Tops of My Pops for 5/27/07

A weekly look at what I'm listening to, from my Last.fm user stats:

Top Artists for the week ending May 27, 2007
1. David Bowie
2. Spoon
3. Beck
4. Radiohead
4. Loscil
4. Josh Rouse
7. Broken Social Scene
7. Mogwai
9. Boards of Canada
9. My Bloody Valentine
9. Gang of Four
9. Primal Scream
9. Squarepusher
9. The Kleptones
9. Underworld

Nothing too crazy to report this week, as we were on vacation all week (Vegas, baby!) with friends. As a result, what little listening there was was fairly mild-mannered. Bigger excitement next week!

See also:
The 'Tops of My Pops' archives

Tops of My Pops for 5/20/07

A weekly look at what I'm listening to, from my Last.fm user stats:

Top Artists for the week ending May 20, 2007
1. DJ /rupture
2. DJ Andy Smith
3. Nine Inch Nails
4. Meat Beat Manifesto
5. Outputmessage
6. Squarepusher
7. The Decemberists
7. Loscil
9. DJ Shadow
10. Radiohead
10. The Sea And Cake
10. Portishead
10. Josh Rouse
10. Fila Brazillia
10. Dub Syndicate

Spent some time time week rockin' some mixes I'd been sitting on for awhile from DJs /rupture and Andy Smith. Both were quite tasty, with Smith's The Document II certainly a worthy successor to his first and DJ /rupture's Minesweeper Suite being one of the best drum 'n' bass/jungle sets I'm heard captured on disc in a long time.

I've just discovered Loscil's Plume is perfect for lazy warm weather listening. This is dovetailing nicely with the seemless mellow of The Sea And Cake's latest.

Much to the puzzlement of nearly everyone (including myself), I've somehow grown to enjoy The Decemberists. Disturbing though it may be, it turns out that I think The Crane Wife is pretty darned good. What's happening to me?

See also:
The 'Tops of My Pops' archives

Better Gmail Add-On

The folks over at Lifehacker (a site I love) have created something fantastic – the Better Gmail add-on for Firefox:

A compilation of the best Greasemonkey Gmail enhancements in one extension.

A comprehensive suite of Gmail enhancements, including skins, saved searches, keyboard macros, secure access, attachment icons, attachment reminders, label colors, signature floating and more.

So smart, and just a big bundle of features that I can no longer live without. If you love Gmail, you'll want to marry this! Go get it!

Awesome Mariachis

Forgot to mention that before mrkvm and I saw Amon Tobin the night of May 4th, we arrived in the neighborhood early and decided to have dinner at Mezcal. Little did I know we were about to witness – I kid you not – the coolest mariachi band ever: Mariachi Vasquez.

Seven members, four of them female (I don't think I've ever seen a mariachi band with any female members, let alone a majority of them). Exceptionally talented; in fact far, far better than they needed to be (I grew up in West Texas, so I know just enough to tell the difference). But the icing on the cake was their style: no sombreros, but head to toe in matching crushed red velvet uniforms with gold embroidery, and a look that was absolutely 21st Century. Witness:


They've got a website of their own that is well done but extremely traditional. If you want the real 'MV flava', you need to check out their MySpace page – that's the real them. Needless to say I friended them instantly. :-)

If I ever have a big party, I can guarantee you I'm giving Mariachi Vasquez a call – they're awesome!

Underworld tix, baby!

I'm finally getting my chance to see Underworld live on September 11th, after wishing and praying for the last several years. It's going to be at one of the most memorable venues in the U.S.: Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Awesome!

Also, this makes it seem like a pretty sure bet that there will be a new Underworld album release this year – double awesome!

Planning to go? Give me a shout out!

Tops of My Pops for 5/13/07

A weekly look at what I'm listening to, from my Last.fm user stats:

Top Artists for the week ending May 13, 2007
1. The Sea And Cake
2. B. Fleischmann
3. Squarepusher
4. Clark
5. Kasabian
5. Radiohead
5. Cocteau Twins
5. Nine Inch Nails
5. Jesu
5. The Kleptones

Snagged two great new summer-riffic albums this week (from Other Music Digital) that effortlessly topped my chart, The Sea And Cake's Everybody and B. Fleischmann's The Humbucking Coil. Both are warm and inviting like a relaxing afternoon on the beach, and highly recommended!

See also:
Other Music Digital: 70's Japanese psychedelic folk music for your iPod
The 'Tops of My Pops' archives

Other Music Digital: 70's Japanese psychedelic folk music for your iPod

Made my first purchase from Other Music's new Digital Music Store the other day and it was a great experience. I bought Everybody, The Sea and Cake's latest, The Humbucking Coil by B. Fleischmann, and a fantastic fifty track Trojan Upsetter Box Set.

All music in their digital store is available in DRM-free 320 kbps flat bit rate MP3 format, so the quality is better than both the iTunes Music Store and the rip quality I would normally use for my own CDs. They offer two methods for downloading your purchases: either manual downloading of the individual MP3s or the much easier and seemingly error-free option of using their own OMD (heh) Download Manager.

Their digital offerings are a subset of their extensive and wildly eclectic physical offerings, but the digital catalog is growing literally all the time (they were actually adding new albums to the 'electronic' genre even while I was browsing it).

All in all Other Music Digital is a great new DRM-free high-quality digital music resource to supplement Bleep.com and the emerging DRM-free offerings at the iTMS.

Tops of My Pops for 5/6/07

A weekly look at what I'm listening to, from my Last.fm user stats:

Top Artists for the week ending May 6, 2007
1. Explosions In The Sky
2. Digital Mystikz
2. Beck
4. Spoon
5. Gang Of Four
6. DJ Shadow
6. David Bowie
6. Squarepusher
6. James Brown
10. Primal Scream
10. Nine Inch Nails
10. Radiohead
10. Beastie Boys
10. Depeche Mode
10. Kiln
10. Amon Tobin

Explosions In The Sky have been lurking in the musical background for a few years now, slowly attracting my attention until this latest album sort of burst into my consciousness. The post-rock Mogwai-esque epic sountrack sound they've been fine-tuning for years is really working for me on All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone, and now even How Strange, Innocence is sounding cool.

Been wanting to check out Digital Mystikz ever since I saw Burial raving about them. I haven't quite uncovered the greatness yet, but I'm willing to keep trying.

See also:
The 'Tops of My Pops' archives

Damien Rice Live!

(super-awesome mobile phone action photo)

Saw Damien Rice last night with my wife at the Paramount Theatre.

While I'm sort of ambivalent about his albums (hhd is a huge fan though), I have to say the whole performance was way classy. The band setup itself was tastefully done, with the drummer, bass guitarist and cellist on low risers and the entire dotted with candles. Rice alternated between playing a piano upstage and acoustic or electric guitars front and center. The sound was excellent and the venue wasn't even close to as horrid as we had expected.

All in all a surprisingly (for me) pleasant evening.