Modest Mouse, circa 2007. The upsidedown gentleman on the right is Johnny Marr. Yes, that Johnny Marr. After two decades as a hired gun for anybody and everybody he finally found another really good band to join fulltime. So if you noticed that in 2006 Modest Mouse jumped from being merely great to downright amazing, well, now you know why. Here’s hoping for a really long future of fruitful collaboration. Pretty sure Isaac Brock won’t be having any uppity thoughts of going solo.

Broke account so I broke a sweat
I’ve bought some things that I sort of regret about now

Broke my pace and ran out of time
Sometimes I’m so full of shit that it should be a crime

Broke a promise cause my car broke down
Such a classic excuse it should be bronze by now

Broke your glasses, but it broke the ice
You said that I was an asshole and I paid the price

Broken hearts want broken necks
I’ve done some things that I want to forget but I can’t

Broke up, and I’m relieved somehow
It’s the end of the discussions that just go round and round
And round, and round, and round, and round,
And round, and round it shouldn’t have been anyway
No way, no way, that’s right, that’s right
Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, uh no
Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, uh no

It was like everything was evidence of broken (time?)
You’re living on fancy wine
You’ll drink that turpentine
You’re starting conversations
You don’t even know the topic

Modest Mouse—The Moon and Antarctica
Epic, 2000

Despite the overwhelming success of 2004’s Good News for People Who Love Bad News, The Moon and Antarctica still seems to inspire the most resounding acclaim from longtime Modest Mouse fans. It highlighted a point in Modest Mouse’s storied career where, even though radio still wasn’t really playing them, they were becoming impossible to ignore. Their enormous fan base was built almost solely from extensive touring, and when a band plays together that much for that long, the music can reach insane highs. Moon proved two things about Modest Mouse to the world: 1) They weren’t going to be fading away any time soon, and 2) They were capable of much more than ripping off Black Francis. Those things were important to establish, but the record is actually much more than a stone of proof—though thematically similar to MM’s other albums, Moon has the ability to work on many levels. There’s a sort of code of ethics to its moral ambiguity, a kind of spirituality to its atheism. It’s a very human record that deals with human afflictions, while not failing to comment on how silly many of these afflictions are and how badly they cause some people to screw up. “3rd Planet” and “Dark Center of the Universe” have both become anthems on this topic in their own right, boasting melodic yet dreary guitar lines that tend to inspire ornery grins—the stuff from which rock and roll is brewed. Amazingly, Modest Mouse never lose themselves in this process of reinvention, a sure-footed attitude that no doubt helped to poise them for the great takeover. (Note: Though this album was reissued in 2004 with a new mix and new artwork, all the info in this review is based on the original 2000 release.)

My Morning Jacket—Z
ATO/RCA, 2005

Like Summerteeth did for Wilco in 1999, 2005’s Z changed how the world listened to My Morning Jacket. It showed the band taking their alt-country upbringings, slingshotting them as far off into the mountains as they would go, and replacing them with a more psychedelic-pop-oriented approach. Jim James’ songwriting may have taken a more upbeat turn on this record in favor of commercial appeal, but he sounds more driven than he ever has before or since. Plus, the songs on Z are still as emotionally immediate as his earlier gospel-inspired work; and on top of that, it’s easy as hell to rock out to them. “Anytime” sounds like a radio hit in all the best possible ways—the verse feels like a chorus, the chorus feels like a verse, and the bridge feels like Jerry Lee Lewis somehow avoided self-sabotaging his career back in the 50’s. “Off the Record” is probably what Sticky Fingers would have sounded like with some more reggae thrown in, with an extended end-solo a la “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking?” that feels more tip-of-the-hat than uninspired rip-off. James’ ability to humbly wear his influences on his sleeve while still creating unique rock music is one of the many things that make MMJ so much fun. (Note: This was the RGH selection for Best Album of 2005.)

Portastatic—Be Still Please
Merge, 2006

Superchunk may be the banner under which Mac McCaughan achieved his status as indie cult auteur, but Be Still Please (the 2006 offering from Portastatic, McCaughan’s solo project) is one of the finest records he has made—bold proof that he not only deserves more credit as a songwriter, but is in fact one of the indie generation’s greatest. As an album, it is a departure from everything McCaughan has done in any of his projects, boasting Dylan-esque arrangements and loads of unorthodox instrumentation like clarinet, oboe and bassoon. Given this fact, as well as the ultra-personal nature of the songs, one could wonder why McCaughan didn’t choose to release the album simply under his own name. It probably has something to do with the fact that—despite the overall melancholy tone of Be Still Please—he is still too rock and roll to pull that move. He could easily become the old guy who is still making music because a handful of people like him enough to buy his records, and to make it easier for them, he records and performs Michael McDonald style. But, as proven by the track “You Blanks”, he is anything but that guy: “All my songs used to end the same way/Everything’s gonna be okay/You fuckers made that impossible to say!” Whomever those “blanks” are, the tone is not an accommodating one, and it’s clear from this album’s beautiful beginnings to its whispery end that McCaughan is doing this for himself.

Joshua James is a singer song writer from Nebraska and I stumbled across this cover a little while back and was very pleased.

Check out his other tracks on his myspace ,I especially like the song Coal War.

The track Dear Darcy is a good one too, but the song is not on his myspace so listen to it via youtube with no video style.

Here in Scotland, the sun rises at about 8, and sets at 15:30. And you start seeing long shadows at noon. Seriously. Honestly, there are moments when the seratonin just dips. I hate going into class at 15:00, leaving at 16:00, and fighting the urge to call the Scottish answer to Safe Ride. Apparently, in the summer, the sun rises at 4:00, sets at 10:00. Happy/manic medium can be achieved if you stick around long enough, I guess.

I live in the hotel-like David Russell Apartments, which is apparently good for Green Tourism. It’s also good for my cardiovascular system because it’s a friggin mile away. Pictures to come. This place is nice, but not nearly as awesome as living in the repurposed hospital in Leiden. Meh.

The View by Modest Mouse

Thanks to everybody who commented on my last blog post! I really appreciate you sharing your playlists with everyone and introducing us to some great new music!

As I was responding to your comments, something hit me. You guys have shown us an incredible ammount of support over the last few years. You’ve called your local DJs to request our music. You’ve come to our shows and purchased our CDs. And your votes have caused us to win more contests and get onto more playlists than I could count. Each of you has helped make what we do possible.

Last week was really cool because we had twenty people contribute to our post! But, our anlaytics show that hundreds of people read it. Why is that? I’m not sure. But I feel that it is – at least in some part – due to the fact that so often the creation and delivery of art is a one way street. I want to change that; so I’d like to invite you to take a moment to do three things:

1. Visit atris.wordpress.com (This will be more fun if everyone goes to the same page.)
2. Scroll down to the comment box and introduce yourself. Write a few words about anything you’d like. How did you first hear our music? What city are you from? What are your favorite movies? Pretend we just met at a coffee shop. If you’d like share your blog address, Twitter ID or someplace where we and other people can learn more about you that would be great too!
3. Check the box that says Notify me of follow-up comments via email.

