Songbird
Jan
31
Cat Power, Jukebox
Filed Under Album Picks | 14 Comments
Well as you can see I was asked to remove the tracks that I hand picked from Jukebox. So I will comply…The problem is the promo tracks that they have so graciously allowed are not my favorite tracks from the album, although Metal Heart is an amazing song and one of my personal favs it was first found on Cat Power’s 1998 album, Moon Pix. Sigh…But I suppose it will have to do for all those who are not that familiar with Cat Power hopefully it will be enough to pull you in.
mp3: Metal Heart (Chan Marshall)
I can’t resist Cat Power (Chan Marshall), I love her, of course not in a romantic sense but in a sense that she can do no wrong in my eyes. Her voice just makes my heart beat the rhythm to her sultry sounding chords. Jukebox is her second album of covers, an album of classic songs of those who have influenced her the most over the years. Songs from the likes of Janis Joplin, Hank Williams, James Brown and Billie Holiday. This album is something to be heard indeed.A couple of my favorite tracks from the long awaited new album…
mp3: Silver Stallion *REMOVED (Lee Clayton) – Chan Marshall
mp3: Don’t Explain *REMOVED (Billie Holiday) – Chan Marshall
Jukebox 2008 (Matador Records)
Jan
28
Sia Delights
Filed Under Album Picks | 7 Comments
It seems I am having some sort of female singer love fest here because I have been enjoying Sia’s new album, Some People Have Real Problems. An album filled with a lot more soul than her previous 2006 album, Colour The Small One and I must say I like what I hear, I mean it certainly won’t be my fav album of the year if you know what I mean…But it does have a few diamonds amongst the rough that we can all enjoy. Tickets for her North American tour are now on sale.
Kind of a short post tonight because I am dead tired and I couldn’t be more ready to get into my jam jams and snuggle away the evening and what perfect music to relax to…
mp3:Â Â I Go To Sleep
mp3: Â Beautiful Calm Driving
Sia on myspace
Some People Have Real Problems 2008
Jan
26
The Battle of Land and Sea
Filed Under Album Picks | 9 Comments
I have been quite sick for the last few days, like where I have had a faucet for a nose and I have just wanted to rip my head off and roll it down the street! It has also been raining here for the last few days as well and that has been a real treat. Also, Puma my kitty love also seemed to be sick yesterday and I almost freaked out, she just seemed not herself like she couldn’t get comfortable and that is always hard to watch. But this morning she seems back to her perky self all bright eyed and bushy tailed. I breathe a sigh of relief…
And I do have new music for everyone!
So the last couple of days with the rain and sickness around here I have been enjoying the sounds of Portland Oregon’s own Sarah O’Shura who is the voice and soul behind The Battle of Land Sea. She creates whimsical psychedelic indie-folk where she takes you on a journey through misty lands of lush beauty and it is all quite enchanting indeed. Two of my favorite tracks:
mp3:Â Saltwater Queen
mp3:Â The Beautiful Ones
The Battle of Land and Sea on myspace
Self-Titled Album 2008 (notenuf Records)
Jan
23
Just Call it Fornication
Filed Under Film Box, Music Mix Up | 6 Comments
Californication: imdb /season 1 preview
Hey folks, Pip here. Since Duchovny won a well deserved “Golden Globe Newsletter Award” for his role as Hank Moody, we thought a little shoe polishing was in order. This show is basically, in a nutshell, the whole reason to pay for Showtime when it was running, for season 1 has since finished. Granted, there are copious amounts of beautiful naked women gloriously sprawled about, but I’ll tell ya that’s like the number three reason to watch! Seriously!
All kidding aside (seriously guys, beautiful and naked) the show deserves all the praise it’s gotten to date including the Golden Globe. Duchovny is spot on perfect as the artist who had everything and lost it all and then some. His depressing adventures seem like he’s going through the motions of what a hugely successful author should be doing in the city of angels. He likes this place as much as I do, plastic smiles, sunshine, sports cars and all. Not only has his heart and soul been torn apart by Hollywood by way of a terrible silver screen adaptation of a seemingly glorious novel, but his other heart and soul has been ripped out because he’s just too damn smart for his own good.
