Badly underrated, rarely awesome but incredibly consistently good – such is the plight of the French Kicks. Sometimes I get in the mood to hear them and nothing else will do – today is one of those days. There are at least 20 songs I could pick that I like as much as this one, but the drum fill at 3:36 is one of the most awesome things I’ve ever heard, so “Cloche” it is. Enjoy and know that if you like this, you could pick up any of their four records and be satisfied with the purchase.

French Kicks: “Cloche” (right-click to download)

Haven’t done one of these in a while. As usual I can’t sleep– and the hits keep on coming. I survived my first round of layoffs at work, and had my hours cut. I’m probably going to be applying for food stamps sometime this week, as I qualify and I’ve decided to move past my pride, and accept things for what they are. I foresee eating better than I do now in my future and becoming somewhat of a food stamp foodie.

So there’s that. Here’s what I’ve been listening to the last month and a half or so. Rest assured there will be an October, and a Halloween music dump to follow soon.

Moloko’s “The Time is Now”.

Takako Minekawa’s “Fantastic Cat”.

Soulwax’s “NY Excuse”.
There’s been a lot of 90s nostalgia resurfacing in my music lately. Followed by more slower, psych-rock/metal. Judging by my taste in music, you’d think I was a huge pothead– but no — I just happen to really like a lot of downtempo stoner rock. I need constant white noise that I can headbang softly too, and that just happens to fit the bill. Also my taste in metal is doing its usual seasonal shift where I transition from really yelpy, heavy on the falsettos type of metal to sludge and then it hits full on black metal during winter time.

Dead Meadow’s “What Needs Must Be.”

Sleep’s “Holy Mountain.”

Weedeater’s “Bull”.

Miike Snow’s “Animal.”
So infectious! And it’s kind of scary how dark some of the lyrics are: “I change shapes to hide in this place/but I’m still an animal”.

Opal’s “Rocket Machine”.

Royksopp’s “Sparks”.
This just makes me think of driving my car out of the suburbs and onto the highway during the fall.

Imogen Heap’s “Come Here Boy”.
And the O.C.

Lovage’s “Stroker Ace”.

French Kicks “Close to Modern”.

Escort’s “All Thorough the Night”.

The Zombies’ “She’s Not There”.
Seriously, The Zombies need to stop sound all hot and sexy–

Wham’s “Everything She Wants”.
I think I drive my roommate nuts with the amount of Wham that I listen to on a weekly basis.

Arthur Conley’s “Sweet Soul Music”.
The dance that he does in the beginning of the video? Killer.

Here is a list of my favorite songs of the past week (little secret- I have listened to these songs prior to this week, and most likely will again). The songs are in no particular order, except for number 1. It is tip tops

1. Radiohead- Worrywort

2. She & Him- Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?

3. Animal Collective- My Girls

4. MF DOOM- My Favorite Ladies

5. The Whitest Boy Alive- Figures

6. Arctic Monkeys- Secret Door

7. Why?- Good Friday

8. She & Him- This Is Not a Test

9. French Kicks- The Trial Of The Century

10. Radiohead- Weird Fishes/Arpeggi

The girlfriend and I are heading to Maine next week for a much needed vacation, and as a result, I’m busy making a playlist for the drive there and back.

Making a playlist involves making a once through of my entire iTunes library, one page at a time, finding songs I like, and then going back through to fill in songs I missed on the first pass.  This isn’t a particularly efficient method, I suppose – especially because I have surpassed 8,000 songs in my library – but it works.

With so many songs in my library, however, I am always re-intrigued by songs that have fallen out of favor because of overplay or time when I am scouring my collection.  The making of this vacation playlist has been no different.  Here are a couple gems that I’ve rediscovered this week for you to rediscover as well – or possibly discover them for the first time.  I’ve only made it into ‘F’ so far, so I may do this again on Saturday depending on what I find.

Ellie Lawson – Down With You (mp3) from The Philosophy Tree

Dear and The Headlights – Sweet Talk (mp3) from Small Steps, Heavy Hooves

French Kicks – So Far We Are (mp3) from Two Thousand

Well, I thought there would be a better time
And better ways to waste our time
But we can wait a little more.

French Kicks – “All Our Weekends”

French Kicks – “The Falls”

I’ve been listening to the French Kicks’ album Swimming but no news had come from the band in a while and no videos were produced. Then, last week, a video for “Abandon” was released. About time.

