ocean / ocean

Ocean, Ocean

I'll be taking an indefinite break from this and jumping exclusively over to http://www.ericandtheocean.blogspot.com where I'll be detailing the creative development of a new project for theatre I'm working on. There'll still be music over there as well because I'm developing the sound design concurrently.

Much love,

Eric

the stories where i lied / were the ones i just told

Toyota War

Two Toyota War songs from their gig last Sunday at the Grace Darling Hotel in Collingwood, playing with us and SvenSson.

Toyota War - Taxis

Toyota War - Sick and Tired

Toyota War - In the Evening

The Call Up

Two Call Up songs from last Sunday; first time we'd played The Knife. Quality of the Zoom's recordings isn't as great as I'd like in the small room, even with a great sound system.

The Call Up - Iris

The Call Up - The Knife

Probably going to take an indefinite break from this for a while and focus attention on something which I'll share with a redirect or edit once it's up and running.

Much love.

libera me, domine / de morte aeterna

Faure / Greenwood / Wagner / Part

I've always listened to a lot of classical music but I'm fairly sure I haven't posted much on here before (the spectacular Gabor Szabo Love Theme from Spartacus comes pretty close) but since I recently borrowed a much bigger Ipod to the one I'm used to I've had the luxury of carting around about 10 times as much music which has led to some great rediscoveries.

Elsewhere, in the production of Julius Caesar I'm performing in at the moment this piece is used when Caesar's body is borne off stage. I'm usually biased towards Deutsche Grammaphon but this version put out by EMI of the Paris Conservatoire is a timely reminder of the golden age of recording.

Gabriel Faure - Libera Me

Another more contemporary work that makes an appearance in Caesar is some of Jonny Greenwood's classical compositions for the soundtrack of There Will Be Blood.

Jonny Greenwood - Oil

Teddy Tahu does a magnificent rendition of this song from Wagner's Tannhauser but this older recording comes from the 111 Years of Deutsche Grammaphon collection, which I had easier access to.

Richard Wagner - Wie Todesahung...O du mein holder Abendstern

Finally, one of the few songs that makes you feel like your whole life is stretching out in front of you. This piece of Estonian minimalism has suffered tangentially at the hands of overplay in movie soundtracks, but it's featured so heavily for good reason. If you enjoy it, check out Part's Cantus in Memorial of Benjamin Britten.

Arvo Part - Spiegel Im Spiegel

Northeast Party House

i wrote / a letter

Moving into much more different terrain now with local band Northeast Party House; a really well-mixed, high quality track from a group that's even better live.

Northeast Party House - Embezzler

The Church

so hard / finding inspiration

The Church walk the giddy tightrope between jangle-pop and Australian post-punk in a song that'll surprise the casual listener, only familiar with Under the Milky Way Tonight.

The Church - The Unguarded Moment

Joy Division

made the fatal / mistake

I hadn't heard a lot of the "last" Joy Division album, Still, but when listening through their live recordings I found The Only Mistake, and it was only then that I checked out the studio version. I also included Sound of Music, even though I've usually toss up between the Still track and the Peel Sessions version.

Joy Division - The Only Mistake

Joy Division - Sound of Music

J Dilla

Having heard the Dilla instrumental that this is built around hundreds of times I was really pleasantly surprised to come across this track from the (one of many) posthumous Dilla albums, Jay Stay Paid.

J Dilla - Reality TV (feat. Black Thought)

Gang of Four

it's the cause / of all my thinking

I've probably listened to more Gang of Four over the last four years than any other band but over the last week I've been revisiting Return the Gift! and their Peel Sessions in particular. The best Peel Sessions are always those where the band mix up the way they play their songs, as they do on this record, but this take on Guns Before Butter is fairly true to form, except for the vocal panning at the beginning.

Gang of Four - Guns Before Butter (Peel Sessions)

so you turn around / toward the tiny girls

Deerhunter

life just passed and flashed right through me

This song comes from Deerhunter's last full-length studio album, Microcastle. There's a video that's been floating around the web of a prepubescent band in the States covering this track and while they don't quite capture it's insistent rhythm it's really heartening to know really young musicians are listening to this kind of music.

Deerhunter - Nothing Ever Happened

Iggy Pop

well the day begins / you don't want to live

I've had this on constant replay over the last few weeks, hooked on Pop's voice and the saxophone solo of none other than David Bowie.

Iggy Pop - Tiny Girls

Toro y Moi

listen to me / she gets in your head

This single's at loggerheads with Toro's last album and promises a lot for his upcoming LP.

Toro y Moi - Leave Everywhere

The Roots

pray for me / if it ain't too much bother

Two great songs that have surfaced in the lead-up to the next Roots album.

