Morph The Cat

Ahh. Nothing like a fresh Steely Dan fix.

Donald Fagen’s Morph The Cat is just your average soulful and sexy masterpiece about love, death and homeland defense. “There’s nothing sexier than the Apocalypse,” Fagen explains helpfully. “I suppose you could call this album Apocalypse Wow.”

The darkly beautiful third solo effort from Fagen - the longtime co-leader of Steely Dan - follows 1981’s classic The Nightfly and 1993’s acclaimed Kamakiriad, and represents the latest installment in what now appears to be a powerful and at times deeply personal trilogy. “The Nightfly is sort of looking from the standpoint of youth, “Fagen explains. “Kamakiriad would be more about midlife. This new one is about endings really. So in a way this really has become a sort of trilogy. In fact, there are plans to put all three albums out in a box where they belong.”

Read the rest at the Donald Fagan Official Site

This one goes out to my Steely Dan compadre Carlos - my favorite track (so far): Security Joan.

peace,

Migwell

Beastie Boy Audio

Check check it out - If your itchin' and scratchin' for some B-Boys for your next mash-up you can grab some official booty at Beastie Boys Acapella

Death & Chicks With Cool Voices

No real theme here, other than uh, death and the the fact taht all three of these tunes have some excellent female lead vocals...

First up is Laetitia Sadier. Stereo Labs soothing and stylish voice of cool. Dig Bop Scotch from 2004's Margerine Eclipse. Tragically, Stereo Lab lost vocalist Mary Hansen back in December of 2002. She died in a London cycling accident at just 36.

Next, we've got Claudine Longet, the wispy French chick who shot champion skier Vladimir "Spider" Sabich, her long-time boyfriend back in 1976. Before that, she recorded Meditation in 1971.


And finally we've got Chantal Claret, front chick for New York's Morningwood. "At a recent gig at Piano's that coincided with her 22nd birthday, lead singer Chantal broke down in front of the stunned audience screaming at her friends in attendance 'you only bought me a TV because my mom died'. Minutes later she was simulating sex with a naked Japanese girl and had the usually staid hipster crowd dancing up a sweat and hanging on her every word. This is the new shit and you'd better listen." The Face - May 2004. Here's one of my favorites from Morningwood's brand new Keep Your Clothes On - the kinda creepy but cool Babysitter.

Make it louder...

Migwell

Cowabunga Friday!

In honor of Spring Break, the young at heart, beer bongs and the Official launch of the Who's Your Padre? campaign, I dug up a few vintage surf tunes to help you get your weekend thang on...

First up is a rowdy little number from 1962 by The Scavengers called Curfew. And even though he'll be at SXSW and not down on South Padre Island, this one goes out to my buddy Shane - the Caps'1959, The Red Headed Flea.

This last one is a special request from The Padre himself - a sexy little vibe from 1961 called Blue Surf by The Patents.

Cowabunga!

Miguel

My First Record

Wow, this is so cool... Back in 1963 my mom wrote to Wrigley's Gum folks to share with them how much her young son loved to dance, jump and sing every time their jingle came on the radio or television.  The above letter is their response. So, if I did the math right that means I weasled my first record, a free promo, when I was just 18 months old... Sweet!

Thanks Mom and thanks Wrigley's! Dang, this really explains so much... Dig it: Hi Ho Hey Hey!

Miguel

Just Chill

I totally love it. Others simply don't get it and/or really hate it. But sometimes there's nothing better than SOMA FM's Groove Salad streaming thru my iTunes to get me into the creative flow. It also works nicely as a super chillout soundtrack in the Tiki Room. (You'll find it under Ambient in your Radio list on iTunes.) My Playlist for this flavor of stuff is called supertikicoffeehouse.


So, if you need a little boost to help get you into the creative flow and you're into the caffeine induced audio wallpaper or the mellow buzz of non-active listening vibes then you're sure to dig Far East from Tiefschwarz's 2005 Eat Books.


It's a little more abstract and chill than the above, but rest assured, Forcasa 3 from Bola's 2003 lp, Soup, will take you there as well.

And finally, here's one of mine, Che Che la Fem from the probably never going to be released Stereonucleosis EP. What do you want for nothin'?

Mas luego... Now - go forth, groove and make some progress!

HMK