HiPSTERWAVE

Thanks Par Par. As always, we love your selections.

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Jimmy Edgar – “Vibration:”

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WHAT? OKAY! Lil’ Jon mixtapes. See for yourself if they’re your thing. Lil’ John collaborated with DJ Spider to make mixtapes Rockbox Vol. 1 and Rockbox Vol. 2. Volume 1 features rock and Volume 2 features nothin’ but that New Wave shit, baby. So, does this mean Lil’ Jon is attempting to follow non-mainstream trends? It’s kind of hard for Lil’ Jon to break out of the mainstream reputaiton he has, but we’re definitely feeling the Nu Wave mixtape more than the rock. Sorry rock fans.

Overall, we find Lil’ Jon laughable, but his fame and ability to create a marketable image and form of music are undeniable. After all, he’s the “King of Krunk.” Ya heard?

“Rockbox Vol 1.:”

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Rockbox Vol. 2.:”

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Download.

1. “Soul Meets Body.” Okay, so this was the second track of Death Cab For Cutie’s (DCFC) Plans record. Plans was the first truly commercial DCFC release, as it was on the major label Atlantic Records. To top it off, “Soul Meets Body,” is probably one of the most pop-sounding rock tracks on the entire album: we can’t deny the fact that we heard it being played at The Gap; but hey, we still appreciate its sound aesthetic very much. The line “‘So brown eyes I’ll hold you near because you’re the only line I want to hear,” speaks against all the triteness (among other adjectives) of people adoring people with lighter hair and eyes. Excellent.

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2. “What Sarah Said.” This track loses to “Soul Meets Body,” because it’s just not something that you’re always in the mood for. Depressed and low, yet profound and interesting, tracks are reserved for certain moods. Whereas, tracks like “Soul Meets Body,” are not reserved for any time per se.

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3. “Title and Registration.” Love the commentary about the glove compartment never holding gloves. This begs the question though, what should the glove compartment or glove box be called? The storage compartment? The storage box? The storage box that is on the front passenger side of the vehicle? It is funny how things in general can just stick even when they are no longer valid. So, I suppose DCFC is just commenting on the fact that people are creatures of habit. That’s our analysis anyway. Sure, you could take things at face value, but why do that when you could over-analyze?

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4. “Styrofoam Plates.” Everyone knows that the lyrics of DCFC are pretty exact when it comes to achieving their purpose. Whatever you consider the purpose of lyrics to be, we believe that Death Cab lyrics are tangible to everyone, even for non-fans. This song was awesome until we learned that it’s not true that Gibbard carries a lot of hatred towards his father from a childhood of severe physical abuse, but rather merely a friend of Gibbard’s had a similar situation and the friend’s story gave rise to the song and not actually Gibbard’s own life experiences. The song is still effective regardless though, just slightly less enjoyable from the intellectual standpoint. Everyone’s life history has upsetting, emotional or even traumatic experiences caused by their family or lack thereof.

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5. “Tiny Vessels.” The harsh nature of this song is interesting. Not only that, the song contains an analysis of how depressing it can be to fall out of love with someone. Again, though, if you’re happily in love. with no end to your relationship in sight, this song isn’t going to have the same effect on you.

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6. “Passenger Seat.” How beautiful. Chris Walla has really outdone himself with the piano melody and overall instrumentals here. Further, Gibbard adds a relaxed and peaceful mood to this song.

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7.“Technicolor Girls.” First-off, what is Technicolor? Oh, you probably at least have some idea, or a less than vague notion, but do you really know what the exact meaning is? Wikipedia to the rescue:

Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation (a subsidiary of Technicolor, Inc.), now a division of Thomson SA. Technicolor was the second major color film process, after Britain’s Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color motion picture process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952. Technicolor became known and celebrated for its hyper-realistic, saturated levels of color, and was used commonly for filming musicals (such as The Wizard of Oz and Singin’ in the Rain), costume pictures (such as The Adventures of Robin Hood and Joan of Arc), and animated films (such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Fantasia).

The Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1915 by Herbert Kalmus, Daniel Frost Comstock, and W. Burton Wescott.

And there you have it. So, DCFC likes old-school stuff. We really can’t stand most things out of the 50′s, although with age and the move to Southern California, the fascination with things from the Technicolor period are a lot more prevalent. This, in turn, makes all things that could have been viewed in Technicolor somewhat more palatable.

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8. “Wait.” This reminds us of smoking cigarettes. At least, when we used to smoke. Smoking is bad, okay? But when we used to smoke and spend more time socializing than working–the opposite of now–this song was pretty appealing. Isn’t being able to relate to lyrics what it’s all about?

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9. “Title Track.” Another track about the degradation of relationships and life itself. At 1:39 in the album version, the transition is fairly notable. Regret in any relationship is not a pleasant emotion. Of course, I regret things that I really enjoy all the time. Yes, I live for regret and all of its lovely tidings.

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10. “A Movie Script Ending.” Dirty words, asterisks in for the vowels. The way this song flows exercises restraint while simultaneously building up to higher-energy moments. We’ve listened to this track so many times that we’re kind of tired of it by now.

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But here is a bonus track that we could not figure out where to insert into the top 10 at this time. Our selection of it is inspired by the work of other artists on our site!

“This Charming Man:”

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