This is not to say I don’t like some of these artists (I like some, dislike others). I certainly don’t love any of them and I certainly hear more about them than I need to:

• Radiohead
• Björk
• Spoon
• Grizzly Bear

And the late June 2008 edition would also include Coldplay.

Alright, open the floodgates.

On Friday I saw Darondo (myspace) and Nino Moschella (myspace) at the Independent. I heard about Darondo only a week or so ago and I have pretty obsessed and intrigued so I has pretty excited to have a chance to see him.

Nino was about to go on when I got there. I didn’t know his stuff at all, but some of the crowd certainly did and was pretty pumped to see him. He came onto the stage along, sat down at the Rhodes and started a song called, I believe, “If You Believe”. A little cheesy but it had a nice sound and Nino has some decent vocal chops that he showed off.

I should clarify something before I go on. While I’m (sometimes heavily) into soul, early R&B and other such music, I don’t really like funk. I like some soul-funk but not all. I can’t pinpoint what it is–I like rhythm, but the way the bass and drums typically act in funk doesn’t do it for me.

While I’m at it, I’ll make a list. Two things that I don’t really need to see a lot more of:

1. wah pedal
2. talk box

Nino’s band seemed pretty tight and, as I mentioned, he has vocal chops, but overall, I wasn’t too into it. Additionally, the use of the above effects annoyed me.

After a fairly short set (8 songs, I think), Nino brought on Darondo. Nino and his band, with the addition of a couple horn players, acted as Darondo’s backing band.

Darondo came on stage with a silver suit and a straw hat. The man isn’t young anymore and his partially-toothed grin is distinctive to say the lead.

If Nino’s set was short, Darondo’s was even shorter, possibly only six songs long, but I was entertained from the first note to the last. Nino Moschella and his band (and the two horn players) acted as a tight back-up back to Darondo. If there’s any doubt whether Darondo himself can still sing, let me put it to rest: he can. He’s got chops. All those heart-wrenching bends and falsetto coos on “Didn’t I” not only survived but thrived on Friday.

I’d recommend seeing Darondo if you have a chance. It’ll be worthwhile. If you can’t make it to one of (his few) shows, I’d recommending picking up his short but solid album Let My People Go.

View my full photo album online.

[Rant post ahead: skip if you don’t like such things.]

I’m seeing an increasing amount of stuff like this on blogs and music news sites:

Weezer Confirm Title, First New Photo Revealed

This is a front page, big font headline on p4k. Why in the world would I care about this? A new photo and they confirm an album title?? Really? [1]

Yeah, I know, I can just not read the article (I didn’t), but stuff like this makes it harder to find the good information. This is what’s wrong with indie rock blogojournalism today.

Here are four things you really shouldn’t notify me of:

1. Cover art revealed
2. Promo photo released
3. Album title revealed
4. Tracklist revealed[2]

[1] Nevermind that Weezer hasn’t released a good album since 1996 and I really don’t care much about any news from Weezer.

[2] One possible exception to this is a band that tours insanely and/ or has enough of a bootlegging community that their unreleased material is fairly known and the new tracklist includes some of those known unreleased tracks.

5 albums I’ve listened to all the way through multiple times each over the past two days while either driving or confined to an area with only a CD-player for music playing:

1. The Dodos Visiter
2. the National Boxer
3. Laura Veirs Saltbreakers
4. The Heavenly States Delayer
5. J Tillman Minor Works

I have to say, I like listening to albums as a whole but I don’t do it enough.

Top four shows:

1. J Tillman @ Habana Calle 6
2. Boubacar Diebate @ Copa
3. Fanfarlo @ Emo’s Annex
4. Two Sheds @ Cedar St. Courtyard

Bands seen: (around) 38

Different shows (showcases, parties): 14 (7, 7)

Money spent on shows: $63

Bands seen that I’d never see before: 33

Bands seen that I’d seen before: 5 (David Bazan, Bodies of Water, Jens Lekman, the Morning Benders, Oh No Oh My!)

Showcases turned away from (were full or otherwise weren’t selling tickets): 5 (SC Jag @ the Mohawk, Billions @ Antone’s, Bowery Presents @ the Cedar Door, Subpop @ Bourbon Rocks, Saturday @ St. David’s)

Number of those that I stayed and watched the bands through the fence: 1 (SC Jag)

Showcases that said they weren’t selling tickets but let us in later: 1 (BrooklynVegan)

Showcases with posted “no cameras policy”: 7 (all)

Showcases where my bag was checked and my camera was turned away: 1 (Saturday night @ Buffalo Billiards)

Number of shows where I was a “VIP”: 1 (the Bay Area Takeover. Thanks, Christian! I feel special)

Number of shows I thought about going to to see the Dodos, but later decided I needed to see someone else that was much harder to see in San Francisco (showcases): 4 (French Kiss showcase, SFxSXSW, Leafy Green showcase, KVRX party)

Top shows in the ‘as awesome as I could have hoped it’d be’ category: J Tillman, Two Sheds, Fanfarlo

