THE MONDAY LIST #6: Is Sleep For The Weak or The Week?

After a rather long and draining but equally enjoyable weekend i find myself feeling very tired but unable to fall asleep. I  ended up nodding off for about ten minutes earlier on tonight and felt like shit after it, now i can’t get to sleep at all. The weekend involved a slightly insane jaunt through to Stirling, a night out in the ghost town known as Paisley and a Sunday that seemed to last forever. I’ve only had around about 16 hours sleep since 6am on Friday, the tiredness had been there since last midweek anyway but now its finally caught up with me. In fact it’s more than caught up with me, it’s overtaken me and leaving me behind, it’s heading off into the distance faster than Usain Bolt on steroids. Even my usual method of listening to some Boards of Canada or The Album Leaf in the dark isn’t working. Anyways, in a rather ironic twist (and while i’m still awake) i’ve decided to make a list of SleepyTime themed songs that i have….

MP3’s
Is Sleep For The Weak Or The Week?
——————————————

1. The Postal Service – Sleeping In
2. Explosions In The Sky – With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept
3. Deftones – If Only Tonight We Could Sleep (cover of The Cure)
4. My Bloody Valentine – When You Sleep
5. Grand Archives – Sleepdriving
6. St Famous – Tired And Emotional
7. Idlewild – Let Me Sleep (Next To The Mirror)
8. Passion Pit – Sleepyhead
9. REM – The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
10. Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra – The Triumph Of Our Tired Eyes

and just as a wee bonus track (and because it takes me back to my childhood, well the Lion King in specific)

MP3: The Tokens – The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Maybe one of the reasons i can’t get to sleep? MP3:  Blur – Coffee And TV

VIDEOS:

Faithless – Insomnia (Live @ Glastonbury 2002)

Simian Mobile Disco – Sleep Deprivation

iPillow?

….and just before i head off and attempt to knock myself out i’ll finish with this lovely bit of music from one of my favourite bed time artists…

MP3: The Album Leaf – Seal Beach

remember that all mp3’s are freely available to download from this page but always try and support your favourite artists.

Ok i’m off, i’m hoping that if i work my way through The Album Leaf discography whilst curled up in the dark counting sheep i’ll end up in the land of Z’s….wish me luck.

Good night

S.I.T Wolf  X

THE MONDAY LIST #5: Is God Listening?

This weeks list is a little different from any previous weeks, its about the myth/man/woman/entity/spirit known as God. Now before i go any further, i’m not a practising Christian, i’m not emotionally attached to any certain religion but i’m not an Atheist either. Personally i don’t know what to believe about any higher beings, ghost or spirits etc. I’m open minded on all aspects of the whole subject. This list is just for fun, no offence is intended or anything. I suppose to a certain extent i do believe in “a God” but not in “the God”. Every religion is entitled to their own belief as is every person. Just thought i’d clear that up because i know what some of the Politically Correct brigade are like.

And without further ado here is the Top 10 God Bothering/Loving Tracks…..fortunately for all ears out there Creed are not included, dunno if you could guess by my tastes but i’m not exactly their biggest fan.

MP3’s
Gods Playlist
————————

1. Queens of the Stone Age – God Is in the Radio
2. Beach Boys – God Only Knows
3. MSTRKRFT – Fist Of God
4. Faithless – God is a DJ
5. Gutter Twins – God’s Children
6. Moby – God Moving Over The Face Of The Water
7. Alice In Chains – God Smack
8. Nine Inch Nails – God Given
9. Modeselektor – Godspeed
10. Joan Osborne – (What If God) Was One Of Us

As usual to download the tracks just click on them once to open the file then either “right click save target as” or simply left click once more for the option to save the file.

Before i go…..

This just scares me…..like, really scares me…

For those who have never seen the video before the story behind it is as follows. A deeply religious Christian woman has taken part in the American version of Wife Swap. She’s returned to her family after spending a week (2 weeks maybe? who cares) or so with another family. Apparently this family aren’t quite as Christian as her, in fact according to her they’re from the “Dork Side”, i think she means Dark………so anyways she returns to her home and lets rip on her poor family with a very strange almost psychotic outburst over religion. Weirdo.

