Friday Four-Play: #27 (or Top Pop)

Ladies y Gents, it’s been too long. Where have you been? I’ve been listening to some music and not writing blog posts. I actually haven’t been listening to as much music as I previously did. I am no longer privilege to hours upon hours of music enjoyment. Because of this I will be cutting back on how often I post a Friday Four-Play. Fret not, for I will be coming out with a couple “Best of 2012” lists. Other than that, Friday Four-Play should be a monthly endeavor. Perhaps this will allow for some movie reviews? Maybe even that Court Jester one promised years ago?

As for this week, we have a wonderful slew of modern track with twists from the 80s. I must admit that I’ve been listening to this playlist as often as possible. I was pleased to finally see even an EP from Adam Green & Binki Shapiro. I want an LP but I’ll have to wait just like I am for Shout Out Louds new album that should drop in the early part of 2013. I’m a fan, to say the least and another album added to their repertoire is welcomed.

Track list:

1. Here I Am – Adam Green & Binki Shapiro
2. Homewrecked – Empires
3. Blue Ice – Shout Out Louds
4. When I Dream – Ra Ra Riot

Friday Four-Play: #26 (or Grood Vibrations)

Ladies y Gents, it’s the weekend and it’s time to see Skyfall! But apart from that, it’s time to enjoy some new music right in your ear-holes. I’ve got some sweet beats including a new single from Local Natives. This precedes a new album that should be out the beginning of next year. CHVRCHES song in the mix caps it off with that synth, 80s groove that’s been so big as of late. I really hope CHVRCHES has an album coming out soon. Cheers.

Track List:

1. Leaves – Cheers Elephant
2. Breakers – Local Natives
3. Windy Cindy – People Get Ready
4. The Mother We Share – CHVRCHES

Friday Four-Play: #25 (or Winter Wonder-Jams)

Ladies y Gents, it’s Friday, Friday. Got to get down on Friday. Enjoy this week’s selection of four tracks. I went with some tracks I’ve been accruing for a while now. Now is the time to let them soar. These tracks fit together as a welcome to the forth-coming winter. Yes, I know we are about halfway through fall, but the weather is coldening. So enjoy this selection as you prepare for the a doozy of a winter.

Track list:

1. Old Pine – Ben Howard
2. I’ll Get Along – Michael Kiwanuka
3. The Fox in the Snow – Belle & Sebastian
4. I’m Not Talking – A.C. Newman

Friday Four-Play: #24 (or Pop Rocks)

Ladies y Gents, welcome. Bienvenidos! It’s time for Friday Four-Play because it’s Friday! Cue theme music! Dum-duh-doo dee, dum dum dum dum, do-do-deeeeee. Thanks for stopping by. Boy (and/or girl), have I got four tracks for you. They are as always catchy and contain notations of the musical variation. I have recently come to the idea that I don’t know much (i.e. zilch) about music or its analysis. I just have an insatiable ear for its chicken soup-like qualities. So please tell me what you think about the music posted here. Heck, you could even go back listen to old playlists and retro-post, it still counts. Just be sure to listen to this weeks (do-do-deeeeee) Friday Four-Play. Cheers!

Track List:

1. Blue Eyes – Ladyhawke
2. Heavenly Bodies – Tamaryn
3. Visions – Letting Up Despite Great Faults
4. Runnin’ – Sinkane

Friday Four-Play: #23 (or Quality Comedy)

Ladies y Gents, it’s another late post. I have no excuses— Well, uh, maybe… No, I don’t have creative excuses. This week I decided to mix it up, take a break from music. Don’t worry it’s still a playlist but this time with stand-up comedy! It’s hard to find clean comedy, so it took awhile to find the cleaner tracks and even then… mixed results. So sit back and check out some of my favorite comedians, available on Spotify, perform without much cursing.

Track List:

1. Bomb Water – Hannibal Buress
2. Can You Believe It – Tig Notaro
3. Chase Through the Subway – John Mulaney
4. Yep – Demetri Martin

Friday Four-Play: #22 (or New-ny Tunes)

Ladies y Gents, it’s Friday and so you know what time it is… (Cue theme song) <insert theme song here> (fade out theme song). This week I have a presentation of some new songs I’ve discovered this week. All the songs are from albums recently released. I’ve been on a kick trying to discover new music and Spotify has made it a lot easier with the apps they offer in-browser. I’ve been using We Are Hunted and Pitchfork to see the latest and greatest. I recommend them. Sit back, relax and enjoy this Chicken Soup four your ears. Cheers.

Track List:

1. Close – Sun Airway
2. Everybody’s Heart’s Breaking Now – Lavender Diamond
3. Be Proud of Your Kids – Melody’s Echo Chamber
4. Canterbury Bell – Levek

Friday Four-Play: #21 (or He Died with a Playlist in His Head)

Ladies y Gents, TGIF! Am I right? No, seriously, T G it’s F. This week I present one of the many forums where I find new areas of exploration in the music realm. As I’m sure you know, I am a huge fan of soundtracks. So this week I have four tracks from one of the first movies where I thought “I have to have these songs.” The soundtrack, unfortunately to He Died with a Felafel in His Hands, is not available in the US, it being an Australian film. It’s a brilliant episodic film starring Noah Taylor, who you might recognize from Shine, Almost Famous, or perhaps, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Here’s a sampling of the tracks you’ll hear if you watch the Felafel which is available on Netflix, so go watch it now! The full soundtrack would be well worth piecing together as I’ve done on my own, but there are too many songs to fit all in one four-play.

