iPod Roulette

Here we go for another round. I hit shuffle on my iPod, and list the first ten songs. Feel free to join in...post your results in the comments.

1. "Most of Me" - Mandy Moore
Okay...this isn't as bad as you may think it is. She has really come a long way since her bubble-gum teen-pop days. Is it fantastic? Oh no...not by a long shot. But it's very listenable, and even fairly enjoyable. In short, I don't love it, but I do like it.

2. "If You Want Me To" - Abra Moore
Two folkish-chick singers in a row? Well...I don't care. I love Abra Moore...and that's even before I found out her name came from a character in East of Eden. This song shows off her stunning arrangements and her gorgeous voice. LOVE this album.

3. "Clampdown" - The Clash
Here we go. This song is perfect to sing to while driving in your car with the windows rolled down. God bless The Clash.

4. "Child You're the Revolution" - Angie Aparo
This song is dark and creepy and beautiful and epically sing-a-longable. But I have to admit that I get a little creeped out when The Village of the Damned singers show up at the end. I can't listen to this entire song if I'm by myself...I'm dead serious.

5. "A Film Called (Pimp)" - Common
J Dilla's production on this song is fantastic (not like I'm surprised). For all of you people out there who don't like Common, let me explain something to you: he's not a rapper as much as he is a poet. Listen to his flow on this song, and keep that simple fact in mind. You'll be fine.

6. "Novacaine for the Soul (Live)" - Eels
This is their big hit...I know. I still like this song, and I love this band. Their live stuff is amazing...they completely reimagine their songs. They took this one back to some sort of beat poet-type vibe. Gotta love it.

7. "Stone on the Water" - Badly Drawn Boy
In his prime, Badly Drawn Boy is kind of like a slightly happier-sounding Elliott Smith. This song, off The Hour of the Bewilderbeast, shows that side of him perfectly. He has a tremendous knack for writing good pop songs. You can't teach stuff like that.

8. "Oh! Darling" - The Beatles
I absolutely LOVE this song. Every time I hear it, I think about McCartney talking about trying to get his voice right for this song. He wanted to make it sound like he had been singing at a rock show all night, yet he still feels the need to sing his heart out to his woman...his voice all scratchy and gone from singing and screaming lyrics all night. Lennon's response? "I always had the better rock voice. I should have sung this one." He may be right, but McCartney nailed the vocals and feel of this song.

9. "Time Has Told Me" - Nick Drake
I love Nick Drake, but I've come to hate the mythology surrounding him. I get the feeling that a lot of people who "love" Nick Drake don't really listen to his music...they just say they love him because it's sort of cool these days to say you love him. This song is haunting and sad and beautiful...in short, everything I love about Nick Drake. I love the piano in this song.

10. "Flying Upside Down" - Griffin House
I'm a big Griffin House fan; I like his music, and I love his voice. However, this album was (sadly) his weakest release. This song (like the majority of the album) isn't bad...it's just sort of there. There's nothing special about this song. I could listen to it or not, and it really wouldn't make any difference to me at all.

Your turn.

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

I felt compelled to listen to this album after reading a write-up about it in Paste. They compared his music to Iron & Wine and TV On the Radio.

This could not be accurate.

Still, I couldn't shake it. I had to hear it. "If someone sounds like a mix of those two artists, I need to hear it."

So I listened to it.

While I don't necessarily agree with their assessment, I can see where they came up with it.

Bon Iver is the band name for one man: Justin Vernon. This album is full of folksy songs, many times driven by nothing more than a guitar and vocals. Some other instrumentation finds its way in from time to time, but, for the most part, this is a pretty bare bones album. The story goes like this: Justin wanted to make a rustic-sounding album, so he locked himself in a remote cabin in Wisconsin for 4 months, and recorded this album.

As I said, musically, it's pretty bare bones. I suppose that's where the Iron & Wine comparison came from. But there's a different feel to Bon Iver's sense of folk than there is to Iron & Wine's sense of folk. There's a sense of creepiness that seeps into this album, like there was a ghost present during the recording of this album. It's a haunting album, even if I can't quite put it into words.

