Showing posts with label Compilations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Compilations. Show all posts
Monday, January 28, 2013
Friday, September 16, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
A belated compilation...
A couple of months ago I wrote a bunch of nonsense about outlaw music. Around the same time I was listening to all the music I wrote about I put together a big compilation of music...of all the music I was listening to...that I wrote about. Here it is for anyone interested. There's a bunch of related stuff on the compilation I didn't write about, too. Plus two mystery songs! That didn't fit on the screenprint I did.
You could cut the tension with a knife. (I was going to put a crazy picture on above the playlist for effect but then I wrote all this stuff and spoiled it, so I added one on the end.)
The Fresh Cup of Coffee Early Morning Mix! (Click on the title to hear the tunes)
Okay, so the photo isn't that crazy but it is pretty fantastic.
I found it here on this interesting website, Lundahl's Coffee Shop.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Fake anarchists and TV sitcoms...
It's been another heavy week as our dying planet hurtles towards apocalypse at a nauseating velocity.
Children rioting in the streets of our cities, stealing and destroying under the false pretense of social injustice. If the looters bullshit were to be believed it would surely mark the first time anarchists paused in the middle of their revolution to steal flat screen plasma televisions and sneakers.
People sat in front of their televisions at home got to watch, over and over and over again, incredibly sad and infuriating video footage of a group of people pretending to help an injured boy up off the ground before robbing him and leaving him confused and scared. We saw images of a woman having to jump for her life from the second story of a burning building. Incredibly enlightening footage of a Sky News reporter asking a boy in a balaclava why he and his friends were taking part in these riots. The boy responding with "It's fun,innit? We get drunk and do what we want."
On a slightly less important but no less distressing note, the illustrious music publication NME had a photo of British band the Horrors on it's cover along with the highly contentious statement that they were, apparently, Britain's best band. Is it a coincidence this particular issue of the magazine coincided with these terrible riots? I don't know. XL Recordings weren't one of the independent record labels affected by the terrible fire at the Sony distribution center in Enfield, so probably not.
Incidently here's a link to a list of all the independent record labels badly affected by the burning down of the Sony Distribution in Enfield Monday night. Go out and buy some music from any of these labels and help support a vital industry, and good record labels now seriously under threat.
I watched a news update the other night that discussed the courts in London and how they were staying open all night to process all those charged with crimes perpetrated during the riots. They displayed photos of individual looters caught on CCTV camera's. One of the people charged with stealing was a male teaching assistant at an elementary school. The man even had his photo on the schools website homepage where he was listed as a mentor for the children. I tell you, you can't write this stuff.
I have to say though, by this point I was exhausted with the rolling news stories, emphasising what a terrible society we have nurtured, and at the mention of the courts being open all night all I could think of was the television show Night Court and how much I loved it. A perfect example of a great American situational comedy. I've never seen it available on DVD, and I'm not sure if anybody is even familiar with it here in the UK. But all I could think of was how great it would be to watch it all over again. John Larroquette was my favourite character on the show. Dan Fielding. A legend amongst smarmy, hilarious, over confident, asshole television characters.
I tend to return to situational television comedy when I'm feeling fed up or particularly stressed. I find reassurance in fun, well constructed, cleverly written television shows. It's a hard art to perfect, and once in awhile you stumble on a show that makes it look effortless. I got a bit obsessed a few months ago with re-runs of Martin. I discovered the whole series on YouTube and had forgotten how great it was. Martin Lawrence was an inspired comedic actor back then. And I've been obsessed with The IT Crowd recently.
For some reason it went entirely unknown inside my brain mind that the Graham Linehan who wrote The IT Crowd was the very same Graham Linehan who co-wrote Father Ted. I was a little ashamed of myself when I made that, what in hindsight was painfully obvious, realization. I was obsessed with Father Ted when it first aired in Canada. It is one of the great television shows of our time. I kept watching episodes of The IT Crowd and seven or eight times an episode I'd think jesus this is well written. It's so subtle and smart and well constructed yet so simply funny. So funny it almost seems obvious. I get jealous watching it. I wish I could write something that well.
Then the other day I was in the middle of telling my wife all of this, about how great the IT Crowd was and she went yeah, it's the same guy who wrote Father Ted. I looked at her dumbly. Inside my head I was viciously kicking my brain. I went on the computer and googled Graham Linehan and discovered he also co-wrote series one of Black Books, another of my favourite TV shows. My respect for Graham Linehan kept growing. Father Ted, The IT Crowd, Black Books.
Oh and I also just put together a compilation of music songs, a playlist if you will. I've attached it below. I have to send out my apologies to Mr Linehan for stealing the idea directly from his delightful blog. It's such a simple way of posting a music compilation, and I'm such a hopeless pathetic idiot when it comes to that kind of stuff. You know, stuff involving thinking.
You should check out Graham Linehan's blog. It's very clever and funny. Not like the one your currently reading.
So yeah, here's some music...I've cleverly titled the list: "Thematically inconsistent, maybe." (Obviously, any time anybody ever openly refers to something they just did as clever, it almost always isn't.) Enjoy!
Children rioting in the streets of our cities, stealing and destroying under the false pretense of social injustice. If the looters bullshit were to be believed it would surely mark the first time anarchists paused in the middle of their revolution to steal flat screen plasma televisions and sneakers.
People sat in front of their televisions at home got to watch, over and over and over again, incredibly sad and infuriating video footage of a group of people pretending to help an injured boy up off the ground before robbing him and leaving him confused and scared. We saw images of a woman having to jump for her life from the second story of a burning building. Incredibly enlightening footage of a Sky News reporter asking a boy in a balaclava why he and his friends were taking part in these riots. The boy responding with "It's fun,innit? We get drunk and do what we want."
On a slightly less important but no less distressing note, the illustrious music publication NME had a photo of British band the Horrors on it's cover along with the highly contentious statement that they were, apparently, Britain's best band. Is it a coincidence this particular issue of the magazine coincided with these terrible riots? I don't know. XL Recordings weren't one of the independent record labels affected by the terrible fire at the Sony distribution center in Enfield, so probably not.
Incidently here's a link to a list of all the independent record labels badly affected by the burning down of the Sony Distribution in Enfield Monday night. Go out and buy some music from any of these labels and help support a vital industry, and good record labels now seriously under threat.
I watched a news update the other night that discussed the courts in London and how they were staying open all night to process all those charged with crimes perpetrated during the riots. They displayed photos of individual looters caught on CCTV camera's. One of the people charged with stealing was a male teaching assistant at an elementary school. The man even had his photo on the schools website homepage where he was listed as a mentor for the children. I tell you, you can't write this stuff.
I have to say though, by this point I was exhausted with the rolling news stories, emphasising what a terrible society we have nurtured, and at the mention of the courts being open all night all I could think of was the television show Night Court and how much I loved it. A perfect example of a great American situational comedy. I've never seen it available on DVD, and I'm not sure if anybody is even familiar with it here in the UK. But all I could think of was how great it would be to watch it all over again. John Larroquette was my favourite character on the show. Dan Fielding. A legend amongst smarmy, hilarious, over confident, asshole television characters.
I tend to return to situational television comedy when I'm feeling fed up or particularly stressed. I find reassurance in fun, well constructed, cleverly written television shows. It's a hard art to perfect, and once in awhile you stumble on a show that makes it look effortless. I got a bit obsessed a few months ago with re-runs of Martin. I discovered the whole series on YouTube and had forgotten how great it was. Martin Lawrence was an inspired comedic actor back then. And I've been obsessed with The IT Crowd recently.
For some reason it went entirely unknown inside my brain mind that the Graham Linehan who wrote The IT Crowd was the very same Graham Linehan who co-wrote Father Ted. I was a little ashamed of myself when I made that, what in hindsight was painfully obvious, realization. I was obsessed with Father Ted when it first aired in Canada. It is one of the great television shows of our time. I kept watching episodes of The IT Crowd and seven or eight times an episode I'd think jesus this is well written. It's so subtle and smart and well constructed yet so simply funny. So funny it almost seems obvious. I get jealous watching it. I wish I could write something that well.
Then the other day I was in the middle of telling my wife all of this, about how great the IT Crowd was and she went yeah, it's the same guy who wrote Father Ted. I looked at her dumbly. Inside my head I was viciously kicking my brain. I went on the computer and googled Graham Linehan and discovered he also co-wrote series one of Black Books, another of my favourite TV shows. My respect for Graham Linehan kept growing. Father Ted, The IT Crowd, Black Books.
Oh and I also just put together a compilation of music songs, a playlist if you will. I've attached it below. I have to send out my apologies to Mr Linehan for stealing the idea directly from his delightful blog. It's such a simple way of posting a music compilation, and I'm such a hopeless pathetic idiot when it comes to that kind of stuff. You know, stuff involving thinking.