Best bar band: Centro-matic

Best UK upbeat indie pop band (and close second): Fanfarlo (Noah and the Whale)

Highest energy performances: Von Iva and Red Rocket (the Blacks, Throw Me A Statue and Dr. Dog weren’t on valium either)

Oddest performance: 60 Watt Kid

Most criminally underattended show (and a guess at attendance): J Tillman @ Habana Calle 6, the Undertow Showcase (75)

Number of times I have now seen David Bazan (as part of Pedro the Lion or Headphones, or solo): 14

Number of shows besides his own that I saw David Bazan: 2 (Centro-matic, J Tillman)

Number of shows that I saw Daniel of Nada Surf: 1 (Park the Van/ Daytrotter showcase during Dr. Dog)

Best celebrity that I saw in DFW on the way to Austin (and a close second): Hulk Hogan (Rogue Wave)

Money spent on beer: ~$25

Beers consumed: [redacted for the benefit of the author’s reputation]

Best meal: Curra’s Grill in South Austin

Best afternoon: +1 house party at Hank Sinatra’s house

Approximate number of times that [redacted] of +1 yelled about “Olde English” out of a 40 oz container “oh! that’s so good!!”: 6

Number of times I bored Chris of the morning benders by talking about dhrupad-style Indian classical music: 1

Best sign (and location): “Cheap craft beers. *Sexy bitches* *No bums* Bonus” (outside Maggie Mae’s)

CDs purchased: 5

Vinyl purchased (and what): 1 (7″ split w/ Fanfarlo & Sleeping States)

Number of other people in America that likely have said 7″: 0

CDs given to me or otherwise free: 10

Silly English bands that didn’t have any CDs to sell: 1 (Noah and the Whale)

Number of apologies Fanfarlo gave for the price of their merch due to the relative strength of the pound to the dollar: 3

Best wurst: Best Wurst

If you want to read more or see my photo albums:
Day 1 (RadioRadio, the Low Lows, Jeffrey Lewis and the Jitters, Kaki King, Centro-matic)
Photo album

Day 2 (Two Sheds, Red Rocket, David Bazan, 60 Watt Kid, The Blacks, Film School, Von Iva, Two Gallants, Bodies of Water, Evangelicals, Bon Iver, Jens Lekman, J Tillman)
Photo album

Day 3 (Fanfarlo, Deer Tick, Jeremy Yocum and the Last Rounders, Trainwreck Riders, Peggy Sue and the Pirates, Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Sit, the Morning Benders)
Photo album

Day 4 (Throw Me the Statue, Noah and the Whale, Castledoor, DeVotchKa, Grand Archives, Sea Wolf, Boubacar Diebate, Oh No Oh My!, the Teeth, Spinto Band, Dr. Dog)
Photo album

I’m headed to SxSW in a couple days, so posting may be a bit slow later in the week. However, I have made some site “improvements” that I’m trying out and you can keep yourself entertained with:

• Twitter
  • channel There’s now a ipickmynose twitter channel. I’ll use it for more of my passing musical thoughts. You can follow me on the web, on your phone or via IM if you have a twitter account (or you can make one to follow me).
  • sidebar The four most recent “tweets” are now displayed on the right. You can check those out if you want. They’re right below the radio and “me me me” sections
  • up-to-the-minute SxSW updates: if you’re going to SxSW and want to get my up to the minute thoughts on which bands just blew my mind or whatever, sign up for twitter, “follow” me and add your phone to get updates. Sorry that this a bit complicated.
• ipmn radio You can now pop the ‘ipickmynose radio’ player (which has the latest tracks I’ve posted on this blog) out of the main page, so now even if you want to navigate away from ipickmynose, you can keep listening to what I’m into. There’s a problem with it stopping if you’re using another program (the player is “out of focus”) but I’ve found that if any part of the player is not covered, then it’ll keep playing. (If anyone who knows jw player or flash and knows how to fix this, let me know).
• About/ FAQ/ Contact & Submissions updates I’ve made some updates to my About/ FAQ and contact & submissions pages. You can check those out if you’re interested. (Also, if you want to use that contact info, I’ll be slow on the responses while I’m at SxSW.)

I hope you have a good week.

Also, as much as I want to pick apart that Bon Iver album, I don’t think I can; I’m enjoying it too much.

On Sunday, for my fifth show in as many days, I caught the Mountain Goats, So Many Dynamos (myspace), and Caves at a matinée show at the Bottom of the Hill. My how it was strange to see sunlight streaming through that window at the back of the stage.

Caves were on when I got there. I’d loved their song “Ahaha” but hadn’t heard a ton of their other stuff. They played an energetic set of pscyh rock. It wasn’t quite enough to my taste to rush out and see them again, but their set was fun and I’m glad I saw them.

