April In Review

It's been a fantastic month at SoundSuck. We've had some great featured artists, shared a few new videos, and played some solid original and remixed tracks. I have final exams next week so I'm afraid I won't be posting much for the next week or two. But I wanted to be sure to thank everyone who has been coming back to the blog over the past month by giving out the SoundSuck Mixtape Vol. 2. This April mixtape is a compilation of our ten favorite tracks we've shared on the blog over the past month.

Download SoundSuck Mixtape 4/09 Now!

Tracklist:

1. Black Heroes - Ratatat

2. Kids - MGMT

3. Wake Up (Where The Wild Things Are Version) - The Arcade Fire

4. Pachuca Sunrise (Acoustic) - Minus the Bear

5. My Girls - Animal Collective

6. Heavy Breath (Live) - David Bazan

7. 1901 (Alan Wilkis Remix) - Phoenix

8. Family Tree - TV On The Radio

9. Do You Realize?? (Postal Service Remix) - The Flaming Lips

10. Videotape (Mojib Remix) - Radiohead

Thanks again for all your support. If you are interested in writing something for SoundSuck shoot me an email!

The Way We Get By

Man I am looking forward to Summer break. Here's a song that helps me get through the day.

Earth: The Pale Blue Dot

Watch in HD.

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It isn't often that you come across a piece of media that punches you in the gut almost instantly. Visual artist Michael Marantz conveys a deep message with a fusion of author Carl Sagan's far-reaching words and beautiful time lapse photography. What makes Earth: The Pale Blue Dot truly impressive is the sheer amount of work that had to be put into it by one person. To fully appreciate it you must consider the following; there are 30 scenes in this three minute video. Each scene took between 30 minutes to 14 hours to capture using a still photography camera. There are over 4,000 frames in this short film and every frame you see is actually a combination of three separate images created using a technique called HDR. And as if all that work wasn't impressive enough Michael Marantz composed the music as well. Earth: The Pale Blue Dot is a powerful piece that deserves attention not only for its emotional weight but also for its technical brilliance. Below you will find the original soundtrack that Michael was kind enough to let us share as an mp3.

Earth - Michael Marantz.mp3 (right click to save)
[audio:Earth.mp3]

From Here I Can Touch the Sun

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." - attributed to Leonardo da Vinci


I always thought "The Commander Thinks Aloud" was a good track until I learned the context in which it was written.  The I realized it was one of the best songs I'd ever heard. Lead singer of The Long Winters, John Roderick, wrote "The Commander Thinks Aloud" in reaction to the Challenger spaceship disaster. It is a serenely beautiful song with both figurative and literal language that paints a beautiful picture of a painful event.

Boys and girls in cars
Dogs and birds on lawns
From here I can touch the sun
Yeah yeah

Put your jackets on
I feel we're being born
The Tropic of Capricorn is below
Yeah yeah yeah yeah

We stall above the pole
Still your face is young
As we feel our weight return
Yeah yeah

A trail of shooting stars
The horses call of storm
Because the air contains the charge
Yeah yeah yeah yeah

The radio is on
And Houston knows the score
Can you feel it?
We're almost home
Yeah yeah yeah yeah

The crew compartment's breaking up
The crew compartment's breaking up
The crew compartment's breaking up

If you like this song you may also enjoy "Ultimatum" by The Long Winters.

Like Bells Debut Album

I'm really pleased to bring you this exclusive full album preview of Like Bell's self-titled debut. The three piece instrumental group was formed in Cleveland's Oberlin Music College and they definitely know how to layer a song. Most of the music being made by college kids these days is either super poppy or just pretty mindless dribble. It's encouraging to see young guys who have some technical abilities and aren't afraid to put the effort in to make music worth listening to; they mixed, produced, and engineered the album all themselves. Like Bells is an album that requires repeat plays to fully enjoy and really gets better with each successive listen.






- If you like the album why not support the band? Buy their self-titled debut from Exit Stencil's store or on iTunes.
- Check out Like Bells' MySpace page.
- Thanks go to Brandon at Exit Stencil Records for letting us share the entire album.
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If you enjoy Like Bells you will probably like The American Dollar.

You Are My Center When I Spin Away

One of the great (and sometimes not so great) things about Radiohead's music is that it gets remixed and covered. A lot. "Videotape" was my favorite track off of In Rainbows.  I still think the original is the best but here are a few other versions that deserve some attention.

