Of Montreal

I have to say I've always cracked a smile at the sense of jubilation that I feel when I listen to the gaiety and playfulness heard within all of Of Montreal's hullicantory rave-ups. "Nonpareil of Favor", off of Skeletal Lamping, is no exception. Kevin Barnes' wit and charm it seems is not at all suppressed when it comes to digging up the skeleton's in his closet. Kevin Barnes addressing the title said, "This record is my attempt to bring all of my puzzling, contradicting, disturbing, humorous...fantasies, ruminations and observations to the surface, so that I can better dissect and understand their reason for being in my head." While the opening track "Nonpareil of Favor" is more of a thank you note for being accepted, "St.Exquisite's Confessions" is more along the lines of the humorously disturbing, with the eye opening first line "I'm so tired of sucking the dick of this cruel, cruel, city", said and performed with that glamorous theatricality that is the essence of Of Montreal's appeal and genius.

Download:
Of Montreal - Nonpareil of Favor
Of Montreal - St.Exquisite's Confessions (zshare)

Modeselektor Jetlag Mix

Modeselektor will begin their Jetlag tour on September third with Ellen Allien, hoping back and forth over the Atlantic hitting big cities. As a pre-party favor the guys sent out an exclusive mix to the XLR8R podcast. Here Enjoy!

Modeselektor - Jetlag XLR8R Mix (30.7 MB)

Tracklisting
1. Kode9 vs. Badawi - Den of Drums (ROIR)
2. Cylob - With This Ring (Rephlex)
3. Dj Mujava - Township Funk (Warp)
4. 2562 - Techno Dread (Tectonic)
5. Black Noise - Nature of the Beast (Original Black Noise Mix 2) (End to End)
6. TRG - Missed Calls (Subway)
7. Screaming Soul - Warfare (Ruckspin & Planas Remix) (Ranking)
8. British Murderboys - Hate Is Such a Strong Word (Counterbalance)
9. Elemental - Blob (Runtime)
10. Alex Cortex - Huyendo pt.2 (Klang Elektronik)
11. Zomby - Strange Fruit (Ramp)
12. TRG - Oi! Killa! (Cool and Deadly)
13. Mr. Oizo - Patrick 122 (Ed Banger)

land of talk

You remember how a few days ago I mentioned that Elizabeth Powell was a great asset to Broken Social Scene's performance. Well her band Land of Talk just released the first single from their upcoming album Some Are Lakes on Saddle Creek Records. The album is due out October 7th and it seems the same pop-rock sound is going to translate from their first EP, Applause Cheer Boo Hiss, into their debut record. Saddle Creek writes of the album "It’s simply a continuation of the internal conversation Powell has been holding with herself since she began this musical lark, more than a decade ago, with a 14 year-old’s creaky-voiced acuteness, spouting the uncomfortable truths of a woman thrice her years and many times more guarded."

“It started at a summer lake / a sentence and a name / If only for a moment’s sake/ We called it and it came...”

Land of Talk - Some Are Lakes
Land of Talk - Young Bridges (acoustic)

Well I was late coming back from a trip up the coast and missed the first half of the first day of Sunset Junction but was there to witness Broken Social Scene put on an incredible show, despite the continual mike failures through out the set, which the band handled with graciousness and humor seeing as they couldn't find a fucking rodie anywhere close to the stage. Besides the usual five or six members that they tour with Broken Social Scene was joined by Elizabeth Powell, from Land Of Talk (great band), who played guitar and provided the sultry female vocals, with out which some of their songs would be lost without (She is also featured on Brendan Canning's Something for All of Us...). I was unable to take any photos but you can go here to see what the others in the crowd took.

Broken Social Scene - Almost Crimes (Acoustic)

mccarthy trenching

McCarthy Trenching is one of Omaha Nebraska's best kept secrets, snowed in his cabin recording bleack blue-grass and country rock tunes on 8-track tape machines. Though he is a bit under the radar MacCarthy has collaborated with a number of big shot names from the area including Bright Eyes (also signed to his label, Team Love), Tilly and The Wall along with various others residing in the cornhusker state. His last release was a self-tilted 'best of' from his previous three records, which were not widely distributed. His next album, Calamity Drenched is due in September, and could not be more perfectly titled for "the result is a collection of songs about horse racing, the romance of cassette tapes (and losing that particular romance), piano practice, religious doubt, inclement weather, and Bar-B-Q".

Download:
McCarthy Trenching - Cassette Tape Massacre
McCarthy Trenching - XXX

fight bite

Emerald Eyes is the first album of Denton residents Leanne Macomber and Jeff Louis, who when creating music are known as Fight Bite. Emerald Eyes is wonderful and ethereal the way only bedroom synth productions can produce. The groups melancholy and delicate harmonies and light synths especially ,in the song "Swiss Ex-Lover" (my favorite song off the album so far), gives the feeling of the world slowing down and an enhancement of your own inner consciousness.

Download:
Fight Bite - Swiss Ex-Lover
Fight Bite - Emerald Eyes

xxxchange movie mixtape

Spank Rock's DJ, Alex XXXChange has just released the next mix in the We Make It Good mix series. XXXChange's mix is not exactly what I expected but its great, opening with Kenny Rogers "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" featured in the Big Lebowski and continuing with other of his favorite movie tracks, some of them epic while others are more obscure. You can view the track listing and XXXChange's comments here.

XXXChange - We Make It Good Vol. 4 (43.1 min,100 MB)