The Only Time I Like Sufjan

This is the time of year I retract my yearlong rails against s00fyawn and make penance for the things I've said. Oh sorry. Suf-jan. As much as I can't stand him, I really do owe him a debt for making some of my favorite Christmas recordings. I haven't heard the official release, but assuming it's similar to the illicit versions floating around in years past, I like it. For those of you who don't know Mr. Steven's Xmas material, here are some of my favorite songs:

Sufjan Stevens - Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing [mp3]
Sufjan Stevens - I Saw Three Ships [mp3]

The only Sufjan album I'll ever recommend can be bought here. $20 for 5 discs. You do the math.

Ye Ole Yeti Favourites

The Head Set
Finally released their album Way Pass Used. I was highly enjoyed this last year and he it is reworked and lengthened for the public. Here's a newish song off that album. Good stuff.

The Head Set - Look & Feel [mp3]

Elvis Perkins
Uh oh. Ultra Grrrl is on to them. But what's that? A huge picture of My Chemical Romance? I'm confused. Yeah, just scroll past that; eventually she gets to Elvis: "When [Liz] played "All the Night Without Love," I found myself closing my eyes and drifting away like a feather being dropped from the top of the empire state building." That description aside, I still think it's good. Here's an old demo that is hidden deep inside the Perky Perkins website. Shhhhhh.

Elvis Perkins - [All the Night] Without Love - Demo Version [mp3]

Perkins is on extensive tour through Feb. See them.

Beat Radio
Finally released their album The Great Big Sea. The entire thing is available as a free download at their website here. In addition to the my old favorites Elegy, Treetops, and Mexico, here's a new one that is recommended. It's in the lower extent of Brian's register and as such it heightens the intimacy his voice invokes. It's like a feather falling of a swan perched upon a unicorn...

Beat Radio - Everything is Temporary [mp3]

Shows Reviewed: Voxtrot, Annuals, M Mouse, SSPU, Annuals, Hold Steady and More

Now that Thanksgiving has left us with a triple chin, a broken hand, and carpel tunnel, Christmas is setting upon us like a shepherd upon shepherd's pie. It's the season to reflect on the year and all the content that has been stolen from us. While I compose my list of this year's Top Ten Fizzled Buzzbands [No, I'll have no such list, but I will have the more predictable Top Ten Albums I'd Hate to Hear Mark Kozelek Cover] I thought I'd share with you where I've been this past month since CMJ. I may have left something off.

11-07 Voxtrot @ Bowery Ballroom
I've seen them about ten brazilian times, but golly are they still most excellent. This time less than usual, but still. Ramesh kept stretching his arms to fill the larger Ballroom and after the second time I found it distracting. Hands down, my boy, hands down. Tall ceiling are nice, aren't they? Ramesh and Co. have always treated NYC well, and NYC -with our marvelous afterparties- treats them well. Even nights Voxtrot aint performing, Ramesh was afterpartying at Finger on the Pulse. They brought a slew of new material this time which may or may not make it to the record. The two unreleased songs they played at Mercury Lounge in the spring didn't make the set and unfortunately they aren't currently scheduled to be on the LP. Too bad since I love those songs. I did some lobbying in the -um- "lobby" of Bowery for them, so hopefulyl they'll make it. Here they are again, courtesy of Ryspace's recordings.

Voxtrot - "Your Sun Sets" (?) - Live @ Mercury Lounge [mp3]
Voxtrot - "Never be Free" (?) - Live @ Mercury Lounge [mp3]

11-16 Annuals @ Bowery Ballroom
Nice to see them do a full set again instead of their truncated CMJ gigs. Except what is left to say? Be He Me received a decent score over at PFM, and "Brother" is still on repeat in the yeti cave. Nora goes in to more depth than I am capable of.

11-18 Modest Mouse @ Bowery Ballroom
When Johnny Marr and David "Lee" Cross came on stage to sing Bank of America's "One," [made famous last week on Youtube], it was immeasurably hilarious -even more so than the original. No doubt it was a tough act for the Mice from Modesto to follow but they easily man-handled our hearts with such classic hits as "Here's a New Song" and "New Song #2." Isaac Brock was glorious. They played old stuff too, like "Old Song #1 I don't know the name of" and "Old Song #2..." Yet they didn't to play "Third Rock from the Sun" -errr yeah- despite the many psychic signals I attempted to send. Next time I'll see all five of their local gigs until I get my song. And learn some song names.

11-20 Silversun Pickups @ Spinhouse
Am I a fan of SSPU? No. But if the environment is just right and I'm feeling alright, I can be convinced of anything. And you know what? I kinda liked them. I couldn't visually see anything, but they played a few tunes that had me whistling through my teeth. Don't ask which, see above. Spin.com took a darling picture of me. All in all I still think SSPU would be better off if they trimmed two minutes off each song. Brevity is a virtue best served with cold turkey.

11-20 Little Ones @ Mercury Lounge
This show followed the Silversun show. The Lil'uns were good but by that time my abilities to discern were compromised. They're a happy band and I was a happy man, so the two of us got along.

