"waiting for the sun to set"

Chad VanGaalen - Willow Tree
Soft Airplane (Flemish Eye, 2008)
+download via zshare

www.myspace.com/chadvangaalen

lindstrøm//sally shapiro

Lindstrøm - Where You Go I Go Too
Where You Go I Go Too (Feedelity, 2008)
+download via zshare

I think recently I've upped my capacity to consume long stretches of dance music in my bedroom. Normally I'd be listening to this kinda thing strictly in the club, but I'm totally feeling this Lindstrøm track this afternoon. It might not seem too epic right away, but you gotta stay with it right to its final minutes.

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Sally Shapiro - I'll Be By Your Side (Grahm Zilla Remix)
[via palmsout.com]
+download via zshare

I love the counterpoint on this remix between the buzzing, sorta-glitchy, electronic production and the halcyon lull of the vocals. Especially just before the chorus where Shapiro sings "ooo-ooh-oooh / I'm with you all the time." I've listened to a lot of Shapiro remixes, but this is the first I've heard something with quite this aggressive a production and liked it. I mean, rapidfire handclaps? Something tells me it shouldn't work, but the vocal just glides serenely over it all.


Sally Shapiro - My Fantasy
He Keeps Me Alive 12" (Permanent Vacation, 2008)
+download via zshare

This other track is a relentless little b-side from Shapiro's new 12", brought to my attention by AgentLovelette & the lovejournal. Shapiro sings up a glittering, moonlit storm.

heading off. . .

to Vancouver!

I leave tomorrow morning. Not sure how much posting I'll be doing over the next few weeks. I might have to borrow someone's laptop.


Alton Ellis - A Whiter Shade of Pale
Get Ready for Rock Reggae Steady (Jamaican Gold, 1999)
+download via zshare


Donny Hathaway - What's Goin' On
Live (Atlantic, 1972)
+download via zshare

come home quickly, darlin'

Micah P. Hinson - Come Home Quickly, Darlin'
Micah P. Hinson and the Red Empire Orchestra (Full Time Hobby, 2008)
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This short and sweet opening track on Micah P. Hinson's new album demonstrates that the simplest songs are often the best ones. "Come Home Quickly" is just a few lines of melody repeated in a somewhat circular pattern. It begins with a melancholy, drowned-out vocal that rises, forcefully, out of the murk; but there's no climax for the song to build to. It's merely an affirmation of the singer's desire. It doesn't go anywhere. It repeats a few times, and then it ends.

www.myspace.com/micahphinson


painting by Alfred de Dreux

more verve remixed

I was reminded this morning why I can't live without James Brown.

Listening to "There Was A Time" in the car makes it that much better. It's something to do with driving in an atmosphere of excess kinetic energy.


James Brown - There Was A Time (Kenny Dope Remix)
Verve Remixed Vol 4 (Verve Records, 2008)
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That's right. Just when you thought the Verve Remixed album would slip off the front page of this blog, I bring it on back. Predictability has always been one of my strong suits.

the great canadian mixtape

The Herohill blog has a new entry in their Great Canadian Mixtape series featuring all Alberta bands. They're calling it Hoodoo You Think You Are? (ha ha)

Download it over here.

Some Edmonton highlights:


Field & Stream - Steel Hard Heart


Toy Singers - Shadowy Lines


Touch and Nato - Somethin' Real (feat. Wordsworth)


Darren Frank - It Hasn't Yet

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more music:
Touch and Nato, Darren Frank, Toy Singers, Field & Stream

sounds like summer mix

Santogold - Lights Out
The Teenagers - Starlett Johansson
Fourth Of July - She's in Love
Robin Allender - We, Emmanuel Light, Love Ocean (Rollercoaster Project Remix)
Amy Winehouse - Love Is A Losing Game (Truth & Soul Remix)

Once again, June 21st has arrived. The kids are out of school, save for the few who have resigned themselves to summer classes. Here's some songs that remind me of typical lazy summer days, with delirious sunshine, and the slow hot summer nights. We can even bet on a few glorious thunderstorms and tornadoes this year, I expect.

Previously: Songs for Summer

good night

RZA - Good Night
Digi Snacks (Koch, 2008)
+download via zshare

I was really feeling this last night. Beat is tight. It's a sex jam, so be warned.

1, 2, 3

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Herman Düne - 1-2-3/Apple Tree
Giant (EMI, 2006)
+download via zshare

I was delighted when CJSR featured "1-2-3/Apple Tree" on their Prairie Gaucho program this morning. (For the longest while I've been bringing my mp3 player and cds to listen to at work, but I've recently discovered that I can stream radio which is even better.) Herman Düne have been around in Europe for almost a decade writing and performing their charming, urban folk songs, and now they apparently have an EP and an album coming out in North America. With their French accents and starry-eyed pop confections indebted to Jonathan Richman, Herman Düne also reminded me of Jeremy Jay's excellent A Place Where We Could Go, which was released last month on K Records.

Jeremy Jay - Beautiful Rebel
A Place Where We Could Go (K Records, 2008)
+download via zshare

The most remarkable thing about A Place Where We Could Go is the ghostly ambiance that pervades the songs. The whole thing seems to emerge out of a black-and-white haze.

You can stream the album here.

www.myspace.com/jeremyjay

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Also, there are more Herman Düne songs over at Daytrotter.

starfucker

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Some great whirring, cotton-candy pop that I snatched from the Pitchfork:


Starfucker - German Love
s/t, 2008
+download via zshare

a few things

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Nisennenmondai - Pop Group
Neji/Tori (Smalltown Supersound, 2008)
+download via zshare

The songs on their myspace are just as good, if not better.

You might initially think that "Pop Group" is about the noise, but it's actually all about the bass. Its disco counterpart might be something like this:


Nhessingtons - You're the Summer (Yorda's Beat Club version)
(via 24:hours)

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I also want to point out this amazing song over at the Star Maker Machine blog.