I Am Kloot: The Runaways (Myspace Rip)

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Myspace]
[Band Wiki]
(Thanks Big Boots)

The Mystery Jets: Flakes

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Wiki]
[Download a higher quality mp3 of the song for free]

Caribou: Melody Day

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Myspace]
[Band Wiki]

The Beatles: The Ballad of John and Yoko

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Wiki]

The Redwalls: Hangman

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Wiki]
(Thanks Jake Drake)

The Jesus and Mary Chain: I Can't Get Enough

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Wiki]

Buy it:

Amazon CD


Amazon CD

The Duke Spirit: Lassoo

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Wiki]

Buy it:

Amazon CD


Amazon CD

The Tears: Low Life

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Wiki]

Radiohead: "In Rainbows" Lyrics

Some kind soul on the Green Plastic forum was kind enough to post the lyrics book from "In Rainbows". Here's the first half of the album (Update 11/24/07: all of the lyrics are now up)--it's good to finally know what Thom is singing about. I had a lot of stuff wrong, but the lyrics just go to confirm my theory--"Bodysnatchers" is about Coldplay:

you killed the sound
removed backbone
a pale imitation
with the edges sawn off

i have no idea what you are talking about
your mouth moves only with someone's hand up your ass

Right?

Click to Enlarge:

Front and Back Covers

Pages 1 & 2: Inside Front Cover and 15 Step lyrics

Pages 3 & 4: Bodysnatchers and Nude lyrics

Pages 5 & 6: Weird Fishes / Arpeggi and All I Need lyrics

Pages 7 & 8: Artwork spread

Pages 9 & 10: Faust ARP and Reckoner Lyrics

Pages 11 & 12: House of Cards and Jigsaw Falling into Place Lyrics

Pages 13 & 14: Videotape Lyrics and Dedication, thanks, credits, etc


[Green Plastic]
[Mortigi Tempo Thread about the Artwork/Lyrics]
[Artwork Source]
[Read my "In Rainbows" Review]

Listen to "Bodysnatchers" (Thom and Jonny Acoustic at Koko):

[Download the MP3 Here]

Listen to "Reckoner" (Webcast Version):

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website/Order/Download "In Rainbows"]
[Band Wiki]

Supergrass: Diamond Hoo Ha Man (Web Rip)

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Wiki]

No Music Day?

Creative wise guy Bill Drummond has declared today "No Music Day". Taking a quick glance at the Hype Machine popular list, he just might be on to something. Would you rather hear the new Bloc Party single, or nothing at all? Discuss it in comments.

I feel shit. It has just gone 6.30am and this is when I usually feel my best, when my mind is at its sharpest, when the ideas start tumbling into place and I am eager for the day ahead. But this morning I feel shit.

I've no right to claim this state; I mean I'm not living in cyclone-hit Bangladesh or stuck down a mine in the Ukraine or wherever it is.

Now that I have got that out the way I'm feeling better already. First thing to be done is this 600-word blog for the Guardian, then get emails sent before the others get to their Macs and PCs.

The reason that I got invited to do this blog is because Wednesday November 21 is No Music Day. Now in its third year, No Music Day was something I made up. I didn't go to any authority to have it sanctioned. I do not know if there is anywhere one is supposed to go to anyway. I made it up just for me, a way of addressing my jaded relationship with music amongst other things, but it seems to have been catching on. Last year the London-based cult radio station Resonance FM decided to embrace it. This year BBC Radio Scotland, a national radio station with several million regular listeners, has elected to observe it. This I feel good about and to this end I will be catching the sleeper up from Euston tonight, arriving in Glasgow bright and early on Wednesday morning. The day will be spent at the radio station being a guest on a number of the shows, fielding calls, making my case and placating doubters. Of course I will have to defend myself against those that think it all some sort of publicity stunt, prank or even worse - a cynical scam.

[Read the whole post]

***Update***: [Read Salon's piece on "No Music Day"]

Listen to nothing:

[Download no MP3 Here]
[Bill Drummond Wiki]

Morrissey: Sunny

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Artist Website]
[Artist Wiki]

Buy it:

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Amazon CD

Ride: Twisterella (Acoustic)

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Wiki]

Buy it:

Amazon CD


Amazon CD
Amazon Boxset

Thom and Ed on BBC Radio 1

Listen to the interview:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Download or Order the Discbox for "In Rainbows"]
(Thanks again to 'A' on the AtEase Forum)

Thom and Ed on BBC 6

Listen to the interview:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Download or Order the Discbox for "In Rainbows"]
(Thanks to 'A' on the AtEase Forum)

Thoughts OnThe Raveonettes: Lust Lust Lust

When keeping an eye out for bands that are going to make a lasting impact, quantity can be as important as quantity. Take The Strokes and Interpol, for example. Both released lauded debut albums, yet when it came time to collect the b-sides for the singles from those records, there was one new track per band and a unwanted batch of 'exclusive live tracks'. Both bands went on to put out tired second records and awkward third ones.