So Many Dynamos were up after Caves. I’m not quite sure what the scheduler of the show was thinking and I wouldn’t have put the same band right before the Mountain Goats, but it actually worked out pretty well. The Mountain Goats are, of course, agitated folk rock, approximately, whereas So Many Dynamos are high energy (that part matches) mathy, angular rock. I was pretty into their set, my head nodding and trying to anticipate their time and stress changes. It passed the time really nicely and it felt good getting some rock in there.

By this point the place was packed and there was an air of anticipation. After a break that was longer than the people wanted, the Mountain Goats entered the stage. They’re now three: John Darnielle (the Mountain Goats when it comes down to it) on vocals and guitar, long time cohort Peter Hughes on bass and vocals and Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster in his second tour with the band.

This show was special. I’m trying to pick out when this show crossed over that line and I can’t pick one point. John Darnielle, in all the times I’ve seen him, always has a command of the audience with his odd gestures, often hilarious between song banter and tendency to stand at the edge of the stage singing into the audience.

I think it was just a slow build up. The band was tight and played good songs in a set that seemed fluid and up to Darnielle’s whim and the audience prodding. The audience and band seemed to feed and build off of each other. People were singing along with songs–at times it seemed that we only needed Darnielle as a focal point and cheerleader for our collective energy and common voice.

And people would not stop clapping. The band went off stage and of course there was an encore. Then they went off the stage again…and came back again. Everyone sang along and was joyous and cheered and was happy and the band went off stage. And the people demanded more. These cheers weren’t those we’re-expecting-an-encore-so-we’ll-keep-clapping-just- enough-that-the-band-doesn’t-feel-bad-or-unwanted sort of cheers; these were legitimate cheers. Darnielle came back again (for a third encore), at first with hummas and pita in his mouth (he’d started eating; he thought he was done, then doing Ace of Base’s “The Sign” solo (with audience contributing vocals as well) and then bringing back the full band for sing along “Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Denton”.

I’d seen the Mountain Goats before but they hadn’t quite been like this. By the end I wanted to open my mouth and sing or shout along even if I didn’t know the song. It was an ecstatic atmosphere. As we all poured back out into the sunlight on that beautiful day, it was nothing less than a huge smile that was on my face.

This was, I believe, the only all ages show of the three that the Mountain Goats played at Noise Pop–I believe the Bimbo’s show was 18+ and the Independent show was definitely 21+–so there was a good representation of the younger kids and there was a nice group of them crushed up against the stage. Young disaffected kids rocking out makes my heart warm.

John Darnielle waxes poetic about the panties that were thrown on stage

Here’s the set list:

• Michael Myers Resplendent
• Heretic Pride
• You Or Your Memory [sing along]
• Quito
• Sax Rohmer #1
• Marduk T-shirt Men’s Room Incident

—[band leaves the stage, Darnielle solo]—

• So Desperate
• Raja Vocative
• I’ve Got The Sex [request, “yeah, I’ll play that shit”]
• Downtown Seoul

—[band returns]—

• In The Craters On The Moon
• Dilaudid
• Sept 15, 1983
• Lovecraft in Brooklyn

—[encore]—

• See America Right
• Houseguest (cover of Nothing Painted Blue)

—[second encore]—

• This Year [sing along, solo(?)]
• California Song

—[third encore]—

• The Sign (cover of Ace of Base) [sing along]
• Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton[sing along]

(Thanks to Christopher on theForum for the set list.)

[Update:] the show is now up on archive.org if you want to listen to it.

More photos after the break or you can view more at my photo album.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today is March 4 or 3/4 (as we write in America). I like keeping time and, though rock and pop is mostly in 4/4, I like 3/4 and 6/8 as well.

For those who are a little confused. Basically, most music has stressed notes at regular intervals and a stronger stress on one of those. If the strong stress is every three notes, it’s (probably) in 3/4. This is what waltzes are in. The 6/8 time signature is related. It is sort of like two 3/4 bars put together, but has one note that’s stressed strongly every 6 beats and another that’s semi-strong halfway in between. Jigs are in 6/8. Time signatures, or meters, like 6/8 that have multiple smaller beat patterns are called compound meters. (You could count all six beats in the bar or you could just tap your foot on 1 and 4.) Check this out for a more technical explanation.

Sometimes I like a song and much later I’ll notice it happens to be in 3/4. Other times I love a song for its 3/4ness, how well it uses the particulars of the time signature.

