what's a pederast walter?

free record #4: mark ronson 'versions'

i received this record in the mail a couple of months ago and it has been getting regular spins. i meant to get this review out sooner but the 2007 list took more nerd effort than originally planned.

so anyways, this defendant be: mark ronson. anyone who knows and loves '100 days, 100 nights' by sharon jones & the dap-kings should get this record (then again to know 100 days is to love it). i digress. in reality this should be by mark ronson & the motherfucking dap-kings because they appear on all but one track and are the main reason why this album is so fucking good. the dap-kings are also the daptone label's house band, playing together on a bunch of releases since 2002. whether they are at the forefront of the track ['god put a smile upon your face'] or just helping the groove move along ['pretty green'], they own. plus that funky drummer is something else altogether. considering he produced many blog-loved acts [amy winehouse, lily allen], many 'music superstars' [christina aguilera, robbie williams], worked with big names in hip hop [mos def, ghostface killah], worked with big names in guitar [jack white, rivers cuomo] and has been approved by jay-z, mark ronson has not gotten the attention in america he deserves. anyone remember how every motherfucker everywhere gobbled up those cockblasts fall out boy after jay-z approved of them? wot's... uh the deal. anyways, the latest release from mark ronson is comprised of covers minus the three mini-tracks using the word version. all of these songs i had heard before and although i wasn't super familiar with a few of them, they all are excellent funked up reinterpretations worthy of the dancefloor--be it nyc club or london discotheque. anyone looking for an ass shaking good time or like being reminded of the soulful motown and stax days of yore should look no further.

r and b/soul newcomer daniel merriweather helps ronson piece together the smith's 'stop me if you've heard this one before' with the soon to be coverversioned 'you keep me hanging on' by the supremes ('stop me' was #80 in rolling stones top 100 songs of the year). and taking the pasty whiteness of coldplay and replacing the piano and vocal melody with the openly blackness of the daphorns is an excellent way to kick off any album, let alone this one. he also brings ol' dirty bastard back from the bone orchard to help him remake the britney spears made famous but not written by her 'toxic' as the albums only straight ahead attempt at bridging new school hip hop (old school hip hop influence is found all over). other times he brings in the original writers [kasabian, maximo park's lead singer] to help him along. other collaborators include lily allen, amy winehouse, kenna, phantom planet and santo gold. (whoever the latter is.) mostly british songsmith work was selected for this record [radiohead, the jam, the zutons, kaiser chiefs, the smiths, the charlatans, coldplay] but there is some flag waver tuneage [kings of leon, ryan adams, the aforementioned spears] as well. for a club dj, mark here has shown his inner funk and soul that is apparently worthy of the dap-kings, which makes it worth my time. not that my time is ultra-valuable, but it's the same time that paris hilton gets. shit. anyways, mark ronson was also just a part of rhymesayer's tribute record to michael jackson. it's also probably totally worth looking in to.

so honestly, i never thought we'd get anything remotely popular (well, anything at all when this started out) for review on this site ('versions' was #2 and double platinum in the uk and mark was nominated for a few grammies with his amy winehouse work and overall 2007 production output), but this is great. who knew that making fart jokes and finding new ways to call people gay (elton john's mouth is a cockholster) would reap such killer benefits? tits!

arbitrary grade: that hooker didn't have vd!

mark ronson feat. lily allen - oh my god
mark ronson feat. the daphorns - god put a smile upon your face
mark ronson feat. amy winehouse - valerie
mark ronson feat. tiggers & odb - toxic
mark ronson feat. kasabian - l.s.f.

kaiser chiefs - oh my god
coldplay - god put a smile upon your face
the zutons - valerie
local h - toxic
kasabian - l.s.f.

check out the video for 'oh my god' with lily allen here.

ps. i know that there should have been at least a metric fuckton of linkage, it's just that i'm lazybones.


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boss tuneage tuesday 1/29

no comment.

neil young & crazy horse - cortez the killer
paperboy - ditty
crowded house - don't dream its over
radar bros - we're not sleeping
the caesers - you're my favourite
oasis - mucky fingers
the hollies - bus stop
lee hazlewood - summer wine
rem - hope
eric burdon & war - spill the wine
bob seger - still the same
greg kihn - the break-up song (they don't write 'em like that anymore)


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

david coverversion: okkervil river vs. big star vs. elliott smith

i can't remember if i've written about big star before but they are great. underrated back in the day but people came around. i'm not too sure about the history of big star (here) but i know that chris bell died back in the 70's and alex chilton sang lead vocals on the box tops' 'the letter' back in the 60's. chris bell recorded a stellar solo record, 'i am the cosmos', before his death that wasn't officially released until 1992. first appearing on the 'from a basement on a hill 2' and then on the official posthumous release 'new moon' is elloitt smith's take of my favorite big star song 'thirteen'. and back in 2006 for their australian tour ep, okkervil river recorded a cover of 'o, dana' from 'third/sister lovers'. also added are a few of my favorite tracks from bell's 'i am the cosmos'. insert dick joke here.

