Blog

Whitey non stop (2005)

from the album The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is A Train

It goes: "Non stop, you keep on coming..."

Whitey's seducing voice and the cabaret-like vibe to this song complete me enchanted me. My favourite song from one of my favourite albums ever.

1 Cansei de Ser Sexy Yes - lots of times.
2 Frankmusik Yes - bumped in to him at Truck Festival too. Nice guy.
3 M.I.A. Bought tickets to see her, but got ill.
4 Uffie Yes
5 Mindless Self Indulgence Yes - lead singer stage dived on to me and he stank of moldy flannels.
6 The Presets Yes
7 30 Seconds to Mars Yes - got staged dived by Jared Leto. I have an amazing video of it somewhere but never got round to youtubing it
8 Otur No
9 Lily Allen No - have no intention to either
10 Bonde do Rolê Yes - Managed to get my photo taken with them at bestival 2007
11 Tiga No - would love to see him live but not a DJ set.
12 Fall Out Boy No
13 Hadouken! Yes - Twice, I think.
14 Rihanna No
14 Alice in Videoland No - Would like to see 'em though
16 The Light Bulb Project No
17 Justice Yes
18 Space Cowboy No
19 Kanye West No - But would love to.
20 Shiny Toy Guns Yes - managed to bump in to Chad and other guy outside venue before gig in Camden for a little chin wag.
21 Cassie No
22 Yelle No - But want to!
23 The Knife No
24 The Sounds Yes - pretty good too.
24 Matt & Kim[artist] No - Heard their album, it kinda sucks.
24 t.A.T.u. No
27 The Hives Yes - Twice. These guys are amazing showmans. Highly recommended.
27 HALCALI No
29 SebastiAn No
30 Robyn Yes
31 Justin Timberlake No
32 Peachcake No
32 Does It Offend You, Yeah? Yes - Twice.
34 m-flo No
35 Chromeo No
36 Hellogoodbye No
37 Young Love Yes - by accident. Went upstairs instead of downstairs at the Zodiac in Oxford. Managed to see their set before realising I was at the wrong gig, ran downstairs just in time to see The Sounds!
38 The Faint No
38 Dragonette No
40 Robots in Disguise Yes - They they kinda sucked live.
40 Electrocute No
40 Reggie and the Full Effect No - But would love to. Shame I don't think I'll ever get the chance.
43 Whitey No
44 DJ Mehdi No
45 Cat5 No
46 Bomb the Bass No
47 Gwen Stefani No
48 Fischerspooner No
49 Union of Knives No
49 My Chemical Romance No

01 Ladytron - yes
02 NOFX - yes
03 Lagwagon - yes
04 Refused
05 Raised Fist
06 Dinosaur Jr. - yes
07 Crystal Castles - yes
08 Belle and Sebastian
09 Misfits
10 Radiohead
11 Melody Club
12 Regina - yes
13 Blonde Redhead - yes
14 Björk
15 Air
16 The Knife
17 Joy Division
18 Placebo
19 The Strokes
20 Mew - yes
21 Sonic Youth
22 No Use for a Name
23 The White Stripes
24 The Smiths
25 The Cardigans - yes
26 Whitey
27 Ten Foot Pole
28 Beck
29 No Fun At All
30 Satanic Surfers
31 Interpol
32 Liekki - yes?
33 Ramones
34 Stina Nordenstam
35 Weezer
36 Architecture in Helsinki - yes
37 Pennywise - yes
38 Yeah Yeah Yeahs
39 Millencolin
40 22-Pistepirkko - yes
41 Nirvana
42 Augustus Pablo
43 Pulp
44 Beastie Boys
45 Koneveljet
45 Franz Ferdinand
47 Daft Punk
48 The Arcade Fire
49 Eels - yes
50 Aavikko - yes

- Top 10 Artists

Vampire Weekend
Cut Copy
Animal Collective
Conor Oberst
Crystal Castles
TV on the Radio
Feist
Leonard Cohen
Portishead
Radiohead


- Top 10 Albums x2

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
TV on the Radio - Dear Science,
Portishead - Third
Metronomy - Nights Out
Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair
The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
Morgan Geist - Double Night Time
The Dodos - Visiter
Lambchop - OH (Ohio)
Leila - Blood Looms And Blooms
Lykke Li - Youth Novels
Mark E Smith and Ed Blaney - Smith and Blaney
Santogold - Santogold
The Sea and Cake - Car Alarm
Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who can See but Cannot Feel
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
David Holmes - The Holy Pictures
Jape - Ritual


- Top 5 Debuts

Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Santogold - Santogold
Late of the Pier - Black Fantasy Channel
The Little Ones - Morning Tide


