Jan
25
I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness
The Owl
from Fear Is On Our Side
This is the best animated music video I’ve ever seen.
The Owl
Jan
24
Tim Armstrong
Hold On
From A Poet’s Life
One of the most difficult questions for me to answer in recent years is What’s your favorite band of all time? There are a lot of bands who have had a lot of impact in my life. As I get older, I gravitate toward a much easier sound. The bands I have followed for the last decade or so are downright soft. A couple of these softer bands not only get regular rotation, but manage to create music that I identify with better than any other music I’ve ever listened to.
But one band started the whole thing. My music addiction can be traced directly to Operation Ivy.
Jan
23
Travis Morrison
People Die
From Travistan
I hated Silence of the Lambs. Hated it. And not because it was too gruesome or because I somehow convinced myself that it was a bad movie. No, my distaste is much more basic. I found the movie exceptionally frustrating as a sequel.
“A sequel?” you say? Yes, a sequel. It’s somewhat more common knowledge now than it was in 1991, but Silence of the Lambs is, in fact, a sequel. The original movie is a classic thriller called Manhunter. I watched it with my mom when I was, I dunno, like 12. More than being a great childhood memory, it is an amazing movie.
Unfortunately, as a sequel, Lambs fell flat. I went into it expecting an extension on the first brilliant film, but, of course, it was intended to stand on its own.
That’s how I felt about Travistan.
Jan
22
The Shins
Wincing The Night Away
Realeased 23 January 2007
I’ve been seriously contemplating writing a Best Albums of 2007 list in the first few weeks of the year, just to see how close I can get. Most of it would be based on expectation and conjecture. I wouldn’t be able to account for the surprise hits or debut albums. And, of course, it is impossible for pre-emptive Best-of lists to measure the emotional impact any specific album will have had by the end of the year. So I decided against it. Regardless, this is shaping up to be a very good year for music.
Well, Wincing the Night Away is a sure bet for the Top Ten of 2007. If ten better albums are released this year, I’ll be shocked. In fact, if this album ends up on 5 or fewer Top Ten lists over at Metacritic, I’ll eat a crayon.
Dec
20
Alias & Ehren
Cobblestoned Waltz
From Lillian
Quick history of Alias:
Alias (which is his alias, obviously) is white and grew up in a small town in Maine. After catching the hip hop bug, he started creating his own beats and perfecting his signature, double-time rapping style. He and a friend decided to start an artist collective called Anticon and moved out to the Bay Area. Much to everyone’s surprise (his parents most of all, I’m sure) he was very very very good…
Dec
19
The Transit War
Sheep In Your Head
From Miss Your Face
My first thought when I heard this: Woah. Where did that come from?
This album is shockingly good for a band that doesn’t get national attention. These cats just know how to make solid rock and roll. It’s just a bit harder than your run-of-the-mill indie rock and less pretentious than modern emo. It’s not ground-breaking, but it isn’t trying to be. It’s just good, new-fashioned rock. When we’re old, grey, and thinking about retirement, the “classic” radio stations will play music that sounds just like this.
Dec
18
Iron & Wine
Our Endless Numbered Days
Realeased 23 March 2004
I’m not even sure where to start.
This album is nothing less than essential. Our Endless Numbered Days is not only one of the best albums to be released this decade, it contains the best love songs recorded in a generation. Put simply, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this album. It’s more than good. It’s perfect.
Dec
16
Maritime
Calm
From We, The Vehicles
Emo music has had two distinct phases. Originally, emo was basically country music for hardcore kids: clean-cut mid-west kids singing about how sad and angry they are that a girl broke their heart. Whiney and predictable, yes, but it was also a new and oddly exciting branch of the ever-changing genra the rest of the world refers to as “punk rock.”
Then something happened. Some time in the late 90’s, emo got happy and poppy. The whiney, depressed, geeky, no-life, loser singer/songwriter was replaced with the pretty, tattooed, occasioanally sad, constantly complaining, but very well produced artiste.
Dec
15
Corinne Bailey Rae
Like A Star
From Corinne Bailey Rae
This music is so easy to fall in love with.
When Corinne Bailey Rae released her first album in the U.K. earlier this year, it was met with stunning success. It debuted at #1 on the Brit charts and she became an instant star. Her popularity starting rising like a river in a downpour and her music started popping up all over the world. By October, she was the guest on Saturday Night Live and in December, she received three Grammy Nominations: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. Now, I hate the Grammys like everyone else, but this is still a pretty phenomenal accomplishment for a freshman effort.
What’s more, she deserves every bit of press she gets.
Dec
14
Coalesce
A New Language
From Functioning on Impatience
In 1998, Coalesce released this, their second full length album. The music was typical of the band: loud, fast, hard, angry, and intentionally confusing. Its seven songs (spanning a mere, though blistering 20 minutes) were recorded in a whirlwind 3 days and released by the relatively new record label Second Nature Recordings. They turned to a “Matt Jones” (who, as far as I can tell, has disappeared into obscurity) for the album design. This was the greatest decision Coalesce ever made as a band.
The cover of Functioning on Impatience is nothing short of graphic design perfection.
Music for Steve
