Summertime: The Mixtape
Dogs (Turn Against This Land) FINALLY! Ladies and Gentlemen, the time has come. I now own Dogs first debut album!!! About two years ago, my friend Matt gave me "Tall Stories From Under The Table" (Dogs second album) and fell head over heels for it. I've even labeled Dogs as one of my top 4 favorite bands (and that's coming from me). "Turn Against This Land" has been that one album I've been looking EVERYWHERE to get a hold of, until now. Thanks to Matt again, he graced me with not only his presence a few days ago, but had this cd behind his back. British post-punk gods, Dogs fuel every bit of my desire to thrive in the underground London music scene. The energy, passion and emotion that each member of the band gives is nothing short of outstanding. Anytime I hear them, my hair comes down, shoes come off, and I just go crazy. I'm still completely perplexed why Dogs aren't a much bigger band than they are. I posted about them in an earlier post which you should check out. In addition to attending the Annual Nick Drake Gathering, seeing Dogs live in London in a small ass venue is hands down in my top 5 things to do in life.
Local Natives (Gorilla Manor) Due to forces beyond my control, I was unable to attend Bonnarroo this year. However, many of my friends did attend and came back with sweet treats to show me. These guys were one of them. My friend Taylor fell in love with Local Natives after seeing them live. Psychedelic/indie folk is what I've tried to describe them as. Heart-warming music. Enveloping and uplifting music. The melodies are complex and absorbing; the singing fresh and vividly alive. These young gentlemen are creating sounds of true substance. They do an amazing Talking Heads cover of "Warning Sign" - enough for me to even like the cover more than the original! Harmonious "World News" and good-humored "Airplanes" are other favorites of mine on this album. They're booked for a college show at Tulane with Ruby Suns October 11 :) Check out their daytrotter sessions as well: Local Natives
The Black Keys (Brothers) Word of The Black Keys releasing a new album was music to my ears. I immediately went to Target (our local record store here closed back in December - R.I.P. CD Connection, you were my second home) to purchase "Brothers". Now despite my excitement for the music, the album art was rather humorous and unique. When I first opened the cd it was all black, no words on it. Then after exposure to light, the cd turned white and black words were revealed. It's little things like a color-changing cd that keep me buying tangible music formats. From the first track I was hooked. You can't begin an album with a heavy guitar/drum riff like "Everlasting Love" and not expect me to fall in love with it. In it's entirety, this album is simply delicious.
Radiohead (Amnesiac) Not a new album, I know. But "In Rainbows" was on repeat for most of my 2009. To be truly honest, I didn't get into Radiohead until about a little over a year ago when a friend put "All I Need" on a mix for me. From then, it was meant to be. I always knew who they were and I knew their song "Creep" but nothing beyond that. However, "In Rainbows" quenched my Radiohead thirst. Now, I want to expand beyond the rainbow. "Amnesiac" has been my next album to tackle and so far it is the Ray Lewis of albums. "I Might Be Wrong" just might be my favorite driving-at-night-fast song. I will use it in a night car scene in a movie sometime in the future without a doubt.