- Top 5 Compilations

Junior Boys - Body Language Six
Cousin Cole & Pocketknife - Tambourine Dream
Nina Simone - To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story
Metro Area - Fabric 43
Apparat - Things To Be Frickled


- Top 15 Songs x2

The Magnetic Fields - California Girls
Crystal Castles - Vanished
Cut Copy - Far Away
Santogold - Say Aha
Metronomy - Heartbreaker
The Dodos - Fools
Animal Collective - Water Curses
Hot Chip - One Pure Thought
Vampire Weekend - A-Punk
Late of the Pier - The Bears are Coming
The Little Ones - Tangerine Visions
Leila - Little Acorns (with Khemahl & Thaon Richardson)
Absentee - Boy, Did She Teach You Nothing?
Hercules and Love Affair - Blind (feat. Antony Hegarty)
Herman Dune - My Home is Nowhere Without You
Portishead - The Rip
Atlas Sound - River Card
Buraka Som Sistema - Kalemba (Wegue Wegue) (feat. Pongo Love)
Friendly Fires - Paris
Barbara Morgensten - Come To Berlin (Telefon Tel Aviv Mix)
MGMT - Time to Pretend
Beck - Gamma Ray
Jape - I Was A Man
Black Affair - It's Real
The Black Ghosts - I Want Nothing
The Presets - My People
Bloc Party - Mercury
Bomb the Bass - Butterfingers (feat. Fujiya And Miyagi)
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Old Panda Days
David Holmes - I Heard Wonders


- Top 5 Disappointments

The Black Ghosts - Black Ghost
Cansei de Ser Sexy - Donkey
MGMT Live
Whitey not releasing the album he promised in 2008
Madonna - Hard Candy (not even a good single in it)


- Top 5 Live Acts

The Magnetic Fields (Vicar Street, Dublin)
Vampire Weekend (Primavera Sound, Barcelona & The Ambassador, Dublin)
The Little Ones (Upstairs at Whelans)
Leila (Electric Picnic, Stradbally)
Cut Copy (Electric Picnic, Stradbally)


- Top 2 Festivals

Electric Picnic (Stradbally)
Primavera Sound (Barcelona)


- Top 5 Music Videos

Feist - I Feel It All




Late of the Pier - The Bears Are Coming




Björk - Wanderlust




The BPA [ft. David Byrne & Dizzee Rascal]: "Toe Jam" [Keith Schofield]




Portishead - The Rip


- Top 5 Movies

Wall-E (Andrew Stanton)
Burn After Reading (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen)
Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh)
Gomorrah (Matteo Garrone)
In Bruges (Martin McDonagh)


- Most Admired Artist

Portishead: What a return!


- Most Detested Artist

I can't decide between Kings of Leon or The Killers. Hang on, I'll choose Coldplay and their line about ruling the world. How scary!


- Most Memorable Media Moment

Javier Bardem winning an Oscar


- Most Detested Media Moment

The new tax system in Ireland

'effing esses' -- a last-minute playlist I composed entirely of artists or songs that start with S. My favorite bit is the back-to-back "Don't Stop" and "Stop." :)

1. Soulwax - Funny
2. Soul Coughing - Super Bon Bon
3. Sonic Youth - 100%
4. Muse - Stockholm Syndrome
5. Supergrass - Richard III
6. Refused - Summerholidays Vs. Punkroutine
7. Stabbing Westward - Save Yourself*
8. Nine Inch Nails - Somewhat Damaged
9. Sepultura - Ratamahatta
10. Fugazi - Styrofoam
11. Sparta - Guns of Memorial Park
12. Hum - Suicide Machine
13. Primal Scream - Shoot Speed/Kill Light
14. The Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock
15. Silversun Pickups - Melatonin
16. The Secret Machines - Faded Lines
17. The Stone Roses - Don't Stop
18. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Stop
19. Whitey - Stay On The Outside
20. Spoon - Don't You Evah
21. Skeleton Key - Sawdust
22. Screaming Trees - Who Lies in Darkness
23. Swervedriver - You've Sealed My Fate
24. Smart Went Crazy - Spy vs. Spy
25. Starflyer 59 - Unbelievers
26. Interpol - Specialist
27. Sebadoh - Everybody's Been Burned
28. Stars - The Ghost Of Genova Heights


*by request.

Sat 1 Nov – Levi's Unbuttoned Tour

Whitey

http://nopartyanimalswereharmed.blogspot.com/2008/11/01112008-whitey-mandarin-kasino-hamburg.html

thought i'd do this again, because it was just so fun last month wasn't it fun? oh wait, no, it was fuckin gay.

