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Pretty Please With You On Top

Sixtoo w/ Damo Suzuki “Storm Clouds & Silver Linings” – This one sells itself: experimental hip hop producer makes beats approximating Jaki Liebezeit circa Tago Mago + brand new, non-sampled vocals by Damo Suzuki from Can. If you took this track a few years back in time and told everyone that it was a missing Can outtake, almost everyone would have believed you. This is out right now as the b-side of the Boxcutter Emporium 12″, and it will also be featured on Sixtoo’s forthcoming debut LP Chewing On Glass & Other Miracle Cures on Ninja Tune.

Ghostface w/ Jackie-O “Tooken Back” – I’m not kidding about this – I was really trying to keep myself from posting this, because I had placed a self-imposed moratorium on Ghostface and Method Man, since they’ve both been on so many tracks on Fluxblog over the past year. I had to cave; this song is just too perfect. It’s from the brand new Pretty Toney Album, which is somehow even better than Supreme Clientele, which just shouldn’t be probable. The new record is made up of nonstop soul samples, sometimes even including full verses and choruses from the old records played underneath rapped verses. As a whole, it almost sounds as though Ghostface is rapping over a complete episode of Downtown Soulville. It shouldn’t work, but the man pulls it off.

Elsewhere: Fans of Strangers With Candy should check out the MP3 of the documentary which inspired the character Jerri Blank on this site, which also includes photos and a transcript of the film. (Thanks to Sharpeworld!)

That’s So-And-So From ’82

Girl Talk “Bodies Hit The Floor” – This is a selection from Girl Talk’s new mix album Unstoppable, which is a marathon of glitchy mash-ups of hits from the 90s and 00s. A lot of the record sounds like nothing so much as artful, deliberate channel surfing, but a majority of the tracks manage to coalesce into structured songs in their own right. I’m not sure about this, but I suspect that the sample of “Cry Me A River” in this mix may be taken from one of those Kidz Bop compilations, but it could just be Justin Timberlake pitched up a bit. It would be so much better if it were Kidz Bop, though – those things are just begging to be fucked with by clever DJs.

Laptop “Greatest Hits” – Let’s take a trip in the wayback machine, alllllllll the waaaaay baaaaack to….2000! This is taken from Laptop’s debut album Opening Credits, an underrated album of Jarvis Cocker-esque quasi-highbrow sleaze set to groovy electropop. “Greatest Hits” finds Laptop’s alter ego trying to talk himself out of a poorly conceived and badly received compliment, but only managing to make matters worse for himself.

Elsewhere: There’s a brand new remix of Low’s “I Remember” over on the Empire State Human site which is well worth checking out. It’s Low, so it’s obviously pretty downbeat, but ESH keeps it as lively as a triphop track is likely to get. The remixes of “Milkshake” and “Galang” are pretty solid too, if you haven’t heard them yet.

Also: Very good news for Saturday Night Live – Jimmy Fallon is leaving the show at the end of this season. (Thank you to Whatevs!) This works out well for everyone involved – Fallon can go make a fortune doing shitty movies, and the show loses a wildly inconsistent and unprofessional player who shamelessly cops all of Mike Meyers and Adam Sandler’s moves; writes and stars in an endless stream of subpar sketches starring his derivative characters; and makes a fool out of poor Horatio Sanz in every sketch they appear in together. Jimmy is alright once in a while, but he’s never good enough to make you forget all the crap he’s foisted on us in his years on the show.

Hopefully this is the first step towards correcting the mess that the show has become over the course of this largely unwatchable season. The next step should be to fire whoever has been booking the guests, and also whomever at the show has decreed that every episode should have at least three or four sketches in which the host plays themself. This problem was especially evident in the vile Donald Trump episode, in which all but two sketches in the whole episode were about him and his terrible reality show. (One of those two remaining sketches was totally derailed by Fallon and Sanz’s giggle fits, and the other was a poorly written political sketch about Richard Clarke which was completely unamusing, and only served to remind me of how well the Daily Show’s writers can come up with solid jokes about dry political proceedings.)

