bread 'n butter

Wait, did you hear that? Oh, you didn't? Oh, the internet doesn't work like that? Alright, well it was the sound of us getting a Hi-5 from White Denim! It was really loud. I don't know how you didn't hear it...

In case you missed the last one:
The "Hi-5" is a pun. It's also a set of 5 questions that we've asked some of our favorite bands, artists, filmmakers, and general movers and shakers. The ones who respond get their answers posted here. They also get our undying devotion and an invitation to our birthday party. So, here it is - our Hi-5 from James of White Denim:

READ MORE
1) What's the one thing you're most excited about right now (or in the near future)?
we are very excited for the arrival of sxsw 2009. we are lucky to live in a city that hosts such an amazing festival. we are hoping to play some new tunes out if we get the opportunity.

2) What are your two pieces of required reading (a.k.a. the books you recommend the most)?
right now i would recommend two plays by edward albee."zoo story" and "a delicate balance."

3) What three things have been inspiring you the most lately?
love, family, my band mates and friends.

4) Tell us four things about yourself (or anyone in the band).
my favorite food is pizza.
my house is kind of a mess.
most of my instrument collection consists of broken or unplayable instruments.
i still type with only two fingers.

5) What five songs or albums are you listening to the most right now?
soft machine- two
serge gainsbourg- cannabis
the stylistics- s/t
vampire hands - me and you cherry red
sly and the family stone- a whole new thing.

Well, that's it. I hope you learned something. Personally, I learned that my suspicion that everyone is listening to Serge Gainsbourg right now is probably true.

If you'll be in town for SXSW, you shouldn't miss these guys. Then again, if you're going to be in town for SXSW, you probably already knew that. I don't think I could possible beat it into your heads anymore that White Denim is fucking amazing, so just watch this:

img via

It's the new hotness...

Mi Ami - The Man In Your House


Vibes - Honeycomb


And I know I mentioned Explode Into Colors before, but I still don't have any mp3's to post. So, go to there MySpace and check them out. Where are the shrooms when you need em', bra?

photo via

admittedly i didn't like the first single that was released from the yeah yeah yeahs new album... and it really deterred me from listening to the whole record for fear that i would be disappointed. but after spinning it in its entirety, i really can't stop listening to it. i should be more optimistic (its something i'm working on). anywho, here's a few i've been playing incessantly:

yeah yeah yeahs - skeletons


yeah yeah yeahs - hysterics


yeah yeah yeahs - little shadow


also, i've recently started blogging on freewilliamsburg.com as well. don't worry, it's just my little something extra on the side. check out my first post here. happy thursday everyone!

i'm entirely too addicted to this song. here, your turn:



because of their similarity to MGMT and amazing baby, these guys are getting a lot of attention. but if you haven't already heard of them yet, empire of the sun is an australian duo populated by the likes of luke steele, formerly of the sleepy jackson, and nick littlemore, formerly of pnau and teenager (the later of which was ladyhawke's band before flying solo (pun totally intended).

and a few for the playlist:
empire of the sun - walking on a dream


empire of the sun - we are the people (shazam remix)


PNAU (feat. ladyhawke) - embrace


teenager - alone again

Lately I have had an indescribably strong urge to saddle up a horse, climb on, and ride off in the direction of the nearest desert [2,019 miles West "as the crow flies"]. Well, to paint a more accurate picture, it's less of a urge more of a downright obsession; I listen to music with banjos, trains are my primary form of long distance transportation, and hell my consumption of beans has nearly tripled in the past month! What could possibly be the seed of such predilection? Could a single moment be defined? Yes.


Martin Kippenberger, Wenn Sie mit der Freiheit nicht klarkommen, versuchen Sie es doch mal mit Frauen, Teit I (If You Can't Handle Freedom, Try Seeing How Far You Can Get With Women, Part I) (detail), 1984, one of ten color photographs, each 19 7/8 x 13". © Estate of Martin Kippenberger/Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne.

This photo by Martin Kippenberger graced the cover of ArtForum International's February edition and the day it hit the newsstand is the day my heart left my body and took up shelter on the West coast. It's strange how just one photo can have such an effect on a person. Maybe it's the juxtaposition of the big fluffy sweater in the heat of the desert, or the inherent coolness of the canyon rock, or perhaps I'm just a softy for the long, solemn face of the horse, who knows.

i like downloading mixes that other people make. it saves me the trouble of sifting through all my music and i'm pretty much always guaranteed to find something new - or at least, something new to me. so here's a few for you! maybe you'll find something new. oh look at that, i rhymed.

THE BOOMERANG: one of my favorite brooklyn photographers and someone definitely worth keeping your eye on, elizabeth weinberg, posted the boomerang to her blog for "the last sputterings of winter". after one of the weirdest weekends i've had in a long time, this sweet and simple mix is what i'll be listening to at work all day.

