best. mix. EVAR. so far.

i gotta tell ya, searching for "hyperbole" on google image search is some sort of existential journey or something, much like playing 20 questions with a word like "scorn." but luckilly, i was able to dig this up, which i think is pretty fantastic, both for its pun value and for its expression of an abstract concept:
































which brings me to this month's mix, a DOOZY of a mix. without further ado, i present April '06:

1. samuel l. jackson - the monologue "open a fucking window" from cinematic oeuvre snakes on a plane
2. mark ronson (feat. alex greenwald) - just
3. tv on the radio - i was a lover
4. johnny cash (feat. glen campbell) - gentle on my mind
5. adem - everything you need
6. (smog) - held
7. jens lekman - a sweet summer's night on hammer hill
8. architecture in helsinki - rendezvous: potrero hill
9. os mutantes - o relogio
10. noisettes - monte christo
11. leo kottke - girl from the north country
12. mike birbiglia - whiffle ball tony
13. bob dylan - mozambique
14. gnarls barkley - crazy
15. andre 3000 - vibrate
16. cinematic orchestra - burn out
17. taylor mali - totally like whatever
18. spankrock - put that pussy on me
19. wilco & billy bragg - at my window sad and lonely

download: http://projectbiobus.com/ari/April%20'06.zip

if you haven't heard of snakes on a plane yet, then go to your nearest internet browser, google the words "snakes on a plane" and watch the enjoyment unfold before you. to quote sam jackson, "it's kinda gonna be great." i've been grooving to mark ronson's cover of just for about a month straight now, and it just doesn't get old. makes me wanna dance and kill myself at the same time, just because it's radiohead! i predict 2006 to be the year of tv on the radio. i think this album is going to be dy-no-miiite, especially with tracks like this. i can't even express in words how comforting johnny cash's voice can be, especially in songs like this one. adem (pronounced ardem, strangely enough) was once in fridge with kieran hebden, aka four tet. his own album, home songs is a beautiful album. tracks like everything you need keep permeating my ipod mixes. (smog) rocks the house with held. like a scandinavian motown artist, jens lekman brings the soul in a sweet summer's night in hammer hill. definitely going on the car mixes this summer, when i get a new stereo... sigh. rendezvous: potrero hill sounds like archicture in helsinki's contribution to the rushmore soundtrack. short and sweet, but moody. in o relogio, os mutantes show why they are one of the most influential brazilian bands in history. jeff and i saw noisettes open for bloc party, and at the time i don't remember being particularly impressed. then i heard monte christo... leo kottke takes on my favorite dylan classic girl from the north country. mike birbiglia shows a new generation how to do political humor. and pizza. mozambique: bob dylan and emmylou harris off of desire. gnarls barkley is also going to have a huge year, as their single crazy is predicted to be the first online #1 single in british history tomorrow. andre 3000 continues the a-typical soul train in reverse, with vibrate. cinematic orchestra: extremely atmospheric acid jazz and audio ergo sum favorite. taylor mali's totally like whatever is the most impressive piece of poetry i've come across in quite some time. spankrock tells it like it is. probably not the best song to blast at work. i just made a mix of great wilco songs i keep forgetting about, and at my window sad and lonely always gets lost for some reason. but here it is! just for you, the listeners.

something in the air...

i'm feeling a bit atmospheric this month... lots of evocative choices, with the idea of being transported to a different time, a different place, familiar or foreign. without any further ado, here is the march '06 mix:

1. panda bear | untitled 3
2. saito | track 1
3. jason collett | hangover days
4. scissor sisters | take me out
5. nat king cole | if i may
6. mike birbiglia | secret public journal 1.17.06
7. loose fur | the ruling class
8. spirit of the west | home for a rest
9. broken social scene | backyards
10. michael blake | in the arms of ali
11. the cardigans | in the round
12. cat power | empty shell
13. andrew bird's bowl of fire | two way action
14. feist | it's cool to love your family
15. finley quaye | even after all
16. orchestre baobab | coumba

