[mp3]http://barsukmusic.blaireau.net/TravisMorrison_PeopleDie.mp3[/mp3]

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.

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[mp3]http://media.subpop.com/downloads/free/Phantom_Limb400.mp3[/mp3]

Wincing The Night Away
Realeased 23 January 2007

Must Own

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.

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[mp3]http://www.archive.org/download/ABSOLUTExclusive/01_Sheep_In_Your_Head.mp3[/mp3]

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.

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[mp3]http://musicforsteve.com/music/maritime_calm.mp3[/mp3]

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.

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The Crane Wife
Released 3 October 2006

Must Own

It’s difficult to write music that people will like. It’s harder still to write bold music with broad appeal. But it’s nearly impossible to create an album that will be considered a “classic.” Relatively few artists have managed to climb this Mt. Everest of musical accomplishments and we all recognize the names of those who have: the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Dr. Dre, Michael Jackson, OutKast, U2, Radiohead… There is a special place in music history reserved for these albums and always room in our CD collection.

Well, make room for one more.

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[mp3]http://www.musicforsteve.com/music/TV_ON_THE_RADIO_wolf-like-me.mp3[/mp3]

Wolf Like Me
From Return to Cookie Mountain

TV On The Radio makes music that is its own genre. Any number of hyphenated genres almost work. Soul-Punk. Indie-Funk. Alt-Fusion. Urban-New-Wave. Not only do these attempted definitions miss the mark by miles, they simply can’t do justice to the music itself. Nobody makes music like this. What’s more, nobody has ever tried. TVOTR have mastered the art of whatever it is they are trying to do. Welcome to the age of [nameless genre].

TV On the Radio makes music that is initially hard to listen to, possibly difficult to understand, and instantly easy to love. Mark my words when I tell you that this album will appear in almost every Top Ten list as the year comes to a close.

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[mp3]http://spintonic.net/audio/spintoband/brownboxes.mp3[/mp3]

Brown Boxes
From Nice and Nicely Done

Any band willing to use a chorus of kazoos as the center peice of a song meant for radio play deserves to be famous.

Currently, the Wikipedia entry for this band reads in its entirety:

The Spinto Band is a rock band from Wilmington, Delaware.

Period. That’s amazingly sparce for a band that has been recording and touring since 1997, but trust me when I tell you it will not stay sparce for long. The Spinto Band couldn’t have picked a better year to release Brown Boxes and their latest single Oh Mandy (video below the fold). With clear similarities to bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the Shins, and the Decemberists, both the indie scene and the music industry at large are not only ready for the Spinto Band, they’re downright begging for it.

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[mp3]http://www.musicforsteve.com/music/silversun_pickups_lazy_eye.mp3[/mp3]

Lazy Eye
From Carnavas

Most of the reviews of Silversun Pickups will compare them to the Smashing Pumpkins, which is fair. Personally, I’m reminded more of My Bloody Valentine. But there’s another comparision that I find much, much more intriguing. Especially with Carnavas, it’s the subtle similarity to Lift to Experience that grabs my attention. It’s not so much that they sound like Lift to Experience, so much as they feel like Lift to Experience. Hovering somewhere between hope and sadness, with just a touch of anger. Simultaniously hard and soft. A constant slow build that takes several minutes to deliver and when it finally releases its energy, you are left wanting more. A lot more.

The critic’s insistence on comparing Silversun Pickups to Smashing Pumpkins means that this may be one of the most under-rated albums of the year.

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[mp3]http://www.thehellerfamily.org/video/Muse-Invincible.mp3[/mp3]

Invincible
From Black Holes and Revelations

I’ll be honest, I have no idea why I got this album. I only heard one track on the radio, and I thought it was pretty cool, but not cool enough (at the time) to invest the time and effort into an entire album. But I got it. And I’ve made a remarkable discovery. Muse are what Radiohead could have been had they not gone lame after OK Computer. I can already hear the cries now, “Heretic! Traitor! Radiohead are as good as they’ve ever been!!!” Nope. You’re all either liars or really fooling yourselves. Radiohead took a steep downward spiral not long after discovering modular synths. And it was a steep spiral. I will grant you that both Kid A and Amnesiac had some really cool sounds, but those albums were nothing compared to their earlier genius. I thought that I was forever going to be yearning for the “old days”. And then I heard this song.

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[mp3]http://bandofhorses.com/mp3/BassSong.mp3[/mp3]

Bass Song
From Everything All The Time

Hi. My name is Ethan and I’m a Band of Horses-aholic.

Hi Ethan.

Well, the trouble started in early 2006. I heard about Band of Horses when Sub Pop announced the release of their first album Everything All The Time. I bought the album without having heard a single song, which should have been the first sign that I have a problem. I couldn’t even wait until I got home before listening to the album. I opened the package right there in my car and put it in the CD player. Before the third song, I had turned the volume up to 17.

[collective gasp]

I know, I know. But it gets worse. Eventually, The Great Salt Lake was playing and I tunred it up even louder. And then… well… … then…

It’s OK, Ethan, go ahead.

… I listened to the song again. And then again… And again.

[a gasp followed by supportive murmuring]

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