Downhill Music v.08: One down, six to go

What’s your favorite beverage? The one you always want to drink? Something that tastes so good you would never refuse it? Don’t answer too quickly. My knee-jerk response would be beer, but in reality I don’t think that’s right. There are quite a few times in the day I think I would pass on a frosty mug of brew. Not now, by the way (my mouth is getting all watery as I write this), but most days I would certainly skip a beer first thing in the morning. For me it would probably be something sweet: grape juice, or maybe a milk shake.

Now imagine drowning in that beverage - not in a pool of it, but an ocean. Your body is being buoyed by rolling waves that occasionally splash right over your head. There is no sight of land and you’re not sure how much longer you can tread water. But here’s the thing – you CANT STOP DRINKING IT. Every time you get splashed in the face your mouth opens, almost of its own accord. You’re exhausted and there are times when you slip beneath the waves for a moment, just to rest your legs. And every time you just drink more – you suck it through your teeth and force it down as you kick to the surface. You are stuffed and bloated, but it just tastes so good. Your stomach feels taut – stretched across your gluttony like a sail turgid with the breeze – and still you cannot stop.

It’s kind of like that for me right now. I’ve spent the last few days away from the mp3 blogs and now I’m faced with a musical feast that practically demands an unhealthy indulgence. I’ll try to link directly to some tunes in the near future, but for now here’s a bunch of other blog posts whose bounty deserves recognition:

- Here’s a blog called Trees Lounge that I have heretofore overlooked. It’s run by a guy named Robert who has posted a couple of Grandaddy tracks. In addition to the music (which I quite like) this is interesting to me because MuggleMarc and I recently discussed this very band. He asked me if I had heard of them and while I had not, I was reminded of a Downhill music post I made way back in October of an A.J. Roach song of the same name.

- Mocking Music is another blog, I’ve not previously visited that apparently deserves attention. They recently posted a list of 15 covers and remixes of which I particularly like the following:

• Death Cab For Cutie covers the Magnetic Fields, "The Saddest Story Ever Told"
  
• Xiu Xiu covers The Smiths, "Asleep"
  
• The Shins cover the Postal Service, "We Will Become Silhouettes"
  
• Ben Lee covers Modest Mouse, "Float On"

- My Old Kentucky Blog hits up the TIVO for a recording of U2 and Mary J. Blige doing, “One” from the Grammy Awards show last night.

- In a final bit of MuggleMarc related news (I am well aware that most people come here largely for news of the Boy Who Lived But Slept A Lot) here’s Said The Gramophone’s recent post on Regina Spektor – she of whom TBWLBSA has recently become enamored.