The NME got in on the act early. This Sunday the Observer Music Monthly publishes its top 50. So I thought I might as well have a go. I wanted to get mine done first and see how much common ground I’ve got with the OMM seeing as its my favourite music mag. It’s harder than you’d think to select just 50 albums that span 2000-2009. I’ve had to leave out some records I really like. But here we go… Please comment as you feel necessary!

50 – Daft Punk: Discovery.

49 – Bob Dylan: Modern Times.

48 – Camille: Le Fil.

47 – Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.

46 – The Blue Nile: High.

45 – New Order: Get Ready.

44 – Mercury Rev: All Is Dream.

43 – R.E.M.: Accelerate.

42 – Fionn Regan: The End Of History.

41 – The Beatles: Love.

40 – The Avalanches: Since I Met You.

39 – Badly Drawn Boy: The Hour Of Bewilderbeast.

38 – Roots Manuva: Awfully Deep.

37 – Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever ago.

36 – Mark B & Blade: The Unknown.

35 – Coldplay: Parachutes.

34 – Malcolm Middleton: Into The Woods.

33 – Seafood: When Do We Start Fighting…

32 – Doves: The Last Broadcast.

31 – Duke Special: Songs From The Deep Forest.

30 – Morrissey: You Are The Quarry.

29 – Guillemots: Through The Windowpane.

28 – Bruce Springsteen: The Rising.

27 – The Gaslight Anthem: The ‘59 Sound.

26 – Billy Bragg & Wilco: Mermaid Avenue Vol. II

25 – Richard Hawley: Coles Corner.

24 – Fleet Foxes:  Fleet Foxes.

23 – Athlete: Vehicles & Animals.

22 – Spin Doctors: Nice Talking To Me.

21 – Sigur Ros: Takk…

20 – Goldfrapp: Felt Mountain.

19 – Maxïmo Park: A Certain Trigger.

18 – Delirious?: Glo.

17 – The Shins: Wincing The night Away.

16 – Ben Folds: Rockin’ The Suburbs.

15 – Green Day: American Idiot.

14 – Neil Young: Living With War.

13 – Ray Lamontagne: Til The Sun Turns Black.

12 – Death Cab For Cutie: Narrow Stairs.

11 – Idlewild: The Remote Part.

10 – Johnny Cash: American IV: The Man Comes Around

An extraordinary achievement for a man in his final year. Johnny Cash’s last ‘proper’ album has the power to bring me to the edge of tears. I bought it the week he died in 2003 and played it a lot. A mixture of originals and covers, Rick Rubin’s brilliant production means there’s pathos dripping from every track. ‘Hurt’ is one of the songs of the decade which couldn’t even be ruined by that dire Nike advert. When I first heard ‘I Hung My Head’ it stopped me dead in my tracks. Just like most of the rest of this awesome album.

9 - Interpol: Turn On The Bright Lights.

I think there’s a good case to be made for Interpol as the band of the decade. To my shame I’m yet to see them live but their three dark, brooding and melodic albums demand that I get round to it soon. I think their debut is the pick of the bunch. Starting with ‘Untitled’ which takes its cues from the shoegazing bands of the early 90’s, the album goes onto channel the best of My Bloody Valentine, Joy Division and classic Krautrock. I suppose it can be said about all the records in the list but I can’t listen to this album too many times. It sends me to sleep, it wakes me up and generally soundtracks my life.

8 – Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend.

The drums alone deserve some kind of award. Chris Tomson is, for my money, the best drummer in a rock band at the moment. But this isn’t Keith Moon fury, or John Bonham theatrics. He sees the drum kit as a melodic and harmonic instrument. The kit is a lead instrument here and when allied to fantastic songwriting, it’s a winning combination. The African influence if overstated (this isn’t even the noughties’ Graceland, let alone Fela Kuti or Ali Farka Touré). However, the hints of afrobeat are enough to make this stand out from the crowd. Walcott is a great track – but there aren’t any duds here.

7 – Grandaddy: The Sophtware Slump.

This outstanding record is often compared favourably with ‘OK Computer’. Well, I’ll put my cards on the table. There’s only one winner; and it isn’t Radiohead. Grandaddy are impossible to categorise, but this record combines the best bits of alt-country, electronica and post-rock. The audacity of a 9 minute opening track has been matched by many bands. The difference is they’ve not made a song as arresting as ‘He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s The Pilot’. ‘The Crystal Lake’ is among the best songs of the decade while ‘Undreneath The Weeping Willow’ showcases a brilliant knack for melancholy. Released at the start of the decade, very few records have got anywhere near matching Grandaddy’s Magnum Opus.

6 – The Hold Steady: Boys And Girls in America.

‘Best bar band in the world blah… blah… blah’ said the music press. Talk about damning with faint praise. The Hold Steady are one of the greatest bands of the 21st Century, full stop. And though their earlier albums are packed with gems, this breakthrough album sees their manifesto fulfilled. How many bands could start a record quoting Jack Kerouac but never fail to be fun? The sound was compared to classic E Street Band and that’s probably as close as you can get to describing this joyous racket. Craig Finn’s lyrics are always interesting and frequently brilliant. So looking at our checklist we’ve got superb music, superb lyrics and some guys that seem delighted just to be playing rock and roll. It’ll do for me.

5 – Elbow: The Seldom Seen Kid.

I suppose too much has already been written about this album. It’d be easy to include ‘Asleep In The Back’ to prove I’ve liked Elbow since I used to play them on student radio in 2000. But that would miss the point: for once, the awards committees, journalists and hype-merchants got it right. This is an amazing album. There’s not an average track in sight in an hour’s running time. Picking highlights almost seems crazy, but ‘Grounds For Divorce’ and ‘On A Day Like This’ have deservedly grabbed the headlines and soundtracked a million daytime DIY programmes. But some of the less well know tracks contain stunning music and lyrics. When Guy Garvey croons ”We kiss like we invented it” on ‘Mirrorball’ it’s enough to melt your heart.  We await their next move with eager anticipation.

4 - Midlake: The Trials of Van Occupanther.

Take a moderately successful Texan indie band and give them a copy of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’. Stand well back and light the blue touch-paper. Doesn’t sound promising does it? How wrong could we be??? This was THE album of 2006. Inventive harmonies, layered synths and lyrics pining for the antebellum South came together to produce a stunning record. The guitar solo that comes halfway through ‘Head Home’ is one of my favourite musical moments of the decade, but this album contains several contenders for that title. The real genius of ‘…Van Occupanther’ is its ability to keep you on your toes. Just when you think it may slip into mid 70’s FM rock pastiche, the band pulls out a track like ‘Young Bride’ which forces you to admit this is a record which is far more than the sum of its considerable parts.

3 – Damien Rice: O.

David Gray is a perfectly decent singer songwriter. The same can’t be said for the likes of James Morrison and James Blunt. But how any of them came to be spoken of in the same breath as Damien Rice is beyond me. The irishman deserves to be in far better company (Jeff Buckley for example). This debut album was a slow-burning word-of-mouth behemoth that managed to retain artistic dignity while being offered on 2-for-1 deals in Tesco. Its strengths have been repeated endlessly, but any blogger who can’t find room for Lisa Hannigan’s beautiful vocals, the stunning string arrangements or the strange re-working of Silent Night is a fool. If this album has a flaw, I’m yet to find it. I can’t pick one track as a highlight because the others simply look at me reproachfully and say ‘actually we’re all rather lovely’. And they truly are.

2 – My Morning Jacket: It Still Moves.

