Cellophane Sunset

ocean / ocean

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 05:32:00 +0000

Ocean, Ocean

I'll be taking an indefinite break from this and jumping exclusively over to http://www.ericandtheocean.blogspot.com where I'll be detailing the creative development of a new project for theatre I'm working on. There'll still be music over there as well because I'm developing the sound design concurrently.

Much love,

Eric

the stories where i lied / were the ones i just told

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 05:18:00 +0000

Toyota War

Two Toyota War songs from their gig last Sunday at the Grace Darling Hotel in Collingwood, playing with us and SvenSson.

Toyota War - Taxis

Toyota War - Sick and Tired

Toyota War - In the Evening

The Call Up

Two Call Up songs from last Sunday; first time we'd played The Knife. Quality of the Zoom's recordings isn't as great as I'd like in the small room, even with a great sound system.

The Call Up - Iris

The Call Up - The Knife

Probably going to take an indefinite break from this for a while and focus attention on something which I'll share with a redirect or edit once it's up and running.

Much love.

libera me, domine / de morte aeterna

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 04:36:00 +0000

Faure / Greenwood / Wagner / Part

I've always listened to a lot of classical music but I'm fairly sure I haven't posted much on here before (the spectacular Gabor Szabo Love Theme from Spartacus comes pretty close) but since I recently borrowed a much bigger Ipod to the one I'm used to I've had the luxury of carting around about 10 times as much music which has led to some great rediscoveries.

Elsewhere, in the production of Julius Caesar I'm performing in at the moment this piece is used when Caesar's body is borne off stage. I'm usually biased towards Deutsche Grammaphon but this version put out by EMI of the Paris Conservatoire is a timely reminder of the golden age of recording.

Gabriel Faure - Libera Me

Another more contemporary work that makes an appearance in Caesar is some of Jonny Greenwood's classical compositions for the soundtrack of There Will Be Blood.

Jonny Greenwood - Oil

Teddy Tahu does a magnificent rendition of this song from Wagner's Tannhauser but this older recording comes from the 111 Years of Deutsche Grammaphon collection, which I had easier access to.

Richard Wagner - Wie Todesahung...O du mein holder Abendstern

Finally, one of the few songs that makes you feel like your whole life is stretching out in front of you. This piece of Estonian minimalism has suffered tangentially at the hands of overplay in movie soundtracks, but it's featured so heavily for good reason. If you enjoy it, check out Part's Cantus in Memorial of Benjamin Britten.

Arvo Part - Spiegel Im Spiegel

Northeast Party House

i wrote / a letter

Moving into much more different terrain now with local band Northeast Party House; a really well-mixed, high quality track from a group that's even better live.

Northeast Party House - Embezzler

The Church

so hard / finding inspiration

The Church walk the giddy tightrope between jangle-pop and Australian post-punk in a song that'll surprise the casual listener, only familiar with Under the Milky Way Tonight.

The Church - The Unguarded Moment

Joy Division

made the fatal / mistake

I hadn't heard a lot of the "last" Joy Division album, Still, but when listening through their live recordings I found The Only Mistake, and it was only then that I checked out the studio version. I also included Sound of Music, even though I've usually toss up between the Still track and the Peel Sessions version.

Joy Division - The Only Mistake

Joy Division - Sound of Music

J Dilla

Having heard the Dilla instrumental that this is built around hundreds of times I was really pleasantly surprised to come across this track from the (one of many) posthumous Dilla albums, Jay Stay Paid.

J Dilla - Reality TV (feat. Black Thought)

Gang of Four

it's the cause / of all my thinking

I've probably listened to more Gang of Four over the last four years than any other band but over the last week I've been revisiting Return the Gift! and their Peel Sessions in particular. The best Peel Sessions are always those where the band mix up the way they play their songs, as they do on this record, but this take on Guns Before Butter is fairly true to form, except for the vocal panning at the beginning.

Gang of Four - Guns Before Butter (Peel Sessions)

so you turn around / toward the tiny girls

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Sat, 22 May 2010 00:42:00 +0000

Deerhunter

life just passed and flashed right through me

This song comes from Deerhunter's last full-length studio album, Microcastle. There's a video that's been floating around the web of a prepubescent band in the States covering this track and while they don't quite capture it's insistent rhythm it's really heartening to know really young musicians are listening to this kind of music.

Deerhunter - Nothing Ever Happened

Iggy Pop

well the day begins / you don't want to live

I've had this on constant replay over the last few weeks, hooked on Pop's voice and the saxophone solo of none other than David Bowie.

Iggy Pop - Tiny Girls

Toro y Moi

listen to me / she gets in your head

This single's at loggerheads with Toro's last album and promises a lot for his upcoming LP.

Toro y Moi - Leave Everywhere

The Roots

pray for me / if it ain't too much bother

Two great songs that have surfaced in the lead-up to the next Roots album.

The Roots - Dear God 2.0

The Roots - How I Got Over

Shuggie Otis

aht uh mi hed / je t'aime

Have had this first song for a long time but only revisited my small Shuggie Otis collection after hearing a cover of Strawberry Letter 23 by the Brothers Johnson (of "Stomp" fame)

Shuggie Otis - Aht Uh Mi Hed

Shuggie Otis - Strawberry Letter 23

Wilfred Jackal

you know you can't stand in the way

Fantastic single from a criminally underrated and unsigned Melbourne band.

Wilfred Jackal - Rail

The Strokes

he seemed impressed

Finally a stone cold classic from the Strokes that begs instant replay.

The Strokes - Reptilia

i never felt / quite like this

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Sun, 16 May 2010 02:32:00 +0000

Playlist #2

These are much easier to put together than this website's standard "band name - picture - elegiac / lyric - few sentences - link to mp3" format and in some ways a lot more accessible, so I'm going to continue throwing them around.

1. Sebastien Tellier - Roche

2. The Clash - The Leader

3. The Avalanches - Close to You

4. Josef K - Sorry for Laughing

5. J Dilla - Nothing Like This

6. The Go-Betweens - The House That Jack Kerouac Built

7. Gene Page - All Our Dreams Are Coming True

8. Gang of Four - To Hell With Poverty!

By the by, if there are any Caribou fans out there check this out; a really great hour-long mix which Dan Snaith compiled for Allez Allez.

In other news, Call Up rehearsals continue in earnest, with about 6 or 7 songs fleshed out, following the addition of this beautiful SOVTEK Big Muff Pi from the 70's that Rob found at the Camberwell Market:

i can't sleep with your memory

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Fri, 07 May 2010 03:01:00 +0000

The Triffids

now we are seated / at separate tables

This song's one out of the holy trinity The Triffids recorded in London with the legendary John Peel for the Field of Glass EP. All of the three songs see McComb's muscular vocals wrestling with his own demons but it's here that he does so the most explicitly. Here, the band's immensely powerful sound veers and swerves between violence and quietude, rather than simmering away and eventually boiling over, as it does on the EP's 9 minute title track.