S.I.T Wolf X

ps. God Only Knows What I’d Be Without You……you know who you are

THE MONDAY LIST #4: I’ll Take The Rain

After just being informed that it has rained at least once in a day for the last 5 weeks (i do live in Scotland in all fairness) it occured to me that a list of rain songs would be a good idea for the next Monday list. Without further ado…

Top Ten “Rain” Assosciated Songs
———————————————
MP3s
1. Shiny Toy Guns – Rainy Monday
2. Basement Jaxx – Raindrops
3. Garbage – Only Happy When It Rains
4. Prince – Purple Rain
5. Animal Collective – Moo Rah Rah Rain
6. Vector Lovers – Empty Buildings, Falling Rain
7. Parts and Labor – Fake Rain
8. Engineers – Come In Out Of The Rain
9. Slowdive – Country Rain
10. Longwave – Sideways Sideways Rain

And of course no list about Rain would be complete without the ACTUAL “Rain Song”………….step forward a certain Led Zeppelin.

Now, everybody knows that after the rain comes the rainbow….

You have to put up with the rain if you want the rainbow….

S.I.T Wolf X

THE MONDAY LIST #3: Animals Play The Funkiest Things

After last Mondays top 10 animal related song titles we move swiftly on this week to the top 10 band names with animal references. There was a lot to choose from and in the future i may make another list of animal influenced band names. Picking 10 was quite hard as there are a lot of bands i like that somehow seem to have animals in their names. But here we go….

This Monkeys Gone To Heaven

Here’s the list i came up with…

MP3’s
1.  Foals – Hummer
2. Cougar – Florida Logic
3. We Are Wolves – Fight & Kiss
4. Eagles Of Death Metal – Flames Go Higher
5. Panthers – Thank Me With Your Hands
6. Crocodiles – I Wanna Kill
7. Wild Beasts – Hooting & Howling
8. Modest Mouse – Float On
9. Dinosaur Jr – No Bones
10. Band Of Horses – Is There a Ghost

And thats it for another Monday list. Till next week……..

S.I.T Wolf  x

THE MONDAY LIST #2: The Top 10 Animal Related Song Titles

I was having a random conversation over the weekend with a friend about the band Miike Snow and their song “Animal” and it kinda inspired me to make a list about animals and their involvement in music. Whether it be in song titles, band names or lyrics.

And i just came up with a list of Animal Related Song Titles from bands that i like. Feel free to download the songs. (remember to have patience when downloading and check the instructions on how to do it correctly!)

There’s certainly a “wolf” tone in the list but it’s not intentional, just ironic i suppose. If you can think of anymore please feel free to leave your suggestions.

MP3’s
1. Miike Snow – Animal
2. IAMX – Bring Me Back A Dog
3. Bon Iver – The Wolves (Act I and II)
4. Nine Inch Nails – March Of The Pigs
5. The Kills – Cat Claw
6. TV On The Radio – Wolf Like Me
7. Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster – Chicken
8. The Cure – The Lovecats
9. Pendulum – Tarantula
10. Spinnerette – All Babes Are Wolves

Cat Power had decided to take her show a little too far

Next Monday i’m going to put up a top ten list of animal related bands. Example:- Eagles Of Death Metal. 

To finish the post i thought i’d put up a video that puts a different spin on the now famous Cadburys advert featuring a Gorilla and the Phil Collins (*shivers*) song “In The Air Tonight”. I personally hated the advert but i like this version.

S.I.T Wolf x

THE MONDAY LIST #1: The Top 5 Tips For 2009

I know the back end of February is a bit late to be giving my top tips for 2009 but seeing as i only started this blog a week ago i think its fair enough. No?

Anyways, charging on….

