Numéro# – Tonton Klaxonne

More info at Discodust. Except for what the song means. My understanding is that “klaxonner” means to honk, and “tonton” means…uncle? Huh. Someone else out there knows better than I do.

I should’ve gotten Feist’s “The Reminder” earlier. Like when it first came out in May.

But I’m slow. So I have it now. And I really like it. I listened to it while passing through the swampy marshy crap in the Meadowlands under a murky sky that looked as though it were about to barf rain, yet it all looked pretty while listening to Feist. SHE IS DRUGGING ME, THAT’S WHAT, OMG.

Nah, not drugs. Just prettiness. Here are two examples of the prettiness:

Feist – So Sorry

Feist – How My Heart Behaves

I suppose I could post some lyrics that I really like, but …lyrics don’t usually mean a great deal to me unless I can relate to them. And I suppose they wouldn’t mean a great deal to you either unless you had some connection to them. And these lyrics are kind of depressing, so nevermind.

Actually, I like this bit from “So Sorry”:

We’re so helpless
We’re slaves to our impulses
We’re afraid of our emotions
And no one knows where the shore is
We’re divided by the ocean
And the only thing I know is
That the answer isn’t for us
No the answer isn’t for us

Mild depression may be abated by watching Charlie the Unicorn. Enjoy:

If you didn’t watch it in its entirety (and you know who you are, NO HIDING)…you should. There’s a really catchy song at around the 2:30 mark. Why deny yourself of such joy? Whyyy?

After letting We Will Build seep into my brain for just a few seconds (through I Guess I’m Floating), I knew that I liked them. Don’t you love it when things just click like that?

I would try to describe the awesomeness my brain felt when I listened to them, but someone else already wrote a great description. I will steal quote from Big Static for your benefit (and so I can go to sleep more quickly):

Have you ever felt the intense desire to listen to something friendly? Not perky or hyper or courteous but just friendly? It might sound like a dull concept but We Will Build are anything but. With a nice blend of influences such as Air and Ratatat, these two Canadians are the musical equivalent of a nice tender hug and frankly, as much as it makes me sound like a wuss, I like little else in the world more than hugs, musical or physical

I totally agree. Nothing really compares to hugs. Not even chocolate. But what do you do when you’re alone? So very alone? …With a source of music? You listen to the music that hugs you back. Kinda. Not really. It doesn’t have arms.

Their myspace page lists their style as “powerpop/electronica”. Simple and true. Their songs range from lullabye-ish to something that would make a good soundtrack to “jumping on the bed under the influence of too much sugar”. As for what that means, you should just download all their songs to see for yourself. ALL OF THEM. Take advantage of their generousity.

Live at Club Quattro, Osaka (November 9, 2005)
Live at Club Quattro, Toyko (November 10, 2005) (concert review at fusion musique)

I didn’t label all the songs correctly; some tracks are composed of two or three songs. The sound is a bit distorted, but if you’re me you’ll still love the recordings. He opens both shows with Quiet & Still, which I’m still dying to hear live (although solo, not necessarily with the band). Even though I don’t really like “All You Ask”, it sounds cool live. Actually, everything sounds cool live. Dammit.

Oh. Man. …This is ridiculous, but I’m still bummed that I only got to see him once when he was in the US. Once! That’s more than most Americans will get to see him. Why can’t I just be thankful for what I get? I constantly think about how undeservedly lucky I am, but then I think about how…oh, I saw him perform once this year, not in a small venue, boohoo…I guess I need to be smacked. I want to snuggle in with the Japanese crowd. They sound so polite, quiet and captivated. My god. There are so many times that I really feel like that I was born in the wrong country, with the wrong ethnicity, knowing the wrong languages, wrong wrong wrong…(yeah, I’m really not on topic anymore)…

Anyway, here’s another zip file:

Live at Docks, Toronto (March 1, 2006), Comfort Zone Toronto (March 2, 2006), and SXSW (March 16, 2006)

The shows in Canada were recorded by Mami–the quality’s pretty good. I added the SXSW show from Lullabyes because I figured I may as well get close to the 100 MB upload limit.

I probably shouldn’t be amazed by this, but…well, I am kind of amazed by how old some of these songs are, yet haven’t become tired from repeated listenings. Like. A gazillion repeated listenings. How many versions of “I’ll Come Along” can I take? A GAJILLION, apparently. The first time I heard it in 2001, I didn’t even know what it was called until his webmaster told me the title. And I’ve come to the conclusion that I could listen to “Nothing Hurts Not” a gajillion + a zillion times without getting tired of it. It almost makes me cry…

…but a different kind of crying than this anthropology homework makes me wanna do right now. Please shoot me.

My favorite music videos are by Bjork (plus cool directors). I haven’t seen many music videos in my lifetime but I can’t imagine how anything else can compare. Matt pointed out the new video for “Triumph of the Heart” at bjork.com directed by Spike Jonze and it’s just enjoyingly bizarre. Whatever that means. I mean, you got a cat, and Bjork running around Iceland in pigtails and a pink dress-thing and a bunch of (drunk) people singing and Bjork falling over exposing golden boots and hearts floating about and Giant Cat…it’s something you want to see, trust me.

As for cats in videos, have you see Fatboy Slim’s “The Joker” video? I’m not a Fatboy Slim fan but, my god, the kittens. They’re everywhere. And so cute and cuddly you could eat em and be like “Oohh yeah, cute kittens, mm mm fluffy like marshmallows.” Or hug them, I don’t know. I’ve never had pets.

No kittens in this one, but it’s another music video: Feist – Inside and Out. [via Brooklyn Vegan via others] I didn’t know it was a Bee Gees cover but that makes me feel less guilty for not liking it as much as other songs on her album. It’s still a nice song though. My favorites are Gatekeeper, Mushaboom, Secret Heart, Tout Doucement, and Now At Least…which is about half of the album. I should probably buy an import before waiting for a domestic release (if that is ever to happen). On a related note, kingsofconvenience.org has KoC’s cover of Gatekeeper on their downloads page. If you like KoC you’ve probably downloaded it already, along with most/all of the stuff on the page.