GO ON...: terry diabolik, aka my friend darin who coincidentally just walked in behind me while i'm writing this post, also crafted a mix which i downloaded a few days ago and have since been enjoying. go on is packed full of "burning soul jams" by the likes of etta james, lee dorsey and stevie wonder, that never get old.

EDIT: also,
THE PLAYLIST: another great local artist that i've been following, ellen frances, has also put together a playlist worth listening to. an honest mix-and-match of all sorts of old and new, it's keeping my ears on their toes.

In the 2007 film, The Diving Bell & The Butterfly (Kristina mentioned it here), there is a beautiful scene where the main character, Jean-Dominique Bauby (or Jean-Do), is having a flashback to an ill-fated vacation he once took with his mistress in a sea-side resort town. After having a brief argument with the mistress about a statuette of the Virgin Mary she had forced him to purchase earlier that day, Jean-Do steps out for a walk. The streets are deserted as he turns the corner and makes his way back to the shop where he had been told that the statuette was "one-of-a-kind," and forced to pay handsomely for it. He arrives at the window of the darkened storefront only to find an exact duplicate of the statuette with its blinking red light staring back at him. We see his defeated reflection in the window, intermittently illuminated in red until the scene quickly cuts back to Jean-Do in his current condition: with "locked-in syndrome" at a hospital in Berck-Sur-Mer. It's one of the most beautiful scenes in the movie, owing largely to this song, which is playing in the background:

Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle - Don't Kiss Me Goodbye


Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle is a French trio, comprised of the duo, Ultra Orange, and French actress/model (a slashie, if you will...), Emmanuelle Seigner. Seigner actually plays Bauby's ex-wife in the film. The trio's self-titled album is essentially a modern marriage of The Velvet Underground and Mazzy star. It seems to be unavailable in the states, but if you've got the money, find yourself an import copy... it's worth it.

Here's one of my other favorites from the album:

photo via

I'm not really the biggest Valentine's Day person. I participate because I have to, because I want girls to like me and all. So, it's with some reservation that I give you this little collection of love songs that I have amassed. It's been narrowed down from an initial 40 or so songs, so this is really la créme de la créme here people. Oh, and if you're alone all day today, maybe don't listen to these songs... maybe work on your social skills, k?

Arthur Alexander - Soldier Of Love


Alton Ellis - I'm Still In Love With You


Arthur Russell - A Little Lost


Beat Happening - Bewitched


Otis Redding - Rock Me Baby


The Black Keys - Nobody But You


Boise Cover Band - Loving Pauper (Dobby Dobson cover)


A Fine Frenzy - Fever


James Brown - Try Me


The Sonics - Since I Fell For You


Jonathan Richman - It's You


Neil Young - Harvest Moon


The Secret Stars - Shoe In

Apparently made for $5 - including a trip to the thrift store for an American Flag jacket and a bottle of Mr. Bubbles...

Alright, so I hope you all listened to Mayer Hawthorne the last time I posted one of his songs. If you didn't, you best take the hint and go listen to the new track on his MySpace. It's not quite up to the level of "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out," but dude's heart-shaped 45 is fetching $50 on eBay so clearly people are listening. I can't find any details on a full-length from Stones Throw, but you'll know as soon as I do. For now, just have a listen and get hyped!

Here's the B-side from the 45:

Mayer Hawthorne - When I Said Goodbye

Ahhhh, yeeeeeah. We just got our first "Hi-5" from our (and let's face it, a lot of other people's) favorite up-and-coming band, The Soft Pack!

The "Hi-5" is a pun. It's also a set of 5 questions that we've asked some of our favorite bands, artists, filmmakers, and general movers and shakers. The ones who respond get their answers posted here. They also get our undying devotion and an invitation to our birthday party. So, here it is - our "Hi-5" from Matty McLoughlin of The Soft Pack:

READ MORE
1) What's the one thing you're most excited about right now (or in the near future)?
Excited about releasing our LP. And going abroad and playing shows.

2) What are your two pieces of required reading (a.k.a. the books you recommend the most)?
Well I'm speaking for myself, "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead"- Warren Zevon's Biography, and "Boys Will Be Boys"- this book about the Dallas Cowboys in the 90's. I fucking hate the Cowboys with a passion (and Texas) but those dudes were crazy and hellbent on winning. I respect that.

3) What three things have been inspiring you the most lately?
It's all comedy stuff mostly. Rodney Dangerfield, Steve Martin, Serge Gainsboug (probably spelled wrong)

4) Tell us four things about yourself (or anyone in the band).
I love baseball, I hate lettuce in burritos, I met Lebron James once and we got along really well, I give myself pep talks in the mirror.

