Beach House - Devotion

Not A Second Time

So i've been on a bit of a hiatus but couldn't resist posting when I came across this. Some of my earliest memories are of sitting indian-style on the shag carpeting in my first house, watching the Beatles Cartoons. Happy Halloween

Kim Deal Mini-mix

Today I want to share a few of my favorite Kim Deal tracks. I've been a Pixies fan since the ninth grade. The next spring she put out the second Breeders record, Last Splash, to this day still one of my favorite albums of all time. 1995 saw her put out the only Amps record, another classic which I will save for a separate post. She's released a couple Breeders records sporadically the past 14 years since, but I'm including one of my favorite tracks from 2002's Title TK, a track which actually dated back to the Amps days, Forced to Drive. Also, a cover of Chris Bell's "You & Your Sister" (w/ Tanya Donelly). Feast:

No Aloha (from Last Splash)
Dedicated (from The Amps - Pacer)
Forced To Drive (from Title TK)
You & Your Sister (from This Mortal Coil - Blood)

Ted & Tim

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Mike Nesmith, or More From The Monkees

I've already espoused on my love for The Monkees. Today I wanna share two of my favorite Mike Nesmith tracks. I'm pretty much on the fence as to whom my favorite Monkee is, it's tight between Micky & Mike. Nesmith (pictured left enjoying an ice-cold soda during the Headquarters sessions) was actually the only one of the Monkees that was chosen from open auditions. Apparently he showed up on his motorcycle wearing a floppy woolen cap and carrying a bag of his dirty laundry and the casting agents knew they had their man. He was also the only Monkee who was a legitimate songwriter & musician before the creation of the group (Peter Tork had some experience but hadn't released anything). Anyways, I'm not here to give you the guy's whole life story, here are two tracks from The Birds, The Bees, & The Monkees, both Nesmith compositions featuring Mike on vocals.
Tapioca Tundra
Magnolia Simms

This Weekend at Film Forum: In A Lonely Place (1950)

Would have liked to have seen this if I'd had the time this weekend. An unusual role for Humphrey Bogart in that he plays more of a victim than anything else, In A Lonely Place is a film-noir which combines romance and suspense in the portrayal of a man for whom redemption and love prove elusive. Playing tonight and tomorrow at Film Forum. Highly recommended.

Selsun Blue Presents the "Head-Scratcher of the Day"

Ok so I don't reallly have the dandruff folks over at Selsun Blue on board with this yet, but i needed a good lead-in to examine the completely mind-boggling phenomenon that was the hit 1980's film 3 Men & A Baby. A casting director's wet dream featuring the holy trinity of 1980's megahunks Ted Danson, Tom Selleck, and Steve Guttenburg, this movie grossed $167 MILLION DOLLARS in what had to be a really lean year for having anything better to do.

R.I.P. Ted Kennedy

What else can be said about this guy? A fierce proponent of universal health care, an advocate for social justice, defender of the poor. Times like this only serve as a reminder how rarer those qualities have become. You will be missed.

Mickey & Coco Dolenz / Monkees Demos

I've always been a big Monkees fan. I used to watch the show every day after school when I was 8. A few years ago Rhino put out Deluxe Editions of their first few records, remastered, with b-sides, outtakes, the whole shebang. The Headquarters deluxe edition contained two unreleased demos of Mickey harmonizing with his sister Coco. There's just something about brother/sister harmonies that really gets me.

She'll Be There
Midnight Train

Where Are They Now: This Guy

Best known by fans as "that guy" from cult 1980's classics such as The 'Burbs, Children Of The Corn, and Can't Buy Me Love (pictured), Courtney Gains rode his tidal wave of obscure nerdy characters straight to oblivion in the nineties, following a turn as the spazzy, superstitious one in 1990's Memphis Belle. Did you know though he was actually that jerk bully guy in Back To The Future that comes in during the dance sequence towards the end all like, "Scram McFly, I'm cuttin' in!"? Courtney now spends most of his time as an acting coach, apparently mentoring young upstarts on the intricacies of becoming one of those actors whose name you just can't seem to remember.

Virtual Mixtape Vol. 1

People are always asking me what I'm listening to, so back in May I decided to compile a virtual mixtape. I actually kinda ripped the idea off of Bradford Cox. Anyways like anything it required sufficient procrastination before coming to bear, (or just me figuring out how to upload such a large file) but at long last here it is. My criteria for this mix was basically that I could only include music I'd been listening to alot the past six months or so and one track per artist (i bent the rules a bit with that Atlas Sound track...). Its slightly dated from my perspective but nonetheless hopefully some of you will discover a new treasure. Most of these tracks were released this past year, however there are a few exceptions where I just really wanted to include certain songs. I hope you like.

Tracklisting
1. Pomegranates - Tesseract (from Everybody, Come Outside)
2. Cats In Paris - Castle Walls (from Courtcase 2000)
3. Hot Panda - Bullhorn Romance (from Volcano...Bloody Volcano)
4. Clues - Perfect Fit (from S/T)
5. Antlers - Dogwood (from S/T)
6. Sunset Rubdown - The Mending of the Gown (from Random Spirit Lover)
7. Ten Kens - Worthless and Oversimplified Ideas (from S/T)
8. Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band - Who's Asking? (from S/T)
9. Mussels - My Hands Your Heart (from Little Voices)
10. Maps & Atlases - Artichokes (from You and Me and the Mountain)
11. Good Shoes - All In My Head (from Think Before You Speak)
12. The Research - There Are No Subs In My Team (from The Old Terminal)
13. The Spinto Band - The Black Flag (from Moonwink)
14. The Dutchess & The Duke - Ship Made of Stone (from She's the Dutchess...)
15. The Ruby Suns - Ole Rinka (from Sea Lion)
16. Death Vessel - Fences Around Field (from Nothing Is Precious Enough)
17. Deerhunter - Nothing Ever Happened (from Microcastle)
18. It Hugs Back - Unaware (from Inside Your Guitar)
19. Miniature Tigers - Like or Like Like (from Tell It To The Volcano)
20. Atlas Sound - River Card (from Let The Blind Lead Those Who Cannot Feel)
21. Beach House - D.A.R.L.I.N.G. (from Devotion)
22. Asobi Seksu - Blind Little Rain (from Hush)
23. Of Montreal - A Dreamy Day Of Daydreaming Of You (from Coquelicot Asleep...)
24. Caribou - Irene (from Andorra)

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A Closer Look: Loggins & Messina

Every now and then a duo comes along that redefines "Adult Contemporary". Today we take a look at one such pair, the 1970's hit machine known as Loggins & Messina. Combining boyish good looks with a woodsy, rustic appeal, Loggins & Messina caught the attention of suburban Easy Listening fans ages 31-43 with AM radio staples such as "Danny's Song", "House At Pooh Corner", and "Your Mama Don't Dance". 16 million records later, Loggins decided to strike out on his own and establish himself as a more serious artist, going so far even as to shed the happy-go-lucky image of Kenny and brand himself Ken Loggins in the liner notes for 1978's Nightwatch before unleashing a string of 80's soundtrack masterpieces while Messina is often overlooked as one of the forefathers of the irrelevant cliched sideman who fades into obscurity.

Loggins & Messina play the Nikon @ Jones Beach ampitheater tonight, plenty of tickets still available