Indie League

ACL Lineup Announced Yesterday

2008-04-16T17:59:00.000-07:00

So it's been well over a month since my last post, and for that I apologize. To be quite honest, there hasn't been an incredible amount of stuff to write about aside from a fantastic (as always) performance by The Hold Steady at Emo's a couple weeks back and an excellent release from Man Man. In fact, let's talk about that for a second.

Prior to the release of Rabbit Habits, I would describe Man Man to my friends as, "You know, like the type of shit that pirates sing when they're having a party." However, like Strawberry Jam did for Animal Collective last year, Habits propels Man Man into the upper echelons of the indie rock community. Lead singer Honus Honus calls this the band's "pop album," but that's using pop in a very relative sense of the word. He's not that far off, as there are hooks on the album that will stay in your head for days, if not for the melody for the wordplay, such as the Big Trouble" refrain, "You look like a man/But you talk like a fool/You strut like a stallion/But you fuck like a mule." On the sparse, piano-based "Doo Right," the audience gets a rare glimpse at Honus' sensitive side, allowing him to show that he can do more than just impersonate Captain Beefheart. However, the band's quirks are not entirely gone, by any means. "The Ballad of Butter Beans" begins with a xylophone melody which can only be described as "Looney Tunes-esque," "Mysteries of the Universe Unraveled" consists of nothing but fireworks being shot off in the middle of Philadelphia streets (which can be seen here at pitchfork.tv), and the album closes with two 7-minute+ epics. This album is not for everybody, but for fans of Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart, or anything with a gypsy flair, then this is an absolute gem.
Key Tracks: "Hurly/Burly," ""Harpoon Fever (Queequog's Playhouse)," "Top Drawer"

Now, on to ACL

Every year, I look forward to finding out who will be playing at the Austin City Limits festival. Though ACL is not on the same level as Lollapalooza or Bonnaroo, it has become a fairly formidable festival with at least one performance every year that would publicly defecate myself in order to see. A few years ago, it was the Pixies, two years ago the Flaming Lips, last year LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire. When the months of anticipation ceased yesterday, I was a little bit disappointed to find this year's lineup to be a bit lackluster. Even the usual staple Wilco is missing. However, I'll examine the highlights, in no particular order:

1. Gnarls Barkley: Though the The Odd Couple is no St. Elsewhere, there is not human being more soulful than Cee-Lo Green (he may be disqualified for this award, however, because he is not a soul man like the rest of us, but, in fact, a soul machine). If this year's performance proves to be anything like their ACL show two years ago, then we can look forward to awesome constumes, random covers, and hilarious stage banter from the soul machine himself.

2. Beck: Sure, The Information was absolutely terrible and the guy is a Scientologist, but we should not forget how much excellent music this guy made up until a couple of years ago. Though I've never seen it personally, Beck's live show has been highly touted for its energy and theatrics, and if we're all very lucky, then he might bust out some old-school Midnite Vultures dance moves for us.

3. Okkervil River: Riding high off of last year's excellent The Stage Names and recent stage performances with Roky Erikson and The New Pornographers, Okkervil River comes home to Austin at the apex of their career so far. I can't wait to see if they maintain their brutal live energy of their earlier career or if their trademark thrift-store suits will finally turn them into the professional musicians they've been threatening to become for years.

4. Vampire Weekend: I say this for pretty much every band at a festival, but VW wins this year's award for "Band I'm Pretty Excited About Seeing at ACL, But I'd SOOOOO Much Rather See Them in a Club Setting." Even still, if I'm able to get close enough, then their adorable Ivy League charm and cool tunes should be able to keep the Texas heat at bay, as they'll surely end up with a daytime slot.

5. The Kills: This is a band who will end up with a daytime slot, and their show will be a massive disappointment because of it. Hotel and VV are, in fact, evil vampires who want to kill you. Hopefully they'll play an aftershow to give people an idea of what a real Kills show is like.

6. Drive-By Truckers: This brilliant and under-appreciated southern rock outfit should strive in the festival setting due to their huge riffs and "Fill the truck up with High Life" attitude. Expect to be surrounded by lots of drunks and lots of flannel.

7. Man Man: Read the above review of their album and then look up pictures of their live show; supposedly a deadly combination. The only reason I'm not more excited about this ACL show is that they're coming next week with Yeasayer (also playing ACL) to play a club show.

8. M. Ward: Love the guy, but this could turn into a very boring sunburn.

So, those are 8 performances that I'm legitimately excited about, which I suppose is not that bad. However, all of the big acts are artists that can only be called "slightly exciting." The main act is the Foo Fighters, and I think that Dave Grohl is one of the baddest dudes on the planet, and they have a real knack for writing kick-ass singles, but I have this looming feeling that this huge setting will force them into an hour and a half of appeasing stupid people by resorting to their many lighter/cringe-worthy ballads. The remaining biggies -- David Byrne, John Fogerty, and Robert Plant -- are all former leaders of bands that I may claim innocent human life to see, but in whose solo output I have absolutely zero interest.

Listenings of the Past Month

2008-02-26T23:05:00.000-08:00

Alright, so it's been about a month since my last post. I'll try to do better in March than I did in January and February, but this should basically sum up what I've been listening to for the past little while.

Shows:

The Black Lips show last Saturday night was the first concert I've been to in a very long time, and it was a deliciously sloppy mess. I'm usually not one to hop in the mosh pit, but something about the band's mustaches and silly hats forced me to take off my shirt and tie and thrash about with the rest of the crazies. It's odd, though, because the Black Lips aren't really even that loud or aggressive; they're really just funny and trashy garage rock. I think that the reason that people go so crazy at their shows is that because of their wild reputation -- vomiting onstage, pissing into their own mouths -- people feel like they need to invoke that same spirit in themselves. For whatever reason, the crowd was going nutso and the band played very well, too, focusing mainly on their most recent album, Good, Bad, Not Evil. My friend commented afterward that he could have easily sang better than everyone onstage, and I don't think that anyone would deny that; however, that vocal homeliness created less of a separation between the band and the crowd. The show was not so much a celebration of The Black Lips' music, but more so an excuse to get drunk and act like a big group of idiots, and sometimes that's just what everybody needs.

New Music:

Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend -- Say what you will about how these guys are so obsessed with Wes Anderson that they used his Futura Bold font on the cover of their album, or about how they all went to Columbia, or how they rhyme "Louis Vuitton" with "Reggaeton" and "Benneton," if this album doesn't put a smile on your face, then you are most likely a douchebag. Taking a great deal of influence from South African music -- or perhaps just taking influence from Graceland -- VW creates excellently catchy pop music with clever lyrics and cheery melodies. As winter turns to spring, there's no better album to ride your bike to and smile wide enough for every one of your Ivy League comrades to see.

Key Tracks: "Walcott" (possibly the best melody of the year), "Oxford Comma," "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"

Magnetic Fields, Distortion -- In the past, I've never been a huge fan of Stephen Merritt and his band of sad sacks, but this new album finally has me on board. What's different here, as the album's title implies, is that the volume is turned up significantly and the sound is dirtied up a bit. This new sonic approach fits Merritt's sly baritone, most notably on the depressing and clever, "Too Drunk to Dream," which finally answers the question, "What would it sound like if Leonard Cohen sang for Soft Cell?" Merritt splits vocal responsibilities with Shirley Simms, who turns out the Phil Spector sugar on "California Girls," and the My Bloody Valentine sheen on "Drive on, Driver." Overall, Distortion is an excellent record, if not too heavily leaning on its influences.

Key Tracks: "California Girls," "Please Stop Dancing," "Too Drunk to Dream"

Stephen Malkmus, Real Emotional Trash -- I don't think this comes out until next week or so, but Soulseek is a beautiful thing. First and foremost, Real Emotional Trash is a fine record with some excellent guitar playing and some killer drumming. The addition of Janet Weiss to The Jicks allows Malkmus to play around with the meatiest band of his career, and he utilizes this gift by crunching out a litany of monster riffs. The problem here is that the songs tend to go on forever, and with three of them exceeding the six minute mark, they really do ramble. Malkmus' trademark wordplay is obviously still here, especially on the outlaw tale of "Hopscotch Willie." In the end, however, Malkmus' lyrics and catchy melodies work better in pop songs like "Stereo" and "Cut Your Hair," not 10-minute epic title tracks. While this album probably is still a fun listen, it makes me wonder when this former leader of the essential 90s band stops making essential music and becomes just another old guy.

Key Tracks: "Baltimore," "Hopscotch Willie," "Gardenia"

The Mountain Goats, Heretic Pride -- With his past three albums, John Darnielle seemed to be heading towards a great rift between himself and his listeners. Focusing on themes such as methamphetamine addiction, an abusive stepfather, and heartwrenching loneliness in the wake of a serious relationship, Darnielle's albums were just getting more and more personal, lowering his audience's comfort level with each release. On Heretic Pride, Darnielle returns his focus towards stories and characters, while also adding harder instrumentation to his repertoire. The key aspect to that new instrumentation? The addition of drummer Jon Wurster, who used to totally rip shit up in Superchunk, and continues to rip shit up with The Mountain Goats. Combining one of rock's most distinguished lyricists with one of the best drummers of the past 20 years, Heretic Pride proves itself to be a winning album.

Key Tracks: "Lovecraft in Brooklyn," "In the Craters of the Moon," "San Bernardino"

Alright, so that's pretty much all I've got for this time around. I'll certainly have another post within the next week, most likely reporting on Sunday's Built to Spill show.

There Was Blood, and It Was on the Wall

2008-01-29T18:28:00.000-08:00

Alright, so I finally saw There Will be Blood a couple nights ago, and it was probably the most compelling and thought-provoking film I saw in the past year. I didn't walk out of the theater with my jaw on the floor; I walked out with my jaw resting in the palm of my hand, "Thinker" style. There are so many themes and concepts throughout this picture that I've been piecing it all all together since I saw it. That's not to say that it's some kind of Daron Aronofsky mind-fuck or anything; it's just that the story is so perfectly told and its themes are so shockingly overt that the film can be applied to so many aspects of modern American society. Let's look at it from the basic film perspectives.

Direction: PT Anderson has always shown himself to be a fantastic director, sometimes showing signs of absolute genius. There Will be Blood solidifies that reputation and puts him at the vanguard of modern cinema. In addition to brilliant pacing, tones, and staging, Anderson's film is so filled with shots that make your jaw drop that by around minute 48, the viewer begins to expect sheer brilliance with every angle. The script and concept may not be as original as Boogie Nights or Magnolia, but Blood is the most visually stunning film of the twenty-first century.

Score: Johnny Greenwood officially surpassed Noah Lennox for the role of "Most Badass Year in Music" with the unfair tag-team of In Rainbows and the There Will be Blood soundtrack. With a combination of classical-style compositions and post-rock percussion pieces, Greenwood puts together a crushingly epic score which accompanies the film perfectly. While some of the work may come of as a bit too modern for the the period piece, Anderson and Greenwood come together to make it work.

