This is the Time to Remember

I will not be posting very frequently for the rest of the year as much of my attention will be focused on examining and listing, in a very secretively scientific way, the top albums of the year. Most likely there will be 25, most of them featuring guitars and white men with dumb haircuts. But who knows???

Honestly, it's a pretty large undertaking -- so far I have 50 possibles and I know I'm missing about 25. I probably have to listen to more than half of these again, as I was most likely doing your mother or something similarly distracting while they were on. If you have any opinions about things I should consider, please indulge me. My email is brett (dot) baxter (at) gmail (dot) com, or you can let the world know how hip you are and put a message in the comments.

Finally, I will be in Las Vegas for the first full week in December. Any good record stores there?

Independence Day

Most of the music that hits the mainstream, and also the average brain the quickest, is immediate, punchy, upbeat music. Think of it, the most primitive form of music (I can think of) is tribal or African music. The drums are nearly always upbeat, chanting or chorus is encouraged, and a sense of release and glee are synonymous with the performance. Naturally, music evolves, but also retains some of those primal traits.

Then why is it the slow ballad-type song is so prominent these days? Acoustic based music is very popular indie terrain now, with an emphasis on single performers (Joanna Newsome, Devendra Banhart, Sufjan Stevens, etc.) and their personal, intimate and mostly slow-tempo songs. Have we forgotten to dance?

Not everyone. Obviously, I’m mostly speaking to underground music fans who like this stuff. Hip-hop is still churning out a furious rate of wonderful singles (David Banner’s “Play”? Good God.), dance is alive and well through Madonna and others, and Billboard pop chart music hasn’t seemed to put out a ballad of any importance in the last 5 years, to my recollection. And again, many indie or underground music fans love this shit even if they don’t admit it. Still, the ballad is alive and well for them.

Why is this? As a hobby or pastime, music collectors and fans have more steadily gotten away from the social aspect of music, or even enjoying it as an event rather than a constant thing. Instead, we now rely heavily on websites and internet information, a faceless, endless and constant tool for us to stay informed about new music, all while eliminating the personal contact of talking with your record store clerk or friends. Not only that, downloading has allowed us to binge on tons of new sounds that we may not even care for. Noise music has sprung forth through the frenzy, a music so strange and personal – for real, who can you share this music with if you don’t have hipster friends? The internet has allowed this lonely communication where we can learn about new things, consume them and express our opinions, just like me in this blog.

This is not to say that the internet is “at fault” for anything. If anything, it has exponentially increased the music idea pool faster than before and introduced us previously unseen forms of sound. But the majority of that underground music is personal, the community is shrinking.

Now maybe I’m wrong. Am I just not out communicating about music? Seeing or meeting the right people? Voicing my opinion enough? Or, am I right – just another faceless voice in an independent music chatroom?

(With that, a wonderful record to enjoy by your lonesome, and something that I was going to try to weave into the above, but couldn’t: Doveman’s The Acrobat is a great record of breathy vocals and soft arrangements. This one undoubtedly reminds me of wintertime – bare trees, cold breath, but looking out from inside, warmth radiating off the fire. Yeah, the songs are sad, but there’s something optimistic lurking right underneath. Spring is right around the corner after all…)

Help!

I've been getting a ton of spam through this website -- anyone out there know how to put a stop to this? Is it as simple as getting my email off the site? I'd like to keep the comments section open in case this shit blows up, but I keep on hearing about "children with adhd" and "cool, i have a site about bukkake too" (because of this post) because of it.

Also, all week I've been listening to Ryan Adams & the Cardinals' Cold Roses. Who knew?

(I swear something substantial will appear this weekend...)

Here's an article that got me semi-pumped about rock-crit. It can get deafening how monotone some writers/papers can get. Doug Mosurak, who writes Dusted Magazine's Still Single column, is a real fluent, fun writer. I don't claim to know who this guy might be on the radar of record collectorship, nor do I care, but I do know he has a good ear.

Etc.

If I didn't waste enough time on Google Maps, Gmail and Image Search (past 11:00 PM = SafeSearch off please), Google has probably found a way to kill my entire work day. Google Print has been introduced. I'll tell you, if I can figure out a way to read books by everyone from Stephen Hawking to Don DeLillo, online, during work, my entire future career is going to be ruined. 2:00 conference call or Harlequin Romance? You bet your sweet ass I'd rather hear about Antonio the Mechanic seducing Elizabeth the Housewife and bringing the love back into her life that Mark the Accountant has given up on after their marraige.

In other unrelated news, I recently saw the Fiery Furnaces live w/ supporting act Man Man. Of all people, my 14 (now 15) year old brother wanted to see the concert, so I decided to go with. It was an all-ages show at a local Unitarian Church where they hold DIY shows. I've been to the venue before to see ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, one of the loudest and worst shows I've ever seen. Well, same deal. The acoustics in this place, along with amateurish mixing, make everything bounce and sound so damn loud that its nearly impossible to enjoy. Add to that Man Man's herky jerk carnival sounds (fun for one song, awful for nearly 45 minutes of constant noise) and the Fiery Furnaces terrible live show and its a surefire shitshow. Now, Man Man I didn't come to see, so their so-so performance didn't tiff me too much. But the Furnaces, sweet Lord. I was already on the fence with their wordy bullshit concepts, but bringing it live and being unable to sound ANYTHING like the record is crap. Don't get me wrong, I love improvisation, but rendering everything unrecongnizable is a joke. Add that to the fact that Elanor had to read the words to some of the new songs. And that nearly every song sounded identical. Fiery Furnaces, you're dead to me.

Finally, I decided to nix the BowFlex get a new gym membership to Bally's Total Fitness. Expect my writing to be stronger, more streamlined.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Rolling Rock

Mostly everything that I currently listen to is marginalized to the unfavorable ‘indie’ isle of the record store, a product positioning unlikely to ever reach the mass audience. Most of the time its justified. I can’t imagine the ‘average listener’ ever wanting to hear a massively dense Khanate record, or a slippery Need New Body CD, or even the Futureheads smart-alecky pop-post-punk. Those that do cross over, the Modest Mouses (never again) and Flaming Lipses (see what I mean?), rarely have continual commerical success. And for the obvious argument – no, Nirvana was never an indie band. So where’s the payoff from being an indie musician? At most it includes a moderate amount of fame, a sub-par amount of money, and a lasting impression on white males in track jackets (this year).

For My Morning Jacket, we finally have an indie band raised in the minors that’s looking for the pot of gold – the famous Rock and Roll. From their beginning output they’ve always stared down the righteous road of rock salvation. Over the years they’ve streamlined their sound from a folky, mostly acoustic experiment in reverb to a ‘commercially viable’ amalgamation of 70’s and 80’s rock and roll. Their newest record Z does the thing that no one else does. They take your old Boston, Grateful Dead, Steve Miller, and, sure, the Lynyrd Tucker Band records and update the beasts. Most everyone in the underground seems terrified of these groups so far as to completely ignore and distance themselves from them. Not true. They wrote some of the best, most fun and engaging music of the 70’s.

Rightly so My Morning Jacket has been enjoying a mild amount of success in the jam band circuit. After all, they play a music easy to comprehend and noodley enough to satisfy your average Jazz Mandolin Project fan. The difference is that they don’t take the gimmicky approach most of the bands do, incorporating stupid instruments and bad voices. MMJ can sing, wail and flail with the best rock bands of all time. Their shit can be a white-hot supernova, or it can be a country road rambling on. All this and their versed enough to stay interesting in the confines of a rock tune.

Their newest record Z is their best. There are still missteps, but the overarching feel of the album ties everything they’ve done together to this point. Their music is undoubtedly arena or club-ready. It smokes and carries that midnight, lava-lamp sheen that all cool rock music should. It uses pianos and doesn’t sound like a pussy (‘Tiny Dancer’?), guitars that improvise but go somewhere. And Jim James is still singing. Just the sound of his gorgeous wail on “Wordless Chorus” should give you reason enough to believe. Rock music doesn’t have to have words or music so deep, philosophical and theory-heavy that it isn’t transcendent.

Art Therapy 1

Music has a very apparent therapeutic effect on most people’s lives. Dependent on what kind of day it is and what kind of mood you’re suffering (or enjoying), rock and or roll can totally make or break, justify or deny how you feel. Now I guess you the reader can say “faggot” and that this my emo post, but hear me out. There are definite career choices out there relating to this very topic: music (and art) therapy. While I think that these take things a bit too far, and certainly shouldn’t be used exclusively in psychiatric help, there is a nugget of truth in this study. I mean, music has a certain visual effect on people, (ever seen the color of a song? No I’m not on acid…more on this topic (Synestasia) later.) why can’t a song clear, confirm or question a mood? Why can’t music confirm or even help specific states of mind?

So, since I’m too lazy to write an essay and further examine the topic, I’ll show you a few records that remind me of or emote me in a certain way and some that can be generalized of a specific state of mind. You’ll find that, generally, these albums I cover all carry a common thread throughout and aren’t usually “singles” records.

If this works, I’ll post a few more relating to the subject.

Yeah, I was in the shit:

Case No. 001
State of mind/mood: Realization/Coming of Age
Album: Emergency & I
Artist: The Dismemberment Plan
Why: What better gift to give the high school graduate than this record? This is surely not Dr. Fucking Seuss’ Oh the Places You’ll Go – it’s not cheeky and clever, certainly not on sale (Starting May 15!) on a table in Barnes and Noble. Yet, it’s a better illustration of moving forward than any record I’ve ever heard. Lyrically, starting with the overarching march/what not to do anthem of “Life of Possibilities”, wading through the shit and obstructions of “What Do You Want Me to Say?”, again feeling righteous anger and sadness in “The City” and finally letting it all wash over, for better or worse with “Back and Forth”. And not only do the lyrics tell the story, the Plan’s music explodes with the noise of possibility, awkwardness and awesomeness, seemingly feeling it out in front of you. There’s never been a better album that funnels all shades of grey that confusion and the multiplicity of change that maturity brings. (Except Baz Luhrmann’s “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)”.)

