Mother's Day Mixtape

In honor of Mother's Day, I have compiled a mixtape of the greatest maternal dedications. Whether they are songs of rejoicing or bitterness towards those that birthed them, these artists made their shout outs loud and clear, and that is - word to your mother.

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1. Moby - "Love Song For My Mom"
2. Jay-Z - "December 4th"
3. The Dead Weather - "Treat Me Like Your Mother"
4. Lenny Kravitz - "Always On The Run"
5. The Smashing Pumpkins - "Once Upon A Time"
6. The Police - "Mother"
7. Danzig - "Mother"
8. Genesis - "Mama"
9. The Beatles - "Your Mother Should Know"
10. The White Stripes -"I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart"
11. Jeff Buckley - "Mama, You've Been On My Mind"
12. The Knife - "We Share Our Mother's Health"
13. Johnny Cash & Bob Dylan - "That's Alright Mama"
14. Kanye West - "Hey Mama"
15. Sufjan Stevens - "Romulus"
16. Sugarcubes - "Mama"
17. LL Cool J - "Mama Said Knock You Out"
18. Tori Amos - "Mother"
19. The Beatles - "Julia"
20. 2Pac - "Dear Mama"

Bonus Track:

The Flaming Lips - "Pennyroyal Tea"

Before The Flaming Lips were our ambassadors for deep space music, they were just another one of those 90's hipster bands trying to fight their way through the masses and into your record collection. The difference between the Lips though and a band like say, Tripping Daisey, is that they were actually making amazing noise pop. Although most would place their best work in the keyboard laden, dream pop phase of their career, starting with their 1999 masterpiece, The Soft Bulletin, my heart still belongs to their early to mid 90s's work, where their sweet catchy melodies met with ear crushing distortion and feedback at every turn (not to mention the wily guitar gymnastics that Ronald Jones exuded). Here's a clip I just found of them covering Nirvana's "Pennyroyal Tea". Wayne Coyne's vocal is a little rough on the chorus, but regardless, this performance showcases the raw edge that the Lips once had in live performance, that is now swapped for bombast and showmanship (don't get me wrong, their current live show is great, but it's more about visual extravagance rather than musical performance).

Flaming Lips: Pennyroyal Tea (Nirvana) from Chris Buly on Vimeo.

Disregard the credit that says 1998, as this performance is clearly pre-Zaireeka.

Sacotn Suggests

Here's a sweet bar hopper track for ya. The band is called Foster The People, and they've existed for about one hot second. Unknown and unsigned, the band is sure to make some headway on the indie circuit with at least this song, a vibey anthem called "Pumped Up Kicks". When it becomes a hit, don't say I didn't warn you.

Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands....NOT

It seems like the Elliott Smith memorial wall just can't have any peace. Here's its latest trial:

Oh Well, Okay.

While the memorial remains in tact despite the mistake, this is not the first time the memorial has been messed with by the thoughtless and disrespectful:

Cults

As described in an earlier post, I intern for the A&R department of a major label. Here's a band they showed me this morning, that they're potentially looking at. Simply named Cults, there is very little else information about them out currently, other than they're a couple from NYC. They have one seven inch single that's A-side, "Go Outside", is a smokey indie pop gem. Whereas bands like Vampire Weekend take afrobeat and channel it through upbeat rhythms, "Go Outside" uses it to create a dreamy landscape, with a vivid vibe. Be the first on take them home with you (before they actually get a Myspace profile).