relay - context

starts of like just another band that has discovered shoegazing but somewhere circa halfway through the song the get things just right. nice noisy bits.

......

titus andronicus takes us back to the days before bright eyes turned into bob dylan light (and yes, john, that is meant as an insult in two ways). i guess i'm a sucker for singers that can bother to scream b/c i can barely bother to speak most days. the gutter twins are mark lanegan and greg dulli - don't know what else to say. don't know if i need to say anything else. i've always had a soft spot for jucifer. partly because they have stuck to their guns and they have played pretty much the same song from the start of their career (ok, that's not completely fair). Partly because they are loud. i guess their new album is a little different - so far i have decided i like the loud songs. thankfully, wolf parade aren't changing things up too much on their new one. pretty solid stuff but perhaps not on par with their debut. human bell - a couple of thrill jockeys. islands' new album is, well, strange. it seems too produces but, then again, it took me a while to get into their first one. mae shi. long blondes are sound slightly less annoying although i think they are probably a whole lot more annoying in person. that's just what they sound like. notwist. plants and animals. santogold lifts a bassline from the pixies. nice. people compare santogold to m.i.a. ok, there are a couple of songs where that makes a little bit of sense but, well, there are songs here. i'm not sure they are great but, at least, they are not offensive. windsor for the derby. uffie - just because i stumbled upon this song and it seemed strangely appropriately b/c i was thinking that it was hard to think much of uffie's music. for one thing it is silly. and then there is the gap between uffie as she appears in interviews and her music - it makes me think of people playing guitar hero. don't really know what my point is. but i guess uffie is right here, silly is not necessarily bad and her songs are strangely fun. and then some more of the same stuff.

oh, les savy fav and the kills are officially on my shit list for canceling their shows in oxford. so is oxford. and especially carling academy.

the last shadow puppets

i didn't really know what to expect from arctic monkey's frontman's side project, the last shadow puppets, but this wasn't really it.

phosphorecent - a picture of your torn up praise

nice song, pretty video. a picture of your torn up praise

dragons of zynth, etc.

oddly enough, dragons of zynth released their album last year without getting much notice. it kicks as. in the tv on the radio sort of way - and i can only imagine how tired these guys are of hearing that. but it is sort of true but there is enough else going on here. man man's new one is out and it doesn't disappoint. slaraffenland... well, they sound kinda dull compared those two bands. don't know about them. black keys sound slightly less than the black keys than they normally do. is that a good thing? i have to say to get dangermouse to produce their album is a clever thing to do.... how can you not check it out. now, that is an odd couple. tokyo police club. not bad. not too exciting either. their last one grew on me though so i'll give it a shot. the notwist... hmm, i have a feeling the went ahead and tried to something new when all we really wanted was neon golden II. death cab for cutie also have a new one. i still think they are kinda boring.

thao, amc, white hinterland

today's helping is kinda quite and nice. maybe b/c i'm feeling sickly. anyhow, thao reminds me a little of cat power and, wait, edie brickell. is it good? i can't decide. i gave up on amc/m.eitzel some 10? 15? years ago but their new one sounds more like i what want them/him to sound like. white hinterland sound like nice music for sunday afternoons. and then a couple of more upbeat songs with team robespierre and hercules and love affair.

oh no

neon neon = boom bip + gruff rhys?

breeders, fleet foxes, no kids, throw me the, etc

i guess the breeders are back, who would have thought. also some other goodies...

these new puritans

yet another band i almost gave a pass b/c i didn't like their name. now i'm thinking i should only listen to bands whose names i hate. tnp's beat pyramid simply kicks ass. it's battles except they are fun. and there are obvious influences from bands such as joy division and wire (whose member, i believe, produced beat pyramid) but there are also bits that recall les savy fav and some unnamed poppier bands.

the teenagers, crystal castles

don't know quite what to make of the teenagers. i generally don't get the point of funny music - i mean how many people have actually listened to an art brut record more than ones. i guess i should give the teenagers for sounding funny. and stupid. or is it clever? the crystal castles. like them. maybe love.

