It's Just A Matter Of Time Before Everybody Wants Some

Bucci Bag "More Lemonade (Scissor Sisters mix)" - This is for those of you who prefer the Scissor Sisters when they are more house/disco than glam rock. This is a great, cheesy bit of Italian disco - it's kinda obvious, but that's part of what makes it so fun, especially when Jake Shears is singing "baby, baby" in his faux-Bee Gees falsetto. Lemonade (or more accurately, limonata) is Italian slang for "making out" or "shagging," which should give you a better idea of the song's context.

Control Machete "Asi Son Mis Dias (Remix)" - I have to apologize for today's entry - I'm busy doing about ten other things today, and so my writing here is consequentially going to be very weak. I've done myself no favors by posting this song, which I really don't have anything to say about other than "I like it a lot." Control Machete are a hip hop group from Mexico, and this selection is from their 2002 album Solo Para Fanaticos.

 
I Hate To Think About It

Freddy Wilson "Where Is She?" - File under: I Can't Belive It's Not James Brown. This melancholy slow burner is from the b-side of Wilson's 1972 "Promise Land" 7" on the Eastbound label, by way of the Downtown Soulville 2003 marathon premium cd Mr. Fine Wine's Detroit Soul.

Hush "Ghetto Mantra" - Though not quite "more Bollywood material!" as requested in yesterday's comments, this sitar-heavy hip hop track should satisfy those interested in bhangra/rap crossovers. As far as I can tell, this is only available as a UK white label, and on the Urbanstars Vol. 2 compilation.

The Fiery Furnaces 3/26/04 North Six, Brooklyn

I'm going to put this all here in this entry, so I don't knock things off the front page prematurely.

Setlist: I Lost My Dog / Broke Mind --> Spaniolated --> Single / South Is Only A Home --> Quay Cur (only the first section) --> Bow Wow --> Inspector Blancheflower (only middle section) --> Don't Dance Her Down / Inca Rag/Name Game / Up In The North / Worry Worry / I'm Gonna Run --> Leaky Tunnel --> Blueberry Boat (only middle section) --> Asthma Attack / Crystal Clear / Tropical Ice-Land // Two Fat Feet (Matt & Eleanor only) / Bright Blue Tie (Matt & Eleanor only) / Chris Michaels / Rub Alcohol Blues (Matt & Eleanor only)

Reviews of the show can be found on A Face In The Crowd, Clap Clap and Freezing To Death In The Nuclear Bunker. The latter has a scan of the setlist too, so you can see how that matches up with the proper running order as listed above.

It was a pretty amazing show, and much better than the last time I saw them at the Mercury Lounge. I will write about this in detail later on.

 
We Are Your Friends

Justice Vs. Simian "Never Be Alone" - This is a (fairly drastic) remix of a song by the British band Simian - the only thing in this mix which is from the original is the vocal from the chorus. The remix is a bit like Daft Punk with one of those nu-garage rock guys singing over the top - think "The Vine Bondies Go To The Disco."

Bollywood Freaks "Don't Stop Til You Get To Bollywood" - I don't know too much about the artist, but this is a Bollywood cover/remix of Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough," and it is from a limited edition 7" from the UK. It's an incredibly euphoric piece of music, and it will be perfect for your next Joycore Dance Party.

 
Her Booty's Got A Rise

Shame 69 "No Business" - This could be the ultimate hipster novelty record - a cover of LCD Soundsystem's "Losing My Edge" by a mysterious band on a split promo 10" with Negativland featuring all-new lyrics full of nasty anti-record industry bile and slanderous slams on Gary Glitter. Shifting the point of view of the lyrics from that of a seen-it-all fan to the ranting of a bitter British record exec makes the song seem about ten times more desperate and sad, but I suppose that's exactly the point.

Iggy Pop w/ Feedom and Peaches "Motor Inn (Felix Da Housekatt remix)" - This puts the Iggy/Peaches collaboration on Fatherfucker to shame - it sounds relentless, menacing, sleazey, and crazed whereas "Kick It" was just kinda cute. "Motor Inn" brings the scuzz, and it's much better for it. The original mix of this song appears on Iggy's most recent album, Skull Ring.

Elsewhere: Please say hello to Nit-Pick, the newest kid on the MP3 blog block.

 
I Can Taste The Sweetness On The Tip Of My Tongue

The Ark "Echo Chamber" - Long before The Darkness brought glam rock back to VH1's regular rotation, there was The Ark, a flamboyant Swedish pop band which has been doing this since around the same time this sort of music fell out of fashion back in 1991. "Echo Chamber" was the lead single from the band's 2000 album We Are The Ark, and has more than enough pomp and bombast to fill out a half dozen Spacehog albums.