The Triffids - Monkey On My Back

Deerhunter

pray with me

This track arrives here fresh from a live session on BBC 6. Frontman Bradford Cox is probably one of the most generous and articulate musicians out there when it comes to offering constant insight into his own work, process, and feelings. He's written elsewhere that when recording many songs (especially for one of the Atlas Sound solo records) he'll improvise lyrics but this song demonstrates the real difference between his own solo work and that of his band. The more precise drumming goes hand in hand with a better sense of direction that still serves as a vehicle of Cox's flair for heartfelt melodies. The only bad thing about this track is that - like Hot Chip's cover of Wiley - BBC 6 still manage to find the only people in England with unattractive voices to introduce these pieces.

Deerhunter - Helicopter (Live)

Foals

made love to my pillow / but it didn't feel right

Foals have their new album Total Life Forever out (or at least a promotional release is doing the rounds) and although I was a bit worried around a month ago that their singles were heralding a worrying change in direction, the record is solid gold. Impossible to say whether it tops Antidotes but it neatly bypasses the sophomore curse that has haunted so many artists, and is at least on par with their first full-length. I was even getting a bit of an In Rainbows vibe listening in stages (did the drums remind me of Radiohead: Live from the Basement?) and it's interesting to note that both bands share obscure influences like composer Steve Reich. Unfortunately, just as I was about to post something from TLF I came across this Police cover that Foals recorded on Radio 1 earlier, and because of the enormous unspoken debt I owe to Sting for steeling my resolve in the Black Cat nearly a year ago, have this instead.

Foals - The Bed's Too Big Without You (Police cover)

Girls

fucked in the head

A great song from a great album (Album) that well and truly lives up to the audacity of its title. Although Girls are born out of truly fucked up lives they're keen for this not to overshadow their work, and thus instead of dominating tracks like these the vocals instead underpin rich guitar and percussion. Video clip does not leave anything at all to the imagination (think penises being used as microphones).

Girls - Lust for Life

The Smiths

heifer whines / could be human cries

I've been delving back into my Smiths collection looking for an elusive six or seven songs to polish off History Boys sound cues and bits of a live version of this title track from one of their few non-compilation albums are promising.

The Smiths - Meat is Murder

can't i cry / for you?

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Sat, 01 May 2010 04:35:00 +0000

how to donate blood / on an empty island

Peggy Lee - Fools Rush In

Pere Ubu - Horses

Privacy - Love Don't Love Long

Richard Hell - I'm Your Man

Chris Spedding - Video Life

Privacy - Pining

Underworld - Born Slippy

Most of these songs (apart from Born Slippy) come from Bradford Cox Micromixes that I chop up into individual songs for my own listening pleasure, but because artists like the highly-recommended Privacy are so hard to find (even though she's on the same label that puts out some of Dirty Projectors' work) I thought I'd share them on here.

knock knock / on the door

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 07:03:00 +0000

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

not any more

Pink's new album Before Today leaked a few days ago and while it's definitely a lot less lo-fi than previous LPs like 2005's Worn Copy his new sound really allows the lush melodies to shine through. This is one of the more whimsical numbers, and also one of several that will bring to mind Bowie comparisons:

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Friday Night (Nevermore)

Ilyak

he takes her to the point / where she can't take it any more

Featuring fantastic production for such a relatively underground artist is this EP from Melbourne hip-hop up-and-comer Ilyak. I've seen him put on a great show supporting Project Puzzles at the Revellers about a month ago but in his own right he shines in these recordings. Forgive the box.net download links - download the entire ep from here.

Ilyak - Party of Life

Ilyak - Broken

The National

venom radio and / venom television

The National's new album High Violet has been released in one form or another in the last few days but this single was one of two that had official release dates beforehand. It's great for plugging in for a downhill ride home from uni if you're mad enough to drink the dangerous cocktail of bikes and headphones (the "Organ Donor", if I really want to stretch this out).

The National - Afraid of Everyone

a hero now / a hero then

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 07:23:00 +0000

The Smiths

wrap her up in the news of the world

It's been a while since I put anything on here but was prompted by the singer of Toyota War mentioning this site to me the other night without knowing I ran it. Most of these have been running around my head lately for different reasons, mainly because I've acquired a few different compilations that I eventually filter out - this song comes from the kings of compilation albums, The Smiths, taken from 1987's Louder Than Bombs.

The Smiths - This Night Has Opened My Eyes

Raymond Scott

the name of the game / is lightworks

I first came across this innovator of electronic music on J Dilla's album Donuts, where he's sampled on the song Lightworks, but then I found out he's written a whole bunch of stuff - most notably the Looney Tunes theme - but also a great back catalogue of advertisements and other instrumentals called the Manhattan Project.

Raymond Scott - Nescafe

The History Boys

one fucking thing / after another

I walked around with the original 20 or so songs which seemed pencilled in for MGS' August Production of The History Boys but a few weeks ago I went through my entire library and threw up a few more possibilities. If you're familiar with the play this song below (which I found on Art Decade two or three years ago) is a possibility for something like Irwin's TV theme (from 0.39 onwards for less than a minute or so).

Fabio Frizzi and Giorgio Tucci - Zombie Theme

DJ Shadow

and here's a story about / being free

I realize the irony of riding a bike while listening to Organ Donor but still continue to play the best songs from DJ Shadows two first albums on the way to and from uni every day; these two come from The Private Press.

DJ Shadow - You Can't Go Home Again

DJ Shadow - Fixed Income

Big L

ducks better scat / when the gat goes click clack

George put me onto Big L's first album Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous a while back and its hard-hitting power restored my faith in non-instrumental hip-hop.

Big L - Fed Up With the Bullshit

Big L - Put It On

Caribou

sun / sun / sun

Finally, some recently-released breakbeat magic from Caribou's latest album Swim, which I highly recommend.

Caribou - Sun

In a day or two we're going to record about four demos of the songs that we've been working on over the past month or so - Birthday Ballot EP? - so I might throw those up on here then if the quality's alright.

i'm not the man / they think i am at home

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 07:04:00 +0000

Kate Bush

she packed my bag last night / pre-flight

This song's a great cover of Elton John's classic by Kate Bush that launches itself into a stratospheric calypso rhythm about 45 seconds in. Kate's also unafraid to keep the lyrics unchanged, so the track doesn't suffer from the transposed gender-bending that blight covers the world over, somewhere.