Case No. 002
State of mind/mood: Overcoming Rejection/Sadness
Album: One Word Extinguisher
Artist: Prefuse 73
Why: Admittedly, this is an easy and obvious choice for both the artist and subject matter. It’s been widely documented that Scott Herren worked on this record after enduring a collapsed relationship. Also, there are a million other records dealing with the same damn thing. Pop music hasn’t really shied away from heartbreak to say the least. The thing that makes this record so unique is there aren’t any words to explain the guilt, sadness, and pain of a failed relationship. Rather, synths moan and clouds of melody blow over disjointed drum breaks while occasional voices coo, illustrating the slow rehabilitation of a broken heart.

Case No. 003
State of mind/mood: Immaturity
Album: Reville
Artist: Deerhoof
Why: While winsomeness isn’t something that I’d usually find particularly engaging, Deerhoof have a fantastic way of exploring something so indefinable. Sweetly sung, no-lyric melodies hover over a grand explosion of massive rock n’ roll fun recalling the best of the Who and Zeppelin. But rather than being sweaty Man Rock, their music is painted in big bright colors with wide-sized Crayolas, making beautiful art that exudes cuteness and creativity in its rawest form.

[I’m now exhausted – more later, I promise. I’ve been up since 4:30 this morning.]

For the Love of Money

I just bought a few records that I'm currently enjoying on this unbelievably georgous day in Philadelphia:

• Mazarin - We're Already There: Sounds great. Really poppy indie rock from some cats out of Philly. Good use of motorik beats, fuzzy electronics and sweet melodies. Not afraid to lay sheets of feedback or make sweet sunshine music (a la Yo La Tengo). I probably should have scored this one for the summer. It's good lemonade music.
• Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary: How many more bands are really going to come out of Montreal? Better question: how many more records will I buy from bands calling Montreal home? If the quality remains the same as this hotshit group (friends of the Arcade Fire, yah), probably many more. Yes, they have that red-hot quivering, oh-fuck-I'm-crazy voice that all the bands have and they're obviously familiar with Modest Mouse(Issac Brock produces here), but their angular and anguished compositions show they hold a section of the blueprints for New Seattle. You heard it here first!
• The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema: Haven't really listened to more than a few tunes off of this so far, but I'm pretty sure Power-Pop Record of the Year is gonna be a barn hard to miss for these supergroupers. I mean, what else is there when you have A.C. Newman? He's like David Bell hitting an amazing home run in the top of the 9th against the Cincinatti Reds to put the Phillies one game back in the Wild-Card. Right?

I'd write about the other two, Devendra Banhart's Cripple Crow and some new Acid Mothers Temple record, but it's too nice out. I'm a make a venture into Hell's Angels by the king of loonies, Hunter S. Thompson. Have a wonderful day.

Great Expectations

I had grand expectations of offering my world the final say on the nature of web discourse and its effect on the world of record making and, in the end, record sales. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to research and plan ahead, not to mention I don’t have the resources to complete such a piece. No go -- maybe later if I get smarter.

But the good news is that I do still have grand aspirations of becoming a part of the great white pantheon of writers by writing boring shit about record stores in Philadelphia. I even got a new computer for that exact purpose!

For now: my September Mix…

1. Circulatory System – “Yesterday’s Gone”: What a cute song to start with. You get the children’s chorus pump pump pumpin’ it up and then we let loose into green psychedelia. I’m fond of this one, it reminds me of three years ago, when I first started off with my sweetheart. It’s super dreamy, cloudy and uncertain.
2. Dungen – “Festival”: I think that Festival means festival in Swedish. This is a nice tune to follow with, along the same lines of repurposed ‘60s psych for the ‘00s. Of course, this isn’t paint-by-numbers – mid-stream Gustav and co. go off on a tangent.
3. Bob Dylan – “I Want You”: I loved this song going into my post-senior summer from Wake Forest University. Then I heard it on my trip in a London Starbucks, buzzed to shit off a large coffee. Still gets me pumped.
4. Yo La Tengo – “Nowhere Near”: Another dreamy one of bass and slight shading from the rest of the company, until feedback squalls overcome. Only we make it out alive, the dream comes back to earth, we land safely.
5. The Secret Machines – “What Used to Be French”: Off of one of my favorite records of all time. This song is packed with good shit: great production, great drums, great soft keys, and great guitar licks. It begins with a soft bass bloop, some high organ/guitar, until the drums get spaced in by a flatbed truck. Druggy vocals shine this diamond, but the instrumentation take the cake, especially the twinkling guitar at the end.
6. Animal Collective – “April and the Phantom”: Not too sure if I like this one anymore, but it makes me cool. Look! I have this band’s first record!! Sounds like a less-good-natured and more-fried Ween.
7. Akron/Family -- “Before and Again”: I guess this fits in with the new folk sound, but there’s something much more interesting. They use technology like Grandaddy. They are a rock band, but that doesn’t mean electronics makes them any less earthy.
8. Enon – “Pleasure and Priveledge”: Kick this shit up! Good rock and roll tune from spazz-rock’s first. Edgy, angular and hott.
9. Fugazi – “Bed for the Scraping”: I once read that Ian MacKaye’s voice was like a wrecking ball. This song is Exhibit A. Mostly bass to begin, but then those Eastern and noodling guitars make a swoop and break for “riff of the century”. Only to be outdone by
10. Dismemberment Plan – “The City”: Best song ever. I can’t possibly write another word on this song. Just know it still gets me choked sometimes and I’ve been listening to it for 6 years.
11. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – “Timorous Me”: I missed this for a while. Great Thin Lizzy shit on this one with the guitars at the end and Leo’s trademark wordy wail.
12. Built to Spill – “Carry the Zero”: See “The City”.
13. My Morning Jacket – “The Bear”: Can’t wait until this record comes out later this year! I heard a song “Wordless Chorus” and it was fine. Sounded more spacious and interesting, but still had Jim James’ honey sweet voice all over it. This one is like most the rest. Wonderful.
14. M. Ward – “Vincent O’Brien”: Still keeping things moving with this one. A great stomp for a smoky cave of a bar. This record always reminded me of what I thought New Orleans was – yellow-brown, accepting of every genre and boisterous. God Bless you New Orleans – get well soon!
15. Sufjan Stevens – “Jacksonville”: I seriously picked this one because its only a one-word name. Sufjan gets silly with too many titles. Again, a great song, with glorious woodwinds, strings and hushed voices singing in chorus. A grand arrangement, like the Hall of Presidents.
16. Can – “Oh Yeah”: Starts off slow only to blow the effing top off. This song creeps like a hunchback, until it stands up straight to reveal the most unwieldy rock animal – a beast that only moves forward, get the fuck out of the way or I’ll stomp you bitch!

The Record Collector, Part II

(Second in the series. Next up, Repo Records, also on South Street.)

Since I really began paying attention to what I was getting myself into, I recall Repo being one of my favorite record stores to frequent. Back in high school I was mightily into pop-punk and Repo was my mecca offering me the entire catalogue from every small punk band in Orange County. The music playing was always punk, usually some riotous NYCHC or ’79 influenced kids that couldn’t play. I bought plenty an album from here from All to Agent Orange to the Ataris’ EP on Fat Wreck (not that bad!). Of course, over time, as happens with many others, my tastes gradually evolved to still like the noisy and obnoxious (albeit, punk’s structures got tiresome so developed noise took its place), but also embrace the soft and delightful. In short, I fell in love with the Dismemberment Plan my senior year in high school, became a DJ my freshman year for my college’s radio station and began my pretentious journey into the world of indie rock and its surrounding sub-headings.

I’ve continually visited Repo throughout my years of high school, college, and beyond, and a strange thing has happened. Repo has almost followed my musical maturation (or I followed its?). Gone is the punk rock on the store’s monitors and, in its place, today’s NOW That’s What I Call Indie. The punks that frequented the store must have grown up and realized the genre’s limitations and the store has adapted to the change.

Although the records they play are different, the actual store hasn’t changed that much. The punk racks are still in the front of the store, but pared down to only one rather than two. The other CD rack is indie/rock/avant/everything else. Move to the back and you’ll see the vinyl racks, which are relatively new and generously expanded. They’ve got tons of new and used records, way too much to wade through without a spare hour, but they do have some wonderful finds. Repo is a great place to look for something that Spaceboy doesn’t have. It’s also deceptive in its size, consisting of only two 15’x15’ rooms they pack a ton of LPs, CDs and 7” in there.

Repo’s staff is probably one of the best I’ve ever encountered. Rather than act stuffy and snobby about the music they sell, they generally seem excited to share with you the music that they love. I recall the summer I got my record player I picked up Godspeed You Black Emperor’s Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven. The clerk, a young indie girl, proceeded to share with me some records I might like if I like that one. In all of my years of going to record stores, this was the only time a store clerk went out of their way, without me asking, to recommend some music to me and walk out behind their bench to show me where it was located and talk about what it sounded like. Must be that punk rock inclusive spirit, rather than the indie exclusivity. (Also, funny aside: I had eaten a fried-onion cheesesteak earlier which made me beef and it stunk up the whole store. I was the only customer in there. Fucking embarrassing.)

Repo’s main flaw is its new music section. You have to actually ask for the record you want, if it’s new. This is a terrible idea for the impulse buyer, such as myself. I can’t always remember which new records are currently available. They don’t put them in plain view and they don’t put them with the other, older records. Change that, if anything.

Obviously, I’ve got a lot of memories tied to Repo Records, but for good reason. For all its dilapidated features inside and out, the punk rock spirit and indie record selection make for a great shop. The store has grown with a trajectory similar to my tastes and I’m sure the shitty green awning hiding on South Street will continue to make chills run down my spine. Oh the possibilities!

