You've got such a psychic life to live.

Written and recorded when he was still in a mental institution, this song from Roky Erickson will always break my heart.
Hadn't listened to it in years, but for some reason it came into mind today,
in the midst of such a hectic work week where I've barely had a second to breathe,
where talk of Carl Jung and the charting of dream-life keeps interjecting itself into my thoughts.
Figured I'd better pay attention.

http://www.rokyerickson.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roky_Erickson
http://www.amazon.com/Never-Say-Goodbye-Roky-Erickson/dp/B00000GBR8
http://www.emperorjones.com/roky.html

Music is healing, I love the feeling.

Peep this little gem from Speech Debelle, the newest winner of the Mercury music prize.
Her full-length, Speech Therapy, is out now on Big Dada, one of my favorite labels.
Really impressed by the album and this track in particular is killing it for me at the moment.

http://www.speechdebelle.com/
http://www.bigdada.com/artist.php?id=142
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/sep/09/speech-debelle-wins-mercury-prize

My heart, slow down. Won't you beat a little slower? But don't stop. Never end your hunting. You'll see I'm lost without your rhythm.

As far as I know, "The Snake" from Wildbirds & Peacedrums has actually been out for sometime now,
but it seems to have gotten some kind of reissue/re-release lately,
which I'm all for, as it was a really tough one to find there for a while.
They're playing a number of times in NYC over the next few weeks,
including a show tomorrow night at Le Poisson Rouge with Deerhoof and next week with Fanfarlo.
"My Heart" is a song of theirs that I completely obsessed on when I working in London last summer.
I used to play it really loudly late at night at my desk
in the Wieden + Kennedy offices when everyone was already gone for the evening.
Oftentimes, it was after I had been out already with all my work mates for a few rounds of pints.
I'd be a little tipsy, turn it up and sing to myself and wonder where my life was headed.

Apocalypse Now (or quite soon)

http://www.wildbirdsandpeacedrums.com/
http://www.myspace.com/wildbirdsandpeacedrums
http://www.theleaflabel.com/en/artists/view/44/Wildbirds%20%26amp%3B%20Peaced...

A little bit of me inside you, gathering what you've lost.

Got to see a special acoustic performance from Kings Of Convenience yesterday
at EMI/Capitol Records in NYC that ended up with them playing in the stairwell.
It was a lovely short set featuring new tracks from their upcoming album, including this one:

Also, they're still in town, playing a sold-out show at the Bowery Ballroom tonight.
http://www.boweryballroom.com/event/3519
http://www.kingsofconvenience.com/

Riding on the freak train, where there's a whole new story there.

I already dug The War On Drugs and now completely love the new Kurt Vile solo album, "Childish Prodigy", that's about to come out as well.
This track is perfect for riding the subway.
Just put on your headphones, crank it up and people watch.

http://www.matadorrecords.com/kurt_vile/
http://www.matadorrecords.com/store/index.php?catalog_id=387
http://www.kurtvile.com/

Stop making that big face.

Congratulations to Warp Records on 20 years of making progressive, challenging, raw, beautiful, ugly, bizarre, inspiring creations.
If you're in NYC, celebrate with them during the next few days as they're having parties, shows and screening all over the city:
I'll be there.
Here's to another 20.