the heavy - great vengeance & furious fire

the Brits have done it again.  the Coleen single got my attention with it's 70s soul funk throwback sound (curtis mayfield mostly comes to mind)... and dare i say it, the infectious grooves wouldn't leave me alone (ok said it).  I was pleasantly surprised to find the album didn't disappoint.  i give you... the heavy.

Wolf Parade-At Mount Zoomer

As much as I, a Minnesotan, enjoys make fun of Canada (our maple leafed friends to the north rank slightly lower then Wisconsinites) their brand of indie rock is currently the best in the world. Next year when the best of the decade lists start to show up many Canadian bands will be ranked near the top. Think about this list of currently great bands: Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, and the New Pornographers. 

Wolf Parade must be placed on this list. 

Their debut "Apologies to Queen Mary" should be on constant rotation in everyone's iTunes. Trying to avoid a Vs. or In Utero (yes, a throwback to grunge rock) Wolf Parade's sophomore record will, inevitably & unfairly, be labeled as a sophomore slump record. Its not as good as their first, but still a very good record. I am excited to see them at First Ave. on July 9. As for recommended tracks...after one list try 1, 2,3, & 7 to start. 

The Swell Season - Live in Madison, WI at Overture Hall 6/16/08

A year ago, I took Kristen to see the movie Once on it's opening weekend, because it starred Glen Hansard, lead singer of The Frames, a band that she unequivocally worships. It was a wonderful little movie that contained some wonderful music, and it did really well for a tiny little independent Irish movie. Later that year, it started gaining steam as an award contender, getting nominated for a couple Grammys, winning Best Foreign Film at The Independent Spirit Awards, and culminated with a Best Music Oscar win for Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Truly, an "out of nowhere" movie if there ever was one.

Soon after their Oscar win, they announced a tour in support of the film and the music within it, and lo & behold they had a Madison date. Of course Kristen and I went, and it was a spectacular show.

This upload is that concert. Highlights for me were "Seven Day Mile", Glen's completely unplugged version of "Say It To Me Now", and their beautifully layered climax "Fitzcarraldo." Enjoy.

P.S. If anyone wants the actual soundtrack to Once, just leave a comment. Also, I uploaded the original .zip file I got, instead of archiving it myself. Let me know if there's any problems with downloading it.

P.P.S. I noticed some of you are uploading stuff but not blogging about it. C'mon, let us know it's out there! I don't open the drive unless I see something on the blog about it.

Tapes N Tapes "Walk It Off"

New Tapes N Tapes.

Its an OK record. 

Cloud Cult-Feel Good Lost

This is the new Cloud Cult record "Feel Good Ghosts." I am excited to see them at the Walker in on the 21st. The first 2 tracks are a great example of the busy, yet, genuine Twin Cities Rock n Roll. On the way to a Hulk screening, Greg and discussed if they are Christian rock band. If anyone knows or has a theory-please share.  

Finally, if people want I can post their previous release "The Meaning of the 8" I will post that. 

Jonathan Coulton

Geek rock is not a term that really gets thrown around much anymore. With They Might Be Giants moving into the realm of Children's music, Ween falling to their own excesses, Barenaked Ladies being too Canadian for anyone to notice anymore, Mike Doughty's recent stuff having too much bacon for the pan to handle, and Ben Folds next album seemingly years away, it appears geek rock has gone the way of Disco, prog rock and Elvis. We can't leave the geek rock mantel to Weezer, even though Pork and Beans has a hilarious video, they suck.

Is there no place for well crafted songs with humor, that are about over educated, undersexed, video game loving males between the ages of 25-40? Riding his guitar like a white steed to the rescue the geeks rescue is Jonathan Coulton. You may remember Johnathan from this post, about John Hodgman's 700 Hobo names. Jonathan actually comes from the world he writes about. A former computer programmer his songs seem like Office Space or an episode of the Office put to music. Songs like Code Monkey, RE: Your Brains, and Pizza Day are songs about office life that could only been written by some one who has actually lived it. RE: Your Brains, by the way points out my fear of an office being taken over by Zombies, but that is another story.

Jonathan has the required songs about historical events, presidents, and NPR morning hosts. But where Jonathan really shins are his songs about unrequited love. They are painfully funny and heartbreaking. Songs like Soft Rocked by Me, Madeline, and I'm Your Moon, one wish he would get laid and one wishes he wouldn't so he will continue to write songs just like those.

