What I'm listening to these days

Let's try to get through a bunch of stuff I've listened to. Quick hits. Here we go.

TV On the Radio - Dear Science,

Typically brilliant stuff. They go from Prince-esque funk to glitchy electro to string-laden ballads to creepy bedtime stories, all without blinking an eye. I loved Return to Cookie Mountain, but I think I like this one better. Just fantastic stuff.

Rating: 5/5
Favorite Song: "DLZ"

Doug Burr - On Promenade

A great folk singer, but he also adds bits of noise and gospel into the mix for good measure. He has a great voice, and a real gift for musical arrangements. To call it a folk record is to miss the greatness of it. There are a couple of songs that aren't great, but when the rest of it is so fantastic, the "down moment" aren't really that big of a deal.

Rating: 4.5/5
Favorite Song: "In the Garden"

Kings of Leon - Only by the Night

I've never been a big fan of theirs, but their great performance on SNL prompted me to check this album out. It's a bit spotty, but when it's on, it's really on. Their best work on this album is the best work of their career. I'm a big fan of the lead singer's voice...it kind of reminds me of the lead singer from Polarboy. Who didn't love that reference?

Rating: 3.5/5
Favorite Song: "Use Somebody"

Cherry Ghost - Thirst for Romance

I'm a sucker for big pop songs, and Cherry Ghost does them very well. They also mix a bit of country into their stuff from time to time, and it sounds great. They kind of sound like Coldplay, but that's mainly because there's a British guy singing pop music.

Rating: 4/5
Favorite Song: "Dead Man's Suit"

Coldplay - Viva la Vida

Since I just referenced them, I might as well talk about their new album. This album is light years better than X&Y, but that's kind of like saying that eating grass is better than eating human beings. It's not a bad album...in fact, there are a number of really good songs on the album. If this album was terrible, I would've written off Coldplay forever. It's possible that this album is just delaying the inevitable...or they could be back on the path to greatness.

Rating: 3.5/5
Favorite Song: "Death and All His Friends"

Throw Me the Statue - Moonbeams

A nice little summery pop album, filled with fuzzed-out instrumentations, drum machines, and vocals that are usually somewhere between good and mediocre. It's catchy, it's fun, and it's great to play with the windows down. It's not a great album, but it's a good album.

Rating: 3/5
Favorite Song: "About to Walk"

Shearwater - Rook

So...these guys really like Talk Talk, huh? I don't mean that in a bad way...in fact, I love this album. Rarely can a band show it's influences as obviously as Shearwater does and still put out an album as great as this. Grand sweeping pop songs infused with noise and a hint of classical influences.

Rating: 5/5
Favorite Song: "Home Life"

Beck - Modern Guilt

Quite possibly my favorite Beck album. He is, fairly consistently, the most electic and exciting artist. With every album he does something new and different. On this album, he pares down his electro and hip-hop wanderings in favor of a psych-rock direction. Beck & Dangermouse make a glorious team...let's do it again, fellas.

Rating: 5/5
Favorite Song: "Youthless"

The Shortwave Set - Replica Sun Machine

A nice little psych-pop album. I like it...but I don't love it. They seem creative enough, and they have a pretty cool sound, but I've never been blown-away by this album...which I think it what they're going for. Check it out, but don't expect to have a mind-bending experience.

Rating: 3/5
Favorite Song: "Glitches 'n' Bugs"

Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs - Dirt Don't Hurt

A big, stomping country album. It sounds like this album was recorded 70 years ago in a barn with dirt floors, the entire thing done in one frantic session. Whiskey bottles and lined up and clouds of dirt fill the barn, yet the recording session continues, on into the night. If I were a big country fan, this would probably be my new favorite album. As it is, I just like it quite a bit.

Rating: 4/5
Favorite Song: "Bottom Below"

Grand Archives - The Grand Archives

As you all well know, I'm a sucker for a good pop song. This album has quite a few of them. I'm not a huge fan of the entire album, but there are enough great songs on here ("Torn Blue Foam Couch", "Sleepdriving", etc.) to keep me coming back. It's not that the "off" songs are bad, they're just not nearly as good as the great ones. I guess that's not really a bad problem to have.

Rating: 3.5/5
Favorite Song: "Torn Blue Foam Couch"

Amanda Jenssen - Killing My Darlings

What a voice. She can jump from horn-laden soul music (a la Dusty Springfield) to nu-soul (a la Amy Winehouse) to ska-ish pop to slow-building ballads...all without batting an eye. While the genre-jumping can be a little distracting sometimes, she's so good at them all that it doesn't really matter all that much.

