Album of the Day: Lou Reed - Rock 'n Roll Animal & Lou Reed Live

Glam rock isn't really my thing but damn Lou Reed knows how to rock a set. Just 5 songs on the album for a total of 40-ish minutes of pure rock 'n roll, recorded live in 1973 at the Palladium in NY. I've always been fascinated by Reed, his life has taken some remarkable twists and turns. I remember seeing him live about a decade ago - he performed several of his classics and there were all these fairly old people in the hall (which had seats. Seats!) and they were all sitting around while this guy was rocking his heart out. Well, screw that - I rocked out too. It was great. The other half of the concert is available as "Lou Reed Live" and while it also contains some great songs, I like this one better. But I've linked both so you can make up your own mind. Enjoy.

 

Album of the Day: The National - High Violet

If there is any band I could petition to release a new album TODAY it would be The National. My god, what a sound. What a voice. What amazing arrangements. There isn't another album in my collection with this many 4 and 5 star ratings for songs. In 2011 The National were nominated for a Brit Award for 'International Breakthrough Act' and lost out to Justin Bieber. Justin Fucking Bieber. There is no justice in this world. Console yourself by listening to this.

Album of the Day: Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

Time for an absolute classic. If you do not know this album, hang your head in shame. Hang it! Then listen. And if you don't see why it is brilliant the first time around, listen to it again. And again. Until you get it.

Classical Friday: J.S. Bach - The Brandenburg Concertos 1-3

I enjoyed the last classical Friday, so why not. Out of all classical music, Bach is where the heart is. Like I've said before, Grooveshark isn't well suited to finding classical music but I managed to eke out concertos 1-3 in order although once again I have no idea who is playing. They're good, though.

The Brandenburg concertos are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721. Most likely, Bach composed the concertos over several years while Kapellmeister at Köthen. Because King Frederick William I of Prussia was not a significant patron of the arts, Christian Ludwig seems to have lacked the musicians in his Berlin ensemble to perform the concertos. The full score was left unused (!) in the Margrave's library until his death in 1734, when it was sold for 24 groschen of silver (around $20 and there aren't enough exclamation marks in the world for this). The autograph manuscript of the concertos was only rediscovered in the archives of Brandenburg by Siegfried Wilhelm Dehn in 1849; the concertos were first published in the following year.

Album of the Day: Lamb - Lamb

This was an amazing debut album and has remained among my favorites. I always expected Lamb to become massively famous but they always remained sort of a cult-y festival-y band. I've seen them perform live a couple of times and was blown away every single time.If you're only going to listen to one song, pick "Cotton Wool".

Album of the Day: Mike Doughty - HOT SUMMER WEATHER SUPER HAPPY BONUS DOUBLE ALBUM FEATURE

Fooking 'ell, it's 30 °C here. I'M MELTING! MEEEEEEELTIIIIIIIING!

Album of the Day: American Analog Set - Know By Heart

Argh, I just lost most of the day to a bad stick of RAM in one of my computers. Took me a while to figure out that it was the RAM that had gone bad. Random crashes, kerneldumps, tons of fun. Eventually I saw the non-pattern pattern (because random stuff just kept crashing left and right especially under load - which was variable), downloaded Memtest86+, and sure enough, bad RAM is bad. Jolly good fun. Thankfully I had another stick somewhere that tested OK. All good now.

So I need to chill out a little. Therefore, AnAmSet. I feel better already.

Album of the Day: Sea Wolf - Leaves In The River

As Sea Wolf are gearing up to release a new album this September, let's revisit their 2007 album Leaves In The River. "Neutral Ground" and "Leaves In The River", the album's two softer songs/ballads are absolutely smashing (or I'm a sucker for melancholy, which is probably true). But there are a couple of currents running through this album, ranging from straight up indie rock through folk to an sea shanty-feeling with hints of haunting. They bear exploring.

Album of the Day: Lost in the Trees - All Alone In An Empty House

Lost in the Trees isn't an easy band to categorize. Wikipedia settles for "an American orchestral folk pop band" which is amazingly awkward. From the stunning, unnerving and haunting title track to the beautiful contemporary classical found in Sketch mvt. I&II, this is a record which deserves your full attention - I mean really listen, not have it on in the background as you go about your day.

