Thursday, December 17, 2009

glam goddess// NOBUNNY LOVES YOU!



i wanna hold your haaaand.. and make ya understaaand
i just want to be your man, ya KNOOOW


okay, i'm obsessed with this band.
they're called the smith westerns, and they're awesome garage pop from chicago. their sound is basically the beach in a blender. they're album, self-titled the smith westerns, is so full of catchiness and BLISS that it makes me want to squeal. ok, may have actually squealed earlier. as a direct reaction to it. but anyway! if you are a fan of surf-influenced music, noise, garage, lo-fi, glam, and 60's pop [people have also called them "glo-fi" and "new weird garage"- i don't know if the latter actually exists, but it's a play off of new weird america]- you need to check them out! actually, it's kind of imperative that you do anyway. but especially if you're into those things.

songs you need to listen to in particular-
THE GLAM GODDESS // BE MY GIRL // TONIGHT

and you can listen to them [as well as the rest of the album] here . turn it up LOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUD. because 1. that's the only way you should listen to music. 2. that's the only way you should listen to this music.

and if you're particularly jived about what you hear, you can download the album here!


//
NOBUNNY. you may want to shield your eyes.

YEAH.

anyway, nobunny is the drummer from the okmoniks & founder of sneaky pinks- justin champlin. he plays lo-fi garage punk with a decidedly 60s style. RESULT?! rocking the fuck out to something that is dance-able and SUPER CATCHY. but you can also rock the fuck out!

so you can see why you should be listening, yeah? YOU CAN LISTEN HERE! start w/"nobunny loves you" & "i am a girlfriend". you can also just download the album here instead!

and while you're listening you can think about how CUTE this picture is!


everyone's a winner.

Monday, December 14, 2009

in steps.



letting up despite great faults-in steps.

this song = the sound of love washed away with synths in the most endearing way possible.

go here to download!

Friday, December 4, 2009

LOVE IS ALL //the coathangers

love is all is one of my favorite discoveries this year, they pack in lots of energy and punk flair in a swedish pop sort of way.

this is the song "make out fall out make up"- literally one of my favorite songs ever. i don't know about this video, but the song is so excellent!


this is a live set on a street somewhere in oslo, but it's awesome! i love this song, but can you say tally ho by the clean? oh well, i still love them! the recorded version, from their second album, a hundred things keep me up at night, is better than this one, though!



and lastly, i have a video from the coathangers for "stop, stomp, stompin'" from their album "scramble". basically my goal right now in life is for my grrrl band to be a success and make videos better than this.. though the coathangers are pretty sweet.

Monday, November 30, 2009

tally ho!

two amazing tracks from the year 1981:



the clean-tally ho
my roommate tells me every time i listen to this song that it is the theme song to the "drew carey show", but i digress. it is not "cleveland rocks". at all. hopefully you agree.


new order-everything's gone green
this track represents the seminal transition in the early years of new order's career where they transitioned from the joy division sound to a more distinctly "new ordery" sound.

Friday, November 27, 2009

strawberry story & conspiracy theories.


pt. 1: strawberry story-

do you like happiness?! do you like sunshine?! do you like rainbows, sweaters, kittens, meadows, and bunnies?!

then you'll like STRAWBERRY STORY!
they're twee as fuck, but you know, i like twee. honestly they're a bit much sometimes, but some of their songs are worth being overly-drenched in tweeness for the rest.

you can download their album "clamming for it" through mediafire here.
suggested tracks: kissamatic lovebubble, i still want you, close my eyes

also, this song is so so good and you have to listen to it.

pt. 2 racism-fueled conspiracy theory.

this is completely random and has nothing to do with music. but, have you heard about that couple from virginia that crashed a party at the white house in the news recently? after seeing an article like this as the secret service notes they are "deeply concerned and embarrassed" about letting uninvited guests into the white house, doesn't it make sense that this is a publicity stunt of sorts not to promote the status of these random people, but to publicize the lack of proper security at the white house? that's what it seems like to me, it's like- assassinations, please! yeah?

pt. 3 shannon and the clams/TacocaT

i'm going to a show sunday at the black lodge that will feature bands shannon and the clams and tacocat, most notably, but also seattle bands consignment and ape city.

check them out!

ps cats + tacos + personified food in general = yes.

