Wes Anderson, Pt. 2

The Life Aquatic... Not initially my favorite Wes Anderson movie. It's quirky to the bone, just like his other efforts, but something just didn't seem right in the theaters. However, watching it again and again on DVD, it seems to get better and better. The more texture to the characters the more I enjoy them. It's clearly a Wes Anderson score also, combining efforts with Mark Mothersbaugh to create the entire feel of the movie into music. Which harkens back to his Devo days, with small, fun electronic on old equipment. Great indeed. Also, someone found me the song they play at a very important part at the end, I had been hunting it ever since. It's "staralfur" and it plays when they see the leopard shark at the end. There's also a clear love for David Bowie, as it not only features him twice, but a Portugeuse man playing his music several times.

Mark Mothersbaugh - Zissou Society's Blue Star Cadet / Ned's Theme
Sven Libaek - Open Sea Theme
Mark Mothersbaugh - Ping Island / Lightning Strike Rescue Op
David Bowie - Life on Mars?
Sigur Ros - Staralfur

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Buy the Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou DVD
Buy the Soundtrack

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"I've never seen a bond-company stooge stick his neck out like that."

Yeah... That's right...

I've got the Lord of the Rings soundtracks... Got them for a birthday present AND they're good! so hah! Howard Shore is only rivaled by Ennio Morricone and John Williams in the "film score" department, if you ask me.

Concerning Hobbits
Flight to the Ford
The Black Gate Opens
The Great River
Amon Hen
The Breaking of the Fellowship (my favorite)
The Return of the King

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Pinball Wizard indeed. (get it? gandalf on a pinball machine!)

Revenge is a dish best served cold...

Another favorite: that crazy person Tarantino. You can't deny the power and energy his films convey, be it from Reservoir Dogs to the recent Kill Bill. So here are the picks from the ultraviolent epic that is the bride's journey... (p.s. it includes stuff from both volumes, because it's really one movie.) My favorite has got to be the 10 minute ballad that is "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". It is perfect, and you'll be singing it in your head days from now. The chilling track "He SHot Me Down" is the greatest and most fitting opener to a film in a long time. There's a good bit of ambient scores in here, but I'm torn between "L'Arena" by Ennio Morricone and the "Battle Without Honor...". Both are supremely badass. But you can't forget Zamfir, and all three embody the movie so well. So get them all!

Sorry for the late post, loooong day yesterday.

Nancy Sinatra - Bang Bang (He Shot Me Down)
Zamfir - The Lonely Shepard
Shivaree - Goodnight Moon
Ennio Morricone - L'Arena
Santa Esmeralda - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Chingon - Malaguena Salerosa
Alan Reeves - The Chase
Tomoyasu Hotei - Battle Without Honor or Humanity
Malcolm McLaren - About Her (decent cover)

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Buy the Kill Bill Vol 1 DVD
Buy the Kill Bill Vol 2 DVD
Buy the Kill Bill Vol 1 Soundtrack
Buy the Kill Bill vol 2 Soundtrack

Wes Anderson, Part 1

So, I'm not gonna lie, I love me some Wes Anderson movies. I count The Royal Tenenbaums as one of my top five, I can watch it over and over and over again. It's just so damn perfect! Anyways, I don't have the Bottle Rocket soundtrack, so I'm going to start off with Rushmore.

Well, quirky is quirky, and what's more awkward than adolescence? Max Fischer is the epitome of awkward kids, and his crush on the english teacher is so sad and perfect. What a great film. The accompanying soundtrack from Wes and his frequent collaborator Mark Mothersbaugh is eclectic and wonderful. The songs evoke a feeling of bouncy spring, and nostalgia. 60's Brit Punk (Making Time), nostalgic pop (summer song) and just plain fun, acoustic ballads (the wind, oh la la, oh yoko) I remember doing a post on this back on the other blog and someone LOVED it, and rightfully so. This music is great, and heartfelt, just like the movie.

The Kinks - Nothing in this World Can Stop Me Worrying About that Girl
Creation - Making Time
Chad and Jeremy - Summer Song
John Lennon - Oh Yoko
Cat Stevens - The Wind
The Faces - Ooh La La

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Buy the Rushmore Criterion DVD
Buy the Soundtrack

Guy Ritchie's first great movie

... was Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. I had a nice write up for this, I think it was slightly enjoyable, but Blogger ate it. Hrm. I'll try best to remember. The movie is simply fun as hell to watch: ten stories going on at once all trying to get the same thing, all fucking up various times and tasks. It's a tale about crime that happens and revolves to each group. Simply put, it's amazing, funny as hell, and clever clever clever.

The music keeps the pace of the film as well. Fast, hard, upbeat rock with some smooth and chilled groove music. The sultry "spooky" playing at a strip joint, the frenetic "hundred mile city" blaring as they escape the coppers, and "18 with a bullet" is in the credits simply because it's badass.

