Picks: Midway Winter Quarter Playlist!

Just got back from the Will Ferrel funny or die tour, well a few hours ago, it was awesome. I've never really seen live comedy besides like amateur night at this one small comedy club in Akron. It was really cool. It opened with Zach Galifinakas, then Dimitri Martin, and Nick Swardson. Although, I must say the highlight of the evening was when Ron Burgandy interviewed Gordon Gee.

Anyway, the meaning of this post is to give kind of a play-list of some songs I've been listening to non-stop. I've had good luck on free legal downloads as of these past couple weeks. If I were a DJ, this would be my Mix.

Check it out:

Winter Quarter Midway Playlist

1) Clinic - Harvest
2) Elf Power - Spiral Stairs
3) Joe Purdy - Just Can't Get It Right
4) The Whigs - Production City
5) Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules Theme
6) Great Northern - Home
7) Islands - The Arm
8) MGMT - Kids
9) Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Baltimore
10) White Denim - Paint Silver Gold
11) Vampire Weekend - Boston
12) !!! - The Step
13) TheHoodInternet.com (ABX) - Punk Your Mind
14) Blitzen Trapper - Miss Spiritual Tramp
15) The Main Drag - All My Friends
16) Destroyer - Blue Flower, Blue Flame

Special thanks to GorillaVsBear, RCRD_LBL, Pitchfork, and other places not to be named for the free downloads...

If you have not checked any of those songs out, I'd highly recommend it, and if you cant find them, send me a tell and I could probably hook you up. Some songs are new, others are just songs I missed that I really am enjoying. Hope you like 'em, they are a pretty upbeat bunch.

Adios.

Weekly Picks: Top 20 Albums of 2007!

Hey there! First off, Happy New Years! I realize I have not updated this in a very long time, but I think today is an acceptable time to start. Normally the plan was to make a new recommendation every week, but due to the inactivity it's pretty obvious how that worked. So, to make up for the lack of activity, I have come up with my "Best of 2007" roundup.

Here Goes:

Top 20 Albums
1) Radiohead - In Rainbows
2) Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
3) Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
4) Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
5) The New Pornographers - Challengers
6) Menomena - Friend and Foe
7) Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
8) Blonde Redhead - 23
9) The National - Boxer
10) Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
11) Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
12) Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City
13) The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse
14) The White Stripes - Icky Thump
15) Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things
16) Kanye West - Graduation
17) Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago...
18) Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
19) The Good The Bad and The Queen - s/t
20) White Rabbits - Fort Nightly

Soak it in, lotta good stuff in there. I'd say it's a pretty wide variety that covers much of what's going on in today's new music. I'm not going to analyze each pick and bore you to death, but I'll go over a few keys

Big Surprise - I'd say the biggest surprise in my list would have to be the Bon Iver album, previous to this release I had never heard of the guy. I heard some buzz on Metacritic about the release and someone described his sound as a fusion between TV on the Radio and Iron and Wine. Immediately, I knew I had to give it a listen. A strange thing happened though, I wrote down they title of the album on some scrap paper to help me remember to listen to it when I got home. Later that week I began doodling on the paper and eventually came up with a design of a phased out tree, I think it turned out pretty nice, it was just neat how it said "For Emma, Forever Ago...", almost as like a dedication or something. Anyway, great album, and you can see my drawing here.

The Grower - One album that had to grow on me was the new Sunset Rubdown release. I've been a fan of Spencer Krug's work for a while now, but this one took me quite a few listens. Sunset Rubdown, if you have not listened to them, is not you're ordinary band. I can honestly describe some songs as weird, which isn't a bad thing, but I didn't see the beauty at first. This isn't the type of album you put on to impress a friend (at least in my case heh), but when you sit down with some decent headphones and actually listen, you can really see the true beauty of the album. And if not, go listen to some Wolf Parade, they rule too!

Late in the Game - This ones easy, I've had this album on loop all week it seems. Band of Horses - Cease to begin, it has been out for a while now, but I hadn't listened to it or its predecessor until recently. If I would have gotten a hold of this one earlier I think it would be higher in my list. Make sure you don't miss out on this one.

The Best - There were about three or so albums I considered for this spot, but Radioheads - In Rainbows took the cake. Not only did they come up with an admirable way of distributing the album, they came up with one hell of a record. Definatley worth the wait. There isn't a weak spot on the record, from start to finish I enjoyed it to the fullest.

Make sure you check out some of these if you have not already!

Hey 2007, Nice Ass!

Artist of the Week: Peter, Bjorn and John

7/23/07 - This week's artist of the week is the Swedish Indie Pop band Peter Bjorn and John. Aside from the overly creative name, the acronym that has come to abbreviate the band is PB&J. I first heard of the band while looking at the catchiest songs of 2006 list. I figured I'd give "Young Folks" a chance, so I did and wow, it was stuck in my head for probably a week. As I've mentioned before, I'm a huge fan of whistling and thats about as good as it gets. After I heard the song I went and purchased the album ;)... Anyway, I was blown away at how much I enjoyed it. Although the rest of the album may not have that oh so catchy whistling, the are quite a few pop gems.

Recently I was watching TV and saw a Levi 501 commercial and I knew I recognized the song somewhere. I don't know if you watch much TV, but it's the one where the dude pulls up his jeans and a phone booth comes through the floor with some babe in it. Anyway, the room like explodes and the apartment turns into the streets of new york and "Up Against The Wall" begins to play...really made me wanna buy some jeans, pretty ridiculous if you think about it, but I don't think there is a better song to take a stroll to. Either way, I'm pretty sure Writer's Block will crack my top 20 at the years end, and I apologize for not knowing about any of their previous work, heh.

