in: heavy rotation

The Dunce Cap: May 09, 2011

in: heavy rotation

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 33: But a weekend in Utah won’t fix what’s wrong with us. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks)

1. “Boy” – Ra Ra Riot
2. “New Drink for the Old Drunk” – Crooked Fingers
3. “Rill Rill” – Sleigh Bells
4. “I Know I Know I Know” – Tegan & Sara
5. “Wake and Be Fine” – Okkervil River
6. “Barely Breathing” – The Hold Steady
7. “The Mess Inside” – The Mountain Goats
8. “Dreams” – The Morning Benders
9. “Rappin’ 2 U” – Das Racist
10. “Do You Mind?” – The XX

Happy spring, readers! It took long enough to get us here, but I am ridiculously excited for sunshine and warmth and sundresses to come my way. It has been, as I always apologize for, way too long since I last blogged. It seems like a lifetime has passed since I last made a fun li’l Dunce Cap, and, in some ways, it has been. I’ve been riding a crazy-fast wave of adventure in the last few weeks, and I haven’t felt this light and blithe in years. It’s hard to even begin to explain what I’ve been up to. There was the strip club debauchery, the familial daytime drinking, the lakeside fireworks, the Journey to the End of the Night and the Mud Olympics and post-event rock climbing and Lake Michigan rinse. Then there were the plans to rappel, the unbelievable sleep schedule, the hours and hours in cars with friends, the wind in my hair during day drives and the spring in my step, well, always. It’s amazing how shockingly different this quarter has been from the last, and I can’t say I’m sorry for the drastic change. Last quarter sucked.

This mix is just…a mix. There’s certainly a recurring theme throughout all of my previous mixes, and I think it’s surely something about love lost, but these are also just songs I really like. There’s something about “Barely Breathing,” off of The Hold Steady‘s Heaven is Whenever, and about “Rappin’ 2 U” by Das Racist which just remind me of, well, me (the latter pays homage to “Young cocoa butter,” my nickname in high school, and talks of Coca Cola and Conde Nast magazines). And I adore The Morning Benders‘ cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” which is just stellar. Seriously. This is a mix of songs I’ve just been digging, and I hope you’ll like it too.

Coming up (maybe even tonight!), details on my rising status as a fashion maven; my newfound obsession in television title cards; and much, much more.

Happy listening and hella happy times!

The Dunce Cap: April 11, 2011

in: heavy rotation

Image from...uh?

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 32: I wanted to control it. But, love, I couldn’t hold it. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks)

1. “The Things That You Say That You Do” – Dressy Bessy
2. “Gold Soundz” – Pavement
3. “French Navy” – Camera Obscura
4. “Everyday” – Vetiver
5. “Don’t Carry It All” – The Decemberists
6. “Seaweed Song” – Passion Pit
7. “The Hill” – Bombay Bicycle Club
8. “Never Forget You” – NOISEttes
9. “Your Ex-Lover is Dead” – Stars
10. “Fair” – Ben Folds Five

Hey, pals. This one’s actually pretty good! Happy April, my favorite month of the year for so many reasons. For instance, my 21st birthday is impending; the weather in Evanston was 80° and perfectly sunny; shit is feeling manageable. It’s one of those times when I want to wake up and do a little shimmy.

This mix is a mish-mash of songs catered to my mood: happy songs with a dark center. If you’re looking for nougat, maybe look elsewhere. Mmm. Nougat.

There’s not much else to say, not really – except love. Just love. In its most platonic and romantic forms, it’s what’s keeping me going. May your life be replete with love and lovers and loved ones.

Happy listening.

Michael: You’re just jumping right into this, huh?
Buster: That’s what you do when life hands you a chance to be with someone special. You just grab that brownish area by its points and you don’t let go no matter what your mom says.
– Arrested Development, “Key Decisions,” Ssn. 1, Ep. 4

The Dunce Cap: March 21, 2011

in: heavy rotation, in: the press

Ju·gee·toe

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 31: ‘Cause they’re gonna be cool happy genius heroes. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks)

1. “When U Love Somebody” – The Fruit Bats
2. “All the Beautiful Things” – Eels
3. “Ambling Alp” – Yeasayer
4. “Always On My Mind” – Phantom Planet
5. “Santa Clara” – The National
6. “King of Carrot Flowers, Pt.1” – Neutral Milk Hotel
7. “Keep Fishin’” – Weezer
8. “Oregon Girl” – Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin
9. “Dancing Choose” – TV on the Radio
10. “Last Flight Out” – Butch Walker

I’ve got to say – I feel really guilty, you guys. Not only has The Girl With the Dunce Cap only produced a handful of entries this year, this is only the second Dunce Cap mix of 2011.  I have to be totally honest, though, and admit it’s been a pretty tough year thus far. So tough, in fact, that I’ve taken to watching “Fancy Feast” commercials for warmth in my heart.

