Fifty/Fifty {9/10}

Hey all! Here I am at yet ANOTHER 12-2AM slot. Find me here every Tuesday evening bringing you lots of music. Anyway, on with the music:

[artist] - [track]
Elke - Till I'm Gone
Department of Eagles - No One Does It Like You
TV on the Radio - Crying
M.I.A. - Hit That
Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
Matt Bauer - Don't Let Me Out
Oh No Forest Fires - Swing And A Misdemeanor
Shad - I Don't Like To
Seachange - Personal Assistant
Army Navy - Saints
Empire of the Sun - Walking On A Dream
Annuals - Confessor
Blank Dogs - Ants
The Dutchess and the Duke - Reservoir Park
Japanese Motors - Single Fins & Safety Pins
Justice - Planisphere (Pt. 1, 2, 3, Final)
The Dodos - Eyelids
The Dodos - Fools
Electric President - Insomnia
The Most Serene Republic - Why So Looking Back?
T.Rex - Bang A Gong (Get It On)
Laura Marling - New Romantic
Windsor for the Derby - Maladies

Ambient Signal - 9/9/08

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast
6-8pm TUESDAYS NOW! Now my banner is correct again..

Songs in pukegreen requested by Tim

Boom bip - The matter (of our discussion)
Bitcrush - Colder
Alias and Ehren - Eman Ruosis Iht
Bright Eyes - Napoleon's Hat
Mugison - 2 Birds
Neva Dinova - Blackest Heart
Engine Down - Closed Call
Amina - Fjarkanistan
Last Days - Reasons to go
Talkdemonic - ending the orange glow
Alias - Weathering
StarFUCKER - Florida
Lykke Li - My love
Why? - Rubber traits
Liz Durrett - We build bridges
Shugo Tokumaru - Clocca
Ra ra riot - St. peters day festival
Blind pilot - Go on, say it
Little teeth - Oh drag
Chad vangaalen - Phantom Anthills
The velvet teen - Death
Prefuse 73 - Pagina Dos feat. the books
Beck - Broken Drum (Broads of canada remix)
Album leaf - Brennivin
Panda Bear - Comfy in nautica

pinkie swear

NEW DAY SAME TIME!

artist - track

the watson twins - just like heaven
tilly and the wall - chandelier lake
the ting tings - great dj
fujiya & Miyagi - knickerbocker
death cab for cutie - long division
mates of state - help help
the chap - they have a name
css - left behind
stereo image - dark chapter
daedelus - i car(ry) us
the chemical brothers - do it again
moby - i like to move it remix
hybrid - luke dzierzek - identity - king unique remix
bobby evens - freak-a-ziod robotz - rmxxology theme
the faint - get seduced
don rimini - ohow?
MGMT - electric feel - justice remix
the chemical brothers - galvanize
bizarre inc - i'm gonna get you
the faint - machine in the ghost
hercules and love affair - blind
alias - i heart drum machines
jovian - grenadine girl
the notwist - good lies
minus the bear - let's play clowns
my brightest diamond - to plutos moon
antenne - gloves on

-Emelie [ 11684 ]

Gold Sounds 9/9: First real show of the semester

The title says it all! New music in red.

Mono in VCF "Escape City Scrapers"
Appomattox "Either Way"

Pavement "Newark Wilder"
Archers of Loaf "Plumb Line"
Oxford Collapse "Vernon-Jackson"

The Walkmen "Red Moon"
Okkervil River "Starry Stairs"
Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez "A Twist in the Sky"

Fourth of July "Can't Sleep"
Mass Solo Revolt "The Site..."
Target Market "No Thrills"

Pinback "Walters"
So Many Dynamos "How High the Moon"
The Notwist "Gloomy Planets"

FEATURE BAND BLOCK
Talkdemonic "Leaving Light"
Talkdemonic "Ending the Orange Glow"
Talkdemonic "Duality of Deathening"

A Silver Mt. Zion "God Bless Our Dead Marines"

Lykke Li "I'm Good, I'm Gone"
Little Teeth "Oh Drag"
sBACH "04"

Death Cab For Cutie "Your New Twin Sized Bed"
Mates of State "Get Better"
Tokyo Police Club "Juno (Ra Ra Riot/Andre Maury Remix)"

Beck "Orphans"
Radiohead "Skttrbrain (Four Tet Remix)"

omg sup Emelie

Old music writings!

So I've recently been reminded of some things I wrote for classes a few years ago, and also realized that pretty much no one read them besides the intended professor..but who knows, maybe you'll find them interesting:

Saccades: Experiences with Non-verbal thought/listening
Basically my long thoughts on how language is an inaccurate representation of our experiences, and questioning if language makes us experience music less purely

Explorations in Lo-Fi music
Exploring the issue of why certain artists seek out "warm" recordings, or leaving a certain level of authenticity in there music..referencing artists like the album leaf and neva dinova/bright eyes

enjoy! I'd love to hear thoughts...

Our shows are moving!!

Hey everyone..just a quick note..our fall schedule will be online very soon at www.wrpi.org..but until then, the following shows featured on this blog are now on at these times:

Hello Pretty City with Laura 7-9am Tuesday (No change)
Gold Sounds with Tim - 2-4pm Tuesday
Pinkie Swear with Emelie - 4-6pm Tuesday
Ambient Signal - 6-8pm Tuesday (the classic time slot..I've been on the air since Oct 2004..my first one was 12-1pm on tuesdays..then 6-8 on mondays..then finally 6-8 on tuesdays starting fall 2005 i think..HOW INTERESTING)

(Sorry mike..i dont know where you are on the schedule yet..i forgot to check)

Ambient Signal - 9/3/08

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast
6-8pm Wednesdays

Next week I'll most likely be moving to Tuesday 6-8..my super old time slot

Sufjan Stevens - Concerning the UFO sighting
Talkdemonic - White gymnasium
A Weather - Spiders, Snakes
Swan lake - All Fires
The Notwist - One with the freaks
Young galaxy - Swing your heartache
Mason Proper - Life's cornucopia
Saxon Shore - This shameless moment
Venetian Snares - Szerencsetlen
Shugo Tokumaru - Parachute
Chad VanGaalen - Willow Tree
Liz Durrett - Wake to beleive
Mad gregs - Old man
Fujiya and Miyagi - Uh
Laura Marling - Ghosts
Ra Ra Riot - Ghosts under rocks
Stills - Snow california
Alias - Well water black
Don Cabellero - Loudest shop vac in the world
Charlie Everywhere - Lucy's underground (see video below from their Live show!)
Ambulette - When i see you
Cat power - Maybe not
Husky rescue - Sweet little kitten
Neva Dinova - On/Off
Nico Nuhly - Skip town
Animal collective - Banshee beat

See you next tuesday!

Charlie everywhere live video featuring some of my own VJing in the background! I'll be making a music video for C-Ev later in the fall..super excited!


Charlie Everywhere - Troy, NY - 08, Aug from Sébastien Barré on Vimeo.

pinkie swear

I'm back! My show is moving to Tuesdays in a few weeks (hopefully). Blar and I are up for nomination for Best Music Director and Best Specialty Music Director at CMJ this year.

artist - track

Beck - Orphans
Bittersweet - Come Along With Me
Mates Of State - Help Help
Daedelus - Make it So
The Chap - They Have a Name
Midnight Juggernauts - Into the Galaxy
Minus the Bear - Let's Play Clowns
The Egg - Forwards
Antenne - Gloves On
Bitcrush - No Bridge No Water
Near the Parenthesis - Modernisme
Lights Out Asia - Radars Over the Ghosts of Chernobyl
Alias - I Heart Drum Machines
Stereo Image - Dark Moves
Fujiya & Miyagi - knickerbocker
Chemical Brothers - Hey Girl Hey Boy
MGMT - Electric Feel - Justice Remix
Moby - Crookers Mass in Here
Booka Shade - Charlotte
65daysofstatic - Dance Parties [Mechanised]
Preshish Moments - Make Me Better
CSS - Let's Reggae All Night
M.I.A. - Paper Planes - Scottie B Remix
Audio Bullys - Shot You Down feat. Nancy Sinatra
Alias - Resurgam
Mogwai - Auto Rock
Modest Mouse - Dashboard

-Emelie [ 11519 ]

Fifty-Fifty {9/2}

[artist] - [track]

Rilo Kiley - Portions for Foxes
Maybe Smith - Open War
Talking Heads - This Must Be The Place
The Walkmen - In The New Year
Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream
Jane Vain & the Dark Matter - C'mon Baby Say Bang Bang
My Brightest Diamond - Inside A Boy
Of Montreal - Nonpareil Of Favor
Late of the Pier - Broken
MGMT - Metanoia
Portastatic - Some Small History
Land of Talk - Some Are Lakes
Joseph Arthur - Temporary People
Faded Paper Figures - Metropolis
Shugo Tokumaru - Green Rain
Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
Violent Femmes - Kiss Off
Final Fantasy - The Butcher
The Tunics - Paris, France
Fredrik - Alina's Place
Alt-Ctrl-Sleep - Take Care
Arms - Kids Aflame
The Year Of - Stephen Hawking
Kristoffer Ragnstam - Happy Mistakes
Department of Eagles - No One Does It Like You

Gold Sounds: Labor Day/really late edition

Late fill-in tonight (guess that goes without saying). I seriously didn't think I was going to do this until 10 minutes prior and sans external harddrive, so sorry about the predictable music choices. New music in red.

