(Can't) Take My Cool Off

I don't think I talk about how much I LOVE Lazee enough. Like need to have beautiful Swedish babies with him love. If you're new to Lazee (pronounced La-zy), picture all the youthful energy of Lupe, combined with the flow caliber of Geologic or Aesop (not always content-wise); with a crazycool Kanye-esque style, and a HOT accent that makes me butter everytime I hear his voice on speak tracks, I think you can understand why Lazee has been number one on my playlist (and baby daddy list) this month. If you still don't believe me, check out his smashing live performance of "Rock Away" below. Also listen to some of his tracks, including "Take My Cool Off" that he layed down with fellow Swedish rapper Henok Achido.



Lazee - Rock Away [ysi]
How flipping catchy is this song? Seriously, babies.
Lazee - Heartless [ysi]
Lazee - Reload [ysi]
Henok Achido ft. Lazee - Take My Cool Off [ysi]

Bonus Track: Henok Achido - Can I [ysi]

I really thought Sweden let me down after ABBA and well ... Ikea. But I'm back on board.
Heck, its my own heritage.

Peace, love, and cheap but poorly made furniture,
LTK

Waiting for a War

Waiting for a war... that's what its like at work now. With everyone leaving the store before shit hits the fan, shit is pretty much hitting the fan anyway. So I'm holding my breath until the Spanish bombs away.

The Morning Benders - Waiting for a War [Daytrotter Session] [ysi]

The Clash - Spanish Bombs [ysi]

It's time for a little thing we like to call two weeks notice. And I'm not talking about a romantic comedy staring Sandra Bullock and Hugh "Ladies don't notice that I make the same movie because I'm British" Grant. I'm talking about sweet sweet freedom people! The kind that starts with going back to school and ends with the indentured servitude that is S**cks. (I don't even want to advertise for them on here)

Mike Doughty - Busting Up a Starbucks [ysi]

Here's to my official resignation letter which finds its way into my boss's hands tomorrow! So long Howard Schultz, or HoScho as we call the billionaire tyc around the watercooler. I never met you, but I'll miss you're heart of business gold. And your green tea lattes; those are just plain delicious.

Ballad of a Comeback Kid

So I was seriously thinking about shutting Umbrellas down based on months of absentee parenting (Child Support was active bleeding hearts). However, I think summer was just a lull for me. And there's nothing like the annual religious experience that is Bumbershoot; Seattle's labor day weekend music/arts/comedy/insert-blank-here festival to snap me out of it.

The New Pornographers - Ballad of a Comeback Kid [ysi]

Seeing Death Cab for Cutie live, and being within 20 yards or less of the humble genius that is Ben Gibbard could wake Sleeping Beauty out of a poision-induced coma. I won't bore you with the details of the enitre weekend (I had a glorious 3-day pass) but I will say the highlights were defintely DCFC, Beck, Estelle, Band of Horses, Del, Offspring (for nostalgia purposes and because I saw someone crowdsurf in his wheelchair), Jakob Dylan, and Battles.

Everyone was def hyped about Stone Temple Pilots and their "reunion" but I think I was over them before I started listening. Trying to hop on the fame of contemporaries like Alice in Chains and Nirvana worked out for them commercially, just didn't score them too many points with me. They sure sold out tix for their night show fast enough, so I say good for them.

Back to School, Back to Work, Back to the Blog. It's a Back to ... Mix with Some Bumber thrown in there for good measure.

