|
What Do Bike Thieves Really Deserve?
by Dan
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.
Mt. Eerie - "Uh Oh! It's Morning Time Again" We were talking in the comments about being able to imagine the look on someone's face, the way their mouth is moving, just by the way they say something. Well, this song is like that; it starts with a bunch of that "we're just lettin' the tape roll" stuff, which I, like a sucker, always find really evocative. But it's like getting to know the choir before they sing their song. Like sitting in the audience and just watching the band hang out before the song starts (but they can't know you're there, otherwise they're performing). And then when Elvrum hits the line "So if she's dead, then I'm dead too" you know exactly what he looks like, and you know what everyone else looks like, holding their breath and their bongos, waiting. Humanity (hilarious, gentle, cloying, annoying) is what makes this song g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s. [Buy] ***** Sean talking about NMH yesterday made me want some of the real thing. I hope you haven't heard this song before, or you've listened to it once or twice, but never sat in it like a chair made of concrete, comfortable somehow. I hope because for me it was the last thing I found by this band, and it's the perfect last thing to find. Like a really compelling clip show (yes, I've been brought in by a clip show). It has everything: tea-stained imagery, a melody that's too simple to be true, the soundscape as music (sign of things to come) and the most insane intensity hidden under a veil of right notes and restraint. I know people say "i've been listening to this song on repeat" to make a point, but I'm not here to make a point (yes I am), it's true. [Buy] Posted by Dan at September 23, 2005 2:50 AMComments
"Uh Oh" is originally a Little Wings song (from the fantastic "Light Green Leaves"). Posted by Sean at September 23, 2005 2:56 AMFirst comment from someone who doesn't live here! Wow, I was listening to "Engine" when I read this post. That's cool/creepy. Posted by Kate at September 23, 2005 9:32 AM"engine" for life! really, a remarkable song. great post. Posted by dan at September 23, 2005 10:01 AMI've never heard "Engine" before - thanks for posting that! And a quick reminder: Kim Cooper's charming little book about NMH in the 33 1/3 series is nearly ready; should be publishing in early November. Posted by David at September 23, 2005 11:07 AMJeff Mangum wrote "Engine" as a children's song, which I think gives the lyrics some context. Amazing song. Posted by greg at September 23, 2005 11:58 AMI respect you for totally understanding how i feel about "engine." Posted by Marcella at September 23, 2005 3:33 PMmust say the original "Uh-Oh" is a much sleepier and surprised song...bleary eyes and matted hair etc... even still i was glad to hear this'n.... thx Posted by bmr at September 23, 2005 3:38 PMThere is a live version that is out there on the internets that is also brilliant. I found it under Jeff Magnum, he is playing at a bookstore or something. Posted by brad at September 23, 2005 11:16 PMBrad's referring to a Jeff Mangum solo Live CD called "Live at Jittery Joe's" wherein he's playing at a coffee shop. You can get it off Amazon, it can be tough to find in shops but not impossible. Posted by Dan at September 24, 2005 8:59 PMIsn't "Uh-Oh" about a man eating his dead lover? Or am I being too literal about this? It's a remarkably beautiful song, anyway. Posted by Tyler at September 24, 2005 10:49 PMSometimes is nice to go on an airoplane over the sea just to see that there's someone below who knows what a beautiful song I've found in this place... Posted by Anonymous at September 24, 2005 10:58 PMActually the NMH which most enjoy, if you can find it, is their cover of "Glue." The song's quiet build and brittle harmony is just...beauty. Posted by mox.twelve at September 26, 2005 1:54 AMEngine was the last NMH i discovered as well and at that time it seemed we'd never hear from Mangum again. I guess in my head i always imagined this song was the last song of the final show. It seemed so utterly heartbreaking that at the song's end there is but the sparest half-hearted applause and Mangum says 'thank you'. And that, was that. Posted by joshua at September 26, 2005 11:42 AMOh unending happiness!! From all the death references, should perhaps it be spelled "Mourning"? Or is the misspelling part of the wit? Or is it not misspelled and in reference to the time of happening? Dear me. Posted by AustereAbsence at November 2, 2005 3:30 PMPost a comment |
 about said the gramophone
this is a daily sampler of really good songs. all tracks are posted out of love. please go out and buy the records!
to play a song in-browser (flash required), click the  . to download a song, right-click the link and choose 'Save as...'
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 . 
search
Archives
elsewhere
our favourite blogs
(◊ means they write about music) Back to the World La Blogothèque ◊ Fluxblog ◊ Weird Canada ◊ Juan and Only ◊ Passion of the Weiss ◊ Destination: Out ◊ A Grammar (Nitsuh Abebe) ◊ Ill Doctrine ◊ Petites planètes ◊ LPWTF? ◊ Endless Banquet Torture Garden ◊ Gorilla vs Bear ◊ Herohill ◊ Clouds of Evil ◊ The Dolby Apposition ◊ Awesome Tapes from Africa ◊ Molars ◊ Mile Endings Daytrotter ◊ Matana Roberts ◊ Pitchfork Reviews Reviews ◊ i like you [podcast] Musicophilia ◊ Freedom Blues ◊ Nicola Meighan ◊ radiolab [podcast] plethoric pundrigrions Wattled Smoky Honeyeater ◊ The Clear-Minded Creative Hungry Oyster Horses Think White Hotel Then Play Long (Marcello Carlin) ◊ Uno Moralez Coming Up For Air (Matt Forsythe) ftrain my love for you is a stampede of horses It's Nice That Marathonpacks ◊ Song, by Toad ◊ In Focus AMASS BLOG Inventory Waxy WTF [podcast] Masalacism ◊ The Rest is Noise (Alex Ross) ◊ Goldkicks ◊ My Daguerreotype Boyfriend The Hood Internet ◊ things we like in Montreal eat: st-viateur bagel café olimpico Euro-Deli Batory le pick up lawrence au pied de cochon mamie clafoutis tourtière australienne la paryse ripples bilboquet vices & versa + paltoquet, cocoa locale, idée fixe, patati patata, qin hua dumplings, momoi, meu-meu, romodos, patisserie guillaume, patisserie rhubarbe, kazu, maison du nord, cuisine szechuan &c shop: phonopolis drawn + quarterly + bottines &c shows: casa + sala + the hotel blue skies turn black montreal improv passovah productions le cagibi cinema du parc cinérobothèque (maga)zines The Believer The Morning News I (Heart) Music McSweeney's State The Skinny community ILX |
