Where we end one year, we pick up with the same topic for another.
While most of you were out drinking egg nog and exchange Christmas cheer, SIS Album of the Year 2008 winners Abe Vigoda unleashed the news to the world that there is new material already on the way. The EP, entitled Reviver, will be released on 12" vinyl and the CD format February 17th. The five songs find the band exploring new territories making Michael Vidal's vocals ever the more clear atop Juan Valesquez's gritty sprawling guitar. Lead off track "Don't Lie" was one playe frequently on the road, and one I caught first hand last summer and shows them playing in their comfort zone.
Rounding out the EP is a demo or variation of Skeleton track "Endless Sleeper" and a cover of Stevie Nicks' "Wild Heart". Yes. I am not kidding. I'm also trying to figure out if "The Reaper" is the song they closed with when I saw them last summer, then labeled "Jammer" on the set list. Perhaps. Either way, it's still good.
And so here we are the Top 5 Albums of 2008. Are there any surprises? No, not really, not to me at least. But maybe for you, faithful reader, you will be inspired to investigate these bands and maybe you'll even like them. The possibilities, as they always say, are endless. But of course before we get to #5, if you are coming late to the party because you just finished drinking your free Dr. Pepper (quick aside -- I got my coupon in the mail the other day, thanks Axl!), here's the 25 leading in to the top honors of the year.
30. Lambchop / OH (Ohio) / Merge 29. Portishead / Third / Island 28. Kings of Leon / Only by the Night / RCA 27. Bloc Party / Intimacy / Atlantic 26. Plus/Minus / Xs On Your Eyes / Absolutely Kosher 25. Nine Inch Nails / The Slip / The Null Corporation 24. Throw Me The Statue / Moonbeams / Secretly Canadian 23. French Kicks / Swimming / Vagrant 22. Delta Spirit / Ode To Sunshine / Rounder 21. The Walkmen / You & Me / Gigantic 20. Death Cab For Cutie / Narrow Stairs / Atlantic 19. Fleet Foxes / Fleet Foxes / Sub Pop 18. Mason Jennings / In The Ever / Brushfire 17. Department of Eagles / In Ear Park / 4AD 16. Nada Surf / Lucky / Barsuk 15. The Rosebuds / Life Life / Merge 14. Damien Jurado / Caught In The Trees / Secretly Canadian 13. R.E.M. / Accelerate / Warner Bros. 12. Beck / Modern Guilt / DGC 11. Hot Chip / Made In The Dark / DFA/Astralwerks 10. Crystal Stilts / Alight of Night / Slumberland 9. Portugal. The Man / Censored Colors / Approaching AIRBalloons 8. TV On The Radio / Dear Science / Interscope 7. Cut Copy / In Ghost Colours / Modular 6. Oxford Collapse / Bits / Sub Pop
It was at the hottest point in the summer that this debut from these Philadelphians landed on my desk. You know what song stuck out on that first listen? The epic, 10-minute penultimate “Show Me The Coast”. It asks for one’s patience, holding the same hum and shoegaze style guitar playing for the entire time, as a wandering and dwindling solo plays throughout. The leader of the war has vocals that channel early Bob Dylan, while The Boss’ “Dancer In The Dark” is channeled on “A Needle In Your Eye #16”. But it still all goes back to drone and haze of “Coast”; the third song in is actually “Coast Reprise” which, in theory, would be what leads in to the “Show”. Just follow the sounds of the people and the heat of the sun and you’ll get there, the coast that is.
The other band that my cousin once really tried his damndest to push on to me was Slowdive, the early 90s bastard cousin to My Bloody Valentine. Eventually I came around to them, more for Neil Halstead’s soothing vocals buried under the fireworks and catastrophe that was their Loveless (it was called Souvlaki, go find it if you’ve never heard it). On his second proper solo album, Halstead continues down the path he began walking down in his post-Slowdive outfit, Mojave 3. His voice has never been stronger, the words never so clearer, as he sings of door-to-door religious salespeople (“Sometimes the Wheels”), escaping to fame (“Elevenses”) and even dedication (“Baby, I Grew You A Beard”). Whether or not Mojave 3 makes another record, or if Slowdive would ever reunite doesn’t matter. Halstead just needs to keep making records and the world will be a better place.
This would have to be the band that got the most coverage on ye olde Stranded this 2008 and with good reason. After the loss of one of my favorite bands, The Golden Republic, I was at saddened by the prospects that there wouldn’t be a follow-up to their pristine debut. But Kenn Jankowski took “Buildings & Mountains” and called it his own, returning to his little project he had going before The Golden Republic with friends in Kansas City. “Golden Sand” rocks hard, while serene numbers “Contortionists” and an all-time favorite song in “Made Concrete” balance out the Color palette.
