el barón de la lechuga sangrienta

2011: five music videos i have loved

2011-12-03T20:25:00.002-05:00

its getting to be that time again; but while i'm working on my favorite albums, i will leave you with something short and oh so sweet. five great videos that i have enjoyed over and over again this year:

fun fact: this cut copy video was inspired by this photo.

love it.

i wish i had one iota of the moves that these guys do. incredible.

probably my favorite song of the year. complimented by the perfect video; who knew super powered children would fit so well?

this video! i myself probably account for a million of its current (almost) 2 million views. it just makes me feel so HAPPY!

just thought i'd share

2011-10-18T16:25:00.001-04:00

so one of my favorite tracks of the year, M83's 'Midnight City,' just got a pretty awesome video to go along with it. let's here it for glow-y eyed sci-fi children! enjoy:

back to work.

2011-10-16T21:47:00.002-04:00

work was pretty good today. i suppose it makes a big difference approaching it after a week of straight relaxing; but for what it is worth, i pretty much had a great time. just chill day. had blur on loop at work which always helps to make things better. tonight's jam before i head off to bed is a live version of one of my favorite blur/albarn tunes ever (with quite a sweaty damon); from their 2009 reunion:

vacation.

2011-10-14T23:09:00.004-04:00

so its the last night of vacation and it has been pretty splendid. i didn't realize how much i needed a break until i was actually here at the beach with my wife and family. relaxing. reading. playing games. and eating and drinking WAY too much. it was stelar and all good things come to an end; back to the real world tomorrow. so i'll leave you with the new justice single from the album of the same name; i wasn't all about the first single, 'civilization,' but this new one and the video have me re-excited about the new album. finger's crossed!

my new obsession.

2011-05-06T15:37:00.004-04:00

so i stumbled across this song and video last night (or rather early this morning) on disco naivete and i have become obsessed. i have literally watched this video/listened to this song about 50 times since then. i am gobsmacked. besmirched. and very in love with this song. i just want to share it will you. austra is the name of the trio from toronto, canada and this amazing, blessed song is called, 'lose it,' off of their upcoming debut album, 'feel it break,' out may 17 on domino records. enjoy:

the great listen-in: PART I

2011-05-03T02:24:00.012-04:00

so for the past week and for the foreseeable future i have been systematically going through my favorite artists discographies chronologically; listening to one release before going to the next artist and so on. i thought that tonight before heading to bed i would post a lovely discovery from some of the artists i've recently revisited. i'm just into the beginning of it so everything comes from the very early periods of all of these bands/artists. come on! it will be fun!

arctic monkeys - settle for a draw. this is a b-side of off their second single 'when the sun goes down.' i had never heard it till a couple of days ago. i'm a fan

blur - i know. this one comes from their debut single 'she's so high.' that wonderful old school blur sound. zing!

bob marley & the wailers - maga dog. this song! it's been on repeat a lot since last friday.

the clientele - saturday. debut ep; last song. rainy and beautiful as ever.

daft punk - da funk. this one deserves the video; classic video at that. debut single

david bowie - letter to hermione. a favorite of mine from the pre-ziggy days.

thats all for tonight. more coming soon.

the baron

three day (almost) weekend!

2011-04-22T22:08:00.001-04:00

hooray for weekends with the wife; and for new pogo remixes. enjoy

jam of the day.

2011-04-13T00:20:00.001-04:00

ceo. covering 'halo'

perfect.

we don't wanna get in line...

2011-04-10T01:57:00.002-04:00

so somehow i missed that there is a new 'i'm from barcelona' album coming out this year; on april 19th in fact. it's called 'forever today' and the first single (i still can't believe that i missed this) is called 'get in line' and it is the same wonderful, cheery, warm-you-up, swedish brilliance that they have been delivering since 2006. enjoy; this song is quite the earworm:

smmooooth

2011-04-08T10:16:00.002-04:00

so the past week has seen me become pretty obsessed with jamie woon: an awesome singer-songwriter/producer from london with a great almost '90s R&B-vibe mixed with a wonderful post-dubstep musicality. well that sounds kinda convoluted but it works brilliantly; much better than my description of it. see for yourself:

'night air' was the first single off woon's upcoming 'mirrorwriting' album; with the song being co-produced by burial which can never hurt. but it's the second single, 'lady luck,' that has me really taken at the moment:

oh woon! i just can't get enough

enjoy.

the baron

saturday's jam!

2011-04-02T11:42:00.005-04:00

i don't know much about MNDR; she/they were featured in SPIN not too long ago and i was looking forward to hearing them. count me impressed.

happy saturday!

the baron

don't call it a comeback...