Acting: Daniel Day Lewis. I feel like I'm not even qualified to try to talk about him as an actor or this performance. Pure genius. Also, Paul Dano is excellent in this breakthrough performance as twin brothers Paul and Eli Sunday, the latter of which, rumor has it, Dano only had days to prepare for, making his troubled performance that much greater.

I'd rather not get into plot or themes (cop out?) because I want all of you to see it for yourselves and get from it what you will. Point is, the film is incredible, and it just gets better the more you think about it in the following days.

In other blood-related news, Blood on the Wall just came out with a new album, Liferz. They're an indie-punk band that bites more people from the nineties than Hannibal, but they actually sound pretty fresh in today's uber-hip alternative landscape. The chick bassist sounds pretty much exactly like Kim Gordon, the drumming sounds like Superchunk's Jon Wurster is pounding the skins, and the male vocals and guitar playing are like when Stevie Malkmus forgets to take his Ritalin. The redeeming result of all this carnivorous biting? It fucking rocks. It's one of the only albums I've bought in a while that required a second listening immediately after the last song ended. The only other band I can think of out right now who can capture that great '90's underground sound is the Ponys, but the advantage of Blood on the Wall is that dude can scream and yell as well as anyone, and he's also capable of finding that perfect note of feedback to elevate a song from "decent punk tune" to "public headphone headbanging anthem." If you're a fan of bands like Superchunk, Pavement, Jawbox, and Sonic Youth (which, if you're reading this site, you probably are), then you should check out Liferz to remind yourself that you're not the only one who remembers how people used to rock out before synthesizers and drum machines took over.

Also in blood-related news, former Blood Brothers (RIP) Cody Votolato (guitars) and Johnny Whitney (vocals, keyboards) have finally emerged from the rubble of their brilliant former band to create Jaguar Love, a project with former Pretty Girls Make Graves drummer Jay Clark. From the looks of the two songs on their MySpace, the band is radically different from the hardcore Blood Bros. sound, but still retains Whitney's apocalyptic lyrics and melodies which we've all come to know and love. What's even more exciting is that the two demos on the site (which sound better than most bands' singles) were recorded just two weeks after the band formed, meaning that they essentially have no ceiling. They did a brief tour with Queens of the Stone Age, meaning that they're already playing with bigger boys than the Blood Bros ever did. Excitement.

Les Savy Fav is better than your band, sing it.

2008-01-20T13:41:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, and welcome back to the Indie League. I haven't posted in about a month, but I was in Jackson during that stretch, so it's not like there were any big concerts to report on (unless, of course, you're talking about the Politically Correct Holiday Show, which was a massive success). However, I'm back in Austin now, and I've had a couple of fun nights of live entertainment to talk about.

Two nights ago I attended probably the most bizarre show I've seen in Austin. It was at the Mohawk, so it was outside, and it was January, so it was about 28 degrees. Also, the line to get in snaked around the block and took about and hour to get through. This would have been fine if it was a rock and roll show, where there would be dancing to keep everybody warm; however, this was a comedy show with Michaels Ian Black and Showalter, so everybody was standing still and being cold and pissed off. Apparently, it is customary in Austin to go to a comedy show solely for the purpose of being a jackass publicly, because I had never seen so many hecklers at a single performance before. Perhaps due to his lack of experience in the stand-up world, Showalter's actual material was pretty limited because he took the time to address every single heckler's cry. This did, however, produce some pretty entertaining banter, specifically when he was asked to do a little bit of Doug, his most famous character from The State, and he responded by saying things like, "I'm Doug. I have attempted suicide five times by overdosing on pills. I dropped out of college and now have no job. I'm out of here," just so that he could fulfill his obligation while still a smarmy asshole.

Michael Ian Black proved himself to be the true performer, delivering over an hour's worth of top of the line comedy. He relied very little on the material from his recently released comedy album (the excellent I Am a Wonderful Man; Showalter's Sandwiches and Cats is also very good), throwing in a good amount of jokes directed solely at the Texas crowd. He closed his set with a reading from his forthcoming collection of essays, similar to his blog reading at the end of his CD. In spite of the fact that it was way too cold outside to be standing still, it was a show that I was very glad to have been a part of and would recommend to anyone living in a city on their tour.

Les Savy Fav

So, Les Savy Fav is just flat out nasty. There's no other way to describe their brand of dancey-yet-trashy punk rock. I was only able to catch one of the opening acts, Fatal Flying Guilloteens, and they set the mood for the main act by playing some high-energy, high-volume rock and roll that makes you feel just a little bit filthy on the inside, like a mix between The Dismemberment Plan and The Blood Brothers. However, once LSV took the stage, with Tim Harrington dressed as a fat, bald, bearded African poacher and blasted into "The Equestrian," it was as if the Guilloteens had never existed. Let's Stay Friends is so well produced and catchy that you don't even realize how abrasive all the songs are until you see them performed live. "What Would Wolves Do," one of the "quieter" songs on the album, sounded as heavy and intense as anything else in their catalog. PErhaps the reason for this heightened intensity was the fact that Harrington is, plain and simple, a crazy person. His drunken onstage antics, which included humping photographer's face and feigning his own hanging with the microphone cord, were almost wild enough to make you forget how tight the rest of the band was playing. The other members of LSV almost seemed like squares compared to Harrington's insanity, but perhaps that balance is what makes their appeal so great: at some point this guy with his hand in his pants had to sit down with a bunch of very talented musicians and write great rock songs.

The best songs live were probably "Rage in the Plague Age," and "The Year Before the Year 2000," probably because they make you want to pump your fist even while listening to them on headphones, so with a huge crowd of crazed fans the bar was raised a few pegs. For their encore, they played mostly cover songs, with the exception of the ultimate thrasher, "Who Rocks the Party?" off of The Cat and the Cobra. The best of these covers was "Debaser" by the Pixies which seemed to be the only one that everyone knew, and thus sent the entire crowd into a frenzy. The entire time, Harrington kept insisting that everyone in the building was in a band called the Honeybees, which was a confusing and bizarre thing for him to say. However, walking away from the show after giving myself whiplash and sweating on all my new friends, it really did feel like we had all created something great under the leadership of a true madman.

Top Thirsty Albums of 2007: 5-1

2007-12-18T18:05:00.000-08:00

5. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
As I mentioned earlier in this list, Britt Daniel absolutely loves being cool. Throughout his band's consistently excellent career, Daniel has portrayed himself in a way that befits his sunglasses and button-down attire. This onomatopoeic record follows the minimalist and sometimes redundant pieces of Gimme Fiction with songs so jubilantly alive that they almost make Daniel lose his cool. At a mere 10 tracks, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is over way before you want it to be, but the songs are so good that it's not a bad idea to just start the album again once time expires. From the opening chords of "Don't Make Me a Target," Daniel's cool oozes out of the speakers and, through osmosis, you, the listener, become cool yourself. The growl of the vocal during the chorus shows that the Kill the Moonlight Daniel is back, replacing the lazy noise fills of Fiction with exciting guitar leads. I don't agree with the inclusion of "The Ghost of You Lingers," which is the only step back on the album. The slow, eerie piece detracts from the propulsive energy of the other songs, which is swiftly continued with "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb." Featuring horns and an excellent xylophone breakdown, the song shows that the band is exploring more space in the studio than they ever have before. After a few more tracks of groovy bass and catchy choruses, the album closes with the band's best closer ever, the inexplicably titled "Black Like Me." Daniel starts things off with just some acoustic accompaniment, but eventually the rest of the band joins in the fun with blasting harmonies and "Oh Yeah!"s. It's shorter than the rest of the band's other albums, but in the end, it's probably the best batch of songs they've ever put together.

Key Tracks: "Don't Make Me a Target," "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb," "My Little Japanese Cigarette Case," "Black Like Me"

4. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
This one is kinda hard, because I stole a leak of it before Thanksgiving of last year. I've known this album for what seems like forever, and I feel like what could possibly be said has already been said. However, it needs to be noted (once again) that this is an incredible departure lyrically for Kevin Barnes. Where previously he settled for the mundane musings of quirky storylines, here he focuses on the true depression of an honest heartbreak. This album provides the most profound juxtaposition of the year, as he sets this depressing tone of misplaced love with the most jubilant and celebratory music of his career. While previous work elicited offers from Outback and various cell-phone companies, this collection of songs could only be sought out by the specific groups of dance-obsessed depressives. The most notable example of this comes in the 12+ minute epic, "The Past is a Grotesque Animal," which reflects the exact pain of being rejected by one's beloved while still finding time to throw in the occasional funky bassline. Most of your probably forgot that hi even came out this year because it has so replaced previous perceptions of Of Montreal's philosophy, but if you haven't, then this is an excellent example of an enlightened viewpoint on life and heartbreak.

Key Tracks: "She's a Rejector," "Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider," Labyrinthian Pomp," Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse"

3. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
God, did I try to avoid this bandwagon. Anytime that NME claims a debut record of a band of teenagers to be one of the top five British albums ever, you should avoid that band like the Libertines (who apparently have the plague, as evidenced by Pete Doherty). However, with this second album, the Arctic Monkeys prove themselves to be one of the absolute best rock bands in the world. If you can start out an album with a song as hilarious and energetic as lead single "Brianstorm," and then have that song be the worst one on that record, then you know that you've done something right. It's almost impossible to pick a favorite song off of this record, because all of them are REALLY that good; however, that honor must go to the brutally realistic breakup anthem, "Do Me a Favour." Featuring the quote, "Do me a favor/and ask me to go away," and the closing line, "One last 'fuck off' would be too kind," the song shows that head Monkey has done a lot of growing up since his "I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor" days. The real attribute to this album that is so intriguing, aside from the lyrics and songwriting ability, is that the guitarwork is consistently faster than the drumming. This adds an immediacy to the record which wasn't there on Whatever You Say I Am, That's Exactly What I'm Not. This is a band which feature nobody over 23, which is just plain scary when you think about where they'll go from here. It's like Keven Durant this season: The ceiling might as well be made out of clouds, because sky's the limit.

Key Tracks: "Do Me a Favour," "Balaclava," "505," "D is for Dangerous"

2. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
Jens Lekman may just be Sweden's greatest pop export of all time. No, he didn't write "Dancing Queen" or "Lovefool," but the man may have created an album better than those two classics combined (just kidding. that's impossible). Lekman had hinted at greatness with his previous releases, but he has cemented his place at the vanguard of pop songcraft with this collection of gems. Lekman shows here his uncanny ability to -- in his secondary language -- create profundity out of ordinary situations. The key example here is "Your Arms Around Me," whose chorus sounds like a cliched love song, but the verses prove it to be the story of a bloody mess surrounding an avocado-slicing incident. Another prime example comes in "A Postcard to Nina," which brilliantly tells the true story of when Jens pretended to be the boyfriend of his lesbian friend in order to dispel her father's conservative ideas. From there, the album goes into stories of depressing nostalgia, underwhelming relationships, and drive-in Bingo games. As my brother declared about the Bonnie "Prince" Billy album this year, this album is full of songs to fall in love with. Every listen reveals witty lines which you didn't notice before (before writing this column, I listened to it for the 26th time and noticed lines in every song which I hadn't noticed before). Ladies out there, Jens is -- depressingly -- single and quite handsome. Don't blow this chance.

Key Tracks: "Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo," "A Postcard to Nina," "It Was a Strange Time in My Life," "Kanske Ar Jag Kar I Dig"

1b. Radiohead - In Rainbows
Alright, so I cheated. Technically this didn't come out this year in physical form, so I got to include it while not making an honest ranking on it. For real though, this is the best Radiohead album since the mindblowing Kid A. It's a strange album, as its tracks were pretty much gathered from throwaways from tours over the past few years. However, all of these songs have been reworked into new versions which reflect the specific zone which the band is in right now. The album starts with "15 Step." At first it seems like the band is only getting more electronic; however, the song later proves that the band is going into a jazzier, more R & B sound which accents both Thom Yorke's shockingly soulful falsetto and the band's development into a more mature, more all-encompassing entity. From there the falsetto plays an even greater role, as on the beautiful "Nude" and the Beatles-esque "Faust Arp." It's strange hearing Thom Yorke speak in terms of real love, as he does on "House of Cards" and on "All I Need," but it makes sense in the context of this album. This is, like Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, a record which is not as long as it should be, but that is just a reflection on how great it is.

Key Tracks: "Reckoner," "Arpeggi/Weird Fishes," "15 Step," "Videotape"

1a. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
Animal Collective were another band which I was not comfortable riding the bandwagon for. I had liked certain tracks off of their other albums, but hadn't truly fallen in love with their work until this record. Strawberry Jam is, if this is fair to say, much more of a sequel to Pet Sounds than Smile is. The harmonies present here are incredible, and the band shows that it's okay to make beautiful music without using too many live instruments. The sample-heavy group eschews the acoustic-folk sound which made Sung Tongs so great and confusing and replaces that with an electronic-based sound which proves Avey Tare and Panda Bear to be more intellectual than their previous records may imply. By that same token, the most notable change between this effort and previous works such as Feels is the developed sense of lyrical structure. No longer accepting, "We tigers/we tigers/woop!" as legitimate lyrics, Tare has adopted a more linear philosophy towards songwriting, while Panda Bear has further developed his ability to display his optimistic worldview through song. The opening track, "Peacebone,"finds Tare demonstrating quips such as "The other side of take-out is mildew on rice," which teaches that the most inspiring moments of life come from improvisation. Panda Bear, on the other hand, shows through the manic, "Chores," that life's small responsibilities can turn out to be its simple pleasures. The back-to-back power punch of "For Reverend Green" and "Fireworks" show that AnCo are capable of writing basic rock songs while infusing them with their uncanny ability to build tension. Strawberry Jam ends with the powerful pair of "Cuckoo Cuckoo" and "Derek," which are respectively some of most emotionally revealing work of Tare's and Panda Bear's careers. Now that the band finally reined in its brilliance, their next album should be kind of a big deal.

Key Tracks: "Peacebone," "Unsolved Mysteries," "Chores," "For Reverend Green," "Fireworks," ""Winter Wonder Land," "Cuckoo Cuckoo," "Derek"

I got a day or two behind, but get over it. Have a happy break.

Top Thirsty Albums of 2007: 10-6

2007-12-15T18:09:00.000-08:00

10. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Living With The Living
There's nothing really separating Living from the rest of Ted Leo's catalog, dating all the way back to his Chisel days. It's still loud, fast, catchy, and politically-charged, the way it always has been and most likely always will be. However, it'll never get old, so long as Leo always has enough energy and power to carry his punk monster into the hearts of us all. Really, he's got everything you could possibly want in a rock god: he's a guitar hero, writes awesome lyrics, kicks out the jams, and has terrible teeth. Those jams he kicks out on Living are the best and most consistent he's put out to date. Lead single "The Sons of Cain" starts off the album so fast that you have to assume that Leo's forearm is about to fall off after every take. From there it's a roller coaster ride through Irish drinking anthems ("Bottle of Buckie"), reggae groovers ("The Unwanted Things"), and even a 6+ minute power ballad ("The Toro and the Toreador"). At fifteen tracks, Living is almost completely without filler, making it the strongest and best punk album of the year.

Key Tracks: "La Costa Brava," "Who Do You Love," "Colleen"

9. Okkervil River - The Stage Names
While it lacks to the cohesive brilliance and ultraviolent imagery of Black Sheep Boy, The Stage Names shows Okkervil River to be a more mature, more focused band. The Austin collective show here that, while most of their songs are about jilted or failed rock stars, they have the heart and idealism of the common rock and roll fan. Will Sheff appears wiser on this release, partially because of his lyrics, but mostly because he - for the most part - eschews the Oberstesque whine which held back previous, otherwise great work. That maturity is present from the very start of the album, which opens with the skin-crawling "Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe," where Sheff proclaims, "It's just a house burning/But it's not haunted," showing a surprising optimism in the face of depression. "A Girl in Port" shows a romantic side of Sheff, where he matches his whimsy with pity on a troubled female. In spite of this maturity, Sheff occasionally can't help playing fun games with his songs, such as the rock history exercise, "Plus Ones," in which Sheff adds one to a series of famous rock numbers -- "Nobody wants a tune about your 100th luftballoon." Perhaps the most impressive moment on the album comes at the end on "John Allyn Smith Sails," where the band interrupts its tale at sea by seamlessly seguing into "Sloop John B;" I honestly didn't even notice it until the second time through.

Key Tracks: "Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe," "A Girl in Port," "A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene," "John Allyn Smith Sails."

8. Art Brut - It's a Bit Complicated
Upon first listen, Complicated seems to be a bit of a regression for Art Brut. While Bang Bang Rock and Roll was an exercise in complete punk-rock hilarity, the sophomore album is a band growing into its own, sacrificing ironic one-liners with devoloping songcraft, partially attributed by the addition of rhythm guitarist and consummate showman Jasper Future. However, further listens show that lyric-man Eddie Argos has added poignancy to his bag of tricks, making Complicated a more mature, and in the end, better accomplishment than the critically lauded Rock and Roll. The one-liners are still there, as shown by the so-awkward-it's-true opener, "Pump up the Volume," an ode to the never-ending battle between the lovely lady and the background music for lovemaking. Argos also tops his rock-history love affair of "My Little Brother" with "St. Pauli," where he displays his respect for obscure Eastern European music by saying, "I'm sorry if my accent's flawed/I learned my German from seven inch records." The aforementioned poignancy, however, comes in the second half of the album, most notably on the excellent anthem, "Post Soothing Out." Argos shows his uncanny ability to find the noteworthy out of the mundane in this story of "the saddest text message ever," as Argos turns in his greatest indictment of rock cliches in the quip: "River deep and mountain high/Are lyrics that I'll never write/Because I never lie awake at night/Thinking of river depth and mountain height." In the end, an album which was at first underwhelming proves itself to be the British Boys and Girls in America.

Key Tacks: "Pump Up the Volume," "Post Soothing Out," "People in Love," "Blame it on the Trains"

7. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
If !!!'s Myth Takes is the year's best sleaze party, then Sound of Silver is the best music history lesson. With a shocking lack of pretentiousness, LCD genius James Murphy does more for the Talking Heads career than anything in David Byrne's solo catalog. From top to bottom, this is Murphy's love song to the groove-based idols which came before him. While the eponymous debut was a series of bass-based rave-ups suited for only the hippest of dancefloors, Sound of Silver finds Murphy exploring the more introspective and soulful sides of dance music. The first single, "North American Scum," proves to everyone exactly what everyone at Pitchfork was saying in declaring LCD a punk band. Amid cultured drumwork and funky bass, Murphy throws in clever lines about the American experience such as, "And for those of you who still think we're England/We're like...no." This cleverness stems from the fact that, while Murphy improvised in the vocal booth for almost all of the debut, he went into this album with meticulated lyrics. Nowhere on the album is that more apparent than on the instant classic, "All My Friends," which builds upon from a single keyboard line into a vibrant and complex soundscape. While I would disagree with him on this issue, Murphy sounds so damn sincere when he says, "I wouldn't trade one stupid decision/For another five years of life." The album ends with Murphy turning in his most emotional track to date, with the the crushing, "New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down," which reveals the feelings of an NYC lifer who feels uncomfortable in a post-9/11 environment. The line in the opening verse, "New York you're safer/But you're wasting my time/The records all show/you were filthy but fine." This Woody Allen-esque quip shows that Murphy has more to him than access to a sampler machine, but the rest of the album proves that that sampler machine is pretty damn cool.

Key Tracks: "New York, I Love You..." "All My Friends," "North American Scum," "Watch the Tapes"

6. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
This has been quite a year for Noah Lennox. He starts it out releasing Person Pitch, then follows it up with the even better Strawberry Jam (hint, hint). Lennox transcends the hipster image of "I'm too cool for everything" by presenting a completely optimistic viewpoint on life. He opens his solo epic with the fantastic "Comfy in Nautica," which in its title alone shows that he is happy to enjoy all of life's pleasures, even if they might tread on his indie-cred. The chorus of the song, "Try to remember always/Just to have a good time," is the kind of sage-like advice which we've been looking for in a stoner since the heyday of Timothy Leary. The rest of the album is a demonstration of Beach Boys love mixed with modern technology. The second track, "Take Pills," shows that he has an enlightened viewpoint on his druggy lifestyle, as he proclaims (in perfect harmony), "I don't want for us to take pills anymore." However, it's on the 12+-minute epic, "Bros," that Lennox shows his absolute mastery of auditory bliss. Building around a simple acoustic refrain, he shows that repeating a simple chord progression and adding the occasional perfect vocal accompaniment can prove to be the definition of "music therapy." Though I don't use drugs other than alcohol, I feel like this music is a drug, as it provides an immediate escape into a much better, less judging world. Noah Lennox is a gentle, fragile artist who acts upon his impulses, which is something that more musicians these days should strive to become. It also doesn't hurt that the title, Person Pitch, demonstrates the extent of his musical gifts.

Key Tracks: "Comfy in Nautica," "Take Pills," "Bros," "Good Girls/Carrots"

Top Thirsty Albums of 2007: 15-11

2007-12-14T19:33:00.000-08:00

15. Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog

Sam Beam has really been on a roll recently, coming off of the two excellent EPs, In the Reins (with Calexico) and Woman King. The new LP builds on the magic of those two EPs, taking the intensity of Woman King and utilizing the musicianship of Reins. "Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car" tricks the listener at first into thinking that this will be another low-fi campfire affair with the bearded singer, but once the drums and piano kick in, it becomes abundantly clear that this is a fuller, more mature affair. The tracks that follow create a more diverse sound than anything Beam has put out before, from the trippy pagan-folk of "White Tooth Man" to the "I didn't know that wanted to do it to Iron and Wine" funk of "Wolves (Song of the Shepherd's Dog." On "Innocent Bones," Beam even busts out the leis and limbo poles for a nice calypso jam, complete with enough ratchet to satisfy even the most stubborn land-lubber. The brilliant lines don't come as frequently as on a Will Oldham or John Darnielle affair, but it's nice to see that Iron and Wine has finally broken through to new musical territory. Perhaps one day Beam will even be able to put that whole Garden State thing behind him.