So, without further delay, I’d like to give you my favorite 3/4 (and 6/8) songs [1] on this day, 3/4:

1. Romulus Sufjan Stevens (med-slow 6/8[2])
   One of my favorite songs and a crushingly beautiful song if there every was one.
   Sufjan Stevens - Romulus (mp3)
   
2. I Found a Reason Cat Power (slow 3/4)
   I go in phases with Cat Power–old guitar rock, newer souly stuff, not feeling like listening to her much at all, but this song is always in phase. It was a nice surprise that it was in three–I’d never heard it before.
   Cat Power - I Found a Reason (mp3)
   
3. A Change is Gonna Come Sam Cooke (med-slow 6/8)
   Sam Cooke is the man who invented soul. I’m the biggest fan of him and his voice and this is his epic masterpiece. I didn’t realize it was in 6/8 but it’s got that telltale lilt to it and that lilt works so well with his vocal inflections.
   Sam Cooke - A Change is Gonna Come (mp3)
   
4. Saturday Night Waltz (Introduction, Slow Waltz) Aaron Copland (slow 3/4)
   Somehow I forget how much I love Copland sometimes and then I’ll go back and listen and it’s a revelation every time. It’s simple and melodic but also complex and always interesting as well.
   New York Philharmonic - Saturday Night Walks (Introduction-Slow Waltz) (mp3)
   
5. Mount Wroclai Beirut (fast 3/4)
   … Fun track, engaging. It makes me smile. Uses the stilted feel of stiff waltzes to great effect.
   Beirut - Mount Wroclai (mp3)
   
6. The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Denton Mountain Goats (med-slow 6/8)
   One of the best Mountain Goats songs ever. Just brilliant lyrics. I never realized it was in 6/8 until I saw it being played live over the weekend. “Huh, that’s in 6/8. Cool!”
   the Mountain Goats - Best Every Death Metal Band out of Denton (mp3)
   
7. I Saw Kevin Jay Walk Snail (mid tempo 3/4)
   Possibly the song on the list whose 3/4ness I love the best. Besides that, lovely orchestration and melodies.
   Jay Walk Snail - I Saw Kevin (mp3)
   
8. With Whom to Dance Magnetic Fields (mid tempo 6/8)
   A longtime favorite. I embarrassingly used to send friends these lyrics so they could understand me better. (It should be noted I don’t really dance either…) ANYWAY, great song that has that lovely swinging 6/8 thing going on.
   the Magnetic Fields - With Whom to Dance (mp3)
   
9. Where Gravity is Dead Laura Veirs (fast 3/4)
   Laura Veirs is one of the best at making very good rhythmic loops and then added layers on top of them and this is one of her best at that.
   Laura Veirs - Where Gravity is Dead (mp3)
   
10. My Name is Jonas Weezer (med-fast tempo 3/4)
    One of my favorite Weezer songs. This is the most straight up rock song in three that I know. Usually the feeling of three asserts itself stronger than any inclination to rock, but Rivers found a way to make them work together.
    Weezer - My Name is Jonas (mp3)
    

Other favorites:

• Waltz #2 Elliott Smith (med-slow 3/4)
• Chumming the Ocean Archers of Loaf (slow 3/4)
• Long Way Around the Sea Low (sloowwww 6/8)
• You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away the Beatles (mid tempo 6/8)
• The Times They Are A Changin’ Bob Dylan (slow 3/4) [3]
• Two Sisters Horton Barker (mid-tempo 6/8 with rubato)
• Stick to the Craytur Green Fields of America (med-fast 6/8 with rubato)
• Green Hills of Tyrol Rossini, arr for bagpipe by MacCloud

What are some of your favorite 3/4 (or related meter tunes)?

[1] I called this post the “top” songs and later said “my favorite” and I could possibly also say “best”. It’s a pretty egotistical thing to equate my opinions with something’s absolute position in the heirarchy of music and I only do this self-consciously.

[2] Sometimes it fools me into thinking it’s simply in 3/4 as well.

[3] How can I leave some of the best songs of all time off of my main list? I don’t know–I just went through and listened to all the songs and this was how the order came out.

This is the songs I’ve been most obsessed with in 2007. I have been doing the song obsessions weekly series since nearly the beginning of this blog, giving me a good record of what I’ve been obsessed with this year. Most of them (click to see full list) were among mentioned previously in the song obsessions series but some were before that time and some were other peoples obsessions that I then became obsessed with or some were just slow-burning obsessions (if there can be such a thing).

I’m not picking these songs; they picked me, getting jammed in some little nook of my brain that made me need to hear them many times, often on repeat. This list isn’t simply my most played songs this year, though that does factor in–obsession requires a need to hear it again. I also take into account the urgency of that need initially and the urgency over the longer term. The level of my music evangelism of each song–that is, how much I wanted to tell others about it–also was taken into account.

In a way this is the third of my best of series of year-end “best of” 2007 pieces, after concerts and releases (albums, EPs, box sets).

The songs that I’ve been most obsessed with in 2007 in order of approximate level of obsession:

1. Jenda Wight Luxury of Time (original post)
   I actually used the phrase “holy shitballs that’s a beautiful song!” and threatened not to be friends with people who wouldn’t listen to this it back when I first heard this track. The instrumentation is unbelievable and Jenda’s just-breathy-enough voice works wonders. That this track came seemingly out-of-nowhere and that surprise factor definitely helped me get hooked.

   Jenda Wight - Luxury of Time (mp3) (available at artist’s myspace)
   

2. Beatbeat Whisper Lulu (pre-song obsessions)
   Again the surprise factor help me get hooked. This track combines an anglo-folk ballad style that I like and I’m familiar with with ethereal sounds in a way that make it seem like it’s floating right into the deepest part of my brain.

