pretty, super-girly, with lots of gorge pastries, dancing pastel presents, balloons and other lovely things. The song is pretty great as well. I feel like a sucker falling for Lily Allen, but fall I do for her catchy melodies and biting, clever lyrics. I'm looking forward to her new record, It's Not Me, It's You, which will be out in February of next year. Anyway -- enjoy:
Tags: Lily Allen, Marie Antoinette, videos
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by Kat in Soundtracks
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Monday , November 10, 2008
Soundtracks: Crystal Stilts, Alight of Night FAVORITE SONG: "Graveyard Orbit" (If Tarantino ever made a movie about a girl gang hiding out in a haunted house, this would be good)
There are some records that you like because they make your ears do strange, fun things with their sense of bravura and experimentation, and there are some records that you dig because they're the sonic equivalent of your heart, perfectly encapsulating your emotional state in the way that only music can. And then there are some recordings that are so well-executed in songwriting, musicianship and production that you have to bow in awe, and there are some records that you just like -- they may not be "new" or they may not be "deep," but they're great to put on and groove to. Sometimes I think critics really underrate "grooviness" as a quality concern, which is too bad, because Brooklyn-based Crystal Stilts has that quality in spade. I'm not saying that they aren't good or that their music lacks emotional depth -- it doesn't at all, but the quality that stands out most for me with Alight of Night is this late-night, spooky, slightly soused amiability, which makes it a perfect fall record and a totally perfect New York City record. This is just one of those great collection of songs that shambles from your speakers like that tall, lanky drunk dude at the back of most rock shows, wearing sunglasses in the dark, minding his own business, kind of watching everyone and taking notes and being sardonic and all that. This is the guy that does that weird little lurch-y shuffle dance on the sidelines, and he probably goes home at night and writes terse entries in his super-cryptic blog. Or he goes on to write songs like those here, which are both deeply familiar in their genre (stately avant-garage pop with a shot of codeine coming out of a wind tunnel) and deeply weird with their indecipherable lyrics and removed, weirdo-mumbled deadpan vocals. The highest compliment some people will give this record would be to say that Andy Warhol would love it, which is perfect because people are always comparing Crystal Stilts to the Velvet Underground. (Or Jesus and Mary Chain, or some weird coupling of Joy Division, Suicide and a 60s Motown group.) Whatever, man -- I never really want to make out to Velvet Underground (um, ewwww), but I'd totally make out to this. Alight of Night: you can clap to it, kiss to it, dance to it, shamble to it, sleep to it. You probably don't want to eat brunch to it, but come on -- do you really need to ask more of such a oddly great record?
MP3: "Crystal Stilts" (Don't you love a band that has a song title with their name? Kind of like a theme song!)
CRYSTAL STILTS: MYSPACE
Tags: avant-garage, Brooklyn bands, convoluted music criticism, Crystal Stilts, weird cool dudes at rock shows
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by Kat in Soundtracks
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Tuesday , November 4, 2008
Your Election Night Dance Party Playlist, Courtesy of DJ Freak Illness If you're anything like me, you not only obsessively soundtrack nearly every moment of your life, but also feel relentlessly compelled to draw deep meaning out of all those moments soundtracked by others (e.g., radio DJs, bar DJs, the dude in charge of the iPod at your local coffee shop, etc.). Like, last night I was driving back from the Little Tokyo library and heard "L.E.S. Artistes" by Santogold and "Hate to Say I Told You So" by The Hives back-to-back on Indie 103.1, which I knew had to be some kind of secret Election Eve code. ("L.E.S. Artistes" is all desperate and anthemic, and I'm sure Barack Obama sang the whole song to himself in the mirror before he went to bed last night, while "Hate to Say I Told You So" would make the best victory song with which to taunt your one or two Facebook friends who've got "Blahblahblah is the blahblahblahth person to donate their status to get out the vote for John McCain" as their current status update.) Anyway, my new deal is trying to obsessively soundtrack your life, which is why I've called upon my pal DJ Freak Illness to put together an Election Night playlist. Fire it up whenever you're in need of a 3-minute dance party (Liz Lemon-stylez) at any point this evening. (On the other hand, if the anxiety gets to be too much and you start to wig the hell out, listen to John Coltrane's A Love Supreme in its entirety. I've already done so 3 times in the last 12 hours; it's total magic.) You'll notice that the closing track here is Ghost Town DJs' "My Boo," which we just featured in the Halloween edition of Heavy Rotation. DJ Freak Illness would like yall to know that this is the song she'd currently most like to dance with Barack Obama to, even though she doesn't really want to be his lady. So, here's a screenshot of the first almost-half of the playlist. Get to it now before RIAA shuts down Favtape! Oh, and our one demand is that you must must must dance exactly like Barack Obama on Ellen all night long. No exceptions!!!
