sweet songs

my uncle and dad (about 1968)

I love this photo. The silly expressions, the old car, the baby bomber jackets. It's all so mismatched and perfect. (My dad is the one winking and possibly grabbing his crotch?) All in all, what they call a money shot, I'd say. Here are some songs. No real rhyme or reason to them, I just like to think they 'go' with the picture. (maybe that just means sentimental and acoustic. oops)

1. Mama You've Been On My Mind - Bob Dylan (Bootleg Series)
2. Don't Think Twice It's Alright - Bob Dylan (Freewheelin' Bob Dylan)
3. Welcome Home, Son - Radical Face
4. How Lucky We Are - Meiko
5. Chicago (Acoustic) - Sufjan Stevens
6. Running, Returing - Akron/Family
7. Lover's Carvings - Bibio
8. Back To The Sea - The Sandwitches

save the world with akon and blink 182!

I think i still like the original best, but it's always fun to hear the same song 100 ways, right? Here are 3 versions of Matisyahu's inspirational single, "One Day".

The first time I heard it I felt the way that the struggling basketball team must feel at the end of their disney channel original movie when the ball bounces off the headboard (backboard? that thing behind the basket. basketboard? no.) and it goes into the basket as the buzzer goes off and they all cheer because that last basket meant they just won the championship game by 1 point. You feel hopeful and invincible and like a real mensch. (click here for you non-Yiddish speakers.)

You're at once aware of the terrible state of the world and yet convinced that if everyone just heard this song that there really would be no more wars and our children really would play. So maybe akon and blink 182 don't really enforce that message of attainable world peace, but hey, at least they help make some fun songs!

One Day - Matisyahu (original [and perhaps best] version)

One Day (feat. Akon) - Matisyahu

(Why does Akon feel the need to sing his name at the beginning of every song? Sean Paul does that too, and they have two of the most distinct voices. Guys, we know it's you. Relax.)

Imagine One Day (So Far Away) - Mashup-Germany [Matisyahu vs. John Lennon vs. Blink 182 vs. Gentleman vs. Bob Marley

(I really don't get the appeal of 'All the Small Things' in here. This is sort of a song about big things. Like world peace. New title: All the Big Things? I get John Lennon and Bob Marley in here. But Tom Delonge whining "I'll be your thrill" detracts from Lennon's heartfelt message. For me, at least.)

Bibio - The mood ring of music

Since I learned about Bibio last February, the solo project of British music producer Stephen Wilkinson has been my go-to music for any and all occasions, joyful and sorrowful alike. Bibio has this unbelievable transmutability, shifting seamlessly to enhance your happiness or indulge you to wallow in your sadness, depending on your mood. The mostly instrumental/electronic songs are the perfect soundtrack to spring, and the each album flows together beautifully.

All of Bibio's music, Vignetting the Compost in particular, seems to fit in anywhere; each piece is intricate enough to demand and deserve your full attention, but somehow it knows when to take the backseat and serve as soothing background music.

Taking advantage of the inherent cinematic quality of my favorite Bibio song, 'The Ephemeral Bluebell', I made this short movie earlier this year. It's comprised of 1,704 photographs shot over 2 and half years, each played for .2 seconds. I'm also taking advantage of this blog as yet another medium through which I can force people into watching this.

But really - I think the song's antique, skipping, dreamy feel perfectly compliments the choppy flip-book feel of the film, and the poignant (to me, at least) guitar riffs help make it even more nauseatingly sentimental. As my friend said immediately after watching this, "Geeze Jess, you better hope you don't fuckin' die soon, 'cause like, you've got the perfect fuckin' memorial video all ready for you."

Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits

(this is real. really.)

There are three bunny rabbits living in my yard.

They're very cute, so here are some bunny songs.

Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits - The Magnetic Fields

Who Could Win a Rabbit - Animal Collective

The Rabbit, the bat, and the Reindeer - Dr. Dog

Rabbit Fur Coat - Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins

Hey Rabbit - Fionn Regan

Positively Sylvan

sylvan \SIL-vuhn\, adjective:

1. Of or pertaining to woods or forest regions.
2. Living or located in a wood or forest.
3. Abounding in forests or trees; wooded.

