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I could not agree more, Peter. I used that quoted track to open one of my "best of 2009" mix CDs - it's one of the songs that got me through my waning days at Wells Fargo, actually. Your description, "Music to high-five strangers to," is more apt than anything else I could imagine.

Ah, sweet rock and roll. I'm listening to music at a prodigious rate of late; see my last.fm if you dare.

Thanks, AT.  I've been suffering a music drought lately.

Thanks for the heads up - I wouldn't have known.  (Relatedly, albumreminder.com is apparently completely useless.)

(New favorite mp3 player: SysTrayPlay.  Not because it has the puzzling option of shutting down the computer after playback.)

I had related thoughts about some of the evolution references: I have this knee-jerk reaction [I believe, of our times] of "why don't they show all sides of the subject?".  Then I think of how many levels it was ridiculous that I just thought that.  Upon more listens, I noticed how "My Brother the Ape" seems to deal with a guy reluctantly dealing with his animal relatives, which I think is subtle - like "this is what you're all thinking", without being side-tracked at all from "Science".

I have similar thoughts about a nod to Pluto, without the "name all the planets" song being at all about the Pluto problem.

These are not the reasons I'm loving this album, however.

I heard this album played on the radio a few weeks ago, and the nerds who ran this college radio show were similarly excited about the science-ness of this album. I need to listen to it more, and I'm interested in my relationship to this album in the context of the currently perceived cultural divide between "religion" and "science." Isn't that like choosing between cake and ice cream?

"A scientific theory
Isn't just a hunch or guess
It's more like a question
That's been put through a lot of tests"
I remember on my first listen-through thinking that this album really likes its subject in a really nerdy way. And, upon further listenings, I really like the idea of an album being factually correct in a field I tend to be a minor jerk about. Especially "Put It To The Test", which has a pretty great summary of the idea of Falsifiability.

I love the title track, haven't heard the rest. Said track has inspired me to re-start my grand experiment in search of the best songs about death.

I know, I know, commenting on myself reeks of pathetic-ness. But only tonight did I discover this review of the album from The Sneeze. http://www.thesneeze.com/2008/feel-good-ghosts---a-review-by-my-son.php

I demand that everyone who is cool at all read this review, and then ask yourself whether or not you love this album as much as this eight-year-old kid does. Then ask yourself whether or not you love anything as much as that kid loves this album. Probably at some point, actually listen to the album too. Because it's every bit as great as this Radio-Shack-lovin' kid says it is.

I've finally had a chance to listen to this album a couple of times, and I approve.

OK, so these two Gram Parsons albums (GP & Grievous Angel) are now sold as a single album. I must have this.

OK, so I've discovered Gram Parsons - I canNOT believe I reference him so callously above!! - where she became the best harmony vocalist in the history of pop music. Brilliant. Also, check her song Making Believe, which I discovered on a Gram Parsons Pandora Station. Some guy (not sure who) on backing vocals, and it's perfectly heartwrenching. Beautiful.

Jason Lukis, this one's for you!!

I suppose I could've included the link: http://www.avclub.com/articles/nashville-or-bust-week-3-johnny-cashs-america,25205/3/

This Thermals song in constant rotation (Now We Can See?) on The Current right now has been in my head for days, and I haven't minded one bit. I need to look further into these Thermals.

[edit] OK, so now I've watched the video and quite liked that tune as well. And how are they related to AGSFB (who I can't listen to anymore due to Rhapsody's takeover of Yahoo - grrr)??

The very first time I heard this album it was the wrong situation, and I wasn't too impressed. Since then, however, it's become a regular in my rotation because of the complex, hard-edged awesomeness it delivers. I need to check out that new Doomtree disc where P.O.S. is with his best friends, as I've been impressed with what I've heard on The Current.

I finally saw a couple of these recently - I'm on a boat is amazing, and I should watch the rest of 'em.

HOLY CRAP I love these guys. Their show last year remains in my Favorite Concerts of All Time.

Holy crap.  How can this exist.

Definitely a great song and a great album. I'm so glad you posted it!

