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Here is the third and final mixtape of some of my favorite songs of 2009.  I hope you’ve enjoyed them and hope there is more great music in 2010.

1. “Nothing to Worry About” by Peter Bjorn and John (Living Thing)
2. “My Girls” by Animal Collective (Merriweather Post Pavilion)
3. “I Was Once A Loyal Lover” by Death Cab For Cutie (The Open Door EP)
4. “Winter Hill” by Doves (Kingdom of Rust)
5. “Heavy Cross” by The Gossip (Music for Men)
6. “Black Heart Inertia” by Incubus (Monuments And Melodies)
7. “Clean Break” by Jenny Owen Youngs (Transmitter Failure)
8. “Games For Days” by Julian Plenti (Is… Skyscraper)
9. “Time Lapse Lifeline” by Maria Taylor (LadyLuck)
10. “Relator” by Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson (Break Up)
11. “The Verb” by The Swell Season (Strict Joy)
12. “Stadium Love” by Metric (Fantasies)
13. “Lisztomania” by Phoenix (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix)
14. “Sweet Disposition” by The Temper Trap (Conditions)
15. “Someday” by Tegan and Sara (Sainthood)

Electric Eclectic Playlist: December 19, 2009

Electric Eclectic With Ryan & Samantha – EVERY Saturday 9AM-12PM on 91.3 FM WTSR Trenton – OPEN YOUR MIND!

HOUR 1

Ding Fries Are Done (Trans Siberian Mix)

Run-DMC – Christmas Is…

Nelly Furtado – Manos al Aire

Smashing Pumpkins – Christmastime

Joe Williams – Jingle Bells (Bombay Dub Orchestra Remix)

Blues Traveller – Christmas

Tracy Bonham – Mr. Grinch

I’ll Be Home For Christmas – Aqua Teen Hunger Force

Bess Rogers – I Don’t Worry

Johnny Mercer – Winter Wonderland (Rise Ashen’s Brazillian Beach Mix)

HOUR 2

Mary J. Blige ft. Angie Martinez – Xmas In The City

Roddy Rod – Cold Outside (Christmas Time)

Billy Mack – Christmas Is All Around (from Love Actually)

Jools Holland ft. Jamiroquai – I’m In The Mood For Love

Esthero ft. Sean Lennon – Everyday Is A Holiday (With You)

Bess Rogers – Waltz Me

Kay Starr – I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (STUHR Remix)

Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald – Baby It’s Cold Outside (Mulato Beat Remix)

Young MC – Bust A Move

Run-DMC – Christmas In Hollis

HOUR 3

Glee Cast – Don’t Stop Believin’

Rev Run & The Christmas All-Stars – Santa Baby

Jenny Owen Youngs – Things We Don’t Need Anymore

Bess Rogers – Bulldozer

Ingrid Michaelson – Snowfall

Eric Clapton/John Popper – Christmas Blues

RJD2 – Christmas Eve Montage

BB King/John Popper – Back Door Santa

Dido – Christmas Day

Jenny debuts “Last Person” – a video from her latest (May 2009) album, “Transmitter Failure” which was her 2nd album (debut – Batten The Hatches 2005/2007) You might remember her really fun and sexy Nelly cover song/video “Hot in Here” she published in 2007. Or perhaps her EP Led to Sea.  To our regret her live set recorded on Fab Channel (site now shut down) was taken offline.  One thing we discovered recently was her collaboration with Sybarite Xian Hawkins.

The duo formed a group called Bell Horses and recently has released their debut 8 song album, This Loves Last Time. The album can be streamed on their MySpace page.

And for even more tantalizing new deets, Jenny is supporting the fab Regina Spektor who we saw recently here at the Roseland with Jupiter One.  Here’s a video from her 30 minute opener :

Jenny has some free mp3’s on her Daytrotter Session from both albums here.

Regina, Regina, Regina! I love her so much and had been waiting, so excited, about this gig for ages. It did not disappoint. First for the support act of the lovely Jenny Owen Youngs. I am familiar with her stuff but never had a proper listen, but I was very impressed. She charmed the audience with laughter, and a mixture of pretty folk songs and pop-rock stuff.