This album sounds like the best party you’ve ever been to. If you want to label it I suppose it’s alt-country. But what on earth does that matter when the music is as much fun as this? Don’t get the idea this is some kind of comedy record though. Howling vocals, squealing guitars and pounding drums fuse together to create a brilliant racket. ‘One Big Holiday’ has a guitar hook to die for, but this isn’t an album of simple pleasures. The genius of the songs reveals itself slowly. The first time you hear it, it sounds like these are well crafted and edited jams. But like Led Zep at their peak, the tracks are more cunningly moulded than that. Crazy Horse are another reference point and when talking about a rock and roll band there are fewer bigger compliments than that. It’s a long record (71 minutes) but unusually for an album of that length, it doesn’t outstay its welcome. Superb.

1 – Stephen Fretwell: Magpie.

I’m annoyed I couldn’t find a decent picture of this album without the parental advisory sticker on it. Ok, maybe it doesn’t make an ideal present for a toddler, but any parent who’s doing their job properly should be investing in this if their child shows any kind of serious interest in music. It’s as close to a perfect record as its possible to get. At the start of the decade, Scunthorpe’s Stephen Fretwell found himself in Manchester as a promising singer-songwriter. A little while later, he was in a recording studio creating some of the most beautiful music that great city has ever produced. By 2004 it was ready for release. In reality, the Manchester thing is a bit of a red herring. Fretwell owes little to the genius of the Smiths and Joy Division or the more prosaic talents of Oasis. He’s just a good old-fashioned acoustic troubadour. So who are the key influences here? I’d guess Neil Young, Bob Dylan et al. But that doesn’t tell you much about this record’s greatest strength. Fretwell’s gift for melody is astounding. Songs like ‘Emily’, ‘New York’ and ‘Rose’ are beautifully crafted and sung. But there isn’t a track here which leaves you cold. You may know ’Run’ as the Theme of ‘Gavin and Stacey’ but don’t stop there. Investigate it immediately. Buy it and love it. There’s only one album of the decade after all; whatever the Observer says!

Wilco: “Airline to Heaven”

The Jayhawks: “Blue”

Cowboy Junkies: “Powderfinger”

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.

Wilco es un grupo de rock estadounidense de raíces countries que se ha consolidado como una de las referencias básicas de la escena alternativa norteamericana. Ahora parecen querer desvelarnos nuevos detalles sobre sus intereses convocando este concurso de haikus.

Un haiku es un poema breve de origen japonés (aunque creo que sino lo conocías ya lo habías intuido) formado por tres versos de cinco, siete y cinco sílabas respectivamente.

Según el libro “Poemas japoneses a la muerte” de Yoel Hoffman “Los haikus no riman; su única regla formal (que a veces también se vulnera) es que tengan un número determinado de sílabas”.

Continúa explicando que “las palabras no suelen dividirse entre uno y otro verso; así, cada verso se compone de una a tres. Aunque en un buen Haiku pude haber más de una frase, siempre contiene una sola imagen poética”.

Por tanto, se trata de escribir un breve poema que hable sobre el grupo que lidera Jeff Tweedy (esta es la condición). Como premios, tendrán recompensa los que queden entre las diez primeras posiciones.

El ganador principal recibirá una Gibson SG firmada por la banda. Los tres siguientes se llevarán un juego de seis figuras Wilco Unipo y un muñeco Wilco Unipo de 15 centímetros de una edición limitada. Los cinco últimos ganadores tendrán como premio una copia en vinilo del último disco, “Wilco (The album)” y una bolsa Wilco.

Si te has animado (espero que sí, el esfuerzo tampoco es muy grande) puedes enviar tus haikus, hasta el 27 de noviembre, a través de Twitter o al correo electrónico haiku@wilcoworld.net.

Driving south on the New Jersey Turnpike with Wilco in the CD player, I became aware that visually, Winter has begun to dominate the landscape. The remains of Autumn have become more and more vestigial. Like most such observations, this one led on to another.

There in the heart of some of the worst of the country’s post-industrial mess, the NJ Turnpike driving south between Exits Twelve and Four, I discovered that the late-November weeds, shrubs and trees flanking the highway were simply gorgeous. The season’s first really hard freeze has yet to occur and the muted colors of the foliage, now fading to near monochromatic browns, are still infinitely varied. The seemingly random arrangements of different species of grasses, plants and trees combine in a natural architecture, offering surprising and beautiful configurations of shapes and values.

All of the above emerged at seventy-miles-an-hour, amid the eighteen-wheelers, clots and breaks of traffic and hidden within an overall surrounding environment of sprawl and clutter. Hmmm.

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.

The San Miguel Primavera Sound Festival will come to Parc Del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain next May 27-29, and the lineup so far is quite impressive.

This Spanish festival collaborates closely with All Tomorrow’s Parties who curates one of the four big stages. ATP takes place one week earlier and attracts approximately 60,000 visitors. In addition, smaller daytime performances take place for free in parks across Barcelona. 

As previously reported, Pavement and Pixies will be headlining the 10th anniversary of San Miguel Primavera Sound Festival. And now, a whole slew of bands have just been added to the bill. According to the festival’s website, fans can look forward to catching:

-THE ANTLERS
-BIS
-THE BLOODY BEETROOTS
-CAMARÓN, LA LEYENDA DEL TIEMPO, 30 AÑOS DESPUÉS (with Duquende and Chicuelo, among others)
-DELOREAN
-DUM DUM GIRLS
-THE FALL
-GANGLIANS
-HERE WE GO MAGIC
-HOPE SANDOVAL & THE WARM INVENTIONS
-JOKER featuring NOMAD
-THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
-PANDA BEAR
-WILCO
-WILD BEASTS
-THE XX

Wilco, The XX, and Panda Bear – OH MY! And to think this is only the start of the festival’s all-star indie lineup.

The Hold Steady Almost Killed The Sokol Underground

But it is.  Good God, it’s almost 2010.

*Side note:  It truly is incredible to consider for myself the difference in my life from the year 2000 to today.  I was a junior in college in Lincoln, having a grand old time, and just started dating someone.  I know am a homeowner in Omaha with said “someone” and have a beautiful daughter with her.  And it seems like 2000 was approximately 2 days ago.  Incredible.

So you’re starting to see the inevitable “Best of the ’00’s” articles and blog posts.  I typically am only interested in the music version of these lists.  The one I saw is from–for my money–the most reputable music site out there anymore, The Onion’s AV Club.

When I first saw this link, I couldn’t immediately think of anything really.  But wow–once I started reading through this list, I realized how good of a decade it has been for music.  Perhaps that’s a personal preference, but there are some all-timer’s in there.  For me, age 21-30 was far more influential for my musical tastes than, say, my high school/early college years because it has been the past 10 years where I really branched out and started discovering more genres and getting into a diverse array of music.  But I digress.

Check out the AV Club’s “Best of the Decade” story. Here is their Top 6:

(Why Top 6?  Because #6 is awesome, and I wanted to include it.)

#6:  The Hold Steady, “Separation Sunday”

#5:  Wilco, “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”

#4:  Outkast, “Stankonia”

#3:  Radiohead, “Kid A”

#2:  Kanye West, “The College Dropout”

#1:  The White Stripes, “White Blood Cells”

I think that Top 6 is pretty stout, and you could really interchange any of them (although I think the White Stripes are pretty overrated for my taste).  I’m glad that Kanye is where he should be; that album is incredible.  I think due to his increasing douchebaggery has overshadowed just how good of music he puts out there (particularly his first three albums).  Wilco is Wilco, and Yankee is probably their best album.  Stankonia is as influential an album as will be produced in our lifetimes, let alone that decade.  And Separation Sunday is probably my favorite album by the finest rock and roll band in America right now.  Here are some other highlights for me from the list:

#50 – Broken Social Scene, “You Forgot It In People;” #37 – Justin Timberlake, “Justified” (yeah, I said it, but it’s undeniably a great pop record); #34 – Clipse, “Lord Willin’;” #33 – Death Cab for Cutie, “Transatlanticism;” #30 – Sufjan Stevens, “Illinois;” #28 – Ghostface Killah, “Supreme Clientele;” #26 – Amy Winehouse, “Back To Black;” #25 – Madvillian, “Madvilliany;” #9 – Jay-Z, “The Blueprint.”

