moosico

i love going back to old albums, albums where i immediately fell in love with one track to the exclusion of the others, only to find myself completely smitten by a track that didn't really speak to me the first time around. allays my constant fear that one day the world is just going to run out of good music. incidentally, i also love bavarian circus breakdowns.

*yet another KCRW discovery. full album out on June 23.

*get some good headphones, turn it up, close your eyes and let it build. and when it's done, go get the whole album. it's all good.

i really hope this doesn't turn into a blog where I only post once every year, and only when I find something truly spectacular. i am afraid that's what's happening, but not afraid enough to keep me from posting this. Phoenix + R. Kelly = a match made in some weird closet in heaven where indie rockers get trapped and discover that pop music doesn't have to be from the 70s to be awesome. and also that their wife may be sleeping with a midget.

*seriously, how is that not him?

one of my favorite thanksgiving songs. tho you know what i'd really be thankful for? if these bums would get back together and record a new album. -d

i'm sorry. it's been a full time. i got engaged. i got married. my wife got cancer. she beat cancer into a bloody remissive pulp. and now, i'm alive. tired, happy and alive. but still a little sorry. i've been contemplating getting moosico back up and running for a few weeks now, but couldn't seem to make the time for it. but now i think my subconscious was just waiting for the right thing to post. and this is so it. two songs i adore, in a moment that could only happen on youtube. it's like the internet is welcoming me back. it is good to be back.

gosh this is fascinating stuff. composer who wrote the music for all those original MTV promos (think astronauts and animations) contributes a few Eno/Byrne-inspired "found vocals" songs to a terrible John Travolta movie. the label loves them and asks for a followup (The General's Daughter 2!! YES!!), which of course never pans out but ultimately results in a solo album full of fascinating remixes of southern spiritual/blues field recordings. chris douridas has been playing this stuff on kcrw for years, and today i finally tracked it down. and not only is the whole album unbelievably good, but his cuts from the soundtrack are unreal. sadly the guy died a year after this album released. his last major work? the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider video game soundtrack. fascinating.

i've dug this song for a while. not sure how i only saw this video tonight. it is...spectacular. -d

without anybody really asking, pitchfork once again weighed in on their top 100 tracks of 2011. and like every year, the selections alternately reflect a need to be cool and different and counterculture, and a knee-jerk compulsion to distance themselves from those lame people who try to be cool and different and counterculture. and yet here i am, reading, writing about and even linking to the list. i clearly have the same love/hate relationship w/ pitchfork they have with themselves. and who am i kidding? i bounce between beyonce and bon iver with the best of them. either way, this track topped the 2011 list. good song? of course. best song? of course not. but as a band that personifies that careful dance between indie and pop, it's pitchfork perfect. -d

last saturday was one of my favorite days of the year. the annual holiday tapas party. 5.2 of my favorite people in the world, welcoming in the christmas season a la española: in a warm kitchen, surrounded by copious amounts of chorizo, queso manchego, olive oil and rioja. (we did add a little a lo americano to the evening. but it's not really a christmas party without a flying polar plunge from the top of a garage into a 47 degree pool, is it?). since that night, everything feels different. it's christmas. or hypothermia. probably a bit of both. either way, the christmas music came out in full force this morning. starting with this. -d

an otherwise irritating day at work today was brightened by a rousing late afternoon round of Name that 90s Song (thank you rhino records Whatever! box set), during which i was reminded of what a great song this is. despite the absurd vocal looping at the end of each chorus. seriously listen to it. they hold that note for like 16 measures. ridiculous. great song tho. -d

i've always respected feist as a member of that exclusive club of female vocalists that i actually listen to willingly. but this. oh man. this is something different altogether. it's impossibly good. certainly her best, and probably one of the best of year. and if you ask me, it never gets better than this opening track...-d

a great great sound from our boy shugo. it's off the first of a pretty interesting series of EPs called 'vicious circles' being released by this canadian record label called hand drawn dracula. basically they take a couple of great bands, and get them to cover the crap out of each other. in volume 1, we get shugo tokumaru covering black moth super rainbow and holy f**k, black moth super rainbow covering holy f**k and shugo, and of course a great shugo cover by holy f**k. this track is the standout for me, but the entire effort is pretty solid. certainly worth the facebook like required to download the EP for free. i mean, f**k. -d

i love my job. every day is different, i'm never bored and i love the people i work with. my only beef is that after a day on the computer, the last thing i want to do is come home and tumble. but every morning i come into work, i start up chrome, i see tumblr on my startup tab, and i get this nagging feeling. i miss it. i miss sharing that old song that perfectly underscores my day. i miss discovering that new song that totally makes my day. so i'm done. with not doing it. i'm going to try to set aside a little time every day. maybe i won't have time everyday. but hopefully if it pops up on my calendar every single day in that magic moment right after lunch and right before the after-lunch crash, i'll be able to sustain this thing. here's hoping. weirder things have happened. you know, like when 'Smile' finally got released. i love this album, and i love the metaphor it sets up. it's life. it's full of insanity and turmoil and desperation and lots and lots of noise. but it's also full of beauty and magic and uncompromising originality, all wrapped in a package that somehow both embraces and defies the epic battle the album represents from production to release. boom. -d *this is from the absurdly exhaustive 5-disc everyone-hates-mike-love-athon that came out a little while ago. it's actually really good. it's just a bit much.

i still consider this guy to be one of the finest songwriters in the history of american popular music. just timeless stuff. he could have recorded this yesterday.

so much for old music.