Archive for the 'Visine for the ears' category
Best of Living Legends podcast
3/11/2009 8:51 am
For over a decade plus, Living Legends have been producing their own beats, rhyming originally, and putting out independent hip-hop. Between the nine emcees, their total discography probably hits fifty full-length records. From The Grouch selling cassettes on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley to Sunspot Jonz jumping onto sold-out crowds at Broke Ass Summer Jam, they are true pioneers in the California underground scene. Recently, I went back to home to the Bay Area to catch up with family and friends. In the process, my buddy Oatey and I met up, and as per usual, we chatted about hip-hop. After some conversation at Peet’s Coffee, we scoured through our dusty cd collections and came to a consensus on our favorite Living Legends tracks. Here it is:
Nothing Less - Living Legends (feat. Slug)
18 w a Bullet - Murs
Mind Over Matter- The Grouch and Eligh (feat. Psc)
Depths of Survival - Mystik Journeymen
Nothing’s Changing - The Grouch
Not Here - Living Legends (feat. Pep Love and Jo Wilkinson)
The Next - Bicasso
Track 11 - Murs
Overall - The CMA
Bird Race - Eligh
Allstar - Living Legends (feat. The Grouch)
Araingus (Race the Moon) - Mystik Journeymen
L.I.F.E. (For What It’s Worth) - Scarub
(To download into Itunes, Right click and save as here)
Song of the Week: Zion I - Antenna
2/24/2009 1:41 pm
Sedatives for 2008
2/20/2009 5:56 am
This year’s mixtape took longer than expected. I needed to stir it for a month, allow the ingredients to simmer and taste it for full flavor. I think the final recipe is delicious. This process enabled me to further realize that there are a couple of things I seek to accomplish with each annual audio prescription. Firstly, I try to hit the right balance of accessibility and originality. There are some pop songs that do not grow stale, as my sister assured me when we were listening to “Dance Dance Dance” the other day. Secondly, some independent Bay Area hip-hop is quite necessary, as you will hear with unconventional rhymes from The Grouch. Thirdly, I want a mixtape I can listen to tirelessly and that friends and acquaintances will appreciate as well. Here it is:
Sedatives for 2008
Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
Bon Iver - Blood Bank
Deerhunter - Agoraphobia
The Helio Sequence - Hallelujah
Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance
The Bird and the Bee - Polite Dance Song
David Byrne and Brian Eno - Strange Overtones
Bag Raiders - Shooting Stars
Alaska in Winter - Berlin
Air France - Collapsing at Your Doorstep
MGMT - Electric Feel
Q-Tip - Manwomanboggie (feat. Amanda Diva)
Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes
Blockhead - Carnivores Unite
Atmosphere - Wild Wild Horses
The Grouch - Breath
Little Joy - The Next Time Around
(To listen in Itunes, right click and save here)
Beirut in Brooklyn
2/1/2009 7:38 amI’m really excited to see Zach and crew next weekend at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, blowing brass, plucking strings, bellowing vibratos. I love the common sorts of questions that arise before a show: How much new material will they play? Will he try to pull off some of the electronica material live? A friend sent me Condon’s early electro-pop Real People project a while back and I must say it is truly awesome. But as far as new live stuff, I am definitely looking forward to “The Akara.”
Update: Beirut make you want to move in-concert. Condon tells the crowd to come closer after the first song and everyone in the orchestral seating moves to feel the music. The unison of three trumpets streaming through the air makes me feel vigor. One of the trumpeters also sings lead vocals with Condon, balancing the energy on-stage and giving the audience more to concentrate on. The electronica tracks were performed brilliantly with live instruments. “The Concubine” took on a jammy nature with the bassist’s riff instigating Condon’s dance. “My Night with the Prostitute from Marseilles” caught me thinking that Condon is a remarkable songwriter because his lyrics are so simple and beautiful:
Photos courtesy of Tammy Lo:
Rendition as relevance, creation as soulfulness
5/18/2008 10:12 pmThere has always been a debate over whether a cover song holds any weight against its origin. But some covers become more popular and over time we even forget that there was a previous existence for a particular melody. Hip-hop samples have also popularized a tune more than its creator ever could have hoped for. Some critics say that hip-hop merely steals melodies, thus making it less of a creative endeavor in music. I would argue that the beauty in the cover and the sample is that it makes the original version of a song relevant again. We might never have discovered the roots to a riff and lyrics if we had not been introduced to the modern and mainstream rendition.
So here’s the podcast and in itunes here:
1. I Think We’re Alone Now - Tommy James & The Shondells (covered by Tiffany)
2. Rock And Roll Music - Chuck Berry (covered by The Beatles)
3. Gloria - Them (covered by Shadows of Night, Patti Smith, Jimi Hendrix, and others)
4. Express Yourself - Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band (sampled by N.W.A.)
5. What a Man - Linda Lyndell (covered by En Vogue)
6. Hung Up On My Baby - Isaac Hayes (sampled by Geto Boys)
7. Blind Alley - The Emotions (sampled by Big Daddy Kane)
8. Respect - Otis Redding (covered by Aretha Franklin)
9. As Long As I’ve Got You - The Charmels (sampled by Wu-Tang Clan)
10. Sweet Little Sixteen - Chuck Berry (covered with new lyrics by The Beach Boys)
11. Twist and Shout - The Isley Brothers (covered by The Beatles)
12. You’ve Really Got a Hold On Me - The Miracles (covered by The Beatles and Eddie Money)
13. Summertime - Sam Cooke (covered by Sublime. The original is actually a 1935 George Gershwin composition)
Winter Still
4/7/2008 12:59 pmPlay this if it stills looks and/or feels cold to you. In Spring also.
