I had a lot of work due right before Thanksgiving break; it wasn’t terrible, but it reminded me that finals are approaching. I know I’m going to be barricaded in the library soon, so it’s really important to have some music to listen to. Some people can work to music, others can’t, and I find myself in between. I can’t really read as I bump Drake, but I can write as I bump to Drake, albeit a little bit slower. I find it a reasonable trade-off, mainly because music helps relieve some stress and it’s great for keeping time, in the “I’ll take a break when this song is over” sense.
In picking music, it’s important to listen to something familiar. I’m all for finding new stuff, but it’s probably not ideal to catch up on some “Best New Music” when you’re swamped with work. Listening to new music requires divided attention, and it’s hard enough to focus on your work without any distractions; stick with what you know.
I already have some music lined up for my busy weeks. Here is some stuff that I think is work getting familiar with:
“Guillotine”, Death Grips – The musical equivalent of “I-smoked-two-packs-of-cigarettes-and-drank-too-much-coffee.” However, pretty good for subtly “going hard” in the library.
“Marvin’s Room”, Drake – Marvin’s room is just R&B, crooning Drake, which is great easy listening. He gets pretty emotional too.
“Vomit”, Girls – Girls broke up, which is terribly sad. So is this song, but it is definitely pop oriented and kind of perky in some parts. Make sure to check out the guitar solo around the 2 minute mark of the song.
“Last Kiss”, Jay Frank Wilson – This song was released in 1964, so it’s fairly dated. It’s really catchy and it’s generally an exciting, old, simple song. The bass is pretty cool too.
These ladies are from New Orleans. They sounds like the Andrew Sisters. They are friends (see below).
Here is a sample of their music. This song is called Mood Indigo.
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This band is one of those bands from the 80s who made a website and never updated it. We like them anyways. They are kind of folk rock-ish. This picture is called Hanukkah Nights (see below).
This is a song by Antietam. Here- it is called Camp Folk.
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Exceedingly strange punk funk band out of Boston. “Dogzilla is made of up five people, each one of a different sex.” Here are some stills from their music video Lunch With Ed. Everything that happens in this video is crazy (see below).
Recent additions of note to the WOBC classical collection:
JAKOB KULLBERG W/ SZYMON BYWALEC, NEW MUSIC ORCHESTRA: Momentum: Nordic Cello Concertos (Aurora) — includes Amers, a lush piece for cello, orchestra, and electronics by the never-disappointing Kaija Saariaho.
JONNY GREENWOOD: The Master: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Nonesuch) — Radiohead guitarist once again demonstrates his composing chops with his work on a P.T. Anderson movie. Warm, organic compositional voice, sometimes mixing in just the right amount of paint thinner.
MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS, SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY: American Mavericks: Cowell, Harrison, Varèse (SFS Media) — iconoclastic American music, feat. Oberlin alum Jeremy Denk on the Henry Cowell Piano Concerto. [soundcloud]
SONAR QUARTETT: Walter Zimmermann, Songs of Innocence and Experience (mode) — works for string quartet and solo strings, sometimes with drones, tape, or voice. Folk melodies and children songs, seen through an avant-garde lens.
EDDY VANOOSTHUYSE W/ PAUL MEYER, BRUSSELS PHILHARMONIC: John Corigliano, Elliott Carter, American Clarinet Concertos (aeon) — rewarding Belgian take on two engaging late-20th century American clarinet concertos.
THE KING’S SINGERS: Royal Rhymes and Rounds (signum) — crisply sung a capella vocal works centered around British monarchs, released for the Diamond Jubilee. Includes some works by Henry VIII — perfect Bring Up the Bodies reading music.
The Cosmic Psycho’s album Blokes You Can Trust is sheer gold from deep in the WOBC vault-mine. The Australian punk band is hanging by their threads to keep playing. Their ’91 album, off of Amphetamine Reptile Records was the first with guitarist Robbie ‘Rocket’ Watts, who died in 2006.
This one’s Angst with a capital A for sure. There’s a lot of easy, definitely relatable lyrics here. But these hard-drinking vulgarians from Melbourne are closet poets. In “Elle”, the last track on the album, we get ’I see you standing on the boat, shedding your clothes to stay afloat’, while the back vocalist groans, ‘Break my arm, break heart, tear my shirt’.
The rest is a little less romantic. ’Back at School’ is nice, moshy and grimey. Jump up and down for ‘Just good to be back at school’. Tons of shredding. ’Loser’ and ‘Nightshift’ follow suit. Come into WOBC’s vault for a listen!
The Top 30 is a weekly section of the WOBC blog where we highlight the 30 most-played new albums each week. Check out what our DJs are spinning!
1 NEIL YOUNG AND CRAZY HORSE Psychedelic Pill
2 SONIC YOUTH Smart Bar Chicago 1985
3 STEVE HAUSCHILDT Sequitur
4 BAT FOR LASHES The Haunted Man
5 BRIAN ENO Lux
6 BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW Cobra Juicy
7 FLUME Flume Future Classic
8 CAIRO GANG The Corner Man
9 WHY? Mumps, Etc
10 SIC ALPS Sic Alps
11 TAMARYN Tender New Signs
12 ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI Mature Themes
13 TIM HECKER AND DANIEL LOPATIN Instrumental Tourist
14 JON MUELLER AND JAMES PLOTKIN Terminal Velocity
15 KING TUFF “Screaming Skull” [Single]
16 ZS Zs Box
17 EMERALDS Just To Feel Anything
18 TITUS ANDRONICUS Local Business
19 GRIZZLY BEAR Shields
20 PINK REASON “Ache For You B/w Darke Mexican Summern Daze”
21 JOSEPHINE FOSTER Blood Rushing
22 CAN The Lost Tapes
23 NON/BOYD RICE Back To Mono
24 LAUREL HALO Quarantine
25 AUTRE NE VEUT Anxiety Software
26 WILD NOTHING Nocturne
27 STARS The North
28 CHILD ACTOR Victory
29 ANGEL HAZE Classick
30 SIX FEET UNDER Undead