Rating: 3.5/5
Favorite Song: "For the Sun"

Jesper Norda - Little Ones EP

The first song, "Tomorrow You Will Be Forgiven but Tonight You Will Have Your Teeth Knocked Out" is an absolutely gorgeous, piano-driven song. It sounds like a song that Matt Behringer (from The National) would alone in his apartment after a long night out on the town. It's fast becoming one of my favorite songs of the year. Unfortunately, the rest of the EP is not too good. It's worth checking out for the first song, though. And, since it's a free download, you can do just that.

Rating: 2/5
Favorite Song: "Tomorrow You Will Be Forgiven but Tonight You Will Have Your Teeth Knocked Out"

There's more...oh, there's always more. I'll stop here for now, though.
Thoughts?

Band of the Week: The Daysleepers

Discography:

2008 Drowned in a Sea of Sound

Rating:

3/5

Thoughts:

The first song reminds me of “Don’t Fear the Reaper”. They have a cool, shoegazy-pop sound, and I was immediately drawn in. The more I listened to it, though, the less impressive it sounded. It’s not that the songs were bad, it’s just that they all seem to blend together. There were times they reminded me of Bloomsday and The Lassie Foundation, so that was pretty cool. Overall, it’s not a bad album...there’s just not much to it. It’s nice if you’re looking for a airy, noisy summer album.

Favorites:

“Release the Kraken”

Next week: Black Kids

Concert Reviews

I've been slacking again. Sorry. There are only so many times I can apologize for this behavior before you all realize that it's not a valid excuse.
Over the course of a little more than a month, I went to 3 pretty amazing concerts. I will now share those concerts with you...well, as much as I can, anyway.

Tom Waits: June 29 @ The Civic Auditorium in Knoxville, TN
Attendees: Me, Brittney

Do you want to see a true performer? Someone who treats a live show like theatre? Someone who knows how to put on a show, as well as play some ridiculously awesome music? Tom Waits is that man.
He came out onto the stage, stepped onto his own personal riser, and threw himself into an amazing rendition of "Lucinda" (not one of my favorite songs of his, but this live version was unreal). As he sang, he stomped on his rider, letting loose a cloud of dust that rose and fell...rose and fell...until it was a dense cloud about waist high. Words can't quite describe the look of this, but it looked great, and we were hooked.
We were sitting about 12 rows back, left-center of the stage. Great seats. We could see everything perfectly. Yet, I was left to wonder: what does one have to do to get closer? I got on the second they went on sale, and purchased them within 45 seconds (I was prepared). And yet, somehow all those people had gotten in ahead of me? I refuse to believe that, but I guess I don't know what else it could be. Don't misunderstand me: I'm not complaining. We had amazing seats. Just musing, is all.
We had seen Tom Waits once before (at the Louisville Palace in 2006), but I think this show blew that show out of the water. The biggest difference was the band: at the Palace show, he was touring with Duke Robillard, a renowned blues guitarist. The problem laid with him. Robillard was good, but his playing was just too smooth. A Tom Waits guitarist needs to make a guitar sound rusty; like he's banging out the songs on 50-year-old strings that he's not altogether familiar with. The band behind Waits this time were fantastic, and they really brought out the rawness of the music. The guitars were nasty, the percussion was huge, and the horns/harmonica sounded like they were coming out of a radio. The sound was perfect.
The sound was perfect, and the performance was magnificent. He jumped all over with his song selections: "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis", "Chocolate Jesus", "Innocent When You Dream", "Falling Down", "God's Away on Business", etc. He closed with "Come On Up to the House", a perfect closing song.
My favorite song that he did was "9th and Hennepin". I've always loved his narratives that show up on albums, and this was one of his first. I always felt that there was something missing. I always thought, "If he did that today, it would sound competely different. I'm sure he could make it better." And he did. With the band lurking in the background, Tom stood in the middle of the stage, with nothing more than a single lightbulb hanging directly to his right that would flicker on and off...on and off. Again, I can't explain it in words, but it was much better than the album version. Breathtaking, even. He is a terrific songwriter, but his passion has always seemed to be storytelling. That passion was on full display on this performance. For me, it was one of the best "songs" I have ever seen performed live.
If you get the chance to see Tom Waits, don't pass it up. He doesn't tour often, but, when he does, it's worth the price to see him.