Key Tracks: "Wolves (Song of the Shepherd's Dog)," "Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car," "White Tooth Man," "Flightless Bird, American Mouth"

14. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha

When I was but a wee tot, my friend Thomas Jefferson told me that all men are created equal. I doubted this when I first saw Michael Jordan play basketball, and now that I've witnessed Andrew Bird, I know that ole' TJ was full of baloney. I will never be as smart, talented, or good looking as Andrew Bird. I will never be able to write an entire song which features palindromic lyrics. I will never be able to play the violin and xylophone at the same time. I will never be able to whistle into registers only audible by canines. Most importantly, though, I will never be capable of writing as perfect a chorus as "Plasticities." While in his previous work Andrew Bird made clear his prodigiousness and his sense of melody, never has he combined these two elements as much as on Apocrypha. Hell, I'll be honest, I don't know what half of the song titles mean on this album, but I'll be damned if Bird doesn't create beauty out of an unreasonable IQ. You know a great album when you can't think of a logical step forward for the artist, and that is the exact feeling the listener gets when listening to this work.

Key Tracks: "Plasticities," "Heretics," "Scythian Empires"

13. Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
A Pitchfork whom I'm too lazy to cite once noted that once Silver Jews released American Water, they became no longer Stephen Malkmus's side project, but instead the ruler by which further Pavement releases would be measured. This is the same relationship which Spencer Krug experiences between Wolf Parade, his significantly more famous band, and Sunset Rubdown, his significantly better band. Shut Up I Am Dreaming proved that Krug was the driving force behind Wolf Parade's more experimental tendencies, but it did not separate itself from the pack in the same way that Random Spirit Lover does. Spirit is a dense, difficult, indulgent work, though it proves to be more and more rewarding with each listen. Song such as "The Mending of the Gown" display Krug's prowess on the keys, while still showing his impeccable sense of songcraft. Sunset Rubdown songs require a certain inquisitiveness of the listener, as he never has a clue as to what might come next. While unorthodox and completely modern, Rubdown creates the most epic and expansive pop music of anybody in the Canadian -- or, with the exception of Animal Collective, American -- music scene.

Key Tracks: "Trumpet, Trumpet, Toot! Toot!," For the Pier (And Dead Shimmering)," "The Taming of the Hands that Came Back to Life"

12. Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends
Les Savy Fav hadn't come out with an album since 2001's hit-and-miss Go Forth, and then they dropped this bomb on the world. Let's Stay Friends shows no signs of weariness or slowing down, but also adds a reflectiveness not present in the band's younger days. "Pots and Pans," the opener, seems to be an autobiographical tale about a loud, obnoxious band who most people hate but some people think are awesome. Sounds pretty accurate. They've gotten rid of all the disco/synth elements which held Go Forth back so much, and replaced them with a newly energized rock sound which hasn't been matched since the Emor EP. First single, "The Equestrian," finds Tim Harrington shredding his vocal chords above agit-punk accompaniment, only to bring it all in for a terrific blast of a chorus. The following track, "The Year Before the Year 2000," shows that Harrington can do more that just scream, turning in the catchiest chorus of album and closing things out with a delightful fist-pumping chance. If "Pots and Pans" proves a newfound maturity, "Rage in the Plague Age" shows that the band still remembers what it was like to be young and to have a good time. The ode to youthful debauchery delivers the Les Savy Fav's life credo: "Pull up the drawbridge/Draw down the blinds/Everyone inside is getting high tonight/Waiting for the plague to move one/Nobody's getting sober til the liquor's all gone!" Drink accordingly.

Key Tracks: "Rage in the Plague Age," "Patty Lee," "Year Before the Year 2000," "Scotchguard the Credit Card"

11. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
Most comeback albums either feature a bunch of old farts trying to recreate "that old magic" and failing miserably, or trying something new to prove that they were doing something during all those lost years. Fortunately, Beyond demonstrates neither of these qualities, as there is absolutely nothing on this record that Dinosaur Jr. haven't already done, and it thus sounds like the logical successor to their classic 1989 Bug. Sure, J. Mascis may be a fat, white-haired casualty of years of smoking his brains out, but I'll be damned if he can't still wail on the guitar and deliver the most endearingly sincere vocals of any of his contemporaries. Lead singles, "Almost Ready," and "Been There all the Time," display in full form the freewheeling rock and roll of previous gems like "In a Jar" or "Tarpit." Lou Barlow and Murph still make up a fantastic rhythm section with Murph's tight -- if not predictable -- fills and Lou's "it may look like a bass but I'm gonna play this son of a bitch like a guitar" approach. The most exciting aspect of the album, though, is that, possibly as a result of that pot smoking, Mascis is still in the exact same emotional state as he was in 1989. "We're Not Alone" might be the band's most heart-wrenching song to date, but it still features the uplifting chorus line, "I wanted you to say that you'd be around, like you are now." With that simple line, Mascis seems to apologize completely for all those years of feuding with Barlow, and now that they're together again it's obvious how much of a shame it is that this didn't happen sooner.

Key Tracks: "We're Not Alone," "This is all I Came to Do," "Been There all the Time."

Top Thirsty Albums of 2007: 20-16

2007-12-13T10:39:00.001-08:00

20. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Ask Forgiveness
The last time that Will Oldham was associated with a covers record, it was with Tortoise on The Brave and the Bold. That collection was hit or miss, with excellent versions of "Born to Run" and "That's Pep!," but occasionally suffered from the backing band's overindulgences. This time, it's just Oldham, Greg Weeks, and Meg Baird, and the songs are all Oldham's own selections. The source material is varied and probably marks the first time that Danzig, R. Kelly, and Bjork are all mentioned in the same sentence. In spite of such a wide range of influences, including some of Oldham's more obscure favorites, the 8-song EP is cohesive and feels like another Bonnie "Prince" Billy album. In fact, the one original on the album - the beautiful "I'm Loving the Street" - blends in so well with the rest of the songs that you start asking yourself who wrote it originally. That is the essence of what makes this album so great - Oldham takes these songs and makes them his own, adding the same mountain-man quiver to them as he does to his own. Only through Oldham's voice could Glenn Danzig sound like a sensitive introspective as he does on the "Am I Demon?" interpretation. Also, this further proves that Oldham has a genuine respect for R. Kelly (as he should). For a while he was doing a hilarious and not-at-all-ironic live version of "Ignition," which I expected to be on this album; however, he opts to do "The World's Greatest," which is an even better choice. Any white folk singer who can make you say to yourself, "You know, that R. Kelly may be a sexual deviant, but he sure can turn a phrase," is clearly doing something.

Key Tracks: "Am I Demon?," "The World's Greatest"

19. !!! - Myth Takes
The world's punniest dance-rock band wastes no time letting you know that they're going to set your house on fire, and that you are going to like it. Equipped with quite possibly the greatest title for a rock song ever - "Bend Over Beethoven" - and enough profanity to melt a priest's ears, Myth Takes is a party that's gonna get busted by the cops at any moment. While their previous effort, Louden Up Now, established the band's sense of humor and their love for groovy bass, Myth Takes tightens up !!!'s sound to a point that it could be legitimately played on a dancefloor without too many heads turning. "All My Heroes are Wierdos" finds singer Nic Offer dabbling in falsetto, which should be a relief to those found his voice a tad obnoxious on past works. In addition to featuring the best bass line of 2007, "Must Be the Moon" also has my favorite slice of pure filth in a while -- "She said love is love, but a f*** is what it is/And what's that?/She must have read my mind/Cause she looked into my eyes and she said 'A good time.'" I think that line pretty much sums up the album: it's so much fun that you'll probably have to shower and go to confession afterwards.

Key Tracks: "Must Be the Moon," "Bend Over Beethoven," "Break in Case of Anything"

18. Menomena - Friend and Foe
Certainly the best new band of the year, Menomena combine two of my favorite things: baritone sax and The Muppets. Like Battles with a soul or a three-piece Broken Social Scene, Menomena craft intense, creative, experimental songs which build off of three vocalists and powerful, driving rhythm section. The album's tone is the only thing I've ever heard which comes close to the icy, apocalyptic sound of TV on the Radio's Return to Cookie Mountain. However, that's not to say that this album is all doom and gloom. There's a sweetness to the songs that isn't common among their contemporaries, and it seems like they're genuinely having a lot of fun in the studio, adding laptop blips and whistling to the mix for extra melody. Supposedly, their writing approach consists of looping instrumentals until melodies come along, which would explain the chanting style of much of the album. With all three members singing and playing multiple instruments, the band plays off each other impeccably, allowing them to take their songs into new directions on a whim. With such a creative and unique breakthrough as this album is, I can only wonder what can come next from these guys.

Key Tracks: "Wet and Rusting," "Muscle n' Flo," "Air Raid"

17. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
I feel like if this album had come out a month ago, then I would easily have put it in my top 5. Unfortunately, I've had the time to listen to it over and over again since it came out in March. I'll start with the good things: The production values and recording space of Neon Bible allow for a larger, more dramatic sound than other stuff of theirs. Also, the first four tracks and a couple on the back end sound as good as pretty much anything off of Funeral. If this was anyone other than the band who put out Funeral, then this album would be a revelation.
Now for the bad: the lyrics on this album are terrible. There were the occasional missteps on Funeral, but those lyrics were about personal issues that Win Butler and the band were going through at the time, so they came off as sincere. Here, Butler tries to tackle issues which are too big for him. When I heard Funeral, my reaction wasn't, "Wow, I wonder what this guy thinks about the future of civilization;" it was, "Wow, that guy is leaving it all out there and everyone in the band is on the same page." Moving on to global issues takes away half of what makes the Arcade Fire so great: the absolute emotional catharsis through music. Instrumentally, this album is almost on par with Funeral, but it does lack the explosions of "Wake Up" or "Neighborhood #2." Live, the band doesn't seem as comfortable in the role of "prophets of doom," substituting unparalleled energy with fancy stage set-ups and media clips. That said, "Intervention" is still an amazing song and the only song without a heavy hand, "No Cars Go," is improved upon in its remake. By no means am I off of the Arcade Fire bandwagon, but I just feel like this album was more of a step back than most people thought at first.

Key Tracks: "Intervention," "Black Mirror," "Keep The Car Running," "My Body is a Cage"

16. The National - Boxer
The National seem to have survived the "Great New York Hype" label better than the others that came out in 2001. Six years later, the band is still doing exactly what it always did best: boozy, melancholic tunes dripping with baritone and ego. There's nothing as audaciously vain as Alligator's "I used to be carried in the arms of cheerleaders," from the breathtaking "Mr. November," but the stories are in still full form. Boxer is more immediately inviting than its predecessor, with the drums going at a consistently faster pace and Matt Berringer expanding his vocal range. He still sounds like a favorable mix of Paul Banks and Leonard Cohen, but he works on more harmonies than usual. As always, though, the real focus of this National album is on the lyrics. Every song, like "Hang on, Siobhan" from the Walkmen's Bows and Arrows, makes the listener feel as if he is stumbling out of a New York bar at closing time, either having just had his heart broken or looking for a new party. In "Apartment Story," Berringer pleads, "Can you carry my drink?/I've got everything else/I can tie my tie/All by myself," displaying his constant image of "sleazy guy at the cocktail party." Like Britt Daniel, Berringer seems utterly obsessed with being cool, but he's never too cool to take a jab at himself, as on "Green Gloves," when he says, "Cinderella through the room/I glide and swan cause/I’m the best slow dancer in the universe." If you can't afford to move to New York and become a handsome alcoholic, then just buy this album instead.

Key Tracks: "Fake Empire," "Mistaken for Strangers," "Apartment Story"

15-11 coming tomorrow!

Top Thirsty Albums of 2007: 25-21

2007-12-12T14:32:00.000-08:00

25. Battles - Mirrored
Building on the promise of EP B + C, Battles returned in 2007 with the frantic, cerebral Mirrored. Equal parts Lightning Bolt and Rush, Battles creates (mostly) instrumental math-rock with a penchant for illogical song structures constantly shifting time signatures. In spite of the constant groove of the surprisingly minimal drumkit, the rhythm is based around pedal-doused guitar. Seriously, there's enough riffage on this record to make a rock and roll salad. Also, Battles stray from their previous recordings by adding vocals to the mix for the first time. That's not to say that there's "intelligible lyrics" or anything like that. Instead, the vocals swirl through the laptop and become and instrument on their own. Mirrored's tasty grooves lend its songs easily to a hip-hop remix, but they are surprisingly danceable on their own. Like a talented author or a veteran band, Battles seem to have complete control over the way which the audience receives their music. Just when you get settled into a comforting melody, a crushing cymbal or thundering riff comes out of left field. Not for the twee crowd, but Mirrored is an album that will intrigue you and pulverize you in the same listen.

Key Tracks: "Atlas," "Tonto," "Rainbow"

24. Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
Beards! Spanish language! Random lyrics! Guest Stars!
These factors can only add up to one thing, and that thing is a new Devendra Banhart record. Like everything else in his catalog, listening to this record the first time through, you're thinking things like, "What the hell is this guy on?" and "Was this recorded this century?" and "Did he just say 'In 1902, the Devil sucked off the moon'?" Also like every other one of his records, further listens reveal random moments of poignancy and musical exploration. There isn't an instant classic such as "Little Yellow Spider" or "Heard Somebody Say," but there are still a number of gems throughout this quirky record. "Seahorse" finds the singer rolling through over eight minutes of classic rock, not unlike one of the longer passages on The Crane Wife. "Saved" finds Banhart wearing his gospel-choir robe, as he backs up a touching religious ode with a powerful organ and a full choir. Of course there are some throw-away tracks, but at 16 tracks, Smokey still has enough quality songs to flesh out a complete album.

Key Tracks: "Seahorse," "Shabop Shalom," "So Long Old Bean"

23. Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew - Spirit If...
The fact that Kevin Drew opted to add the "BSS Presents" to his name on his first solo LP is very telling of the music that follows. The record is not Drew trying to "show his real personality" or "explore new territory" or do anything that singers from great bands claim to do when they go solo. Instead, as the name and the frequent guest appearances from fellow Scenesters suggest, this album sounds like another BSS album. Which is great. The only differences here are that a) Drew wrote all of the songs on this one and b) there aren't as many horns or or strings or wacky instrumentation. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Drew's songwriting is how overtly homo-erotic the lyrics are while he publicly dates certified mega-babe Leslie Feist. In the same vein as "I'm Still Your Fag" and "Lover's Spit," "T.B.T.F." and "Backed Out on the..." demonstrate strong, if titularly veiled, gay sentiments. Regardless, the latter of those songs features J. Mascis playing lead rock-stick, so you know that shit is the bomb. If you like the Scene and can't wait for the next record, this one should hold you over just fine.

Key Tracks: "T.B.T.F.," "Farewell to the Pressure Kids," "Backed Out on the..."

22. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
Usually when Wilco puts out an album, I can safely just throw it at number one and move on. This is still a great record, but it's probably only better than A.M. in their rich catalog, and I'm not saying that because it's "dad rock" as Pitchfok accused it of being. In fact, those "dad rock" songs, "Hate it Here," "Be Patient With Me," "On and On," and "Walken" are right up there with the cream of the Wilco crop. However, the rest of the album is unfortunately formulaic. I usually turn to Wilco to mix the classic with the completely unexpected. However, while at first all of these songs were super badass, they kind of all become the same: Slow intro, a verse or two, a chorus or two, then let's hand the ball over to Nels. It's like when A-Rod joined the Yankees: Add the best player in baseball to an already incredible lineup, it's a no-brainer. Four seasons and zero World Championships later, and people start second-guessing you for building you franchise around a flashy superstar. That was Jeter's team, just as Wilco was Tweedy's team, and the shift in power has taken its toll on the music. Nels Cline's contribution to the Ghost is Born Tour were excellent, but he was just adding on to Tweedy's songs. Now that Nels is in the band, though, they have completely changed their approach to songwriting. The only songs on which this approach really succeed are "Side With the Seeds" and "Impossible Germany," and the former blatantly rips off Pavement's "Stop Breathing." Seriously, juxtapose them and tell me I'm wrong.

Key Tracks: "Hate it Here," "Walken," "What Light," "Impossible Germany."

21. Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
If you like records that are impossibly fun but you have no idea why they're fun, then Friend Opportunity is for you. The band follows Newton's 5th law of physics which states: 3/4(Noise Rock) + 1.5(Prog Rock) X 2(Adorable Asian Girl Singer) = Happy Action Fun Time. To call Friend Opportunity a "pop album" would be a complete misnomer by most standards, but when compared with the band's previous works, that description is pretty accurate. Starting off with a timewarp into a cowbell-filled utopia, "The Perfect Me" sets the stage for everything that's to come: random noise, cool riffs, and jarringly innocent and sweet lyrics. Nowhere on this album is that better used than on "Kidz are So Small," a bizarre track that sounds like a mix between a broken sampler machine and a Hello Kitty cartoon character doing an Ella Fitzgerald impression. With its blend of so many styles and genres while also creating a completely original style, Friend Opportunity puts Deerhoof at the forefront with Animal Collective and Sunset Rubdown of innovative pop music.

Key Tracks: "Matchbook Seeks Maniac," "+81," "The Galaxist."

20-16 will come tomorrow!

Top Thirsty Albums of 2007: 30-26

2007-12-11T11:49:00.000-08:00

30. Daft Punk - Alive 2007

I was not fortunate enough to witness Daft Punk's epic live show this year, but from what I've come to understand from friends and buzz sites, it was pretty epic. Everyone who saw their show, however, only talked about their stage setup, which featured a giant lit-up pyramid with the Punks atop dressed as robots. This live CD, which is not accompanied by a DVD of any kind, demonstrates just how amazing this live show must have been apart from the aesthetic bombardment. Instead of simply pressing play on their long list of hit singles, DP opted to remix all of their tracks live, mashing up some of the biggest electronic songs of the past decade. The setlist also spans their entire discography going all the way back to their debut, Homework. This results in some jaw-dropping mixes, such as the borderline unfair mix of "Around the World/Harder Better Faster Stronger." This probably would have been higher up on the list if it weren't a live album, but the sound quality is just as good as most studio recordings. The only thing keeping you from blasting this gem at a house party is the annoying cheering of the Parisian audience.

Key Tracks: "Around the World/Harder Better Faster Stronger," "One More Time/Aerodynamic," "Da Funk/Dadftendirekt."

29. The Sea and Cake - Everybody
The Sea and Cake were a band that I was actually fortunate enough to see live this year, and their performance transformed this record in my mind from "pretty good record from old guys whom I like," to "really good record from one of my favorite bands." The Sea and Cake are always reliable, with hardly any missteps in their long catalog. However, with their past few records, it seemed like the band had settled into their comfort zone and it didn't look like they were going to stray from their formulaic electro-jazz-post rock-pop routine. This album isn't a major departure by any means, but it does feature some of the band's best hooks since its Nassau days. The guitar work also takes a more muscular sound, with Sam Prekop and Archer Prewitt playing off each other in more dynamic ways. As always, John McEntire's drumming is a subtle delight, punching out time signatures you didn't know existed and the best hardly audible fills in the business. Also, Prekop here shows that he's still got a little bit of soul left in his vocals as he turns out his most varied delivery in a long time.

Key Tracks: "Up on Crutches," "Lightning," "Crossing Line."

28. Feist - The Reminder
If indie rock has a Brangelina, then it would be Leslie Feist and Kevin Drew (Lesvin? Dreist? No wonder there's no such thing as Hipster People). Two of the most innovative and beautiful people in the industry are an official item, giving them the award for "Most Jealousy-Inducing Double Date." In case you somehow haven't seen the iPod commercial featuring "1234," or for some reason thought it was Cat Power at first (guilty as charged), Feist established herself this year as one of the foremost female voices in music. Fans of Broken Social Scene have known for years about her jazzy, sultry vocals, but The Reminder should prove to be her breakthrough album, putting her on the same Starbucks shelves as Norah Jones and Akeelah and the Bee. What separates Feist from her sad-core counterparts Cat Power and Regina Spektor is that half of her songs feel like they should be duets with The Chairman of the Board. Her background in punk and indie rock make for an intriguing and lovely blend with her natural lounge act voice.

Key Tracks - "1234," "Sea Lion Woman," "My Moon My Man," "The Park."

27. Elliott Smith - New Moon
This (obviously) is not technically a new Elliott Smith album, and it's not unfinished business like the posthumous From a Basement on the Hill. This double-LP is a collection of outtakes from the recording sessions for Either/Or and XO, arguably Smith's most fertile period of quality output. Seeing as how it isn't a proper album, it doesn't flow in the same way that his other stuff does. However, this gives the listener the opportunity to give closer attention to individual tracks, and some of the tracks on this collection match up favorably to some of the singer's best work. "High Times" reflects the druggy desperation of Smith's first two albums, matching the gritty vocal of "Roman Candle." "Georgia, Georgia" feels like a sequel to the classic "Southern Belle," and Smith's version of the oft-covered version of Big Star's "Thirteen" is among the best and most sincere versions of the song. The collection probably could've been condensed into one disc, but there's still a rich amount of quality material here.

Key Tracks: "Miss Misery (Early Version)," "High Times," "Thirteen," "New Monkey."

26. Caribou: Andorra
Caribou is essentially a vanity project for math-whiz Dan Snaith, in spite of the fact that he has put together a rather formidable live band. 2005's The Milk of Human Kindness was a pretty but boring affair. Andorra, however, drenches itself in harmony and melody that makes it a powerful love affair with the 1960's in the same vain as Animal Collective and Dungen. Caribou, however, keeps to more electronic instrumentation and layers all of his vocals himself. The album starts suddenly with "Melody Day," which eventually proves itself to be a missing track from Odyssey and Oracle. The rest of the album has some true standout tracks of sheer beauty, such as the dreamy "She's the One," with its doo-wop backing vocals, and the Pet Sounds slow burn of "Desiree." Most of the tracks on the album are named after women, but it takes a few listens to find the emotion behind the studio wizardry.

Key Tracks: "Desiree," "She's the One," "After Hours.

Check in tomorrow for 25-21!

Top Thirty Albums of 2007, Part 1

2007-12-10T19:10:00.000-08:00

When I decided to do a "Best Of 2007" list last week, I was going to limit it to ten albums. However, when I looked back on the year in music, there was just too much awesome stuff to keep it at such a small number. I wanted to do 40, but that seemed excessive, so here we are at 30. I'll be doing this in installments for the next few days, and today we'll start with the Honorable Mentions. These are the ten records that would have rounded out the hypothetical top-40, and they are all fantastic in their own right. This list is strictly my personal opinion and only includes albums that I purchased, so if something is missing (The Shins, Band of Horses, M.I.A.) then that just means that I never got around to it this year. Please fill the comment space with albums that I skipped over or possibly just didn't like.

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):

Apostle of Hustle: The National Anthem of Nowhere - This album from Broken Social Scenester Andrew Whiteman has the same pop charm of a BSS album but substitutes the massive instrumentation with a minimalist approach. With many songs inspired by Cuban music, each track on the album has its own unique sound. Why it didn't crack the list: There were already two BSS side projects on the list that were better, and the second half of the album's inability to match power of the first two tracks make it a bit top-heavy. Key Tracks: "My Sword Hand's Anger," "National Anthem of Nowhere."
Air: Pocket Symphony - Air's previous album, Talkie Walkie, did a great job of backing Moon Safari's promise of electro-chill mastery, but it had all the robotic, soulless aspects of a Daft Punk record without all of the funk. In other words, it was kinda boring and French. Pocket Symphony, however, finds Air displaying more raw emotion than ever before and finds them moving away from the electronic roots and moving more into traditional rock territory. Why it didn't crack the list: Like National Anthem, Pocket Symphony is a bit top-heavy. Also, I found myself listening to this album wanting desperately for a funky synth line a la "Sexy Boy." Key Tracks: "Space Maker," "Napalm Love."
Dirty Projectors: Rise Above - Like last year's effort from Artichoke, Never Mind the Bollocks, Dirty Projectors attempt a track-by-track remake of a classic punk record, in this case Black Flag's seminal Damaged. While Artichoke used their folk music to show you that Johnny Rotten was smarter than you remembered, Dirty Projectors use Black Flag's lyrics as inspiration for exploring new musical territory -- Think Sufjan's crazy take on The Beatles' "What Goes On" for the This Bird Has Flown comp. Why it didn't crack the list: Head Projector Dave Longstreth didn't even relisten to the original album when he wrote his covers. While this is impressive that he remembers most of the original lyrics (if not the track listings), he still muffs a lot of the lyrics, which makes that juxtaposition less intriguing. Key Tracks: "Police Story," "Gimme Gimme Gimme."
St. Vincent: Marry Me - St. Vincent wins the award for "Most Enticing Album Title of 2007." Yes, Annie Clark, I will. Not only would the Sufjan Stevens/Polyphonic Spree guitarist's name be Baberaham Lincoln were she a US president, but she also creates fascinating sound-scapes to match her beautiful voice. She's been compared to both Bjork and Ella Fitzgerald, but I find that she's kinda like a female Andrew Bird with a voice like a more confident Chan Marshall. Why it didn't crack the list: Most of the best songs from her live show are not included on the album, which provides hope for her next record. Key Tracks: "Jesus Saves, I Spend," "We Put a Pearl in the Ground."
Ghostface Killah: Tha Big Doe Rehab - The grittiest and most prolific MC of the Wu Tang Clan returns with this apt follow-up to last year's classic FishScale. All of the aspects of a great Ghost album are here, from the cop-evading banger "Yolanda's House" to the sunny day jam "We Celebrate," to the heart-breaking "I'll Die For You." Why it didn't crack the list: For all the great production of the album, it doesn't seem like Ghost is exploring any new territory here. It's probably the best rap album of the year, but this was a really shitty year for rap. Key Tracks: "Yolanda's House," "Supa GFK."
Tokyo Police Club: A Lesson in Crime EP; Black Kids: Wizard of Ahhhs EP - These were two of the most- hyped bands of the year, and for the most part they live up to all of the talk. They each have one of the best songs of the year - TPC's Supergrass-esque rocker "Cheer It On" and BKs' hipster-pop masterpiece, "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You." Each of these EPs shows a great deal of promise and I'm very excited about what's to come from each of these young bands. Why they didn't crack the list: They're short EPs from young, unestablished bands. However, if the follow-up LPs can maintain the urgency and energy of these EPs, then they will be big-time winners. Key Tracks: Crime: "Cheer It On," Citizens of Tomorrow;" Wizard: "I'm Not Gonna...," "Hurricane Jane."
Explosions in the Sky: All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone - In the first and last comparison ever between Ghostface and Explosions, this is once again more of the same from an intriguing artist. Explosions in the Sky is band that must seen live to be truly appreciated, but they've been quite successful in the studio in the past, creating epic post-rock compositions in the same vein as Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Tortoise. This album is no different, but it's also no different sonically than anything else they've ever done. Why it didn't crack the list: Show me something new, tough guy. Key Tracks: Come on, you know that they all sound the same.
Low: Drums and Guns - Other than Of Montreal, Low have created the biggest sonic departure of the year in their new album. Usually hushed and restrained, the Sparhawks branch out into more electronic instrumentation and non-linear song structure after the pop-based The Great Destroyer. Also, perhaps riding the confidence of his solo record, Alan Sparhawk allows himself to bust out more radical guitar parts. Why it didn't crack the list: While is just as beautiful as anything else in the Low catalog, Drums and Guns lacks the lyrical weight of their other work. Key Tracks: "Hatchet," "Breaker."
Thurston: Trees Outside the Academy - In his first song-based solo album since 1994's noisy gem Psychic Hearts, Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore focuses his attention more on pop music, eschewing the distortion and chaos of the band that made him famous. Building off of SY's recent tamer tunes - i.e. "Do You Believe in Rapture," and "Unmade Bed - Trees is a completely different kind of album than we've some to expect from rock's greatest noisemaster. Why it didn't crack the list - Lack of diversity? Whatever, this is a damn good album and it was a tough call. Key Tracks: "Silver>Blue," "Wonderful Witches + Language Meanies."

Check back tomorrow when I'll do 30-26!

Ready Art Brut? Ready!

2007-11-18T22:26:00.000-08:00

After leaving Wednesday night's Jens Lekman show with a huge smile on my face, I left Thursday's Hold Steady/Art Brut party drenched in sweat and with shredded vocal chords. It's not every day that you get to see your favorite American band and your favorite British band sharing the stage, so it was a pretty special night. It was one of the shows where you leave the front of the stage bleeding, but it's from someone trying to hug you instead of moshing. The Hold Steady played a new song called "Stay Positive," which in addition to rocking super hard, really summarized the whole feel of the night.

Art Brut was accompanied by a Powerpoint projected behind them with all of the song titles and the occasional lyric thrown in for emphasis. Eddie Argos seems to have added some new stage moves since the band last came to Austin, but he still pulled out the classics like the microphone cord jump rope. Now with another album's worth of tasty meta-punk, Art Brut proved once again that there's no cooler band in the world. For all that's written about how talentless they are, Jasper Future and Ian Catskilkin are a mighty fine guitar duo. As I think he does at every show, Argos flung himself into the crowd during "Modern Art," but the cool thing about this time is that I was close enough for him to give me a big, nasty, sweaty hug. Highlights were "Emily Kane," which I think is one of the most genuine love songs written this decade, "Post-Soothing Out," and a "Good Weekend"/"Formed a Band" medley which closed out the set. For a second I was concerned that The Hold Steady wouldn't be able to match up to Art Brut's level of rocktitude, but then I remembered that they were the Hold Steady and I punched myself in the face.

The Hold Steady established that they were about to take us on a sleazy journey as soon as they walked onstage, each equipped with a different adult beverage, ranging from Tad Kubler's handle of Jim Beam to Franz Nikola's bottle of fine chardonnay to match his vest and infamous moustache. Craig Finn seemed a little bit more dancey than usual, which only added to the positive energy in the packed La Zona Rosa. The set leaned heavily on Boys and Girls in America, but they threw in old classics like "Your Little Hoodrat Friend" and "The Swish." Less dependent on schtick than Art Brut, The Hold Steady made it feel like we were all a bunch of friends drinking together, which essentially we were. There were about 4 new songs thrown into the mix which seemed to continue the band' s route towards classic rock. Craig Finn kept banter to a minimum which was kinda lame, but Galen Polivka picked up the slack by throwing dollar bills and cigarettes into the crowd. The encore was all Almost Killed Me material, closing as always with "Killer Parties," which is a song that I always forget how much I love.

Certainly ranks among the top shows since I've started going to UT. The next big one will be Dinosaur Jr., so there's a good chance that it'll be on par with this one. More importantly, though, LSU is number one again and Thanksgiving is on Thursday.

Turkey...stuffing...beer...tiiiiiight.

Sweden: No Longer Just a Subject of Jamie Lee Curtis's Mockery

2007-11-15T12:23:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty busy the past couple of weeks so I haven't had time to post, but I've been inspired by the resurgence of the Swedish music scene. On Tuesday The Hives released a new record, and last night Jens Lekman played a show at the Parish in Austin, both of which left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside me tumbly.

The Hives have followed a very similar career path to that of The Strokes: Breakthrough album sells huge due to string of popular singles; everyone hates the second album but then realizes a few months later that it's actually better; release third album which isn't revelatory but explores new ideas and sticks enough to the old style to keep old fans happy. I thought that Tyrannosaurus Hives was criminally underrated when it came out a few years ago, and its lack of a popular single caused The Hives to slip into relative obscurity since.