I know that it is unrealistic to ever expect SNL to be consistently funny, but the most horrible thing about this last season has been that a pretty strong cast is being wasted on such lousy material. Folks like Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen, Seth Meyers, Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, and especially Will Forte are all very gifted performers, and they deserve better than this. If lesser talents filled out the current cast, then it wouldn’t seem like such a waste of potential.

You’re So Special, Let Me Know Where You Live

Rework “Not Quite Like Any Other” – I’m such a sucker for songs like this – woozy, hazy, romantic, melancholy, ridiculously European. Perhaps my mind is too trained by film and music videos, but it’s hard for me to hear this song without thinking of old European cities shot in stark black and white with some stunning woman with pale skin, dark hair, and sunglasses walking around looking distant and disaffected. It’s just that kind of song. This is taken from Rework’s new album Fall Right Now on the German label Playhouse.

Rabbi Haywire “Real” – In what could be the strangest of all of the new home recorded music to surface so far in 2004, Rabbi Haywire (who is not actually a rabbi, but instead a “Jewish female freak machine” according to her website) sings lyrics about the nature of reality, cybersexuality, and living in a post-apocalyptic dystopia over samples and beats in a little girl voice, like something out of a Philip K Dick fan’s jailbait fantasy. Of the six songs that she’s posted on her site, “Real” is the most mellow and mature, but those of you who would like to hear something far less restrained and much more mental should check out the bizarre “Hot Cybergoth Bitches,” in which she raps like some kind of cross between Strawberry Shortcake and Thurston Moore.

Elsewhere: Boom Selection has the brand new Soulwax single “This Is The Excuse” available for download. Snap it up quickly, it’s pretty incredible, and it features Nancy Whang from LCD Soundsystem.

There’s Going To Be Some Changes In The Coming Year

Au Revoir Simone “Through The Backyards Of Our Neighbors” – This is taken from the forthcoming debut EP by Au Revoir Simone, a new all-girl keyboard-based band from New York City. The song is so wistful and romantic, it’s too bad that I couldn’t have posted this along with the John Cei Douglas comic from a while back, because it would have been a perfect match. Imagine a dreamier Electrelane or a warmer Stereolab, and you’ve got the right idea. There’s so much potential here, it should be interesting to see how this group progresses over the next year as they write more songs.

Valorie Keys “Listen Here” – I hadn’t heard this version of the classic Eddie Harris (who is not to be confused with one of the world’s most obnoxious actors, Ed Harris) song before a few days ago, but it was immediately clear to me that Sleater-Kinney has lifted almost all of their retro-soul moves directly from this recording. I would be completely shocked if the members of that band didn’t know this particular version of the song, especially since “Step Aside” from One Beat in specific sounds like a rewritten version of Keys’ “Listen Here,” right down to the vocal deliverary. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t fault them or anyone else from knicking the good bits of older songs, especially not when they have the good sense to lift from material as great as this. “Listen Here” is a fun bit of assertive soul, with a nice sunny skip to it that is perfect for the beginning of spring.

Elsewhere: Fans of The Fall should check out the interview with Mark E. Smith from this past Saturday’s episode of The Cherry Blossom Clinic on WFMU. Mark talks a bit about playing in the United States, performing in a wheelchair, the new Fall album, and his taste in comedy.

Go Crazy! Go Nuts! Allllllllllllllllllllll Weekend! There’s No Sleeping! There’s No Sitting! There’s No Resting! We Are Moving And Grooving! Carrying A Stick!

