thermal treasure

Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound

2007-05-30T13:59:00.000-07:00

the eagerly awaited fourth shellac album. dig it.

hxxp://www.sendspace.com/file/kjrl3u

Charlotte Gainsbourg - 5:55

2007-05-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

looks like serge's daughter has some pipes of her own. air did all the music and jarvis cocker wrote a bunch of the lyrics so, if you like those things then, this is really good. LINK FIXED!

hxxp://lix.in/22d0f9

also, here's a video of charlotte with her dad:

i'm sure she doesn't have any residual issues.

Personal Soundtrack

2007-05-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

this past weekend i went on a pretty decent road trip wherein i was informed repeatedly that i should have a movie made that documents me as a character. seems about right, i suppose. any way, i decided to put together what i would use as my personal soundtrack. i haven't made a mix in awhile, so i wanted to test it out in the car and make sure it was good with transitions and all. i decided to kill two birds with one stone and do one of those new jersey things i had never gotten around to doing: visiting the "clerks" quick stop in leonardo.

and guess what? it's a grocery store from a movie i enjoyed when i was younger. i bought an iced tea. the video store next door is real. that's about it. i crossed it off the list.

anyway, i figured i'd post the mix up here. i know a lot of the bands that are my favorites aren't on here (shellac? pavement? velvets?) but that's just the way it is. playlist (band name - song title (album title), with some notes):

1. pleasure forever - aeon flame (alter)
if i ever do make a movie and have any say in it this will be the opening credits theme. it's the best personal overture i can imagine.

2. polvo - thermal treasure (today's active lifestyles)
i named this thing after this song. true story. another true story is that this is the best indie guitar band ever, including archers of loaf/sonic youth/whomever. no one came close, before or since.

3. radio vago - intro/yearly note (gimme skelter comp)
only good song i ever heard from this band, though it is pretty damn good. went through something like 6 lineup changes in 3 years.

4. wire - practice makes perfect (chairs missing)
it was a toss up between this and outdoor miner. i like the creepy vibe from this one though.

5. big youth - cool breeze (ride like lightning)
this is pretty much my favorite dub song, i kinda wanted to put something a little more upbeat after the last two so that's that.

6. jonathan fire*eater - when the curtain calls for you (wolf songs for lambs)
why did everyone shit on this band while they were together, yet love the walkmen, a band with 3/5 the same members yet way more boring songs? is something wrong with me?

7. harvey danger - why i'm lonely (king james version)
mention the name harvey danger to someone from new jersey and they will inevitably recall some radio station fest from 10 years ago where a bunch of ska fans bottled them off the stage. if this in any way shapes your opinion of this band you should have your groin pummeled mercilessly. this is my favorite song of all time. by the way, anyone else notice that harvey danger and nada surf have the same career arc? (release good debut with huge one hit wonder, release best album that is ignored by everybody, return during pitchfork renaissance with average record that critics praise because they realized they shit the bed on the sophomore album.) not that nada surf is as good as harvey danger, not really that close in fact. just saying, weird coincidence i guess.

8. the ex - sister (turn)
saw this band at the touch and go fest last september. they may have been the best band there, or at least a close second to scratch acid. see them if they come to town, you'll be glad you did.

9. magnetic fields - the things we did (69 love songs)
hey, it's a personal soundtrack, and sometimes i'm a puss, alright? hard time picking just one song from this record.

10. mclusky - to hell with good intentions (mclusky do dallas)
theme song for rock bands. british people will always win the sense of humor (humour?) wars over americans. just look at the office. (though rainn wilson tries his damndest.)

11. the dandy warhols - ride (dandys rule ok)
so what if "dig" showed them to be vain posers? this band made some pretty decent rock guitar songs, and this is one of the better ones. deal with it.

12. hot snakes - audit in progress (audit in progress)
one hot snakes song, and no jehu. there were a lot of songs i could have picked, it was really a toss up between this and "i hate the kids", but froberg's vocal on this one is pretty special, and he's my favorite singer, so there you go.

13. can - vitamin c (ege bamyasi)
krautrock is pretty under-represented on this soundtrack. i think this is the song that got me into can, which in turn led me to neu! and others. maybe it'll do the same for you.

14. mclusky - she will only bring you happiness (the difference between you and me is that i'm not on fire)
two mclusky songs??!? yeah, they're just that good. this band breaking up left a huge hole in the modern music scene, and i don't know who can fill it.

15. beta band - inner meet me (three ep's)
this choice seems a little strange, as i barely listen to the beta band, but i probably should more often, and their songs do lend themselves to soundtracks pretty well. just ask high fidelity.

16. spiritualized - run (lazer guided melodies)
not my favorite spiritualized song, but it's the one that fit the best, and it's nothing to sneeze at.

17. june of 44 - pale horse sailor (engine takes to the water)
i've come to realize something, namely that matt hunger was right, june of 44 is infinitely better than slint even though they sort of sound the same. i don't know why, it's just they way it is, and this record and four great points are two of my favorites.

18. husker du - pink turns to blue (zen arcade)
this was the first husker du song i ever heard, and that led me to try and find the album, which at the time was only available on vinyl, so i got a turntable, and the rest is a fairly costly hobby that sits in a bunch of boxes on my floor. thanks husker du, now i'm broke.

