Chris Cornell Hits Rock Bottom

It's almost tragic that the man who brought us Badmotorfinger and Superunknown is now making shitty James Bond-style trip hop with Timbaland, who sounds trapped in 2001.

Chris Cornell has gotten progressively worse since breaking up Soundgarden. First came his unspeakably boring solo albums. Then, the shit show that was Audioslave. Now this utter stinking turd of a record.

Awful Awful Awful.

Here's a link to the AV Club review, which has a stream of one of the songs. Which, bad though it is, was actually cited by the LA Times as the best track on the album! Makes me never want to hear the rest.

And how about that joke of a glamour shot? By my math, Cornell should be pushing 50 by now. Botox can be the only explanation for that look he's sporting. Either that, or they cast him in wax which, given his ego, wouldn't surprise me.

Can't believe this is the same guy who rocked my world at my first real rock concert in the 8th grade.

Chris Cornell, RIP. You officially suck balls.

"Where did you lose this interview?"

A couple of heroes of mine on camera together.

New Bob Dylan!

Tell Tale Signs may havecontained songs recorded over the course of 2 decades, but the vast majority hadn't been heard by anyone. So in effect it was like a new album from Bob Dylan.

And now we get another one... in a little more than month! Very very cool.

Here's the Rolling Stone write-up.

This is the remix

The great thing about the internet is that it used to be when you had too much time on your hands and did stuff like this, only your close friends would every appreciate it. Now, we all can.




Also, in a similar vein, this is awesome (took me a minute to figure out what was going on, but once I did, I was very impressed):

Steve Earle does Townes!

I'm really excited for this Townes Van Zandt tribute album by Quinapalus and my favorite Steve Earle, coming out in May.
You can stream two tracks here. Check out the Tom Morello guitar solo on 'Lungs'!

http://www.newwestrecords.com/SteveEarle

Neko Case's New One...

...is Awesome.

I'll edit this post and write more later, but it's really great. And the credits are like a who's who of indie (and other) rock. (At various times, most of the New Pornographers, Kurt Heasley of the Lilys, Nora O'Connor, Kelly Hogan, Calexico (and their former Giant Sand-mate, Howe Gelb), M. Ward, Lucy Wainwright Roche, and Garth Hudson (plus others who are probably in famous bands but whose names I don't recognize).

And I don't know who Paul Rigby is, but he co-arranged nearly all of the songs, and it all sounds beautiful.

EDIT: Not much more to say actually except that I love the Piano Orchestra concept (check the lengthy NY Times profile of her for pictures/description: LINK)

Also, my favorite thing is that she covered a song by SPARKS. I am going to a post on them at some point soon because they're awesome and not very well known.

Horton Foote

A great American playwright died this week at the age of 92. As I remarked to Drischord, one of the most inspiring things about Horton Foote was that he didn't do his best work until he was in his 60s and 70s, and he was still putting up new plays as late as last year. He won his first Oscar in the 1960s for writing the screenplay for To Kill A Mockingbird, and below is a clip from another Oscar winning movie he wrote in 1983, Tender Mercies. The clip starts out with a couple of pretty great country songs, which in the movie Robert Duvall's character wrote for his ex-wife...and the clip closes with the kind of quiet, subtle, heartbreaking scene that nobody else could write better. Horton Foote will be missed!

I get eaten by the wolves...

I guess these videos had been out there for a while, but I never saw them. This band is amazing.

For What It's Worth...

To the extent that Noble Beast was a "grower," it has now fully "grown" on me. Maybe not quite as strong as Armchair or Mysterious Production but still really good. Took longer to sink in, for sure, but there are some really beautiful songs on here-- I'm especially fond of the late in the album song, "Privateers." Rather than post a link, I'll just encourage each of you to separately go to your legally obtained copies of the album and listen to that track. (You're welcome for the plug, W.S.)

Countdown to Sonic Youth

There's a new Sonic Youth record on the way-- although it's still 3 months off. I read about this one on Pitchfork a few weeks ago (I still value their news reporting, which seems to be independent of their reviews). It's not out until June 9, but I'm still very excited.

I've been listening to a lot of the 3 most recent Sonic Youth albums-- defined by when they suddenly decided they care about melody again. Great records, all. The first two, Murray Street and Sonic Nurse, featured Jim O'Rourke as a full-on member and I sort of credited him for their renaissance. But then he left before they made their most recent record, Rather Ripped, and that one was awesome too. (Not to mention that O'Rourke was already a member on the awful NYC Ghosts and Flowers, so his contributions had been overemphasized in my mind.)

Oh and also, Thurston Moore's most recent solo album, Trees Outside the Academy, is dead-on gorgeous at times. (There are a few noise tracks in there as well, but there are 9 true pop songs that form the core of the record.)

And now former Pavement bassist Mark Ibold is in the band. I saw Pavement live once and didn't think much of anyone's instrumental prowess beyond Malkmus himself, but I'm still intrigued by this combo.

If you haven't heard any of the 3 most recent albums, you owe it to yourself. I'm attaching "Stones" from Sonic Nurse. Awesome song, goes into some jammy stuff in the middle and the end, but never into the noise freak-outs that dragged down would-be cool albums like Washing Machine. It also helps that while Thurston and Lee Ranaldo are at the top of their game, Kim Gordon is as palletteable as she's ever been. (Her songs are still the worst on their respective albums, but there's not the same compulsion to press "skip" that there might have been in the past.)

Here's "Stones"

Checking In

I know it's been awhile since I rapped at you guys, so I wanted to say hey, and to explain that for the past month I've been going through this weird phase where I basically haven't had the desire to listen to anything except Mozart and Miles Davis. Given that I don't have the musical vocabulary to coherently speak about either artist, I thus haven't had much to say on this blog. I'll keep you updated as the situation develops.

A Steely Dan awakening

Spurred in large part by my gf fixing my record player, I have gone vinyl-purchasing crazy on ebay in the last week. My life has changed.
Mostly due to the purchase of 6 Steely Dan LPs which are blowing my mind. I've liked Pretzel Logic, Countdown and Can't But A Thrill for years, but this purchase has opened my mind to the joys of Aja, Gaucho and The Royal Scam. AND THEY SOUND SO GOOD ON VINYL. My god.
I'm not the only person to be turned off by Steely Dan at the outset, but my experience lately only confirms my suspicion that often time records I hate upon first listen eventually become my favorites.
Not to mention the fact that the cheesy aspects of late period SD sound MUCH less cheesy on vinyl.
Just wanted Drischord to know, really. It hasn't been this good since the days of Eric's speakers and Drischord's record player at 125 Willoughby!
Here are the other records I've purchased and are in transit (just because I like to think about it):
4 Elvis Costello records
3 Neil Young records
Astral Weeks
Exile On Mainstreet
Ram
4 Queen records
Fleetwood Mac's Tusk (!!!!!) and Mirage

Besides being in a general February depression, my awakened record player has given me much joy. May you all one day know such pleasure!

In Praise of Elton John

I have nothing highly substantive to say here, but just wanted to share that Elton John is awesome. I took a brief break from the Flaming Lips and listened to Honky Chateau and this guy rules it. I know for some of you (Kittybrains) this is no revelation, and I've always been aware that he has some really great stuff, but I realize now that I really need to invest in sifting through his massive catalogue.

Any Elton highlights out there from you all?

From the Vaults: The Autumn Defense

God knows I love Wilco, but is there a song on Sky Blue Sky that matches the unadulterated beauty of "The Answer" by the Autumn Defense?