Murray Saul “It’s Friday!!!” – Long time readers of this blog will no doubt remember this from when I posted it about a year ago. I don’t know how anyone could ever forget something like this. Saul sounds as though he is having a total mental meltdown as he hypes up his listeners for the weekend – he barks, growls, rants nonsensically, and eventually speaks in tongues as though possessed by demons. When this first aired on WFMU’s Aircheck program, no one at the station knew who this DJ was, but recently a cd of Saul’s classic radio rants was released, and the mystery of the unhinged DJ was solved. As it turns out, Saul was a salesman and radio personality on WMMS in Cleveland, and has been broadcasting since the late 60s. You can read more about Saul here and here.

Something To Make You Go Whoa

Rekha “Good To Go” – Whenever I find a song like this which would so obviously be huge if given half the chance on urban pop radio and MTV, it breaks my heart a bit more than with obscurities in less mainstream genres, since it’s clear that a lot of the audience for it will never hear it because they are less inclined to seek out rarities. This is another great bit of pop dancehall not too far removed from that Ce’Cile song that I posted a few weeks back – I mean, it’s even got that ubiquitous “uh oh, uh oh” thing going on in the verses. This is taken from a 7″ on Black Shadow Records.

The Golden Virgins “Renaissance Kid” – This is the a-side of a 7″ on Rex records out of the UK. If only this song had come out a decade earlier, this could have been a big indie hit and landed the band a big record deal riding the wave of Next-Nirvanaism. But here were are in the early 00s, and this kind of charming, sunny lofi rock is either a prematurely retro novelty, or it gets lumped in with “New Rock Revolution” bands with whom it shares few stylistic touchstones. Listen to that guitar/keyboard vamp – I’d bet good money that these guys are hung up on early Stereolab, rather than the increasingly dull garage rock/postpunk reference points which are being beaten into the ground these days. If this was around in 1994, it would have blended right in, but right now these guys are iconoclasts up until the inevitable lofi revival of 2014, at which point they will be has-beens. Rock and roll is so unfair.

Put Your Head Into The Speakers

Lenlow “Last Night” – Unlike The Grey Album and its ilk, this mash-up of songs chosen for their titular similarities (or, in this case, titular sameness) actually works and yields a cohesive, joyful tune out of three rather different sources – The Strokes, The Travelling Wilburys, and Kid N Play. If you’re into this, I recommend checking out Lenlow’s site, where there are more tunes available for downloading, including a song integrating Bill Cosby’s “Chocolate Cake For Breakfast” routine, which is something I’ve been wanting to hear sampled for years now. “Dad is great! He gave us the chocolate cake!” Yes yes yes! I used to sing that bit all the time when I was a little kid.

Circlesquare “All Sleepers” – This sounds almost as though it could be a gloomy, downbeat electronic answer record to David Essex’s “Rock On.” It’s a bit like a big rock anthem for people on barbiturates. This is taken from the album Pre-Earthquake Anthem, which is being released in the US on Output Recordings (home of LCD Soundsystem, The Rapture, Colder, and Mu) in May.

Here Is The Number

The Anomoanon “Bourbon Whiskey/The Derby Ram” – I’m not sure if I’ve ever posted a song on this blog that sounded quite as bleak as this psychedelic folk doom epic. The first minute and a half of this is an interpolation of the traditional “Rye Whiskey,” but that’s really just an intro for “The Derby Ram,” which drags along like a slow death march across the frontier. This is taken from The Anomoanon’s new LP The Derby Ram, which is an album rich with tradition, but firmly grounded in the present. Whereas most modern bands working with traditional songs and styles end up getting that icky Renaissance Fair/Civil War Reenactment vibe, The Anomoanon dodge that bullet by embracing psychedelia and rock music, making them sound more like the musical kin of Neil Young, Richard Thompson, Will Oldham, and the folky side of Led Zeppelin.

Miss Kittin (w/ Chicks On Speed) “Meet Sue Be She” – This song is taken from the forthcoming I Com EP on Astralwerks. It’s sort of interesting how much of electropunk sounds like cheerleading and playground chants. I wish that I had some kind of clever Klosterman-esque theory about this, but I really have no idea. Be careful with this song – it seems innocuous at first, but it will hijack your brain. I woke up this morning with the chant on repeat in my head – “Mitsubishi, Suzuki, BMW, 1 2 3” – and I felt as though I had to post this song, as if under duress.

