Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

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!

You Want To Avoid The Inevitable, So You Do The Impossible

Klonhertz “Three Girl Rhumba” – Klonhertz are nice people, because it seems that they made this cover of the Wire classic not so much for their own artistic expression, but to solve a problem for DJs everywhere. The original Wire recording of “Three Girl Rhumba” has one of the best riffs ever (Elastica and Pavement would agree, I’m sure), but it just wasn’t fast or long enough to really fit into a good DJ set. Klonhertz sample the guitar part, extend the song, add stronger beats for the dancefloor, and even found the world’s best Colin Newman impersonator to re-sing the whole thing almost exactly as it sounds on Pink Flag. Seriously, you could fool lots of people into thinking that this is just a straight remix of Wire.

The Bad Plus “Velouria” – Here’s another cover version for you today, but this isn’t nearly as faithful to the original arrangement. The Bad Plus transform the Pixies song into an unlikely jazz number, but without resorting to loungey kitsch. The song starts out as a mournful ballad with rattling percussion, then kicks into a more upbeat section, and concludes with the plaintive piano melody being crushed by a veritable avalanche of cacophonous cymbal crashes. It’s a very inspired take on the song.

Rainbow Is Not My Favorite Color

Cocorosie “Butterscotch” – This song, and the rest of the album from which it is taken, La Maison de Mon Reve, is one of the strangest and most beautiful things that I’ve heard in a long time. The record sounds a bit like field recordings of early 20th century folk, blues, and gospel music, but with peculiar modern touches such as toy sound effects, unconventional vocal overdubs, and lyrics about Skittles.

Cocorosie is a duo of American sisters who reunited after years of separation to record this album (due out in April on Touch & Go, by the way) in an apartment in Paris. Both of the girls are blessed with amazingly beautiful, impossibly sexy singing voices and a gift for writing weird, brilliant lyrics. One of the finest moments of “Butterscotch” is when one of the girls intones “you remind me of baseball, towtrucks, and movies” close to the microphone, so that if you’re listening on headphones it feels as though she’s singing right into your ear. It melts my heart every time I hear it.

I highly recommend checking out the full album, especially if you like Cat Power, but feel that she’s not eccentric enough for you.

Katerine “8eme Ciel” – It’s just a coincidence that I’m posting so much music from France this week, I swear. I don’t have much to say about this groovy modern lounge number, aside from that I love the melody and the shifts in percussion throughout the song. There’s some excellent keyboard sounds all over this, especially that whirring sound around the two minute mark.

Elsewhere: Said The Gramophone has a brand new Wilco song. Sit through the first two minutes of mumbly quiet stuff, because the instrumental section totally makes up for the fact that the beginning sounds like Dave Pirner doing an Elliott Smith song on the piano.

Also: If you can, please check out the special episode of Arrested Development on tonight after American Idol at 9:30 on Fox. If you ask me, the show is (along with Strangers With Candy and The Office) the best sitcom of all time. However, the show is still finding its audience, and is struggling in the ratings. All Fox needs is a sign that the show is getting more popular, so please, watch the show and if you like it, tell your friends and write about it online. If you’re new to the show and get the FX Network, you can catch a special marathon of the first six episodes from 2PM-5PM on this coming Sunday. Tonight’s episode features a number of guest stars, including Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, James Lipton, SNL/UCB cast member Amy Poehler, and Henry Winkler; but the real draw is the top-notch regular cast which includes Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Tony Hale, David Cross, Portia de Rossi, Jessica Walter, Jeffrey Tambor, Alia Shawkat, and Michael Cera (who just may be the best young teen actor I’ve ever seen.)

How Far, How Wide?

Sia “Breathe Me (Four Tet mix)” – This is one of the best things I’ve ever heard from Four Tet – it’s all spare layered percussion, bass, and vibes with vaguely Fiona Apple-ish vocals. It’s a nice fresh take on post-trip hop downbeat pop, and quite an improvement on the Dido-gone-indie album arrangement. So far, this Four Tet mix is only available as a 10″ white label in the UK.

Scarce “All Sideways” – Unlike 99.9% of all bands who ape the Pixies, Scarce got it right, or at least they did on this song. The charm of the Pixies wasn’t just about loud/soft dynamics, or Kim Deal’s rolling basslines. That’s the easy stuff. To really get that Pixies sound, you need a male singer who sounds absolutely batshit insane, and compliment that with background vocals from a woman who sounds just a little too calm and self-assured – maybe the subtext is that she will soothe/save the damaged protagonist, or perhaps it’s a Charlie Brown thing and he’s being victimized by this dominating, ultimately indifferent woman – take your pick. Scarce’s singer Chick Graning was a bit over the top, but in a good way – there’s something about his shrieking and warbling falsetto that is very compelling even if it seems contrived and exaggerated. I appreciate his sense of melodrama, I really do.