What I bought:

- Can: Monster Movie
- John Fahey: John Fahey Plays Blind Joe Death LP
- Man or Astroman? 7”
- The Locust 7”

Swedish Meatballs

Listening to Dungen’s Ta Det Lungt, it’s immediately evident that what we’re dealing with here isn’t the new psychedelic faction issuing yet another disc of overlong drone mind-melts, but the old world order. Psychedelic music’s recent incarnation has fashioned psych as a body music, which is strange. Think of it, the most outwardly, not to mention druggy, psychedelic bands today (Animal Collective, Sunn O))), Acid Mothers Temple, for example) use drone and music that foregoes and sometimes overloads the ears to become a viscerally physical thing. Of the three, AC remain more song oriented, but one listen to Here Comes the Indian and you’ll hear what I mean – digital washes make the hair stand up on your body. Even the oscillating acoustic guitars on Sung Tongs are hit rather than strummed or in constant crescendo/diminuendo pairings. Point is, volume and sound can be cerebrally disorienting and become wholly physical.

Dungen, on the other hand, use the old standard of mind-bending psychedelic experience, that may make them, dare I say, more capable. Where experimental psychheads use new methods to explore undeveloped terrains (sometimes to glorifying results), a band like Dungen and one of my favorites from last year, Comets on Fire, place more importance on technical prowess all while pushing the envelope of experimentation. Often times avant-garde and experimental psych music can seem aseptic, leaving emotion at the door in the void of experimentalism. On the flip side of that coin, retro leaning psych can seem contrived and boring.

The great thing about Dungen, is they never succumb to falling in a rut and not pushing boundaries. Their music is rarely if ever boring, only familiar through some of the melodies that seem to waft out of a bong from the late 60’s. There are the 8-9 minute guitar workouts, but the guitar is rarely aimless or stoned noodling, instead it’s unafraid to pounce and zoom. Perhaps the most psychedelic thing about Dungen, for better or worse, is that all of Gustav Ejstes’ vocals are delivered in his native Swedish. This creates the disorienting on top of the familiar. Its as if the music was written in English but the words are from another planet.

My only gripe, which is small, is the production. Ejstes and co. go for the 60’s sound and most of the time, the music sounds a bit thin and could be fleshed out to sound much fuller. But this is a small problem with an album that on the whole delivers music far outdistancing their experimental and retro peers. Dungen have given us an album for the ages – avant enough to be interesting yet unafraid to adorn their work with the brushstrokes of masters of their art.

The Record Collector, Part I

(As I mentioned earlier, I will attempt a series of posts about record stores in the Philadelphia area. First up, Spaceboy Music.)

Spaceboy had to regretfully move its shelves from its previous location at 409 South Street where it shared the renowned Zipperhead awning. The space, while bigger, distinctly lacks the previous store’s charm. The floors are now carpeted instead of wood, the walls are white instead of, well, not noticeable before. Also, and most importantly, the vinyl is in the same room as the CDs, unlike the other location which separated the vinyl from the used CDs from the new CDs. The new Spaceboy is at the corner of 7th and South, further away from the nexus of South Street – Jim’s Steaks.

Aside from all my nostalgia for the old location – ah, many a dollar spent there – the new spot still does have a wonderful selection of music. The newest and most popular records are still highly visible and right next to/behind the register. I love that they do this so you can look at what’s come out and easily find the new CDs that you came for. My only problem is that, usually, when you’re trying to read the records, the clerk is standing right there like a bonehead, staring uncomfortably at you while you glance from top to bottom. In my experience, eye contact with unsociable music dorks sucks. And, yes, nearly all music folk are reclusive, as the consumption of “high-art”/indie music is a singular and unsocial thing – I’ve never seen anyone signing along to an Acid Mothers Temple record.

Located around the walls of the store is the newest vinyl (and other CDs) that they’ve gotten in, which is usually some pretty great stuff. They always have a 6-7 new Soul Jazz records, typically compiling old soul, blues, funk, reggae and jazz music into beautiful packaging very well worth the sometimes ridiculous prices. Most of the names you see are a who’s who of record collector panty wetters – anyone from Sightings to Iggy Pop to My Bloody Valentine to Lightning Bolt. Lately, Spaceboy has featured an increased number of psychedelic and noise records, which, not coincidentally, fall in line with most of my recent record purchases and plays.
While new releases or new reissues are displayed on wall racks, most old records and back catalogues of artists are relegated to the racks bordering the store. CDs are listed alphabetically by rock (guitar-based or more standard instrumentation), hip-hop, electronic, and used. Vinyl is stuck on an island in the center of the store and is difficult and extremely exhausting to look at, categorized by used and new vinyl.

Record shopping is an exhausting affair and the way the records are set up at Spaceboy allows you to minimize your time spent in the store. Most people are looking for new stuff and therefore ask the clerk, who will snag it off the wall. For those of us looking to make an experience of it, it does take a while trying to find the right thing and vinyl is particularly bad, as bands with “M” names (and all letters) are all just thrown together -- there is no seperation for artist by name.

Lastly, the clerks at Spaceboy, although awkward and snobby, are very knowledgeable. Ask them about the Pissed Jeans record and they’ll probably know what it sounds like, giving you a few reference points (Black Flag, Scratch Acid, Flipper were what I got) and a “it’s good” or “cool”. If they don’t like the record, you risk being a tourist and they will absolutely try to make you feel that way. I personally have no time for this elitism, particularly when it is with strangers. Even moreso, you are a representative of your business, Spaceboy records – don’t scoff at me for liking a certain thing. Of course, this has never happened to me as my tastes are impeccable.

Overall, Spaceboy is a great store. You can find most anything here that you’d want to find, minus the super-obscure stuff which is either sold out or at Mondo Kim’s in NYC. I’d recommend this place to anyone for its convienence of location and selection, but just avoid the occasional jerk-off record store guy.

What I bought:

- Menomena: “Posh Isolation” b/w “Tung Track” (7”)
- The Psychic Paramount: S/T
- The Poster Children: No More Songs About Sleep and Fire
- Dungen: Ta Det Lungt
- The Secret Machines: The Road Leads Where It’s Led
- Gang Gang Dance: God’s Money

Website

I don't know who this guy is, I didn't read far enough to figure out what happened, but this is simultaneously the funniest and saddest blog I've ever read. Click: http://nemoming.blogspot.com/

He calls himself "Dying Fish AKA Fish That Can't Swim". Wow -- that girl must have been something else.

All Apologies

Hi!

This summer has most likely been a boring event for most of you GoldSound readers. (All 3 of you -- Hi Christine!) I don't know why I've been so slack at the posting thing, but I can't seem to get into it. I've been busy, but not so busy that I can't write.

I really do hope that things are going to pick up. I'd like for people to read this. Unfortunately for me, there really isn't a dearth of hipster music sites for people to wander to when this one isn't up and running. Therefore, rather than try to be snide, snobby and a shabby pitchforkmedia-lite, I'll attempt to do my best at reviewing the music and scenes that I love in an energetic, positive and interesting tone. If I backslide, you can all keep me in the know.

Up soon:

• Review different independent music stores in the city of Philadelphia and its surrounding area. (This will most likely be ongoing since I can't take the time, or money, to look at records in 5 different locales.)
• Go to a concert and review that shit. Sorry, I wanted to review the Wilco show but it's too long gone in my head.
• Review the Sufjan album. (Probably won't get to this soon -- save this for the end-of-the-year wrap.)
• Buy new records and review them.

Since I am indisposed at the moment, here's some things I listened to and liked in the past few weeks:

• The Fucking Champs: III
• Devendra Banhart: Rejoicing In the Hands
• The Faces' "Ooh La La"
• The Dismemberment Plan's "The City"

Also, plan on a sexy site design if I can figure it out. At least some links up in this jawhn.

RIP Punk Rock

Hi -- this past Tuesday I went to South Street in Philadelphia to pick up some new music. I have been very good about record shopping recently, mostly due to the fact that I am living in the US' most underrated city and money isn't growing on trees anymore. I began my journey by trying to find a familiar place, Spaceboy Music, which used to occupy the space next to Zipperhead. For those of you ignorant, Zipperhead has been a mainstay on the South Street scene since the heyday of punk rock and its marketability in the early-mid eighties. (Most likely.) It was one-stop shopping for Manic Panic, fishnets and chains. Some of my earliest memories of South Street are around the Zipperhead punks and their fantastic fashion sense and kick-in-the-nuts personas. Saftey pin earings? OK! Green mowhawk punk walking a rat on a leash? Yes. Sadly, Zipperhead is closing its doors and moving from its current, probably too-expensive plot of real estate, to an undisclosed location around the corner.

Now, this is going to create an huge, gaping hole in south street. Gone will be the uncomfortable black hole that was what made South St. what it is today and filling its spot -- who knows? -- my guess is a clothing store of some type. South St. has gradually transformed from punk shithole to kitschy shithole to kitschy shopping area all within ten years. If we're lucky 615 Records will stay open (great metal store) along with all the other anarchy/death type stuff they have going on right off South St. and it won't become just another shopping destination. But for the most part, South St. has become a watered down version of itself.

Also with the move of Zipperhead from the nexus of South St., we have a loud and clear signal -- Punk Rock is offically dead. Hot Topic has stolen the show, giving every suburban and urban kid a store where they can "officially" dress the part and buy the gear. Why so seek out an independent retailer when you can buy your hair dye and Yankee Candles at the same time, in the same place? Mall culture is sweet!

