Damon and Naomi – I WONDER IF / OH SISTER / ACARA AZUL

From one time members of one of our favourite groups of all time, the seminal and sublime Galaxie 500, here are some fine moments from Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang, aka Damon and Naomi!

Damon and Naomi have been making some fine music since all the way back in 1991, after G500 disbanded and head honcho Dean Wareham went on to to form the wonderful Luna (and later, with Britta Phillips from Luna, formed Dean & Britta).

Here Damon and Naomi perform some nice covers of the Everly Brothers’ “I Wonder if…” and Bob Dylan’s “Oh Sister”, as well as “Araca Azul,” in a flat in Paris!

Some links;

• Official Damon & Naomi web site
• 20|20|20 label website
• Official MySpace profile
• Comprehensive fan site

From the excellent http://www.blogotheque.net

Damon and Naomi in a Parisian apartment. A glimpse into a world that lies beyond the noisy commotion of all the others.

Damon and Naomi – I WONDER IF / OH SISTER

First of all, it’s impossible not to talk about Galaxie 500, the cult group that was little known at the end of 80’s but seemed to rub off well during the early 90’s. I discovered them rather late on an excellent DVD from Plexifilm two years ago. Hailing from Boston and comprised of Dean, Damon, and Naomi, Galaxie 500 dissipated after three albums and several years of under-esteem. Dean left to form the more mainstream project, Luna, while Damon and Naomi remained together.

I met Dean, accompanied by Britta last summer in New York for a charming video session that took place mostly underground. Afterwards, with Galaxie 500 on my mind, the urge to do the “other half” grew stronger. Not to mention the fact that these guys worked on a couple albums with Michio Kurihara from Ghost. And this could only…

Naomi Yang and Damon Krukowski live in Boston, love French wine, and had promised to come to Paris for a couple of weeks of taste testing. The promise came to life last January during a cold spell. The lights from the “Vieux Campeur” flooded the Maubert neighborhood where the apartment was located, and the wine was delicious.

Damon and Naomi had only expected to do two numbers, both covers: the first being the Everly Brothers’ “I Wonder if…” and the second Bob Dylan’s “Oh Sister.” Both songs being slow, old ballads that fit right at home with the empty bottles and withering roses (the line is pretty, but the truth is that the roses didn’t really have time to wither).

Damon and Naomi – ACARA AZUL

We then moved into the living room for the third and bewitching song, “Araca Azul,” which slowly transformed into “Earth is Blue.”

It’s unusual for us to film entirely indoors, and in this case nothing really ensues. No screaming passerbys, no car horns calling, no anecdotes to take home for story time. Just two musicians and a camera that wanders about, adding nothing more than a curious lens.

I watched these videos a good number of times, but my memory of the event was lightly clouded. I had Naomi’s emails insisting a little bit that we put the videos online as soon as possible, and the recollection of the end of the evening, which finished with a final song that rolled on wearisomely. But upon re-watching these videos, the particular rush evoked, and the montage, something seems to remain strikingly evident and projected even over the music itself: the laughs, the luster, and more than anything, the gentleness. A glimpse into a world that lies beyond the noisy commotion of all the others.

Thanks to Matt Evans for the translation

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Dean and Britta – THE SUN IS STILL SUNNY / KNIVES FROM BAVARIA

From one of our favourite groups of all time, the seminal and sublime Galaxie 500, here are some fine moments from head honcho Dean Wareham who after Galaxie 500, formed the wonderful Luna and later, with Britta Phillips from Luna, formed Dean & Britta.

Wareham had formed Luna in 1992 after leaving Galaxie 500. Phillips joined Luna in 2000, replacing bassist Justin Harwood.

Their first album started out as a Wareham solo project, but when he heard Phillips’ demos, he asked her to join him. “L’Avventura” was produced by Tony Visconti (T. Rex, David Bowie) and was released on Jetset Records in 2003 under the name “Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham.” After hearing the album, Peter Kember (a.k.a. Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3, Spectrum, & E.A.R.) fell in love with it and did a remix mini LP entitled “Sonic Souvenirs” (also on Jetset Records).

After Luna broke up in 2005, Dean & Britta spent the next year working on film scores (most notably Noah Baumbach’s movie, The Squid and the Whale), and promoting the documentary film of Luna’s farewell tour Tell Me Do You Miss Me.

