LISTEN TO: HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF

the bass is a little low, but otherwise this is a great video of hurray for the riff raff. they're a new orleans based band with a sound that's kinda of old timey, sometimes pretty, sometimes haunting. one could say that singer/songwriter/banjo player, alynda lee, shares some qualities with jolie holland for the sake of making a comparison, but what this group (usually a quartet?) does is more unique, and often more well crafted.



MP3: Hurray for the Riff Raff - Daniella
LINK: Hurray for the Riff Raff @ MySpace

LISTEN TO: MY 2008 MIX

2008mix.zip
happy holidays,
here is my year-end mix. im not calling it an xmas mix this year. there is also a nice version of this mix posted on my mailing list's page here: http://neverbreakdown.com/2008mix.html

i was ultra-busy playing a lot of shows and going to see my friends play a lot of shows this year, so a lot of my favorite music from the year is from local bands. as a result, i decided to make 2 different mixes this year. mix tape 1 ("oh yeah, new york city") is only new york music, only active artists. mix tape 2 ("world turned upside down") is music from everywhere in the world, and from the past 30 years or so. download both full mixes with the link above. enjoy!

1	Arliss Parker	Fax Receives a Letter
2	Laura Stevenson & The Cans	A Shine To It
3	Scary Mansion	Scum Inside
4	Emilyn Brodsky	Always Mean It
5	The Jeffrey Lewis Band	Roll Bus Roll
6	Air Waves	Lightning
7	Kate Ferencz	Michael May vs AOK
8	The Beets	I Wish I Knew How My Life Should Be
9	Bigger Princess	The Old Way
10	Archipelago	On the Sidewalk
11	Eskalators	Handjobs?
12	Cheeky	Grow Fins, Turkey
13	Bomb The Music Industry!	493 Ruth
14	The Toothaches	The Lucky Ones (new mix)
15	No Courage	Dont Watch the News
16	Noah Britton	Country Suicide

#	Artist	Song
1	Andrew Jackson Jihad	Darkest Heart
2	Townes Van Zandt	Pancho and Lefty
3	Peter and the Wolf	Where Summer Goes
4	Kazumi Nikaidoh	Pulsation
5	Nana Grizol	Tamborine-N-Thyme
6	Headless Heroes	Just Like Honey
7	Dick Gaughan	The World Turned Upside Down
8	Basia Bulat	Snakes and Ladders
9	This Is The Kit	Two Wooden Spoons
10	The Innocence Mission	I Haven't Seen This Day Before
11	Double Dagger	No Allies
12	Elizabeth Butters	Single Girl
13	Herman Dune	Why Would That Hurt
14	Hurray for the Riff Raff	Daniella
15	The So So Glos	Throw Your Hands Up
16	Spooktober	So Much Fun
17	Eduardo Mateo	La Chola

LISTEN TO: THE BEETS

the beets are from jackson heights queens, by way of uruguay. they are not the band from doug, and do not seem to have much in common with that band. they have more in common with the beatles, the velvet underground, or the kinks. their songs are simple and raw. their garage-y sound makes their recordings sound vintage - but it's all new, really great music. here's a video from one of their recent brooklyn shows that captures them at their best:



MP3: The Beets - I Wish I Knew How My Life Should Be
LINK: The Beets @ MySpace

LISTEN TO: KATE FERENCZ

kate ferencz is a brooklyn-based artist/singer/songwriter that sometimes performs under different names. she used to play in hip hip hooray with noah britton of the best thing ever. if i had to make a comparison, i would probably say that her sound is kinda like a weird cross between the blow and daniel johnston. she has a lot of self-recorded material from the past couple years. some good videos of her have just become available on the interweb, so i thought i would share. enjoy.