As noted in the comments, this song was performed by WFMU station manager Ken Freedman during the annual Hoof And Mouth Sinfonia, which is when WFMU DJs get to perform the song of their choice with a band made up of WFMU staffers and friends. Other highlights of this year's show include Pseu Braun's "U Got The Look," Megan Murphy's "Kool Thing," Irwin Chusid's modified "Hot Cakes and Sausage," and Tom Scharpling's larynx-shredding version of "Paradise City."

I should also send a shout out to Scott Williams, who is repsonsible for introducing me to this Ark song in the first place.

The Strike Boys w/ EMO "I Am A Witness" - There is nothing emo about this; that's just the name of the Danish reggae artist (they exist!) that The Strike Boys are collaborating with on this track. The song is a nice blend of house and dub, and has a pleasant late summer feeling to it. This is taken from the new LP Playtime on the Stereo Deluxe label.

Elsewhere: Moebius Rex has converted his livejournal to the mp3 blog format. There's some nice stuff up right now, but if you're only going to get one thing, I'd suggest trying out the Irving song.

Also: Tickets for a new Scissor Sisters show at the Bowery Ballroom on May 22 will go on sale tomorrow on the Ticketweb website. I'm definitely going. If you're going too, let me know, maybe we can meet up. Also there's some good news for non-NYC Scissor Sisters fans - the band will be touring major cities in the US in June and July before the album is domestically released on July 27th. (Thank you, Eppy!)

 
The Best Blueberries In The US Of A

The Fiery Furnaces "Blueberry Boat" - If someone is going to put out an album in 2004 that I will love more than the Fiery Furnaces' forthcoming Blueberry Boat, then it's going to have to a pretty miraculous record.

Blueberry Boat is a very challenging album to say the least. Five of its thirteen songs are eight minutes or longer, and many of the smaller songs fit together as suites; so the album feels very overwhelming at first before you learn to navigate its twists and turns. Your time is most certainly rewarded, because once you adapt to its internal logic and narrative style, Blueberry Boat reveals itself to be just as tuneful and ingratiating as its more accessable predecessor, Gallowsbird's Bark.

The Fiery Furnaces seem primarily interested in musical storytelling on this record. They mostly abandon verse-chorus-verse structure in favor of letting the music shift with their narrative, so the songs fall somewhere between prog and musical theatre in terms of style and composition. The title track is a fine example of the band at their most ambitious, as it tells the story of a first time captain's doomed voyage to Hong Kong to deliver the "best blueberries in the US of A." There are other more immediately loveable songs on the album, but "Blueberry Boat" is the best example of the record's epic, cinematic scope and will give you a good idea of what to expect of it as a whole.

The Tiki Two "Caravan" - If you were into the Red Astaire song from a few weeks ago or the Avalanches' Since I Left You album, this should probably do the trick. The Tiki Two transform Ella Fitzgerald's "Caravan" into a groovy island paradise dance number, which should be perfect for your next luau. This song is a bit hard to come by - only 500 white label 45s were made, and it hasn't yet been released in any other format.

 
You Better Wake Up

Bibson & Xuman "Kay Jel Ma" - This is taken from the Trikont compilation Africa Raps, which is a remarkable sampler of hip hop from Senegal, Gambia, and Mali. It's a peculiar thing to hear Africans putting their own spin on an African American form rather than the reverse - African producers borrowing from the production styles of DJ Premier, Dr. Dre, Timbaland, and Swiss Beatz seems to bring something full circle, though I'm not quite sure what that may be. I recommend hearing the full record - Bibson & Xuman's Rawkus/DJ Premier-ish style is only one part of a bigger picture that the compilation presents. If you have any interest in how hip hop translates into other cultures, this record is a must-have.

Also: The WFMU 2004 marathon is almost over, and if you still haven't gotten around to pledging yet, please do so as soon as you can! A perfect opportunity to do so will be during Gaylord Fields' program on Saturday evening from 6 to 8 PM EST, when he will be joined by guest host Tom Scharpling and Yo La Tengo, who will play any song you request if you pledge at least $100. The annual Yo La Tengo covers show during the marathon is always a lot of fun and full of surprises, so be sure to tune in because these performances are never archived on the site.

I'll be answering phones at the station tomorrow morning from 9 am to noon, so you could always call in then and I will personally take your pledge!

 
You Want To Avoid The Inevitable, So You Do The Impossible

Klonhertz "Three Girl Rhumba" - Klonhertz are nice people, because it seems that they made this cover of the Wire classic not so much for their own artistic expression, but to solve a problem for DJs everywhere. The original Wire recording of "Three Girl Rhumba" has one of the best riffs ever (Elastica and Pavement would agree, I'm sure), but it just wasn't fast or long enough to really fit into a good DJ set. Klonhertz sample the guitar part, extend the song, add stronger beats for the dancefloor, and even found the world's best Colin Newman impersonator to re-sing the whole thing almost exactly as it sounds on Pink Flag. Seriously, you could fool lots of people into thinking that this is just a straight remix of Wire.

