sister, oh sister

A crazy friend I met in Buenos Aires as he carefreely nomaded his way across South America, photographer colorstraordinaire Dan of danzim and urbanatural.sh, regularly sends out some of his pretty sweet photos.

Dan usually likes to play around with lights and words, messing with things like f-stop, ISO, shutter speed and probably many other things I've forgotten in the thirteen years since I took a photography class in high school. And then sometimes he does some minor post-snap work. In any event, he regularly does cool things like this [click all photos for larger images]:

And this:


I usually find his stuff to be somewhere between photography/design icon Ed Ruscha and lights fantastic photographer and designer Chuck Anderson, aka NoPattern [you've seen Chuck's work all over, just never known it].

But in the latest installment from last week, he played like one of les freres Lumieres and simply caught one tiny moment of everyday life. Below is the masterpiece, unofficially titled what happens when you fall in San Juan.

I can't stop laughing at this picture. It's brilliant. I think I found it even funnier because the copy I received was about seventeen times bigger than the screen, so I saw it piece by piece, first seeing the hermana caida [fallen sister], and then the hermana perra sonriendo [laughing bitch sister]. I can relate-- my big sister would have reacted in the same exact manner.

And so here's a bunch of songs in the theme of the photo.

Sufjan Stevens - Sister
New Young Pony Club - Ice Cream
Muscles - Ice Cream
Interpol - Evil
Menomena - Evil Bee
Colin Meloy - Sister I'm a Poet [Morrissey cover]
Urge Overkill - Sister Havana
Weezer - Troublemaker
Lil Kim - Queen Bitch 101
Bangers 'n' Cash - Bitch
Teiam Player - Kid Sister on my Shoulders

And yes, I did eventually note that she's holding some sort of candied apple or something and not ice cream. Oh well. I already had the ice cream songs uploaded and posted. Besides, the only apple song I could think of was "Bonita Applebum", and you can find that on someone else's blog.

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Favorite Songs of 2007, Part Diez

Yesterday after my final exam I treated myself to one of the things I do best: anything but schoolwork. I didn't do anything too crazy, but I enjoyed it more than usual because I didn't have that nagging feeling that I usually do when I write this blog, which is that I should be studying. It was frickin awesome. And then I did like this lil gumper and chillaxed a little.

I uploaded these tunes a few days ago, anticipating some procrastinating digression from studying in the form of blogging, but it never happened. And then I took yesterday off. And I should be cleaning my house right now, because it's turning into Chez de McCormick this weekend as my roommie's family crashes it. But those songs are just sitting out there not being enjoyed, so go enjoy them already.

I'm considering this the 10th and perhaps final Favorite Songs of 2007 post. Some of these are songs I've enjoyed all year, but some are songs I just nabbed off Pitchfork's best of 2007 list last week and I liked immediately. It never ceases to amaze me-- and always bugs me-- that out of the 100 songs they post, there are always at least 30% which I've never ever ever heard of.

Most of the new favorites I pulled from there, however, were from bands like Nick Cave's Grinderman, avant tardesters the Liars, and the Tori Amos-esque Bat for Lashes. I never really felt like giving these bands a chance based on their previous material, hype surrounding them, or just because I don't like the way they look. Well, maybe I should have and maybe I still won't. In any event, before I take another swig of my IPA, I first raise it up and offer a toast for the sake of judging books by their covers [and almost always being right]. Without further..

Daniel Rossen [of Grizzly Bear, Department of Eagles] - "Too Little Too Late" [JoJo cover], from the Grizzly Bear blog
Kelly Clarkson - "Fading", bonus track from import version of My December
Grizzly Bear - "He Hit Me", from Friend
Menomena - "Shirt", unreleased
Liars - "Plaster Casts of Everything", from Liars
White Denim - "All Truckers Roll", from forthcoming Workout Holiday
Bat for Lashes - "Horse and I", from Fur and Gold
Grinderman - "No Pussy Blues", from Grinderman
Deerhunter - "Wash Off", from Flourescent Grey
Gogol Bordello - "Forces of Vistory", from Super Taranta

Check out the rest of my 2007 favorites here.

Gogol Bordello, by the way, is my new obsession. I dismissed them earlier this year as a novelty act, but WOW every song is like a gypsy dance party. I think that if Pale Young Gentlemen started drinking heavily and let themselves go a little, spent some time in a gypsy camp outside Budapesht, they may eventually turn into something like Gogol Bordello.

And holy balls, I just discovered that the lead singer is in fact Alex from Everything is Illuminated. How did I not know this?! I thought of Alex the first time I ever heard Gogol, but never thought they were one in the same. Wicked.

Haven't seen the movie? Go get it now. It's hilarious, touching and just simply all-around amazing.



The band actually appears in the movie in this clip.

Happy holidays to everyone. I truly hope you have a peaceful next few weeks with family and friends. I'll pop in and share stuff when I have the resources and time.

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Covers!, etc

Coke Machine Glow's recent podcast featured their Fantasy Covers Project, where they asked some of their favorite bands to go and cover some of this past year's best/favorite tunes. You can download the 45 min-long continuous podcast from their site, or else you can make me feel like some of my own hard work wasn't all for naught and go download a zip of all the songs, split and tagged by yours truly.

