The Dunce Cap, Vol. 42: My city’s still breathing (but barely, it’s true). (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks or play above)
1. “No Action” – Elvis Costello and the Attractions
2. “Winter” – The Dodos
3. “Spit on a Stranger” – Nickel Creek
4. “Hearts and Minds” – Matt Pond PA
5. “Cotton” – The Mountain Goats
6. “Singing in My Sleep” – Semisonic
7. “I Think We’re Alone Now” – The Spinto Band
8. “I Already Miss You” – The Kooks
9. “Boys Don’t Cry” – Grant Lee Phillips
10. “Left and Leaving” – The Weakerthans
Elvis Costello, guys. I’ve recently rediscovered his 1978 album, This Year’s Model, and it’s been nothing but love for the original Napoleon Dynamite since. And Costello certainly knows how to start an album. So I took a page out of his book and launched this Dunce Cap with the same track Costello uses to start This Year’s Model. I think it was a good decision.
The rest of this mix has a few cover songs peppered throughout (an awesome Grant Lee Phillips cover of The Cure, as well as a cover of Tiffany’s ’80s hit – originally recorded by Tommy James & the Shondells – by The Spinto Band, and, of course, Nickel Creek’s excellent take on Pavement’s “Spit on a Stranger,” from their last album Terror Twilight), but I like to think the crowning jewels are the pair of tracks, The Mountain Goats’ “Cotton” and The Dodos’ “Winter.” Both have been spinnin’ round and round in my head for the last few weeks, and I’ve had a sticky note on this here computer to include them both on a mix. So, finally, I have!
Altogether, the result is a mix of heartbreak, sadness, bitterness and intrigue (and just in time for Valentine’s Day!), which may just suggest I’ve been watching a bit too much Gossip Girl during the day. Oops?
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.
Eek – I haven’t been blogging regularly, as I’ve been on a bit of a chase, journalistically speaking. I’m building a mystery, y’all know? Anyway. So much has happened recently, and I’ve been AWOL. Here are a few things that have led to incredible excitement.
It’s getting hard to keep pretending I’m worth your time
I’m not going to lie. The just-released video for Yeasayer‘s single “Madder Red” is weird. It’s kooky and certainly off-kilter, but it’s also sweet and tender. The gorgeous Kristen Bell of Veronica Marsfame is the leading lady in this video, which New York mag’s Vulture blog calls “the touching story of a girl and her pet blob monster.” And they’re not kidding. The object of Bell’s affection isn’t cute or cuddly but rather totally grotesque and absurd. It looks a bit like the inside of a body, with an oozingly bloody facial cavity thing and piercing blue eyes.
The video, directed by Swede Andreas Nilsson (a long time music video man behind songs by Fever Ray, José González and one of my personal favorites, I’m From Barcelona’s “We’re From Barcelona”) is certainly a bit creepy but it’s also heartwrenching. Check it out below, and definitely give Yeasayer’s full album, the incredible Odd Blood, a listen. [NY Mag]
Let it Sway
Springfield, Missouri's Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin
I really must have been living under a rock these last few weeks. Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin – one of my absolute favorite bands – just released a brand new album today. Their third LP, Let it Sway, is joyous. I’ve been a huge SSLYBY fan since their inception and the release of their first album, Broom, and Let it Sway doesn’t disappoint – itis refreshing. It’s hook-laden with ooh’s, aah’s and ear-pleasing choruses, and the feel is ’90s powerpop, recalling Built to Spill or a softer, more sing-songy Camper Van Beethoven. It’s a record of good-feelings and, while not as stellar as Broom, it has its standouts. Check out the lead single and title track “Sink/Let it Sway” below or give a listen to the anthemic attention-grabber “Back in the Saddle.”
Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin, “Sink/Let it Sway”
Weezer loses sense of irony – and gains indie musicality
Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo with album namesake
Weezer is going indie with their forthcoming eighth album Hurley. Rolling Stone reports the band will be channeling “Sixties pop” on the disc, to be released Sept. 14. The band isn’t merely changing their sound – they’re switching labels too. They’ve left their longtime label Geffen/Interscope and are seeking solace at California-based Epitaph, known for hosting bands such as Alkaline Trio (after their parting from Vagrant), Motion City Soundtrack and the Weakerthans. The album art, which Weezer also released last week, actually is a headshot of Lost character Hugo “Hurley” Reyes, portrayed by Jorge Garcia. I’m excited for their alleged return to indie. It’ll be a nice change of pace after the machine-like churning out of Top 40-ready records (though “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” was entirely charming, thanks in great part to producer and lyricist Butch Walker). I’m eager for Hurley – even despite the cheesy (cheeky?) and dated cover work. And despite the rather paltry attempt at a first single, “Memories.” [Rolling Stone]
And in other Weezer news – guitarist Brian Bell hinted in an interview at the Mile High Festival in Denver that the band would be touring in support of their pinnacle album, Pinkerton, which has reached cult classic status since its release in 1996. This one is personally near and dear to my heart. Pinkerton remains one of my absolute favorite albums, and the band is releasing a deluxe reissue of the record October 5 on Geffen. Keep your fingers – and toes! – crossed that Bell isn’t just merely being a tease. [MySpace music]
coco keevan 