Monday, November 23, 2009

the kitten parade.


hello (possibly existent) blog readers,

i must take an entry for shameless self-promotion purposes, and tell you about my awesome radio show!

i've been devoting a lot of energy to it lately, and i want YOU! to listen to it.
it's 2 hours of my latest musical endeavors all in one convenient stream, plus you get the addition of me awkwardly talking between breaks. so! go to www.rainydawg.org and on the left hand side of the page, there is a place where you can listen to the archive of my show any time [live stream is monday 9-11 am]. so just in case you're too busy being a sleepyhead, you can listen to my most recent show any time. AWESOME, right?!

i put a kind of ridiculous amount of effort into building kickass playlists for this show, so you should check it out.

okay, done with self-promotion, but here's my most recent tracklist so you can get a feel of the kind of stuff you might hear.

harmonix-surfer blood
activa-deerhunter
the void-ganglians
life form (transmission received)-major organ and the adding machine
riding-espers
kelly brown-the earlies
where did our love go?-soft cell
never let it go-dolly mixture
new york city-cub
i told you so-talulah gosh
what a way to die-shop assistants
sci-fi guy-strawberry story
tsuxit-islands
snakes got a leg III-sunset rubdown
the pelican-menomena
bad lover-small black
beach comber-real estate
too little too late (jojo cover)-daniel rossen
puzzle pieces-tiger trap
make out fall out make up-love is all
i was wrong-black tambourine
get yourself together-henry's dress
short sleeves at night-brilliant colors
you lose-CaUSE Co-MOTION!
to the dregs-wavves
local joke-neon indian
sheila-atlas sound
news-tune-yards
missing the light of the day-air
cebe and me-cold cave
rough steez-fuck buttons
the sun is my girl-candy claws
some things last a long time-beach house
graze-animal collective

Thursday, November 12, 2009

hella hella hella nervous nervous nervous


i bring you GRAVY TRAIN!!!!
no actually, all of those exclamation marks are in their band name. [though i am also pretty excited about them]

they are a pretty ridiculous/trashy/electro band from oakland, ca that apparently make out with each other during performances and encourage audience participation. their music screams sex and dancing, basically, so i can imagine their shows kind of look like pt. orgy, pt. dance party. probably an either traumatizing or super fun situation.

here's a video i found but will put up without watching due to my location in the library and it's great potential to be inappropriate:



you can also just stream the track HERE , yah?

Sunday, November 8, 2009

adventure.exe

FINAL FANTASY

is quite an impressive band from toronto who will also be opening for the mountain goats tuesday at showbox at the market! exciting.



this song is super excellent!

Friday, November 6, 2009

america's boy



excellent song from one of my current favorite albums, tender buttons by amazing avante-garde/electro band broadcast.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

tous les whaaa

Also, because I'm bored, I'm thinking I'll double fist this day in posts and make you listen to FRANCOISE HARDY!

60's pop>a little bit greater than everything else

basically just kind of watch this video and your day will instantly be BETTER!
so so serious.

shake ya ass, watch yaself


AND BY THAT I MEAN!
i'm back to updating this blog and making it all musiclicious for you all. that line was meant to get your attention, i hope it was successful.


ANYWAY!
So first I'd like to begin by saying that if you are at all into Ian Curtis, post-punk, electro, post-punk influenced electro and otherwise, there is a band I discovered the other day FOR YOU!

COLD CAVE

Okay, one of their singers [they have several females ones which channel bands along the likes of Broadcast, Beach House, Ladytron etc] sounds JUST like Ian Curtis. It's kind of eerie. Their new album "Love Comes Close" is pretty good, some of their songs ["Cebe and Me", "Life Magazine"] get me super excited about them, but others on the album, not as great. Sometimes they get too wrapped into their icy electro glaze of hipness and mystery and chant things like "we miss the disco lights, it's all pleather now?, a synthetic world without end, sheds a tear, of plastic deception" from a song "Youth and Lust"- a song title which is a little high on the vomit-o-meter as well.

Not entirely sure if the pleather line is correct because I can't find the lyrics online, but still, you get the idea. Most of the songs on the album, take that icy attitude and turn it into post-punk electro bliss. Yes!

OH but Caralee McElroy, formerly of Xiu Xiu [!] is involved with this band, so that kind of means they can say whatever shit they want and still be pretty fucking cool.

Anyway, visit their LAST.FM here.
Also, here's a video!



ps look at this fucking album cover.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

And Bowerbirds, apparently.


