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.

Top 5 Music Videos of 2008

I Woke Up Today - Port O'Brien

The high energy of the band mixed with some humor makes for a very pleasing and catchy video. The little girl adds a very expressive element to the video. Her reactions to the events occurring in the diorama coincide nicely with the music and make the video even more endearing. Overall the video is extremely cute and very well directed.

Time To Pretend - MGMT

The video depicts a primal tribe-like gathering, a theme prevalent in other MGMT videos. Many of the lyrics subtly tie in with the actions of the video. The line “I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin and fuck with the stars” is juxtaposed with Andrew VanWyngarden holding a baby, a disturbing yet witty combination. The video as a whole is very aesthetically pleasing with its psychedelic imagery.

Im Good Im Gone - Lykke Li

Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson has a sweet voice that is contrasted by the nearly disturbing images in the music video. The female body builders, twins, and various elderly people are interesting enough, but stop motion adds another layer of creepy to the video. By and large the video is very original and hard to forget.

Vampire Weekend - A-Punk

Vampire Weekend’s song A-Punk is upbeat and fun, and the video definitely matches those sentiments. The winter and underwater simulations are quite amusing and playful, while the stop motion enhances the video’s lighthearted nature. All and all, the song and video fit together well .

Shut Up And Let Me Go - The Ting Tings

This video features several fight scenes between Jules De Martino and Katie White; however the central focus is on the transitions between scenes. Although the effect is reminiscent of The White Stripes Seven Nation Army video, The Ting Tings tweak it by using their hands to physically creating the portals. This adds a fun element to the kung-fu action and allows for easier transitions.

Top 5 Let Downs of 2008

We all know that ever so common feeling of anticipation, that feeling when your favorite band is going to put out that kick ass album you've been waiting to entice your ears with for ages. Well, that feeling is often met with an equally unsatisfying sense of disappointment when your favorite band hands you shit, and for $14.99 no less.

Listed below are my five biggest let downs of the year. The albums might not flat out suck (I mean, it wouldn't be a let down if Nickleback released a shitty album), but they're not what they should be (in my opinion, of course).

1. Ben Folds - Way To Normal

Ben Folds a very talented singer-songwriter, more talented than most in my book. With songs like "Army," "Song For The Dumped," "All You Can Eat," and "Bastard," it's hard for me to listen to Way To Normal without resenting it a little. Sure, one could argue that Folds is evolving--experimenting with new styles. However, there's a line between experimentation and releasing an album that only has a few tracks seemingly crafted to appeal to a certain percentage of your fan base. For example, "Bitch Went Nuts" seems to draw on Folds' signature humor, but lyrically it's somewhat pathetic:
The bitch went nuts.
She stabbed my basketball.
And the speakers to my stereo.
She called me 'cunt'
All in all, the album isn't awful, it's just not satisfying and definitely less than what a Folds fan should expect. Hopefully other good albums are still coming, like I don't know, maybe a collegial a capella CD of Ben Folds' songs...

Ben Folds: All You Can Eat (from the ep Sunny 16)
Ben Folds featuring Regina Spektor: You Don't Know Me (from the album Way To Normal)

2. Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreaks

With the release of his fourth studio album 808s and Heartbreaks, Kanye opens up, and the result is not good. For what it is, the album isn't awful, it's T-Pain. Considering that I was a Kanye fan, this makes for a letdown without a doubt. If I wanted to get the latest T-Pain album I would; but after Kanye's Graduation in 2007, all I wanted was more of the same.

Graduation was easily one of my favorite albums last year and with the announcement of a new album this year I was anticipating the same. Far from it. After the release of the single "Love Lockdown" I was in shock. This isn't my egotistical, award-show crashing, political rapper who actually had something to say other than "I'm going to drank all the Crunk Juice and fuck all the hoes."

It's hard for me to listen to "Love Lockdown" and similar tunes on the album without thinking of songs like "Heard 'Em Say" when Kanye didn't rely on Auto-Tune for melodic singing, but featured artists such as Adam Levine of Maroon 5 to take the chorus. Maybe I'm being too hard on everyone's favorite man to hate for Bonnaroo, maybe the album isn't that bad. But then again, maybe Kanye should take a year or two off.

Kanye West: Champion (from the album Graduation)
Kanye West: Paranoid (from the album 808s and Heartbreaks)

3. Nana Grizol - Love It Love It

Nana Grizol makes for the first truly indie appearance on my list of letdowns. I found out about Nana Grizol when at Athens Pop Fest 2007; while they didn't actually perform at the Pop Fest, I picked up a copy of Athfest 2007 where the song "Circles 'Round The Moon" stuck out to me.

