Talking Heads. Blowing Minds.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Still Kicking
I've been stretched pretty thin at work and school and haven't had a chance to post here in a while. Never did get a round to posting that best of 2011 70 something song mix I made. It's still sitting there in 8-tracks though and I will get to it someday. Just wanted to drop in real quick and let my legions of followers know I'm still alive and kicking. Looking forward to coming back and posting some more great music as soon as a get a few minutes. Until then, here's a few videos about cars and guns and disposing of bodies and stuff.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Aggregatibacter's 17 Favorite Records of 2011
Here they are, in no particular order, the new records I have enjoyed most this year. Why 17? I made a list of over 70 records that I really liked this year and my goal was to make it as short as possible. I just started crossing stuff off until it started to make me uncomfortable. There just so happened to be 17 records left at that point. The only criterion to make the first list was that the record had to come out in 2011 and I had to like it enough to own it. I still felt bad crossing off a lot of the records on my list, so I made a mix of some of my favorite songs off of all the records in this post and one each from all the records I crossed off. I'll post that after a while. Happy new nuttin!
Timber Timbre--Creep On Creepin' On Try Buy
M83--Hurry Up We're Dreaming Try Buy
Tom Waits--Bad As Me Try Buy
Drive--Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Try Buy
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Xmas Tears--An Aggregatibacter Video Mixtape
These are some of my favorite depressing Xmas songs to balance out the Xmas cheer delivered in the last post.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Long Live Rock, Rock is Dead--An Aggregatibacter Video Mixtape
It's been a while since I did one of these Mixtapes. I've been listening to The Who all morning and want to start this with "Eminence Front." It's a risky way to start and this has the potential to become very corny, very fast. Let's just see where it goes...
Friday, November 25, 2011
The Who--Quadrophenia
Something I've always historically done staying up late nights on holiday weekends was to sit in my parent's living room with my big clunky headphones listening to my father's copy of Quadrophenia. It was one of his favorite albums, by his favorite band. I can still see him walking around our house in his Maximum R&B T-shirt and his tighty whiteys coming downstairs after a night's rest as I'm sliding his Quadrophenia records back into their sleeves and preparing to finally go to sleep. I always wished I would have stayed up another hour or two and listened to the record one more time with him. I was a stupid teenager though and somehow, even though I was listening to his record and he was wearing a Who shirt for pajamas I never did, at the time, think of him as cool enough to hang out with. Have you ever seen that Louie episode where Louis CK rocks out to "Who are You?" in the car with his kids? Well, I've had that exact experience with my dad about a thousand times. I thought he was such a nerd. Now I'd give anything to rock out with him like that to "The Rock," or "The Real Me," or "I've Had Enough," or "Love, Reign O'er Me." Or to just sit and talk to him at dawn about which of Jimmy's four split personalities he liked best or what it was like to hear those waves rolling in for the first time on "I Am the Sea," or about the significance of water as a symbol in the greatest rock opera of all time. This one's for my dad."On a dry and dusty road/The nights we spent apart, alone/I need to get back home/ To cool, cool rain...I can't sleep and I lay and I think/The night is hot and black as ink/Oh god, I need a drink/Of cool, cool rain."
