Well, the driving portion of Andy Zipf's Pfriends on Pfilm Tour came to an end yesterday. We had a great time playing out at some very diverse locations. A northeast mini-tour is in the works for late Spring. I'll keep you all posted.
Here's a little montage of our kick-off show at SOTA (my studio). Enjoy!
Top 10 Albums 2007
I think that it is fair to say that the selection this year was so great that getting your name on any of these lists is a big deal. I've left out great albums (i.e. panda bear, band of horses, yeasayer, monomen, midlake, etc.)
here goes:
Albums (js)
1. "Because of the Times" Kings of Leon
2. "Some Loud Thunder" Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
3. "Boxer" The National
4. "The Stage Names" Okkervil River
5. "The Shepherd's Dog" Iron and Wine
6. "Neon Bible" Arcade Fire
7. "Pride" Phosphorescent
8. "Our Love to Admire" Interpol
9. "Our Ill Wills" Shout Out Louds
10. "Wincing the Night Away" The Shins
Songs (js)
1. "Drums of Glass" Monomen
2. "Fans" Kings of Leon
3. "Green Gloves" The National
4. "Roscoe" Midlake
5. "Tonight I Have to Leave It" Shout Out Louds
6. "Rest My Chemistry" Interpol
7. "Wolves" Phosphorescent
8. "John Allyn Smith Sails" Okkervil River
9. "Peace Beneath The City" Iron and Wine
10. "Rag and Bone" The White Stripes
jason shrontz
(p.s. this definitely wasn't a year for album covers was it?)
Hello fellow Corpsers and the like. It's been a minute or two since I posted. I apologize for being M.I.A. It's been a crazy time around here to say the least.
Back to the post at hand. I will be traveling with Andy Zipf on his upcoming tour, starting on the Jan. 18th-27th. Then playin at the Apple store in Vienna, VA on Feb, 2nd.
Some who know me might be saying, "Brad? He's the most musically uninclined person I know? What could he be doing on a band tour?" Well, funny you should ask. The tour is actually a collaboration between Andy Zipf, Pete Lim and myself. It's a visual tour, as well as an audible. That's really all I am at liberty to say. I promise you, it'll be a show not to miss.
We will be staying night with a Mr. Dave Hodge in our travels between the Iowa show and Indiana. Hope to see some of you out there at some of the different dates!
For tour info and the likes, please visit:
www.myspace.com/andyzipf
CORPSE-ers, now is the time to make those lists...We need numbers 1-10, and then I will tally/compile the lists into one all-powerful ALIEN CORPSE top 10 of 2007. Add your lists to this post with initials.
For those of you not with us last year, a #1 album will be given 10 points and a #10 album will be given 1 point, etc...the album with the highest # of points will be ranked #1 on our compiled list (I'm looking at you, Neon Bible). So, Jason, that means you will have to rank your list 1-10...we appreciate our art ordinately around here, dammit.
ALBUMS(TH)
1. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "Some Loud Thunder"
2. Animal Collective - "Strawberry Jam"
3. Arcade Fire - "Neon Bible"
4. Modest Mouse - "We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank"
5. The White Stripes - "Icky Thump"
6. Arctic Monkeys - "Favorite Worst Nightmare"
7. The New Pornographers - "Challengers"
8. Handsome Furs - "Plague Park"
9. The Shins - "Wincing the Night Away"
10. Kings of Leon - "Because of the Times"
EPs (TH)
1. Tokyo Police Club - "Smith"
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Is Is"
Songs (TH)
1. Ruby – Kaiser Chiefs
2. Satan Said Dance – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
3. For Reverend Green – Animal Collective
4. Thou Shalt Always Kill – Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip
5. Brianstorm – Arctic Monkeys
6. Rag and Bone – The White Stripes
7. Sleeping Lessons – The Shins
8. Fans – Kings of Leon
9. White Dove - John Vanderslice
10. Holiday – Albert Hammond Jr.
We didn't do this last year. I think it's a good idea, as a couple of tracks made it onto my song list that weren't on albums in my album list.
I think these are in order as well.
1. "(Antichrist Television Blues)" - Arcade Fire
2. "Bros" - Panda Bear
3. "Crystal Cat" - Dan Deacon
4. "At Death, A Proclomation" - Phosphorescent
5. "Ed is a Portal" - Akron/Family
6. "House of Cards" - Radiohead
7. "Up Against the Wall" - Peter, Bjorn & John
8. "No I in Threesome" - Interpol
9. "Just As You Are" - Robert Wyatt
10. "Change of Heart" - Teddy Thompson
I haven't posted in a while, so I thought a 2007 retrospective would be a good way to jump back in. I thought about doing a top 10, but then thought that top 10s really don't do justice to the listening that goes on throughout a year. Instead, I've simply ordered the list of what I bought/really listened to in 2007. This will reveal any limitations in my listening, and this way I won't have to come back, after someone else has posted, and say, "Well, yeah, I listened to that too, but it was number 11 on my list." I hope 23 albums isn't too long of a list - this might be an obnoxious way to do it. On the other hand, I'd love to see what each of you listened to all year long. I had thought of making a top 10 of 2007, no matter what the release date of the album, but thought better of it.
I hope I didn't forget anything.
1. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
2. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
3. Radiohead - In Rainbows
4. Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline
5. Akron/Family - Love is Simple
6. Phosphorescent - Pride
7. Caribou - Andorra
8. Peter, Bjorn & John - Writer's Block
9. Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
10. Robert Wyatt - Comicopera
11. Interpol - Our Love to Admire
12. The National - Boxer
13. Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals
14. The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse
15. Feist - The Reminder
16. Most Serene Republic - Population
17. Low - Drums and Guns
18. Okkervil River - The Stage Names
19. Air - Pocket Symphony
20. Elliott Smith - New Moon
21. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
22. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
23. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
24. Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
What you are about to hear are 17 ear-splitting tracks by Canadian artists. Most of the artists are "indie" but some have gained a fair bit of notoriety in the last few years. Matthew Good's new album, "Hospital Music" (while it isn't great) was featured on the front page of iTunes for its release this summer. The Tragically Hip have been selling out arenas in Canada (meaning, hockey arenas) since the early 90s. I gotta say that Sloan is the biggest thing to come out of The Maritimes (where I'm from, Atlantic Canada) since Donald (Keifer's dad) Sutherland.
In researching bands for this post, I came across The Weakerthans. If "Pamphleteer" isn't one of your favorite tracks on this comp., something is wrong with you. I paid more attention to Tokyo Police Club when I discovered they were Canadian, and I quickly became a fan. There are so many bands that I either hadn't heard or didn't know were Canadian before I went to Wikipedia with this idea.
However, there does seem to be a fair bit of bastardization in the Canadian indie rock scene. This goes with the territory for indie rock...but listen. Feist plays with Broken Social Scene - Stars is made up of BSS members - Jason Tait of The Weakerthans has recorded and toured with BSS. Unrelated, A.C. Newman is the front man of The New Pornographers which includes member Neko Case (hate her alt-country solo stuff, try though I might) and Dan Bejar who also belongs to Swan Lake with Spencer Krug who is a member of Wolf Parade with Dan Boeckner who also heads up the side project Handsome Furs.
Did I lose you? Good! That's Canada baby!
Here's the tracklist: (DL Link In Comments)
1. Canada vs. America - Broken Social Scene "EP To Be You And Me"
2. Who Taught You to Live Like That - Sloan "Never Hear The End Of It"
3. Blood On Our Hands - Death From Above 1979 "You're A Woman, I'm A Machine"
4. You Are a Runner and I am My Father's Son - Wolf Parade "Apologies To The Queen Mary"
5. Homemade Bombs in the Afternoon - A.C. Newman "Homemade Bombs In The Afternoon EP"
6. Fire Eye'd Boy - Broken Social Scene "Broken Social Scene"
7. Ahead By A Century - The Tragically Hip "Live Between Us"
8. Mushaboom - Feist "Let It Die"
9. Allisson Krausse - The Stills "Logic Will Break Your Heart"
10. Cannot Get, Started - Handsome Furs "Plague Park"
11. Your English Is Good - Tokyo Police Club "Your English Is Good"
12. Intervention - Arcade Fire "Neon Bible"
13. Hotline Operator - Constantines "Tournament of Hearts"
14. Pamphleteer - The Weakerthans "Left and Leaving"
15. Black Helicopter - Matthew Good "Hospital Music"
16. Ageless Beauty - Stars "Set Yourself On Fire"
17. All the Things that Go to Make Heaven and Earth - The New Pornographers "Challengers"
It's time - 17 is Prime Szombathy is finally here. Tracklist as follows:
1. Gimmie Indie Rock - Sebadoh (III)
2. Venus (Remastered LP Version) - Television (Marquee Moon)
3. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (Demo) - The Ramones (Ramones)
4. Left Of The Dial - The Replacements (Tim)
5. 7 Chinese Bros. - R.E.M. (And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987)
6. History Lesson Part 2 - Minutemen (Double Nickels On the Dime)
7. Date With Ikea - Pavement (Brighten The Corners)
8. Freak Scene - Dinosaur Jr. (Bug)
9. Violet Execution (Remix '04) - Sebadoh (III)
10. Rain On Tin - Sonic Youth (Murray Street)
11. Grounded - Pavement (Wowee Zowee - Sordid Sentinels Edition (Disc 1))
12. Sons Of Apollo - Guided By Voices (Half Smiles Of The Decomposed)
13. Disorder - Gary Young's Hospital (The Grey Album)
14. Solid Jackson - Bright Eyes (A Collection Of Songs Written & Recorded 1995-1997)
15. Miss Misery (Early Version) - Elliott Smith (New Moon)
16. Unsatisfied - The Replacements (Let It Be)
17. Two-Headed Boy Part 2 - Neutral Milk Hotel (In The Aeroplane Over The Sea)
DL LINK IN COMMENTS - Let me know if there are any problems.
Alright, since we're a little past the halfway point of 2007, i'm a little curious to find out out people's top 5 albums of the year thus far:
My list (in order):
1. Kings of Leon--Because of the Times
2. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!--Some Loud Thunder
3. Arcade Fire--Neon Bible
4. The White Stripes--Icky Thump
5. Wilco--Sky Blue Sky
Biggest Disappointments (in order):
1. Interpol--Our Love to Admire
2. Bright Eyes--Cassadega
3. Wilco--Sky Blue Sky (great album, but I expected something better than a great album. The back half is what kept it on the top five).
Most Anticipated for 2nd half:
1. Iron and Wine
2. Kanye West
3. Band of Horses
4. Stephen Malkmus (if it gets out in 2007)
5. Sigur Ros
Still undecided on:
1. Modest Mouse--We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
2. Ryan Adams--Easy Tiger
j.s.
I was thinking today about the change that I see happening in music listening. It seems like a band has to work even more hard these days to hook a listener into an entire album.
Radio musicians and "artists" (or non-writing pretty faces, for long) know all about this from back in the day of us taping their stuff off the radio, but for the "indie" or even the "rock" genre (anything not considered pop), this is somewhat of a iTunes-created phenomenon.
Since we are now in the habit of celebrating SONGS rather than ALBUMS, this is probably something we need to discuss.
The first question that comes to mind is, "Is the music industry changing or are we?" I look back at my music collection (mentally) over the years and the things I remember are the great ALBUMS (Pedro's Winners Never Quit, Jawbreaker's Dear You, Nevermind, Weezer's Blue Album, The White Stripes' Elephant, etc). These are the albums where the Gestalt stands out - These albums in particular have the feel of being crafted when listened to, rather than sounding like an assortment of songs by a band. Not that we couldn't pick songs or hits off of these albums, but something is lost along the way. With recent subpar released from great bands (Stripes Satan, Killers Sam's Town, Interpol's new one) it seems like things may be changing to a more song focused culture.
The second thing I think about in respect to this topic is, "What is the purpose of the single?" In pop music, the single sells the album, and oftentimes is the only song listened to before the album is shelved. In the new iTunes culture, a "rock" band's hit will be downloaded exponentially more than the other songs on the album, depending on how "popular" the song becomes, especially if this song is featured on a TV or movie soundtrack (I'm thinking of The Fray's How to Save a Life which shot up iTunes' most downloaded chart after being featured on Grey's Anatomy, and many others). Music is becoming more pop culture influenced.
With 17 is Prime, the single (or chosen song) represents a band someone hasn't been exposed to, in order to give them something new to listen to. I think this represents the mixtape culture of yore as well. Instead of having a nauseating 30 minute conversation that consists of only questions ("Have you heard x?" "No...have you heard y?") like you're on freakin' "Whose Line." You hand them a mix CD, they listen, and they buy (or steal, or burn your copy like that's something different) what they like.
I'm beginning to ramble but I wanted to start the conversation of where you guys (and our reader) think the music scene is heading - especially in relation to iTunes and other song-centric downloading services.
I'm taking the side and defending the album. This is because not only do I want to listen to an entire album of a band, but I also want the bands that I listen to to record and compile more thoughtful albums.
Discuss.
Number 7 has been spotted over several cities world-wide! It's almost as powerful as the almighty Allspark! Although, Megatron has nothing on this mix!
*Warning*
Sector 7 is watching. Beware while downloading.
Tracklist and contributors:
DL link in comments.
Volume 6 is flashin' and shinin'!
Track listing and contributors:
01. Friday Night-Girl Talk-BW
02. Objects of My Obsession-Peter, Bjorn, and John-JH
03. Three MC's and One DJ (Live Video Version)-Beastie Boys-TH
04. Like Gold-Erlend Øye-JH
05. Fix Up, Look Sharp-Dizzee Rascal-TH
06. Diamond-Low-JH
07. Benzie Box (Featuring Cee-Lo)-Danger Doom-TH
08. Greed-Fugazi-DS
09. COOL KID'S (KLEVER'S MOON WALK RMXXX)-COOL KIDS+KLEVER-BW
10. Mansion in The Sky-The Brian Jonestown Massacre-DS
11. You Can Look But You Better Not Touch-Monawing-JH
12. Cold Gold Diamond-Blitzen Trapper-BW
13. Pile of Gold-The Blow-BW
14. Destination Diamonds-Diamond Nights-BW
15. Shining Escalade-Hot Chip-BW
16. Jesus Gonna Build Me a Home-John Davis-DS
17. Stunna Glasses-N/A-BW
Link in Comments.
Vol 5 is here with a bite bigger than it's bark!
The animal kingdom has descended upon the Corpse to devour it to the bone!
17 teeth-sinking tunes! From Bands like:
01. Def Leppard-Animal-JD
02. The Lovely Feathers-Lion Eats the Wildebeast-BW
03. The Stooges-I Wanna Be Your Dog-DS
04. Tom Waits-Dog Door-JS
05. The Walkmen-The Rat-JH
06. Brian Eno-Mother Whale Eyeless-JH
07. Pink Floyd-Sheep-JD
08. The Hidden Cameras-Animals of Prey-JH
09. modest mouse-Wild Pack of Family Dogs-JS
10. Damien Jurado-Purple Anteater-DS
11. Jets to Brazil-Sea Anemone-TH
12. Syd Barrett-Octopus-JH
13. John Vanderslice-White Dove-BW
14. mewithoutyou-O, Porcupine-DS
15. Yeah Yeah Yeahs-Tick-TH
16. Cheeseburger-Tiger-BW
17. Of Montreal-Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider-BW
Link in comments
I've been listening to Live at Massey Hall 1971, the third installment of the Neil Young Archives Performance Series, and I think it's pretty great.
Previously, I'd thought there were two Youngs - the razor thin troubador and itinerant piano tinkler, and the sludge-flinging axe wielder of guitar righteousness. If you're looking for the latter, don't get this album. This is an acoustic and piano performance, intimate, and young sounding, and I haven't not-heard an audience this quiet since Dylan's '64 Halloween Concert bootleg. And I think it's a soundboard recording, so those of you averse to live recordings are in luck - this is pristine and completely enjoyable.
But further...
I don't think there are two Youngs. Rather, there is only one, and he is the servant of his music. The reason he can fling the sludge and serenade the loneliness away is that he has the unique ability to lose himself in his performance. When I saw him play with Crostby, Stills, & Nash, he was clearly the only musician on that stage who conceived of himself as somehow under the music, a slave to it, a lover waiting for it. (Those other fat cats did their best to not appear too closely aligned with a Jimmy Buffet-ish retirment ethos). That said, on this '71 recording, the same seems to be true: his guitar, his piano, his guitar's licks and progressions, his alpine voice, his odd sense of rhythm and chunk-a-chunk strumming all meld together in some beautiful, northern parody of the one-man band.
Case in point: when he moves into "A Man Needs a Maid" (here suited with "Heart of God"), though he is one man on a piano, I cannot help hearing a philharmonic just waiting behind the curtains - that they are not, and I still hear them, is a testimony to his melodic sensibilities and his ability to be present and fully available to his music. In other words, this performance is not a reductive re-tooling of some good ol' songs, but a brand new performance of them, fresh, and enlivened, rather than regurgitated, by his solo performance. He has given himself to them as though they were the same labored constructions of studio work, and he has likewise freighted them with all of the anxiety, hope, and loneliness of Young's early songwriting.
Key tracks:
"Tell Me Why"
"Cowgirl in the Sand"
"Don't Let it Bring You Down"
"Down by the River"
and of course, "Helpless"
Enjoy it, if you want to.
JH
BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!BIG!
Yup, it's big. Bigger than you know! If it were a whale, it would be blue. If it were a planet, it would be Jupiter. If it were a sandwich, it would be the Triple Thickburger. We're talking massive! How you say could one group compile such a larger mix tape on such a small world wide web? Download and see for yourself.
Track listing and contributors:
01. Colossal-Wolfmother-BW
02. Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)-Neil Young-JD
03. Heaven and Hell-The Who-JS
04. Filipino Box Spring Hog-Tom Waits-JS
05. Little Cream Soda-The White Stripes-BW
06. Journey in Satchidananda-Alice Coltrane-JH
07. Mister Kingdom-Electric Light Orchestra-JH
08. Better Bring Your Friends-The Secret Machines-JS
09. Devastation-The Besnard Lakes-JH
10. Like a Hurricane-Neil Young-JS
11. Snow Noise Assemblage-Cosmicdust-JH
12. New Noise-Refused-DS
13. Peacebone-Animal Collective-BW
14. The Crystal Cat-Dan Deacon-DS
15. The Prayer-Bloc Party-BW
16. Go Home, Get Down-DFA 1979-BW
17. Thou Shalt Always Kill-Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip-BW
DL link in comments.
Vol 3 is so little! From small bands, to small titles, this week's mix is full of all things small! Watch out, though! It's definitely got a serious case of the Napoleon Complex!
Just because it's small, doesn't mean it's not a grower!
Track list and contributors:
01. Midtown-Japanther-BW
o2. Since You Went Away-Dear Nora-JH
03. Atlantic City-Bruce Springsteen-JD
04. A Minor Place-Bonnie "Prince" Billy-JH
05. chelsea hotel #2-Leonard Cohen-JS
06. One Too Many Mornings-Bob Dylan-JS
07. Eyes for Windows-Damien Jurado-TH
08. State Trooper-Bruce Springsteen-JS
09. Funkier than a Mosquito's Tweeter-Nina Simone-JH
10. Yea Yeah-Matt and Kim-BW
11. Little Room-The White Stripes-TH
12. A Duel Will Settle This-Mates of State-BW
13. True Affection-The Blow-BW
14. Oh Comely-Neutral Milk Hotel-JS
15. 6am Morningside-The Clientele-JH
16. Carrion-Fiona Apple-TH
17. My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)-Neil Young-JD
Dl link in comments
This is a good indication that the new album will be excellent...I am heavy with anticipation. This riff sorta melts my face off.