Okay, that last part was a fib. But wouldn’t that be sad and indicative of my inevitable and massively disastrous cat lady future?

Anyhow. It’s spring break for the itty bitty kitty ‘Cats like myself, and it could not have come at a better time. This quarter honestly felt like a terse struggle for survival, and I’m ripe for an explosion. That was fairly melodramatic, sure, but winter is always the hardest. This winter was particularly tough, what with that ridiculous blizzard, incredible overcommitting, a deplorable gluttony of Netflix instant and a still-mending broken heart. But it wasn’t all bad. I think I learned a lot more about myself and what I want. I gained a greater understanding of the healing power of time, and I really, truly think I figured out what it is that I want. And I’m strong enough to risk it all to get it.

This mix is a testament to the long overdue start to spring. It’s ultra-warm down South, and I am loving the heat waves. I like these songs because they make my feet tick and the corners of my mouth turn up, and I want to let the wind in my hair and the sun on my skin, and that is the feeling I think I’m constantly coveting. God, I’m starting to sound so sappy. But I’m truly confident about what lies ahead, and I’m really learning to count on myself. I’m still very much in love, perhaps with what used to be, but I have a good feeling. There’s still more to come.

OH. AND THE PHOTO. If you ever experience a lull in conversation with me, ask me why Judge Lance Ito is important to me.

Stray additions:

  • My favorite line of the week came from Thursday’s quite excellent 30 Rock. “I miss my weird love,” says Angie about Tracy, and I’ve got to say – I totally understand where she’s coming from.
  • I bought this hat. It’s possibly the best thing to potentially ever happen to anyone anywhere in the history of the universe (thank you, Leslie Knope!), and I plan to wear it at every opportunity, including but not limited to (my first actually attended) crush party, Dillo Day and my 21st birthday epic bar crawl. For the record, that’s not me in the photo. I know. You thought wrong.
  • I’m living like Eloise all week long! Seriously. I’m residing in a hotel instead of my childhood home because of a big ol’ fire – yeah, that sucks. -, and it’s actually really cool. Plus, there’s a tap of cheap beer at my disposal.
  • Dude. Last week’s NBC Thursday night television? Totally excellent. My crush on Adam Scott deepens. And my favorite use of Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s “American Girl” ever. I can’t explain to you how hard I laughed when I saw Swanson on that li’l train, with Tom taking up the rear. Even better use of the song than in that seriously creepy scene in Silence of the Lambs!
  • I like Memphis. And I like Twitter. Happy 5th birthday, Twitter!
  • I’m particularly intrigued by the whole debacle happening in the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communication (yawnx10,000 to the name change) with renowned Medill Innocence Project Professor David Protess. Check out the coverage in the Sun-Times.

Alright, y’all. Happy listening, and happy pretty weather & frolicking & springtime! The Dunce Cap will be back in a big way this quarter, with mixes out every Monday and regular pop culture updates from the mouths of (this) babe. Thrilling!

The Dunce Cap: Dec. 27, 2010

in: heavy rotation

Image from Toothpaste for Dinner

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 30: The sun is up – I’m so fizzy, I could burst! (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks)

1. “Mint Car” – The Cure
2. “Sun in an Empty Room” – The Weakerthans
3. “Happiness Writes White” – Harvey Danger
4. “Graduate” – Third Eye Blind
5. “New York, New York” – Ryan Adams
6. “The Sweet Part of the City” – The Hold Steady
7. “Back in the Saddle” – Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin
8. “All the Young Dudes” – Mott the Hoople
9. “Work” – Jimmy Eat World
10. “Kick Some Ass” – Stroke 9
11. “You Gave Your Love to Me Softly” – Weezer
12. “Some Fantastic” – Barenaked Ladies
13. “Popular Mechanics for Lovers” – Beulah
14. “Magic Boyfriend” – Matt Pond PA
15. “Let’s Dance” – David Bowie
16. “Star Bodies” – The New Pornographers
17. “Doing All the Things That Wouldn’t Make Your Parents Proud” – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
18. “Atlantis” – Donovan
19. “Sugar Daddy” – Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Broadway OST)
20. “More Adventurous” – Rilo Kiley
21. “To Be Surprised” – Sondre Lerche

Well, it’s the 30th Dunce Cap of all time, and it’s the last of the year – I feel like this should be a celebratory moment! As I talked about rather extensively in my last post, this is AN EXCITING BRAND NEW YEAR, and I am ready for all of the excitement and thrall I anticipate it will bring. This mix is themed!, and it’s really a sister post to the Dunce Cap’s New Year’s Resolutions.

Basically, these are 21 songs that I hope will define my 2011. You should mostly be able to catch the gist from the title, but a few may require some explanation and commentary. Many of these songs are actually kind of sad – they’re not literal representations of what I want, but they each have special significance to me. There’s also a division of sorts among songs. An explanation after the jump.

