Twitter Review Session #7

(142) Creaturesque - Throw Me the Statue (Secretly Canadian)
Nice and sort of interesting but pretty boring pop blah blah blah you've heard this from me before. (6/10)

(143) Beacons of Ancestorship - Tortoise (Thrill Jockey)
Spastic, unique instrumentals, sure. A lot of people love Tortoise, and I just don't get it with their 2009 album. (5.5/10)

(144) Bird-Brains - Tune-Yards (Marriage)
Very simple, sparse and rhythmic experimental folk that offers interesting vocals and not much else. (5/10)

(145) Romanian Names - John Vanderslice (Dead Oceans)
Pretty and impeccably produced indie pop story songs. His best since 2004's Cellar Door. (7/10)

(146) Dark Was the Night - various artists (4AD)
Pretty good benefit comp, huh? Dirty Projectors, Books/Jose Gonzalez and Riceboy Sleeps songs are best. (6.5/10)

(147) Warm Heart of Africa - The Very Best (Green Owl)
Fun and feel-good and interesting and all that, yes, but the no holding back is a little too joyous here. (5.5/10)

(148) Tight Knit - Vetiver (Sub Pop)
Gorgeous, simple folk pop with really nice instrumentation. This came out of nowhere for me. (8/10)

(149) Rose City - Viva Voce (Barsuk)
Husband/wife duo expand to include others and the result is a unique and pretty badass indie pop record. (7.5/10)

(150) Everything Goes Wrong - Vivian Girls (In the Red)
I believe all the hype, now. These girls know how to make some really good, catchy, messy and badass punk rock. (8/10)

(151) Unmap - Volcano Choir (Jagjaguwar)
Bon Iver/Collections of Colonies of Bees collab that features beautiful layers and cool, subtle rhythms. (7/10)

(152) Wavvves - Wavves (Fat Possum)
I can't deny that I've gotten into this lo-fi stuff that is so trendy now, but aside from one song, this is shit. (2.5/10)

(153) It's Frightening - White Rabbits (TBD)
Britt Daniel-produced obnoxious New York pop/rock. Just a tad bit less than mediocre. (4.5/10)

(154) Rules - The Whitest Boy Alive (Bubbles)
Smooth, soulful, subtle, dancey, jangly project from Kings of Convenience dude. Pretty good! (6/10)

(155) Eskimo Snow - Why? (Anticon)
A slower, even moodier direction for Yoni Wolf and co. Pretty stuff, but I miss the hip hop rhyme schemes and groove. (7/10)

(156) Wilco (The Album) - Wilco (Nonesuch)
So much better than 2007's Sky Blue Sky. "Wilco (The Song)" is one of the absolute best of the year. (7.5/10)

(157) The Bachelor - Patrick Wolf (Bloody Chamber/Nylon)
All over the place, and pretty fascinating in places, but I can't take the overwhelming obnoxiousness at all. (4/10)

(158) Magnolia - The Wooden Birds (Barsuk)
American Analog Set's Andrew Kenny's new band, which sounds like acoustic AmAnSet. Mellow and v. pretty. (6.5/10)

(159) Songs of Shame - Woods (Woodsist)
Quirky, lo-fi indie pop on their own Woodsist label that is so popular these days. My expectations weren't quite met. (6/10)

(160) How I Became Illustrated - The Word Play (Suburban Sprawl)
My boys finally came out with an album and I'm finally writing about it. Best jagged 90s indie rock around. (8.5/10)

Twitter Review Session #6

(118) The Visitor - Jim O'Rourke (Drag City)
One almost 40 minute long track. Truly gorgeous. Easy to get lost in, and unfortunately distracted. (6.5/10)

(119) Junior - Royksopp (Astralwerks)
Solid, fun, catchy and dancey electronic pop. Not the best, but there are several JAMS. (6.5/10)

(120) Mandala - Rx Bandits (Sargent House)
An interesting and loud take on The Police and The Clash's dub-inspired pop. Impressive skills, gets monotonous. (6.5/10)

(121) Oohs & Aahs - Say Hi (Barsuk)
Nice, lame, boring, unoffensive indie pop. I have no other words to describe the way I feel about this. (5.5/10)

(122) Bonfires on the Heath - The Clientele (Merge)
Beautiful, moody slow to mid-tempo 60s pop. It's about time I'm not bored by these guys! (7/10)

(123) New Leaves - Owen (Polyvinyl)
Fifth Owen LP is the same ol' same ol', and even cornier than normal, but boy is it gorgeous. (6.5/10)

(124) Other Truths - Do Make Say Think (Constellation)
As much as I hate the genre, not a bad post-rock album. Not nearly as good as the last one, though. (6/10)

(125) Higher Than the Stars EP - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (Slumberland)
Four more songs in the vein of their s/t full length plus a remix. Just fine. (6.5/10)

(126) Old Patterns - Alan Scheurman (self-released)
Late 2008 album of spacey, psychedelic folk from ex-singer of Rescue. Recorded w/Warren Defever. Totes good. (6.5/10)

(127) Let Go EP - The Silent Years (Side Cho)
Detroit indie pop darlings and their latest EP of spacey rock ala The Bends meets late SDRE.The goods! (6.5/10)

(128) The Loud Wars - So Many Dynamos (Vagrant)
Poppier, emo-ier version of The Dismemberment Plan's Vagrant debut. Flashlights was better, but still good. (7/10)

(129) Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk (Shangri-La)
Mediocre as shit "all-star" band featuring James, Mogis, Oberst and Ward. Getting real sick of these guys. (5.5/10)

(130) The Eternal - Sonic Youth (Matador)
Obviously a so-so album for Sonic Youth. Is my cred completely shot since I can't seem to care about them? (5.5/10)

(131) Got Nuffin' EP - Spoon (Merge)
A nice thought between Ga x 5 and the next record, but nowhere near as good as Spoon usual is. (5.5/10)

(132) Change Remains - Starlight Mints (Barsuk)
Corny, obnoxious, electro-indie pop. Not my bag at all, no thank you. (4/10)

(133) Vapours - Islands (Anti-)
Listening to Islands just makes me miss The Unicorns. Nick Thorburn has just come to be a little too serious for me. (6.5/10)

(134) The BQE - Sufjan Stevens (Asthmatic Kitty)
Suf, please stop the epic, over-orchestrated sidetracks, and please get back to weird, beautiful folk records. (5/10)

(135) Actor - St. Vincent (4AD)
What a babe, right? Annie Clark also happened to release one of the better, more innovative pop albums of 2009. (8/10)

(136) Dragonslayer - Sunset Rubdown (Jagjaguwar)
Wolf Parade's Spencer Krug's other project, which sounds like his Wolf Parade songs. Best from them (SR) yet. (7.5/10)

(137) Leaves in the Gutter EP - Superchunk (Merge)
Great power/pop/punk from one of the longest lasting bands in indie rock. Release a full length already! (7.5/10)

(138) Dark Days/Light Years - Super Furry Animals (Rough Trade)
Truly fantastic and versatile psychedelic pop. Stupid that this is the first time I've tried 'em out. (8.5/10)

(139) Enemy Mine - Swan Lake (Jagjaguwar)
Creepy-ass Bejar/Krug/Mercer supergroup. Pretty fascinating at times, but mostly pretty boring. (6/10)

(140) The Atlantic Ocean - Richard Swift (Secretly Canadian)
Fun, beautiful, weird piano pop not too unlike Randy Newman, and much better than Ben Folds has become. (8/10)

(141) Now We Can See - The Thermals (Kill Rock Stars)
For some reason I've always thought I disliked this band. Turns out, they do some solid pop punk here. (7/10)

New Favorite Song #3: King of Pain

My real, passionate blogging has been absent of late, and I truly regret this. I have a ton of entries all pent up that I'd like to share. It is just taking forever getting to them, in spite of having SO much time on my hands. This is one of those entries.