Dean and Britta were wed during the recording of their album, Back Numbers, (also produced by Tony Visconti) and simplified their name to “Dean & Britta”. Back Numbers was released on Rounder Records in February 2007 followed by a limited edition EP, “Words You Used To Say”.

In 2008, Dean & Britta covered The Cure’s “Friday I’m In Love” for American Laundromat Records tribute compilation “Just Like Heaven – a tribute to The Cure”.

Here Damon and Naomi perform THE SUN IS STILL SUNNY and KNIVES FROM BAVARIA in two videos shot by blogotheque

Some links;

• Dean and Britta official website
• Article from NPR’s ‘World Cafe’ program
• Interview at Stylus magazine
• Dean and Britta on MySpace
• Men’s Vogue interview with Dean and Britta
• Handwritten interview with Dean & Britta at ifpthendirt

From the excellent http://www.blogotheque.net

Dean and Britta – THE SUN IS STILL SUNNY

Dean and Britta – KNIVES FROM BAVARIA – directed by Vincent Moon

Shot in NYC, July 2006

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Mercury Rev – Back To Mine (2006) @320

Mercury Rev – Back To Mine
Released in 2006
Mp3 @320kbps / 142 Mb / 2 RARs

A wonderfully eclectic and excellent compilation via the boys from Rev!

Yap, this 2006 compilation was handpicked by Alternative heroes Mercury Rev and features many songs that have influenced them as well as a few current favorites.

Amongst the array of great talent here are Suicide, David Bowie, Nico, Alex Chilton, Galaxie 500, Billie Holliday and John Cale. There are also some more obscure music – including an amazing Nicolai Dunger track.

I could live without the awful Terry Jacks track though! Thank fuck for delete buttons!

And, if that’s not enough, there’s a brand new Mercury Rev track, ‘Cecilia’s Lunar Expose’, recorded specifically for this collection!

Get downloading now mofos!!

As one might expect from a band as eclectic as Mercury Rev, their late-night mixtape compilation offers a selection of style and genres, incorporating legends (Billie Holiday, George Jones, Nico, Pharoah Sanders and Randy Newman) alongside more outré talents. What’s also no surprise, given the layered approach of their early albums, is the elegant congruence of many of the segues: the opening link from Bowie’s “A New Career in a New Town” to Johan Johannsson’s “Hotel Borg”, for instance, is all about shared intent and melodic echoes, while the move from John Cale’s “Days of Steam” to Andrew Bird’s “Opposite Day” involves the subtlest of shifts from viola to violin.

The most sustained progress, however, is from the band’s “Cecilia’s Lunar Exposé”, a slice of Saucerful Of Secrets-era Floydism, through the Neu!-style groove of Spacemen 3′s “Big City”, to the erotic trance-scape of Suicide’s “Dream Baby Dream”, a beautifully modulated arc for the more ambitious musical explorers, with childlike comforts furnished by “Seasons In the Sun” and “When You Wish Upon A Star”.

Highlights :’Days Of Steam’, ‘Big City’, ‘Dream Baby Dream’, ‘Cecilia’s Lunar Exposé’

-jazzmusikeditor

Tracklisting

1. A New Career In A New Town – David Bowie
2. Hotel-Borg – Johan Johannsson
3. Seasons In The Sun – Terry Jacks
4. When Will You Come Home – Galaxie 500
5. I’m A Fool To Want You – Billie Holliday
6. Days Of Steam – John Cale
7. Opposite Day (Reprise) – Andrew Bird
8. The Grand Tour (Clean Version) – George Jones
9. If I Were A Little Star – Nicolai Dunger
10. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams – Nico
11. Cecilia’s Lunar Expose – Mercury Rev
12. Big City – Spacemen 3
13. Dream Baby Dream – Suicide
14. Let Me Get Close To You – Alex Chilton
15. Astral Traveling – Pharoah Sanders
16. Cast Anchor – Hanne Hukkleberg
17. Uncle Bob’s Midnight Blues – Randy Newman
18. When You Wish Upon A Star – Cliff Edwards

Here she be:

Part1:
RevBACKTOMINE.part1.rar

Part2:

RevBACKTOMINE.part2.rar

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