INSTANT KARMA

lennon's instant karma covered by the inimitable white rabbits with the inimitable mr. britt daniel (can i marry your voice please). i am only blogging about three bands now, have you noticed?

I LIED

there are days when i try to deny that my heart beats to the tune of merchants of soul. those are days when i lie to myself.



MYSTERY ZONE --- SPOON. here is a song from transference.
MONKEY FEELINGS --- SPOON. here is an old and fantastic b-side.

because i am required to mention white rabbits in this post:

percussion gun on TV with britt daniel on piano (don't tell me you didn't recognize him in the lower left with his distinctive nose and all). i died a little bit when i went to watch this and jimmy kimmel said "with a little help from britt daniel from spoon." oh god, universe! you're trying to kill me!

ALSO WHITE RABBITS. I'M ONLY GOING TO BLOG ABOUT TWO BANDS EVER AGAIN OR AT LEAST UNTIL TRANSFERENCE LEAKS

(bonus points for one of my favorite band photos ever)

WHITE RABBITS FOR DAYTROTTER
as always, the little essay by sean moeller is a perfect encapsulation of what makes this band so fucking great. foxhunting especially sounds fantastic recorded here. i love what this band do with their multitude of instruments - that whole fuzz section at the end with the piano sounds so ethereal and terrifying. i am beginning to realize why they called their album "it's frightening."

also, i mean, how many radically different incarnations of percussion gun have we heard? there's THE LOUD VERSION, the QUIET SEXY VERSION they played for kexp, and now THIS quiet sexy version, and then there's the version for la blogotheque which is IN THE MIDDLE. i wish more bands would reinvent their songs like this.

these dudes are boss. boss boss boss.

THE ONLY BAND I WILL BLOG ABOUT EVER AGAIN

this fucking band.

COTILLION BLUES --- WHITE RABBITS
this fucking song.

huge. messy. ecstatic. piano / horns / great layered vocal around the end, "oh what can i do." greg roberts recorded the vocals on this whilst drunk at 3am. this is so good i can't wrap my head around it. i want to revise my best of list from last year. i listened to it for the first time about ten minutes ago and by the end of it i had my head in my hands and kept saying "oh my god." PERFECTION

i promise my next post will be about a different band.

NOW, YOU WERE THE KID ON MY SHOULDERS

i'm just going to cut and paste my facebook status and those of my compatriots to tell you WHAT WENT DOWN LAST NIGHT when i endeavored to see white rabbits after an epic saga of show cancellation and reinstation and relocation to a 21+ venue and all that drama.

"21+ so standing outside by the window at the basement, surprisingly great sound, better when opened halfway through white rabbits' set by some random guy, drinking coffee and cider, invited in just to hear percussion gun. best night ever."
--- me

"Tonight shall go down as the Night of All Nights. Percussion Gun ♥"
--- olivia

"This is gonna be a night to tell the grandkids."
--- danielle

i snagged a setlist. they covered atlas sound's "shelia" and it blew the original out of the water. someone had better youtube that asap. i have to see them again now so that i can actually be inside the building for their entire set. this band is fantastic, especially live. go see them now.

here is a quiet and sexy and wonderful version of one of the year's best songs - coincidentally the only one i watched from inside. except, they played the REGULAR VERSION. which is a jam if there ever was one.
ANYWAY, this is quite enjoyable...
PERCUSSION GUN (LIVE) --- WHITE RABBITS

SEA OF RUM

"the devil went ahead in a fishing town
now he lives on a beach on long island sound."

all percussion and wrapped-up voices. fantastic.

IMPORTANT SONG

KID ON MY SHOULDERS --- WHITE RABBITS

i pretty much consider this song "the jam." there was a time when i was driving my car and was gaining on another car that i thought was my coworker's who always drives around blasting eminem and shit, so i tried to find an appropriately badass song to stoplight-confront him with. i settled upon kid on my shoulders. the car wasn't my coworkers - it belonged to a bunch of grown-up bitties ready for a night on the town. IRRELEVANT.

that piano / bass thing is incredible. you can feel that this song is building to something, and it eventually builds to that fantastic last half: "we held our tongues throughout it / one day we'll laugh about it." what a great lyric that is, and what a stunning thing to sing - with the piano - a hundred times.

white rabbits are playing pearl street in northampton on october 20. you should make it a priority to be there.