It's a sparse album, but it doesn't always feel that way. There's a depth to this album that almost seems unnatural given the lack of instrumentation that is used. A big part of that goes to the vocals, which are, at times, fairly similar to those of Tunde Adebimpe (thus the TV On the Radio reference). It seems that there is never just one vocal track. Throughout the album, he has double and triple-tracked his voice, and sometimes it feels like there's a chorus singing eerily in the background.

While I listened to this album because I was curious, I came away thinking that it didn't sound too much like the write-up said it did. Sure, the music is kind of folksy, but that doesn't mean it sounds like Iron & Wine. He has an interesting voice, but that doesn't mean it sounds anything like TV On the Radio. In fact, there are times when his voice and style echo artists like Bill Withers or Marvin Gaye more than they do either of those two artists. Still, the write-up got me to listen to the album, so I suppose it did what it was supposed to do.

For Emma, Forever Ago is an album that is simultaneously comforting and haunting. It is an album that is begging to be played on winter days and dark nights. Highly recommended.

Rating: 9.3

Favorite Songs: "Skinny Love", "The Wolves (Act I & II)", "re: Stacks"

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She & Him - Volume One

For those of you who don't know, She & Him is a new band, comprised of indie-folkster M. Ward and actress/singer Zooey Deschanel. You will, of course, remember Zooey from her roles in Almost Famous, Elf, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and many other movies. You may remember M. Ward from his solo work, most notably Transistor Radio and Post-War. Zooey trotted out her pipes for a scene in Elf, while M. Ward has been making lo-fi, folkish-rock for a number of years now. It was only a matter of time before they put out an album.

Well...here it is. There are some twists and turns along the way, but this album sounds pretty close to how I imagined it would.

Zooey has the perfect voice for the overall "old feel" of this album. They run through some different styles, and all of them work. We have country ("Got Me"), lounge-jazz ("Take it Back"), vocal piano-pop ("Sentimental Heart"), pop-rock ("Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?"), gospel ("Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"), and even a bit of doo wop ("I Was Made for You").

The song selection is comprised of songs that Zooey wrote, combined with a couple of covers ("I Should Have Known Better", "You Really Gotta a Hold On Me").

The production and instrumentation of M. Ward couldn't be better. The music, combined with Zooey's voice, make this album sound like a classic; like it was recorded 50 years ago. I've never been a huge fan of M. Ward, but he really hit the nail on the head with the arrangements here.

There are a couple of things I'm not crazy about. I'm not a big fan of the song "Black Hole". It's not too as it goes on, but the beginning just sounds a bit off. Also, whenever M. Ward opens his mouth to sing (which only happens twice on the album), I just wish he had kept it closed. I know a lot of people love his voice, but I'm not one of those people. I don't hate it, it just seems a bit out of place on this album.

Whenever an actress decides they want to be a singer, there is always a bit of a question of whether they can pull it off or not. Well, Zooey pulls it off to perfection here, and she found a fantastic musical partner in M. Ward. Here's to hoping that Volume One is just the beginning.

Favorite Songs: "Sentimental Heart", "Change is Hard", "I Was Made for You", "Sweet Darlin'"

Rating: 9.0

Check out their website

(Have I regained your faith, Matthew?)

