More Songs About Buildings And Food

As most of you will know, Jamesinbrasil wil be Jamesinengland for three weeks, so there won't be any posts for nearly month. Hopefully I'll get to see most of you at some point. And if not, well, have an nice February and I'll leave you with the bonus tracks from the second Talking Heads album:

Thank You For Sending Me An Angel [Country Angel Version]

Stay Hungry [1977 Version]

The Big Country [Alternate Version]

I'm Not In Love [Alternate Version]




See you in a month!

i heart 2007

First I get the tremendous new LCD Soundsystem album (out March 20th) Listen to the first single, North American Scum, here. Then I hear new Arcade Fire tracks (new album Neon Bible is out on March 6th):

Arcade Fire - Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
Arcade Fire - Black Mirror



Then we get the new fabulous !!! album (taking the afrofunk via Talking Heads Remain In Light route and making a damn fine job of it). Out February 19th:

!!! - Must Be The Moon




And then I have the new Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album (stream it here, download it here or wait until 30th of January to buy it in your local record emporium):

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - Satan Said Dance




Its all going my way right now. Lets hear it for 2007! Woo!

Christmas In Brazil...

...and new year too...

















Download Sex Pistols - Holidays In The Sun and Tom Ze - São São Paulo from here: christmas in brasil

Caetano Veloso vs Ghostface Killah

I have spoke here before about Caetano Veloso, a Brazilian singer that I consider a genius. He's a fascinating character. In the '60's he was imprisoned and then exiled in London due to the Brazilian dictatorship, as he was perceived as a threatening, counter-cultural revolutionary. His ability to sculpt the Portuguese language in creative ways is well known in Brazil to the point where the verb caetanear exists, meaning to invent new words. A couple of months ago I was lucky enough to see him in concert, and he was tremendous. He is a very engaging performer, changing musical styles constantly. It is always good to see an older musician continuing to challenge themselves. He performed this song, which is in English, about his time in London:

Caetano Veloso - London, London



In 2006, Ghostface Killah released the hip hop album of the year with Fishscale, a magnificent album that doesn't suffer from the sprawling self indulgence of so much commercial hip hop. Then he followed it up with More Fish, the spin off album of bonus tracks, remixes etc, which manages to be almost as good. Maybe he was inspired by Sufjan Stevens Illinois and Avalanche double bill. Or maybe he wasn't. Anyway both albums I heartily recommend.

The reason I mention Caetano and Ghostface together is because of this track:

Ghostface Killah - Charlie Brown

which is based around a sample from this track:

Caetano Veloso - Alfomega

from the album Irene or the Soul Jazz Tropicalia compilation. The Ghostface track is a leftover that didn't make it on to either album, probably due to clearence issues. Produced by MF Doom, it shows how at its best, hip hop is the most open minded and creative music in the world. Together at last, as they say.

And the winner isn't...

Its with a crushing sense of inevitability that I write the following: here are my albums of the year. You've gotta though, haven't you? Now I should really provide you with links and mp3 samples etc, but I liked a lot of albums and it's too much effort, so I instead I am just going to suggest that you seek out any you haven't heard. Overall I think it's been a pretty excellent year, and next year looks good with forthcoming releases from LCD Soundsystem, Gruf Rhys, !!!, Dizzee Rascal, and Guns 'n' Roses of course.

1) Joanna Newsom - Ys
2) MSTRKRFT - The Looks
3) TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain
4) Various - Tropicalia: A Brasilian Revolution In Sound
5) Knife - Silent Shout
6) Spank Rock - Yoyoyoyo
7) Hot Chip - The Warning
8) Tom Waits - Orphans
9) Blow - Paper Television
10) Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped

And some other favourites in no particular order:
Beirut - Gulag Orkestra
Scott Walker - The Drift
Cansei De Ser Sexy - Cansei De Ser Sexy
Ghostface - Fishscale
Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
Sufjan Stevens - Hark! Songs For Christmas
Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
Kelis - Kelis Was Here
Pharrell - In My Mind
Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds
Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor
Nellie Mackay - Pretty Little Head
Girl Talk - Night Ripper
Rogers Sisters - Invisible Deck
Thom Yorke - The Eraser
Tiga - Sexor
Sparks - Hello Young Lovers
Jim Noir - Tower Of Love
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics
Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
Cat Power - The Greatest
Beck - The Information
Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
Isobell Campbell And Mark Lanegan - Ballad Of The Broken Seas
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
Adem - Love And Other Planets
The Spinto Band - Nice And Nicely Done
Prince - 3121
Justin Timberlake - Future Sex/Love Sounds
Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape
Cornelius - Sensuous
Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways
Gnarls Barkley - Gnarls Barkley
Tapes 'n' Tapes - The Loon
Xiu Xiu - The Air Force
LCD Soundsystem - 45:33


It would be tremendous if you left your own personal top 10/12/54 in the comments section, and you can tell me how wrong I am. And I am not really looking forward to Guns n' Roses, it's going to be rubbish.