You Left Me To My Doom

M83 “Run Into Flowers (Abstrakt Keal Agram Remix)” – I wish that this remix went all the way with its premise. Mixing in hip hop samples and beats with M83’s dreamy keyboard drones is an interesting novelty, but I’d like to hear something like this with rapping all the way through it. Shoegazer hip hop – why not? I’d like to hear hip hop versions of just about every white indie rock subgenre. It’d be nice to have new ways of hearing these familiar sounds, and it would be particularly interesting to hear how non-white, non-indie people would approach the same old ideas.

Ju Ju Babies “Flowers” – One of the reviews for the Electrotrash EP that song is taken from refers to this track as being a “grinding industrial hate anthem,” which almost gets it right. That phrase probably will make you imagine something a bit more thrashy and metal, which this song is not, though it is a) grinding and b) industrial. The most misleading word in that description is “hate” – this is more about passion gone wrong and histrionic bitterness. The singer sounds a bit like a lunatic goth channeling Mark E Smith and Gina X. This isn’t anything that you’d want to hear if you’ve got a headache, but it’s pretty compelling stuff under the right circumstances.

Purify Yourself In The Waters Of Lake Minnetonka

I’m posting one extra song today, since yesterday was a gag, and there was no music the day before that.

Prince “Cinnamon Girl” – Simply put, Musicology is a startling and long overdue return to form for Prince. It’s not a perfect record, but at least seven of the album’s twelve songs are as good as most anything from Prince’s 80s heyday. It’s definitely his best album since Diamonds And Pearls, and possibly even Sign O The Times. I can only imagine that if “Cinnamon Girl” (not a Neil Young cover, by the way) was released as a single in the mid 80s, it would have been a massive radio hit. Between this new album and his recent setlists (“U Got The Look”! “Controversy”! “Kiss”! “I Would Die 4 U”! “7”! “Little Red Corvette”! “Let’s Go Crazy”! etc, etc), it is absolutely killing me that I can’t afford to see him on his current tour.

Tiga “Pleasure From The Bass (Etoy’s Dirty Edit)” – I would have posted this song weeks ago, if only I had a proper, complete version. This is exactly the kind of dancefloor anthem that you’d expect from Tiga, though it isn’t quite as devasting and brilliant as “Burning Down.”

N.E.R.D. “She Wants To Move (Barbaro Fuckup)” – This is a Fluxblog exclusive! This remix was sent in by a reader who would prefer to remain anonymous. This new version features a completely rewritten backing track which reminds me vaguely of a lot of mid-to-late 80s European indie rock, particularly The Fall during their “Brix period.” The arrangement significantly alters the mood of the song, making Pharrell’s vocals seem much more plaintive than on the original, and making the song sound more melancholy than sexy. I’m particularly fond of the breakdowns in the remix, especially when it places emphasis on the song’s most memorable lyric, “her ass is a spaceship I want to ride.”

Hello Hello Hello Hello How Low?

Pearl Jam “Alive” – Credit Eddie Vedder for being one modern songwriter who is able to write story songs with force and conviction. His use of imagery, metaphor, and language both vernacular and elevated provides the ideological balance that the furious, exotically tinged music (mostly courtesy of rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament) needs.

This song is taken from the Ten album, which is one of those albums that you can hear once and you know that it is a classic. Eddie Vedder’s emotion and intensity are beyond outstanding and are almost spine chilling. The guitars, drums, and bass are equally outstanding along with the intensity. The thing that I really love about this cd is that it is not shallow or meaningless. The complexity of vocals and instruments somehow just make one think and think. This is not a “fun” album; this is a mature and thoughtful album. If you like one-hit wonders and simple catchy choruses, you do not deserve to listen to this album unless you can appreciate it for all that it is worth.

Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – This is the epitome of angst and righteous rage! Kurt Cobain’s songs reach a level of truth and reality, depressing and dark as it is, that few others have ever managed to achieve. Driving these twisted lyrics is Kurt’s raw, brilliant voice which communicates the feeling’s lying beneath the verse. One hears pain, passion, honesty and joy in his voice. Adding to this is Kurt’s thunderous guitar, Dave Grohl’s percussion and Krist Novascelic’s bass, all combining to create the distinctive sound of this album. This song is a perfect example of how well sincere emotion, depth, and passion can substitute instrumental perfection and compositional intricacies. It’s as simple as rock’n’roll can be – drums, bass, guitar and voice. But it manages to touch something deep in your soul and leaves you thinking about this record for the rest of your life. If there is darkness and pain in your soul, you need to hear this album!

Quarterly Report

I’m sorry, there won’t be any music today. I didn’t have enough time to get everything ready and I’ll be gone for most of the day. In the meantime, I’d like for you all to humor me and make a list of your five favorite mp3s that I’ve posted since the beginning of January. Five is just an arbitrary number – it’s not too few, it’s not too many. If you’re more comfortable listing some other number, that’s fine. I’m just interested in getting an idea of what sticks with people, and what works/what doesn’t. This probably won’t change my selection process (which is based at least partially on whim), but it may be helpful in other ways. Also, if you could list records or concert tickets that you’ve purchased as a direct result of this blog in the past three months, that would be very interesting for me as well.

Now Everything Is Gone, It’s All Changing

Felix Da Housecat “What She Wants” – I tried not to post this song, but I couldn’t stop myself. There are fourteen other songs on Felix Da Housecat’s new pop album Devin Dazzle and the Neon Fever, and none of them feature James Murphy from DFA/LCD Soundsystem. I wanted to avoid the Murphy song because I’ve posted so much DFA related music in the past few months, but after hearing it several times, I knew that “What She Wants” had to be today’s selection. It is clearly the best song on the album, and that bassline – oh good God, that bassline! I’m a DFA fanboy, what can I do?

Klang “Outside My Area” – This is taken from the new Sonic Mook Experiment compilation Hot Shit, and when I first heard this song in that context I couldn’t help but think “wow, these people must love Elastica!” And then, of course, I find out that this is actually Donna Matthews’ new band, so well, it kinda is Elastica. If you feel a great deal of nostalgic affection for Elastica (which would probably place you in a fairly narrow demographic bracket, unfortunately), you’re probably going to be into this. “Outside My Area” would’ve sounded fantastic on The Menace.

It’s Just A Matter Of Time Before Everybody Wants Some

Bucci Bag “More Lemonade (Scissor Sisters mix)” – This is for those of you who prefer the Scissor Sisters when they are more house/disco than glam rock. This is a great, cheesy bit of Italian disco – it’s kinda obvious, but that’s part of what makes it so fun, especially when Jake Shears is singing “baby, baby” in his faux-Bee Gees falsetto. Lemonade (or more accurately, limonata) is Italian slang for “making out” or “shagging,” which should give you a better idea of the song’s context.

Control Machete “Asi Son Mis Dias (Remix)” – I have to apologize for today’s entry – I’m busy doing about ten other things today, and so my writing here is consequentially going to be very weak. I’ve done myself no favors by posting this song, which I really don’t have anything to say about other than “I like it a lot.” Control Machete are a hip hop group from Mexico, and this selection is from their 2002 album Solo Para Fanaticos.

I Hate To Think About It

Freddy Wilson “Where Is She?” – File under: I Can’t Belive It’s Not James Brown. This melancholy slow burner is from the b-side of Wilson’s 1972 “Promise Land” 7″ on the Eastbound label, by way of the Downtown Soulville 2003 marathon premium cd Mr. Fine Wine’s Detroit Soul.