The Walkmen "Donde esta la Playa"/"Flamingos (for Colbert)"/"On the Water"

Menomena "Oahu"
Menomena "Wet and Rusting" (awesome music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iqg3LVx2Ws)
Lacktherof "Doomed Elephants"

Brendan Canning "Love Is New"
Broken Social Scene "Fire Eye'd Boy"
Kevin Drew "Safety Bricks"

The Dismemberment Plan "Girl O' Clock"
Q and Not U "Soft Pyramids"
Tiger Bear Wolf "Wrong Lens, Wrong Film"

The Tiger Lillies "Gypsy Lament" (request!)
Beirut "A Call to Arms"/"Nantes"
Gogol Bordello "Start Wearing Purple"/"Sally" (request-ish)

ROCK BLOCK: The 'I don't know why people go batshit over these bands, but maybe I'll change my mind after listening to them again' edition
The National "Start a War"
The Hold Steady "Sequestered in Memphis"
Wolf Parade "Soldier's Grin" (Wolf Parade's aight, I guess)

PINKIE SWEAR: The Tim Gilman edition
!!! "Heart of Hearts"
Daft Punk "Around the World"/"Harder Better Faster Stronger" (from Alive 2007)
Justice "Phantom"/"Phantom pt 2"
The Dismemberment Plan "The Other Side (remix by Justin Norvell)"
Bitter:Sweet "Get What I Want"

Whoa, that last block was awesome. Later!

Afternoon Jams (Pinkie Swear stand-in) - 8/27

It comes 5 days late but better than never I guess.... Will do better once the fall schedule is setup and kicks in.

Dan Deacon - Wham City
Cass McCombs - That's That
Animal Collective - Peacebone
Ra Ra Riot - Ghost Under Rocks
Settlefish - Summer Drops
Joe Lean & the Jing Jang Jong - Brooklyn
Jans Lekman - A Postcard to Nina
The Clientele - That Night, a Forest Grew
The Sea and Cake - Window Sills
Okkervil River - Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe
Beirut - Elephant Gun
Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing!
Herman Dune - I Wish That I Could See You Soon
MGMT - Time to Pretend
toe - グッドバイ
Spoon - You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
Bloc Party - One Month Off
Thunderbirds Are Now! - Sound Issues Smart Ideas
Black Gold - Idols
The Hush Sound - Honey
Deerhoof - Perfect Me
Ambulance LTD - Straight A's
The Dark Romantics - The Death of You

Gold Sounds:Another surprise Friday edition 8/29

Here 6-730? Oh WRPI, the things I do for you. New songs are red. Songs with overtly sexual lyrics are blue.

My Morning Jacket "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 1"

Okkervil River "Singer Songwriter"
Mason Jennings "Soldier Boy"
Matt Sharp "Goodbye West Coast"
The Weakerthans "Sun in an Empty Room"

Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Phenomena"
Weezer "You Won't Get with Me Tonight"
Parts & Labor "Unexplosions"

Ra Ra Riot "Too Too Too Fast"
Kristoffer Ragnstam "Sorry for Being the Man of 1000 Questions"
Dead Can Dance "American Dreaming"/Poster Children "Shotguns and Pickups"/Talkdemonic "Mutiny Sunshine" (The 'I messed up but made it sound awesome' mix)

Pinback "Boo"
Yo La Tengo "Autumn Sweater"
Pattern Is Movement "Maple"

The Walkmen "In the New Year"
Willie the Moak "I'm the Janitor Man"
Matt Pryor "Confidence Man"

My Morning Jacket "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 2"

Gold signal/Ambient Sounds 8/27/08

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast
6-8pm Wednesdays

Sharing a show with tim today (of gold sounds)..yeaah. Tim's songs need more room to breathe.

Black Mountain "Angels"

Autolux "Great Days of the Passenger Element"

Pattern Is Movement "Elephant"

Tacks the boy disaster - Paris
Doves - The man who told everything
Go Find - Over the edge

New Buffalo "It'll Be Alright"

Mogwai "Cody"

No Age "Eraser"

Mice Parade - The Boat Room
God is an astronaut - All is violent, All is bright
Maserati - The world outside

Fujiya & Miyagi "Knickerbocker"

Okkervil River "Lost Coastlines"

Apollo Sunshine "The Funky Chamberlain (Who Begot Who)"

Don Caballero - Lord Krepelka
Mad gregs - Twelve tone
The Faint - Forever Growing centipedes
Alias - I heart drum machines

Pegasuses-XL "The Big Haunt" (NEVERMIND..CD SKIP)

The Books "Read, Eat, Sleep"

The Velvet Teen - Spin the wink (Little kid remix)
Nico Muhly - Mothertongue I: Archive
Fog - The Poor Fella

THE END

Gold Sounds Impromptu Set: 8/22/08

'sup, I'm playing music today. I wasn't expecting it either. New songs in maroon. Almost new songs in forest green.

Pavement "Spit on a Stranger"
Adem "Loro" (Pinback cover)
Herman Dune "Son of Samuel"
The Notwist "Good Lies"

The Last Shadow Puppets "Calm Like You"
Port O'Brien "I Woke Up Today"
Julie Ocean "#1 Song"

We Versus the Shark "Gothic, Y'all"
Bridge and Tunnel "Call to the Comptroller's Office"
Garrison "Know the Locale"

Oxford Collapse "Young Love Delivers"
Violent Femmes "Crazy" (Gnarls Barkley cover)

Mono in VCF "Escape City Scrapers"
The Drones "Dog Eared"
Animal Collective "Banshee Beat"

Drive Like Jehu "Sinews"
We Versus the Shark "Keep it Wolf"
Hum "I'd Like Your Hair Long"

Ben Gibbard "You Remind Me of Home"
The Get Up Kids "Campfire Kansas"
The Decemberists "Cocoon"

Death Cab for Cutie "Title Track"
Low "California"
Neil Young "Out on the Weekend" (request)

Built to Spill "Time Trap"
Anthem In "Hold on to Me"
Get Him Eat Him "Not Not Nervous"

PAVEMENT RELATED BLOCK (Yeah)
Pavement "Stop Breathin"
Preston School of Industry "Where You Gonna Go?"
Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew "Lucky Ones"

But for real, it's good to be back playing music.

Ambient Signal 8/20/08

One month til my birfday!

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast
6-8pm Wednesdays

Menomena - Weird (Dekoder Remix)
The Velvet Teen - Gyzmkid
Sigur Ros - Vid spilum endalaust
Forget cassettes - Quiero Quieres
Battles - Atlas
This will destroy you - The world is our ____
Broken Social Scene - Windsurfing nation
Sunset Rubdown - The taming of the hands that came back to life
Efterklang - Mirador
Feist - My Moon My Man
Azeda Booth - Big Fists
The Faint - Get Seduced
Mugison - Mugiboogie
Conor oberst - Souled out!!!
Horse feathers - Curs in the weeds
Obi Best - Green and white stripes
Colourmusic - Put in a little gas
Apollo Sunshine - 666: The coming of the new world government
Midlake - Roscoe
Bright Eyes- Southern State
Ester Drang - All the feeling
Talkdemonic -Tides in their grave
The Album Leaf - Shine
Hammock - Kenotic

pinkie swear

artist - song

minus the bear - let's play clowns
tilly and the wall - jumbler
the ting tings - shut up and let me go
the notwist - good lies
beck - orphans
daedelus - make it so
hercules and love affair - blind
css - lets reggae all night
jovian - grenedine girl
mates of state - help help
midnight juggernauts - into the galaxy
twink - what the dickens
the egg - walk on the snow
antenne - gloves on
my brightest diamond - inside a boy - son lux remix
the frequency - talk to me
bitter:sweet - sugar mama
modest mouse - dashboard
eliot lipp - opening ceremony
MGMT - electric feel -justice remix (OMGSFKJSKGH SO GOOD!)
moby - i like to move
fabric noisia


-Emelie
[11204]

Gold Sounds: We Versus the Shark "Dirty Versions" album review

I was in the middle of writing a pretty long (and long overdue) review of We Versus the Shark's newest album, but then my computer messed up and I lost it all. Here's the abbreviated version:



We live in a time of cultural stagnation, with music being no exception, what with the majority of up-and-coming bands aping rock bands of yore (and very few of them worth your time, in this reviewer's humble opinion). In this climate, it's good to know that some musicians are more concerned with creating new, unique, and interesting music, We Versus the Shark among them. Have you ever heard anything as intense as opener "Hello Blood?" The blistering track starts immediately at full force and doesn't let up for its 2:46 duration. Exhilarating? Check. Inventive? Check (Oh, the time changes. Oh, the dual guitar lines). Listenable? Check, and that's the most important check of all; We Versus manage to avoid completely alienating the listener while treating them to something totally original. The album's not without its faults (lyrics/vocals occasionally seem like an afterthought, last track "Practical Animals" falls victim to some questionable mixing decisions, and a certain track-to-track cohesion is somewhat lacking) but it's loud, it's frantic, it's inventive, and yeah, it's dirty. What could be better?

