PARIS

DELICIOUS:


france was amazing. i would like to introduce you to some songs i fell in love with whilst there.

I DON'T MIND (JUMP ON IT) --- LYKKE LI. katie played this for me on a super-long metro excursion, along with some discovery and other classic jams. the synth is TOO good.
SHAKE A FIST --- HOT CHIP. heard this first in a hotel room in arles, fell in love, had to borrow katie's ipod to listen to it at least once a day...
FLUME --- BON IVER. my friends gregg and peter dueted this on top of the eiffel tower.
ELEPHANT GUN --- BEIRUT. great for the drive back to paris from the loire valley.
AND NO POST IS COMPLETE WITHOUT:
I STAND CORRECTED --- VAMPIRE WEEKEND. i used "i stand corrected" in a mock-argument with katie about candy corn which went down when we had both been awake approximately 24 hours, and was spurred to rediscover my adoration for this song.

BONUSES:

LOOK WHO DID A TAKE AWAY SHOW / LOOK AT HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS WHILE I CRY ABOUT THE FACT THAT I MISSED THEIR SHOW AT LA FLECHE D'OR. i was on the guest list, but couldn't make it. heartwrenching.


if you have followed in my footsteps and fallen in love with late of the pier, they have announced two NYC shows and a show AT YALE (gossip girl music supervisors... this is your cue to adopt the bears are coming as the soundtrack for some blair / hot teacher showdown action). i currently have the window open to buy tickets for april 1 at bowery ballroom.

JAMZ OF LATE PART IV

courtesy livejournal's film_stills community + wes anderson

1) BADONKADONKEY --- BORN RUFFIANS. here is a song about falling out of love, woven around one bass note, some simple drums, the ridiculous inflections of luke lalonde's voice, and a jerky, stuttering guitar riff. one of the best songs on one of the best albums released last year.

2) BETTER THINGS --- PASSION PIT. stating the truth in the first thirty seconds: "YOU'RE GONNA DRIVE ME CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZYYYYY." all full of synth warble and this sexy yelping voice: catchy little song. i'd like to hear more from this band.

3) KIDS ARE YOUR FRIENDS --- MGMT / JUSTICE / PITBULL. break this out at a dance party or when your boy (or girl) is over. sometimes you need to be told "shake that thing shake shake that thing" over that killer synth riff from kids.

4) IN THE NEW YEAR --- THE WALKMEN. this is one of the best tracks on one of my favorite albums of 2008, and i gave it to you on new years' day but if you didn't get the hint here it is again. the point is, this is a mindblowing song with a mindblowing level of power, and all of that is proven within the first minute with hamilton leithauser's faux-drunken scream: "I KNOW THAT IT'S TRUE! IT'S GONNA BE A GOOD YEAR! OUT OF THE DARKNESS AND INTO THE FIRE!!"

JAMZ OF LATE PART III

1. I'M GOOD I'M GONE (LYKKE LI COVER) --- FRIENDLY FIRES. really like this band as of late. they put a nice spin on this song.

2. GALLERY PIECE --- OF MONTREAL. i'm not the biggest OM fan but this song really appeals to me to such a huge extent. i love that riff and the chant and they way it comes in and goes out. the lyrics are so hilarious and weird and sexy. "i wanna crash your car. i wanna scratch your cheeks. i wanna make you sick." what?

3. PATIENT PATIENT --- MORNING BENDERS. sweet, slow, nice drums and guitar, this great little vocal thing toward the end.

4. DESEO --- SAM BUCK ROSEN. i would be hard pressed to find any recent jamz with as much power as the first minute or so of this song, with that little guitar dip, those random backing instruments. humorously i believe this tune is named after a j-lo fragrance.

JAMS, OF LATE: PART II

1. SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT WITH ME --- COLD WAR KIDS. i think cold war kids were the first band i got into as a result of this thing called "hype," but this was a long time ago. at least three or four songs off their first album are mainstays for me in that they have not gotten old over these years. their second album, loyalty to loyalty, drops september 23. this track has got that really classic yelp to it, with this heavy bassline and steady percussion and that great hook.

2. BOOGIE DOWN! --- MGMT. i found this on pretty much amazing the other day and now i may or may not be addicted. almost as hilarious as electric feel, with ringtone-ready synth and lyrics like "you're driving in that tank like you own it."

3. CLOSER --- KINGS OF LEON. also september 23 we get kol's only by the night. this song is much more refined and sophisticated than the kings of leon i am used to, but that's what makes it stunning.

