Welcome fall! Music list-o-mania

Picks of the season

My subscription to Latina has been rubbing off on me. Besides Bomba Estereo, I've also been enjoying Maluca and Madera Limpia, but most especially the Rudo y Cursi soundtrack song "Prefiero el Asfalto" by Niña Dioz. It has been BURNING up my iPod. Love this song, and always happy to find another lady rapper along the lines of M.I.A. or Lady Sovereign. My favorite part of the song is the wierd subterranean distorted robot voice--it sounds kind of like if you dropped a cell phone down a well and the other person kept talking while the interworkings of the phone warped and melted and drowned. (Side note about Latina—I also liked their recent list of "25 Books Every Latina Should Read.")

I'm also happy to find more stuff from Jack Peñate, whose "Tonight's Today" totally rocked my June. "Be the One" is not as phenomenal, but it's fine and has a nice little disco chorus going on. Also you can hear his cute British accent pretty clearly in this one, like in his early song "Seconds, Minute, or Hour". He's got some videos on his site for these and other songs.

I just discovered Bibio and can't stop listening to "S'vive." I can't quite describe the sound of this track except to say it's like Tomita+Joanna Newsom+acid and totally awesome. And he's from Wolverhampton. (This tickles me for Monty Python reasons.) Other songs on his 2009 release Ambivalence Avenue are not as crazy, more mellow, possibly broadening its appeal. The title track is very nice, it has a Jefferson Airplane-by-way-of-African drumming thing that I like.

Speaking of African sounds, a la Vampire Weekend (new pop rediscovers secrets of Paul Simon's catchiness), have you heard of Fool's Gold? I've been obsessed with "Nadine (Memory Tapes Remix)," and just now checked out Surprise Hotel which sounds fabulous. Their album comes out in 5 days (9/29) and I'm thinking it'll be delicious. Go listen on their myspace--link above!

Finally, everyone seems excited about Miike Snow, Sweden's latest supergroup (or whatever). I love the jackalope-in-ice mascot they've got going, and the song "Animal" is indeed very very good, as others have pointed out. I like the little reggae tinge to it--just enough to funk things up, not enough to annoy. For a group that has performed at least once in scary masks, their music sounds pretty confectionery. I also like "A Horse is Not a Home," though I wonder if the incessant plunking of the piano is just hypnotizing me into thinking I like it.

8*9*09 Beef Jerky Time playlist

• Salsa: Madera Limpia
• El Tigeraso (Sticky K remix): Maluca
• Prefiero el Asfalto: Niña Dioz
• Fancy Dancer: The Commodores
• Here to Fall: Yo La Tengo
• Boogie that Be: Black Eyed Peas
• Human Nature: Toro y Moi
• Happy: N.E.R.D.
• When They Fight, They Fight: The Generationals
• Terminally Chill: Neon Indian
• No Reasons: VEGA
• The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid: The Decemberists

8*26*09, folk/bluegrass/mountain/frontier show

• Buster Voodoo: Rodrigo y Gabriela
• Knockin' On Your Door: Old & in the Way
• When Shrimps Learn to Whistle: Leo Kottke
• Cigarettes, Whisky & Wild Women: Sons of the Pioneers
• Way Down the Old Plank Road: The Mammals
• There'll Be Some Changes Made: Knopfler & Atkins
• Alabama Jubilee: Chet Atkins
• Scratchy Fiddle Boogie Blues: Mike Cross
• Summer Heat: Bert Jansch
• When the Sun Comes Up: Bert Jansch w. Beth Orton
• On the Edge of a Dream: Bert Jansch
• Swing '39: David Grisman Quintet
• Harvest Song: Harvey Tuft
• Red Cat Til I Die: Ry Cooder
• Sailin' Up, Sailin' Down: Pete Seeger
• Orange Stomp: Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys

9*2*09 Beef Jerky Time playlist

• Nadine (Memory Tapes version): Fool's Gold
• Hit the Wall: Broken Social Scene
• I Think I Like You: Donora
• The Envy Corps: Screen Test
• Steppin' Out: Lo-Fi-FNK
• Oh My My: Jill Barber
• Happy Up Here: Royksopp
• Can You Tell Me (The Kids Are Radioactive remix): Ra Ra Riot
• No Time: Colin Hay
• Two Dots: Lusine
• Overkill: Men at Work
• An Anniversary Away: Reverie Sound Revue

9*15*09 Beef Jerky Time playlist

• Playgirl: Ladytron
• Great Five Lakes: Buffalo Daughter
• Pulling Our Weight: The Radio Dept
• Greens, Grays and Nordics: Deastro
• In Search of: Miike Snow
• Rain Dance: The Very Best f. M.I.A.
• Be the One: Jack Peñate
• Love Train: The O'Jays
• S'vive: Bibio
• Oh You Pretty Things: David Bowie
• Love Is Sold: Panther
• Love & Romance & a Special Person: Joakim
• Another Likely Story (Neon Indian remix): Au Revoir Simone

9*23*09 Beef Jerky Time playlist

• I Wasn't Made for Fighting: Woodhands
• Kiss Me Deadly: Lita Ford
• All Thoughts Are Prey to Some Beast: Bill Callahan
• Animal: Miike Snow
• Stillness Is the Move: Dirty Projectors
• Memories: David Guetta f. Kid Cudi
• True Stories: Datarock
• Seven (Crookers remix): Fever Ray
• Bring It On Home: Led Zeppelin
• Don't Leave Me This Way: The Communards
• Killing An Arab: The Cure
• Shoulders & Arms: Tokyo Police Club
• Laideronette, Empress of the Pagodas: Tomita does Ravel's Mother Goose Suite