Jonathan also has the odd ball songs that are about every day life, but with an odd geek twist. And for some reason a song about people having sex outside. Jonathan also has a strange obession with Monkeys.

As with geek rock pioneers, They Might Be Giants, Coulton has used the internet and other ways of licensing his music to get it to the geeks. Jonathan uses Creative Commons licenses, which allows the artist to choose how they want to control their work. For example an artist can have all rights reserved to have an open free source type stuff. Jonathan's stuff is closer to the later. So basiclly you don't have to feel bad about stealing it. Though f you like it you can donate to Johnathan here (I did).

He also has a song about curling. So that is cool.

For your listening pleasure I have uploaded his four songs a week thing. Number two is prolly the best. Enjoy.

daniel johnston - selections & why me?

the semi-legendary 47 yr old reclusive genius singer songwriter artist who still lives with his parents.

if you haven't seen the documentary entitled The Devil and Daniel Johnston, it should be on your short list.
http://www.sonyclassics.com/devilanddaniel/aboutthefilm.html

there's a lot of recording material to sift thru, but with many diamonds buried in the rough... so i've posted a collection of my favorites along with a live album entitled Why Me? love or hate it.

Andrew Bird Soldiers On

I give you the newest Andrew Bird release, Soldier On, an eight-track EP. If you are familiar with Bird's Fingerlings series, this release will fit right into the same mold. Full of experiments, sketches, things that got crowded off of albums, and remarkable live performances.
Pitchfork Review

Also, the cover artwork is done by the ever-talented Jay Ryan (if you have ever been to my house, you may recognize a few of his pieces). Brilliant in his own right.
The Bird Machine

She and Him Volume One

Now I don't like M. Ward. Why? I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it is the love he get from almost everyone I talk to; maybe it is his pretenious name of M. (there is only one dude who should ever be called M and that is this guy and he had the sense to realize M was a dick way of saying I am better then you); maybe it is because I got into an on-line argument about M Ward being the next Bob Dylan. Mainly I would say it is voice, it is too annoying. It is the point of this whispery smoked addled sound that breaks into this false falsetto at the end and beginning of lines. You can hear him straining to be cool. It is not.

You know I don't know who I hate more that I should love M. Ward, Colin Meloy, Sufan Stevens, or Ben Gibbard.

With that being said, he is a hell of a producer. His collaboration with actress Zooey Deschanel is down right amazing. Going by the moniker of She and Him, the record Volume One is a collection of more She then Him. Zooey writes most of the songs on the album (less a view covers and a collaboration with Max Fischer) and does a majority of the singing. M. Ward's vocal input is thankfully limited, though his voice does not grate on my nerves in his short harmonies with Zooey.

The album in a nut shell is short, beautiful, with a antique feel. This may unfortunately have a limiting effect on the shelf life of the album, but right now it is one of my favs. There isn't a bad song on the album. The single "Why Do Let Me Stay Here," is the standout. Though the Beatles cover works well too.


Well enjoy suckers.

A Belated St. Patrick's Day Message from Ryan Adams

Don't Comb The Leprechaun from Ryan Adams on Vimeo.

Mike Doughty - Golden Delicious

Mike Doughty's new album continues his ambition to showcase his music with more of a "band" feel, and here he takes it to another level, allowing many of the songs to include all out jam sessions. Mike's music continues to mature, and this is as good as he's ever been. Tracks like Fort Hood, I Just Want The Girl In The Blue Dress, and Nectarine are pure Mike Doughty. But on most of these tracks he brings his band more to the forefront. Another highlight is the full-band, amped-up, re-recording of 27 Jennifers (originally heard on the Rockity Roll EP). While this song's overly polished slickness seems like overkill for a song that started out as a simple accoustic number, you can't help but tap your foot along anyways. Now if we could just figure out why he decided to include the silly and out-of-place More Bacon Than The Pan Can Handle, which is a pretty embarrassing track on what is otherwise a superb album.

Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend is the best new band of 2008, according to every hipster in 2007.  I would describe their music as the Soundtrack to a Wes Anderson about upper middle class college-age kids from out East on vacation and drinking in a tacky tiki bar, but I'm not a writer so I'll cite the people with these jobs. 

I dig tracks #1, #5, & #8 after the first listen. Since then everything has changed I like other songs just as well. Enjoy. 