Biggest Omission:  D’Angelo, “Voodoo.”  For my money, one of the best soul albums ever made, and a Top 5 album of all-time for me personally.  It is borderline criminal it’s not on here.

Other omissions:  Common, “BE;” Coldplay, “A Rush of Blood To The Head;” Arctic Monkeys, “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not;” Vampire Weekend, “Vampire Weekend;” Kanye West, “Late Registration;” Gnarls Barkley, “St. Elsewhere;”  Al Green, “Lay It Down;” Jay-Z, “Unplugged;” Ryan Adams, “Gold;” The Roots, “Phrenology;” Q-Tip, “The Abstract;” J Dilla, “The Shining”

So where are you at?  What are your top albums of the past 10 years?  What are your glaring omissions?  Leave ‘em in the comments.

I feel with each of these albums the whole is greater than sum of its parts. Transformative for the artists as well as myself. Here’s my top 5…

5. The Clientele: The Violet Hour

4. Sufjan Stevens: Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lakes State

3. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

2. The Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

1. Broken Social Scene: You Forgot It In People

Honorable Mentions:

Weird Tapes: Get Religion

Sébastien Tellier: Sexuality

Memory Cassette: Rewind While Sleeping

Justice: Justice

Goldfrapp: Felt Mountain

Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes

Doves: Lost Souls

Peter, Bjorn & John: Writer’s Block

Les Savy Fav: Inches

Cut Copy: Bright Like Neon Love

Dungen: Te Det Lugnt

Strokes: Is This It

The Avalanches: Since I Left You

Röyksopp: Melody A.M.

Radiohead: Kid A/In Rainbows

Today Mark Parkinson, the guy keeping the seat warm for Brownback over in Topeka, announced the latest round of cuts aimed at helping defray the perilous financial condition of the Sunflower State. The solution is simple, really. Stop paying for things! Hey, why didn’t the feds think of that?

From the Prime Buzz blog:

• Kansas’ public schools will lose another $36 million in funding. Another $155 million in increased costs at the schools – most prompted by higher-than-expected enrollment, will go unfunded.
• Public universities and colleges will lose another $2 million.
• Road maintenance projects worth $50 million will be cut or postponed.
• Medicaid reimbursement rates – the amounts paid to medical professionals, hospitals and nursing homes – will be slashed by 10 percent.
• Some $85 million in federal stimulus money that had been budgeted for next year will be spent this year, creating a bigger hole in next year’s budget.
• Almost all other state agencies will be cut to varying degrees. Parkinson said that could prompt some agencies to furlough or lay off employees.

Okay, let’s see… cuts to education? Check. Decimation of road projects? You know it. An advance on stimulus money? Oh, yes. The faintest hint of an acknowledgment that government can’t maintain this level of service at such low tax rates? Don’t be silly. That’s a way to get voted out, son! Much better to pretend we can keep having stuff for free.

***

Enjoy these last few hours of dry weather before the rain sets in. Thanks for reading; now jump up from your starbed.

R: Todavía no hemos disfrutado el Primavera Club y ya tenemos aquí la primera gran tanda de confirmaciones para el Primavera Sound 2010 (que se celebrará del 27 al 29 de mayo del año que viene). Por respeto al hecho de que nuestros lectores puede que no sean tan frikis como nosotros, hemos puesto de foto de este post a la que, sin duda, es la confirmación bombazo: Panda Bear. Está claro que Merryweather Post Pavilion estará en las listas de discos de lo mejor de este año, pero el hecho de que el debut de Panda Bear fuera de nuestros preferidos el año pasado y que, por desgracia, todavía no hayamos podido catarlo en directo justifica plenamente la expectación. Ahora, si nos preguntáis sinceramente a quién nos gustaría poner en la foto de aquí al lado nos veremos obligados a responder que a… ¡Bis! Sí señor. Y es que los escoceses autores del mítico Eurodisco se van a reunir para que podamos bailotear semejante temón bajo las estrellas primaverales. Una vez pagado el peaje friki, sigamos con el resto de confirmaciones (a las que no les falta chicha): a los ya anunciados Pavement y Pixies hay que sumar nombres como Wilco (que a nosotros nos interesan bien poco, pero que son un vende entradas seguro y es inteligente tenerlos en cualquier cartel), La Leyenda del Tiempo (homenaje al disco de Camarón), The xx (que, si siguen afinando el formato de trío, pueden protagonizar uno de los momentos del festival), The Fall (Mark E. Smith vale la compra de cualquier entrada), The New Pornographers (que siempre le animan a uno la noche), Hope Sandoval (con nuevo disco bajo el brazo que tendremos que sopesar antes de saber por dónde pueden ir los tiros de su actuación), Wild Beasts (si todavía no te has rendido a su magnífico Two dancers, su actuación será la oportunidad definitiva), The Antlers (emo-prog que en unas semanitas aconsejamos degustar en su gira por salas pequeñas), Joker (¡dubstep!), Delorean, Dum Dum, The Bloody Beetroots, Here we go magic y Ganglians. Pero vamos, que si incluso después de leer tres veces esta lista sigues (como nosotros) en shock por lo de Bis, te aconsejamos que le des al play del video que sigue a este texto y vayas preparando el grito de guerra para el Primavera Sound 2010: ¡Euroooooodiiiiscooooooo!

These albums are my favorites for 2009. I’ve listed them in no particular order, because all of them are awesome! I’d like to thank Ryan Richter for introducing me to DAWES, and Doug Lloyd for St. Vincent. Good calls, boys! Click on an album above to view in iTunes.

1. Wilco – Wilco (The Album)

2. Band of Skulls – Baby Darling Dollface Honey

3. DAWES – North Hills

4. The Bird and the Bee – Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future

5. Woolfy – If You Know What’s Good for Ya!

6. Richard Swift – The Atlantic Ocean

7. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

8. Andrew Bird – Noble Beast

9. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

10. Obits – I Blame You

11. St. Vincent – Actor

12. Michael Giacchino – Up Soundtrack

13. Melanoid – Asleep in the Wake

14. Tijuana Panthers  – EP

15. Here We Go Magic – Here We Go Magic

16. Justin Grennan – Things I Should Have Said

SweetMusicBlog BAND TIP Dep’t. | By Vern Upton.

Hi, I’m Vern Upton. You may know me from one of my many bands, including Sherlock, FlipWilsons, The Transmission Incorporated, or SpyMasterSpy. The success of these bands has made me something of an expert on Independent music, so today I’m here to give you tip number 143 – how to use shitty drawings to make the most of your indie CD.

Tip 1: use a good felt tip marker. I get mine at Michaels. I like the fine point (0.1 I think).

Tip 2: make sure you put in LOTS of birds and trees and telephone poles. I think many many bands make mistakes here. They don’t put in nearly enough birds, or trees, or poles.

Tip 3: if you can’t draw the chick, get one of your friends to help you. Obviously, it’s essentially that your shitty album drawing has a chick in it somewhere. So if you can’t draw the waving hair or the breasts popping out of her flowing dress, you should ask around or put an ad on Craigslist. This will save you a lot of frustration and also cut down on your marker budget.

Tip 4: Your art is finished when everyone you show it to thinks of Wilco. Until you get to that point, you should keep going back to the drawing board. Be patient, get it right. You’ll be glad you did.

