Sunday, March 8, 2009

sys44 :: PASSED OFF AS A SCREAMER


"When we die, we will turn into songs, and we will hear each other and remember each other." Rob Sheffield

1. Pavement - "Stereo"
The Pavement love continues with "Stereo," which, besides being one of the catchiest songs in the group's canon, includes one of the funniest back-and-forths in the history of rock 'n' roll: "What about the voice of Geddy Lee? / How did it get so high? / I wonder if he speaks like an ordinary guy." "I know him, and he does." "Then you're my fact-checking cuz."

2. Jimmy Eat World - "77 Satellites"
Another joyous romp about dancing and drugs. I think....

3. Mclusky - "She Will Only Bring You Happiness"
In the running for BEST. WELSH BAND. EVER. (Granted, I don't know a whole helluva lot of groups from Wales, but it's hard to imagine any others that could possibly get me saying "Right on" as much as this now-defunct band right here does.)

4. Pacific Phonograph Co. - 'What About Our Secret?" [LISTEN]
A promising new Zenith City outfit featuring Tony Rubin (whom you might recognize from my "expose" on one of his other groups, AM rubin) and two relative newcomers to the scene/last known address being the Twin Cities, I believe: Heather Dean and Scott Millis.

5. Cursive - "From the Hips" [MP3]
In case you've been too absorbed with watching "Swingtown" on your Xbox 360 (just me?), Cursive has a new album coming out Tuesday. It's called "Mama, I'm Swollen" and, if the two "leaked" tracks are any indication, it's going to be as great as all the others. Really, though, would you expect any less?

6. Wild Light - "New Hampshire"
For those still crying themselves to sleep at night over the Format's premature demise (something else I'm guilty of...), there's always "New Hampshire" to soothe the pain. The rest of the "Adult Nights" album may be a little more "produced-to-perfection power pop sheen that’s equal parts Ice Palace and any random Brendan Benson project" — so sayeth me — but that doesn't sound too bad, does it now?

7. Ice Palace - "The Same Seat"
Oh, hey, speaking of Cloud Cult's favorite band, here's another only-brainwashed-zombies-who-text-in-their-"American Idol"-choices-would-hate-this-s--- indie pop gem from recent Earthology signees Ice Palace.

8. Self - "See If You Swim" [MP3]
Again, how does Matt Mahaffey pull off lyrics like this and make it sound safe for radio? My favorite lines: "I'm gonna throw you in the ocean / Throw you in the ocean / Throw you in the ocean / And see if you swim."

9. Dr. Dog - "The Old Days" [MP3]
The beginning sounds like it was lifted from "Gizmodgery" — I love it! (For the record, the rest of the track is splendid as well.)

10. Ben Kweller - "Hurtin' You" [MP3]
Kweller's gone country. No complaints here.

11. Black Lips - "Short Fuse" [MP3]
And the Black Lips have gone Buffalo Springfield. Again, no complaints here.

12. Grieves - "The March"
A "Rabbit Redux"-worthy instrumental before ...

13. National Eye - "Drowned in Bed" [MP3]
... one of the best basslines in rock since the entirety of "Who's Next."

14. The Peekers - "Hey Little Kitty" [MP3]
Finally, indie pop is starting to take cues from the masterworks of George Harrison. (At least that's what I've deluded myself into believing.)

15. Oasis - "Bag it Up"
The intro reeks of mid-'90s Aerosmith cheese, but, hey, I grew up on "Get a Grip," so I can live with it.

16. Franz Ferdinand - "Do You Want To"
Wow, isn't this mix tape well-traveled? Wales, England, Scotland....

17. The Plastic Constellations - "We are Genius Millionaires"
They sure were.

18. Jeff Buckley - "Eternal Life"
Somebody made a Jeff Buckley (is dead) joke the other day, and I thought that really sucked.

19. Brakes (aka BrakesBrakesBrakes) - "Two Shocks"
Intriguing wordplay and an all-around suave sound.

20. Wilco - "Bob Dylan's 49th Beard" [MP3]
As reported earlier, this one's available on Wilco's free EP known as "More Like the Moon" (and sometimes known as "Bridge" and/or "Australian").

21. Shelter Belt - "Forgot About Dre" [Dr. Dre cover] [LIVE] [MP3]
And, what do you know, another free EP here, "Live at Joslyn Castle."

22. Pearl Jam - "Once" [Live at the Palladium]
Comes with preorders of the "Ten" reissue on Amazon.com. Diehards, you know you need it.

23. Hit Crew - "The Nightmare and Dawn" [Bernard Herrmann cover]
Before Angelo Badalamenti's work with David Lynch on "Twin Peaks," there was Bernard Herrmann's masterful score for Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo."

24. The Spinto Band - "Summer Grof" [MP3]
The terrific end to a terrific* mix tape.

*To my ears at least.

Thus concludes your forty-forth dose of SHAKE*YOUR*SHORES, the awesome mix tape series formerly known as "Don't Tell a Soul."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice Pavement selection. I conveniently played that same Mclusky song last week on the show. Haven't heard your requests lately...Is the show lacking excitement these days?

Anonymous said...

the Brakes aka Brakes Brakes Brakes cover the Charles Douglas song "Ancient Mysteries" on their new album TOUCHDOWN!!!!! you might dig it!!!!! --charles