my top albums of 2007 #30-21

30

Two Gallants - Two Gallants
Excellent folk-country-punk type duo.

29

Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
Blows their debut away. In my opinion.
TLOBF review

28

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder
Ah yes, the album that most everyone either loves or intensely detests. It's not as fun as the debut, but that's not to say there aren't a lot of solid songs. Plus you gotta love that CYHSY DIY business model...

27

Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
Yay for more Swedish pop music! I adore Jens and often have the feeling that this album should be higher than #27 on my list. But alas it's not.
TLOBF review

26

Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
Conor's growing up. He sounds great on this album and his songwriting keeps getting better.

25

Ezra Furman & The Harpoons - Banging Down The Doors
Ezra's a very young Chicagoan who's getting lots and lots and lots of Dylan comparisons. He kinda sounds like Alec Ounsworth a bit too. You should check this album out. It's real real good.
not a review, just something I wrote

24

Revival - Horses Of War
Wow, another great new find for this year. Kind of folky, kind of psychedelic.

23

Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
I was so worried that this album was going to suck, but it completely blew me away. There are a couple of tracks I could do without, but for the most part, sobriety is treating Ryan and his songwriting very nicely indeed.
TLOBF review

22

Bishop Allen - The Broken String
This is indie pop at its finest. 'Nuff said.

21

Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter
Josh is another young artist who is just getting better and better. Great album.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow...

cyhsy go hollywood!

Pitchfork's story, mostly because I'm lazy.... mostly.

Recall those erstwhile Clap Your Hands Say Yeah dates, postponed recently under mysterious circumstances? Well today, the band's publicist kindly lifted the veil of intrigue surrounding the nixed gigs. Turns out the (omg unsigned!) quintet was forced to bail on a few Midwestern cities because they had a date with Hollywood.

Don't be bitter though, this sounds like a goodie. According to Clap's publicist, the band's in Los Angeles now shooting scenes for the upcoming film The Great Buck Howard, which also stars some up-and-comers like Tom Hanks and John Malkovich, along with Colin Hanks and Emily Blunt. How this film will stack up against cinematic giants such as Uncle Buck remains to be seen.

Clap Your Hands also wrote new songs for the film's score, and it was indeed duties related to these new compositions that called the crew away from a slice of their tour a couple weeks back. The band hopes to make up the missed dates in the fall, and sudden stardom hasn't (yet) thwarted their plans to work the European festival circuit this summer.

the best of 2007... part 1

I can't believe we're 3 months into the "new" year already. And even more, I can't believe the abundance of amazing stuff that the music gods have bestowed upon us in those 3 months. I thought I'd put together a little tracklist of some of the best new music that 2007 has given us so far... well, OK, maybe not so "little". It's about 90 minutes of pure awesomeness that goes something like this:

01 - The Apples In Stereo - Can You Feel It?
02 - Deerhoof - +81
03 - LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
04 - The Broken West - Down In The Valley
05 - Apostle Of Hustle - Chances Are
06 - Of Montreal - A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger
07 - Menomena - Air Aid
08 - CYHSY - Mama, Won't You Keep Them Castles In The Air...
09 - Illinois - Nosebleed
10 - Modest Mouse - Spitting Venom
11 - The Arcade Fire - Keep The Car Running
12 - The Besnard Lakes - Devastation
13 - Panda Bear - Take Pills
14 - Beirut - Scenic World (Version)
15 - Andrew Bird - Dark Matter
16 - Jamie T - Calm Down Dearest
17 - Dr. Dog - Worst Trip
18 - The Shins - Girl Sailor
19 - Papercuts - Take The 227th Exit
20 - A Sunny Day In Glasgow - 5:15 Train
21 - Do Make Say Think - A Tender History In Rust

download it! (download will only be good for a couple of weeks... if you have trouble let me know).

And because I like lists (who doesn't?!?) here are the top 10 albums of my year so far... based almost solely on the amount of times I've listened to them (no ranking order here, rather alphabetical by album title):

The Besnard Lakes - Are The Dark Horse:
Canadian indie rock, I love you. Seeing these guys (and gal) live recently cemented this one in the first quarter's Top Ten.

