The Sad Bear

February 4, 2011

#035

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: "LET'S BUILD A HOME"
Artist: THE WHITE STRIPES

Their break-up shook me a bit more than I expected despite the fact that they haven't put out a justifiably brilliant record since Elephant. Hence my selection this week. (That badass version of this from Conan has been taken down by the NBC fun police. Sorry.) Anyway, this is maybe the one band I would've killed to see live. It feels weird to write "R.I.P." since they're not physically dead or anything, but still.

TONY:
Song: "'JED'S OTHER POEM' (BEAUTIFUL GROUND)"
Artist: GRANDADDY

Discovered this song, mostly because of its video, back in Koon Dorm during sophomore year. Then I lost it. Then I got turned on to Grandaddy. Then a week back I was wondering what happened to that "old computer music video," and I was humming it and thinking about it and started to realize that it might be by Grandaddy, and it was.

CHASE:
Song: "EVERYDAY"
Artist: ROGUE WAVE

When I first found this cover, I didn't expect I'd like it much. I was wrong. It made it on a couple of mixed tapes I've really been into.

ECON:
Song: "TIGHTEN UP"
Artist: ARCHIE BELL AND THE DRELLS

KYLE:
Song: "YULIA"
Artist: WOLF PARADE

Not a very inspired pick, I know. We've been over and over Wolf Parade. However, it inspired a new thought in me this week: whatever happened to the space craze? Sure, we "beat those Reds" and landed on the moon. Hurray for us. But how is it possible that the craze stops there? Is it over? Mission accomplished, let's go home? It's space! I know NASA is still buzzing around up there, but it seems to have lost steam in the public consciousness. Anyway, that's one thing I appreciate about this song (and Dan Boekner in particular). This song seems to think space is still interesting and worthy of metaphor, and I agree. Incidentally, check out the comments to the video. Who are these people?! Yeah, Dante, the whole hell thing...that was a hoax too...certifiably.

DUNN:
Song: "HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF"
Artist: DURAN DURAN

I have a high fever, just finished lecturing, and now have to write a letter of recommendation for myself. Maybe my choice will not make sense later.

OATESS:
Song: "SPEAKING IN TONGUES"
Artist: EAGLES OF DEATH METAL

I watched this shortly before arriving at Hillsdale. I learned it is OK shortly thereafter.

EVAN:
Song: "MARRY ME"
Artist: ST. VINCENT

Can't really stand the studio version, but this live version is stunning and moving.

MARK:
Song: "BAY OF PIGS"
Artist: DESTROYER

At the end of December I happened to see on the Club Congress website that Destroyer was coming January 4. I had fairly recently checked their upcoming shows and not seen the show listed, so it was a very pleasant surprise. That sent me on a big Destroyer kick. On January 4 I discovered that they had wrongly listed the site, and the show was actually on March 23. No matter. I haven't stopped listening to Destroyer since.

This was the title track on an EP he put out a year or so ago. I remember listening to it when it came out and being bored. Then I saw that "Bay of Pigs" was going to be the closing track on Kaputt. So I went back and listened again and found it was actually incredible.

That buzzing synth at like 4 1/2 minutes got me jazzed, and then I wondered why it never came back. But that pulsing beat stays, and the airy whatchmacallit sound. I love the ambiance of the whole track, and I love the pop song that breaks out seven and a half minutes in. The lyrics are, of course, weird and inscrutable and picturesque. The following lines make me laugh: "So now I live well / I live in the mind / I'm still slinging mud in the towers all the time / I took a walk / and threw up in an English garden / nun da da ha da dum ha dum..." and so forth.

I gather this is the album version. The background singers who show up just after the ten-minute-mark aren't on the EP version. Also the EP closes with two extra minutes of ambient sound to match the opening. Other than that the two versions seem pretty much identical.


GUEST CONTRIBUTOR:K.R. McEneely
K.R. is a grad student at the University of Illinois, where she is studying library science. She went to Hillsdale College before that, and now she lives in Chicago and likes to make stuff and read stuff.

Song: "GENERATOR 2ND FLOOR"
Artist: FREELANCE WHALES

I was originally going to go with some good yellin’ music, but there’s something aggressively whimsical about Freelance Whales, something I can’t resist (something that may make you, dear reader, want to punch them in the face). Maybe it’s the harmonium.

Anyway, “Generator Second Floor” doesn’t have the best lyrics on the album, but it’s a great mix of macabre and carefree noises. It’s a little insidious, a little perky, and kind of sad (if you actually watch the music video, feel free to call it creepy). It’s perfect for the bus or for multitasking. And if your dog is anything like mine, he will hate it.

Labels: mid-week mixes, music

by JHitts at 9:00 PM |