Downlizzle that shizzle, here.

My immediate favorites was The Blacks' cover of Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black". Also worthy of note is The Hood Internet track, in which they take a different approach than usual and incorporate several tracks into one.. The Main Drag's "All My Friends" is good, too, if you weren't satisfied by neither John Cale's nor Franz Ferdinand's versions. Deer Tick's rendition of "Beautiful Girls" is refreshing for those who can't take any more of the original. Also, Menomena's leadman tries to do The National's "Fake Empire" justice, but it's pretty dam hard to top the original-- or even come close. But that's alright, Menomena boys-- I liked your album better than The National's anyway, so you're both still winners. And just to show how much, here's two cool videos.

The National "Fake Empire" live on Letterman


Menomena "Evil Bee"


If I had the ambition and resources, I'd re-direct this video using only clips from Bee Movie.

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Favorite Songs of 2007, Part Seis

Happy Snowy Day, Madisonites. I helped shovel the weekend's snow-turned-to-ice from my friend's driveway this afternoon, and by the time we were done my car was totally covered in a beautiful fluffy blanket. And now I want to go snowboarding.

Here's another list of tunes. Faves. From this year. Hence the title.

Kano - "The Layer Cake", from some bootleg mixtape
Menomena - "Evil Bee", from Friend or Foe
St Vincent - "Now Now", from Marry Me
Yeasayer - "Wait for the Summer", from All Hour Cymbals
Kelly Clarkson - "Never Again" [no, seriously; I mean it's no "Since U Been Gone", but let's not kid ourselves, what is?], from My December
Dntel feat Grizzly Bear - "To a Fault", from Dumb Luck
Pase Rock - "Lindsay Lohan's Revenge", from Lindsay Lohan's Revenge 12"
Brazos - "Miss Virginia", A City Just as Tall [I'm buying my copy from iTunes as I type]

Bonus! Teiam Player's keep-the-perversion-going remix of Pase Rock tune, featuring Primus's "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver". You do the math. Ok, I will.

Pase Rock + Primus = "LiLo's Big Brown Beaver"

Buy your new favorite artists here, here, here or here [Insound, Other Music, iTunes Store, or Amazon].

Be sure to check out all the other favorites.

Now go play in the snow.

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Favorite Songs of 2007, Part Uno

Well, there are roughly 40 days left in this wonderful year. And in a good portion of those days I'm going to sort through my various "best of" playlists.. that could be an entirely different post altogether.

Anyword.. I'm going to be randomly be adding anywhere from two to.. five? six? seven? songs each time up until either [a] I get sick of doing it, [b] I get sick of the songs, or [c] the end of the year. So without further..

Oh! Brand new idea: the percentage to the right of each album is the probability that this album would appear on my Favorite Album of 2007 list. Watch out now, kids-- lots of links, lots of stats.

Matthew Dear - "Fleece on Brain", from Asa Breed; 68%
I really need to make a regular "opening tracks" section where I share some of my favorite opening tracks. If I did, this would make the list. "Fleece" is one of the most electronic-sounding tunes on Asa Breed, with its oscillating synthlines and neverending looped bassline and probably not one of the most immediate, so perhaps it's a peculiar choice for opening track of an album that is definitely trying to reach out to indie audiences. But it's that never-quite-reaching-climax aspect of it that I think makes it work as an opening track. Besides that, what does it for me is the fact that he sounds one part [OHWNT favorite guilty pleasure] Clutch lead singer Neil Fallon, and one part [TVotR's] Kyp Malone [as I contest he does elsewhere on the record].

UGK feat Outkast - "Int'l Player's Anthem", from Underground Kingz; 4%
This song does not need any introduction. It's bloody brilliant. Earlier in the year I incorrectly deemed it the summer hip hop anthem. Well, who could have predicted the staying power of what turned into two of the most annoying tunes-- I speak of "The Way I Are" and "Umbrella"-ella-ella. ANYWAY.. you have to see the video if you haven't already, because whereas he hasn't yet totally realized greatness on the big screen [although he's definitely trying], Mr Andre Benjamin steals the show in the opening scene. Fo reezy. Further along, though, big UGK thug Bun B flexes his experience and.. bigness. But then the real Big Boi shows everyone why this tune should have really been an Outkast song, featuring UGK.

Bonus: it just so happens Teiam Player got hold of this and totally had his way with it. The "official" version ["The Int'l Man of Metropolis", one of the better TP tunes if I may say so myself] can be heard over at TeiamSpace. But another [kinda never totally finished] one can be downloaded here [an exclusive, feel special]:
UGK feat Outkast + White Rabbits + Sufjan Stevens =
Teiam Player "The International Player's Plot"

Menomena - "Wet and Rusting", from Friend and Foe; 98%
This was, if not the, then one of the first albums I knew would be my year-end favorite. And this song has it all. Pianos! Strumming guitars! Chaotic drum beating! Dual vocals, quasi-harmonizing! It's killer. And with the props to Kanye, the video for it is alright, too.

Bonus: and guess what? That's right, Teiam Player's version!
Menomena + The Pack = Teiam Player "Wet Candy"

Phew. Was this the most fun-filled OHWNT post yet, or what? And it's a frigging Friday night. I need to leave the house now.

Find all of my FaveSongs2007 posts here.

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