Category: TD Tunes

for Sasha – Firetag: Mein Liegestuhl und Du

lion on the savannaToday, after a long holiday weekend in the sun, we said our final goodbyes to Sasha. He was with us for over fourteen years and lived with us in Vienna, Ohio, New York, and finally the Netherlands. He was an optimistic, friendly little guy who loved to head-bonk and talk, talk, talk. (“Hey” was pretty much all he ever said…)

We miss him terribly and I have picked out a Swiss-German song for him to remind us of his Alpine roots. The song is upbeat but melancholy and the gist of the lyrics is that he fit into our lives and made them better every day.

“Du bist mein Liegestuhl bei Sonnenschein
Mein Feiertag bei dir Daheim
Du bist mein allerliebster Sportverein
Der für immer wird der Sieger sein”

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Having a sad Koninginnedag this year

head-bonkin'Today is Koninginnedag (Queen’s Day) in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Her Majesty Queen Beatrix is visiting the province of Fryslân (Frisia) as part of her annual Queen’s Day visits. There are street fairs everywhere and even the Dutch Reformed church down the street is throwing a party to mark the occasion.

Here at the TD house things are not so festive as Sasha has gone into renal failure and is likely to be leaving us soon. He was his usual talkative self as recently as Friday, eating well, running around the new house and even venturing out into the back yard with the others. Since then, however, his usually robust appetite has dropped off and he has become listless and tired. We are nursing him through the holidays (tomorrow is Ascension Day) and saying our goodbyes little by little.

History and Civilization of the Great Black Swamp: John Gravy

The History and Civilization of the Great Black SwampMore from the netlabel imaginary albums artist History and Civilization of the Great Black Swamp. Still no idea what their songs are about but they are still tons of fun to shout along with. 🙂

Favorite line in these still-chock-full-of nuts lyrics:

“Tell me, John Gravy, what do you see?
I am your friend, but I’m not really me.”

Heirstyle: Food

HeirstyleFrom the Comfort Stand website’s page for Heirstyle’s 2004 EP/album: “Heirstyle is an electronic duo from Vienna, Austria featuring David on vocals, Clemens producing the music with Saskia on featured vocals. Both David and Clemens are radio/tv people and dj’s (Radio FM4, Club Kajal) plus producers, authors and remixers based out of Vienna.”

This track is smooth and strong like a cup of Wiener melange with awesome vocals, mellow beats, and trippy keyboard effects to make your afternoon meaningful.

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Now playing: Heirstyle – Food

cHelek: The Translucent Secret

cHelekcHelek is a noisy but fun duo on the Birdsong* netlabel out of Israel. According to their release notes they create their music with “guitars, piano, a drum set, sampler, some power tools, [and a] 4track tape recorder”, all of which can be heard at their finest on this song and the self-titled EP from which it came. A fun tune to try out!

Birdsong* Previous BirdSong favorites have included Beatmapper, Tiny Creatures, Her Highness, and Uncle Owen Aunt Beru.

The Nourishment: Slapback

The NourishmentThe Nourishment’s website is rather confusing, but the pseudo-band seems to be headed by Archbishop Jason Polland and Joe Tepperman, both of whom have elaborate discographies with other groups, as solo artists, and even some writing credits.

The song “Slapback” is from their 2000 EP “Volume Four Billion”. Their sound is a bit hard to place, but the voices are fun and the lyrics whimsical. (The blurry, bouncy beat makes me want to lace up some Doc Martens and jump about the place a bit!)

The Rabbits: Mystery Lizard (featuring Richard Gorilla Geer)

The RabbitsFunk, funk and more funk from The Rabbits and their latest album “Squeeze One Out”. Bits of Devo and Mick Jagger lurk behind the Shriekback and something I can’t quite place. The wails and coarse vocals add a bluesy bit of reality to this techno-tune. Give a listen to the rest of the album and visit us later this week for more from The Rabbits!