Pop Headwound

Shearwater to release The Golden Archipelago in February

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:14:00 +0000

With Spoon, Beach House, Interpol, Vampire Weekend, Four Tet, The Magnetic Fields, Hot Chip, and Rogue Wave (among plenty of others that I’m forgetting, surely) all slated to drop new records in early 2010, the new year looks like it will be starting off with a bang. At least for fans of independent music anyway. Of any of those though (besides Spoon), the upcoming release I’m most excited about is Shearwater’s The Golden Archipelago. Reason being that Rook, their amazing 2008 album, made such a big (albeit late) impression on me. Now, a year later, had my recent Top 50 Albums of the Decade list been expanded to a Top 53 you would have seen just how highly I continue to think of it. Almost guys. So obviously I have pretty lofty expectations for this follow up. Unfortunately, neither the band nor Matador have given up the details yet, but there are some pretty cool visuals (and a snippet of music) going on over at the band’s website. The Golden Archipelago drops February 23 in N. America (February 15 everywhere else). That’s it for now…stay tuned. Also, check out a bunch of great tunes from some previous releases:

MP3 :: Leviathan, Bound
MP3 :: Rooks
(from Rook. Buy here)

MP3 :: The Snow Leopard
(from The Snow Leopard EP. Buy here)

MP3 :: Red Sea, Black Sea
(from Palo Santo - Expanded Edition. Buy here)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[video] David Shane Smith - "Actor" & "Beauty Force"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:34:00 +0000

actor from davidshanesmith on Vimeo.

David Shane Smith - Beauty Force from Gato Blanko on Vimeo.

As I’ve said before, David Shane Smith’s most recent album, Cloud Pleaser, is filled with avant-garde folk songs that peer into a decaying future. It’s also his best album to date and one of the better albums by a local artist (um, despite the fact that he now lives 3000 miles away) that I’ve heard this year. “Actor” is the most immediately jarring song on Cloud Pleaser - it's a loud, physical blast of distorted electro-blues that’s only held together by the “I just hope they can’t see how sick I am” refrain. Its counterpoint on the record is the lilting closer, “Beauty Force”, which, with its beautiful finger-picked acoustic guitar and piano interplay, is its complete sonic opposite. Both have been given music videos that perfectly suit the songs’ respective moods. Hopefully we’ll be hearing something new from DSS sometime early in the new year.

MP3 :: Miserablism
MP3 :: Brand New
MP3 :: Beauty Force
(from Cloud Pleaser. Buy here)
-----------------------------------------------------------

[mp3] Beach House - "Norway"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:22:00 +0000

From Teen Dream, the Sub Pop debut and third album overall from Baltimore’s Beach House. Here comes 2010.

MP3 :: Norway
(from Teen Dream. Info here)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[mp3] Capgun Coup - "Sitting On The Sidewalk"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:11:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I tipped you off to the blazing first single from Maudlin, the brand new sophomore record from Capgun Coup. “Bad Bands” showcased the charmingly fuzzed-out garage-punk side of the band, but fans of 2007‘s Brought To You By Nebraskfish know there’s more than that to these guys. The newest single, “Sitting On The Sidewalk” offers a glimpse at the other side of the Omaha collective - the side that has a fetish for mid-60’s Dylan when he was just starting to plug in and let loose (think of the half of Bringing It All Back Home that fits that description). I’ve only given one cursory listen to the entire album, but I’m really digging these first two freely released tracks and will be spending some quality time with Maudlin in the very near future.

MP3 :: Sitting On The Sidewalk
MP3 :: Bad Bands
(from Maudlin. Buy here)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

PHW's Albums of the Decade - Addendum, pt. 2

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:15:00 +0000

Three weeks ago I posted a list of my 50 favorite albums of the past decade. You can catch up with that here, here, here, here, and here, if you’d like. While drafting the list I found that I rediscovered plenty of albums that were and are still worthy of more attention, even though they ultimately weren’t included on the finished product. It was extremely difficult to cut many of them, especially those made by lesser-known artists. So starting last week, continuing today, and for the next 2 Mondays I’ll be spotlighting some of these additional albums that I consider every bit as essential as the Top 50. This week's batch focuses on a few that would fall under the Americana banner. Here they are, in no particular order:

Ghosts of the Great Highway - Sun Kil Moon (2004)

I didn’t really get into this album until a few years after it came out. My roommate at the time was a huge fan and sharing a stereo with him basically forced me to spend time with it when I otherwise would have missed out. I had heard “Carry Me Ohio” and maybe another song or two, but it wasn’t until later that I was struck by the record’s cohesion and its kind of melancholic beauty, both of which became more apparent after a few good spins. Truly, this is an album that needs to be heard straight through and given time to settle into your head. Singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek started recording under the Sun Kil Moon moniker after breaking up his former band, Red House Painters. On his first proper full length as SKM he comes across like his generation’s Neil Young; equally adept at nostalgic folk songs as he is shredding his electric guitar to pieces, as on the 14 minute “Duk Koo Kim” or “Salvador Sanchez”. Thanks for this one Paul.

MP3 :: Carry Me Ohio
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No One Will Know Where You’ve Been - The Roadside Graves (2007)

The Roadside Graves’ sole LP for fledgling Brooklyn label Kill Buffalo restored my faith in alt country a few years ago. Not that NOWKWYB is tied into one sound or genre, but had this album dropped in ‘97 instead of ‘07 there‘s a good chance that it would have caught on as like-minded bands (Old 97s, Wilco, Son Volt, etc.) of that era did. Like them, the Graves draw from country, folk, pop, and big, bold rock & roll in equal measure - all brought home by singer-lyricist John Gleason’s incredibly poignant songwriting. “Family & Friends” and “West Coast” are the undeniable singles, but its “Radio”, with its three-part evolution from folk-blues dirge to Stones-y rock & roll to cathartic, Springsteen-like anthem that sets the bar on this record.

MP3 :: West Coast
MP3 :: West Coast (live from Hear Ya sessions)
MP3 :: Radio (live from Hear Ya sessions)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Dead Will Walk, Dear - The National Lights (2007)

Though it probably sounds kinda lame, the debut album from The National Lights has a special place in my heart. It was one of the first records I championed after starting PHW in early 2007 - a discovery I kind of stumbled upon a few months prior while scouring the internet for mp3s. They were the first band I contacted for a copy of their record, the first to oblige, and they were my first interview way back when PHW was just a tiny little baby (phw?). Today, the album holds up just as well as it did in ‘07, when it found itself in my Top 10 at year’s end. The Dead Will Walk, Dear is a hushed, beautiful song cycle that, upon close listen, is actually a disturbing series of songs about a river and some girls who have been killed and dumped into it. Yeah, old fashioned murder ballads cleverly disguised as songs of love lost. Songwriter Jacob Berns may sound innocent enough, but the dude’s got a serious dark side.

MP3 :: Mess Around
MP3 :: Midwest Town
MP3 :: Buried Treasure
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Animal Years - Josh Ritter (2006)

Josh Ritter is a hell of a songwriter, and one listen to The Animal Years is proof of that. Featuring production from Brian Deck (Iron & Wine, Modest Mouse), The Animal Years takes more sonic chances than 2003’s Hello Starling, especially on highlights like the lilting “Girl In The War” or the ten-minute barn-burner “Thin Blue Flame”. Elsewhere Ritter proves equally adept at crafting smart, AOR radio should-be hits like “Wolves” and “Lillian, Egypt”, dusty folk ballads like, well, “Monster Ballads” and “Good Man”, or the achingly pretty piano ballad “Here At The Right Time”.