Beck - Timebomb [ysi]
How can you not dance to this song? Please try. Please.
Yeasayer - Sunrise [ysi]
Estelle - More Than Friends [ysi]
Not only does she have pipes, and a hot accent, but Estelle is hilarious to boot. Imagine this in heavy Cockney: "He was treating me badly, so I dumped his ass, bought a push up bra, and decided I was the most magnificent woman in the world."
Band of Horses - The General Specifc [ysi]
Ben wore the most kick ass hat in his show on Saturday. I think it had ears. It only made me love his Grizzly Adams appearance more...
The Magnetic Fields - I Think I Need a New Heart
This song always makes me want to dance around my kitchen in my underwear.
Jakob Dylan - Evil is Alive and Well [ysi]
Fleet Foxes - Tiger Mountain Peasant Song [ysi]
Death Cab - Grapevine Fires [ysi]
My new favorite DCFC song. Overlooked on their new album, but performed live it was absolute perfection; the lyrics, coupled w/Bens heartbreakingly honest delivery made me cry.

Peace, Love, and Comebacks,
LTK

(My) Shopping Bag

GoodWill is amazing. How do people still not know this? Yesterday's managers special was 50% of all records, cds, and cassettes - which lets recap, are already priced at $1, $2, and $.10 respectively. That means yours truly picked up 13 vinyl gems for $6.50, including Simon and G's Greatest Hits, The Best of Duke Ellington, Joan Armatrading, A Rainbow Connection classic, as well as others by Cat Stevens, Dionne Warwick, and yes even a '45 by Asia.

What can I say? It was the heat of the moment. At least I resisted Frampton Comes Alive; doesn't everybody and their grandmother own that record?

Clinic - Shopping Bag [ysi]
Simon and Garfunkel - Cecilia [ysi]
Dionne Warwick - What the World Needs Now [ysi]
Cat Stevens - Moonshadow [ysi]
Duke Ellington - Arabesque Cookie [ysi]
Joan Armatrading - The Weakness in Me [ysi]
Asia - Heat of the Moment [ysi]

Peace Love and Good Deals, LtK

Your Love Alone is Not Enough

Not enough, not enough, not enough... So the Manic SP lyrics go. Decades of songs about unrequited love, heartbreak, loss in relationships have been empathy-inspiring because we've all been there. We've all had our cardiovascular regions abused. But love falling short of our expectations, that seems to be subject matter a little less touched upon. Less imagined or predicted in the romantic minds of the average American, but more realistic. Its happening all around us; evident in the rising divorce rate, domestic abuse incidents, and influx of older, single Americans who've realized relationships are simply too costly (yes, even in the financial sense).

Manic Street Preachers - Your Love Alone is Not Enough [ysi]

'Your Love Alone is Not Enough' touches on another kind of failure in relationships - this one between friends or lovers. The Rub: Our love for another person is never enough to save them from themselves, and the helplessness we feel is inevitable. How heartbreaking for us, doomed to insufficiency. We will never be enough for someone else, whether they want us or not. Ultimately the human condition is an isolating one; born alone, die alone et cetera. One is not the loneliest, but the only number.

Gang of Four - We Live as We Dream, Alone [ysi]

Beck - Go it Alone [ysi]

They say love is interminable if only our efforts remain inexhaustible. I say, page me when they make hearts that last forever. Mine is currently feeling a little rundown. I'd even settle for an emotional pacemaker. Perhaps I could corner the market on that...

Today is all about that feeling of falling short in relationships, in love. About the power (or curse) of one.

The Cure - Never Enough [ysi]
The Magnetic Fields - Why I Cry [ysi]
Bloc Party - Blue Light (Engineers 'Anti-Gravity Mix) [ysi]
The Midway State - Change for You [ysi]
What if I change for you? Then will you see me, still with you?
Bishop Allen - Shrinking Violet [ysi]
Cat Power - Woman Left Lonely [ysi]
Rilo Kiley - I Never
I got nothing to give you, you see/Expect everything/Everything/All the good and the bad/Cause I've been bad/Lied, cheated, stolen, been ungrateful for what I've had/And I'm afraid habits rule my waking life/I'm scared/And I'm running in my sleep/For you/But all of
the oceans and rivers and showers will wash it all away/And make me clean/For you
Led Zeppelin - Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You [ysi]
Abrevadero - All My Little Words (Magnetic Fields Cover) [ysi]
Bruce Springsteen - For You
Crawl into my ambulance, your pulse is getting weak/Reveal yourself all now to me girl while you've got the strength to speak/'Cause they're waiting for you at bellevue with their oxygen masks/But I could give it all to you now if only you could ask/And don't call for your surgeon even he says its too late/Its not your lungs this time, its your heart that holds your fate/...Didn't you think I knew that you were born with the power of a locomotive?/Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?/And your chelsea suicide with no apparent motive/You could laugh and cry in a single sound/...I came for you, for you, I came for you/But you did not need my urgency/I came for you, for you, I came for you/But your life was one long emergency

