Friday, February 01, 2008

Top 10 Albums of 2007



I apologize for the tardy Best-of list but the thing is - wait a second, who the hell am I apologizing to? The Bees' Octopus turned out to be the hands-down soundtrack to the magnificent year known as 2007.

1) The Bees: Octopus
2) Arcade Fire: Neon Bible
3) Gotan Project: Lunatico
4) LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver
5) The Black Lips: Good Bad Not Evil
6) AIR: Pocket Symphony
7) Rogue Wave: Asleep at Heaven's Gate
8) Gruff Rhys: Candylion
9) The Aliens: Stereo Harmonica
10) Unkle: War Stories

Friday, March 23, 2007

Currently Listening to...


What a joyous March it's been in the world of music. Almost makes up for the last couple of years of crapola.

1) Arcade Fire - Neon Bible. Fantastic follow-up to my favorite album of the decade. Neon Bible debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts. (I think #1 was Kanye West or some other garbage.) The fact that an intelligent, passionate, creative band like these guys is embraced by this country makes me want to take back some of the horrible, horrible things I've said about the US.

2) LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver. Listening to the first few seconds of the opening track, I thought "wait a minute, this sounds just like Losing My Edge, has he run out of ideas already?" And then the Kraftwerk Robots beat kicks in. And then the song gets super-fucking-awesome. And the rest of the album follows suit.

3) AIR - Pocket Symphony. While not quite as strong as 2004's superb Talkie Walkie, Pocket Symphony will ultimately nestle in AIR's body of work nicely. Another exquisite delicacy from the French guys.

4) Modest Mouse - We Were Dead. In truth, I haven't given this one a proper listen yet but I'm glad it's there and from what I've heard thus far it's pretty worthy.

5) The Good, the Bad and the Queen - (self titled). Damon Albarn's latest project is no Gorillaz but it's still quality. The kind of album that you can dive into or just have in the background.

6) The Black Angels - Passover. Not a day goes by where I don't pop this scuzzy record in my brain.

7) Lily Allen - Alright, Still. Not really the kind of thing I normally listen to but almost every song is hilarious and catchy.

8)

Sunday, March 18, 2007

The Black Angels



Well my YouTube woes continue so I'll have to continue this journey on foot. The Black Angels are just great. Admittedly not breaking any new ground but I'm completely addicted to their Passover album. The song Bloodhounds on My Trail is particularly nasty and awesome. Yet another in the lineage of Brian Jonestown Massacre, Dandy Warhols, BRMC, Warlocks, Rick Bain, Out Crowd, Dead Meadow.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Beachwood Sparks - Canyon Ride (live acoustic)

Sadly this is the only Beachwood Sparks clip on YouTube which is shocking. Much more than Grateful Dead wannabees, the members of this super band have had extremely prolific and impressive careers - All Night Radio, The Tyde, (Nobody &) the Mystic Chords of Memory, the Frausdots. Sucks they split.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Broken Social Scene - Stars and Sons
Kings of leon - Red morning light

He looks kind of like Nigel in this video. I got their new song, it kind of sucks but I'll still buy the album the day it comes out.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Clinic - 'Harvest'

These guys have been wearing these surgical masks for many years now and refuse to give it up. They basically have 3 songs that they keep re-recording - the fast one, the slow one and the other one. I like them all. And I like how he sings through clenched teeth.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Brian Jonestown Massacre - You Look Great...

Sunday, February 04, 2007

The Verve - Slide Away

My tastes have changed but Verve is always a constant. This song blows me away the same way it did so in 1993. Makes me feel like anything is possible.
Iggy Pop With David Bowie - Funtime
Mr. Bungle - Travolta

Never thought the video could possibly out-weird the song. They changed the name of the song to "Quote Unquote", presumably because Travolta couldn't sleep.
Cornershop - Sleep on the left side

I don't know how this band can get away with one album every 5-6 years but they deliver.

Monday, January 29, 2007

The Velvet Underground - Waiting For The Man

Amazing.
Sigur Rós - Svefn g englar
The Monkees Daily Nightly
Curtis Mayfield - I'm Your Pusherman
13th Floor Elevators - You're Gonna Miss Me
The Verve - Life's An Ocean (Live @ Jools Holland '98)
Mazzy Star - Hair and Skin - Tell Your Honey

Wow, cool b-side I've never heard. Hope Sandoval has vanished for about 6 years now.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Urban Dance Squad - Deeper shade of soul

I've wanted that Charlie Brown shirt since 1990.