Turbonegro - Retox
These 5 guys really ... really don't care what you think. They're going to rock, and be overly sexual, and just do anything they want.
Turbonegro - I Wanna Come
LKN (Lauren K. Newman) - Postulate II
Wow. I needed more time to really let this one sink in, time I didn't really give it. I liked it in the way that I like Hella's music the first time ... I'm amazed by it, but ... well ... wow it's complicated.
LKN - Fractured Sun, Fractured Heart
Noisettes - What's The Time, Mr. Wolf?
Puh-puh-puh-Pop Punk! Good, but they could have done better. Good effort, they'll surely have a hit single when they release their next album.
Noisettes - Scratch Your Name
Drop Dead, Gorgeous - Worse Than A Fairy Tale
I only gave it a second chance because JJ told me they were local, and I can't help but give local things a chance (I've got a weakness). Awkward Post-Hardcore done by guys who make it look like childsplay. You know, I liked it.
Drop Dead, Gorgeous - Drawing The Devil
Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
I'm just too used Jenny Lewis singing folky songs with the Watson twins, so I can't really listen to and appreciate Rilo Kiley as much as I used to. Thankfully most people are saying this album isn't as good as the old stuff, so I don't feel so bad for only really liking a few songs.
Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
Hmmm ... I think Tweedy needs to take a little more time and put in a little more effort in writing his songs. He's gotten a little lazy. Granted, he's still a great song writer...
Wilco - Impossible Germany
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - Some Loud Thunder
You know, these boys got a lot of flack for this album not being the revolution that the last one seemed to be, but it was a fair effort, especially for a sophomore slump. I did like a few of the songs though.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - Some Loud Thunder
The Chemical Brothers - We Are the Night
I was honestly rather disappointed by this album, because I was so used to the rad-gasm that was Dig You Own Hole. Granted, there were a few good songs, like this one:
The Chemical Brothers - Do It Again
The Comas - Spells
It was cute and fun for a little while, but it soon just became part of the background when I listened to it. I did really like this song though:
The Comas - Red Microphone
My Little Airport - We Can't Stop Smoking In The Vicious And Blue Summer
Cutesy Hong-Kong Indie Jangle Pop that is done just for the fun of it, which sometimes shine through in both good and bad ways.
My Little Airport - 我愛官恩娜，都不及愛你的哨牙
i am the lost sea - transience
Mega indie folk ... unfortunately it's a little amateurish and repetitive. But he's got good lyrics and a lot of promise.
i am the lost sea - Phonecalls
Turbo Fruits - Turbo Fruits
I do love Be Your Own Pet, so side projects are only going to mean good things. Not as ... Be Your Own Pet-y as I was expecting, and I'm ashamed by that, but that's how that goes I guess.
Turbo Fruits - No Drugs To Use
January 1, 2008
'07's Music to Love More Than Music: Love, pt. 1
This is Part 2 of 4 of my best of. These are the albums that put a smile on my face, and will make me pay more attention to the band's next release, because they may just be on the verge of great greatness.
Love (<)
Rock Plaza Central - Are We Not Horses?
I honestly wish I liked the album more, but there just weren't enough amazing songs. When the good songs hit though, they hit HARD. (btw, Amazon.com says it's an 07 release, so I trust them.) I loved this track (one of the my favorite tracks of the year):
Rock Plaza Central - Are We Not Horses?
The Sound of Animals Fighting - We Must Become The Change We Want To See
I had always liked the idea behind TSOAF, but never really how it was executed, until now. This live show is probably one of the most interesting experiments with live music that I've heard in a while, somewhat because of the fact that it's not noise, and it's not jamming out for an hour, and I've honestly never heard of this type of thing before, especially when it's executed as well as this was. Well done boys.
The Sound of Animals Fighting - Act 2: All Is Ash Or The Light Shining Through It
VHS or Beta - Bring On The Comets
When I listen to this album it fills me with hope. Dunno why, but it's just got this optimistic feeling to it. Light hearted and free spirited, VHS or Beta croons their way into your dance party, takes over, and, awkwardly, that one person you had your eye on across the room just looked your way and smiled, and, because the music has so many euphoric side effects, you can't help but dance your way over to them. Where will the night go from there? who cares, VHS or Beta is playing.
VHS or Beta - She Says
Burbuja - Burbuja
Reminiscent of acts such as Tunng or Psapp, this young lady sculpted an album that was instantly engrossing, and consistently peculiar, without being too over-the-top weird for the sake of weird. I'd say it reminded me of the Karen O demo tape, but it's pretty unlikely that Burbuja wasn't doing her thing prior to the demo's "release." Hip as hell, putting a smile on your face while making you wonder "where the hell did she come up with this stuff?"
Burbuja - Roped
Burhuja - Who Knows
Creature Feature - The Greatest Show Unearthed
Campy Goth Dance-a-thon, kept my head bobbing through the whole thing, but it wasn't incredibly inventive, which is where it loses points. Puts to mind acts such as (mid-career) Mindless Self Indulgence and the Tiger Lilies. DAMN good debut. The lyrics are amazingly cliched, which makes the songs even better (because even if they actually are being serious, you don't have to think they are). If Goth Pop were a genre, this would be it. JTHM would be proud.
Creature Feature - The Greatest Show Unearthed
Creature Feature - Six Foot Deep
Neon Horse - Neon Horse
These guys are like Cheeseburger's little brother (see their album in my Love More section) who has heard a few disco albums and didn't necessarily not like it, but would never admit that they know anything about it if questioned ... and they certainly have never tried on women's clothing ... certainly. Balls to Walls throwback Man Rock brought forth from fellas who probably aren't to certain themselves if they are serious or not.
Neon Horse - Cuckoo!
Neon Horse - Speed Killz
Marilyn Manson - Eat Me, Drink Me
I honestly respected only 3 pieces of work by Marilyn Manson before I heard this album, and that was his tryptic: Holy Wood, Antichrist Superstar, and Mechanical Animals. Everything else just seemed to forced and poorly thought out, shocking not as a result of his art, but shocking for the sake of shocking. It was understandable that MM would want to change things a little, and, with this album, he did just that. Check that, he changed a lot ... for him. It's still rock, yes, but he's softened and become minimalist (compared to his older stuff that is to say). There is a certain "I did this just for me" feeling to the album, which, truthfully, makes me repect him and the album all the more. No album of the year, but I like what it represents, and the songs were well thought out ... mostly (people like Brian Warner and Trent Reznor never stop being angsty, no matter how hard they try)
Marilyn Manson - Just a Car Crash Away
Editors - An End Has A Start
Honestly their live show is what sold me on the album. Granted it's an album that could stand alone as a rather nice piece of work, but it's nothing, for me, if I don't think of it as a companion piece to their live show. Everyone else is busy raving about this album or talking about how big of a let down it was, so it looks like you'll probably have to decide for yourself. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and, truthfully, I think you will too.
Editors - An End Has A Start
Sage Francis - Human The Death Dance
A friend of mine once said (not verbatum) in response to Sage Francis being brought up in conversation "I don't care about what he has to say, his beats suck." Well I do care about what he has to say, but I agree that a crappy beat heavily takes away from my enjoyment of an album. I feel that this is Sage Francis' most sonically pleasing albums to date. With producers from all corners of the anticon universe, the beats aren't Timbaland beats, but they're not casiotone presets either (not to say those don't have their charm). Lyrically, this is not the best I've heard him do, but that's hardly saying it's bad. Overall, a general sucess in the world of music.
Sage Francis - Clickety Clack
The White Stripes - Icky Thump
The White Stripes have this awkward habit of releasing music that is a year or two ahead of it's time. Not to say that they're particularly innovative or avant-garde, but that everytime they release a new album, the album before it seems to get better. This one was fun and good and all that, don't get me wrong. All I'm saying is ask me how I feel about it when they release their next one, and I'll say I love love love it.
The White Stripes - Rag & Bone
The White Stripes - Bone Broke
José González - In Our Nature
Suprisingly short in length, but not in soul, José's new one is just as touching as his last effort. Coving a Massive Attack song this time (I personally would have been happier with another cover of another more underground artist, but I feel as though it worked out well), José sings the songs of a society obsessed with the fear that we may not be able to help ourselves when it comes to hurting people. Well, that's what I got from it. You listen and decide.
José González - Teardrop (Massive Attack Cover)
DevilDriver - The Last Kind Words
I never really did like Coal Chamber, which didn't give me much faith in DevilDriver, who I really didn't like all that much either. Their music either seemed to uninspired or juvenile, both things that I don't find very interesting. This new album destroys. It's like the members of the band all stopped taking their Thorazine and got to work. It's powerful and charging sound takes you and shakes you for a good 45 minutes. Then you can't help but listen to it again. Metal baby.
DevilDriver - Not All Who Wander Are Lost
Sea Wolf - Leaves In The River
The true charm of Sea Wolf is the lyrics. Granted the music is transcendental, but damn his lyrics just take you and shake you to your soul. It's not the most memorable stuff in the world, but the first couple times are just amazing.
Sea Wolf - You're a Wolf
Love (<)
Rock Plaza Central - Are We Not Horses?
I honestly wish I liked the album more, but there just weren't enough amazing songs. When the good songs hit though, they hit HARD. (btw, Amazon.com says it's an 07 release, so I trust them.) I loved this track (one of the my favorite tracks of the year):
Rock Plaza Central - Are We Not Horses?
The Sound of Animals Fighting - We Must Become The Change We Want To See
I had always liked the idea behind TSOAF, but never really how it was executed, until now. This live show is probably one of the most interesting experiments with live music that I've heard in a while, somewhat because of the fact that it's not noise, and it's not jamming out for an hour, and I've honestly never heard of this type of thing before, especially when it's executed as well as this was. Well done boys.
The Sound of Animals Fighting - Act 2: All Is Ash Or The Light Shining Through It
VHS or Beta - Bring On The Comets
When I listen to this album it fills me with hope. Dunno why, but it's just got this optimistic feeling to it. Light hearted and free spirited, VHS or Beta croons their way into your dance party, takes over, and, awkwardly, that one person you had your eye on across the room just looked your way and smiled, and, because the music has so many euphoric side effects, you can't help but dance your way over to them. Where will the night go from there? who cares, VHS or Beta is playing.
VHS or Beta - She Says
Burbuja - Burbuja
Reminiscent of acts such as Tunng or Psapp, this young lady sculpted an album that was instantly engrossing, and consistently peculiar, without being too over-the-top weird for the sake of weird. I'd say it reminded me of the Karen O demo tape, but it's pretty unlikely that Burbuja wasn't doing her thing prior to the demo's "release." Hip as hell, putting a smile on your face while making you wonder "where the hell did she come up with this stuff?"
Burbuja - Roped
Burhuja - Who Knows
Creature Feature - The Greatest Show Unearthed
Campy Goth Dance-a-thon, kept my head bobbing through the whole thing, but it wasn't incredibly inventive, which is where it loses points. Puts to mind acts such as (mid-career) Mindless Self Indulgence and the Tiger Lilies. DAMN good debut. The lyrics are amazingly cliched, which makes the songs even better (because even if they actually are being serious, you don't have to think they are). If Goth Pop were a genre, this would be it. JTHM would be proud.
Creature Feature - The Greatest Show Unearthed
Creature Feature - Six Foot Deep
Neon Horse - Neon Horse
These guys are like Cheeseburger's little brother (see their album in my Love More section) who has heard a few disco albums and didn't necessarily not like it, but would never admit that they know anything about it if questioned ... and they certainly have never tried on women's clothing ... certainly. Balls to Walls throwback Man Rock brought forth from fellas who probably aren't to certain themselves if they are serious or not.
Neon Horse - Cuckoo!
Neon Horse - Speed Killz
Marilyn Manson - Eat Me, Drink Me
I honestly respected only 3 pieces of work by Marilyn Manson before I heard this album, and that was his tryptic: Holy Wood, Antichrist Superstar, and Mechanical Animals. Everything else just seemed to forced and poorly thought out, shocking not as a result of his art, but shocking for the sake of shocking. It was understandable that MM would want to change things a little, and, with this album, he did just that. Check that, he changed a lot ... for him. It's still rock, yes, but he's softened and become minimalist (compared to his older stuff that is to say). There is a certain "I did this just for me" feeling to the album, which, truthfully, makes me repect him and the album all the more. No album of the year, but I like what it represents, and the songs were well thought out ... mostly (people like Brian Warner and Trent Reznor never stop being angsty, no matter how hard they try)
Marilyn Manson - Just a Car Crash Away
Editors - An End Has A Start
Honestly their live show is what sold me on the album. Granted it's an album that could stand alone as a rather nice piece of work, but it's nothing, for me, if I don't think of it as a companion piece to their live show. Everyone else is busy raving about this album or talking about how big of a let down it was, so it looks like you'll probably have to decide for yourself. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and, truthfully, I think you will too.
Editors - An End Has A Start
Sage Francis - Human The Death Dance
A friend of mine once said (not verbatum) in response to Sage Francis being brought up in conversation "I don't care about what he has to say, his beats suck." Well I do care about what he has to say, but I agree that a crappy beat heavily takes away from my enjoyment of an album. I feel that this is Sage Francis' most sonically pleasing albums to date. With producers from all corners of the anticon universe, the beats aren't Timbaland beats, but they're not casiotone presets either (not to say those don't have their charm). Lyrically, this is not the best I've heard him do, but that's hardly saying it's bad. Overall, a general sucess in the world of music.
Sage Francis - Clickety Clack
The White Stripes - Icky Thump
The White Stripes have this awkward habit of releasing music that is a year or two ahead of it's time. Not to say that they're particularly innovative or avant-garde, but that everytime they release a new album, the album before it seems to get better. This one was fun and good and all that, don't get me wrong. All I'm saying is ask me how I feel about it when they release their next one, and I'll say I love love love it.
The White Stripes - Rag & Bone
The White Stripes - Bone Broke
José González - In Our Nature
Suprisingly short in length, but not in soul, José's new one is just as touching as his last effort. Coving a Massive Attack song this time (I personally would have been happier with another cover of another more underground artist, but I feel as though it worked out well), José sings the songs of a society obsessed with the fear that we may not be able to help ourselves when it comes to hurting people. Well, that's what I got from it. You listen and decide.
José González - Teardrop (Massive Attack Cover)
DevilDriver - The Last Kind Words
I never really did like Coal Chamber, which didn't give me much faith in DevilDriver, who I really didn't like all that much either. Their music either seemed to uninspired or juvenile, both things that I don't find very interesting. This new album destroys. It's like the members of the band all stopped taking their Thorazine and got to work. It's powerful and charging sound takes you and shakes you for a good 45 minutes. Then you can't help but listen to it again. Metal baby.