Thanks for bringing us out, Peter.  For the rest of you, there are a couple of mp3s here:
http://minneapolisfuckingrocks.blogspot.com/2008/04/mfr-feature-jayber-crow.html

I do have it. It was the CD I got for joining MPR when The Current debuted, so I guess I'm not too surprised it's hard to find. How would I go about making that available to you?

Do you know where I can get a copy of that 89.3 Current sampler??  I would LOVE to get a copy of the live recording of "Littlest Birds" by Jolie Holland, but can't find it anywhere!  Do you have it??

I remember you recommending this (to me) a bit before this site came along.  I think it was one of the seeds that got me thinking about a site like this.

Andy, (Re: 1.) email perhaps?  right here?  I don't know.  Rhapsody (i.e. Real) seems to be buying all their competitors and then charging more.  They do seem to have the biggest selection, though.

Funny, I heard the first song, Reservoir Park, on the Current on the way to work recently, and wanted to look it up somewhere.  Somewhere along the way I dropped the ball.  Oddly, from the sound of the song, I thought they were playing something old, like from the 70s.  Pleasant surprise to hear it again on your recommendation.

While the Aforementioned David Brusie had alerted us that these guys were good, the rest of us were there for the Blitzen Trapper Experience.  I didn't notice any weird male bonding time (I wince at the term,) but there were certainly a bunch of dudes on hand.  (We were at the 7th St. Entry, and it was increasingly packed.  We happened to be about 6 feet from the stage.  I refrained from going on stage during the We-happen-to-have-a-lot-of-percussion-instruments-up-here-so-grab-one-and-rock-out song.)

1. So I've switched to Rhapsody from Yahoo, but still have many questions about what that means. What is the appropriate forum for me to ask y'all such  questions?

2. My people in Chicago are currently writing, recording, and creating a video for a Lutheran Volunteer Corps-themed rap song that includes the word "bromance," and if I still lived in Chicago I'm sure I would be involved. I can't decide if I'm sad or glad that I don't live there.

Did you experience any bromance at the show?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2008/07/bromantic.html

Super.  This site keeps proving to me that it was worth making.  Andy, don't know if you're making the switch to rhapsody that yahoo users are being "forced" to do.  Rhapsody, aside from being run by devils' spawn, has this album.

Also, I keep being reminded that what the world needs isn't a super-massive distributed p2p system (which is law-enforcingly problematic), but a local friend-only song sharing (which, like making mix tapes, isn't).  Isn't there some easy program out there I can share my music with some select friends?  Sure it's not legal, but I'd like to see them sue me for the $20 they lost.  Suggestions?

Just getting around to this... Nice.

Having finally listened to the entire album, I long to own it in such form as I can listen to it in my car. That means I like it a great deal, and it inspired a new list at my last.fm profile (last.fm/user/atengwall) of albums I want to listen to in the car. As I only use CDs in the car (Barbarian! Luddite!), I'll have to decide whether to purchase CDs or to upgrade my technology. Anyone have helpful opinions about that question?

I've been trying to listen to this band, but I have as yet been unable to procure their new album. Still, your rec will inspire me to try harder.

seriously. this song...god, war, family, injury. i feel like a latecomer to the arcade fire. but that doesn't really bother me.

I didn't realize that was the new album, as I got that song awhile back on a compilation CD, but as of paying attention to it this week for the first time I'm thrilled with it. I like how some of of this band's stuff could slip onto may faux country mix, and some of it is this song.

I'm pretty sure "working for the church while my family dies ... working for the church while my life falls apart / singing hallelujah with fear in your heart" ought to mean something very important to me. I guess maybe it helps keep me grounded somehow, or gives needed perspective on my existential place, or something.

PS - I love that I didn't even notice that you'd specified this song until halfway through writing the above; it's just what came to mind when I saw you'd listed that album.

Their newest album is called "The Stage Names", and it's pretty great.  The first track tends to stick in my mind in ways I don't understand.

Word.

Oh, and among the fun of this album is the song done by Craig Finn of The Hold Steady, which begins by calling the movie Predator "weak and unwatchable." I've often wondered whether it was Craig Finn or POS who actually walked out of Predator, or if it's just a fiction.

AT, email me.

I'm not sure I've ever heard such widely divergent reviews of an album as I have of this one; finally I see it's available on yahoo, so I look forward to checking it out in a timely manner.

Peter, I dearly long to hear this album. Am I missing the way that you have it and can listen to it but I can't seem to procure it yet?

[1.25 songs in...]  I think I see why you say that.

I've been listening to this back-to-back with Ben Kweller (from Tom), and I should probably comment that I've been enjoying this too.  The two band sounds seem to complement each other nicely.  (I probably have weird ears, so that is probably a lie.)

Peter, where have you been?  Make a buddy icon.  Also, subscribe to Tom's recs.

Peter, finally today I had the chance to listen to this, and it was great. I combined it with the mini-recommendation of All-Girl Summer Fun Band, and I've decided I want the song Canadian Boyfriend to be about me. I mean, I'm from relatively near Canada, right?

OK, here's the deal. When I listen to this album in the dead of night (it's after 3 am now), I am consistently convinced that it is the best album ever. I WANT MORE CLARINET IN MY ROCK SONGS. And when, as I'm listening to it, my player shifts to Patsy Cline, I feel compelled to create a Patsy Cline / Neko Case / Hem / The Be Good Tanyas (did I forget anybody?) cabal to take over the entire world and bring about world peace and a thousand years of prosperity for all, only not in a creepy totalitarian sort of way.

Andy, whine at me with a gmail address.

Also, google "hype machine" and search there with song titles.

"Tallahassee" is also great, if that's available to you.  Not the same lo-fi recording, though.  (Not necessarily a downside.)

One time I looked up a band's web site, and wrote them.  (Happened to be Lizzie West.)  They responded, and said "We do have control over Holy Road and will try to upload that album to yahoo and rhapsody soon."  It turns out in this case they didn't, but I think the answer is "whine at the label".

Peter, apparently yahoo doesn't have that album, though it does have some others. What can be done about this besides whining?

This is a great album.  This album was the soundtrack to my life for April/May of last year.

Either this is the music Aaron Copland always wanted to make, or it's the music I always wanted him to make. Or it's really late and I'm delusional.

Yeah, as I read this comment one of their tracks happened to come up on my playlist, and I agree that 'rough on the ears' applies at times. I'm currently considering them a little hit-or-miss, but i think it will take some time before I develop a final opinion.

Haven't caught up on your last 2 recs, (the ones after this one) but I spent an afternoon last week listening to Fiery Furnaces.  Rough on the ears, but I was intrigued.

Yesterday I couldn't get their tune Nantes out of my head, and I didn't mind a bit. This band is on the verge of favoriteness.

So I've been listening to these guys, and they're freaking amazing. My current favorite track is 'Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats', the opening of which puts it over the top for now.

I would like to point out a pattern, thanks in part to reflection prompted by my own last.fm profile ( http://www.last.fm/user/atengwall/ ): Since I became an official roller derby participant (an announcer), Sleater-Kinney has all but become my favorite band.

Coincidence? I think not.

Oh, and P.S. - Since I've really only heard their last album, which earlier bits are MOST vital for me to hear? Somebody make use of this damn site and recommend some for me!! Thanks. :)

Peter, I finally have a chance to check this out, and I like it a great deal. And they seem to have a higher percentage of songs in 3 than even Neko Case or Sufjan Stevens, so that's always fun.

A critical difference, I suppose, is that Neko Case writes her own music, whereas Patsy Cline did not. Then again, it was a completely different era, so there's that.

J, another Stephin Merritt project is The Sixths, where he just brings in random (usually indie-ish) folks to sing his songs. See also the Gothic Archies, whom I have not heard, and I believe he has 'solo' stuff as well. BTW, does this mean you are unfamiliar with the 69 Love Songs album? Because if that's the case, it's a situation needing to be rectified immediately.

Yep.  Basically the same person/people.  Another guy collaborates on the writing in F.B.H.  The Magnetic Fields songs are written by Stephen Merritt (only), and performed by himself and others.

Wow Bri,
These Guys REALLY remind me of Future Bible Heroes. Especially the song "Zombie Boy". Any connection to that band?