Now, I don't really know if it's cool to like The Police any more, or if it even ever was, or if it is incredibly uncool. Regardless, I love 'em, and this has always been my favorite song of theirs. I recently (as in several months ago) decided it is one of my favorite songs of all time.

"King of Pain," from 1983's Synchronicity, balances on the line of nice deep cut and obvious single material. The melody is not only catchy, it is simply a very high quality one. There are some cheesy elements, like the fake marimba sounds and the obvious, popular 80s production.

However, there are some nice, a-typical (for The Police) characteristics of the song that make it stand out to me. For one, Stewart Copeland doesn't wail, and his usual reggae beat doesn't really lurk its head around the song at all. I sort of like the way his snare drum sounds here, too. Andy Summer's guitar isn't really in your face at all, either. Also, the song is quite long and uncomplicated. It's a nice, moody, mid-tempo 80s pop song. There's nothing obnoxious at all, which I think sometimes is the band's downfall. So that is good.

The biggest reason "King of Pain" rules so hard though is that melody and the harmony that goes over it during the choruses. Whoo boy, gives me goosebumps. Is that weird? I don't care. Enjoy if you wish.

PS Please notice how awesome they look in that photograph.

Twitter Review Session #5

(99) Hold Time - M. Ward (Merge)
Never been a HUGE fan, and the album has its low points, but good Lord, there are some absolute JAMS here. (6.5/10)

(100) Losing Feeling EP - No Age (Sub Pop)
Less punk rock and faster tempos and more ambience and meandering. This makes me excited for what they do next. (8/10)

(101) Invisible Cities - Nomo (Ubiquity)
One of the most impressive live groups I've ever seen, but their afrobeat instrumentals lose something on record. (6/10)

(102) Apple's Acre - Nurses (Dead Oceans)
Freakish folk pop that's kind of interesting but really not that much. Not offensive by any means, but also not great. (6/10)

(103) Outer South - Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band (Merge)
Ugh. I am so tired of this guy and his cohorts. (3.5/10)

(104) I Blame You - Obits (Sub Pop)
Ex-Drive Like Jehu, Rocket From the Crypt. Not far off from what you'd expect, except that it's mediocre. (4.5/10)

(105) Mecca - Office (Quack!)
Really great pop record with impeccable production. Helps that it's catchy as all get out. (7.5/10)

(106) The Seaside EP - Owen (Polyvinyl)
Typically gorgeous, but this brings nothing new to the table and even rehashes some older songs. Lame. (6/10)

(107) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (Slumberland)
Great, cute, noisy indie pop not far off from early My Bloody Valentine and The Smiths. (7.5/10)

(108) You Can Have What You Want - Papercuts (Gnomonsong)
Really pretty, sad, slow to mid-tempo pop tunes. A more organ-driven version of late-60s psychadelic pop, I guess. (7.5/10)

(109) Manners - Passion Pit (Columbia/Frenchkiss)
Defs obnoxious as hell, but underneath are some really great, huge, dancey electro-pop gems. (6.5/10)

(110) Living Thing - Peter Bjorn and John (Witchita/Almost Gold)
Not nearly as bad as I first thought, but still no good by any means. Three sweet jams, though. (5.5/10)

(111) The Phenominal Handclap Band - The Phenominal Handclap Band (Friendly Fire)
An interesting mix of 70s psychedelic prog and funk. First didn't give two shits. Now I dig. (6.5/10)

(112) Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - Phoenix (Glassnote)
Best straight up pop record I've heard in a while. This record has it all: melodies, awes productch, SONGS. FANTAST. (8.5/10)

(113) Everybody Come Outside! - Pomegranates (Lujo)
These boys have matured and released a nice, spacey indie pop album that's surprisingly original. (7/10)

(114) Blessed Be, Yours Truly in Spirit & Soul EP - Prussia (Common Cloud)
The local Detroit scene's recent darlings whom I just can't get entirely into. Dark, lo-fi, reverby pop, one awes song. (6/10)

(115) Between Noise and the Indians - Push-Pull (Joyful Noise)
Equal parts zany, geeky and badass punk rock with insane time signature and rhythm trickery. Not amazing, but FUN. (6/10)

(116) Album - Girls (True Panther)
Not as good as I was hoping after all the Pitchfork hype, but still a solid and fairly interesting pop album. (6.5/10)

(117) The Life of the World to Come - The Mountain Goats (4AD)
I've never given a shit about John Darnielle, always assumed I hated him, but this is a really nice album. (7/10)

Fall 2009 Mix

Fall is my favorite season, and since 2006, I have compiled a mix CD to celebrate said season every year. It started mostly with tracks showcasing the acoustic guitar and orchestrated string sections. I have since grown to be able to capture the mood of autumn with a more diverse group of songs (at least, in my opinion).

This year, I have decided to share my fall mix. You can download it as a zip via Mediafire HERE.

And, here is the tracklist:

1. "Pancho Villa" Sun Kil Moon
2. "Our Way to Fall" Yo La Tengo
3. "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season)" The Byrds
4. "Kid A" Radiohead
5. "Grass" XTC
6. "Two Doves" Dirty Projectors
7. "The Killing Moon" Echo & the Bunnymen
8. "Cold Wind" Arcade Fire
9. "Some Strange Rain" Cotton Jones
10. "Kingston" Field Music
11. "Never Been Born" Owen
12. "Easier" Grizzly Bear
13. "Jennifer and Julia" The Clientele
14. "Jim Cain" Bill Callahan
15. "Ancient Questions" Mount Eerie
16. "Family of Others" Deerhoof
17. "Never Going Back Again" Fleetwood Mac
18. "Which Will" Nick Drake
19. "Somebody That I Used to Know" Elliott Smith
20. "Aaron & Maria" The American Analog Set
21. "Willow Tree" Chad VanGaalen
22. "The Model" Belle & Sebastian

Enjoy!

Cursive/The Love Language/Javelins @ The Pike Room, 7/28/09

Remember the band Cursive? Believe it or not, they still exist and release a new record about every three years. This has been one of those years, and they happen to be one of what seems like only a handful of bands that consistently play in Michigan when the time comes.

This past summer, Pontiac, Michigan was graced with the presence of Omaha, Nebraska’s greatest outlet of righteous anger.

This night really was an interesting concert experience, especially when Detroit-area show attendance is unpredictable, and usually not all that good. By the time my buddies Javelins took the stage as local openers, the Pike Room was packed. Granted, this was billed as a “rare small room appearance” for Cursive, but there being 200+ kids in attendance by 9:15 PM already made this a special evening.