panda bear's album, young prayer is an abstract tribute to a lost loved one. beautiful album with great ups and downs. i couldn't find any information on the mysterious saito, but his japanese take on nick drake/americana has been lodged in my ipod for the last few months, where it'll stay for quite some time. hangover days includes the wonderful amy millan from stars, but comes from broken social scene's jason collett's album, idols of exile. george michael/elton john torchbearers scissor sisters transform franz's take me out into a mid-80's classic. if i may is possibly my favorite nat king cole arrangement, and an illustrative example of the evocative mood i was going for with this mix. mike birbiglia's inclusion is a bit tangential, but his comedy has been stuck in my mind for the last couple of weeks. check out his podcast, secret public journal on itunes. loose fur (i.e. lucifer) is jeff tweedy and glenn kotche's side project alongside sonic youth's jim o'rourke. this track was initially entitled crack-smoking jesus, but toned down slightly for public consumption. however, the lyrics were not... i think anyone can identify with spirit of the west's home for a rest, perhaps particularly our friends abroad right now (you know who you are) so this one is dedicated to you guys, as well as my camp friends. broken social scene returns with backyards, a fun little mess of a tune. saxophonist michael blake mellows the mood with in the arms of ali, a beautifully produced track. i think he and ben allison have the best produced jazz albums out there right now. thanks to my neighborhoodies pals for turning me on to the cardigans' in the round. clap your hands (you'll see when you listen to the song). cat power brings her supermodel voice to the country on the greatest. i've been getting into andrew bird's older catalog, and this album with his former band bowl of fire reminds me a lot of summerteeth-era wilco. feist's older catalog brought forth this gem, it's cool to love your family, playing on her 80's pop sensibilities. there are any number of places you could have heard finley quaye's even after all, and if you haven't, here it is. i saved the most atmospheric track for last, with senegal's orchestre baobab performing coumba, singing, "it was you who told me that i was the light of your life / it was you who told me that the sky and heavens are always blue." this song never fails to put me in another place. perhaps those of us that have been to senegal would like to expound on that, but i'll leave that be.

download:
http://bazoomercom.com/ari/March%20'06.zip

pretty fascinating, if monotonous musicology project

I came across this art exhibit from Nate Harrison today. It's a fascinating history of the "amen" break, or beat snippet for those of us less-versed in DJing. You've heard it before, and you'll hear it again. Might as well get learned in the process, no? I don't get the whole computerized vocal performance thing, but I was riveted nonetheless.

beautiful, snowy day!

*small request: hey friends. if you like what you hear, please leave comments. it's nice to know who's been stopping by, and what you guys like. and it helps me stay motivated to keep doing this.



i actually had this mix ready on time for once, but i'm glad i waited because i made some additions that were a better fit for the mix. above is the view from my window this fine day, along with some environmental commentary from mr. andrew bird.

1. nina simone - black is the color of my true love's hair
2. emilliana torrini - sunny road
3. jens lekman - rocky dennis' farewell song
4. hooverphonic - renaissance affair
5. architecture in helsinki - theme to motorhome
6. natalie merchant - san andreas fault
7. deerhoof - desapareceré
8. my morning jacket - knot comes loose
9. antony & the johnsons - for today i am a boy
10. my morning jacket - lay low
11. broken social scene - 7/4 (shoreline)
12. (smog) - the well
13. bob dylan - man in the long black coat
14. broken social scene - windsurfind nation
15. dangerdoom/zero7/sia - somersault
16. joe strummer - coma girl
17. the mavericks - dance the night away
18. radiohead - gagging order
19. stereolab - miss modular
20. the minus five/wilco - with a gun
21. broken social scene - fire eye'd boy

download here:
http://bazoomercom.com/ari/February%20'06.zip

nina simone: jazz goddess, and excellent remix by jaffa. i can't remember where i found out about emiliana torrini, but i love the ripoff of the opening of rod stewart's maggie may. i actually didn't like this cd all that much when i first bought it, but jens lekman's oh you're so silent, jens is really growing on me. i've loved hooverphonic for a long time, even before they were ripped off so blatently by frou frou and imogen heap, in my opinion. renaissance affair was in a VW ad a while back. architecture in helsinki makes it back on with an ode to the trailer park. natalie merchant, if you're reading this, i love you. desapareceré is such a great, creepy-ass song, with beautiful chord progressions and samples from deerhoof. z by my morning jacket has been on my ipod pretty solidly for a few months now, and is one of the most rockin' albums around right now. plus i'm a sucker for a lap steel guitar. antony got a lot of acclaim last year, and i am quite late to the party, but that soulful, diva voice is irresistable. lots
of broken social scene this month too, after missing both their shows and feist's show within the last two weeks. i am an idiot. dangerdoom's remix of zero7's somersault is pretty excellent, featuring sia on vocals (sia's colour the small one is another album everyone should check out, right, maia?). joe strummer's mescaleros rocked out on clash-themed tracks right up until his death a few years ago. this is my favorite post-clash strummer track. dance the night away is my favorite pick-me-up song ever, and an even better break-up song by the mavs. gagging order is a b-side from 2003's hail to the thief, and it looks like there'll be new radiohead soon enough! if i were a 60's superhero, i would be miss modular, the best 60's superhero theme song ever, by stereolab (of, "is this... stereolab?" fame in high fidelity). the minus five recently completed another album with wilco, spawning this great, ol' school-style wilco track.