With that, the three records I bought. Two at the new Spaceboy location (shitty) and one at...uh, Tower Records. I swear it couldn't be found anywhere else:

1. Sufjan Stevens -- Illinois:
   
   What to say about this album? It's a sprawling 74 minutes, covers every symbol, notable figure and range of melancholy the state of Illinois has seen/felt. It starts off with a fantastic piano figure that sounds EXACTLY like the Illinois I saw (early this summer, northwest IL, Lake Forest area). The piano echoes lush lands, big skys, and quiet houses and a sense of quiet community. "John Wayne Gacy Jr." is also one of the most heartwrenching songs ever -- if anything, listen to this track.
   
   I'd like to go more into the album, but I fear that I haven't the time and I haven't given it the time it deserves. By the way, yes, this was the record I bought at Tower, but only because all other indie outlets were fresh out. Kids, when Stevens stops his 50 state tour after Wisconsin and all these shits are collector's items 30 years from now, my copy of Illinois is going to have fucking Superman on it and people will recognize me as a indie elder worthy of respect. (For those of you that don't know, a small order of this album have Superman on the cover. DC Comics is making their record label change the cover to something different because of copyright infringement. A new shipment with different covers will be available in the beginning of August. Also, Sufjan has embarked a 50 state/album tour. So far it has taken him to Michigan and Illinois.)
   
   
2. Jamie Lidell -- Multiply:
   
   This one has also been recieving a lot of press lately and for some pretty good reason. The dude is white and can sing like any hot late 6o's, early 70's Motown act. He has a good sense for influence (Sly, the Godfather, etc.) and a good production sense. Right off the bat, he shows us he can do the old soul stuff -- like he's proving his worth -- but goes on to kick out the hot shyte. It ranges from nice soul to dancefloor-panty-droppers. I actually have slug-trails in my own BVDs from this.
   
   
3. Pissed Jeans -- Shallow:
   
   Yes, this is the right shit. Big, loud, mucky, loud, fucked-up rock and fucking roll. I can't hear what he's screaming, but thankfully there's a lyric sheet: "I'm always so full of cum/Never run out, not even once". Sometimes the melodies, er, riffs get obscured by the chiaroscuro of feedback, but this shit is moving forward like a Mack truck. It's gritty, it's unseemly, it's snotty, it's dumb as rocks, it's loud. And it's from Allentown, PA. Yes! PS: I was wrong, punk is not dead -- it's just dressed in different clothes! Also: yes, Pissed Jeans, this record had to be good because of the band's name.
   

Mixtape Bonanza

Hi, sorry about that previous post. I thought that the site was down or erased because I hadn't been posting. Wrong - I typed goldsound instead of goldsounds in the url thing. Oops. I'm back - yeah! And I moved into Philly - yeah!

Here's June's mixtape for some guy in Michigan.

1. A-Frames - "Experiment": A good way to start this all off, I think. A jumpy tune that sounds kinda like surf-weirdos Man or Astroman? gone goth. The rhythm is killer here -- bass and that fucked drum sound kick this guy off with a bang.
2. Dismemberment Plan - "Doing the Standing Still": This was always one of my favorite songs to play on the radio to get my show kicked off. It's full throttle Plan the whole way, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and a blast to dance to.
   
3. Guided By Voices - "Motor Away": This isn't the track off of Alien Lanes, but rather, their "hits" collection, Human Amusements at Hourly Rates. Reason being is the recording, this is a bit better. I find that when you make a mix CD you need to have pretty hi-fi stuff unless you're going for a lo-fi vibe thing. I wasn't up for that, I just needed a really great pop song.
4. Spoon - "Everything Hits at Once": Bring it back down here. Smooth, air tight shit with a sweaty midnight feel.
5. Dead Meadow - "Stacy's Song": This one doesn't really sound like Dead Meadow to me, but it's a damn fine tune and a neccesary respite from the quick drums overloading the mix so far. This spacey jam is perfect for summertime and suprisingly sunny, California pop.
6. M. Ward - "Outta My Head": I must fit this guy on here on the off chance that the listener doesn't know him. Nearly everyone I've played this guy for has said, "Oh I've heard this before." You may have, not because you really have, but because his songwriting's so timeless. Also, as stated many times before, a voice that sounds like cigarettes singing or a ghost.
7. Johnny Cash - "I Still Miss Someone": I found this song last summer when I was traveling Europe. It sounded great over there for some reason and I pretended it was me singing for my girlfriend. Also, I'm gay
8. The Fucking Champs - "Policenauts": YESSS! I ain't no pussy, I don't care what you heard. This shit is a full-on hesher rock move. Long hair, tight jeans, Pontiacs, guitars playing the same line in different octaves (a la "The Boys are Back in Town"), Pabst Blue Ribbon, cocaine...all in 1:30.
9. Deerhoof - "This Magnificent Bird Will Rise": After getting the listener a little up, you gotta push him over the top. This three-chord romp does the trick. Sweet girl, wordless vocals meet the Who's armswinging guitar racket<>.
10. <>Need New Body - "Shark Attack": Very prevalent with the news and all, no? Philly represent here.
11. McLusky - "She Will Only Bring You Happiness": I think this band is genius, too bad their done. "Our old singer is/a sex criminal" says it all, I think. Plus, with the magic touch of St. Albini, nothing fails. Except Razorblade Suitcase.
12. Harry Nilsson - "Early In the Morning": Gotta take another breather, this'll do. Nothing but keys (Rhodes? I dunno...it's electric.) and voice, but fuller than most songs you'll ever hear.
13. My Morning Jacket - "Hopefully": An acoustic version of this At Dawn tune. I recently finally saw MMJ open for Wilco. They are going to be fucking gigantic. I really, really hope. People -- this band will fucking rock your tits. This one shows that they don't need to turn up to sound great.
14. Ween - "Chocolate Town": I've been on a huge kick for this song for over 2 months. I can't remember the last song that has kept up for so long. While this one is less brown than most, its undeniably one of the best floating-in-the-water summer songs.
15. Silver Jews - " Friday Night Fever": A great cover of a song by some country dude. "I've got that Friday night fever/Sometimes a man just needs a breather." A great tune about loving your chick but still wanting to hang with the bros. I imagine a very homoerotic scene when this plays on the jukebox in Tennessee.
16. Smog - "Hit the Ground Running": I love this man/band. This is one of my favorites. Plus, always follow a monotone voice with another. I'm trying to bore the shit out of the listener at this point. Oh well.
17. Sonic Youth - "Disconnection Notice": One of my favorite Sonic Youth songs. It's not too noisy -- suprisingly melancholy and really reminds me of Television, even though it doesn't sound like them.
    
18. Dalek - "Forever Close My Eyes": This is a great closing song. Too bad it didn't go last.
19. The Mountain Goats - "Pale Green Things": This is another great closing song. Too bad it didn't go last.
20. The Secret Machines - "Marconi's Radio (Pt. 2)": This is a great closing song. And it ends with hand claps! Success!
    

Test

Is this thing on?

Melting of the Minds

With the newly rediscovered voice of Vashti Bunyan colliding with the manic energy of the Animal Collective, I suspected an immediate and fantastic journey through juvenalia. Much to my suprise (and liking), Prospect Hummer turns out to be vastly different. It's a mature, focused effort that uses the group's voices to their greatest possibility. Bunyan has always sounded like a pixie, and on this record, her timeless voice wisps and curves carefully around Avey Tare and Panda Bear's wordless pronouncements. Like Sung Tongs the instrumentation is mostly acoustic and arranged carefully and cleanly.

The first track, "It's You", does what the Collective do best. Waves of voices ebb and flow like water against a soundtrack of rain guitars. Vashti Bunyan's voice sounds well-rested and young like the Collective's, but retains her uncanny sense of otherworldly experience. The song eases into the title track, "Prospect Hummer", a lengthier and more orchestrated affair sounding strangely like Cornelius' "Point" at first. The song moves from a deep-green forest jam to melancholy prounouncements of "woah, woah, woah..." to straight-forward timeless folk -- and back again.

Track three ("Baleen Sample") loses a bit of the momentum the rest of the record gathers. It sounds a bit dislocated and misses sorely from the mesmerizing voices coating the other three songs. Still, the use of steel drum (only one I know outside of a poolside reggae band) to color and emphasize the rest of the piece is well-considered. To me, the piece seems a bit claustrophobic placed against the others using vast amounts of space. "I Remember Learning How to Live", the last track, brings us back to the sound of the first two tracks. It's a jumpier song, but never loses its focus in the face of giddiness.

For a collaboration that didn't really seem to make sense on paper, Prospect Hummer is a coherent statement from two artists capable of trancendence of different forms. A masterfully mature record of psychedelia, Prospect Hummer is another fine transition for Animal Collective and a grand return for Vashti Bunyan.

Back right after these messages...

Dearest reader,

It has been quite a bit since I have last updated this website. And there is no real reason for the lapse, other than I'm quite lazy. I can't get myself to sit down and write a damn article for the life of me and, as anyone familiar with writer's block (or laziness) will tell you, the longer you wait, the harder it is to motivate and find inspiration.

Of course, I have been absorbing all types of recorded sound, as well as one live concert, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy at the Theatre of the Living Arts in Philadelphia, with my honey dips. Really a fun show -- a nice performance, safe for music fans of all races/creeds and, most importantly, enjoyable lover music. We had a great night of beer drinking, music listening and faux-dancing/hipster-leg-tapping.

So, anyways, in my time of departure, I have been listening to a fair amount of music and neurotically organizing my iTunes files. A few choice selections that I may or may not write about in the future:

• Spoon - Gimme Fiction (!)
  
• Dusty Springfield - Dusty In Memphis
• Akron/Family - Akron/Family
• My Morning Jacket - The Tennessee Fire
• Jesu - Jesu
  
• The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree
• Caribou - The Milk of Human Kindness

Also, due to my ever-expanding and enormous internet celebrity, I have been asked by Seattle-based label Wax Orchard (and the lovely, Ali Marcus--ali@waxorchard.com) to review a CD by Pistol Star entitled Crawl. Obviously, I will gladly entertain a role in the promotion cycle and you can look forward to that in the near future.

In the meantime, please feel free to contact me with some selections that I may have missed in the past few months, or anything that makes you feel sexy, vulnerable, and/or violent.

Best regards,

Brett

P.S. -- I love you!

Hot Town, Summer in the City

Beck - "Black Tambourine": How damn good is this song. (Not a question.) "Whoa, oah, oah, oah. Black Tambourine."

Start it with a junky, dark bass and those floppy ass, lazy drums. The whole time it feels like they're a half-step outta place, trying to catch up, but too busy looking around as this car drives on.

Beck doesn't do the white-boy rap here. Naw, boy, this shit some R&B crossover jawhn. He kinda sings this one rather than doing that outta tune one he tends to do for us frat guys chuggin' Beast and hi-fiving. And its a simple, funky-ass line too -- my man ain't bothered by none of it. That melody eases down like a sunny day about to end, but badass like, dressed in leather and tight ass jeans and smokin butts and MOVIN', brah.

Then slide in that funky trem geetar and let outta James Brown "Heh!" Boogeying with the rubbery leggs, we keep this shit sweaty.

"My tambourine is still shaking." Always was.

Repeat.

Garden of Earthly Delights

Keith Fullerton Whitman’s Playthroughs truly established a man near invisible before (to mine own eyes) as a true sound artist and master sonic manipulator. That record full of heavenly drones (as opposed to those hellish, satanic Sunn 0))) ones) sent the shoegaze market into a deep, deep recession, its peddlers twiddling their flange and phaser knobs for years on end. Our hero was thrust into the light as a savior and genius.

Thinking that he may return to that form again, I looked into Schoner FluBengel. For someone who so expertly achieved reaching the outer limits of the earth’s atmosphere, we have a complete and astounding departure. Rather than further explore the heights on Playthroughs, Whitman has taken a look inside, indoors into a much darker, sometimes closed off area.

The dark areas of earth (and below?) are plenty full of grave interests: Ghostly winds inhabit a cavernoous realm (possibly depicted on the cover) with walking acoustic guitars and ritualistic drones sounding like monks with meek voices, desperately trying to chase the demonic tones away. But to no avail -- the tape is manipulated, chopped skewed and spit out, but also drenched in a glowing reverb so as to make it sound strangely natural and horrifying, all a weird natural progression. Suddenly, the nightmarish side one ends with no closure, abruptly as if to say this will go on forever if we don’t open our eyes quickly.

We are brought back to eerie, distant echoes, unfit for physical life, but undoubtedly lurking in the gothic church. That timeless aura rises over everything as mechanical repetitions pepper the foreground until a demonic presence is unleashed. The guitar briefly returns as if to calm the demon again taking center stage. Settle the listener in, ready us for the horrors that may or may not unfold. Chaos does surround us, but an expert tension is kept so as to not destroy our involvement in the repeating and chanting guitar eventually devolving into a processed baroque harpsichord/piano figure that plays heavily into the timeless feel of religious music and practice. That figure somehow uplifts a hope that built this gothic church inhabited by ghostly demons.

Regardless of Mr. Whitman’s overall goal (political, religious, etc.), he has done something remarkable. Whitman takes the seemingly evil and dangerous, bathes it in rituals surrounded by chaos that eventually find salvation. The ultimate theme emerges redeemed and positive -- and this is all done seamlessly. His final statement? Embrace the chaos, ride it out, for there is a clearing ahead. Truly epic.

International Mixtape

As I mentioned before, I am joining this International Mixtape Project. You make a tape/CD, send it to the designated person, recieve a mixtape from someone and mabye make two new pen pals/cyber-friends a month. Great idea if you ask me.

I have made my April mix and I am sending it to England. I hope that she likes it.

The tracks:

1. Enon - "Sold" - High Society: One of my favorite Enon songs and a great way to start the mix. I like how the guitar sets everything up, simple just with vocals overtop. Then the song explodes into neon indie rock.
2. Yo La Tengo - "From a Motel 6" - Painful: While I'm not the biggest Yo La Tengo fan in the world, this song is an excellent choice, if I do say so myself. The guitar again the centerpiece here, the "solo" is the best, exploding into rays of white lite.
3. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - "Gulf Shores" - Greatest Palace Music: I'd be interested to hear the original version of this song sans orchestration. This is an obvious track 3, slowing everything down, but setting everything up nicely. Plus it's a great sad anthem which fits well on any mix.
4. Cat Power - "He War" - You Are Free: Bring things back up a bit here with this track, another great song and my favorite off of this record. Her songs are so simple and easy, but can be so devestating, probably because of her uncanny voice.
   
5. Guided By Voices - "Closer You Are" - Alien Lanes: Holding firm to the indie rock stance here -- an obvious choice. One of so many sugar sweet choices from this band.
6. Deerhoof - "The Eyebright Bulger" - Reveille: My favorite track from Deerhoof. I love the innocent, foreign vocals and the fact that this band can be so sweet yet loud at the same time. I wish this was longer than 42 seconds.
7. Manitoba - "Bijoux" - Up In Flames: Really good song that stops the guitar format from overloading the mix. This is a strong choice for a sunny slice of pop.
8. The Unicorns - "Les Os" - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?: And then you bring back the guitars, make 'em real messy and take away their ritalin. This is another great anthem for a mixtape.
9. The Dismemberment Plan - "Manipulate Me" - ...Is Terrified: Had to put a song on the mix to someone I don't know by my favorite ex-band. This is one of my favorite tracks from them and indicative of how poppy they can be, loud and noisy and fun to dance to. Plus, the part where Travis Morrison yells, "JUST BECAUSE YOU FUCKED IT UP DOESN'T MEAN WE KNEW ITTTTTT -- YEAH!" is the best part of any song ever.
10. Devendra Banhart - "At the Hop" - Nino Rojo: I used the 7 second silence after "Manipulate Me" to go into this one. I love this song and even more than that I like the video that came on this record. Hippies acting all psychedelic and free love, dancing in the woods and living in a fake utopia. Hippies are hilarious.
11. Panda Bear - "Track Three" - Young Prayer: Quick track, no real reason, just soft and floaty and nice.
12. 90 Day Men - "When Your Luck Runs Out" - Panda Park: I love the synths that color this track -- so perfect. A very interesting, dark track that, again shifts the mood of the mix.
13. Dead Meadow - "Heaven" - Feathers: One of the lighter tracks from these heavies -- don't wanna overburden the listener with something too sludgy. This is a great psych track that winds its way all over without getting bogged down.
14. Circulatory System - "Yesterday's World" - Circulatory System: This band, and Olivia Tremor Control, shouldn't be put on a mix because their songs fit more appropriately in the context of an album. But I couldn't resist with this one, its too bouyant.
15. The Secret Machines - "Breathe" - September 000: Love this short record, can choose anything off of here and its solid.
16. Smog - "Held" - Knock Knock: Best lumbering drum beat ever. I love his voice too.
17. Built to Spill - "Carry the Zero" - Keep It Like a Secret: See last week. Still feeling this one.
18. The Magnetic Fields - "I Don't Want to Get Over You" - 69 Love Songs: Another great pop slice from Stephen Merritt. This one is probably my favorite track of the 69.
19. My Morning Jacket - "Bermuda Highway" - At Dawn: I think this is one of my favorite mixtape songs for some reason. Gotta love Jim James' voice.
20. M. Ward - "Undertaker" - Transfiguration of Vincent: Tour mates put back to back here (James and Ward). I love Ward's voice, one of the most original in all of rock so optimistic but still so ghostly and foreign. Plus his guitar playing is fantasic -- well versed in all old styles so important.
21. Iron & Wine - "Waitin' For a Superman": A lot of people don't know that this track exists. It take the Lips version into a whole new context and makes it sound like Coyne and co. ripped off some weirdo folkie in the backwoods of Georgia. I think I may like this version of the song better.
22. Fennesz - "Codiene" - Field Recordings 1995:2002: I think this is a great finishing tune, even though it didn't turn out that way. The track is melancholy and optimistic, acoustic guitar buried under layers of feedback and organ swells. It perfectly segues into
23. The Microphones - "II. Solar System" - Mt. Eerie: The best Microphones song. There's a loud buzz at the beginning that kind of works out of Fennesz's song. Also, this makes sense to send to a person who you don't know: "I know you're out there..."
    

Interim

I've been grandly slacking at this website which is both fun and entertaining for me -- I don't know why. I'm sorry especially to the people who check in for new stuff. I had been planning my next post to be a thorough examination of Free Jazz called something like "On Free Jazz" or "My fist in your asshole: A guide to Free Jazz", but I didn't get to it yet. Stay tuned for that one.

I've also given up on combing my record collection. The apartment that I was going to be moving into, is no longer. I am now going to take residency in an as-yet-unconfirmed apartment in Philadelphia with my brother, Andy. As I get closer to the time of my departure, I will once again begin cataloguing my records and will give you some updates on my journey.