Javelins played one of the better sets I had seen from them in a while. Not that their sets have been lacking lately, it’s just that this one was especially tight. I will admit that I’m getting a little antsy for some new material, but when the arty, dreamy and shoegazey post-punk pop of last year’s masterpiece, Heavy Meadows, is done this tightly, it is a pleasure to experience. And a Javelins show is not a Javelins show unless they close with the title track, which was one of the best songs of 2008.

I knew absolutely nothing about The Love Language going into the night, and after passively listening to them while chatting with some friends, I understood why. They were incredibly bland and uninteresting. I’ll leave it at that.

Without question, Cursive were the highlight of the night. I was shocked at how good their set was. Hearing songs from the new record, Mama, I’m Swollen, in a live setting completely won me over. I was bummed they didn’t play opener “In the Now,” one of my favorite songs of this year, but aside from that they made some solid choices from it.

Aside from the new stuff, the band did a great job of spreading the rest of their setlist around, performing tracks from 2006’s Happy Hollow, The Ugly Organ (2003), the Burst and Bloom EP (2001), and yes even their classic, Domestica, which dates all the back to 2000. It was fantastic to see them play gems like “Some Red Handed Slight of Hand,” “Art is Hard” and “The Recluse” from The Ugly Organ, and it was especially awesome to experience Burst and Bloom’s leadoff track, “Sink to the Beat” as part of an encore again.

However, it was the surprising amount of material Cursive played from Domestica that was the highest of highlights. I had only seen them twice before this, and both times in 2003 at the Majestic Theater, and had never seen them perform “The Game of Who Needs Who the Worst,” but boy did they deliver the goods this time. “The Radiator Hums” and “The Martyr” were completely badass, especially thanks to the group of friends and other random attendees in close proximity and I shouting along to the lyrics.

This was one of the most enjoyable shows I had been to in quite some time. Between the number of people I knew there, the body count in general and the whole reason we were there, it was a grand night to remember. I am overjoyed that Cursive still have it in them to put on an intense and emotionally charged as well as incredibly entertaining performance. It helps that they are still releasing great music.

Twitter Review Session #4

(57) Technicolor Health - Harlem Shakes (Gigantic)
Zany indie pop somewhere in the realm of Born Ruffians, but nowhere near as good. Opening track is awes, tho. (5.5/10)

(58) Slight Fountain - Hermit Thrushes (Joyful Noise)
Deadpan mathy folk rock? Some neat ideas rhythmically, but really quite boring. (6/10)

(59) Hidden Ghost Balloon Ship - Hidden Ghost Balloon Ship (Romantic Air)
Trippy song experiments by Zoos of Berlins' Trev + LTD (ex-Pas/Cal). Eerie and rhythm-heavy. (7.5/10)

(60) Assemble - Hi Red Center (Joyful Noise)
Very technical, all-over-the-place, sorta emo-y indie pop. Maybs like a more accessible Deerhoof? Pretty great. (7.5/10)

(61) Dark Dark Woods - Husband & Wife (Crossroads of America)
Bloomington, IN buds play dark, pretty slowcore with a Pedro the Lion-esque pop sensibility. (7/10)

(62) Here//There - Ilad (Syjip)
Imagine if Radiohead, old Wilco, and Tortoise had a child together. Eerie stuff with an awesome groove. Talented group. (6.5/10)

(63) High on Jackson Hill - Immaculate Machine (Mint)
Mediocre power pop from New Pornographers girl plus some people. Really bland and boring. (4.5/10)

(64) I Was a King - I Was a King (Control Group)
Pretty standard, noisy pop/rock. Not bad, but nothing remotely special by any means. (5/10)

(65) Post-Nothing - Japandroids (Polyvinyl)
Another loud, noisy, mediocre rock 'n' roll band. Cool guitar stuff, but whatever. Could use some bass, defs. (5.5/10)

(66) Watch Me Fall - Jay Reatard (Matador)
Really good, surprisingly somewhat diverse pop punk. I really like this record quite a bit. (8/10)

(67) Flowers - Joan of Arc (Polyvinyl)
Tim Kinsella and peeps do their usual, odd but emo-y thing, and it is bizarre and decent like always. (6/10)

(68) Begone Dull Care - Junior Boys (Domino)
Subtle, smooth 'n' sexy synth pop with some nice blip-bloopin' from these two Canadian dudes. This record RULES. (8.5/10)

(69) Tragic Boogie - The Life and Times (Arena Rock)
Allen Epley (ex-Shiner) and his latest space rock beast that sounds like Shiner. It's still really good. (7.5/10)

(70) Curse Your Branches - David Bazan (Barsuk)
FKA Pedro the Lion's new full length, and IMO his lyrics are not up to snuff and it is boring. Disappointment. (5.5/10)

(71) Black River Killer EP - Blitzen Trapper (Sub Pop)
B.T. seem to have dropped their sloppiness and are content doing the southern rock thing. Not as into it. (6/10)

(72) by- - Bygones (Sargent House)
Hella's Zach Hill and dude from Tera Melos do a much more melodic version of Hella or Marnie Stern. It kind of rules. (7/10)

(73) Bay of Pigs EP - Destroyer (Merge)
The 13 minute subtle disco epic, "Bay of Pigs" is Bejar's best song in a while. The other song is nice and boring. (7/10)

(74) LP - Discovery (XL)
Ra Ra Riot/Vamp Weekend synth-heavy electronic pop collab. The obnoxiousness outweighs the few good parts there are. (6/10)

(75) Time to Die - The Dodos (Frenchkiss)
Not really expanding too much on their experimental, polyrhythmic folk sound, but somehow they do it better here. (7/10)

(76) I'm Going Away - The Fiery Furnaces (Thrill Jockey)
After a few off albums, The Fiery Furnaces return with this much less overbearing, zany little pop gem. (7/10)

(77) The Ruminant Band - Fruit Bats (Sub Pop)
A really solid pop record, slightly of the psychadelic 60s kind. That's all this is. (7/10)

(78) Aim and Ignite - fun. (Nettwerk)
Really wanted to like this Format/Steel Train/ex-Anathallo collab, but it's a bit too dramatic and the vocals way too nice. (5/10)

(79) Waterparks - Alec Jensen (Phi Slamma Jamma)
My friend and bandmate is a lo-fi pop whiz kid. His latest solo full length is the best thing he's done yet. (8/10)

(80) Survival Strategies in a Modern World - Liechtenstein (Slumberland)
Swedish female trio. Simple, noisy, reverb-y, punk-y indie pop, not too unlike Vivian Girls. But maybs better. (8/10)

(81) Dear John - Loney Dear (Polyvinyl)
Bland and boring pop dude who puts out one good song per record. Shrug. (5.5/10)

(82) The Floodlight Collective - Lotus Plaza (Kranky)
Other Deerhunter dude, Lockett Pundt and his purely shoegaze project. Songs go nowhere, but are full and BEAUT. (7.5/10)

(83) Josephine - Magnolia Electric Co. (Secretly Canadian)
Mostly boring but pretty country rock. I've always wanted to like these dudes but I just can't do it. (6/10)

(84) Tea Tornado - Marmoset (Joyful Noise)
Sparse, sorta noisy, bland indie pop that lacks what most pop bands' strong suit is: MELODY. I don't like this at all. (4/10)

