I don’t know if I’ve mentioned them here yet, but I’ve just been turned onto British Sea Power, & The Onion’s AV Club has a live stream of their new stuff, called Valhalla Dance Hall, & it is good.
As if that weren’t enough, new Wire.
Two Tune Tuesday: Final 2010 Edition
I’m loving this list of NPR listener-chosen albums of 2010, and even more the tracks off those albums. And while I can’t help but laugh when I hear Cee Lo Green’s “Fuck You” – ain’t that some shit? – my heart (and feet) go to Janelle Monae who is just fucking fantastic in her black & whites, tuxedos, & pompadour:
“Tightrope” is, hands down, my favorite song to dance around my apt to (not that I ever do that).
AND, because I live in this neck of the woods now, here is a list of the best albums to come out of Milwaukee this year. Kings Go Forth are like Philly soul all over again (though I haven’t seen them live yet), and I suspect Eric & Magill will hit bigger than they have so far. Fans of Rasputina / Dresden Dolls / Squirrel Nut Zippers absolutely need to check out Scarring Party.
Merry Happy!
Merry musical Christmas to you all.
Two (or Four, or Seventeen) Tune Tuesday
This is more like a four-tune Tuesday, or a 17+ tune Tuesday, depending, but I found this lovely list of 2010’s best queer indies and thought I should share it, but I also wanted to share some cool stuff I’ve discovered this year as well. So in addition to those, here’s a preview of some tracks by one of my favorite discoveries of the year: British Sea Power. You can hear some of the tracks, but it’s the Zeus EP I’ve been loving – “Kw-h” in particular. If you like The Kills, definitely check them out, too.
Thank you, Ben Harrison, as always, for tuning me in. His band Etc. has a super(hero) track out, too.
Two Tune Tuesday: KT Tunstall
I got to hear her newest track “Madame Trudeaux” over at NPR, & it’s so lovely, like old school glam. Suzi Quatro would be proud.
Two Tune Tuesday: Liz Phair
Because it’s my BiL Ian’s birthday, there can be no other choice. By last count, he’s seen her about the same number of times I’ve seen Rufus Wainwright (which is saying something):
Two Tune Tuesday: The Reverend Horton Heat
They played Milwaukee a few weeks ago & no one I know here was interested. It’s a sad sad day when no one wants to go see psychobilly.
Next time around, maybe.
Two Tune Tuesday: Gang of Four
In honor of their return, which you can get an earful of care of NPR, I thought it was time for Gang of Four. No, not the Chinese political faction of the Cultural Revolution, but the post punk band. They were always especial favorites for me because the bass player, Dave Allen, went on to be the spine for Shriekback, that lovely post punk funk weirdness of a band (whose lead, Barry Andrews, came from the original XTC lineup).
“To Hell with Poverty” seems about as well-timed this year as it was when they released it, but this time on these shores.
Two Tune Tuesday: Joe Jackson
Two gender-y tracks from Joe Jackson.
Two Tune Tuesday: Luciana Souza
I got to see & hear Luciana Souza this past Friday night at Lawrence, and she really blew me away. Like most gringas, my intro to this kind of music was “The Girl from Ipanema” — I’ve got a few versions of it, including that lovely disco one that was on Red Hot + Rio
There’s very little good available on either YouTube or Playlist.com of hers, so instead I’ve put up this promo clip from her most recent CD:
And here’s a link to some samples from the CD. Since I can’t stand translated music – I’d rather have no idea what the lyrics are about, or read them – so I’d recommend checking out the “Adeus America & Eu Quero Un Samba.” & here’s Amazon’s mp3 samples