This band got a publicity head start by featuring two guys from Wilco, but they also don't get their fair due since they're permanently a "side project" in most people's minds. Do yourself a favor and listen to this record again. Great stuff.

Freak Out vol. 7: The Mainstream

First things first, as promised:



“Hey is that the Flaming Lips?”
“Well it’s not Michael Bolton.”

For a band that has released Zaireeka, made a movie in their backyard featuring an army of marching vaginas, and done more acid than most of us could ever dream of, this remains one of the weirdest moments in their career. You really, really should watch it.

TRANSMISSIONS FROM THE SATELLITE HEART (1993)

This is the point that a lot of people, myself included, check into the Lips chronology. I remember hearing “She Don’t Use Jelly,” being intrigued by its odd qualities, and stumbling across the disc in a used record bin for $7 in Ohio. I bought and, and, well, it hooked me. I’m listening to that very copy right now.

To get the bio stuff out of the way – at this point we’ve lost Donahue and Roberts. They were replaced (respectively) by guitarist Ronald Jones and, of course, drummer Steven Drozd. This is the line-up that in many ways I still think of when I consider the Lips as a unit. Drozd in particular is a massively important addition to the band, as his drumming is just head and shoulders above anything they’ve had previously. When he really cuts lose (like at the end of “Slow Nerve Action”) you can see that he adds that one final missing element to the band – the kind of thing you didn’t even notice was missing, but once it’s there it’s so obvious. I mean, come on, listen to this thing:



Awesome.

Overall, it’s taken my awhile to hear this album as something other than “the album with ‘She Don’t Use Jelly’ on it.” But, that song removed, it’s another really strong album that continues the direction they’ve been going in. They really push that crazy, frenetic joy sound here that they started on Hit to Death – take a listen to something like “Turn It On” for that endless joy that made these guys a nice change of pace from your Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden world. Of course, at the same time, they are able to maintain their freaky weirdness. Again, “Turn It On” has a great simple pop structure, but then really runs off the rails (in the best possible way) at the end, and lets their early drug years seep in.

Sometimes those freaky elements do get in the way though. “Oh My Pregnant Head (Labia in the Sunlight…)” is a pretty drab spacey number and, on retrospect, shows the kind of slow, spacey pace that characterizes much of their current sound. But that’s an exception. More often, they find a great balance. Fridmann in particular really shines here, as he has mastered that full on wall of sound. There’s just so much going on in each song, but he still keeps it all under control – the way the main guitar lick in “Pilot Can at The Queer of God” becomes more and more prominent each time is just a great example.

Of course, then there’s “She Don’s Use Jelly.” I’m not really sure what to say about this one. It’s the kind of song that I can’t even listen to it as just a regular song on the album – when it comes on it’s like everything just stops for a moment, we hear this single, then we’re back to the album. That’s not a condemnation of it or how it fits in, it just has such a life of its own that it’s hard to evaluate. I will say this – it’s a mighty fun song still to this day, and it is the first time they really nail that quiet verse/loud chorus structure they’ve always toyed with. It’s not completely different from everything else, but remains a bit of an anomaly in their catalog – more of a novelty song than normal. The fact that they never really tried to recapture that novelty hit says a lot about them. I don’t know though – what’s your take on this song?

I leave you with one bit of miscellany – the totally fantastic “Turn It On (Bluegrass Version)” from the “She Don’t Use Jelly” single. Listen to it – love it.

"Turn It On (Bluegrass Version)"

Freak Out vol. 6: The Warner Years Begin

So, after the glories of In a Priest Driven Ambulance, our lovable heroes were improbably signed to Warner Bros. and set to make their major label debut. But first, they popped out a quick EP with the awesome title Yeah, I Know It’s a Drag… But Wastin’ Pigs Is Still Radical. Alas, this is now out of print and one of the few Lips items I do not own. Boo. If by some freak chance any of you own this, let me know. On we go…

HIT TO DEATH IN THE FUTURE HEAD (1992)

I mentioned earlier that there were a few Lips albums I knew less than others, and this is one of them. It fills a weird spot for them as it continues the sound of Ambulance, but is unquestionably a part of their happyacidhippie middle period.

First things first – this is a really REALLY good album. I have given it the shaft over the years, and I regret that. I can’t get behind Eric’s claim that it is better than Ambulance – in reality it doesn’t even compare. Despite being the same line-up, the sound is completely different. Something like “Hit Me Like You Did the First Time” sounds exactly like the upcoming Transmission sound. Donahue’s sound is far less obvious here, which makes sense considering he (and drummer Nathan Roberts) left after this was released.

What this album ends up being is a surprisingly unique sound in their catalogue. A song like “Gingerale Afternoon (The Astrology of a Saturday)” sounds just so unlike them in nearly every way. It’s the kind of thing that would fit in perfectly on a dozen Pitchfork-pimped albums to come out in the last year or two. But it is a great song in its unique un-Lips-y way. It captures this great sense of just limitless joy that the band has always had, but takes on a whole new meaning on their major label debut. This song more than any other on here seems to mark that the 9 minute heady, murky sound is (for now at least) over, replaced by a happy, smiling worldview that just makes you thrilled to be on the journey. Truly you feel that the sky’s the limit here, and that’s a great thought to have.

Of course, no discussion of this album would be complete without mentioning the *ahem* bonus track. 29 minutes of a 40 second discordant loop repeated again and again and again. I listened to it in its entirety when I first bought the album, and actually tried to do so again for this review, but gave up after 5 minutes. I hope you do not question my dedication. Lack of musical quality aside, this is a pretty amusing little way to toy with the CD format that was developing at the time, and I don’t think it would be inaccurate to say that same mentality would eventually lead them to Zaireeka.

Next time: Beverly Hills 90210? Really?!

Flaming Lips sidebar

A quick aside on the Lips project to report that they are doing the soundtrack for an upcoming documentary on Mushrooms. Odd. Now, they're last soundtrack (for someone else, not Christmas on Mars) was Okei Noodling, which wasn't so hot. But they have a song from this now on their MySpace and, well, it's mighty good. It is absolutely worth a listen, as it definitely opens the door to a possible and much needed change of pace in their music. Check it out here - it's the first song "Anything You Say Now I Believe You."

It's Boss Time!

Bruce Springsteen Half Time Show Highlights @ Yahoo! Video

The people at Best Week Ever put together this highlights reel of the awesomest/corniest moments of Springsteen's transcendent/cheeseball halftime show.

I thought it was kind of perfect-- I like Bruce much better as the consummate showman rock and roller, rather than the ultra-earnest savior of the working man (or in the case of The Rising, savior of the entire country) persona he busts out every few years. And the mini-set brought out everything I love (and used to hate) about the E Street Band.


On one hand, you had Bruce's almost Cosby-esque intro ("Put DOWN the chicken fingers!") and the gimmick where he and multiple E Streeters grimace while shout-singing into the same mic (which culminated in the exclamation by Lil' Silvio Dante Van Zandt that gives this post its title). It was crap like that which prevented me from listening to or enjoying Bruce Springsteen for most of my life. But now that I'm into the Boss, I love that shit.

But more importantly, you had
1) Them creating the iconic silhouette image of Bruce leaning against the Big Man to open the set (Awesome).
2) The power slide into the cameraman (Awesome, hilarious).
3) The spinning his guitar around his neck part (Awesome).

