Good, Friday I'm in Holy Week

I wouldn't classify myself as highly religious, but I can still observe Jesus' crucifixion and subsequent resurrection (or whatever your beliefs may be) with some great tunes. P.T. = Paschal Triduum = Party Time? Sidenote: I chose a random picture because my photographic search of "Good Friday'" kind of scared me.

Here's all the tracks I've been loving on lately. Some old, some new, all radical.

Good, Friday I'm in Holy Week Mixtape

The Thermals - Now We Can See [mp3]
The White Stripes - Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground [mp3]
Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al
Yeah I've got P Simon on here, but can you really hate on this song? WWJD?
Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance (Grandtheft Remix) [mp3]
Like anything LL, so much fun
IAMX - Kingdom of Welcome Addiction
IAMX ft. Imogen Heap - My Secret Friend [mp3]
Handsome Furs - I'm Confused [mp3]
Deerhunter - Never Stops [mp3]
Kings of Leon - Fans (Live on Radio One) [mp3]
I might love on this live version more than the original
Conor Oberst - Eagle on a Pole
Buy the new album when it comes out, you won't regret it

Take Away Day

This is why I can't live without La Blogotheque. Take Away Shows make me believe in the joys of raw, organic composition; simplifying songs to find celebration. Like modern troubadours performing in the most creative of locations, participating artists like Lykke Li and El Perro del Mar are innocuously inspiring an artistic renaissance. Music: Meet the world. Production: Meet your maker. Collaborations/Split Series like these are rare, making this three song set all the more precious. Here is their cover performance of Wendy Rene's "After Laughter (Comes Tears)."

Check out the other two songs from the set here. Make sure to watch Lykke's "Dance Dance Dance." I'll only give you a one word enticement: Kazoo. If you haven't already explored the whole site, be warned. It will become your new addiction.

Around the World

North America South America / N.A.S.A. this way comes... Everyone has been talking about their "Gifted" single because, let's face it, getting Kanye West, Lykke Li, and Santogold on the same track is like audible gold. Talk about triple threat. Get ready for the madness that will be The Spirit of Apollo out this February 17, 2009.

Daft Punk - Around the World [mf]

N.A.S.A. (North America South America) is an international collective of musicians spanning a wide spectrum of musical genres, centered around Squeak E. Clean (Sam Spiegel) and DJ Zegon (Ze Gonzales). Sam and Ze met in April of 2003 at a friend's studio and began making music together the following day.

At first they sampled rare Brazilian records from the 60's and 70's to make tracks. However, what started as two crate diggers making music for the fun of it soon developed into something much bigger. Having forged a strong friendship through their passion for music, Sam and Ze decided to make a record with all of their heroes and favorite musicians.

The idea was to bring people from different worlds together through their shared inspiration and love of music. Thus, N.A.S.A. was born, with crazy collaborations like Ol' Dirty Bastard (Wu-Tang Clan), Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), and Fatlip (Pharcyde) on one track, David Byrne (Talking Heads), Chali 2na (Jurassic 5), and Gift of Gab (Blackalicious) on another, and even a pairing of Tom Waits with Kool Keith.

Soon Sam and Ze realized they could expand the concept to encompass an entire record. The idea is to ignore all of the boundaries and borders that are in place to keep people divided, such as musical genre, race, politics, geography, language, etc. As a result, they gathered the craziest and most eclectic collection of musicians ever assembled on one album in the hope that they can show, through music, that all those superficial divisions are an illusion.

N.A.S.A. proves we are all one race of human beings interested in collaboration and unity, ignoring preconceptions, and transcending genre definitions.

LA LA LA Loves it.

Track Listing for Spirit of Apollo:

01 Intro
02 The People Tree [ft. David Byrne, Chali 2na, Gift of Gab & Z-Trip]
03 Money [ft. David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge & Z-Trip]
04 NASA Music [ft. Method Man, E-40 & DJ Swamp]
05 Way Down [ft. RZA, Barbie Hatch & John Frusciante]
06 Hip Hop [ft. KRS-One, Fatlip & Slim Kid Tre]
07 Four Rooms, Earth View
08 Strange Enough [ft. Karen O, Ol' Dirty Bastard & Fatlip]
09 Spacious Thoughts [ft. Tom Waits & Kool Keith]
10 Gifted [ft. Kanye West and others TBD]
11 A Volta [ft. Sizzla, Amanda Blank & Lovefoxxx]
12 There's a Party [ft. George Clinton & Chali 2na]
13 Whachadoin? [ft. Spank Rock, M.I.A., Santogold & Nick Zinner]
14 O Pato [ft. Kool Kojak & DJ Bãboa]
15 Samba Soul [ft. Del Tha Funkee Homosapien & DJ Qbert]
16 The Mayor [ft. The Cool Kids, Ghostface Killah, DJ AM & Scarface]
17 N.A.S.A. Anthem

