Grizzly Bear – don’t ask (alpha remix)

Just let me clear something out: Grizzly Bear’s music is not psychedelic, eerie nor haunting and it doesn’t sound anything like Animal Collective. That said, they do have some dizzy, sweet & atmospheric quality to their melodies and a fine ear for crispy arrangements that keep things interesting for the most part. They’be been getting some good love around the blogosphere this month due to their new album, and whether they deserve the hype or not you’ll have to judge for yourself. This song comes from the horn of plenty remixes from last year and it’s a beautiful ballad I’ve been stuck with lately.

The White Birch – the white birds

I bought the white birch album around june due to several positive reviews I read around the web, the album was actually released last year but I wasn’t aware of the existence of the band until I bumped accidentaly to them whilst looking info for another nordic band. I gave a few spins to the album in the first months of summer but it didn’t affected me as much as I thought it would and it started gathering dust at my desk, then I started listening to it seriously two weeks ago and it’s been growing really fast since then, probably because the album is more ripe to be played in autumn than in summer.

The closest thing I can relate it to is halfway between The Tindersticks and Rh’s Kid A (or… the sort of album you’d expect the tindersticks to make if they’d changed to a norwegian producer, raked the leaves, naked their emotions completely and expanded their sound palette times ten). The record’s production is pure cristalline beauty and once you get used to Ola Flottum’s soft baritone voice you’ll start noticing the amount of secrets the music hides in between the layers of instruments. This is truly amongst the most gorgeous and dreamy work I’ve heard this year and I strongly suggest you to pick it as an album to keep spinning on for the following months.

Z-Trip/Run Run Run – Fade Into You

I can’t remember where this came from but it seems apt inside this post. It’s remix Z-trip did for run run run’s rendition of the mazzy star classic. Of course, you can’t beat the delicate beauty of the original or even attempt to compete with Hope Sandoval’s incredibly sexy voice so a cover might seem completely unnecesary, I’m guessing Run run run knew this and so they took the song into the ever grateful pop territory, Dj Z’s touch manage to spice things up in the song and makes for a nice reworking that shouldn’t be taken so seriously.

Image: The way children see the world.

The beast that you saw existed once but now exists no longer. It will come up from the abyss and is headed for destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world shall be amazed when they see the beast, because it existed once but exists no longer, and yet it will come again.
- Revelation (17 : 8)

Our position is, is that the authorization to use force, which was passed by the Congress in the days following September 11th, constitutes that other authorization, that other statute by Congress, to engage in this kind of signals intelligence.
- A. Gonzales on 12/19/05

“Age of Consent”

01. The Arcade Fire – Age of Consent
02. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band – Frying Pan
03. R.L.Burnside – Shake ‘Em On Down
04. Bob Dylan – Rollin’ And Tumblin’
05. Constantines – Blind Luck
06. Bellini – The Buffalo Song
07. Scott Amendola Band – Masters Of War

note : A daytime list, this is a two part lists that I wish could have been finished several days ago. This one brings back all the glory of rock n roll when it has something to say. It burns and moves people.

see also : Lapping It Up with the War Junkies (second part at MdM, evening list)

image credit : serena

a human being is part of a whole called by us the universe
a part limited in time and space
he experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings
as something separated from the rest
a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness

this delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us
to our personal desires
and to affection for a few persons nearest us

our task must be to free ourselves from this prison
by widening our circles of compassion
to embrace all living creatures
and the whole of nature in its beauty

…
albert einstein

explosions in the sky
live in san francisco, california – 06.06.03

memorial
have you passed through this night
first breath after coma
the only moment, we were alone

image by juxprose

image by joseph arthur.

“painting might be impossible to write about
its a place beyond words from where it comes
its nature showing strange flowers
its a drug that obliterates the self
its a mirror in the spirit world
its where the shadows come out to play
its a shared hallucination
its dream made material set ablaze in the night
maybe it goes beyond everything else
like playing a guitar without strings
its a place man meets god and says
what the fuck
i love to paint
its where i go to church.”

joseph arthur
joseph arthur
joseph arthur

is one of my very favorite artists, my definition of music is art.
i think what i enjoy most about him, is that he’s honest.

signed by peter gabriel, joseph is amazing as an intensely personal songwriter, refreshing musician and respected amongst many [the twilight singers, joan osbourne, tara angell] as a special friend to produce an album with. inside of loop master-mind techniques, fusing raw acoustics, waltzing bass lines, vocal quality and subtle electronica.. joseph has always possessed such a talented gift that will forever include all aspects of art, chaos & beauty.

please listen to a few rarities.

all of our hands [unreleased]

crying like a man [live laiterie 1997-01-28]

………

throw me from my window // hold me in the sky

holding the void is a trio side project of joseph’s that stands apart from his solo act. supported by two musicians pat sansone & rene lopez, its different in the sense that its a full band and truly shows a strong spectrum of emotion found hidden inside of pure rock n’ roll.

gone without it

hands born dirty

disposible

over the years, joseph’s artwork that he enjoys to create whether it be on canvas, inside autographs, on guitars or physically on stage has intrigued loyal fans all over the world.

in spring 2006, he released an art book titled *we almost made it* along with the accompanying instrumental cd *the invisible parade*. when this project was first designed, it was made as a zine full of his own poetry and artwork; then once the music became apart of it, the book turned into an overall pleasurable visual and aural experience.

for a taste of the instrumental sounds of “the invisible parade”

chapter 1

chapter 3

chapter 21

during the summer, joseph began the process of his very own label lonely astronaut records. on september 19, his new album *nuclear daydream* will be released..listen:: black lexus, enough to get away [nuclear daydream 2006]

and a fall us/canadian tour will follow.