   Beatbeat Whisper - Lulu (mp3) (buy)
   

3. Magnolia Electric Co Shiloh Temple Bell (original post)
   This song breaks my heart every time I hear it; I am arrested in whatever I’m doing or thinking for the three minutes and nine seconds of the song (and probably a few afterwards). Jason Molina (also of Songs: Ohia) has written some pretty amazing songs in his time, but this might be his best and it is certainly among my favorites. It’s deadly simple: just a guitar and his warbling voice; it’s not even recorded that well (his vocals clip) but somehow it’s so much more than just that.

   Magnolia Electric Co - Shiloh Temple Bell (mp3) (buy)
   

4. Or, the Whale Call and Response (original post)
   The wow-now-it’s-time-to-wake-up! lead-off track to the surprising debut album (and number 1 album of the year) from Or, the Whale. I listened to this track like crazy when I first got it and that continued for months in my car and on my ipod. I was also playing this track for anyone who would listen.

   Or, the Whale - Call and Response (mp3) (buy)
   

5. Lightning Bug Project Message To Myself after Franny was Born (original post)
   Brian Miller (who is tLBS) emailed me and it was when I heard this song that I knew I wanted to hear more. The opening’s piano part and vocals are good good, but it’s really when the chorus and then the slide guitar hit that I took notice. It’s just a gorgeous song.

   The Lightning Bug Situation - Message To Myself After Franny was Born (mp3) (buy)
   

6. Port O’brien I Woke Up Today (original post)
   I was (and am) fascinated by how this song somehow stays in control despite how wild it seems.

   Port O’Brien - I Woke Up Today (mp3) (buy)
   

7. Mobius Band Friends like These (original post)
   As soon as the circuit-bent keyboards came in under the melancholy vocals, I am pretty sure I was hooked. The juxtaposition of dancey beat with the melancholy vocals and keyboard probably helps it get its hooks into my brain.

   Mobius Band - Friends Like These (mp3) (buy)
   

8. Coconut Records West Coast (original post)
   Catchy catchy catchy pop. It’s like someone made a pop song that was perfectly engineered to gain access to my head-nodding mechanisms.

   Coconut Records - West Coast (mp3) (buy)
   

9. Octopus Project Queen (original post)
   The seemingly simple but rhythmically-off time main figure, the catchy and interesting beat and follow-the-scale-up-and-then-down vocal line are, I’m pretty sure, what does it for me on this one. This is a song that shows no sign of getting old…well…ever.

   Octopus Band - Queen (mp3) (buy)
   

10. Kanye West Everything I Am (original post)
    Easily my favorite off of Graduation. Mix Kanye’s railing against pretensions and violence in hip hop with a fantastic sample and tasteful scratching and you have a winner, in my eyes.

    Kanye West - Everything I Am (mp3)
    

11. Madvillian Money Folder (Four Tet Remix) (original post, Dave’s obsession)
    This has been a slow burner. A few repeat listens one week and a few the next and a few the next. Four Tet’s production is crazy, dark and awesome and Madvillian’s flow seems is great. They seem to work very well together.

    Madvillian - Money Folder (Four Tet Remix) (mp3) (buy)
    

12. Dr. Dog Heart it Races (original post, Oz’s obsession)
    Listen listen, head nod, clap along, (potentially embarrassingly) sing along, (almost definitely embarrassingly) dance around. That’s how it goes just about every time I listen to this track…and then I press repeat.

    Dr. Dog - Heart It Races (mp3) (buy)
    

13. The Berg Sans Nipple Mystic Song (pre-song obsessions post)
    I was telling almost everyone I knew to have a listen to this track. Something about tracks with nice beats, deep synth bass lines and breathy vocals seems to work for me.

    The Berg Sans Nipple - Mystic Song (mp3) (buy)
    

14. Andy Samberg & Adam Levine Iran So Far (original post)
    It’s somewhat embarrassing to have an SNL song, a comedic song, as a top song obsession. But if they didn’t want me to listen to it simply as music, they shouldn’t have made it so catchy! Yes, the original sample in good, but the beat and vocals actually work really well, too.

    Andy Samberg and Adam Levine (and Richard James) - Iran so Far (mp3) (buy the original Aphex Twin tune)
    

Listening back through this list I feel like I could get obsessed with each all over again.

Honorable mentions:

• The Acorns Dents
• J Tillman Crooked Roof
• Or, the Whale Fight Song
• the Dodos Notes

I think I’m out of lists for a few days now…

I’m back. I drove my car for the first time in four months and got a neat peek into what I was listening to on rotation in August 2007 from the car’s six disc CD changer that I had left stocked with CDs and hadn’t changed since.

