I’ve listened to Sick Days daily for the last week. It seems every time I’m about to go out I’m throwing this on the playlist to set my mind right. YATA’s the first band coming out of Chicago in quite some time that has impressed me. I think what is so damn attractive about Yourself And The Air is that they come across like a band that allows themselves to just play and are solid enough to do it anywhere. Although their being from the midwest does get me excited since it makes it much more likely for us in Indy to get a chance to sweat with them, my fingers are crossed.
How many other songs can you think of that capture your emotion from the start and perfectly pull you along on a four and a half minute chilled escape? Not many. The layers blend so well as this song builds, yet they never overdue it which almost seems inevitable but they pull it back with such ease. What really makes this song great is the subtle lead guitar that drifts in and out at will. Seriously, if you are giving it attention it’s clearly apparent how empty this song would be if it were not carrying the vibe all the way to the end.
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[Jonathan Ben-Ami's shots in this video are incredible. ]
I can’t help but ask myself which is better, this song or knowing that yuck will be playing in Fountain Square in october. If i’m being honest with myself their coming to town is exponentially better but that’s because THEY ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO BE PLAYING IN INDY (should i make the font bigger to express myself?) !!!!! It took me a second to catch my breath after My Old Kentucky Blog announced this one. I guess the only real question i have is whether they will play Automatic at Radio Radio, i’d say if i’m lucky there might be a seven percent chance but at least there’s a chance. And am i really that concerned with their set list…not really Dodge has done so much for this city i hope people are starting to realize it, thanks for another great show mokb!
In the year that’s passed since first hearing 1,2,3 they have successfully popped up on almost every decent music site around. I rarely made a personal mix last year without confetti on it and the general consensus seems to be they guys are nothing short of legitimate. They also signed with frenchkiss earlier this year which is home to so many incredible bands most notable Passion Pit, Local Natives, and one of my favorite bands to skate to Les Savy Fav. I doubt i’m the only one trying to figure out what this band will ultimately sound like since the limited number of tracks they’ve put out are so far across the board it’s hard to recognize it’s even them out of the gate. This isn’t the first time i’ve posted a 1,2,3 track and i’m sure it won’t be the last, the new album is due out sometime early in 2012, i’m already excited for the leaks to start coming.
It’s nice to see what all the build-ups been about. Outside of graveyard girl i’ve been a little stand offish about committing to M83, the talents always been there but for all the praise that’s gone around for Anthony Gonzalez I have felt up until now that he has yet to prove himself. Midnight City seems to be where all that talent comes to fruition, it’s the first track off the soon to be released Hurry Up, We’re dreaming (oct. 18th). The only thing that i’m still apprehensive about is that Hurry Up is set to be a double album so i’m hoping that M83 has found a way to put out that many tracks without becoming monotonous which is the Achilles heel of electronic music.This track is solid so i’m hopeful
Two things i love; open-minded hypothetical conversations and Kimya Dawson/Adam Green style folk. This is probably why i’m so infatuated by this West Valley song. It’s also just another reason why i can’t get enough of TWV as of late.
The Moon at Half-Mast, the Accordions newest album, has impressed me beyond words. I’ve seen these guys play at least twenty times and it’s been a enjoyable process watching the current sound come together. Early on you could see the talent but it was often off-put by ben bernthal’s frustration he would show caused by a noisy crowd and sound issues (two shows stand out for me as examples Big Car three years ago and the Vollrath last summer). I only mention this because i think that frustration undoubtedly has manifested itself into a creative piece of art that’s not just a step forward and solid it’s downright impressive. In the time that’s passed since first seeing Accordions i’ve watched the band both grow in members and grow in confidence especially concerning the suspiciously talented front-man, who i’m rather sure is one of the more brilliant musical thinkers in the city. If you get a chance pick up the album, this song is merely a taste and hardly a testament to how good the The Moon at Half-Mast really is.
Two Matchsticks is another album i’ve been waiting a long time to come around. Folly Club is an impressive track-one that tows the line of well crafted lyrics delivered with relaxed ease. The passive take-it-or-leave-it vibe is stronger than ever for The Wooden Birds this time around. It’s still more rewarding to listen to them at night either while driving with friends or alone on headphones and that will always be the most appreciated characteristic i have for the band and what’s best is that we’ll all be familiar with it by the time fall hits which is when this bands sound carries the most weight. There is another abstract thought that comes up strongest when listening to Folly Club is that if i could somehow make it happen that Phineas and the Lonely Leaves would stop through town with The Wooden Birds i’m pretty sure my life would be complete since both have very complimentary sounds towards the other and both create lyrics that are important and individualistic.
i originally slated this one to be included on my (favorite) yearly hooded sweatshirt playlist but with how often i’ve been listening to barracudas it just wouldn’t seem right to put it on the shelf for that long. Although simplistic the drums on this track are the ones i enjoy the most on this weeks mix, they remind me a lot of Mike Marsh and since Marsh is the best drummer to listen to next to Josh Morrow i enjoy them quite a bit.The lyrics are fitting and very comparable alongside Folly Club so it just seems necessary to share it this week.
