2. The Dodos “Ashley” and “Fools”

http://hypem.com/search/destroyer%20rubies/1/

http://hypem.com/search/destroyer%20european%20oils/1/

http://hypem.com/search/destroyer%20foam%20hands/1/

xo

Digitalism – wish there was an equivalent this year to this German electro dance punk duo… we need it desperately. This song “Pogo” was a bit overplayed here in LA. Hearing it now, though, brings back some crazy nostalgia. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bQTVN2aAUw

Now, does David Bowie fall under D or B?

Also, Dan Deacon
http://pitchfork.com/tv/#/musicvideo/3761-dan-deacon-paddington-ghost-carpark

and Deerhunter and David Pajo.

OK… I’m going to have to go with Deerhunter (Atlanta – NOT THE DEER HUNTER!) and Daft Punk!

Ok, Deerhunter is an amazing indie band from Atlanta, Ga that was introduced to me during a romantic courtship with my girlfriend about a year ago. She played a song for me that summarized the effect I was having on her life at the time and it was really touching… The song is called Fluorescent Grey off of the 2nd CD to the 2 CD Set of Cryptograms. The entire album is pure fucking genius and echos a lot of mental and physical tension the band was going through at the time. I am fascinated by the use of effects and EVERY bass line off this album. FRAN, take note, this is the band I spoke of when we first got in touch about a year ago. ALSO, this band is the only other reason I planned a vacation to California last year and to attend the festival Outside Lands in San Francisco.. the other (and more important reason) was to see West Indian Girl … Because of the difficulty in a relationship I was exiting at the time (and the wonderful induction to another), this song became a mantra of mine.. Patiently, Patiently….

Here is a link to Fluorescent Grey:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmXkd-4CXkU

Daft Punk…wow… these guys are off planet… seriously… Their live shows are probably the most amazing fusion of technology, lighting, DJ’ing, and music that I can think of. I was introduced to this band by my co-worker (who is also a DJ) who downloaded their self made and critically acclaimed movie Electroma (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-433357417541455147#). I had never heard their music, but their outfits and space age helmets totally intrigued me. If you get a chance, checkout their live show, it’s stunning…

Here is a link to a live version of Harder Better Stronger Faster (one of their more popular songs)… but you get a good sense of their live shows and the audio is actually not bad. You can definitely feel the energy these guys create live… They were also chosen as one of the bands for the new DJ game to replace Rock Band on Playstation and Xbox…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGECJP3phyY

Enjoy!

Not to give too much of the movie away, but it started out with some announcer saying “ladies and gentlemen, one of the greatest singer/songwriters of all time, Mr. Daniel Johnston”, and then Daniel started singing. He was old, looking pretty rough, and sounded pretty non-spectacular, to say the least. However, by the end of the movie, I was super interested in the guy, there was an really amazing story of a guy who lived for art and music. Although his artistic expression seemed different and rough around the edges, it had something quite unique and real about it that is very rare.

For the next year and a half I was heavily into listening and understanding everything about Daniel (and still do, but to a lesser degree), the movie was a good introduction, but the music, his visual art, felt like a whole other experience. It takes work, and time to understand him and his work, to fully appreciate it, the honesty and rawness of it is just incredible, as you get to listen back to when he was a kid, and all that happened in his life. His music is his life story, it’s who he is, it is his life. He’s become one of my favorite artists ever (although, I often disagree with his viewpoint but that’s ok), it takes work to fully enjoy. Certainly not a quick sale in most cases, but well worth it to me.

