Sunday Morning Covers

ZIP FILE

M. Ward - Green River (CCR cover) [mp3]
wasn't it the American musician in Hornby's A Long Way Down who pretended to have a lethal disease called CCR?

Beck - Stranger Song (Leonard Cohen cover) [mp3]
you can actually hear MGMT in this one, it's cool! for the entire album, head on over to Musical Pairings

Mark Ronson ft. Phantom Planet - Just (Radiohead cover) [mp3, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!]
I love this, a whole fucking lot.

Marie La Foret - Paint it Black (Rolling Stones cover, en Francais) [mp3]
courtesy of our very own racist dragon, Allie

Joshua Radin - Sesame Street (Joe Raposo cover) [mp3]
v. cute.

Elliott Smith - I'm Only Sleeping (The Beatles cover) [mp3]
I love this song, I love Revolver, I love how happy Elliott sounds in it.

Ben Gibbard - To Sing for You (Donovan cover) [mp3]

Spoon - Rocket USA (Suicide Cover) [mp3]

Ben Harper - Strawberry Fields Forever (The Beatles cover) [mp3]

Eddie Vedder - Blackbird (The Beatles cover) [mp3]
I don't love Pearl Jam's new album, but I do like this, and I must listen to the Into The Wild soundtrack again very very soon. I miss it dearly.

Okkervil River - Some Weird Sin (Iggy Pop cover) [mp3]

The Strokes Post #266

I love Berkeley sososo much. I love that I can talk to everyone about music there, and that almost everyone can keep up. so I got together with a very good friend of mine, told her I felt like getting a tattoo, and she accompanied me. the tattoo artist who did my tattoo just so happened to be the only guy in the shop who liked The Strokes, and he asked me if I liked The Hives and I said "hell yes, I've seen them in concert twice" and he asked if I had heard their early stuff and we started gushing about how far superior Barely Legal is to any of their other albums (I have that one on vinyl, too, it's one of my favourites) and how The Hives kicked so much ass when they had that unrefined punk sensibility about them. so anyhow, here is my new tattoo.


the cool thing is, it is exactly centered to MY perspective, it's off center when I hold it up to a mirror. it's my perspective that counts.

so, we're continuing our outing, we're walking towards a thrift shop where I wanted to go to pick up something to wear for Jules' show (I found the most amaaaaaaaaaaazing dress, fits like a glove) but what do we see on the wall?


I have never in my life seen any Strokes advertisements of any sort. and it just so happens to be next to the Them Crooked Vultures poster, and also the Nirvana one. we'll ignore the ad for Glee just for now. I realized that I didn't have any photos of my friend Ayesha, so we had a hobo photograph us.


Ayesha has actually been with me every time I've gotten a tattoo. I wanted to get my first one right when I turned 18, but then I met Ayesha, who wouldn't turn 18 until May and I decided to wait 8 months for her so we could get them together. we went the day after her birthday. the last two times I've visited her in Berkeley, I've gotten tattoos, and we made this half joke, half serious decision that each time I visit her, I'll get another tattoo.

so then we step into Rasputin (a record shop, I get my records at the one near my house), and unlike the Campbell Rasputin, which had ONE copy of Phrazes, these guys have FREE POSTERS as giveaways for people buying the album, and dozens of copies of the album on vinyl on display. I tell the chick who worked there I wanted a poster, and she handed one to me as I explained that I had bought one in Campbell. she didn't need to hear justification, those guys know my face almost as much as the people at Amoeba.


later, I went to Amoeba with another friend, and guess what I found?


holy smokes, I know. every time I'm in any record shop, I look under J for any non-remastered Joy Division vinyl and my efforts are ALWAYS in vain. until now, hellooooooo this is their very first compilation album.

so to finish off this commemmoration of my excellent day yesterday, I will post a short but excellent bootleg. it's a radio session, and the story at the beginning is well worth listening to. enjoy.