elliott smith - thirteen
big star - thirteen
big star - o, dana
okkervil river - o, dana

chris bell - you and your sister
chris bell - i am the cosmos


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david coverversion: the chordettes vs. oranger

sheboygan wisconsin's (wheeeuh! wisconsin!) own the chordettes brought together pieces of early traditional pop and (mostly) barbershop (fucking wheeeeuh! barbershop!) starting off with their take of pat ballard's 'mr sandman'. since forming in 1946 they had many a-hit in their tenure but that means nothing compared to the road they paved for future girl groups such as the supremes, the ronettes, the crystals, the angels, the shangri-las et al, and held some inspiration for the vocal stylings of the rest of motown. motown fucking rules but more on that later. once again, again, we head over to the 'stubbs the zombie' soundtrack for oranger's take. oranger is blueprint indie from california and totally sounds like it. hey at least they're not broheed & cambria! bung bung bung bung.

the chordettes - mr sandman
oranger - mr sandman

ps. anyone know what this line is from? ''hey they thinks they're the cowsills.''


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

david coverversion: elton john vs. the beach boys vs. terry jacks

that hippydippy terry jacks brought the song 'seasons in the sun' to the beach boys where they recorded but never officially released their pretty great take. terry then recorded and eventually released his version and it sold like hotcakes. somewhere around 6 million units pushed for the man. not bad after it sat dormant on his shelf for a year or so. terry jacks is canadian and part is me is super jealous of that. he also rewrote some of the lyrics that was originally written by some french fucking guy as to not be so depressing. and now here is another never officially released beach boys song--elton john's 'crocodile rock'. it's amazing to me that they manage to sound like bigger donghuffers than elton john, who is probably the most famous huffer of all time. which is fine. swallow what you want to swallow but that farfisa is fucking great in elton's version. just great.

terry jacks - seasons in the sun
the beach boys - seasons in the sun
the beach boys - crocodile rock
elton john - crocodile rock


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david coverversion: dr dre vs. ben folds

and here i thought ironic rap covers were a thing of the 1990's. someone needs to ironically cover 'nuthin' but a g thing' and 'dre day'. or how about this entire album cause it's fucking stellar. that would totally get someone on the map. i didn't know that ben folds had given this a shot until this last summer when i saw him perform it on tour every fucking night. still dude can play two pianos at once. one with his hands and one with his feets. and that's pretty goddamn sweet and that makes ben folds a huge supernerd. which is cool. let's hope dr dre takes rap back this year.

dr dre - bitches ain't shit
ben folds - bitches ain't shit


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boss tuneage tuesday 1/22

fucking snow.

the exit - home for an island
the detroit cobras - let's forget about the past
the afghan whigs - john the baptist
possum dixon - in her disco
suicide - rocket usa
peace orchestra - who am i
okkervil river - the latest toughs
nick drake - river man
john zorn - the sicilian clan
dirty three - the zither player
cut chemist - spat
manic street preachers - suicide is painless


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2007 misses: times new viking

times new viking 'present the paisley reich'
after hearing about these guys from shane in two cow garage, i checked it out. i'm glad i did but i'll let them describe themselves. "Breath in: snuff a line speed, a half hour jump on your cheap amplifiers, salad yet once a half hour with you yet cheaper guitar against the wall. Write eleven popliedjes, lay the emphasis on cryptic and forget everything your song teacher you ever learned has. Seek your neighbor girl on and tell her that your musics will make. Lay her emphatically from that she must not try to sing. Stick, now that you it really are, also just your tongue between her lips till you certainly are that they that rather has not. Give her then you eleven popliedjes and (optioneel) a guitar. Question her these eleven popliedjes with you together to not to sing, expect of it surplus. Mess what with the buttons on the amplifier, let the hamster of your neighbor girl also once over the strings run, sign the head of the father of your neighbor girl on the skins of a Bears Smit drumstel, call her feather ten-year-old little brother and lay from that its father him really real hatred. Breath out: and voila, Yourself Summoned. Sounds good? Sounds in it really yet better. Blessed with a delicious dose ADHD-spontaneity and a fine nose for popmelodieën know Tim New Viking on Summoned Yourself a particular charming pot borrow-fi garagepop down to dump. A kind of contemporary version of The Shaggs, but then without the implicit family tie. More a neighbor boy-neighbor girl tie thus." sounds about right. also they're influenced by shark fucks and kickin' it. viva lo-fi! viva matador! viva finding cool shit you missed out on the first time around.

