too hot, too greedy

dear friends,

1. the new album and the glass handed kites by mew has a cover that makes me very uneasy. by the looks of the thing I was expecting some art-damaged prog psychosis coming my way. of course, that's not the case. the sounds contained within are poppy bits of chiming guitar bounce-along not dissimilar from late 80's never-rans the ocean blue (whose between something & nothing I voted for shriek of the week on wdre* all the time, like a NERD) but with a more feminine sounding male singer trilling all sorts of scandi-english imagery. seek out am I wry? no from their album frengers. warning: not for people who don't like sugar or factory-like song structure.

2. I'm not a fan of the instrumental because then there's no sing along & I must sing along, even if I'm up against bjork, kate bush or liz frasier. the results might not be pretty but I feel awfully satisfied as I screech "heathcliff! it's me, cathy! come home!" or something that sounds like "iiiina iiina lakka lakkka lakkka" as my co-workers grimace & fall to their knees all around me. I got powers, yo!

despite my aversion, I like mountain book by ooioo even though there are no lyrics, not even in a made up language, is interminable & sounds like the von trapp family caught in a drum avalanche. which come to think of it, would probably please a lot people who wished the sound of music had a different sort of ending. one featuring an alpine disaster. hmmm. maybe that's why I like it. warning: not for people who require song structures & more traditional vocalizing.

3. I've always longed for a flat affect. huh? that's right, I always wanted to be one of those people who have no reaction to anything mostly 'cause I spend most of my time doing subtle variations of "!!!" & I want to see how the other half lives. that & the fact that french movies have taught me that women with no discernable facial expression get a lot of play. perhaps this is why I like deerhoof's spirit ditties of no tone. perhaps I'm jealous that satomi matsuzaki sings like a xanaxed elementary schooler at a spelling bee. perhaps I find it amazing that anyone can sound so disconnected from the words they are singing & yet, it doesn't affect the song in the slightest, in fact, it enhances it. the vocal is a perfect foil for the so freakin' jaunty it reminds me of harry belafonte guitar squiggles. sounds intriguing, doesn't it? check it out.

4. there's some kind of game called stubbs the zombie? I don't know anything 'bout it (maybe one of our gaming contributors can shed some light on the game itself) but I can tell you that this game has a soundtrack featuring various indie types doing 50's & 60's songs. go find the dandy warhols' take on the everly brother's all I have to do is dream. picture 50's zombies with pomaded hair doing a side to side shuffle underneath a street lamp. then an arm falls off. I'm scared**.

5. contributor stephanie tells me I am a bad friend because I haven't contributed a list of suggestions for halloween related music to play at her devil's night party on saturday. I guess that means any song that features the scaries, regardless of genre. if you have any suggestions for her, can you please post them in the comments? I would be oh so grateful. wow. I just resisted making a grateful dead joke. aren't ya glad?

love, d

songs to seek: am I wry? no/mew, mountain book/ooioo, spirit ditties of no tone/deerhoof, all I have to do is dream/the dandy warhols

* for those who are confused, somewhere here, there's some discussion/explanation of wdre's shriek of the week. too lazy to pinpoint exactly where. enjoy!

** in a related note, for terrifying hypothetical fun, check out contributor phil's post regarding zombie attack preparation here.