I’m traveling and hanging out with some old friends right now, so I’ll see you in the new year. Happy new year!

Posted every Thursday On Sale Soon is a weekly series of the tickets going on sale that weekend.

Where to get tickets: The Independent, Great American Music Hall, Slim’s, Fillmore, Warfield, and other Livenation venues. Another Planet booked venues like Greek Theatre @ Berkeley, Palace of Fine Arts, etc. Bimbo’s.

Not much going on sale this week.

On sale Sunday Dec 30:
1/14 Eek-A-Mouse, Pato Banton & The Mystic Roots Band @ the Independent
1/30 Grace Potter and the Nocturnals @ the Independent

Double check all information as venues and promoters often change on-sale times and days up until the last minute.

These are hilarious. Buffalax has taken some Indian music videos and “subtitled” them, not with the translations of what the lyrics are, but with Buffalax thinks the Hindi (or Urdu?) sounds like.

Another one after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is the songs I’ve been most obsessed with in 2007. I have been doing the song obsessions weekly series since nearly the beginning of this blog, giving me a good record of what I’ve been obsessed with this year. Most of them (click to see full list) were among mentioned previously in the song obsessions series but some were before that time and some were other peoples obsessions that I then became obsessed with or some were just slow-burning obsessions (if there can be such a thing).

I’m not picking these songs; they picked me, getting jammed in some little nook of my brain that made me need to hear them many times, often on repeat. This list isn’t simply my most played songs this year, though that does factor in–obsession requires a need to hear it again. I also take into account the urgency of that need initially and the urgency over the longer term. The level of my music evangelism of each song–that is, how much I wanted to tell others about it–also was taken into account.

In a way this is the third of my best of series of year-end “best of” 2007 pieces, after concerts and releases (albums, EPs, box sets).

The songs that I’ve been most obsessed with in 2007 in order of approximate level of obsession:

1. Jenda Wight Luxury of Time (original post)
   I actually used the phrase “holy shitballs that’s a beautiful song!” and threatened not to be friends with people who wouldn’t listen to this it back when I first heard this track. The instrumentation is unbelievable and Jenda’s just-breathy-enough voice works wonders. That this track came seemingly out-of-nowhere and that surprise factor definitely helped me get hooked.

   Jenda Wight – Luxury of Time (mp3) (available at artist’s myspace)

   Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

2. Beatbeat Whisper Lulu (pre-song obsessions)
   Again the surprise factor help me get hooked. This track combines an anglo-folk ballad style that I like and I’m familiar with with ethereal sounds in a way that make it seem like it’s floating right into the deepest part of my brain.

   Beatbeat Whisper – Lulu (mp3) (buy)

   Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

3. Magnolia Electric Co Shiloh Temple Bell (original post)
   This song breaks my heart every time I hear it; I am arrested in whatever I’m doing or thinking for the three minutes and nine seconds of the song (and probably a few afterwards). Jason Molina (also of Songs: Ohia) has written some pretty amazing songs in his time, but this might be his best and it is certainly among my favorites. It’s deadly simple: just a guitar and his warbling voice; it’s not even recorded that well (his vocals clip) but somehow it’s so much more than just that.

   Magnolia Electric Co – Shiloh Temple Bell (mp3) (buy)

   Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

4. Or, the Whale Call and Response (original post)
   The wow-now-it’s-time-to-wake-up! lead-off track to the surprising debut album (and number 1 album of the year) from Or, the Whale. I listened to this track like crazy when I first got it and that continued for months in my car and on my ipod. I was also playing this track for anyone who would listen.

   Or, the Whale – Call and Response (mp3) (buy)

   Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

5. Lightning Bug Project Message To Myself after Franny was Born (original post)
   Brian Miller (who is tLBS) emailed me and it was when I heard this song that I knew I wanted to hear more. The opening’s piano part and vocals are good good, but it’s really when the chorus and then the slide guitar hit that I took notice. It’s just a gorgeous song.

   The Lightning Bug Situation – Message To Myself After Franny was Born (mp3) (buy)

   Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

6. Port O’brien I Woke Up Today (original post)
   I was (and am) fascinated by how this song somehow stays in control despite how wild it seems.