For now, here's a mix I made my girlfriend. I have entered this International Mixtape Project and I thought it might be interesting to look back at something I made the person closest to me and write about each song (or not). Okay:

1. Thin Lizzy - "Jailbreak" - Jailbreak: Fuck yes. Gotta kick this shit off hott. Ever since Ted Leo has been talked about in the indie press, Thin Lizzy has seen a minor revival (at least in my mind). And, yeah, Leo sounds like TL, but their brand of rock is much tighter and sweatier. This is one of their crowning achievements and an utterly fantastic driving song.
2. Neil Young - "Cinnamon Girl" - Decade (I don't know any better...got it off of iTunes...): This is, currently, my favorite Neil Young song. It's got that nice fuzzy, crunchy guitar tone and a simple, good refrain ("I wanna live with a cinnamon girl..."). My girlfriend doesn't really like Neil too much, so I put this on there to make her like him.
3. Prince - "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" - Diamonds & Pearls: Ladies love a good Prince song. It shows them that you can be sexual and non-threatening at the same time. I chose this one because I didn't think she ever heard it and it locks into a smooth sultry synth jam. This song has a great male dominance theme that women all secretly love.
4. MF Doom - "Potholderz (f/ Count Bass D)" - MM...Food: Sometimes I just choose songs because I like them at the time. This is one. I love this because of the beat and because when MF comes in for like 30 seconds he totally negates Count Bass D's (who?) rap.
5. Curtis Mayfield - "Give It Up" - Curtis: Not really sure if she digs on the Curtis like I do, but I threw this on anyways. I have a thing for Mr. Mayfield and this song closing out Curtis is prime stuff. All orchestral, harps, violins, etc. swelling up to this grand soul revue. Also, a great love song to his sweets.
   
6. Bob Marley - "Turn Your Lights Down Low" - Exodus: Another fantastic love song. I'm sure you've all heard this before. It's so nicely polished like the Prince song, and both never seem too slick.
7. The Zombies - "Time of the Season" - Odessey & Oracle: I put this on there because I needed a change of pace in the mix. This song keeps the low vibe of the Marley tune in the beginning ( all with hott mouth percussion) and then explodes into a psychedelic organ freakout.
8. The Arcade Fire - "Rebellion (Lies)" - Funeral: Another one that everyone (that reads this site) has probably heard before. I don't think she did and it's one of the better, more accessible indie songs that I like alot. So, in.
9. Built to Spill - "Carry the Zero" - Keep it Like a Secret: Ah, the meat of the mix. This song is one of my favorites of all time with that melancholy guitar strum at the beginning, the heady, squiggly solos, all the way through to the ad infinitum repeated outro. I wish I could hear them play that ending for like 10 minutes. And those damn drums at the end.
   
10. Death Cab For Cutie - "405" - We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes: I can't say I'm suprised that they're going to be on the OC. They're a fantastic pop group and this, even though its emo boy sad, is great for everyone to listen to. It doesn't fit the overall theme of "The Triumph of Our Endless Love" for a boy to girl mixtape, but it hopefully makes her think of me and get sad when she hears it. (We live a flight away.) Kinda sadistic and dickish, I guess.
11. Big Star - "September Gurls" - Radio City: Our official anniversary is in September so this one is apt, I guess. A nice pick up after the last one too.
12. Grateful Dead - "Box of Rain" - American Beauty: One of the best Dead songs ever, hands down. I remember reading in The Electric Cool-Aid Acid Trip that Jerry's guitar sounded like "rays of sunshine". I like that description -- it sounds like that in this song.
13. Beck - "Jack-Ass" - Odelay: No reason, just a really nice tune.
14. Doves - "Catch the Sun" - Lost Souls: I always liked this band and I never liked this song for some reason. I was wrong: it's great.
15. Dismemberment Plan - "The Other Side" - Change: This song has some great lyrics about love "There are times when you will not like the sound of my voice..." It's a great song we can all learn from: don't pick the other apart, it will undo you. And those damn drums.
16. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - "For Kate I Wait" - For Kate I Wait: I needed a sketchy stalker song on here. This'll do.
17. Magnetic Fields - "Luckiest Guy On the Lower East Side" - 69 Love Songs: My gay love song. I do love this song a lot: it's kitschy, campy and really perfect somehow. I honestly didn't know Stephen Merritt (main songwriter) was gay when I first listened to this record. God, I was naive.
18. Papa M - "Glad You're Here With Me" - Whatever, Mortal: Like this song because it's a way we all will feel after we've done shitty stuff. Repeatedly.
19. Bright Eyes - "Lua" - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning: Download this song and tell me it's not the best close to a mix ever.
    

Sound of Nonsense

There is a new website called Sound of Nonsense. Very nice.

Old Records, Vol. 2

[I got through my books of CDs...some more choice cuts. I didn't really listen to all these as I planned, but I thought about them, I promise. By the way, Pitchfork was right, There's a Riot Goin' On by Sly and the Family Stone is majorly fucked up and very good.]

• Loose Fur: Loose Fur -- I might be the only one who really likes this record at all. It's got some great stuff on this collaboration of Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), Jim O'Rourke (Sonic Youth, Wilco, solo) and Glenn Kotche (Wilco). The songs are slick-sheen via O'Rourke's engineering touch but that doesn't mean things don't get messy and loose. It's essentially an outgrowth of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot but it strikes out its own path down through everything from Americana to Free Jazz. "Chinese Apple", "You Were Wrong" and "Elegant Transaction" are three of my favorite cuts and they tend to be more straightforward than the rest.

• Man or Astroman?: Experiment Zero & A Spectrum of Infinite Scale -- Remember this band? Devo and Dick Dale combined at the hip fed through Dr. Steve Albini's boards (at least Spectrum...). Surf-rock never gets the credit it deserves. Some of this shit is major tight, never outstaying it's welcome (2 mins.). Also, "A Simple Text File" is the best micing job ever -- a song performed by a Dot Matrix printer. Be prepared for the soon-to-come ironic revival of surf music (played by pasty white boys). Or was this it? (Cue LCD Soundsystem, "I was there at Suicide's first practice...")

• The Poster Children -- I have 8 records by this band, who was my favorite in middle to high school. I had no idea what indie music was then, I just heard this band, liked the cover of their album and I bought it. Thanks to PC, I was opened to a world of wonderful noise I'd have never known if it wasn't for their album Thank You's and website. Ah, nostalgia...

• Rye Coalition: On Top -- This record is so Jersey. Hard rock and roll made for hard bodies, tight pants and nicely waxed Pontiac Sunfires.

• The Secret Machines: September 000 -- This is one of the best records I've ever heard. It's the perfect length and always leaves me wanting more. Now only if Now Here is Nowhere could've been produced by Mr. Brian Deck...

• Smog: Knock Knock -- Do you know who this is? Do you know how great this is?

• Tortoise: Millions Now Living Will Never Die -- I know that everyone counts this among their favorite records -- and it should be. This is a direct influence of too many bands to be overlooked. I'll never forget the first time I heard this -- it was during my senior year journalism class in high school. We were studying film and we watched Fritz Lang's Metropolis while synching this up (our copy of the film had no music). I remember being totally fucked up by "Djed" playing to the film. The factory-assembled, mechanical drum work of John McEntire along with the fading and focus dubby textures sent my head for a loop. I felt like the stoners saying, "man...it's just like Dark Side of the Moon."

• XTC: Skylarking -- Yup, it's still the best record of the 80's.
  

Old Records Vol. 1

[I'm so geeked out from work that I now work a spreadsheet when I come home. That's embarrassing. Luckily, I will soon be moving out of sunny Moorestown and into Philadelphia.

But the spreadsheet, it's not all for nothing. I've decided as a resource for myself, and others, I will compile a list of all the records I own. That means everything: CD, CD-R, LP, 7". It's going to be a daunting task given how much fucking music I really own. Is this a waste of money? Not really, but it could be considered one. The book value of every CD would make me a very, very rich man.

The real reason for this post isn't for me to bitch/brag about the depths of music I own, but talk about some of the gems I haven't enjoyed in a long time. P.S. The list isn't even half-done so I may write again about this at a later date.]

• The American Analog Set: From Our Living Room to Yours -- I bought this record about 5 or 6 months after I saw the band live opening for Stephen Malkmus (I think?). To tell you the truth, I wasn't that psyched by what they sounded like, but I think I was acting snotty because to my untravelled ears, it was emo. I was trying to get away from emo because, well, it was making me a huge pussy. Anyways, this record isn't emo, its just some beautifully hushed music that travels fluidly to a motorik beat. There's plenty of organ, melancholy guitar figures, brushed drums and breathy voices, but it never seems over-dramatically emotional.

• Auburn Lull: Alone I Admire -- I still haven't listened to this in a year or so, but I was reminded what a great record this is. Auburn Lull make shoegaze music like it's a brand new thing: huge walls of watery sound that Kevin Shields would have been jealous of.
  

• Beachwood Sparks: Once We Were Trees -- I used to listen the shit out of this record when it first came out. It's no wonder the Beachwood Sparks share their first letter with the Byrds, Big Star and the Beach Boys: they totally rip them off. But that's okay, because those bands had some really good songs. This is some really nice California, dreamy pop and "By Your Side" is a really great cover song. By the way, is this band still around?

• Blonde Redhead: Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons -- I saw this band open for The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Foo Fighters. Kind of a weird choice. I was in my modern-rock phase of my life. (I still stand by some Foo Fighters stuff, especially "Exhausted"). This record has some really good shit though, baroque songs that seem stripped down somehow.

• Built to Spill: Keep It Like a Secret -- "The Plan" and "Carry the Zero" are two of my favorite songs ever. This band is really great even though Ancient Melodies of the Future is still bad.

• Dead Meadow: Dead Meadow -- This record still brings me back to the first time I saw them at PS211 in Winston-Salem, NC. No one was there (20 people tops), the sound was bouncing off of every wall, and it was really LOUD. When they launched into "Sleepy Silver Door" I started leaning forward into the sound coming off their amplifiers just to keep from getting flattened. Man, that was fun.

• The Dismemberment Plan: Emergency & I -- For better or worse, this album changed my life forever. And I still have never seen a better band live. Best show: West Philly at the Rotunda in 100 degree temperatures with my shirt soaked through cause my shit was boogeyin'. Second best: The Plan at Go! Studios Room 4 -- Freshman year at WFU, took a Greyhound bus to get there, no way home. Dalek opened = hot shit. Really found out what fun music should be. Hitched a ride with a guy from Guilford College who started to cry (!) about some shitty emo band who had a song called "I Am Robot" (cause we're all controlled and mechanical you know...I can't imagine what it'd be like if I couldn't feel...). My appreciation for emo stopped there.

