I made a happy little mix for my friend Carson last night because she is leaving to work on a farm in California for a few months! I titled the mix “Oooooh Boy!” and it’s full of some fun and funky tunes to keep her company on the plane ride or wherever.
Tracklist
I made the cover art from some pages of Rolling Stone because I just wanted something sort of thrown together and colorful.
Poster design by El Jefe
Yesterday I went to the DC Record Fair at the Black Cat with my friends Dan, Sam, and Sammy. The Cat’s main stage area was full (I mean FULL) of record vendors, vinyl hounds, and more crates and boxes of records than I’ve ever seen. We had a great time sifting through the selection, but even after 90 minutes of searching, we felt like we had barely scratched the surface of the stock there. I’m no vinyl aficionado, but I found some cool stuff. I bought Talking Heads’ True Lies, which was pretty cheap because someone had written “Wild Wild Life” on the front cover (which in my opinion makes it cooler, but to each her own!). I also picked up last year’s Record Store Day compilation for $5, a Saturday Night Live cast recording from the first season for a buck, a record by a handsome French group called Les Cailloux (solely because the cover is awesome- four Frenchmen in matching cardigans, holding guitars by a river), and the Wilco “You Never Know” 7’’, which Dan bought me as a birthday present. Dan picked up a bunch of old jazz and funk records that I know nothing about, Sam got Outkast’s “B.O.B.” 12’’, which has a capella and instrumental versions of the (AMAZING) track on the B-side, as well as a Daedelus album (I think he’s some sort of electronic DJ? Never heard his stuff before) and the Psychedelic Furs album Talk Talk. Sammy got Wilco’s Being There.
The Cat brought in a bunch of great folks to DJ throughout the day. While we were there, we heard most of Geologist’s set, which was as dreamy and folky as you’d expect a set from a member of Animal Collective to be. I asked him about one song he played that I really liked; it was “Farewell My Friend” by Dennis Wilson. After Geologist, Kid Congo Powers played an AHHHMAZING set of old funk and soul. I did not recognize a single song but it was all pretty awesome. I’m trying to find a way to contact him and get his mix.
Dan, Sammy, Sam and I capped off the day with chili half-smokes from Ben’s Chili Bowl. Success!
Another movie I’ve watched during the Snowmageddon is Whip It, Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut staring Ellen Page. It was a really sweet movie, lots of girl power sentiment. Enjoyed it a lot. Plus, the cast had some of my favorites in it: Ellen Page, Kristen Wiig, Drew Barrymore, Alia Shawkat. A.K.A. Future Friends of Mine.
Anywaaaays. The soundtrack for Whip It was great! A nice little collection of indie rock (Jens Lekman’s “Your Arms Around Me,” The Raveonette’s “Dead Soun”) and older gems (Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” The Ramones’s “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker”). There were some moments in the movie where I didn’t quite feel the song fit the mood of the scene (I don’t think CYHSY’s “Blue Turning Grey” was the best choice to highlight how Bliss feels when she first sees the derby girls), but speaking of the soundtrack as if it is a mixtape independent of a movie, it’s darn good. Overall, the songs fit the tone of the movie- fun, unpretentious, and empowering.
Due to the D.C. Snowpacolypse, I haven’t left my neighborhood since Friday. What that means is: I have been making igloos, sledding, eating, and watching lots of movies. One movie I’ve watched is Inglourious Basterds. I wasn’t expecting much because I’m not a big Quentin Tarantino fan but I LOVED this movie. The screenplay was wonderful and the acting was spot-on (especially from Christopher Waltz, as the Nazi “Jew Hunter”). Overall, very funny, well-made film. Ever the auteur, Tarantino did a great job fitting the soundtrack to the movie. Just as he references older films with the dialogue and plot, Tarantino gives shout-outs to many old flicks by placing bits of scores and soundtracks from older movies. He borrows heavily from Ennio Morricone, but I think the best musical moment of the film is when David Bowie’s “Cat People (Putting Out the Fire),” from Cat People, plays as the characters prepare for Nazi Night at the cinema. It’s one of those points in a film where the song just fits the tone of the scene perfectly. See this movie, buy the soundtrack!