(85) Grand - Matt & Kim (Fader)
I really do not want to like this obnoxious boy/girl/keyboard/drums duo, but there are too many good songs here. (7/10)

(86) The Mountain - Heartless Bastards (Fat Possum)
Fairly loud and ballsy country-tinged rock 'n' roll that actually is quite good. (6.5/10)

(87) Catacombs - Cass McCombs (Domino)
Another record that I really wanted to like this year. Really pretty folk-pop that gets a little bland. (6/10)

(88) No More Stories... - Mew (Columbia)
Spacey indie pop that's way more interesting than I anticipated. I don't love this record, but it pleasantly surprised me. (7/10)

(89) Jewellery - Micachu & the Shapes (Rough Trade)
Short, sweet and noisy A.D.D. pop songs for fans of the likes of Deerhoof and whatnot. Not bad at all. (6.5/10)

(90) (a)spera - Mirah (K)
Orchestrated yet somehow sparse female pop. I was hoping this to be just a wee louder, but it lacks nothing in beauty. (7/10)

(91) No One's First and You're Next EP - Modest Mouse (Epic)
A collection of b-sides from the last few years. Only three songs from the Good News... sessions rule hard. (6/10)

(92) Hymn to the Immortal Wind - Mono (Temporary Residence)
Ugh. Incredibly dramatic, boring as hell instrumental post-rock. Total snoozer. (3/10)

(93) Years of Refusal - Morrissey (Lost Highway)
I don't think I will ever care about Morrissey's solo records. Not that this is bad, it's just nothing special. (6/10)

(94) Wind's Poem - Mount Eerie (P.W. Elverum & Sun)
Lo-fi, noisy experimental folk. I've never been able to get entirely into P. Elverum, and this is still the case. (5.5/10)

(95) Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band - Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band (Dead Oceans)
Loud, upbeat, emo-y indie rock with classic rock guitarmonies. Not sure where the hype came from. (5/10)

(96) Desktop 12" EP - Desktop (Suburban Sprawl)
Pop Project/Electric Six collab w/ Zach Curd as MVP. S. Wonder, New Order and Junior Boys as kindred spirits. (7.5/10)

(97) ...And the Ever Expanding Universe - The Most Serene Republic (Arts & Crafts)
Layered, relatively spastic and complex indie pop that is surprisingly good. (7/10)

(98) Get Guilty - A.C. Newman (Merge)
I still really like The New Pornographers for the most part, but in essence, I am so over this dude's bland pop. (5.5/10)

Predictions For Pitchfork's 20 Best Records Of 2000-2009

My best bud Travis (who blogs here) and I spent a couple hours today texting about our predictions for Pitchfork's decade-end albums list finale, which comes tomorrow by way of a top 20. Thanks to this collaboration, we were able to come up with a list of around 16 that we feel somewhat confident about. Being totally stumped after that, and toying around with the idea of a couple others, here is my attempt at filling in the holes and putting these albums in some sort of order. I can't wait to see how wrong I will be come tomorrow morning.

20. The Runners Four - Deerhoof (Kill Rock Stars/5 Rue Christine, 2005)
19. Tha Carter III - Lil Wayne (Cash Money, 2008)
18. White Blood Cells - The White Stripes (Sympathy for the Record Industry, 2001)
17. Silent Shout - The Knife (Mute/Rabid, 2006)
16. Is This It - The Strokes (RCA, 2001)
15. The Blueprint - Jay-Z (Roc-a-Fella, 2001)
14. Discovery - Daft Punk (Virgin, 2001)
13. Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem (EMI/DFA, 2007)
12. Person Pitch - Panda Bear (Paw Tracks, 2007)
11. Illinois - Sufjan Stevens (Asthmatic Kitty, 2005)
10. Agaetis Byrjun - Sigur Ros (Smekklyesa, 2000)
9. The Moon and Antarctica - Modest Mouse (Epic, 2000)
8. Merriweather Post Pavilion - Animal Collective (Domino, 2009)
7. Stankonia - Outkast (La Face, 2000)
6. Turn On the Bright Lights - Interpol (Matador, 2002)
5. Since I Left You - The Avalanches (XL, 2001)
4. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco (Nonesuch, 2002)
3. Late Registration - Kanye West (Def Jam/Roc-a-Fella, 2005)
2. Funeral - Arcade Fire (Merge, 2004)
1. Kid A - Radiohead (Capitol, 2000)

NFL 2009 Preview

I know this is like, super last minute, as the first game of the 2009 NFL season just started. Also, because this is rushed, this post is not nearly as colorful as my post last year. Alas, here are my predictions for the upcoming football season. I'm about 98% sure that this picks will be way off. These are my opinions, and they will change with the tide of the season.

AFC East
(1) New England Patriots 13-3
(2) Miami Dolphins 8-8
(3) Buffalo Bills 7-9
(4) New York Jets 3-13

AFC North
(1) Pittsburgh Steelers 13-3
(2) Baltimore Ravens 11-5
(3) Cincinnati Bengals 7-9
(4) Cleveland Browns 3-13

AFC South
(1) Indianapolis Colts 12-4
(2) Tennessee Titans 10-6
(3) Houston Texans 8-8
(4) Jacksonville Jaguars 6-10

AFC West
(1) San Diego Charges 12-4
(2) Kansas City Chiefs 6-10
(3) Oakland Raiders 3-13
(4) Denver Broncos 2-14

NFC East
(1) Philadelphia Eagles 11-5
(2) New York Giants 10-6
(3) Dallas Cowboys 9-7
(4) Washington Redskins 7-9

NFC North
(1) Minnesota Vikings 12-4
(2) Green Bay Packers 11-5
(3) Chicago Bears 10-6
(4) Detroit Lions 2-14

NFC South
(1) Atlanta Falcons 12-4
(2) Carolina Panthers 11-5
(3) New Orleans Saints 9-7
(4) Tampa Bay Buccineers 5-11

NFC West
(1) Arizona Cardinals 10-6
(2) Seattle Seahawks 6-10
(3) San Francisco 49ers 5-11
(4) St. Louis Rams 2-14

AFC Playoff Teams
(1) New England Patriots
(2) Pittsburgh Steelers
(3) San Diego Chargers
(4) Indianapolis Colts
(5) Baltimore Ravens
(6) Tennessee Titans

NFC Playoff Teams
(1) Minnesota Vikings
(2) Atlanta Falcons
(3) Philadelphia Eagles
(4) Arizona Cardinals
(5) Green Bay Packers
(6) Carolina Panthers

Wild Card Round
San Diego def. Tennessee
Indianapolis def. Baltimore
Philadelphia def. Carolina
Green Bay def. Arizona

Divisional Round
Pittsburgh def. San Diego
New England def. Indianapolis
Atlanta def. Philadelphia
Green Bay def. Minnesota

Conference Championships
New England def. Pittsburgh
Atlanta def. Green Bay

Super Bowl
New England def. Atlanta

Twitter Review Session #3

(30) Paranoid Cocoon - Cotton Jones (Suicide Squeeze)
Best thing Michael Nau's done since Hello, Dear Wind. Pretty, reverby, bluesy folk pop that is simply solid. (7/10)

