Few things excite me like a rainy day. Partly because I enjoy the gloom — I’m too happy and I think it grounds me. Mostly though, I love them because of the immediate music switch I go through. On a normal day, You’ll find me grooving to bands like Of Montreal, MGMT or old Weezer. Not today though. Today you’ll find me slowing down, yawning a bit and (only) slightly bouncing my head. Sufjan will integrate himself back into my playlist, for the first time in months. Nick Drake will certainly get some love and I’ll blow the dust off of August and Everything After.

The best rainy day music is soft, but also bold. It’s not always happy, but usually positive. Rainy day music is usually down, but everything might be looking up. Maybe that doesn’t make sense, so let me get you started with my favorite rainy day albums.

So, I’ve found myself in quite a conundrum this weekend. There is absolutely nothing you can do and there is no relevant reason for me to tell you about it. Ahem, there was no relevant reason to talk about my personified pickle. But now I’ve realized I can use it as a springboard to indoctrinating my musical taste on you.

So, we’ll start with the predicament. This Saturday I have tickets to see Girl Talk. If you don’t know who he is, go here and download his newest album for free (it’s legal). Rest assured, it will change your life and double perfectly as the ultimate party mix. The problem is one of scheduling. The Connor Oberst openers, Oklahoma native, pitchfork acclaimed band that we call the Evangelicals also play that night. There is a reason every indie kid across America is drooling for them and it’s their newest album, The Evening Descends. Scientifically speaking, if you like good music, there is a 89.76% chance that you will love this album.

The next two shows I’m trying to decide between don’t coincide in dates, but financially can’t both be justified. They both cost about $100 each. First there is Of Montreal. Their new album, Skeleton Lampings, is blowing people’s minds. Actually, mine is still blown from the first listen. Their show will be crazy and completely uncalled for. But, on the other hand, Van - we all know him- Morrison is coming back. Seeing him right now would traditionally be blah — a set filled with songs you don’t really want to hear. But, not this time. This time he’ll be playing my favorite album of all time, Astral Weeks, from cover to cover. If you don’t know this one, get on it.

Finally, no predicament just two other shows I’m planning to see. First is Noah and the Whale. They’re a free-spirited, fun-loving band that hijacked their name from one of the better movies around, The Squid and the Whale. And finally, I’ll be checking out She & Him. If you don’t know them, it’s simply Zooey Deschanell and M. Ward. I plan on proposing to Deschanell at some point in the night.

But, I can’t say for sure. I hope my concert predicament has, at least, encouraged you to put down the Katy Perry and consider the other options. If not, I’ll try harder…

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. You’re serious about this one, so drugstore chocolate in a heart-shaped box won’t cut it, but you definitely want to treat your girlfriend like a lady - problem is, you’re something of a tramp in the financial sector. What to do? Easy; whip up a romantic, DIY-style Valentine’s Day dinner with a twist. This little kit is sure to blow her mind and preserve your wallet - and save you the time it would actually take to do it yourself.

                                       

This belt driven turntable converts your classic LPs to MP3 formats directly to a 5th generation ipod or 2nd generation nano. The ipod/nano is connected to a built-in dock on the turntable, and you can quickly convert your favourite Bob Marley and the Wailers vinyls into digital files for your ipod/other mp3 players. The turntable can also play  LPs at 33 1/3 and 45rpm speeds. To provide increased stereo balance, the turntable is equipped with adjustable anti-skating control devices.

You can plug the turntable directly into your computer using the included USB cable, enabling you to convert your LPs to MP3s, and you can use the included software to remove scratches, hisses, and pops. It can also be connected to a stereo system equipped with either CD or Aux input through the RCA output. (with cable included).Available at Hammacher Schlemmer for $260.00. Shipping is expected to start on Dec 12th 2007.

via [Joshspear] 

For those of us serious about dance - not capital-D Dance in a studio with a bar and a requisite body dysmorphic disorder, but dance! in a space packed with friends, no restraints, no regrets, and no cover - 2 things are essential: amazing music and room to move. Music meaning sick beats that not only make you want to dance, but make you have to dance, and room to move as in hot, free-wheeling joy-clothes and dancing shoes that never hold you back.