Really this show is about Hank and the women, including of course the two closest to him, his ex-wife and his daughter. Most of the time there’s a new sex interest each episode, but it’s far from sexy when you get down to it. It’s similar to watching a train wreck, with a depressing factor of 5.0 on the Fujita Scale. Really, the entire time you see just how good a couple his ex-wife and he were once upon a time and how much you so desire them to get back together. At the same time, through a few flashbacks, you see what a clusterfuck Hank made of just about everything. He really does mess everything up mostly because his mouth works faster than his conscience, but that conscience has a heart of gold once you get passed the alcohol on his breath.
I have high hopes for Californication’s future and I hope it will not follow the path of most other series, but I can see that it may overstay its own welcome if it goes on for too terribly long. The first season was almost perfect enough to just let it lie as it is so everyone can bow out with grace and dignity. I hope one day I don’t regret that they ever made a second, or more seasons.
Hey everyone! Rachel here and I just wanted to add how much I love this show, it is seriously one of my favorite shows on television to date. I can’t wait ’till the second season which is set to premiere this summer. But not only is this show well written it also has a pretty cool soundtrack to accompany. And I thought I would share one of my favorite songs from Temptation Volume 1 a cover of Elton John’s, Rocket Man:
mp3: Rocket Man – My Morning Jacket
Temptation Volume 1 available on iTunes
Jan
22
Purr-Sip-Oh-Liss
Filed Under Film Box | 4 Comments
Hey folks, Pip here. Sometimes even living near Hollywoodland doesn’t help when it comes to foreign films as it took all summer for this to reach us all the way from France. When I saw the trailer what seems like ages ago it definitely caught my attention and I wanted to see it really on the principle of it being so stylish (which I later found was the same as the graphic novel it’s based on), but I wasn’t absolutely sure if I’d like it, love it or meh it.
The story follows a great majority of a young girl’s life starting in her home of Tehran. She was born in 1969 which means she grew up in the 70’s, quite an interesting time and place to be a child. Seeing that world through the eyes of a child, and an incredibly whimsical one at that, was something to behold. The people we meet among her family and friends are basically happy and very nurturing. Her family is incredibly important to her, and they are probably just like the people living in Iran today. Back in the 70’s, Iranians were proud of their country when compared to their neighbors. They were the progressive ones, they were the modern ones. Sure, the shah was a fairly brutal dictator disliked by most Iranians, but by in large people were free and most importantly they wanted more of it. This is probably what Iran would look like today, if it weren’t for those meddling kids! We see the fall of the shah and the hope from everyone that their lives and their country would improve. Knowing the history of the country did not make her transition into teenage years an easy thing to witness. It’s not something that changes overnight. We see one small thing after another be taken away until soon people are afraid to walk down the street. The dialogue that once ran freely among the people was winked out like a flame starved of oxygen.
The young girl sees a lot with her own eyes and feels the frustration from her liberal parents at what is happening all around them. Some of the things she says as a child got the theater laughing pretty hard. It was interesting to watch that sense of humor twist back on to itself transforming into sardonic sarcasm. Many times a film follows the rise and fall of a character, this film certainly has that, but our heroine I think more mirrors her society than anything. This truly is the rise and fall of Iran and it breaks everyone’s heart. Their home was taken out from under them and transformed into what it is now. It’s unfortunate that as of right now, Iran does not have a very happy ending in that things have not much improved. In the end she seems to give up having lived this long and wanting so much more out of life. Perhaps instead she should write some graphic novels after escaping her own home to France, then sell the rights to some really good film makers so that I could sit down somewhere in Hollywood and really love her life story. Honestly, I wouldn’t have changed a thing, no matter how bittersweet the tale really is.
I hope someday we can look back on this whole mess and release a nervous laugh while saying, “Thank God it turned out all right…”
Jan
18
The Submarines
Filed Under Music Mix Up | 4 Comments
I don’t normally post a track from an album that is not released yet but since it is a legal download to help promote their new album which is set to be released this year. And I currently have no more emusic downloads for this period (it doesn’t refresh until tomorrow) and nothing that has been released this year so far has really tickled my fancy; I figured what the hell!
