Now on shelves, Hipster Puppies is a window into the lives of alt-canines -- lovingly compiled by friend of County Grind and dogs everywhere, Christopher R. Weingarten.
A South Florida native, Weingarten now resides in Brooklyn. He decided
to take a lengthy side trip from music writing/ranting to pontificate
about the dogs he saw around the city on a Tumblr page with a name you can probably guess. For more on his inspiration for the book, check out our sibling blog Sound of the City's entry, and information on purchasing the book is here.
Throughout this thrilling and adorable read, Weingarten provides the inner monologue of dogs that most certainly have better
taste in music than you do. In the spirit of the pups who made this collection possible, Weingarten has assembled a playlist of eight songs and included commentary that'll prompt some yipping back and forth in the trendiest dog parks around the globe.
Hüsker Dü - "New Day Rising"
"Magoo is that aging
Ballake Sissoko & Vincent Segal - "Histoire De Molly"
"I've
been listening to non-European pop since college and the ease of the
internet has just made it exponentially easier. I've really been digging
that indie-rock labels like Thrill Jockey and Sub Pop are putting out
more African music in the last two years. Obviously, I still catch
myself saying "world music" from time to time; despite the fact that
it's a completely myopic and selfish way to look at the rest of the
planet. Thurston here represents my own anxieties, so sorry if I'm
projecting. Anyway, I've really been digging this recent record from
Malian kora player Ballake Sissoko and French cellist Vincent Segal.
After years of African music kind of being represented as this beatwise 'global groove' thing here comes something that's more meditative and
hushed and totally gorgeous."
Funkadelic - "Everybody's Gonna Make It This Time"
"I'm
glad a Parliament record snuck into one of the photos. I'm a huge funk
and rap nerd and obviously a huge fan George Clinton's various guises.
Enough has been written about his legacy of cobbling the hardest grooves
ever, but not enough has been written about Clinton as a ballad writer.
I mean, all his albums are full of great deep cuts that should have
been as big as Stevie. Seriously, how beautiful is this song?"
Behemoth - "Arcana Hereticae"
"Like
all good hipsters, I do have some fascination with black metal. While I
do love a lot of the mushy, agoraphobic, cassette-damaged stuff, I'll
always be a drummer nerd at heart, so I definitely have much love for
Behemoth. Thurston Moore thinks this death-tinged stuff is too macho or
something."
E-40 - "Lightweight Jammin"
"Nothing makes me more upset than the word 'DJ' being used to describe 'our friend we threw on the bill who is gonna play some Guided By Voices
songs off his iPod.' Like there's literally software out there that can
beatmatch for you and make you not look like a total doofus if you spend
like $299 at a Guitar Center. Anyway, when I DJ out, I play E-40 a lot."
Mastodon - "Blood and Thunder"
"Writing this joke was actually kind of impossible because I needed to
pick an extreme metal band cool enough that a hipsters strawman would
like them, but also famous enough so that I'm not just dropping some
random Bathtub Shitter reference that no one's gonna understand outside
of the Amoeba Records breakroom. Mastodon was literally the only band
that fit the bill. I hope they see this and are touched deeply."
Nite Jewel - "Artificial Intelligence"
"Chillwave is some of the worst, most non-committal music
ever made. Just the hackiest pile up of 'lol-geddit' Nickelodeon
references, tape hiss hiding a total lack of hooks, and a sub-Family Guy
level of nostalgia masquerading as emotion. However, I do like Nite
Jewel who sort of lives on the fringes of this stuff. She has a
beautiful, spectral voice and she doesn't have to mask it with an ocean
of fake-VHS noise."
Melvins - "A History of Bad Men"
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"I also have this on blue vinyl."
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