Have a Safe and Happy New Year
Best New Year’s Song EVER.
Holiday Tunes
I’m working on my Favorite Albums list, and there is a cat asleep right next to me while I’m listening to Christmas music and drinking coffee—my life sure is something.
This year, I’m tragically deprived of my usual holiday music: WOXY’s holiday mixer is gone, and my external hard drive is jacked up, so I can’t listen to Maybe This Christmas or Maybe This Christmas Too, two of the best indie Christmas compilations I’ve heard. That said, there are still plenty of festive jams available all over the internet, so here you go:
- 50+ holiday songs from Paste
- Christmas EP from Sufjan Stevens and the Dessner Brothers, via Consequence of Sound
- A PDX-mas, a local compilation whose free release party I didn’t go to because it was too depressing to go to a Christmas party alone! But it’s a good batch of tunes!
- Ho Ho Ho Canada Deux (and here’s a link to last year’s Ho Ho Ho Canada as well!)
- Mississippi Studios, a venue here in Portland, dropped a hilarious song about gift cards from Thao. Obviously I love it.
If, like me, you’ve been waiting until the last possible second to get into the Christmas spirit, there you have it. Sorry I didn’t make a similar list for Hanukkah. It’s because I’m full of hate.
Glaring Oversight from the Previous List
How could I forget????
All apologies to SSLYBY.
Free Tunez While I’m Neglecting You
There are many reasons I’m not seeking new bands for this blog as avidly as I usually do. Among them: I’m broke; I can’t stream ANYTHING ever since we got Netflix Instant on my housemate’s Wii; a reputable publication is getting me into shows for free; the only people who read this thing are googling the lyrics to an unreleased Jenny Lewis song.
But, as I said in October, I’m not fully abandoning my little jerk-face baby over here. That other site won’t even let me be an insufferable asshole in the way I am used to (although, as you can imagine, we are all insufferable assholes in many ways). Also, they expect me to do things like “edit” and “fact-check.” (Psh.)
As penance, please accept these links to free downloads of wonderful things from wonderful bands.
#1 – Truffles, an album of covers recorded in a bedroom by the Miniature Tigers. Bands have made careers with lo-fi albums created with 1/3 the care that Charlie Brand puts into these covers. I know you’re skeptical of cover albums, but how many of these songs have you actually heard of? Yes, “Mamma Mia” is on there, and yes, I always hear it and think of that time I heard Mikey singing it in the shower. But “Take a Bow” will haunt you, and “I’ll Be Your Mirror” will make you teary. I’m also attributing the Everley Brothers cover to the 100% increase in my singing Beeeeeeans/ Beans, Beans, Beans at my housemates’ cat lately.
#2 – Wampire! At MusicFest NW, I stepped out of one show to find food, and I distinctly remember Wampire sounding awesome. They put their album online, the charmers! When you put this on, you’ll probably think I’ve lost my mind and suddenly developed a taste for that warbly, tuneless, cloudy, Brooklyn-y stuff that I hate, but just wait until you hear some melodies. And juuuust wait until you hear the guitars on “Refuse” or “Das Modell.” Good grief, you guys.
I Went to See SSLYBY and I Didn’t Take Any Notes
by Katie
That’s right! One of my fave bands came to town and I refrained from texting, tweeting, or writing it a damn thing down. I just enjoyed myself! Of course, this was also the show where Will got a haircut on stage and their original drummer joined them to play “Critical Drain.” It was wonderful. “Gwyneth” live always gets me. ALWAYS.
Apparently, SSLYBY and I run on similar calendars. The last time I saw them, I was broke and underemployed, and had just moved back to DC from France. They had just released a new album. I saw them in Philly and DC! This time, they recently released a new album, and I just moved from DC to Portland.
And if you’re wondering: John Robert Cardwell and I have had nearly identical haircuts every time I’ve seen them since February 2007. Creepy doubles for over three years! If Liz is going to insist that I look like a man, I’m glad it’s an attractive one. I think???
Did I ever post their new video for “Sink/Let It Sway”? Either way, here it is. I’m exhausted just watching it!
What I Learned From “It Might Get Loud”
by Katie
The Edge doesn’t dig satire, and Jack White is fuckin’ pretentious. Jimmy Page is boss. They’re all pretty good at the guitar.
Probably I could have just watched the trailer for the 2009 docuhistopic and known all that. But I don’t have a job so I watched the whole movie. And that’s what I learned.
