It's Booty Bugaloo!

There was once a time, not too long ago, that I made at least one mix CD a week for myself. Sadly my recent schedule has not allowed this weekly mix making to continue so I was happy when I had the time to make a Happy Booty Bugaloo Trip the Light Fantastic Dance mix yesterday. Here's about half of it.

Ghostland Observatory - Sad Sad City
Ghostland Observatory - Piano Man
Peter Bjorn and John - Young Folks
The French Kicks - Knee High
33Hz - Digital Lover
The Pipettes - It Hurts to See You Dance So Well
Jim Noir - Key of C
A.C. Newman - Miracle Drug
Islands - Jogging Gorgeous Summer
Art Brut - Good Weekend

Stay tuned for the Red Blondehead dancehall hit "Booty Bugaloo." We're currently holding auditions for people that can say "booty" 50 times in 10 seconds. A sampling of the lyrical brilliance:
Booty booty booty!
Boo-oo-oo-ty!
Booty Bugaloo!

three cheers for freak folk

and Lisa Germano, probably the most clean-shaven artist on Michael Gira's Young Gods record label (though maybe not the artist with the longest hair).

Germano seems to have found her home on Young Gods; her new record In the Maybe World evinces a solid direction, but it doesn't really sound like anything any other female artists are doing right now. Such is usually the case for Germano, who has been difficult to pigeonhole from her first releases in the business.

These new songs have a common thread of portentous surrealism, as is most clearly heard on "In the Land of Fairies." This doesn't seem at all out-of-line with Germano's 2003 release, which if you recall featured a levitating dead woman in the artwork. Similarly, this record won't be found upbeat, but there are some nice melodies and atmospheric elements that make it enjoyable and entirely appropriate for Gira's newish label.

Into Oblivion
In the Maybe World

In the Maybe World was released Tuesday and can be found at amazon.com.

Golden Smog

Does anybody in blogland love Gary Louris as much as I do? I doubt it. I've got Gary Louris posters all over my house, I set up surround-sound wiring throughout my house in order to pipe Jayhawks and Golden Smog music through my house at all times, and I sleep with a big cut-out of Gary Louris nightly.

Creepy? Yes. Remember what your momma told you about meeting people on the internet.

I listen to every Golden Smog record with glee, as Gary Louris/Jeff Tweedy duets are almost, almost too much vocal loveliness for me to handle. Another Fine Day, the supergroup's latest record debuting tomorrow, is thoroughly good, if not as wonderful as Weird Tales. There's a good mix of folky ballads and comparatively safe "experimental" elements, but there are a few straight-up pop songs as well. Here's a few tracks for you to peruse:

5.22.02, courtesy of Each Note Secure

Corvette, courtesy of Sixeyes

Visit the supergroup's myspace page to listen to a few others (my personal favorite is "Listen Joe," a Louris/Tweedy duet).



Here's the record for $11.98 at spun.com, a groovy site we caught wind of that lets you sell and buy CDs.

Bishop Allen...like t-ee in the way!

In honor of cult movie language week at Red Blondehead, I spent hours trying to translate this post into Klingon in an attempt to surpass Leah's impressive nadsat post. But looking up every single word was such a drag. So instead you get a couple of sentences from that madeup language Jodie Foster used when she played a backwoods yokel in Nell.

Trouble go away at nigh', an' Nell caw Mi'i...an' Nell an' Mi'i - ye', Nell an' Mi'i...like t'ee in the way! Chicka, chicka, chickabee. T'ee an me an t'ee an Bishop Allen. Ressa, ressa, ressa me. Chicka, chicka, chickabee.

To get the full effect, picture me saying this while swaying with my arms outstretched and my eyes closed.

Since the beginning of the year, Brooklyn's Bishop Allen have been releasing one EP a month and selling them for 5 bucks on their website.

January - Bishop Allen - Corazon
February - Bishop Allen - The News from Your Bed
March - Bishop Allen - The Monitor
April - Bishop Allen - Flight 180
May - Bishop Allen - Butterfly Nets

My favorites are February, March, and May.

And two from their full-length Charm School:
Bishop Allen - Busted Heart
Bishop Allen - Things Are What You Make of Them

CHICKABEE!

Post-Country, Post-Rock Country Rock Extravaganza

...And a good afternoon to you, faithful Red Blondehead readers. Today is a little like a mini-festival at RB: an alt-country mini-festival, that is. Here's a bit of fun trivia for all you out there; it's like opening a Laffy Taffy and reading the jokes on the wrapper, only not as funny and... you don't get to eat any candy. Look on the bright side, though: no sticky hands!

