Sonic Anarchy

Going For Baroque

2011-08-30T11:03:00.002-04:00

In the history of journalism, amateur or otherwise, how many articles do you think used this post's play on words? I would guess probably somewhere in the thousands. Probably in the high 20th percentile of all articles written about baroque - anything.

Mainly every article I write about Beirut would probably use the same title. Bombs over Beirut doesn't seem PC enough, and Beirut Cause probably wouldn't only suffice in the event that Zac Condon decided to start a fundraising organization. Which, coming from New Mexico, and knowing of his latin american influences in his work (see March of the Zapotec bro) is not completely out of the question ...

But as usual I have strayed from the course which is holy wack a mole am I enjoying 'The Rip Tide' ... it's basically the album i've been waiting for all year. I mean, I almost always have my hopes up to find something new to really rev me up about music. A new band, a new sound, a new character emerging ... To an extent i would say EMA and Liturgy have provided those things for me this year.

But honestly who doesn't want that one album that draws you in like sweet butterscotch candy. You just can't stop listening to it. For whatever reason the songs recall familiarity and yet have a sense of creativity that shines. A great example from 2010 is the National's High Violet. They didn't reinvent themselves, they just took what they did best, and put together a great collection of The National songs.

On The Rip Tide you won't find anything Condon hasn't done before. But neither will you find anything to be disappointed about. The bread and the butter aka organs, trumpets, and accordians are all still front and center, along with Condon's sorrowful swoon which colors over the brash trumpeteering with melodic control.

Staple tracks like Goshen and East Harlem support some delving into more pop friendly sounding tracks like Santa Fe. Even songs that tend to start slow like Payne's Bay end in classic bombast and crash for which Beirut is best known for.

I think there's a strong comparison to the King is Dead, whereby a classic group put together a an album that was unmistakably their own. But what puts the Rip Tide ahead is it's ability to not seem as complacent. While I find the King is dead enjoyable, it by no means stretches the songwriting chops of that excellent band.

Perhaps it's best metaphorical comparison is it's own name: The Rip Tide. It's gripping, and dragging, and pulling you out to sea, and just when it's got you it gently lets go.

3 bro thumbs up bro.

understanding the debt ceiling deal

2011-08-04T08:22:00.002-04:00

Let me first start by saying most of these thoughts were conjured after reading an op-ed piece in the buffalo news by Rod Watson . It was critical not of just one side or the other, but the whole group in general. And while some fingers were pointed, I thought they were deservedly so.

While I can mostly chalk the results of the debt ceiling debate up to 'stupid americans voting for glamorized politicians' (aka tea party members) and politics in general being more about wealth, fame, and greed over actually trying to look out for the interests of your constituents I still get physically uncomfortable thinking about the absurdity of this system in general. This article in particular brought up a few actually that made me turn into 'hindsight man' , for example...

So Obama thought that if he didn't blink that the debt ceiling wouldn't raise and put the American economy in peril that the American people would place the blame on him. I think he shouldn't have blinked. I mean the things he had to compromise are idiotic. Why is the understanding that the taxes that would have gone in place would affect You or Me? Why is there the perception that these taxes would be 'new', when in actuality it would just RESTORE tax revenues that were reduced under Bush ... remember him? Remember what a slimy shit bag he was, and how all his rich buddies got a free pass on paying taxes? Obama (and the dems) were just trying to set the playing field back to even.

Another point raised is how the spending cuts implemented are going to cost the US 1.2 million jobs. Again, the whole reasoning the GOP has for the tax breaks for the rich is that by decreasing their tax burden they will transfer these saved funds into investment in the US economy.

I wish I knew a sharp economist. I would love to know the # of jobs saved by not cutting spending, and the number of jobs created by these tax breaks. I'm going to bet the tax break money just goes into their bank accounts, and makes the bottom line all that much fatter.

To make a more close to home point the three most prominent area billionaires latest purchases to "help" the american economy 1.Terry Pegula - Bought the sabres, raised ticket prices ... seems to hurt the economy, where are the added jobs? 2. Bob Rich - Bought a european soccer club ... so his money is actually being spent on foreign investments, and again not doing a damn thing for the american economy 3. Grandpa Ralph - 2.5 million grant to improve the Pro Football HOF. Actually, in a way, there are going to be construction workers on that dime, but still ... I'm pretty sure 2.5million could have gone towards a much more economically sound investment in the american working class.

So basically my proposition is what if Obama stuck to his guns? Maybe he sacrifices the next election and the US economy crumbles ... when you only make 20k a year you have a lot less to lose than someone making 20mil a year. And a lot less to earn back. The whole thing is preposterous. Logic dictates that the debt ceiling should have been raised. If it wasn't blame should have been placed not on the people who insisted on using reason, but instead on the shit heads that held the american economy hostage in the name of helping the wealthy continue to skirt their responsibility.

And while I believe that Obama truly thought he had no choice, for the first time I don't actually think he is the right choice to lead the country. We need someone that will stand up, even if it means having a strong stomach, and the knowledge that you might commit political suicide. While open and honest dialogue is much appreciated, sometimes just taking one for the team is much more worth it.

I've decided ...

2011-07-31T10:46:00.002-04:00

I've decided to become a full time sports blogger. Seems like a relatively easy gig, and it really takes no expertise. Plus, it always ends up in long term job security and wealth.

So I'll save the diatribe on pro athletes, money, greed, and how asinine the whole thing is, i mean how well compensated they are and how the people who provide that compensation are seemingly never made to be the most important aspect of any sport's culture.

Instead I just want to rant about how I think the Eagles are going to totally suck this year. Everyone knows the best db's can't make up for a lack of a pass rush. Ask Donte Whitner. Also, Michael Vick might make some amazing plays that no other athlete in the NFL can make. But he's not a winner. Never has been, and I don't think he ever will be. The eagles will be fun to watch, but they will not win a super bowl. Sorry. Also, I'd put down some serious bank on the odds that Vick is injured and misses at least 25% of the season. Good luck with VY philly.

Can't cry for those fans though, the Phillies are STACKED... Ideally Hank Steinbrenner would make a phone call that went something like this "Hey Rub (Ruben Amaro Jr. phillies GM) how's it going? Listen, I'll trade you my team for your team straight up, whatdya think?"

Top 10 2011

2011-07-28T10:05:00.002-04:00

About a month behind everyone else but here's my top 10 albums of 2011 in no order:

Bon Iver - ST

The Head and the Heart - ST

Tune-Yards - w h o k i l l

Liturgy - Aesthetica

Decemberists - The King is Dead

Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact

My Morning Jacket - Circuital

Panda Bear - Tomboy

The Psychic Paramount - II

Radiohead - King of Limbs

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

also I am enjoying the Thao and Mirah album more than I thought i would, Kaputt by Destroyer was pretty creative and enjoyable ... like this year's Ariel Pink or something. Also I only listened to the Cults album twice, but it was pretty bubble gum pop enjoyable. There were a shit ton of disappointing albums this year including DCFC, Black Lips, and the Dodos.

Looking forward to the Beirut album a lot. And I just got the new Washed Out album which i think will just be a good album to put on in the background when you're doing pretty much anything. I didn't get why Toro y Moi was so well received, but then again I didn't like his first album all that much either.

Also I think neon indian is putting out another album this year, and das racist has their first non-mixtape coming out which should be awesome.

I feel pretty out of the loop with the indie music scene these days so i'm sure i've probably missed some great albums. Looking at some of the other lists out there I can say i haven't listened to about 75% of the albums on the various lists.

sleep deprived

2011-05-21T07:54:00.002-04:00

a result of not being able to sleep is the ridiculous amount of random pondering that instead filled my head.

this morning i woke up with all these thoughts about what the fuck is wrong with the world. and why no one can resolve anything. i basically newb'd the shit out my twitter account, taking to it like some sort of random internet genius. the truth is most of my ideas are crackpot and probably not very good ones at all.

the last part that I almost ranted about was the state of the nation. 140 characters weren't going to be sufficient. i suppose the reason why i've kept this blog open is for just this situation.

basically, i love america. i love living here. i am grateful and thankful to whatever randomness ended up with my consciousness existing in my current surroundings. maybe, as many others probably are guilty of too, I don't take time often enough to realize how lucky we are. we always have cnn and fox news to remind us how much worse it can be. when you're not in the hell holes that they glorify though it seems surreal, like maybe that is just something they're showing on tv to make everyone feel good about their current lot.

i start there because the rest of my thoughts are related to what a shame the current state of the nation has become. it's silly to think about the importance and power of money. people say money doesn't buy happiness, but clearly it buys everything else. if you're not happy without out everything else, then you probably won't ever be happy.

the whole h129 thing has me kind of down. it's like ... yes i do not want the government to be a competitor in the marketplace, that is totally unfair. but no, i don't want the marketplace run by greedy ass clowns who only care about the bottom line instead. I mean look at the charts. Clearly the communication cartels can offer better service than they currently are. and yet every time they release a statement about increased speed, that comes at a price. An unnecessary cost. And if you're not getting an upgrade, then you're just getting your bill restructured to try and help them save money, read: make MORE money. It's hard for me to believe anyone who is in charge of making these decisions is not wealthy beyond their possible needs.

it literally makes me sad to think about the reason for the american revolution. freedom from tyranny. freedom from government rule. a government ruled by the people. i can get behind all of this. but at this point clearly these principles are not controlling our interests. a new tyranny has taken over. it's greed, it's money, it's power. it's the exact same reasons i'd say we revolted in the first place.

it just seems like this country is no longer built for the betterment of all people. It's built for the betterment of those who are willing to step on others. and that is just kind of sad. it's highly doubtful i will ever live to see a real change to this structure. even worse is feeling powerless. like i can't actually make a difference. it's sad to know that i've given up.

so next time you see me shopping at walmart, or filling up my gas tank, or listening to my ipod just know that it's only because i've given up, not because i'm unaware of what an asshole i've become.

simple physics

2011-05-17T09:20:00.003-04:00

well, technically this isn't about physics at all. as a matter of fact there are probably numerous scientific or statistical or proven theories that can/should/will be ignored for the purpose of this post.

i mean the thing is i work in generalities. what is a generality? i don't know. but i said i work in them which means i have a general idea, which may or may not be true, but as long as i think that it's true, then it is.

i will at least give you my 'general' belief in generalities so you can taunt me about this later. There are two key points:

1. All of my thoughts are based on the premise 'in general', or meaning on a greater than 50% experience. It basically is tied almost to a binary sense of reality. Like if something happens more than 50% of the time it might as well be 100% of the time in my head. To break down the context of every event that occurs would be, at least in my head, an inefficiency of the time allotted alive. So basically, or 'in general' i see things as black and white even though the reality of that is obviously not so.

2. I totally lost track of my train of thought, if i can remember my second point supporting my 'generalities' philosophy i'll be sure to add it later.

The real point of this post though is that I've come up with a fairly simple equation for helping someone to find good music.

The start of this whole thing relies on some unavoidable randomness. But after you leap over what i would call an obvious randomness factor you can actually figure out how to find quality indie rock music, at least in the current cultural context.

As far as other genres of music I can't really speak to that since I don't have much experience so I'm not sure if my equation would support someone whose tastes are more strongly aligned with different genres.

the gist of the equation goes like this:

1. debut albums (EP's or LP's) are still completely random. You cannot tell, regardless of hype of how well a band's debut album will be until you listen to it.

2. any other album then follows: If the current/new non debut album by a band is immediately hailed as publicized as the band's best album the actual best album will be the one prior to it. This is very closely tied to elitism or hipsterism, but i believe that is a simple way of writing off more statistically relevant facts. Declaring elitism is a simple way of not having to pronounce yourself subject to mass appeal.

In a way it makes sense. A great album allows for more people to listen and enjoy. The album after said great album allows those who thoroughly enjoyed the great album to heap the praise they've been unable to do on a scale they feel is the act's great album truly deserved.

Here's a theoretical situation: Band A releases an album that for the purpose of this argument is their best album (lets just call it great). But no one really knows Band A. They get a few good reviews, but for the most part Band A is not well known and while their album is amazing the fact that it's not really being pushed due to lack of existing fan base / critical acclaim.

In simple mathematical terms: Lets say 10 people know about it, and they tell their 5 friends. There are now 50 friends. But the 5 friends didn't find out about the album lets say for a year. So even though we have 40 more fans of the album the time when they first experienced it is staggered over time and therefore the social awareness is generally a small, slowly growing result.

Now lets say it's been a few years and Band A is ready to release album 2. There are now 200 fans. The album comes out and it's good. This is the first time 190 people are allowed to show their pride in Band A, Album 1, and now Album 2. Do you think they hype machine is going to be a little louder this time?

Do you think there is a chance for an unreasonably high review for the new album? I would say if they band has never had critical success before on a large scale there's a good chance even if Album B is shitty it's probably going to be very highly rated, even if in fact the previous album is better.

