Laura Veirs - “Make Something Good” off July Flame
digging this album right now, it’s much better done than any of Veirs’s many others. Very sweet music, makes me feel nostalgic.
Tanlines - “Real Life” (single)
hope I didn’t already post this.
stuck in my head tonight.
Magic Man - “Monster” off Real Life Color
another band from MillionYoung’s label, Arcade Sound. This album is a free download, so at least worth a look.
nothing spectacular here, but I’ve been busy so I haven’t had time to find my next music crush.
Class Actress - “Let Me Take You Out” off Journal of Ardency
right right in the vein of what I’ve been listening to lately
drum machine line is very familiar
my mom just sent me some old photos she’d scanned, I’m going to post the ones that are too awesome not to be on the internet.
this is my little brother (left), dad, and me in Rome at what I’m pretty sure is my first communion (explains the location, dress, flower, and what I’m holding in my right hand—a prayer book I remember receiving that day). First communion means 2nd grade for me, that places this photo in 1994 or 95. I was 7 then and my brother was probably 5.
First communion was a big to-do, for a student at a Catholic school in a Catholic country. Preparation involved classes and something of a rehearsal. I don’t remember much else except that it was held at a church in the city that I found big and imposing. The pews were a dark wood and there was red carpeting.
I just can’t get over the double-breasted suits and my dad’s tie. We seem in style, but I can’t know for sure because I have absolutely no concept of fashion in 1995. It could be true that nobody does, in which case whether people seem fashionable in photographs taken in 1995 will always depend solely on how confident they look.
Smashing Pumpkins - “Shame” off Adore
Adore is my favorite Smashing Pumpkins album, but it’s hardly fair to call it a Smashing Pumpkins album. Billy Corgan has said that 97% of any SP album was him and (drummer) Jimmy Chamberlin, and Adore is the only one that Chamberlin was not involved with. Do the math: Adore is really Corgan’s first solo project. He wrote all the songs (the first time he didn’t collaborate with guitarist James Iha on at least one track) and played the vast majority of what’s recorded on the album—guitar, piano, keyboards.
So I have this conception of Adore as sort of the ultimate product of Corgan’s obsession with music, and what he wanted the Smashing Pumpkins to be all along. Critics saw it as a complete departure from Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie, but I think that, given he had to replace Chamberlin with a drum machine, Corgan stayed remarkably true to his earlier work.
Anyway: “Shame” is a track that I almost overlooked when I played this album to death in high school, so I’m giving it some attention now. Its noir-ish simplicity is characteristic of Adore. And I have this hunch that Corgan played all the guitars.
Delphic - “Acolyte” off Acolyte
this is a song that does exactly what you want it to do. The beat kicks in when it should, the melodies always come back for more, and of course the climax adds yet another layer of tasty synth flourishes.
I haven’t had much time to listen to this album, but I’m really optimistic about it. Acolyte is what Intimacy and Innerpartysystem’s debut should have been.
Danger - “4h30” off his latest EP 09/17 2007
Danger is a kickass French producer/electro artist whose discography is confusing. His three EPs are 09/14 2007 (released in 2007), 09/16 2007 (released last year), and 09/17 2007 (just released). What is the significance of these dates??
This is great dance/workout music. ↩