Then for Regina, the show was fully seated, suitable in some ways, but it took away some of the wonderful crowd atmosphere she gave at Glastonbury. She started with The Calculation, also the first off the new album Far, and continued through some new, and some old songs. Her voice is flawless live, exactly as it is on record, but I prefer her live as she is more stripped back, which I think is where she is best. She was joined only by a drummer, cellist, violinist, and herself on piano. She also played guitar part way through for bobbing for apples (’someone next door is fucking to my song’), and sang a cappella, that was AMAZING! Her encore consisted of Samson, I think my favourite of the set, then Us, Fidelity and she finished with Hotel Song. She didn’t chat with the audience much, as she did at Glastonbury, but was sweet and shy, but lovely all the same. Overall, an amazing evening with an amazing lady!

This is Regina playing Samson on the culture show a few years ago, and below that is her on Jools Holland recently, playing Blue Lips of her new album, Far!

Regina Spektor – Manchester Apollo – 03/12/2009

Ticket (very censored)

From what I could see of it the inside of the Apollo is very impressive, but more light and a better view (than from the circle) would be needed to check this. I must admit I do like The Palace more.

Jenny Owen Youngs

The Support

The brief ripple of applause and cheers were quickly muted when the theatre realised that it was only the support act. I start by saying this is one of the the best support act I’ve seen. Jenny Owen Youngs was a revelation, a little weird, but very talented singer song writer from Montclair, New Jersey. Those fans of Weeds will have heard her work.

I will show her with her glasses as the UK Border Authority were kind enough to relieve her of her contact lenses.

Jenny Owen Youngs merchandise (slightly censored)

She appeared to be a little nervous at first, but her powerful voice, great songs and off the wall commentary hooked the audience and me. After she finished I hot-footed it down to the rapidly filling lobby – I’m not surprised as she had plugged her CDs and said she would be there - unfortunately she wasn’t – but her CDs where. After another demonstration of my skills in getting rapidly to the front of a merchandise queue - I bought one and a few of her badges.

I always buy something from a gig - usually a t-shirt – but they were not really to my taste. On turning round I realised the whole lobby was now a sea of people, you’ve seen it before, the merchandise is never in a sensible place. I managed to get back to my seat in plenty of time for the main event.

Regina Spektor

A Soviet-born American singer-songwriter and pianist.

Regina Spektor

The band took to the stage first, a bald and slightly crazy looking drummer (nothing new there), a cellist and a violinist. Regina Spektor followed and sat at her black grand piano centre stage.

At this point I will geek out a bit and single out the sound engineer(s), I think only Brian Wilson’s was better and who ever did the lighting deserves a mention, spot on throughout and far more creative than I have expected. I will also mention two very interesting pieces of stage furniture, mirror balls. One was huge (at least a meter in diameter) sat behind the piano and the other much smaller off to the left of the stage as I looked down. Remember these for later.

A few fantastic songs in and she made a little mistake not long into Mary Ann but recovered admirably after a big round of applause from the audience. About half way though the set the band left and she moved away from her piano and took up a microphone for an a capella number called Silly Eye Color Generalizations – strange but brilliant. I’d never heard it before, but there was humour there and getting the word Generalizations into a song is impressive too.

I admit now I didn’t expect her to be as good as she was – her voice is rich and strong (again the sound engineer did a good job, but I guess the Apollo has good acoustics too). Even from up in the circle it was a pleasure to watch her hands move over the keyboard.

Regina Spektor with guitar (Is it a Gibson?)

Not satisfied with her outstanding skills on a grand piano she also broke out an electric keyboard and a stunning aqua-marine guitar (I think it was a Gibson).

After what she said was the last song – there was a brief break, the house lights stayed down and a roadie wandered on, changing some equipment around and replacing and empty bottle of water with a fresh one. I wonder, will there be an encore?

Of course there was, it’s an essential part of any gig these days isn’t it?

