Brian Cook Presents

An English bloke I work with recently commented on how much he dislikes this time of year. I was forced to set him straight, pointing out the return of the soccer season, abundance of cider, leaves changing colors, crisp autumn nights, fires in the fireplace and holidays like Halloween on the horizon. Fall has been […]

I’m a sucker for waltzes (listening, not dancing), so when I heard The Format’s Dog Problems in Dan’s car a week ago, it immediately made an impression. The first two songs, “Matches” and “I’m Actual” have the familiar 3/4 tempo, and the second actually sounds like an extension of the first. When that is followed […]

IGIF brought my attention to Regina Spektor’s “Oedipus” a few days ago. It’s already gotten a fair number of plays, possessing as it does all of the quirkiness and charm of Begin to Hope.

Another Spektacular song is the Amnesty International cover of John Lennon’s “Real Love”. There’s a spine-tingling video of Spektor performing the song […]

<p>I learned about this man-and-his-computer band at <a href=”http://iguessimfloating.blogspot.com/2007/05/throw-me-statue.html”>I Guess I&#8217;m Floating</a>, an authority on the indie blog scene. Diverse but always ear-catching, <a href=”http://www.myspace.com/throwmethestatue”>Throw Me the Statue</a> songs employ a glut of instruments, many of the electronic variety.</p>
<p><img src=”http://www.thecookblog.com/images/tmts.jpg” title=”TMTS” alt=”TMTS” align=”absmiddle” height=”300″ width=”203″ /></p>
<p>Throw Me the Statue is Seattle&#8217;s Scott Reitherman, and you […]

It’s catchy enough to be the Song of Summer 2007, but The Great American Smokeout, by The Snake The Cross The Crown has a few bittersweet bars that are more reminiscent of spring. Apparently, the title of the song is from a major anti-smoking initiative, which sets the third Thursday of November as the day […]

Lists, lists, lists. This one contains the 50 best music artists I could think of in 10 minutes, plus one song from each that best defines them. I’m an optimistic move, I’ve tried to arrange them so that similar artists are grouped together. I hope that if you see something you know and like, the […]

Here’s a collection of funky or funkified tracks from the past week or so.

Right-click and select “Save As” to capture them forever.
Bloc Party - I Still Remember (Lull’s Music Box & Tears Mix)
Cocorosie - Japan
Fountains of Wayne - Someone to Love
Frankel - Thermostat
Hot Chip - My Piano

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

I first came across Bishop Allen’s music in 2004, which makes me feel very cool. Unfortunately, I liked them but forgot about them for a few years, probably because I went sailing and wasn’t checking out any new music from the boat.

Fortunately, I re-discovered them through various music blogs, and it’s improved my quality of […]

If you use headphones a lot, while you’re at work or the gym, I can’t recommend my Sennheiser PX100 headphones enough. They were given to my by my friend John, who made several outrageous claims about their quality.
He was right. These things are phenomenal. I wear headphones about 5 hours per day, and the quality […]