times new viking - devo & wire


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better than mtv

sinapore sling - listen


tupac - hit 'em up


neil young - all along the watchtower


mojo nixon - elvis is everywhere


harry chapin - taxi

2007 misses: speck mountain & wooden shjips

hopefully i keep finding cool shit from last year or this theme is gonna die.

speck mountain 'summer above'
wooden shjips 'wooden shjips'
when i hear the term space rock i get a few sound images swirling around inside my head. explosions in the sky, the secret machines, spacemen3/spiritualized, pink floyd (specifically the 'piper at the gates of dawn', 'meddle', 'dark side of the moon' and 'saucerful of secrets' eras. yeah i know, that's almost all of it.) all different but correctly labeled: space rock--and the definition kinda depends on the listener. this doesn't mean a 12 song album based on a HAL9000 and david bowman conversation or a 12 minute totally trippified-wah guitar solo about 'event horizon' being kickass. i mean, it can but what i'm shooting for is some non-crunchy guitar noodling, 1000 lbs of reverb, maybe certainly some delay/chorus as well, synths, maybe a slower tempo, some ohhs and ahhs vox, and an overall ethereal ambience that--if the correct dosage is taken--gives the feeling of floating past the earth and not really giving a shit. (this has nothing to do with the fact that speck mountain sounds a lot like mazzy star.) check out spiritualized's 'sway' if you get a second for some clarification. while wooden shjips is clearly the more spaced of these two bands, both dive head fucking first into psychedelic as well. these are my two favorite ''unknown before this year'' records of the year. that i missed the first time around.

speck mountain - stockholm
wooden shjips - we ask you to ride


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david coverversion: 16 horsepower vs. hank williams vs. mike ness

after his first solo venture mike ness released his second solo outing 'under the influence' which is made up of covers (almost, he adds a new version of 'ball and chain' which is full of honkytonk swagger). choice rock, bluegrass and country covers from the likes marty robbins, carl perkins, hank williams and on. here he gives hank williams haunting 'six more miles (to the graveyard)' an excellent fiddle-filled punkabilly take. and despite looking like a serious bro, mike ness is a total badass. and speaking of badass, bluegrass loving pseudo-christians 16 horsepower also give an excellent rendition of a depresso hank tune. 16 horsepower gets compared to nick cave a lot, not sonically so much, but they share the same surrounding darkness. plus they play squeezeboxes. badass. not much has changed in the hank williams camp, but we'll letcha know as soon as we hear anything.

mike ness - six more miles (to the graveyard)
hank williams - six more miles (to the graveyard)
hank williams - alone and forsaken
16 horsepower - alone and forsaken


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boss tuneage tuesday 1/15

i didn't want the best of list to fall on a tuesday as this is a lot of tuneage for one day. oh well. shit happens.

lee hazlewood - friday's child
lucero - the weight of guilt
william elliott whitmore - the buzzard's won't cry
the dead milkmen - spit sink
thunderbirds are now! - we win (ha ha)
nirvana - radio friendly unit shifter
the features - exorcising demons
enon - marbles explode
jim croce - one less set of footsteps
islands - don't call me whitney, bobby
viktor vaughn (venomous villain) - back end
graham coxon - i can't look at your skin


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

records2007

fucking finally. i started doing this shit about 3 weeks before christmas and save for a few posts here and there, it has taken up all my nerd free time. i went back and listened to most of these, most i didn't have to but i wanted to make sure with the ones i did. after a brief sabbatical here's my 2007 in music list. seems like this was the like the 4th or 5th year in a row that we've had good luck with music and driving across the country for months and slinging pies when i wasn't traveling allowed for much listening time, maybe too much as i didn't get super acquainted with many of these records that i wanted to. so without any more interruptions. a list in no particular order. this isn't supposed to be a numbered list, just my favorite 50 or so releases. a lot of these lists i read are like 'my favorite 8 records' and shit. there is way too much music released in a year to have anything less than at least your favorite 50 or so. maybe that's just me. check it and bring joints.