MP3 :: Girl In The War
MP3 :: Thin Blue Flame
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Under Cold Blue Stars - Josh Rouse (2002)

Like Ritter, Josh Rouse has enjoyed moderate success making intelligent, folk-driven music for grown ups. While that may not sound particularly exciting in and of itself, both share a gift for crafting memorable melodies and textured, inviting musical settings. After Under Cold Blue Stars, Rouse steered a bit too close to MOR for my tastes, but on his third album you can hear the work of a songwriter equally inspired by The Smiths as he is by the at-the-time supple Americana and alt. country scenes. The joyful, nostalgic lyrics and wind in your hair feel of “Miracle” never cease to put a smile on my face.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

[video] The Roadside Graves - "Ruby" (via Hear Ya)

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:37:00 +0000

Roadside Graves - "Ruby" - HearYa Live Session 8/26/09 from HearYa.com on Vimeo.

Personally, I don’t feel like anybody should compile a “Best of the Year” list without giving a fair amount of time to The Roadside Graves’ tour-de-force My Son’s Home. Hear Ya just posted a video/audio session they recorded with the band that highlights a couple of key tracks from that album as well as a few from their excellent 2007 effort No One Will Know Where You’ve Been. Word is the New Jersey band are hard at work on an EP due in early 2010, but more on that when the time comes.

MP3 :: Far and Wide
MP3 :: Ruby
(from My Son’s Home. Buy here)
-----------------------------------------------------

[mp3] Wolf People - "October Fires"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:07:00 +0000

“October Fires” comes from the forthcoming debut from Wolf People, the first U.K. band to sign with Jagjaguwar. That debut, called Tidings and due February 22, is actually a collection of singles recorded between 2005-2007 for Battered Ornaments. The track finds the quartet sporting a rather large debt to their forebears of the British Invasion - it’s a bluesy, psyche-rock romp that sounds like a lost track from the mid-60’s.

MP3 :: October Fires
(from Tidings. Info here)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[video] Blakroc - The Black Keys, Mos Def, Raekwon, Damon Dash, etc.

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:15:00 +0000

Blakroc Project from Myrhax on Vimeo.

Maybe you’ve heard about this upcoming collaboration between The Black Keys and a wide assortment of some of hip-hop’s biggest names, but if not here’s the scoop (knew about this for a few weeks but was reminded today via Music For Kids Who Can‘t Read Good). Damon Dash, of Roc-A-Fella Records, has brought together Mos Def, Raekwon, RZA, Q-Tip and several others to add their talents over music played by Denton, TX’s best indie-blues-rock band, The Black Keys. The entire project was conceived and seen through in 11 days. The album, known as Blakroc and due, when else, on Black Friday (11/27), follows excellent solo albums this year already from Mos Def (The Ecstatic) and Keys singer Dan Auerbach (Keep It Hid).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[video] Matthew Ryan - "City Life"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:35:00 +0000

Tennessee-by-way-of-Philadelphia singer-songwriter Matthew Ryan has very quietly built up quite a prolific back catalog since the blue collar hard-folk of 1997’s Mayday. Since then he’s slipped out stark, stripped-down records, like 2001’s underrated Concussion, as well as a few that dip their toes into more ethereal, modern sounds, such as 2003’s Regret Over The Wires and 2007’s From A Late Night High Rise. Though his gruff vocals have always seemed, to me, tailor-made for hard driving folk songs about heartache and hangovers he‘s never been one to rely on that limited approach to songwriting. Perhaps that’s why he’s never broken through to a larger audience - too willing to experiment with his sound for the Americana crowd and too earnest for the indie-rock world. The recently released Dear Lover, his twelfth record, finds Ryan once again able to avoid pigeonholing by leaning towards an almost folktronic sound on many of these songs, and even using a guest DJ on the decidedly dancy “Spark”. Overall though Dear Lover finds Ryan in a contemplative mood and mixing acoustic guitars with unobtrusive synths and beats over its ten new songs. The first single, “City Life”, is a solid representation of the passionate declarations and semi-ambitious arrangements Dear Lover strives for. Fans of Josh Rouse and Ryan Adams should take note - this album and artist would be right up your alley. The video follows the adventures of a little paper version of Ryan as he makes his way around the world, hanging out with fans, getting smooched, and taking in some breathtaking scenery along the way.

Stream :: Dear Lover (via Blurt)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PHW's Albums of the Decade - Addendum, pt. 1

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:25:00 +0000

Two weeks ago I posted a list of my 50 favorite albums of the past decade. You can catch up with that here, here, here, here, and here, if you’d like. Or, you know, just scroll down a little bit, I guess. That’s probably easier. While drafting the list (there were 164 original considerations) I found that I rediscovered plenty of albums that were and are still worthy of more attention, even though they ultimately weren’t included on the finished product. It was extremely difficult to cut many of them, especially some of the ones made by smaller artists who don’t receive the level of national and international attention that the big boys get. So, for the next four Mondays I’ll be bringing you an addendum to that list that brings together 20 more albums that I feel are also worth mentioning. No, these aren’t necessarily #’s 51-70, but rather artists that I feel strongly about whose great albums of the past 10 years were overlooked, underappreciated, or just plain missed out on. The first five, in no particular order:

Lost In Revelry - The Mendoza Line (2002)

Not so much in sound as in spirit, The Mendoza Line always seemed to me to be this decade’s version of The Replacements - a wildly talented band sabotaged from wider success by their own recklessness and tendency for self-sabotage. Though they made several solid albums featuring better production in the years that followed, not to mention the full blossoming of Shannon McArdle’s underrated songwriting, it’s Lost In Revelry that best captures the slapdash spirit of the band at their self-defeating best. Peter Hoffman throws in a handful of winning indie-rock songs and McArdle’s growing talents as both a singer and songwriter are evident on her five contributions, but the undeniable highlights are the four folk songs and barroom rockers of bandleader Timothy Bracy, whose drunken warble of a voice and detail-rich lyrics sound like a man coming apart at the seams. Perhaps predictably, the band fell apart a few years later when Bracy and McArdle’s personal releationship did the same, but they left us with some of the decade’s most perfectly dysfunctional music, much of it right here on Lost In Revelry. In 2002 The Village Voice had this to say about the record: "a small classic of no cultural import whatsoever -- merely the most likable record of the year, a toothpick Blonde On Blonde held together with chewing gum.”

“Hey, you’re killing me with protocol
She acts just like she’s seen it all
But I don’t think you’ve seeeeen this
A big shot at the mini-mall
You learned to fuck before you could crawl
It don’t make you a genuis”

MP3 :: A Damn Good Disguise
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coke Machine Glow - Gordon Downie (2001)

In 2001 Gordon Downie, front man of one of Canada’s most beloved bands, The Tragically Hip, threw fans of his band’s by-then-predictable modern/alt-rock for a loop by releasing a solo album recorded with a bunch of Toronto musicians and friends. Coke Machine Glow is full of folk waltzes, lo-fi rock, and jazzy, spoken word interludes that are a far cry from The Hip's fist-pumping, power-chord rockers. The result is easily one of the more interesting records he’s ever been a part of - full of eclectic instrumentation (not strictly relying on guitar, bass, & drum arrangements), lyrics that doubled as poetry (literally, as there was a book of it released to coincide with the album), and Downie’s distinct vocals. “Vancouver Divorce” alone is worth the price of admission.

