Music You'd Better Listen To

Butterfly Bones - Ur Hott

Myspace / Twitter / (via Hot Biscuits)

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See? I told you so. Here’s that wonderful little ditty of electro-pop I promised you on Monday. Better late than never, I suppose?

Today has been so satisfying, though I surprisingly had very little soundtrack going on. Listened to some more Blue Scholars and stuff, but I think I only clocked in about 30 minutes of music, in spite of being at the office for roughly 12 hours.

Yeah, that’s me. The guy who stays late because he’s grappling with a problem and wants to see it through. Though it can work in the other way, too: I don’t tend to get much done in the last half-hour or hour of work unless I’m already working on something big… I just don’t want to get sucked in when I should be going!

This is exactly the stuff I like to listen to when I work, or think, or write. It’s catchy, easy to groove to, but not overbearing. The times have definitely changed since those “good ol’ days” when I used to unwind by listening to some Papa Roach / Alexisonfire / Taking Back Sunday / Thrice / Bad Religion / Dead Kennedys / etc.

Yeah, I used to be a punk/emo/screamo kid. What’cha gonna do about it? It eased me into who I am today. Which is fucking awesome. Because I’m fucking awesome. Deal with it.

(You’re fucking awesome, too. Seriously, thanks for reading!)

Blue Scholars - Motion Movement

Website / Myspace / iTunes

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We interrupt this should-be-a-Hot-Biscuits-track (especially after the two-day delay… had some friends in town, and Tuesday was a biiiiiiiiiiiig day) for some Blue Scholars.

I’ve been exploring these guys’ catalogue for the past week or so… ever since I heard about the revolutionary news that a label signed to them (and not the other way around), I had a couple of words with their manager (and an acquaintance from my Just For Laughs days) David, and a friend of mine recommended them to me.

I’ve been liking their stuff — the beats are way stronger than I expect from most independent hip hop, and the rapper’s flow is often hypnotic. And then Motion Movement just jumped out at me today, while listening to their self-titled 2005 album.

What an anthemic chorus. “The roof is on fire. What’s your solution?”

Now, I could bitch about a personal issue that that question fits with, but I won’t. Let’s just say that it resonated with me, and with an email I sent in the earlier part of today.

Dent May And His Magnificent Ukulele - Meet Me In The Garden

Website / Myspace / iTunes

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So I just went through a bit of dilemma: should I post this track, or another one that is equally awesome and wayyyy newer (I first heard this in late Spring, and the newer thing is today). But then I decided: let Kyle enjoy his first day of posting it on Hot Biscuits, and imply that you should go there and listen to the music he posts. Then I get to post it tomorrow.

I was driving to this girl’s house to deliver something… I can’t even remember what it was, but it was semi-important. Oh well… when I *really* fell in love with this track. Maybe it has to do with the minor crush I’ve been harbouring on her for a few months. Maybe it’s because this song reminds me of how I feel about crushes past. Or maybe it’s because this song is just plain awesome.

Listen to that instrumentation… the weird percussion especially, the thing that sounds like a wheel from Wheel of Fortune or something spinning. I wish I knew what instrument that was.

Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - Loop Duplicate My Heart

Website / Myspace / iTunes

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When I first found this song, and I mean REALLY listened to it, I was in a group transport van that took me from the Denver, CO airport to Vail, CO. It was actually the same night that I really found Sufjan Stevens, but more on that later (maybe).

Weird that a “winter” song for me is actually a summer jam.

Maybe it’s the synth-y guitar line that gets me? It reminds of the Talespin game for the NES every time I hear it.

Hell, maybe it’s just that I was listening to this song as Spring was springing in Toronto. Regardless, it’s a really nice, happy song.

Is it really so? So many interesting effects I wanna try… I wanna try them all on you!

I met this girl on the bus back from my buddy’s place tonight. She was pretty cool. I actually thought she was flirting with me until she started talking about her boyfriend/husband-to-be (they’re getting married this week).

I guess it really is true that women being friendly is taken as an advance (by us guys)…

The Beach Boys - Wouldn’t It Be Nice

Website / Myspace / iTunes

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Too cliché? Maybe. But I don’t care.

Oh man, Beach Boys. I used to *love* them as a kid, and completely forgot about the group between the ages of 4 and about 17 or 18. For serious. That’s 14-ish years of not listening to one of the more underrated-yet-still-famous bands of pop history.

I went to the beach today with family. Is it any wonder why this jumped out at me from my summer jams section?

When I was first in Chicago, I picked up an amazing LP for a dollar or two at a tent at the Pitchfork Music Festival. It was this hilarious German release of the Beach Boys 40 Greatest Hits. I play it more than any other record I own.

Ben Harper - Burn One Down (iamxl remix)

Website (Ben) / Myspace (Ben) / iTunes (Ben) / Website (iamxl) / Myspace (iamxl)

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I’ll say this right now: when I started this blog, I in no way thought I would ever post any Ben Harper. In fact, quite the opposite.

A friend of mine (Elliott) introduced me to Burn One Down wayyyyyy back when, before I started cutting the chaff of my music collection. And, as a kid in the middle of high school just starting to delve into the lighter regions of rock (I was previously all about punk), I’m not gonna lie: this song definitely helped me in my movement to what I like to pretentiously think of as a superior music taste.