Pearl Jam--PJ20 OST
I've been so busy with school that I haven't even thought about posting here in a while. I've got some time off for Thanksgiving though and am wide awake at 2 in the morning. I spent the day napping and the night watching Netflix. Over the last few weeks, my only entertainment has been reading Everybody Loves Our Town: The Oral History of Grunge on the bus back and forth from school/work. I should start by saying I've never been a fan of grunge. I love Nirvana, but I think they transcend that Seattle scene that happened to spring up around them and never personally related them with grunge, as erroneous as that may be. To me, it's like saying the Beatles are rock and roll. The Beatles are The Beatles and Nirvana are Nirvana. The Who is The Who. You can't put bands like those into categories. So anyway, I bought the Oral History more as a tourist than a fan. It was basically research. And I downloaded a lot of records to listen to while reading on the bus--again, more research. I pretty much stuck to my guns though, and as much as I've enjoyed reading the book, I haven't come much closer to loving this music. I have happened upon an appreciation for the more Stooges-esque Mudhoney stuff, the heavy drone of The Melvins, and developed sort of a fascination with Mark Lanegan. But I still can't really say I like any of this music. As for Pearl Jam, I have never taken them seriously and even after reading the book, I still didn't think too highly of them. I have to say the book, kind of unfairly, paints them in a bit of a negative light. And I bought into it, cause I never really liked their music anyway. Tonight, though, I'm up late and I can't sleep and I just watched Cameron Crowe's Pearl Jam 20 on Netflix. I have to admit I was kind of blown away. There aren't many bands with their level of integrity and work ethic that are also, yes I will finally admit it, kind of awesome. Say what you will about me, but I am a convert. I like Pearl Jam. Warts and all. Pearl Jam's not Pearl Jam. Pearl Jam is grunge, but they're OK. First U2, now Pearl Jam. What next, Lady Gaga?Friday, October 7, 2011
Johnny Thunders-Que Sera, Sera
I need to get back to work, but I really wanted to post this too. I will have to let it speak for itself and just say it's great music to chill out to while riding alone in the back of a NYC cab on a cold, dark autumn night.
Rain Parade--Emergency Third Rail Power Trip
I've also been listening to a lot of Paisley Underground (The Dream Syndicate, Green on Red, etc.) records to help me cope with the stress of school. If Girls were the downer to help me unwind at the end of each long day then The Rain Parade are the stuff that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning. In case you've forgotten about this group, they were the best of the shimmering, jangly pop-psych that came out of the LA music scene in the early 80s. They didn't sell as many records as The Bangles (the most popular Paisley Undergound group), but I'd say they had the most talent and stand up better today than any of the other groups including The Dream Syndicate. If you haven't heard of The Rain Parade, think Nuggets, Seeds, Byrds, Syd Barrett-era Floyd, Revolver-era Beatles inspired "neo-psych" of the early 80s. I think this is a fitting description the Paisley Underground movement in general, but The Rain Parade were the best example of this sound. I couldn't decide which of their albums to post, because they're all so good, but frankly, I really like the cover of this one so that's how I decided. I highly recommend tracking down Explosions in the Glass Palace if you're into this record. Especially if you like the darker, VU inspired "No Easy Way Down" video below. Stand outs include "I Look Around", the "She Said She Said" inspired song that was probably their only hit. I'd say I wish these guys were still together, but Steve Roback left the band to form Opal which eventually morphed into Mazzy Star and what would the world be without Mazzy Star? This may be weird to hear, but Hope Sandoval is probably one of my top 5 favorite vocalists, songwriters, frontmen/women of all time. I don't think I've gone two days without hearing her voice for at least 3 minutes in years. If you don't agree, you should track down some of her solo records or some Mazzy Star records and give her a second chance. Or just wait...I'm sure some of them will pop up here eventually. Anyway, Rain Parade is quite good too. Enjoy.
Girls--Father, Son, Holy Ghost
The first time I heard Girls' debut record, Album I was driving, alone, from my gravely ill grandmother's house to the wedding of one of the best friends I've ever had. I was really anxious about going solo to this wedding attended mainly by strangers and a few people I knew well, but who I haven't seen in a really long. Plus, I had to drive back to my grandmother's house after the reception, so I even couldn't drink to take the edge off. I don't often get overwhelmed by both depression and anxiety simultaneously, but between the awkardness of the wedding and the imminent loss of someone I loved very much, I was having a pretty strange night. I happened to put on Album on the ride over to the wedding, because I had just gotten it and I wanted to listen to something I didn't care about or know very well so I could just fade out and get numb on the drive. I didn't want to arrive at this wedding a complete basket-case. From the first note of Album, though, I started to feel a lot better. It was just this cool, laid back, sunny music that moves with the highway underneath you. This was early fall, about the same time of year as it is now, but last year. It was perfect music for the weather. Well, I got to the wedding, and I was a total basket case. But every time things got be too overwhelming I would go back to the car and listen to "Lauren Marie" or "Summertime." So, it's fall again. And I'm a basket case again. And there's a a fairly new Girls record out--Father, Son, Holy Ghost. And it's great. And it totally calms me down. It's so wonderful when a band you like comes out with a new record and it's a hundred times better than their last one. To see that these kids are for real and they are gonna be around for a while to keep making you feel that way they make you feel. This group makes me feel grounded. They're feet on the ground music. They're take a deep breath, the day is finally finished music. This record is perfect for getting on the bus (or, if you're luckier than me, behind the wheel of an automobile), pressing play and decompressing for a while. Its deep, chilled-out, soulful gospel and early rock inspired psych/space rock that gets your breathing back in rhythm. Like just about everything I seem to post here, there's a little Spiritualized in the ancestry of these songs (see "Vomit" and "Forgiveness" especially for examples of this). You may also notice reflections of Jellyfish, Elvis Costello, Deep Purple, Sinead O'Connor, Elliott Smith, and on and on...Other stand out tracks include, "My Ma," "Honey Bunny," "Saying I Love You," "Magic," and "Jamie Marie."Try. Link removed by request.