Track List:

1. California Dreamin’ – The Mamas and the Papas
2. Golden Brown – The Stranglers
3. Buy Me A Pony – Spiderbait
4. The Human Germ – Snog

Friday Four-Play: #20 (Two for the Twice of One)

Ladies y Gents, what a surprise you must have felt when there wasn’t some delicious Chicken Soup for your ears last week. Well, rest assured because this week we have a (insert echo here) Double-Trouble (end echo here) playlist for your listening pleasure. There has been a recent surge of fantastic music being released lately. I’m sure you tell from the whole month I dedicated to new releases but this might be the best year of music in recent memory. Some of the albums snuck up on me and so I have now given them a platform this week.

Track List:

1. Today’s Supernatural – Animal Collective
2. WOR – Django Django
3. Elephant – Tame Impala
4. AF3458 – The Lumiñanas
5. In the Grace of Your Love – The Rapture
6. Sleeping Ute – Grizzly Bear
7. October – The Helio Sequence
8. Ivory Coast – Pure Bathing Culture

I have found the recent Animal Collective album, Hz Centipede, to be a little too much on the chaotic side of their ouevre, but there is “Today’s Supernatural.” It’s super catchy and move-inducing.

I have been listening to “WOR” by Django Django for almost two and a half years. I have been looking for some sign of an album since then, to no avail. So imagine my surprise when I randomly come across their self-titled album Tuesday on Spotify. It’s a pretty good album, one that I quite enjoyed for its brief 50 minutes.

I’ve been following Tame Impala for a couple years now and thoroughly enjoy their sound. No they haven’t released a new album, but that doesn’t mean you too can’t enjoy their music. It sounds like lo-fi, post-grunge John Lennon.

I found the Lumiñanas over at 3hive, a music blog I check regularly. Todd is right, these two French chicas have a sound somewhere between The Velvet Underground and Stereolab (should probably get some of their music up here, but they’re on hiatus so… no rush). They also have a bit of a Tropicalia feel thrown in for good measure.

Yes, The Rapture has been around for 14 years, but this is my first exposure to them… and I have to say that I dig it. It’s got a nice groove and immediately sucked me in when I heard it on KEXP’s Song of the Day podcast. They too haven’t had a new album released this year but for a deluxe edition of In the Grace of Your Love their 2011 album. Well worth a listen.

I’m just going to come out with it, Grizzly Bear’s Shields might very well be my favorite album of the year. Something about the spacious sound they can conjure makes me want to listen to it on repeat. In a time of throwaway culture, I admit to be somewhat apart of, I don’t often listen to whole albums on repeat. Shields has won me over and I am about on my way to actually buying the album from an actual record store.

The Helio Sequence is another band I’ve followed for quite a few years. I’ve listened to them on and off for the last decade, actually (feels weird to say that concerning a band that seems so fresh). Their sound is related to My Morning Jacket but I actually prefer Helio’s sound, a bit more rocky me thinks. Helio Sequence’s back catalog is a good one where the sound grows with the years but remains consistent in many ways.

I came across “Ivory Coast” on another music blog I follow and it has been stuck in my head ever since. It’s smooth and reminiscent of the drive home from the beach. It’s fitting to be coming out now as we move away from summer into autumn. Cheers.

Friday Four-Play: #19 (Saturday Edition, or Going Going Gone)

Ladies y Gents, it’s the weekend! Time to relax drink a glass of Ruby Red Grapefruit juice before returning to work on Monday. Enjoy this melancholy playlist in the meantime. There’s not much to say this week. Really it’s just that everything to be said is said in the lyrics, so read into everything.

I will say that the playlist opener is one of my current favorite bands and I happen to know them. Mere coincidence, I assure you. You can find their EP, released a year ago, free (or pay what you want) on their bandcamp. Plus they’ve been working on an LP to be released sometime in the not-too-distant future. I just saw NO perform with Best Coast and they put on a great show. Go check them out if they travel to somewhere near you.

Track List:

1. Stay With Me – NO
2. All the Wine – The National
3. Where I Found You – Future Islands
4. These Days – Jackson Browne

Friday Four-Play: #18 (or Ton of New Tunes Episode 4)

Ladies y Gents, it’s the end of August, as I’m sure you well know. This marks the last in our series of new music from 2012. But we have  a set of four delicious tracks, this week we focus on that retro-pop that’s so big right now. It’s that 80s groove that all the kids these days are digging and for good reason. We’ve got Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Twin Shadow, Passion Pit, and Two Door Cinema Club.

Track List:

1. Only in My Dreams – Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti
2. Five Seconds – Twin Shadow
3. Take a Walk – Passion Pit
4. Sleep Alone – Two Door Cinema Club

First up is Ariel Pink’s with “Only in My Dreams.” It’s a very catchy song that’s easily the most accessible entry point to the band that plays like a bit DEVO, a bit of the more strange Stranglers. Ariel Pink’s new album Mature Themes came out Tuesday and as such I haven’t had a chance to soak up the album, but I quite like their single with its bright guitar and the low-range backing vocals.

“Five Seconds,” from Twin Shadow’s sophomore album Confess, is my favorite pop song of the year. I have been waiting to post it and it’s been quite difficult. It has been stuck in my head for the better part of the last few months and I still don’t mind. Just listen to the song.

I love the driving beat of Passion Pit’s “Take a Walk.” It’s a true artist that can make dealing with one’s dark humanity so palatable. Michael Angelakos and the others do just that. Listen to the rest of Gossamer, their sophomore LP, if you like that delving.

Last we have Two Door Cinema Club dealing with a trippy dream in “Sleep Alone.” It’s a great song that doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. I’m running out of things to say about how much I like this music. But I do, so there. Cheers