Spent a week in a dusty library...

[Editors Note: On account of my sickness, I've been sleeping for hours on end. On account of my afro, that sleep has now turned my hair into what closely resembles a flat top/Elvis-styled pompadour. I consider this newsworthy..]

Good afternoon my friends, and welcome to another lovely afternoon, here on Looks Like Coffee, Tastes Like Juice. I'm going to be incredibly frank today (as well as a little Norman); there are quite a bit of things that I harbor a deep and intricate hatred for. Headlining this vast list, followed immediately by venereal disease, is being limited to specific topics/pigeonholing myself. If anyone is catching these very subtle hints I'm trying to drop, what I'm basically saying is that restricting myself to THFNS posts was almost tumor-inducing for me. So, for the sake of my health, and the health of those in Windsor, Ontario (+ surrounding areas), I've decided to go on a hiatus from those THFNS posts, and continue with the regular spasmodic postings of ... whatever the fuck I feel like. So, without further hyperbole and ado; a return to form/lessness. Enjoy!

CAMERA OBSCURA'S My Maudlin Career (4AD Records)


When one first lays down Camera Obscura's My Maudlin Career, the crack of a snare drum whip and a handful of couplets, including "Spent a week in a dusty library/waiting for some words to jump at me", greet the listener. All Bob Dylan cliches involving snare drums aside, the song French Navy is a fantastic album opener. With sharp guitar chords, dizzying violins, and pure 60's/motown production, the album opens on a note of brass and string glory. A record that could easily go downhill , though, surprisingly does the opposite. The next two tracks, The Sweetest Thing & You Told a Lie, aren't the most prominent or melodic tracks on this record, but the Beach Boys-esque backing vocals and the jazz shuffle feel of the songs have them working well in context. My Maudlin Career continues in this fashion, concentrating more on quiet subtleties that make it's charm almost infectious.

STANDOUT TRACKS!
French Navy
James
My Maudlin Career
The World is Full of Strangers

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE'S The Open Door [EP]

In my opinion, Death Cab For Cutie's latest EP, The Open Door, had the capability and, judging by it's single "Little Brides", potential, to be a great EP, showcasing the band stepping into new directions. What we find instead on this record, is Death Cab For Cutie, playing typical Death Cab For Cutie songs. Now, I complete agree with the fact that DCFC is a hardworking band, who have worked hard to establish a signature "sound", and that's absolutely fine. The problem that I have with this record is that it sounds as if the band is trying to step in a new direction, while keeping one foot in the door (PUN!). This has kept the record sounding cautious, and as self conscious as a teenage girl during gym class, which is odd for such an established band. Hopefully, this is just a fluke, and the next album from this phenomenal band will be up to par with last year's Narrow Stairs.
STANDOUT TRACKS!
Little Bribes
I Was Once A Loyal Lover

THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO?

Sometime in the next week, I'll be writing a little about two albums, which are coming out of very similar scenarios, that both have me pissing my pants in anticipation.

Dinosaur Jr. - I Want You To Know (Via Stereogum) <--- Just right click this one to download! Sonic Youth - Anti-Orgasm

Occurring tomorrow will be a massive post, because these two weeks have most likely been the most exciting two weeks that the music world will see in 2009. So, buy a new pair of shoes and remember to comb your hair, because tomorrow is going to be a 15 on the Richter scale.

WHILE YOU WAIT!

While you're eagerly anticipating (or just casually waiting) for the exciting bundle of joy that will be tomorrow's post, go check out The Hold Steady's excellent session at Daytrotter. You won't be disappointed.

The Hold Steady's Daytrotter Session

Until tomorrow.

Don't shine your censors on our midnight escapades.

Hello friends,
I'd just like to start by saying that I am slightly addicted to this song. If you walk by me in the hallway/street, and you don't here my faux-Scottish accent, trying to mimic this song; then you are deaf, friend. DEAF! Enjoy it!





Yeah, I yell like a prepubescent girl whenever I hear this song.

Anyways, onwards to the news and the sounds!

Sonic Youth! Sonic. Youth. Youth?! Sonic Youth.

You see the sub-heading above this?! Well, that's how I feel when I listen to Sonic Youth. Sure, I love them as much as any other snobby hipster does, yet, at least I can admit that they, pardon my french, confuse the living fuck out of me. I choose to continue listening to their music though, because sometimes I enjoy being confused, and, well, they're fantastic. You see, the reason I'm even writing about Sonic Youth right now, is because they're releasing another album. This new album, which may or may not be entitled The Eternity (uncharacteristically metal?), is going to be released on their new record label, Matador. Not much is known about the new album, but Thurston Moore had this to say;

The album will feature more than a few "heavy ass weirdo hooks" and that "it's rock-centric, but still experimental...I still don't know how to play the guitar."

Needless to say, I'm a little bit excited.