Tom Waits--Kentucky Ave. Video
By the way, Tom Waits' new record drops in exactly 18 days.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Killing Yourself To Live Soundtrack: 85% Of An Aggregatibacter Mixtape
I was pretty sick for most of this month and one of the books I read while laying in bed bored out of my mind was Chuck Klosterman's Killing Yourself To Live: 85% Of A True Story. It's a tough book to put down. It's the story of a cross-country road trip Klosterman took while writing an article for Spin magazine about why death is often the best career move musicians can make. Along the way he meets up with, and contemplates his relationships with, the main loves of his life, snorts coke on the site of the Station fire where about a hundred rockers where killed by Great White's pyrotechnics, listens to all the KISS solo records, and recalls a story in which his brother broke a deer's neck with his bare hands. This is all while traveling to various sights where rock stars have kicked the bucket: Kurt Cobain's greenhouse, the farm where Lynrd Skynrd's plane crashed, the apartment where Replacement's guitarist Bob Stinson drank himself to death, etc. As a rock critic and record nerd, he talks about and listens to a lot of music along the way. He brought 600 records on the 2 week trip. What I like about rock critics is their ability to give the reader an idea of what a record will sound like by comparing the band's sound to a conglomeration of different culture artifacts that are simultaneouely important, well-known, and oddly related to this new work they are describing. I can't do this, which is why all my posts here have links to the records themselves and videos of songs from the records I talk about. Anyway, Killing Yourself To Live, shows cirtics not only do that with the records they review, but with every aspect of their lives. They compare girlfriends to certain songs or members of KISS, sum up the entirety of major terrorist attacks by going track-by-track through an album released before said terrorist attack occurs, compare their relationship to a town to Ozzy Osborne's relationship to Randy Rhodes. They see the world through music, often making very deep, truthful realizations by making absurd comparisons. To make this point, I've chosen some of the more ridiculous songs referenced in the book. Klosterman writes about hundreds of songs, albums, and recording artists in the book. I chose one song that was specifically mentioned in each chapter to make this "soundtrack" to the book. I usually picked the silliest track mentioned, but not exclusively. Sometimes I picked a song that really summed up the events of the chapter, or that effectively created an image, or that I just liked a whole lot. Oddly, as I look over the track list, very few of these songs were written by the dead artists who were the subject of the article he was researching as the events chronicled in the book take place. Many are songs he used to describe ex-girlfrends and most are just off-the-wall references that paint a perfect picture of whatever it is he's trying to describe at the time. If you decide to read the book while you read this, you may find yourself comparing it to High Fidelity, but KYTL is a much better book with a much stranger soundtrack.
