All Girl Summer Fun Band - Jason Lee

Have you ever sat around and thought, wow, I really wish there was a cute and sugary song about falling in love with Jason Lee. I bet this person has. But there's a chance they're already too busy listening to that one Jack Johnson song that sounds like that other Jack Johnson song that sounds like every other Jack Johnson song.

So if you scour google images for that one Jason Lee picture you might be missing in your collection or if you're like me and you take your Jason Lee periodically in small to medium sized doses, you'll probably like this song. Actually even if you could care less about the guy I think you'll still enjoy it.

All Girl Summer Fun Band - Jason Lee

"I couldn't sleep last night, I turned on the TV,
it was one of those late-night talk shows.
And sitting there with Carson D. slagging MTV
was Jason Lee, doing kick flips in my dreams, Jason Lee.
I never realized how much you are just like me.
I used to skateboard, but I wasn't very good
We both like obscure music, and we're both 33.
Jason Lee, doing one-nine-oh degrees, Jason Lee
(they say) Never fall in love with a celebrity
it's just weird and it's wrong, except with you and me
I don't care what they say, this was meant to be
Take me to your movie premier, wearing cheap clothes, smuggling beer
I don't care for Hollywood, but I'd kiss you if I could
Jason Lee, doing kick flips in my dreams, Jason Lee"

Now one thing that many people don't know about is before he became Brodie Bruce (Mallrats) , Bank Edwards (Chasing Amy) and most famous of all, Earl Hickey, Jason Lee was a professional skateboarder. Here's an old video of his previous life-



And speaking of the obscure music line, I did a little research, and the guy knows his stuff. His 12 "Must-Own" records are:

1) Cocteau Twins: Blue Bell Knoll (1988)
"When I was 18 (1988) my girlfriend gave me this CD for my birthday. She was way ahead of the curve when it came to music. I wasn't. It's still my favorite album of all time."

2) Midlake: Bamnan and Silvercork (2004)
"A five-piece band from Denton, Texas, that makes incredibly amazing music. There hasn't been a week since I've had the CD that I haven't listened to it, and I got over a year ago."

3) Nick Drake: Bryter Layter (1970)
"A genius, a real genius. It's sad to think that with how good he was, and for so long, it would take a VW commercial, of all things, to bring him to the public eye."

4) Miles Davis: A Kind of Blue (1959)
"Like a great, classic film. And as with great, classic films, all you want to do is watch them over & over."

5) Explosions In The Sky: The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place (2003)
"Another Texas band. Triumphant, classical-like compositions that would make the likes of Beethoven proud."

6) Interpol: Turn On The Bright Lights (2002)
"When this came out, being the skeptical dude that I am when it comes to 'what's hot." I didn't bite. A long time later, I bought it. Am I happy that I did? Absolutely."

7) Beck: Sea Change (2002)
"I don't want to label this one as just a great road-trip album, but it has that quality, especially " ' The Golden Age.' "

8 ) Bob Dylan: Desire (1976)
"Speaking of great road-trip albums, this is a great piece of music to listen to while driving somewhere through the desert on a hot summer day...with the windows rolled down."

9) Radiohead: Kid A (2000)
"As much as I like OK Computer, Kid A grew on me the way no other Radiohead album had."

10) Grandaddy: The Sophtware Slump (2000)
"The opening track, 'He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot,' absolutely blew my mind when I first heard it. It was from this track that my wife, Beth, came up with the name Pilot for our son."

11) Sigur Ros: Agaetis Byrjun (2001)
"The singer plays the guitar with a bow & sings in a way that you'd think he was female. A beautiful & very unique sound."

12) Bjork: Vespertine (2001)
"It's very simply a perfect album from start to finish, and one that somehow makes me envious. I mean, how can one be that good?"

Yeah, I can see how Jason Lee can be crushworthy. However, that whole scientologist thing can be a turn-off. Plus, he's going to be playing Dave in the upcoming CGI "Alvin and the Chipmunks" movie...doesn't that make you feel kinda awkward? But whatever Jason, no matter what questionable career moves you make, you'll still kick flip within my dreams! (He was pretty badass in "Vanilla Sky.")