A Fine Frenzy - One Cell in the Sea

I realize that I missed the boat on her when this album came out. I should have listened to this a long time ago.
I fell in love with this album from the very first time I've heard it. When this happens, I know that I'm usually in for a letdown at some point. If I love an album immediately, I usually get sick of it by the sixth listen. I don't want it to happen this way, but it normally does.
Initially, I was struck by the quality (and clarity) of Alison Sudol's voice. It is no secret that I am a sucker for "chick singers", but I had no idea what to expect of this album before I heard it. Sudol has an absolutely amazing voice; it can be soft and sweet or huge and powerful, yet she never loses the clarity of her voice.
After overcoming my initial awe of her voice (which took at least four listens), I began to settle into the album and pay attention to some of the other elements. I enjoy the music, but there's really nothing special in the majority of the songs. There are some gorgeous arrangements on the songs, but, for the most part, the music doesn't really stand out. It's not bad, it's just kind of "there". There's not a whole lot in the music that jumped out at me. Her influences seem to range from artists like Sarah McLachlan to Coldplay and Eisley, even though she cites Radiohead and Sigur Ros as major influences.
Then I started to listen to her lyrics. A lot of them revolve around the theme of lost love. Some of them are great, and some of them are just kind of so-so. Again, they're not bad, but some of them come off as kind of cheesy or childish. Granted, she's only 23, but it sometimes sounds like she's in high school. This is definitely not true on every track on the album, but a lyric pops up every now and then that just made me want to shake my head.
I can overlook the lack of creative music. The beauty of some of her arrangements more than make up for a slight lack of creativity. And, since the bad lyrics only pop up every now and then, I can overlook those, too. I can overlook these because her voice more than makes up for any slight misstep she may have taken. The beauty of this album outweighs her missteps by a wide margin.
I love it from the first time I heard it. I have cooled on it slightly, but I still can't tear myself away from this album. I listen to this album at least once a day, and I still have not gotten sick of it.
Chalk up a win for Alison Sudol.

Rating: 8.5

Favorite Songs: "Almost Lover", "Ashes and Wine"

Check out her website here.

Chris Walla - Field Manual

Having been a Death Cab for Cutie fan for around 7 years, I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Chris Walla. He has a great ear for music, which is evident on Death Cab's albums, as well as the other albums that he has produced (Nada Surf, Rocky Votolato, The Long Winters, etc.). And, even though I don't like The Decemberists, I can admit that he did a good job with the production of The Crane Wife.
When I heard that he would be releasing a solo album, I was naturally excited. "Now I can see what he can do without Ben Gibbard."
Well, as it turns out, without Ben Gibbard, he turned into...well...Ben Gibbard. There's not a whole lot musically on this album that wouldn't fit in perfectly on a Death Cab album. Going further than that, his voice sounds almost exactly like Ben Gibbard (I had to check the credits to make sure that it wasn't Ben Gibbard).
None of these things are bad, but those things certainly don't help to give this album a distinctive sound. In fact, the majority of the album sounds like a collection of Death Cab b-sides. And those songs that don't sound like Death Cab b-sides? They sound like Nada Surf b-sides.
It's beginning to sound like I hate the album, but that's not accurate. After 4 listens, I started to come around to it. Once I knew that I wasn't going to find anything "new" on this album, it started to settle in, and I started to like it.
Do I love it? No...no I don't. But there are a number of great songs on here. It starts out a bit slow with "Two-Fifty" (it sounds like he's trying to make it sound extremely important), but it gets noticeably better after that (with the exception of "Archer V. Light"...far and away the worst song on the album).
There are times on the album where it feels like he's trying too hard with his lyrics. Line's like "I don't need to see but I need a vision" (from "A Bird is a Song") make me cringe. There are also a number of political statements on the album, but none of them really seem to stick. I don't hear an urgency or passion in his voice that makes me believe that he really means it. When Dylan makes a political statement in music, I sit up and listen; when Chris Walla does it, it just sort of annoys me.
All in all, a pretty good album. It's not fantastic, but it's not terrible either. I will say that it's slightly better than good.

Rating: 6.5

Favorite Songs: " Geometry & C", "Everybody On", "It's Unsustainable"

Check out his website

The Best Albums of 2007

I know I know…I haven’t kept up with this like I thought I would. Also, my year end list is coming over three weeks after the next year has started. For these reasons, I apologize. But for now, let’s get to the top albums of the year.
Due to the amazingness of the music this year, I ended up making a top 20 list. Even then I was sad at how many I had to leave off. All the same, here we are. It’s a long list, so hold on tight…

20. Marissa Nadler – Songs III: Bird on the Water
I went back and forth on this one. Should it be in the top 20? Should it be just outside? In the end, though, Marissa won me over. This album is beautiful…and more than a little spooky. This is an amazing album to listen to in the winter. Or when you’re reading. Or mourning. It’s really very versatile.

Favorite Song: “Feathers”


19. The New Pornographers – Challengers
Catchy, poppy stuff. I’m always a sucker for a good pop album (more evidence of that to come). There’s nothing really too special about what they do. They are not a groundbreaking band by any stretch of the imagination. They just make great pop music. Sometimes, that’s all you need.