MP3 :: Vancouver Divorce
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nixon - Lambchop (2000)

Kurt Wagner surrounds himself with more musicians than just about any songwriter I can think of - Lambchop’s numbers can swell well up into double digits on any given night. With this constant revolving door of members you’d think that their music would be a crowded, impenetrable wall of sound, but it’s actually a study in spaciousness and minimalism. Nixon is the band’s excursion into weird, countrypolitan soul music - it’s an austere and strangely beautiful collection of songs made by, according to Merge Records, “Nashville's most fucked-up country band”.

MP3 :: Grumpus
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please Pass The Revolution! - The Sweetbriars (2008)

The Sweetbriars’ debut album is the combined effort of two fantastic songwriters from Central Pennsylvania. On Please Pass The Revolution! the classic country leanings and seasoned professionalism of Earl Pickens are mixed with the ramshackle, anything-goes spontaneity of Bruce W. Derr. Both singers had already released a batch of noteworthy solo albums, but here they come on like a poor man’s version of mid-90’s Jayhawks, trading off verses and songs over their country-tinged, melodic power-pop and garage rock.

Video :: Parade (Meet Me Halfway)
Video :: No Way Home From Here
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Introducing Gentleman Jesse - Gentleman Jesse & His Men (2008)

Gentleman Jesse sounds like he’s spent a considerable amount of time studying every tragic note The Exploding Hearts ever played. But if that band has a worthier successor to the brash, garage rock and power-pop of their only record then I’d like to hear them. On this, their debut, Gentleman Jesse & His Men play a bunch of energetic, punk-influenced scorchers, most of which (“All I Need Tonight”, “Butterfingers”, “You Don’t Have To If You Don’t Want To”, etc) become hopelessly anthemic in the hands of such a compelling tunesmith.

MP3 :: All I Need Tonight (Is You)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:56:00 +0000

Tarot Sport is U.K. electronic/noise band Fuck Buttons sophomore album, following hot on the heels of last year’s terrific debut, Street Horrrsing. The new album sounds like a more fully realized, mature work from the duo. Songs like “The Lisbon Maru” and “Olympians” may share moments that recall their past work, but the absence of the unintelligible, scream-o vocals that pervaded Street Horrrsing gives the new album a sound that’s often more graceful than nightmarish. It’s not so much an improvement necessarily, but rather just a difference - one that makes the songs more inviting than those from its predecessor. Regardless of this new found approach (no doubt a result of working with a producer as seasoned as Andrew Weatherall) Tarot Sport doesn't forget to be dense, challenging, and noisy - all definite attributes in the case of Fuck Buttons. It’s also an expansive and deeply hypnotic work that flows seamlessly from track to track, and will undoubtedly continue to attract fans of both left-of-center indie-rock and electronic/trance music.

MP3 :: Surf Solar (7” edit)
(from Tarot Sport. Buy here)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:23:00 +0000

For the past week or so I’ve been catching up with the new Built To Spill album There Is No Enemy, and I have to say I’ve been enjoying it a lot. I don’t mean that to sound like I’m surprised, it’s just that besides “Conventional Wisdom” I didn’t find much to enjoy on 2006’s You In Reverse. I’m not sure yet if the new album is the equivalent of their mid-to-late 90s run of classics, as some are suggesting (pretty sure it‘s not), but it’s certainly better than You In Reverse and probably better than Ancient Melodies Of The Future from 2001. Which would mean it's the best thing they've done in ten years, since Keep It Like A Secret, which has long been my personal favorite. There Is No Enemy begins and ends with songs that recall their classics - the driving “Aisle 13” could be one of their vintage singles, and the melodic, country-tinged “Hindsight” is another obvious high point. Later, “Planting Seeds”, “Things Fall Apart”, and the majestic “Tomorrow” bring the album to a memorable close. In between are a bunch of mid-tempo, 4-6 minute jams that fans of the band will no doubt love. In a year where 40-somethings like Yo La Tengo, Dinosaur Jr., and The Flaming Lips have all released very good-to-great albums, it’s nice to see Built To Spill helping to remind the kiddies how it‘s done. Check them out from two weeks ago on Letterman playing “Oh Yeah”:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spoon to release Transference in January

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:04:00 +0000

With all my focus last week on running my list of favorite albums of the decade I didn’t really pay much attention to other stuff going on in the music world. So, there’s some catching up to do this week. First off is the best news I’ve heard in a while - Spoon will be releasing their 7th studio album on January 23, and it’s called Transference. Once again Merge Records has the honors. Street date is January 25. Tracklist and behind-the-scenes video clip (sounds pretty rawkin’!) at Spoon’s website.

In other noteworthy Spoon news, the band have made their first 4 albums digitally available through their website for the first time (for cheap). You’ll also find a free live version of Girls Can Tell highlight “Everything Hits At Once” there (check the bonus section). Look for it all HERE.

MP3 :: Everything Hits At Once (live) (follow link)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The October Mixtape

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:00:00 +0000

MP3 :: Easy - Pure Ecstasy
MP3 :: Love Like A Sunset (Animal Collective Remix) - Phoenix
MP3 :: Crown On The Ground - Sleigh Bells
MP3 :: Shine Blockas (ft. Gucci Mane) - Big Boi
MP3 :: I Don’t Like Your Band - Annie
MP3 :: Bad Bands - Capgun Coup (original post)
MP3 :: Something In Common - Free Energy
MP3 :: Twenty Cycles To The Ground - Molina & Johnson (original post)
MP3 :: Trust - Old Canes (original post)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mas musica: Enero, Febrero, Marzo, Abril, Mayo, Juno, Julio, Augusto, y Septiembre

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PHW's Albums of the Decade - # 10-1

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:48:00 +0000

I’ve had a lot of fun this week bringing you my 50 personal favorite albums of the past ten years. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as well, and if there are any records on this list that you’ve ignored or missed or simply haven’t heard of by all means check them out. Feel free to leave a comment as well now that you’ve seen the whole thing. Peace.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

10. Kid A / Radiohead (2000)

I’ll admit it right here - when I first heard Kid A I was one of those disappointed guitar purists confused by the band’s sudden lack of, well, rock songs. Kid A’s mix of ghost-in-the-machine electronics, IDM rhythms, and the general absence of the soaring version of Thom Yorke’s vocals made for an initial disappointment. But you know how the rest of the story goes…repeat listens >> close attention >> gradual conversion >> deep appreciation >> life-changing album.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

9. Separation Sunday / The Hold Steady (2005)

Her parents named her Hallelujah/ the kids all called her Holly/ If she scared you then she's sorry/ she's been stranded at these parties/ These parties they start lovely, but they get druggy and they get ugly and they get bloody/ The priest just kinda laughed/ The deacon caught a draft/ She crashed into the Easter mass with her hair done up in broken glass/ She was limping left on broken heels/ when she said, “Father, can I tell your congregation how a resurrection really feels?”.

