The Hold Steady - Stay Positive

The Hold Steady is my current Favorite Rock Band of All Time.  Their previous album (Boys and Girls in America) is one of my favorite albums of all time, and this one is right up there with it.

Stuck Between Stations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cem1ME-OvQ (from Boys and Girls in America)

Mobius Band - Heaven

I realized I loved Mobius Band about a week after they were in town. Synth + guitar indie rock.  The song "Secret Language" is among my current favorites. (It kind of sounds like if Interpol had looked out the window and decided it was really a beautiful day.)

Weezer - Red Album

I loved Weezer's first album. Loved it.  Pinkerton didn't do it for me.  The Green album made me a little sad.  I've been sad about Weezer ever since.

The first track on Red made me believe again. The video for "Pork and Beans" is really nice.  This cd is solid; Weezer is back.

Mates of State - Team Boo

Synth+Drums, husband and wife duo.  I told a friend at work that I didn't know anything by them, and the next day I had a stack of cds on my desk.  I explained that stack to someone else, and she said, "Peter, I have failed you." 

This album: The first song had the same dual vocals as Sleater-Kinney, so I thought it was nice.  Then at 1:25 I thought it was great.  Then at 1:45 I was in love with this album.

"This is the blood that we're made of
So tell it like a chronicle
Who's dancing all around?
Let's give it to me, give it to me now"

Then the second song starts in 3.  And it's great.

I would marry Mates of State, if they were not already married to each other.  And if I had not already pledged myself to marry All-Girl Summer Fun Band.

The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas

A guy records songs on a boombox.  Sometimes you can hear when he hits the stop button.  Sometimes the sound in one channel cuts out.  And ohmigod it's beautiful.  Let me direct you to the song "Jenny" on this album:

We were the one thing in the galaxy god didn't have his eyes on,
Nine hundred cc's of raw whining power
No outstanding warrants for my arrest
Goddamn, the pirate's life for me.

I've loved this guy for years and had no idea.  A while back I listened to the album "Protein Source of the Future...Now!" and was kind of taken.  Then I forgot about him.  My bad.

Beirut - The Flying Club Cup

Accordion/violin/horn small-European-tavern indie-gypsy greatness.  You won't want to mosh, but you might want to twirl.

Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings

I saw Dan Deacon at First Avenue a few nights ago.  He set up his kit on the floor, a yard or two away from the stage, and was surrounded by people hovering over him and waving their arms and dancing around like freaks.  My friend Liz said, "It was like being at the Rec Center, where there are a lot of kids just running around just to freak out.  Sometimes there's a ball or something, but mostly they're just there to jump around." 

(A few pics from the balcony: http://picasaweb.google.com/pvanhaaften/DanDeaconShow )

Electronica.  The track "Wham City" is worth listening to at max volume.

Los Campesinos - International Tweecore Underground

"and the last time that you tried listening to music
and reading fiction at the same time,
you never finished the chapter,
but you finished the song with your chin on your knees like you belong"

This cd is a single.  That lyric is from the title track. Also, from the second song, "C Is The Heavenly Option" (which is a cover of another band, Heavenly, whom I also adore),

"My girlfriend's getting sick of me,
Should I A: change your personality
Should I B: put her love to the test
Should I C: kiss her until she is obsessed
If you’re an A you will see you get chucked and end up unhappy.
If you’re a B you will find that’s cool but hey don’t be too unkind.
If you’re a C will end up like me, and love will ball you over"

The first song is good, the second almost had me dancing on my sketchy bus this morning.  Also seek the single for "We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG72H5PcGg0 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTbj0Wyx12Q

Akron/Family - Love is Simple

These guys sound like Phish would sound if Phish spent all day in the backwoods, drinking moonshine, listening to John Zorn, and reading Derrida.  The song "Ed is a Portal" is one of my favorite songs ever.

Jenny Owen Youngs - The Take Off All Your Clothes EP

So, I've been listening to the first song, "Fuck Was I," pretty much exclusively for the last day or so. Also, "Hot in Here" is a fantastic cover of Nelly.  Both these videos are on YouTube.  I have a new rock-girl crush.