Hush “Ghetto Mantra” – Though not quite “more Bollywood material!” as requested in yesterday’s comments, this sitar-heavy hip hop track should satisfy those interested in bhangra/rap crossovers. As far as I can tell, this is only available as a UK white label, and on the Urbanstars Vol. 2 compilation.

The Fiery Furnaces 3/26/04 North Six, Brooklyn

I’m going to put this all here in this entry, so I don’t knock things off the front page prematurely.

Setlist: I Lost My Dog / Broke Mind –> Spaniolated –> Single / South Is Only A Home –> Quay Cur (only the first section) –> Bow Wow –> Inspector Blancheflower (only middle section) –> Don’t Dance Her Down / Inca Rag/Name Game / Up In The North / Worry Worry / I’m Gonna Run –> Leaky Tunnel –> Blueberry Boat (only middle section) –> Asthma Attack / Crystal Clear / Tropical Ice-Land // Two Fat Feet (Matt & Eleanor only) / Bright Blue Tie (Matt & Eleanor only) / Chris Michaels / Rub Alcohol Blues (Matt & Eleanor only)

Reviews of the show can be found on A Face In The Crowd, Clap Clap and Freezing To Death In The Nuclear Bunker. The latter has a scan of the setlist too, so you can see how that matches up with the proper running order as listed above.

It was a pretty amazing show, and much better than the last time I saw them at the Mercury Lounge. I will write about this in detail later on.

We Are Your Friends

Justice Vs. Simian “Never Be Alone” – This is a (fairly drastic) remix of a song by the British band Simian – the only thing in this mix which is from the original is the vocal from the chorus. The remix is a bit like Daft Punk with one of those nu-garage rock guys singing over the top – think “The Vine Bondies Go To The Disco.”

Bollywood Freaks “Don’t Stop Til You Get To Bollywood” – I don’t know too much about the artist, but this is a Bollywood cover/remix of Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough,” and it is from a limited edition 7″ from the UK. It’s an incredibly euphoric piece of music, and it will be perfect for your next Joycore Dance Party.

Her Booty’s Got A Rise

Shame 69 “No Business” – This could be the ultimate hipster novelty record – a cover of LCD Soundsystem’s “Losing My Edge” by a mysterious band on a split promo 10″ with Negativland featuring all-new lyrics full of nasty anti-record industry bile and slanderous slams on Gary Glitter. Shifting the point of view of the lyrics from that of a seen-it-all fan to the ranting of a bitter British record exec makes the song seem about ten times more desperate and sad, but I suppose that’s exactly the point.

Iggy Pop w/ Feedom and Peaches “Motor Inn (Felix Da Housekatt remix)” – This puts the Iggy/Peaches collaboration on Fatherfucker to shame – it sounds relentless, menacing, sleazey, and crazed whereas “Kick It” was just kinda cute. “Motor Inn” brings the scuzz, and it’s much better for it. The original mix of this song appears on Iggy’s most recent album, Skull Ring.

Elsewhere: Please say hello to Nit-Pick, the newest kid on the MP3 blog block.

I Can Taste The Sweetness On The Tip Of My Tongue

The Ark “Echo Chamber” – Long before The Darkness brought glam rock back to VH1’s regular rotation, there was The Ark, a flamboyant Swedish pop band which has been doing this since around the same time this sort of music fell out of fashion back in 1991. “Echo Chamber” was the lead single from the band’s 2000 album We Are The Ark, and has more than enough pomp and bombast to fill out a half dozen Spacehog albums.

As noted in the comments, this song was performed by WFMU station manager Ken Freedman during the annual Hoof And Mouth Sinfonia, which is when WFMU DJs get to perform the song of their choice with a band made up of WFMU staffers and friends. Other highlights of this year’s show include Pseu Braun’s “U Got The Look,” Megan Murphy’s “Kool Thing,” Irwin Chusid’s modified “Hot Cakes and Sausage,” and Tom Scharpling’s larynx-shredding version of “Paradise City.”

