Indie Selections For Your Erections

WZBC - Radio Show - 8/03/11

2011-08-03T21:56:00.004-05:00

Wow, first week of August! Even though I threw together this playlist relatively quickly the previous night, I think this show turned out really well. It consists of three main blocks: a female vocalist block, a covers block, and a mostly 90’s/80’s alternative block. The covers block got a few callers who were really enjoying it, so I’ll be sure to do another one of those in the future. I played three songs from Stereogum’s Tribute to “Is This It”, released as the album just turned 10 years old. That fact is pretty insane to me. Thus that’s where this episode’s logo comes into play. That cover art never fails to remind me just how much I hate the cover of the US version.

WZBC - Econo Jams - 8-03-11

The Soft Boys - I Wanna Destroy You
Robyn - Indestructible (Acoustic Version)
Lykke Li - Get Some
Kate Bush - Pull Out the Pin
Joanna Newsom - In California
Karen Dalton - Something On Your Mind
Mazzy Star - Fade Into You
Titus Andronicus - Breed (Nirvana cover)
Frankie Rose - Soma (Strokes cover)
Real Estate - Barely Legal (Strokes cover)
Owen Pallett - Hard to Explain (Strokes cover)
Luna - Sweet Child O’ Mine (Guns ‘N Roses cover)
The Go! Team - Bull In the Heather (Sonic Youth cover)
Cap’n Jazz - Take On Me (A-ha cover)
Deerhoof - The Continuing Saga of Bungalo Bill (Beatles cover)
Rilo Kiley - After Hours (Velvet Underground cover)
Dinosaur Jr. - Just Like Heaven (Cure cover)
Sebadoh - Brand New Love
Guided by Voices - Awful Bliss
The Strokes - The Modern Age
Superchunk - Seed Toss
Yo La Tengo - We’re an American Band
Violent Femmes - Never Tell
Cibo Matto - Blue Train
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood
Ozma - Battlescars
New Order - Ceremony

Econo Jams website

WZBC - Radio Show - 7/27/11

2011-07-28T21:29:00.000-05:00

This week’s show was extra long, given that I filled in for the DJ with the show after me. Four hours in a radio station is a long time! Thus this week is cut into two different blocks, as one four hour mp3 is a bit insane. I played a bit more theme specific blocks this week, including a loud/noisy block, a more hip-hop influenced block, as well as a brand spankin’ new 2011 music block. I even played The Beets! Are there any other occasions in history where “Killer Tofu” as been played on FM radio? I sincerely hope so.

WZBC - Econo Jams - 7-27-11 - Part 1
WZBC - Econo Jams - 7-27-11 - Part 2

Deerhoof - Twin Killers
Buzzcocks - Boredom
Au Pairs - It’s Obvious
Bauhaus - Dark Entries
..And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - Mistakes & Regrets
Black Dice - Seabird
Clinic - Voodoo Wop
Devo - Jocko Homo (Be Stiff)
Le Tigre - Deceptacon
Titus Andronicus - Titus Andronicus
Lightning Bolt - Ride the Sky
Daughters - The Virgin
OFF! - Darkness
Pixies - Something Against You
Fugazi - Bulldog Front
Mclusky - Alan is a Cowboy Killer
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Art Star
Microphones - Sand (Eric’s Trip)
Guided by Voices - Echos Myron
Ween - Freedom of ‘76
Magnetic Fields - Strange Powers
Wire - Map Ref. 41N 93W
Orange Juice - Falling and Laughing
Joanna Newsom - Peach Plum Pear
Beulah - If We Can Land a Man on the Moon, Surely I Can Win Your Heart
Beach Boys - Cabin Essence
Eric’s Trip - Sand
Lush - Leaves Me Cold
Smog - Cold Blooded Old Times
Felt - Rain of Crystal Spires
Harry and the Potters - Save Ginny Weasley
Minutemen - The Anchor
Gang of Four - At Home He’s a Tourist
James Carter, Cyrus Chestnut, Ali Jackson & Reginald Veal - Summer Babe

The Beets - Killer Tofu (Fuck Yeah 1990s Remix)
Cibo Matto - Sci-Fi Wasabi
WHY? - Gemini (Birthday Song)
Wugazi - Sleep Rules (I’m So Tired)
Madvillian - Accordian
Shabazz Palaces - Kings New Clothes Were Made by His Own Hands
The Big Pink - Velvet
Jesu - Silver
Girls - Vomit
St. Vincent - Surgeon
The Rapture - How Deep Is Your Love?
Bjork - Crystalline
Washed Out - Amor Fati
Handsome Furs - What About Us
Sleigh Bells - Tell ‘Em (Kingdom Remix)
Dom - Damn
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Maniac
The Tallest Man on Earth - The Blizzard’s Never Seen the Desert Sand
Vivian Girls - Take It As It Comes
The Vaselines - Lithium
Guided by Voices - Smothered in Hugs
The Zombies - Carre of Cell 44
Can - Mushroom
Magazine - Definitive Gaze
Psychedelic Furs - Sister Europe
Yo La Tengo - Our Way to Fall
Leonard Cohen - Avalanche
John Cale - Leaving it Up to You
The Birthday Party - Mr. Clarinet

Recording: Cibo Matto - Live at Brighton Music Hall - 7-20-11

2011-07-21T21:26:00.000-05:00

Cibo Matto - Live @ Brighton Music Hall - 7-20-11

1. (Intro)
2. Beef Jerky
3. Le Pain Perdu
4. Sugar Water
5. (Boston Banter)
6. Spoon
7. BBQ
8. Tenth Floor Ghost Girl
9. Moonchild
10. Sci-Fi Wasabi
11. Check In
12. Birthday Cake
13. (Encore Break)
14. Blue Train
15. Know Your Chicken

Another awesome show at the Brighton Music Hall! This place is quickly shaping up to be one of my favorite venues in Boston. Continuing the much appreciated trend of 90’s reunions, Cibo Matto returning this year was a delightful surprise. Though I had only really gotten into the band in more recent years, “Birthday Cake” had been in my life for nearly 10 years due to the video game Jet Set Radio Future. Also I was very familiar with “Sugar Water” due to the classic Michel Gondry directed video.

When they first took stage, is was just Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda, the core of the band. The first three songs were all from their debut “Viva! La Woman” and sounded pretty spot on to their album versions. Yuka was clearly using some of the same equipment from the band’s original run, as her keyboard presents were saved on a zip drive! (Remember those?) The rest of the band then joined them for the Buffy approved “Spoon” from their second album “Stereo * Type A,” and remained for the duration of the set. I always think its cool when bands gradually bring out more members, and never see it used enough. In addition to highlights from their two albums and “Super Relax EP,” the band played two new songs, later hinting at an upcoming album! Both were good and fit in well with the rest of their setlist.

Overall “Sci-Fi Wasabi” and “Birthday Cake” got the biggest crowd reactions, both eliciting a band/audience call and response. The energy for “Birthday Cake” in particular was insane, and it will undoubtedly be one of my live highlights of the year. They closed the set with fan favorite “Know Your Chicken,” playing for a bit over an hour total. After the show, the band hung around the merch table, signing shirts/ticket stubs, and posing for photos. Both Miho and Yuki were very gracious and down to earth. In addition to the new record, the band expressed sincere interest in returning to Boston again. If you missed them this time, be sure to see them in the future!

WZBC - Radio Show - 7/13/11

2011-07-14T21:24:00.001-05:00

I really enjoyed this episode. I ended up playing the leftover Summer blocks I created a few weeks ago, as well much more songs from 2011 than normally. I swear I always get callers when I play Polaris, and it’s great. The image this week is one Google result for “Sugar Water.” I can’t wait to see Cibo Matto play next week!

WZBC - Econo Jams - 7-13-11

Cibo Matto - Sugar Water
The Undertones - Here Comes the Summer
Dictators - California Sun
Hold Steady - Constructive Summer
Pavement - Summer Babe
Polaris - Summerbaby
Modest Mouse - Summer
Animal Collective - Summertime Clothes
Future Bible Heroes - Real Summer
The United States of America - The Garden of Earthly Delights
Broadcast - Tender Buttons
Aphex Twin - Goon Gumpas
Animal Collective - Winter’s Love
Pixies - The Happening
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Same Mistake
Bon Iver - Michicant
Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers
Cults - You Know What I Mean
Beat Happening - Indian Summer
Harry Nilsson - Just Wait Till Summer Comes
Belle & Sebastian - A Summer Wasting
Brighter - British Summertime
Magnetic Fields - Summer Lies
Beach Boys - Your Summer Dream
Ween - Sweetheart in the Summer
The Durutti Column - Sketch for Summer
Virginia Astley - A Summer Long Since Passed
The Zombies - Summertime
Modest Mouse - Dead End Job at the Dead Letter Office
Beirut - East Harlem
Les Demoniaques - Teenage Lust
John Maus - Quantum Leap
Bill Callahan - Drover
Marissa Nadler - Baby I Will Leave You in the Morning
My Morning Jacket - Our World

Recording: Bill Callahan - Live at Brighton Music Hall - 7-10-11

2011-07-11T21:21:00.000-05:00

Bill Callahan Live @ Brighton Music Hall - 7-10-11

Wow! This show was pretty incredible. I’ve really gotten into Smog/Bill Callahan over the last year so I was quite excited with high expectations. However this show totally blew me away! It was such an emotionally affecting performance, and I felt emotionally exhausted after many of the songs. Bill is just such a talented musician and his music in a live environment is really powerful. Electric guitarist Matt Kinsey and drummer Neal Morgan were also big factors for the strength of the performance. Both are immensely talented and can bring some pretty moving and unconventionally beautiful sounds out of their instruments. I was taken aback by Neal in particular, though as Joanna Newsom’s drummer I had seen him live several times before. Still this setting allowed him to get a bit noisier at points, which ways always really engrossing to both watch and experience. I recorded this show on my pocket recorder though unfortunately the battery died during “The Well,” the first song of the encore. I regret not checking on the recorder during the pre-encore break. Thus “Too Many Birds” and “Blood Red Bird” were not captured. However I found the actual set to be the highlight, and I would have gone home more than satisfied after “In the Pines.” Highlights of the night for me included an incredible (way better than the album) rendition of “Our Anniversary” and an epic 18 minute version of “Let Me See the Colts.” Even songs I’m more lukewarm towards like “America!” translated wonderfully live. One of the best shows I’ve seen this year!

1. Riding for the Feeling
2. Baby’s Breath
3. Eid Ma Clack Shaw
4. University Applicant
5. America!
6. Our Anniversary
7. Drover
8. Let Me See the Colts/Say Valley Maker
9. In the Pines
10. Encore break
11. The Well (incomplete)

Mix: 2011 Fourth of July Songs!!

2011-07-04T10:12:00.015-05:00

2011 Fourth of July Mix!!!

1. Matmos - The Stars and Stripes Forever
2. Galaxie 500 - Fourth of July
3. X - Fourth of July
4. Bruce Springsteen - 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
5. Ryan Adams - Firecracker
6. The Decemberists - July, July!
7. Siouxsie and the Banshees - Fireworks
8. Elliott Smith - Independence Day
9. Ani DiFranco - Independence Day
10. Aimee Mann - 4th of July
11. Elvis Costello - Indoor Fireworks
12. David Byrne - Independence Day (Cumbia)
13. Beach Boys - 4th of July
14. Azure Ray - 4th of July
15. Sebadoh - Fire of July
16. Aereogramme - Fireworks
17. Bedhead - Roman Candle
18. Thurston Moore and Mike Watt - Fourth Day of July
19. Animal Collective - Fireworks
20. Jimi Hendrix - The Star Spangled Banner (Live)

Cover Art

WZBC - Radio Show - "Summer Songs" - 6/15/11

2011-07-01T23:14:00.004-05:00

This episode was a lot of fun. The theme was “Summer songs”: either songs that evoked the Summer or in one way, or had Summer in the title. Mostly the later given that it made research much easier. Though being college radio I needed to keep the songs more “alternative,” I still tried to make a diverse mix. The Deerhoof song is the odd one out though, as I simply just wanted to play that one. Still, I’m very proud of this episode. It will continue over into next week as well, along with some 4th of July themed music!

WZBC - “Summer Songs” - 6-29-11

Deerhoof - Super Duper Rescue Heads!
Jamies - Summertime, Summertime
Love - Bummer in the Summer
Chad & Jeremy - A Summer Song
Yo La Tengo - The Summer
Semi-Gloss - The Sunburn Song
Jonathan Richman - That Summer Feeling
The Cure - Snow in Summer
Islands - Jogging Gorgeous Summer
Wilco - Summer Teeth
The Sundays - Summertime
Ladybug Transistor - Like a Summer Rain
Red House Painters - Summer Dress
Luna - Indian Summer
Wild Nothing - Summer Holiday
Neon Indian - Deadbeat Summer
Yeasayer - Wait For the Summer
Hüsker Dü - Celebrated Summer
That Dog - One Summer Night
Rentals - My Summer Girl
Belle & Sebastian - I Know Where The Summer Goes
Emiliana Torrini - Summerbreeze
St. Vincent and the National - Sleep All Summer
Girls - Summertime
Best Coast - Summer Mood
Jens Lekman - Sweet Summer’s Night on Hammer Hill
Jonathan Richman - Summer Morning
XTC - Summer’s Cauldron
of Montreal - Oslo in the Summertime
The Jesus and Mary Chain - Surfin’ USA
Tullycraft - Stay Cool I’ll See You This Summer
The Lucksmiths - Friendless Summer

WZBC - Radio Show- 6/22/11

2011-06-22T23:08:00.000-05:00

This week it’s a photo of “Bug” era Dinosaur Jr.- J and Murph specifically. I just saw them last night perform the album live at the Paradise along with OFF! and a Henry Rollins on stage interview. Here’s what that bizarre (but awesome) interview situation was like. I wish more shows tried unique things like that. Awesome show overall!

WZBC - Econo Jams - 6-22-11

Fiery Furnaces - Here Comes the Summer
Smog - No Dancing
Daniel Johnston - Some Things Last a Long Time
The Dismemberment Plan - The City
Beach House - Gila
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away
Dinosaur Jr. - Freak Scene (Radio Edit)
Ween - The Mollusk
Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire
The Field Mice - Sensitive
Bonnie “Prince” Billy - A Minor Place
Lush - Sweetness and Light
The Magnetic Fields - Why I Cry
The Olivia Tremor Control - Hideway
The Mekons - Hard To Be Human Again
Marissa Nadler - Famous Blue Raincoat
Joanna Newsom - Easy
My Bloody Valentine - Soon
The Modern Lovers - Hospital
Violent Femmes - Kiss Off
Sebadoh - Rebound
Pavement - Shady Lane
Hercules and Love Affair - Blind
The Residents - Easter Woman
Sonic Youth - Shadow of a Doubt
Ride - Vapour Trail
The Jesus and Mary Chain - Darklands

WZBC - Radio Show- 6/15/11

2011-06-15T23:00:00.000-05:00

For this week the logo is Harry Nilsson, because he was amazing. I also played “Without Her” during this show. Lots of callers during this one. Enjoy!

WZBC - Econo Jams - 6-15-11

Cat Power - Cross Bones Style
Smog - Look Now
Deer Tick - Art Isn’t Real (City of Sin)
Felice Brothers - Frankie’s Gun!
Bert Jansch - Needle of Death
Harry Nilsson - Without Her
Mazzy Star - Into Dust
McLusky - She Will Only Bring You Happiness
Black Lips - Family Tree
Kurt Vile - Jesus Fever
Deerhunter - Tribulations
LCD Soundsystem - Tribulations
The Walkmen - The Rat
Harlem - Someday Soon
Roy Harper - Me and My Woman
Joanna Newsom - Have One ON Me
Bat for Lashes - Daniel
The Smiths - Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now
John Cale - Gideon’s Bible
The Wrens - She Sends Kisses
Swans - Love Will Tear Us Apart
Vashti Bunyan - Somethings Just Stick In Your Mind
Tiny Tim - Livin’ in the Sunlight, Lovin’ in the Moonlight
Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers - Ice Cream Man
The Sonics - Psycho
The Vaselines - Molly’s Lips

WZBC - Radio Show- 6/8/11

2011-06-08T22:51:00.001-05:00

This show features Zach Condon of Beirut in the logo as he saved me from near disaster. I was attempting to switch over from CD to laptop for the second song, yet suddenly got the dreaded “Not Responding” on all the windows open. There’s a bit of awkwardness when I’m trying to kill time on the air. Thus two Beirut songs in a row! Things definitely shaped up by the end though.

So as always I give away free tickets to films at the Coolidge Corner and Brattle Theater, as well as shows at The Middle East during my program. Definitely an incentive to listen live! The concert report airs roughly around 8:30.

WZBC - “Econo Jams” - 6/8/11

Beirut - Mount Wroclai (Idle Days)
Beirut - Rhineland (Heartland)
Antlers - French Exit
Soft Cell - Say Hello Wave Goodbye (12” version)
Sonic Youth - Schizophrenia
Red Krayola - Victory Garden
Eric’s Trip - Behind the Garage
Joanna Newsom - The Book of Right-On
Julie Dorion - Nice to Come Home
Mount Eerie - You Swan, Go On
Ween - Oh My Dear (Falling in Love)
Lou Reed & John Cale - Smalltown
Pavement - Grounded
Kraftwerk - Ohm Sweet Ohm
Residents - Amber
Wire - I Feel Mysterious Today
Smog - Cold Blooded Old Times
Galaxie 500 - Snowstorm
Mangetic Fields - Take Ecstacy with Me (Susan Anway Vocal)
Devendra Banhart - A Sight to Behold
Leonard Cohen - The Partisan
Low - In Metal
Bill Callahan - Too Many Birds
Mountain Goats - Color in Your Cheeks
Alec Ounsworth - Holy, Holy, Holy Moses (Song for New Orleans)
Yo La Tengo - The Summer
Elliott Smith - Alameda
Sebadoh - Spoiled
Red House Painters - Have You Forgotten
The Replacements - Here Comes a Regular
Radical Face - Welcome Home, Son

WZBC Radio Show - 5-25-11

2011-05-25T18:06:00.001-05:00

Here’s another podcast! It was a particularly sunny morning, thus the ridiculous sun image.

WZBC - Radio Show- 5/25/11

Built to Spill - Randy Described Eternity
The Feelies - Do It Again
Liquid Liquid - Optimo
DOM - Burn Bridges
Bill Callahan - Baby’s Breath
The Notwist - Consequence
The Go! Team - Friendship Update
Television Personalities - The Glittering Prizes
J. Mascis - Several Shades of Why
Panda Bear - Last Night at the Jetty
Thurston Moore - Benediction
Perfume Genius - Learning
Joanna Newsom - Only Skin
Fugazi - Repeater
Liz Phair - Divorce Song
Galaxie 500 - Fourth of July
Modest Mouse - Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset
The Antlers - Epilogue
Ween - What Deaner Was Talking’ About
Vivian Girls - Tell the World
Sebadoh - Soul and Fire
Luna - California (All the Way)
John Cale - Paris 1919

WZBC Radio Show - 5-18-11

2011-05-20T11:28:00.004-05:00

Finally! I have my own FM radio show! This is a very exciting week for me as though I’ve had various college radio shows over the past few years, they’ve all been internet streaming only. Now I’m actually on the radio…with listeners! I have concert and film tickets to give away! It’s all very cool.

My show airs every Wednesday from 8-10am on WZBC 90.3. It broadcasts to Boston and the surrounding area, though worldwide internet streaming is here. So this here is the podcast of my first episode. I think the show name will be "Econo Jams." I made the logo image a foggy tree as the first show was on an extremely foggy day. The setlist follows. I still have a few microphone and volume level kinks to work out, but I have all summer for that.

WZBC - Radio Show- 5/18/11

Grizzly Bear - Knife
Joanna Newsom - Good Intentions Paving Co.
Galaxie 500 - Tugboat
The Feelies - The Boy With the Perpetual Nervousness
The Fall - Totally Wired
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
John Cale - All My Friends
Neutral Milk Hotel - Naomi
Panda Bear - Drone
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Satan Said Dance
Sonic Youth - Dirty Boots
Cibo Matto - Birthday Cake
The Slits - Typical Girls
Orange Juice - Falling and Laughing
Modest Mouse - Interstate 8
The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist
Deerhoof - Spirit Ditties of No Tone
Polaris - Everywhere
Beach House - 10 Mile Stereo
Clinic - Distortions
New Order - Dreams Never End
Portishead - Machine Gun
The Microphones - The Glow
Guided by Voices - I Am a Scientist
The Olivia Tremor Control - NYC-25

Recording: Sebadoh - Live in Boston 3-24-11

2011-03-25T18:51:00.010-05:00

Sebadoh - Live in Boston - 3/24/11

1. On Fire
2. Skull
3. Too Pure
4. Sister
5. Shit Soup
6. Mind Reader
7. Got It
8. Love to Fight
9. Drag Down
10. Dreams
11. Magnet's Coil
12. Ocean
13. Rebound
14. License to Confuse
15. Drama Mine
16. Nothing Like You
17. Crystal Gypsy
18. Bird in Hand
19. Careful
20. Beauty of the Ride
21. Not a Friend
22. Together or Alone
23. Sixteen
24. Give Up
25. Junk Bonds
26. New Worship
27. Brand New Love
28. Not Too Amused
29. Willing to Wait

Best of 2010: Song Mixes

2011-02-14T22:13:00.002-05:00

Rather than making an ordered list, these are two mixes I made of various favorites from the year. However, they are structured in the way that each track flows pretty well from one to the next and genre similar songs are grouped together. Surprisingly though, The Tallest Man on Earth transitions quite well into Kanye. It’s been a while since I actually made mixes for this blog, so I hope you enjoy them!

Mix #1:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GBRM8BCH

1. LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean
2. Crystal Castles ft. Robert Smith - Not in Love
3. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti - Round and Round
4. Girls - Heartbreaker
5. Dum Dum Girls - Jail La La
6. Robyn - Dancing On My Own
7. Janelle Monae ft. Big Boi - Tightrope
8. Deerhunter - Desire Lines
9. The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio
10. The Walkmen - Stranded
11. Beach House - Zebra
12. Joanna Newsom - In California
13. The Tallest Man on Earth - Love is All
14. Kanye West - Runaway
15. Sleigh Bells - Crown on the Ground

Mix #2:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FT1M5KUC

1. Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait
2. Sufjan Stevens - I Walked
3. Joanna Newsom - Good Intentions Paving Company
4. Belle & Sebastian - I Didn’t See It Coming
5. Yaesayer - Ambling Amp
6. Deerhunter - Revival
7. Caribou - Odessa
8. Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill
9. LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change
10. Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill
11. The Drums - Let’s Go Surfing
12. Surfer Blood - Catholic Pagans
13. Dom - Jesus
14. Harlem - Someday Soon
15. Menomena - TAOS
16. Titus Andronicus - A More Perfect Union
17. Beach House - 10 Mile Stereo
18. Joanna Newsom - On a Good Day
19. Perfume Genius - Learning

Best of 2010: Concerts

2011-02-14T22:01:00.004-05:00

10. The Feelies @ The Middle East (3-19-10)
9. The Buzzcocks @ Paradise (5-17-10)
8. Sufjan Stevens @ Orpheum Theater (11-12-10)
7. LCD Soundsystem w. Sleigh Bells @ Orpheum Theater (9-28-10)
6. Iggy & the Stooges @ House of Blues (8-31-10)
5. Belle & Sebastian w. Dean Wareham @ Orpheum Theater(10-15-10)
4. Weezer @ Orpheum (12-14, 12-15)
3. Joanna Newsom @ Sanders Theater (3-17-10)
2. Pavement @ Agganis Arena (9-18-10)
1. Guided by Voices w. Blitzen Trapper @ Paradise (11-5-10)

I'm so on board with the 90's reunion trend that is going on lately. In 2010, Pavement and Guided by Voices reunited, Weezer played Blue + Pinkerton shows. In 2011, The Dismemberment Plan, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Pulp, Jeff Mangum, Sebadoh, and Archers of Loaf are all touring. And it's only February. Sure reunion shows can be an easy cash-in, and I've seen a few disappointing ones (recently Echo & the Bunnymen), but when they're on, they can be one of the greatest live experiences you can have. The thrill of seeing something live that you never expected to see is truly wonderful, and I can easily say that for the Guided by Voices, Pavement, and Weezer shows that I attended this year. However out of the three, GBV took the cake.

I never expected to see GBV live, much less in their classic (1992-1996) lineup. Plus seeing them in a club, the exact same venue when they played Boston in 1996 was surreal. The setlist was impeccable - nearly 40 songs, with the majority from Propeller, Bee Thousand, and Alien Lanes.
It was also the first 21+ show I've attended, and for good reason. Robert Pollard passed beer and his bottle of Tequila around the audience, and by the end of the night, the stage resembled an ashtray. We were transported back in a time before indoor smoking was banned in 2004, the same year GBV disbanded. Legality be damned! Though by the end of the evening, all the alcohol clearly has some impact on the band's playing, this hardly mattered as this was never what Guided by Voices were all about. This show was such an experience, a celebration where you could truly feel the power of the music and love from both the crowd and the band. I swear each band member high-fived me ten times.

Best of 2010: Films

2011-02-14T21:59:00.006-05:00

40. Babies
39. Jackass 3D
38. Unstoppable
37. Rabbit Hole
36. Shutter Island
35. Best Worst Movie
34. Splice
33. I Love You, Phillip Morris
32. The Runaways
31. True Grit
30. Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt & the Magnetic Fields
29. The Town
28. Let Me In
27. 127 Hours
26. Kick Ass
25. Hot Tub Time Machine
24. Another Year
23. Get Him to The Greek
22. The Kids are Alright
21. Temple Grandin
20. Catfish
19. Buried
18. The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights
17. The Fighter
16. How to Train Your Dragon
15. Never Let Me Go
14. The King’s Speech
13. Inception
12. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
11. Somewhere
10. Last Train Home
9. Who Is Harry Nilsson? (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)
8. Dogtooth
7. The Social Network
6. Exit Through the Gift Shop
5. Fish Tank
4. Greenberg
3. Blue Valentine
2. Black Swan
1. Toy Story 3

If I write a blurb about Toy Story 3, I'll start thinking about the ending, and then I might start sobbing. Oh my GOD. I can't think of a more emotionally loaded ending scene in any film. I swear, all the tears in the theater eliminated years of spilled soda stickiness from the floor. That's kind of a gross image... But really, this is one of the greatest animated films ever, and easily my favorite film of the year.

I actually caught some of Toy Story 2 on TV today, and it suddenly was much sadder than I remembered. I also saw an ad on the bus for Toy Story 3 ON ICE. I just don't know about that. Though I'm pretty sure if you collect all the tears shed from the movie going public, you could fill the rink. Ice tea-r. Ouch.

Best of 2010: Top 60 Albums

2011-02-14T21:58:00.011-05:00

Well, I’m a bit late to the party this year when it comes to year end lists. I’ve been making this sort of list for several years now, and have noticed that publications are beginning to post their lists earlier and earlier. This year it seems most lists were already complete and ready by late November. That’s just too early! December isn’t entirely a dead month for media releases. For instance Ghostface Killah released a really solid record this year on December 21st. But did it make any lists? No, it couldn’t! Then Gorillaz put out a surprise album on Christmas day! Sure it wasn’t very good, but it was still a significant December release.

Anyways, I’m probably just trying to justify my laziness for finalizing this list so late. I mean, I’m posting this thing AFTER the Grammy’s even. Shit. Well, these are my top sixty albums of 2010. Even though I listened to more than sixty albums this year, if I make the list longer than that I’ll have to start listing records I found to be mostly forgettable, and what’s the point of that? Well after much listening and re-listening, then reading lists and some more listening, here’s where it stands as of today. As always a single listen can throw off an album’s placement, though the top ten is nearly set in stone.

60. ceo - White Magic
59. Dirty Projectors + Bjork - Mount Wittenberg Orca
58. Perfume Genius - Learning
57. Rose Elinor Dougall - Without Why
56. Grinderman - Grinderman 2
55. Clinic - Bubblegum
54. The Vaselines - Sex with an X
53. Tame Impala - Innerspeaker
52. Glasser - Ring
51. Liars – Sisterworld
50. Wild Nothing - Gemini
49. Twin Shadow - Forget
48. Robyn - Body Talk
47. Das Racist - Shut Up, Dude
46. Charlotte Gainsbourg – IRM
45. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
44. Antony & the Johnsons - Swanlights
43. The Black Keys - Brothers
42. Das Racist - Sit Down, Man
41. Daughters - Daughters
40. MGMT - Congratulations
39. Ghostface Killah - Apollo Kids
38. Harlem - Hippies
37. Holy Fuck - Latin
36. The Fall - Your Future Our Clutter
35. Wolf Parade - Expo 86
34. Four Tet - There is Love in You
33. Best Coast - Crazy For You
32. Avey Tare - Down There
31. Girl Talk - All Day
30. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
29. No Age - Everything in Between
28. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles II
27. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - I Learned the Hard Way
26. Owen Pallett - Heartland
25. Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can
24. Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils
23. Belle & Sebastian - Belle & Sebastian Write About Love
22. Dom - Sun Bronzed Greek Gods
21. Girls - Broken Dreams Club
20. The Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt
19. Jonsi – Go
18. Caribou - Swim
17. The Drums - The Drums
16. Yeasayer – Odd Blood
15. Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be
14. Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
13. Menomena - Mines
12. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti - Before Today
11. The National - High Violet

10. Janelle Monae - The Archandroid
9. The Walkmen - Lisbon
8. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
7. Sleigh Bells – Treats
6. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
5. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
4. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
3. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
2. Beach House – Teen Dream
1. Joanna Newsom – Have One on Me

My number #1 album is no surprise, as even from the day it leaked, nearly a year ago, I was certain that it would be my top of the year. This fall will mark five years of my Joanna obsession, and it certainly won’t be ceasing any time soon. There’s simply no one else out there writing on her level. Her songwriting, lyrics, and musicianship are all just of the highest quality. There’s no female singer-songwriter out there today who comes even close. That is an objective statement. Joanna Newsom is the best female singer-songwriter working today.

Taking a step backwards, despite my obvious infatuation, this album took me a long time to digest. Though not as musically dense as her previous album Ys (my favorite record of the last decade), its length is rather daunting. Though Ys was a double record with five songs, Have One on Me is a triple record, totaling eighteen songs, six on each record. There really haven’t been many triple albums in history- the most notable that come to mind are George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, The Clash’s Sardanista!, and The Magnetic Fields’ 69 Love Songs. I enjoy all of these records (Sardanista to a lesser extent), and even consider 69 Love Songs to be my all-time favorite record. Yet all these records have their share of considerably lesser songs, and even filler. Have One on Me on the other hand has no filler of any sort. Each of the three records make their own concise statement. They each have a wonderful opening song that both feels like an album opener and sets the record’s momentum, and an particularly emotional closer that wraps up each record nicely. However, when you listen to all three in a row, like Voltron they form something even greater than the sum of their parts.

I was finally able to see the album as Voltron around the 6th listen, yet with every repeat listen I get more and more out of the record. This is truly a record for the long run. Songs that seemed almost unmelodic, meandering, and frankly, boring, with initial listens became highlights. Examples of this would include “Kingfisher,” “Go Long”, and especially the title track. I look back at myself listening to these songs with a hesitant ear and almost think “how I could have been so naive?”

With modern technology constantly changing the way we listen to music, I also find the timeless nature of this album to be incredibly refreshing. The internet gives us the ability to download practically any album we want, in minutes, for free. Nearly every new release leaks at least a week in advance, and there is always a rush to consume the record, and sprout your “definitive” opinion as quickly as possible. You grab a record on mediafire, unzip it, and listen to it through your shitty computer speakers. While you’re listening you might revel in the hype of another upcoming record, or contribute to the backlash against a recently acclaimed record that’s getting just a little too much attention (though in the scope of things isn’t really at all.) Everything becomes overrated. It’s like fast food. This is not what music listening should be.

Still, I can be just as much of a victim to this practice as anyone. If I wasn’t there’s no way I’d ever be able to make a ridiculous year end list like this. Albums like Have One On Me though bring you back to the ideal of music listening. Like all of Joanna’s albums it is beautifully packaged, with a gatefold box housing the three vinyl records, each with a custom dust jacket, and a huge elegant lyric booklet. It’s just made to be sprawled out on a bed, booklet poured through while the record plays over your stereo. Just listening to a record can really be one of the most exhilarating experiences you can have.

10 Least Favorite Albums of the Year

10. Salem - King Night
9. The Hold Steady - Heaven is Whenever
8. Magnetic Fields – Realism
7. Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
6. She & Him - Volume 2
5. Vampire Weekend - Contra
4. Wavves - King of the Beach
3. Broken Bells - Broken Bells
2. Chromeo - Business Casual
1. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

This list would have a different #1 if I could physically finish Lil Wayne’s rock album. It hasn’t been a bad year though, as I don’t actually hate a lot of these albums, but just find them rather boring. Some more than others. Others I find annoying and a bit irksome. Only one truly makes me want to barf. Why Dylan, why?

The Essential Daniel Johnston

2011-01-22T21:54:00.006-05:00

Today Daniel Johnston turns 50. In honor of his birthday, here is a custom "best-of" mix that I made over the Summer. I found that the official Welcome to My World compilation lacked some essential early material (especially Songs of Pain cuts) as well as material from the underrated Fun. I mean, how can you exclude "Life in Vain," "Silly Love, ""Grievances," "I Had Lost My Mind," "An Idiot's End," "I'm a Song," and "Held the Hand?" Then again, when it comes to Daniel Johnston favorites, it can get very subjective. Anyways, here's my version complete with a custom cover which you can find at the left or here. The mix runs just below 80 minutes, so it should perfectly fit on a CD-R. Enjoy and celebrate Daniel!

The Essential Daniel Johnston

1. Grievences
2. Living Life
3. I Had Lost My Mind
4. Never Relaxed
5. The Sun Shines Down on Me
6. Like a Monkey in a Zoo
7. Man Obsessed
8. An Idiot's End
9. Peek A Boo
10. The Story of an Artist
11. Casper the Friendly Ghost
12. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Your Grievances
13. Speeding Motorcycle
14. The Beatles
15. Walking the Cow
16. Hey Joe
17. I'm a Song
18. Etiquette
19. Funeral Home
20. Go
21. Devil Town
22. Some Things Last a Long Time
23. True Love Will Find You in the End
24. Held the Hand
25. Laurie
26. Come See Me Tonight
27. Silly Love
28. Life in Vain

X-MAS RADIO SHOW - 11-17-10

2010-12-25T14:10:00.006-05:00

Merry Christmas! Here's my last radio show of the year. Though it started off like any other radio show, it gradually became a Christmas themed special. Unfortunately the stream was down the following week so I could not deliver on the extra-special all Christmas episode that I hyped at the end. Well, there's always next year!

X-MAS RADIO SHOW 11-17-10

Joanna Newsom - Baby Birch
The Field Mice - Sensitive
Built to Spill - Joyride
Oh No! Oh My! - Farewell to All My Friends
The Tallest Man on Earth - Love is All
Low - Just Like Christmas
Belle & Sebastian - Christmas Time is Here
The Sonics - Santa Claus
The Wailers - She's Comin' Home
The Flaming Lips - Christmas at the Zoo
Susan Christie - Paint a Lady
Vince Guaraldi - Hark! the Herald Angels Sing

RADIO SHOW - 12-01-10

2010-12-25T13:59:00.007-05:00

I've been so out of the loop. I apologize. That always happens around this time of the year.

Here's another radio show!

WZBC - 12-01-10

The Vaselines - Son of a Gun
The Unicorns - Les Os
Beat Happening - Cast a Shadow
Galaxie 500 - When Will You Come Home
This Heat - Paper Hats
Joanna Newsom & the Ys Street Band - Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie

RADIO SHOW - 11-17-10

2010-11-19T15:55:00.003-05:00

I realized that there's only 3 different WZBC logos, and reusing those again and again is getting boring. Therefore I decided to make my own. This is a cat face.

WZBC - 11-17-10

Playlist:

Silver Jews - Random Rules
The Soft Boys - Insanely Jealous
The Dismemberment Plan - The Ice of Boston
The Jesus and Mary Chain - Head On
Slowdive - Alison
Vashti Bunyan - Diamond Day

RADIO SHOW - 11-16-10 - Autumn Playlist

2010-11-19T15:40:00.003-05:00

Here’s my AM Radio Show of the week, and it’s my favorite thus far. I made it Fall/Autumn themed, playing only songs that connect to the season in some way. Sometimes the ways are more subjective than others, but all these songs are truly great. I also experimented with transitions for the first time ever, using beat matching in a way to make each song flow seamlessly to the next. I’m very happy with this one.

WVBC - 11-16-10 - Fall Playlist

Playlist:

Red House Painters - Song for a Blue Guitar
Field Mice - September’s Not So Far Away
Yo La Tengo - Autumn Sweater
The 6ths - Falling Out of Love (With You)
The Beta Band - Dry the Rain
The Microphones - I Felt Your Shape
Nick Drake - Day is Done
Vashti Bunyan - Rose Hip November
Devendra Banhart - The Body Breaks
Nico - Fairest of the Seasons
Belle & Sebastian - We Rule the School
Robyn Hitchcock - Autumn is Your Last Chance
Simon & Garfunkel - Leaves that are Green
The Kinks - Autumn Almanac
Joanna Newsom - Bridges and Balloons

RADIO SHOW - 11-10-10

2010-11-19T14:57:00.009-05:00

Here's another week's radio show. To clarify, I only have one official Radio Show a week. That one (WVBC) streams here online every Tuesday from 11-12 EST. I also intern at the FM WZBC station on Wednesdays, with my set typically running from 11:30-12. I should have a FM show of my own next semester, so that will be really exciting.

WZBC - 11-10-10

Playlist:

Beat Happening - Indian Summer
Joanna Newsom - In California
Jason Anderson - So Long
Beach House - Zebra
The Dismemberment Plan - The City
Deerhoof - Spirit Ditties of No Tone
The Birthday Party - Mr. Clarinet
Built to Spill - Distopian Dream Girl

RADIO SHOW - 11-09-10

2010-11-12T13:23:00.004-05:00

WVBC - 11-09-10

Playlist:

Built to Spill - Randy Described Eternity
Galaxie 500 - Fourth of July
Joanna Newsom - So Long
Leonard Cohen - Diamonds in the Mine
Cat Power - Nude as the News
Guided by Voices - Unleashed! The Large-Hearted Boy
Ride - Vapour Trail
Wire - I Feel Mysterious Today
Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
New Order - Love Vigilantes
Trans-X - Living on Video
B-52's - 52 Girls

RADIO SHOW - 10-20-10

2010-11-06T14:30:00.006-05:00

I had forgotten about this one. It's a short one, but I love all these songs dearly.

WZBC - 10-20-10

Playlist:
Clinic - Distortions
Mclusky - To Hell With Good Intentions
Galaxie 500 - Tugboat
Apples in Stereo - Tidal Wave
Beat Happening - Teenage Caveman

RADIO SHOW - 11-03-10

2010-11-05T13:01:00.005-05:00

WZBC - 11-03-10 (Longest set yet!)

Playlist:

Mirah - Cold Cold Water
Joanna Newsom - Sadie
The Feelies - Loveless Love
The Fall - Cruisers Creek

Daniel Johnston - Some Things Last a Long Time
The Jesus and Mary Chain - You Trip Me Up
Guided by Voices - Cut-Out Witch
Essential Logic - Aerosol Burns
Lightning Bolt - Ride the Skies
Faust - It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl

RADIO SHOW - 10-27-10

2010-11-05T12:51:00.009-05:00

Oh no! Technical difficulties. I haven't been able to properly archive my AM radio show for the last 2 weeks. Hopefully things will improve soon. However, I also currently intern on a FM show on Wednesdays 10-12pm. I tend to do a block around 11:30. It's really cool doing a radio show that people actually listen to live.

WZBC 10-27-10

Playlist:
Archers of Loaf - Web in Front
The Wipers - Mystery
Camper Van Beethoven - Take the Skinheads Bowling
Wire - Map Ref 41 Deg N 93 Deg W
Bauhaus - In the Flat Field
Can - Mushroom
Ween - The Mollusk

It's like an EP length Podcast!

Recording: The Vaselines - Live at the Paradise - 10-5-10

2010-10-25T19:33:00.013-05:00

This year was the first time the Vaselines ever played Boston. Yes, 2010. Does that seem weird? It does, but it makes perfect sense considering the band never even played in the US before July 2008.

After an 18 year absence, the Vaselines got back together in early 2008. Their former last performance as the Vaselines was opening for Nirvana in 1990, which was already a reunion show given that the band broke up initially in 1989.

Like the Meat Puppets, the Vaselines are probably mentioned most often in sentences that also feature the name "Kurt Cobain." He claimed the Vaselines as his favorite band on several occasions, and even went so far to name his daughter after member Frances McKee. The three Vaselines songs Nirvana covered, "Son of a Gun," "Molly's Lips," and "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" remain the band's most popular songs, and are among their greatest achievements. For me in particular "Son of a Gun" is the perfect pop song, and easily one of my favorite songs of all-time. With this side note in mind, there were some odd Nirvana worship at moments (chants of NIRVANA! after Jesus Wants Me..) yet this night was all about the Vaselines, as it should have been.

Though obviously no longer a couple, Eugene and Frances still have wonderful on stage chemistry, with ample audience banter. I can't think of a show I've been to where the audience laughed more than this one. The band sounded fantastic live, like no time at all had passed from the initial recordings. Mixed in with their classic material were songs from their new album Sex with an X, which fit in perfectly and never brought the energy down. There's some truly excellent songs on the new album, and they were really brought to life live. If the Vaselines come to your area, seriously do not miss them. They are a treasure.

Below is the link to the recording. As always the quality is good, but far from what you'd get on a site like NYCtaper. My gear just isn't that good. Nearly every song has some audience banter after it, so look forward to that. I especially like the post-"Monsterpussy" talk. Also noteworthy is a concert goer vs. concert goer altercation directly following "Dum-Dum." You will hear the sentence "DO NOT GO ON THE FUCKING STAGE THAT'S RUDE!" Yikes.

The Vaselines - Live at the Paradise - 10-5-10

Setlist:
Oliver Twisted
Monsterpussy
I Hate the 80's
The Day I Was A Horse
Sex with an X
Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam
The Devil's Inside Me
Molly's Lips
Whitechapel
Slushy
Let's Get Ugly
Son of a Gun
No Hope
Rory Rides Me Raw
Ruined
Mouth to Mouth
Dying for it
Encore:
You Think You're A Man
Dum-Dum

INDIE SELECTIONS RADIO! 10-19-10

2010-10-22T00:53:00.007-05:00

Wow! I'm at Boston College. It is very different from Clark University. However, it is like Clark University in that it has a radio station. Yet BC also has an FM station, one that is actually on the air.

Am I on FM? No. But if all goes well, next semester I will be!

I currently have AM show every Tuesday from 12-1pm. This entire sentence will lead you to the stream website. It has no name, but it is basically "Indie Selections for Your Erections Radio." It's a bit of a mouthful, but hey, I already have the blog and all.

As no one listens to online streaming radio as it airs, I will be making podcasts. Each week I will post them here, starting with the podcast for 10-19-10. Oh, what's this?!

ISYES Podcast - 10/19/10

Playlist:
Guided by Voices - Over the Neptune/ Mesh Gear Fox
Galaxie 500 - Tugboat
Gary Numan - Metal
Daniel Johnston - Life in Vain
The Go! Team - Huddle Formation
Devendra Banhart - A Sight to Behond
Deerhoof - The Merry Barracks
The Jesus and Mary Chain - Upside Down
Joanna Newsom - The Book of Right-On
Joy Division - Colony
Kraftwerk - Robots
The Normal - Warm Leatherette

How fun! Also I will soon be posting more amaturish show recordings, as I have been to lots of shows recently. The Vaselines...Deerhoof...The Walkmen...Belle & Sebastian...Dean Wareham Plays Galaxie 500... it's been a great Fall so far. I recorded all of those! Look for the Vaselines very soon. Living in Boston is pure genius when it comes to shows. I'm used to driving a good 50-90 minutes from either Worcester or Providence, and then having to pay another $10 or $15 in parking. Now it's a $2 T ride there and then a $2 T ride back. Now I just need to understand how people get to The Middle East without a car...

Recording: Lou Barlow + the Missingmen - Live

2010-08-21T18:34:00.006-05:00

Lou Barlow is one of my favorite musicians of all time. He's also one of most prolific artists of the last two decades, always on tour in some way and constantly releasing new music. His music career started with his hardcore band from high school, Deep Wound, also featuring future Dinosaur Jr. frontman J. Mascis on drums. Dinosaur Jr. of course came next, until his ejection from the band after the release of Bug. Then in the 90's came Sebadoh, the Folk Implosion (with the Top 40 hit "Natural One,") and the solo-moniker of Sentridoh. Despite this lengthy history, it took until 2005 for Lou to release an album under his own name. This album Emoh, received its follow-up last year with Goodnight Unknown. It's really great.

I had previously seen Lou with the Missingmen (originally one of Mike Watt's backing bands) opening for Dinosaur Jr. last year. It was only the second time the band played together, and still three days before the release of Goodnight Unknown. Despite these potential obstacles, the band played an energetic and compelling set. However this time, now that I'm familiar with the new album and given the time the band has now had on the road to hone their act, it was a much better experience. There's great chemistry between the band members, and some stage banter made for some of the night's most memorable moments. The format of the show was excellent as well, with it both beginning and closing with Lou solo acoustic set. Starting off with two Sebadoh classics was a great way to reel the audience in, as well as a song from Dinosaur Jr's last album Farm, and a song each from Lou's two solo records. Very eclectic.

The majority of Lou's band set was from his two solo albums and one EP, excluding a re-arranged version of the old Sentridoh track "Losercore." The encore solo set was all Sebadoh tunes, including the requested "Vampire," complete with a Twilight comment from Lou himself.

I'm very pleased with the quality of the recording itself, though there are instances where it picks up crowd shuffling and chatter louder than I would like. The stage was very close to the bar, so there's also some scattered glass clinks. Though I didn't notice it as much during the set with my earplugs, there's quite a lot of background chatter during "Soul and Fire." As one of Lou's greatest songs, I'm just perplexed to how anyone who would pay to see Lou live could talk during that one. It thankfully dies down by the time he brings out the big guns with "Brand New Love." After the show Lou and the band hung around and were very willing to chat with anyone and everyone. Wonderful people they are. This was a great night!

Recording: Lou Barlow + the Missingmen - Live @ Daniel Street - Milford CT

(Lou Acoustic)
1. Magnet’s Coil
2. The Freed Pig
3. Imagination Blind
4. Puzzle
5. I’m Thinking

(w. The Missingmen)
6. Don’t Apologize
7. Home
8. Sharing
9. The One I Call
10. Too Much Freedom
11. Praise
12. Gravitate
13. One Machine, One Long Fight
14. Caterpillar Girl
15. Faith Defies the Night
16. Losercore
17. Take Advantage

(Lou Acoustic)
18. Soul and Fire
19. Vampire
20. Brand New Love

Recoding: Islands - Live @ Firehouse 13 - Providence RI

2010-06-30T13:42:00.004-05:00

Talk about a last minute show. You see, this show was originally going to be at a completely different venue- Jerky's Bar in Providence. I believe they only recently started booking shows, and boy does it show. Apparently when Islands arrived in Providence earlier in the day, no one was at Jerky's. The owners had skipped town without any prior notification. Thus Islands were in Rhode Island for a show, yet had no place to put on the show. What a shitty situation. Miraculously, just hours before the scheduled start time, the band found a new venue - Firehouse 13. I had never been to the Firehouse before, but was aware of its existence. A concert venue / art space converted over from an old Firehouse, it had a distinct charm that made it a great place to see a show. Unfortunately due to the last minute venue switch, the crowd at the show was seriously limited. I'd doubt that there were any more than 40 people in attendance. This along with the venue size made it a very intimate show.

The show opened with a band named Steel Phantoms. I was very impressed by their set. The band were clearly talented musicians and played together very tightly. They kept my attention throughout, and I could see them getting much bigger in the future. One of the best openers I've seen in quite awhile. Islands came on next, and played a great abliet a bit short set. I had seen them once before, in 2008 on their Arm's Way tour. That show was at the Middle East in Boston, and obviously had a much greater number of attendees. It was certainly near capacity. However, this show was the better of the two. In addition to a more varied setlist, the band was more energetic and played stronger than before. One thing I did miss though was the presence of a violin player. Some of the older material, especially "The Arm" is pushed to another level with violin. Despite the much smaller audience, Nick Thorburn seemed to be in better spirits, and was very engaged with the audience. At one point he even entered the crowd to sing alongside various audience members, myself included. Though the material focused most heavily on their last album, Vapours, songs from all three albums were played, including three new tracks. One song was even premiered live for the very first time. The band played for just under an hour, without an encore. Though their closer, "Swans (Life After Death)" was the highlight of the night, it would have been nice to hear a few more songs. Regardless, this show was excellent and everybody seemed to leave satisfied.

Here's a recording of the show I made using an Olympus LS-10. Though there's some muddiness from being up so close, it generally sounds quite good. Enjoy!

Recording: Islands - Live @ Firehouse 13 - 6-29-10

1. Switched On
2. Creeper
3. No You Don't
4. Heartbeat
5. Vapours
6. New Song
7. Tender Torture
8. New Song
9. The Arm
10. New Song
11. Rough Gem
12. Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby
13. Swans (Life after Death)

Albums of the Decade

2010-06-21T00:48:00.001-05:00

Oh wow. After over a year, my list is ready. I first got the idea for this LAST summer, as a way to catch to reflect on this decade in music, as well as to discover some new albums that I may have overlooked. It's been a great experience, and pushing myself to listen to albums that I wouldn't normally was actually incredibly rewarding. We all develop eventually develop comfort zones in music, and breaking from them can be uncomfortable. That is a dumb truth. Music is the most amazing thing in the world. There should be a constant celebration for its existence. I've listened and re-listened to several hundred albums over this past year that were released during this decade, and this list is the result of that undertaking. There was a point where I considered making this a Top 500 Albums of the Decade, though that's a bit ridiculous. Albums in the late 400s would just be ones that I find pretty not bad. This list was assembled very gradually, beginning with the definite top 25 albums and continuing from there. It's amazing how much one listen can change an album's placement. There's many albums on this list that I could put on right now and their position would change for better or worse. Though an album is always the same, it's remarkable how much time and place can affect how you hear it. Despite this, I feel that I've finally reached the point where I can step away from this list, satisfied with the places where things stand. In addition to this big list, I made several smaller ones based on albums, artists, and songs. I love lists. Ok, here it is...

200. Mount Eerie - Wind’s Poem (2009)
199. The Dodos – Visiter (2008)
198. Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna (2008)
197. Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds (2006)
196. Santogold - Santogold (2008)
195. Air - Talkie Walkie (2004)
194. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar (2006)
193. A Silver Mt. Zion - Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upward (2001)
192. Spoon – Gimme Fiction (2005)
191. Spiritualized - Let It Come Down (2001)
190. British Sea Power - The Decline of British Sea Power (2003)
189. Sparklehorse - It’s a Wonderful Life (2001)
188. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals (2008)
187. Bjork – Vespertine (2001)
186. Andrew W.K. - I Get Wet (2001)
185. Architecture in Helsinki - Fingers Crossed (2003)
184. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup (2007)
183. The National – Boxer (2007)
182. Cursive - Domestica (2000)
181. Mclusky - The Difference Between Me and You Is That I'm Not on Fire (2004)
180. Black Dice - Beaches & Canyons (2003)
179. J Dilla - Donuts (2006)
178. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing (2008)
177. Battles - Atlas (2007)
176. Mclusky - My Pain and Sadness is More Sad and Painful Than Yours (2000)
175. Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (2005)
174. Department of Eagles – In Ear Park (2008)
173. Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the Hill (2004)
172. PJ Harvey - Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea (2000)
171. The Blood Brothers - Burn Piano Island, Burn (2003)
170. The XX - XX (2009)
169. Sleater-Kinney - One Beat (2002)
168. Black Lips - Let it Bloom (2005)
167. Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped (2006)
166. Ghostface Killah - Fishscale (2006)
165. Menomena - Friend or Foe (2007)
164. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow (2003)
163. My Morning Jacket - Z (2005)
162. Vashti Bunyan - Lookingaftering (2005)
161. The Magnetic Fields - i (2004)
160. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O (2002)
159. Manitoba - Up in Flames (2003)
158. Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain (2005)
157. M.I.A. – Kala (2007)
156. Jay-Z – The Black Album (2003)
155. The Blow - Paper Television (2006)
154. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Abattoir Blues/ The Lyre of Orpheus (2004)
153. John Cale - Hobosapiens (2003)
152. Deerhoof – Milk Man (2004)
151. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz (2009)
150. Blur - Think Tank (2003)
149. Morrissey - You Are The Quarry (2004)
148. Gorillaz – Demon Days (2005)
147. Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules & Love Affair (2008)
146. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala (2007)
145. Antony & the Johnsons - The Crying Light (2009)
144. Girls - Album (2009)
143. Kanye West - Graduation (2007)
142. Sigur Ros - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (2008)
141. Matmos - A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure (2001)
140. M.I.A. – Arular (2005)
139. The Swell Season - Swell Season (2006)
138. Tom Waits - Blood Money (2002)
137. Boredoms – Vision Creation Newsun (2000)
136. Tom Waits - Alice (2002)
135. Dirty Projectors - Rise Above (2007)
134. My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves (2003)
133. The Magnetic Fields – Distortion (2008)
132. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (2007)
131. Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand (2004)
130. Flaming Lips - Embryonic (2009)
129. WHY? - Alopecia (2008)
128. Danger Mouse/ Jay-Z – The Grey Album (2004)
127. Mount Eerie – Lost Wisdom (2008)
126. Yo La Tengo – And then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out (2000)
125. The Strokes – Room on Fire (2003)
124. Bright Eyes - Lifted or the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground (2002)
123. WHY? - Elephant Eyelash (2005)
122. Lightning Bolt - Wonderful Rainbow (2003)
121. Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse (2004)
120. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (2008)
119. The Dismemberment Plan – Change (2001)
118. Scott Walker - The Drift (2006)
117. Circulatory System – Signal Morning (2009)
116. Oh No! Oh My! - Oh No! Oh My! (2006)
115. The Books - The Lemon of Pink (2003)
114. Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport (2009)
113. The White Stripes - Elephant (2003)
112. Deerhoof – Reville (2002)
111. Radiohead - Hail to the Thief (2003)
110. Menomena - I Am the Fun Blame Monster (2003)
109. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours (2008)
108. Deerhoof – Apple ‘O (2003)
107. Black Lips – Good Bad Not Evil (2007)
106. The National - Alligator (2005)
105. No Age – Nouns (2008)
104. Liars – Liars (2007)
103. Destroyer - Streethawk: A Seduction (2001)
102. Sigur Ros - Takk (2005)
101. The Streets - Original Pirate Material (2002)
100. Low - Things We Lost in the Fire (2001)
99. The Mountain Goats – The Sunset Tree (2005)
98. Ozma – Rock and Roll Part 3 (2001)
97. Sleater-Kinney – The Woods (2005)
96. Built to Spill - Ancient Melodies of the Future (2001)
95. Eels - Daisies Of The Galaxy (2000)
94. Aereogramme – Sleep & Release (2003)
93. Outkast – Stankonia (2000)
92. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (2008)
91. Smog - Dongs of Sevotion (2000)
90. Gorillaz – Gorillaz (2001)
89. At the Drive-In – Relationship of Command (2000)
88. Explosions in the Sky – The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place (2003)
87. Liars - They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top (2001)
86. M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us (2005)
85. TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain (2006)
84. Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress (2003)
83. Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow (2005)
82. Bright Eyes - I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning (2005)
81. Dinosaur Jr. – Beyond (2007)
80. Kanye West - The College Dropout (2004)
79. The Rapture - Echoes (2003)
78. The Clientele - Suburban Light (2000)
77. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt. II (2009)
76. Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World (2001)
75. The Walkmen – You & Me (2008)
74. The Books - Thought For Food (2002)
73. Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat (2004)
72. Islands - Return to the Sea (2006)
71. Ghostface Killah – Supreme Clientele (2000)
70. The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas (2002)
69. Explosions in the Sky - Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever (2001)
68. Grandaddy – The Sophmore Slump (2000)
67. Boards of Canada - Geogaddi (2002)
66. The Microphones – Mount Eerie (2003)
65. Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007)
64. Sonic Youth – Murray Street (2002)
63. Múm - Yesterday Was Dramatic – Today Is OK (2000)
62. Avey Tare and Panda Bear - Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished (2000)
61. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell (2003)
60. The White Stripes - De Stijl (2000)
59. Architecture in Helsinki - In Case We Die (2005)
58. TV on the Radio - Dear Science (2008)
57. Fugazi – The Argument (2001)
56. Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity (2007)
55. M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts (2003)
54. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
53. Sigur Ros - ( ) (2002)
52. Sunset Rubdown – Shut Up, I am Dreaming (2006)
51. Deerhunter - Microcastle (2008)
50. McLusky – McLusky Do Dallas (2002)
49. Destroyer - Destroyer’s Rubies (2006)
48. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm (2009)
47. Kanye West - Late Registration (2005)
46. Portishead - Third (2008)
45. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca (2009)
44. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells (2001)
43. Clinic - Internal Wrangler (2000)
42. The Wrens – Meadowlands (2003)
41. Jay-Z – The Blueprint (2001)
40. Circulatory System - Circulatory System (2001)
39. The Go! Team – Thunder, Lightning, Strike (2004)
38. Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing in the Hands (2004)
37. Grizzly Bear - Yellow House (2006)
36. Radiohead - Amnesiac (2001)
35. Cat Power - You Are Free (2003)
34. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (2005)
33. of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (2007)
32. The Notwist – Neon Gold (2002)
31. Liars – Drum’s Not Dead (2006)
30. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (2008)
29. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (2007)
28. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (2005)
27. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (2007)
26. Deerhoof - The Runners Four (2005)
25. Madvillian - Madvillainy (2004)
24. The Avalanches - Since I Left You (2001)
23. Panda Bear - Person Pitch (2007)
22. Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it in People (2002)
21. And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes (2002)
20. The Walkmen - Bows & Arrows (2004)
19. Animal Collective - Feels (2005)
18. The Microphones - It Was Hot We Stayed in the Water (2000)
17. Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary (2005)
16. The Strokes - Is This It? (2001)
15. Animal Collective - Sung Tongs (2004)

This was the first Animal Collective I ever heard. Back in 2004, Animal Collective and Black Dice were about equal in popularity, perhaps Black Dice a bit more, so as they would still headline shows when playing together. Five years later Black Dice would open for Animal Collectives at venues six times the capacity, their sound alienating many of Animal Collective’s newfound fans. Times certainly have changed. The odd thing about revisiting this album, still my favorite Animal Collective record, is that while so much different than the records that followed, it still is a distinct product of the band. In 2009 they exploded in popularity with their ninth album, an almost entirely electronic record, yet this record is almost entirely acoustic. It’s so strange to think that when this album came out they were lumped into the “freak-folk” genre that was hyped at the time, mentioned alongside Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Vetiver, Akron/Family, Coco Rosie, and etc. It’s also funny to think of this album as once being their “pop record,” as with each following release, they further embraced their musical roots- a love of pop music. It’s additionally strange as the first Avey Tare and Panda Bear collaboration, 2000's Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished is very rooted in pop, yet for the following three years the band become significantly less interesting in writing more traditional and structured “songs.” While this album does have more straightforward moments of pop bliss, most notably the gorgeous “Winters Love,” other parts are more like the bands earlier records, where the songs are more like soundscapes than anything. You can enter a distinct otherworldly place just by listening to this album. You experience strange emotions yet cannot pinpoint exactly why. The band’s previous album Here Comes the Indian at its best moments functioned in this way, yet a lack of memorable melodies and much looser focus made it a far less commanding album. Its shocking how much of a better band Animal Collective became in less than a year. Still, it took me awhile to come around on this album, as its far from accessible. Its staying power though is remarkable, as after listening to it regularly for nearly five years now, it’s still wonderfully fresh and just as unique as ever.

Favorite Song: “Winter’s Love”

14. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest (2009)

The highest placing recent album on this list, Veckatimest was one of my most anticipated albums in a long time. Back in June of 2008, the band played a brand new song on Conan entitled “While You Wait For the Others.” I was floored. I was well familiar with the band before, though didn’t love them until I saw them with Feist in the July 2007. Feist was good, but Grizzly Bear seriously stole the show. After their set, their merch table had a massive line, honestly 5 times the length of the one for Feist. They put on one of the best shows you can ever hope to see. Anyways, this new song was the band’s best song yet, especially impressive considering that Yellow House had some pretty massive highs. The following month the band played another new song on Letterman, “Two Weeks.” This song was fantastic as well! Then, in August, I had the pleasure to see Grizzly Bear open for Radiohead in Boston. Though the venue was hardly the optimum place to see the band, they still played an amazing set, once again winning many new fans. The real treat though was hearing two more new songs live in addition to the first two, “Cheerleader,” and “Fine for Now.” These songs were wonderful as well. How could this band have so many amazing new songs? When would this album finally come out?! The hype was ridiculous. After a painful wait, Veckatimest finally leaked in early March and my ears were far from disappointed. Though easily the most accessible of the band’s three albums, it holds up amazingly after repeated listens. Though some missed the unique atmosphere that made Yellow House such a success, the more direct approach to songwriting works really well, as the songs themselves are the band’s most consistent yet. Still, the album is dense with instrumentation and vocal harmonies, with each layer meshing together to form something simultaneously grand yet also cohesive but individually distinct. It’s not surprising and absolutely perfect that it was recorded in a church.

Favorite Song - “While You Wait for the Others”

13. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)

Uh oh. THIS album. Easily 2009's most critically acclaimed album, and still holding an 89 on Metacritic, there hadn’t been an indie album as massive popular and with such masterpiece worthy praise since Funeral in 2004. Of course, its no coincidence that it’s the highest rated album on a certain popular music review site since the release of Funeral. However, in the five years since the release of that Arcade Fire album, much has changed in the music world, specifically the advent of music blogs. Though, technically existing since the early 2000s, the MP3 blog breakthrough was clearly in 2005. Soon enough everyone who could use a computer could have their own MP3 blog, and their influence soon became apparent. If it weren’t for these blogs, bands such as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Tapes N’ Tapes likely would not have broken out. Though blogs could suddenly put an unsigned band in the spotlight overnight, they also brought a more negative change to the music world - backlash. Sure, backlash goes back to the dawn of humanity, but with it now being easier for anyone to get their opinion out, tongues lashed fire. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Tapes N’ Tapes received nearly as much backlash as they did hype, and this trend would continue to amplify. Backlash these days is absolutely inevitable, and more often than not it is completely unjustified. The worst reason of them all has to be backlash simply based on newfound popularity. Backlash based on stereotypes of a band/artist’s fanbase is pretty terrible as well. Anyways, what I’m getting at here is that the backlash for this Animal Collective album received was quite extreme. For example, here’s some words used to describe the album in negative user reviews on rateyourmusic.com-

Pretentious, grating, repetitive, indulgent, jarring, garbage, annoying, drivel, exhausting, rubbish, indie, stupid, filthy, hipster, ridiculous, monkeyish, overrated, cloying, and bloopey.

Ouch. I on the other hand love this album to death, however I personally enjoy Sung Tongs and Feels a little bit more. I prefer the highlights on Strawberry Jam over the highlights on this album as well. Still, I rank this album the highest out of all of Animal Collective’s albums as it is both their most consistent and concise album, as well as the one that functions best as a collective whole. When comparing the negative reviews of the album to the positive ones, I found that much of the negative reviews focus on the sounds in the music, while the positive ones focus on the feeling that the music evokes. This is a really important distinction, as most of the negative reviews wrote the album off immediately, while the positive ones took their time to explain why they feel the album is great.

This album took me about six listens to get into, and I’m still a bit perplexed at how popular this album is considering its relative inaccessibility. For Animal Collective though, it is quite accessible, definitely more immediate than Sung Tongs. Many of these songs are at the core, basic pop, though their presentation is what makes them unique. Using layers upon layers of arpeggiating loops, obscure samples, and electric sequences, each song is coated in a dense psychedelic atmosphere. The most fascinating thing about this album for me, is that it was recorded in a studio the same way a rock band would- something that is almost unheard of these days for electronic albums. For the recording, the numerous samples and sequences were triggered live and played off of each other, recorded by microphones. This gives the album a much more human and earthy feel than an electonic album that was sequenced entirely by computer, making many albums seem sterile in comparison. On the other hand, many people seem to have problems with this, with the words “jarring” came up frequently in negative reviews. In a way Captain Beefheart’s classic Trout Mask Replica is similar to this album. The vocals on that album were song without headphones and only while listening to reverberations in the studio. With the recording method used on this album, it also has a similar jarringness, though of course with Trout Mask it is to the extreme. Both albums are also similar in that many songs were formed as the result of improvisation, with a healthy attitude towards new approaches and directions. With repeated listens the unexpected and extreme meet a middle ground that is infinitely more interesting and re-listenable than the basic level of a band taking a more straightforward and formulaic approach. The only downside is that falling for an album like this can make music you once loved seem boring in comparison.

Favorite Song - “Bluish”

12. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000)

One of this decade’s most definitive post-rock albums, this album is difficult to describe without sounding completely overblown. In addition, this record is easily one of the decade’s most universally acclaimed, and it currently holds the #2 spot on RateYourMusic (between the almighty Kid A and The Moon & Antarctica). The album consists of four movements, the shortest of which is 18:57. This band is easily the closest post-rock ever got to its classical roots, and the technical capabilities of this band are remarkable. However what makes this album truly shine is the scope of emotions the music conveys. As I’ll talk about in a Sigur Ros blurb later, I’m always fascinated by the ability of sounds to reflect and elicit emotions in a way that can rival any other means. Unlike Sigur Ros though, Godspeed are completely instrumental, so vocals, the instrument we all connect to the most, can not be used as an emotive tool. What this band does with their arrangements though blows my mind. This album is a complete emotional journey, at times bleak and depressing, while at others hopeful and inspiring. This music breathes so much life. Bar none this is the most massive sounding album of the decade. Despite how strongly I connect to this album now, it took me a long time to fully appreciate this album. Listening to this album is quite different than most other music, as you need to focus on the sometimes subtle textures of sound, shifting and molding from one movement to the next, eventually building up to a divine and cathartic explosion. I’ll admit I found it initially boring at times when I first head this six years ago, but each follow up listen became significantly more rewarding. Albums like this are so refreshing as they re-define the way that music can be made and listened to for so many people, as well as what music can accomplish. It certainly helped to do that for me.

Favorite Song: “Sleep”

11. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights (2002)

In many ways, much of the 2000s were about revivals. There was first the garage rock revival with The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Hives, and The Vines (eek). Then things moved on to the late 70's with a post-punk revival. There we had Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Franz Ferdinand, Liars, the Arctic Monkeys, the Killers, The Rapture, Bloc Party, and etc. However the way these bands interpreted their influences were all quite different, with Liars for instance embracing the most experimental aspects of the genre, while others like the Arctic Monkeys came off more like a post-punk boyband. Still, Interpol’s Turn on the Bright Lights remains the best album from any band in this movement. Though taking heavily from Joy Division and Bauhaus in style, the songs on this album are all so great that Interpol clearly transcends the tag of being rip-offs. This is one of the best late night albums I’ve heard, especially when driving. It just sounds so huge! Unfortunately Interpol never even came close to this album with their following two, Antics and Our Love to Admire. For Antics, it’s like the band tries to rewrite this album, not deviating to a fault. There’s a few good tunes, yet the fantastic atmosphere of their debut is lost, as well as the consistency, placing them alongside many of their peers instead of in a separate league. And Our Love to Admire... well, yikes.

Favorite Song: “The New”

10. Brian Wilson – Smile (2004)

This is Metacritic’s highest reviewed album of the decade, with an average critical score of 97. That’s pretty insane, especially considering that this album was released nearly 40 years after it was originally intended. Smile was originally intended to be the Beach Boys attempt to one up Sgt. Pepper, an album which was the Beatles attempt to one up Pet Sounds, which was the result of the Beach Boys trying to one up Rubber Soul. Healthy competition sure results in some fantastic albums. Still, Brian Wilson’s mental breakdown cancelled the release of Smile, though the quickly assembled replacement album Smiley Smiley was a classic in its own right, my second favorite album of theirs after Pet Sounds. So when Brian Wilson was healthy enough in 2003 to begin work on finally realizing Smile, it was a true moment for music history. Though to be fair much of this album’s greatness can directly be attributed to the talents of the Wondermints, Wilson’s present back up band. They’re incredibly tight, and really recall the brilliance of the Beach Boys at their prime. Wilson’s voice 40 years later is also not quite what it once was, though I personally feel its aged sound adds a new layer to the album. It’s inspiring to hear this man finally singing his intended magnum-opus after all he’s been through, just as it is to known that Brian Wilson is stable and performing again. Still, this album pales in comparision to some of the fan assembled versions of the album using bootlegs of Smile demos from the original sessions. Damn you Mike Love. We could have had brilliance and you gave us Kokomo.

Favorite Song: “Surf’s Up”

9. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

Unlike the rest of these bands, there isn’t too much I can say on Wilco, as they’re not really my thing. I enjoy Summerteeth enough, though I only find this one to be absolutely fantastic. Though I was still listening to mainstream rock radio when this album came out, I for the first time was getting subscriptions to Spin and Rolling Stone, and thus had some sense of which recent albums were highly regarded. The three big press albums from 2002 were The Streets’ Original Pirate Material, Queens Of The Stone Age’s Songs For The Deaf, and this Wilco album. I wrote the Streets off at the time, as I was stupidly anti-rap then, and had previously purchased Songs for the Deaf after hearing “No One Knows” on the radio basically every 20 minutes. Still, buying the Wilco album was a chance, but I decided to go for it. It was either that or use Kazaa to download the songs individually, and assemble the album myself. That was if you could even find every song in consistent quality. Oh the days without torrents and megaupload... Anyways, I didn’t like the album that much then apart from “Heavy Metal Drummer,” easily the most accessible track. These days, that song is my least favorite. After finally joining team Kid A the following year, I came back to the album and it finally clicked. Wilco was getting the American-Radiohead tag a lot in the press and it finally made sense. Like Kid A, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot brilliant combines experimentation with pop sensibilities. The middle ground this creates is a key formula for many classic albums, and Wilco definitely pulled it off here.

Favorite Song: “I am Trying to Break Your Heart”

8. Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica (2000)

This album was my introduction to Modest Mouse, and it was definitely a great one. As Modest Mouse’s first album on a major label, the album has a completely different sound than their previous albums released on Up records. With a greater budget and a talented producer, the album presented them sounding their best yet, with a depth of sound on the record that matched their epic songwriting. Their previous records seem under produced in comparison, yet the fact that they sound so powerful with such limited studio effects seriously attests the band’s talent. Like most Modest Mouse albums, there are song by song highlights, though the albums succeed best as wholes, each one a thematic journey completely distinct from the last. Modest Mouse found unexpected popularity with “Float On” in 2004, which found them playing to a significantly larger audience than ever before. This was the same time The O.C. and Garden State were at their height of popularity, introducing “indie music” to a new and younger audience. This trend would continue for the rest of the rest of the decade, resulting in much complaining and snobbery. Still, the division between New and Old Modest Mouse fans was very frustrating, as their two most recent albums are a long cry from their early material, as well as this album. If the Beatles were still around and playing, it would be like somebody going to a show and heckling for Wings songs. The crowd would erupt during “Float On,” “Ocean Breathes Salty” yet classics like “Trailer Trash” and “Doin’ the Cockroach” would be met with less enthusiastic reactions. Its thankfully a little different now as many bandwagon fans have moved either away from the band or backwards in their discography, where the gold lies.

Favorite Song: “The Stars Are Projectors”

7. Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone (2003)

In terms of sub-genres that become most played-out and overcrowded, I can’t think of any that fits the crime worse than Indie Pop (apart from Acoustic Singer-Songwriters, but they’re always a problem). Stemming out of Twee Pop, with most notably Beat Happening and the Field Mice, the genre reached its peak in quality in the mid to late 90's with the Magnetic Fields, Belle & Sebastian, and the Elephant Six collective. As the years went on, the genre just got increasingly boring yet also increasingly popular. There’s little room for innovation, and many bands just come of as redundant retreads of bands that were much better the first time around. Still, there’s a handful of unique, innovative and completely refreshing indie pop albums from this decade, and this Unicorns album is the best of all. There’s an absurd amount of fantastic pop hooks on this album that stick with you long after the album is over. Still, what makes this album most fascinating is the structure of the songs. In a world where 99% of pop songs are verse /chorus / verse / chorus / bridge /chorus, this album throws traditions out the window. Songs twist and turn in every direction. Sometimes you think you’re leading up to a chorus, but nope, the Unicorns pull out something completely different. The constant surprises on this album are what makes it so much fun and a thrill to listen. In addition, the album follows the concept of thoughts one may be experiencing upon their final breath. The album begins with fear and disbelief on“I Don’t Want to Die,” and ends with the acceptance of “Ready to Die.” The contrast of these dark themes and the joyful music part works better than you could ever imagine. It’s a pity the Unicorns broke up the year after this album was released. Some moments on Islands first album Return to the Sea recalled some of this albums brilliance, but far from met them. This album is an unlikely masterpiece, one that just could not have been followed up or exceeded in any way. Things just came together in a way that was pure magic. Still, I miss them so much. At least the next year the Go! Team released their fabulous Thunder, Lightning, Strike, and once again indie pop was saved.

Favorite Song: “Les Os”

6. Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004)

At this point the Arcade Fire are so huge that a song of theirs can be used during the Super Bowl as segue music. The appeal for this band is very wide and reaching, yet as noted before, they are very accessible. I remember right when this album came out, the fall of my senior year, and within two listens, it already felt like a timeless classic that had always been there. With its universal acclaim and seemingly never ending discussion, its easy to become jaded and think “was this really that great?” However, then you put it on and, “wow, it really was.” It’s really hard to put on an album that is both instantly accessible yet long enduring, yet this is one of the decade’s best examples. The hype for their follow up album, Neon Bible, was probably the most insane anticipation I’ve seen for an album this decade. It certainly helped that the band fueled the fire like no other, offering things like cryptic videos, phone hotlines to call in order to hear samples, and even releasing the full lyrics before the majority of the songs were even heard. Though the album hardly expands on the bands sound, it’s a satisfying though somewhat disappointing follow up. While the highlights are as good as some of the mid range Funeral songs, it is a bit too overblown at times and suffers from some overly glossy production. Their next album is due this summer, and it will be interesting to see where they head next.

Favorite Song: “Wake Up”

5. Sigur Rós - Ágætis Byrjun (2000)

Though this album was released in Iceland in 1999, it came out internationally in 2000, so thus I’m considering it fair-game for this list. Easily Sigur Ros’s best album, this is one of the most emotional albums I’ve ever heard. The ways this band can make you feel with the music they make is remarkable, especially considering how most of the band’s audience at this point do not speak the band’s native language and thus can not understand the lyrics. It really shows the power of music, with how sounds can bring as strong emotions in us as a particular piece of poetry. However, words do have to resonate with us in a particular way first, while music can do the same in a more basic level. I can be going along my day perfectly fine, while a Sigur Ros song can suddenly hit me in the gut. The tears begin flowing. One of the few completely distinct bands of the decade, there’s no one else out there like Sigur Ros. Their popularity earlier in the decade brought a resurgence to post-rock, resulting in a genre high like never before. Though for the last three years, the popularity of post-rock has waned a bit, there’s no doubt denying the power of the genre’s most classic albums, Ágætis Byrjun being one of the greatest, if not the greatest one.

Favorite Song: “Svefn-g-englar”

4. Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender (2004)

This is one of those albums that just cuts right through you. It is an emotional whirlwind of joy, sadness, wonder, and hope. It’s incredibly life-affirming, and completely magical. Like many, this album took me awhile to fully appreciate. Joanna’s voice on this album can difficult at first. Much less so than for male singers, there’s this preconceived notion on how a female voice should sound, and when one breaks that mold, they’re suddenly committed this horrific crime. It’s really stupid, especially considering how many male singers there are who can’t sing to save their lives. Rather than just, “I don’t really like this guy’s voice,” it becomes “bitch sounds like a dying cat!” Anyways, this quote from a TinyMixTapes article from years ago nails this record better than I could ever hope to-

"Her songs are stories that evoke fairy-tale melancholy and become the warmest part of your being upon first listen; they are a woven tapestry of child-like candor and sagely wisdom. Using the harp strings to seemingly endless depth and fullness, her voice coos and croons with an unabashed child-like timber as endearing as the first butterfly of the spring. Her music is that which makes us call forth a part of ourselves, that we have long neglected, and for this it sounds familiar as a sister’s gentle sigh, but it is also a vehicle to render us breathless at the beauty inherent in musical honesty".

Right on. The “upon first listen” part is a bit too intense for me though, as in my experience I didn’t like this album at all when I first heard it. It stayed collecting digital dust on my hard drive for nearly a year before I gave it a second shot. A few more songs popped that time, and in a handful of listens later I began to really like the album and its raw beauty. I swear, so many of my favorite records are ones that I actively did not enjoy initially. It’s all about familiarity it seems, and those truly unique listens are off putting by definition.

Favorite Song: “Sadie”

3. Radiohead - Kid A (2000)

Kid A near the top of a decade list?! How shocking. The critical acclaim for this album is so universal, these days its only shocking when it isn’t number one on a decade list. I mean it even topped Rolling Stone’s list! As my number three, I do find it to be a masterpiece and not a tad bit overrated in the scope of things. Oddly enough, I hated this album when I first heard it! I was upset that I purchased it, and only enjoyed “How to Disappear Completely.” Initially, my frustration motived me to listen to the album more, in attempt to get more out of it. In months time, my persistence payed off in a big way.

The album still sounds ahead of its time, while it remains one of the most influential albums in recent memory. Listening to this album with a great pair of headphones is a divine experience. The production is absolutely phenomenal, easily the best work of long time Radiohead producer/engineer Nigel Godrich. Few bands choose to completely reinvent their sound following the release of an instant classic. Nirvana just ditched the glossy production for In Utero, not completely reinvent the way they made music! The risk was worth it, and Radiohead will be immortalized as one of the few bands to top numerous album lists for two consecutive decades.

Favorite Song: “How to Disappear Completely”

2. The Microphones - The Glow Pt. 2 (2001)

The first three songs on this album are one of the best introductory runs of all-time. Though Phil Elverum does work with collaborators, the fact that much of this album is the work of just one man is truly remarkable. This record is a thematic sequel to the song, “The Glow,” the best track on the Microphones previous album It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water. The production on this album is simply the best I have ever heard. Like Kid A, headphones greatly aid the listening experience, yet with this album they are completely essential. There’s so much going on in each channel that listening in other way could make the album sound like a dense mess. Like In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, an album this is often compared to, this album that requires all the songs to be in place, and when taken out of context, they do not have nearly the same effect. Also like that album, I’d be uncomfortable taking these songs from the album to use on a mix or playlist. The album is such an distinct experience, it’d be offensive to place a portion of it in the context of other people’s work. The follow up to this album, 2003's Mount Eerie continues right where this album left off, beginning with the foghorn motif that’s throughout the Glow Pt. 2. Its simultaneously fascinating and difficult, and while significantly less accessible than this album, its beauty shines through with time.

Favorite Song: “The Moon”

1. Joanna Newsom - Ys (2006)

Ah, Ys. I’ve heard this album more than any other album on this list- the only one that comes close was Joanna Newsom’s other album from the decade, The Milk-Eyed Mender. As I’ve gotten to know this album over the last few years, my appreciation has only increased in time. Like most of the all-time great albums, this is an album that takes its time revealing itself, so much so that I was unsure how much I liked it at first. Despite being my favorite artist, I’m fascinated by how every time I hear a new Joanna album, I am unable to come to terms with it upon the first listen, even first few. Her album from this year, Have One On Me, took me the longest out of any album of hers to get into, yet somewhere around the 8th listen, the familiar obsession had once again started. There’s simply no one else out there right now making music quite like her, and this album is a showcase in many ways. Nearly everything about Joanna has been refined in on this album- with superior harp arrangements, vocals, lyrics, and melodies. Unlike the musically sparse Milk-Eyed Mender, this album is nearly bursting at the seams, with a 29 piece orchestra on four of the five tracks. The orchestral arrangements were written by Van Dyke Parks, known best for his work on Smile. As if the lyrics weren’t didn’t resonance enough on their own, the strings push the album up to another level, bringing more emotions yet never by sentimentally telling you how you should feel. The best song on the album, “Sawdust and Diamonds” is actually the one without strings. It’s Newsom’s most complex harp arrangement to date, and watching a life performance of the song is like watching a circus act. Each hand plucks a different rhythm while her feet go to town on the pedals, all while she sings a completely different melody with lyrics that most would stumble over without any of the above. Beyond it being technically masterful, the song itself is one best I have ever heard, hypnotizing you to the extent that its nine minute length flies by. Though it can be overwhelming at first, its an album that simply never gets old. I’m at the point where I can recite 90% of the lyrics, yet depending on when and where I listen, it’s often a different experience. I mean even my Mom is obsessed with this album! She listens to it almost every night, and has probably racked in more listens than myself. All in all, this is a work of genius by the best songwriter working today. The follow-up, Have One on Me is the best album of this next decade so far. Now I’m looking forward to if Joanna herself, or anyone else will top it in these next 10 years.

Favorite Song: “Sawdust and Diamonds”

Top 10 Bands of the Decade:
1. Animal Collective
2. Radiohead
3. Deerhoof
4. The White Stripes
5. Grizzly Bear
6. Liars
7. TV on the Radio
8. Arcade Fire
9. The Microphones /Mount Eerie
10. Sonic Youth

10 Most Overrated Artists/Bands of the Decade:
1. U2
2. Lil Wayne
3. The Killers
4. Arctic Monkeys
5. Vampire Weekend
6. Red Hot Chili Peppers
7. Eminem
8. Kings of Leon
9. Green Day
10. Regina Spektor

5 Best Reunions:
1. Dinosaur Jr.
2. The Pixies
3. My Bloody Valentine
4. Mission of Burma
5. The Feelies

10 Underrated Artists/Bands from the Decade:
1. Super Furry Animals
2. Mclusky
3. The Notwist
4. Smog
5. The Wrens
6. Clinic
7. Ozma
8. Matmos
9. The Clientele
10.The Books

25 Favorite Songs of the Decade:
*-Animal Collective – Fireworks
* -Animal Collective - Winter’s Love
*-Antony and the Johnsons – Hope There’s Someone
*-The Avalanches – Frontier Psychiatrist
*-Beirut – Postcards From Italy
*-Built to Spill – The Weather
*-Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth
*-Clinic - Distortions
*-Deerhoof – Milk Man
*-Grizzly Bear – While You Wait For the Others
*-Joanna Newsom – Sawdust & Diamonds
*Joanna Newsom - Sadie
*Joanna Newsom - Peach Plum Pear
*-Lightning Bolt – Dracula Mountain
*-The Microphones –The Moon
*-The Microphones - The Glow
*-Mirah – Cold Cold Water
*-Of Montreal – The Past is a Grotesque Animal
*-Panda Bear - Bros
*-Radiohead - How to Disappear Completely
*-Radiohead – Pyramid Song
*-Sigur Ros - Svefn-g-englar
*-The Unicorns – I Was Born (a Unicorn)
*-The Walkmen – The Rat
*-Wolf Parade – I’ll Believe in Anything

25 Decade Songs I Hope to Never Hear Again:
1. Creed - With Arms Wide Open (2000)
2. Baha Men - Who Let the Dogs Out (2000)
3. Crazy Town - Butterfly (2001)
4. Nickelback - How You Remind Me (2001)
5. Uncle Kracker - Follow Me (2001)
6. Linkin Park - In the End (2001)
7. Train - Drops of Jupiter (2001)
8. Nelly - Hot in Herre (2002)
9. Sheryl Crow (ft. Liz Phair) - Soak Up the Sun (2002)
10. Jimmy Eat World - The Middle (2002)
11. John Mayer - Your Body Is a Wonderland (2002)
12. Evanescence - Bring Me to Life (2003)
13. Green Day - Boulevard of Broken Dreams (2004)
14. Hoobastank - The Reason (2004)
15. Black Eyed Peas - Let's Get It Started (2004)/ My Humps (2005)/ EVERY SONG OF THEIRS
16. Justin Timberlake - Sexyback (2005)
17. James Blunt - You're Beautiful (2005)
18. Fall Out Boy – Sugar, We’re Going Down (2005)
19. Pussycat Dolls - Don’t Cha (2005)
20. Daniel Powter - Bad Day (2005)
21. Gwen Stefani ft. Akon - The Sweet Escape (2007)
22. Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend (2007)
23. Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girls (2007)
24. Kid Rock - All Summer Long (2008)
25. Asher Roth - I Love College (2009)

10 Most Overrated Albums of the Decade:
1. Green Day - American Idiot
2. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
3. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP
4. U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind
5. My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
6. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
7. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
8. The Killers - Hot Fuss
9. The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
10. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

10 Worst Albums (I’ve Heard) from the Decade (and Haven't Completely Forgotten):
1. Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (2000)
2. Blink 182 - Take of Your Pants and Jacket (2001)
3. Atreyu - Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses (2002)
4. Trapt - Trapt (2002)
5. Audioslave - Audioslave (2002)
6. Evanescence - Fallen (2003)
7. Linkin Park - Meteora (2003)
8. Louis XIV - The Best Little Secrets Are Kept (2005)
9. Black Kids - Partie Traumatic (2008)
10. Weezer - Raditude (2009)

10 Worst Cover Songs of the Decade:
Madonna - American Pie (2000)
Britney Spears - Satisfaction (I Can’t Get No) (2000)
All-Star Tribute - What’s Going On (2001)
Goo Goo Dolls & Fred Durst - Wish You Were Here (2001)
Celine Dion - You Shook Me All Night Long (2002)
Counting Crows - Big Yellow Taxi (2002)
Limp Bizkit - Behind Blue Eyes (2003)
311- Love Song (2004)
Hilary Duff - My Generation (2004)
Korn - Another Brick in the Wall (Parts 1,2,3) (2004)

Top 10 Albums for Each Year:
1999 (Just because this year was so amazing...)
1. The Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs
2. Polaris – Music from the Adventures of Pete & Pete
3. The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin
4. Of Montreal – The Gay Parade
5. Built to Spill – Keep it Like a Secret
6. The Olivia Tremor Control - Black Foliage: Animation Music (Volume One)
7. The Dismemberment Plan – Emergency & I
8. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – I See a Darkness
9. Pavement – Terror Twilight
10. Beulah – When Your Heartstrings Break

2000
1. Radiohead – Kid A
2. Sigur Rós - Ágætis Byrjun
3. Modest Mouse – The Moon and Antarctica
4. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
5. The Microphones - It Was Hot We Stayed in the Water
6. Clinic - Internal Wrangler
7. The White Stripes - De Stijl
8. Avey Tare and Panda Bear – Spirit They’ve Gone Spirit They’ve Vanished
9. Múm - Yesterday Was Dramatic – Today Is OK
10. Grandaddy – The Sophmore Slump

2001
1. The Microphones – The Glow Pt. 2
2. The Strokes – Is this It?
3. The Avalanches - Since I Left You
4. Radiohead - Amnesiac
5. Circulatory System - Circulatory System
6. Jay-Z – The Blueprint
7. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells
8. Fugazi – The Argument
9. Explosions in the Sky - Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever
10. Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World

2002
1. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2. Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights
3. And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes
4. Broken Social Scene – You Forgot it in People
5. The Notwist – Neon Gold
6. McLusky – McLusky Do Dallas
7. Sigur Ros - ( )
8. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
9. Sonic Youth – Murray Street
10. Boards of Canada - Geogaddi

2003
1. The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone
2. Cat Power - You Are Free
3. The Wrens – Meadowlands
4. M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell
6. The Microphones – Mount Eerie
7. The Rapture - Echoes
8. Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress
9. Explosions in the Sky – The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place
10. Aereogramme – Sleep & Release

2004
1. Joanna Newsom – The Milk-Eyed Mender
2. The Arcade Fire – Funeral
3. Brian Wilson – SMiLE
4. Animal Collective – Song Tongs
5. The Walkmen – Bows & Arrows
6. Madvillian – Madvillainy
7. Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing in the Hands
8. The Go! Team – Thunder, Lightning, Strike
9. Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat
10. Kanye West – The College Dropout

2005
1. Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
2. Animal Collective – Feels
3. Deerhoof – The Runners Four
4. Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
5. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
6. Kanye West – Late Registration
7. Architecture in Helsinki – In Case We Die
8. Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
9. Devendra Banhart – Cripple Crow
10. M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us

2006
1. Joanna Newsom – Ys
2. Liars – Drum’s Not Dead
3. Grizzly Bear – Yellow House
4. Destroyer – Destroyer’s Rubies
5. Sunset Rubdown – Shut Up, I Am Dreaming
6. Islands – Return to the Sea
7. TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
8. Oh No! Oh My! – Oh No! Oh My!
9. Scott Walker – The Drift
10. The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls in America
10. The Swell Season – Swell Season

2007
1. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
2. Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
3. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
4. of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
5. Deerhoof – Friend Opportunity
6. Radiohead – In Rainbows
7. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
8. Liars - Liars
9. Black Lips – Good Bad Not Evil
10. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

2008
1. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
2. Portishead – Third
3. Deerhunter – Microcastle
4. TV on the Radio – Dear Science
5. The Walkmen – You & Me
6. Bon Iver – For Emma Forever Ago
7. No Age - Nouns
8. Cut Copy – In Ghost Colors
9. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!
10. Mount Eerie – Lost Wisdom

2009
1. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
2. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
3. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
4. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
5 . Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt. II
6. Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
7. Circuatory System – Signal Morning
8 Flaming Lips – Embryonic
9. Girls - Album
10. Antony & the Johnsons – The Crying Light

2010 (so far)

1. Joanna Newsom – Have One on Me
2. Beach House – Teen Dream
3. The National -High Violet
4. Sleigh Bells – Treats
5. The Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt
6. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
7. Yeasayer – Odd Blood
8. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
9. Liars – Sisterworld
10. Jonsi – Go

9 Pages on 69 Love Songs

2009-08-11T21:33:00.005-05:00

Here's another thing I wrote from the Pop Music class, though this was for the final project. We needed to choose our favorite album of all-time and writing about its importance/what makes it interesting/ etc. Naturally I chose the Magnetic Fields....

69 Love Songs

The Magnetic Field’s 69 Love Songs is a three- volume concept album, released by Merge Records on September 7, 1999. The three volumes compile the tracks in a loosely thematic way: Volume 1 being the “Pop Album,” Volume 2 the “Ballad Album,” and Volume 3 the “Comedy Album.” However, the album is not made up of love songs in the traditional way of expressing affection or admiration for another individual. Rather they are songs about love songs, many of them sarcastic or with a cynical view point. Of this, Stephin Merritt, the principle songwriter and instrumentalist behind the Magnetic Fields says, “the whole idea of 69 Love Songs is the travesty of the idea of the love song- the love song is generally not supposed to be happening in bulk.” He further describes the album as a stunt, an experiment in “Warholian repetition” like “Evel Knievel jumping over 69 cars.”

To keep the album interesting for the duration of its almost 3 hour running time, Merritt explores writing songs in a variety of different genres, as well as in the styles of some of his favorite artists and composers. Of this approach, Merritt says, “I like ripping the details out of popular songs and reducing them to just the skeleton, and seeing how much they still mean- and they still mean a great deal, I think.” Despite his subversive tendencies towards popular music, Merritt considers himself to be a lifelong pop music junkie, and it is “what he cares about most in the world”, partially in its most sugary, bubblegum form. Thus, in addition to being an album of “love songs” abut love songs, 69 Love Songs also stands as a love letter to the popular music styles of the 20th century, with the only significant exclusions being hip-hop, modern R&B, and heavy metal, styles that Merritt felt he was not suited for playing.

The Magnetic Fields were formed in Boston MA, in 1989, when Stephin Merritt was 23, the band name a reference to a Andre Brenton novel. However, Stephin had been recording music for years earlier, as he obtained his first four-track tape deck when he was 14, and made bedroom recordings with a guitar and synthesizer. In high school he first met future Magnetic Fields member Claudia Gonson, who then performed with him in the band the Zinnias. Merritt also attended Harvard University with Gonson, where they met cellist Sam Davol and guitarist, John Woo. It was here where the band was first assembled, and all four remain members to date. Susan Anway, friend of Claudia and member of the post-punk band V was also an original member, and sang on the first two Magnetic Fields albums, 1991's Distant Plastic Trees, and 1992's The Wayward Bus. These albums were heavily influenced by the Young Marble Giants and the production of Phil Spector. Anway left the band in 1992 to live in Arizona, and Merritt took over vocal duties, something he was always hesitant about, as he was not confident with his voice. He first sang on the House of Tomorrow EP, released in 1992.

Prior to 69 Love Songs, the Magnetic Fields released 5 records, the aforementioned Distant Plastic Trees, and the Wayward Bus, as well as Holiday and the Charm of the Highway Strip in 1994, and Get Lost in 1995. The albums are all surprisingly different from one another, with Holiday being entirely synth-based and lo-fi in production, while the Charm of the Highway Strip is an attempt at an all-electronic interpretation of country music and traveling songs, featuring heavy multi-instrumental layering, with everything performed by Stephin apart from cello by Sam Davol. Get Lost was a progression closer to that of 69 Love Songs, with the integrating of different styles on a song-to-song basis. His primary influence was the Pavement compilation Westing (By Musket and Sextant,) and attempted to replicate how almost every song sounded like it was recorded in a different way. Get Lost marks the first Magnetic Fields album featuring acoustic instruments with minimum accompaniment (specifically songs "With Whom to Dance?" and “When You're Old And Lonely”) as well as higher production values that are more characteristic of later Magnetic Fields releases.

The concept of 69 Love Songs, was originally envisioned as Merritt’s attempt to get into theater (something he later would achieve.) He thought of writing a review without a storyline, noting Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (1968) and An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer (1959) as influences. Also, taking the idea from the 1922 Charles Ives songbook, “114 Songs” Stephin toyed with the idea of writing songs in bulk for the revue, and envisioned a Andy Warhol-like poster saying “100 Stephin Merritt Love Songs.” After realizing how long that would make the revue, he decided to cut the songs down to 69, “the next sexy number down from 100.” When Merge records approached him about releasing a new album, as he had gone three years without doing so, he mentioned the idea of doing a triple album, which much of the label staff was apprehensive about, yet Merge’s distributor, Touch & Go, was excited by. Thus Stephin began working on the project.

The writing process for 69 Love Songs was very quick. Of this, Stephin says: “one of the funny things about 69 Love Songs is that it’s such a denial of inspiration and confession and autobiography and sincerity- I simply set to work.” He began writing the album in May of 1998 and was finished by July. Writing the album was all that Stephin did for the two month period, and he frequently would complete two or thee songs within a single day. Even more so, about 60 songs were left over after the final 69 were chosen. Stephin’s song writing process for the album involved going to a café and making two pots of tea to last for the day. He found the café environment helpful for the album, as the music playing on the jukebox and the overheard conversations provided inspiration for songs. Once the tea was finished, he’d head over to a gay bar that played “bad disco music” at high volume. Oddly, this helped him write, as he finds the music so incredibly boring that he has to go off into “the songwriting place” so he “doesn’t sit there and scream.”

The recording of 69 Love Songs was a much more collaborative process than the previous albums. They aimed to capture the sound of a band playing in the room with you, and thus used significantly more string instruments than in the past. Still, Stephin played almost 100 instruments on the album himself, and as a collector of bizarre and foreign musical instruments with three rooms in his home devoted only to them, he had a variety to choose from. Three additional vocalists also performed on the album, LD Beghtol, Dudley Klute, and Shirley Simms, as well as two musicians, Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket) who played accordion, and Chris Ewen who contributed to the backing tracks on some of the more electro-pop oriented songs.

When the album was finally released the next year, it was a surprise indie hit, with all 2,500 copies of the original pressing selling out within a day. This was exceptional, as all of the previous Magnetic Fields releases sold on average of 10,000 copies each at that time. The reviews were almost universally positive, including perfect 5 star/A+ reviews from Robert Christgau, Spin, Entertainment Weekly, The Village Voice, The A.V. Club, and the Guardian, as well as 4.5/5 and 9/10 ratings by AllMusic and Pitchfork. The album currently features a critical average of 88 and user average of 98 on the rating aggregator site Metacritic, and made Top 10 Albums of the Year lists by Magnet, the Village Voice, Spin, New York Times, and Rolling Stone. Furthermore, Brian Wilson, Lou Reed, and Neil Gaiman make up some of the album’s celebrity fans. To date, the set has sold over 130,000 copies, especially impressive considering its $34.98 retail price.

Merritt’s musical influences for the album are vast and electric, and they are reflected in how no two of the album’s 69 songs sound particularly alike. While he states that his music taste is primarily catered towards bubblegum pop and experimental composers, his favorite band is Abba. They were the first band that he listened to as a child, and they fueled his first attempts at songwriting. He said that after listening to Abba, he began to write songs about things that he knew nothing about, such as “marital difficulties at the breakfast table,” with many of his songs still featuring this topical approach. In addition, Abba’s musical approach of never writing music down as “if they can’t remember it, no one else well” is something he has taken to heart, writing and storing melodies in his head. On 69 Love Songs, the Abba influence shines through the clearest on the songs “Long Forgotten Fairytale” and “It’s a Crime.”

Additionally, Merrit is heavily influenced by Tin Pan Alley composer Irving Berlin, who he regards as his favorite songwriter. The song “A Pretty Girl is Like...” was written as a response to Berlin’s “A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody,” the song essentially saying that this is an insult, as there are many melodies that you would not want to have in your head. The song is also structured in Tin Pan Alley song form, AABA. Also, on the first volume of the record, “Let’s Pretend We’re Bunny Rabbits” features Tin Pan Alley form for its verses. Another song on the first volume “The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side” is also influenced by Berlin, but rather by his work in musical theater. The song’s title was written by Berlin, yet the song itself was never composed. The lyrics also reference the life of Berlin, as the song’s story involves the ugliest guy on the Lower East Side, yet he has a car and thus meets a beautiful girl. Merritt stated that while Berlin was not an attractive man, he married beautiful women, and thus he clearly had other assets.

The artist interpreting and responding however does not end at Abba and Irving Berlin. “A Chicken with its Head Cut Off” is a Johnny Cash style, pop-country song which attempts to scrape the bottom of the barrel of clichés and rhyme schemes. “Come Back from San Francisco” is a response to Scott McKenzie’s “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair), " placing the song from the perspective of the person whose lover traveled to San Francisco, and longs for them to come back, stating “It can't be all that pretty.” “Let’s Pretend We’re Bunny Rabbits” interprets the style of synth pop band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. “The One You Really Love” is written in the style of country group The Carter Family, though a darker and more bitter interpretation. “I’m Sorry I Love You” is also influenced by the Carter family, yet attempts to combine their style with a Bo Diddly-esque beat. “When My Boy Walks Down the Street” recalls the Jesus and Mary Chain’s 1985 album Psychocandy, with Beach Boys style melodies washed in screeching distortion (The Magnetic Fields 2008 album Distortion would further expand on this approach.) “No One Will Ever Love You” is according to Merritt, an attempt to roll multiple elements of the Fleetwood Mac album Tusk into one song. “Yeah, Oh Yeah!” is a tragic take on Sonny & Cher duet “I’ve Got You Babe.” Lastly, “My Only Friend” is in the style of pianist duo Ferrante & Teicher, “For We Are the King of the Boudoir” is in the style of Victorian era composers Gilbert and Sullivan, and the album’s final track “Zebra” as a parody of composer Cole Porter, a person whom Merritt is frequently compared to.

Merritt also wrote songs in specific genres for the album, the four most obvious being “Punk Love,” “Love is Like Jazz,” “Experimental Music Love,” and “World Love,” a take on Graceland style world music. Also of note is the folk-rock of “All My Little Words,” the Irish War Ballad “Abigail, Belle of Kilronan,” the interpretation of Krautrock in “I Shatter,” the folk of “Acoustic Guitar,” the traditional Scottish “Wi’ Nae Wee Bairn Ye’ll Me Beget,” a waltz “The Night You Can’t Remember” and the blues based “Xylophone Track.” For a book on the album in the 33 1/3 series, Merritt along with guest vocalist and author LD Beghtol attempt to classify each song into a specific genre, some much more specific than others.

With the mirroring and genre hopping that Merritt employs on 69 Love Songs, some have questioned his authenticity, particularly when he takes on more sensitive genres such as country where authenticity is valued. Merritt however is quick to admit to his use of appropriation and fraudulent authenticity, particularly as he enjoys keeping his music playful, and finds “artifice more fun than pure confession,” an element he has in common with another one of his biggest influences, Gary Numan. Merritt also shares a similar approach to Eurythmics singer, Annie Lennox, particarly on their 1987 album Savage. He interprets each song on this album as a subversion of an existing cliché. The subverting and unpacking of clichés is a common thread among much of Merritt’s songs, and it can be best exemplified with “The Book of Love,” the highest voted song when a poll regarding the album was held in 2006, and the second highest voted when it was originally held in September of 1999.

Love being a book is a cliché that has been used to death, however in this song Stephin approaches it as if there actually was an encyclopedia about love. According to him, it would be “long and boring” and contains charts, facts, figures, flowers, heart-shaped boxes, as well as instructions for dancing. This song contains another characteristic among Merritt’s songwriting- the blending together of completely opposite emotions in a way that seems effortless. The protagonist in the song is someone who is very bitter and jaded about love, someone who writes off much of the actual book as “really dumb” and irrelevant, as he’s part of the generation “too young to know” much of its contents. Still, some of it is “transcendental.” Thus I feel the song is also about the cynic surrendering to love, giving into the book to the extent where he can be read or sung “anything” by the person to whom he gave his heart.

The winner of the 69 Love Songs poll in 1999, and what I personally consider to be the best song on the album, “Papa Was a Rodeo,” acts as a subversion of cliché. Even from its opening seconds, you can tell it is the most country sounding song on the album, yet the opening line, “I like your twisted point of view, Mike” is far unlike any opening line I have heard in a country song, or even song before. In the first verse, the male character singing is speaking to “Mike,” saying that despite his affection, he must leave early and will not be back until the following year. The chorus continues this theme, explaining why he is the type who will “never stuck around long enough for a one-night stand.” The next verse details a future meeting between the singer and Mike in a dive bar, reconnecting after an absence in time and wanting to take Mike away with him. The third verse, is another meeting, though 55 years later, after they’ve had the “romance of the century.” Now when you factor in these verses as well as Stephin Merritt’s sexual orientation, you can imply that this is a song about the attraction between two male cowboys. However there is a big reveal at the end of the third verse when “I still feel like crying
When I think of what you said to me” is uttered. Guest vocalist Shirley Simms enters, and sings the exact same chorus that was repeated twice before. Mike was a woman! The point is drilled home with the song’s final lines: “What a coincidence, Your papa was a rodeo, too.” However, whether the tears were regarding Mike leaving the man due to her being just like him or whether the tears were of joy regarding that she was just like him, and the two could now be wanderers together is ambiguous and up for the listener to decide.

I consider 69 Love Songs to be my favorite album of all-time. I have listened to all three discs in a row on occasion, and it has never failed to hold my attention. I have used countless songs from the album on mix CDs and made a three different “best of” mixes, constructing each new one without reminding myself of the previous versions. I have even ranked the songs in order from favorite to least favorite. Around the time of 69 Love Songs, Stephin Merritt said in an interview: “What I’d like to do next is come up with something that really doesn’t sound like anything else, and yet somehow is withing the pop tradition. I won’t be upset if I can’t figure out how to do it. But it’s a noble goal.” Honestly, I think he’s already done with 69 Love Songs. Despite all the homages, interpretations, responses and genre exercises, the album always sounds like the Magnetic Fields, and its their ambitious scope yet how they never losing traces familiarity that I think makes the band so appealing to both myself and their rabid cult of fans (myself included.)

Sources:
-"69 Love Songs." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 Apr 2009, 22:38 UTC. 26 Apr 2009 .
-Begtol, LD. 69 Love Songs. New York: Continium, 2006.
-Cooper, Tim. “Truly a Merritt-able cause” This is London. 19 January 2001.
-Costa, Maddy. “Love's anatomy” The Guardian. 14 July 2000.
-Gallivan, Joseph. “The order of Merritt” The Independent. 14 April 2000.
-Handler, Daniel, essay in accompanying booklet, 69 Love Songs performed by the Magnetic Fields, Merge Records MRG 166-168, 1999, compact disc.
-“Stephin Merritt: Urbane hymns” The Independent. 20 June 2003.
-Tannenbaum, Rob. “As Hundreds Cheer: The Glum Triumph of The Magnetic Fields” The Village Voice. 30 November 1999.
-Taylor, Sam. “A genius? No, I'm actually a fungus...” The Observer. Sunday 23 July 2000.
-"The Magnetic Fields." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 10 Apr 2009, 14:20 UTC. 26 Apr 2009 .
-Wolk, Douglas. “Hooks, cliches, and highbrow wit: How Stephin Merritt has become a pop songwriter without peer” New Times LA. 06 August 1998.

God Only Knows

2009-08-10T21:15:00.002-05:00

You typically write in blogs. I however don't write particularly much in this blog, or at least as much as I used to. This is a quick attempt to change that. Here's a short paper that I wrote on "God Only Knows" for a Pop Music class that I took earlier this year. It's nothing too formal, but I think it's worthy of a post here, at least for archiving purposes.

God Only Knows

The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds is one of my all-time favorite albums. I have had many heated conversations regarding the album, debating that it is better than anything the Beatles ever put out, a stance I still hold. The eight track on the album, “God Only Knows” is arguably the album’s best song, though my personal favorite is “You Still Believe in Me.” Still, “God Only Knows” remains as one of the most moving and simply best songs I have ever heard, as well as one of the few songs that can occasionally make me cry based on its music alone (seeing Brian Wilson and his band perform it live also really did the trick.) I feel it is just a perfect pop song, nothing missing or nothing seeming unnecessary in the arrangement, perfect in length, and never coming anywhere close to a dull moment.

With the opening seconds of the song’s instrumentation, the denseness of sound is very apparent, due to the multitude of musicians playing on the track. Specially there were twenty-three musicians present during the recording of the song in March of 1966, sixteen of which ended up on the final take. Despite all these musicians, there is no guitar on the song, and rather three different bassists made up the core rhythm section, each performing a different variation of the instrument (specifically acoustic string, electric, and danelectro bass.) Also in the rhythm section, the percussion is simple yet also unorthodox, made up of a combination of sleigh bells and castanets, producing a similar effect to wood blocks. Depending on the section of the song, the tempo these are played vary, though the sleigh bells are played at a slower pace by the end of the song than the beginning. Brief snare drum rolls also are present at various times, the first being in the instrumental break/ interlude section following the second repetition of the chorus, the drums appearing twice in the section, each in the middle part of the break’s two lines. The snare drums however are most prominently in the song’s final section, where “God only knows” is sung and harmonized with three different voices, the drums marking the repetition of a new section.

In total, the rest of the instruments on “God Only Knows” are piano, organ, accordion, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, french horn, baritone, saxophone, violin, viola, and cello. For the time, this is a huge amount of instruments to have on the pop song, and the presence of instruments traditionally not associated with pop music makes this song even more un-traditional. On a casual listen, the instruments that stick out most prominently are the organ/ piano chords and the french horn, especially in the song’s first section, though you can hear a variety of string instruments lower in the mix, giving the song some texture. For the first verse and chorus, the instrumental section is more sparse, consisting of only the rhythm section and the organ. The bass heavy transition to the next verse and chorus, where the instrumental section is more complex, the string section entering and muting the volume of the bells a bit.

Following the chorus, the next transitional section is unlike any previous section of the song. As mentioned before, the snare drums first appear here in this interlude, easily the most playful sounding section of the song. In relation to the song’s celestial themes and sound, I would describe this part as sounding like someone in the sky jumping from cloud to cloud. With the following section, the tempo of the bells slow down and the vocals take the forefront with a three part polyphonic harmonizing section, featuring Carl Wilson, Brian Wilson, and Bruce Johnson. The song next moves into the chorus rather than another verse, the next and final verse thus follows immediately without any transitional section. With the final verse, all of the instrumental elements from the second verse are in place, though this time the bells remain at a slower tempo and a new flute section enters at the end of each line for the final two lines of the verse.

The song ends with the repetition of “God only knows,” cutting back to only the core rhythm section for instrumentation. After two repetitions however, the other instruments gradually enter again, the first being the snare drum rolls on two and four and the sound of a hard to identify string instrument (possibly a cello or viola plucked strongly) also where the snare drum, occurs though after each line rather than just half. This instrument plays a two note pattern twice in a row each time, descending for the second line, descending once more for the third line, and then playing the same notes for last line as it did for the second line. This element is interesting as it is very difficult to hear in the Pet Sounds version, but when listening to the instrumental version on the Stack-O-Tracks album, you can hear that it remains in the song until the very end, where silence is reached after the fade out.

It is interesting about the song’s conclusion that, despite the main versus and chorus of the song being sung by Carl Wilson, he left the studio before the recording was done, so instead Brian Wilson used multi-tracking and sung two of the three vocal melodies, harmonizing with himself. It is also of note that it was a bit of a rarity for Carl Wilson to perform lead vocals, as “God Only Knows” is the only song on Pet Sounds where he does so, Brian Wilson doing the rest on every song apart from “That’s Not Me” where Mike Love sang. Before Pet Sounds, Carl had only performed lead vocals on three Beach Boys songs, though rather than Brian singing it as standard, he handed it over to Carl, as he felt he could “impart the message better.”

In addition to the song’s complex structure and arrangements, as well as dense and unorthodox instrumentation, it was also groundbreaking in terms of its lyrics, being one of the first pop songs to use “God” in its title. Before this song, religion in popular music was traditionally avoided, rather leaving the subject matter for less commercial Christian recordings, and hymns. However I do not find “God Only Knows” to be a religious song but rather a love song that uses God in its title as a spiritual word, expressing the ethereal, other-worldly side of love, and the idea of eternity. Still, the song was definitely key in removing the taboo of spirituality in popular music, something that these days is fairly commonplace.

“God Only Knows” is also a song that has been covered by numerous artists of different styles, from David Bowie and Neil Diamond to Mandy Moore, Joss Stone, and even Daniel Johnston. Still, none of the covers I have heard come close to even having a fraction of the power and effectiveness of the original, Bowie’s version being especially disappointing. The Beach Boys version is just truly timeless and a masterpiece of popular music. As a really big fan, it always frustrates me when I meet someone who is only familiar with their fun yet straightforward and fluffy surf-centric early 60's recordings, or their lame late 80's “Kokomo,” party with the Tanner family on Full House era. In addition to Pet Sounds they had a fantastic string of albums from 1965's Today! to Surf’s Up in 1971. Still though the degrees of awful that the Beach Boys reached by the 90's was a bit frightening, the highs they achieved with Pet Sounds and “God Only Knows” alone are leaps beyond what most bands do in their entire careers.

Instrumental: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pozjzct_iY

Acapella: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_Z-6p7Hag4

Summer Mix Vol. 1

2009-07-13T21:32:00.006-05:00

So here we are... It's already mid-Summer. There's already seeing 50% sales on Summer related goods like beach balls, squirt guns, towels, and the like. I've even seen a few Back-to-School displays out already! How offensive! There's plenty of Summer left and this mix here is perfect for your Summer listening! After a few weeks of frequent rain and thunder storms, we've finally had some consistent sun and warm weather. I gave this mix a test run in my car a few days ago and it's absolutely perfect for Summer driving. Even if you're not heading to the beach, pool, or 50's style burger joint, and just making a trip to something as boring as the DMV, I guarantee that this mix will make your drive delightful!

The majority of this mix is from the late 50's and 1960's. It's hard to deny that the best, most iconic, and timeless Summer music is from that period. Plus as 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, the music of that decade is just as relevant now as it ever was.
Most of what I've included from that era directly references Summer in some way, though a few of them are my own subjective interpretations. "Green Onions" for example is entirely instrumental, though I included it due to its classic association with baseball. Plus it's use in The Sandlot, also certainly helps its case. "Sunshine Superman" is another more subjective inclusion, though I'm sure I'm not the only one who associates that song and its very distinct feel with the Summer. After a Grease standard, the mix changes directions with Alice Cooper's "School's Out". However rather than keeping with the 70's, it shifts to the 80's with the Tom Tom Club covering the Drifter's "Under the Boardwalk." I know the original would have fit in perfectly earlier in the mix, though I find this cover to be, well...more Summery. The mix ends then with three tracks from the 90's, including one of my personal favorite songs from The Adventures of Pete & Pete, "The Sunburn Song." Lastly, I decided to close things out with a nostalgic and somewhat somber Jonathan Richman track, "That Summer Feeling." It's a great one. Enjoy the mix! I'm really proud of this one.

Summer Mix Vol. 1 (sharebee)
Link 2 - Ipod version
(all songs have "Summer Mix Vol. 1" as the artist for easy categorization)

1. The Jamies - Summertime, Summertime
2. The Lovin' Spoonful - Summer in the City
3. Booker T and the MG's - Green Onions
4. The Surfaris - Wipe Out
5. The Beach Boys - All Summer Long
6. Martha Reeves & the Vandellas - (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave
7. Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues
8. Mungo Jerry - In the Summertime
9. Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' In the Sand)
10. The Kinks - Sunny Afternoon
11. Donovan - Sunshine Superman
12. Marianne Faithfull - Summer Nights
13. Love - Bummer in the Summer
14. Seals & Crofts - Summer Breeze
15. Frank Sinatra - Summer Wind
16. Roy Orbison - Summer Song
17. Harry Nilsson - Just Wait Till the Summer Comes
18. The Zombies - Summertime
19. Chad & Jeremy - A Summer Song
20. The Doors - Summer's Almost Gone
21. Grease OST - Summer Nights
22. Alice Cooper - School's Out
23. Tom Tom Club - Under the Boardwalk
24. Yo La Tengo - The Summer
25. Semi-Gloss - The Sunburn Song
26. Jonathan Richman - That Summer Feeling

Sigur Ros - Untitled #3 (Samskeyti)

2009-06-27T14:45:00.003-05:00

Have you ever had a completely unexpected environmental circumstance that somehow worked perfectly with what you were listening to? That just happened to me. Earlier this afternoon I was driving home from Worcester MA. The weather was very hot and humid before I left, the temperature reading 88. I decided to put on Sigur Ros's ( ) for the ride, as its been almost two years since I last heard it. Soon enough we got to track #3, Samskeyti, one of my favorites from the album. The song is built around a repeating piano line that eventually shifts octaves in the most glorious way possible. Its very repeative yet the way its constructed makes it sound like it is constantly moving forward. Remarkable song.

So about 20 seconds into the song I notice a drop of water hit my windshield. Not a tiny drop, but a large one. Another one happens after a few seconds. It wasn't like the way rain usually starts where its very small drops and a bunch of them - this was single drop large rain. Well this didn't last for too long as no longer than 15 seconds later full rain began to break out. Its like the clouds just broke as it went from droplets to dozens in a second. I'm constantly adjusting my wipers as the the amount of rain is steadily increasing. There's now a huge cloud in the sky that was clear a minute earlier. The amount of rain continues to reach until it reaches its peak only seconds after the octave shift in the song. I now have the wipers at the second highest level. The rain remains relatively constant for the next minute and then completely stops, just as the song is fading out. The timing was insane. Soon enough the sun came back out and was even brighter than it was earlier.

Here's two videos of the song. The first is a fan video for the album version, and the second a live performance from the Heima DVD.

2009-06-25T18:22:00.002-05:00

The Essential Field Mice

2009-06-09T19:01:00.005-05:00

Personally, I feel like the Field Mice remain one of the most overlooked and criminally underrated bands of the last 25 years. Oh they definitely have a devoted cult of fans, and are recognized by most anyone with a more than passive interest in twee pop, but in terms of being regarded as one of the most influential bands of the 80's, they still have a ways to go. It's remarkable how fresh this music still sounds, something that I can't help but attribute to how stale the "indie pop" genre is becoming at this point. For example, one of the internet's most recent blog bands is The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. They're a solid group, but I don't feel they aren't doing anything different than what the Field Mice were doing more than 20 years ago, and the tunes aren't nearly as solid. Still, their most popular song "Young Adult Friction" nears 4,000 plays a week on last.fm, yet the Field Mice's "Emma's House", gets less than 400. Life just isn't fair.

But back to the Mice- They only released three albums: Snowball in 1989, Skywriting in 1990, and For Keeps in 1991. Their formation was only a year before Snowball's release and they broke up shortly after the For Keeps tour. Despite this brief 3 year existence, they created a remarkably consistent output of material, with less than a handful of songs that are subpar ("Humblebee" as one.) The best collection of the band's material is the 1998 Where'd You Learn to Kiss That Way? compilation which takes 36 of the band's best songs, both from the original albums and various 7" singles. Though it comes close, there's still 15 recorded tracks by the band that do not make the compilation, so pursuing the actual albums is a necessity. Still, just about everyone's personal favorite Field Mice song is likely to be on Where'd You Learn to Kiss That Way?

However, I decided to take this compilation one step further. What if I cut down the 36 tracks to the essential essentials, enough to make a one disc compilation of the band's material? I did just that, and deciding what to include and what to omit was more difficult than expected. I ended up listening to the band's entire discography, and rated every song on a scale from 1-5. Everything on this mix got at least a 4 and five songs got the 5rating (Sensitive, Below the Stars, Emma's Hose, End of the Affair and Willow. ) This posed problems though, as there were still great songs left over that wouldn't fit. For example, "This Is Not Here" (a 4.5 for me) didn't make the cut. I guess compilations need to be this way in some regard, as if they weren't, there would be no incentive to pursue the artist any further. You just can't have ALL the greats. Also, I tried to organize the mix in a way that varies from the released compilation, yet still works well as a mix. This is how it turned out:

The Essential Field Mice

1. Sensitive
2. Emma's House
3. If You Need Someone
4. Couldn't Feel Safer
5. Everything About You
6. September's Not So Far Away
7. End of the Affair
8. Willow
9. A Wrong Turn and Raindrops
10. Let's Kiss and Make Up
11. This Love Is Not Wrong
12. An Earlier Autumn
13. Canada
14. So Said Kay
15. Between Hello and Goodbye
16. And Before the First Kiss
17. White
18. When Morning Comes to Town
19. Below the Stars

Bonus- This is Not Here (I just had to include this somehow. Let's just say it's track 20 for those listening with ipods or just straight from the folder.)

The Field Mice @Amazon.com

The Essential Sebadoh Vol. 4

2009-06-02T12:18:00.005-05:00

Here it is! The fourth and final volume of my custom "best-of" Sebadoh mixes. To think this all started with one mix, a mix that I thought at the time was pretty comprehensive. Yet over the last few months I've been obsessively listening to Sebadoh, and soon enough I found enough great songs to fill up three more volumes. Crazy!

More so, I still have yet to give a thorough listen to the Folk Implosion. Maybe in the future there will be a custom essential mix for them! Also, I intend to put together a collection of Sebadoh b-sides from all of the 7"/CD singles. There's already a good custom b-sides complitation floating around, though it concentrates most on their earliest material. Anyways, here's the link to volume 4 and the included tracks. As always, these mixes are just below 80 minutes in length, and appropriate for CD burning.

The Essential Sebadoh Vol. 4

1. Ladybugs (The Freed Man)
2. Cyster (The Freed Man)
3. Dance (The Freed Man)
4. Oak Street Raga (The Freed Man)
5. Jealous Evil (The Freed Man)
6. Narrow Stories (The Freed Man)
7. Bridge Was You (The Freed Man)
8. Feeding Evil (Weed Forestin)
9. Mr. Genius Eyes (Weed Forestin)
10. Wrists (The Freed Man)
11. I Can't See (Weed Forestin)
12. Three Times a Day (Weed Forestin)
13. More Simple (Weed Forestin)
14. Jealous of Jesus (Weed Forestin)
15. Sickles and Hammers [Minutemen] (III)
16. Renaissance Man (III)
17. New King (Gimme Indie Rock)
18. Soulmate II (Sebadoh Vs. Helmet)
19. Really Insane II (Rocking the Forest)
20. Junk Bonds (Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock)
21. Cliche (Bubble and Scrape)
22. Bouquet for a Siren (Bubble and Scrape)
23. No Way Out (Bubble and Scrape)
24. Temptation Tide (Bakesale)
25. Mystery Man (Bakesale)
26. Give Up (Bakesale)
27. S. Soup (Bakesale)
28. Rebound (acoustic) (Rebound EP)
29. Magnet's Coil (acoustic) (Rebound EP)
30. Social Medicine (Rebound EP)
31. Worst Thing (Harmacy)
32. Can't Give Up (Harmacy)
33. The Act of Being Polite [Residents] (Princess 7")
34. Moisture [Residents] (Princess 7")
35. Surburban Bathers [Residents] (Princess 7")
36. I Mean It (early version of "Sorry") (unreleased)
37. It's All You (The Sebadoh)
38. Weird (The Sebadoh)
39. Flame (acoustic) (Weird promo single)

Sebadon @ Amazon.com

Best of 2006 Vol. 1

2009-05-25T15:52:00.002-05:00

Here's the original mix, made in December of 2006. It was fun to make that second mix as it allowed me to include songs from 2006 albums that I was not into at the time (Mission of Burma, the Hold Steady, TV on the Radio, Jay Reatard, Destroyer, Grizzly Bear, and Liars.) Man, what was I thinking?

Best of 2006 - Vol. 1

1. Belle & Sebastian - Another Sunny Day
2. I'm From Barcelona - We're From Barcelona
3. The Gothic Archies - Scream and Run Away
4. Islands - Rough Gem
5. Sunset Rubdown - Stadiums and Shrines
6. Beirut - Postcards from Italy
7. Band of Horses - The Funeral
8. Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken
9. Danielson - Did I Step On Your Trumpet
10. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - You are What You Love
11. Oh No! Oh My! - Jane is Fat
12. Tilly & the Wall - Bad Education
13. Yo La Tengo - Beanbag Chair
14. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife 3
15. Bob Dylan - When the Deal Goes Down
16. Cat Power - The Greatest
17. Joanna Newsom - Cosmia
18. Sufjan Stevens - Majesty Snowbird

People were so excited over the live Sufjan song that I included as the last track. This led to speculation that he would have a new album the following year. That was 2007. Now it's 2009. The guy needs to get his shit together! I mean he got SO MUCH PRESS about the whole 50 States project, and now it's been 4 years since he's released something. Still, "You Are The Blood" from the Dark Was the Night compilation was really good.

Best Songs of 2006 Vol 2.

2009-05-23T18:23:00.003-05:00

Well, here's a minor throwback. Recently I've been re-organizing the music on my hard drive. I made sure that all of my artist folders contained the artist's name only- not their name and the name of the album, the year, the source, etc. Then upon opening the folder, all of the albums would be organized with the year in parentheses first, and the album name second. Thus if I were looking the Beat Happening album "Dreamy," I would first open the Beat Happening folder, and then find "(1991) Dreamy". Very simple, yet very effective. Also, for making yearly lists, something that I frequently do, it really is helpful to have your music files tagged by year.

Anyways, while in the process, I re-discovered a bunch of in progress mixes that I never completed. One of them was a second Best of 2006 mix. My first Mix does not exist on this blog, yet is rather over at my last.fm page, as I used to post mixes in my journal over there before this blog. Well I decided to complete the mix, and it's pretty rad. That was a great year for music. Here's the mix:

Best of 2006 - Vol 2.

1. Mission of Burma - 2wice
2. The Hold Steady - Stuck Between Stations
3 . TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me
4. Jay Reatard - Blood Visions
5. Sonic Youth - Incinerate
6. The Pipettes - Pull Shapes
7. Islands - Don't Call me Whitney, Bobby
8. Destroyer - Your Blood
9. Built to Spill - Goin Against Your Mind
10. Morrissey - You Have Killed Me
11. M. Ward - Chinese Translation
12. Grizzly Bear - Knife
13. Joanna Newsom - Sawdust & Diamonds
14. Liars - The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack
15. Animal Collective - People
16. Peter Bjorn and John - Young Folks
17. Animal Collective - People
18. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy

I'll repost the first edition of the mix soon. Also coming up soon will be the second volume of the Essential Built to Spill, and a Summer Songs mix.

The Essential Built to Spill vol. 1

2009-05-10T16:11:00.004-05:00

Here's the first volume of a custom "best of" Built to Spill compilation that I made. It includes much of their best known tracks, as well as fan favorites. Yes, it contains nothing from their debut, Ultimate Alternative Wavers or the very underrated compilation The Normal Years, though I will certainly drawn from those for future volumes. I think it works very well as an introduction to the band, or a brief overview of their most popular albums. Their second, There's Nothing Wrong with Love is my personal favorite. Unlike most of my other "essential" mixes, the songs here are not in chronological order, though I still made sure everything still flows together well as a whole.

The Essential Built to Spill Vol. 1

1. Big Dipper [There's Nothing Wrong with Love]
2. Strange [Ancient Melodies of the Future]
3. Carry the Zero [Keep it Like a Secret]
4. I Would Hurt a Fly [Perfect from Now On]
5. You Were Right [Keep it Like a Secret]
6. The Plan [Keep it Like a Secret]
7. Car [There's Nothing Wrong with Love]
8. Else [Keep it Like a Secret]
9. Kicked it in the Sun [Perfect from Now On]
10. Center of the Universe [Keep it Like a Secret]
11. Conventional Wisdom [You in Reverse]
12. Stop the Show [Perfect from Now On]
13. Time Trap [Keep it Like a Secret]
14. Liar [You in Reverse]
15. Distopian Dream Girl [There's Nothing Wrong with Love]
16. The Weather [Ancient Melodies of the Future]

Built to Spill @ Up Records
Amazon.com

The Essential Sebadoh- Vol. 3

2009-04-27T16:38:00.003-05:00

Here's custom mix #3 for my favorite band at the moment - Sebadoh. Unlike the first two, this draws more heavily on their lo-fi recordings, so much in fact that it only reaches up to Bubble & Scrape. Though definitely not the first albums newcomers should check out, The Freed Man and Weed Forestin' have lots of short little gems. I've started work on the fourth and most likely final volume, though have some narrowing down to do.

The Essential Sebadol - Vol. 3

1. K-Sensa-My (The Freed Man)
2. Healthy Sick (The Freed Man)
3. Level Anything (The Freed Man)
4. Design (The Freed Man)
5. Julienne (The Freed Man)
6. Soulmate (The Freed Man)
7. Moldy Bread (The Freed Man)
8. Fire of July (The Freed Man)
9. Punch in the Nose (The Freed Man)
10. Pig (Asshole 7")
11. Slow to Learn (Asshole 7")
12. Hung Up (Asshole 7")
13. Cheapshot (Oven is My Friend 7")
14. New Worship (Weed Forestin')
15. Ride the Darker Wave (Weed Forestin')
16. It's So Hard to Fall in Love (Weed Forestin')
17. Subtle Holy Gift (Weed Forestin')
18. Pound My Skinny Head (Weed Forestin')
19. Whitey Peach (Weed Forestin')
20. Waited Forever (Weed Forestin')
21. I Believe in Fate (Weed Forestin')
22. Gate to Hell (Weed Forestin')
23. Broken (Weed Forestin')
24. Red Riding Good (Gimme Indie Rock 7")
25. Toledo (Split 7" w. Azalia Snail)
26. Downmind (III)
27. Hoppin' Up and Down (III)
28. Holy Picture (III)
29. Limb By Limb (III)
30. Half Undressed (Princess 7")
31. Fantastic Diaster (Soul and Fire 7")
32. I Stopped Singing (Ow, Quit it compilation)
33. Losercore (Losercore 7")
34. New Worship (Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock)
35. Everybody's Been Burned (Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock)
36. Mean Distance (Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock)
37. Pink Moon (Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock)
38. Emma Get Wild (Bubble & Scrape)
39. Sixteen (Bubble & Scrape)
40. Flood (Bubble & Scrape)
41. Sister (Bubble & Scrape)
42. Reject (Soul and Fire 7")

The Magnetic Fields - B-Sides & Rarities (1989-2008)

2009-04-23T22:07:00.005-05:00

The Magnetic Fields have been a band for 20 years now. In that time they have released 8 albums (10 if you count 69 Love Songs as 3 albums) and a handful of EPs. Then when you take in mind Stephin Merritt's other 3 projects, that adds 6 more full length albums to the picture, as well as 4 EPs. On top of that, Stephin also has 3 albums of the various film/ theater scores he has composed, with compilation album Showtunes compiling various songs from each. The guy is pretty prolific. Sure, he's no Robert Pollard, but unlike him Stephin keeps the quality ratio pretty damn high.

So all Magnetic Fields albums are really fantastic. But did you know there's a good number of hard to find b-sides and compilation tracks by the band? What I've done is compiled every single Magnetic Fields non-album track in chronological order, as well as a few excellent live tracks from the band and Stephin Merritt solo tracks. All the rarities! The only things I've excluded are the "I Thought You Were My Boyfriend" remixes, but those aren't really necessary as the EP is still readily available.

So enjoy this custom compilation by favorite band!

The Magnetic Fields - B-Sides & Rarities (1989-2008)

1. Plant White Roses (Susan Anway Vocal) ('89) [The Long Secret compilation]
2. Crowd Of Drifters ('90) [Doctor Death's Volume IV-The Marvels Of Insect Life]
3. Beach-A-Boop-Boop ('92) [Long Vermont Roads 7"]
4. Plain White Roses ('94) [Rows Of Teeth: Merge Records 5th Anniversary Compilation]
5. Rats in the Garbage of the Western World ('95) [All The Umbrellas In London 7'']
6. The Man Amplifier (Young Marble Giants) ('95) [Why I Cry 7"]
7. 'Heroes' (David Bowie) ('96) [Crash Course For The Ravers compilation]
8. I Die, You Die (Gary Numan) ('97) [Random compilation]
9. Smoke and Mirrors (Mary Robinson Remix) ('97) [MRG100 compilation]
10. I Don't Believe You ('98) [I Don't Believe You 7"]
11. When I'm Not Looking, You're Not There ('98) [I Don't Believe You 7")
12. Le Tourbillion (Boris Bassiak) ('99) [Pop Romantique compilation]
13. Take Ecstasy With Me (Susan Anway, vocal) ('99) [Oh, Merge: A Merge Records 10 Year Anniversary Compilation]
14. If I Were a Rich Man [Fiddler on the Roof] ('99) [Knitters on the Roof compilation]
15. One April Day ('03) [Pieces of April soundtrack]
16. The Meaning of Lice ('06) [Plague Songs compilation]
17. The Man of a Million Faces ('07) [NPR's Two Day Song Challenge]
18. The Nun's Litany (Stephin Merritt version) ('08) [Please Stop Dancing EP]
19. Three Way [Live at the Iron Horse Music Hall (2-11-08)]
20. Too Drunk to Dream [Live at the Iron Horse Music Hall (2-11-08)]
21. I Thought You Were My Boyfriend [Live at the Somerville Theatre (2-15-08)]
22. Take Esctasy With Me [Live at the Iron Horse Music Hall (2-11-08)]
23. Yeah, Oh Yeah! [Live at the Iron Horse Music Hall (2-11-08)]
24. The Nun's Litany [Live on Fair Game]

Bonus songs:

Flare (The band of LD Beghtol, guest vocalist on 69 Love Songs) - Celebrate the Misery (Stephin Merritt Mix) ('99)

The Magnetic Fields - What a Fucking Lovely Day! (Stephin Merritt vocals) [Live at the Iron Horse Music Hall (2-11-08)]

LOU BARLOW IS THE BEST

2009-04-17T18:48:00.002-05:00

So over the past few months I've been on a huge Sebadoh kick. My last.fm plays are ridiculous.
Here's a few awesome Lou Barlow acoustic videos.

It's finals period. Aaaaaaah.

Bright Eyes - Papa Was a Rodeo (Magnetic Fields cover)

2009-03-24T18:46:00.011-05:00

Here's a brand-new Bright Eyes song- a cover of the Magnetic Fields "Papa Was a Rodeo." The original is from the 1999 album 69 Love Songs, my personal favorite album of all-time, and an album that I cannot recommend enough. "Papa Was a Rodeo" is arguably the best song on the album, though everyone seems to have their own personal favorite songs and disc.

This Bright Eyes cover is from the upcoming compilation Score! 20 Years of Merge Records, out in 2-weeks. It is limited to only 7,500 copies, so I would recommenced pre-ordering it now.

As for the cover itself, I really like it. It is more akin to the electric based Bright Eyes style that Conor experimented with on 2005's Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, though there are actual string instruments on the song as well. Though I personally find that album to be one of Bright Eyes weakest, the approach oddly works for this cover. Nothing can really beat the original, so I admire this creative approach to the song.

Bright Eyes - Papa Was a Rodeo

For anyone who has not heard it, here is the original:

The Magnetic Fields - Papa Was a Rodeo

As a bonus, here's another cover of "Papa was a Rodeo," this time done by singer/songwriter Kelly Hogan. It's more akin to the source material, though of course is sung by a female. Though this does away with the gender shifting of the original (Mike is actually a female) it is a great cover overall, and the alt-country sound works well with the original song's structure and themes.

Kelly Hogan - Papa Was a Rodeo

I like your twisted point of view, Mike
I like your questioning eyebrows
You've made it pretty clear what you like
It's only fair to tell you now
that I leave early in the morning
and I won't be back till next year
I see that kiss-me pucker forming
but maybe you should plug it with a beer, 'cause

Papa was a rodeo
Mama was a rock'n'roll band
I could play guitar and rope a steer
before I learned to stand
Home was anywhere with diesel gas
Love was a trucker's hand
Never stuck around long enough
for a one-night stand
Before you kiss me you should know
Papa was a rodeo

The light reflecting off the mirror ball
looks like a thousand swirling eyes
They make me think I shouldn't be here at all
You know, every minute someone dies
What are we doing in this dive bar?
How can you live in a place like this?
Why don't you just get into my car
And I'll take you away
I'll take that kiss now, but

Papa was a rodeo
Mama was a rock'n'roll band
I could play guitar and rope a steer
before I learned to stand
Home was anywhere with diesel gas
Love was a trucker's hand
Never stuck around long enough
for a one-night stand
Before you kiss me you should know
Papa was a rodeo

And now it's 55 years later
We've had the romance of the century
After all these years wrestling gators
I still feel like crying
When I think of what you said to me:

"Papa was a rodeo
Mama was a rock'n'roll band
I could play guitar and rope a steer
before I learned to stand
Home was anywhere with diesel gas
Love was a trucker's hand
Never stuck around long enough
for a one-night stand
Before you kiss me you should know
Papa was a rodeo,"

What a coincidence
Your papa was a rodeo, too

Pre-order Score! 20 Years of Merge Records

Dean & Britta - We're Not Supposed to Be Lovers (Adam Green cover)

2009-03-23T16:14:00.002-05:00

Dean & Britta are awesome. They would be awesome still if they began and ended as Dean & Britta, but they are much more than that. Dean Wareham first formed the band Galaxie 500 in 1987, a band whose music hits me in a way that only a extremely select few can. I absolutely adore Galaxie 500, all three of their albums. Then comes Luna, Dean's next band. While I do not connect with them in quite the same way as I do Galaxie 500, I still really love their music. With 7 studio albums and a handful of EPs and assorted singles, Luna gives you more to choose from, but they still are remarkably consistent quality wise. The closest Luna has to a misstep is 1999's The Days of Our Nights, though the album still has some excellent tracks, including "Superfreaky Memories", one of the band's best. Dean & Britta became an official project after Luna disbanded in 2005, and while they are a bit poppier overall than Luna, the solid songwriting is still in place. Still, one of my favorite elements of all Wareham projects is the tendency to cover the songs of other artists. Overall, I can't think of another artist who puts his own touch onto covered material better than him, as well as one who covers such a wide variety of songs. Plus the idea of a novelty cover does not apply here, even when covers are of artists such as Madonna and Guns 'N' Roses. The covers stray from their source material, though are approached with respect to the original versions, resulting in attractive remoldings let the original melodies shine though, yet the structures of the songs may take a vast turn. For example, Jonathan Richman's original version of "Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste" is a minute and a half acapella track, only commercially available as a live version. The Galaxie 500 version is epic and sprawling, nearly 7 minutes, much of which are guitar solos. I may as well mention here that Dean Wareham is my all-time favorite guitarist, and most of this has to do with his solos. I for one hate the self-indulgent, fast for the sake of being fast style of solos that often appear in metal and prog. Dean's solo work is different, as though complex and often lengthy, I get a human sense of feeling in his guitar work, it moving me in a way that sung lyrics cannot convey. When he solos, it always sounds necessary.

Anways, the song for this entry is the Dean & Britta cover of Adam Green's "We're Not Supposed to Be Lovers." Adam Green's original is on his 2003 album Friends of Mine. Dean & Britta's version is from their 2006 EP Words You Used to Say. The EP is currently out of print, and last I checked, it goes for quite a bit. It's a shame as the covers on the EP are all great. I may do more entries on them in the furture. For now, here's the two versions of this song-

Dean & Britta - We're Not Supposed to Be Lovers

Adam Green - We're Not Supposed to Be Lovers

Dean & Britta - Official Website
Adam Green - Official Website

The Essential Sebadoh - Vol. 2

2009-02-04T16:50:00.010-05:00

The Essential Sebadoh Vol. 2

1. True Hardcore (The Freed Man)
2. Jaundice (The Freed Man)
3. God Told Me (III)
4. Perverted World (III)
5. Scars, Four Eyes (III)
6. Wonderful, Wonderful (III)
7. Black Haired Girl (III)
8. Supernatural Gurl (III)
9. Hassle (III)
10. Good Things (Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock)
11. Ride the Darker Wave (Rocking the Forest)
12. New Worship (Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock)
13. Brand New Love (Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock)
14. Soul and Fire (acoustic demo)
15. Forced Love (Bubble & Scrape)
16. Think (Let Tomorrow Bee) (Bubble & Scrape)
17. Homemade (Bubble & Scrape)
18. Dreams (Bakesale)
19. Got It (Bakesale)
20. Drama Mine (Bakesale)
21. On Fire (acoustic)
22. Prince-S (Harmacy)
23. Beauty of the Ride (Harmacy)
24. Open Ended (Harmacy)
25. Too Pure (Harmacy)
26. Perfect Way (Harmacy)
27. Flame (The Sebadoh)
28. Sorry (The Sebadoh)

I think I'll do a Volume 3 eventually. They do have so many great songs... Sebadoh fans- Any suggestions for songs I have yet to include?

The Essential Sebadoh - Mix #1

2009-02-01T12:43:00.006-05:00

Truly one of the most underrated bands of the 90's. Vol. 2 will be coming soon....

The Essential Sebadoh - Vol. 1

1. Brand New Love (Weed Forestin)
2. Gimme Indie Rock (Gimme Indie Rock 7")
3. The Freed Pig (III)
4. Violent Execution (III)
5. Total Peace (III)
6. Kath (III)
7. Spoiled (III)
8. Truly Great Thing (III)
9. No Different (III)
10. It's So Hard to Fall in Love (Rocking the Forest)
11. Vampire (Rocking the Forest)
12. Soul and Fire (Bubble and Scrape)
13. Happily Divided (Bubble and Scrape)
14. Two Years Two Days (Bubble and Scrape)
15. Sacred Attention (Bubble and Scrape)
16. License to Confuse (Bakesale)
17. Rebound (Bakesale)
18. Skull (Bakesale)
19. Not a Friend (Bakesale)
20. Not Too Amused (Bakesale)
21. Careful (Bakesale)
22. Magnet's Coil (Bakesale)
23. Together or Alone (Bakesale)
24. On Fire (Harmacy)
25. Ocean (Harmacy)
26. Willing to Wait (Harmacy)
27. Nothing Like You (Harmacy)

My 88 Favorite Albums of 2008

2009-01-11T11:41:00.001-05:00

2008 was an interesting year for music. For much of the year I was complaining about new music- how there seemed to be so few standout albums in comparison to recent years. Last year Animal Collective’s Strawberry Jam, Panda Bear’s Person Pitch, M.I.A.’s Kala, LCD Soundsystem’s Sound of Silver, Radiohead’s In Rainbows, Deerhoof’s Friend Opportunity, The National’s Boxer, and of Montreal’s Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? were just a few of many fantastic releases that are still being heavily talked about. For 2006 there was Joanna Newsom (especially), Grizzly Bear, Tom Waits, Beirut, The Hold Steady, TV on the Radio, Destroyer, Islands, the Decemberists, Belle & Sebastian, Bob Dylan, Sunset Rubdown, Yo La Tengo, Liars..... wow that year was epic. Half way through 2008 I only had a handful of albums that I really dug. Lots of anticipated releases proved to be major letdowns. The new albums by of Montreal, Jenny Lewis, Cat Power, My Morning Jacket, and Brian Wilson I found to be really weak to awful. Wolf Parade, Islands, Mogwai, Sigur Ros, M83, the Hold Steady, and Destroyer on the other hand put out albums that were not bad my any means, yet did not come even close to the heights the bands have previously achieved. Instead, I felt that newer bands were responsible for much of this years best work- bands with debut albums this year or ones that were previously established yet truly emerged from the shadows of music obscurity. For example, Fleet Foxes, The Dodos, Bon Iver, Vampire Weekend, Hercules and Love Affair, Santogold, Titus Andronicus, Vivian Girls, Frightened Rabbit, Fuck Buttons, and Ponytail seemingly appeared out of nowhere this year yet all put out solid albums. Some would also add Los Campesinos and Crystal Castles to that list, though I generally was not a big fan of those albums. Also, bands like Deerhunter, No Age, Gang Gang Dance, Marnie Stern, Atlas Sound, Girl Talk, Beach House, and Cut Copy - ones that have been hyped in the past went beyond what they were before, reaching many new ears as well as artistic heights. Lastly there is the great albums by well established bands category. Though there’s less here, Portishead and Nick Cave are of mention, as both returned to the music scene (Nick Cave’s last album with the Bad Seeds was 2004 but it’s been over a decade for Portishead) with unexpectedly fantastic albums. The Walkmen also put out their best album since 2004, and if I continue to feel the same way about their latest, it may prove to be my favorite. I found Distortion to be Stephin Merritt’s best work since 69 Love Songs with its combination of Psychocandy influenced distortion and Merritt’s consistently great songwriting. TV on the Radio did the near impossible and followed up the ridiculously critically acclaimed Return to Cookie Mountain with an album that is even more acclaimed. Spiritualized came out with their first album since 2003, and this as well received incredibly positive reviews. It’s amazing how Jason Pierce after five Spiritualized albums and his brilliant work with Spacemen 3 (beginning in 1982) can still put out such good and fresh sounding music. David Byrne’s new collaboration with Brian Eno, their first since 1981, was also great, especially considering all the godly previous work the two have done on their own. They sure have not lost it. I managed to see David Byrne live this year and it was easily one of the best shows I have ever seen. He sounds better than ever, and played a wonderfully varied setlist. The Breeders and Wire also returned this year with really good albums. They both also toured and played like hardly any time had passed since their prime. Wire especially. It was like I was back in ‘77 during the Pink Flag numbers in their set. 12 XU! The B-52's also came out with their first album since 1992, but I wasn't a fan. Then again, it’s really only their first album that I’m obsessed with. Anyways enough talk- here’s the list.

88. The Bug - London Zoo
87. Black Kids - Partie Traumatic
86. The B-52's - Funplex
85. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
84. Cat Power - Jukebox
83. Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun
82. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
81. Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
80. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
79. Weezer- Red Album
78. Harvey Milk - Life... The Best Game in Town
77. Kimya Dawson - Alphabutt
76. of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
75. The Cure - 4:13 Dream
74. Scarlett Johansson - Anywhere I lay my Head
73. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
72. Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful We Are Doomed
71. Lindstrom - Where You Go I Go Too
70. A Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band - 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
69. Times New Viking - Rip It Off
68. Max Tundra - Parallex Error Beheads You
67. Coldplay - Vida La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
66. She & Him - Volume 1
65. Islands - Arm’s Way
64. All Girl Summer Fun Band - Looking into It
63. They Might Be Giants - Here Comes the 123s
62. Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling
61. Adam Green - Sixes & Sevens
60. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash
59. Fennesz - Black Sea
58. Megapuss - Megapuss
57. Boston Spaceships - Boston Spaceships
56. DJ/Rupture - Uproot
55. Destroyer - Trouble in Dreams
54. Mark Kozelek - The Finally LP
53. Music Tapes - For Clouds and Tornadoes
52. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
51. Wire - Object 47
50. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
49. Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward
48. Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life
47. Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
46. High Places - High Places
45. Amadou & Mariam - Welcome to Mali
44. Matmos - Supreme Balloon
43. Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
42. Mount Eerie - Dawn
41. M83 - Saturdays = Youth
40. Sun Kil Moon - April
39. Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
38. Deerhunter - Weird Era Cont
37. David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything that Happens Will Happen Today
36. Blitzen Trapper - Furr
35. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colors
34. Santogold - Santogold
33. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy - Lie down in the Light
32. Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
31. Women - Women
30. Why? - Alopecia
29. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrsing
28. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
27. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
26. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
25. Breeders - Mountain Battles
24. Spiritualized - Songs in A&E
23. Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
22. Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules & Love Affair
21. Okkervil River - The Stand ins
20. Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight
19. Marnie Stern - This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That
18. The Mae Shi - HLLLYH
17. Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
16. Beach House - Devotion
15. Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
14. Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances
13. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
12. No Age - Nouns
11. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
10. Vivian Girls - Vivian Girls
9. Magnetic Fields - Distortion
8. Portishead - Third
7. The Dodos - Visiter
6. Mount Eerie - Lost Wisdom
5. Department of Eagles - In Ear Park
4. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
3. The Walkmen - You & Me
2. Deerhunter - Microcastles
1. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

Man what a year this has been for Fleet Foxes. The band came to Clark along with Blitzen Trapper on March 30th. As a result of an apparently incredible performance at SXSW on March 14th, the word had begun to spread on the band. Still, both their EP and album had yet to be released. I had read about the band a bit on BrooklynVegan and Stereogum before the show and managed to find a couple of sample mp3s. I was quite impressed on first listen. I remember thinking, wow, this is the opening band? Blitzen Trapper better put on a great show, or they’ll be upstaged. The band had played the previous night at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC and there were already multiple blog posts about their performance, including Stereogum. The show apparently sold out, and was packed in anticipation of both bands.
When they took stage I was right up front. They walked on casually, as if they were just some bar band that was hanging out drinking before it was time for their set. It was true that the majority of attendees had no idea who this opening band was. There had to be no more than 40 people in the venue at that point. Robin, the lead singer, handed a copy of the EP to the kid standing next to me. He said something along the lines of - hey, have a free CD. When they began their set with the a-capella Sun Giant, the entire place became quiet. No conversations, no whispering, nothing. How often to you see that for an opening band? Everyone was just as compelled during the rest of the set. The band often made small talk with the audience between songs, including a memorable Q: “what’s the most popular major here?” A: “Marijuana!” exchange. It was just so incredible how tight this band was, with their interjecting harmonies, gorgeous melodies and beautiful singing all around. It somehow felt tightly calculated and well practiced yet loose and relaxed at the same time. Regardless it was easily one of the most compelling shows I have seen. This was the setlist:
Sun Giant /Sun it Rises / Drops in the River / English House/ Katie Cruel/ White Winter Hymnal/ Your Protector / Oliver James/ Mykonos/ Blue Ridge Mountains Tiger Mountain Peasant Song
The band also announced that it was Robin’s 22nd birthday that show. That completely blew my mind and made me feel like I’ve accomplished nothing. Blitzen Trapper played a great show as well, and Fleet Foxes joined them onstage for an energetic performance of their closer. Blitzen Trapper mentioned onstage that we all witnessed history with Fleet Foxes that night, as one day they would be massive. Right they were.
No that I’ve said nothing about the album itself, I’ll say that it is an epic, wonderful, and beautiful thing, especially when compiled with the EP. Though they are massive now (White Winter Hymnal is getting 19,000 plays a week on last.fm - holy shit!) I feel like their hype is completely deserved. They are both a band that puts out incredible music and performs it even better than it sounds on the record, yet they maintain incredibly humble and in touch with listeners. Robin is actually an active poster on the atease forums and is very gracious regarding praise and open to criticism. There’s a gigantic 45-page Fleet Foxes thread with about 40 posts in it by him. It’s very cool. He says he’s very cool with people uploading his music there, considering how much new music he’s discovered on that board himself. In one he gets a poster into a sold out show by putting him on the guest list. I just hope now as they keep getting bigger they maintain the close relationship they have with their fans, as well as the intimate quality that their live show emanated. I mean they played and sold out the Summerville Theater in MA in October and that place has a 1,000+ capacity. I sincerely doubt they will though. “I'm just a music fan really, I come on here to find new stuff like everyone else... I'm not special!”

Looking forward, I think 2009 is going to be a good year. I mean we’re just 10 days into the year and already an album came out that it better than anything released in 2008 (Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion.) Unless Grizzly Bear gives that album a run for its money (which they very well could) or the next Joanna Newsom album actually comes out (or My Bloody Valentine!!), I likely will be here at this time next year doing a write up on Animal Collective. There’s lots more to look forward too.New albums by Antony & the Johnsons and Handsome Furs have leaked, and though I have yet to listen I’ve heard very good things. I think the new Franz Ferdinand may have leaked too. Let’s see what has release dates....

Beirut - March of the Zapotec (Feb 1)
Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You (Feb 10)
Morrissey - Years of Refusal (Feb 16)
... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead -The Century of Self (Feb 17)
Architecture in Helsink - That Beep (Feb 17)
M. Ward - Hold Time (Feb. 17)
Black Lips- 200 Million Thousand (Feb. 24)
Dan Deacon - Bromst (March 24)
The Decemberists - Hazards Of Love (March 24)
Depeche Mode - [Title TBA] (April 20)

And TBA albums:
Annie, Arcade Fire (?), The Avalanches, Blur, Bright Eyes, Broken Social Scene, Built to Spill, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (?), Deer Tick, Dirty Projectors, Final Fantasy, Gang of Four, Jay Reatard, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Liars, Lightning Bolt, Marissa Nadler, Menomena, Roxy Music, Sonic Youth, The Strokes, Wilco, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Coooooool. Now if Jeff Mangum gets it together this year, 2009 will be truly special. I don't really want another formal NMH album, but I would totally kill to see In the Aeroplane Over the Sea performed live in its entirety.

I'll end this with a ranking of all the live shows I caught this year. I saw a few bands on here twice (The Breeders + The Magnetic Fields) so I only listed the best of the two shows I saw.

Live Shows:
1. Joanna Newsom @ BAM (best of the year and best of my life)
2. David Byrne @ Calvin Theatre
3. Blitzen Trapper/ Fleet Foxes @ The Grind
4. Magnetic Fields @ Iron Horse
5. Wire @ Middle East
6. Radiohead/Grizzly Bear @ Comcast Center
7. Deerhoof @ Pearl Street
8. Mount Eerie & Julie Doiron @ The Grind
9. Breeders @ Paradise
10. Daniel Johnston @ Lupo’s
11. Built to Spill/Dinosaur Jr./Meat Puppets @ Orpheum
12. Y.A.C.H.T. @ The Grind
13. Rilo Kiley @ Lupo’s
14. Deer Tick @ The Grind
15. Lou Reed @ Calvin Theatre
16. Matt & Kim @ The Grind
17. No Age @ Grind
18. Explosions in the Sky @ Lupo’s
19. Islands @ Middle East
20. of Montreal @ Orpheum
21. Kimya Dawson @ Clark University
22. Dirty Projectors @ Grind

Mix CD: Favorite Songs of 2008 (#1 of 4)

2009-01-01T12:32:00.000-05:00

So for the past 5 years it has been a tradition of mine to make a mix CD with all my favorite songs from albums that were released. It can be difficult to choose, as well as make song cuts so everything is under 80 minutes. I try to stay up to date with current well received releases and on average listen to about 25 to 30 new albums a year. Well this year was different, though only over the last few months. After being initially disappointed by the start of this year, I payed little attention to new music for most of 2008, instead looking to to past for bands I had yet to discover. Then around the end of the summer I begun to feel a bit out of the loop in terms of the present. I begun to play catchup. I now have listened to so many new albums this year, one mix simply wouldn't suffice, and instead four were needed. I've been working on ranking all the albums that I've heard this year - a list that will be complete very soon. Still, I have a good 15 albums that I still need to give a listen. My year end list will be near 80 albums. It's insane...I have no idea how I have listened to this much. Maybe that's why Christmas seemed to sneak up so quickly this year- no time for x-mas music! Crazy crazy.

Anyways, here's four mixes of my favorite songs of the year. I'm very happy with how these turned out. I put a bit of effort into them to make sure all the songs flowed into one another well and worked together as a whole. I also made sure not to use more than two songs from the same album. Links via megaupload.

So yes, enjoy! Albums and concerts of 2008 is forthcoming.

Mix #1
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XKQLQN11

1. Grizzly Bear - While You Wait For the Others
2. Bon Iver - Skinny Love
3. Deerhunter - Nothing Ever Happened
4. Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
5. Blitzen Trapper - Furr
6. The Walkmen - In the New Year
7. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus Dig
8. Frightened Rabbit - The Modern Leper
9. Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor
10. Hercules & Love Affair - Blind
11. Gang Gang Dance - House Jam
12. Portishead - The Rip
13. Spiritualized - Soul on Fire
14. Department of Eagles - No One Does It Like You
15. Vivian Girls - Where Do You Run To
16. Marnie Stern - Transformer
17. No Age - Teen Creeps
18. The Breeders - Bang On
19. Magnetic Fields - Too Drunk to Dream
20. Animal Collective - Water Curses
21. Mount Eerie - You Swan, Go On

Mix CD: Favorite Songs of 2008 (#2 of 4)

2009-01-01T12:31:00.000-05:00

Mix #2
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=C4RA6S4T

1. The Mae Shi - Run to Your Grave
2. Deerhoof - Fresh Born
3. Santogold - L.E.S Artistes
4. Girl Talk - Here’s the Thing
5. Cut Copy - Feel the Love
6. TV on the Radio - Halfway Home
7. Wire - One of Us
8. Beach House - Gila
9. M83 - We Own the Sky
10. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
11. She & Him - Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?
12. Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma
13. Okkervil River - Lost Coastlines
14. Fleet Foxes - Mykonos
15. Conor Oberst - Milk Thistle
16. Destroyer - Foam Hands
17. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy - So Everyone
18. David Byrne and Brian Eno - Everything That Happens
19. The Walkmen - I Lost You

Mix CD: Favorite Songs of 2008 (#3 of 4)

2009-01-01T12:28:00.000-05:00

Mix #3
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YI7D53LG

1. Mount Eerie - Domesticated Dog
2. Wolf Parade - Language City
3. Titus Andronicus - Titus Andronicus
4. The Dodos - Fools
5. Atlas Sound - River Card
6. TV on the Radio - DLZ
7. Why? - The Hollows
8. Islands - The Arm
9. Portishead - Machine Gun
10. Amadou & Mariam - Sabali
11. David Byrne and Brian Eno - Strange Overtones
12. Morrissey - That’s How People Grow Up
13. Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules’ Theme
14. Fucked Up - Son the Father
15. All Girl Summer Fun Band - Something New
16. Boston Spaceships - You Satisfy Me
17. Spiritualized - Sweet Talk
18. Fuck Buttons - Sweet Love for Planet Earth

Mix CD: Favorite Songs of 2008 (#4 of 4)

2009-01-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

Mix #4:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EL0PMYQH

1. Titus Andronicus - Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ
2. Los Campesinos - We Are Beautiful We Are Doomed
3. No Age - Ripped Knees
4. Deerhunter - Agoraphobia
5. M83 - Kim & Jessie
6. The Dodos - Jodi
7. Bon Iver - Flume
8. Beach House - Wedding Bell
9. Sigur Ros - Gobbledigook
10. Ponytail - Beg Waves
11. Gang Gang Dance - First Communication
12. Cut Copy - Out There on Ice
13. Conor Oberst - Cape Canaveral
14. Adam Green - Tropical Island
15. Megapuss - Adam & Steve
16. Deerhoof - Chandelier Searchlight
17. Vampire Weekend - M79
18. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - We Call Upon the Author
19. Women - Black Rice
20. The Breeders - We’re Gonna Rise

The Essential Animal Collective (2004-2008)

2008-11-10T15:39:00.005-05:00

Certainly one of the best and most innovative bands making music today. This is a retrospective I made chronicling their last four years and essential tracks during that period.

The Essential Animal Collective '04-'08

1. College
2. We Tigers
3. Sweet Road
4. Who Could Win a Rabbit
5. Leaf House
6. Winters Love
7. Prospect Hummer
8. Did You See the Words
9. The Purple Bottle
10. Grass
11. Banshee Beat
12. People
13. Peacebone
14. Chores
15. For Reverend Green
16. Fireworks
17. Winter Wonder Land
18. Water Curses

Animal Collective @FatCat records

Mark Mulcahy - Various Polaris Songs (Live)

2008-08-21T14:44:00.002-05:00

In my time doing this blog I have noticed that my posts involving the Adventures of Pete & Pete tend to get the most enthusiastic reception from readers. I couldn't be happier- it's easily my favorite television series of all time, and it is wonderful to hear from people who hold the show as dearly as I do. Therefore here's another related post:

So Mark Mulcahy is the guy that fronted Polaris, the one-off band we all know so well from the show's opening credits. The song "Hey Sandy." Whether you're an obsessive fan of the show, a casual one, or, heaven forbid, a hater (the soul-less I say) it's hard to deny how original and unforgettable the theme is- especially for what is considered "a kids show." I could write a thesis on how The Adventures of Pete & Pete is by no means "a kids show", and how much of an injustice it is to pigeonhole the series as that, yet I will not go there. Instead I will share several mp3s of Mark playing 3 Polaris songs at this year's Daffodil Festival, held in Meriden Connecticut. He's apparently one of the festival's headliners every year, as it is located nearby his home. I wonder if he ever gets guys setting up their gear and rocking out on his front lawn...

Mark Mulcahy - Coronado II

Mark Mulcahy - Ivy Boy

and of course....

Mark Mulcahy - She is Staggering

Now for lots of live videos:

"Coronado II" at the Daffodil Festival '08

"Ivy Boy" at the Daffodil Festival '08

"She is Staggering" at the Daffodil Festival '08

"Ivy Boy" at Buttonwood Tree in Middletown CT '07

"Hey Sandy" at Buttonwood Tree in Middletown CT '07

"Hey Sandy" Acoustic in '02

Thanks to good ol'David Elliott for recording this year's Dafodil Festival and providing me with the Mulcahy tracks!

Mix CD: The Essential John Cale

2008-08-15T10:49:00.006-05:00

John Cale is cooler than Lou Reed. Not only is he a very nice man, the consistency of his albums also exceeds that of Lou. Still, you can't deny that Cale's 70's output is by far his greatest material, with the 3 albums Vintage Violence, Paris 1919 and Fear being his classics. This mix covers this era, ending with a tracks from his 1975 album Helen of Troy. I realize I didn't cover nearly as much ground in his career as I did for Lou Reed, yet the 5 years this mix spans was so musically productive for Cale, it was difficult enough narrowing it down. I chose to end it with "Leaving it Up to You," definitely the most deranged song on the mix. I of course had to represent the hockey mask wearing, chainsaw yielding, dead chicken decapitating side of Cale somewhere.

The Essential John Cale

1. Hello, There
2. Gideon's Bible
3. Big White Cloud
4. Amsterdam
5. Child's Christmas in Wales
6. Hanky Panky Nohow
7. Andalucia
8. Paris 191
9. Half Past France
10. Antarctica Starts Here
11. Fear is a Man's Best Friend
12. Ship of Fools
13. Gun
14. You Know Me More Than I Know
15. Darling I Need You
16. Guts
17. Helen of Troy
18. Cable Hogue
19. (I Keep A) Close Watch
20. Leaving it Up to You

John Cale Albums @Amazon.com

Mix CD: The Essential Lou Reed

2008-07-31T16:53:00.004-05:00

Lou Reed is kind of a douche in real life. In this picture Lou Reed has some of the worst hair ever. However he still is Lou Reed. He still fronted a band that one could argue as the most influential band in Rock & Roll over the last half century. Still the guy has released a good share of crap. Apart from Transformer it's hard to pinpoint his essential albums, as people tend to be really polarized in opinion about his many other records. Still it's pretty safe to say that Berlin, Coney Island Baby, and New York are his other biggies.

Though with many artists if you neglect an album of theirs that is not particularly good overall, you may be neglecting a song or two that you'll be missing out on. See "Sally Can't Dance" for an example. Well what I'm getting to here is that I've created an essential Lou Reed mix. Now I'm not a huge Lou fan or anything, and to be perfectly honest I'm only especially familiar with Transformer and Berlin. So when I went out on this project I had to do a little research, both looking at previous Best of Lou mixes and last.fm charts to see what songs are the most beloved. Out of all the commercial compilations I found Wild Child to be the best, though it was a bit too heavy on Berlin. Not a bad thing in spirit, but when you're trying to give a career overview and include more than half of the songs on a single album you're not looking wide enough. Plus it's Berlin- putting most of the album's songs out of context and out of order is a bit ridiclous. On my mix I cut it down to 4- a lot but I couldn't bear to lose any of them. Also in terms of the Wild Child mix I got a kick out of how they included a minute and a half excerpt of Metal Machine Music. I had to go along with including that.

Here's the tracklist and link:

The Essential Lou Reed

1. Vicious
2. Satellite of Love
3. Walk on the Wild Side
4. Perfect Day
5. White Light-White Heat
6. How Do You Think It Feels
7. Carolina Says II
8. Berlin
9. Lady Day
10. Sad Song
11. Sally Can't Dance
12. Metal Machine Music (excerpt)
13. Coney Island Baby
14. Street Hassle
15. The Blue Mask
16. Legendary Hearts
17. I Love You Suzanne
18. Dirty Blvd.

I wish I could have included more from New York, but ran out of room. Street Hassle takes up a lot of space, but man on man is that a good one. I went along with the original compilation's inclusion of White Light/White Heat to represent Rock 'N Roll Animal due to space restrictions. I'm a bigger fan of the alternate arrangements of Sweet Jane and Herion, but unfortunately those were too long. The White Light arrangement though is pretty cool for taking it in a way different direction than the original. And though a lititle on the lame side, I had to include I Love You Suzanne.

The Essential John Cale is coming soon....

Lou Reed albums @ Amazon.com

Belle & Sebastion - Freak Scene, Dinosaur Jr. - Freak Scene (solo version)

2008-07-14T16:18:00.004-05:00

Now this is odd. Belle & Sebastian, a gentle indie-pop band, covering Dinosaur Jr. one of the loudest most blistering bands of the 80's. However the cover works and works well. It goes to show you that despite being best known for their quiet-loud dynamic and use of feedback (which preceded the Pixies and of course Nirvana by several years), and uses of riffs and solos,
techniques the indie scene barely ventured before them, they had deeply rooted pop sensibilities. On the other hand it shows you that Belle & Sebastian has more balls than they are often given credit for.

This version of Freak Scene is a bit hard to come by. It's from a Peel Session in the early 2000's, when Dinosaur Jr. was still the J. Mascis project it had been since 1988. Of course, the full band reunited in 2005, and along with Mission of Burma are one of the few reunion acts who are not only as tight as they were in their heyday, but have recorded new material that holds up with their previous work.

Anyways, this version of the song is noteworthy as it is just J. with his acoustic guitar. However he still whips out the distortion at times, particularly during the solo.

Dinosaur Jr. - Freak Scene (Peel Session)
backup link

Belle & Sebastian - Fr eak S cene (Live)
backup link

Freak Scene music video

Freak Scene solo performance

Galaxie 500 - Fourth of July

2008-07-04T13:07:00.007-05:00

One of my all-time favorites....

Galaxie 500 - Fourth of July
backup link

Galaxie 500 - Fourth of July (live)
backup link

I wrote a poem on a dog biscuit
And your dog refused to look at it
So I got drunk and looked at the Empire State Building
It was no bigger than a nickel

And if it don't improve
Then I have to move
I never thought that I would end up here
Maybe I should just change my style
But I feel alright when you smile

I stayed at home on the Fourth of July
And I pulled the shades so I didn't have to see the sky
And I decided to have a Bed In
But I forgot to invite anybody

And when I fell asleep
The neighbors had a peep
I never thought that I would end up here
Maybe I should just change my style
But I feel alright when you smile

Galaxie 500 - This is Our Music @amazon
Galaxie 500 - Copenhagen @amazon

Karen Dalton - Green Rocky Road

2008-06-27T14:07:00.010-05:00

There's something absolutely fascinating about obscure folk artists who during their time never made much of an impact, but years later their music is somehow re-discovered and they finally come closer to receiving the respect they deserve. Now this isn't the case for all 60's and 70's folk artists who don't hit it big of course. Many are forgotten because frankly their music was forgettable. However Karen Dalton sure is not forgettable. During her lifetime she only released two albums, It's So Hard to Tell Who's Going to Love in 1969 and In My Own Time in 1971. None of the songs on either of those albums were written by her, most being traditional songs, though there's the occasional popular cover. However she's one of the few artists who truly makes a cover their own, allowing listeners to get gloriously lost in her music and never even question who originally wrote the music. Bob Dylan, Nick Cave and Devendra Banhart all consider her their favorite female singer, and Joanna Newsom, Fred Neil, Lucinda Williams, the band Fleet Foxes among numerous others are big fans. Hey, "Katie’s Been Gone" from the Basement Tapes is apparently about her.

Recently she's been shaping up to what could be seen as a female Nick Drake, another artist who struggled to get their music heard during their live time, yet wasn't fully embraced until long after his death. Last year a song of her's was featured on the soundtrack for Margot at the Wedding, and earlier this month a new collection of hers was released, Green Rocky Road, containing recently unearthed two-track recordings from 1963.

This is the title track from the album-

Karen Dalton - Green Rocky Road

alternate link

Now a performance video from 1969 of the song "It Hurts Me Too"


Karen Dalton @ amazon

Don Lennon - John Cale

2008-06-15T20:14:00.003-05:00

This is a song about John Cale.

Don Lennon - John Cale

backup link

Hey let me tell you about my dream
There isn't really much to tell
At first I'm playing in the Velvet Underground
Then I'm speaking Welsh and then I can do the...

Then I'm on the West Coast
All fucked up on heroin and speed
And then I'm riding in the back of someone's car
And I'm saying all these nasty things about Lou Reed

Nobody can take my dream away

And then it's night time in New York
It's cold and I can see my breath
It's cold I think I'll maybe stop in for a drink
At the White Horse tavern where I drink myself to death

Don Lennon - Downtown @amazon

The Raincoats - Lola

2008-05-27T18:23:00.002-05:00

How's this for a Kinks cover? Personally this is one of my favorite cover versions of all-time. It comes from the Raincoats s/t 1978 debut album, which has been sadly out of print for over a decade.
Fantastic stuff.

The Raincoats - Lola

backup link

I met her in a club down in old soho
Where you drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry-cola
C-o-l-a cola
She walked up to me and she asked me to dance
I asked her her name and in a dark brown voice she said lola
L-o-l-a lola lo-lo-lo-lo lola

Well I’m not the world’s most physical guy
But when she squeezed me tight she nearly broke my spine
Oh my lola lo-lo-lo-lo lola
Well I’m not dumb but I can’t understand
Why she walked like a woman and talked like a man
Oh my lola lo-lo-lo-lo lola lo-lo-lo-lo lola

Well we drank champagne and danced all night
Under electric candlelight
She picked me up and sat me on her knee
And said dear boy won’t you come home with me
Well I’m not the world’s most passionate guy
But when I looked in her eyes well I almost fell for my lola
Lo-lo-lo-lo lola lo-lo-lo-lo lola
Lola lo-lo-lo-lo lola lo-lo-lo-lo lola

I pushed her away
I walked to the door
I fell to the floor
I got down on my knees
Then I looked at her and she at me

Well that’s the way that I want it to stay
And I always want it to be that way for my lola
Lo-lo-lo-lo lola
Girls will be boys and boys will be girls
It’s a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for lola
Lo-lo-lo-lo lola

Well I left home just a week before
And I’d never ever kissed a woman before
But lola smiled and took me by the hand
And said dear boy I’m gonna make you a man

Well I’m not the world’s most masculine man
But I know what I am and I’m glad I’m a man
And so is lola
Lo-lo-lo-lo lola lo-lo-lo-lo lola
Lola lo-lo-lo-lo lola lo-lo-lo-lo lola

Radio Show Podcast

2008-04-30T16:21:00.005-05:00

RFull-fledged ISYES revival soon! But now as it's exam period here's a quickie-

As I mentioned before I do a radio show at my college. We just aired the finale last week and it was my favorite episode of the semester. Here's a podcast for anyone who is interested. The concept is just general favorite songs of mine. I also have a few friends who stop by and play a pick or two of theirs. It's a great time!

Part 1-http://sharebee.com/a87ab912
Part 2-http://sharebee.com/88a502e8

Both parts together in one long mp3:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=45VI1JVV

Playlist:

Daniel Johnston – Casper The Friendly Ghost
Mission of Burma – Academy Fight Song (Dave's Pick)
Guided by Voices – Game of Pricks
Hum – Stars (Adam's Pick)
Modest Mouse – Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset
Built to Spill – The Weather
Ride – Vapour Trail
Wilco – I'm Always in Love (Dave's Pick)
The Velvet Underground – After Hours
Joanna Newsom – Sawdust & Diamonds
The Beach Boys – God Only Knows (Katie's Pick)
The Beatles – For No One
Vashti Bunyan – Diamond Day
The Vaselines – Son of a Gun
Wire – Outdoor Miner
The Magnetic Fields – Yeah! Oh, Yeah!
Neutral Milk Hotel – The King of Carrot Flowers Pts. 2 & 3 (Katie's Pick)
Galaxie 500 – Tugboat
Weezer – Tired of Sex
The Microphones – I Felt Your Shape

4/21 Mix

2008-04-21T15:41:00.003-05:00

Hey! This blog is not dead! I apologize however for the time since my last post...things have been busy busy lately and will remain so until the afternoon of May 7th. Then my Summer vacation begins and I should be able to get this thing going regulatory again. Perhaps I'll even go back to individual songs again.

Anyways, yesterday I saw Lou Reed live. Good show...even got a few VU songs: Sweet Jane, I'm Set Free, I'm Sticking With You, and Pale Blue Eyes. For the car ride I made this mix. As a whole it's much more recent than my previous few mixes. There's only a handful of tracks from the 90's and the rest are from this decade. Even four are from this year!

Now here's the link and the tracklist:

4/21 Mix

1. Luna - Moon Palade
2. Grizzly Bear - On a Neck, On a Spit
3. Destroyer - Your Blood
4. Mirah - Cold Cold water
5. Broken Social Scene - 7-4 (Shoreline)
6. Yo La Tengo - Our Way to Fall
7. Built to Spill - The Weather
8. Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
9. Sebadoh - The Freed Pig
10. Guided by Voices - The Official Ironmen Rally Song
11. Beat Happening - Cry for a Shadow
12. She & Him - Why Do You Let Me Stay Here
13. Andrew Bird - Fake Palindromes
14. Islands - The Arm
15. Adam Green - Tropical Island
16. Animal Collective - Fireworks
17. Grizzly Bear - He Hit Me
18. Antony & the Johnsons (feat. Lou Reed) - Fistful of Love
19. Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space (Elvis Mix)

Enjoy!

3/18 Mix

2008-03-18T12:25:00.001-05:00

So there's a good change this is my favorite mix out of all the ones I've done. It's just so much fun, goes so many places and takes you on a journey.

3/18 Mix

1. Akitaka Tohyama - Stardust Fanfare
2. Weezer - Blast Off!
3. The Unicorns - Jellybones
4. Apples in Stereo - Tidal Wave
5. The Vaselines - Son of a Gun
6. The Olivia Tremor Control - Hideaway
7. Guided by Voices - Echos Myron
8. of Montreal - Tim, I Wish You Were Born a Girl
9. Magnetic Fields - Strange Powers
10. The Moldy Peaches - Who's Got the Crack
11. Architecture in Helsinki - Frenchy, I'm Faking
12. Deerhoof - Holy Night Fever
13. Jonathan Richman - Ice Cream Man
14. Beat Happening - You Turn Me On
15. The Microphones - I Felt Your Shape
16. The Kinks - The Village Green Preservation Society
17. John Cale - Paris 1919
18. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Taste of Cindy
19. The Pixies - Down the Well
20. Pavement - Date with Ikea
21. The Feelies - The Boy with the Perpetual Nervousness
22. Wire - Outdoor Miner
23. Galaxie 500 - Fourth of July
24. The Velvet Underground - After Hours
25. The Zombies - Care of Cell 44
26. The Beach Boys - Heroes and Villians (unreleased SMiLE version)
27. Daniel Johnston - True Love Will Find You in the End

The Adventures of Pete & Pete Mix Part 2

2008-03-03T23:19:00.007-05:00

Here's the leftovers that wouldn't fit onto last week's mix:

The Adventures of Pete & Pete Mix #2

1. Polaris - Coronado II
2. Drop Nineteens - Delaware
3. Luscious Jackson - Angel
4. Nice - Theme from Nice
5. Polaris - Ivy Boy
6. Luscious Jackson - Satellite
7. Polaris - As Usual
8. Luscious Jackson - Here
9. Polaris - The Monsters Loose
10. Luscious Jackson - Pele Merengue
11. Polaris - Recently
12. Poi Dog Pondering - Living with the Dreaming Body

The Adventures of Pete & Pete Mix

2008-02-25T11:28:00.005-05:00

In tribute to the greatest television series of all-time:

The Adventures of Pete & Pete Mix #1

1. Polaris - Hey Sandy
2. The 6ths - Falling Out of Love (With You)
3. Chug - Flowers
4. Polaris - She is Staggering
5. Magnetic Fields - The Flowers She Sent and the Flowers She Said She Sent
6. Apples in Stereo - Tidal Wave
7. Semi-Gloss - The Sunburn Song
8. Polaris - Waiting for October
9. Racecar - Wonderment
10. Fat Tulips - So Unvelievable
11. Polaris - Everywhere
12. Magnetic Fields - Lovers from the Moon
13. Polaris - Saturnine
14. Gothic Archies - Your Long White Fingers
15. Nice - Circuit Diagram
16. Polaris - Summerbaby
17. Tara Key - Long Trail
18. Polaris - Ashamed of the Story I Told
19. Magnetic Fields - Why I Cry

Mix of the Week

2008-02-18T15:35:00.002-05:00

Today's mix doesn't really have a central theme, however there are reoccurring ones. There's more than a few female sung songs about relationships here. Most of those are near the beginning, as well as upbeat, pleasant pop songs. However song 13 marks a transition. Things slow down a bit, getting a bit more intense thematically and musically. It also gets a bit more psychedelic and reverb-filled, with the disc ending with a few fantastic songs from the shoegaze era. As I always do with mixes I worked to make the songs flow from one to the next. It was especially emphasized with this mix as there's a good variety of styles on here and I didn't want it to jump all over the place.

2-18 Mix

1. Beat Happening - Foggy Eyes (Crashing Through version)
2. The Buzzcocks - Everybody's Happy Nowadays
3. The Velvet Underground - Andy's Chest
4. Devo - Mongoloid
5. The Blow - True Affection
6. All Girl Summer Fun Band - Later Operator
7. Lush - Hypocrite
8. The Fiery Furnaces - Single Again
9. of Montreal - Don't Ask Me to Explain
10. Islands - Don't Call Me Whitney Bobby
11. Heavenly - C is the Heavenly Option
12. Weezer - I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams
13. Final Fantasy - This Lamb Sells Condos
14. Gentle Waves - Falling from Grace
15. Nico - Chelsea Girls
16. Mirah - Cold Cold Water
17. Mojave 3 - Love Songs on the Radio
18. Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
19. Ride - Vapour Trail
20. Galaxie 500 - Listen the Snow is Falling

Punk/Post-Punk/Indie Valentine's Day Mix

2008-02-12T09:57:00.001-05:00









Valentine's Day Mix
alternative link

Songs of Undying Love, Unrequited Love,
Potential Love, Crushes, Sad Love, Questioning Love,
and just Romance in general

1. Beat Happening - Let's Kiss
2. Husker Du - Love is All Around
3. The Clash - 1-2 Crush on You
4. Ramones - I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
5. Wire - Feeling Called Love
6. Buzzcocks - Love You More
7. The Soft Boys - Kingdom of Love
8. The Slits - Love and Romance
9. The Raincoats - In Love
10. Talking Heads - I'm Not in Love
11. Violent Femmes - Prove My Love
12. Orange Juice - L.O.V.E. Love
13. The Cure - Love Song
14. Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart (7" version)
15. Young Marble Giants - Searching for Mr. Right
16. The Field Mice - If You Need Someone
17. The Smiths - There is a Light that Never Goes Out
18. Echo & the Bunnymen - The Back of Love
19. The Replacements - Kiss Me on the Bus
20. Dinosaur Jr. - Just Like Heaven
21. The Pixies - La La Love You
22. Tiger Trap - Supercrush
23. The Vaselines - Molly's Lips
24. The Pastels - I'm Alright With You
25. The Modern Lovers - Girl Friend
26. New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle

I'll be playing selections from this mix
on my radio show this Thursday. It airs from 6-7 pm on
http://www.clarku.edu/students/rocu/

2008-02-04T16:14:00.000-05:00

Here's a continuation of last week's mix. I made these for promotion of my new radio show "Post-Punk Radio". It streams online every week from 6-7 on Thursday nights on https://www.clarku.edu/students/rocu/index.cfm.

This second mix covers the origins of Alternative Rock, continuing up until the onset of Grunge.

Post-Punk Mix Vol. 2

1. Talking Heads - Don’t Worry About the Government
2. R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe
3. Violent Femmes - Kiss Off
4. The Smiths - This Charming Man
5. The Replacements - Bastards of Young
6. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Never Understand
7. Black Flag - Rise Above
8. The Minutemen - Viet Nam
9. Meat Puppets - Plateau
10. Hüsker Dü - Pink Turns to Blue
11. Sonic Youth - Schizophrenia
12. Dinosaur Jr. - Little Fury Things
13. Fugazi - Waiting Room
14. Galaxie 500 - Tugboat
15. My Bloody Valentine - Lose My Breath
16. Beat Happening - Indian Summer
17. The Vaselines - Son of a Gun
18. The Pixies - Debaser
19. The Stone Roses - She Bangs the Drums
20. Ride - Vapour Trail
21. Yo La Tengo - The Summer
22. Pavement - Summer Babe
23. Sebadoh - The Freed Pig
24. Guided by Voices - Over the Neptune Mesh Gear Fox

Post-Punk Mix

2008-01-28T20:24:00.000-05:00

Post-Punk Mix

1. Wire - 12 X U
2. The Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love
3. Televison - See No Evil
4. The Clash - Clampdown
5. The Fall - Totally Wired
6. Joy Division - Transmission
7. The Cure - Jumping Someone Else’s Train
8. Richard Hell and the Voidoids - Love Comes in Spurts
9. The Slits - Shoplifting
10. Pere Ubu - The Modern Dance
11. Devo - Jocko Homo
12. The Pop Group - Thief of Fire
13. Suicide - Ghost Rider
14. Young Marble Giants - Include Me Out
15. Mission of Burma - That’s When I Reach for My Revolver
16. Gang of Four - Ether
17. The Feelies - Fa Ce-La
18. The Raincoats - Fairytale in the Supermarket
19. This Heat - Paper Hats
20. Public Image Ltd. - Careering
21. Bauhaus - In the Flat Field
22. New Order - Ceremony
23. Echo and the Bunnymen - Rescue

Short Songs Vol. 2

2008-01-21T17:26:00.000-05:00

Now for another installment....

Short Songs Vol. 2

1. The Jam - Start (2:17)
2. The Buzzcocks - Love You More (1:51)
3. The Fall - Rollin’ Dany (2:23)
4. Captain Beefheart - Steal Softly Thru Snow (2:18)
5. David Bowie - Breaking Glass (1:52)
6. Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues (2:19)
7. The Byrds - Mr. Spaceman (2:10)
8. The Beatles - I Will (1:46)
9. Big Star - I’m in Love with a Girl (1:48)
10. The Feelies - Fa Ce-La (2:04)
11. The Clash - London’s Burning (2:10
12. Suicide - Johnny (2:10)
13. Devo - Too Much Paranoias (1:57)
14. Beat Happening - The Fall (1:46)
15. Johnny Cash - I Still Miss Someone (1:37)
16. All Girl Summer Fun Band - Theme Song (1:08)
17. Deerhoof - Flower (1:47)
18. Beirut - Scenic World (2:08)
19. Animal Collective - Sweet Road (1:15)
20. Architecture in Helsinki - Kindling (Winter Version) (1:46)
21. The Boy Least Likely To - Warm Panda Cola (0:49)
22. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands! (1:48)
23. Bright Eyes - The City has Sex (2:11)
24. Sonic Youth - Mildred Pierce (2:13)
25. Pavement - Zürich is Stained (1:41)
26. Echo & the Bunnymen - Crystal Days (2:24)
27. Beach Boys - In My Room (2:14)
28. Death Cab for Cutie - In My Room (2:14)
29. Beulah - Hello Resolven (1:49)
30. The Decemberists - As I Rise (2:14)
31. Alexander ‘Skip’ Spence - Lawrence of Euphoria (1:31)
32. Guided by Voices - Gold Star For Robot Boy (1:39)
33. Joanna Newsom - Yarn and Glue (1:55)
34. Kimya Dawson - I Miss You (0:38)
35. Daniel Johnston - The Sun Shines Down on Me (2:00)
36. Devendra Banhart - A Sight to Behold (2:26)
37. Belle & Sebastian - Simple Things (1:46)
38. Elliott Smith - Say Yes (2:19)
39. Cat Power - I Found a Reason (2:00)
40. The Zombies - A Rose for Emily (2:17)
41. The Field Mice - An Earlier Autumn (2:01)
42. Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends Theme (1:21)

Mix CD: Short Songs Vol. 1

2008-01-14T14:32:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone- I'm beginning a new semester right now, so daily entries doesn't exactly seem like the best idea. Blogs can be such a distraction. So until further notice, I'll be posting mix cds instead! I think this is a better deal overall, all each one contains 80 minutes of music, arranged lovingly in an order that I feel works well as a whole. I hate mixes with jarring transitions and genre hopping from one song to the next. I try to make mine flow together as well as a commercial album would, plus stay interesting and not become too repetitive. A good mix cd is an art...seriously.

Here's the first of the series: Short Songs. The concept for this was exactly what it sounds like, however the exact maximum time the songs could be 2:30, though 2:23 is the longest on this volume. The shorter the better though (as long as it is a "song.")

Short Songs Vol. 1

1. Wire - Outdoor Miner (1:44)
2. The Clash - Brand New Cadillac (2:08)
3. The Cure - Killing an Arab (2:21)
4. Young Marble Giants - Include Me Out (2:01)
5. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Taste of Cindy (1:42)
6. Sebadoh - Sickles and Hammers (0:50)
7. Modest Mouse - Birds Vs. Worms (2:13)
8. Talking Heads - Thank You For Sending Me an Angel (2:11)
9. The Breeders - Flipside (1:59)
10. Beat Happening - Crashing Through (1:16)
11. Deerhoof - Holy Night Fever (1:18)
12. Violent Femmes - I Hear the Rain (1:31)
13. Devendra Banhart - At the Hop (2:14)
14. The White Stripes - Hotel Yorba (2:10)
15. Kimya Dawson - Loose Lips (2:23)
16. Architecture in Helsinki - It’s 5! (2:07)
17. The Vaselines - Molly’s Lips (1:44)
18. Of Montreal - Tim, I Wish You Were Born a Girl (1:46)
19. The Olivia Tremor Control - Jumping Fences (1:52)
20. Beulah - Comrade’s Twenty Sixth (1:53)
21. Beach Boys - Barbara Ann (2:13)
22. Buddy Holly - Everyday (2:09)
23. The Smiths - Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (1:52)
24. The Beatles - For No One (2:01)
25. The Velvet Underground - Here She Comes Now (2:04)
26. Vashti Bunyan - Hebridean Sun (1:13)
27. Moby Grape - Naked, If I Want To (0:56)
28. George Harrison - It’s Johnny’s Birthday (0:49)
29. Weezer - Blast Off! (1:57)
30. The Ramones - Do You Wanna Dance (1:55)
31. The Fall - Industrial Estate (1:41)
32. The Jam - All Mod Cons (1:20)
33. Mission of Burma - This is Not a Photograph (1:57)
34. Minutemen - Viet Nam (1:29)
35. Meat Puppets - Magic Toy Missing (1:22)
36. The Modern Lovers - Government Center (2:03)
37. The Pixies - Broken Face (1:30)
38. Guided by Voices - Game of Pricks (1:33)
39. The Magnetic Fields - The Saddest Story Ever Told (2:12)
40. Built to Spill - Twin Falls (1:49)
41. Nick Drake - Pink Moon (2:05)
42. Charles Manson - Home is Where You’re Happy (1:29)
43. Neutral Milk Hotel - A Baby for Pree (1:21)
44. Daniel Johnston - True Love Will Find You in the End (1:51)
45. The Zombies - The Way I Feel Inside (1:33)

Favorite Songs & Albums of 2007

2008-01-02T20:42:00.000-05:00

I just re-read my blog for 2006 music and surpringly I found myself disappointed with that year. A lot of records from then I still have in my rotation. Plus any year with Ys is automatically a great year. I remember being really excited for 2007 as the line-up seemed incredibly promising. Tons of great bands would have new albums coming out... it would be a blast. Too bad most of those releases were mediocore or just outright bad.
The new Bjork, Interpol, Wilco, Rilo Kiley, and Explosions in the Sky albums were huge disappointments. Sophmore albums by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Go! Team and Sunset Rubdown (though technically their third) didn't even come close to their previous albums. Modest Mouse, Bright Eyes, and the Arcade Fire were hyped more than ever this year, and while all the albums are solid, they are far from the spectucular work they are all capable of and have previously achieved. Oh and of course that "Smashing Pumpkins" atrocity also came out this year.

However, the good albums were really really good. This year the year of the Panda for sure, with Animal Collective putting out a fantastic album, as well as Panda Bear. Of Montreal recorded their best album in years, arguably since The Gay Parade. My favorite record though is Deerhoof's "Friend Opportunity" as it marks a different approach for the band, yet at the same time has some of the best songs the band has ever recorded.

I struggled a bit to make my list, as compared to previous years I listened to far less new music. There's a lot on my plate from this year that I intent to check out, or give a more thorough listen to, with LCD Soundsystem, Low, Blonde Redhead, The Fiery Furnaces, Dirty Projectors, and the National high on that list. On the other hand, I listened to more older music than ever this year, building a pretty solid post-punk collection and discovering some amazing overlooked bands. I just like older music better. That's not what this entry is about though...here's the mix, with the songs in no order, through I tried to place them in a order where there would be no jarring transitions.

Favorite Songs of 2007 Mix

1. Panda Bear - Bros
2. Of Montreal - Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse
3. Deerhoof - The Perfect Me
4. Dinosaur Jr. - Almost Ready
5. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Satan Said Dance
6. Arcade Fire - Intervention
7. Feist - 1234
8. M.I.A. - Paper Planes
9. Architecture in Helsinki - Heart it Races
10. Bright Eyes - Four Winds
11. Beirut - Elephant Gun
12. Grizzly Bear - He Hit Me
13. Radiohead - Nude
14. Dean and Britta - The Sun is Still Sunny
15. Joanna Newsom - Colleen
16. Devendra Banhart - Seahorse
17. Animal Collective - For Reverend Green

Download Link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GW208WZL

Favorite Albums:

10. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond

9. Radiohead - In Rainbows

8. Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Mountain

7. Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings

6. Panda Bear - Person Pitch

5. M.I.A. - Kala

4. Feist - The Reminder

3. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam

2. of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

1. Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity

Hooray 2008!

Belle & Sebastian - O Little Town of Bethlehem, Low - Blue Christmas

2007-12-21T23:03:00.000-05:00

Belle & Sebastian - O Little Town of Bethlehem

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Low - Blue Christmas (such a gorgeous rendition!!)

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The Long Winters - Christmas With You is the Best. The Long Blondes - Christmas is Canceled

2007-12-19T23:48:00.000-05:00

The Long Winters - Christmas With You is the Best

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"We both hate the holidays
Our parents act crazy
And the mall is insane
Let's skip it all
And have a non-traditional non-denominational celebration

Christmas with you is the best
We'll have no turkey or guest
Sleeping late but before we get dressed
I want to give you a present

It was fun when I was a kid
And then it started getting strange
I got too old for toys and games
And now i have you
And I think we should choose
A non-traditional non-denominational celebration

Christmas with you is the best
We'll have no turkey or guest
Sleeping late but before we get dressed
I want to give you a present

We both hate the holidays
Our parents act crazy
Let's have non-traditional non-denominational celebration

Christmas with you is the best
We'll have no turkey or guest
Sleeping late but before we get dressed
I want to give you a present
I want to give you a present
I want to give you a present
I want to give you a present"

The Long Blondes - Christmas is Canceled

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"Came back from late night shopping
Saw your shadow on the curtain
I presumed you let your self in
with the key you'd yet to return
You asked me how I'd been
And if I'd seen much snow
Skilfully avoiding things that happened here a year ago

So she's turned you out has she
well I cant say I'm surprised
After last years festive past
I find it hard to sing goodbyes

I slipped through slush on Boxing Day
the shops were shut no films were on
You swanned around to hers and left a note to say you'd gone

Stood by the fire place
You look ridiculous
You cant just come and stay here
like you did last Christmas
You know what you did wrong
and Christmas well Christmas is canceled this year

The last thing I expected
was to come and find you knocking
at my door waiting for a treat in Christmas stockings ( how shocking)
Don't take you jacket off this is not you home
Just raise you glass to two more people spending Christmas day alone

Stood by the fire place
You look ridiculous
You cant just come and stay here like you did last Christmas
You know what you did wrong
and Christmas and Christmas well Christmas is canceled this year

No mum don't worry about me il just have fish and chips for tea
I'll watch the queen and go to sleep
I'll watch the queen and go to sleep

Stood by the fire place
You look ridiculous
You can't just come and stay here like you did last Christmas
You know what you did wrong
and Christmas and Christmas well Christmas is canceled this year
You know what you did wrong
and Christmas and Christmas well Christmas is canceled this year

No mum, don't worry about me, just have a happy Christmas x 2
Christmas is cancelled this year"

Low - Just Like Christmas, Daniel Johnston - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

2007-12-13T14:16:00.000-05:00

Low - Just Like Christmas
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"On our way from Stockholm
Started to snow
And you said it was like Christmas
But you were wrong
It wasn't like Christmas at all

By the time we got to Oslo
Snow was gone
And we got lost
The beds were small
But we felt so young
It was just like Christmas"

Daniel Johnston - Rock Around the Christmas Tree
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"Rock n' Roll 'round the Christmas tree
Everything is you and me
Rockin' the night away
Rockin' the night away

Gonna rock the Christmas tree
Everything is you and me
Rockin' the night away
Rockin' the night away

da da da da da da da da da daaaaah

Rock n' Roll 'round the Christmas tree
Everything is you and me
Rockin' the night away
Rockin' the night away

Gonna rock the Christmas tree
Everything is you and me
Rockin' the night away
Rockin' the night away

da da da da da da da da da daaaaah"

Flaming Lips - Christmas at the Zoo, A Change at Christmas (Say it Isn't So)

2007-12-10T09:52:00.000-05:00

I love the Lips so much. I've already covered their (unfortunately rather lackluster) version of "White Christmas," but today here's two originals that fare off much better. "Christmas at the Zoo" is one of the highlights of off their underrated 1996 record Clouds Taste Metallic. It's about going to the zoo and freeing the animals on Christmas eve, but the animals don't wish to leave, yet are flattered that you thought about them enough to do so. Very nice.

The second song, "A Change at Christmas," comes from 2003's Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell EP and comments on how everyone is so much nicer to each other during the Holiday season and how much better the world would be if this period never ended. Very true. However, what would become of Christmas season then? Would we have to be even more pleasant?

The Flaming Lips - Christmas at the Zoo
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"There wasn't any snow on Christmas Eve
And I knew what I should do
I thought I'd free the animals
All locked up at the zoo

I opened up the fence where the peacocks were
The lamas were unleashed
The snakes and seals could all get out
But they refused to leave

All of the animals agreed
They're not happy at the zoos
But they preferred to save themselves
They seemed to think they could

The elephants, orangutans
All the birds and kangaroos all said
"Thanks but no thanks, man
But to be concerned is good"

It started to snow on Christmas Eve
In the middle of the night
Walking through the state park zoo
And everything is white"

Promo-video

The Flaming Lips - A Change at Christmas (Say it Isn't So)
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"I know everything changes
Yeah, it's strange how time marches on
Maybe there'll be some time in the future
Oh, tell me I'm not wrong

Oh, if I could stop time
It would be a frozen moment just around Christmas
When all of mankind reveals its truest potential
And there is sympathy for the suffering
Yes, there is sympathy for those who are suffering

And the world embraces peace and love and mercy
Instead of power and fear
And as sure as I'm standing here
I swear it really does appear that a change comes over us
Yes, some kind of change comes over us

And it's glimpsed for one shining moment
And this change feels like a change that's real
But then it passes along with the season
And then we just go back to the way we were
Yes, we just go back to the way we were

Say it isn't so
Tell me I'm not just a dreamer
I'm talking with a friend and he knows how it ends
He says it's easier, that's just the way we are
That's human nature and that's just the way we are
Oh, say it isn't so!"

The Flaming Lips official website

The Sugarcubes feat. the Jesus and Mary Chain - Christmas Eve

2007-12-07T14:16:00.000-05:00

The Sugarcubes feat. the Jesus and Mary Chain - Christmas Eve
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Yo La Tengo - It's Christmas Time, Luna - Egg Nog

2007-12-06T15:56:00.000-05:00

Yo La Tengo -It's Christmas Time
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Luna - Egg Nog
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The YLT track comes from their 2002 Merry Christmas from Yo La Tengo EP, and the Luna one is from a 1992 special promo 7" on green and red colored vinyl.

Yo La Tengo online
Luna online

Ladybug Transistor - Christmas Extravaganza, of Montreal - My Favorite Christmas (In a Hundred Words or Less)

2007-12-05T15:53:00.000-05:00

An Elephant Sixmas! Wow. First there's Ladybug Transistor's "Christmas Extravaganza," which sounds like listening to an amazing holiday party. I picture a group of good friends who can't decide what carol to sing, so instead they sing a handful of them, meshing them together to form a single song. It really is a Christmas extravaganza. The song originally comes from the long out of print Kindercore records compilation Christmas Two.

Ladybug Transistor - Christmas Extravaganza
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The next song is also from an out of print Kindercore compilation, Christmas in Stereo. The album has in interesting concept: gathering bands from the label together and giving each of them 2 weeks to write and record a Christmas song. Here's of Montreal's offering, a memoir of the perfect Christmas.

of Montreal - My Favorite Christmas (In a Hundred Words or Less)
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"Do you remember that one Christmas
When we didn't think we'd be together?
We were almost separated by the weather
But I ran through the snow
Right up to your window and smiled
Because I was so absolutely happy to be with you

All our relatives were too afraid
To drive through the snow
We got to spend the day alone
I swear it was the most beautiful day I know

We sat by the fire and opened the presents
That we'd gotten for each other
Then after you telephoned your mother
We cuddled on the couch
Drank cocoa by the tree
And you smiled
Because you were so absolutely happy to be with me

The day went by so fast
And as night approached we laughed at our luck
The snow had let up
After the roads were cleared
All our relatives suddenly appeared
So we blew out the candles and replaced
Frank Sinatra with Phil Spector's Christmas record
Our grandparents filed in all plaid and checkered
With their arms filled with gifts
And delicious desserts and we smiled
Because we were so absolutely happy
So very, very happy to be together"

The Ladybug Transistor official website
of Montreal official website

Beat Happening - Christmas, Cap'n Jazz- Winter Wonderland

2007-12-04T15:13:00.000-05:00

Lo-fi, lo-musicianship, lo-suckage. Hi-awesome.

Beat Happening - Christmas
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"I had sex on Chrismas
I had sex three times today
Three different women taught be how to be bored in their own separate, sweet, little ways

I feel like hell on Christmas
And I feel like hell today
I feel like Hell
When I wake-up, I can tell that I'm never gonna make you stay

Okay, here it goes

I didn't get no presents on Christmas
And I sure didn't get none today
Learned my lesson
Life is one long session of disappointment, heartache, pain

Disappointment
Heartache
Pain

...and despair"

Cap'n Jazz - Winter Wonderland
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(lyrics just because I don't have a long write-up today and otherwise this picture fits funny)

"sleigh bells ring, are you listening? in the lane, snow is glistening.
a beautiful sight, we're happy tonight. walking in a winter wonderland.
gone away is the bluebird. here to stay is a new bird. he sings a love song
as we go along, walking in a winter wonderland
in the meadow we can build a snowman. then pretend that he is parson brown
he'll say: are you married? we'll say: no man, but you can do the job when you're in town.
later on we'll conspire, as we dream by the fire.
to face unafraid the plans that we've made walking in a winter wonderland
in the meadow we can build a snowman, and pretend that he's a circus clown
we'll have lots of fun with mister snowman. until the alligators knock him down
when it snows ain't it thrilling? though your nose gets a chilling.
we'll frolic and play, the eskimo way. walking in a winter wonderland"

Beat Happening - Beat Happening @Amazon.com

Cap'n Jazz- Analphabetapolothology @Amazon.com

Feist - Lo, How a Rose E're Blooming, The Dismemberment Plan - This Christmas

2007-12-03T14:34:00.001-05:00

Today's entry is going to be a brilliant one. First we have Feist's rendition of the 16th century traditional piece "Lo, How a Rose E're Blooming." The song is from German origin, its original title being "Est ist en Ros entsprungen." No one knows who the original author of the lyrics was, but German composer Michael Praetorius is responsible for the tune as we know it today. It's incredibly beautiful. This is along the lines of the the type of Christmas songs I like best- the classy, traditional ones... those associated with Christmas rather than penned for the occasion.

Feist - Lo, How a Rose E're Blooming
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"This Christmas" could not be anymore opposite than "Lo, How a Rose E're Blooming." It was written in 1970 by Donny Hathaway and today is frequently performed by a multitude of lame artists such as the Cheetah Girls, Ruben Studdard, Chris Brown, Elliott Yamin and Dru Hill to name a few. Frankly, it's crap. So the Dismemberment Plan doing a cover of this...how could they transform this sentimental fluffball of a song into something completely awesome? I don't know, but you will be rocking out hard to "This Christmas." You'll then realize what you're rocking out to, stop for a second, shrug, and then rock even harder. Now this is a cover!

The Dismemberment Plan - This Christmas
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Feist - Let it Die @Amazon.com
The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I @Amazon.com

Tom Waits, Neko Case - Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis

2007-11-30T12:21:00.000-05:00

I don't think Tom Waits should be covered...ever. It's just always a bad idea. Don't tell that to Rod Stewart. While it's interesting to hear this song song sung by a female, without the gravel it's just too clean, you know? This is one where you take out your flask and sigh...

Tom Waits - Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis
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Neko Case - Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis
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"Hey Charlie, I'm pregnant
And living on the 9th Street
Right above a dirty bookstore
Off Euclid Avenue
And I stopped takin dope
And I quit drinkin whiskey
And my old man plays the trombone
And works out at the track

And he says that he loves me
Even though its not his baby
And he says that he'll raise him up
Like he would his own son
And he gave me a ring
That was worn by his mother
And he takes me out dancin
Every saturday night.

And hey Charlie I think about you
Every time I pass a fillin station
On account of all the grease
You used to wear in your hair
And I still have that record
Of Little Anthony & the Imperials
But someone stole my record player
Now how do you like that?

Hey Charlie I almost went crazy
After Mario got busted
So I went back to Omaha to
Live with my folks
But everyone I used to know
Was either dead or in prison
So I came back to Minneapolis
This time I think I'm gonna stay.

Hey Charlie I think I'm happy
For the first time since my accident
And I wish I had all the money
That we used to spend on dope
I'd buy me a used car lot
And I wouldn't sell any of em
I'd just drive a different car
Every day, dependin on how
I feel

Hey Charlie for chrissakes
Do you want to know the
Truth of it?
I don't have a husband
He don't play the trombone
And I need to borrow money
To pay this lawyer
And Charlie, hey
I'll be eligible for parole
Come valentines day"

Tom Waits - Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis

Maria Taylor, Aimee Mann - White Christmas

2007-11-29T13:42:00.001-05:00

Ah, "White Christmas." Such a nice song. We heard versions by the Pipettes and the Flaming Lips yesterday... why not two more today!? The first comes from the Bright Eyes' 2002 release, A Christmas Album, but rather than Conor Oberst singing, Maria Taylor (of Azure Ray performs the song.) The second comes from Aimee Mann's Christmas album One More Drifter in the Snow, released last year. Both are similar in execution, stripping the song down to its core, with only sparse acoustic guitar accompanying the vocals. However, each has a different feel, the Aimee Mann version more plaintive and longing, while the the Maria Taylor version sounds more innocent and wishful. She is 16 years younger than Aimee, so its not surprising that these two versions sound like they're coming from different places in life. Yet both are undoubtedly beautiful.

Maria Taylor - White Christmas
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Aimee Mann - White Christmas
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Bright Eyes - A Christmas Album @ Saddle Creek

Aimee Mann - Another Drifter in the Snow @Amazon.com

P.S. Does anyone know any good free mp3 hosting sites? The 500 meg bandwidth limit at filefreak just isn't cutting it...

The Pipettes, The Flaming Lips - White Christmas

2007-11-28T13:10:00.000-05:00

Today I bring two different versions of "White Christmas," one by the Pipettes and the Flaming Lips. The Pipettes version is fantastic, emphasized with gorgeous vocal harmonies and a wonderful upbeat arrangement. It's short and sweet. The Flaming Lips version on the other hand, while interesting and untraditional, it sounds like its being sung by a bad Kermit imitator. I love Wayne, I really do, but this just isn't his finest hour. I've found a video of the song being performed live during 1999, and it sounds a little better there, performed on an actual megaphone. Maybe if you can shake the Kermit thing...but I just can't. Maybe I'll think of it as a forgotten song from the Muppet Christmas Carol. It's been far too long since I've seen that.

The Pipettes - White Christmas
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The Flaming Lips - White Christmas
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The Flaming Lips - White Christmas (Live)

The Pipettes official website
The Flaming Lips official website

of Montreal - Christmas Isn't Safe for Animals

2007-11-27T12:08:00.000-05:00

Here's the first Christmas original that I've posted so far. "Chirstmas Isn't Safe for Animals" is one of the highlights from of Montreal's 2003 tour only EP If He Is Protecting Our Nation, Then Who Will Protect Big Oil, Our Children? They actually reissued the album last month, so it's widely available for the first time. Sadly, it's one of their weakest releases. This song is really cute though and closes that said EP, so at least it ends on an up note.

of Montreal - Christmas Isn't Safe for Animals
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"Is Christmas safe?
Is Christmas safe?
Is Christmas safe for animals?
Soft and squishy animated mammals
Tapping so lightly on their teeth with a gun
My god, are they cold?

Is Christmas safe?
Is Christmas safe?
Is Christmas safe for animals?
Crippled with fear of the sparking wires
On an electrical beach
Plagued by the thought
That a bird cannot smile

Why rent when you can own your own washer and dryer for $225 each? Put it on your Sears card!
Why rent when you can own your own washer and dryer for $225 each? Put it on your Sears card!
Put it on your Sears card!
Why rent when you can own your own washer and dryer for just $250 a month? Put it on your Sears card!
Why rent when you can own your own washer and dryer for $225 each? Put it on your Sears card!
Why rent?
Put it on your Sears card!

Christmas isn't safe
Christmas isn't safe
Christmas isn't safe for animals"

of Montreal @ Polyvinyl Records

Belle & Sebastian - The Twelve Days of Christmas, O Come All Ye Faithful

2007-11-26T13:34:00.000-05:00

These come from a 2002 Christmas Party Peel session. The band sounds like they're having a lot of fun while playing, especially on "The Twelve Days of X-Mas" which in turn is fun for us listeners. "I was very taken with the turtle dove..." As these are only a few of the Christmas songs Belle & Sebastian covered during that session, I'm sure that I'll cover some of the others later on.

Belle & Sebastian - The Twelve Days of Christmas
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Belle & Sebastian - O Come All Ye Faithful
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Belle & Sebastian @ Matador Records

Cocteau Twins - Frosty the Snowman

2007-11-23T16:30:00.000-05:00

Cocteau Twins - Frosty the Snowman

Here's a little history on this unexpected proto-shoegaze cover by the Cocteau Twins:

"The only sounds heard from them between Heaven or Las Vegas and Four-Calendar Café were "Frosty the Snowman," which was originally recorded for the Volume CD Magazine Issue 5 in 1992, and the Guthrie/Fraser version of "Be Still"—a song on the Peace Together compilation, which was a benefit album for Northern Ireland.

Simon explained "Frosty...": "There's a Christmas record that comes out on Capitol Records (the Cocteaus' US label) every few years. And they were trying to get all their bands to do a cover version of a Christmas song. I didn't think that's what it was at the time. I thought it would be like sitting next to Frank Sinatra. But in fact it would've been, y'know, Skinny Puppy, doing 'Merry Xmas Everybody.' Anyway they'd said, Would you do one? And Liz suggested—it must have been for a joke—'Frosty The Snowman.' Then Robin went, Yeah, good title, people will think it's a normal Cocteau Twins song with a title like that."

"Once we'd got the music down, I wrote down the lyrics on a piece of paper and said to Liz, Hey, look at these, and we were laughing away. As we were going through it I was listening to Liz's reactions and thinking, this is never gonna get done. She was going, 'He's a very happy soul'—me sing that?! No way, I could not in a million years... 'with a broomstick in his '—you've gotta be fucking kidding!'"

"I just didn't think she'd do it." [Volume 5, 1992]

...But she did, and "Frosty the Snowman," which eventually appeared on the very-limited release, Snow, with "Winter Wonderland," was a "Holiday '92" favorite, and can still be heard at Gap stores around the world at Christmas time!"

Cocteau Twins Official Website

The Fall - Hark The Herald Angels Sing

2007-11-22T11:59:00.000-05:00

So I just finished watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Despite its cornball nature, I just feel incomplete without seeing at least some of it each year. Of course, I won't sit down and watch the entire thing- I'll wake up, put it on, and then drift in and out of consciousness with it on in the background. One thing it did do for me this year was cement how annoying I find most Christmas music, at least when it's at its most commercial and float-worthy. Now that's why I'm doing this blog!

Here's the Fall, certainly the longest existing post-punk band out there (existing from 1976 to the present and never breaking up) doing a version of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." It comes from their Peel session box set, compiling a total of 24 Peel sessions that the Fall recorded. They were John Peel's favorite band. This song comes from a session recorded on November 20th 1994 where "Jingle Bell Rock" was also performed.

The Fall - Hark the Herald Angels Sing
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The Fall - The Complete Peel Sessions 1978 - 2004 @Amazon.com

Deerhoof - Little Drummer Boy

2007-11-21T17:22:00.000-05:00

With yesterday's Daniel Johnston entry and today's on Deerhoof, this may be shaping up to be a very strange and twisted holiday season... exactly the way I like it. Not this twisted though- no thank you. Let this Christmas be quirky but not metal. No metal and Christmas, please.

Deerhoof's version of "The Little Drummer Boy" comes from their "The Perfect Me" 7" picture disc from earlier this year.

Deerhoof - The Little Drummer Boy
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Deerhoof @Kill Rock Stars