No Mod Required

Apparently, Coconut Records’ “West Coast” is featured in Cloverfield. Regulars here will remember that I pointed out the phenomenal (to me at least) video for West Coast back in the summer.

Not news to you maybe, but Jason Schwarztman + Mark Gonzales = cool

I ended up buying the record off of eMusic recently and I really, really enjoy it. West Coast is painfully infectious (according to last.fm, it’s the #3 track for me over the past year- trailing only Neutral Milk Hotel’s Holland, 1945 and The Only Ones, Another Girl Another Planet) and the new single, Nighttiming, is getting some well-deserved play on WERS.

1. The Mighty Lemon Drops - Another Girl, Another Planet (2:42)
2. Clowns for Progress - Another girl, another planet (2:54)
3. The Replacements - Another Girl, Another Planet (2:41)
4. Paul Westerberg - Another Girl, Another Planet (live) (2:36)
5. The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet (3:01)
6. The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet (3:11)
7. The Notwist - Another Planet (Version) (3:16)
8. Lower East Side Stitches - Another Girl, Another Planet (2:53)
9. The Libertines - Another Girl, Another Planet (3:37)
10. Greg Kihn - Another Girl Another Planet (4:05)
11. Blink-182 - Another Girl Another Planet (2:41)
12. Belle & Sebastian - Another Sunny Day (3:11)
13. Babyshambles - Another Girl Another Planet (1:58

The Nomi Song Know who Klaus Nomi is? I didn’t until I saw this film. I’m still not sure what to think about him, but this documentary was an excellent introduction to his life and career. I could write a little bit about him and what his music sounded like, but instead I’m just going to post another Youtube video featuring Klaus in all his glory. That’ll go a lot further than anything I could ever write. That’s a guarantee. With someone as unique as Klaus, seeing is really believing.

More on this particular subject tomorrow…

I’m wicked busy. Occupy yourselves with mc chris

I took this photo:

Indie Rock Pete’s shining moment.

I’m so indie rock, I only listen to voicemail on the original vinyl

There’s a lot about her to like, but the directness (and Britishness) of the lyrics reminds me of The Streets, which is a big plus- A Grand Don’t Come For Free maybe being my favorite album of the decade so far.*

WERS feeds me new music at an alarming rate, by the way. I love it. Whatever we send them every year probably isn’t enough based on the amount of new music I come away with annually. Yeah, there are clunkers- they played some doo-wop, acappella thing while I was waiting for my girlfriend at the train station and and that creepy “Pretty Little Thing” song pretty much forces me to change the channel whenever it comes on, but for the most part I can listen straight through for hours at a time. A monumental achievement for a radio station.

While we’re here and we’re talking about music, WERS favorite Elvis Perkins has been on heavy rotation recently as well. There’s a bit of Neutral Milk hotel in his work. Good stuff.

*either that or Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

control

I’m going to be humming “Love Will Tear Us Apart” for a week.

…

This is truly one of the best “about a singer” films I’ve ever seen. It was so good it’s hard to pick a place to in start with the praise. I guess the obvious place, at least based on my post-film conversations, would be with the incredible cinematography. The director, noted still photographer Anton Corbijn, and cinematographer Martin Ruhe combined to create a film of real beauty. Shot in black and white, Control is the perfect visual counterpart to both the music of Joy Division and the tragic, powerful life of it’s lead singer Ian Curtis.

The performances are also noteworthy. The cast on the whole is very good and Sam Riley is superb as Curtis. He really captures the breadth of Curtis’ complicated emotional life. His ability to ape Curtis’ awkward stage presence really brings home the turmoil present in the very act of performing for the troubled Curtis. Samantha Morton is also excellent as Deborah Curtis. Curtis really dumped on his wife and Morton really brings an emotional truth to her role which helps forge a real connection to the simple human tragedy of the story.

All in all this is an excellent film. Definitely worth checking out especially for anyone with even a passing interest in the band (which should really qualify a lot of people since Joy Division is wildly influential.)

While we’re here, check out the real deal:

I can’t count the number of people I’ve gotten messages or friend requests from that I haven’t seen or spoken to in 10,12,15 years.

Here’s a perfect example. My old boss from Superhero Universe is living in Nashville and has a myspace music profile: Geoff Clarke

Cool stuff.

Check out the owner of one of Boston’s all-time great hand styles profiled on eMusic:

eMusic Spotlight - Taster’s Choice: Gilles Peterson and Kon and Amir

There is no lone American equivalent to Peterson’s multi-platform reach, but the East Coast DJ duo of Kon and Amir probably come close in terms of record collections. They first became
known for their On Track tapes throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, hip-hop-influenced mixes of little-known singles and breakbeats and recently discovered samples that entranced generations of record collectors. They recently put out Off Track, a three-hour mix of their best gems, including Quest’s highly sought-after disco cut “Boy Scouts” — it pays soaring tribute to the Boy Scouts of America, and must be heard to be believed — Le Stim’s pepped-up, percussive “Tribute to Muhammad Ali” and Jacqueline Dee and Johnnie Wal’s charmingly titled “Farewell to Welfare.” When even the tracklisting looks cool, that’s when you know you have untouchable taste.