Current kicks

We've been discovering some sweet music lately. Wanna hear some of it? Okay!

Track 1: "Raga" by The Bogmen
I heard this song on the radio months ago and loved it, but couldn't remember enough about it later to figure out what it was. Until YESTERDAY, when I heard it again and wrote down the lyrics so I could google them. And it's an awesome song.

Track 2: "Miss Sweeney" by Weezer
Our friends Scott and Carrie turned us on to this delightful gem.

Track 3: "Suzy" by Caravan Palace
There was a dance crew called Quest that danced to this song on "So You Think You Can Dance" last season, and A) the dance was SICK and B) so was the song.

Track 4: "Instinct Blues" by The White Stripes
We're in love with Jack White. And his hard-core, Janis Joplin honesty. (Also the "Oh!" yell in this song is one of Jacob and I's favorite rock yells of all time.)

Track 5: "Across the Night" by Silverchair
We've talked about Silverchair before, but this song is frickin' EPIC.

Album Of The Week

Silverchair recorded their first major-lable album Frogstomp in 1995 when the bandmates were 15-year-olds, listening to lots of Nirvana. That album is grungy and crunchy and lacks pretty much anything beyond that---BUT it was an impressive accomplishment, considering. For the next two albums, young fans remained exuberant but no one else was much impressed, because--reflective of their age--Silverchair really hadn't found themselves yet.

Then 2002 gave birth to Diorama, an album where Silverchair aren't just changing themselves--they are rebuilding the universe. Their vision, while still including their core of guitar/bass/drums, now reaches into a world (literally) filled with oboes, trumpets, violas and harp-playing cherubim. Instead of frantic bludgeoning, they calm and subdue their instruments, as though petting a magical cat that grants wishes. Rather than their previous verse-chorus-verse connecting of dots, they now construct a well-watered hedge maze and fill it with sundry flora and fauna. They become gardeners, creators, growers and trusters in greater powers than themselves. That album cover up there? Perfectly conveys the magic that's bursting within.

Daniel Johns, the lead singer and sole songwriter of the trio, who sounded jagged and insanely defensive of his territory on previous albums, here embraces the whole world and smiles like the Dali Lama, unleashing waves of vocal honey as though filtering sunlight, igniting whatever it touches ("One Way Mule") or soothing it and making it dance ("Tuna In the Brine"). His vocals on this album are a parallel to the album itself--powerful, and yet so, so serene--a world away from where he's ever been seen before.

It sounds like a huge broadway production, the whole thing. While Diorama doesn't present itself as a concept album, it's clear that a story is being told in each song, each it's own additional scene to a compiling story. From the first 30 seconds of the opening track "Across the Night" to the final caravan of piano chords on closer "After All These Years," everything is fairly bursting with color and sweet sweet LIFE! Each song has such geography to it, striking unexpected chords, hitting more notes from opposite ends of the scale than most folks would.

It's funny: I don't think any of this is explaining what the music is like with any sort of accuracy. Have you wasted your time reading it? I don't think so. Because now you finally get a couple mp3's to listen to.

"Across the Night"

"Tuna In the Brine"

A toast!

"Diorama, here's to you! You are full of ambition and divine sparkle. Only creatures of aged wisdom or youthful delight could create a thing that reaches this kind of dynamic height. Which ones are they? I hope no one finds out." *long draught*

Daytrotter: Another Reason To Stay Online For Hours

It's a website. If it doesn't keep you online for hours, then it'll keep your iTunes on for hours, playing all those tracks that you downloaded, because sakes alive does Daytrotter ever have a lotta music stored away. Over TEN MILLION songs, as a matter of fact--and counting.

The idea: to have bands come into a studio (specifically Daytrotter's official "Horseshack" studio of Rock Island, Illinois), play a handful of songs, and then post the session online for all to hear. The site is updated with a new session daily, putting out about seven new recording sessions per week (because weeks are still seven days long). Sean Moeller is the man responsible for the studio's existence, and he describes Daytrotter's aesthetic thus:

"We’re going to give you something that you truly have never heard. We are not giving you songs from someone you love’s record album, thereby stealing from someone you love. We’re giving you exclusive, re-worked, alternate versions of old songs and unreleased tracks by some of your favorite bands and by a lot of your next favorite bands. ...We promise that you will love it here." (From Daytrotter.com, retrieved 8/18/10)

He's a really cool guy, and gave a really cool interview about it all that you should really check out here. Cool, huh? If you're into music discovery already, then Daytrotter is probably nothing new to you (the site has it's own iTune's app, for heaven's sake---when you have your own app, you're huge), but it's a great resource and a wonderful place to meet some new bands. Spread the love and pass it on.

Here's an example of what a Daytrotter version of a song sounds like: "Back To The Life" from Spoon's own Daytrotter session. Spoon's session is a huge testament to me of the singularity that Daytrotter affords---the band picked some of their most off-the radar songs, as well as covering a Paul Simon song. Unique choices, unique sounds, I don't know why you're still reading this and not over on Daytrotter discovering things right now. GO!

"Back To The Life" by Spoon, Kill The Moonlight album version

"Back To The Life" Daytrotter Version