Chris Walla and J. Robbins Make Sweet Sweet Music

Oh Bob Boillen. You smooth voiced little music imp of NPR. Your podcasts are so delightfully weird, that there are days that I love them, and days when I want to reach my hands in through the speakers and strangle your throat.

And today, I catch this little amusement you've done on NPR, like some sort of hipster, liberal arts college derived reality TV show for the radio conceit: take two well known musicians (Chris Walla and J. Robbins) and force them to make a song in two days based on a picture they select.

Seriously, I'd simply say WTF and peace out. Unless you were giving out The Women of NPR cheesecake calendars. Sylvia Poggioli and Meshell Norris....rawr...

And yet, what came out was fairly good. I mean, it's Death Cab derivative, but it's remarkably pleasant. I was expecting something else. More folky. I don't know why.

And yet, there's no way for me to purchase the song. Or even an embed code. What do you want, some sort of pledge? You and those fucking pledge drives.

Oooh, a Steve Inskeep beer coozie for a gift of $65!

Check Out Mercury by Chris Wall and J Robbins here

Housekeeping

I feel like I'm in the news biz again, I got plenty of copy, I'm working on two stories. I just need to the pull the trigger.

Kristin's interview is taking longer to put together than I thought (pain meds and typing don't mix kid). But it's coming.

And I have the very difficult task of putting together my Top 10, best of the year list.

And this year was tough. I mean, I can name 20 standout albums. I already have my No 1, but yeah. That still leaves 19. We'll have it all done by the end of the week, and then you can go on reading.

Thanks for the daily clicks though. We'll get more stuff up soon. I promise.

Yay

I just got off the phone with Kristin Andreassen, and what a joy to talk to her. I'll be posting the interview up later on this week, but in the meantime, please check out her music at her website. She's doing some really amazing things, and it's great to hear new artists as the get big.

December is going to be an awesome month here t The Shimmy Shake. We're going to have a first ever contest/giveaway. Some special guest postings. Decemebr is going tobe a good month.

50 Albums for $5 each

If you're looking to get your Black Friday music shopping on early, Amazon will feed your wanton consumerism with 50 albums for $5 each at it's digital download site.

Some of it is good (Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III is arguably the best rap album out this year) and some of it is not (you cannot pay me to listen to She and Him again).

But they've got Ra Ra Riot's The Rhumb Line, Colplay's latest, Q-Tip's Renaissance, and a host of others.

And it's all DRM-free.

SO belly up to some more turkey with rockin cheap music.

This post is a conversation stimulator

"How can it be bullshit to state a preference?"

"Since when did this store become a fascist regime?"

"When you brought that bullshit tape in."

It's getting close to the end of the year, the time when you look back over the hundreds of songs you've downloaded/bought/burned/shared and decide which albums will make the best of the year list for 2008.

It has been, without a doubt, a great year for music. There are easily 20 albums i can think of that are vying for the top spot.

I'd like to see what you're placing on the top of your list. Since I'm going to be laid up for about a week, let's say send them to me no later than December 5. Then I'll start posting them and share your fail or success with the world.

Nothing lasts forever

I was in seventh grade when Use Your Illusion One and Two dropped.

I can still think of the ridiculous girl I had a crush on whenever I hear November Rain.

It was the first time I heard "Live and Let Die" and to this day, I more closely associate that song with Axl's screech than with Sir McCartney's dulcet tones.

Today is the date that Chinese Democracy drops. Or is available. Or something.

Doesn't matter. I won't be getting it.

I need help

Hi. My name is The DP and I recently purchased Jimmy Buffet's "Songs You Know By Heart."

I'm not sure why I did it. I'm not particularly a Jimmy Buffet fan. But dear Lord, I know everyone of those songs on that album. It's like some taunt with that album title.

"You know you want to buy me. You know all these songs already. You just try to hide it from your hipster friends. You think you're all indie rock, listening to Swedish pop. No you're not my friend. You're just a poser Florida refugee in the Nation's Capital. Margaritaville comes on in a bar and you start singing. You can order a cheeseburger in paradise with your eyes closed. You have spent three lonely days in a brown ugly haze"

I'm sure there's a woman to blame for all of this.

But it's my own damn fault.

FAIL

Fail Whale

I have very much been slacking on this end, and for that I apologize.

