No show this week

I've decided not to do a show this week. After all, it's midterm break, and 3/4ths of the campus is pretty much gone. Sorry about that if you've been expecting a show tonight, and I also apologize for making a decision on such short notice.

Anyway, I'll use this to post some videos of bands I would like to play on the show, or perhaps have played. First is a band I'm really trying to get a hold of, but the WRMC doesn't have any of their stuff. The band is God Is An Astronaut, and they hail from Ireland. Compared to most other post-rock bands, their stuff is fairly straightforward, but that doesn't mean it's not powerful or complex in its own way. They've released three albums so far: 2002's The End of the Beginning, 2005's All Is Violent, All Is Bright, and Far From Refuge, which came out not too long ago.

This first video is for "Fragile," the first track off of All Is Violent.... A mind-blowing video that goes well with the music, but avoid it if you're squeamish about seeing animal torture ('cuz that's what this video is about, I'm afraid):



The songs from their debut album are more electronically-based and have more synths, but GIAA have favored more organic sounds recently. Synths or not, it doesn't matter; their sound is still amazing, so like and yet so unlike other bands you may have heard. Here's "Coda," from their debut:



And it's back to the doomsday visions with "The End of the Beginning," off the album of the same name. I absolutely love the intro to this song:



Sigur Rós, the quintessential post-rock band from Iceland, is not one of my favorite bands. The music is just a touch melodramatic, the lead singer's vocals makes Thom Yorke sound like Dennis Haysbert, and there's just something about them that doesn't quite click with me. But they could sure make some amazing videos. Their 1997 debut Von (Hope) is tough to find, so it's best to stick with 1999's Ágætis byrjun (Alright Start), 2002's (), and 2004's Takk... (Thanks...). Keeping with the apocalyptic theme, here the video for the first track off (), also called "Vaka":



This one's called "Viðar Vel Til Loftárasa," which roughly translates to "Good day for an airstrike," off of Ágætis byrjun:



How about something a little happier? Here's "Glósóli," off Takk...:



This is the only Flying Saucer Attack video on YouTube. It's called "Beach Red Lullaby":



I've been playing Boards of Canada a lot lately, but the library doesn't have 2005's The Campfire Headphase, which is too bad since I can't play this amazing song, "Dayvan Cowboy':



How about some more Radiohead? Here's the long-awaited "Nude":



This is More, an Oscar-nominated short film by Mark Osborne. The music for this is "Elegia" by New Order:



Finally, a little something more fun: I probably will never play Yo La Tengo on the show, but the video for "Sugarcube" is amazing and hilarious! This is what I'm battling against, people! Check it out:



Enjoy!