Kate Bush - Rocket Man (Elton John cover)

Jay-Z and Notorious B.I.G. (remixed by RATATAT)

there's always too much / for me to have enough

I'm a big fan of both the RATATAT mixtapes, and this track from the second would be my favourite.

Jay-Z and Notorious B.I.G. - Allure (RATATAT remix)

Paul McCartney

she could be a neurosurgeon / if she's doing nothing urgent

Paul. Solo. Electronica.

Paul McCartney - Temporary Secretary

Lindsey Buckingam

i should ride / on the double

Having gone his own way from Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham pursued a successful solo career culminating in the album Law and Order (which he's posing next to above) and specifically in this single, which features drumming from former bandmate Mick Fleetwood.

Lindsey Buckingham - Trouble

Tom Tom Club

it's ok / i've overstood

Tom Tom Club were a side-project of several Talking Heads members, best remembered for the single Genius of Love. This is a personal favourite of mine, along with the Lorelei.

Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood 12"

Beach House

are you coming home / are you still alone?

Beach House's third album Teen Dream is now available in full and I thought I'd post this song again in its lush album version.

Beach House - Used To Be (Album version)

two / can be as bad as one

Like Radiohead's Videotape, One proves how simple truly great music can be.

Harry Nilsson - One (Is The Loneliest Number)

Pitchfork did a 60's list a while back and I found this there, and have no plans to let it go.

Francoise Hardy - Tout Les Garcons Et Les Filles

You would have heard the synth line on this more times than you think, whether it was interspersed between Relax (Don't Do It) in the final sequence of Zoolander, or coming out of Kenneth Parcell's boombox as he did some street-performing in his neighbourhood.

Herbie Hancock - Rockit

Ain't a damn thing changed

noreply@blogger.com (George) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:34:00 +0000

It's my post zero at Cellosun as the first and latest, up-to-datest (single), most expatiated, least precedented unique-George-scented contributor reshackler and expander of musky tabernackle-ah, popping like snap-crackling smack to bring us back from the lack of athletic rhyme attack, sort of — and other shit.

PART 1:

"Plus my voice is fucked, so when I say 'oh!', I want y'all to say 'oh!'"

Phased from your original plan, you deviated,
I alleviated the pain, with a long-term goal,
Took my underground loot, without the gold -
You sold platinum round the world, I sold wood in the hood,
But when I'm in the street, then shit it's all good

Pharoahe Monch @ Meredith Music Festival, 12/12/09
featuring DJ BOOGIE BLIND, Showtyme, and Mela Machinko

For me Pharoahe Monch was pretty much on par with Why? for my 10 hours sleep from 60 at/around Meredith experience, and far overshadowed my enjoyment of the likes of Animal Collective — queue no-name canvas shoes, one speeds and moleskine diaries thrown at my head and missing because the limp-wristed motor skills of hipsters are sapped by the restrictions of jean-like tights and malnutrition.

Not merely a product of some serious delirium, it was an amazing set - despite being 3:20pm - especially with Boogie Blind from the X-Ecutioners (sporting an Obese Records t-shirt), with a seething, jumping fist-pumping, straight shoulder hand-slamming Egyptian-jamming crowd standing - obviously with the most well-known Simon Says as the final track making the hip-hop-headed angels look down upon the Supernatural Ampitheatre and weep with joy. The end of Monch's Australian tour, nice going if you didn't go to Meredith or see him at Prince the night before...typical you.

The X-Factor Boogie Blind, go investigate

Bush-bashing to Falls went horribly wrong for Monchhichi

Pharoahe Monch and Mos Def freestyle:

PART 2:

2/5 of Why? at Meredith

Why? at the East Brunswick Club, Tuesday 15/12/09
with Aleks and the Ramps, and Parking Lot Experiments

My second time seeing my favourite band in four days — Yoni Wolf asked where my karate kid headband had gone...it's not...I don't think of—well, it's not the biggest deal, per se...that he remembered...but, um...you know. My week was still pretty great. I guess.
Their set differed from Meredith's by including a few more from Eskimo Snow and Elephant Eyelash - Into The Shadows of My Embrace was replaced with Eskimo Snow and These Hands, and a few such as Yo Yo Bye Bye, Sanddollars, and Brooke & Waxing, Good Friday, and Gnashville were added.

They finished with 21st Century Pop Song by Hymie's Basement, a collaboration of Yoni with Why?'s guitarist etc. Andrew Broder also from Fog - it sounds exactly what it sounds like, pretty good. Then they participated in the East Brunswick Club trivia night. What a band.

Aleks and the Ramps

"I have this recurring dream where Ol' Dirty Bastard comes and teaches me tai chi, this song is about that." - Aleks

...So, I can't remember which song it was, but...still..you know? Man? Okay, just the obvious then:

Antique Limb - Aleks and the Ramps

You may have heard it on Triple J, but the chances of this decrease immediately if you have never listened to Triple J. They were heaps of fun and funny with the whole between-songs-banter thing so for Melbourners, go see them wherever they're playing next.

________________

As Big L said on Put It On: "And I'm out, I'm out, I'm out, I'm out..."

if your shower / has a fair amount of pressure

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:44:00 +0000

A Tribe Called Quest

can you let me know / right now

I acquired this thinking that it was an edit by Why? as opposed to being one named after the Carly Simon track it samples. But either way its a vast improvement on the original and a reminder that good things could still come out of 1990.

A Tribe Called Quest - Bonita Applebum (12 inch Why? edit)

Positive K

what's your man / got to do with me?

This is actually an shortened adaptation of the original song by Positive K done by Hot Chip on their DJ Kicks compilation (the one that saw My Piano's debut). Incidentally, their new album isn't far off, but if One Life Stand and Take It In are anything to go by it might fall well short of Made in the Dark. But back to this; a minute or so of rhyming interspersed with pleading that sadly cuts off "peewee herman" at the very end.

Positive K - I Got A Man

Why?

it sounds like a screaming school of fish

I finally saw one of my favourite bands at the Meredith Music Festival, when Yoni Wolf and co. took the stage for an elaborate, foreplay-like soundcheck. Without dwelling too much on just how great they are, here are two of their more unknown songs, both coming before the heady glory of the album Alopecia. A Little Titanic is taken from Oakandazulazylum, while 500 Fingernails is off the Sanddollars EP and also had an airing on Why?'s Almost Live.

Why? - A Little Titanic

Why? - 500 Fingernails

Thanks again to Jack and George who can claim equal credit for introducing me to Why? and especially to George, who is going to be writing on here in the very near future.

Themselves ft. Why? and cLOUDDEAD

watching me fold / any chance you might have had / at a tryst

I would have nearly missed this if it hadn't been for the beautiful hypem, with three of the best signings to the label Anticon collaborating on this song and Yoni leading the way.