The Raveonettes, on the other hand, were passed off by many (myself included) as just another gimmicky product of the "New Rock Revolution". Yet they never had trouble writing songs. Maybe that doesn't count for much on a band's first record, but on a band's fourth, it can make all the difference in the world. The band's first two albums, "Whip it On" and "Chain Gang of Love", were absolute gems. Based on a single key each (B flat minor and B flat major respectively), they displayed songwriter Sune Rose Wagner's ability to mix menace and tender beauty. The following record, "Pretty in Black", was admittedly a bit spotty, but it did produce what was probably the best track of 2005, "Love in a Trashcan". While the record was rightfully praised for demonstrating a broadening of the band's musical palette, it was hard not to see it as a mixture of enduring triumphs and spectacular failures.

Predictably, perhaps, after such an experience, "Lust Lust Lust" is the sound of a band going back to basics. Heavily distorted surf guitar and icy-cool two-part harmonies are front and center here, just as they were on those first two records. Second track "Hallucinations" sets the template: threadbare verse with drum machines and bass; noisy, feedback-laden chorus leading into chiming guitar riffs.

Needless to say, The Jesus and Mary Chain cast a long shadow here; this album might have been called "Teenage Lust Lust Lust". Opener "Ally Walk with Me" has the distorted trip-hop beats and Eastern overtones that Primal Scream, the band of original JAMC drummer Bobby Gillespie, has made a career of. It ends on a wave of feedback fit for a My Bloody Valentine record, whose figurehead Kevin Shields played with and produced Primal Scream. The effect of this influence incest could have been disastrous; fortunately for The Raveonettes, they've picked the right group of bands to emulate.

First single "Dead Sound" is vintage Raveonettes as the sparse verses fall away into a lullaby chorus--a fleeting moment of fragility that is shattered by a barage of reverb-drenched distortion. The appropriately named "Blitzed" is a shock of surf-rock energy with britpop trimmings. The disaffected duo sing "Our love is being blitzed" and one has to admire both the line and the off-handed way it is delivered. As the strains of closer "The Beat Dies" bring the album to a melancholy close, one can imagine Audrey Horne spacing out and dancing to the song playing on the jukebox of the Double R. Much like David Lynch and his musical cohort Angelo Badalamenti, The Raveonettes are fixated on a slightly sinister vision of 1950s America. As Lynch can attest, this sort of perverse nostalgia for the dark corners of an idealized age is fertile ground for artists. It's no wonder, then, that The Raveonettes revisit these themes with each new record.

If there's any downside to "Lust Lust Lust", and to the music of The Raveonettes on a whole, it's that there's a certain emotional coldness in the music, an artful distance maintained, that makes it hard to digest more than a couple songs at a time. In other words, this is the perfect music for our shuffle culture, but those looking for their new favorite band might be disappointed. That being said, their songs are probably the ones you'll find yourself drifting back to once this year's Interpol or The Strokes have lost their touch.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Listen to "Dead Sound":

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Myspace]

Buy it:

Amazon MP3


Amazon CD

Overweight Debutante Labels Radiohead "Arrogant"

Everybody's favorite pudgy posho, Lily Allen, had this to say about Radiohead:

Lily Allen has branded Radiohead “arrogant” for giving fans the chance to download their new album, ‘In Rainbows’, for free.

The singer reportedly said that she thinks it is unfair for the millionaires to devalue recorded music and survive on touring money when new artists can’t.

“It’s arrogant for them to give their music away for free - they’ve got millions of pounds. It sends a weird message to younger bands who haven’t done as well,” WENN reports Lily as saying. “You don’t choose how to pay for eggs. Why should it be different for music?”

[Read the whole post from AtEase]

The Man Who Sold The World

The Guardian has a nice piece up on Nirvana's high-water mark:

Opinion on Nirvana's MTV Unplugged performance at Sony Music Studios in New York on November 18, 1993, is divided into two camps.

