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16.1.07: Mix tape number one

I made up a mix tape for Julian. It goes a bit like this:

1. The Crane Wife 3 - The Decemberists
2. Made Up Love Song #43 - Guillemots
3. Black Magic - Jarvis
4. We All Lose One Another - Jason Collett
5. Four Cigarettes - Malcolm Middleton
6. Over and Over - Hot Chip
7. No More Eatin’ - Plan B
8. Herculean - The Good, The Bad and The Queen
9. Last Night I Nearly Died - Duke Special
10. Life On Mars - Seu Jorge

You can get it here until the juice runs out.

25.4.06: Pearly Pearly Jam Jam

I listened to Roxette at the weekend, and it didn’t feel the same. I used to be a big fan, see. And at the time Julian was well into Pearl Jam. It was a thing we had where we’d not like each other’s band on purpose (although I knew he secretly had an admiration for the Scandinavian poprockstrels every bit as strong as mine). Hence, I never really ‘got’ into Pearl Jam. I was underdeveloped muscially at that stage. Another friend of ours was freakishly into Alice Cooper. It was a rough childhood.

I gave Vitalogy a brief go when it came out, and although I liked bits of it, but I just wasn’t that fussed by the directly inaccessible moments. I’d had Oasis and Blur to sort me out by then… so I was getting on the right road anyhow.

Last Thursday, I was lucky enough to see Pearl Jam play a rare ‘intimate’ show at the London Astoria. Tom was one of the lucky few to be able to get tickets within the two minutes that they were available, before selling out more or less the very moment they were released. I was really quite nervous, desperately trying not to look like a non-believer to the couple of thousand people in the queue which stretched right to the opposite side of Soho Square. Some fans had paid in excess of £500 for the privilege and there was me, only knowing a couple of songs which they probably wouldn’t play anyway. It felt just that little bit wrong.

Kicking off with the new single, it’s clear that Pearl Jam fans know how to behave at a gig. The entire standing area instantly throbs with energy, and it doesn’t ever let off for two hours. I sing along to “Better Man” - and Vedder appears taken back by the entire crowd singing all of the words back at him. They just don’t do that stateside, apparently. Rounding up with the double act of “Yellow Ledbetter”, quickly followed up by an unexpected airing of “Alive”, I am honestly quite moved by what I’ve just experienced. These guys really know how to put on a show. They know their fans, and their fans love them for it. I never thought I’d say it, but Pearl Jam rocked.

—

Spinning the once-highlight of my collection - Roxette’s “Crash! Boom! Bang!” - for the first time in years, I feel slightly numb. I had been fooled. I have to turn it off. It’s hurting my ears.

23.3.06: The Dears - There Goes My Outfit

I make no attempt to hide my admiration for The Dears. Their No Cities Left album was one of my favourite discoveries of 2005, so I was delighted to stumble accross some (rough) new material over at You Ain’t Know Picasso. While I’ve no desire to turn this into an mp3 blog, I feel like I should be making the whole process a lot easier by linking straight to it. So here it is.

This track was lifted from a sampler from the Bella Union label. Entitled “Beneath The Surface Vol.2″, the sampler is reviewed quite favourably here, with full marks given to The Dears’ track. A new album from the band is expected later this year.

20.3.06: Sounds like: “Uncle Fucka”

I ‘learned’ Obla-dee-obla-daa by The Beatles’ at the weekend. And a sterling work of musicianship it was. In my learning journey, I have noticed how the verse sounds remarkably similar to the Uncle Fucka song, as popularised by the South Park movie, ‘South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut’. McCartney must be proud.

I’ve also learned that there is an alternative pronounciation of capo. Having always assumed this to be a one way street, straight up cap-oh, I was slightly disorientated to hear my guitar tutor offer an alternative pronounciation: cape-oh. I’m not sure it actually matters all that much. Tomorrow, I think we’re progressing to Wonderwall. I’m quite looking forward to it.

