MIXTAPE - Episode II: Rock the Fuck Out, Because the Asteroid is Coming and It Wants Blood

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An actual write-up is forthcoming. If only blogging paid the bills.

MIXTAPE - Episode 1: A Comprehensive Summary of Human Emotional Breakdown

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1. “Good Lies” – The Notwist (from The Devil, You + Me)
When I was 15, I snuck into a tiny Boston music club a few hours before the doors were officially open and had a beer with The Notwist. That’s how I’d like to remember it, anyway; the truth involves a great deal more nervous sitting and awkward attempts to introduce myself in German and not get caught drinking underage. But that’s not what I tell people. I let the good lies win.

2. “Barnacle Goose” – Born Ruffians (from Red, Yellow and Blue)
As good an example of why I love music as I know how to give, “Barnacle Goose” bursts with the unabashed creativity of a Ritalin-deprived, crayon munching 12-year-old while playing with the expert hands and voices of real live adults. This is a celebration of being exactly the opposite of the person you thought you’d be, creating a joyous symphony of crazed self-loathing. An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, stuffed between rock and roll chords.

3. “Stay (Just A Little Bit More)” – The Do (from A Mouthful)
A song for everyone about the same things everyone goes through, but charming in its small, vital pushes of originality. Slightly accented female vocals that would make my roommate swoon over a ukulele that refuses pessimism. Just plain fun, France and Finland style.

4. “Torture” – King Khan and the Shrines (from The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines)
Do you love Sun Ra, but always feel you need more rockage from the Arkestra? Or maybe you miss the old days of Sheila E. club shows and Jackson 5 patent sparkles? Or you have no idea what I’m talking about, but thought that first Hives album was pretty retro-sounding, and you liked grooving in your imaginary 70’s. Either way, this song (and this band) is for you.

5. “Until We Bleed” – Kleerup (ft. Lykke Li) (from Kleerup)
I’m right in the middle of my sonic love affair with the Sweedish pop sensation Lykke Li, who manages to blend the alien vulnerability of Bjork with the radio-friendly charm of fellow Swedish export Robyn and come out the other side sounding wholly original. But while her solo album is no doubt excellent, this endlessly remixable club track with hot-shot producer Kleerup manages to channel Ms. Li’s best intentions into actual action, haunting as it charms.

6. “Grenades” – Torche (from Meanderthal)
Music critics love trying to find the alternate reality where Torche’s bizarre mix of metal, stoner rock, and mainstream pop makes sense. In one world, the Melvins made it big instead of Nirvana, launching grunge away from punk and into the world of dirge rock. In another, Queens of the Stone Age liked playing at half-time. In my world, Third Eye Blind were the biggest band in the world, and even the metalheads started bogarting the power-chords and the cock-rock. When Steven Jenkins dreams, he sings for this band.

7. “Not My Home” – Rademacher (from Stunts)
It’s all about observation, here; the understanding of the universe that comes from sharp and unforgiving self-introspection. Malcolm Sosa draws back the normalcy of our lives to show us the possibilities just underneath, and in doing so realizes a few things about himself. Sounds quaint, and it is. But it is also honest.

8. “Balloons” – Foals (from Antidotes)
I’m gonna be honest, it’s all about the groove on this one. Nothing much more to say, so just go have a three minute dance break. Don’t worry, I’ll be here when you get back.

9. “Heretic Pride” – The Mountain Goats (from Heretic Pride)
I asked a friend of mine if he’d ever heard this song. He told me he had, that it was certainly fun and bouncy and all that, and then didn’t have much else to say. I was shocked, and insisted on playing the track again for him, making sure he paid special attention to the lyrics. When the final chord fell away, his face bore a special kind of shell-shock, one I was already quite familiar with. So pay attention to what is said, not just how it’s said. The devil is in the details.

10. “Stacy J” – Matt Singer (from Unknown)
Not to be harsh, but there’s nothing special here. Except Matt Singer himself, who’s got a hell of a heart and a sense of humor to boot. There’s just something really sweet about an indie folk song that doesn’t just acknowledge the existence of American Idol, but actually weaves it into an credible narrative.

11. “Cheap Champagne” – Sloan (from Parallel Play)
The streets are filled with gorgeous women in seventies patent boots, the sun is high in the sky and ain’t going anywhere, and all you gotta do is keep on walking. Smiling is not optional.

12. “The Modern Leper” – Frightened Rabbit (from The Modern Organ Fight)
Leprosy is not a lovely or attractive metaphor, but neither is Scotland a particularly attractive or lovely place; when frontman Scott Hutchison sings about limbs falling off and “dissolving in the Scottish rain,” it doesn’t actually seem so outlandish. Given place and time, leprocy becomes instead the most obvious metaphor in the world, the only appropriate way to describe a man on a path towards destruction, held up by the only woman who would care to love him.

I hope you’re enjoying our new format. Unless we’ve scared you away with new technologies, you can come back next week for a brand new Mixtape.

Introducing the HEADEXPLODER MIXTAPE

Well, after a lengthy hiatus out in the real world, I am pleased to announce that HeadExploder will be relaunching today with new content and a new format. Since daily posts were becoming increasingly difficult to accomplish in the space between work and sleep, our musical expedition will forthwith take the form of weekly mixtapes, compiling what would make up a week’s worth of recommendations into one easily downloadable, streamable, and digestible package. In fact, considering that our capacity here at the ‘Sploder was only six songs a week, our new Mixtape format literally DOUBLES our output. Thus, hopefully, it can double your pleasure. We do, after all, aim to please.