Coming on like either a bar-stool nerd poet or the world’s whitest rapper, Craig Finn’s redemption-themed story arc about a sweet girl named Holly (who‘s made some not-sweet friends) is as painstakingly detailed, earnest, and laugh-out-loud funny as anything I’ve ever heard. That it’s accompanied by the band’s gritty, pub-ready bravado makes for one of the decade’s best straight rock n’ roll records.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

8. You & Me / The Walkmen (2008)

You & Me seemed to surprise a lot of people who must not have been paying very close attention to what came before it. 2004's Bows & Arrows was a landmark album that, apparently, many doubted could be topped, especially when it was followed by the somewhat disappointing A Hundred Miles Off. You & Me amends for that album’s missteps by dropping the angular guitar-rock for a rhythmic, woozy grandeur. The result is an absolute masterpiece - the perfect soundtrack for headphones, street lights, and city cement. Just don’t say you were surprised. You & Me was meant to be.

Stream :: You & Me
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

7. Is This It (U.K. Version) / The Strokes (2001)

The Strokes’ ascension to prominence in the early part of the decade was one of the first displays of just how influential the internet could be in making (and nearly breaking) a band. Scores of lesser acts have since been thrown into the hype machine and fallen flat on their faces. With the way the bratty, riches-to-richer back-story of the band turned off a lot of folks you’d think that the same fate would’ve befallen The Strokes. Not quite. The reason they survived is simple - Is This It is much, much better than the hype said it was. The U.K. version, which featured “New York City Cops” (deemed insensitive in the wake of 9/11 and left off U.S. versions in favor of the lesser “When It Started”) is better top to bottom and gets the nod here.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. Kids In Philly / Marah (2000)

Kids In Philly is a swaggering, ambitious homage to Marah’s hometown of Philadelphia. Filled with banjos strummed like they were electric guitars, soulful street-procession horns, and brothers Dave & Serge Bielanko’s wordy, rapid-fire urban tales, the band rushes through these 11 songs in just 35 breathtaking minutes. A series of poor decisions derailed the band’s momentum in the years that followed, but for a short time during 2000-2001 Marah were America’s most exciting up-and-coming rock & roll band, and Kids In Philly is the dizzyingly cocksure proof. Brotherly love never sounded so good.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Kill The Moonlight / Spoon (2002)

On the heels of the career rejuvenating Girls Can Tell, Britt Daniels took another batch of his typically frantic pop songs and starved them until they were nothing more than skin and bones (and, on one occasion, beat-boxing). For a band that treats minimalism like its 5th member, Kill The Moonlight is their leanest and the meanest offering. And in that sense it is the band’s quintessential statement - a spacious, nervy, anxious romp through pop-rock perfection. Spoon was the decade’s best band, and Kill The Moonlight is their crowning achievement.

MP3 :: The Way We Get By
MP3 :: Jonathon Fisk
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Funeral / Arcade Fire (2004)

For a record with such a bleak title, Funeral had little trouble satisfying our collective desire for music that was bigger than life. But for all of Funeral’s earnest sentiments and expansive arrangements, it’s the childlike stories and images (our parents, our parents’ bedrooms, older brothers, kids swinging from the power lines, all of “Wake Up”) that connected on some level with pretty much every young adult in the world with discernible music tastes.

MP3 :: Rebellion (Lies)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Person Pitch / Panda Bear (2007)

Panda Bear’s masterpiece is a pitch perfect combination of soaring, Brian Wilson-inspired pop and hypnotic, childlike mantras that gradually snuck towards the upper reaches of this list as it did to my 2007 list. A positively joyous listening experience and possibly the most beautiful album on this entire list.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. The Creek Drank The Cradle / Iron & Wine (2002)

Sam Beam’s collection of reverent, homespun southern anthems, all featuring just acoustic guitar and some overdubbed banjo and pedal steel, is one of the purest recordings of the decade. That these songs, recorded in a near whisper to four-track in Beam’s home, were picked up by Sub Pop (at the time still best known for blistering alt-rock pioneers like Nirvana and Mudhoney) and released “as is” reveals their true power. One that comes from their quiet, traditional beauty rather than from trying to shout for your attention.

MP3 :: Lion’s Mane
MP3 :: Southern Anthem
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot / Wilco (2002)

There are a bunch of albums I consider when thinking of my all-time favorites - London Calling, Crooked Rain Crooked Rain, Exile On Main Street, Let It Be (The Replacements, not those other guys), Nebraska, Still Feel Gone, Doolittle, Highway 61 Revisited, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, etc. Besides the already mentioned commonality, they all share one other trait - they all became favorites of mine well after their initial release. For some that was primarily because they came out either before I was born or before I was paying attention. Others just weren’t the types of album I was listening to at the time - even Aeroplane, which came out in '98, took me a few years to discover and catch up with. If you think about it, your favorite band releasing your favorite album when you are actually anticipating it is an incredibly rare event - one that only happens, if you’re lucky, a handful of times in your life. For me it’s been once. Guess when.

By 2001 I had been into Wilco for about 5 or 6 years. After my initial enjoyment of A.M. the band landed the 1-2 punch of Being There and Mermaid Avenue, catapulting them into constant rotation on my 5-disc changer with all the other great alt. country acts of that era. They then “officially” usurped The Tragically Hip (shut up) as my very favorite band sometime in 1999 with the release of Summerteeth. When word came a few years later that they were working on its follow up my excitement reached a fairly dysfunctional intensity. I probably checked Wilcoworld and the ViaChicago message board several times a day hoping for some little scrap of information to appease my immense curiosity. After what seemed like fucking forever, a Chicago radio station started streaming “Poor Places” from their website. That night I listened over and over, probably upwards of 15 or 20 times, gradually memorizing all the strange, exciting sounds and hoping the rest of YHF would be as perfect as this first glimpse. Wilco had already released several challenging, adventurous songs by this point, but nothing prepared me for the confounding, non-linear structure of “Poor Places” or the wall of abrasive noise that closed it. Still, it was clear that underneath the dissonance was a classic folk ballad, and one of the best songs Jeff Tweedy had ever written.

But that’s when all the infamous shit went down. What happened next has evolved into indie-rock folklore, and has perhaps become one of the decade’s defining musical stories. After deeming Yankee Hotel Foxtrot too challenging and without a song they would be able to push to radio, Reprise Records decided not to release it. Wilco were unceremoniously dropped from the label and allowed to purchase YHF back from Reprise and search for a new home. During their time in record label purgatory Wilco decided to do something that was, at the time, practically unprecedented. They streamed YHF in its entirety from their website. The highly unconventional move worked on every conceivable level. For fans it was a way to hear an album that the band was obviously very proud of even though no one had any idea when or if it would ever see the light of day. The move also ignited a bidding war between labels eager for the opportunity to release a record that was so obviously something special (to everyone but some moronic suits at Reprise). That privilege went to Nonesuch. With a new home came an official release date - sometime in late April, 2002. After listening to a stream through crappy computer speakers for so long, that first drive home from the store with the new CD blasting was an absolute revelation. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot had arrived, and it sounded better than ever.