LINK: Kate Ferencz @ MySpace
VIDEOS: Kate Ferencz Opens for the Eskalators in Baltimore @ YouTube
MP3: Kate Ferencz - Trees for Hands

LISTEN TO: MY XMAS 2007 MIX

i was a little lazier this time. i didnt master this or anything, so the volumes vary a bit. seems like most people listen to these track by track anyway. i also realized that i'm getting old and not listening to much new music. whatever, here are some songs that i liked this year. happy xmas.

xmas2007mix.zip

01 Antony and the Johnsons - Child of God (Live)
02 Andrew Jackson Jihad - Brave is a Noun
03 The Holy Modal Rounders - Low Down Dog (Live)
04 The Vaselines - The Day I Was a Horse (Live)
05 American Steel - Maria
06 Desmond Dekker - The Song We Used to Sing
07 BARR - Half of Two Times Two
08 CocoRosie - Werewolf
09 Handsome Family - The Bottomless Hole
10 Nicole Schneit - Notion
11 Half Japanese - Amazing Clock
12 Wilson Pickett (w/The Falcons) - I Found a Love
13 Richard Hell & The Voidoids - I'm You're Man
14 Richard & Linda Thompson - Man in Need
15 Fairport Convention - I'll Keep It With Mine (Live)
16 Bongwater - What If
17 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - West Country Girl
18 Kate Ferencz - Trees for Hands
19 Mount Eerie - I Whale
20 David Thomas Broughton - Liberazione
21 Bridget St. John - Hello Again (Of Course)

{ edit - no longer available for download }

LISTEN TO: AIR WAVES

nicole schneit and her band, air waves, play a a brand of folk-rock that isn't anything revolutionary - but yet, they're great. their songs are both simple and epic, and it's only a matter of time before they're recognized as one of the best bands in brooklyn.

just about every song on their 2006 self-titled release has a unique feel and an honestly delivered, memorable hook. beautiful pop melodies delivered with genuine grit. think nirvana.


MP3: Air Waves - Shine On
LINK: Air Waves @ MySpace

LISTEN TO: DOUBLE DAGGER

another great new band out of baltimore, double dagger have the kind of intensity that brings to mind the glory days of hardcore (minor threat, bad brains, black flag, etc.). their songs never reach the blistering speed of the aforementioned bands, but their simplistic power and blunt social commentary, evoke all the great things about punk rock. no guitar solos. no singing. lots of attitude.

stylistically, double dagger are artsier than your typical punk band, taking some cues from bands like les savy fav, but the band is at their best when they're banging out straight-forward melodies. you have to see this band to appreciate them, but their new record, ragged rubble is pretty good.


MP3: Double Dagger - Luxary Condos for the Poor
VIDEO: Double Dagger - Luxary Condos for the Poor @ Whartscape 2007
LINK: Double Dagger Official Website
LINK: Double Dagger @ MySpace

LISTEN TO: HOP ALONG, QUEEN ANSLEIS

my friend laura stevenson recently introduced me to the music of frances quinlan aka "hop along, queen ansleis". can't say i know too much about her, but both her singing and songwriting have placed her into the growing category of baltimore acts to watch out for.

there's a kind of folk/punky plan-it-x vibe going on in her music, but her uncontrollably fluttering vocalizations and playfully experimental album orchestration elevate her sound above your run of the mill genre-players. quinlan's voice really caries her songs (or the 16 i've heard from 2005's Freshman Year) - musical interludes are few and far between. though her rampant verbosity may not have you singing along, the meticulously-scored folk-melodies will at least get you humming, or whistling, or something.

note: newsom-haters, stay away.


MP3: Hop Along, Queen Ansleis - Bride and Groom Hot Air Balloon
VIDEO: Hop Along, Queen Ansleis - Chelsea Hotel #2
LINK: Hop Along, Queen Ansleis @ MySpace

LISTEN TO: DAVID THOMAS BROUGHTON

i think i've been listening to david thomas broughton's debut ep, the complete guide to insufficiency, pretty much every week of this year. it's bizarre how his music is so repetitive, containing layers and layers of the same melody, but it still stands the test of time. on each listen, you can pick up on different intricacies of his performance, which for this album was live - one take. it's unbelievable.

sonically speaking, his music is similar to phil elverum's. it's delicate and experimental folk with lots of human "error." vocally, he sounds something like nick drake's possibly-retarded nephew. calm, cool, but hauntingly eccentric. the result is an unmistakable sound.

broughton's catalog is a mixed bag. his records are full of unique songs that are sometimes genius and sometimes too "freaky" for anyone to actually like. give him a listen.

