08. FRISKA VILJOR: TOUR DE HEARTS

FRISKA VILJOR on MySPACE.

[MP3] "Old Man"

[2007's #8: LUCKY SOUL: THE GREAT UNWANTED]
[2006's #8: MALAJUBE: TROMPE L'OEIL]
[2005's #8: I AM KLOOT: GODS AND MONSTERS]

09. TILLY AND THE WALL: O

TILLY AND THE WALL on MySPACE.

[MP3] "Blood Flowers"

[2007's #9: THE THRILLS: TEENAGER]
[2006's #9: THE FORMAT: DOG PROBLEMS]
[2005's #9: ED HARCOURT: STRANGERS]

10. THE INDELICATES: AMERICAN DEMO

THE INDELICATES on MySPACE.

[MP3] "We Hate the Kids"

[2007's #10: SEA WOLF: LEAVES IN THE RIVER]
[2006's #10: REGINA SPEKTOR: BEGIN TO HOPE]
[2005's #10: THE SPINTO BAND: NICE AND NICELY DONE]

11. LENKA: LENKA

LENKA on MySPACE.

[MP3] "The Show"

[2007's #11: WOODPIGEON: SONGBOOK]
[2006's #11: THE SUBMARINES: DECLARE A NEW STATE]

BEST ALBUMS 2008

Well, you didn't really think a little power outage was going to keep me from compiling a Best Albums of 2008 list, did you? Nah... not a chance.

As always, these are my favorite albums of '08, not my "objective" picks for albums of highest "quality," per se. So... take these with a grain or three of salt....

01. THE CORAL SEA/firelight
02. FADED PAPER FIGURES/dynamo
03. SONS AND DAUGHTERS/this gift
04. THE ROSEBUDS/life like
05. FRIDA HYVONEN/silence is wild
06. DUFFY/rockferry
07. ISLANDS/arm's way
08. FRISKA VILJOR/tour de hearts
09. TILLY AND THE WALL/o
10. THE INDELICATES/american demo
11. LENKA/lenka

KENT (PART 2)

[This post is appearing 54 hours after it was intended to appear as a consequence of a 36-hour power outage and a 59-hour cable-modem outage. Wind was partially to blame. But the continent of Asia was the true culprit. Perhaps more on that later. For now, though -- finally -- some tunes....]

KENT on WIKIPEDIA.

[MP3] "Ingenting" [2007]

[MP3] "Palace & Main" [2005]

[MP3] "Kevlar Soul" [2000]

[MP3] "Parlor" [2002]

[MP3] "Just Like Money" [2000]

[MP3] "Max 500" [2005]

[MP3] "FF" [2002]

[MP3] "Kram (Sa nara far ingen ga)" [1996]

KENT (PART 1)

KENT on WIKIPEDIA.

[MP3] "Du Ar Anga" [2005]

[MP3] "Karleken Vantar" [2002]

[MP3] "Things She Said" [1998]

[MP3] "Revolt III" [1999]

[MP3] "Generation Ex" [2007]

[MP3] "Spokstad" [2000]

[MP3] "VinterNoll2" [2002]

[MP3] "Klaparen" [2005]

I LOVE MATH

I LOVE MATH on MySPACE.

From the LP GETTING TO THE POINT IS BESIDE IT, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "Too Many Demons"
[MP3] "Only Clowns Are Scary"

NOAH AND THE WHALE

NOAH AND THE WHALE on MySPACE.

[MP3] "Red Alert"

[MP3] "I Do Fine"

AGAIN WITH THE X-MAS REQUIEMS...

Yes, it's deja vu all over again.... This year, though, you're getting more requiem bang for your buck -- and all in an easily-downloadable, handy-dandy zip-file....

>>>This past Thanksgiving, I went with a change-of-pace post -- classical music for the masses. So, here it is another holiday, and I'm going to follow that up in an even more literal way. Classical masses.

Most of these happen to be masses for the dead, which I suppose may seem inappropriate for the day. But, to flip a phrase, death does not take a holiday. DEAN MARTIN, JAMES BROWN, and Charlie Chaplin all died on December 25. So did JonBenet Ramsey. Then again, BARBARA MANDRELL, DIDO, and Humphrey Bogart were all born on December 25. So was Karl Rove. And, in 1887, Conrad Hilton -- hotelier extraordinaire (and great-grandfather of Paris). This music is dedicated to all of them -- the living and the dead. And to Karl Rove -- who we truly, truly wish were dead.

At the very least, I hope these selections will make for excellent background music as you unwrap your presents and try to prevent yourself from drunkenly punching relatives you may or may not love or respect. Deus succurro vos. Deus succurro nos totus.>>>

Left-click [HERE] for the easily-downloadable, handy-dandy zip-file.

