Five Dials Number 2 (2008)

SOUNDTRACK: WEAKERTHANS-World Cafe Live, December 5, 2007 (2007). I really like the Weakerthans, and they are surprisingly unknown here in the States.  I say surprisingly because they write exceptionally catchy (almost absurdly poppy) songs which would fit on many radio stations’ playlists.  But what sets them apart is John K. Samson’s lyrics which are clever [...]

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Zadie Smith–2 book reviews (Harper’s, April 2011)

SOUNDTRACK: SEONA DANCING-”Bitter Heart” (1983). I can’t believe it took me all these years to learn that Ricky Gervais was in a synth pop band in the 80s.  The band was called Seona Dancing and they released two singles (four songs in all). This is the first song I heard from them and I really [...]

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Helen Humphreys–”Franklin’s Library” (The Walrus, July/August 2005)

SOUNDTRACK: YUCK-Live at SXSW 2011 (2011). Yuck has been on my radar for a little while.  I’ve heard very good things about them but hadn’t heard them until this concert. They play a kind of distortion fueled alt-rock circa late 90s shoegazing style (and everyone laughs about this because the members are all like 20 [...]

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Seven Love Letters: Meditations on Desire (The Walrus, July/August 2005)

SOUNDTRACK: BEST COAST-Live at the 9:30 Club, Washington DC (2010). Best Coast made Carrie Brownstein’s best album of the year accolades, but when I listened to the track she selected for the post, I wasn’t all that impressed. But I have to say that live, Best Coast blew me away.  Bethany Cosentino, the lead singer [...]

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Yiorgos Skabardonis–”Pericles” (The Walrus, July/August 2005)

SOUNDTRACK: SURFER BLOOD-Live at SXSW (2010). I really enjoyed Surfer Blood’s album Astro Coast.  There was something familiar about it, yet it never aped any sound exactly.  It’s a fun collection of upbeat almost-summer music. This live set is a great representation of the band.  They don’t break from the CD all that much, but [...]

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Robin Collyer–”Fictional Houses” (The Walrus, July/August 2005)

SOUNDTRACK: SLEIGH BELLS-Live at SXSW (2010). Sleigh Bells were a very polarizing band last year.  Their album made many year end best of lists, but they were also hated by many music fans as well.  I fell somewhere in the middle.  They reminded me of The Go! Team, but without their quirky aspects.  Nevertheless, I [...]

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Wayne Johnston–”Cathechism” (The Walrus, July/August 2005)

SOUNDTRACK: WORM OUROBOROS-Live at Le Pousson Rouge, March 22, 2011 (2011). I had never heard of Worm Ouroboros before this concert. They opened up for black metal guys Agalloch.  I was very intrigued by their name, because I love the word ouroboros, and then I learned that their name comes specifically from a novel by [...]

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Five Dials–Number 1 (2008)

SOUNDTRACK: PETER BJORN AND JOHN-SXSW May 26, 2009 (2009). This brief set at SXSW (available from NPR & KEXP) showcases the band’s (then) new record Living Thing.  The album was just about to be released, so these are all previews of the album (“New music is the best music”).  The album itself is very sparse [...]

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The Universal Sigh (2011)

SOUNDTRACK: RADIOHEAD-The King of Limbs (2011). I finally had a chance to really listen to this CD and I have some mixed feeling about it.  It doesn’t excite me as much as previous Radiohead releases have and yet, at the same time I can’t stop listening to it.  But I find that I’m listening to [...]

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826 NYC Art Show Catalog (2006)

SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH on NPR [interviews and stories] (2006-2009). While I was finding all of these awesome downloadable shows on NPR, I also found that there are hundreds of downloadable NPR stories about all kinds of bands.  But I was especially interested in the Sonic Youth ones because, well, I’m a fan of the band, [...]

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