Jim Noir Ships and Clouds - Not content resting on his laurels from selling sundries (at least he didn't have to sing "Hello Goodbye"), Noir returns with more psychadelic twee pop. God bless him.
The Guillemots Cockateels - I love love love this album! Cockateels is a tune so different from anything else being put out right now, it's polished pop with a world music feel. I dare say it reminds me of Go West's "King of Wishful Thinking" (yes, I just died a little.).
Has anything in recent memory made you want a gin & tonic more than this commercial? I'd always written off The Cinematic Orchestra, a second look is obviously in order. They obviously share my love of the cheesy love song, and now I share it with you.
Here's a nifty little monthly feature I like to call List/En "podcasts". Why the quotation marks? Well... a podcast is technically 1 episode, while these mixes are separated into tracks (however, they are mixed together). To avoid any legal issues, I'm not going to post track/artist names. Also, these mixes will (more than likely) not fit on a single CD. They are in apple's lossless format, so you'll need itunes to listen to them in the least (or convert them to the file type of your choosing - honestly - I'm not doing all the work).
After you download said .rar file to your computer, you'll need winrar to unpack it.
In itunes, you'll need to create a new playlist (might I suggest List/En March 2008?) and then drag the files into itunes, which will then do all the work you lazy, lazy bastards.
Everybody who knows me, knows one truth about me when it comes to music. I fucking love a good cheesy love song. The schmaltzier the better. I like em simple, sentimental and it should drag out for years.
The other night, while watching Law & Order (seriously, I need a 12-step program), Jack McCoy's consternation was interrupted by a Volvo S80 commercial. It's a pretty unremarkable ad, a pretty lady walking around a Volvo trying unsuccessfully to make said Volvo sexy. They could cover the S80 in horny Latin men and the car would still seem sterile, but what drew me to pay attention was a lovely ballad underscoring the whole ordeal.
A few minutes later, and I discovered the world of Melpo Mene; a Swede with a knack for lilting melody. His music is very pretty and uncomplicated, the emotions expressed aren't overwrought or even particularly sexy. But, damn, did he get my attention.
One of the topics I'd like to discuss on this site is food, wine and all variables in-between.
As I type this, I'm enjoying the wonderful Mano A Mano, a Spanish table red from La Mancha. It's very inky with a light sweetness and lots of ripe briar-y fruit... a nice cocktailing wine especially with the bottle only $11. Coincidentally, it goes well with this nifty little ditty by Yoav.
The world was a different place the last time Portishead put out an album of new material; Tony Blair was newly-elected Prime Minister, we were still forcing out laughs watching Seinfeld, and Britney Spears was just a glimmer in Lou Perlman’s pedophilic eye. They’ve always been musical refugees, but where once there was a fair amount of xenophobia has been replaced by world-weeriness. Third is not your older brothers’ trip hop, but full fledged psychedelia and experimental folk.
More of a cousin to Beth Gibbons & Rustin’ Man’s album than Dummy or Portishead, simple acoustic guitar mingles with theramin and electronic flourishes. It’s beautiful and difficult at the same time, the ex we don’t really care to forget. Also, like many of my exes, (lyrically) Beth Gibbons is still playing the victim all hallem foe and dandelion blow. God I love her.
The album is light on pop singles. There is no Sour Times or Only You, however moments like The Rip linger. Rating: B