(31) Mythomania - Cryptacize (Asthmatic Kitty)
Nice, quirky indie pop from Nedelle and Chris Cohen (ex-Deerhoof). Some nice tunes, but mostly pretty boring. (6/10)

(32) Tentacles - Crystal Antlers (Touch & Go)
This would be pretty decent if the vocals weren't so goddamned awful and the whole thing wasn't so obnoxious. (5.5/10)

(33) Mama, I'm Swollen - Cursive (Saddle Creek)
With their return to slightly more straightforward, v. dark emo-ish rock, somehow Cursive are still relevant and good. (7/10)

(34) Why There Are Mountains - Cymbals Eat Guitars (self-released)
Solid, intense, dramatic, sorta emo-ish 90s style indie rock with Tim Kinsella-esque vox. Prettay good. (6.5/10)

(35) Dark Night of the Soul - Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse (self-released)
A subtle, theatrical, intense, wonderfully dark, collaborative mega-opus. Chilling and gorgeous. (8/10)

(36) Bromst - Dan Deacon (Carpark)
Not much different from Spiderman of the Rings, but still really neat, bloopy, arty electro pop. Also, beautiful. (8/10)

(37) Spritle 7" - Deastro (Five Three Dial Tone)
The slight additions to "Spritle" are unnecessary, but song still rules. "Treefrog" is standard synth pop fare. (6.5/10)

(38) Moondagger - Deastro (Ghostly International)
Kind of emo-y, New Order-ish synth pop to the max. A lot of it blends together too much, but overall, not too shabs. (6/10)

(39) The Open Door EP - Death Cab for Cutie (Atlantic)
I think I can finally say that I am over this band. "My Mirror Speaks" is a good song, though. (4.5/10)

(40) Split 7" - Child Bite/This Moment in Black History (Forge Again)
I give the Child Bite song an 8/10, but I can't really stand the TMIBH one. (5/10)

(41) The Hazards of Love - The Decemberists (Capitol)
The Crane Wife was the first step in the wrong direction (despite some jams), but this is MUCH WORSE. Ridic. (3/10)

(42) Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP - Deerhunter (Kranky)
This is really good, but doesn't offer much more than the shoegaze/psych pop they've already become known for. (7.5/10)

(43) Hot Green 7" - Algernon Cadwallader (Be Happy)
Dudes are nothing new at all, but they do the Cap'n Jazz/American Football emo stuff REALLY WELL. (7.5/10)

(44) From Way Out to Way Under - Copper Thieves (Jack Holmes)
A solid mix of 90s indie rock and 70s classic rock with some unconventional drumming from these Detroit boys. (6.5/10)

(45) Farm - Dinosaur Jr. (Jagjaguwar)
Another Dino Jr. album that sounds just like any of their other ones, and somehow it is still really good. (8/10)

(46) Bitte Orca - Dirty Projectors (Domino)
Arty, soulful, Zeppelin-y indie rock loaded with R&B vocal acrobatics. UP THERE with AC's MPP, duh. (9/10)

(47) Ducktails - Ducktails (Not Not Fun)
Mostly instrumental, trippy, ambient something. Neat and pretty, but probs need to be high off my ass to get it. (6.5/10)

(48) OK Bear - Jeremy Enigk (Lewis Hollow/Cydonia)
Ex-SDRE frontman creates a gorgeously layered, accessible pop record that is somewhat forgettable but solid. (6.5/10)

(49) Yesterday & Today - The Field (Kompakt/Anti-)
Very pretty and only slightly interesting electronic songs that are way too long. I will slightly smile and yawn. (6/10)

(50) Tonight: Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand (Domino)
Former arty, dance-y post punk hype band complete their journey into the realm of irrelevance. This is bad. (3/10)

(51) The Fresh & Onlys - The Fresh & Onlys (Castle Face)
60s lo-fi psychedelic rock, like The Velvet Underground and The Zombies, with a smidgen of post punk. GOOD. (7/10)

(52) Born Radical - Friendly Foes (Gangplank)
90s style punk-infused indie rock a la Superchunk and the like. Nothing groundbreaking, but totes good. (6.5/10)

(53) God Help the Girl - God Help the Girl (Matador)
Stuart Murdoch twee-popera with the rest of B & S and friends. Defs corny in parts, but still wonderful. (7.5/10)

(54) Petits Fours - Grand Duchy (Cooking Vinyl)
Sweet Pixies-ish indie pop from Frank Black and wife. A little synthy, a lot of badass mixed with cute. (7/10)

(55) Veckatimest - Grizzly Bear (Warp)
Over-hyped, is no Yellow House, and missing the eerie vibe, but DAMN, guys. Way to record a helluva record. (8.5/10)

(56) Face Control - Handsome Furs (Sub Pop)
Wolf Parade's D. Boeckner + wife wax electronic on his WP style with decent results. "Legal Tender" rules hard. (6.5/10)

Emotional Listening #3

Neon Golden – The Notwist (Domino, 2002)
My long-time pal Abbott had been pushing The Notwist on me for a while, since my sophomore year in college, I believe. When I moved into a house with him, his wife and some buds after I graduated college, I just couldn’t avoid them anymore. Why I wanted to avoid them in the first place is beyond me. I eventually purchased Neon Golden at Used Kids in Columbus in August 2007, and to be frank, I still haven’t really listened to it all that much. I’m not going to deny that it is gorgeous and completely original. The last several songs are just really really boring (though, am I correct when I say that they are bonus tracks for the U.S. release?). All of this to say that there are some outright jam-diddles within the first nine songs. “One Step Inside Doesn’t Mean You Understand” is so beautiful and its off-kilter rhythms are the album’s top highlight. “Trashing Days” is a badass pop song. Neon Golden is filled to the brim (well, at least the first nine songs are) with subtle, indistinguishable intricacies that combined with the deadpan vocals and sort of ahead of their time laptop-isms make for a pretty, groundbreaking electronic folk record.
Top jams: “One Step Inside Doesn’t Mean You Understand,” “Pick Up the Phone,” “Trashing Days,” “This Room,” “One With the Freaks,” “Off the Rails”


Q & A – Office (self-released, 2005)
Scott Masson, the head honcho behind Office, has gone through a lot of changes over the past couple of years. A while back, the project had inked a deal with James Iha’s record label. That deal has since been destroyed. Also, more recently, Masson has relocated from Chicago to Milford, MI, I do believe (which is an interesting move, if you ask me). What kind of effect has this transition had on his output? If anything, it is a positive one: his latest, Mecca, is chock full of memorable hooks, catchy choruses and topnotch production. But, this is not the focus here. Let me take you back to 2005’s self-released Q & A. I won’t go into it, but let’s just say the album randomly fell into my lap and stayed there for a few months. I took an extended break, and kind of forgot about it until somewhat recently. I can basically describe Q & A exactly as I described Mecca, but they are not the same record. Where Mecca is subtle but loud and totally a grower, Q & A is louder and more instantly accessible (though, not by all that much). There definitely is an Of Montreal feel to the overall sound, but aside from that, it is a really solid pop record that more people should know about.
Top jams: “Wound Up,” “Oh My,” “The Big Bang Jump!,” “If You Don’t Know by Now,” “Q & A”


