Last Post of 2004...

I hope everyone's had a good year. It's been rather decent for me. I've listened with attention to more music this year than I have since I was in my very early twenties. It's been great to write about it and to discover that there's so much good unnoticed underappreciated music to hear. I've really enjoyed writing Bars & Guitars, I hope that whoever reads this has found a few items worth buying. Support independent music, it's the best stuff going. Have a safe new year's eve. It's amateur night tonight, so watch out for the dingbats.

Today I'm posting a band that i've been listening to a ton lately. I discovered The Dying Californian during one of my compulsive scans of record label sites. These guys are on the same label that released Track Star (one of my favorite SF bands) so I figured they must be doing something right. Turn Records is located here in the bay area and has an excellent roster of bands. They seem to concentrate most on the undefined and nebulous "indie-rock" sound. The Dying Californian is a rock band with a strong tendency towards drawn out country rock jams. These guys roots lie in hardcore. As with many hardcore bands as their musicianship grew other influences (Americana, country) started to creep in creating a much more dynamic sound. Kind of like My Morning Jacket without the reverb but with better drumming. I'd say the only aquired taste here is the voice of the lead singer. It grates at first, but soon becomes an invaluable part of the bands sound.

3 from We Are The Birds That Stay:

Phobos & Deimos

My Heaven Knows No Reign

Chris's Blues

The album can be purchased direct off the Turn Records site.

The Helio Sequence...

The Helio Sequence is as much as anything an indication of how far a label like Subpop has come. The Helio Sequence is the most interesting combination of electronic and organic music. The Helio Sequence combines new wave guitar sounds, synthesizers with acoustic drums, harmonic, harmonies. It's a really unusual mix of elements that come together into a cohesive dose of upbeat pop. Some may argue that there's maybe one too many throwaway tracks here, but now adays if %90 of an album is worth listening to I figure you're doing pretty well. Many bands would sink under the weight of this much varied instrumentation but it's a credit to their song writing that their 2004 album The Love and Distance is as much fun as it is. It never feels gimmicky or that they're more concerned with showing off than writing a good song. This album really should've gotten more attention this year.

2 songs from The Love and Distance courtesy of Subpop:

Everyone Knows Everyone

Blood Bleeds

You can also check out a video for "Everyone knows Everyone" HERE

Pick it up HERE

A Night of Serious Drinking...

Some bands are just different. They play a stew of so many different styles that putting a finger on anyone and saying that it defines a sound is impossible. And inappropriate. San Francisco band A Night of Serious Drinking created a record called One After Another in 1999. This record is not like many things that were heard then or now. The 9 songs on the album were played as a "suite". They were recorded in one take at San Francisco's Bottom of the Hill. The band did it twice on two different nights and decided to use the second take. It's near impossible in 2004/5 to consider a band doing this: no Pro Tools, no overdubs, no multiple takes, and have it sound this good. Sure, the band is a bit maudlin in lyrical tone but that's part of the charm. Sometimes when you feel just so, a certain band will take you to another place. Your moods align. It feels like there is no other music as important. ANOSD plays a pop influenced jazz of sorts. It's gentle but can hit you with a real wallop. You don't need volume to have intensity, you need well conveyed believable emotion. Lead singer Anthony Bonet has had his trouble with the drink. He's been unpredictable, swung wildly from extremes, landed stably, careened off again. It's not like a band that has all the challenges of any other indie band needs more hurdles in front of their efforts. They don't make music anymore. The three musicians do have this though. It's a fine relic to leave for others to discover.

I struggled a bit in deciding whether or not to post about One After Another for the simple reason that it's near impossible to find. The CD was self-released so I imagine that somewhere here in SF there's someone with a box full of these cds in his garage. But how do I get you in contact with him if you decide that you have to have it? It's a bit of a conundrum. But then again maybe you're the type that browses record stores and garage sales relentlessly and might pass this gem by simply because you didn't know, might have passed it by already without giving it a thought. That's a tragic thought.

My preference would be to post the whole suite. But storage space and copyright issues prevent me. So I'll post three songs from One After Another:

Half-Lit

The End of One Life

Little Black Buzzer

The Confusions are from Sweden...