The Roots - Dear God 2.0

The Roots - How I Got Over

Shuggie Otis

aht uh mi hed / je t'aime

Have had this first song for a long time but only revisited my small Shuggie Otis collection after hearing a cover of Strawberry Letter 23 by the Brothers Johnson (of "Stomp" fame)

Shuggie Otis - Aht Uh Mi Hed

Shuggie Otis - Strawberry Letter 23

Wilfred Jackal

you know you can't stand in the way

Fantastic single from a criminally underrated and unsigned Melbourne band.

Wilfred Jackal - Rail

The Strokes

he seemed impressed

Finally a stone cold classic from the Strokes that begs instant replay.

The Strokes - Reptilia

i never felt / quite like this

Playlist #2

These are much easier to put together than this website's standard "band name - picture - elegiac / lyric - few sentences - link to mp3" format and in some ways a lot more accessible, so I'm going to continue throwing them around.

1. Sebastien Tellier - Roche

2. The Clash - The Leader

3. The Avalanches - Close to You

4. Josef K - Sorry for Laughing

5. J Dilla - Nothing Like This

6. The Go-Betweens - The House That Jack Kerouac Built

7. Gene Page - All Our Dreams Are Coming True

8. Gang of Four - To Hell With Poverty!

By the by, if there are any Caribou fans out there check this out; a really great hour-long mix which Dan Snaith compiled for Allez Allez.

In other news, Call Up rehearsals continue in earnest, with about 6 or 7 songs fleshed out, following the addition of this beautiful SOVTEK Big Muff Pi from the 70's that Rob found at the Camberwell Market:

i can't sleep with your memory

The Triffids

now we are seated / at separate tables

This song's one out of the holy trinity The Triffids recorded in London with the legendary John Peel for the Field of Glass EP. All of the three songs see McComb's muscular vocals wrestling with his own demons but it's here that he does so the most explicitly. Here, the band's immensely powerful sound veers and swerves between violence and quietude, rather than simmering away and eventually boiling over, as it does on the EP's 9 minute title track.

The Triffids - Monkey On My Back

Deerhunter

pray with me

This track arrives here fresh from a live session on BBC 6. Frontman Bradford Cox is probably one of the most generous and articulate musicians out there when it comes to offering constant insight into his own work, process, and feelings. He's written elsewhere that when recording many songs (especially for one of the Atlas Sound solo records) he'll improvise lyrics but this song demonstrates the real difference between his own solo work and that of his band. The more precise drumming goes hand in hand with a better sense of direction that still serves as a vehicle of Cox's flair for heartfelt melodies. The only bad thing about this track is that - like Hot Chip's cover of Wiley - BBC 6 still manage to find the only people in England with unattractive voices to introduce these pieces.

Deerhunter - Helicopter (Live)

Foals

made love to my pillow / but it didn't feel right

Foals have their new album Total Life Forever out (or at least a promotional release is doing the rounds) and although I was a bit worried around a month ago that their singles were heralding a worrying change in direction, the record is solid gold. Impossible to say whether it tops Antidotes but it neatly bypasses the sophomore curse that has haunted so many artists, and is at least on par with their first full-length. I was even getting a bit of an In Rainbows vibe listening in stages (did the drums remind me of Radiohead: Live from the Basement?) and it's interesting to note that both bands share obscure influences like composer Steve Reich. Unfortunately, just as I was about to post something from TLF I came across this Police cover that Foals recorded on Radio 1 earlier, and because of the enormous unspoken debt I owe to Sting for steeling my resolve in the Black Cat nearly a year ago, have this instead.

Foals - The Bed's Too Big Without You (Police cover)

Girls

fucked in the head

A great song from a great album (Album) that well and truly lives up to the audacity of its title. Although Girls are born out of truly fucked up lives they're keen for this not to overshadow their work, and thus instead of dominating tracks like these the vocals instead underpin rich guitar and percussion. Video clip does not leave anything at all to the imagination (think penises being used as microphones).

Girls - Lust for Life

The Smiths

heifer whines / could be human cries

I've been delving back into my Smiths collection looking for an elusive six or seven songs to polish off History Boys sound cues and bits of a live version of this title track from one of their few non-compilation albums are promising.

The Smiths - Meat is Murder

can't i cry / for you?

how to donate blood / on an empty island

Peggy Lee - Fools Rush In

Pere Ubu - Horses

Privacy - Love Don't Love Long

Richard Hell - I'm Your Man

Chris Spedding - Video Life

Privacy - Pining

Underworld - Born Slippy

Most of these songs (apart from Born Slippy) come from Bradford Cox Micromixes that I chop up into individual songs for my own listening pleasure, but because artists like the highly-recommended Privacy are so hard to find (even though she's on the same label that puts out some of Dirty Projectors' work) I thought I'd share them on here.

knock knock / on the door

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

not any more

Pink's new album Before Today leaked a few days ago and while it's definitely a lot less lo-fi than previous LPs like 2005's Worn Copy his new sound really allows the lush melodies to shine through. This is one of the more whimsical numbers, and also one of several that will bring to mind Bowie comparisons:

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Friday Night (Nevermore)

Ilyak

he takes her to the point / where she can't take it any more

Featuring fantastic production for such a relatively underground artist is this EP from Melbourne hip-hop up-and-comer Ilyak. I've seen him put on a great show supporting Project Puzzles at the Revellers about a month ago but in his own right he shines in these recordings. Forgive the box.net download links - download the entire ep from here.

