SONS OF SULU

Merry Christmas-Eve

2010-12-24T10:52:00.000-08:00

Bradford Cox just put up a Christmas song, "Artificial Snow" on the Deerhunter/Atlas Sound blog. You can download five (!) versions for free.

Also- if you're a fiend for the musical stylings of said Mr. Cox, be sure to visit his November posts to download 4 volumes of home recordings (!!!). It's a Christmas miracle!

After a brief mixup where Sony Records took down 3/4 of the volumes (He's not even signed to them), they're back up again. So get them quick, lest they disappear a second time!

"Apparently Sony Music owns my bedroom. Feel free to call or email and let them know what you think. I can understand them requesting for me to remove a cover but the only one I can imagine that happening with is Dylan."

2009...Finally my Top-10

2010-12-22T17:28:00.000-08:00

Hello hello hello. You might be thinking there's a typo in the title. Well, a funny thing happened on the way to putting up my 2009 best-of list… let's just say it’s been a crazy year. My residency program concluded in June and I started work in July. We’ve moved back to Olympia, back to the land of K Records, Kill Rock Stars, and Yo Yo! It's good to be home.

I was initially going to post my 2009 list just as I’d had it set this time last year, but there’s been a little shuffling the longer I’ve had to listen to everything. I’m also working on a 2000-2009 best-of-the-decade. (Wanted to give 2009 a year or so to season and allow better perspective relative to the years before it).

My 2010 list is complete but I’ll wait a week or two to post it. Bands still have time to impress me before 2011 rolls in. It was cool to see Jacob’s list and realize that no matter how many albums I listen to there’s never enough time or $$ to catch them all. I’m sort of like an eager yet hopelessly mediocre Pokemon master. For this reason I love reading Jacob’s, Spencer’s, Dave T’s, and everybody else’s list. But I don’t until I’ve released mine…. meaning I’ll have a lot of catch-up. Ok, blah blah blah. This was initially a top-20 album list with additional lists of best-EP’s, compilations, etc., but it’s back to top-10 with some best-of-the-rest honorable mentions. (Nobody cares about 11-20 anyway, right?)

1 Grizzly Bear Veckatimest

No big surprise here, knowing my weaknesses. You can go back and read my initial review of this album. I don’t know if I like it as much as I did last year, but it’s still #1. It’s not as good as Yellow House or Department of Eagles’ In Ear Park, but those are insanely tough acts to beat. I almost wish they’d go back to the Yellow House era writing style; strangely enough I think their music was better before they started writing songs collaboratively. “Southern Point” and “I Live With You” are my two absolute favorites.

2 Music Go Music Expressions

Alas, this is the first change to last year’s list- it just keeps creeping up higher. I'm sure Spencer and others will take exception to this ranking, but I’m a sucker for retro-revivalism. I’m not talking about a band that wears their influences on the proverbial sleeve, I’m talking about complete inhabitation. It’s like being in a cover band but writing all new material. Well, MGM is like stepping back into the summer of 1979 (though the video would suggest an early 80's aesthetic). There’s a couple scoops of ABBA, a cup or two of Heart, a dash or two of Blondie and maybe some Electric Light Orchestra cherry-on-top. It’s not revolutionary by any means and the grooves bite you with sugar-coated teeth, but I can’t quit you MGM. I can’t wait for another LP, but who knows if you’ll ever write one!? Who even knows anything about you?! Seriously- google “Music Go Music band” and see what you get. Well, if you do a little sleuthing, you’ll eventually discover that MGM is a bit of a “supergroup.” Singer “Gala Bell” and keyboardist “Maza” are actually Bodies Of Water's Meredith and David Metcalf. (Check out that last link- awesome video). Other band members hail from Mezzanine Owls, Beachwood Sparks, The Lilys, and the Chapin Sisters. But they REALLY don’t want you to know that. In fact, it seems that for all the secrecy and obtuse media relations, they’d prefer we all believed they actually WERE a band from 1979. Look at all of their “live” youtube videos…. you could have found these on an old VHS in your parent’s attic! (Actually, I like some of these better than the "official" music video below). Whatever, I don’t care. I love it all.

3 Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion

Man, these guys just keep getting better with each release (I'm obviously not a Sung Tongs-era purist...). See Spencer’s review of this one. I’m sure he’s every bit as passionate now as he was then. These guys may be from “Baltimore”, but I’m growing more and more convinced that this just coincidentally also happens to be the name of their home planet… They’re freakishly good. Oh, and they also happen to make pretty sublime videos.... chekkit:

4 Dan Deacon Bromst

You know? I never got into Spiderman of the Rings when it came out. I loved the on-crack-and-LSD music videos, but the songs never resonated enough for me to get the whole album. Then Bromst was released to a chorus of warm and buzzing approval and some tiny hand claps. I stopped moving (breathing?) when I heard “Snookered.” It’s like Mr. Deacon kind of went back on his meds for this one. Yeah, the frenetically insane beats, tempo shifts, and high pitch warbling are still there but he takes a couple deep breaths and the new measured textures make for a beautiful tapestry. Dig it.

5 Mew No More Stories are Told Today…

Man, I can't believe this is only at #5! Tough competition this year... Ok, so this one definitely wins for longest album title (officially- No More Stories Are Told Today, I'm Sorry They Washed Away // No More Stories, The World Is Grey, I'm Tired, Let's Wash Away). Got to see these guys with Jacob at Neumos last year. (!!!!) He got me hooked on them via their previous LP, And The Glass Handed Kites a couple of years ago. Don’t really want to call them Scandinavian post-prog, but it might give you an idea of where they sling from. (Just don’t get hung up on it). If you’ve not yet been initiated, ATGHK might be a better jumping off point but this album is just utterly brilliant.

Also check out the great video for "Introducing Palace Players"

6 Cymbals Eat Guitars Why There Are Mountains

This self-released album was completely unexpected. Hailing from Staten Island and tickling my early to mid-90s indie funny-bone, it formed a memorable chunk of my summer ’09 soundtrack. My daughter's name is Indiana, and I like to play her the track of the same name. Man, I dig this album.

7 Lou Barlow Goodnight Unknown

Oh man. Me and Lou go way back. There was a time when I feverishly sought out every home recording, every import single and B-side. Dinosaur Jr., Sentridoh, Sebadoh, Folk Implosion; he was all over the map. Honestly, though, for most of the last decade or more Mr. Barlow’s been on a bit of a slide. I don’t know if it’s being back with J Mascis or if he’s getting more fiber in his diet, but all of a sudden over the last few years we’ve been treated to a couple new and delectable Dinosaur Jr. albums and now this truly fantastic solo release. I think it’s easily my favorite Lou B concoction since Sebadoh’s Harmacy. I’m not saying he’s reinvented the wheel here, but I just can’t quite express how refreshing it is to kick back and listen to these songs. I am incapable of objective criticism. Just love this album to pieces. (If you like "Sharing," check out "Too Much Freedom.")

8 Mount Eerie Wind's Poem

(While reading this, click play on the video below...) There's a slice of us Northwesterners with threads of Twin Peaks woven into our collective genome. The '89-91 TV show filmed in Snoqualmie, WA was something I watched a little of in its initial run but then rediscovered shortly after high school with a group of friends. I got invited to a viewing party to watch the pilot and first couple of episodes and I've never been the same since. For a while there my whole life revolved around playing N64 Goldeneye and watching Twin Peaks obsessively. I had an FM radio show in Pullman with my buddy Ryan where we assumed the alter-egos of Special Agents Cooper and Chet Desmond. We'd play Olympia bands and other good tunes and during breaks we'd always have the twin peaks theme song playing in the background. We even recorded promos for our show in the backwards-speak of the Black Lodge residents. We'd drive to Snoqualmie/North Bend and look for places where they shot on location, eat cherry pie at Twede's Cafe (RR), play the soundtrack while driving through the forest at night, climb down to the base of the waterfall below the "Great Northern." I even proposed to my wife on the top of Mount Si, the tallest "Peak" overlooking the town (I had other reasons for this location, but this made it even cooler). Ok, so if you're listening to the video below while reading this and still don't get why I'm rambling on about Twin Peaks... maybe skip ahead to #9 if you haven't already.

When you listen to Phil Elvrum's music, besides making sure you're doing this with a nice set of headphones, you need to close your eyes and deposit yourself on a moss-encrusted embankment beneath towering stands of Douglas Fir and Cedar overlooking the Puget Sound. As the cloud bank advances over the water and carries you up the mountainside, a lonely fog horn distracts you from the hypnosis that is the roar of the wind through the branches and millions of tiny droplets shearing through the needles, battering the ferns below. Phil writes songs that sonically and lyrically make so much more sense in this context (you don't even need to imagine the fog horns on Glow Pt. 2). When I heard Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks synths drifting into "Between Two Mysteries," I nearly died it was so perfect. Albeit a borrowed texture, it's so true to the theme and feel of this album (and Phil's music in general) that it never seems out of place. Anyway, I'll cut it off here... I could go on and on... I should probably get around to the Microphones/Mt. Eerie post I've been meaning to do for years now.

9 Sunset Rubdown Dragonslayer

Me love Spencer Krug music. Me love Sunset Rubdown and me love Wolf Parade. I still prefer their respective debut LPs to any later material, but this is some good stuff. Probably some of the more accessible stuff, though some of these tracks are still growing on me. Don't mean to sound unenthused, I think I'm just tired of this post.

10 Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca

Alas, my most hotly contested spot on the list.... Bitte Orca has moved in and out of the top 10, but they're back up again. If all the songs were as awesome as "Stillness is the Move" (see video below) or "Two Doves" or "Useful Chamber" etc., It would be solidly top 5 or so, but there are some tracks on this disc that I simply can't stand, which is not a good sign for a "best album" list. Dave Longstreth's voice and penchant for atonal, abrasive songcraft sometimes drive me nuts. I sometimes just wish he'd leave the vocals to Angel and Amber. Other times, he's just fine. I have a love-hate relationship with songs like "Temecula Sunrise." I love the time signature changes and the guitarwork and even the chorus, but most of the lyrics and delivery just seem so silly, not to mention his high-pitched warble. You could have a drinking game for every time he says "yeah." Anyway, it's a field littered with gems and mines alike, tread cautiously.

Just missed the top 10: Blue Roses Blue Roses

Other lovely albums (in no particular order):

Built to Spill There is no Enemy

The Antlers Hospice

Camera Obscura My Maudlin Career

Jeremy Enigk Ok Bear

Wild Beasts Two Dancers

Dinosaur Jr. Farm

Atlas Sound Logos

Ramona Falls Intuit

Desolation Wilderness New Universe

Favorite EP's

Joanna Newsom: Joanna Newsom and the Y's Street Band (I've been jonesin' for a new Joanna Newsom disc for a while now, this was a good taste, but what a relief it was to get Have One On Me this year... so so nice...)

Deerhunter: Rainwater Cassette Exchange (Holy Moses, had this been an LP, it would have been top-3. These tracks are just fantastic. I am just loving Halcyon Digest right now...)

Animal Collective: Fall Be Kind. (They weren't satisfied with giving us just one awesome disc this year)

Compilations

Various Artists: Dark Was The Night

Right. Done. Look for my 2010 bestof list in around 364 days... nah, hopefully next week (I'm keeping my fingers crossed).

2010 Music End

2010-12-08T14:03:00.001-08:00

To me, Sleater-Kinney is just the road I drive to get to Safeway or I-5. I pay no attention to the music. But I do like what Carrie Brownstein said on her NPR blog regarding her 2010 summary, "So, I'll admit, I am not quite certain how to sum up an entire year in music anymore, not when music has become so temporal, so specific and personal, as if we each have our own weather systems and what we listen to is our individual forecast." Well said. Indeed, she and I only have 1 band on our lists in common.

With that in mind, here they are in no particular order.

Surfer Blood-"Astro Coast" An album created by committing fraud. I don't agree that student loans should be used to produce your albums, but it was fun and they had a song about watching Twin Peaks. Different production sound, not a surfer in the band but I did find some songs to be very catchy.

The National-"High Velvet" Finally jumped on this band wagon. I think 2-3 years ago his voice wasn't in my range of tolerance, but I gave it a chance when "High Velvet" released. So glad I did. They quickly rose to the top of my all time listens chart on my Last.fm page this year. Saw them in Portland with Helio Sequence back in September. Excellent show, excellent album. Some great moods.

Bad Books-"Bad Books" Being a long time fan of Kevin Devine and recent Manchester Orchestra groupie made this collaboration an ideal combo for me. It felt pretty familiar, nothing industry changing, but I can't think of many singer/songwriters I'd rather hear on one album and here it is. Now if they could just get their friend Jesse Lacey on the next album...

Adam Haworth Stephens-"We Live on Cliffs" Solo album from 50% of favorite Two Gallants. Switching gears a little with the full sound of a band and just plain different style than 2GS I just can't get over this voice. Love it. Caught him live at Neumo's supporting Rocky Votolato in March. Terrific show. PS, some people I have told about this band don't really like his voice, to each his own.

The Gaslight Anthem-"American Slang" Always compared to Bruce Springstein, yet another musician I don't care to listen to, this album is a bit more mellow compared to their previous 2 greaser punk rock releases ("59 Sound" is a must have). But they seem to be doing something right, Bruce Springstein covered one of their songs... Roll down your windows and drive through the desert with this one.

Frontier(s)-"The Plain"-Overall this isn't the most spectacular released this year but I love that Chris Hidgon's is back. Elliott was/is one of my favorites. It reminds me that just cause I'm getting older doesn't mean I can't enjoy the louder rock and that people my age have forgotten how to.

Bad City-"Welcome to the Wasteland" I have heard these guys were put together by a label. If so, who cares. 30+ listens since it's August release I absolutely love singing along to this album in my car. Ya, I can handle the high notes at times! A great throw back to hair metal days of glory these guys astound me as to how they even lured me in. Probably cause of lines like "do you remember rock n roll, and rippin' off the Rolling Stones, gettin' busy with guitar, bass and drums with just one microphone". Listen to it loud.

The Soft Pack- "The Soft Pack" I got this album while traveling for work and it filled the lousy rental car speakers for weeks before I was able to give it a proper listen. Just love the rock, especially "Tides of Time". Can't get enough of that song!

Other nice & mellow mentions:

Rocky Votolato "True Devotion"

Tallest Man On Earth "Sometimes the Blues is Just a Passing Bird"

Jarrod Gorbel "Devils Made a New Friend"

Who I hope to hear from again in 2011:

Dear & the Headlights

Polar Bear Club

Mew

Helio Sequence

Pela (come on, you already recorded that album...)

Gatsby's American Dream

Fleet Foxes

Blind Pilot

Can

2010-06-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

Can is a German band, that started out in 1968. Their last album was released in 1979. They are very experimental. Discovering this group of musicians kind of upsets me, because I didn't hear about them until just recently. Where most bands I like, have been influenced by them. Seems like I would have heard about them earlier in my life.

I Want More is a little more Pop compared to the other songs/jams.

1971 German TV Show

Interesting what they say about television.

Pictures from The Grizzly Bear Show

2009-11-04T20:29:00.000-08:00

Here are the really bad pictures courtesy of my phone of the Grizzly Bear show at The Moore.

VECKATIMEST

2009-10-17T20:41:00.002-07:00

Holy Moses! It hasn't been a very productive year at SoS, which is a shame because there have been giant earfuls of splendid new music in the last 9 1/2 months. Built to Spill's latest just came out and it's oh so very nice, but I feel compelled to play some catch-up. Not only that, but I've been writing this review in my head since it came out back in May! I honestly can't say how many times I've listened to it...

Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest

Wow, where to start?  (I've been kicking around this idea about doing all my reviews in a 100 words or less, but I'll save that for another disc).   Does it live up to the hype? Maybe...   Is it the best album of the year?  Spencer already came out and anointed Merriweather Post Pavilion...  Do I think Veckatimest is better?  If my annual top-10 list was ranked as a function of how many times I listened to each, it could win by a healthy margin come January.  It’s almost not fair to compare the two, so I won’t.   My quibbles are minor.  When firing on all cylinders*, it is sublime.

*it almost always does...............................................................................for reals

Though Grizzly Bear's first LP, Horn of Plenty, was technically the debut I don't really count it (it was written when the band was just Ed Droste). Yellow House unveiled the group in it's complete form- with Daniel Rossen (Department of Eagles!!), Chris Taylor and Chris Bear filling out the roster. But as a collaborative piece, their "sophomore" release was more of an amalgam- consisting of songs previously written by Droste and Rossen before their powers combined. It made for a splendidly varied sound topography, but Veckatimest is the first time they've collaboratively written and the result is pretty exciting. Yes, Droste and Rossen still have their signature tracks (see "Ready, Able" and "Dory," respectively), but this 4-headed monster isn't easily untangled.

The opening track,"Southern Point," showcases this new explosive potential with swagger and bombast.  It steadily builds, shimmering and marching, then unexpectedly erupts like an electromagnetic hoard of bats from their subterranean well.....And in a snap, it's spare and intimate again- diving back into a solo acoustic denouement.  It's startling and beautiful.   (Plug in some good headphones and dig the stereo effect of the flutter).

"Two Weeks" is a perfect revisiting of the doo-wop aesthetic of the Crystal's "He Hit Me" cover from their Friend EP and provides some very necessary college-radio fodder.  (Scroll to the end of the post to check out the song and video).   The album unwinds to a needful smaller scale song by song, paring down the complexity of arrangements to "Dory" then amping back up progressively toward the lush finale, perfectly prefaced by "While you wait for the Others"  (also see video down below).

The album starts as it ends:  with a bang (not counting the haunting prologue- "Foreground"- I

 always imagine he's singing "this is the foie gras...").   The Brooklyn Youth choir and the Acme String Quartet are used to gorgeous effect throughout, but particularly on "I live with you." It's a sprawling intergalactic effort deserving of it's own 60's B-SciFi music video (a la "Knife" from Yellow House- see right pic).    Autoharp and flute welcome the strings which then melt into tidal swells of a choir-backed Rossen, (the ever-present bass clarinet lurking in the shadows), ultimately climaxing in a stratospheric collision of strings and synths.

(Ok, so this is why I want to do 100-word reviews and Haikus...  I just don't feel it's enough to say that I like it).

So, in short:  I love this album.  Period.

Do I like it better than Department of Eagles' In Ear Park (My #1 pick for 2008)?   I don't know if I do yet.   Time will tell.  (I'm more of a Rossen than a Droste kind of guy).  I love that they experiment with sounds and genres, but occasionally the songs seem to feel a little detached.   I loved the warmth and earthy feel of In Ear Park.  Grizzly Bear sometimes sounds (for better or worse) like modern popular music as interpreted by extraterrestrials.

Check it out- let me know what you think.

Veckatimest Grade:    9.5/10

The Live Show:

Me and Sean saw Grizzly Bear at The Moore theater with opening band The Morning Benders last Friday.  We were 8 rows back and the acoustics were quite nice.   It was kind of convenient to sit down, but at times I was dancing in my seat and just wanted to jump around.   For those familiar with the Friend EP version of "Little Brother" from Yellow House- it was that kind of show- all traditional arrangements for the most part (a little autoharp mixed in now and then) and the set had cool light schemes.   But as awesome as it was to see them finally.... a Veckatimest live show deserves a backing choir and string quartet and some crazy projected visuals.... maybe even a painted papier mache boulder-field...... something.   Yeah, it's about the music.  Yeah all that other stuff would cost me more....  (or would it?  i saw Sufjan on his Majesty Snowbird tour with his army of performers and elaborate stage show for the same cost like 4 years ago...)  I still loved it... just imagined something a bit more grand.

Live Show Grade: 7.9/10

TWO WEEKS

While You Wait for the Others

Out of Comission

2009-09-07T00:22:00.000-07:00

Ahoy! In a lull for the last couple of months... My schedule combined with a never-ending sinus infection has left me pretty wiped out. I have some much-needed time off now for the next couple of weeks!!! Holy crap!!!

I'm gearing up some very late album reviews (Grizzly Bear!) and some wacky 80's music videos. If you still haven't been over to Beck.com lately, you should really check it out. Nearly all of Modern Guilt Acoustic has been posted, and his Album-A-Day project has moved on to Leonard Cohen's Songs of Leonard Cohen after having posted all of the Velvet Underground project.

Enjoy the acoustic version of "Chem Trails" from Beck's Modern Guilt album!

Wow! Chalk!!

2009-07-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

I've never seen anybody do anything that cool with chalk! It sort of reminds me of the video above, but I'm sure the chalk animation was much more challenging.

I've never been able to get into Coldplay, but their videos are often pretty clever. (guess they're compensating...) I guess Shynola did the animation. They've a bunch of stunning music videos in their portfolio and one of my all-time faves is Pyramid Song by Radiohead. (Make sure to watch it in HQ- Youtube won't let me embed it... I guess this video is based on a dream Thom Yorke had. Actually reminds me of lots of dreams I've had too...)

Thanks for the post, Sean!

Here's another fave of mine:

Amazing video Cold Play - Strawberry Swing

2009-07-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.babelgum.com/3022304/coldplay-strawberry-swing.html
I studied animation at The Evergreen State College at two full time semesters and a summer class. So I feel like I know enough to be a animation snob. While at Evergreen and before I've never come across this approach. I've seen similar techniques on youtube and was very impressed. Props to Kate B. for finding this.

Beck o Beck o Beck o Beck!!

2009-07-14T22:46:00.000-07:00

Record Club: Velvet Underground & Nico 'Sunday Morning' from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

For reals-like, get yourselves over to Beck's RECORD CLUB for a little more of the above goodness. To keep the creative particles smashing in his Hadron collider of a brain, he's taken to doing covers.......

of entire albums.......

in a single day............ (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

The first album- Velvet Underground and Nico. He's putting out each song one at a time with a roughshod DIY video on his site. Guest artists, actors (? Giovanni Ribisi?), plants, and animals are all fair game. I guess it started when Sonic Youth approached him about involvement on a Boxed Set they're putting together. Included will be a cassette (yes.. tape...) only version of EVOL as interpreted by Beck and friends. Oh and yeah.. you guessed it- he recorded the album in a single day. Matador released a split 7" not too long ago with his version of "Green Light" on one side and Sonic Youth's version of "Pay no Mind" on the other. Haven't heard either.....limited pressing w/ no mp3s......

.....you will pay for your sins, Matador!!!....

Anyway, who knows what album he'll do next? Maybe he'll settle down in Reno and become the Coverband Chameleon! Seriously though, as fun as this looks and sounds so far, he's really hoping to boost creativity by doing covers? I guess it's a way to stretch you in musical directions you might have shied away from. But... if they all come out just sounding like Beck songs.... We'll see where he takes it.

I don't care, I think it's cool.

Sasquatch 2009

2009-07-10T20:49:00.002-07:00

Ok, so this isn't going to be pretty but I've got to get it out of my system. (I got halfway through a gargantuan post (10+ videos) last summer for the Sub Pop 20th Anniversary Fest. and then totally burned out... too much information... sorry Sub Pop, I still love you, though..)

Music festivals are like a cross between a Tapas Bar and an Indian Buffet, nice mix of stuff you know and stuff you don't, potent little morsels piled up in such a spread you could never possibly eat them all. You soak in so much sun and sound, you can puke it all out your ears again.

Sasquatch!!! The Gorge Amphitheater in George, WA!! (Did you know there's a Martha, WA too?) A dusty bowl perched atop the cliffs of the mighty Columbia, a roaring hillside wall of sound (if not the Phil Specter variety). Check out some of the videos I took of some of the shows! (don't mock my feeble camera skills...) I need a bigger memory card... or camera!!!

BLIND PILOT

We missed the first couple of bands but made it in time for these guys. A very pleasant surprise as a live show and a great way to start off the day. Banjo, bass, guitar pickin' ditties... great sunny afternoon music.

DEATH VESSEL

Scooted from the Wookie stage to the Yeti stage for this Sub Pop group. Billed as a "neo-traditionalist" folk act, both their name as well as their visage (all black, long hair, vampire-white skin) conjure visions of a norwegian black metal group. I think it might have been the tiny Yeti stage (few bands sounded great there), but DV was pretty underwhelming. We ditched them early to go see Doves down at the mainstage.

DOVES

Brit boys. The mainstage suited their sound, some cool songs but not enough to keep me from leaving early to go see Passion Pit....

PASSION PIT

...which was pretty disappointing... one of the biggest let-downs of the day. just don't translate well into a live show. like animal collective, they would have benefited from an indoor or nighttime venue.

DEVOTCHKA

Probably the biggest surprise for me at Sasquatch! You listen to their recorded material and they're decent to good (everybody knows their biggest hit- "how it ends" made popular by the preview for the film adaptation of everything is illuminated, and the commercials for Gears of War) but they're MONSTERS on stage. Really fantastic live show. I had planned on leaving early to go catch Shearwater, but was too hypnotized to move... Gypsy music meets mariachi meets rockin' balkan polka. Super rad.

M. WARD

M. Ward!!!!!!!! One of the best shows of the day. We were up close and personal for this set at the mainstage. I just laid down in the sun using my jacket as a pillow and listened with my eyes closed. Not very engaging with the crowd, but a well-performed set chock with greats and covers.

Animal Collective

I was really looking forward to this set and wasn't disappointed. They kicked off with Summertime Clothes which transitioned seamlessly to My Girls which bled into a 10 or 15 minute blow-your-mind version of Fireworks (the three songs together with some jammage clocked in at around 40 min). The thing that sucked was that they went on in the afternoon instead of the evening... they should have had the Yeah Yeah Yeah's slot...

Ra Ra Riot

One of Ann's favorite bands- she's seen them multiple times/places (even in NYC). I'd never heard them, though, and once again the acoustics of the Yeti stage were pretty subpar. Seemed like some pretty cool songs, but the set was a bit underwhelming given the sonic limitations.

THE DECEMBERISTS

You know? I haven't been able to dig their stuff since leaving Kill Rock Stars. Maybe someday it'll grow on me, but maybe I'm just bored with Colin Meloy. Me and Ann watched from the top of the grassy amphitheater of the mainstage and wondered if we might have dug it more being down closer to the action... maybe. I guess during the set way over to the left of where we'd been (after we'd ditched for Mos Def) a couple got nekkid and intimate for all to see.... man, how i've missed music festivals at the Gorge....

MOS DEF

HOLY MOSES!!! The Def is back! I thought he'd gone all hollywood... He was all smiles and energy- the sun was setting opposite the Wookie stage and he freaked out for a minute or so about the ambiance and the landscape, "Look at this place!!! Look! Look! It's unreal!" Would have been nice to see him indoors with better acoustics, but his juxtaposition against the dry hills and the twilight canyon was pretty surreal.

BON IVER

The night effectively ended with Bon Iver. I had no interest in seeing the mainstage show Yeah Yeah Yeahs (we watched a song or two just to say we did...Karen O's voice is like a cheese grater on my brain) Kings of Leon and Crystal Castles came next, but Bon Iver was the perfect cap to a near-perfet day; a sweet nightcap catharsis to a sun-drenched and sonic-soaked day. Justin Vernon sure knows how to work the crowd! Of the videos above I only recorded the cover of Kathleen Edwards' Mercury (ran out of card space...but kept this one for its uniqueness). I could have listened for hours more.... but he practically played every song he's ever recorded (including the Dark was the Night stuff) Hats off... one of the best live sets I've seen in a while.

Here's a freebie- check out this awesome acapella version of "for Emma"

So we listened to one song by Kings of Leon and split. Long day... and nothing was about to top what we'd just seen. Can't wait to see next year's lineup!

Scintillation

2009-06-09T17:12:00.000-07:00

Check this out!!! This video called Scintillation was made by Xavier Chassaing, a director from Paris. He used a combination of stop motion and live projection mapping of 3d animation. Its a little slow at first, but stick around until around a minute in and you won't be disappointed.

SCINTILLATION from Xavier Chassaing on Vimeo.

Rest in Peace, Jeff

2009-06-09T00:43:00.000-07:00

Wow..... what terrible news. It was reported that his parents found him in his new Minneapolis apartment, having apparently fallen and died as a result of hitting his head on a concrete floor. Really nice guy and great songwriter. (Why doesn't this stuff happen to Mexican drug lords or serial killers?) Man, I'm bummed.

Merriweather Post Pavilion

2009-05-18T15:42:00.000-07:00

(First paragraph accidentally erased.... sorry Spencer... I was trying a new thing with embedding the player inside the post and I chopped it. But to paraphrase: Spencer was being hard on himself for not having posted this sooner, but school happened... blah blah blah, wah wah wah... oh yeah and he's so tired of going to see the Liberty Bell... Spencer- there are starving children in China who would give their left ear to see the Liberty Bell.... jeesh. :) Sorry again. )

But the last of Lisa’s family winged home this morning, and I have a week until my job in SLC starts, so I have all the time in the world to wax rhapsodic about the new album.

And what an album it is. Back when Merriweather Post Pavilion came out in mid-January, I had a review planned out in my mind where I called it the best album of 2009. Granted, the dramatic heft of that statement has been somewhat neutered by the intervening five months, but it’s as true now as it was then. Grizzly Bear who? Bat for Lashes what? No matter how you slice it, I guarantee 2009 will end with MPP being the best album of the year. At least according to me.

This is normally the point at which I would delve into the history of Animal Collective and discuss their back catalogue. The problem is, their back catalogue is so dense, so rich and frothy, that it would take me several posts to sum up their musical history before getting around to reviewing MPP. Suffice it to say, like with most challenging music, new listeners of Animal Collective should start at the end and work their way backward; a LIFO approach to familiarization, if you will. Whatever you do, if you’re new to Animal Collective, don’t jump in with Spirit They’ve Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished. That’s the deep end of the pool. That way lies madness.

As for the band itself, Animal Collective features a rotating membership mostly comprised of Avey Tare (real name: David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Deacon (Josh Dibb) and Geologist (Brian Weitz), four friends who met in college and decided – probably while under the influence of psychedelic chemicals – that they should write some bizarre music. Although that music has been described as “Noise Pop,” “Experimental” or “Freak Folk” (I agree with Bart – misleading in the extreme), the label I most prefer is “New Primitivism” (see my 2008 top ten list for an all together too lengthy discussion of New Primitivism), if one really must apply labels at all. Regardless, their music features throbbing beats, samples, tortured shrieks and yelps, screams and grunts, and what sounds like broken Casio keyboards – in a word, it's wonderful. At times, however, Animal Collective strays too far into self-indulgence. Almost every one of their albums has at least one song that’s a seven-minute long drone of shifting, grating noise. I’ve grown to appreciate even those songs, but it’s been a process, almost an act of faith. That said, MPP is remarkable in that it entirely lacks any soft, dead moments; the entire album from start to finish is pure, gold-plated joy. Join me on a whirlwind tour:

The album starts of with “In the Flowers,” probably the most traditionally Animal Collective of any of MPP’s songs. Swirling vocals and watery sounds build until about two minutes thirty seconds, when a crazy carnival erupts and carries the listener, captive, into the next song.

“My Girls” is one of two songs on MPP that come the closest to being traditional singles material. It also features one of the most hummable choruses that Tare and company have ever produced: “I don’t mean, to seem like I care about, material things, like the social status. I just want, four walls and adobe slats, for my girls. Whooo!” Another reviewer pointed out that there might have been some intentional irony there, as social status is not a material thing, whereas four walls and slats are. Whatever the meaning behind the song (and trying to find meaning behind Animal Collective songs is not a feat best attempted sober or sane), I dare you to listen to this song without bobbing along to the beat.

The next song, “Also Frightened,” is a manic fire dance of a song. Faint shrieks punctuate laidback, almost contemplative lyrics. It feels simultaneously slow yet fast, relaxed yet anxious, until around the three-minute mark when it evolves into the somehow triumphal refrain of “are you also, frightened?” before returning to the earlier pattern and fading out.

If “My Girls” makes you bob your head, “Summertime Clothes” will make you get up and dance. The second very single-esque song on the album, “Summertime Clothes” wouldn’t feel out of place on a slightly more psychedelic Cut Copy CD. By the end you’ll be singing along: “But I want to walk around with you!”

The next four songs slow things. “Daily Routine” is cascading notes morphing into drawn out vocals and whiplashes. “Bluish” is an almost sweet love song; “I’m getting lost in your curls,” sighs Avery during the chorus. “Guys Eyes,” is all layered vocals and samples, and sounds like it wouldn’t have been out of place on Panda Bear's 2007 solo album Person Pitch. “Taste” is a solipsistic circus ride, as Avery muses whether he’s “really all the things that are outside of me.”

“Lion in a Coma” picks up the pace again; it’s the best (and only?) song I’ve ever heard that features a didgeridoo. Of all the songs on the album, this is the most tribal sounding, but of course this is intentional as Avery yelps that “this wilderness up in my head needs to get right out of my clothes and get into my bedroom.” Again, no idea what he’s talking about, but it sounds fantastic.

“No More Runnin” suggests a secluded lagoon with its slow-tempo beat and drippy sounds. Indeed, the song was written to evoke visions a relaxed, watery refuge. Yet the song begins to take on a melancholic, introspective aspect as the listener realizes that the narrator might currently not be floating in the lagoon, but looks ahead to the day when he will be able to do so. “It’s what I hope for; no more runnin.”

The album finishes up with “Brothersport,” a madcap, droning, reggae-esque, tropical anthem. If this song were in Spanish, it would have easily fit right into El Guincho’s Allegranza. It’s a lively, optimistic song, and it’s the perfect way to finish up the album after the mellower “No More Runnin.”

In MPP, Animal Collective has crafted an album that’s not only their most accessible, but their most cohesive album as well. A lot of good stuff has come out this year, and a lot of good stuff is still on the horizon (new Sunset Rubdown in June!) but for my money, Merriweather Post Pavilion is the best CD 2009 has to offer.

Here's a video of Animal Collective performing "Summertime Clothes" on Letterman:

Here's the music video to "My Girls":

And here's the music video of the song "Fireworks," from their previous album Strawberry Jam:

Sufjan covers Castanets

2009-04-04T22:33:00.000-07:00

So I wanted to do a post on the new Red Hot Organization's latest benefit compilation, Dark Was the Night. Problem is, I've only downloaded like 1/3 of it.... (ran out of my monthly eMusic tracks...) I heard that Sufjan Stevens, Decemberists, Bon Iver, Arcade Fire and others had all contributed original recordings to this 31 track monster and couldn't resist. I'm especially desperate for any new Sufjan stuff..... (come on man! I'd even settle for some Know your Rabbit outtakes!!!) I don't believe I've bought a RHO comp since No Alternative (mostly for Smashing Pumpkins' "Glynnis" and the Nirvana hidden track "verse chorus verse"), but from what I've heard so far- this one's freakin' awesome. So look for a DWTN post in the somewhat distant future.....for now I'm impatiently awaiting my emusic to click over to April.....

So if you're my wife, you may have already navigated away from this page before reading this far (or maybe you've turned the volume down- the opening dissonance doesn't last long...promise). Also- some of you probably check the blog while at school or work and miss out on the soundtrack. Anyway, when you get the chance- listen to these three tracks and I think you'll be glad you did. Sufjan Stevens' contribution to DWTN is a 10 minute cover/reimagining of "You are the Blood" from the Castanet's Athsmatic Kitty debut, Cathedral. Thoroughly enjoying it, I set out to aquire the original.... This album has been in my eMusic "Save for Later" file forever and though I'd heard a couple tracks, I'd never pulled the trigger. Having used my last download for DWTN, I popped over to my favorite Portland music store, Everyday Music and grabbed a used copy.

How to describe them? Gothic Americana? Folk Noir? Psychedelic Folk? Some people lump these guys together under the umbrella of "Freak Folk," but besides finding most labels inaccurate and constricting, I really hate this one. I've read Joanna Newsom (I'm doing a post on her next), Devendra Banhart, Animal Collective (neo-primitivism, no?) and Panda Bear, even Sufjan as being lumped into this construct. Banhart (perhaps the only real "freak")prefers "Naturalismo," but that sounds like you're hawking herbal supplements (Teamocil !!!). I guess labels are inevitable even if you successfully defy categorization, you become the label, the point of comparison.

Anyway...

The Castanets are basically Raymond Raposa and whoever else he can get together. Originally from San Diego and since relocated to Brooklyn (....yawn....), they've put out a handful of disks on Athsmatic Kitty since 2004. Cathedrals was their debut and today's first two tracks are the 4th and 5th on the album and though "You are the Blood" (sounds a little Velvet Underground, don't you think?) is quite the standout, the album is best listened to as a whole. I love the dusty sound- the acoustic guitars, reverb, chattering and plodding percussion, baritone sax.... electronica? Yeah, it's a rich soundscape. The lived-in feel makes me think of the crackly analog recordings of Phil Elvrum, picking up sounds from the street below... people walking through the studio.

The third track is, of course, Sufjan's 10 min plus cover. Word to your moms. Take a listen, ey.

You Are The Blood (Castanets)

No Light to be Found (Castanets)

You Are The Blood (Sufjan Stevens covering)

Amitabh??? Amitabh Bachchan???? Amitabh!!!!

More Fauxlbums....

2009-03-23T22:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, some more faux albums..... fauxlbums....??? Some of these bands are just begging for a paragraph bio....

From Jacob: MURGATROYD!!!

From Sterling:

Gianni Alemanno
"Match them to the Challenge"

(that album title should have an exclamation point..... challenge!!!!)

Next, this one from Zac:

Columba the Virgin
"What the Hell Good Would That Do?"

And.... so I decided to do another.... too much fun

Salem News

"Without Speech, Fly Freely About"

Keep 'em rolling!!!!

Album Art Competition

2009-03-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

So not really a competition because every element is randomly selected. And yes, this is one of those annoying facebook thingies that clog your inbox. But mine actually turned out half-way decent. Don't think I'd ever call a band "Hound," but the picture's cool.

Ok, so here's the rules:

1 - Go to Wikipedia. Hit “random”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Quotations Page and select "random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together and post it!

Pretty cool, huh?

UPDATE- 1st submission by TRACY: PALIKIRUS COSMETUS!!!

Ann's Band: WICHITA WILD!!!!!

Hipsters: Shrugging Themselves into Oblivion

2009-03-05T15:09:00.000-08:00

http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html

"Hipsterdom is the first “counterculture” to be born under the advertising industry’s microscope, leaving it open to constant manipulation but also forcing its participants to continually shift their interests and affiliations. Less a subculture, the hipster is a consumer group – using their capital to purchase empty authenticity and rebellion. But the moment a trend, band, sound, style or feeling gains too much exposure, it is suddenly looked upon with disdain. Hipsters cannot afford to maintain any cultural loyalties or affiliations for fear they will lose relevance."

"It’s an odd dance of self-identity – adamantly denying your existence while wearing clearly defined symbols that proclaims it."

"...too self-aware to let themselves feel any form of liberation; they shuffle along, shrugging themselves into oblivion."

"The hipster represents the end of Western civilization – a culture so detached and disconnected that it has stopped giving birth to anything new."

Oh snap!!!!!!!!!!

Spencer's Top Ten (And Then Some)

2009-01-23T06:14:00.000-08:00

2008 was . . . different. All right, let’s be honest; with two important exceptions 2008 was horrible. Luckily, seeing as how this is a music blog, one of those exceptions was music. 2008 was a great year for music, but it was certainly different than 2007. 2007, for me at least, was the year of old favorites - Animal Collective, Arcade Fire, Sunset Rubdown and Of Montreal all released fantastic albums. 2008, on the other hand, was a year of new bands, new sounds and, for me at least, a little branching out. So without further ado, here are my top ten albums of 2008:

#10 The Ruby Suns – Sea Lion

A minor debate is raging across the internet as to whether the moniker “new-primitivist” is a genre, sub-genre, movement, or merely an adjective. As far as I can tell, the phrase first cropped up in Pitchfork’s review of The Dodos “Visiter,” in which the reviewer compared that album to those of other new-primitivist bands like Animal Collective, Yeasayer and High Places. The review doesn’t, however, tell us what new-primitivism is except mention that it involves “locomotive percussion [which] is every bit a lead instrument as [the] guitar. . . .” That’s a pretty broad definition upon which to hang a genre, or even a sub-genre; regardless, when I read that review I had a moment of clarity in which all these wacky, chanty, tribal-sounding bands I was getting into suddenly had a label – they were new-primitivist. Long story short – I love new-primitivism.

It should be no surprise, then, that several new-primitivist bands show up on my end-of-the-year lists. Sea Lion is merely the first of many. The song you will probably be most familiar with is “Oh, Mojave,” which is used as a jingle in recent Windows commercials. The first time I saw one of those commercials I think I had an aneurism – “they’re playing the Ruby Suns in a commercial? They’re playing the RUBY SUNS in a commercial?” Don’t let that be your only exposure to the band.

What makes Sea Lion great is that it is very much a global (in that it borrows instruments and sounds from around the world), but remarkably unpretentious, album. Indeed, the songs exude a kind of warm, gentle optimism. Like so much of the rest of this list, Sea Lion will take a while to grow on you, but it will be worth it.

# 9 Department of Eagles – In Ear Park

Bart already had a great entry on this album, so I don’t know if I need to elaborate. Suffice it to say that In Ear Park came out of nowhere toward to end of the year to displace some other great albums on my list. I’m glad it did.

# 8 Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

This one actually got a limited release in 2007, but its mainstream release was in 2008, so I’m including it. Justin Vernon, the sole member of Bon Iver, apparently wrote and recorded the album while living for three months in a Wisconsin cabin and recovering from the breakup of his previous band, the breakup of a relationship, and mononucleosis of the liver. What can I say? Heartbreak and loneliness make for great music – you can almost hear the cold winter wind blowing through Vernon’s sparse, haunting melodies. Listen to this album, but bear in mind that it will make you depressed; luckily you can listen to the next album to cheer you back up again.

# 7 El Guincho – Alegranza

I don’t recall where I first heard of this guy (probably from Dave); regardless, I went to his Myspace page and listened, entranced, to the few songs he had looping on the embedded player. I knew I had to have this album. Unfortunately, the only place selling was a record store in NYC that was charging way too much for a single CD. Of course, I bought it, and almost immediately had the buyer’s remorse. I think that colored my perceptions of the full CD when I finally listened to it because I recall being somewhat underwhelmed. But then I kept on coming back to it – I don’t know that any other 2008 album has, in the end, as much staying power as Alegranza. I’m listening to it right now and loving it all over again.

If For Emma, Forever Ago, is winter, then Alegranza is summer. Tropical rhythms and beats are looped over Spanish chanting and samples to create a layered, sophisticated tableau of sounds. Imagine an island Animal Collective or Panda Bear album and you’ll begin to appreciate Alegranza; and in a year without an Animal Collective or Panda Bear release it was a welcome alternative. I dare you to listen to this and not bob your head along.

# 6 Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours

Way back in April when I did my post on the Unicorns (I never did do my promised Islands follow up) (not that anybody noticed) I solemnly declared that “new new wave has come and gone.” I was a fool. And a liar. Two albums would soon be released that would show that there was still plenty of nostalgic, electronic goodness to be squeezed from the seemingly withered teat of the eighties (too far?); In Ghost Colours was one of them.

In Ghost Colours is pure, unpretentious electronic pop. These guys aren’t looking to reinvent the wheel, but they are perfecting it. It’s amazing how, in the right hands, the same sound you’ve heard hundreds of times can seem fresh and innovative. It isn’t deep music, but you’ll be too busy dancing to care.

# 5 Girl Talk – Feed the Animals

Girl Talk is Greg Gillis, a former biomedical engineer who creates “mashup” music by taking hundreds of samples from hip-hop and pop songs and combining them to create a twisted, dizzying stream of constantly evolving music. Although I’m generally not a fan of hip hop, I’ve loved Girl Talk from the moment I heard his previous album, Night Ripper. As such, Feed the Animals was one of my most anticipated albums of 2008, and I was not disappointed.

What separates Girl Talk from other hip hop artists, for me at least, are both its mutability (the song you’re listening to now is not the song you were listening to thirty seconds ago) and its (for lack of a better word) catchiness; I’ll get loops of Girl Talk songs stuck in my head for days. Be warned that Girl Talk gets pretty filthy at times. After all, Gillis pulls most of his samples from modern rap samples, and he doesn’t pull any punches when deciding to use a particular song. Whether you think Girl Talk is genius or just a guilty pleasure, there’s no denying the raw, visceral appeal of his music.

#4 Vampire Weekend – S/T

I’m always amazed by how quickly the collective opinion of the internet can swing from “hotly anticipated” to “over-hyped and over-played.” Vampire Weekend is a perfect example of this – some early leaks of their debut album got everyone in a frenzy, the album dropped, was HUGE, and almost immediately hipster kids became disdainful. Whatever. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that a band’s success may actually correlate with its quality; shouldn't great bands become popular? Vampire Weekend certainly deserve their ensuing popularity, as they crafted one of the most engaging, listenable albums of 2008.

The members of Vampire Weekend first met when the four of them were attending Columbia, and an Ivy League influence permeates their music – two of their main musical influences are African pop and classical music, and many of their songs deal with the travails of academic life. What makes Vampire Weekend work is that they never take themselves too seriously; their songs are sung with a certain winky cheekiness, so you’re never sure whether they’re celebrating the upper-crust lifestyle or skewering it instead. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the music itself is playful, uptempo American pop wedded to African drum beats; it’s complex and erudite without being esoteric or inaccessible.

I know they hate this comparison, but Vampire Weekend really reminds me of a Graceland-era Paul Simon. Graceland is one of my favorite albums of all time, so it should be no surprise that I love Vampire Weekend, no matter what the internet says.

# 3 Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer

Again, Bart did a great write-up of this album, so I’ll spare you my own musings. I will say that separately Spencer Krug (Sunset Rubdown) and Dan Boeckner (Handsome Furs) can do no wrong, so when they get together and write a Wolf Parade album it’s almost automatically a thing of beauty.

# 2 Crystal Castles – S/T

England’s Crystal Castles is definitely a love ‘em or hate ‘em kind of band. Imagine distorted female chants, crackles and wails played over electronic drum beats and eight-bit boops and beeps. Now imagine that same thing, but imagine it as a sort of pulsing, neon worm that burrows deep inside your brain and refuses to leave. That’s Crystal Castles.

From all reports, Ethan Kath and Alice Glass, the two members of Crystal Castles, belong to that seemingly ever-expanding group of individuals known as “douche bags who write great music” (see also, Islands). Here that label seems particularly appropriate as it would be impossible for nice people to make music this glitchy and sneeringly over the top. Listen to "Love And Caring" (one of the stand out tracks) and tell me the people who created that song weren’t total jerks. I’m glad people like this exist, because without them we wouldn’t get music this audacious and daring. I’m also glad, however, that they live far, far away.

#1 The Mountain Goats – Heretic Pride

I’ve been staring at this screen for the last half hour trying to put my love for the Mountain Goats into words. I’m having a hard time, so I’ll leave it at this: John Darnielle (the lead singer and for a long time only member of the Mountain Goats) is the greatest singer/song writer working today; "September 15, 1983" is one of the most moving songs I’ve ever heard; and Heretic Pride is the greatest album of 2008.

The Best of the Rest (in no particular order)

#11 The Dodos – Visiter

According to Pitchfork, they’re new-primitivist, so I must love them.

#12 Born Ruffians – Red, Yellow and Blue

A new-primitivistish band, although less abstract and more poppy than most bands of that ilk.

#13 F*ck Buttons – Street Horrrsing

At times, this album crosses the line into pure noise; but no other band that I know of taps that primal part of the human brain as well as these guys.

#14 M83 – Saturdays = Youth

Remember up above when I said two excellent new new wave albums came out in 2008? This was the other one. An airy, ethereal tribute to John Hughes movies.

#15 TV on the Radio – Dear Science

You don’t need me to tell you how excellent this album is; I’m sure you’ve all heard it before.

#16 Russian Circles – Station

Sort of a metal inspired post-rock. Intense stuff.

#17 This Will Destroy You – S/T

Just straight up, really good post-rock.

#18 Los Campesinos – Hold on Now, Youngster

Like Architecture in Helsinki, these guys drift into twee territory at times; however, also like Architecture in Helsinki, it’s impossible to listen to them and be sad.

#19 Okkervil River – The Stand Ins

A worthy, almost as good follow up to 2007’s The Stage Names. "Lost Coastlines" is one of the best songs of the year.

#20 Islands – Arms Way

Bart summed it up for me. Great band, great album.

Top 10 and a Half of 2008: Part II

2009-01-10T21:38:00.000-08:00

Did you like my little (?) at the end of the last post when I said that Part II would be up at the end of the following week? As the French say, "On n'apprend pas aux vieux singes à faire des grimaces," (or is it, "Il vaut mieux faire que dire"?... I can't remember...I don't speak French).

Not sure how many folks listened to the playlist for Part I, but the songs can still be listened to. Just click on the song titles and hey presto!

So, I guess Radiohead's In Rainbows is being considered a 2008 release. Not in my books- the pay-as-you-may in October 2007 got it listed in my top-10 last year. (Just in case anybody was wondering...).

While I'm at it- I'm not doing an honorable mention list. But I also enjoyed releases by Women, Dr. Dog, and Cut Copy.

(Once again- Spencer's post is up now, but you can still listen to the songs below- click (right click even!.... save as....or don't....) on the hyperlink for the song titles. Word).

#5 Beck: Modern Guilt (Orphans)

Ok, so I'm a little biased when it comes to Beck. From the second I finished listening to Mellow Gold back in the summer of 1994, my fate was sealed. I'm a Mellow Gold/One Foot In The Grave/Mutations Beck man and though there isn't an album I don't like, there are elements of his musical schizophrenia that I'm more partial to. Beck has mostly played it safe (predictable?) since Midnight Vultures, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but maybe the early comparisons with David Bowie aren't that far off (look at Bowie's plateau (decline?) in the 80's/90's). This album reminds me of Radiohead's In Rainbows (except for the part where Nigel Godrich is substituted with Dangermouse). There may not be another Odelay or Mellow Gold (or Ok Computer/Kid A for RH) up his sleeves, but the man is still one heck of a song-smithey. With Dylan-esque cover art, you might think of a return to One Foot in the Grave, or even a little Mutations, but this 'aint no Highway 61 Revisited. I love the reverb-saturation on this album. I love the quick and lean run-time, each song charging into the next- it crackles and drives. The album starts out strong starting out with a quartet of gems, "Orphans", "Gamma Ray", "Chemtrails", and "Modern Guilt". It meanders a bit in the middle, but ends of on a strong note with "Profanity Prayers" and the exquisite "Volcano." Chekkit.

#4 Jeff Hanson: Madam Owl (Night)

I usually try to stay in touch with the latest and greatest coming out of my two favorite hometown record labels, K Records and Kill Rock Stars, but Jeff Hanson had flown under my radar until this year when Jacob highlighted him in September after the release of Madam Owl. (Click on the hotlink for his review). Shortly after that me and Ann went to go see him perform at Chop Suey here in Seattle. (I don't know, but seeing him live before ever hearing one of his recordings minimized the wierd-out factor with his falsetto). Great music- great show, great album.

#3 Islands: Arm's Way (Creeper)

The Unicorns died young. I love Islands, but feel we were cheated out of a 3 or 4 album string before the untimely self-destruction and rebirth (the jettison of Alden Penner and now Jamie Thompson after the first Islands album). I love the shoestring budget feel to Who will cut our hair when we're gone? and was initially turned off by the bigger-production bombast of Island's debut Return to the Sea. I've grown quite fond of that album, but there are still things that don't work for me ("Where there's a will, there's a whalebone" not being one of them, surprisingly). Arm's Way fully realizes the vision of that album and then some. In some ways it reminds me of Built to Spill's Perfect from now on- Doug Martsch and Co. took their newfound major label debut cash and created an utterly brilliant opus, throwing convention and caution to the wind (radio-friendly song lengths be damned). Islands' latest feels equally inspired. I love it so. Songs like "Creeper," "Pieces of You," and "J'aime Vous Voir Quitter" are immediately accessible, jumping to the top of your repeat list, but "In the Rushes" (7 min.) and "Vertigo" (11 min!!) become cooler and cooler with each listen. (Look out for a little Who-lovin).

#2 Fleet Foxes (self titled LP) (White Winter Hymnal)

Jakob did another nice review of this album over the summer. I first read the pitchfork review, then Jake's, then a couple songs into the album (streaming on Rhapsody), I made a quick iTunes purchase.

Holy mackerel.

The music alone could have never convinced me that these guys are from Seattle (Lake Washington High School, represent!), let alone anywhere beneath the often gray skies of the pacific northwest (I could maybe see a little N. Cali...). From the soaring harmonies on the opening track, "Sun it Rises" to the intimate closing, "Oliver James," they could hardly have crafted a more perfect album. Put on some headphones, close your eyes, and say sayonara to the next couple of hours (days, weeks...) Phil Ek (Built to Spill again!!) produced this and their first two releases (both EPs). Exquisitely beautiful. I don't think I have a favorite track- sometimes I'm in the mood for "White Winter Hymnal", sometimes it's "Meadowlark"... sometimes it's "Blue Ridge Mountains (elements of that song remind me a little of the soundtrack for Spirited Away by Miyazaki...). If you haven't heard this album yet, you'll regret every day that you procrastinated. Hop to it.... hop to it.

#1 Department of Eagles: In Ear Park (Balmy Night)

Ok, so Fleet Foxes and DoE duked it out for a couple of weeks in my iPod for the #1 spot. Fleet Foxes kept their edge most of the time because they're local boys (yeah, there's a little conflict of interest...). Don't get me wrong, it's still pretty close- I would even go as far as to call Fleet Foxes co-best album, but nobody likes wishy-washy. When I originally reviewed this back in November, I gushed all over the place about it. I'm not sure how much more I can add besides that it's never grown old. I still sometimes listen to it a couple times a day when I can. Back when Arcade Fire's Funeral came out, it was on repeat so long it practically melded with my CD player. After a month or two, I started to get scared that maybe I'd get sick of it (like I'd once done with Grandaddy's Sophtware Slump). Never happened. I don't see that happening here either.

It's all about Re-Listenability. Not that there's anything wrong with Fleet Foxes instant listenability, but the most rewarding albums are those that continue to unfold and surprise with each spin. "No One Does it Like You" first grabbed my attention, but I quickly fell in love with "Around the Bay" and the title track. Later- "Phantom Other," "Fields of Rye" (!!!). Yeah, I still listen from start to finish, but sometimes when I'm driving around I'll listen over and over again to the last three tracks- "Therapy Car Noise", "Floating on the Lehigh", and "Balmy Night" (the final track on the MixTape). Ach, Balmy Night. If I weren't quickly tiring of writing this entry, I'd bore you all with an ode to each. Seriously, though, don't tempt me.

Definitely one of my favorite albums in years. I'm sure I'll get all giddy and what-not when their next album comes out, but in the meantime I'm more than satisfied with this awesome-tastic LP.

Word to your moms. Thank you, 2008. Here's to 2009!!!

Top 10 and a Half of 2008: Part I

2008-12-29T10:54:00.000-08:00

Ahoy! So the sun sets on 2008. Great year for music. Inspired by Dave Troutman I'm doing a post on my top 10 albums of the year. (Dave & Spencer- if you guys want to cut and paste your lists into the comments section... or heck- do separate posts, that would be fantastic. I just barely read yours after assembling mine...). I have a hard time with best-of lists because my musical discovery is rarely chronological. Not only that, but I'll have albums that will sit on my iPod a year or two before they gestate. A disclaimer: these are my favorite albums of 2008 that I actually own/have listened to. There are albums out there that I really wanted to like.... but just haven't listened to yet. Some guys I know talk about the cars they're going to buy when they finally get real jobs..... I'm catching up on loads of music. For serious.

I've split the list in two mainly because of the limitations of my html mp3 player, but you can think of it as a countdown of sorts. Part 2 will post later this week. I'd love to hear your thoughts on my choices as well as lists of your own.

(Part I mp3's can still be listened to- just click on the song title in each section)

#10.5 A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!!! (Soundtrack)

Yeah, the first song you're hearing on the MixTape is from a soundtrack. I love Stephen Colbert and this hour-long special is an instant classic. "The children are dressed up like elves! The dwarves are dressed up like children! It's magical!" It doesn't crack the top 10 (or even the top 20 probably) because most of the songs just don't work as well outside the context of the video. I just couldn't help tacking it on.

Colbert can sing!!! The first track on the countdown, (What's so funny 'bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding?, is a song originally made famous by Elvis Costello. Joining Stephen on this track (and throughout the show) are Elvis Costello (from the belly of a bear....don't ask...just watch), Leslie Feist, John Legend, Toby Keith and Willie Nelson. Somehow Colbert reigns in the comic insanity and brings the show to a somewhat more serious finale. It's been an insane year, and this show/album/song was a perfect coda to the 12 months of relief (comic and otherwise) that have kept us afloat.

#10 Atlas Sound (Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel)

I first heard River Card back when this album was newly released and it put down roots in my middle ear. Atlas Sound is a side project for Bradford Cox, a fine fellow from Atlanta Georgia. He is also the driving force behind the band Deerhunter, a band I gave a second chance as a result of this disc. Cox makes these introverted dream-sequence soundtracks crackle and hum. Plug in your 'phones on a rainy day.

#9 Shearwater: Rook ("Snow Leopard")

I'm not a big fan of Okkervil River, so I was surprised by Shearwater (a side project of 2 of OR's founding members). Who knows, maybe I'll eventually come around and give OR another chance, but whereas Atlas Sound is basically Deerhunter with slightly varied instruments, Shearwater sounds like a different animal to me. Rook is fantastic. Driving operatic multi-instrumental melodies, experimental arrangements and ballads from a guy crazy about birds. What more could you want?

#8 Deerhunter: Microcastle ("Nothing Ever Happened")

Ok, so I haven't heard Wierd Era Cont. (the bonus album you get if you buy the CD of Microcastle.... Holy cow, what a busy year for Bradford Cox...). It's said to be closer to Cryptograms, so we'll see. Microcastle felt to me like Cox was reigning in his penchant for droning on a bit long on some songs. It's definitely the most listener-friendly of the Cox Canon. He's crafted some excellent noisy dreampop here.

#7 Wolf Parade: At Mount Zoomer ("The Grey Estates")

Apologies to the Queen Mary kicked me in the head repeatedly for months and months and still ranks high among my all-time favorite albums. I had high expectations for Zoomer, and was pretty disappointed when it came out. I left it alone for a while and came back with a fresh set of ears and zero expectations and it keeps getting more awesome with each listen. Spencer Krug and Co. continue to make instantly-rewarding, yet challenging music that will gnaw out a little nook in your brain and take you hostage from time to time.

#6 Mount Eerie (with Julie Doiron and Fred Squire): Lost Wisdom
("You Swan Go On")

Anybody who knew me in the late 90's knew of my infatuation with K Records (Olympia, WA-based record label) and my man-crush on founder and Halo Benders/Dub Narcotic/Beat Happening frontman Calvin Johnson. Somewhere between 2000-2002, I dumped Calvin for Phil Elvrum and haven't looked back. The Microphones will always serve as the soundtrack for a couple years of my life (as well as the soundtrack for the wilderness of the Puget Sound region). I could gush for days about It was Hot, We Stayed in the Water and the Glow pt. II, but Phil's music just hasn't been the same for me since the Microphones died and reincarnated as Mount Eerie..... until now. Elvrum's always very personal lyrics are back but paired with the lovely vocals of Julie Doiron (Eric's Trip) and stripped down to very sparse arrangements. Also released this year- Black Wooden Ceiling Opening and Dawn. Prolific! I don't have Dawn yet (!!!) and didn't really take to BWCO (Phil's been on a bit of a scandanavian Black Metal kick lately). Speaking of which- the title and album art for Lost Wisdom are a reference to Norwegian Black Metal musician, Barzum. This aint metal, y'all. (or "the metal" as Spencer would say).

Tune in later this week (?) for Part II and my top 5 favorite albums of 2008!!!!

(Oh yeah, and if anybody is still reading this and has yet to see the Colbert Christmas special, scroll back to the top and click on the picture of the prancing Stephen).

Tinker Bells, Tinker Bells......

2008-12-13T10:31:00.001-08:00

My daughter, Indiana, thinks that Jingle Bells is about her little doll, Tinker Bell. So we Tinker all the way now.

'Tis the season and for the last couple of years I've attempted a 12 days of Christmas. Zac asked me the other day if we were on schedule for 2008 and it's probably not going to happen (at least from my end). I'm leaving town tomorrow for some place warm (likely without internet) and won't be back till the 23rd. So, what a great time to do my Pretendo tutorial! I think it would be great if people would post their favorite Christmas songs over the next week and a half. I'm not sure how many people will dive into this, but try to allow each person at least 24 hours with their songs up before putting yours up, ey? You'll notice that the songs on the Pretendo today are recycled from previous years. Truth is I don't have any new stuff this year and I need to set up an file to keep a running tally of everything I've posted/sent out, etc, but I likey these songs.

PRETENDO STEP I: Host site

Ok, so in order to create an mp3 player for a blog you need a host site for your songs. There are a couple free ones (like www.fileden.com, which I use) and numerous pay sites. If you happen to have your own server and are the kind of person who could say more than a thing or two about Linux, you could be your own host. The key is to find a host site that will not only store your songs but give you an web address for each (make sure the address ends in ".mp3").

The html mp3 players will incorporate those URLs into the code. Fileden is pretty easy to use- so if you have no alternative, I'd go there first. Let me know if you have any problems getting URLs for your songs. Sterling is also a good resource for this.

PRETENDO STEP II: Pretendo time

So, I've found a couple sites where you can make html mp3 players, but the coolest skins (Pretendo!) are over at MyFlashFetish. Set up an account, then go to the red tab at the top titled "mp3 playlist" and pick a skin. On the next screen you have to look for the hyperlink "Upload" next to the "Add Songs" section. Here you can paste your URL s (from fileden, etc.). Once you've added all your songs (click the orange button- "add mp3s"), type in a playlist name and click on the green button "Save/get code," which will take you to a screen which will ask you if you want to embed your player on your facebook page, etc. Don't do this- click on the red text below,

"Click HERE for any other website or blog!"

You'll see a box with logos for different websites and below that will be a text box with a little button that says "Copy." Click on this and you will have the whole code for your mp3 player.

PRETENDO STEP III: Embed in Blogger

Ok, so this step is pretty easy. Make sure you're signed in to Blogger- then click on the tab "Customize" on the top right. If any of you for some reason don't have Administrative privileges, shoot me an email and I'll change that for you. If you haven't seen this before- it's the barebones framework for the page. Look for the bubble at the top that says "HTML/Java script" and click on "Edit". This will bring up a window containing the existing mp3 player's HTML code. Delete this and paste in its place the code you just got from MyFlashFetish. Click on the orange tab, "SAVE," and you're good to go!

Ready, Set, Post!

Merry Christmas, everybody.

Axl Vs Dr. Pepper

2008-12-03T04:27:00.000-08:00

Where in the world has this man been for the last 14 years??? We have desperately needed this kind of shinanegans in the world! Thank the Maker he's back!

The Little Ones: Growth Spurt?

2008-11-05T15:10:00.001-08:00

Back last month with their debut full length album Morning Tide, the Little Ones continue to sing songs and drive your feet into dancing fits (Uncle Lee's Rule of Feet) and summer feel good, even if it's Fall. So it's more like dancing on crisping leaves, kicking them in the air drinking a fine hot chocolate than bare feet on green grass or windows rolled down cruising to the ocean.

I haven't felt so good about a purchase in a long time! Every song memorable, the cd has been in heavy rotation on the iPod for the last few weeks. With two tracks previously released ("Boracay" on Terry Tales & Fallen Gates and "Ordinary Song" as a myspace freebie awhile back) a slew of new ear catchers. I can only sing praises of elation for the magic of Ed Reyes, Ian Moreno and band mates as they continually write infectious tunes.

9.5 out of 10 for releasing something so infectious but releasing it in the UK first.

Department of Eagles

2008-11-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

So yeah, it's been a while since I've posted. I've been spending a lot of time and writing a little over at Sterling's blog, Professional Americans (see link in sidebar). WILL THIS ELECTION SEASON EVER END???? Also- I've been in search of a new site to host mp3's for the Pretendo..... and somehow the planets have aligned! I've enjoyed the latest flurry of posts by Jacob and Sterling. Even though I always try to stay on top of all the latest releases, Jake (as long as I've known him) continues to hit me with bands I never saw coming. Thanks, brosef. As a side note- I've been considering doing a mini post on how everyone can post their own Pretendo players. Links are cool, but it's nice to have the music playing while you read.

I've been meaning to do a post on Grizzly Bear for a while but then "In Ear Park", the latest by Department of Eagles came out. Daniel Rossen and Fred Nicolaus, NYU roommates, formed DoE in 2001 a couple years before the former joined up with Ed Droste, Chris Taylor and Christopher Bear as Brooklyn's own Grizzly Bear. (Daniel's involvement in both bands is reminiscent of Spencer Krug's finger-dipping in both Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown).

"In Ear Park" is layered, intricate and atmospheric ear candy. Some have compared it to Sgt. Pepper's or Pet Sounds, but I think that though equally ambtitious and baroque the comparisons stop there. Some songs feel very Grizzly Bear, but there's a warmth and emotional complexity (like in "Floating on the Lehigh") on this album that would feel a little out of place on GB's "Horn of Plenty" or "Yellow House." (This song in particular reminds me a lot of some of Jim O'Rourke's solo work). The cover art is genius. Slip on some headphones, grab a flashlight and head out into the black forest.

Anyway, I'm in love with this album and I can't stop listening to it. It was tough choosing which tracks to feature on the Pretendo, so I put up 4 that showcase the different faces of "In Ear Park." Don't judge a track by its first minute or two, or you'll miss the great whistling and hand claps of "Around the Bay" and the crashing crescendos of "In Ear Park"! Some bands just sound better with some good headphones and DoE definitely fits that category. Hope you all had a great Halloween! Enjoy the tunes.

Below: Video for "Romo Goth" from their last album, The Cold Nose

Department Of Eagles - Romo Goth
Uploaded by epb21

Chinese Democracy

2008-10-24T07:12:00.001-07:00

So is this really happening? Chinese Democracy is actually going to be released??? I must admit I've been rather skeptical of anything that Axl Rose would do without Slash, Duff and Matt Sorum.

But the song I just found on their website (http://web.gunsnroses.com/splash.jsp), is actually pretty good. This sounds like Appetite for Destruction worthy, actually.

I don't know, maybe Axl's still got game!

Take a listen and tell me what you think. I may have something else to look forward to beyond the election!

Copeland: You Are My Boring Album Title

2008-10-16T14:29:00.001-07:00

Making a transition from long time label the Militia Group to Seattle's Tooth & Nail Records, Copeland returned with Oct. 14's You Are My Sunshine, their follow up to 2006's Eat, Sleep, Repeat. Now on their 4th album (also a debut split ep, an ep of cover songs and a 2007 b-sides release) these Florida rockers follow suite of their last effort.

It's a mellow album, good for driving. My overall impression isn't one that is going to shout about any particular song or encourage you to download before everything else on your list. If you were a fan of third album, you'll enjoy this, if you long for their early two albums, you'll be dissapointed.

Departed seem to be days of guitar rock for Copeland, while much attention is given to keyboard and ambiance but singer Aaron Marsh always seems to deliver in my book and that's a plus.

Check em out here.

6 of 10 for being Copeland.

Dear in drunk Head likes: %Hic

2008-10-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

Sept. 23 saw the anticipated release (by at least this fan) of Arizona rocker's Dear & the Headlight's sophomore album Drunk Like Bible Times. First off, weird title. I don't support it. Anyways, of the 3 albums I got last week this one is my favorite. I only picked up their first album last October but even up until a few weeks ago I was catching lyrics I hadn't noticed before. Singer Ian Metzger has this way of rattling on and on in his what some-may-need-to-adjust-to vocal style but I dig it, I dig it very much. It climbs unexpectedly up and over and all around like he's trying to always grasp air at the same time he wants to emphasis something.

Really, this follow up album feels like an extension of their debut but if I picked it up having not heard 2007's Small Steps, Heavy Hooves I would still seek out the other album. Again because of his singing style, I'll need some time to really digest the album. Last time there were things about the Thundercats and NES and on and on. Good times.

Musically I'm entertained, from the start of "I'm Not Crying. You're Not Crying, Are You?" whatever studio magic or effects hocus pocus they roll with creates a nice sound between my ears. Especially further down the track list with the songs "Now It's Over", "Parallel Lines" "If Not For My Glasses".

At home on Equal Vision records (one of my favorite labels), Dear & the Headlights is fun. Give a listen here

8 of 10 for knowing I'm gonna keep coming back to listen for more just like last time.

Bayside: Still the Coolest School

2008-10-16T12:56:00.001-07:00

Lousy title I know, but I'm in California, the ocean is near. Bayside's latest album Shudder is their 4th full length release (plus an acoustic full length and a live cd under their shiny studded pleather belts available now at hot topic). Seemingly happy at home on Victory Records, this latest collection of rock was released on Sept. 23. Also seemingly happy is themselves with their style. They haven't changed all that much since their arrival in the "emo" scene a few years ago, but honestly I don't mind. I don't listen to them for depth, but for the rock they bring. Fun guitar work cause at least one guy who can hold his own with the guitar solo's.

Favorite song for sure is "I Can't Go On", mostly cause of this fun little guitar thing they do, I can't describe it, check it out. Don't hate me when you realize it's nothing real original. But then neither is this album. The lyrics wreak of crying and self-loathing, breakups and heartache as usual. That's why we kept watching Saved by the Bell though isn't it? Check out some music on their myspace.

7 of 10 for entertaining consistency value.

Joshua Radin: Simple Times

2008-10-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I was looking forward to the new Joshua Radin album Simple Times, which weeks after the digital release, came out on CD Sept. 23rd. Sadly, I was disappointed. With a full set this time, he looses something from the first album, though I don't know what it is. Maybe you don't focus on his voice as much, or his guitar playing just isn't as interesting when complimented with your drums and other layers. He's gone from being a mostly solo act to the full band.

Highlight of the album is "Sky" with Meiko. However you'd be better off to buy his mini-ep that was released on iTunes a few months ago, it has this song but the duet plays better, the album version has Joshua singing through the entire song, and you lose the duality of him singing one experience, while Meiko sings another. Still, great song (plus the ep has another great song that didn't make it to the album but would have been tied for 1st best song by far). Opening song on the album "One of Those Days" is also good.

Terrible song of the album award goes to "Vegetable Car". Sorry, the word vegetable makes my list of words that should never be used in a song, at least he wasn't singing about emailing vegetables. I also hate songs that mention email.

When I saw him on tour last year he actually sounded great with band backing up his first album but sadly, simpler times are over. Joshua Radin's website has a few songs to listen to. Stick with the first album, ep, and handful of singles on Zach Braff movie soundtracks. Maybe next time.

5 of 10 for always having the best female accompaniments, not easy to impress me.

Reckoner Remix

2008-09-26T17:32:00.000-07:00

Hey, check this site out. You can download the various recording tracks from Radiohead's 'Reckoner' (one of my favorite songs off "In Rainbows"), and remix it, and then upload it. And you can listen to all the remixes from other fans, and vote on them.

It's a little bit bogus, because you have to pay to get the recordings, and listening to the top remixes, I think Radiohead did just fine with their own final version! But it's a cool idea.

Ladies and Gentleman .....

2008-09-13T00:26:00.000-07:00

The Vern Morgus Harmonica Band!!!

Jeff Hanson

2008-09-10T20:54:00.000-07:00

Once in awhile I'm caught off guard and don't realize a record is coming out til the day it's released. I'm pretty sure that's what happened the last time Jeff Hanson released an album. Back with a third record Madam Owl, Jeff Hanson expands a bit more beyond the sound he's crafted over the last 2 albums, Son and a self-titled.

At first, you may be confused...is that a guy? I can't tell? Is it? ya, no..yes I'm positive. His name is Jeff after all. If you can handle a falsetto, then you can handle him. Beyond the acoustic guitar driven tracks of cd 1 & 2, Madam Owl delves into the full band throughout most of the cd.

My favorite addition is the trumpet! I love a good song with trumpet. And this one's got two tracks with it. One reminds ya of the Legends of Brass playing at the Mercyhurst College, only more mellow. The other sounds like a low-fi soft hit's jazz trumpet, that make sense?

Sometimes Jeff breaks through the falsetto and a little Jeremy Enigk styling can be heard playing through the Enigk-esque arrangements.

So if you're looking for some nice rock, acoustic or otherwise, check him out. Here's some more songs on myspace. The following video comes from his second album.

2008-09-04T15:39:00.001-07:00

Get Paid for Being a Fan

2008-09-04T15:02:00.001-07:00

Here's an interesting new business model for all you music fans.

Langhorne Slim: Diggin his way into the Rebel Side of Heaven

2008-08-19T21:35:00.000-07:00

I'm a huge Rocky Votolato fan. So last year when I saw him at Hell's Kitchen in Tacoma, a fellow named Langhorne Slim was opening, that being the last night of their tour together. I had seen his name on Daytrotter but hadn't really paid attention.

My first impressions, as he twitched a nervous neck jerk and other stage gallivanting, I though to myself this guy could easily have buried a few people in his backyard one time. Just looked a bit creepy to me. Man those impressions just fled as he and the War Eagles played an amazing set.

I of course rushed him like an fanatic groupie afterwards, begging for him to sign my t-shirt..kidding, but I did go talk to him and he was the nicest fellow. That night I downloaded his session from Daytrotter and consequently became a rabid fan for weeks on end rotating through just 4 songs.

I've discussed it with another friend who too has become a fan and we agree, this man is meant to be experienced live. I haven't heard his latest album, but all his previous recordings just lack something, the production doesn't do justice to what you're gonna get face to face. That being said, check out his latest live session (2 available now-9 songs total) on Daytrotter that was posted just this week! These will give a much better feel to what you'd get live, and if you get the chance to catch a show...I recommend you rush out to it.

The video below is a bit quiet, but it's actually one of my favorite songs by him and it was recorded at the show I attended last July.

Then check out his tuba-fueled video for "Rebel Side of Heaven" off his latest self-titled album.

The Go! Team

2008-08-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

Not to be confused with a short Olympia project that Kurdt Cobain was in. Although, if I recall correctly the energy was similar. Brighton, UK based six piece (with two drummers). These guys are like cheerleaders on acid. A nice thing to get you going in the morning without all the refinement of a drug free cheerleader.

The Last Shadow Puppets

2008-07-08T15:18:00.000-07:00

A few nights ago I picked up my second-to-latest copy of Death & Taxes magazine. Realizing I was done with the articles (seemed to have a lot of bands with girls in em, an automatic skip) I quickly breezed through the album reviews to find a featured segment on The Last Shadow Puppets. One part Arctic Monkeys, another The Rascals, Alex Turner and Miles Kane, respectively, joined forces to create the great album that is The Age of the Understatement!

The next morning, I visited their album website and began the first clip that loaded. 10 seconds into the song I turned it off and decided to pick up the album that day on my way out to the ocean for the 4th of July. I already knew there would be a few canadians there, so why not a few Brits too? No hard feelings there. So basically, not knowing what was on the album, I bought it based on the reviews, and the rave reviews of the reviews. Oh and cause it mentioned Owen Pallet composed the string section! Can ya go wrong with Final Fantasy? Not really (thanks Alex G. for the introduction). Bart, maybe now I'll listen to Arcade Fire with an open ear...

So ya, this is a fun album, lots of people saying a throwback to the days of early David Bowie (and some other guy I never heard of). Whether you agree or not, they do a great version of his "In the Heat of the Morning" on their EP I picked up that same night on iTunes... If you're into the great British sounds, I recommend this one. I love being completely satisfied with an album I found out about and bought in a 2 day period of time, never having known or heard a thing about it!

the debate that rages inside

2008-06-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

So for the longest time now I have been trying to live by the rule "less is more". I take pride in the fact that I can pretty much pack everything I need in the car and move without the help of friends (tricky with the mattress, I do need friends). 20+ moves in less than 10 years might do that to you.

So with this latest move I got rid of my computer desk, it was pretty small really, not the kind of thing that was useful to me and now my computer is sitting on the one thing that hasn't moved with me in 4 years, my storage bins full of cds...

iTunes and the other online stores have certainly made the case for eliminating all the cases compelling... I've been a fan of iTunes since 2004, before I even got an iPod. But since then I am usually still content to buy a physical cd in the $10-$13 range, and usually only resort to iTunes when I have been let down by Best Buys distribution system that doesn't make sense to me; why would you not have a Sub Pop release on the day it comes out when Borders does?

So the question I am asking myself is, when do I fully convert to mp3s and liberate myself of all this plastic sitting in boxes, untouched for the most part after they have been ripped to the computer? Am I only hanging on for the booklet with lyrics? Unlike the LP format diehards, I don't really care if the album art is 10 feet tall or cd size. But with the digital release, I don't seem to get that unless I've been missing something.. I know I can put the lyrics in after they've been ripped, but hey, I still bought a product; someone should do it for me.

If I abandon them, I abandon a collection. Then what am I? Free? Collection-less?

What are you doing? Anyone out there fully make the switch? No cds in your house/apt to speak of? Is there any real reason to hold on to old cds if you have them on your harddrive and you never look at them, not to mention listen to them?

Summer Listening: The Little Ones

2008-06-27T23:53:00.000-07:00

Today was such a great day to live in the Northwest! Mt. Rainier stood proud and tall in the distance, crystal clear from where I was, watching over those fortunate enough to steer clear from work and enjoy the weather. On a day like this, you have to have the perfect music to keep the foot tapping and the head boppin' as the breeze pours in through the car windows!

Cue the Little Ones! After taking a break for a few years, veterans of rock Edward Reyes & Ian Moreno joined together once more in 2006 after their previous band Sunday's Best disbanded. The summer of 2002 saw the release of Sunday's Best The Californian, the 2nd and last full length release and a great addition to their catalog of rockin' tunes. Both albums were released on Polyvinyl Records (Headlights, of Montreal).

Last summer, the Little Ones released Sing Song, a sweet ep full of energy and catchy guitar. This spring the Little Ones were back at it with a second ep Terry Tales & Fallen Gates, a six song soundtrack for summer. Together with a few other b-sides released here and there (the original Sing Song has since been re-released with an extra track), we've basically got an albums worth to enjoy!

If you're looking for something upbeat that'll keep ya shakin' and a movin', head to iTunes or eMusic and treat yourself to something great! Even more fun, Jesse LeDoux, the same artist who has done work for the Shins, Bear Colony, Limbeck & more, lends his talent to a few singles and concert posters that I just have to get for my collection. Don't let another summer day pass without the Little Ones!

Check out some more songs on MySpace.

Live the Life: It Sounds Better in Spanish

2008-06-18T12:33:00.000-07:00

Picked up the latest Coldplay yesterday. I remember first hearing Coldplay's Parachutes back at school, when those guitar pieces in "Shiver" & "Don't Panic" opening the album just really got into you like some kind of addictive virus you don't want out of you, but you crave more and more and wonder why the songs have to be so short... For me, that's a perfect example of how an album should start!

A few albums later we have Viva la Vida, which every time I hear or say the name I think of Chris Martin "Livin la Vida Loca" in those yacht-owner pants he wears. Anyways. My brief analysis after 2 listens: It's good, not as good as I hoped. The first half isn't as appealing as the second half but even then, that half sounds like they tried real hard. "Strawberry Swing" had me thinking of "Strawberry Fields" even before it got going, and though the two sound nothing alike, I kept thinking this was Coldplay trying to write their bridge to their "Sgt. Pepper".

There's a lot of open songs, jamming or instrumental or I don't know what they really qualify as. I'm not the biggest fan of this on any cd, live...eh whatever so long as it's not 15 minutes. I think they did this for Mr. Martin so he can jump around a lot on stage like he likes to do. Maybe that's why he hurt his knee during practice this week...otherwise how do you do injure yourself in band practice?

Overall, if you like Coldplay, get it, I think you'll enjoy it; and it's on sale this week so might as well- $10 at Target. Discussing Coldplay with my friend, he thinks they've peaked (hasn't heard the latest one) and I agree. From Parachutes to Viva la Vida, Coldplay has the ability to write a few songs that are absolutely great, but the rest of the album always leaves me wondering what happened with the rest of the songs...

The album art is pretty unimpressive. The cover is about the only salvageable part of what looks like the Joker and his cronies came through and painted over in that art gallery that one time.

Anyone out there say otherwise?? Do tell...

6 in 10.

Fleet Foxes

2008-06-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

Fleet Foxes self-titled debut album Fleet Foxes was released last Thursday on SubPop records. Following quickly on the heels of their ep Sun Giant, Fleet Foxes is to me, a more solid and fluid album than the ep. Now don't get me wrong, you should be on your way to owning both as soon as possible, but the ep sounds like a pre-release set of b-sides that for the most part wouldn't make sense on the album.

I was already planning a trip to Victoria last weekend, and anticipating the drive along the edge of Olympic National Forest I wanted to get the album for the roadtrip. The mood of the album was fitting as the skies darkened and the rain fell along the 101, deep woods to the left, the frigid Puget Sound to the right, which Fleet Foxes call home. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect atmosphere and another passenger mentioned the same thing.

I'm not very good at being critical of a band in words. My endorsement to you comes in the mere fact that I am taking the time to tell you about them. I can tell you it's been the only cd I've been playing since I picked it up last Thursday.

Folksy? A touch of classic rock? New Hippies? Dunno. Get yourself over to their myspace for a sample. Both releases are on vinyl for those of you who collect, but I believe the ep is only available in vinyl when you buy the album (combo pack). Check it out on SubPop's store.

What say you? Anyone else heard the mellow sounds of Fleet Foxes?

ps. Here is me bragging: I swear I should be a talent scout for SubPop. Twice now I've raved to friends about a band that was eventually picked up by SubPop, the first being Band of Horses.

9 in 10

Ya Do it to Yourself

2008-06-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

I hadn't heard that Radiohead's videos would be released with the non-band-picked greatest hits album this week, so I picked it up while it was on sale for $14.99 at Best Buy (please don't tell me where you found it cheaper...). I haven't watched it yet, but have planned a viewing party with a friend on Tuesday. Nothing extreme, if only they had branded some snacks in all these years so we could watch their videography while eating Radiohead Creepies or Myxomatosis Party Mix (similar to chex mix).

I was a late comer to the Radiohead band wagon. Heard and liked "Creep" at the time of it's release. I remember wanting to get some of their music after hearing "Fake Plastic Trees" in Clueless (HAHA). So I got the Bends, and enjoyed it. I worked at the movie theater and always would walk in early to catch the last few minutes of Romeo & Juliet so I could hear "Talk Show Host". In 1999 I finally heard Pablo Honey and was obsessed with it and OK Computer for a few months of non-stop Radiohead. From there on I was a release week fan!

Created a new survey to the right.

Anyone else pick it up this week or planning to? Thoughts, complaints or accolades on the releases? When did you first here them, begin listening?

O, CARIBOU

2008-05-31T12:20:00.000-07:00

Dan Snaith is 30 years old. He is a PhD mathematician from Dundas, Ontario. His thesis at London's Imperial College was titled, "Overconvergent Siegel Modular Symbols." His father and brother are both university math professors and Dan is............ CARIBOU

Snaith primarily composes electronica from his home computer (see the video at the very end of the post for a cool look into the process). He draws inspiration from among other things, a voluminous obscure vinyl collection. His latest album mines pop sensibility from 60's and 70's psychedelia. Though skilled at the keys and the drums, Dan enlists a group of musicians for more traditional recordings and for touring.

Dan Snaith's first couple albums were recorded under the name, Manitoba. In 2004 facing a lawsuit from the Dictators' Richard "Handsome Dick" Manitoba (above right- the self-proclaimed "Handsomest Man in Rock n' Roll"). Unwilling/unable to assemble a legal defense, he switched to CARIBOU. ("Handsome Dick" hadn't recorded anything in 15 years and never as a solo artist).

I stumbled across Caribou watching a video for "Melody Day" from the album Andorra. Next stop: downloaded the song and later the whole album off emusic. I love the hammer/axe synchronization with the beat! Andorra's a beautifully odd album. There's stuff on there that reminds me of early Moody Blues and Pink Floyd (especially "Sandy"). Melody Day wastes no time sinking its hooks. It has a great beat and melody (imagine that!), but it's the little flourishes (the synth flute!!) that drive me nuts. Then there's songs like Niobe that come out of nowhere (absolutely love this song- but due to its length, didn't make it into the post- but if anybody is curious- i'll gladly email it to you.) Niobe is more electronica than psychedelia, starting softly and plodding, building to a crescendo and crashing.... then steadily builds and crashes again. I like how Irene serves to transition from the psych to the electro.

Yeah, ok, so he lives in London now. But note that he didn't change his name to "Hedgehog"!! Anyway, hope ye all enjoy.

Videos:

1) Melody Day (Andorra)
2) Hello Hammerheads (Milk of Human Kindness)
3) Bees (Milk of Human Kindness)
4) BBC Collective Mini Documentary (Niobe plays briefly in the intro)

Best 80's Metal Hair

2008-05-27T23:10:00.000-07:00

Now you've done it. You've got me talking about "butt rock". Too bad you can't put comments on things you vote for. Let me start out by saying I've never heard of Jim Gillette from Nitro. Does this not make me a true butt rocker?

Dee Snider has got to be the guy that epitomizes "butt rock". "Butt Rock" is about being a bad ass at the same time wearing ladies makeup and long hair. You listen to Dee talk on the radio without actually looking at him. He has a really deep voice and sounds like a guy you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley, alone or no. As for the other guys on the list, not so much. Poison was about looking like a "butt rocker" while attracting as many chicks as possible. Were as Dee Snider was about offending people.

Guns and Roses was a new thing trying to branch out from "butt rock", but an easy mistake for someone that didn't live thru the transformation from Black Sabbath to Grunge really. Although I have to admit I am a little young when Black Sabath was in thier hayday.

Couple of Quick Items

2008-05-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

New Islands album is out today! And despite what Pitchfork says, I really like it. At some point in the near future I'm actually going to follow up my Unicorns retrospective with a post about Islands. In the meantime, anybody who doesn't have it should at least pick up their first CD, Return to the Sea.

And what better way to do that with an eMusic account? I'm assuming most of the people that read this blog have one, but if by some strange coincidence you don't, you should acquire one post-haste. As an extra incentive, for a limited time Circuit City is selling 65 download cards (that's cards worth 65 downloads) for $5. In case the math escapes you, that's about 8 cents a download. They're going fast, and in some locations the cards are still ringing up at their original $15 price, but the raw value of this deal makes it worth checking a Circuit City near you.

2008-05-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

i warned you that o, canada month might go on for a while. (time is pretty relative up there. heck! the sun doesn't even go down in the summer... at least that's what i've been told)

(oh, and if you want to stop the boombox for some video action, the buttons are really tiny on this one- but right under the cassette tape- you'll see a little square. yes, put your glasses on)

today we look at the vancouver, BC group "the new pornographers." no, not kidding. yeah, probably one of the lamest band names ever. some lame names are fitting. like "scraping fetus from the wheel." or "cannibal corpse" that sums them up rather nicely. but "heavy vegetable"? "new pornographers"!? you see those names without other context and..... you move on. (as much as i love rob crowe and heavy vegetable, i'm glad he moved on to "pinback." although "thingy" "optiganally yours" and "lactose adept" are other pretty retarded names he's used...) some people just suck at picking band names. but dang, if some of these people can't also make sweet sweet music.

TNP are a collective (not the animal variety) of creative hooligans that are were all drawn from other bands/solo efforts forming what is often referred to as a SUPER-GROUP. i guess you could call them a "power pop" super-group. not sure if many bands would openly brand themselves as such, but the wikipedia definition of the form is fitting: power pop "combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. instrumental solos are usually kept to a minimum, and blues elements are largely downplayed. it draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music."

SUPERGROUP

power pop or not, TNP has a distinct, yet freely meandering sound. though red-headed stepchild Carl Newman is the defacto gang leader, the other band members all hailing from other groups or solo projects make this one potent potpourri. Dan Behar (destroyer, swan lake) Neko Case (maow, cub), Carl Newman (superconductor), John Collins (the evaporators), Kurt Dahle (limblifter), and Kathryn Calder (the immaculate machine) bring their skills to the table. (swan lake, coincidentally is Dan Behar's other supergroup- spencer krug (sunset rubdown, wolf parade) and carey mercer (frog eyes) collaborate in that tchaikovskian namesake.

i think my favorite album is twin cinema, but it's tough to call. each album is distinctly TNP, but very different from the last. every album since 'mass romantic' has fans whining and pining for the good old days. go listen to 'mass romantic,' then! this is mostly foot-tapping stuff, sometimes a little too saccharine, but there are definitely moods i'm in when i've got to listen to it. nothing wrong with a well made pop song.

the music on ye boom box (right click, save as...):

1) stacked crooked (twin cinema)
2) jackie (mass romantic)
3) the electric version (electric version)
4) the jessica numbers (twin cinema)

todays videos are from albums not represented in the emailed mp3s ("myriad harbour" up top from the latest CHALLENGERS and down below: "use it" from their second album, "electric version")

(look for david cross! aka tobias from arrested development)

Demos

2008-05-09T12:14:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

I posted a couple of demos I recorded after I got home from Afghanistan on the "Professional Americans" blog. They're not really political in nature, and none of them are great to dance to, but if you're interested, take a listen. They're mostly about different experiences or thoughts I had while over there.

To play the songs, just click play on the media player located on the right hand side of the blog page. I'm going to post two more tonight.

Caspian

2008-05-05T06:34:00.000-07:00

This band came to Salt Lake City a year ago. A band some friends of mine play in opened for them. It was in a small record store here in SLC called Slowtrain. I brought my three year old son because I knew my friend's band was pretty laid back and Ethan, my son is obssesed with drums and keyboards. I knew he was sure to love watching. It turns out he was really into it all even to the point that he was trying to run up and pound on the drums and keyboards while my friends were playing them.

It came time for Caspian's set. They stood up before us all and the first thing they did was look at my son and say "we get pretty loud" my son and I smilled and stepped back a couple steps. The ethereal rocking rythum started. I thought to myself, "ehhh they aren't that loud". The music began to slowly almost imperceptibly crescendo. We took a couple more steps back. The volume increased, I felt my chest wibrating, we slipped to the front of the store as far away from the band as possible. By the end of the song we were standing outside on the sidewalk watching the steamed up windows of the store vibrate as passers by stared in amazement and asked what was going on inside. I was impressed by this performance, so powerful, so clear despite so much volume. Not listening to it live just simply can't do it justice but here it is nonetheless... Further In

Tim Seely/Actual Tigers

2008-05-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

You've probably never heard of the now-defunct band, The Actual Tigers. Their first and only CD, Gravelled & Green, was released in 2001. They broke up a few years later. Now the lead singer/guitarist, Tim Seely, does solo acts at various bars and taverns in Seattle. You can find him perform about once every month or two, usually in Ballard. I like his first solo CD, Funeral Music, but I really enjoy his live shows because he plays a lot of old stuff from the Actual Tigers album.

Here are some one-liners from various reviews over the years:

[Gravelled & Green] is quite reminiscent of the inquisitive adventures of Simon & Garfunkel, but offers charming soundscapes of early Wilco and the quirky funk of G. Love & Special Sauce.
Their own musical convention is strictly theirs, and the Actual Tigers waltz into something interesting on "Gravelled & Green."
Like the best songwriters, Seely smartly pairs his sunny melodies with dour lyrics, even if he has more trouble selling his disappointment and regret than he does his boundless optimism.
Smooth, picked electric guitars, a gentle, simple bass drum pattern, a warm wash of subtle synthesizers, catchy, well-crafted vocals—“Yardwork in November” epitomizes all that is great about the Actual Tigers’ debut record, Gravelled & Green.
Beatle-esque harmonies and chord changes abound in a varied mixture of slide guitars, electric pianos, horns, accordions, mellotrons, and exotic percussion rhythms.
The Actual Tigers blend stream of consciousness lyrics with largely acoustic instrumentation to create inanely catchy songs that come off both well-polished and impromptu.
The instrumentation is one of the cheeriest and catchiest on the albums. Even in songs about despair or class war, The Actual Tigers put on a happy face. And that is the lure of their music.
They will catch you tapping your foot, singing along. Gravelled & Green is the album for this summer, and many to come.
[Funeral Music] as a whole is a decidedly dreamy, late-night affair. Along with the usual noisemakers, Tim and friends conjure up an otherworldly musical landscape using orchestral samples, subtle electronics, steel guitar, layered background vocals, a “tiny bell” and various found sounds.

Anyway, Tim is performing this Saturday (May 3) at the Tractor Tavern in Ballard. Tickets are $8 and I think he goes on last of three bands who start at 9:30. Come check him out! For more info go to his website.

Gifts from Enola

2008-04-28T06:56:00.000-07:00

August 6th, 1945. The Enola Gay's big beautiful hulking steel frame glides through the sky over the land of the sun, ready to give birth to her little boy. Her belly swings open exposing the boy. The boy decends on on its mounts like a child crowning. Then, release. Rushing air, a mother fleeing the presence of her newborn. Enola has left her gift. She has changed the world.

This band just released a split with You.May.Die.In.The.Desert. I highly recomend picking it up here. I have been listening to it more frequently than other music as of late. It is really great music to rock out to when you are also trying to think. The lack of lyrics allows the sound to penetrate your subconcious on a sublime level.

I present another gift from Enola... The Suns Condolences

The Uprising of Post-Punk

2008-04-22T07:03:00.000-07:00

Call it Post-Punk, Math Rock, Instrumental Wierd Stuff, Etc... It seems I have been listening to a lot of music lately with the same theme to it. No vocals, influenced by the punk and hardcore scenes of the late 80's and 90's, but not in the way you might think, (I find several members of these bands were into this music as youths but don't necesarily play that type of music, although if you are an aficionado you can notice the influence in their songs) and finally to borrow a description pioneered by the Pixie's, the term Loud soft Loud seems to fit.

This is post one of a four week series.

I present: You.May.Die.In.The.Desert

These guys are a three-piece plus sound effects from Seattle, WA. I really should have done this post when I first thought about it a month ago as they were on a west coast tour and just played Portland and Salt Lake City (where I was able to see them)

YMDITD is trance enducing to listen to. Their rhythms are complex and profound. They are also pure enegry on stage. They shift their instruments and contort their backs trying to relieve the fatigue caused by intricate repetitive strumming and picking.

Here is my favorite track from a new Split they just put out with the band I will profile next week. Over and out for now...Clark

04 Seagulls= Sea Eagles

Coldplay Videos

2008-04-11T23:39:00.000-07:00

Hey all...I don't know how many Coldplay fans there are out there. Jenny and I saw them at the Sasquatch festival a few years back at the Gorge.

Anyways, not being the avid MTV junkie I used to be (and seeing as they don't play videos anyways), I was wondering if they had any new videos, and found a couple online I hadn't seen.

My favorite is "The Hardest Part". I've heard the song a million times, but the video puts a way different image in my head now! It's pretty funny, if you're not offended by 80 year old women dancing in provocative swim suits.

Enjoy!

Micromegas - New Song "Windfall"

2008-04-07T01:30:00.000-07:00

Hey all, I'm in a band called Micromegas. We posted a new song on our website today (http://www.micromegasband.com/). I won't bog down the PRETENDO with it, but you can hear/download it on our site, or you can click on the picture above to download the song in zip file format.

It's called "Windfall", and it's about how really bad things can turn into really good things, given time and perspective.

We've got a couple other songs available for free download, all of which were finished in the last several months. We've also got our debut album streaming on our site. It's on sale on iTunes, Napster, or if you're old-school and want an actual CD, we still have a few left, so just let me know and I can send you one.

Hope you enjoy the songs, and thanks to Bart for setting up this cool new format where I can shamelessly plug my own music. I hope you all do the same.

The Unicorns (week 3 of O Canada month: a continuing series)

2008-04-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

The other day Dave and I were discussing our “Desert Island 25,” namely, if we were marooned on a desert isle, the 25 CDs we could not live without. The only problem – both of our lists are over 50 CDs long. So to make a long story shorter, we were looking through Dave’s picks, striving to find CDs that just didn’t make the cut. As we neared the bottom of the list I was surprised to see the Unicorns on the list. “You like the Unicorns that much?” I queried. “Oh yeah,” he responded, “I listen to that CD at least once a week.”

After giving it some thought, I had to agree with him. The Unicorns would have to find a place on my Desert Island 25 (50) as well. I tend to forget the Unicorns amidst the swell of “next big things” crowding my iTunes – after all, they were a short-lived, relatively obscure band that only put out a CD (and a half) and an EP. But the truth of the matter is that if the Unicorns were to come out with their opus Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone? today, it would easily hold its place among The Vampire Weekend, The Dodos, and whatever Pitchfork declares to be the next big thing next week.

That’s no mean feat in a scene that seems to be picking up steam at an exponential rate. As Indie comes more and more to mean mainstream, as record companies desparatly look for the next group to buoy their sinking ship, the music scene today is more fickle than it's ever been (or at least it seems so to me). Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone? came out in 2003. Look at some of the other bands that came out with CDs in 2003 (or there about). The Postal Service? New new wave has come and gone. The Arcade Fire? Don’t get me wrong, I loves me some Arcade Fire, but all you have to do is hear the swelling bombast of “No Cars Go” over an NFL commercial, or hear them imitated by Phantom Planet to know that the Arcade Fire has achieved an iconic status, but they may be victims of their own success.

Part of the Unicorns staying power may be in their limited output and brief life-span, but it also has to do with their music. The Unicorns play pop. Pure and simple, un-pretentious pop, with catchy hooks and toe-tapping choruses. Not to say that their music is for everyone – any band that sings about ghosts and unicorns over the strangled warble of what sounds like a broken Casio probably isn’t going to get top 40 radio play. But to those of us that know and love the Unicorns, they’re a refreshing break from the heavy solemnity that pervades so much music these days.

The Unicorns were formed in December 2000, in Montreal, of course, by Nick Diamond, Alden Ginger and J’aime Tambeur (all stage names). Their first CD, the self-released Unicorns Are People Too, came out in March 2003. Having only made 500 copies of their debut, the Unicorns went back to the studio to record some new songs and rework some old ones, and released Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone? in November of 2003.

The album opens with perhaps the most sincere of their songs, “I Don’t Wanna Die,” in which Diamond tremulously recounts all the various ways in which he doesn’t want to go. The band quickly moves on to a trilogy of ghost songs. Although these songs are probably the catchiest on the CD, my personal favorites come later on, as the band loosens up and starts to spin out of control. “I Was Born (A Unicorn)” finds Diamond and Tambeur arguing back and forth about who writes the music. In “Tuff Luff” Diamond breaks out into a little hip-hop verse mid-song. “Inoculate the Innocuous” has one of my favorite intros of all time, but also some of the most head-scratching lyrics on the CD. “Somewhere in the asshole of my eye, there’s a muscle which relaxes when you cry,” Diamond breathes, sounding tired and worn-down, a far cry from the early energy of the Ghost trilogy and “Jellybones.” It’s almost relief when he declares “bananas help me unwind, watermelon makes it awesome” – I hope so, Nick, having an asshole in your eye sounds unpleasant. The album comes full circle on the short, tropical outro “Ready to Die.” “I’ve seen the world, kissed all the pretty girls, I’ve said my goodbyes and now I’m ready to die.” The Unicorns start the CD afraid of death, confront that fear via tales of ghosts and the sea, grow increasingly frenetic as the realization cements that death will come, and ultimately conclude that - you know what? - they’re ready.

That last song was prophetic. The band released the surprisingly mediocre EP The Unicorns: 2014 before imploding on tour. Their legacy lives on, however, in a fantastic CD and Diamond’s new band Islands, not to mention some great music videos. I don't know how to do the music-linky thing that Bart does, but I included a couple of videos that highlight the band's penchant for wearing pink.

I Was Born (A Unicorn)

Jellybones

Just for fun. You know... for kids!

2008-03-29T17:43:00.001-07:00

O Canada, we stand en garde for thee

2008-03-21T17:17:00.000-07:00

O canada month: AVANT GARDE

hockey mouth. yeah, hockey mouth. it happens. yes, and it's glorious. look at him!! so what if that puck or left-hook won the battle? you never again have to answer to any mere mortal. the only way win is with that toothless grin.

but is that gem kept hidden in a bushel? do these smash-mouth gladiators strut that gummy smile or dentures do they wear? is that bite-the-bread-but-leave-the-meat grin a badge of honor? riddle me this: are you truly great if you have all 28?

all the women want them; all the men want to be them.... when the jersey comes off, you're still that guy. all you have to do is smile.

(below: the song of the black flies in ol' ontario...io...)

week 2: sunset rubdown

so as advertised last week- looking at spencer krug's side-project. todays tracks come from the second LP: "shut up i am dreaming." (2006, absolutely kosher) back around the initial wolf parade days, krug was recording with a mic hooked up to his desktop PC. the first LP, "snake's got a leg" (2005, global symphonic) is a compilation of these early home recordings. after wolf parade went nuts for a bit, he set to work on phase 2 of this "side project." picking up some other guys to help strum, drum, and hum, "shut up i am dreaming," more fully fleshing out ideas explored in his earlier work. the plan worked and "random spirit lover" was subsequently released in 2007 (jagjaguwar). (so... at what point do you start calling wolf parade the "side project...?)

it's hard to categorize. it's a jumble of sounds, it's schizophrenic. it's a messy orchestra, it's a plodding lullaby. after sunset rubdown, you can go back to wolf parade and much more clearly identify krug's vocal contributions there. like i said last week, he totally sounds like "flight of the conchords" lampooning BOWIE. don't believe me? i was going to save this clip for a future BOWIE post, but there's never any better time than right now.

ok, so not 100% conchords BOWIE, but enough for me to think of jemaine in silver spandex..... oh, bowie's in space! ok, so not that close. but BOWIE would approve. that's what BOWIE would do.

track 1: "they took a vote and said no" kind of pirate rock: the accordian, the sing-along. but then the bells, the chimes, the keyboards!.... and just when you think the song's over, you launch into a minute of instrumental bliss.

piano + guitar + thrashing drum = ear candy

(a huge problem with iTunes and with clips of songs at places like barnes and noble.... just clips.... and sometimes you get an album or a song (like in my emails!) and you listen for 10, 20 seconds.... skip.... next song.... 10, 20 seconds.... where's my hook? no hook? nah, the "hook" songs will invariably drive you insane. (pick just about any top-40 track) "commitment" songs worm their way into your brain, but only keep on rewarding. and yes, you have to commit. some of the greatest albums take 5 or 6 (or more) listens before all the textures and insights reveal themselves. and then comes the anticipation!

for example, joanna newsom's songcraft is about as non-traditional as they come. on "Ys" she's got songs that go well beyond 10 minutes.... no real trace of verse, chorus, verse, but it's incredibly beautiful.... rambling at times, but you close your eyes and go somewhere else for an hour. i didn't have the patience for it at first, but given time...)

track 2: "shut up i am dreaming of places where lovers have wings" probably the most traditionally-structured song on the disc and also the longest. but this one goes through a metamorphosis. layers on layers, coupled with 2 amazing instrumental outbursts. it starts much more gentle than the rest of the album, but the intensity builds to a cathartic crescendo and an ultimately satisfying end to the album.

track 3: "o canada" (in french!!). if you want the english version check this link!

(sorry to those of you with wimpy non-Gmail accounts.... you'll just have to download it yourselves...)

(below: lyrics to "o canada" in ukranian. wicked awesome.)

i love canada and you should too (or else!!)

2008-03-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

5 or 6 years ago a long-smoldering canadian music scene split the atom and fireballs of renewable (if somewhat teratogenic) musical energy have been burninating the countryside: wreaking havoc on eardrums, toe-tapping, and the elderly ever since.

the epicenter is MONTREAL (the frenchy-est frenchy-town in all of Royal-Mounted Canadia). home to record labels Alien8 and Constellation (nice post-rock; godspeed! you black emperor)and the Pop Montreal music festival. montreal is a magnet town. yeah, there's plenty of home-grown talent, but just like seattle in the early-mid 90's and chicago of the mid-late 90's, montreal built it and they all came packin'. personally, my favorite "montreal" bands are from British Columbia or elsewhere. ARCADE FIRE, for example: a canadian band? the Butler brothers hail from TEXAS (Win moved to canada to attend mcgill university and the rest is ancient history...) i was born on an air force base in arizona. am i from arizona? heck no. home is where you hang your hat (hi-hat, that is!!)

but i digress... i'd have to say that the montreal and brooklyn, NY "scenes" are probably the most consistently exciting and innovative musical hotbeds right now (although baltimore deserves some attention too).

i prefer a "music community" to any "music scene." (besides, a "scene" always sounds like something that's already happened...) a music community is an environment that is so much more than the mere sum of its parts. you see rampant collaborations, side-projects, multiple-personality disorder, and bursts of prolific recording that you seriously have to hustle to keep up with. it's a nuclear reaction. bands bombarding other bands, energy begetting energy. the music that has most consistently burnt my ears off for the last couple years are members of the montreal community. so......

forget Saint Patrick's day- i'm declaring

OH, CANADA! Month

(per the canadian lunar calendar, this extends from right about now to sometime in april)

THIS MONTH IS DEDICATED TO JACOB

so, i'm not approaching this with any systematic plan. i'm gonna hit you with what i'm listening to A LOT lately.

WOLF PARADE

i first read about wolf parade in 2005 with the release of their debut LP: apologies to the queen mary. i listened to a couple clips. no $$. moved on.

some time later romney gave me a disc of tracks "music what spencer burned for bart," that included this album. sometimes you rhino-charge through a heap of new music and not everything gets impaled on the first pass. this aint no old-country buffet... everything deserves a second taste or two...

anyway, we was on a road-trip to california for a PLANK family vacation and i had my iPod on super shuffle and "it's a curse" hijacked my malleus, incus, and stapes all at once and with a vengeance. what the crap is this?? no hint of 60's or 80's pop-nostalgia? where does that voice come from?!? is it human?? emotion without the inherent whining of EMO?? guinea pigs?!?

yeah, i listened to that song over and over and over and over. (you can't always do this in front of loved ones... i recommend headphones: i'm always paranoid about playing something i'm addicted to too many times in front of leslie...) i finally got around to listening to the whole album and as of late have developed a physical dependency... is there musical methadone???

ok, so back in '03 when ARCADE FIRE were still wee babies, they went on tour promoting their first recording, the self-titled EP. (the tour, "us kids know" is a lyric from "no cars go" which was later re-recorded for their 2nd LP, NEON BIBLE) the Fire-lings contacted ex-Frog Eyes (Victoria, B.C.) member Spencer Krug and asked if he'd be interested in opening for them.

without a band, he hastily assembled one (with only a drum-machine for percussion initially). Krug plays keyboards, and co-vocals with lead guitarist Dan Boeckner (Atlas Strategic). WOLF PARADE was born on the road and songs like "it's a curse" embody that. there's a raw power that emanates as much from the compositions as the gripping voice of Boekner. (i think Krug sounds like the Flight of the Conchords lampooning david bowie...and i like it) (Boekner's got some bowie in there too).

a trio of EP's were released (two self-releases, the third following being signed to SUBPOP). "apologies to the queen mary" their debut LP came out in 2005 and the sophomore release, "pardon my blues" is set to be released sometime this summer.

since 2005, Krug has been all over the map (that dang MONTREAL community!) promiscuously lending vocals and tunes to other artists' recordings (Swan Lake, Fifths of Seven), while forming a "side project" SUNSET RUBDOWN (now with more recordings than WOLF PARADE!). (he even got Frog Eyes back together for another album and did a joint tour with WP)

boekner has also embarked on a "side project"- HANDSOME FURS in a QUASI-esque pairing with his wife, alexei perry. they released "plague park" out last year on SUBPOP.

so, i've emailed you "it's a curse" and "this heart's on fire." i was inches away from sending you "modern world" and "you are a runner and i am my father's son," but i've been fighting the urge to send out more than one or two tracks. the entire album, "apologies to the queen mary" is worthy of multiple listens. as always, if you want some more... i'll send you more. otherwise- download it from emusic.com.

