After a long deep thought, I finally pulled together my top 10:
1) Death Cab For Cutie / Narrow Stairs / "Cath..." (Why is this not played on The Current?)
An great album from an great band. 'Nuff said.
2) Adele / 19 / "Daydreamer"
Probably one of the best singers of this past decade.
3) The Hold Steady / Stay Positive / "Magazines"
What is there to say?
4) Fleet Foxes / Fleet Foxes / "Oliver James"
They bring 60's rock and folk and make it cool again.
5) Bon Iver / For Emma, Forever Ago / "Skinny Love" (duh)
One of the best releases of this DECADE.
6) Los Campesinos! / Hold On Now Younster / "Knee Deep At ATP"
I really love this band. One of, if not the most energetic album of the year. A ton of fun.
7) She & Him / Volume 1 / "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?"
From Actress to Musician, Zooey Deschanel does a pretty good job.
8) Ra Ra Riot / The Rhumb Line / "Can You Tell"
The most under rated band of this year make a great album.
9) Coldplay / Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends / "42"
They used to be a sad sappy band and now sound like a normal Alt. band. This album may appeal to fans of indie rock.
10) Atmosphere / When Life Gives You Lemons... / "Yesterday" (Why is this not played on The Current?)
The indie hip-hop duo just keeps getting better. Slug sounds best when he's got real instruments behind him.
*Vampire Weekend's album should be in here but its not.
*Also, I love MGMT's "Time To Pretend" but I don't have the album so it can't be in my top ten, I haven't heard all of it.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Fleet Foxes Concert
The Fleet Foxes concert on Saturday at The Cedar Cultural Center was really really nice. I went to the early show at 5:30 as...the late show at 9:00 was sold out. I stood in line outside the Cedar for about 10 minutes waiting for something to happen. Something finally did. The doors opened and we walked in. Since my dad and I had ordered tickets ahead of time our tickets were in Will Call. It turned out that they didn't even print our tickets so they stamped our hands. We waited in the 95 degree huge large room for about 15 to 20 minutes until some guy in a pink Hawaiian and pink tinted glasses came out and told the sweaty crowd about The Cedar and about how if us "Hipsters" went on the "The international network of computers" and went on "the world wide web" we could find the Cedar's website and we could see the calendar of concerts there. For those "Unhipsters" there was a printed newsletter that could be delivered to your door step.
Soon afterward the opening act came on. His name was "Frank Fairfield" and he played Woody Guthrie-influenced folk and blues music on the Ukulele, Fiddle, and Guitar. (Not all at once though) He came on to do about 7 or 8 songs and then left. He had a really interesting Woody Guthrie-esque voice and didn't talk to the audience except for introducing the songs. It was hard to tell if his songs were covers or not. But he was really good.
Fleet Foxes proceed Frank in 15 minutes after he was done. They started off by talking a bit to the audience and then started right in to their first track on their self-titled album "Sun It Rises" which is a track I am not very familiar with. They continued to play through playing some of my favorites such as "White Winter Hymnal", "Ragged Wood" while in between making jokes about Sarah Palin's debate comments about John McCain as a 'Maverick' Of course that was funny and they continued that theme with everything they talked about throughout the whole concert, also Robin the lead singer continued to mention that it it was 1 hundred and 50 degrees in the room. The band took a break and left the frontman Robin to play solo for his song "Oliver James" and then rejoined them to continue their 2 hour set. They continued to play some of their more popular songs such as 'He Doesn't Know Why" and "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" They finished around 5:05 and then came back on for a 3 to 5 song encore. They finished around 7:35 finishing with "Blue Ridge Mountains" and rather well-known song by the Cedar crowd.
Overall a great concert. You can find videos of the concert at: www.youtube.com/Billthemiddleagedcat
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Gnarls Barkley's The Odd Couple
1. Charity Case: 5/5
Great opening track. The drums and bass start the song off and it sounds great. Really great tune.
2. Who's Gonna Save My Soul Now: 5/5
Really great as well. The acoustic guitar sounds really great. The drums are crisp sounding, very well produced.
3. Going On: 5/5
Wow! This on is really great. Cee-Lo's vocals are really great as well as the backing vocals. Really catchy.
4. Run (I'm A Natural Disaster): 5/5
Another great tune. This one's pretty fast paced. Yet another catchy tune off "The Odd Couple."
5. Would Be Killer: 4/5
A pretty interesting track. The instruments are a bit strange and there is this backward cymbal throughout the whole song.
6. Open Book: 3/5
Pretty Mediocre. This one has a drum machine in it and Cee-Lo sorta screams throughout all of it. His vocals also have an echo effect on it.
7. Whatever: 5/5
This sounds a lot like 60's pop music. the guitar effects make it sound that way. The whole beat of the song makes it that way too. Cee-Lo's vocals are pretty distorted.
8. Surprise: 5/5
Another 60's sounding track. The handclaps, female backing vocals, and the drum beat make it 60's sounding.
9. No Time Soon: 4/5
The drums on this one are interesting. They are distorted but crisp at the same time. Very different from Gnarls tracks.
10. She Knows: 5/5
Yet another retro sounding track. The handclaps add to it a lot. A really cool song overall.
11. Blind Mary: 5/5
The Beginning of this track sounds like an old jingle for some product in the 60's, which comes back throughout the song. For someone new to Gnarls this is a great example of Cee-Lo's great lyrical song writing.
12. Neighbors: 5/5
This track is really well produced. It sounds really full and big. The drums are great.
13. A Little Better: 5/5
A jazzy and retro sounding song. The bass sounds great. Nice album closer. Also its co-produced by Nigel Godrich.