The downside to this theory is that it only works in one context which is The Album Prior to the Album with the Highest Critical Praise Out of an Entire Discography Is The Musician(s) best actual album.

There is no working calculation after that. Once critical and social acceptance has been reached it's back to being a very random experience. Though I would say IN GENERAL the album after the highest critical praise is not as well regarded / accepted / enjoyed ... for lack of a better word it's usually not very good ... in any context.

Information Interpretation

2010-12-30T14:38:00.003-05:00

I'm suddenly stricken with an internal debate regarding Information / Knowledge.

The basic quandary is thus: what is the point of information if you do nothing with it?

The possible scenarios I have argued to myself are:

- The point is that if you have the hypothetical information then when a situation comes up where it can be used it will be. This is a sort of 'wait and see approach'

- A secondary argument is that maybe it is unnecessary to be proactive, but that people, either because of insecurity or an attempt to provide due diligence share new information whenever they learn it with variable results.

-The other main branch then would be that no information is useful until it has been acted upon.

Maybe the question should be posed as Is the 'value' of information derived from it's initial creation or from it's resultant effects?

The answer stinks of a scenario where opposing viewpoints could select equally valid scenarios.

Someone would probably get shot.

2010-12-28T09:45:00.002-05:00

Favorite tracks of 2010 ... enjoy

anarchy is dead, let freedom ring

2010-10-14T19:29:00.002-04:00

in what is sure to be a drawn out, sporadic, and typically substance depraved event i've recently decided to declare my music op-ed and news hobby retired.

i don't think this is a permanent end to my hobby. but the ideas and creativity that have at least existed in my mind, whether they actually made it into the realm of palpable existence ... if you think something does it exist, or does it not exist until it is shared with someone else? .... they no longer inhabit the same space in my thoughts and hopes and plans ... it's like if my brain were a metropolis that was run by music the city has been vacated by the music. music still exists. music still runs city hall. music still lives in the boojy neighborhoods with the big gates and the fancy cars. but that's only one neighborhood. the best neighborhood, but not the majority of the city.

see, sporadic? i just liked that analogy so i ran with it.

anyways, i still like music, i'm just not really feeling like it needs to run so much of the show lately. i think i really enjoyed music as a companion because of the ups and downs that personal relationships are prone to. music is solid and will always be there. and will not be unforgiving should i let go for a while and decide to come back later on.

so adieu to sonic anarchy ... it was mostly about the dream anyways.

Contra Contrast

2010-09-11T08:39:00.002-04:00

Sadly I won't be able to devote enough time to this post. Still, it'll prove a relief to get some of these thoughts out, and make room for new ones to be born, grow, and eventually mature to a point where they always want to borrow your car every friday night.

Last night's vampire weekend show in rochester raised a multitude of ideas and questions. From the beginning of my experience listening to vampire weekend I've always been quite intrigued by many facets of their existence. Friday evening only led to a number of interesting angles to think about.

For example, has vampire weekend reinvented the 'college rock' band? Judging from last night i would say yes. The mix of fans was very typical of what you would see at concert where the band's largest audience demographic is the 18 -22 range. Meaning, most of the people there were 18-22. This is not unique in itself, but looking more closely at who these people were, and by that, I mean what they wore, and general mannerisms it was easy to tell that these were not punk kids, they were not hipsters, they were not older post college faded rock glory folk, and not hippies.

They were a generation of in betweens, and since so many shows I go to are full of 'scene' kids, it was awkward experience to feel like the 'scene' of the night was vampire weekend kids. Why do i say 'vampire weekend kids', well because in my mind this distinguishes them from the 'oar' and 'guster' type college radio crowds. An overwhelming appreciation for opener's Beach House clearly indicated that the crowd was indie leaning ... i'm not sure what that really means, but it was meant to more clearly define the difference between those who listen to slightly off the beaten path pop, and those who tend to adventure a little bit further into the pop jungle.

Above all this is my interest in VW's ability to remain a credible band, shirking the sellout label that eventually every band who doesn't end up living in the drummer's mom's basement gets stuck with because the music they make is no longer 'real' once you've collected a paycheck for playing it.

There is no question that VW gets fat paid. A #1 album tells you that they got a few fans. In the past I've talked about how the music industry is learning to survive without big money. And that listeners are controlling the quality of the product, not boardrooms. So how does VW do it? How do they remain 'in' when it's 'out' to have mainstream appeal. A video starring jake gyllenhal, a bunch of obvious rich kids, and yet they are admired and adored for following the same steps that many of other bands have taken into the 'sellout dungeon'.

I guess I remain one of the admirers for now. They have definitely earned my respect for being able to balance the air of coolness and the legitimacy of a band as a profitable career. I suppose it's as easy as continuing to create interesting, and enjoyable music, huh?

quick quick quick!!

2010-08-24T21:52:00.002-04:00

Ok I've slacked on updating this lately. And by lately I mean August. I think this is my first post of the month.

That doesn't mean I haven't had my ear to the ground or the speaker or what have you. So what's going on?

1. Rock Fuckin Tember - There's just shy of a donkeyfuckton of awesome shows coming in September liiikeee ... black keys, shellac, Of Montreal, built to spill, vampire weekend, cocorosie, holy fuck ... oh and broken social scene ... all good, be there or be rectangle.

2. i knocked my most valued possession off a table. It'll going to take felony level downloading over the next few months to regain the fort knox of music back into my possession. Sad fucking times.

3. New music for august ... hmmm, i started checking out cocorosie, they're kinda weird but I think I kind of their weirdo bjork esque bulls hit.

The !!! album is aight, actually it kind of sucks. I mean it's better than listening to whatever shitbrew pop douchebaggery the radios are pumpin these days, but it's not the dance hurricane i hoped for.

The Arcade Fire album pissed me off at first. I thought every song sounded like something Bruce Springsteen would write. And I loathed all the old NJ turds who think the Boss is boss. Cause I mean he writes NJ blue collar darsh anthems ... it's not really my bag man. But then some of the tracks started to stick, and i realized ... i'm probably going to be one of those old lame aggressive dudes some day ... i suppose whiney canadian indie pop can be my Boss for now.

I think I am just really starting to hate NJ ... at least the music scene

Except ducktails, I got II and it's not bad ... I def want to check out the first album. It's pretty awkward pretentious bullshit, but it's a lot better than the shit heap that is usually forced on my ears via "in" music scenes telling me what I'm missing out on.

Besides that I'm furthering my love of Love is All ... they're a strange cross between my high school ska punk sentiments and my late 20's indie pomposity.

Also, I really want to see either shellac or black keys sept 2nd. Fate decides where i end up that night.

summer mix adds

2010-07-30T07:00:00.002-04:00

beach fossils - golden age: I've got a post about this band. I just like it. It's killin me this summer

ceo - illuminata: this is basically the best song this summer. Furthermore I strongly urge you to check out the full album White Magic. It's basically the best album that has come out the entire summer. You're going to fucking love it.

my darlins

2010-07-30T06:46:00.002-04:00

this isn't any type of ringing endorsement, but I came across this band while doing some early morning reading. I basically played the first song, and then switched back to reading, and at one point realized i had listened to like three of their songs.

it was enjoyable.

I separate that statement because, as silly as it is to make generalizations the fact is that I for the most part do not enjoy most bands with female lead vocals. this is not rooted in any type of sexist way. It's more that I find there are too many bands that sound exactly the same. I'll try to keep a running list of vocalists I think sound the same.

For the record there are many many female vocalists that i pretty much adore including:
Lykke Li, MIA, Nekko Case, Sharen Worden, Tracyanne Campbell, and Karen O. just to name a few. I feel like their voices cover both amazing and unique whereas artists like Ingrid Michaelson or the vocalists in bands like Best Coast just get away with being 'amazing' because they've penetrated the scene and are considered 'cool'.

I'm certainly not trying to take away from their vocal talents outright. They are far and away more talented than I am. And if I were them I'd probably find me, and punch my groin for badmouthing them. But too many times I get jazzed when I hear about a new great band, only to find out the vocals pretty much sound like a million other bands before them, and I struggle to determine what makes them unique.

anyways ... the funny thing is that this band is not all that unique ever, but they carry a country twang with their punk rock, and for whatever reason this morning it struck a good nerve:

My Darlins

Menomena: Mines

2010-07-28T08:15:00.002-04:00

One of my most highly anticipated releases of ohhh, the last 3 years is finally here. And when I say finally here, I mean streaming on npr.org for free. I have to disclose up front that I don't actually have a full copy of Mines yet, and so maybe somehow I am missing something. However, I have listened to that stream a number of times and feel like one of the things I want to get better at on sonicanarchy is getting reviews of new albums done while they're still new.

Menomena first rose to prominence in my vast collection of musical interests back in 2007 when they released Friend and Foe. I recall being immediately taken with their first single Muscle n' Flo. A dramatic, beat heavy awkward pitched track that incorporated an awesome saxophone backing track. Everything about that song embodied what was to be found on the rest of the album, and can easily stand as my flagship track to introduce new listeners to Menomena's sound. Friend and Foe easily stands as one of my top albums of the decade, and is the reason Menomena has become my next 'must see' band (though unfortunately they're not doing any festivals or coming near WNY on their tour).

With Mines taking over 3 years to record and release perhaps the level of excitement for this album may have become a bit exaggerated. This was the first time I had followed a recording cycle for the band, and every news update mentioned the meticulous work that goes into creating one of their songs. Many articles mentioned how they like to lay down a song, then dissect it over and over until it's almost a new song. Far be it from me to tell someone how their creative process should be handled, but I sometimes worry when I hear this type of program employed in that a band might be prone to 'overdoing' it.

I make note of that because what I think a listener will find on Mines is probably the result of this type of work ethic. Each song sounds very carefully mixed, and constructed. Utilizing the sonic build up's and epic conclusions that are common among the group's previous works. One thing Menomena is not for lack of is evoking a sense of intimacy between a song and it's listener. On Mines they have carefully crafted a 54 minute set of agreeable indie rock.

To this listener though the album feels like a let down. After introducing myself to their work on the aforementioned 'Foe' I delved back into the band's earlier work. To me, a lot of similarities can be found between Mines and the group's freshman LP 'I am the Fun Blame Monster'. Much like on 'Monster', Mines' songs are filled with twists and turns, vocals that seethe and yearn, and a complementary mix of pianos, horns, and drum tracks. But what separated 'Foe' from these two was the jagged edges, the unexpected twists, and the brash calamity of noises that often dissipated into sickly sweet conclusions. To me, this is what makes Menomena feel like a 'must see' band. One that is truly pushing the envelope, and embarking on sound collages too daring for those who wish to only sell records.

I can't in good conscience tell readers not to check the album out. It could be completely possible that my follow up expectations have led to my not so favorable conclusions. And by golly, this album IS GOOD. Those unfamiliar with the band might crap their pants in delight to finally discover their sound. Far be it from me to discourage you to listen, because it all actuality the album is the clever, concise work that the band has been promising all along. It never really drags, and parts seem to continue to dare listeners to think outside the verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus box. But it just hasn't pushed me like I really expected it would.

Sum Ten Awe Sum

2010-07-09T07:08:00.004-04:00

instead of trying to compile a playlist that is easily distributable I'm going to take to the blog and bring

sonic anarchy's Songs of Summer aka SumTen Awesum

here's the first ... Male Bonding track: Nothing Use To Hurt ...

edit: in case it doesn't load you can check the video here ...

beach fossils update

2010-07-08T20:06:00.002-04:00

bah, i'm going to miss the beach fossils when they play rochester on july 13th, but that doesn't mean that you should ... why?

well basically i really like their album here's why so far

con(s)
- they are from brooklyn
- they sound like they are from brooklyn
- they are hyped like they are from brooklyn
- i am kind of getting sick of brooklyn

pro(s)
- their shit isn't catchy cause a hipster told you it was. it actually is.
- they triumph where others in their group have failed ... to win me over that is.
- what i mean is that they sound a SHIT TON like real estate. which i suppose is technically NJ, but whatever. however where real estate's last album as pointless and meandering Beach Fossils kick up the pace, keep the music to their point, and don't try to overdo it. Overdo it? Isn't that what bands are all trying to achieve, something new and unique ... perhaps ... but at the same time when you're just experimenting with sound only validation for hipster douches are going to tell you if it's good. People with ears and without pretentious posture just want to hear shit that is invigorating on some level, not confusing or sorta ok, unless you're stoned, then it's totally ok ...

- they have that weird black lips hollowed out vocals thing which is awesome. i'm pretty sure my parents have a cheesey plastic toy that can make the same effect if you speak into it. shit, if only i had known, i would have saved my plastic neon sunglasses and echo microphone toys from my youth. I would be sooooo effing hipster.