And here in itunes.
Tracklist:
Sun Kil Moon - Blue Orchids - April
Jaymay - Sycamore Down - Autumn Fallin’
Fleet Foxes - English House - Sun Giant [EP]
The Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes - The Velvet Underground
The National - Keep it Upstairs - Abel [Single]
Bon Iver - Flume - For Emma, Forever Ago
Grizzly Bear - Central and Remote - Yellow House
M83 - Coloring the Void - Digital Shades Vol. 1
Flows
3/30/2008 8:21 pmSome of my favorite rhymes on tracks over the last 10 years.
Guest DJ Timmy Lee
3/23/2008 12:01 pmTimmy brings some under-the-radar LA bands to the East Bay.
Sedatives for 2007 II: Upside Vibrato Bumps
1/31/2008 4:58 pmPart II of Sedatives for 2007 is just over an hours worth of mostly rock and hip-hop tracks. It’s got a fine dose of vibrato voices, melodic pop songs, and a couple booty shakers. The last track is a short piano ballad called, “Sonata for a Good Man,” from the German film, The Lives of Others - a highly recommended flick and excellent song. It gripped me during the scene in which it is played. After the main character Dreyman plays it he says, ‘Do you know what Lenin said about Beethoven’s Appassionata? “If I keep on listening to this I won’t be able to finish the revolution.” Can anyone who heard this music – who really heard it – be a bad man?’
Sedatives for 2007 II - Upside Vibrato Bumps
1. Wilco – Impossible Germany – Sky Blue Sky [2007]
2. Beirut – Cliquot – The Flying Club Cup [2007]
3. Magnetic Fields – A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off – 69 Love Songs (vol. 1) [1999]
4. Jens Lekman – Your Arms Around Me – Night Falls Over Kortedala [2007]
5. St. Vincent – Now Now – Marry Me [2007]
6. The National – Slow Show – Boxer [2007]
7. Stars – Take Me To The Riot – In Our Bedroom After The War [2007]
8. Silversun Pickups – Little Lover’s So Polite – Carnavas [2006]
9. Fujiya & Miyagi – Ankle Injuries – Transparent Things [2006]
10. LCD Soundsystem – Someone Great – Sound of Silver [2007]
11. Justice vs Spank Rock - Thunderous Bumps (back from japan edit) - Pop Salvation [2007]
12. Girl Talk – That’s My DJ – Night Ripper [2006]
13. Brother Ali – Pedigree – The Undisputed Truth [2007]
14. Blue Scholars – Burnt Offering – Blue Scholars [2004]
15. Madlib – Movie Finale – Beat Konducta Vol. 3-4: In India [2007]
16. Die Sonate Vom Guten Menschen - Gabriel Yared & Stéphane Moucha - Das Leben Der Anderen [2007]
Download Sedatives for 2007 II using quicktime.
Subscribe to the feed and download it into itunes.
Sedatives for 2007 I
1/27/2008 9:56 amFor this year’s mixtape I tried to take it to the next level with the podcast. It was the second year of podcast discoveries, with some of my favorites coming from Mad Decent Radio, Dhundee, and Stones Throw Records. David & Sparsh have also been making a few here and there. So here, I’ve compiled two podcasts with some of my loves over the past year.
This first installment is a bit more conceptual than the next one that I’ll post. Sedatives for 2007 I exploits the cerebral sounds of instrumental electronic music that we hope will launch thought patterns. The first four songs definitely invoke this idea.
Though avant-garde is not used as a descriptive label much these days, it definitely exists. It’s the art that pushes the boundaries, forming a new edge. So the overall concept of this mix combines the idea of listening to these technological sounds on our modern, cutting edge devices - it just makes sense.
Sedatives for 2007 I - downside think labtop
1. Apostle of Hustle – Gleaning – Folkloric Feel
2. The Field – A Paw in My Face - From Here We Go Sublime
3. A Sunny Day in Glasgow – 5:15 Train - Scribble Mural Comic Journal
4. Prefuse 73 – Pagina Dos – Prefuse 73 Reads The Books E.P.
5. People Press Play – These Days – S/T
6. DNTEL - To A Fault [ft. Grizzly Bear] – Dumb Luck
7. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone – Young Shields – Etiquette
8. The Real People – Untitled – The Joys of Losing Weight
9. Tommy Guerrero – Just Ain’t Me – From The Soil To The Soul
10. Madlib - Pyramids (Change) - The Beat Konducta Volume 1-2: Movie Scenes
11. Amon Tobin – Nova - Permutation
Download Sedatives for 2007 I using quicktime.
Subscribe to the feed and download it into itunes.
Who bites fiercer, the alligator or the boxer? It matters not.
5/6/2007 4:52 pmI’ve been dragging around, from the end of your coat for two weeks.
The National’s latest is “glimmering” the world in similar luminosity to that of it’s predecessor. Boxer follows the gemstone, Alligator with strokes of genius, streaks of brass, and brilliant piano keys from the likes of Sufjan Stevens.
The buzz that Boxer has reverberated throughout the blogosphere is pretty astounding. It’s interesting and funny how a highly anticipated follow-up allows us to jump to hasty conclusions, get giddy with anticipation, and pray to not be dissapointed. How do we hear our friends’ opinions and read the critics’ reviews without tainting our own listening experience? What do we look for in that first spin of a record to create an initial judgement? What does it take for our expectations to be met or exceeded? Why must we always compare it to the previous release? Any thoughts on the Art of Listening to a new record? One thing I will say, is that the albums that endure and that we endear, are the ones that we are unsure of at first. We are intrigued by the sound, but emotionally uncertain to start with. These records require months and years of unpacking and diagnosis. Whether Boxer shall be one of these emeralds remains to be seen, but what we can be sure of is that Matt Beringer and the pair of brothers have reconvened to fully realize their sound and breath.