Continue reading →

The Dunce Cap: Dec. 20, 2010

in: heavy rotation

I’m bringing you The Dunce Cap a little early this week. Why? Because I Can and Because I Want To, which are two concepts I can get behind.

Edward Hopper's "Summer Evening"

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 29: Underneath the stars on the Ferris Wheel, you swung your feet and sang my favorite Weezer song. So I sang along. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks)

1. “Write About Love” – Belle & Sebastian
2. “All the Wine” – The National
3. “Kiss Your Lips” – Allo Darlin’
4. “Naomi” – Neutral Milk Hotel
5. “Laura” – Girls
6. “Like or Like-Like” – Miniature Tigers
7. “Oysters” – Matt Duke
8. “The Mystery Zone” – Spoon
9. “Begin” – Ben Lee
10. “All of Us” – Painted Palms

*BONUS TRACK* “The Boys Are Back in Town” – Belle & Sebastian (Thin Lizzy cover)

I promised you Dunce Cap devotees (so, you know, I promised myself, really) new artists and tunes, so this is my way of delivering. New artists? A couple. There’s Allo Darlin’, this great London foursome with a love for Weezer and Woody Allen and a tacit appreciation for “Graceland” (sample lyric: “You see, it’s like loving ‘Graceland.’ It’s not allowed to be, but we know it’s everybody’s favorite,” from “My Heart is a Drummer”). And then there’s Painted Palms, a San Franciscan band which Sound of the Sound describes as “a happily drugged out mix (think pot and mushrooms, not ketamine and meth) of Passion Pit and Animal Collective.” [Sound of the Sound]

And, of course, there are new tracks from Spoon and Belle & Sebastian, a favorite National track of mine from “Alligator” (who else but Matt Berninger can get away with a line like “I’m a perfect piece of ass, like every Californian”?), a Matt Duke song with a great whistling breakdown and my very favorite tune from my very favorite Aussie, Ben Lee. Finally, the mix rounds out with a bonus cut from Belle & Sebastian’s BBC Session, a cover of Thin Lizzy‘s “The Boys Are Back in Town.” The song manages to combine two things I love the most: Glasgow indie pop and Irish hard rock. Somehow, I don’t think the two get along. Except musically.

All in all, it’s a pretty pleasing mix, about, as most music is, love. It’s not a statement, really, it’s just the subject of a lot of the music I like best. And the album art is a glorious painting from Edward Hopper, the artist behind “Nighthawks,” which I will see in person tomorrow!

How’s that for a description, kiddos?

I’ll be back tomorrow with some interesting and laughable videos and cultural musings. And for next week’s Dunce Cap, I’ll have all sorts of new music to contribute. I’ve resubscribed to some of my favorite music blogs (You Ain’t No Picasso, Music for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and I Guess I’m Floating, which you should all check out), so I should have exciting new ear candy soon.

In the meantime,
Happy listening.

P.S. I just finished Woody Allen‘s “Manhattan.” I’m not a huge fan of Woody’s nebbish neurotic (in any of his films, really), but I did tend to like his leading lady. The 17-year-old Tracy explains to her much older beau, “Not everybody gets corrupted. You have to have a little faith in people.”

Yeah, I guess I’ll have to remember that.

The Dunce Cap: Dec. 13, 2010

in: heavy rotation

Image courtesy of nataliedee

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 28: You are too young to put all of your hopes in just one envelope. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks)

1. “If She Wants Me” – Belle & Sebastian
2. “Temporary Title” – Butch Walker
3. “Adventures in Solitude” – The New Pornographers
4. “Southtown Girls” – The Hold Steady
5. “Miss Sweeney” – Weezer
6. “Dark Neon” – Wilco
7. “Love You To” – Yim Yames
8. “Breakin’ Up” – Rilo Kiley
9. “Back in Your Head” – Tegan & Sara
10. “See You” – Saves the Day

I really ought to start making themed mixes again. It gets tiresome, putting ten tracks together to make a disjointed collection. What can I say about these tracks, really? I like ’em. I like ’em quite a lot.

Mainly, this is a mix of the same ol’ artists I listen to week in and week out. I think I’ll take this break to explore music all over again. I’ll bring you some exciting new artists and tunes soon enough.

Tomorrow, news/sites/videos.

Until then, and as always –
Happy listening.

The Dunce Cap: Nov. 29, 2010

in: heavy rotation

How cute! Young'ns.