It was a very long encore, but I’d have been happy with just the first song. I have a couple of times been to a gig a found new appreciation of a song I liked, it happened when I saw Billy Joel and it happened again tonight – it was easily the highlight of the night (I do hope I’m not building this up too much) the song was Samson.  Remember those two mirror balls, well all the lights but one were focussed on the large one and one was focussed on the small one. Regina Spektor, alone on the stage was almost silhouetted by the light spraying off the large mirror ball behind her piano. The whole theatre was bathed in starlight. The wall at the back of the stage, with all the bands equipment in place looked like a city scape at night. I’ve been humming the song for two days now… The band returned for the rest of the encore and the cellist pulled out a cool looking electric double base.

All in all the night was great and I would highly recommend seeing Regina Spektor live.

An amazing night last night honestly regina spektor is amazing i had the chance to see her and i am so glad that i choose wisely i cannot get over how amazing a gig that it actually was

the support a per usual i fell in love with Jenny Owen Youngs such an amazing artist, she has such angst and her voice is so strong i cannot say anything bad about her i really enjoyed her and would have loved to have heard more from her

regina words cannot express how gratefull i am that i seen her every song that was played the crowd loved and i could tell that she loved the crowd, even when she was hit in the face with a tshirt, and Glasgow and it’s ineffable charm began booing whoever threw it, and much to everyones surprise regina was fine with it she knew it was an accident. she carried on and the crowd loved her for it.

i cant remember anything other than that it was that incredible =]

Company was not to shabby either =]

so grateful for that ticket honestly =]

day off tomorrow and i now have a tumblr =]
killerparties.tumblr.com

If you want to find me really just google me

Camilla Parker- Bowles- Windsor (?) has a deceptively easy looking job. Visiting factories, schools and other such places while wearing a big smile should be easy, but on one trip to a nursery school, the Duchess of Cornwall accidentally ass-checks a kid in the head, then she tries to turn on some Christmas lights by pulling this ancient-looking rope, and the darn thing breaks.

It’s OK, honey. I definitely make the third picture face on a daily basis.

F**k Was I by Jenny Owen Youngs

You can tell the recession’s almost over when quite a few of Wonderful Noise’s very favourite tune makers are heading off on tour soon.

Dates for Vampire Weekend, Los Campesinos!, Andrew Bird and Jenny Owen Youngs/Regina Spektor after the JUMP!…

Vampire Weekend are back in the country to tour around their forthcoming album Contra in February…

Sun 7th – CAMBRIDGE, Corn Exchange

Mon 8th – MANCHESTER, Apollo

Tues 9th – LEEDS, O2 Academy

Wed 10th – BIRMINGHAM, O2 Academy

Fri 12th – NEWCASTLE, O2 Academy

Sat 13th – GLASGOW, Barrowlands

Sun 14th – EDINBURGH, Picture House

Tues 16th – LONDON, O2 Academy Brixton (SOLD OUT but just announced is…)

Wed 17th – LONDON, O2 Academy Brixton

Los Campesinos! are dragging around in February/March too – it’s going to be a busy gig month for us!…

February

Thurs 11 – WREXHAM, Central Station

Fri 12 – LIVERPOOL, Evol@O2

Sat 13 – YORK, Fibbers

Mon 15 – ABERDEEN, Tunnels

Tues 16 – DUNDEE, Dog House

Wed 17 – EDINBURGH, Bongo

Thurs 18 – DERBY, The Venue

Fri19 – LEICESTER, The Musician

Sun 21 – CAMBRIDGE, Junction

Tues 23 – BRIGHTON, Audio New Slang Night

Mon 22 – NORWICH, Arts Centre

Wed 24 – PORTSMOUTH, Wedgewood Rooms

Thurs 25 – LONDON, Koko

Fri 26 – FALMOUTH, Princess Pavilion

Sat 27 – BRISTOL, Thekla

March

Mon 1 – BIRMINGHAM, The Rainbow

Tues 2 – NORTHAMPTON, Roadmender

Wed 3 – READING, Plug & Play

Thurs 4 – KINGSTON, Banquet New Slang

Andrew Bird dates are, er, actually already sold out but if you want to head on over to eBay/seatwave then he’s playing Tues and Wed Nov 10th and 11th at the Union Chapel in London. Totally worth the investment.

