miniature tigers

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 Rob Scrawl: The 10 Best Tracks of 2010

in: heavy rotation, in: tens

Hoorah! What a marvelous day – a dual (a double, not a challenge) post. It’s a Dunce Cap top ten, the best tracks of the year (in my personal opinion). It’s a Rob Scrawl with a twist: An in tens (too cheesy?) playlist capturing the best songs of the year (as determined July 19, 2010). And, of course, WordPress still isn’t permitting users to embed 8tracks into a new post, so hosting on the other site’ll have to suffice.

Click the photo or link below to listen.

The best font ever!, courtesy of Core77

The Dunce Cap Special Edition: 10 Best of ’10: It’s a Hollywood summer. You never believe the shitty thoughts I think. We belong in a movie. (listen to mix via 8tracks)

My 10 favorite tracks of the year:

1. “O.N.E.” – Yeasayer
2. “Factory” – Band of Horses
3. “Good to Be” – Magic Kids
4. “Conversation 16” – The National
5. “Someday Soon” – Harlem
6. “Don’t Look Back” – She & Him
7. “Excuses” – The Morning Benders
8. “Crazy for You” – Best Coast
9. “Gold Skull” – Miniature Tigers
10. “Pretty Melody” – Butch Walker

This isn’t a playlist in need of too much explanation, so give the pretty list a whirl. 2010’s been a fair year for music, and a lot of my favorite artists were back in full force. The rest of the year is sure to be kind to my ears, with upcoming releases from Arcade Fire, Wavves, Klaxons, Of Montreal, Belle & Sebastian and many, many more (Pitbull!). And that Miniature Tigers album is going to be bomb. I fell in love with Tell it to the Volcano after seeing the band open for Bishop Allen, and the early sounds of Fortress, which hits stores Tuesday, seem even more mature and catchier than their first full-length.

And speaking of albums, I do, as a matter of fact, have a list of my favorite albums of the year thus far!

Critical darlings The Hold Steady, whose sonorous Heaven is Whenever made my Top 10 list.

My 10 favorite albums of the year:

LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening
The National – High Violet
The Hold Steady – Heaven is Whenever
Beach House – Teen Dream
Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
The Morning Benders – Big Echo
Jonsi – Go
Marina & the Diamonds – The Family Jewels
Phantogram – Eyelid Movies
Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

And a hilarious piece from Saturday’s Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me! featuring The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn: Craig Finn of The Hold Steady Plays Not My Job

What do you think?
What are your favorite tracks/albums of the year thus far?

The Dunce Cap: April 19, 2010

in: heavy rotation

Image courtesy of chrispartida.com.

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 4: It’s good having somebody good for a change.
(mix via 8tracks)

  1. “Heroes and Villains” – The Beach Boys
  2. “Kiss With a Fist” – Florence + The Machine
  3. “I Just Love You More” – Kate Nash
  4. “Sleep All Summer” – St. Vincent and the National
  5. “Cannibal Queen” – Miniature Tigers
  6. “Suzanne” – Weezer
  7. “Pachuca Sunrise” – Minus the Bear
  8. “Holiday” – The Films
  9. “A Well Respected Man” – The Kinks
  10. “The Light is You” – Said the Whale

As promised, The Dunce Cap presents this week’s second spectacular playlist, courtesy of RTVF 230. An intimate look at subcultures inspired this particular mix, with a number of familiar artists who once straddled the cusp between popularity and utter obscurity. Among these tracks are my favorite Kinks single (and a plug for Do it Again, the documentary which seeks to reunite the Kinks and has me beyond excited!), a beloved Weezer B-side, a new Kate Nash song and a very Brian Wilson-heavy Beach Boys tune. I love the Florence + the Machine track, and, in re-listening to her voice, I realized I’d been digging her for a while. Who knew?

Check out the mix, and look out soon for a profile on the excellent Downtown Sound free summer concert series.

Happy listening, and happy weekending!

A.V. Club: Said the Whale

in: viewing room

We’d be buried in the water in the summer
We’d be leaning on lake tides and lilies

We’ve got the biggest hearts

— “Strong Swimmers,” Said the Whale

Vancouver-based indie rock  band Said the Whale released their second full-length album Islands Disappear in late 2009. The band, begun as a collaboration between songwriters Ben Worcester and Tyler Bancroft, raises bubblegum folk to an art form and creates ukulele love songs. In its current incarnation, the band is a five-piece line-up.

Islands Disappear, from description on the band’s website, “draws on the experience of driving across Canada, from the van breaking down in Manitoba to camping in Alberta.  With stylistic forays that include backwoods folk and danceable ukulele/glockenspiel rave-ups, it’s the sound of a band coming into its own, delivering on the promise of its early recordings.”

The first single from the album, “Camilo (The Magician)” is a conglomeration of traditional rock n’ roll power chords and a sunny power pop chorus. The track is a catchy sing-a-long for romping in the summer sun. The video is positively adorable and is the perfect pairing for the single’s pleasant and finger-snapping disposition.

In February, the band released a five track EP of acoustic songs recorded in guitarist/vocalist Ben Worcester’s bedroom. The band emphasizes audience interaction and called earlier this year for cover art designs for the EP. The winner, pictured below, came from Abbi MacDonald from Ontario. The artwork links to iTunes purchases cache for “Bear Bones.”

"Bear Bones" EP

Said the Whale recalls Miniature Tigers‘s gruff swagger, the self-assured chutzpah of pretty boys knowing they make the girls swoon. It’s an eager album and each of the tracks are alternately captivating and emotionally trite. The depth of sentimentality is shallow, and the emotions the band grasps at are meager. It’s certainly not the world’s best album, but it’s definitely one to give multiple spins.

Happy listening!

(editor’s note) Embedded below is the video for “The Light is You,” the Said the Whale track I am most digging currently. The band is great Earth Day fodder – they sure do seem to revere nature! This video was filmed in a picturesque apple orchard.