Adieu

Ok so I know it's been weeks since I last posted, but time is scarce these days. Basically now that I'm back at William & Mary, I'm busy with everything under the sun. Essentially, for now One Part Team Extreme is dead.

On a lighter note, I am contributing to this new tribunal blog, Our Last Quarterstance, alongside writers from a number of other great blogs. Check it out - that's where my activity is nowadays. You can also read my CD and movie reviews in our paper here at W&M, The Flat Hat.

Peace and Love
C

Female Singers Unite!

Running through my music lately, I was challenged to find bands or even just songs primarily led by female vocals that don't come from some feminist solo artist *cough* Ani DiFranco *cough*. So, I decided I'd post a few great songs (some are new songs I've found, and henceforth a few new bands I've found) featuring female vocals. In fact, these seem to be all I'm finding these days, and it really excites me.

Camera Obscura - "Eighties Fan"
They would remind you of early Tigermilk/Sinister era Belle & Sebastian except with a female singer.

Let's Go Sailing - "It's As Clear"
These guys sound like early Belle & Sebastian as well on this song, but their other tracks say otherwise. Check out their website - Let's Go Sailing

The Sea and the Gulls - "Outer Space Race"
These guys are great. They seem to just be doing this for fun, and the fact that every song is in some way aviary gets me. They're working on their first album, "Things That Fly"

Bishop Allen - "Butterfly Net"
If you haven't heard of these guys yet, you've been missing out. They've only been putting out EPs so far (March EP, April EP, May EP, etc.) but they've made a pretty big splash for not having any LP release in 3 years.

Shapes and Shapes - "Wilderness"
I don't know how I feel about these guys yet. Imagine Sufjan Stevens with no instrumentation - maybe?

Rilo Kiley - "The Good That Won't Come Out of It"
You know them.

Vancougar - "Way It's Gon' Be"
They're terrible, but I kinda like 'em anyways. Think Apples in Stereo.




Oh crap, forgot one!

Tenacious D - "They Fucked Our Asses"
Well, I couldn't find one with a woman singing, so I figured I'd just choose one at random. At the end here they play the exit riff to Radiohead's "Paranoid Android." God I love these guys.

Covers: Now with more retzin!

So my barrage of daily posts continues with this, a post about nothing more than random covers my hard drive harbors. These tunes are pointless and awesome at the same time - some for merit and some for hilarity.

The White Stripes - "Jolene"

This Dolly Parton song sounds just awesome with Jack White's squealy voice and spitfire guitar. Really worth a listen - Jack White knows how to sing a ridiculous song in a ridiculous way and still make it sound really poignant.

Johnny Cash - "Personal Jesus"

Ok, this one's a no brainer. Of course everyone knows about Johnny Cash's Rick Rubin series and all the covers he's put out, and I think everyone in the Western Hemisphere heard "Hurt," but I actually think that "Personal Jesus" is a better song. "Hurt" had that amazing video, but as a song I think "Personal Jesus" is more dynamic, and the orchestration plays to Johnny Cash's strengths better.

Belle & Sebastian - "Space Oddity"

I'll be honest: I love this song. Maybe I'm just a lost, but I really think this Bowie song is great. This is a pretty good version of it too. I have another cover of it by (as best as I can tell) a school of elementary school students, but that one's a little too weird.

Ben Folds w/Rufus Wainwright - "Careless Whisper"

This recording is from a concert a couple years ago when I saw Rufus Wainwright (just before he broke) open for Ben Folds. During Ben Folds' set, he called out Rufus Wainwright to do a duet, and they sang "Careless Whisper," the infamous George Michael song. This is truly hilarious, especially when the two of them hit that George Michael/Female octave at the climax.

Ted Leo - "Since You've Been Gone/Maps"

This one's just awful. Ted Leo, in a solo acoustic set for some interview, recorded this cover/mashup of Kelly Clarkson's "Since You've Been Gone" with "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Sad thing is - I kinda like it.