Synchronicity – The Police (A & M, 1983)
I’ve loved The Police’s singles for many years now, and I’m not sure why I waited until the summer of 2009 to purchase my first proper album of theirs. I feel like I picked the right one to start off with. The mix of obviously 80s style pop with reggae and maybe even a little bit of art punk makes for quite an original album, even if things end on a string of forgettable notes. And, Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland are fantastically tight and talented musicians (in case you didn’t know). “Synchronicity I” and “Miss Gradenko” were pleasant surprises, “Synchronicity II” is badass, duh, and “King of Pain” is by far the band’s best song. A point of interest: I never liked “Every Breath You Take” until now. The song hits its wonderfully high point when the nice backup vocals enter for its outro. A choice move.
Top jams: “Synchronicity I,” “Miss Gradenko,” “Synchronicity II,” “Every Breath You Take,” “King of Pain”

Pitchfork Music Festival @ Union Park, 7/17/09 - 7/19/09

For the forth time in five years, two weekends ago I took the plunge and attended the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival. There are two things Pitchfork Media do better than everyone else. I have mentioned the first on here before, and that is making year-end music lists. The second? Putting on festivals. Granted, I have never been to a summer music festival that wasn’t put on by Pitchfork, but I have no desire to go to any other. They have the right idea. Anyway, here is my account of the splendid weekend that actually didn’t turn out to be the best P-Fork fest yet, but was still totally great.

I made the trek out to Chicago beginning early Friday afternoon with my bud Phil Dokas, who allowed me to tag along with him for a very cheap price. We arrived at Union Park just in time for the beginning of Tortoise’s set. As much as I love The Sea and Cake and especially John McEntire’s drumming, I was bored by this band’s experimental, instrumental post rock or whatever (though, I will admit they are better than most of the bands considered to be in the same genre).


Yo La Tengo were atop my list of bands I was stoked to see, in spite of the fact that they played a total snoozer of a set at P-Fork ’06 (when they only played material from I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass, before that record had even been released). The band were way more exciting, energetic and charming this time around, and it really helped that it was a request set. “Let’s Save Tony Orlando’s House,” “Mr. Tough” and “Sugarcube” were the ultimate highlights of the night, and they even treated the crowd to a new song from their upcoming LP, Popular Songs, and it was nice. The only two disappointments were that they played all eleven minutes of “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind,” (which, yes, I know has an awesome title, but the song is WAY too long), and that they didn’t play “Little Eyes.” I’ll take what I can get!

I had never heard The Jesus Lizard before, so obviously I didn’t care to watch them. This is when I met up with my hosts for the weekend, Alec Jensen and Emily Powers. Then, I eventually made my way over to the Built to Spill set. I only love one of their records, Keep It Like a Secret, but I REALLY LOVE IT. Quite possibly my favorite guitar album of all time. This also being a request set, I expected a lot more, but they played maybe three or four songs from it, tops. Bullshit. There were two major turn offs to the set: (1) no one but Doug Martsch seemed to care that they were there, and (2) TOO MUCH JAMMING. Major letdown.


Saturday was the day of the fest that I was least looking forward to. I mean, of course I was glad to be there, but there was the least amount of bands I cared to see that day. I started things off by checking out Cymbals Eat Guitars, whose 90s emo-ish Pavement record is totally good, and they did not disappoint.


Fucked Up was my #1 of the day, and easily put on the most entertaining set of the fest with Pink Eyes’ variety of stage antics and all the badass stage diving. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and their poppier and less dramatic version of The Smiths was cute and fun, and they were obviously floored by the crowd size for them, which makes me like them even more. The rest of the day was pretty hit-or-miss, and I only caught snippets of Ponytail, Yeasayer, Lindstrom and Matt and Kim.

I worry that The National are becoming a fratty dad kind of indie band. I love Alligator and Boxer, but I will not be surprised if I don’t end up liking the next one. Anyway, they were mostly boring, except for when they played “All the Wine” and “Apartment Story” back-to-back.


Sunday was by far the day I looked forward to most, and though there were a few bummer moments, it was fantastic. I got into Dianogah the summer before I went to college and was glad I got to see a few songs. Blitzen Trapper were perfect for a sunny afternoon at a music festival.


Women completely nailed it and put on my favorite performance all weekend. Their really noisy and messy yet somehow beautiful and catchy songs came across amazingly in a live setting, surprisingly so considering how intimate every performance during the weekend was not. They played most of what I wanted to hear from their 2008 self-titled masterpiece (“Lawncare,” “Black Rice,” “Shaking Hand,” “Upstairs”), plus four new jams, all of which were exactly what I was hoping for. The whole thing was perfect, really.

I didn’t pay as much attention to The Walkmen as I should have, but this was my fourth time seeing them live. They played some favorites from last year’s You & Me, plus some good oldies like “The Rat” and “Louisiana.”


I was pleasantly surprised by how awesome Vivian Girls were. Seeing them helped me to finally get their reverb-y pop punk. What I wasn’t surprised by was how flawless Grizzly Bear was. They might have felt a lot of pressure being the band to lead into The Flaming Lips’ set, but actually, they were even better. Both the Yellow House and Veckatimest songs were incredibly tight and either were exact duplicates of their album versions or had a completely different but awesome feel to them (usually due to Chris Bear’s more ridiculous drumming live).

The Flaming Lips were number two on my list of bands to see before I die, so needless to say, I was incredibly excited to see them. Unfortunately, and maybe because I was really worn out, their set was a major disappointment. They had an hour and twenty minutes and only played I think nine songs. They played boring versions of “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1” and “Fight Test” that each featured only one instrument, basically. This also was a request set and they made us suffer through two new songs, neither of them being very good at all. Wayne Coyne talked and talked and talked in between each song, wasting a lot of time. They only played “Race for the Prize” from The Soft Bulletin. My major complaints end there. They did play “Bad Days” and “She Don’t Use Jelly,” which pulled them a little out of the shitter.

So yeah, the fest wasn’t perfect or anything, but per usual, it was well worth the money, and I will probably be there again next year.

Twitter Review Session #2

Here is the next batch of ridiculously short reviews I've posted on the Emotional Drumming Twitter page:

(16) Eating Us - Black Moth Super Rainbow (Graveface)
Pretty cool, melodic analog synth-fest. Smooth and 80s influenced, I think. Lots of vocoder. (6.5/10)

(17) Skin of Evil - Blackout Beach (Soft Abuse)
Uncomfortable weirdness from Frog Eyes' Carey Mercer. Difficult, to say the least. Ends on a very pretty note. (3.5/10)

(18) Et Cetera - Blase Splee (self-released)
Detroit pop/rock with some real swagger. There are a few jams, but they are more exciting live. Quite rock 'n roll. (6/10)

(19) Blood Bank EP - Bon Iver (Jagjaguwar)
An EP that is just a continuation of the first album. Pretty, duh, but the last song with its auto-tune is terrible. (5.5/10)

(20) Beware - Bonnie "Prince" Billy (Drag City)
His songs are gorgeous, but I don't really pay attention to lyrics, so I get a little bored with this. (6/10)

(21) The Planets Are Blasted - Boston Spaceships (Guided by Voices)
Seemingly half-assed effort from newer Robert Pollard band. YAWN. (3/10)