evangelista - truth is dark like outer space

i never really got into the geraldine fibers but carla bozulich's new outlet, evangelista, makes me think i have some listening to do. truth is dark like outer space is one of these songs that seems way too short because there seems no reason why it should ever end. it sounds like sonic youth fronted by thalia zedek, which, if you think about it is about the best possible combination one can think of. if one can criticize sonic youth for anything it is that sonic youth was always a little bit too arty (not necessarily a bad thing though) and that they were always more out to impress than depress. thalia zedek, with come, on the other hand, could seriously fuck with your head.

above, truth is dark.... below, sonic youth's mote (which i think is one of the instances sonic youth sounds invested in their songs), plus a few come songs, and for good measure, the faint's cover of mote.

9

a fairly schizophrenic collection of songs. but the real reason for the post was just mention warlock's somewhat underrated album from last year, heavy deavy skull lover. the least you can say is that the album is better than the title. anyhow, i really like moving mountains of that album. and since i am bothering to post, it is followed by (more) xiu xiu (obsessed with that song), nadja (if you like a bit of noise in your diet, this is for you - really cool album), benoit pioulard, black kids, the depreciation guild, bon iver, bodies of water, kim hiorthoy and probably something else...

clark - turning dragon

clark's new album, turning dragon, represent a bit of a left turn. or probably more accurately a right turn. clark's previous output has been pretty much ambient music that hasn't outlawed beats. turning dragon is essentially clark's assault on club music. it sounds like something you would expect to hear in a club but the vibe is altogether different. like most of clark's other stuff there is something threatening about his music except here you get the sense that things are about to boil over. i puzzled a bit over the rave reviews burial received last year but i guess there are some parallels here - both draw on what is essentially club music but replace the jump-around-and-be-happy feeling with something a little darker. neither succeeds entirely but in my book clark's album is more interesting. below a track from clark's latest, one from throttle promoter and the delicious herr barr from body riddle along with a reinterpretation by broadcast.

xiu xiu

i've been listening to the new xiu xiu album, which i think is quite good. though i'm not crazy about the cover of under pressure. xiu xiu is generally seen as 'difficult' music - or perhaps 'uncomfortable' - but what i find fascinating about xiu xiu is when they speed things up a bit and produce utterly brilliant pop songs. not in the conventional sense of pop maybe but i just go weak in the knees when i hear those brass-synths on 'oh no friend' and the guitar bits on 'boy soprano' are nearly as effective as those on unwound's corpse pose. below, those couple of songs plus some more 'upbeat' xiu xiu, including a couple of covers, topped off with unwound.

a few new ones

exciting new releases from cadence weapon, sons and daughters, duke spirit, destroyer, earth, blood on the wall, lightspeed champion (last year's best pop song?), beach house and radar boys. plus a couple of older track by thee more shallows, beach house and baby dee.

2007

keeping with tradition i deliver my best of the year list late... but only b/c i have given a lot of thought to it. really. overall i thought 2007 was a pretty shitty year for music. but what can you expect in a year when bruce springsteen has all of sudden become cool? and everything is too damn nice and cute. when the hell did people stop being angry and taking it out on their instruments? i miss music that has an element of danger. or just sounds like people care. at any rate, there were a few exceptions. the list below is undoubtedly incomplete so i do mention some of the albums you might expect to be on my list - like everyone else's - but that i just didn't care for. besides, what is the point of having a blog if you can't complain about how everyone else got it wrong...

On top

Shocking Pinks - st
what a horrible fucking band name. that and the fact that the album was on dfa led me to expect some horrible shit but thankfully i did get the album a try. and granted it took a few spins before i started to appreciate the album. among all the shoegaze revivalists this album really stands out - probably because it was less obsessed with the wall of sound and more concerned with writing songs. + i'm a sucker for the lo-fi sound on the record.

Big Business - Here Come the Waterworks
big business was a breath of fresh air in year of wimpy music. loud and over-the-top in the best possible way.

