Archives : all posts by Sean

And that's it: Funding Drive over. For the third year straight we asked for some help and you responded with your remarkable generosity. Now we'll stay out of your hair for the next twelve months.

Thank you so much.

About five years ago, I started writing something called Said the Gramophone. And now here we are today, Dan, Jordan and me, and all of you, staring at this page in pistachio-green.

Last year the three of us played you more than 500 songs and wrote more than 250 posts. Each day we threw one, two, three hours of our lives at this silly, sometimes splendid thing.

It doesn't take much more than that to keep all this going. But it does take something. (That something is: money.)

Said the Gramophone does not take advertising. That's just something we decided, though sometimes it seems full of folly. Instead, we rely on the generosity of our readers to pay our hosting bills. Once a year, we depend on you.

If you enjoy this site, please simply donate. Because listen - Said the Gramophone is never going to be the biggest mp3blog in the world. We are too set in our weird, woolly ways. We try to do just one thing - writing with spirit about the songs we love, - and to do that one thing well. Our audience is you. That's it. There's no one else. You small, strange gang. We cherish our rare contacts - and every March we ask for your help.

Click here to donate to the 2008 Said the Gramophone Funding Drive. [Funding Drive complete, in a matter of hours! Thank you, thank you, thank you - you've no idea.]

(There are also modest gifts for some people who donate.)

Some reminders: In the past year we introduced you, perhaps, to bands such as Yeasayer, Miracle Fortress, Group Inerane, The Luyas, TD Reisert, the Wrong Trousers, Hot 8, Sleeping States, the Spiritualaires, Ezra Furman & the Harpoons, um Fleetwood Mac, Jay Bharadia, Nico, Times New Viking, Clues, Sandro Perri, The Phonemes, Katie Dill, Orillia Opry, Ravens & Chimes, Kyla D, Vampire Weekend (as a commenter notes, we were slow to notice VW but maybe you were too) and Colourbook. We composed fake letters and short stories. We thought about Carl's Celine Dion book, and Dan made a puppet video. "Jean Baudrillard" wrote a guestpost, and Aaron Sewards painted one. We shared our 50 favourite songs of the year. We threw our first concerts, as part of Pop Montreal, and we held our biggest-ever contest, the Wonderful Video Contest.

We did quite a lot. Thank you so much for your patience and your kindness, for all your comments and your clicks. For telling your friends about us, or for not telling your enemies. We understand that not everyone can afford to donate to a silly website. Regardless of dollars or cents, pounds or zloty, thank-you thank-you thank-you all again for continuing to make this one of the most rewarding things in our lives.

(Last year, a few of you paid to take us out to a fancy dinner. This was a very cool thing. We wrote about it in three posts: 1 2 3. The rewards of Said the Gramophone are in the work itself, in your occasional comments & emails. Buying us a meal isn't a donation to the site - it's a present, a kindness, something unearned but offered. But oh my god, it was such a fucking great gift you gave us, and we enjoyed it so much. So however crass and embarrassed it makes us, we can't restrain ourselves - if you would like to take us out to a fancy dinner again, um, click here to contribute to that. [Even the goal for this was reached. Thank you so much.])

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Django Reinhardt - "Brazil". Here is a man with eight working fingers playing one of my favourite songs. Some people call him "The Gypsy". Me, I call him "Django" because there is only one Django in my life. If I were friends with Django I would take him to Olimpico for a coffee. We'd both order a biscotti - impromptu, unrehearsed, just both of us ordering an unanticipated (almond) biscotti. Then we'd sit with our coffees, our winter hats on the table in front of us, and we'd clink our biscotti like they were glasses. Like we were saying cheers. "Django," I'd say. "Sean," he'd say. And then I would say: "Here's to you."

Here's to you.

[the painting above is, of course, by Matthew Feyld. Maybe we introduced you to him, too. He has a show on now at the Cinders Gallery, in Brooklyn.]

Tafra - "Oh, Daniel". Tafra sings this song because he did not know what else to give Daniel as a present. He considered a cocker spaniel, he considered peace on earth. But in the end he settled for trumpet, mandolin, and a surprisingly hoarse throat. He settled for a song in sugar and gold. It's a tune that's like the most important part of a high-five - the bit where your hand is touching your dear friend's hand and you're a single circuit, warm on warm, partners & companions.

