Who killed the mixtape?

Oh dearie does, don't worry, the mixtape's only been replaced by the mix CD, in all its grandocity. Wonderful, wonderful mix CDs. They mean a lot to me, when they've really been edited and chopped down and arranged perfectly, with no more than 15 songs for a perfect listen-all-the-way through album, complete with bridges and hooks and peaks of excitement and valleys of sweetness. They're a serious artform. In recent times, I've recieved mix CDs from a lue of different people, but not so long ago a mix CD was a big sign of affection for me. "He's already giving me a mix CD?!?!" was a common squeely remark that would be shouted across the telephone to my hometown bffs. I mean, I only make mix CDs for people I actually like and actually care about what they listen to and actually want to enrich their lives. So maybe it's a good sign of good friendliness. Anyways, this is getting to be a long intro to what I do best: post songs. I heard this fantastic song by fantastic band Los Campesinos! called "It Started With a Mix" and it is adorable. You know how that goes.

"Trying to find the perfect match between pretentious and pop
Some crappy artwook that took way way too long to draaw
Hand listed track listing restarted every time the ink smudged
Encoded title doesn't give away as much as it should"

With no further ado, the song. It's short and sweet and lovable. Also, I've posted a couple more Los Campesinos! songs because I think they are simply wonderful, and I want you to love them.

track.It Stared With a Mix
track.Death to Los Campesinos
track.You! Me! Dancing!
space.Los Campesinos!

Image stolen from Touchdown Eagle, whoever they are.

cheese cheese cheese

Yesterday was the Del Mar/Nick Cheese/Oscar party at Scott/Mary/Bryn's house. It was crazy fun and everyone dressed up as characters from movies released in 2006.Here is Austin as JT from AlphaDog.

I am the kid from AlphaDog who gets shot.Bryn is the drug dealer from AlphaDog. She played the part very well.

Dano is Tom from the Fountain.

Rebecca is Chieko from Babel.

Mary and Scott were Olive and Frank from Little Miss Sunshine

Thats about it. I have been listening to this song a lot.

Which baby animals is the cutest?

You know how annoying it is when you get 3,000 friend request adds on Myspace for various crappy bands trying to make it via guerilla promotion? It's pretty annoying. But today, somehow, my all-knowing third eye (or third mouse clicker finger) decided that I should actually look at this profile for some ridiculously named group: Saliva Slingers. And I'm so glad I did. Their song "Animal Battle" fuses two very wonderful things: hip hop and cuteness. You know that I love those things, friends, you effing know it. Their over-repeated lyric and premise for their song is "Which baby animals is the cutest?" And if you need an answer to that question, click here.

Image via Cute Overload. Again.

Pavement = Breen

Nathan Breen is super neat and without him I would of never seen these:

He's OK with the world

Armchair Apocrypha has been the soundtrack of my past week. So good, So fresh, So clean, So doesn't taste like soap. This album reminds me of Marin and the Death Lair and all that good stuff. Take a taste:
Heretics - Andrew Bird

011.

There's a certain group of people (I included) who happen to get figurative boners over anything that helps them relive the glory of the days of pixelated Nintendo and dusty cartridges. Hopefully you, reader, are also one of these people because tonight I bring you this clip from a 1988 news segment on Nintendo. I'm not sure if it's blog worthy, but it's definately mildly entertaining and it (more importantly) provides me with a good reason to post some kick-ass, highly-recommended Nintendo music that doesn't have to do with Beck.



Bill O'Reily whaaaat?

track. Anamanaguchi - Sting Operation
track. Anamanaguchi - Fast Turtle

See it in COLOR

I have been listening to a whole lot of Arcade Fire lately, and I figured a few things out in the process. First off, The Arcade Fire is amazing live, and their live recordings are just as great. Second, they produce the best covers of any band around now. Much better than any of that Nouvelle Vague "Love Will Tear Us Apart" bullshit. I posted a few for you to listen to:
Naive Melody
Born On A Train
Maps

neuf.

Hey you guys, remember when music was actually good? Me neither. But these guys do:



Picture courtesy of my fave cartoonist evs: Brad Neely, aka creator of George Washington, aka reason #536 why I am alive.

huit. Weekly obsessions

1. Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing!
First off, check out that title. So cool, so cute, so nice! This track is six full minutes of delicious indie rock pop with a long, building beautiful intro that leads into catchy fun guitars, well-placed hand claps, dingle jangles, and ooh-oohs. Paired with the lead singer's hottie British accent accompanied by a cutie girl and nice lyrics ("If there's one thing I could never confess, it's that I can't dance a single step"), you're in for six minutes of fun and quality goodness. And I promise, it's a little bit addictive, just how we like 'em.