It's late, and I hate Ikea.

before we kick things off... a moment of silence and of song: http://www.lib.virginia.edu/small/exhibits/music/audio/
mp3/we_shall_overcome.mp3

-----



sorry, i spent waaaaaay too much time at ikea today...

1. sufjan stevens - in the devil's territory
2. banda uniao black - yeah yeah yeah
3. the strokes - killing lies
4. stars - my radio (fm mix)
5. chris lightcap - lay-up
6. wayne shorter - over shadow hill way
7. architecture in helsinki - maybe you can owe me
8. reid anderson - todos las cosas se van
9. bloc party - two more years (mstrkrft remix)
10. feist - gatekeeper
11. m. ward - big boat v. 3
12. m. ward - hifi v.2
13. something for rockets - the line
14. martin dosh - nothing new
15. la volee d'castor - la voisine
16. kanye west - golddigger (DIPLO mix)
17. fourtet - smile around the face
18. nickel creek - toxic
19. iron & wine | calexico - all tomorrow's parties
20. mark turner - zurich
21. wilco & billy bragg - airline to heaven

download: http://bazoomercom.com/ari/January%20'06.zip

*updated april 25th, 2006

sufjan makes it onto the mix for the second straight month. i'm determined to get you all to love him, so damnit, get to it! banda uniao black's yeah yeah yeah is dedicated to my audio ergo sum/shari p'oons brothers and sisters. called "one of the most important bands of the black rio movement" by seu jorge (pele in the life aquatic with steve zissou and knockout ned in city of god), this track funks hard, and it funks right. with killing lies, the strokes take their sound in a new direction. i'm not going to try and sell anyone on the strokes, but i love this track. i'll even go as far as to say i think the strokes are pulling a radiohead on this one... stars are back for another go at it, and although this track is even cheesier than my last contribution, it has a kickass trombone part for mr. david lindholm. this mix is going to be pretty jazz heavy, mostly because of my personal attempt to renew my vows to jazz, and mr. ando helped me out by introducing me to chris lightcap last week. listen to that groove on lay-up, it's ridiculous... from sir edward comes this catchy architecture in helsinki track, which of course i had to follow up with an amazing jazz composition by reid anderson (of last month's the bad plus fame) entitled todos las cosas se van from the album, "abolish bad architecture." bloc party makes it back with an awesome remix of their new single two more years (which i'm pretty sure is a thinly veiled message of hope to those who aren't... mm... huge supporters of the current administration... but maybe that's my reading). feist is also back, with gatekeeper, a great semi-bossa nova track that highlights her gorgeous, er, voice. yes, there's a lot of repeats, with m. ward making it on TWICE in a row, with two of my favorite songs from his new album transistor radio. some of you are going to hate something for rockets, and some of you are going to love it, and some of you hate the postal service and will possibly like this instead. i dont' know which camp you'll fall into, but i'm curious! martin dosh i across with all my fine wrmc friends when we saw him perform with andrew bird in montreal back in november of '05. if you guys don't listen to acadian music yet, you're missing out. the most well-known is la bottine souriante, once dubbed the "best live band in the world," but this little ditty by la volee d'castor (french for... volleyball?) might be a nice little intro. golddigger: you've heard it in the clubs, at mccullough, played relentlessly, and maybe, if you were lucky, you won the super bowl and drove off in a hyundai. however, for the rest of us, thanks to kremnuts (aka hebrewtronix), you can check out this amazing remix by diplodocus, the hottest dj on the streets. fourtet's smile around the face says it all. nickel creek doing britney? why not! and iron & wine + calexico manage to extract all the epicness of the velvet underground's all tomorrow's parties and concentrate it into a beautiful, lush, americana-ish arrangement. zurich by mark turner has one of my favorite grooves in any jazz composition ever, plus a really cool floating melody. and finally, airline to heaven is one glorious piece of wilco, destined to become your favorite.

mix #1: a little bit for everyone

*note: i have no idea who this is...

ok everybody... so with this mix i tried to appease everyone and also hopefully turn people on to some music they were maybe less familiar with. some selections are songs that i found out about through friends, while others have been staples for the last year or so.