MP3: David Thomas Broughton - Ambiguity
LINK: David Thomas Broughton @ Birdwar Records
LINK: David Thomas Broughton @ Myspace

DOWNLOAD: OINK

i haven't blogged in a long time because i haven't found any new music that is worth talking about recently. i have, however, found a new way to steal music from poor, well-meaning musicians - and that's certainly worth talking about.

i've had really bad luck with bit torrent in the past. i don't remember whether i was using bit lord, or bit comet, or bit something else - but i'm pretty sure, whatever it was called, triggered at least 2 devastating computer crashes in late 2003. those were ugly times.

i was pretty sold on soulseek until a friend of mine invited me to OINK (yes, you have to be invited). OINK is an online, music-based, bit torrent community. it's governed by administrators that boot members for activities that are not beneficial for the others on the network. you can not, for example, download music without ever uploading. as a matter of fact, there is a strict download/upload ratio that is enforced. there are also standard regulations for posting new torrents, and alerts that warn users about botched or phoney albums.

the result of network management efforts like this is the fastest, most convenient, online music transferring system to date. like other file sharing programs, leaked albums are available months before release date - and generally download in under a minute (if you have the necessary connection speed). older more obscure albums sometime take a bit longer, but still move at light speed when compared to the previous alternatives.

remember, OINK is just a community - so you still need a bit torrent application in order to participate. OINK recommends uTorrent, and so far it has worked flawlessly for me.

the only problem with OINK is that, if you haven't heard about it - you probably don't have an invite. fortunately, you can donate 5 euro and earn a couple invites... you could also ask someone who might have one (i.e. me).

LINK: OINK
LINK: uTorrent

{ edit: RIP OINK }

LISTEN TO: MY XMAS 2006 MIX

xmas2006mix.zip

01 Jens Lekman - Run Away with Me
02 Mirah - La Familia (Guy Sigsworth Remix)
03 Joanna Newsom - Bridges and Balloons (Pocket Remix)
04 Dan Deacon - The Crystal Cat
05 Matt & Kim - Silver Tiles
06 Slug & Murs - The Biggest Lie
07 The Fall - Dead Beat Descendent
08 Herman Dune - Not On Top
09 David Peel & The Lower East Side - Mother, Where Is My Father
10 Daniel Johnston & Jad Fair - What the World Needs Now
11 Tom Waits - Bottom of the World
12 Bryan Ferry & Antony - Lowlands Low
13 Bert Jansch - High Days
14 Horse Feathers - Falling Through the Roof
15 Ane Brun - My Lover Will Go
16 Beirut - Scenic World
17 Fionn Regan - Put a Penny in the Slot
18 Alela Diane - Oh Mama
19 Jeffrey Lewis & Diane Cluck - The River

{ edit - no longer available for download }

LISTEN TO: ALL SONGS CONSIDERED

so for the past two and a half months i've been commuting 50 to 180 minutes each way to my job in westchester. i went through all my cassettes from middle school within the first couple weeks, so i began considering other options.

i spend all day at work listening to my mp3 player, so i really wanted to be listening to something else in the car. i gave the radio another try. after about an hour of listening to corporate radio, i was done. it's not even that i hate the music, it's that they never play music. it's all commercials, especially during rush hour.

so, basically, im addicted to NPR now, because it's the only thing you can hear all the time without commercials. i've even started listening to their online music show:


it's pretty entertaining though. joanna newsom just guest DJed a couple days ago. she said that her sophomore year in high school she forced herself to listen to exclusively fleetwood mac. wow.

m. ward was on a few weeks before her. the whole archive is online. check it out.

LINK: ALL SONGS CONSIDERED @ NPR.ORG

LISTEN TO: BAT OUT OF HELL III

meat loaf's back and he's badder than ever. you can check out the amazing title track on this album by hitting up mr. loaf's myspace. it features guitar playing by nikki sixx, of motley crue, and basically sounds like an evanescence song that's been beefed up with meat's most hardcore vocals to date. for obvious reasons, i've decided to share another classic track from the album entitled "if god could talk."