In a 2010 SXSW interview the lead singer lists among his influences Beethoven, Radiohead, Vivaldi, Neutral Milk Hotel, Saint-Saëns, and OutKast. I can see that. The band takes all that and produces its own rich, deep, and rewarding brand of, ahem, "American orchestral folk pop".

Saturday is Make Some Noise Day: Photek - Form & Function Vol. 2

Almost 10 years between this 2007 album and the 1998 Form & Function.Where F&F 1 was dark, minimal, and austere this one is dark and pulls out all the stops. Make some noise, indeed.

 

Here's the original 1997 album too, just because I'm nice that way. Also I do like it somewhat better.

Album of the Day: Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again [Disc 2]

This is a 2-CD release and CD 1 is a typical retro soul album with early 70s strings, flutes and all the trimmings. CD 2 features some of the same tracks but with less instruments thrown in and I think it makes the guy's voice come out beautifully.

Oh go on have the first album as well. For comparison.

Album of the Day: Beastie Boys - The In Sound From Way Out

The mellow mood continues, I'm fiddling away on my lab, some nice laid-back non-intrusive music is called for. Background music. This 1996 album brings you the Beastie Boys like you rarely hear them; performing a relaxed semi-acoustic selection of their songs.

Album of the Day: Bruno Morais - A Vontade Superstar

And now for something completely different. I don't know much about this guy except that he's Brazilian and the album swings like crazy.

Playlist of the Day: Booty Shakers and Money Makers

No post yesterday, I was too busy prepping for a Cisco exam, stressing over a Cisco exam, doing a Cisco exam, and finally passing with 976 out of 1000 points for same (I did the CCNP ROUTE one, fairly tricky). Whoo hoo! Then I went out celebrating. Which is harder than it sounds on a Monday evening, but I managed to turn it into a respectable bender.

So to recapture my happy mood of yesterday, enjoy this funkfest of a playlist.

 

It is weird that I'm slightly annoyed at knowing I could have passed with 1000/1000? I got 100% on every topic except one. There was one simulator question where there were two objectives, I spent a lot of time just getting the first right, and when I did I was so happy I pressed "next". You can't go back to questions on these exams. Oh well. Overall I'm very happy with these new style exams - less rote memorization of dull facts, more applied knowledge demonstrated in sims. Next up - SWITCH (after a short decompression break). Go go go!

Album of the Day: Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days

Sunday chill time - something calm, relaxing, and laid-back. The track "Cinder and Smoke" is on my all-time favorites list.

Saturday is Make Some Noise day: Klute - Casual Bodies

Yaaaaay make some noise day! How about the debut album of Klute? That'll do pig, that'll do.

Classical Friday: Tomaso Albinoni - 12 concerti a cinque (Op. 7) and others

At my last job I would have music on always. ALWAYS. However, as my tastes don't run along the usual top 40 radio fare others would prefer this would lead to some discussions. None so much as my instituting the "classical Friday" where I would play classical music exclusively all day long. It drove some of them up the freaking wall. Which only added to the fun. I'm not sure I will institute the same policy here, as Grooveshark is not well suited to classical or particularly obscure music - it's hard to find a complete set. This set, for instance, is listed as Op. 7 but I'm pretty sure there are some bits and pieces from other compositions in there. I also have no idea who actually performs the music. Either way, enjoy, he was a fantastic composer.

The Reading List: Charles Stross - The Apocalypse Codex

I first became aware of Charlie Stross by way of Acclerando, a collection of nine short stories telling the tale of three generations of a family before, during, and after a technological singularity. It's an absolute riot of ideas and blew my mind several times over. You can grab a free copy of it online in several formats.

Incidentally, he has made a lot of his earlier work available online, like a short story collection, an unsold novel, and several other bits and pieces all over the web.

Anyway from there I read the Laundry Files, a set of Lovecraftian spy thrillers mixing SF, horror, the occult, IT and British government bureaucracy. An interesting mix to be sure. The Apocalypse Codex is the fourth and latest installment in the series and is pointless to read without having read the other ones first. Which I recommend you do - I still think the first in the series is the strongest. If you want to get a taste of what this strange and heady mix is first, there are three short stories set in the same universe available to read for free online (1,2,3).