Adam and the Ants - Beat My Guest
wheee!! this song is so fun. i think it's becoming mandatory to do this specific recollection of the songs i've liked the most over the last month while drinking. odd? not really. okay yeah it is. also slc punk kicks ass.

Alkaline Trio - San Francisco

sooo just broke up. and months and months of doing everything in your power to keep a relationship going only to have it end so abruptly... it's very draining. so you know what that means - time to bust out the ak3 and the booze. it usually makes me feel better, if only for a short while.

Beck - Profanity Prayers

i, like many other beck fans i'm sure, was a bit apprehensive about Modern Guilt. but i really really like it, i was pleasantly suprised. i like most of the songs a lot, but i'm particularly fond of this track simply because of its energy. a lot of people are throwing Gnarls Barkley comparisons at the album because of Danger Mouse's production, which i can certainly see (especially on Gamma Ray) but i think profanity prayers is one of the songs on the album that is undeniably beck.

Brand Nubian - Love Me or Leave Me Alone

gotta love that early nineties rap. hell, i want to go watch a different world now.

Cat Stevens - The Wind

i love this song. the frail guitar and vocals are really enough to make the song great, but the lyrics are absolutely amazing. it's sad, but not overly so; the vocal delivery is clearly weighed with sorrow but we're not talking Bright Eyes-ish wavering, which definitely has its place, but it's not really what i want to listen to right now.

cLOUDDEAD - Dead Dogs Two

i love experimental hip-hop. the laziness of the intro and first verse leading into the chorus is very well done, and i love the lyrics. i love analyzing weird lyrics, and they're delivered so well here. the bridge is cleverly dropped as well, but the chorus is my favorite.

Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane

i remember loving this song as a kid and then never hearing it again, save for when i'd watch natural born killers. so i watched said movie maybe... a month ago? and this song would not leave my head... so i stoled it. from mr. internet. you LOSE, mr. internet. i love listening to this song on the drive home from work at two in the morning with my window down. so wonderfully listless, and the break near the end is GOEJUSS.

Cut Copy - Autobahn Music Box

i was absolutely hooked for a while on Far Away from the new album, simply because it's so textbook fun bouncy summer song, but after all that breakup nonsense i started listening more to the first album again. it's still fun to be sure, but it's more somber than In Ghost Colours. i think what i like the most is the detached line "i don't wanna hear a love song" in the chorus.

Depeche Mode - It Doesn't Matter

i still consider martin l gore to be one of the finest songwriters of the modern musical era. his ability to layer the music (with help from alan wilder of course), his songwriting ability and his lyrics just blow my mind. with this song, i can't help but feel the hopelessness in his voice, the lack of will in his words. in the chorus, when he sings "it doesn't matter if this all shatters, nothing lasts forever" it's almost as though he's lying to himself, but not. if that makes sense.

Elliott Smith - No Name No. 5

as i said last month, i'm always finding new elliott smith to fall in love with. i really do discover a new elliott smith song about as often as.... ....i discover... a new elliott smith.... song....

....anyway.

i'm growing increasingly fond of Either/Or; Speed Trials, Alameda, and Ballad of Big Nothing is a hell of a way to start any album. no name no. 5 is here though because of how many times i've left work or a party or a bar or whatever to hear "everybody's gone at last" and to be able to identify with it all too well.

The Faint - Psycho

my favorite song from Fasciinatiion. it doesn't have the mangled synths of Get Seduced or the strangely danceable piano bridge of Machine in the Ghost, but again, the energy is just unique unto this song. lyrics have never been the faint's strong suit, but the music is always so overpowering that you find yourself singing them anyway, and psycho is far from an exception.

The Flaming Lips - Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung

i still don't understand why the flaming lips were given such a hard time for this album. they released four consecutive masterpieces, give them a fucking break! so what if At War With The Mystics isn't their best, it still boasts a few songs that can stand alongside their best, this one included. the lively bassline and drums contrast with the sad sounding vocals and synths/guitars perfectly, and that break at the end? UGGHH. fucking awesome.

Flobots - Handlebars

so, has anyone seen the video for this song? it's amazing. it's what got me into this song and this band. the lyrics themselves as well as the theme they follow are absolutely brilliant, as well as the gradual progression of the music. trumpet prevalent in a hip-hop song? and it isn't just lifted from an old jazz record? and the mc's aren't just talking about forties, blunts, and bitches? i love it.

Fruit Bats - The Earthquake of '73

this song breaks my heart every time i hear it; he sounds so desperate as he sings, which is something i can relate to quite a bit. i love the fruit bats' sound, that combination of folk, country, and indie... i'm suprised they're not more popular.