2. The Dandy Warhols / …Earth To The Dandy Warhols… / Beat The World
Who knew it would take them being dropped from Capitol to make quite possibly the best album of their career? Many will argue that 2000’s breakthrough Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia is the standout in their catalog, but I’m not so sure. After the horribly dismal Odditorium or Warlords of Mars, the band finally made what I call the album they were born to make. Coming from a life long fan, it’s definitely their most accessible and cohesive effort since Bohemia, channeling that album’s pop sheen (“The Last of the Outlaw Truckers aka the Ballad of Sheriff Shorty”), flare for the Stones (song of the year “Welcome to the Third World”), and even bringing back to life a song from the dead (“And Then I Dreamt of Yes”). Even the half-cover that is “Valerie Yum” with its nod to Ween In the way Courtney Taylor-Taylor manipulates his vocals is something great and unpredicted. And though they continue the tradition with worst-last songs on an album, the neat thing is how when on repeat, the last song goes in to the first, displaying a band who has made one complete revolution and is on to their next.
Back in July in an interview with AV guitarist Juan Velasquez, I called it then. In one clear sentence I wrote it out that I, Rusty, had named his Album of the Year within a week or two of having it. And I stand before you, five months later, and can still say that without a doubt it is the greatest album to come out in 2008. It does best what one’s Album of the Year should – it catches you off guard, it is a surprise, it is so out of the blue. You never know the first time you’ll put a record on the impact it will have on you and your life. The first 32 minutes I spent with it floored me, making me put it right back on the second it was over. It’s an album that has taken up several half hours this year. It does what more records should do these days, bringing the listener in extra close and not letting them go for one second of its duration. Earning their keep through undivided attention.
Every time I put it on it still sounds so fresh to my ears. The ferocious playing is juxtaposed by the melodies and harmonies buried beneath it all. That gallop that signals the change in opener “Dead City/Waste Wilderness”, the portrait I paint in my head of four men younger than me going to war with their instruments in “Animal Ghosts”. And need I say any more about the mind equals blown catastrophe that is the title track that rounds out this record?
Now that they have established themselves, my hope is that Abe Vigoda is no longer just an actor and a death clock on the internet, but a quartet of guys younger than me making some of the most daring music today.
Ever since I fell in love with the compilation track "New Grace" and I saw them open for Abe Vigoda this summer, I've been mildly obsessed with Brooklyn's High Places. I mean, the actually made me dance quite a bit when I saw them, and I hadn't let a crowd see me dance like that since I saw last saw LCD Soundsystem well over a year ago. There's just something about Mary Pearson's vocal beauty, contrasted with the warm sounds created by her and band mate Rob Barber that just make me melt. Deep bass lines and other exotic moments have combined to make some of the finest music of the year.
They've already won us over with the singles comp 03/07-09/07, and now Thrill Jockey is releasing their self-titled full length debut on September 23rd. In honor of such a momentous ocassion, the boy and the girl are hitting the road in the states including some west coast dates with Ponytail. Please, do yourself a favor and go see them. You will not be let down, I promise.
09/16 Pittsburgh, PA @ Brillobox 09/17 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop 09/18 Grand Rapids, MI @ Division Avenue Arts 09/19 Madison, WI @ Forward Music Fest 09/20 Champaign, IL @ Pygmalion Festival 09/21 Rock Island, IL @ Huckleberry's Pizza Parlor 09/23 Chicago, IL @ AV-aerie 09/24 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock 09/25 Grinnell, IA @ Gardner Lounge at Grinnell College* 09/26 Iowa City, IA @ The Mill 09/27 Denver, CO @ Rhinoceropolis 09/29 Salt Lakt City, UT @ Kilby Court* 09/30 Missoula, MT @ The Badlander* 10/2 Seattle, WA @ Nectar Lounge* 10/3 Anacortes, WA @ Department of Safety* 10/4 Vancouver, BC @ Richard's On Richards* 10/6 Portland, OR @ Backspace* 10/8 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill* 10/10 Los Angeles, CA @ The Smell* 10/12 Phoenix, AZ @ Modified* 10/15 Austin, TX @ Emo's* *w/ Ponytail
For 7:30 on a Monday evening in Cambridge, I was surprised to see there was already a line of 20, maybe 30 people outside the Middle East. There they all stood, smoking cigarettes, tickets grasped in their hands, as they awaited for the doors to open at the top of the hour. Man, people really want to see No Age, don't they, I thought to myself.
