A Music Blog for Recovering Mix-Tapers
A good cover honors the original and puts a new spin on it. A great cover can make you completely reevaluate an original (no matter how mediocre) by seizing the kernel of genius within and spinning it into something barely recognizable.
Featuring: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Moondog, Neneh Cherry, Tinariwen, and more.
Read MoreFully ambivalent to whatever is de rigueur, Steve tends to fall deeply for an artist or group of artists and listen to them a lot.
Featuring: White Denim, Zemfira, Metallica, and more.
Read MoreWhen trying to fulfill a New Year's resolution, it helps mightily if you've chosen to nudge yourself in the direction of something pleasurable, rather than trying to force yourself on an odious task. With one of my two musical resolutions in mind, I've been spending some time checking out Bandcamp as a resource for new music, and it's been pretty rewarding, turning me on to this incredible collection and more.
Featuring: Asaf Avidan, El Rego, Martin Carthy, Sharon Jones, and more.
Read MoreAs I alluded to in my December mix, I'm engaged in a prolonged wrestling match with Best of 2013 lists and all of the great music I missed. Here's my swing at making my own list, in which I've simply gone through all twelve of my monthly lists and plucked out the stuff that I remember particularly enjoying.
I've been kind of surprised that Jim James' Regions of Light and Sound of God hasn't shown up on any of the lists I've seen. It's easily one of my favorites of the year, if not my number one. Most of the music on this is from 2013, but I've included Chavela Vargas because she was a new discovery for me, and one that made a deep impression. Also, she fits well with the plethora of women making great music in 2013. It's my experience that this is kind of a golden age for great music made by women, in almost every genre. With that in mind I've rounded out my best-of list with one track each from each of this year's Guest Lists, five of which are from ladies in 2013.
I've been thinking about some "musical resolutions" for 2014, and I've come up with a few, including: exploring Soundcloud and Bandcamp as ways to discover new music that is not on Spotify, and listening to more new rap music. I'll let you know as more come to me, and feel free to share yours, too.
Happy New Year to everyone! And here's to great listening in 2014.
Bassekou Kouyate + Ngoni ba – Sinaly
Courtney Barnett – History Eraser
Chris Thile – Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001: IV. Presto
Arctic Monkeys – Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?
Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – BAD DANCER
David Byrne & St. Vincent – Who - from Gabe Lyon
Laura Mvula – She - from Jon Martin
April Verch – Edward in the Treetop, Yellow Jacket, Quit That Tickling Me - from Dave Fox
Regina Spektor – You've Got Time - from Helean Lee
Savages – She Will - from Colby Starck
Flans – No Controles - from Ingrid Esparza
Tom Tom Club – Genius Of Love - from Karen Mikki Brown
Gabe and I completed our Tennessee Tour 2013 this month with a few days in Memphis, a city whose musical culture, both past and present, is a gift that keeps on giving.
Featuring: Amy Lavere, Quadron, Wiley, Ry Cooder, and more.
Read Morehttp://open.spotify.com/user/alopecoid/playlist/7gsq0bMP5ZO9DJc2AAOZc9 With everyone busying themselves with all this holiday business, this month's Guest List duties fell to Yours Truly. So, I'm pulling one from the rainy day vault. This playlist was made on the fly earlier this year hanging out with Gabe one night, using random words she suggested as prompts for songs. Below are the actual words she suggested. Enjoy.
Snake Elephant Jellyfish Wolf Crackers Cherry Pie Cactus Bricks Rope Mars Lightning Biscuits Love
For me, this month essentially began and ended with Ry Cooder. I've fallen in love with albums of his before, especially the stellar I, Flathead, but the enormity of his genius, the sheer amount of time he's been making great music, escaped me until I started sifting through his catalogue (which goes back to 1970) this month.
Featuring: Cate le Bon, Arcade Fire, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and more.
Read MoreLast week I had the privilege of visiting my friend Johnny Suh's music appreciation class at Linblom High School and playing some music for them. The opportunity to blather on about music for 45 minutes to a group of people who have to listen and can't leave the room is a dream come true for me.
Featuring: Tanya Morgan, U2, Linda Thompson, Pygmies of the Ituri Rainforest, and more.
Read More"While I am a music & vinyl junkie, it’s been a loooong while since I’ve put together a proper mixtape. I always preferred the Maxell XLII 90 as my tape of choice. Please be sure to flip it over after 45 minutes, and don’t forget to be kind & rewind the tape before passing it on to somebody else, or leaving it in your glove box."
Featuring: Roy Ayers, Funkadelic, Savages, and more.
Read MoreA couple weeks ago I had the distinct pleasure of DJing a birthday party at an outdoor pool in Jupiter, FL for my friend Griffin, who turned four.
Featuring: Johnny Otis, Nirvana, STRFKR, NRBQ, and more.
Read MoreIf you ever find yourself needing several hours of music to play at an outdoor pool while a gang of four year-olds romp and moms take turns plunging off the high dive while dads stuff their faces with delicious BBQ, here's a good place to start. spotify:user:alopecoid:playlist:1rr9nCKynyuyTE8piv3Orm
I used to rely on the library heavily for new music, checking out CDs regularly from the public library and hitting the music section of my college library hard for four solid years. Without thinking about it too much, that habit tapered off into nothing long ago. A few weeks ago, though, I found myself killing some time in the music section of the Harold Washington Library downtown, and wandered into the world music CD section.
Featuring: Lucius, Cam'ron, Moderat, Eleanor Friedberger, and more.
Read More"One, this was hard. I just really love music, so whittling down this list was harder than changing a tire without a jack or tire iron. I’m one of those weird people who forms emotional connections to music and can’t live without it."
Featuring: Daft Punk, The Dramatics, Fleetwood Mac, and more.
Read MoreThe Pitchfork festival was this month, and was my second year of going - but only for one day this time. It was especially fun because I got to take Gabe to her first outdoor music festival. There are more details about what we saw below, but I walked away with a general impression - younger artists need to step it up.
Featuring: Kobo Town, Mikal Cronin, Bjork, Tyler Ramsey, and more.
Read More"I realize that I’ve spent a good portion of my time in California bitching a whole bunch, which may be why I’m losing the hair on my head and gaining it in my ears/nose and on my back. "
Featuring: CeCe Peniston, Matthew Dear, Jackson Browne, and more.
Read MoreThis, well... This is what happens when you're messing around on Spotify searching for "Bosnian." It's stuff like this that makes me really love Spotify.
Featuring: Percy Mayfield, Alpine, Queens of the Stone Age, and more.
Read More"I’ve been making music since the 1950’s, when I was a boy soprano in Miss Acevedo’s choir in the East Lansing, Michigan public schools. I’ve been making music for pay since the 1960’s, when I played in a jug band as a teenager in Madison, Wisconsin. My choices are retro, but that’s just who I am."
Featuring: Junior Wells, Fairport Convention, Vusi Mahlasela, and more.
Read MoreI've never been a big fan of Vampire Weekend, although it always seemed to me like I should. But I love this new record.
Featuring: Death, Huey Lewis and the News, K-Os, Rick James, and more.
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