Posted will listened to Barack Obama is great talk. 

Real Emotional Trash - Stephen Malkmus & Jicks

Somewhere in the post Pavement world Stephen Malkmus decided that it would be a good idea to try to bring back the jam. Why he decided this is beyond anyones guess because according to anyone who knows anything that any song over 10 minutes is inherently terrible. Anyone who has sat through a Phish show and was not stoned knows what I am talking about. Real Emotional Trash has only one of these songs, which is good. It's not that the title track is a bad song, it is actually quite good, it is too damn long, and has some unnecessary parts.

I like this record. It maybe SM's closest work to Wowee Zowee era Pavement. Former Slater Kinney drummer Janet Weiss makes a solid addition to the Jicks as the cornerstone to the rhythm section. Hilites of the record include the stoned out opener Dragonfly Pie and the first single Baltimore. I also really like Elmo Delmo which seems like a left over track from The Terror Twilight, if it was about 3 minutes shorter.

What is missing from this album is a sense of fun. Oh I am sure SM & Jicks had a great time with is record, but there is a lack of playfulness within the songs. There are no psychedelic freakouts, references to Geddy Lee, or Oysters. Which I think ever song or album should contain.

Anyway Enjoy,

A Fine Frenzy: One Cell in the Sea

I didn't own an album by a female singer until I graduated from college. I have nothing against them, it just happened. I had a soft spot for Natalie Imbruglia for a while, but never bought her album. Lately, though, it's all I seem to be listening to. This is A Fine Frenzy's One Cell in the Sea. It's poppy, with the requisite piano. Give a listen to Come on, Come out; Almost Lover; Ashes and Wine; Hope for the Hopeless.

Sunset Rubdown--RandomSpiritLover

If you love Wolf Parade, and you love pop music in general, you will love Stephen Krug's latest masterpiece under the name of Sunset Rubdown. I have no idea where he got that name. This album is from October 2007. Enjoy it or else.

We are now on-line. The album should be available. Enjoy!

Radiohead- Scotch Mist NYE Webcast

Not too much to say about this, I'm sure you have all by now heard the excellent album (and my pick for album of the year) IN RAINBOWS.

Well, Radiohead recorded a live set of the entire album and put it up as a webcast on NYE. You can download the podcast of the webcast on iTunes for free, but I have provided just the audio for your iPod pleasure.

Do You Like Rock Music?

The amazing new album from Brighton Bad Boys, BRITISH SEA POWER, hits the states in February. Those of you in Minneapolis, they are playing the Triple Rock, and it is NOT to be missed.

Their first album, The Decline of British Sea Power, is an amazing mix of Arcade Fire style epic songs with the indie mentality of the early 2000's. They followed this instant classic with Open Season, which left some of the epic(ness) at the door, trading it in for more smooth indie rock.

BSP brought the Epic back in force on their new album. The first single, Waving Flags, has been described as a summer festival mainstay, so epic in nature it has to be compared to Arcade Fire.

Please enjoy and support this excellent band that gets shafted constantly in the states.

New Doughty

It's not often where I'm excited....genuinely excited....for an album to come out. The feeling I used to have when I was just a kid and it was a week before Christmas....the feeling I had when the new Matrix sequels were almost out. The feeling that something truly special, something near and dear to my heart was about to come out, and I was 110% sure that it would be spectacular. the new Mike Doughty release is instilling that feeling in me once again. I think it's safe to say that he is my favorite musician, period. His new album Golden Delicious is set to drop Feb 19, but I found an mp3 for download. Check it out:

http://www.herohill.com/MP3/TheBlueDress.mp3

Requests from 2007

Who's going to scratch this itch?

Iron and Wine: Shephard's Dog
Arcade Fire: Neon Bible
New Pornographer's: Challenger
The National: Boxer
Aesop Rock: None Shall Pass
Editors: An End has a Start
A Fine Frenzy: One Cell in the Sea
Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Brother Ali: The Undisputed Truth

[Note: If you're of the mind that a music sharing website shouldn't take requests and should instead rely on the fickle goodwill of its members to buy, zip, and post albums of interest when they so damn please, then feel free to ignore my request. Otherwise, let's see what you got.]

Request.

Does anyone have Sam's Town by The Killers that they'd like to share? I'd love ya forever, and stuff.