Charlie Likes Music

I’ve sort of been enjoying making ze playlists lately, so I’m going to roll with it.

Up here now is a list that’s a little more focused – a bit more of a coherent sound rather than a smattering of things I like. I just realized I was listening to two songs that refrained “I don’t mind…” and decided to make a playlist that would use them as bookends. There’s a lot of new 2010 stuff, but also a few older tracks from albums that have been in the rotation lately.

I think I’m going to have to dedicate a whole other post to Wild Nothing, though. I’m really digging Gemini and the EP Evertide. Definitely my favorite new band of 2010 to this point.

Enjoy!

1. Stars – Wasted Daylight
2. The New Pornographers – The Moves
3. The Gaslight Anthem – Old White Lincoln
4. The Morning Benders – Cold War
5. Broken Social Scene – Sentimental X’s
6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Dull Life
7. The Black Keys - Tighten Up
8. The National – Anyone’s Ghost
9. Modest Mouse – 3rd Planet
10. Jens Lekman – Your Arms Around Me
11. Wild Nothing – Bored Games
12. Tame Impala – I Don’t Really Mind

Here it is. viagra

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It’s been a while since my last post on here. For a long time that’s because all I was listening to was my last blog share. That LCD Soundsystem album is just phenomenal in every way. I’m still not done playing it out, but I have started getting into some other stuff as well. Rather than going album-by-album or band-by-band, I figured I’d throw it all out there in a playlist.

I spent my commute on the red line last week mixing and matching this list with an On The Go playlist. It’s got a pretty crazy range of material – from the innocent euphoria of Me and Jane Doe to the devastating refrain in the last 45 seconds of Not In Love. It’s mostly danceable stuff with about 10 minutes for reflection thrown in with tracks 5-7. It’s got attitude (don’t fucking tell me what to do…) and desperate pleas (I need to know you’re out there…). It all begins with the first song, which has sort of become an anthem of mine this Spring. It sets the table pretty well. And, of course, how can it end with anything but LCD? Take me home, Mr. Murphy. (Interesting side note about that track – the leak had it named “What You Need”, and I played it about 20 times before I figured out its real name was “Home”. It definitely re-frames the song a bit. I like it.) “If you’re afraid of what you need, look around you, you’re surrounded, it won’t get any better… until the night.”

I’ve exported an HTML track listing and a .m3u to make it easy to drop into whatever you listen with. Enjoy!

TRACKLIST
1. Pictureplane – Transparent Now (Thin Veil)
2. Robyn – Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do
3. Guido – Beautiful Complication
4. Balkan Beat Box – War Again (RJD2 Mix)
5. Broken Social Scene – Sweetest Kill
6. Charlotte Gainsbourg – Me And Jane Doe
7. Phoenix – Lost And Found
8. The Raveonettes – Love In A Trashcan
9/10. Sleigh Bells – Rill Rill / Crown On The Ground
11. Flying Lotus – …And The World Laughs With You (feat. Thom Yorke)
12/13. Crystal Castles – Pap Smear / Not In Love
14/15. Avalanches – Live At Dominoes / Extra Kings
16. LCD Soundsystem – Home

The link!

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Is there a better name for an album than “This is Happening”? Look at that cover art. It’s such perfect LCD. There’s a lot of great music in the pipe this year it seems, but I’m not sure I’m as psyched for any of it as much as this album. James Murphy has said it will be the group’s last, which is sort of like reading the last book in a long fantasy series. You want to get to the ending, but after that it’s all over (sadface).

But when you listen to “Dance Yourself Clean”, you can’t help but be excited. It’s one of two songs that have recently leaked from the new LP. Every track on the album is apparently really long, and “Dance” clocks in at 9 minutes, not even really picking up until about 3 minutes in. But every second is necessary. I haven’t enjoyed a song this much on first listen in a long time, and I’m liking it more each time I play it (about 6 times today). I’m also throwing “I Can Change” up here, a rare showcase of Murphy’s pretty-damn-good voice.

LCD is back. I’m giddy.

[update - drip, drop let me know if you want in]

[update 2 - this album is an instant classic. i am just blown away right now.]

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I’m heading out to drum and bass tonight if my friends ever get here *shakes fist*. Until then, I will make blog posts. Check out the video for Delorean’s new single, “Stay Close”. I think the best description of Delorean is house music with a straight sunlight injection. This is what club music would sound like if it was made to be played in the middle of a sunny field. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s definitely summer music. The video reinforces this. Dolphins and swimming and lots and lots of color! Check it out.

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It’s not quite summer yet. We all want it to be, but it’s not. I just turned the heat on again in my apartment, but I’m making up for it by dancing around to The Golden Filter’s debut album, Völuspá. I see many sunroof/windows open rides in the sun with this music blasting in my future – with “Hide Me” especially. Expect to hear it coming from the robot at the Den next party as well.

