tencent mix #3: the melody of pseudoscience

Understand nature. Understand yourself. It's feng shui (literally wind-water) in a very small nutshell. Sound hokey? As a kid, I always brushed aside the idea as one of those age-old Chinese superstitions (Why can't the mirror go there?), but the concept is pretty straight-forward: Surround yourself in a healthy environment and good things will happen. Let's hope this is The Truth.

The mix is self-explanatory. I'll point out some notable tracks:

Wasp Nest / The National
It's Hipster, with a cap H! and some of the best lyrics around. As an aside, the lead singer is very fashionable and dreamy to the nth degree. Their most recent album, Boxer, is arguably one of the best of 2007. Slow Show gets me every time.

Rolling Down The Hill / Glass Candy
Toe-tap-tastic! Your feet will move like Baby Velma. If you haven't seen an episode of Scooby-Doo where the cast members are all smaller versions of their future selves, then you've missed out on some glorious childhood entertainment. Baby Velma's feet moved like lightning!

Maybe the fast feet were to make up for the adult-size head on the child-like body. If I remember correctly, however, ALL the characters were that way. It was part of their charm. But no one moved like Baby Velma! No one.

Carrying A Stone / Loney, Dear
Starts off as a soft whisper and crescendos into fantastical goodness. Those Swedes know how to make some delicious music. Mostly I'm partial to 'Ahhhh Ahhhh Ahhh's' and sweet, sweet orchestral work. Did I just use sweet and orchestral in the same sentence? I most certainly DID.

Shake Our Tree / The Rosebuds
Hailing from the indie rock scene of Raleigh, NC (Home of the Wolf Pack!), here's a song from The Rosebuds' 2005 record, Birds Make Good Neighbors. The call and choir response format undoubtedly MAKES the song a keeper in the playlists.

I'll keep the current one up until the next mix post. If you'd like a copy of any mix in a more tangible technological format, ie cd or mix tape, email me with an address, and I'll make it happen.

Happy listening! Can I get a disco ball back here?....