Listening to Records & Doing Scrapbook: Sampler #1, Tracks 1-3

It's a pretty transparent ploy.

You get handed a CD, or you pick it up in a coffeeshop maybe, or at a show. And perhaps you actually listen to it, because you're an inquiring type of mind. And possibly, you actually like a couple songs. It's possible, a lot of them are quite good. But some difficult little monkey has failed to put track list on the damn thing and has instead sent you here.

Sorry about that. I'm afraid I'm the monkey in question.

This is the first of five sampler CDs that'll be showing up in various spots around town over the next ten weeks (hence the number 5. We're counting down, get it? Work with me people). The central organizing principle behind it was just "Really good music that came out or is coming out this year". Which would have made a terrible title. If you're reading this, don't have a copy of the CD, feel free to download the stuff. If you have one and want to make sure you get the next one, let me know.

In an effort to continue being difficult, I'll be talking a little about three tracks each day this week and posting the full listing next Sunday. Hope you like the music. There's more coming.

Worms- Beth Orton
I've liked Beth Orton's stuff and at the same time been convinced she records all her albums immediately after waking up. "Comfort of Strangers" puts Beth together with producer Jim O'Rourke and manages to keep that warmth while adding a bit of teeth, sounding more fully realized than her previous efforts, or at least more awake. That, and jokes about the Bible are fun (see Track 12).

Go visit Beth Orton



Cheated Hearts- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
So maybe these aren't all the most obscure of bands, but the new YYYs album is pretty darn hot. Instrumentation a little more laid back than "Fever to Tell" let's Karen O's vocals move forward and come through cleaner on "Show Your Bones". Simple vocal melody perfectly delivered and backed by building guitars and drums. Not to mention handclaps.

Go visit the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.



Rough Gem-Islands
Dudes stole a keyboard line from Prince! Ballsy Canadians. Rising from the ashes of the quirky-nearly-to-the-point-of-annoyance Unicorns, Islands seem to have kept the quirky, lost the annoyance. Luke says it's a new In the Aeroplane...but said so at three in the morning after copious amounts of whiskey, so is not accountable. Might be what the Mates of State would sound like if they were dudes from Canada and let their songs go on for 6+ minutes. Which you can do if you're funded by the Canadian government.

Go visit the Islands.



If you can't wait 10 weeks, you can buy these albums on the computer. Tracks 4-6 will be up tomorrow.