Time Marches On

I threw five more albums onto the pod last month. All sorts of stuff, and all pretty new except the Ramona Falls album, but that's just cause I was preparing myself to listen to this year's record. Cutting edge over here on the blog, I tell you what. Here's the OBLIGATORY PLAYLIST to give you a taste of each. Cool, let's start.

1. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory (2012)

"I thought / I would / be more / than this," Dylan Baldi wails on the second track of this, their third LP. And after five-and-a-half minutes of half-assed post-rock jamming, it's a pretty dry joke. But then the rest of the band kicks into the melody he's been holding out on so long and I'm so glad because "I thought / I would / be bored / by this."

2. Django Django - Django Django (2012)

In which the little brother of the Beta Band's keyboard player finds himself a band with the same gift for reinventing familiar phrases and manufacturing magic moments. I can see a latter-day Cusack -- for argument's sake let's say Jesse Eisenberg -- selling at least four copies of this album during the intro to "Default" alone.

3. Doomtree - No Kings (2012)

Doomtree have been doing the indie rap thing for a decade at least, and they don't want to Watch The Throne just because a couple of big-city rappers said so. But they can't help kind of addressing this album to them, either, or admitting they want the same things. Hey, no one stays twenty-nine forever.

4. Cate Le Bon - Cyrk (2012)

I don't think anyone can do better than the Super Furry Animals' Gruff Rhys who described her music thusly: "Bobbie Gentry and Nico fight over a Casio keyboard; melody wins!"

5.  Ramona Falls- Intuit (2009)

That one dude from Menomena, who by himself still sounds like all of Menomena, fills out this record with dozens of guest appearances by friends from in and around Portland. The only rule: have fun! The other rule: no electric guitars. Is this possible? You decide.

The Casual DJ, Part 1: Set it and Forget It

The Hold Steady are right, most people are DJs. Pretty well any living room or bedroom has some sort of speaker system, and if you get a few people together, somebody's gonna have an iPod. So who controls the tunes? The Casual DJ does.

The main event in hangout sessions usually isn't music, and while the 30-seconds-left-quick-quick-it's-ending strategy is thrilling, it is time consuming and stressful. Presumably the Casual DJ is a normal, social person who enjoys conversation as much as gauging crowd reactions to the music they choose. Presumably. 

While prefabricated playlists can be useful, they sometimes feel contrived, especially on the second go-around with the same crew. Today is the only March 7th, 2012 that any of us will ever be alive for, so why turn the evening over to your friend's "Get Crunked Up" mix that you all listened to last week?

So what about just putting an album on? Sure! It's a classic, relaxing way to enjoy a cohesive artistic statement. But gauging the taste and mood of the room is crucial. A whole album is quite a commitment, and the Casual DJ must choose wisely to avoid the spine-chilling dagger to the soul that is "Do you have something more ______?"

So what kind of album is best in this role? First of all, it's got to be in a genre that will be accepted by the crowd you're dealing with. Then it's generally those with a strong aesthetic running through them, and a fairly consistent tempo and mood. People are concerned with conversation, or cards, or their chicken dinner, so the album shouldn't intrude too much or demand a lot of attention to appreciate. Above all, it should be fun and add flavour to your hangout by situating it in a definite sonic place and time.

I have an old 60GB iPod that I haven't updated since just after high school, and I like to use it like an old record collection in this very situation. Here are a few of my favourite Set It And Forget It albums:

(click the album name to bring it up in Grooveshark)

1. Fine Young Cannibals - The Raw and the Cooked (1988)

Front to back, this is a solid album with a unique sound, which is the difference between inedibly stale and deliciously dated. 

2. Sheryl Crow - The Very Best Of (2003)

All the hits: it's surprising how many of these songs everyone will know, if not like. And it's undeniably fun. Did you hear me? Undeniably!

3. The Killers - Hot Fuss (2004)

Specifically for people about my age, who were "impressionable" at the time this came out, some of whom hang on to these synth hooks to remember, others to forget.

4. Charlie Christian - The Original Guitar Genius (2005)

Mostly recordings of the Benny Goodman Sextet from 1939-41, the sort of three minute swing songs that make for fantastic mood music.

5. White Denim - Workout Holiday (2008)

Someone will ask you who this is by the third song. I promise.

6. The Dandy Warhols - Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia (2000)

A rare album that can be totally engrossing but makes for an equally enjoyable background listen. They even put transitions between the songs. It's like they knew.

7. Matt Costa - Songs We Sing (2006)

This is just so consistently good-natured it's hard to fault as a backing track to chill times. 

8. Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak (2005)

Short, punchy rock songs that'll get you to the bar by the time it's over.

9. Les Dales Hawerchuck - Les Dales Hawerchuck (2005)

Perhaps a francophone analogue to the above. Will get you to a Quebecois bar? 

10. Nightmares On Wax - Smokers Delight (1995)

This one's for after the bar, the club, and that other club. When no one's ready to sleep, but when  you need something to fill the long, spacey pauses in conversation.