It's Friday Morning...the last Friday before it becomes winter

And while I am helping volunteer for KEXP John happened to pick Hyperballad by Bjork, my absolute favorite of all of her songs. Loveeeee it. Now bring on the snow Northeastern storm system, us New Yorkers are ready! :)

Poor Emma, we feel bad for you, 'YES WE DID' and other happenings of '08: TOP ALBUMS OF THE YEAR (for me and eric)

First and foremost every good music listener has someone that they share everything with because loving something as much as i love music is never truly complete unless you share it with those who are always there for you. Most of my past music education over the few years has stemmed from Eric's knowledge of The Grateful Dead, The Band, Antony and the Johnsons, Bonnie Prince Billy and many more and this year I was finally able to give a little bit back. Along with his top picks he listed his top 11 shows of the year as well. Since we spent most of the year collectively ohhhh'ing and ahhhhh'ing over Bon Iver we once mentioned in passing conversation how we felt bad for poor Emma. As the rest of the world was delighting over sickening love songs by Mr. Emma, she was out there knowing all of this was written about her. And so, Emma this is for you. Here's to a happy and healthy 2009!!!

*****************Top Ten Albums of 2008 for Mr. Eric*****************

1.Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago
2. The Felice Brothers-The Felice Brothers
3.Lykke Li-Youth Novels
4.Cat Power-Jukebox
5. The Black Keys-Attack and Release
6. The Tallest Man on Earth-Shallow Graves
7. Small Sur-We Live In Houses Made of Wood
8. The Rosewood Thieves-Rise and Shine
9. Horse Feathers-House With No Home
10. Bob Dylan-Tell Tale Signs

+1 Bonnie 'Prince' Billy–Lie Down in the Light

******Top Ten Concerts********

1.Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble, Levon Helm Studios, September 6, 2008
2.Bon Iver, Bowery Ballroom, July 29, 2008
3.Radiohead, All Points West Festival, August 8, 2008
4.The Felice Brothers / AA Bondy, The Bearsville Theatre, April 26, 2008
5.The Black Crowes (Acoustic), Town Hall, November 3
6.Horse Feathers / The Rosewood Thieves / Small Sur, Union Hall, November 21, 2008
7.Adele, Joe's Pub, March 17, 2008
8. Bob Dylan, The Prospect Park Bandshell, August 12, 2008
9.The Cave Singers, The Mercury Lounge, May 6, 2008
10.Rodriguez, Joe's Pub, September 3, 2008

+1 The Raconteurs, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, May 4, 2008

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


******2008, thank you, from shelves of vinyl*******

1. The Black Keys-Attack and Release
2. Dr. Dog-Fate
3. Bon Iver-For Emma, Forever Ago
4. Lykke Li-Youth Novel
5. Hercules and Love Affair-Hercules and Love Affair
6. Helio Sequence-Keep Your Eyes Ahead
7. Ra Ra Riot-Rhumb Line
8. Tobacco-Fucked Up Friends
9. Elliott Brood-Mountain Meadow
10.Fleet Foxes-Fleet Foxes

11. Friendly Fires-Friendly Fires
12. Crystal Castles-Crystal Castles
13. Tallest Man on Earth-Shallow Grave
14. El Guincho-Alegranza!
15. Starfucker-Starfucker
16. Moondoggies-Don't Be A Stranger
17. Noah and the Whale-Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down
18.School of Seven Bells-Alpinisms

School of Seven Bells-Half Asleep.mp3
Moondoggies-Long Time Coming.mp3
Dr. Dog-From.mp3
Fleet Foxes-Meadowlarks.mp3
El Guincho-Costa Paraiso.mp3
Friendly Fires- Jump In The Pool.mp3

Can You Tell...

Led Zepplin-Whole Lotta Love.mp3
Black Mountain-Stormy High.mp3
Fleetwood Mac-Doctor Brown.mp3
Waylon Jennings-Gold Dust Woman.mp3
Wanda Jackson-I Gotta Know.mp3
Those Darlins-Wild One.mp3
David Vandervelde-Someone Like You.mp3
Sera Cahoone-You Might As Well.mp3
Call Me-Jessica Lea Mayfield.mp3
Horsefeathers-Curs In The Weeds.mp3
Huck Notari-Long Road.mp3
Shearwater-Century Eyes.mp3
The Moondoggies-Black Shoe.mp3
Sam Cooke-A Change Is Gonna Come.mp3
Ra Ra Riot-Can You Tell.mp3

Davila 666

Davila 666 is a garage punk, psychedelic rock band from Puerto Rico and they are awesome. Their videos are beautiful as well. I know I have been very into posting the videos lately, but theirs are completely worthy.

The band is made up of: Sir Charles Davila (lead vocals), Panderetas
AJ Davila (vocals, banjo, guitar), Organo Miss Davila (rhythm guitar, backup vocals, Johnny Otis Davila (lead guitar, backup vocals), San Pablo Davila (bateria, guitar), Panda Davila( Pandereta, backup vocals) and Gigi Davila (guitar, backup vocals and bateria). Davila 666's song Basura is my favorite and you can find their album out on In The Red Records.