Hadouken! - That Boy That Girl

yay fun rave-ish music! they're not the best, but for some reason this song always gets me pumped up.

The Hives - No Pun Intended

i love long convoluted riffs like this. i never reeeaaally got into them until recently; Veni Vedi Vicious and Tyrannosaurus Hives are such mindless fun, it's hard to resist once you actually give them a listen.

Jack Johnson - It's All Understood

this is one of those songs where i don't even notice the lyrics the first few times i listen to it; the smart use of spare instrumentation and melody seduce me all on their own. i love the echo in the beginning and end, and jack johnson (i typed "hack" first, that's kinda funny) has those vocals that can put you to sleep, and i mean that in a good way.

Moby - Everloving

just fucking gorgeous. the scratchy guitar and aimless vocal in the beginning lure you in, and the piano and beat keep you interested, but it's not til about two thirds through that the song really kicks in and you're like "fuck this is beautiful". it was that way for me at least... and i want to listen to this song while rolling, i'll bet it's great.

Modeselektor

okay. so for modeselektor i'm torn between two:

The Rapanthem

as modeselektor is so good at, the song starts with an unsettling record scratching (mixing, spinning? i'm not a dj, i don't know) before the slow, even more unsettling beat kicks in. at the break a little less than halfway through, i can't help but think of Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2 with a hip-hop edge to it.

The Wedding Toccata Theme

slow, brooding, haunting, danceable? somehow this band manages to pull it off. zombie-ish dancing straight out of calvaire granted, but danceable nonetheless. it would go well with Home Video's In a Submarine. it's the changeup at the end where the song really shines though.

Mogwai - Emergency Trap

the preceding Friend of the Night is pretty good, but it's really just setting up for this song. i'm finally getting back into mogwai and post-rock in general, and i'd forgotten just how sweeping this genre is. emergency trap is typically mysterious and pretty, but it's essentially waiting for the fantastic ending, which i would wait through the whole song for if it was ten minutes long. eleven minutes though... that's pushing it. you fuckin post-rock losers. fuck yourself. eleven minutes?? get the fuck out of here. but ten. now we're talking hypothetical, baby.

Nelly Furtado - No Hay Igual

i like All Good Things (Come To An End) a lot, like a looot, but this song edges it out because it's livelier (meaning it doesn't remind me of my ex) and it sounds cool (meaning nelly furtado sounds fucking hot singing in spanish). the ending where she says something like "that was good, right? .....right?" is kinda silly but the beat and the singing are spot-on.

and if she should ask any of you if she could let me bend her over furniture in my apartment, you can go ahead and tell her that i said it's okay.

Peeping Tom - Sucker

yeah yeah yeah featuring norah jones. who is great on this song. i don't know, i hate adding "feat. some piece of shit" to my tags, i dunnowhy. i just do. i love the sound mike patton came up with for this album, it's really really good. the reason i picked this song over any of the others is because... well it's seckseer and frankly it goads my bitterness. "what makes you think you're my only lover, the truth kinda hurts don't it motherfucker"

Pendulum - Fasten Your Seatbelt

narrowly beating out Tarantula for me, it's just such a novel marriage of trance and drum and bass. the intro, which we hear again roughly three and a half minutes in, is absolutely gorgeous, and it seamlessly jumps into the hard, futuristic d&b sound of pendulum's which i've come to love. this gets me dancing in my car like a madman. thankfully i'm a reasonably good driver, otherwise this song would've gotten me into an accident by now.

The Pistolas - Take it With a Kiss

i'm not even going to pretend that i'm all hip and shit and that i found this song on my own, i heard it through gta4. the thing is, i always end up liking the music on those games; this installment was relatively disappointing as far as the radio was concerned, but it didn't bother me too much - i knew the songs would grow on me regardless. this however, i would've liked regardless. it's such a silly, fun song.

The Police - Canary in a Coal Mine

the police are such an enormously talented band, and in frantic songs like this they show it off very, very well. i love the reggae/jazz influence new wave/punk they did, and i can fall into heavy police fits. i wish i had seen them with the Foo Fighters, my roommate went and said they were fucking awesome.

Portishead - Magic Doors

...am i writing about more tracks than i did last time?

jesus i am self conscious about everything these days.

i was kind of afraid of the new portishead sucking back before it came out (and i PISSED AWAY MY CHANCE TO GO TO COACHELLA. ugh. next year, no question. i'm going and that's that) and even upon first listen i was like "aww... why did they come back... well it does sound pretty good.. yeah it's just different... fuck I LOVE IT". the self titled will always be my favorite, but this comes pretty damn close. beth gibbons could sing a fucking recipe, and she could make me want to weep. plus she's fronting absolutely brilliant instrumentalists. such an amazing band. despite the BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP at the beginning of the song, which is kind of startling when you don't expect this song to come next (and your stereo is at full blast), the disjointed soothing nature of this song is... it's just great, tom! just great! back to you in the studio!

