this is the first song that john darnielle, lead singer of the mountain goats, ever wrote for his wife. this song was written back when they were still dating. and it is named after the her mailbox number that he used to write to her at when she was in college. it’s a real short but sweet love song. and this acoustic performance of this previously unreleased song he did on a daytrotter session is well worth your time.
so i know absolutely nothing about this guy. all i know is really like this song i just stumbled upon and i just had to share it. hope it makes blood flow from your ears.
2007 was a great year for music. i wrote last week about what i thought was one of the top five albums of last year, and today i introduce to you another. (i may actually come up with a list sometime in the future, hope that’s ok even though 2008 is almost half over.) zach condon is a very talented multi-instrumentalist who records and performs under the moniker “beirut.” after listening to his music, one might assume that he was from lebanon or at least somewhere far away from the states. but in fact condon is a santa fe native, currently residing in new york, who plays balkan music. and does so very beautifully, if i do say so myself. for those not familiar, balkan music is a type of music from southeastern europe that is often charactarized by its very complex rhythm and instrumentation. condon’s main instruments are the trumpet, on which he is very skilled, and the ukulele. but those are definitely not the only instruments to be heard on beirut’s latest release, theflying club cup. with the help of final fantasy‘s owen pallett, who did the string arrangements for arcade fire’s neon bible (another top 10 album of ’07 for me), some of the songs on the album feature as many as 14 different instruments.
i haven’t heard but one song off of their first album, so i can’t really compare this one to their older stuff. but i definitely give the album two thumbs up. having grown up playing the trumpet, i am a sucker for almost any music with horns that isn’t ska. but beyond that, his voice just seems to suck me in and capture my full attention with every song. so i encourage you to download this song, and if you like, i can assure you that the whole album is worth your time and money.
When I was thinking about what I was going to write about this week, I was kind of clueless. But then it hit me, like a giant pile of textbooks. Franz Ferdinand. That’s right this week I will be discussing one of my absolute favorite remixes of all time, and it’s about my favorite band who’s name is based on a historical figure. No offense Dead Kennedys, Presidents of the United States of America, or Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.
I’ve had this particular remix in my possession for quite some time. In fact many summer ago, well two years ago, while hanging out with Nathan (the main writer of this blog) we listened to this song. We agreed that this remix is music that takes you places.
Franz Ferdinand – Fade Together (The Avalanches Remix) (removed 2/13/09)
I really love The Avalanches. This remix is one of a very small number of remixes they did. I’ll write about them some other day.
The real burning question on my mind, is where does this music take you? I imagine myself sitting in a black and white film set in the 1940′s in France. It’s raining, and I’m traveling by automobile through a deserted city street.
So tell me where it takes you, in the comments below.
Till another wednesday, let those ears keep on bleeding. Ω