For someone who had obsessed over music since early high school, that day was the rarest of events. My favorite band released my favorite album, and I was right there on the day it (finally) hit the shelves. If you’ve read this far you don’t need me to tell you about the music itself, you probably know every cryptic word and jarring note as well as I do. Ever since the moment I first heard the disorienting opening minutes of “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart” no other album on this list, great as they are, had a chance. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot isn’t just my favorite album of the past 10 years. It’s my favorite album. And I’ve known it since the day it was born.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

PHW's Albums of the Decade - #20-11

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:33:00 +0000

We’re getting down into it now. Here’s # 20-11 of my favorite albums of the decade. Thanks for stopping by, and look for the top ten tomorrow.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

20. Let’s Get Out Of This Country / Camera Obscura (2006)

A nearly flawless gem of a record from the co-ed Scottish group that just gets better with age. The title track, “If Looks Could Kill” and especially the dizzyingly perfect “Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken” find Tracyanne Campbell singing some of the finest indie-pop hooks this side of A.C. Newman, while acoustic torch songs like “Country Mile” and “Dory Previn” give the album its battered heart.

MP3 :: Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19. Magnolia Electric Co. / Songs: Ohio (2003)

After recording some of the bleakest music of his era, Jason Molina opted to approach the transitory Magnolia Electric Co. differently. He brought his touring band, a crew who conjured a Crazy Horse-like intensity, into the studio to record his finest batch of songs yet. Highlights like “John Henry Split My Heart”, “Just Be Simple”, and, of course, the monolithic “Farewell Transmission” gush with blue-collar heartache and Molina’s aching, lonesome voice.

MP3 :: Farewell Transmission
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18. Alligator / The National (2005)

Alligator should have announced a new critical and commercial darling to the indie-rock scene, but for some reason many only caught up with the band a few years later with the release of Boxer. Calling Alligator a “grower” though, as many have, is absurd - a completely revisionist excuse for missing the boat. I’ve hardly been smacked harder in the face on first listen by an album this decade than I was the first time I heard the rolling chords of “Secret Meeting”. And from there Alligator takes the richly-detailed working man blues of Matt Berninger and injects them into a batch of bracing rockers (hell yeah “Abel”) and nuanced, chamber-pop songs.

Stream :: Abel
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

17. Merriweather Post Pavilion / Animal Collective (2009)

After the occasionally harsh sounds of Strawberry Jam, Animal Collective filled Merriweather Post Pavilion with the same soft harmonies and mesmeric repetitions that made Person Pitch a stone-classic. That stylistic decision works particularly well within the album’s recurring themes of fatherhood and the struggle to overcome limitations to provide for your kids (see “My Girls”, especially). For years before this, their big breakthrough, Animal Collective churned out whimsical sing-alongs (“Grass”, “Leaf House”, “Peacebone”, etc) that seemed tailor-made for kids to shout along with. Ironically, it wasn’t until they started singing about adult concerns that a whole new generation of indie-kids started catching on.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16. Mass Romantic / The New Pornographers (2000)

A.C. Newman, Dan Bejar, and Neko Case’s art-pop side project turned out to be a bigger hit than anything they had done separately, turning the band into the ultimate revisionist super-group. Though they went on to make more commercially successful albums in the years that followed, nothing else captured the reckless, bizarre, and truly collaborative spirit of the band as well as their debut.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

15. White Blood Cells / The White Stripes (2001)

At the heart of White Blood Cells are the recurring themes of old-fashioned simplicity (“Hotel Yorba”, “I’m Finding It Harder To Be A Gentleman”) and nostalgia (“We‘re Going To Be Friends”, “The Same Boy You’ve Always Known”). Neither is a hard rock platitude, but then again there weren’t many conventional aspects to Jack & Meg’s rise to prominence. Afterwards came Jack’s public relationship with an overrated celebrity, the movie cameos, and the cross-over appeal to mainstream rock fans courtesy of “Seven Nation Army” and The Raconteurs. But White Blood Cells captures the duo in their last moments before superstardom, unfettered by expectations and just out to make the best album they possibly could. Each record they’ve done since has been worthy of praise (most notably Get Behind Me Satan), but none comes close to the bare-bones 60’s garage-rock revivalism of their breakthrough.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14. The Moon & Antarctica - Modest Mouse (2000)

With its title referencing the two most remote, desolate places man has set foot, The Moon & Antarctica takes the sprawl of The Lonesome Crowded West and tightens things up thematically. With production help from Red Red Meat’s Brian Deck, Isaac Brock crafted a focused set of songs here that tackle distance, isolation, loneliness, and the afterlife with a sharp pen and the band’s typically angular sound. Though they made great independent albums before this one, and have enjoyed well-deserved crossover success on a major label since, nothing else in their catalog comes close to this dark, staggeringly ambitious masterpiece.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

13. Black Sheep Boy / Okkervil River (2005)

With a plaintive cover of Tim Hardin’s title track, Okkervil River open the curtain on a set of highly literate songs filled with tension, violence, wanderlust, longing, and old fashioned romantic courtships. After a handful of more humble efforts, the thematically tight songs on Black Sheep Boy allowed the band to reach a new level of self-assuredness. They sound downright bloodthirsty on “For Real” and “Black”, and give plenty of subtle sonic weight to quieter moments like “A Stone” and “Get Big”. At the center of it all though is singer Will Sheff, whose often dramatic vocals and delivery cut right to the bone - the guy sounds like a deranged, homicidal maniac one minute and Prince Charming the next. 2007's The Stage Names propelled the band into the indie-spotlight two years later, but Okkervil River are yet to top this dark, brooding folk-rock masterpiece.

MP3 :: For Real
MP3 :: Black
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12. Vacilando Territory Blues / J Tillman (2009)

There are albums that you hear in your life that become inextricably linked to a specific time and place. Hearing Vacilando Territory Blues for the first time last February, a mere 5 days before the birth of my twin girls, gives the album the unfair advantage of sentimentality. I just can’t hear songs like “Firstborn”, “Laborless Land”, or “Someone With Child” without being immediately brought back to the happiest days of my life - surely not the type of connection Tillman intended with this set of stark, endlessly beautiful folk songs. But the funny thing is that I’m sure this incredible album would be right here where it is even without the personal connection - it simply is that good.

MP3 :: Steel On Steel
MP3 :: James Blues
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga / Spoon (2007)

Like 2005’s workmanlike Gimme Fiction, Gax5 doesn’t do anything dramatically re-inventive with Spoon’s trademark sound - razor sharp guitars and taut arrangements that barely contain Britt Daniels’ restless howl. But this record sees the full fruition of Spoon’s gradual exploration of traditional pop sounds over the previous half decade - one after another they churn out many of their catchiest songs. From the angular guitar anti-heroics of “Don’t Make Me A Target” to the triumphant “The Underdog” through the sweeping “Black Like Me”, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is nothing short of a rock n’ roll celebration.

MP3 :: The Underdog
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PHW's Albums of the Decade - #30-21

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:26:00 +0000

Here’s the Humpday edition of my favorite albums of the decade. Check back Thursday and Friday for the final two installments. Hope you’re enjoying it so far.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

30. Fleet Foxes/ Sun Giant EP (2008)

Fleet Foxes’ stunning Sub Pop debut does a fairly common thing - it mixes traditional folk sounds with heavenly vocal harmonies and douses them in reverb. But while the method may not be unique, the results are - the album manages to make each of its small, simple songs sound like widescreen epics.