"REQUIEM MASSES FOR THE MASSES" TRACKLIST >>>

01 Mozart/Requiem/Introitus
02 Mozart/Requiem/Dies Irae
03 Mozart/Requiem/Rex Tremendae
04 Mozart/Requiem/Confutatis
05 Mozart/Requiem/Lacrymosa
06 Verdi/Requiem/Dies Irae
07 Verdi/Requiem/Lacrymosa
08 Brahms/Requiem/Denn alles Fleish, es ist wie Gras
09 Barber/Agnus Dei
10 Faure/Requiem/Agnus Dei
11 Durufle/Requiem/Kyrie
12 Beethoven/Missa Solemnis/Kyrie
13 Beethoven/Missa Solemnis/Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi
14 Mozart/Mass in C Minor/Kyrie
15 Rutter/Requiem/Pie Jesu

ANDY WILLIAMS

While I consider this anything but "the most wonderful time of the year," ANDY WILLIAMS' voice speaks to me of younger, brighter, "wonderfuller" days. Nostalgiarific.

[MP3] "Music to Watch Girls By"

[MP3] "Happy Heart"

[MP3] "Moon River"

[MP3] "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"

[MP3] "The Sweetest Sounds"

LUSH

LUSH on WIKIPEDIA.

[MP3] "Ladykillers"

[MP3] "Ciao!" [w/JARVIS COCKER]

[MP3] "500 (Shake Baby Shake)"

[MP3] "The Childcatcher"

[MP3] "Light From a Dead Star"

SAKERT!

SAKERT! on MySPACE.

From the LP SAKERT!, 2007 >>>
[MP3] "Vi Kommer Att Do Samtidigt"
[MP3] "Och Jag Grat Mig Till Somns Efter Alla Dar"

COMPUTER VS. BANJO

COMPUTER VS. BANJO on MySPACE.

From the LP COMPUTER VS. BANJO, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "Give Up on Ghosts"
[MP3] "Guitars Need a Sinner's Touch"

SUGAR, SUGAR!

Left-click [HERE] to download last week's logical conclusion....

"SUGAR, SUGAR!" TRACKLIST >>>

01 The Four Tops/I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)
02 The Archies/Sugar, Sugar
03 Echo and the Bunnymen/Lips Like Sugar
04 Heather Nova/Sugar
05 Of Montreal/Spoonful of Sugar
06 The Icicles/Sugar Sweet
07 The Hard Lessons/Milk and Sugar
08 Tori Amos/Sugar
09 Maps/Liquid Sugar
10 Nancy Sinatra/Sugar Town
11 The Rolling Stones/Brown Sugar
12 The Lightning Seeds/Sugar Coated Iceberg
13 Talking Heads/Sugar on My Tongue

HONEY, HONEY!

Looking back at last week's posts, a certain theme/trend seemed to emerge -- entirely coincidentally. Might as well play it out to the end, then....

Left-click [HERE] to download the following sweet, sweet nothings....

"HONEY, HONEY!" TRACKLIST >>>

01 Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass/A Touch of Honey
02 R.E.M. [w/Kate Pierson]/Me in Honey
03 Tori Amos/Honey
04 U2/Wild Honey
05 Joseph Arthur/Honey and the Moon
06 ABBA/Honey Honey
07 Walker Kong/Andy Warhol & the Honey Bees
08 Eef Barzelay/Ballad of Bitter Honey
09 Beck/Milk & Honey
10 Moby/Honey
11 Pop Levi/Blue Honey
12 Lovers Electric/Honey
13 El Presidente/Honey
14 Madrugada/Honey Bee
15 Van Morrison/Tupelo Honey
16 Grant Lee Buffalo/Honey Don't Think

SUGAR

SUGAR on WIKIPEDIA.

[MP3] "Your Favorite Thing" [1994]

[MP3] "If I Can't Change Your Mind" [1992]

[MP3] "Believe What You're Saying" [1994]

[MP3] "Helpless" [1992]

[MP3] "Can't Help You Anymore" [1994]

HONEYHONEY

HONEYHONEY on MySPACE.

From the LP FIRST RODEO, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "Not for Long"
[MP3] "Black Crows"

From the EP LOOSE BOOTS, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "Little Toy Gun"

BUBBLEGUM LEMONADE

BUBBLEGUM LEMONADE on MySPACE.

From the LP DOUBLEPLUSGOOD, 2008 >>
[MP3] "I'll Never Be Yours"
[MP3] "Beautiful Friends"

From the EP SUSAN'S IN THE SKY, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "Susan's in the Sky"

JESSE SYKES & THE SWEET HEREAFTER

JESSE SYKES & THE SWEET HEREAFTER on MySPACE.