Must be something about spending a lot of time around snow or fjords but the Swedes sure do produce some fine pop music. There is of course Abba, which I imagine every swedish band since has resented to some degree, The Cardigans come to mind as well and The Legends, who made one of my favorite albums of 2004. Then there's Aners Celsius who's responsible for the scale of atmospheric measurement that we in America try so hard to ignore (what do we have against European systems of measurement anyway?). Anyway, I could spend all day regressing into a listing of all that is great about Sweden (we could start with this randomly googled beauty named Kathleen) but what I'm really here to talk about are The Confusions. You probably haven't heard of these guys here in the states, but in Sweden, Japan and much of Europe they've been making quality guitar based pop music since about 1993. Their sound reminds me a bit of mid career U2 and even the last Snow Patrol album. It's very pop. They've made few inroads into the US listening audience despite an very warm reception at SXSW in 2000. I'm not even sure if any of their albums have been released state side. It's a shame because their sound would be well received by the indie-rock crowd. I really don't think The Killers have a thing on these guys. They don't rock quite as hard as my beloved Legends, but what they do is pretty damn catchy even if it feels slightly pedestrian at times (though nowhere near as pedestrian as the Killers, come on there's really nothing special about those guys).

They have an album coming out in 2005, these 2 songs are taken from a forthcoming (March, I think) EP "Don't Let The World Catch You Crying" that's a result of those sessions:

Don't Let The World Catch You Crying

Younger Than Yesterday

Purchase at will HERE

Kevin Salem...

A bit late today, but I just got back into town. I was listening to both Kevin Salem and his former band Dumptruck, who produced an indie rock essential in the album For The Country. Dumptruck was one of the core purveyors of 80's pop rock (along with REM, Connells, Pylon, Guadacanal Diary) though Salem didn't join the outfit until their last album his guitar work made For The Country memorable. It's interesting how some solo artists do all that they can to escape any association with former bands both musically and in personality. I don't really see Salem doing either in his solo work. Both his solo albums Ecstatic and Glimmer are a sweet echo of For The Country and that's a good thing. Salem still employs a thick crunchy wall of guitar that's tinged just subtly with a country/pop vibe. Aside from an unfortunate song in which he tries to employ a rapper within the confines of his jangle rock, both these albums are very good. I'd dig into Glimmer first.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

From 1998's Glimmer:

Run, Run, Run

Pray For Rain

From 2001's Ecstatic:

1000 Smiles

Medicine Show

Tom T. Hall...

Way back in 1998 I got wind of some guy putting together a tribute to Tom T. Hall. Now Tom isn't very well known because he's a songwriter's songwriter. By that I mean that tons of people covered him and many had hits with his songs. The one we all remember the best is, I'm sure, "Harper Valley PTA". But he wrote plenty of other good things. Anyway, this tribute record turned out really well and it still gets some pretty solid time in the music rotation. I really feel like Real: The Tom T Hall Project is worth owning if not because it may just get you interested in checking out some of Tom's music, but because the artist lineup is really stellar and the performances are uniformly nuanced bits of excellence. Here are a couple tracks from the album.

Have a Merry Christmas, be safe, don't drink and drive (it's better to be loaded in the confines of your home or that of your friends or in my case the in-laws).

From Real: The Tom T Hall Project:

That's How I Got To Memphis - Kelly Willis

When Love is Gone - Richard Buckner

Tulsa Telephone Book - Calexico

Special Xmas Post...

This is totally unrelated to music, but it's funny as all get out. Check it:

Scary Santa Photos

David Berman & The Silver Jews...

I suppose David Berman is a kind of renaissance man of sorts. He's the singer/songwriter in The Silver Jews, a wildly inventive band that got stuck into the alt-country movement at one time. They're a Drag City band which must mean they're doing something right. The Silver Jews are a critics wet dream. Berman writes intelligent literate lyrics that come off as much like Raymond Carver short stories. He has an odd talky singy (boy that's a lame description) style that makes me think of Mark E. Smith without so much singing. The Silver Jews play a variety of heartland music clearly derived from Blues, country and early rock and roll. The arrangements are simple though not always sparse. It's music that reminds me of back alleys and sidewalks as much as midwestern corn fields, it's that transcendental in scope. Berman has a writers way with words which is because he is a writer. He has a book of poems called Actual Air which is one of my favorites. He's a very accesible writer being more interested in slice of life vignettes with a wry sense of humor than overwhelming the reader with cleverness. In a first for a music blog I'm going to give you a Berman poem as well as some Silver Jews music. This guy is an American original.

From Actual Air:

Imagining Defeat

She woke me up at dawn,
her suitcase like a little brown dog at her heels.

I sat up and looked out the window
at the snow falling in the stand of blackjack trees.

A bus ticket in her hand.

Then she brought something black to her mouth,
a plum I thought, but it was an asthma inhaler.

I reached under the bed for my menthols
and she asked if I ever thought of cancer.

Yes, I said, but always as a tree way up ahead
in the distance where it doesn't matter.

And I suppose a dead soul must look back at that tree,
so far behind his wagon where it also doesn't matter

except as a memory of rest or water.

Though to believe any of that, I thought,
you have to accept the premise

that she woke me up at all.

