February 2011 Playlist - A Horse Is a Horse Is a Horse, of Course

There will be a horse in my backyard very shortly. So here for February is a horse-themed mix to prepare me for all those horse-centric moments of the near future.

Two Door Cinema Club--Two Dollars After Code @Amazon

Today you can get Two Door Cinema Club's Tourist History
for two bucks after mp3 credit code VDAYMP3S at Amazon.  It is a good album that is probably best enjoyed by youths who like dancing and upbeat pop-production.  If you are looking for music informed by Father Time and Mama Suffering then maybe this is not the album for you.

Will Stratton Is a Badass . . .

and a kind gentleman to give away his excellent tunes.

Here is another bandcamp freebie, and it will please the folk out of you.  Listen to opening track "You Divers" from Vile Bodies and once you get to the 1:38 mark, you'll see what I mean.  Vile Bodies is one of the best free EPs on bandcamp.  His other albums are certainly worth a listen and a buy.  Stream the beautiful "Who Will" from 2009's No Wonder or check out his latest New Vanguard Blues.

Free and legal Mp3: Ben Talmi - "Scales of a Fish in The Sky"

Who is Ben Talmi?  I don't know--some dude who records music in his bedroom, but his bedroom recordings sound much more polished than your average bedroom tune.  His For the Dreamers EP is a collection of inventive pop tunes with varied beats, moogy goodness, precise guitar work, and enjoyable vocal harmonies.  Mr. Talmi, your songs a good, and more people should hear them. I hope you inspire more like you to pick up their instrument of choice and sing and record a song for its own reward.  Long live bedrock! (RIYL Postal Service, Death Cab for Cutie)


Edit: OK, so Ben Talmi is not the anonymous amateur confined to his bedroom and meager recording gear I had imagined him.  He also records music in a studio and sings and writes for Art Decade, a band from Boston.  Here is a pretty fresh video of an Art Decade performance with a string quartet.


Royalty (Acoustic With String Quartet) from Art Decade on Vimeo.

January 2011 Playlist - Ride the New Year Waves

Cold Cave - "Life Magazine (Delorean Remix)"
Tree Wave - "Sleep" [Mp3 via official band site]
Crystal Castles vs. Health - "Crimewave"
Washed Out - "New Theory"
The Crystal Stilts - "Love is a Wave" [Mp3 via stereogum]
Wavves - "Baseball Cards"
The Drums - "Let's Go Surfing"
Surfer Blood - "Floating Vibes"
Ducktails - "Killn' The Vibe (Ft. Panda Bear)"
The Shins - "Black Wave"
The Decemberists - "The Wanting Comes in Waves"

My Favorite Albums of 2010

10. A tie between Vampire Weekend's "Contra" and Gorillaz's "Plastic Beach"





9. Delorean - Subiza

"Real Love" is one of my favorite songs of 2010.




8. Caribou - Swim

The best track on the album is free on the Merge Records 2010 Digital Sampler.



7. Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago

Free mp3 of The Golden Archipelago track "Castaways" from Matador.  It is a beautiful song. Give this one a listen.

DM Stith's "Riverbody Chorus" Is Good For Slow-dancing in The Clouds on Christmas Night

Asthmatic Kitty, thank you for the wonderful new tune from DM Stith.  This track comes from his new limited edition Spirit Ditch, EP.  If you like this one there are more free songs available here and here.  DM Stith is one of my favorite song writers.  His faerie spirit soul jams, swelling with eerie falsetto harmonies, are perfect dance music for the disembodied.  This song is no exception; it takes me down my particular river to the universal sea.