From the EP GENTLENESS OF NOTHING, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "In the Summertime"

From the LP LIKE, LOVE, LUST AND THE OPEN HALLS OF THE SOUL, 2007 >>>
[MP3] "I Like the Sound"
[MP3] "You Might Walk Away"

From the LP OH, MY GIRL, 2004 >>>
[MP3] "Troubled Soul"

ODDS 'N' SODS #28

[Awww... what a cute young couple... together again... in a theater near you....]

[MP3] THE RAVEONETTES/"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" [2008]

[MP3] GLASVEGAS/"Fuck You, It's Over" [2008]

[MP3] JANE BIRKIN/"Periode Bleue" [2008]

[MP3] THE POGUES & KIRSTY MACCOLL/"Fairytale of New York" [1987]

[MP3] MATTHEW RYAN/"Little Drummer Boy" [2000] [BY REQUEST]

[MP3] THE CARS/"Strap Me In" [1987]

MULL HISTORICAL SOCIETY/COLIN MACINTYRE

MULL HISTORICAL SOCIETY on MySPACE.

From the LP LOSS, 2001 >>>
[MP3] "Watching Xanadu"
[MP3] "This is Not Who We Were"

From the LP US, 2003 >>>
[MP3] "Am I Wrong"

From the LP THIS IS HOPE, 2004 >>>
[MP3] "How 'Bout I Love You More"
[MP3] "Treescavengers"

BONUS TRACKS >>>

[MP3] COLIN MACINTYRE/"Famous for Being Famous" [2008]

[MP3] COLIN MACINTYRE/"Stalker" [2008]

BLACK BOX RECORDER (PART 2)

BLACK BOX RECORDER on WIKIPEDIA.

[MP3] "These Are the Things" [2003]

[MP3] "Sex Life" [2000]

[MP3] "England Made Me" [1998]

[MP3] "Start as You Mean to Go On" [2000]

[MP3] "Swinging" [1998]

[MP3] "Girls Guide for the Modern Diva" [2003]

[MP3] "Rock N Roll Suicide" [2001]

BLACK BOX RECORDER (PART 1)

BLACK BOX RECORDER on WIKIPEDIA.

[MP3] "Straight Life" [2000]

[MP3] "Lord Lucan is Missing" [1998]

[MP3] "The Deverell Twins" [2000]

[MP3] "Being Number One" [2003]

[MP3] "Brutality" [2000]

[MP3] "Ideal Home" [1998]

[MP3] "Goodnight Kiss" [2000]

GAY DAD

GAY DAD on WIKIPEDIA.

[MP3] "Joy!" [1999]

[MP3] "Dinosaur" [2001]

[MP3] "My Son Mystic" [1999]

[MP3] "Pathfinder" [1999]

NO AND THE MAYBES

NO AND THE MAYBES on MySPACE.

From the LP NO AND THE MAYBES, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "Petra Petrified"
[MP3] "Pretty Boring"

SAD DAY FOR PUPPETS

SAD DAY FOR PUPPETS on MySPACE.

From the LP UNKNOWN COLORS, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "Cherry Blossom"
[MP3] "Last Night"

From the EP JUST LIKE A GHOST, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "Big Waves"

the airborne toxic event2

[THIS POST WAS REMOVED BY POWERFUL, UNSEEN FORCES.]

THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT on MySPACE.

From the LP THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "Papillon"
[MP3] "Sometime Around Midnight"

BONUS TRACK >>>

[MP3] "The Girls in Their Summer Dresses" [2006]

MATT POND PA

MATT POND PA on MySPACE.

From the EP THE FREEEP, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "Our Braided Lives"
[MP3] "Amazing Life"

MARIANNE FAITHFULL

MARIANNE FAITHFULL on MySPACE.

From the LP EASY COME, EASY GO, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "Hold On, Hold On" [NEKO CASE cover]
[MP3] "Dear God, Please Help Me" [MORRISSEY cover]

JOSHUA RADIN

JOSHUA RADIN on MySPACE.

From the LP SIMPLE TIMES, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "One of Those Days"
[MP3] "We Are Okay"

From the LP WE WERE HERE, 2006 >>>
[MP3] "Sundrenched World"
[MP3] "Only You" [YAZ/YAZOO cover]

From the EP FIRST BETWEEN 3RD AND 4TH, 2004 >>>
[MP3] "Don't Look Away"

THE DIVINE COMEDY (PART 2)

THE DIVINE COMEDY on WIKIPEDIA.

[MP3] "Becoming More Like Alfie" [1996]

[MP3] "Absent Friends" [2004]

[MP3] "Too Young to Die" [1999]

[MP3] "Gin Soaked Boy" [1999]

[MP3] "If..." [1997]

[MP3] "The Light of Day" [2006]

[MP3] "Sunrise" [1998]

[MP3] "The Dead Only Quickly" [2000] [w/THE 6THS]

THE DIVINE COMEDY (PART 1)

THE DIVINE COMEDY is the "nom de pop" of NEIL HANNON, an Irishman who deserves a place alongside JARVIS COCKER, MORRISSEY, and NEIL TENNANT in the mordant-wit pantheon of contemporary songwriters. Like those gentlemen, he is more than capable of joining a killer riff with a cute-yet-cutting couplet.

