Foreign unconscious

My dreams lately seem like things out of other people's heads. Incoherent mystery plots in rural houses. Death of minor characters from years back. Long, slow, intense pursuit of nothing in particular. And barely a note of my baby daughter in any of them. Maybe there's a lot I don't know about my deep self. Reminds me how cosmically vast the unconscious can be. A thought that deserves the spacious song to contemplate along with.

Partial Arts — Telescope

Sounds from the polar vortex

Color me impressed. The weather division has finally caught up to the kind of yellow journalism that the rest of the news media operates by and managed to turn every climate variation into an invitation for social panic. What started with the schoolyard simplicity of Snowmageddon has evolved into the exquisitely named and more apocalyptic sounding villain known as the Polar Vortex. What will become of us once we enter this vortex? Will we ever shake its icy grip? For this week's bit of weather porn, I can't help but think of Stereolab and how they could/should easily have titled a song along similar lines. But for real, it's damn cold, so everyone huddle up next to this cozy little number.

Stereolab — Neon Beanbag

Choose or lose

Hesitant adult despair gives way to wholesome adolescent angst. I never would've thought that this slight (and terribly named) band would've popped up a second time on the 'blague. But these kids have good pop sense and a dorkiness you can't help but nod along to, even as you tune out the insipid words.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Dead Right

Feral

Why doesn't anyone talk about "freak folk" anymore? Unlike most ad hoc genre tags, I always thought that one was kinda benign, and accurate to boot. A couple years ago, I snatched up many a record that could claim an association to Animal Collective, back when they were caarazeeee psychedelic campfire troubadours. I guess these folks could've been the women's auxilliary. Still a quite charming woodsiness.

First Nation - Female Trance

Planet of the apes (and androids)

Here's one from the '"Nostalgia for invented pasts" file. Or is it the "Andy Summers dancing in spandex while floating in space" file? I remember these guys had a pretty snazzy sci-fi glam stage schtick a few years back, and I was all over this tune. Still am, though I wonder if the outro vamp is a bit of a let-down from that creamy solo. And now I have disgusted myself.

Apes & Androids - Nights of the Week

We will never let you go

I'd say any weekend that includes attending a Def Leppard concert and a 3 year old's birthday party speaks to a well-balanced life. The only thumbs down goes to the Greyhound bus company, which demonstrated the kind of resignation about its shabby incompetence that cancels out any potential sympathy. Also, I discovered that restless, annoying children on buses are much more annoying when they're speaking German. In the spirit of balance, here's a band of Germans with a well-developed sense of grace.

The Notwist - Gone Gone Gone

Barbituate serenade

I remember in the late '90s when Portishead frequently found its way into swanky restaurant/ cocktail party playlists. It never seemed right. The music wanted to be enjoyed in as much solitude as possible. You didn't have to be depressed, but it helped to at least be silent. I like that their comeback album seems designed to spook away any such soundtracking accidents.

Portishead - Hunter

French kiss

So, the thing about stereotypes is that there's always some basis in truth. The big question is how much the exaggeration is unfair. Thinking about the caricature of the lascivious, oily Frenchman, well, some guys just make it all too easy.

Sebastien Tellier - Divine

Dancing through a dream

Still thinking about yesterday's jam. Funny how Tortoise spent two albums defining a genre, and the rest of their career acting like their signature austerity wasn't actually their greatest strength. Unfortunately, the funkier realms they're so keen to get into just don't suit them. It's a little like watching the stiffest guests at the wedding try to get down. It's best to just look the other way. Meanwhile, here's a band that wears those clothes so much more naturally.

9dw - Posse

I gave you a flower because foxes travel light

Another Monday, another ace Canadian talent who impressively makes a virtue of verbosity. Having freed himself from the indie-Bowie tag, Dan Bejar's songs have gotten more inscrutable and also more inviting. Trouble in Dreams is succulently bombastic, overloaded with ideas and vocal affectation, and just the right thing for a night drive back into the city after the long day in greener places. This is probably not the album's best track, but like any good lead-off man, it sets the stage for a big inning.

Destroyer - Blue Flower/Blue Flame

Shining violence

Whether via music writers or press release, descriptors for the Chromatics' sound are all pretty much in a line — dark night of the soul (or the disco), driving through uneasy, late-night city quietude after the drugs have worn off but the menace remains, trouble either in the rearview or up ahead. I'm gonna add a little Christmas dimension to it, because I also see lots of cruising through suburban towns looking at the holiday lights and wondering if anything terrible is maybe going inside. Nothing only really happens once a year.

