The Palace Theatre, Downtown LA

A review of the decade’s most important albums.

The noughties are being recollected with mixed reviews from musio-snobs, either it has been the new 1960s, filled with revolutionary changes and groundbreaking albums, or else a decade littered with manufactured pop and throw away acts. The fact is, it has been both, just as the ninties was, but whether you are a cynic or not you must realise that we have been graced with some of the best albums of our time in the last time years. Each of the albums below with forever hold their place in the realm of musical excellency.

Absolution- Muse

Muse are without doubt the most remarkable band of the decade. As a three piece band they are often praised for the enormous sound they emit, and Matt Bellamy has been regarded as the best front man since Freddie Mercury. Absolution is the band’s third album and was a powerful follow-up to the album that broke them, Origins of symmetry. The album, released in 2003, transformed the rock ballad from something we cringe at, to something by which are blown away and which  we embrace, particularly with the track that inspired the album’s title, Sing for absolution. It set the musical standard for the remainder of the decade, but it would become nigh-on impossible to reach the sound levels or vocal talents of Muse.

Elephant- White Stripes

The White Stripes have had plenty of impressive albums over the last 10 years, ranging from different styles and levels of maturity, but Elephant was the album that made them sore from quaint and interesting two piece band, to modern day living legends. They recorded the entire album on 8 track and pre-1960s recording equipment in the space of two weeks. It includes a song fronted by Meg White and several raucous and retro sounding rock tunes such as Girl, you got no faith in medicine. It will definitely go down in music history and be stored alongside Chuck Berry’s Roll over Beethoven LP.

This is it- The Strokes

Rough Trade records were the most innovative record company in Britain during the 1970s and 80s, but eventually everything crumbled and it seemed as though the music industry would be dominated by mainstream labels. Until they discovered The Strokes at the beginning of the decade, and in 2001 they released their debut album, This is it. The album was like nothing we had heard before, 11 songs of smug New York Rock and Roll, it  was as though the sound of The Big Apple was being fed into our bedrooms. With the heavy, distorted guitar and bass, disillusioned lyrics and Julian Casablancas gruff vocals, they were the sound of the new slightly drunken and dishevelled generation. The band created the scruffy, yet some how well kept image that would soon become known as “the indie look”, you’d be a fool to argue against the point that The Strokes made a near-unsurpassable impact on music with this album.

Up The Bracket- The Libertines.

Rough Trade records continued their reinstatement into the music world with the band that launched a thousand carbon-copies. The Libertines released their debut album in 2002 and although it was far from a storming chart success, it will forever remain the prime example of Indie Music as we now know it. Marking the revival of British music, the power of this album is heavily underestimated and not at all rated as highly as it should be. Perhaps too many people focus on Doherty’s personal life, rather than his undeniable lyrical talent. Not only did the band reinforce the music industry in Britain after Oasis’ spiral into meritocracy, they invented “bromance” before the term was even coined. Carl Barat and Pete Doherty’s very close relationship endeared a lot of people to the concept the band represented almost as much as the music. If any album of the decade was given the title of “Soundtrack to the new Indie generation”  it would undoubtedly be this one in particular.

Vampire weekend- Vampire weekend

The final and most recent of our most remarkable albums of the past ten years, Vampire Weekend, was released in 2008, and therefore too late to actually influence the music of the decade. The album was however, completely different to everything that had come before. American Indie music had not been as prominent, or indeed as inspiring as its British Counterpart, and Vampire Weekend enhanced the entire concept of Indie. Their music is fast, fun and above all else happy. The amalgamation of lead singer,  Ezra Koenig’s seamless and high-tuned vocals and the high pitched guitars and keyboards lends an otherworldly atmosphere to the album. It is the epitome of Indie music, which was once described by spin magazine as “any music to which  a so-called Indie Head can bop and sway”, which is something the body feels compelled to do as soon as the first track, Mansard Roof, plays in. What other accolade could they want other than their most popular song to date, A-punk, being the anthem of every well-respected Indie club in Dublin city?