• The Fucking Champs: IV -- A great band that has allowed me to unironically explore the world of heavy metal. This record kicks ass from beginning ("What's a Little Reign") to end ("Extra Man"). It never seems too Steve Vai or too Motley Crue. Rather, it takes all the goodness of heavy music an distills it into 13 virtuous instrumental nuggets, and one with some vocals.

I wish I started the band Master Musicians of Bukkake, God that's a great name.

A few good things have happened to me:

One: Dead Meadow has put out another excellent album, Feathers. A really massive album, this time with an extra guitar player. Their production is nearly perfect for their sound, giving it a full, earthy, and dark gleam. Their heavy brand of psychedelia is fantasic live, but on record has always left something to be desired. Live they create a sonic wall of fuzzy sound, nearly pushing you against the back wall. They finally realized this isn't possible in a recording and Feathers is the result of a band finding itself more comfortable in the studio.

Two: M. Ward has put out a new record, Transistor Radio. I liked what I heard so far, but I was really hungover and only half-listening. More on this at a later date. Let's just say if it's anything like The Transfiguration of Vincent it could be record of the year.

Three: I found a copy of The Archers of Loaf's Vs. the Greatest of All Time on 10" vinyl. AOL has always been one of my favorite bands, ever since I heard their brown name from a tour they did with the Poster Children (PCJC USA...). It's a shame they're not around anymore, but Eric Bachmann's new outfit, Crooked Fingers, is fine by me ("New Drink For the Old Drunk"). Chapel Thrill represent. If you don't know the Loaf, please see "Web in Front", all I ever wanted was to be your spine. They were also signed to Elektra. What?? Other songs: "Chumming the Ocean" (fun fact: I used to smoke cigs to this song in industrial parks when I felt lonely in high school), "Wrong", "Greatest of All Time".

Four: Olivia Tremor Control is still really amazing (from a few posts ago). I'm listening to Black Foilage: Anamation Music Vol. 1, now and, boy, is it great. They found a perfect medium of experimentation and effortless pop. And by pop, I don't mean some people might like it kinda sorta if they like indie music. I mean pop like, the 3 minute songs would definitely been on the radio in the 60's. Oh, what hast thou done Clear Channel?

Sounds about right...

'My good friend Billy Dixon was my center in football from seventh through twelfth grade. One day during practice, our coach yelled, "If anybody sees anybody standing around with his thumb up his ass doing nothing, run over and knock him on his ass." Five minutes later, Coach was standing on the sidelines drinking a cup of coffee. Billy ran over an knocked him on his ass. I learned that day that, for the most part, we're all just standing around with thumbs up our asses.'
-Robert Pollard

Happy Valentine's Day

- I'm really glad that people are starting to listen to Archer Prewitt. Both Pitchforkmedia.com and Stylusmagazine.com gave him some glowing reviews for his new record, Wilderness. It's quite nice, in an adult-contemporary kind of way -- some good songwriting and fancy orchestrating. His previous record, Three, is alot like this one, only a little more smooth-FM ready. From that record try "Over the Line".

- I'm not so thrilled with allmusic.com's new interface. (How new is this? 6-months?) Too many click throughs and hidden stuff gets me frustrated. I like for everything to be laid out in front of me.

- I love my girlfriend, Christine Simpson, very much. She's a very, very special girl to me! We had a fantastic weekend in Winston-Salem, NC this weekend where we went to a winery (Sideways is having a bigger influence than you can imagine on white men everywhere), had a classy dinner, and topped our weekend off with one of the worst movies ever, The Day After Tomorrow. How come they don't make action movies like Diehard (which we saw the previous day) anymore? Movies like Diehard make me so happy I'm in love and not a terrorist, like Hans.

- Has Olivia Tremor Control always been really amazing? Man...

- I finished Bob Dylan's Chronicles. It was fun to read. He's an interesting person who has some very interesting things to say about the things that influence and affect him. My only complaint: he could write longer sentences every once and a while. His short, dramatic descriptions got kind of old after a while. "The music was like a car going over a cliff." But 300 pages long. (It's not that bad: I just used the dramatic flair he did. Clever, huh?)

- My Sirius satellite radio is really nice to listen to. Right now, I'm getting into "The Vault". They play classic rock tracks that don't normally play on the radio. Usually they're by bands that were never really that good (Alan Parsons Project, Chicago), but sometimes they're really great in their averageness. (Bonus points for "First Wave": they played a song from North Shore. Fuck yes!)

My favorite records of 2005

[Thank you for waiting for this. It's taken me quite a while, it probably didn't turn out the way I wanted, but I had fun doing it. I hope you enjoy.]


Lists documenting the top albums of the year are always a bit sketchy. After all, how’s one supposed to compare two very different things? Can you compare apples and pork tenderloin?

<>Still any critic feels a compelling need to gather everything together at the end of the year before starting afresh in 2005. Rankings are often described as the most important, best, essential, epic, mind-blowing, on and on, most attempting to presume some sort of mathematical formula for “best album”. For my purposes, I would never think you can compare one of these records to the other – art just isn’t that way. Rather, my list comprises the 25 albums I thought the most enjoyable and those that stuck in my mind the longest over the course of 2004. The list is not down to a science (even though it took me a long time). So 17 could be 12 and vice versa. These are the records I’m feeling at the end of the year.

Now, of course, there were albums that I missed. They are not listed. (What are they? Let me know.) And there are albums that didn’t make the cut, for various reasons. Some of them are compilations of old songs recorded new (Greatest Palace Music, Acoustic Citsuoca), some of them are nixed because they weren’t the best I’ve ever heard, and most because I needed to round off the list at an even number and I have time constraints. Unlike some bloggers, who have nothing but free time on their hands, I do work. I also didn’t want a top 47 albums of 2004.

So – without further a due, please enjoy my top 25 albums of 2004.

25. Of Montreal – Satanic Panic in the Attic – Polyvinyl

Of the Elephant 6 collective, Of Montreal always stuck out as the one band flying much too high on Zoloft and mushrooms – a lethal dose that usually wore thin by an album’s end, unable to keep up with its own giddiness and ADHD. On this year’s Satanic Kevin Barnes and company finally streamlined their hyperactivity tendencies into fluid songs and wrote their mainstream (circa 1969 San Fran, of course) masterpiece. The album is a blast, full of fuzzy guitars, bubbling synths, handclaps and restrained, but sugar-sweet melodies. Satanic is perfect pop music accessible to any generation, perfect for any era, no matter how nostalgic it wants to sound or you want to make it.

24. Air – Talkie Walkie – Astralwerks

And so we may once again breathe sexy life back into the dull, dusty world of lounge. After too many Ibiza Chill Out compilations, it almost seems supernatural of the Frenchmen to sweep down and rescue us from mediocrity all while making us moist. I also love that this is a soft rock album marketed as electro/indie-cool. Must have the Avants up in arms.<>

23. Growing – The Soul of the Rainbow and the Harmony of Light – Kranky

This is a spectral record, bright with pinks, purples, and yellows, but smart enough to use white (and black) light, and hot enough to singe your ears. “Onement” has an ebb and flow of drone (from guitar and bass? Oh, nein!) floating so gently overtop, until you’re pummeled by cymbal and set up for a brainmelt in “Anaheim II”. I never thought Sunn O))) could/would play Windy & Carl songs!

22. Kanye West – College Dropout – Roc-A-Fella

There’s not much more that I can say about this album that hasn’t been written and rewritten all year. But a cocksure, self-conscious MC/DJ? Fucking sweet. Never thought I’d see the duality of man exemplified in a rapper. The songs are good too.

21. Sonic Youth – Sonic Nurse – Geffen

I asked for this record in a DC record store, visiting my girlfriend. The plump record store guy took me into the makeshift listening room, put on “Pattern Recognition” and started studying my face for traces of emotion. Couldn’t help but smile amidst his “sounds like apples if oranges had lemons babies!!!” Nope: disgruntled guitar smack pissed off and complacent simultaneously, whiny neon valley girl vocals from Kim, dreamy hot-guy vocals from Thurston, tuff noise stains, on, on, on. Another great Sonic Youth record.

20. Tom Waits – Real Gone – Anti-

Weird belchy blooze, another swift left turn for Mr. Waits. Making the most of the mouth, this record gets rid them bossy drum kits. Sounding like it was recorded by some insomniac down the hallway, Waits gives us some full-flavored late night admissions, complaints and tall tales that never sound so sweet, seductive and scary. This is garage rock – guitars all covered in oil, vocals choked on carbon monoxide, built out of scrap metal.

19. Jack Rose – Raag Manifestations – VHF

Rising above the chaotic fingerpicking of Mr. Rose’s Octopus Hand is the sweet, sweet sound of melancholic bliss – a wonderfully hopeful sadness. He plays fast, fierce yet serenely at the same time – I’ve never heard anything quite like it. Jack Rose is an unbelievably great talent set on transcending the listener’s experience of both middle-eastern and American folk guitar music. As organic and breathtaking as daybreak.

18. Sightings – Arrived in Gold – Load

Not nearly the furiously bloody Michigan Haters, and thank goodness (panic attack). NYC’s Sightings have taken a step back – there’s actually space here, not the full bore, senses assault noise of previous efforts. We get still get that freaky shit, just more time to think about it: rusted razor-wire strung guitars gagged and shoved in a wah pedal, bass played inside the cabinet with exposed electric wires buzzing at 10,000 Volts threatening to electrocute (you can hear them), and drums like pistons pumping black rotten blood, not oil/cymbals made from ban saws. This is Metal, Son.

17. TV on the Radio – Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes – Touch & Go

The amazing thing that I keep forgetting about this album is how seductive a simple song can be. Most of the songs off of DYBTB are nothing really more than a 4-note fuzz-bass line and a drum machine. But, FUCK, this is some dank, dirty dog shit. Them gettin all funky and sweaty to some doo-wop! They hot like that barbershop shit dawg! Takin the breath out my chest! Soul music never really left, but its back.