And most importantly, that bit at the beginning of Tenth Avenue Freeze Out where he falls to his knees as the song kicks in. I saw Bruce for the first time on the last tour and he opened with that song (after a warmup with Summertime Blues). He stretched that intro out (with the capacity Giants Stadium crowd chanting along with that horn line from the beginning) for what seemed like forever. And then finally, FINALLY, the song kicks in with a loud smack of Max's drums, the whole band explodes and Bruce falls to his knees making love to the mic stand. One of the better rock and roll moments out there.

It was interesting -- and telling -- that they chose to open with that song. It set the tone for what he did with the set. He could have easily played "Born in the USA" (thereby embracing the collective misunderstanding of the song) and "The Rising," with pictures of Barack Obama behind him-- y'know, went for the universal sentiments, like U2 did post-9/11. But instead he played what is actually a really insular song that is all about the mythology of the E Street Band (with the key moment being Clarence's brief sax solo after the line "A change was made uptown and the Big Man joined the band..."). With that song as the context, I didn't mind the cheesy Steve Van Zandt stuff, and actually kind of loved it.

The referee gag was a bit much though.

Another Question for the Web Sheriff

Since you were so helpful last time, I have another question:

I know Andrew Bird is promoting his new album and he's very happy with it, but with such a wonderfully rich back catalog, why did he play literally only four old songs at his concert at Carnegie Hall last night? I'm enjoying the legal streams of songs from his new album on Myspace.com, but I would really have liked to hear some older stuff too, like, AT ALL. When he played new songs, the audience clapped respectfully. When he played old songs the audience went crazy. It was very frustrating. So much so that I'm tempted to post pirate links to (studio) material to vent my frustration. I'm hoping that if I don't, at the very least, you'll express your customary appreciation for not doing so. Damn you for being so easygoing.

Jolie Holland - Mexico City, Take 2

Another try:

Freak Out vol. 5: The Big One

I have to admit, I’ve been putting off writing this a bit. Why? Because this album is awesome. Silly awesome. I fear not doing it justice. But the project must trek on!

So after Telepathic Surgery there were some important personnel changes in the band. Drummer Richard English split from the band, leaving only Wayne and Michael behind (which makes you realize those last albums were just 3 people and Wayne as the only guitarist – amazing). They replaced him with Nathan Roberts, but far more importantly added 2 new members. First, guitarist Jonathan Donohue, now of Mercury Rev. I shared this with Q and Tex this weekend - I always knew Donahue went on to be in Mercury Rev but am not a big fan of theirs so just assumed he was the Rev guitarist. Nope – he’s the singer. That bizarre, freaked out dude who fronts Mercury Rev who is strong in his dreams? That’s the guy. Along with Donahue they added another future Mercury Rev member in producer Dave Fridmann. They new line up played some shows, felt good, and headed into the studio. And…


IN A PRIEST DRIVEN AMBULANCE (1990)

It seems obvious to say, but what immediately jumps out at you here is the production. Fridmann is one of those George Martin-esque producers where the band without him is just not the same band. Best example of this is on “Mountain Side” a great song that easily could have fit on earlier album, but the difference in production here is insane. He pulls the vocals to the front and makes them sound crisp and clear. He allows that background chaos that has always been a staple of the Lips, but manages to control that chaos in a new way, choosing the moments that burst through – namely the vocals, and that tight, short, but great Donohue guitar solo.

This sense of controlling the chaos can also be seen on “Stand in Line” – which fills the position of spacey freak out, but this time it’s down to 4 minutes instead of 9 and is much the better for it.

So, with some time freed up, they get to take a more standard song and push it up to soaring heights. The result is “Five Stop Mother Superior Rain” which blows everything they’d done before (and a lot of what they’ve done since) out of the water. Just an amazing epic song that captures all the beauty and dissonance this band offers, plus their weird take on religion, the power of the universe, and all the great stuff that makes this band who they are. In a lot of ways, this one song is the turning point for the band – the point where they discover just how beautiful their music can be, without sacrificing any of their oddness. This idea is reinforced on the closing cover of “What a Wonderful World”, which again captures that sense of beauty, particularly through a great high guitar line during the first chorus.

If for some reason you don’t own this, here’s “Five Stop”



There are a ton of highlights on this album: “Unconsciously Screamin’”, which is their great “single” from the album and really pulls them into the state of great modern alternative music rather than 70s influence; “God Walks Among Us Now”, a high energy quick thrill ride, “Shine on Sweet Jesus” – the perfect album opener. Really it’s all amazing, but I’m rambling.

The point is, you must own this album – there’s just no reason not to. I would be interested to hear some of your takes, so perhaps will hold off for now…

One last small note – my version is the 2 disc set that came out a few years back and includes The Mushroom Tapes, an album of demos for Ambulance recorded without Fridmann or English. It’s nothing great, but a fascinating look at how much the production adds here. One highlight though is Donohue singing prominent backing vocals on “Five Stop Mother Superior Rain”, and suddenly you hear that yes, this is Mercury Rev’s singer. Very odd.

Jolie Holland - Mexico City

One of my favorite songs of 2008. I just can't get enough of it.

Los Campesinos: Arcade Fire for British Optimists

I recently got the much-acclaimed Los Campesinos record from my favorite retail source:

Sam Goody (with 50% mark-up.)

It's a fun record. The songs are enjoyably short. '50s/'60s AM radio length. And as if that wasn't already enough for Eric, they're adorably British!

The best comparison is an upbeat version of the Arcade Fire-- think No Cars Go sung by Brits wearing rainbow hipster gear instead of all black. There's something else in there too, but I can't quite place a finger on it.

Anyway, enjoy and then go download it from Sam Goody at the mall. ($18.99 + tax.)

My Year in Lists


Knee Deep at ATP

Jay-Z is proud to be an American.

Or at least REALLY PSYCHED about the inauguration.

You can fast-forward the video to the point where Jay starts rapping. But his verse is great.

Question for the Web Sheriff...

...or whoever can answer my question.

Do I need to buy the deluxe Noble Beast (with Useless Creatures)? On Amazon it's more than double the price of the regular edition, so is Useless Creatures as good as an entire separate album?

Freak Out vol. 4: End of the Early Years...

TELEPATHIC SURGERY (1988)

This is one of two Lips albums that, for whatever reason, I just don’t listen to as much and am not as familiar with. Some years back I made a mix of the highlights from their pre-Ambulance material, titled, nerdily and pretentiously, All That I Know is My Mind is Blown OR As Diarrhea Smears the Space Bible, and when craving early Lips I’ve tended to reach for that instead of an actual album. So this one in particular has always gotten the shaft.

Listening to it now, about halfway through I was ready to write it off as largely disposable. That first half does have “Chrome Plated Suicide”, which is great and a very effortless sounding pop song – but that’s about it.

Then at the half way mark you get “Hell’s Angels Cracker Factory.” Well, part of it. See this was originally conceived as a 30 minute concept album sound collage. For whatever reason, the band decided to pull back from that and release an actual album. But this track contains 3 minutes from that original collage concept (there’s also a 23 minute version out there on vinyl which I must track down). And man – it’s awesome. I mean, it’s a completely ridiculous jumble of sounds, but it’s glorious. Heartbreaking to know that this was the plan for the entire album, and I do wonder why those plans changed – these guys certainly aren’t the type to edit themselves in that way normally.

After that, you get the equally bizarre “U.F.O. Story”, about half of which is just Wayne druggily telling a story about seeing a U.F.O. with no music backing him. But then it launches into this shockingly cool piano solo that is unlike anything they’ve done before (or, in some ways, since). It’s just this haunting, lovely piano only melody that goes on for about 2 minutes. And all of a sudden, after 3 albums of craziness, you see that these are real honest to God musicians buried behind these levels of fuzz. I’m including all of “U.F.O. Story” here. I wouldn’t begrudge you skipping the story intro, but I strongly urge you to listen from about 4:20 on for the piano part.

U.F.O. Story

Things never reach that high point again, though there is some other good stuff in the 2nd half including a swank harmonica bit in “Redneck School of Technology” (which is in the video below) and beautiful, lush, emotional build at the end of “Begs and Achin’” to close out the album.



In the end, much of this is pretty forgettable, but the highlights are obvious experiments that pay off spectacularly. The bummer of this album is that they didn’t take that experimentation as far as they considered, and ended up with something a bit watered down compared to the other early material.

But no matter, because just after this they got a new drummer, new guitarist, new producer, and everything changed...

A quick plug for Biggie Smalls

I don't think I'll see the Notorious movie, but for those of you totally unfamilliar with his work, Biggie is worth checking out. A lot of what he does may sound like a rap cliche, but he played a large part (no pun intended) in creating those rap cliches, and he does what he does SO much better than his imitators. Many of his songs are about the gangsta lifestyle he (to some extent) left behind, but he doesn't sugarcoat the realities of that life, or fill his stories with a lot of empty braggadocio: he makes a life of crime sound like a difficult, demoralizing grind that leaves you depressed and empty at the end of the day. And his first big hit "Juicy", which I think of as a kind of "Move on Up" for the 90's, absolutely puts to shame 99% of other rap songs about getting rich and living the good life. The genuine joy and hopefulness at the heart of this song, not to mention the lyrical craft Biggie employs, make it still sound fresh and jubilant 15 years later, and set it apart from the many bling anthems it no doubt inspired.

Freak Out vol. 3: Oh My Gawd!!!

OH MY GAWD!!!... THE FLAMING LIPS (1987)

To be clear, that is the exact album title, complete with excessive punctuation, and the name of the band crammed in in a way that actually doesn’t make any grammatical sense. Such is life in the weird world of the Lips.

So the big selling point here is that this album opens with the best 2 tracks of their pre-Priest Driven Ambulance career in my humble opinion. First up – “Everything’s Explodin’” a crazily amped up, super fun song that makes you want to drive around, pounding the drums on your steering wheel and singing alone at full volume. These are the times I miss having a car. They follow that up with “One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on a Sunday Morning”, Oh My Gawd’s allotted 9 minute space jam. As I mentioned last time, I think this is the best they ever do this sort of thing. It’s got some great spacey-ness to start with occasional weird bursts of noise until an absolutely epic build up for the end that leads into full on awesome rocking before dropping back out into the ether. There’s also a live version as a bonus track on this set, which shows how insane their early live shows were. For those who may not know the story, they used to have a part in their shows where they would cover a cymbal with lighter fluid, light it on fire, and then bash it constantly throughout the song, causing flames to shoot off. They eventually nearly burned down a club and decided to stop doing that, but apparently it was this act that got them signed to Warner Bros.

Anyway, here’s a fan made video for Everything’s Explodin’. I strongly urge you to watch this video as it is just… bizarre. It’s sort of the ultimate YouTube video, and leaves me completely baffled.



And here’s a live version of One Million… from 94. Not the best quality ever, but cool to hear it live from the classic line up, and a great visual reminder that these guys were kind of scary in their intensity sometimes. Man, how great would it be for them to just drop this in the midst of one of their crowd pleasing “Yeah for puppets and confetti!” Bonaroo sets.



After those two tracks, the album takes a little drop in quality. Most of the middle chunk is solid but unremarkable songs that sound similar to Here It Is. But the end picks it back up with “Love Yer Brain”, which provides a rare second acid jam on one album. This is a fine album closer, though not as grandiose as Here It Is, but it does have a great opening line of “Sometimes I don’t know what to think…” pause, pause, pause “…about the world”. I remember once discussing with Q that in many ways this is the quintessential Lips moment. Wayne tells you he has a concern. He pauses, leading you to wonder what comes next – what is it that concerns him? The answer: the entire world, of course. And somehow, that makes perfect sense.

Freak Out vol. 2: Here It Is

HERE IT IS (1986)

And now things really kick off with the first proper Lips album, and it’s pretty amazing. They come out strong with opener “With You”, which is just a great pop song with a nice build and one of my all time favorite Lips lyrics “All that I know is my mind is blown / when I’m with you”. Love it. They actually bring the track back as a coda to the entire album, which I really love as it gives the whole thing the sense of unity and being an actual album. It’s pretty simple, and they’re far from the first to do it, but again, it shows them thinking about things in a grander sense then just “here’s a bunch of songs”.

The other main note-worthy song here is “Jesus Shootin’ Heroin”. For quite a while they were committed to one near 10 minute spacey, screeching freak out per album, and this fills that slot here. It’s not the best example (that will come next album) but is fine.

Rest of the album is surprisingly straight forward songs with the occasional weird moment peppered in. There are very simple songs on here, but they often are tempered with some odd lyrical choices, like an homage to Godzilla (“Godzilla Flick”) or “Charlie Manson’s Blues”. What are they about? Not really sure to be honest.

Overall, much more tunefull than the EP, with actual melodies, singing (all from Wayne now that Mark is gone, though he’s using a much deeper singing voice here than he later would), song structure, and all that stuff.

Shorty Got Low Low Low Low Low Low Low

And now, please take a moment to bask in the ridiculous glory of this song.

VC's Fantastic Flaming Lips Freak Out: Vol. 1

As I briefly mentioned around the end of year hoopla, the release of Christmas on Mars has reinvigorated my love of The Flaming Lips. Not because that album is so good (in fact, it’s so sparse that it hasn’t sunk in with me yet, but more on that later), but more just because it was nice to have the weird acid freak Flaming Lips back, and it made me realize how much I miss that band. This is not a “They sold out!” kind of post – they’ve toiled away for years and I am thrilled to see them improbably become stars – but I do miss some of their old insanity.

And so, I’m embarking on a little journey here, making my way through the complete Lips catalogue album by album and sharing some thoughts. Perhaps it will bore you to tears, or perhaps it will inspire you to dust off your copy of Clouds Taste Metallic and rock out. We shall see.

Onwards and upwards!

THE FLAMING LIPS EP (1984)

This is their not widely available debut EP, re-released in a 3 disc set with their first 3 proper albums and assorted odds & ends. Essentially this is their Syd Barrett phase (and I doubt that will be the last Pink Floyd comparison) as Wayne’s brother Mark is the front man at this time. He apparently was a bit of a kook – I’ll let Wayne summarize, in his own words (the quotation marks are Wayne’s, not mine):

My brother Mark was, and still is, a very intense person. He was considered an exceptional athlete and a high school football star. He has boiled and drank his own blood. Has rescued countless doomed animals (he currently has a three-legged dog). He has torn down an entire house using only a single hammer. He consumed over a hundred doses of L.S.D. one summer when he was 13 years old. And he has a “self-diagnosed,” “split personality,” “competition neurosis” that he has named “the duality of man.”

So there you have it.

This bizarreness shows on this EP. It’s very rough with little polish and a lot of freak out style jamming and singing. Still, there’s some pretty great stuff. “Bag Full of Thoughts” is a nice little single, and “My Own Planet” is very much in line with what the band would do in the coming years without Mark. There’s also some odd covers collected here including the theme from the Batman TV show and “Communication Breakdown”.