2011-04-01T16:47:00.003-04:00

it's been quite a long time and i'm sure most of you have given up looking at this page; but i think i am finally ready for a comeback. life's been pretty good as of late. the weather is warming up; my wife and i are happier than ever; i'm reading books again; finding great new music; and also this video:

what more can a man ask for? i'm working on some ideas for some posts coming soon so if you are still there; stay tuned...for real this time.

till then

the baron

yummy.

2011-01-28T12:16:00.002-05:00

i'll be back soon...i promise.

till then.

here's this:

funky time!

2010-09-15T19:09:00.001-04:00

posted without comment.

favorite releases of 2010 so far...

2010-09-12T21:28:00.019-04:00

music is a great marker of time. when i think back on my younger self, i always think of the music that i was listening to and hearing at that point in time. i recently spent an entire day just listening to albums that the 8th/9th grade me was obsessed with (the presidents of the united states of america - II, eve 6's debut, nine days - the madding crowd, blink-182 - enema of the state, the cardigans - long gone before daylight, smash mouth - astro lounge, weezer - pinkerton, to name just a few) and i was amazed at how strong my attachment still is to this music and the fact that i still remember all of the words to these (often not very good) songs. but i loved them then; and to an extent i still do. at least the 14 year old part of me does. they are marking that time in my life; memories good and bad with songs good and bad. so now we turn to this year; to 23 year old me, to three-and-a-half-months-married me. here are my fifteen favorite releases of the year so far. there has been a huge amount of great music this year and a lot of it i am still digesting, but these are the releases that i have found myself spending the most time with. the music that i will come to associate with this year in my life. here they are presented in alphabetical order:

arcade fire - the suburbs

beach house - teen dream

big bio - sir lucious left foot: the son of chico dusty

the books - the way out

everything everything - man alive

gorillaz - plastic beach

hot chip - one life stand

janelle monae - the archandroid

(at this point my album of the year...here's to hoping sufjan's the age of adz will top it.)

joanna newsom - have one on me

marina & the diamonds - the family jewels

sufjan stevens - all delighted people ep

surfer blood - astro coast

the tallest man on earth - wild hunt

two door cinema club - tourist history

villagers - becoming a jackal

to be continued. there are still a great number of albums to be released this year and this list may look quite different come the end of december; but for now i'm marking the time with these. i hope you check out the ones that you haven't heard and continue to enjoy the ones you have.

peace.

the baron

a quick hello on a rainy saturday...

2010-09-11T16:31:00.009-04:00

i am currently in the midst of enjoying a wonderful day off and i just wanted to say, 'hi' to the three people that still might be looking at this; and to also leave you if a wonderful single from a English group that i recently stumbled across called Everything Everything and this is a single off of their debut album, Man Alive. Cheers:

modern life, well, its rubbish...

2010-03-20T15:32:00.008-04:00

hey there fine friends.

it has been far too long since I last updated this blog (I seem to start every post with that disclaimer). but anyhow, things have been going quite well during the interval. I am a mere 2-ish months away from my wedding day; which is very exciting and slightly nerve-racking because I know how much I have to do before that day. but life is really very good. the best its ever been, maybe. maybe.

on the music front:

i'm still chipping away on the tiny mixtapes list; currently at #51 - Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica (which is an EXCELLENT album). But the past two weeks have been a little consumed with my recently renewal of my love for Blur (which was reignited by watching an excellent new documentary called 'No Distance Left to Run'). The flame I've carried for them never really went out; I just moved on to different things only to come full circle back to their wonderfulness...or something like that.

Anyhow, if your working knowledge of Blur stops at 'Song 2' I would suggest digging at little deeper; maybe starting with 'Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur' a great best-of compilation that came out last year. Or if you are more of an album person 'Parklife' or 'Modern Life is Rubbish'.

Unfortunately, EMI doesn't seem to allow you to embed any Blur videos so you will just have traverse to YouTube via the links; but here is a sampling of the wonders in store:

Popscene (early Blur; circa 1992...great video)

The Universal (mid-Blur; circa 1995...perhaps my favourite video of theirs and one of their best songs)

tiny mix tapes...best of the the decade.

2010-02-17T18:47:00.009-05:00

so as a project i am currently listening to (most) of the 100 albums in Tiny Mix Tapes best of the decade list; from #100 all the way up to #1. Mostly for fun and and also to expose myself to some music that I wouldn't normally find myself listening too or even CHOOSE to listen to (ie. metal or noise). Think of it as an exercise in expanding my musical horizons by doing my best to see the beauty and the art and the MUSIC in places where I don't normally look. And even in my short day and a half thus far I have found some real winners and I am only on #84: The Unicorns' Who Will Cut Our Hair When Were Gone? My two favorites so far (these are albums that were new to me) have been:

#100 - Psychic Paramount's Gamelan into Mink Supernatural: This record was basically a 30 minute punch to my gut. Pure energy, noise, rhythm, and overall amazingness. Great way to start out the list.