 

  
Speakers are usually exiled to the upper reaches of our ceilings and shelves, or tucked into the corners of our rooms, but this pair can stand just as well as a centerpiece - or guard your front door. In keeping with my fascination with creepy-chic (and apparently white porcelain), I love the Woofer Speaker System by Buro Vormkrijgers, available in black or white. The simply engineered coaxial system, combined with the bizarrely beautiful standing dead-dog design, makes this set perfect for the discerning Transylvanian Count and the audiophile with an ex in PETA. ($900 at gnr8.biz)

You’ve debated rumors of a Spice Girls’ reunion more hotly—albeit more on the low—than the iPhone, you’ve longed for it against your will, you’ve—

Got to watch the video below. Listen to an eternity of poorly edited girly talk about a world tour, buoyed by silly sentimentalism, instead of Mel B being Frank Spice about how she’s popped out a couple kids and somehow the royalty checks for “Tell Me Wacha Want” have grown thin.

Should anyone actually buy tix to this ish, I’ll be sure the end times are coming.

And then you’ll need to be sure to watch out for that iPhone of yours turning into a snake in your hands.

[Via Catwalk Queen]

For all those who’ve ever wanted Mick Jagger on a platter, here we go. Sort of.

A dream gift for your favorite Stones freak - or maybe even a rock-and-roll mama - this Retro Rolling Stones melamine serving platter paints Mick and his big ol’ lips up in hot-red, black, and white. Undeniably the most rock-star way to serve up hummus and pita wedges at your next soiree.

 

A European firm Tonicum has unleashed this pocket size DJ system. With 120 GB of internal storage, you will always be ready to DJ for your friend’s birthday party. It features a line out cross fader, headphones cross fader , dual 3.5 millimeter stereo jacks, cue, loop, bend, pitch and USB 2.0 connector. It’s compatible with both Mac and PC. The pocket Size DJ system promises  to be “thisnext” compared to other digital turn-tables.

electronista

Like a total high schooler, I still keep all my ticket stubs wedged into the grooves at the edges of my full-length mirror. (I’m currently even displaying tickets from shows I never went to, like the 1990 Jane’s Addiction stub I found on the street in Greenwich Village last year.)

Should I ever decide to get a little neater with my show-offiness, the best way to go would be the Ticket Stub Diary created by Eric Epstein. With 118 sleeves of all shapes and sizes, the journal would let me store the stubs for everything from Tiffany in ‘87 to Nirvana in ‘93 to Coachella ‘05. And right up front would be Madonna’s 1990 Blonde Ambition tour, which my seventh-grade self still hasn’t quite gotten over.

It’s finally happened, ladies (and certain gentlemen).  Anthropologie has crossed over into the realm of electronics, and your wireless/battery operated/remote controlled do-hickeys may never look the same again.

How much do I want this in my Easter basket?  Designed exclusively for Anthropologie, the isongbook is a  portable iPod docking station features an AM/FM tuner, detachable speakers, sleep alarm and remote control.  The bright floral pattern is made in a resin shell, and it supports all iPod models.

Ok, so it’s $350. But who cares?  How hot would you look roller skating down this Venice Beach boardwalk with this puppy? 

Perhaps I’d just never thunk too deeply on the matter, but until now I’d never realized that the children’s rhyme “Little Bunny Foo” takes a powerful stand against cruelty to animals. It is wrong to scoop up the field mice and bop them on the head, and it’s wrong to practice unkindness other harmless creatures as well. Too bad we don’t have a Good Fairy to come on down and turn any such wrongdoers into big goons (or goofs, depending on where you’re from).

If you’ve only ever heard “Little Bunny Foo Foo” while sitting ‘round the campfire or on very long car trips, give a listen to the giddy, garagey rendition that appears on The Moldy Peaches solo debut. Showcasing about as much musical talent as most of the five-year-olds who usually take on vocal duties for the song, the super-lo-fi “anti-folk” duo from New York also grace us with unforgettable numbers like “Who’s Got the Crack,” “Downloading Porn With Dave,” and “The Ballad of Helen Keller and Rip Van Winkle.” It’s real bad, but it’s sooo good.