Please don’t do this for us, do this for yourself and for everyone. It takes a certain amount of bravery to put yourself out there; but it’s worth it. We love to get to know people with similar interests, ideas, and opinions. And it’s really cool when group discussions are started. If you have something in common with someone who posts, let him or her know! It makes me feel great to see people responding to my comments, and I love to chime back in to share my thoughts.

Looking forward to meeting you!

-Mason

Last week we began an ambitious expedition through the best music of the past decade and I posted the albums ranked 91-100. Today we will tackle the next ten, numbers 81-90. Let me know what you think.

90. U2 – No Line on the Horizon (2009)
I’ve long been a fan of U2, but have rarely found their complete albums to be great. Even their magnum opus, The Joshua Tree, is terribly front-loaded. No Line continues their tradition of good recordings, proving to be one of their better collections overall and definitely their best since 1991’s The Joshua Tree. Some of the songs, like “Magnificent” and “Moment of Surrender,” can stand up to anything in their legendary catalog.

89. Matisyahu – Youth (2006)
An orthodox Hasidic Jew doing reggae music? Why not, this is the 2000’s. Matisyahu mixes socially conscious lyrics with danceable rhythms to produce one of the more unusual and surprising releases of the decade. The title track, “Youth,” and “King Without a Crown” are two tunes that particularly show that he could be in for a long and fruitful career.

88. Pearl Jam – Riot Act (2002)
As I’ve mentioned on many occasions in the past, I’ve long been a rabid fan of Pearl Jam and this is probably my favorite of theirs from the intervening years between No Code and Backspacer. It has a varied sound that is more akin to Vitalogy than to any of their other works, while showing the maturity of a group of men closing in on 40. The album contains jabs at corporate America and President Bush, but I think my favorite tunes are probably “I am Mine,” “Thumbing my Way,” and “Love Boat Captain.” It’s definitely a must-have for PJ fans.

87. The New Pornographers – Challengers (2007)
TNG is an indie rock supergroup of sorts made up of AC Newman, Dan Bejar (aka Destoryer), and one of my personal favorites, Neko Case. The band makes interesting music together, but I personally wish they would utilize Case more often than they do. Regardless, this album has some great songs, including “Myriad Harbor” and the title track, “Challengers.”

86. Belle & Sebastian – The Life Pursuit (2006)
Scottish band Belle & Sebastian have been carrying the indie pop banner for several years now and The Life Pursuit continues their streak of interesting and catchy music. Their sound is similar to the alternative bands of the 1980’s, such as The Smiths, just with a bit more sunshine from earlier mainstream pop. Check out songs like “The Blues Are Still Blue” and “Funny Little Frog” to get a better idea of what they are about.

85. Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere (2006)
The combination of producer extraordinaire Danger Mouse and rapper Cee-Lo Green quickly proved itself to be a formidable one with their debut release, St. Elsewhere. Funky and soulful, with inescapably catchy songs like “Crazy,” the duo blew up in 2006 with this multi-platinum released and have continued to prove themselves with an innovative style that appeals to both critics and regular listeners.

84. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest (2009)
Interesting and intelligent, the band Grizzly Bear is a critical darling of the decade for a reason. The have a real knack for bending genres, mixing electronic sounds with vocal harmonies a la Fleet Foxes and some very nice alterna-pop melodies. Catchy songs like “Two Weeks” and “While You Wait for the Others” will be stuck in your head for days. Though I had heard some of their last release, Yellow House, this was the first album of the band’s that I’ve listened to very often, so I’m looking forward to seeing what Grizzly Bear has in store for us in the future.

83. Radiohead – Hail to the Thief (2003)
Would it be considered a heresy for me to call Radiohead the Beatles of generation X? There is probably no other group who have changed music, who have camped out at the cutting edge and set themselves up as the standard-bearers of a generation, to the same extent as Thom Yorke’s band. While this politically charged album may not be among their best, it is still quite good and proves that even when not on top of their game, Radiohead is on another level than everyone else. Songs like “2+2=5” and “There There” are nearly on par with anything in their career.

82. Modest Mouse – Good News for People Who Love Bad News (2004)
I had listened to some Modest Mouse prior to the release of this album, but for whatever reason, they never truly grabbed hold of me. It was not until the catchy and anthemic song “Float On” hit the airwaves that I went back, listened, and became a fan. This breakout album for the longtime indie stalwarts is definitely a must-own for someone interested in the music of the early 2000’s.

81. Okkervil River – The Stand Ins (2008)
This hyper-literate Austin band hit paydirt with this 2008 release and its ultra-catchy “Lost Coastlines.” Though this set of recordings is supposed to be a companion piece to their 2007 release, The Stage Names, I think I actually enjoy it more. Frontman Will Sheff likes to make strange and sometimes obscure references to everything from French playwright Antonin Artaud to a 1920’s German silent film to the Gospel of Thomas, and that’s only in one song (“Singer Songwriter”). How cool is that? Seriously, check this album out if you haven’t already.

The Moon and Antarctica

Modest Mouse

Original: 2000

Reissue: 2004

Epic Records

Modest Mouse has always been an intriguing band… but then again so is their fan base.  For example, there are people who like their music (I’m one of them), there are people who like them ironically (because they’re bad (which they aren’t)), and there are people who don’t like them at all.  Now I’ll be honest, I can’t claim to have a lot of indie cred on this.  I started liking Modest Mouse just before they got popular in the mainstream.  The Moon and Antarctica is personally my favorite album from them, and that’s what we’re here to talk about, so let’s get into it.

Starting off with “3rd Planet”, we have some mellow guitar, and then we hear Isaac Brock for the first time on the album.  Yep, it’s definitely the way we expect Brock to sound.  This is a very strong track starting off the album.  The music, while slightly repetitive, isn’t to the point of being boring, and really sets a good tone.  The lyrics are definitely the hallucinogen-inspired deepness that genius Brock churns out constantly.

“Gravity Rides Everything” starts off with some cool guitar effects, like someone messing with a crossfader.  Brock changes it up a little here, sounding slightly more hushed and mellow (if it were possible).  But as usual, the lyrics are slightly unintelligible, but nonetheless brilliant.  I think I even heard some wood block percussion in there! Hell yeah Modest Mouse!

“Dark Center of the Universe” is up next, and I personally love the intro to this song.  It really does have the mood like you’re floating in space, and there’s nothing around you, but you’re following the sound of a guitar.  Oh yeah, and Brock has his signature sound here, of course.  Once we get past the first verse, it really kicks in and it’s a full effort from the whole band.  Oh yeah, and the chorus really kicks ass, especially the lyrics (semi-intelligible as they are).  Definitely one of my favorite songs on the album, both in terms of music and lyrics.

“Perfect Disguise” drops the tempo incredibly, but you can definitely tell it’s a Modest Mouse song from the start.  At 2:43, it’s one of the shorter songs on the album, but it definitely feels like the usual 4 minute tracks due to the tempo.  Cool background vocals, the usual brilliant lyrics, and vocals and music blending well deliver a solid mellow track.