This record stylistically fuses their folky-Americana Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers attitude with the shiny electricity of Alligator. The one complaint I’ve heard about the album is that there are no raucously emotional songs like Abel or Mr. November, which catch The National jolting on stage or in your speakers. On Boxer, it sounds like Beringer has taken a lesson from Jeff Tweedy on sobriety and maturity. His voice sounds relaxed and controlled, even on the more rocking songs like “Mistaken for Strangers” and “Apartment Story.” I almost think that Beringer has mellowed the tone in order to save his voice on tour.
The aesthetic of song lyrics rests in the ability of the listener to relate, interpret, wonder at the originality, and seek to decipher endlessly. Beringer creates this scenario for the listener better than any songwriter I’ve heard.
“Is Fake Empire supposed to be political or something?” - S.teave, friend
“I think they gave the drummer meth for this album” - Dan Altman, roommate
In March of 2006, I saw The National perform at The Independent in San Francisco. It was a weeknight and tons of fans bought too many tickets, thinking their friends would be ecstatic to see this awesome band performing. Yet, myself and dozens of others handed our extra tickets to the doorman outside and told him to give it away to someone. In my concert-going exerience history, you really never know when a show will sell out, if there will be a glut of unsold tickets, or who has the upperhand in a scalping transaction. Anyway, Beringer, The National’s hearthrob lead-singer, had a cold and popped a cough drop into his mouth after the first song, before realizing that he couldn’t sing with a ricola dangling near his Jack Daniels-Camel cigarette coated voice-box. I was bummed that Beringer’s sexy baritone voice wasn’t at full rasp, but he redeemed himself more as the show went on. Towards the end of the set, as he struggled to maintain himself, he confessed, “If I’m going to go out, I want to go out on this one.” The chords of “Abel” triggered and the band flared into bloom, the audience into recognition, that voice screaming repeatingly, “My mind’s not right!” In my head, it seemed like this is what a sick, smoking, whisky-drinking singer needed - to yell furiously and clear the flem from deep down, enabling the graininess of his voice to pour through.
Beringer’s appeal is similar to that of Sean Daley (aka Slug of Atmosphere). Both exude sex appeal because of an intelligent, self-deprecating lyrical style, a dishevelled attractiveness, and songs regarding past love and relationships. Not to mention, an affinity for filtered reds and 100 proof.
The National do seem to be blowing up as one of the best rock bands today,as Brooklynvegan and others have pointed out. It’s puzzling though since they seem to be missed by a great deal of listeners out there. May will have them exploding around New York City with 5 sold-out shows at the Bowery Ballroom and 3 sold-out shows opening up for The Arcade Fire. It’s funny, because I’ve talked to a few people going to The Arcade Fire shows and I have to urge them to get their early for the opener. I have tickets to their last Bowery show on June 1st… hopefully Beringer takes extra care of his box this time around.
On a side note, I really resonate with what La Blogotheque has to say regarding the band:
The times I’ve spent with The National have inspired countless stories, both personal and public. Their music has a capacity to fuse itself into the fabric of our daily lives more than any other, moving gently at first, in such a way that you don’t initially notice the depth behind each song. But they’ll tell you themselves that those melodies that stand out on the first listen won’t be there on the tenth listen. That’s the way they work, composing with the challenge of refining each song with unprecedented complexity. In the beginning there’s an obvious melody line, in which each musician offers something particularly special, before Matt Berninger arrives with his unique poetry, allowing the music to unravel into rare heights.
To progress is to convolute
4/2/2007 9:37 am
Wilco’s forthcoming album, Sky Blue Sky, is set for release May 15th, but was leaked about a month ago via the internet. I first heard a couple tracks on NPR’s All Songs Considered and immediately became excited.
Wilco’s mystique, complexity, and craftsmanship make them a band that I love to keep rediscovering. My appreciation for their songs and records has been growing for years now. As I recently watched a 2005 recording of their performance at Austin City Limits, I was blown away by the electricity they exude onstage. Jeff Tweedy is the heart of the group, but every member adds so much sonic depth and instrumental expertise that I found myself in awe of their live spectacle. Nels Cline was added to the group in 2004 and his avant-garde style & presence on both 04’s A Ghost is Born and 2007’s Sky Blue Sky is a true gift for this ever-expanding group.
Deemed as the “American Radiohead” by some, the comparison is worthy and continues to ring true on the latest.
Every Wilco record is crafted with such meticulous precision and is quite different from the predecessor. Wilco’s musical evolution is complicated to understand and controversial to fans, as their genre labeling is convoluted - Alternative Country, Folk, Experimental, Psychadelic, Indie-Rock. It’s all needless branding since Wilco doesn’t come neatly packaged.
I will continue to quote the words of my friend Gabe McNatt - “Wilco is the music we are going to play for our kids.” I like that label.
The only static entity for this progressive group is Jeff Tweedy’s lyrical gift and voice. Just when you think his voice has gotten more mellow and medicated, the emotion picks up like on the fifth track, “Side with Seeds”. Even when the guitars flare and distortion frolicks, Tweedy is the fulcrum that keeps the tracks tight and pretty.
Though Wilco is not as daring and experimental this time around, I would say that this is a dare in itself. It seems that after years of toying with varying sounds, they found themselves, while still making an entirely different album. I do think they are one of the greatest bands around today and an essential brick in the structure of American popular music today.