1. EMPIRE OF THE SUN

Empire of the Sun are an Australian duo made up of Luke Steele (Sleepy Jackson) and Nick Littlemore (PNAU). I suppose you could call them a supergroup if you want. They have been compared soundwise to MGMT. Personally i think that they have their own sound. Influenced by the 80’s? Yes. An ear for melody? Yeah. A gleaming voice and catchy synths? Yup. But i wouldn’t go as far to say they sound like MGMT, although there are worse bands to be compared to. And i definitely think Empire of the Sun will have the same amount of success that the Brooklyn duo enjoyed in 2008. Judge for yourself…

MP3: Empire Of The Sun – Walking On A Dream

2. THE TEMPER TRAP

The Temper Trap are another Australian band on the up. The country seems to have been giving the music industry a constant stream of talent over the last 4 or 5 years (look out for a future post dedicated to past, present and future Australian music) and The Temper Trap are just one of many new bands making waves both in their homeland and across the waters in the UK and US. The band have only released a handful of songs so far, with Sweet Disposition being the most noticeable. The song has been featured on the movie trailer for upcoming film “500 Days of Summer”, bringing the group more publicity in the process. Their star should rise even more once they’ve performed at the well respected SXSW festival in Texas in mid March. The festival is known for showcasing new talent and The Temper Trap are certainly a talent worth hearing.

MP3: The Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition

3. RED LIGHT COMPANY

Well, after two Australian bands at the top its time to give a shout out to a homegrown band….kinda. The line up of Red Light Company could be the start of a joke. Ever heard the one about the Englishman, the Welsh guy, the Scottish guy, the English-Kiwi-Australian and the American? Nah, me neither. But thats exactly what RLC consist of. They were launched to a good bit of fame thanks to their third single “Scheme Eugene”, which received a lot of airplay from Radio 1 and eventually hit #69 in the charts. Not bad considering the amount of guff filling the charts these days. Their first two singles “With Lights Out” and “Meccano” aren’t half bad either. The band embark on an eight date UK tour on the 7th of March in support of their debut album “Fine Fascination” which is released on the 2nd of March. Expect big things from Red Light Company before 2009 is over.

MP3: Red Light Company – Scheme Eugene

4. JAMES YUILL

James Yuill is anything but a newcomer, he’s been bleeding electronics into his folk tinged music since 2005. But i just think that 2009 will be a big year for London based East Sussex native. He’s been likened to and even compared himself to The Postal Service, whose album “Give Up” is a clear influence on the two albums Yuill has released so far. Although James himself is sometimes credited as a pioneer of “folktronica” and few would argue with that. His 2007 album “Turning Down Water For Air” is criminally under-rated and is one of the constants on my IPod. James Yuills “Post War Years and Wave Mahines Tour” kicks off on the 25 February and i will definitely be taking in his show at King Tuts in Glasgow on the 1st March. I get the feeling he needs to be seen live to be truly apprecited. If he’s playing near you…go. If anything James Yuill DESERVES to get a big break this year.

MP3: James Yuill – Left Handed Girl

5. DINOSAUR PILE UP

Dinosaur Pile Up first came to  my attention last  November when i seen them supporting The Kills at Oran Mor in Glasgow. The Leeds band almost brought the place down with the sheer volume of their short but sharp set. I swear the walls were vibrating, my Jack D + Coke was shaking like the glass of water in the famous Jurassic Park scene ( i swear thats not a pun or anything on their name!) and me and my friend Elaine couldn’t hear ourselves or each other talk over the noise. They were really really loud but in a good way. They reminded me a lot of QOTSA, my favourite band of all time. There was a few of their songs that caught my ear more than others but i’ve honestly yet to hear a bad song they’ve done. Long may that continue. If Dinosaur Pile Up keep gigging and recording tunes at the pace and level that they have so far then it surely won’t be long before they get tyrannosauras-ly big (apologies for the pun). Just make sure you play them at full volume

MP3: Dinosaur Pile Up – My Rock N Roll

Kali Nichta

S.I.T Wolf x