Rating: 9/11. Key Tracks: "Hello Blood," "Dogs," "Gothic Y'all," "Keep it Wolf." Also, numerical ratings are kind of silly, don't you think?

Listen to We Versus the Shark live here. It's a high quality bootleg that's worth your time. All but the first and last song are featured on Dirty Versions, and they sound just as good live as they do on compact disc. Of course, the two non-Dirty Versions tracks are also worth a listen.

The more traditional route: Myspace

Ambient Signal 8/13/08

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast
6-8pm Wednesdays

Talkdemonic - Ending the Orange Glow (World radio premier? i was told i was the first to get this cd in the US)
Amiina - Sexfaldur
A Northern Chorus - This open heart
Why? - Fatalist Palminstry
Helio Sequence - Hallelujah
Son lux - Break
Cursive - Into the fold
Red lions - Bay of naples
Cortney tidwell - la la
Falcon - Listen In
Conor Oberst - Sausalito
Horse Feathers - Rude to rite
Azeda Booth - Lobster Quadrille
Faint - Fulcrum and Lever
Apollo Sunshine - Singing to the earth
Silent Years - On our way home
Curse of company - parade divine
Samantha Crain - Traipsing through the aisles
Cut Copy - Feel the love
Decemberists - The crane wife 3
Denali - Do something
Dandy Warhols - Sleep
Alias and Ehren - Lillian
Mercury program - Slightly Drifting

pinkie swear.

artist - song

css - left behind
jovian - grendine girl
the presets - my people
daedelus - make it so
bitter:sweet - get what I want
mates of state - help help
the chap - the health of nations
minus the bear - lets play clowns
the notwist - good lies
the bridal shop - from seas
modest mouse - you're the good things
my brightest diamond - inside a boy
antenne - gloves on
lali puna - small things
brazilian girls - lazy lover
radiohead - high and dry
death cab for cutie - long division
airborne toxic event - sometime around midnight
beck - orphans
brazilian girls - good times
the honorary title - stay away
hercules and love affair - blind
the ting tings - that's not my name
the bravery - unconditional
the egg - walk on the snow
walter meego - wanna be a star
yelle - je veux te voir
the faint - get seduced
moby - crookers mass in here

-Emelie
[11027]

REVIEW: Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong - Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong

Remember that ex-upcoming album I mentioned earlier today? Well here it is. Can Blogger even handle that long of a post title? The (almost released) new album from Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong (here on referenced as "the band" because goodness I just can't type it anymore) was canceled at the end of July, just five days before it was due for release. The band said, "we can create a record that is much better, more exciting, more representative of our sound and generally more delightful to listen to."

I don't know about all that. This record is definitely a good listen. From a band that's played SXSW AND Glastonbury in one year, it's apparent that there is plenty of potential from this pop-indie group. The album opens with "Lucio Starts Fires," a single that was released back in October 2007. Upon listening, the Strokes might come to mind given all the clashing guitars and such. However, listen a little more closely. There is a stronger, more full sound to the track.

On "Where Do You Go," the band introduces the first of two great singles from this album. This track really highlights the bands energy which must translate to something fierce in the live performance. Check out the last portion of the song for an intense guitar riff.

My personal favorite on this album is "Brooklyn." It has a real doowop sound which seems to appear throughout the album but is at it's strongest here. Complete with background singers and a bass line, this one is a winner. Hopefully it will be re-recorded for the actual release of this album.

The album comes out sometime in 2009 when I'll most likely re-write this review. However, I won't leave you hanging! Here's one track to whet your appetite.

3.5/5

Official Site
MySpace

JL & the JJJ - "Brooklyn":

REVIEW: Upcoming!

Have I got a treat or two for you folks! Got more music to review from some upcoming (and ex-upcoming) albums. What do I mean by "ex-upcoming?" Come back tomorrow (or late tonight) and find out! There's really good music out there and I intend to share it with you.

One group is an indie rock band from England and has toured with CSS and Kaiser Chiefs. They also played this year's SXSW and Glastonbury Festival. The other band is named after a Gastr del Sol song and is known as a Chicago-based indie super group.

Oo

REVIEW: Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line

It's been a while since anyone has posted an album review here so I thought it was high time to get some new music out to the masses.

After releasing the promising Ra Ra Riot EP last summer, dealing with the death of drummer John Pike, and going on two tours, Ra Ra Riot is ready to formally break onto the scene with The Rhumb Line. What is a rhumb line, you ask? Why, it's the path taken by a vessel that maintains a constant compass direction. What a fitting title it is, then, when no less than half of the tracks on this record are written by John Pike. His death definitely influences the tone of the album. But it's not all funeral songs. It is also a celebration.

The marriage of strings and indie rock is a good one. With Alexandra Lawn on cello and Rebecca Zeller on violin, Ra Ra Riot reminds me (and a number of other listeners, apparently) of Arcade Fire. The opening track, "Ghost Under Rocks," give the listener a sense of the profound loss endured by the band. Songs such as "St. Peter's Day Festival" and "Winter '05" only add to this tone.

However, they are able to provide enough variation that the mood doesn't get old. I don't think I've ever wanted to keep listening to an album about loss and death. Yet the celebratory notes in the tunes keep me drawn in. This is especially true for the album's single, "Dying Is Fine." Make sure to pay attention to the interlude from just before 2:00 to 2:40. The guitar/violin/cello dynamic here is intense and probably the height of the album for me.

Does the album get you down? Then check out "Too Too Too Fast," a upbeat synth track that provides a break from the chamber music sound. Listening to it reminds me of some modernized version of "Take On Me" but a little more mellow. And no, I'm not talking the Reel Big Fish or A1 versions.

I had a chance to see the sextet live at the Siren Music Festival and did they ever provide an energetic show! Too bad you'll have to drive the 2.5 hours to Syracuse if you want to see them for yourself (Syracuse University, 9/7).

In any case, The Rhumb Line comes out August 19 but you can pre-order it now from the Ra Ra Riot website.

4/5

Tracklist:
1] Ghost Under Rocks
2] Each Year
3] St. Peter's Day Festival
4] Winter '05
5] Dying Is Fine
6] Can You Tell
7] Too Too Too Fast
8] Oh, La
9] Suspended in Gaffa
10] Run My Mouth

Official Site
MySpace


Dying Is Fine
The Rhumb Line Studio Version:



Ra Ra Riot EP Version:

pinkie swear

artist - track

tilly and the wall - jumbler
jovian - grenadine girl
death cab for cutie - i will possess your heart
mates of state - help help
minus the bear - lets play clowns
midnight juggernauts - into the galaxy
cb radio - blue skies (booksworms remix)
preshish moments - makes me better
moby - crookers mass in here
flying lotus - sample from his album los angeles
the bug - freak freak
Noisia - FabricLive.40 Mix
the bug - angry
sub swara - hi fidelity (shambhala riddim)
css - lets reggae all night
frank solono - the blues line
dr dog - the rabbit, the bat and the reindeer
conor oberst - cape canaveral
conor oberst - sausalito
antenne - gloves on
bitcrush - an island, a penninsula
bitscrush - of days
bitcrush - what would hope be without disappointment
the notwist - good lies
my brightest diamond - inside a boy
domestic blend volume compilation album (link to it here)

-Emelie
[10899]

Ambient Signal 7/30/08

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast
6-8pm Wednesdays

Battles - Race: In
Octopus Project - Exploding Snowhorse
Dead Science - last Return
Animal Collective - Fireworks
Le Loup - We are gods! We are Wolves!
Annuals - Brother
Bitter:Sweet - Get what i want
Art in Manila - Set the woods on fire
Ambulette - If you go away
Conor Oberst - Cape Canaveral
Margot and the nuclear so and so's - Bookworm (acoustic)
Lackthereof- Fake empire
Azeda Booth - In red *BAND OF THE WEEK*
Falcon - Birds and mice
Miss murgatroid and petra haden - Untitled 1
Inara George with van dyke parks - Track 2
Brendan Canning - Hit the wall
Windmill - Asthmatic
Olafur Arnalds - Track 1
Beck - Orphans
The Album leaf - We need help
Daylights for the birds - World's away
pg.lost - Yes i am
Pacific UV -Tremolo
Midlake - Roscoe (acoustic)
Japancakes- Doublejointed

pinkie swear

artist - track
tilly and the wall - jumbler
cut copy - out there on the ice
mates of state - get better
the ting tings - great dj
daedelus - make it so
hercules and love affair - blind
bitter:sweet - the bomb
midnight juggernauts - into the galaxy
the notwist - good lies
minus the bear - lets play clowns
the egg - forwards
modest mouse - dashboard
preshish moments - make me better
n.e.r.d. - anti matter
leila - little acorns
bitter:sweet - sugar mama
antenne - gloves on
bittersweet - get what I want
anthem in - hold onto me
the faint - in concert
mgmt - electric feel - justice remix <333
four tet - ringer
walter meego - wanna be a star
the octopus project - track 2
lymbic system

Bittersweet Playing at Revolution Hall in Downtown Troy on August 8th at 8pm.

