… Some of this puffs-of-smoke confusion seems easy to explain. —many are technically insolvent, or “upside down,” as they say in the household-mortgage sector—but have not yet been forced to reckon fully with their insolvency. I heard a senior Administration official remark that seventy-five per cent of the country’s banks are probably upside down. – The New Yorker, 2/27’09.

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” It’s Delicate Rhythm ”

01. Calexico – Victor Jara’s Hands
Carried To Dust (Quarterstick, 2008)
02. Gravenhurst - She Dances
The Western Lands (Warp Records, 2007)
03. The Shins – New Slang
Oh, Inverted World (Sub Pop, 2001)
04. The XX – Teardrops (MySpace)
(Demo, 2008)
05. The Sea and Cake – New Schools
Car Alarm (Thrill Jockey, 2008)

note: This list seemed like a good idea yesterday morning. It was suppose to be “best of this week”. But let’s be honest, I only listen to less than 8 albums, so it’s hardly best of anything except that’s all I have the chance listening. They are happy accidents tho’. The Calexico, Gravenhurst and The Sea and Cake albums are very well done and worth owning. The kind that I load to CD and leave it alone to play in weekend while reading news and marveling about the collapsing planet. In other word mellow “indie” rock. Soundtrack of our time. whatever indie rocks means. Enjoy.

image: Vogue Nippon March 2009

” Iconography No.2 ”

01. Beck - Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometimes
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spot (2004)
02. Red House Painters – New Jersey
2 (Bridge Album) (1993)
03. Juliana Hatfield - Law Of Nature
How To Walk Away (Ye Olde Records, 2008)
04. Velvet Underground – The Murder Mystery
Velvet Underground (1969)
05. Grant-Lee Phillips – Johnny Guitar
Strangelet (Zoe Records, 2007)
06. Arab Strap – Driving
The Week Never Starts Round Here (1998)
07. Krezip – Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime
Best Of (2008)

note: Feeling nostalgia. I can only describe this sound as slacker rock from the 90′s. Think the sound that Pavement and Neutral Milk Hotel created, along with Arab Strap et. al. Basically, 60′s folks, art rock, lo-fi, and a dab of americana. What strike me most is the distant wound and angst. That distinct melancholic mood of lo-fi melodic guitar and sparse composition. The voice. The moody soft voice is haunting. It’s the feeling of driving along country road aimlessly sitting silently with somebody, not in best circumstances, yet loving… Probably there is some relevance to today’s general mood I suppose. I file this into “gentle evening pop mood”

see also: Iconography No.1, China Red
image: Yves.

Image: Still Life with Dancers. Emil Nolde, 1914.

1. Radicalfashion – Toh-Koh
   Odori (Hefty / 2007)
2. Gas – Vier
   Königsforst (Mille Plateaux / 1999)
3. Andrew Thomas – A dream of a spider
   Pop Ambient 2009 (Kompakt / 2009)
4. Addled – Where Am I?
   Heartbreachno (Moodgadget / 2009)
5. Charlemagne Palestine – Strumming Music
   Godbear (Barooni, 1998)
6. Loscil – Triton
   Submers (Kranky / 2002)
7. The Sight Below – At First Touch
   Glider (Ghostly International / 2009)
   

All that is near me has lost its name. In here there are white snakes and there are white sheep and they both love the sound of the flute. There’s nothing to do but wait. A sheep will eventually come your way. You have to trust in that moment, and you have to be prepared to follow. Otherwise get ready for a night of hopeless insomnia.

Now, when a white snake bites it doesn’t hurt, but you’ll suddenly start feeling a very strange and increasing thirst. You’ll drink several glasses of water but the thirst wont dissapear, and if you drink too much you’ll only make things worse. When this has happened to me I’ve discovered that the only intelligent solution is waiting. The darker the room, the faster the poison will leave your body. And just as in the samsara, the cycle will repeat at the speed of night until you finally get it right.

photo: Parachutgirl.

Beth Jeans Houghton – Golden
Golden 7″ (Static Caravan, 2009)

This is a such a pleasant song. Beth Jeans Houghton’s voice seems to come from the same silken mist from which Vashti Bunyan appeared from,  share the same sort of charming simplicity in their songs. ‘Golden’ swells with an intimate beauty that invites and comforts the listener in one single stroke.
note: Song will not stream properly on our player due to a high sample rate.

Odawas – Harmless Lover’s Discourse
The Blue Depths (Jagjaguwar / 2009)

Considering their last record and their label is more associated with the ‘psych-folk’ movement, I wasnt expecting Odawas to shift sound in such extreme manners and come back as some sort of dreampop outfit. ‘Harmless Lover’s Discourse’ starts off rather predictable with a jubilant piano ditty that could have been penned by any britpop band from the past 15 years before being masterfully laid on a synth bed and drowned in Odawas’ psychedelic antics.

The Hundred in the Hands – Dressed in Dresden
Dressed in Dresden 7″ (Unsigned / 2009)

When I hear this song I regret not having a record label to sign ‘the Hundred in the Hands’ right away. This single totals the entire recorded output of this band thus far and it has to be one of the most addictive things I’ve heard in a very long time. Perfectly formed but appropriately rough around the edges; if you can keep still while listening to this song, you’re already dead.

Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
My Maudlin Career (4ad / 2009)

Oh, Camera Obscura how I’ve missed you.

Woods – The Dark
Songs of Shame (TBA)

Found this one over at GvB and just like Chris I haven’t been able to stick it out of my head. It’s a short and playful piece with some weird vocalisation and the charming lo-fi aesthetic keeps reminding me of Sebadoh a lot, particulary the canned drum sound. Would I be too off if I dared say it sounds like some sort of Sesame Street skit with Sebadoh providing the instrumentation?

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” To The Sky ”

01. Mono - The Battle to Heaven
Hymn To The Immortal Wind (Temporary Residence Limited, 2009)
02. Spiritualized – Angel Sigh
Fucked Up Inside (Dedicated, 1993)
03. Breathless – Green Finger Swinger
Blue Moon (Tenor, 1999)
04. Screen Vinyl Image – Black Leather Jacket
The Midnight Sun Ep (Safranin Sound, 2007)
05. Sigur Ros - I Gaer
We Play Endlessly (Sigur Rós, 2009)

note: Post-rock list. Watching the cloud moves in the sky.

image: yseult30