So the (not so) faithful blogger puts his head together with his (faithful) significant other after
- shameful feelings over the pathetic end of 08 entry (even tho it resulted in at least one illegal download of Accelerate; hey R.E.M. ain't hurtin for money)
- actually listening to those 'missing albums' mentioned in the previous post; and speaking of:
- Fleet *yawn- oop, excuse me sorry* Foxes. What great background music for a low-key winter party! But shame on anyone who called this anywhere near the "greatest album of the year". Maybe it spoke to people of an entirely different (lemming-like?) sensibility than myself, but I've seen the Zuppa Theatre Co. put together better choral rounds on an average morning in the rehearsal hall.
- Beck. I won't reserve the yawn here.
- Kanye West. Ever have those weird dreams where you see a movie or hear a record and it's, like, protracted, strange, boring? I'm still not sure if 808s & Heartbreak is one of those dreams.
- Guns N' Roses. Waking nightmare.
- My Morning Jacket. Jim James, wither thine voice? Why the falsetto? Oh, wait, maybe the Fleet Foxes guy scooped your impending patent on "soaring", "ethereal" vocals.
- Metallica. Not so bad.
- Conor Oberst. If his self-obsession didn't come and go like the tides, I might be motivated to actually start building an opinion about this guy. Doesn't it stand to reason that prodigies should at least approach selflessness? But I'll still stick by him to see if he rounds himself out by 30 (!).
this collection of side projects and duckers of the top-ten slurry-pile are guaranteed to delight! seek them out! really! you won't regret it!
Little Joy, Little Joy:
Like if the Strokes were a Carribbean house band on the most chill vacation you've ever been on. Fab (from said band) provides the hooks and a girl named Binki the occasional mellow vocal.Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, Sunday at Devil Dirt:
Campbell (former of Belle & Sebastian) and Lanegan (former of Screaming Trees & Queens of the Stone Age [?!]) together at last... if you read a top ten list and picked up She and Her, Volume One (Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward)- this is better.Mount Eerie, Lost Wisdom:
Frontman Phil Elverum's favorite singer ever is Canada's own Julie Doiron, so he asked her to make a record with him and she made his dreams come true. This will make yours come true too.And to round out the 'Amazin Collaborations' section, the most amazin of all:
Vic Chesnutt and Elf Power, Dark Developments
Onward to a brief stop in Canada:Construction and Destruction, The Volume Wars:
These two cats live way, way deep in rural Nova Scotia, a place I can personally attest generates either vapid ennui or creative explosions, in their case the latter: this was the most promising & rewarding piece to come out of Nova Scotia's increasingly derivative indie-rock scene this year.Nadja, The Bungled and the Botched:
The ultimate in doom/drone metal, and another guy/girl collaboration, this time between a poet and a bookbinder. If you're playing D&D all day, going on a real-life quest for the Dread Sword or some shit, or just laying on your bed buoyed by elation or oppressed by dread, THIS. IS. IT.And, to round it all out, some surefire twang/poetry/catchiness/genius:
Silver Jews: Lookout Mountain, Lookout SeaTwang/poetry
Blitzen Trapper, FurrTwang/catchiness
Lambchop, OH (Ohio)Twang/twang
Lucinda Williams, Little HoneyTwang/genius
Ahh, a proper ten, now I can sleep easy. Now get downloading! Happy New Year! Celebrate with music from the old year!
