Well this is nice. Sweet dreams x
music
Bring The Noise
Can’t say why, but this morning I’ve had this stuck in my head. It’s not what you’d call tuneful, and it’s tricky to whistle, but “Yeeeeaaaaah boooooooooy!” and “Whatcha gonna do? Rap is not afraid of you” have been richocheting round my brain like it’s East Coast representing or something.
Yeeeeeah booooooooooooy!
Sing Songs Along
This song has been in my head all day, but that’s ok.
we’ll wake up your mothers, we’ll start a commotion
we’ll take you apart, yeah we’ll swallow your ocean
It means nothing. Isn’t it great?
I adore Tilly and the Wall’s first album, The Bottoms of Barrels. It’s got a naively sleazy vibe to it, and it’s shouty and celebratory and fun, and anyway any song which uses tap dancing instead of drums is pretty well guaranteed to win my heart. Unless it’s shit.
This video is cheap and dopey but, you know, it’s got people dancing and being happy so I like it.
Here they are on Sesame Street. A good attempt at an A to Z but they stop at D, the slackers.
Jeffrey Lewis
It’s been a Jeffrey Lewis week. Heard and loved “Anxiety Attack” at the weekend, then went to the new Zine shop in Boro where I spotted a comic drawn by a Jeffrey Lewis, which I thought was an odd little coincidence, but then it turns out it’s the same Jeffrey Lewis, and he self-publishes comics as well as writing songs about what happens in my head. Then I get to Peg Powler gallery on Tuesday night to do a bit of faffing with The Story of Grass exhibition, and Rebecca says: “Hey, Gus chose the music that’s playing. It’s Jeffrey Lewis, have you heard of him?”. So… lots of Jeffrey Lewisness in my life just now. He seems like an interesting dude.
I really like this song because it’s funny and it asks some good questions about the kind of life I have found myself leading.
I was thinking this on the L train, intent on bursting my own bubble
How long should an artist struggle before it isn’t worth the hassle?
And admit we aren’t fit to be the one inside the castle
This quest for greatness, or at least hipness, just a scam and too much trouble
But then what makes one human being worthy of an easy ride
Born to be a natural artist you love or hate but can’t deny
While us minions in our millions tumble into history’s chasm
We might have a couple of laughs but we’re still wastes of protoplasm
Ah, well now, waste of protoplasm is going a little far. Sure, my protoplasm could have bnen used for other things, some of them quite beneficial to humanity, I imagine, but on the other hand would that protoplasm have been quite so good at drawing giraffes?
Anxiety Attack
Strumming my pain with his fingers, singing my life with his words… 🙂
As heard on on Adam Buxton’s Big Mixtape with Jon Ronson.
Christmas Song
Happy Christmas every one! More of that melancholic triumphalism I love so much. Bit sad, bit hopeful, bit like Twin Peaks – pretty similar to the inside of my head. Nice going, Mogwai. Off the Mogwai EP, proably the best thing they ever did. Apart from that t-shirt with the Batman logo, I liked that a lot too.
All Come Down
My God this is beautiful. Steve Mason can sing a song that’s effortlessly mournful and anthemic and off-kilter all at once, and this may lack the rough edges and (yes!) ramshackle charm of the Beta Band or King Biscuit Time, which is a shame, but good grief when it kicks in halfway through… Swoon!
From the album Boys Outside.
Svefn g Englar
I’m in an indecipherably Icelandic mood.
Fool’s Day
Because I love the noise these people make together, because this song is ramshackle and tender, because I have always had a soft spot for songs that tell a little story about the bands that are singing them, and because lines like “and a love of all sweet music we just can’t let go” make the beleaguered romantic inside me smile all warmly like.
Air Lines/Land Lines
A beautiful tune which soundtracked a brilliant weekend, courtesy of Bell Orchestre. They’re Canadian. I think you can tell.
Ramshackle Charm 