It's been slightly crazy at my job, as I exit this one and start another (who says the economy is taking?). I also have had some knee issues, but rest assured, that I will be blogging with a vengenace soon (especially when I'm laid up, hopped up on goof balls and morphine!).

We also kind of stopped short in the middle of The Rosebuds feature. And that's because I didn't get a write back from Ivan. Which is cool, I understand that they're on tour and what not. Ivan, if you're reading this, please write me back.

Since I don't have any bands lined up right now for interviews, we'll probably be doing alot of of odds and ends to fill out the pages. You know, more free form blogging.

Anyways, so sorry for the fail on the blogging front.

Auto-tune

I'm not sure why, but I'm captivated by the Auto-tune/vocoder sound. It makes Lil Wayne, who is arguably already pretty jacked up sounding, sound even more crazy.

The Washington Post has a great article on T-Pain and his use of the tool to give his songs that crazy robot noise.

Remixed

Normally I shy away from remixes.

"What's that? You want to sell me a bunch of songs I already have? I'll pass."

And earlier this year, I was almost quick to dismiss the "Sweet Beats, Troubled Sleep" remix of The Rosebuds "Night of the Furies."

I'm glad I didn't. From the Merge website:

Night of the Furies contained songs of despair and loss that roused friends of the band to present them with personal reconstructions of these dark tales. The resulting assortment of dance tunes and lullabies delighted Ivan and Kelly, and inspired them to release Sweet Beats, Troubled Sleep (Night of the Furies Remixed) as a free download available only here at Merge.

There are songs that I like better than others, but the reinterpretation of what I thought was already a great album is really amazing.

Because I harbor some guilty love for big energetic dance/house music, I love the El Venado "Cemetery Lawns" remix, and both "I Better Run" versions (though I like the first one more). But it's the "Get Up Get Out" remix by Bon Iver's Justin Vernon that stands out the most. It slows down the urgency of the original and wraps it with these acoustic guitars and Star Trek-space sounds.

The best part is? It's totally free.

Check it out. I think you'll like it.

Get "Sweet Beats, Troubled Sleep - Night of the Furies Remixed" from Merge Records.

Shifted Sound Plays The Rosebuds

Have I told you about the best damn podcast on the planet?

Oh I haven't? Then allow me to retort.

Shifted Sound is the best damn podcast on the planet. A true labor of love by Shelby M., he puts together a brand new spanking show every week. And the music is always top notch. I'm not sure how he does it.

So, why am I talking about the best damn podcast on the planet?

Because this week Shelby is playing two songs by our featured band, The Rosebuds, from their new album, Life Like (that might be the most ungodly string of clauses ever in that sentence).

Check out Shelby and Shifted Sound. You can subscribe to it in iTunes, or you can get it from his site.

Thanks!

Wanted to say thanks to everyone who's been reading the blog. It's very gratifying to see that little number ticker click up everyday, sometimes with fairly large jumps.

If there's something you'd like to see, or something you don't like, or something you think I should hear, I'm very accessible. Leave a comment, drop me an email (shimmyshakeblog AT the Google Mail company.com), or whatever.

And tell a friend. Tell two friends.

New Featured Artist - The Rosebuds

It's been the end of two weeks, so we must bid adieu to No Kids. Please check out their music and see them live if you can. All of their mp3s will be coming down today.

Up next however is the amazing Asheville, NC band The Rosebuds.

If you have not heard this incredible band you are missing out. Zak C. turned me on to them last year and I've been hooked ever since. The husband and wife duo of Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp just released their latest album, Life Like, last month. (I reviewed it here).

I simply have not been able to stop playing it. It's a really good album.

I just got an email back from Ivan, so we're going to be setting up an interview soon. Email me with any questions you might have. I'm also trying to line up a few other kind of surprises, so we'll see how that works too.

Bishop Allen at The Black Cat

Went to see Bishop Allen last night at The Black Cat, on the first date of their fall tour. A good mix of people showed up (including a guy from job who I did a psuedo interview with a few months back... always awkward).

Anyway, the first band up was the very impressive Electric Owls. A one man band, just Andy Herod, his acoustic guitar, and his MacBook. I checked out his MySpace page before going to the show and was really surprised at how solid he sounded. He did not disappoint.

The next band, Philly's Drink Up Buttercup... The less said the better.