DevilDriver - Not All Who Wander Are Lost
Sea Wolf - Leaves In The River
The true charm of Sea Wolf is the lyrics. Granted the music is transcendental, but damn his lyrics just take you and shake you to your soul. It's not the most memorable stuff in the world, but the first couple times are just amazing.
Sea Wolf - You're a Wolf
'07's Music to Love More Than Music: Love, pt. 2
Jesca Hoop - Kismet
Like a mixture of about a hundred people (in my mind I can remember comparing her to Tom Waits, Casey Dienel, Nellie McKay, Norah Jones, and Nelly Furtado, and that's just off the top of my head), Jesca sings songs that seem to be lullabies conducted by sirens, lulling sailors into deep sleeps for malicious purposes. I like it, but the fact that her live show is a dreamy trip into a dark wonderland doesn't hurt.
Jesca Hoop - Silverscreen
Captain Dan & the Scurvy Crew - Rimes of the Hip Hop Mariners
Holy crap, I think I've just found my favorite sub-genre of Nerdcore Hip-Hop: Piratecore! I'm for effing real here. The beats are awesome, the lyrics are hilarious, and Cap'n D has the best voice for this.
Captain Dan & the Scurvy Crew - (sorry kids, I've just got a link to samples)
Loney, Dear - Loney, Noir
Like the Indie rock side project for the members of Sigur Rós, it's soothing and surprisingly upbeat sound fills the listener with hope and love. The lyrics are some of the most easily relate-able lyrics I've heard in while. Puts a smile on your face.
Loney, Dear - I Will Call You Lover Again
The Bastard Fairies - Memento Mori
Like the little sister of Rasputina, sounding like musicians who've recently moved to the old west playing Turn-of-the-Century-Londontown Street-Urchin Chamber-Music. Now add time travel in (transporting those musicians to today so they can use synthesizers and the like), and you have The Bastard Fairies. They talk about religion, love, and, over all, sex.
The Bastard Fairies - A Case Against Love
The Bastard Fairies - Whatever
Aqualung - Memory Man
one of the most evolved singer songwriter albums I've ever heard, save for the fact that a lot of songs sound kind of the same. Undeniably charming. Sounds kind of like some of the less produced Radiohead songs at times.
Aqualung - Vapour Trail
Battles - Mirrored
Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh domdomdomdomdomdomdom. When you hear them, you can't help yourself, all you can think is "oh my god what is this glorious glorious glorious music!?" It's Battles. And we've all got Battles in our lives. Unfortunately not every song on the album is Atlas, which is really what stops this album from climbing higher in my charts. That one song can really only carry an album so far.
Battles - Atlas
Feist - The Reminder
I hate 1234 now ... thanks pop culture for killing the crap out of that one. That one death made the album a little harder to listen to. I wish it was back many months ago when the album initially leaked and I got a copy of it and I got to hear studio versions of all those lovely songs she'd been performing for so long (seemed like more than a year). The album is just ... oh ... wonderful. One of the best BSS side/solo projects to date ... its just that ... man ... pop culture killed it...
Feist - So Sorry
Feist - Sea Lion
Gorillaz - D-Sides
B-side collections are always tricky to rate, because I'm never quite sure about how to go about thinking about the songs. Should it stand alone, or should I think of it as a companion piece to the album the songs are B-sides to? I liked the remixes, and the B-sides were sometimes good enough to stand on their own, but the album as a whole would be a pretty piss poor excuse for a Gorillaz album, so I can't rate it too high. I liked it though.
Gorillaz - Rockit
Let's Go Sailing - The Chaos In Order
Cutesy indie pop straight from the playground of your heart. Simple and beautiful, no more no less.
Let's Go Sailing - We Get Along
A Fine Frenzy - One Cell In The Sea
Apparently everyone seems to know at least a little about A Fine Frenzy. All I know is her string section and backing band really give her songs life, but the would be nothing without Alison Sudol's smoky voice and wonderful piano playing
A Fine Frenzy - Near to You
Saturnine - Remembrance Of Things Past
Few artists can get away with basing a song or an album off of a Proust story, but to then do so and release it for free as the band's swan song ... now that takes some major sand. The sound is that of many different bands, drawing heavily from the Velvet Underground, Saturnine's album is good, despite it's tendency to, occasionally, drag on. I'm trying really hard not to bash the album for it's shortcomings, because it really is a brilliant album, but it's not perfect. Check it out. If anything, you can, after listening to the whole album, say you know a Proust story.
Saturnine - (Get the whole album here)
Earthless - Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky
It was only a matter of time before post rock bands reached back and explored the roots of popular rock and roll and extrapolated upon the sounds of 70's Rock. This is what Wolfmother would sound like if Wolfmother were Explosions in the Sky if Explosions in the Sky were Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The album has two 20 minute epic Post-Rock concoctions and a cover of a Groundhogs song that I can only assume is there so they can have something that might someday get radio play. None of this matters however. What matters is that this is one of the most competent 1970's Classic Rock Style Post Rock albums of all time. Never mind that it is probably the only album in that specific genre.
Earthless - Godspeed (edit)
Earthless - Cherry Red (Groundhogs Cover)
Architecture In Helsinki - Places Like This
There were a few albums that I heard this year that, when I heard them, I instantly thought that they sounded like they'd been out for years. That's not to say that I thought they were ripping off other people's sound, or that they were rehashing their own sound, but that it was instantly nostalgic. You hear it and go "oh yeah ... man ... that was such a good summer." Thing is it wasn't album of the year in whatever year I'm reminded of, despite it's nostalgic qualities, and that means it doesn't climb much higher on my list.
Architecture In Helsinki - Debbie
Sigh - Hangman's Hymn
Deep and brooding, these boys created quite the epic, with themes that I'm sure could only be unearthed by being sat down by the members of the band and having them explain it to you (mostly because the lyrics are gloriously unintelligible). Charging songs, every part brutal. While not the top of the pops, it is one of the most competent Death Metal albums I've heard in a while.
Sigh - Introitus/Kyrie
Like a mixture of about a hundred people (in my mind I can remember comparing her to Tom Waits, Casey Dienel, Nellie McKay, Norah Jones, and Nelly Furtado, and that's just off the top of my head), Jesca sings songs that seem to be lullabies conducted by sirens, lulling sailors into deep sleeps for malicious purposes. I like it, but the fact that her live show is a dreamy trip into a dark wonderland doesn't hurt.
Jesca Hoop - Silverscreen
Captain Dan & the Scurvy Crew - Rimes of the Hip Hop Mariners
Holy crap, I think I've just found my favorite sub-genre of Nerdcore Hip-Hop: Piratecore! I'm for effing real here. The beats are awesome, the lyrics are hilarious, and Cap'n D has the best voice for this.
Captain Dan & the Scurvy Crew - (sorry kids, I've just got a link to samples)
Loney, Dear - Loney, Noir
Like the Indie rock side project for the members of Sigur Rós, it's soothing and surprisingly upbeat sound fills the listener with hope and love. The lyrics are some of the most easily relate-able lyrics I've heard in while. Puts a smile on your face.
Loney, Dear - I Will Call You Lover Again
The Bastard Fairies - Memento Mori
Like the little sister of Rasputina, sounding like musicians who've recently moved to the old west playing Turn-of-the-Century-Londontown Street-Urchin Chamber-Music. Now add time travel in (transporting those musicians to today so they can use synthesizers and the like), and you have The Bastard Fairies. They talk about religion, love, and, over all, sex.
The Bastard Fairies - A Case Against Love
The Bastard Fairies - Whatever
Aqualung - Memory Man
one of the most evolved singer songwriter albums I've ever heard, save for the fact that a lot of songs sound kind of the same. Undeniably charming. Sounds kind of like some of the less produced Radiohead songs at times.
Aqualung - Vapour Trail
Battles - Mirrored
Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh dom.Buh domdomdomdomdomdomdom. When you hear them, you can't help yourself, all you can think is "oh my god what is this glorious glorious glorious music!?" It's Battles. And we've all got Battles in our lives. Unfortunately not every song on the album is Atlas, which is really what stops this album from climbing higher in my charts. That one song can really only carry an album so far.
Battles - Atlas
Feist - The Reminder
I hate 1234 now ... thanks pop culture for killing the crap out of that one. That one death made the album a little harder to listen to. I wish it was back many months ago when the album initially leaked and I got a copy of it and I got to hear studio versions of all those lovely songs she'd been performing for so long (seemed like more than a year). The album is just ... oh ... wonderful. One of the best BSS side/solo projects to date ... its just that ... man ... pop culture killed it...
Feist - So Sorry
Feist - Sea Lion
Gorillaz - D-Sides
B-side collections are always tricky to rate, because I'm never quite sure about how to go about thinking about the songs. Should it stand alone, or should I think of it as a companion piece to the album the songs are B-sides to? I liked the remixes, and the B-sides were sometimes good enough to stand on their own, but the album as a whole would be a pretty piss poor excuse for a Gorillaz album, so I can't rate it too high. I liked it though.
Gorillaz - Rockit
Let's Go Sailing - The Chaos In Order
Cutesy indie pop straight from the playground of your heart. Simple and beautiful, no more no less.
Let's Go Sailing - We Get Along
A Fine Frenzy - One Cell In The Sea
Apparently everyone seems to know at least a little about A Fine Frenzy. All I know is her string section and backing band really give her songs life, but the would be nothing without Alison Sudol's smoky voice and wonderful piano playing
A Fine Frenzy - Near to You
Saturnine - Remembrance Of Things Past
Few artists can get away with basing a song or an album off of a Proust story, but to then do so and release it for free as the band's swan song ... now that takes some major sand. The sound is that of many different bands, drawing heavily from the Velvet Underground, Saturnine's album is good, despite it's tendency to, occasionally, drag on. I'm trying really hard not to bash the album for it's shortcomings, because it really is a brilliant album, but it's not perfect. Check it out. If anything, you can, after listening to the whole album, say you know a Proust story.
Saturnine - (Get the whole album here)
Earthless - Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky
It was only a matter of time before post rock bands reached back and explored the roots of popular rock and roll and extrapolated upon the sounds of 70's Rock. This is what Wolfmother would sound like if Wolfmother were Explosions in the Sky if Explosions in the Sky were Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The album has two 20 minute epic Post-Rock concoctions and a cover of a Groundhogs song that I can only assume is there so they can have something that might someday get radio play. None of this matters however. What matters is that this is one of the most competent 1970's Classic Rock Style Post Rock albums of all time. Never mind that it is probably the only album in that specific genre.
Earthless - Godspeed (edit)
Earthless - Cherry Red (Groundhogs Cover)
Architecture In Helsinki - Places Like This
There were a few albums that I heard this year that, when I heard them, I instantly thought that they sounded like they'd been out for years. That's not to say that I thought they were ripping off other people's sound, or that they were rehashing their own sound, but that it was instantly nostalgic. You hear it and go "oh yeah ... man ... that was such a good summer." Thing is it wasn't album of the year in whatever year I'm reminded of, despite it's nostalgic qualities, and that means it doesn't climb much higher on my list.
Architecture In Helsinki - Debbie
Sigh - Hangman's Hymn
Deep and brooding, these boys created quite the epic, with themes that I'm sure could only be unearthed by being sat down by the members of the band and having them explain it to you (mostly because the lyrics are gloriously unintelligible). Charging songs, every part brutal. While not the top of the pops, it is one of the most competent Death Metal albums I've heard in a while.
Sigh - Introitus/Kyrie
'07's Music to Love More Than Music: Love, pt. 3
The Photo Atlas - No, Not Me, Never
Dance-Punk has never been so Local. ... wait ... what does that even mean? Okay, anyway... I've liked the Photo Atlas for a little while now. First time I saw them was about a year and a half ago, well after they formed a fairly large fan base and started to really explode. This is their first big release, and I'd have to say it's a damn good one, but it's certainly not the top of the pops. The boys show promise, and heart, and I think they'll be nationally recognized in no time.
The Photo Atlas - The Walls Have Eyes
Stars - Do You Trust Your Friends?
While the original songs were undeniably astonishing, these remixes don't let down, each one more depressing and beautiful than the last.
Stars - Your Ex-Lover Is Dead (Final Fantasy Remix)
Tech N9ne - Misery Loves Kompany
This shit is off the hook. Phat beats, hella awesome vocals spitting hot fire, hyper sexualized lyrics, what more can you ask for? Very little, because this album delivers.
Tech N9ne - Midwest Choppers
Vietnam - Vietnam
If Vietnam's music sounds like a trip back in time, that's because it basically is. This is Vietnam's second album ... in almost 30 years. The first one was released in 2004. They've been touring for almost all of those almost 30 years ... though "they" is relative, as there have been like 50 people in that band (check out their myspace page for that list). I've only been into them since 05, so I can't say I've been waiting to long for this new release, but I know some people out there are happy that Vietnam is finally making studio versions of all their songs.
Vietnam - Priest, Poet, & The Pig
Vietnam - Apocalypse
MC Frontalot - Secrets From The Future
Nerds have never felt so empowered as they do now that their brethren are getting up on stage and shoutin phat rhymes. MC Frontalot is one of the fore-runners of the Nerdcore revolution currently taking place (that's not to say MC Chris didn't have any effect on the scene ... hell he basically invented it). Frontalot keeps it as real as he knows how to keep it, spitten hot fire from his scrawny little frame straight to your ear holes.
MC Frontalot - I Hate Your Blog
MC Frontalot - You Got Asperger's
Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad
So, basically everyone ever loves this album. This alone set me against it from the start, but as I am trying to get away from thinking in terms of "popular is bad," I gave it a shot, and was happily surprised. There is basically only one bad song on the album, but other than that it's a solid little dance album, cliched rhythms rhythms beats and all. But if you're into this kind of music, you probably all ready knew that. If you're not, I recommend checking it out.
Rihanna - Rehab
Rihanna - Umbrella (Travis Barker Remix)
Manic Street Preachers - Send Away The Tigers
Manic Street Preachers get my "sounds like the children of Queen without trying to sound like the children of Queen" award (I'm looking at you Muse). They've been trying so hard to win me over for a long time (okay, I know they've not been focusing on me, I'm just saying that I've wanted to really like them for while, and that with this album, they've finally achieved, in my heart, success). They got the feel good, pessimistic theme shit down, and it's good to see some good coming from their music.
