May 2009 music roundup

If you work out or have a short attention span or just need to be amused with some ear-caffeine, may I recommend the Felix Cartal remix of MSTRKRFT's "Bounce" (first link is .mp3). I added this to my running mix and just thinking about it helps me get up to run. Then I play it on my commute cuz I can't wait until my next run to hear it again! The song is basically just noisy techno, but it tickles me. I love those skittery electronic noises and I like to add them when I sing along: "All I do is party. BAOWH."

St. Vincent's album Actor is now out and seems to be pleasing critics and fans alike. Of the 2 tracks I've heard, I prefer "Strangers" as it seems both tidy and demonic somehow (how sweetly she trills "paint the black hole blacker"). Another song that has been driving me crazy with joy is "Steppin' Out" by Sweden's Lo-Fi-Fnk. (It's a good running song, too.) Here's the video:



The music I'm most excited about right now is Phoenix, whose album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix drops in a couple days. Seems like the mainstream media is onto Phoenix, well good! Maybe I'll actually be able to find the CD in our small town! This might just be the Band of 2009 that I'm looking for. (The Versailles provenance and Sofia Coppola connection are certainly not hurting my fascination for Phoenix. OMG VERSAILLES!) Also Neon Indian seems promising--as some critics have pointed out, a band half from Brooklyn and half from Austin is likely to have some good stuff going on. Finally, in my personal rotation, Ladyhawke has a high number of spins. I know that's so, like, 2008, but I just got my hands on it (it's short--how Strokes-y!)

Here, playlists from the last 3 weeks of Beef Jerky Time. The middle show was a British bands show. The last song from that show by The Prodigy ("Invaders Must Die") is prodigy perfection--it sounds like more of Fat of the Land and that's A-OK with me.

5*6*09

• Steppin' Out: Lo-Fi-Fnk
• Pretty in Pink: Psychedelic Furs
• 1901: Phoenix
• Mirrored & Reverse: White Denim
• Two Silver Trees: Calexico
• Rum Hee: Shugo Tokumaru
• It's For You: Out Hud
• Notorious: Duran Duran
• The Letter: The Veils
• Need Your Needs: Georgie James
• Mykonos: Fleet Foxes
• Controlar (XXXChange remix): Ceci Bastida
• Why Ain't Love Fair: Thee Wylde Maniacs
• 6669 (I Don't Know If You Know): Neon Indian
• Lullaby No. 5: Ernest Gonzales

5*13*09

• Kids with Guns (Hot Chip remix): Gorillaz
• Fiesta: Pogues
• Hunting for Witches: Bloc Party
• Still Ill: The Smiths
• Being Boring: Pet Shop Boys
• Reasons to Be Cheerful, Pt. 3: Ian Dury & the Blockheads
• One After 909: The Beatles
• Everything's Gone Green: New Order
• St. Elmo's Fire: Brian Eno
• White Riot: The Clash
• The Dark of the Matinee: Franz Ferdinand
• Invaders Must Die: The Prodigy

5*20*09

• Sound of Silver: LCD Soundsystem
• Where It's At: Beck
• We're Through: James Pants
• My Week Beats Your Year: Telefon Tel Aviv
• Soma: The Strokes
• Steppin' Out: Lo-Fi-Fnk
• Strangers: St. Vincent
• Daniel: Bat for Lashes
• Another Runaway: Ladyhawke
• She's a Rejector: Of Montreal
• Bright Neon Payphone: Cut Copy
• l'ami Caouette: Serge Gainsbourg