Here's a bit o' the ole Sonic Youth to tie you over until the new album comes out.

Teen Age Riot - Sonic Youth

Dark Was The Night

From their MySpace;

"Dark Was The Night will be released on February 17th, 2009. Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National produced the album, and John Carlin, the founder of the Red Hot Organization was the executive producer. A total of 32 exclusive tracks have been recorded for the compilation. It will be available as a double cd/triple vinyl/download and will benefit the Red Hot Organization - an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. Red Hot was founded on the premise that even without a cure, AIDS remains a preventable disease – and music is a great vehicle to raise money and awareness for it. This is the 20th year of Red Hot, and this is the 20th release!"

Here is the track listing for this mind blowing album;

THIS DISC (DISC ONE):

1. "Knotty Pine" - Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
2. "Cello Song" - The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
3. "Train Song" - Feist and Ben Gibbard
4. "Brackett, WI" - Bon Iver
5. "Deep Blue Sea" - Grizzly Bear
6. "So Far Around The Bend" - The National
7. "Tightrope" - Yeasayer
8. "Feeling Good" - My Brightest Diamond
9. "Dark Was The Night" - Kronos Quartet
10. "I Was Young When I Left Home" - Antony with Bryce Dessner
11. "Big Red Machine" - Justin Vernon + Aaron Dessner
12. "Sleepless" - The Decemberists
13. "Stolen Houses (Die)" - Iron & Wine
14. "Service Bell" - Grizzly Bear + Feist
15. "You Are The Blood" - Sufjan Stevens

THAT DISC (DISC TWO):

1. "Well-Alright" - Spoon
2. "Lenin" - Arcade Fire
3. "Mimizan" - Beirut
4. "El Caporal" - My Morning Jacket
5. "Inspiration Information" - Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
6. "With A Girl Like You" - Dave Sitek
7. "Blood Pt. 2" - Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
8. "Hey, Snow White" - The New Pornographers
9. "Gentle Hour" - Yo La Tengo
10. "Amazing Grace" - Cat Power
11. "Happiness" - Riceboy Sleeps
12. "Another Saturday" - Stuart Murdoch
13. "The Giant Of Illinois" - Andrew Bird
14. "Lua" - Conor Oberst with Gillian Welch
15. "When The Road Runs Out" - Blonde Redhead & Devastations
16. "Love Vs. Porn" - Kevin Drew

I soiled a perfectly good pair of pants after reading this. Then, after hearing three tracks from the album (which are all available for streaming on MySpace) I ruined another. This might just be the Merriweather Post Pavilion of charity albums. Yes, the Animal Collective references have started already.

http://www.myspace.com/darkwasthenight

Apparently, the new Antony & The Johnstons album is very, very good!

Expect a review of the new Andrew Bird album tomorrow.

Goodnight, my dear constituents, and pray tell that the wrath of exams does not fall upon you.

Boy, you still got shit for a brain.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen (and of course those of you who are undecided), and welcome to a very special part 1 of Looks Like Coffee, Tastes Like Juice's Halloween Edition. Since this week has been especially slow in the music world, I figured tonight would be the perfect opportunity to write the first of a two part special edition Halloween post. The post on the actual week of Halloween will contain the bulk of the writing, so this week's post will be awfully short, but rather music filled. I decided to do this so that you'd have a kick-ass/ass-kicking Halloween mixtape for any party you may or may not be having. So, enjoy this week's tape, and prepare yourself for the magnificent post that is to come tomorrow, which will be entirely The Who-themed. The reason for this, is because I'll be seeing The Who for the first time on Tuesday.

Looks Like Super Monsters, Tastes Like Super Creeps; The Official Halloween Mixtape (Pt.1)

01 Coffin Trick - Atlas Sound
02 Halloween - Dead Kennedys
03 Halloween On The Barbary Coast - The Flaming Lips
04 Halloween - John Carpenter
05 Do They Know It's Halloween - North American Halloween Prevention Initative
06 Every Day Is Halloween - The Postmarks
07 Halloween - Ryan Adams
08 Halloween Head - Ryan Adams
09 Halloween - Sonic Youth
10 The Exorcist - Mike Oldfield
11 Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) - David Bowie
12 Psycho - Bernard Hermann

Well, enjoy the mixtape and have a fantastical week!

[Editors Note: I realize that I stated last week, I'd have a Thanksgiving post on Thanksgiving Monday. Well... I lied. Deal with it.]

Hljóð- Æska

Good evening world, and welcome to another beautiful Sunday evening, here on Looks Like Coffee, Tastes Like Juice. Now, I've come with quite an aggravating cold/fever combination, which is actually going to make today's post that much better. Why, you ask, would me being sick contribute to making this weeks post better? Well, the answer is, because I haven't left my house all day, and have actually had some more time to think about what to include this week. So, there you have it. Enjoy today's post, where we'll cover some Sonic Youth, The Streets and Peter, Bjorn and John. Yep, quite a set list, I'd say.

