Benjamin Jacob Ballarde

What I’m listening to…

17 February 2010

Edith Piaf & the Soundtrack to “La Vie en Rose”

“she hung around the rue Pigalle/ she smelled of inexpensive vice/ and reeked of sin/ She wasn’t nice/ This pale and scrawny two-bit gal”

The Drums‘ debut record, “Summertime!”

check out their photo shoot with Hedi Slimane here

Tom Waits’ “Glitter and Doom (Live)”

with lyrics like this -”my friends say i’m ugly, but i got a masculine face” -how can you possibly go wrong?

“Contra” by Vampire Weekend

read Robert Christgau’s brilliant review here

15 September 2008

Pedro the Lion, Headphones, David Bazan

There’s been a recent rekindling of my love for this guys music.  Some sample lyrics (imagine a slightly discordant acoustic guitar strumming in the background): you were too busy steering the conversation toward the lord/ to hear the voice of the spirit begging you to shut the fuck up/ you thought it must be the devil trying to make you go astray/ besides it couldn’t have been the lord, because you don’t believe he talks that way”

Taraf de Haïdouks’ “Band of Gypsies”

A 12-piece Romanian band with musicians ages 19-78 years old.  Amazing.

The Pigeon Detectives’ “Wait for Me” and “Emergency”

Typical post-punk Brit-pop.  But it’s still fun!

23 August 2008

Johnny Flynn’s “A Larum”

…If William Shakespeare and Bob Dylan had had a child.

The Charles Mingus Sextet’s “Cornell 1964″

Wildly rowdy and highly refined.

Nico’s “Chelsea Girl”

A bleak and ominous break from her Velvet Underground days.

16 August

Ryan Adams’ “Cold Roses”

Beautiful…sorta.

The Quintet: Live at Massey Hall 1953

Charlie “Bird” Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Bud Powell, and Max Roach

The Filthy Youth demo tapes

myspace.com/thefilthyyouth

Loud Reed and John Cale’s “Songs for ‘Drella”

Paying homage to the master of pop-art.

7 August

Dirty Pretty Things’ “Romance at Short Notice”

British pop as written by Charles Dickens.

John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme”

His 1964 masterwork of experimental jazz.

Babyshambles’ “Oh What A Lovely Tour”

Pete Doherty may be a hot mess, but his music is still beautiful.

Soundtrack from the TV Show “Mad Men”

Listen to David Carbonara’s song Babylon.

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  1. [...] also have just updated my “What I’m listening to” page and “What I’m [...]


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