As much as I know you all love the friday five, I've got something about 3 and a half times cooler this week. A live stream of Coachella (that massively sweet music festival going on this weekend in California). Tune in throughout the weekend to catch sets from Of Montreal, Sonic Youth, Bjork, and a whole lot more.
Live Stream: Coachella Live
Showing posts with label Friday Five. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friday Five. Show all posts
Friday, April 27, 2007
Friday Five: Special Coachella Edition
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Friday Five: April 20 '07
Yeah, yeah, you all know the buzz around this LP. To summarize: it's Dan Boeckner's new side project, it's just him and his girlfriend, it's really, really good. What I love about this album is that it's actually more of a Wolf Parade follow up (when are we ever gunna get one of those?). So basically, if you guys are jonesing for a follow up to Apologies, then check this out.
The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns Fifteen Winters
Following up their well received EP, The Twilight Sad will soon be releasing their first full length. Sounding more like a toned down Scottish Arcade Fire then Arab Strap, the last thing they are is contrived. Instead of conforming to the typical chamber pop sound like so many other bands (*cough*Ohbijou et als. *cough*) The Twilight Sad come off as diffrent by mixing brooding vocals with some pretty impressive, sweeping instrumentation. It's too bad that it's summer, this would be the perfect fall record.
Electrelane - No Shouts, No Calls
Don't you wish bands would stop drawing on the same musical influences? Yes, we know, Velvet Underground, Arcade Fire, and Sonic Youth have all had a huge effect on more then just a few bands...Ok well good news, even with that amazingly generic list Electrelane sound fresh on No Shouts, No Calls. Somehow they copy+paste all their influences into an album that doesn't sound like something you've heard before.
Bill Callahan - Woke on a Whaleheart
Oh my! This album really caught my attention right from the first listen. No, not because of the cover art...(I know, it's pretty wacky!) Rather because on his newest solo release he manages to rock out on with piano, cello, and yes even a violin or two. Don't go callin' him Sufjan though, Woke on a Whaleheart is a lot less grandiose, but still manages to reach Morrisey levels of "wow" while staying pretty low key the whole time.
Small Leaks Sink Ships - Until The World Is Happy
These guys are being criminally underexposed. Maybe it's my love of early Built to Spill, but something about Small Leaks Sink Ships debut EP really stands out. Even though it's only 10 tracks long, Until The World is Happy keeps the intensity on high the whole time. Raw, angular guitar drives this album and makes it a great summer album.
Yep, no joke for this one, oh well.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Friday Five: March 30 '07
This week has seen more bad then good in my music listening. So, to offset all the crap being thrown at us by the record industry I've dug out the best five records I could find. But hey, you knew that already, didn't you? Enjoy these records, see you all back here on Monday.
No, no! Wait, come back! I swear, this isn't one of those crappy LeAnn Rimes-style country albums. In fact, it isn't a country album at all. Quite the contrary, Miss Diamond to You is probably the best indie-electro-pop album I've heard since Hot Chip's The Warning. Speaking of Hot Chip, thats a great place to start when trying to describe Kathy Diamond's sound. Pretty cleaver how I worked that in, don't you think? Sadly this fab LP won't be out for another month or so, but I'm sure that if you're resourceful you can track down a copy before then.
Listen: Kathy Diamond - Over (MP3 link)
On is Frog Eye's umpteenth release they have actually won me over. After being turned off by the chaotic craziness earlier efforts their new one sounds more like Swan Lake or - dare I say it - Wolf Parade. As I type I'm sure a group of hipsters from BC have put a bounty on my head... Either way, Carey Mercer and Spencer Krug (and the rest) have a real winner on their hands here. Check this out just pretend its one a new Spencer Krug side project.
Listen: Frog Eyes - Bushels (MP3)
Yep, Pinback frontman has pulled a Thom York and releasing a solo album. The good news is also sort of the bad news in this case. The album sounds like...well...a Pinback album. A really good Pinback album, but still a Pinback album. Let's throw in one more for good luck, shall we? "Pinback!" Through and through this LP is really consistently good, twangy, indie rock. Tracks like "I Hate You, Rob Crow" (see below!) make you think back to the first time you heard "Microtonic Wave" and smile. This will be a big hit at partys with your friends who dug last year's Boys and Girls in America. Namely, good music to hang out and get drunk to.