Best: Who's Gonna Save My Soul
Favorite: Blind Mary
Weakest: Open Book
Next Single: Blind Mary (I hope)
Songs for someone new to Gnarls Barkley besides "Crazy:" A Little Better, She Knows, and Surprise
Gnarls Barley are:
Cee-Lo Green (Vocals)
Danger Mouse (Piano, Organ, Keyboard, Percussion at times and Producer)
(and other various musicians not credited)
WARNING: THIS ALBUM IS REALLY WELL PRODUCED SO LISTEN TO IT ON A GOOD SOUND SYSTEM FOR BEST RESULTS.
Album grade: A
Death Cab For Cutie's Narrow Stairs
1. Bixby Canyon Bridge: 5/5
Great. Almost progressive sounding. The lyrics reference Jack Keroac. The guitars are great, big and loud sounding.
2. I Will Possess Your Heart: 5/5
Great again. These guys can’t write a bad song. The bass is great as well as the drums.
3. No Sunlight: 5/5
Nice, short and to the point. A nice pop/rock tune from Death Cab. Nick's bass is great.
4. Cath…: 5/5
Great again! These guitar parts are amazing. WOW.
5. Taking Bird: 3/5
eh. This one’s sorta boring, the weakest track on the album. In and interview Ben Gibbard said it sounds like Neil Young. Whatever. The tamborine is a bit too much.
6. You Can Do Better Then Me: 4/5
Interesting. The organ is strange. Sounds like a holiday song. The drums are cool. It’s one of the shortest tracks in Death Cab history.
7. Grapevine Fires: 5/5
One of the highlights on the album. Everything fits nicely. The drums are fantastic.
8. Your New Twin-Sized Bed: 5/5
Another fantastic track. The guitar parts go together well. Clever lyrics too.
9. Long Division: 5/5
Another great tune. Nice guitar. One of the only Death Cab songs with a solo.
10. Pity And Fear: 4/5
Very eerie sounding. The drum sample sounds like Indian drums.
11. The Ice Is Getting Thinner: 4/5
Pretty good. The lyrics are great but its really mellow and doesn’t have any drums.
Best Track: Cath…
Favorite: Grapevine Fires
Weakest: Talking Bird
Next Single: dunno. Hmm…
Song for someone new to DCFC besides "I Will Follow You...:" Long Division, Your New Twin-Sized Bed and Grapevine Fires
Death Cab For Cutie is: Ben Gibbard, (vocals, guitar, keys) Chris Walla, (guitar, vocals, keys producer) Nick Harmer, (bass, vocals on I Will Possess... and Jason Mcgerr (drums and percussion)
Album grade: A
Friday, August 22, 2008
The Hold Steady's Stay Positive
This is my favorite album of the year so far. A MUST have. the rating system goes by stars with songs (e.g 3/5) and letter grades for the overall album.
1. Constructive Summer: 5/5
Nice song to start the album. The first thing you hear is Tad’s punk sounding guitar and then you know it’s going to be amazing. The nod to Joe Strummer is cool: “Raise a toast to Saint Joe Strummer /I think he might be our only decent teacher.”
2.Sequestered In Memphis: 5/5
Another solid track from HS. It’s obviously the hit and the first single. Just great.
3.One For The Cutters: 3/5
Not the best track. It’s pretty boring. Craig’s lyrics seem to lack something. The end is better then the beginning. Too much Harpsichord.
4. Navy Sheets: 4/5
Another quality track. The keyboards really add to the song. It wouldn’t be good without it.
5. Lord, I’m Discouraged: 5/5
This could be The Drive-By Truckers. Craig’s vocals sound a bit like Patterson Hood. It’s one of his more religious sounding tracks. It’s pretty long as far as most HS songs go. Tad’s solo is amazing. Totally classic rock sounding.
6. Yeah Sapphire: 5/5
This is one of the highlights on the album. Everything works. Guitars, keys, vox, drums and bass. Everything. It all comes together nice. Nice reference to St.Paul.
7. Both Crosses: 2/5
Very eerie sounding. More religious references. Pretty lame lyrics. This song doesn’t work with the rest of the album. In an interview with Craig he said it was a studio experiment that worked. Well, it didn’t. J.Mascis from Dinosaur Jr. plays banjo.
8. Stay Positive: 5/5
The title track is great. A bit like the Hold Steady’s first rap song but not really. The backing vocals are great by Tad and Franz.
9. Magazines: 5/5
Another highlight. Such a great song. Sort of a contemporary of “Yeah Sapphire.” This is the first and only time where you hear just Tad singing.
10. Joke About Jamaica: 3/5
An only ok track. It has some Led Zep references, which is strange and interesting at the same time. You can hear the piano a lot more on this tune. The solo is great as well as the talk box.
11. Slapped Actress: 5/5
Really great ending song. Another 5 minute-er as usual at the end of the album. Classic rock sounding. Really huge sounding. Really great as well.
Best song: Sequestered In Memphis
Personal Favorite: Magazines
Weakest: Both Crosses
Next Single: Magazines or Yeah Sapphire hopefully.
Album grade: A+
Bonus Tracks:
12 A. Ask For Her Adderall: 4/5
Sounds like song that would be on Boys and Girls In America. Really fast paced. Just keeps going.
12 B. Cheyenne Sunrise: 4/5
Really mellow sounding. Maybe it’s a continuation of “Yeah Sapphire.” The lyrics are similar. Sounds like Billy Bragg but the lyrics mention Al Green and Barry White.
12 C. Two Handed Handshake: 4/5
Sounds like a more rockier version of the previous track although it has some horns and female vocals.
Bonus Tracks grade: A-
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