This is a music video for the band the French Kicks. My buddy Austin made it and I think it’s dope. The song and the video this time. Enjoy!

Watch it in HD or HQ!!

the people on youtube however, not big fans!!

z.

DC, Ohio, NY… What do these places have in common you may ask? DC natives Jamie Krents, Nick Stumpf and Matthew Stinchcomb all attended Oberlin College before moving to NY and joining up with Josh Wise, thus creating French Kicks. Fast forwarding a little, Krents left and Nicks younger brother took his spot. Nick stopped playing drums to concentrate on vocals, and after many temps they settled on Aaron Thurston. Not wanting to end the soap there, Stinchcomb left the band in 2005. Whew!!! Alright, now for the music. French Kicks have released numerous EP’s and full lengths, their most recent being Swimming. I like tracks “Abandon” and “Sex Tourists”, which I’ll put below. They’ve also come out with a covers EP titled, well…. Covers, which was recorded in the spirit of the Beach Boys’ Party! record.

04/22/09 Chicago, IL@ Schubas – Buy Tickets
04/23/09 Iowa City, IA @ The Picador
04/24/09 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom – Buy Tickets
04/25/09 Covington, KY @ The Mad Hatter
04/26/09 Pontiac, MI @ The Pike Room
04/27/09 Toronto, ON @ The Horseshoe Tavern

French Kicks – Sex Tourists

French Kicks – Abandon

                                &nb sp;       

One of my favorite ‘under the radar’ shows has got to be Damages on FX. Tonight, I was pleasantly surprised to hear one of my favorite ‘under the radar’ bands get some love on Damages, as “Said So What” by the French Kicks was featured in the episode. Ironically, the song is playing as Michael is explaining to his girlfriend at the art gallery that his mom doesn’t need to worry about losing him to college, since he didn’t even apply….so he “said so what,” haha.

I’ll post a clip as soon as I can find one, but for now, I leave you with a great live performance of this melancholy treat.

CACÁ V.

Hoy en día existe una infinidad de bandas que pueden ser catalogadas como un post punk o garage band, sin embargo, una de estas en particular ha sido la que me ha quitado horas frente al computador. Para todos aquellos que aún no la conocen, les presento a French Kicks.

Agrupación radicada actualmente en Nueva York, con cuatro discos de estudio, cada uno de los cuales ha ido entregando un estilo diferente y muy poco parecido al de su predecesor, hoy en día cuenta con tres de los cuatro miembros originales de la banda que se formara a mediados de los 90 en Washington DC. Fue en esos escenarios donde se empezó a trabajar con una marcada influencia “hardcore”, la cual queda de maniefiesto en los primeros EPs lanzados por alla por 1999 bajo un sello pequeño de la capital norteamericana.  Esta tendencia ha sido dejada atras con el paso del tiempo y algunos cambios de integrantes de la banda, siendo lejos el más importante y el que le daría el toque actual a French Kicks el paso de Nick Stumpf desde la batería y las percusiones al primer plano de los escenarios para dar rienda suelta y dedicarse de lleno a la composición de la música y a la interpretación en forma compartida con Josh Wise (guitarrista) de la voz principal de este nuevo experimento que cada vez iba derivando en nuevo sonido , mucho más cercano a lo que el grupo realmente quería. Es por eso mismo que luego de un disco lanzado bajo el sello Vagrant (The Futureheads, Face To Face y The New Amsterdams entre otros) French Kicks sacó al mercado Swimming en Mayo del 2008, trabajo que según los expertos corresponde al disco más “fino” de su carrera.

Sigue leyendo para descargar el disco

Producido y mezclado completamente por la banda, Swimming sigue y se mantiene fiel a un estilo particular a lo largo de las 12 pistas que lo componen. Para darse a conocer a sus escuchas parten con Abandon que para mi gusto personal es uno de los platos fuertes, ya que Stumpf y compañía no se guardan absolutamente nada y nos deleitan con una mezcla de sonidos muy melódicos, partiendo por la voz y donde sin duda queda a relucir el fantástico aporte de Aaron Thurston en la batería. Aferrandose a elementos no muy típicos por asi decirlo, Thurston hace uso de beats marcadisimos que hacen de French Kicks lo que es y lo que los ha llevado al reconocimiento de la exigente escena neoyorquina.