William Shatner - "Rocket Man"

For those of you who don't know, William Shatner put out an album a few years ago. That's right, an album - of covers. This version of "Rocket Man" (though very poorly recorded) is one of the most ridiculous things you'll ever hear. Oh, and Stewie did a send up of this in an episode of Family Guy, covering the William Shatner cover of "Rocket Man."

Tenacious D - "Star Trek"

So, as I promised in my previous post, I plan to include a Tenacious D song in every mix I post. Seeing as we have William Shatner here, I thought it only fitting to include the Tenacious D version of the Star Trek theme song (with lyrics) in with it.

Tacky and Taboo or Smart Marketing?

Well, I know it's really wrong of me to peddle my own recordings here, but since I have no life and no one to listen to them, I might as well put them out there and see what happens right?

Alright, well this one is an electronic recording, short and perhaps upbeat. Actually, it's one of my better recordings, but yes, amateur.

My Sunburned Feet - "Mode of Transportation"

Ok, and for those of you who are good to me and haven't clicked away to a better blog with more blips, whistles, better colors and maybe even some sort of staff beyond one lonely soul, I will post 5 short electronic upbeat songs that are BETTER than the one I made.

Black Bear - "I Believe in Immediacy"
The Postal Service - "Nothing Better"
Beck - "Electric Music and the Summer People"
Nybbl - "God Only Knows"
Tenacious D - "Saxaboom"

Now, this Nybll track is from the Hippocamp Ruins Pet Sounds album, where notable Hippocamp artists mashed up the tracks from The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. It was basically a tribute album done by electronica artists who messed around a bunch with the original tapes. Now, I'm not a big fan of just about all of it - for instance the 12 min 46 second meandering version of "Here Today" - but this track is just awesome, along with "Sloop John B" mixed up by Tinypixel. The whole album can be found through their website here

I think I've decided that anytime I post tracks by more than two bands in one post, I will always throw in one Tenacious D track to boot. This one comes from a live show they played at The Naked Trucker in 2002 under the name Standing O (apparently it was a surprise concer).

Oscar Brown

So I've decided to change my webhosting. I've grown increasingly annoyed by yousendit.com's 7 day/100 download limits. Therefore from now on I'll be using something else. Here's a test song up on versend.be...

Here's a song by Baxter Dury that I happen to like. It's reminds me of Thievery Corporation without being so completely self important and overdramatic. There's a happy air to most of Baxter Dury's tracks. This one is also cool since it borrows lyrics from "Oh, Sweet Nuthin" by The Velvet Underground.

Baxter Dury - "Oscar Brown"

Fiona Apple Covers "I Want You"

I know, I know, I've already posted three times about Elvis Costello's Decades Rock Live concert on VH1 (and no, the concert was not good enough to warrant nearly a third of my posts), but I finally did get my hands on a copy of Fiona Apple covering "I Want You" which is astounding. Thing is, it was impossible to find an mp3 of the song online. I finally found a video just put up on youtube of it and quickly converted the audio stream to an mp3 file (oh technology, how wonderful you are). Enough talk, here it is for your listening pleasure - all 7:13 seconds of it.

Fiona Apple and Elvis Costello - "I Want You"

Greatest Songs Ever (Really)

Since I haven't done any posts on OLD(er) music and have only highlighted new Indie stuff, I decided that it is due time to tell everyone out there reading (namely you) the other stuff that I actually listen to on a regular basis. Basically, here's 10 awesome songs you-may-already-but-probably-don't have (and I'm sure none of you have ALL of them - if you can prove me wrong I'll give you a cookie) for your downloading pleasures.

Pavement - "Major Leagues"
Ryan Adams - "My Winding Wheel"
The Olivia Tremor Control - "Courtyard"
Florez - "Come Down Angel"
Tenacious D - "Kyle Took a Bullet For Me"
Rufus Wainwright - "Foolish Love"
Fiona Apple - "Paper Bag"
Jeff Tweedy - "I Wish I Was Your Mother" (Mott the Hoople Cover)
My Sunburned Feet(w/Alannah) - "Fallen Frame"
The Beach Boys - "Heroes and Villians"