Away We Go Trailer + Music

My friend Becca tipped me off to this trailer for the upcoming film Away We Go starring John Krasinski. She told me the music by Alexi Murdoch was really great. If you're a know-nothing music blogger like myself you ask something like "the music is by a girl?!" And then proceed to be embarrassed by anyone who owns an iPod within earshot of you.

In The Shadow of Your Family Tree

"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family." -Anthony Brandt

Family is a word that means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.  To some people it means closeness, to others it means you have to live with someone you hate.  Some people think of family as a group of people they have to care about.  And to other people it is a refuge from a world that really doesn't care.  Being in a family often gets really messy but without one I don't think life would be nearly as enjoyable.

Random Grab Bag: Ratatat + Doves + CSS

It's funny how one word of encouragement can fuel a persons day. I was just thinking that posting on the blog wasn't worth my time when my brother told me "everyone has been talking about SoundSuck lately." Everyone may just mean my friends and family but because of his encouraging comment I have a renewed energy and am reminded of my passion for good music. If you have something encouraging to say to someone please share it with them- I guarantee it will mean something no matter how small.

David Bazan - Unreleased Live Material

We've been waiting for a new album from David Bazan for a long time now. A very long time... Thankfully he's been playing some new stuff on tour and some awesome people have been recording it for all of us to enjoy.






If you want to hear the rest of this live show at the Grey Eagle then download the whole performance here.

If you like David Bazan, don't miss his cover of "Hallelujah."

Minus the Bear rocks the acoustic

Every so often I come across an acoustic set that has really exceptional audio engineering.  I don't know much about decibels or audio levels but I know that Minus the Bear's new Acoustics EP sounds extremely clean. It's also great to see artists really reworking a song and shaking things up with an acoustic guitar instead of just replaying the original track with a different instrument.

The Arcade Fire Is Burning Bridges, Breaking Hearts

Here's a previously unreleased track by The Arcade Fire the band gave out with their documentary film, Mirror Noir. It's called "Burning Bridges" and it's an instrumental version of a song called "Burning Bridges, Breaking Hearts." Hopefully we'll get to hear the song on their next album.



If you like The Arcade Fire check out all 3 versions of "Wake Up!"

Sufjan Stevens Plays on the Roof

Sufjan Stevens - The lakes of Canada

La Blogotheque consistently puts up some of the most progressive music video content around. This take away show with Sufjan Stevens as the banjo player on the roof is simple but really creative.

Resurrect Me - Jon Foreman

I've really enjoyed Jon Foreman's partial departure from Switchfoot over the past few months. It's brought about some great material like this fun track, "Resurrect Me."

Professor Murder - Free Stress Test

Saw this headline in The Wall Street Journal today and it made me think of "Free Stress Test" by Professor Murder.

Conor Oberst - Nikorette

Bright Eyes, I mean, Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band has a new album called Outer South due out soon. Here's one of the two tracks they've released from the upcoming album. It sounds like standard fare for the band and I'm hoping this isn't the best the album has to offer.

Internet Symphony Mashup

Pretty cool concept. Take hundreds of user submitted videos and create a global symphony. I'd like to see more YouTube videos like this.

The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize?? + Postal Service Remix

"Do You Realize?"- The Flaming Lips

"Do You Realize?" Postal Service Remix

Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize - we're floating in space
Do You Realize - that happiness makes you cry
Do You Realize - that everyone you know someday will die

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

Do You Realize - Oh - Oh - Oh
Do You Realize - that everyone you know
Someday will die -

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize?

Wintersleep's Weighty Ghost (Acoustic) + Video

If you've been on this blog for awhile you know that one of my favorite songs is "Weighty Ghost" by the Canadian band Wintersleep. Here's an acoustic version the band played live at SXSW in 2008. I also just had to include the student short film I made at USC last summer.





Also be sure to check out the original version of "Weighty Ghost!"

Beirut Plays Hallelujah

I really enjoyed Beirut's latest album, The Flying Cup Club.  I also really enjoy Leonard Cohen's timeless song, "Hallelujah."  Here's a live version of Beirut covering the song. All pauses and mistakes aside I think his vocals are a great fit for this classic.