If you do like the Laundry Files, this latest one is a blast. It assumes you're already aware of who Bob Howard is and what goes on in the Laundry universe, so it does away with much of the exposition and instead offers a rollercoaster plot which had me finish the thing in a day neglecting much of my other duties. I generally hate spy thrillers but as it turns out I do like parodies of it (clever ones, not Mike Myers ones) and Bob is in many ways the anti-spy: not suave, not in control, and not a big hit with the ladies, although he is now married to a powerful sorceress whom he rescued from terrorists who were messing with stuff occultist Nazis who fled to a parallel world left behind... you know what, read the books.

Album of the Day: Kaki King - Junior

I'd never heard of Kaki King until she released an EP together with the Mountain Goats which caught my eyes. I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of her voice but she is an amazing guitar player; I'm not the only one who thinks so. Aside from that, there are 5 released albums to explore and one upcoming, and the sound of each is quite different; they are well worth exploring.

Album of the Day: Lackthereof - Your Anchor

Lackthereof is the solo project of Danny Seim, one of the Menomena guys. I think this entire thing was recorded in his basement. It's pretty damn awesome, like a diamond in the rough with interesting drum breaks. If you already know and like Menomena, chances are you will like this thing. If you don't, you're missing out but I'm sure I'll hit them in a future album of the day post. I'm actually a little surprised I haven't yet. So many albums, too lazy to post more than once a day ha ha.

Album of the Day: The Wooden Birds - Two Matchsticks

Something nice and easy to start off the week with, I think. Fuck Mondays. Fuck 'em right in the ear.

Album of the Day: Christian Löffler - A Forest

Something nice and laid-back and lounge-y for Sunday you say? We can do that.

Saturday is Make Some Noise Day: The Evil Overlord Soundtrack

That's right, I compiled an evil overlord soundtrack. For all your scheming, conniving, and general villainy. Enjoy it while plotting to take over the world and subjugate mankind.

ps. don't forget THE LIST

Album of the Day: Styrofoam - Nothing's Lost

Another glitchy electronic album released on the excellent Morr Music label, this time by Styrofoam who hails from Belgium, my neighbors to the south. The album features guest appearances by Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie / The Postal Service), Markus Acher (The Notwist), Valerie Trebeljahr (Lali Puna), Andrew Kenny (American Analog Set), Bent van Looy & Japanese singer Miki Yoshimura (Munk).

Playlist of the Day: The Beta Band, We Miss You

These guys by rights should have been as massive as Radiohead, if you ask me. Instead they broke up. I never even got to see them live! Gah. Steve Mason has gone on to a solo career and several of the others are now playing in The Aliens, and in both you can hear echos of the Beta Band; well worth a listen to too if you haven't heard them before. Anyway, enjoy some of my favorites of theirs.

Album of the Day: Portugal. The Man - The Satanic Satanist & The Majestic Majesty

Portugal. The Man is possibly one of the best band names ever. It makes any article about them instantly awkward because of the full stop in the middle. The wikipedia article about them starts off with "The members of Portugal. The Man were all born and raised in Alaska" and my mind just does a double take every time.

Anyway their music is fun lightly psychedelic rock and the albums of choice are The Satanic Satanist from 2009 and it's acoustic "double" The Majestic Majesty. The same songs, but the latter are acoustic versions. I'd say listen to the Satanist first.

 

Album of the Day: Ms. John Soda - Notes And The Like

Ms. John Soda are Micha Acher, an integral member of The Notwist, 13 & God, and Tied & Tickled Trio, and Stefanie Böhm who plays keyboards with Couch. This is their second album, and it's gentle, jangly, and fun indietronica, at times with a hint of melancholy or wistfulness, released on the Morr Music label back in 2006.

Album of the Day: Beck - Guero

Scare away those Monday blues with a little upbeat Beck. Go on, shoo blues!

Album of the Day: Sin Fang Bous - Clangour

Sunny Sunday demands music riot. Densely layered weirdness from Iceland, fun stuff from the excellent Morr Music label.