In other news, I recieved Richard Swift Collection: Volume One in the post today. It’s the first CD I’ve bought since the Jens CD - which has been almost never off my playlist, pushing Mr Lekman right to the top of my last.fm profile. Incidentally, I’m also pleased to report that a sudden recent gush of playing has pushed Radiohead into third place, overtaking ABBA who only really feature that prominently because I kept playing SOS, and forgetting to flick shuffle on before leaving it running.

I’ve decided that what I play doesn’t actually reflect what I like all that much very well. Which is a bit of a paradox, really. This guy has written a lot about the difference between Last.fm and Pandora, which I played about at the weekend for the first time, having deferred doing so assuming that they were more or less the same.

It makes for a good read - I had a similar idea of writing something down that compared all these music-comparision-suggest-something-you’ll-love services, throwing Amazon’s releational-purchasing “people who bought this, also bought that” into the bag too.

I’m generally coming around to the conclusion that it’s not very relevant for a computer to recommend something you’ll die for to listen to again. With a few exceptions, most people who know me can’t recommend me something I’ll fall head over heals in love with, so the chances of having some automated process that can is reaching the near impossible. I got thinking about how I’d got into Jens - who I now rate right up there with some of my favourite artists - and it really was a chance happening across an MP3 blog over Christmas. Jens’ closest match via Pandora is Belle and Sebastian, who although I like, I’m hardly their biggest fan, and it’s not like they’re unchartered land in my musical world.

As Steve Krause pointed out, there’s obviously a need for a mix of both the social upping of Last.fm, and the genetic musical matching of Pandora. However, for true new music discovery, I’m finding that it’s ultimately a matter of hard graft and exposure to more musical avenues. And by that I mean catching more MP3 blogs, podcasts and the like in addition to my usual diet. Something that filters out the noise would be great though…

3.1.06: Jens Lekman

I’ve been listening to this young fella recently. His [debut?] album “Oh You’re So Silent, Jens” is out on 23rd January. HMV have it on pre-order for £8.99. Some mp3s are available here.

7.12.05: Antony and the Johnsons - Shepherds Bush Empire - 06.12.05

I like Antony and the Johnsons. I do. Antony Hegarty comes across as a thinner version of Tiny from Ultrasound (R.I.P.), without the boys in the bikeshed menace. He’s “just your average granny tranny”, as he proclaims whilst standing up from his piano so that those with the awfully restricted view in the downstairs standing area can see him*.

It was just before Glastonbury this year that I’d first heard the ghostly magnificence of “Hope There’s Someone”. I’d arrived home late from the pub one Friday night, just in time to see the performance on Later… and that was it.

I don’t think I was alone in being enchanted that night. The next day, with my mind still blurry from the night before, I found his messageboard, and it was awash with comments declaring undying love for the song from that performance alone. I sourced a copy of I Am A Bird Now and was sold. And soon enough, the Mercury happened. Suddenly - albeit briefly - he had the widespread attention he deserves.

He warbles, yes. But he warbles well - supported only by his grand piano and the six multi-instrumental Johnsons who tonight feature a celloist, a violinist, a singer/guitarist, a violin/accordian/guitar-ist, a bassist, and a drummer. It’s a beautiful thing. And so intimate, despite the grandeur. When he’s not playing the piano - he’ll be fiddling with things - brushing the keys, and gesturing erratically. Highlights were a fine rendition of “Fistful of Love”, the achingly beautiful “Fell in Love with a Dead Boy”, and the closing cover of some-time collaborator/touring buddy Lou Reed’s “Candy Says”.

So to pick out one theme, it’s all about love. 80minutesfull of Love.

*I make no attempt to mask my hatred of the standing area at the Empire, and wholly recommend anyone going there to get Level 1 seats. It’s a truly awful venue for standing. It really is. Any more than 10 rows from the front and you won’t see dick, unless you’re 7 foot tall or sporting a fashionable pair of stilts. I think it actually slopes down away from the stage.