[buy]

White Hinterland - "Vessels". If you read this site a lot you will already know that White Hinterland is the new name of Casey Dienel and her band, and that their new album, Phylactery Factory, is something wonderful. You may not know that "Vessels" is my favourite song on the record and that I keep it in a small pouch attached to my belt. I use it when I am lost in a forest, trapped on a glacier, or longing for home. I use it when I'm wondering if I did right, that time. I use it when I'm not so sure about myself, and when there's not much light on the water. Because though Casey's duet with Laura Gibson is full of regret, yes, and "Vessels"' horns and uke carry so many doubts - nevertheless there is something else. It's always seemed wrong, to me, speaking of "hope" unbordered. Better to speak of enough hope; to stop there. Well there is enough hope here for me.

[do, do, do buy this, listen to another mp3, and see White Hinterland on tour

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Yesterday we announced the top 5 films in our Wonderful Video Contest. We've now created a page where you can see all 14 finalists in one big group: Winners of the Wonderful Video Contest. Send this link to all your friends, pals, comrades & lovers, and then why not take it as a cue to work on a film (or dance, or song, or story, or sculpture) of your own?

[photo source]

Miracle Fortress - "Digital Love". I've been trying to put my finger on what Miracle Fortress bring to this Daft Punk cover that Daft Punk themselves do not. I think basically it's that Daft Punk are robots and Graham Van Pelt isn't. He's a man with short red hair and a friend's grin, a man who dances in styles besides the robot, a man who longs for love in a way that's not tragic or eternal or chrome - in a way that's simply human. In the end of his syllables there's a mild sorrow and in the gallop of his electric guitar there's a Montrealer's appetite. It's a song about being in love, but here's the thing: it all happens in a dream.

[from the Miracle Fortress MySpace. Buy Five Roses. See them on tour in Atlanta, Raleigh, Washington, Philly, NYC, Cambridge, Buffalo, Mtl.]

Sigur Ros - "Untitled (Vaka)". your little gold. ... you said it on the phone. you're so alone. you're so. you said it on the phone. you're so alone. you're so. you suffer so. you're so alone. you're so. you say so. you sigh so. you so. (you so. you're so.) you sat there on the phone. you're so lost. you're so. you said it on the phone. you're so lost. you're so. you suffer alone. you're so lost. you're so. you sad song. you sad song. you're so. (you're so. you song.) you sat all alone! you sat all alone! you sat all alone, there! you! (hang on!) you sat all alone last night. you hung on all night. you sat all alone. you sat alone. [buy]

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La Blogothèque, one of the finest music sites in the world (& lo, and it's much more than a blog) has redesigned beautifully. Bonus: it's in French!

[photo is of the Odeillo Solar Furnace]

Ladies and gentlemen, boys & girls, I am delighted to be today announcing the second installment of winners in the Wonderful Video Contest. We asked our readers to create movies they love for songs they love, and well more than a hundred films got thrown our way. Our first batch of favourites was posted last week, the Top 5 will be shared a week from today, but right now, right here, here are four more of the most remarkable submissions.

As Dan said last week, the comments today aren't for us, they're for the filmmakers, so please tell them what you think, because they would love it. You would love it too.

9. Orillia Opry - "I Lied"
video by Dan Woodward
dan @ ajisignal.com

The moon landing as Sunday drive. It's only a matter of moments before you put aside your expectations for what a video of "I Lied" would look like and become swept right up in the ambling (CG machines have never felt so "ambling" to me!) aesthetic of this piece. As soon as the cymbal crashes in that plume of the rocket's wake, you know there's no looking back. I like to imagine two things when I watch this: a) that getting to the moon is an achievement better set to heartfelt strumming folk than to giant orchestral booming, and b) that in the last shot that capsule is empty, and the people have decided to stay, or pressed "go" by accident when they weren't inside. (awarded Secret City prizepack, Madame Tutli-Putli DVD)

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8. The Knife - "Still Light" (Little Forest)
video by Rinee Shah
rinee.shah @ gmail.com

The world of this video is strange and terrifying, with its own slow & scary logic. The bears have lights in their eyes, the roots weave webs, and when a girl wakes she finds herself alone. A tree falls in the forest and we don't hear a single sound - we're suspended in a different moment, during & before, and only later do we discover the damage. Is it still light outside? The Knife ask, and you can imagine Rinee dreaming this world straight through to dawn. (awarded Vice Records and Young God prizepacks, Madame Tutli-Putli DVD)