Love,
Emelie
10731

Ambient Signal 7/23/08

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast
6-8pm Wednesdays

Pre Show 5pm to 6pm
Mono/World's End Girlfriend - Untitled 5
Giraffes? Giraffes ! - When catholic schoolgirls go camping...
Black Kids- Partie Traumatic
Computer vs. Banjo - Give up ghosts
Calico Horse - Happy placebo syringe day
Beck - Modern Guilt
Haley Bonar- Something Great
Sunfold- oregon
Mrandmrsmays- milestone
Duchess and the duke - reservoir park
Matt pryor - Confidence man
Olafur Arnalds - Lokadu Augunum

SHOW Start 6pm
M83- Teen angst
Stars- Heart
Montag- Perfect Vision
Lykke Li- My
Neko Case- Star Witness
Maria Taylor- Good start
Paper Cranes- Triangle
Never- On a mountain
Mychael Danna- The winner is
Submarines- Hope
Six parts seven- Stolen moments
Northern Chorus- Don't think of collapse
Lackthereof- Last November
Horse Feathers- Road to ruin
Notwist- Boneless
Brendan Canning- Snowball and icicles
Windmill- Fluorescent Lights
Falcon- The Sandfighter
Boy in static- Innocent
Alaska in winter- 24 hours on lake of ice
Olafur Arnalds - 37:04 (last track on the Eulogy for evolution cd)
Mogwai- Kappa
Margot and the nuclear so and so's- Talking in code
Neva Dinova- Did you disappoint your god?
Sigur Ros- Med Sud i eyrum
Faunts- Place i've found

My favorite find of the week is the band "Falcon"..here is the blurb from their myspace..it's a little gimmicky but I quite like the music:

"How many bands form with a finite amount of material? Really, think about it. How many bands form knowing, from the start, what the songs already are, and that there will never be another one? It's a problem tribute bands must often face. But what if the tribute band's songs have never even been heard before?

Enter Falcon.
Falcon is not a tribute band.
Falcon plays all new material.

But... Falcon will never write another song. In fact, they never have. Let me explain. Every Falcon song has already been written by the band's namesake, Jared Falcon. However, Mr. Falcon is not in the band.
From 1986-88, Jared Falcon attended Petaluma Junior High in Petaluma, Ca.. He played baritone sax in the orchestra and did not do particularly well in school. However, he was a songwriting prodigy, writing close to a song a day and recording each onto a Fisher Price tape recorder. This practice started in January 1987 and ended, 336 songs later, in February 1988, when Mr. Falcon was instituionalized.

Luckily for us, however, Jared Falcon's classmates from Petaluma Junior High, Shannon Ferguson and Neil Rosen, have since found those tapes."

Ambient Signal 7/16/08

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast
6-8pm Wednesdays

Son lux - Don't you (forget about me)
Memphis- I dreamed we fell apart
Lykke Li- Dance dance dance
Denali- lose me (live acoustic) (SEE DENALI POST AND VIDEO BELOW)
Great White Jenkins- Brother
Margot and the Nuclear So and So's- Hello Vagina
Twilight Sad- Here it never snowed, afterwards it did
This will destroy you- They move in tracks of never ending light
Boy in static- Violet
Brendan Canning- Hit the wall
Computer vs. Banjo- Guitars need a sinners touch
Talkdemonic- Silvertone
Xu Xu Fang- The Mourning Son
Windmill-Plastic Pre-Flight Seats
The Frequency- Talk to me
Alaska in winter- The homeless and the hummingbird
Giraffes? Giraffes! - Emily Sagees secret
Calico Horse- Happy Placebo Syringe Day
SJ Esau- Bubblehead
The Decemberists- Engine Driver
DNTEL- Dumb Luck
Album leaf- Outer banks
Olafur Arnalds- Haust
Sigur Ros- Festival

pinkie swear!

artist - song

mates of state - get better
does it offend you, yeah? - dawn of the dead
minus the bear - dog park
bitter:sweet - sugar mama <---- playing 8/8 at Revolution Hall, Troy
hercules and love affair - blind
midnight juggernauts - into the galaxy
cut copy - hearts on fire
the chap -they have a name
CB radio - blue skies
moby - alice
n.e.r.d. - spaz
yacht - ring the bell (premix)
daedelus - make it so feat. michael johnson
ladytron - ghosts
bjork - wanderlust
the watson twins - how I am to be
tilly and the wall - jumbler
twink - i <3 rainbows
weezer - the greatest man that ever lived
mates of state - my only offer
the notwist - good lies
radiohead - high and dry
my brightest diamond - inside a boy
justice - let there be light
yelle - je veux te voir
the real mccoy - another night
the ting tings - shut up and let me go

[10498]
-Emelie

Denali Reunion show - 7.05.08

So after 5 years of waiting I finally got to see Denali in concert again. They broke up in 2004 (well I think the original members broke up in 2003..I saw their last show in richmond, the cd release show for the instinct). This show at Richmond's semi-new (amazing) venue The National was every bit as satisfying as when I saw them at that show.

The openers alone would have made a great show. Great White Jenkins (I'll be playing their CD on my show) was one of my favorites, with a more interesting Fleet Foxes sort of sound, and a small horn section joining them for the latter half of their set. Prabir and the substitutes wasn't quite was I was into, with a straight up 60's/Beatles kind of sound. Tulsa drone was the last opener. I had seen them a couple years ago at an odd little show in an art gallery in downtown richmond and liked them enough to pick up their CD but didn't listen to it much. They were pretty good live (the CD didn't quite compare) and this show had them in similar form but the anticipation for Denali was sort of overshadowing their western, hammer-dulcimer infused post-rock.

Denali built the crowd up for their set with a looping sound sample of cryptic organs and telephone rings. They also had some video stuff going behind a dark stage. After 5 minutes (too long! haha) of that, they finally entered and started with French Mistake. They only have 2 albums so it was pretty easy to play all of the crowd pleasing songs. Lose Me, Relief, Do Something were some of my favorites. The video work in the background was pretty amazing most times (I'm a VJ myself so I know how hard some of the stuff the artist was doing was). Not the tightest show ever but after 5 years you can't expect spot on accuracy. The important thing was that all of them looked like they were having fun with it. They did unveil one new song they had fleshed out during their practices called Church Hill Bricks (I caught the name on a setlist while I was waiting for an autograph). It sounded good, not typical Denali but hopefully they've all matured in their sounds in 5 years and taken on new influences, I know I have. Here's hoping they record that song (and maybe a couple others, pretty please) to release sometime, but that show will be enough to hold me for at least another 5 years, haha.

I know I saw several cameras recording the show, so a DVD or web series may also be in the works, I know they have a 4 part reunion web series coming out (part 1 has been out for a while). In lieu of that, I brought my own camcorder and recorded a few of the songs. That new one, Church Hill Bricks, is below..enjoy


Denali - Church Hill Bricks (New song from Reunion show) from blair neal on Vimeo.

CAMP BISCO TICKET GIVEAWAY TODAY!

GIVEAWAY TODAY!

As I've been telling you for the past (forever, really) we've got a pair of passes to Camp Bisco to give away. These passes are good for all three days of the event and include camping! I'll be on the air around 1pm today to give them away! Number at the station is 518.276.6248.