Up there


31 Knots - The Days and Nights of Everything Anywhere
31 knots never really stood a chance in 2007. they didn't have the right sound for 2007, they were somehow uncool and pitchforkmedia hated them. all of which combines to make them very cool in my book. nifty pop songs packed in those difficult-to-open plastic thingies. reminds me equally of man man and the detachment kit.

Venetian Snares - My Downfall (OST)

Funk returns with the genetic follow-up to his album with the hungarian name. my downfall, like its predecessor, succeeds in marrying classic(ally sounding) strings with some drum and bass. of course, there is no reason why this should ever work (except that aphex twins demonstrated it a while back) but it does. And, actually, the album is fairly light on the drums and bass, and as a result it is not miles away from max richter - at least in term of spirit.

Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
i was a bit surprised not to see this on more end of the year lists - perhaps b/c it came out so early in the year? at any rate, up there with the best that deerhoof has done.

Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
the guy from wolf parade is still doing alright...

Liars - Liars

liars have always been more interesting on paper than in reality but i think this album changed that for me. they are still not quite easy listening but i feel like there is more to the songs than before. and the second half of the album is actually somewhat jamc-like.

Other Men - Wake Up Swimming

other men is one of rob crow's outlets. i wasn't terribly impressed by the album on first listen but it grew on me although i can't possibly explain what i like about it. it's nice...

Marnie Stern - In Advance of the Broken Arm

yes, the album was a slight disappointment after being exposed to 'every single line means something' but, well, there is just not really anything like it.

Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
how can an album about breaking up be so much fun and yet sound strangely sincere?

Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline
no clue why this is on my list - i just like listening to it

Okkervil River - The Stage Names
what can i say that hasn't already been said?

Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future
ah, guilty pleasures.... except it really is a pretty damn good pop album.

Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

and come to think of it, spoon isn't miles away from the klaxons really. only they were jackets instead of jumpers. i always liked their early pavementesque albums more but with spoon's last couple of album i've grown to like their more 'adult sound' (meaning sounding dangerously close to billy joel).

Blonde Redhead - 23

this wasn't Blonde Redhead's best album by far but it was a nice change in pace and some of the songs sung by one of the twins (e.g., publisher and spring and by summer fall) were just stunning.

almost there

Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
this is what a comeback album should sound like (though dinosaur jr. never really went away) - exactly the same as they used to. sometimes you just want your favorites bands to stay away because a new album can only ruin your memories and your respect for the band. maybe it helps in this case that there were a few dinosaur jr. albums that were subpar. i'm dreading hearing the new my bloody valentine.

Battles - Mirrored
fantastically impressive on some level but, unfortunately it is just not that much fun. yeah, there are fantastic moments (e.g., leyendecker) but sometimes it just gets a bit too prog-rocky for my tastes and being impressed only lasts so long.

not even close
m.i.a. - kala
what the fuck is wrong? how can this be considered one of the better albums of the year? it's s.h.i.t. it's political? who gives a shit? what made m.i.a. an authority on anything? the fact that her father was somehow connected to the Tamil tigers? (who, btw, are sometimes credited with the invention of suicide bombing.) or the fact that she appears unable to formulate a coherent political thought? it just appears like a cheap, but very successful, attempt to buy publicity. and apart from all that the music is just plain annoying.

radiohead - in rainbows
what's the big deal here? this is not a bad album by any means but isn't kinda dull compared to, well, most of radiohead's other albums?

lcd soundsystem - sound of silver
a huge improvement over the last one but i'm still missing the point. well, i did get it when i first listened to the album and i thought it was pretty good but then i just never had the urge to listen to it again. i'll admit that it is pretty good but didn't new order really cover this ground some 20 years ago?

panda bear - person pitch
you pretty much have to like the beach boys to like this and, well, i sure as hell don't.

Marnie Stern

i was listening to marnie stern at gvendarbrunnur.blogspot.com and for some reason it reminded me of helium - one of those criminally neglected bands. so... below there are a couple of helium songs. and yes, ash bowie does some of the guitar so further below there is a polvo song. polvo, as everyone knows, is the second best band the world has seen.

Helium - Superball

HELIUM (starring Mary Timony) - PAT'S TRICK