I love this song and I don’t care who knows it
30 Friday Apr 2010
Posted in Leftovers
Monthly Archives: April 2010
The Chosen Ones (Vol. 3)
30 Friday Apr 2010
Posted in The Chosen Ones
What better way to kick off your Friday than with a selection of the best tracks from the It All Started archives? If I’m honest though, this is really just an excuse for me to repost all those tracks that I love and that you may have missed the first time round. It’s high quality stuff, and there’ll be more this time next week. Enjoy!
The Hanging Tree – Nightjar | myspace
Blessing In Disguise – DeVotchka | myspace | website
There Is No Such Place (Acoustic Version) – Augie March | myspace | website
Wolves – Josh Ritter | myspace | website
Falling – Ben Kweller | myspace | website
Anyone who’s ever had a heart wouldn’t turn around and break it
29 Thursday Apr 2010
Damn, I love this song. I think it’s something to do with the simple chord progression and the half-laugh in the vocals. Wonderful stuff.
Sweet Jane – The Velvet Underground
Like all great songs, many people have had a shot at covering it – Mott the Hoople, The Sugarcubes and The Kooks, to name a few. The Cowboy Junkies also recorded a version that Lou Reed apparently described as “the best and most authentic version I have ever heard”. Check it out below.
Sweet Jane (The Velvet Underground Cover) – Cowboy Junkies
Bonus mp3 – this version’s all about the guitar
Sweet Jane (Live in Paris 1974) – Lou Reed
And lastly, Italy’s Poddighe Power Trio also do a version that’s pretty faithful to the original
(That image rocks, right? I found it at Goodnight Gracie, a blog dedicated to reviews of old rock n’ roll records)
Me with nothing to say, and you in your autumn sweater
29 Thursday Apr 2010
Posted in Leftovers
Tags
I noticed these trees were changing sometime last week but it was a couple of days before I got my act together, and by the time I took this photo they’d lost a lot of leaves. Still, they make a pretty contrast with the grass.
I’m loving this Yo La Tengo track at the moment also. Great bass line.
Yo La Tengo have a smattering of dates booked in the US and Europe May through to September.
Relief and a resolution
26 Monday Apr 2010
Posted in Leftovers
Tags
If you’re a blog junkie like myself, you’ve no doubt stumbled across the news that Band Of Horses are set to release their third album Infinite Arms on May 18. Although truth be told, you’ve probably done more than stumble across this information – been beaten repeatedly about the head with it might be a more accurate description. The hype is getting kinda ridiculous really, and can only be topped by the hype surrounding the other hotly anticipated album due out next month – I speak of course of The National’s High Violet.
Anyway, I was none too impressed with my first taste of Infinite Arms, which came in the form of ‘Compliments’, released to the masses a couple of weeks ago. I think it’s a pretty weak song, to be honest.
Compliments – Band Of Horses Removed. Debating the removal of this whole post actually, but we’ll wait and see.
This afternoon though I uploaded a week’s worth of downloads onto my ipod and was busy folding washing in my bedroom when the opening notes of ‘Factory’ swelled out of my stereo speakers. I listened, I loved, I listened again. Here at last was the BOH I knew.
I can’t pretend I wasn’t relieved. After being totally unmoved by ‘Compliments’ I was worried that the album was going to fall far short of my expectations. Of course, you can’t judge a record on just two tracks, but I must admit that ‘Factory’ has certainly gone a long way towards making me even more excited for this album.
Factory – Band of Horses Removed. I didn’t have to take this one down, but I’m going to anyway. Totally not worth the hassle.
I recently made a resolution though regarding Infinite Arms and The National’s High Violet – I’ve had enough of the hype and the talk and the hysteria. I’ve not heard the leaked version of High Violet and I’m not going to. I also won’t be listening to any more tracks that may or may not find their way onto the net before the release of these records. I want to hold these albums in my hand, to check out the packaging, to have time with both albums before telling you my thoughts. So there won’t be any more talk about Band Of Horses or The National on these pages until the albums are out and I can hear them properly.
(Image via last.fm)
What I’m writing when I should be sleeping
24 Saturday Apr 2010
Posted in Leftovers
I’ve been busy and have neglected you. My head has been full of mundane concerns like scheduling work and learning a new job and getting those damn dishes done. By the end of the day, I’m spent.
Today I intended to spend my first morning off having a bloody good sleep in. I made it to 7:45. I do have the next three days off though due to our ANZAC Day long weekend and am hanging out for the big game tomorrow afternoon. Go Pies!
Given the early hour and my subsequently fragile grip on rational thought, I’m going to let these songs speak for themselves. Until we meet again…
Never Follow Suit – The Radio Dept.
We Started Something – Hancock Basement
Gonna Make It Through This Year – Great Lake Swimmers
(Coconut headphones a last ditch resort when I couldn’t find a decent sleeping picture. I pinched the pic from here)
The Chosen Ones (Vol. 2)
23 Friday Apr 2010
Posted in Leftovers
What better way to kick off your Friday than with a selection of the best tracks from the It All Started archives? If I’m honest though, this is really just an excuse for me to repost all those tracks that I love and that you may have missed the first time round. It’s high quality stuff, and there’ll be more this time next week. Enjoy!
People Say – Portugal. The Man | myspace | website
Slowness – Calexico | myspace | website
Factory – Martha Wainwright | myspace | website
The Funeral – Band Of Horses | myspace | website
Diner – Martin Sexton | myspace | website
Is she really going out with him?
18 Sunday Apr 2010
Posted in Coverage
First taste of forthcoming Meursault release ‘All Creatures Will Make Merry’
16 Friday Apr 2010
Posted in Leftovers
Nothing like a long-winded post title to give you a good workout on a late Friday afternoon.
Regular readers will know that I love Edinburgh’s Meursault. While their first record Pissing On Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues took a while to win me over, I was utterly enthralled by their Nothing Broke EP, which made it onto my list of Top 5 Releases of 2009.
Therefore, it goes without saying that I am full of anticipation for All Creatures Will Make Merry. While the album is scheduled for release on May 24, a limited run of hand-printed copies are available for purchase now over at Song By Toad Records.
For me, the first taste of the new record came in the form of ‘Crank Resolutions’, a magnificent track which (to my ears) seems to combine the more electro-type elements of Pissing with the gorgeous melancholy of the Nothing Broke EP. The album’s sound is described as ‘epic low-fi’ over at their artist page at Song By Toad, and although I hate using the word epic (it’s become a catchphrase now, and is rarely used properly) that bit around the 2:23 minute mark, where the vocals are almost buried behind that great wall of sound and that melody builds and somehow manages to sound both yearning and catchy all at once, thus messing with your emotions and leaving you not knowing whether to laugh or howl in despair… well if that’s not epic, then I don’t know what is.
William Henry Miller Pt 1 – Meursault
The Chosen Ones (Vol. 1)
16 Friday Apr 2010
Posted in The Chosen Ones
Tags
Guillemots, motel motel, mp3, Music, Sleeping at Last, The Coral, The Weeks
What better way to kick off your Friday than with a selection of the best tracks from the It All Started archives? If I’m honest though, this is really just an excuse for me to repost all those tracks that I love and that you may have missed the first time round. It’s high quality stuff, and there’ll be more this time next week. Enjoy!
My Chosen One – Guillemots| myspace| website
Harlem – Motel Motel | myspace | website
Umbrellas – Sleeping At Last | myspace | website
Dreaming Of You – The Coral | myspace | website
(Totally awesome image courtesy of me, a couple of raggedy bits of coloured paper languishing in the cupboard, and too much damn time on my hands)
