Our Week In Music 03/08/2009

With Soft Skeleton AWOL in some muddy field, surrounded by some muddy people and the shit-stink of sheep, I become your DJ for the week, taking charge of the Spotify beast and force-feeding you the tunes that’re buzzing around my head. My taste is more diverse than Julio Eglasias covering traditional Inuit  songs, so you can expect some genre-bending tracks to jolt you into life on yet another bloody Monday. So shut your door, kick your feet up and immerse yourself my Week In Music.

Elliott Smith – Waltz #2 (XO)

Yes sir, it’s entirely possible that, by the end of this column you will have hanged yourself, but what you do in the comfort of your own home is none of my business. (I don’t think.) With one of the most melancholic voices I’ve ever heard, Smith managed to twist his tale around sublime musicianship, with painfully frank lyrics and through classical forms, best exemplified by this and other waltzes he recorded during his time. Bouncing from drugs to love, to drugs again, Smith attained cult status with songs that we can all relate to, in one way or another. Aside from the fact his songs appear in two of my favourite films of all-time, he is easily one of my top five favourite artists, either living or dead.

Belle & Sebastian – Piazza, New York Catcher

Finding this song in the depths of my sister’s iPod whilst on our recent jaunt around Scotland was a tremendously pleasant surprise. It is another simple song, a rainy day song to crack a smile on the most stern of faces. I’m terrible at deriving song meanings, and often-times, the messages behind them, so I’m going to steer clear of the ‘is it about baseball?’ or ‘is it a love song?’ debate, all I know is that it’s a song to get lost in, in the voice and in the guitar. Lovely, lovely.

Regina Spektor – Chemo Limo

Soft Skeleton stole my thunder last week, and rightly so. Spektor’s work prances the high-wire of quirky pop music with faultless ease, and it is quite likely that ‘Far’ will not leave my CD player for quite some time. But this? Lengthy and with more mood swings than a pop diva it’s not a hit or as easy to listen to as the vast majority of her work. I would also be lying if I didn’t say that, a great deal of affection I have for this song relies on the recurring line: ‘Crispy, crispy Benjamin Franklin.’ It’s out of left-field, and it’s great, so give it time.

Slayer – War Ensemble

Firstly, I warned you. Secondly, I’m the least stereotypical Slayer (I hesitate to use the word fan) fan imaginable. I drum when I have nothing better to do, and have a fancy penchant for the clean-cut guitar sound that died out sometime in the early 1990s (thank you, Kurt Cobain), so don’t pool me with the bearded Hells Angels, just yet.  This song, in its unrelenting run-time gets my feet tapping like nothing else and is a veritable classic in the Air Drumming department. And for those of you who’re still drowsy: if this doesn’t wake you up, you can have your money back. Just get in touch with my colleague for details.

Rodrigo y Gabriela – Tamacun

I know as much about this song, as I do about the pronunciation required to do the title justice. It sounds like some sanitary product to me, but what do I know. I remember watching these two do a set at Glastonbury (don’t worry folks, I was good, warm and comfortable on my sofa) and it astounded me, as much as two acoustic guitar playing people can, at any rate. A perfect accompaniment, if nothing else, to a fine cup of Peruvian coffee…or a Cuban cigar…or any other Latin American product one can enjoy.

Suicide – Ghost Rider

This song, when I heard it for the first time, sat me bolt upright in my chair. My ears pricked like an attentive dog; the combo of Rev and Vega had me. It’s hypnotic and captivating, and another of their songs provided me with my Spotify username. An important, under-rated act which flies under the radar of many people’s lists of influential artists who affected both the rock world, but also the emerging hip-hop scene. ‘Johnny’, a song by Suicide, also is the backing to one of my favourite YouTube videos…which I now see is no longer there. Oh well, nice low point to finish on.

50 Cent (& Justin Timberlake) – Ayo Technology

I can feel Soft Skeleton spontaneously combusting. But this is my show and your tunes, so turn it up. As I may or may not have said, I’m in no way a hip-hop savant – heck – I don’t even capitalise it. However, attentive basketball fans out there will recognise this as the introduction music to the pre-game ritual which the Boston Celtics indulged in during their Championship-winning run the season before last. Personally? 50 Cent’s work is entirely chauvinistic, horrifying and frankly, ear-killing, however, I’m willing to subdue the feminist in me in favour of including this track for your enjoyment. So do the robot or whatever it is that is done these days. Wikki-wild!

Kate Bush – Wuthering Heights

Mostly because I don’t want to like Florence & The Machine, I’m putting this in to show the world how it should be done, wavering voice and all. Unlike anything I’ve ever heard before, it defies genre and is thoroughly enjoyable. More quirks than Spektor, more jaunty than Scottish roads and better than 99.9% of the songs out there. I feel this is a perfectly fitting time to shut up, so you can enjoy all of my selections with the peace and the quiet which they deserve.

As ever, the playlist can be found here unless my computer is being a bitch, in which case, this has been a staggering waste of time.

I have been Horace Blackspur, your resident DJ for the day, and you have been brilliant.

Our Week In Music 20/7/2009

Every Monday until we get bored we’ll be bringing you a 10 strong Spotify playlist of sounds that excite, amuse, delight and amaze us in the hope that you’ll find something to drag you away from all your Lionel Ritchie albums or whatever you crazy kids are listening to these days. Anyway without further delay here it is, the inaugral Post Acid Youth Spotify Playlist:

Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton – Crowd Surf Off A Cliff

The album from which your glorious host takes his name, but also a tender, evocative piano led song by everyone’s favourite Canadian singer-type Emily Haines, frankly stunning doesn’t begin to describe it.