But don’t count Modest Mouse out because you don’t like the mellow stuff, because they’re back in gear with “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes”.  Brock has an interesting sound here with his vocals.  I’m not sure if he’s harmonizing with himself or another member of the band, but it sounds damn cool.  Then the chorus changes it completely.  Oh yeah, also this is the song that Isaac Brock stabbed himself multiple times during at a performance a year ago or so.  He’s a crazy motherf*cker.  Did I mention hallucinogens before?  Because Brock likes them.  Keep that in mind.  Oh and the guitar outro is cool.

“A Different City” starts out right in your face with some kickass guitar which drops out, but comes back later.  Brock describes wanting to live a life of solitude in a different city, but using confusing language at times.  For example:  ‘I wanna remember to remember to forget you forgot me’…. yeah…..  Still a really cool song, with Modest Mouse sticking to what they know.

“The Cold Part” slows it down again, but I can’t get into this song for some reason.  The vocal effects and guitar both have really cool sounds, there’s even some violin!  It just comes off as a depressing song, and maybe that’s what I don’t like about it.  For me, it’s definitely the low point of the album.

“Alone Down There” brings back confusing harmonies (if you can call whispering harmonizing… can you?) Brock’s evil laughing at times adds a cool element to the song as well, and he’s in true form in the chorus.  Another short song, this time at 2:23, but doesn’t fall short (hahahaha play on words!).  The one thing about this song is that it kinda leaves you hanging, like it finishes before it’s over.  The guitar solo is pretty awesome though, and takes us out fairly well.  Either way, a definite improvement over “The Cold Part”.

“The Stars Are Projectors”… the 8, almost 9 minute epic.  In the beginning, Brock seems like he just overdubbed multiple layers of himself just babbling into the mic, and then it comes back again shortly thereafter.  Then the cool part of the song starts, with the deep lyrics that are expected.  Sometimes I wonder if they are intended to be deep, or if we’re just reading far too much into them.  Either way, the brilliance is obvious, albeit drug-induced.  The third stage starts speeding up, and then we slow back down again.  This song really is like a roller coaster ride.  Some speeding up again, and trippy-ness, all funneling into a slow-paced ending.

So here’s one of my favorite songs on the album, where Brock does everything.  “Wild Packs of Family Dogs” is a short song with an interesting theme; it’s about a kid whose life is ruined by these wild dogs.  His dad gets fired, his sister gets abducted and eaten, and his own dog runs away with them.  But what the hell is blood dust? Something you can cry, apparently.  Eventually, the dogs die at the same time as him, and they go to heaven.  What the hell is this song really about?  I think you need to take LSD to really figure it out, so someone test this and report back.  Not really though.

“Paper Thin Walls” is another up-beat, up-tempo song, and this really gets the nod for my favorite song on the album.  To be honest, something about this song really makes me happy, and I can’t explain it.  It’s a helluva lot of fun to listen to.  Brock is in true form, and the whole band really finds their groove on this track.  The lyrics are rather interesting, and they seem like just random thoughts that fit the pace of the song.

“I Came as a Rat” is really close to “Paper Thin Walls” for me in terms of favorite song.  There are so many versions of this song, from the original, to the live versions, to the long walk off version… and I like ‘em all.  The lyrics are pretty cool, like they just follow a stream of consciousness with similarly sounding words.  Also I love the lyric ‘it takes a long time, but God dies too, but not before he’ll stick it to you’.  There’s so many lyrics to quote here, but I can’t fit them all, so just listen to it… you won’t regret it.

So we slow down yet again, this time for “Lives”.  Interesting lyrics here, how everyone just wants to live their own lives, indifferent to the feelings of others.  It’s pretty depressing, but still a good song.  Brock goes on to say how we’re alive for the first and last time, how short it is, but how it takes so long, and how we need to live while we’re alive; a good message there.  ‘My mom’s god is a woman, and my mom she is a witch’ is a great lyric.  I’m pretty sure Brock did everything on this song too.

“Life Like Weeds” is an interesting song, with Brock bouncing back and forth between two distinctive vocal sounds that he does so well.  The band definitely keeps up with him here, and they combine to deliver a very good song that doesn’t feel as long as it is.

“What People are Made Of” is a really cool album closer.  We start off with some kickass music, and then Brock… well he yells.  Unintelligibly.  With distortion.  Yeah… the vocals are kinda out there, but the music itself really makes this song what it is:  a powerful album closer that delivers.

Or is it over?  No, see, I have the re-release version of the album, so included are three BBC radio edits and one instrumental, so I’ll just explain them all together here shortly.  The “3rd Planet” edit has one changed lyric, and a censoring of the words ‘fucking’.  Pretty cool how the Brits do their censoring though.  Other than that, the same thing as the regular version.  “Perfect Disguise” is completely different.  The vocals have a weird, but cool effect to them.  That’s really the only change that matters here.  “Custom Concern” is a song from Modest Mouse’s previous album This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About. Yes, that’s the album title.  It’s a cool instrumental, definitely worth listening to.  Finally, the “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes” edit.  It’s a lot softer than the original, with the bass not being as heavy.  The scream before the chorus, and the chorus itself are slightly changed as well, along with a few lyrics.  An interesting note:  apparently Brock was dissatisfied with the original mix, and wanted a better version that he said would be funded personally, that he alone could hear.  Epic decided to fund it, and it got released in 2004.  Thanks, Wikipedia!

So there you have it, the proclaimed ‘masterpiece’ of Modest Mouse.  Personally, it’s my favorite album from them, and definitely solid.  There’s a few tracks I could deal with skipping during a playthrough, but you should definitely give them all a listen your first time.  If you don’t know what to expect from Modest Mouse, I have a feeling you’ll know if you like or hate it pretty quickly.

Buy This Album

Official Site

Last.fm Page

THIS PORTRAIT IS COURTESY OF THE SUN “THE BEST IN THE U.K FOR NEWS, SPORTS, CELEBRITIES & TV”  <—- I WOULD ADD MUSIC AND GOSSIP IN THERE, BUT I AM UNFORTUNATELY NOT EMPLOYED BY THE SUN (YET);)  THIS STARTED OFF AS A SHORT BLOG ABOUT LEO’S LATEST GIRLFRIEND AND HOW HOT SHE WAS AND I IMMEDIATELY WENT OFF ON A RANT ABOUT HEATH LEDGER BEING THE BEST ACTOR OF MY GENERATION.. PLEASE CHECK IT OUT IF YOUR FELLING CHEEKY~

DAMN, I WISH I WAS BRITISH = I GUARANTEE THAT I WOULD BE A SUCCESSFUL MUSICIAN OVER THERE BECAUSE THEY APPRECIATE ART AND MUSIC THAT TAKES RISKS AND BREAKS MOLDS AND DOESN’T FOLLOW ANY TYPE OF FORMULA AND I BELIEVE I DO THAT BETTER THAN ANY AMERICAN ARTIST/MUSICIAN THAT ISN’T SIGNED.. IN MY NEXT POST, I WILL DELVE FURTHER INTO WHAT I MEAN.. CHEERS~ LIKE ELLIOTT SMITH WOULD SAY:  xo

THANK YOU TO MOONDOG, I JUST SAW A COUPLE OF PICTURES OF LEO DiCAPRiO’s NEW GIRLFRIEND. HE IS SO DAMN LUCKY. FIRST OFF, HE IS ONE OF THE BEST ACTORS OF HIS GENERATION, ESPECIALLY SINCE THE UNFORTUNATE PASSING OF HEATH LEDGER WHO I BELIEVE WAS ON HIS WAY TO BEING THE GREATEST OF MY GEN~ MAN, IT STILL FN PISSES ME OFF THAT HE DIED BEING STUPID, I MEAN A LOT OF US HAVE EXPERIMENTED WITH SHIT AND EVEN TAKEN IT TOO FAR FROM TIME TO TIME, BUT FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND OF HIS PILL INTAKE, IT WAS UNREAL & HIS DOCTOR’S SHOULD BE PUT IN JAIL.. WELL, I GUESS WHEN YOUR AS RICH & POWERFUL AS PEOPLE LIKE HIM, YOU CAN & WILL GET WHATEVER YOU WANT. IT JUST SUCKS, SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR.. A BABY GIRL.. THE BIGGEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME THAT HE NEVER EVEN GOT TO SEE.. AN OSCAR FOR HIS AMAZING PERFORMANCE IN A “SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER” THAT NEVER GET NOMINATED FOR OSCARS, LET ALONE WIN THEM. IT JUST PISSES ME OFF.. HE HAD JUST FINISHED A VIDEO FOR “KING RAT” BY MODEST MOUSE & NOT ONLY IS IT AMAZING, BUT IT STANDS FOR SOMETHING AND JUST LIKE THE GREAT ISAAC BROCK WOULD DO, HE GAVE ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE VIDEO TO A CHARITY PROTECTING WHALES FROM THE SCUMBAGS THAT HUNT THEM~

I AM SURE THAT THESE PICTURES WOULD PUT A SMILE ON MR. LEDGERS FACE. HE OBVIOUSLY APPRECIATED BEAUTY AND THIS IS DEFINITELY A FORM OF IT. I HAVE HAD THE AMAZING OPPORTUNITY TO MEET ISAAC BROCK FROM MODEST MOUSE & UGLY CASANOVA AND EVEN THOUGH HE HAS PLATINUM SELLING RECORDS HAS HIT #1 ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS WITH  “WE WERE DEAD BEFORE THE SHIP EVEN SANK,” HE IS MORE HUMBLE AND DOWN TO EARTH THAN ALOT OF MUSICIANS I MET THAT WERE LITERALLY 3RD & 4TH GUITARISTS ON AN ARTISTS SIDE PROJECT.. ANYWAYS, ANY FRIEND OF ISAAC BROCK (HEATH LEDGER BEING ONE OF THEM) MUST HAVE BEEN A COOL ASS MOTHERF#CKER~

READ A COOL ARTICLE ON VH1 ORIGINALLY WRITTEN BY MTV. AREN’T THEY BOTH OWNED BY THE SAME FILTHY RICH GUY??!!

It’s that time of the decade again. Making lists of favourite things from the past ten years. 

So, I’ll start with my top songs… note this will be subject to change…

1. Doves – There Goes The Fear (2002)

2. Arcade Fire – Rebellion (Lies) (2005)

3. Modest Mouse – Float On (2004)

4. Ian Brown – F.E.A.R. (2001)

5. Elbow – Forgot Myself (2005)

6. Sigur Ros – Hoppipolla (2005)

7. Glasvegas – Geraldine (2008)

8.  Radiohead – There There (2003)

9. Interpol – Not Even Jail (2005)

10. Charlatans – Oh Vanity (2008)

11. Arcade Fire – Neighbourhood (Power Out) (2005)

12. Arctic Monkeys – A Certain Romance (2006)

13. The Coral – Goodbye (2002)

14. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Whatever Happened to my Rock n Roll (punk song) (2001)

15. Libertines – Don’t Look Back Into The Sun (2003)

16. The Strokes – The Modern Age (2001)

17. Sufjan Stevens – Chicago (2006)

18. The Shins – Mine’s Not A High Horse (2003)

19. The Delays – Long Time Coming (2004)

20. Arcade Fire – Wake Up (2005)

21. Doves – Pounding (2002)

22. Radiohead – Everything in it’s Right Place (2000)

21. Four Tet – Unspoken (2003)

22. Bon Iver – For Emma (2008)

23. Badly Drawn Boy – The Shining (2000)

24. Elbow – One Day Like This (2008)

25. TV on the Radio – Wolf Like Me (2006)

26. M.I.A. – Paper Planes (2008)

27. South – Paint The Silence (2001)

28. The Music – The People (2002)

29. Grandaddy – Now It’s On (2003)

30. Oasis – Falling Down (2008) 

31. The Cribs – The Wrong Way To Be (2005)

32. Justice vs Simian – We Are Your Friends (2006)

33. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero (2009)

34. New Order – Crystal (2001)

35. Ranconteurs – Steady As She Goes (2006)

36. Kasabian – LSF (2004)

37. Queens of the Stone Age – No One Knows (2002)

38. Kings of Leon – The Bucket (2003)

39. Portishead – The Rip (2008)

40. U.N.K.L.E. – In A State (2003)

41. U.N.K.L.E. and Ian Brown – Reign (2003)

42. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood (2005)

43. The Electric Soft Parade – Silent to the Dark (2002)

44. The Verve – Love is Noise (2008)

45. The Killers – Mr Brightside (2004)

46. The Courteeners – Not Nineteen Forever (2008)

47. Mansun – I Can Only Disappoint U (2000)

48. Lupe Fiasco – Kick Push (2007)

49. Richard Ashcroft – C’mon People (Making it Now) (2000)

50. The View – Wasted Little DJ’s (2006)

I THINK I AM GOING TO PUKE ALL OVER MY CPU SCREEN~ I AM SO DISGUSTED WITH WHAT THE BIGGEST MUSIC SITES HAVE BECOME. THEY USED TO ALL ACTUALLY TELL IT LIKE IT WAS AND GAVE THEIR OPINIONS WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT WHAT THE OTHERS WERE GOING TO DO OR WHAT WAS “HIP” OR “COOL” ~ IT’S NOT EVEN ABOUT THE MUSIC ANYMORE, IT’S LIKE THE DAMN MUSIC INDUSTRY (ESPECIALLY THE SUCCESSFUL INDIE CROWD) IS A HIGH SCHOOL PROM AND NOBODY’S SOULS OR HEARTS MATTER, JUST THEIR DRESSES AND WHO THEY ARE BRING WITH THEM TO THE BIG DANCE AND HOW THEY ARE GETTING THERE. I’M GOING TO DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO GET THIS BLOG ONTO THE RIGHT PEOPLE’S COMPUTER SCREENS IN THEIR HOUSES OR APARTMENTS! THERE HAS TO BE PEOPLE WHO FEEL THE WAY THAT I DO. WE MUST RISE AND CREATE A NEW GENRE OF MUSIC IN ALL FACETS OF THE THEORY! IT WON’T BE INDIE, IT WON’T BE ALTERNATIVE, IT WILL HAVE TO BE CALLED “OTHER(TWICE)”

I WROTE THIS ON STEREOGUM AFTER READING THE 4TH LIST FROM PITCHFORK WHICH WAS ONLY 20 INSTEAD OF 50 AND THEY WERE BY FAR THE BEST, THEY GOT MORE GOOD ALBUMS IN 20 PICKS THAN THE OTHERS DID IN 50!!!