Themselves ft. Why and cLOUDEAD -Rappin’ For Money

Blue Orchids

i'm sorry / to bother you

Many thanks to Conway from the great band Toyota War (go check them out). In a review they were likened to The Fall's singer Martin Bramah's band Blue Orchids, and although there are a few differences the most striking similarity of both band's singers stands out. A very appropriate song for that special time of year we call Change of Preference week.

Blue Orchids - Bad Education

Phil Collins

if you feel it / do it

Rounding out this post is an adjustment to a great tune from the Phil Collins album Face Value which featured on a micromix compiled by Geologist (of Animal Collective fame) for Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox. Astute observers will note that the picture above isn't of Phil at all, but a still of Bowie from the movie Real Cool World. If it's still, it's not moving; justification?

Phil Collins - I'm Not Moving (Idjut Boys edit)

Stay tuned for more things from George soon

and neither one / particularly / appeals to me

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:26:00 +0000

Beach House

are you not the same / as you used to be?

These two songs are taken from Beach House's forthcoming third album, Teen Dreams; Norway in particular is an especially blissful track. Teen Dreams is out on the 26th of January next year.

Beach House - Norway

Beach House - Used to Be

DJ Shadow

no wonder / the sound has so much body

Credited as the grandfather of underground hip-hop, this song comes from DJ Shadow's breakthrough album Entroducing. It samples heavily from Giorgio Moroder's Tears, taken from Son of My Father.

DJ Shadow - Organ Donor

The Lovin' Spoonful

back of my neck / getting dirt and gritty

A song for all time. It might just be me, but the guy on the bottom left looks scarily like Michael Palin.

The Lovin' Spoonful - Summer in the City

The Specials

why must you record / my phone calls?

I foolishly ruled out two-tone ska like this from music for next year's play. You're left listening to this and wondering what might have been...

The Specials - Gangsters

The Smiths

and if the day came / when i felt a natural emotion

I realize The Smiths are a bit of a recurring feature here but decided to share my favourite song of theirs regardless; the Peel Session version of Nowhere Fast. 1.50 minute mark...

The Smiths - Nowhere Fast (Peel Session '84)

i've been down so long / it looked like up to me

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:24:00 +0000

J Dilla

can't you see / it's me that loves you

Another song from one of J Dilla's 3 Beat Tapes, this track sampling the Supremes heavily for a breathless minute and a half.

Track 04 - 3 Beat Tapes #1

Diva

Diva is one of my favourite films, even if its extremely hard to track down. I won't destroy this film du look classic by a plot synopsis but will prvovide this song, the recording of which drives the plot in absurd and beautiful directions.

La Wally - Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez

Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood

she reassured me / with an unfamiliar smile

A reissued vinyl of this duo's LP is one of my prized possessions. I've shared Some Velvet Morning before and after acquiring a more portable mp3 version of the album I've been devoting a lot of my time to Ladybird and Summer Wine.

Nancy Sinatra surely needs no introduction - not only is she the daughter of the ultimate Stranger in the Night, but also the singer on the Billy Strange-arranged Bang Bang. Strange also arranged the songs on this LP, another notch in a belt that has spanned most of the 20th century (most notably including a writing credit on Little Less Conversation). Hazlewood's work with Sinatra is much less maudlin than his profligate solo output but this is every bit as good as what I think is his finest work in isolation, My Autumn's Done Come.

Summer Wine - Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood

Billie Holiday

i long to try / something i never had

Kerouac mentions this beautiful song amongst the coruscating rhythms of jazz and bop that punctuate On the Road and Holiday's truth and sadness stands out, even in such Beatific company.

Lover Man - Billie Holiday

The Smiths

take me out / tonight

I wrote a 3000-word document on music of the period in which Alan Bennett's play The History Boys is set for the director of next year's Autumn Production, accompanied by two cds. On the first The Smiths featured heavily, alongside The Cure, New Order and Joy Division, while the second was a much more ostentatious exercise in showing off the eclectic (Zoolook etc.)

My favourite Smiths song is the John Peel '84 session of Nowhere Fast - the section after 1.50 should be showcased next year - but this is almost as special.

The Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

all mine / all mine / all mine

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:10:00 +0000

The Triffids

David McComb

come ride / come ride / this pleasure slide

In the first half of this I'll be throwing you in the deep end of the swimming pool that is Australian post-punk, indulging in a lot of Triffids, before trying to balance that metaphor with the circus-style, literal balancing act of Canadian husband-wife italo-disco. And if you think focussing on Australian music is bad, be thankful I'm not including any Essendon Airport...this time.

The Triffids' lead singer, David McComb, died in 1999. Even if the complications from a car-crash injury that eventually killed him, he had spent many years gradually tipping himself over the edge through alcohol and heroin abuse, to the point where he needed a heart transplant at the age of 34.

It's so easy to overlook this branch of Australian music and its influence across the world, even while bands like The Saints are far more acknowledged. It's a strange fate suffered by post-punk bands like the Triffids but overwhelmingly like Gang of Four, to be immensely influential, loved by today's most famous artists (U2 and Chilli Peppers for Gang of Four, Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave for the Triffids) but now largely ignored, and also telling that the Triffids record label, Domino, is now host to artists like Franz Ferdinand. Incidentally, as a hypocritically responsible digital citizen I've started including links to places where you can buy albums that songs featured are taken from. But either way:

This first song was recorded by the legendary John Peel for the Field of Glass EP; its certainly longer than many of the band's other works but is easily one of their best. McComb shows here why he was held in the highest regard by artists like Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave, and established himself alongside Cohen, Dylan, and Morrissey as one of the best lyricists of the 20th century.

The Triffids - Field of Glass

Domino Records - Beautiful Waste and Other Songs

The following don't do the same justice to the singer's voice or even to the band itself, but are of interest in terms of watching the band's development throughout their early years. The tracks are all ripped from cassette tapes released by the band and as such the quality leaves much to be desired, but they're still great even if you're unfamiliar with the Triffid's work. Instead of giving you a link to somewhere you can buy them all, because there isn't one (unless you count here), go and check out Vagabond Holes and Beautiful Waste, two books recently published, the first a collection of essays and other writings about McComb and the other a collection of his poetry.

And bless whoever was obsessively kind enough to put all the pictures of the tapes themselves alongside track listings on Wikipedia.

Tape #2

you're such an authority / and all

The Triffids - I'm Not Losing Sleep

Tape #4

she thinks she's a natural / but i think she needs tuition

The Triffids - Actress

Tape #5

there's a six-car pile up / on memory lane

The Triffids - Pile Up

Tape #6

now the orderlies / take your elbow

The Triffids - The Marrying Kind

The Triffids - No Desire

Lime

a moment / like forever

This should be what you need if you've been driven into a state of high maudlin by West Australian melancholy. I could really go for one of those lime spiders right now...

