Joanna Newsom - Ys

"This isn't a great album because she owns a dog-eared encyclopedia, or because it stands above the cheap rewards or superficial freakiness we expected from her. It's great because Newsom confronts a mountain of conflicting feelings, and sifts through them for every nuance. It's intricate and crammed with information, but it's never bookish, and she never sits back in a spell and lets her heart flutter: She swoops into the sky and races across the ground, names every plant and every desire, and never feels less than real. The people who hear this record will split into two crowds: The ones who think it's silly and precious, and the ones who, once they hear it, won't be able to live without it." - Chris Dahlen's review on Pitchfork.com

1. Emily
2. Monkey & Bear
3. Sawdust & Diamonds
4. Only Skin
5. Cosmia

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P.S. She's also my future wife.

Gordon's Crazy Rad Shit Vol. 1: A to C

So in the process of putting together some mixes for my friend Gordon, I realized I just had too many great tunes. So I'm taking it alphabetically and splitting this series up into about 10 mixes. Here's Volume 1, A to C!

1. Chic - Good Times (12" version)
2. ALF - Melmac Rock
3. Albert King - Look Out
4. Beastie Boys - 3-Minute Rule
5. Bruce Springsteen - Jacob's Ladder
6. Bravo Brasso - When I'm Sixty-Four
7. Animotion - Obsession
8. Bootsy's Rubber Band - Pinnochio Theory
9. Bakelite 78 - St. James Infirmary
10. Cannonball Adderley - Zanek
11. Alf Barrie - Soft Green Seas
12. Australian Aborigine Songs - Morning Star and Devil Bird
13. Biosphere & Pete Namlook - Sky Lounge
14. Charles Mingus - Duet Solo Dancers: Hearts' Beat and Shades in Physical Embraces

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Tunes for Steph

Anyone can listen to these but they are for Steph in particular!! The Ozark Mountain Daredevils track was recorded in a men's room...

1. Robert Wyatt - Stay Tuned
2. Atlas Sound - Walkabout
3. Animal Collective - Winters Love
4. The Rolling Stones - Congratulations
5. James Brown - Try Me
6. Circulatory System - Joy
7. Devendra Banhart - Pumpkin Seeds
8. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Can't Hear My Eyes
9. Free Energy - Dream City
10. Kimya Dawson - Being Cool
11. David Byrne & Brian Eno - Life Is Long
12. Girls - Summertime
13. The Ozark Mountain Daredevils - Satisfied Mind
14. Grizzly Bear - Reprise
15. Mogwai - 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong
16. Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Orchestra - Eureka & Climbers High Ending

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Nirv@na - Live at Re@ding

Their 1992 headlining performance at England's Reading Festival. Great for the chilly November air. Put on an old flannel shirt and rock out to some quality grunge...

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Paul Pena - New Train

"The world is here for giving, and life is here for living..."
"You got to go to Hell before you get to Heaven..."

You might be familiar with Paul Pena from his starring role in the award-winning documentary Genghis Blues. The film tells the story of how blind American bluesman Pena discovered the tradtional throat-singing style of Tuva, a remote central Asian country. After teaching himself to throat-sing, this man who was only able to go to the local corner store by himself went on to compete in Tuva's triennial world throat-singing championships in the country's capital of Kyzyl in 1995. He passed away ten years later in 2005 due to complications from diabetes and pancreatic cancer. This album, his second of soulful blues rock, was recorded in 1973 and features Jerry Garcia playing pedal steel guitar on a few tracks. RIP Paul Pena!

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Rocking All Night Long

With the exception of tracks by Girls, Tim Cohen, and Nodzzz (all songs from the past year by SF bands), these are all garage rock tunes from 1970 or earlier. Classic jams...

1. Freedom's Children - That Did It
2. Ladies WC - I Can't See Straight
3. The Night Shadows - So Much
4. Girls - Big Bad Mean Motherfucker
5. The Creation - Making Time
6. Mars Bonfire - The Night Time's For You
7. The Kaleidoscope - Why Try
8. The Moon - Got To Be On My Way
9. The Nickel Bag - Lovers' Litany
10. Cryan' Shames - The Sailing Ship
11. Tim Cohen - Take Aim Goliath
12. The Paupers - Numbers
13. Q65 - I'm A Man
14. Ladies WC - Put That In Your Pipe and Smoke It
15. Freedom's Children - Sea Horse
16. Nodzzz - Highway Memorial Shrine
17. The Nickel Bag - She Was A Phantom of Delight
18. The Remains - Don't Look Back
19. Raven - Let's Eat
20. Ladies WC - I'm Gonna Be

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My Favorite Coltrane

During the year 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life. At that time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music. I feel this has been granted through His grace. - Liner notes to A Love Supreme

John Coltrane has been an inspiration to me lately. His passion, discipline, and tenacity encourage me to keep going through the current challenging period of my life in which I am working full time and also going to college. I can relate to a lot that he's been through; I feel like the paths we follow are not extremely different. Here is a CD I put together of some of my favorite tunes of his, mostly in chronological order, so you can see how his playing progressed between the years 1957 and 1964.

1. Nutty (from Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall)
2. I Hear A Rhapsody (from Lush Life)
3. Moment's Notice (from Blue Train)
4. Countdown (from Giant Steps)
5. Spiritual (from The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings)
6. Chasin' The Trane (from The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings)
7. My Favorite Things (from Newport '63)
8. Acknowledgement (from A Love Supreme)

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