Listen: Rob Crow - I Hate You, Rob Crow (MP3)
The Harlem Shakes - Burning Birthdays
Forget Tokyo Police Club. Cold War Kids, who? The Harlem Shakes will be the new hot thing. Sounding a whole lot like Voxtrot on this new EP, they absolutely blew me away. If anything, Burning Birthdays left me wanting to see them live...conveniently they're touring, EVERYWHERE! So don't be lazy, go out and boogie with those patent indie dance moves.
Listen: The Harlem Shakes (MP3 Link)
Ironically, the feature that really catches my attention on a hip hop album usually isn't the lyrics. It's the production. I find that I'm always drawn back to LP's that have really interesting backing music (see: J Dilla, Ghostface, Mf Doom, Madlib, Zion I). Well add Devin the Dude's latest release to the list. Yeah, we all know he's been around for a million years and has some solid lyrics to top off those backing tracks. But still, the production on this album alone makes it worthy of the Friday Five. Yeah that's right, it's the second edition of this column and it's getting a reputation already. What can I say? I'm hot shit.
Listen: Devin the Dude (MP3 Link)
Friday, March 23, 2007
Friday Five: March 23 '07
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This is the first installment of a weekly series that I've been really excited to write. Every Friday I'll share five of the best records I've had in rotation that week. These hand picked albums are the very best that the music world has to offer - served up fresh weekly.
Ok ok, enough of the sales pitch, let's get going. Because this is the first installment I wanted to include some of the stuff I've been listening to no just this week but for the past little bit. Enjoy!
Crystal Castles - Alice Practice EP
Noisy. Unpredictable. 8-bit sound.
Those five words pretty much sum up Crystal Castel's Alice Practice EP. Another way to describe it would be ''really good''. If you like electro crazyness like Miss Violetta Beauregard but want something a bit more accessible, this is it! Think Deerhoof meets nintendo (the original on..with duck hunt). Should you check it out just because it sold out of stores in a matter of days? No, you should check it out because I'm recommending it. Oh, it's only a few songs long, so no excuses.
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
After his startlingly good first LP, DFA founder James Murphy's LCD Soundsystem has repeated with a great sophmore LP. Yeah, yeah, I know you read that type of thing on Pitchfork, but now you're reading it here. And here is just SO much cooler, isn't it? Belive me, despite an amazingly crap opening track, Sound of Silver really delivers on everything that was good about their first release. Tracks like ''All My Friends'', ''New York I Love You'', and ''North American Scumm'' make this one of the year's best...for now.
Menomena - Friend and Foe
I've been a fan of this Portland group since I first layed ears on their first album, I Am The Fun Blame Monster. Their music is a fine tuned mix of jazzy electro and acoustic guitar indie. All in all, it's a great LP, start to finish. I'm not the first or the last to praise this album so you might as well check it out. Cuz, yeah, all the cool kids are doing it. And you want to be cool, don't cha?
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
Kevin Barnes recent divorce sure had an impact on Of Montreal's 10th..no 11th..no wait, 12th release. But despite what some people say, this album's more towards a darker, harder electro sound is more of a natural evolution of where they've been going since Satanic Panic in the Attic. As I mentioned in my review of their live show, their new material is so far gone from the cheery innocence of Cherry Peel, but don't see that as a bad thing - see it as one of the better albums released this year. Top marks for Kevin Barnes!
Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
Yes, this album really is as wierd as it looks.
Melding a day-glo circus vibe with cheery indie pop isn't as easy as you might think. I mean, look at the train wreck that was the last Scissor Sisters' LP. Where they failed, Patrick Wolf comes out prancing...victoriously. The title track alone makes this album worth listening to. If you're still too put off by the album art, then just imagine that Islands' frontman Nick Diamond had reeeeally let himself go. Hey, musically, you wouldn't be too far off.
Note: Sorry about the lack of MP3 links for these. I'll make sure to include them in next week's installment!
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