#92 - Blackalicious' Blazing Arrow: Goodness gracious this is an amazing rap album. I've never been one for large volumes of hip-hop and we I do partake it usually airs on the old-school end. Blackalicious seems to combine everything wonderful about old school rap and puts a modern twist on it. Simply an enthralling listen (Definitely going to investigate these fellas further).

Anyhow, as I slog my way through the rest of this list (which you can check out here) I will be posting update on my progress and on some of the new and wonderful discoveries that the fine people at Tiny Mix Tapes have helped me make. So I will see you all at #1!

the baron

two door cinema club...

2010-02-06T16:12:00.009-05:00

i stumbled across these guys today and was very pleased that i did; i don't really know anything about them other than that they are from the uk (ireland to be more specific), they have two ace singles, and i would like to share them with you. two door cinema club are releasing their debut album, tour history, on the 1st of march and these are the two lead singles from said album; both with very loverly videos to accompany:

if i had to pick i prefer 'undercover martyn' but both are pretty ace...i'm looking forward to great things from these fellas...

the baron

a quick one...

2010-01-31T16:30:00.002-05:00

snow day!

i won't be long...spending the afternoon watching some monty python goodness and i thought i would share some of the love; if you have never strayed beyond 'monty python and the holy grail,' i highly recommend checking out the tv show...you won't be disappointed:

enjoy

till later,

the baron

a snowy day off, making mixes...

2010-01-30T16:37:00.002-05:00

i am currently in the middle of making three mixes for different folks and sorting through all that music and matching this song with that has inspired me to make a short post about what is currently consuming a lot of my time.

owen pallett's (formerly known as final fantasy) new album, heartland, has really been sticking with me the past couple weeks, and last i was walking home in the dark at about 1 in the morning and everything was covered in a fresh layer of undisturbed snow and this song was playing on my iPod (albeit not this live version):

it was one of those rare moments when everything in the music seems to perfectly compliment everything around me. it was pretty awesome 3 and a half minutes and i listened to the album on repeat until i fell asleep.

all that to say, if you haven't checked out heartland yet and you enjoyed the video above; i highly recommend it. pallett's strings and voice dominate most of the record and it is a beautiful, engrossing, almost pastoral, album. give it a listen and let me know if you agree or disagree.

enjoy,

the baron

i leave you with a few loverly pop songs...

2010-01-13T23:52:00.001-05:00

so it's been a while; a very long while. i realize that. i feel guilty; i really do. and so to make up for it i'm giving up this peace offering of some songs that have been catching my attention lately and i promise that i will be back with more soon, and on a much more frequent basis.

i am currently digesting (and also loving) owen pallett's new album...i will let you know what i think next time.

til then and, again, apologies...

the baron

it's been a long time, i shouldn't have left you..

2009-12-18T16:03:00.005-05:00

for the few that read this blog, sorry for the lack of updates in the past couple weeks. they have been pretty busy one's; filled with christmas shopping, wedding planning, job working (i'm officially a fiction director now, which is exciting), and many other adventures.

my work was called off today because north carolinians do not know what to do in the snow, save call everything off so: SNOW DAY! i've spent the first half sleeping and i am going to spend the second half reading 'battle royale' at dewey's (which, unfortunately for my fiance is still open) and then mayhaps watch a movie this evening. the world is my oyster and i intend to eat said oyster.

i just wanted to say hello to all; merry christmas and i will be back with more soon!

back to work...

2009-11-30T12:59:00.002-05:00

it's going to be hard going back to work after having two days off in a row; but i have sufjan to carry me through...i'm in the middle of a sufjan marathon: so far i have listened to 'a sun came,' 'enjoy your rabbit,' and 'songs for chirstmas vol. 1 & 2' and i have just started 'michigan'...so 3.3 hours of sufjan down, 10.6 hours of sufjan to go; here is a sampling; one of my favorite tracks from 'michigan' accompanied by random pictures of nature:

for the widows in paradise, for the fatherless in ypsilanti:

a most productive day...

2009-11-29T14:54:00.004-05:00

it is only 3 o'clock and i have already accomplished a lot of what i wanted to do today: shower, shave, wash my comforter, do the dishes, finish 'cowboy bebop', and i am in the midst of doing reading the last 50 pages of king's 'different seasons'...and after i am done with that i am going to grab my copy of 'battle royale' and head to dewey's to read that for a while. most excellent.

also, this is the song of the day: