Five Songs You Should Have Heard Of By Now

It's another installment of my series bringing you five terrific songs in desperate need of checking out. The first month of the new year has been a busy one, and even though we're in the dead of winter (especially us folks living in Boston) all the news in music seems to point to the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of spring album releases, tour announcement, and festival lineup unveilings.

Animal Collective: My Girls

Animal Collective's newest release came with an absurd amount of hype, and still managed to blow away critics and fans alike. Their first single "My Girls" is anchored by repeating triplets and Panda Bear's swooping vocals. And yes, the video is super-trippy. If you haven't gotten into this band yet, now is the time. They might be making the best music in the world.

The Fireman: Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight

The Fireman? Yeah, it happens to be Paul McCartney's alias these days and he's (surprise surprise) made a good album! Like, a great album. As in, his best in years. "Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight" is a "Helter Skelter" throwback to a more bluesy era of McCartney. The album is a masterpiece of minimalist Rock & Roll. He was in the Beatles after all, he practically invented it. Oh, and Sir Paul was just announced as a headliner at this year's Coachella Music Festival. It's been quite a month.


Fleet Foxes: Blue Ridge Mountains

Fleet Foxes have quickly captured the title as the best new Americana band. Not that that title was necessarily highly contested before, but its going nowhere now. The band's signature harmonizing collective vocals are on display in "Blue Ridge Mountains." Minimalist guitar, outstanding vocals, and an uncanny awareness of crescendo make this a standout of the album, an absolutely beautiful song.

Antony & the Johnsons: Aeon

I have to admit, this album caught me by surprise. Composed primarily on the piano, "Aeon" builds with a style wholly uncharacteristic of similar bands. Heart wrenching vocals are what makes this band, and this song is no exception. Combine that with high reverb minimalist guitar (what, is minimalism suddenly a trend again?) and you get a powerful composition that you owe it to yourself to hear at least once, but will want to play over and over again.

Dan Deacon: Get Older

Off of Deacon's new album set to drop in March (stay tuned for review), "Get Older" is a more matured version of his sound, which isn't saying much considering Sesame Street is at times more mature than a Dan Deacon record. What is his style you ask? I recently described his sound to a friend as, "What would happen if Captain Kangaroo did electronic techno stuff instead of children's television". Intrigued? Press play.

5 Songs You Should Have Heard By Now

Back by popular demand, this is my second installment of telling you five more songs that you probably should have heard by now. Because every music blog needs some snobishness.


No Age: Things I Did When I Was Dead

No Age's Nouns was something of an indie anomaly this year. While garnering heaps of praise from most blogs, little fan recognition has actually happened. All the reviews are glowing, none of the fans are biting. That is except for me. I thought the album was a brilliant marriage of melody and punk stylings. Nouns wavers back and forth from classic hardcore songs to moments of surrealist breaths in between. "Things I Did When I Was Dead," is one of the albums brief interludes into pure melodic bliss. No Age incorporates finger picking, humming ambient sounds, and rise-and-fall lyrics to create a moment of surrealist beauty amidst the destructiveness of the genre's nature.

Little Joy: Unattainable
While some of us patiently await The Strokes' triumphant return, the rest take pleasure in side projects like Little Joy. Formed by Strokes drummer Fabrizzio Maretti, Little Joy takes the same minimalist approach as The Strokes, but in a more relaxed direction. So relaxed that "Unattainable" doesn't even feature Maretti's drumming. The song features soft plucking bass and intermittent acoustic guitar and depends wholly on female vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Binki Shapiro's (I don't know if that's her real name) carefully placed vocals. Imagine Moldy Peaches, except less annoying and with better singing.

Passion Pit Sleepyhead
Off of this year's EP Chunk of Change, "Sleepyhead," is a brilliantly constructed single. Anchored by a pounding dance beat, the song features background falsetto singing and bells in addition to one of the catchiest instrumental hooks ever. I dare you to listen to this song and not, "Wamp, wamp, wamp" along. On a personal note, the song's tempo happens to be about the same as my walking pace, so it's quickly become my iPod's favorite track.

Conor Oberst: Cape Canaveral
Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst silenced a lot of critics with his comparable self-titled solo debut. "Cape Canaveral," is a standout of the album and serves as a bare-boned acoustic intro. Oberst flexes his song writing capacity including inward repetition during the verses, inventive song structure, and (a personal favorite of mine) the line, "You taught me victory's sweet, even deep in the cheap seats."

Jonny Greenwood: Oil
As a Radiohead fan I was well aware of this, but a lot of people didn't know that it was Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood who scored last year's film There Will Be Blood. Greenwood is famous for his unique string pieces with Radiohead, and did not disappoint with his score that just barely missed out on an Oscar. "Oil," is beautiful. It encompasses all the hope, fear, and stylistic beauty that takes place on screen. I don't normally dote on film scores, but this is a shining exception.

5 songs you should have heard by now.

Like the title? I thought the blog was lacking snarky hipsterdom...

Department of Eagles: Teenagers
Grizzly Bear's Daniel Rossen's side project is making quite a name for itself these days. The new album, In Ear Park, has already garnered Pitchfork's seal of approval and with songs like "Teenagers" it's not hard to see why. From the waxy, Disney-like intro on, the song is a stroll down memory lane incorporating elements of 50's rockabilly in a way only a guy from Grizzly Bear could think of. The intermitent harp gives it a feel of sincerity and ambience. The whole thing is like a sleepy oldie you can't help but not fall asleep to.

Sigur Ros: Gobbledigook
If you're a fan of the band and haven't checked out the new album, do it...now. Gobbledigook is a riveting intro track for the album and everything about it (the name as well obviously) reeks of playfulness, not a characteristic often associated with the pride of Iceland. From the "lalalala's" to the hand claps to the frantic drumming, the song captures all the innocence and immaturity of a very danceable tune, while still maintaining the sonic beauty one has come to expect from a band like Sigur Ros.

Fucked Up Magic World
Yes! Finally the marriage of bongo drums and Hardcore...yeah I said it. Sometimes heralded as the "saviors of Hardcore", Fucked Up incorporates swirling guitar melody, screaming vocals and feedback awareness, and afro-beat percussion to create a truly unique listening experience. Imagine Santana, The Circle Jerks, and Sonic Youth all got together and made a funky rock n' roll baby of goodness.

The Roots: 75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction)
The Roots latest release, Rising Down, is more of the bands new more modern, more aggressive musical direction. The great thing about "75 Bars" however, is the bareness of it. Black Thought's lyrics are shouted with an immediacy from a megaphone, yet feel far away. There's keyboard involved, but it's minimal and at times altogether absent. Holding the song together is ?uestlove's no nonsense drumming that brings the band back to their past and back to their roots (no pun intended).

Pearl Jam: Better Man (live at Bonnaroo)
Ok, so this song wasn't written this year...or this decade, but this mp3 is from their absolutely awe-inspiring three hour set from this past Bonnaroo Festival. You owe it to yourself to hear a crowd of nearly 80,000 drown out Eddie Vedder's voice on one of the band's most intimate songs. Oh, and for those of you who didn't get to experience this first-hand, imagine a quarter mile of lighters from the stage to the road.