Archives : all posts by Dan

Micah P. Hinson - "The Fire Came Up To My Knees"

I woke up covered in dust, inside but cold like I was outside. Micah Hinson was singing hymns, belting them and ripping them slowly, in the hallway just outside the door. And only the smallest accompaniment for his large animal voice, a little spinning wind of dust. One of those little tornadoes that spins up a couple of leaves and some dirt. But again, inside, windows shut. [Buy]

Red Army Choir - "The Sacred War"

For some people, it's hard to buy groceries. For some people, going into space is something they have already done. Some people live under leaky roofs, some people eat the same food every day. Some people don't think about recycling. There are some people who never feel like they're not working. Some people drink wine all the time. Some people give to charity every extra penny. Some people have large families to keep them company. Some people are alone but not lonely. Some people take trips just to see what's out there. For those of you who don't speak Russian, these are the lyrics, I'm sure of it. [MySpace!]

Les Troubadours du Roi Baudoin - "Sanctus"

The record of humanity I want sent out into space. The song of a world ruined by spirituality, saved in the nick of time by spirituality, raised up, lifted beyond the highest heights it ever knew by spirituality. Proof that God is really just a choir director, always has been. [Buy]

Pale Young Gentlemen - "Kettle Drum (I Left A Note)"

Where is it? Where is that damn thing? It must be here, amidst these thousand little drawers, I'll find it, give me a minute. Not here, nope, nor here. Not here. Oh my goodness, where is it? I don't mind saying I'm a bit embarrassed at this occurrence. I just cannot find it. Where is it? Here? Here? Hmm. I simply cannot express how sorry I am at how long this is taking. I think I might have gone and lost it. Is it in here? Oh no. Well, I think that I can't imagine many other places it could be. It's not like I always move these things around, it's all been the same for so long now, I don't think it grew legs and walked away, hardly. Is it in here? No. Here? Oh! Here it is! Yes, this is it! Oh, I really did think I had lost it, silly thing, I almost started sobbing right it front of you, I must be all red, I must. Yes, this is it. This is what I was talking about. This is what your grandfather looked like. In his uniform. Yes, this is how handsome he really was. Devilishly handsome, that's what my sister said. I never the saw the Devil for a day in him, but that's what people always said. I suppose his smile did have a bit of a curl to it, but I always thought it matched the curl in his hair. Yes, this is a good picture of him. His facebook profile picture doesn't do him justice. [buy]

Suicidal Birds - "Sensible Sinners"

Linda Evangelista, Laura Linney, Ben Mulroney, David Carradine, David Clayton Thomas, Joseph McCarthy, Michael J. Fox, French Stewart, Lord Byron, Mark Harmon, Leonard Cohen, Holly Hunter, Lauren Holly, Greg Kinnear, Tim Meadows, Nick Cassavetes, Vincent D'Onofrio, Paddy Chayevsky, Nora Dunn, Benny Hill, Trevor Matthews, Tex Avery, Brittany Murphy, Frank Lloyd Wright, Helen Mirren, OJ Simpson, Lance Bangs, Ted Knight, Marcus Aurelius, Benjamin Bratt, Peter O'Toole, Glen Danzig, Henry Fonda, Roy Scheider, Matt Stairs, Hercules, Madonna, Beck, Rick Springfield, Bootsy Collins, Rhianna, Gord Downie, Victor Hugo, Les Blank, Telly Savalas...complete the series. Come the clouds like soldiers, the future is loaded and cocked and ready as ever. It's not the rain I'm afraid of, it's all the people who aren't ready for it. [buy]

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Contest: just go here and fill out an entry form. You could win a limited edition Beirut poster.

[source]

Ben Harper & Eddie Vedder - "Throw Your Arms Around Me"