Ahahahahaha….this home made video looks like a karaoke video. In fact it may be…

Anyways, I discovered this weekend that cleaning the shower is very difficult to actually do, but brings a real sense of joy once you do it. Is this the same thought process that motivates suicide bombers?

Hay… más madera

Sin apenas tener tiempo para digerir las confirmaciones de Pavement y Pixies, hoy ha salido la tercera tanda de grupos que tocarán en el décimo-paradiso-aniversario del Primavera Sound.

Y ante el miedo a que sólo cayeran nombres de relleno; grupazos: Wilco y los influyentes The Fall (sextos y 15º en la famosa encuesta) encabezan otra enorme tanda de confirmaciones en la que también destacamos los siguientes:

The xx el único hype justificado con calidad,  Delorean que están rebentando las pistas de medio mundo y que por fin se les recompensa, la re-confirmación de Panda Bear (¿vendrá acompañado del resto de Animales?), The New Pornographers que vienen a dar el concierto de Powerpop del año o  la electrónica chicharrera-garrafonera de Bloody Beetrots.

Y, obviamente, una larga lista de nombres desconocidos por la mayoría, pero que tras las primeras escuchas dejan ver cosas muy interesantes:

La leyenda del tiempo 30 años después (un espectáculo sobre el emblemático disco de Camarón de aquí te espero), Dum Dum Girls-a lo Vivian Girls-, The Crystal Antlers, la reunión de Bis-Eurodiscodisco-, Joker, Wild Beasts, Hope Sandoval y Here We Go Magic (estos últimos, junto con los Antlers, los que mejor pintan de momento).

En fín, que estamos a Noviembre, ya tengo el abono guardado bajo llave y no hago más que dar botes de alegría y contar los días para que llegue Mayo. Un Otro 10 para Gabi Ruiz y compañía.

Por FMassip

It’s time for my list. I will be working on it, because there are still some things(latest Swell Season, Devendra Banhart, Julie Doiron etc.) that I have to hear. Recommendations are very welcome! Anyway, some of my favourites:

Dan Mangan – Nice, Nice, Very Nice [9.8/10]
I think this is my favourite album from this year. Cute, teddy-bear-ish-looking singer-songwriter from Canada. He makes you feel loved inside. Good, strong and dynamic songs, nice vocals, very good instrumental work, wonderful lyrics. The best indie pop album from this year. It’s unbelievable that he’s just 26(25?) (date-material! haha!). Dan’s a keeper and you should keep your eye on him!

Andrew Bird – Noble Beast/Useless Creatures [9.5/10]
Again, a masterpiece made by Andrew Bird. It’s balanced, beautiful and unique. It’s pop, folk, it’s wonderful. I only miss the electric guitar a bit. Still, great lyrics, interesting, wonderful compositions and vocally pretty strong. Useless Creatures is the best instrumental CD I’ve ever heard, might have even listened more to that one than to Noble Beast. Simply beautiful.

St. Vincent – Actor [9/10] [review]
Annie Clark manages to float above her instrumental chaos. Or at least, it looks like that. Her compositions are actually well made. Vocally, Clark is really strong. It’s a pretty unique CD that you’ll love or you’ll hate. I love it. (read the review I did)

Jesca Hoop – Hunting My Dress [8.8/10]
To me, she’s live even stronger. Hoop mixes various styles and makes them her own. Great guitar work, great vocals. It might sound weird during your first listen, but it will grow. Especially ‘Murder of Birds’ is a wonderful track.

A.A. Bondy – When The Devil’s Loose[8.3/10] [review]
I know I didn’t give A.A. Bondy such a high mark in my review. But the album did really grow on me. One of the best folk albums made this year. I listen to it a lot lately, so points for that!

The Whitest Boy Alive – Rules[7.5/10]
Simple funky and happy. Don’t expect any musical obscurity from these guys. Erlend Øye got a great voice, some great lyrics and made some great music on this album. Strong bass lines, percussion and light guitar work. But after a while, it get’s a bit repetitive. Still a very nice album, best song to me is ‘1517′.

Laura Gibson – Beasts of Seasons[7.5/10]
Dreamy folk songs. Gibson got a great voice. This album stands out for it’s simplicety. Her songs are pretty vocally driven, with often some light guitar work underneath it. But also you hear some piano notes every now and then. The perfect album for a sunny autumn day.

Franz Ferdinand – Tonight[7.2/10]
Surprising new album from Franz Ferdinand. They changed their sound a bit, having more electronics in it. It’s still not difficult to dance on. They didn’t lose their Franz sound. Points for that.

Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest[7/10]
Pretty interesting album, on moments to difficult for me to understand maybe. There are some ‘killer-tracks’ on it, but overall it’s just a pretty solid, nice, album that isn’t really my cup of tea at moments

Regina Spektor – Far [7/10]
Not as strong as ‘Begin to Hope’, but again a very good album. Spektor goes from weird classical stuff to pop, not being afraid of sounding ’silly’. Vocally strong, but you have to love her voice. No complains about her instrumental stuff, but it’s not really ‘new’. (Best tracks of the album are ‘Laughing With’ and ‘Folding Chair’, these are perfect songs)

Wilco - Wilco(the album) [7/10]
Wilco delivered another good album. Still, it can’t beat Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but it’s a good try. It’s again the typical Wilco sound(that isn’t really my sound). But it’s a strong, balanced album.

Albums I want to mention but that aren’t quite my taste(though, I like some songs):

Soap&Skin – Lovetune for Vacuum
It’s too dark and obscure for me. It feels pretty creepy. But still, pretty good. (yeah, I don’t know much more to say about this one)

Zee Avi – Zee Avi
Too light and too bubbly for me. Pretty good debut album from this singer-songwriter. She mixes light, bubbly pop with a bit of jazz. Think Jack Johnson if he was a girl and used a ukulele more.

Portugal. The Man – The Satanic Satanist
Good album, but I think it’s too ‘heavy’ for me. Though, I do like the poppy ‘Work All Day’, ‘People Say’ and ‘The Sun’. Recommended for everyone who’s ears can handle more noise than mine.

Great Lake Swimmers – Lost Channels [review]
A more upbeat album from Tony Dekker and company. It does work out, but I like their slow, acoustic stuff more. Still a great album if you like them and do like songs such as ‘Your Rocky Spine’.

M. Ward – Hold Time
For all M. Ward lovers: Hold Time is a typical M. Ward album. His strongest point is his voice, and he uses is good. To me, M. Ward is a bit boring, there’s not much happening in his music. But that’s the only critic I can think of, so I guess it’s a nice album.

La semana pinta bien…

Lunes: Take me home (I love your glasses) – Russian red

Martes: Ashes of american flags (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) – Wilco

Miércoles: Devuelveme la pasta que me debes (Principios Básicos de Astronomía) – Los planetas

Jueves: Magia (Mentiroso mentiroso) – Ivan Ferreiro

Viernes: Rains on me (Orphans) – Tom Waits

Sábado: See the sun ( Konk )- The kooks

Domingo: En la habitación (La fabulosa historia) – Zahara

Escúchala ya en Spotify

Y tu, ¿tienes una playlist que quieras compartir con Mentes Inquietas? Envíala a patineta598@gmail.com

Sólo hay una regla: 7 Días de la semana, una canción por día.

La pondremos por aquí seguro!!!