You should check out Graham Linehan's blog. It's very clever and funny. Not like the one your currently reading.
So yeah, here's some music...I've cleverly titled the list: "Thematically inconsistent, maybe." (Obviously, any time anybody ever openly refers to something they just did as clever, it almost always isn't.) Enjoy!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Sweden Stories (part one): Songs and Sunrises
We rode the train from Stockholm up to Ostersund City, the site of Tomas and Cecilia's wedding extravaganza. Stockholm is on the bottom of the country and Ostersund is in the middle, and the train ride was roughly seven hours. We departed just before midnight and arrived early the next morning. We grabbed our seats, our barely reclinable,fairly uncomfortable seats, after an uncertain thirty minutes waiting on the platform, wondering if we had somehow made a mistake and missed our train.
We sat in our seats, trying to relax and prepare ourselves for the journey ahead. We got our books out and our ipods and our water and then sat in that awkward silence you always find sitting on a train with its engine turned off. Everybody around us sat in the same silence. We talked in that hushed whisper you always seem to use in these social situations. A dude sat across from me, in the seats across the aisle, looked kind of like Iggy Pop, and Nic, a bit louder than she had intended, whispered to Ryan, "Hey,that guy looks like Iggy Pops brother." I'm not sure if the dude heard her, but I heard her and I tried laughing as quietly as I could.
The light on the train was murky and strange. The interior of the car had a vaguely 1970's kind of look going on. Still a far cry from the trains running from Budapest to Greece though. I can tell you that.
Once we set off, we all tried to relax and stretch out a bit. Books were read, little conversations were had, windows were stared out of, eventually Ryan and Nic closed their eyes and tried to sleep. I'm terrible for sleeping on trains, or planes or cars and though I have less experience on them, I'd imagine boats too. So I read for a bit longer and stared out a bit more. Then I turned to my i-pod Clarence the second. The recently and tragically deceased Clarence the Second.
I put on my headphones and searched for music that would be appropriate for an overnight train journey through the Swedish countryside,such as the one I was on. I was feeling something quiet. Something soundscapey, if that's a word? Something beautiful. Maybe something melancholy.
Very quickly I was drawn to a few albums to which I am always drawn when on long quiet beautiful journeys and a few new records as well.
For the next six or seven hours this is what I listened to, not necessarily in this order:
- All three discs of Joanna Newsoms newest record Have One On Me, and Joanna Newsoms previous record Ys.
- Explosions In The Sky's albums All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone, and The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place.
- Mum's albums Finally We Are No One, Yesterday was Dramatic Today Is Okay, and Summer Make Good.
- Arvo Part's beautiful album Alina.
- Brian Eno's album Music For Airports.
- Manitoba's debut record Start Breaking My Heart
- Boards of Canada's album Twoism.
Now I realize that's roughly ten hours of music I've claimed on a seven hour train ride. So I must have skipped a bit here and there, though I have no recollection of doing so. I also feel like I've left out a few things that escape my memory. Who knows, maybe this was a magic train journey, where having become so enraptured with the stunning natural beauty of the Swedish countryside, seven hours turned into twelve!
This time of the year in Sweden, the sun never really sets. In Stockholm it got to a kind of dark dusk for three or four hours before brightening again. When you walked out of a club at 3am you found yourself standing in a weird half light, and sleepiness abandoned you and you just wanted to keep going. Maybe run down the main street kicking garbage cans and ringing door bells. Maybe try and run over a construction site like you were on the Japanese game show Ninja Warrior. And maybe Ryan would slip and hurt his ankle. Or maybe not.
Ostersund being much farther north, the night stayed even brighter. This made the last half of the journey to Ostersund kind of strange. I remember sitting looking out the window, with the new Joanna Newsom record on my headphones, as the sunrise began somewhere around 2 or 3am and it seemed to sit just on the horizon,clinging to the side of the earth, for the rest of the journey. I remember listening to the uplifting crashing drums of Explosions In The Sky as the sky carried the same light in it hours later. A never ending sunrise. Everything bathed in deep reds and oranges and yellows. The trees and forests and fields of Sweden silhouetted against an always rising sun. It was something to behold.
Suggested listening for anyone riding the overnight train from Stockholm to Ostersund:
1.) Mum - Finally We Are No One. Yesterday Was Dramatic Today Is Okay. Summer Make Good.
2.) Brian Eno - Music For Airports. Thursday Afternoon.