Lime - The Party's Over

Lime - Greatest Hits

Panda Bear

tried to tell me / how to do it

Hopefully the shark won't get him before Meredith and AC will play Comfy in Nautica as part of their set...

Panda Bear - Search for Delicious

Panda Bear - Person Pitch

Television

i remember / how the darkness doubled

Ten minutes of brilliance from 1977.

Television - Marquee Moon

Television - Marquee Moon

i cannot say for sure the reasons for his decline

- David McComb, "Tender is the Night"

i'll be your mirror / reflect what you are

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 06:07:00 +0000

The Flaming Lips

she keeps wishing / for a secret society to call

The Flaming Lips are releasing their album Embryonic in the near future (already tipped by some as their White Album equivalent, slightly sad we had to wait for their 12th until this happened), and if the three songs they've released are any musical litmus test then it should be very good indeed. Here's one of them, getting a lot of airtime on JJJ at the moment.

The Flaming Lips - Silver Trembling Hands

Moby

don't speak to me that way / don't ever let me say

Moby is headlining this year's Falls Festival alongside the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (I would love to see them both, but bearing that in mind I'd even rather see both Animal Collective and Why? at Meredith, but that's another saga in a sentence...), and I include two songs of his latest album below, as well as Alice from Last Night, which I have a tendency to overplay on my earphones while wandering around, absently tapping the rim of my coffee cup, before performing.

Moby - Mistake

Moby - Walk With Me

Moby - Alice

J Dilla

anyone could see / you're the one for me

There are a lot of very dedicated J Dilla fans out there who would happily devote their entire lives to reconstructing his immense back catalogue. I'm a bit different: I hate his pure hip-hop. What a heretic! But hear me out.

His sample-driven work - most notably the album Donuts - is sheer brilliance, and the extent to which it is immensely, superlative-most-heavily good, just emphasises how shallow a grave his other work digs in the disco-topography. These very short song snippets below are by no means well-known, as I had to get them from the musical-acquiring equivalent of "the back of a truck": short (all a minute or less) sample-heavy songs from tape recordings which showcase his immense talent. Track 27 from 3 Beat Tapes in particular is quite special: enjoy!

J Dilla:

Track 7 - MPC 3000

Track 12 - MPC 3000

Track 27 - MPC 3000

Track 3 - 3 Beat Tapes #1

Track 4- 3 Beat Tapes #1

Track 38 - 3 Beat Tapes #1

Hot Chip ft. Robert Wyatt and Geese

what is it i don't remember / made my being so much better

I spoke about touching coffee cups earlier, Rob took it to heart...Hot Chip re-imagined several of the more quiet songs from Made in the Dark with the aid of Robert Wyatt and the interspersed remixing talents of Geese on a four-song EP. According to their Twitter their newest and keenly awaited album is "in a brown paper bag on two USB sticks"; yet another reason to love the interweb.

Hot Chip ft. Robert Wyatt - One Pure Thought (Geese remix)

i really want to watch diva again

will all my unused seed / collect like mercury?

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 08:21:00 +0000

Why?

the rain does not respect statements / why should i?

I heard that Why?'s latest album, Eskimo Snow, had leaked on Thursday morning from George, who had heard it from Jack, and who both can be found here. Look, I'll be honest, as Jack has mentioned over there, blogging music before its being officially released is about as low as you can go, and pointing out that its all over the Internet, especially at Hypemachine, doesn't seem like much of an excuse. However, in defence of what I'm about to do for one song only, this isn't like when a really bad version of Veckatimest leaked, or even like when the vinyl rip of Merriweather Post Pavillion found its way onto here a few months shy of January 2009, in the first case because this isn't a really shoddy version (and plus, Why? > Grizzly Bear), or a vinyl rip (which doesn't really prove anything at all).

Anyway, to cut a short story long: Why? are amazing, Eskimo Snow is amazing, and I like the direction they've moved in, even if it is away from the trip-hop that's cemented their place in every true hipster's Ipod. Here, by way of a sample which will induce you to buy the album when it comes out, is Against Me, my personal favourite in terms of Yoni Wolf's writing.

Against Me - Why?

Serengeti and Polyphonic

not feeling patriotic makes you really not wanna learn / pack up little gram bags like you’ll never have a turn

Just in case you're one of those trip-hop obsessives, and that with Why? moving off into the horizon you'll need to grip your copy of Alopecia ever tigher...do not despair! Why?'s Anticon colleagues have released their latest album and here, fittingly, is a Why? remix.

My Patriotism (Why? Remix) - Serengeti and Polyphonic

Thom Yorke

nobody looked me / in the eye

Nothing Thom Yorke or Radiohead does can ever be bad, and bearing that truism in mind here's a Mark Mulcahy cover Thom recorded. I was thinking about blogging Thom's newest original song which he played at Latitude, but the live recordings are really bad (not as bad as Alley Cat, but anyhow) and so I'll hold out until a studio release.

All For The Best - Thom Yorke

Simian Mobile Disco ft. Alexis Taylor

there's nothing there / holding me

Simian Mobile Disco won't be releasing their next album for a while, but neither will Alexis Taylor's Hot Chip, and that's not their only common ground; Alexis has sung on SMD's forthcoming album, and its catchy, and its summer, and its winter and its autumn into the bargain, and here it is.

Bad Blood (ft. Alexis Taylor) - Simian Mobile Disco

On the Snuff Box next time!

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin!

Flaming Lips!

Miike Snow!

The Fabulous Four Skins!

Ladies!

Whiskey!

Plea-suuure!

i would like to give you / what i think you're asking for

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:11:00 +0000

In this edition of Cellophane Sunset, a mixed bag of four songs which are rotating highly for me at the moment...

Bibio

This soaring summer jam does strange and powerful things to my speakers...this is definitely my favourite track from Bibio's latest album, Ambivalence Avenue. The album itself has been described as an eclectic mix of J Dilla, the Mamas and the Papas, and everything in between, and is well worth checking out by dint of this song alone.

Bibio - Jealous of Roses

Mos Def

quiet dog / bite hard / my god

Mos Def released his latest album The Ecstatic rather lately and after a few listens this is the song I keep coming back to, even if I wouldn't leave my children with it...simmer down now!

Mos Def - Quiet Dog Bite Hard

Sparklehorse and Danger Mouse

every night / it's gone

The result of a collaboration between producer Danger Mouse (famed as one half of Gnarls Barkley) and solo muso Sparklehorse. Their album Dark Was The Night features cameos from other artists on each track, ranging from The Flaming Lips to Iggy Pop himself. This one in particular showcases the talents of The Strokes' Julian Casablancas.