MP3 :: White Winter Hymnal
MP3 :: Mykonos
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

29. Plague Park - Handsome Furs (2007)

As the less critically-adored half of Wolf Parade, Dan Boeckner has been living in the shadow of the erratic genius of Spencer Krug for too long. Plague Park should be sufficient proof that Boeckner is deserving of no such fate. His is Wolf Parade’s steady hand, adding a solid string of steadfast rockers to both Apologies To The Queen Mary and At Mount Zoomer. The debut of his side project (a bare-bones duo with his wife, keyboardist Alexi Perry) is filled with gritty, paranoid urban-anthems stripped right down to their primordial core.

MP3 :: Cannot Get, Started
MP3 :: What We Had
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

28. The Midnight Organ Fight - Frightened Rabbit (2008)

Rock music has been documenting the tribulations of the sexually frustrated 20-something male for a long, long time. Frightened Rabbit capture that essence with their painfully earnest lyrics, their loud fucking guitars, and Scott Hutchinson's anguished Scottish howl with such precision that the fact that you’ve heard all of this before doesn‘t matter one bit. You haven’t heard this incredibly visceral version. Well, unless you have I mean. Then you already know.

MP3 :: Old Old Fashioned (live)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

27. Girls Can Tell - Spoon (2001)

After 1998’s A Series of Sneaks and some unfortunate label woes, Spoon returned to the scene in a big way with the decidedly more adventurous Girls Can Tell. GCT is the beginning of Britt Daniels’ gradual incorporation of 60’s pop and 70’s soul into the band's stripped down, wiry indie-rock - soon to be perfected on Kill The Moonlight and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. A Series of Sneaks is a great rock record, but Spoon, as we know them today, starts here.

MP3 :: This Book Is A Movie
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

26. Feels / Animal Collective (2005)

Expanding on the psychedelic campfire vibe of 2004's Sung Tongs, Feels possesses a fuller sound and houses several songs that are more articulate than anything the band had yet attempted. The rest is organic, spacious psyche-folk (check out “Banshee Beat” to hear one of their very best songs) that walks the line between sublime and just flat-out weird (in a very, very good way).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

25. Destroyer’s Rubies / Destroyer (2006)

Between Destroyer and his various side projects, Dan Bejar has been involved with, at my count, 10 albums in the past 10 years. That’s quite an output, and behind The New Pornographer’s Mass Romantic, Destroyer’s Rubies is the best one. Destroyer has always strived for expanse and mystique on record, but Rubies matches Bejar’s ambitions with a stellar set of songs (brimming with his typically bewildering lyrical fancy) and his most professional production to date.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

24. The Meadowlands / The Wrens (2003)

The one-and-only Wrens album from the decade is a glorious, sprawling, broken-hearted mess of a record. The Meadowlands was put to tape over a tumultuous 4 year period during which the band were rarely, if ever, together in the same room at the same time. The results are decidedly slipshod, though somehow it still manages to sound more "mature" than anything they had previously tried. The Meadowlands captures the sound of resisting whatever urge there may be to age gracefully - turned here into high art by a couple of guys with day jobs, back alimony, and the kids on the weekend.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

23. Constantines / Constantines (2001)

Canada’s Constantines made a few really terrific albums this decade, but their self-titled debut captures their ferocious intensity better than any of them. The throaty growl of Bryan Webb was the perfect vehicle for the band’s mix of raw punk energy and blue-collar classic rock. “We want the death of rock & roll” he sings on “Arizona”, which he makes you believe would be a good thing, if for no other reason than it could then be rebuilt in their likeness.

MP3 :: Arizona
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

22. In Rainbows / Radiohead (2007)

In Rainbows is sheer brilliance - a concise and instrumentally fluid album from the most important band of the past 15 years. Priceless.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

21. For Emma, Forever Ago / Bon Iver (2008)

For Emma, Forever Ago came with the kind of built-in back-story that most albums would kill for. Guy with beard, guitar, and (incredible) voice loses his band & his girl. Guy gets mononucleosis. Guy recovers and retreats to his father’s secluded Wisconsin cabin to hibernate, only to emerge at the end of a very good winter with a record full of timeless songs. It may have taken a few months for this to really catch on after its initial limited-edition run, but when it finally did it absolutely exploded. So thanks Emma, for whatever happened.

MP3 :: Skinny Love
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PHw's Albums of the Decade - #40-31

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:30:00 +0000

Here is "Part 2" of my 50 favorite dad-rock albums list of the past ten years. I’m not trying to be dramatic or self-important or whatever by breaking it into 5 equal segments, it’s more a result of the difficulty I always have in formatting large posts like these. Blogger can be a pain in the ass with large posts featuring multiple images, and breaking it down like this makes that somewhat easier for me.

Anyway, I’ve listened to a lot of albums over the past decade, some that I’ve actually paid for. The following are 50 that, upon reflection, I feel best represent the music fan I have become over that time. These are my favorites right now, over the past month or so that I’ve spent drafting what you are about to read. They are also the ones I anticipate going back to consistently over however long the rest of my life may be. Many of these albums you’ll recognize from various other End-of-the-Decade lists, but I promise lots of upsets, surprises, and underdogs in here as well. I hope you enjoy reading, and feel free to comment about what you agree with and where you think I fucked up. Peace.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

40. Hearts of Oak - Ted Leo (2003)

The Tyranny of Distance announced Leo’s arrival on the scene in a big way, but Hearts Of Oak is the best example of his eclectic, punk-inspired indie-rock over an entire LP. The obvious highs of “Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?” and “The High Party” are matched by album tracks such as “2nd Avenue, 11 A.M.” and “Bridges, Squares”, making for an album that satisfies from start to finish. His great gift though, besides an elastic voice that leap frogs into a falsetto at any given moment, is the way he manages to be so much rock n’ roll fun without ever sacrificing the social conscience.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

39. The Milk-Eyed Mender - Joanna Newsom (2004)

I don’t really have words to describe The Milk-Eyed Mender, at least not ones that haven’t been turned into cliché over the past 5 years. Yeah, the first time my friend played this album for me that day in the car I was really turned off by “that voice”. After my initial disinterest he forced me to listen to “Sadie” about 3 or 4 times in a row, and the disinterest turned to intrigue. I borrowed the CD and that night lied down on the floor in my apartment and hit repeat on the unbelievably beautiful album closer “Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie” about a half-dozen times. And here it is, one of my favorites of the decade. Even though Newsom generally gets labeled folk or freak-folk or whatever, there’s just nothing else out there that’s quite like her, or this perfect little record.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

38. Amnesiac - Radiohead (2001)

The companion album to Kid A practically stands next to its big brother, once again finding the band exploring the endless possibilities of electronic music over 11 adventurous, continuously surprising songs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

37. Decoration Day - Drive-By Truckers (2003)

The Truckers have made quite a living writing songs about the Dirty South, and Decoration Day is the most consistently satisfying record in the Truckers’ very deep catalog. It’s also about as dark and gritty as albums get - populated with shotguns, shotgun weddings, blue collar desperation, incest, whiskey, suicide, murder, and various other forms of recklessness and debauchery. Oh yeah, and one of the most self-aware lines of the decade during “Marry Me”: “Rock n’ roll means well but it can’t help tellin’ young boys lies”. Ever so true.

