Shuffleblog #12. Sleepy sunday synth-pop.

Last night I caught up with some old friends at a funk and soul night where Craig Charles was DJing. He was great. Most significantly, he looked like he was enjoying himself, which can be rare among guest DJs. Hero. Now I'm trawling through synth patches and messing with waves to make cool and lovely sounds. Sunday shuffle sunday:

Incubus - Mexico
Johnny Cash - I'm So Doggone Lonesome
The Age of Rockets - Hell (Tegan & Sara cover)
Slow Club - I Was Unconscious, It Was A Dream
Max Bemis - Ahh, Men (Live @ Chain Reaction)

Good to see some covers and bootlegs creeping in. The Max Bemis one is excellent, all the best Say Anything songs performed as they were conceived. Check it out. Also, tomorrow sees the release of the new Tellison single,'Collarbone', a great return to form after their debut 'Contact! Contact!' which is one of my definitive records. Check out the video here and buy the single from Banquet Records.

Shuffleblog #11. Sleigh bells ring.

I just bought some sleigh bells to use on my Christmas album. Let's hope I don't go totally nuts and use them on every song! Saturday shuffles:

Death Cab For Cutie - Stability
Loudon Wainwright III - Strange Weirdos
Diana Ross & Lionel Richie - Endless Love (Reprise)
The Boy Least Likely To - Fur Soft Fur
Tim and Sam's Tim and the Sam Band with Tim and Sam - Staring Into Space

First time Death Cab have popped up. I think I have more tracks by them than anyone else so their probability is high. Also a nice link to Brief Interviews With Hideous Men, which I watched last night - an insightful, funny and occasionally crushing film which all should see.

Shuffleblog #10

"True or false - an adult heron's beak is longer than a curly wurly?"
I miss Shooting Stars.

Kupek - Nothing Compares 2 U
Team Teamwork - Dr. Dre and Snoop Still D.R.E. (Getting Treasure)
Joe Hisaishi - Wandering Sophie
Bright Eyes - From A Balance Beam
Roddy Woomble - Under My Breath

Good to see Team Teamwork in there - that's from an incredible album called the Ocarina of Rhyme, which splices classic rap songs with the marvellous instrumentals from the best video game of all time, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Pure genius.

Shuffleblog #9. My favourite guy.

About a month ago my lovely lady partner and I watched the brilliant, heartwarming indie flick Away We Go and since then it seems every film we've watched his featured its lead actor, John Krasinski, whether in a large role or a brief supporting one. I think he's a great actor and am always excited by his appearance on screen as such. This has lead to my girlfriend calling him 'your favourite guy'. I'm pretty sure she'll never learn his real name, and it would never be the same if she did. I am going to watch his film Brief Interviews with Hideous Men next, and am very excited about it, probably largely because it also stars Death Cab For Cutie Singer Ben Gibbard, but also because it's based on a book by David Foster Wallace, one of the coolest American Authors around and who I was once compared to. Here's the trailer, followed by today's shuffles. Happy November.



Shuffles:

The Vince Guaraldi Trio - The Christmas Song
My First Tooth - Sleet and Snow
CSS - Let's Reggae All Night
Piebald - Rich People Can Breed
The Beach Boys - 409

I only just got Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack to 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' after remembering how great it is following the purchase of a Peanuts book. I love how these things work out!

Modern art is often awesome.

This weekend I popped in to The Royal Academy of Arts in London and wandered into a small, two-room exhibition which examined the work of modern painter Stephen Farthing, who I'd never heard of. It had some of his paintings then showed the sketches which became them. One whole wall showed Farthing's sketches of classic paintings (Hopper, Rembrandt etc) done with a number of differently coloured lines, and at the end of the wall was a collation of all of these into a tube-map like sketch in which each line was *ahem* a line and each painting was a station, with all the relevant interchanges and intersections. After doing a bit more research, it turns out he's done this sort of thing before. On his site I found his 'definition of drawing' in much the same fashion and was again blown away. I can't put my finger precisely on why but the idea of explaining abstract concepts through maps and practical functions really appeals to me. Probably because I was given The Great Bear as a present when I was quite young. Anyway, here is the 'definition of drawing', which you can also view in better quality if you click the link and go to his website (and download the PDF), which also explains a lot about his pretty impressive body of work. If you're ever in central London drop in to the RA and check it out. It's not free though, so obviously I don't want you to waste your money. There's a lot of free art galleries in London. In fact it's one of the main reasons the city is great. So get on it!

Shuffleblog #8. New Titles. Peanuts.

So the blog is now called 'Harmony, Counterpoint and Sarcasm' after a panel I saw today in a Peanuts strip. I bought one of those massive Peanuts books (1961-1962) and it brightened up my day no end. I couldn't find the panel on the net and our scanner is not playing ball so you'll just have to imagine it. The quote is, unsurprisingly, spoken by Lucy, leaning on Schroeder's piano, while he continues to ignore her as he will do until the end of time. Shuffles:

Mr Scruff feat. Alice Russell - Music Takes Me Up
Goodbooks - Startstop
Spoon - Take A Walk
Jenny Owen Youngs - Woodcut (The Age of Rockets Remix)
Neko Case - Favourite

Lovely mix. Good to see the Woodcut remix as that's two for the price of one.

Shuffleblog #7. Panther on the line at Chessington South.

That's what I say when I'm late at work. Hopefully one day it will be true. Shuffles:

Foo Fighters - DOA
Marmaduke Duke - Music Show
Bruce Springsteen - Born In The USA
Sara Bareilles - Before I Knew Better
The Shins - Red Rabbits

Bruce & Sara both owe their place on my ipod largely to my girlfriend. I forgot to mention previously that it was her that invited me to the Harry Potter premiere. Thanks for taking me with you baby. You're the greatest :)