Favorite tracks: Disaster; Devastation; Cedric's War











Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha:
Andrew has achieved the impossible and topped The Mysterious Production Of Eggs. Beautiful album.

Favorite tracks: Fiery Crash; Plasticities; Dark Matter












Menomena - Friend And Foe:
Very original, very fresh sound from these crazy guys. Buy the CD, the artwork is insane.

Favorite tracks: Muscle'n Flo; Air Aid; Boyscoutin'












Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?:
If, or rather, when you buy this one, I highly recommend getting the vinyl version, as it includes 4 incredible bonus songs. Insound has it. You need it.

Favorite tracks: Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse; A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger; The Past Is A Grotesque Animal; Du Og Meg (lp bonus track)








The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible:
Anthemic sophomore effort from yet another amazing Canadian band. I love love love this album.

Favorite tracks: Keep The Car Running; Intervention; (Antichrist Television Blues)











Jamie T - Panic Prevention:
I just can't get enough of this young Londoner's debut album. I'm not really sure why, but every time I listen to it I'm overcome with the feeling that this is the album the Arctic Monkeys should have made... Brilliant.

Favorite tracks: Calm Down Dearest; Back In The Game; Sheila; Dry Off Your Cheeks; Alicia Quays

Yeah, I love it.







Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder:
So far SLT wins the 2007 award for most polarizing album of the year. From what I've read and heard, people either love it or hate it. Fuck those haters, this album is a masterpiece.

Favorite tracks (if I have to pick just a few...): Some Loud Thunder*; Mama, Won't You Keep Them Castles In The Air And Burning?; Yankee Go Home; Underwater (You And Me); Five Easy Pieces (and, if you can get your hands on the bonus track The Sword Song, do it - it's beautiful)

*I chose the title track as a favorite because (a) I fucking love the song but perhaps even more because (b) it seems to be the most polarizing track on this already polarizing album. If I had a nickel for every time I heard/read someone ask "is is supposed to sound like that?"... well, I'd probably have enough nickels for a mortgage payment. I firmly believe that Alec Ounsworth doesn't do anything without oodles of forethought, and I most definitely count myself among his biggest fans. I admire CYHSY for making the music they want to make, and for not giving a shit about what people think of them. CYHSY is not for everyone, I know. But they should be. Think about it.

LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver:
I've never been hugely into the whole electronica-dance-rock thing, but I love this album. A marvelous follow-up to the eponymous debut.

Favorite tracks: North American Scum; Someone Great; All My Friends; Watch The Tapes










Dr. Dog - We All Belong:
Hearing this album for the first time sent me into a Dr. Dog phase where I listened to nothing else for a few days. We All Belong is their best effort yet. Try it, you'll like it. Oh - and another amazing live band by the way.

Favorite tracks: Old News; My Old Ways; Ain't It Strange; Worst Trip










The Shins - Wincing The Night Away:
There are a couple of clunkers on here, but the indie pop brilliance of the rest of the album more than makes up for them. I don't care what anyone says, Wincing is just as good as Oh, Inverted World and Chutes Too Narrow. Fantastic.

Favorite tracks: Australia; Phantom Limb; Turn On Me; Girl Sailor









Some more albums that are certainly worth a listen:

!!! - Myth Takes
A Sunny Day In Glasgow - Scribble Mural Comic Journal
Apostle Of Hustle - National Anthem Of Nowhere
The Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
The Bees - Octopus
Beirut - Lon Gisland EP
The Bird And The Bee - The Bird And The Bee
Bracken - We Know About The Need
Bright Eyes - Four Winds EP
The Broken West - I Can't Go On, I'll Go On
David Vandervelde - The Moonstation House Band
Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
Deerhunter - Cryptograms
Do Make Say Think - You, You're A History In Rust
The Earlies - The Enemy Chorus
The Early Years - The Early Years
El-P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead
Explosions In Sky - All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone
Field Music - Tones Of Town
Foreign Islands - Restart Now!
The Good, The Bad & The Queen - The Good, The Bad & The Queen
Gruff Rhys - Candylion
Illinois - What The Hell Do I Know?
Jesse Malin - Glitter In The Gutter
Jesu - Conqueror
Lifetime - Lifetime
Loney, Dear - Loney, Noir
Low - Drums And Guns
Maria Taylor - Lynn Teeter Flower
Marnie Stern - In Advance Of The Broken Arm
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
The Original Mark Edwards - The Doom Loop
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Papercuts - Can't Go Back
Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
The Ponys - Turn The Lights Out
Pop Levi - The Return To Form Black Magick Party
The Postmarks - The Postmarks
The Rakes - Ten New Messages
Richmond Fontaine - Thirteen Cities
Shining - Grindstone
Softlightes - Say No! To Being Cool; Say Yes! To Being Happy
Sophia - Technology Won't Save Us
Ted Leo + Pharmacists - Living With The Living
VietNam - VietNam
Warm In The Wake - Gold Dust Trail EP

Quite a list, eh? And those are only the albums released by 3/31/2007. There are some upcoming albums that I've been enjoying that'll probably make it on part 2's tops list (Blonde Redhead, Bright Eyes, Cloud Cult, The National, Voxtrot, Wilco - I'm looking at you!). Yay 2007!

cyhsy "thunder" tour

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah announced a tour some time ago. There was no Colorado date, so I didn't mention it at the time. They have now expanded the tour, and as there is still no Colorado date, it's not so significant to me:

04-10 Providence, RI - Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel *
04-11 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street Night Club *
04-12 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground *
04-13 Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis *
04-14 Toronto, Ontario - Kool Haus *
04-15 Buffalo, NY - The Town Ballroom *
04-17 Nashville, TN - Cannery Ballroom *
04-18 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse *
04-19 Athens, GA - 40 Watt *
04-20 Jacksonville, FL - Freebird *
04-21 Orlando, FL - The Club at Firestone *
04-22 Fort Lauderdale, FL - Revolution *
04-24 New Orleans, LA - Republic *
04-26 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live *
04-27 Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre *
04-28 Austin, TX - Stubb's BBQ *
04-30 Kansas City, MO - VooDoo Lounge
05-01 Columbia, MO - The Blue Note
05-02 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
05-03 Indianapolis, IN - Vogue Theater
05-21 Melbourne, Australia - Hi Fi Bar
05-22 Melbourne, Australia - Hi Fi Bar
05-23 Sidney, Australia - Enmore
05-24 Brisbane, Australia - The Zoo
05-25 Brisbane, Australia - The Zoo
07-29 Yuzawa-machi, Japan - Naeba Ski Resort (Fuji Rock Festival)

* with Elvis Perkins in Dearland

What is significant to me, however, is that my favorite band (ummmm, yeah, CYHSY) is playing the Conan O'Brien show on April 4. Don't miss it.

some loud thunder, you rock my world

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have a new album, Some Loud Thunder, coming out later this month. Have I mentioned that a time or two? Um, yeah, I thought so.

We were teased with a few tracks - CYHSY made Love Song No. 7 & Underwater (You And Me) available for download on their website and you can stream Satan Said Dance at their MySpace page. And, if you are a subscriber (or were lucky enough to find an MP3 somewhere), Yankee Go Home was included on Uncut Magazine's February issue CD.

Somehow the album didn't leak until yesterday, just one day before the pre-order MP3s are available. As luck would have it for me though, about a week or so ago a kind soul from the message board where I hang out sometimes sent me a link to download the whole album. Mainly because I am likely the biggest CYHSY advocate (oh, ok.... fangirl) over there.

So by the time I actually got to hear the damn thing, I was quite concerned that my hopes were up way too high and that I would be supremely let down by the new album. But oh, how it was worth the wait.