From the Silver Jews 1996 album The Natural Bridge:

Black and Brown Blues

Albermarle Station

From the Silver Jews 1998 album American Water:

Blue Arrangements

Smith & Jones Forever

People

From the Silver Jews 2001 album Bright Flight:

Time Will Break the World

Horseleg Swastikas

A bit more Court & Spark

I really believe that Witch Season from Court And Spark was one of the best releases of the year. It's a contemplative, quiet affair but has moments of sublime rocking. The band seems to have delved deeply into soul tinged country for this record. They've pushed the keyboards out towards the front of the mix and the bass seems heavier. Some of the songs are even (gasp) danceable. It's an inspired record from a band that has a tremendously consistent catalog. The reason I mention Court And Spark is because I saw lead singer M.C. Taylor play live last night at Cafe Du Nord with John Doe and M. Ward. Frankly I could take or leave John Doe's set. I love X and like much of his material on record but I was less than enthused about his live performance. So many of his songs are clearly written for a band but are being forced into a folk/singer-songwriter environment. Still it must always be a challenge to get up on a stage with nothing but a guitar and quiet a packed house. People were definitely into his set, it just didn't do it for me. M. Ward was very good. I'd never seen him live before and I'm looking forward to reviewing his new record for Stylus Magazine when it comes out in February. The crowd was really there to see M. Ward. The room swelled and people packed in when he started playing. He played almost all of Transfiguration of Vincent and was able to recreate those songs very very well. For the most part it was just him, guitar and harmonica. For some of the newer songs he played piano, I'm not sure what that will mean to the sound of the new record but given the guest players (Howie Gelb, mike coykendall, Jim James from My Morning Jacket, Vic Chestnut, Rachel Blumburg from the Decemberists) this record may well be amazing. M Ward can coax an amazingly complex array of sounds out his guitar. His voice is slight but operates on such an odd register that it becomes a unique instrument all its own.

So anyway the reason that I mention Court And Spark today is because the set by M.C. Taylor (he was solo) was the revelation of the night. It's too bad that alot of people didn't show up in time to see it, but good for me for the unobstructed view. The Court And Spark songs translated very well to the solo setting, in fact it's been a long time since I've seen someone with as much as stage presence and voice as M.C. Taylor. When I was at the show I picked up a copy of Double Roses. Excellent limited edition packaging, nice artwork. There are some great songs on this one and (as with all the Court And Spark stuff) you can but it HERE.

From Double Roses:

O Little Blackbird

Shake Sugaree

A Trip to the Riviera...

One of the nicest things about listening obsessively to music is when you discover something you'd never heard of and actually like it. A got an email from a new label the other day called Glorious Noise exhorting a new release by one of their artists. As I was browsing the site I came across an mp3 by a band called Riviera from an album that's entering into the final stages of preparation for public consumption. I have to admit that I was a bit taken. Riviera plays country-rock and most definitely fits the alt-country bill. I have a sweet spot for alt-country so it was no mystery why I was trying to track down as much album info as possible by these guys. They've put out 2 eps and both are sold out. The new album At The End of the American Century is due out in the next few months. The music has all the hooks off an alt-country band: rocking guitars, harmonica, cracked vocals. They remind alot of Lucero, Tandy, and particularly Bottle Rockets which I consider to be a good thing. My description sounds a bit formulaic, but there's something different about these guys. Sometimes the heart just shines through.

From the Broken Hearted Dreams EP:

Such Sweet Sorrow

Friends In California

From the forthcoming At The End of the American Century:

Ashes on the Moon

Stranded

Joy Zipper...

Joy Zipper put out a nice album about 3 years ago called Joy Zipper on Bar None. It was a good album full of dreamy pop music that had as much in common with the Beach Boys as with bands like Air and Zero 7. The thing I always liked about Joy Zipper was the undercurrent of sinister lyricism. You'd be surfing along on the nicest riff, a bouncy beat, and some sweet boy girl harmonies, nodding your head, before you realized that he was singing about a heartbroken stalker. It took quite awhile for American Whip to reach our shores due to record label hassles. I don't know the whole deal but the album has only been available as a very pricey import (very pricey given the state of the dollar). American Whip is now due for a February 2005 release. To be honest I didn't feel very strongly about their first record. It was nice but it didn't blow me away. Things seem to have been turned up a notch on the new one. The songwriting is excellent, those harmonies shimmer like a hot day at the beach. Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine twiddles the knobs on five of the new tracks and you can really feel that guitar fuzz crawling through the spine of these songs. And still creepy lyrically, not the least because the two primaries in Joy Zipper (Vincent Cafiso and Tabitha Tindale) are partners in both life and music which makes one wonder just who they're singing about on some these songs.