You know we love Jenny Owen Youngs and she’ll be supporting none other than the inimitable Regina Spektor on the following UK dates in Nov/Dec. WE LOVE HER, WE DO (though we do think it’s high time she had another tour to herself)…

Mon 30 – BIRMINGHAM, O2 Academy

Tues 1 – GLASGOW – O2 Academy

Thurs 3 – MANCHESTER – Appollo

Fri 4 – LONDON – Hammersmith Appollo

Det er søndag. Jeg er vel plassert ved pc’en. (Som vanlig). Ørene er forsøksvis vidåpne. Og jeg vet, jeg skulle skrevet et helt annet sted enn akkurat her. Nå. Jeg har det nylagrede dokumentet åpent. Med tekst på om ikke annet fire linjer klar. Fire ferdigskrevne  linjer, som trolig, med nærmere ettersyn ber om omskriving. Så jeg skal omskrive snart. Hvert øyeblikk. Når jeg lagt til og delt, denne videoen som følger her. Skal jeg altså skrive mer. For eksempel skal jeg begrunne bedre  hvorfor dette er den beste låta, fra et album der summen av låtene er bedre enn den enkelte låt…

Men først altså: Her er Jenny Owen Youngs.

by Michael

Woooo, Zombies, ain’t too many scary songs about them.  Personally this song scares the folk (PUN) out of me.

Sunday seems as good a day as any other to post some recommendations, so here they are (well, technically, they’re after the jump. So click “See The Sunday Recs” below). Then come back next Sunday for some more. That’s right, every Sunday. Want to see some old recommendations? Click here.

Jenny Owen Youngs (Official :: Myspace): I saw Ms. Youngs last week (the 19th, to be exact) at The Middle East Downstairs with Chuck Ragan and the rest of the revival tour. She was beyond anything I expected, which makes me all the more excited for when she comes back with Mae and Deas Vail on November 5th. She’s perfected the art of awkwardly cute stage presence. She’s also done a cover of “Hot In Here” – I really hope she plays it live. Here’s a version of her song “Fuck Was I” from a Daytrotter session a few years back.

fun. (Official :: Myspace): I know the guys in fun. don’t really like being compared to The Format, but I can’t avoid it. The music of fun. is such a natural progression for Nate, it almost seems like Aim and Ignite is simply a new The Format album – albeit with fuller instrumentation and more optimistic lyrics. Easily one of the best albums released this year.

Bell Horses
‘Still Life’

Bell Horses are a composite of Jenny Owen Youngs, the indie folk-rock singer-songwriter who notably made Nelly’s ‘Hot In Herre’ sound like a cute melodic love song, and Xian Hawkins, better known as electronica and synth wunderkind Sybarite. This unlikely couple has joined forces and – alongside reputable musicians who add percussion, violin and viola into the mix – are set to release their first album This Loves Last Time next week on their own label TrySquare.

Sample track ‘Still Life’ is a perfect example of artistic fusion resulting in a product that is very much a departure from the musicians’ ordinary sound. Jenny’s voice takes on a softer and more ambient effect when mixed with Sybarite’s various synthesised layers; melancholic with a Cat Power quality against the deeper, sultry synths, and breaking into operatic notes like Amy Lee against the more intense accompaniment. Sybarite’s soft but frequent drumbeats marry well with Jenny’s softly plucked guitar, creating an extra dimension to the track that weaves in and out of the vocal. Some may find the mixture of so many contradictory components hard to fathom, but ‘Still Life’ unites these elements smoothly and professionally. MP3 after the jump.