“All Sideways” is taken from the band’s only major label album Deadsexy, which was released with little fanfare back in 1995. I’d want to say that they were a one-hit wonder, but that’s not even true – the video for “All Sideways” was on 120 Minutes once, twice tops, and that was it. I loved the song immediately, but was (and still am, I checked) unimpressed by the record. If you’re still interested in checking it out, I’m sure that if you scour enough cut-out bins and used record stores, you’ll find it for dirt cheap.

Oprah’s Book Club For Illiterate Hipsters

Animal Collective “Who Could Win A Rabbit” – Oh my God, I think I’m going to love this song forever. This is taken from the Animal Collective’s brand new LP Sung Tongs, which is their most pop record to date, though maybe ‘pop’ isn’t quite the right word to describe it. It’s pop if you compare it to their last few releases, which were mostly atonal experiments in texture and form. It’s pop if you consider a warped, severely psychedelic version of Neutral Milk Hotel to be ‘pop.’

As a whole, Sung Tongs seems to be the culmination of what the collective has been doing for the past three years. While the other records seemed to push their interests in folky acoustic guitar, electronic manipulations, and psychedelia to radical extremes, on this album it seems as though they’ve found a way to put it all together with Avey Tare’s gift for melody, which has largely been underutilized since somewhere around Danse Manatee. If they are attempting to create some kind of modern version of folk and traditional music (as I suspect they are), then Sung Tongs is their most successful record since Avey Tare & Panda Bear’s Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished if just because it’s so much easier to imagine someone playing “Who Could Win A Rabbit” next to a campfire than anything off of Campfire Songs.

Phoenix “If It’s Not With You” – What does this song remind me of? There’s got to be some (probably very uncool) radio song from the 70s or 80s that this song has lifted its chord changes/melody/something from. Maybe it’s a little bit of a bunch of songs? I feel as though I’ve known this my entire life. Anyway, this is the smoothest, cleanest, grooviest song on Phoenix’s new record Alphabetical, which is really nothing but smooth, clean, groovy songs.

Elsewhere: New-ish MP3 blog Cocaine Blunts & Hip Hop Tapes offers “slept on classics” but no “wierdo electroclash shit.” Also, The Gardner Linn Fan Club is posting some MP3s in addition to some strong commentary about comics.

Also: Those of you who enjoyed the demo version of Leslie Feist’s “Mushaboom” that I posted a few months ago should head on over to Said The Gramophone to hear the finished studio version of that song as well as another from her forthcoming album. As I predicted, “Mushaboom” sounds fantastic fleshed out with more instruments and percussion – I’m quite glad that they were a bit creative with it. I had imagined that it would have been recorded with a more traditional arrangement, but they went for something much more colorful and upbeat. The intimate, wintery, by-the-fireplace quality of the demo is gone, but it’s not as though every copy of that version is going to disappear or something. The song has such an incredible melody; practically any arrangement of it would sound good.

Burning Like A Silver Flame

Beenie Man w/ Ms. Thing “Dude (Sticky Refix)” – “You heard what she preferred…she wants a real man, she don’t want a nerd” – Well, that counts me out. I had been meaning to post the original version of this, but thankfully I found this Sticky mix (remember him from that Lady Stush track from a couple weeks ago?), which is a vast improvement all around. Whereas the original was a bit too flat and lacking in dynamics, Sticky makes the song MOVE, and it all sounds so much more vibrant and fun.

Erlend Øye – “Venus/Intergalactic Autobahn” (excerpt from DJ-Kicks mix cd) – Erlend Øye’s new mix cd is the latest in K7’s DJ-Kicks series. Øye’s mix features some well chosen tracks by The Rapture, Avenue D, Phoenix, Cornelius, and Royksopp, but it’s most notable for how he sings throughout much of the mix. In some cases, he sings a bit of a song before dropping in the original vocals (as he does with The Rapture’s “I Need Your Love”), but more often than not, Øye sings cover versions of songs over unrelated music and beats, mash-up style. In this excerpt, he does a bit of Shocking Blue’s “Venus” over Uusi Fantasia’s “Lattialla Taas,” which then segues into Øye singing his own “Intergalactic Autobahn” over top of Justus Köhncke’s “2 After 909.”

Elsewhere: I recommend checking out the DJ Screw mixes over on Tyrone Shoelace’s blog while he still has them up. It’s basically manipulated, super-slooooow mixes of hip hop songs designed to be a soundtrack for robodosing, and it’s got this bizarre, soothing, return-to-the-womb charm that I can’t quite explain. I can’t imagine what this must be like while high – I feel like my head’s swimming just listening to this stuff sober.