It was a great year for fine albums, though only one merits to be remembered as a stone cold classic. I’m sorry to omit a number of very good efforts released in 2005, such as those by Brandi Carlile, Iron & Wine, Damien Jurado, Death Cab for Cutie, Maria Taylor, Andrew Bird, Emilíana Torrini, John Frusciante, Colin Hay, Kathleen Edwards, Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators, Kevin Devine, Eels, The Cardigans, John Prine, Kate Earl, Richard Thompson, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Blue Eyed Son, Sarah Bettens, Antony & the Johnsons, Beck, Tristan Prettyman, The Magic Numbers, Hot Hot Heat, Charlie Sexton …

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Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning

On the same day as Conor Oberst and chums released their best album — and one of the decades finest — they also released what I think is their worst, Digital Ash In A Digital Turn. It was wise that they did not take the option of releasing these two entirely distinct albums — one alt.country, the other electronica — as a double album. I’m Wide Awake, which features Emmylou Harris on a couple of tracks, has Oberst in a restrained, though not necessarily tamed, form. The indisciplined excesses from previous albums have been ironed out, but not at the expense of that most essential Oberst quality: the feverish intensity. It certainly is the most consistent Bright Eyes album. Every song here is beautiful, especially First Day Of My Life and We Are Nowhere And It’s Now, on the latter of which Emmylou harmonises.

Lyrically, Oberst is in fine form: tender, resigned, confused, hopeful, angry. When he sings on At The Bottom Of Everything about capital punishment, he rightly hectors: “Into the face of every criminal strapped firmly to a chair, we must stare, we must stare, we must stare.” And on Old Soul Song, about an anti-war protest in New York, has some beautifully poetic lines: “We left before the dust had time to settle, and all the broken glass swept off the avenue. And on the way home held your camera like a bible, just wishing so bad that it held some kind of truth.”
Bright Eyes – Old Soul Song (For The New World Order).mp3
Bright Eyes – We Are Nowhere And It’s Now.mp3

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Richard Hawley – Coles Corner

From the moment the melancholy strings strike up on the album’s opener, the gorgeous title track (featured HERE), this album captivates the listener. A more even effort than 2003’s Lowedges, Hawley tries to capture a mood of 1950s balladeering, drawing from country, pop and rockabilly with a healthy dose of torchsong crooning. One can almost imagine Hotel Room being reworked as a doo wop song. The orchestration is lush, scoring Hawley’s warm baritone beautifully. Besides the title track and the countryish Just Like The Rain, the standout track here is The Ocean (not the most encouraging title, it must be said) which starts off quietly and slowly builds up to a dramatic crescendo. I’d gladly call Coles Corner Hawley’s masterpiece, but he has topped it with this year’s Truelove’s Gutter.
Richard Hawley – The Ocean.mp3

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Jens Lekman – Oh You’re So Silent, Jens

Jens Lekman featured with his debut album in the 2004 list; here he returns with a compilation of single and EP tracks — and Lekman has an extravagant catalogue of EPs, some of which he made available on his site for free downloading a while back. So it is suitable, and doubtless intentional, that the opening track would be called At the Dept. of Forgotten Songs. Lyrically and musically it’s all very quirky, but nowhere as much so as A Sweet Summer’s Night on Hammer Hill, a song that is at once funny and wistful (and which gets the release date of Warren G’s Regulate wrong and fails to credit Nate Dogg), recorded with probably not entirely sober pals who improvise the backing vocals and at the end shout out requests (the woman who requests Black Cab gets her wish on the album). Lekman channels Morrissey and The Byrds on I Saw Her At The Anti-War Demonstration, muses on the use of the F-Word, and forges the punchline to childhood jokes. In a sequence of three songs, Lekman assumes the alter ego Rocky Dennis (the name of the facially deformed character played by Eric Stoltz in the ’80s film Mask), whom he finally bids farewell at the end of the trilogy. It’s a thoroughly likeable collection of songs.
Jens Lekman – I Saw Her At The Anti-War Demonstration.mp3

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Wilco – Kicking Television – Live in Chicago

I’m ambivalent about live albums. Much of the time they are a letdown: the songs don’t sound as good as they did on the studio album, the live atmosphere is not captured and so on. Some live albums work because the artist’s stage presence or audience vibe translates to record. And some live albums work because the performer adds something new to the songs. Kicking Television satisfies at least the latter requirement (I’d argue that the vibe is there, too). Take Misunderstood. A weedy, proto-emo number on 1996’s Being There, here it’s a dramatic monster — I’m among those who love the repeated “Nothing”s. There’s humour as well. Following the mid-tempo Wishful Thinking, Tweedy announces, laughingly: “Let’s get this party started…with some mid-tempo rock”. True to his word, the band eases into the mid-tempo Jesus etc. With the great Nels Cline in the line-up and Tweedy having polished his guitar work, there’s much to be had by way of axemanship, most notably on At Least That’s What You Said.
Wilco – Misunderstood.mp3

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Hello Saferide – Introducing…Hello Saferide

Like fellow Swede Jens Lekman, who gets a namecheck in the wonderful The Quiz on Hello Saferide’s 2006 EP, Annika Norlin (for she is Hello Saferide) benefits from a quirky sense of humour, an attractive Swedish accent and the fact that English is not her first language. The latter is not a handicap as she manoeuvres her way around conventions to create novel lyrical ideas that are often cute but never twee. Norlin’s mind is fascinating: expressing her affection for a friend, she wishes they were lesbians; she wishes her boyfriend illness so that she can take care of her “teddy bear on heroin”; getting in touch again with an old pen pal, she admits to having told lies; as a high school stalker in the very funny song of the same name she breaks into the dentist’s office so that the object of her desire won’t need braces and then has coffee with his mother. The upbeat tunes are catchy, and the slow numbers are saved by almost invariably great lyrics and Norlin’s lovely, vulnerable voice.
Hello Saferide – Highschool Stalker.mp3
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Neil Diamond – 12 Songs

God bless Rick Rubin. Having re-established Johnny Cash as relevant artist, he resurrected Neil Diamond, redeeming him from the lame-jacketed crooner reputation. The title 12 Songs became a misnomer with the belated introduction of two bonus tracks (a rip-off, surely it’s the initial purchasers of an album who deserve a bonus), one an alternative, upbeat version of Delirious Love, a song featuring Brian Wilson that appears in more muted form among the original dozen tracks.. That song is the closest Diamond comes to his late ’60s pomp, the bonus track’s arrangement in particular. Most of the album is reflective, pensive and acoustic. It is beautiful. And it’s tempting to give Rubin all the credit. That would be unfair to Diamond, who wrote the songs and for whom the acoustic arrangement is not foreign, as fans of his ’60s albums will know. More than equipping Diamond with a new sound, Rubin harnessed the man’s strength and, perhaps more importantly, by association made him, like Cash, relevant again.
Neil Diamond – Save Me A Saturday Night.mp3

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Common – Be

I can think of very few albums on which the three closing tracks may be the set’s best. Ziggy Stardust comes to mind as a contender (though its best song, Starman, is on Side 1). This is certainly the case here. Modern hip hop, especially the leering misogyny and swaggering materialism expressed by dentally adventurous people in whose company I would not want to spend a minute, leaves me largely cold. Kanye West’s album of the same year had its moments, but I never feel prompted to play it. West did, however, produce most of Common’s album, which is good, and appears on many of the tracks, which is not so good when he makes those idiotic high-pitched noises. This certainly is not a hip hop album that’s representative of the contemporary genre. As much of Common’s work, it is thoughtful and socially conscious. It draws as much from Public Enemy as it does from the great era of politically aware black music, the early to mid-1970s. There is more than a hint of Curtis Mayfield and Gil Scott-Heron on Be, and the Last Poets even appear on the album, as does John Legend, one of the few current non-nasal R&B crooners whose music is rooted in the ’70s soul scene (slightly unexpectedly, John Mayer also pops up). Common, in short, is the Marvin Gaye of hip hop.
Common – It’s Your World (Part 1 & 2).mp3

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Josh Rouse – Nashville

On his fifth album, the Nebraskan Rouse said goodbye to his temporary domicile of Nashville before moving to Spain. Where his previous album, 1972, sought to capture the vibe of the year of the title, on Nashville Rouse revisits 1980s indie pop through a country lense. It’s cheerful, catchy stuff for a warm summer’s evening (even if one track is called Winter In The Hamptons), admirably coming in at under 40 minutes, like LPs used to. The lyrics aren’t very memorable here; some are decidedly pedestrian. The album’s most powerful song, Sad Eyes, is also its least jovial. It starts slowly as Rouse observes a woman’s melancholy and builds up to a, erm, rousing climax as he offers encouragement. Alas, it’s followed by the set’s one clunker, the rocker Why Won’t You Tell Me What.
Josh Rouse – Sad Eyes.mp3

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Ben Folds – Songs For Silverman

Ah, the album the hardcore Foldsians love to hate. Granted, there’s some forgettable guff on here. Much as I love Ben Folds, I would not be able to tell you a thing about Time or Sentimental Guy. And, as I’m getting all my irritations with Silverman off the chest, the tribute to Elliott Smith, Late, has some really poor lyrics. But then there is the vintage Folds stuff. Bastard, ostensibly about young Republicans in old clothes, packs a decent groove. Give Judy My Notice has a great West Coast rock vibe. You To Thank has a superb piano break, and the break-up songs, Trusted (“She’s gonna be pissed when she wakes up for terrible things I did to her in her dreams”) and Landed (“Down comes the reign of the telephone czar”), are among the best work Folds has done, musically and lyrically. And having just listened to Time and Sentimental Guy for the purpose of this project, well, they are not bad songs.
Ben Folds – You To Thank.mp3

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Rosie Thomas – If These Songs Could Be Held

The title If These Songs Could Be Held seems apt; there is fragility in Rosie Thomas’ songs, emphasised by her beautiful, sad voice. You want to hold her and the songs. Her family and friends help out again, with Ed Harcourt duetting on the unpretentious cover of Let It Be Me (featured in The Originals Vol. 24). The arrangements are more complex than a casual listen would suggest. Hear the almost martial bass drum in the opener Since You’ve Been Gone. The lyrics range from perceptive introspection to sophomore poetry, but expressed through the medium of Rosie’s gorgeous voice, even the more inopportune words are entirely forgivable.
Rosie Thomas – If These Songs Could Be Held.mp3

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More Albums of the Year

Lately I’ve been listening repeatedly to Wilco’s “War on War” from the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot CD. The whole recording is one of my all-time favorites, and I’ve come to think of “War on War” as musically representing the ideal mental/emotional mindset of a well-run race. (Bear with me now because this might start to sound  like something by a college freshman who has just discovered Psych 101, stereo headphones, and marijuana. I swear I’ve been totally clean while I drive around town in the family wagon and hit #4 on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot for back-to-back-to-back plays.) 

So, what’s going on with “War on War.”

It starts with the up-beat tempo, large strummy chords, synthesizer sounds happy as aquarium bubbles. It’s the first 100 meters of a 5K and all is well with the world. You’re finding your rhythm and your form. You’re finding that line of relaxed intensity.

Then 21 seconds in, something new, synthesizer sounds that aren’t so bubbly. Something alien, vaguely sinister. I’m going to call it the subconscious, the beast within that wells up, takes over, and makes for the best race efforts. Musically, this sort of sound is at the heart of the genius of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It’s an interplay of pretty pop music sounds and something darker and more interesting, distorted, barely contained noise that time and again emerges into melody like a familiar voice rising from a mob. (There’s a great rockumentary called “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” that’s about the making of this album. In one scene Jay Bennett — late of Wilco, and, very sadly, late of life — refers somewhat condescendingly to lead man Jeff Tweedy’s songs as “little folk ditties,” around which he is trying to create a “sonic landscape.” Yeah,  like he said.) 

Then at 36 seconds the clouds part and the sun shines, a repetitious, cyclical melody, and another kind of synthesizer, something dreamy and ethereal. Let’s say that’s finding a happy place for your mind at that point when a race starts to be work. You hold it together, keep turning them over. The song mostly strides along happily at that point with occasional blurts of sound from that synth beast. Then at 2:51 with the last sung words, “OK,” which sound almost like a surrender, the buzzing and the drums start a race to the song’s last note, it’s the kick, the part of the race where you are harnessed to something altogether out of your control that is getting you to the finish. 

That’s it in 3:49, the tempo steady and quick throughout, rising at the end, enough time for John Walker to run a world record mile in his all-black New Zealand uniform back in the day. 

As for the lyrics, the refrain “you have to lose, you have to learn how to die, if you want to be alive,” no exposition required for those addled with competitive runner syndrome. Extra credit points for creative use of metaphor with the line “you could be my demon moving forward through the flaming doors.” If you’ve worked the finish chute at a high school cross-country meet, you’ve seen such demons. 

You can hear “War on War” here http://www.lala.com/#song/360569462348675512

Or give me a call, I’ll pick you up in the car, and we can drive around and listen to it five or six times.

Soundtracks, we all have our favorites and some of us refuse to acknowledge their existence all together. I, on the other hand, have a good relationship with soundtracks, depending on the movie/television show/web series it comes from. These are pretty good choices that I just happen to own, interested? Read on.

#A – Girl Interrupted.My first glimpse into WILCO, a lovely little band that may see a bit on the pretentious side but really have some amazing songs. One of those bands that make you love every song, sound, word, vibe. They start off this semi-depressing group of misfit songs that work well with the movie of the same description. Title works fantastic with the motif of this album, “How to Fight Loneliness”, this first glimpse was not the end of my relationship with Wilco, they are still alive in my soul to this day. This album also has one of the greatest bands and one of my favorite songs from them, Jefferson Airplane with “Comin’ Back to Me”, such a beautiful song, really beautiful is the one perfect word to explain this song, and most of their music as a whole. Other artists include, Aretha Franklin, The Band, The Mamas & The Papas. Take a listen why don’t you?

#B – The Craft.

Witches who just so happen to be a bunch of bitches, makes for a great soundtrack, well its more of a sentimental one for me with a couple good songs that make me reminiscent of the first viewing of the movie. Great pop song with Letters to Cleo’s “Dangerous Type” and some heavy grungy hate music with Sponge’s “All This and Nothing” and a surprisingly good song by Our Lady Peace with “Tomorrow Never Knows”, (you can tell I’m obviously not their #1 fan). A not so good cover of a Harry Nilsson song, Tripping Daisy’s “Jump into the Fire”, I’d rather” they have put the original but they never asked my opinion on the subject. Some other good jams, like Spacehog’s ”Horror” & Love Spit Love’s “How Soon Is Now”, but the gem is Matthew Sweet’s “Dark Secrets” which made me want to own it to begin with, it pleases the ear gods for sure.

#C – Jawbreaker

Yes, pranks that turn deadly mixed with pretty girls who look nothing like the regular high school student, proves great for a rockin’ soundtrack. (Plus, Julie Benz, a young vampire on BTVS, classic). Songs to get you pumped and sent back into the 90’s like a whirlwind. I’ll start of with the favorites, The Friggs ”Bad Word for a Good Thing”, those Frigg girls can belt and rock, plus rock while never becoming famous, some hardcore girl power going on with that song. The icing on the cake? Imperial Teen’s “Yoo Hoo”, again the reason I even wanted the album in the first place, an amazing jam with the most intoxicating sound, voice is prime on this one. Ending it out with one of the most depressing songs I’ve ever heard in my life, The Transisters “Flow”, its beautiful and sad and painful, if I ever needed to be heartbroken with a theme song, this is it. Having a bad breakup? Lost a person close to you? Listen UP.

