BKLYN Song of the Day

2009-02-11T06:02:00.002+05:00

By And By
Odetta was called by Martin Luther King Jr. "The Queen of American Folk Music." She died in December, but performed to the end of her life with an extraordinaryness, a voice that was gentle but commanding, folksy and connected to the stories of everyday life in this country, and part of a spirit of a common struggle for justice that shouldn't go away.

Pastures of Plenty

Odetta on the Johnnie Cash Show 1969

Buy Odetta at Amazon

2009-02-09T01:21:00.002+05:00

So after a bit of a hiatus...
After scouring the world for a bit in search of the most wondrous artists to expose to you, I turned up Aaron Nazrul. Partly astonishing, with just enough embarrassing mixed in to make it interesting, he's got a debut album with a number of really blow you away tracks (and then the occasional awkward attempt to rhyme "Cambodia" and "know ya.") He's got a rich and ragged voice, and an experimental braveness that is great to hear. One of my favoritest tracks--and one not terribly representative of the rest of the album is the sprawling "Butterfly Man," which is something the Rolling Stones might have made in 1976 if they lived in Vancouver.

Butterfly Man

Lay Low (Live)

Aaron Nazrul on MySpace

Buy Aaron Nazrul at Amazon

2008-12-10T07:10:00.001+05:00

Poverina
Poor Astrid Swan. I have been meaning to feature her as a song of the day for a year and a half and I bet she's a bit annoyed. She's really everything that I have adored in a singer -- wailey, eccentric, hystrionic, and overly dramatic -- since I found Kate Bush in the import bin at Pookie's Records when I was in tenth grade. Plus also she's Finnish! Now the drag is that she was just about to release a new record at the time and I'm sure she needed the push from me to push it over the top...

When You Were Young (Live Killers Cover)

Provenissi Rock 2008

Her MySpace
and website

Buy Astrid Swan at Amazon

2008-06-16T08:04:00.003+05:00

Shout? No!
I was just thinking that more bands should be named like they are. I mean, don't the Flaming Lips disappoint? But a band that doesn't disappoint in any way are the Screaming Females. Just what they are and what you want (and you know you want them to be from New Jersey,) they play at Maxwell's on July 5th.

~~Boyfriend~~

Screaming Females at the Lion's Den

Their MySpace
And Website

2008-06-11T16:10:00.003+05:00

Yes Sir
No Man is a electronic duo that has been slowing down their speed for the last half decade, moving from dense to spare with an unwavering diminution. Some might call it hypnotic, others anesthetized. Tim Bowness and Steven Wilson have actually been recording together since 1987 and recently have been playing the London Symphony Orchestra.

~~Wherever There is Light~~

My Rival Trevor (Music Video)

Their MySpace
And Website

Buy No Man at Amazon

2008-05-31T05:58:00.003+05:00

Rock, Rock Steady
I know very little of the roots of Reggae, but recently I stumbled across some early music from the 1960’s label Rock Steady. One of my favorites was this, “Pata Pata Rock Steady” by Queen Patsy and Count Ossie. And where there are some clear Jamaican elements peeking through, it has a soaring Supremes-like patina to the lead vocal that is quite quite wonderful.

~~Pata Pata Rock Steady~~

Bob Marley explains Reggae, Ska, and Rock Steady

Buy Rock Steady at Amazon

2008-05-31T05:51:00.003+05:00

It's a Wii world
Named after a fictional Japanese videogame attack move involving spirit energy blasting from your upturned palms, Hadouken make loud and disorienting music to dance to when you are discombobulated. This quintet from London plays “grindie,” the twee-rific term that merges grime + indie. Their new record came out yesterday and is already sold out at Amazon, so you are probably behind the curve.

~~That Boy That Girl~~

Liquid Lives (Live at T4 on the Beach)

Their MySpace
And website

Buy Hadouken at Amazon

2008-05-28T20:46:00.005+05:00

Have I offended everyone yet?
All kidding aside, I see tremendous kinship between yesterday's song and today's. Ratatat uses some kind of electric zither, but otherwise I think quite the same. Perhaps less useful for courtship unless your prospective inamorata is substantially pretentious. Mike Stroud and Evan Mast are from Brooklyn and have been twittering around their apartment in Crown Heights for around seven or eight years, taking time here and there to remix tracks by Bjork and Joe Satriani--unfortunately not at the same time.

~~Shiller~~

Seventeen Years (Live)

Their MySpace
and Website

Buy Ratatat at Amazon

2008-05-27T20:09:00.003+05:00

Chagrined

I really should have learned my lesson. It seemed like a very mild comment, but I have not seen that level of vitriol since I suggested that I would grow tired of the Fratelli's before the Arctic Monkeys (which in fact turned out to be true.) So in an attempt to make amends, here I offer you a traditional courtship song of the Hmong people of Laos performed by the Boua Xou Mua on the gaeng, a multiple reed mouth organ. This song is called "Tsuab Nplooj" and to avoid any further insult I will refrain from telling you that it is known in my house as "What on Earth Are You Doing to the Cat?"

