telekinesis

The Dunce Cap: Week of Jan. 5, 2015

in: heavy rotation

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 53: The things that used to mean so much to me have gone the way of dinosaurs – hopes and dreams and everything. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks or play above)

1. “Career Day” – The Format
2. “Silver Things” – Limbeck
3. “Her Words Destroyed My Planet” – Motion City Soundtrack
4. “Blacking Out the Friction” – Death Cab for Cutie
5. “Social Development Dance” – Pete Yorn
6. “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” – Weezer
7. “Let Me Go” – Marvelous 3
8. “I Saw Lightning” – Telekinesis
9. “I Need My Girl” – The National
10. “Breathing Underwater” – Metric

Happy 2015, y’all! I’m still mostly listening to tracks from the past decade, though I admit I’m really hopping on the Swift train with the singles from her recent release. Just a few notes on these:

  • “Her Words Destroyed My Planet” has such a solid Veronica Mars reference in it; the whole track reminds me of being 17 and heartbroken and desperate to move forward (Justin Pierre’s near-yelp of “I’m learning to speak Japanese!” slays me every time), and it’s just great.
  • My sister and I are big Pete Yorn fans; I was 11 when I picked up musicforthemorningafter from Tower Records in Buckhead, and my father – tired of hearing it constantly – dubbed him “Pete Yawn.” His follow up efforts didn’t come close to his first record, but 2009’s Back and Fourth comes pretty damn close. “Social Development Dance” is a decidedly weird song – but I like it.
  • In September, Riot Fest brought an incredible line-up to Chicago’s Humboldt Park, including the likes of The National, The Hold Steady, Weezer, The Get Up Kids, Tegan and Sara and a whole slew more. It was, in short, fantastic. Ten artists played their seminal albums in their entirety, like The Get Up Kids’ Something to Write Home About and Weezer’s Blue. Somewhat surprisingly, the most captivating moment of the three-day festival was Metric’s showstopping finale; I caught the tail end of Metric somewhat on a whim and was bowled over by their haunting performance of “Breathing Underwater.” The studio version doesn’t quite do it justice, but it’s certainly a start.

Happy listening, and happy new year.

The Dunce Cap: Week of March 19, 2011

in: heavy rotation


The Dunce Cap, Vol. 44: Fall in love with a new thing every day. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks or play above)

1. “Cruel, Cruel World” – Ezra Furman
2. “Awkward Kisser” – Telekinesis
3. “Simple Girl” – Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
4. “Call Me Maybe” – Carly Rae Jepsen
5. “Got My Mind Set on You” – George Harrison
6. “Scared Straight” – The Long Winters
7. “Maggie May” – Blur
8. “If I Wanted Someone” – Dawes
9. “Hand Me Downs” – The Morning Benders
10. “Heartbreaker” – Girls

Well, damn. I’m, like, super-behind on posting this Dunce Cap; I’m so behind, in fact, that I’ve mostly forgotten what I planned to write about this one. Here are a few quick notes:

Ezra Furman, either with the Harpoons or solo, is pure genius. I’m really loving this track, the lead from his first solo album, The Year of No Returning, which is in regular rotation on Chicago’s WXRT. It’s great and awesome and really melodic, and I highly recommend you check Furman out; maybe try “Take Off Your Sunglasses,” from 2008’s Inside the Human Body.

Carly Rae Jepsen’s infectious “Call Me Maybe” was blowing up my stereo for awhile there; the video is positively cheeky and worth a watch (or ten).

George Harrison’s video for “Got My Mind Set On You” is also hysterical. There’s some weird shit with somersaults and taxidermy, and it’s pretty fun. My roommate in San Francisco and I watched that video in pretty constant rotation, and it’ll forever occupy a special place in my heart.

Blur covered Rod Stewart. For the love of Rod! Enough said.

And on a somewhat disappointing note, The Morning Benders have changed their name and rebranded themselves Pop Etc. My last.fm artist count is going to hate this.

Finally, the cover photo is from Bob Carey’s brilliant The Tutu Project. Make sure to check out the gorgeous prints, all for a good cause.

Happy listening.

The Dunce Cap: Week of Oct. 23, 2011

in: heavy rotation

HEY, YOU GUYS.
8tracks finally created embedding for WordPress, and, while I missed the announcement, I’m thrilled to be able to begin using it.

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 38: And you will love me for all the reasons everyone hates me. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks – or just play above!)

1. “Dolly” – The Fruit Bats
2. “Damn These Vampires” – The Mountain Goats
3. “Honey Bunny” – Girls
4. “Papa Hobo” – Ezra Koenig
5. “All Day Day Light” – The Morning Benders
6. “Good” – The Dodos
7. “Funeral Music” – Actual Tigers
8. “Coast of Carolina” – Telekinesis
9. “If You Want It” – TV Girl
10. “Milkshake” – Yuck

So, I obviously made this mix awhile back but never quite got to blogging it. Hope you enjoy it. I’m still in California with a host of experiences, anecdotes and recommendations to share, but that’ll have to wait until Thanksgiving break. For now, and as always – happy listening.