MP3: Meat Loaf - If God Could Talk
LINK: Meat Loaf @ MySpace

LISTEN TO: BEST OF CMJ

ALELA DIANE
amazing. i bootleged this show.
check out: Alela Diane - Tatted Lace (Live @ CMJ).

BEACH HOUSE
I stupidly forgot my camera for this show, so I've stolen this graphic from somewhere else. great show though.
check out: Beach House @ MySpace

DAN DEACON
this was a non-CMJ show, but it was probably better than any of the other shows going on that night.
check out: Dan Deacon - The Crystal Cat

LAVENDER DIAMOND
their new songs are great. If their album ever comes out, it's sure to be a hit. i got to interview Becky Stark.
check out: Becky Stark Interview.

THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES
one of my favorite live acts. their recordings are good, but give no indication of their explosive sound or stage antics.
check out: These Arms Are Snakes - Horse Girl

WATCH: DR. SEUSS - GRINCH NIGHT

growing up, i loved watching the 1970's dr seuss movies. i still like a lot of the music and the imagery. i've seen most of them, but the one that i always remembered the most was 'grinch night.'


18 minutes into this halloween-based seussical is a psychedelic trip-inspired sequence that blew my 8 year old mind. it was probably the most emotionally stirring video i had seen at that time. it's not quite as scary now, but it's still pretty awesome. ive uplodaded the whole 25 minute cartoon (115 mb), the link is below.

VIDEO: Dr. Seuss - Halloween is Grinch Night
LINK: Grinch Night @ IMDB

{ edit - no longer available for download }

LISTEN TO: ALELA DIANE

holocene music, a new portland-based label is about to release alela diane's debut album, the pirate's gospel. the name alone makes this album a keeper.

MP3: Alela Diane - The Pirate's Gospel
LINK: Alela Diane
LINK: Holocene Music

LISTEN TO: DON EDWARDS - COYOTES

sometimes when you ask people what type of music they like, they say something like "pretty much everything... except country." you know what i mean.

anyway, "grizzly man" came out last year. it was awesome. you'd think the soundtrack would be really good too because it's composed by richard thompson and performed by him and some other hip guys like jim o'rourke. but it turns out that it's pretty mediocre...
except for one song! the last song of the movie - not written by richard thompson. don edwards - coyotes. one of the best country songs ever. if you can get it our of your head, you're not human.

MP3: DON EDWARDS - COYOTES
LINK: Grizzly Man Soundtrack @ Allmusic

{ edit - no longer available for download }

LISTEN TO: DEE DEE KING

here's a clip from "end of the century", the recent ramones documentary.

the clip does a good job of explaining the existence of dee dee king, but it doesn't capture dee dee in all his glory. so here it is, the forgotten hit from "standing in the spotlight" dee dee's 1988 album:

MP3: Dee Dee King - Brooklyn Babe

WATCH: THE POGUES - A PAIR OF BROWN EYES

this is one of the most beautiful songs ever written and the absolute worst video I've ever seen. enjoy.



LINK: The Pogues Official Website

RENT: THE JAZZ SINGER

Tagline: His story will make you cry. His music will make you sing. His triumph will make you cheer.


the jazz singer (1980) is without a doubt neil diamond's best film, lets just get that debate out of the way. this remake of the 1920's classic tells the story of a rebelious young jewish cantor who goes to l.a. to seek stardom. it features diamond performing some of his greatest songs at the peak of his career.

the amazing thing about this movie is that neil dimond was nominated for a golden globe for best actor, but he also was nominated for and won the razzie award for worst actor. additionally, award winning actor laurence olivier plays diamond's father and does possibly the worst yiddish accent ever.

whether you're looking for ironic laughs or geniune greatness, the jazz singer will leave you feeling satisfied. thank god this gem is finally available on dvd.

LINK: The Jazz Singer @ IMDB