In the beginning (the late '80s), the Divine Comedy was content to channel R.E.M.-styled jangle-pop. But with the subsequent success of Britpop (generally) and PULP (specifically), the sound began to change. SCOTT WALKER suddenly seemed to become Hannon's muse. The music became increasingly baroque. Lush. Melodramatic. And the lyrics turned smarter. Sharper. Tongue-in-cheekier. So... here's the first part of two parts of just such...

THE DIVINE COMEDY on WIKIPEDIA.

[MP3] "Generation Sex" [1998]

[MP3] "Everybody Knows (Except You)" [1997]

[MP3] "Tonight We Fly" [1994]

[MP3] "Our Mutual Friend" [2004]

[MP3] "Perfect Lovesong" [2001]

[MP3] "Sweden" [1998]

[MP3] "Songs of Love" [1996]

[MP3] "A Lady of a Certain Age" [2006]

BEST OF NOVEMBER 2008

Left-click [HERE] to download the November selections.

NOVEMBER 2008 TRACKLIST >>>

01 the rumble strips/girls and boys in love
02 the raveonettes/black/white
03 quitzow/sponsor (it didn't mean a thing)
04 the killers/human
05 frida hyvonen/birds
06 tim ten yen/the bear and the fox
07 the smittens/gumdrops
08 neimo/peter and the wolves
09 winterpills/we'll bring you down
10 starflyer 59/minor keys
11 anna ternheim/losing you
12 stereophonics/you're my star
13 bjork/bachelorette
14 robbie williams/supreme
15 kite/ways to dance
16 champagne riot/scandinavian warfare
17 lemon/scream
18 my name is george/why won't u b my luv?
19 the wannadies/the beast cures the lover
20 hanna baummann/moods
21 the broken west/terror for two
22 faded paper figures/being there
23 france gall/rue de l'abricot

STEREOPHONICS

STEREOPHONICS on MySPACE.

From the compilation DECADE IN THE SUN: THE BEST OF STEREOPHONICS, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "You're My Star"

From the LP LANGUAGE. SEX. VIOLENCE. OTHER?, 2005 >>>
[MP3] "Dakota"

From the LP YOU GOTTA GO THERE TO COME BACK, 2003 >>>
[MP3] "Maybe Tomorrow"

From the LP JUST ENOUGH EDUCATION TO PERFORM, 2001 >>>
[MP3] "Have a Nice Day"

R.E.M.

R.E.M. on WIKIPEDIA.

From the LP MURMUR, 1983 [2008 remaster] >>>
[MP3] "Radio Free Europe"
[MP3] "Shaking Through"
[MP3] "Sitting Still"
[MP3] "West of the Fields"

TIM TEN YEN

TIM TEN YEN on MySPACE.

From the LP EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL REMINDS ME OF YOU, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "The Bear and the Fox"
[MP3] "Girl Number One"

THE KILLERS

THE KILLERS on MySPACE.

From the LP DAY & AGE, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "Human"
[MP3] "This is Your Life"

From the LP SAM'S TOWN, 2006 >>>
[MP3] "When You Were Young"
[MP3] "Read My Mind"

From the LP HOT FUSS, 2004 >>>
[MP3] "Somebody Told Me"
[MP3] "Change Your Mind"

BONUS TRACKS >>>

[MP3] "A Great Big Sled" [2006]

[MP3] "All the Pretty Faces" [2006]

LEMON

LEMON on MySPACE.

From the LP ENDLESS DAYS, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "Endless Days"
[MP3] "Chemistry"

From the LP MAGNETIC, 2003 >>>
[MP3] "Scream"
[MP3] "Choose Life"

THE DECEMBERISTS

THE DECEMBERISTS on MySPACE.

From the singles series ALWAYS THE BRIDESMAID, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "Days of Elaine"
[MP3] "Record Year"

STARFLYER 59 (PART 2)

STARFLYER 59 on MySPACE.

From the LP I AM THE PORTUGUESE BLUES, 2004 >>>
[MP3] "Wake Up Early"

From the LP OLD, 2003 >>>
[MP3] "Underneath"

From the LP LEAVE HERE A STRANGER, 2001 >>>
[MP3] "Can You Play Drums?"

From the LP EVERYBODY MAKES MISTAKES, 1999 >>>
[MP3] "No More Shows"

From the LP THE FASHION FOCUS, 1998 >>>
[MP3] "All the Time"