Ir dandole vuelta a cada uno de los temas se convierte en una tarea complicada, ya que aquel estilo relajado, más íntimo, tranquilo y facil de escuchar se repite y se repite siempre dando una sensacion de estar insatisfecho y buscando más. La lista sigue con Over The World y Carried Away (interpretada por Wise), para luego dar paso a New Man, uno de los sencillos más exitosos y que sin duda fue uno de los responsables del exito de Swimming. Este track es el que marca la pauta para el resto del disco y donde Stumpf según sus propias palabras “lográ su mejor trabajo hasta la época”.

De ahi en más las voces de ambos se van intercalando con Said So What, With The Fishes y All Our Weekends interpretadas por Wise, y Atlanta, Love In The Ruins, The Way You Arrive, Sex Tourists y This Could Go Wrong por Stumpf, cambios que a mi parecer le dan aquel toque especial del que les hablo, manteniendo un parecido inevitable entre canciones, muy nostálgico pero que a la vez llama la atención, por lo que en ningún momento se hace aburrido.

En fin una banda a la que desde hace tiempo que le vengo siguiendo la pista y que la quiero compartir con ustedes. Para todos aquellos que aún no tienen el disco se los dejo aquí calentito para que disfruten Swimming durante sus últimos baños de verano, ya sea en piscina, mar o lago. Con buena compañia y una cerveza bien helada de seguro les va a encantar.

It’s a monumental challenge for a band to just play music because they love it. In an ideal world, they would make the music they want without pressure from record companies and the media, while at the same time benefiting from an organic growth of fans and a constant source of income. But in reality, the “starving musician” archetype pervades the music community, and some bands never emerge from that shadow.

But every now and then, a band manages to escape some of the pains of the business and still maintain a good deal of success. And though they’ve worked for many years and released a few albums in the process, the French Kicks (NY) seem to have struck a balance that is as close to idealistic as it gets. The secret for them appears to be a genuine love of the music they play peppered with a fair amount of coolness toward the business aspects of music. That isn’t to say that they don’t care, but just that the creation and sharing of their music is the foremost priority. And if that’s not ideal, I don’t know what is.

I was fortunate enough to chat with lead singer/keyboardist/drummer Nick Stumpf (second from right) over the phone from his home in Brooklyn. And during the course of our conversation, it became clearer that the band sees this career as not only the absolute right path for each of them, but also as a true love and privilege.

Their latest project, Covers, is a prime example of the band’s easy-going style. The EP includes covers by the Zombies’ Colin Blunstone, The Ramones, The Shirelles and Lindsey Buckingham. Selling for just $4 on iTunes, this album is purely a treat for current Kicks fans, and a fun spur-of-the-moment project for the band.

“As I’m sure many bands do when they get to band practice, like 70 percent of the time is spent just screwing around and playing Dark Side of the Moon songs,” Stumpf said. “So we just thought maybe it would be fun to record some of this stuff.”

This micro project comes after the release of their latest full-length, Swimming, released in April of last year. In normal French Kicks fashion, the album was created with very little intent behind what the resulting sound would be:

When we go into making a record, we never have a plan of like, ‘let’s have this be the sound. It comes of completely open-ended experiments. And only when we’re done do we figure out what we just did.

When we did Two Thousand [previous album, released in 2006], we were like ‘what the hell did we just do?’ [laughs] This one is the next step. Hopefully we get better at this as we go. We try different ways of writing songs and different ways of putting instruments together and basically just try to keep ourselves entertained and get better at what we’re doing. But that’s really it.

But one difference that stands out about Swimming is the nature of the recording process. Stumpf revealed that the album was recorded almost entirely with first and second takes, which gives it a certain soul and leaves out any instance of feeling overworked:

What we’ve always hoped to do — and I don’t think we ever really got close until this record — was have something that sounded like the recordings that we make on our own before we get to the studio. And this record is sort of what those sound like. There’s something loose about it, and natural and personal at the same time. It just doesn’t sound like work. It’s just an organic, warm thing — which has always been how we make music, but when you get into a studio and the clock is ticking and money is involved, you can tighten up a little.