Sparklehorse and Danger Mouse - Little Girl (ft. Julian Casablancas)

Faux Pas

Faux Pas is a Melbourne musician who makes music using his computer, and has a rather entertaining blog here, which has only recently blossomed back to life. New tracks of his are surfacing on the web in such locations as silence is a rhythm too but I thought sharing one of my favourite songs of his would be more appropriate and thus chose Dorothy's Finger below in its full, non-demo glory, after it narrowly edged out his classic Changes, which saved me through its airtime on Triple J during a long family holiday...on a boat (talk about yacht rock!)
Enjoy.

Faux Pas - Dorothy's Finger

not in our stars / but in ourselves

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:43:00 +0000

In this edition of Cellophane Sunset: Angus Stone's solo emancipation from his sister under the name Lady of the Sunshine, a 17 minute ambient masterpiece from Brian Eno, live Animal Collective and a dash of infectious post-punk from Essential Logic. I promised myself I wouldn't do this again before I left but obviously I couldn't restrain myself...

Angus Stone - Lady of the Sunshine

Angus Stone, who I featured last issue in his capacity of his work with his sister, has put out a solo record under the name Lady of the Sunshine, recorded up near Coolangatta in a converted watertank. While I love the work the brother and sister team put together, this solo effort is equally special. I was listening to an interview with Richard Kingsmill today in which Angus talked about recording in the watertank, with the stones soaking up the noise of the drums, and it really formed a clear image in my mind of what he'd set out to create. The album Smoking Gun varies between quiet, reflective songs of the kind he and his sister are famous for, and louder tracks, spurred on by his father's Telecaster. Something about the beginning of Jack Nimble has subtle Triffids vibes for me, as well, something to watch out for...

Silver Revolver - Lady of the Sunshine

Jack Nimble - Lady of the Sunshine

Brian Eno

Ambient 1: Music For Airports marked Eno's departure from the sound of Roxy Music and Talking Heads, and massively acclaimed albums like Before and After Science. There are only four songs of which the one below is the first, but they are all quite long (this one weighs in at 17 minutes). I've written before about Eno (the song Not Yet Remembered) and his efforts in his ambient work to strive towards organic minimalism, the kind of music you can have on in the background but instantly connect and grapple with if you choose, and I've put this on here just to give anyone out there with a receptible mind an insight into such music.

1-1 - Brian Eno

Live Animal Collective

you've got to get rid / of your money

I have to stop blogging AC, or come to think of it, any of the bands that fill up my last.fm top 8 (Radiohead, of Montreal, Hot Chip, Why?, Faux Pas, Gang of Four, The Triffids, J Dilla, Animal Collective and The Smiths, since you asked). But nevertheless, I came across this live set over at nyctaper (link below); exquisitely recorded and with great transitions between tracks. For fans of AC check out the site as there's some great versions of their older songs such as Slippi and Fireworks lurking in this set. I chose to share this song purely because they didn't play In The Flowers and as such this one took line honours in terms of personal favouritism...enjoy!

Brothersport (live at Bowery Ballroom 22/01/09) - Animal Collective

(recorded by nyctaper)

Essential Logic

fanfare in the garden / circus in the sun

I'd forgotten I had this elusive post-punk track, ripped off an old NME tape by the very cool dalstonoxfam blog (check it out, very good concept), but it came on shuffle on the way to my formal and I promised Abbey it would surface here.

Fanfare in the Garden - Essential Logic

I'm really going to take a break now, I swear.

this night / has opened my eyes

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:34:00 +0000

Angus and Julia Stone

they brand you with the fire / and push you into the sun

One of my favourite songs, from the brother-sister duo of Angus and Julia Stone, who I was introduced to in slightly unbelievable and very memorable fashion in a mysterious set of circumstances detailed in my English Creative SAC. But that's neither here nor there, and in any case the song on that occasion was Paper Aeroplanes, which fills me with poignant dread even now. I tried to get Stef to play this out the front of Piedemontes once but Calum came back early, tragedy. The perfect soundtrack for those early mornings spent struggling to break free from the grip of dreams.

The Beast - Angus and Julia Stone

David Bowie

andy warhol / silver screen / can't tell them apart at all

I've always been a big Bowie fan, especially of songs like Moonage Daydream and Letter to Hermione, but this one is slightly more left-of-field, taking as its subject matter Andy Warhol and subjecting him to intense acoustic orchestration. Be sure to let this play through the intro, which is slightly off-putting...

Andy Warhol - David Bowie

Isaac Hayes

I have a few covers of this song as well as the original recording from Dionne Warwick but this is far and away my favourite one, and on an equal footing with another similar cover performed by Isaac, The Look of Love, which I'll get around to posting at some point.

Walk on By - Isaac Hayes

Grizzly Bear

always the same / i know

Grizzly Bear have been subjected to some intense echo-chamber effect, in terms of blogging, which is why I've held off for a while. What I mean by echo-chamber is that the hype on certain machines (you see what I did there) has been so prolific that its become hard to see where blogs containing Grizzly Bear end and the rest of the Internet begins. That said, here is Cheerleader, my equal favourite track (tied with While You Wait For The Others) from their latest album, Veckatimest

Cheerleader - Grizzly Bear

The The

i've got you under my skin / where the rain can't get in

The glorious return of The The to these electronic pages following their glorious debut back in This Is The Day. I heard somewhere that this particular song clocked in at #4 on one of Triple J's "Greatest Songs Of All Time" lists and its easy to see why, or rather hear why (unless you're one of those visual-auditory people, with small, carney-folk hands). Johnson's sublime lyrics reach the crescest of endos alongside the guitar of someone who is possibly the great Marr himself (I'm not altogether sure whether he had arrived in the band at this point). Enjoy.

Uncertain Smile - The The

unmade love / i'm not getting any stronger

so if i seem / broken in two

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:24:00 +0000

The Triffids

beautiful waste / stupid feeling

The Triffids' track Rosevel was one of the first ever to grace the pages of this blog, although admittedly the indian-healing-chant-inspired Witchi Tai To will forever hold first pride of place in this little electronic cave.

I usually assosciate bands I'm really familiar with in relation to specific time periods when my love for them was greatest; for example, year 8 marked a prolonged and unexpected Bob Marley phase, while the beginning of year 10 and all the tempestuous storm clouds that gathered over Gippsland at that point was marred by a love of 2-tone ska band Madness. However The Triffids have always just seemed to be there, ever since I started taking music seriously, and Beautiful Waste below is one of my favourite songs of theirs, from the album Australian Melodrama. McComb's lyricism combines with his band's rhythm section for something truly heart-rending and spectacular.