Chapter 1: Bodies--The Sex Pistols
Chapter 2: I Can't Explain--The Scorpions
Chapter 3: Jolene--Dolly Parton
Chapter 4: Chantilly Lace--The Big Bopper
Chapter 5: My Drug Buddy--The Lemonheads
Chapter 6: Crazy in Love--Beyonce (feat. Jay-Z)
Chapter 7: Downtown--Petula Clark
Chapter 8: Sit Down, Stand Up--Radiohead
Chapter 9: Hollywood Nights--Bob Seger
Chapter 10: Rock Me Amadeus--Falco
Chapter 11: Camel Walk--Southern Culture On The Skids
Chapter 12: More Than Words--Extreme
Chapter 13: I Don't Want To Know--Fleetwood Mac
Chapter 14: Bastards of Young--The Replacements
Chapter 15: Dancefloors--My Morning Jacket
Chapter 16: Stay With Me--Faces
Chapter 17: Trampled Under Foot--Led Zeppelin
Chapter 18: New York Groove--KISS (Ace Freehley Solo Album)
Chapter 19: Lithium--Nirvana
Chapter 20: Something in the Way--Nirvana
The Music Tapes--For Clouds and Tornadoes
There are a few things that I find more beautiful than words can explain. They are all natural phenomena that tend to be the only things in this world I can just stare at and immediately feel calm. One is flocks of birds, particularly the rapidly changing, perfectly choreographed smoke-like flocks of starlings. Another is water flowing over stones. And the last is clouds drifting behind buildings, trees, mountains, air traffic control towers--doesn't matter what, just moving behind something. There are only two days of elementary school I remember distinctly. One of those was the day we learned the names of the different types of clouds. It was one of the best days of my life. The very idea that someone had the job of looking up at the sky and naming the clouds just made me so happy. To this day, I still could not tell you which cloud is a cummulonimbus, which is a cirrus, which is a stratus, but I could tell you what my teacher was wearing when she taught me (a purple dress), where I was sitting (third row, fourth seat), even what belt I was wearing (Superman). I couldn't even tell you what grade I was in. So, The Memory Tapes's For Clouds and Tornadoes remains my favorite Non-Mangum Elephant 6 endeavor. Not only does Julian Koster recall this bit of nostalgia by shouting, "NIMBUS! CIRRUS! STRATUS!" throughout the record, but his singing saw, toy pianos, accordion, banjo, and his otherworldly voice sound more like a memory than song. This must be why I always mistakenly refer to this project as The Memory Tapes instead of The Music Tapes causing much confusion every time I try to put on this record and wind up listening to the first 2 minutes of Seek Magic before I figure out what the hell is going on. I always say I remember things better when I write them down. The purpose of this post is to help be remember The Music Tapes are the cloud band created by Neutral Milk Hotel's Julian Koster and the Memory Tapes are the electronic "chillwave" band with the bicycle pump and sneakers on a basketball court sounds on their record (also some nostalgic feelings associated with that one...). And I'd also like to share this Music Tapes record (and hopefully this feeling) with you. I love this record and the way it makes me feel. Enjoy.
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks--Mirror Traffic
A Beck produced Jicks record, do you really need me to explain why it's essential for you to have this? It's even better than you might expect...
Okkervil River--Overboard & Down
Named for and featuring an excellent cover of one of my favorite songs off the focus of my last post, Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers, this tour EP is just one of countless records that were influenced by that Big Star Record. Just a few minutes on YouTube will reveal covers of Sister Lovers songs by Bat for Lashes, Elliott Smith, This Mortal Coil, Mike Mills, Jody Stephens, Evan Dando, Yo La Tengo and a bunch more. This Okkervil River cover is one of my favorites and the rest of the EP is pretty amazing as well.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Big Star--Third/Sister Lovers (1992 Rykodisc Edition)
Big Star never really received the commercial attention they deserved. Championed by the critics (and later The Replacements), Stax Records just wasn't up to the task of promoting their acts by the time Big Star came along. It didn't help that there were only two original members of the band left during the recording of their third record and that Alex Chilton was pretty much falling apart during most of the recording of the record. No one even agreed that this was a Big Star record. The group that recorded these songs went by Sister Lovers, not Big Star. That name, which later became the record name, came about because Chilton and drummer, Jody Stephens, happened to be dating two sister at the time. Cousins of my favorite photographer, William Eggleston, the sisters also contributed some of the backing vocals, but were later erased following the break up that must have led to the creation of songs like "Holocaust" and "Kangaroo." The rest of the band was made up of Stax session musicians with producer Jim Dickinson trying to keep some sort of order. I have to say that despite all of the emotional ups and downs and the eclectic mix of songs on Third/Sister Lovers (or perhaps because of them...), this is my favorite of all the records Alex Chilton created in his career. Stand out tracks include "Thank You Friends," "O, Dana," "Stroke It, Noel," "Holocaust," "Kangaroo," "Femme Fatale," and one of my favorite Christmas songs, "Jesus Christ."