Six CDs I was listening to a lot in August 2007:

1. The National Alligator
2. Or, the Whale Light Poles and Pines
3. The Botticellis Old Home Movies
4. Kings of Leon Because of the Time
5. Benni Hemm Hemm Kajak
6. Fionn Regan the End of History

Hmm. A number of those look familiar…

This is my second in a series of “best of” lists for 2007. You can see my picks for best concerts. I also made “best of” lists for the following years: 2006, 2005, 2004.

For more “best of” lists, check out largeheartedboy’s master list of 2007 lists (meta!).

I call this my best releases of 2007 but that’s not quite true for a number of reasons [1] including that it’s a bit ridiculous to define my rather arbitrary taste as the one that matters. See below for a full explanation. In short, I try to balance how good I think it is (which is swayed by my expectations), an “objective” rating of goodness, and how much I wanted to listen to it (translating into how many plays it got).

If you want to see what albums I seriously considered for this list, look here.

Best dozen releases of 2007

1. Or, the Whale - Light Poles and Pines (original post)
   This wasn’t supposed to be this good. It’s a debut indie country rock album from a San Francisco band. From the first listen, I knew I liked this album: it had great singing and orchestration, catchy songs and a certain energy about it. and I was alternately obsessed with “Call and Response” and “Fight Song” (and “Prayer for the Road” and…). But I say that it wasn’t supposed to be this good because while I was surprised by it, it’s not life-changing or transcendental; it’s just a really consistent set of really good songs. This year I’ve played this album (according to last.fm and that doesn’t count the repeated plays in my car) almost twice as much as any than any other single album.

   Or, the Whale - Call and Response (mp3)
   

2. Magnolia Electric Co. - Sojourner (box set) (original post)
   This is a pretty stunning collection of three album-length CDs, one EP and various other things (DVD, medallion). My love is mostly concentrated in the gliding full band sounds of Nashville Moon and the often-breathtaking, stark and solo Shohola. The Sun Sessions EP and Black Ram are also not without their merits. “Shiloh Temple Bell” off of Shohola–a song that has broken me with its beauty more than any other this year–is practically enough to get this box set into this list, but there are many other strong efforts and each disc presents a new and consistently good sound.

   Magnolia Electric Co. - Shiloh Temple Bell (mp3)
   

3. the National - Boxer (original post)
   This is the first National album I really listened to and after hearing it and becoming obsessed with it, I listened to Alligator and Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers quite a lot. This is their best yet and what sets it apart is the orchestration. “Fake Empire” is a brilliantly arranged song, for instance, with the slow build of layers after the vocals end. It’s not just anyone who thing to write brass parts like that. The album works well from front-to-back as well. It has stand-out songs, but they never break the mood and neither do the weaker songs–though, wait, are there any weaker songs? I’m not remembering any…

   The National - Fake Empires (mp3)
   

4. Candie Payne - I Wish I Could Have Loved You More (original post)
   I’m still surprised when I hear this album. Somehow someone found a brilliant, unreleased gem of a 1966 album (uncommon, as most of the albums in those days were a couple singles and a fair share of filler), added some heavier drums and released it in 2007 (only the U.K. so far). Okay, that’s not the real story, but, as a person that loves and grew up on much of the music that’s called “oldies”, it’s nice to hear something that give me that kind of joy in production and pop songwriting. Candie’s voice gradually reveals itself to be a strength of the songs as well. I know of no other album this year or ever that when I heard some of it, made me buy the import copy and when I realized that what I’d bought was the import single of the same name, go out and buy another import copy, this time of the full album.

   Candie Payne - By Tomorrow (mp3)
   

5. Morning Benders - Boarded Doors (EP)
   This band has been showing quite a bit of growth. (Having heard some of their yet-to-be-recorded songs surely is some influence as well.) Their brand of heartfelt-but-not-too-wimpy indie pop is informed by decades of pop–they’ve covered Phil Spector (the Ronettes) and Roy Orbinson and sound great next to such acts in a mix tape. Frontman Chris Chu’s voice in uncommon in it’s effortless range and purity. This, their second EP, is a good step up from their previous Loose Change in terms of recording quality and songwriting. I’m really looking forward to their full-length.

   Morning Benders - Boarded Doors (mp3s)
   

6. Kanye West - Graduation (original post)
   While this isn’t my favorite Kanye album so far (that would be Late Registration), this album is a mostly really good combination of good production and sometimes meaningful lyrics, save the annoying two-fer of “Barry Bonds” and “Drunk and Hot Girls”. To all the hip hop purists, I’d like to note I’m not saying this is the best hip hop album of the year. It’s probably better categorized in my rather-indie-centric world as a good pop record that happens to have rapping and big beats.

   Kanye West - Everything I Am (mp3)
   

7. Jens Lekman - Night Falls over Kortedala
   I realized I hadn’t even posted about this album probably because of course Jens will put together a great album. I’m a Jens fan. I’ve liked his quirky but thoroughly catchy and over-the-top pop pretty much from the beginning. When I got Night Falls I emailed a friend to say something like “Yup, Jens is still the king of over-the-top Swedish pop.” I’d already heard the album’s best effort, “Opposite of Hallelujah”, so I unfortunately didn’t have the surprise of hearing that song for the first time in the album’s context.

