2Crit's Picks

no.8 - HDBCD002

2007-11-10T14:38:00.000-08:00

absolutely freaking on BURIAL's new full-length Untrue.

any & all of the following descriptors are fitting: foreboding, tranquil, soulful, grim, meditative, broken, bangin', emotive, bleak, ghostly, smudged and so on and so forth. and i'm sure you'll probably read all of those & more about this UK artist (who somehow has managed to conceal his identity!?!? ...despite his massive 2006 debut), as this release is gonna get talked about. a lot.

could pick pretty much any track on this baby as they're all nice like that, but am gonna go with...

BURIAL - "Etched Headplate" [MP3, 8.2MB, 187kbps]

anyway... hope you like it!?! PLEASE leave a comment if you do/n't. thanks.

no. 7 - love me some anita baker

2007-11-09T06:30:00.000-08:00

no.6 - oh, my angel...

2007-10-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

one of the scariest, realest... most heartfelt love(?) songs ever written:

PLANES MISTAKEN FOR STARS - "Spring Divorce" [MP3, 12MB, 320kbps]

Gared's singing(?) in the final verse (or whatever you wanna call it?):

"are you scared, are you scorned?
are you sick, are you bored?
do you feel cheated, do you feel worn?
is this not what you signed on for?
oh, my love."

...is pretty much as intense as anything ever recorded, as far as i can tell. shit literally just brought tears to my eyes. and that's not the first time. real talk.

like i said... Original Emo. whatever... doesn't mean a 37 year old man won't mosh you to a nub when they play this tomorrow night. see ya in the pit.

anyway... hope you like it!?! PLEASE leave a comment if you do/n't. thanks.

no.5 - v. dubz

2007-10-12T20:53:00.000-07:00

ok, so soon enough y'all will realize this ain't some hipster, scoop-centric mp3 blog venture / deal... but more accurately just whatever it is yr boy's feeling at any given moment.

so yeah, i know i'm probably the 3-trillionth schmuck to hype these kids. whatever... their CD-R brings it. most certainly as listenable as anything else i've heard all year.

verging on difficult to pick a single tune (especially since "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" really showcases what makes them stand-out from the rest of the Indie-Pop set; please go elsewhere to read all 'bout dat)... but rolling with that limitation for now.

so it's gonna have to be this "One" about Blake's new face (at least that's what i think he's singing):

VAMPIRE WEEKEND - "One" [MP3, 4.5MB, 192kbps]

easy as that. hope you like it!?! PLEASE leave a comment if you do/n't. thanks.

no.4 - sha-la-la-la-la-la m'lady

2007-10-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

i cannot stress this enough... for me, irony & music simply do not mix. that being said... please enjoy this gem from ex-Spirit/Jo Jo Gunne member, Jay Ferguson.

JAY FERGUSON - "Thunder Island" [MP3, 4.7MB, 184kbps]

easy as that. hope you like it!?! PLEASE leave a comment if you do/n't. thanks.

no.3 - u diggg!

2007-10-08T11:58:00.000-07:00

i know, i know... since yr boy's Tampa-based, i'm supposed to be all about some Jook. but i gotta say it's Chi-Town's similarly-pronounced Hip-Hop sub-genre (spelled Juke in this case) that's got me jazzed lately. Specifically Dude N Nem's hit...

two remixes:

DUDE N NEM - "Watch My Feet Remix (ft. Twista)" [MP3, 4.9MB, 192kbps]
DUDE N NEM - "Watch My Feet (Jeansbjorn Remix)" [MP3, 7.9MB, 320kbps]

anyone know where i can get a Shirt Shirt???

anyway - hope you like it!?! PLEASE leave a comment if you do/n't. thanks.

no.2 - the best i ever had

2007-10-06T09:21:00.000-07:00

"I sit looking 'round
I look at my face in the mirror
I know I'm worth nothing without you
In life one and one don't make two
One and one make one
And I'm looking for that free ride to me
I'm looking for you"

ok, as anyone who really knows me can attest... right below the surface, i'm Original Emo. or... y'know - Muy Sensitivo, Hopelessy Romantic, Cardigan Sweater, Et Cetera, Etc.

so, of course, when i hear / read Pete Townshend's voice / lyrics in "Bargain", i automatically assume he's talking about some sort of relationship that includes a certain amount of getting it on. because that's the way i'm wired. well - turns out that's not it at all. in fact, Pete wrote said tune for this dude...

no, not Cheech Marin. his name is Meher Baba. and Pete was a follower. and i guess the song is about how material possessions are worthless when compared to spiritual enlightenment, about how he'd easily give up everything to really know a higher truth. and that sounds pretty cool i guess... 'cept i really love me some new sneakers every once in a while. ykwis? nah, seriously... it's something to think about. (also - i guess Baba took a vow of silence in 1925 and supposedly didn't speak until his death in 1969. communicating with an alphabet board and/or hand gestures... pretty freaking rad.)

anyway, no matter how you slice it, "Bargain" kicks ass. and it's the jam of the day ...

THE WHO - "Bargain" [MP3, 8.5MB, 213kbps]

hope you like it!?! PLEASE leave a comment if you do/n't. thanks.

no.1 - the newness

2007-10-04T09:46:00.001-07:00

ok, here it is... i've decided to do a separate blog to highlight -Ish that's currently killing me, turning me on, et cetera, etc. could be a video or a tasty jam or some visual Art or yknow... whatever. probably / hopefully a lot less bidness -oriented than that other blog i do, Essential-ish. anyway, let's get it!

gonna get'r started w/ one of my absolute favorite tunes of the last coupla weeks...

WHITE RAINBOW - "Mystic Prism" [MP3, 8.4MB, 204kbps]

read about dude's Kranky debut (Prism Of The Eternal Now) in the latest issue of Arthur & man oh man, i'm glad i did. in love with the hand-drums (Tabla?) + 4/4 (oh) snap track action + straight up Frippertronic fire on this song (aka trypp) especially. hope you like it!?! PLEASE leave a comment if you do/n't. thanks.

more on yr boy White Rainbow (aka Adam Forkner): here, here & here.