FREE MP3: Bell Horses, ‘Still Life’ [via RCRD LBL]

visit Bell Horses on Myspace

One of the perks of an established musician is the social networking. They tweet each other, hang out together, go to each other’s gigs, plug each other’s latest albums… and sometimes even get together for a jam. If we fans get lucky, they might even record a song or two, maybe even an EP or an entire album! Collaborations can result in amazing work – (give me one person who dislikes The Postal Service or Broken Social Scene) – which is usually a recipe incorporating styles and abilities from all parties involved.

One newest collaboration is Bell Horses, comprising of singer/songwriter Jenny Owen Youngs and electronica/producer extraordinaire Xian Hawkins (aka Sybarite). When Jenny was just breaking through with her debut album, Xian approached her through the power of MySpace and suggested collaborating. They got together and kicked things off, but decided to call in a little help from their friends; Alexander Ericson from The Northern Territories, The Antlers drummer Michael Lerner and classical string player Eve Boltax are all credited performers on the Bell Horses first offering – full length This Loves Last Time which is being independently released on October 13th.

This Loves Last Time is a darkly layered affair with a good helping of alt-pop. Xian’s producing has polished it into an off-beat package, perfectly blending his own style with JOY’s smooth vocals as well as seamlessly joining real instruments with computerized samples. It’s musically complex, with mid-tempo tracks which build nicely into rich tapestries of textures and sounds. None of the songs will have you dancing on the ceiling and you probably won’t even remember the words, but I have a sneaky suspicion that’s not what they were going for anyway.

♫ Bell Horses – Still Life (download it here)

> Website > Last.fm > JOY’s Website

post by Nat 3-D

i know, i know, i have been seriously blog-negligent. if you’re really getting desperate during one of my unforseen hiatuses, just check my twitter feed on the left sidebar under “tweet, tweet.” that should entertain you.

so, after nugget’s tantie left, her aunt katie and uncle “hibbip” (phillip) came for a visit. nuggetdaddy and i made it up for jenny’s show in alexandria. then my mom from florida came for her turn at casa de bits. nuggetdaddy and i both celebrated birthdays.

now, i’m back in the hospital enjoying a week of chemo, hopefully my last before my transplant. my pet scan was good. the report says “virtually no (cancer cell) activity,” that the site of involvement is “1/2 to 1/3 the size” from the previous scan and there is “comparably less (lymph) nodal involvement.”

i’ve just had 10mg of ambien, so i should be checking out soon. i’ll try to blog again in the morning. peace!

Image taken from here

Dan Black – Wonder
Buy

Dan Black falls into the category of blogged hype and accessible pop but he hits something long abandoned. There’s a very nineties feel to the whole album, Un, as we get a bit of R n’ B, dance and acoustic electronica. Starting out using the drum beat from Rhianna’s Umbrella, Dan Black shows he’s really at his best when he’s doing his own stuff, like in Wonder.

Chad VanGaalen – Sing me to Sleep
Buy

Chad VanGaalen’s best album remains his latest, Soft Airplane. However I recently found his back catalogue and there are some nice hits amongst some misses. This is one such exception, with beautiful guitar licks, strings and wind instruments keeping it from being even remotely repetitive. How someone with this voice can sound so good I don’t understand. You can almost hear his voice cracking, but Chad VanGaalen always hits the note and it’s even quite affecting for both soft and rockier songs.

Caroline Reese – From Where I Stand
Check out Caroline Reese’s myspace for more info

Caroline is still fairly new to the scene, and frustratingly young at 18. There’s something very Jenny Owen Youngs about Caroline, but she works with simpler sounds, perhaps retreading the steps of Gillian Welch. Which is a good thing because oftentimes the rich sounds of a lot of what’s out there wins out over good song writing. Appropriately Caroline is residing in a ranch in Montana. You can picture her sitting on a bale of hay playing this song. I love the harmonising in From Where I Stand.

The Welcome Wagon – Up on a Mountain
Buy

I recently noticed I’ve never blogged about these guys. The album, Welcome to the Welcome Wagon is a bit weak but there are a few good songs. This one I love just because it sounds like old Sufjan Stevens (who worked on the album). And we all need a little new “old” Sufjan since he fell off his own musical wagon and started up on wanky projects like the Run Rabbit Run Remix album.