   Jens Lekman - Your Arms Around Me (mp3)
   

8. Kings of Leon - Because of the Times (original post)
   I’m not going to be able to issue a big list of why this album is good intellectually or why this is good art (though, that’s not to say someone else couldn’t), but I just like listening to this album. It spent a huge portion of the year–months–in my car’s 6-disc CD changer and despite a rotating cast of other albums to choose from, I kept coming back to this one anyhow.

   Kings of Leon - Knocked Up (mp3)
   

9. On No! Oh My! - Between the Devil and the Sea (EP)
   With just 5 songs, just over 15 minutes of music, this EP was a dark horse. I was doing my last listens-through of various 2007 releases and I had a “wait, this is really good!” moment. I liked their debut album (buying the pre-order CD-r version, in fact) but it was inconsistent. This is a step up in both consistency of songwriting and loveliness of melodies. The end result is just a really fun EP of quirky pop songs.

   Oh No! Oh My! - The Party Punch (mp3)
   

10. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha (original post)
    Andrew Bird is extremely talented but–I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again–talent doesn’t necessarily make good music. Talent certainly helps the live show a ton, but in an album it’s just one part along with songwriting, production, orchestration and so on. I’m going to state this simply: I don’t think this is a complete album. “Plasticities”, “Simple X”, “Scythian Empires”, “Yawny At The Apocalypse” are four great songs that hold this album up among three other good songs (”Fiery Crash”, “Heretics”, “Dark Matter”) and a handful of average-to-boring ones. Still, those four songs are great and make this album well-worth the listen and deserving of its place on this list.

    Andrew Bird - Plasticities (mp3)
    

11. Benni Hemm Hemm - Kajak (original post)
    Benni Hemm Hemm somehow does the beautiful instrumentation and dynamic builds of post rock while still having concrete, and often soft, songs in there, like a Sigur Ros that has Reindeer Section sharing the stage some of the time. The end result is beautiful songs that pulls on you in many different ways.

    Benni Hemm Hemm - Brekkan (mp3)
    

12. John Vanderslice - Emerald City
    John Vanderslice is the man. But besides that point, he also writes really good songs and is one of the best working producers today. Recorded with a full band for the first time, this album has the most cohesive feel of any of his. JV has set a really high standard with his last two albums, Pixel Revolt and Cellar Door (both in my best-of lists for their years) and while I feel this isn’t quite up to that standard, if I take a wider view, this is still a very solid album.

    John Vanderslice - Numbered Lithograph (mp3)
    

(There are more releases that I wanted to include here. I might need to do an “honorable mentions” post later in the week!)

Four releases that would have made the list but were included in previous lists (in alphabetical order):

• David Bazan Fewer Moving Parts
• Bishop Allen Month EPs/ the Broken String[2]
• Elvis Perkins Ash Wednesday
• Fionn Regan End of History

Voted most likely to have me kicking myself for not putting it on this best list once I have enough time to sit down and really listen to it:

• The Lightning Bug Situation - A Leaf; a Stream (original post)
  This is a soft, tender, affecting and gorgeous album, but with all the found-sound and field-recording-type spoken sampled, I don’t think it has really had a chance to fully sink in. I’m sure there are a few albums from this year that will grow in my estimation after in the next weeks, months, years, decades, but if I had to pick one that I was most sure would, I’d say it’s this one.

  the Lightning Bug Situation - Message to Myself After Franny was Born (mp3)
  

[1] This list isn’t the best albums on a global level, just on my personal level. I say “of 2007″ but really it’s “of 2007 when considered in mid-December” and I’m sure if I’d made the same list a month (or even a week) ago or a month (/week) from now, it’d be different. While I try to consider albums fairly subjectively, “best” is also not really on an absolute scale as my expectations of an album effect how I rank them. If I thought an album would be amazing and it’s merely really good it might rank much lower than an album that I thought would be mediocre or bad or didn’t have any expectations of at all and is equivalently really good.

[2] Let’s be honest with ourselves, two new songs doesn’t really make it that much different. And, while we’re really being honest with ourselves, the Month recordings are as good or better than the Broken String ones.

Best concerts is a totally subjective thing, of course, but among many “best of…” lists, it’s the easiest to see–I think–as something personal. This is not universal; I don’t think that if someone else attended the same fifty-four concerts I went to this year they wouldn’t have the same list whatsoever. Sometimes a concert is great because it completely blows away your expectations. Or it’s a great bill and everyone plays a nice show. Maybe it’s a great live version of a song that you’ve had stuck in your head for weeks that does it. Or maybe you had a horrible week/ month and a good performance snapped you out of it. Rarely does it require detailing of how drunk the band or I was.

