Amber Tamblyn

With music in your blood, you’re bound to have eclectic taste. This is the case with Emmy and Golden Globe Award–nominated actress and poet

Amber Tamblyn, whose grandfather was the master violinist for the LA Philharmonic. She chooses everything from instrumental electronic music to poppy indie rock and a blues-infused track from a local singer. Amber’s latest poetry book is called “Bang Ditto” and she is set to appear in Danny Boyle’s upcoming film “127 Hours.”

For More: www.amtam.com

Tracklist

1.) Dog Days Are Over Now - Florence and the Machine

2.) 29 Acts of Love - Gliss

3.) Detroit has a Skyline (Acoustic) - Superchunk

4.) Old Fashioned Morphine - Jolie Holland

5.) Turquoise Hexagon Sun - Boards of Canada

Transcript

Jeremy Sole: Hi, this is Jeremy Sole and I'm here with actress Amber Tamblyn, who's starred in the TV series Joan Of Arcadia and a number of films. She recently released a book of poetry called “Bang Ditto.” But we're here to talk about music as part of KCRW's Guest DJ Project. Tell us a little bit about what you brought for us today.

Amber Tamblyn: This is by Florence & The Machine, a young lady that I just sort of discovered. It was one of those things where I hadn't been listening to the radio, I've been on tour for my book and I got a text from a good friend of mine whose musical taste I do not trust whatsoever; she once tried to trick me into liking an Ashlee Simpson song and then I've never trusted her since. And she texted me, ‘You've got to get this album, Florence & The Machine’. I went 'Oh God,' And I was completely blown away.

AT: I actually know David Reiss very well, who's one of the musicians in Gliss. I am very good friends with his girlfriend, Mindy Nettifee, who's a fellow poet, and we run a non-profit together. The album in total is very catchy and has a great quality and tone. I was shooting a movie in North Carolina and I bought all of these CDs and it was the only thing that just stayed consistently in my car CD player.

AT: The next song that we're going to talk about… an ex-boyfriend put a Superchunk song on a mix CD for me called “Call An Amberlance” -- you know, emergency car thing, ha ha, play on words, pun. I'm a big fan of theirs, especially this song, I think it's got the grace of juvenilia and the sense of sort of seeing somebody in their juvenile state and singing about flaking on someone and popping open a can of beer and playing track 6, track 7, over and over again and saying, 'Please come back again, I won't flake.' Something about it is very sweet and melancholy.

AT: Jolie Holland. She is a Los Angeles staple. Her lyrics are so amazing and she's a musical aficionado. She can play all kinds of instruments and her voice is very, very, very recognizable. She's sort of got this (sings) "Old fashioned morphine," like it sounds like 1920's.

AT: Yeah. This is Boards of Canada. This song, "Turquoise Hexagon Sun," is something that I listened to repetitively while writing my book. It starts out with this little trickling xylophone, almost, I'm not sure, but it's just a combination of haunting and beautiful and fleeting. If it was a lyric, I could sing it backwards because I know this song so well.