~T
That's right! It's time for 17 is Prime vol. 2! And it's all claps all the time! 17 tracks of hand slappin' happiness! You'll have the clap by song 2! I guarantee!
Track listing and contributors:
01 Clap Your Hands!-CYHSY!-JS
02 Kissing the Lipless-The Shins-TH
03 Da Doo Ron Ron-The Crystals-JH
04 Where are the chains now-broken clock-JS
05 Clap Hands-Tom Waits-JS
06 Let the Devil In-TV On The Radio-BW
07 Jimmy Mack-Martha Reeves & The Vandellas-JH
08 I Want To Hold Your Hand-JS
09 Disco Sheets-Wolf Parade-BW
10 Every Party (w_Prefuse 73)-JH
11 Close To Me-The Cure-DS
12 This Sentence Will Ruin/Save Your Life-Born Ruffians-BW
13 Epic Problem-Fugazi-TH
14 No Fun-The Stooges-DS
15 Death At the Chapel-The Horrors-BW
16 Citizens of Tomorrow-Tokyo Police Club-BW
17 Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)-The Hombres-JH
DL link in comments.
Alien Corpse has embarked on it's first mixtape voyage, 17 is Prime. Every Thursday, the contributors will be giving a taste of what has been gracing their ears for the last week. Expect 17 unexpected tracks. Listen, enjoy, and support the artists.
Vol. 1 Track listing and contributors:
01 Panda Bear-Take Pills-JH
02 Master of None-Beach house-BW
03 Sailor's Tale-King Crimson-JD
04 Mikado(Spydeburg Demo)-Jaga Jazzist-BW
05 Fans-Kings of Leon-JS
06 Black Grease-The Black Angels-JH
07 The Return of Evil Bill-Clinic-BW
08 Roll With It-Oasis-JD
09 Hot Knives-Bright Eyes-JS
10 Mama, Won't You Keep Those Castles in the Air & Burning?-CYHSY!-JS
11 Hang Me Up To Dry-Cold War Kids-BW
12 Finer Feelings-Spoon-BW
13 TV Torso-Sound Team-BW
14 Sick, Sick, Sick-Queens of the Stone Age-BW
15 Apocalypso-Mew-BW
16 Innocence-Bjork-BW
17 Crazy-Andy Zipf-Bw
Find download link in comments.
Listening to Panda Bear's Person Pitch is sort of like deciding to go to a far off place, where Charlie Kauffman is hosting a carnival week, and on the carnival's last night in town, the Beach Boys are going to come out and perform some D- or even Z-sides from Pet Sounds. In other words, there's no reason not to go out and get it.
If I'm right, and I am, then this is the summer album of 2007.
I don't even really know what to say about it. The instrumentation is at once meditative and swirling. The lyrics are often indecipherable, but those Beach Boys harmonies are unmistakable, and you might really discover that you're listening to Brian Wilson's nephew - you know, the one who went to culinary school and got kicked out because he kept stealing Crayons to draw pictures of what his sound would look like if he were just able to get the right friendships in order to form his super group. That guy.
I was going to write that "Take Pills" is a journey to what happens when you're underwater with lots of people you love, but that doesn't make sense.
And "Bros," by far the masterpiece of the album, does the most toward wrapping you completely in the same sonic package as "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times."
To be sure, Person Pitch is nowhere near as straighforward as anything the Beach Boys put out. It's given a healthy dose of that 21st century self-referentiality. Maybe this would be a place to talk about irony, but I'm not sure how to, or what it would mean even if I did.