~~Tsuab Nplooj~~

Ricky Soua Vang plays traditional Hmong music

Listen to Hmong music on the Internet

Buy Boua Xou Mua at Amazon

2008-05-23T07:21:00.006+05:00

Mistaken Identity
I feel a bit of an idiot. I had written a whole post describing this wonderful little band from Brooklyn, The Ting Tings. And I had made a number of neat and quite inspired illustrations of how they fit in a long string of wonderfully screechy and atonal american acts dating back to Romeo Void and tracing a neat path to The Gossip and Morningwood. It turns out however that they are a duo from Manchester, that's in England. So then I was of course tempted not to post them at all and instead, put up some traditional Hmong folk songs from Laos. THAT would have showed those Ting Tings! (But then you might not like me as much anymore...)

~~That's Not My Name~~

Fruit Machine (Live in LA)

Their MySpace

And Website

Buy The Ting Tings at Amazon

2008-05-20T03:43:00.003+05:00

So the AIDS Walk was totally fun, and I had very good company.

Today Is...
So I thought today’s perfect song is “Today is a Good Day,” by Anna Ternheim. I know, I know, she’s Swedish… But there is no alternative really. And she has of course won every “Best Songwriter, “Best New Artist,” “Most Promising Radiologist,” etc. award. But she also makes startling and original songs that grab you with their percussive breathiness and tender yet slightly Gothic emotional viewpoints. She tends to make spare compositions where her voice and her piano are almost interchangeable.

Today Is A Good Day

Nights in Goodville (Live)

Her MySpace
And Website

Buy Anna Ternheim at Amazon

2008-05-16T23:45:00.003+05:00

I hope you are happy now...

Seriously, I hope you are happy with the return of the Song of the Day, and I promise I am back! The basic reason I have been absent from your ipod is that I have a new job at The Momentum Project—a group that provides around 350,000 meals annually along with a rich array of services to people living with HIV/AIDS in poor communities throughout New York City. They are a great group, I’ve known them since I was running the Food Program at the Coalition for the Homeless and am settling in quite happily.

Which leads me to a short commercial message—I will be walking in AIDSWalk this Sunday and need some sponsors! Momentum is one of the main recipients of AIDSWalk funds, so it will really help out. You can visit my donation page to (guess what?) donate.

So if you possibly can contribute, I would be very grateful. Thanks!

2008-05-16T16:47:00.006+05:00

Northern Lights
One of the little known facts about Sweden is that, practically from the cradle, Swedish children are raised in a constant immersion of adorable pop songs. On their fifth birthday, each boy or girl receives a musical instrument of their choosing, and when they are 10, Tapes and Tapes come by and remix all of their early material. This is then packaged, usually as a five or six CD set, to give to their grandparents.
Understandably this leads to a fairly constant emergence of artists like Lykke Li who is poised close behind Leona Lewis to conquer the pop world. Her new record was produced by Peter, Bjorn, or John.

~~Hanging High (Live at SXSW)~~

Live at Durrr

Her MySpace
And website

Buy Lykke Li at Amazon

2008-05-16T06:53:00.003+05:00

Something

One of those little random Indie Rock bands, Nothing Painted Blue are named after an Ann-Margaret movie. Making small and winsome songs that stick in your head like old chewing gum, they have put out various unpopular records over the years and their latest is called “Taste the Flavor.”

~~Kissing Booth~~

Two Knives (Live)

Their Website

Buy Nothing Painted Blue at Amazon

2008-05-14T07:27:00.004+05:00

Oh Manchester
Been wondering what ever happened to Manchester? Me too! Well the short answer is I Am Kloot. How to describe them? That's tough, my first reaction was oh it's Simon and Garfunkel around Sunday Morning 3 am, though of course it sounds nothing like, but feels a kind of similar spare folkyness. But they have passed through all kinds of phases--to use some touchstones: Nick Drake, Nick Cave, Oasis... Hard to then say Simon and Garfunkel in that list isn't it...

~~Hey Little Bird~~

The Same Deep Water As Me (Live)

Their MySpace
And website

Buy I Am Kloot at Amazon

2008-05-13T07:54:00.006+05:00

Back in my comfort zone--the obscure...
Buraka Som Sistema are Portuguese, playing Kuduro--an Angolan Dance music that began in clubs in Luanda, and has migrated throughout the Angolan diaspora. Sharing a lot of similar raw and cacophonous sounds with Brazilian Baile Funk, they also have worked with M.I.A.

~~Yah!~~

Sound of Kuduro (Music Video)

Their MySpace

Buy Buraka at Amazon

2008-05-12T03:55:00.005+05:00

Bottomless
You all know how I feel about jokey, tongue in cheek, hipper than thou songs. At least those of you with good long memories to way back when I used to post on a regular basis. But anyway, for those of you who don't--I hate them! Loath them! Can't stand them! Even though of course every once in a while I did say something nice about Wheezer (or whatever that band is called,) but I might have been joking. Pfft ptooey! That's what I say...