Once I was in the club and I had taken the last spot along stage right, I started to take notice to something. As I looked around the group of individuals surrounding me and took notice to their hands, it was all big black X's abound. No wonder there was already a crowd formed - they were all kids. Usually, I lump in with my age bracket of one slightly older than the people inside the venue already, and I show up with some time to spare to catch the band I want to see. But this night, I was there to see the earlier bands, the bands supporting who everyone else was really there to see. Though feeling like the oldest one there, and because there was next to no one really hanging out in the 21+ section (a first I had never seen at the Middle East since moving here over a year and a half ago,) deep down I was happy. The underage Rusty of yore was elated that night, knowing that the youth was still coming out seeing bands who weren't on the map quite yet, who weren't right above the underground.
After an opening set from local sampler / No Age sound man Palm, they walked on stage, they of Abe Vigoda. They looked sleepy at moments: Michael Vidal tuned his guitar, alfalfa standing up in the back. Juan Velasquez in an oversized Jesus & Mary Chain shirt that wasn't ironic nor unfashionable. Within 10 minutes of Palm ending, the AV had started their set. "Live Long" signaled the start of something I had been waiting for since Skeleton came in to my life like angel from the skies a few weeks back. "Animal Ghosts" would find Vidal singing and shuffling, thrashing on his guitar while Velasquez would play like a light swtich, going from sway to stifle. Reggie Guerrero, the oldest Vigodan at 22, played with precision and pep, clanging on the cowbell when appropriate. Of the nine songs played that night, seven were from the tour de force Skeleton, the others were brand new. The final number, listed on the piece of envelope set list as "Jammer," was the most brutal and abrasive thing I've heard from them, yet beneath it all was one of the catchiest melodies I've heard in awhile. Juan ended the set just clamoring about his side of the stage, before resting his guitar appropriately on his amp. When Michael kept yelling his name at the end, it was overpowered by the feedback erupting. "I like broke my string I play that song on, I had made up the entire song," I heard him say. Improvising never sounded more well rehearsed. Oh, and "Skeleton" was epic as well to see that in the flesh.Abe Vigoda Set List: Live Long / Animal Ghosts / The Garden / Don't Die / Lantern Lights / Bear Face / Cranes / Skeleton / Jammer
Afterwards, the duo of High Placesplugged in for their set. Showcasing breakbeats, exotic noises and Mary Pearson's sweet vocals, Robert Barber cooked up a sweat as he turned knobs and playing his drum pad. While her vocals were buried in the mix earlier in the set, they would soon become as prominent as the beats and loops that pulsated through my body for their entire set. While playing what I hope are already underground club hits outside of their native Brooklyn from their 03.07-09.07 singles comp, they also previewed new material from their upcoming self-titled full length and that amazing contribution of their's on that split single with Xiu Xiu. Did the crowd prove Pearson wrong on her welcoming claim that Boston was nothing but prudes when it came to shaking money makers and getting the groove thing on, or other assorted cliche phrases described to dance? She exclaimed at the end of the set that we weren't prudes after all. The crowd's reception was very warm to High Places for their first night ever in Boston. I could only predict big things for them as the year goes on.High Places Set List: Sandy Feat / The Storm / Golden / Oceanus / The Tree / Namer / Head Spins / From Stardust to Sentience / New Grace / Gold Coin / Vision's The First / Freaked Flight
And here we are again - halfway through another year. This means it is time to look at the best music that 2008 has offered up to us so far. Like last year's inaugural half way meet, I'm offering up a two day fest, predicting what my Top 10 might look like at year's end, but listening them in alphabetical order as opposed to actually predicting their ranked spot.
And for the record, last year's prediction scored a 60%, but this year I think will be different. Different as in less han last year's score. So, let's begin.