HERE IS MY RANT: What if the greatest album ever created comes out next month?! Anyways, Out of all the 4 lists from the Top Guns, Pitchfork got more right in 20 than any of the others did in 50!!!!!!!  They are the only ones to include a Modest Mouse Album, I know everyone thinks that Lonesome Crowded West was their Holy Grail & then they sold out, but as a Musician or even a massive fan of music, I think that what Isaac Brock did on The Moon & Antarctica (3 People), Good News For People Who Love Bad News & Even The Johnny Marr Included We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank  <— All 3 of them would be in My Top 50 Along With Ugly Cassanova! Silverchair – Diorama One Billion Percent Belongs In Every List~ It just infuriates me that all of these main music sites have to make sure they are still hip in their decision~ I mean, M.I.A is Beyond Amazing, But I don’t think that Arular is even half the album that Kala is and of course that is because she brought in Big Time Producers and all that, but M.I.A as a Singer/Rapper/Producer/Programmer <— She learned and got better at all of those things over the years in between those albums, but NOT ONE LIST HAD KALA, Just Arular Because It Is Cooler & More Hip To Say So & I Think Modest Mouse Made No Lists Because Of The Same Thing.. It’s Just Ridiculous. I am going to start a Music Blog & I am going to put the time, dedication and money behind it to get it into peoples heads and I will not bow down to what others think I should think. It is really getting pathetic at this point. HE DREAMS AWAKE Better Be In The Top 10 Of The Next Decade’s Lists~ If they want weird, unique, completely different in shape/sound/structure – That is where HDAWAKE Prevails by Landslides~

I MAY BE INSANE, BUT IT IS A BEAUTIFUL & BRILLIANT INSANITY.. AT LEAST THAT’S WHAT I TELL MYSELF WHEN I’M TRYING TO FALL ASLEEP ;P

HERE IS THE PITCHFORK TOP 20 OF THE LAST DECADE

Top Album Of The Decade

PASTE’S 50 BEST ALBUMS OF THE DECADE

NME’S 50 GREATEST OF THE LAST 10 YEARS

UNCUT’S TOP 20 ALBUMS OF THE ’00s

I HAD ACTUALLY LET UNCUT SLIP PAST ME & THEIR TOP 20 IS BETTER THAN HORRIBLE~ I WOULD TAKE THE TWO TOP 20’s OVER BOTH TOP 50 LISTS COMBINED TO A DESERTED ISLAND FOR THE REST OF MY OWN ETERNITY, NOT SAYING THAT WOULD BE EVEN DECENT, BUT IT WOULD DEFINITELY BE…… BETTER THAN NOTHING (i think)~

LET’S HOPE NOSTRADAMUS WAS WRONG ABOUT 2012 ALONG WITH THAT GROUP OF HARDCORE CHRISTIANS!!

ONE LAST THING.. ONE BIG ASS QUESTION: WHERE THE F#@K IS ELLIOTT SMITH’S FROM A BASEMENT ON A HILL??!!!!!!!!!  IT DIDN’T MAKE ONE SINGLE LIST AND IT HAS A FEW OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SONGS EVER WRITTEN AND HE IS TALKING ABOUT PURE PAIN AND FRUSTRATION BECAUSE HE STUCK A F#@KING KNIFE IN HIS HEART BEFORE HE EVEN RELEASED IT. IT WAS A DOUBLE ALBUM AND IT BELONGS ON ALL 4 OF THOSE LISTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT THE F#CK EVER~

Well, NME are near the Top of the BEST MUSIC WEBSITES for a reason and have once again given us a glimpse into their minds with their(DUH DUH DUH!!!!!)

LIST OF THE 50 GREATEST ALBUMS OF THE DECADE~ I hate to say it, but I am going to make my first Proclamation as a Music Blogger = This is THE LIST THAT MISSED!!

I Don’t Know If I Agree With The TOP 10 & I am going to check out the #1 Pick again to make sure that I completely disagree~

This Is About YOU THOUGH, SO GO AHEAD & CH-CH-CH-CHECK IT OUT —–>  Stereogum’s 50 Greatest Albums Of The ’00s

If Nothing Else, There Should Have Been AT LEAST ONE ALBUM BY A CERTAIN BAND WHO I BELIEVE IS THE GREATEST AMERICAN ROCK BAND OF THE LAST 13 YEARS

(Funny Number I Know, But That Is How Long They Have Been Putting Out Albums)  – I mean, even if you are part of the crowd that believes they “Sold Out,” Their 3rd Album & The First Of The Thousands SHOULD BE IN THERE, NO QUESTIONS ASKED. I will write more soon enough, I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet and I know how pi$$ed I can get if there is a Massive Spoiler in something I am reading about something that I am about to Hear, Watch, See or Read  (Does that make sense?! Just think about it 

Woo Hoo!!  My 2nd PoST~!!

Respect~

Cheers~

xo

KNiFA

High school and college. God, how I miss them already. Now I’m 22, In fucking Korea, and I work a nine to five.

Sometimes, all I want is to be splayed out next to the warm lake back home with my high school boyfriend. Or pummeling down highway 71 with my brother in his Supra. Or smoking cigarettes in stretches of desert with friends.

The angsty pain and adrenaline associated with those year is tied, inextricably, the the music I listened to.  It’s sad that this decade –  and formative chapter of life – is closing. These may not be the best albums of the 2000’s, but they’re my best albums.

2001 - Hedwig and the Angry Inch OST.

 #1)   My dad gave me this movie when I was in high school, but I never appreciated it fully until, at 17,  the first boy who dumped me forced me to watch it one January under his covers. Whenever I’ve broken up with boys, I always find myself driving through neighborhoods singing “Origin of Love.” The soundtrack is  a full-blooded, raw, sincere ode to love in its many, many forms.

2003 - Erland Oye, Unrest

#2)  Electronica music helped to build the foundation for my music appreciation, and no album (or artist) had a greater impact on me than Erlend Oye. After the death of trance/house, Oye  pumped new blood into the genre: an album that was organized, subtle, and minimal, capturing the autumnal isolation of Nordic life and blending it with restless, steady energy in modern pop.  I am in love with this man.

2004 - Animal Collective - Sung Tongs

 #3)  I blame Animal Collective for the fact that I dressed like a Native American stuck in 1970 in college. I blame them for all the weed I smoked, too.  Sung Tongs wasn’t like anything I’d every heard:   It was primitive, sensual almost, like a wild animal you could hear through headphones. They were, and still are, one of the only bands with a distinct, inimitable  style to emerge after 2000.