all artwork by joseph arthur.

art by daniel danger
songs & words by pj harvey

this wicked tongue says god is a million miles away this wicked tongue says he can’t see my day to day this wicked tongue says go on taste everything and this wicked tongue says you know yr not really living [this wicked tongue :: from stories from the city... japan bonus]

words leave my heart dry words cant save life love has no place here no joy no tears darling times changed time leaves time fades please see through my eyes save yr tears for the next who dies i shout but he don’t hear just put down on the page darling spare me yr tears dear god please send me the light of day [civil war correspondent :: from paris, black sessions '98]

somebodys down somebodys name saw it all happen it took place at my window i was looking down i had no time just time to say hold on im coming hes lying there its all just too late somebodys down somebodys name saw it fall and all take place at my window i was looking down oh for petes sake hold on im coming hes moved on now and it all passed its all too late somebodys down somebodys name saw it all with my own eyes saw it all as clear as day clear as blue blue fucking daylight i say hold on im coming [somebodys down, somebodys name :: from live on 3FM 2001]

lying on eleven years taking it into my head leave my clothes on the beach im walking down into the sea prove it to me prove it to me prove it to me now the water to my ankles now the water to my knees think of him all waxy wings melted down into the sea mary mary what your man said washing it all over my head mary mary hold on tightly over water under the sea water water im walking walking on water [water :: from live in portugal, paredes de coura 2003]

sixty mouths talking but making no sense a life out of liberty and the pursuit of happiness waiting for something to smash a few holes in the wall of good fortune and the windows to an outer world and sixty six promises they came in a kiss provided a meaning now i see how it reallly is and its not what i thought it would be and its not what i wanted it to be and its not what i thought it would be and its not what i wanted it to be [66 promises :: from the good fortune ep]

enjoying to travel on an elegant journey of passionate trip hop soul,
martina topley bird
has never seemed to have any hesitation of inviting others to come along for the ride. in 2003, martina created her own solo album quixotic captivating listeners with her sweet sensual innocence that you may remember from her work with tricky.

a lil gift of martina’s acoustic radionova sessions were sent to musicisart the other day. raw, vacant and stripped to the barest essentials, bringing in southern twang, electric guitars, old time accordion and harmonica… it reminds me of sitting on the sidewalks of new orleans with strangers, feeling the cool warm air breezes of the mississippi and just taking it all in, listening.

martina topley bird // live, radionova, paris // 10.22.03

too tough to die
walkin’ to new orleans
lyin’
stevie’s (day of the gun)
tennessee stud

::blessed are those who believe, who believe and have not seen::
martina topley bird :: too tough to die [hot to tape mix]
the twilight singers :: too tough to die [cover]

although it feels almost strange for me to wish to write and bring up a topic like the disaster of hurricane katrina. these last few days, remembering a year ago.. of floods and corruption, the ways people cared and didnt… the way everything is today, it overwhelms me. im not a victim of katrina but new orleans once was a place i ran away to and called home. maybe the music blog world isnt the place to bring my emotions as to who am i really? but if thousands of you come here a day, then please take a moment, take a break and remember.

six years ago, i decided i couldnt stand the suburban life south of boston, massachusetts anymore so i ordered myself a plane ticket that landed in new orleans. from the day i first arrived til the day i left, i lived off and on the streets. confidently, this is how everyone survived. you knew when you were a true resident when they stopped passing you a strand of mardi gras beads. stepping over cockroaches, melting into soup-like humidity, outsmarting the street hustlers, working on bourbon street, watching sex, drugs & rockn’roll as if it was just a way of life. at 18 years old, coming from a background of being scared and innocent to taking in everything new around me, somehow i wasn’t afraid anymore. from all that i was able to comprehend, i went from weak to feeling strong like i could do absolutely anything.

from every street corner, the strippers, dealers, musicians, fortune tellers, runaways, bartenders and street artists all promised to keep watch over me. i even had my own pair of real guardian angels that protected and looked after me. whether you were rich or poor didnt matter and deep inside, as long as you smiled, made eye contact and treated one another with a sense of respect, it felt proud to be experiencing an existence without the help of anything materialistic. it was all just based on being a decent human being.

new orleans was my first heartbreak. the lace balconies. the purple sky. the tree of life. the streetcars. the shim sham club. the garden district. magazine street. the mississippi river. sitting inside the community coffee shop, people watching, i truly realized how lucky i was. even though it was one of the hardest times of my life, i still remember and will never forget all the lil details that made it beautiful.

~*~ images by the la times

Perfection. And a field
a photo resonates
in passing. As orchids

numerate, [square land]
setting stems writhe
into lyrics,

moving pictures.
Abstraction undermines
an eye’s permission

to clash detail
branching
vegetation, harmonial

inheritance. A petal
fuses the fringed
purple breaths,
…
- J. Schneider, Orchids and Everything Since.

“Everything That Binds”

01. Laurie Anderson – Tight Rope
02. Passengers – Ito Okashi
03. Portishead – It Could be Sweet
04. Claude Debussy – d’un cahier d’esquisse
05. Red House Painter – 24
06. The Society Islands – Diner Song

Note: First list. I like to thank you for music is art for inviting me as a poster. A mellow playlist typical of what I post at Motel de Moka, this one opens with Laurie Anderson‘s ambient work from a movie soundtrack. Another notable is a Claude Debussy done by himself from a 1911 wax cylinder.

image credit: click image