My Own Planet

Overall, the big thing you get here is energy. These are young guys just pounding their sound out. That early 3 disc set is titled Finally the Punk Rockers are Taking Acid which fits this perfectly. It’s got crazy raw energy, but instead of always attaching that energy to a short poppy song, sometimes they latch it onto a 9 minute space jam, such as the early version of “Jesus Shootin’ Heroin” (which is awesome).

It’s amazing to think of this thing coming out in 1984, the year of Born in the USA, "Like a Virgin", etc. Is it a great start to their career? No, but it’s got some strong moments and shows that from the get go, these guys were out there doing something pretty odd.

Great Bush-Hating Tunes

You know, with the end of his presidency, and his fall from public esteem, and his likely (one hopes) fading away into the "dustbin of history", it's occuring to me that there is so little time left to enjoy all those great anti-George W. Bush songs that used to be able to swell me up into an inflated sense of righteous anger! And don't get me wrong: I'm OK with that. But there's a certain, masochistic enjoyment of those songs that's about to be gone forever. It's already getting hard to appreciate them like I did in the bad old days, but after the inauguration, it'll definitely be too late, so I hope everyone takes this opportunity to get angry to the rhythm one more time.

There are lots of great songs to choose from, but here's my entry for one of my personal favorites:

Tweedy and Radiohead: Fake Plastic Trees

Rant Against Music Critics, Continued

Back when we were all going back and forth about Chinese Democracy, one of the things I kept complaining about was the way that critics wrote about how "loud" and "compressed" the album was. But people who actually know what those terms mean, such as Dr. Kittybrains and Tex Plush (and the rest of us really), heard something very different: dynamics. And on a hard rock album of all places.

And yet still the critics wrote the same lines over and over again, making me think that either a) they had written the reviews before the record actually came out or b) they were just copying what they read in other reviews, throwing in terminology like "compression" without actually understanding what it means.

Well it's vindication time. I stumbled across this press release/blog post from Bob Ludwig, the mastering engineer who did Chinese Democracy, other GNR, tons of modern rock and also tons of classic rock from Zeppelin to Hendrix to Springsteen. Basically he is the rock mastering engineer.

Check out the link, because damn if he doesn't reveal the truth: There is NO compression in the mix. Yes, some of the individual instruments are compressed, but the mastered mix has none. In this respect, it's the very opposite of over-produced. Over-written is a valid argument (although one I disagree with.) Over-produced is simply wrong.

Anyway, the point here is not to re-pimp Chinese Democracy all over again. Rather it's to take critics to task for not even knowing what they're writing about. It's very unfair for people's careers to be at the mercy of writers who genuinely do not understand the craft they critique. (I'd extend this criticism to 85% of the staff at Pitchfork.)

This concludes this installment of Drischord's rant against music critics-- from the letters to the editor of major newspapers to this here blog.

Travis Morrison (Or Why Pitchfork Is The Most Petty Music Site On The Planet)

Of everyone on this blog who bitches about Pitchfork, I probably do it the most. Whether its their tendency to heap musical praise on acts with almost no musical chops but plenty of hipster style (Fuck Buttons), the nonstop bones they throw to third-generation Brian Wilson imitators (Animal Collective/Panda Bear) or puerile desire for attention (making the fucking Knife their #1 album of 2006), I basically can't stand them.

And yet I keep reading to stay abreast of the indie kids' conversations, and because they provide a lot of news. But for actual music criticism, give me the A.V. Club any day.

All this is a long way of saying that they've completely shafted Travis Morrison since he left the Dismemberment Plan and had some bizarro blog war with Pitchfork several years ago. Now Travis Morrison isn't the easiest guy to like. I once went to a Plan concert with a high school friend (Jody, I think some of you know him), and he literally walked out of the concert early because he was offended by Travis's arrogant vibe on stage. (Personally, I wasn't getting that at all, but the point is that some people do.)

Furthermore, the guy's first solo album, Travistan, is merely okay. It has the awful running series of songs called "Get Me Off of This Coin" interspersed throughout the album, and they drag down the legit tracks that are the actual meat and potatoes of the thing. But the album still has some bright spots and is a pleasant listen, if a letdown from Dismemberment Plan's brilliant final record, Change.

Pitchfork, however, famously gave it a 0.0. They wanted to prove that they could sink the guy's career to settle a petty feud, and they more or less did.

Now only about a month ago, I finally got Travis's follow-up from 2007, which is called All Y'all. (The reason I waited so long was based more on money and disappointment w/ Travistan. It was not based on the 0.0 score from Pitchfork.) Well cut to the chase, this album is fantastic. It's catchy, fun, funky, danceable even. The lyrics are back to the level they were on Change. He's totally revitalized.

Here two tracks from it. First is the song Ryan Schreiber should be singing to Travis: "I'm Not Supposed to Like You (But I Do)"



And then a song with an almost identical title, but totally different sounding: "I Do"



Those songs are awesome right? Well guess what the record gets from Pitchfork? A 4.5.

Now there are two issues here. First of all, the reviewer criticizes Morrison for basically trying too many things and getting too funky. This, to me, re-enforces my belief that Pitchfork really values band image and archetypes far more than actual musicality. Secondly, the review does not get petty and personal, like the 0.0 review did, and it even expresses solidarity w/ Morrison going forward. So why, then, a 4.5? My theory is that while the reviewer wrote one thing, Ryan Schreiber and the editorial staff insisted on a ridiculously low numerical score on principle.

So even though I'm admittedly bringing up an 18 month-old review, it's that kind of shit that will render Pitchfork completely worthless in my mind.

Top 10 George W. Bush Moments

Number 8 is the funniest thing ever. Almost makes me like the guy. Almost.

Best of 2008 Followup

It's been so great to listen to all the stuff on ya'lls lists that I never heard this year...here's a quick list of my favorite picks that you guys made that I missed:

8. Gnarls Barkley (Dr. K)
7. School Of Language (Dris)
6. Dennis Wilson (Eric)
5. Nick Lowe (Eric)
4. Wale (Q)
3. Dr. Kittybrain's Odds and Ends
Dr. K, your singles list actually makes a pretty fly mixtape, and I've got the perfect runlist!
2. The Roots (Q)
Q was right - this album is awesome. My favorite is "Criminal" and of course "Rising Up", but the whole record works best as one listen.
1. Al Green (Dr. K)
This one is a masterpiece. the songs are perfect. The production is impeccable. The arrangements and guest stars are spot on.

Sorry, VC. I already knew everything on your list :)

I also wanted to introduce ya'll to the writer for Pitchfork most suited to the Kittybrains Collective. I scrolled through the individual year end lists of all their writers, and this guy was the closest one to our taste I think (with the exception that he did not list Chinese Democracy or Lil' Wayne). I think everyone but Eric is represented. Behold:

>> Mike Powell
1. Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Lie Down in the Light
2. Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend
3. Erykah Badu: New Amerykah Part One: 4th World War
4. DJ/rupture: Uproot
5. Randy Newman: Harps and Angels
6. No Age: Nouns
7. Max Tundra: Parallax Error Beheads You
8. The Mountain Goats: Heretic Pride
9. Marnie Stern: This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That
10. Air France: No Way Down EP
11. Harvey Milk: Life...The Best Game in Town
12. Robert Ashley: Concrete
13. Bohren & der Club of Gore: Dolores
14. Mary Halvorson Trio: Dragon's Head
15. Deerhunter: Microcastle / Weird Era Cont.
16. Bennie Maupin: Early Reflections
17. Wale: The Mixtape About Nothing
18. Volcano!: Paperwork
19. Asva: What You Don't Know is Frontier
20. Flying Lotus: Los Angeles
21. Orchestra Baobab: Made in Dakar
22. Deerhoof: Offend Maggie
23. Shackleton: Soundboy's Gravestone Gets Desecrated by Vandals
24. Hot Chip: Made in the Dark
25. Kanye West: 808s & Heartbreak

Omnibus Post

Several things I've been meaning to post about:

1) I was going to post this blog post/story in the comments to the Animal Collective post, but figured I'd highlight it more because I love it. It combines so many things I love discussing: indie rock, internet memes, today's young music fans' obnoxious sense of entitlement, the complete forehead slapping studipity of record labels and pranks!