More on Wilco’s latest masterpiece to come…
Suddenly I Miss Everyone
3/12/2007 3:33 pmLosing Haringey
7/22/2006 3:53 pm
The Clientele - Reflections After Jane (an older track by these Brits)
They just create that dreamy pop music I adore, truly encapsulating the feeling of melancholic elation.
The second to last song on The Clientele’s album, “Strange Geometry, is “Losing Haringey.”
I just came across their blog and just had it repost the lyrics to this song.
It’s just that good. Ask Lara, she’ll tell you so.
It’s an unbelievable testimony, more than just a glimpse into a mind. It’s utterly stupendous, wickedly in depth, sad, but with a sprinkle of hope.
Here it is:
“In those days, there was a kind of fever that pushed me out of the front door, into the pale, exhaust-fumed park by Broadwater Farm or the grubby road that eventually leads to Enfield: turkish supermarket after chicken restaurant after spare car part shop. Everything in my life felt like it was coming to a mysterious close: I could hardly walk to the end of a street without feeling there was no way to go except back. The dates I’d had that summer had come to nothing, my job was a dead end and the rent cheque was killing me a little more each month. It seemed unlikely that anything could hold much longer. The only question left to ask was what would happen after everything familiar collapsed, but for now the summer stretched between me and that moment.
It was ferociously hot, and the air quality became so bad that by the evening the noise of nearby trains stuttered in in fits and starts, distorted through the shifting air. As I lay in the cool of my room, I could hear my neighbours discussing the world cup and opening beers in their gardens. On the other side, someone was singing an Arabic prayer through the thin wall. I had no money for the pub so I decided to go for a walk.
I found myself wandering aimlessly to the west, past the terrace of chip and kebab shops and laundrettes near the tube station. I crossed the street, and headed into virgin territory – I had never been this way before. Gravel-dashed houses alternated with square 60s offices, and the wide pavements undulated with cracks and litter. I walked and walked, because there was nothing else for me to do, and by degrees the light began to fade.
The mouth of an avenue led me to the verge of a long, greasy A-road that rose up in the far distance, with symmetrical terraces falling steeply down then up again from a distant railway station. There were four benches to my right, interspersed with those strange bushes that grow in the area, whose blossoms are so pale yellow they seem translucent, almost spectral; and suddenly tired, I sat down. I held my head in my hands, feeling like shit, but a sudden breeze escaped from the terraces and for a moment I lost my thoughts in its unexpected coolness. I looked up and I realised I was sitting in a photograph.
I remembered clearly: this photograph was taken by my mother in 1982, outside our front garden in Hampshire. It was slightly underexposed. I was still sitting on the bench, but the colours and the planes of the road and horizon had become the photo. If I looked hard, I could see the lines of the window ledge in the original photograph were now composed by a tree branch and the silhouetted edge of a grass verge. The sheen of the flash on the window was replicated by bonfire smoke drifting infinitesimally slowly from behind a fence. My sister’s face had been dimly visible behind the window, and –yes- there were pale stars far off to the west that traced out the lines of a toddler’s eyes and mouth.
When I look back at this there’s nothing to grasp, no starting point. I was inside an underexposed photo from 1982 but I was also sitting on a bench in Haringey.
Strongest of all was the feeling of 1982-ness: dizzy, illogical, as if none of the intervening disasters and wrong turns had happened yet. I felt guilty, and inconsolably sad. I felt the instinctive tug back - to school, the memory of shopping malls, cooking, driving in my mother’s car. All gone, gone forever.
I just sat there for a while. I was so tired that I didn’t bother trying to work out what was going on. I was happy just to sit in the photo while it lasted, which wasn’t for long anyway: the light faded, the wind caught the smoke, the stars dimmed under the glare of the streetlamps. I got up and walked away from the squat little benches and an oncoming gang of kids.
A bus was rumbling to my rescue down the hill, with a great big “via Alexandra Palace” on its front, and I realised I did want a drink after all.”
Sedatives for 2005 - A Brief Ode and the Year in Music
1/3/2006 11:11 pm
Whether personally or globally, I think the word that best describes 2005 is tumultous. In retrospect, it was rocky in both arenas, but I think it’s important to reflect on the catastrophic or negative and to gain a lesson. Let’s understand how to change and work to be better. Be happy with today. And optimistic for tomorrow.
A brief list of negatives for the year could be startling: Tsunami. Katrina. Bombay Floods. Pakistani Earthquake. London Bombings. Alberto Gonzalez. Samuel Alito. Pat Robertson. Sudan Genocide. Fractured Kyoto Protocol. Iraq War. Tookie’s Execution. French Riots.
My folks went to a group meditation for New Years and the “gurus” predicted that 2006 would be a good one. The world might seem to be in dire shape, but our overall global consciousness is rising each year they said. Are things getting better in some ways? Brian McCartan’s recent article in the CS Monitor, “War and disasters aside, 2005 brought world progress,” says we have reason to keep our flame of optimism lit.
It was a year I now recall somewhat fondly, contemplate happily, & bask in the thought that the last couple months have been stunning. India was intense and rich. The summer was tragic unlike anything I’ve experienced. Autumn was neither mediocre nor excellent, but I felt the stable wheels of routine roll back into my life. And during this rainy, wintry December I feel excited each day and happy to see and interact with all people. I’m just letting things happen and not worrying about the future so much anymore.