16. Interpol – Antics – Matador

No need to elaborate on this one, you’ve all heard this before even if you haven’t. Midnight pop music for the city Gotham.

15. 90 Day Men – Panda Park – Southern

Never have I seen cover art so perfectly fit a band’s sound. This band freaks me out with how right on they were with their field + pink flowers + acid-drop sky. The music is at once pastoral, naturally sculpted and psychedelic in the best late 60’s, early 70’s sense of the word. The music is prog, but is at once fluid and poppy, not strenuous, over-bearing or pretentious. Space music – needs to be tech-savvy to get up there, but once it does: zero gravity.

14. Liars – They Were Wrong So We Drowned – Mute

Worlds different than their debut, They Threw Us All In a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top, this concept album about witches was fucking gonzo. Ramshackle instrumentation, organically forming in Northern New Jersey finally stabbed dance-punk in the bleeding heart. The songs are all dark and gloomy and don’t stand alone well—except for the jam “There’s Always Room on the Broom”. That shit was hott. The parallels to a modern-day witch hunt are obvious, but no one went as far. Some gloomy, scary stuff in here.<>

13. The Streets – A Grand Don’t Come For Free – Vice

I never thought I’d want to hear this album. Some honky yapping about the most banal parts of the day over beats jacked outta what sounds like 1996. But Mike Skinner’s unbelievable storytelling is the key here. He makes the most boring the most important, cause it is, when its happening. A wonderful story of conflict, self-questioning, vice, love, love lost, and redemption. Books on tape.

12. The Futureheads – The Futureheads – Sire

I question the fact that there’s a better power-pop album that came out all year (I didn’t hear The Slow Wonder.) Undeniable 3-part harmonies are the captain driving this cigarette boat right through the swimming area. Guitars are the fuel, going 100 miles only to stop on a dime. Everything here seems to be going in a different direction, but came together so damn perfectly. Undoubtedly one of the best singles record of the year, could’ve been released in 1982, but wasn’t. I can’t wait to see this band live. If you haven’t heard it check: “A to B”, “Decent Days & Nights”, “The City is Here For You to Use” and “Hounds of Love”, but listen to it all if you can.

11. Joanna Newsom – The Milk-Eyed Mender – Drag City

Another great acoustic folk records coming out this year. Newsom’s voice is one of the strangest, best things to ever happen to music. Part 12-year-old innocent, part scary 80-year-old mystic, it never fails to color her collection of lush, organic, harp-driven songs. Close to being the most human record I’ve ever heard – it takes a heartless bastard to not well up with emotion at the sound of “The Sprout and the Bean”.

10. Animal Collective – Sung Tongs – Paw Tracks

After people heard last year’s Hear Comes the Indian everyone expected big things. But probably not a sunny California drum-circle freak out. Sung Tongs came out of left-field from a band I thought was going further underground, indulging pop-sensibilities with avant-psychedelia so charming you turn gay. The Animal Collective stowed their fluorescent electronics and picked up acoustics to make music flowing like water showing all its power, expansiveness, life, uncertainty, and fascinating beauty. [Panda Bear’s Young Prayer was excellent too – I didn’t listen to it enough though.]

9. Modest Mouse – Good News for People Who Like Bad News – Epic

Ok. Mr. Brock stopped being depressed? Not really. The music got more accessible? Not much. Modest Mouse had a hit record? What? How this happened, I’ll never understand. Granted, “Float On” is a rock-solid song, should’ve always been on modern-rock radio. But it still makes no sense. Is the world getting it? This record for all its semi-optimism finally makes me think that it’ll be ok, we’re not all that dumb. It’s a record, like Emergency & I before it, that deals with maturity and acceptance – something everyone can get down with every once and a while. America may not be changing too much, but at least we got a sweet record on the radio because of it.

8. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti 2 – The Doldrums – Paw Tracks

John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats wrote that this record was “re-encrusting the diamond.” As hard as I can think, I can’t come up with a better way to say what this sounds like. The songs sound exactly like they came out of a dream – I’ve heard them: they’re 80’s roller rink slow songs, 70’s lite disco pop, muzak, something familiar but so distant. I don’t know how fucked up Ariel Pink is, how much of a genius he is, but its damn scary how perfectly he nailed a soundtrack everyone’s heard but no one owns. Every song is covered in layers of bad production, detuned guitars, ghetto Casios and choppy structure, but shining through is the work of an unbelievable songwriter ruining my late nights.

7. Brian Wilson – Smile – Nonesuch

For a record that birthed an entire indie label, Elephant 6, the hype and expectation surrounding Smile had to be huge. Was it going to be weird, avant music? It’s a teenage symphony to God – is it going to be (gasp) Christian? Is it going to be nothing what it should have been now that its 37 years later? Is it going to be bad? Put the record on and suddenly all those questions disappear. Brian Wilson’s got his shit together, can still sing like a bird, and can put a song, make that record, together like no one in rock music has ever been capable of doing. Is this the way Smile was really envisioned back in the day? Hell if I know, but if this is it, it sounds great to me.

6. Devendra Banhart – Rejoicing in the Hands & Nino Rojo – Young God

The gypsy guitar ballads contained on these volumes are all the resin these ears need to get stoned. Psychedelic folk music has never sounded so fluent and organic – Mr. Banhart has an undeniable gift for the cerebrally comforting. His voice is another strange mixture, this time a crow and man, but succeeds better than anything in conveying the universal message in singing a song about teeth or spiders. His songs are meant to send you onto a different plane, but still keep you grounded in the fascination with the natural beauty of music. “At the Hop”, by the way, is one of the best singles released all year: a beautiful tune about returning home, even if you can’t.

5. Comets On Fire – Blue Cathedral – Sub Pop

For all the psych music I listened to this year, no one made as cohesive a statement as Comets On Fire’s Blue Cathedral. The album starts out like any good rock album should: threatening to tear your tits off. But real sly-like, the Comets stop every once and a while stroke your inner thigh. It’s a perfect album: hott riffs, damp, spacey lows, and mind-bending psychedelic guitar willing to takeoff or float you along at its will. You have no say at this record’s mercy. The Comets take their cues from all good things psych: tye-dyes and bellbottoms, 70’s prog, Sabbath, Haight-Ashbury acid tests, heavy metal, Inna-Gadda-Da-Vidda organs, caterwauling vocals, echo, echo, echo. For anyone that has ever taken a bong hit: this is the dank shit.

4. Madvillain – Madvillainy – Stones Throw

Often times collaborations fail. Something about the star power or egos of two (or more) people colliding usually leads to underdeveloped, but promising things. Fortunately, none of that is even remotely seen here. There’s no overshadowing, there’s no dominant force and there’s virtually no failure here at all. What could have been a huge swing and a miss for hip-hop turns into a sexy new step in the right direction for all music. At first we get the prerequisite warm up (“The Illest Villains”) followed by the unreal one-two of “Accordion” and, my favorite, “Meat Grinder” (dig that fat bass thunder, guitar slides and tipsy percussion). Madlib’s beats are mostly taken from lost jazz and soul looking through an outer space lens, perfectly fitting MF Doom’s “buttery flow”. Listen to this one: no one can put words together like Doom can (“Whip up a slice of nice verse pie/Hit it on the first try/Villain/The worst guy”), and no one’s ever been ever to sonically match that flow as well as Madlib has here.

3. Iron & Wine – Our Endless Numbered Days – Sub Pop

Sam Beam plays simple American folk music that could’ve been written at any time. Its sound is lost in time. His voice sounds like it’s covered in dust. He’s an everyman that sings of the world he sees in the terms he sees it. His music is birthed in the South, but doesn’t just exist there. Mr. Beam isn’t reinventing anything with Our Endless Numbered Days. But he is creating the most beautiful music I’ve heard all year. His songs are about God, our land, family, escaping, death. Oh. And love.

2. The Arcade Fire – Funeral – Merge

Who hasn’t written about this record? I’m at a loss for words, for trying to say something new. After all every damn website has an opinion on this “emotional masterpiece”. You all know the back story, where the band is from, how well they’re doing, etc. So what more can I say? In truth, I don’t want to write about this. For me, it’s an amazing record that everyone should hear. Something that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck every time you hear it. This is the record that got you excited about music in the first place.

1. Wilco – A Ghost Is Born – Nonesuch

Maybe I missed the boat this year. Maybe this was an album of undercooked ideas with grand ideas. Maybe they shouldn’t have started with such a slow song. Maybe Wilco had their day in the sun, its time to turn to something new. Maybe they’re not the great indie hope. Maybe they’re too all over the place for their own good. Maybe they’re not perfect. Maybe Jay Bennett was integral to the band. Maybe they should stick to what they were good at: pop songs, not 10 minutes of noise.

Pretty much all I heard this year about this album can be summed up in “it’s not as good as Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”. No, no it’s not. But it isn’t YHF. It isn’t striving to be YHF. It’s striving to be something so completely different.

A Ghost Is Born is a beast of an album. It’s too big, its erratic, its heavy-handed, sometimes its too light, etc., etc. But one thing you can’t deny: it’s wholly American. Like the proverbial melting-pot that America was supposed to be, Wilco have taken every influence from every place they could find, distilled and poured it into a single disc of music. Like all strange and amazing American art it’s hard to define, it doesn’t make immediate sense, it doesn’t fit in with a scheme, there is no resolution. No matter: the sheer largeness of this album will influence for decades. It will continue to inspire people to create, to challenge, to expand, to further everything and anything we know. Boundaries have been set; an album like Wilco’s A Ghost Is Born will continue to push those boundaries illogically and without warning. It will scare us, thrill us and put us in our place.

And for that, I am thankful.