The Streets ; Everything Is Borrowed, And A Grand Don't Come For Free

Mike Skinner, who you probably know by his rapper alias, The Streets, is going to be releasing his fourth LP. Before I fill you in with the details of this new album, let me explain a little bit about Mr.Skinner.

Mike Skinner is a British rapper who was born in Birmingham, England. His first major single, Has It Come To This, was released by Locked On records in late 2000. Since then, he has released three albums, one of which is a concept album (my favorite) about losing a grand, going through various ups and downs, and then finding the grand again. It is appropriately titled, A Grand Don't Come For Free.

Alright, now, the new album, which is titled Everything Is Borrowed, is slated for release on September 15th, 2008. Here's the track list;

1. "Everything Is Borrowed"
2. "Heaven For the Weather"
3. "I Love You More (Than You Like Me)"
4. "Just Thought of Something"
5. "On the Flip of a Coin"
6. "The Sherry End"
7. "Alleged Legends"
8. "What are Chances of That Like?"
9. "When That Day Will Be"
10. "Further Away"
11. "Strongest Person I Know"
12. "The Escapist"

Peter, Bjorn & John ; Seaside Rock

Swedish ... Music Makers? (that's what I get when I can't choose between rock and pop, maybe I should just put Pock, or Rop?) Peter, Bjorn & John have recently released some important details about their new album, which will be entitled Seaside Rock.

The album will be released ONLY on vinyl (that's right, bitches), and as a digital download. It is also interesting, and utterly depressing, to note that their will be only 5000 LPs pressed in the US. The album, which is originally supposed to be strictly instrumental, is apparently not going to be so instrumental after all. This is what the band had to say about it, in a press release;

"As homage to Peter Bjorn and John's respective hometowns they wanted to feature the voice and dialect from each of the three areas. So apart from the instrumental soundtrack to the lonely childhood of northern Scandinavia you can also hear three monologues about some sort of seaside. The stories are read by a real saxophone player from Norsjö, a grandfather from Vika and the hairdresser Siw from Piteå."

Here's the track list;

1. Inland Empire
2. Say Something (Mukiya)
3. Favour of the Season
4. Next Stop Bjursele
5. School of Kraut
6. Erik's Fishing Trip
7. Needles and Pills
8. Norrlands Riviera
9. Barcelona
10. At the Seaside

Andre Sider Af Sonic Youth

For those of you who are Sonic Youth fans (hopefully this is a majority of you), you'll be quite happy to know of a new addition to the Sonic Youth Recordings series. What is the Sonic Youth Recording series, you ask? Well, that's what I'm here for.

Aside from being signed to a major label Geffen Records, Sonic Youth also releases music, mostly of the experimental or instrumental varieties, on their own record label, entitled Sonic Youth Recordings. What's most interesting about these releases, is that each album is in a completely different language. So, now it's time for the eighth release in the series, entitled Andre Sider Af Sonic Youth (Danish).

This album, which I'll admit, I didn't have such high hopes for, definitely exceeded my expectations. It is Sonic Youth, pure and classic, who I thought were winding down, after the Starbucks release of the Hits For Squares compilation. Thankfully though, this is not the case. Don't believe my incessant rambling though, experience it for yourself. Unfortunately though, I cannot supply you with a track from this album, seeing as their is only one track, and it's 53 minutes long. See my predicament? So, to solve this problem, you should go buy it for yourself.

You can buy it right here.

Well, that's all for this week. I'll be keeping in touch with some smaller posts during the week.

Til' Next Week

Hello All

Good morning everybody! Welcome to another edition of Looks Like Coffee, Tastes Like Juice. I'll be taking over for a few days while Norman is gone. If you haven't noticed, I'm his cousin Joseph and my interests are gaming, music. I'm not much of a talker which would explain the short post. Anyway, enjoy the music and go ahead and kick me if I re-post some songs.

Sonic Youth- Teen Age Riot

Arcade Fire- Intervention

Thanks for reading

See the jackknife inside of the dream

Today, I'm feeling a bit rebellious, so I'm going to stray from my very rarely followed schedule and do something a bit different today. I'd like to play a game (it has nothing to do with the Saw movies) in which I post three mp3s from three bands who all have something in common, and you guys can guess what that is in the comment box. Alright? Alright. By the way, you'll have no information, you must only listen to the track. No cheating. Good Luck.

SONIC YOUTH

Eric's Trip

Total Trash

Hey Joni

DINOSAUR JR

Freak Scene

Gargoyle

Forget The Swan

THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN

Just Like Honey

Never Understand

Somethings' Wrong

and Marvin Gayes "Let's Get It On." Just to throw you off.


Again, good luck and . . .

Enjoy