   Port O’Brien – I Woke Up Today (mp3) (buy)

   Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

7. Mobius Band Friends like These (original post)
   As soon as the circuit-bent keyboards came in under the melancholy vocals, I am pretty sure I was hooked. The juxtaposition of dancey beat with the melancholy vocals and keyboard probably helps it get its hooks into my brain.

   Mobius Band – Friends Like These (mp3) (buy)

   Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

8. Coconut Records West Coast (original post)
   Catchy catchy catchy pop. It’s like someone made a pop song that was perfectly engineered to gain access to my head-nodding mechanisms.

   Coconut Records – West Coast (mp3) (buy)

   Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

9. Octopus Project Queen (original post)
   The seemingly simple but rhythmically-off time main figure, the catchy and interesting beat and follow-the-scale-up-and-then-down vocal line are, I’m pretty sure, what does it for me on this one. This is a song that shows no sign of getting old…well…ever.

   Octopus Band – Queen (mp3) (buy)

   Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

10. Kanye West Everything I Am (original post)
    Easily my favorite off of Graduation. Mix Kanye’s railing against pretensions and violence in hip hop with a fantastic sample and tasteful scratching and you have a winner, in my eyes.

    Kanye West – Everything I Am (mp3)

    Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

11. Madvillian Money Folder (Four Tet Remix) (original post, Dave’s obsession)
    This has been a slow burner. A few repeat listens one week and a few the next and a few the next. Four Tet’s production is crazy, dark and awesome and Madvillian’s flow seems is great. They seem to work very well together.

    Madvillian – Money Folder (Four Tet Remix) (mp3) (buy)

    Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

12. Dr. Dog Heart it Races (original post, Oz’s obsession)
    Listen listen, head nod, clap along, (potentially embarrassingly) sing along, (almost definitely embarrassingly) dance around. That’s how it goes just about every time I listen to this track…and then I press repeat.

    Dr. Dog – Heart It Races (mp3) (buy)

    Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

13. The Berg Sans Nipple Mystic Song (pre-song obsessions post)
    I was telling almost everyone I knew to have a listen to this track. Something about tracks with nice beats, deep synth bass lines and breathy vocals seems to work for me.

    The Berg Sans Nipple – Mystic Song (mp3) (buy)

    Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

14. Andy Samberg & Adam Levine Iran So Far (original post)
    It’s somewhat embarrassing to have an SNL song, a comedic song, as a top song obsession. But if they didn’t want me to listen to it simply as music, they shouldn’t have made it so catchy! Yes, the original sample in good, but the beat and vocals actually work really well, too.

    Andy Samberg and Adam Levine (and Richard James) – Iran so Far (mp3) (buy the original Aphex Twin tune)

    Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Listening back through this list I feel like I could get obsessed with each all over again.

Honorable mentions:

• The Acorns Dents
• J Tillman Crooked Roof
• Or, the Whale Fight Song
• the Dodos Notes

I think I’m out of lists for a few days now…

As I mentioned I would, I returned to KZSU this week to do two shows, my best-of show and my Christmas special.

I had a lot of fun. I was a bit rusty and made a couple technical gaffs–I thought most of those were behind me after 5 years on the air, but I guess not.

Anyway, if you want to list to them or check out the playlists, here you go:

I once was Canadian Best of 2007 (playlist)
12/19/07 I Once was Canadian Best of 2007 (mp3, starts during Vanderslice’s “White Dove” and runs long)

3rd Annual I once was Canadian Christmas Extravaganza! (playlist)
12/21/07 3rd Annual I Once was Canadian Christmas Extravaganza! (mp3, starts during Darlene Love)

I’ll return to the air Jan 3 and 10 in the late evening before (probably) resuming a regular show the third week in January.

No need to rely on my unofficial schedule (though you may still) as the official Noise Pop 2008 schedule is up on their site (though it’s still partial).

Song obsessions are those songs that we listen to on repeat. I noticed that my obsessions are often a week long. I also thought that other people might have similar obsessions. I’ve collected a panel of a few like-minded individuals and gotten their “song obsessions of the week.” Quite often it’s easy to explain why the song is good; it’s much hard to explain why we’re obsessed. Maybe you’ll become obsessed with one of these.

