SFist Listens
This week we really do have something for everyone. Whether you're feeling the need to update your stale music collection, add a little more funk to your style, or get some holiday tunes in the rotation, there is guaranteed to be an SFister with a pick for you.
SFist Jackson is jealous of all you people with iPods. We'd, uh, love a review copy, Apple! Still, Jackson has a pair of Technics 1200's and is currently rocking the following vinyl:
**Blood Sweat and Tears - I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know: There's only one Blood Sweat and Tears album in our opinion -- their first. Why? Al Kooper on organ and arrangement. Donny Hathaway also does a great cover version on Pieces of a Man.
**Afrika Bambaataa - Planet Rock: Searching for the perfect beat, it didn't take Bambaataa long to find it. Would make your grandmother
bust a head-spin.
**The Jimi Entley Sound - Charlie's Theme: We bought this 45 for the flip side, a guitar-heavy cover of Apache, but fell in love with this moody, funky track.
**Eddie Bo - Hook and Swing: Laid-back funk perfection from a New Orleans master. If this was the only song ever recorded, we wouldn't be sad.
**Mongo Santamaria - Cold Sweat: Had to shout out a local latin soul impresario (he was Cal Tjader's percussionist). We have never, ever had any trouble getting people to dance to this salsa-ized cover of James Brown.
SFist Alex displays a penchant for movie soundtracks and newish releases with his picks for this week:
**The Wrens -- "Meadowlands"
**Team America Soundrack
**I Heart Huckabees Soundtack/Score by Jon Brion
**Brian Wilson - "Smile"
**Interpol - "Antics"
SFist Krissy's pix of the week include
**The Finn Brothers "Everyone Is Here" -- (one of her Top 5 of 2004)
**Baby "Baby" -- new band fronted by former Shudder To Think frontman Craig Wedren
**Catbirdseat's November mix -- with tracks from Unbunny, Pinback and Arcade Fire
It's not new, but SFist Matt can't stop listening to the Postal Service. Interesting tidbit:(from here: the band just settled with the stamps-and-envelopes postal service, which was pissed that they band had appropriated the name; the musical-postal-service is going to make it up to them by playing a free concert at a post-office convention, which is exciting because they almost never do shows. Makes SFist want to get a job sorting letters just so we can go!!
Despite a somewhat disappointing showing on SNL, SFist Jeremy still can't get enough of the latest Modest Mouse. He's also listening to the Clash, the Shins (Chutes Too Narrow) and Jurassic 5 (Power in Numbers).
Sfist Eve has bought Le Tigre's Island and is wearing a groove in it on her iPod. When the funk gets to be too much, she switches to Possible Music, From the films (etc) of Hal Hartley. The balance of kick-ass feminist pop and hautningly evocative instrumentals is like salt and sugar for the id.
SFist Rain picks for the week are:
**Neko Case The Tigers Have Spoken (because she's awesome AND she covers songs by Loretta Lynn and the Shangri-Las!)
**Richard Buckner: The Hill (because I just can never get enough of
brooding songs about dead people)
**And Chris Isaak: Christmas (because Chris Isaak has a Christmas album! Bring on the yule log!)
SFist Rita recommends the following:
**The new Neko Case (the tigers have spoken)
**the first three tracks off this band Read Yellow's new album, Radios Burn Faster (the rest of the album is kind of ehh);
**Shimmy Shimmy ya by ODB (r.i.p.);
**Rita is also thinking about either downloading the Lindsay Lohan song Rumors (I love her bad dancing in the video) or that new song "Baby it's You" by the baby Lindsay Lohan
SFist Cheshire has been listening to the new Pink Martini cd, "Hang On Little Tomato." It's a long-awaited follow-up to "Sympathique," and like that cd, this one's songs span a range of styles and languages. ?He haven't listened to it very closely yet, but there are definitely some gems in it. I also picked up Elliott Smith's posthumous release, "Songs from a Basement on the Hill," but he hasn't had a chance to crack it open just yet. SFist Emily is appalled by that, but Cheshire is such a good writer that she'll forgive him.
SFist Isaac has been rocking the following:
**Libretto "Volume"
**Wire "Pink Flag"
**Nicky Siano "The Gallery - Original NY Disco"
**Against Me "We're Never Going Home DVD"
**Edan "Primitive Plus"
SFist Emily has been listening to a lot of the Bugs Eat Books new release, Ghost of Leaves (thanks to Jimmy Hughes from Happy Birthday to Me Records and Elf Power for hooking us up with it) and Elliott Smith's post-humous release, From a Basement on the Hill. She will admit to a wee bit of sniffling (but she was NOT crying!!) during track number six, "A Fond Farewell to a Friend".
For those of you keeping track (if you've actually made it to this point) the picks w/ the most SFists behind them this week are Elliott Smith and Neko Case. Make sure you pick up Alice's Restaurant as well. No one says thanksgiving like Arlo!