Music Recommend

fun. - Aim and Ignite

I played this at Katie, and she said, "It this The Format?" Turns out, the lead guy is the same. I'm gonna go ahead and call this genre "Symphonic Pop". I'm a sucker for "Na na na na na na" choruses. And for albums where you probably need a decent pianist onstage.

Fanfarlo - Reservoir

This band is a weird collision of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Devotchka. It totally works.

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Vaguely electro-indie band. If you're leaving in the early afternoon for a road-trip towards the West to find high adventure, you should probably be listening to this album all the way through, on repeat.

Say Hi - Oohs and Aahs - Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh

The rest of this album is pretty laid-back, and sounds like Pela, which is really pretty admirable. But this track is awesome.

"It's the shape of her legs,
It's the way that she curses."

You've never heard synth-horns used this well.

Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

So last night I had the opportunity to see Neko Case as part (all?) of the annual PDHVH Day festivities. I had yet to purchase this album, and had only heard a few of the songs. Still, I found these new tunes to be my favorites in the live show, which is really saying something. Of course, she didn't play anything off Tacoma-themed Furnace Room Lullabies, which I bought in CD form at the show along with Middle Cyclone. Man, this living in the TC thing is going to increase my spending on music by astronomical proportions. Perhaps ironic, as here I can listen to The Current free and easy, yet that seems to be what drives me to pay for great music and shows. Anyway, Neko Case = the loveliest, still.

Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel - Return of the Grievous Angel

Is this the best song I've ever heard? How have I lived til now without knowing this album? Read the damn heartbreaking story ( http://www.avclub.com/articles/week-7-gram-parsons-solo-years-life-hurts,26634/ ), and mourn / celebrate this life.

Gram Parsons - GP

So if by now you're not RSSing Nathan Rabin's Nashville or Bust feature at the AV Club ( http://www.avclub.com/features/nashville-or-bust/ ), I can't imagine what we'd have to talk about. Besides the opening Johnny Cash bits, this week's Merle Haggard was great, but I missed until today his entry on Gram Parsons' solo work. Holy fuck, this is the music my soul has yearned for since I was born. His vocal collaborator is none other than Emmylou Harris, and it turns out this is where she made her mark as the greatest harmony vocalist in the history of pop/rock/country music.

Listen to every musical example on here, and if your work internet blocks these things, burn down your office and live in freedom.
http://www.avclub.com/articles/week-7-gram-parsons-solo-years-life-hurts,26634/

Metric - Fantasies

I can list off a string of previous Metric successes, but Fantasies is the best place to figure it all out.  The first song is perfect. The last song is perfect.  A couple of the middle songs are perfect, too. Electrogirl. Give it a chance. because, wow.

Bob Dylan with Johnny Cash - Nashville Skyline - Girl From the North Country

I've been sniffing around this song for awhile, listening to some Dylan and Cash, even listening regularly to a cover by Conor Oberst, M. Ward, and Jim James. Finally I heard the Dylan / Cash version the day Bill DeVille played Johnny Cash on his Honey Do list on The Current. It fucking blew me away. I knew Oberst and the rest were covering Dylan, and I know everyone does that, but those guys do not in any respect hold a candle to the Dylan / Cash version.

I also notice that Nathan Rabin at the Onion's AV Club is doing a wonderful yearlong country retrospective (Nashville or Bust Week 3; also watch the Joni Mitchell duet), and I watched video of Dylan and Cash doing this song on Cash's TV show. Life-changing.

The Lonely Island - Incredibad

While I'm a little reluctant to post silly albums. . . this is awesome.  Andy Samberg  got a bunch of these songs on Saturday Night Live, and they're pretty amazing. He's got this sense of nerdy-guy-vs.-hiphop, and has some impeccable production.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/56632/saturday-night-live-digital-short-im-on-a-boat#s-p1-st-i1
http://www.hulu.com/watch/1397/saturday-night-live-snl-digital-short-lazy-sunday#s-p1-st-i1
http://www.hulu.com/watch/1404/saturday-night-live-snl-digital-short-natalie-raps#s-p1-st-i1

Bishop Allen

This band is pretty much what indie rock should be. Their first LP, "Charm School", is really great. I saw them at the Entry shortly after they released "The Broken String", which is just pretty much perfect. And on March 10, their new album "Grrr..." comes out, which is maybe even better. 

They're not a big-name band, but they believe in what they're doing, and they do it very, very well.  They've got kind of a higlight reel at http://www.bishopallen.com/ .

The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound

Unapologetic old-style rock 'n roll. It's like it's 1994 on a Sunday afternoon in the summer and you're driving around and your radio starts to pick up a station from the future, but it all makes perfect sense and you just keep on driving west.

M.I.A. - Kala

I heard "boyz" a few times on the current, but thought it sounded like just some passing teen fad.  I became more intrigued when I independently ran across this amazon.com editorial review:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TJ6CM2/ref=dm_dp_cdp?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1234414132&sr=102-6#productDescription

Now, I think I'm hooked.  I was pleased also to hear "Paper Planes" in Slumdog Millionaire.

Imperial Leisure - The Art of Saying Nothing

Brit ska/hiphop/rock. Why can't more bands have horn sections?

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Straight Outta Lynwood - Close But No Cigar

I was listening to this song on an airplane ride, and it dawned on me that this song borrows so much (musical styling) from Cake, that it is clearly no accident.  I think I didn't notice at first because I listen to enough Cake that their sound is more of a genre to me than an artist's sound.

Oxford Collapse

Like Pavement, but a little more in control.  I'm not quite sure what it is, but I've listened to little else than their latest album "Bits" in the last few days.  Thing is, if this band is playing, you'll like it. Maybe you won't know why. That's why they're great.

P.O.S. - Never Better

I don't quite know what to say about this album -- it's pretty much everything that's right with hip-hop today.  The cd packaging is ridiculously complicated, and you can design your own cover art at the below link (as well as listen to the whole cd.) I recommend the tracks "Savion Glover", "Purexed", and "Low Light Low Life".

http://www.rhymesayers.com/neverbetter/

School of Seven Bells - Alpinisms

Hazy but lyric.

Stars - Sad Robot; Set Yourself On Fire

Reminiscent of Shiny Toy Guns but more mellow and pop-y. (Also, Canadian.)

Andrew Jackson Jihad - People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World

There's a newly-described music subgenre called "Anti-folk". This is that.  Banjo and old-tyme feel, with punk-rock stylings.