With a fairly open-ended songwriting and recording process (Stumpf actually plays drums on most of the songs on the record, and the band alternates instruments both live and during recording), they are able to experiment endlessly. And while they like to create songs that have a lot of sounds but don’t sound overloaded, their guitar parts have always taken a more rhythmic role than the traditional rock or pop guitar.

“It’s always been the case that all the instruments are kind of treated like percussion instruments,” Stumpf said. “So everybody’s just playing what are essentially rhythm parts.”

The evolution of the band’s sound has a lot to do with these elements — how they use their instruments, their partnerships with regard to the songwriting process (the band is comprised of Nick Stumpf’s younger brother Lawrence on bass, Aaron Thurston on drums, and Josh Wise on guitar and vocals — all of whom also play other instruments), their rich vocal harmonies and their ability to write whatever music they want to, without hesitation about how it will be received. But what results is a brand of pop music that is now characteristically French Kicks.

—

For years, the French Kicks have released albums that challenged themselves and their listeners, and ridden the music biz see-saw. Stumpf said they were “helped and hurt” by their initial inclusion in a popular category of New York “scene” bands that still pops up.

“I’m sure people checked out our band because of that in some ways,” Stumpf said. “So if they checked it out and liked it, then that’s great. But we were also graded on a lot of stuff, and were in contests that we never wanted to enter. And the inevitable comparisons and all that stuff, which is boring and distracting.”

A good handful of these New York bands seemed to have embraced the inclusion in such a “scene,” at least on the surface, but Stumpf explained that though it wasn’t an intentional move to distance themselves from it, the Kicks’ desire to change their sound prevented them from doing that to an extent:

To reach a very large audience you kind of have to say, ‘This is my story and I’m sticking to it.’ And for better or for worse, we’ve just never done that. We just decided to not decide, basically. I think hopefully that’s what keeps it an interesting thing and that you can listen to a record and there’s a lot of different stuff happening, or you can listen to three records in a row and there’s a whole lot of stuff going on. So hopefully that’s an advantage [pauses] as well as a marketing disadvantage. [laughs]

For some people when they listen to our records, it can sound like a lack of conviction and a certain direction or something. Like, ‘why don’t these guys figure out what they want to do and do it?’ But for us the fun is the opposite — the fun is just to keep trying whatever we feel like.

At the end of our chat, Stumpf mentioned that they would be shooting a video for the song “Abandon” in March (“Typical French Kicks fashion, we’re doing it exactly backwards — at the very end of the cycle of the record” [laughs]), yet another example of their nonchalance in regard to the business. The band also sort of stumbled into their current record label arrangement, after their previous label, Startime Records, was absorbed by Vagrant.

“They were nice dudes and we got along, and we were like, ‘okay, why not?’,” Stumpf said. “I don’t think any of us have really spent any meaningful amount of time thinking about what label we were on. It was more like, ‘let’s make the record, and if somebody wants to put it out, that’s great.’”

In a time when labels are shutting down and losing money, Stumph said the band hasn’t felt the effects of the dwindling economy, but he feels the effects in the air at home.

“New York is a very weird place to be right now,” he said. “You can really feel the sinking of the ship and it’s palpable. But I find it exciting at the same time. Like, this is sort of a fantasy — all the bankers are leaving. It’s just great. [laughs] And soon it’ll be okay again. But generally I think it’s an interesting time — people being forced to get back to things of essence…. You have anything happening on a national level or a global level, it’s actually pretty cool. It’s good for the soul of the world.”

Don’t miss the French Kicks at Noise Pop this Wed., Feb. 25 at The Independent. They will be supported by Broken West (LA), Here Here and The Dont’s. 8pm, $15.

As posted on The Bay Bridged here.

Niedźwiedź is listening to the Best of 2008.  Featuring tracks from his favorite artists including Thao, French Kicks, Bon Iver (of course), Ra Ra Riot, Hot Chip, and well, the Best Artists of 2008!

Rikers – Easter Eyes

Toronto duo Russ Davidson and Ryan Kennedy take their best stab at Phil Spector’s wall of sound here, building their way towards a post-modern pop remodelling of the Everly Brothers, Jesus and the Mary Chain and Sigur Ros. Their forthcoming EP Kings English was mixed by Kevin McMahon (The Walkmen, French Kicks).

Official - http://www.rikersmusic.com/
MySpace – www.myspace.com/rikersrikers
Photo by nikolaus

I totally missed the French Kicks on Current TV, but I thought… what the hey? I’ll post it now.

