The shuffler: Ben Gibbard of Death Cab
For Cutie and The Postal Service. Death Cab will launch a co-headlining tour
with Franz Ferdinand this April and will soon release videos for each of the
songs on its latest disc, Plans.
Emitt Rhodes, "She's Such A Beauty"
Ben Gibbard: He was like a singer-songwriter
guy—very, very, very Paul McCartney-esque, almost to the point where you
go, "Are we listening to Paul McCartney?" It's pretty derivative, but at the
same time, he dodged a lot of the showtunes-y elements of Wings. This song's on
his… I think it's his first solo record, which is the really good one.
Everything else I've heard by him has paled in comparison.
Jandek, "Message To The Clerk (Part 2)"
BG: My iPod's cooler than me right now! My intro to
Jandek was through my girlfriend, Joan. They're both from Houston and I
remember her at some point bringing up Jandek and me being like, "Who the hell
is Jandek?" She gave me the whole backstory about this reclusive, secret
singer-songwriter that makes these weird records. At some point a couple of
years ago, I bought three Jandek records and realized at that point that I
really only needed one.
Jack Kerouac, "The Sounds Of The Universe
Coming In My Window"
BG: I guess for touring musicians… The urge to be on
the road is inspired by the desire to share music as much as the romance of
travel and wild friends in crazy places. I still kind of feel like doing
punk-rock, indie-rock tours in the States—and it's obviously changed for
us—is the closest thing to that Beat sense of being in constant motion.
It's so fun to roll into Milwaukee and see the friends you only see once or
twice a year, going out and getting drinks and catching up or whatever. Time
stood still between the last time you saw them, and nobody complains, "Why
haven't you called or written me an email?" To me, in my romantic mind, I
associate that with the way travel was for the Beats in the '40s and '50s.
Pink Floyd, "A Saucerful Of Secrets"
BG: Continuing the hip trend… I hope the Third Eye
Blind track on here doesn't pop up next, though actually that might be kind of
cool. This is the real transitional record from Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd into
the Dark Side Of The Moon era. Barrett's on like half the record; I think
when they were recording was when they stopped picking him up for gigs, if I
recall correctly. It's not my favorite Pink Floyd record, but it's certainly
better than Atom Heart Mother.
One Be Lo, "Wake Up (Original)"
BG: My knowledge of hip-hop is pretty pathetic, but I
saw this guy open for Blue Scholars, which is this Seattle-based hip-hop group
that I like. I wouldn't be able to tell you what this track sounds like; it's
been a while.
Guided By Voices, "Man Called Aerodynamics"
BG: This was the first Guided By Voices record that I
bought. In college, Guided By Voices was a band that I would hear about… I
think I just went out and bought Under The Bushes Under The Stars cold, thinking, "Well,
people that like music that I do seem to like this band, maybe I'll go check
them out." I think because it's the first one I heard, it's probably my
favorite. They're now one of my favorite bands; you can't deny Guided By
Voices.