Finally, Bishop Allen came on and didn't disappoint. They played mostly songs from their new album, and it won't disappoint. The stuff from Broken String was always exceptional, especially "The Monitor" and "Castanets." (note: Why DC won't you get down with the sing-a-longs? If he wants you to sing, you should sing. Bastards.)

All in all a good show.

We Get Letters

I'm stealing a feature from my other crappy blog called "We Get Letters." This is where I post letters and emails I get from people I know. If I ran a newspaper, I would have this instead of letters to the editor.

Anyway, this letter is from my boy Jeff M., the Human 808 machine. He used to be part of The Alphabetical Order, but now he just holds it down solo, David Byrne Style.

Jeff gets to go to concerts on the weekdays. And he went to one last night

I saw Jaguar Love last night at Black Cat and they were amazing!! Maybe not your thing, but check out the track "Humans Evolve Into Skyscrapers" on eMusic. It's got this Timbaland-ish beat, with the 16th note hi-hats and syncopated kick/snare (is every producer doing this these days? I feel like Timb started it).
But it also has loud start/stop guitars, actual singing mixed with screaming. It's like everything I want music to be.

2008 has shaped up to be a killer year for music. I mean, look at No Kids: orchestral pop with more percussion than a high school band class plus r&b beats and a singer that can deliver on that promise. Jaguar Love, No Kids -- they're not afraid, and that's what I love about them.

So there you have it. Jeff, The Thrilla in an Arlington Villa, recommending Jaguar Love.

Great Music Makes a Show

I just finished watching this week's episode of Entourage, and the music as always was top notch.

To close out the show, first they played A Tribe Called Quest's "Check The Rhime" which was probably one of the few first rap songs I learned by heart (that and The Humpty Dance). Then, right on the heels of that song, they closed out the show with Fake Plastic Trees.

Hollywood, if your reading (and you aren't) keep hiring good music supervisors.

A Tribe Called Quest - Check The Rhime

Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees

Chakachas - Jungle Fever

Siblings

I have one of the best sisters in the world. It's cool cos we didn't grow up together or live in the same house at all (our parents married after I left the house for school), so we don't have a lot of that crazy baggage you normally get (see: her and my brother). We're more like really good friends than anything else.

I wonder if I can do that with my kid and the next one.

Anyways, I made a mix for my lovely little sis back in April when she came for a visit, and I put some No Kids on it.

She loves it. So I asked her to write a little something here about it, and she promptly obliged.

Why do I like the No Kids album so much?

It makes me move. What's better than that? It truly is infectious. Not to mention that I've never heard anything quite like it. I'm not sure I have a good reason for digging the album so much. Do I need one?

How sublime.

It makes me move.

Do you need a better reason to go out and get this album? I don't think so.

Muchos gracias to my most favorite sisterin the whole world, Alex D.

Feedback

We're wrapping up our first feature on The Shimmy Shake, and I think it was pretty solid first out the gate effort.

What I'm looking for right now is feedback. What worked. What didn't work. What would you like to see in the future. I haven't done anything resembling journamalisming in quite awhile.

Would you like to have posted songs? Contests? Better interview questions?

Let's have at it in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

Upcoming Next Week

The Shimmy Shake will be doing a new band next week, one that I think (and hope) you'll really like.

I've already done the interview witht he lead singer, and it was really amazing. They've put out what is easily my favorite album this year. So hopefully I'll be able to put up a few clips and share the love.

But we're still on Ra Ra Riot for this week. If you haven't checked out the YouTube clip I posted yesterday, please take a look. I put it up at just after 5 am on Tuesday morning, and this morning when I left for work it had over 1,300 views!

Just to compare, the video of my son punching another kid at his preschool's holiday program hasn't garnered anywhere near that much. And it's been up over a year. And my kid is fucking adorable.

So check it out, and while you're at it, check out the DCist review of the Ra Ra Riot show at The Black Cat. They did a pretty good job of summing up my feelings about the show.

ps - if you have a suggestion for a band I should feature, or your with a band and would like to be featured, leave a comment or drop me an email [shimmyshakeblog AT the mail company run by Google]

DRM is for suckas

You've probably noticed that for the last two posts, I've posted several options on where to buy music online.

I'm not pointing anyone to iTunes because of the DRM stuff. But what I'll try to do is direct you to the label, Amazon, and eMusic. Those are all DRM free, and great ways to get music online.

So go buy some music and support some bands!