Endless Hookup

The Hood Internet - R. Kelly (feat. Huey) vs Rogue Wave - Endless Hookup (zShare)

Downloaded this a little while ago (along with the rest of The Hood Internet's excelent Mixtape Volume Three) and have been listening to it pretty regularly since. I can honestly claim to know nothing/very little about either artist (heard "Lake Michigan" from Rogue Wave and liked it, have seen about half a dozen tracks "feat. R. Kelly" but none of his own stuff) but, perhaps surprisingly (obvs. not to The Hood Internet), these two songs feel like they were made to be mashed up. Laid-back but still driving, making me think of long walks on the beach at sunset (or something). Enjoy.

Download The Hood Internet's Mixtape Volume Three from their site for free here

How are things on the West Coast?

(Photograph taken from a hotel balcony in Seattle)

Interpol - The Heinrich Maneuver (Phones Remix) (zShare)
The Killers - Mr. Brightside (zShare)

You pull into the city, tired from the day's drive, and somehow find your way quickly to the hotel. You check in and take the elevator to your floor, sliding the plastic key through the lock to let yourself in. Bags get dropped just inside the door before you walk to the center of the room, glancing around. You walk to the sliding glass door, open it, and step out onto the balcony, relishing the cool, salty air that sprays up from the bay, less than a single city block away and dotted with sail boats, the downtown city center just a few block in the other direction. You remember the glaring neon sign reading "Sake Bar" that you saw on the way to the hotel, and you think about the nights to come as you look out at the sunset.

--------

Interpol official site / Buy / iTunes
The Killers official site / Buy / iTunes

--------

May have noticed a lack of posts lately (or maybe I'm just flattering myself), been busy playing Animal Crossing: City Folk and reading comic books. Much hot tuneage to come in the near future (or maybe I'll disappear again for a couple weeks, it's a toss-up). Also, attempted to register on hypem, so I'll see how that goes.

I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You

Clicky here and go listen to "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You" by Black Kids over at Daytrotter.

This song. Is really great. I wasn't thrilled by Black Kids' debut EP (released for free via their MySpace) when it came out last year and hadn't really listened to them since but I went on a Daytrotter binge a couple days ago and happenned to download their session and found myself hopelessly in love with this tune. So yeah, go listen (I'd post the mp3 but I'd rather you [that "you" is hypothetical, as I'm fairly certain no one actually reads this blog] head on over to Daytrotter's site and take a look around, if you're not already familiar with it.)

Other things of an awesome nature:

Here's a live performance of that Bloc Party song I posted a couple days ago, from yesterday in Circo Voador, Rio de Janeiro:


And here's another, just for fun, this one in-studio but live, from the enhanced CD release of Intimacy:


ta.

Quantum Cello

(Photograph by Zoë Keating)

So, Zoë Keating is pretty much amazing. Making impossibly lush and beautiful soundscapes with nothing but a single cello looped through a laptop controlled via foot pedal, her's is the kind of music that makes one think of gorgeous summer sunsets, rays of light peaking through broken clouds, long car journeys at dusk, autumn trees, thunderstorms during the summer, etc. There's something incredibly elemental and pure about it. I've quite simply never experienced music like this before.



I first heard Zoë's music only a couple of days ago, after this post at Heartache with Hard Work turned me on to an interview and performance she did for WNYC's Radio Lab podcast/radio show. You can download that episode here:

WNYC Radio Lab - August 25 2008 - Quantum Cello (zShare)

It's about 36 minutes long and features some informal interviewing/discussion of the creative process, during which she talks about how she sees shapes in the sounds when she's composing, as well as performances of a few songs, including an improv piece that closes the show. I can't recommend that you listen to this highly enough; it's truly breath-taking. (I downloaded a couple other episodes of the podcast as well, which is available from iTunes, and it seems like a great show, kind of in general about theoretical science, life, exploring mysteries - interesting stuff.)


(Photograph by Lane Hartwell)

You can stream some more of Zoë's music at her site, where you can also buy CDs and watch some live performances. Her two albums are also available on iTunes.

I try, I try, I try

Bloc Party - Letter To My Son (zShare)

I've been listening to this song on repeat for the past 45 minutes or so. Suffice to say I think it's pretty damn good. Some lyrics:

I found myself at the point where we kissed first
On a rooftop overlooking the East London mosque

They say, they say, they say, they say
"You can't go around breaking young girls' hearts"
I say, I say, I say, I say
Keep it casual, easy thing

And you looked so right in that red dress

Oh how I'd love to be a rock for you
To be anything you could rely on

So I'll try, I'll try, I'll try, I'll try
But I'll get caught out
So we'll try, we'll try, we'll try, we'll try
But we forget the lines, forget the lines

And you looked so wanton in the back of the car
Like you could start a hundred wars

See what trouble we could both cause
By the bedroom door, the kitchen floor
I tried, I tried, I tried
...
To be the father to a son
I tried, I tried, I tried

Forgive me Oscar

Buy Intimacy here / iTunes



In other news, I just finished (as in, a couple hours ago) reading Between Us And Oblivion, by Brian Fatah Steele. It's an amazing book, and one I'd highly recommend. I'm not the best at describing such things, but the cover description of a novel of magic and monsters, horrors and humanity is about as good as any. It's self-published, so you can only get it here. Also, Brandi Wells has a new chapbook coming out on Nov. 15 via ML Press entitled Patience, which is sure to be amazing. You can get it for $2 (!) here.

We fight, we break up, we kiss, we make up

Katy Perry - Hot N Cold (The American Dream Team Remix) (zShare)

This song is crack disguised as bubblegum. Enjoy!


Katy Perry official site / The American Dream Team official site / Contribute to Hot N Cold's reign of the charts here

Bloc Party Live @ Rex Theater, Wuppertal 22.10.08

Download the live recording here.

Head on over to Blog Party for an amazing live Bloc Party recording from a German gig a couple weeks ago. Even without the six-song encore this is an amazing, high-energy set, with the band having a great fix on the new songs and providing some astonishingly good updates to the older ones (7:18 leading straight into Price of Gas and Song for Clay doing the same with Banquet are particuarly awesome moments). Equally great for hardcare Blocheads (that sounds far less cool than I had a imagined it would) and new people looking to see what all the fuss is about.

Bloc Party official site / Buy Intimacy now