Friday, December 26th, 2008
Best EPs of 2008:
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One Day As A Lion - One Day As A Lion: The Rage isn’t back, but the passion of Zach is.
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Cool Kids – The Bake Sale: Hip-hop is not dead, it’s alive and well with The Cool Kids.
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The Decemberists – Always a Bridesmaid: One song bugs me, but the rest is lovely.
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Animal Collective – Water Curses: An exciting view into what’s in store for 2009.
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Air France – No Way Down: I don’t need a new Avalanches record, all I need is this EP…and this lamp.
Best Gadget I Couldn’t Live Without:
Best Music Blogs of 2008 (aside from Gorilla vs. Bear and Brooklyn Vegan):
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Motel De Moka: Stunning artwork mixed with the best minimalistic, experimental, and ambient music I’ve never heard of.
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ipickmynose: His weekly song obsessions quickly become my song obsessions. Plus his view into the Bay Area indie scene helps me understand this strange new land I’ve found myself in.
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Captain Obvious: His library of covers is unrivaled as well as his detailed and spot-on album reviews.
Best Books I Read This Year:
Biggest Musical Disappointments:
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The Ben Folds album…blows
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Kanye West experiements…fails
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No Portishead US tour
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Foo Fighters just can’t rock like they used to
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Scarlett Johansson covers Tom Waits, nuff said
Most Anticipated in 2009:
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Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion
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Dan Deacon – Bromst
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Mastodon – Crack The Skye
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dredg – tba
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M. Ward – Hold Time
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Division Day – tba
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Jeremy Enigk – Ok Bear
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Cage – Depart From Me
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Weatherman Album?
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The One AM Radio – tba
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The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
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Andrew Bird – Noble Beast
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Rival Schools – tba
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Kiss Kiss – The Meek Shall Inherit What’s Left
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The Arcade Fire – tba
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Battles – tba
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Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing
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mewithoutyou – tba
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Cursive – tba
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Burial – tba
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Wilco – tba
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Menomena – tba
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The Album Leaf – tba
Other Songs That I Loved This Year
Astro Raw – I’m The One With A Smile
Beach House – Gila
Bill O’Reilly – Bill O’Reilly Flips Out (Dance Remix)
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – So Everyone
Chairlift – Evident Utensil
Cloud Cult – Everybody here is a Cloud
The Cool Kids – A Party (For Everyone) (Logarhythmik remix)
The Dear Hunter – Battesimo del Fuoco
Delta Spirit – Trashcan
Department Of Eagles – No One Does It Like You
The Dodos – Fools
Entire Cities – Talkers
Facing New York – Cops On Bikes (WP PM5K RMX)
Frightened Rabbit – Fast Blood
God Is An Astronaut – Remaining Light
Grizzly Bear – While You Wait For The Others
The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
Jolie Holland – Mexico City
The Limousines – Very Busy People
Little Joy – Brand New Start
Lykke Li – I’m Good, I’m Gone
Mason Proper – Friendship
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Jesus Of The Moon
Port O’Brien – Fisherman’s Son
Portugal. The Man – Lay Me Back Down
R.E.M. – Supernatural Superserious
Rye Rye – Tic Toc (ft. M.I.A.)
Sennen – Your Hand In Mine
The Sound Of Animals Fighting – The Ocean And The Sun
Vampire Weekend – Ottoman
White Denim – Sitting
Tags: Astro Raw, beach house, Bill O'Reilly, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, chairlift, Cloud Cult, Delta Spirit, department of eagles, Entire Cities, facing new york, Favorites of 2008, Frightened Rabbit, God Is An Astronaut, Grizzly Bear, Jolie Holland, Little Joy, Lykke Li, Mason Proper, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Port O'Brien, Portugal. The Man, R.E.M., Rye Rye, Sennen, The Cool Kids, The Dear Hunter, The Dodos, The Hold Steady, The Limousines, The Sound of Animals Fighting, Vampire Weekend, White Denim
Posted in Favorites of 2008, Music, News | 9 Comments »
Wednesday, December 17th, 2008
picture by gussifer
10. Treasure Island Festival Day 1 – Goldfrapp, Hot Chip, TV on the Radio, Justice, Amon Tobin, CSS, Aesop Rock, Foals, Nortec Collective, Loquat, Chester French, and Mike Relm:
Saturday 20 September 2008
Treasure Island
San Francisco, CA
What could have been a fantastic festival with non-stop fun ended up being…well just okay. While the performances were outstanding, the crowd was the biggest issue I had. I’ve never seen so many people avoid conversation in my life. I guess that’s what these Berkeley trust fund babies consider proper communication these days. On top of that, I was smack dab in the middle of what felt like an ecstasy party just before Justice’s set. Remind me to never go to another festival the day before I have to get up for work. But besides all that horse crap, TV on the Radio was unbelievably fun live, Foals seemed bored at first but livened things up around mid-set, Loquat gained a new fan (me), Aesop Rock can spit rhymes pretty well despite how high he said he was, Hot Chip were good from what I could tell, Goldfrapp was adorable, and Justice is a fucking beast live. So yeah, I had fun. But God damn it people, show some respect to this lowly New Englander living on the West Coast.
picture by hunta
9. Holy Fuck, A Place to Bury Strangers, and Tiny Whales:
Friday 21 March 2008
Middle East Upstairs
Cambridge, MA
Now before you ever decide to see A Place to Bury Strangers live, remember your earplugs. They will most likely cause tinnitus. Anyway, the improvisation of Holy Fuck is a marvel to watch. I look forward to see what they have in store for 2009.
picture by vocoders
8. Cursive, Deer Tick, and Malipas:
Monday 21 April 2008
Club Hell
Providence, RI
Finally seeing Cursive in concert was quite an expectedly awesome moment for me. An unexpected moment was my discovery of Deer Tick. I foresee myself attending more Deer Tick shows in the future. (P.S. – don’t let anyone fool you. There seriously is nothing to do in Providence, RI)
picture by mel.opho.be concert photos
7. Saul Williams and Buddy Wakefield / Saul Williams and Dragon of Zynth:
Saturday 19 January 2008 / Brandeis University
Tuesday 8 April 2008 / Paradise Rock Club
Boston, MA
He may be aloof at times and a little over dramatic, but he is without a doubt a master showman. Seeing both his performances in slam poetry and with a full band helped me better understand this truly unique artist.
picture by data jockey
6. Explosions in the Sky and Lichens:
Saturday 5 April 2008
Lupo’s
Providence, RI
The sheer breathtaking power of Explosions is indisputable. This is what I’ve been told time and time again and I finally found that out on a cold day in April with some good friends.
Explosions in the Sky – A Song For Our Fathers
Cursive – Dorothy at Forty
Holy Fuck – Lovely Allen
Saul Williams – Live From No Man’s Land
Justice – Genesis (CCCR remix)
Tags: best concerts of 2008, Concerts, Cursive, Explosions in the Sky, Favorites of 2008, Holy Fuck, Justice, Saul Williams
Posted in Concerts, Favorites of 2008 | 2 Comments »