N.A.S.A. ft. Kanye, Santogold, & Lykke Li - Gifted [mf]

Peace, Love, and Global Sound,
LTK

Breaking it Up

Stay tuned for my track by track break down/breaking it up of K West's controversial 808's and Heartbreaks this Saturday (I'm currently listening to only this on repeat) - the album ia out next Tuesday. Times are hard; you deserve to know if this one's worth your hard-earned Abrahams...

In the meantime, snag this shwanky Lykke Li remix, as well as a bonus Friendly Fires cover of Lykke's "I'm Good, I'm Gone." Darn, no voice box here...

Lykke Li - Breaking it Up (Punks Jump Up remix) [mf]

Friendly Fires - I'm Good, I'm Gone (Lykke Li Cover) [mf]

If you didn't catch Lykke as itunes' free video of the week, please watch this artistic ah-mazingness on YouTube. I feel like I just swallowed a whole bottle of crazy pills... and am loving it!

And this sweet live perform! Yeah that's Robyn! And Adam and Bebban of The Shout Out Louds! Friends in high places...

Peace, Love, and Air-boxing in Institutions,
LTK

Audio Girlfest: Lykke, Duffy, She & Him

And so it begins. Hilary scores a couple more states (Texas - who knew?), and the indie scene sees a dramatic increase in great female-produced albums. The spotlight definitely belongs to some amazing women at the moment. Don't worry boys, you can still pee standing up.

Napoleon Dynamite - Vote For Me [mp3]

First off is the adorable Lykke Li, who's debut album Youth Novels has me reeling like a child; like I'm on one neverending, completely un-nauseating Space Mountain ride. Her entirely infectious indie pop both uplifts and unsettles. There's the real rollercoaster reference. The downtempo tracks tug at your heartstrings with soft instrumentation and haunting vocals (particularily "Time Flies") and yet, other selections make you want to dance, call your boyfriend, alphabetize your books, have a driving montage, or bury your head in your pillow. It's just such a versatile record. I haven't decided yet if the tracks themselves influence a particular mood, or if they adjust/adapt to meet the feelings of the listener. The fact a record has the power to do either - possibly both - is a rare sign of quality. Everything is coming up Lykke.... Besides she's gorgeous. And Swedish (like me). Plus plus.

Lykke Li - I'm Good, I'm Gone [mp3]

Lykke Li - Time Flies [mp3]

Next up is the diva and blonde bombshell Duffy, whose brassy pipes have earned her comparisons to the very successful Amy Winehouse. Let's hope she's more sober. And less crazy. I don't necessarily agree with the direct comparison, as I think Duffy has a distinct sound all her own. Her voice does channel elements of Amy, but mixed with someone like Sia: all the rich, textured Nina Simone-ness of the former, mixed with the slinky, sultry South Australian twang that the latter emanates on tracks like "Breathe Me" and "I Go to Sleep."

Duffy - Scared (My favorite track off Rockferry, which should be out in a few weeks) [mp3]

Duffy - Mercy
Will be the free single on iTunes tomorrow

Chances are you've already heard one half of the duo She & Him sing. That is if you enjoy Will Ferrell films about elves going to NYC on missions of self discovery, and more importantly, Christmas spirit! I'm talking about the very talented, very beautiful Zooey Deschanel, who sings a wonderful rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" in Elf, and also stars in films such as Almost Famous, Tin Man, and All the Real Girls. This really should be another entry for Pretty People Can Sing, but since her album with partner M. Ward comes out on March 18th, we'll just keep it simple and plug this amazing artist right now. And honestly Zooey's jazzy, other-times folksy vocals say more than I ever could.

She & Him - This is Not a Test [mp3]

She & Him - You Really Got a Hold on Me [mp3]

She & Him - Untitled [mp3]
A rendition of "Swing Low"

Tomorrow: A nostalgic look back at the music of one of my favorite movies: Kill Bill, as well as the best of the very few new television tunes.

Peace, love, and Hilary in Ohio (I'm a huge Obama fan too),

LTK