The tempo's right, I'm in a mellow mood

It is my experience that a very good playlist is paramount in surviving a very sedentary, eight hour day completing very routine tasks in a very windowless room.  So, for the sake of my soul's well-being (and those similarly situated), here is today's playlist:

Open the amps up, let them breathe

Based solely on the number of listens, "Amplifiers" has got to be my favorite song from Atlas Sound's Parallax (out yesterday on 4AD).  The repetitive guitar riff under intimately hypnotizing vocals is soothing and slightly wistful.  Wistful, I think, because it's about leaving youth behind.  The rest of the album is also worth a listen or ten.

I always wonder what the meaning and inspiration behind songs is, so I was delighted to read Bradford Cox's explanations of four songs off the album on the New York Times Style Magazine website (where the full album is streaming).  Here's what he says about "Amplifiers":

The sound of winter in the practice space when all heat is sucked into the nonexistent, and isolated chords become skeletal and not cute. After cleaning the cables I recorded twin drum tracks and divided the rest between vocals (or vocal effects) and electric bass phrasing. Another numb ballad from old Marietta. I hate when the idea of youth becomes a spectral haunted thing because it ruins my ability to eat or sleep in regular cycles. I dream of Steve Reich and the Beach Boys in vertical striped shirts pressing phasers on Lunar Canyon.

Moats and boats and waterfalls

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros at E2NY, Shinnecock Nation, 08-06-2011

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros headlined on Saturday at the Escape to New York music festival in Shinnecock Nation, outside Southampton.  As a former non-fan, I witnessed enough philosophical banter and destructive stomping to change my mind.  The animated Alex Ebert and his 11-or-12-piece band (I lost count) looked like they enjoyed every minute they spent on stage (and off stage, in Ebert's case). They enjoyed it so much that they continued playing in the rain, even after warnings that a "massive storm" was headed our way.  They didn't seem too worried about it.

They say that the world was built for two

Lana del Rey's "Video Games" is lovely.  With FATM-like harps, Cat Power-esque vocals, a subtle piano and swelling strings, it's everything I love wrapped up in one song.  Plus, the video's pretty cool.

Jingle Punks Hipster Orchestra cover The Strokes - "Under Cover of Darkness"

"Under Cover of Darkness" is catchy, fun and complex enough to listen to over and over again, which I most certainly have done.  So I was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon this beautifully executed cover by a poorly named eight-piece ensemble:

Jingle Punks Hipster Orchestra: A P.S. 22 Chorus for grown-ups?  Could be.

You could be my heartbreaker

Summer Camp at Mercury Lounge - 03/02/2011

I fell in love with London duo Summer Camp this summer when I first laid ears on them.  I simultaneously fell in love with the girl in their video for “Round the Moon” (see below).  Uh-dor-a-ble.  Unfortunately, that footage is more than 40 years old, and cute little blondie is no longer young and innocent, but well into her fifties.  But I digress.

At the Mercury Lounge on Wednesday I had the pleasure of watching Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey perform the songs that have the uncanny ability to bring a dreamy look to my face, time and time again.  They immediately launched into the synth-driven ‘80s theme song, “Round the Moon,” in which Warmsley provided the lead vocals while switching between synth and guitar.  Without the distortion present in the EP version, Warmsley’s vocals were actually distinguishable, but still understated in comparison to the swelling chorus where the duo romantically declare to “dance all night/and hold each other close/’til the morning light.”  And all against the backdrop of the song’s music video--clips from the ‘70s movie "A Swedish Love Story" with the aforementioned precious blondie. 

During their short (less than an hour) but very sweet show, Summer Camp played most of their Young EP (Moshi Moshi).  They also threw in a few newbies, notably “Losing My Mind” in which Warmsley and Sankey trade their usual harmonizing duets for a catchy, clever, back and forth banter.

As I listened to the silky naration of a hazy, familiar house party in “Veronica Sawyer” and the smooth voice of a helpless heartbreak in “Ghost Train,” I wondered what it is about these songs that brings on the dreamy smile and nostalgic longing.  When I read an interview of Summer Camp, it all made sense.  One of the band members describes certain images from films, photos and music that have been captured to memory--images of kids going to prom or hanging out with friends in the summer or falling in love with someone that will never even realize he/she exists.  Summer Camp has tried and succeeded at creating musical memories that may have never happened to us, yet we feel some sort of connection to them.  As said by a member of the band, “we’re nostalgic for something we never actually experienced.”

Click click, saddle up

                  

Alison Kraus of Sleigh Bells at Cat's Cradle.