It by no means exemplified it, though. And a year or two later, I saw myself cutting all the Harper from my collection.

And yet, when Dani Deahl posted this remix earlier on her blog, it took me back to that summer ages ago, when acoustic guitar, some hippy-strange lyrics, and maybe some bongos meant greatness. And yet, it’s been updated with this disco beat and more of an African dance-y drumline.

Funny that that’s all my old tastes need to be relevant again.

This song’s definitely gonna burn one down for me this summer. And there’s only a month left.

And now I’m just sitting here as the guitars fade away…

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Me And Mia

Website / Myspace / iTunes

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You know I’ve written enough when I’m starting to search through my old posts to make sure I haven’t posted this song before.

This jam starts the summer for me. For serious.

There’s some other Ted Leo tracks I prefer (and will probably post soon enough), like Biomusicology, The Angel’s Share, and Counting Down The Hours. In fact, Counting Down The Hours was on another CD I played in my mom’s car way too much (if you’re confused, see yesterday).

The power in Me And Mia is how amazing it is for an opening track.

Even the nights they could get beeeetter. And even the days ain’t all that baaaaad!

When I put this on, it’s at the beginning of something. Maybe I’m going for a walk and putting on the album. Maybe I just sat down to do some web-surfing/reading. Hell, maybe I’m in the shower.

Me And Mia has been there for so many beginnings; it’s become my favourite pump-up song. Even more so than Pump It Up.

Rilo Kiley - Portions For Foxes

Website / Myspace / iTunes

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Ahhhhh yeah. I thought I missed deadline last night. But the gods be smiling down upon me for summer jams week.

I used to date a girl who was super-into Rilo Kiley. I actually got her the album this track is from on my big roadtrip, from Montreal to Chicago and back again in 8 days a couple of years ago. Though I had heard the song before.

Any time I hear Portions For Foxes, I get taken back to the open road. The first time I listened to it, it was on a random drive from my place to Ottawa, then to the Laurentians (the mountains about an hour or so North of Montreal), then back home.

Well, I shouldn’t say random. My brother had called me, since he missed my parents and me while he was in camp, and I decided to go visit him since my parents were out of town. So I hopped into the car with my neighbour and then-best friend, and we hit the road… even though I told my parents I wouldn’t do this type of drive (a belated sorry?).

I left the CD my buddy burned with this on it in the car for a few months afterward, and this became my summer anthem of… it was probably 2005? That might make sense.

We obviously put it onto the Montreal —> Chicago CDs. We filled 40-odd CDs with music, totally randomized, and just hit the road. It was way better than iPod DJing it the whole way — mindless, but well-prepared and selected. And I brought along papers detailing the track list of each CD, and an index of where to find each artists and song.

And, to keep with the tradition, I put this track on when I drove with my brother from Idaho to Chicago. Of course.

Harvey Danger - Carlotta Valdez

Website / Myspace / iTunes

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I really hope I didn’t miss deadline, though I might have… if I did, I guess I’ll self-host a file. And then my “throngs” of readers might kill my bandwidth.

I know what you’re saying right now: “Aidan, WTF? You’re putting on a summer jam by Harvey Danger and you neglected to put on Flagpole Sitta?”

Yes. Yes I did. As much as I love Flagpole Sitta, this track has that amazing opportunity to belt out the chorus with a little gruff-ness on the “Carlotta Vaaaaaaldez” parts!

Also, it’s based on the movie Vertigo. Which is, surprisingly, the only ultra-famous Hitchcock movie I haven’t seen yet. And I hear it’s worth it. Is it? I mean, I know the “vertigo effect” has become famous (the simultaneous moving back or forward of the camera with an alternate zoom — out if you’re moving the camera in; if you’re moving the camera out). But how’s the film?

Miike Snow - Animal (Punks Jump Up Remix)

Myspace (Miike) / iTunes (Miike) / Myspace (Punks) / iTunes (Punks)

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I don’t even know what happened last night. Chalk this past week up to hecticness and me being all over the place. I’m back on my webgame, so you shouldn’t have to miss me anymore.

Turning back to an “oldie” (what, like, earlier this summer and I already almost forgot about this track?) but greatie, I’ve got the Punks Jump Up remix of Miike Snow’s Animal today. And while these guys are definitely not newcomers to the electro scene (they did a great remix of Yelle’s À Cause des Garçons last year), I prefer this version to those put out by some heavyhitters like Treasure Fingers, Crookers, and Fake Blood.

There’s something to be said about the throbby-sound and upbeat, somewhat high-pitched progression that makes this song a great summer jam, but there’s got to be more. Now’s one of those times I wish I learned more about major/minor scales (I know that Majors are the happy ones and Minors are the sad ones, that’s about it), so I could discuss this a little more intelligently.

You know what? I just made an executive decision. In honour of this track (and I almost spelled honour without the u. That’s what happens when I spend my summer in the States?), this week is gonna be summer jams week. There’s really only the rest of this month to get your summer jams in, and I’m going to post some of my faves.

I actually used to put on great summer/afternoon/sunny-day jams for my office-mates, and as much as they’d roll their eyes about my tendency to do so, I’m pretty sure they enjoyed them. And I can say that with some sense of certainty: one of them asked me to transfer him some of my music ‘cuz he liked it.

So there you have it, folks. Summer jams week has begun.