26 September 2008

friday five - 26.09.08 - haunted

Autumn is fast-approaching! Yaaaa! Make way for the dead! Rake the leaves! (In other words: I AM SO HAPPY IT WON'T BE HOT FOR MUCH LONGER.) This week's theme is "haunted."



Amen Orchestra - "Mutitled 2" (mp3|7.24MB): Okay, so, here's the deal. This is an instrumental, therefore I'm not certain whether it was intended to convey the concept of ghosts or a haunting or anything of that sort. Not only that, but it doesn't even have any of the related terms in the title. However, if you trust me (and since you're here to begin with, bless your soul, you must have some sort of diligent favour in mind to lay to my absurd music whoredom), you'll download this track right away with the theme most prominently in your head as you listen. Say you go to a diskothek that's been closed for about five years because a murder took place on the main floor. Amen Orchestra details the soundtrack to which your journey would be placed. Beautiful. Symphonic. Creepy.

DeVotchKa - "This Place is Haunted" (mp3|3.81MB): Unlike the lyrical description of the unnamed ghost's disposition, the sweet piano and peaceful echoing vocals in this song both depict a house inhabited by a helpful yet confused spirit. DeVotchKa's Nick Urata sings, you were right, this place is haunted / change the locks, we are unwanted; this seems like more of an excuse than an explanation, and while some small unknown discomfort is avoided by abandoning the place in question, it still leaves someone trapped in-between.

Sunset Rubdown - "A Day in the Graveyard II" (mp3|3.78MB): I had to, okay? I had to do it. You knew that my predilections would lead you here one day, and there you have it. I've been subconsciously searching for an opening for a Sunset Rubdown song since I started this blog, so this is what you get. Oddly cheery and innocent-sounding while maintaining a plot in the ether, "A Day in the Graveyard II" highlights the selflessness in death. Or something. It's a mystery, really. Do you know what Krug means? I don't know what he means. But it's pretty.

Oingo Boingo - "Dead Man's Party" (mp3|14.65MB): Annnnd then we switch to something entirely different. Oh, Danny Elfman. No one could conjure a greater image of skeletons and monsters in top hats with scotch straight in their hands than you. No one could make the afterlife sound like such a happenin' place. The only grief caused by this song, though, is the sort which stems from the fact that Oingo Boingo broke up long before I discovered their greatness. Which means I'll never get to see them live. sigh. Life isn't fair. Oh well, time to die!

Slaraffenland - "Ghosts" (mp3|7.16MB): Another instrumental. Why? Because most ghosts can't do lyrics. It would mess with the whole different-planes-of-existence thing if they could sing along to something you were playing. Besides, instrumentals like this would be completely ruined by words. Slaraffenland's "Ghosts" starts out with percussion like windchimes, and then crescendos and expands to include precise drums. These ghosts had ambition, and it will persist even in death.


As always, send lovemail/hatemail/anymail related to the Friday Five to fridayfiveradio@gmail.com. Requests are always considered and welcomed. See you next week!

24 September 2008

midweek madness - shock of pleasure

By this point in our relationship, I'm sure you've noticed my musical restlessness and complete inability to focus on any one genre at a particular point in time. Just ignore the whiplash - it should go away on its own in a few months (or, barring that, chiropractors are marvelous people - at least the ones I've met).

This Wednesday, I'd like to slow things down a bit. It's been a hectic week thus far, not to mention a crazy morning (kidnapping and bank robbery? in southern Maryland? seriously, guys) so it's only appropriate that I should post something with a little more chill.

Meet Shock of Pleasure, a downtempo electronica outfit hailing from Dallas. They have a style that makes you wonder if Perfume Tree and Thievery Corporation actually went back in time to create a psychedelic lovechild from the ether of their sounds. Which isn't to say that Shock of Pleasure's talent lies in mimicry; their music simply blends the finer aspects of trance and rhythm in order to put forward a most lovely mark for themselves on the world of electronic music.

Shock of Pleasure - "Spacetime" (mp3|5.92MB)

If the rest of the album (It's About Time) is like this - and yes, I feel like a horrible person because I haven't actually had the time to listen to it, which is sort of ironic in a pathetic sort of way - then I think they've subjected themselves to acquiring another wistful fangirl with a propensity for tripping while entirely sober.

17 September 2008

midweek madness - holly springs sacred harp convention

In Southern Protestant areas in the United States, an old and beautiful form of music thrives, held as sacred to those who convene to sing it. Sacred Harp music derives its name from the shape note book from which the songs are sung ("shape note" is a term which refers to the identification of notes based on their degree in a scale using shapes such as triangles, squares, and diamonds for "fa, la, and mi" respectively), and is sung entirely a cappella.

Holly Springs Sacred Harp Convention - "Stratfield" (mp3|2.03MB)

This mp3 is from the recently released soundtrack of Awake, My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp, a 2006 documentary which follows the tradition of Sacred Harp singing as it continues to pervade churches and organisations in the rural South. It's a beautiful piece. The human voice truly is the most lovely instrument.

12 September 2008

friday five - 12.09.08 - space

A quick one tonight, because I'm almost out of time.

AeroVox - "Shining Star" (mp3|4.71MB) - I found AeroVox while surfing cnet's amazing music catalogue. I've discovered more stuff over there clicking on random artists than I would have imagined possible. (That is, before I entered a period in my life when I had far too much time on my hands. I will say one thing about unemployment: it definitely takes up space on your hard drive.) "Shining Star" is what Explosions in the Sky would write if they ever took their coffee black in the morning. Rich, great harmonies, and a little of that animated guitar lovin'.

