December 2008
37 posts
“Singer Songwriter” by Okkervil River
The Year's Best Music
#3 OKKERVIL RIVER - The Stand Ins
I’ve seen Okkervil River in concert twice now. The first time, they opened for The Decemberists right after Black Sheep Boy came out. I had never heard of them before but I was instantly intrigued. They had an accordion, the lyrics were hyper-verbose, Will Schiff’s voice crooned with manic intensity, and all of the guys were, to be overly blunt,...
“Electric Feel” - MGMT
The Year's Best Music
#4 MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
A lot has been said of this album. NME named it their #1 record of the year, claiming that, “you’ll be hard-pressed to find a record with more musical depth and warmth all year than this one.” On cokemachineglow, Don Sinacola says, “MGMT mostly just seem like a coupla jerks, hiding bland, confused songwriting behind theatrics and cock rings. And...
“So He Won’t Break” - The Black...
The Year's Best Music
#5 THE BLACK KEYS - “Attack & Release”
Dirty. Angry. Haunted. Lusty. Mournful. These are some of the words that come to mind when I think of The Black Keys latest album Attack & Release. A few other words would be: accomplished, masterful and downright fucking awesome.
Now, you probably know this already but I think it’s required by law to mention in a review of...
The Nerve!
If you are thinking that the above is a picture of just an ordinary, every day football you would be wrong. Dead wrong. No, my friends, that is a picture of an authentic game ball that was used in a real live football game! And for $250 it can be yours!!!!
Only problem is, it’s from this years only draw which happened to take place between the Cincinnati Bengals and my beloved...
drink to... SARK!
Okay. So I know I should be continuing with my music list but there’s too many distractions going on today. That said, I would be remiss if I didn’t pass a long this little tidbit I just read on the day’s news section on wikipedia:
“The Channel Island of Sark, a British crown dependency, holds its first democratic elections under a plan to abolish feudalism.”
Wow....
“Dark Leaves Form a Thread” -...
The Year's Best Music
#6 DESTROYER - Trouble In Dreams
When I first started to put this list together, I had this album penciled in at #10 and that had more to do with my feelings towards Destroyer than Trouble In Dreams itself. I’m a huge Destroyer fan so, understandably, I wanted to get Dan Bejar and company on the list. I was very excited when this follow up to 2006’s Destoyer’s Rubies came out...
5 Government Programs That Backfired Horrifically →
I don’t know who checks out cracked.com besides me so here’s a piece they have up that really had me laughing. I mean really laughing. And I’m not high or nothin’!
“Shelter” - The Dead Trees
The Year's Best Music
Okay, so I spent all day writing something else and now Monday Night Football is on and I just don’t have what it takes to do an entire album review (which, incidentally, has been pretty challenging it turns out but I like it). I don’t want to neglect ol’ Happy Hour today or my attempt at presenting my favorite music of the year so I propose a compromise:
“Shelter”...
Rent Parties?
From WIkipedia:
“A rent party (sometimes called a house party) is a social occasion where tenants hire a musician or band to play and pass the hat to raise money to pay their rent, originating in Harlem during the 1920s. The rent party played a major role in the development of jazz and blues music…. Rent parties were often the location of so-called cutting contests, which involves...
“I Won’t Be Found” - The Tallest...
The Year's Best Music
#7 THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH - Shallow Grave
Granted, The Tallest Man on Earth is kind of an annoying moniker for a Swedish singer/songwriter doing his best Bob Dylan to call himself. That said, if Kristian Matsson went by his birth name, I probably wouldn’t have given the record a spin. But I did and I’m glad. Shallow Grave is a welcome addition to my music collection and, even...
“Gold for Bread” - Blitzen Trapper
The Year's Best Music
#8 BLITZEN TRAPPER - Furr
When I first heard Blitzen Trapper’s third full length album, Wild Mountain Nation, I excitedly texted my friend Adam the band’s name as if I had truly discovered something (by ‘discovered’ I mean ’I read about them on Pitchfork’). I had never heard of them and I quickly became obsessed with the album. It’s kind of a crazy...
“The Next Time Around” - LITTLE JOY
The Year's Best Music
#9 LITTLE JOY - Little Joy
Little Joy is the name of a bar on Sunset in Silverlake. It’s known for cheap drinks and eclectic clientele. I found the following review of the place by “yeahimtrash” on citysearch:
“I love this bar. Although last time I went there was some faggotity dude there yelling and complaining about something, but thankfully the friendly bartender...
“Red and Purple” - The Dodos
The Year's Best Music
So, if you’ve been following this here blog, you’ll notice that it has been a little… preoccupied with revolutionaries. I assure you, this is the result of pure coincidence coupled with the fact that I wasn’t paying attention (more that I wasn’t paying attention). I just happen to think guys like Zumbi and Andreas Hofer are pretty cool! That said, in an effort to...
GARBAGE HOUSE!!!
I live next door to what is affectionately known around these parts as “garbage house.” It is called that because, until recently, the front and back yard were filled with garbage (I.e.: refrigerator doors, car hoods, random closets, foul-mouthed babies, etc). The owners have decided to sell. So garbage family packed up and moved out and after the past few weeks, the garbage was...