choice
grinderman 'grinderman'
nick cave could fart onto some 1/2" tape ran at 7.5 ips and it would rule. and be on this list. (obviously.)
grinderman - get it on

the clientele 'god save the clientele'
after the excellent 'strange geometry' went virtually unnoticed a couple of years ago, i was totally stoked for a new clientele release. this time they added the superfoxy multi-instrumentalist mel draisey to their big star meets love meets 60's pop sound. there's some reverb in that sound too.
the clientele - bookshop casanova

the warlocks 'heavy deavy skull lover'
this is kinda picking up where 'rise & fall' left off. the warlocks return with the soundtrack to the apocalypse. if the apocalypse was strung-out on codeine. somehow they manage a bigger sound with less people. odd.
the warlocks - slip beneath

grayskul 'bloody radio'
after releasing an excellent debut ['deadlivers'] a few years back rhymesayers third finest act released another half-dark half-comic bookish underground hip hop record. this record featured guest spots from slug [atmosphere], andrea zollo [pretty girls make graves] and aesop rock. i hear they wanted to take pieces from all of hip hop's sub-genres and create something for everyone.
grayskul - missing feat. andrea zollo

grizzly bear 'friend' ep
it's amazing how these guys always release awesome fucking music (even if it's rehashing some old shit.) you know, in between gargling marbles and swallowing miles of cock. it's also very surprising that you never hear them play a reverb-drenched rusty trombone.
grizzly bear - shift (alternate version)

the besnard lakes 'are the dark horse'
in this day of bands and artists and whatnot releasing every time they ironically fart into a microphone, it's good to see a band not afraid to release an 8 song lp. getting help from other canadians [members of godspeed you! black emperor/a silver mt zion, stars and the dears all contributed] the besnard lakes created an excellent album full of different ideas that all seem to work. at times they're ripping shoegaze or brian wilson or an in-your-face wall of sound (sometimes all the same time) and other times, well, check out the loungey and surfy (sorta) vibe that builds up without gaining speed of 'for agent 13'. you'll get it.
the besnard lakes - for agent 13

the coral 'roots & echoes'
i've been a fan of the coral ever since i heard 'dreaming of you' when they were 15 and i was 21. it's kinda weird for me to still like these particular throwback 60's revivalists as i hate everyone younger than me but the music has been excellent since day one. plus my buddy from england knows these guys and said they're cool dudelys in real life. very much unlike the moochers in bloc party and the poser crackers in the libertines. (i also hear.)
the coral - rebecca you

voxtrot 'voxtrot'
i was really glad to see the voxtrot decided to cut the ep bullshit and release a proper record. fucking everything these fucking noobs do is sweet. no you guys i'm seriously.
voxtrot - ghost

the lionheart brothers 'dizzy kiss'
this gets a lot of comparisons to brian wilson. i guess that seems fair. the lionheart brothers feature some former members of 120 days and serena maneesh so you know going into this it's going to be good. 'dizzy kiss' came out way early last year in norway and comes out in the uk in a week. get the import here. (you might have to pay in kroners though).
the lionheart brothers - 50 souls and discobowl

blonde redhead '23'
ever since i picked up 'misery is a butterfly' on a whim, (maybe on a recommendation from that nerd in jimmy eat world) blonde redhead has been one of my favorites. the first time i heard '23' (the song) i probably hit rewind like 16 times. hands down my favorite song of the year. it's like a ghost singing out to you thru the darkness and the rain. plus that ghost, kazu makino, is supersexy. (obviously. she is asian.)
blonde redhead - 23

mando diao 'never seen the light of day'
i'm pretty sure this was the year of the scandinavians. yup, another band from sweden. this time in the form of super catchy hooks and a good pop formula that never gets tired. breaking out their acoustic axes this time around, this album makes it 3 for 3 on their last 3 outings.
mando diao - if i don't live today, then i might be here tomorrow

panda bear 'person pitch'
someone needs to tell this guy to relax on his mushroom intake. after his next album or two of course.
panda bear - take pills

benzos 'branches'
descriptions i came across as i couldn't pinpoint it all. trip hop, early dance, ambient, drum n bass, jazz. and there are guitars on this record too. really fucking awesome guitars. play this one for the lady and you'll be pounding vaj in no time. ecstasy optional.
benzos - teach me

calla 'strength in numbers'
isn't anyone else glad that calla has made basically the same album 5 times now? i know you're going to say ''but duder, i like it when bands explore the fringes of their musical boundaries. open your eyes and taste the fucking colors brah!'' and i say ''yeah but not fucking every band is radiohead and i like it when not every fucking band tries to be.''
calla - rise

two cow garage 'three'
this would be on this list even if we hadn't interviewed them here. and more songs and description here.
two cow garage - should've california

jose gonzalez 'in our nature'
hopefully for his solo outings, jose pulls a calla and sticks with his tried and true proven formula that works every time. i wouldn't mind seeing a junip full length someday.
jose gonzalez - time to send someone away

liars 'liars'
thing(s) that i like about liars records: they are always interesting and i could never fall asleep to one. thing(s) that i don't like about liars records: they never have their earlier records at the lame record shops i go to.
liars - freak out

