The World Forgot

This months BOTM volume is getting released a bit earlier than would be the normal case. I’ll be travelling this weekend and I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to post again {let alone upload loads of music}. Volume 2 is filled with all the good music I could get my hands on and I tried especially hard to find those tracks which may have slipped by you on the first go round. I understand that not everyone can check every blog every single day, I know I can’t, but hopefully through this mishmash of a collection I’ve found something everyone can enjoy.

And enjoy it you shall. This BOTM volume comes wrapped up in the tape of love. Cheers.

mp3 : Beirut – My Night With the Prostitute from Marseille
mp3 : Bloc Party – Flux (JFK Remix)
mp3 : Daft Punk – Harder Better Faster Stronger (Alive Tour)
mp3 : Feist – 1,2,3,4 (Van She Tech Remix)
mp3 : Feist – I Feel It All
mp3 : Gary Lightbody and Lisa Hannigan – Some Surprise
mp3 : Kanye West – Flashing Lights (Mano Uptemp Remix)
mp3 : Radiohead – Blow Out (Live Acoustic) {actually Thom Yorke and some of The Posies}
mp3 : Radiohead – Reckoner
mp3 : Sunset Rubdown – The Taming of the Hands That Came Back To Life

Every single one of these tracks is solid from start to end. I absolutely love the Beirut track and Lisa Hannigan has been on my mind ever since, well, everything she’s ever done. These, my friends, are the best of the month for a reason. They really are the best tracks that I found using the power of the interwebs and other various and sundry means of discovery. If you’re only going to download one track, out of all this goodness, I would recommend the track by Beirut. It really is brilliant.

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About six months ago I received a promo packet in the mail about an upstart little band called Mumpsy.  With a list of guest musicians as long as my arm, a concept album about three people who can’t decide who to love, and a sound I couldn’t define it sat on my shelf for quite awhile.  To be fair it actually sat on my brother’s shelf for quite awhile.  You see I used to live in China, in a place you can’t easily mail albums to, so all my promos and other materials were opened, scanned, ripped, etc., by my little brother who then emailed the goodies on to me.  It just happened to be I received this album a few weeks before moving to South Korea and then two weeks after that I began the long journey home here to the Midwest.  Anyway, in the ensuing travel, unpack, madness, life, I lost this promo album I had received.  But now it is found.

Although the album is titled 3 People (iTunes), the band is seemingly made up of anyone and their brother, the signature sound of Mumpsy emanates from one central character, Jeff Ilgenfritz.  And although this album is billed as a dance/rave mixture on his label’s website it is nothing of the sort.  Jeff cleverly mixes together a certain style of sixties retro folk with upbeat, albeit acoustic, dance beats to create something akin to a modern day Kinks or Beatles sound.  There’s a lot of room for play in the five song EP and each song casually nudges your head to nodding and feet to tapping along with the stories Jeff sings.  Although the concept of the album, which is described at length in the album notes, falls a bit short the aural aesthetic of the disc does not.  This is what solid new folk dance music sounds like.  And if you’re confused just listen to these tracks.

mp3 : Mumpsy – Iowa City
mp3 : Mumpsy – You Glued My Broken Heart

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For all you Yanks Happy Thanksgiving and welcome back shoppers.  I hope your Black Friday was an event filled funfest and you spent it getting GPS devices for your mom, video games and movies for your brothers, and loads of food in you belly.  I know I did.  For the rest of the world I’m sorry that you don’t get to participate in the buying frenzy that is the holiday season in the US.  It really is something to behold and as this is my first holiday time in the states since 2004 I am enjoying it to the fullest.

But regardless if you went shopping or not today here are some tracks that anyone can enjoy.  Consider this a prelude to the greatness that is to come.  I hope to have a steady stream of posts from now until the new year with a lot of Christmas music, a lot of Sufjan Stevens, and quite possibly the best BOTM volume you’ll ever see.  Honestly.

For this post I dipped awhile back to when Radiohead played a webcast they called Thumbs_Down.  The reason it was given this wonderfully sketchy moniker is as follows.  During the webcast Thom said “This is Thumbs_Down cause it’s … [holds thumbs down to camera]… We’re gonna play some music as we can still stand up. This is our way of celebrating the fact that way have finished a record. We’ve been doing some stupid stuff the past few weeks knocking some things together. Don’t expect any high quality cause there isn’t any.”