All Girl Summer Fun Band -2 @Amazon.com

Guided by Voices - Game of Pricks

This could be my favorite Guided by Voices song. It's so hard to say, as they're masters of the fleeting yet brilliant lo-fi pop song. "Game of Pricks" clocks in at 2:15. It's from their 1995 album Alien Lanes, and depending on who you ask, you'll typically hear that it's their second best, or best release. In the cases of it being second, Bee Thousand is always what tops the list. That album's name actually comes from a mispelling of "Beethoven's 2nd" at a drive-in theater. Probably the best thing to come of of that movie.

Guided by Voices - Game of Pricks

"I've waited too long to have you
Hide in the back of me
I've cheated so long I wonder
How you keep track of me

You could never be strong
You can only be free
And I never asked for the truth
But you owe that to me

I've entered the game of pricks
With knives in the back of me
Can't call you or on you no more
When they're attacking me

I'll climb up on the house
Weep to water the trees
And when you come calling me down
I'll put on my disease

You could never be strong
You can only be free
And I never asked for the truth
But you owe that to me
And I never asked for the truth
But you owe that to me
And I never asked for the truth
But you owe that to me"

On the meaning of the song, Robert has said

"It had to do with dealing with people who I didnt think were being straight-up with me, and that's . . . that's the game of pricks. Turns out I was totally paranoid - it's not as bad as I thought it was". Oh and by "pricks" it's a reference to how not realizing whether something is true or a lie "pricks away at you." You see...it's not like that.

Now a live in-store performance of the song from 2002. Watch at 2:00 for the guitarist's sunglasses falling back down on his face in cue with the song's end. Impressive. I'm liking the mic chord spin at 1:03 as well-



Guided by Voices - Alien Lanes @Amazon.com

Architecture in Helsinki - Like It or Not

Here's a brand new Architecture in Helsinki song, "Like It or Not" from their upcoming record Places Like This. It comes out on September 7th, and is their first full length release on Polyvinyl Records.

The song is a tad different than their sound on their previous record In Case We Die. For one the male vocals are noticably louder and actually belted out, a stark contrast to his previous singing voice which barely rose above a whisper. You could also say it's a little less twee than before, as the instruments sound as they're with more force and vigour. Each clearly make their presence known and never does one seem displaced within the mix. Though there's these various differences in their sound, one thing that remains consistent is the catchiness and danceability.

Architecture in Helsinki - Like It or Not






To the left is a huge scan of the new album's cover art. Very nice. Looks like it would be a cool thing to have on vinyl.

The Olivia Tremor Control - Hideway

Okay, okay, so I've already made an entry about this song, but this current post will be far from a rehash. Besides, it's not like the mp3 links in that post work correctly anyways. The place where I used to host my files suddenly changed their individual upload limit from 10 megs to 2 megs, making any file I've previously uploaded only play for 10- 30 seconds. Lame.

So in that entry I've already expressed how much I love the song. It's one of my top 10 ever actually. One thing though that's perplexing is what the song is actually called. I referred to it as "Hideaway," however on the actual Black Foliage booklet it says "Hideway." Now in any other case I'd just admit to making an error, but on the OTC mp3 page on Elephant Six website, the song is "Hideaway." Which one is it? To balance it out I guess I'll have one entry for each.

A thing I didn't mention about the song in the last entry is that the acoustic guitar on it is played by Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes and the Late B.P. Helium (Brian Poole/ Brian Helium.) Another fun fact is that by the end of the song 10 acoustic guitars are playing simultaneously. As the song progresses, two guitars are added at a time to the mix. It's a subtle change, something that you wouldn't even notice without knowing before hand, but if you listen closely, you can definitely tell when guitars are added.