Triste scoprire che c’è chi, passando per caso da queste parti, rimane terrorizzato leggendo i contenuti degli articoli (vuoi per gli argomenti, vuoi per lo stile). Beh, Frank non vuole questo, o almeno, non sempre. Tiriamoci quindi tutti un po’ su di morale con una delle poche cose che ancora riesce in questo titanico intento, la musica. Anche se il campo è ampio, e i gusti svariati, sono certo che qualcuno, che come me sta’ arrostendo nel fuoco lento dell’attesa per il nuovo lavoro degli Strokes, c’è. Ci sarebbe proprio da rimanere ustionati, visto che pazientiamo da ben tre anni, se non fosse per gli sporadici ma provvidenziali progetti solisti dei componenti della band newyorchese. Dopo i lavori di Nick, Nikolai, Fabrizio e Albert Hammond Jr. esce Phrazes For The Young (omaggio a Oscar Wilde, “Phrases and Philosophies for the Young), del cantante del gruppo, Julian Casablancas. La sua inconfondibile voce è un ottimo sedativo per un’attesa di cui non si intravede la fine, credetemi. Con sole otto tracce Julian riesce a creare un’atmosfera magica e confortante, che senza troppe pretese si propone di essere la cura per ogni malessere dell’anima. Certo, stiamo parlando di uno dei componenti di quegli Strokes che hanno partorito Is this it, che a quasi un decennio dalla sua uscita rimane un capolavoro per la sua intensa semplicità, Room on Fire e, nell’ormai lontano 2006, First impression of earth, quindi è giusto tenere alte le aspettative, ma più di ogni altro progetto solista dei suoi compagni, quello di Casablancas stupisce e convince. Dopo avervi consigliato di abbandonarvi alle melodie ed ai ritmi incalzanti di questo meritevole cd, non mi resta che farmi da parte, ed augurarvi buon ascolto.

Track Listing:

Beyoncé

O semanário musical inglês “New Musical Express” anunciou que a música “Crazy in love”, de Beyoncé, foi escolhida a melhor da década. Veja a lista e assista alguns dos vídeos no site do Globo Online, clicando aqui.

Já “Is This It”, álbum lançado em 2001 e que marcou a estreia do grupo The Strokes, foi eleito o melhor disco da década pela mesma revista: veja a lista no site da Band, clicando aqui.

Post relacionado:
- Listas: 100 melhores (?) da década

End of the year = listmania! Every self-respecting music publication will have a list of the best songs and/or albums of the year. Except this year they won’t; it’ll be the best of the decade.

I do really quite like the NME, but their list of the top 100 songs of the “noughties” (inverted commas because I absoultely hate the phrase) left me cold.

I could see their logic when it came to albums of the decade – The Strokes’s ‘Is This It? may not have been my favourite album of the past 10 years, but it’s a damn good one and it did give music a bit of a shake-up.

So, what’s NME’s best song of the decade?

No, I am not joking (how I wish I was!)

I don’t like this song. I accept that this is a subjective judgement – the “uh-oh” bit has never done anything but annoy me – but is this really the zenith of the world’s songwriting over the past 10 years?

Of course not; it’s a populist, all-permeating choice. Everyone will have heard of it, and it’s non-indie nature is somewhat akin to the NME saying “hey! Look at us! We don’t take ourselves too seriously!”

Everyone knows that the best pop song of the decade was this one:

The original version did clock in at number 16 on the NME chart, but still.

I couldn’t pick a song of the decade; I’m far too indecisive for that. I do, however, think that one of the best songs of the decade was this:

Even if just for the intro alone.

Or this one:

God, I miss The Long Blondes (despite their largely mediocre second album.)

But where were these on NME’s list? Nowhere, sadly.

A década está acabando e não param de surgir listas das melhores coisas destes últimos 10 anos, essa história já ta ficando um pouco chata. Mas a lista da vez é bem legal, novamente a revista britânica NME fez a votação, desta vez para escolha das 100 melhores músicas da década. Legal foi que os brasileiros do Cansei de Ser Sexy entraram na posição 91 da lista, com a música Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above. Ta certo que eu gostaria que algo mais Rock ficasse em primeiro lugar, mas não da pra negar que a Beyonce tocou muito nesses últimos anos e arrebatou uma porrada de prêmios, não faz a minha cabeça, mas a mina é foda. De qualquer forma, tem MUITA coisa boa na lista, escute TODAS!

Veja aqui o Top 10:

1 – Beyonce - Crazy In Love (2003)

2 – MGMT - Time To Pretend (2008)

3 – The Strokes - Hard To Explain (2001)

4 – MIA - Paper Planes (2008)

5 – Outkast - Hey Ya! (2003)

6 – The Rapture - House Of Jealous Lovers (2002)

7 – Klaxons - Golden Skans (2007)

8 – Blur - Out Of Time (2003)

9 – Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies) (2005)

10 – Arctic Monkeys - A Certain Romance (2006)

E a lista completa no link: http://www.nme.com/list/100-tracks-of-the-decade/158050/

Listas, listas, listas…

Oh, las listas, que absurdas son pero como mola hacerlas. Elegimos los 50 discos de la década, los 25 míos y los 25 de eldrsaleabailar (próximo miércoles). Ambos coincidimos en algunas referencias, pero sobre la mayoría estamos en radical desacuerdo, he aquí mis 25, con comentarios hirientes propios de eldrsaleabailar.

1. The Strokes – Is This It

Indiegnado: Indudablemente, el disco de la década. Once autenticos himnos que han inspirado tanto a músicos como a simples mortales durante los 9 años que esta maravilla lleva con nosotros.

Eldrsaleabailar: Indudablemente, unos pijos medianías de NY que tuvieron la suerte de vivir (artisticamente) en la década más medianía de la historia.