She & Him: July 30 @ The Mercy Lounge in Nashville, TN
Attendees: Me, Sharon, Kari, Flash, Matthew

The Mercy Lounge is a small club in Nashville. There couldn't have been more than a couple of hundred people there. We got there early, so we were able to get really close to the stage. There were only two people between us and the stage, so that was cool. Unfortunately, those people were jackass high school kids, one of whom was auditioning to be Andy Samberg. These guys didn't buy tickets in advance: they opted to wait outside and bug everyone until they got tickets...then they muscled their way to the front of the crowd and refused to leave, deciding it would be much better for everyone if them and their sweaty heads bopped directly in front of the stage. There was also a creepy bald guy who raised his hands above his head and muttered "Zooeyzooeyzooey" over and over again, trying to touch her at every opportunity (he never succeeded). When she went to sit at the piano, he shoved his way over, trying to look up her dress. When he couldn't get in prime creep position, he left. Just walked out the door. I kept waiting for him to come back, but he never did. We were all excited about that.
Now...the music.
Charlie Louvin opened the show. And, while he's 300 years old, he actually put on a good show. He didn't move much, but his band was good, and he still has a decent voice. He looked like he was having fun, and that's really all that matters. He made a number dirty old man comments, and talked about his "ladycrippling" guitarist way too much (to the point that the guitarist was visibly uncomfortable), but it's all good. He's old, and I give him leeway.
She & Him took the stage to massive applause...the lead singer is a movie star, after all. Once they started playing, the noise died down, and you could actually hear the music...which was nice. They had a wonderful backing band, including a guitarist who looked like Billy Connolly, a drummer who looked like The Boss, an extremely pregnant bass player, and a space cadet for a back-up singer (who I found out was Becky Stark, aka Lavendar Diamond. She sang one of her songs, and it was terrible...glad she wasn't the opening band).
Zooey was fantastic. Her voice sounded just as good (if not better) than it does on the album. She was nice and smiley and seemed genuinely happy to be there, which was pretty cool. She didn't move a whole lot, but she liked to rock the tamborine quite a bit. She played the piano on a couple of songs, too, so that was cool. She also jumped up and down like a crazy person during "Sweet Darlin'". She was smiling so big you couldn't help but love it.
M. Ward was probably my favorite part of the show. He knew he wasn't the main attraction, so he just kind of slunk around in the background at first. As the show went on, he ventured out onto the stage a little more. When he rocked out his guitar solos (which he did on occasion), all eyes were on him. He had a look on his face the entire time, like he was surveying the crowd and saying to himself, "I'm better than that person, and that person, and that person...". It killed me. By the end of the show, people seemed to be less focused on Zooey and more focused on the band as a whole.
While I don't remember the exactly setlist, I do know that they played everything on their album, as well as some other songs. They played a new song (I don't remember the title), and they also did a cover of Joni Mitchell's "You Turn Me On I'm a Radio", and that was pretty cool. They came back out for the encore with some friends, including Jack White's model wife (no...not Meg). During the last song, David Rawlings crept onto the stage and started playing guitar. It wasn't until halfway through the song that anyone knew they were there. By the end of that song, Gillian Welch had appeared out of nowhere. Because of their new friends, they launched into one last impromtu song. It was a little rusty, but everyone looked to be enjoying themselves.
Great show. It was well worth the paltry $20 they were charging. Good times all around.

Radiohead: August 3 @ Verizon Wireless Music Center in Noblesville, IN
Attendees: Me, Ben