Sunday, August 21, 2011
The War On Drugs--Wagonwheel Blues
I'm a sucker for bands from Philadelphia, and this is one of the best ones touring right now. They're latest record, Slave Ambient, has been playing through my headphones a lot lately and keeps reminding me how great their debut record was. The lineup in the group has changed quite a lot between Wagonwheel Blues and Slave Ambient. The most notable change being the departure of Kurt Vile who went on to pursue his stuff with The Violators. He figures prominently on this album though and while Adam Granduciel's atmospheric sonic arrangements on Slave Ambient are mind bogglingly good, I think Wagonwheel Blues will get more play on my various electronic devices. With songwriting and vocal style that's been compared to Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen played by a bunch of guys who grew up listening to Spacemen 3, Neu!, Suicide, and My Bloody Valentine, this is road music with deeply layered, drug-addled, space rock ambience. Listening to both records my mind flashes back and forth between images of convertible '59 Chevys driving along the California coast, horses galloping across the desert, sports cars flying down the autobahn and rocket ships blasting through outer space. These records are about moving quickly through space and time without putting down too many roots down in any one place. Oh hell, I should just post both records...Jeff Mangum--Toronto, August 13, 2011 & New Zealand, April, 2 2001
Jeff Mangum's first tour in 1o years sounds like it's off to a good start. He'll be in New York and New Jersey pretty soon. I can't wait for November 6. Here are the links to a few songs to the August 13th show in Toronto. These songs sound even better than they did 10 years ago. It's like he never took a break. Just click on each link and it should automatically download right to your computer.
Just for comparison's sake, I'm also including a link to the "final NMH concert." This is mainly just Jeff Mangum though. The last time they performed together as a band was probably 2 years before this recording. This was a show Chris Knox convinced him to play shortly after his breakdown that they called The World of Wild Beards. Apart from a few guest spots here and there, this was the last time Mangum has performed before this month. I just can't get over the growth that occurred over this hiatus. Not that this 2001 show isn't amazing, but I think he's a much better singer today than he was when the this was recorded.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
For the Birds--An Aggregatibacter Mixtape
Love-->Building on Fire--Talking Heads
Nice Weather for Ducks--Lemon Jelly
Battered Old Bird--Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Details of the War--Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
More Yellow Birds--Sparklehorse
Up on Your Leopard, Upon the End of Your Feral Days--Sunset Rubdown
Birdie Hop--Sid Barrett
News--Tune-Yards
Surfin' Bird--The Trashmen
Birdfeed--The Cramps
Blue Bird--The Rosebuds
Guess I'm Doin' Fine--Beck
Story of Isaac--Leonard Cohen
Blackbird--Magnolia Electric Co.
His Eye Is On The Sparrow--Fred Lowery
Chicken Yiamas--Von Sudenfed
Chin Chin & Muck Muck--Devendra Banhart
You're A Big Girl Now--Bob Dylan
Old Black Crow--Michael Hurley
Get Together--The Youngbloods
When Doves Cry--Prince
Big Bird In A Small Cage--Patrick Watson
Trembling Peacock--Destroyer
Pigeon--Maps & Atlases
Lonesome Hunter--Timber Timbre
Little Bird--Eels
Journey of the Featherless--Cloud Cult
Doves--The Black Angels
Blue Bird--Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
Leaving The Nest (It's A long Way Down)--Benjy Ferree
Birdland-Patti Smith
Jockey Full Of Bourbon--Tom Waits
April 13th, 2007--Paleo
Flamingo Baby--Violent Femmes
Gather, Form and Fly--Megafaun
Swan, Swan, H--R.E.M.
If You Want To Be A Bird (Bird Song)--Holy Modal Rounders
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