Due to some really, really dumb luck I had the fortune of running into Fugazi legend Ian MacKaye over the holidays. The brief meeting inspired me to check out some recent releases from Dischord Records, the D.C. label he started in 1980. And I’m glad I did because Faraquet’s anthology (1997–98) is just what I needed to take a trip down memory lane. I remember trying to play this on my guitar during ninth grade Jazz class…

Hot Chip has been up to some interesting things recently. Not only did they just release an EP featuring Robert Wyatt and Geese, but they also hooked up with Peter Gabriel to do a Vampire Weekend cover. Personally, “Made in the Dark” wins for me because it’s just such an elegant song with sneaky guitar swoons that get me every time. Add some Wyatt funktronic vocal stylings and you’ve got yourself a new makeout tune.

Am I the only one who thinks it’s funny for the frontman of a two-piece band to release a solo album? Ok, maybe I am. The Black Keys lead singer will be releasing Keep It Hid on February 10th, so consider yourself warned. You might get tired of listening to the Black Keys sound over and over, but this is truly Auerbach at his finest. Hopefully he keeps the distortion, wah-wahs and organs coming.

And the most random pick of the week goes to… Digable Planets. “Where I’m From” reminds me of a time when hip hop meant listening to smooth flow and even smoother jazz samples - god don’t you miss songs like this and Ahmad’s “Back in the Day?” You can guarantee this makes my New Years Eve party mix.

[Editor's note: This post originally appeared on Aug. 25, 2008, as we were just getting Stranger Dance off the ground. Seeing as how posting over the holidays gets slow, but people's thirst for music doesn't, we've decided to re-post some of our favorite posts from the past year that folks may not have seen. Plus, a soundboard recording of the Outside Lands Radiohead show?! Fuck, yeah!]

For this week’s episode of Panther Picks I decided to post Radiohead’s performance at Outside Lands. Why? Because I’m obsessed and it was a life-changing event. Duh. Special thanks to KC who sent me this great bootleg recording that sounds like it was taken directly from the soundboard - in other words, it’s power-outage free. However, due to file sizes I did have to upload a few songs to BOX.NET Sendspace. Forgiveness please.

Radiohead Live at Outside Lands Festival (8/22/08):

Encore:

After a couple of tough weeks at work, some Thanksgiving turkey and other reasons to procrastinate, I’m finally back with some picks. Unfortunately, that means that some of the songs I’ve selected might be old news.

For example, last week Little Joy hit Slim’s and I would have loved to check it out - hopefully by posting “No One’s Better Sake” I can get someone to tell me how it was.

Does Bon Iver ever quit? Me thinks not. “Blood Bank” is the impressive title track off the upcoming four-song EP Blood Bank, which is available for pre-order now.

And speaking of bands that don’t quit, Deerhunter continues to slide its way up my list of favorite bands when they recently put out “side two” to the album Microcastle, called Weird Era Cont. I guess it’s kind of like the whole Kid A/Amnesiac thing, proving that too much of a good thing is never bad.

Finally, since we just came out with our Top 15 Albums of 2008, I thought I’d post a couple of bands that didn’t make the list but deserve some love. One of those is Grouper - in fact they/she didn’t even make my own top 15, but that’s probably just because it was sunny outside when I made my list. I’ve also read a lot about Amadou & Mariam but have listened to very little, which is most likely a terrible mistake on my part since much of what I have heard makes me want to dance.

MP3s:

[The Blogmine is a weekly feature where your fearless Stranger Dance staffers dig up all the gold hidden around the blogosphere. Feel free to pass along any interesting stories we may miss.]

• Great interview with Scarface, who’s whole tortured gangster persona has always made him one of the more intriguing rappers out there. [The Smoking Section]
• Animal Collective’s Avey Tare responds to the last week’s leak of “Brother Sport.” [State]
• In other Animal Collective news, it looks like the band will go multimedia when it heads back into the studio. [Stereogum]
• Michael Stipe, Bright Eyes, Beastie Boys, Patti Smith and more design lunchboxes for charity. The lunchbox needs to make a comeback – I’d gladly lug my Starsky & Hutch model to work. [Pitchfork]
• John Vanderslice to hold a 10-year birthday party for his Tiny Telephone studio next month, at the Great American Music Hall. [ipickmynose]
• Win free tickets to go see Mudhoney and the Wooden Shjips. [The Bay Bridged]
• An acoustic performance by Damien Jurado accompanied by cryptic, needlessly arty writing. [Daytrotter]
• Turns out that Kanye Twitter wasn’t him. He makes me so tired. [Pitchfork]
• Great bootleg of a very early Pavement show from the band’s “we-can’t-really-play-our-instruments-yet” phase. [Aquarium Drunkard]

One of the things that I love most about music (and art in general, I guess) is that everyone appreciates it in their own way. Ten people can have the same favorite song, album or band and love them for completely different reasons. Be it lyrics, rhythm, melody, harmony, style or something else, people are drawn to different elements.

I realized long ago that harmony is king for me. As much as I love all of the other elements that go into music, great harmony (vocal or instrumental) is like nothing else.

One of the highlights of the 2008 concert season was catching Fleet Foxes play at the Treasure Island Festival. They took the side stage halfway through the second day and, with heavy wind from the bay at their backs, dove into flawless four-part a capella harmony. Not only were these guys performing a capella to thousands of San Francisco hipsters, but they made it look both easy and cool.

Fleet Foxes’ performance inspired me to put together a mix that put great (vocal) harmony on display. I tried to represent harmony in a lot of different ways, from the obvious to less known, from folk to bluegrass to rock, and from new to old. In doing so, I was forced to leave out some that I would have liked to include (Beatles, Big Star, Paul Simon, etc.), but I think it makes for an enjoyable listen - hope you do too.

All Together Now (A Harmony Mix)

1. Fleet Foxes - “Sun Giant”
2. The Zombies - “Time of the Season”
3. Dennis Wilson - “River Song”
4. My Morning Jacket - “Golden”
5. Elliott Smith - “Because”
6. Bon Iver - “Flume”
7. Jenny Lewis - “Acid Tongue”
8. Band of Horses - “Plans”
9. The Eagles - “Seven Bridges Road” [Live]
10. The Mamas and the Papas - “California Dreamin’ “
11. Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - “Dancing in the Street”
12. The Beach Boys - “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”
13. The Thrills - “Big Sur”
14. Belle & Sebastian - “Step Into My Office, Baby”
15. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - “Helplessly Hoping”
16. Sufjan Stevens - “The Avalanche”
17. Matthew Sweet - “Girlfriend”
18. Steve Miller Band - “Jet Airliner”
19. Queen - “Somebody to Love”
20. The Byrds - “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season)”
21. Bluegrass Album Band - “The Model Church”
22. David Grisman - “So Long”

You can also download the whole mix as zip file: All Together Now - A Harmony Mix. To import the songs as an ordered playlist, go to iTunes, click on File > Library > Import Playlist… and select the .txt file in the mix folder.