The video of this scene can’t be embedded, but check it out HERE (If you haven’t seen it, don’t click! Spoilers abound!)
ThunderAnt is the comedy duo comprising of SNL’s Fred Armisen and Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein. Together they make hilarious, borderline-bizarre sketches and post them on the internet. One of the pair’s recurring sketches follows two clerks at a feminist bookstore (complete with Armisen in drag, natch). Two worlds collide as ThunderAnt reprises their roles to help St. Vincent make a video for “Laughing With a Mouth of Blood” (one of my favorite track off of Actor, might I add) and it is grrrreat! Check it out HERE (via MySpace).
I saw the movie Crazy Heart on Friday. It was very unimpressive. Jeff Bridges did great work (when does he not?) as an alcoholic former country star, but the plot was so predictable and formulaic that it distracted from his performance.
The one redeeming quality of the film was the stellar soundtrack, which was produced by none other than T. Bone Burnett (the mastermind behind the AHMAAAZING “O Brother Where Art Thou?” soundtrack and countless other records). The soundtrack contained some original country-western tracks sung by Bridges and co-star Colin Farrell. Both men have surprisingly great voices (also surprising was Farrell’s pitch-perfect Southern accent in the movie) and they shine while singing Burnett’s compositions. Possibly the best original track is Ryan Bingham’s “The Weary Kind,” a world-weary acoustic tune that will hopefully pick up an Oscar come March.
The soundtrack also contains material from the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Waylon Jennings, Buck Owens, and Burnett’s supremely talented wife Sam Philips.
Overall, it’s a great collection of folky western music. Another win for Burnett! Too bad the movie sucks. So just instead of plunking down $10 on the ticket, pick up this disc.
As if the DVD release of “(500) Days of Summer” didn’t have me in enough of a Zooey Deschanel love-haze, she’s gone and released a new She & Him song. And it is SO. GOOD. Like really. It’s got a more modern feel than do the track from 2008’s Volume One, but I really like the feel of it. Sunny and bright in a Polyphonic Spree sort of way while maintaining Zooey’s 60’s girl group vibe and M. Ward’s folky guitar heroics.
Check it out (fall in love) here:
In other She & Him news, the duo’s album Volume Two will be released on Merge Records on March 23, but you can pre-order the record now by clicking HERE. Also available for pre-order is the “In the Sun” 7”, which includes a cover of the Beach Boys’s “I Can Hear Music” on the b-side. I don’t know what to say besides YES PLEASE.
Laura Marling’s debut album, 2008’s Alas I Cannot Swim, is a gem. While generally overlooked and underrated by music publications, I still see it as one of my favorites of the past few years. If you don’t know her music, I recommend starting with the track “Ghosts.” Laura is just supremely talented, especially considering her age (she’s just 19!). Laura’s second album, I Speak Because I Can, is due out in March. Hopefully this is just the beginning of a long and prolific career.
Check out the new video for “Devil Spoke,” a track off the upcoming record. This song’s got a slightly more aggressive feel than the tunes on Swim–I’m excited to see where she takes the rest of the album.
I’m still waiting for my copy of Transference to arrive in the mail, but until then I can satiate my Spoon-craving with this clip of the band performing “Written in Reverse” on KCRW. Both of the Spoon shows in my area sold out while I was hunkered down over a scantron taking a world history exam, but hopefully I can finagle some via Craigslist.
New video for VCR- The xx
My favorite song (Actually, my favorite of the album changes week to week, but for today…) off of The xx’s stellar wonderful beautiful debut album “XX,” “VCR,” finally has a music video! And it’s great! Check it out HERE on pitchfork.tv.
Speaking of The xx, check out Sasha Frere-Jones’s piece on the band from this week’s New Yorker. Like everything SFJ writes, it’s right on point and sums up the band brilliantly. While I’ve never caught The xx live (Hopefully in the near future though!! Hopefully!!), my experience with The xx was pretty similar. First I just didn’t get them and found the album boring, but per my trusted friend’s request, I listened more. After a few rotations, it hit me. It’s a minimalistic record where the silences carry as much weight as the notes. As SFJ states, it’s a wonder that such a young band has mastered the art of restraint. Check out the piece HERE.
Music Videos
The xx