LXXX

With thanks and warm regards to the labels and artists involved, this week’s podcast—our eightieth, and my, uh, second ever—is dedicated to the Dickson Experimental Sound Film, a 17-second tour de force widely regarded as one of the top ten movies of 1894. A cinematic milestone, Dickson’s stirring opus is the product of a simpler time in film history, a time when movies could deeply affect an audience without relying on cheap gimmicks like 3D, CGI, color, synchronized sound, editing, movement, dialogue, narrative, or characters. What is wrong with us, as a culture, that Dickson’s endlessly imaginative fictions are no longer enough? Are we merely babies, stewing in our bath basins with our rubber ducks, bemoaning how bored we are with it all, demanding something ever-new and novel to distract us for one moment more? Life would be better, I think, were it more like Dickson’s world—were it about simple pleasures, like men dancing in front of a giant phonograph recording cone. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Should you, like the film’s stylish starring duo, feel the urge to bust out your dancing shoes and get down on the factory floor, let our podcast score your sweet embrace: the bevy of pop jams presented below should be every bit as electrifying as Dickson’s classic violin ditty—and best of all, you can leave that unsightly phonograph at home. So return to your cultural roots, grab your finest tailored suit, and enjoy:

Download mp3 (192kbps)

[46:11]

1. Rich Aucoin: “Push”

• (0:01 – 2:47)
• from Public Publication EP (Sonic Entertainment; 2010)

2. Silly Kissers: “Halloween Summer”

• (2:48 – 5:55)
• from Halloween Summer EP (Arbutus; 2010)

3. Pop Winds: “Owl Eyes”

• (5:56 – 9:54)
• from The Turquoise (Arbutus; 2010)

4. The Acorn: “Kindling to Cremation (Megafaun remix)”

• (9:55 – 13:33)
• Single (2010)

5. Crush Buildings: “The Minutes”

• (13:34 – 17:38)
• from Things Luminous (Self-released; 2010)

6. We Fled Cairo: “Awkward Boner”

• (17:39 – 20:52)
• from Adult Braces (Self-released; 2010)

7. Blue Hawaii: “Lilac”

• (20:53 – 24:33)
• from Blooming Summer (Arbutus; 2010)

8. Baths: “♥”

• (24:34 – 27:47)
• from Cerulean (Anticon; 2010)

9. Grimes: “My Sister Says the Saddest Things”

• (27:48 – 32:01)
• from Halfaxa (Arbutus; 2010)

10. Black Milk: “Deadly Medley (f/ Royce Da 5’9” & Elzhi)”

• (32:02 – 35:38)
• from Album of the Year (Fat Beats; 2010)

11. Shad: “Yaa I Get It”

• (35:39 – 39:26)
• from TSOL (Black Box Recordings; 2010)

12. Drake: “Over (Math Rosen remix)”

• (39:25 – 46:11)
• from Auto-Reverse Mixtape Vol. 2 (PLACE Records; 2010)