Bobkast #16:...And You In Your Autumn Sweater

"Yes, Yes, Yes It's My Autumn Almanac"
*a magical forest near kilkenny city, republic of ireland.
(Photo by Edward Dullard)

September 21 marks the Autumnal Equinox, which means this is your last chance in 2008 to successfully balance an egg on end. It also means the rolling Green Mountains of Vermont will erupt in technicolor magic, wool sweaters will return from moth ball covered chests in the corner of basements and pumpkin seeds will be salted and subsequently roasted. But the best part of fall is the way whiskey warms your belly on aimless jaunts through leaf plastered forests, bundled in flannel and wool (herringbone). Oh yeah, and you in your autumn sweater.

Bobkast #16: ...And You In Your Autumn Sweater

1. Mark Mothersbaugh- Kite Flying Society
2. Camera Obscura- Let's Get Out of This Country
3. The Kinks- Autumn Almanac
4. Jim James- Gideon (Live @ Newport Folk Fest)
5. Fleet Foxes- Mykonos
6. Magnetic Fields- Abigail, Belle of Kilronin
7. Blitzen Trapper- Furr
8. Ra Ra Riot- Winter '05
9. Jenny Lewis- Acid Tongue
10. Oxford Collapse- Featherbeds
11. Okkervil River- Lost Coastlines
12. Pavement- Folk Jam
13. Sufjan Stevens- Tahquamenon Falls
14. Micah P. Hinson- Yard of Blonde Girls
15. Yo La Tengo- Autumn Sweater

Bobkast #16: ...And You In Your Autumn Sweater [PC: right click+save as; Mac: option+click]

muxtape: Stormy Night in Brooklyn

"While You Wait For The Others"
Bored on a stormy night in Brooklyn, watching the sky light up and waiting to hear the new Grizzly Bear song on Letterman (which was sweeeet). Yep, that about sums it up. Here's the soundtrack to the evening.

Muxtape
Grizzly Bear - While You Wait For The Others
Yo La Tengo - You Can Have It All
Girls - Hellhole Ratrace
Galaxie 500 - Tell Me
Magnetic Fields - Abigail, Belle Of Kilronan
Sunset Rubdown - Us Ones In Between
The Rosebuds - Get Up Get Out - Justin Vernon of Bon Iver remix
(((Eagle Winged Palace))) - Hands of Doom
Blood on the Wall - Lightning Song
Atlas Sound - Marietta

Listen to the new
Muxtape

Valentine's Day Mix Up

"Let's Stay Together"

This year we're starting a new tradition. Every Valentine's Day instead of giving out candy hearts and chocolate's, we're gonna share a few songs. Know matter what kind of mood you're in this year, we've got a song for you. Don't believe us. Just take a gander down below.

For the innocent Virgin couple celebrating their first Valentine's Day->The Beach Boys- Forever
Also, for Full House fans who remember Uncle Jesse rocking this Denny Wilson classic (Stamos' favorite B.B's song) out with an elderly version of the Beach Boys.


For someone still in love with their Ex-> The Magnetic Fields- I Don't Wanna Get Over You
"I don't wanna get over love/I could listen to my therapists/Pretend you don't exist/And not have to think of what I think of...Or I could make a career of being blue/I could dress in black/And read Camut/Smoke Clove Cigarettes/And Drink Vermouth/When I was 17/ That would be the scream/But I don't wanna get over you." A 69 Love Songs classic.


For the soul mama who loves his her funky daddy-> Aretha Franklin- Baby I Love You
Ain't nothing wrong with that.


For the lustful cougar who just signed up for Facebook -> The Chromatics- I Want Your Love
Something wrong with that.


For people who practice kissing their hand late at night-> Cat Power- Where Is My Love?
If you're gonna pretend to make out with someone, Chan Marshall's a good pick.


For those seeking closure-> LCD Soundsystem- Someone Great
Who knew James Murphy was so human? We were convinced analog wires ran through his veins.


For sexual philosophers-> Silver Jews- How Can I Love You (If You Wont Lie Down)?
David Berman never sounded so enlightened. Come to think of it, he always sounds the same.


For thirteen year old mall rats & drunken 19 year old celeb-utants->Uffie- First Love
What middle school dances are all about.


For the sappy, hopeless romantic->Jens Lekman- Someone To Share My Life With
Sometimes he goes a little overboard with the melodrama...Take that back, never enough melodrama.

For the heartbroken drunk->Tom Waits- I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You
Nobody knows whiskey and women better than Ole Mista Waits.


For Sexual Deviants-> R. Kelly- Sex Planet
"Girl I Promise This Will Be Painless(Painless)/We'll Take A Trip 2 Planet Uranus(Anus)."


For making love on crushed velvet-> Barry White- Ecstasy When You're Next To Me
You know that voice does you mmm mmmm good...Ok, that was nasty.


For "Schmooopies"-> The Explorers Club- Forever
Yes it has the same name as the aforementioned Beach Boy's song. And yes it sounds just like the Wilson's and Friends. And yes, you're the schmooooooopie.