- but enough ... the beach fossils album is genuinely enjoyable. thanks guys, sorry i'm gonna miss ya.

atlas sound at rockin the knox

2010-07-08T07:14:00.002-04:00

it's not important how i got this.

also if you look hard when the song is winding down and they're showing the crowd you'll see me, ha, sweeeet.

more more more

2010-07-07T20:52:00.004-04:00

ok ... in an attempt to pick this damn summer up I've been hittin the new music circuit hard and fast ... a couple of first impressions:

Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot, Son of Chico Dusty - ehhh, it's pretty fuckin awesome if you, like me, are an old school Outkast fan. I guess record label drama keeps Dre off of it which kind of sucks, but Sir Lucious pretty much kills it regardless ... great summer album. Bouncin dungen fam style, shake it like a tamborine.

ceo - White Magic - ehh it got propped up good by p4k but it's actually kind of awesome. It's only like a half hour long though which is kind of disappointing ... need more!!!

fang island, future islands, julian lynch, male bonding ... pretty meh on all of these. male bonding is kind of cool in a 'i miss old school nirvana fuzz' sort of way.

ariel pink's haunted graffiti - another album to hold p4k skepticism up to. but i actually kind of dig this album, it's kind of deep though and i haven't gotten too much into it yet. but it stays out of the dust pile and in regular rotation for now.

beach fossils - have only listened to like 4 songs off the album ... they're like a less punk sounding black kids. it could go either way. i'm having some issues with the brooklyn music scene presently. so much coming from the same place is kind of stagnating the entire movement.

finally inspired

2010-07-07T20:10:00.005-04:00

psst ... guess what. people not living in brooklyn also make awesome music.

found this post earlier today. it's well ... kind of amazing. cannot wait for that ep ... just a few more days.

for now you'll have to just deal with this

and the vid:

toronto island fest - review pt. 1

2010-06-26T06:39:00.003-04:00

I've decided to break up my thoughts on the toronto island festival because it was such an epic situation. In equal parts musically and culturally. Foremost on my mind though, and above else, and I just really want to kind of rant about was the Pavement show. It was in a word

UNBELIEVEABLE

ok, all caps, it's own paragraph. maybe that is over the top. however, it was definitely the best show I've seen since radiohead. I think it's safe to say that I'm an above average Pavement fan, but that said I sort of had low expectations for their show. I hadn't heard too much since they started touring. I even had a friend from Seattle see them, and didn't really hear anything about it. Pavement quite frankly are not what I consider heavy, or experimental, or groundbreaking ... anything that people would lose their shit to.

But they totally rocked the fuck out of toronto island. most people there might not agree as the average attendee seemed like they may have been only vaguely familiar with the band, and were just hanging around to get their money's worth.

It can't be denied that Stephen Malkmus is an amazing guitarist though. He shredded the shit out of the songs, and rocked them far more heavily than I expected. Oh, and did I mention how epic their set list is. 26 fucking songs. I think most bands that headline tend to do a lot of filler, bullshit, let each member do a 20 minute bullshit solo ... not pavement ... you get your fucking looney's worth man.

That's not to say that they didn't jam out a bunch. If you've listened to Pavement then you know they definitely do stretches of sonic chaos in many of their songs. However, when a band reunites after 12 years apart the fans want to hear the damn classics, and the classics, a lot of them are 3 - 4 minute geeky sing alongs. I keep comparing them to weezer, but there really is no comparison. Weezer has 1 album that people sing along to. The next best album they have they don't play songs off of because it's when Rivers was depressed, and the rest of their 90 albums have one song that corporate radio shoved down everyone's throat so they know the words and those get played as well. But the songs blow.

Pavement's discography is bound by great indie pop songs. While walking towards the ferry and listening to Pavement play out the end of their set during "stereo" one of my lady friends mentioned "oh, i know this song". No shit Shirlock. And their show definitely stood up to that test.

Perhaps the most interesting thing I could actually say about the mannerisms of the band is the way Malkmus did a bunch of really silly rock star moves that somehow came across as tongue in cheek, but perhaps I only think that because I read the lyrics too closely, and maybe he has turned into a weird dude who thinks playing a 2 note guitar solo behind his head is actually cool ... that's not mockery, that's just honesty. He also pulled the 'swing the guitar around the body' and the 'play the guitar extra high' moves as well. Those were most notable. Besides that the band seemed to get along, and kind of seemed like they were picking songs on the fly as they set into 'starlings of the slipstream' but openly debated playing 'perfume-v' (played later on in the night). I thought that was kind of awesome. I hope luck has it in store for me to catch them again some time. I thought they were absolutely amazing. Of course this is all relative if you don't know their music. If you are invigorated by this post I would definitely suggest getting into either Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain which was my first and favorite album, or check out the new 'best of comp' Quarantine the Past. It's actually a really good mix.

All in all the set was real treat. Check out the post at brooklyn vegan since they're a reputable blog site, and they covered this event much better than I did. Plus they include a set list, some live video ... and they're hipster. I'm just a d-bag.

An unforgettable night nonetheless. Thank you pavement.

lollapa-booo-za

2010-06-26T06:35:00.002-04:00

remember that time you mentioned how bad lolla's set scheduling was? Guess what genius did ... arcade fire is playing at the same time as soundgarden.

Granted the bands may not have EXACTLY the same fan base (perhaps i'm the only one), but it doesn't make sense. On one hand one of the biggest deals of lolla is that they're promoting the soundgarden reunion, and at the same time Arcade fire is like the 3rd band on the list ... of the headliners.

I suppose they kind of did that when I went a few years ago with the Kanye v NIN, Wilco v Radiohead, I guess I kind had forgot about that and now I think Lolla is probably out of the question for me in the future.

They have really solid lineups though. Kind of a shame.

Now this is sonic anarchy

2010-06-17T10:45:00.004-04:00

It just occured to me that sonic anarchy isn't really anarchy to me since I enjoy the music i usually talk about. To try and break the cycle let me rage about what I can only describe as the sonic apocolypse . Let me count the ways in which I have become irritated by this concert.

1. Gin blossoms ... more like jizz blossoms. Yuck.

2. Soul Asylum - well the internet has failed me. Right in here should be a video of Sweet Dee from IASIP singing that 'runaway train' song drunkenly. Because, well that's the most interesting part about the band soul asylum. Which apparently is so fucking uninteresting that even the internet has failed to cover facets of THEIR ONLY HIT EVER.

3. On top of these shitheap bands being the 'headliners' the promo goes on to threaten us with 5 HOURS of this. I just threw up in my mouth.

4. Oh did i mention that Uncle Plum is opening? Aren't they 50? Are they still trying to sound like Blink 182, even after Blink 182 has stopped trying to sound like Blink 182? Uncle Plum? Lame.

Did anyone read the previous post which mentioned the disparity in cultural awareness between Rochester and Buffalo? Add this one to the score sheet.

In the end it's actually kind of sad as the event is supposed to promote genessee brewery (which unless they're giving it away for free you might want to BYO), and also try and get some donations together for a good cause. Both quite noble endeavors, but it's like the deaf are leading the way. Actually strike that, the deaf would at least bring in some acts with awesome bass. I have no idea whose warped idea of a good concert would pair these together and try to engage the public.

I suppose it makes me a bad person for crapping on the event, but damn, they made it near impossible, and a fully laughable one at that..

If someone followed me here from BR please excuse the use of jizz above. But not really. I mean this is called sonic anarchy, not sonic bible study.

Sonic!

2010-06-17T10:24:00.003-04:00

Felt like it was time to share ...

This weekend stands to be possibly the most exciting of the year ... at least in terms of musical experience. It all kicks off with a free concert with War tonight in the ROC. War, what is it good for? How about a free show, a couple of beers, a decent outdoor venue, and a genuinely funkified jam session. Yes the beer is watered down. Yes there are sure to be a lot of rods also there. But it will be hard to not have a good time.

Followed by the Rockin at the Knox show. Hello Atlas Sound, Hello National. Color me excited!! Plus, i somehow managed to get a press pass for the show. I can't lie, I'm fucking stoked about that. It's like the cherry on top of a sundae, except on friday, and a press pass instead of a weird fruit.

Check buffalorising.com for my review afterward. I'm def a bit nervous that I'll be able to do the readers justice. Certainly I'll try and do my best to prop the event up. Even if it turns into a shitty show the fact that the Albright had the stones to put together such an interesting lineup makes it worth lending some backing support regardless of actual turnout.

In all my years in Rochester, even with the increasing popularity of the Jazz fest (which is kind of a poorly managed event, but that rant will be saved for later) no one has ever brought a legitimately decent lineup of rock acts that parallels the Knox show.. If there is any time to make the comparison as to how Rochester matches up against Buffalo culturally here is yet another prime example of why a big back yard, a driveway, and clean suburbs isn't necessarily all one needs in life.

And if it weren't for the presser I would probably have just tried to catch the show for free by setting up a lawn chair and a giant refreshing cocktail down in the fucking epic setting Albright has going on and just sit back and take in the show. God ... what a cool situation to be in.

And that's not even the best part...

Call it what you will ... Tonapalooza, Tonnaroo, Tonchella ... is going down on saturday. The lineup? Oh how about every favorite band of mine ever ... well ... not quite, but fucking epic nonetheless ...

Pavement
Broken Social Scene
Band of Horses
Beach House

not to mention Timber Timbre .. which admittedly i have not sunk my teeth into yet, but buzz is buzz and they're a buzz band.

Should be fudging epic music weekend ... probably won't update this space but you can check my nerd spew over at BR.com. I am slated for 3 posts this weekend. Heyo!

where i'm at

2010-06-10T09:34:00.002-04:00

so i recently moved to a new apartment. yes, it's been two weeks, but damn, i'm busy (read:lazy) and have not yet set my rig up proper yet.

because of this I've been relying on a combination of mp3 player / streaming online media / singing to myself for music inspiration. that said, there's not too much new to report.

i burned out bad on the heavy Broken Social Scene / The National / Band of Horses combo that infused excitement for this blog and for the music scene in general over the last month or so. Other notable albums helping to keep the rock a rollin were west coasters Local Natives and the Morning Benders.

But recent disappointment / lack finding 'that hook' that draws my listening interest in albums by Holy Fuck, Crystal Castles, and the Black Keys is kind of souring my grapes if you know what i'm sayin. you're souring my grapes, don't sour my grapes man, take your sour grapes elsewhere .... i like that ... anyways yeah ... i'm back in a lull. However here's a few things i'm digging

Tame Impala - the aussie's are supposedly "psychedelia" but it just sounds like later year beatles. The man does a damn good mccartney impersonation ... it's actually really cool.

Holy fuck - yes, the album isn't great, but there are moments that brighten up the day, and are epic summer tunes.

phosphorescent - they're playing soundlab in July so I'm doing some advanced scouting ... they're basically a folky jams band ... but it's a good switch from the heavy beat laden electronic influences of crystal castles and holy fuck.

the black keys - i'm not digging the new one. i mean, it sounds like a black keys album but i'm not finding anything particularly great about it. obvious good jams scattered throughout, but i feel like i can only do one of these a year and the dan auerbach album came into my life first ...

indie-lievable!!!

2010-05-27T08:34:00.003-04:00

i sort of suck because i am totally piggybacking on this article. But I suppose I am here to lend some thoughts rather than just report the news.

So just to summarize the article before going ahead with my thoughts. This week the Black Keys, LCD Soundsystem, Band of Horses, and Nas/Damien Marley, Janelle Monae, and The national all made billboard's top 20 albums this week.

Earlier in the year Vampire weekend made history by being the first independent label artist to strike #1. And if it weren't for those pesky bastards in Glee or the fact that Keith Richards needs more money for ... well speculation on that should be saved for another time but i'm putting my money on black market fetuses ...

So yeah, indie is the new mainstream. It makes a lot of sense. I actually think in terms of the music industry it's an interesting look at how things like corporate radio and music stores and basically the entire major label industry is no longer the model that works. Well at least not in rock music.