(22) The Law of the Playground - The Boy Least Likely To (+1)
Totally childish, cute and fun twee pop that also happens to be quite good. (6.5/10)

(23) Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle - Bill Callahan (Drag City)
Give it up to B.C. for consistantly releasing gorgeous, dark folk records. This might be my favorite of his. (8/10)

(24) My Maudlin Career - Camera Obscura (4AD)
Another pretty Belle & Sebastian-esque pop record from these lasses and lads. "The Sweetest Thing" RULES! (7.5/10)

(25) Middle Cyclone - Neko Case (Anti-)
A wonderful country-infused pop album from the best female voice in rock music today. "This Tornado Loves You" OWNS. (8/10)

(26) City Center - City Center (Type)
Is this legitimately a sweet record or is it Fred Thomas' attempt to cash in on the popularity of Panda Bear? (6.5/10)

(27) Clues - Clues (Constellation)
Ex-members of The Unicorns and Arcade Fire bring an album that sounds more Unicornsy than Islands do. Totally decent. (6.5/10)

(28) Davy - Coconut Records (Young Baby)
Jason Schwartzman obviously loves The Beatles and does a pretty good job emulating them at their poppiest. (6/10)

(29) Fuckbook - Condo Fucks (Matador)
Sloppy, lo-fi pop punk covers from Yo La Tengo under a hilarious moniker. Difficult, but sounds fun. (5.5/10)

Emotional Listening #2

The focus of this Emotional Listening post is mainstream alternative rock from the 1990s. These are records that I obviously knew existed (who didn't?), but either didn't care about then, or just didn't have much experience with. No shame.


Nevermind - Nirvana (Geffen, 1991)
When I was in late elementary school, I considered myself a fan of grunge, namely Stone Temple Pilots and select Smashing Pumpkins (who were only sort of grunge, I guess) and Soundgarden songs. Nirvana was really hit or miss for me. I've always loved "All Apologies" (more within the past two years than ever before), but other than that and one or two others, I couldn't have cared less. I realized exactly how silly this was towards the end of 2007 when I decided to invest some time in In Utero. A year-and-a-half after this initial appreciation, I will be so bold as to claim that their breakout Nevermind is actually a little better. Sure, In Utero is more badass, has less hit singles and was produced by Steve Albini as opposed to Butch Vig. But, I really like the way Nevermind sounds, and the singles are all good, even if I've heard them too many times by this stage in my life. There are actually some song on In Utero that I don't really care for, and I think every song here is at least solid. And, recently "Drain You" has unseated "All Apologies" as my favorite Nirvana song for the time being, thanks to Dave Grohl's perfect drumming and Cobain's sweet sweet melody during the verse, which is one of the greatest of all time.
Top jams: "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "In Bloom," "Breed," "Lithium," "Drain You," "On a Plain"


Tragic Kingdom - No Doubt (Trauma/Interscope, 1995)
Here's an album that's singles reek of nostalgia from sixth and seventh grades. Truth be told, I never actually completely dug this record. "Spiderwebs" and "Sunday Morning" are two of my favorite songs from 1997 MTV and 89X (No Doubt seemed to have promoted the record for FOREVER), but I didn't really get to like anything else from it until now. Now that I'm older and my tastes have matured, I can take Tragic Kingdom for what it is: a power pop album that is sometimes influenced by ska and reggae. It definitely gets obnoxious at points ("Don't Speak" still makes me want to vomit), but it is really fund and surprisingly interesting still.
Top jams: "Spiderwebs," "Excuse Me Mr.," "Just a Girl," "Sixteen," "Sunday Morning," "World Go Round"


The Presidnts of the United States of America - The Presidents of the United States of America (Columbia, 1995)
Here's another record by another band that I never got entirely into. Of course, I loved everything about "Peaches." As for this self-titled debut as a whole, I liked it alright. But, I think I was more into the idea of the band: a fast, poppy three piece rock band with a slight punk edge who played incomplete instruments (specifically two and three string guitars). Fifteen years later, I'm over the novelty and will take these clever, energetic rock songs at face value.
Top jams: "Kitty," "Stranger," "Peaches," "We Are Not Going to Make It," "Naked and Famous"


Pablo Honey - Radiohead (EMI, 1993)
I was introduced to Radiohead in early elementary school thanks to my cousins Tommy and Greg with "Creep" (just like most everyone else). In spite of them being my favorite band of all time, to this day I think it is probably the worst song the band has ever composed. It is bad. I got way into OK Computer basically when it was first released, and several years later decided Pablo Honey was probably worth a listen. For I long time, I felt that I was wrong, that it was a complete waste of time. Now, I feel I was a complete idiot about it the whole time. For me, there is no question that Pablo Honey is still far and away the worst album the band ever relesed. But, you know what? It's actually not half bad. On it, it seems like they're paying homage to their favorite American rock bands, R.E.M. and Pixies. Throw in a little grunge, and really, it's not a bad combination. There are definitely some great guitar rock moments throughout. I won't listen to it as often or with the same reverence as OK Computer or Kid A, or anything else of theirs for that matter, but I have finally found some worth in it, and I smiled. I now appreciate these humble beginnings, and am relieved by how far along they have come since.
Top jams: "How Do You?," "Anyone Can Play Guitar," "Ripcord," "Vegetable," "Prove Yourself," "Blow Out"


Evil Empire - Rage Against the Machine (Epic, 1996)
I never got even moderately into rap or hip-hop and probably never will, and there was only about a second where I liked the merging of those genres with rock 'n roll and hardcore. But I did have room in my heart for some mid and late 90s Rage Against the Machine jams (especially that "No Shelter" track from the Godzilla soundtrack). I need melody in my music intake, and there is absolutely none her. But what Evil Empire has in spades is an immaculate groove. When bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk are locked in, nothing can stop them. And Wilk is tight as hell and sure knows how to hit his drums right. He's like a funk or hip-hop version of John Bonham. Sure, Tom Morello's other-worldy guitar sounds are impressive (what he does on "Year of Tha Boomerang" is completely insane), but it's the groove that I love the most. I'm not even going to talk about Zack de la Rocha, so, whatever.
Top jams: "People of the Sun," "Bulls on Parade," "Vietnow," "Roll Right," "Year of Tha Boomerang"

Twitter Review Session #1

For those of you not in the know: I started an Emotional Drumming Twitter account, and have been posting reviews of 2009 records that are under 140 characters long. Ridiculous, right? I love Twitter, I will be the first to tell you that.