Felice Brothers (Daytrotter Session) One of the many gems I've discovered on Daytrotter, Felice Brothers are a quintet comprised of two brothers, a previous traveling dice player, a fiddler and a drummer. "Post-punk organic mountain/folk" music is one description I found rather accurate. Ian Felice's raspy vocals compliment his acoustic guitar and piano with such ease. The first thing that came to mind when I heard this session was Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes. If that doesn't give enough incentive to lend them your ear then I don't know what will. Currently I do not own any of their albums, but will be doing so shortly. "Chicken Wire" is my favorite from this session:Daytrotter
The XX (XX) Where to even begin. My friend Lauren introduced me to these fine Brits back in January with their song "Crystalised". I've been sitting on this album for a while and it wasn't until the Bonnarroo lineup came out that I decided to give it a listen. "Intro" is probably hands down one of the best introductions into an album I've ever heard. "Intro" is also probably the sexiest songs I've ever heard and in my hopeful music supervision future I plan to use that song for a love scene in a movie. Like "Intro", I absolutely love when bands begin their albums with a short instrumental piece (i.e. Coldplay's "Life in Technicolor). The XX have managed to edit their sound to the bare essentials: a beat and a melody. This is certainly a challenging album, but it's simultaneously incredibly rewarding once you really get into their style. Romy, the band's female singer, has a beautiful sultry voice, and she's perfectly suited to the band's lean, taut style. And the duo vocals between Romy (female lead singer) and Jaime (male lead singer) are hauntingly seductive. Their music is best to listen to at night. Rumor has it they might be added to the Voodoo Fest 2010 lineup :)
Broken Social Scene (You Forgot It In People) I'll admit, when I first heard their name and then the album cover I thought they were an emo band. Thank goodness I was wrong. I've owned this album for a while but only listened to the song "Lover's Spit". But this summer, my ipod went on shuffle and showed me "Cause=Time". The guitar breakdown in that song makes me head bang like no other. I can't believe it's taken me this long to give these guys my undivided attention. Pink Floyd, Velvet Underground, New Order, Dinosaur Jr., and some jazz influences as well are just some of the artists deeply rooted in this album. What I love about BSS is their ability to create songs that have you nodding your head the whole way through, but at a certain point, just explode into phenomenal rock excursions. "Stars and Sons", "Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl", "Pacific Theme", and "Looks Just Like The Sun" are just some others that have caught my attention. My roommate next year actually called me yesterday during Broken Social Scene's set at the Pitchfork music festival in Chicago just so I could hear "Cause=Time". It was barely audible but glorious nonetheless. Everyone is saying I need to listen to this album more, thus I will do so immediately
My Morning Jacket (Tennessee Fire) I talked about this album a while back on my My Morning Jacket post, but when I wrote it I had only skimmed the surface of this album. For a while now I've been trying to figure out what MMJ album is my favorite. I use to say "It Still Moves", but now I'm certain that it's "Tennessee Fire". As I've said before, there is something about the naive authenticity of a band's first record that is just so damn appealing to me. Here's what I wrote about this album in my earlier post: "Tennessee Fire evokes a sort of lonely memory of a Gothic country night. Electric and acoustic guitars, harmonica, lap-steel, drums and bass all join Jim James' unique (Neil Young meets Wayne Coyne) voice in a huge pool of reverb. At first you wonder if his voice will overtake the songs, but after the first chorus you realize that the beauty of these simple and emotive songs is only enhanced by the addition of this effect, and by the end of the first song, you can't even tell that it's there." The few that don't like My Morning Jacket like to say that the drowning reverb over James's voice is a gimmick and he would sound awful without it. A hand holding the Tennessee Fire album should be slapped across their faces, because if you draw back to those days, there are a few tunes on there without reverb that will leave you in awe.
My Morning Jacket (Acoustic Citsuoca) Alright, so I've been getting a little MMJ happy. But you'd be too after seeing them live and then knowing you'll see them again only a few months later (hello Voodoo Fest 2010!) I was in the airport few weeks ago when "The Bear" acoustic version from this live album came on my ipod. I had never heard the acoustic version (the original is on Tennessee Fire), but I can honestly say this version is better than the original. It literally left me speechless in my seat, especially after the 3:25 breakdown. The live album continues after "The Bear" with James transitioning into a rare performance of the Chocolate & Ice EP's "Sooner", only to leave the crowd in an evident sense of amazement. As the band leaves, James pulls out a version of At Dawn's "Bermuda Highway" that grabs you immediately. It ends on a high note (literally) from James' melodic voice (and there had to be that one guy who screams "You kick ass!"). The EP ends on two intimate performances of the truly shining version of "Golden" and the southern feeling "Hopefully," where James' voice almost cracks off midway, but he pulls it out and makes it sound, well, even better. We will meet again MMJ...oh yes, we will.
Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse (Dark Night of the Soul) A fellow WTUL DJ called me just to tell me about this album the station just got a hold of. Dark Night Of The Soul is an album by audio auteur Danger Mouse and the already much-missed Sparklehorse. The album is joined by the following remarkable roll call of guests: The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals), Jason Lytle (Grandaddy), Julian Casablancas (The Strokes), Black Francis (The Pixies), Iggy Pop, David Lynch, James Mercer (The Shins/Broken Bells), Nina Persson (The Cardigans) and more. While this beautiful, haunting album was being made widely available, the news was shadowed by sadness of the recent passing of Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse) who took his own life in early March. This album contains a great deal of spacefuzz rock'n'roll and colorful psychedelic pop, with countless guest singers/musicians/composers adding their own unique stylings to the music. And sadly, you can hear some foreshading of Linkous' loss in there. I'm just getting into this album so I don't have a complete opinion yet.
Up From Below This is the product of Heath Ledger's money and it was well spent. I can't get enough of this record. I'd say Edward Sharpe is a combination of Arcade Fire, Johnny Cash w/ June Carter and a little Sgt. Peppers era Beatles. "Janglin" and "Home" are the hits, and for good reason. "Home" begins with a whistled echo of an Ennio Morricone (favorite composer - see February 28 post)theme from a Clint Eastwood western. I've said it before, a song can't go wrong with whistles and claps. I'm not a lyric person, but I'm a sucker for the refrain: "Home, let me come home/ Home is where I'm with you". Anyways, check them out - they're delicious.
August 31, 2009
When researching Edward Sharpe, I came across this poll in Australia called the Triple J Hottest 100. It's an annual music poll based on the votes of nation Australian radio station Triple J in order to determine their favorite songs. This past year over 1.1 million people voted. Australia has always had exceptional taste. Every country BUT America seems to understand good music. Take a look at the Top Songs from 2009 on the poll. It's filled with mouth watering bands. Everyone from Kid Cudi and Jay Z to Vampire Weekend and Flight of the Conchords are on here."Home" by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros is #15. I really wanted to listen to these songs so I made a playlist of them. Let's see what jams de got down under:
I Think I've Found It(2006)
Ode To Sunshine (2008) Debut album, this ten song piece of art is pure joy. Every song is memorable and laden with insanely infectious hooks. From the raucous rhythm of "Trashcan" and Dylan-esque "People, Turn Around", to the friendly melodies of "Children" - Ode To Sunshine will fill your heart with all the love it's been missing. This album contains a different version of "Streetwalker" (more Vampire Weekend-ish in my opinion). Pop this puppy in, you'll like it.
History From Below(2010) On June 8, this sophomore attempt at surpassing their critically acclaimed Ode To Sunshine was released. Similar to their first album, this took me a little bit to get into. However, after seeing them live - I'm digging it hard. The drums are unique, the riffs are original and the vocals are chilling. I still haven't listened to it in its entirety, but so far "Bushwick Blues", "White Table", "Golden State", and "St. Francis" are my favorite. At their show, they did a beautiful transition from "St. Francis" into "Children" - the crowd went crazy. Give this a listen.
The History Channel featured a short series called "America: The Story of Us" a few months ago that I watched religiously. The title itself made me chuckle a bit. The six day series was insane. They covered every possible part of American history, starting with the Revolutionary War, going through western expansion, Civil War, industrial revolution, etc. Some of my favorite parts were when they talked about the development of the United States postal service and how we had the fastest system in the world (thanks to Benjamin Franklin). They also talked about the significance of mud, how we became an oil based country, and so forth. Despite all our problems in the world, I still love America. No matter what anyone says, we still are the land of opportunity. Here's the trailer that convinced me to watch the show:
Downtown Jacksonville 4th of July
On the day of the "show", Harry invites all his close friends over to light it. We usually go to a field or park and place the "American Box" in the center. Harry douses the bag with gasoline and makes a trail leading to where he'll begin to light it. As he does this, we all light roman candles and fire them towards the box. Then, we run for cover and watch. This will be the "American Box 5" and every year Harry changes things up a bit. I'm excited to see what he has in store for us. After the "American Box", we'll probably play a classic game of baseball at the local baseball fields where every child in Ponte Vedra played at - whether you were a boy or a girl. Reminiscing in the baseball fields on July 4th is a must.
