5dots (in brief)

1.   Mon, Aug. 31, 2009

   [Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

   I found out about this song months ago, and seriously thought about putting it up here, but decided instead to hold onto it and put it in the next mix I put online. Now, of course, it’s months later and I still have no idea when the next time I’m going to do any mixing is.

   So: weird soul song with fantastic falsetto vocals. The voice is just weird enough to be really interesting without being off putting. Also, there’s a tempo change going into each chorus that kind of throws me off every time and would have been kind of a pain for DJing, but I like it anyways.

   Renaldo Domino - Not Too Cool to Cry

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2.   Mon, Aug. 24, 2009

   Also, The Decemberists

   I forgot to mention also that I love this Decemberists song that did make it onto Pitchfork’s list:

   O Valencia

   … but I don’t think I love it more than this song which didn’t:

   The Crane Wife 3

   (and yes, I know I’ve put both of these up here before, shut up)

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3.   Mon, Aug. 24, 2009

   Pitchfork's best of 2000s

   Some of you may have seen last week that Pitchfork was releasing a list of the top 500 songs of this decade (you can read this from the beginning here, if you like).

   I like making lists and seeing other people’s lists, and I also have a terrible soft spot for waxing nostalgic, so a list like this was bound to get me thinking. Then B decided we should make a playlist of all the songs on the list that we already had and listen to it in chronological order, so as to suss out the “narrative” of the decade. This has been both amusing and enlightening, and so I wanted to note a few things here.

   • Jay-Z can probably be fairly called the rapper of the decade. While the last ten years definitely have been about the rise of southern rap, who’s been more, well, important than Jay-Z? (Ignore of course that he hasn’t really done anything worthwhile since the Black Album, but come on, that record was massive)

   • I think I like the Arcade Fire more than I thought I did. I should probably relisten to their first record.

   • Daft Punk haven’t made a decent record since 2001, but the three standouts from Discovery are still totally phenomenal. To me, they don’t sound the least bit dated, and I could probably keep putting them in mixes for another ten years without anyone complaining.

   • One time I went to a Postal Service show primarily to see the opener - Cex - and left right after that. What the hell was I thinking? There’s an opportunity that’s probably never going to happen again.

   • Songs which I still totally love: The Microphones’ “The Glow”; Joanna Newsom’s “Peach, Plum, Pear”; Bright Eyes’ “First Day of My Life”; plenty of others.

   • There’s an odd thing about this list, which is that it tries to straddle the line between “best songs” and “songs of the decade”. In that the former is about quality irrespective of time, and the latter is about music which typifies its time.

   • As such, there are a lot of songs on the list which I hear and think “there is a much better song on this album that I would have chosen instead of this one.” E.G.: Songs: Ohia’s “Blue Factory Flame”, Comets on Fire’s “The Bee and the Cracking Egg”, David Byrne & Brian Eno’s “Life is Long”, Stars’ “Romantic Comedy“ or “Time Can Never Kill the True Heart”, Vitalic’s “Poney, pt. 1”, and others, I’m sure.

   Finally, I should note that I have absolutely no intention of producing any kind of end-of-decade material for this blog - I simply don’t have the time to do a proper job of going through every record I have from the last ten years. That said, you can expect the same year-end wrap-up I did last year, with plenty of downloadable goodies. But, uh, not until the year’s actually almost over.

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4.   Sat, Aug. 22, 2009

   Lullatone

   Lullatone have been making consistent records for years now. They’re rarely exciting, but that’s sort of the point - they make tiny little songs for quiet/sleepy times. Their early stuff was all plinky sine waves, which was nice, if a little limited, but they’ve expanded their palette really pleasantly.

   They have a new record out which is quite nice, but I didn’t want to share anything from it, specifically. Instead, go play with this flash thing they made. From the style of it, I’m guessing it’s a few years old (maybe from 2004?), but it’s still a reasonable introduction to their sound, and it’s easy to make something pretty with it.

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5.   Mon, Aug. 17, 2009

   Lightning Bolt

   You guys: can we all get stoked about a new Lightning Bolt album coming out this year or what? It’s been four years, apparently.

   They’ve leaked a song from the new album (“Earthly Delights”), and it’s, dare I say, reasonably accessible. The first half of the song features actually normal drumming (which isn’t necessarily a recommendation, just a comment), and on the whole, it’s quite rhythmic. Still spazzy at the end though, and how accessible is any song over seven minutes?