2. Arcade Fire – Funeral

Indiegnado: Con su instrumentación barroca, sus melodías completamente particulares y diferentes, hizo que, por primera vez, la palabra épica adquiriera un nuevo significado.

Eldrsaleabailar: Uno de los pocos descubrimientos de Pitchfork que me hicieron volver a creer en la música después de los 90

http://musicwebzine.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/morrissey-you-are-the-quarry/

3. Morrissey – You Are The Quarry

Indiegnado: Con este disco, Morrissey volvia tras siete años de silencio. Y lo hizo con el mejor disco que ha firmado en solitario.

Eldrsaleabailar: Grandísimo, guapísimo y con la mejor canción de la década. Un recuerdo para la organización del festival en el castillo de Sohail, espero que no hayan levantado cabeza desde aquel despropósito.

4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell

Indiegnado: “Fever To Tell” es un disco de rock hecho en los 00, y cuando digo hecho en los 00 me refiero a que suena de esta decada, no es un revival, ni intenta copiar a nada anterior. Solo ellos consiguieron hacer un disco de rock, aportando algo más en estos ultimos 10 años.

Eldrsaleabailar: Vamos de sobrada en sobrada. Perdonadle, es joven.

5. The GO! Team – Thunder, Lightning, Strike.

Indiegnado: Ian Parton es el ideologo de esta autentica joya. Creando a partir del mash up sobre discos de los 70 y aportando voces y matices, Thunder Lightnin Strike es un disco que no se repite en ningun momento y que en cada corte crea melodias perfectas. Tremendamente fresco.

Eldrsaleabailar: Thunder Lightnin Strike es un disco que no se repite en ningun momento, Thunder Lightnin Strike es un disco que no se repite en ningun momento, Thunder Lightnin Strike es un disco que no se repite en ningun momento, Thunder Lightnin Strike es un disco que no se repite en ningun momento” ¿QUÉ NO QUÉ?

6.Los Planetas – La Leyenda Del Espacio

Indiegnado: Siempre en progresión, siempre dando un paso más en su música, Los Planetas consiguen en “La Leyenda del Espacio” fusionar el flamenco con el rock, algo que nos intentaron colocar erroneamente con “Omega“. Ellos lo consiguen firmando algunas de las mejores canciones de todo su repertorio, desde “Ya no me asomo a la reja” hasta “Si me diste la espalda“.

Eldrsaleabailar:Lo único erróneo es tu animadversión a “Omega“, pieza clave de la historia musical patria.

7. Death Cab For Cutie – Transanlanticism

Indiegnado: Death Cab For Cutie son uno de los grupos que más vende en america, juegan en la liga numero uno del mainstream americano, algo que empezaron a conseguir tras su “Transantlanticism“, un disco de pop preciosista simplemente perfecto.

Eldrsaleabailar: Me aburren un poco. Para mainstream americano me quedo con Britney Spears.

8.Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

Indiegnado: Animal Collective hacen la música que se deberia hacer en el siglo XXI, música actual que aporta algo nuevo y se olvida de esa estupidez estendida del “todo esta inventado” ellos demuestran que no, que aun se puede hacer algo nuevo que no suene mal, algo nuevo, que de hecho suena como nada más suena actualmente.

Eldrsaleabailar: Estoy de acuerdo, lo que no sé es si gracias a dios, nada más suena a ellos.

9. Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare

Indiegnado: El debut de Arctic Monkeys fue un golpe de aire fresco en el panorama musical, y supuso un disco que llevo la musica a aquellos oidos que la relacionaban con horteradas varias sin sentido. Pero lo mejor llego con su segundo disco, un disco que no se centraba en el hit instantaneo, sino que buscaba nuevos matices y nuevos sonidos.

Eldrsaleabailar: Los caminos del myspace son inescrutables.

10.La Casa Azul – La Revolución Sexual

Indiegnado: “La Revolucion Sexual” es un disco perfecto, hit tras hit y estribillo coreable tras estribillo coreable, los intentos anteriores habian  dejado grandes canciones, pero no es hasta esta revolucion sexual cuando todo suena engranado y menos organico, pero a la vez, más profesional, un sonido que le va mucho mejor a La Casa Azul.

Eldrsaleabailar: Guille Milkyway es lo más importante que nos ha pasado, si señor.

11. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend

Indiegnado: Soplo de aire fresco. Los lideres del afroindie, con un debut mas que interesante lleno de cambios pero sonando siempre a ellos mismos. Increible.

Eldrsaleabailar:Increible, de inicio a fin, yo también caigo rendido y espero que el nuevo trabajo me siga hechizando

12. Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand

Indiegnado: Grandes. Su primer disco es una coleccion de hit tras hit, y con canciones tan míticas ya como “Take Me Out” o “Michael“.

Eldrsaleabailar: Grandes no, gigantes.

13. TV On The Radio – Dear Science

Indiegnado: “Dear Science” es el disco que mejor suena de Tv On The Radio, aunque muchos prefieran el anterior, en “Dear Science” alcanza una variedad de estilos, sonidos y matices que pocos han conseguido en estos 10 años.

Eldrsaleabailar: No me acaban de llegar, pero no se puede negar que no sean buenos

14. The XX – XX

Indiegnado: El debut de 2010. Ellos han demostrado que se puede tener 20 años, un par de guitarras y una caja de ritmos para crear un disco redondo y con un sonido exquisito, 11 canciones llenas de magia.

Eldrsaleabailar: Buff, empezó sin gustarme y ahora me empieza a encandilar, en mi lista no llegarían a tiempo.

15. Capitán Melao – Lágrima

Indiegnado: Si tengo que elegir un descubrimiento personal del underground mas underground me quedo con Capitán Melao. Un disco injustamente olvidado hasta por su creador, que desde entonces no ha vuelto a dar señales de vida al proyecto y con canciones tremendamente buenas.

Eldrsaleabailar: Si es tu disco fetiche nada tengo que objetar, para que no me taches de inmaduro

16. Astrud – Tú No Existes

Indiegnado: “Tú No Existes” es el disco mas pop de Astrud, esa música tremendamente recordable llena de arreglos electronicos y acompañadas de esas letras tan divertidas. Ni que decir que “Noam Chomsky” o “El Vertedero De Sao Paulo” son de lo mejor que astrud han firmado.

Eldrsaleabailar: ¡Increíble!, va el tío y escoge el menor de todos los discos de Astrud de la década, en fin…

17. Amy Winehouse – Back To Black

Indiegnado: La drogada mas mal vista del mundillo rosa, ¡canta! y ademas lo hace de una forma absolutamente espectacular. “Back To Black” es un disco imprescindible dentro del revival soul que se creo, en parte, gracias a ella.

Eldrsaleabailar: Me aburre

18. Triángulo De Amor Bizarro – Triángulo De Amor Bizarro

Indiegnado: El noise patrio, las ganas y la furia de los gallegos, todo eso esta contenido en el debut de TAB, un debut que pronto tendra su esperadisima continuacion. y dentro de ese debut una de las mejores canciones de la decada a nivel nacional, “El Fantasma De La Transición“.

Eldrsaleabailar: ¿Son tan buenos como para estar entre los 25 mejores?

Indiegnado: Rotundo sí.

19. Coldplay – A Rush Of Blood To The Head

Indiegnado: Coldplay son los nuevos U2, los herederos de los estadios, lo llenan todo, incluso un año antes, de locura. Pero esa euforia que se ha desatado en los ultimos años poco tiene que ver con el pop pianistico de los inicios, lo verdaderamente bueno de Coldplay

Eldrsaleabailar: ¡Viva La Vida! , ¡Afroditaaaaa! (Prefiero a dana internacional)

20. Ellos – Lo Tuyo No Tiene Nombre

Indiegnado: El primer disco de Ellos es el mas fresco, y punto. LLeno de himnos bailables y un aire muy divertido

Eldrsaleabailar: Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, ¡por fin algo bueno!

21. Band Of Horses – Cease To Begin

Indiegnado: El primer disco fue un disco aclamado en todos los medios, pero no fue hasta el segundo “Cease To Begin” cuando Band Of Horses alcanzaron su exquisitez musical, canciones pop rock con un aire americano realmente exquisito.

Eldrsaleabailar: Apenas les conozco, será por algo.

22. El Guincho – Alegranza

Indiegnado: Si tuvieramos que el artista nacional con mas proyeccion y que mas fronteras ha conseguido romper, ese es sin duda, El Guincho, por primera vez, un artista nacional no es tratado como secundario, sino que se coloca en las privilegiadas primeras posiciones, y ademas con un discazo absoluto como es “Alegranza“.

Eldrsaleabailar: Absolutamente de acuerdo

23. The National – Boxer

Indiegnado: El post punk ha sido el estandarte mas copiado e irritante de la decada, que si interpoles, editores, y catpeoples insulsos todos, pues bien, The National escapan de esas connotaciones y colocan su “Boxer” como un disco lleno de matices y buenas canciones.

Eldrsaleabailar: Disco precioso, de verdad, para escuchar con alguno de M. Ward.

24. Ladytron – Velocifero

Indiegnado: Viva el electropop de los 00´s y claro, vivan Ladytron. Cuatro discazos en siete años, el mejor, el último, un disco impecable.

Eldrsaleabailar: A mi no me ponen.

25. Sigur Rós – Takk…

Indiegnado: ¿y que seria de la decada sin la bizarrez extrema de Sigur Rós? Pues nada, lo suyo si que es autentica epica, sin el significado negativo.

Eldrsaleabailar: ¿sin?

On Saturday I bought the NME for the first time in what must be at least half a decade. This is exactly how they planned it. As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, everybody is a sucker for a list and how can resist a list of the fifty albums of the Twentieth Twenty First Century so far. It is not a list that is going to blow anyone’s mind: a lot of very good music drawn from a fairly narrow range of the musical spectrum. Predicatibly and somewhat self-servingly, The Strokes top the list. The tsunami of hype that greeted the release of Is This It was probably the last gasp of the NME’s influence and reputation so there is more than a little retrospective self-justification here (see also the fact that three Pete Doherty albums make the list.) It is also notable that they spend at least as much time talking about the impact the band had on fashion as on the music itself. To hear the NME tell it they singlehandedly saved a generation of twentysomethings from turning into their dads. In actuality, all that happened is that the pendulum of taste swung back again and people remembered that they liked listening to guitar music with a decent rythmn section.

And the album itself? I bought it at the time and played the hell out of it but until this evening I hadn’t listened to it in years. In fact, the closest I’ve come to returning to the record is repeated listens of ‘A Stroke Of Genie-us’. This might suggest that what I liked about them were the driving riffs and what I didn’t like was Julian Casablancas’s voice. There is an element, too often his vocals are irritatingly indolent, a mix of charmless drawls and yelps, but when he howls a line like “Yes, I’m leaving/Cause it just won’t work/They act like Romans/But they dress like Turks” on ‘New York City Cops’ there is a power that really makes the song.

Coming to Is This It cold it is easier for me to see it as an album of two halves. From the opening track it is is shockingly slow. ‘Is This Is’ like listening to someone play scales, ‘Soma’ could be called ‘Mogadon’ apart from the fact Casablancas just about manages to rouse himself towards the end, even a more lively song like ‘Barely Legal’ sounds a rehearsal for ‘Hard To Explain’. They are not bad songs but they are unexceptional and of a piece. The second half – from the opening scream of ‘Last Nite’ to album high point ‘New York City Cops’ to the abrupt goodnight of ‘Take It Or Leave It’ – is less poppy, more aggressive and all the better for it.

A bit of attitude is not enough to make a lasting work (despite the fact the NME put XTRMNTR in the bronze position). So yeah, it was nice to get it out again but it obviously isn’t the album of the decade. If anything on the NME list meets this criterion I would go for Turn On The Bright Lights by Interpol or Illinois by Sufjan Stevens, albums that had a real emotional hold over me, albums that got into my brain and under my skin rather than just being earworms, albums that – unlike Is This It – are not sat on the shelf gathering dust.

Hay… ya vale,no?

Hace mucho tiempo-¿era febrero?- anunciábamos que se reunían para hacer cosillas. Pero ahora parece que la cosa va un poco más en serio o no. En el Twitter del bajista, Nikoloai Fraiture, encontramos esto: “While the guys are in LA, I went to scout some studios in NYC with Ryan today for what looks like Jan recording!!! mood = f***ing excited!“  Ryan es el agente de los Strokes, y que viene diciendo que todo apunta a que este enero empiezan a grabar. Pero en otro lado de la balanza, el hecho de que casi todos están inmersos en proyectos paralelos y las palabras de Julian Casablancas, con reciente álbum en solitario: “We’re supposed to get back together in January but don’t hold me to that, we’ve been trying to do it for years. I’m always available and they know that but getting together is tough” afirmando que la reunión no es tan sencilla. Amigos Strokes que os parió, teneís a toda una generación que vistió Converse y se dejó greñas por vosotros, pendientes de ese cuarto álbum que no nos sonreje al decir que somos fans,  haced el favor, de aparcar egos y grupos bajeros que no llevan a ninguna parte, grabar y venid! Nos debeís un concierto en sala. Por nuestra parte, seguiremos cruzando los dedos y pediremos a los Reyes Magos que estos ruimores sean de verdad y esten de vuelta el año que viene.

The Strokes have indicated they are to start work imminently on their new album. And according to bandmates Julian Casablancas and Nikolai Fraiture they could be doing so as soon as January next year.

“While the guys are in LA, I went to scout some studios in NYC with Ryan [Gentles - The Strokes manager] today for what looks like Jan recording!!! mood = f***ing excited.” Fraiture wrote on his Twitter. But Casablancas said the plans weren’t set in concrete, but also revealed January sessions had been discussed. “We’re supposed to get back together in January but don’t hold me to that,” Casablancas told Pitchfork. “We’ve been trying to do it for years. I’m always available and they know that but getting together is tough,” he added.

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5. Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca
We start off the list with an album that was released this very year. Will it stand the test of time? I dunno. (If it doesn’t, welcome to the top 5, Sound of Silver by LCD Soundsystem!) What I know is that this album gripped me the first time I heard it, and it has not let go. I just listened to it yesterday while mowing the lawn. I’ve listened to it in the car. I’ve listened to it in my living room while playing with my daughter’s toys (she may have been there too). What I’m trying to say is: It’s versatile. I pick up on something new with every listen.

4. Sufjan Stevens: Come on Feel the Illinoise
How can you not like this album? Even my mom likes this album. Direct quote: “This is a really strange time signature!” Yes, mom. Yes it is. Confession: I have not retained any knowledge of music composition despite years upon years of saxophone and piano lessons. I can’t even really read music anymore. But Sufjan obviously can. And I’m grateful.

3. Arcade Fire: Funeral
It’s rare that I can remember both the first time I’d heard of a band and the first time I listened to their albums. The first time I heard of The Arcade Fire was when Pitchfork listed Funeral as the best album of 2004. I summarily dismissed Pitchfork and snooty and elitist for selecting this band I’d never heard of. Oops. When I did finally listen to it, I was in my office, and the “ooo ooo ooo”s in the back end of the first track gave me chills, as if I was experiencing some sort of catharsis. But I was at work on some random day, and it was 8 in the morning. Now that’s good music.

2. The Strokes: Is This It
When this album came out, I was heavily into softer fare (think Guster). It’s pretty safe to say this fuzzed-out, wrong-noted, bad-singing, imperfect gem of an album changed my whole outlook. I wondered who are these down-on-their-luck garage-based recording artists, who were born sans silver spoon and have not a dollar to their name because of their decadent rock-n-roll lifestyle? Well…

1. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
I had extremely high hopes for this album; I followed the drama of Wilco being dropped from their record label then being picked up again by a subsidiary of that same label, and my anticipation built and built. Then I listened to it and it wasn’t at all what I expected, so I summarily dismissed it as snooty and elitist. (Sensing a pattern here?) But then I listened again, and again, and again, and again, and it just sort of burrowed its way into me. I think at one time I read an interview where Jeff Tweedy said they tried to build “space” into the songs to allow the listener to fill in the missing parts. Maybe that’s what makes this album so great.

It’s been a while since anyone’s heard a peep out of The Strokes.  Their debut, Is This It, brought them some serious success in the early 2000’s, and their follow up album Room On Fire kept them on the radar, but where have they been since 2003?

We’re not exactly sure, but NME reports that we may find out sooner than later.  Bassist Nikoli Fraiture wrote on his Twitter:

“While the guys are in LA, I went to scout some studios in NYC with Ryan [Gentles - The Strokes manager] today for what looks like Jan recording!!! mood = f***ing excited.”

Don’t hold your breath though – lead singer Julian Casablancas revealed to Pitchfork that getting the band together has been a challenge:

“We’re supposed to get back together in January but don’t hold me to that,” Casablancas said. “We’ve been trying to do it for years. I’m always available and they know that but getting together is tough.”

So maybe The Strokes will make it back into the studio.  Someday.  Get it.  Someday…  Nevermind.

julian casablancas – 11th dimension.mp3

Realmente bueno el album de los Strokes, recuerdo que en el cch era la sensanción...

Todos conocemos el semanario musical NME, que se dedica a promocionar a la música Indie en Gran Bretaña, comúnmente siempre al día de todo el entorno musical tanto local como mundial. Esta vez la publicación inglesa nos proporciona la lista de los 100 mejores discos de la década. ¿En que se basaron? Bueno, realizaron una encuesta hace como 2 semanas (no recuerdo bien cuando vote) y el resultado completo se puede ver aquí. Yo solo les dejo la lista de los primeros 10 con su respectivo link de descarga ;D.

Me gusto el resultado, realmente se le hace mucha justicia a bandas que han marcado la década, como los Yeah Yeah Yeahs aunque me hubiera gustado que salieran The Hives…pero no se puede obtener todo en la vida xD! Me deprime que el Absolution de Muse este en el lugar 49 pero creo es algo a comparación de Coldplay que esta vez, apesar de estar en la lista de votación, ni siquiera aparecio entre los 100… Ni modo nos quedaremos con la mención en el 2002 -w-u.

La gran mayoria esta en MU solo dos en RS. Diviertanse escuchando musica =3

1. The Strokes – Is This It
2. Libertines – Up The Bracket
3. Primal Scream – XTRMNTR
4. Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say That’s What I’m Not
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell
6. Pj Harvey – Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
7. Arcade Fire – Funeral
8. Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights
9. The Streets – Original Pirate Material
10. Radiohead – In Rainbows

Here’s the songs that are topping my playlist this week. As always, a couple of these will be used in the music round on Nov. 25. The link will take you to iTunes to hear a sample of the songs.

• Nuthin’ but a “G” Thang – Dr. Dre
• Radar Love – Golden Earring
• Big Me – Foo Fighters
• I Wish – Stevie Wonder
• Santa Monica – Everclear
• You Only Live Once – The Strokes

A few weeks ago a friend and fellow music writer called Finbarr Bermingham (a fine Irish name) asked me to contribute to a feature he’s running on his blog, where various scribes are picking their top five albums of the past decade.

