Muxtape, Week 8: _enginedriver

_enginedriver

Aug 01, 2008 14:11

Dinonaut.Muxtape.com

Week Eight

Really cool track from an older record from this Portland duo. The lyrics are a bit bitchy, but the sound is cool and full.

I remember the first time I heard this song... I was sitting in my living room listening to music when this song comes on in the middle of the Horus album. I couldnt believe it. I was hanging out with Eli later and I told him I heard a song that changed my life, but I still can't seem to get anyone behind these guys.

In a way, it sort of reminds me of the nemesis of Iron and Wine's 'Dead Man's Will'. I'm going to see Phosphorescent soon, hopefully, and this song really sticks out on the album. Namely because it's so lucid, it's not dreamy like the rest of the songs.

When I was a young man I had this habit of downloading anything with a cool name. This lead to a lot of really cool discoveries, and unsurprisingly a huge cache of stuff that I hadn't gotten around to listening to. One night while Charles and Corey were playing a video game, my long lost friend Kevin and I sat around listening to two or three songs from every band that we didn't recognize. The Coral was one of them, and we listened to the first track of the self titled, then Skeleton Key. Kevin said "Any band that uses the word 'intricate' in the chorus obviously rocks." Some time later Corey, Elijah and I drove to Toronto to see them at the Mod Club... Incidentally, this song is off their latest release, and I think one of the finest examples of great songwriting.

Oh no, it's serious. I guess I first started paying attention to Luke Temple when the daytrotter version of The Owl Song came up on shuffle. As it turns out, he's one of my favorite modern folk voices, and he operates out of Greenpoint in Brooklyn, a matter of blocks from where I live. At his show he told me he has a problem of writing so many songs and playing them so often that by the time an album comes out, he's already bored of the songs. This is good news for people who are anxious for new albums and new material, but bad news for fans of live music. I fall into both of those catagories...

I got this album from Scarlet Oaks because I put a lot of faith in the name of the band. I listened to it because the album artwork was rad. I know that's pretty superficial, but you cant argue with the results. Its got just the right amount of western twang, and the perfect dose of ruggedness with the voice to compliment the soft lyrics.

Dumb song titles aside, this track is actually a really beautiful gem, and a portrait of Kevin Barnes in rare form nowadays. I used to listen to this song a lot in that stupid gold Sunfire I drove for a while. It was on almost all the mix cd's I'd make to spin in that silly white boombox in the backseat. As much as I hated that car, I miss the feeling of having one; even if it were to be a crappy one good only enough to cart me to Taco Bell and back every night.

Uh huh, this song just makes me smile and I think it's almost a bit absurd. I do however think it's a great example of Neil Young writing great songs. I feel like most of the songs he gained critical acclaim for back in the day were very sub par. Most of the Harvest record, I think, was really not very good. I dont think that it was the songs lacked depth, I think he just lacked the skill to bring it out then.

I've just gotten into Dr. John, but I think he's something swell. I listened to this album, Dr. John's Gumbo, and then I listened to it again. Later that day I revisited it, and that's really pretty uncommon anymore. I guess there's just an air of carelessness in this song, and I think that's an attitude I could use to adopt more often. I feel myself being so grim, so serious, so often.

Focusing on modern re-interperitations of public domain folk songs, often choosing subjects dealing with Irish immigrants, Sam Amidon really tends to haunt the listener with his muted unique voice. There's something interestingly authentic sounding about him, almost a pain when he talks about the love he left behind. In any case, as soon as I'm done here, I'm going down Bedford to buy this album on Vinyl before work. How thrilling!

I never really thought much about this song, Creature Fear, until I was at home. I guess mainly because by the time I'd get this far into the album, I was typically asleep. But one night while I was in Corning, I was riding in the car with my Mum and we were listening to this album. While I was wondering why the word 'Regional' was taken off all the 'Corning-Elmira Regional Airport' roadsigns, this song came on and it kinda took my breath away. I think it sounded even greater live. Cant stress enough how you all should check out the Bon Iver Daytrotter session.

I actually heard this song for the first time as I was compling my list for the week. The new Calexico album leaked yesterday before I left for work, and I listened through it while I was building my playlist for the week. When it came time to fill the last slot, I knew it had to be this song. Calexico is always sharp as a tack, I'm really happy to have them around.