Bonus/Just Cause:
Ray Charles - That Lucky Old Sun Just Rolls Aound Heaven [ysi]

PS. The Manic SP song is not new, none of these are, it just holds a special place in my heart. The story behind its penning is heartbreaking; the loss of a friend to suicide, and the residual feelings of guilt over what could have been, what more could have been done. It was Bono who said that courage is taking our darkest experiences and turning them into a upbeat pop song. I'm finding it eerily comforting to bop along to tragedy.

Beg Your Pardon

... But do imports just do it better? Seems like all the big players these days are hailing from abroad. Based on the success of the latest Radiohead and Coldplay releases one might wonder if American music still exists. Maybe it's not such a new trend though. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Clash, U2, Pink Floyd ... ringing any London/Dublin bells? However, what began as this audioholic's European fixation has migrated southwest for the duration. Perhaps in pursuit of tanner, more muscle clad men with a bigger investment in oral hygiene, my interest has found itself a new home on the shores of surfer central; the land down under, and title of the new Baz Luhrman production, Australia herself.

It's no secret that my taste flew south for the summer occasionally. How else would I know about/love AC/DC, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and in more recent years, Jet, Youth Group, and The Vines. Still its more contemporary acts that have been catching my two cents (or .99 - fascist itunes) lately. So for all you mates interested in Crocodile Dundeeing up a bit musically, here's an all Aussie mixtape for you. Just don't go hating New Zealanders all of a sudden. Kiwis made Flight of the Conchords; they can't be far away from genius.

PS. Aussie Slang for you.
Slag = Slut
Pash = Kiss
Boot = Trunk
Get Stuffed = Self-Explanatory

Josh Pyke - Beg Your Pardon [ysi]
My favorite new artist to chillax to. This song is irresistibly sweet, heartfelt, and oddly addicting. It's funny how you can miss someone/Even when they're sitting next to you/So I profess that loneliness isn't always by company, cured/ ... But oh no, around you I forget behavior/But if I begged your pardon might I once again be in your favor?/I know that I'm not the one of whom you think at night/But I know I/Presume to think I made you think of me right now
Red Riders - I Think You're Blind [ysi]
These boys know how to use a hook - line, and sinker. Though the ambiguity of their lyricism has me still scratching my head at certain phrases, I'm too busy singing along to this jam to notice. There's money so dirty/That I can't stand to touch it/It's not unusual this kind of crime/I think you're blind/I'd rather die
Youth Group - On a String [ysi]
I hang by a thread/Oh, let's go to bed/And get ourselves by
The Crayon Fields - Living So Well [ysi]
The Moldy Peaches meets The Decemberists. Add a little prep-school electronica and stir.
The Panics - Ruins [ysi]
I'm close enough to know you're near/But not enough to make it real/Have I become like all the others here/A ruin?/The deepest of all fears
Lowrider - Faded Dreams [ysi]
Machine Translations - You'll Change [ysi]
The Audreys - Small Things
Evermore - Light Surrounding You [ysi]
Red Riders - Crawl Back Baby [ysi]
Youth Group - Skeleton Jar[ysi]
The Boat People - Awkward Orchid Orchard
The Panics - Don't Fight It [ysi]
I left my heart in places/Forgot everyone of their faces/And tried to navigate a broken path of which I may have helped create/In any incident, this is never no accident/To stand alone and let the silence make itself at home

Peace Love and Hot Australian Surfer Boys, LTk

Ganja Babe

Do I miss TV or what? Seasons were way too short this year (thanks writers for demanding what you're entitled to and inconveniencing my entertainment schedule in the process) and thus, I'm hurting.

