my top albums of 2007 #20-11

20

Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
I never got into Spoon until Gimme Fiction. Ga x 5 is a lot better.
TLOBF review

19

Georgie James - Places
2007 was a great year for indie pop...
TLOBF review

18

Elvis Perkins - Ash Wednesday
This is a lovely album. I am still kicking myself for missing Elvis Perkins In Dearland opening for My Morning Jacket way back in January. At least seeing him play would have kept that evening from being a total bust...
TLOBF review

17

Panda Bear - Person Pitch
This album is so great I didn't even bother with that Animal Collective one... :)
TLOBF loves...

16

Cloud Cult - The Meaning Of 8
I fell in love with this band from the first time I heard the album. I was also fortunate enough to catch them live twice this year, one of the best live bands I've seen.

15

Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
I'm pretty sure I'm in love with everything that Zach Condon creates.
TLOBF review

14

Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
I have never been able to get much into Iron & Wine and almost didn't even bother with this one. I'm sure glad I gave it a chance though, this is some of the most gorgeous music to come out this year.

13

Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
Spencer Krug is god.
TLOBF review

12

Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
And Kevin Barnes just keeps on delivering the goods...
TLOBF review

11

White Rabbits - Fort Nightly
One of the strongest debut albums in recent memory. Calypso rock at its finest, and a fabulous live band to boot.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow...

indie vs. corporate: have we become too snobby for our own good?

In an attempt to get something constructive done today, I put some football on in the background and sat down at my laptop to finish up some writing. Before long my ear was caught by the familiar "take another picture with your click click click click camera" lyric from Bishop Allen's "Click, Click, Click, Click" off their excellent The Broken String. I was drawn into the commercial, but really only paid attention because I wanted to know who one of my favorite bands had jumped into bed with. Sony, it turns out.

It all got me thinking about how much "selling out" uproar there's been recently: Wilco + Volkswagon; Of Montreal + Outback Steakhouse a while back, now T-Mobile; and of course the now infamous Band Of Horses + Wal-Mart. I've always been for bands being able to quit their day jobs to make me happier with more music and more tours, but I will admit the Wal-Mart thing was a bit wrenching... probably because it's Wal-Mart, which is less like selling out and more like selling your soul. Ben Bridwell & co. did semi-fix it in the end, though, by opting out of the commercial deal they had with the mega-corporation. The website that featured their song was only active for a couple of weeks, so THAT mess is over now. I just wish people would get over calling them Band Of Whorses. Boy, did THAT get old fast.

Anyway, though this is now pretty old news, hearing Bishop Allen on the TV today caused me to recollect the brilliant Kevin Barnes brilliant essay on selling out:

Selling Out Isn't Possible
by Kevin Barnes

Are you a sell out? Yes. Don't let it bother you though, cause apparently I am also a sell out, and so are your parents and everyone you've ever known. The only way to avoid selling out is to live like a savage all alone in the wilderness. The moment you attempt to live within the confines of a social order, you become a sell out. Once you attempt to coexist you sell out. If that's true, then selling out is a good thing. It is an important thing. If we didn't do it, we'd be fucked, quite literally, by everyone bigger than us physically who found us fuckable.

The pseudo-nihilistic punk rockers of the 70's created an impossible code in which no one can actually live by. It's such garbage. The idea that anyone who attempts to do anything commercial is a sell out is completely out of touch with reality. The punk rock manifesto is one of anarchy and intolerance. The punk rockers polluted our minds. They offered a solution that had no future. Of course, if the world would have ended before Sandinista! was released then everything would have been alright. It didn't. Now we have all of these half-conceived ideas and idiot philosophies floating around to confuse and alienate us. I think it is important to face reality. It is important to decide whether you are going to completely rail against the system or find a way to make it work for you. You cannot do both -- and if you attempt to do both you will only become even more bitter and confused.

When I was younger, and supported my parents, I chose to float between the two. A lot of people choose to do this. There are so many confused young people running around now polluted by this alloyed version of the tenets of the punk rock manifesto. Of course they're confused. It isn't possible to be in chorus with capitalism and anarchy. You must pick one or the other. Very few people are willing to do it, though. The worst kind of person is the one who sucks the dick of the man during the daytime and then draws pictures of themselves slitting his throat at night. Jesus Christ, make up your mind! The thing is, there is a lack of balance. When capitalism is working on a healthy level, everyone gets their dick sucked from time to time and no one gets their throat slit. It's impossible to be a sell out in a capitalist society. You're only a winner or a loser. Either you've found a way to crack the code or you are struggling to do so. To sell out in capitalism is basically to be too accommodating, to not get what you think you deserve. In capitalism, you don't get what you think you deserve though. You get what someone else thinks you deserve. So the trick is to make them think you are worth what you feel you deserve. You deserve a lot, but you'll only get it when you figure out how to manipulate the system.

Why commercialize yourself? In the art industry, it's extremely difficult to be successful without turning yourself into a cartoon. Even Hunter S. Thompson knew this. God knows Duchamp and Warhol knew it. Some artists are turned into cartoons and others do it themselves. I prefer to do it myself. at least then I can control how my cock is photographed. Why should it be considered such an onerous thing to view the production of art as a job? To me, the luckiest people are the ones who figure out a way to earn a living doing what they love and gain fulfillment from. Like all things in this life, you have to make certain sacrifices to get what you want. At least most of us do. If you're not some trust-fund kid or lotto winner, you've got to slave it out everyday. People who wanna be artists have the hardest time of it 'cause we are held up to these impossible standards. We're expected to die penniless and insane so that the people we have moved and entertained over the years can keep us to themselves. So that they can feel a personal and untarnished connection with our art. The second we try to earn a living wage or, god forbid, promote our art in the mainstream, we are placed under the knives of the sanctimonious indie fascists. Unfortunately, there isn't some grand umbrella grant that supports indie rockers financially and enables us to exist outside of the trappings of capitalism.

The thing is, I like capitalism. I think it's an interesting challenge. It's a system that rewards the imaginative and ambitious adults and punishes the lazy adults. Our generation is insanely lazy. We're just as smart as our parents but we are overwhelmed by contradicting ideas that confuse us into paralysis. Maybe the punk rock ethos made sense for the "no future" generation but it doesn't make sense for me. I like producing and purchasing things. I'd much rather go to IKEA than to stand in some bread line. That's because I don't have to stand in a bread line. Most people who throw around terms like "sellout" don't have to stand in one either. They don't have to stand in one because they are gainfully employed. The term "sellout" only exists in the lexicon of the over-privileged. Almost every non-homeless person in America is over-privileged, at least in a global sense.

Obviously, I've struggled with the concept. I've struggled because of the backlash following my songs placement in TV commercials. That is, until I realized that the negative energy that was being directed towards me really began to inspire my creativity. It has given me a sense of, "well, I'll show them who is a sellout, I'm going to make the freakiest, most interesting, record ever!!!" ... "I'm going to prove to them that my shit is wild and unpolluted by the reach of some absurd connection to mainstream corporate America."

I realized then that, for me, selling out is not possible. Selling out, in an artistic sense, is to change one's creative output to fit in with the commercial world. To create phony and insincere art in the hopes of becoming commercially successful. I've never done this and I can't imagine I ever will. I spent seven years not even existing at all in the mainstream world. Now I am being supported and endorsed by it. I know this won't last forever. No one's going to want to use one of my songs in a commercial five years from now, so I've got to take the money while I can. It's the same with pro athletes. You only get it while you're hot and no one stays commercially viable for long. It's not like Michael Vick is going to be receiving any big endorsement deals anytime soon. As sad as it may seem, one of the few ways most indie bands can make any money whatsoever is by selling a song to a commercial. Very very few bands make enough money from album sales or tour revenue to enable themselves to quit their day job.

Next time you see a commercial with one of your favorite bands songs in it, just tell yourself, "cool, a band I really like made some money and now I can probably look forward to a few more records from them." It's as simple as that. We all have to do certain things, from time to time, that we might not be completely psyched about, in order to pay the bills. To me, the TV is the world's asshole boss and if anyone can earn some extra bucks from it and they're not Bill O'Reilly, it's a good thing.

The question now becomes, how do we go about getting that grand umbrella grant that supports indie rockers financially?

So that's about it for my feeling-guilty-for-not-posting-anything-but-upcoming-shows-Sunday-afternoon-stream-of-consciousness-post. Indie bands that I love, go forth and sellout, I don't care. Just try to stay away from Wal-Mart. And Starbucks.

what, exactly, IS going on in kevin barnes' brain?

And do we really want to know? It only took me forever, but now that I am aware of their awesomeness, I really wish Of Montreal would come play in Denver. In the meantime, I'm going to have to amuse myself with tales of nakedness and with videos. Yes, I seem to be obsessed with videos lately. Here are two from Of Montreal - first, Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse on Conan, then the music video. Both wonderful, amazing, and completely fucked up. Rock on Kevin Barnes.

it's a great week for talk shows, if you're around

Tonight: Andrew Bird on Letterman
Wednesday: LCD Soundsystem on Letterman
Thursday: Of Montreal on Conan
Friday: The Shins on Leno

Watch 'em, fuckers. :)

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!