Live Bazan

Here's a link to some live David Bazan (of Pedro the Lion and The Headphones):

http://hardtofindafriend.blogspot.com/2007/11/david-bazan-live-at-grey-eagle-11407.html

There are some new songs mixed in there. Enjoy!

Buy Beirut

I discovered the band Beirut recently while listening to WERS (88.9 here in Boston; also streaming online for those who'd like to check it out).

Listen to Postcards from Italy (this is a live version via Songza).

Of course the instant comparison is Neutral Milk Hotel. But this guy is doing something different. The rest of the his first album, Gulag Orkestar, isn't as close a match. And that's probably a good thing. Everyone needs to forge their own sound. Beirut has acheived that. The album is solid from front to back. I can't wait to check out their follow-up The Flying Club Cup.

It's been awhile since I've had an album sneak up on me like this. One of those albums that takes 6 listens before you really appreciate it. Like the way Good Morning Spider did so many years ago.

So, follow these instructions:

• Buy Gulag Orkestar by Beirut
• Listen 6 times
• Enjoy!

Rent Music & Lyrics

I highly recommend Music and Lyrics.

For some reason I find Hugh Grant funny. I'm not sure why. Even in movies that I didn't love, I respect the fact that he's always funny. Notting Hill, American Dreamz, and the very good About a Boy are some examples. This movie is genuinely funny.

What makes this movie work is the fact that the music is original and well done. The 80's tunes are deliciously 80's. The modern Brit-tina Spear-ulara tunes are actually clever ("Buddha's Delight" is unmatched; I can actually listen to this song for enjoyment purposes). The big thing about the music is that they don't dumb it down or say "look at me, look how clever and obvious I'm being." The music works because they sell it, unashamedly and without blinking.

Enjoy!

No More Sunsets

Sunset
Originally uploaded by jerpro

I wonder how 12 Brothers is coming along.

Feist - 1234

It's that song on the iPod Nano commercial. For about 3 seconds I thought it might be Cat Power. It wasn't, but that's OK. The song is still awesome.

I'm also using this post as a way to mention Amazon.com's MP3 download service. I've enjoyed it so far. All the songs are DRM-free MP3s, so they'll play anywhere. They also come in cheaper than iTunes. How can you beat that? Enjoy!

Rarer Than I Thought

Wow! I didn't realize how rare some of these 7" records were. It's very bittersweet to part with some of these rare Pedro the Lion/David Bazan singles. The one pictured above, and featured in this listing, is hand-numbered 207 out of a limited presssing of 500. How cool is that? But I've never even played the vast majority of these things.

A Sad Day

All of my rare Sparklehorse 7" records went on sale today on eBay. You can see the list here. And there are more bands to come soon. I knew this day had to come eventually. In reality, I have never even listened to most of these records I have. What's the point?

With the move coming up soon we can use all the money we can get to help ease the transition. We had a yard sale last weekend and I'll be having an eBay style yard sale over the next few weeks. Happy bidding!