interpol 'our love to admire'
you can tell that peter katis and matador weren't involved. even though rich costey has a pretty credible resume it still sounds like it had to pass some major label test listen. but after releasing my favorite record ever ['antics'], it would be very hard to top that let alone ride the coattails of. that being said, 'the lighthouse' is the second best song from the last 365 days. 'pioneers to the falls' is a very close fourth or fifth though...
interpol - the lighthouse

kings of leon 'because of the times'
here's some more excellent cross-eyed southern fried rock n roll served up on your plate. the south may rise again. maybe. if it doesn't involve books. and not racism.
kings of leon - knocked up

prince 'planet earth'
if you don't like prince you are either: 1) a racist or 2) so deep in the closet you're in narnia or 3) a racist. also, ''i love you baby but not like i love my guitar uh huh''. prince rules.
prince - guitar

the ravonettes 'lust lust lust'
an orgy of garage fuzz, dark surfish-noir, drum machines, synth bass, a huge love affair with the jesus & mary chain and pop music from the 50's and 60's being produced by lou reed during his 'metal machine music' days. boss.
the raveonettes - hallucinations

arcade fire 'neon bible'
i don't think there is a better moment of music this year than "been singing hallelujah with the fear in your heart".
arcade fire - intervention

blanche 'little amber bottles'
heartbroken gothic americana at its finest from some of jack white's old and current running crew. legend has it this record was finished last year but it took some time for any label [the uk's loose records] to get their heads outta their twats and finally release this gem. other than that--dusty banjos dude!
blanche - o' death, where is thy sting?

the groggers 'the groggers'
hands down the best sounding percussion you'll find anywhere. bring whiskey. and a tooter. and your celtic jersey. another contender for my favorite release of the year.
the groggers - throw your red paint

ilan eshkeri 'stardust ost'
john murphy & underworld 'sunshine ost'
marco beltrami '3:10 to yuma ost'
nick cave & warren ellis 'the assassination of jesse james ost'
these are the awesome soundtracks to some kickass movies. marco beltrami has done the soundtrack's to some movies i've seen and some that i haven't. the music for those which i've seen didn't catch me the way it did for 3:10. anyone remember the music for 'the proposition'? me too, that's why i went ahead and got the assassination soundtrack before seeing the movie. i don't know if the sunshine soundtrack has been released on cd or whatever yet. it should be. it's fucking awesome. danny boyle hooks up with underworld again!? score! that underworld & john murphy tune was ripped from some youtube dealy as well. so dealy with it.
ilan eshkeri - shooting star
john murphy & underworld - sunshine climax (capa's jump)
nick cave & warren ellis - falling
marco beltrami - ben takes the stage/dan's burden

deerhunter 'cryptograms'
this is another one i have a hard time describing. bringing ambient, shoegaze, psychedelic and punk to the table and jumping in between them seemlessly. makes me excited for the atlas sound record next year. and the next deerhunter release.
deerhunter - white ink

white rabbits 'fort nightly'
my favorite debut record of the year. maybe the best drumming all year. (sounding as well because technically the groggers used cardboard boxes and feet on tables in a percussive manner.)
white rabbits - march of the camels

okkervil river 'the stage names'
even if this record blew gary glitter it would be on this list for the 'sloop john b' takeover. but fortunately it rules and doesn't blow gary glitter. mostly because it's not a 12 year old.
okkervil river - unless it kicks

the white stripes 'icky thump'
good to hear jack white continue his venturing and then still have time to stay at home too. plus it's got bagpipes!
the white stripes - a martyr for my love for you

the shins 'wincing the night away'
some more top notch pop song writing drenched in some form of lsd and childhood daydreaming.
the shins - red rabbits

the comas 'spells'
after 'conductor' was released i had faith in the college/indie scene again. i was a little skeptical about this new release from the comas, as vagrant records puts out a lot of emo/punk bullshit and maybe thought that the comas were trying to cash in. not the case. here is some more excellent psychedelic indie-pop full of lost love and tongue-in-cheek geekiness.
the comas - now i'm a spider

black rebel motorcycle club 'baby81'
taking (the best) pieces from their three previous records certainly means the club have done it again. they sound kinda pissed off this time as well. maybe they left some of their ennui in 2004.
black rebel motorcycle club - berlin

band of horses 'cease to begin'
not as memorable as 'everything all the time' but still better than 90% of the horseshit out there. more proof the south may rise again someday.
band of horses - islands on the coast

jason isbell - sirens of the ditch
the final entry for a southern revolt. excellent songwriting that was proven time and time again in the later days of in the drive-by truckers. if you can't wait for the next drive-by album, get this as a quick fix.
jason isbell - shotgun wedding

a band of bees 'octopus'
all you need for this is a simple equation. lo-fi + country + psychedelic + dub + jazz + a love for early rock n roll = octopus. maybe my favorite record of the year.
a band of bees - the ocularist

bettye lavette 'the scene of the crime'
i didn't find this until the last week of 2007. yes, this was a last minute addition. it's tits. having been making records since 1962, she only "made it" a couple of years ago with 'i've got my own hell to raise'. this year's 'the scene of the crime' is: rock n roll + funk + soul + hints of gospel + country wine + the drive-by truckers as her backing band + spooner oldham wrecking the ivories + choice covers from some legends = why didn't anyone talk about this album? cunts.
bettye lavette - choices

eluvium 'copia'
stunning ambient from the great northwest.
eluvium - ostinato

william basinski - el camino real
stunning ambient from the big apple.
william basinski - el camino real

stars of the lid 'and their refinement of the decline'
stunning ambient from texas.
stars of the lid - don't bother they're here

ulrich schnauss 'goodbye'
stunning ambient from berlin.
ulrich schnauss - einfeld

sharon jones & the dap-kings '100 days, 100 nights'
4'6" sharon jones and this 10 foot wall of down home funky soul growing behind her. this is unbelievably excellent. filling in for the hole that not having curtis mayfield or james brown around anymore creates. for those of you in the know, the dap-kings played on the most recent mark ronson release (which will be reviewed here very shortly).
sharon jones & the dap-kings - keep on looking

dungen 'tio bitar'
top notch psychedelic jazziness from sweden's finest one man band. i'm surprised that this isn't on any of the top 2007 lists i've read. must be everyone is still trying to hold onto some very important indie cred. whatever that is. maybe someone heard this before them and now they can't let on that someone else was there first.
dungen - familj

sea wolf 'leaves in the river'
this is where i expected to put the new beirut or maybe the new bright eyes record. but this is better. and duder here didn't have to fuck off to france to make it. (not that beirut's new record isn't really good.) plus it's got some sweet accordions. tits!
sea wolf - song for the dead

ween 'la cucaracha'
stronger than the previous 'quebec'. this ranks up there with other ween heavy hitters like 'chocolate and cheese', 'white pepper', and 'the mollusk'. ween man. fuuuuucking weeee-eeeen. man. even though it seems this is a kinder gentler ween.
ween - object

kula shaker 'strangefolk'
after releasing one of the most underrated sophomore efforts ['peasants, pigs & astronauts'] in the last 20 years, the shakers finally return with more of their indian influenced britrock. tits.
kula shaker - dr. kitt

cheeseburger 'cheeseburger'
the perfect record for any situation where you are drinking booze, plan on drinking booze, just got done drinking booze, should be done drinking booze, drinking booze under your bed in the dark, plan on getting a little blow to go along with your booze, or you are at your local pub and the jukebox is eerily quiet and you want to get the party started. plus they've got the word burger in their name so they'd slide in automatically, even if this was a pink tribute record. (it's been a little while since anyone's given a fucking shit.)
cheeseburger - do you remember?

battles 'mirrored'
let's hope this post-rock sorta-supergroup continues to do what they did this year. make sweet sweet music with covers i can stare at for minutes on end. even though the term math rock is gayer than two dudes making out in a park.
battles - tonto

do make say think 'you, you're a history in rust'
explosions in the sky 'all of a sudden i miss everyone'
six parts seven 'casually smashed to pieces'
citay 'little kingdom'
lengthy and epic-y instrumentals were spot on this year. too bad my education didn't release one this year. that shit woulda fit nicely in there as well.
do make say think - a tender history in rust
explosions in the sky - catastrophe and the cure
six parts seven - falling over evening
citay - former child

a place to bury strangers 'a place to bury strangers'
i think it was buddyhead who hipped me to these morose motherfuckers. i totally see why buddyhead likes these cats. i heard they broke into the jesus & mary chain's house and stole all their equipment and didn't change any of the settings on it. then they listened to some velvet underground and maybe some singapore sling and made this record that could easily be the soundtrack to some movie made by david lynch, john hughes, satan and darren aronofsky. it's really fucking good. plus the main stranger makes these killer guitar pedals used on this record.
a place to bury strangers - the falling sun

no age 'weirdo rippers'
i think this is guitars and drums and shit but i might just be hearing clouds trapped in mason jars.
no age - every artist needs a tragedy

dr. dog 'we all belong'
this record rides on this peculiar steely dan wave at some times. kinda reminds of a slightly less psychedelic/more pop-oriented asteroid #4 or lilys. doesn't seem to have the 60's vibe that 'easy beat' had. i guess that previous steely dan reference would be that this one has a coked-out 70's vibe to it.
dr. dog - alaska

