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

Happy Record Store Day

Today was Record Store Day. I came away with some major swag, though none of it was specific to the occasion. The only exclusive release I was interested in was already sold out by the time I arrived. Ah well. I still spent the day listening to some of my favorite albums on vinyl for the first time, which is always nice.

In other news, I discovered Jón “Jónsi” Þór Birgisson's solo album Go tonight. In addition to what you'd expect from a solo album by the front man for Sigur Rós (the word bombast comes to mind), about half of the tracks are pretty much Sigur Rós does disco, which is oddly enjoyable. To show you what I mean, take a listen to the first track off the album, "Go Do." As always, enjoy.

Go do - Jónsi

Black and White Horse

Beach House has been in regular rotation for the last few weeks. Here's why.

Enjoy.

Zebra - Beach House

The Tallest Man On Earth

There's a new album out by The Tallest Man On Earth called The Wild Hunt. It's really good. Sure, there are obvious comparisons to Bob Dylan to be made, but that's not what we're about here. Besides, I love Bob Dylan.

Tonight's song is the seventh track from this album "Love is All." Enjoy.

Love Is All - The Tallest Man ...

Forgive My Absence

I've been sick. I haven't done anything the last 3 days except lay in bed and watch The Wire. There are worse ways to spend your time, but it helps not to have an unending river of mucus pouring from your nose and eyeballs.

I was able to get out of the house this afternoon and go grocery shopping. The first song that played on my iPod when I started up the car was "She's the One" by Caribou. I haven't listened to Andorra in quite a while, and honestly, I wasn't crazy about it back then. Now I can't imagine what it is I didn't like. It's accessible. It's interesting. It's fun to listen to. It's...well, it's just good.

Check out "She's the One" on the PM Playlist to your right. Then go obtain a copy of Andorra and check that out, too.

Sweet Marie...

...there's a hole where your heart should be

Sweet Marie - The Anniversary

An Argyle Sweater And A Smile

My girlfriend is addicted to The National's Alligator. I know the feeling. In honor of this awesome, and kind of hot turn of events, tonight's song is one of my favorites from that particular record. Enjoy.

Baby We’ll Be Fine - The Natio...