Here's three from American Whip:

Christmas Song

33x

Alzheimers

2004 Best Songs U didn't hear part LAST

Ok, here's my plan this week. I've got 15 songs that I think most people haven't heard but should've. If anything this year has made me realize how much good interesting music there is out there and how impossible it is to hear it all. They may be from albums you've heard of, I've written about or I hate but a single song is redeeming. There's at least 2 songs here from albums that I frankly think sucked a bit, but the individual song is a shining salvation. Thank God for iPod playlists. I'm going to post 3 or 4 a day and if you download religously by Friday you should have a decent mix to burn or new playlist for the pod. There may be a song or two that I blogged about way back when I started doing this thing, but since my readership has gone from 4 to about 12 some of these songs were probably overlooked. I'm going for the standard bell curve mix tape. That is, it starts out mellow builds to something rocking and then lets you down easy again. Be forewarned, I'm all over the place with these songs. I find that's at least part of the fun of thinking about a years worth of music. I feel justified in including alt-country, a little hip hop, indie-rock, etc. in one place because there's so much good music out there this year. As always you're encouraged, nay implored, to purchase these artists. So, away we go:

Alright, we wrap this little experiment up today. Hopefully you've enjoyed trying to figure out what's going to come next and, of course, the songs. The last three songs have been played on my stereo alot. May be my 3 faves. The Ox song is technically 2003, but a late release qualifies them. That and the fact that Ox rocks. Things'll be back to normal on Monday. Whatever that means.

13) Aloha - Perry Como Gold. I love this song. I think this is the equivalent of an indie rock power ballad. No one's going to compare this to Poison's "Every Rose Has A Thorn" but it kinda does the same thing. Slow start, pretty piano intro, guitar jumping out at you on the bridge. Aloha's Here Comes Everyone keeps getting referred to as a modern prog-rock album. I'm not entirely sure what that means. Sure there are lines that can be drawn from Aloha to early Genesis and, maybe, Yes. I really hear Supertramp. This album is far more traditional in its songwriting than their previous jazzy experimental forays. Anyway, because these guys are excellent musicians who play odd time signatures and moderately long jams they get awarded a convenient label. I can't say that I loved Here Comes Everyone from beginning to end but it has some really strong moments. This song being my highlight.

14) Ox - Stolen Car. Where to start with this one? First of: if you purchase any recommendation that I make here I strongly encourage you to make it Dust Bowl Revival. A uniformly excellent album of country tinged pop music. Similarly to the Aloha tune, this song starts with a sad sack piano line before leaping into an upbeat 70's style country rock movement with about a 1:30 to go, chiming guitars, harmonies, keyboards. I only wish that part of the song lasted longer.

15) Enablers - Pauly's Last Days in Cinema. Ok, this song absolutely does not fit here. Not even a little bit. That's why I tacked it on at the end of the mix. But this song is amazing for lots of different reasons. For one, it's a rare successful combination of rock and spoken word. Pete Simonelli tells a damn good story and the musicians that swirl and flail around him create the perfect compliment to his tales of drunken malfeasance. It's an unsual release for Neurot Records (buy the album there as well) who tend towards a heavier more experimental sound. Check out my review at Stylus Magazine. Enablers are composed of musicians who've played in bands like Timco, Swans and Toiling Midgets so the pedigree is there. They certainly fulfill it on End Note as they swing from a twisted Mermenesque surf punk to ethereal mood music. Probably one of the most interesting records you'll hear this year.

If you've made it this far I hope you've enjoyed the week. I've enjoyed putting it together. I've got lots of good music stored up for the coming weeks. I think 2004 was an excellent music year. Let's hope 2005 continues as such.

2004 Best Songs U didn't hear part IV

Ok, here's my plan this week. I've got 15 songs that I think most people haven't heard but should've. If anything this year has made me realize how much good interesting music there is out there and how impossible it is to hear it all. They may be from albums you've heard of, I've written about or I hate but a single song is redeeming. There's at least 2 songs here from albums that I frankly think sucked a bit, but the individual song is a shining salvation. Thank God for iPod playlists. I'm going to post 3 or 4 a day and if you download religously by Friday you should have a decent mix to burn or new playlist for the pod. There may be a song or two that I blogged about way back when I started doing this thing, but since my readership has gone from 4 to about 12 some of these songs were probably overlooked. I'm going for the standard bell curve mix tape. That is, it starts out mellow builds to something rocking and then lets you down easy again. Be forewarned, I'm all over the place with these songs. I find that's at least part of the fun of thinking about a years worth of music. I feel justified in including alt-country, a little hip hop, indie-rock, etc. in one place because there's so much good music out there this year. As always you're encouraged, nay implored, to purchase these artists. So, away we go:

Day #4. The question we're all asking at this stage of the proceedings is: Where the hell is he gonna go after that Arcade Fire track? The answer my friends is deeper into a little bit of dance pop. It's a guilty pleasure that is rarely if ever indulged here at Bars & Guitars. So hopefully as a coherent whole (coherent in the sense that it's all music and I like it) things start to mellow again with the todays third track and then we wrap up the whole mess tomorrow.