2006 - Joanna Newsom - Ys.

 #4) God, what the hell is that?

My first impression of Joanna Newsom, mewling and shrieking to the velvety crescendo of a harp. But her childlike lyrics and nymphette demeanor infected me, badly. Ys was a weighty album, each song a storybook. Newsom was a role model to me, so small, so powerful.

2002 - Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it in People

 #5 I almost can’t listen to this album. If I do, I’m transported back to high school. I’m still crying over Jeff Holman. I’m still drunk at an anime convention.  I’m playing Tetris in the hallway. I’m still sitting in a truck bed after marching band practice. I still have black hair and fake glasses and low self esteem. I still want everyone to notice me so badly, my skin hurts. It’s an Anthem for a 17 Year Old Girl.

2000 - Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica

 #6  Like BSS, It’s hard for me to shake the memories any Modest Mouse album dregs up.

The Moon and Antarctica is maybe the point when Isaac Brock went off the deep end, droning on darkly like chubbier Thom Yorke in a denser mood. But Modest Mouse transformed and adapted with this album.

Just as life was really getting bleak at 16, so was Modest Mouse. Serendipity?

2002 - Chemical Brothers - Come With US

#7) Dear Cooper: Thanks for showing me one of the greatest albums ever. I remember the poster you had in your room, and the way it sounded through the speakers in your car that I accidentally melted lard all over. It makes my ribcage shake, my heart undulate, my blood go fast, my head turn to stars, my emotions ebb and swell.  It’s a brother and a sister, at 90 mph, 110 bmps.

2001 - Daft Punk - Discovery

#8 It’s not that Daft Punk made every sucessful  dance party that I ever threw. It’s that Daft Punk made me want to dance.

I could never dance in high school. I was too busy thinking people were watching me. Discovery was so good, my body told me it was a crime not to move. And it did. And it still does.

2007 - LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver

#9 This is the end of college. Like angst coincided with Isaac Brock, so fear does with James Murphey.

For me, SOS is about fear. Fear of getting old, fear of losing your friends, fear of failure, fear of being too late. And as a lot of those things happened to me towards the end of college, I held onto this.

2009 - jj - JJ N 2

#10 No one knows about, much less appreciates JJ. If this album were a color, it would be a frost covered, cobalt-blue.

Maybe I found this album right before I biked across Germany, and it lays a soundtrack for first seeing the world.  Maybe its dynamism is what appeals to me. I’m not sure sometimes. But it’s never leaving me.

Honorable Mentions:

The Books – The Lemon of Pink

Brian Wilson – Smile

Alan Braxe & Fred Falke – The Upper Cuts

Artist: Modest Mouse
Album: The Moon and Antarctica
Release Date: June 13, 2000

I’m not going to lie and tell you that I’m the biggest Modest Mouse fan. Hell, before earlier this year I hadn’t even heard any of their stuff beyond their recent radio singles, which were alright, but nothing special. Listening to The Moon and Antarctica right now, while I hear what it is that people like about the band, it’s not exactly my thing. They score big points in my book for having a sound that can’t be easily whittled down. The Moon and Antarctica is unpredictable, and it makes you think. It’s frantic, it’s melancholy, and above all, it’s thoughtful. Rest assured, this is one that I’m going to be revisiting repeatedly in the near future to try to wrap my head around.

Modest Mouse – Tiny Cities Made of Ashes [iTunes] (YSI)

==TJ==

Senseless denial.

Modest Mouse

ps.: ai ai Heath…

Three recent perspectives on artists licensing their songs to big companies.

The end of selling out. A predictably trite blog post in Newsweek about the ’sudden shift’ to fans not really caring if songs get used in commercials.

What does it say about our culture? Carrie Brownstein, of Sleater-Kinney, wrote a post for NPR which offers an considerably more nuanced route to the same question that Newsweek asks: what does it say about us that we are no longer bothered about music being used in commercial contexts? Brownstein argues that our infinite access to music has led to a well-developed ability to divorce music from its commercial content. But she (rightly, I think) questions this tendency to decontextualize music.

What does it mean to sell out? Amanda Palmer, as usual, got to the crucial point, even though she wasn’t specifically discussing ads:

selling out is when you go against your own heart, ideals and authenticity to make money.

selling out is an action, a 180 from a stated position.

…but if neil young were to suddenly hire the matrix to write him a thumpin’ dance album and then appear on saturday night live snogging bob dylan, i’d have reservations about his integrity.

Like everything else, there’s no single right answer. When I hear “Lust for Life” soundtracking a cruise line commercial or “Heroes” behind a Microsoft Windows ad, it doesn’t diminish my respect for Iggy Pop or David Bowie, but it sure as hell diminishes my respect for those companies, or at least their ad agencies (and I’m not alone). Boston favourites The Motion Sick getting their videogame-themed love song “30 Lives” in Dance Dance Revolution is a win all around. And I must admit to more than a tinge of sadness when I listened to Modest Mouse’s The Moon and Antarctica for the first time in ages and found my mind wandering to minivans.

EDIT: Make sure you check out the comments for Michael and meredith’s great remarks from the musicians’ perspective.

Dear Seattle,

I’ve lived within your city limits for so long now that as I prepare to move away from you for the first time in my life, I’m flooded with thoughts of all the things I’m going to miss. I’ve driven down your streets the last few days and every passing building, park, and intersection brings back a memory and reminds me that this place is utterly unique, beautiful, and filled with people who, in spite of their idiosyncrasies and passive aggressive tendencies, are in fact *my* people. I am homesick before I’ve even left.

You are the backdrop where all important moments in my life have played out, from losing my innocence to learning to stand on my own and weather every challenge with confidence instead of the anger of a spoiled child. From quiet mornings when the Space Needle would disappear from the skyline entirely in a thick fog to raucous nights on Capitol Hill started innocently with sandwiches at the Honey Hole, I’ve always appreciated your subtle poetry and how you inspire the people who live here without even trying.

Sure, we haven’t always gotten along. I’ve cursed your public transit and how your drivers camp out in the passing lane driving 55. I may have even, on occasion, cursed those gray skies in the dregs of winter when even I, the true native, questioned if the sun would ever reappear. Still, from my living room in Lower Queen Anne as I watched the elevator go up and down and up and down, I’ve watched you woo newcomers with the breathtaking view from atop the Space Needle. If only they knew that view was only one of so many others out there to appreciate…

It was here that I learned to appreciate the nature of true friendship (and not so true friendship) over beers and shuffleboard at Big Time Brewery. I learned humility from every uneven sidewalk and moss-covered stair you threw in my path. And you inspired me with more live music than I can even begin to describe, from the old Croc, and dare I say as far back as DV8. You even taught me to play nice with others as I learned to share Death Cab and Modest Mouse and my other favorite indie bands with the rest of the world. You baptized me by fire when I needed it, from live television to parallel parking in a tiny space while someone was waiting behind me. You even taught me how to hold my liquor with Earl’s Long Island Ice Tea.