I guess my biggest problem with most of the analysis out there on this point always seems to allude that there's is some mysterious "other" way that people are getting their information. When in reality it's pretty easy to figure it out. I like math so lets build the equation for how to make money these days.

x = people in America root for the underdog. example a: the red sox, example b: apple. while as neither of these "brands" are really underdogs (check the financial records) they have positioned themselves against their industry titans in such a way that makes them look and feel like the underdog.

y = out is in. being "cool" means that you're into shit that other people are not. or being part of a scene that is somehow underground.

z = all people want is to do whatever they feel like in any given moment and not have to answer to anyone for it. specifically one surmises a musician just wants to write music. when they're not in the mood to write music they want to watch tv. or perhaps they don't even like music that much but the fact remains they do not want to deliver pizza or clean urinals or tend bar or work in the mall food court or whatever the fuck people who are artistically inclined do to cover rent.

operand= money. money drives z. don't take this as some personal tirade against money. i'd much rather work in the financial paradigm rather than the fucking bartering system. as a small, middle class, average intelligence, creativity deprived individual i would essentially be royal effed without money.

to that end. to get money you need to get it from people who already have it. and the people that have it can afford internet. fucking everything is related to the internet.

which leads to function

function = internet. people with money are ALL using the internet. the internet provides endless ways for people to use their money. the word "internet" will soon be too small of a word to describe what is really going on. it's easy to predict in the future everything EVERYTHING will be run through the electronic communication pipelines known as the internet.

the internet is now what drives all trends. and the only reason things like corporate radio and movie theaters and other hard brick and mortar establishments still exist is because people with WAY fucking more money than you and I have invested their entire fortunes in the success of something that at one point seemed impossible to not need, at least for entertainment value.

it's almost like a battle of billions of people with $100's of dollars vs. 100's of people with billions of $'s. Not to mention the whole idea that without realizing it the more people fund and support electronic ways of dealing with everyday life are essentially taking money away from the people that currently have to service the brick and mortar versions ... and possibly taking their own jobs away. a simple, possibly stupid, but effective analogy would be the movie theatre employee who only watches movies with their netflix online account ... they're basically ending the need for their own job. A slightly less direct idea would be movie-philes who demand the crisp picture offered by digital projectors thereby destroying the film / projection industries.

but enough about movies. the point is that the internet has bred indie music into the 'new mainstream' by providing the allusion that people are making a less popular choice when they listen or support an indie label musician, which is actually the 'cool' thing to do and thereby has now become the more popular choice.

so how does one get to z through f using x and y?

zf(x * y) ... or something ... effed if i know...

i could probably talk about the economics of 'cool' forever. i just thought it was almost a milestone in indie label popularity when i saw that article. figured i'd lament some, because ... well this is my blog and that's kind of what i do.

ok cornell, now it's on

2010-05-24T18:26:00.002-04:00

basically band of horses is my favorite band of the current "era" of my music preferences ... soundgarden was my favorite band of a much earlier era ... imagine why i think video is 'bout as epic as it gets for me:

so now it's cornell's turn to retort, perhaps with the national's matt beringer later this summer at lolla ... oh god, how effing cool would that be?!!

shanghai cop affiliation

2010-05-22T09:34:00.002-04:00

video for the first single by the cooky canucks sounds like they haven't lost a step. still quite capable of making fun singalong pop ..pop... they're playing buffalo at town ballroom in late July ... see you there!!!

Tokyo Police Club - Breakneck Speed

TOKYO POLICE CLUB | MySpace Music Videos

where's soof

2010-05-17T21:01:00.002-04:00

so i was totally going to do this whole mildly humorous "you have 4 minutes and 22 seconds. ready .... go" thing ... but the preview frame of the vid totally took the fun out of that ... sunzabitches.

My first (attempted) article

2010-05-17T18:38:00.006-04:00

Attention shoegazers! hey, if you took a moment to look up from the laces then consider yourself in luck! Why? Well, because fuzz pop all stars the pains of being pure at heart are coming to town on Saturday, June 5th.

The brooklyn based power poppers bring their brand of lovelorn haze infused indie crunch to the Tralf for an 8pm show ($15). Having already run the gauntlet of touring behind their self titled LP and an EP released last September the hipsters extraordinaire come riding in on a wave of indie cred and a new 7" hope to show Buffalo what all the fuss is about. Taking a page from the Smiths and NYC's own Sonic Youth the Pains combine a syrupy mix of overdriven guitar pop, dreamy synths, and lyrics about what else, the heart. Lace up your favorite gazing loafers and practice your best late 80's dance moves cause if their show last spring in Rochester was any indication these guys know how to entertain.

Along for the ride are West Palm, Fla. based and metaphorically appropriate Surfer Blood. But don't let the name scare you, these indie pop knuckleheads are gaining notice after impressive shows at CMJ '09, and SXSW in March. They specialize in singing about what they know girls, music, and Obama. But do it with gusto that raises their brand of simplistic pop into grandiose slacker anthems. Lucky for us they must have had a good time in Buffalo when they played in April cause they're back for another go. And yes, they play catholic pagans, no need to shout it at them throughout the set you goon ... karaoke alert: you may want to brush up on your old school weezer lyrics prior to the show!

And for all you fellow synth lovers out there make sure you catch the opening and up and coming Hooray for Earth. Their light hearted swimmy synths and jubilent croons should provide a swell introduction to a night of good times. They're touring to promote their new EP titled Momo which is released on June 1st under the Dovecote Records label.

Also is it just me or would "Hooray! Surfer Pains!" make an excellent band name? That one is on me, free of charge.

Check the primer videos below and start practicing your dance moves now!!

Pains of Being Pure at Heart: Young Adult Friction

via: p4k

Surfer Blood: Swim

via: youtube.com

Hooray For Earth: Surrounded by Your Friends

"Surrounded By Your Friends" by Hooray For Earth from Johnny Woods on Vimeo.

Infinite Arms - Review

2010-05-11T12:20:00.004-04:00

Last week I posted some initial thoughts on a few albums that I have been keeping in the regular rotation. One of them was the (personally) highly anticipated release by Band of Horses "Infinite Arms". My initial take was an unsurprisingly disappointed look at the band's new direction.

As a long time fan of the band a short but necessary historical look at the band's discography will provide context to my defense of my initial reaction, as well as support my second take. The initial make up of the band consisted of lead man Ben Bridwell's delicate lyrical crooning and Mat Brooke's powerful guitar pop. "Everything all the time" is filled with both these guys trying to one up the other's grandiose.

But when the two visionaries didn't see eye to eye Bridwell packed up his banjo, the band name, and headed back home to South Carolina. There is where Cease to Begin was born, and it's easy to tell with tracks that harken small town America, and simple southern lifestyle. At the time of it's release my infatuation with the epic ballads of EatT craved more of the same. Cease to Begin did not feed this craving well, which as is usually the case ... hunger makes people cranky. Eventually though, the softer craftsmanship on CtB began to shine through until a more thorough and full appreciation of the album led to a spot on the mantle next to EatT.

It's not hard to figure where I'm going with this.

So after a full week of continuing to give Infinite Arms a chance the album has finally began cracking the shell. Where as one can see EatT as a duet, and CtB as a solo, Infiinite Arms provides a new chapter in the band by truly being a BAND album. Unlike previous albums this one is filled with songs where multiple instruments stand out. Keyboard/piano, steel guitar, banjo, and even a synth or two have taken a turn being featured here. And while it's hard to deny the simple brilliance of songs like "For Annabelle" and "Blue Beard" which disassemble the notion that Bridwell has fallen off (at all), it's still a necessary and enjoyable evolution into songs like "Compliments" and "Laredo".

My initial distaste was being unfamiliar with the band's new fuller sound, and almost an homage to the simplicity of the previous efforts. However a band must grow or else they'll get bored and dissolve. The fact that the album turned out like this should have been easy to guess. As last year's Bonnaroo set showed Bridwell is having a damn good time jamming with his friends as his stage show featured upwards of 7 members all rocking their asses off for the crowd.

And that's what this album is. Bridwell earned his place, showed the world his talent, and now just wants to have fun making music with his friends. While not all the songs on Infinite Arms are going to cause lighters to be thrust into the dark night air, they might however cause one to throw their arm over the shoulder of the one they're with perhaps signaling the idea to be passed along ... and along ... and along into infinite arms.

new release thoughts

2010-05-04T08:05:00.002-04:00

Broken Social Scene - forgiveness rock record: if by chance you end up at a backyard barbecue, you look around and all you see are specialty beers, kids wearing plaid, mustaches, and jean shorts, and in the background you hear fuzz and trumpets and crooning .... you're probably at a party with indie kids who are rocking this record. It just sounds like that kind of an album. BSS is back on the ambient indie noise pop train. It's no 'You forgot it in people' but the hipsters will love it.

Band Of Horses - Infinite Arms: As much as I tried and tried to convince myself that BoH could do no wrong, the best I could muster is that while there may not be any bad songs on their new album, there aren't really any great ones either. A few tracks stand out, but fail to meet the bravado and compassionate pieces littered throughout the previous efforts. Bridwell's squeeky sheen basically carries what seems like a band trying to be a band instead of Bridwell solo + a backing band. It's probably too early to tell whether this is growing pains, or the end of what was once indie brilliance (the emo in me declares Infinite Harm). Did i hear syths on one of the tracks ? Wha?? Oh hell no. Keep your fingers crossed they keep a good mix of the old stuff in their live sets. And expect to see them sucking up commercial air time with the floaters found within.

MGMT - Congratulations: When MGMT first hit the scene I was not really impressed. Catchy dance pop wasn't my thing. I had the album and noticed that the tracks that weren't receiving bubble gum fame were completely different and comparatively for the genre downright awful. What I interpreted as indie lamestars attempting to no-talent assclown themselves to fortune and fame, was actually indie credstars just trying to a foot up in that ... needless to say missions accomplishsed. What Congratulations then turns out to be is an album made post-foot out your ass ... it's like they said ... 'yeah, we can make shitty pop, but check out the indie psych-rave we really dig playing'. I haven't gotten too deep into this one, especially since it at first felt like a cannonball into the Pacific on first listen ... but i can tell you it's at least an interesting listen. Just set your expectations down at the door.

holy fuck's new video ...

2010-04-29T19:05:00.001-04:00

awesome tune ... summer awaits

musicians are sassy

2010-04-22T11:25:00.002-04:00

Check this interview with Dom of the band Dom. I haven't even heard a song yet and i already like them. He covers all of my favorite topics:

pop culture songs' true meanings ... check

Lil Wayne ... check

foster homes ... check

porn ... check

craigslist ... check

worcester mass .... check

talking shit about a fellow indie musician ... double check

food stamps ... check

hockey ... check

... and more!!!

i work-lol'd reading this ... oops

new band of horses

2010-04-14T18:24:00.002-04:00

i'm going to go ahead and give them the benefit of the doubt seeing as how they disproved my initial reactions on cease to begin ... but whatever, here's the first single:

july 17ers against Gaga

2010-04-07T20:23:00.002-04:00

M.I.A. from an interview in NME: "The pop rebel also had some choice words for Lady Gaga in the interview: "People say we're similar, that we both mix all these things in the pot and spit them out differently, but she spits it out exactly the same. None of her music's reflective of how weird she wants to be or thinks she is. She models herself on Grace Jones and Madonna, but the music sounds like 20-year-old Ibiza disco, you know? She's not progressive, but she's a good mimic. She sounds more like me than I fucking do!"

...a-fucking-men sister ... amen

quick takes

2010-03-03T10:15:00.002-05:00

a few words on a couple of the albums on regular rotation at the moment:

titus andronicus - the monitor: still not able to make this one hook like "airing of grievances". the punk epicness was replaced with countrified banjos and piano parts which shows growth in their sound repertoire but it didn't translate to growth in songwriting.

you say party we say die - XXXX: read a decent review, also caught the genre hook "dance punk" ... but found the album a bit more dance / mood / electronic than punk ... not really my thing i guess. think they'd be a decent live show though. dance punk bands always are.

gil scott-heron - I'm new here: still making my way through this album. Unfortunately i haven't made the time to sit down and dissect, but have it in multiple shuffle lists and i am digging what i am hearing. bluesy / soul / spoken word spruced up with interesting beats and tempo tricks. think there's a lot more here to explore still.

pantha du prince - black noise: ambient electronica is not where i'm at right now. when and if it becomes that type of mood i'm pretty sure i will not be able to turn this album off. it is pretty much awesome, but a 7 minute electronic journey is not fitting for my attention span at the moment. plus panda is on a track so you know it's gonna get at least some props from me ...

local natives: too early to tell. at first i was really annoyed by the voice. actually i'm working on a piece relating east vs. west coast indie bands and some completely made up theories about what that's all about. but overall there are a few tracks here that have been stuck in my head some. i think this is gonna be a good one.

hot chip - one life stand: i think i definitely caught onto hot chip because of the pop dance electronic of their last album. this album explores more of the brooding englishman thing they have going. and what i would call the portions i found less interesting on their last album. it's not bad, but it's not what i dug about them. not ready to bury it yet, but running out of motivation to keep it in rotation.

christmas in february

2010-02-26T11:31:00.001-05:00

4rillz:

"Give Up the Ghost":

"The Daily Mail":

"Mouse Dog Bird":

fuel for the ring

2010-02-25T10:05:00.002-05:00

i don't listen to much FM radio. For the most part, only the stations that live at the extremes of the dial tend to deliver music in a manner that is not blatantly fueled by corporations attempting to bend the consumers will to their financial benefit. Not that I'm totally against it. Despite what you might think I think corporate radio has it's place and usefulness. And for christ's sake I'm a fan of the Beatles. I don't think anything says more about my appreciation for pop music than that.

anyways, i get a fairly heavy dose of radio friendly tunes during my day job as my coworker plays her vanilla radio station to break what would be a silence otherwise only cut by the click / clack made by our fingers and the occasional sigh that comes with working in a dead end pointless job.

probably the most interesting part of the daily ritual of vanilla rock is the slice of americana known as the morning radio talk show. it's the typical guy / girl banter and "interesting" news chat. In particular the thursday ritual where they bring in a local artist to play a song in studio. Saved for a rant on another day, there is nothing more telling of rochester's awful awful creative musical vision than the sewage that typically spills out of the speakers on these days.

today in particular was so heinous i decided to write a post about it. in short ... in honor of the release of johnny cash's last volume of american recordings, a multi album compilation consisting of cash covering great songs by other musicians the in studio band played ... johnny cash ... covering soundgarden. it basically shit all over not one, but two of my favorite musicians in one fell swoop. wow ... that was bad, i hope the station posts it so i can link it for all eternity.

when greed is good

2010-02-23T08:19:00.003-05:00

completely off blog content topic:

maybe the best part about the US upset over Canada in hockey on Sunday night is all the extra press Ryan Miller is getting. Too often Buffalo sports icons remain icons only in the eyes of the local fans, but not so much perhaps in the national spotlight.