The Strokes - BBC Sessions, London (06 February 2000) [ZIP FILE]

1. Soma [mp3]

2. Last Night [mp3]

3. This Life (early demo version of Trying Your Luck) [mp3]

4. New York City Cops [mp3]

to top it all off, I don't have to work today. I was supposed to, but I don't have to anymore. so I'll listen to all of the vinyl I bought yesterday instead =)

Saturday Music Definitions: Zero

Built to Spill - Carry The Zero [mp3]

Jason Mraz - Absolutely Zero [mp3]

Smashing Pumpkins - Zero [mp3]

Elvis Costello - Less Than Zero [mp3]

I am well aware of the lack of a certain 2009 single from a certain art-rock band in this post. just know that it was consciously left out, as I deleted that album ages ago.

The Strokes Post #265

surprise, surprise, SPIN gave Phrazes For The Young a great review.

read it HERE, I only just stumbled upon it.

I was kind of hoping for a cover, but I'm sure they'll throw the Strokes on the cover soon enough. in any case, the current issue (with Wayne Coyne on the cover) has a very nice interview feature of Julian (which you all know about at this point)

this is me being a lazy blogger. I'll post some bootlegs soon.

Band of the Week: The Radical Sons

"I'm feeling nostalgic for the things I've never known, and all those records you lent to me, I can't tell you how much those meant to me, cause:

I'm So Sick of the 21st Century" [mp3]
amen. we were 40 years too late indeed.

combining endearingly palatable psuedo-nasally vocals reeking of inspired exasperation with sensational guitars that chase each other around like a dog chases its tail, this band kicks off their debut EP, Throwing Knives, with a bang. a pissed off bang at that, and this short but sweet taste of the young St. Louis band promises musical deliverance from the mundane despite the lead singer's nihilistic insistence otherwise.

this band is like Television in an insanely awesome alternate lo-fi universe, all wrapped up in youthful garage punk vigour.

I love Amoeba Berkeley. I found ONE copy of this album on vinyl there a few weeks ago, I thought I would have to trek to SF or even pay extra shipping costs to get it directly from the band (who only pressed 300 copies of it). but nope, my favourite store always delivers. kind of like this band.

Nick, Benjamin, Geoffrey, Patrick are currently recording new material in Brooklyn.

visit them on MYSPACE and snag a copy of their top notch EP before their stores run out. side b is entirely demos and entirely awesome.
(also worth mentioning, the 12" has a handpainted sleeve! it's pretty cool, they combine mediums to give a couple of different textures. it's mainly spray paint, with a dab of black paint here and there. almost as cool as my Muslims LP, which has bullet holes in it.)

SPIN contest: win a vinyl copy of Morrissey's latest B-side release

go to SPIN.com to enter, the mag is giving away ten copies. good luck to you and me both!

Morrissey- Ganglord [mp3]

The Strokes Post #264

hahaha Ticketmaster is so stupid. not only does it exploit my wallet with 20 dollar surcharges, it thinks I need an event reminder for this concert. I don't think ANYONE going to this show needs to be reminded of its date

Classic Track Thursday

The Velvet Underground - I'm Waiting for the Man [mp3]

one of the greatest tracks ever, from such an incredibly solid debut album.

the reason I'm posting this is because I bought my brother an ipod a few days ago on the condition that he raid my itunes and take some of my music beyond the Strokes...anyhow, he was being lazy so I had to do the work for him and when I said I was loading the VU onto his itunes he was all confused and all I had to do was play this song (which he recognized) and say was "yo, it's the song Bowie sings in Almost Famous". because that is one of our favourite scenes, when that guy screams "IT'S BOWIE!!!!" hahahhahaha good stuff.

the Velvet Underground owns you. that's all you need to know.

PS helloooo Pierre Fraiture.

PPS listen to White Light/White Heat under some sort of inebriation. trust me, it will be a monumental trip.