To read all about it, follow the link (and note the brilliance of "Animal CoLOLctive"):

(In short: girl uploads 11 tracks of Rickroll and says it's the Animal Collective leak, catches fire on google, humorless kids wish death upon her, clueless record labels demand removal of links (the web sheriff gets involved too!), and hilarity ensues!)

http://roxymuzak.blogspot.com/2009/01/animal-cololctive-what-happened.html


2) Another blog post that I found amusing: Do you know there is an entire subculture of teenage emo-girls that sit in front of their web cams and play songs from Neutral Milk Hotel's IN THE AEROPLANE OVER THE SEA accompanied by acoustic guitar and then post the videos on youtube? Well, it's true! This blog post alone gathers more than a dozen. Go figure:

http://popkulcher.blogspot.com/2008/10/still-neutral-after-all-these-years.html

3) Best of 2008 Follow Up:
-I finally did listen more seriously to the TV on the Radio, which despite being number 1 in several publications did not make a single kittybrain's list! In the end, I do agree with Tex-- this is definitely my favorite of their records. Much tighter and more focused songwriting (aided in no small part by the Antibalas horns). Given my lack of enthusiasm for the records I did list, I would have included this for sure, as I actually really like it a lot.

-The new Portishead, which was also on lots of lists: It's unrelentingly dark and cold, but on the other hand, has that kind of warm analogue synth feel of Kid A. In fact, that's actually a decent reference point for this record. I didn't know Portishead's old stuff at all, nor do I listen to any trip hop, but this is definitely not trip hop. It's kind of all over the place stylistically, with lots of interesting rhythmic and textural elements (though always quite bleak). I'll put up my favorite song, which reminds me of Radiohead. It's a really beautiful song:
(Because record labels are really smart, I can't embed the official one, so you can enjoy this one, which sets the delicately picked acoustic guitar moving into menacing analogue synth sounds to some Hugh Jackman movie):



And lo and behold, Thom and Johnny apparently agree with me because they covered it. Compare and contrast!


In another nice bit of downright bizarre synchronicity, the Portishead album has a brief interlude in the middle-- a ukulele based song that has the exact same chords and structure (but different melody) as....."Tonight You Belong to Me" from THE JERK!
I'll include the link rather than the embed so the post isn't too cluttered:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao-gEqlxWP0

Animal Collective

So Pitchfork has pretty much already declared the new Animal Collective album the 2009 Album of the Year. They are not a band I know much about, but I like the stray songs I've heard.

So, I turn to you good Collective - who here digs this band? If I want a good intro to them, what should I acquire? And most importantly, are they good?

Speaking of Fey Folk Songs . . .

So, last night I saw THE JERK all the way through for the first time (yes, I am/was a culturally deprived philistine). It was, as I expected, intermittently hilarious. But as all of you (who I assume have seen it) know, in the middle of the movie out of nowhere (after a lot of nonsense) is this absolutely adorable duet between Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters. It was stuck in my head all morning, and thankfully it's on youtube. I have seriously watched it about fifteen times today (not unlike after the Single Ladies performance on SNL, which totally smokes the studio version, BTW). Anyway, after all of our best of 2008 talk, this is the music that is totally killing me right now.

(For some reason embedding is disabled, but here's the link-- the song is only the first two minutes):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI8NuFAETMQ


I can't listen to it enough times and it makes me want to get a ukelele and sing duets-- if you search for the song on youtube, you get a bunch of tutorial videos showing how to play it on uke. How much does a decent ukelele cost?

For Fans of Nick Drake: Bert Jansch

I discovered Bert Jansch about 2 years ago. He's a Scottish folk singer. His guitar playing reminds me quite a bit of Nick Drake. His voice is not as gentle and dare I say fey as Nick Drake's, but both men evoke that same U.K. folk sound at the end of the day.

Unlike Drake, Bert Jansch is still alive and kicking somewhere, but I don't know much about him, other than that he was an influence on Jimmy Page, Neil Young, and even Drake himself.

At any rate, here are two of my favorite cuts from my "Best of Bert Jansch" CD.

"It Don't Bother Me"


"Tell Me What Is True Love"

Best of 2008 Consensus?

Greetings and Happy New Year to the Kittybrains Collective!

Here's a generalized breakdown of albums in which 2 or more people were in agreement -

Albums that appeared on 3 lists:
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Bob Dylan
Guns N' Roses
Vampire Weekend
Lil' Wayne

Albums that appeared on 2 lists:
Dr. Dog, Kanye, Randy Newman, MMJ, Sun Kil Moon, Erykah Badu, Bon Iver, R.E.M, Tallest Man

To make things more interesting, I made a another list that gave extra weight to those albums that were listed in anyone's Top 5.
The major issue with this method is that Eric and the good Doctor K did not rank their selections. I tried to make a system that both didn't penalize them too much for this, yet still added some weight to the albums that the rest of us ranked higher on our lists.
If anyone has a different idea of how to do this, I say bring it on.

Here's what I did:
- I only included albums that were on more than one list
- Albums received 2 points for each list they appeared on in which they were listed in the Top 5
- All other albums received 1 point for every list they appeared on
- See the spreadsheet I linked to above for the tally

AND the results!

5th Place (with 2 points each)
Dr. Dog
Kanye West
Randy Newman
My Morning Jacket
Sun Kil Moon
Erykah Badu
The Tallest Man On Earth

4th Place (with 3 points)
R.E.M.

3rd Place (with 4 points)
Bon Iver
Vampire Weekend

2nd Place (with 5 points)
Lil' Wayne

And the Consensus Best Albums of 2008 (with 6 points):
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Bob Dylan
Guns N' Roses

Dr. Dog Revisited

Inspired by the Top 10 lists of Via Chicago and Tex Plush, I revisited the Dr. Dog album today. Tex had given it to me over the summer, along with a glut of other music, and I wound up only listening to it once-- and on either an airplane or a bus, so I didn't even hear it properly.

Well I finally gave it a proper listen, and better late than never. It's a great record. I would describe it as closer to Wilco than any other contemporary act. Acutally it sounds a lot like the Minus 5 album with Wilco, only better vocal harmonies. And a better primal rock growl, for that matter. Actually that growl is a major highlight.

I feel like if Eric and Tex had a bastard child (and really, what are you guys waiting for?), he/she would go nuts for Dr. Dog. Eric, buy this album. I need not tell you that it's available on...

wait for it...

iTunes.

Really everyone on here would dig this. Although I should warn you (mainly Quinapalus, our resident lyrics afficianado) that the lyrics are the weakest link on the album. Most are standard-issue and a few are downright goofy ("choo-choo train" comes to mind), but man, the harmonies are sweet.