The Triffids - Beautiful Waste

Animal Collective / Panda Bear

i feel alright / i found a place that fits right...

nimal Collective are another band that's always been there for me, banging away on their peacedrums at the edge of my psyche. The two songs below are from their acoustic-heavy period, predating the hugely successful release of Merriweather Post Pavillion at the beginning of this year. The Softest Voice can be found on Sung Tongs, while singer Panda Bear's Untitled #3 is from his album Young Prayer. The Softest Voice just might be the perfect soundtrack for drifting into oblivion.

Animal Collective - The Softest Voice

Panda Bear - Untitled #3

...it feels small / but i won't get sad about it

Nina Simone

southern trees / bearing strange fruit

My history teacher played this for us last year, (in addition to the entirety of Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant...) and I was enthralled from start to finish. This song has been covered so many times, even by artists like Siouxsie, which indicates the relevance of its subject matter to the American consciousness if nothing else, but here Simone's voice takes it somewhere special.

Nina Simone - Strange Fruit

Fleet Foxes

you walk along the stream / your head caught in a waking dream

I really like these guys but have never listened to them with the diligence that they deservep; here is Your Protector, coming home.

Fleet Foxes - Your Protector

The Four Tops

i see a house / a house of stone

I'm not really sure what kind of headspace I'm in right now, but soul in all its forms seems to be doing the trick. If forced to specify further a mixture of some of the acoustic Animal Collective above, some soul in the form of either this or Isaac Hayes' cover of Walk On By, with just the whisper of electronic harp, would be an accurate mental cross-section at the moment.

My ramblings finished, I highly recommend the song below; hopefully it'll have the same effect on you.

The Four Tops - 7 Rooms of Gloom

It's been raining / for so long

- Dragon

today has been / the most perfect day / i've ever seen

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:38:00 +0000

Radiohead

I shared one of the songs from Radiohead's Live In The Basement session and thought I'd throw in another, Where I End And You Begin. The one above, Videotape, just consists of Thom Yorke on his own; probably one of my favourite songs, but you knew that already, having walked in on me playing it on the Steinway... (I apologize to the person that actually happened to). The good thing about this version (as distinct from the album one, or the one they usually play live) is that there's no hats (high or low) kicking in to distract from the piano.

Videotape (Live from the Basement) - Thom Yorke

Where I End And You Begin (Live from the Basement) - Radiohead

10cc

talk about album art for album art's sake, money for god's sake!

Godley and Creme were really reaching out for something with this song, I guess. As an aside, I've tried to do something with a loop of the opening part, should probably revisit that at some point. But anyway, in case you're unaware, 10cc were the art-rock band responsible for the hits Dreadlock Holiday ("I don't like cricket / oh no..."), Art for Art's Sake, and I'm Not In Love but, similar to Supertramp, they have a massive backlog of virtually unknown work, of which Headline Hustler is a standout.

Headline Hustler - 10cc

cellophane sunset...showcasing the evolution of splitscreens throughout the ages

- Eric

the click in my head / that makes me go all peaceful

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 02:17:00 +0000

J Dilla + Samples

J Dilla was a producer of prolific output, held in high esteem by artists like ?uestlove, Jay Z and Kanye West, and the catalyst for my recent resurgence of interest in him is the release of yet another of his posthumous albums, Jay Stay Paid.

Of all his work, the album Donuts is that which is the most well known; a series of short songs (all under 2 minutes apart from the 10cc-sampled Workinonit) that borrow heavily from the songs J Dilla sampled. I managed to track down somewhere where all the songs he'd sampled for this album could be found, and have included three below followed by the J Dilla songs for comparison. I can't rate them highly enough, and regardless of any view that sampling to J Dilla's extent is pure plagiarism, you have to admire his taste.

The first song wasn't sampled on the album Donuts (although one of the drum breaks resurfaces on Jay Stay Paid) but was used in the single Fuck The Police, which I haven't included purely because Rene Costy's original on its own blows away any chance of comparison.

Rene Costy - Scrabble (highly recommended)

sampled on Fuck The Police

You Just Can't Win - Gene and Jerry

sampled on Glazed

Glazed - J Dilla

Of these songs J Dilla's product in this instance is the one I'd definitely say makes a marked improvement, driving up the volume of the backing vocals, introducing a searing beat, and only marred by its brevity.

Light My Fire - Lil Brown

sampled on Light My Fire

Light My Fire - J Dilla

the most beautiful opening three seconds of a song you're ever likely to hear

Just Because I Really Love You - Jerry Butler

sampled on U-Love

U-Love - J Dilla

Rufus Wainwright (remixed by Supermayer)

rufus having a morrisey moment

I found this after reading a Pitchfork Guest List interview with Hot Chip guitarist Joe Goddard. Crisp glock and a shining escalade of harp arrangements fade into an elastic club beat, lasting for nearly quarter of an hour.

Rufus Wainwright - Tiergarten (Supermayer remix)

I'm going to go recharge my honesty batteries now, I have some thinking to do.

tell me are you single yet / my heart's as big as texas

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:18:00 +0000

high places, setting the eclectic tone

In this issue of Cellophane Sunset...an eclectix cornucopia consisting of Almost Live Why?, a triumvirate of Northern Soul classics from The Four Tops, Gloria Jones and The King Casuals, Hot Chip and a pathetically in-depth discussion of their new material, and much needed (and greatly contradictory) doses of El Guincho's tropicalia and Brian Eno's ambience (assonance-tastic music writing, right there). But first, Why?; Almost Live...

Why?

This is from Why?'s album Almost Live from Eli's Live Room, an album which I'd heartily recommend as highly as their 2008 studio equivalent Alopecia. Not only does this almost live album include every song from that but also several updated versions of tracks like 500 Fingernails, a personal favourite; go and download it, its hard to acquire legally. Devoted fans will note a marked improvement in percussion on these tracks in particular. A word of warning, many people don't like Why?'s hip-pop antics, perhaps because the brilliance of Yoni Wolf's lyrics is matched only by the "unique qualities" of his voice. Either way, I love it, and you should do the same. Its rare to come across music this heartfelt but still so good.

Why? - By Torpedo Or Crohn's (Almost Live)

Why? - Twenty Eight (Almost Live)

Why? - 500 Fingernails (Almost Live)

The Four Tops

this is as good as it gets

I have a vinyl rip of this from a Motown LP, but this mp3 does equal justice to one of Rolling Stone's Top 500 Songs.

The Four Tops - Standing In The Shadows Of Love

Gloria Jones

but i'm sorry / i don't pray that way

You'll never regress to the Soft Cell cover again; from now on you'll view that 1981 one-hit wonder as a pap smear on the dignity of the musical landscape (I'll turn your phrase...)

Gloria Jones - Tainted Love

Johnny Jones and the King Casuals

Hendrix played with the King Casuals before he formed the Experience, and this is a really good cover, with trumpets in all the appropriate places.

Johnny Jones and the King Casuals - Purple Haze

Hot Chip

Not the first Bugged Out! Mix I've obtained; Simian Mobile Disco had a pretty good one several years ago. The first disc is mostly club-heavy and if I was being unfair and cynical I'd say that all the songs on it were chosen to throw the new Hot Chip track, Take It In, in a better light through juxtaposition of light and crap-coloured shade. The second disc is much more well-balanced, fusing a judicious selection of Hall and Oates with classics like What A Fool Believes in a glorious yacht rock-dance nuclear fusion, unlike the first disc's fraction too much fission (I'm sick alright, these are the ravings of a diseased mind, starved of Mi Goreng). That having been said, Hot Chip's newest track is pretty solid and I'm sharing it below.

Judging by the general vibe they're projecting through the media, that they'll be next album in a hip-hop direction, they wanted to use the opportunity of the Bugged Out! Mix to get the more house-oriented aspects of their music out of their collective system. I'm not sure how their hip-hop aspirations (which can clearly be seen in the Wiley cover) stock up with an accompanying desire to make more songs like Alley Cat (really bad live version shared below, just for illustration), which they've been premiering in live shows. Hot Chip's forthcoming album is looking more and more like an example of literary Leavisite tension, with discrepancies between what is said and what is meant, and aural ambiguity. I've also thrown in a Doobie Brothers edit from Hot Chip's Bugged Out! mix.

Hot Chip - Take It In

Hot Chip - Alley Cat (live)

Doobie Brothers - What A Fool Believes (Hot Chip Bugged Out! edit)

El Guincho

a beach

Only came across this recently; El Guincho's done a lot of really interesting stuff. He came out for St Jerome's Laneway fest here in Melbourne as of late, if only I'd heard of him before then, or been overage. This is from his album Alegranza.

El Guincho - Kalise

Brian Eno

eno on his ambient throne

The opening four seconds of Eno's first ambient album Music For Airports had barely entered the air before my mum's head swivelled dangerously on its axis towards the kitchen speakers and she identified it. That shocked me, that someone could remember the opening of a 17.25 minute ambient track to such an extent, and seemed to go against my dad's condemnation of Eno's work as elevator musak. He's the one who kept Vangelis' Soil Festivities and various Phillip Glass violin concertos around the house, it's all his fault anyway. Eno was on Radio National yesterday, talking about the his brand of "organic minimalism"; a perfect term.

I just went out to the piano and played the opening chords of Radiohead's Videotape and then listened to Eno's Not Yet Remembered...and I know that there is a lot of debate in the music community not only about sampling but about the borrowing of chords and their progressions, and that there are even music lawyers who have attempted to define how much is too much when it comes to "inspiration". In particular there was that famous Joe Satriani vs. Coldplay case (which Yusuf Islam offered to mediate, in true Cat Stevens style) last year. But in this case the resemblance is there for the world to see. Bearing that in mind, Not Yet Remembered is shared below, from Eno's second ambient album The Plateaux of Mirror, done with Harold Budd.

Brian Eno - Not Yet Remembered

Hockey / Peter Bjorn & John

For anyone that's interested, one of the first bands I put on here, Hockey, did a live show in Austin recently that was recorded in really high quality and if you like them you should check it out here; its done in a track-by-track fashion rather than in annoying, Deerhunter-blog, Micromix style (they're all awesome songs on their own, gangly man, why not split them up?). Peter Bjorn & John have a new album out and what I've heard is pretty good, singles like It Don't Move Me especially.

On that series of notes and their arrangments I'm going to go sleep. I just noticed a silvery sheen in the bags underneath my sickly eyes, and that can't be good.

has the light gone out for you / because the light's gone out for me

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gardiner) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:56:00 +0000

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

I've been away for far too long. Have some music.

Jona Lewie

I heard this 1980 synth-pop gem on Gold last night towards midnight while heading towards Brunswick St. The street itself reminded me why I stay away from there on Friday and Saturday nights, but this song reminded me why its important to look back to the turn of the 80's, especially in England, when previously alternative musical influences such as reggae beats infiltrated pop music. Although this song "only" reached #16, the delivery of Lewie's lyrics (highly reminiscent of Squeeze, as in Cool for Cats) in a voice highly redolent of Ian Dury make this track highly worthwhile.

Jona Lewie - You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties

The Golden Silvers

find some time / for tea and wine

More infectious synth-pop, this time from the present decade. My vocabulary-tank is running on empty at the moment, so selling this is a little hard. Rest assured, its worth the left-click-save-as-or-download-with-bittorrent (irregular verb of the week). The refix is pretty "dope", even "ill", its taken the original and run with it like a watercolour in the rain.

Golden Silvers - True Romance

Golden Silvers - True Romance (True Romantic refix)

Gang Gang Dance

These guys first entered my consciousness when I went to see Hot Chip at Billboard at the end of January this year and saw Alexis Taylor wearing a Gang Gang Dance t-shirt. My interest well and truly piqued, a quick hype on everyone's favourite machine rendered them very listenable indeed. There are some interesting, transcendent similarities to Animal Collective's sound which I can arrogantly but falsely claim to have recognized before seeing them as a related artist on last.fm.

Gang Gang Dance - Before My Voice Fails

Simian Mobile Disco

SMD have come under fire (but the limp-wristed, bedroom blogger kind of fire) several times over the years basically because some people believe pre-Mobile Disco Simian are a lot better. Simian's songs like One Dimension and The Way I Live are certainly good, and sound a lot different by virtue of the larger group alone, but something about SMD sets them apart from most purely electronic music being produced today, for me at least. This is some of their most recent work, pre-empting a release of their new album they predicted for next year.

Simian Mobile Disco - 10,000 Horses Can't Be Wrong

The Breeders/Deerhunter

For those that are interested, both The Breeders and Deerhunter have put out new EPs, both of which are worth a check-out. I might put some of their new stuff up here on my next post, what I can promise is J Dilla's Fuck the Police.

I said I'd save the best for last; some block-rocking beats from the Chemical Brothers...

Chemical Brothers

Words cannot express the sheer musical energy that courses through your body when you play this on a twelve-inch sub from 1.25 onwards...if I were to attempt an explanation I'd compare the experience to manifold personal jesuses spreading joy in your body's every cell...

Chemical Brothers - We Are The Night