#D – The Wedding Singer

Get ready for some 80’s! This soundtrack has the “good shit” from the 1980’s, and its a double disc-er! Unfortunately I only have one half the album but that’s alright by me.  The half I have has bands like, Billy Idol, David Bowie, New Order, Musical Youth, Elvis Costello, The Thompson Twins, The Police, Culture Club, The Psychedelic Furs, and so on. If your in an 80’s mood, then stick the sucker in and enjoy your weird flashback that ensues.

yeah, tricked you. I know its not a song, but Buscemi rocks.

#E – Garden State.

We’ve got some good ones on here folks. Of course their is the “what lead me to own it” song, which we’ll begin with. Frou Frou’s ”Let Go”, a very graceful sound and is a basic recap of the movie itself. Jump in, what are you waiting for? Date Natalie Portman, Zach Braff, just DO IT! But any who, next up is another great jam, that I didn’t come in contact until long after I had the Cd, but when a friend of mine did it in a talent show, another song full of beauty, Bonnie Somerville’s “Winding Road”, pretty voice meets pretty sound, good good. The entire beginning of this Cd gets me in a crazy odd mood, I used to listen to it on my Ipod walking through the halls of high school, very surreal. First, Cold Play’s “Don’t Panic”, and No, I am not a cold play fan or freak, its the only song I dig, so get over it. Following it, is The Shins with “Caring is Creepy”, great sound, goes right through to the bone. And after that? Zero 7’s “In the Waiting Line”, one of the other songs I am in love with on this soundtrack, a main reason you might as well just go out and get it right now.

#F – Once More With Feeling – BTVS

A musical episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer belongs on this list, if not dominating it. Joss Whedon, the entity himself, wrote the songs, music, all of it. Which would be good reason for me to love it so, and I do. Its addictive to the highest extent. These actors, just people, who yes, famous, but normal; not singers, (well not all of them, James Marsters, Amber Benson, & Tony Head), just people, made beautiful music together. I probably listen to it at lease a couple times a week. I don’t think I would have the power to actually say out loud, or type, my favorite song from this album. I’ll just go through most of them for you to decide.

So, we start with Buffy complaining shes lost her mojo for her job, we can all sing a long as the demons agree with her and she diss’s the gentleman in distress.

Then you’ve got a group jam with the gang, which turns ugly with Anya, the demon, yelling about bunnies, and ending with a who-even-gives-a-crap attitude brought along by sad-sap Buffy.

A song about Mustard being removed from clothing.

A lesbian love song between the 2 most believable, non-skanked-out-for-the-sake-of-MALES-everywhere lesbians on television ever, and probably will always be. You just gotta love Willow & Tara, for ever, and ever, and so on.

Then we have the couple, demon and construction worker, Anya & Xander, talking about the things they can’t stand about each other that they could never say out loud, without song of course, which leads towards the end with Anya “dancing crazy!”. You have to love a song  that has a line about penis diseases, classy.

One of great writers of the show finds herself singing about a ticket she’s getting for parking in front of a hydrant, which has become one of my favorites to sing in the car.

Then the addictive song of Spike, the whiny love ridden fool song, he even admits he’d be Buffy’s slave, talk about being whipped. Just let him rest in peace, Buffy. Just let him be buried and go get Angel to sooth the pain. Sorry…

Next, a snippet of dawn’s voice before she gets kidnapped, pretty voice while its lasts.

Pretty Ballet instrumental leads to the dancing demon, Sweet, singing out with his great deep man singing voice trying to hit on 15 year old Dawn, Hawt.

A big hit in my car sing-a-long, the Giles song, sad but upbeat and lovely, he doesn’t want to leave Buffy, but needs to, sweet slow-mo scene with some kick-ass dodging of sharp things while pulling off some gymnastic moves, go SMG.

Here we have 2 songs emerge which is a high on the list for me, putting together the two amazing voices of Tony Head and Amber Benson, wonderful actors and brilliant singers. Such a beautiful addition to the already amazing track listing.

Up next, everyone joins in while wanting to walk through the fire, another great song, with some awesome lines, “things are turning out so dark”, “No, I’ll save her then I’ll kill her!” &  “I think this line mostly filer”. The best part is when the scooby gang chimes in and does their little part, is the slayer too far gone to care?

Then us listeners get something to sing about, a glittering world, and a dancing almost-to-her-death Buffy ending with dropping the heaven bombshell.

And to help finish it off, sweet rubs it in all our faces that things didn’t quite go our way with the whole dancing thing, that lead to the death thing, and the “aw we all have so many secrets!” thing.

Ending with the cast leaving confused, not knowing where to go from there. And a big sloppy wet one from Buffy & Spike, which I wish i could scrub from my brain.

If you’ve never see the episode, watch it. If you’ve never heard the soundtrack, listen to it. You’ll have to track it down like I did, since the boyfriend and I bought the only 2 copies in our area. Plus, if your REALLY lucky, like me, you’ll get to take a trip to Indianapolis and watch actors act out the episode, sing the songs, and dance the dances, an amazing experience, especially on the night before Halloween.

#G – Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog

How shocking, right? Another Joss choice, you get my love yet? Do you? Do You? Well you’ll figure it out eventually. Now, this sound track is Uh-Maze-Ing, seriously. NPH (For the less hip folks, Neil Patrick Harris) really shows us the talent that Doogie never really did, he sings, and he sings well. Fantastically well to be exact. He’s a villain looking for his big villainy break, to belong to the big-bad’s club, that’s of course ran by a horse, derr. Then we have the love interest, with a killer voice, no other than the beautiful Felicia Day, (who if you don’t watch the guild, START, I’ll explain more later), the helpless-helping-homeless-home-giving goddess that the villain is head-over-heels in love with. But in walks the bad guy, wait no, the GOOD guy. He just happens to be a prick, with a picture of a hammer on his chest. But he is played by no other than the mystical, magical, stud-man-guy Nathan Fillion. The guy crushes of the world surround this guy, which makes it easy for your Felicia, “Penny”, to fall for instead. (sad). So with this comes amazingly catchy songs that, yet AGAIN, Whedon is responsible for, also making it a family affair adding brothers and a sister-in-law. This is another Cd that is found being played in my car multiple times within a week. You’ve GOT to get this soundtrack, like now, LEAVE, GO!

#H – Pick of Destiny

Okay, Tenacious D is the best band EVER. Maybe this statement is not something you would agree with, and if it isn’t, stop lying. Seriously you know the truth, they probably ARE the greatest band EVER, why you ask? Because they have it ALL. What other band can use curse words like poetry, I mean really, “Mother Fucker” never sounded so good. If you haven’t had the chance to gander at the power that is the D, its time my friends. My passion for the D is forever deep, I was hooked the first time I heard them, saw them, and inevitably fell for them. “The Pick Of Destiny” is a movie and an album, and both are glorious. Watching Jack Black and Kyle Gas for 93 minutes straight has to be an experience, and sir, it was. But, the soundtrack that came along? GODLIKE, truly amazing music, which is not surprising from this duo. Another album i could not possibly begin the misery of deciding the best song on it, so you will have to venture out on your own and taste the taste that is TENACIOUS D.

be blown away by Rage Cage & Jables, KG & JB.

#I – Nashville

Great movie, wonderful soundtrack. Robert Altman is an amazing director and he did an amazing job on all the movies I’ve seen of his. They always have crazy relationships, and madness masked in innocence and he didn’t shy away from that with this one. Country singers, singing and crawling in drama filled situations; if you get a chance make sure to check this one out, i have a feeling you’ll be pleased if your in anyway cool, or hip, or happenin’ in the way I am. So rent it, steal it, borrow it, either way watch it, and make sure you listen to the songs you hear, it won’t be hard. I’ve leave you with a video of my favorite song from the movie that happens to be a great part of the film. Watch and aw.

