Just So You Know

This blog died when Lala.com died. It was not a coincidence. Without a plausible way to stream my song of the day for free, I was left with the yawntastic prospect of simply writing about music. Who wants to read that? Go to Pitchfork or Stereogum if that's your thing. I blame Apple. Yes, the computer company. Apple bought Lala.com and then shut it down. Thanks, guys!

Anyway, I have a new blog that's not really about music. It's actually kind of about technology right now. It will morph into other things as my interests shift, and that's kind of the point. Check it out if you're interested.

The Radio Dept. - Heaven's On Fire

Enjoy.

Heaven's On Fire - The Radio D...

Zero

I keep coming back to this song today. We'll take that as a sign.

Enjoy.

Zero - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Piano Fire

I've been listening to my iTunes library on shuffle for the last few hours. "Piano Fire" by Sparklehorse just came on. This is the first Sparklehorse song I ever heard, and I've been in love with them ever since.

Enjoy. RIP Mark Linkous.

Piano Fire - Sparklehorse

Tremé

I don't know if you keep up with TV at all, but unless you've sworn it off completely for the last 10 years, I'm sure you've heard of the now-defunct HBO series The Wire. Well David Simon, the creator of The Wire, has just begun a new series on HBO called Tremé, set in the New Orleans neighborhood of the same name in the months directly following Hurricane Katrina. The third episode of the series airs tonight, and I've got to tell you, the show is fantastic. Even if you don't know anything about New Orleans, the acting, story, and music are enough to keep you coming back.

And, since this is a music blog, it's the latter I want to focus on tonight. The highlight of the first episode of Tremé, at least to me, was when the radio DJ character Davis plays an amazing Dixieland jazz song by Louis Prima, "Buona Sera," over a montage of various characters and scenes from the city. Respect to David Simon for letting the song play in its entirety.

I know this isn't pop music, but we're not philistines here. Besides, you've got to hear this song.

Enjoy. And watch Tremé.

Buona Sera - Louis Prima

Swim

My computer has been "in the shop" for most of this week. I won't bore you with the details, suffice it to say that what was once a slow and dying relic is now a fine piece of finished finery.

UPGRADES!

Even if I'd had the old relic in hand, this week would have been just as uneventful. The only sounds coming from my speakers for the last 4 days have been those of The National's May 11th release High Violet. I can't post any of that here yet, at least not legally, but you can stream the album in its entirety by clicking right here. This might be the album of the year, folks. At the very least, it's everything I wanted it to be, which doesn't happen very often.

I did manage to pull myself away from Matt Berninger's dulcid tones today long enough to check out Caribou's newest release Swim.

Here's the thing. I don't normally care for dance/electro/house music. I grew up on a steady diet of guitar rock. I don't stray easily from that formula. Radiohead's Kid A was probably my first major departure, but even that only had one true "dance" track on it, and who doesn't like "Idioteque?" Caribou's last record Andorra was a brilliant tribute to the psychedelic pop/rock of the 1960's, so you can imagine my surprise when I turned on the first track of Swim and heard "Odessa" for the first time. It's straight up house music.

And even more surprising is that I liked it. A lot. Caribou just has a way of pulling you into his songs regardless of the genre. And although each Caribou record to date has been focused around a different genre, the identity of the artist has never once been lost in the mix, so that you're not listening to a psych pop record or a 70's rock record or a dance/house record, but a Caribou record. I really don't know of any other way to put it.

So, for your listening pleasure, here's "Odessa," the first track from Caribou's new album Swim. Enjoy.

Odessa - Caribou

We Grew Up In Spite of It

You knew it was going to happen eventually. It will probably happen again. Sufjan Stevens, y'all.

Enjoy.

Romulus - Sufjan Stevens