I keep thinking how I’ve been a fool to take you for granted, the impeccable films at SIFF, amazing bands at Bumbershoot, and inexplicable delight of Archie McPhee’s. If only I knew I would leave someday, I would’ve paid more attention.

You’ve nourished me with Red Mill Burgers and Nasai Teriyaki and the greatest beer selection a girl could ask for. You indulged me with incomparable Yakima wines and Tom Douglas’ coconut cream pie, not to mention many a brunch at Dish and the 5 Spot. You even nourished my soul with late summer evenings at Golden Gardens and Greenlake and potlucks at the Interbay p-patch. You’ve spoiled me with Easy Street Records and KEXP and I don’t know how I could’ve ever been so dense as to take them for granted. A website just isn’t the same, you know?

My first real job, my first apartment—everything important that’s ever happened to me, it all happened here and that is why you will always be an inextricable part of me; the very core of who I am. I’m a Seattle girl, a Husky alum, and someone who will always love this city no matter how much it changes. When people ask me, “So does it really rain in Seattle all the time?” I will tell them yes, because god knows the last thing this town needs is more Californians moving here. It’s my way of showing you I still love you even though I’m far away.

I know I have many more firsts ahead of me and it’s necessary to try new things, but I take with me the best parts of this town, this amazing place where I’ve become the person I’ve always wanted to be.

Your face will change and I know that when I come back and the Gates Foundation is done, not to mention all the nonsense construction in SLU, you will look so different than when I left you. And I’ll look different, too–mostly because Bash at Vain won’t be lending his mad scissor skills to my locks anymore, but I have the highest of hopes that you will grow into the tremendous city I’ve always know you capable of being. I know someday all the progressive ideas will become reality.

It is so hard to leave you, Seattle. You are home to me. You are home to my ex-boyfriends and childhood friends and my family, and I hope you take good care of them while I’m away. And I hope they take really good care of you, too. You deserve it.

Admittedly this post is a tad early, but I’m ready to get these holidays started! I’m actually not traveling this Thanksgiving, but I figured you might be traveling … even if it’s just be from Big D to Funkytown. (That’s Dallas to Ft. Worth for you non-DFWers.)

And what does a good road trip or plane ride need besides great company? Good tunes, man. So in honor of the turkey that sacrificed himself (or tofu for all you weirdos), here’s some tryptophanic tunes. Bon Appetit!

1. Half Way Home • TV on the Radio
2. Two Weeks • Grizzly Bear
3. Shiny • The Decemberists
4. Hideaway • Karen O and the Kids
5. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want • She & Him
7. Turn a Square • The Shins
8. Albatross, Albatross, Albatross • Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band
9. Lisztomania • Phoenix
10. Dashboard • Modest Mouse
11. Shampoo Suicide • Broken Social Scene

………………………………………………………………………………………

Want more mixed well? Check the archives here.

  Being the young age I am (under 30) this last decade was really the one where I can intensely focus on new releases, critically analyze and find real magic in modern music.  As much as I wish I was cool enough to say I bought “Slanted and Enchanted” on vinyl the day it came out or smoke a joint and sit around with my friends about to listen to “The Bends follow-up album” with everyone saying “this better not suck!”  But since I never saw Nirvana in a basement and didn’t hear “Loveless” until Billy Corgan recommended it I’ll just stick to this last decade and share what got me through the last ten years.

10. The Unicorns – Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?

     Not a horribly popular top ten of the decade choice but I’m still baffled at why not.  Jump-starting an explosion of lo-fi, boyish child rock in the underground, the year following saw bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Boy Least Likely To taking notes from the drug hazed, short attention spanned rock that reminded everyone of easier, much more careless times.  Everything about this album is unexpected at first listen.  The old analogue synths, the fighting within lyrics vocals, the friggin recorder?!  WWCOHWWG spans from life to death in 12 sweet tunes and by the end I remember feeling the same way, subdued and ready to die.

The Unicorns – Les Os

9. Electric President – S/T

     So here’s another selection very unlikely to be absent from lists and I feel sorry for all those lists.  Guiding me through 2006, S/T is the self retrospective view of young Ben Cooper and every other confused young male in the world.  Songs like Insomnia tackle depression with uncompromising lyrics that find every emotion and leave it our to dry.  The album is soothing and instantly relatable, and Ben’s shy vocals and unique percussion roll you through the journey and dump you right off at the end.  By then you might feel as if you’re in the same place but with a simplified clarity.

Electric President – Insomnia

8. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?

     Kevin Barnes is the gayest straight man on earth.  And god damn, he should write every album in solitude in Northern Europe.  The genius in this album will never be something Barnes will be able to exemplify again (shown evident in the self absorbed Skeletal Lamping, an album where Barnes basically chews on his ego like bubblegum bugging everyone to watch him blow bubbles.)  The centerpiece here is obviously The Past is a Grotesque Animal, a bi-polar freak out of sorts with all of Barnes A-list lyrics jammed tight in its epic 12 minute sprawl.  Every track is interesting in its own way, and Barnes does a great job of making the album a single statement while never repeating himself.

Of Montreal – We Were Born the Mutants Again with Leafling

7. The Arcade Fire – Funeral

    What can I say that hasn’t been said a million times about this little gem?  This album wasn’t so much about the great songs inside of it but more about its perfect timing.  It was like the momentum of modern rock music was impatiently waiting for this album in order to push forward.  The 7 zillion arcade fire copycat that managed to squeeze their subpar disco beat driven garbage into the remainder of this decade still doesn’t take anything away from the happiest moments of Rebellion (lies) or the saddest moments of Neighborhoods #4.  I look forward to this band continuing to take us to new places in the next decade.

The Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)

6. Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight

   If you’ve never experienced real heartbreak, if you’ve never sat alone in your bedroom feeling ultimately hopeless and desperate, then you’ll never relate with this album.  Scott Hutchison perfectly describes heartbreak from start to acceptance in a power, real, and naked way.  No emotion is held inside here, no disturbing thought bottled up.  Songs like The Modern Leper and Keep yourself Warm much of the time hit too close to home for comfort, but their harsh realities keep you revisiting because when it comes down to it, we all wanna feel something.

Frightened Rabbit – Floating in the Forth

5. The National – Boxer

     In 2007 I knew early on that Hissing Fauna was my album of the year.  No one album was gonna change that, especially not some dark, professional looking, baritone led band called The National!?  But like any National album, repeated listens bring on a fierce addition.  Boxer for me was like cocaine for a confused 19 year old girl saying “I’m only gonna do coke on the weekends” and spiraling into an everyday occurrence.  It’s melodies are haunting, led by Matt Berninger’s deep, hypnotizing baritone.  Matt’s lyrics have always been satisfyingly selfish, but here he seems to take to others, and although hard to clearly identify with what he talks about each line paints his own portrait, colored perfectly by the band of brothers that provide a solid blend of melodic ecstasy, topped of by Peter Katis’s dark production.   

