I love this OK Go video what with the jazz hands and hustle and the pointy poses, etc. And you can see one of the guys mouthing, "1, 2, 3, 4..." which was always one of my pet peeves when I taught dance. Count in your head people.

You must watch this video! Click on the link and then choose "A Million Ways."

Guest DJ Day!

We here at Handclaps make it better™ are into the sharing of some good tunes. And we are always grateful when you share some with us. So in that spirit, we present Guest DJ Day. The songs below were recommended by others. And if anyone wants to comment with your own song recommendations, that would be great too. We'll be a shiny, happy Music Commune spreading love and daisies everywhere. Can you dig it? Peace, my brothers and sisters.

Leah is spinning
(The Real) Tuesday Weld - (Still) Terminally Ambivalent

Brian was raving about this band, so here's
Discover America - Call It in the Air.

I mentioned this song several months ago after hearing it on KEXP, but I never found an mp3. Now Blake has made one for all of us to enjoy. Everyone thank Blake!
The Prayers & Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers - Lisa.

You Ain't No Picasso posted a Death Cab/Decemberists cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" from Summerstage.
DCfC and The Decemberists - Go Your Own Way. (expired)
Man, I wish I had been there.

Oops! So now I've learned my lesson about being lazy and not checking my own links. Sorry to those of you that clicked to hear some new Death Cab and instead got Dubya giving you the finger. I fixed the links below and to make up for my faux pas, I'll post another song from Plans. Hosted by me.

Death Cab for Cutie - Crooked Teeth (expired)

And here are the links to the songs I've already posted, all in one place.

Death Cab - I Will Follow You Into the Dark (expired)
Death Cab - What Sarah Said (expired)
Death Cab - Different Names for the Same Thing (expired)
Death Cab - Marching Bands of Manhattan (expired)

Another song from that tribute to Rubber Soul.

The Fiery Furnaces - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (expired)

It will leave you asking, "Wait, was that the ending?"

Tell me why, tell me whyyyyyy....

I meant to post this a while back, but I forgot.

So Sufjan is going to be on a tribute album to the Beatles' Rubber Soul. According to Pitchfork, "This album is a track-by-track run through of the Beatles' 1965 masterpiece (aren't they all?) Rubber Soul. It's titled, appropriately, This Bird Has Flown - A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul, and will be released by Razor & Tie on October 25. Featured on the album are Sufjan Stevens, the Fiery Furnaces, Ted Leo, Low, Nellie McKay, and a few others."

Tracklist:

01 Drive My Car - The Donnas
02 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - The Fiery Furnaces
03 You Won't See Me - Dar Williams
04 Nowhere Man - Low
05 Think for Yourself - Yonder Mountain String Band
06 The Word - Mindy Smith
07 Michelle - Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
08 What Goes On - Sufjan Stevens
09 Girl - Rhett Miller
10 I'm Looking Through You - Ted Leo
11 In My Life - Ben Lee
12 Wait - Ben Kweller
13 If I Needed Someone - Nellie McKay
14 Run for Your Life - Cowboy Junkies

And here is Sufjan's cover of What Goes On I really like it!

Sufjan Stevens - What Goes On Via Rapidshare.

Yesterday was my birthday so I took the day off work and Leah and I journeyed to Atlanta to check out the Graphic Noise concert poster exhibition and generally goof off. The exhibition had hundreds of posters from designers across the nation, and even a few from far-off parts like Australia and Belgium. So much good work that I just wanted to stealthily remove a few off the wall, hide them up inside my pant legs, and run out. But I refrained and bought a few from the gift shop instead.

I bought this:


And this:


And a few favorites:






After the exhibition, Leah and I headed to IKEA for our gig modeling the finest in watering can hat couture.

Then on to Little Five Points where we perused record stores and vintage clothing. A good dinner and we were on the road back home.

More pictures of our IKEA photo shoot to come.

New Death Cab

Ugh...Monday morning. I shouldn't have stayed up so late, running on 4 hours of sleep isn't fun. But then I came into work to find more new Death Cab and that brightened my morning. So I'll share it, in hopes that it will do the same for you.

Death Cab - I Will Follow You Into the Dark (expired) Pretty, quiet little song.

Death Cab - What Sarah Said (expired) Nice piano.

Death Cab - Different Names for the Same Thing (expired) I hear the influence of the Postal Service.

So Plans sounds like it is shaping up to be a good record.

The Black Eyed Pees

GROSS!


The jokes, they write themselves.
The Black Eyed Pees

Weird. My blog ate my last post. One second it was there, and then it disappeared into the belly of the internet beast. Bad blog!

I went to the beach this past weekend with a group of friends. While on the beach blanket, I enjoyed the sun's rays warming my skin, a breeze in my hair, a good book in my hand, and the pop sounds of the Pernice Brothers wafting through the headphones of my iPod. And I didn't even get sunburned. The Pernice Brothers are probably not typical "beach music" in that it is not about pimp cups, hoes, and Escalades but it is phat anyway. Phatter than Fat Joe.

Pernice Brothers - My So-Called Celibate Life
Pernice Brothers - Amazing Glow
Pernice Brothers - One Foot in the Grave
Pernice Brothers - Baby in Two

There's a great article in the latest issue of Paste about Joe Pernice, his history in the Scud Mountain Boys, and the evolution of his sound. Check it out if you get the chance.