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.

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.

Happy Motherf-ing Monday: 12/8/08

. . . aaaaaaand we're back. Let's get to the tunes, shall we?

1. The Album Leaf - "Thule" These guys make some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard. Simple, clean, melodic and awesome.
2. Tigercity - "Are you Sensation" I saw Tigercity in Boston this weekend and they put on an amazing show. They only have an EP out right now "Pretend not to Love" - but they assured us an LP is in the works. More on these guys in an upcoming Artist Spotlight in a few days.
3. Q-Tip - "Won't Trade" A catchy song off Q-Tip's new album. This album reminds me of his Tribe Called Quest glory days.
4. Tennishero - "Alone" Makes me think of driving a thunderbird along an oceanside cliff in the summer. In the 80s. Why you ask? Not sure.
5. Au Revoir Simone - "Fallen Snow (Teenagers Remix)" A great song by Au Revoir Simone and one of the rare remixes that is better than the original.
6. The Killers - "This is your life" Probably the best song off their new album, "Day & Age".



And a few videos. . .

Fujiya & Miyagi have wireframe exoskeletons. And tanks. Sweet!

Fujiya & Miyagi - "Sore Thumb"


Evil Nine - "They Live"


Jay-Z - "Brooklyn Go Hard"

TV on the Radio - "Dancing Choose"


I can't get enough of these muppet videos. . .

Fraggle Rock - "Let Me Clear My Throat"

Artist Spotlight: Emancipator

Last week I posted one of this guy's songs, because quite honestly, it was one of the best remixes I've ever heard (see "Shook"). What I didn't know was that the guy behind this remix was actually a 19 year-old college student from Virginia who also creates original tunes and has ridiculous talent. On his first album "Soon it Will be Cold Enough," he uses elements of jazz, hip-hop and down-tempo combined with violins, piano and samples. The result is beautiful. Listen for yourself below, I posted a few songs. The album is currently only available in Japan and can be purchased as an import, so if you like what you hear, buy his album so he has money to buy ramen noodles and booze, when he turns 21, of course.

Songs of the Week: 10/20/08

There's no rhyme, reason or theme to these songs. . . other than the fact that they all kick ass.



Scrounged up the video for Sebastien Tellier's "Divine" also. Quite enjoyable.

Sebastien Tellier - "Divine"

Hump Day Tunes

Just a random compilation of some tunes that are helping me fumble through work today. . .