Favorite Song: “All the Old Showstoppers”


18. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
I would like to say that I’ve never been a big Spoon fan. Sure, I kind of liked a couple songs, but I’ve never loved them. And, by glancing at this title, I didn’t think that would change. Well…it did. They tried a lot of new(ish) stuff on this album, and it really paid off. It is a rock album, through and through. From the production to the instrumentation to the songwriting. However, they were not afraid to try some new stuff, like the haunting, piano-driven “The Ghost of You Lingers”. Let’s hope to hear more albums like this from Spoon in the future.

Favorite Song: “The Underdog”


17. The Shins – Wincing the Night Away
I often forget about albums released so early in the year. Looking back over the year’s albums, I could’ve sworn that this was released in 2006. After being lukewarm on their first couple of albums, I was glad to see them put it all together for this album. I’m still not a huge fan of the lead singer’s voice, but I can look past it because this album is just so good.

Favorite Song: “Turn On Me”


16. Feist – The Reminder
Yeah yeah…the iPod girl. She’s also a former member of the Canadian super-collective, Broken Social Scene. She’s also a fantastic songwriter. She also has a voice that can do pretty much any style you want to hear. This album is simultaneously fun and beautiful. How’d she pull that off?

Favorite Song: “I Feel it All”


15. Keren Ann – Keren Ann
I enjoyed her first two albums a great deal, but I was in no way prepared for the extreme beauty of this album. Her voice has that effortlessly beautiful quality to it. I could listen to her sing about nothing in particular for days on end.

Favorite Song: “Between the Flatlands and the Caspian Sea”

14. Bloc Party – A Weekend in the City
A rock album with so many different twists and turns that I don’t even know where to start. The intro to “The Prayer” is a combination of stomping, clapping and humming that erupts into some sort of new wave/Sonic Youth-ish breakdown. “Uniform” starts out slow and plodding (the opening line is “There was a sense of disappointment as we left the morgue”), snakes its way through some great harmonies, before finally exploding into thundering drums, raging guitars, and the words of a lead singer that you can almost see freaking out in the studio as he’s singing. All in all, one of the most creative rock albums in recent memory.

Favorite Song: “Uniform”


13. Elvis Perkins – Ash Wednesday
After listening to the first minute of this album, I assumed it would be another folkish-pop coffee-shop singer-songwriter. I was sorely (and thankfully) mistaken. The first song (“While You Were Sleeping”) eventually becomes a full-on music extravaganza, with all sorts of instruments blaring by the end of the song. While he does fall into the standard folk-pop set at times, it’s not really a big deal. Partly because the rest of the album is so creative, beautiful and entertaining that those moments can be forgiven, but mostly because even those songs have an amazing amount of feeling poured into them.

Favorite Song: “While You Were Sleeping”


12. Josh Ritter – The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
Over the span of just a couple of albums, Josh Ritter has gone from “pretty good singer-songwriter” to “one of the most creative forces in music.” How did that happen?! The signs were all there, but most people just weren’t looking for them. With this album, Mr. Ritter leaves little doubt that he will be making great music for years to come. It couldn’t have happened to a better guy.

Favorite Song: “The Temptation of Adam”


11. Pharoahe Monch – Desire
There are so many elements that make this a great album. Musically, Pharoahe nods towards rock, blues, soul, gospel, funk, and more. All of this while still paying homage to the old school hip-hop that he so obviously loves. What really drives this album forward, though, is Pharoahe’s style. There’s an anger and urgency in his voice that reminds me of Chuck D in his prime (which is most evident in his cover of Public Enemy’s “Welcome to the Terrordome”). It’s hard to pay a higher compliment than that.

Favorite Song: “Free”


10. Minipop – A New Hope
I haven’t heard a noiseish-pop album like this since Morella’s Forest’s The Tiny Lights of Heaven…or, at the very least, since The Lassie Foundation’s El Dorado LP. Layers upon layers of guitars and keyboards create a perfect backdrop for Tricia Kanne’s beautiful vocals. This album was widely overlooked this year, which is extremely unfortunate. If you haven’t heard this album yet, you really need to do so in the not-too-distant future.