So the victory Sunday did a bunch of good things. First off America is almost never cast as the underdog. The US loves it's underdogs, but we are seldom in that position as a nation. It almost feels a little dirty though. It's not exactly like we put a team of amateurs out there. But that is a topic for another day. The point is that the national attention was definitely more affixed to a sporting event that wouldn't usually garner that much interest. Prodded of course by the fact that we could root for the little guy. Exposure for hockey +1.

Second, Millsy as my friend at work put it "stood on his head" during the game. For anyone who caught the affair they probably came away pretty much amazed by his performance. For us Sabres fans, this was a sight we've been lucky enough to witness on more than a few occasions. It was great to see him rise to the occasion on the largest stage of his career, and come away the hero. As far as what I know about him, he seems pretty great, and deserves all the attention he's getting. After seeing all the press headlines the next day it seems like Miller's name was part of all of them. He went from icon in hockey circles, and icon in buffalo to nationally prominent sports hero.

If the US wins the gold medal Miller might stand to be the biggest name to come out of the Olympics. And with that he stands to make a shit ton of endorsement money. And with that a shit ton of extra exposure for the city of Buffalo and the Sabres organization. At least for as long as the fleeting US attention span can muster. Beggars can't be choosers though ... here's hoping on a buffalo wing and a prayer.

2010-02-19T12:51:00.003-05:00

you can pretty much make any statement casting the following what i would describe as "buzz" or "emotion" words:

truth
love
freedom

and come out looking like a philosophical genius. regardless of how pointless the actual statement is. or regardless of how much it would add to the human experience.

at the same time it's odd to feel uncomfortable with these phrases, as their intent is to provide comfort. sometimes i find myself getting annoyed when some philosopher or social commentator comes up with some silly fragmented thought that regards LOVE as the ANSWER ... maybe 'answer' could go in that list. i think you'd be hard pressed to find someone that didn't want all of those things.

propping your intelligence up by keying in on those ideas seems like a cheap way to gain respect and admiration.

base camp

2010-02-16T10:59:00.002-05:00

got my dirty little fingers on the latest Lost Campesinos! album. And yes, I'm that douchey that I need to include the "!".

At this point it would probably be safe to say the following

- i would love to see los campys in concert. the unbridled enthusiasm that i've heard / read / see photographic proof of is probably their best quality. their albums (the three i have listened to) provide insight into what I can only imagine is a ridiculously raucous time. i mean shit, if their albums get you lit up with energy then the live show has to be quite the experience.

- i think their live show is pretty much all i have left in hopes for this band. when i heard their first album i became enthralled and engaged by the aforementioned ability to transpose vibrant forces via a studio recorded album. the energy of a live show, but in a sterile electronic format....

the two albums that followed ... yes the energy was there ... but the songs lost their edge a bit. the brooding wasn't quite as broody. and the keyboard synth tricks were played. and at this point i can pick out a los campesinos song from a mile away as they have not done much to stretch the listener's interest arc since their initial foray.

that said ... i honestly would not recommend this for a first time listener. i'd give you the old shit, and if you lost your balls listening to it then obvs you can get your fix on the new album. otherwise it's pretty meh.

yeah, i give it a "meh"

how about this for a proper los campesinos track title:
" ... don't hate me los c's, i still love you wacky brit son's of bastards aka this is how you spell meh meh meh i've heard this tune before but i still think you're sexy"

see if you listened to los campesinos that would be really funny to you .. or not .. but it is to me.

dammit sauce

2010-02-15T13:03:00.004-05:00

Basically out of jealous spite I kind of hate danger mouse. Specifically for how wacky and popular gnarls barkley quickly became. Though I'd be a liar if I didn't admit that I was definitely on that bandwagon.

Second grievance being the direction he took the last Black Keys (attack and release) album. Which was kind of cool, but consider myself a bk purist.

Third I just get annoyed by people who have that "everything i touch turns to gold" thing going for them. I suppose I still harbor a little of that high school nerd animosity for the cool kids. which doesn't make sense but whatever, get your trendy beats out of my head already ...

Anyways, from what I can tell everyone should brace themselves for Broken Bells. Broken Bells is the ratty one's latest collaboration project with James Mercer of the Shins.... and yes the new single is predictably kind of cool... check it out.

The High Road

Broken Bells | MySpace Music Videos

booooo-naroo

2010-02-10T10:41:00.002-05:00

at long last the bonnaroo lineup was unveiled yesterday. honestly, after an indie heavy festival lineup last year I had my hopes up pretty high for this year. but unfortunately those expectations are far from being met. perhaps because of the quality of festival's past, or perhaps because LA's coachella fest is so exemplary this year, i feel like I would be serverly selling the main goal of seeing a ton of awesome bands way way wayyy short if went. To be honest the bonnaroo lineup seems like what I would imagine the old school classic bonna lineups look like. They are going back to their roots and I can appreciate that.

i'm sure i would have a great time, and there are definitely enough acts i'd be interested in seeing. additionally I could probably take this year as an opportunity to find new bands to fall in love with. but i suppose for my money and time it's just not worth it.

i'd much rather spend a weekend with friends camping much closer to home.

with that said it's time to evaluate the other options. so far pfork is pretty lame, but the problem with that fest is they wait till shortly before the actual festival date to add a lot of their acts. and i have never been anything but sorry i didn't go.

then lollapalooza is shortly after which based on the last two years seems like an almost sure thing, but that is pretty much what i thought about bonnaroo. ATP, APW, Outside Lands, Sasquatch? I just don't know at this point.

Coachella would be ideal but it looks pretty costly, and I'm not sure how many people would be able to join, and i would feel bad about leaving my fellow festival goers behind. It feels selfish and lonely.

here's to hoping this murkiness dissipates and an answer that satifies all my questions becomes clear.

oh my pants!

2010-02-09T10:16:00.003-05:00

Lazy tuesday morn,

Ehh so instead of trying to come up with some snappy intro for this brief news update I just did a copzies / pastzies action on the original article (linked for props) but you can just readzies herezies .... zies zies zies

Chroma is a contemporary ballet by choreographer Wayne McGregor that features music by the White Stripes as interpreted by an orchestra. The award-winning piece debuted at London's Royal Opera House in November 2006, and now it's coming to Toronto as part of the National Ballet of Canada's forthcoming season. (Via CBC News.)

Chroma features five pairs in flesh-colored outfits artfully moving to White Stripes songs like "The Hardest Button to Button" and "Blue Orchid", according to a Guardian review of the London show.

The CBC reports that Jack White has been invited to the Canadian premiere, which takes place in November. And the Stripes love them some Canada, so a Jack sighting does not seem completely out of the question. Head over to the National Ballet of Canada's site for more info.

ginger bread

2010-02-05T14:59:00.002-05:00

the new beach house album makes me think that the bear exchange have a very long way to go.

i wish i had some bear exchange music to post here. gonna see about that soon.

le butte francois

2010-02-04T09:39:00.002-05:00

i have no idea if the blog title means anything, and frankly i don't care. i just thought it sounded fun to say out loud. and also since Phoenix is the topic of this post and they're french I supposed some loose relevance could be found there.

So yeah, Phoenix. I had Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix about a year ago. I listened to maybe one song. Then got annoyed by their tight pants and boringish music when they played SNL, so into the archives it went. But seriously those dudes got a lot of good press and high praise. It honestly wasn't for me though.

Then a like a month ago Buick put out a commercial that used 1901 as the music. I liked the song, looked it up, found out it was Phoenix and decided maybe I had hastily deemed them uninteresting.

Well upon second review more thorough revelations have been formulated. For the most part I'm more of a fan than I was before. I can see why people would like them, and why they probably deserved to win a Grammy (which we all know doesn't mean shit anyways). WAP is, if nothing else a catchy album.

I would recommend Phoenix to anyone who likes the Killers. They are basically a slightly less interesting version of the Killers. Voice, musicianship, sound, pop-iness (??) are pretty much mirrored. I say slightly less interesting because the first killers album is kind of awesome top to bottom in terms of it's pop perfection. Phoenix is close, but I think they suffer from taking the Liztomania / 1901 sound and just repeating it over and over again throughout the album.

I think the killers kind of played around with their sound on Hot Fuss. A good pop album successfully traps the pop sensibilities in a multitude of song types, blues / slow dance / rock / arena epic. Phoenix kind of stick to amalgamate of all those in one song and just repeats and repeats for 40 minutes.

Don't get me wrong. It's not actually half bad. But I think unless something tremendous happens to their sound that this one album will suffice for my enjoyment of the band.

nahsayer

2010-02-03T10:10:00.002-05:00

One of my most anticipated album releases of the year was the Yeasayear album Odd Blood. Early last year I became addicted to their dark was the night offering "tightrope", and read subsequent articles that the song was to be on the new album. In my head this formulated to 10 to 12 songs of equally amazing quality.

Further eagerness came from the review of the album's first single Ambling Alp. Unfortunately this remains to me the brightest star in an otherwise less illuminating body of work.

My biggest issues with the album is that yeasayer lost the edge I liked so much in their previous effort. The jagged sentiments that encased songs about love and relationships gave a unique presence to what would be an otherwise typical pop electronica album.

And essentially that is what I see Odd Blood being. Outside of a few tracks most of the work here is electronica infused pop sentimentality. Gone are the deep riffs, and strangled howls, replaced with gimmicky keyboard solos, and honey drenched choruses.

Don't get me wrong. The album isn't terrible. I listened and enjoyed, but almost immediately I could tell the album would get tired quick. And less than two weeks later Odd Blood has already began to collect the metaphorical dust. Looking back I get the exact same reaction that I had to the tapes n' tapes follow up ... which i can't remember the name of off hand, and when I tried to look it up on my ipod only found the loon, and the self titled ep ... which i think pretty much exactly fucking sums up what i'm getting at about odd blood.

Anyways, i still have never succeeded in developing an acceptable rating system, so i'm going to continue to stay away from that, and instead just say not bad, not great.

Also, maybe now I should take the opportunity to suggest other start expressing their thoughts to me about these reviews. Not on my writing, but on the actual albums. Maybe i'm missing something. Maybe I can go back to the album thinking about it in another frame of mind. Help me enjoy this more!!!

turning over a new leaf ... house

2010-02-03T09:41:00.005-05:00

despite immersing myself more in music than any point that i can remember since the early early months of '09 (coincidence?) i have been lax in my self imposed duty to inform the public as to my (rather pointless) opinion on my current bevy of new albums. Part of this is caused by my desire to try and provide a thorough and thoughtful review. This comes from a belief that expressing careful thought out ideas would help me to become a more skilled writer, as well possibly provide to a theoretical audience interesting, engaging, and unique viewpoints.

However the result of trying to carefully manage this space to cultivate an ideal blog that both entertains and informs led to a pressurized situation where the basic point became a daunting task, and original insight was lost in the idealism. This all sort of culminated with what has historically been my favorite part of keeping this blog in writing my year end thoughts. Aside from the typical top 10 albums, top songs, and associated information (playlists). This year also provide the spectacle of being the last year of decade. In truth the real world played into adding to the pressure, and the result was probably the most sub par level of involvement that I recall since ever envisioning myself as an amateur music critic.