“It was a very good year,” to quote a Sinatra song, in the realm of music. It was the year of many phone conversations with Oso regarding our latest faves and in the process of these weekly talks I realized something: Hearing my friends’ opinions, reading reviews (esp. by Pitchfork) was clouding my personal judgement before even experiencing a work firsthand. At times, before even listening to a new album, I had built a preconceived notion and established an opinion. This was bullshit. Yeah, I respect many of my friends and I know what they like and understand. Yeah, I dig reading reviews and I love how writers/critics can convey the intracacies and insides in their complex language. But damn, I just want to hear the record first before thinking I know what it’s going to be like.
It was a year in which people became myspace whores. Will that trend fade out this year or become the medium of online communication?
It was the year I realized how much I need an i-pod. I’m so sick of burning cds, scratching them, sorting through them, all of it. It’s time to organize them on an external hardrive and pick up that much needed mp3 player. We’ve accumulated so much music through downloading, ripping, burning, and buying. Anyone who is complaining that there aren’t any good bands out right now is just not looking hard enough. Because this was the year that Reuel and I laughed when we asked each other, “Have you heard of so and so?” And the other would reply with, “Yeah, I have it but haven’t listened to it yet.” Why? Because there’s too much music to listen to right now.
Or maybe I’m wasting my time. Maybe I wasted a lot of time this year listening to music. How many times did I stare up at ceiling fans with my headphones on and eat an hour? A couple hundred I’m sure. But I don’t regret a minute of those times that I was thinking, decompressing, writing, or trying to get amped up to start my day. I want to thank everyone I know who exchanges music and musical thoughts with me. I love it just too much. Without further blabber:
Best Music of 2005 - Artists and Albums and Tracks - My Favorites
12. The Album Leaf - In a Safe Place [2004]
(genre: post-rock/instrumental)
Jimmy LaValle left sunny SoCal for inspiration in Iceland. It’s more electronic than Sigur Ros, but with many similarities. It was my anthem as I ventured from one Indian state to another. Alot of mellow instrumentals all recorded at Sigur’s Icelandic studio.
11. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone [2003]
(genre: lo-fi electronic)
I ask Nate what he’s listening to and I get it.
Owen Ashworth plays 14 Casio keyboard tracks with lyrics that sound like they are very personal stories written for different women in his life. But he says this is not the case. I would say that CTFTPA sounds like a very raw sounding Postal Service.
10. Atmosphere - You Can’t imagine How Much Fun We’re Having [2005]
(genre: indie hip-hop)
10. Death Cab for Cutie - Plans [2005]
(genre: introspective indie rock)
[This was written after I saw Death Cab play a month ago]:
It’s so much cooler when you are of the few that know. “I’m showing you something fresh, increasing my originality.” Then two years later you say, “I had that album before anyone knew them and before they were mainstream and soldout.” I guess it’s one of the definitive features and qualities that the counter culture spirit must embrace. Whether it be a cult film, a hip clothing style, or the latest indie band - if it strides toward the “Zona Popular”, it’s a somber and dissapointing day.
I have felt my enthusiasm drop and dwindle after seeing a nieve high schooler bobbing their heads to “my melodies!” But shouldn’t I be happy that more people are listening to an artist I respect?
We’ve all been discouraged with musicians who change their sound purely for popular recognition, control by their record label, and/or capital gain. But we’ve all also decided to dislike an artist solely because a frat boy, our siblings’ friend, MTV, or a car commercial now dug and supported “our discovery!”
It’s important to recognize the difference.
When I look at bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Atmosphere, I see that I have rolled my eyes at their rise, increased promotional efforts, and new/younger fans. But now I understand that Death Cab & Atmopshere are both groups who have stayed true to their essence and have grown, transcended, and evolved beautifully over ten years and five albums. One indie rock, the other underground hip-hop, though both are pretty well-known after being in the spotlight for a while now.
Ben Gibbard (Death Cab) and Sean “Slug” Daley (Atmosphere) are two of the best lyricists I’ve ever heard. Their songs of heartbreak, incredible one liners, and beautiful metaphors allow them to speak directly to the listener who can completely relate their own memories with the music. Even if we haven’t experienced their precise & detailed personal story… we wish we had or we wished we had conceived such an intelligent idea. But we do relate to the emotion they are expressing, be it frustration, anger, lost love, or melancholy.
I wouldn’t be able to count how many brilliant stanzas Slug has rhymed and caused Oatey and I and other friends to recite line for line, back and forth to each other. The more I read about the guy, the more I respect him. In the 10 year anniversary of Alarm magazine, Slug talks about turning down major labels like Interscope and Sony:
The major labels were all met with a polite, “Thanks, but no thanks,” which turned quite a few label execs red in the face and set the indie media circuits ablaze with talk of how Atmosphere turned down the majors. The decision came down to Slug: “The reason I said no to majors was never because I didn’t want the money, it was becuase of all the extra baggage. I didn’t want to be that new posterboy.”
In the process, of staying independent he’s also turned down many other product endorsements like sneakers.
With the latest Atmosphere album, ole’ Sluggo still whips out clever rhymes like on “Say Hey There” and “Get Fly”:
“She still makes time to hate me
but basically I’m overbooked no emotional vacancy”“Society becomes jealousy
intimacy becomes intensity
say it with a smile like it’s meant to be
and all of a sudden BOOM American family”
8. Doves - Some Cities [2005]
(genre: Britpop)
I picked this album up from a record store in Bangalore. It sounded like disc two to their 2002 release, “The Last Broadcast.” Did they use the same recipe or what because some songs sounded way too familar? Maybe so, but they do a pretty good job and are one of the better British rock bands out there.
7. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois [2005]
(genre: indie rock/progressive folk)
A superb orchestration of melodies, choruses, and Sufjan’s personal stories are really something. He says he will make an album dedicated to each state in the union. I say rock it. It is evident that his Christianity is one with him, but the irony is present and he does not proselytize.