3.) Explosions In The Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place. Suddenly I Miss Everyone.
4.) Arvo Part - Alina
5.) Joanna Newsom - Ys. Have One On Me.
6.) Boards of Canada - Twoism. Hi-Scores.
7.) Manitoba - Start breaking My Heart.
8.) Caribou (formerly Manitoba) - Swim.
I would suggest though, if you do happen to find yourself sat across from a gentleman who may or may not be Iggy Pop's brother, that you tell your friends discretely. Then sit back and enjoy the great hair, tight jean, weathered face combination.
We sat in our seats, trying to relax and prepare ourselves for the journey ahead. We got our books out and our ipods and our water and then sat in that awkward silence you always find sitting on a train with its engine turned off. Everybody around us sat in the same silence. We talked in that hushed whisper you always seem to use in these social situations. A dude sat across from me, in the seats across the aisle, looked kind of like Iggy Pop, and Nic, a bit louder than she had intended, whispered to Ryan, "Hey,that guy looks like Iggy Pops brother." I'm not sure if the dude heard her, but I heard her and I tried laughing as quietly as I could.
The light on the train was murky and strange. The interior of the car had a vaguely 1970's kind of look going on. Still a far cry from the trains running from Budapest to Greece though. I can tell you that.
Once we set off, we all tried to relax and stretch out a bit. Books were read, little conversations were had, windows were stared out of, eventually Ryan and Nic closed their eyes and tried to sleep. I'm terrible for sleeping on trains, or planes or cars and though I have less experience on them, I'd imagine boats too. So I read for a bit longer and stared out a bit more. Then I turned to my i-pod Clarence the second. The recently and tragically deceased Clarence the Second.
I put on my headphones and searched for music that would be appropriate for an overnight train journey through the Swedish countryside,such as the one I was on. I was feeling something quiet. Something soundscapey, if that's a word? Something beautiful. Maybe something melancholy.
Very quickly I was drawn to a few albums to which I am always drawn when on long quiet beautiful journeys and a few new records as well.
For the next six or seven hours this is what I listened to, not necessarily in this order:
- All three discs of Joanna Newsoms newest record Have One On Me, and Joanna Newsoms previous record Ys.
- Explosions In The Sky's albums All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone, and The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place.
- Mum's albums Finally We Are No One, Yesterday was Dramatic Today Is Okay, and Summer Make Good.
- Arvo Part's beautiful album Alina.
- Brian Eno's album Music For Airports.
- Manitoba's debut record Start Breaking My Heart
- Boards of Canada's album Twoism.
Now I realize that's roughly ten hours of music I've claimed on a seven hour train ride. So I must have skipped a bit here and there, though I have no recollection of doing so. I also feel like I've left out a few things that escape my memory. Who knows, maybe this was a magic train journey, where having become so enraptured with the stunning natural beauty of the Swedish countryside, seven hours turned into twelve!
This time of the year in Sweden, the sun never really sets. In Stockholm it got to a kind of dark dusk for three or four hours before brightening again. When you walked out of a club at 3am you found yourself standing in a weird half light, and sleepiness abandoned you and you just wanted to keep going. Maybe run down the main street kicking garbage cans and ringing door bells. Maybe try and run over a construction site like you were on the Japanese game show Ninja Warrior. And maybe Ryan would slip and hurt his ankle. Or maybe not.
Ostersund being much farther north, the night stayed even brighter. This made the last half of the journey to Ostersund kind of strange. I remember sitting looking out the window, with the new Joanna Newsom record on my headphones, as the sunrise began somewhere around 2 or 3am and it seemed to sit just on the horizon,clinging to the side of the earth, for the rest of the journey. I remember listening to the uplifting crashing drums of Explosions In The Sky as the sky carried the same light in it hours later. A never ending sunrise. Everything bathed in deep reds and oranges and yellows. The trees and forests and fields of Sweden silhouetted against an always rising sun. It was something to behold.
Suggested listening for anyone riding the overnight train from Stockholm to Ostersund:
1.) Mum - Finally We Are No One. Yesterday Was Dramatic Today Is Okay. Summer Make Good.
2.) Brian Eno - Music For Airports. Thursday Afternoon.
3.) Explosions In The Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place. Suddenly I Miss Everyone.
4.) Arvo Part - Alina
5.) Joanna Newsom - Ys. Have One On Me.
6.) Boards of Canada - Twoism. Hi-Scores.
7.) Manitoba - Start breaking My Heart.