the octopus project 'hello, avalanche'
black moth super rainbow 'dandelion gum'
anyone get in (off) on 'the house of apples & eyeballs'? seeing that i randomly grabbed that for the title and bands involved alone i was not sure what to expect from these two bands going solo. each of these albums are exactly what i hoped them to be. excellent sunshiny electronic and experimental psychedelic music for nerds and probably made by nerds.
the octopus project - i saw the bright shinies
black moth super rainbow - drippy eye

soulsavers 'it's not how far you fall, it's the way you land'
this album features the vocal stylings of mark lanegan. also they cover 'no expectations' by the stones and 'through my sails' by neil young. still want more info? will oldham (aka bonnie 'prince' billy aka palace (brothers)) and one of the brosephs from doves guest as well. i first heard of soulsavers off of the layer cake soundtrack. and after hearing that they were able to make pussies like starsailor sound killer, i looked into this. this has sort of a holy revival feel to it (somehow) by way of its sweet atmospherics. and mark lanegan. their take on 'no expectations' is the third best song of the last 12 months.
soulsavers - kingdom of rain

dalek 'abandoned language'
at first this record seemed dark and brooding. then it seemed ambient and loungey. either way it's most excellent blueprint hip hop.
dalek - content to play villain

richard hawley 'lady's bridge'
this duder from pulp channels roy orbison and that dude singing about trees and shit from that restaurant scene in 'kingpin'. at times he also seems to be doing his best mark lanegan impression. that's pretty cool. this album gives off this nashville-via-the 60's feel to it. maybe neil diamond going laid back rockabilly after coming down from (or going on) a scott walker bender. either way, we're still waiting on that pulp reunion. thanks to my old kentucky blog for the heads up on this gem.
richard hawley - lady solitude

mary weiss 'dangerous game'
the old lead singer of the shangri-la's hooks up with memphis's reigning sound and delivers a throwback to her old sound. an update if you will on the sound she was famous for. if you listen closely, you can hear what the raveonettes hear. plus the reigning sound are fucking badass. also ''kids...kids don't know shit''.
mary weiss - don't come back

rjd2 'the third hand'
what's this? the half of soul position located behind the decks leaves def jux and is now singing pop songs? what the fuu-uuck? as i was expecting a sample based marathon i got some indie based instruments. not what i was expecting but a good time nonetheless. better than that last dj shadow record.
rjd2 - laws of the gods

the sadies 'new seasons'
excellent alt-country from the great white north. the guitar player shreds honkytonk all over this motherfucker here. the old 97's should take note here. plus these guys were on 12 0z mouse. so that's pretty sweet.
the sadies - what's left behind

frog eyes 'tears of the valedictorian'
this is excellent indie, with boundaries touching on the psychedelic and experimental, from the great white north. more people seem to talk about this band than listen to them. the destroyer and sunset rubdown/wolf parade connection (frog eyes main man casey mercer formed swan lake with dan bejar and spencer krug) only seem to be a conversation piece and no one actually wants to listen to it. too bad for them as 'tears of the valedictorian' draws many comparisons to various stages of tom waits, nick cave, the cramps, roxy music, john philip sousa and on and on. the lyrics could be heavy or they could be nonsense; i still can't decipher what he's saying. check out the killer one two punch of 'evil energy, the ill twin of...' and '...eagle energy' when you get the album.
frog eyes - "stockades"

busdriver 'roadkill overcoat'
you probably won't be surprised that busdriver's old man wrote the screenplay for the blockbuster 'krush groove'. you might be surprised that he guested on islands last album for the song 'where there's a will there's a whalebone'. this year's 'roadkill overcoat' was once again filled with his abstract lyricism and eccentric delivery, just as he's been doing for the better part of the last decade. check it out.
busdriver - pompous posies! your party's no fun

there you go. the year 2007 in music. due to all the overlooked records we are gonna start right away with our missed 2007 gems. so go ahead and tell me i'm wrong.

ps. i know that's a lot but 2007 coulda been the year i bought the most records ever. and i know it's totally superweak to be undecided and not make it a reasonable 25 or something selections. life sucks. get a fucking helmet.

ppss. and all the hype about 'in_ra/inb/_/o_w/s' was right. it's tits, i just didn't want to be another wanker writing about it.


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

3:10 to yuma

so i just peeped '3:10 to yuma'. as it seems to be listmania times, here are the best 6 westerns in the last 20 years.