6. Sigur Ros - Takk [2005]
(genre: post-rock)
Sigur Ros’ 4th album might be their best (right Reuel?) because of more complexity in sound and deeper crescendos. And I guess they are finally singing in Icelandic though how many can actually notice the difference from their gibberish called Hopelandic.
5. Boards of Canada - The Campfire Headphase [2005]
(genre: ambient electronic)
Just like Sigur, this is possibly their best album yet. These Scotsmen added guitars to their electronic sound without tainting their style. They are definitley my favorite band to write to and it’s a bummer I couldn’t make space for them on the latest Sedatives.
4. Broken Social Scene - self-titled [2005]
(genre: indie rock/experimental)
Well, they were the best live performance I saw this year. Timmy might disagree, as he caught them at the Henry Fonda in L.A. and said, “Bro, five guitarists on stage, it’s a little ridiculous.”
Well, he might be right, but they’re doing their thing and creating a sound unlike anything I’ve heard before.
3. The Decemberists - Picaresque [2005]
(genre: introspective indie rock)
Colin Meloy has to be one of the most brilliant and original songwriters in the game today. A degree in creative writing can’t be a bad thing for any singer and I’m damn curious to catch dude doing his current solo thing/tour next month.
I finally snagged The Decemberists’ first album (Castaways & Cutouts) as I departed West Hollywood, Timmy, and Alex in mid-September and drove home. The 8 minute ballad titled “California One” immediately caught my ear and I held on tight through all of the song and its swift transitions.
It isn’t that The Decemberists have three flawless albums that are smooth from start to finish. But there are 5-6 gems that I get addicted to for a month straight. The lovely acoustic tunes along with Colin’s fantastic storytelling and medieval vocabulary. I can’t believe I missed them at live The Fillmore this year.
2. Stars - Set Yourself on Fire [2005]
(genre: indie pop)
Torq Campbell & Amy Millan (& the rest of the band) create excellent melodies and harmonize on everything they do. Call it electropop if you must, but their lyrics are nostalgic & meaningful for anyone ages 17-37. “Your Ex-lover is dead” was my favorite song this year with good reason.
God that was strange to see you again. Introduced by the friend of a friend. Smiled and said ‘Yes, I think we’ve met before.’ In that instant it started to pour. Captured a taxi despite all the rain. We drove in silence across Pont Champlain. And all of that time you thought I was sad. I was trying to remember your name.
1. Ulrich Schnauss - A Strangely Isolated Place
(genre: ambient electronic)
In my darkest, most introspective, or epiphanous (haha, I know funny) moments this year, this German gentleman was both “cause and effect. Pause for respect.” One of the keys to music in general, but especially when it comes to ambient/electronic is progression. Without lyrics, it is purely up to the instrumental to capture a listener and keep them enchanted. When a musician like Ulrich can do that for 6-8 minute tracks, you know the guy understands his trade. For more info on his album, you can read this previous post. His first album, “Faraway Trains Passing By” was re-released this year and is also definitely worth checking out.
Older albums that I grew much greater appreciation for this year:
Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain [1994]
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots [2002]
DNTEL - Life is Full of Possibilities [2002]
The Decemberists - Castaways and Cutouts [2002]
Broken Social Scene - Feel Good Lost [2001]
Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it in People [2002]
And here is the mix I have compiled:
An Opiate for the Cathartic
(Sedatives for 2005)
1. Zion I - The Bay
2. Amadou & Mariam - Mbife (Balafon)
3. Nortec Collective - Olvidela Compa
4. Stars - One More Night
5. Doves - One of These Days
6. Broken Social Scene - Swimmers
7. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Half Ghost
8. Death Cab for Cutie - What Sarah Said
9. Stars - Your Ex-Lover is Dead
10. The Decemberists - On the Bus Mall
11. Sufjan Stevens - Casimir Pulaski Day
12. Pinback - Loro
13. Broken Social Scene - I Slept with the Bonhomme at the CBC
14. The Album Leaf - Another Day (Revisited)
15. Ulrich Schnauss - Gone Forever
16. Sigur Ros - Se Lest
Tracks that shoulda but didn’t make the cut due to lack of space:
Murs & Slug - Morris Day
Atmosphere - Say Hey There
Blackalicious - My Pen & Pad
My Morning Jacket - My Heart Beats 4 u
Boards of Canada - Peacock Trail
M.I.A. - Sunshowers
The National - All the Wine
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth
Albums from 2005 that are sounding excellent but that I’m yet to really “disect, digest, diagnose” and have a solid opinion about :
-Okkervil River - The Black Sheep Boy
-The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
-Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway
-Vashti Bunyan - Lookaftering
-LCD Soundsystem - self-titled
-Amadou et Mariam - Dimanche a Bamako
-Blackalicious - The Craft
-Edan - Beauty and the Beat
- Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
The album that I didn’t know what to think of but that has grown on me more and more:
-My Morning Jacket - Z
The disappointments and/or albums I just wasn’t feeling as much as everyone else (I’m truly sorry):
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!: self-titled
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Coldplay - X & Y
That’s it. I would love to hear what you’ve been digging. Cheers to 2005 and I look forward to more visine for our ears and sedatives for our minds with 2006.
