I'm a boss king

This song is from a band I've already posted but its just so different from the last one I posted that I just had to. The song is "Boss King" by Blitzen Trapper. It is a little deceiving in its composition.

The song starts out with this classic guitar part mixed with harmonica that I'm such a sucker for. And as I said with my last post about Blitzen Trapper they rely heavily on that Beck-like sound of experimental alt-rock. It especially screams Beck around the 1-minute mark. It just has the Guero sound-heavy on the tambourine and bass drum to make this Mexi-Cali sound. It also has that all over the place sound that just really works for them. Its a head-banger, its folk rock, its all experimental. Enjoy!

"Boss King" by Blitzen Trapper from Cool Love #1 (2007)

(Sorry very anti-climactic, I had to link it from Last.Fm not from YouTube, tomorrow I promise)

-S

Just a sci-fi kid like you

Just about to leave for my mid-April hiatus and I thought I should try and get in at least one last post. I'm going to try and write 2 posts or something and have them auto-publish themselves. Anyway the song is called "Sci-Fi Kid" by Blitzen Trapper.

As the song first comes on you're not really sure what you've gotten yourself in to. But it progresses quickly in to an up-beat indie pop song. It has a little bit of influence coming from Beck (especially in the lo-fi vocal recordings and the guitar). The song tends to be a little repetitive and lacking in the lyrics but it really does have something that keeps you hooked. I think that thing keeping me involved in the slight smell of techno somewhere in the song and then the full on techno break at the end. It's so synth heavy you think its "Crimson and Clover" being smashed into an MGMT song (large hadron collider style-awwww yeaaahhhh).

Enjoy the song and I'll catch up with you all-maybe I'll be lucky enough to stumble upon some more music on my forray in to the college scene.

"Sci-Fi Kid" by Blitzen Trapper from Wild Mountain Nation (2007)

-S

Another place, another name, another sleepless night

The equation: Charlotte Gainsbourg and Beck's "Heaven Can Wait" + Alex Turner's (of the Arctic Monkeys) + A Smokey Jazz Club + Scotland + Chicago (the musical, not the band)= Codeine Velvet Club's "Vanity Kills. In reality the singer is actually a duet between Lou Hickey and Jon Lawler (of the Fratellis). The song is super catchy with its kind of hypnotic backing vocals and then entices you with the accents and the showtune-esque melody.

Codeine Velvet Club is new to the music scene but founder Jon Lawler has a pretty established music career with the Fratellis (not one of my favorite bands, although "Whistle For The Choir" is decent-the cuteness factor is off the chart, kinda made me gag not unlike "Hey There Delilah," both continue to be guilty pleasures...). All in all the song makes a pretty big statement for this new Lawler project.

Don't really have much more to say about Codeine Velvet Club other than from what I've heard/seen so far they are a pretty classy band (see: "Hollywood"). I will not be surprised if these guys hit it big in the next year. Look out for them!

"Vanity Kills" by Codeine Velvet Club from Codeine Velvet Club (2009)

"Hollywood" by Codeine Velvet Club from Codeine Velvet Club (2009)

-S

My heart just skipped a beat

So as I was doing just a little poking around for my last post about Charlotte Gainsbourg and Beck's new song "Heaven Can Wait" I stumbled upon another fantastic song.

To back-track a little and be a bit more specific, I was looking in to the duet that Lou Reed/Mo Tucker had going on "I'm Sticking With You", the Velvet Underground song (I won't lie, while I am a big VU fan, I heard this particular song first in Juno, I'm a wee-bit embarrassed) What I managed to find through the majesty of the world wide interwebs was another cover of "I'm Sticking With You" done by one of my all time favorite bands, The Decemberists. In this version Colin Meloy/Jenny Conolee duet for a version which, in my humble opinion, rivals the original. Needless to say, the lyrics are cute, far from a masterpiece, but the song is good.

"I'm Sticking With You" by The Decemberists from Always the Bridesmaid: Volume II (2008)

— S

Runs in the family

I took a class called American Literature and Nature this year which focused on American writers who took on the topic of the "Great Outdoors," writers like Henry David Thoreau and William Faulkner.

However that is not what this post is about, it's about a field trip that we took to a mountain in our area (mid-winter mind you) and we also stopped at a little cafe/bookstore/record shop for lunch. While there I talked to my teacher about music (turns out we have a pretty similar taste...she's going to see Pavement in September, I'm exceedingly jealous). One of the musicians we talked about was Serge Gainsbourg (he's great in his own right, listen to "Bonnie and Clyde" with Brigette Bardot). The conversation turned to his daughter Charlotte and her new album IRM produced by Beck (whom I love anyway, Odelay was phenomenal). I ended up just downloading the whole album as soon as I got home and stumbled upon "Heaven Can Wait" a duet she did with Beck.

Led by a punchy piano/drum part the combo of their voices is really what I've been looking for recently (after going on a VU bender and falling in love with Mo Tucker's vocals paired with Lou Reed on "I'm Sticking With You"). Without further adieu, enjoy...

"Heaven Can Wait" — Charlotte Gainsbourg and Beck from IRM (2009)

— S