First off, for those of you who are hoping that Alec Ounsworth's vocals have "improved" somehow... well, you probably won't like this one much. I personally have no issues with his singing style, in fact I rather like his voice and think it fits well with the songs. The vocals are a large part of what makes CYHSY's sound so unique; I just can't imagine some slick-voiced singer belting out these tunes... It seems that a lot of their "punch" would be non-existent.

But enough of that. Some Loud Thunder is certainly not an accessible album. In fact, I'd say it's abundantly less accessible even than CYHSY's self-titled debut, which was poppier and catchier than SLT. In a word, I'd call it a noisy album. Or perhaps noise-y would be more appropriate. I don't mean that in a bad way at all... quite the contrary; there is so much going on that it begs for multiple listens just to get a handle on everything that is happening.

There really isn't a standout track on this album. Or more precisely, every track on this album is a standout... :)

• Some Loud Thunder - They played this one when I saw them last October. I also have a few live recordings of it - which I play the hell out of because I love the song so much. I was surprised to discover that the album version is very similar to the Flashy Python & The Body Snatchers Graceful Retreat demo (Flashy Python is Alec's side project - incidentally, I would love to see them release an album soon...). It takes some getting used to, especially the vocals; the best description I can think of is as if they're coming across a bad radio signal. A grower for sure, but an amazing song.
  
  
• Emily Jean Stock - I'd actually heard live recordings of this one - commonly listed as The Chinese New Year. This is one of the "busier" tunes, with quite a lot of instrumentation. It's catchy; very sweet lyrics too...
  
  
• Mama, Won't You Keep Them Castles In The Air And Burning? - Whew. Quite a title. I learned something though - "castles in the air" is an idiom meaning "extravagant hopes and plans that will never be carried out". I did not know that. Beautiful track, by the way... it's virtually percussion-less and has great lyrics. I love Alec's lyrics, though admittedly I usually need the cd sleeve "cheat sheet" to catch them all (I really hope CYHSY includes the lyrics with this one too). This one is perhaps the most "CYHSY" song on the album. For whatever that's worth... lol.
  
  
• Love Song No. 7 - I really didn't care for this one the first couple of times that I heard it after it was released. It's such a creepy sounding song I get a little shiver everytime it starts. I remember Pitchfork comparing it to Aerosmith's Dream On. I don't really get that... But creepy or no, this is yet another magnificent track.
  
  
• Satan Said Dance - And I know it is not how you thought it would be; no whips, no chains, just dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing... If you've heard this one live, it's not too different from the album version; they "electronica-d" it up just a bit.
  
  
• Upon Encountering The Crippled Elephant -

  Dear accordian: When did you get to be so cool? I love you.
  xo Bridget

  This is the lone instrumental track. Over headphones, this song really does conjure up the imagery of slowly walking up to and past a wounded elephant. Really.
  
  
• Goodbye To Mother And The Cove - I didn't care for this song at all on my first listen. But, as is the theme of this album, several listens convinced me that it's a gorgeous song. I love the guitar picking...
  
  
• Arm And Hammer - It's the new Clap Your Hands! This is probably the one that had the farthest to grow on me... I do like it, but I'm still working on it. Definitely an odd song without too much structure.
  
  
• Yankee Go Home - I'd heard this one before - it surfaced just before I scored the entire album. When I first heard this track I was quite disappointed with it - then I remembered that the previous released tracks also took me quite some time to warm up to. I do so love this song these days. And I love Alec Ounsworth's voice... ;)
  
  
• Underwater (You And Me) - This song is so romantic and sweet, it just makes me happy when I listen to it. And it's even not so much the yelping Alec Ounsworth...
  