Meursault – Nothing Broke
Check out Meursault’s myspace for buy links, videos and other streaming songs

These guys are good simply because they avoid falling into the trap of playing the same stuff over and over. It’s a healthy dose of folk and electronic and not mixed together in some attempt to wow everyone with a “new” sound. It reminds me a good deal of James Yorkston. Personally I favour the more folk driven songs, like Nothing Broke but I’m yet to hear more of the electronic-charged album. I love a good sad song, and the echoey vocals are wonderfully (excuse the heavily used term) haunting.

Kes – The Bruise
Buy

An Aussie band affiliated with the lovely Laura Jean, these guys have actually disappointed me for the most part. I haven’t got my hands on their latest self titled album, Kes Band. The Bruise, taken from the ordinary The Grey Goose Wing, is an exception and reveals what they are capable of. Even so, at one point you can see that the singer is yet to “find his voice,” and it nearly cracks when hitting the high notes. But there is a Devendra Banhart charm to it.

Nurses – Lita
Buy

I’m pretty excited to hear more of Nurses’ new album, Apple’s Acre. Nurses sound a bit like The Walkmen but are more ambitious and organised. The focus seems to be less on “let’s play rock and roll” and more on “let’s work this around the piano.” The sound of their older stuff leans a bit towards The White Stripes but they’re ebbing into their own sound more now. This song is very whisky-at-the-pub piano.

The xx – Islands
Buy

I first heard this thanks to the recommendations on Last fm. The xx are shooting up the popularity ladder on the blogosphere at the moment, and deservedly so. There’s a casual cavalier approach to electronic here. It’s the kind of music I’d expect to hear at a fashion show or exhibition. Classy stuff. The singing is gorgeous!

Radiohead – Gagging Order
Buy

Anyone else remember when Radiohead weren’t caught up in the marketing of their own music? When an interview with Thom Yorke meant you learnt what political concerns were being explored, what new approach to their own sound they were taking? I do when I listen to their songs.
Ignoring their pretentious attitude, I quite love In Rainbows because I’ve always liked their slower stuff. Let’s hope whatever they end up doing next is a good indication that Yorke’s self indulgent debate on what’s right and wrong about music today isn’t completely dominating his thoughts.

today i made an absentee dj-ing summer mix for the lovely folks at whitesmith nyc.

some of these tracks have been posted here already, some haven’t, so grab a zip at the bottom if you’re interested…

_

tracks:

1. rubies // stand in a line
2. yacht // psychic city
3. cocorosie // happy eyez
4. florence & the machine // rabbit heart (raise it up)
5. regina spektor // the calculation
6. rosie & the goldbug // you’ve changed
7. neon indian // terminally chill
8. grizzly bear // two weeks
9. ancient crux // in teen dreams
10. lovers // how the story ends
11. paris brune // l’oeil du cyclone
12. ellie goulding // starry-eyed
13. lady gaga // summerboy
14. little boots // rich boys (virgins cover)
15. jenny owen youngs // led to the sea
16. marina & the diamonds // i am not a robot
17. chew lips // salt air
18. imogen heap // first train home
19. the raveonettes // suicide
20. dreamdate // 8 sleeves
21. el perro del mar // i gotta get smart
22. arctic monkeys // fire and the thud
23. holly miranda // slow burn treason
24. sparklehorse // it’s a wonderful life
25.  alela diane // the rifle
26. the felice brothers // frankie’s gun!!

_

summer tunes

_

So the other day I was listening to my latest obsession, Pandora Online Radio which lets you create artist stations that play songs by that artist and other artists or singers who are similar, and came across Jenny Owen Youngs.  I had heard of her before (she had a brilliant song on “Weeds”), but I had never actually listened to her music until I heard “What Beats Within” which had this extremely original and hypnotic opening complete with flutes and strings.  And after that, I was hooked.

