As one Last.fm user describes SebatiAn: "Once you've tired of Justice, you move to Boys Noize, and once you're tired of Boys Noize... you move to SebastiAn."
How can I describe SebastiAn? Well, his music has a bigger punch and a bigger bite than Justice, and when the beat kicks in, everything becomes fucking awesome. Below is one of his older tracks, off of the Smoking Kills EP. When I heard it for the first time, I stopped everything I was doing, and just sat and reveled in its glory.
...to vote in the next election, in return for a live cover of a Dylan tune with the Fleet Foxes. All you have to do is PLEDGE TO VOTE IN THE UPCOMING ELECTION.
Seriously, free stuff for something you were probably going to do anyway. It doesn't get any better than that.
I am not ashamed that I like Vampire Weekend.
In fact, I'm not ashamed that I love Vampire Weekend, nor am I ashamed that I've seen them twice in their relatively short existence. And I loved them more after each time I witnessed their greatness. And so, when Stereogum does something like, oh, POST A NEW TRACK, I get kind of excited.
The track is from the soundtrack to indie comedy Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist (both the movie and the soundtrack, by the way, look excellent). Check out the trailer below.
Also, for any and all interested, I've got a pretty hip radio show on WXBC (Bard College Radio) from Noon to two in the afternoon tomorrow. It's called the Hydrogen Jukebox, and it's looking to be pretty kick ass. Listen HERE.
There is, of course, something that I left out. Ted is a pretty hardcore political activist, and he never fails to makes his voice known be it through protest songs (like pretty much all of Living With The Living) or stage banter. This time, however, Ted and his Pharmacists have outdone themselves: in response to the violence at the RNC a couple of weeks ago, Ted recorded and released the Rapid Response digital ep, the profits of which are going to both Democracy Now! (the host of which, Amy Goodman, was the focus of one of the biggest and most widely reported stories coming out of St. Paul that week) and the Minneapolis chapter of an organization called Food Not Bombs. I cannot impress upon you guys enough a) how important this is and b) how awesome Ted is. I'm not going to post any tracks from the EP in the hopes that some of you will go out and buy it, but I will leave you with a Ted present or two. Please, please, please buy the EP.
It's even pretty good.
- RAPID RESPONSE EP (via Touch and Go)
- Ted Leo and the Pharamacists - Counting Down the Hours
TWO. THREE. FOUR. FIVE. SIX. SEVEN. EIGHT. AND BACK.
Why wouldn't you listen to french house featuring Jane Fonda workout vocals? It's pretty friggin great. Made by Bob Sinclar and One Half of Daft Punk.
For disclaimer purposes, know the following things:
1) I am a very, very liberal blogger
2) I will keep politics out of this blog as much as possible, but
3) Sometimes these things are just too important, and I have no where else to write about them.
This week in St. Paul, the Republican National Convention is taking place. This, in and of itself, is not a big deal. What is a big deal is the way the Republicans have treated the convention as an excuse to stomp on the Constitution, by limiting the freedoms of speech and press with a force that seems to far outweigh what is right or reasonable. The St. Paul police department has arrested hundreds of demonstrators and reporters (including Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and, apparently, a New York Post reporter who shouted "For Christ's sake, it's a Republican paper!" before being hauled away). As far as I can tell, and for reasons that I will never understand, no major news outlets are carrying the story. It is our job to bring this news to the people. All day tomorrow, I will be wearing a sign that says "FREE ST. PAUL". I hope those of you who are brave enough to stand up to this foolish tyranny will join me. Don't just stand by. This is how we got where we are in the first place. Write your Representatives, your Senators. Make sure that they know that we know they are paying attention. For us to be successful, our elected officials need to know they are accountable to the people that elect them.
For those of you that are interested, check out the Democracy Now! clip below:
So I'm coining a new internet catchphrase: "The Mini-Mix". Probably somebody's thought of it before, but they can go shove it up their ear. So, the mini-mix. What is it? It's a small mixtape of only two or three songs. Why only two or three? Well, not many people come to blogs to listen to full fledged 1.2 hour mixtapes. I mean, who has the time? Mixes are things you make for your friends and your loved ones, not something you go scrawling through the blogosphere hunting for. At least I don't. Don't take this as a diss against mixtapes, because I love them to death, and I think they're an under-appreciated art form, but I just don't have the time or the willpower to download and listen to every hour long mix made by some blogger I've never met in my life. The mini-mix is just an idea I have as a way of combining the mixtape with blogging into a form that's bite-sized and manageable, that you can actually download and listen to, that combines the extraordinary magic of inspired song sequencing with the lightspeed-immediacy of the internet.
So, here is Mini Mix, Volume I, and on it we have:
- Bright Eyes w/ Emmylou Harris - We Are Nowhere and It's Now
- Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton - Reading In Bed
- Death in Vegas - Girls
- The Jesus and Mary Chain - Just Like Honey
You can download the mix by clicking the link below. Have fun. Hope you enjoy our little experiment.
- Mini Mix, Volume I (Total Run Time: 14.4 Minutes)
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