Detoxification & Upliftification - Broken Social Scene live
11/10/2005 7:24 pmulrich schnauss
9/1/2005 3:25 pmThe Struggle
8/17/2005 12:49 pmTitle and Registration
2/21/2005 6:40 amSedatives for the 04′ & a little flashback
1/24/2005 1:28 amI just met Zameer, the son of my “Aunty” Haseena’s (sister of Ruxana), for the first time in quite a few years. I definitley have some fond memories of this guy and his incredible idiosyncrasies. He is a music nut and I’m looking forward to see how he takes to some of the stuff I’ve accumulated over the years. When I was in India 13 years ago I asked him to keep repeating Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy,” as we drove in his car for ice cream in Bombay. And what did I spread his way when he came to Cali around the same era? Well, it’s a little embarrassing, but this is what he said last night. “Revaz, I listen to retro man. I am compiling a library of hits from 1950-1989. And you are the one who got me hooked on that Michael Bolton song ‘Steel Bars’.” And then he proceeded to sing it so that his wife and mother knew what he was talking about. “Steel bars wrapped all around me, I’ve been your prisoner since the day you found me…” I felt that mixture of embarrassment and humor when he told me this. I swear it was 1990. I was in 4th or 5th grade and I liked that fabio looking dude along with Huey, Debbie, Hall & Oates (they are still great), Chicago, etc. Some of that 80s stuff is still fantastic, but most of it just doesn’t live like it used to. Much like how I used to love Dave Matthews and the magical feeling I would get from seeing him live…not anymore.
I like to think back to the time of when I was 12 years and the evolving that has occurred in my life so far, whether it has to do with musical tastes, styles, morals, friends, etc etc… My earliest influence had to have been my father with jazz and pop: Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Gloria Estefan, Madonna, and Sammy Davis Jr. to name a few. I proceeded to listen to 101.3 and loved 80s pop for a couple years. In junior high, I started watching MTV (Dre, Onyx, Salt N’ Pepa) and listening to a lot of Gangsta Rap, which influenced my style and character a lot. Oatey and I would take the bus home from Walnut Creek Intermediate, where we would hassle the Coelho brothers and make fun of this girl with the rest of our buddies. After getting off the the bus we we go to Thrifty’s and Longs for our daily “five finger discounts.” We had a strategy that was absolutely brilliant: Our khakis were baggy enough to where we could peg the bottoms into the socks and the pants would still hang over to the sole of the shoes…We would walk in, cruise the isles and everything was for the taking- cool water cologne, baseball cards, candy, and toiletries. Any of these items could be dropped down our pants and stay unoticed by employees ’cause of the ripples in our baggy Old Navy Khaks. We would then walk back to either of our houses and make a mix tape of the latest stuff: 2pac, Too $hort, Domino, Mac Mall, Coolio, Ice Cube, Dre & Snoop, and NWA. This is where my love for making compilations all began. We would then grab some kudos, the new beats, and a boom box and bring it all out to the b-ball court. These were the days when I had some game and a great outside shot (that got lost just a couple years later)… I usually skooled fools like Oatey (haha, sucka), unless we were playing for tangible goods like a Potna Duece tape. If Oatey has something to lose, be it money at a Pa Soy Dos card game or an album, he will elevate game 10-fold.
The gangasta rap genre defined junior high and high school for me and most of my friends. For us suburban well-to-do kids, it allowed us to relate to the contradictory “oppressive/glamorous” lives of rappers from Oakland, Vallejo, and L.A. And during my ganja blowing days of high school, Mac Dre and R.B.L., helped me relate to the slangin’, gangsta minded, dont’ gimme no bammer type of lifestyle.
Independent/Underground hip-hop hit me with the swiftness post-high school. Talib Kweli’s “Train of Thought”, Zion I’s “Mind Over Matter,” Blackalicous’ “NIA,” and Atmosphere’s “Lucy Ford” all hit me in the span of a year. This is where my appreciation for lyricism, original rhyme pattern, and superb production took form. A web of people was created who were all taken back by this sudden surge of mind blowing artists. The fact that they were hidden from the mainstream and were staying true to independent record labels was what gave them even more respect and clout. Groups like Living Legends and Crown City Rockers, who could rock a show and prove themselves live gained even more. This was around 1999-2003…The years that hip-hop really expanded and brought us so much- these artists had strayed from the now regeritated “bitches, blunts, 40s” storytelling to a more conscious, positive approach…but in my opinion the dip happened shortly after. Very few of these artists have maintained a high caliber of work. Their last couple albums have either been garbage or they finally sold out for commercialism. I try to be positive about artists becoming popular, but losing the qualities that I loved you for….well, now that’s just wrong…
Luckily for me, I lived with some people in the last couple years, who revolutionized what I listen to. Even before moving to San Diego, I heard a handful of incredible albums via the Salamanca crew. My homie Alex de La Cruz gave me Radiohead’s “Kid A”, Quasimoto ‘The Unseen”, and DJ Shadow’s “Endtrucing”, all while we wandered the streets of Spain. Gabe McNatt from Texas A&M, who lived with me in Summer 03′, gave me an immense introduction into the indie rock genre with artists like Doves, Wilco, Elefant, and Grandaddy. Nathan Sizemore tossed me The Kings of Convenience, Royksopp, Tommy Guerrero, Stars, Parsley Sounds, and 50 others…
A Matt Scovill once said, “Spreading stories of travel is the currency to friendship.” This may ring true, but I think it’s “Spreading great tunes make for a endless friendship,” and this has caused me to consistently ask people, “So what what have you been listening to lately?”
Well, finally trailing far behind the footsteps of kexp.org, pitchforkmedia.com, NPR, and homies El Oso, El Moreno, and the Great Gabe McNatt… I shall now present my favorite bands/artists of 2004. I’m still a sucker for that sappy music, just like when I was 12, listening to Bolton and Bryan Adamns.