Woods

(sylvan, woods, get it?)

Inspired by my dictionary.com word of the day, here are some tunes from Woods , a Brooklyn based (of course) quartet with a self-described "folk/psychedelic/jam band" sound. Their echoey falsetto and low-fi recordings add to the old, woah-it's-the-60s-am-I-on-crazy-drugs-or-do-I-just-have-some-water-stuck-in-my-ear kind of feel.

Rain On - Woods

The Dark - Woods

Suffering Season - Woods

Military Madness (Graham Nash cover) - Woods

Not to confuse everyone, but in an attempt to keep the sylvan theme alive, here is a song from the Tallahassee, Florida hailing band The Woods.

Baleen Plate Lullaby - The Woods (my personal favorite)

there are also these dudes from Texas named 'The Woods'

and these folks from the 70s calling themselves 'The Woods'.

really guys, do some research before you name your band - please.

Johnny Flynn: dreamboat

This 11 year old singer/songwriter - ok, supposedly he's 26 now, but really. I say 17, tops. Regardless, the South African-born, London-raised and based dreamboat belts out lovely lilting tunes and Shakespeare - inspired lyrics; he says that his album "A Larum"comes from the Shakespearean stage direction "alaruum of", meaning that some noise or disturbance was happening offstage. 

"I quite liked the idea that the noise happening offstage was this album," he said.

k, that doesn't really make much sense Johnny because this album came out in 2008 and Shakespeare was directing most of his plays in the late 1500s but we'll let it slide beacause 

a) you're adorable and talented 

b) you used to act in an all-male Shakespearean troupe called Propeller

so, to the music...

The Box - Johnny Flynn

Sweet William - Johnny Flynn

Leftovers - Johnny Flynn

Drum - Johnny Flynn

Shore to Shore - Johnny Flynn (youtube)

Band > Animal

a woodpigeon (boring)

woodpigeon the band (exciting, yet soothing)

Woodpigeon is a little ol' group from Calgary, Alberta (Canada, for all us geographically ignorant Americans) who have released three full albums between 2009 and 2010 (Songbook , Die Stadt Muzikanten , Treasure Library Canada ) as well as a few EPs. The band consists of eight members: Mark Hamilton, Kenna Burima, Michael Gratton, Annalea Sordi, Daren Powell, Peter Moersch, Foon Yap, and AJ Benoit - between the 8 of them there are 5 vocalists, a piano, a bass, an accordion, a flute, drums, a violin and both electric and acoustic guitar. They produce gorgeous, melodic songs with calming harmonies and sadly poetic lyrics, and in their group photos they look like an indier, edgier, and maybe just as odd Partridge family (down to maintaining the avian-themed name).

When asked about the band's name, Mark Hamilton said, "I've always been in love with the word Woodpigeon for as long as I can remember. When you write it in cursive, it looks like a rollercoaster."

If that adorable quotation won't make you listen to these beautiful Beirut -ish, Sufjan Stevens -ish, Grizzly Bear -ish tracks, then I don't know what will. 

Oberkampf - Woodpigeon (my favorite)

Home is a Romanticized Concept - Woodpigeon

Death By Ninja (A Love Song) - Woodpigeon

A Moment's Peace For Mary Christa O'Keefe - Woodpigeon

Empty Hall Sing-A-Long - Woodpigeon

And look, they do covers too! 

Asleep and Dreaming (The Magnetic Fields cover) - Woodpigeon

Lay All Your Love On Me (ABBA cover) - Woodpigeon

Mother (Pink Floyd cover) - Woodpigeon

Better Hurry

Last Chance to Get a Good Look at Mars Until 2012

Geoff Gaherty

Starry Night Education

SPACE.com – Wed Mar 24, 7:15 pm ET

On Thursday night, March 25, many people may look up at the sky and ask the question, "What's that bright star next to the moon?"

The answer for Thursday night is Mars, but that answer changes night by night as the moon travels along the ecliptic, the path the sun, moon and planets follow across the sky. If you ask the question again on Monday night, March 29, the answer will be the ringed planet Saturn.

