Bjork w/ Kelis - "Oceania". It's a mix that's head and shoulders above the original, straight hot feeling taking over for ambiguity. It's lovely to hear Kelis's thick alto beside Bjork's sharp pixie theatrics: Bjork sounds less like the crazy lone-wolf aunt, more like the cherished, mysterious friend. I love the burbling remnants of the old production, the Milkshaking new backing. Medulla bored me, and I was frustrated with how barren the original "Oceania" was -- for all the production flourishes, the chanting and bubbles, the song grew tired long before it trudged to its coda. But this - it's full of longing, full of push and not just pull. I swoon at the thought that Bjork's doing something with Beyonce. [from the limited release "Oceania" single]
The Love Letter Band - "I'll Fall in Love". Twinkling bedroom pop from Even the Pretty Girls Take Medicine. It's remarkable how the techniques of bands like The Robot Ate Me, Mt Eerie, Love as Laughter and - yes, this one, - can be used to make such beautiful things. While The Unicorns turn to big red electric guitars, construction paper cut-outs, the Love Letter Band tries to share its truth by singing simple words. Theremin mingles with acoustic guitar, xylophone and marimba. It's a drone of soft melody, waves smoothing to shore. "I'll move to Mexico / I'll let the ocean wash my pain away / I'll let the desert do its job ... With big brown eyes I'll fall in love." [buy]
today i bought silk longjohns.
[3:46pm update: thanks to kenny, have replaced the Kelis radio-rip with a full-quality version.]
Posted by Sean at September 8, 2004 1:37 AMlove like laughter? do you mean love as laughter?
Posted by jerk face at September 8, 2004 10:59 AMeek. yes! :)
Posted by Sean at September 8, 2004 11:11 AMhttp://s2.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=A8AA3E2B23BBEC0D9AAC8BB5433280DE
you can get a pretty high quality version there.
and i'm pretty sure beyonce was supposed to be a guest on medulla but that it fell through and they won't be doing anything now :[
oh well, this remix makes up for it.
Posted by kenny at September 8, 2004 12:41 PMoceania is exciting. i'm fully feeling it.
Posted by r at September 8, 2004 5:14 PMI just heard bjork and jewel dueting on "leaving on a jet plane", which I find kind of rip-in-the-space-time-continuum bizarre. The result is actually kind of blah, though.
Posted by gretchen at September 8, 2004 10:53 PMLOVE LETTER BAND! YES!
I saw these guys at a friend's house while living in Shreveport, LA in '02 and I always thought they were incredible! At the time, they were undecided about whether to call themselves the California Love Letter Band or something else equally cute and fun that I can't quite recall. You can certainly imagine how quaint and perfect this would be in a living room setting. The saw, the xylophone, the EVERYTHING! Thanks a lot for posting this, I had almost forgotten that they existed.
That bjork track is astonishing!
Posted by Greg at September 12, 2004 3:05 PM
and it will begin playing. All songs are also available to download: just right-click the link and choose 'Save as...'