Some people consider it to be Kurt Cobain, the tortured genius, stripping both his songs, and himself, to the bone in a brilliant, painfully raw performance that amounts to a kind of suicide note.

Others reckon it to be an interesting and eclectic example of the Unplugged format, but that any deeper meaning is the product of myth-making and hindsight.

When it was released seven months after Cobain took his own life, Nirvana: Unplugged in New York sold over 5m copies in America alone, topped the album charts in seven countries, and went on to win a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album. But until now it has never been available as a video or DVD (bootlegs notwithstanding).

Many people will be familiar with this performance from the album, but even so this 66-minute unedited footage (including Something in the Way and Oh Me, which were cut from the original broadcast) makes fascinating viewing. It also supports both sides of the you-could-tell-something-was-wrong / it-was-just-a-good-gig argument.

[Read the Whole Post]

Listen to "Oh Me" (Unplugged, Meat Puppets Cover):

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Wiki]

Video of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?":


Buy it:

Amazon DVD
Amazon MP3
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Amazon DVD
Amazon CD

Buckley Rarity Smorgasbord

Pretty much every Buckley rarity ever can found by clicking the link below:

[Buckleyesque]

Very nice...shame it's all on Rapidshare, but beggars can't be choosers.

Listen to "All Flowers in Time Bend Towards the Sun" (with Liz Fraser):

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Artist Website]
[Artist Wiki]

Buy it:

Amazon MP3
Amazon CD


Amazon CD

Primal Scream: We're Gonna Boogie

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Wiki]
[Guardian Blog on Bobby G's new role as a model for a Japanese fashion company]

Buy it:

Amazon CD


Amazon CD

If You Want Me To, I Won't

Ol' Thom has turned down a collaboration with McCartney. Do you think he would've said no to Lennon? AtEase reports:

Paul McCartney was turned down by Thom Yorke when he asked for a collaboration with Radiohead.

According to The Sun former Beatle Paul McCartney approached Thom Yorke with a view to collaborating, but his request was turned down. Paul McCartney, who recorded with longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich on his album ‘Chaos and Creation in the backyard’, explained Thom Yorke wasn’t comfortable playing anybody’s music apart from his own.

[Read the Whole Post]
(Thanks Phil)

Listen to "Bodysnatchers" from the Webcast:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website/Buy "In Rainbows"]

Video:

The Tears: Refugees

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Bernard Butler Official Site]
[Band Wiki]

Buy it:

Amazon CD


Amazon CD

The Rolling Stones: Child of the Moon

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Wiki]

Buy it:

Amazon CD


Amazon CD

Entrance: Grim Reaper Blues

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Artist Website]
(Thanks Derek)

Buy it:

Amazon MP3
Amazon CD


Amazon CD

Radiohead: Headmaster Ritual (Smiths Cover)

Webcast Video:


Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
(Thanks Pearly *)

Radiohead: Ceremony (New Order Cover)

Webcast Video:


Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
(Thanks planets)

One Year of Dead Flowers

Let me thank all the people that have visited Dead Flowers this past year--I've had a lot of fun with the site. It started out as merely a vehicle for youtubes--I thought I had had enough of rock journalism after my last site, Glamorama. Much to my surprise, as the site has developed, I have rediscovered my love for writing about music. Hopefully that's coming through in the reviews and other features. Here are some of the moments I'm proudest of from Dead Flowers, year one:

Reviews
Radiohead: "In Rainbows"
Babyshambles: "Shotters Nation"
Interpol: "Our Love to Admire"
The Veils: Live in Chicago

Interviews
Matt from Foreign Born
Hildur from Amiina

Features
From the Shadows: Jimmy Miller
10-Song Introductions: The Libertines
10-Song Introductions: Belle and Sebastian

While you're browsing through the archives, make sure to pick up any mp3s that you missed. With the exception of those songs found in features and reviews, I'll be deleting the old crop of mp3s to free up ftp space and avoid copyright issues.

Sorry for the recent lack of posting--I've been busy with an exhausting move. However, year two of Dead Flowers will begin promptly on Monday. Some of the things I have on tap are 10-Song Introductions: Pulp, and reviews of The Raveonettes' "Lust Lust Lust" and Sigur Ros's "Hvarf/Heim".

Cheers
-Mike

Listen to "Dead Flowers" (alternate version) by The Rolling Stones:

[Download the MP3 Here]