Which brings us to today's brilliant song, "Hiphopopotamus Vs. Rhymenoceros (feat. Rhymenoceros and the Hiphopopotamus)" by Flight of the Conchords, a hardcore duo straight outta New Zealand. They have been featured recently on a documentary series being shown on HBO, as well as the one without glasses was briefly a contestant on this season's "Top Chef."

You may get the impression from this that I watch too much reality TV, but in truth I am quite selective and in fact did not watch the end of this week's "Groomer Has It." (Though I do know who was sent home...)

~~Hiphopopotamus Vs. Rhymenoceros (feat. Rhymenoceros and the Hiphopopotamus)~~

Flight of the Conchords sing David Bowie

Their MySpace
And Website

Buy Flight of the Conchords at Amazon

2008-02-16T06:31:00.003+05:00

I know it's been a while... But back by request!

Well what can I say about They Might Be Giants other than I get them confused with Dinosaur Jr. and that group that Jimmy Page and Diddy were in. Well also, if you go see them play live, you are pretty much guaranteed to be surrounded by a bunch of guys in Dockers... But on a more serious note, they do like the wordplay don't they? As well as the sing-songey thing. And I did just love that song about destroying my sweater. Plus also they ARE from Brooklyn.

~~Be Careful What You Pack~~

Their Website
and MySpace

Buy They Might Be Giants at Amazon

2007-12-21T04:42:00.001+05:00

Lightning Strikes Twice

Remember how right I was about Plain White T's? Now totally supported by their appearance on iCarly. So now take a listen to Something Corporate. Equally, or more, adorably whiney and unthreatening, with just a spectacularly pop-friendly catchiness. And (could it be cuter?) they call themselves "punk rock." Remember you heard it here first!

~~Break Myself~~

Konstantine (Live)

Their MySpace

and website

Buy Something Corporate at Amazon

2007-12-20T02:56:00.001+05:00

Marching On

This was requested a while ago, and I'm very sorry to have made you wait. Augie March are Australians who seem not to have discovered surfing or any of the other fun things there are to do there. They do seem to have had time to sit alone in dark dusty rooms pining over lost, or never, loves. They are playing Christmas shows in Melbourne if you are so inclined.

~~One Crowded Hour~~

There's No Such Place (Live at the Chapel)

Their MySpace

And Website

Buy Augie March at Amazon

2007-12-12T04:03:00.001+05:00

Dubbed
Tempted as I am to do this in a thick Irish accent, I will restrain myself... Leanne Harte is a big loud young guitar player from Dublin. Likes the reverb too, which leaves me thinking of those twins from Heart (what were their names? Help me out someone) and also, though I know that no one else will have any idea what I am talking about, Jane Jensen. Though it seems like there are a lot of musicians and other moving parts, it all comes out as a nice combination of simple and bombastic.

~~Unspoken Thoughts~~

Live in Paris

Her MySpace
Buy Leanne Harte at Amazon

2007-11-29T04:05:00.001+05:00

Wired (By request...)
Jesse Winchester contributed this wrenching song to the final episode of the third season of The Wire. To accompany the tale of Baltimore's massively corrupt journalists, "Step by Step" echoes the rhythms of his native Louisiana. Having spent the Vietnam war in Canada, he established himself in Quebec as the opening act for The Band. His songs have been recorded by everyone from Jerry Garcia to Reba McEntire (is that really that wide a range?)

~~Step by Step~~

Emmylou Harris sings Jesse Winchester's My Songbird

His website

Buy Jesse Winchester at Amazon

2007-10-30T23:57:00.000+05:00

Oh See Can You Sing?
By request, James Carrington is a clear-voiced singer and guitarist from London. Attracted, quite literally, to the OC, he is currently recording his first record. Now I fully expect to cause a James Bluntesque schism with this one. All I can say is there is something quite lovely there in small doses.

~~Ache--Demo~~

Ache (Live)

His MySpace

Buy James Carrington at Amazon

2007-10-18T03:28:00.000+05:00

Bob's yer...
Marcy at Lost In Your Inbox introduced me to UNKLE, one of those wacky collectives of turntables and guest-stars. Sounding something like a catfight between Depeche Mode and the Pet Shop Boys refereed by Tricky, they play this week at CMJ.

~~Restless~~

Live at the Melt! Festival

Buy UNKLE at Amazon

2007-10-17T02:50:00.000+05:00

Immodest
Having Pat Smear play guitars doesn't make the Foo Fighters into the Germs, nor does having Johnny Marr make Modest Mouse into the Smiths, though perhaps it has made them into the Gothic Archies. Named for a line from a Virginia Wolff story, Modest Mouse hit hipster heaven (and Billboard #1) with their radio-friendly We Were Dead Before the Ship hit the Ground. But with the lights out, you might find them beautiful.

~~Parting of the Sensory~~

Float On (Live)

Buy Modest Mouse at Amazon