11-22 Hold Steady @ Warsaw
Ever since their CMJ Annex gig I've finally appreciated Boys and Girls in America. Here, the crowd was even more ravenous than before. The frenzy kept escalating until it peaked with "Little Hoodrat Friend" at which point I told my frail friend to watch herself. Good idea. After the band kept time pianissimo for a few minutes, they bust back into "Hoodrat" for one last hurrah. It was combustion. "Modesto" immediately followed and it sucked the energy straight out of the room. It never quite fully recovered, but I was still left with a memorable impression.

[Essential 2007?] Ghost Stories's Quixoticism

Of all the bands I've posted on this site, few have received as positive feedback as Ghost Stories. Most surprisingly because I only posted a stream to the album. After much waiting and prodding, I finally got hold of an advance of Quixoticism which doesn't see release until January 23, 2007. So with great pleasure, here are the first available mp3s. No track stands out as the awesomest*, but that's where it's strength is. It's just a fun simple little album I've enjoyed. I spent an hour trying to figure out which to share and in the end I couldn't. Instead, here are the first two songs.

Ghost Stories - Catacombs [mp3]
Ghost Stories - The Upper Ten / The Lower Five [mp3]


* Not really a word, but spellcheck suggests "Awesome Street"

!!W¡¡

The Wii launches at midnight this Saturday. I'm excited. I saw 200 people camping out in the rain last night at Target for the PS3. Losers.

After Modest Mouse at Bowery, I'm tempted to dress up as Gandalf and try my luck at Toys R Us.

Times Square + gaming freaks? What could be cooler?

Throat Singing

Essential 2006... ah screw it. Albert Kuvezin.

[This blog just gets crappier and crappier, doesn't it?]

Campaign '06: Plug Awards

Go vote for your favorite Music Blogger over at the Plug Awards.



There are a bunch of other lesser categories as well [Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Version of Pachelbel's Canon on Youtube of the Year]. With last year's winning "When the President Talks to God" [ug] and this year's un-nominated "The President's Dead," it would have been the perfect opportunity to start a whole new genre. Alas. We are stuck with harpsi-core.

The Blow Us Remixes

People still won't shut up about the Blow, and for good reason. Khaela wowed us at the CMJ Fader Lounge [youtube] and now she's all we want to talk about. And so it goes. There's a new YACHT mixtape up [which is the other half of the Blow] which includes two new remixes [via]. I've extracted them for ya. Enjoy.

The Blow - Babay [Jab Micha Och Elle Remix] [mp3]
The Blow - Hock It [YACHT Remix] [mp3]

Leaks and Unleaks

Joanna Newsom, the "TV on the Radio of the harpsichord", garnered a 9.4 from Pitchfork today -the very same institution that was responsible for the leak of the album many months ago. Maybe they feel a little guilty? Then again, it's a freaking weird album. Of course PFM loves that shit. I'll give them this: it's at least 0.4 points better than that dreadful Drum's Not Dead.

In other news, a version of Bloc Party leaked [possibly a transcode rip?]. I haven't heard it, but if what BP was playing live over the summer is any indication, I'm hesitant to jump on it. What a shitty week for that band, eh?

@ Studio B: Junior Boys 12/7; Girl Talk 2/9

Ticketweb has two shows listed upcoming for Studio B.

-Junior Boys play December 7 [tix on sale Monday at 10:00].
-Girl Talk play February 9th [tix]

I accept free trips too.

Someone needs to buy me a free trip somewhere zoon. I'm getting bored here folks.

I'm available November 21-26 and/or December 22-27. I will write glorious reviews.

Have a good weekend people. And check out Liz Phair's playlist remark over at Gentrifried Rice.

RJD2 tomorrow @ PS1 | RSVP

RJD2 tomorrow [Saturday November 11th] with others @ PS1. RSVP info in the flyer below.

CMJ Saturday in Pictures

White Whale @ Annex

Annuals @ Annex

The Blow @ Fader

Aloe Blacc @ Fader

Birdmonster @ Sin-e

Malajube @ Fader

Charles Bissell @ White Rabbit

The Softlightes @ Midway

Shout Out Out Out Out @ Lit

Cadence Weapon with Shout Outx4 @ Lit

CMJ Overview

Despite feeling unusually energetic after CMJ, [Sparks stays in your system far far too long], I've done very little since then other than play this Blow [website/myspace] album on repeat. Damn it's good. The duo also wears makeup better than the Knife.

I've also tested out some Beach House [web/mysp] and stared at -but not yet spun- this Archie Bronson Outfit release [web/mysp]. Oh, and a fruitless hunt of more Shout Out Out Out Out.[myspace] Two bands I saw at CMJ, and two I didn't. You can figure out which.

I've heard from all angles that Benjy Ferree was capital-T Terrible. Too bad. The Thermals lived up to my wildest dreams, all three times but most especially with the kids at Bowery and the bloggers at Studio-B. Crazy good.