The Olivia Tremor Control - Hideway

"Don't hideaway, hideaway from your imagery
Don't hideaway, hideaway from all your daydreams
(or your nightmares)

What is to fear when surrounded in apathy
When putting down words is just like pulling teeth away

And I know some kind of rain will fall
But it can't rain everyday

Don't hideaway, hideaway from your intricacies
and don't hideaway, hideaway from all your obliques
(it's all out there)

There's no need to fear all those things in your histories
When putting down words is like putting things away

So long seku, goodbye wren"

The album this song comes from, Black Foliage: Animation Music, the second of the Olivia Tremor Control's only two albums has one of the most interesting concepts of any record I own. From the album's linear notes:

"The ideas as Black Foliage began was to take a section of the guitar line from Black Foliage (now called itself) and make a set of animated departures stemming from that bass guitar melody, twisting it to many variations". It goes on to state that elements of songs were reconstructed and sampled to use into the subsequent songs, with an example of track 1's vocals being reworked into the second track, with that reworking them being modified again to fit into track 3. The album continues on like this until the end. It's a really fascinating listen, incredibly different from their previous album Dusk at Cubist Castle in structure. That base album was recorded on a mere 4-track, and after its completion was further edited by the Elephant Six Orchestra, which featured Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum and Julian Koster, as well as Robert Schneider of the Apples in Stereo. It's really fantastic.

Lastly I noticed that my Best Of The Olivia Tremor Control mix from the previous post is still working, so for that, go here. It features some of the best pop songs the band has ever written, some that in my opinion are good enough to be held in the same stature as those from the original British invasion (+ the Beach Boys.) But go buy the actual records of course. They're both modern day classics.

The Olivia Tremor Control - Music From the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle @ Amazon.com

The Olivia Tremor Control - Black Foliage: Animation Music @ Amazon.com

Bright Eyes + Gillian Welch - Lua

First off, this picture is not mine. It's from this blog, and isn't even from the show I went to last night in Boston, but one last week in Columbus. I just wanted to give the due credit before getting started on this entry.

Now, Bright Eyes. I'd previously seen Bright Eyes twice- the first time in February 2004 at Lupo's in Providence RI. M. Ward and Jim James of My Morning Jacket also played that show. The setlist mostly consisted of songs from Lifted Or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground and early versions of future I'm Wide Awake It's Morning tracks. The second was in August 2005 at the Newport Folk Festival, and was heavy I'm Wide Awake It's Morning based. Now in May 2007, the show is completely different. As it was in support of the new album Cassadaga, songs from it made up a good amount of the setlist, 50% to be exact. I'm not crazy about the record (and doubt I ever will be) but he played some of the songs that I really like on it ("Make a Plan to Love Me" and "Four Winds.") The stage setup was much more elaborate than my previous Bright Eyes shows, where besides lighting there was no performance enhancing technology present. This time there was a huge projection screen which a crew member controlled what it showed live during the show. For example at times he scribbled on it with markers, showed pictures, finger painted, played with the Cassadaga cover art and etc. There were of course pre-recorded backgrounds aired too during particular songs. Additionally the stage was adorned with dozens of fake flowers as well as all the band members being dressed completely in white. The stage was packed, with 20+ people playing instruments at times. There was a string sextet, 2 (female) drummers, as well as trumpet, bass, mandolin, violin, steel guitar, and keyboard as well. Here's the full setlist-

Clairaudients (Kill or Be Killed)
Hot Knives
Make A Plan To Love Me
Four Winds
First Day Of My Life
Middleman
No One Would Riot For Less
The Calendar Hung Itself
Gold Mine Gutted
Cleanse Song
Soul Singer In A Session Band
I Believe In Symmetry

A Man Named Truth
Lua
Look At Miss Ohio
Road To Joy

Highlights were "The Calendar Hung Itself," "First Day of My Life," "Lua," and "Road to Joy." I was estatic to hear "The Calendar Hung Itself," by far the oldest song in the setlist (from 2000's Fevers and Mirrors) and it sounded fantastic with a full band and the pulsing dual drum section. "First Day of My Life" was a different arrangement than the version on I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and was an intersting surprise to hear. It seemed like the majority of attendees were unsure to which song it was before the first lyric. "Lua" was inarguably the highlight of the night. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings joined a lone Conor onstage to perform a version of the song that could rival the album version. Here's an mp3 of this version from the May 2nd performance at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in CA.