First off, I have to say that this concert worked out extremely well. Ben is a good friend of mine, but he lives in the DC area, so I don't get to see him very much. This concert happened to fall on his birthday, so he drove down and we went together. Above seeing my favorite band, that really made the show for me.
We got there a little late, and found out that parking was free. Always good news. We got into the venue (outdoor) after being searched and whatnot, and found that the opening act, Grizzly Bear, had already started. The last time I had seen Radiohead, we drove to Wisconsin, got there late, and missed Steve Malkmus & The Jicks due to the extreme unorganization of the people putting on the show. I was mad about that. Coming in late for Grizzly Bear? I really didn't care. I know a lot of people like them, but I really don't. The majority of their set (what we heard of it, anyway), was more background music than anything. There were a couple of occasions where I actually got mad at how bad the song was. I had purchased Yellow House when it was released, based on all the good reviews I had read. When we got back from the show, I took it off my shelf, put it in a bag, and sold it to CD Central within 5 days. That's how unimpressed I was with Grizzly Bear's live show.
Fan note: directly in front of us were two high school kids, a boy and a girl. I think they spent more time sucking face and sucking cigarettes than they did actually watching the show. At one point, I looked down to see them on their blanket. He had a cigarette in one hand and a Slim Jim in the other. She had a cigarette in her hand. I watched him take a bite of the Slim Jim, then take a drag from his cigarette. She also took a drag from her cigarette. They exhaled, then promptly began making out. My face twisted in disgust. I guess I just don't understand kids these days.
It took Radiohead a little bit to get to the stage. It was getting dark by the time they started playing, but it was well worth the wait. I have never left a show and said to myself, "Wow...now that was a good light show," but I did after this show. The screens and lights were more artistic than any other show I had been to. They weren't distracting; in fact, they seemed to add something to the show.
They kicked off with "15 Step", then broke into "Bodysnatchers", which led to Ben and I looking at each other and wondering if they were going to play the entire In Rainbows album in order. But then they played "There There" and dashed that thought. They still played the entire In Rainbows album, but just not in order.
Highlights: "The Gloaming" was surprisingly great. This was never one of my favorite songs off of Hail to the Thief, but there was a different kind of energy in this version. "Climbing Up the Walls" was completely unexpected...and utterly mindblowing. The sound that came from that song seemed to fill up the entire area we were in...and it was an outdoor venue! I always preferred the live version of "Idioteque" to the album version, and this time was no different...only this version of "Idioteque" is the best one I have ever heard. There was a breakdown at the end that seemed to come out of nowhere. "Karma Police" is always great, and it was no different here. They played "Bangers and Mash", which I liked pretty well on the album, but this version (once again) had a whole other level of energy in it. So good.
About halfway through the show, they played "Videotape". Ben and I were back quite a ways, but we could still see mini-Radiohead playing on the stage. The sky was gorgeous: there were clouds, but they were lit by the lights of the stage, giving them an eerie sense of movement. I found myself staring at the clouds as the song came to its crashing climax. I imagined a comet coming down through the clouds and smashing into the stage, while the sounds from the song continued to fill up the air. As the song gradually died down a little bit, I was still staring at the clouds. The song ended, and everyone erupted into applause. Ben looked a little dazed. He turned to me and said, "You know...I could die right now and not have a single problem with it."
"I feel the same way," I responded.
Ah...Radiohead.


I'm going to try to get back to writing more. I figure I'll start back up the Band of the Week (we kind of got stalled), and try to write some short reviews of stuff I've been listening to. There's just so much great music out there.
Thanks for reading.

Band of the Week: The Submarines

Background Ramblings:
The members of this band (John Dragonetti and Blake Hazard) dated for a while. Before recording their first album (Declare a New State), they broke up, so they recorded the album in shifts…never in the studio at the same time. After recording the album (filled with songs about their relationship and break-up), they realized they still loved each other. So they got back together and got married (awwwwwww!), then recorded their second album.

Discography:
2006 Declare a New State!
2008 Honeysuckle Weeks

Sharon’s Rating:
3.5/5

Dusty’s Rating:
4/5

Consensus Thoughts:
Fantastic, summery pop music. The instrumentation is fun and inventive. We like their first album better. We love how their voices sound together, and there’s not too much of that on the second album. The second album is good, but it's just not as good as the first one.

Favorites:
“Peace and Hate”, “Hope”, “Darkest Things”, “Maybe”, “Xavia”

Our band for next week is: The Daysleepers.

Discography:
2008 Drowned in a Sea of Sound

Band of the Week: Monomen

Background Ramblings: Synth-pop band from Norway (not to be confused with the Mono Men: a garage rock band from Seattle in the 80s and 90s)

Discography: 2007 Monomen LP

Consensus Rating: 2.5/5

Consensus Thoughts: Definitely fun to listen to! They have a very 80s, synth-rock sound...these sounds are evoking such nostalgia – I can’t believe this is a new album! Makes me want to drive/dance. It reminds me of the band at the end of "Revenge of the Nerds".

However, it's also pretty repetitive. It has some great moments on it, but there are also some songs that I just want to skip every time they come on. Most of these songs fall towards the end of the album, so at least they're fairly easy to avoid. One of these songs is a nine-minute instrumental track that doesn’t really go anywhere. Who thought that was a good idea?

The songs that are good are extremely good...but the songs that are bad are pretty bad. It's not a bad album...just terribly uneven.

Favorites: “Neon”, “Drum of Glass”, "Stand Still Jane Fonda"

Least Favorites: "Stand Still Jane Fonda Part II"

The band for this week is The Submarines. Some info...

Background Ramblings: The members of this band (John Dragonetti and Blake Hazard) dated for a while. Before recording their first album (Declare a New State), they broke up, so they recorded the album in shifts…never in the studio at the same time. After recording the album (filled with songs about their relationship and break-up), they realized they still loved each other. So they got back together and got married (awwwwwww!), then recorded their second album.

Discography:

2006 Declare a New State!

2008 Honeysuckle Weeks

Feel free to join in.