Bowerbirds- In Our Talons


I especially like the ending! And the praying mantis' kissing. Aww. :)

I like Starfucker.



That is the most ridiculous video I have ever seen- really, it sparked an initial wtf with me, too. But! The song is so mellow and catchy I couldn't resist sharing it. Admit it, you love it too.

Also, a little discovery for today, The Leisure Society!
Found them when I was looking for shows in Nottingham [!] next week. Yeah that's right, I'm awesome and going to [!!] England next week. [!!!] Anyway, if you go to their last.fm right here, you should listen to "Pancake Day" because it's lovely! I especially like the repeated lines "snoop dog(g?) and dr. dre". It's seeping with lo-fi pop irony.

Oh! You should also visit The Leisure Society's myspace . For reals.

Friday, March 27, 2009

mt. st. helens

The song "Mt. St. Helens" by Olympia/Portland/K Recs' MIRAH is just.. amazing.
I've got a pretty serious Mirah-crush going on lately. She's coming to the Vera Project [you can find the show by clicking on the Vera Project link on the lefthand side of this page, under Blogs & Venues and such] next week and I've decided that I totally need to go.
Mt. St. Helens stream.

Here's a video of her playing the song at Evergreen State College


Some more songs you definitely need to check out by her:
Body Below
100 Knives
Murphy Bed

And here's another video I thought was nice: "Don't Die In Me"

Department of Awesome.

Hey, first of all, I've been totally ignoring this here blog. Sorry!

I'm going to really try to be better about it, I've just been super busy.

Now, I bring a wholly amazing video by a band called Department of Eagles.. the song is called "No One Does It Like You" and I just think the video is fantaaaaaastic:

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Oh Oh Oh, the Places We'll Go!

Olympia K Records twee-poppers LAKE have been infiltrating my airwaves today- they're like a cross between Belle & Sebastian and any number of lo-fi bands that rely on harmonies and cutesy melodies, etc. I mean, their album, "Oh, the Places We'll Go" is named after Dr. Seuss! This has to tell you something about the band- they don't exactly play death metal. Apparently, they started out as a Fleetwood Mac cover band with the intention of touring casinos across the Northwest and Alaska.. random! They also apparently set out on a tour of retirement homes and assisted living facilities.. well, that's nice, I suppose? Yay for community service. You can listen to some of their songs on their myspace, right here. Also, I've included some cheery little downloads for you all-

MP3:
Oh, the Places We'll Go Catchy, adorable intro track.
Blue Ocean Blue Also catchy- there's even handclaps! Singer sounds a bit like any number of female indie vocalists, but not in a bad way. :)
Counting Slightly more "driving" sound, still not exactly hardcore.
Minor Trip The name of this track should say it all. Sort of trippy, but not to an LSD level. Also, it's got flute! Exciting.

So there's my bit on LAKE, up-and-coming cutesy little twees.

And now, I have one more MP3 for you all! It's by a local band called Wild Orchid Children -it's basically the alter ego of Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground [another local band I will get to eventually!]- both bands share common members, but whereas Kay Kay is poppy and indie, with elements of psychedelia.. Wild Orchid Children is just craziness and chaos. Seriously, like, the Beastie Boys + Jimi Hendrix + all sorts of insanity. I mean, look at this picture: Intense. But! This one song I have here is the one on their EP that is completely the utter opposite of that. It's darling and folksy with some genuine blues/americana roots. It's definitely definitely worth a download and listen.

MP3: Wild Orchid Children- Winds Blow

ps Noel Gallagher disses Kings of Leon, The Killers, etc. But he actually does it with class! Go Noel. Always liked you better than Liam. ;)

pss Isn't this adorable? Asthmatic Kitty Records<3
Photobucket

Up-and-coming blogness: Animal Collective review [Already written, just needs some polishing up!], DM Stith, Mirah, Mt. Eerie, and some crazy free jazz! Oh, and Julian Koster is Insane Pt.2. Whooo!

Music Tapes, pt.1

Lately, I've discovered the complete weirdness of an Elephant Six-er- former Neutral Milk Hotel member and current Music Tapes member- Julian Koster. I'll write more about his completely strange behavior [including playing his saw, badger, in a christmas caroling tour, etc. etc.] and include articles, snippets of strange things he's said [there's quuiiiite a few] and downloads of tracks and links to other nifty things..

