DJ 49 Review

1. A Spire- Love this track. It's a 'broken down, strung out' response to Brian Hagen's 'Willow'. Never a huge fan of 12 minute songs, but this one is something that I listen to over and over again. I debated where to put this one as it may seem daunting to launch into a compilation with something like Spire, but I hope you all can agree that it's easy listening.

2. Requiem for O.M.M.2- Two recommendations from my disc, and the first one is to get into Of Montreal if you haven't already. Kevin Barnes is a freakshow, and his latest album 'hissing fauna . . . . ' is very lyrically depressing. So try The Sunlandic Twins if you're looking to make the leap. I think it's a bit like Freddie Mercury meets the Beatles to be honest. You'll recognize his song 'Wraith Pinned to the Mist . . . .' was picked up by Outback Steakhouse and it's that ravaging tune that's always in your head after those commercials. Download the original as it's incredibly good.

3. In Mind- I wanted to sprinkle some instrumental stuff in here and this one makes some brief lyrical headway with a bit of a Broken Social Scene sound. Thought it would be a good lead in to Feist.

4. I Feel It All- I must admit that I'm a huge fan of 1234. Must be because of her Broken Social Scene roots. You might recognize her voice on some of the BSS tracks I put on a DJ album two years back. I think Feist is a great songwriter and shows some real versatility on The Reminder. This is my favorite track. Perhaps because it reeks of BSS. Plus, not alot of female artists make their way into the Junkies Mix.

5. Queen of the Surface Streets- saw Devotchka live thanks to Leroy Hoard a few weeks ago. Denver band, and this is my second recommendation . . . . . Buy How it Ends. If you like the world music/folk/eastern european thing then this album is for you. Incredible top to bottom. They have a new one coming out in a few months. And you have to love a band that has a female tuba player.

6. Panda Bear- Haunting vocals, but great background/working album. Slightly experimental and long tracks, but this is the most user friendly song on Person Pitch.

7. Nantes- Of the same vein as Devotchka. Eastern Euro sound and a real refreshing world music spin. Beirut and Devotchka influenced my choice of families for the cover art, and the Vintage Robot came from the slightly electronic tracks that follow this one. Electronic meets eastern Europe.

8. Someone Great- Can't get enough of this one. James Murphy is so smart with how he assembles his music. I'm a child of the 80's, so this fresh electronic spin really is a gem. Saw LCD live this summer and it was so good. The guy can play the sticks and his lyrics are simple, and thought provoking. Very Jack Whitish in my book.

9. Believe E.S.P.- Deerhoof is hilarious to me. A small Japanese woman fronts this experimental trio. Friend Opportunity is there most recent and most listenable album. If you like this track you'll get into the other stuff.

10. Manitoba- Kind of like with Of Montreal, I could have chosen so many tracks from Tapes 'n Tapes 'the loon.' Incredible album that has this the complexity of Arcade Fire, the passion of Two Gallants, and a vocal relationship with Gordan Gano of the Violent Femmes. I guess I have three recommendations now.

11. Lazy Eye- I think these guys are SoCal, and you've probably heard this on the radio lately. I've been holding on to this track for a while and I think the build in this one is amazing. Great album called Carnavas.

12. Smells like Content- I can't take too much of the Streets, and I probably couldn't take too much of this, but thought is was a good mellow track to wind down some of the electronica, and a unique one as well.

13. Promenade- Interested to see what you think about this one. Promenade is (next to Bad) my favorite U2 song of all time. It's on Unforgettable Fire if you haven't heard it. So this is a very interesting cover in my book. Unless you're a U2 freak you've probably never heard of this song. Anyway, this cover goes out to Noobs and Clyde. I found a website that catalogues every song ever covered. Not really, but it seems like it.
I'm suprised if you made it this far, but again, buy Devtochka's 'How it Ends', Of Montreal's 'The Sunlandic Twins' and Tapes n' Tapes 'The Loon.'