"in the cool of the evening when everything is getting kinda groovy
you call me up and ask me if i'd like to go with you and see a movie
first i say no, i've got plans for the night
and then i stop
and say allriiiight"
- spooky

Peter Wingfield - 18 With a Bullet (barbershop + doo whop + ultimate song)
Ocean Colour Scene - Hundred Mile City
Dusty Springfield - Spooky
James Brown - The Payback
Robbie Williams - Man Machine

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Buy Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels DVD
Buy the Soundtrack

We're on a mission... From God

So, those two crazy SNL elites Belushi and Akroyd took their bit seriously and put out a cult classic and a touring band, the infamous Blues Brothers. Taking the best band they could buy, they conveyed their love of the classics by collaboration and covers. In short, they got down.

I like this new photo thingy.


The Blues Brothers - She Caught The Katy
Ray Charles w/the Brothers - Shake A Tail feather
The Blues Brothers - Everybody Needs Somebody (to love)
The Blues Brothers - Sweet Home Chicago

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Buy the Blues Brothers DVD
Buy the soundtrack
Buy their other albums

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Part 2 of 14

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Saw Land of the Dead and it was crazy as hell. Romero kinda pushed his plot to the side though to show gore gore gore, but I'm not complaining. We'll always have the 1979 Dawn of the Dead.

Lust for life!

So, I was sitting down and thinking "Wow, I love movies a lot. I sure have a lot of soundtracks!" Then I was thinking, "What am I posting tonight?" It hit me: 2 + 2 = 5! (or so big brother says) and I'm going to post songs from 14 soundtracks for 14 straight days. Soundtracks in general are always better if you've seen the movie, so see them. They're all going to be great flicks, trust me.

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First up...


My personal favorites of this soundtrack are not the techno tracks but the prime Iggy Pop and Lou Reed selections. After seeing the movie, I can't ever hear "lust for life" without thinking of Renton and Sick Boy running down the street from the cops. Why they gotta be hating on some addicts? Anyways, if you've seen the movie, you know it's extreme and frenetic in every way. The soundtrack however has a few ambient tracks and another one or two that just devolve into techno bass beats for 6 minutes straight. Not my thing. I love the jumpy, pop-sound "Mile End", and it might as well summarize the movie. I really do dig the rock tracks though, excellent picks by Danny Boyle.

Blur - Sing
Iggy Pop - Nightclubbing
Sleeper - Atomic
Lou Reed - Perfect Day (repost, because i love it)
Pulp - Mile End

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Buy the Trainspotting Soundtrack #1
Buy the Trainspotting Soundtrack #2
Buy Trainspotting (Director's Cut) DVD

Jack Johnson tracks

Right, so as summer began, someone gave me a three CD's of Jack Johnson, seeing as I was the last person on the earth to hear of him. I really like his laid-back Hawaii charm and lyrics. He's got a simple set up (acoustic a go-go, with a bit of backup) but his voice carries each and every song through the easy melodies. Perfect for summer (he is a former surfer after all) I completely loved his lo-fi sounds (f-stop) but liked it even more when he jumped into fun and hectic sound (bubble toes). People might complain that he doesn't vary that much, and you know what, to a degree, that's really true. But I'm not complaining.


Brushfire Fairytales

Flake
Bubble Toes
Drink the Water
F-Stop Blues


In Between Dreams

Do you Remember?
Breakdown
Sitting, waiting, wishing
Better together


On and On

Times Like These
Tommorrow Morning Comes
Wasting Time
Taylor

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Anyone out there play themselves some Counter-Strike: Source?

after a long day at work...

... and i still havn't finished my Jack Johnson post. So i'm gonna upload this completely unorganized and random mix I've been listening to as of late.

The Who - Teenage Wasteland (Almost Famous, American Beauty, general badass)

Lou Reed - Perfect Day (i usually don't dig on Lou Reed but BY GOD i play the hell out of the song all the time. it's just perfect. PERFECT. PEEERFEEECT!)

Iggy Pop and the Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels)

Sly and the Family Stone - Family Affair (aaah yeeeah, Sly is the shit. plain and simple.)

The Four Tops - Seven Rooms of Gloom (i love this song. the harmony is just right on, brotha.)

Semisonic - Closing Time (haha, 90's guilty pleasure to the nth degree!)

Phil Collins - I Don't Care Anymore (uber uber uber guilty pleasure song. i understand if you hate me but i LOVE IT)

midnight mixtape and more!

Here's a little something I concocted to listen to on the ol' ipod as it gets dark outside. Perfect for murky nights with the moon shining in between the drifting clouds. God, it's hot as hell this summer.