Back in October of 2008, when I was just eleven years old, my parents took me and my younger brother Grayson out west in a camper van to be there in Calgary for when Stephen Harper won the election. I was such a big fan of him, I did my 5th grade speech on him, I even did my science reading report on some of his policies. I cut out every picture I saw of him, and added them to the collage I was making. We had travelled so far for that night, and we just cheered and cheered for hours. Then finally he came out, he had kids my age, and he started coming down the line shaking all the hands he could reach. And I remember I got so excited as he started getting close. My stomach felt like a pillow being fluffed, and my hands were sweaty. Grayson started screeching like I'd never seen him do before, it was kind of embarrassing. Grayson was not the Stephen Harper fan; I was. I was the one who taught Grayson everything he knew about Stephen Harper. But Suddenly Grayson acted like he was a bigger fan than I was. And as he got close, Grayson shoved his hand in his face and Stephen shook it and missed mine. Politicians don't like that, when you shove your hand in their face, they like people who are polite. What's worse he started kind of rubbing it in my face after. He said that Stephen Harper's handshake was warm, like a warm cloth, and he said his fingers sort of grazed his sleeve and that he had touched his suit. We went back to the campsite, it was getting colder and you could see your breath in the camper van. We had to share the little bed that hangs above the driver's seats, and before he went to sleep Grayson whispered to me that he got a boner when he shook Stephen Harper's hand. I didn't laugh and told him to go to sleep. But about half an hour later, I couldn't sleep I was so sad, I heard him masturbating in his sleeping bag. I fell asleep with the tears cold on my face. But in the middle of the night, Grayson woke me up and now he was crying, much more than I had been, and he said that he thought he was in love. He was probably crying because he was so young and he had never felt love in that way before.

Henry's Dress - "Target Practice"

Eventually the space between buildings will get so small that you can walk from window to window like you would some kind of pair of high doors. But don't drop your keys down the crevice, then you'll find yourself flat against the wall, shimmying your way down three stories to the dirty soft ground, softened by rain. Searching with your hands in the mud, trying to find your stupid keys, it's a good idea to have a friend to pull you up after. It's a great way to get close with someone, having them pull you up three stories between the 8-inch crevice that will exist between all human structures. You're muddy, they're sweaty, you're both tired, think about it. [out of print, used copies on Amazon]

David Liebe Hart and Adam Papagan - "No More Blues"

I don't have any opinions on David Liebe Hart, so don't expect any. I don't have any opinions about this song, I really don't. I don't think about how it reminds me of Daniel Johnston with about a hundredth of the musical talent. I don't consider David's "beginnings" on the Tim and Eric show, nor do I think anything about his place in comedy. I don't even have any opinion on what Adam Papagan is getting out of this collaboration. Those things are too nebulous to me, they're hazy and full of "well, if he's this way then it means this" unsureness. The only clear thing is that this song contains beauty. I know that. And you know it too. [buy from CDBaby]

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Elsewhere: Popsheep is having a funding drive. They are consistently incredible, and one of their contributors is in one 2008's best new bands, Diamonds. Go help them out with it, if you can.

Also: In the video contest earlier this year, one of the winners was Ninian Doff for his "Beast of Dance". Apparently he has a full version of this video in the works, which is very exciting, but in the meantime, he has hooked up with Fulton Lights through the Wonderful Video Contest to create a video for a song of theirs, and it's right here, and it's really great. We're charmed and delighted to have helped with this meeting, but we're downright proud as punch that it's produced something excellent.

Burning Sensations - "Pablo Picasso"

There's no more perfect visual accompaniment to this song than the way it's used in Repo Man. A young angry punk fuck-off with the most brilliant impenetrable tunnel-vision, driving a fancy stolen car down a hot Texas street and picking up a girl hurrying down the sidewalk. What's most incredible about the format of this song, however, is how pointed it is. The song isn't talking about itself, like "man, I'm such an asshole", they way many songs are, but it's talking about the listener, like "man, you're such a creep". You never graduated high school, you can't understand women, everything you do is wrong. It's art functioning like a horrible parent. I quite like it. [Buy]

I Heart Hiroshima - "Wires"

The Kills and McLusky sharing the same oregano cigarette. Kids from Australia, suddenly on a different beach, very far from home, and convinced only of their own smiling grief. [Buy from the MySpace]

The Donkeys - "Excelsior Lady"

This brings me back. I was a fur collar toddler, a brown corduroy kid, walking hippy and arms akimbo down a dirty ol' street. The sun started sitting down at 2 in the afternoon, and shot orange glances at us all day long in the city's pretend pond. Even those little stony fountain pools needed lifeguards, and ours was Dounia Harris. She was ten feet tall if she was an inch, smile like a home-cooked meal, with a laugh like the strike of a match. Not a beautiful girl by any means, but every day I played with the courage of kissing her on the hand as she helped me out of the kiddie pool. Like a goddamn knight I wanted to be, gallant as hell.

[Buy from Dead Oceans]