When you recommended Patsy Cline before, I thought, "Gosh, she sounds a lot like Neco Case.  Or, vice versa."

So because everybody's a critic (but seldom has a voice in the creative process), you may choose to be interested in this repost from the Coyotes' myspace bulletin:

Date:    Feb 24, 2008 7:02 PM
Subject: well, mixing
Body: hello

we're in the process of mixing an album
we'll probably end up pressing this album onto 5 or six hundred long playing vinyl discs.

we've just posted four early mixes from recent recordings, and I would appreciate any response, creative or critical, that you would offer.

the songs are

winter billet
the sign
psalm
film put in backwards

what do you think?
where are these at?

-patrick

Coincidentally, a song from The Woods played on The Current yesterday.  I enjoyed it, but didn't recognize it, as I haven't listened to much of that album.  It's odd, because I've listened to nearly all their other albums a ton.

Maybe I'm just sad that they've faded away.  (Though still loving Carrie's NPR blog.)

Oh, their site points you to their MySpace page for streaming songs:
http://www.myspace.com/themagneticfields

In news that may interest only me, I recently got a facebook message from my girl Jaala that said she'd send me "a bunch of cds". Sweet.

Gave them a listen.  They kind of reminded me of Spin Doctors (loosely), if I'm allowed to make such comparisons.

This reminds me of the Editors, if the Editors were more bold in terms of what they allow themselves to sound like.  "Anthemic" is the word that comes to mind. Somewhat less charitably, Coldplay also comes to mind.  But I like these guys more.

Sometimes I think the first track on that album exists primarily to set up the transition into the second track...

I'd personally recommend their earlier album "Absolution" over this one.  It feels slightly less varied, but it has more standalone catch-in-your-head tunes.

On ~first listen, I'm liking "Arrows Pointing Sideways" on Positive Friction.

I thought "overall dark, apocalyptic tones" description on Rhapsody was a pretty good one, but I liked "Supermassive Black Hole"

AT, it appears that this is track #1 on the EP.  Don't know if EPs count in your 1 in 3 compilation.  I enjoy that the EP features the expletive intact version followed immediately by the edited version (the one on youtube).

I, also, dig.  Thanks.

Peter, you could not be more right on. It's a shame that I can only get that song on her myspace page, but it's even in 3! and with fun instrumentation, and how could it be that no one has ever before written a song with the chorus "What the fuck was I thinking?" "Brilliant" barely begins to cover it.

My ears have been filled with Acid House Kings this morning.  I like it.  I also like that their website reads "A new album defining the meaning of perfect pop can be expected in 2008."

I'm an idiot. It's The Smiths, not just Morissey (though I admit I'm not as clear on the distinction as I could be). I got it right the first time I tried to post this, but apparently an album title is required so I can list a song title. Can we institute an 'edit rec' feature, Brian?

Enjoyable!

They seem to have a web page that will stream to you a complete album and an EP.  Nice.

http://www.the-1900s.com/media.htm

(I've been kind of picturing some way to specify where one can listen to recommendations.  For now, I suggest doing so in the comments.)

I generally agree; for me I think it tends to be the full tracks that I prefer to the short ditty-length ones, and I prefer the classics (mostly hymns, as it happens) to the stuff he wrote. Of course, I had been craving hymns to listen to for so long that I have generally neglected the rest of the songs, so my thoughts could change.

Peter, many of your recs are unavailable on yahoo, including this one. This bums me out, as the one song i was able to get on last.fm was nice. Yahoo also lacks the Most Serene Republic tune you recommend, though it has apparently other albums. It doesn't have Bodies of Water either.

All this leads me to conclude that you, Peter, are too hip for Yahoo. While I am pleased for you, I lament my own inability to listen to your best rock.

This album is getting a lot of air time in our house lately.  I agree that some tracks stand out more than others.  Perhaps these correspond to the hymns.  It seems, vaguely, I like the less peppy ones more.

Time to comment on my own post.  Oddly, she seems to have 2 albums called Holy Road, with a lot of overlapping songs (one seemingly more produced, and one seemingly less).  The one on Yahoo is not the one I originally liked, but they are both really good.