1. feist - mushaboom
2. sufjan stevens - the avalanche
3. bob dylan - shooting star
4. m. ward - helicopter
5. franz ferdinand - outsiders
6. dangerdoom (ft. ghostface killah) - the mask
7. roksopp - royksopp's night out
8. hollertronix (diplo and low budget) - quantic soul orchestra's prelude to happening
9. the bad plus - (theme from) chariots of fire
10. johnny cash - pocohontas
11. regina spektor - rejazz
12. aimee mann - save me
13. andrew bird & nora o'connor - oh, sister
14. andrew bird - the naming of things
15. kanye west (ft. adam levine ) - heard 'em say
16. anti-pop consortium - what am i?
17. the notwist - this room
18. keren ann - seule
19. stars - elevator love letter
20. the sea and cake - alone for the moment
21. stars - reunion
22. jeff tweedy, jay bennett and roger mcguinn - sugar baby
23. iron & wine calexico - history of lovers
24. sufjan stevens - the predatory wasp of the palisades is out to get us!

download (*updated 12.9.05):
http://s58.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2SXM85T4BIICI0VE2HK4W9T92M

feist i found out about from npr, if i remember correctly. i think everyone will fall in love with mushaboom, which is why it's the first track. if you haven't heard (or heard of) sufjan stevens, prepare to be dazzled by his inescapable charm (thanks to buck for the avalanche). all tracks here are from come on and feel the illinoise, in my opinion the best album of the year. his goal is to make an album for all 50 states. shooting star is off of bob dylan's oh mercy, produced by my favorite producer daniel lanois, who also produced u2's the joshua tree and several other classics. m. ward has this great, out there country style that i absolutely adore (for fans of wilco). outsiders by franz ferdinand just kicks ass. dangerdoom is a collaboration between mf doom and dj danger mouse. the whole album revolves around adult swim. royksopp is a fantastic and fun electronica group from norway (for the 82 boys). diplo and hollertronix is the most fun you'll have at a dj show ever, i promise. the bad plus take on the eternally corny (theme from) chariots of fire in this track. pocohontas is johnny cash's awesome cover of my favorite neil young song. the lyrics are fancredible (i coined that). thanks to dave for introducing me to regina spektor. this is off her jazzier first album. aimee mann has a heartbreaking voice and lyrics to match. after seeing andrew bird live in montreal recently, he was solidified as one of my favorite musicians, period. a musician's musician. kanye. 'nuff said. anti-pop consortium is on the other end of the hip-hop spectrum. they mix rap, spoken word, beat and slam poetry. truly original. thanks to jeannie, i believe for introducing me to the notwist. this is their ode to drums'n'bass. keren ann is an original young voice from france. stars are the cheesiest and corniest band you will ever love. and you will love every minute of it. the sea and cake lay down some of the best, organic grooves of any group out there. jeff tweedy. 'nuff said. the iron & wine calexico collaboration produced a wonderful EP, including this van morrison-eque track. and finally, the best track on sufjan's illinoise.

As promised, a holiday mix

Some traditional favorites intertwined with more non-traditional renditions of classics. The tracklist is as follows (feel free to ignore the order)

1. Sufjan Stevens - Angels We Have Heard On High
2. Ella Fitzgerald - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
3. James Brown - Soulful Christmas
4. Saturday Night Live (I can't remember who performed it) - Christmas Song 2000
5. Sufjan Stevens - That Was The Worst Christmas Ever!
6. Vince Guaraldi Trio -Christmas Time Is Here
7. The Drifters - White Christmas
8. Chris Potter - O Come All Ye Faithful
9. Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song
10. Sufjan Stevens - I Saw Three Ships
11. Westminster Choir - The Holly and the Ivy
12. Ivy - Christmas Time Is Here
13. Vince Guaraldi Trio - Skating
14. Sufjan Stevens - Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing
15. Duke Ellington Orchestra - The Nutcracker Suite
16. Lou Rawls - Santa Clause Is Comin' To Town
17. Sufjan Stevens - O Come O Come Emmanuel

There she blows... Now, I was having problems finding a place to post the files, so I decided instead to put them in a .zip file. Basically, click on this link (i'm so cool i made it into the morning announcments: (*updated 12.10.05: http://s7.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=36BTLRZS6V3O71GPW68A6U4PL0) and follow the directions. Also, there's a limited number of downloads, so let me know if you can't download it.

friends! compatriots! gather round.

hi everyone.

welcome to my renewed blog effort. my last blog effort ran out of steam because, frankly, i ran out of brazilian music to post. but you live and learn.

this is basically gonna be a monthly sample of my musical obsessions. i feel like i send you guys enough random music as it is, so why not do it in some sort of organized fashion? plus i'll share other little observations from the zeitgeist. i'm gonna try and make the mixes one cd worth, so that all of you without ipods (archaic beings, you) can still participate. enjoy! and please feel free to leave me messages with whatever it is that you are listening to.