If writing about music is like dancing about architecture, then what’s the equivalent of making a feature film about air guitar? I’m kind of not sure, but I do know that Alexandra Lipsitz’s new documentary Air Guitar Nation is one of the most exhilarating, fantastically awesome movies I’ve seen in way too long.

Before my first viewing of Air Guitar Nation (I caught it for the second time last night, at the L.A. premiere), I had no doubt that the “art” of air guitar was nothing more than a joke - and quite possibly a bad joke, at that. Turns out the joke was on me and any other naysayers out there: The air guitarists featured in the film have more passion, energy, spirit, and rock-star attitude than most dudes in big bands today. I just might be in love with every last one of them.

No word yet on whether there’s going to be a soundtrack, so for now you’ll have to air along to some of the movie’s featured songs, such Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades” (the title track off their 1980 classic), “Get Your Hands Off My Woman” by The Darkness, and “I Want You to Want Me” by Cheap Trick.

And when in doubt, just remember the words of Air Guitar Nation star Bjorn Turoque: “To err is human. To air guitar, divine.”

Coachella’s totally sold out, and I totally don’t have tickets, and that totally makes me want to cry. Though I’m trying not to dwell, I can’t help but feel a little heartsick that I’ll be missing out on seeing Bjork for the first time since autumn of 2001. One of the best shows I’ve ever seen, it was at a fancy concert hall in Boston, and she even wore her special swan dress.

On the bright side: We’ve got a new Bjork album to look forward to, as ThisNexter revolutionarygirl informs us. Her sixth studio effort, Volta is mos def one of the most giddily anticipated new records this spring, with bloggers like Alyk at A Socialite’s Life filling us in on the details as they trickle in. “The follow up to 2004’s stellar Medulla drops May 7th, and features production help from Timbaland on four songs,” Alyk shares. The mere thought of a Bjork-Timbaland collaboration makes me practically dizzy with excitement, which is almost enough to whisk any Coachella sadness away into the desert wind…

The Ponys are the perfect soundtrack for transitioning from winter to spring. One moment the Chicago-based band’s all dark and gloomy, the next they’re so bouncy and joyful - often within the same track. Two springtimes ago I spun their sophomore record Celebration Castle over and over, finding it a fantastic match for those L.A. days that start off cloudy and grey and then go blindingly bright once the sun breaks through.

Now, just this week, The Ponys are putting out their third record full of arty garage rock. According to Victim of Time, Turn the Lights Out “pulls from a wider range of song stylings that delves deeper into their unrivaled brand of pop psychedelia with barrages of guitar noise, quick tempoed intros, sped-up tape loops and sweetly delivered sour lyrics that amalgamate a modern take on a classic formula.” My favorite track so far: “Harakiri,” a moody-but-sexy number whose mp3 you can grab at Pretentious Prattle.

“Spring is sneaking into our bones,” sings the Rosebuds’ Ivan Howard on the band’s new song “Get Up Get Out.” And you believe him, because the track’s so carefree and bright and bouncy - with lots of disco-y synth layered over the dancey drumbeats. “Get Up Get Out” is one of the many perfect pieces of pop found on the Rosebuds’ new Night of the Furies, the North Carolina indie trio’s third full-length release. Out today, the record’s “got a little Motown, and a little Kinks, and a little Zombies, and a little Buddy Holly, and a whole lotta ‘yeah yeah yeah’ and ‘la la la’ and ‘ba da da’ and ‘oh, whoa’ all over the joint,” according to See You In The Pit. The blog shares mp3s of three numbers off Night of the Furies, and we highly recommend downloading if you too want to be whipped into a “sugary hazy of happiness with classy sweaters and rollerskates and the kids up at the Point on a Saturday night.”