Queens of the Stone Age - Battery Acid

first time i heard this song, hated it. saw it performed live, and now i fucking love it. a lot of people have been talking about how queens are kind of going downhill, i don't think so. i just think they're (he's, rather... josh homme is the trent reznor of hard rock) trying different things, which i find admirable. he could've totally put out another Songs For The Deaf and i'll bet anything it would've sold like crazy, but he didn't. anyway, this song is so tightly structured; the beginning alone is like "whoa. did they just switch up the tempo that recklessly... and pull it off?" god i love qotsa.

The Roots - Birthday Girl

fuck you. this song cracks me up. and the hook is great. close call for me between this and Get Busy. ....damn. what was i going to say?

Sebadoh - Not Too Amused

long one of my favorite sebadoh songs. obviously with the advent of that whole getting dumped thing, it kind of manages to rise to the surface just a bit. i think his name's jason.. lowenstein? i think. anyway i'm pretty sure that he wrote this one, and he sounds so genuinely frustrated. that combined with that sebadoh style guitar playing, i don't know why but the guitar bits they come up with sound so unique to me, maybe i just haven't heard enough lo-fi, but those together as well as the way the song gets angrier and angrier clinch it for me.

Silverchair - Waiting All Day

i was absolutely seduced by Straight Lines, and went out and bought Young Modern pretty much the second it was out. i listened to it until i was sick of it, and now i'm starting to be able to love it again. so many good good songs on this album, but this one stands out especially for me; the faux-country verse, the sad chorus, daniel john's flawless falsetto, and that bridge! oh god, i love the bridge. lovelovelove. anyway let's move along, we're almost done.

Trini Lopez - If I Had a Hammer

hahahahahahaha i love it

VAST - I Don't Have Anything

utterly beautiful song. i'm listening to a lot of vast again for obvious reasons, and this song has always been a favorite. sure, jon crosby can be a bit of a crybaby, but it's actually fitting on this song i think. plus that crushing orchestration, his vocals, heavy with faggy shit like "feelings" and being "sad" and "longing", and just the overall feel of it; this is why i'll never like Chris Isaak as much as i like say, elliott smith, or bright eyes, or vast. of course they're wallowing in self pity/self loathing, but at least they seem to mean it, elliott smith especially. chris isaak just... there's no genuineness to his vocals. jon crosby though, he really sounds like he means it here.

Whitey - Wrap It Up

same as the pistolas song, pretty much.

The Zombies - Beechwood Park

and finally we come to the zombies. what a pretty, dreary song. what more could you ask of 60's british pop? nothing, that's what. yeah, i'm tired of this. i'm sure you are too. but... at least we will count the evening stars as the day grew dark. in beechwood park. OOOHHH DROPPIN DA LYRICS

I promised indie that's uplifting -- a theme I had been wanting to do for a long time. I came close to keeping to my theme, with a few notable exceptions lol.

Looking back, I front-loaded a lot, and then ran out of ideas going into the home stretch, though I think Thurston Moore was a perfect close to the night. Whitey>!!!>Gossip>Kills sounded monumental.

1. The Secret Machines - Faded Lines
2. Radiohead - Cuttooth
3. Film School - Sick Hipster Nursed By Suicide Girl
4. The National - Apartment Story
5. The Dismemberment Plan - Following Through
6. Deerhunter - Like New
7. Mew - Snow Brigade
8. Sonic Youth - Reena
9. Bloc Party - Plans
10. The Appleseed Cast - Innocent Vigilant Ordinary
11. Silversun Pickups - Melatonin
12. Guided by Voices - The Official Ironmen Rally Song
13. Whitey - Stay On The Outside
14. !!! - Feel Good Hit of the Fall
15. The Gossip - Listen Up!
16. The Kills - Love Is a Deserter
17. The Stone Roses - I Wanna Be Adored
18. Kent - Velvet
19. Frank Black - Los Angeles
20. Blonde Redhead - 23
21. British Sea Power - Carrion
22. Kasabian - Seek and Destroy
23. Home Video - Dialogue Box
24. 120 Days - Come Out (Come Down, Fade Out, Be Gone)
25. The Mars Volta - Concertina*
26. Battle - Tendency
27. Oasis - Supersonic
28. Thurston Moore - fri/end

*by request