David Bowie - "Life on Mars?" (mp3|5.31MB) - "Space Oddity," "Life on Mars?," "The Prettiest Star," and so many others. I could have composed this installment entirely of David Bowie songs. It wouldn't have been too bad, either (minus a few too many instances of Labyrinth deja-vu and a strange, unanticipated attraction to dudes rockin' the guyliner). God, I miss music like this.

Deerhoof - "The Galaxist" (mp4|2.48MB) - I love how Deerhoof manages to cram a million little musical moods into a single song. "I'm ethereal like Joanna Newsom! Let's roll around in the leaves! Whoop, changed my mind. I'd rather flail out on happy-hardcore. Dude, it's a PONY! Let's RIDE IT!" And it somehow manages to be artsy and catchy at the same time.

The Prodigy - "Out of Space" (mp3|6.82MB) - The title really says it all. Cracked out electro-reggae-rap. If I say any more, I'll spoil it. The Prodigy is superior indeed.

Steve Burns - "Superstrings" (mp3|6.23MB) - While not technically space, I figured theoretical physics was close enough. (Seriously. Why can't I stop referring to Steve Burns as "the Blue's Clues guy"? I mean, it has to be perpetually annoying. I maintain that it totally isn't my fault, despite being a cute kids' show with horrifying animate furniture and utensils. I have two younger brothers. They will pay for skewing my perspective on incredibly awesome electronic rock with flashbacks of my unfounded guilt for using paprika.


As always, send lovemail/hatemail/anymail related to the Friday Five to fridayfiveradio@gmail.com. Requests are always considered. See you next week!

10 September 2008

midweek madness - grampall jookabox

Once a week (barring technological complications, bad weather, and general laziness), I hope to share a song/artist that can only be described as "so weird that it's awesome."

Occasionally, I need a little aural freakout. It keeps life interesting. And it makes me smile. I don't know about you, but my brain works better when it's been scarred a little.

Grampall Jookabox, a spankin' ghetto-jungle-folk band from Indianapolis, released the Rill Bruh EP last month as a compilation EP/precursor for their upcoming album Ropechain (4 Nov 2008, Asthmatic Kitty). I have to say one thing: it's crazy. But it's crazy sweet. If alien musicians landed their UFO in a trailer park and started drinking moonshine by the railroad tracks, this would be the result.

Grampall Jookabox - That Steamboat Gothic Stomp (mp3|5.28MB)

(Bonus: Like it and want more? Asthmatic Kitty Records has the whole EP available for download on their website here! [8 tracks, 47MB])

05 September 2008

friday five - 05.09.08 - rain

After an extended absence, the Friday Five returns with a new location, a new domain, and - for the most part - new content. As usual, however, I cannot guarantee that this (and all future posts) will consist of entirely new music. Copyright laws are tricksy buggers, and I don't want to be caught in the middle of a recording industry clusterf&*k.

All that aside ...

Today, the fifth of September, is a special day; not only because it marks the rebound of this endeavour in loose media, but because a lovely tropical storm has traced its path to cross with the roots of headquarters. Tropical Storm Hanna, not quite a Category One, is beginning to brew. The clouds are dark, the wind whines a haunting plea to the trees that capture it, and the satellites still (miraculously) punch their way through a swiftly-sealing atmosphere.

What better theme to embark upon? Rain it is.

The Cure - "Prayers for Rain" (mp3|8.45MB): The album Disintegration is one of The Cure's best works, and I say that with as much bias as professionally manageable. "Prayers for Rain" is classic; a pleadingly visible montage of intensity which, at its most merciless, depicts the listener in silhouette, hair matted damply to the scalp with the humidity that presses in from the bricks. Standing just off a city curb with the steam from a manhole rising to greet them, "you strangle me, entangle me - in hopelessness and prayers for rain" is the preemptive request. But then ...

Assemblage 23 - "I Am the Rain" (mp3|2.66MB): It hits - suddenly, viciously, tearing the sky apart in a series of wild electronic pulses that finally break the skin of the clouds and release their liquid burden upon the helpless loiterer. Assemblage 23 lets the beat speak for itself, and lyrically gives those soulseekers a purpose. "I am the rain falling down to cover you." Crazier paradoxes have been fulfilled.

A Band of Bees - "Wash in the Rain" (mp3|5.06MB): We've touched the touching and pounded the pavement. But who dances through the puddles? A Band of Bees contributes this jazzy number to the drizzly ensemble to ensure that the night flows on unencumbered. Why does the rain always have to be composed of a lonely man's tears? It doesn't. This is why.

Duran Duran - "Hold Back the Rain" (wma|3.53MB): The ensuing downpour isn't necessarily a bad thing. Though the lyrics hint at a conscious longing, Duran Duran's crazy 80s synth won't let anyone fall back. Who cares if it's raining? Who cares if I'm still alone? I do, but I'm sure as hell not going to let you know. Not yet, anyway. Not until ...

Espers - "Cruel Storm" (m4a|4.96MB): ... not until the storm sets in. And it's best to be indoors. Oddly, the candle's still flickering. Espers' Meg Baird sings, "as light bleeds from the sky, I watch your heart die," and the weary, sodden life-traveller, hypnotised by the assurances of her cherubic voice, is rather okay with that. It's time to rest, and this lulling pseudo-waltz into the empty, flooded streets will certainly help urge it along.


As always, send lovemail/hatemail/anymail related to the Friday Five to fridayfiveradio@gmail.com. Requests are always considered. See you next week!