Ilyak - Party of Life

Ilyak - Broken

The National

venom radio and / venom television

The National's new album High Violet has been released in one form or another in the last few days but this single was one of two that had official release dates beforehand. It's great for plugging in for a downhill ride home from uni if you're mad enough to drink the dangerous cocktail of bikes and headphones (the "Organ Donor", if I really want to stretch this out).

The National - Afraid of Everyone

a hero now / a hero then

The Smiths

wrap her up in the news of the world

It's been a while since I put anything on here but was prompted by the singer of Toyota War mentioning this site to me the other night without knowing I ran it. Most of these have been running around my head lately for different reasons, mainly because I've acquired a few different compilations that I eventually filter out - this song comes from the kings of compilation albums, The Smiths, taken from 1987's Louder Than Bombs.

The Smiths - This Night Has Opened My Eyes

Raymond Scott

the name of the game / is lightworks

I first came across this innovator of electronic music on J Dilla's album Donuts, where he's sampled on the song Lightworks, but then I found out he's written a whole bunch of stuff - most notably the Looney Tunes theme - but also a great back catalogue of advertisements and other instrumentals called the Manhattan Project.

Raymond Scott - Nescafe

The History Boys

one fucking thing / after another

I walked around with the original 20 or so songs which seemed pencilled in for MGS' August Production of The History Boys but a few weeks ago I went through my entire library and threw up a few more possibilities. If you're familiar with the play this song below (which I found on Art Decade two or three years ago) is a possibility for something like Irwin's TV theme (from 0.39 onwards for less than a minute or so).

Fabio Frizzi and Giorgio Tucci - Zombie Theme

DJ Shadow

and here's a story about / being free

I realize the irony of riding a bike while listening to Organ Donor but still continue to play the best songs from DJ Shadows two first albums on the way to and from uni every day; these two come from The Private Press.

DJ Shadow - You Can't Go Home Again

DJ Shadow - Fixed Income

Big L

ducks better scat / when the gat goes click clack

George put me onto Big L's first album Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous a while back and its hard-hitting power restored my faith in non-instrumental hip-hop.

Big L - Fed Up With the Bullshit

Big L - Put It On

Caribou

sun / sun / sun

Finally, some recently-released breakbeat magic from Caribou's latest album Swim, which I highly recommend.

Caribou - Sun

In a day or two we're going to record about four demos of the songs that we've been working on over the past month or so - Birthday Ballot EP? - so I might throw those up on here then if the quality's alright.

i'm not the man / they think i am at home

Kate Bush

she packed my bag last night / pre-flight

This song's a great cover of Elton John's classic by Kate Bush that launches itself into a stratospheric calypso rhythm about 45 seconds in. Kate's also unafraid to keep the lyrics unchanged, so the track doesn't suffer from the transposed gender-bending that blight covers the world over, somewhere.

Kate Bush - Rocket Man (Elton John cover)

Jay-Z and Notorious B.I.G. (remixed by RATATAT)

there's always too much / for me to have enough

I'm a big fan of both the RATATAT mixtapes, and this track from the second would be my favourite.

Jay-Z and Notorious B.I.G. - Allure (RATATAT remix)

Paul McCartney


she could be a neurosurgeon / if she's doing nothing urgent

Paul. Solo. Electronica.

Paul McCartney - Temporary Secretary

Lindsey Buckingam

i should ride / on the double

Having gone his own way from Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham pursued a successful solo career culminating in the album Law and Order (which he's posing next to above) and specifically in this single, which features drumming from former bandmate Mick Fleetwood.

Lindsey Buckingham - Trouble

Tom Tom Club

it's ok / i've overstood

Tom Tom Club were a side-project of several Talking Heads members, best remembered for the single Genius of Love. This is a personal favourite of mine, along with the Lorelei.

Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood 12"

Beach House

are you coming home / are you still alone?

Beach House's third album Teen Dream is now available in full and I thought I'd post this song again in its lush album version.

Beach House - Used To Be (Album version)

two / can be as bad as one

Like Radiohead's Videotape, One proves how simple truly great music can be.

Harry Nilsson - One (Is The Loneliest Number)


Pitchfork did a 60's list a while back and I found this there, and have no plans to let it go.

Francoise Hardy - Tout Les Garcons Et Les Filles

You would have heard the synth line on this more times than you think, whether it was interspersed between Relax (Don't Do It) in the final sequence of Zoolander, or coming out of Kenneth Parcell's boombox as he did some street-performing in his neighbourhood.

Herbie Hancock - Rockit