Without any further delays, here’s my list of best concerts of 2007:

Best dozen concerts of 2007:

1. John Vanderslice @ Tiny Telephone, SF, CA, 5/24 (original post); @ KZSU, Stanford, CA, 7/25 (original post) — I managed, somehow, to get a couple private performances from JV, filled with excellent music, even some seldom heard requests. It’s hard to beat that.[1]
2. Andrew Bird @ the Fillmore, SF, CA, 5/2 (original post) — This show was a complete kick in the pants. I went in not knowing what to expect and came out amazed, at Bird’s talent and, moreso, his musicality.
3. Adem w/ the Dodos @ Cafe du Nord, SF, CA, 3/29 (original post) — Having only heard of them by recommendation the Dodos far exceeded my expectations and Adem put on a great solo set, even better than his set a week previously opening for Badly Drawn Boy.
4. Mt. Eerie @ ATA (Artist’s Television Access), SF, CA, 4/8 (original post) — I didn’t get Phil Everum, the Microphones or Mt Eerie until I saw this show of a man, his fragile voice, quirky songs and stories, guitar, 100 people and a fog machine.
5. Ted Leo @ Great American, SF, 3/1; @ Kresge Auditorium, Stanford, 3/2 (original post) — Halfway through the first show I thought “he’s only playing his hits. what’s he going to do when he runs out of hits?” But he didn’t because they’re all hits, especially live.
6. Apples in Stereo @ the Wall, Taipei, Taiwan, 10/30 (original post) — A joyful set of new and old songs was a quick way to turn things for the better after a rough month.
7. Polyphonic Spree @ Great American, SF, CA, 7/17 (original post) — Not sure if this was in my top 3 best Polyphonic Spree shows ever, but that’s still good enough to place them highly as just about any Polyphonic Spree show is a good show.
8. Elvis Perkins @ Cafe du Nord, SF, CA, 3/25 (original post) — A small room with Elvis filling the room with his magnificent songs, plus a few surprises like his drummer strapping on a marching kit and dancing while they played a traditional song (”Weeping Pilgrim”). [Trivia: the header for this site is was from a photo taken at that show.]
9. The Morning Benders @ KZSU, Stanford, CA, 6/6 (original post) — I’d seen them before (opening for the Long Winters) and I’ve seen them twice since but this was the time I came out of it thinking, “wow, these guys are going places.” Chris Chu and co. were on during this acoustic set.
10. Girl Talk @ Chi Theta Chi, Stanford, CA, 5/19 (original post) — After stupidly missing a few Girl Talk shows (including one at a tiny bar in Pittsburgh. doh!) I finally got to see the craziness that is Girl Talk live. It was wild, with a writhing, sweaty mass of mostly undergrads all around me.
11. The One AM Radio @ Fort Oregon, Berkeley, CA, 3/16 (original post) — Hrishi Hirway sang, played guitar, triggered samples and acted as sound man during a set of his bedroom intimate electro-influenced indie rock in this basement show with a small but appreciative crowd.
12. the New Year, David Bazan @ Bottom of the Hill, SF, CA, 6/21 (original post) — David Bazan was good, as pretty much always, doing possibly his best versions of “Secret of the Easy Yoke” and “Options” that I’d heard in a long time. New Year were a pleasant surprise and really enjoyable. Standing around with the indie rock hall of fame wasn’t bad either (see original post for more about that).

Honorable mentions: (in chronological order)

• 3/1 Hella @ 750 Pub, Stanford, CA
• 8/24 Oh No! Oh My!, the Morning Benders @ Bottom of the Hill, SF, CA (original post)
• 8/25 Or, the Whale; Birds and Batteries @ Great American, SF, CA (original post)

The first, Hella just rock-out incredibly and incredibly hard; the PA speaker quite literally started smoking and almost caught fire. The second two were great bills with great local bands all putting on nice sets.

[1] I don’t want to act with any sense of exclusivity at all and I actually thought of leaving these off the list–but how could I honestly not put these among the best concerts when they were.

It’s getting to that time of year where everyone makes lists. I tend to do this as well.

Anyway, in preparation, I’m trying to make a list of 2007 albums/ releases that I’ve heard so I know what to consider when making my list. Am I missing any obvious ones?

Now it’s time to relisten to everything on the list, an awesome and sometimes tiring task.

It seems that every band is reuniting! The Verve and My Bloody Valentine are recent news. Sebadoh and many other bands reunited in the last year. Heck, even Sly and his Family Stone are playing shows.

So who isn’t reuniting? I’ll tell you.

Four bands that, as far as I know, aren’t reuniting:

• the Beatles
• Neutral Milk Hotel
• Archers of Loaf
• Pedro the Lion

Who else?

5 bands I thought everyone, no matter what description they fit, listened to (and liked) in college, at least a song or two:

1. Bob Marley
2. Aphex Twin
3. Underworld
4. U2
5. Weezer (first album or two)

(A classic everyone-loves-in-high-school band would be Led Zeppelin, as pointed out by the Onion. Get the Led out!)

I was talking to a guy the other day and he didn’t know Aphex Twin and it threw my whole idea about the college experience off!

Maybe the bands were different in your days. What were they?