Charlotte and Adam Discuss: Monsters, Chains and Starlets

Charlotte: So do you think it’s worth approximately $50 for me to see the Monsters of Folk by myself?

Adam: No. But I currently have an unemployed brain, so take that into consideration.

Charlotte: I’m basically broke. So nevermind.

Adam: Did you get that album?

Charlotte: Yessir. Yim Yames.
Does Monsters of Folk have an album?

Monsters of Folk – Whole Lotta Losing

Adam: Yeah, it just came out.

Charlotte: WELL. Goodbye, approx. $10.

Adam: Haha

Charlotte: Is it all covers?

Adam: No, I don’t think any of it is covers.

Charlotte: Hm.

Adam: http://www.amazon.com/Monsters-Folk/dp/B002HVLAG8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1256062727&sr=1-1

Charlotte: Beat me to it.
Oh I was confused. They play their own stuff (Bright Eyes and My Morning Jacket stuff) live too.

Adam: Haha, M. Ward can go screw himself?

Charlotte: Yes he can, as long as he continues trying to trick the world into thinking Zooey Deschanel ISN’T tone deaf.

She & Him – Sentimental Heart (buy)

Adam: Hahahaa.
Oh her voice is so bad. Every time I see that cotton commercial she did, I think, “People buy cds of this?”

Charlotte: I KNOW.
People think this is how old-timey voices are supposed to sound. And they’re not! There are good old-timey singers (like Jolie Holland) not getting their due and this b is hawking cotton with that whining.

Jolie Holland – Stubborn Beast (buy)

Adam: Is that what it is? That people think she’s old-timey?
I just figured she was popular enough to cloud peoples’ judgment of her voice. Being the adorable pixie deliverer and all.

Charlotte: She has that affected tone in her voice. Trying to croon.
And also she’s pretty, and pretty people get to do whatever they want!  Everyone knows!

Adam: Haha, slightly prettier than Scarlett Johansson, whose music is equally slightly less-successful.

Charlotte: You think she’s prettier than Scarlett Johansson?

Adam: I do, in fact.

This is not a choice that will ever need to be made in real life.

Charlotte: INTERESTING.
Poor Scarlett Johansson. No one wants to hear you sing!

Adam: Not even Tom Waits songs. The ultimate indie-dude magnet.

Scarlett Johansson – Anywhere I Lay My Head (buy)

Charlotte: Teaming up with Pete Yorn didn’t work neither – next time, jump on a bandwagon that can write good music!
Ya burn’t Scarlett.

Adam: Hahaha, ouch.

Charlotte: I actually like her, what am I saying.
I’m full of piss and vinegar today.

Adam: I thought that was a burn on Pete Yorn.

Charlotte: Well burn them both.
It was. I am comfortable sending bad vibes his way.

Adam: Haha. He’s yet another person whose work I don’t know well enough to dislike.
When I try to remember that one hit song he had, all that pops up in my brain is “Back on the Chain Gang” by The Pretenders.

Charlotte: Hahahahahaha. Life on a Chain. Almost!
His first album was really not bad. His second album was lousy.
When he can get a hook it’s good.

Pete Yorn – Life on a Chain (buy)

Adam: Then screw that guy too. I’m willing to hate based on recommendations.

posted by Charlotte and Adam

Donne moi en plus

I was looking up music videos from the mid-to-late-90s last night, and found this wonderful gem. Hope you enjoy.

Anyone who speaks/understands very fast French know if it’s an accurate translation?

Busta Rhymes – Gimme Some More (Buy It)

posted by Adam

Sweatin’ Like James Brown

Overheard a woman saying the following on the subway this morning:

“… Sweating like I was James Brown. Everybody else is comfortable and I’m sitting there all Gladys Knight and The Pips. They’re all wearing shirts and slacks and I’m all decked out like Diana Ross.”

I love this and wish I talked this way naturally.