In the style of Liz Phair and Jenny Lewis (who she looks strikingly similar to), Jenny combines witty and frank lyrics with catchy rock hooks.  Her lyrics can be sometimes explicit and raw, which is typically when they’re at their best, but also regretful and self-depricating.  Her latest album “Trasmitter Failure” was just released a few months ago and stays with you in the way only true great albums do.  It’ s mesmerizing, seductive, and dream-like–sometimes all at once–which is really all you can ask for in an album.

A few songs of hers below and after the jump…

THE REVIVAL TOUR 2009 will include: CHUCK RAGAN (of Hot Water Music), Jim Ward (of Sparta and Sleepercar), Kevin Seconds (Nov. 3-5 only), Frank Turner, Tim Barry (of Avail), Dave Hause (of The Loved Ones), Jenny Owen Youngs, Possessed by Paul James, Jon Snodgrass and Chad Price (of Drag The River), Joey Cape (of Lagwagon), Bob Lucas, Austin Lucas, Audra Mae, Tom Cook, Steven Brodsky (of Cave In), Water Tower Bucket Boys, Anderson Family Bluegrass Band, members of The Zydepunks performing acoustic, Jon Gaunt (of Whiskey & Co) on fiddle, Digger Barnes on the upright bass and more.

10/13 Louisville, KY Skull Alley
10/14 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
10/15 Richmond, VA The Downstairs Lounge
10/16 Baltimore, MD Sonar – Baltimore – Club
10/17 New York, NY Blender Theatre
10/18 Asbury Park, NJ Asbury Lanes
10/19 Cambridge, MA The Middle East
10/20 Philadelphia, PA The Trocadero Theatre
10/23 Pontiac, MI Eagle Theatre
10/25 Chicago, IL Reggie’s Rock Club
10/26 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock
10/28 Denver, CO The Marquis Theatre
10/29 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue
10/31 Seattle, WA El Corazon
11/01 Portland, OR Berbati’s Pan
11/05 Sacramento, CA Blue Lamp
11/06 San Francisco, CA Slim’s
11/07 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre
11/08 San Diego, CA Casbah
11/09 Las Vegas, NV Beauty Bar
11/10 Tempe, AZ The Sets
11/11 Albuquerque, NM Launchpad
11/12 El Paso, TX Take 2
11/13 Austin, TX Red 7
11/14 Dallas, TX The Door-The Prophet Bar
11/15 Little Rock, AR Juanita’s Cantina Ballroom
11/16 Memphis, TN Hi-Tone Cafe
11/17 New Orleans, LA One Eyed Jacks
11/18 Birmingham, AL Bottletree Cafe
11/19 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade- Hell Stage
11/20 Gainesville, FL Common Grounds
11/21 St. Petersburg, FL State Theatre
11/22 Orlando, FL The Social

Every good mix begins with some original work

In college, I had a friend who made mix tapes for me and others with great frequency. She even joined an international indie music swap but lagged on making and sending a tape to her chosen person in the exchange, so she made that person two tapes as a means of apology. I’m using that friend as a role model for the moment, as I find myself in the daunting but extremely exciting pilot’s chair for my own mix for a friend. But it’s not like I’m dragging ass stubbornly behind the times. I’ll burn the songs onto a disc.

This process used to result in one of the most pleasurable and simplest gifts to give a person. You rifled through your stacks of CDs, queued up the songs that you deemed necessary, and hit a record button. You got to spend a few hours listening to music you love, and you were doing something nice for the recipient of your mix. But how might that lucky recipient interpret your choices? What if the person dismissed that bouncy, cotton-candy picker-upper track you picked as brain-numbing treacle? What if your friend couldn’t grasp why that one Smiths song was important enough to put on the mix even though they play it on the “alternative” radio station at least five times a day? What if you crammed every second of space on your chosen medium with lyrics, instrumentation, and themes that mean everything to you but not as much to the person the mix is for?

First of all, you’d have some pretty classless friends if any of them flat-out told you these things. Those kind of people don’t deserve tapes or CDs or possibly even music in their lives. But the personalized music mix begs the question: Which person is the mix really for? I would always start my mix tapes and CDs with selfless intentions. John won’t shut up about the Hold Steady, maybe he would benefit from some historical background with the Replacements. Or Jane can’t stop listening to all those awful canned Top 40 beats, so she might enjoy that single from the Dirty Projectors that almost sounds like it could be a Top 40 R&B hit.