2. Do Make Say Think - Horns of a Rabbit, The Universe!
Maybe I'm retarded, but I had never heard this band until this past week when they snuck into my ears at a coffee shop and soon shot endorphin bubbles of awesimity through my brain. They reminded me of what I fell in love with Broken Social Scene originally for, that beautiful instrumental style that combines dreamy guitars with steady drums and some fuzziness. That sound that makes you sure there must be at least 30 people in the band, all fiddling around to create a dream sequence for you. (okay, so there's only 3 people in the band. Whatevs, they're so good that each person ~10people) I also like that they're like Explosions in the Sky except that they have 3 minute songs and it doesn't take days to build to the stormy parts. Love is what I feel for them. My fave song is "Horns of a Rabbit" but they also have a new release coming out Feb. 27 which "The Universe!" is from. I hope you love.

3. Gui Boratto - Beautiful Life
Another long song (this one's 8 minutos) but this one's not poppy like the prev. Instead it's mainly instrumental/electronic until the 6 minute mark which jumps into some sweet femme vocals. As skatterbrain said (that's where I found this), it's the best candidate for a car commercial. Aka really good.



That's enough listening for now.

15

I dont know which one I like more, please help.


p.s. this one is for Caitlin:

006

And now for some old school dancing. (so fresh)

cinq.

This recently viewed epi of Are You Afraid of the Dock? has left me with one song left on my mind: Vapors. Orig. done by Biz Markie, covered (and made known to yours truly) by Snoop Doggy Dawwwawwawg. Apparently Deaner is too hip-hop to have already heard the song. Disgrace, I say. Download les deux below and if you're not too goth, check out the clip from the aforementioned epi. The rest of that episode is on youTube once you get your click on.

track.Vapors by Biz Markie
track.Vapors by Snoop Dog

four

Caitlin's post is so not hip-hop. This is hip-hop:

trois.

In other news: Dean's a space-docker.



It's a good thing he made it up to me by introducing me to FannyPack, a group of silly (definition=funny + cute) hip hop girlies. Their #1 hit is fer deffers "Cameltoe", named after our least favorite crime in fashion life. It's all very fun like neon splatterpainted icecream: soooo cool.
site
track: "Cameltoe"

Also in hip hop is Busdriver, that cool fool that rapped on Islands' "Where There's a Will There's a Whalebone". His songs consist of like 5,000 words per minute with sweet beats and delicious style. I dig. It's not quite your average hiphop and not quite your indiehiphop. Check it.
space
track: "Casting Agents and Cowgirls"

Aaaaaand last but certainly not least, Rapper's Delight Club. Pretty much the cutest thing to happen to hiphop EVER. A group of elementary school kids wrote the rhymes and spat them out, resulting in the most quotable lines ever: "when it comes to making money I'm a gorilla, I rap so well they call me rapzilla!", "I rap for the kids not the cars or the cash, for your raps are faker then a milk mustache", "I rap so tuff, and I'm straight up like an afro puff", etc etc etc. Again, check it. Love it. Swoon. Memorize. Recite. Become the coolest kid on the block. It's really pretty simple.
space
track: "Hum"

002

This just in: Caitlin is still not as cool as Dean.
In other news, I bet all of you found the leak for Neon Bible. If not you must find it, the album is super neat. In response to the leak I have decided to post their live recording of the album @ St. Michael Church in Montreal.


Tracks:
1)Black Mirror
2)Keep the Car Running
3)No Cars Go
4)Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
5)My Body is a Cage
6)Ocean of Noise
7)Rebellion
8)(Funny Chatter)
9)Intervention
10)Building Downtown
11)The Well and the Lighthouse
12)Haiti
13)Neighborhood #3

Enjoy

001

First post ever. For starts, my name is Dean Snodgrass. Caitlin (pictured above) and I just decided to start this little blog to talk about music, super nintendo, and people we don't like. Sometimes I will talk about movies or TV shows but mostly just super nintendo games like Mortal Kombat or Donkey Kong Country. To start off on the right foot, I will chat about the Of Montreal show that I went to last Sunday at the Great American Music Hall. Caitlin, the lame one, bought tickets in advance for the Santa Cruz show and left me waiting outside without a ticket. But I totally shoved it right back into her face by getting guest-listed at GAMH thanks to Peter Wallner of Sheena. Anyways, Sheena totally rocked the house to the limit and really set the stage for Of Montreal. If you don't know who/what/when Sheena is, they are a super neat indie dance rock band from Santa Cruz. To tell you the truth, I am not the biggest fan of dance rock (like !!!) but these guys were a great act to see live and their music is quality. Here is a music video that my friend Austin made for them:

Of Montreal wasn't what I really expected. Their set started off slow, started to gain speed, and ended with a great encore. I am not a big fan of their new album and this show didn't win me over at all. while I was being rubbed against by some large, bearded hipster all i wanted was to hear some classics. But I was able to get backstage after the show so eat it Caitlin. In conclusion, Sheena was super fun but Of Montreal was a bit of a let down and I kinda wish The Blow was their to open along side Sheena.