You might remember last week when I, uh, how to put this nicely - went ape shit over this album. I could easily just end this paragraph right now, let you click on the words ape shit and you can read my initial thoughts that spewed from my mind, but what fun would that be. Since then, I've listened to this record - a lot (149 plays logged in on the Last FM account, #1 for the week - #2 had 30). I've even told people who I shared the album with, my sheer excitement and joy, that this is my album of the year. I wonder if I'm right - it is even interesting to start off with this, but it's only because of the alphabetical order. I guess we'll see in December. [Buy Here]
"You must hear Cut Copy, they're all the rage!" is a statement I heard from many a person earlier this year as the band was getting ready to drop their sophomore effort. Message boards I frequent were also getting excited as the release date was looming. So, following all the hype I had to check them out. Although the lead off track, "Feel The Love," streamed off their MySpace unimpressive to me, it grew, and the next track, "Out There On The Ice" was infectious, as was many of the tracks ahead of it that would swerve in and out of each other for the near hour duration. And then I caught them live a few weeks ago, playing to a sold out crowd at the Paradise. And let's just say I don't think they were all there to see co-headliners, Black Kids. [Buy Here]
The Dandy Warhols- ...Earth To The Dandy Warhols... - Beat The World
Outside of the aforementioned Abe Vigoda, this, too, I have proclaimed a premature AOTY statue in its honor. But, this, I have a problem with. I'd hate to give the honor to an all-time favorite, I feel like its cheating. Its like showing a lack of effort for finding a real Album of the Year. "Well, these guys put out the best album of their career, a near flawless effort, I'll just give it to them." What fun is that? But see, it's true. Their sixth album is by far the greatest - after the huge letdown that is Odditorium or Warlords of Mars, the band string together the best songs of their career. The punch of "Mission Control" - "Welcome To The Third World" - "Wasp In A Lotus" - "And Them I Dreamt Of Yes" is immaculate. The band finally made an album you know they've been dying to make for years and it's pleasing to mine, and all of their fans, ears. [Buy Here]
Upon first listen of this Brooklyn based band's fourth album, I was let down. Nothing caught me at all: there was no "So Far We Are," no "Knee High," and especially no song that was winner of Rusty's Favorite Song of 2006, "England Just Will Not Let You Recover". This was to be the record they've always wanted to make - a self-produced, self-recorded organic experience that sounded like no record prior in their catalog. After multiple listens, I found the hooks. The fade in of a stifling hi-hat in to their trademark off-kilter beats on "New Man" was the first inclination that there was gold to be mined after all. Was that a ukelele on the beginning of "Love In The Ruins"? And those harmonies on "The Way You Arrive" have to be the prime example of what they were trying to achieve, the whole organic experience fully realized. [Buy Here]
The first and only time I saw Hot Chip was at CMJ in 2006, playing to a hot and sweaty bunch of folks at Webster Hall. It would be the first time I would ever get the chance to hear one of the greatest Hot Chip songs, ever, Dark's opening number "Out At The Pictures". It was like nothing I had ever heard before, I can't explain how it was different but it just was. The rest of the album also had its share of 'club bangers' like "Pictures": whether it was the rave-up "Hold On", the striking guitar intro that leads in to near Talking Heads territory on "One Pure Thought", or the side to side sway one could become accustom to on the track "Wrestlers". They wanted to bring their live show to a record and boy did they. [Buy Here]
Since it came in to my possession 36 hours ago, this is about the only thing I listened to. I took a break to check out that new record from Women and then Nouns by No Age, since they're touring with them and have been semi-lumped in to that whole, erm, noise scene. My problem is I don't think they belong - Abe Vigoda is almost too poppy for that whole lumping of a genre, or better yet, the one's who would best be fit to really become a forerunner, even though people think that Nouns is just priceless (I kinda beg to differ).
Skeleton starts off with drum fills abound and bright guitars. "Dead City/Waste Wilderness" borders the afro beat that Talking Heads pioneered on Remain In Light and Vampire Weekend hone today, save for the fact that, y'know, it's dirty. It's muddled, befuddled, the vocals are buried deep in the mix that Michael Stipe of the Fables era would be astonished. All but :45 seconds it makes that shift, maybe in to the "Waste" portion of the song, melodies and beats repeat with a cowbell that's so doused in reverb that you think it might be an empty can or spokes on a bike. It slides conveniently in to "Bear Face" which then goes right in to "Lantern Lights" two minutes later with it's declaration of the line 'Take one leaf, take two' before harmonies swell below. The only time they could even be remotely involved in this noise scene comes with "Whatever Forever" which uses its 42 seconds of existence to hum and explode like "Freezer Burn" would if Aphex Twin covered it. Skipping ahead to the end, the title track is total schizo - drumsticks click, we are to feel the bridge break, and when it breaks down out in to what would be a chorus, the vocals and words have never been more clear. "Don't break me out! Don't break me out!" is declared before the band has a minor thrash and breaks in to the chorus again and again and again. When all is said and done, the 14 songs that take up all of 32 minutes have left me in total m = b mode. This record is not leaving my ears anytime soon.
Their MySpace declares they are of a genre known as Tropical and Regional Mexican; a YouTube performance dubbed them Tropicali since they reside in LA and are tropical at times. When I finally stumbled upon their bio, Skeleton is labeled as a punked out Graceland (guess I wasn't so far off since all the cool hipster kids listen to that record all the time now for some reason). Their hollow yet full sounding jams can be best described by our own Jose Fritz as listening to the band do their soundcheck while waiting in line outside. More disjointed that Die Princess Die, more herky jerky than The Joggers have been at times, this band is destined to be something - that is - if they aren't already.
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Where we end one year, we pick up with the same topic for another.
