It's been a rough week... therefore today I Shamelessly proffer a minimum of blog work by riding the glittery coattails of the lovely Monica's great and uplifting, summer flower festooned post (below) and fire back with my own favorite La Blogotheque episode. also, I shall include this picture what was done by Ghostco. It's pretty nice.
La Blogotheque's Take Away Shows - where the bands sing a capella, impromptu, in the most random of places (subways, streets, apartments) - are beautiful. The bands are revealed pared down, bare; the vibe becomes both communal and DIY. Yeasayer themselves exemplify that concept; I have no trouble taking their psychadeli-primitive-electronic grooves seriously. Their lyrics are earnest, their sounds heartfelt and their live shows: a spiritual release for some, a dance-punk-style party for others.
They seem meant for a Take Away Show - even the "Yeah yeah, we can all grab at the chance and be handsome farmers!" verse of "2080" calls to mind drink-raising coupled with cathartic yells of truths manifested in song. Considering the linked article above was written by someone who didn't like the band at all, you should be convinced they were incredible: "However, two hours after, we left an apartment at Jourdain, exalted, light-headed, convinced that we lived one of the craziest, most free sessions of all the Take away shows... with a band I didn’t like."
Even if you didn't like Yeasayer before, please watch them laugh mid-song as they slide down staircases, tap out beats on the floor and ceiling, and sing with their whole being[s]. I posted the second half of the show, 2080 and Tightrope, because of its resonance and the feeling it gives you while watching it. You want to be there drinking and singing along.
Summer draws closer and, in the nick of time, Beach House's new album, Devotion, presents itself as even more beautiful than its predecessor. Home Again sounds like a waltz on a breezy, seashell-encrusted seashore (preferably on the west coast, because the beaches have cliffs and bluffs over there). Victoria Legrand's voice echoes like an aquatic ghost trailing liquidy satin through the whole song. "Home Again" on Savefile
But we should not forget it's still spring. Here in New York City, the blossoms are looking more spectacular than ever and it seems like the collective bad mood of Manhattan-and-Brooklyn-ites has melted with the snow. Jonathan Richman wrote about this phenomenon: in New York, spring truly puts itself on its most beautiful and romantic display. "Springtime in New York" on Savefile
This is my dog, Oliver. He lives in the hills and forests of Georgia, with my Mom and Sister, and is the cause of much glee and frustration. While the ladies are out, he ravages furniture and unsettles the cats. He is often discovered glad eyed and beaming, incongruently sat amid a wasteland of twisted soggy destruction. I miss him pretty bad.
Physical excercise is a great reason for a radical and ludicrous shift in musical taste. Excuse me, Nick Drake and Vashti Bunyan... these are my friends from the future, here to get me pumped up!
Special Friend Grant put together this delicately abrasive mixtape, play it for your kids as you pour sugar in their breakfast cereals, then fill their schoolbags with action figures and comic books.