Despite posting my poppiest list in the 5 years we've been doing this, I never got around to appreciating Dr. Dog in 2008. But on this first day of 2009, their excellence hit me.

Via Chicago's Top 10 (+1) of 2008

I know the general critical opinion is that this was a weaker year for music, and while I don’t disagree, it was a year I really enjoyed. Between this blog and my eMusic, I ended up listening to a lot of new music, and for the first time in a few years actually felt clued in to what the hip kids were listening to. Of course, that said, my top 3 from last year all would have faired mighty well this year, so maybe it wasn’t the strongest, but there was a lot to love in 2008. Namely…

10. (tie) Dr. Dog - Fate
Lame to have a tie, but I just couldn’t bear to leave either of these off my list. I was actually all set to have this fall off and be #11, but Tex posting that clip reminded me that a) this album is awesome, and b) I think these guys are making a really unique sound in today’s music scene and I love it. These guys play their hearts out with emotion – I’m totally with Tex that they have the potential to be seriously great.

10. (tie) – Marnie Stern – This Is It...I already summed up some of my thoughts on her, but she makes a truly jaw dropping wall of sound that is just insanely powerful – almost too powerful as the album is hard to listen to as a whole. But in a year that I explored a lot of feedback, fuzz, and crazy guitar, this was the highlight.

9. Mike Patton – A Perfect Place
Patton is hit and miss, and that sloppiness is a huge part of his charm to me. Here, he hits in a big way with a very concise, tight collection of moody pieces. Some are songs, some are just movie ambience, but it all comes together tightly. I also love the way he creates a nice, simple musical theme, and then toys with it throughout the album with different instrumentation, moods, etc.

8. Kanye West – 808s & Heartbreak
I have little else to say, except that I think time will be kind to this album, and that is what sets it apart from your T-Pains of the world.

7. Dosh – Wolves and Wishes
As I mentioned before, I wasn’t so into this album when it first came out, despite Tex’s recommendation. But seeing him live really made the sounds pop for me and made it all come clear. Like all noise rock, this is not brilliant from top to bottom, but the great moments that come through (“Wolves” in particular) really shine.

6. Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer
Full of great, BIG sounds, and ending with a 10 minute song where the yell “Fire in the hole!” repeatedly. Yeah, that sounds like something I would indeed like…

5. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
I went through an odd trajectory with this album. First time I heard one of their songs, I hated it. Then I discovered it was lodged in my head and I wanted to hear it again, so I bought the album and listened to it non-stop in early summer. Then I stopped and had no interest in listening again. But I picked it up again to re-evaluate for this list and screw it, this thing is great. What really strikes me is the great sense of urgency on this album. For an allegedly laid back album, the pace is remarkably fast and almost punkish, made all the better by the unbelievably tight playing. Will they have longevity? Maybe not, but I bet they’ll have more than Fleet Foxes.

4. Bonnie Prince Billy – Lie Down in the Light
So, so good, and better every single time I listen. At first listen this got an OK for me, but then I kind of ignored it. Picked it back up and thought “Oh this will probably make my top 10” and with every listen it moves farther up. Who knows – if I revisit this list in a year I might say “Why on earth didn’t I make that my #1?”

3. Deerhunter – Microcastle/Weird Era Cont.
I’m just counting these as one album because (aside from being sold as one) they make such a complete package. With Microcastle they really invest more in exploring actual songs with actual rocking out, with the album (and their career so far) reaching an epic peak on “Nothing Ever Happens”. Then Weird Era is this sort of long form extended coda where they just embrace the shoegazing noise rock and let the mood wash over them. Beautiful stuff.

2. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Real Emotional Trash
For the majority of the year this was my #1 and it’s getting totally overlooked and screwed in year end lists. Did it just come out too early? Prior to this one, all the Malkmus solo stuff made me say “Man Pavement was awesome”, but this one stands on its own. I love the way they push into these crazy almost, dare I say, prog rock song structures. Both “Hopsctoch Willie” and “Baltimore” and standouts, but the real highlight is “Real Emotional Trash” – when the big guitar vamp finally bursts through it’s just a sublime moment of genius.

1. Guns ‘n Roses – Chinese Democracy
I was a little hesitant about making this my #1 for some reason, but it’s the album I most looked forward to this year, it completely delivered, and it is, to me, the definitive album of 2008. What more do you need? How about ridiculously awesome hooks, massive guitar solos, huge ballads, Axl Rose lunacy… this sucker has it all. As we’ve been discussing the Max v. Min theories, this is pretty clearly one of the most maximum albums of all time. Like Use Your Illusion, it reaches for the stars in a way no single other album did this year, and while it occasionally falls short, that ambition combined with the number of times it hits its goals make this my clear cut #1.

A.C. Newman - Get Guilty

Having heard the new A.C. Newman album, this is already a strong contender for next year's list...

Dr. K's Odds 'n' Ends of 2008

All right, here's some of my favorite songs of 2008 (from albums that didn't fully do it for me) for your listening pleasure:

N.E.R.D. - "Sooner Or Later"

Raphael Saadiq - "Oh Girl" (I can only find a 30 second clip of this one, but trust me, it's worth your 99 cents.)

Nas - "Queens Get The Money"

Michael Franti & Spearhead - "Say Hey (I Love You)"

Bon Iver - "Skinny Love"

Weezer - "The Angel and the One"

Santogold - "Lights Out"

Nada Surf - "I Wanna Take You Home" (This one was only on the bonus CD! Idiots.)

Ne-Yo - "Miss Independent"

"Wings" - "Love Take Me Down (To The Streets)" (from the movie "Role Models")

Brian Wilson - "Live Let Live"

I also loved "Single Ladies" as much as anyone, but I'm assuming y'all don't need a stream of that, since it probably plays in your head on a 24-hour loop.

Dr. Kittybrains' Favorite Albums of 2008

I hafta admit I've been taking a backseat lately. I didn't have much to add to the 'Chinese Democracy' debate - I've never cared about G'N'R very much, and although I kind of enjoyed the album, it didn't really convert me to the ranks of the faithful.

My indifference to Axl notwithstanding, I enjoyed a lot of records in 2008, many of which seemed to get overlooked in the year-end wrap-ups I've been seeing. I'm including my favorite albums here, with a separate post to follow covering my favorite singles and album tracks from CDs not listed below.

Flight of the Conchords - s/t
I haven't seen this on a single top 10 list, but this is actually a tuneful, funny, well-produced collection of songs, and it had a tremendous amount of replay value for me.

Adele - 19
Forget Duffy... the REAL young British sensation this year is Adele, who blew me away when I saw her performance of the brilliant "Chasing Pavements" on SNL this fall. The entire album rises to the level of that song - and she was only 19 when she recorded this... she really writes and plays. Plus, I like that she's a little zaftig - I like singers who look like real people, y'know?

Al Green - Lay It Down
Stephen King had this one right... the fact that ?uestlove's production captures the warm 70s vibe of Green's classic records wouldn't matter if the songs weren't fantastic, but they are. Every last one of them.

Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
Maybe it's "Crazy" backlash? I thought that The Odd Couple was stronger start-to-finish than St. Elsewhere and that's saying something. Take a listen to this brilliant song and production that you probably haven't heard:

Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
"What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful. And brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. And the Beatles. And me." Here's a track that doesn't get any airplay, but it's the sort of lush Kanye production that made Common's Finding Forever my top pick last year:

Passing Strange - Original Broadway Cast Recording
Quinapalus' inclusion of In The Heights reminded me of how much I loved this show, which I saw both off- and on Broadway, with its incredible score by singer/songwriter Stew. Enjoy the track below - if you love it as much as I do, you owe it to yourself to listen to the whole thing end-to-end.