8.) Caribou (formerly Manitoba) - Swim.
I would suggest though, if you do happen to find yourself sat across from a gentleman who may or may not be Iggy Pop's brother, that you tell your friends discretely. Then sit back and enjoy the great hair, tight jean, weathered face combination.
Thursday, June 03, 2010
.!.!.!.!.!.!...!.!.!.!.
Electronic Night Music Vol.3 (Oct.8th, 2009, 3:14am)
1. Dog Got A Bone - Beta Band
2. Through The Night These days - Jason Collett
3. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill - The Beatles
4. Heather Knights(Porch version) - Buck 65
5. Bad Dream/Hartford's Beat Suite - Magik Markers
6. Please Don't Go - Floyd Dixon
7. Old Grey House - The Dinner Is Ruined
8. Five String Serenade - Mazzy Star
9. Salty Dog - Cat Power
10. Heart Of Stone - The Rolling Stones
11. Tragedy - Hayden
12. Mercy - Timber Timbre
13. The News Of Your Son - The Joel Plaskett Emergency
14. North - Phoenix
15. Indifference - Pearl Jam
16. Long As I Can See The Light - Creedence Clearwater Revival
17. Bird On the Wire - Leonard Cohen
1. Dog Got A Bone - Beta Band
2. Through The Night These days - Jason Collett
3. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill - The Beatles
4. Heather Knights(Porch version) - Buck 65
5. Bad Dream/Hartford's Beat Suite - Magik Markers
6. Please Don't Go - Floyd Dixon
7. Old Grey House - The Dinner Is Ruined
8. Five String Serenade - Mazzy Star
9. Salty Dog - Cat Power
10. Heart Of Stone - The Rolling Stones
11. Tragedy - Hayden
12. Mercy - Timber Timbre
13. The News Of Your Son - The Joel Plaskett Emergency
14. North - Phoenix
15. Indifference - Pearl Jam
16. Long As I Can See The Light - Creedence Clearwater Revival
17. Bird On the Wire - Leonard Cohen
Thursday, May 20, 2010
.!.!.!.!.
Awhile ago I started making a series of mixtapes late at night. The idea was to give myself an hour or so late at night to try and put together a mixtape I thought would suit the early morning hours.Something I might play on the radio if I had the opportunity. Kinda try and capture the mood of those moments at 3am or 4am. I find the act of making a mixtape highly relaxing and theraputic, and especially suited to the early hours. It seems to be when I make most of mine. I already put Vol.1 on here and now here's Vol.2.
Once again, I don't have the knowledge or technology to actually put the songs on here for you to hear, but I thought it'd be sorta interesting to put the list up here, anyway.
Electronic Night Music Vol. 2 (Oct 7th, 2009, 3:38am)
1. I Can't Explain(stereo) - The Who
2. The Snowy Parts of Scandinavia - Kinski
3. Subway Song - The Cure
4. Dear Darkness - PJ Harvey
5. St. You - Constantines
6. A Song For - Townes Van Zandt
7. Hollow Log - Beck
8. Helpless(Live at Massey Hall 1971) - Neil Young
9. Arms Akimbo - Two Hours Traffic
10. All My Friends - Broken Social Scene
11. Sad Eyes - Bat For Lashes
12. The Longest Winter - Julie Doiron
13. Come On Up To The House - Tom Waits
14. 3am - Jim Guthrie
15. Blind - TV On The Radio
16. Emily - Joanna Newsom
17. The Crystal Ship - The Doors
Once again, I don't have the knowledge or technology to actually put the songs on here for you to hear, but I thought it'd be sorta interesting to put the list up here, anyway.
Electronic Night Music Vol. 2 (Oct 7th, 2009, 3:38am)
1. I Can't Explain(stereo) - The Who
2. The Snowy Parts of Scandinavia - Kinski
3. Subway Song - The Cure
4. Dear Darkness - PJ Harvey
5. St. You - Constantines
6. A Song For - Townes Van Zandt
7. Hollow Log - Beck
8. Helpless(Live at Massey Hall 1971) - Neil Young
9. Arms Akimbo - Two Hours Traffic
10. All My Friends - Broken Social Scene
11. Sad Eyes - Bat For Lashes
12. The Longest Winter - Julie Doiron
13. Come On Up To The House - Tom Waits
14. 3am - Jim Guthrie
15. Blind - TV On The Radio
16. Emily - Joanna Newsom
17. The Crystal Ship - The Doors
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