I put it off for a while as it’s not the easiest task to whittle down everything you’ve listened to over the past ten years into five standout LPs, but then one evening I thought I’d stop procrastinating and just do it. Finbarr was looking for personal choices, not some kind of authoritative barometer of the decade, so I just shortlisted the albums that had stuck with me, the few I can still enjoy after hundreds of plays.

And the top five I came up with? Well, here they are, in no particular order:

Radiohead – Amnesiac
OutKast – Speakerboxx / The Love Below
Midlake – The Trials of Van Occupanther
The Strokes – Is This It
The Knife – Silent Shout

You can read my reasons for choosing them in full over on Finbarr’s blog.

If he asked me to do this in six months time I’d probably come up with five completely different choices, but there you go. If you haven’t heard one of the five I recommend you give it a spin, as they’re (obviously) all extremely good.

And what are your top five albums of the Noughties? I’ll give you a few weeks to post your comment.

Julian Casablancas non è un tipo qualunque. Non sappiamo se definirlo icona rock renda l’idea. Perché probabilmente è riduttivo. Atteniamoci quindi ai dati concreti: dalla sua mente è partita la nuova epopea dell’indie-rock. Quell”Is This It’ che sta quasi per compiere un decennio di vita, è stato un disco profetico, rivelatore, spartiacque. E’ un disco che non è nato dal nulla, ma dall’assorbimento di una cultura rock ben precisa (quella di fine anni ‘60) che è stata poi sputata fuori dopo un trattamento chimico a base di nonsense, sfacciataggine e onnipotenza giovanile. Sono bastati tre LP agli Strokes per mettere una seria ipoteca sul nome simbolo da attribuire al rock nato nel nuovo millennio. E se i detrattori vi potrebbero elencare una decina di band da cui i ragazzi di NY City hanno saccheggiato per diventare grandi, allora chi li supporta ve ne potrà elencare almeno 40 che suonano tali e quali agli Strokes.
Julian nel 2009 ha deciso di andare oltre dando alle stampe il suo primo disco solista (seguendo le orme di un paio di compagni di band) che – stando al manifesto d’intenti dell’autore – ha l’obiettivo di dare libero sfogo a tutte le sue idee senza che queste siano messe in discussione dal resto del gruppo. E sono idee che sorprendono. Un Casablancas, quindi, a 360°. Otto tracce per alzare di nuovo la voce, dopo tre anni di silenzio.1. Out of the Blue
2. River of Brake Lights
3. 4 Chords of the Apocalypse
4. 11th Dimension
5. Ludlow St.
6. Glass
7. Left & Right In The Dark
8. Tourist

Una de las bandas más interesantes que ha salido del Reino Unido en los últimos 5 años, ha alcanzado su popularidad gracias a los sencillos de sus dos primeros discos: Dancing Shoes, I bet you look good on the dancefloor, Fluorescent Adolescent o Teddy Picker, que además de pegajozos, sin duda son unos temazos. Ahora los chicos de Sheffield acuden al genio Josh Homme para grabar su tercer disco y los resultados son muy gratificantes.

Comenzando con My propeller, inmediatamente llama la atención que la banda se distancia del sonido del disco anterior, Favourite Worst Nightmare. Ahora no parecen estar apurados o necesitados de hacer las canciones más rápidas que puedan componer, lo que les permite experimentar con nuevas propuestas. Así, el cuarteto se americaniza y sustituye el frat rock por una ambientación lúgubre con un sonido ligeramente sucio, que recuerdan de cierta manera la propuesta stoner del desierto de California, que el productor Homme ayudó a forjar desde los noventa con bandas como Kyuss o Queens of the Stone Age.

En conclusión, Humbug termina siendo un disco que como nieto lejano del Mojave Desert, tiene un compendio de canciones muy parecidas entre sí, donde a pesar de que no hay temas que puedan reventar en la radio o que vayamos a escuchar en una fiesta, dejan claro que la banda liderada por Alex Turner no se conforma con escribir himnos para los borrachos de Inglaterra, y han comenzado a madurar su sonido. El resultado: uno de los mejores discos de este año.

torrent.

Video del primer sencillo: Crying Lightning

Segundo sencillo: Cornerstone

A perfeição em forma de música. Ok, talvez eu esteja exagerando, mas Room On Fire é o melhor álbum dos Strokes.

Com uma sonoridade ainda parecida com o primeiro trabalho e completamente diferente no ritmo e na melodia, é realmente difícil de ouvir as músicas sem balançar a cabeça ou bater os pés. Não estou dizendo que é um álbum dançante, ele é gostoso demais, nunca eletrônico ou feito para dançar na balada.

Como disse, a banda ainda tem cheiro de rock de garagem, porém incorporou uma puta de uma combinação entre vocal, guitarras, baixo e bateria. Tudo parece acontecer junto e ao mesmo tempo com apenas um objetivo: parecer que é apenas uma coisa. Ou seja, como se ao apertar uma tecla do piano, o som produzido seja uma faixa do álbum, me entende? As músicas são uma unidade de diversos instrumentos.