5) What five songs or albums are you listening to the most right now?
Steve Martin "get Small", The Fall "Dragnet", Neil Sedaka "Whatever", REM "Murmer", Warren Zevon "Excitable Boy".

Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty happy with those answers. I don't want to make a habit of responding to people's responses, but I have to say that I'm freakin' psyched for their new LP too. I've also been on a huge Zevon kick lately (and I'm totally going to get that bio now). I hate the fucking Cowboys (and all things Texas, excluding Friday Night Lights). I'm clearly into Serge, and who the hell doesn't love Steve Martin!?

The Soft Pack will be touring the UK with Black Lips, WOMEN, and Franz Ferdinand until their return to the states in late March to do the NME Tour. Go see them, and for Christ's sake buy their shit!

(via MBV)

The music junkies at Light In The Attic are always on top of the reissue game. Rumor has it that they're going to concentrate primarily on reissues from now on and it looks like they're off to a good start...

Histoire De Melody Nelson is the 1971 masterwork of the sleaziest (but somehow still cool and sexy) Frenchman to ever live... the late Serge Gainsbourg. Histoire is largely held as his masterwork - a concept album reinterpretation of Nabokov's Lolita, by way of french beat-poet hipness. Even if dirty old men aren't you thing, you have to hand it to Serge - he was one... cool... dirtbag.

last year, from murakami bejeweled jesus pieces, to kaws covered LPs, to hirst skulls in video stills, hip hop rocked the art world and had artists and musicians alike chanting "art is the new bling". but there is one artist in particular whose bypassed bling deserves a little center-stage lime-light. kali arulpragasam, founder of the british based jewelery design company super fertile has garnished notable attention with her 5 collections, in the UK and US alike, but its' her newest (and 6th) collection, for spring 2009, that has finally caught the eye of several new york stockists that will soon be selling her jewelry state-side.



if the name kali arulpragasam is striking a cord for you, that's because you might be a little more familiar with her little sister, political hip hop artist and style icon, M.I.A.. and like her sister, kali shares M.I.A.'s fervent political consciousness. with collections entitled: tourism, endangered species, rich girl vs poor girl, jungle birds, and her newest hunger, kali's bling is heavily influenced by the social realism of environments and nations at war. as well, kali's pieces aren't your bff's summer-camp friendship bracelets. each piece of jewelery from super fertile is delicately hand crafted from precious metals.




take a minute and check out her site, www.superfertile.com to see all six of her collections. my favorites are the newest necklaces/breast plates in the hunger collection, the endangered species rings and knuckle dusters, and the jungle birds necklaces. and next season, when all the magazines are featuring her pieces in editorials, you'll know where they came from.

I don't think there were too many people in the world who were blown away by Jay-Z's American Gangster album last year. But for some reason I've seen a lot of blabbing about it recently. Partly because the original album sampled Daptone's Menahan Street Band and their profile seems to be on the rise.

Today, however, the news is that some Dutch dude called Umatic has remixed tracks from American Gangster with a Dutch retro-soul band called Leftie's Soul Connection. The result is a retro-soul-sampling version of a Jay-Z album that is already primarily made of retro-soul samples. Ah well, it's pretty good anyway!
(via Soul Sides)

Jay's Soul Connection - Party Life


Jay's Soul Connection - Change of Success feat. Nas

Hey, have you ever listened to the Cardigans' "Lovefool" and thought, "Man, I wish someone would make this song less danceable and infectious!" Well, kid, you're in luck!

The Morning Benders - Lovefool


The Cardigans - Lovefool


If you're interested, you can download the rest of The Morning Benders' Bedroom Covers album here.

ever since i found out the urban is run by republicans, yea you read right REPUBLICANS, i've been a lil hesitant to even step into a store. but free stuff is free stuff. i won't turn that away...and i don't even have to leave my apartment.

my favorite thus far is from the ladies pictured above, telepathe. enjoy!

Okay, on the whole, the Heartless Bastards new album doesn't quite live up to the immediacy of the lead/title track (which I mentioned here) but it's still worth a listen. Especially a free listen on the internet. Head over to MBV this week to stream the whole album.

The Mountain is out now.

when i think about buddy holly's career and the impact he had on modern music, i always always get shivers when i remember that he was only 22 years old when he died.

to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the day the music died, geffen records released down the line: rarities, a double disc compilation of 59 rarities, b-sides, and undubbed versions of his famous "apartment tapes" and "garage tapes", recorded in his family's home garage with the crickets. i hear its worth every penny.

buddy holly - that'll be the day

Really?

Note: the above comment has nothing to do with the above image. The above image is hilarious and very implicitly illustrates my opinion of the Animal co-op.

The above comment is my review of Animal Collective's album and the resulting shit-storm of praise that it has amassed. The two are fairly unrelated, but equally hilarious to me, and possibly only me.

Thank You.