 

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 27: And as she closed her eyes upon the world and picked upon the bones of last week’s news, she spoke his name out loud again. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks)

1. “Private Eyes” – The Bird and the Bee
2. “Sing Me Spanish Techno” – The New Pornographers
3. “This Time” – Marvelous 3
4. “Anything You Want” – Spoon
5. “Blood Bank” – Bon Iver
6. “Veronica” – Elvis Costello
7. “Knock Yourself Out” – Jon Brion
8. “Amie” – Damien Rice
9. “Smoke” – Ben Folds Five
10. “Somebody More Like You” – Nickel Creek

Well, muckluck. I’ve been a bad blogger all over again! But I brought you this excellent mix chocked full of songs to clean to, to cling to, to work to. Y’know, for all times. I’m pretty fond of it. Give it a (digital) spin.

Happy listening.

The Dunce Cap: Nov. 8, 2010

in: heavy rotation

 

1898 Photos of Toulouse-Lautrec

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 26: You can’t remember someone else’s story. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks)

1. “Basement Parties” – Matt Pond PA
2. “House Fire” – Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin
3. “Relator” – Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
4. “No Time” – Good Old War
5. “How a Resurrection Feels” – The Hold Steady
6. “Microphone” – Coconut Records
7. “Borderline” – The Flaming Lips
8. “Dear Prudence” – The Beatles
9. “This Boy” – I’m From Barcelona
10. “Every Moment” – Rogue Wave

Look at this classy photo series! These are photographs of famed painter Henri Toulouse-Lautrec poopin’ on a public beach. So excellent. [Buzzfeed]

What do you mean funny, funny how?

Watching “Goodfellas” on a Monday night? So excellent. For class. Really. An essay examining the musical score of Scorsese’s film in relation to the use of popular music in “American Graffiti” and “Boogie Nights.” What a delicious assignment.

Yeah. That’s it.

But you know, I’m funny. You think I’m funny?

This is a series of ten exciting tracks I’m just lovin’. No specific reason for including any of them. Just lovable winners. Particularly The Flaming Lips cover of “Borderline.” I actually had a killer conversation this weekend about Wayne Coyne and the Lips (and their proclivity for adult themes masked beneath sing-songy childish melodies), so they’re certainly on my mind.

Oh, and P.S. Netflix clearly knows me too well. Four of my most recommended TV shows? “Freaks and Geeks,” “Wonderfalls,” “Daria” and “The Middleman.” By far four of my favorite recent-ish television shows. Check ’em all out if you haven’t.

I promise you – Real, live, excellent postings to come soon. Y’know, not just mixes. Insightful and snarky pop culture posts are on their way.

Happy listening.

The Dunce Cap: Nov. 1, 2010

in: heavy rotation

Venn: Your Grandfather (FlowingData)

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 25: I don’t think that it’s the end, but I know we can’t keep going. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks)

1. “Elevator Love Letter” – Stars
2. “Lady Stardust” – David Bowie
3. “Right Moves” – Josh Ritter
4. “Lover in the Snow” – Rivers Cuomo
5. “Blue Skies” – Noah and the Whale
6. “Trouble” – Butch Walker
7. “Dreamworld” – Rilo Kiley
8. “Wake Up New” – The Mountain Goats
9. “Against All Odds” – The Postal Service
10. “At the Stars” – Better Than Ezra

I know, I know, it’s not Thursday. It’s actually Monday (barely), but I have a mix to get your week going. It’s a break up mix, sure, full of heartache and sadness, but nearly absent of regret. These are ten tracks I love – really love – about falling out of love (and sometimes falling back in it).

That Josh Ritter track, “Right Moves,” is one of my favorite tracks ever. It’s so so stellar. Give the whole thing a listen. There’s so much to be learned from love songs, especially these.

It’s my simple way of saying – I’ll love you always, but I understand too.

Happy listening.

The Dunce Cap: Oct. 11, 2010

in: heavy rotation

 

On the upswing, pup!

 

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 24: She got gold doorknobs where her eyes used to be, yeah. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks)

1. “All I Know” – Free Energy
2. “Heavy Metal” – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
3. “40 Day Dream” – Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
4. “Let’s Get Out of This Country” – Camera Obscura
5. “Pin Your Heart to Me” – Jacobites
6. “P.Y.T.” – Michael Jackson
7. “Call It Off” – Tegan and Sara
8. “The Walls are Coming Down” – Fanfarlo
9. “Silver Lining” – Rilo Kiley
10. “The Youth” – MGMT

Alright, I admit it. I am a filthy, rotten liar. I can’t seem to get my act together to post. I know, it’s simple etiquette to follow through on promises. And, believe me, I’ve wanted to. Desperately wanted to. My life has been nothing short, though, of totally insane, so please continue to pardon me. I promise to be back soon with rollicking good posts of hilarity and strange pop culture news.

And, for your enjoyment (and also to appease you, darlings):

“Change is Cumming” with Canadian political candidate Ian Cumming.
Cumming with diligence and stability.
Cumming with care for details.

et. al. [Ian-Cumming.com via The Frisky]