10) The Go! Team - Lady Flash. When I first picked up Thunder Lightning Strike I thought that I was listening to a new dawn in indie music. Of course I've calmed down a bit since then, but I still believe this is one of the best albums of 2004. It's fun, without pretension. A mix of The Avalanches and doo wop girl groups with a dose of indie rock guitar. Really fun. Go to Go Team Website and watch the video for this song. But the album while you're there.

11) M.I.A. - Galang. This one's pretty out of left field. But what a great track! Get some asses movin'! Simple and tinny, some may say cheesy. But this is too good to ignore.

12) J. Xaverre - Saturday. My hope is that the slightly electronic tones (the scratchy hiss, the bleeps and blips) of this rather mellow track hide the complete incongruity of it abutting against "Galang". J Xaverre's These Acid Dreams is spacey greatness. Think Sparklehorse if Linkous had dropped acid instead of smoking all that pot or had grown up in Canada instead of the rural south. Technically this was released in 2003, but it was the very tailend so the referees will in fact allow it. Memphis Industries has links for purchase.

2004 Best Songs U didn't hear Part The Third...

Ok, here's my plan this week. I've got 15 songs that I think most people haven't heard but should've. If anything this year has made me realize how much good interesting music there is out there and how impossible it is to hear it all. They may be from albums you've heard of, I've written about or I hate but a single song is redeeming. There's at least 2 songs here from albums that I frankly think sucked a bit, but the individual song is a shining salvation. Thank God for iPod playlists. I'm going to post 3 or 4 a day and if you download religously by Friday you should have a decent mix to burn or new playlist for the pod. There may be a song or two that I blogged about way back when I started doing this thing, but since my readership has gone from 4 to about 12 some of these songs were probably overlooked. I'm going for the standard bell curve mix tape. That is, it starts out mellow builds to something rocking and then lets you down easy again. Be forewarned, I'm all over the place with these songs. I find that's at least part of the fun of thinking about a years worth of music. I feel justified in including alt-country, a little hip hop, indie-rock, etc. in one place because there's so much good music out there this year. As always you're encouraged, nay implored, to purchase these artists. So, away we go:

Day #3. Ok, we begin moving into the indie rock juggernaut phase of the mix. It'll get weird tomorrow.


7) Audio Learning Center - Stereo. From the ashes of the late great band Pond rises Audio Learning Center. If you recall Pond had a short deal with Sub Pop before landing with Work Group and releasing the awesome Rock Collection. Pond weren't really grunge so they missed that whole scene, and they weren't straight rock. They were noisier, darker, harder to pigeon hole. So, of course, they broke up. In 2002 lead singer of Pond Chris Brady formed a band called Audio Learning Center releasing Friendships Often Fade on Vagrant Records. This year they released Cope Park which is a collection of dark, rocking songs. I suppose these guys would've been lumped into the whole "emo" movement if it wasn't for the fact that they're darker and much more adult than the sad-sack-boy-loses-girl crowd (check out my review at Trouser Press). Anyway, "Stereo"'s a great song on a uniformly excellent album.

8) Bill Janovitz & Crown Victoria - My Radio. Maybe you did hear this because I did an entry on these guys about 3 months ago. The entire album Fireworks on TV is a little long. At 15 songs it gets a little thin. Bill should've kept in at 10 or 11. Aside from that complaint I think there are some songs here that are as good as anything he's done solo or with Buffalo Tom.

9) Bright Eyes - Take It Easy. Conor and company give us a little taste of what's coming. Drum machines, dancey beats, the usual whiny vocals. All and all a good song that I found myself listening to with more regularity than I expected. It grows on you like a fungus.

2004 Best Songs U didn't hear Pt. 2

Ok, here's my plan this week. I've got 15 songs that I think most people haven't heard but should've. If anything this year has made me realize how much good interesting music there is out there and how impossible it is to hear it all. They may be from albums you've heard of, I've written about or I hate but a single song is redeeming. There's at least 2 songs here from albums that I frankly think sucked a bit, but the individual song is a shining salvation. Thank God for iPod playlists. I'm going to post 3 or 4 a day and if you download religously by Friday you should have a decent mix to burn or new playlist for the pod. There may be a song or two that I blogged about way back when I started doing this thing, but since my readership has gone from 4 to about 12 some of these songs were probably overlooked. I'm going for the standard bell curve mix tape. That is, it starts out mellow builds to something rocking and then lets you down easy again. Be forewarned, I'm all over the place with these songs. I find that's at least part of the fun of thinking about a years worth of music. I feel justified in including alt-country, a little hip hop, indie-rock, etc. in one place because there's so much good music out there this year. As always you're encouraged, nay implored, to purchase these artists. So, away we go:

Day #2. After a mellow start things start picking up a bit.