Chromatics - Lady

White denim Christmas

So it's late December, and with no snow on the ground, I resort to audio snowball fights. These kids from Austin have an awfully good time with their proggy garage palette, augmented by some mild noise and held together by a wide-eyed enthusiasm. It all adds up to fun. And what's Christmastime without that? Here's one of their more straight-ahead tunes. Reminds me of kids jumping around in a parked station wagon, waiting for the family road trip to get going already.

White Denim - WDA

Clouds before Christmas

I think we need a little tilt after yesterday's goodhearted jam. How about some lo-fi, analog synth murkiness that seems inspired by bad dreams and worse drugs. This is pop music in the kingdom of Ariel Pink. Thanks to Team Songblague member Ali Hammer for hipping me to it. I think it adds a nice spice to the holiday season.

Bubonic Plague - The Greek Ambassador

Downstairs, can I read it too?

Love is overtaking me...not only a fine compilation of the brilliant/eclectic Arthur Russell's more singer-songwriterly ideas, but also a beautiful sentiment in itself. Taking you over and also getting a little past you. That's what love does, right? Here's a simple song. It's probably unfinished, but still full of grace, unstrenuously poetic, and warm as a hug from someone you want to see every day.

Arthur Russell - The Letter

Homespinning

I've spent enough time cruising flea markets and Etsy to appreciate the handmade economy and envy the many talents I don't seem to possess. Of course, music is the most natural thing to tinker with at home. But since any yahoo with a laptop and some ideas can realize his self-indulgent dreams, you need to be a selective browser. That said, this dude from Portland gets a much-deserved Songblague salute. Talking nice minimal synth mystery goodness from the quiet corner of a neon planet.

Shermstixx - Crystal Throne of Winter

Lost in the forest

of your mind...mang. I like long pieces on Fridays, and this one deserves some reflection. Or maybe it deserves me shutting up and just allowing it to speak on its own behalf. If you want music to settle the neural clutter, head into these woods. Mang. All those notes, all flowing along the same wind. And also something deeply sad. I'm not quite sure why.

James Blackshaw - Past Has Not Passed

Possible futures

I took piano lessons as a kid. If I had my life to do over, I would never have stopped. But kids never think about closing off life's paths when they do what they do. Maybe that's a good thing. Who would want a world of little neurotics afraid to make all of the great and tiny decisions that amount to growing up?

Having decided that drums were my fate, the piano went neglected, even as I found myself plinking away on bandmates' instruments and developing a karaoke addiction. Now that I'm in possession of a neat little keyboard, those instincts are coming back into my fingers. It's halting and awkward, but ideas are taking shape. This song makes me think of what I'd probably be making if I'd never started tapping on my lampshade with chopsticks.

Hauschka - Heimat

Sweet Hatchback's sweetass song

Flynn's track from yesterday is uncomfortably resonant with my own worklife (metaphorically of course; my complaints are small relative to the world). My response is total escape—another one from team Windsurf. As much as my actual environs please me, it's a soft neon midnight dreamworld I imagine jogging through, as this song swirls through my head. I took it with me on a walk through a cold Lexington evening for a rare moment of solitude. And I had it going today when I bought my first new pair of running shoes in about a decade.

Hatchback - Midnight Jogger

I don't wanna grow up

It's important to have regular servings of giddy in your musical diet. Keeps your face from sagging. I saw these guys play last weekend and was amazed at the how long they sustained the giant smiles on their faces. I was partly convinced that they'll never look older than 15, which will probably serve them well in their murky adulthood. Good thing, because scowling babyfaces are sad and a little scary.

The Spinto Band - Vivian, Don't

Collisions came as consequence

OK, time to get back to rocking. I don't know why I haven't heard more about these Glaswegians. They should be blasting from the stereos of reckless drivers everywhere. Start to finish, This Gift is sassy, catchy, and brash. And that's before you get to the singer, who's just a natural up in front. This song is probably the poppiest jam on the record. And it has become my go-to for when I pretend to be a running back cutting a path through overcrowded subway stations.

Sons & Daughters - Split Lips