Weekly Picks

peter bjorn and john - young folks

peter bjorn and john - Amsterdam

peter bjorn and john - up against the wall

peter bjorn and john - the chills

Anywho, here is the "young folks" video, I hope it gets stuck in your head.

Artist of the Week - The Mars Volta

7/16/07 - Well, I've kinda been slacking with the whole posting and whatnot but heres this weeks artist of the week. This one has been a long time coming as they are my favorite band, The Mars Volta. A psychedelic mix of rock, jazz, and Latin influence, they are something quite unique. The brains of the operation include Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar A. Rodriguez-Lopez, who have taken part in another great band "At the Drive-In" and a lesser known dub band titled "De Facto". The Mars Volta's first full album, "De-Loused in the Commatorium" told the first person story of a person with a drug induced coma battling the evils of his mind. The Mars Volta later said that the story was based on a friend who awoke from a coma and committed suicide named Julio Veneges, or "Cerpin Taxt" as he is called on the album. The album received critical acclaim, and is one of my personal favorites. The Mars Volta then put out a more challenging album by the name of "Frances the Mute". The album tells the story of characters from a diary which late sound technician Jeremy Ward found in a car he repossessed while working as a repoman. The album also reached critical acclaim with a metascore of 75/100. In support of the album, the band toured with System of a down, which I was lucky enough to attend in Cleveland. While I'm on the topic of Live Shows, they have had a pretty negative feedback due to their ambient jams in support of more structured rock such as the red hot chili peppers and system of a down. The band has been recorded saying that they play ambiance rather than their songs in protest to their record label forcing them to tour with bands with such different followings than their own. Omar A. Rodriguez-Lopez is becoming famous for being the most ambitious man in modern day music, putting out a Mars Volta album out once a year along with solo albums and a film. The Mars Volta's third studio album came out early last year and it was titled "Amputechture". Amputechture focuses on the demystifying of modern day religion and basically the problems of the world today. Although it is a concept album, there is no narrative, like the previous two efforts.

Anyway, although the Mars Volta may not fit your taste, I'd say they are definitely worth a shot, as I have truly enjoyed everything they put out and I can't wait for their next release.

Weekly Picks

1) The Mars Volta - L'Via L'Viaquez

2) The Mars Volta - Roulette Dares (the haunt of)

3) The Mars Volta - Day of the Baphomets

4) The Mars Volta - Cicatriz ESP

5) The Mars Volta - Televators

The Widow Music Video

Artist of the Week: Bloc Party

7/9/07 - This weeks artist of the week is a band you most likely have heard of, Bloc Party. They've had some successful singles, however, I decided to make them my artist of the week after watching their performance at Live: Earth, which took place on 7/7/07 to spread global climate awareness. I had been a fan before, but ignorantly dismissed them as just another indie rock band. The band reached favorable critic acclaim with their debut entitled "Silent Alarm". I really enjoyed the album when it came out, but it grew old for me after a few months of consistent spinning. Then, this year, they released "A Weekend in the City" which at first I wasn't quite satisfied with. However, like I said, I recently felt the urge for some bloc party after their live performance, and I gotta say, I have a much better appreciation for their new album, and have been on a Bloc Party listening spree since. To be honest I spent some time on SongMeanings.net and read a little about the meanings behind the lyrics and about the band in general. As a result, they are no longer just some indie pop band with a few catchy tunes to me, something I quite enjoy. Anyway, if you haven't heard their stuff yet, you should, if anything it will at least make you wanna get up and dance a bit.

Weekly Picks
Bloc Party - Banquet
Bloc Party - Helicopter
Bloc Party - Waiting for the 7.18
Bloc Party - I Still Remember
Bloc Party - This Modern Love

Artist of the Week: The Electric Soft Parade

6/25/07 - This weeks artist of the week is The Electric Soft Parade. A very underrated band in my opinion. They have a very unique vintage sound, and the vocals remind me of the sound of Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips, well to an extent that is. Although I have not listened to their entire discography, I've found my way into two of their Cd's so far and they get my vote. I would start with "No need to be downhearted" and then work your way into "Holes in the Wall", at least thats what I did.

Anyway, they are from Brighton, England and are headed by brothers by the name of Alex and Tom White, who take care of the majority of creativeness for the band. Anyway, aside from all this bs you dont care about, you should go check them out.

Tony's Picks
1) The Electric Soft Parade - Life in the Backseat
2) The Electric Soft Parade - Woven By a Kiss
3) The Electric Soft Parade - Cold World/ Starry Night #1
4) The Electric Soft Parade - Misunderstanding
5) The Electric Soft Parade - Somethings Got to Give

Artist of the Week: Andrew Bird

6/18/07 - This week's artist of the week, one of my favorites of all time, is the one and only Andrew Bird. Andrew Bird is known for his exceptional violin playing, actually a bachelors degree, I did my research. My personal favorite aspect of Andrew's music, however, lies in his signature whistling. Also, Andrew also plays the guitar quite a bit on his new album "Armchair Apocrypha", which will definitely find a nice spot on my year end list. Another interesting thing about Andrew Bird are his live shows, he will record snippets of violin samples and play them in a loop during his show to emulate the sound of a band rather than just a solo artist. Whether its a catchy song or just a tune to chill to, I'd say your best bet is Andrew Bird. I've included a few of my favorites that you should check out, if you like them, check out the albums, I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed.

Tony's Picks
1)Andrew Bird - Heretics
2)Andrew Bird - Simple X
3)Andrew Bird - Tables and Chairs
4)Andrew Bird - The Naming of Things
5)Andrew Bird - Lull