  
• Five Easy Pieces - Oh man. The first time this song started... well, when the reverb-drenched vocals started anyway, here is what I thought to myself: "This piece of shit is the album closer? And it's almost seven minutes long??". I was disappointed. And pissed. Not that I have anything against reverb, of course: Band Of Horses was my personal album of the year in 2006. It just wasn't what I would have expected for an album closer; if it's possible for songs to have polar opposites, this is it for Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood. Luckily I had almost seven minutes to absorb the song, because by the time it was over I'd realized that what I needed to do was let the vocals drift to the background and focus on the beautiful, sweeping instrumentation. Between the gorgeous bass-centered melody and the echoey, ghostly vocals, Five Easy Pieces has become just about my favorite track on the album. Lovely.

So. Obviously my first spin of Some Loud Thunder was a bit disappointing and quite frustrating. But by about my sixth listen, I realized that this album is pretty much kicking my ass all over the place. Now I have to focus on not getting burned out... which is quite difficult as all I want to do when the album is over is play it again.

I don't envy CYHSY, faced with the Herculean task of following up their self-titled debut... Talk about pressure. Although I did read an article once where Alec Ounsworth stated that he doesn't "pay attention to attention". Smart man. Some Loud Thunder is an extraordinarily bold move by CYHSY and is sure to put off a lot of the fans they won with their debut. Unfortunately, internet buzz can be a double-edged sword... While said buzz was hugely responsible for the success of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, it's likely that bloggers and critics around the world are just lining up to shoot this album down. Hopefully people will give the new album several listens before writing it off, though, because it really is a masterpiece, proving that these "blog buzz band" poster boys are neither one-trick ponies nor one-hit wonders.

I believe you can still "pre-order" the album from Insound - you'll get a link to download the album in MP3 format, then receive the CD "on or about" the Jan. 30 release date. Or, according to the band's MySpace, you can stream the entire album there later today.

shins-a-palooza!

From The Shins' MySpace:

• January 9: This is the day that you can pre-order Wincing the Night Away on iTunes.
• January 13: The Shins are the musical guests on Saturday Night Live! SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE! It's my dick, in a box!
• January 18: Starting on this day, and running through Jan. 21st, you can stream Wincing the Night Away, in its entirety, on Myspace!
• January 22: The Shins will be performing live at midnight at the Virgin Records in New York's Union Square. Buy a copy of the record at Virgin and you get in to see them play!
• January 23: Not only does Wincing the Night Away come out on this day, but also the band will be playing on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman! DAVID LETTERMAN!
• January 26: In the morning, The Shins will be playing on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic. And, in the evening, at 8:00pm, they'll be playing a free in-store at the Amoeba Records in Hollywood.

Damn. There seems to be quite a lot of hype surrounding the release of Wincing The Night Away. Well-deserved hype (the album is great) but lots of hype nonetheless.

I wish the same could be said about the upcoming Clap Your Hands Say Yeah release. Sure, there are a few tracks floating around, there's lots of speculation and lots of fans hoping for a leak (which doesn't seem too bloody likely before the MP3's are available this coming Tuesday). Unfortunately, speculation is vastly different from hype. CYHSY, Where are you guys? No interviews, no TV appearances, barely any tour dates announced. C'mon!!

current news that makes me happy

I just heard another track off the upcoming Clap Your Hands Say Yeah release, Some Loud Thunder. It's called Yankee Go Home and is one of the many wonderful songs featured on Uncut Magazine's February 2007 CD:

The Hold Steady – Chips Ahoy!
Saint Thomas – Into Your Deep
The View – Wasted Little DJ’s
The Decemberists – The Crane Wife 3
Ryan Adams – Come Pick Me Up
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Yankee Go Home
Ray LaMontagne – Be Here Now
David Vandervelde – Nothin’ No
Pentangle – The Snows
Gruff Rhys – Beacon In the Darkness
Jamie T – Livin’ With Betty
Alasdair Roberts – Where Twines The Path
Tinariwen – Cler Achel
The Shins – Black Wave
Andrew Douglas Rothbard – Emerald Tendrills

Damn fine selection, no? I just can't believe that Some Loud Thunder has not leaked yet... only 9 more days 'til the pre-order MP3 download is available... but I'm very impatient for this one. :)


After 21 months of touring, We Are Scientists have started working on their sophomore album. Singer Keith Murray states: "It is going to mix the actual music of Editors with the actual lyrics of Arctic Monkeys and the three-part harmonies of the Eagles". :) Now if they'd only release Crap Attack here in the U.S....