Daniel Johnston – Story Of An Artist http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_RbSAwMa3U

The Devil & Daniel Johnston movie trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qtFPOxDMs4&feature=related

Re: Thanks for your YouTube response Fran, I’ll respond back to Youtube when I get some time

I liked your picks this week, good stuff, Deathelectric reminded me of a more patient Monster Magnet.

http://www.dianerenay.com/

“Blood On Our Hands”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEtBcEo7rK0

Something a little more immediate: “Little Girl”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTiR8j3qr8k

Fran, since you hail from Michigan, you must have Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels in your DNA. In 1971, Mitch and Wheels drummer Johnny Bee assembled a group of musically talented, leather jacketed bikers and hoods into a band called Detroit, who released one self-titled album before splitting up. The band included guitar journeyman Steve Hunter and the immortal Dirty Ed on congas. (Whatever happened to Dirty Ed? If anyone knows, you would.) “Detroit” has a couple of slow tracks that drag a bit, but the rest of the album kicks ass. Standout songs include Long Neck Goose (yeah, I’m recommending a song with that title!), Let It Rock (Chuck Berry’s macabre tale of a gambling track gang), and the standout, Lou’s Reed’s Velvet Underground classic Rock and Roll. Detroit detonate this song with a monster 17-note riff that The Runaways used on their debut album version five years later. In an interesting twist, Steve Hunter joined Lou Reed’s band in 1973 and played the breezy VU arrangement of Rock and Roll on Reed’s live “Rock n Roll Animal.” You’ll like “Detroit.” Unlike many bands of the era, these guys were having FUN. You will too!

Here’s a link to an import copy of the album on amazon.com. CD is expensive, MP3′s are cheap, and you can sample all the songs: http://www.amazon.com/Detroit/dp/B0014YKQIC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1259722768&sr=1-3

* Early ’60′s 1-hit wonder from Philly. “Blue, navy blue, I’m as blue as I can be / ‘Cause my steady boy said ship ahoy, and joined the Nay-yay-vee!” She was cool.

1) Duran Duran … whether one loves them or hates them these two classic tracks are essential:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhzd8_duran-duran-save-a-prayer
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xn9w8_duran-duran-rio_music

And can’t forget about this one hit wonder … not sure if they have any other song worth having:
2) Dream Academy: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21zbg_dream-academy-life-in-a-northern-to_music

Dungen (Sweden)
Lyrics in Swedish but the music is groovy in a raw aged kind of way. A little trippy. Nothing to sing to per se but certainly enough to expand your horizons.
Song to listen to is “Solen stiger upp”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXojCYfw6RM&feature=related
http://www.myspace.com/dungen

DeVotchka (US)
They have an ensemble feel without too many instruments. I love a band that can expand with more instruments.
Listen to “The Clockwise Witness” or “Head Honcho”
http://www.myspace.com/devotchkamusic

I just want to keep writing about my Ds.

Cheers! A la prochain!

Ok, for my first “D” recommendation I have singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Dan Reed. He was the lead vocalist in my favorite band from the late 80′s and early 90′s, the “Dan Reed Network” from Portland, OR. To me, Dan’s always had one of the best voices in music and is both an incredible guitarist and pianist. He has a new solo CD called ‘Coming Up For Air’ that he’s been touring in support of and even does some amazing stripped-down versions of some of the old DRN songs during his shows. The song I’m choosing to recommend is from an EP he released in 2004 called ‘Sharp Turn’. I hope the song interests you enough to want to check out some of his live performance videos and maybe even the music of his old band, Dan Reed Network.

Dan Reed – “Heaven”
http://popup.lala.com/popup/432627047850839503

My second recommendation is Dannielle DeAndrea (aka Dannielle Gaha). I know I haven’t had much luck with recommending female vocalists to you yet, so I don’t really have much hope for this one either. Dannielle’s an Aussie living in L.A. and has been in the music business already for at least 20 years, but I only have one of her most recent CDs, ‘Chocolate For Holly’. On her myspace page I’m kind of torn on which song to recommend to you, but I chose “Dove”. It’s a brilliantly-reworked cover of a dance song that was originally done by a chick named Moony. And again, I would hope that after hearing this you’ll want to check out another song…the upbeat song “If You Only Knew”, which makes me think of late ’70s soul.

Dannielle DeAndrea – “Dove” (first song on her myspace music player)
http://www.myspace.com/danniellegaha

But, to really appreciate just how brilliant and different Dannielle’s cover of “Dove” is, you’d have to hear at least a little of the weak original. I apologize in advance for this link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMPWD9TibPE&fmt=18