It's almost as if Noah Lennox thought, You know, I'll never be able to get away from a comparison to the Beach Boys, so I might as well go all the way with it. And it's true - this isn't one of those albums where the comparison to another band is questionable. This is deliberate tribute, but without sycophancy. I love it, and I think it'll go down as one of the top ten of 2007.
*JH
Dan S.
Here's a list of a few recent discoveries and similar artists as reference:
The Kissaway Trail
Recommended if you like: Band of Horses, My Morning Jacket, Wolf Parade, Arcade Fire
Myspace:
www.myspace.com/thekissawaytrail
Parts & Labor
Recommended if you like: Russian Futurists, Erase Errata, Maps & Atlases, Onieda
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/partsandlabor
Handsome Furs
Recommended if you like: Frog Eyes, Wolf Parade, Swan Lake
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/handsomefurs
The Pigeon Detectives
Recommended if you like: Bloc Party, The Maccabees, Eight Legs, The Rakes
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/thepigeondetectives
I've been toying with this list for a bit, thinking it over, wondering whether or not anyone else would be interested in thinking of lists like this.
I'll say right off that the first rule is, No superlatives. There is no possible way this could be a "top" list or a "best" list, and so again, I'm sort of wary, because if a music fan can't say, "This is the best, no question, and you're wrong if you disagree," then what can he say?
Anyhow, the list is of great moments, not lasting longer than half a minute or so, in some great songs. Of course, a song need not be a member of any of your top 5 lists in order to contain a moment that'd fit this list nicely.
I was listening to Doves' "Pounding" the other day, and toward the end, when the Edge-esque chack-a-chack-a-chack-a-chackachackachacka-chack-a-chack-a-chack-a-chackachackachacka part comes in, I thought, This always gets me, no matter how many times I hear this song. So I started thinking of other great, brief, titillating moments in songs, and I thought maybe this would be a good list for a bunch of geeks.
Mine:
5. Aforementioned "Pounding" moment
4. The guitar lick after the solo after the bridge in Weezer's "Buddy Holly"
3. First verse of Kings of Leon's "Spiral Staircase," when Followill sings, "Get your ass together, You better walk, walk, walk, a by walking, we cannot run!" or something like that. (This was the lyric I found when I Googled the song - I just thought he was singing, "A wop-boba-lop-bop" etc.)
2. The drum entrance on George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" - the most unassuming entrance in rock'n'roll history.
1. Interpol's "Leif Erikson" - line in second verse: "Well then hook me up and throw me, baby cakes, cuz I like to get hooked."
Recently (ok, 5 minutes ago) I had an idea for a post (ok, Dan had an idea for a post) regarding bands that used to not suck (as hard as they do now). In this discussion (see comments on previous excellent post) bands like U2 and Joy Division were mentioned, but my wheels are turning and I can already think of several additions. This doesn't necessarily have to be just bands but songwriters, musicians, music guys, and others related to the biz -- anyone who used to rock harder (or more skillfully) in a time gone by. This isn't a top 5, but rather an extensive and expansive list.
We'll call this the "They were cooler before..." list -- The ultimate indy kid list.
U2
Weezer
Smashing Pumpkins/Zwan/Billy Corgan
Please Add.
-Dan S.
just wanted everyone to know that, as of now--3.27.2007, 9:11pm EST--the new kings of leon album is available for a listen in its entirety on their myspace page. the album come out officially next tuesday. maybe nobody else cares. this guy does.
j.s.