Here we go:

What do all alt-country musicians (bands, artists, whatevers) have in common? NO PEEKING BELOW; try to come up with the answer for yourself before doing the ole inch scrolldown!


ANSWER: They all hate being called alt-country.

But why should they? Too confining? Not fancy-schmancy enough? These musicians, they bark at you during interviews when you pull out the ole "How do you feel about being labeled alt-country?" question. Maybe before long the geniuses over at Pitchfork will crown alt-country musicians with a new title, one that they can be proud of. One like "post post country" or even "post-country country" or even "post-country, post-rock country rock." The more words the better, eh? Sounds smarter. Give me cred because I think I just coined that one myself.

OKAY, getting on with the bands now...

First in our mini-festival alt-country extrav-ganza are the Saturdays, led by Birmingham's Bo Butler. Their new album Go Slow is quite short but is packed full of several talented and accomplished musicians. We like the Saturdays because their music is warm and familiar--and frankly because the guys couldn't be more humble. The packaging under the CD reads, "For All Who'll Listen," and by best we can tell (since there are no lyrics published in the liner notes), some of the lyrics lament performing before unattentive audiences.

We're listening, we promise! See:

Right Through You

This one is one of my live favorites. When Bo plays it at shows solo, he is often accompanied by the lovely Ms. Claire Cormany of Kiss Me at the Gate: True Non-Believer

Moving on to the next and last, I'll have to apologize. Although I've been trying to keep up with them for months, I apparently missed the release date of Chicago-turned-Albequerque's best alt-country duo, the Handsome Family.

The Handsome Family, if you're not familiar, consists of married couple Brett and Rennie Sparks. Their live shows feature a lot of onstage banter during which Rennie picks on her husband for his bi-polar tendencies. Hey, they've even written songs about it! Catch one of these tourdates for one of the most enjoyable live sets you'll ever witness:

7.13.06 - Chicago - Abbey Pub
7.14.06 - Detroit - Magic Stick
7.15.06 - Toronto - Horseshoe Tavern
7.18.06 - Boston - TT the Bear
7.20.06 - New York - Mercury Lounge
7.21.06 - Philadelphia - World Cafe Live
7.22.06 - Arlington - Iota
7.23.06 - Charlottesville - Star Hill Music Hall
7.24.06 - Carrborro - Local 506
7.26.06 - Atlanta - The Earl

These songs are from the Handsome Family's newest record, Last Days of Wonder:

Your Great Journey
Flapping Your Broken Wings

Finally, here's an old favorite from their 1997 release Through the Trees. Note Jeff Tweedy singing backup on this one. The Handsome Family has toured with Wilco quite a bit in the past, and the Tweedster lent his equipment and his trademark voice for several of the recordings on this record.

Cathedrals

Pick up Last Days of Wonder at Amazon.com. You can find out more about The Saturdays' Go Slow by checking out their myspace.com page.

A nadsat introduction to Benevento/Russo Duo

Me and my droogie Traci were peeting the knify moloko when a like buzz went creeching at the door. It was a ptitsa with a box and she smotted us all like gloopy through otchkies and said, “Have a good one” all skorry and sarky. I gave the box to my droog, and tolchocked the old devotchka square in the rot like, a bit of the old ultra-violence.

It being a CD had arrived, we continued peeting the moloko and slooshied Play Pause Stop by two malchicks Benevento/Russo Duo. It’s no Ludwig van, I’ll tell you that, but it’s not entirely baddiwad. I never quite slooshied rock music sans guitar, but the Mellotrons and Wurlitzers are real like horrowshow.

It’s a malenky bit boring, there being no melody or like slovos, but I’ve slooshied worse, and I will again, right right right.

Slooshy the real like horrorshow ones:

Soba
Memphis


Tolchock the krovvy out of some grazzy old chelloveck, a bit of the old ultra-violence, crast the pretty polly, and kupet Play Pause Stop. If you are loveted, grab the rozz by the voloss of the gulliver and splodge it in the toilet, real horrorshow.

music by stoners for stoners

I don't mean to defame Brightblack Morning Light, but the title just sounds so appropriate. One listen to this band conjures up J Spaceman's reputation for "taking drugs to make music to take drugs to." In fact, BBML sounds like J Spaceman himself after smoking about 10 times more weed than usual.

Here are a few tracks from their recently released, self-titled record. You can pick up a copy at amazon.com, iffen you likesies.

Fry Bread
Friend of Time
Everybody New
A River Could Be Loved

This is mellow, mellow stuff, people. If you're in the Birmingham, AL area you can come out tonight to hear these Alabama natives play at Bottletree Cafe. There are no couches or beds, but we wouldn't doubt it if some cuddle parties broke out. Tight, patchoui-scented cuddle parties... eew.