You can also buy your tickets online at www.campbisco.net

-Emelie

pinkie swear

radiohead - high and dry
my brightest diamond - pluto's moon
the notwist - gravity
ani difranco - decree
tilly and the wall - jumbler
mates of state - my only offer
feist - 1234
bitter:sweet - sugar mama [[playing at REV HALL - Listen to win tickets in coming weeks!]]
the watson twins - just like heaven (cure cover)
emmylou harris - shores of white sand
the racounteurs - consoler of the lonely
does it offend you, yeah? - dawn of the dead
midnight juggernauts - shadows
lcd soundsystem - north american scum
wolf parade - soldiers grin
weezer - heart songs
the chap - carlos walter wendy stanley
hercules and love affair - blind
james pants - dragonslayer
N.E.R.D. - anti matter
flying lotus - "los angeles"
PLAYING AT CAMP BISCO:

• DJ shadow - you can't go home again
• cut chemist - motivational speaker + the garden
• bassnectar - verbing the noun
• cut chemist - what's the altitude
• the disco biscuits - triumph
• !!! - yadnus

calvin harris - acceptable in the 80's
the ting tings - shut up and let me go [[playing at valentines on july 26th!!]]
bitter:sweet - the bomb
audio bullys - shot you down feat. nancy sinatra
computer vs. banjo - guitar needs a sinner's touch
portishead - the rip
fleet foxes - white winter hymnal
anthem in - down
dosh - don't wait for the needle to drop
frisbee - gettin' it down
death cab for cutie - you can do better than me
lali puna - small things
radiohead - fake plastic trees
lymbyc system -
mates of state - get better
the notwist - the devil, you and me
my brightest diamond - the ice & the storm
minus the bear - lets play clowns
tilly and the wall = chandelier lake

[10373]
-Emelie

pinkie swear

artist - track
WALTER MEEGO - wanna be a star
midnight juggernauts - into the galaxy
the ting tings - shut up and let me go
bitter:sweet - the bomb
mates of state - get better
hercules and love affair - blind
the chap - proper rock
ladytron - ghosts
four tet - ribbons
bjork - wanderlust - ratatat remix
robert hood - fabric live mix - the pace - m-plant
n.e.r.d. - spaz
flying lotus - camel, melt!, comet course
domestic blend compilation album - click here for more info
my brightest diamond - inside a boy
portishead - silence
the notwist - gloomy planets
radiohead - high and dry
death cab for cutie - no sunlight
dosh - don't just sit there and wait for the needle to drop

NEXT WEEK: 4 hour show (but no Blar, boo), Camp Bisco Giveaway Extravaganza! 4-8pm

Camp Bisco Info ---> here!

[10,293]
-Emelie

Ambient Signal 6/25/08

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast
6-8pm Wednesdays

I won't be back next week or the week after..going on vacation inside a vacation..see you again mid july!

Pre-show

Battles- SZ2
Alla- Una dia otra noche
Black kids- I'm not gonna teach your boyfriend how to dance with you
Death cab for cutie- Grapevine fires
Little Beirut- The Lottery
Mar- Underwater
SHOW START-------------- 6pm
Hammock- Three sisters
Georgie James- Cake parade
Husky Rescue- Caravan
Emily Haines - Doctor Blind
Sigur Ros - Godan Daggin
Mum - Marmalade Fires
Goddamn electric bill - March at dawn
Khoiba- Taste it
Electric president- Ten thousand lines
Forget cassettes- Quiero, Quieres
The notwist- gloomy planets
My milky way arms- All awful possibilities
My brightest diamond- To plutos moon
Wolf parade- Soldiers grin
David Ramos- Pulse
Calico Horse- Awake in the clouds
Dead heart bloom - Come back
Giraffes? Giraffes! - When catholic girls go camping, the nicotine vampies rule supreme
Fleet foxes- Sun it rises
Broken Social Scene- Hotel
Grizzly Bear- Central and remote
The twilight sad- and she would darken the memory
God is an astronaut- Sunrise in aries
Steve Reich - Drumming (Part 4)

A Friendly Reminder from Gold Sounds

Girl Talk - Feed the Animals

As of Thursday, mash-up specialist Girl Talk's newest album is available for download on his label's (Illegal Arts) website. Word has it that it picks up right where his previous album, the excellent Night Ripper, leaves off. I just started listening to the album like 30 seconds ago and already have encountered a 'holy shit, awesome' moment.

The download works much like how Radiohead's newest album worked. Choose to donate as much as you want and you obtain a download of the album (including nothing, if you're feeling stingy). The quality of the content depends on how much you donate; the benefits of donating more are listed in the download link.

If for some reason you aren't sure whether or not to download Feed the Animals for free, it's streaming in full on Girl Talk's myspace. Personal favorites so far include "Play Your Part (Pt. 1)," "Set it Off," and "Let Me See You."

You'll surely be hearing more and more about Girl Talk and this album in the next few months, including on this blog. Enjoy the album.

Ambient Signal 6/18/08 - Post 10,000 hits

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast
6-8pm Wednesdays

Yeaah 10,000 hitz..heres to 10,000 more

My Milky Way Arms- Unbearable Lightness of Being
Mason proper- A Chance Encounter
Bell Orchestre- Throw it on a fire
Sigur Ros- Inni mer syngur vitleysingur
Under Byen- Pilot
Le Loup- To the stars! To the night!
Menomena- The late great libido
Beck-New Round
Morning Recordings- Sugar Waltz
The Notwist- Good Lies
My Brightest Diamond- The Ice & The Storm
Wolf Parade- Language City
Fleet Foxes- White winter hymnal
My Education- Aria
Cineplexx- A mi lado
Tilly and the wall- Chandelier lake
Watson Twins- Fall
Nethers- Great big grave
Jason Webley- Little Sister
Bright Eyes- Middleman
Maria Taylor- Clean getaway
Camera Obscura- Knee deep at the NPL
Iron and Wine- Such great heights
Clare and the reasons- Alphabet City
The Album Leaf- Broken Arrow

pinkie swear

artist - track

bitter:sweet - the bomb
the ting tings - that's not my name
does it offend you, yeah? - dawn of the dead
walter meego - wanna be a star
the futureheads - decent days
portishead - silence
ladytron - ghosts
my brightest diamond - inside a boy
death cab for cutie - no sunlight
daedelus - make it so
mates of state - my only offer
feist - 1234
the notwist - good lies
the bridal shop - from seas
M83 - kim & jessie
aimee mann - freeway
modest mouse - so much beauty in dirt
weezer - pork and beans
radiohead - jigsaw falling into place
midnight juggernauts - into the galaxy
neutral milk hotel - two headed boy
lymbic system - love your abuser
architechture in helsinki - it's 5
four tet - ribbons
N.E.R.D. - anti matter
the knife - is it medicine
dosh - kit and pearle
hammock - mono mo aware
explosions in the sky - memorial



-Emelie [ 10046 hits! yay! ]

Conor Oberst's new solo album and tour

The news has been out there for a while that Conor Oberst has been writing and recording new material outside of the Bright Eyes arena since late last year. His solo album will be coming out on Merge (not saddle creek or team love? wtf..) on August 4th.

He has 2 tracks streaming on the website :

http://www.conoroberst.com/album/

and personally its going to be very hard for me to seperate them from sounding like Bright Eyes, but they have been obsessively one of my favorite bands for years..I saw them in concert 3 times last year..looks like those of you in the capitol region will be able to catch this new Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band experiment because on their tour page they list:

8/17 Saratoga, NY Saratoga Music Festival

I'm pretty sure I'm going to that..

EDIT: just found this post and I may not be going, haha..ouch..my wallet:
http://heartstack.org/2008/06/18/saratoga-music-festival-announced/

Ambient Signal 6/11/08 - Pre 10,000 hits

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast

Wow almost 10,000 hits on this blog...now almost 2 years old..not too shabby..should have 10,000 by friday

Pre show-
Eef Barzelay - Could be worse
Free Kittens- Help Me
James pants- Dragonslayer
Neva Dinova- Clouds
Playlist start----
My Brightest Diamond- Golden Star
Under Byen- Af samme stof som stof
Brooke Waggoner- Fresh pair of eyes
Sigur Ros- Gobbledigook
The Velvet Teen- No one gets the best of me
The Books- There is no there
Red Lions- Bay of Naples
Venice is sinking- Pulaski Heights
Cars & Trains- Painting it over did no good/Solitary Bird
Fleet Foxes- Blue Ridge Mountains
Spiritualized- you lie you cheat
Watson Twins- Just like heaven
My Education- Britches Blanket
Minus the Bear- Lets play clowns
Nethers- Three hearts
Bittersweet- Drama
Death cab for cutie- Talking Bird
Styrofoam- Lil white boy
Mates of state- The re-arranger
Slow Six- These rivers between us
This will destroy you- Threads
Bright eyes- I'll be your friend
Charlie Everywhere- Mouthful of diamonds
Khoiba- Loading of aching heads

NIN Update - FREE Music

You heard me right. Nine Inch Nails has jumped on the bandwagon and is giving away a free music sampler download of their new music along with some other great bands that you hear on my show like Crystal Castles, Does it Offend You, Yeah? and Deerhoof. Visit their website or click here to download!

