Doug Hoyer//Lake of Mars

Lost in Space: Monday Mail
What is Monday Mail?

Hey guys. Sorry I've been so MIA. How was your CMJ? BBQLOL.

Mine was cool. I mostly stuck with bands of friends, including Drunken Barn Dance, Chris Bathgate, Matt Jones, In Tall Buildings and NOMO. Even with a relatively modest schedule, I still felt burnt or dead by the end. This old lady can't take the benders like she used to.

I wanted to chill out today, maybe listen to some recent submissions to the blog. You guys write me a lot of emails and send me a lot of songs and that is really, really cool. The only not cool thing about it is how crazy and poorly written some of those emails are. I chalk that up to inexperienced management companies who use spam to get their artists out there and bands who probably shouldn't be sending their own emails. I know it's not YOU guys. With that in mind, I want to give a shout out to the writer of today's Monday Mail, Doug Hoyer. Bands looking to promote themselves should take a lesson from him.

Doug says:

My name is Doug Hoyer, and I'm a ukulele strummin' musician from Canada, and am often compared to Jens Lekman, Jonathan Richman & Suburban Kids with Biblical Names. A Canadian label, Old Ugly is putting out my upcoming 7", and I've love to share the tracks with you.

I realize that you probably get a TON of emails, so I want to thank you for your time!

- Doug

Seriously, Doug, consider teaching a seminar, because your email was awesome. It was simple. It was polite. It featured correct spellings. It delivered the music in the way I asked.

It didn't hurt that your songs were also awesome. You do sound a lot like if Jens and Suburban Kids had a cute but slightly derivative lovechild, but that's generally a good thing in my opinion. Combine this with the fact that you wrote a song about space travel to mars and you got yourself a post here. You probably didn't know I have a soft spot for sci-fi inspired pop songs...but that was just a lucky shot for you.



Lake of Mars.mp3

I'd bring Trotsky, Trudeau, and even Trebek,
And you would act as the honored poet laureate
To romanticize every gesture suggested.
But they'd all run out of things to say
Cause they don't have much in common anyways.

Harry Nilsson, Ron Sexsmith//Good Old Desk

Today is my last day at the company I’ve been working for for almost four years. Crazy. I didn’t really expect it to feel traumatic, but it does a little. I suppose I’m terribly nostalgic under this thin veneer of snark when it comes down to it.

What ended up being the weirdest part was packing up my desk, so I thought I could discuss this song, a perfect ode to the virtues of the desk, and by extension, the dependable pleasure that can come with a job well done.

The original version of this song was written and recorded by Harry Nilsson (do you guys remember the unofficial Nilsson Week?) on his 1968 Aerial Ballet album. Speaking of work, the album was named after the highwire circus act of his grandparents. Speaking of the album, it features many Nilsson gems (and one tremendously popular cover—“Everybody’s Talking”), including the fantastic “One.”

An amusing tidbit from Wikipedia:
Guest-starring on Playboy After Dark, Nilsson told host Hugh Hefner the song was really about its initials... "G-O-D". Even though Nilsson later admitted that he was just joking around, it is still commonly believed that the song actually is about God.

It’s obviously not about God. It obviously is about a desk. The most wonderful desk, in its way.

I also came across this cover and very much enjoyed it, so thought I would post it here too. My stepbrother first turned me on to Canadian singer/songwriter Ron Sexsmith when I was in high school. I accidently saw him play a solo show in a church in Montclair, NJ, which was very moving. I think he does a great job with this tune…both versions are really solid in different ways.



Good Old Desk.mp3 (Harry Nilsson Version)



Good Old Desk.mp3 (Ron Sexsmith Version)

Such a comfort to know
It’s got no place to go.
It’s always there.
It’s the one thing I’ve got.
A huge success,
My good old desk.

Boards of Canada//1969

Friends, Time Travel Week is coming to an end and my grand plan is to strand us somewhere in the summer of 1969, maybe in some kind of commune, probably on some hallucinogenic drugs. Maybe Altamont? Maybe Woodstock?

Speaking of Altamont, yesterday A. and I went to the Brooklyn Museum to catch Who Shot Rock and Roll? before it closed. There is an awesome picture of The Rolling Stones playing to adoring, if distressed, looking fans, while a Hell's Angel Security Guard pushes crowds back in the background.

Soundscapes presented by BoC are strange, deeply analogue and pretty. This song is from Geogaddi, which was released in 2002. One member of the band, Sandison, described the album as "a record for some sort of trial-by-fire, a claustrophobic, twisting journey that takes you into some pretty dark experiences before you reach the open air again." From Wikipedia: "Geogaddi's development allegedly involved the creation of 400 song fragments and 64 complete songs, of which 22 were selected."



1969.mp3

1969, in the sunshine.

The Year in Music, 1969: In addition to Woodstock and Altamont, 1969 saw the formation of Black Sabbath, Mott the Hopple and ZZ Top. The Beatles released Abbey Road. The two highest charting singles were "Get Back" by the Beatles and "Honkey Tonk Woman" by The Rolling Stones.