Such conjunctions of the moon and planets are regular reminders of how rapidly the moon moves across the sky.

Mars was in opposition to the Sun on Jan. 29, when it appeared 14 arcseconds in diameter, 1/120 of the diameter of the moon. Two months later, it is much farther away, and has shrunk to only 10 arcseconds in diameter.

This will be your last chance to get a good look at Mars until it approaches the Earth again in 2012 [see more Mars photos].

The sky these spring evenings presents a striking contrast between its western half, filled with the bright stars and constellations of winter, and its eastern half, with Regulus the only bright star. Mars sits in solitary splendor in Cancer, one of the most insignificant zodiac constellations, just above the plane of the Milky Way.

But there is much lurking beyond the dim stars of spring, for we are entering the realm of the galaxies. The constellation Leo alone contains five of the brightest galaxies in Charles Messier's famous 18th century catalog of deep sky objects.

When we look towards Leo, we are looking above the plane of our Milky Way galaxy at the depths of intergalactic space, unhindered by the clouds of dust and gas which fill our galaxy.


Girl From Mars (Ash cover) - Star 69
Mars Attacks - Aesop Rock
Life on Mars - David Bowie

damn you, itunes top 100

Abominable lyrics, terrible messages, cheesy auto-tuning.... and catchy choruses. If you're ashamed to embrace these songs for the great pump - up /dance party /long car ride jams they are, justify them in your itunes top 25 most played as 'ironic' or as 'pop-culture research'. Either way, blast 'em.

1. Rockstar - Rihanna
2. Break Your Heart - Taio Cruz
3. Your Love Is My Drug - Ke$ha
4. Drop It Low - Ester Dean and Chris Brown
5. All the Above (feat T-Pain) - Mario
6. Carry Out (Feat. Justin Timberlake) - Timbaland

(really, anyone who can make take out food as a metaphor for sex last for more than 3 minutes deserves to be listened to.)

LIMNOLOGY radio

March 14 was a very exciting day for LIMNOLOGY radio show - our first guests! The lovely and talented Annandale-On-Hudson based band, String of Birds, featuring Anna Swann-Pye, Emily Walsh, and Maddie Wise.

the gals in the studio (Left to Right: Maddie, Emily, Anna)

As always, Download LIMNOLOGY radio, March 14

Playlist

1. Reservoir Park - The Dutchess and the Duke
2. No Intention (Acoustic) - The Dirty Projector
3. Intro/Mountain Range (Live on WXBC) - String of Birds
4. Orion (Live on WXBC) - String of Birds
5. Golden Brown - The Stranglers
6. Say Something - Dr. Dog
7. Toward No One (Live on WXBC) - String of Birds
8. Nothing's Wrong (Live on WXBC) - String of Birds
9. Lakes of Canada - The Innocence Mission
10. The Motion Makes Me Last - Eluvium
11. Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us - Allison Krauss and Robert Plant
12. Recess Theme song ( from abc One Saturday Morning )
13. Willow Tree - Chad Van Gaalen
14. With Me With You (Live on WXBC) - String of Birds
15. This One's For You (Live on WXBC) - String of Birds
16. Landlocked Blues (Bright Eyes cover) (Live on WXBC) - String of Birds
17. Best I Ever Had (Drake cover) (Live on WXBC) - String of Birds
18. You're the One That I Want - Grease

LIMNOLOGY radio

Download LIMNOLOGY radio, March 7

Playlist

1. '81 - Joanna Newsom
2. Never My Love - The Association
3. Lolita - The Kidnap Kids
4. Basic Space - The xx
5. You Got The Love (Remix of The xx cover, originally by Florence and the Machine) - The Very Best
6. Tumble In The Wind - Jackson C. Frank
7. Perfume - Charlyne Li
8. These Days - Nico
9. Ruby Tuesday (Rolling Stones cover) - Franco Battiato
10. Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand (Hold My Hand, sung in German) - The Beatles
11. White As Diamonds - Alela Diane
12. Sisters of Mercy (Leonard Cohen cover) - Judy Collins
13. Nectarine - Twin Sister
14. Disconnect the Dots - Of Montreal
15. Strange Powers - The Magnetic Fields
16. Walking (Thinking) - Peter Broderick
17. I Used To Do - Clogs (Buy Song on Amazon)
18. Scarborough Fair - Simon and Garfunkle
19. Jolene - Dolly Parton
20. Jolene, We Almost Never Met - Archer Avenue
21. I Hear the Bells - Mike Doughty
22. Change of Time - Josh Ritter

speaking of Josh Ritter...