4) A.C. Cotton - Over And Done. The more I listen to Notes For The Conversation the more I like this record. It's a very straightforward rock record. By that I mean it probably has a lot more in common with John Mellencamp than Arcade Fire. Of course people will try to label this with everything from lo-fi pop to country-tinged rock. It's just very well done. Get it HERE

5) Luna - Star Spangled Man. I kinda figure that most people who read Bars & Guitars are aware of Luna and their farewell album Rendezvous. I think it's quite underrated. I think so many people are accustomed to the level of excellence that a long time band like Luna provides that a really good record is taken for granted. I love this song. Get it HERE

6) Ryan Adams - Funeral Marching. Does anybody playing right now conjure up stronger emotions than Mr. Adams? You either love him or hate him. You love how prolific he is or you hate it. You love is genre jumping or you hate it. There doesn't seem to be much in between. I've always enjoyed his output. I liked both parts of Love is Hell and think his ode to every influence he's ever had, Rock And Roll, was unfairly dismissed. This song came out on a weird little internet only release this year. Great car song.

2004 Best Songs You Didn't Hear...

Ok, here's my plan this week. I've got 15 songs that I think most people haven't heard but should've. If anything this year has made me realize how much good interesting music there is out there and how impossible it is to hear it all. They may be from albums you've heard of, I've written about or I hate but a single song is redeeming. There's at least 2 songs here from albums that I frankly think sucked a bit, but the individual song is a shining salvation. Thank God for iPod playlists. I'm going to post 3 or 4 a day and if you download religously by Friday you should have a decent mix to burn or new playlist for the pod. There may be a song or two that I blogged about way back when I started doing this thing, but since my readership has gone from 4 to about 12 some of these songs were probably overlooked. I'm going for the standard bell curve mix tape. That is, it starts out mellow builds to something rocking and then lets you down easy again. Be forewarned, I'm all over the place with these songs. I find that's at least part of the fun of thinking about a years worth of music. I feel justified in including alt-country, a little hip hop, indie-rock, etc. in one place because there's so much good music out there this year. As always you're encouraged, nay implored, to purchase these artists. So, away we go:



1) Unbunny - Nothing Comes To Rest
Unbunny's Snow Tires easily makes my top ten list this year. The album is a wistful collection of heartbreak. Melodic and well written Jared Del Deo recalls Neil Young, Lou Barlow, and the Scud Mountain Boys. He's sad but he makes it sound really good. Buy HERE

2) Iron & Wine - Cinder And Smoke Our Endless Numbered Days is yet another testament to Sam Beam and his ability to make quiet powerful. To say this is a rainy day song, doesn't do it justice. It's both more joyful and more sinister than that. I love the carefully moaned "yeah, yeah, yeah" (I think that's what he's singing) with about a minute and half to go. Buy at Mile Of Music

3) Court & Spark - Sundowner, You. Witch Season also makes my top ten of the year. Something happened to Court & Spark this year. They feinted one way with an experimental EP called Dead Diamond River that seemed to indicate a fascination with their more odd ball tendencies. But roared back with Witch Season which contains some of their best material. It's a lilting salute to the 70's socal country rock scene. You can hear the Flying Burrito Brothers, Buffalo Springfield and even a little Eagles. But it is of course uniquely Court & Spark's own, more poppy and more country than previous releases. Buy HERE

Ryan Adams rarity...

Well, I don't know if it's a rarity or not. These songs are from a three song mini EP called, I think, Halloween. It's available only from his website. I'm posting two of three songs on the EP and leaving off the song "Funeral Marching" which is, frankly, the best song on the EP. It's absolutely classic Ryan Adams and is very much worth the price (very cheap really) of the EP. Thus any guilty I may have is assuaged. It's been a long day so I'm going to refrain from my usual ranting. Here are the songs. Enjoy the weekend. Also, if you're in a record store this weekend trying to find something worth buying I highly recommend One Star Hotel. An excellent album that is what Wilco would sound like had they perfected and carried on the sound they began with A.M..