Tags: Barack Obama, Favtape, Funkadelic, John Coltrane, Madonna, music, obsessively soundtracking my life, obsessively soundtracking your life, Tina Turner
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by Liz in Soundtracks
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Wednesday , October 22, 2008
Soundtracks: The Hundred in the Hands, "Dressed in Dresden"/"Undressed in Dresden" I was all bummerville when I heard that local Brooklyn band the Boggs were no more; I was always way into their roots/dance/post-punk hybridity and general good-times vibe. Luckily, though, frontman Jason Friedman has started a new group, The Hundred in the Hands, with touring-Bogg Eleanore Everdell. And they've already got a single up for your downloading plaisir. It's "Undressed in Dresden"/"Dressed in Dresden" and both tracks are more straight-up dance-y affairs than the Boggs were, complete with disco polyrhythms, jagged guitars and really lovely, gorgeous vocals. "Dressed" is like, YES! I AM HAVING A GREAT DAY AND I'M GOING TO BOP DOWN THE SIDEWALK TO THIS INFECTIOUS BEAT AND SUPER FUZZY GUITAR! Whereas "Undressed" is more like, Oh, it's late night. I'm tired. Are you? Want to be tired together? To both we say: yes, thumbs up, hooray, hooray! Anyway, get to it and get downloading and enjoy getting either "Dressed" or "Undressed." Or both. At the same time? Naughty! (P.S. - Their website features their own zine, where they get their interesting friends from all over the place to say interesting things about being in those interesting places.)
Tags: downloads, music, the Boggs, the Hundred in the Hands
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by Kat in Soundtracks
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Tuesday , October 21, 2008
Soundtracks: Girl Talk, Feed the Animals In some shadowy corner of my brain I got the idea that Girl Talk's fourth record Feed the Animals was coming out on CD today, which apparently isn't actually happening till November 11. But the record's been available online for a long while now and I'm sick of waiting to gush on and on about its awesomeness, and who pays attention to CD release dates anyway? (I mean, I totally do, but I don't even know if I can stand by that possibly foolish old-schoolishness anymore.) And so: It was Fluxblog, or was it Vic Tayback,* who said of Girl Talk's last record: "Like the best [mash-ups and DJ mixes], it retains its listenability because the tracks are more than a collection of reference points - nearly all of them stand up as perfectly composed pop songs in and of themselves." The same's so true of Feed the Animals, as evidenced by the fact that I've played the hell out it over the last few months and still find it all fresh-and-new-feeling. I'd even say it's maybe my favorite record of 2008, and so without further adieu I give you: SEVEN Moments on Feed the Animals That Will Make Your Life EIGHT Times More Exciting 1."Play Your Part (Pt. 1)," 0:27 - 0:40 (Spencer Davis Group, "Gimme Some Lovin'" + UGK, "International Player's Anthem"). If we could make it so these 13 perfect seconds played on a loop at top volume everywhere all the time, the world would get so much shit done. I mean, we'd get nothing done, 'cause everyone would be too busy jumping up and down and running up the side of buildings at full speed and imploding from happiness, but...would that be such a terrible thing? 2. "Shut the Club Down," 2:08 - 2:55 (Ahmad, "Back in the Day" + Rod Stewart, "Young Hearts" + Michael Sembello, "Maniac"). Before you go home for Thanksgiving this year, you should Facebook all your high-school friends and make plans to meet up somewhere that's like a cross between the bar in "Glory Days" by Bruce Springsteen and the Peach Pit After Dark, then work it so this bit from "Shut the Club Down" is playing just as you all run into each other. Then dance on the tabletops and flip your hair around a lot. 3. "Set it Off," 0:20 - 1:21 (Jay-Z, "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)" + Radiohead, "Paranoid Android"). BADASS, so much. 4. "No Pause," 0:18 - 0:54 (Missy Elliott, "Work It" + Nu Shooz, "I Can't Wait"). Doesn't "I Can't Wait" make you think simultaneously of nogoodforme's special summer edition of Heavy Rotation, and of Johnny Drama doing the Macarena on the deck of a boat in the south of France? Me too! What an amazing feeling. 5. "Like This," 2:26 - 3:21 (Metallica, "One" + Lil Mama, "Lip Gloss"). This makes me wanna have a Scary Rollerskating Party, where everyone skates around to metal while performing satanic rituals and chewing Strawberry Splash Bubblicious. 6. "Give Me a Beat," 1:32 - 2:04 (Britney Spears, "Gimme More" + Air, "Sexy Boy" + Lloyd, "How We Do It"). And then after the Scary Rollerskating Party you can get drunk on wine coolers in the parking lot with someone really hot and then make out in the roller rink bathroom. 7. "In Step," 2:53 - 3:23 (Fergie feat. Ludacris, "Glamorous" + The Beach Boys, "God Only Knows"). "If you ain't got no money, take your broke ass home" coupled with "God only knows what I'd do without you" makes total sense, somehow. Oh, and don't forget to check out Girl Talk when he blows through your town over the next coupla months. Check his MySpace for dates. *If you got this "Sprockets" reference before I had to explain it, you win my lifelong love.
Tags: Bubblicious, Entourage, Girl Talk, Jay-Z, mash-ups, Metallica, music, rollerskating, Sprockets
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by Liz in Soundtracks
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