4. DONDE ESTA LA PLAYA --- THE WALKMEN. massively gorgeous. those soft drums, guitar, and bass in the beginning sound like a storm rolling in over the beach. there is an aura of separation to this - an album opener, this puts you in a place, distant and separate from any other things. then that smooth peace breaks with that guitar chime into this beautiful ecstatic thing, "eyes are so sore..." then back down. incredible.


unrelated:
vampire weekend have announced a new york date for wednesday, december 3. tickets go on sale friday.
bloc party are playing a free show at roseland ballroom thursday, september 18. you have to RSVP. i'm going to try to go, although i do have a swim meet. they also released a new song today called TALONS.

quasi-related:
AM I DREAMING? HOT CHIP + TRANSMISSION = UNPRECEDENTED GLORY. where can i find this mp3. i need it. i don't know how i feel about them doing cckk with peter gabriel, but i do know how i feel about transmission, and that is UNBELIEVABLE.

JAMS, OF LATE

the title of this entry is self-explanatory. brief mixtape for y'all.

MERCHANTS OF SOUL --- SPOON. i do not have the words to express how i feel about merchants of soul. since may it has been pretty much the only thing i have wanted to listen to. the energy in it is inexplicable. "i was a heartbeat on the danger side." i want that to be the story of my life.
OH GIRL --- CUT OFF YOUR HANDS. this song's got knife-sharp guitar. it just cuts right through you.
ERASER --- NO AGE. i don't love no age but this is gorgeous. huge contrast from the cut off your hands because the guitar in this is fuzzy and feedbacky, but i really love the big bass drum and the vocals are really great in that classic harried no age way.
AMAZON --- M.I.A. i love this song; the percussion and the rhythm of her voice and the little yelp in the chorus: "hellooo!!? this is m.i.a." i like arular better than kala; don't kill me.
THIS FEELS PERFECT --- TEAM ROBESPIERRE. this guy's voice kind of annoys me but the lyrics and keyboard are really great.
SAINT PETERS DAY FESTIVAL --- RA RA RIOT. as always the strings in this are great and i love the words and wes miles sings like an angel and the pace is perfect, it moves just fast enough. starting at 2:32 the guitar and vocals with the strings are absolutely amazing.

it, for now.

M12 IS REAL
genevieve

ROAD TRIPPIN

me, genevieve, on the left, with the scarf, melissa, on the right, with the headband. we went on a road trip today, although this picture is from last friday in central park. we just decided to drive to connecticut and see what happened because we had a great deal of time to kill. we got lost around here among all the huge houses and construction to make them bigger, driving around in her mom's old subaru. she drove and i picked music, so i got to thinking about road trip songs.

good road trip songs are ones that are about destinations, places to go and things to see and the feelings and things that propel you there.
the classic is ROADRUNNER --- MODERN LOVERS which is the most glorious and awesome thing ever. i once wrote an essay about this for my english class (A/A+ 97% if you're curious).
CHICAGO --- SUFJAN STEVENS. this might be today's roadrunner, though, because everyone just wants to yell out the window "i made a lot of mistakes!!!"

it's also good to drive to songs that are about the PILGRIMAGE, the EXODUS!
GRACELAND --- PAUL SIMON. obviously.
WALCOTT --- VAMPIRE WEEKEND. EPIC VOLUME on round hill road. my boss's wrath is sharp as knives. i was tremendously late to work. we changed the lyrics: "don't you want to get out of connecticut?"
MILES FROM NOWHERE --- CAT STEVENS. oh man, cat! harold and maude and etc! this song will be played at my funeral.

but road trip music needs to have a driving beat and a pulsating rhythm. it needs to drive you forward. it needs to propel you to the future. i hope everyone understands my diction in those sentences. IT WAS PURPOSEFUL.
STAY DON'T GO --- SPOON. beatboxing / sexy falsetto, tapping one hand on the side of the door, shaking your head a little, sweat, sunlight.
ONE WEEK OF DANGER --- THE VIRGINS. at a stoplight with this blaring i tell melissa to rev the engine at the guy in the pickup next to us. it didn't happen but it should have.
BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE --- TALKING HEADS. i was raised on this song so the energy it holds for me is understandable. THE ENERGY OF LIFE. THE UNIVERSE AND ETC.

some road trip songs the location makes appropriate. driving past the most manicured lawn i had ever seen in my young life, i said "i think some kwassa kwassa might be necessary."
CAPE COD KWASSA KWASSA --- VAMPIRE WEEKEND.
past a whole bunch of construction workers melissa and i are yelling "is your bed made?" like my mom this morning.

take me in your car with you and we can drive up the taconic and rock out. i love the taconic. i have to get on that soon.


M12 IS REAL
genevieve