However, their new record, The Black and White Album features a few songs that could put them back in the spotlight where they belong. B & W is by no means as good as T. Hives or as viscerally fast-paced as Veni Vidi Vicious, but the album finds the band trying out plenty of new things. Most notably, Howlin' Pelle Almqvist shows much more vocal range, much like Julian Casablancas did on the third Strokes record. "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.," produced by Pharell Williams, grooves like a Kraftwerk-Queen mashup with Howlin' Pelle busting out his best Les Savy Fav falsetto. You could even argue that he croons on "Won't Be Long," which is the album's strongest track and features a super-groovy synth lead.

All three of the first tracks are potential blockbuster singles, with "You Got it All...Wrong" providing the catchiest chorus of the three. Everybody always calls The Hives "dumb rock," which it most certainly is, but their lyrics -- still hilariously credited to the mysterious Randy Fitzimmons -- are often just as clever as Joey Ramone or Jonathan Richman, which is especially impressive considering that English is their second language. The best example of this is the "school-stinks" closing anthem, "Fall is Just Something That Grownups Invented," which has the same tongue-in-cheek quality as "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" or "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out."

The album is not without its flaws, though. Sometimes the band's newfound experimentation gets the best of them, as on the too-kitschy instrumental, "A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors" which tries to emulate the horror-movie dramatics of the excellent "Diabolic Scheme" off of T. Hives, but just comes off bland. Also, "Puppet of a String" tries a slow vaudeville piano effect while Howlin' Pelle ambles through the lyrics, marking the first time in the man's career that he could be accused of being lazy. Overall though, the album is fun as always and a great way to spend a half-hour. 7/10

Now, on to Jens Lekman

I've been gushing about Jens Lekman since he came out with his stunning Night Falls Over Kortedala a couple months back, so I was pretty ecstatic to find out that he was coming to Austin and playing at The Parish, arguably the best venue in town. Even though I ended up going to the concert alone, drinking the amount that I would have spent on a date, I walked away feeling happier than I ever have following a concert. I saw him at the bar during the opening act and said to him, "Hey Jens, you got a good one for us tonight?" He crawled into his shell and meekly replied, "I sure hope so" and then crept backstage to regather himself.

Shy as he was beforehand, he was an impeccable showman. Accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, he provided all of the necessary beats and background vocals with a loop pedal. After about the third song, he requested that the house lights be turned on in order to "take a look at all you charming people," only to become more nervous when he saw how many people were there. Among the best songs was Kortedala standout "A Postcard to Nina," which he annotated with the full story of playing boyfriend in front of a lesbian friend's father. Also fantastic were "A Pocketful of Money" from When I Said I Wanted to be Your Dog, which ended in a haunting a capella audience singalong and a charming cover of Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al." Also, one of the girls from Architecture in Helsinki, who were doing a set down the street at Emo's, came onstage to dance and do backing vocals on "The Opposite of Hallelujah." Normally I don't like to listen to band for at least an hour after seeing them live, but I was singing along to Jens on my bike the entire ride home.

Check back tomorrow when I will hopefully have an update on tonight's epic Art Brut/Hold Steady show. Top of the Pops!

Fun Fun Fun Fest Recap

2007-11-04T19:36:00.001-08:00

So this weekend was Fun Fun Fun Fest, the newer, smaller, more indie-focused music festival in Austin. It's a very different environment than that of ACL for a number of reasons. First of all, the November weather is much more conducive to a day in the park than the September hear. Also, FFFFest brilliantly got rid of the hour-long wait between acts at most festivals by splitting each stage so that one band could set up while the other band played, making it a maximum of ten minutes between shows. Most importantly, however, FFFFest is far stinkier than ACL. As I touched on earlier, FFFFest is only indie bands, metal bands and DJs, who all have incredibly stinky fans. The entire place reeked of vintage elitism. Regardless, it was a fun time...

Day 1

I started my day at Okkervil River, who most recent album has been in constant rotation on my iPod. Singer Will Sheff, clad in a nice three-piece suit, occasionally let his emotions get the best of him, with his voice occasionally cracking and quavering due to his on-stage freakouts. Regardless, standouts such as "For Real" and "Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe" sounded great as the band had a much meatier sound than they have on their records.

Immediately after Okkervil on the same stage was Of Montreal, who are always impossibly fun live. They didn't play anything older than Satanic Panic in the Attic, but their mostly-drum machine based set certainly had the crowd in a frenzy. I didn't take any pictures, but the costumes were obviously over the top and hilarious. With about fifteen minutes left in their
set, the lights went out and Kevin Barnes thought that he was being kicked off the stage so he threw a fit and ended early. However, they sorted everything out and came back out for a "totally unironic" cover of "Purple Rain. I never thought I'd say this about anyone, but Barnes might just be a bit too effeminate to carry The Purple One's classic.

The New Pornographers followed, with a set leaning heavily on their recent Challengers disc. Fortunately, all three core members are on this tour, with Carl Newman and Neko Case singing the whole time and Dan Bejar occasionally putting down his beer and coming onstage to sing. As much as I love their records, the New Pornographers really aren't a terribly exciting live band. Perhaps it was because I just noticed that Carl Newman has a lisp or maybe it was that they focused on material which was a bit boring, but nobody other than Bejar seemed to have any kind of stage presence. In spite of that, "Mass Romantic", "Jackie Dressed in Cobras" and "Myriad Harbour" were all beautiful and fun to see live.

After this I went to the hip-hop stage to see Girl Talk which was the disappointment of the festival. I'd been pretty into Night Ripper for a few months, so I was pretty pumped to go to a big dance party and watch Greg Gillis spin. He certainly had a lot of energy, as he invited everyone onstage to dance around to his set. The problem was that A) I had a bunch of stinky indie kids touching me from all over the place and B) the set was pretty terrible. While Girl Talk's albums are fluid and focused on recognizable parts of popular songs, the live set was pretty meandering and annoying. Disappointed, I made my way to Explosions in the Sky, who were pretty incredible. All of the songs they played were intertwined, and they alternated between beautiful energy lows to bone-crunching highs. Their songs moved so fluidly that they would start shredding and pounding on the drums and you wouldn't even notice until your ears started to hurt.

Day 2:

The Day 2 lineup was not quite as rich, but the two bands that I wanted to see were both very intriguing. The first was Ted Leo and his Pharmacists, who I had seen the year before at ACL. Ted Leo is one of my very favorite musicians working today, because he delivers on absolutely every level. He's a guitar hero, and excellent lyricist, and most importantly he's a showman. The energy level onstage was amazing, with everyone from Leo to his Will Oldham-looking drummer seemed hellbent on making everyone in the audience certain that they were at a punk rock show. There were notable omissions from the setlist such as "The High Party" and "La Costa Brava", but "Biomusicology" was a nice surprise, as was their super-fun cover of Daft Punk's "One More Time".

The last band I saw at the festival was Battles, who were far and away the most bizarre show of the weekend. The instrumental math rock group with the super groovability was very technically proficient, with two members playing piano with one hand and guitar with the other. All four members played at incredible speed and showed a great knack for combining sounds in
interesting ways, but it was apparent that these people were not normal people. It seemed like they were trying to do "rock moves", but it all ended up looking like a bunch of muscle spasms. It was a bit disconcerting how much they relied on pedals and computers, making it hard to tell when they were actually playing and when they were playing a loop or a recording, but they were nonetheless very impressive with their mastery of their instruments.

So that was Fun Fun Fun Fest in a nutshell. Cat Power is playing as I'm writing this, but I skipped her to come home and watch Curb Your Enthusiasm. I figure if I missed the LSU, Texas, and Colts games this weekend, I at least owed myself some Larry David.

It's 4:40 and Kevin Durant is Still My Personal Savior

2007-11-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

You may be aware of the fact that there is a rookie basketball player in the NBA named Kevin Durant and that last year in college he wore a beautiful burnt orange jersey on the court. Well, two games in and KD looks even better than I thought he would. 18 points in the first game followed by a brilliant 27-point performance against the Suns last night. Granted, he was a less-than-great 7-23 shooting in the first game, but the important part is that he was able to get off 23 shots. Turns out that it doesn't matter if he can bench press no more than 185; if you're lankier than Tayshaun Prince and Stretch Armstrong's lovechild, then you can shoot the ball over anybody.

You can tell a superstar on a team by the aura that surrounds him when he plays. Just like when you watch LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, you can't help but fix your eyes on number 35. While it's upsetting that we don't get to watch KD play in the same league as Gred Oden this year, it puts the microscope that much tighter on Durant. He could handle the spotlight in high school and college, but it will be interesting to see how he handles it on the world's biggest stage. I honestly don't think it'll affect him, because I'm not sure that he's aware that he even has fans -- or sometimes, teammates. He's simply a basketball savant, like Boobie Miles before his tragic injury. I'm just super excited to watch this former 'Horn blow up so I don't feel so bad that I missed VY in college by one year. Just imagine if Vince had stuck around for one year -- Heisman trophy winner and unanimous POY award winner at the same school...alas.

Speaking of alas, I'm at a crossroads this weekend about how I will entertain myself. On one end, Fun Fun Fun Fest is this Saturday and Sunday, so I'll get to see Ted Leo, New Pornographers, Girl Talk, Battles, Explosions in the Sky, Zykos, and MC Chris. On the other hand, there are three of the most highly anticipated football games of the year this weekend in ASU-Oregon, LSU-Alabama, and The Sporting Event Which Will Alter History and Change/End Lives. Fact is, I already bought a ticket, so I'm going to the festival, but it's not something I'm necessarily proud of. I'd pay a good deal of money to see some Manning Face on Nick Saban this weekend.

Have a good weekend, knuckleheads. Goodnight Canada.

Thoughts on Saturday

2007-10-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

After BC got my hopes up before crushing me in the last two minutes, the weekend would only get more frustrating. The Texas Longhorns have to be the single most infuriating team in the country. This was true two years ago, but this year they're pissing off their own fans. For all the talent and support that this program has, they continually disappoint and underachieve. Now, reading the previous sentences, you would think that the Horns had lost yesterday; after the game I had to be reminded that we had won. Aside from the Baylor game, the fourth quarter of the TCU game, and the OU game minus the fumble, comfortable moments during football games have come few and far between. Here are reasons:

The Longhorns have become the "cool team". While it's nice to see people from coast to coast in beautiful burnt orange, it seems to have a negative effect on the players. The level of cockiness on this team is ridiculous, with the players prancing around like they're the 90's U. It's this attitude of invincibility that led to all those pre-season arrests.
We're massively overrated, every year. Pre-season rankings have a lingering stench on all college football seasons, and all they seem to do is cause disappointment. It's pretty obvious now that we never had any business being ranked in the top ten at any point. We have top ten talent, but we are by no means a top ten team.
Greg Davis eats puppies

For real.

We don't have any kind of power back. Charles can't run tackle to tackle, yet we keep trying to jam his skinny ass through there. All he needs to do is watch footage of how well that dancing in the backfield stuff has worked for Reggie Bush so far in the NFL. However, it should be noted that Charles' game on Sunday was an absolute classic. About midway through the fourth quarter, I turned to my friend at the game and said, "Wow, I bet Charles ends up with over 150 yards." Well, he ended up with 290 and I'm an idiot.