19. the kinks - waterloo sunset (something else)
my second favorite song of all time, a true classic, and a pretty decent way to close the curtain on me.

so yeah, enjoy, sorry that took so long. link:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ucng25

note: the order might get fucked up because the beta band song is an mpeg4 whereas the other ones are mp3's. should fix itself in itunes, but, beware.

Spiritualized - Live 2004

2007-05-02T18:07:00.000-07:00

spiritualized is my favorite band, and at this point i would say they are going to stay at the top of my list for quite some time. although i think their last album was their weakest, it was still very good, and i am optimistic for the new record (fall 07?) i mean, what can you really say about them at this point? jason pierce has been writing beautiful rocky bluesy gospely whatever songs for almost 20 years now, from "walking with jesus" through "she kissed me (and it felt like a hit)", and, yeah, man, i don't know. i'm no good at talking about them. if i was to make a top 5 favorite bands list that factored in distance, it'd look something like this:

1. spiritualized

2. pavement

3. pleasure forever 4. shellac/drive like jehu/velvet underground/the kinks/polvo

anyway, here's the link to spiritualized playing live in 2004 somewhere in colorado:

hxxp://www.sendspace.com/file/6r7zfs

speaking of lists, i was think about favorite all time songs recently, and one of the top contenders would have to be the kinks' "waterloo sunset". i dug up this youtube video of elliott smith playing it at a record store in 97, enjoy:

Pixies - Bossanova

2007-04-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

I heard this record for the first time in a long time when i was on my spring break trip to milwaukee, and i liked it a lot more now. i always thought it was the weakest pixies record, and maybe it still is, but still pretty damn good. also i think my opinion has changed after watching the noah baumbach movie kicking and screaming 700 times, he uses the first song over the opening montage of the movie. well, here 'tis:

hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=A2EGDRH4

Fiery Furnaces - Gallowsbird's Bark

2007-04-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

The first record by everyone's favorite oddball musical siblings, eleanor and matthew friedberger. before the pitchfork hype and the ill conceived record with grandma vocals, there was this gem of an lp. as time goes by i think we'll look at this as a classic. enjoy.

hxxp://lix.in/22de73

also, in unrelated news, i recently became the owner of this 8 voice analog synth:

weird sounds await, once i learn how to use it.

Grinderman - s/t

2007-04-24T18:45:00.001-07:00

basic info: grinder man is the most recent version of nick cave and the bad seeds, only playing heavier, with nick switched from piano to guitar and sporting a biker stache. i have to be honest, i had low expectations for grinderman. i haven't really enjoyed any of the recent bad seeds records and didn't know what this was going to be like. what it's like is basically like a lost stooges record, or an improved version of the last spiritualized album maybe? it rules giant elephantine balls. especially tracks 7-8-9. link:

hxxp://rapidshare.com/files/23015773/Grinderman.rar

enjoy whilst you can.

Captain Beefheart - Safe As Milk

2007-04-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

for a while, i've had the wrong impression about don van vliet and his band of weirdsters. namely, that the zappa-influenced trout mask replica was pretty much what his stuff sounded like. not that i hate that record, but it's not something i listen to too often. i was wrong about beefheart though. one of milwaukee's finest, mr. casey marnocha, played this record for me on a road trip to chicago and the deal was sealed. it is awesome, their legacy is sealed as a weird rock band years ahead of the curve. remember, this is 1967. a weird year for even popular music.

but not this weird.

this is the rerelease, with bonus tracks.

hxxp://rs42.rapidshare.com/files/18764263/
captain_beefheart__his_magic_band.zip

(no spaces, but for some reason it doesn't show up on one line in firefox.)

The Fall - Hex Enduction Hour

2007-04-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

here, for mr. matt hunger, what i believe to be the fall's finest album, hex enduction hour. the band meshes perfectly, the songs are killer, and mark e. smith's lyrics and swagger are in their prime. if you've never heard them before this is a great place to start. here you go kids!

hxxp://the link doesn't work anymore. working ona new one. sit tight!

in sad news, my ipod bit the dust today, and no amount of slaps will bring it back. i'll miss you ipod.

coming soon: grinderman and some beefheart.

Faust - So Far

2007-04-22T22:23:00.000-07:00

note: links will be updated as necessary, if they don't work let me know so i can fix them!

i've been a big fan of krautrock for awhile now but always skipped over faust. despite the fact they were consistently mentioned in the same breath as can and neu!, i never made the jump until the recommendation of this album by my friend dan. so dan, currently in japan, thanks to you. enjoy faust's 1972 mastahpiece "so far".

(change the xx to tt, hosers)

hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=RU6ZXFAO

Deerhunter - Cryptograms

2007-04-22T19:11:00.000-07:00

this blog is going to be used to talk about what i'm listening to and hopefully provide links to the music. blah blah blah illegality etc. the first recori want to talk about is cryptograms by the band deerhunter. they are a psych rock band from atlanta who's singer suffers from something called marfan syndrome, which apparently means that his limbs grow disproportionately to his body. he is a weird looking fellow, seen here:

he's the one in the middle.

anyway, the music is excellent, with some mbv-like reverb swells and killer basslines. here's the link:
(NOTE THE LINK IS NOT DIRECT because i don't feel like getting in trouble, change hxxp to http.)
LINK ACTUALLY FIXED!

hxxp://lix.in/b54afb

enjoy!