So with that in mind I've decided to try and start offering up the ideas, without the idealism. More of a stream of consciousness approach. I think this sort of relates better anyways to my media posts. I mean anyone checking recent updates can see that most of the media based posts are simply video or mp3's of bands / songs of the moment to me. My way to quickly disseminate that which I find interesting. So why not try and cover the written opinion aspect of sonic anarchy in the same manner. I think not only will this help knock off the rust, but help to make this blog a more interesting and entertainment viable option.

p.s. inspirations behind this post in order of me remembering

1. the new beach house album - teen dream - expect some thoughts soon.
2. cousin cathie - me and my cousins and you and your cousins ... troof

sonic lamearchy

2010-02-02T15:01:00.002-05:00

wildbeasts, the xx, neon indian, muse, hot chip, beach house, yeasayer, sleigh bells, the magnetic fields, jonsi ... fate is giving sonic anarchy the big bone in '10. lame.

april 8

2010-02-02T08:58:00.000-05:00

2010 is shaping up nicely....

2010-01-27T18:42:00.000-05:00

kb + ny = hearts

2010-01-27T09:39:00.001-05:00

darwinian musicology

2010-01-26T20:07:00.001-05:00

evolve

or some shit

a chance for love

2010-01-20T20:03:00.001-05:00

ok now where do we ?

2010-01-19T13:01:00.001-05:00

respect

brothers don't shake hands

2010-01-19T12:46:00.001-05:00

put on that dress

2010-01-16T14:32:00.001-05:00

that i like

let the listing begin

2009-12-23T12:13:00.003-05:00

welcome to the opening post of the '09 sonic anarchy music listology. in store this year i've decide a couple of specials. first up is my rudimentary list of best albums of the decade.

doing this started as mostly an imposter move culled from other various music sites. but as i began compiling my list it became quite the journey looking back at who i was as a listener / fan / student 10 years ago, and where I am today. the writing isn't much better, the music not all that much more influential per say, but in terms of sheer tastes it's quite a change. i suppose that might be expected. but at the same time i know plenty of people who grew up with one type of music and have stayed true to that core genre throughout.

for me personally the 00's ushered out most of my influences cultivated from the darker adolescent angsty days of my youth where power chord metal, spastic hip hop , the electronic dance hall rhythms, and classic rock.

in came the search for something new. relying less on familiarity and more with experimentation with tastes i was seduced into the indie rock world. indie being a great way to describe to encompass all genres without having to be pigeonholed. as far as "indie" goes i definitely sway on the more conformist ideals, but have become comfortable in being self assured that my tastes are mine on their own merit. with that said it should be then so the following list should be taken as nothing more than the albums that helped divine me towards my current course of musical interests. it'd would be arrogant and presumptuous to call it a "best of" even though that is exactly what i have implied, but in would be more accurate as the "most influential to tony wilson" list. just keep that in mind.

the only album i'm writing about in the top of the decade list is the #1. Primarily because it's the only one that i spent significant time thinking about. To me the most significant album would have to be the Post Service's one and only LP Give Up. To me this album epitomizes the transcendence of my influences from the genres listed previously to the the more current label of indie. It was this album that opened my ears to other major influences such as Death Cab For Cutie, the Decemberists, and less obviously influences like the pixies, animal collective, and andrew bird.

Here's the list:

1the postal serive - give up
2the mars volta - deloused in the comatorium - the greatest rock concept album ever
3animal collective - strawberry jam - another year and this may have been number 1
4radiohead - kid A - the one time a band actually transformed for the better
5at the drive in - relationship of command - there is no #2 without this.
6ryan adams - love is hell - so says the gospel according to ryan
7taking back sunday - tell all your friends - the best pop punk album ever. maybe that's not saying much to some, but it does to me.
8...and you will know us by the trail of dead - source, tags, and codes - the first indie album i ever loved
9the white stripes - elephant - epic blues triumph puts jack white in all time great category.
10daft punk - discovery - the best electronic album ever
11the strokes - is this it - the best pop indie album of the decade for sure.
12M.I.A. - Kala - instant party.
13the flaming lips - yoshimi battles the pink robots - the flaming lips immortalized.
14mastodon - leviathan - i don't even listen to metal that much any more, but it is still impossible to turn this album off.
15Tool - lateralus - took their higher consciousness ideals to their climax.
16Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
17Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell - Karen O. proved to me that punk can be sexy.
18Panda Bear - Person Pitch - A dream.
19The Rapture - Echoes - defined dance punk for me
20The Decemberists - Picaresque - a whale of a tale of a whale

The best of the rest in no particular order but certainly not for lack of importance:

ryan adams - heartbreaker
bright eyes - fevers and mirrors
battles - mirrored
the blood brothers - burn piano island burn

you forgot it in people
radiohead - amnesiac
radiohead - in rainbows
coheed and cambria - in keep of secrets of silent earth 3
camera obscura - lets get out of this country
misery is a butterfly
the moon and antarctica
muse - absolution
of montreal - hissing fauna are you the destroyer
sufjan stevens - illinois
animal collective - sung tongs
animal collective - feels
arcade fire - funeral
tapes n' tapes - the loon
the decemberists - her majesty
the exploding hearts - guitar romantic
death from above 1979 - your a woman, i'm a machine
the field - from here we go sublime
liars - drum's not dead
the knife - silent shout
the thermals - the body the blood the machine
titus andronicus - the airing of grievances
portishead - third
the white stripes - white blood cells
AFI - the art of drowning
andrew bird - mysterious production
andrew bird - armchair apocraphy
bloc party - silent alarm
jens lekman - night falls over kortedela
the walkment - you and me
wilco - yankee foxtrot hotel
sigur ros - agaetis byrjun
tv on the radio - return to cookie mountain
the shins - oh inverted world
band of horses - everything all the time
franz ferdinand - franz ferdinand
the new pornographers - mass romantic
interpol - turn on the bright lights
madvillain - madvillainy

a disarmingly weird hobbit dance jam

2009-11-19T21:26:00.003-05:00

the drummer from !!! died. fuck.

bands making noise

2009-11-05T14:57:00.002-05:00

well, i've gone and done it again. fell in love with another indie rock songstress. her name, Thao Ngyuen. I'm not sure how to pronounce her first name (her last only due to a brief stint as a budding tennis star).

In my possession are two albums. We Brave Bee Stings and All, and Know Better Learn Faster. The latter has a single that was posted on this blog, and she is accompanied by a group that goes as Get Down Stay Down.

Thus far I have been most draw to Bee Stings. It's a vibrant romp though indie pop haberdashery. Standouts include Geography, Bag of Hammers, and the title track. Know Better seems to pick up where Bee Stings left off but with more focus on a fuller song than the short sweet gems that lace Bee Stings. Either way, I highly recommend! Check the video below.

The other band is creating a lot of buzz even before the release of their first long player. Currently the band Suckers are attracting a lot of attention via their self titled EP. If it's a preview of what's to come expect an album full of your typical Brooklyn based hipster indie rock. think yeasayer meets cymbals eat guitars. Take away the electronic groove influences of the yea's, and remove the bravado and devotion to exploratory endevours of CEG ... and you get a pretty standard, but nonetheless fugin awesome sound with Suckers. Consider the whistle whet.

check 'em out!

2009-10-27T10:40:00.001-04:00

ever listened to russian circles before? to me they're like baroness without the annoying vocals and a sweet hint of the epic string parts. almost a bit more subdued version of mastodon. if you get a chance to check em out online if you haven't already.

analogy of the day

2009-10-20T09:07:00.001-04:00

participating in religious discussion groups because you agree with the messages in the bible is like joining the KKK because they put on a great bake sale.

get down!!!

2009-10-14T18:49:00.002-04:00

Harder better faster stronger:

a terrible lie

2009-10-13T10:24:00.002-04:00

Ok, i apologize. I really thought I would be able to update this more than I have. However, the good news is that even though I have not really had time to organize any thoughts for this post I have however been seriously immersed in piles of new music. Here's what I can offer at the moment:

The XX - this album will most likely see the best of '09 list. Absolutely in love with this debut album. electroluv. That's how i describe their sound. it's sexxy, get it?

built to spill - there is no enemy: great for the diehard fans, but being a newish fan I'm still craving the explosiveness found on some of their earlier albums.

a place to bury strangers - exploding head: umm, they are awesome because they are loud and badass, and steal my bloody valentine's fuzz rock style. however they are not exactly groundbreaking. if you need some good background ba rock while you study or read or impress rock chicks with ... this might be a good option.

brand new - daisy: ok, i only checked this album out because a girl with hair like the sun told me to. and from what i recall about their second album i was not expecting much. low expectations helped set this album up to be a pleasant surprise. by no means is it exceptional, but damn, they do a pretty good job of writing some abrasive emo rock. it's actually not that bad. vices, gasoline, bought a bride, daily, noro ... check em out.

afi - crash love: they crashed their love straight into a pile of shit it sounds like.

Wild Beasts - quirky indie dancey weird nerd rock. i like it, but it's not the best, and certainly not for everyone.

Atlas Sound - Logos: shit, it's taking me a while but htis album is starting to slowly creep in. Dude, Halo?! Start with Shelia and Walkabout, work your way into it from there. Serious man crush.

girls - album: i raelly did try to avoid the hype on this one. but it is a damn fine album top to bottom. catchy indie shenanigans. I'd say more like a solid 8 / 10.

I tried getting into the avett brothers. I'm not in the right place. Yeah they have banjos. Who the fudge doesn't these days?

The Pains put out a new EP. It's awesome. Remember when they played 103 at the bug jar. That song is pretty sick. Also I found out contender is about the exploding hearts, more like exploding pants, ya heard?

Trying to listen to: The national - alligator, Why? - Eskimo Snow, Islands - Vapours (first impression is good), Times New Viking - Born Again, Shellac, and the new Dodos album (was not initially impressed)

coming back soon

2009-10-06T06:48:00.002-04:00

something has been off for the course of the previous 6 months. the height or really the bottom of this occurred shortly after my review of the best albums at the midpoint of '09. attempts at corrective actions were taken, but nothing stuck.

so in my next attempt to climb out of this place i'm going to attempt to bring back the blogging aspect that I started with. In my own defense a big part of the reason that this space was neglected had to do with I spend a lot of time working on this at times when I should be "doing other things" (ask if you don't get it). And other things were occupying a substantial amount of attention. But it looks like that perhaps is on the downside (finally) and so focus can shift back to the things that I find more interesting.

Look for later in the day a post regarding some of the best / worst new releases. And by new I mean over the last few months as I haven't written horse hockey about music. Except that post about Built to Spill. Which, yes, is still blowing my mind at the moment. Tony hearts indie rock. Shit, why didn't I make that the name of my blog? Too emo? Probably not emo enough. Ok, see you soon!

ehh, toronto dec 2nd?

2009-10-01T07:05:00.002-04:00

This band is currently destroying my regular rotation. Their music is just flat out sexxy .. ha! Anyways, it looks like the closest they're traveling is a wednesday show in sunny canada. It's almost guaranteed there'll be a blizzard ... see you there.

instant pant tightening

2009-09-23T11:06:00.000-04:00

this strange plan is random at best ...

2009-09-19T08:44:00.002-04:00

built to spill is currently revolutionizing my idea that I know anything about music at all. growing up their single "strange" was a wber regular. Guisto got the gusto for that song, ya know? My affection for that song is pretty deep. I honestly would put it probably in the top 20 all time favorite songs just because it embodies so much of my musical taste. I used to get it confused with "where is my mind" or like i couldn't remember which band sang which song sometimes. Hey, I was 16 and thought nu-metal was the future of rock, so give me a break. at the time my music consumption practices was the typical random assortment of singles, and album collecting wasn't yet a viable choice unless you were a mIrc wizard, or used newsgroups. Both technologies still seem to elude me in terms of how they can be used conveniently. In any event, strange was the one and only built to spill song I knew.

anyways, i remember probably about 4 years ago built to spill released a new album. I don't recall my mind set at the time, but I do remember them being hailed as some sort of epic jam band. I remember listening to like 2 songs, becoming bored, and never looking back.

last weekend I was reintroduced to the band, or really, introduced to a new song by them. I don't know the name of the song but it kind of hit all my marks for great indie rock. since then it's been a hell of a ride. It's weird to be living on music that is over a decade old and experiencing it like it's new, because, well to me it is.

anyways, i just want to really say thanks to Bill for making this happen, and give a shout out to built to spill for being (apparently) an AMAZING indie rock band.

a few shorter thoughts:

Saturday dec 5th, NYC, the xx, lets do it?

Pavement reunion tour, the first show sold out in 2 minutes, f

song of the day ...

2009-09-17T08:29:00.000-04:00

we met by a trick of fate ...

2009-09-16T18:45:00.000-04:00

reading

2009-09-06T14:07:00.002-04:00

god's greatest trick is that he left human's without the ability to truly knows what happens to them when they die. that's how he keeps us in check. it's pretty fudging brilliant.

What did you want to see?

2009-08-26T07:04:00.001-04:00

This one is killing me today ... can't wait for logos / ATP

check this out

2009-08-17T23:33:00.001-04:00

Bill's new wang

I would go out tonight ...