For anyone with a heart-> Joy Division- Love Will Tear Us Apart Again


And we'll end with our collective favorite Valentine's Day Jam-> Silk- Freak Me
It's hard picking a particular lyrics to associate with this song, but we're gonna go with this one. "You, you, you, you/Oh you/You, you, you, you/Let me freak you/ You, you, you, you/ All of you/ I want it, I want it/ You, you, you, you/ Oh you/ You, you, you, you/ Let me do you/ Cuz tonight baby, I wanna get freaky with you"

Bobkast #8: A Lil Something Something

"I Hate California Girls"

Just a lil something something to keep you warm as the new year settles. A lil funk, a lil soul, a lil country, a lil retro rock, some reggae and a new Magnetic Fields song. Yee-haw. Warm wishes from the Bobka crew

Bobkast #8: A Lil Something Something
1. Lee Dorsey- Yes, We Can
2. Friends & Lover- Reach Out of the Darkness
3. Allen Toussaint- Night People
4. Herman's Hermits- I'm Into Something Good
5. The Magnetic Fields- California Girls
6. The Limes- Beyond Blue
7. Madlib- Mystic Bounce
8. Lord Rhaburn- More Love Reggae
9. Jacob Miller- Curly Locks
10. The Kinks- Waterloo Sunset
11. Bob Dylan & The Band- Ain't No More Cane
12. Emmylou Harris & Ricky Skaggs- Darkest Hour is Right Before Dawn
13. Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins- Rise Up with Fists!!!
14. Dr. Dog- Mystery to Me
15. The Clientele- Bookshop Casanova
16. Belle & Sebastian- Asleep on a Sunbeam
17. John Phillips- Holland Tunnel
18. Neil Young- Cripple Creek Ferry
19. Grizzly Bear- Deep Blue Sea (Daniel Rossen home recording re-edit)

Bobkast #8: A Lil Something Something {direct link; right click to download}

nu musick: The Archivist

"I Look Forward To A Time When We Can Someday Meet Again"

Somewhere between Stephen Merritt and Elliott Smith sits The Archivist, a Milwaukee bedroom musician whose woolen folk often sounds like it was recorded via an ancient walkie-talkie inside a chopper shot down behind enemy lines. At times it's raw, lo-fi aesthetic at its best. However, The Archivist also brings a few synths to the table on the standout track "New Years" which could have been the 70th track on 69 Love Songs. Even his simple, yet universal lyrics are delivered in the same gentle deadpan that won The Magnetic Fields so many broken hearts.

"In ten or twenty years if thats not much too long/I'll try and find you here provided your not gone/ But if you left or if you hide or if you lock yourself somewhere hoping not to be found/ I take it as a sign your well and that you found somebody else with whom you'd be much better off/ I hope I wont be wrong"

If you've been spending endless nights pacing around your bedroom or starring into a half empty glass of red, your in luck as The Archivist has a gift for you. What you might ask? Well it just so happens to be his recently released debut EP "recorded in his bedroom and available for free to anyone with an internet connection." Click HERE to download the whole EP for free, or check out two of my favorites below. For fans of Bon Iver, Sparrow House, Peter and the Wolf, Elliott Smith and general folkie sadness.

The Archivist- New Years(highly rec'd)
The Archivist- Jeremiah (The Archivist)

Classick Albums: The Coast Is Never Clear

"What will you do when your suntan is faded and the summers gone?"

Released in 2001, Beulah's's The Coast is Never Clear is a testament to sunny, beach friendly indie pop. Miles Kurosky and Co. created an album that explored an interesting, Brian Wilson-esque juxtaposition: warm, friendly harmonies and bright, sunny arrangements fused with meloncholy lyrics and hushed nostalgia for golden summer sunsets and sheets covered in sand. Lyrically the record documents the lonely, yet surprisingly hopeful, period Miles went through after a breaking up with a girlfriend.

But Beulah's references are much more than Surfer Girl refrains and Wilson family la-la's: in "Popular Mechanics for Lovers," Kurosky sings "I heard he wrote you a song/but so what/ some guy wrote 69/ and one just ain't enough," a shout out to Stephen Merritt of the Magnetic Fields who released their album 69 Love Songs, (containing 69 love songs of course) a few years earlier. Likewise, "A Good Man is Easy To Kill" is a variation on Flannery O'Connor's short story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find". Musically The Coast is Never Clear sounds, smells and feels like a California sunset; "Woodie" station wagon, six pack of PBR, sunscreen, wet trunks, silhouettes on the shore, all through Blue Blockers' tangerine hue. A perfect record for early mornings when you can't sleep, mellow afternoons by the pool and other lackadaisical summer activities. Download a few tracks below and peep the video for "Gene Autry"


Beulah- What Will You Do When Your Suntan Fades?
Beulah- Popular Mechanics for Lovers

"When I Get to California I'm Gonna Write My Name in the Sand"

Under the Covers: The Magnetic Fields

"Hey?!? Am I Making Any Sense At All?!?!"



The Magnetic Fields are a folkie synth pop band (if that makes sense) fronted by Stephin Merritt. Merritt started the group as a bedroom project, but it quickly grew to include childhood friends Claudia Gonson, Sam Davol and John Woo. While the group has held a cult following since 1991, they gained notoriety in 1999 with 69 Love Songs, a triple album of, yep, love songs.

Today we've got two The Magnetic Fields covers. The first is from one of our favorite Norweigan's (we've got many), Erlend Oye. You may know of him as a DJ, a King of Convenience, Feist & Royksopp collaborator, or, possibly, the Whitest Boy Alive. Regardless, this guy's got the midas touch and his vocal on "the Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side" is as genuine, clever and witty as Stephen Merritt's. Download the Kings of Convenience and Magnetic Fields versions below.

!!! If you've seen this puzzling string of exclamation points and were wondering what the hell it means, well it's pronounced 'chk-chk-chk' and it's punctuation for kick-ass drrrrty disco dance punk funk. Think Chili Peppers Meets LCD Soundsystem and My Bloody Valentine. A few years ago they released one of our favorite bangers "Me & Guiliani Down By the School Yard," which they followed with the aptly titled "Take Ecstasy With Me," a song off the Magnetic Fields record Holiday. They couldn't have picked a more appropriate song.

Magnetic Fields- Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side
Kings of Convenience- Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side (live)

Magnetic Fields- Take Ecstasy With Me
!!!- Take Ecstasy With Me