Also, listen to David Bazan sing "Hallelujah."

Jars of Clay - No One Loves Me Like You

Remember all those popular Christian songs from the late 90s that still hold up so well when you listen to them today?  Yeah neither do I.  "No One Loves Me Like You" is one of those rare songs that has actually aged relatively well through the years.

Kings of Leon - 2 New Remixes

I'll admit it, my favorite Kings of Leon song is "Sex On Fire" which gives away the fact that I'm probably not a real fan. Thankfully I have friends and family members who really do care about the Followills and made sure that I became familiar with the band. Here's the new remix of "Pistols of Fire" and another remix of "Sex on Fire."

Phoenix - 1901 + Remixes

It's been three years since Phoenix's last album.  Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is due out May 26th and if the popularity of "1901" is any indication it looks like the band should be getting ready for a hit.

Mogwai - The Sun Smells Too Loud

Coolest song name ever.

Where The Wild Things Are Artwork + Video

After watching the Where The Wild Things Are trailer about a hundred times I had to re-read the original. Here's an older video version of the book, looks like it's from Reading Rainbow or something you'd see on PBS. My church is also doing a new series based on the book and I just had to share with you the brilliant artwork Justin Keller came up with for it.

Check out the original movie trailer and download The Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" soundtrack.

Animal Collective My Girls Music Video

Check out this music video by Rob Chesnutt. It may not be official but it has a good feel and some really creative editing.

Arcade Fire - Cold Wind

A somber track that The Arcade Fire released in 2005, "Cold Wind" never made it onto one of the band's full length albums.

In the middle of the summer
I'm not sleeping
Cold wind blowing
In the middle of the night they
Try to find me but I'm still driving
If you're going to San Francisco
Lay some flowers on the grave stone

MGMT Kids + Remixes

Every blogger love's MGMT right?  "Kids" is their best track and it's been remixed about a thousand times. Here's the original recording along with a few of my favorite versions.

Are We Having Fun Yet?

If you're like me you're still a bit upset by The Format's breakup several months ago. Luckily for us lead singer Nate Ruess is still keeping on with his new band Fun. They just released this new track off of their upcoming album, Aim and Ignite, a few hours ago. It's called "At Least I'm Not As Sad (As I Used To Be)" and it sounds like the kind of music a band named Fun would make.

If you like this track check out fun's other unreleased track- "Benson Hedges Demo"

Take On Me - The Twelves Remix

The classic 80's hit "Take On Me" has been remixed by some Brazilian DJ's called The Twelves. Pretty catchy stuff.

It's a Very Very Mad World

Richard Kelly's film Donnie Darko has one of the most well designed soundtracks of any movie.  There are tons of awesome 80's songs throughout the film but the most moving sequence is set to "Mad World."  Originally by Tears for Fears, Gary Jules took this 80's track and turned it into something timeless.

Sigur Ros Plays Við Spilum Endalaust

Sigur Ros - Við spilum endalaust - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque.

Children, Don't Grow Up

The Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" is one of the best songs of all time. Here are a few different versions of it for you to enjoy.

Alternate Abridged Version (from Where the Wild Things Are trailer)

Acoustic Session Recording

Original recording off of the album Funeral




Somethin’ filled up
my heart with nothin’,
someone told me not to cry.

But now that I’m older,
my heart’s colder,
and I can see that it’s a lie.

Children wake up,
hold your mistake up,
before they turn the summer into dust.

If the children don’t grow up,
our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up.
We’re just a million little god’s causin rain storms turnin’ every good thing to rust.

I guess we’ll just have to adjust.

With my lighnin’ bolts a glowin’
I can see where I am goin’ to be
when the reaper he reaches and touches my hand.

With my lighnin’ bolts a glowin’
I can see where I am goin’
With my lighnin’ bolts a glowin’
I can see where I am go-goin’

You better look out below!

Brandon Benson Plays John Fahey

Listen to this meticulous electric rendition of John Fahey's "Poor Boys Long Way from Home" by the up and coming Brandon Benson. It took alot of pleading to get him to let us share this track because the 20 year old Colorado native prefers to keep his music from getting on the internet for as long as possible. Enjoy and let us know what you think.

[audio:Poor Boy-Brandon Benson.mp3]
Poor Boy Long Ways from Home - Brandon Benson.mp3 (right click to save as)