Home Sweet Home

Just because we're all back here . . . a passel of Washingtonian mp3s for you fine people, in order from most to least obviously relevant:

1. "Washington, D.C." by the Magnetic Fields - This is a love song. Believe it. Get behind it.
Buy the album 69 Love Songs here.

2. "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" by the Postal Service - TMC sleeps together.
Buy the album Give Up here.

3. "Anacostia" by Son Volt - This song is really really pretty. And a little bit folky. Strangely, these are exactly the same two things that first come to mind when TMC thinks about Anacostia, the place.
Buy the album Okemah and the Melody of Riot here.

4. "Ooh Ahh" by Grits - Okay, we're going to be straight with you. This one just refers to "the capital city" . . . and we just hope its us, and not, say, Montpelier . . . because its so crazy good. But wait. Theres more. This is probably the c-raziest TMC post ever; Grits is an All Christian All The Time group. Or something. We could have linked you to a chrisitan music site to buy this, but that was almost too much . . . and yet this is the most infectious hip-hop song we've found in the past 6 months . . .
Buy the album 7 here.

Stay tuned: DCtastic trivia (possibly) coming soon to a post near you . . .

Air Force Ones

Girl 1: "Do these shoes make me look gay?"

Girl 2: "No, crazy. [pause] They make you look black."

Kate Edit: Clearly the only rational response to this is for us to post "Be Real Black for Me" by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway here.

Buy the album Roberta Flack here.

New Authors, possibly

Hello loyal TMC readers/listeners. I have just invited housemate Andy and TMC host Lauren (who has never blogged COUGH) to join the blog. TMC welcomes Andy's enthusiasm for jazz, hip hop, and R&B to fill the void that Kate and I have never filled. Lauren... blah blah blah. Thanks for letting us sleep in your room. Here is a photo of TMC + Andy, who I suppose is TMC now. Amazing. Something else amazing... the Touch My Clickwheel t-shirts, hand-made with love by Kate. Yes, I cried when I saw mine. You would too. Click on the post's photo for a closer look!

Move Out, Don't Mess Around

Moving sucks. Yes, college is the time of our lives, but I can't wait to just have a place where my belongings are not in constant jeopardy. I will soon be reduced to two backpacks, a rolly suitcase, and a duffel while the rest of my belongings are shipped away. In related news, the ladies of Touch My Clickwheel will all temporarily be living in the freshman sanctuary that is New South. I don't know if we can handle it, but it will be an experience. In honor of the big move, here's an excuse to post the 90s-licious hit by Yaz. Bring on the synth!

Download Yaz's "Situation"

Buy Yaz's album Upstairs At Eric's.

Rilo Kiley Redeems

"Silver Lining," the second song released from Rilo Kiley's upcoming release Under the Blacklight, has got me smitten. The first song they released, "The Moneymaker," was both shocking and terrifying but "Silver Lining" is redemption. The bass, followed by the handclaps, followed by the cheery guitar chirp. And then Jenny's voice. You had me at "Hello." If I could squeal via blog, I would. It's verses are almost too short, launching and re-launching into the simple yet poignant chorus of hooray's.

"Hooray, hooray / I'm your silver lining / Hooray, hooray / But now I'm gold."

I could speculate on the lyrics but I won't, because hey, that'd be embarrassing. Listen to the entire album streaming on Rilo Kiley's MySpace and more importantly, buy it from a local record store on August 21st.

Download "Silver Lining" by Rilo Kiley.

Pre-order Under the Blacklight here.

TMC Apologizes for Neglect

I regret to say that both Kate and I have neglected the TMC blog for the entire summer. I blame my failure on my indentured servitude to M Street retail and Kate's on the miscellaneous diseases she contracted from her internship in the sex industry. I noticed today that a Portuguese-speaker commented on one of our posts! The comment reads:

"Oi, achei teu blog pelo google tá bem interessante gostei desse post. Quando der dá uma passada pelo meu blog, é sobre camisetas personalizadas, mostra passo a passo como criar uma camiseta personalizada bem maneira. Até mais."

Besides for recognizing it as Portuguese, I obviously had no idea what it said. With some google-ing, or shoudl I say blackle-ing, of translation sites, it roughly translates to:

"Oi, I found yours blog for google tá well interesting I liked this post. When to give gives passed for mine blog, is on personalized t-shirts, shows step by step as to create a well personalized t-shirt way. Until more."

I believe our fine friend is giving us some tips for blogging? And also trying to entice us to hire him to make TMC t-shirts. Well, we might not be ready for personalized t-shirts, but perhaps daily blogging is back in our futures. Music and I have been somewhat estranged for the summer. Luckily for me, the Helly Hansen Itunes is stocked with music I have never bothered to look at or have even heard of and it, rather than Hype Machine or any other mp3 blog, has provided me with new music this summer. At this moment, I'm so infatuated with Etta James that I'm attempted to add her to my facebook music favorites (huggggggggge deal, kidding kind of). Here's "Anything To Say You're Mine" that somewhat echoes the feelings of our unexplained absence from blogger (and others).

Download "Anything To Say You're Mine" by Etta James.

Buy the album At Last here.

Edit: Clearly this post is insane, for some reason. Well get on it.

And Now For Something Completely Different . . .

For once, a post not complaining about Lauren's aversion to the 21st century or Kate's disappearing antics. Jess, who has mastered every other technical intricacy known to mankind has somehow managed to let her blogger name become muddled . . . inquiring minds hope that the lameness will soon come to an end.

Edit: All is well.

Black is Beautiful

We've made it this far into the summer without any major blackouts, and we have to be honest, the violently retro side of TMC was getting a bit nostalgic for the Summer of the Son of Sam, so we're bringing the blackout to you . . .

Blackle. Go. Now. You'll be glad you did.

Others will make points about the environmental edge of the site, but in light of some tech-geeky challenges to these claims we will only say that:

1. It looks so very very chic
2. Its much more fun to say. C'mon. Try it.

And now . . . we will perform amazing feats of blogging acrobatics to somehow make this musical (actually, we've just been looking for any excuse to post these songs for quite some time)


The Paint It Black Progression

1. "Paint It Black" by the Rolling Stones. NOT the original, actually. Based on a soul song we can't find at the moment.
Buy Aftermath here.

2. "Thirteen" by Big Star. References #1, is awesome, and covered well by Wilco, etc.
Buy No. 1 Record/Radio City here.

3. "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard of the Frames. Its in here too, you just have to listen a little harder.
Buy the Once soundtrack here.

Find Back to Black for yourselves - we're a bit Amy-Winehoused-out just at the moment.