You may have come across The Submarines on this blog before way back in the day, you can find that post HERE. But to refresh everyone’s memory The Submarines are a Los Angeles based band consisting of two members, John Dragonetti and Blake Hazard. They make wonderful music together and their new album, Honeysuckle Weeks comes out soon. I will keep you posted on the actual release date but for now enjoy their new song!
mp3: You, Me, and The Bourgeoise
The Submarines on myspace
Honeysuckle Weeks 2008 (Nettwerk Music)
Jan
16
Cat Power, Wild Is The Wind
Filed Under Music Mix Up | 5 Comments
Man, what a rough day…Just rough. And as I recover I thought what better to help wash away this day then Cat Power’s cover of Nina Simone’s, Wild Is The Wind. Cat Power’s new album Jukebox comes out next week, January 22nd and I can’t wait.
mp3: Wild Is The Wind – Cat Power
The Covers Record 2000 (Matador)
Album available HERE
Jan
15
There Will Be Awesome
Filed Under Album Picks, Film Box | 8 Comments
There Will Be Blood: imdb / trailer
As some of you know, this ranked high in my top ten list for 2007, so I suppose it’s no surprise that I loved it. Even if I hadn’t written that list there really is no surprise because this film was crafted by, perhaps, my favorite working film maker: Paul Thomas Anderson. I know him well, I’ve watched all his films many times, listened to all of his commentary, seen all of his music videos. We’re practically on a first name basis.
I know PTA loved, absolutely loved, making this film. In many ways it’s the film he’s always wanted to make, building up to this moment bit by bit, while reinventing himself along the way. He could have easily sauntered on along his career of making Boogie Nights 2 through 5 and probably been quite successful at that, but no that’s not the way this cocaine-addled (only hearsay mind you) mind works! PTA was shaped by the elders in his life, firstly by his father and the world surrounding him, and of course by classic films of every era, along with personal relations with two of the greatest film makers who recently passed away. This boy was born to make the films he makes and tell them the way he wants to tell them. Some people are turned off by this… sometimes he’s just a little too melodramatic, over the top, long-winded, or all of the above. But for me, he is perfect. Twenty minutes without dialogue? I’m in!
As I was watching this film, the unsettling fear that pervades it got in the way of my enjoyment. It wasn’t until later after reflecting upon it, being haunted by it and seeing almost every frame of film together as a whole, did I truly understand how much I really loved it. That, I think, is the mark of a very good or even great film. One that will be remembered. Daniel Day Lewis’ portrayal of Mr. Plainview is awe inspiring. He’s a man for which his insanity is only quenched by destroying all others in an attempt to be the best. The best at what? The best of everything apparently. There are scenes of terror, poignancy, ruthlessness. Everything seems so awesome in scope that even when just two people sit down to talk it’s as if the world has stopped moving. I mustn’t forget everyone else around Lewis’ Plainview, for his life changed as much as theirs as he steamrolled them sometimes to death.
I dislike everything about Mr. Plainview, except the way he speaks, he’s not the type of bad guy you root for. So I ask for those that disliked the ending, how would he, or could he, do anything different?
Rachel here, for a little side note about the soundtrack, There Will Be Blood. An album composed by Radiohead’s own guitarist, Jonny Greenwood, who accompanied the dark bizarre vibe of the film with a soundtrack composed of mostly strings with the occasional delicate piano. The soundtrack really completes the film and brings it all together wonderfully, I believe.My favorite track from the album…
mp3: Prospector Arrives
Jonny Greenwood
There Will Be Blood 2007 (Nonesuch)
Jan
14
Stephen Lynch Comedy
Filed Under Music Mix Up | 7 Comments
Over the weekend I watched a Comedy Central stand-up special that cracked me up and I immediately thought I have to post this on the blog! Stephen Lynch combines music and comedy to make some funny stuff. Stop by his myspace and read his bio about himself, also quite amusing. And of course here is my favorite sketch…
Stephen Lynch – D & D
Jan
14
A New Year
Filed Under News & Info. | 5 Comments
I know that for the last 6 months there have been a serious lack of posts here at Untitled Records and for that I apologize but I thank my loyal readers who have stuck with me through these somewhat rocky times.
I got a new job that I like as a web content coordinator, it is a full time position and it is also located in LA’s West Side Village so it is about an hour commute for me every morning and evening. But I really want to post everyday because I have the content in my head I just need to get it out. Anyways the long and the short of it is that tonight will begin a new year of posts and regular content everyday. Thanks for sticking with us here at Untitled Records and I look forward to 2008. Stay tuned!
Disclaimer
Music found on this blog is for sampling only. If you like what you hear then support the artist. Buy their music, attend a show and spread the word. If you own the rights to any of the music featured here and you would like me to remove it contact me and I will remove the link immediately.
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tag to listen, right click the song title to save. If you find that an mp3 is not playing chances are it has expired.
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Rachel - Music, FilmAggregator Love