2009-08-14T13:05:00.003-04:00

so I have yet to mention that the decemberists show last night at SUNY Buffalo was incredible. Basically as expected the band ripped through Hazards of Love. The Rake Song highlighted by about 20 drums banging in unison. Hazards of Love 4 making me want to hug anything and everything around me, and Sharon Worden (MBD) totally tantilizing me with that effin voice!!!!

then after a short intermission they can back out and played some classics. Though the set was much more relaxed (Meloy bantered with the crowd moreso than each of the two previous times I've seen him), it was also incredible to witness how well executed the band as group performs.

A few new songs (harmonica and slide guitar seems to be the new avenue of sound), and a few old ones (Billy Liar!!!). A quick BfloX5, and the most subtle Smiths / Gibbard combo ever .... what you ask? Well, take a listen to The Sporting Life. The song's chords and rhythms are quite eerily similar to the Smiths "This charming man". So during the final progression through the chorus, those closely listening could hear Meloy utter "would nature make a man of me yet..." How appropriate considering the vocal / song writing comparisons that constantly ensnare DCFC's Ben Gibbard and Meloy. Oh, the point here being that on DCFC's You can play these songs with chords there is a very excellent cover of This Charming Man ... probably one of the best tracks of the song as I personally feel it rivals the original.

Speaking of Mr. Gibbard it looks like he's up to some side project nonsense (and we all know how that turns out):

song of the day ...

2009-08-14T11:51:00.002-04:00

i cannot get the new YACHT track psychic city out of my head!!!!!

Here is a link to the mp3 so you can haul it around and play it incessantly for all your friends too.

YACHT: Psychic City (Voodoo City)

Oh, and here's the video ... sahweeet

antlers live at p4k

2009-08-14T10:49:00.001-04:00

the antlers - hospice

2009-08-14T08:32:00.002-04:00

admittedly I have not spent too much time with the new album Hospice by The Antlers. However this album has become instantly intriguing for a number of reasons.

First off, if you haven't heard about this albums yet, you're probably not that into pretentious interweb musicology. It's a very highly buzzed about album, as a google search will show the plethora of reviews heaping praise driven adjectives over and over again. Everyone saying the same thing in a slightly altered manner.

With the excpetion of this guy.

Interestingly enough recent events have kept me out of my usual loop of online buzz, however during a random spare moment of time a week ago I watched a video of their perfomance of the track "Two" at the pitchfork music festival. I was instantly drawn to the driving reverb and gripping tones of the song. Though at the time it was more about my affinity for "indie noise" rather than any of the general praise for the album or it's artists.

Over the past week Hospice has been at the forefront of my rotation. The more I listened, the more information I had to look up regarding the artist, the subjects within the album, and yes, even what other's were saying.

So what are my opinions? Honestly, it wouldn't be right to call this space sonic anarchy if I wasn't truly committed to the idea of free thinking, free listening, freedom from the structured opinions of others. One of the reasons for my recent partial hiatus from blogging was that I realized my thoughts and opinions were becoming too empty and biased due to outside influences.

So in my first attempt to give a fully uninfluenced I have chosen to say a few things about this album.

I think the album is great. I seriosuly can't get it out of my head. Listening to the ambient builds fight the earnestness of the vocals makes for quite the emotional ride. At the same time, honestly, I find some of the repetitiveness of the music a bit under creative. I think the idea here was to keep the common theme musically going as the album is more engulfed by the story than anything else. But at times this idea comes across as too much of trying to drive the same points home instead of exploring the idea in more open spaces.

But don't get me wrong. That is also part of what makes the music so great. The open air is not taken for granted, as every song hangs like somber clouds. Like being in heavy fog with your best friend there to keep from being lonely, but not without feeling lost.

As far as albums revolving around a central and personal story this one goes on the list with the good'ns (read: deloused, Hissing fauna to name a few). There is weight, and emotion around every turn. To read the lyrics has at times made me want to cry, and also drift into contemplation on topics like my relationships with close friends, and my own mortality.

When music reaches you to a point like that it becomes special. And so while I'm not ready to crown this as anything more than interesting and evocative, that still is saying a lot.

In particular the songs that have reached deep and came up victorious are "Two" and "Epilogue". If you get the chance for some quiet reflection I recommend spending some time with these tracks (and really the album as a whole is quite a moving experience). If they don't speak to you at all, then the album probably won't do much to change your mind.

And for now I don't plan trying to do much of that either ... till next time ... stay free.

i think i may be coming around on major lazer

2009-08-06T18:09:00.001-04:00

this is like the ultimate wtf video ... i still don't feel right

a shining example of why you simply cannot write off P4k

2009-07-23T11:03:00.001-04:00

panda cox

2009-07-22T23:00:00.000-04:00

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New Thom Yorke Song Day 2009 Day 6 Sonic Fanarchy

2009-07-21T06:47:00.000-04:00

letter to a young poet

2009-07-20T20:45:00.003-04:00

July 2oth, 2009

I'm interested in continuing the debate because I took some time to think about your point regarding the sociological aspect of the term "gender".

First off I would like to repeat my point, and maybe add a better contextual situation to what I said this weekend. Which is to say that I think the idea of gender from the societal norms or expectations has it's roots in the evolution of the species. To repeat, if every woman decided that they wanted to be the hunters, and every man decided he was homosexual and wanted to be with other men our species would not have continued to exist. So at one time I think there were probably understood guidelines of how things worked in order to not disappear as a tribe / community / society.

I guess then you can fast forward to modern civilizations and look at the existence of gender in society. What it seems like to me, which could be wrong, is that this is where your opinions of gender begin. I kind of have this opinion that I feel like you chastise the improprieties, but don't take the time to explore why they exist and where they came from. This opinion is definitely based on little or no prior experience in hearing your thoughts on all this. Your opinions are strong, but I haven't heard really why except that you think they're unfair. Which is pretty easy to agree with, since most of the things you have a problem with seem to be legitimately unfair.

Anyways I guess I just wanted to bring up one point that I have kind of been going over in my head regarding the continuance of gender misappropriation. It's hard for me to drop the fact that the roots still lay in basic natural instinct for survival. It kind of led me to a question I wanted to ask you about. I'm expecting that you don't take this as anything more than me trying to understand if I am still missing something, but also wondering if I might be able to raise your own awareness. If gender doesn't exist then why do you bother doing things to make yourself look attractive? I say "you" to ask you pointedly, but it's not like it couldn't be a more general question. I ask you, because you are the one who says that gender doesn't exist, and I feel like any type of attempt or act that plays into society's definition of gender only validates it's existence. I guess I'm just wondering what your stance in on the justification of at least partially adhering to gender roles for someone who so vehemently fights the inequities that gender roles create in society.

Maybe I have it wrong. To me, I both hate and love labels (or generalizations) for reasons that at least for the moment take a back seat to the current subject. Societal rules to me are both unavoidable and at least to some extent also necessary. I feel that there was no way to avoid their institution because they're rooted in our natural development as humans. And I think that even if we could somehow remove the existence of gender that they would probably naturally reappear again anyways. I think if not that we could possibly then run a risk of extinction (though we seem to be doing good at that in plenty other ways).

I can't offer anything more that that I guess. Maybe I feel it's necessary to defend myself because I'm defending acceptance of an idea that seems completely the opposite from yours. Maybe part of that also is my defense of my own ideologies. Am I shallow because I accept the things I cannot change, and find it suitable that I find a comfortable level of understanding? It's pretty clear to see why that stance would seem shortsighted. After all I am of the gender that has been the benefactor not the one that has been unjustly deterred in their search for their destiny. So even then, even with what I believe to be an open minded attempt at idealism because I existed at one point within society's gender role I am innately unable to ever fully grasp the other's perspective. But then the same must be true for the other gender, and so where does that leave us?

I would say that maybe this gets us to the final questions in the arena. First, if we cannot change the past, and there are two disparate sides that almost certainly could never take the same perspective, then how could they ever agree on the benefits and impediments? Would the right thing to do be to focus on changing the future? Which is better, fighting to change inherent behavior, or learning to work with the current construct, and why is it better? For what reasons? What is the potential fallout from these sea changes? If we could change things, and the fastest way would also be the most devastating across all genders would it be worth it?

Again, my point was not to put down any one's beliefs but rather to maybe look for conviction in my own. Though I would be lying if I tried to deny that I hope some of my thoughts shared provided a medium for someone else to also weigh their own judgments, and hopefully find their own level of understanding in both themselves and the ideas of others.

Yours,

Anthony Wilson

Yeasayer Live Blogged Transcript

2009-07-16T06:56:00.002-04:00

Lucky you. Here's the unreadable pile that was my liveblog last night. You will notice not too much besides vague, incomprehensible tweets once yeasayer actually went on. This is do to:

1. The fact that I was squeezed like roadkill under a tire because I wanted to not have to stand in the very back.

2. At that point the number of Dead Guy Ale's ingested had reached the tipping point from happy to inebriated.

Here goes:

a couple of new tracks that make white people dance poorly some classics and a diss on first timers <- what u missedabout 7 hours ago from TweetDeck
no wait for the wintertime but I made a proper jackass out of myself losing my ess to sunrise.about 7 hours ago from TweetDeck
burned by 2nd chancesabout 8 hours ago from TweetDeck
ps. I'm in a shizpileabout 8 hours ago from TweetDeck
they do own soundcheckabout 8 hours ago from TweetDeck
time for anarchy up to the front . tightrope=my face in t-minusabout 8 hours ago from TweetDeck
props from ponygirl. feels like the lid is coming off yepabout 8 hours ago from TweetDeck
pile of kids in the front keeping it real ba for ponytail... very coolabout 8 hours ago from TweetDeck
now I know what it's like to be at a lightning bolt show. ponytail is playing on the floor! face=meltedabout 9 hours ago from TweetDeck
on a side note the house that anarchy built is being moved into same weekend as boulderfest which is now.. free admission. welc to tha wedgeabout 9 hours ago from TweetDeck
damn fine opening. but why no ahc on vinyl. time to storm the merch tableabout 9 hours ago from TweetDeck
it's like Wayne coyne's pop techno side project. might need to check the price of the album. def look it up!about 9 hours ago from TweetDeck
phantograms are laying sick beats. awesome.about 10 hours ago from TweetDeck
first thing noticed: no all hours cymbals vinyl. plan #1 foiledabout 10 hours ago from TweetDeck

Heh, would you look at that?

2009-07-13T21:33:00.002-04:00

Turns out I have a minute or two to indulge in this. It's seriously been a very long time since I've had a few minutes to just openly ramble. Even the BestOF0.5Edish was a struggle to get done. I fucking went to Bonna-god-damn-roo and didn't have a single post about it. 4 Months of anticipation, several hundred dollars, enough alcohol and idoicy to fill the pacific, and an endless supply of music, enough to go deaf and remain happy for the rest of my life .... and not one fucking post.

That should tell you how rare this is, at least lately. So what's been up lately you ask? Fudged if I can remember. However I've got just enough time to update the masses with the upcoming content related information. Here go the quick shouts ... Yeasayer in two days, tightrope from 3ft away might make me cry. Wilco next sunday. Got the new ablum, is pretty effin blah. I'm hoping they go apesies and play sky blue sky top to bottom, but i'm not going to hold my breath for that one. Didn't they cover radiohead once?

Uhh besides that A. Bird, Matt and Kim, poss Fever Ray, and god pray, oh fuck me in my eye, god pray ATP September 12th. Animal Collective, Panda solo (ess=lost), Deerhunter, Atlas Sound ... yes, that is really going to happen. Throw in Deerhoof and Akron/Family ... How can you say no?

I might go see gang gang dance (i feel obligated), and cursive.

I'm basically tripping balls to the Beatles. I've always had a decent knowledge base, but i'm actually listening to albums. Instead of flossing over them, recognizing the 5 or 6 i've already heard, making note of what album they're on, and moving on.

Also I bought my first Sinatra album. I immediately love it and can't wait to amass a collection of them. He is so fucking epic it blows my mind. I should watch all of his movies.

I'm only ending here because I feel this is all dragging on. And blogs should be succinct, unless their intent is to bore the reader. Am I right or what? So no news except personal shit for now. There's more, hopefully it will happen.

So worth it

2009-07-13T08:42:00.003-04:00

I just haven't had time to do this blog right. But when I saw this there was just no way I could pass it up. Enjoy

random statement post tonight here yes now read

2009-07-01T22:37:00.002-04:00

I think meatplow by The Stone Temple Pilots was the first time I realized what Track 1 Side 1 meant. I think that was 1994.

I totally told my friend Sheila that The Pains of Being Pure at Heart sounded like The Smiths. I still kind of think they do.

Mid Year Reeee - View

2009-06-25T21:48:00.002-04:00

Ok Friends Here we go with the mid-year's best of. I am gonna try to keep it even keeled as I don't want to give away too much for the end of year salute to '09.