I should also send a shout out to Scott Williams, who is repsonsible for introducing me to this Ark song in the first place.

The Strike Boys w/ EMO “I Am A Witness” – There is nothing emo about this; that’s just the name of the Danish reggae artist (they exist!) that The Strike Boys are collaborating with on this track. The song is a nice blend of house and dub, and has a pleasant late summer feeling to it. This is taken from the new LP Playtime on the Stereo Deluxe label.

Elsewhere: Moebius Rex has converted his livejournal to the mp3 blog format. There’s some nice stuff up right now, but if you’re only going to get one thing, I’d suggest trying out the Irving song.

Also: Tickets for a new Scissor Sisters show at the Bowery Ballroom on May 22 will go on sale tomorrow on the Ticketweb website. I’m definitely going. If you’re going too, let me know, maybe we can meet up. Also there’s some good news for non-NYC Scissor Sisters fans – the band will be touring major cities in the US in June and July before the album is domestically released on July 27th. (Thank you, Eppy!)

The Best Blueberries In The US Of A

The Fiery Furnaces “Blueberry Boat” – If someone is going to put out an album in 2004 that I will love more than the Fiery Furnaces’ forthcoming Blueberry Boat, then it’s going to have to a pretty miraculous record.

Blueberry Boat is a very challenging album to say the least. Five of its thirteen songs are eight minutes or longer, and many of the smaller songs fit together as suites; so the album feels very overwhelming at first before you learn to navigate its twists and turns. Your time is most certainly rewarded, because once you adapt to its internal logic and narrative style, Blueberry Boat reveals itself to be just as tuneful and ingratiating as its more accessable predecessor, Gallowsbird’s Bark.

The Fiery Furnaces seem primarily interested in musical storytelling on this record. They mostly abandon verse-chorus-verse structure in favor of letting the music shift with their narrative, so the songs fall somewhere between prog and musical theatre in terms of style and composition. The title track is a fine example of the band at their most ambitious, as it tells the story of a first time captain’s doomed voyage to Hong Kong to deliver the “best blueberries in the US of A.” There are other more immediately loveable songs on the album, but “Blueberry Boat” is the best example of the record’s epic, cinematic scope and will give you a good idea of what to expect of it as a whole.

The Tiki Two “Caravan” – If you were into the Red Astaire song from a few weeks ago or the Avalanches’ Since I Left You album, this should probably do the trick. The Tiki Two transform Ella Fitzgerald’s “Caravan” into a groovy island paradise dance number, which should be perfect for your next luau. This song is a bit hard to come by – only 500 white label 45s were made, and it hasn’t yet been released in any other format.

You Better Wake Up

Bibson & Xuman “Kay Jel Ma” – This is taken from the Trikont compilation Africa Raps, which is a remarkable sampler of hip hop from Senegal, Gambia, and Mali. It’s a peculiar thing to hear Africans putting their own spin on an African American form rather than the reverse – African producers borrowing from the production styles of DJ Premier, Dr. Dre, Timbaland, and Swiss Beatz seems to bring something full circle, though I’m not quite sure what that may be. I recommend hearing the full record – Bibson & Xuman’s Rawkus/DJ Premier-ish style is only one part of a bigger picture that the compilation presents. If you have any interest in how hip hop translates into other cultures, this record is a must-have.

Also: The WFMU 2004 marathon is almost over, and if you still haven’t gotten around to pledging yet, please do so as soon as you can! A perfect opportunity to do so will be during Gaylord Fields’ program on Saturday evening from 6 to 8 PM EST, when he will be joined by guest host Tom Scharpling and Yo La Tengo, who will play any song you request if you pledge at least $100. The annual Yo La Tengo covers show during the marathon is always a lot of fun and full of surprises, so be sure to tune in because these performances are never archived on the site.

I’ll be answering phones at the station tomorrow morning from 9 am to noon, so you could always call in then and I will personally take your pledge!