The Bad Plus "Velouria" - Here's another cover version for you today, but this isn't nearly as faithful to the original arrangement. The Bad Plus transform the Pixies song into an unlikely jazz number, but without resorting to loungey kitsch. The song starts out as a mournful ballad with rattling percussion, then kicks into a more upbeat section, and concludes with the plaintive piano melody being crushed by a veritable avalanche of cacophonous cymbal crashes. It's a very inspired take on the song.

 
Rainbow Is Not My Favorite Color

Cocorosie "Butterscotch" - This song, and the rest of the album from which it is taken, La Maison de Mon Reve, is one of the strangest and most beautiful things that I've heard in a long time. The record sounds a bit like field recordings of early 20th century folk, blues, and gospel music, but with peculiar modern touches such as toy sound effects, unconventional vocal overdubs, and lyrics about Skittles.

Cocorosie is a duo of American sisters who reunited after years of separation to record this album (due out in April on Touch & Go, by the way) in an apartment in Paris. Both of the girls are blessed with amazingly beautiful, impossibly sexy singing voices and a gift for writing weird, brilliant lyrics. One of the finest moments of "Butterscotch" is when one of the girls intones "you remind me of baseball, towtrucks, and movies" close to the microphone, so that if you're listening on headphones it feels as though she's singing right into your ear. It melts my heart every time I hear it.

I highly recommend checking out the full album, especially if you like Cat Power, but feel that she's not eccentric enough for you.

Katerine "8eme Ciel" - It's just a coincidence that I'm posting so much music from France this week, I swear. I don't have much to say about this groovy modern lounge number, aside from that I love the melody and the shifts in percussion throughout the song. There's some excellent keyboard sounds all over this, especially that whirring sound around the two minute mark.

Elsewhere: Said The Gramophone has a brand new Wilco song. Sit through the first two minutes of mumbly quiet stuff, because the instrumental section totally makes up for the fact that the beginning sounds like Dave Pirner doing an Elliott Smith song on the piano.

Also: If you can, please check out the special episode of Arrested Development on tonight after American Idol at 9:30 on Fox. If you ask me, the show is (along with Strangers With Candy and The Office) the best sitcom of all time. However, the show is still finding its audience, and is struggling in the ratings. All Fox needs is a sign that the show is getting more popular, so please, watch the show and if you like it, tell your friends and write about it online. If you're new to the show and get the FX Network, you can catch a special marathon of the first six episodes from 2PM-5PM on this coming Sunday. Tonight's episode features a number of guest stars, including Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, James Lipton, SNL/UCB cast member Amy Poehler, and Henry Winkler; but the real draw is the top-notch regular cast which includes Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Tony Hale, David Cross, Portia de Rossi, Jessica Walter, Jeffrey Tambor, Alia Shawkat, and Michael Cera (who just may be the best young teen actor I've ever seen.)

 
How Far, How Wide?

Sia "Breathe Me (Four Tet mix)" - This is one of the best things I've ever heard from Four Tet - it's all spare layered percussion, bass, and vibes with vaguely Fiona Apple-ish vocals. It's a nice fresh take on post-trip hop downbeat pop, and quite an improvement on the Dido-gone-indie album arrangement. So far, this Four Tet mix is only available as a 10" white label in the UK.

Scarce "All Sideways" - Unlike 99.9% of all bands who ape the Pixies, Scarce got it right, or at least they did on this song. The charm of the Pixies wasn't just about loud/soft dynamics, or Kim Deal's rolling basslines. That's the easy stuff. To really get that Pixies sound, you need a male singer who sounds absolutely batshit insane, and compliment that with background vocals from a woman who sounds just a little too calm and self-assured - maybe the subtext is that she will soothe/save the damaged protagonist, or perhaps it's a Charlie Brown thing and he's being victimized by this dominating, ultimately indifferent woman - take your pick. Scarce's singer Chick Graning was a bit over the top, but in a good way - there's something about his shrieking and warbling falsetto that is very compelling even if it seems contrived and exaggerated. I appreciate his sense of melodrama, I really do.

"All Sideways" is taken from the band's only major label album Deadsexy, which was released with little fanfare back in 1995. I'd want to say that they were a one-hit wonder, but that's not even true - the video for "All Sideways" was on 120 Minutes once, twice tops, and that was it. I loved the song immediately, but was (and still am, I checked) unimpressed by the record. If you're still interested in checking it out, I'm sure that if you scour enough cut-out bins and used record stores, you'll find it for dirt cheap.