While recording a live Arcade Fire show for NPR’s “All Songs Considered,” Bob Boilen remarks (paraphrased) that the members of Arcade Fire are not celebrities or rock stars, they are just incredible musicians. This statement is confirmed in Arcade Fire’s “Neon Bible.” The songs are dark and somewhat mysterious and seem to come from a nervous cavity inside of songwriter, Win Butler. Nervous of what? Well, from their first album, “Funeral,” it seemed to be of growing up, of losing one’s innocence and of being ignored until one is considered an adult. The honest portrayal of childhood and loss of innocence on “Funeral” seem to question the Western World’s idea of "maturity" and "the real world.” However, in “Neon Bible,” the fear has become more concentrated. The images of war, dishonest religion and escape seems to be much more concentrated on the America we live in today, the darker side of our America. Personally, I had some trouble, at first, with this. I had trouble with the lyrics, “I don’t wanna live in
Anyways, all this to say, eventually, the album had the power to transcend my bias. The songs, they have this power to them that I’m going to try to write about. First off, their sound is uniquely theirs. A long time ago, Bono was asked how U2 achieved such a unique sound, and his response was that when they began playing, none of them knew how to play their instruments. Thus, it would follow that what came out was something nobody has heard before. The Arcade Fire has achieved this moreso with “Neon Bible” than with “Funeral,” though not because they don’t know how to play their instruments. The songs move forward like city transport, waiting for nobody, constant, taking you where you expect them to, but in a good way, like for the same reason that you got on the bus in the first place. At times, the lyrics become vague and dreamlike, but are redeemed in such songs as “Keep the Car Running,” and the eerie closer, “My Body is a Cage.” The organ in “Intervention,” is haunting and appropriate. And one of my favorites, "Ocean of Noise," is driven darkly with the sounds of thunder, a poppy bass lick and the low bass clef notes of the piano. The cure-esque sound of "(antichrist television blues)" lends soulful, honest words to the fear that this album is so concentrated around: the fear of living in a country in war, the post-9/11 America, the feeling that the "new" thing we crave, will never come, and the desire to escape.
"Neon Fire" is a great second album, but may be an album that is heavily listened to at first, and then becomes a situational album. The dark, quivering tones of the album may become a bit too much when you're trying to eat dinner or clean the bathroom. However, if it is dark, and you, too, are feeling dark and overwhelmed and scared, this album is right at home in the speakers of your vehicle, like friends over the phone, coffee, or good tobacco. It is music that will accompany you when you, too, do not want to be alone.
-j.s.
ready for a new list? well i hope so cause i got 2 t-w-o of them. consider the first as the cd you bought at your favorite indie store, and the 2nd as the bumper sticker of some local heavy metal band that the clerk gave you for making the purchase (he's probably in the band...wink). what i really want to know is, if you wrote five songs, which five would they be? i've been thinking a lot about this lately as i'm coming into some new music. the criteria is almost without limits. the main stipulation is money can not be a factor (dont base your songs on the amount of money you'd make, obviously). for example, my list can not be "right now" by van halen, "paradise city" by guns'n'roses, "i would do anything for love (but i won't do that)" by meatloaf, etc... because 1) i dont own a black leather jacket, and 2) i'd be lying.
so, here is my five songs that i wish i would've written:
1. "desolation row," bob dylan
2. "16, maybe less," calexico and iron and wine
3. "staralfur," sigur ros
4. "red hill mining town," U2
5. "california waiting," kings of leon
2nd list: Top 5 things you do while listening to music
guidelines: the idea of this is to explain what you're doing/where you are when you are really, really listening to music. As in, the listening is what you are there for, the 5 things in the list are the non-distracting things you do--and where you do them--that allow you to really listen. hopefully my list will make this clearer:
1. wait till stacey goes to bed, lie on my office floor with my head underneath my desk, with headphones, and listen--for a new album
2. play Internet backgammon, chew tobacco, music through speakers, loud--for a familiar album that's been calling me from the album rack
3. drive in my ford ranger through dark, Marquette roads--for an album to unwind with (usually the kings of leon "aha shake heartbreak")
4. walk through the woods in presque isle park with headphones--an album that reminds me of home
5. vacuuming locker rooms at work--i save all my NPR "All Songs Considered" for this
honorary 6th (since NPR is talking and music clips): nobody home, in my office, sitting in my old, brown leather chair, all lights out, beer in my hand, eyes closed, music loud enough to drown out complaining apartment tenants--any bob dylan or tom waits.
-jason shrontz