The two tracks here (“Solid Gold” and “Hide Me”) are both singles and available to the general public already. Take a listen to both and try to keep your hips from moving in your chair. The synth solo towards the end of “Solid Gold” is irresistible.

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I’ve been meaning to put up this post for a few weeks. My friend Aneliya got me on the Local Natives bandwagon way back when, and the more I listen the more enthralled I become. The album is called Gorilla Manor, which is apparently what the house was called where all the band members lived (like Jaguar Den!). They have a sound that’s equal parts Fleet Foxes beauty and harmonies, Shearwater epicness, and early-EP Voxtrot youthful exuberance. It’s a potent combination of influences that sounds thoroughly original. This is probably the best true-blue indie rock album I’ve listened to since Frightened Rabbit’s The Midnight Organ Fight took over my soul in 2008.

The album has tons of terrific tracks, but the one I’ve connected with the most is the sweeping epic “Stranger Things”. The song trucks along with its happy, upbeat rhythm and soaring harmonies. They shift gears around 2:00 with a preview of what’s to come before picking it up again until about the 3:40 mark where, with startling abruptness, they rein it all back in and all you’re left with just that voice and the quiet piano. It’s a shift that hits like a ton of bricks. “Endure the thoughts of… / And start where you love” is followed by the entrance of the woozy guitar riff that seems to perfectly counter-balance and strengthen the vulnerability in the vocals. From there, the song builds to a climax (really a climax for the whole album – listen to it in context), and when it ends with “I’ve learned to smile / Without a bearing / At least I know I’ve / Seen stranger things…”, you really believe it. It’s a song about new experiences and growing into wisdom, a song that reflects the themes of the album as a whole. It’s just beautiful, it gets me every time.

Listen to “Stranger Things” below, and give the entire album a listen when you get the chance – you won’t regret it. Other notable tracks include “Wide Eyes”, “Sun Hands”, “Airplanes”, an excellent cover of the Talking Heads classic “Warning Sign”, and the epic “Who Knows, Who Cares”. I’m excited about these guys, they’re going to be fun to listen to for a long time.

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This year is shaping up to be pretty incredible. The first quarter has certainly brought us several really stellar albums, and from the looks of it the year is only going to get better. I’ve got a couple singles here off of forthcoming albums from Caribou and Here We Go Magic.

Luke Templeton recorded the self-titled Here We Go Magic album by himself last year, and has been relentlessly touring it ever since. It was one of my favorite albums of 2009 and I got to catch the band with Grizzly Bear last Spring. They’ve expanded their sound a bit with the whole band on the recording this time around. If this single, entitled “Collector”, is indicative of the album, then these guys might be ready to make the leap, and only a year or so after debuting. For the Bostonians, HWGM is going to be back in Boston twice in the near future, once with Los Campesinos! at the Paradise, a show that I have some extra tickets for! (Check out the events page.)

Caribou is a band I’ve always liked and never loved. Well, I love this new single (“Odessa”). For some reason I’m connecting with it better than anything off Andorra, an album I enjoyed. The new album, Swim, is due out in the Spring like seemingly every other album in existence.

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The new Frightened Rabbit album has found its way to the internets. I’m not going to say it’s awesome, but it’s awesome. Admittedly, I’m a little biased because I have a huge soft spot for this band. One of the only acts I’ve seen multiple times, there’s just something about the raw emotion of their music that I really connect with. I don’t think the new album isn’t quite the album its predecessor was, but it’s still really solid. I’ve already plugged the advance single from the album, “Swim Until You Can’t See Land”, and that’s worth a listen if you haven’t. Below is the current single, “Nothing Like You”.

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Broken Social Scene is back! Their new forthcoming LP Forgiveness Rock Record (due out May 4th) features most of the names that graced the previous self-titled album, but they’ve apparently switched producers. Regardless, it doesn’t sound like they’ve missed a bit. Below is the first single from the album, entitled “World Sick”. It’s classic BSS right up until they reign it in at the end.

Stream is below, or you can download the mp3 from the band’s website: http://www.brokensocialscene.ca/

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I’ve had a little time now to digest the new Hot Chip album and I think the hype is pretty warranted. The music is the Hot Chip you’re used to, but with a few more tricks up their sleeves (even some liberal auto-tuning!) The album gets a little bogged down towards the end with some quieter tracks that are good in their own right, but don’t really capitalize on the energy generated by the first half of the album. Specifically, the early trio of Hand Me Down Your Love, I Feel Better, and One Life Stand could really burn up a dance floor. I’ve thrown up I Feel Better and Hand Me Down Your Love for your sampling pleasure.

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