Archives : all posts by Dan

Vio/Miré - "Wood Splitting"

It sounds like riding a sled running smoothly over snow, the buck and sway and rubber rub sounds of packing the snow into a track. But it's not a sled, instead what drags behind is some heavy bundle wrapped in a few snowsuits (for gliding), bound with wispy yellow rope. Inside, the petty things of living: an ashtray, a pad for phone messages, a printer ink cartridge, and about a thousand other things. It's heavy as hell, and it's being dragged, relentlessly and in different positions, by a figure, bundled tight from the cold and tired. Hand yanked back all the way, hand just over shoulder, two hands behind, rope around waist, each position wearing down a little bit every rotation. The destination isn't known, it's dark in the woods, with an orange glow that keeps every ten feet or so visible, but not much more than that. [MySpace]

[photo started by notto86]

Handsome Furs - "Sing! Captain"

A song about how everyone wants you to fail, until you succeed, and then they're glad you succeeded. About performance as a simultaneous taking-care of the audience (as from a sickness) and fighting them to the death. A win for the performer, as in this song, gets a shout of "sing! captain" from the crowd. A loss would be, well, too depressing to mention, I guess. [Buy]

Stevie Nicks - "Wild Heart (backstage bootleg)"

I'll wait until the last day of our lives to tell you how I truly feel about you. I'll save it all up, keep it all to myself, and maybe even never let you have any of it. Here Stevie Nicks gets right to what makes this song great, what it ought to be. The original is rambling and scattered, and while this is only a peer through a window, a drive past, it's indication enough that inside there's a leaping, galloping, wondrous song. [Buy]

Je Suis France - "Wizard of Points"

It seems the Wizard of Points exists in all senses, in one being, that commands this song with his hand, on a joystick, or held before him in that "you are under my telekinetic control" kind of stance. So:

i) The Wizard of Points - in a mathematical sense, a controller of the intersections of axes.
ii) The Wizard of Points - a many-spined, sharp-to-the-touch warlock of a deep blue colour, predator of nothing, but also prey to nothing in return.
iii) The Wizard of Points - the silent partner to an award-winning debate team. takes furious notes and whispers hisses of rebuttal while staring down the opponent.
iv) The Wizard of Points - a video-gamer with formidable patience, who can stay in the "infinite enemies" loops in Contra for hours at a time.
v) The Wizard of Points - as opposed to prose, an expert of summary, in bullet format.
vi) The Wizard of Points - "the most experienced man"

can you hear them all? Like the 6 faces of a cube, smooth and blaring, as one.

Je Suis France - "California Still Rules"

Oh yeah, and they're also a rock band. From the eerie waters of reverb and the gathering clouds of drums emerges a rock song like a pink camera flash. Poof, and it's over.

[Out May 29th, Site (with more music!)]

[art by dsnhaus]

Danny Zabbal lives on another planet. Well, he lives 15 minutes away from me, but everything about him is from another planet. He has an imagination that is both boundless and bounding, as in, across the great reaches of space, or through a deep forest, or a trap door. He joins us today, sits and laughs in his chair, and draws to the music.

The New Pornographers - "Stacked Crooked"

this is a full-page comic, and must be viewed in full to get it all. click it!

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I Am Kloot - "Sold As Seen"

again, click for full size.

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visit Danny's website for new treasures every single day.

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(Previous guest-blogs: artist Irina Troitskaya, artist Eleanor Meredith, artist Keith Greiman, artist Matthew Feyld, The Weakerthans, Parenthetical Girls, artist Daria Tessler, Clem Snide, Marcello Carlin, Beirut, Jonathan Lethem, Will Butler (Arcade Fire), Al Kratina, Eugene Mirman, artist Dave Bailey, Agent Simple, artist Keith Andrew Shore, Owen Ashworth (Casiotone for the Painfully Alone), artist Kit Malo with Alden Penner (The Unicorns) 1 2, artist Rachell Sumpter, artist Katy Horan 1 2, David Barclay (The Diskettes), artist Drew Heffron, Carl Wilson, artist Tim Moore, Michael Nau (Page France), Devin Davis, Will Sheff (Okkervil River), Edward Droste (Grizzly Bear), Hello Saferide, Damon Krukowski (Damon & Naomi), Brian Michael Roff, Howard Bilerman (producer: Silver Mt. Zion, Arcade Fire, etc.). There are many more to come.)

Titus Andronicus - "Titus Andronicus"

In reality, this song was probably named after the band, but I prefer to imagine that the band was named in tribute to the shirtless, jangle-barking that you're hearing now. Titus Andronicus has made, literally, a hissy fit. Levels grind against the peak like a face into a ceiling fan, and once every trick has come to light, it starts double-time head-long at the rear wall, and the band is named posthumously, in honour. I wish I were named after the best thing I've ever done. I guess my name would be Finished High School. [MySpace]

Black Time - "White Heat Returned"

And indeed, we fall off the jagged carpet edge of the last song into this awkward and angular Gift, taking its odd form like water. It's like the Lou Reed version of what Sean was talking about with The Underpainting, but it likes screeching more than timing, feedback more than food. I know you'll listen a second time, I know I will a 14th, 15th... [Buy]

Normandy - "Kentucky Isolation"

I see great banners, or great pillars, or great lights. I see a mansion alone, no faces or bodies, but their presence implied, suggested, they could be four damn stories tall, who knows?

This song blares at whatever volume you set it. It doesn't wear a seatbelt. It's like writing an exam you know you've failed; it's oddly satisfying. It's just got some good vibrations in it, that's all. [MySpace]

MC Chris - "Ratz"

I never lived in a dorm. I also never went to summer camp, which I imagine is similar, except one of those has sex, the other, awkward sex. This may not be the "freshest" thing ever, but his eminemulating isn't forced, you see, it's just getting started. He's still in residence, for Pete's sake, let him get his footing! His self-conscious limpy strut, his elaborate geek-rhyming (Ween! Tatooine!) and his scheming smirk are all very precise and deliberate. Like going as "the life of the party" for halloween. [buy]

Thee, Stranded Horse - "Fiend Over Your Knees"

And where does this fall, but putrid from out your drawer, long kept sealed and for good reason. It writhes and wriggles on the floor, moan-buzzing and gnashing, and warning of peril, of the horizon's coming struggle. It seems to bleed milk, or perhaps that's a natural discharge, but with all its little bumps and strangeness, you can't look away. It's beautiful having a stroke, which is still nothing but beautiful. [MySpace]

T.Rex - "Cadillac"

As with a lot of T.Rex's songs, this is about seduction. But all the "baybeh"s and "huh"s and "woo!"s in the world wouldn't make me want to go home with T.Rex, when that rhythm guitar is standing right there. Forget the soloing, the one playing the main riff, yeah, that one, wearing the unassuming Hard Rock Cafe Belfast shirt and basketball shoes. Yeah, I wanna go home with him. [Buy]