Carl Approved Video

I saw this today and had to post. It's an original fan-made video (i.e. not commisioned by Kanye) by a guy named Mykola Dosenko, a graphic artist and lover the song as well as 80's video games. The influences from Mega Man, Double Dragon, etc. are obvious. When I first saw it, I thought it was an edit of an existing video game, but it is 100% original and 100% Awesome.

Carl's Songs (and Videos) of the Week

Hi pals. Back with another fresh dose of music and videos. New and old, hard and soft, fast and slow, whatever you need, Carl's got you covered.

1. Daedelus - "LA Nocturn": Posted a smokin' hot video for this last week. This song is off Daedelus' recent combined effort with Jogger, Friends of Friends

2. Bat For Lashes - "Daniel": Deservedly, Bat for Lashes has been getting a lot of pub recently for their Two Suns album. I can't disagree with the praise. This song is excellent, as is the fan-made video below.

3. Bloc Party - "Ion Square": Intimacy slipped under my radar and I'm just discovering some of it's treasures now. This is classic Bloc Party.

4. Pacific! - "Sunset Blvd": This Swedish duo shamelessly rips 70s soft rock and 80s synths. . . and I love them for it. There are some great songs on their Reveries album. I read something awhile back that described them as the missing link between Air and Daft Punk. Couldn't be more accurate.

5. Phoenix - "Armistice": Yep. More Phoenix. Deal with it.

6. Midnight Juggernauts - "Nine Lives": This one grabs you from the get-go and roughs you up a bit, just how it should be.

7. Stars - "14 Forever": Off their overlooked Sad Robots EP, which is some of their best work to date.

8. Gomez - "Bone Tired": One of the best tunes from A New Tide.

9. Passion Pit - "The Reeling": The first cut from their first LP, Manners. I'm much more impressed with the songs off their Chunk of Change EP (listen here) but it's still solid.

10. CFCF - "Crystal Mines": The main reason I love this song is because of the outstanding video





Bat For Lashes - "Daniel"
It's not the official video, but it should be. The official one is here but doesn't compare.



M. Ward - "Rave On"



Passion Pit - "The Reeling"



Moby - "Shot in the Back of the Head"
New single/video from Moby. Directed by David Lynch. Apparently they're BFFs now. A match made in weirdo heaven.



Annnnd finally. . . a lemur-type thing getting its armpits scratched.

Mongolian Mixtape Marathon

I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know about a great cause, please help these guys out if you agree. My friends at Noise Porn are DRIVING 10,000 miles from London to Mongolia in a specially-equipped off road vehicle while raising money for Save The Children, in association with the Mongolia Charity Rally. They are also packing the vehicle full of educational materials and clothes to donate to the Mongolian people and donating the vehicle itself upon arrival.

To help them in their 800+ hour mission, they are asking DJs from all over the world - legit DJs or wannabe DJs (that means you) to upload 1-hour mixes which they will compile and listen to all the way to Mongolia. Once they begin the journey, the mixes will be podcasted to the world and will be hosted on the site for a year after they return. It's a great idea and a great cause.

Check out the website, donate, and submit mixes here: Mogolian Mixtape Marathon

Listen To Your Carl (when he's calling for you)

Apologies for the brief hiatus, friends. Carl is back, sit back, open your ears and enjoy. . .

1. Kings of Convenience - "I Don't Know What I can Save You From (Royksopp Remix)": Some mellowness from the early '00s. I wonder what happened to these guys.

2. Phoenix - "Consolation Prizes": Yet another Phoenix track. I can't get enough of these guys. Great performance on SNL the other week too. By the way, since when did they become SNL material? No idea they were "big". Fuck it, good for them, they deserve it.

3. The Presets - "Talk Like That": You make me crazy when you talk talk talk talk talk like like like like like that that that that that that. Good song, but the lyrics could use some work. I have heard that they put on a show that's strong-to-quite strong, though I can't confirm.

4. Bullion - "God Only Knows": Another UK producer here. In the same way Dangermouse took The Beatles' White Album and mixed it with Jay-Z, this guy took the Beach Boys' classic Pet Sounds album and remixed it with J-Dilla. Results are mixed, but the album is definitely not to be missed.

5. Futurecop! - "N.A.S.A": I saw Futurecop! in Boston and it was a great show. Check him out if you can. Mostly instrumental with lot of 80's synths, 8-bit beats and general awesomeness.

6. CFCF - "D.A.N.C.E. (Justice)": Countless remixes have been made with this song, but there is something about this one I love. Maybe its the Peanuts-esque piano and simplicity - most remixes like to smash your face in with massive techno beats, completely masking the original song. This one strips it down.

