Category: Music

Happy 30th birthday, R.E.M.!! As incredible as it seems, today marks the date that the band was formed thirty freakin’ years ago!

While my love affair with the band has waned over the years (Bill Berry, while not the best musician in the band, has a great ear for what makes a good rock song, as his absence has been sorely felt), I look to the words of Whitney Matheson for inspiration:

Thirty years ago today, Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry began an incredible journey together in Athens, Ga.

The journey continues, albeit as a trio. We miss you, Bill! I can’t imagine my life without R.E.M.; they became my favorite band the first moment I heard them, and it’s been that way ever since.

via Happy 30th birthday, R.E.M.! – Pop Candy

I won’t say I love this song yet, but all week I’ve been grooving on the tune “Cherry Tulips” from Champaign, Illinois-based indie rockers Headlights. This song – from the 2008 album Some Racing, Some Stopping – is just the sort of lush, poppy tune I can get into!

Have a listen and tell me what you think!

[audio:headlights.mp3]

“It’s completely different – they’re manufactured people now… like ice cream. Every now and then somebody comes out and I really like them – I really like this Lady Gaga.”

– Ozzy Osbourne, on the state of the music industry

You know that moment shortly after you start drinking (or enjoying your intoxicant of choice) when you haven’t been feeling anything quite yet… but then you toss your head back and suddenly feel awesome?

The song “Magnificent Oblivion” by the Fleeting Joys is the perfect song for that moment. Have a listen and tell me what you think:

[audio:oblivion.mp3]

Here’s Au Revior Simone’s new video for “Another Likely Story”, one of my favorite songs from 2009:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MESdwdFY4iQ&feature=youtu.be

It’s not the best video I’ve ever seen, but the girls are super cute in it!

Enjoy!

Sighed, when I cried I know,
It all makes us see how we lie
We sigh, some say
But you know all this
Sighed, when I cried I know,
It all makes us see how
We lie, we sigh
Some say, but you know

– Cocteau Twins
“Sigh’s Smell of Farewell”

I sometimes wonder how much great music there is out there that will one day be lost forever.

You’ve probably heard about the thousands of movies slowly turning into dust in film vaults. Likewise, there must be millions of great albums, singles and cassettes released by bands that either existed before CDs, or who just weren’t popular enough to make the leap to CD – and thus, easy ripping to mp3 or other digital formats.

As turntables and cassette players continue their march towards obsolescence, people don’t know what to do with their old vinyl and tapes, and eventually just give or throw them away. And then there are people like me, who continue to hold on to their vinyl in hopes of one day converting it to digital format, but just can’t get around to it. Either way it’s a shame.

Take the Atlanta band 86 for example. One day I was at the Book Nook, an iconic used book and record store in the city, when I stumbled across their EP Minutes in a Day. I bought it and took it home for a listen. Most of the EP is just OK, but I quickly fell in love with the title track. The desolation of the opening made it my perfect “drive home song”. When I listen to it I think of driving home on almost empty interstates at 4:30 on a Sunday morning, and the eerie stillness of everything at that hour. And it makes me smile.

I searched high and low on the Internet for the EP for years, but never had much luck. Given that the band broke up in the early 90s and didn’t have much of a following outside Atlanta, I didn’t have much hope of their music ever turning up on iTunes or at Amazon’s mp3 store. However, thanks to a “magic Google search” yesterday, I was finally able to snag a copy in mp3 format from a music blog. So now I can share it with you!

Have a listen and tell me what you think:

[audio:86.mp3]

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart is a band from – you guessed it: New York, New York…where all the bands I listen to these days come from.

Aside from having a pretentious name, the band has a great sound.

Their first album has as much indie cred as necessary… but the single “Higher Than The Stars” coats it all in a nice, creamy layer of delicious synthpop that sounds a bit like New Order meets The Smiths.

“The Pains” also have some connection to Saint Etienne (one of my all-time faves) as well, as there is a “Saint Etienne visits Lord Spank Mix” of this song as well.

Have a listen and tell me what you think!

[audio:pureatheart.mp3]

Check out their MySpace page here.