French Kicks – Knee High(Daytrotter) (mp3)

White Rabbits – The Plot (mp3)

Okkervil River – Lost Coastlines (mp3)

The Helio Sequence – Keep Your Eyes Ahead (mp3)

Beirut – Postcards from Italy (eMusic)

The Florence & The Machine cover of Postcards from Italy is ok, the original is better.

It seems like it has been ages since we’ve heard from the Swedish trio Peter, Bjorn & John. Was ‘Young Folks’ really that long ago? Not really I guess. The band is due to release their new album ‘Living Thing’ on March 31st, and have just put out their new single for ‘Nothing to Worry About’. Oddly enough, they did this through Kanye West’s blog.

The thing about P, B & J is the fact that they always have that ‘catchy single’  with an unexpected beginning. Like the whistles of ‘Young Folks’, the new track starts off with children singing that follows the band throughout the choruses. The guys are sounding a little bit like the French Kicks to me when I hear this new track. I’m not sure if thats a good assumption, but the vocals feel like Stumpf and Company took over.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see if  ‘Nothing to Worry About’ and the rest of the album picks up where the band left off.

Download Nothing to Worry About

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Its been a big 2008 for Modern Mystery. We’ve meet some really amazing bands, seen some incredible shows, and made a lot of great friends. We know 2009 will bring even more and we’re very excited!

We have compiled our list of our Top 50 Albums of 2008. Though this was by no means easy, we think we’ve included our all of certain favorites of the year. Below our list you’ll see a few more Top Lists of 2008, so check that out as well.  Hope you like our Top 50 Albums as much as we do!

1. of Montreal- Skeletal Lamping
2. Morning Benders- Talking Through Tin Cans
3. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin-Pershing
4. Miniature Tigers- Tell it to the Volcano
5. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals- Cardinalogy
6. Sloan- Parallel Play
7. MGMT- Oracular Spectacular
8. Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band- Self Titled
9. The Spinto Band- Moonwink
10. Okkervil River- The Stand Ins
11. Chairlift- Does You Inspire You?
12. We Are Scientists- Brain Thrust Mastery
13. Tokyo Police Club- Elephant Shell
14. Ra Ra Riot- The Rhumb Line
15. Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s- Animal and Not Animal
16.  Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks- Real Emotional Trash
17. The French Kicks- Swimming
18. The Stills- Oceans Will Rise
19. The Walkmen- You and Me
20. Vampire Weekend- Self Titled
21. Wyldlife- Self Titled
22. Jenny Lewis- Acid Tongue
23. Annuals- Such Fun
24. Ratatat- Lp3
25. The Headlights- Some Racing, Some Stopping
26.  Department of Eagles- In Ear Park
27. Dr. Dog- Fate
28. Born Ruffians- Red Yellow and Blue
29. Los Campesinos- Hold On Now, Youngster
30. The Little Ones- Morning Tide
31. Mason Proper- Olly Oxen Free
32. She & Him- Volume 1
33. Albert  Hammond Jr.- Como te Llama?
34. Death Cab for Cutie- Narrow Stairs
35. Joan of Arc- Boo Human
36. Deerhoof- Offend Maggie
37. Sam Roberts Band- Love at the End of the World
38. Fleet Foxes- Self Titled
39. Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago
40. Atlas Sound- Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
41. Kings of Leon- Only By the Night
42. M83- Saturdays= Youth
43. Helio Sequence- Keep Your Eyes Ahead
44. Man Man- Rabbit Habits
45. Flight of the Conchords- Self Titled
46. Cold War Kids- Loyalty to Loyalty
47. The Mae Shi- Hlllyh
48. Secret Machines- Selt Titled
49. Santogold- Self Titled
50. Tim Fite- Fair Ain’t Fair

BEST EP OF 2008:
Matt Pond PA- The Freeep

BEST REISSUE OF 2008-
Pavement- Brighten The Corners- Nicence Creedence Edition

BEST LIVE SHOW OF 2008:
Of Montreal at Roseland, NYC. Kevin Barnes on a live white horse? Try to beat that!