James Brown – Cold Sweat (Part 1) (Buy It)

Gladys Knight and The Pips – I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Buy It)

The Supremes – You Can’t Hurry Love (Buy It)

posted by Adam

Push It to the Limit, with Chocolate

And then sometimes the internet gives you a present like this. I found this on CraigsList the other day while job searching.

1980’s Pop Star seeks ambitious people for Healthy Chocolate Biz. (Upper East Side)

And thank you to that video for reminding me just how absurdly stupid the movie Scarface is. Ridiculous.

posted by Adam

Summer Mix ‘09

Charlotte reminded me — about a month ago, we have slow reaction times around here — that I was obligated to post a summer mix, so here it is!

Summer’s been kind of a weird process so far this year. Most of the season has been nasty (see post below), with random beautiful days sprinkled in between. Non-weather life has been just as bipolar, with deaths and births, jobs gained and lost, houses bid on and outbid on, trips planned and scrapped, some friends made and some becoming estranged, relationships started and ended. There have been some amazing moments too — seeing the sun set over the Manhattan skyline from the Brooklyn waterfront on a Sunday evening, feeling the breeze come off the water and listening to a wonderful new band perform.  Or a Friday afternoon with the sun playing through the trees, spent sitting on a Tompkins Square Park bench, slipping into a moment of contentment so deep you want to cry. This summer has had enough of these sanity-saving minutes to more than make up for any crisis.

Anyway, back to the mix. It’s got some old stuff, some new stuff. Some stuff that’s old, but is new to me. Hopefully it’ll bring smiles to your faces and sunshine to your speakers.

EDIT: Everything should be fixed now, following a silly problem with our file-hosting site. Please let us know if there are any other issues with getting the music. And thanks for visiting!

1. Regina Spektor – Us (Buy It)

2. Jay-Z – Sweet (Nigerian Gangster version) (Get It)

3. Matt and Kim – Lessons Learned (Buy It)

4. Rye Rye – Bang (feat. MIA) (Buy It)

5. Bob Mould – City Lights (Days Go By) (But It)

6. The Dirty Projectors – Temecula Sunrise (Buy It)

7. Solomon Burke – Maggie’s Farm (B. Dylan cover) (Buy SB music)

8. Deceptikon – Montana (feat. Cyne) (Buy Deceptikon music)

9. Mos Def – Revelations (Buy It)

10. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Vanessa from Queens (Buy It)

11. Stereolab – Neon Beanbag (Buy It)

12. J Dilla – I Told Y’All (Buy It)

13. Tokyo Police Club  – Be Good (Buy It)

14. Atlas Sound – Walkabout (feat. Noah Lennox) (Buy AS music)

15. Raekwon – Wu-Ooh (Back from the Slums) (feat. Ghostface Killah, Method Man and Only Built) (Buy Raekwon music)

16. Dan Deacon – Okie Dokie (Buy It)

17. Amadou et Mariam – I Follow You (Buy It)

18. Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks (Buy It)

19. Zero-7 – Somersault (Dangermouse remix, feat. MF Doom) (Buy Zero-7 music)

20. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – Rappaport’s Testament (I Never Gave Up) (Chumbawumba cover) (Buy TL&TP music)

21. Natural Self – Olufeme (remix) REMOVED BY ARTIST REQUEST (NS info here)

Both photos are of Madison Square Park, New York.

posted by Adam

Clouds & Afternoon Rain

Mark Suozzo – Looking Suite: The Shortest Weekend / After Alice (So Sweet, So Sad) (Buy It)

Charlie Parker Quintet – Don’t Blame Me (Buy It)

Django Reinhardt – Improvisation on Pathétique (Andante) (Buy It)

Quincy Jones  – The Drawing Room (Interlude) (Buy It)

Yo-Yo Ma – Doce De Coco (Buy It)

Oscar Peterson – Georgia On My Mind (Buy It)

Rahsaan Roland Kirk – The Haunted Melody (Buy It)

posted by Adam

Charlotte and Adam Discuss: Kanye, Advice and Dictionaries

Charlotte: Do you read Aziz Ansari’s tumblr?