cuddling up to him after his show this past July in Helena, MT

23. Get It Up - Esau Mwamwaya, Santogold, M.I.A. and Radioclit

LIMNOLOGY radio

I've some catching up to do, so here is the show/playlist for our show on February 28

Download LIMNOLOGY radio show, February 28 (The Purim Special, hence song #4)

Playlist

1. My Way - jj

2. F-cking Boyfriend - The Bird and the Bee

3. Starstruck (feat. Flo Rida) - Lady Gaga

4. A Freylekhe Nakht in Gan Eydn - The Klezmer Conservatory

5. Tim I Wish You Were Born a Girl - Of Montreal

6. At the Hop - Devendra Banhart

7. Be My Lover - La Bouche

8. Violin Sonata in A (Fourth Movement) - Franck (youtube video)

9. Gila - Beach House

10. Listen Sister, Don't Date a Hipster - Ménage á Twang

11. Alejandro - Lady Gaga

12. Wicked Game - Chris Isaak

13.Faded - Soul Decision

14. Mountain Range - String of Birds

15. Don't Stop the Music (Rihanna cover) - The Bird and the Bee

16. Amazing (Feat. Young Jeezy) - Kanye West

17. Ain't Nobody Thinkin' Bout You - The Omg Girlz

side note about The Omg Girlz:

they are composed of Reginae Carter (Lil Wayne's daughter), Zonnique (T.I.'s daughter), and their friends Basha and Lourdes, all between the ages of 11-13.

18. Love Story - Taylor Swift

19. Heartbeats - The Knife

LIMNOLOGY radio

(in the radio station)

The main reason for beginning this blog was to post mp3s from my radio show (with Ezra Glenn), every Sunday from 8-10pm on WXBC. We've been able to record every show, so here is the second hour of the first show on February 14! Ezra wasn't able to come so it's just me, babbling in a basement.

Download LIMNOLOGY radio show, February 14

Playlist for February 14, 2010

1. Bulletproof - La Roux

2. Ring Ring - Sleigh Bells

3. Ecstasy - jj

4. Ride wit me (Nelly cover) - I Call Shotgun

5. Whatever you Like (T.I. cover) - Anya Marina

6. La Familia (Guy Sigsworth Remix) - Mirah

7. In for the Kill (Skream's let's get ravey Remix) - La Roux

8. Pop the Glock - Uffie

9. Mujina/Locked in the Basement - Fredrik

10. Grey X Sage (Misty Nnight) - Theophilius London

11. Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear

12. Gobbledigook - Sigur Rós

13. Destiny's Múm - Crash! Boom! Kapow!

14.Home - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

15. Take Ecstasy with me - The Magnetic Fields

16. Party and Bullshit in the U.S.A. - Biggie Smalls/Miley Cyrus (youtube video)

17.Fidelity - Regina Spektor

18.Brackish Water - The Lisps

19.He Was Worse than the Needle He Gave You - The Delta Mirror

20.Your Rocky Spine - The Great Lake Swimmers

21.I and Love and You - The Avett Brothers

22. Tennessee Mountain Rain - Drew Nix and The Elephant Army

23.Lightening Rod - Guster

22. Trailer Trash (Modest Mouse cover) - Various Artists (buy the album)

23. Rude Boy - Rihanna

unavoidably heartwarming

Having a bad day? Having a good day but want to make it better?

Watch this, a special recording of The Morning Bender's song "Excuses", produced by Yours Truly.

I have a very big crush on the singer. I like his sad face and the way he holds his hands like he's a 4th grader in choir.

Boy from The Morning Benders, if you see this, get in touch with me. I love you.

So watch this for automatic heartwarm. Better than heartworm.