So that’s it for now, I might come back and surprise you with more amazing songs that go with amazing movies/tv shows/web series, or I wont, don’t hold your breath. I leave you with a thought… Come back and see me, I mean read me, sometime.

sas

It’s here.  I got it.  Went out and bought Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 1 just like I said I was gonna.  I am proud to say that I love it.  I love it so much I thought I’d put it on my Ipod.  Unfortunately, getting a protected DVD onto your Ipod ain’t that easy.  First of all, there still seems to be dispute about whether or not it is legal or illegal to copy a commercial DVD as a backup for your own personal use.  From what I can gather it is okay to copy for personal use, provided you don’t override any digital rights management (DRM)copy protection such as the Content Scramble System (CSS).  In other words, you’re not supposed to copy DVDs that are copy protected, and according to one poster even copying unprotected DVD’s and change the file format qualifies as copyright infringement.  Well, you can rest assured that Lucas and company have copy protected their DVDs,  and even though that means it can’t be copied legally, I don’t have a problem with them doing so.  I am all for copyright protection.  I am not in the business of pirating movies or music.  I use to be, but that was before I understood that it takes away from the artists and the creators rather than the multi-million dollar companies that produce them.  That was also before I came to understand how little most artists make, even the good ones.  Unless you’re selling multipaltinum records, you’re barely making a living and paying off what it cost to make your record in the first place.  I other words, I used to pirate music and movies before I realized that I’m taking the money away from the people I’d want to be friends with if I knew them.

Will Hoge: LIVE • 2009 • 04/23/09 • Evening Muse • Charlotte, NC

So, as I was saying, I don’t have problem with Lucas and friends protecting their investments and their creative outlets.  I just wish they’d grant me the rights to put it on my effen Ipod.  I downloaded several DVD backup programs, none of which could copy protected DVD’s.  I can’t even transfer the DVD directly to my harddrive anymore.  I gotta admit, that’s a little upsetting.  On top of that, no conversion program that might even possibly convert a DVD to Ipod format can convert protected DVD’s either.  Consequently, if I want to put this on my Ipod, I’m going to have to resort to using heavy duty pirating software, which I don’t trust or like to be involved with.  Or, I may even have to resort to torrenting, something else I’m not too keen on.  Not into the I’m-sharing-bits-and-pieces-of-my-files-with-a-whole-bunch-of-random-people-thing.  And I don’t like taking from those people and then saying, thanks, but I’m not sharing it back with other people.  Even then, the movie itself is tainted.  I will never really know if it has some kind of tracking or spywhere.  Sure, my internet security software SAYS everything is okay, but is it really?  Is that why my computer slows down, because everything is okay?

I suppose if I wanted to do the completely legal thing, I could go to Itunes and purchase the season all over again for $34.99.  Are you kidding me?  78 bucks just so I can watch the damn thing on TV or my Ipod?  Not only that, but for forty bucks, I don’t even get the featurettes or the production journal that come with the DVD set.

When I bought the Clone Wars movie, it came with a code for downloading the digital copy to my computer.  Only thing is, when I went to download it, the code had expired.  I’d only bought the thing that day.  What kind of a deal is that.  You can have the digital copy for your ipod, but ONLY IF you manage to buy it and register it with the first few weeks of release?  Twenty years from now when my DVDs start to corrode, I’m going to be pissed if I have to buy another set.  What if it’s out of print, or worse, locked up in the vault?

The whole thing is infuriating.  Should I not have the right to at least protect my investments and watch it either in a DVD format or in an Ipod format?  Sure I understand how difficult it may be to police this, but if you can give me a code so I can go online and download it, then why can’t that be available to everyone all the time?

I think, anytime you purchase a DVD, you ought to be able to go somewhere online, Itunes, or whatever, type in a code similar to a UPC code, but not visible on the outside of the packaging, and with that code you acquire one-time rights to a digital copy of the material on the DVD.  Let there even be a choice of the file format you wish, but you only get one copy and maybe put limits on how it is transferable.  Itunes is already pretty solid in how it protects music and other purchses through the Itunes store. I see no reason why this couldn’t be carried over to DVD digital rights.

So those are my thoughts on the issue.  I find it ironic that when I started this article, I didn’t even realize that it was such a hot issue.  I thought I was being original.  Oh well, it just means there’s more of us out ther ready to Fight for your DVD Digital Rights!  Let the war for my Ipod begin!

RCA Records

The Strokes—Is This It

Julian Casablancas has said that he learned how to “sing cool” from Lou Reed. There is definitely a ton of that New York, Velvet Underground-style swagger to the music of The Strokes, but never was it more immediate and more purposeful than on their debut. Let’s face it—sometimes it takes years or a few albums to achieve your ultimate moment, but sometimes it happens right away, without even really planning on it. Sure, The Strokes had a ton of money and rich-kid notoriety to push them even further into the limelight, but that just made it even more surprising to most of the music world (who wanted to hate them so) when they turned out to actually have some great songs. The singles from this album (the initial breakthrough “Last Night”, “Hard To Explain”, and “Someday”) don’t really ever get old, and a couple of the songs (like “The Modern Age”) are even better than those. It’s just really good, really straightforward-yet-clever rock music that manages to evoke extremely catchy melodies without any sense of cheesiness whatsoever. If this is it, there should be no complaints—it’s fun, it’s hard-hitting, it’s timeless. (Note: This album has already been named Album of the Decade by NME, which is tough to comprehend, since the decade isn’t over yet. It seems they assumed it impossible that another record would make such an impact in a month’s time, which is understandable).

Nonesuch Records

Wilco—Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

This was the last Wilco album to feature multi-instrumentalist and sound-tweaker Jay Bennett, who died in early 2009 while in the beginning stages of a royalty battle with his ex-group. Not coincidentally, it is also the last Wilco album to feel like a truly original, classic piece of work. Granted, the band’s 2009 offering Wilco (The Album) is the closest they have come to this since Bennett’s departure, but it still lacks that other-worldliness that Bennett’s experimentalism gave Wilco. On Yankee, the disorientating sound collages that make up “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart” or the creturesque wah-moog that lurks through “War on War” are some of the more memorable examples of this. Bennett’s sonic genius was one of the main factors that drove Wilco from its original alt-country upbringings into the territory we know them to tread in today, and though the peak of this era is actually 1999’s Summerteeth, Yankee was the album that had the tunes and the mythology to match (the fact that the band’s original label refused to put it out, and after finding a label, it ended up being one of the biggest records of the year). Thus, it will be the album for which they are most remembered.

Capitol Records

Radiohead—Amnesiac

This is the best Radiohead album. It may be arguable, since the band has gone through so many shifts in style over their career, therefore varying the opinions of the fan base as to which era best represents the band. Even Thom Yorke dismisses Pablo Honey and has said it “doesn’t even feel like us when I hear it”. Most long-time fans would probably opt for The Bends, since it captures the band in that early middle-ground between rock band and experimentalists. OK Computer, which might be their most widely admired album, captures that late middle-ground. Kid A was a surprise to the music world—it was adored by critics and accepted by most fans, though it did alienate some of the band’s older audience. Kid A acted as the initial shock to the system so reaction would not be as muddled when Amnesiac hit. While Kid A is made up of more traditionally arranged songs, Amnesiac acts as kind of an album-length side two of Abbey Road—everything runs together to make up one big song, or at least one big idea. It begs to be listened to all the way through, and once the listener warms up to the idea, it’s surprisingly easy to do. Plus, “Pyramid Song” is one of the most beautiful things ever recorded. For those who were hoping for Rainbows, no apologies here—that album has great songs, but as a cohesive work, Amnesiac trumps it.