MP3 :: Loaded Gun In The Closet
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

36. Pride / Phosphorescent (2007)

Pride is a hypnotic, meditative song cycle recorded almost entirely alone by Matthew Houck. It sounds like a true field recording, mainly because you can envision him alone out in the middle of one, guitar in hand and accompanied by an army of harmony-singing night insects. That solitude is best expressed on the arresting ballad “Wolves”, in which Houck sounds resigned to the violence that surrounds him.

MP3 :: A Picture Of Our Torn Up Praise
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

35. Ágætis Byrjun - Sigur Rós (2000)

The alien fetus album art unquestionably played into the notion that this band’s lush, orchestral music and the ungodly vocals of Jón “Jónsi” Þór Birgisson were coming from somewhere much further away than the Icelandic countryside. While disappointingly not from another universe, the intense beauty of Ágætis Byrjun certainly is universal.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

34. The Woods - Sleater-Kinney (2005)

That Sleater-Kinney broke up soon after the release of The Woods, one of their most critically lauded albums and the first to feature the larger-than-life production of David Fridmann, was one of the indie rock’s great losses. But they sure knew how to go out in style - The Woods is a sonically potent slab of punk-inspired classic rock that found the female trio at the height of their seemingly infinite powers.

MP3 :: Jumpers
MP3 :: Entertain
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

33. Bitte Orca - Dirty Projectors (2009)

Bitte Orca is a fractured avant-pop thrill ride, exactly the type of album that rewards repeat listens as its subtleties are revealed. Though masterminded by David Longstreth, this assured set of songs is a truly collaborative effort, which is never more evident than on Amber Coffman’s star-turn lead vocal performance on “Stillness Is The Move” - one of 2009’s best songs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

32. Since I Left You - The Avalanches (2000)

The Aussie’s cut-and-paste masterpiece is built from the ground up on a virtual treasure trove of samples. That firm foundation supports scratchy, blissed-out, endlessly listenable party music that feeds your brain as well as it moves your butt.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

31. Quicksand/Cradlesnakes / Califone (2003)

Having never heard of the band before, I saw Califone open for Wilco soon after the release of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I was immediately taken by the band’s mix of rickety folk and deft electronic flourishes and sought out this, their latest release at the time. 2006’s Roots & Crowns is arguably its equal, but Quicksand/Cradlesnakes remains my sentimental favorite because of the way I first stumbled across it. Plus - “One”/“Horoscopic. Amputation. Honey.”, one of the finest album openers of the decade.

MP3 :: One
MP3 :: Horoscopic. Amputation. Honey
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

PHW's Albums of the Decade - #50-41

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 01:44:00 +0000

This week on PHW I’ll be running a countdown of my 50 favorite dad-rock albums of the past ten years. I’m not trying to be dramatic or self-important by doing it over 5 days and breaking it into 5 equal segments, it’s more a result of the difficulty I always have in formatting posts of this nature. Blogger can be a pain in the ass with large posts featuring multiple images, and I’ve never figured out how to make these things look just the way I want them. Breaking it down like this makes that somewhat easier for me.

Anyway, I’ve listened to a lot of albums over the past decade. Some that I’ve actually paid for. The following are 50 that, upon reflection, I feel best represent the music fan I have become over that time. These are my favorites right now, over the past month or so that I’ve spent drafting what you are about to read, and the ones that I anticipate going back to most over however long the rest of my life may be. Many of these albums you’ll recognize from various other End-of-the-Decade lists or wherever, but I promise lots of upsets and underdogs in here as well. I hope you enjoy reading, and feel free to comment about what you agree with and where you think I fucked up. Peace.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

50. Impasse - Richard Buckner (2002)

Impasse may be the most overlooked record in the already underappreciated catalog of this Texas-by-way-of-California singer-songwriter. Not as emotionally naked as Devotion & Doubt, as all-encompassing as Since, as historical as The Hill, and predating his contract with Merge, Impasse is simply a collection of great indie-folk songs that are spruced up by Buckner’s wife on drums and some unexpectedly convincing synth-work. The result is an album with a uniformly moody, mid-tempo sound that centers on Buckner’s deep-throated rasp and elliptical lyrical style. It’s a personal favorite that I never get tired of. Obviously, or it wouldn’t be here.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

49. Endless Summer - Fennesz (2001)

Endless Summer is quite a departure from the music that makes up much of the rest of this list. While in no way a less inviting album than, say, Since I Left You or Fleet Foxes, this classic from sound manipulator Christian Fennesz is mostly comprised of strummed, distorted acoustic & electric guitars surrounded by hissy, ambient noise effects. The result is a beautiful album to submerge yourself into like you would the cool ocean on a hot and hazy summer day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

48. Dear Science, - TV On The Radio (2008)

By the time of Dear Science, TV On The Radio had already made a pair of the most critically-lauded albums of the preceding few years. This album was received similarly, but managed to reach a larger audience than ever before. The difference here is the band’s willingness to strip back some of the more challenging, noisier elements of their repertoire and let the accessible side of their songs shine through. This is clear right from the opening moments, as those thumping first beats and doo-wop “bom-bom-bom-bom-boms” of “Halfway Home” kick in and lasts all the way through to the triumphant finale “Lover’s Day”.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

47. American Hearts - AA Bondy (2007)

One of the most unadorned albums on this list, American Hearts is an album of songs, and what a great collection of those this is. The intimate folk music of his 2007 solo debut make Bondy sound like a man out of time - a relic from an era when songs were sung and remembered instead of ever actually being written down, much less recorded in a studio. There are highlights throughout (“There’s A Reason”, “Black Rain, Black Rain”, and the elegiac “Of The Sea” spring to mind), but on “Witness Blues” it’s like he re-wrote “Blowin’ In The Wind” for the Bush administration - “and once there was a time to join the army, and once there was a time to hear the news, and once there was a time for easy silence, but now the jury waits for you”.

MP3 :: There’s A Reason
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

46. Untrue - Burial (2007)

The underground dubstep on the mysterious Burial’s sophomore album is the perfect soundtrack for long walks through urban winters; a distant and alien sounding collection of R&B vocal samples, emaciated beats, and ambient noises. Whatever haunted universe this music is beaming from must be lovely, dark, and deep.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

45. Everything All The Time - Band of Horses (2006)

The influences here may be easier-than-easy to spot, but Band of Horses’ debut overcomes pigeonholing on the strength of Ben Bridwell’s reverb-soaked vocals and some really kick-ass songs. “The Funeral” is one of the very best rock songs of the decade; a soaring anthem that could encore their shows until the wheels fall off. But there are plenty of other highlights here that nearly match it - particularly the pulsing “Our Swords” and the slow-building, melodic folk of “Monsters”.