One by One - Billy Bragg and Wilco
Snow in Michigan by Christopher Sullivan
Traffic in the Sky by Jack Johnson
Title and Registration - Death Cab for Cutie
Fond Farwell - Elliot Smith
Lua - Bright Eyes
The Boxer - Simon and Garfunkel
Street Spirit (Fade Out) - Radiohead


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Right, so there's the mixtape. After my last post, another group sent me an email. They go by the name of Lost on Purpose, and I gotta say I dig them. The lo-fi hit "Better off Dead" is a particular favorite, and their wonderfultastic EP "The Ultraviolet Effect" is available for download. In fact, about 25 odd songs are available for your listening pleasure. I gotta say, at first the vocals take a while to get used to, but by the second or third time you're right along with them. Show them some love, and check out their songs, neh?


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In other news...

Check out the unrated Land of the Dead trailer. Yowza!

Solicitations! I love 'em!

Right, so in the past week 2 different bands/artists emailed me with samples, imploring me to share with all of you. So I'm gonna! (stay tuned for tommorrow's post, which is a mix of songs suitable for quiet nights)

First Up: Soft


Brand new band sent me an email asking for a review, so here it is: I like them a lot actually. Keep in mind these are their first four songs really put up for scrutiny, but I like em. Especially "Droppin". I can't really name bands that remind me of them, because a) I don't like comparisons and b) I suck at comparisons. All I can say is that I recommend them. Take that as positive hype for them! Key tracks to get: Droppin, All that Your Shown

You can download their mp3s directly here
Soft's official site


Second round: Todd Stadtman


Mr. Stadtman has already been getting some early praise from some magazines and other news sources, and here are my two cents: while I really really really like the bubblegum electro pop that is "Clock in my Heart", I just don't dig the other tracks up for download. Sorry man, just not my thing. But, that's just one man's opinion. So make your own!

Here's his official download page
And his site



Thank you both of you for the offer, and I'm always up for free music sharing!

spread the word about soft. you'll love them.

Get down to some lounge!

There's no actualy ol' blue eyes in this post, just a cover. In fact, it's such a great cover that it gets me into the lounge/house band feel every time. Surprisingly, from a ska band. It's really, really, really, good, those boys have damn fine harmony. It's like a drunken Barbershop Quartet single, especially near the end where they go crazy. "Start spreading the news..."

Reel Big Fish - New York, New York




Whoa, there's a new kid in town with big band lunge singing! You have to admit, the songs are freaking catchy, and his voice is amazing. Just try these two tracks, I swear.

Michael Buble - Feeling Good
Michael Buble - A Foggy Day (in London Town)

Music blast tuesday

So did anyone get the new White Stripes and Coldplay yet?

post edit: i went out and bought the stripes, waiting on the coldplay though, probably will end getting a copy first.

Remy Zero : Villa Elaine

Well, yeah, I discovered Remy Zero like a lot of people, through the excellent Garden State soundtrack. It featured the mucho grande track that is "Fair", which is on the Villa Elaine CD. Anyways, after procuring it I was shocked. How could I not of heard such a great album? Really, it's one of my favorite in the past few months. This and Snow Patrol's Final Straw collectively rocked my May. They have a sort of subdued and dreamy feel in tracks like "Life in Rain", which is an almost surreal and sad memory.

All in all, just get the fucking album.

Remy Zero - Life in Rain
Remy Zero - Motorcycle
Remy Zero - Hollow
Remy Zero - Gramarye
Buy "Villa Elaine".

edit: the other 3 are up.



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In other news, exams are coming up, but that really means that the daily routine will soon resort to lounging outside, reading, fishing, and playing CounterStrike Source at night. And of course, putting the radio on permeanant repeat. Here's to relaxation!

Broadcasting live!

Well here it is! Part 2 of the launching! I hope you all enjoy, and this is just an eclectic mix of whats to come! As opposed to Part 1, this mix has a much more midwestern feel in the first couple songs, but then goes from the shins to simon and garfunkel to ending with an echoing synth from donnie darko!

1. Dark Night by The Blasters
2. The Weight by The Band
3. The Man in Me by Bob Dylan
4. Via Chicago by Wilco
5. Working Class Hero by John Lennon
6. Hotcha Girls by Ugly Casanova
7. Wither Vulcan by Remy Zero
8. Heaven Beside You by Alice in Chains
9. A Hazy Shade of Winter by Simon and Garfunkel
10. Black Cadillacs by Modest Mouse
11. Girl Inform Me by the Shins
12. Close I've Come by Ben Lee
13. Van Tango by Franz Ferdinand
14. New Born by Muse
15. Run by Snow Patrol
16. Somewhere a Clock is Ticking by Secret Machines
17. The Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen

Here's to happy and regular posts!


Some premium Ted Leo

While I'm waiting for high speed internet, here's some songs that I can post and not host. What has the blog community not said about Ted Leo and the Pharmacists? Chances are it's a lot better than what I could write, but I'll post some of my favorites of them and a link to their main site with a surprising amount of free downloads.

Me and Mia
The Gold Finch and the Red Oak Tree
The Crane takes Flight
Squeaky Fingers

...and more!


Official Web Site
Buy their records





P.S. I am forever scorning myself for missing them when they came through on tour. I don't like to admit it.