In other news.. have you seen the Camp Bisco lineup for this year? It's great! Check it out at www.campbisco.net We'll be giving away tickets in the next few weeks so stay tuned!

[9852]

Ambient Signal 6/4/08

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast

Broken Social Scene - Cranley's gonna make it
The Album Leaf - Twenty two fourteen
Pure Horsehair- On looseleaf with sharpie
Annuals- Complete or completing
Wolf Parade- Dear songs and daughters of hungry ghosts
Camera obscura- Let's get out of this country
Death cab for cutie - Cath (meant to play talking bird..)
Mates of state- My only offer
Peter von poehl- Going to where the tea trees are
Watson Twins- How am i to be?
Spiritualized- i gotta fire
My education- Arch
Submarines- Brightest hour
Mar- farewell
Quitzow- Sponsor (it didn't mean a thing)
Bittersweet- Get what i want
Cursive- Bad sects
13 & God- Soft atlas
The velvet teen- We were bound (to bend the rules)
Sigur Ros- Gong
Caspian- Some are white light
Explosions in the sky- what do you go home to?
Venetian Snares- Hajnal

pinkie swear.

Hiii, I'm back! I've got a chilled out show for you today to go along with the gloomy clouds overhead. My new favorite cds that have just dropped are: Death Cab for Cutie, Bitter:Sweet, Radiohead (best of), Four Tet, The Ting Tings, Yelle, Neva Dinova, and Dosh. Can you handle all that?

artist - track title

minus the bear - the game needed me - oktopus remix
the presets - my people
M83 - kim & jessie
odd nosdam - untitled three - jb og mix
neva dinova - clouds
diva sonic - girations
my brightest diamond - inside a boy
portishead - we carry on
bitter:sweet - come along with me
the ting tings - shut up and let me go
lali puna - small things
modest mouse - baby blue sedan <3
misha - delovedly
mates of state - get better
bitter:sweet - the bomb
radiohead - 2+2=5
death cab for cutie - i will possess your heart
dosh - wolves
ladytron - seventeen
ladytron - ghosts
flight of the concords - the most beautiful girl (in the room)
daedelus - make it so - XXXchange remix
four tet - ribbons
booka shade - charlotte
Young MC - bust a move - don rimini ravekid extended remix
midnight juggernauts - dystopia


-Emelie [9794]

Ambient Signal 5/28/08 - Extended edition

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast

Guest playlist from my girlfriend for the first hour

Junior Boys- Double Shadow
The Anniversary - D in detroit
Mewithoutyou - January 1979
Apples in stereo - Go
St. Vincent- All my stars aligned
Art in Manila- Time gets us all
Neko Case- John saw that number
Badly Drawn Boy- Something to talk about
Pipettes- Your kisses are wasted on me
Battles- Atlas
Simian - LA Breeze
Black keys-Do the rump
Bobby birdman- gone beyond

Begin normal playlist at 5:55:
Hammock- Elm
Animal Collective- Did you see the words
Menomena- Evil Bee
Irepress - Pah No
Sigur Ros - Gobbledigook
Halou - Morse code
Denali- Gunner
Styrofoam- After sunset
Shy child- Drop the phone
Lucky Dragons- Morning rituals
Mar- Icarus
Mates of state- Get better
Subtle - Exiting arm
Bitter:Sweet - The bomb
Submarines- You me and the bourgeouis
Death cab for cutie - Grapevine fires
Spiritualized- Soul on fire
Dosh - Kit and Pearls
Forget Cassettes- Like tiny swords
Bright Eyes- Four Winds
Rachel's - Water from the same source
Enigmatic String Quartet- There There (Radiohead cover)
Odd Nosdam- Don't come down here
Faunts - Of nature
Squarepusher- Tetra Sync

Ambient Signal 5/21/08

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast

The Velvet Teen- Building a Whale
The Arcade Fire- Wake Up
The Pipettes- Pull Shapes
Minty Fresh Beats- Nude (Remix of Radiohead)
The Avalanches- Since I Left You
This Will Destroy You- Threads
Beck- Missing
The Books-Lemon of Pink
Psapp- Hill of our Home
Hammock- Mono no aware
Sigur Ros- Glosoli ( by request..one of the few i've ever been able to fill, haha)
Port O' Brien- I woke up today
Dosh- Wolves
Death cab for Cutie- Cath
Styrofoam- Microscope
Mar - A Celebration
Son Lux- Inside a boy (Remix of My Brightest Diamond)
Subtle- Day Dangerous
Battles- B+ T
Q and Not U - Soft pyramids
Osborne- There
Panda bear- Comfy in nautica
Album leaf- We need help
Denali- Gunner

Ambient Signal 5/14/08 - The what the hell am i doing edition

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast

So theres supposed to be a baseball game coming on sometime during my show..so I didn't plan a playlist because I thought I wasn't going to have to come in so i'm playing random new stuff, and an old playlist from 10/11/05 on a cd I found in the station, haha.. enjoy!

Start of show: Hammock - Gold star mothers and City in the dust on my window
Ester Drang- All this feeling
Wesafari- Alaska
Stars- What the snowman learned about love
Portishead- Machine Gun
Dosh- Wolves
Death cab for cutie- Bixby canyon bridge
Scarlett Johannson- Anywhere I lay my head
Russian Circles- Harper Lewis

Baseball game started like 5:40

REVIEW: Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs

It's 4 AM on Tuesday morning. Do you know where your new Death Cab For Cutie album is?? I got my dirty little paws on a copy early (it's been floating around the interwebs since 5/2) and just finished listening to it. This is the Bellingham, WA group's 7th studio album and 2nd album with Atlantic Records (the first being Plans in 2005).

Let me get this out of the way first: take what you expect from this album and throw it out the window. OK now that's done, let's move on.

Narrow Stairs marks a dark turn in Death Cab's sound. Sure they still write about rejection, lost love, and regret, but in an especially melancholy way. The album finds the group using massive production, long build-ups, and careening echoes left hanging like so much dust in the air. Where Plans has a more pop sound, Narrow Stairs takes that sound and drags it through some dark twisting alleyways for a bit. What you end up with is a collection of songs that leave the lost lover narrative behind and take on a more menacing (and quite creepy) sound.

The intro to the first track, "Bixby Canyon Bridge," fools you into thinking this might be like Plans but no! The heavy guitar riff that kicks in tells you that you've left Kansas behind and entered a new dark world that Ben Gibbard will lead you through with his clear voice. The song ends with Gibbard singing the last verse over guitar feedback. I think Karouac would have approved of this song and Gibbard has said as much (see here and here).

The single "I Will Possess Your Heart" once again comes at you with a bass/piano riff intro then comes the stalking vocals. No, really. After hearing this track, I went to double check all my window shades were drawn and doors locked so Mr. Gibbard over there wouldn't break in or anything. Check it: "You reject my advances and desperate pleas / I won't let you let me down so easily" Wow. Luckily I happen to be on the male side of things. Ladies, good luck...and keep the narrator 100 yards away from you at all times.

Personally, I'm a fan of "Your New Twin Sized Bed." With some cheesy (but still decent) metaphors and a more upbeat sound, it is romantic and longing. Also check out "Grapevine Fires" where Gibbard's writing really shines through. As a comment on the southern California fires and the experience of watching them, I'd say this is one of the best tracks on the album.

So what have we learned today kids? By the end of this record, Gibbard has led us through a haunting world where people live with a lack of love and a deep understanding of loneliness. Though it may have some perky moments ("No Sunlight" and "Long Division"), Narrow Stairs is definitely an album bathed in the lack of light. I find it to be Death Cab's best album since Transatlanticism (though Plans wasn't bad).

4.5/5

Tracklist:

1] Bixby Canyon Bridge
2] I Will Possess Your Heart
3] No Sunlight
4] Cath...
5] Talking Bird
6] You Can Do Better Than Me
7] Grapevine Fires
8] Your New Twin Sized Bed
9] Long Division
10] Pity And Fear
11] The Ice Is Getting Thinner

Official Site
MySpace

A Moveable Dance {Last Broadcast}

This comes a week late, but I have a surprise for you in return! Check my next post...

