Japanese Playboy

So I missed a couple days, which means I'm still as unreliable as ever. But (there's always a but), in order to make up for it, here's three (!) songs for y'all, and there's even a bit of variety here -- meaning, actual songs w/ lyrics and a discernible melody and maybe even a live instrument or two! But (see, I told you) I'll start off w/ something straight out of the pages of this book I am reading.

Pheek - Bird In Bell

A really fantastic track that I've been wanting to post for a while but for some reason never got around to doing. It reminds me of a more dance-oriented "Lipostudio" from A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure. All sorts of weird noises bouncing back and forth and a simple little four-note melody juggling on and off and then the crazy atmospherics around the 4:30 mark; all of these combine to create a stellar seven minutes.

I'm really not into DFA 1979. I tried, but I just couldn't help thinking they were some sort of joke. I mean, after hearing Lightning Bolt arm themselves w/ only bass, drums and vox and then tear a fucking hole straight through my head, these guys seem like pussies. But (again!) this remix proved me wrong. Braxe & Falke take this stupid riff and then turn it into disco gold in the chorus, and I coudn't ask for anything more.

Death From Above 1979 - Black History Month [Alan Braxe & Fred Falke Remix]

Moving on from butt-rock to cheese-pop, this little gem comes from Jens Lekman's release last year -- you know, the one w/ "Maple Leaves." While that song is darling, funny, a "perfect pop gem," *insert yr own music crit banality*, &etc., it was this track that really made me love the guy. The horn line, the shout out to Warren G and the summer of 1993, the drunken (?) chorus of singers (bum-ba-bum-ba-Bum-Ba-Bum-Ba-BUM-BA-BUM-BA-BUM), the whole house-party vibe; I still can't help but smile each time I hear it.

Jens Lekman - A Sweet Summer's Night On Hammer Hill