TOP 5 NEW BANDS OF 2008:
1. The Morning Benders
2. Miniature Tigers
3. Chairlift
4. MGMT
5. Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band

Well, I’m officially later than everyone I know on this, but I still had to put it together. This is probably pretty *yawn* for most of you who have heard all of these albums a million times and are much more up on what’s going on than I am, but hopefully a few of you will get some good ideas. And of course this is not meant to be a “best of,” but merely a collection of a few of the albums that created the soundtrack of Emily’s life this year. And the more music criticism I read, the less I want to write it, so forgive the somewhat personal summaries. They’re all I felt up to at the end of this quite rocky but interesting year.

I have an mp3 mix of one track from each of these albums, so email me if you’d like it. And here they are – in no particular order. Local SF Bay Area bands are marked with a *. Enjoy!

Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes ( June 3, 2008 )

Here’s one of the *yawn* ones that’s on everyone’s list, but I LOVE this album. There’s something about five grown men singing in falsetto harmonies…call me old-fashioned. Robin Pecknold (lead vocals) is only 22 and has won my heart. This album has an old-timey feel but there’s something so modern about it. The theme of the album is built around a trip Pecknold took with his brother throughout the U.S. and the nature theme pops up everywhere. I also chose this album because it is home to my favorite song of the year – “Blue Ridge Mountains,” which in my mind is a masterpiece and has the best energy build of any song I’ve heard in a long time.

Okay* – Huggable Dust ( May 20, 2008 )

This is an album many people got sick of me talking about. It got to the point where I was to shy to actually talk to Marty (the mastermind of Okay) when I came face-to-face with him. Pretty pathetic, but this album affected me like no other this year, and it felt personal. Then Christian and Ben humored me and let me review the album for KQED Arts. Marty’s scratchy and pained voice is just the icing on the cake of these optimistic and beautiful songs. The band played a few shows with Deerhoof this year and came to the studio with The Bay Bridged to appear on The Bay Bridged Volume 2.

Fionn Regan – The End of History ( July 10, 2007 )

I’m totally cheating with the date on this one because I’m a late bloomer. This album was probably on everyone’s 2007 lists, but I discovered it in January of 2008 and listened to it clean through the summer and fall. This album is quintessential 2008 for me – breathtaking acoustic fingerstyle guitar, a clean and somewhat impassive voice and totally vague, sometimes silly lyrics. I missed him play at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass last year. I just hope he creates something new soon — something just as incredible.

The Dodos* – Visitor ( March 18, 2008 )

This one is also gracing the lists of many local and national music blogs, and for good reason. This was a breakout year for The Dodos, who are worthy of every piece of praise they receive. My claim to fame will soon be interviewing Meric Long last year for The Deli SF. This band’s live show is unparalleled in energy and they did a pretty darn good job of it on the album as well. This is one of the only purely indie albums that I have yet to get sick of (see Ra Ra Riot). I hope these guys go far.

The Botticellis* – Old Home Movies ( May 13, 2008 )

I started by seeing these guys live at Cafe du Nord, which was a good show but they had FAR too much reverb on their entire band, and it was hard to even hear the songs. Then, live show #2 was at The Bay Bridged’s Rooftop Podcast (where they played in a living room…explanation in linked post), where they just completely blew me away. They did an absolutely beautiful cover of a George Harrison tune, and their acoustic arrangements were just breathtaking. Upon buying the album, it did not disappoint. It’s quite reminiscent, but they do it well.

Portishead – Third ( April 29, 2008 )

Who knew after 12 years Portishead still had it in them. It’s as if nothing has changed. Or, I take that back, they’re even more risky and edgy now, and it’s so refreshing. This album still has the classic Portishead breathy vocals and synth sounds that we’ve all grown to love, with the addition of a bit more distorted guitar and some of the most raw electronic sounds that are still accepted by the mainstream. It’s a true opus, and it was such a welcome reunion.

Ra Ra Riot – The Rhumb Line ( Aug. 19, 2008 )

My premier memory of this band is forever going to be seeing them live at the Rickshaw and having the time of my life. Their live show is incredible – fantastic energy, very clean and tons of fun. The audience danced, which you SFers know just never happens. With their (slightly trendy) brand of string indie (traditional guitar-bass-drums with violin and cello), the sound of each instrument really works together, with the violin and cello often taking a more prominent role than the guitar. And vocalist Wes Miles has a voice that translates immaculately to the live setting. They’re coming to the Independent on Feb. 27 for Noise Pop, so don’t miss it.