   Bodes well for the rest of the album, if you ask me.

   Colossus

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6.   Mon, Aug. 17, 2009
   1. Kate Simko (16) 
   2. Pictureplane (13) 
   3. The Lucksmiths (12) 
   4. Nosaj Thing (12) 
   5. Clubroot (10) 
   6. Simian Mobile Disco (10) 
   7. Lullatone (10) 
   8. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (10) 
   9. Zomby (9) 
   10. Parts & Labor (8) 

   Via Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

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7.   Sat, Aug. 15, 2009

   Excuses

   I hate to be one of those blogs that’s always apologizing for not posting more often. That said, I’ve got an excuse, sort of. During the summer, when I’m not commuting to school, I wind up listening to much less music. Easily 95% of my music intake is in the car, and pretty much only while I’m driving. If I’m not listening to music, I don’t really have anything new to share.

   I’m currently making an effort to listen to more music around the house, and summer’s winding down anyway, so you ought to see more posts here soonish. (At the very least, more of those last.fm summaries of what I’m listening to.)

   So, in short - stay on that RSS; I haven’t forgotten about you and more’s on the way.

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8.   Wed, Aug. 12, 2009

   The Lucksmiths

   As I’ve been thinking more about how I will almost assuredly be leaving California in a year, I’ve been thinking a lot more about this song:

   The Chapter in Your Life Entitled San Francisco

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9.   Mon, Aug. 10, 2009
   1. Vivian Girls (13) 
   2. The Very Best (13) 
   3. Emynd (6) 
   4. Suburban Kids With Biblical Names (4) 
   5. Mount Kimbie (4) 
   6. Steve Starks (3) 
   7. Nacey (3) 
   8. Vitalic (3) 
   9. () 
   10. () 

   Via Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

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10.   Mon, Jun. 15, 2009
    1. Absu (13) 
    2. Major Lazer (13) 
    3. Milanese (12) 
    4. Styggmyr (11) 
    5. The Sound of Arrows (6) 
    6. () 
    7. () 
    8. () 
    9. () 
    10. () 

    Via Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

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11.   Mon, Jun. 08, 2009
    1. Math the Band (30) 
    2. Black Moth Super Rainbow (30) 
    3. Japanther (26) 
    4. Machine Drum (18) 
    5. Suburban Kids With Biblical Names (18) 
    6. The Death Set (17) 
    7. Sean Na Na (16) 
    8. Mika Miko (13) 
    9. The Phenomenal Handclap Band (12) 
    10. Eat Skull (12) 

    Via Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

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12.   Mon, Jun. 01, 2009
    1. Jens Lekman (16) 
    2. Wolves in the Throne Room (6) 
    3. The Decemberists (3) 
    4. The Softies (2) 
    5. Aeroplane (1) 
    6. The Microphones (1) 
    7. Unknown Soulja (1) 
    8. Dwayne Sodahberk (1) 
    9. () 
    10. () 

    Via Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

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13.   Wed, May. 27, 2009

    Mount Kimbie

    This is some of the weirdest dubstep I’ve heard yet - when the main beat finally comes in in “William”, for example, it’s outrageously slow. But the melody in “Maybes” is just great, and pulls the popping percussion right along with it. Slow and mournful.

    Maybes
    William

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14.   Mon, May. 25, 2009
    1. Night Control (19) 
    2. Mika Miko (12) 
    3. dd/mm/yyyy (12) 
    4. Dananananaykroyd (12) 
    5. Sonic Youth (12) 
    6. Matt & Kim (11) 
    7. Cat Stevens (10) 
    8. Magnolia Electric Co. (8) 
    9. Nadja (8) 
    10. Wolves in the Throne Room (4) 

    Via Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

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15.   Sun, May. 24, 2009

    Aeroplane

    Especially on this first track, Aeroplane are on that dreamy, beachy disco tip. This is pretty great stuff; I love the mood so much.

    Above the Clouds
    Aeroplane (Original Mix)
    Pacific Air Race

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This is like what 5dots.net used to be, before it stopped being a blog.

The focus here is on sharing mp3s of things that I listen to and like (though occasionally I might share non-music things, as I have in the past).

All music is shared using Dropbox, and will be direct links to mp3 files - no yousendit or anything like that.

If you like what I'm sharing, or that I'm sharing, comments and feedback are appreciated. To be perfectly honest, I probably won't share music if I don't think anyone's listening, so your support is worthwhile.