–

Adrian (me):
Oh No! Oh My! – the Party Punch (mp3) (buy)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

In preparing my best of 2007 list I was listening through some releases last minute and this one really stuck out. It’ really good, quirky pop. I’ve been listening to the whole EP (all 5 songs, 15 songs) pretty obsessively with this song and “Oh Be One” being the leaders in obsession by a slight margin.

–

Keith:
Hello Saferide – Long Lost Penpal (mp3) (buy)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

My obsession with Swedish pop both current and past knows few limits, and when you add a female singer relating past teenaged angst through a darkly humorous filter … we’ll just say multiple buttons have been pushed. This song takes its time setting up the listener but the reveal is certainly well earned.

–

Natalie K:
Okkervil River – Listening to Otis Redding At Home During Christmas (live) (mp3) (live, buy the studio version)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The version off of the Golden Opportunities Mixtape. I’m not one of those people that gets depressed during Christmas time, but there is something strange about going home when that’s not really where your life is anymore. Fewer and fewer friends from high school make it back each year, or if they do, it’s only for a few days and it’s hard to get in touch. It’s even weirder for me, because my parents moved into a new house when I was in college, so it’s not even the place I grew up. But thankfully, I have three siblings that I’ve gotten closer to as I’ve grown up, which more than makes up for the lack of old friends coming home. I think this song perfectly encapsulates that strange feeling of calling someplace home when you’re only there a week or two out of each year.

–

Rob:
mewithoutYou – Messes of Men (mp3) (buy)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I realized a while ago that every time this song comes up on my shuffled iPod I play it back again at least two or three times. This happened again this week (only this time it turned into a dozen or so listens) and in the process I was reminded how much I love Aaron Weiss’ vocals and lyrics. Though Brother, Sister isn’t anywhere near as good as Catch For Us The Foxes [CFUTF is to my listening habits as Light Poles and Pines is to Adrian's-- nothing can touch it on Last.fm], they really haven’t ever put out anything that isn’t solid. I don’t know why this song in particular grabs me so much, though, only that for some reason just about every line in the song has jumped out at me
at one point or another… And then of course there’s the chimes. I’m such a sucker for chimes.

–

Posted every Thursday On Sale Soon is a weekly series of the tickets going on sale that weekend.

Where to get tickets: The Independent, Great American Music Hall, Slim’s, Fillmore, Warfield, and other Livenation venues. Another Planet booked venues like Greek Theatre @ Berkeley, Palace of Fine Arts, etc. Bimbo’s.

On sale now:
1/12 Zion I @ The Independent
2/13 Drive-By Truckers @ Mezzanine

On sale Sunday Dec 23:
1/27 Poison the Well / The Locust / Dance Gavin Dance / A Girl A Gun A Ghost @ Slim’s
1/31 Grace Potter and the Nocturnals / Brandi Shearer @ Slim’s

2/1 Mary Gauthier / Mark Olson (co-headlining) @ Great American
2/3 Lyfe Jennings @ The Independent
2/14, 2/15 Buckethead / Kid Beyond @ Great American
2/15 Tab Benoit @ Slim’s?
2/21 Perpetual Groove @ The Independent
2/27 @ Jay Farrar @ Great American

3/26 k.d. lang with Dustin O’Halloran @ Palace of Fine Arts

Double check all information as venues and promoters often change on-sale times and days up until the last minute.

I’m back. I drove my car for the first time in four months and got a neat peek into what I was listening to on rotation in August 2007 from the car’s six disc CD changer that I had left stocked with CDs and hadn’t changed since.

Six CDs I was listening to a lot in August 2007:

1. The National Alligator
2. Or, the Whale Light Poles and Pines
3. The Botticellis Old Home Movies
4. Kings of Leon Because of the Time
5. Benni Hemm Hemm Kajak
6. Fionn Regan the End of History

Hmm. A number of those look familiar…

I’m on my way back to the Bay Area.

I’ll be back to blogging soon enough, but make sure to listen to me on the radio later this week. Why don’t you also peruse my lists?