Thanks for the mixes. I'm slowly making my way through them. This could take a while. So far I've listened to Nick's and Jenny's, and enjoyed both. Here's what's on mine, with added commentary, because I like to babble online.
1) Frightened Rabbit -- Head Rolls Off
U2 arena bombast with a Scottish brogue. From the album "The Midnight Organ Fight," which sounds like an extended metaphor for combative lovemaking, and is.
More detail here.
2) TV on the Radio -- Golden Age
If Prince did political commentary, this is what it would sound like.
More detail here.
3) Alabama 3 -- Mao Tse Tung Said
This song was recorded in 1997, but re-released last year, when I heard it for the first time. So it qualifies as a 2008 release for me. That's Jim Jones, the Peoples' Temple guy from the late '70s, ranting at the beginning of the song. He's scary. The rest of the song is pretty funny, IMO.
4) Beaujolais -- Contemptual You
One-man band from Chicago goes through a divorce, feels bad about it, writes a batch of angry/sad songs, and tries his best to sound like Brian Wilson. Most of the time he does.
5) Son Lux -- Stand
Probably my favorite song from 2008. You get Radiohead blips and beeps, hip-hop beats, classical piano, and a guy who repeats biblical passages like rosary beads. And who samples Maria Callas operatic arias for good measure.
More detail here.
6) Watermelon Slim -- Archetypal Blues #2
The blues, and nothin' but the blues. More detail here.
7) Blind Pilot -- I Buried a Bone
A couple of Portland, OR folkies sing a folk song. With mariachi trumpets.
8) Centro-Matic -- The Rat Patrol and DJs
I'm a sucker for dirty, distorted guitars and sweet pop singing. More detail here.
9) Bon Iver -- Re: Stacks
Sensitive, bearded folkie retreats to wilderness cabin and soothes his wounded heart by shooting moose and writing lovelorn tunes. More detail here.
10) Darrell Scott -- American Tune
This is a bluegrass version of an old Paul Simon tune, which in turn was cribbed from a J.S. Bach chorale. The path from J.S. Bach to bluegrass is a winding one, but Darrell Scott covers this song beautifully, and the lyrics remain some of my favorites, ever. More detail here.
11) Ezra Furman and the Harpoons -- Take Off Your Sunglasses
He's a smartass, and he can't really sing. Kind of like Bob Dylan in that way. Well, actually in a lot of ways. What's not to like? More detail here.
12) Jacob Golden -- Out Come the Wolves
Another sad divorce song. I don't know what it is. I'm happily married. I swear. More detail here.
13) Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit -- Shore to Shore
Royal Shakespearian actor goes slumming, adopting a Dickensian raggamuffin persona, sounding like a singer from Merrye Olde England, but writing lyrics like Billy Bragg. That's a pretty great combination. More detail here.
14) Bob Dylan -- Red River Shore
Now, I've heard of a guy who lived a long time ago
A man full of sorrow and strife
Whenever someone around him died and was dead
He knew how to bring 'em on back to life
Well, I don't know what kind of language he used
Or if they do that kind of thing anymore
Sometimes I think nobody ever saw me here at all
'Cept the girl from the Red River shore
Who else writes songs like this? More detail here.
15) Plants and Animals -- Bye Bye Bye
They're Arcade Fire imitators, but they're good Arcade Fire imitators.
16) Sun Kil Moon -- Harper Road
This guy (Mark Kozelek) writes the prettiest and saddest songs in the world. He's the King of Mope, and he did nothing to loosen the grip on his crown on his 2008 album "April." More detail here.
17) Vampire Weekend -- A-Punk
Evrybody has this album. Everybody likes this album. Me too. It's mindless fun, and there's nothing wrong with that. Ay-ay-ay-ay.
18) White Winter Hymnal -- Fleet Foxes
Everybody has this album. Everybody likes this album. Me too. It's not mindless fun, but it sure is pretty.
19) Anathallo -- The River
In the absence of a new Sufjan Stevens album in 2008, this one will do quite nicely. More detail here.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
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