[artist] - [track]

Estelle (feat. Kanye West) - American Boy (DJ Sujinho remix)
Thunderkatz - 3 AM (DJ Klever's So So Death remix)
Boys Noize - &Down (Optimus Grime remix)
autoKratz - 1000 Things
Dada Yakuza - Full Metal Yakuza
Feadz - Back It Up (feat. Spank Rock)
Asian Dub Foundation - Fortress Europe
Flufftronix - Shark Attack (Ruff Cut)
Justice - Stress (Auto Remix) <--check out Emelie's post w/ the music vid
Immuzikation - Jeumie (Yelle vs. Weezer)
Busy P (feat. Murs) - To Protect and Entertain
Kanye West - Flashing Lights (Optimus Grime remix)
Santogold - Say Aha
Dead Prez - Bigger Than Hip Hop (Flufftronix Ghetto House refix)
Uffie - Robot Oeuf
Minitel Rose - Continue
Justice vs. Transformer - DVNO
MOULiNEX - Break Chops
Cobra Krames (feat. Rye Rye) - Get Familiar (Start the Violence! remix)
Louis La Roche - Love (Optimus Grime remix)
So Me - Decalcomania
D.I.M. - Is You (Optimus Grime remix)
Feist - Sealion (Chromeo Remix)
Oldschool Reunion - Disco Interface

Ambient Signal 5/7/08

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast

I believe summer schedule starts next week..pretty sure I'll be at the same time though

Talkdemonic- Bering
Talkdemonic- Human till born
Battles- Rainbows
Sunset Rubdown- Stadiums and Shrines II
Menomena- Muscle n' Flo
Bright Eyes- True Blue (Live)
A Northern Chorus- This Open Heart
Valley of the Giants- Westworld
Dosh-Kit and pearls
Arc lab- The secret lives of A.C. Wuornos
Portishead- Plastic
Leerone- Empty Houses
Russian Circles-Campaign
El Perro Del Mar- Somebody's Baby
Feist- Honey honey (live)
Langhorne Slim- Spinning compass
Flight of the conchords- The most beautiful girl
Pattern is movement- Peach trees
Orenda Fink- Leave it all
Mogwai- Teamhanded
Bend like branches- Snowroom
Ulrich Schnauss- Blumenweise neben autobahn
Sigur Ros- Andvari
Hammock- The house where we grew up

pinkie swear | last show of academic year

sally shapiro - anorak christmas - woodhands remix
cut copy - out there on the ice
b-52's - funplex - css remix
act - ping pong
shy child - drop the phone
ghostland observatory - dancing on my grave
bad dudes - suez
architechture in helsinki - heart it races
crystal castles - crimewave (crystal castles vs health)
chromeo - fancy footwork
does it offend you, yeah? - dawn of the dead
the ting tings - great dj
pink skull - get inside (my tiny pyramids)
moby - alice
burial - archangel
metaform - urban velvet
ghislain poirier - no more blood feat. face-t - hudson mohawke remix
juno reactor - las vegas future past
mashed buddha - ego maniac
boys noize - my head - para one
justice - genesis
daft punk - around the world / harder better faster stronger
M.I.A. - paper planes - scottie b. remix
substantial - resurrection of the house party
four tet - ribbons
bjork - wanderlust - ratatat remix
glen porter - prolong
bitcrush - what would hope be without disapointment
subtractive lad - decay as a lifestyle

This was my last show for the semester but I'll be in and out during the summer at random times once I have my schedule figured out. Thanks for listening and thanks for all of my callers who always show their appreciation, I love hearing from you so keep it up!

-Emelie [9284]

Free Nine Inch Nails

Download it here!

Free music all over the place these days...

-Emelie [9229]

Margot and the Nuclear So and So's New Album Animal - July 29th

Finally

I've been waiting quite a while to hear about the release date of Margot and the Nuclear So and So's sophomore effort: Animal! In 2006 they took me by surprise..I saw them play after another band I came to see and I was intrigued (which frankly rarely happens at a live show) but the rest of the people I was with thought they were lame so we had to leave...what a mistake. A month of so later I received their debut "The Dust of Retreat" in the first half of 2006 and it went on to become my #1 album that year. I've been keeping a casual eye on their myspace and homepage hearing tiny details about the recording process and tracklisting for about a year..they even threw us a bone with the release of a B-side track called "Hello Vagina" (its out there in the blagosphere for downloading..I've played it on my show before). A balmy release date has been set for July 29th, 2008. I'm very very interested to hear what this 8 piece folk/rock collective managed to put together this time..here is the tracklist from their myspace..some of the songs have been around as demos for quite a while:

Animal! tracklisting

1. At the carnival
2. German Motor Car
3. O’ What a nightmare!
4. I am a lightning rod
5. Love song for a schubas bartender
6. Mariel’s brazen overture
7. A children’s crusade on acid
8. There’s talk of mineshafts
9. The shivers (I’ve got ’em)
10. Cold, kind, and lemon eyes
11. My baby (shoots her mouth off)
12. Tall as cliffs.

Their myspace

p.s. to tell you how excited i am..my dog is named Margot

Yeaah

Justice Video for 'Stress'

New Justice Video for Stress
I'm not sure how I feel about it because I wish I knew what their intentions were in making the video this harsh. [9153]

justice stress (official video)

Gold Sounds: Pattern Is Movement's new album "All Together" reviewed!

Pattern Is Movement - All Together

Philadelphia's Pattern Is Movement, who recently became a duo, are back with their third album (and first on new label Hometapes) All Together.

The band is often compared to Pinback, a comparison that makes sense in that both bands make intricate, minimalist pop songs with very precise rhythms. Indeed, nothing about this album is sloppy. Not one note of the album is extraneous, and all ten songs are very concise. Though all this is evident to the listener, none of it takes away from the record's appeal. While it sounds complicated on paper, this assembly line-like efficiency somehow translates to a very pleasant listen; everything just sounds so right about this album. It's impossible to listen from start to finish without finding yourself bobbing your head to at least one song, and the album is filled with many surprising twists and turns, keeping the listener interested and wondering what will happen next.

Starting with the very beginning of the first song "Bird," Pattern Is Movement reel the listener in and show them they mean business. Quick drumming and sailing vocals anchor the beginning of "Bird," but then out of nowhere everything stops and a single, beautiful Rhodes piano figure is performed, followed by a similarly beautiful flute piece, courtesy of member Andrew Thiboldeaux's mellotron. The breakdown ends as abruptly as it starts, flawlessly transitioning back into the song's opening notes. The band does not miss a beat during this song, which can be said for the rest of the album as well.

Similarly shocking are the transitions between songs. The subdued "Sea Captain," which sounds sort of like a waltz on a cruise ship, ends very innocuously but leads into the opening horn blare (again, the wonders of the mellotron) of "Sound of Your Voice," with singer Andrew Thiboldeaux declaring "How I just like the sound of your voice!" triumphantly over the music. This turn of events is surprising enough, but the immediate, driving introduction shortly gives way to a drumming/Rhodes piano breakdown (one of the album's best moments), and right when this breakdown ends, these two parts of the song are immediately repeated. All the songs employ repetition to great effect, and their ideas are so unique that this repetition does not bore the listener. It's obvious that the band named themselves Pattern Is Movement for a reason.

There are just so many impressive songs on this album, it's difficult to discuss them all in one review. "Peach Trees" offers some of the album's best and most haunting melodies, while "Jenny Ono" possesses an amazing vocal performance by Thiboldeaux. His vocal delivery, at first listen, sounds better suited for opera than pop, but they compliment the band's music very nicely, though lyrics are very hard to make out the majority of the time. As previously mentioned, all instrumentation is carefully calculated, but the main force behind the music of Pattern Is Movement is Chris Ward's drumming. The man clearly has talent, and none of these songs would work as well without his consistently impressive percussion skills. With his drumming, he serves as the band's navigation system, keeping them on track throughout all their unique instrumental flourishes. Without it, the lofty instrumentation would be harder to stomach and consistently listen to, and the music would just sail off into the distance, never to be remembered again.

All aspects considered, Pattern Is Movement have made a very impressive third album. Every song has a moment that makes an impression in the mind of the listener and stays there all day. Some songs are a little more impressive than others (it's hard not to play favorites here), but there are absolutely no duds on the record. Check out the band on tour in smaller venues around the Northeast before the influx of good reviews occurs, which it will. All Together is one of the best, most unique albums released so far this year, and it will serve to put the band on the map in 2008.

Rating: 8.5/10

Key Tracks: Sound of Your Voice, Peach Trees, Jenny Ono

Listen: Myspace

The album will be released in the U.S. on May 6th via Hometapes

No Radio Today

Sorrry kids! No pinkie swear today.. our transmitter is having issues and we've been off all day. We've got our team working on it so we hope to be back asap!

See you next Wednesday,

Emelie

HACKED:
no ambient signal either!

<3 blar..be back next week

Portishead and More...

XLR8R Magazine - The best magazine to keep up with electronic music.

