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Here Is One Hand, Here Is Another
by Jordan
Please note: MP3s are only kept online for a short time, and if this entry is from more than a couple of weeks ago, the music probably won't be available to download any more.
London readers: I'm sorry and I hope you're all OK. *** Kind of Like Spitting - "Thirteen" When Elliot Smith covered Big Star's "Thirteen" he turned the sentimental psych-pop ballad into a melancholy finger-picked nostalgia (i.e. an Elliot Smith song). Kind of Like Spitting carries the song further in the same direction. There is nothing about this version that doesn't mean high school to me. No note, or phrase, no emphasis or delivery that isn't authentically of the high school boy. I recognize that tape hiss: it's the pervasive 'hsss' of late night four track love songs. KoLS (why this name, Kind of Like Spitting?) chooses mostly on the side of restraint, and always on the side of good. He changes a line: "If it's no, well, I can go" becomes "If it's no, then I can go." This is a better, starker, less snot-nosed line. Less a threat than a regrettable fact. He holds back from running his vocals on the second line ("meet you at the pool"), as the other two versions have it. This has the effect of making the later runs ("Paint it Blah-ah-hah-ah-lack," etc.) more striking; more true to his tentative, grand, clumsy love. When he doubles his voice, he finds his way to the most gentle and careful harmonies. While sung in the present tense, it is set in a past shared by us all (remember?). [Label] *** Thanks for asking, Dan. Removed due to band upheaval. I probably should have asked them before posting the songs in such rough shape. Sorry about that. Hope I didn't get your hopes up too high. Posted by Jordan at July 8, 2005 4:05 AMComments
Just discovered you via Lonesome music, some interesting stuff here .... Ill add you to my Blogroll @ RetroBabe! Cheers IanB PS: Nice sentiment toward London btw ! ;) Posted by IanB at July 8, 2005 5:40 AMalways awesome to see ben (kols) getting some love! Posted by justin whye at July 8, 2005 8:18 AMI love "Pines Trees Are Electric Guitars" - it's a great song. It takes a while to get to the electric, drum-kicking second half, but it's worth the wait. Really, really enjoyable. In the interests of being honest and maybe (hopefully) constructive, I find "Pretty Girl" a bit repetitious. It's not a bad song, but I think it could use a really distinct chorus, one that is much more different not only in lyrical content from the verses but also in textural content, if you know what I mean by that. I may not be explaining that very well. Do you guys play gigs in Montreal often? I'd love to see The Cay. Posted by Sam at July 8, 2005 10:55 AMI half-believe G.E. Moore is right. I'm a Demi-Mooreian, Ian. Not you, Ian. Imma listen to all these when I get to a good computer. Posted by dan at July 8, 2005 11:01 AMj-dog, the vocal recordings on both of these tracks are -awesome-. I love the lake tenor of your voice on "Pine trees", and then the way Christine sounds when she chimes in. And you nailed it on those first lines of "Pretty girl", saying the same things in the same way but not repeating yourself, oh no no no. Posted by Sean at July 8, 2005 3:00 PMThanks for the "Thirteen" cover! I'm accumulating quite a collection now. Posted by Alia at July 8, 2005 3:25 PMyeah, sean has it right, it's repitiOUS, but not repititiON. it's like an echo, what comes back is never exactly the same. I feel like this album will be like a play, like you could draw a string through the whole thing, which could really be neat. Posted by dan at July 8, 2005 3:37 PMThanks for the kind words. Sam - your criticism is appreciated, though you will not be allowed to return to the site. I will email you next time we play a show. Posted by Jordan at July 8, 2005 7:16 PMjordan! where did you get that archit. in helsinki song?.... Posted by claire at July 9, 2005 5:22 PMi recommend Dodge Dart by Kind Of Like Spitting. Claire - same place as I got the Holopaw track from. Why? You want some credit? Hahaha. Never. Posted by Jordan at July 12, 2005 2:18 AMPost a comment |
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this is a daily sampler of really good songs. all tracks are posted out of love. please go out and buy the records!
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all songs are removed within a week or two of posting. said the gramophone launched in march 2003, and added songs in november of that year. it was one of the world's very first mp3blogs. if you would like to say hello, find out our mailing addresses or invite us to shows, please get in touch: montreal, canada: sean toronto, canada: jordan montreal, canada: dan please don't send us emails with tons of huge attachments; if emailing a bunch of mp3s etc, use a service like MailBigFile. if you are the copyright holder of any song posted here, please contact us if you would like the song taken down early. please do not direct link to any of these tracks. please love and wonder. "and i shall watch the ferry-boats / and they'll get high on a bluer ocean / against tomorrow's sky / and i will never grow so old again." we are a member of MBV.
about the authors
Sean Michaels lives in Montreal, where he is writing a novel. His work also occasionally appears at McSweeney's. Follow him on Twitter or reach him here.
Dan Beirne is an actor and writer living in Montreal. He writes fiction fiction fiction on here. It may feel true, but it is never True. He is most proud of his most recent project The Bitter End. Email him here Jordan Himelfarb lives in Toronto, where he is editor in chief of The Mark. Jordan's posts appear at Said the Gramophone only on the last Wednesday of every month. Email him here. Site design and header typography by Neale McDavitt-Van Fleet. The header graphic is randomized: this one is by . 
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