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

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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.

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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

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