But for now! I bring a pretty awesome Music Tapes video, for the cover of the Velvet Underground's "All Tomrorow's Parties":

All Tomorrow's Parties


ps Later I have more Music Tapes, downloads, and LAKE, my new twee-pop discovery. Check back!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

I'm getting lost in your cuuuuurls...

No, contrary to the title, it's not quite time for me to geek out about the new Animal Collective, quite yet...

But! I do have a lovely little track to share by a band called Little Wings.
They're part of the Phil Elverum/K-crew-collective.. [I just made up that phrase, but it includes bands like Phil Elverum/Mt.Eerie/The Microphones, Mirah, Thanksgiving, Adrian Orange and all his projects, Karl Blau, etcetc.]

Anyway, here is "Baby Bee" by Little Wings , it's a folksy/cutesy little song that I'm really glad I stumbled upon. You can find more Little Wings songs here and also, another site that's been pretty helpful in finding weird little songs related to this unofficial collective of musicians is Karl Blau's "Kelp Lunacy Advanced Plagiarism Society". There are a whole bunch of strange free downloads on the left column of the page.. some are really good! I particularly enjoyed Karl Blau's "My Name, My Name"- which is a bit reminiscent of Fiddler on the Roof + some sort of psychotropic drug. Always a winning combination! Anyway, you can also just download that here if you don't want to head on over to the site.

ps
Isn't this the most weird-but-still-pretty-precious picture ever?
Little Weird Wings.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Nesey Gallons & Desolation Wilderness. [+update]

First, we have Nesey Gallons, an Elephant 6 Collective-r that seems to be so obscure that I can't find a whole lot on him. However! I did stumble on these videos [thanks phil! :)] and I needed to share! Apparently, Nesey has an album completed, "Eyes & Eyes & Eyes Ago"- recorded last winter, but no one has offered to put it out yet! There may be a self-released 7 inch record once funds become available. I hope!! UPDATE: Taken from a blog of Elephant 6 Collective relation, Optical Atlas : "The little films were shot last spring at julian's house in the Calendar Islands. We could only film things indoors or out of windows as the white beard blazes up in direct sunlight, this therefore is the only reason you do not see the sea but we are surrounded by all of it.

For those who speculate or believe that nesey gallons & julian are all the same things, they're not, we have simply been friends for a long lungy time now, and julian was naturally quite pleased to contribute to a love song about the aurora borealis."

It's really depressing, I can't seem to find mp3s of his songs anywhere! I'm going to try to email him and use my radio station magic powers to get something, but we'll see. Until then, I bring you some youtube videos! Note: I do have mp3's of Aurora Borealis and There Won't Be Any Crows, which I will post for download later today.

My favorite, Aurora Borealis
-Note Julian Koster from the Music Tapes [and Neutral Milk Hotel, back in the day] and the saw!



ps. "julian koster wears false beard tofu pumpkin pie gallons 23rd birthday" are the tags for that. brilliant!

There Won't Be Any Crows




My Swan
-love crazy Julian Koster & the orange snowman in this one..



Unfortunately, Mr. Gallons has just about no places on the internet. There is last.fm but he's sort of nonexistent excluding the videos. Keep an eye out, though!

Next--

I'm pretty much in love with..
Desolation Wilderness, an Olympia band on dear ol' K Records. They have a lovely, dreamy sound that accompanies any quiet night perfectly. They're nice, even in the day I'm sure, though. I listened to their newest release, White Light Strobing last night and I instantly loved it. It's an album for star-gazing, for sure.

Look, even their picture is dreamy!

You can stream the *whole* album on last.fm here! I particularly recommend Jupiter . Lovely!

They also have myspace where you can hear other songs, see tour information, and all that jazz; their official site is this blog .

Come Over In Your Silver Car



And here's a nice instrumental one with a video of some 60's acid jazzercisers... just kidding about the jazzercise. Sorta.

Turquoise and Gold



Upcoming blog fun: The Music Tapes, geeking out over the new Animal Collective, and shameless exploitation of other Pacific Northwest bands. Get pumped!

Oh Shenandoah

Part one of my recent finds--
I bring you, Shenandoah Davis!

We;Camera



Use Your Hands




This version of this song is early and not as polished as the album version, but it's still darling!

Bio.
Listen to more songs!
More listening + a couple free downloads