Os destaques (completamente pessoais) são between love & hate (youtube), I can’t win (youtube) e a música que mais revela o estilo de room on fire (novamente, apenas para reforçar, isso é a minha opinião): the end has no end (youtube).

dope! I love this guys voice so i had to post this lol

♥duckie!

Augh, FML. Seriously. Why is there so much homework for me to do this weekend? Why is my freaking psych professor assigning the normal homework along with the gigantic semester paper? Totally unfair. I seriously should have made more time for this stuff during the week, but the thing is…even if I knew it was going to be like this, I guarantee I wouldn’t have worked on it before Friday at the earliest. I’m so lazy. Lol…it’s a “conditioned response.” THIS STUFF IS SO BORING. But at least I understand it a little better than some of the stuff in the textbook.

I am seriously a music downloading addict recently. Today I downloaded almost 300 songs! I got these albums off of various free (and probably illegal, l-lol) websites: Aimee Mann (Bachelor No. 2 The Last Remains of the Dodo, The Forgotten Arm, I’m With Stupid, Lost In Space, @#%&*! Smilers, and Whatever), Bob Dylan (Modern Times and Under the Red Sky), As Tall As Lions (You Can’t Take It With You), Dashboard Confessional (The Shade of Poison Trees), The Fall Of Troy (In the Unlikely Event), Franz Ferdinand (Tonight), Lenka (Lenka), Norah Jones (Not Too Late), Pat Benatar (The Essential), Red Hot Chili Peppers (Blood Sugar Sex Magik), The Rolling Stones (Emotional Rescue, Goat’s Head Soup, Some Girls, Sticky Fingers, Tattoo You, and Undercover), The Strokes (First Impressions Of Earth), and Tegan & Sara (Sainthood). HOLY HELL THAT’S A LOT OF MUSIC, AMIRITE? I’ve actually been keeping a music downloads log so I can keep track of all the stuff I download.

I’m hungry but I felt kind of sick earlier, so I’m hesitant to actually eat anything.

I finished all 900 and some pages of Penny & Aggie that are up so far yesterday after school, haha. I like it a lot otherwise I wouldn’t have kept reading all of that. But yeah, it took forever.

I’ve been wanting to color I picture I drew the other day for a few days now and I just haven’t had the chance. It’s been minimized on my desktop for at least two days. I’m really tempted to color it and leave the rest of my homework for tomorrow, but I’m worried I won’t be able to get it all done. I have a math test, a psych quiz, assignment, and discussion board thing, and of course the psych semester paper. I’m thinking I’m going to try to finish part I of the semester paper and possibly the math test and then get to coloring if I have time. It just sucks ’cause what I really want to do is color. But… yeah, I need to pass. OTL I’m supposed to register sometime soon, I guess. My parents keep bugging me about it and I just feel like OKAY HOLY SHIT I WILL GIVE IT TIME.

Lily is constantly in my room with me. It’s really sweet. Haha, actually, now that I think about I think Lily has a conditioned response to “bathie.” c: She’s such a sweetie.

Umm…what else? I guess that’s it for now. BBL, wish me luck on my horrendous homework load!

I found this old demo over at The World Forgot a few weeks back, and have been playing it pretty heavily recently, especially given my recent obsession with all things Julian Casablancas. I absolutely adore Phrazes for the Young, but still prefer my Julian in Strokes form, especially on this absolutely stunning demo the band released on their myspace way way back. This stripped down demo, which mimics “You Only Live Once”, reveals the band in their simplest and most vulnerable form. I long for another Strokes album, but until then Julian’s new work, and this beautiful track, will have to do.

MP3: The Strokes – “I’ll Try Anything Once (You Only Live Once Demo)”

Love,
Zack

Freschi del numero 1 ottenuto con Is This It nella classifica dei migliori album dell’ultimo decennio stilata da NME, gli Strokes stanno per ritornare in studio per lavorare al successore di First Impression Of The Earth del 2006. O forse no.

Stando a quanto riportato da Rockol, l’indie band si ritroverà il prossimo gennaio in uno studio di New York per le session di registrazione. A svelarlo è stato il bassista Nikolai Fraiture con un post su Twitter: “Mentre gli altri sono a Los Angeles io sono qui a New York con il nostro manager, Ryan, a cercare uno studio per gennaio. E siamo molto eccitati dalla cosa”.

Queste parole però non hanno trovato riscontro in alcune dichiarazioni rilasciate dal leader della band Julian Casablancas, attualmente impegnato nella promozione del suo album solista Phrazes For The Young: “Sì, immagino che in gennaio ci vedremo, ma non contateci troppo. Sono anni che ci proviamo, a ritrovarci. Io sono sempre disponibile, ma ritrovarsi tutti insieme è molto dura”. Staremo a vedere cosa accadrà.