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7. Devendra Banhart - "Dragonflys"
video by Eric Portis
eric.portis @ gmail.com

Devendra Banhart's song is just fifty seconds long, but Eric Portis uses those fifty seconds even more finely than Devendra does. When the video literally rises into its final moment, when the song sings its title & everything makes a beautiful, incandescent sense, we're in a place of caught breath and small majesty. We're in a paradise, really; one that's hand made. (That means it's a paradise we too could make with these hands.) Actually breathtaking. (prize tbd)

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6. Woodhands - "Can't See Straight"
video by 47 Friends
timothy.moore @ gmail.com

I could write an essay on this one. I'll try to keep it short, but just believe me that I get overwhelmed when I watch this video. The storytelling is executed in such a way that it's exciting to figure out what's going on, the filmmaker creates little mysteries, makes it exhilarating to watch, and watch, and watch. Nothing is a mistake, every shot, every action, has a purpose. Which is a credit to the performers; a stark but fascinating intermingling of harsh clowning and realist sincerity. A quasi-hopeful picture of how art can take over, ruin, or give meaning to, your life.

We contacted Daniel Werb from Woodhands, and he loves it:

"Tim Moore's video is absolutely fantastic and we can't stop talking about it over here. Not only are we honoured that Tim would chooseour song 'Can't See Straight' as a basis for his video, but it's amazing how he and his crew have managed to tease out a great story from thesong's brief lyrics. It all fits together so well and manages to stay true to the emotional kernel of the song. We're super stoked."
(awarded 4AD prizepack, Madame Tutli-Putli DVD)

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So that is this week. Next Monday: our 5 stupendous & favourite videos.

Andy Swan - "The Truth About Thieves". It's an unaccustomed jubilance in this amber-streaked folk song; Andy Swan finds the kind of melody he's not used to finding, the sort of love-story that doesn't usually come his way. "It seems impossible / or just improbable / that you waited your whole life / to love the likes of me." Like he can't get over the fact that he gets to use this jangle, this jangle, the happiest looking-glass kind. Like he can't get over the fact that he put the telescope to his eyes, pointed it out over the city, and found someone signalling to him from their roof - flashing the lights of her apartment on & off & on, the easiest Morse code.

[buy the CD called Ottawa, named for the city where I grew up.]

Vampire Weekend - "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (Black Dominoes remix)". An unofficial remix that takes this clean jersey song and adds a whole lot of noise, distraction, and a different kind of joy. Or maybe the other way around. Take "Cape Cod" as an inside-song, as the internal monologue of a boy who strides the city. He crosses whooping kids, blown-over garbage cans, creaking doors, car alarms, hopscotching girls, two guys beating each-other up with the tender thump of skin on skin. He sees deer get shot and bees get stung. He sees a brass band and a harpsichordist. Casablanca and Sesame Street. And always the cool, lover's knowledge in his head - the bluebird memories of love's softest stirring sounds.

[more of Mr Black Dominoes here and here]

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Tune in Monday for the next batch of winning contest videos!

Bülent Ortaçgil - "Benimle Oynar misin". "Would you still play with me?" Ortaçgil asks. He sings delicately enough that the answer might be yes. I once imagined Bülent Ortaçgil and Nick Drake together in Istanbul, but this is clearly a song from well before any imaginary meeting. From before Bülent had figured out he was really any good at anything. From the days when Bülent would meet a pretty girl and she would say "So what do you do?" and he would not think he really ought to say "I am a musician"; and instead he'd say, "Well, I work in an office."

What if I were the water, or the flame,
or the sun on the blue,
what if I don't talk,
like a stone
would you still play with me?

I can't decide if song is a hope or a celebration - can't make out if it's a maybe or a hurray. [buy]

Say Hi - "Northwestern Girls". Eric Elbogen wisely truncated his band name from its original Say Hi To Your Mom. The new name is less stupid, more timid. Perhaps one day his brother-in-heart will rename himself to Casiotone For. In the meantime, forget all that. Listen to "Northwestern Girls". I wonder if you need to be a boy to recognize what Elbogen is singing about - the hazy & cherry line between want and not-want, between lust and lust lost. A song about figuring out which it is: if you are happy and patient, or souring as slow as that kiss. Tied in knots - no, in braids, in the braided braids of all those girls you've fallen for.

[buy The Wishes and the Glitch on CD or LP and get a free download, like, lickety-split]