6 sunset riders (the arcade game)
5 unforgiven
4 back to the future 3
3 the proposition
2 tombstone
1 3:10 to yuma

ps i haven't seen 'the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford' yet. go see '3:10 to yuma'

records2007 II

well here are the efforts that didn't make the cut. expect the big winner list tomorrow or the next day or the next at some point. i figured a lot of totally decent records might have gotten snubbed. so here's the rest of the end of the year dealy. and then the lame-o's. first?!? (brah, i'm totally confused and disillusioned.)

still competent or didn't get enough spins
young galaxy 'young galaxy', terrene 'the indifferent universe', pela 'anytown graffiti', arctic monkeys 'favorite worst nightmare', mark ronson 'version', bill callahan 'woke on a whaleheart', caribou 'andorra', editors 'an end has a start', the national 'boxer', radiohead 'in/rain/bow/s', the good the bad and the queen 'the good the bad and the queen', america 'here & now', the fiery furnaces 'widow city', richard swift 'dressed up for the letdown', the broken west 'i can't go on, i'll go on', neil young 'chrome dreams II', bruce springsteen 'magic', the twilight sad 'fourteen autumns and fifteen winters', the detroit cobras 'tried and true', elliott smith 'new moon', castanets 'in the vines', a hawk and a hacksaw 'a hawk and a hacksaw and the hun hangar ensemble', mexican institute of sound 'pinata', iron & wine 'the shepherd's dog', deerhoof 'friend opportunity', dinosaur jr 'belong', nine inch nails 'year zero', the field 'from here we go sublime', les savy fav 'let's stay friends', gogol bordello 'super taranta!', the chemical brothers 'we are the night'...

ehhh...
modest mouse 'we were dead before the ship even sank'
who the fuck wants to hear linda perry get kicked right in the nutsack and then yelp out 16 sea shanties? i certainly don't. the sea captain from the simpsons isn't even on this. how is that possible?

clap your hands say yeah 'some loud thunder'
as much as i agree with slinging biscuits out of yer apartment, these fucking guys let a buncha people's ears down this year. (well at least mine.) save for 'goodbye to mother and the cove'.

the bravery 'the sun and the moon'
obviously. i mean i didn't actually get this record but i bet that this--and i'm just speculating here--is what deaf people fucking sounds like.

editors 'an end has a start'
the music itself has lost some of the interpol and added some of the arcade fire's largeness. it's great but some of the lyrics are pretty weak. like duder was sleeping with a copy of 'chicken soup for my cunt' under his pillow. so i put it on both lists. seems fair.

the rosebuds 'night of the furies'
starts off pretty strong ('my punishment for fighting') but gets very limpwristed very quickly.

satellite party 'ultra payloaded'
someone needs to tell perry farrell that he doesn't need to put out records anymore as it's not 1988. at least dave navarro didn't release anything this year. bonus! double bonus if he found his shirt. (i didn't get this either but that last solo perry record blew autistic preteens and i'm guessing things have changed for the worse.)

vhs or beta 'bring on the comet'
jim james and some other my morning jacket goober couldn't help this. disco is fucking dead so lay off the fucking hi-hat and quit acting like gay zombies.

the smashing pumpkins 'zeitgeist'
tuh.

look for records by these cats on lists next year this time maybe?
the black angels, the verve, vampire weekend, the brian jonestown massacre, grinderman, the jesus & mary chain, oasis, the black keys, nada surf, rage against the machine, clem snide, portishead, my bloody valentine, longwave, the fever, eyedea & abilities, wax fang, satan's pilgrims, the secret machines, wolf parade, stevie wonder, get cape. wear cape. fly, flight of the conchords, dr. dre, social distortion, british sea power, the magnetic fields, the whigs, white denim, nick cave & the bad seeds, the big sleep, drive-by truckers, sun kil moon, gutter twins, ambulance ltd, los campesinos, the features, the avalanches, isobel campbell, dead meadow, zach del la rocha, doves, elbow, final fantasy, the mountain goats, !forward russia!, atlas sound, foals, jim white, deerhunter, franz ferdinand, islands, madvillain, hockey night, mf doom & ghostface killah, m83, radar bros, black mountain, the racontuers, seaweed, silver jews, spiritualized, stellastarr*, medeski martin and wood, local h, william elliott whitmore, tapes n tapes, tortoise, gillian welch, slint, gnarls barkley...did i miss any??

records i'm not looking forward to but i'll probably get cause i'm lame
weezer

as always these posts are subject to unknown updates (like when i finally figure out that the national is overrated).


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

wtf?

boss tuneage tuesday 1/8

the magnetic fields - abigail, belle of kilronan
flatt & scruggs - reuben
galaxie 500 - way up high
stone temple pilots - lounge fly
deltron3030 - battlesong
dinosaur jr. - feel the pain
propellerheads feat. shirley bassey - goldfinger
my morning jacket - lowdown
mark de gli antoni - hong kong
the black heart procession - why i stay
british sea power - the land beyond
mc5 - i want you right now


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't