Favorite Song: “Generator”


9. Bishop Allen – The Broken String
Pop music that is both catchy and quirky. Again, there’s nothing necessarily groundbreaking on this album…it’s just a great album full of fantastic pop songs. You can find Bishop Allen nestled somewhere between the older pop generation (like The Kinks) and the newer pop generation (like The Shins).

Favorite Song: “Rain”


8. The Good, The Bad & The Queen – The Good, The Bad & The Queen
This was an early number one pick for me this year. Oh how the mighty have fallen. It ends the year at number eight, which is still pretty darn good. Two things make this album a great listen: 1.) the long absent bass lines of Paul Simonon (formerly of The Clash) making their triumphant return, and 2.) the production of Danger Mouse. And the percussion of Tony Allen (formerly of Africa 70). And the guitar playing of Simon Tong (from The Verve). Oh yeah…that Damon Albarn guy isn’t so bad, either.

Favorite Song: “History Song”


7. William Fitzsimmons – Goodnight
Another widely (and criminally) overlooked album. It’s a shame, as this is a beautiful and heartbreaking story of a family that is falling part, as seen through the eyes of all of its members. It is set to music that grabs influences from folk, pop, and even a little electronica. This album is a lyrical and musical masterpiece.

Favorite Song: “Everything Has Changed”


6. Lupe Fiasco – Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool
Lame album title aside, this is the hip-hop album of 2007. It might belong higher up than #6 overall, but it came out late in the year and I haven’t listened to it as much as some of the other albums on this list. As little as three weeks ago, this album was sitting at #10. Just goes to show how good this is. There’s a little bit of everything on here: pop (“Superstar”), faux-disco (“Hi-Definition”), guitar funk (“Gold Watch”), and, of course, hip-hop. He also has the smoothest flow I have heard in quite some time. It’s fun. It’s creative. It’s Lupe. If you care about hip-hop at all, you will love this album.

Favorite Song: “Streets on Fire”


5. Iron & Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog
Ol’ Sam Beam finally got sick of people saying that his songs were boring and never went anywhere. He added a ton of percussion, layers of instruments, and even threw some effects on his voice. The result is an album that brims with texture and is infinitely listenable. He hinted at a transformation in this direction with Woman King and In the Reins (his collaboration with Calexico), but I don’t think anyone saw something this fantastic in his immediate future.

Favorite Song: “Flightless Bird, American Mouth”


4. Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha
I didn’t like Andrew Bird’s previous albums, and only listened to this one to say that I gave him a fair shot. But, as it turns out, I liked this album. A lot. Aside from his obviously huge music IQ (and equally huge vocabulary), he has an amazing voice, and he really shows it off on this album. There are moments when he sounds like a reincarnated Jeff Buckley…and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Favorite Song: “Armchairs”


3. The National – Boxer
Dark and thundering and gorgeous…this album is all of those things. This is one of those albums that shows you something new with each and every listen. For that reason, it only gets better with every listen.

Favorite Song: “Slow Show”


2. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Up until about 30 seconds ago, this was my #1 album. I can’t tell you what changed, but something did. So here it sits at #2…but not by much. This album is mind-blowingly good. Funeral is very good…I will not debate that. But, in my mind, this album blows that album out of the water. The absolute hugeness of the organ on “Intervention”; the perfect explosions of noise at the end of “Ocean of Noise” and “My Body is a Cage”; the upbeat craziness of “(Antichrist Television Blues)”; I love it all. There is not a flaw on this album.

Favorite Song: “Ocean of Noise”


1. Radiohead – In Rainbows
I know I’m predictable. But I can’t help it. This album was amazing to begin with, and then, when the second disc came out, it pushed it right to the top. Here’s the real question: is this album #1 because Radiohead is my favorite band, or is Radiohead my favorite band because they continue to put out albums that are so good I have no choice but to rank them #1? I’m almost positive it’s the latter.

Favorite Song: “All I Need”

Have a problem with my list? Have one that you think is better? Leave it in the comments.

