Belle and Sebastian - "When We Were Very Young"

Winsome, melancholy track from Belle and Sebastian about looking back at your early wants and desires and no longer caring; only wanting to be content in routine. It is off their excellent new record Late Developers. 

Belle & Sebastian - "A Bit Of Previous"

Belle & Sebastian recently released their charming new record A Bit Of Previous. One would think a song with the album's title would be on the record, however, you would be most wrong. Anyhow, it's a lovely Smiths-esque jangle-pop track with Stuart Murdoch's trademark wry lyrics.

Videos of the Week

Spring is here! Let's enjoy some videos:



Dramatic song from Lykke Li gets a suitably dramatic video.



Impressive clip from Tinashe.



Intense video from doom metal band Pallbearer.



Strange clip from Young Fathers that follows a bloodied man on a journey.



Nostalgic clip from Bell & Sebastian, featuring video of the band vacationing in the late 90s.



Trippy visuals accompany this dance floor burner from Doldrums.

Non-Sequiturs

 Sweet Baby Jebus.

Bartender belly.

Beautiful eyes.

Beefy bear.

Not sure which one I would pick; I guess all of them will do.

Damn.

Silver Daddy.

Drool.

Yum.

Whatcha looking for?

Woof.

Sexy kiss.

Grrrrr.

Wow.

Love his build.

UNF.

Yes, please.

Awwww.

Nice gutters.

Stunning.

Cute cub.

Love all the fur.

Sigh.

Bear belly.

Ditto.

Amazing body.

Beautiful build.

Furry beasts.

Gorgeous sexy daddy.

I'd rub that belly for days.

Love his hair, hope he wins.

Woof and stuff.

Damn, damn, damn.

Perfect belly.

I would do anything he wanted me to.

I am still trying to get my head around the abominable Charlie Hebdo murders that took place in Paris. George Packer of The New Yorker wrote a stunning piece on the situation, one that pretty much sums up everything succinctly and elegantly. You can read it here. "The cartoonists died for an idea. The killers are soldiers in a war against freedom of thought and speech, against tolerance, pluralism, and the right to offend—against everything decent in a democratic society. So we must all try to be Charlie, not just today but every day."

This is my view of religion: If your religion helps you get through this life, great. Just keep it to your fucking self.

Post-holiday depression is always such a thrill.

The movie No Country For Old Men is about as perfect a film as there can be. Brilliant writing, directing, and acting propel the movie to classic status. The final monologue from Tommy Lee Jones is a master class in acting. It's a simple scene with a powerful punch to the gut.

I detest cheap sentiment.

I do love having 21k+ songs on my iPod and putting it on shuffle. You can get some really odd transitions.

The latest version of Microsoft Word is completely user unfriendly. It used to be so much simpler to use.

Ice cream is still pretty damn good even when it is freezing outside.

Looking at the music I listened to last year it was definitely the year of the bedroom producer. Hardly any guitar bands made it through. Hopefully, 2015 will find a better balance.

Death is a diva.

People don't seem to get my sense of humor.

Word of advice, if you are going to talk bad about me behind my back, don't do it to my best friend.

Coachella 2015 = Borechella.

The Ultra Festival in Miami should just use the same poster every year because it is always the same lineup for the most part.

Lol.

I dislike going anywhere but directly home after work.

The new Belle & Sebastian album is exquisite.

There are many days when I wonder why I bother with some friends.

I work on a mouth-breather floor.

I read an article the other day where an early-twentysomething said that she was tired of relying on streaming sites for access to music, saying the free access to almost all music somehow cheapened the experience. She mused that if music was more challenging to get, or not as easily accessible, people like her would still seek it out. I do remember when I first heard The Cure on 120 Minutes on MTV and I couldn't wait to get my hands on everything I could, but you had to dig and search and almost give your left kidney sometimes to get music. It made the experience more rewarding. While I love having access to music at the click of a mouse, there is a bit of a let-down from it.

I don't trust people that have sunglasses on all the time.

Your cute of the day, a kitten in a top hat.

Lyrics Rattling Around My Brain

"How did I get in, I heard a rumour
From your girlfriend's sister that you knew me
And you end up dancing closer to me

I know that I broke the rule already
She asked me if I’m single, going steady
I just dropped my head and took a step off into the dark

Standing on the black and white tiles
Don’t dance on the lights 'cos the babes eat the pretty ones
We are like the islands divided

Jump to the beat of the party line
Jump to the beat of the party line
There is nobody here but you my dear
Jump to the beat of the party line."