Manic Street Preachers - You Love Alone Is Not Enough
New Buffalo - Somewhere, Anywhere
Juvenile Chamber music accompanied by an amateurish singer ... but it's so honest and true that you can't help but be won over by it. It's simple and soft, but it's exactly what we need sometimes.
New Buffalo - It's Gotta Be Jean
Helloween - Gambling With The Devil
Gal dang it. I love Helloween. One of my absolute favorite bands of all time. So I loved this album purely because it's nice to hear something new by my boys, but I'll be damned if it doesn't just sound uninspired. I understand that the last album they came out with was destined to be epic and just a bitch to follow up, but that doesn't mean you're not supposed to try. Okay, that's a little harsh, but when I've come to expect Helloween-like success from other bands, when Helloween doesn't come through, I'm upset by this. I loved the album, no doubt about that, and I'll definitely listen to it more in the future, but ... well ... I hope that now they've got this out of their system they can focus on their next project.
Helloween - The Saints
Acacia Sears - Dialtones
Female version of Dashboard style whiny emo kid, except with a girl behind the guitar and the mic, it changes the feel of the music ... gives it a different spin. It doesn't hurt that the lyrics are rather ... intense shall we say. Give this shit a shot:
Acacia Sears - Chrysalis
The Horrors - Strange House
Throwback 70's punk from the only place that ought to be attempting it. these boys come to your town, throw black paint on you, only perform for a good 20 minutes, and don't play your favorite song by them. If they could get away with it, they'd just stand on stage and not play anything. Thankfully they record their songs.
The Horrors - Jack the Ripper
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
Back in elementary school my art teacher would play music for us, and, at the time, I thought it was pretty weird. Songs about limes and coconuts and others about buffaloes and bathtubs and so many others. I have a feeling that if I were to become an art teacher, I would put this album on as my kids worked on their projects. I think that, when I have kids, I'll put this on in the car or when we're making art.
Animal Collective - Fireworks
M.I.A. - KALA
Tribal Worldly Hip-Hop from across the pond suitable for any hip kid club. If you don't all ready know how hip this girl is, oops you missed out.
M.I.A. - 20 Dollar
Laura Veirs - Saltbreakers
Sweet, well spoken Laura Veirs has a magical way of weaving sounds together. Electro-Acoustic Singer/Songwriter Folk has never been so soft spoken and hopeful. After so many years, I think Laura Veirs finally has an album that she can be fully proud and excited about.
Laura Veirs and Saltbreakers - Don't Lose Yourself
Dance-Punk has never been so Local. ... wait ... what does that even mean? Okay, anyway... I've liked the Photo Atlas for a little while now. First time I saw them was about a year and a half ago, well after they formed a fairly large fan base and started to really explode. This is their first big release, and I'd have to say it's a damn good one, but it's certainly not the top of the pops. The boys show promise, and heart, and I think they'll be nationally recognized in no time.
The Photo Atlas - The Walls Have Eyes
Stars - Do You Trust Your Friends?
While the original songs were undeniably astonishing, these remixes don't let down, each one more depressing and beautiful than the last.
Stars - Your Ex-Lover Is Dead (Final Fantasy Remix)
Tech N9ne - Misery Loves Kompany
This shit is off the hook. Phat beats, hella awesome vocals spitting hot fire, hyper sexualized lyrics, what more can you ask for? Very little, because this album delivers.
Tech N9ne - Midwest Choppers
Vietnam - Vietnam
If Vietnam's music sounds like a trip back in time, that's because it basically is. This is Vietnam's second album ... in almost 30 years. The first one was released in 2004. They've been touring for almost all of those almost 30 years ... though "they" is relative, as there have been like 50 people in that band (check out their myspace page for that list). I've only been into them since 05, so I can't say I've been waiting to long for this new release, but I know some people out there are happy that Vietnam is finally making studio versions of all their songs.
Vietnam - Priest, Poet, & The Pig
Vietnam - Apocalypse
MC Frontalot - Secrets From The Future
Nerds have never felt so empowered as they do now that their brethren are getting up on stage and shoutin phat rhymes. MC Frontalot is one of the fore-runners of the Nerdcore revolution currently taking place (that's not to say MC Chris didn't have any effect on the scene ... hell he basically invented it). Frontalot keeps it as real as he knows how to keep it, spitten hot fire from his scrawny little frame straight to your ear holes.
MC Frontalot - I Hate Your Blog
MC Frontalot - You Got Asperger's
Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad
So, basically everyone ever loves this album. This alone set me against it from the start, but as I am trying to get away from thinking in terms of "popular is bad," I gave it a shot, and was happily surprised. There is basically only one bad song on the album, but other than that it's a solid little dance album, cliched rhythms rhythms beats and all. But if you're into this kind of music, you probably all ready knew that. If you're not, I recommend checking it out.
Rihanna - Rehab
Rihanna - Umbrella (Travis Barker Remix)
Manic Street Preachers - Send Away The Tigers
Manic Street Preachers get my "sounds like the children of Queen without trying to sound like the children of Queen" award (I'm looking at you Muse). They've been trying so hard to win me over for a long time (okay, I know they've not been focusing on me, I'm just saying that I've wanted to really like them for while, and that with this album, they've finally achieved, in my heart, success). They got the feel good, pessimistic theme shit down, and it's good to see some good coming from their music.
Manic Street Preachers - You Love Alone Is Not Enough
New Buffalo - Somewhere, Anywhere
Juvenile Chamber music accompanied by an amateurish singer ... but it's so honest and true that you can't help but be won over by it. It's simple and soft, but it's exactly what we need sometimes.
New Buffalo - It's Gotta Be Jean
Helloween - Gambling With The Devil
Gal dang it. I love Helloween. One of my absolute favorite bands of all time. So I loved this album purely because it's nice to hear something new by my boys, but I'll be damned if it doesn't just sound uninspired. I understand that the last album they came out with was destined to be epic and just a bitch to follow up, but that doesn't mean you're not supposed to try. Okay, that's a little harsh, but when I've come to expect Helloween-like success from other bands, when Helloween doesn't come through, I'm upset by this. I loved the album, no doubt about that, and I'll definitely listen to it more in the future, but ... well ... I hope that now they've got this out of their system they can focus on their next project.
Helloween - The Saints
Acacia Sears - Dialtones
Female version of Dashboard style whiny emo kid, except with a girl behind the guitar and the mic, it changes the feel of the music ... gives it a different spin. It doesn't hurt that the lyrics are rather ... intense shall we say. Give this shit a shot:
Acacia Sears - Chrysalis
The Horrors - Strange House
Throwback 70's punk from the only place that ought to be attempting it. these boys come to your town, throw black paint on you, only perform for a good 20 minutes, and don't play your favorite song by them. If they could get away with it, they'd just stand on stage and not play anything. Thankfully they record their songs.
The Horrors - Jack the Ripper
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
Back in elementary school my art teacher would play music for us, and, at the time, I thought it was pretty weird. Songs about limes and coconuts and others about buffaloes and bathtubs and so many others. I have a feeling that if I were to become an art teacher, I would put this album on as my kids worked on their projects. I think that, when I have kids, I'll put this on in the car or when we're making art.
Animal Collective - Fireworks
M.I.A. - KALA
Tribal Worldly Hip-Hop from across the pond suitable for any hip kid club. If you don't all ready know how hip this girl is, oops you missed out.
M.I.A. - 20 Dollar
Laura Veirs - Saltbreakers
Sweet, well spoken Laura Veirs has a magical way of weaving sounds together. Electro-Acoustic Singer/Songwriter Folk has never been so soft spoken and hopeful. After so many years, I think Laura Veirs finally has an album that she can be fully proud and excited about.
Laura Veirs and Saltbreakers - Don't Lose Yourself
'07's Music to Love More Than Music: Love, pt. 4
The Book of Knots - Traineater
This was another one of those albums that seemed entirely too schizophrenic at first, but then some consistencies shown through. At times channeling Real Gone-Era Tom Waits (popular era it seems), at other times Sludge Metal bands, and at still others, basically any post punk band that ever was. It's such a great album haha :).
The Book of Knots - Red Apple Boy
The Book of Knots - Pray
!!! (Chk Chk Chk) - Myth Takes
If you're having a dance party, pick this album up, because you need it. Some of the songs are a little too similar to the other songs, but they can all stand alone. Everything is funky and dancy and fun and everything you could ask for in a "put it on and party" album.
!!! (Chk Chk Chk) - Myth Takes
Trembling Blue Stars - The Last Holy Writer
Sad British Indie kids singing and playing sad songs with a musical hint of hope.
Trembling Blue Stars - Say Goodbye to the Sea
Two Gallants - Two Gallants
Uberfolk. The Appalachian mountains would be proud.
Two Gallants - reflections of the marionette
3oh!3 - 3oh!3
Hipster Crunk ... what can I say that I haven't all ready said? A-mazing.
3oh!3 - Dragon Backpack
CocoRosie - The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn
Hip Hip Hop from the fresh and funky duo that's been doing it for longer than most people know. It's as if Björk had a side project with they boys on anticon.
CocoRosie - Werewolf
Deer Tick - War Elephant
Grunge inspired CCR folk. Wonderfully written lyrics.
Deer Tick - These Old Shoes
Monofog - Runner
Monofog is Denver's answer to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but that's doesn't mean that they're not their own band. Their music is as smart as their lyrics. Every part is just genius. Thing is, this album just wasn't as crazy punk as their first one, so I didn't expect it, so I didn't like it as much. I have a feeling that I'll love it more and more as time goes on. This song, however, is my absolute favorite by them:
Monofog - Take My Flesh
Nina Nastasia & Jim White - You Follow Me
Nina Nastasia has always made wonderful music, but when you add in the drummer to Dirty Three ... magic. Jim White is one of the craziest drummers ever, and I can't get enough of it.
Nina Nastasia & Jim White - The Day I Would Bury You
Timbaland - Shock Value
It's like hip hop mixed with trace. If you listen to the radio or go really much of anywhere you've all ready heard songs off this album, but it's still damn good.
Timbaland - Way I Are
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Piano Rockish, and very Spoon like (duh). I dunno, it wasn't as amazing as their old stuff. It kind of felt like filler, but since Spoon's as amazing as they are, it's still not too bad.
Spoon - The Underdog
Straylight Run - The Needles The Space
Indie Pop Punk that is rather outrageously good, until the depressing lyrics seem to get a little daunting, but it's still good.
Straylight Run - Words We Say
Menomena - Friend And Foe
Awkward indie rock in an earthquake. It reminds me of a more organized Unicorns. I like the first one a lot, and this is only an improvement.
Menomena - The Pelican
This was another one of those albums that seemed entirely too schizophrenic at first, but then some consistencies shown through. At times channeling Real Gone-Era Tom Waits (popular era it seems), at other times Sludge Metal bands, and at still others, basically any post punk band that ever was. It's such a great album haha :).
The Book of Knots - Red Apple Boy
The Book of Knots - Pray
!!! (Chk Chk Chk) - Myth Takes
If you're having a dance party, pick this album up, because you need it. Some of the songs are a little too similar to the other songs, but they can all stand alone. Everything is funky and dancy and fun and everything you could ask for in a "put it on and party" album.
!!! (Chk Chk Chk) - Myth Takes
Trembling Blue Stars - The Last Holy Writer
Sad British Indie kids singing and playing sad songs with a musical hint of hope.
Trembling Blue Stars - Say Goodbye to the Sea
Two Gallants - Two Gallants
Uberfolk. The Appalachian mountains would be proud.
Two Gallants - reflections of the marionette
3oh!3 - 3oh!3
Hipster Crunk ... what can I say that I haven't all ready said? A-mazing.
3oh!3 - Dragon Backpack
CocoRosie - The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn
Hip Hip Hop from the fresh and funky duo that's been doing it for longer than most people know. It's as if Björk had a side project with they boys on anticon.
CocoRosie - Werewolf
Deer Tick - War Elephant
Grunge inspired CCR folk. Wonderfully written lyrics.
Deer Tick - These Old Shoes
Monofog - Runner
Monofog is Denver's answer to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but that's doesn't mean that they're not their own band. Their music is as smart as their lyrics. Every part is just genius. Thing is, this album just wasn't as crazy punk as their first one, so I didn't expect it, so I didn't like it as much. I have a feeling that I'll love it more and more as time goes on. This song, however, is my absolute favorite by them:
Monofog - Take My Flesh
Nina Nastasia & Jim White - You Follow Me
Nina Nastasia has always made wonderful music, but when you add in the drummer to Dirty Three ... magic. Jim White is one of the craziest drummers ever, and I can't get enough of it.
Nina Nastasia & Jim White - The Day I Would Bury You
Timbaland - Shock Value
It's like hip hop mixed with trace. If you listen to the radio or go really much of anywhere you've all ready heard songs off this album, but it's still damn good.
Timbaland - Way I Are
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Piano Rockish, and very Spoon like (duh). I dunno, it wasn't as amazing as their old stuff. It kind of felt like filler, but since Spoon's as amazing as they are, it's still not too bad.
Spoon - The Underdog
Straylight Run - The Needles The Space
Indie Pop Punk that is rather outrageously good, until the depressing lyrics seem to get a little daunting, but it's still good.
Straylight Run - Words We Say
Menomena - Friend And Foe
Awkward indie rock in an earthquake. It reminds me of a more organized Unicorns. I like the first one a lot, and this is only an improvement.
Menomena - The Pelican
'07's Music to Love More Than Music: Love, pt. 5
Okkervil River - the Stage Names
Will Sheff is a busy boy, with this and Shearwater both coming out with full lengths this year. His voice just makes you want to cry; it's always on the edge of cracking in a very Daniel Johnston way. The music is orchestrated so well you'd think they put in a cheat code. Sometimes the mixing is a little off, with certain things a little to loud, off setting the over all effect of the song, but it doesn't happen that often.
Okkervil River - John Allyn Smith Sails
Zookeeper - Becoming All Things
You know that drunk guy at that really ritzy party who thinks he can play piano? Well if he actually could, and got to the point where he performed ala drunken master, and played like that regularly, in a club, with a tambourine and horn section, then he would sound like Zookeeper ... on one song. He frequently channels Tom Waits, Colin Meloy, and Jeff Magnum ... to name a few. Feel good and get drunk to this album.
Zookeeper - Trumpets
Oh, Sleeper - When I am God
Like acts such as UnderOath and Zao, these Christian Hardcore boys know their business. It's straight up good.
Oh, Sleeper - We Are The Archers
Samael - Solar Soul
With the occasional flair of eastern influence, these Industrial Dark Metal magicians have crafted an album that revisits the style that made me love the band. Their 1999 album will probably be my favorite album by them for all time, but they were not far off base by making this new one sound like it was made by the same band that made Eternal. It's a roaring success.
Samael - Suspended Time
Pictureplane - Turqiouse Trail
Travis, one of Denver's Local Noise-Dance artists (who happens to go by the name Pictureplane), has released his second full album, and sweet and salty jesus is it peculiar. Best experienced live (but with earplugs, because I have never been to louder shows than Pictureplane shows), Pictureplane's music is some of the most bizarre mash-up dance music since Girl Talk, but more fun (imo).
Pictureplane - Day Glowwed
Pictureplane - Crystal Skull Caravan
Sigur Rós - Hvarf-Heim
Ghostly and haunting, as always. Since it's B-sides, I have trouble rating it higher than "love," but I really did love this release. The DVD has been watched like 3 times, and each time more magical than the last.
Sigur Rós - Salka
The Polyphonic Spree - The Fragile Army
The first Polyphonic Spree album sounded like a band made up of people who didn't really want to overstep each other, so no risks were taken, and songs came out short and sweet. The second one sounded like the 30 or so people got comfortable with each other, and comfortable with their boundaries, and figured out how to play together. this new one just sounds like 30 people trying to hard. It sounds like 30 people in a room playing 30 different instruments. But, the redeeming factor in all this is that they are, in fact, The Polyphonic Spree ... so they're just a bunch of fun. I heard the album before I saw them perform the songs, and if one thing in life is true, it's that the Polyphonic Spree can take songs so jumbled and over-thought that they're just difficult to get into and perform them with such pizazz that it doesn't even matter. but, that means that the album is a companion piece to their live show, which is kinda sucky. See them live!
The Polyphonic Spree - Section 23 (Get Up and Go)
Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation
Awkwardly one of my most popular blogs is about these fellas ... so ... I guess I did a pretty good job of giving them props all ready. I like 'em. there ya go.
Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation
Blonde Redhead - 23
Blonde Redhead has always given me the shivers when I listened to them, and this album is no different. It took me a while to warm up to, because I'm utterly in love with Misery is a Butterfly, but I eventually did, and I'm glad I gave it the second and third chance, because it's just as haunting and beautiful as most their other albums.
Blonde Redhead - The Dress
Dead Heart Bloom - Chelsea Diaries
Paraphrase from my old post about this album: "the album is undeniably good, it's not overwhelmingly interesting. One thing it does have is soul, and, somehow, that makes it a little bit more infectious each time you listen to it, and that the lyrics are damn good."
Dead Heart Bloom - Chelsea Song #2
The Electric Six - I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me From Being The Master
I love the Electric Six. Or ... rather, loved. But then they released a rather horrendous album, and I just got disappointed. So my hopes were not high for this release, seeming how it was only a year after the awful awful release and there is only one original member, But, I have to say, I was rather impressed. It's no Fire, and it's certainly no Señor Smoke, but they've redeemed Switzerland. Neo-Disco has never sounded so amazing ... if you don't count the band's first two Cd's (also not counting the Wildbunch albums)
The Electric Six - I Don't Like You
The Electric Six - Down at McDonaldz
Fall Out Boy - Infinity On High
These guys get so much flack but the plain fact is that these guys are really really good at making music that is poppy and rather likable. So what if they're the new N'SYNC (Hellogoodbye all ready took Backstreet Boys' title [which would be rather impressive {because the Backstreet Boys are actually still around} if it weren't for the fact that the Backstreet Boys are currently as relevant as Dr. Fünke’s 100% Natural Good-Time Family-Band Solution])? Okay, maybe that's a little harsh, especially since I really did like this album. It's a really solid album.
Fall Out Boy - Golden
Future Pilot AKA - Secrets From the Clockhouse
This is one of the most schizophrenic albums ... the first couple times. After a few listens you begin to see some cohesiveness. It would fit right in with 1960's hippie love-is-all-you-need music (love is a constant theme throughout the album). Everyone once and a while they have this Bilbo Baggins sounding M-er F-er talking about peculiar things, things that they sometimes tie in, and other times just let hang. It's a bizarre album to say the least.
Future Pilot AKA - First Light
Future Pilot AKA - It's In The Heart Of Everyone
Will Sheff is a busy boy, with this and Shearwater both coming out with full lengths this year. His voice just makes you want to cry; it's always on the edge of cracking in a very Daniel Johnston way. The music is orchestrated so well you'd think they put in a cheat code. Sometimes the mixing is a little off, with certain things a little to loud, off setting the over all effect of the song, but it doesn't happen that often.
Okkervil River - John Allyn Smith Sails
Zookeeper - Becoming All Things
You know that drunk guy at that really ritzy party who thinks he can play piano? Well if he actually could, and got to the point where he performed ala drunken master, and played like that regularly, in a club, with a tambourine and horn section, then he would sound like Zookeeper ... on one song. He frequently channels Tom Waits, Colin Meloy, and Jeff Magnum ... to name a few. Feel good and get drunk to this album.
Zookeeper - Trumpets
Oh, Sleeper - When I am God
Like acts such as UnderOath and Zao, these Christian Hardcore boys know their business. It's straight up good.
Oh, Sleeper - We Are The Archers
Samael - Solar Soul
With the occasional flair of eastern influence, these Industrial Dark Metal magicians have crafted an album that revisits the style that made me love the band. Their 1999 album will probably be my favorite album by them for all time, but they were not far off base by making this new one sound like it was made by the same band that made Eternal. It's a roaring success.
Samael - Suspended Time
Pictureplane - Turqiouse Trail
Travis, one of Denver's Local Noise-Dance artists (who happens to go by the name Pictureplane), has released his second full album, and sweet and salty jesus is it peculiar. Best experienced live (but with earplugs, because I have never been to louder shows than Pictureplane shows), Pictureplane's music is some of the most bizarre mash-up dance music since Girl Talk, but more fun (imo).
Pictureplane - Day Glowwed
Pictureplane - Crystal Skull Caravan
Sigur Rós - Hvarf-Heim
Ghostly and haunting, as always. Since it's B-sides, I have trouble rating it higher than "love," but I really did love this release. The DVD has been watched like 3 times, and each time more magical than the last.
Sigur Rós - Salka
The Polyphonic Spree - The Fragile Army
The first Polyphonic Spree album sounded like a band made up of people who didn't really want to overstep each other, so no risks were taken, and songs came out short and sweet. The second one sounded like the 30 or so people got comfortable with each other, and comfortable with their boundaries, and figured out how to play together. this new one just sounds like 30 people trying to hard. It sounds like 30 people in a room playing 30 different instruments. But, the redeeming factor in all this is that they are, in fact, The Polyphonic Spree ... so they're just a bunch of fun. I heard the album before I saw them perform the songs, and if one thing in life is true, it's that the Polyphonic Spree can take songs so jumbled and over-thought that they're just difficult to get into and perform them with such pizazz that it doesn't even matter. but, that means that the album is a companion piece to their live show, which is kinda sucky. See them live!
The Polyphonic Spree - Section 23 (Get Up and Go)
Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation
Awkwardly one of my most popular blogs is about these fellas ... so ... I guess I did a pretty good job of giving them props all ready. I like 'em. there ya go.
Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation
Blonde Redhead - 23
Blonde Redhead has always given me the shivers when I listened to them, and this album is no different. It took me a while to warm up to, because I'm utterly in love with Misery is a Butterfly, but I eventually did, and I'm glad I gave it the second and third chance, because it's just as haunting and beautiful as most their other albums.
Blonde Redhead - The Dress
Dead Heart Bloom - Chelsea Diaries
Paraphrase from my old post about this album: "the album is undeniably good, it's not overwhelmingly interesting. One thing it does have is soul, and, somehow, that makes it a little bit more infectious each time you listen to it, and that the lyrics are damn good."
Dead Heart Bloom - Chelsea Song #2
The Electric Six - I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me From Being The Master
I love the Electric Six. Or ... rather, loved. But then they released a rather horrendous album, and I just got disappointed. So my hopes were not high for this release, seeming how it was only a year after the awful awful release and there is only one original member, But, I have to say, I was rather impressed. It's no Fire, and it's certainly no Señor Smoke, but they've redeemed Switzerland. Neo-Disco has never sounded so amazing ... if you don't count the band's first two Cd's (also not counting the Wildbunch albums)
The Electric Six - I Don't Like You
The Electric Six - Down at McDonaldz
Fall Out Boy - Infinity On High
These guys get so much flack but the plain fact is that these guys are really really good at making music that is poppy and rather likable. So what if they're the new N'SYNC (Hellogoodbye all ready took Backstreet Boys' title [which would be rather impressive {because the Backstreet Boys are actually still around} if it weren't for the fact that the Backstreet Boys are currently as relevant as Dr. Fünke’s 100% Natural Good-Time Family-Band Solution])? Okay, maybe that's a little harsh, especially since I really did like this album. It's a really solid album.
Fall Out Boy - Golden
Future Pilot AKA - Secrets From the Clockhouse
This is one of the most schizophrenic albums ... the first couple times. After a few listens you begin to see some cohesiveness. It would fit right in with 1960's hippie love-is-all-you-need music (love is a constant theme throughout the album). Everyone once and a while they have this Bilbo Baggins sounding M-er F-er talking about peculiar things, things that they sometimes tie in, and other times just let hang. It's a bizarre album to say the least.
Future Pilot AKA - First Light
Future Pilot AKA - It's In The Heart Of Everyone
'07's Music to Love More Than Music: Love, pt. 6
Kevin Michael - Kevin Michael
Cheesy at times, but always groovy, sexy, and pleasing like you don't even know.
Kevin Michael - We All Want the Same Thing
Pterodactyl - Pterodactyl
This is the kind of band that makes me upset when they're called "Experimental," because, to me, it just sounds like a couple guys playing an awkward kind of punk, tweaking minor things, but since most people don't do that, they're considered "experimental," and will, thus, be looked down upon by people "not into that." Whatev, this album was pretty great. One of the best drummers I've heard in a while.
Pterodactyl - Polio
Shout Out Louds - Out Ill Wills
Sounded awkwardly like the Cure, but, hey it's better than anything the Cure has done in a while, so I'm strangely okay with that
Shout Out Louds - You Are Dreaming
Hello Stranger - Hello Stranger
Adorable indie pop with some rather depressing lyrics.
Hello Stranger - Plain and Simple
theSTART - Ciao, Baby
Ex Nu-metal rocker Aimee Echo busting out synth heavy 80's retro indie rock.
theSTART - Runaway
Babyshambles - Shotter's Nation
Good old punk rock spin-offs, you'll never let us down. It's no Libertines, but this spin off is no Rhoda.
Babyshambles - Side Of The Road
The Bowerbirds - Hymns for a Dark Horse
It was soft and sweet and full of hope and loveliness, but I still think that they could have a fuller sound with 3 people in the band
The Bowerbirds - Hooves
The Burial - Untrue
Dark, deep, brooding, bassy, and unreal. It's minimalist without feeling remotely minimal. It's techno for swamps in caves.
The Burial - Archangel
Calvin Harris - I Created Disco
He did, you know. He even has the song to prove it:
Calvin Harris - I Created Disco
Daft Punk - Alive 2007
What could possibly be better than a mash up album of Daft Punk by Daft Punk? few things. Put this album on after Myth Takes at you dance party.
Daft Punk - Prime Time Of Your Life/Brainwasher/Rollin 'and Scratchin'/Alive
Dr. Dog - We All Belong
Beatles style piano rock with a hint of Daniel Johnston, this bonus track being the most Johnston-ish.
Dr. Dog - I Hope That There's Love
The Good, the Bad, and the Queen - The Good, the Bad, and the Queen
Damon Albarn is a musician who knows not only what sounds good, but what people want. I have a feeling this project is a little bit before it's time, because it hasn't reached major public recognition, but if the second album is anything like this one (but, I suppose, different enough to be distinguishable from this one. Music is tricky, but Damon seems to have the hang of it).
The Good, the Bad, and the Queen - A Soldier's Tale
The One AM Radio - This Too Will Pass
Sweet, soul shattering folk.
The One AM Radio - In The Time We've Got
Cheesy at times, but always groovy, sexy, and pleasing like you don't even know.
Kevin Michael - We All Want the Same Thing
Pterodactyl - Pterodactyl
This is the kind of band that makes me upset when they're called "Experimental," because, to me, it just sounds like a couple guys playing an awkward kind of punk, tweaking minor things, but since most people don't do that, they're considered "experimental," and will, thus, be looked down upon by people "not into that." Whatev, this album was pretty great. One of the best drummers I've heard in a while.
Pterodactyl - Polio
Shout Out Louds - Out Ill Wills
Sounded awkwardly like the Cure, but, hey it's better than anything the Cure has done in a while, so I'm strangely okay with that
Shout Out Louds - You Are Dreaming
Hello Stranger - Hello Stranger
Adorable indie pop with some rather depressing lyrics.
Hello Stranger - Plain and Simple
theSTART - Ciao, Baby
Ex Nu-metal rocker Aimee Echo busting out synth heavy 80's retro indie rock.
theSTART - Runaway
Babyshambles - Shotter's Nation
Good old punk rock spin-offs, you'll never let us down. It's no Libertines, but this spin off is no Rhoda.
Babyshambles - Side Of The Road
The Bowerbirds - Hymns for a Dark Horse
It was soft and sweet and full of hope and loveliness, but I still think that they could have a fuller sound with 3 people in the band
The Bowerbirds - Hooves
The Burial - Untrue
Dark, deep, brooding, bassy, and unreal. It's minimalist without feeling remotely minimal. It's techno for swamps in caves.
The Burial - Archangel
Calvin Harris - I Created Disco
He did, you know. He even has the song to prove it:
Calvin Harris - I Created Disco
Daft Punk - Alive 2007
What could possibly be better than a mash up album of Daft Punk by Daft Punk? few things. Put this album on after Myth Takes at you dance party.
Daft Punk - Prime Time Of Your Life/Brainwasher/Rollin 'and Scratchin'/Alive
Dr. Dog - We All Belong
Beatles style piano rock with a hint of Daniel Johnston, this bonus track being the most Johnston-ish.
Dr. Dog - I Hope That There's Love
The Good, the Bad, and the Queen - The Good, the Bad, and the Queen
Damon Albarn is a musician who knows not only what sounds good, but what people want. I have a feeling this project is a little bit before it's time, because it hasn't reached major public recognition, but if the second album is anything like this one (but, I suppose, different enough to be distinguishable from this one. Music is tricky, but Damon seems to have the hang of it).
The Good, the Bad, and the Queen - A Soldier's Tale
The One AM Radio - This Too Will Pass
Sweet, soul shattering folk.
The One AM Radio - In The Time We've Got
'07's Music to Love More Than Music: Love, pt. 7
Lifesavas - Gutterfly
Man this is one sick freaking hip hop album. I hate that I have very little to say about hip hop albums other than phat funky beats and and fire hot rhymes being spit by smooth and or rough vocals ... but these cats know what their doing.
Lifesavas - Gutterfly
Simone White - I Am The Man
Simone White - I Didn't Have A Summer Romance
Simone White - The Beep Beep Song
Simone White - The American War
Monkey Swallows the Universe - The Casket Letters
Cute alt country abound with themes of loneliness and love.
Monkey Swallows the Universe - Bloodline
Say Anything - In Defense of the Genre
Pop Punk triumph (though I think JJ might disagree with the Pop Punk part). One of the most intelligent lyricists in music, not just Pop Punk. The vocals always seem to stick out a lot with this band, which puts me off a little, but everything other than that is pretty amazing.
Say Anything - No Soul
Yoko Ono - Yes, I'm a Witch
What could possibly be better than some of the weirder bands out there covering one of the weirder musicians.
Blood Brothers - Yes I'm a Witch (Yoko Ono Cover)
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Music at it's best it seems...
Panda Bear - Search For Delicious
Peter Bjorn & John - Writer's Block
There's a lot of talk about these guys, and, simply, that's because they've composed a really well thought out album with many diverse sounds but enough of the familiar sounds. It's just a really smart album.
Peter Bjorn & John - Lets Call It Off
Porlolo - Storm and Season
Creepy at times, but always sweet sounding, This alt country folk sound th atPorlolo has cooked up is sure to catch the ears of a few people out there ... once they get a wider release.
Porlolo - Saw Your Head
Rasputina - Oh Perilous World
Gosh these cats are crazy. The kings and queens of Turn-of-the-Century-Londontown Street-Urchin Metal. It's awkward on so many levels, but that's why I love it ... that and these cats know how to play their instruments well.
Rasputina - 1816, The Year Without a Summer
Rasputina - In Old Yellowcake
Saul Williams - The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!
Again with the "I have very little to say about how awesome hip hop albums are" thing. This album is just crazy amazing. I guess all I have to say is "Nothing!" (inside joke, listen to the song and you'll get it)
Saul Williams - NiggyTardust
Shitdisco - Kingdom of Dear
Funk-infused Dance Punk with as much ego as the Electric Six and the Hives.
Shitdisco - I Know Kung Fu
Man this is one sick freaking hip hop album. I hate that I have very little to say about hip hop albums other than phat funky beats and and fire hot rhymes being spit by smooth and or rough vocals ... but these cats know what their doing.
Lifesavas - Gutterfly
Simone White - I Am The Man
Simone White - I Didn't Have A Summer Romance
Simone White - The Beep Beep Song
Simone White - The American War
Monkey Swallows the Universe - The Casket Letters
Cute alt country abound with themes of loneliness and love.
Monkey Swallows the Universe - Bloodline
Say Anything - In Defense of the Genre
Pop Punk triumph (though I think JJ might disagree with the Pop Punk part). One of the most intelligent lyricists in music, not just Pop Punk. The vocals always seem to stick out a lot with this band, which puts me off a little, but everything other than that is pretty amazing.
Say Anything - No Soul
Yoko Ono - Yes, I'm a Witch
What could possibly be better than some of the weirder bands out there covering one of the weirder musicians.
Blood Brothers - Yes I'm a Witch (Yoko Ono Cover)
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Music at it's best it seems...
Panda Bear - Search For Delicious
Peter Bjorn & John - Writer's Block
There's a lot of talk about these guys, and, simply, that's because they've composed a really well thought out album with many diverse sounds but enough of the familiar sounds. It's just a really smart album.
Peter Bjorn & John - Lets Call It Off
Porlolo - Storm and Season
Creepy at times, but always sweet sounding, This alt country folk sound th atPorlolo has cooked up is sure to catch the ears of a few people out there ... once they get a wider release.
Porlolo - Saw Your Head
Rasputina - Oh Perilous World
Gosh these cats are crazy. The kings and queens of Turn-of-the-Century-Londontown Street-Urchin Metal. It's awkward on so many levels, but that's why I love it ... that and these cats know how to play their instruments well.
Rasputina - 1816, The Year Without a Summer
Rasputina - In Old Yellowcake
Saul Williams - The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!
Again with the "I have very little to say about how awesome hip hop albums are" thing. This album is just crazy amazing. I guess all I have to say is "Nothing!" (inside joke, listen to the song and you'll get it)
Saul Williams - NiggyTardust
Shitdisco - Kingdom of Dear
Funk-infused Dance Punk with as much ego as the Electric Six and the Hives.
Shitdisco - I Know Kung Fu
'07's Music to Love More Than Music: Love, pt. 8
Wolves In the Throne Room - Two Hunters
It's ambient-ish, it's horribly well composed, it's all the rage ... ladies and gentlemen, I give you Post Black Metal:
Wolves In the Throne Room - Vastness and Sorrow
The Snake The Cross The Crown - Cotton Teeth
Mellow melodic alt. country/folk rock. It puts to mind images of wintery Nebraskan fields in the old west times.
The Snake The Cross The Crown - Maps
The Bravery - The Sun and the Moon
I do love these boys. Ever since Honest Mistake came out I was hooked. They keep up the "intensity" they had in the first album, keeping things mellow and chill at times, but always brimming with energy, even if it is a little reserved at times. Love it.
The Bravery - Every Word Is A Knife In My Ear
The Great Lakes Myth Society - Compass Rose Bouquet
A Kind of hopeful that is scary for other people to witness. It almost like what Irish bluegrass folk musicians would write if they just heard about the concept of punk, without actually hearing what punk is. Orchestral at times, always a treat.
The Great Lakes Myth Society - Queen of the Barley Fool
It's ambient-ish, it's horribly well composed, it's all the rage ... ladies and gentlemen, I give you Post Black Metal:
Wolves In the Throne Room - Vastness and Sorrow
The Snake The Cross The Crown - Cotton Teeth
Mellow melodic alt. country/folk rock. It puts to mind images of wintery Nebraskan fields in the old west times.
The Snake The Cross The Crown - Maps
The Bravery - The Sun and the Moon
I do love these boys. Ever since Honest Mistake came out I was hooked. They keep up the "intensity" they had in the first album, keeping things mellow and chill at times, but always brimming with energy, even if it is a little reserved at times. Love it.
The Bravery - Every Word Is A Knife In My Ear
The Great Lakes Myth Society - Compass Rose Bouquet
A Kind of hopeful that is scary for other people to witness. It almost like what Irish bluegrass folk musicians would write if they just heard about the concept of punk, without actually hearing what punk is. Orchestral at times, always a treat.
The Great Lakes Myth Society - Queen of the Barley Fool
'07's Music to Love More Than Music: Love More, pt. 1
hThis is Part 3 of 4 of my best of. These are albums that I'll still be listening to well into next year.
Love More (<3)
Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
Who was honestly surprised by this album? Andrew Bird can do no wrong.
Andrew Bird - Imitosis
Explosions In The Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
With a sound almost bigger than God(speed You! Black Emperor), this Texan quartet has been recording music since the early 00's, and has basically been doing it right since they started in the late 90's. There are few bands that can claim the majestic feel that EIS consistently creates, orchestrating songs that should be remembered forever (but, of course, will not, thanks to music ADD [which I admit I too take part in]). These songs make me want to cry. They make me want to sit around in a field and think about existence. The charging crescendos make me want to get up and shake. You can feel your synapses firing when you listen to Explosions In the Sky's new album.
Explosions In The Sky - The Birth and Death of the Day
CAKE - B-Sides and Rarities
CAKE was one of my first favorite bands, along side The Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers, and, like the others, I've continued to be very fond of them. That kind of makes me worry that if they ever do put out a shit record, I'll hype it to no end, purely because I get all nostalgic about it. I sure hope that's not what I'm doing here, because I really really liked this B-sides album. CAKE is in true form on this album, which makes it even harder to talk about. To me, CAKE is the kind of band that is so good, you don't notice them, and you don't notice why they're so good, because they don't have to shove it in your face with over the top solos or ... well you get the point: CAKE is good, inventive, and one of my favorite bands, so there's no way I'd leave them off this list.
CAKE - Strangers in the Night
Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
Devendra Banhart is the Led Zeppelin of Freak Folk. That's all you need to know.
Devendra Banhart - Seahorse
The National - Boxer
How is it that The National hasn't been elected president of the indie community? These fellas make making music look like a breeze, like superman saving a bus falling from a cliff; everyone else just stands in awe while great feats are performed with little effort. It's the sort of album that you accidentally start listening to at like 2AM and keep saying "okay, just 1 more song" and then 3AM rolls around, and you're wondering if you really do want to go to work tomorrow, or if listening to the album again is more important. The end of every song leaves you sad, because you didn't want the song to end, but then you get filled with hope and joy, because the next song is only a few seconds of silence away! :). Haha, anyway, it was great, and if you don't all ready know that ... well then I feel bad, so here's a great tune off of that great album:
The National - Brainy
Bishop Allen - The Broken String
This album is an Indie Triumph, straight up, flat out, no joke. It's almost everything I could ask for from Indie Orchestral Pop. I say almost because, really, every song on this album has all ready been released. This album is basically a "Best of" of their 2006 EPs, taking the best songs off those albums, rerecording them, and repackaging them. that is the only thing that kept them off of the top tier of this list.
Bishop Allen - Rain
Bishop Allen - The News From Your Bed
Tegan and Sara - The Con
At times similar to many others, until you realize that the people they sound like (not counting the classic bands) probably sound the way they do because of Tegan and Sara. Tegan and Sara have rarely put out music that they don't seem to be putting their entire being into, and this release is no different. These girls are just trying to figure out the world, just like the rest of us, and that is one of the most refreshing things to know.
Tegan and Sara - Relief Next to Me
Tegan and Sara - Back In Your Head
Phosphorescent - Pride
Like a mixture of the Lion King Soundtrack and 1/2 speed Appalachian folk for people who are slowly overdosing on heroine. The music is haunting and beautiful, scary and soothing. It's an album to die to.
Phosphorescent - My Dove, My Lamb
Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
Resident crooner Zach Condon comes back with another Balkan gypsy-inspired worldly French indie pop album that with whisk you away to another time and place. My buddy Casey once said (again, not verbatim) that Beirut's music reminds him of Hemingway (i.e. the stories he wrote and the time he lived in and just everything Hemingway-ish), something I whole heartedly agree with. There are few better things than listening to this album and reading The West Bank Gang in the early after noon.
Beirut - Guyamas Sonora
Kittie - Funeral For Yesterday
Mercedes Lander is the reason I own a drum set. For some reason Kittie just really really gets to me, and everything they released up until this album had always been really promising, but never really delivered. Spit was good fun, though not all that competent, Oracle showed them attempting to experiment a bit (and, honestly, failing to produce a fun album), and Until The End showed fans that there was still something there, but Until The End just scratched the surface. What Kittie really ... really needed was just the right combination of people. And it finally happened. Trish Doan and Tara McLeod couldn't have arrived at a better time. Every single aspect of this album titillates and excites me. It's flipping metal. I honestly don't think they'll ever top it.
Kittie - Funeral For Yesterday
Kittie - Breathe
Cheeseburger - Cheeseburger
Balls to the wall, "we're gonna rock you til you're dead" straight up 80's manliness rock, tongue firmly in cheek. These boys came to drink your beer (but they'll return the favor when you come over to their place next friday), hit on your female friends (but not the one you've called squirrel on, because that's not cool), and, guess what? They invited Mike. That's right, they know Mike, and they got him to come to your party. And they just introduced you.
Cheeseburger - Let The Good Times Roll
Cheeseburger - Hot Streets (this really is off their album, not the radio)
Tilly and the Wall - Bottoms of the Barrels
Their first album was a little monotonous, with a few stand out tracks. This album, conversely, is just a blast all the way through. C-64 style synths + tap shoes in place of drums = cutest music eva. It's summertime all the time with Tilly and the Wall. I fell down the stairs into their arms.
Tilly and the Wall - Bad Education
Tilly and the Wall - Sing Songs Along
Love More (<3)
Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
Who was honestly surprised by this album? Andrew Bird can do no wrong.
Andrew Bird - Imitosis
Explosions In The Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
With a sound almost bigger than God(speed You! Black Emperor), this Texan quartet has been recording music since the early 00's, and has basically been doing it right since they started in the late 90's. There are few bands that can claim the majestic feel that EIS consistently creates, orchestrating songs that should be remembered forever (but, of course, will not, thanks to music ADD [which I admit I too take part in]). These songs make me want to cry. They make me want to sit around in a field and think about existence. The charging crescendos make me want to get up and shake. You can feel your synapses firing when you listen to Explosions In the Sky's new album.
Explosions In The Sky - The Birth and Death of the Day
CAKE - B-Sides and Rarities
CAKE was one of my first favorite bands, along side The Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers, and, like the others, I've continued to be very fond of them. That kind of makes me worry that if they ever do put out a shit record, I'll hype it to no end, purely because I get all nostalgic about it. I sure hope that's not what I'm doing here, because I really really liked this B-sides album. CAKE is in true form on this album, which makes it even harder to talk about. To me, CAKE is the kind of band that is so good, you don't notice them, and you don't notice why they're so good, because they don't have to shove it in your face with over the top solos or ... well you get the point: CAKE is good, inventive, and one of my favorite bands, so there's no way I'd leave them off this list.
CAKE - Strangers in the Night
Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
Devendra Banhart is the Led Zeppelin of Freak Folk. That's all you need to know.
Devendra Banhart - Seahorse
The National - Boxer
How is it that The National hasn't been elected president of the indie community? These fellas make making music look like a breeze, like superman saving a bus falling from a cliff; everyone else just stands in awe while great feats are performed with little effort. It's the sort of album that you accidentally start listening to at like 2AM and keep saying "okay, just 1 more song" and then 3AM rolls around, and you're wondering if you really do want to go to work tomorrow, or if listening to the album again is more important. The end of every song leaves you sad, because you didn't want the song to end, but then you get filled with hope and joy, because the next song is only a few seconds of silence away! :). Haha, anyway, it was great, and if you don't all ready know that ... well then I feel bad, so here's a great tune off of that great album:
The National - Brainy
Bishop Allen - The Broken String
This album is an Indie Triumph, straight up, flat out, no joke. It's almost everything I could ask for from Indie Orchestral Pop. I say almost because, really, every song on this album has all ready been released. This album is basically a "Best of" of their 2006 EPs, taking the best songs off those albums, rerecording them, and repackaging them. that is the only thing that kept them off of the top tier of this list.
Bishop Allen - Rain
Bishop Allen - The News From Your Bed
Tegan and Sara - The Con
At times similar to many others, until you realize that the people they sound like (not counting the classic bands) probably sound the way they do because of Tegan and Sara. Tegan and Sara have rarely put out music that they don't seem to be putting their entire being into, and this release is no different. These girls are just trying to figure out the world, just like the rest of us, and that is one of the most refreshing things to know.
Tegan and Sara - Relief Next to Me
Tegan and Sara - Back In Your Head
Phosphorescent - Pride
Like a mixture of the Lion King Soundtrack and 1/2 speed Appalachian folk for people who are slowly overdosing on heroine. The music is haunting and beautiful, scary and soothing. It's an album to die to.
Phosphorescent - My Dove, My Lamb
Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
Resident crooner Zach Condon comes back with another Balkan gypsy-inspired worldly French indie pop album that with whisk you away to another time and place. My buddy Casey once said (again, not verbatim) that Beirut's music reminds him of Hemingway (i.e. the stories he wrote and the time he lived in and just everything Hemingway-ish), something I whole heartedly agree with. There are few better things than listening to this album and reading The West Bank Gang in the early after noon.
Beirut - Guyamas Sonora
Kittie - Funeral For Yesterday
Mercedes Lander is the reason I own a drum set. For some reason Kittie just really really gets to me, and everything they released up until this album had always been really promising, but never really delivered. Spit was good fun, though not all that competent, Oracle showed them attempting to experiment a bit (and, honestly, failing to produce a fun album), and Until The End showed fans that there was still something there, but Until The End just scratched the surface. What Kittie really ... really needed was just the right combination of people. And it finally happened. Trish Doan and Tara McLeod couldn't have arrived at a better time. Every single aspect of this album titillates and excites me. It's flipping metal. I honestly don't think they'll ever top it.
Kittie - Funeral For Yesterday
Kittie - Breathe
Cheeseburger - Cheeseburger
Balls to the wall, "we're gonna rock you til you're dead" straight up 80's manliness rock, tongue firmly in cheek. These boys came to drink your beer (but they'll return the favor when you come over to their place next friday), hit on your female friends (but not the one you've called squirrel on, because that's not cool), and, guess what? They invited Mike. That's right, they know Mike, and they got him to come to your party. And they just introduced you.
Cheeseburger - Let The Good Times Roll
Cheeseburger - Hot Streets (this really is off their album, not the radio)
Tilly and the Wall - Bottoms of the Barrels
Their first album was a little monotonous, with a few stand out tracks. This album, conversely, is just a blast all the way through. C-64 style synths + tap shoes in place of drums = cutest music eva. It's summertime all the time with Tilly and the Wall. I fell down the stairs into their arms.
Tilly and the Wall - Bad Education
Tilly and the Wall - Sing Songs Along
'07's Music to Love More Than Music: Love More, pt. 2
The Cinematic Orchestra - Ma Fleur
This album hit me hard for some reason. It's just gorgeous. It's mellow jazz orchestral feeling is life affirming ... but only about half the time. Honestly the best songs are the ones where they've got guest singers singing their souls out ala Nina Simone.
The Cinematic Orchestra - Familiar Ground
Against Me! - New Wave
Against Me! get so much shit for signing to a major label, and that's wrong, but they've only gotten more talented, more intelligent, and more influential, all of which are good things, so why the shit? Are they less punk? I suppose that depends on your definition of punk. Are they less cool? well that really shouldn't matter as far as music goes. Whatever, Against Me! is on top of their game, writing some of the most intelligent songs of their career, and good for them.
Against Me! - Borne On The FM Waves Of The Heart (featuring Tegan Quin)
O'Death - Head Home
Listening to O'Death (not O Death or Of Death) is like going to a hoe-down hosted by Real Gone era Tom Waits covering Roscoe Holcomb songs in a house on fire in a twister. the lyrics are country as hell, the vocals make the Appalachian mountains quake, the guitars and banjos and washboards and everything else this ensemble seems to be playing all sound like they were found in a dumpster, but the fact that some talented Mer-Fers are playing said junk instruments make the whole thing sound straight up gorgeous.
O'Death - Down to Rest
O'Death -Travelin' Man
Dethklok - The Dethalbum
Who would have thought that nerdy Adult Swim animators could actually be fairly competent musicians? Well either way, it turns out that Brendon Small is on top of his shit. I haven't really been the most loyal of metal fans these past couple of years, so when I listen to metal albums, they really have to strike me, and this album destroys. I loved the show, but this album is good enough to stand on it's own. It's by far one of the best metal albums to be released in the last 10 years. Every aspect of every song is so well thought out, well produced and well performed. I honestly only have one complaint about the album, and that's that "Nathan's" vocals on Go Into The Water are mixed a little high. Other than that, I'd say it's the most solid metal album I've heard in a LONG time.
Dethklok - Awaken
Dethklok - Murdertrain A Comin
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
This album was the album that first put the idea of "instant nostalgia" in my mind. When I played the first track the first time and went to do things around the room I found my self absently mindedly attempting to sing along but not being able to find the words ... then it dawned on me what was happening, and that this was the first time I'd heard the album. It's groovy like a disco beat, soothing like a lounge hit, and hip as the hippest kids on the block. Every song sounds like a song you and your imaginary friend wrote as a child.
Of Montreal - Suffer For Fashion
Le Loup - The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly
So, as it turns out, it's the end of the world, and all this shit is going to go down in the bayou. That's feeling you get when you listen to Le Loup's debut. Poetic doesn't even begin to describe how triumphant this album is. At times it's like Sufjan Stevens, but it's so unique in so many ways that the infrequent similarities pretty much stop there. Get out your banjos and your looper pedals, it's gonna be one heck of a night.
Le Loup - breathing rapture
Le Loup - i had a dream i died.
Le Loup - we are gods! we are wolves!
Oliver Future - Pax Futura
I think the thing that initially drew me in was the fact that lead singer sounds a whole of a lot like David Strackany, but what held me was the incredibly peculiar lyrics, funky baselines, and charing high pitched guitars, coupled with one heck of a talented drummer. First and foremost, however, are the lyrics. "Was I crazy, or had the rest of the world gone sane?" "Will you grab your loved ones or just change the channel?" "Look into your heart. What heart are you talkin' 'bout?" The list, as you can probably imagine, goes on and on from there.
Oliver Future - What Heart?
Oliver Future - The Big Sleep
Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings
I know for a fact that the only reason I love this album is because Dan Deacon is the best show in town. I've seen him 3 times now, and each of those shows hold 3 of the positions in my top 4 shows ever. I don't really need to rehash what it's like to go to his shows, just see the back catalog. The album is like a rabbit on coke, expect probably a whole lot more fun and a whole heck of a lot less dangerous ... and... well ... honestly, nothing like a rabbit on coke. Electro-spazy dance music straight from your c-64's child (being controlled by Johnny-5 nonetheless) to your ear.
Dan Deacon - Wham City!
Dan Deacon - Snake Mistakes
Pigeon Detectives - Wait For Me
So, I'm really big into this English Dance Pop Punk thing that seems to be going on right now. Pigeon Detectives make me think of what the Winterkids' (see Part 4 of the list) cousins would sound like if they were in a band. Full of Brit angst, these kiddos came to town to power it with their energy. The lyrics are what really really makes this band (granted the rest of the band is pretty damn good), but maybe that's just because I can relate to people who have relationships that don't work out ... ,;-)
Pigeon Detectives - I Found Out
Pigeon Detectives - Don't Know How To Say Goodbye
The Hives - The Black and White Album
If you make an album dancy as hell with punk ideals and a hail-to-the-king air of importance then I can't help but love it, especially if it's by the M-er Fi-ng Hives. This album is, of course, Hives-ish in nature, which means the lyrics are ridiculous and the guitars are charging and the bass is groovy and the drums make you want to run around your friend's house and break things.
The Hives - Try It Again
The Hives - Return The Favour
The Pierces - Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge
Musical influences coming from all over, The Pierces are two sweethearts who've come to creep you the heck out. From Sarah McLachlan to Italian folk music to gypsy music to bluegrass to hip hop to R&B to cabaret to clichéd singer/songwriter. these two fine ladies have songs that usually address relationships of certain types of people in our society ... and, in a way, our society in general.
The Pierces - Sticks & Stones
The Pierces - Three Wishes
The Pierces - Kill, Kill, Kill
Shearwater - Palo Santo
With it's latin-feel and epic crescendos (at times), this triumphant album glimmers the second you press play. Beatles influenced at times, Queen at others.
Shearwater - La Dame Er La Licorne
Shearwater - Seventy-Four, Seventy-Five
Shearwater - Special Rider Blues (Skip James Cover)
This album hit me hard for some reason. It's just gorgeous. It's mellow jazz orchestral feeling is life affirming ... but only about half the time. Honestly the best songs are the ones where they've got guest singers singing their souls out ala Nina Simone.
The Cinematic Orchestra - Familiar Ground
Against Me! - New Wave
Against Me! get so much shit for signing to a major label, and that's wrong, but they've only gotten more talented, more intelligent, and more influential, all of which are good things, so why the shit? Are they less punk? I suppose that depends on your definition of punk. Are they less cool? well that really shouldn't matter as far as music goes. Whatever, Against Me! is on top of their game, writing some of the most intelligent songs of their career, and good for them.
Against Me! - Borne On The FM Waves Of The Heart (featuring Tegan Quin)
O'Death - Head Home
Listening to O'Death (not O Death or Of Death) is like going to a hoe-down hosted by Real Gone era Tom Waits covering Roscoe Holcomb songs in a house on fire in a twister. the lyrics are country as hell, the vocals make the Appalachian mountains quake, the guitars and banjos and washboards and everything else this ensemble seems to be playing all sound like they were found in a dumpster, but the fact that some talented Mer-Fers are playing said junk instruments make the whole thing sound straight up gorgeous.
O'Death - Down to Rest
O'Death -Travelin' Man
Dethklok - The Dethalbum
Who would have thought that nerdy Adult Swim animators could actually be fairly competent musicians? Well either way, it turns out that Brendon Small is on top of his shit. I haven't really been the most loyal of metal fans these past couple of years, so when I listen to metal albums, they really have to strike me, and this album destroys. I loved the show, but this album is good enough to stand on it's own. It's by far one of the best metal albums to be released in the last 10 years. Every aspect of every song is so well thought out, well produced and well performed. I honestly only have one complaint about the album, and that's that "Nathan's" vocals on Go Into The Water are mixed a little high. Other than that, I'd say it's the most solid metal album I've heard in a LONG time.
Dethklok - Awaken
Dethklok - Murdertrain A Comin
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
This album was the album that first put the idea of "instant nostalgia" in my mind. When I played the first track the first time and went to do things around the room I found my self absently mindedly attempting to sing along but not being able to find the words ... then it dawned on me what was happening, and that this was the first time I'd heard the album. It's groovy like a disco beat, soothing like a lounge hit, and hip as the hippest kids on the block. Every song sounds like a song you and your imaginary friend wrote as a child.
Of Montreal - Suffer For Fashion
Le Loup - The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly
So, as it turns out, it's the end of the world, and all this shit is going to go down in the bayou. That's feeling you get when you listen to Le Loup's debut. Poetic doesn't even begin to describe how triumphant this album is. At times it's like Sufjan Stevens, but it's so unique in so many ways that the infrequent similarities pretty much stop there. Get out your banjos and your looper pedals, it's gonna be one heck of a night.
Le Loup - breathing rapture
Le Loup - i had a dream i died.
Le Loup - we are gods! we are wolves!
Oliver Future - Pax Futura
I think the thing that initially drew me in was the fact that lead singer sounds a whole of a lot like David Strackany, but what held me was the incredibly peculiar lyrics, funky baselines, and charing high pitched guitars, coupled with one heck of a talented drummer. First and foremost, however, are the lyrics. "Was I crazy, or had the rest of the world gone sane?" "Will you grab your loved ones or just change the channel?" "Look into your heart. What heart are you talkin' 'bout?" The list, as you can probably imagine, goes on and on from there.
Oliver Future - What Heart?
Oliver Future - The Big Sleep
Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings
I know for a fact that the only reason I love this album is because Dan Deacon is the best show in town. I've seen him 3 times now, and each of those shows hold 3 of the positions in my top 4 shows ever. I don't really need to rehash what it's like to go to his shows, just see the back catalog. The album is like a rabbit on coke, expect probably a whole lot more fun and a whole heck of a lot less dangerous ... and... well ... honestly, nothing like a rabbit on coke. Electro-spazy dance music straight from your c-64's child (being controlled by Johnny-5 nonetheless) to your ear.
Dan Deacon - Wham City!
Dan Deacon - Snake Mistakes
Pigeon Detectives - Wait For Me
So, I'm really big into this English Dance Pop Punk thing that seems to be going on right now. Pigeon Detectives make me think of what the Winterkids' (see Part 4 of the list) cousins would sound like if they were in a band. Full of Brit angst, these kiddos came to town to power it with their energy. The lyrics are what really really makes this band (granted the rest of the band is pretty damn good), but maybe that's just because I can relate to people who have relationships that don't work out ... ,;-)
Pigeon Detectives - I Found Out
Pigeon Detectives - Don't Know How To Say Goodbye
The Hives - The Black and White Album
If you make an album dancy as hell with punk ideals and a hail-to-the-king air of importance then I can't help but love it, especially if it's by the M-er Fi-ng Hives. This album is, of course, Hives-ish in nature, which means the lyrics are ridiculous and the guitars are charging and the bass is groovy and the drums make you want to run around your friend's house and break things.
The Hives - Try It Again
The Hives - Return The Favour
The Pierces - Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge
Musical influences coming from all over, The Pierces are two sweethearts who've come to creep you the heck out. From Sarah McLachlan to Italian folk music to gypsy music to bluegrass to hip hop to R&B to cabaret to clichéd singer/songwriter. these two fine ladies have songs that usually address relationships of certain types of people in our society ... and, in a way, our society in general.
The Pierces - Sticks & Stones
The Pierces - Three Wishes
The Pierces - Kill, Kill, Kill
Shearwater - Palo Santo
With it's latin-feel and epic crescendos (at times), this triumphant album glimmers the second you press play. Beatles influenced at times, Queen at others.
Shearwater - La Dame Er La Licorne
Shearwater - Seventy-Four, Seventy-Five
Shearwater - Special Rider Blues (Skip James Cover)
December 31, 2007
'07's Music to Love More Than Music: Love More, pt. 3
Coconut Records - Nighttiming
Sweet and fun, I'm just happy that I loved it before I heard that it was Jason Schwartzman singing.
Coconut Records - West Coast
LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
It took me a long time to really get into this album, because it wasn't the ridiculous dance party that the first one was. This, my friend Casey says, is it's charm, because it's not just a dance party, it's a real album. James Murphy set out to make an actual album this time, not just club hits, and, after listening to it with that understanding, the whole album grew on me, and now I love it. Ladies and Gents, the sensation across the nation, I give you, LCD Soundsystem:
LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum
Great Lake Swimmers - Ongiara
Super soothing. Probably the most relaxing album of the year. Slow bluegrass waltz's take up a pretty good portion of the album, which is fine by me. The lyrics have a lonely, but hopeful, feeling to them, which makes the album refreshing and ... nice. It's a nice album
Great Lake Swimmers - Catcher Son
The Beastie Boys - The Mix Up
You know, I never payed much attention to the instrumentals on the Beastie Boy albums because I was too busy thinking "they could, and should, be spitting hot fire over these phat beats." Yeah ... I'm kind of a nerd. Anyway, when I heard about this album, I was instantly intrigued. The first video released showed our fellas playing the instruments and just having a blast ... it was like watching an old video of you and some close family members just mess around and have fun. Jazzy and just about the coolest thing imaginable.
The Beastie Boys - 14 St. Break
Björk - Volta
Okay, we all know Björk is weird ... so weird she may have actually invented it. This release is no change (just think, if it was normal sounding, it would still be weird, because it would be Björk doing normal sounding stuff ... which is actually to weird to even imagine). Slapping sound effects together, breaking beats (and objects [then recording that sound and making music with it]), Björk composes quite the master piece. I'd have to say that, after 1 or 2 listens, I was hooked. I think it's her catchiest album to date. I can't help but listen to this track over and over and over:
Björk - The Dull Flame of Desire
Hot Hot Heat - Happiness LTD.
Indie Dance Pop Punk ... gotta love it. Every song just explodes out of your headphones/speakers. Probably the most solid example of how good Hot Hot Heat is.
Hot Hot Heat - Harmonicas & Tambourines
Hot Hot Heat - My Best Friend
Nurses - Hangin' Nothin' But Our Hands Down
Like a mash up album between the National and Man Man ... kind of. It's just a spazzy, but really well thought out and well put together album.
Nurses - Lots...
Frog Eyes - Tears of the Valedictorian
Demented spirits have possessed musical instruments and recorded themselves ... that's the only explanation for this album that I can come up with. Frog Eyes has always been on the edge of greatness, never quite making the catchiest songs, or being the band to see, but with this new release, they've probably gotten the closest their spastic style will ever allow them to get. It's nuts, but oh my gentle jesus is it good.
Frog Eyes - Caravan Breakers, They Prey on the Weak and the Old
Múm - Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy
Like the electronic Björk side project, music by the Knife, Múm's magical masterpiece delights during every listen. It's calming and peaceful, worldly and playful.
Múm - Marmalade Fires
Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
Like a rainbow heard through kaleidescopic ears, this album burst forth with such majestic force that one can barely understand what exactly is going on. Inventive. Reminiscent of well known phrases in other dimensions. Like Man Man's folky brother.
Sunset Rubdown - Up on Your Leopard, Upon the End of Your Feral Days
Handsome Furs - Plague Park
If this album sounds familiar, don't worry, it's not just you, there's a damn good reason for it. Dan Boeckner from Wolf Parade decided to team up with his wife and start to make music ... in a literal sense. This White Stripes-ian effort, subtracting the blues and country influences and adding in more contemporary and peculiar ones, is rather minimalist, but comes together quite well I have to say.
Handsome Furs - Handsome Furs Hate This City
Sweet and fun, I'm just happy that I loved it before I heard that it was Jason Schwartzman singing.
Coconut Records - West Coast
LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
It took me a long time to really get into this album, because it wasn't the ridiculous dance party that the first one was. This, my friend Casey says, is it's charm, because it's not just a dance party, it's a real album. James Murphy set out to make an actual album this time, not just club hits, and, after listening to it with that understanding, the whole album grew on me, and now I love it. Ladies and Gents, the sensation across the nation, I give you, LCD Soundsystem:
LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum
Great Lake Swimmers - Ongiara
Super soothing. Probably the most relaxing album of the year. Slow bluegrass waltz's take up a pretty good portion of the album, which is fine by me. The lyrics have a lonely, but hopeful, feeling to them, which makes the album refreshing and ... nice. It's a nice album
Great Lake Swimmers - Catcher Son
The Beastie Boys - The Mix Up
You know, I never payed much attention to the instrumentals on the Beastie Boy albums because I was too busy thinking "they could, and should, be spitting hot fire over these phat beats." Yeah ... I'm kind of a nerd. Anyway, when I heard about this album, I was instantly intrigued. The first video released showed our fellas playing the instruments and just having a blast ... it was like watching an old video of you and some close family members just mess around and have fun. Jazzy and just about the coolest thing imaginable.
The Beastie Boys - 14 St. Break
Björk - Volta
Okay, we all know Björk is weird ... so weird she may have actually invented it. This release is no change (just think, if it was normal sounding, it would still be weird, because it would be Björk doing normal sounding stuff ... which is actually to weird to even imagine). Slapping sound effects together, breaking beats (and objects [then recording that sound and making music with it]), Björk composes quite the master piece. I'd have to say that, after 1 or 2 listens, I was hooked. I think it's her catchiest album to date. I can't help but listen to this track over and over and over:
Björk - The Dull Flame of Desire
Hot Hot Heat - Happiness LTD.
Indie Dance Pop Punk ... gotta love it. Every song just explodes out of your headphones/speakers. Probably the most solid example of how good Hot Hot Heat is.
Hot Hot Heat - Harmonicas & Tambourines
Hot Hot Heat - My Best Friend
Nurses - Hangin' Nothin' But Our Hands Down
Like a mash up album between the National and Man Man ... kind of. It's just a spazzy, but really well thought out and well put together album.
Nurses - Lots...
Frog Eyes - Tears of the Valedictorian
Demented spirits have possessed musical instruments and recorded themselves ... that's the only explanation for this album that I can come up with. Frog Eyes has always been on the edge of greatness, never quite making the catchiest songs, or being the band to see, but with this new release, they've probably gotten the closest their spastic style will ever allow them to get. It's nuts, but oh my gentle jesus is it good.
Frog Eyes - Caravan Breakers, They Prey on the Weak and the Old
Múm - Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy
Like the electronic Björk side project, music by the Knife, Múm's magical masterpiece delights during every listen. It's calming and peaceful, worldly and playful.
Múm - Marmalade Fires
Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
Like a rainbow heard through kaleidescopic ears, this album burst forth with such majestic force that one can barely understand what exactly is going on. Inventive. Reminiscent of well known phrases in other dimensions. Like Man Man's folky brother.
Sunset Rubdown - Up on Your Leopard, Upon the End of Your Feral Days
Handsome Furs - Plague Park
If this album sounds familiar, don't worry, it's not just you, there's a damn good reason for it. Dan Boeckner from Wolf Parade decided to team up with his wife and start to make music ... in a literal sense. This White Stripes-ian effort, subtracting the blues and country influences and adding in more contemporary and peculiar ones, is rather minimalist, but comes together quite well I have to say.
Handsome Furs - Handsome Furs Hate This City
'07's Music to Love More Than Music: Love More, pt. 4
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - In Glorious Times
Like Frog Eyes and Man Man and Sunset Rubdown and Ayreon and any other awkward but hella intelligent band of, really, any genre. It's like a heart attack and a stroke at the same time ... but if those things were good.
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - The Companions
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - Angle of Repose
Over the Rhine - The Trumpet Child
One of the most incredible swingy jazzy Sinatra-y albums I've ever heard. It's smoky and sexy and mmmmm smooth.
Over the Rhine - Trouble
Over the Rhine - I Don't Wanna Waste Your Time
Vashti Bunyan - Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind
Oh man. Oh man oh man. If you don't know of this chica, you need to. She's probably one of the most important folk artists to have ever picked up a guitar. She's one of the most influential folk artists baring Dylan ... and anything she touches is gold, which is evident by this release.
Vashti Bunyan - Train Song
The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Mongrel
WHOA! Like getting two CD players, putting a Dimmu Borgir CD in one CD player, and an Esteban/Santana duet album in another, and randomly pressing play and pause on each player ... well ... it only sounds like that sometimes. Yeah, sounds confusing, but good god these boys know how to play music ... some people may think that these boys don't understand that certain styles shouldn't even be in the same room as each other, and that may be the case, but that makes me happy.
The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Imagine Nation Express
French Quarter - French Quarter
Just a small time boy from Arizona warming the hearts of people from here to the heartland with his Ben Gibbardish style voice and his indie-pop singer/songwriter style. He's one of the most talented little guys I've ever come across. See him live, and he might just do his version of "Stayin Alive."
French Quarter - Build Fires
French Quarter - Bold With Fire
The Nightwatchman - One Man Revolution
Who would have thought that RATM's Rock n Roll guit-box player would be able to pull off Dylan-style activist-folk. Not I. But after hearing the SXSW live set, I was confident that it would be quite the awesomeness, and it was. His lyrics are probably the most political (who'd've guessed?) I've ever heard. His voice is a little hard to get past at first, but I quickly warmed up to it. Come on, how could Tom Morello do any wrong?
The Nightwatchman - House Gone Up In Flames
31Knots - The Days And Nights Of Everything Anywhere
Awkward smart rocking 70's style-ish indie rock straight from the heart. These boys know how to throw it down in more awkward ways than one, and each of those ways are new and inventive in new and inventive ways. Kind of a contrived way of describing it, but that's how it goes.
31Knots - Beauty
31Knots - The Days And Nights Of Lust And Presumption
Black Diamond Heavies - Every Damn Time
These guys sound like Tom Waits if Tom Waits was turned into two gorillas who then forced the keyboardist from the Doors to play swinging lounge punk. Seriously.
Black Diamond Heavies - Fever In My Blood
Like Frog Eyes and Man Man and Sunset Rubdown and Ayreon and any other awkward but hella intelligent band of, really, any genre. It's like a heart attack and a stroke at the same time ... but if those things were good.
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - The Companions
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - Angle of Repose
Over the Rhine - The Trumpet Child
One of the most incredible swingy jazzy Sinatra-y albums I've ever heard. It's smoky and sexy and mmmmm smooth.
Over the Rhine - Trouble
Over the Rhine - I Don't Wanna Waste Your Time
Vashti Bunyan - Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind
Oh man. Oh man oh man. If you don't know of this chica, you need to. She's probably one of the most important folk artists to have ever picked up a guitar. She's one of the most influential folk artists baring Dylan ... and anything she touches is gold, which is evident by this release.
Vashti Bunyan - Train Song
The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Mongrel
WHOA! Like getting two CD players, putting a Dimmu Borgir CD in one CD player, and an Esteban/Santana duet album in another, and randomly pressing play and pause on each player ... well ... it only sounds like that sometimes. Yeah, sounds confusing, but good god these boys know how to play music ... some people may think that these boys don't understand that certain styles shouldn't even be in the same room as each other, and that may be the case, but that makes me happy.
The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Imagine Nation Express
French Quarter - French Quarter
Just a small time boy from Arizona warming the hearts of people from here to the heartland with his Ben Gibbardish style voice and his indie-pop singer/songwriter style. He's one of the most talented little guys I've ever come across. See him live, and he might just do his version of "Stayin Alive."
French Quarter - Build Fires
French Quarter - Bold With Fire
The Nightwatchman - One Man Revolution
Who would have thought that RATM's Rock n Roll guit-box player would be able to pull off Dylan-style activist-folk. Not I. But after hearing the SXSW live set, I was confident that it would be quite the awesomeness, and it was. His lyrics are probably the most political (who'd've guessed?) I've ever heard. His voice is a little hard to get past at first, but I quickly warmed up to it. Come on, how could Tom Morello do any wrong?
The Nightwatchman - House Gone Up In Flames
31Knots - The Days And Nights Of Everything Anywhere
Awkward smart rocking 70's style-ish indie rock straight from the heart. These boys know how to throw it down in more awkward ways than one, and each of those ways are new and inventive in new and inventive ways. Kind of a contrived way of describing it, but that's how it goes.
31Knots - Beauty
31Knots - The Days And Nights Of Lust And Presumption
Black Diamond Heavies - Every Damn Time
These guys sound like Tom Waits if Tom Waits was turned into two gorillas who then forced the keyboardist from the Doors to play swinging lounge punk. Seriously.
Black Diamond Heavies - Fever In My Blood
'07's Music to Love More Than Music: Love More Than Music
This is Part 4 of 4 of my best of. These are the albums that I had a hard time not hosting an mp3 of every song on the album.
Love More Than Music (<3>)
The String Quartet Tribute to The Arcade Fire's Funeral
There are few albums that give me the shivers, and the list of albums that give me the shivers as soon as I start the album is even smaller. The list, however, of albums that give me shivers as soon as I start it and continue to give me the shivers throughout the album no matter how many times I hear it is down to a handful ... and this is one of those albums. Now, truthfully, I'm willing to admit that this is probably only because I'm so totally in love with the Arcade Fire that pretty much anything they touch turns to gold. This album is probably no surprise to anyone who is familiar with string quartet tributes and even less of a surprise to people who have heard the album it's based off of. It is what it is, no more no less. It plucks my heart strings for reasons I can't explain, and, I dunno, maybe it will for you too. give it a shot:
The String Quartet - Wake Up
The String Quartet - Rebellion (Lies)
The String Quartet - Neighbourhood #2 (Laika)
Cloud Cult - The Meaning of 8
This album was a contender for album of the year. It is probably one of the most touching and painful albums I've ever heard. For those of you who don't know, the album was written about the death of the child of 2 of the band members. All ready you know this shits going to be heavy. With nearly every song directly about Kaidin's death (understandably so), one can't help but feel ... well ... straight up bad. It is a painful album, but that is what makes it so beautiful. Sure it's experimental, and it uses really awkward musical methods and all that jazz, but what makes it beautiful because, well, a work of art made to relieve pain is, more frequently than not, more touching. I dunno, I'm having a hard time describing it. Listen to it yourself:
Cloud Cult - Pretty Voice
Cloud Cult - A Good God
Cloud Cult - Your 8th Birthday
Winterkids - Memoirs
Small-British-Village Dance-Pop-Punk that just comes from out of freaking left field. Elements of Bluegrass and Folk give it charm, but the pure talent the band members have in regards to writing a song and playing instruments make it basically one of the best executed albums I've ever heard. The lyrics are a little juvenile, which is where it leaves some points (i.e. what puts it behind the album of the year), but, personally, I find the lyrics rather charming and easily relate-able (hey, we're all a little childish sometimes). Honestly, I expect a heck of a lot from these kids if their debut is this astonishingly fantastic.
Winterkids - Tape It
Winterkids - I'm Not Used to You
Winterkids - Who Am I Kidding?
Foot Ox - Ghost
Rounding out at just under 20 minutes, this lo-fi triumph is one of the most brutally honest albums I've ever heard. Every note is from the soul, every song sounding like a collaborative effort of every good hearted person in town. From the lyrics to the music, every part is straight up touching and real, basement production only helping. I'll keep this short and sweet like the album, because, sometimes, all you need is a few words:
Foot Ox - Carriers
Foot Ox - Wet Blanket
Foot Ox - New Boyfriend
The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
Like the ghost of a fleet of war torn WWII fighter jets screaming through the sky overhead, The Raveonette's new album comes straight to your ears and utterly destroys ... if that makes any sense. The album is an ethereal tribute to 1950's pop mixed with a hint of shoegaze. The wall of noise hits about a minute and a half in and rarely lets down. The whole album seems to bleed together, but in a good way. It's one of those albums that you can get lost in for hours on end. I found myself playing it over and over and over again, initially feeling guilty because I had other albums to listen to, but then reveling in how absolutely amazing it is. So, freaking, great:
The Raveonettes - Hallucinations
The Raveonettes - Dead Sound
The Raveonettes - Aly, Walk With Me
Album of the Year (sm12<3>μsic):
The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
I'm probably going to get a lot of shit for saying this is the best album of the year, especially since MSN.com said it was too ... check that, I've already gotten a lot of shit for loving this album, because from the second I heard it I knew I would think it was the best album of the year, and, when provoked (or even unprovoked), I would say so. Granted, it's not nearly as diverse as Funeral, but I think it's much more intelligent.
Funeral for many people, including me, was instantly nostalgic. It reminded us of childhood and unrestrained hopefulness, instilling the listener with a sort of "whatever happens will happen, and I'll make it through, torpedoes be damned!" sense of self. It was a triumphant cheering anthem for the success of the spirit. Neon Bible, conversely, is angry, and dark, and boiling over with hatred and pessimism. It's the death of the child that was re-born in Funeral (what an awkward sentence). The band has never been more full of energy and spirit as they are on this album. they're no longer singing songs, they're screaming their souls out. They're no longer playing instruments, they're making their instruments bleed music. Neon Bible is one of the darkest albums I've ever heard, and it's also one of the smartest, because it's so subtle at times, and in your face when it needs to be. It's never over the top, it's spot on. It's everything I could possibly ask for from music.
The Arcade Fire - Intervention
The Arcade Fire - The Well and The Lighthouse
The Arcade Fire - My Body is a Cage
The Arcade Fire - Ocean of Noise
Well Tthere you have it. I know I missed a whole bunch of really good albums, but This is all I had time to write about. Trust me, I didn't get a chance to mention even close to all the albums I like. I'm definitely going to do this differently next year.
Love More Than Music (<3>)
The String Quartet Tribute to The Arcade Fire's Funeral
There are few albums that give me the shivers, and the list of albums that give me the shivers as soon as I start the album is even smaller. The list, however, of albums that give me shivers as soon as I start it and continue to give me the shivers throughout the album no matter how many times I hear it is down to a handful ... and this is one of those albums. Now, truthfully, I'm willing to admit that this is probably only because I'm so totally in love with the Arcade Fire that pretty much anything they touch turns to gold. This album is probably no surprise to anyone who is familiar with string quartet tributes and even less of a surprise to people who have heard the album it's based off of. It is what it is, no more no less. It plucks my heart strings for reasons I can't explain, and, I dunno, maybe it will for you too. give it a shot:
The String Quartet - Wake Up
The String Quartet - Rebellion (Lies)
The String Quartet - Neighbourhood #2 (Laika)
Cloud Cult - The Meaning of 8
This album was a contender for album of the year. It is probably one of the most touching and painful albums I've ever heard. For those of you who don't know, the album was written about the death of the child of 2 of the band members. All ready you know this shits going to be heavy. With nearly every song directly about Kaidin's death (understandably so), one can't help but feel ... well ... straight up bad. It is a painful album, but that is what makes it so beautiful. Sure it's experimental, and it uses really awkward musical methods and all that jazz, but what makes it beautiful because, well, a work of art made to relieve pain is, more frequently than not, more touching. I dunno, I'm having a hard time describing it. Listen to it yourself:
Cloud Cult - Pretty Voice
Cloud Cult - A Good God
Cloud Cult - Your 8th Birthday
Winterkids - Memoirs
Small-British-Village Dance-Pop-Punk that just comes from out of freaking left field. Elements of Bluegrass and Folk give it charm, but the pure talent the band members have in regards to writing a song and playing instruments make it basically one of the best executed albums I've ever heard. The lyrics are a little juvenile, which is where it leaves some points (i.e. what puts it behind the album of the year), but, personally, I find the lyrics rather charming and easily relate-able (hey, we're all a little childish sometimes). Honestly, I expect a heck of a lot from these kids if their debut is this astonishingly fantastic.
Winterkids - Tape It
Winterkids - I'm Not Used to You
Winterkids - Who Am I Kidding?
Foot Ox - Ghost
Rounding out at just under 20 minutes, this lo-fi triumph is one of the most brutally honest albums I've ever heard. Every note is from the soul, every song sounding like a collaborative effort of every good hearted person in town. From the lyrics to the music, every part is straight up touching and real, basement production only helping. I'll keep this short and sweet like the album, because, sometimes, all you need is a few words:
Foot Ox - Carriers
Foot Ox - Wet Blanket
Foot Ox - New Boyfriend
The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
Like the ghost of a fleet of war torn WWII fighter jets screaming through the sky overhead, The Raveonette's new album comes straight to your ears and utterly destroys ... if that makes any sense. The album is an ethereal tribute to 1950's pop mixed with a hint of shoegaze. The wall of noise hits about a minute and a half in and rarely lets down. The whole album seems to bleed together, but in a good way. It's one of those albums that you can get lost in for hours on end. I found myself playing it over and over and over again, initially feeling guilty because I had other albums to listen to, but then reveling in how absolutely amazing it is. So, freaking, great:
The Raveonettes - Hallucinations
The Raveonettes - Dead Sound
The Raveonettes - Aly, Walk With Me
Album of the Year (sm12<3>μsic):
The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
I'm probably going to get a lot of shit for saying this is the best album of the year, especially since MSN.com said it was too ... check that, I've already gotten a lot of shit for loving this album, because from the second I heard it I knew I would think it was the best album of the year, and, when provoked (or even unprovoked), I would say so. Granted, it's not nearly as diverse as Funeral, but I think it's much more intelligent.
Funeral for many people, including me, was instantly nostalgic. It reminded us of childhood and unrestrained hopefulness, instilling the listener with a sort of "whatever happens will happen, and I'll make it through, torpedoes be damned!" sense of self. It was a triumphant cheering anthem for the success of the spirit. Neon Bible, conversely, is angry, and dark, and boiling over with hatred and pessimism. It's the death of the child that was re-born in Funeral (what an awkward sentence). The band has never been more full of energy and spirit as they are on this album. they're no longer singing songs, they're screaming their souls out. They're no longer playing instruments, they're making their instruments bleed music. Neon Bible is one of the darkest albums I've ever heard, and it's also one of the smartest, because it's so subtle at times, and in your face when it needs to be. It's never over the top, it's spot on. It's everything I could possibly ask for from music.
The Arcade Fire - Intervention
The Arcade Fire - The Well and The Lighthouse
The Arcade Fire - My Body is a Cage
The Arcade Fire - Ocean of Noise
Well Tthere you have it. I know I missed a whole bunch of really good albums, but This is all I had time to write about. Trust me, I didn't get a chance to mention even close to all the albums I like. I'm definitely going to do this differently next year.
December 24, 2007
"You're Innocent When You Dream"
I may not be the first to know, but I know this hasn't gotten a whole lot of press. Scarlett Johansson is putting out a Tom Waits cover album. I only have the karaoke scene in Lost in Translation to go off of, but, regardless, I'm pretty stoked. 2nd best album of 2008.By the way, my end of the year wrap up post is going well ... it's going to be enormous.
December 16, 2007
"We Never Saw This Coming, Pride Comes Before Our Fall."
OH! I almost forgot! A day or so before my computer brokc (by-the-by, I'm on a family member's computer currently, which is why I'm able to post) I was looking up stuff on stuff (you know, general time-wastery) and I found out that Ayreon's new album, 01011001, is soon to be released! Jan. 23rd or 29th depending on where ya live. Can anyone say best album of 2008? because I can. seriously, look at the cast for this opera:Vocals:
Anthony Lucassen (duh)
Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian, Demons & Wizards)
Daniel Gildenlöw (Pain of Salvation)
Tom S. Englund (Evergrey)
Jonas Renkse (Katatonia)
Jørn Lande (ex-Masterplan, ARK)
Anneke van Giersbergen (Agua de Annique, ex-The Gathering)
Steve Lee (Gotthard)
Bob Catley (Magnum)
Floor Jansen (After Forever, Star One)
Magali Luyten (Beautiful Sin, Virus IV)
Simone Simons (Epica)
Simone Simons (Epica)
Phideaux Xavier
Wudstik
Marjan Welman (Elister)
Liselotte Hegt (Dial)
Ty Tabor (King's X)
Instrumentalists:
Arjen Anthony Lucassen - Guitar, keyboards, synths, bass guitar, programming
Ed Warby (Gorefest) - Drums and percussion
Lori Linstruth (ex-Stream of Passion) - Guitar solo
Michael Romeo (Symphony X) - Guitar solo
Derek Sherinian (Planet X, Yngwie Malmsteen, ex-Dream Theater) - Keyboard solo
Tomas Bodin (The Flower Kings) - Keyboard solo
Joost van den Broek (After Forever) - Piano and Keyboard solo
Jeroen Goossens (Flairck) - Flutes Ben
Mathot (Dis) - Violins
David Faber - Cellos
CanNOT wait for that shit.
RIP Colonel
Have you ever had as much fun as I currently am? My car, The Colonel, just died. It'll cost about $5000 to fix. Which means I'm going to be borrowing a car from my father until I can afford another car. My computer, the Beast, also just had a heart attack. It's under the knife as we speak, but it'll be a long procedure (this is why I've not been posting recently). I've learned from this that I am too attached to stupid little things ... but that doesn't mean I'm going to give them up, because they certainly make things a whole lot more fun. The whole point of this being that I'm going to take a break from this blog thing for another week or so. I'll be back just in time to reveal my "top albums" end of the year wrap up. I'm excited about it. You should be too. Til then, have a happy whatever.
December 6, 2007
"This is How You Make a Toothbeef Sandwich"
I randomly found this blog with this picture, and I had to share it. Yes, it says "Best Wishes Suzanne, Under Neat That, We Will Miss You."
In other news: So, Dan Deacon (who is basically always on my mind) has recently been used in a Greyhound advertisement, something Deacon never agreed to. This pissed him off because, in his words, "if [he] had [his] way [he] would see all their buses transport guns to all the people they have fucked over." I find this hilarious, because I've always pictured Dan Deacon as an overly loving guy, but, as it turns out, he's human, which makes me love him even more (actually, I'm reminded of one of the times I saw him where some douchbag started off the show yelling at Dan, and Dan simply told him that if he was going to keep that shit up, this was going to be a really bad show for him.) Dan Deacon, you rock. Oh yeah, and he recently made 40 minutes of music for Jimmy Joe Roche's film project "Ultimate Reality," which can be purchased here. Here's a taste:
Here's another masterpiece by Roche:
In other news: So, Dan Deacon (who is basically always on my mind) has recently been used in a Greyhound advertisement, something Deacon never agreed to. This pissed him off because, in his words, "if [he] had [his] way [he] would see all their buses transport guns to all the people they have fucked over." I find this hilarious, because I've always pictured Dan Deacon as an overly loving guy, but, as it turns out, he's human, which makes me love him even more (actually, I'm reminded of one of the times I saw him where some douchbag started off the show yelling at Dan, and Dan simply told him that if he was going to keep that shit up, this was going to be a really bad show for him.) Dan Deacon, you rock. Oh yeah, and he recently made 40 minutes of music for Jimmy Joe Roche's film project "Ultimate Reality," which can be purchased here. Here's a taste:
Here's another masterpiece by Roche:
December 5, 2007
"Human Human Human," "Ways," "You're a Punk Bitch If You Don't Know 'Bout Boulder"
1) It's been a hell of a week and a few days. I've been up until 2AM, a few times until 5AM, doing homework, and it's not nearly as fun as Daft Punk makes it out to be:Daft Punk - Human / Together / One More Time / Music Sounds Better With You / Stardust
2) Speaking of French electronic music, a group by the name of Spitzer recently contacted me and asked me to check them out, and I was rather impressed. They remind me of everything good about the idea of Daft Punk covering the Knife, but without sounding like a rip off of either. It's dancy as hell, which, as my readers might know about me, is something that I prize above many things. Look out, it's Spitzer:
Spitzer - Yacht Club
3) Speaking of Dancy music, someone recently noticed that the links to the 3Oh!3 songs I put up died out. So ... here they are again (as though these fellas need any more press than they're getting):
3Oh!3 - Chokechain
3Oh!3 - Don't Dance
3Oh!3 - Holler Til You Pass Out
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