Enthusiastic And Likable

Back from my hols, but not really full of inspiration yet to be honest. Still in a laidback, beach bum kinda mood, you know how it is. But I can´t resist to draw your attention to some very interesting reading material in today´s edition of British newspaper The Observer. In a piece called The Thrill Of It All, novelist and music lover Nick Hornby stands up for music bloggers everywhere. Take notice, The Man, as the Arsenal-crazy writer of High Fidelity and About A Boy presents some serious arguments in favour of the likes of us...

An excerpt: "It took me longer than it should have done to work out that the internet is one giant independent record shop – thousands and thousands of cute little independent record shops, anyway – and they don't actually charge you for the music they stock. The MP3 blogs that stretch for miles and miles, as far as the eye can see, down that stretch of the net that isn't reserved for pornography, are staffed by enthusiastic and likable young men and women who absolutely don't want to rip the artists off: they are always careful to post links to iTunes and Amazon, and the songs they put on their sites are for sampling purposes only. (...) It works for me. I listen, and then I buy what I like, because owning music is still important to me". Right on bro! Read the full article here.

As a soundtrack to all this, here´s some stuff that might just be up mr. Hornby´s alley. Or yours for that matter. Featuring something old (the mighty Sonny Rollins), something new (a fresh ditty by the David Wax Museum), something borrowed (a crazy cover by Japrockers the Golden Cups), something blue (´Jesus, this is Iggy...´). And Brian Ferry & co of course. Oh, the thrill of it all...

Sonny Rollins Quartet - The Most Beautiful Girl In The World MP3

The David Wax Museum - Jalopy Heart MP3

Golden Cups - Hey Joe MP3

Iggy Pop - Turn Blue MP3

Roxy Music - The Thrill Of It All MP3

Grab bag time again

It´s Friday, so time for another musical grab bag. Want to know what songs caught my attention over the last week for one reason or other? Please read on. Got some new stuff, some oldies and two flamingos. In a fruit fight.

Let´s start off with Blitzen Trapper, a band I´ve praised in these pages before. They hail from Portland, Oregon and mix country, pop and Pavement-style indierock like no other. Currently Sub Pop recording artists, the country flavoured Texaco comes from the self-titled debut album on their own Lidkercow label. Their slogan is ´Blitzen Trapper makes big happy´ and I can´t agree more.

Blitzen Trapper - Texaco MP3

"Everything´s wrong at the same time it´s right..." Captain Beefheart is one of the giants, a true original. I recall I didn´t like Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) much when it came out back in ´79. Yup I´m that old kids. Reviews were unanonymously raving, but I guess I was too much into the weirdness of Trout Mask Replica and the blues of Clear Spot at the time to fully appreciate it. Now it´s probably the Magic Band album I play most often.

Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band - Tropical Hot Dog Night MP3

Ever since Vampire Weekend made it to the big leagues after first having been championed in the blogosphere, music bloggers tend to find a lot of promo albums on their doormats. The majority doesn´t really make the grade, but every once in a while one receives something interesting. Like the just released I Turned Off Thinking About by The David Wax Museum. Their Americana folk is often injected with Mexican spice, but currently I like the Townes Van Zandt-like You Will Be Dishonest the best.

The David Wax Museum - You Will Be Dishonest MP3

Dave Smalley is one of the best punkpop vocalists around. He sang and played guitar in bands like DYS, Dag Nasty, All and Down By Law, and got into a row with the global punk community a few years back when he endorsed the George W. Bush regime in public. Dumb move Dave. But Best Friends (from their ´91 debut on Epitaph) remains a great song. This one is dedicated to the missus btw. Only one day late for Valentine love...

Down By Law - Best Friends MP3

Last week I wrote about Blind Willie Johnson´s John The Revelator, and an attentive reader immediately emailed me a song by 18 Wheeler with the same title. I presumed it would be a cover version, but it turned out to be an original composition. I´m sure fans of Big Star and The Posies will like this. I know I do.

18 Wheeler - John The Revelator MP3

You´ll find tonights closer on the Modern Lovers´ first album (´76). "If I were to walk through the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston... well first I´d go to room where they keep the Cézanne". I really have to visit there sometime. They´ve got some mean Gauguins too I´m told. Beautiful song, beautiful album. You need it. Now.

Modern Lovers - Girlfriend MP3