But as helpful as your musical education lessons might be, it always comes down to why you pick the songs that end up on your mix. To some extent, every mix you make is for yourself, even if you plan to give it away. The blank tape takes the form of your storyboard or your canvas. Every song is a statement to express your thoughts on a specific point in time or a particular event. Each track will say something about your feelings for the mix’s recipient, which are often hopelessly tangled with your feelings about yourself. Even a line of reasoning as uncluttered as “I thought this person would like this song” implicates both the giver and the giftee with characteristics and desires that weren’t completely articulated until the song played.

But all the same, I love mixes for the thrill of unfamiliar and well-loved bands playing surprising songs as well as favorites. In all the mix tapes I got from my college friend, there were always tracks I didn’t care for very much. At the same time, the tapes introduced me to artists I hold in high regard as well artists similar to them, in that unending web of musical connections that grows as soon as you hear a song that blows your mind.

Finally, a word for my friend, since it’s her departure that inspired this post. She is the Elle of Elle in Wonderland fame, or DK to her friends, and she will be missed tremendously as she works toward her masters in anthropology in Albany, New York. Through DK’s encouragement, I began this blog, and I’ve always valued her comments here, to say nothing the insights she’s offered into my considerably less tidy real life. Hopefully, some of the following songs don’t cause her dad to veer off the road as they make the trek across the country.

The Creation ~ Making Time

Backstreet Boys ~ I Want It That Way

To clarify, that one has a background. Maybe I’ll tell you about it sometime, if you’re nice.

Seu Jorge ~ Oh! You Pretty Things

Grizzly Bear ~ Two Weeks

Lonely Island feat. Norah Jones ~ Dreamgirl

Chicharones ~ Taco Wagon

Loretty Lynn & Jack White ~ Portland Oregon

Cut Copy ~ Out There on the Ice

Jens Lekman ~ Pocketful of Money

Tori Sparks ~ Tall Towers

Throw Me the Statue ~ Lolita

Cake ~ Mexico

DeVotchKa ~ Along the Way

The Builders and the Butchers ~ Hands Like Roots

Magneta Lane ~ Ugly Socialite

Sin Fang Bous ~ A Fire to Sleep In

The Low Anthem ~ Omgcd

The Thermals ~ You Dissolve

Jenny Owen Youngs ~ Fuck Was I

Andrew Bird ~ Fake Palindromes

Flight of the Conchords ~ She’s So Hot (Boom)

what?  three posts in one day?  this one is just too awesome too wait for because it has my sister and my jenny!  (candice is the one taking photos.)  it also features our illustrious house guests, bess rogers, chris kuffner, and elliot jacobson.  enjoy.

UPDATE — Both the Trocadero and the Canal Club’s websites confirm the October 15 and 20 dates with all acts, including Hause and Youngs

While I can only find a small amount of information on this, it looks like this year’s Revival Tour is taking shape.

I was on Sonar’s site and found a listing for the show and this year’s line-up looks to be Chuck Ragan (Hot Water Music), Jim Ward (Sparta, ex-At The Drive-In), and Tim Barry (Avail).  Also on the Baltimore date is Dave Hause (The Loved Ones), and Jenny Owen Youngs.  I don’t add Hause and Youngs to the tour list because (I’m assuming) like last year, there will be different acts on select dates and Hause’s MySpace only has 5 dates listed, so it look like that will be his run.

Something to note here is that other than Sonar’s website, and Hause’s MySpace, no one is confirming this, so when I find more info, I’ll post it.  Hause’s dates after the jump.

October 13 – Skull Alley, Louisville, (I assume Kentucky)
October 14 – Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro, NC
October 15 – Canal Club Dowstairs, Richmond, VA
October 16 – Sonar Club Stage, Baltimore, MD
October 20 – The Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA