John87's Songs of the Year (In Playlist Form)

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Songs of the year....make it your next mixtape....

Ok so yeah I love the format of the album. One long group of songs with theme and common interests. But then there are some songs that just pop more then anything else.



10.Tv on the Radio- Lover's Day It's about sex. A whole day of sex. Get everyone in the world together and just get biblical with each other. What makes this song so great is that I know Tv hates the America we live in. They hat the way we treat our fellow man. They hate how dumb people don't care about how dumb they are. They hate that Britany Spears, Rhianna and Beyonce are making millions and they have day jobs. And what do they end their album with. A love son to the world about hope and glory and fucking so hard you break the bed and have the neighbors call the cops. Call it Lover's day.Yes of course there are miracles under our sighs and moans. I'm gonna take you home.....beautiful.



9. Q-tip -Life is Better Yeah Qtp put out a record this year. Your lame for not knowing that. And yeah I'm lame for liking the song with Nora Jones on it the best of the new q tip album. But really why fault norah. I actually really wanna meet that girl. She does good stuff, maybe a little to coffee house but she always puts harder in it. But q-tip just flows for like 2 minutes straight in this song and it's a reminder of how shitty mainstream hip hop is. It's turned into what pop country is...a mockery of what the art form used to be. Thanks Abstract, you brought the heart this year.



8. Erykah Badu- The Cell Ok so Q tip and Erykah revived smooth 90's hip hop this year and both put out their best albums. So yeah I know you didn't know that...it's cool i'm here to help.The cell is just a shake down. It's kind of like the song you throw on at a party while your looking for something better, but then realise how great a groove it's got. You look up and the entire party is just freaking on the carpet. It's that smooth.

7. Hercules and ove affair- Blind Antony's voice is so a world in it's own. The Antony and the Jonson records are so full of sorrow and ache.Who knew that he could turn it into such a sexy cross dressing diva howl. Blind makes 90 year old women break their hips. That beat is so solid and Antony just is magnificent. Yeah by the way that's a guy if you didn't know, he's like 6'11'' .I didn't go into many gay clubs this year....Shadows just had better tunes sorry Grid....but everytime I did Blind would play. Everyone would look conused and Erica always asked me what the hell this was. It's disco baby, leave your shame at the door.

6. The submarines- you me and the bourgeises. Yeah this song is in an Ipod commercial. Yeah I heard it and then went and imediately downloaded this album. Yeah I get it I'm a sell out. But I also get to stomp along to this corny little pop gem and you don't so really who is the loser here.

5. Lil Wayne- LA LA (carter 3 mixtape version aka the real one) It's a poppy beat, a high pitched chorus and lines about being a teenager and hoping that the crack your carrying in your mouth won't pop and ruin your day. This is a 3:30 of Weezy history. From birth to the present. He never faults here and really never stops accept to catch his breath. Weezy is the best rapper alive and god I hope he plays this song live.

4. The Decemberists- Valerie Plaime Colin Melory is a cheeky bastard. I hear he's a total self centered ass. But yeah he's smart so let him be. This is a love song about Valerie plaime the Bush administrations outed spy. It's fun and dissolves into a ...well ok it turns into a beatles song and its fucking hillarious. Hey we have the government of doom destroying our bravest men and womens lives....let's write a pop song about it.

3. Fucked Up- Son the Father Ok this is a song that starts out with about a minute and a half twirly little flute solo, turns to a heavy metal live show opening then evolves imediately to a post punk fist punching song. I like to listen to post harcore when I fall asleep, the total chaos and unfiltered emotional violence tends to put me to sleep.I don't know why. But anyway this song is a poerfect begining to a crazy mess of an album....mess is good

2. Portisehead- magic doors/threads These songs flow into each other. The last note of threads actually just reverberates in the backround through out all of threads. Great albums are made out of great songs. Duh. But these songs have to messh and carry the same themes and feelings. magic doors/threads is a great end to the best record of the year and the best comeback ever. Just god i get shivers, beth gibbons takes you so deep into her ether soaked brain and she just is so nonchalant about it. Like it's so effortless for her to pour that voice of hers out.She really is not human.And from the 4 minute mark of threads on you get the best music of the year.

1. M83 Kim+ Jessie Yeah this is soaked in cheesy 80's movie popcorn glitz. Yeah there are synths to the point of gaging. Yeah it's a corny love song. Yeah it's just the best thing this year. You have no heart and no appreciation for music if you can't just let yourself fall for this little tune. It's so sweet. like 4 year old kids calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend cute. This is the darling of the year for me and it should be yours to.

ok I ended on a low note. but i'm tired and being urged to go to bed. So yeah goodnight.

This is a long one...like a double album.

My brain works better when I'm tired. Well at least I tend to write better when I'm tired. Not that i can write good or anything.rofl. God I hate cell phones. Anyway. I'm tired, cranky, heartbroken and angry on this X mas eve. So let's discuss the best music of the year and see where we end up.

I realised today that I just don't give a shit about the top ten structure anymore. This was a growing up experience and a little after school special music chimed in behind me as I thought this.Now to any geek this is blasphemy. But I'm also the guy who things genres are ridiculous...I like Miranda Lambert and shes pop country that doesn't mean if you buy me a Toby Keith record i won't punch you in the face.

Ok back to the point. Why make lists at all. Do i really think The Walkmen put out an all around better record then Wolf Parade and so i should give them a number 5 spot instead of 6. Should I put Kathleen Edwards on as number one because i listened to that record every night this year i healed my heart with liquor and junk food, i listened to it a lot...oi my liver, or M83 because I had maybe the most intimate connection between music and myself I've ever had with my first listen to that record. Or do I act cool and pick cut copy,crystal castles, the doodos or something else with crazy indie cred...Vampire Weekend does not count kids, they were on the cover of Spin fuck them in their river cuomo cardigan sweater wearing faces... I like all that shit. And to be honest the record that got the most plays from me came out last year...Bishop Allen's The broken string.

So why make a top ten list. Why take the time and think this over. Ponder the depths of 1 year of music. I mean really it's just one revolution round the sun.Why can't we just continually discuss what we're listening to day by day month by month and not clog everything into one tiny time period. With that here's my top ten. Smiley Smile.

10. Okkervil river- The Stand Ins...never thought this band could continue to do anything intersting after black sheep boy. But the one two punch of stage names and stand ins is as consistant and meaningful as any other bands out put.

9. It's a tie between 2 EPs. The Decemberists first Bridesmaid issue and Metric's Mainstream Ep. I love the Ep format and once wrote a paper saying that the music industry would devolve back into releasing smaller single based releases with the popularity of Itunes and dumb teenage girl listening habits. Both these albums are great little reminders of talented bands and what they like to do when no one is really listening...i mean how many people reading this knew either these bands put new shit out this year.

8. Lil Wayne- Tha Carter 3. Sorry weezy my broken heart knocks you down. My former romantic interest is in love with Mr. Carter. As am I. We were born literally two hours apart and may meet for the first time on the fourth. Anyway Weezy has put out much better shit.But this is a joke album as funny as any Flight of the Concords shit. Look at the god damn cover. I think weezy decided to give a big fuck you to all the people who don't listen to his real shit, the mix tapes he spews effortlessly....he has put out 8 other albums this year alone. So weezy took the money and ran making a pop album for the ages and the biggest payoff in music history....i'll discuss wayne later.

7. The Walkmen- You and Me. This is a barrage of drunken dizzy just got off a 12 hour shift in the greasy restaurant kitchen where I make barely enough money to pay rent and by food I'm tired stoned and want to fuck but I'm to miserable to get of the couch. Maybe not. But that's how I felt the first time I heard this album. I pulled the car to the side of the road at midnight and just sat and listened. Loud, full bodied screaming howls of blue collar poetry. Beautiful collages of horns strings and echoing reverb drenched guitars. Yes Virginia The Walkmen are back in our lives and god bless for that.

6. Joan as Policewoman- To Survive Yeah this could fit into any 40 year old coffee shop dwelling hockey moms playlist. But this album is sad and sexy and full of this kinda cool 70's vibe. Like I can see that the people making this album had a lot of fun hanging out in the studio. It's not remarkable in any way. It's just good and made me feel good. and yeah it's not cool but i like i also like Rhianna so fuck you guys.

5. Wolf Parade- At Mount Zoomer. I love Spencer Krug and will continue to champion any piece of shit he throws at me...Beast moans...really some on that was baaaaaad. Thank god Wolf parade made crazy pop music listenable again. Kissinbg the beehive would hold the whole album up even if the rest was just static and coughing. A great follow up to a classic album.

4. Los Campensinos! Hold on now Youngster. I saw these guys in california right before i moved back last year. My metal loving roommate took me to the show with his metal loving friends and i was expecting ear drum killing violence. Instead I got unadulterated ear drum killing glee. I imagine that everyone in this band likes candy. They like getting notes from secret admirers and they like playing pick up games of soccer in the park in their pajamas. This album is crazy child minded twee glee. Nothing got me bouncing like a 3 year old more then this record.

3. Kathleen Edwards- Asking for flowers. I already talked about this album. But after a year of pouring over this amazing album I came to this conclusion: I am so very glad I am not a women. The depths of emotion that the sweeter gender must feel would be unbearable for my brain to handle. I can barley handle an average day of ups and downs in my dull male world. Edwards like all those country hard women before her lays out a plee to the male world. Stop fucking with us, you are making me angry drunk and sad and I hate fucking strangers out of spite. No album this year ever put me into anothers head so fully then this one did. I'm sorry Miss Edwards, the men of the world will try harder next year i promise.

2. M83 Saturdays = Youth. Kim and Jessie is the song of the year. I don't want any arguments because you are wrong. You just are. I put this album on for the first time about a month ago. Middle of the night and I was tired and just wanted to get some sleep. I did not sleep that night. I was changed. 6 times in a row i listened to this record. I don't know what it was about that night. It was sort of like having a crazy one night stand with someone who you meet again a week later and become friends. This is the Elaine from Seinfeld of records for me. But it's gorgeous and inspired by M83 lead man's love of 80's films. It's inspired. It's its own world and if you don't get it well go listen to coldplay.

1. Tv on the Radio- Dear Science God damnit I swore.....I swore on my life this would not be my favourit album of they year. I got it I listened to it. I was stunned. It wasn't at all what I thought. In fact let's say this about 2008...If you thought you knew what the album your favourite band put out this year would sound like your a liar. Everything changed. Everything got better. Our idols honed their craft and proved they were worthy of our ears. Tv on the radio did nothing more amazing then anyone else I just think that this album sums up 2008. We are all changed and or changing. The curtain around the world of ours is falling. Tv on the radio knows this. They're smart.There are so many records I didn't mention, this is a safe list really. But when I look back at 2008 I'm amazed. This has been the best year for music since I can not remember. Just under the surface of top 40 are jems in any variety. Every 'sigh' genre got more progressive or refined. Everything changed everything got better. We are lucky for our ears and our emotions. We are lucky we know what good music is.


Ok time to stop typing. Damn this is a long one. Have a good Christmas fuckers.

p.s. so I'm an Idiot. I'm tired that's the problem. I actually didn't put Portisehead on this list. God I am stupid. This was the best album of the year. So ha Tv on the radio. AnywayI'll write another post about this album and why it's a timeless masterpiece later. Sorry portisehead.

Mike's BDay

Just a quick shot from the hip-- tacking on to John's post. Went to my father-in-law's today, and he pulled out a couple records by Tom Paxton-- a guy I had never even heard of before, but evidently he's still making music. I was totally into the style-- kind of a John Prine thing, but a better voice, nice guitar work. I ran out of time, but next time I'm bringing my iPod and playing him some stuff that is obviously influenced by that time and genre. It's a cool way to connect, and a great way to learn about some new-to-you music. Two way street, ya know? So I am with you John-- discourse is the best way to find new music. That's the whole point of this blog, too, right? Alright, time to go celebrate my birthday and listen to some great music and eat great food and be with great people.

Year's Ends

So me and drew we're talking about how year after year me and him are becoming more and more removed from that little thing called the music scene. In fact this is a common discussion I have with most of my fellow music assholes of the past. Are we getting old and more involved in actual life? Is music just not as interesting as it was five years ago? Or is it something else?

Well there is no excuse people. There was some amazing sounds made this year from some amazing artists. Now is the time to find out all about all the things you missed. First there's the abundant Internet and it's never ending cornucopia of music blogs and websites. There's also , I hear, free music to be had by something called downloading. So combine the two. Comb the Internet and your local bookstores music magazine rack for all sorts of top of the year lists. These people actually get paid to do what we do for free....listen and talk. What chumps we are.

Speaking of talking....tis the season. I encourage everyone to strike up a conversation with that relative or church going friend you only see during the holiday season. Maybe they have something new to turn you onto. Maybe cousin frank has the new M83 album and is just waiting for someones mind to be blown out all over the xmas ham. Or maybe not. But there's always the oldies but goodies. I find the more talk you have with this medium the more you get out of it. My god albums like Kid A and In the Aeroplane over the sea have to be discussed. Plus just talking about music draws you back into the fold. I just got done discussing a portisehead/radiohead collaboration with my friend Aaron an hour ago and now I have 12 albums downloading, legally of course. Tonight I will fall asleep debating Hot Chip and Bon Iver in my head as sugar plum fairies do whatever the hell they do to you with your eyes closed...fuckers.

Anyway take a bit of time this holiday season. Turn on your Ipods, cd players or Internet radio station and take a look what's out there. We are getting older, but that's no excuse to let that olde friend music, who has been there with you through every high and low of our lives, disappear. They deserve a little better then that. Happy xmas, merry new year.

Best of 2008

I hardly find it fair for me to make a list since I doubt I heard 10 whole albums from this year alone, but I know mike wants to know. I am more comfortable with my favorite songs of 2008. The basis for this list is simply what I listen to. In the end that is what it's all about. The list is alphabetical, but more so a coincidence since my number one song from 2008 was "Sometime Around Midnight" by the Airborne Toxic Event. Here are the rest:



There are some regulars here: Ben Folds, Mates of State, Tilly and the Wall, Coldplay. But there are two worth mentioning briefly: Kaki King is Katherine Elizabeth King from Atlanta, GA. You should be interested to know that she was the first woman ever listed as a "Guitar God" in Rolling Stone in 2006. But she's also "an out-loud and proud lesbian" seriously kicking ass in the music world. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbJnwk3GBiM She & Him is Zooey Deschanel and M Ward. We all knew she could sing and I'm happy to see Deschanel's debut was well received.

Dan

Mike's Top Ten Best Albums of 2008

EDIT: If you got here via Largehearted Boy welcome-- please look around the site and also check out our growing Best of 2008 lists:
Dan's Favorite Songs
John's Top Ten Albums (despite his rant)
Mike's Top Ten Songs of 2008

Alright, I was gonna wait til it was closer to the time I would be home, but Hypem forced my hand by doing their annual poll of top ten posts. So here is my list for this year's top ten albums (best songs of the year will follow soon). I hope to see everyone else's lists on here soon-- we can debate them at Xmas. Also, hope you like the color change-- I had to agree with Dan the black just didn't look right...

First the honorable mentions: there were a couple albums out there that won't make my list due to the fact that they aren't my style, but they were definitely interesting listens. Those would be the 8-bit sound (new to me) of Crystal Castles self-titled debut, and the spastic dance-a-thon of Girl Talks Feed the Animals. Great albums for the party inclined music seeker.

I also enjoyed Conor Oberst's first solo outing, and the new Death Cab album. The new Okkervil River album The Stand Ins wasn't bad, but not nearly as complete as last year's The Stage Names. The Streets put out a new one that had a few catchy songs, but he still didn't bring it like on his first two albums. These were all hanger's on, but didn't do quite enough for me.

Finally, honorable mentions purely because I didn't get to hear as much of them as I wanted to-- Seven Mary Three, Filter, Ryan Adams, Beck and The Presidents of the United States all had new albums this year, but I never really got to sit down and listen to them. Hopefully after Xmas I'll have a little extra spending cash to pick them up and give them a full listen.

And now my actual Top Ten Albums of 2008


10) Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
As much as I didn't want to bite off on this album, it's hard to deny it's likability. I've been a KOL fan since Aha Shake Heartbrake, and while this one doesn't have as much swamp rock to it, they've traded up for arena rock, and this is a nice introduction to the band if you hadn't heard of them before.


9) The Whigs - Mission Control
A spare garage rock, power chord banger of an album, this trio from Athens, GA bring back the 90's alt-rock feel and combine it with a little southern twang. Rockers "Like a Vibration" and "Right Hand on My Heart" are standouts, but dreamier songs like "Sleep Sunshine" balance the album nicely.



8) TV on the Radio - Dear Science,
TVOTR have moved a bit towards the mainstream from their former hazy trip-hop, but don't let that fool you. These guys still have a sound that is off the wall. This album has added more funk elements to their sound, and it's a catchy listen from start to finish.

7) Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creations Dark
Songs like "That Man I Shot," "Two Daughters and a Wife," and "The Righteous Path," show why Patterson Hood is one of the best songwriters in music today. The album is a bit long at 18 songs, and there are a few clunkers in there, but this album survives on the strength of some great songs throughout.

6) Counting Crows - Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings
Well, I wished this album would have been higher, but the Saturday/Sunday split of the songs really makes this album hard to sit through in one sitting. Definitely a strong outing from the Adam Duritz and the Crows though, with the strongest songs being, surprisingly, their rockers rather than their soft songs. The first half of the album is a winner for sure (songs like "Cowboys," and "1492.")

5) Mike Doughty - Golden Delicious
While M. Doughty from the Soul Coughing days may be gone, fans of that band can still hear bits and pieces of that great band in the newest solo effort from Mike Doughty. The album is still a bit overproduced and contemporary, but it's hard to deny that Doughty can turn a phrase and write a tune. Upon repeated listens this album's songs shine, especially "Fort Hood," and "I Got the Drop on You." If you loved Haughty Melodic you will love this, and if you liked Soul Coughing, you may need to give this one some time, but it will eventually win you over.

4) The Black Keys - Attack and Release
The Keys have moved out of the garage and into the basement as producer Danger Mouse takes the duo out of their blues rock comfort zone into a ghostly, psychodelic romp. Though not as successful at this than they are at straight rock, this album has a great flow start to finish and the song "I Got Mine" wins the Riff of the Year (try learning it yourself-- it's hard to stop playing it).

3) Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
These guys were blowing up on The Hype Machine when I first discovered it, and eventually I was curious. Glad I was, because they're debut is awesome. I love Paul Simon's Graceland, and this album owes its existance to that one. The Afro-pop beats and Ivy League lyrics make for a great repeated listen.

2) Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
This one has been on my short list since January when I was in Japan and had a CD alarm clock and put the Paste sampler in it. I woke up to the song "Skinny Love" every day for about 2 weeks before I realized how great a song it really is. The album has such a strange feeling of coldness (recorded in a cabin in Wisconsin in the middle of winter) and yet an amazing warmth (walls of vocals, steady rhythm guitars) that has made it my most played of the year... but that wasn't enough to make it my....



#1 Album of the Year!
Sun Kil Moon - April
Incredible. What else can I say about this one? Mark Kozelek has a way of writing songs that find a way to penetrate your soul. I'm serious. I love this album, and while it takes some time (74 minutes to be exact) I feel like I just watched an amazing movie when I'm done listening. If you don't own it, buy it. Your rainy days will never be the same.


Please feel free to add your list in the comments section below!

Mike made me do this.

So let's ramble about for awhile. I've been sitting in the dark void of my parents house for almost a week now on vacation. My brain is mush. There's a crazy lady installing cable here. She's been here for four hours, I know she has two kids named brandy and monica, she's gettng subway for dinner and she wears a red scarf.
Ok so Mike wanted to know why Deerhoof was a good band. I could go into how they are mainstreaming deconstructionist japanese metal into a popular "listanable" format. That's a long boring discussion and most of you have never heard of The boredoms...aside from their drummer Yoshmi who has a whole album about her killing pink robots. So let me just say thet Deerhoof are great because they are fucking hillarious. They have a song in which the chorus is Panda pan-pan-pan-da panda panda-pan-da-China- Night light. Come on. How is that not beautiful. They aren't all up on their high horse claiming to be beautiful experimentalists. They just like noise rock and twee music and mixing the two together.I listen to Deerhoof when I need to not think about the crazy shit in my life. Or really organised thought at all. Anyway the point is this. Music has lots of different sides to it. As does all art. Deerhoof is abstract joy. It's not for everyone. A lot of people would look at it and say my kid could do that... and a bunch of kids did. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9OXHToasy8 So I find Deerhoof to be this totally unrelentless machine of unfiltered joy. Like a bunch of kids running around at chucke cheese loaded up on red bull. They are so full of energy and anything and everything they do puts a smile on their face. And also there's a shitload of screaming. This of course is to be taken in moderation. Usually I listen to the new deerhoof when it comes out, put it on the shelf after a couple of weeks, then pull it out when i need like an hour of their specific medecine. Those times alone when we allow ourselves to be utterly unhinged. Yes I have jumped around my apartent in only my boxers screaming out every word of Apple'o. And then reality came back and I had to do something shitty like go to work. But for that glorious 31.2 minutes i was a careless child. And that's why they're an awsome band. They have the ability to move your brain into a whole different sphere of thinking if you let them. And no drugs are involved...well your brain is pumping all sorts of shit out on it's own. So there as incoherent as i can make it... Deerhoof is good because it makes me happy. Put that in your philosophical book of proofs and smoke it. And really in the end who cares...Totally not doing spell checker...or editting this...

EDIT: Mike's 104 Songs to Hear Before You Die: Song #1

So two things, both inspired by Dan. The first was a great couple of mix CDs he made me. Although it wasn't all my style, I liked listening to the things he thought were worthy of a mixtape, and almost every song was new to me. There were a few gems, and in fact the first 3 songs on the 2nd disc went great together, so I wanted to post them:
MP3: The Airborne Toxic Event - Sometime Around Midnight
MP3: Leona Naess - Unnamed (This Song Makes Me Happy)
MP3: Jens Lekman - Kanske Är Jag Kär I Dig

He also mentioned the free mp3 of the day at Spinner, and I was intrigued, because I'm always a fan of free music. So I headed over and checked it out. I was a little disappointed just because it's an AOL run site with not a lot going on, but they had a segment called I "F'in love that song," and it invited people to submit the song they freakin' love. So I couldn't help it, and I submitted the first great song that came to my head. Since they haven't posted a new one in over a month, I think it may have been a waste, which is too bad, because I love writing about why I love a song. So here is my first submission, and I plan to do some more (I think Sun Kil Moon "Glenn Tipton" will be next.)

"Muzzle," The Smashing Pumpkins
From 1995's Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

You know that friend you have who thinks they know good music because
they can sing all the words off whatever Top 40 radio song is playing
at the moment. Well that was me. I loved listening to music, but I
was misguided as to what made a song "good." Enter The Smashing
Pumpkins' "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness". I hadn't even
heard the soon to be ubiquitous "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" yet, and
knew the band in name alone when a friend bought me their double album
for my birthday. Although Siamese Dream is usually argued to be their
strongest effort, for a junior high kid with all the emotional drama
that goes along with it, the roller coaster ride of Mellon Collie
seared itself onto my soul as a personal soundtrack. The album lead
to the realization that there was music being made out there that
could really speak to me on a personal level, which, at the age of
fourteen, is an exciting thing to learn. No song wrapped me in its
own self-importance more so than Muzzle. From Billy Corgan's nasal
yelp of "I fear that I am ordinary just like everyone," to the
over-the-top, pounding drum roll in the second verse, the song thrust
me into true teenagerdom. I remember writing the lyrics out on
notebook paper, daily, during study hall, including the litany of
things Billy claims he "knows" at the end of the song. I think I, and
every teenager who has ever been oppressed by the emptiness of youth,
knew the silence of the world, too.

I fear that I am ordinary, just like everyone
To lie here and die among the sorrows
Adrift among the days
For everything I ever said
And everything Ive ever done is gone and dead

(chorus)
As all things must surely have to end
And great loves will one day have to part
I know that I am meant for this world

My life has been extraordinary
Blessed and cursed and won
Time heals but Im forever broken
By and by the way...
Have you ever heard the words
Im singing in these songs?
Its for the girl Ive loved all along
Can a taste of love be so wrong

(chorus)

And in my mind as I was floating
Far above the clouds
Some children laughed Id fall for certain
For thinking that Id last forever

But I knew exactly where I was
And I knew the meaning of it all
And I knew the distance to the sun
And I knew the echo that is love
And I knew the the secrets in your spires
And I knew the emptiness of youth
And I knew the solitude of heart
And I knew the murmurs of the soul
And the world is drawn into your hands
And the world is etched upon your heart
And the world so hard to understand
Is the world you cant live without
And I knew the silence of the world

What Is It Good For?

So when I was growing up my mom always used to give me a hard time that my generation stole everything from her generation (bell bottoms were back in style, movies and music covers were rampant, and she thought most of our music sounded like copycats of her music growing up) and we didn't have any original material. Good thing for her I wasn't into gangsta rap or goth music I guess. Anyways, there is a grain of truth to what she said, because most of the bands I like wear their influences on their respective sleeves, but she also mentioned that her generation's music had great protest songs that our generation could never duplicate. Well, I think I can make a strong argument against that, although I think much of my generation, and easily most everybody else, have no idea the great protest songs that have come into being in post-9/11 America. So on the eve of the most historic election in generations, here are some of my generation's memos to The Man.

(P.S. - I love doing playlists like this, but I always (a) forget something I meant to include (b) forget something that I should have thought of and (c) am introduced to something I had no idea about but would be a perfect match to the list. So, please, comments or posts with your own protest songs)

Protest Songs Playlist :
1) Wilco - War on War
2) Rilo Kiley - It's a Hit
3) The Decemberists - 16 Military Wives
4) The Thermals - Power Doesn't Run on Nothing
5) System of a Down - B.Y.O.B.
6) Nine Inch Nails - Capital G
7) Drive-By Truckers - That Man I Shot
8) Mike Doughty - Move On
9) Elliott Smith - A Distorted Reality Is Now A Necessity To Be Free
10) Bright Eyes - Land Locked Blues
11) Tom Waits - Day After Tomorrow
12) Outkast - Love in War
13) TV on the Radio - Red Dress
14) Bruce Springsteen - Last to Die
15) John Fogerty - I Can't Take It No More
16) Radiohead - 2+2=5 (The Lukewarm.)
17) The Smashing Pumpkins - United States
18) System of a Down - Boom!
19) Green Day - American Idiot
20) The Arcade Fire - Windowsill
21) Devendra Banhart - Heard Somebody Say
22) Drive-By Truckers - The Homefront
23) TV on the Radio - I Was A Lover
24) Mike Doughty - Fort Hood
25) Bright Eyes - Let's Not Shit Ourselves (To Love and Be Loved)
26) Pearl Jam - World Wide Suicide
27) System of a Down - F*** the System
28) Bloc Party - Helicopter
29) M.I.A. - Pull Up The People
30) Outkast - War
31) Blitzen Trapper - Furr

Expect an embedded playlist and some mp3s to follow, but I just want to get this up for now...

New (?) Music First ( ?)

Ok, so we have been hella busy up here in the Pacific Northwest, including heading back to the Midwest, so I have barely been able to take care of my life, let alone this blog (I think that may have happened to everyone, but you know, I don't think this blog is dead, just on vacation.)

So this is just a quick post to say what's I've been finding lately and hopefully prompt some others to post some new music as well. Hopefully our lives will slow down more and I can really get back to this, and maybe we'll get some momentum back before the end of the year lists.

So, items of note:

Went to Bumbershoot, which was incredible. The crowds were exhausting, I must admit, but we saw some GREAT shows, and a lot of partial shows as we walked around, too, including the Old 97's, Del the Funkee Homosapien, Battles, and Death Cab for Cutie, (and a pretty surprising performance from the Offspring). But the real show stealers for us were Vince Mira and Mike Doughty.

Vince Mira is a teenager from LA who was playing on the sidewalk near Pike's Place Market in Seattle when the local news evidently caught wind of his playing and gave him some PR. Even though he is under the voting age, his voice is a spot-on copy of Johnny Cash. Although this is somewhat gimmicky, there's no denying his skill, and he does a lot of great oldies, not just Cash. His EP was produced by John Carter Cash, Johnny Cash's son, which is interesting as well. When we saw him live we were totally impressed-- his voice was great, his guitar playing was good, and it was a very strange experience to hear Johnny Cash's voice singing in fluent Spanish (Mira used to sing classical Mexican music before his voice changed at the age of 13). Anyways, check him out, he'll be picking up more steam in the future I'm sure.



So my main goal was to go see Mike Doughty, formerly of the band Soul Coughing. Drew, John 87, and I saw him back in... hmmm, 2003 or so in Cleveland and were thoroughly impressed. His stage banter is hilarious and his "gangadank" guitar playing is pretty flippin' cool. He always gives the crowd a spiel about how he is about to lie to them and tell them the show is over, and then they are going to turn around momentarily, and then turn back around for the encore. Pretty funny. Anyways, he had a pretty big crowd considering Death Cab was playing at the same time, and he put on a great show with his new band (he has had a rotating group of touring members) and really had a few more jam sessions then he did last time, which was cool. Anyways, I'm biased because I love Doughty's work, but if he ever comes through town, I highly recommend checking him out, especially if you like any of his Soul Coughing stuff, because he does play a lot of older songs (Janine, Soft Serve, St. Louise is Listening). Even my wife was really impressed, and I had hyped it up majorly for her, so yeah, check him out. Oh, and stand by for a rant coming up about how Soul Coughing is one of the most underrated alt-rock band of the '90's.



Ok, that's more than I had time for today, but I have a few more posts I want to get out about some great new songs I've heard, so look for more later this week.

Concert Review - The Lonely Forest

So I went and saw The Lonely Forest at Washington Park in Anacortes on Wednesday, and I have mixed reviews. Don't be confused, though, because the band was AWESOME! The reason for my mixed review was because I found out about the concert on the bands myspace page, and all it said about it was time and place and a list of bands. Unfortunately when we got there we realized it was sponsored by a youth development center, and the average age was probably around 14. Soooooo, we kinda hung out around the outskirts and just enjoyed the park.

All of the bands we saw were good (The Globes and The Oregon Donor), but we got a little closer to watch The Lonely Forest perform. The musical ability of the band is definitely not in question, as both drummer Braydn Krueger and bassist Eric Sturgeon wailed on their instruments, and singer John Van Deusen's vocals ranged from a decent falsetto coo to a larynx ripping scream. The band opened with "We Sing in Time," which is the song that really hooked me on them, and it was almost a picture perfect copy of their studio version, which was all the more impressive when Van Deusen went to his loudest and raspiest. We were actually a little taken aback by the volume and emotion that blazed out of the speakers at first. They did a few other songs I really enjoyed, too, including "Tomato Soup"," Two Pink Pills," and a cover of XTC's "Statue of Liberty." I think they are much more impressive live than on record, which will hopefully help them generate some more press outside the local area.

The band's sound is a little hard to pin down, but I think they sound a bit like Dismemberment Plan in the way their melodies sound, and Van Deusen's voice is like a more rocking Colin Meloy of the Decemberists. But there are plenty of elements that remind me of Jimmy Eat World, Muse, or Weezer, and other bands as well. Anyways, I encourage you to check out their myspace page, see them live if you are in the Pacific Northwest, and look for their sophomore release when it comes out. I think this band has all of the tools it needs to make it big. If so, you heard it here first!

Bands to Hear - Local bands

Hey, so I almost went to a show last night in Seattle-- we realized by the time everything went down it might be a bad idea since there is a 15 page Neuroscience paper due on Tuesday, but I was really excited because all the bands are from our local area, so here are a few that I thought sounded really good and I hope to see playing closer to home in the future:

The Lonely Forest: Basically just down the block in Anacortes, WA, this trio is one of the best things I've heard lately and they are getting a lot of attention and working with producer Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden) on their new album. Great indie rock-- check out "We Sing in Time" on their myspace page.

The Mission Orange: From a little further down the road in Mount Vernon, WA, the Mission Orange is a two-piece band, but sound nothing like the duos I've been listening to lately. They are very Built to Spill in a garage-band kind of way.

The Nextdoor Neighbors: I can't say this band is from down the street, since they are from Olympia, which is on the other side of Seattle from me, but they are local and they are fresh. Not really my style, but I'm still impressed and I know Dan and John J will enjoy it. Sort of a mashup of Smoosh and the Fiery Furnaces, with a voice similar to Regina Spektor.

New Artist: Jens Lekman

I don't have much to say about one of my new favorite artists except if you're not instantly wooed give it a few tries. I'm posting a quick list of my favorite songs, but I suggest if you like these that you seek out more.

The Black Keys play "Secret" show in Cleveland!

Hey Cleveland denizens, local rockers the Black Keys are playing a mySpace secret show at Beachland Tavern on May 7th. Obviously not a secret, so you might want to get there EARLY since it is FREE and FIRST COME FIRST SERVE. Doors at 8pm. And in case you happen to be a Black Keys fan, you might be interested to know they have a song in Grand Theft Auto IV-- "Strange Times" from their newest album, Attack & Release. Good to see these guys getting the publicity they deserve! Also worth checking out is a live interview the keys did on public radio. Look for it under the Take 5 archive.



Black Keys Website
Black Keys MySpace

New Music Tuesday - Drive-By Truckers

Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creations Dark
4 out of 5
First things first: Rock Band. Is. The. Most. Fun. Video. Game. I. Have. Ever. Played. Ever. I need to play that game with the basement crew, because it is unbelievably fun. Played it first for free at a rec center with a guy and we played for like 4 hours straight. Then he ended up buying it and we put it on a projector on the side of a building and a huge group of us played. I almost lost my voice, and eventually had to be the goto guy on the drums because no one else could keep up on medium difficulty. Incredibly fun. Ok, on to the review.

Check out this video: A Ghost To Most



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The Drive-By Truckers lost one of their songwriters/vocalists with the departure of Jason Isbell to pursue a solo career. Original writers and singers Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley remain, however, and bassist Shonna Tucker has stepped up and penned a few songs and lent her amazing (and unreleased, until this album) vocals. At 19 songs, Brighter might seem like a hefty serving, but the tracks seem to roll into each other so continuously that the album doesn't drag, despite a huge variety of different styles thrown down on this record.

The album is a continuation of the DBT's investigation of "The Duality of the Southern Man," and the listener is once again thrust into the lives of the unlucky, the unhappy, and the unloved. Mike Cooley may have the better voice and a great writing style, but Patterson Hood steals the show on this one with some amazingly gripping songwriting. On opener "Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife," a man gets to heaven and doesn't understand where he is. And he left behind, you guessed it, two daughters and a wife. The song chugs along on rhythm guitar and banjo, but Hood's pleating voice combined with Tucker's complimenting backing vocals and the hollowness added by new guitarist John Neff's pedal steel (beautifully employed throughout the album) make it a haunting and lasting story.

Cooley has some fine songs as well, like "A Ghost to Most" and "Bob," the latter about a very simple southern man, who lives alone. In true to life fashion, the story of Bob is both humorous and sad, and DBT paint another story of someone you know or know of.

Shonna Tucker's voice is sultry and deep, similar to Neko Case. She only gets three songs this time out, but it's a nice break to hear her pretty and sad voice on tracks like "Purgatory Line," and her backing vocals balance Hood and Cooley's deep, rough voices nicely.

As I mentioned before, though, Hood steals the limelight with biographies like "The Righteous Path" ("Don't know God but I fear his wrath/ and I'm trying to stay focused on the righteous path"), "Daddy Needs a Drink" ("To calm down his badness/ to execute his gladness.../So Mama fix one quick/ pour it nice and strong"), and "The Homefront" ("And she paces 'cross the floor/ and she can't even get to sleep/ since Tony went to war"). The real winner on the album though is "That Man I Shot," a nightmarish and realistic portrayal of a soldier's troubles with his part in the war. All guitar feedback and frenetic pace, you can feel the man's inner struggle with the man he shot, as he "still can see him, when I should be sleeping, tossing and turning." Upon close listening you can even hear a woman's voice saying "Baby?" amidst the opening feedback, heightening the nightmare feeling. With haunting lyrics like "Sometimes I wonder if I should be there/ I hold my little ones until he disappears/ I hold my little ones until he disappears/ I hold my little ones until he disappears," it stands as one of the greatest songs written about our generation's war yet.

I highly recommend this album, and while I can't say there are no missteps across the 19 tracks, I can certainly forgive them because of the sheer amount of great music released on Brighter Than Creations Dark.

Drive-By Truckers Website
Drive-By Truckers MySpace

MP3: Drive-By Truckers - Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife
MP3: Drive-By Truckers - That Man I Shot

New Music Tuesday - The Whigs

The Whigs - Mission Control
3.5 out of 5

Ok, so I wanted to review the new Blood Red Shoes album this week, but unfortunately the U.S. iTunes doesn't carry it, so I'm gonna have to find another way to get my hands on it. In it's place I'm going to review a little bit of an older one: Mission Control by the Whigs came out in January of this year. Mission Control is a great sophomore effort, with a few standouts amidst a solid group of loosely country-based rock songs. The album opens with "Like a Vibration," which introduces us to Parker Gispert's slightly twangy, raspy holler and Julian Dorio's furious drumming. The drumming in particular is important to note, because when the songs start to feel a little stagnant and like your typical alt-rock, power chord ditties, the drums are what lift the Whigs above their peers by pushing the songs along. The Whigs take a few risks on this one that pay off as well, as on the pretty and lazy "Sleep Sunshine." Parker's drunken drawl, slide guitars, and a lilting drum and chord progression make for a slightly psychedelic, laying-in-bed-with-a-hangover song.

The gold star of the record, however, goes to the straight-forward rock anthem "Right Hand on My Heart." Opening with a great pounding drum beat, and closely followed by a continuously pounded distorted note, it's instantly grabbing. By the time Parker starts singing, "All the fallen leaves will find their branches again," there's no way out. One repeated verse, one note backing it, and a desperate chorus add up to one seriously catchy song. Add in a wild man yelp and a blistering guitar solo and you have my early leader for song of the year.

Although not terribly original (think of a more comprehensible Kings of Leon or a less countryish Son Volt), this is a solid rock album you can put on and listen to from start to finish, with other highlights like the horn-infused "I Got Ideas," and the two-chord stomp of "Hot Bed." If you use iTunes pick this up for only $6.99

The Whigs Homepage
The Whigs Myspace

MP3: The Whigs - Right Hand on My Heart
MP3: The Whigs - I Got Ideas

New Music Tuesday - The Black Keys

The Black Keys - Attack & Release
3.5 out of 5


I love supporting Ohio music/sports/agricultural superiority, so nothing gives me more pleasure than the way the Black Keys have exploded out of Akron, Ohio over the past few years. They were under the radar for a few years, but their latest album, Attack & Release, was produced by none other than Danger Mouse (of "the Grey Album" and Gnarls Barkley fame) and was actually written as an album for Ike Turner to sing. So I'm gonna go ahead and say that they are no longer under the radar.

So how did their collaboration with the Mouse go? I'm not going to lie to you: this is not the Black Keys as you know them. They have moved out of the garage, away from the one guitar/one drum set mindset, and away from straight blues+punk rock. But just because they have expanded their sound away from a formula that has worked outstandingly in the past, it doesn't mean they haven't made a great CD. It might take you a few listens to get used to the cleaned up sound, but there is a lot to love here.

The first single, "Strange Times," starts out as very straight-forward blues rock, standard Keys stuff here. But when Dan Auerbach starts to sing, you notice a lot more reverb and distance in his voice, rather than the right-next-to-you-rock sound. Once you get to the refrain, any Black Keys fan might be a little lost: is that a choir? As I said, different doesn't equal bad. This album the keys have added choirs, keys, banjo, and yes, even a flute. The next song, "Psychotic Girl," gets even more trippier than "Strange Times," with plenty of "spacey" sounding stuff going on, but the Black Keys wear all this new flash well.

The first few times I heard the CD, the more straightforward rockers ("I Got Mine," "Remember When (Side B)") were the songs I considered to be the best. After more listens, though, the trippy "Psychotic Girl," the nearly hip-hop drum and flute infused "Same Old Thing," and the sweet, bluegrass backing vocals and slow organ crawl of "Things Ain't Like They Used to Be," have turned out to be just as good, if not better, than the garage rock that got me into the Black Keys in the first place. Dan's guitar, despite being mixed much lower than usual, is still superb, but what really makes the new songs compelling are the beautiful bluesy lyrics crooned throughout, combined with great songcraft.

While there are some forgettable songs (generally the slower songs with less of a distinct melody) the Black Keys have proven they are no one-trick pony, with a little production help from Danger Mouse. While the album as a whole doesn't reach the near perfection of their album Rubber Factory, there are plenty of great songs to make this one worth your while. If the Black Keys can take some of these newer styled songs and put them on an album that leans a little more heavily on their traditional sound, their name might be more well known than the other little guitar/drum duo with a color in the name.

Black Keys Homepage
Black Keys Myspace

MP3: The Black Keys - I Got Mine
MP3: The Black Keys - Psychotic Girl

Bands to Hear

Blood Red Shoes: Stealing Dan's thunder, but hearing some of his new bands I was reminded of another boy/girl band I saw when I was in the desert and watching international MTV. I was blown away, and the second time their video came on I cranked it up... loud (in fact I've listened to it 3 times during the posting of this blog)! They were just mentioned in Spin Magazine, so I'm sort of disappointed I didn't mention them earlier. Pretty soon everyone will know them. This song is the one I saw, and they have a new album coming out in about a week. May see a review from me soon!



MP3: Blood Red Shoes - It's Getting Boring By The Sea

Bands to hear

hey guys, just wanted to share some bands I've been obsessively listening to. I don't know much about them, but search around their myspace and I think you'll be pleased. First up,

Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears
- They're a little all over the place, but the energy is intense - I bet their concerts are off the hook. Most songs start and end completely different so it take a few listens to get a good grasp.

Angus & Julia Stone
- This australian brother-sister pair has been gaining momentum the last few years, and when I heard Paper Aeroplane I was an immediate fan.

The Born Ruffians
- These guys were in Cleveland last week. I wish I had known I would have mentioned sooner. Start with Foxes Mate for Life, an all encompassing track.

My Music Doesn't Suck.... You Suck

I don't know if any of you have had this same problem: dude picks up my iPod and starts scrolling through it. After a few minutes, he says, "What is this? You have the worst music EVER!" I said, "What's on there that's bad?" His reply: "I have never heard of any of this."

Just because you haven't heard of something doesn't mean it sucks. Everyone has heard of Britney Spears and N*Sync. Does that mean they are good music? Ignorance pisses me off. Just because it's not on the radio doesn't mean it's not worth hearing, and just because it is doesn't make it good either. I have to say there is something to a song everyone knows-- "Hey Ya" comes on and the kids are dancing, the grandmas are dancing, you get the picture. But what about the songs that could be the "Hey Ya's" if only they were heard? So here is a quick 20ish songs that should be classics, but that most of the people in my world have never heard of. Self-imposed rules: gotta be a song most people I work with don't know from a band they've probably never heard of; not on my best of 2007 list; one song per artist.

In no particular order:
Sleater-Kinney- One Beat
Drive-By Truckers- Sink Hole
Ween - Voodoo Lady
Scissor Sisters - Take Your Mama Out
Mike Doughty - The Only Answer
Elliott Smith - Southern Belle
Iron & Wine - Lion's Mane
Sufjan Stevens - The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us!
Red House Painters - Make Like Paper
The Whigs - Right Hand on My Heart
The Thermals - Power Doesn't Run on Nothing
TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me
The Streets - Don't Mug Yourself
Dizzee Rascal - Stand Up Tall
Ryan Adams - Note to Self: Don't Die
Broken Social Scene - It's All Gonna Break
Rilo Kiley - A Better Son/Daughter
Tilly & the Wall - Reckless
Uncle Tupelo - No Depression
Regina Spektor - Us
Deltron 3030 - 3030
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Date with the Night
Vampire Weekend - One (Blake's Got a New Face)
Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Stairway to Heaven

Happy Happy and Broke

Ok so yesterday I finally broke down and bought Rock Band. 180 dollars gone. Let me tell you it was waaaaay worth it. Good lord this game is so much better than Guitar Hero. Gone is all the hair metal and heavy metal, in it's stay is all sorts of sweet indie and alternative rock. The fucking New Pornographers have a song on here. Did you hear me I was drumming to a New Pornographers song. It's soo cool. Anyway this is all loosely music related. If you have the cash i hghlly recommend it. Especially if you have friends. Next weekend I'm getting some friends over to my new apartment and it's gonna be band time. Ok well that's it on Rock Band.

Les - Best of 2007

First of all, I never announced my favorites from 2006 so heres a quick late nod to "Stairs and Elevators" - Heartless Bastards, "Robbers & Cowards" - Cold War Kids, "Night Ripper" - Girl Talk, & "Till the Sun Turns Black" - Ray LaMontagne

Okay, let's get down to brass tacks (don't sit on 'em). My top albums of 2007 is kind of a cheat because I didn't hear one of them until 2008. Rules don't apply today... this is my list.

HM. "Because of the times" - Kings of Leon

5. "Graduation" - Kanye West

4. "In Rainbows" - Radiohead

3. "All Hour Cymbals" - Yeasayer

2. "Armchair Apocrypha" - Andrew Bird

1. "Person Pitch" - Panda Bear

I hope I can edit this later, because at some point I would like to break down my favorite songs.

New Music Tuesday - Sun Kil Moon

Sun Kil Moon - April

4.5 out of 5



I'm glad I'm married to my first love, because Sun Kil Moon's new album is going to turn you into a giant, emotional, blubbering mess of a human being reminiscing about yours. If the album is titled "April" in order to appropriate an overall theme, it isn't the April of sunny days of backyard baseball or sundresses and Easter. This is the April of "showers" fame, of walking down a chilly, wind-blown street, of sitting inside on a gray day with nothing to do but think about lost loves and the past. In fact, I'm not sure if Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon is little more than a stage name for Mark's solo work) knows how to write a song that isn't in the past-tense. If you are a nostalgic person at all, this album is your holy grail. Mark conjures images of friends and lovers, and shrouds them in idealism and longing. He does this atop a backdrop of the most trance inducing fingerpicked and/or fuzzy guitar until you are a part of his inward and backward looking world. If anyone knows and embraces his obsessive ability to dig up the past, its Kozelek, with lines like:


I have all these memories, I don't know what for.
I have them and I can't help it.
Some overflow and spill out like waves,
Some I will harbor for all of my days


Some part of me is amazed that he harbors any of his memories because he seems to tell a whole life in each song.


The album starts with a couple of distorted Neil Youngian epics (much in the same vein as his first SKM release, "Ghosts of the Great Highway"), "Lost Verses" and "The Light." They clock in at 9:43 and 7:50, respectively, but Mark finds a way to keep his songs from becoming exhaustive. If it is possible to be intricate and simple at the same time, that would describe his style. His music has many layers, whether from his intricate fingerpicking, layered solos, or vocals, but his songs are never hard to follow, as they were in his days as the leader of The Red House Painters. Once he finds some intricate pretty little thing, he plays it again and again, until it sounds so simple and so light. This is what leads to the meditative and lulling aura of this album. And just before a song starts to get too repetitive, he mixes it up, as he does in both "Lost Verses" and "Tonight in Bilbao," where at the end of the song he introduces a completely new beat and invigorated melody. These little shifts always come at just the right time, and breathe new life into a song you think you have figured out.


If the first two songs recall "Ghosts of the Great Highway," the rest of the CD is an amazing expansion on his latest CD, "Tiny Cities," both physically ("Tiny Cities" was barely a half hour long, while "April" is more than double that), and musically. The fingerpicking is incredible and moving. Songs like "Unlit Hallway" (which sounds beautiful with some vocals from Bonnie "Prince" Billy), "Tonight in Bilbao," and "Blue Orchids" demonstrate that Mark is still one of the most impressive and underrated guitar players around. The arpeggios in both the bridge and end of "Tonight in Bilbao" are mind-blowing, and in "Tonight the Sky" his solo noodles into fuzzy oblivion.


Despite all of the wonderful guitar and catching melodies, what really makes the album work is the way Mark Kozelek can spin a yarn. In the gorgeous song "Moorestown" he sings, as on most of the tracks, of a lost love. Obviously, this has been done before, but he has the ability to put you there, in the shoes of the protagonist, by using the starkest details while at the same time singing about somewhere that could be "Anytown, USA." "Her walls are Mediterranean blue/ Her baby sister picked the hue," against "We'd spend our days just driving round/ Old parking lots and neighborhoods/ Our framed and charming Moorestown."


I think time will tell if "April" will be as good as "Ghosts of the Great Highway," which I still consider to be Mark's finest work, because his music is enticing at first, but the more it's heard, the more it's understood and the finer it becomes. This is easily the best, most complete album I've heard this year, and I demand you pick it up. 74 minutes will never go by so fast again.

Buy it straight from Kozelek's

Caldo Verde Records (7.99 download)


Sun Kil Moon - Moorestown

New Music Tuesday - Counting Crows

Counting Crows - Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings

4 out of 5 stars
Ok, so Tuesday is a little late this week, as Anne was out visiting. But I still managed to download and listen to this CD a few times since then. This is my most anticipated CD in years, and despite my obviously high expectations, it exceeded them! This is the first full length release from the Crows since Hard Candy back in 2002, so they've had more than enough time to work on this one.

The CD is a concept album of sorts, with the first half ("Saturday Nights") being hard rocking songs of partying, and the second half ("Sunday Nights") being the more somber, regretful day after. It's a great way to highlight the fact that the Crows even have hard-rockers, and of course the downtrodden songs are always lead singer Adam Duritz' forte.

The album starts with "1492," a song I'm pretty sure the Crows have been touring with for a few years, and I think they just finally found a home for it here. The guitars are wailing and the song is loud and immediate. It's definitely "Saturday Night," and it kicks the album into a stream of songs with loud, layered guitars, plenty of neat little licks, and wonderfully written songs. Adams voice sounds great on every song, and each song feels like the band is playing live-- they are filled with energy.

The last song of "Saturday Nights" is "Cowboys," the best song the Counting Crows have done since "Mr. Jones." The song is loud, immediate, filled with paranoia and despair, and catchy as hell. The "come on, come on" lyric from "Accidentally in Love," is back, but this time it is the flip side of love; it's the selfish need of love and attention. It's the song after one too many drinks, when you're starting let all your insecurities out and frankly, you're kind of scaring people. It's a great lead-in for Adam to start telling his Sunday morning stories.

The last half of the album has the Crows going very country, in the way they did on the album This Desert Life. More Americana or roots rock than Nashville, but the songs have plenty of slide guitar and banjo. The slow songs are more forgettable than the first half of the CD, but one of the highlights is "When I Dream of Michaelangelo." Adam steals a line from his "Angels of the Silences" from Recovering the Satellites to string a little song about faith and sex and God. Duritz evidently misinterpreted Michaelangelo's scene with God and Adam as not having just touched fingers, but as Adam not being able to actually touch God: "And he seems so close as he reaches out his hand/ But we are never quite as close as we are led to understand." If there is a better line about alienation from your creator, I haven't heard it. "On a Tuesday in Amsterdam Long Ago" Adam does his recquisite solo piano, horribly sad song ("Raining in Baltimore" on August and Everything After, "Colorblind" on This Desert Life). "Come back to me/come back to me" he croons, mournfully, over and over, and the song would be a little repetitive if it weren't for the emotional impact of Adam's voice. It's also got a great little line in there: "She is the film of a book of the story/ Of the smell of her hair." The album ends with a nice little song about getting dumped called "Come Around." It's sort of a happy song in disguise, as it's about a guy who is hard on his luck, but he is on his way back up.

Overall, the album does start to lag because of the slow/midtempo songs starting to back up, but this is a great CD for all Counting Crows fans and rock fans in general. It's not indie, but this isn't your standard pop either. The music is wonderfully made, lyrics full of emotion and story, and it sounds like a band having fun. Check it out.

Counting Crows Website


Counting Crows - Cowboys
Counting Crows - 1492

I guess the point is i really fucking love this album

Ok in the last blog i wrote i said i'd bought the new Kathleen Edwards album ' Asking for Flowers'. So i'll give a quick review for you all. The review is this BUY IT. Get over the fact that it's a girl singing. Get over the fact that she has a country twang to her and BUY this album.
I've been a fan of Kathleen Edwards since her first album 'Failer' came out in 2002. It was a great pissed of country album. She wrote great songs about drinking, bars, sex, drugs, loss. Now i know what your thinking. My baby took my dog i'm gonna drink and be a cowboy music is crap. It is. All of it. This is different. The reason is that Kathleen edwards is an incredible lyrisist. She tells these brief little stories and builds the songs around them. They're much more touching and emotionally powerful because of her abilities as a songwritter.
'Asking for Flowers' is a big shift from her first two albums. She's grown comfortable in her skin. While her second album 'Back to Me' was better then 'Failer' because it took the anger and sorrow up a notch, 'Flowers' is better then 'Back to Me' because it tones everything down and really looks inward. These songs are very personal. Specific moments in her life are laid out to pen a complete picture of Edwards' life.
Let's just take one line from the title song apart. This is a song about a woman in a long term relationship comming to terms with her lover not really loving her. Her life has been less then it could be because of this man. '' Asking for flowers, is like asking you to be nice. Don't tell me your to tired, ten years i've been working nights'' everything you need to know about that couple is right there in that line. Working class low income family. He's mean to her and doesn't buy her flowers, which is all she really wants from him. Yet she still wants to love him and again he pushes her away saying he's just to tired. All of this tied into a single line of her song.
The singer songwriter is the most self centered type of music. No matter what you do your paining a self portrait. People assume they know you by the way you come across in your songs. Nina Nastasia is a dark eyed lady of the night, Kristen Hersh is pretty fucking crazy, Joni Mitchell is much smarter and much sadder then anyone else on the planet. These are all stereotypes i get from listening to my favorite female singer songwritters. Kathleen Edwards is a girl who can drink you under the table, fuck your brains out, come home covered in dirt after being away for 4 days and who beats the shit and trashes the car of someone who does her wrong.
Ok this is getting all disjointed in long because i didn't prewrite and i'm at the library and can't listen to the person i'm talking baout. So i'll wrap it up.
This is a great album. Start to finish every song is solid and i haven't skipped a song. I've bought about 20 albums in the last month and this one is getting pretty much all of my time. Buy it, listen to it and love it.