Nas – Hip Hop Is Dead

A massive change of pace yes, but an exceptional track nontheless from one half of hip-hop’s former first family, expect plenty more from Nas in the near future as he attempts to recoup the money lost during his divorce proceedings. If it’s half as good as this Incredible Bongo Band sampling hit from his 2006 album of the same name then i wait with baited breath.

Chester French – The Jimmy Choos

Gushed over in our column from earlier this week comes by far the catchiest track from the Boston-based outfit’s much hyped debut album. When asked why hip-hop artists are such fans of their music they pithily replied “They find it interesting that we’re the first artists to wear whiteface all the time, publicly.” which is more than good enough for me.

Flight Of The Conchords – Inner City Pressure

The most famous export from New Zealand since erm…the Mint Chicks?…maybe, well they’re from NZ either way, bring you their Pet Shop Boys-aping track from the hit HBO series of the same name proving comedy songs are back with a bang.

The Rumble Strips – Oh, Creole!

Mark Ronson’s newest plaything and PAY favourites make an appearance in this weeks list with what is widely regarded as one of their breakthrough tracks. With a more stripped back approach than their newer Ronson-produced material expect it to not be the last you hear of them this year.

Cass McCombs – The Executioner’s Song

Championed recently by Pitchfork Media, Cass McCombs makes an appearance in our first playlist on the back of extremely solid new album Catacombs. Clearly all that nomadic travelling has done him good now give him the bizarre commerical success attained by the equally wonderful Bon Iver and we’ll be well on our way to a folk music revival! I can’t wait for the day when Leadbelly keeps Girls Aloud off of number 1…

The Clash – Straight To Hell

It was a straight toss up between this and the new single from rubber chested, X-Factor wannabes JLS but fortunately good sense prevailed and my favourite B-side of all time has made the cut. If you’re wondering where you heard the guitar riff before MIA desecrated it in her super-mega-Oscar-hit ‘Paper Planes’

The Rolling Stones – Through The Lonely Nights

Another reason to read our B-sides column: the Stones at their tender best, another nail in the coffin for the great Beatles/Stones argument? Ended a long time ago if you ask me.

Prince – 17 Days

Diminuitive genius presents B-side as epic as the A-side (Purple Rain), ’nuff said really.

Tim Hardin Stagger Lee

Continuing PAY’s quest for a folk-music revival comes our final track for the week, this traditional song (later covered by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) is a dark ballad about the murderer of the same name. Performed by a depressed, heroin addict. Just the note to end on and brighten your day then!

This weeks playlist can be found here: Click Here To Listen

For Those of you not well versed in the ways of Spotify then click here to get started for free, this is a regular feature you won’t want to miss.

Soft Skeleton

The Bowels of Spotify

Taking over the baton that is the written word, I feel some responsibility to set out my stall, establish ideas and elaborate on the views therein. So with my fingers firmly clamped to my nostrils, I’m going to jump into the pool of musical misadventure – for now, at least.

I am, by no means, a savant of all things popular and present, having said that however, I am a devout follower of the Church of Spotify; a stout proponent of the hilarious condom advertisements and an ardent supporter of the pompous callers who yield limp suggestions of improvement: most notably the young adult who bemoans the inability to transfer songs to his iPod. I heard Jimmy Carr once say: “The gene pool needs some chlorine in it.” Perfectly fitting, I daresay.

Being a fan of Bob Dylan and Slayer plays havoc with my wardrobe. I am routinely clad in leather waistcoats, suitably matched with suede ankle-boots and the rattle of an amphetamine bottle. Being too much of a introvert or a snob to actually purchase Slayer albums, Spotify has put an end to my junky-like behaviour of clammering over YouTube to get my fill of Dave Lombardo and the little bald-dwarf who resembles a Warhammer figure, or a portly clone of QOTSA’s former bassist. For this alone, Spotify should be praised, however, there is more depth to Spotify than Pavarotti’s retired, ghostly warble.

The iPod generation: my White, Black and Neon-Blue contemporaries who speak in terms of Sat-Nav and GPS, 3G and “Yes We Can!” are slaves to the shuffle feature (notably an area for improvement for Spotify, according to one caller) and its infinite possibilities of intrigue and surprise. I however, prefer a different system: Similar artists.

Starting with a groundbreaking, genre-defying act like Hanson, it is possible to arrive at the generic peddlers of teen-pop-um-bop, At The Drive-In, within 7 clicks of ones ever-ready mouse button…That sentence doesn’t sit right with me somehow, something isn’t quite right but I can’t put my finger on it. Nevermind…

In my eyes, this is Shuffle 2.0. You’re allowed to listen and search/shuffle/click-away to your heart’s content at the same time, as oppose to being bombarded by frightful contrasts, from Fall Out Boy to Eminem to the Commodores to Lisa ‘LeftEye’ Lopes. If I had to endure just one of those, I’d be pretty pissed off, but that’s just me: impatient and a general Lionel Ritchie ignoramus.

All of this overlooks the added (hidden) blessing of being able to ‘experience’ artists you might otherwise have ignored, for instance, Mice Parade – I’m not saying they’re the celestial lovechild of Janis Joplin & Kurt Cobain, but they don’t sound bad to my well-traveled ears.

The Bowels of Spotify then, are as simple as its skin: thankfully, the bowels are far more alluring to a pair of hungry ears.

Post Acid Youth (PAY)