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, November 26th, 2008

Okay, okay, I’m guilty of it as well. But seriously, it’s getting kind of out of hand. Are you seriously going to look at the highly pixilated picture and go, “Yeah…I was there.” Just savior the moment for Christ’s sake. The iPhones in particular are getting on my nerves. When you hold it up to take a picture it’s almost like you’re showing everyone in the crowd how cool you are. This may not be intentional, but boy does it seem like it. Also, I kind of chuckle to myself when some hipster trust-fund baby is talking about how he/she doesn’t own a TV but then whips out an iPhone. Fucking hypocrites.
Rant over.
I’m off to NY via Boston today. Wish me safe travels as I shall be wishing the same for you.
Fucked Up – Twice Born
Refused – New Noise
These Arms Are Snakes – Horse Girl
United Nations – The Spinning Heart Of The Yo-Yo Lobby
The Sound of Animals Fighting – Act IV: You Don’t Need a Witness
Tags: cell phone pictures suck, Fucked Up, put down the cell phone, Refused, The Sound of Animals Fighting, These Arms Are Snakes, United Nations
Posted in General, Music | 4 Comments »
Monday, September 15th, 2008

This month has proven itself to be an interesting enough month for new releases. You have the new Apollo Sunshine, Damien Jurado, Jesu, Mitch Hedburg, Tricky, Jem, TV on the Radio, and some band called Metallica. However, two in particular have caught me by the ear. Portugal. The Man’s “Censored Colors” and The Sound of Animals Fighting’s “The Ocean and The Sun.” Both albums show significant growth from their original material while staying true to the individual sound they have established over the years.
Portugal’s new album could easily mistaken for TV on the Radio b-sides, but don’t let that scare you away as a copy cat band. Censored Colors is able to keep your attention with it’s Beatles influenced hooks and King Crimson-like psychodelia. This is a record to be proud of.
TSOAF’s new record, The Ocean and The Sun, seems like a return to the “kick-you-in-the-teeth” progressive rock they are famous for. Some critics refer to them as a Mars Volta clone, but this record may silence them. It is experimental without being unlistenable and is creative without sounding pretentious. It is may not be their best work (look for Tiger and The Duke EP), it is still worth a respectable listen.
Portugal. The Man – And I
Portugal. The Man – Out and In and In and Out
The Sound of Animals Fighting – The Heraldic Beak of the Manufacturer’s Medallion
Tags: Censored Colors, Portugal. The Man, september, The Ocean and The Sun, The Sound of Animals Fighting
Posted in Music | No Comments »