Arcade Fire has made available the first single from their upcoming album, Neon Bible. You can hear Black Mirror at arcadefire.com by clicking on Win's Scrapbook. Great tune. I don't think there's an official release date yet, outside of March/April 2007.

Edit: Neon Bible will be released in Europe on March 5, and in the US & Canada on March 6. Also, here is the tracklisting:

01 Black Mirror
02 Keep The Car Running
03 Neon Bible
04 Intervention
05 Black Wave Bad Vibrations
06 Ocean of Noise
07 The Well & The Lighthouse
08 Antichrist Television Blues
09 Windowsill
10 No Cars Go
11 My Body Is A Cage

Finally, Josh Ritter is playing Letterman this Friday, January 12. w00t!

cyhsy new album update!

I just got a MySpace bulletin from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and it would seem that we'll be able to buy the new album (Some Loud Thunder) on January 16 via Insound. Download the MP3's on the 16th, and Insound will send you the album "soon after". For free. Bitching. You should shop at Insound all the time anyway, they rule.

Besides the two tracks available at Pitchfork (and also the CYHSY homepage), you can listen to Satan Said Dance on the CYHSY MySpace Page. It's killer, more "electronica" than I've heard CYHSY do in the past.

What I'm listening to right now:


Traces

Daylight can never really hide what’s alive
I know it's hard sometimes
For you to tell where you end
And where the world begins

You do your best to avoid assimilation
Guess that's the best you can do

And all the parts of it that matter change
All traces disintegrate

At night
My mind gets on this
Train of thought
And can't get back off
And when you know
How few things there are worth knowing
I suppose anyone who tries could forget

Responding now
To trains that crash before you
Never thought crashing could happen to you

And all the parts of it that matter change
All traces disintegrate

clap your hands say yahoo!

Well, this pic of the album art sucks ass, but Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have finally announced the release date for their highly anticipated sophomore effort. The new self-released album is to be called Some Loud Thunder and will be released on January 30, 2007. The band has released two tracks for download, which you can find at the Pitchfork website. I'm listening to Love Song No. 7 right now... interesting (and definitely creepy). I guess I get Pitchfork's "Dream On" comparison... but just barely. Underwater (You And Me) sounds great as well.

Wikipedia reports the following tracklisting:

"Some Loud Thunder"
"Emily Jean Stock"
"Mama, Won't You Keep Them Castles in the Air & Burning?"
"Love Song No. 7"
"Satan Said Dance"
"Upon Encountering the Crippled Elephant"
"Goodbye to Mother and the Cove"
"Arm and Hammer"
"Yankee Go Home"
"Underwater (You and Me)"
"Five Easy Pieces"

Besides the tracks available at Pitchfork, I've heard Some Lound Thunder and Satan Said Dance via various live show recordings; good good stuff. There are a few other unreleased songs that I've heard and would've loved to see on the new disc.... Of course, knowing Alec Ounsworth's penchant for changing up song titles as he sees fit, for all I know, they're on there... lol.

Oh, I'm excited.

clap clap clap clap... yeah.

This will be a very short review - I have to get up early in the morning. Ugh.

Tonight was Clap Your Hands Say Yeah @ the Gothic! w00t! There were two opening bands, but I missed the first. I did catch Architecture In Helsinki though, a band from Australia. They were amazing. There were 6 of them (sometimes 7 even), and it seemed that everyone in the band played on at least 8 instruments. They had a trombone and lots and lots of percussion. They had a lot of fans there already, but the whole theatre was dancing and really into the show by the end of their set.

CYHSY were tight, they sounded really good. I won't even attempt a setlist, but I think they played nearly everything from CYHSY plus a handful of new songs. I really like the new stuff, can't wait for the album!

And that's pretty much it. Pretty pointless, I know, but what the hell.....

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