Bright Eyes & Gillian Welch - Lua

"Well, I know that it is freezing
But I think we'll have to walk
Keep waving at the taxis
They keep turning their lights off
But Julie knows a party
At some actor's West Side loft
Supplies are endless in the evening
By the morning they'll be gone

When everything is lonely
I can be my own best friend
Get a coffee and the paper
Have my own conversations
With the sidewalk and the pigeons
And my window reflection
The mask I polish in the evening
By the morning looks like shit

And I know you have a heavy heart
I can feel it when we kiss
And many men stronger than me
Have thrown their backs out trying to lift it
But me, I'm not a gamble
You can count on me to split
The love I sell you in the evening
By the morning won't exist

You're looking skinny like a model
With your eyes all painted black
Keep going to the bathroom
Always say you'll be right back
Well, it takes one to know one, kid
I think you've got it bad
But what's so easy in the evening
By the morning's such a drag

I've got a flask inside my pocket
We can share it on the train
And if you promise to stay conscious
I will try and do the same
Yeah, we might die from medication
But we sure killed all the pain
But what was normal in the evening
By the morning seems insane

And I'm not sure what the trouble was
That started all of this
The reasons all have run away
But the feeling never did
It's not something I would recommend
But it is one way to live
Because what is simple in the moonlight
By the morning never is

Yeah, it was simple in the moonlight
Now it's so complicated
It was so simple in the moonlight
So simple in the moonlight
So simple in the moonlight"

Now the closer, Road to Joy was perhaps the most intense ending to a set that I've ever witnessed. Conor didn't even wait for the "Let's fuck it up boys, MAKE SOME NOISE" cue for the musical dissonance and proceeded to aggressively untune his guitar and rip off several of the strings. The flower setup was then torn to pieces and thrown into the audience as well as drum sticks and maracas. By the end I think I counted 25 people on stage doing their best to break the Beethoven melody into eventual and complete cacophony that lasted for a good five minutes. Drum sets were toppled, acoustic guitar...smashed and stepped through. A flower pot was thrown onto a keyboard to continue the noise long after the majority of the band left the stage. A sole saxaphone player remained who stood on top of a box about 8 feet tall, screeching through the notes until he was finally pulled down and the lights were turned on.

The openers, Oakley Hall and Gillian Welch both were excellent. There was never a moment where you sat just wishing they would hurry on up and get to the headliner. Conor even came out during the last Oakley Hall song to play maracas.

Now here's two videos of Lua, the first a live version with Gillian and the second the normal music video.





Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning @ Amazon.com

The Jesus and Mary Chain - All Things Must Pass

Oh what's this? A brand-new Jesus and Mary Chain song? Wowza.

This song made its way into a few of their recent setlists, most notably during their headlining slot at Coachella. More recently they played this song on Tuesday night's David Letterman, where this mp3 comes from. Sorry to disappoint if you were expecting a studio version. However I tweaked the levels a bit from the HDTV source rip and it sounds excellent. For the song itself, I'm pleasantly surprised. Of course it's no "Some Candy Talking," but when to take in consideration that we're still in the earliest stages of the reunion and that we already have new material, I'm very happy. Things are looking up for their planned new record.

The Jesus and Mary Chain - All Things Must Pass

Here's the performance itself-


The Jesus and Mary Chain @ Amazon.com

Slowdive - Machine Gun

Shoegaze. That term and My Bloody Valentine go hand in hand nowadays. However there's much more that genre has to offer than just Loveless. To name a few there's Galaxie 500, Spaceman 3, Spiritualized, Ride, and this here band, Slowdive. Though Loveless is obviously considered the shoegaze masterpiece, the Slowdive album Souvlaki would come in a close second.
There's some moments on this record even that I find superior to the Loveless behemoth, "Machine Gun" in particular. This song has such an asphyxiating quality to it... while listening your head begins to feel lighter and your body seems to slow down. Correspondingly, the lyrics have several references to drowning and being pulled under water. The way the song is produced gives you this sensation of being completely overcome, something that mirrors the descriptions of helpless and both physical and emotional engulfing in the lyrics. I feel this song would be perfect for a slow motion cinematic death scene, tragic in nature but beautiful in execution. This song is really something.

Slowdive - Machine Gun

"See you walking and I know shes my friend, again
Just the weight of the water drags me down, again
Guess I'll think of the water its my friend, oh yeah
It's just the way that the water makes me feel again

Son of sheba I saw him drown
Son of yellow I saw him drown
It's all I need, yeah"

A live performance-


Slowdive- Souvlaki @ Amazon.com