Deerhoof* – Offend Maggie ( Oct. 7, 2008 )

This is another album I reviewed for KQED and fell in love with in the process. I’m a long-time Deerhoof fan (a self-indulgent aside – I was introduced to Deerhoof by Michael Azerrad when I was interviewing him a few years ago. He said to watch out for them, and indeed he was right), I was excited about this album but wondered what they could possibly do to change their sound without making anyone angry. Well, I don’t doubt this album will make some of the more hard-core fans a little p.o.’ed, but I think it’s even better than some of their previous efforts. There are some incredibly tender songs on this album – a mood they hadn’t quite mastered before this.

Geographer* – Innocent Ghosts ( Aug. 17, 2008 )

This was quite the year for this awesome local band, and much deserved. This awesome three-piece has incorporated the cello into their music in a much subtler and more graceful way than many indie bands are doing these days. And not that all local bands aren’t nice people, but these guys are just stand-up folks. Combined with fantastic male and female vocals and a polished and energetic live show, I would say Geographer is a band to embrace while they’re still a local band.

The French Kicks – Swimming ( May 20, 2008 )

This album has so much soul it makes me crazy. There isn’t much else I can say about it than that. If you’re a long-time fan of the French Kicks (which I’m not…another late-bloomer situation), it seems that this album displays a certain maturity that some of their earlier projects lacked, but the energy and fun is still there, if not stronger. This band has an uncanny ability to create super catchy guitar riffs and make them even more striking by piling on expertly crafted melodies and very indie (in a good way) harmonies. But generally…it’s just the mood of this album that is impossible to miss.

Tallest Man on Earth – Shallow Grave ( April 15, 2008 )

Added as the obligatory 11th album on the list because even though it’s fresh to my ears, it’s too good not to mention. This man (says he’s from Sweden, but his accent sounds American) is an incredible songwriter. Most of the songs are just him and his guitar, with elaborate fingerstyle guitar and raspy, emotional vocals. There’s the occasional appearance of banjo, which he plays just as well as the guitar. And I finish with this album also because “Where do my Bluebird Fly” is quickly replacing the good old Fleet Foxes’ “Blue Ridge Mountains” (sorry guys) as my favorite song.

Other albums I loved:

Basia Bulat – Oh, My Darling ( Feb. 5, 2008 )

Radiohead – In Rainbows ( Jan. 1, 2008 ) – I paid $20 for this album. It was worth it.

Sigur Ros – Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust ( June 24, 2008 ) – No question this was the best show I saw this year. They played at the Greek Theatre in October, where it began to pour at the exact moment of the climax of their encore. I wasn’t on drugs, but I felt like I was. I swear they’re wizards.

Lykke Li – Youth Novels ( Aug. 19, 2008 )

The Raveonettes – Lust Lust Lust ( Feb. 19, 2008 )

Port O’Brien* – I Woke Up Today ( Nov. 25, 2008 – that’s what amazon.com says…I think they’re wrong, but maybe I just got a super-advance copy)

Chairlift – Does You Inspire You? ( Sept. 30, 2008 ) – Not in my top picks because it has absolutely no cohesion. But each individual song is very fun.

Moller* – House of Ghosts ( April 15, 2008 ) – Great new local band to look out for!

Jesca Hoop – Kismet ( Sept. 18, 2007 )

Some individual songs I loved:

“Dreams Before People” – Sholi*
“El Jefe” – Elephone* (kind of dislike the rest of this album, to be honest, but this song is amazing)
“Good Intentions” – Two Sheds*, from The Bay Bridged Volume 2

Happy Holidays everyone! And may 2009 bring an awesome new America and much happiness to all of you. Cheers.

2008.  Man oh man.  Where to begin.  Well first this happened.  Then that happened.  Then this continued to happen.  And best of all, we made some new friends along the way.  And finally, this happened:

 But amidst all that insanity, we managed to sneak in some pretty dang good music along the way.  So without any further ado, enjoy our list of the Top 10 Albums of 2008.

10. Vivian Girls, Vivian Girls – Have to say I didn’t have high hopes for this one when I downloaded it.  Instead though, I got a lo-fi blast of garage rock and pop songs that matched anything else that came out this year.  The record’s simplicity is the key to its good times.  Honestly, who would take a 7-minute Bradford Cox krautrock noise-fest over a 2 minute punk song where the only lyric is the word “No!” shouted over and over again?