Two administrative issues real quick:

1. STREAMING TO THE MIXTAPE – Using the truly phenomenal, easy, and FREE online services of Muxtape.com, you will be able to click a link at the top of every HeadExploder Mixtape entry (like THIS ONE) and listen along as you read. Think of it as the next evolution of our erstwhile HERadio. All it requires is a quick account set-up over at Muxtape, which really is the easiest thing in the world to do and has the added benefit of enabling you to post your very own 12-song mixtape (or muxtape, I suppose). So go SIGN UP, and enjoy HeadExploder in a whole new way.

2. DOWNLOADING THE MIXTAPE – If you just really hate easy-to-use, exciting new online music services, or don’t want to give out an email address, or just can’t listen to the tape just now but would love to save it for later, the mp3s are available in a handy .zip file, hosted through sendspace, which will also be linked at the top of each entry (like THIS). So you don’t even really have an excuse anymore. You have to listen. It’s the rule.

Now please stand by; the Inaugural HeadExploder Mixtape will be prepared for download, streaming, and personal enjoyment by the end of the day.

In the meanwhile, you should check out the finalists for Radiohead’s Aniboom Video Competition. There’s some muck, but check out “Preston Preston.” It gave my flying-car fever.

A Hiatus, or An Explaination

Hello, everybody! ("Hello, Dr. Jacksaur...")

The last year-or-so here at HeadExploder has been one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life, but with the sudden influx of work and responsibility put on by my nearby graduation, I think it's time to take a small break from daily updating. So check back, but maybe not so often.

In the meanwhile, I'll be working on a few secret projects and one not-so-secret one: FreakShow, a 3-issue graphic novel co-written with David Server with art by Joe Suitor. I'm very excited about this book, which is the culmination of almost 3 years or work on my part (and well over that on Dave's), so I hope all of you get a chance to pick up a copy when it comes out nationwide next year. You can keep up-to-date at our FreakShow Blog, and I'll hopefully be dropping some more updates here on the 'Sploder.

Thanks for listening, and I hope to see y'all soon.

CRAZY DANCING SUNDAYS! Ft. ABX, R. Kelly and The Honeydrips

This Week's Artist: ABX

The Remix: "Talking Something Real" (R Kelly vs. The Honeydrips)

Notesplosions: This is the second time the talented folks over at The Hood Internet have dropped onto our CDS radar, and this one is a doozy. If you haven't seen R Kelly's most recent ridiculous attempt at "Hip-Hopra" fiction, you have to check out "Real Talk" over at YouTube (as Mr. Kelly reminds us in his classy video preface). I'll wait.

You good? You drag yourself through that bullshit alright? Excellent. 

Now check out ABX's excellent remix, which creates a danceable chaos out of Kell's screaming mess of a track. You know what really excites me about this track? R Kelly spent an afternoon trying to simulate the emotion and chaos that comes from fighting with your girlfriend, but ended up just sounding like the most obnoxious guy in the room. Meanwhile, ABX takes samples from his tirade and throws them on top of eachother, creating exactly the kind of emotional crescendo that the King of R&B seems to have been shooting for. It's a victory for remix artists everywhere.

MP3: ABX - Talking Something Real (R Kelly vs. The Honeydrips) (From The Hood Internet)

The Fruit Within The Fruit

The Artist: Christine Fellows

The Song: "What Makes The Cherry Red"

The Album: Nevertheless

Ten Word Description: Blossoming nature inside an orchestral tune-up, sneaking steadily towards beauty.

Notesplosions: I wasn't planning on writing about Christine Fellows today, but this track snuck it's way out of my iPod last night on the 101, woke my sleeping girlfriend from her sleep, and enchanted the both of us for the best two-and-a-half minutes of the day. And we spent the day at Disneyland, so that's saying something.

It's not just Christine Fellows' voice, haunting and piercing though it might be. It's not just the flittering piano that builds organically over the song like timelapsed footage of flowers in bloom. It's not just the orchestral chaos that the song falls into, pushing its own boundaries to create a tension that never seems to exactly leave your system. And it's not the beautiful lyrics, which are more a paragraph than a poem, seeking to illuminate some small part of us to the intricacies of the world around us. It's all of these brought together into a song of such grace and beauty that it approaches that part of your brain that activates only when it sees the grandeur of Nature with a captial N. It's like seeing the Grand Canyon, or a child being born. It's natural beauty, without even a hint of human pretense.

Her latest album, Nevertheless, is only available in Canada. I'm seeing what I can do to get myself a copy through Amazon. I'd recommend you do the same.

In The Morning I'll Be With You, But It'll Be A Different Kind

The Artist: Bon Iver

The Song: "Skinny Love"

The Album: "For Emma, Forever Ago"

Ten Word Description: A tragedy, a love song, and a beauty. Heartbreaking gold.

Notesplosions: Bon Iver's myspace proclaims to all who will look that he is working in the "neo-soul" genre, but I think it's a limiting concept considering the powerful folk undertones and almost rock-influenced vocal smoothness. I'd like to think of it as "Freak Soul," or at the very least, just damn good music. This track waited for me like a ninja, making itself known on my iTunes a few times before borrowing into my subconscious and playing in my mental jukebox for hours on end. I've been singing "My, my, my" all fucking day, and Bon Iver is why. The licks are catchy, the singing is powerful, the melody is deceptively simple. It's a hell of a song, plain and simple.

But the gold lies in the lyrics. You can see a rundown here. Underneath all that sneaky ninja garb this neo-soul stalker has a beating, bulbous heart. And not some dinky, metal bastard. No, a real, red-blood, pumping-till-you-start-dancing heart. Like the best love songs, emotion is the name of the game here, and authenticity speaks louder than words.

For Emma, Forever Ago was released last year, but will be officially rereleased for all of YOU out on 2/19 by Jagjaguwar.

MP3: Bon Iver - Skinny Love (from Stereogum)