The Sad Bear

December 6, 2010

#033

A weekly sampler of what we're listening to (new and old), and what we think you might like, too.

{LISTEN TO THEM ALL}

JACK:
Song: "Friends of P."
Artist: The Rentals

Sadly, this might be the best thing any member of Weezer (current, or now, in the case of Matt Sharp, former) has produced since Pinkerton. And it came out in 1996.

Either way, I'm down with P. Return of the Rentals is such a fucking gem. I think we can all concede that he was the backbone of Weezer. Rivers can sit on it, especially without his high harmonies in the background of the early songs.

Shoulda been you, Matt. Shoulda been you!

TONY:
Song: "Inoculate the Innocuous"
Artist: The Unicorns

I can't vouch for every moment of this song, but I love the opening and I've been exploring Unicorns and the related work of Islands -- all ushered into my world by one Nick Laffey, of Des Moines, while in Minneapolis.

CHASE:
Song: "Killa Bees"
Artist: Wu-Tang Killa Bees (RZA, U-God, Inspectah Deck, Suga Bang Bang, and Blue Raspberry)

ECON:
Song: "Dust Cloud"
Artist: Bear In Heaven

EVAN:
Song: "I Saw The Light"
Artist: Spoon

Transference is really, really growing on me, as is Spoon's overall aesthetic. They're so overtly catchy and simple, but the strange and subtle details - hitting certain notes and hooks on off beats, "wrong" tones and sounds, unusual imagery (even Biblical at times), etc. - make immense differences and set them apart. Britt Daniel is really something special among pop songwriters.

MARK:
Song: "Power"
Artist: Kanye West

Some ambition for Silliman. It's not my favorite song on the album, but, short of posting "Runaway", this video best reflects what Kanye's trying to do on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

I have a kind of running comparison between Kanye's Fantasy and The Age of Adz running through my head and no time to really sort them out. The short version: both express personal suffering in overtly epic ways, but while Sufjan is self-conscious about it, Kanye is not. Kanye West actually seems to think that his problems are equal to or a result or a symbol of the sins of the Western world. More on that another time.

Labels: mid-week mixes, music

by JHitts at 10:30 AM |