Belle & Sebastian
"The Party Line"

"Once upon a time when
we were friends
I gave you my heart, the story ends -
No happy ever after now we're friends.
Wish upon a star if that might help,
The stars collide if you decide,
Wish upon a star if that might help.
What's it like to have loved and to lose her touch?
What's it like to have loved and to lose that much?
Well, I hope and I pray that maybe someday
You'll walk in the room with my heart.
Add and subtract but as a matter of fact
Now that you're gone I still want you back.
Remembering surrendering,
Remembering that part - all of my heart.
Spilling up in silk and coffee lace,
You hook me up a rendezvous at your place,
Your lipstick and your lipgloss seals my fate.
Sentimental powers might help you now
But skip the hearts and flowers, skip the ivory towers,
You'll be disappointed and I'll lose a friend.
No, I won't be told there's a crock of gold at the end of the
rainbow,
Or that pleasure and pain,
Sunshine and rain might make this love grow.
But I hope and I pray that maybe someday
You'll walk in the room with my heart.
Add and subtract but as a matter of fact
Now that you're gone I still want you back.
Remembering - surrendering,
The kindest struck the coolest heart - all of my heart.
Yes, I hope and I pray that maybe someday
You'll wakl in the room with my heart.
And I shrug and I say that maybe today you'll come home soon.
Surrendering - remembering,
Surrendering that heart, all of my heart - all of my heart."

ABC
"All of My Heart"

Appealing Things

ABC's "All of My Heart"
Laurel
The return of Looking and Girls
Getting out of town for the weekend
Rereading The Magicians series
The fact that Andrew and I are on the same wavelength

Annoying Things

Having your practice group retreat in your own city
0 degree wind chills in Atlanta
Waiting for something to happen
People who tell Southerners that we should be able to handle cold weather
Friends who are only out for their own interests

Jam of the Day: Belle & Sebastian - "The Party Line"

From their amazing new record Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance comes this out of left field disco-tinged track that will definitely put a smile on your face.

Videos of the Week

Very rough week here that I am glad is almost done with. Here are the videos that brought me back to reality:



NSFW clip from Arca for the title track to his brilliant debut record.



Dizzee Rascal as a ninja master in this entertaining clip.



Intense performance clip from Desperate Journalist.



This clip from Belle and Sebastian tells a story in three chapters, with the viewer getting more of the story each time.



Blonde Redhead's lovely track gets a video showing a rainy day in Manhattan.



Surreal clip for this delicate track from Angel Olsen.



Evocative clip from Iceage that is slightly NSFW.



Haunting video from post-hardcore act Pianos Become Teeth.

Jam of the Day: Alvvays - "Adult Diversion"

From their Chad VanGaalen produced debut album, Toronto quintet Alvvays give us the single "Adult Diversion" which sound like a meatier, more upbeat Belle and Sebastian.

Videos of the Week

Here is a roundup of videos that popped my cherry:



More luscious R&B from The-Dream.



Stark and haunting imagery in this Shearwater video.



The visuals in this clip work perfectly with the music.



Cute, animated clip for the Belle And Sebastian cover of The Primitives "Crash."



Intense clip from the always in-your-face Death Grips.

Hospitality: Hospitality - Album Review

Hospitality
Hospitality
Rating: Grrrr

As I push further into my 40s, I begin to look back at certain times of my life with fondness, sadness, and sometimes outright embarrassment. My 20s, just out of college, and far wetter behind my ears than I would like to admit, were awkward, exploratory, and full of so many mistakes I have lost count. Would I go back and change any of it? I think we all would like to alter certain things, but honestly, based on who I am today and where I am, I am ok with how things turned out. I certainly wouldn't want to go back and be 20 again, shudder. I am much more centered and at peace with myself now, that to go back would be almost too painful. Which makes me feel very paternal towards the debut album from Brooklyn three piece band Hospitality, which chronicles the day in day out goings on of twenty-somethings in New York, and all their yearnings, fumblings, and musings. You want to wrap these characters up in a blanket, serve them hot cocoa and tell them it will all be ok. The band itself, fronted by singer/guitarist Amber Papini, borrows liberally from a wide range of different bands, Belle & Sebastian, Camera Obscura, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, and The Clientele for example, but what they lack for in originality they make up for it with superb song craft. Tight arrangements and interesting background flourishes mesh well with Papini's fragile voice and her insightful, wry lyrics.