Beck - Modern Guilt
Danger Mouse does it again... brilliant production, brilliant songs from Beck... a brisk listen that gets better with repeated plays.

Patton Oswalt - Werewolves and Lollipops
Funniest comedy CD in years. Get it. Seriously. Everyone.

Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
One of my all-time favorites does it again. Here's the masterpiece/centerpiece, which Tex was quoting:

My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
I don't know what to say about this except I thought this was an example of fantastic songwriting and production throughout, and this is the first (and still only) album of theirs that I've really enjoyed. Go figure, but I love this. My current favorite:

The Hereafter - It Doesn't Matter Why It Is, It Doesn't Matter If It's Wrong
He may be a friend of ours, but almost nothing else released last year touched me as deeply or made me laugh as much as this "audio book of four novellas". Catchy, weird and beautiful.
Stream the entire album HERE.

Tex Plush's Top 13 of 2008

13. The Broken West - Now or Heaven
The hooks are plentiful, the songs are well-written, and the beats ride that nice line between electronic and acoustic underneath up-tempo jangly guitar-pop. Though my frustration with the quality of writing in the AV Club continues, this was one recommendation they made in 2008 that I am grateful for.
http://www.myspace.com/thebrokenwest

12. The Sea and Cake - Car Alarm
Listening to TSAC to me is in some ways like The Band - I can focus on any one player in the mix and have a revelatory listening experience, yet they all come together into a totally unique blend. You already know if you like this band. If you do, don't miss this record.


11. Dr. Dog - Fate
Their vocal harmonies in concert are fucking outstanding. I see big things for these guys if they keep on their current trajectory.


10. Sun Kil Moon - April
If you've tried to be a fan of Mark Kozelek in the past and it never worked out, don't listen to this album. If you've ever loved a Red House Painters album or a Sun Kil Moon record, April is up there with the best of them. It definitely feels more to me like old school RHP with all its sprawl, rather than the more efficient sensibilities of Ghosts Of The Great Highway. But as long as you're not in a hurry, the hypnotic tension Kozelek builds during his verses always pays off when he unexpectedly hits the chorus. And when those electrics finally chime in - never has a three guitar attack been so soothing and mind-bending at the same time.

9. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Vol. 1 (World War 4)

8. Blitzen Trapper - Furr

7. Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
No artist makes me laugh out loud the way Randy Newman does. He is STILL at the top of his game. This record was sorely overlooked this year by the establishment.
Favorite line: "You know, it pisses me off that the Supreme Courts gonna out live me. Couple young Italian fellows and a brother on the court now too. But I defy you, anywhere in the world to find me two Italians as tight assed as the the two Italians we got. And as for the brother, well, Pluto's not a planet any more neither."

6. Mates of State - Rearrange Us
Their most mature, best sounding, most diversely orchestrated album to date. Though it drops off a little in the 2nd half, it's the catchiest, sweetest and most optimistic pop record of the year. I've never been a huge fan of these guys, but this time they hit it out of the park.


5. Lil' Wayne - Tha Carter III
I've never listened to a hip hop album as much as I listened to Tha Carter III. His voice and flow is one of a kind and I never get tired of hearing it, specially sandwiched btw the hottest R and B hooks this side of R. Kelly. Funny thing, I have a feeling that Q and I have completely different favorite tracks on this disc....

4. Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy

3. Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs

2. Bon Iver - To Emma, Forever Ago
In hindsight, I guess I'm not surprised that no one really responded when I posted a track from this album a while back. It definitely requires a certain mood to be appreciated, maybe even a certain kind of weather or a particular time of night or early morning. I'm a little bit fascinated by the way some albums have stories connected to them that become part of their mystique and can help communicate that particular atmosphere they need in order to be appreciated. Yes, such stories also serve as marketing, and I guess that is the other part of me that likes them- the part of me that appreciates shrewd business sense. For Emma is a perfect example of how one of those stories dovetails with an albums mood: Justin Vernon's band broke up. His relationship ended too. So he retreated to an isolated cabin in the Wisconsin woods for a long, lonely winter, and he produced this album. He ended the winter with what he thought was a decent demo. What he actually came out of the woods with was the most beautiful sounding record of the year. The emotion just drips from the speakers.

1. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Lie Down In The Light
After a string of records that sounded like the work of a warmed-over corpse, Will Oldham got his groove back in the year 2008. No matter when I put this album on this year, it never failed to make me feel more connected to myself, to nature, to my family, to my girlfriend, to life and to death. That's a motherfucking tall order, if you ask me. This album is so meaningful and earnest, yet never heavy and it retains a loose, communal back porch jam feel throughout. I'm tempted to give all the credit to Mark Nevers, whose production is a revelation for Oldham's music. The instruments breath in space, and on almost every track there are new, surprising, yet perfect instrumental additions, whether it be a honky tonk piano, a clarinet, a chorus of horns or a hammond organ. No Bonnie "Prince" Billy album has felt this alive in years, and none have EVER felt this joyful. Oldham is actually singing his heart out and it is just gorgeous. In a year of transition and stress, Lie Down In The Light was just what I needed.

Tex Plush's 2008 Odds and Ends

I will post my Top 13 (sorry, i couldn't help it) in just a little bit.

But first......

The Guiltiest of Pleasures:
Fall Out Boy - Folie A Deux
The fact of the matter is, if you can get past the heavy-handed production values, the too-clever lyrics and the taunting from your girlfriend, these songs are undeniably catchy and poptastic. Fall Out Boy is only here to entertain you, and that is exactly what they do if you're a fan of sugary sweet power pop. Pluses: There is literally a hook every 15 seconds; hilariously incongruous guest stars keep popping up, like Elvis Costello, Lil Wayne and Debbie Harry; they engage in genre-hopping that can be genuinely surprising and fun. Recommended for listening to at the gym or whenever you need to impress (or mortify) your 14 year old cousin.

Best Reissue:
Pavement - Brighten The Corners
The most underrated Pavement album gets the deluxe reissue treatment, like all the others before it. Almost didn't go in for it this time, but boy am I glad I did. Fuck the haters. So many great outtakes and rarities here, enough that BTC becomes a triple album with all the weirdness and variety of Wowee Zowee. The biggest revelation for me after not hearing this in years was Type Slowly- a total fucking masterpiece of a song. wow. Though Transport Is Arranged is brilliant too. This reminds me why Pavement is still in my top 5 bands of all time.

Best Songs:
Single Ladies - Beyonce
Hang On - Dr. Dog
Strange Overtones - David Byrne and Brian Eno
Chasing Pavements - Adele
What Never Comes - Crooked Fingers
The Tears and Music of Love - Deerhoof
Whatever You Like - TI
Live Your Life - TI (feat. Rhianna)
Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight - The Fireman (Paul McCartney and Youth)
Better - GN'R
Mexico City - Jolie Holland
Ruler - Marnie Stern
Scare Easy - Mudcrutch
Living The Dream - Sloan
In The New Year - The Walkmen

Honorable Mention:
Solange
The Week That Was
Nomo
Menahan Street Band
David Byrne and Brian Eno
Deerhunter
Duffy
Fleet Foxes
Frightened Rabbit
Gaslight Anthem
Jamie Lidell
Tallest Man On Earth
Wye Oak