Anyway, here is a collection of the first fifteen that I've tweeted:

(1) Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free - Akron/Family (Dead Oceans)
Solid effort. Like the psychadelic stuff more than the folk. "River" is one of best songs of '09. (7/10)

(2) Faces Change - Alexander the Great (Crossroads of America)
Pretty good dynamic, poppy emo-ish stuff with passionate vocals, albeit a little too much so. (6.5/10)

(3) It's Not Me, It's You - Lily Allen (Capitol)
Overall better than Alright, Still, but where are the "LDN" and "Smile" caliber jams? NOWHERE. Mediocre at best. (5/10)

(4) Merriweather Post Pavillion - Animal Collective (Domino)
Best album of 2009 thus far. Still up for debate if it's AC's best, but easily their must accessible. (9/10)

(5) Hospice - The Antlers (Frenchkiss)
Dark, somewhat spacey, melodramatic indie rock. Boring in parts and a little too long, but very pretty. (6.5/10)

(6) The Crying Light - Antony and the Johnsons (Secretly Canadian)
Way over my head. Pretty, but much too slow, boring, sappy and dramatic. Stick with Hercules, Antony! (4/10)

(7) Sagarmatha - The Appleseed Cast (The Militia Group/Vagrant)
The least inspiring, most underwhelming, boring post-rock album from a band I LOVED in the early 2000s. (5/10)

(8) Hush - Asobi Seksu (Polyvinyl)
Ultra poppy shoegaze. There are nice parts, and "Glacial" is an awesome song, but otherwuse, nothing special at all. (6/10)

(9) Two Suns - Bat for Lashes (Astralwerks/Parlophone)
Very dark, slightly Bjork-esque pop. Slept on it at first, but I think I get it now. Eerie and gorgeous. (7/10)

(10) March of the Zapotec EP/Holland EP - Beirut/Realpeople (Pompeii)
As great as Condon's voice is, I dig his electro-pop better than the cultural baroque pop. Still a snoozer. (5.5/10)

(11) As Seen Through Windows - Bell Orchestre (Arts & Crafts)
There are some interesting sections on a few tracks, otherwise just your run-of-the-mill instrumental post-rock. (5/10)

(12) Noble Beast - Andrew Bird (Fat Possum)
Nowhere near as good as "Armchair Apocrypha," but it is another Andrew Bird album, and as you'd expect, quite nice. (7/10)

(13) Rayguns Are Not Just the Future - The Bird and the Bee (Blue Note)
Top-40 style pop music done the way it should be: fun, catchy AND interesting. (7/10)

(14) Grrr... - Bishop Allen (Dead Oceans)
Cutesy indie pop with solid production, two sweet songs and not much else. (6/10)

(15) 200 Million Thousand - Black Lips (Vice)
Sort of experimental, messy, lo-fi garage punk. The Clash-esque "Drugs" is great, but overall, I don't get it. (4/10)

New Favorite Song #2: Wake Up

After reading Pitchfork's obsessively flattering review and 9.7 rating of Arcade Fire's DEBUT full length, and then observing the aftermath, that was when I realized the grip that website has on the independent music scene. Sure, they had been responsible for dramatically inflating bands' popularity and critical acclaim before this (Broken Social Scene, probably Deerhoof, to name a few), but the hype for Funeral was taken to a whole new level.

I'm not going to argue with them about how amazing and important the album is. Obviously, it is quite an accomplishment. And I believe, critically, in the grand scheme of things (rock music-related, at least), Funeral is considered to be incredibly important amongst not only critics, but a nation-wide scene. What else is there that rivals the importance of Arcade Fire's DEBUT (emphasis on this because that is part of the reason why it's such a big deal) in this particular decade? And of course, I'm talking about the legitimacy of the music, not record sales and whatnot.

Here's a list of ten ten records (aside from Funeral) that a large population of critics might include in their decade-end best of lists that I thought of off the top of my head, listed chronologically by year:

- Radiohead's Kid A (2000)
- Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
- The Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
- Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights (2002)
- Broken Social Scene's You Forgot it in People (2002)
- The Shins' Chutes Too Narrow (2003)
- Brian Wilson's Smile (2004)
- Sufjan Stevens' Come On Feel the Illinoise! (2005)
- Radiohead's In Rainbows (2007)
- Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavillion (2009)

I know I'm probably missing a ton. Some comments: In my eyes, Kid A is the only album here that is obviously, without question, more important than Funeral. You know, the whole idea about them being this already huge and established band with an already respectable and important sound, completely doing a 540, and still being just as crucial if not even more so, and even ending up with a #1 hit record to boot. As for Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and In Rainbows, that they are not only incredible records but all the music businessy details that surrounding their releases are what launch them up there in importance. Yoshimi, Turn on the Bright Lights, You Forgot it in People, Chutes Too Narrow and Illinoise are all arguably just as good albums, but don't quite reach the level of importance as the others. Also, we'll have to wait five years to truly be able to assess Merriweather Post Pavillion against all these others, I think. And lastly, now that I think of it, Smile might be above Funeral here as well, thanks to the fact that it was supposed to be released in the late 60s, never happened (in spite of how badly fans of Brian Wilson wanted it), and then was completely rerecorded and released in 2004, and STILL sounded amazing.

ANYWAY, it is apparent to me that Funeral is seen in this higher pantheon of records of this decade, and it deserves it.

So, why do I rant and rave so much about all of this now? Because there was a span of two years where I thought Arcade Fire's sophomore album, Neon Bible, was better. When I initially compiled my top 20 albums of 2004 list, Funeral was ranked fourth. Now, I'd probably put it at #2 or #3. I believe I ranked Neon Bible eighth on my 2007 list, granted I think that year was a better one for music. And, these are FAVORITE records we're talking about here, not BEST. There is a difference (though let's face it, it is impossible to be objective, no matter how hard you try). To summarize my most recent thoughts on both records as simply as possible, they both sound incredible, have an equal amount of songs that I love and perfectly, but Funeral has the more affecting mood and feel to it, and that is what it comes down to, for me at least.

Alright, I'll get to the whole point of this post now, seeing as it is supposed to be about a single song. At the end of March or maybe very beginning of April, I viewed the trailer for the upcoming film version of Where the Wild Things Are. One of Funeral's most epic and sweeping tracks, "Wake Up", is featured as the soundtrack to said trailer. It is appriopriate, chilling and basically wonderful in every way. That following weekend, I decided to spend some time with the album on the way up to the Traverse City area with my parents. I hadn't listened to it in a really long time, I'm not sure exactly how long. But it blew me away. Again.

While I was listening, we were pretty close to our destination (an immediate family gathering at some cabins in the general viscinity), it was the beginning of April, and there was a supprising amount of snow everywhere. It was beautiful, and the album fit this mood perfectly. From what I know of the band's experience around this album, a few of their family members had died during this time, and virtually, that is what it is about, I think? Something like that. Anyway, here I was, with my family, about to spend an entire weekend with them in beautiful northern Michigan, and it just tugged at my heartstrings. Since graduating college almost three years ago, I have come to appreciate my family so much more, and have grown closer to them (well, there's one exception that is too personal to get into), and it is a wonderful feeling. Funeral and especially "Wake Up" will now be associated with the memory of one of the most enjoyable experiences I've ever had with my family probably for a very long time. So, there is my emotional attachment to it.

Musically, the song is simply badass. The dirty, distorted guitar opens things up, and then when all the other instruments and vocals leap in and open things up, it is unexpected and overwhelming in the best way. The verse melody is simple, but seems like it should be inspiring, and the entire first section of the song (which is most of it) is very anthemic. Then, things sound like they're coming to a close, and just when you're ready to cut ties with the song, this beautiful, poppy piano and glockenspeil-led tag at the end brings things home, and it is PERFECT.

Honestly, "Wake Up" is nowhere near my favorite song by Arcade Fire, but since April, it has been blowing my mind more than any tune I currently have access to. Enjoy.

Wake Up - The Arcade Fire