Thursday, January 31, 2008

new song "Allison" is not a cover! wow!

here's a song i wrote tonight for my friend allison. when i first met her i said "hey! elvis costello wrote a song about you!" ...and i said this as though no one had ever thought of it before...and she said "but that songs about a pregnant girl!" which i guess it is. so anyway, here's my new allison song. not about pregnancy at all. just about having fun. ...which according to me, apparently, automatically excludes being pregnant? thank you to eric for reminding me about the pixies song of the same name, as well. muchas gracias, mi amigo de puerto rico.

DNA in Me cover project takes on new twist!

Here's another cover of Magic Tricks' "DNA in Me"...this time by Sean Whittaker. while i went for a stripped down approach (by choice, i swear), sean did what he does best: he made a full-on, very professional arrangement which somehow captures and preserves the wackiness of the original in ways more subtle and more accurate than my ham-fisted, gorilla-dick version. i would strongly suggest you compare the original (via the link at the bottom of this page) with my version (Cover Project Tres, see below) and now you can listen to Sean's version right down there! or (if you have a life) don't. hurray!

IC music review: Vampire Weekend

It's worth sinking teeth into Vampire Weekend - Arts & Life

Monday, January 28, 2008

Dan Deacon Show, Detroit 01/27



Here's mike and i with mr. dan deacon. there was more sweating going on than you could imagine. i perfected my "bouncing in place" dance, also. which is nice. the show was just as fun as hell. we said "brainface" together exactly 45 times. wee! i can't decide if i look more like a miami coke dealer or a wacky gay friend on a sitcom...but either way i was pretty pleased with myself, from the look of things.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

White Hinterland

this is a nice tune from a nice looking gal. like regina spektor crossed with shadows-and-light-era joni mitchell. i ate almost a full pound of pulled BBQ chicken for lunch. it all went straight into my biceps, which are now bulging out like the stomaches of two pot-bellied children sitting on my upper arms. ass, grass, or cash kids! no one rides for free!

white hinterland is a great name for a band/music project. white motherland is a good name for Europe. White Disneyland is a fair observation.

Cover Project Tres!!!

i'm really way too into these half-assed, nonsense covers of my friends' songs. This is a cover of Magic Tricks' "DNA in Me" ...however, i can remember waaaaay back when it was an eric rivera solo joint, then briefly part of a band-whose-name-i-can't-remember that he co-fronted in college. anyway, the point is that the song now resides comfortably in the nimble hands of Magic Tricks, whose music you can find via the link at the bottom of this page. this is a special (uh, useless) gift to them!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Cover project II

here's another remington cover. this time it's one of ross's songs: We're Gonna Make It After All...but i have cleverly retitled it! i decided to name it something else because i left out a certain part of the original song...can you discover which part i opted not to include?

Times New Viking

I'm not from Ohio, i just go to school there. still, for whatever reason, i find myself pleased to hear that any ohio band is doing well. Here's Times New Viking, from Columbus. Pitchfork said their new album is an 8 with a high tenth decimal degree. honestly, that rating system is so fucking clunky and vague!! it's 2008 guys!

I, Mountain Maid, give Times New Viking's album "Rip It Off" a 7.643535353535. yep, that's a repeating "35," i just couldn't figure out how to put the little line on top. and NO, this does not mean that you can just round my rating off to a dinky 7.6...or even a 7.644! P.S. i'll lay out my schema for evaluating music on a later blog, but let me just say...you won't be able to replicate the results with an old box of transistor tubes and a hand-cranked radiometer, you by-the-seat-of-your-leather-pants technologista! the only sufficient serial reconvalescent pathway is made-to-order in Russia!! HA!

Friday, January 25, 2008

Just tied up my horse, Resurrection, to the hitching post out front of your house, my dear my dear

here's another song i recorded right after that last one. if i wasn't an hour ago, i'm now certainly drunk. so, let's sally forth into this good night with a country song. about our lord. don't worry non-believer, it's a scant two minute ditty. no more, though likely much less. god bless.

Puppy dog eyes aren't cute if they aren't in a puppy head, dig?

Here's a song i just recorded this evening. Is this being productive? or just self-indulgent? there aren't words to express how little i care, really. I'm sitting in a friend's apartment, watching her dog for the weekend. i'm not sure why i didn't just bring the dog to my house...but i wasn't really thinking clearly all day, what with the truly toxic amount of alcohol in my blood. this song was inspire by yachts, vacations to europe, being able to tell the difference between feta cheese made with cow's milk vs. goat's milk and paying for a vitamin enhanced beverage at the gas station with a 50 dollar bill in front of the guy paying for gas with spare change.

Cover project

here's a cover i did this morning of remington's "alive now." i just sort of played it from my very hazy (hungover) recollection of how it goes. you can hear dad down in the garage power sawing some wood. i like that. son lazily awakens from night out at the bar to play with his computer while father works hard, carpentry. a man. an actual man. also, on the second track where i sing a little backup, mike walks in and starts talking about last night. so i left that in, also. fun times!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Speaker Bite Me and domination in the bedroom.

Here's a track from Denmark's Speaker Bite Me. Several blogs keep referencing the Knife in their descriptions of this band...which is fine. It wouldn't be out of place to throw the YYY's in there either, especially when Karen O is really belting it out (in lieu of going "rar" or yelling "hey"). "Teach Me Tiger" is a little more...well band-y than the Knife? There's definitely some synth here, and even the multi-octave vocals (hence the Knife comparisons), but the music comes off as played rather than made. It's also sexy. If Karen O is sexy like getting your hair pulled in the midst of love-making, this song is sexy like getting your hair pulled in the midst of love-making and getting a ball-gag stuffed in your mouth. Me entiendes? Which if i keep this weird simile going would mean that the Knife is full-on boot-licking...or even that crazy shit where guys pay thousands of dollars to vacuum a mistress's apartment while she walks around in fishnets eating oatmeal cookies and dropping crumbs everywhere. check some more of Speaker Bite Me at their Myspace page. check out some more of the simile here.

Remington (neither guns nor broads, but still good)

Here's a track from mike's band, Remington. One of these days I'm going to write a review of their EP (which you can find on iTunes, i might add). For now, you can check this tune out. It's a catchy and danceable reminder that you're, um, alive...like right now. It might be a little early yet for the effect of this stadium-sized (or at least really big club-sized), feel-good anthem to be felt completely during the band's live show, but rest assured...when the time comes, they'll be ready with "Alive Now." It's nice to meet you too, fellas.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Taken By Trees: Tell Me (live)

Victoria Bergsman, the singer/songwriter behind Taken By Trees bashfully whispers her way through "Tell Me" from her summer 07 release "Open Field." With over a decade of performing under her belt with her one-time band, The Concretes, we all know the nervous fidgeting is a put-on, but she still looks and sounds great.

Catty celebrity blogger Leningrad Redroof says: "What is that on her head? A bowl cut? The stylist must of used the same bowl I leave by the door for my kitty, Sparklzz, after I've served her a plate of poached eggs with a little TOO much Hollandaise SAUCE...because her hair looks like PUKE! Also, honey, maybe its the swedish meatballs or too many of those red gooey fish, but you aren't going to make it on Grey's unless you drop like...a fucking million pounds."