1) Death Cab For Cutie: Ben Gibbard is an incredibly original lyricist and his versatility is of the utmost. This is clearly seen by looking at all the work he has compiled during the past few years. The fusion of indie rock and electronica with his group DNTEL, led to the birth of The Postal Service, whose album “Give Up” broke into the mainstream this last year. Death Cab is his purely indie-emo rockin ‘group, which has 5 or 6 albums. The two most recent- “The Photo Album” and “Transatlanticism” are both superb and I haven’t been able to get enough of either. The tracks “Information Travels Faster” and “Title and Registration” are both work checking out. I could probably say that one of the reasons for this BLOG being called “melancholic elation” is because of them. In 2004, I became fully aware of my desire to feel melancholy almost as much as happiness. In Milan Kindera’s “Unbearable Lightness of Being” (redundant, I know Oso), the main character is walking down the street in Prague…he is feeling a longing for a former love but in the process he is also enjoying the intensity of the nostalgia and the fact of walking around as a free man in a beautiful city. I too, came to realize that melancholy doesn’t have to be a sad…it can be a joyful emotion and music can help trigger it.
2) The Kings of Convenience - These guys are a Norwegian duo and I think they are abolutely brilliant and fantastic. They are pretty mellow like Belle and Sebastian, but I find them to excel far beyond. Some people have said their voices get a little old. I understand, but completely disagree. I think thier voices are quite soothing, especially in unison, and their lyrics are exceptional. Their first album is “Quiet is the New Loud.” This is a very solid, consistent effort, but the remix album called “Versus” is what really struck me. What you basically have are excellent electronic, danceable beats done by some of the best groups in Europe (i.e. Royksopp & Four Tet) with the voices of The Kings over it. Their latest album to drop in 2004 “Riot on an Empty Street,” is another gem. It’s pretty chill for the most part, but they quicken it up with more piano, drums, and violins. Tracks like “Misread” and “I’d Rather Dance With You” (You know you wanna sing along Roch!) are brilliant.
3) The Stills - Gabe dropped by SD on his way back to College Station, Texas after going to Coachella. He threw the album “Logic Will Break Your Heart” into the car deck and I instantly dug it. They have a good rockin’ sound with nice electric riffs and lyrics like “The sordid way her loaded phrases infiltrate your skull,” on the track “Gender Bombs.”
4) Lali Puna - A German electronic group with subtle-soft female vocals. They also have incredible electric guitar riffs, bridging the indie-electronica divide. Their 2004 album is “Faking the Books.” Some of the members are also in The Notwist. S Dot sent me both their albums sometime in October and “Neon Golden” quickly grabbed me. The track “Consequence” is especially dope.
5) Air - Everytime I hear “Talkie Walkie” now it brings me back to January last year in SD. Living with Nate and Harmony was truly a fantastic experience. This album reminds me of the winter, the cold floor in the morning, turning the kettle on, and a special person in my life during that time…
6) Broken Social Scene - Another Gabe/Nate pick. This band had mad talent with their 15 members (Some from Stars who are so cool. Stars’ “Heart” should really be on here). I don’t really like the very rockin’ material on here, but preferring the chill instrumentals with soft vocals. But that’s me right?
7) The Decemberists - Hard to like the vocalists’ voice sometimes. But his lyrical originality and the orchestration of trumpets, violins, harmonicas, guitars, and drums are excellent. “The Gymnast High Above the Ground”, peep it.
Dzihan & Kamien - Austrian DJs with a 15 piece orchestra sounding like Thievery Corporation. “Gran Reserva” is their studio album and I prefer it to the “Live in Vienna” album that became pretty popular in 04′. The best thing about world electronic music like this is that it breaks through generational boundaries. Thievery, Saint Germain, and these guys both get two thumbs, a grin, and an eye brow raise from the pops.
9) The Foreign Exchange - Netherlands/US hip-hop. The most refreshing hip-hop I heard this year because th production is soulful-R&B and electronic.
10) Wilco- Gabe calls Wilco “The most important band of our time. The music we will be playing for our kids” I like that. “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” is a masterpiece and its something that has gotten much love by me over the past few years. Folky, indie, country-y. I wasn’t really digging “A Ghost is Born” when I first got it and Oso is giving me hell now that I say I like it. “War on War”, “Heavy Metal Drummer,” and “Handshake Drugs”. Greg Paulson, what are handshake drugs?
11) Communique- Via S Dot… A fun album like what Elefant’s “Sunlight Makes me Paranoid” was for 2003.
12) Mogwai - The E.Ps album…….Steve, my neighbor in Mission Hills threw this on one late night after some beer drinking. It soon became the melancholic late night anthem music.
13) Boards of Canada - My “let’s grab cup of joe at Gelato Vera with a labtop, headphones, a pink-orange sunset over the San Diego airport, and some post-college thoughts album.” Its called “In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country.”
14) Frou Frou - Heard her first on The Garden State soundtrack, the best soundtrack from my favorite flick of 2004. She has an incredible voice and the production is of equal status.
15)m83 - The most innovative album of 2004. You” have to read about them somewhere else because I can’t do them justice.
16) Misc. Hip-hop: Maroons - “Ambush”, Mos Def - “The New Danger”, The Roots - “The Tipping Point”, and Crown City Rockers - “Earthtones”: They are all pretty solid efforts and Mos Def is the Andre 3000 of 2004 due to his creativity in this multi-genre album.
17) The Arcade Fire- I finally got their full album “Funeral” two weeks ago and am starting to finally appreciate the incredible hype it has gotten.
18) A worthy mention goes to The Shins- “Chutes Too Narrow,” Thievery Corporation-”The Outernationalist Sound,” and JohnVanderslice- “Cellar Door” (which Gabe hit right on when he said “an excellent attempt at songwriting.”