Their latest issue is online here. (That's right, they post it online for free, it's amazing.)
In the new issue is an article on Portishead and a few blurbs about Cut Copy. I highly recommend checking it out. Not only that, it's some of the best graphic design work I've seen (every month). In addition to the magazine, new videos are posted each Tuesday about different artists and stuff going on, so tune in.

-Emelie

New Coldplay!

Free Coldplay song!

Download it from their site (it's sent to your email) at Coldplay.com

I like the song too, so how bout them apples? Free concerts coming up too!

-Emelie

Ambient Signal 4/23/08

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast

Portishead- Cowboys (live)
Margot and the Nuclear So and So's- On a freezing chicago street
Denali- Everybody Knows
Red Lions- I'll never know
Le Loup- Planes like vultures
Animal collective- Fireworks
Azure Ray- Fever
Cat power- Metal heart
Vashti Bunyan- Here before
Neva Dinova- Squirrels
Leerone- To fill the void
Anna Ternheim- Girl laying down
Dosh- Don't wait for the needle to drop
Pattern is movement- sound of your voice
M83- graveyard girl
Four tet- Swimmers
Flight of the conchords- Inner city pressure
El perro del mar- How did we forget?
Alias and Ehren- Lillian
The Notwist- Moron
Paww- Into the valley
Amiina- Sexfaldur
The Album leaf- Outer Banks
Sigur Ros- Untitled 4

pinkie swear

artist - track - remix

B-52's - Funplex - CSS Remix
Ting Tings - Great DJ - Calvin Harris
Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor
Bad Dudes - Suez
Bjork - Wanderlust - Ratatat Remix
Neon Neon - Neon Theme
Cut Copy - Hearts On Fire
Jef Stott - Medina Stepper
Pink Skull - Unicorn Harpoon
Does it Offend You, Yeah? - We Are Rockstars
Moby - Alice - General Midi Remix
Boys Noize - My Head - Para One Remix
Ghislain Poirier - No More Blood FEAT Face-T
Justice - Phantom
Lowfish - 999
Robert Hood - Intro - M-Plant
Moby - Degenerates
Marie Moor - Pretty Day
Crystal Castles - Alice Practice
Ruth - Polaroid/Roman/Photo
M.I.A. - Paper Planes - DFA Remix
Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
Subtractive Lad - Decay As a Lifestyle







-Emelie [ 9010 ]

Ambient Signal 4/16/08

WRPI 91.5fm!
http://www.wrpi.org/ for webcast

Preshow-

Four Tet- Ribbons
O! the joy - this fault is not mine
Plants and animals- feedback in the field
Flight of the conchords- Business time

Show start
Memphis- I dreamed we fell apart
Fog- Song about a wedding
Dosh- Steve the Cat
The Notwist- Good lies
Efterklang- Bright
Brand New- Degausser
Denali- Relief
Feist- La meme histoire
Cortney Tidwell- Lala
Son Lux- Stand
Annuals- Sore
Cut copy- Feel the love
Neva Dinova- A man and his dream
Wye oaks- Warning
South- Better things
Cloud cult- Journey of the featherless
El perro Del mar- Glory to the world
Stars- The Big fight
Bright Eyes- Neely O' Hara
The Velvet teen- Forlorn
Arovane-Tokyo ghost stories
Hammock- Bird's flying in sequence
Sigur Ros- Svefn G- Englar

pinkie swear

Today is lots of Daft Punk Day. Clearly I made that up.

Daft Punk - Alive 2007

[artist - track]
M.I.A. - Paper Planes - Scottie B Remix
Moby - Alice
Lowfish - Bitter
Calvin Harris - The Girls
Crystal Castles - Crimewave
The Ting Tings - 7th Heaven Remix
B-52's - Funplex - CSS Remix
Neon Neon - Neon Theme
Ghislain Poirier - No More Blood FEAT Face T
Jimmy Edgar - 18th Street Reflections
Bad Dudes - Suez

Emelie [8878]

Gold Sounds: Tokyo Police Club's new album "Elephant Shell" reviewed

Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell

The third in a series of reviews of albums by bands whose prior releases have solely consisted of EPs and singles. Tokyo Police Club's song repertoire before this album consisted of, at most, 30 minutes of music: a 7 song EP, a 3 song EP, and the Your English Is Good single. Despite the meager portions Tokyo Police Club has served the world in the past, the band has been subjected to great praise since releasing the 7 song A Lesson In Crime EP in 2006. Each song packed insanely catchy guitar rock melodies (think "Is This It?") into songs no longer than three minutes. This brevity has served Tokyo Police Club well; perhaps the melodies would grow tired and repetitive to the listener if they were to extend past the three minute mark, but the band instead chooses to ride out the melody until it gets old, then they stop the song altogether.

Keeping this in mind, it's no surprise that Tokyo Police Club's first full length album follows the same formula for the most part. All 11 songs have catchy hooks and short lengths (the album runs for 28 minutes). Last year's single "Your English Is Good" (which makes an appearance on this album) is the exception, clocking in at a lengthy 3 minutes and 12 seconds! By now, you get the point: Tokyo Police Club make short songs with a sense of immediacy about them, and this album is no exception. However, while this new batch of songs is still decent and catchy, it's very hard not to think that the band is somewhat of a one-trick pony. Even more unfortunate is the fact that there aren't as many good songs here as there are on A Lesson in Crime, which is a real problem considering the music world has waited for this full length for over a year now.

That's not to say that the album doesn't have some attention grabbing songs. Seriously, some tracks are catchy as hell; the opening "Centennial" and "Nursery, Academy" have driving, get-off-your-ass drum beats, "Graves" starts off with a sweet keyboard hook (the catchiest of the album), and yeah, the album has 2007 standout "Your English Is Good", which would probably still sound amazing had I not played it to death last year.

Unfortunately, most of the other songs aren't as memorable as anything on A Lesson In Crime. The worst offender, "The Harrowing Adventures Of..." finds the band trying to incorporate glockenspiels and strings into their hand claps and guitars (here, acoustic) sound. However, the song fails to sound anything but schmaltzy. This failure is more alarming because it shows that the band fails when they do something different than what they normally do (and what they normally do is not as exciting on Elephant Shell as it has been in the past). What does a band do when they can't squeeze as much life out of their previously successful formula and can't be successful when they deviate from that formula? Speaking of schmaltz, I really enjoy the vocal melodies of "Listen to the Math," but lyrics about people gasping about babies being born are somewhat ridiculous and take away from the enjoyment.

Aside from the schmaltz issue, my main gripe with Elephant Shell is how homogeneous it sounds. In most cases, it's really hard to differentiate one song from another. Even though most songs on the album aren't bad, this is a little disappointing; each song on A Lesson In Crime had its own distinct feel to it, whereas these songs do not. The three songs after "Graves" are catchy, yes, but it's really really hard to tell the difference between the three because they sound so similar to each other. Homogeneity leads to filler, and an 11 song, 28 minute album really can't afford to suffer from such a thing. Unfortunately, Elephant Shell does suffer from the filler problem, ultimately resulting in less memorable songs than the much shorter A Lesson In Crime EP. I look forward to seeing if the band can remedy this in their future releases.

Rating: 5/11

Key Tracks: "Graves", "Centennial"

The album comes out in the U.S. on April 22nd via Saddle Creek Records

Listen: Myspace

A Moveable Dance {4/13}

[artist] - [track]

* Kanye West & T-Pain - Good Life
* Bangers & Cash feat. Santogold & Betty Black - B.O.O.T.A.Y. (Leif Remix)
* Ying Yang Twins - Salt Shaker (KillPhil Remix)
* The Streets - Let's Push Things Forward (Hostage Remix)
* Boys Noize - Wisconsin '95
* Turntablehoshies - Blond Skinny Biorobot (Shokkaboy Remix)
* Count & Sinden - Beeper (A-Trak remix)
* Erykah Badu - Honey (Letroset Erykazoo Blend by Luminfire)
* Jay Z - Ignorant Shit (Son of Kick remix)
* Lil Mama - Shawty Get Loose (KBACA Remix)
* Twinpitch - debut (timo di roy mix)
* Alphabeat, FrankMusik and Leon Jean-Marie - Digital Love
* Estelle feat. Kanye West - American Boy (Stockholm Syndrome Club Mix)
* Blaqstarr - Blaw! (Neo's Let the Attack Begin Edit)
* Walter Meego - Girls
* Petter - Goda dagars magi (Alvy Singer remix)
* Supreeme - Who We Are (Royal Rumble remix)
* The Ghost Frequency - Never Before Have I Seen A Man Alive That Looked So Exactly Like A Skeleton (Zombie Disco Squad remix)
* Warboy feat. Mama Shamone - London's Gettin' Dirty (blend! Scuzzy redesign)
* Rails to Russia - Turning Into You (Lismore remix)
* Ghislain Poirier feat. Face-T - No More Blood