Band of the Week: She & Him

Sorry for the lack of writing. I have no excuses. However, Sharon and I came up with a new idea that we thought we'd share with you.
Every week, we will decide on a band to listen to. We'll listen to their albums, talk about what we like/don't like, and post our thoughts on this blog.
We would like for you to join us. We will post which band we'll be listening to. You are invited to listen to them for that week as well, and post your thoughts in the comments. It's like a book club...with less reading.
We did the first week ourselves, but we'll post the next band at the end.

Our first Band of the Week was She & Him. We're going to see them in Nashville at the end of the month, so we thought it would be a good place to start.

Background Ramblings:
Members - Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward

Discography:
2008 - Volume One

Sharon's Rating:
3/5

Sharon's Thoughts:
I like her voice - it has a good, oldies sound. I also like when M. Ward sings...I wish he sang a little more on the album. The music has a good oldies sound, which I like, but it also sounds a bit unoriginal (even though I know they wrote the majority of the songs).

Favorites:
"Sweet Darlin'"

Dusty's Rating:
4/5

Dusty's Thoughts:

Musically, this album covers a lot of genres: jazz, county, girl group pop, and just "regular" pop. Zooey's unique voice fits all these styles perfectly. This sounds like a classic album, only recently unearthed.

Dusty's Favorites:

"Sentimental Heart", "Change is Hard", "Sweet Darlin'"

There you have it. If you have thoughts on She & Him, post them in the comments.

Next Week:

The Band of the Week for next week is:
Monomen.

Here are some notes to get you started.
Background Ramblings:

Synth-pop group from Norway (not to be confused with the Mono Men: a garage rock group from Seattle in the 80s and 90s).

Discography:

2007 - Monomen LP

Happy listening!

iPod Roulette

Remember when I said I'd be doing a hip-hop battle, then disappeared for 3 weeks? Sorry. I'll get to it eventually, I promise. For now, I'll do another one of these and hope this small gesture will help you to put down the pitchforks.

1. Here Comes Your Man - Pixies (from Doolittle)
A great pop song with a perfect surfish guitar line from the great Joey Santiago. I don't know that the Pixies will ever quite catch on with the masses, and that's a shame. They're one of the greatest (and most influential) bands of all-time, and this song comes from my favorite album of theirs.

2. Melatonin - Radiohead (from Airbag)
A bed of laid-back 80s keyboards saturate this song. By the time Thom starts singing, you can't imagine anyone else singing this song. Short and light and perfect for nighttime listening.

3. Keep Your Head - The Ting Tings (from We Started Nothing)
This song seems pretty much par for the course for The Ting Tings. They can sound pretty obnoxious and childish and borderline unlistenable at times, but that doesn't stop them from being extremely catchy. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I haven't been able to answer that question yet.

4. Watching the Wheels - John Lennon (from Double Fantasy)
The majority of Lennon's solo stuff is pretty hit-or-miss. That is definitely the case for this album...and this song fits squarely into the "hit" category. A good song with a great chorus.

5. The Old Account Was Settled Long Ago - Johnny Cash (from Live at San Quentin)
I love when Cash can take an old gospel song and make it his own. He definitely does that here.

6. It's Not So Bad At All - Matt Pond PA (from Last Light)
This song pretty much sums up my feelings on Matt Pond PA. It's nice, but there's nothing really memorable about it. Yeah, it sounds pretty good, but I never really think to myself, "I really need to hear some Matt Pond PA." It's good to have on in the background, though.

7. The Beast in Me - Johnny Cash (from American Recordings)
A dark song made darker by Cash. There's a hint of sadness and contemplation in this song that comes across by his voice alone. I am amazed how much emotion Cash is able to convey solely through his voice.

8. Don't Go Say That - Grand Theft Bus (from Made Upwards)
This is the first time I've listened to this band. First impression? I'm not really too impressed. It sounds like an emo band that is desperately trying to change its sound, but it's not really taking. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe I need to give them a couple more listens. Perhaps I will...but it's not doing anything for me at the moment.

9. Can't Truss It - Public Enemy (from Power to the People and the Beats)
I have a hard time believing that this song came out in 1991. The beat is fantastic, and there's really nothing like hearing Chuck D in his prime. By listening to this song, it's easy to hear how big an influence Public Enemy continues to have in the world of hip-hop.

10. Deep Dark Well - M. Ward (from Transistor Radio)
I know that M. Ward is a relatively young guy. Still, every time I hear one of his songs, I can't shake the thought that he has been around since the 50s, honing his sound of blues/folk. I don't always love his stuff, but this song is great.

Your turn.