"Friends of Friends" the girl wants to stay in alone and warm from the cold streets of New York, whose crowds and bustle only remind her that the guy she's seeing has a girlfriend coming back in town. The jaunty horns and sprightly beat hide the pain that is just beneath the surface.



"Liberal Arts" could be culled directly from the Stuart Murdoch songbook. The character ruminating about all "the trouble of a B.A. in English literature /instead of law or something more practical" and feeling aimless and adrift without benefit of a "trust fund, daddy, or doctor."



There is a wistfulness to the songs here, the characters thinking they know what they want, but changing their minds minute to minute, always in a hurry to get their life started. The dream pop of "Sleepover" perfectly suits the stars in her eyes narrator, who moves from lover, to pretend marriage, to imploring the mate to "Lock the door before you leave."



"Argonauts," one of the loveliest tracks on the record, feels like a quest to get out of a bad situation, "lock the key and throw the door away/something told me that I should leave right away/don't forget the bad, don't forget the bad."



"Eight Avenue" struts and bobs its head to a peppy beat and interlocking guitars, the song has the characters, older, but seldom wiser, looking back as I have on their 20s, but with a sweetness and fondness for their naivety.



None of these descriptions is meant to imply that the album is dour or far too serious. There are plenty of pure pop tracks. From the too brief guitar stomper "The Right Profession," the horn propelled "All Day Today," and the jangly ode to a former co-worker "Betty Wang" with the gloriously goofy way she sings "if you leave New York/I don't care/ I don't care."



But while the majority of songs on Hospitality keep a limited world and personal point of view, there are hints that the band should not be too easily pigeonholed. Papini shows a deep sense of mood and imagery in her lyrics. In "Julie," the haunting accordion, ukulele, and strummed guitars, builds slowly under Papini's whispered vocals, adding a ghostly wash of ambient synths, subtly underscores the impressionistic tale.



Hospitality is an auspicious debut for this band, showing that they already have the chops and hooks to make more than an indelible impression on listeners. There is plenty of room for their sound and vision to grow, along with what should soon be a sizable fan base.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Non-Sequiturs

True Blood needs to find a way to bring back Coot. Sigh.

Continuing the sports theme from last week, here is sexy UK footballer Wayne Rooney.

Let's not forget Fredrik Ljungberg either.

Denmark is putting out some amazing bands these days. With Iceage and now When Saints Go Machine, I am overwhelmed with good music. Here is one of my favorite tracks from When Saints Go Machine's new album:



How the hell did people ever live without air conditioning?

I've been supervising a group of contract attorneys in a very very small workroom. Because they were apparently getting too rowdy, they've taken Internet access away from them, and me, when I am in there. Very annoying.

Lyrics Rattling Around My Brain

"Never could be still for long
and I could never hold a job
coupled with a weakness for cocaine and liquor
not much you can do for love

When I met you I broke the mold
I fell apart and combed my hair
whiskey shakes for ten whole days
stay off the streets at night for weeks

I don't wanna be your catholic pagan now that you're here
we're counting on each other for love, survival, and everything else."

Surfer Blood
"Catholic Pagans"

"I learned the hard way,
That life should be easy,
But I want you to know it was hard to show,
The things that I know now.

And all that's left is you and me,
And here we are,
Nowhere."

Ride
"Nowhere"

"You're locked up
You exit
You did it before
Yea I've seen it
Come outside
And breathe in
Relax your arms
And let me in

I will find a way
I'm confused, ohh
But I think I can try
I will save your life
I will try for you"

Deftones
"Risk"

"Could I write a requiem for you when you're dead?
'She had the moves, she had the speed, it went to her head'
But when she's on her back
She had the knowledge
To get her into college"

Belle & Sebastian
"The Stars Of Track And Field"

"Hypocrite opportunist
Don't infect me with your poison
A bully in a china shop
When I turn around, you stay frozen to the spot
You had the pointless snide remarks
Of hammerheaded sharks
The pot will call the kettle black
It's a drunken punchup at a wedding"

Radiohead
"A Punchup At A Wedding"

Appealing Things

Swimming at night in 88 degree pool water
Texas margaritas
Getting tickets to the M83 show
Finally passing the three kidney stones I had last week
Finally getting the junk that was sitting in my front hallway to the donation center

Annoying Things

Pepsi
My new glasses are too tight and are hurting my head
Three motherfucking kidney stones in a week
People on FB who post "Let's see who truly reads my status" status updates
People on FB who click on those annoying links that then hack their profiles
Finding out M83 is playing in Hell at the Masquerade and not Heaven
$155 fine for my speeding ticket