FOR SERIOUS. I'm re-sending you all invites to join emusic for a FREE TRIAL. no strings attached. you sign up, you get 50 free mp3's... if you don't likey... you drop out and don't pay a dime, and you keep the music. if you do hang on for a month... i get 50 too! (but hey, no pressure...) presently, i'm on a year-subscription. $10/month for 30 songs. almost everything from independent labels you could wish for (not to mention just about everything else... yes, even creedence clearwater revival...) NOT BAD, SUCKAS!!

next week: Krug's side project,

SUNSET RUBDOWN

SHINE A LIGHT

FANCY CLAPS

MODERN WORLD

I'LL BELIEVE IN ANYTHING

LATE LATE LATE LATE SHOW

so, check out "this heart's on fire" as performed live on the LATE LATE SHOW. (Boekner on vocals).

the blog: it is a changin'

2008-03-11T11:55:00.000-07:00

ok homeboys and homegirls: i had an epiphany the other day while reading the watchmen. (actually, i don't think it had anything to do with what i was reading...) (maybe something i was eating?):

you'll notice that i've included in my links section one for a place called "Professional Americans" set up by Sterling Ingram XL. check it out. (i just posted for the first time- video called "food fight") it's set up so that any number of a list of different individuals have creative access to publish posts on the site.

i've sent invitations to a chunk of you. mostly people that have shared music with me in the past, so I know the potential is there... anyway- to liven things up, create some diversity of taste and opinion (and add to the entertainment value for me personally), i thought it would be awesome-tastic if we expanded the forum.

(anybody who wasn't given an initial invite to post and would like to- let me know and i'll set you up.)

ok, so groundrules:

music: email it out, then write about it.

other content? this is a music-centered blog, but you'll have noticed that other stuff tends to creep in either by association or chemical imbalance.

that's about it. go crazy.

some things.....

2008-03-07T20:27:00.001-08:00

ok, so it's been a while. i was in the process of compiling a best-of 2007 list and i kept running into more new music. i told romney and maybe dave that i feel like right about now i should be putting out my top-10 for 2005. too much to digest. some things take a long time.

yeah, well the first two months of the year were pretty dang brutal. this quarter the first year residents had to start presenting cases in the morning seminar (kind of like grand rounds). i had to do about one a week in february. these things take a long time!!! my last case was 130 slides. cry cry cry. i'm not complaining, but i guess i'm looking for some sort of excuse for my non-posting malaise....

so, the top-10-ish list is still gestating. as is a post about wolf parade (been in the oven for nearly 2 months).

for today:

Daniel Johnston's "somethings last a long time" from the welcome to my world LP.

have you all seen "the devil and daniel johnston"? i'd heard some of his stuff and some stories, but never really knew much about this guy till i saw that. kind of tough to watch. you know when somebody says something like- 'man, that guy's crazy!' but they don't really mean to imply that this brosef's got a truly mind-warping psychosis......

when i say daniel johnston is one crazy guy, it's no joke. crazy running-around-in your-underwear-baptizing-squirrels-casting out devils-break-into-your-house-and-jump-out-a-
second-story-window-with-your-hair-on-fire kinda crazy. wesley willis had schizophrenia and drew some cool pictures, but he was a big teddy bear. daniel johnston was (is?) straight-wacky. the kind of guy you were sure would either seriously hurt himself or somebody else (i guess he's pretty mellow these days). i could never understand where his music was coming from until i saw this doc. sort of a hopeless romantic, he lived for a love unrequited (and preferred it that way, i think). and then there were the demons.

included with johnston's track today are two covers- one by Built to Spill (the normal years) and the other is a brand-new rendition by baltimore's own Beach House (devotion). i think i prefer BTS, but please disagree. disagree eloquently.

anybody out there working on a thanksgiving song yet? we need some good thanksgiving music. tough source material, granted, but are you up for the challenge????

ok, so favorite movie i've watched in the last month:

KING OF KONG!!!!!

(holy junk, you've got to watch this!)

currently reading:

the watchmen (alan moore and dave gibbons)

SOME VIDEO GOODIES TO COMPLEMENT THIS WEEK'S MP3s. BENJOY YOURSELVES:

doug martch (bts) singing "somethings last a long time":

cool new vid for DJ's "true love will find you in the end"

DJ's "the monster inside of me" captain america is a recurring motif in daniel johnston's artwork. whoever made this vid- i thought it was pretty cool to juxtapose johnston's musings on his mental condition with his super-hero crush.

I got nothin

2007-12-24T09:30:00.000-08:00

So hey everybody. No 12 days, sure, but better than a brick of coal! the trip to the mountains was pretty nice. 1.5-2 ft. of snow, good sledding, good snow-shoe action, frozen ponds. snow forts. decent time all around.

this man above is vince guaraldi, the genius behind the music for the charlie brown specials. (ok, so i'm on a charlie brown kick this season). the first email today features "christmas time is here," probably one of the more melancholy christmas songs ever. there's a version with lyrics, but i prefer the more lengthy instrumental. it feels like an angelo badalamenti track. (sanders, you should edit together an agent cooper montage with this).

one of the things i loved about arrested development was the use of certain song clips for recurring comic motifs. there was the flute snippet that would play every time buster's "uncle" implied he was really his father. then there was "christmas time is here" when someone got depressed (Gob getting ditched by Michael when going to the family cabin). for certain situations and individuals i have little looping soundtracks that go off whenever they're around:

the Bishop of one of our last wards, Alex Judkins, would set off "come on, alex! you can do it! come on alex, there's nothing to it!" (neighborhood #2, arcade fire).

Eva, one of the support staff in my clinic triggers 'bunny aint no kind of rider' by of montreal.

one of the third year residents, Caroline- 'caroline, no' (pet sounds- beach boys). and on and on.

not everybody is fortunate to have their own soundtrack with me yet. give it time, though. you'll come around. (i'm also open to suggestions).

the bonus track is 'linus and lucy' and isn't really christmas-ey, but essential Peanuts.

ok, so i'm probably gonna hit you again tomorrow. and maybe boxing day since i dangled that one way back. it's a sunny day in seattle. not a cloud in the sky. drink up your eggnog!

Mr. Freakin Fireplug

2007-12-18T22:05:00.000-08:00

DISCLAIMER: PLEASE DON'T SHOW THIS TO YOUR KIDS (SEAN, I'M TALKING TO YOU)

You'll never be in Santa's gang, never be in Santa's gang!!!

so very wrong, yet so so so very very funny...

today's track: rudolph the red nose reindeer: by the temptations. hands-down the best rendition. HEY RUDOLPH!!!!!

GRINCH-EY

2007-12-18T01:35:00.000-08:00

sean!! i didn't know you'd been stockpiling the stash! that's great! i'll have to email that link out periodically, or on request- we'll see. but definitely cool. i'd love to just do everything all combined in one site... with a login/password maybe. someday.

ok, so wednesday i'm headed for the snow for a couple days. i'm still planning out that down time.... what will it be????

and btw, tomorrow (today?) is leslie's birthday!!!!!!!!!!!! (call her, she'll love it)

awkwardly silent night

2007-12-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

last year in December i was on a 2 week externship at the VA hospital and one of the general practice residents there was talking about how cool it is to be jewish on the 25th. i kind of chuckled along with him and his tales of wandering charlton-hestonesque-in-omega-man-empty movie theaters and no dinner-reservations-necessary until i was able to bring up this great little faux-motown short by robert smigel for SNL. he sat there and listened as i described it, mentioning some of the exact things he'd just joked about

......awkward silence....

(but not one of those 'i guess you had to be there' kind of silences).....

"huh, don't think i've seen that one..."

....change of subject.....

sometimes you just need to keep on chuckling. ho ho ho!

It's beginning to look a lot like 2008

2007-12-15T16:30:00.000-08:00

man, that was wierd. i just love the expression of discomfort on Bing's face! (I'm firing my agent!!) ok, so it's been since thanksgiving... no good excuses, though i'll admit to a little lack in enthusiasm for posting. is there anybody out there listening....listening...listening...listening.....

last year i did a 12-days of christmas, and this is similar, but i'm not promising a full 12. (maybe 10 and a half). yeah, and you might get boxing day instead of chrismtas. we're going to be up in the mountains for a couple days next week with no internet (unless i hike down to a wi-fi hotspot....hey!)

no christmas mix tape is complete without a helping of Bing Crosby from his "White Christmas" album. so merry christmas, everybody. mele kalikimaka, pau āpau.

TRYPTOPHAN

2007-11-21T14:35:00.000-08:00

so, ah- merry thanksgiving everybodies. the songs i sent you are very loosely thematic, but it's the best i can do...(nothing wrong with a sprinkle of ABBA and a portion or two of ZEPP to get you through the day) Here's the challenge to all you aspiring musicians out there- make a thanksgiving day song. maybe write one about the turducken, mythical creature. or charlie brown. just something. holy pete, there's a dearth of good thanksgiving songs out there.

i really miss the old animated holiday specials. charlie brown, rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, the grinch. you still bump into them from time to time, but today's kids are too wired. just look at the pacing in charlie brown's thanksgiving! you'd think you were watching the uncut version of das boot if you were blindfolded, and it was all in german. but alas, no turkey day is complete without it. and tryptophan?? totally overrated. i'll be among the dead tomorrow simply because it's nearly 3 am right now.

Post Oddity

2007-11-16T18:27:00.000-08:00

aghch. well, i suppose the inevitable has happened. a blog!? well o well o well, i suppose everybody and their grandmas have a bloggie now.... but everybody has a toilet too. and mobile phones (just got my first in january- after both of my grandmas had...). and heart-mom tattoos. i really felt limited by the presentation options through email, particularly how crappy cut and paste items turn out, depending on the size of your monitor, etc. the all-white backgrounds are a bit limiting too... and though i've been experimenting with highlighted text, it's a bit hard on the eyes.

so, here's how it's going to work (until BLOGGER gets old)- i'm going to send out a regular email still, but it'll mostly be a link to the latest post and MOST IMPORTANTLY the source of the mp3s as i don't think this site allows for file storage/download. spence lake inspired me with his consistently handsome and sharply-dressed blog, BY THE BOOK!!! (by the way, spence- i'm finally reading Rough Stone Rolling- i'll let you know what i think, ey?)

bowie. man, as you know- i love me some good early-middish 70's bowie. back in the day- DB would sometimes revisit a track he'd already recorded and spruce it up. "Rubber Band," "When I Live My Dream," and "Space Oddity" are among those. the vid above is incarnation #1 of space oddity recorded during the Deram days. most of you are probably more familiar with the later recording (included in the email) which appears on the album of the same name. kind of a wierd mishmash of schizophrenic styles without much continuity or narrative, but it works. little folk gems like "
God knows i'm good" and "Letter to Hermione" are very-60's bowie, though a bit more grown-up. "Wild eyed boy from free cloud" has elements of his earlier days, but is much more ambitious, instrumentally (if you havn't yet downloaded this track from your email- check out the animated clip below). it and "god knows i'm good" (thematically reminiscent of eleanor rigby) are probably my favorites from the album (oddity's not bad either). both this and "Cygnet Committee" remind me a little of the moody blues with their meandering high-concept psychedelia. "Memory of a free festival" is an odd way to end an album, but seems to cater to the summer of love crowd (actually the only song on the album that i really can't stand).

ever experimenting, he seems to have inadvertently struck black gold with "space oddity" (his first top-10 single in the UK) rushed into stores to coincide with the '69 Apollo 11 lunar landing (the british media apparently played it with their coverage of the historic event). all the british isles were in love with him and his one-hit wonder. the original album was self-titled and was only named "space oddity" when RCA re-released the album in the mid-70's (finally hitting the billboard top-ten in the US). Beck and "Loser" in so many ways reminds me of Bowie and "Space Oddity." Neither artist has really recorded much before or since like those songs, but both would end up being defined by them for years afterward.

anyhoo, let me know what you think about the new format (it's still a bit bare-bones, but i'm mulling over other refinements still) also (as usual) i had a tough time picking today's tracks. i almost didn't include "space oddity," (too obvious...overplayed...) but alas, i figured ye'd all like a piece. also- if any would like the original single (from the first video) or something else, i'm always happy to oblige. word to your mom.

SONS OF SULU

Merry Christmas-Eve

2009...Finally my Top-10

2010 Music End

Can

Pictures from The Grizzly Bear Show

VECKATIMEST

Out of Comission

Wow! Chalk!!

Amazing video Cold Play - Strawberry Swing

Beck o Beck o Beck o Beck!!

Sasquatch 2009

Scintillation

Rest in Peace, Jeff

Merriweather Post Pavilion

Sufjan covers Castanets

Amitabh??? Amitabh Bachchan???? Amitabh!!!!

More Fauxlbums....

Album Art Competition

Hipsters: Shrugging Themselves into Oblivion

Spencer's Top Ten (And Then Some)

Top 10 and a Half of 2008: Part II

Top 10 and a Half of 2008: Part I

Tinker Bells, Tinker Bells......

Axl Vs Dr. Pepper

The Little Ones: Growth Spurt?

Department of Eagles

Chinese Democracy

Copeland: You Are My Boring Album Title

Dear in drunk Head likes: *%Hic*

Bayside: Still the Coolest School

Joshua Radin: Simple Times

Reckoner Remix

Ladies and Gentleman .....

Jeff Hanson

Get Paid for Being a Fan

Langhorne Slim: Diggin his way into the Rebel Side of Heaven

The Go! Team

The Last Shadow Puppets

the debate that rages inside

Summer Listening: The Little Ones

Live the Life: It Sounds Better in Spanish

Fleet Foxes

Ya Do it to Yourself

O, CARIBOU

Best 80's Metal Hair

Couple of Quick Items

Demos

Caspian

Tim Seely/Actual Tigers

Gifts from Enola

The Uprising of Post-Punk

Coldplay Videos

Micromegas - New Song "Windfall"

The Unicorns (week 3 of O Canada month: a continuing series)

Just for fun. You know... for kids!

O Canada, we stand en garde for thee

i love canada and you should too (or else!!)

the blog: it is a changin'

some things.....

I got nothin

Mr. Freakin Fireplug

GRINCH-EY

awkwardly silent night

It's beginning to look a lot like 2008

TRYPTOPHAN

Post Oddity

Dear in drunk Head likes: %Hic