Ryan Adams:

Halloween

Closer When She Goes

Intercontinental Pop Exchange

So there's this project being done by some of those wiley canadians called Intercontinental Pop Exchange. The idea is to place two artists who are musically complimentary but from different geographic regions on a split CD, each doing 3 or 4 songs. I'm posting a couple of songs (2 from each band) from No. 6 which I received in the mail yesterday. The two artists are Ox and Kid Lightning (former guitarist for Gigolo Aunts). All eight songs on the CD are really good. The Kid Lightning side is very polished and pro, taking a couple of songs of his recent album. The Ox side is a bit looser and tends to tack on a minute and a half to 2 minutes of studio talk, noodling, etc. onto the end of the songs. I gotta say I'm crazy for Ox. I can't recommend Dustbowl Revival enough. Amazing record. The band seems to have a fascination with cars as the album contains a track called "Trans Am" and this EP has one called "El Camino" (in which he rhymes the title with "Barbarino", love a good "Welcome Back Kotter" reference).

The packaging for this whole series is excellent as well. They use original artwork, interesting liner notes about the artists. Check it out.

2 (of 4 from each artist) from IPX no. 6:

Ox:

Miss Idaho

El Camino (pt. 1)

Kid Lightning:

I'm Not The One

Barely Out of Tuesday

Frog Holler...

I don't remember when I started listening to Frog Holler. It was about the time that Idiots came out I think. What I do remember is being completely blown away by a song on that disc called "Happy Hour". It was my first visit to Arizona. My wife and I had flown into Las Vegas and were driving to Lake Havasu not to party and flash breasts but to visit her grandmother who lived there. It was a strange time in my life. I was feeling growing pains, but I didn't know it at the time. I had just become a father, had started a business and the mournful chorus of "Happy Hour" seemed like a goodbye to the life of non-stop partying and youthful irresponsibility that I had been living, "If you're thinkin' of me/I'm ok, ok/But there's still that day between us/And it's keeping us both away." I was probably stretching the lyrics to fit how I was feeling, but the mournful tone of the song, the way it ramps up at the chorus, Darren Schlappich's strained vocals, the sweet mandolin line, all seemed to fit my mood. Of course with age comes wisdom. I realize now that growing up doesn't mean letting go of things you love. On the contrary, it means adding to your repertoire. Here I am 6 years later still loving Frog Holler. I think they're one of those rare bands that seem able to escape the genre that they're pinned into. This band is better than just alt-country or Americana. It's rock and roll. Either that or they just so obviously don't give a shit being just as happy to play their music, write their songs and drink beer with friends and family. Isn't that what it's about?

From Railings

Idiots

From Idiots

Stray

Who Will?

Happy Hour
(Just try not to sing along to the chorus of this one, go ahead I dare you, double dog dare you)

Get their stuff @ Miles of Music

Eames Era...

Before I get to the music at hand I just wanted to mention a nostalgia show that I went to this weekend. I saw Dave Wakeling as General Public at a relatively small bar in my town. Now as a youth I was deeply affected by New Wave and ska. This of course means that I was a huge English Beat fan and consequently a pretty fervent fan of GP. I saw them in concert a number of times during college and even went so far as to dye stripes in my hair ala Ranking Roger. No, I don't have any pics so don't ask because if I did I wouldn't share them. The show was surprisingly good considering the Dave was working with a hired band and is, of course, considerably older. They played alot of English Beat (Doors of your Heart, I Confess, Save it for Later, Mirror in the Bathroom, Tears of a Clown..) as well as the requisite GP songs (Tenderness {twice, they fucking played it twice??}, Never You Done That). Dave was a bit more stout around the middle but was in surprisingly good voice. It was fun, but it also made me realize that you can't go back to your youth. Memories are precious and are often best left alone. I prefer to remember Dave Wakeling as about the coolest incarnation of a lead singer that I could think of at age 17 and not as a slightly manic middle age guy singing old songs and drinking glasses of red wine.

On the musical front I bring you Eames Era. Formed in 2002 by a friends at LSU (that's where Shaq went right?) they play a fun brand of power pop that's probably 2 steps removed from the bands that gigged at frat houses when you were in college. They're certainly better musicians, clearly practiced at what they do, but there's not a ton of imagination here. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. A good clean pop song is a gem to be treasured and these don't need much polish. The female lead vocal makes me think of the Darling Buds, a bit of Garbage maybe.

All from The Second EP

I Said

All Of Seventeen

I Could Be Anything

Jens Lekman...

Pure pop today, friends. Jens Lekman is a young Swedish pop genius who's put out a number of records. His most recent record is When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog. It's a breezy piece of orchestrated pop. I almost want to say that he's updating classic lounge singers like Tom Jones or Burt Bacharach but I'm afraid I'm going to scare people off and Jens is really good stuff. He deserves some state side listening. One of the writers at Stylus has been singing his praises for months. I finally got around to listening and I'm quite charmed. The 2 songs here are each from previous EPs that were released just before Dog. They're indicative of his style but I'd say the full length is generally better. I like the way he plays with electronic music, fusing it with classic songwriting and live instrumentation. He's as apt to want you to dance as to sing-a-long.