Michael Franti - Ganja Babe [ysi]

Uploaded June 25

The light in the dark is that Weeds Season 4 is scheduled to start June 16th. God bless premium channels. I am so pumped, despite the fact that I don't get Showtime. There's no way I can get through the week without knowing what's going down in my favorite-fake California community! Whose selling what stash to who? Is MILF weed making a comeback? Will U-Turn rise from the dead and make me laugh my ass off at all his one-liners? And most importantly, what bands did producers rope into covering Malvina Reynolds stab at 1950s gated communities, "Little Boxes" this season? Death Cab: Done Regina: Done. Jenny Lewis: Done. Elvis Costello: Done. Billy Bob Thornton: Done, and we're oh so sad he did.

Elvis Costello - Little Boxes [ysi]

Billy Bob Thornton - Little Boxes [ysi]
Oh my...
Jenny Lewis with (boyfriend?) Johnathan Rice - Little Boxes [ysi]

There is of course the HUGE cliffhanger from the season three finale; Is Agrestic still standing after last seasons brushfire blowout? After (Spoiler Alert) Nancy went schizo and torched their house for "protection"? May I just add that those montage scenes paired with State Radio's "Keepsake" were music supervision perfection. Haunting vocals singing "I'm gonna put my family back together again" over Nancy trashing her own house made the entire spectacle not only believable, but heartfelt. Bravo you overpaid bastards. Bravo.

State Radio - Keepsake [ysi]

Uploaded June 25

In anticipation of the new season, yet another soundtrack (Volume 3) has been released. Randy Newman's and The Shins' version of "Little Boxes" open and close the record, while fillers include Page France, Great Lake Swimmers, Beirut, and State Radio, among others. If you got it, milk it right? And this is one trilogy I won't be disappointed in - Pirates of the Caribbean, Spiderman, you know what you've done...

Private Affair

The Virgins have officially landed. It's new music Tuesday and what can make me smile more than Weezer's Red Album? Much more than knowing that the countdown to Coldplay and the Carter 3 are incrementally shorter? A self-titled, FULL LENGTH debut from NY-based, indie punk rock-revivalists The Virgins. It's been nearly a year since their five song EP smashed onto my iPod with nothing short of a Nancy Sinatra-type Bang Bang. It took about 72 hours for "One Week of Danger" to skyrocket to a respectable spot on my 50 Most Played Tracks, and even less to secure the Virgins a spot on UAFT's Best Songs of 2007.

So why is my smile so short lived? Because the vice that is capitalism/corporate record production has tightened its grip on this once-raw, rag-tag group. Obvious in reworked versions of fan-favorites like "Rich Girls," is a newly polished, very studio sound that has some us crying Wolf - or WTF! Proof that you can certainly take the street out of street rockers once said rockers make the move from the streets to the penthouse. (Insert Jefferson's Theme Here) This album, though still fully-entertaining, has left me wondering what happened to those badass boys whose most well-known song takes a lyrical stab at the wealthy. Choking on irony much?

Nick, Wade, etc. I love you, but step away from the studio. Your raw instrumentation and slinky vocals are much more sexy than whatever I'm hearing Atlantic produce. Keep your recordings a private affair. And don't make me nostalgic for an indie EP after only one release...

The Virgins - One Week of Danger [ysi]
The Virgins - Rich Girls [ysi]
The Virgins - Private Affair [ysi]

The Virgins - One Week of Danger (EP Version) [ysi]
The Virgins - Rich Girls (EP Version) [ysi]

Listen. Compare. Complain. Or not.