-Beach House is @ Tonic on November 26th

-BUY the Blow! Seriously. This album is great. Go over to Red Blondehead to listen to two songs.

-Benjy Ferree's album is out now. I still love it, even if the consensus is unimpressed. I know a handful agree with me, so I'm not completely alone.

-The Thermals say they'll headline their own tour "early next year." Yessssssssss.

-"Shout Out Out Out Out" may be a lot of fun to say, but sending text messages gets tedious.

CMJ: Friday in Pictures

Lo-Fi FNK @ Fontanas:

Forward Russia @ Fontanas:

Oh No Oh My @ Fader:

Cadence Weapon @ Fontanas:

Oxford Collapse @ Fontanas:

Thermals @ Fontanas:

This Moment in Black History @ Fader:

Shout Out Out Out Out @ Fader:

Dirty on Purpose @ Annex:

Cold War Kids @ Annex:

The Hold Steady @ Annex:

Thermals @ Studio B:

Ra Ra Riot @ Studio B:

CMJ: Thursday in Pictures

Pela @ White Rabbit:

Lo-Fi FNK @ Fader:

Dapple City Fly @ Fader:

Cities @ Pianos:

Apples in Stereo @ Pianos:

Irving @ Cake Shop:

Frida Hyvonen @ Fader:

Annuals @ Fader:

120 Days @ Fader:

CSS @ Bowery Ballroom:

Thermals @ Bowery Ballroom:

Shins @ Bowery Ballroom:


Still to come: Friday and Saturday in pictures and brief recaps.

Swedish Debut CMJ: The Knife and Lo-Fi FNK

I've had bad luck. After managing to see zero bands on CMJ Day One and not quite a full set yesterday afternoon, I spent last night at only two shows. Both were excellent; both were Swedish; both made their USA debut.

The Knife were creepy, or at least their weird balloon projections were [see the skull in the picture to the left]. But it wasn't the skull that gave me the creeps, it was the projection of that dude sleeping and then waking up to sing along. The videos on the backdrop and the scrim didn't do much for me, and I'd rather have the focus more on Karin and Olof. Unfortunately they were dressed in black and hid in shadow, so discerning what was happening on stage -if anything at all- was difficult. Olof mostly dancing behind his instruments while Karin supplied the haunting vocals. The energy of the crowd was excitable and I got goosebumps when they played "Heartbeats". From that they went straight into "Silent Shout", playing my two favorites in succession. A few times they reminded me of Blue Man Group, with better songs but lesser visuals.

Over at Galapagos in Williamsburg -stranding the L-trainers after midnight- Lo-Fi FNK provided a cheerier brand of electronica. Not only did they provide a fantastic album earlier this year, but it translated wonderfully in concert. It was the late night dancing and revelry I needed to ignore my exhaustion and illness I felt brewing in my stomach. Thankfully I'll be seeing them a few more times this week.

Friendsters

Sparks gives me an orange mouth.

CMJ: Sure Juror, Loney Dear

Just got back from a visit to Brooklyn Vegan's show at Pianos. It was pretty much NYC blogger Who's Who. I was only there on my lunch break poorly timedit so I'd be there mostly between acts. Sure Juror got off to a late start due to circumstances involving their car being towed. They played an abbreviated set of which I saw two, not nearly enough to make a judgment call. I didn't recognize either. I wish they played this one:

Sure Juror - You'll Never Recognize It [mp3]

I stuck around for a few songs by Sub-Popsicles, Loney Dear, edumacating myself that there is no second "L" in their band name. Go figure. They were alright. Again, it's hard to judge merits on such brief exposure. I am really really digging this song however:

Loney Dear - I Fought the Battle of Trinindad & Tobago [mp3]

CMJ: Halloweeeeeen

CMJ has barely commenced and I'm already running on four hours of sleep. With shows tonight possibly stretching to late hours and a 10:00 AM appointment tomorrow for KEXP, this might be tough.

I saw little music last night, instead opting to march in the Halloween Parade. It's always a highlight of the year. My costume was a success and if I don't have millions of new friend requests I'll be heartbroken. A few people recognized me from last year, and one couple could even name both previous years' costumes of mine. They asked me what I have in store for next year. I have no clue, but as of now they are my favorite fans.

A girl came up to me as I was making my way south to the LES and coquettishly asked, "My space or your space." Best pick-up line all night. After she read my "Interests" she asserted we had nothing in common. "What do you do?" I asked, to which she replied, "I work in music." Hmmmmm.

I went to Fontana's thereafter where neither the Horrors, nor CSS, nor Forward Russia! played. All were rumored or planned at one point. I saw glimpses of the Mess Hall and Har Mar Superstar, but largely flitted around upstairs.

Today: Lunch in the LES and see a bit of whatever band the BeeV has playing at Pianos. The Knife right after work, then possibly Ben Lee for proximity before heading out to Galapagos for Lo-Fi FNK and Thunderbirds Are Now!