Ok let's start

Ok not much time. I'm on my way home from work, but i did want to make a post to say that I am going to post.

So I've been buying a lot of music. Even for me. Yes, I did say buying. I'm rebuilding my CD collection from scratch. I've been getting 3 cds every 2 weeks, maybe more if I'm not spending my money on anything else. Today I bought Against Me- New wave The Headlights- Some Racing, Some Stopping and Kathleen Edwards - ( I forget the name but it has something to do with flowers). I love Kathleen Edwards and she's one of the few people I will buy a cd of the day it comes out without hearing anything about it. Her first 2 are grea Alt country and her writting gets better every album. Against me is an interesting pun-rock group who suddenlly got political. I didn't give it much of a listen, but i will tonight. The headlights are a lot like Saturday Looks Good to Me.....the cricket noise means nobody knows who that is. There Indie pop along the lines of belle and sebastian and architecture in helsinki.... more b & s though. Anyway I'll drop some reviews after i give them a few listens.

Anyway I have a lot I want to write about. I'm going to spend some time to night puting together a post and put it up tomorrow. Have fun everyone.

P.S. Yeah I can't wait for the new Sun Kill Moon....and who got you into them mike?

An iPod Diary

I recently connected my iPod to my computer for the first time in what has no doubt been nearly year. As such, the track count recorded by my mini is a close approximation of my most played tracks of 2007. The list is organized as the most played starting with Jack Johnson, which I wouldn't have expected but now I realize I do listen to that song kind of a lot. I was also amused by the clear distinction in tempo between the first 10 and the other 10. I underestimated the psychoanalytical potential of this post.

There were two songs I couldn't find on imeem so they got the boot: "Maybe you can owe me" by Architecture in Helsinki and "The Calendar Girl" by Stars. One album that didn't crack the top 20 but dominated the next group was Yann Tiersen's soundtrack to "Amelie."



John will post eventually, right?

New Sun Kil Moon Album Streaming on MySpace

My friend Nick just told me about this one. From Sun Kil Moon's Website:

April, the new album by Sun Kil Moon, is being streamed March 18th through March 20th at www.myspace.com/sunkilmoon. The album will be in stores April 1st and is available to order now at http://www.caldoverderecords.com/

Since I've been counting down the days til this release, it's pretty exciting news. He is touring as well (2 dates in Japan, what do you think the odds are I could make it there?) and as Nick and I can tell you, his show is amazing and definitely not ordinary. "No pictures, no recording, no talking." Yes, no talking. Anyways, my review of this will be up on April 1st, but check out this preview first.

We're from Barcelona

It shouldn't be any surprise that I'm a sucker for the band genre of bordeline-cult-ensembles. We're from Barcelona fits neatly on my imaginary shelf where I would hypothetically keep tiny versions of the Polyphonic Spree and Architecture in Helsinki to play me happy songs on a rainy day. Their album debuted in 2006, but it's clearly still making an impression. Their debut US performance also just happened to be at Lollapalooza last August. I'm not convinced they'll have as lasting of an impression on me as Architecture has, but wanted to share with you anyway. I don't have quite the enthusiasm to write as thoroughly as Mike, so here is what some satisfied pitchfork writers had to say:

Pitchfork song review: “We're From Barcelona” *****
Pitchfork Album review: Let me Introduce All of My Friends [8.4]

I'm From Barcelona Myspace

New Music Tuesday - Mike Doughty

Mike Doughty - Golden Delicious

Mike Doughty is one of my favorite wordsmiths of all time. How can you beat a refrain of "is Chicago/ is not Chicago?" Or how about "the best I ever did with my love/ said just three honest words to you/ three droplets in a pail of lies/ three gems among the alibis." The guy can make things sound right that just shouldn't sound right. When he was the frontman for Soul Coughing his lyrics hardly mattered because of the craziness going on around them, but when he went solo his lyrics were right there front and center. And luckily so was the guitar- his "gangadank" guitar style is buried in those old SC songs, but in his solo stuff you really start to hear the personality and skill involved with his guitar playing. That's why this CD is so hard to swallow. On his first major label solo album, Haughty Melodic, he sounded a lot more adult contemporary than most Doughty fans were expecting. If you didn't like that direction, this album is not gonna help. Not that Golden Delicious isn't a good album, it's just not as good an album as Mike could make.

The album starts off with two songs very much in the style of the single from his last album, "Looking at the World From the Bottom of a Well." Plenty of layers and keyboards and guitars and pianos, that really hide the essence of his music in Q104 goodness. "Fort Hood" and "I Just Want the Girl in the Blue Dress to Keep on Dancing" are catchy and all, but the third track, "Put It Down," starts to appeal a little more to the old school fans. Still plenty of production, but the word playing in the refrain and the "na na na's" done in a way you haven't heard before spice it up. This is followed by the biggest misstep in M. Doughty's backlog; "More Bacon Than the Pan Can Handle," a song that attempts to recall the Soul Coughing days and fails painfully. He follows this up with "27 Jennifers," which is another catchy song, but was better when he did a simpler version with a guitar and a drum machine on his Rockity Roll EP.

The first of a string of great songs hits after that. "I Wrote a Song About Your Car" works because the simplicity of the production allows the songwriting to shine through. Then the truly stripped down song, "I Got the Drop on You," grabs you. Dark and heavy, just Mike, a guitar, and a little piano trickling in. The emotion bleeds from this song that seems to be about Doughty's drug addiction days (many of his songs in the past can be read in the same way, including "Looking at the World"). Another beautiful song follows, the partially bi-lingual "Wednesday (Contra la Puerta)," and Doughty paints a somber, pretty scene without really telling much of a coherent story. The end of Golden Delicious heads back towards mid-tempo rock with catchy songs like "Luminous Girl," "Nectarine (Part 1)," and "Navigating By the Stars at Night." The CD ends on a particularly weak note with the syrupy "Book of Love," which dies, despite the simple accompaniment, due to the weakness of the lyrics.

Overall, if you are a Doughty fan, you should definitely check this out, because there's enough of the stuff you love about his music trying to dig its way out of this album. If you are just an alt music fan, I would still recommend this CD, but it's not the strongest stuff in his catalog (check out Skittish/Rockity Roll or any of the Soul Coughing albums for one of the most underrated bands of the '90s). Hopefully we will see more from Mike Doughty soon, and if you have a chance to see him live, DO IT! His shows strip his stuff down to just the good stuff, and plus he keeps them good fun with excellent banter, ad libbed songs, and guitar playing you will be trying to learn for weeks afterwards (until you pretty much give up).

Mike Doughty Website (on tour now with The Panderers, who sound pretty good too)

Mike Doughty MySpace