Top 5 albums of '09 (in no particular order):
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone - An eye opening piece of work that overshadowed all my previous knowledge.
Dark Was the Night - More hits than Mike Tyson's Punch Out
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion - Basically if they only put out My girls and Brothersport it would still have made everyone's top 10 ... amiright?
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart-Self Titled - Have to admit that half of this is the fact that I saw them at Bug Jar and it SOUNDED amazing, but they kind of blew my effing mind that night.
Tie: The Thermals vs. Japandroids - The familiar versus the the familiar ... Basically both albums are kind of awesome and yet comfortable. Not a fucking thing to complain about top to bottom on either ... but not earth shattering. I went through personal situations where "I Quit Girls" AND reached a point where "You Dissolve"

I was late to the party but fucking ecstatic that I showed up:

Akron/Family - Love is All - Indie meets Classic meets Emo meets Tony
The Beatles - Abbey Road - I know them all but it's basically mixed in a way that I never heard before, like a really sweet late Beatles mix ... thanks guys.
Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue - Dear Jenny, when will you fudge me?
Amadou and Mariam - my life = changed
Animal Collective - Feels AND Sung Tongs - I kind of actually like both of these more than MPP ... but which more only time will tell.
Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha - I AM STILL LOSING MY SHIT TO EVERY SONG ON THIS ALBUM... p.s. remember that time he randomly rocked Cataracts at Bonna ... quote of the weekend "that was completely random"

The Let down list:
Camera Obscura - fuck fuck fuck, i love them, i love them, but my heart is not quite right yet.
Cymbals Eat Guitars - I need "the hook" still
The Black Lips - 100 Million Thousand - shit dudes, you are epic, but this was a pile, you fucking literally had retreads on here.
Mastadon - Crack the Skye - How do you recapture Leviathan - a post unto it's own.

Announcements:
Ra Ra Riot is ok because they are my new emo band that I don't give an eff if you like or not.

Menomena became my 2010 band. Find the festival, join me. I promise they will be AT LEAST as good as the shit show that was Band of Horses. Which ... coincidentally was only partially better than seeing radiohead from a mile away a year prior.

The Mars Volta are on my radar again. Omar does his best. Cedric is a bag o trix and pretentious as ever.

My Bloody Valentine in August.

... hope you liked it

dinosaur jr. - farm: a first look

2009-06-24T09:54:00.003-04:00

the last time I paid much attention to Dinosaur Jr. I was 13 and really into MTV and the Soundgarden Black Hole Sun video. Which, lucky for me was on pretty much once an hour at the time. This period coincided with Dinosaur Jr.'s closest delving into mainstream when their video for Feel the Pain was also getting significant airplay.

Fast forward 10 years. I'm 23 and starting to get into "influential" indie bands. Names get drooped, pixies, joy division, sebadoh, and dinosaur jr.?? From there on out time and time again this band's been mentioned numerous times. Having no more than Feel the Pain to go off of I for whatever reason decided to skip by their work.

Come with me now to the present day: At the moment there aren't any brand new exceptional albums out, which means good luck for DJ. They happen to have released the most buzz worthy album. So I decided to check them out. Some of the things I'm finding out about them:

1. They seriously don't mess around with guitar rock. If you like guitar rock. Listen to them. I can't describe it really any other way than that.
2. To me it kind of sounds a lot like more Feel the Pain. Perhaps I am missing the point.
3. I like it. The songs are catchy. But i'm not being moved by it. My only hope here is to pass it along to someone who comes back and explains how they fell in love with the album. To me it's somehow coming across as bland. How is that possible? The guys are rocking the shit out of this music, but to me all I hear is boring boring boring.

This of course is quite the same way I felt upon first listen to In Rainbows. So as usual it always comes back to Radiohead. Dinosaur Jr. now owe R-head a debt of gratitude because I have decided not to give up easily on this one. Can I get a God Bless Thom?

An error in judgement

2009-06-23T12:45:00.002-04:00

Recently something has come to light that I feel i need to publicly apologize for. Anyone who knows me is aware of my affinity for Neutral Milk Hotel's stellar piece of work In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. This album has influenced me, and my public life in ways that at the moment would be difficult for me to describe. Listening to album typically can bring me close to tears. It is probably the album I hold most dear to me.

However due to my deep appreciation of this work I also have made public claim to be a Neutral Milk Hotel fan. The truth of the matter is that I was really only a ITAOTS fan. Upon a previous attempt to delve into earlier NMH work I first listened to Invent Yourself a Shortcake. I don't recall how much of an effort I made. I do recall hearing a lot of noise, and finding out they were effing around with making noises with a cassette tape during recording.

I soon lost interest and chalked ITAOTS up to being a single rare miracle. An album so powerful it caused it's creator to run into seclusion. Which is also where my interst in his other work lay. Until recently. A small series of events transpired. First, budding interest in ITAOTS from a friend. When this typically occurs I instantly jump head first back into NHM because I want to try and show the person how amazing I find the work, and would love sharing it with others. During this renewed vigor I also caught a live showing of Mr. Mangum performing many of the songs from ITAOTS.

It was a stirring event for me. One that left me empty and unfullfilled. Wanting nothing more than to find a way that I could try and relive past events. From this I came away with two decisions. 1. Find live NMH because he was brilliant live. and 2. Find out about the songs that were not from In the Aeroplane, because they were just as good. My findings led me to one very important discovery. When I cast aside Invent yourself a Shortcake I also subsequently did the same to On Avery Island. In my defense I know I had listened to it at least once but the sour taste from IYS must have been around.

One of the songs on the live video was a track called Baby For Pree. This song hit me hard, and I found that it was recorded in On Avery Island. Cooincidentally that same day I was sent a text msg of a friend holding the album in a record store, to which history will show me still at the "meh, i can take it or leave it" level.

However, because of that chain of events I have learned of a new, amazing album. On Avery Island does lack the epic cohesiveness of In the Aeroplane. It does not contain any self defining moments like Oh Comely, or triumphant gestures in solidude like King of Carrot Flowers pt1. But one thing Neutral Milk Hotel was never wanton for is eery madness. Spooky organ drone peppered with sad yet catchy lyrics.

On Avery Island gives the listener an ear to what Mangum was really all about, and any fan of ITAOTS should find near equal appreciation here. I consider myself lucky to have found myself in this position. I suppose I wanted to share this with the world because I feel like I need to make penence for my past ignorance. Though nothing may compare evenly to In the Aeroplane listeners will not be unfamiliar with the songs on On Avery Island, and I believe can come to a deeper and more open understanding of how imporant ITA really is. I know I feel that way.

bonna non story

2009-06-23T08:18:00.002-04:00

Sadly my time has been tied up in real world events lately so I have not yet had a chance to unleash upon the interwebs my full review of Bonnaroo.

However I do have enough time this morning to share my favorite "non story". By non-story I mean that I actually had no part in any of this and all of the information is word of mouth from other sources.

Anyone heard of the band Cage the Elephant? Yeah, me either. Apparently they were good enough to have their "stage stormed" at bonnaroo.

A.) who the hell storms a stage at a hippy music festival?
B.) dillinger escape plan didn't play till sunday.

Anyways, I checked around to find some reviews of their latest album trying to harness an idea of what music was so overwhelming it caused an uncontrollable urge to bro down with security just to have a chance to get close to the band ... here's my favorite quote so far:

"It’s a fatal flaw that rears itself again and again as a bastardised version of blue-collar Americana is force-fed a mass-produced strain of bland modern rock throughout all eleven tracks."
- The Guardian

Guess I'm not all that upset that I missed what was described to me as the most important thing that happened at Bonna this year. Are you kidding me?

July July

2009-06-22T06:40:00.001-04:00

Loooks like round 2 of music month is coming up ...

7-15: Yeasayer
7-19: Wilco and Conner Oberst
7-23: Neko Case
7-30: Cursive
7-31: All Points West
8-3 : Gang Gang Dance

where are you tonight?

2009-06-19T23:43:00.001-04:00

waiting for my inspiration.

friday fudge

2009-06-19T07:00:00.001-04:00

currently losing my shit to:

sunday morning

2009-06-19T06:52:00.004-04:00

I'm a little late posting this news. Frankly because a) i'm not really a huge Beck fan any longer and so I feel like news about Beck is on a take it or leave it basis. B) This blog isn't really a "news" oriented medium, but rather a forum for me to post in regards to interesting information.

Anyways the point here is that a news article came out a few days ago that basically described a new project in which he was going to record a cover of some albums all within one day, without rehearsals or retakes. He is then going to release the recordings via his newly remodeled website.

I didn't realize how soon any of this was going down but it looks like the first album (Velvet Underground and Nico) has already been completed. Here is track 1. If nothing else Beck can still swing a damn fine cover. Nothin fancy here.

ra ra riot + vampire weekend = digital love

2009-06-18T19:30:00.000-04:00

get the joke?

bring a big kayak

2009-06-18T17:45:00.001-04:00

get the kayak

2009-06-17T19:33:00.001-04:00

The Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

2009-06-09T06:51:00.003-04:00

Look Ma, I did it. Two album reviews in two weeks. An even more impressive perspective is that this one actually coincides with the release of the album I'm reviewing! This is of course was unbeknowst to me until last week when while perusing a publication it listed Bitte Orca's release date. Well shit, thanks to the power of internewbs I've actually been listening to the album for well over a month now. So I guess fate had it that this day would come and so without further delay...

The chronology of my experience with Dirty Projectors goes something like this:

1+ years ago: I was mistaking them for DFA, the Brookyln based production team whose hands are all over a bunch of great albums. Where this miscommunication stems from, lord know. It's t typical me though. The same guy who thought Broken Social Scene was punk metal, and that Deerhunter and Animal Collective consisted of the same band members.

6 months ago: I got my hands on the Dark Was the Night soundtrack. The first track on the album is the collaboration between David Byrne and the DP's. Immediately drawn to this interesting and charismatic ditty I began my journey into learning exactly what the dirty projector's were all about. Yes, brooklyn based as well, but much much different. I ended up checking out Rise Above. I found it ... weird. I would say almost so weird it was bad. But one thing I understood was that there was some serious creativity behind it. My desire to embrace the creativity led me to persist. During this time dirty projector's released their first single off Bitte Orca.

2 Months: Upon my first encounter with lead single Stillness is the Move I nearly fell out of my chair. The song carried everything I personally need in a personal theme song. Ridiculous rhthym structure: check, Lyrics that not only are fun in content, but also delivered in quirky and off tempo precision: check, Loud and Beautiful: check.

Immediately this track was dubbed "my summer song" . Throughout this blog you could find at least 2 other entire posts devoted to how awesome that song is. So basically, this album was going to get a good review if it were just that song.

However, come to find out there was a lot more work to do. Having only my tedious experience with Rise Above, and the two fleeting examples of dirty projector's pop embrace I initially had some strong doubts about the rest of Bitte Orca. The songs again seeems long, and misguided attempts at proving creativity, rather than great song writing. But something entirely different exists here. Sticking with the album was important, because the epiphany occured. Yes, some of the songs sound like 4 songs in one (useful chamber i'm looking at you). However the difference being the pieces are more carefully executed with an eye on embracing the pop psyche.

It is true that at points I felt that bitte orca drags a bit, delves deep back into the randomness. This however is at the benefit of the consumer. For without the creative process how would we ever evolve? If we do the same thing over and over, how do you learn? And so on Bitte Orca the listener is handed some material that allows their mind to expand in comfort. To grow, almost seemingly alongside Mr. Longstreth and company.

Share and Enjoy a sense of freedom...

If I am lost ... it's only for a little while

2009-06-06T08:06:00.002-04:00

I am alone. I am happy. I am lucky. I am.

What if the Band of Horses set list looked like this:

1. The first song
2. The General Specific
3. Monsters
4. Funeral
5. Cigarettes, Wedding Bands
6. Is There a Ghost
7. I go to the Barn Because I Like
8. Ode to the LRC

I need to see Neko Case do The Pharaohs.

I need to see Andrew Bird sing Cataracts

I need to see Animal Collective do Banshee Beat

I have a working playlist called "the lovely tones" which is currently causing uncontrolable emotional sensations. So far it is an opus. But it's very much in it's infancy. I could see myself tearing every time I listen. I just thought of a new song. "The baby maker" ... oh man, gotta have the baby maker. Maybe I'll re-title the playlist "the baby maker"

I just channeled Jeremy Hanson a la the "I think I'm making my move" epic crash moment. < this is proper twitter fodder.

off topic

2009-06-03T19:04:00.002-04:00

It has been observation thus far in my short time in the business world that:

Men who have success rely on a personality that is generally personable, sincere, and well liked.

Women who are successful are generally ruthless, pushy, and feared, and probably not all that well liked.

It goes without saying that both groups are motivated individuals.

I'm interested in why that difference exists. I would discount the claim that "women have to be this way because men run everything". That excuse no longer holds water.