7. Elbow - "Weather to Fly": Beautiful. I've posted thier stuff before but in case you didn't catch it the first time, Seldom Seen Kid is an incredible album.

8. Shout Out Louds - "Very Loud": I saw Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist the other day, the movie itself was mildly entertaining. Some may call it "cute", however, the soundtrack was solid, and this song stuck out.

9. The-Dream - "Take U Home 2 My Mama": How can the song not be awesome with a name like that. Another BLAZING HOT track from my favorite guilty pleasure The-Dream. Turn that shit up.

10. Hint - "Quite Spectacular": Hint's Portakabin Fever, released in the early '00s is quite possible one of my favorite albums. I fell in love with it instantly and still listen to it regularly. All the songs gorgeous intstumentals with colorful, airy melodies, and samples all backed by mid-tempo beats. A perfect soundtrack to anything, really. It's a shame that it's the only record he Hint did in this style.





Videos. . .

Minilogue - "Hitchiker's Choice"
I posted a nutso video from these guys last time. After some research i have come to the conclusion that the guy who creates these videos is a creative and talented individual.



Daedelus - "LA Nocturn"
Both song and video are nasty. Nasty x 2.



DJ Earworm - "United State of Pop 2008"
I posted this song last time. Here is the video. It kinda sucks actually, but fuck it. A few parts work, but I mean, come on. Just goes to show you mashing videos doesn't work the same way as music.



South Park - Kanye West - "Gay Fish"
A song from last week's episode in which Kanye discovers he's a gay fish.

Holy Carl, it's Friday!

Today we have a grabag of songs for you and, as usual, there is no theme, rhyme or reason to the playlist. Oh wait, there IS a theme - they're all BADASS!

And away we go. . . oh and sorry about the little ads that IMEEM sneaks in the playlists. I guess they have to make money somehow. That said, I'm currently considering other playlist providers.

1. DJ Earworm - "United State of Pop 2008": Earworm took the 25 top billboard singles and mashed them together over a backdrop of Vida La Vida. Pretty f*ckin' catchy I must say.

2. Empire of the Sun - "We are the People": The second single off these weirdos' Walking on a Dream LP. I can fault them for being strange (see video below), but not for creating delightful pop magic.

3. Phoenix - "Lisztomania": I've been posting a lot of songs from Phoenix lately, here is yet another off Wolfgang Amedeus Phoenix. Perhaps not as talented as Mozart in songwriting department, but a touch more fun.

4. Muscles - "Ice Cream": "Ice cream is gonna save the day again. I don't need a number, I just wanna dance with my shirt off." That kinda says it all here.

5. Casiokids - "Fot I Hose": Dudes from Norway deftly piece together glitchy synth sounds and a funky bass line and give us an instrumental of compelling, head-bobbing funk. I was also told that they are "nasty" in concert. This was verified by reviews of their performance at SXSW.

6. The-Dream - "Walkin' on the Moon": Call it a guilty pleasure, call it a man-crush, I don't care, i can't get enough of The-Dream. Love vs. Money is hit-tastic. I'm not a huge Pop-R&B fan and ususally quick to dismiss it, but my guard was broken down by The-Dream. And I'm glad it was. Let him into your life. . . don't be scared.

7. CFCF - "Invitation to Love": A soothing down-tempo jam. A great soundtrack to any daydream.

8. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - "Lesley Gore on the T.A.M.I Show": Possibly the longest artist/title combo I have written. Simple, sweet and melodic. These guys have more where that came from. See their album Etiquette.

9. Wave Machines - "Punk Spirit": A band from Liverpool. Their first album is due in June. I for one, am pumped. From the songs I've heard, they sound the real deal.

10. Camp Lo - "Luchini": Remember these guys!?!?!? Whatever happened to them? One album then out the door? What gives? I used to dig them. Word on the street is the duo has formed a new group, Freebass 808, and the comeback album is titled MoonBass. . . Yikes. Hey, as an old fan I hope it's good, but let's be honest, this is not a great start.




Vids. . .

Minilogue - "Animals"
The world could use a few more colorful dancing monsters. Incredible video.



Empire of the Sun - "We are the People"
Chances are they're not taking themselves seriously. If they are, beware.



Department of Eagles - "No one Does it Better"
Quoting Pitchfork here: "It's a pretty involved production for this modest (and wonderful) band, filled with singing ghosts, pirouetting legionnaires, and expressionistic death scenes."