maryrosecook

Bruce Springsteen, My Hometown

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:19:55 +0000

Sukh Knight, Ganja Dub

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:44:07 +0000

Dust Covered Carpet, Melodykathi

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:21:47 +0000

I walked home from the U-Bahn listening to this song tonight, and it took me through the corridor, across the courtyard, up the stairs, into my apartment; and it continued while I took my heart medicine and got a glass of water and removed my wristwatch.

Des Ark, Peace to You Too, Motherfucker

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:35:38 +0000

Getting a new Des Ark song is like that last cigarette as the sun comes up.

(Lone) Wolf & Cub, Back To The Future Pt. 4 (Back To The Future Pt. 2 Again)

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:11:29 +0000

I've been listening quite a lot to the record from which this is taken. Good beat-downs, great flinging scream, and just the right side of thrash.

Bruce Springsteen, Point Blank

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:03:42 +0000

My friend, Richard, played this song at my leaving party.

La Dispute, Andria

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:55:04 +0000

La Dispute are painfully emo: the strangled shouting, the talking, the abortive screams. But the album from which this song is taken is incredibly compelling. It's been my soundtrack for walking and U-Bahning around Berlin, my inner-head background humming for drinking in bars, the counter-tone to the creaking of the snow under my shoes. The record is very well crafted: it has a symmetry to it that had formerly only been achieved by Circle Takes the Square, and there is an unusual elegance to the shifts from youth crew to spoken-word to beat-down to space rock.

mary rose cook music, Jeans Slung Low

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:51:48 +0000

Bob Dylan, Idiot Wind

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:20:36 +0000

I used to listen to this as I drove to my gap year web-development job in Cambridge.

Modest Mouse, Life Like Weeds

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:52:38 +0000

The first song on this mp3 is an achingly sad, beautiful live performance. I like how Isaac Brock twists and elongates his words in frustration.

The xx, Basic Space

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:54:40 +0000

Chromatics, Jesus

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:38:33 +0000

The first time, Miller starts the set up and hands over the drum machine - another voice, really. The second time, Miller gets closer to what he means and then the drum machine comes in again to finish his sentence and blow you away.

The Stone Roses, Guernica

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:22:24 +0000

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Turn Into

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:31:30 +0000

I love the quiet harmony that Karen O sings a few semi-tones up from the main melody.

The Paper Chase, What Should We Do With Your Body? (The Lightning)

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:29:47 +0000

Last week, I saw The Paper Chase live for the third time. When they played this song, John C excorcised me mid-song, laying his hand on my head and singing, "God is everywhere."

Sunset Rubdown, Up on your Leopard, Upon the End of your Feral Days

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:10:24 +0000

"You're the one who's riding around on a leopard. You're the one who's throwing dead birds in the air."

The Velvet Underground, The Black Angel's Death Song

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:52:07 +0000

I first heard this song when I was visiting my friend, Tamar, at the squat where she used to live. We were planning their eviction party and smoking cigarettes. The party coincided with me leaving Leeds, and was also the first time I played live as my solo music project. I walked home through the woods around five o'clock that morning after it had got light again and bought something at the shop that had had time to sell me something else the previous evening, close and then re-open.

Sons of Noel & Adrian, The Wreck Is Not A Boat

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:58:15 +0000

This band played in the foyer of The Barbican before the Efterklang gig. In many ways, they were my favourite part of the evening: lots of people sitting on the floor and drinking beer as they listened to folk music played like nothing really mattered. Then, the tremulous whistling comes in, and everything gets very serious.

Efterklang, Cutting Ice To Snow (Live)

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:27:42 +0000

"You've gone to far. Despite my city walls." I recorded this tonight at The Barbican. At the beginning of their set, an idea popped into my head about changing something, and by the end, I had decided to do it. The little pause and laugh you hear at the beginning is in response to the bass player forgetting where he was supposed to be and running across the stage to get into position. The venue and orchestra were all wrong: Efterklang were much better a few weeks ago with a drum kit, more thump and a dancing audience, and without an orchestra and the constraint of having to play the lesser songs on Parades. Nonetheless, as this song slowly rose, and when the singer squeaked out the little "Woop!" at 2m 40s, I wept tears of joy.

Tim Holehouse, Vessels That Sail In The Night

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:37:41 +0000

I know Tim slightly. He gave me his first solo CD just after I moved with Rob and Jon into my second and last house in Leeds. Something about my attic room, and the musical atmosphere in our house, meant that I wrote a lot of songs that year. I love how mournful this song is.

The Mars Volta, Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore: A. Vade Mecum

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:11:01 +0000

This song starts a beautiful group on Frances The Mute. I love the way the muted trumpet comes in to introduce everything. Then there is Cedric all tortured and melodic and Omar all spazzy guitar solos and letskeepthepace.