Black Cab

Rocky Dennis Farewell Song to the Blind Girl

The King Of France

As is want to happen to me sometimes, I wasted about 3 1/2 hours of my morning a couple of days ago with the help of Songs:Illinois. Craig had posted a really great song by a band called One Star Hotel (which by the way I've ordered from Miles of Music thus proving that I'm not a total CD whore) which also mentioned a band called Maplewood (they play really great 70's style rock, big harmonies, chiming guitars) which in turn led me to a band called The King Of France. The King of France play what I would call classic pop. You can hear the Beatles, Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield influence all over the songs, but there's also something modern about what they're doing. Perhaps it's the world weary lyrics and tone of the lead singer "Steve" or the fact the songs echo the Pixies and Court & Spark as much as the more classic references I already mentioned. They're currently working on a record that as near as I can tell isn't finished yet. However, you can go over to the iTunes music store and download 6 songs from their unfinished album. That's where I got these three tracks (see again, I paid for the music). So go on over to iTunes and download the songs after getting a little taste here. It's only $5.99. They've also got some demos on their website which are good. And again I'm giving you the opportunity to get on the bus before everyone else. Their melody heavy pop is already capturing the hardened, jaded hearts of their hometown of New York. Have a great weekend.

From their as yet untitled album:

Sick of the Life

Future Killer

The Beast

Reindeer Section...

A good friend of mine turned me on to these guys about 2 years ago. They're a scottish super group of sorts. Supergroup may be a bit of hyperbole in the sense that calling Golden Smog a supergroup isn't really true. Sure, they're super but most of the world hasn't heard of them. However a term like reallygoodbutnotwellknown Group just doesn't cut the mustard. The Reindeer Section, as the story goes, was the drunken brainchild of Snow Patrol's Gordon Lightbody who solicited just about everybody in the Scottish music scene to be in his sideproject while everyone was at a Lou Barlow show. The "everybody" came to entail members of Astrid, Mogwai, Arab Strap, Belle & Sebastian, and Mull Historical Society. Yeah I know, a bit of who's who of the Scot scene. I've listened to just about all those bands at some point or another (and some more than others) but I've always come back to Reindeer Section. Some people find the entire project excessive. But I've always found Reindeer Section to be first class pop music and completely different from what the band members normally play in their "regular" gigs. Album #1 was released in 2001 it's called Y'all Get Scared Now, Ya Hear. It's full of very slow developing moody songs. I, to this day, put this on when I'm driving late at night. It just seems so perfect to listen to on the way home from a debaucherous night of clubbing. It's gentle but pointed, if that makes sense. The lyrics are a bit sad sack, but Lightbody and company are able to coax the most delicate melodies out of some serious depths. The 2nd album (2002) Son of Evil Reindeer is more upbeat in tempo if not lyrical content but feels a bit more shallow. Y'all seemed to like a friend pulling you aside to whisper a very personal secret, one that they'd kept for a bit too long. I've got three from Y'all and two from Son of...

Y'all Get Scared Now, Ya Hear:

The Opening Taste

Deviance

If Everything Fell Quiet

Son Of Evil Reindeer:

Your Sweet Voice

Cartwheels

I loves me some Bloc Party...

I still remember those rare summer days when the adults would block off both ends of the street, fill coolers with beer and soda and bbq the day away. We kids would run crazy through the street, unconcerned with cars; challenging the adults to games of two hand touch football, organizing games of Red Apple and Kick the Can. Block parties were good clean fun. I guess now you've got to be worried about somebody drinking too much and shooting at someone for grabbing their wife's ass. London's Bloc Party lies somewhere in between the extremes of my bucolic recollections and the intensity of the way we are forced to live our lives now. They are angular and upbeat, clearly a member of the dance punk revolution that's being chaired by Franz Ferdinand, The Rapture, !!!, and even the Faint. But these guys are different. I would dare say that Bloc Party is the next step in the evolution of this "genre". I mean the Bloc Party has the nerve to be fun, angry, danceable and intelligent. They quote Bertrand Russell on their website and make no attempt to disguise their literate approach to songwriting. Don't think for a second that a smart band can't be a fun band. These guys do it better than Franz. They currently have no releases available in the U.S. and only an EP available through their website (click it and buy it's worth it even with the dollar in the toilet). The label that releases their US stuff is Dim Mak (check out the video) and it appears will have a 12' available in late January. These MP3's are available on their website. This is good stuff. Be hip and get on the bus before the tastemakers start claiming the knew about these guys before you did.

Tulips

The Answer

Banquet (Disco Mix)