didn’t anybody tell you?

 

Sundays always turn out to be those unproductive days with too much time spent in bed.

Human is one of those songs I get hooked on for weeks and the tune rings in my head and I sing it out loud in the shower.

I am one of those. Those sing-in-the-shower people who have no shame or concept of noise pollution. The bathroom makes a perfect replacement to a studio anyway.

I stumbled upon Ghost & Liars and felt they had some Travis sort of vibes going on. As for the Damn Yankees, they caught my ear on the 80s countdown on radio sometime this week, and it’s really unmistakably 80s. 

*swing

Human – The Killers (click!)

We’ll Carry On – Ghost & Liars (click!)

Where You Going Now – Damn Yankees (click!)

mr bravado

Everything about James Bond has been cheesily masculine, machismo, bravado. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

James Bond soundtracks have been equally intentionally badass, with menacing riffs, tough lyrics and titles so mean you either buy wholly into the Bond myth or laugh it away.

Here’s the newest one: Another Way to Die by JACK WHITE and Alicia Keys. I can already see the opening credits sequence in my head. I like Daniel Craig. He’s gritty and contemporary, he’s unshaven and tumble-dry. Which is pretty much the sound of Jack White.

*crush

Another Way to Die- Jack White/ Alicia Keys

on music & little things

As for music, I already have more than I can cope with.

My flat isn’t enormous, but I have thousands of slaves to do my bidding. I have Lithuanian pianists, Korean violinists, Icelandic tenors, Dutch divas, American harpsichordists, Senegalese cellists, Balinese drummers, slaves living and dead, of almost every nation to play music for me. I can make them play again and again, louder or quieter.

The choice every time I want to listen to some music is almost tiresome. The first stage of choice is easy: up, down or hanging around. Then it’s a question, if you want to go up or down, how far up or down you want to go. If you’re glum, is it the sort of glumness that you want to ornament with another layer of dejection? Or is it a vexatious misery you want to dispel? Or, if you’re elated, do you want to be driven into a frenzy? Guessing what sort of music you want to listen to can be exhausting, but on occasion getting it wrong can be surprisingly pleasant.

Finally, how much music can you listen to? Working at home means I can listen a lot more than the average officenik, but I have over five hundred discs that represent fifteen years of collecting, of birthday presents, of Christmas presents, of I-would-like-to-take-your-clothes-off presents. If you listened for twelve hours a day, every day, that would be six weeks without repetition; and a lot of music, usually the more rewarding, requires half a dozen plays before you begin to get a grip on it. The great pieces you can listen to dozen of times, naturally, with the enjoyment growing and changing all the while. I’ve concluded it would be profligate to buy any more since I have every field covered, two or three discs to accompany every emotional permutation, though I will doubtless succumb to some new release promising more.

And a great piece by a great composer is an almost undrainable pleasure. I have twenty-five different recordings of a double piano concerto; though it was with the purchase of the twenty-fifth that I worried I might be fiddling with my sanity.

There’s something slightly embarrassing about liking a great composer. Of course you do. It looks so obvious, so lazy, so dull. There’s always this tension in your tastes; no one wants to fit in with the crowd, to bellow herdishly. This desire is contrasted with the desire to evangelise for a new discovery; we want others to share our pleasure, but only to a certain pint. I can’t imagine anyone, even those who go for the most obscure and awful music, enjoying something and not wanting to share it with someone. We might not want share our food or our money, but we do want to share our judgement. We want to be considered of good judgement, knowledgeable. We want others to think we have more fun. But we need meeting-places of the mind. A Kilimanjaro of the spirit that we’ve all visited so we can say of other things: it’s shorter, or taller, or the same height as Kilimanjaro.

 - Tibor Fischer, Voyage to the End of the Room

But WE want YOU to have as much fun as us! So here’s 2 little things. 

little joy

You like The Strokes. You’ll like Little Joy. Stroke’s drummer Fabrizio Moretti starts his own band with Little Joy.

Brand New Start – Little Joy (click!)  

Little Joy’s MySpace 

The Weepies are mellow, but no worries, you won’t be reaching for that Kleenex just yet. Enjoy!

Little Bird – The Weepies (click!)

The Weepies MySpace

*swing

happy belated birthday swing!

Us at Swing’s birthday party, many million years ago. Swing always had fabulous puffy dresses, which she passed down to me when she outgrew them. Despite the frills, we were hardly sugar and spice. I once walked into Swing’s birthday party to see her jumping on a chair in a floor-length white frilly gown.

Swing is in hongkong Again. We spent her birthday there last year falling in love with Terrible Toby and dragging our poor tired feet in search of elusive desserts. So I’m left here doing a post that should have come four days ago.

And what more perfect birthday song for her than something game-y. This isn’t quite Supermario, which she loves, but it comes close. The Pacman Remix. There are countless remixes of the Pacman theme, which my groupmate found while looking for a soundtrack for our videogame-inspired video. I still like this one best, but you should do a youtube search and see what’s out there.

Happy Birthday!!!

*crush

Pacman Remix (click!)