In other college football news, check out this play from Trinity College yesterday. You probably saw it on ESPN all day, but watch it again and check out the play-by-play, masterfully done by Jonny Wiener. Jonny was a guy who I grew up with and now does the Trinity football broadcasts. It's pretty neat.

Boston leads 1-0 in the fifth. Looks like I'll have a clean face tomorrow.

Wednesday Shuffle Shakedown

2007-10-24T13:40:00.000-07:00

If you live in Austin and get The Onion print edition every week or if you keep up with the publication regularly, then you're likely familiar with the A.V. Club's "Random Rules" feature. If not, it consists of a celebrity putting his or her iPod on shuffle and justifying or explaining the first few songs that come up. No skipping is allowed, period. Because this is a slow week in music and because I will likely never be asked by the A.V. Club to do this, I'm going to take on this challenge personally, and I'm going to try to do this every Wednesday. First five songs, here we go.

1. Ghostface Killah featuring Raekwon - "R.A.G.U."
This is one of the more laid back tracks off of last year's EXCELLENT FishScale LP. I think I've come to the realization that Ghostface is one of maybe five rappers that I legitimately enjoy. I know it's the cool thing now to pretend that you're as into rap and electronic music as you're into old-fashioned rock and roll, but I find that someone as emotional and varied as Ghost comes along very rarely in hip hop.

2. Destroyer - "From Oakland to Warsaw"
From Your Blues, this song features chimes and lush string arrangements, making it huge and gaudy even by Dan Bejar's standards. Even though I do love it when he gets big and Bowie, I think that I prefer Bejar in more stripped-down settings, like most of Streethawk: A Desire. In songs like "From Oakland to Warsaw," the arrangements can get in the way of Bejar's uniquely emotive voice. After seeing Sunset Rubdown, I would absolutely love to see how Spencer Krug and Dan Bejar would sound together onstage in there side project Swan Lake.

3. Decemberists - "16 Military Wives"
Yeah, the one with the video that rips off Rushmore. This song is actually one of my least favorite off of Picaresque, but that by no means makes it a weak song. However, I prefer my Decemberists songs to focus on sea wenches and barrow boys, not heavy-handed political themes. When they played this at ACL this year, Colin Meloy had the audience chanting along with the "la-di-da" part, which was obviously fun. However, he then had everyone chanting along with something to the effect of "the Bush administration is killing American kids," which was not catchy at all. It was almost as awkward as when Common had everyone in the mostly white audience raise their fists Black Panther-style. It seems like in today's musical/political climate, it's impossible to like a band without agreeing with them politically, which can be frustrating; after all, most musicians are d-bags anyways. Regardless, a very catchy tune.

4. King Elementary - "Rebecca"
Awwwwww...

To those poor souls unfamiliar with the Jackson, Mississippi music scene, these guys were the best thing since sliced bread. In one of my classes I'm writing a paper on W.C. Don's, the dive bar where most concerts in Jackson went down, so I've been listening to these guys a lot lately as well as other Jackson mainstays like Champagne Heights and Living Better Electrically. I remember when these guys did an impromptu performance of this song at a house party, and people were going so apeshit that the house literally shook. It was Rock City.

5. The Good Life - "Under A Honeymoom"
This is Tim Kasher from Cursive's acoustic project, which is kinda like Bright Eyes but with a far less warbly and annoying voice. I've only listened to this album a few times before, but I bought it after being briefly obsessed with The Ugly Organ, which remains the only Cursive album I own. This song ends with a beautiful coda of organs and glockenspiel, making it much more epic than most of the rest of the album. I'd recommend this album -- Album of the Year -- to someone looking for a less grizzly M. Ward or a more assertive (smog).

The 6th song was "Explode" by The Cardigans. Damn the fates.

Now, I think that that was fun, and I open the message boards up to anyone who wants to shuffle it up and tell everyone what their first song is. Funniest answer wins. Nothing. Also, boards are available for costume suggestions, as I am still without.

Speaking of Halloween, AMC is doing Monsterfest every night up to the 31st, so last night I stayed up until 2 watching Hellraiser. I think that between that and Nightmare on Elm Street you have two examples of potentially great movies completely marred by obsolete special effects. Clive Barker and Wes Craven owe it to all of us to go George Lucas on those movies so that we can send the Cenobites back to hell with some dignity.

Jocksville:

Game 1: Red Sox 5-Rockies 2. The only things in this world that might be hotter than the Rockies right now are San Diego and Josh Beckett. Too soon?
Kevin Durant has sprained his ankle. Al Horford: consider yourself Ringo because you're next.
NFL Draft will be quicker next year. Fine by me as long as we got the extra time to laugh at Brady Quinn last year.
Tony La Russa returns to St. Louis, thus crushing my hopes of the world's first manager trade with the Yankees.

ybb (Your blogging buddy),
Benji

Monday Night Failure

2007-10-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

So, I had planned to do a Simmons (Gershon?)-style running diary of tonight's Monday Night Football game. It's not that I have a vested interest in the Colts or the Jaguars; it's that Monday Night Football is as hyperbolically self-indulgent as Real Time with Bill Maher, and I felt that it needed to be knocked down a few pegs by the B-man (myself, to the uninitiated). However, right after I wrote out a (hilarious) comment on the motley crew of has-beens that ESPN assembled to join Hank Williams Jr. for the theme song (Brian Setzer AND Richie Sambora??? OMGZ!), my computer decided that it would be turning off abruptly, denying you the general public of my delectable commentary. However, I have a few notes regarding tonight's game.

For the first time ever, you can say this: "You know, I think that the only reason that Tom Brady puts up gaudier numbers than Payton Manning is that he's got a stronger batch of receivers."
I improved to 7-0 in my fantasy league tonight, as Dallas Clark failed to catch 4 touchdowns.
As much as I love him, Tony Kornheiser still feels uncomfortable in the booth. Granted, it could be a little emasculating to know that there's someone in the booth named Jaws and it isn't you, but man up, Tony.
With Marvin Harrison banged up, it is henceforth Kimpossible for Reggie Wayne to retain his title as the "Silent Assassin"
If the Rockies don't win the World Series, then I will continue to grow out my beard until November 4th, when either the Pats or the Colts will pick up their first loss. Worlds will collide.

Also, during the game I noticed this interview on Pitchfork with Devendra Banhart. Usually Pitchfork interviews are too focused on the interviewers "clever" musings, but Joshua Klein does a really good job of focusing the conversation with a notedly unfocused subject. That said, Banhart is a much more well-thought and level-headed guy than one would imagine from his records or his physical appearance. Favorite quote: "The best New York in the world is driving down the [Pacific Coast Highway] listening to the Velvet Underground. That's the best time I've ever been to New York."

Take it sleazy,
Benji

PS: Andrew Bird will be on Conan tonight. Czech it out.
PPS: I was wrong about Dice-K. Get over it.

Blogging Bandwagon Gains New Member

2007-10-21T12:12:00.000-07:00

So this is the inaugural post of the Indie League blog. It seems now that everyone and their computer-literate mama are blogging, and I thought I would join in on all the fun. I wasn't quite sure what I would use this blog for until this afternoon when I was listening to the new Radiohead while monitoring my fantasy football team (5 Tom Brady TDs in the first half...money), and I realized that I could post musings on both music and sports, as well as college life in Austin. If I do this right, then this could be the greatest convergence of the two since Garth Brooks donned a Padres uni. I'll also be talking about random things as they come, and possibly posting lit submitted by myself and readers if anyone's interested.

Let's talk sports and why I hate being in college.

In this the craziest college football season in recent memory, the level of couch-sitting necessity is at an all-time high. From when I rise at the crack of noon to when I finally get dressed around 10 PM, Saturdays are reserved for football. Things were going great yesterday, with my beloved Texas Fightin' Longhorns looking at least better than decent and South Florida making way for my also beloved LSU Fightin' Tigers to slip back into the top three after two straight brutal weeks of SEC footballing. If you follow the SEC, you'll know that the LSU-Auburn game is always a nail-biting slugfest which often determines the fate of the SEC West. For the past three years, these matchups have each been in the top-ten games of their respective college football seasons.

I have seen none of them.

2004: The Extra Point Game -- Austin City Limits Festival. Pixies played. Forgiven
2005: The Thank God For John Vaughn Game -- ACL again. Oasis headlines. For shame.
2006: The Pass Interference Game -- Conflicted with Longhorn home football game. Yay Colt.

2007 looked to be a battle between an underrated Auburn team and an exhausted LSU team. Needless to say, I was nervous. However, having been invited to escort a friend to a cocktail party, I was at an obligatory pre-party dinner for the entire first half. From here I had to go to three other locations for various "pre-parties," the first two of which did not have a television. Once I finally reached our last party, I bypassed the keg and sprinted upstairs, only to find that there was one second left in the game and LSU had already secured the victory seconds earlier. Highlight after highlight of the Demetrius Byrd catch revealed that I had missed a pretty decent football game.

Saturdays are for football, not Benihana and cocktail dresses.

A brief word on music:

Haven't been to too many shows recently, though last week's Sunset Rubdown show at Emo's was incredible; I officially like them better than Wolf Parade. Sure, their songs are a bit long and nobody knows what the hell Spencer Krug is talking about, but I'll be damned if they can't write a bombastic and exciting rock song. You don't realize exactly how talented the guy is on piano until you see him in person, awkwardly flailing his arms in between notes and doing his best Win Butler impression along the way. Seeing them finally made me want to listen to something other than In Rainbows or Strawberry Jam. Check out the dope jam from their new album at the end of the post

Also, saw Caribou at the (fairly) new Club DeVille. It's on 9th and Red River, so it's removed from the 6th Street scene, and it's truly different than every other club in Austin. First of all, the bar is in a big circus tent, with the lights providing a pretty laid-back environment. The stage, however, is the really cool part, as the band performs in front of a stone wall decorated with various foliage. Even though it's in the middle of Austin, the venue has the feel of a remote mountain concert. The band, in spite of their gimmicky all-white uniform, put on a much more exciting show than you would expect from listening to their records. The drummer, whose kit was at the front of the stage, was pretty phenomenal, and the vocals and harmonies were woozy and beautiful.

Quick Notes:

My Rockies playoff beard is looking manlier than Dante Bichette could have ever dreamed of.
Tom Brady ended up with 6 touchdowns and over 350 yards passing. I love him more than his illegitimate child ever will.
Go see The Darjeeling Limited. Right meow.
The prospect of an LSU-Kansas national championship is developing from a funny joke into a hilarious possibility.
Dice-K will choke tonight and Boston fans will struggle to find ways to claim that they aren't the Yankees.
Get the new Jens Lekman; it's as adorable as it is Swedish.

Sunset Rubdown: The Taming of the Hands that Came Back to Life
Caribou: She's the One
Jens Lekman: It Was a Strange Time in My Life