Once I got home I frantically crawled the web for any recorded material I could find, a real rarity, until a friend found someone with 17 demos by the band. Most of these demos were focused around the acoustic guitar and singing of Theo Hilton, the drummer from folk-punk band Defiance, Ohio.

These demos are some of the most best sing-along songs I've ever heard while still having the deep underlying messages of an identity crisis. They are the classic songs about not wanting to grow up. On May 13th, Love It Love It was released on Orange Twin Records, and I was beyond disappointed. Where the demos presented a sincere delivery of simplistic songs, Love's overproduction is astounding.

Why is it necessary on every track to have a brass section, drums which sound like they belong in a marching band, and electric guitar? It's beyond me. The real let down of the album is that half the songs on Love are new versions of the demos-- demos that obviously shouldn't have been touched. My recommendation for this band is to go back to the basics, find out what it was that they did so well with previously, and emulate that.

Nana Grizol: Tamborine In Thyme (from the Nana Grizol demos)
Nana Grizol: Tamborine-N-Thyme (from Love It Love It)

4. Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping

Next on the list is another Athens band, this one a little more well known. Of Montreal's ninth studio album Skeletal Lamping made the list for one reason and one reason only: the album is good (I might venture to say fantastic), but it is far from the follow up I expected after the masterpieces Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer and the underrated EP Icons, Abstract Thee. Don't get me wrong, Skeletal Lamping is in my top 5 albums of the year, but after hearing solid gold it's hard to accept a good follow up. The experimentation of the album is exciting at times, but at others it's not as well received. Songs such as "Id Engager," "Plastis Wafers," and "Beware Our Nubile Miscreants," are among my favorites, but could never compare to the tracks on Hissing Fauna and Icons.

Of Montreal: Gronlandic Edit (from Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?)
Of Montreal: Id Engager (from Skeletal Lamping)

5. Marnie Stern - This Is It & I Am It & You Are It & So Is That & He Is It & She Is It & It Is It & That Is That

Now, you just wait one minute before you stop reading and throw all my indie-cred in the shitter--I like the album. Now you're listening, eh? The reason Marnie Stern made my list is because of her hype in the indie world and blogosphere. Marnie Stern is talented, unique, and original; her music reminds me of Deerhoof a lot, but she in no way attempts to be Deerhoof. Her album This Is It... demonstrates Stern's technical finger-tapping talent and originality but at the same time displays the product of an overly technical approach to music.

I'm not saying technical music is bad, hell I like Iannis Xenakis, but at points Stern's guitar just sounds like noise. Let's just say if you had headache, the thought of popping in some Marnie Stern might send you to the hospital.

Marnie Stern: Ruler (from This Is It & I Am It & You Are It & So Is That & He Is It & She Is It & It Is It & That Is That)


Well that about wraps up by top 5 let downs of the year... hope I didn't offend anyone.

5 Guilty Pleasures You've Probably Heard By Now

In response to the previous post, "5 Songs You Should Have Heard By Now," I thought I would write a little piece on 5 songs that a typical hipster may call too mainstream for an everyday listen--but admit it, you know every word.

T.I.: Whatever You Like

Let's be honest here, T.I. is one smooth fellow; as soon as that first "you can have whatever you like" kicks in, your head starts swaying. I have never been a T.I. fan; honestly I'm not into the whole Akon, T.I., new Kanye smooth Auto-Tune sound. But T.I. has what it takes to make a song everyone at the club can dance to.

Katy Perry: Hot N Cold

The first time I heard this song I though it was one of those 90s electro-pop ballads from an artist like 3LW, or that DJ Sammy remix of "Heaven," but actually the song is by "I Kissed A Girl" sensation Katy Perry. This year Katy has blown up, shocking audiences with songs like "Ur So Gay," but with the song "Hot N Cold" she has created something that is just as catchy but won't offend as easily.

R Kelly: Ignition (Remix)

Simlar to T.I., R Kelly is another smooth fellow and knows what it takes to make a great pop song. Yeah it's old, yes I'm sure you've heard it thousands of times at parties, but I'm also sure that when it comes on the radio you don't turn it off.

Twisted Sister: I Wanna Rock

Yeah, this is an old one--and probably a band that most of us laugh at the mention of, but tell me you don't head bang every time this song comes on and I'll be shocked.

Lil Jon (featuring Sean Paul and E40): Snap Ya Fingers

Alright, so I'm not the biggest fan of most mainstream rap, but here is a track that I can appreciate. Lyrically this song is pretty bad, but the beat and synth lines are pretty nice. I put the song on every once in awhile when I need to get pumped up, and for that reason it makes my list as a guilty pleasure.

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.