Vampire Weekend to play free show in SoCal TOMORROW

their "first-ever skate park show!" will be all ages, free, and take place at 4PM on Friday, November 13 @ Alliance Skate in Lake Elsinore, CA. I have no idea where that is, but check it out if you're in the area!

Vampire Weekend - M79 (daytrotter) [mp3]

The Strokes Post #263

Filter Magazine is one quality publication.

oh oh oh before I forget, I wanted to do something for you guys. now, I know that it isn't guaranteed that I'll meet Julian, but if I do, are there any questions that any of you guys would want me to ask him? not lyric meanings or anything, but you know, anything else.

example, do you have a sweet ride? (see below photo for answer:)


oh those legs.

Patrick Wolf releases new video: "Damaris"

ok, so I love The Bachelor (I think it's a cohesive album even thought it's supposed to be part one of two), but seriously, Stereogum rocks. you should read their description of the news of the video release. hilarious indeed.

Andrew Bird to score film: "Norman"

more than Where the Wild Things Are and 500 Days of Summer combined, this will be the ultimate I'm-going-to-see-this-film-because-of-the-music-featured-within-it flick.

Bird says of the film:

"It could do quite well. It’s got a fairly well known cast and it’s really well written and everything. It is more of a drama, it tackles high school drama without being lame...This is the first legitimate full length film that I did. I had the monitor of the film in the studio and I’m playing. It’s a lot of work. I don’t know if I ever want to do it again."

read more HERE

the premise of the film sounds cool enough:
"A troubled high-school kid (Byrd) pretending to be dying of cancer encounters problems with his new girlfriend (VanCamp) and others when he's exposed as a fraud"

it stars the guy from Aliens in America and the chick from Everwood. someone shoot me now for knowing that just by looking at a photo on IMDB. can I redeem myself by saying that I love Adam Goldberg? 'cause I do.

on a slightly related note, I was listening to Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs as I was tweezing my eyebrows this morning

Andrew Bird - Being Green (cover, en Francais!) [mp3]

Rolling Stone gives Phrazes a mediocre review

it figures. they have such trite music critics. not that I'd trust a publication that put Megan Fox on the cover one issue ago, and devotes 1/3 of its current cover to Bono (how many times has he made the cover this year alone? talentless hack.)

they didn't like Ludlow St, but if I remember properly, they gave Costello's piece of crap album a good review

don't even get me started on their despicable reverence for those Jonas drones and the fact that they couldn't appreciate Led Zeppelin in their own time.

The Strokes Post #262

do you guys know that line from Serendipity at the elevator: "bye, my sweet lesbian lady lover. I'm just kidding"? that's kind of how I feel about Katie.








insane quality.

The Strokes Post #261

I dunno if you guys have seen this already, I never posted it but it's been around for a few days. it's the interview Julian did with the Wall Street Journal, and it's really good. most importantly, he reassuringly states that he's moving back to NYC in January

another cool bit of slightly overlooked info, Nikolai did really well in the marathon he ran! he finished in the top fifth. congrats to him on accomplishing such an amazing feat.

in exactly one week I will behold Julian with my own two eyes. it's kind of surreal. it's supposed to rain that day, but I don't care, I'm still waiting outside all day. I've done crazier things at crazier hours in crazier SF weather in crazily inappropriate outfits.

Them Crooked Vultures streaming ENTIRE ALBUM

damn, I was fantasizing about this album last night. it seems as though the music g-ds have answered my prayers.

in short? this is baby making music.

The Strokes Post #260

Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension (live, Conan) [mp3]
I originally ripped this for Connor, but when I ended up listening to it, it grew on me. initially, I hated the performance--mainly because Julian looked so pissed and out of it, plus the mixing was all messed up at the beginning, not to mention the fact that I was angry to see Julian without my other four favourite boys.

but objectively speaking, the song really does improve after 1:10, and, like Connor said, it is a nice funky version of the song.

I love that bit at 3:10

bon appetit.