Late-night low-key electro-pop more than a fitting addition to any playlist designed for after dark . I wish i could be more loquacious about this song but what can i really say when it speaks for itself so well.
This one touches close enough to pop that i’d be lying if i said i wasn’t apprehensive about throwing it up this week. After listening a few times through i think it’s a risk worth taking. The lyrics, although very countryesque, are written well and Heather McEntire’s delivery has seduced me into falling head of heals in love with her voice (fact). I’m sure my going through a breakup contributes towards why i draw so much pleasure from this song.
I’m going the opposite direction of only way out with this one but it’s still both sides of the same coin; Two self-indulged tracks that are helping me cope with where i’m at in my personal life.
It shook the Sea is another song i’ve recently been listening to before heading out. I really enjoy the way Chris Ho draws out multiple emotions during this song through different rhythm styles, usually when bands try to accomplish this it just sounds contrived but It Shook the Sea navigates the changes without issue.
This spoken word piece really has no place on the playlist but it’s more than necessary. When Gil died at the end of May i expected much more to happen around the artistic community than the passiveness that has happened and i am part of the problem. Gil Scott-Herron was, and is, one of the great great great american poets. If you’re not familiar with his work take the time to look it up, to download the great music he’s been a part of, to learn about this man whose importance in american culture should never be forgotten.
There isn’t much better to help summer along than a solid playlist; So if you’ve got a case of pbr and a cliff to dive from or some polluted waterway to lose yourself in, start downloading cause this is a must have to bring along ….
There is nothing i enjoy more than meeting up with friends at dusk and heading out on a late night drive through the country. Conversations are better, time feels like it doesn’t exist, the world feels like it’s full of possibilities, and the stress of day to day monotony are forgotten completely. It’s the only place i truly feel free, where i finally believe that anything can happen, where my friends and I strip away all pretensions and feel truly alive.
Before heading out there are a few necessities that must never be overlooked; Redbull (or your choice of energy drink), Nicotine (pick your poison), something for the munchies, something to pass around (i’m not condoning or promoting but from personal experience having something….um… light-able(?)….. guarantees a solid cruise to go from being just something to pass the time to epic), and the all coveted “cruising mix”. I have hundreds of mixes that i’ve refused to discard even though at least three tracks on each disc are unlistenable due to scratches from floating around on the floorboard of my car. Each of those discs has it’s own story, it’s own memory , and all i’ve got to do is slip it in and turn the volume up and have that precise night come flooding back to me.
The problem with putting a mix like this up is that the unknowns which go into a perfectly made mix cannot be accounted for, i’ll never be able to bring in that intimacy through a high speed connection. You have to know who will be with you and what they are currently digging, which bands are overrated to them, which ones are underrated, genres they don’t respect, pop songs that they secretly enjoy, and most importantly you need to know when it comes down to that final drag of the ride when all words fall silent and your heading back home, minds in quiet contentment, that the songs playing are going to truly encapsulate a feeling between the group of you at that exact moment. This is not always easy to do. Inevitably there will always be at least one person who is foreign to the group and who probably doesn’t enjoy anything outside of corporate mainstream radio and you have to make sure that songs make the mix which they will appreciate because if one person isn’t enjoying themselves it doesn’t take much for them to upset the vibe between everyone else.
There are three parts to a night cruise. There’s the departure; everyone in good spirits high in everyday conversation and only needing the mix to send of a solid vibe to set the tone for the entire journey without being too weighed down not to allow it to slip off into the ether. The settling in; this is where the music works more as a guide, both for conversations and for emotions. I usually use this part of the mix to bring up songs that we haven’t heard in a while, songs that we may normal be “too cool” for but given the right opportunity with a couple good friends they can be great tracks to sing along with. And then the third being the introspective part of the drive where conversations become more personal and where you have the unique chance to take a look inside yourself as a collective. The third part also being where at least one person inevitably falls asleep. When looking back on past nights out it’s amazing how much the bond as friends becomes strengthened and on more occassions than i can count how many crushes and friendships have moved on to something more tangible all from the right songs and where you end up sitting along the way.
Although this mix could feasably be something i would immedietely burn up and take out tonight it’s also only a guideline. an example of a good way to go about planning a night journey through the country. Hopefully a few of these songs will make it onto your own mix before heading out with friends.
Dodge has done so much for this city i hope people are starting to realize it, thanks for another great show mokb!
