Ameoba Music is one of the greatest new and used record shops in the country and has locations in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco (picture above with shirtless bum), as well as Hollywood and Berkeley.
Alright, it seems like some people liked the last time I posted one of these. So a few months on, after the trip is all said and done, here goes another.
Vampire Weekend - Diane Young
I'm not sure if this is my favorite song on the album, but it is a good tune that is enhanced by the video. If any one can tell me why Chris Tomson is the only one without a shirt on (I think it is too meta for me), I'll buy them sandwiches.
MS MR - Ash Tree Lane
A band introduced to me by Freya and Nina while driving in Melbourne, I really like the weirdness. Oh, and the wordless chorus in this song is just killer...
Wild Belle - Keep You
The video for this is absolutely priceless. (It's weird getting into music via
The National - Demons
The album sounds like the National. And I guess that's good enough for me. And when I heard the line "Wanna see the sun come up above New York" somewhere in the middle of nowhere - it made me miss my City. Happy I've been able to see a few of those since my return.
Capital Cities - Safe and Sound:
A theme song to the beginning of the Argentina adventure with Jon and Jill. It's playing everywhere here, so I'm sure you are all almost sick of it. I'm not over it, yet.
John Grant - GMF:
Warning - Contains Explicit Lyrics. This is a pretty mellow-ish track, but it has a big bold claim (delivered via expletive) that is pretty darn funny and great. This came from my friend Billy and I love it.
Bradley Nowell And Friends - KRS-One (Acoustic):
No video, but the song that gave the blog it's name. Love it.
Andrew Bird - Tenuousness
Sometimes you just need to take it down a few notches on the road. A. Bird is generally a good choice for doing this. Plus I love when he sings the word "elasticity" (and this must now be song #4 of his where it plays prominently)
Brothers Comatose - The Scout:
Due the delay in publishing this, I recently saw these guys live and this has to be one of their better songs. And, oddly fitting to my life outlook for the last year. They also have a killer cover of the Stones' "Dead Flowers". Nothing like a bluegrass cover of a good 'ol rock song.
Paul Simon - Papa Hobo
I started listening to this because of a joke with a friend. So Damn Good.
David Byrne & Brian Eno - Home
Not sure what the deal is with this video, but the song is all you need to listen to. Unless you want to see pictures of random houses that is... Admittedly, some of them are kinda cool looking.
Chance the Rapper - Favorite Song
Another "delay" find, but one that was on heavy rotation on the cross country road trip. You need to like hip-hop/rap otherwise this song isn't going to excited. But I love his word play and he sounds like he's having a ton of fun.
Nyle - Let the Beat Build
This is an old one, but maybe a song a lot of folks haven't heard. Apparently the story behind it is that it was the guy's senior thesis at NYU. The video makes the song, but it is always in the rotation.
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes - Better Days
Love the song, and the new album from the band of weirdos. But they really out did themselves with this video that is constructed entirely from clips of Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. This listening list isn't really about the videos, but in the post-MTV era, there is still some a fair amount of inventiveness and creativity in the art form.
Snoop Lion - Fruit Juice
I'd heard about the name change and the upcoming Reggae album, but hadn't heard any of it until my friend Jeff came to Colombia. And, while there might be some more interesting songs on the album, this one has to be the most ridiculous. I'm not sure it is possible to not smile/laugh/etc when listening to this.
Steve Martin - Love Has Come For You
Paul Simon's wife has an amazing voice and Steve Martin can really pick!
Of course, there was more music. Many of those songs I never will know the words to or artists that I'll never hear again.
For the first time though, I wasn't "up" on new music. As you can tell above, I wasn't totally disconnected, but without a morning commute and 2-ish guaranteed hours of music listening a day, it's hard to keep refreshing music (or need to).
While that was weird and liberating, I am looking forward to getting back on the horse!
Hope you enjoy.
Note - I've also posted this as a Spotify Playlist for those who are using that service (Apologies - not all the songs are available via that service). You can find it here: Just Cuz It's Round Volume 2