The National – Brainy

4. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

   A billion things have been said about this album, from its difficult release to its beautiful drug tinged americana.  But it will never be enough.  Jeff Tweedy struck fucking gold with every track here.  Every song seems to get better, and the idea of mixing folk rock and sonic electronic noise seems insane (and is!) and could never be pulled off like Wilco did early this decade.  Songs like Jesus Etc. quickly find a place in your heart, with simple yet powerful and brilliant lyrics like “Last Cigarettes” and “Our Love is All of God’s Money.”  

3. Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It In People

    Here is one of those fantastic albums that you remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when you first heard it.  The amount of styles represented in this album are baffling, and prove of the large amount of brilliant songwriters at hand here.  Sexually charged and full of surprises, each song on here has its own style, flair, and fashion.  The jaw dropping Anthems For a Seventeen Year Girl is hypnotic and the lyrics are the perfect mix of vague and overlaid, mixed in and out of phase causing an almost unexplored emotion surfacing from the listener.  I’ve literally seen rooms full of people go dead quiet while this song was playing.

Broken Social Scene – Anthems For a Seventeen Year-Old Girl

2. Modest Mouse – The Moon and Antartica

   When I graduated high school I was religiously into Modest Mouse.  Obsessed, wished I was Isaac Brock.  TM&A is the pinnacle of Modest Mouse and as terrible as it is too say I truly believe if Isaac Brock would have killed himself directly after the release of this album they would have been hailed in a Nirvana like fashion, known for this and Lonesome Crowded West, there never would have been a Float On, and Johhny Marr could still focus on playing in his flavor of the month bands.  But even if isaac wrote Float On 63 times, it would take nothing away from the sheltered genius he created in this album.  Starting off with 3rd Planet, Isaac basical drafts his theory of the universe, and by track 2 you’re sold on it.  The drugged out drunken poetry never falters, becomes too indulgent or relaxes, climaxing up to the 8 minute Stars Are Projecters, a hallucinogenic sound scape of alternative theories, believes, and philosophies.  Even while isaac is busy re-writing the history of the universe he manages to find time to bring worthy singles like Paper Thin Walls into the mix.

Modest Mouse – What People Are Made Of   

1. RADIOHEAD – KID A

 There is absolutely nothing I can say about this album that hasn’t been said, yet no one has been able to properly describe it’s genius either.   Fuck this, I’m just gonna go listen to this album. 

Radiohead – Optimistic

SOURCE 1. + 2. + 3. + 4. + 5.

]]> http://siberiankiss.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/top-50-siberian-kiss-2009-%e2%80%93-puestos-41-42/ Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:56:05 +0000 SilverFuck http://siberiankiss.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/top-50-siberian-kiss-2009-%e2%80%93-puestos-41-42/

42 – The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

El hype del año entre los modernetes se llama The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, normalmente estaria en contra de un disco como este, pero estando ante algo tan jodidamente bonito, la verdad es que resulta muy dificil resistirse.

Atmósferas shoegaze a lo My Bloody Valentine, Dream pop y guitarras sucias con mucha distorsión acompañadas de voces ensoñadoras y sedosas, canciones alegres y pegadizas, con mucho ritmo y mucha luz, son las principales carácterisiticas de este grupo, que si bien dicen las malas lenguas que en directo pecan de sosos (y desde luego no lo dudo), han entrado en esto de la música con un debut más que meritorio.

01.Contender
02.Come Saturday
03.Young Adult Friction
04.This Love is Fucking Right
05.The Tenure Itch
06.Stay Alive
07.Everything With You
08.A Teenager in Love
09.Hey Paul
10.Gentle Sons

descargar: TPOBPAH – TPOBPAH

41 – Modest Mouse – No One’s First and You’re Next

No One's First, And You're Next

Nuevo EP de Modest Mouse, mitos vivientes del indie y el rock alternativo de las 2 últimas décadas, y que pese a tratarse de un EP, pese a que solo son 8 temas y poco más de media hora de música y pese a que suena a ser descartes de discos pasados, siguen sonando igual de originales y frescos que siempre.

Ponerse a hablar de las bondades de esta banda a estas alturas, con cosas como The Lonesome Crowded West, The Moon & Antarctica o su ultimo trabajo, resulta ridículo, así que aunque sea un EP con todos los “peros” que conlleva y que antes he comentado, es una autentica pasada de disco, como el resto de sus trabajos.
Prestar especial atención a estos 2 temazos: The Whale Song y King Rat

01. Satellite Skin
02. Guilty Cocker Spaniels
03. Autumn Beds
04. The Whale Song
05. Perpetual Motion Machine
06. History Sticks To Your Feet
07. King Rat
08. I’ve Got It All (Most)

Descargar: MODEST MOUSE – NO ONE’S FIRST, AND YOU’RE NEXT

Ledsen för de sena uppdateringarna för tillfället, men jag befinner mig fortfarande i staterna så jag tänker fortsätta skylla på tidsskillnaden. Denna vecka har musikredaktionen passande nog valt att lägga upp bland annat lite New Yorkinspirerat!

Nytt med följande:
Singlar
The Sound of arrows – Into the clouds
Frightened Rabbit – Swim until you can’t see land
Two Door Cinema Club – I can talk
The Kick – Let it be
Yeasayer – Ambling Alp
Vampire Weekend – Horchata
Dag för dag – Animal

Stjärna i kanten

Yeasayer
Ja. Så ska det stavas. Störigt men sant. Undrar du över uttalet så varsågo:

/ˈjeɪseɪ.ər/

Men Yeasayer är superfina. Och var är de ifrån om inte – BROOKLYN. My kind of people. Kanske har du liksom jag tidigare hört dem via låten Tightrope som var med på fantastiska indie-plattan Dark was the night från tidigare i år? Det är lite psykadeliskt, knastrigt och kastrulligt.

Behöver faktiskt inte streama nån you-tubevideo i knasterskvalitet, utan du kan gå in på deras hemsida så kan du ladda ner Ambling alp gratis. Man tackar.

The sound of arrows
A.k.a. Stefan Storm och Oskar Gullstrand (men på Myspace räknar de även med sina syntar som bandmedlemmar.. ack så nördmysigt).

Kolla in den vackra hemsidan här. Snyggt och svenskt såklart, där du även kan se den lika vackra videon. 03:48 min där hipsterpojkarna träder in i sagans värld. Jag känner en okontrollerad dragning till Peter Pan och vill inget hellre än att leka Tingeling.

Frightened rabbit
Uttrycker sig själva simpelt för oss på sin Myspace.

They are a band who live in Glasgow and have done for some time. They record in bedrooms, cupboards and kitchens. Anyone can be in Frightened Rabbit. They have played some live shows in this city, but want to meet people from other cities, in order that they can come and blow into tubes when they play live. Lets keep pop music alive by getting it out of that dress and into a sweater.

Bland sina top friends har de We were promised jetpacks. Hello new friend.

Spelar indie på ett välkänt men trevligt sätt. Du anar kanske soundet vid informationen om att de just nu turnerar i Irland och Storbritannien på egen hand och även supportar Gomez och Modest Mouse. Lyssna själv nedan.

Vampire weekend
Vampire weekend då. Det är ingen A-punk, men ganska mysigt och plingplongigt. Lyssna nedan för bedömning.