Vivian Girls – Going Insane

9. Girl Talk, Feed The Animals – The first time you listen to a Girl Talk record it’s always fun to count the number of times you have an “Oh my GOD!” moment.  For me it was when he mixed Journey and Andre 3000.  Mind explosion pure and simple.

8. Gentleman Jesse, Introducing Gentleman Jesse – Thank God that Gentleman Jesse came along to sweep away the boring music that seemed to dominate the indie scene for 2008.  His razor sharp power pop channeled equal parts New York Dolls and Elvis Costello while making for some of the best listening of the year.  And by the time you realized how good it actually was, the record was over.  Clocking in at just over 30 minutes, the 12 songs here display the kind of inspired abandon that makes singing in the car at the top of your lungs the best thing ever.  Not that we ever partook in that.

Gentleman Jesse – If I Can See You (You’re Too Close To Me)

7. Wale, The Mixtape About Nothing – When I first got word of a concept mixtape based on a sitcom that was canceled ten years ago and released by a clothing label the only thing I could think was “Whaaaaat’s the deal with that?”  Thankfully though, Wale (Wah-lay) is probably the one guy smart, deep and funny enough to pull it off.   Like the show, he mixes stinging pain with hilarity to make you shake your head in disbelief.  Sampling dialogue from the show and even going so far as to title his songs using the same formula that Larry David used to title each Seinfeld episode (e.g. The Kramer, The Vacation From Ourselves, The Artistic Integrity), Wale manages to take the genius of the show and make it his own.

Wale – The Mixtape About Nothing 

6. Jay Reatard, Singles ‘06-’07 – Okay, in case you can’t tell from this list, we really like garage punk.  And if you’re a regular reader of ours, you know how much we like Jay Reatard.  So sue us.  I defy anyone to find a record that grabs them more immediately than this one.  Definitely the strongest release from one of 2008’s most impressive artists.

Jay Reatard – Let It All Go

Top 5 after the jump:

5. French Kicks, Covers E.P. + Swimming – Okay we realize that these are two separate releases.  But they deserve the credit.  Is it safe to call these guys the Tom Wilkinsons of indie rock?  You know, they’re consistently overlooked as one of the best working bands out there today?  We’ve tried to tell you about these guys for so long that it’s almost ridiculous, and yet again, they managed to put out some of the best music from the past year.  Here’s hoping they can stick around to do it again in ‘09.

French Kicks – Trouble

 4. Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend – One of the tools I use to measure the strength of an album is the amount of time it spends in my car.  This record stayed firmly planted in the car for all of winter and early spring and then made an unprecedented comeback to carry me through summer as well.  This debut proves that the simple formula of tight pop songs with perfectly curated influences usually makes for a winning music. 

3. The Walkmen, You & Me – Question.  Was You & Me actually as good as it was made out to be or was A Hundred Miles Off just that terrible?  Regardless, it’s rare that a band can recover from a misstep with so much aplomb to make a record as consistently strong and moving as You & Me and for that alone they should be commended.

2. The Killers, Day & Age – While some will inevitably stick their noses up and claim to be too cool for these guys for various reasons ranging from insanity to stupidity, you can’t deny that Brandon Flowers can write a hook.  With Day & Age they made a record that 45 year olds could like just as much as 8 year olds and that’s a much harder thing to do than to make another bedroom masterpiece.  This record basically plays like a singles collection and manages to fuse the immediacy of the Hot Fuss with the scope of Sam’s Town. 

The Killers – Losing Touch

1. Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours – I’ve thought a lot about this record in the past year and still haven’t managed to come up with a decent way to explain what makes it so great.  Pop hooks?  Has them in spades.  Danceable?  My ass is shaking just thinking about it.  But those descriptions only scratch the surface.  While people often complain that electronic music lacks warmth or depth, they’d be forced to discontinue that opinion after listening to In Ghost Colours.  The songwriting and production (courtesy of Tim Goldsworthy) are so crisp, so lush and just so damn good in every other respect that we knew we were listening to the record of the year way back in April.  This music makes us speechless and, really, that’s the only reason we need to name it number one.  Besides, this fan video set to the climactic scene from Rad says all the things we never could.