Anyway, here are four of the tracks they played.  Three of them are cover songs and one is my favorite Radiohead song of all time.  Enjoy.

mp3 : Radiohead – Ceremony (New Order Cover)
mp3 : Radiohead – The Headmaster Ritual (The Smiths Cover)
mp3 : Radiohead – Unravel (Bjork Cover)
mp3 : Radiohead – I Might Be Wrong

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If you haven’t heard the sound of Wakey!Wakey! yet I suggest you get out of the cave you live in and read a few blogs now and then. I even dropped some WW knowledge awhile back when I posted the Cross Pollination Mixtape.

For those of you dear readers who are knew to the Wakey!Wakey! scene the band is made up of Mr. Mike Grubbs and his catchy sound is quickly gaining the devout ears of many music snobs. There seems to be an innate kinsmanship between boys who play the keys and it would be easy to list Grubbs alongside fellow troubadours Ben Folds and Jon McLaughlin. Although to leave off with this description of him at that point would lead many to believe that he sounds just like those two musicians. Which he doesn’t. He definitely has his own unique style; his own panache if you will. It’s hard to accurately describe the style of music that Grubbs plays without using words like authentic, passionate, and genuine. There’s a certain quality to his songs that transcends mere music and lyrics and makes listening to him sing more of a holistic experience.

Now if I could only get him to play shows with another of New Yorks burgeoning male vocalist scene, Zach Williams, I think between the two of them they could sell out shows from Xi’an to Lhasa. Or at least all across the Western World. So here’s the official call out to both of you. Wakey!Wakey! and Zach Williams would make an excellent live show or split EP. Contact me and I’ll get you in touch {just as long as I get mentioned in the liner notes of course. haha.}

mp3 : Wakey!Wakey! – Get Away (Here We Go Again)
mp3 : Wakey!Wakey! – Say It Ain’t So (Weezer Cover)

This is hands down the best cover of any Weezer song I have ever heard. Trust me, your day is not complete if you haven’t heard this song. If you like what you hear make sure to catch Wakey!Wakey! live at the Rockwood Music Hall in NYC this upcoming December 5th. For free at 8pm.

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With this post we come to the end of the weekend as well as the end of the studio albums made by Weezer to date.  First after The Green Album came a little ditty called Maladroit (iTunes) which was only the second of their five discs not to feature the band on the cover artwork.  This, though, created a pattern so far which has the band appearing on every other album cover.  Following this trend would lead me to believe that the new studio album due early next year will feature some form of art on the front cover and not a picture of the boys.

Although this album received favorable reviews from many critics the inclusion of a slightly metal or grunge sound for the guitar riffs threw off much of their loyal fanbase and was a leading cause in crashing the album sales.  As a quirky sidenote most of this album was recorded in sessions where the uncut and rough tracks were available on a daily basis to avid fans via internet forums.  In this way Weezer had a lot of fan input and discussion in the making of their fourth album.

mp3 : Weezer – Keep Fishin’
mp3 : Weezer – Love Explosion

Their latest studio effort dropped on shelves eleven years to the day from the original release of The Blue Album.  Although it received mixed reviews from fans and critics alike the album sold well and eventually went platinum.  Some people loved it, some people hated it.  I don’t really think it’s as cut and dry as the reviews make it out to be as there are some sparkling moments on the disc.  Admittedly it is a departure from all previous efforts the band has made as Make Believe (iTunes) clocks in at a sprawling 45 minutes and has only one song that clocks in under three minutes.  {Note that an album length of 45 minutes is sprawling for Weezer as only this and their first studio album come in at over 35 minutes long}

To be honest I really liked this disc and saw it more of a maturation of their trademark Green/Blue album sound.  It shows a valuable progression in tempo and style of song structures while still acknowledging that they are in fact, and always will be, those guys who sang Buddy Holly and Undone.  These three tracks below showcase what Weezer sounds like now that they’re a little more grown up.

mp3 : Weezer – Perfect Situation
mp3 : Weezer – Hold Me
mp3 : Weezer – The Other Way

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