Radiohead - In Rainbows

I hesitate to even write anything about this album. It seems like I can’t even walk by a magazine (or newspaper) anymore without people talking about it. I won’t get into anything in this space other than the music itself…you know, how it’s supposed to be.
I’ve talked to some of you about this already, so I apologize if this entire review sounds like I’m repeating myself. I probably am.
As with many albums that I have grown to love, I didn’t really love this album right off the bat. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. My feelings on this album pretty much follow how I felt about every new Radiohead album. Perhaps my expectations are always too high. It’s alright, though…by the end, those expectations have normally been exceeded.
The first song of the album, “15 Step”, begins with a glitchy, stop-and-start computer beat…pretty much exactly what you would expect after listening to Thom Yorke’s “solo” album. When his voice comes in, it’s, well…a bit odd. It almost sounds like an alien. I don’t really know how else to explain it. As the song progresses, we see some more instrumentation added to the mix…Phil Selway’s masterfully precise drumming, and some excellent guitar work from Jonny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien. Colin Greenwood’s bass is always in the background, driving the song along. In fact, as I listen to this song, I am reminded once again at how well Colin and Phil work together. They really make quite an amazing rhythm section. And still the song evolves: a slightly startling children’s choir, some record scratches. I wasn’t in love with this song on first listen, but it did make me glad to have Radiohead back.
“Bodysnatchers” is a straight rock song. It sounds like it could’ve come from either The Bends or Hail to the Thief…it actually reminds me a bit of “2+2=5”. At about the two-minute mark, they briefly take a break from the “rock”, while Thom sings, “Has the light gone out for you? Because the light’s gone out for me,” over a eerie guitar line. It isn’t too long, though, before they kick it back into high gear, ending with Thom singing franticly while Jonny makes noises on his guitar like it was 1995.
“Reckoner” and “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” are two songs, that, while upbeat, I can’t necessarily bill them as full-out “rock songs”. I’m constantly amazed, though, at how Radiohead can write a song that can have moments of such intensity, without really getting too loud. “Jigsaw” starts out steady enough, but eventually explodes into a flood of music, vocals, and awesomeness. “Reckoner” starts out with some fantastic sounding drums and a soothing, bordering on neo-jazz guitar line. Thom’s voice comes in, and everything else seems to fade into the background for a little bit. The more I listened to it, though, the more instrumentation I heard. It really is a song that gets better with every listen.
There are a number of slower songs, as well. “Faust Arp” is a gorgeous little song, featuring a folkish guitar line backed with a building string section (courtesy of Jonny). “Nude” is a lush, soothing song with an ending reminiscent of a scene from The Little Mermaid (I know…I know. Just listen to it, though, and you’ll see what I mean). I’ve heard “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” described as a jazz song, and I just don’t get it. Perhaps some of the guitar work could possibly described as jazz-ish, but I would not classify it as a jazz song. There may be a bit of jazz (as well as classical) influence in the song, but to call it a jazz song is not really accurate. “House of Cards” is the one song that I may have cut out of the album if it were up to me. It’s not that the song is bad, it just isn’t nearly as good as the rest of the album.
“All I Need” is probably my favorite song on the album. It’s a low, synth-driven, eerie song, backed with drums that may one day be sampled into a hip-hop song. It almost feels like a song that Bjork would have recorded for an earlier album (Vespertine, most likely).
The album comes to a perfect close with “Videotape”, a song that starts with a solo piano, slowly begins to build (behind Thom’s voice and some erratic percussion), but never really takes off. It sounds boring, but I can assure you that it is not.
If I were to sum up this album in one word, it would be this: unprocessed. It has been a mark of Radiohead albums since OK Computer that they are extremely processed. The instruments, as well as Thom’s voice. On this album, they pretty much stripped all of that away. Everything is out there, unbound by the shackles of “studio magic”. After listening to this album, I don’t think they could have made it any better if they had processed to their heart’s content.
This is a masterful album that only gets better with each listen. Watch out, kids… Radiohead is back, and it doesn’t look like they’re going away.

Rating: 9.7

Favorite Tracks: “All I Need”, “Reckoner”, “Jigsaw Falling Into Place”

Check out their website, or preorder the CD from The Rooftop.