Springtime’s a bore without a good crush, so it’s best to get a few candidates lined up a.s.a.p. My number-one crush of the moment: Ted Leo, whose fifth full-length record Living with the Living comes out tomorrow. I first laid eyes on Ted back in summer of 2003, when he played Coney Island wearing all white (t-shirt and jeans) paired with the most covetable kelly-green sneakers ever - from the moment he took the stage I was a goner. (You know it’s love when you want to borrow his shoes.)

Right now I’m replaying the new record’s ridiculously catchy “Bottle of Buckie” over and over and over. Hear it for yourself by grabbing an mp3 over at Another Form of Relief, whose blogger considers the track “one of Leo’s finest vocal performances yet, knowing perfectly when to jump from the restrained to the forceful.”

The Beastie Boys aren’t Irish - like, not even a little bit - but they really mastered the art of the drinking song very early on in their career (once they got past their hardcore punk phase, that is). It was at the tender age of nine that I learned of Brass Monkey, Thunderbird wine, Olde English 800, and other such classy beverages - all through the Beasties’ 1986 breakout record Licensed to Ill. And though I’ve yet to try the O.E. and Rice-a-Roni combo suggested in “Hold It Now, Hit It,” I can’t say I’m not still just a wee bit curious.

If you want sad drinking songs, you can always turn to someone like Elliott Smith or Tom Waits - but who wants a tear in their beer on St. Paddy’s Day? So much better to spin Licensed to Ill, which made number 64 on Sarah and The Goon Squad’s top records of all-time list. “My favorite line from this album is ‘We drink, and rob, and rhyme and pillage,’” she says, quoting opening track “Rhymin’ and Stealin’.” “I think in other circumstances I would like to live my life like that.”

Such a shame that the general public only seems to remember that Sinead O’Connor exists when Britney Spears goes and shaves her head. Though I suppose by now she must be very much accustomed to getting attention for all the wrong reasons - and being snubbed at times when she should be showered with acclaim. Like when she released one of her most recent records, 2002’s Sean-Nos Nua, a breathtakingly beautiful collection of 13 traditional Irish songs. It’s my favorite work of hers since I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got and The Lion and the Cobra, both of which I’d consider classic. Even if you’ve got not one drop of Irish blood in your body, it’s nearly impossible not to be moved by O’Connor’s rendition of “Paddy’s Lament,” one of the most powerful anti-war songs I’ve ever heard.

We’ve already seen the release of one of the most highly anticipated indie-rock gems of the year, The Shins’ Wincing the Night Away. “A little gentler, more haunted and pretty close to ‘epic’ The Shins continue to weave their spell,” says cath of the new record. “They might not change your life, but they’ll certainly make it more melodic.” And though robertkfranklin admits that it “took me awhile to get into this new cd,” he now names “Sea Legs” as “the killer track - very Pet Soundsesque.”

So what do lovers of modern-rock have next to look forward to? At the end of this very month, Modest Mouse will put out the follow-up to 2004’s breakout Good News For People Who Love Bad News, an album that w0man1nr3d calls “fantastically unique.” Modern Music got a sneak preview of the upcoming We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank, rating the CD an 8.2 out of 10. “From beginning to end, it never loses its lovely sound,” Modern Music promises, noting that the tracks “Parting of the Sensory” and “March Into The Sea” are among “the best work that they’ve created yet.”

Judging only by its first single, Nine Inch Nails’ Year Zero also contains some of that band’s best work yet. Due out April 17, the album features “Survivalism,” a deservedly all-over-the-radio track that “maintains the retro-industrial ruggedness without sounding outdated,” according to Spinner.com. The CD marks the follow-up to 2005’s With Teeth, which joe considers Trent Reznor’s “best album ever…It has the same energy as his older albums but the production has evolved and refined.” Also a NIN fan, w0man1nr3d spreads the love for Pretty Hate Machine, Reznor’s 1989 debut. “Pretty Hate Machine was an album that I listened to my senior year of high school and it still makes a bad mood seem a little more justified,” she says.

...continued: music forecast: up next In '07