September 30, 2006
Playlist - September 2006
Sorry for making you stare at Katherine Harris for 2+ weeks. At least it's not as bad as the time I made you stare at Dick Cheney for two weeks (it was earlier this year, if you've been fortunate enough to forget).
Explanations/excuses (and maybe even new posts) are forthcoming, but it won't be for at least another few days.
In the meantime, here's the latest monthly playlist. This month's 'hour of disjointed listening' starts out simply enough, but once you get to the last five or six songs, you might actually notice a bit of a theme (shocking, eh?). It comes down to this: for the past week or so, I've been giving quite a bit of thought to the direction and fate of national and global society... a particularly weighty and distressing line of thought these days. Someday I'll expound here. (And maybe I'll post my much larger playlist of songs based around the theme.) Anyway, without further ado:
| Shout Out Louds - The Comeback (Big Slippa Mix By Ratatat) >> The original is pretty good, but this remix by Ratatat (who show up elsewhere in this playlist) is much better. |
| The Whigs - O.K. Alright >> |
| The Kooks - She Moves in Her Own Way >> An annoyingly adolescent but hopelessly catchy tune that I can't help but like. |
| Mother Mother - Polynesia >> This band's songs aren't always easy to digest, but give this one a chance. It's oddly pleasing. (For some reason, it evokes fond memories of aquatically-themed Pixies songs like 'Wave of Mutilation', 'Manta Ray' and 'Where Is My Mind'.) |
| Ratatat - Wildcat >> Those of you who didn't spend hours of your youth hearing the soundtracks of NES games you were playing might not appreciate this style of music as much as I do. (But you have to admit your life would be a hell of a lot cooler if daily events were periodically interspersed with that badass wildcat sound effect.) |
| Sonic Youth - Incinerate >> This isn't one of those Sonic Youth songs that'll blow your mind or baffle you until the fifteenth listen. It's just a simple, melodic tune reminiscent of some of the ones they've done in the past. I, for one, really enjoy hearing this more 'conventional' and 'accessible' sound. (For some reason, Sonic Youth is one of several bands that often sounds like Autumn to me.) |
| The Whigs - Don't Talk Anymore >> |
| Blood Meridian - Soldiers Of Christ >> This band is kinda derivative (think The White Stripes + Nirvana + a touch of Neil Young) and judging from the album this song comes from, sometimes comes uncomfortably close to much of what was bad about '90s grunge and post-grunge. That having been said, I really like this song for some reason. |
| Holy Shit - Written All Over Your Face >> Get Ariel Pink and Matt Fishbeck together and the result is apparently some very interesting music. This song is a perfect example of quirky pop done right. |
| Blitzen Trapper - Silver Moon >> |
| The Long Winters - Scent Of Lime >> |
| Silver Sunshine - Nightmares >> Most of this band's music sounds like mid/late '60s British psychedelic rock. For some reason, I hear heavy shades of Elliott Smith in this song. Not terribly surprising, I suppose. |
| Women and Children - My Head In Your Dirt >> This is the only song I've heard from this group, but I think it's pretty stunning. An album is due shortly (in October) from Narnack, so I'm interested in giving it a spin. |
| Smog - I Feel Like the Mother of the World >> |
| Bob Dylan - Thunder On the Mountain >> I hadn't intended to include any more 'Modern Times' tracks on playlists, but this song is so lyrically rich and wrapped up in such a perfect musical package. There's much more to this song than you might think from casual listening. (I'd quote my favorite lines but I'd end up posting most of the song.) |
| Neil Young - After the Garden >> Neil says so much with just a small set of words... "What will people do? / After the garden is gone / What will people say? / After the garden // Won't need no strong man / Walkin' through the night / To live a weak man's day / Won't need no purple haze / Won't need no sunshine / After the garden is gone" |
| The Black Neon - Ralph & Barbara >> "Leave all this behind us..." |
| Moby - Sleep Alone >> Occasionally, Moby manages to create little jewels of incredible beauty. This is one of them. as the sun was set / and the pieces of light touch your hair / perfect love come softly / with the dawn, the dawn / city once full of people / desolate, is desolate / we look back in / to the ruins where we played / at least we were together / holding hands / flying through the sky // so many empty nights / just waiting for this, for this / standing there / all heading downsteam / unsteady island / we hear nothing, nothing // at least we were together / holding hands / flying through the sky |