Adam: Yeah, once in a while.

Charlotte: I want a tumblr where I make fun of my little brother and cousins in hilarious ways too.

And talk to Kanye West of course.

Adam: Haha, I’d read it.

Charlotte: The conversations with Kanye may be a little one-sided.

I kind of want a tumblr now, a real one, but it’ll be so . . . . lame.

Rolling Stones – Tumbling Dice (Buy It)

Adam: Hahahaha

Charlotte: Like song lyrics, poems, complaining about boys.

Adam: As long as it’s funny I guess.

Charlotte: NOPE. Won’t be!

Not intentionally anyway!

Adam: Hahahaha

You could have fake conversations with Kanye. About boys.

Charlotte: Hahahahahahaa

Dear Kanye, first – great post on your blog with the fashion and stuff. I love music and colors too! But the real issue, how do I know if he wants to be exclusive???? It’s making me so :( !!

Adam: He writes back:

GIRL DON’T CRY OVER IT AND SHIT. MEN ARE JUST LIKE THAT. NOW LOOK AT THIS CRAZY COUCH SOME JAPANESE DUDE DESIGNED!!!!!!!!!

Kanye West – Good Life (feat. T-Pain) (Buy It)

Charlotte: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

How bout this: We start a blog called “Letters to Kanye.”

Where I write questions, and you, as Kanye, answer them.

CAN YOU SAY BOOK DEAL?

The Weakerthans – Uncorrected Proofs (Buy It)

Adam: Haha, if it doesn’t get old really quickly.

Charlotte: Yeah it’s not going to last. And I’ll get frustrated that I’m not getting any real answers!

Adam: Who knows? Me as Kanye might be surprisingly empathetic and wise.

Charlotte: Hahahahahaha

I don’t know if that would be funnier or just crazy tumblr nonsense.

Adam: I think the definition of “tumblr” is “Crazy nonsense.”

Charlotte: Yep. That’s in Miriam Websters.

Adam: Just added!

Right after they added “friend” as a verb and right before they added the new definition of “tweet.”

Black  Star – Definition (Buy It)

Charlotte: Hahahahahaha

We are the dumbest generation.

posted by Charlotte and Adam

July the Fourth

One hell of a party.

Here are a couple songs for Independence Day, both from duos and both with instructions for enjoying them to their fullest potential:

1. Get psyched for July 4th fun, and sing along!

Sifl and Oly – United States of Whatever (Buy It)

2. Now calm down and do some reflecting, and still sing along!

Simon and Garfunkel – America (Buy It)

Happy Fourth, gang!

posted by Adam

Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

Despite all the insanity of later years, let’s all remember just how freaking amazing Michael Jackson was. Really freaking amazing, that’s how amazing. Seriously, these are two of the best songs ever recorded, and it’s barely scraping the surface:

The Jackson 5 – I Want You Back (Buy It)

Michael Jackson – Billy Jean (Buy It)

We’ll miss you, you crazy space alien genius pop machine.

And a couple of covers to round it all out:

Cal Tjader – I Want You Back (Buy CT music)

KT Tunstall – I Want You Back (Buy KT music)

posted by Adam

Alls Fair

It’s about to get real emo up in here.

Sebastien Grainger – Love Can Be So Mean (buy)

When I’m upset music doesn’t usually help.  It will only intensify whatever misery I’m already working with.  But it’s very present.  I heard this song in my head almost immediately the last time I felt acute, intense pain:

Cat Stevens – Trouble (buy)

And while I’m already feeling bad, I might as well dwell for a minute:

A.C. Newman – The Heartbreak Rides (buy)

Sam Cooke  – Tennessee Waltz (buy)

The Clash – Every Little Bit Hurts (buy)

Cake – Friend Is a Four Letter Word (buy)

And now I move on, and forward, which is the silver lining in every bummer heights high experience.  Besides, it’s only feelings.

F.O.C. – Hurt Feelings (buy)

And when the breeze picks up, it’s really nice outside.

posted by Charlotte