MP3 :: The Funeral
MP3 :: The Great Salt Lake
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

44. Mono / Grandpaboy (2002)

Despite a promising 1993 solo debut, 14 Songs, most of Paul Westerberg’s post-Replacements output has lacked the spark of his former band’s best years. For that matter, so did the last few Mats albums. But at some point in the mid-90’s, in between lackluster major label efforts, he found time to sneak out a quick 5-song independently released EP under the Grandpaboy pseudonym which managed to recall the tossed-off spirit and snappy songwriting of his youth. In typical fashion, it went pretty much unnoticed by everyone except his diehard fans. After being dropped in 1999 by his second major label in as many albums, Westerberg retreated to his basement and started bashing out home recordings of similar quality to that EP at a fairly rapid pace. He’s now been doing it for 10 years. The best of the bunch is Mono, a collection of ragged rockers (again under the Grandpaboy moniker and released in conjunction with the folk-leaning Stereo) that is easily his most exciting set of songs since Pleased To Meet Me.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

43. Distance And Clime / Centro-matic (2003)

It was a hard task choosing just one album for this list from this Denton, TX band, as every single one they’ve released (and God knows there a bunch) is essential stuff in my book. But Distance & Clime flaunts everything I love about Centro-matic in spades - passionate, egoless rock songs bursting with energy, Will Johnson’s sandpaper growl, and my favorite guitar tones (buzzy, feedback-heavy, and right up front) of any working band.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

42. The Sunset Tree - The Mountain Goats (2005)

The Sunset Tree is unique in the way it makes someone’s personal anguish so endlessly inviting. John Darnielle’s often uncomfortably personal documentation of surviving an abusive stepfather is also one of the most redemptive albums I've ever heard. Much of it is fairly typical late-period Mountain Goats (acoustic guitars driving the rhythm, sprinkled piano, Darnielle’s penetrating vocals, and detail-oriented lyrics that use jarringly direct similes), albeit quieter and more contemplative. But a handful of truly anthemic songs, like “Dance Music” (“so this is what the volume knob’s for”) and “This Year” (“I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me”), force us to sing along, and in turn must offer a sort of communal healing for Darnielle, especially when performed live.

MP3 :: Lion’s Teeth
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

41. Bows + Arrows - The Walkmen (2004)

The Walkmen’s sophomore album sways between bracing rockers (“The Rat”, “Little House Of Savages”), and woozy, romantic ballads (“Hang On, Siobhan”, “138th Street”) that proved The Strokes weren’t the only relevant post-punk band in NYC during the early years of the decade. Bows + Arrows thrives on pent-up tension, either brought out by the clash of chugging rhythms and clanging electric guitars, or by Hamilton Leithauser’s anxious, growling lead vocals. Though they went on to make a better record a few years later with You & Me, Bows + Arrows is an essential early statement from one of the decade’s best rock bands.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[video] The Antlers - "Two" live on All Our Noise

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:14:00 +0000

AON Sessions: The Antlers, "Two" from All Our Noise on Vimeo.

Earlier this year The Antlers released the critically-lauded Hospice, an album that I never really dove into despite the fact that I really enjoyed the two songs I heard from it - “Two” and “Bear”. From the looks of this beautifully shot backstage video from the folks at All Our Noise I’m probably missing out on something special and will have to remedy that (via MOKB).

Also - check out this session recorded this past summer by the Laundromatinee with 4 live videos of songs from Hospice (plus mp3 downloads).

MP3 :: Two
(from Hospice. Info here)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.A. Bondy live on The Tripwire

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:40:00 +0000

Last month I shared the videos of an A.A. Bondy live session recorded in the summer of 2008. Here’s a more recent one recorded by The Tripwire last month, including a stripped-down, slowed-down version of When The Devil’s Loose (PHW review) highlight “I Can See The Pines Are Dancing”.

In addition to his current tour with The Felice Brothers, Bondy is gearing up for a headlining run of shows this November/December - check out the dates and see him live if you have the chance. You won‘t regret it:

NOV. 24 MILWAUKEE, WI CLUB GARIBALDI
NOV. 25 MINNEAPOLIS, MN 400 BAR
NOV. 27 OMAHA, NE SLOWDOWN, JR.
NOV. 28 COLUMBIA, MO MOJO'S
NOV. 30 COLUMBUS, OH THE BASEMENT
DEC. 1 AKRON, OH MUSICA
DEC. 2 PONTIAC, MI VERNORS ROOM @ THE CROFOOT
DEC. 3 TORONTO, ONT EL MOCAMBO
DEC. 4 MONTREAL, QUE THE GREEN ROOM
DEC. 5 BURLINGTON, VT HIGHER GROUND
DEC. 7 PORTLAND, ME SPACE GALLERY
DEC. 8 NORTHAMPTON, MA IRON HORSE MUSIC HALL
DEC. 9 NEW YORK, NY BOWERY BALLROOM
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MP3 :: When The Devil’s Loose
MP3 :: I Can See The Pines Are Dancing
(from When The Devil’s Loose. Buy here)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[mp3] Old Canes - "Trust"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:41:00 +0000

“Trust” is the second legally released mp3 from the brand new Old Canes record Feral Harmonic, which hits stores this week. I already told you how much I’ve enjoyed this new album from the side project of The Appleseed Cast’s Chris Crisci when I posted “Little Bird Courage” a few weeks ago. “Trust” is more of the same goodness, only slightly mellower. If you like either of these songs I highly recommend checking out the whole thing - Feral Harmonic is strong top to bottom; one of the better albums I’ve heard this Fall. It’s streaming in its entirety right HERE.

MP3 :: Trust
MP3 :: Little Bird Courage
(from Feral Harmonic. Buy here)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[mp3] A Faulty Chromosome - "Bad Thing"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:08:00 +0000

Here’s a couple of new ones from Austin’s A Faulty Chromosome, whose new album Craving To Be Coddled So We Feel Fake-Safe is still in the production phase. Times are tough all over, and the band has set up a unique fund-raising project through Kickstarter (which you can read all about here) to help with the mastering, design, pressing, and eventual promotion. Listen to new tracks “Bad Thing” and “Picking On Us Like We're Picayune” below; “Bad Thing” is a blissed-out fuzz-pop gem reminiscent of their best songs from 2007’s An Ex-Anorexic’s Six Sicks Exit.

MP3 :: Bad Thing
MP3 :: Picking On Us Like We're Picayune
(from Craving To Be Coddled So We Feel Fake-Safe. Donate here)

******UPDATE - WHOOPS! NO WONDER "BAD THING" SOUNDS LIKE THE BEST SONGS FROM AN EX-ANOREXIC's....IT IS ONE OF THE BEST SONGS FROM THEIR 2007 ALBUM! MY BAD. "PICKING ON US....." IS THE ONE FROM CRAVING TO BE CODDLED...THANKS TO JAKE, AN OBSERVANT READER, FOR PICKING UP ON THAT!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Tallest Man On Earth visits Daytrotter

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 01:41:00 +0000

Just had a listen to the recent Daytrotter Session by Kristian Matsson, or, as he is better known, The Tallest Man On Earth. The set is highly recommended for fans of this really captivating Swedish singer-songwriter. You’ll find 3 songs from his excellent 2008 album Shallow Grave (including a completely revamped take on “I Won’t Be Found”, which replaces his usual buzzy acoustic guitar with piano) and a re-interpretation (notice I didn’t say cover, though technically it is) of Dylan’s “I Want You”.

MP3 :: I Won’t Be Found (Daytrotter Session)
(read about, listen to & download the rest of the set here)
------------------------------------------------------------------

[video] Frightened Rabbit - "Swim Until You Can't See Land"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:51:00 +0000

Here’s the video for the first single from the forthcoming 2010 album from Frightened Rabbit. More info here.

Stream :: Swim Until You Can’t See Land
Stream :: Fun Stuff
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------