Davila 666-Dimelo Ya.mp3

Starting to save up my pennies

I just sent out a mass email to some of my nearest and dearest concert friends expressing how much I dearly want to go to this years' ATP Festival taking place up in the Catskills' Mountains Friday September 11th through Sunday, September 13th. The event is being currated by none other than the fabulous Flaming Lips, who will perform closing out the three day festival on Sunday. Friday is a day of comedy but it is Saturday's lineup that I am most excited for. Currently locked in: Animal Collective, Antipop Consortium, Atlas Sound, Autolux, Black Dice and Panda Bear. Tickets are already on sale. Earlier today Animal Collective announced parties and early release plans for their upcoming (9th) album release, Merriweather Post Pavilion. A Delux 2XLP 180-gram gratefold vinyl comes with a full album download card on Tuesday, January 6th via Domino Records. The record will see digital and CD Release on Tuesday, January 20th in the states, 12th throughout the United Kingdom and Europe. A rash of listening parties at various cities is listed below, check to see if your town is one of the lucky hosts.

The current list of cities and hosts is below...

The Cities (details to follow)
Anchorage, AK - KRUA Presents*
Atlanta, GA - Criminal Records - Jan. 1st @ 4PM
Austin, TX - End Of And Ear Records & KVRX - Jan. 3 @ 6PM
Boston, MA - WZBC presents*
Chicago, IL - WHPK presents*
Dallas, TX - Gorilla Vs. Bear Presents*
Eugene, OR - KWVA Presents*
Lawrence, KS - Love Garden Sounds & KJHK - Jan. 6th
Los Angeles, CA - Fingerprints Records & KXLU - Jan. 6th
Miami, FL - WRGP Presents*
Minneapolis, MN - KUOM Presents*
New York, NY - Other Music Presents - Jan. 5th
Philadelphia, PA - WXPN Presents*
Portland, OR - Music Millennium - Jan. 3 @ 6PM
Raleigh, NC - WKNC Presents*
San Francisco, CA - Terrorbird Presents @ The Knockout - Jan. 6th, 7-10pm**
Santa Cruz, CA - KZSC Presents*
Seattle, WA - KUPS Presents*
St. Louis, MO - Vintage Vinyl & KDHX - Jan. 6th
Vancouver, BC - CFUV presents*

*Location & Date TBA
** w/ Maus Haus, French Miami"

c/o: Brooklynvegan
Animal Collective-Winter's Love.mp3
Animal Collective-Water Curses.mp3
Animal Collective Tags/Panda Bear Tags/Flaming Lips Tags

in 2009 we get new YEASAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Yeasayer this past Saturday at Williamsburg Music Hall
I could not be awaiting an album with more anticipation than the new Yeasayer album. This past weekend I saw them at Williamsburg Music Hall in front of a sold out hometown audience almost exactly a year to the date from their sold out show at the Mercury Lounge. I was so in love with them back then that it is hard for me to break it down into exactly what has changed in the band or how it makes me feel but i know it is all a very good thing. They have taken their already beautiful songs and strong sets and taken to another level of being so smooth and seamless you would have thought they have about four or five albums and tours of experience behind them. Their show on Saturday found them as tight as I have ever seen them after fourteen months of various cities and venues. The intros into their songs were the longest they have ever lavished upon my ears and they seemed so happy to be home that their overwhelming joy was immediately contagious and spread across the crowd graciously gathered awaiting their every strum of their guitars and beat of their drums, bongos, cymbals, keyboard strokes...etc. It is going to be highly enjoyable to see where their next album takes them and I cannot wait for more tour dates to be announced once they have given themselves a bit of a rest. They are one of my favorite bands on the scene and for all of those people who say there is nothing like old music and records and there are no good bands I just cannot even listen to them whine anymore. With bands like Panda Bear, Yeasayer, Cat Power, The National, Magnetic Fields, Jessica Lea Mayfield, The Dodos, Arctic Monkeys, LCD Soundsystem, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes and Hot Chip there is more talent than you can spend time listening to and I could not be happier for feeling this way every day.

Yeasayer Tags

Dear 2009, I would like to see Hey Champ and Louis La Roche please. Thank you. Love, Shelves of Vinyl

Louis La Roche is 18 years wise.

Louis La Roche is way ahead of you. He has been sitting in his bedroom mixing beats, searching for hidden those hidden gems and choosing samples all in preparation to sting your ears in 2009 when hopefully he will make his way across the pond towards us. Although he hails from the UK he is all the rave on the French underground pop music scene and has his parents contrasting music tastes to thank. There is something to be said about ruining your children's ears from the very beginning!
Louis La Roche-Love.mp3
Louis La Roche-Peach.mp3
Louis La Roche-On The Floor.mp3
Hey Champ have been touring throughout the states opening in support for Lupe Fiasco who recently signed them to his record label, 1st and 15th. During CMJ their drummer Johnathan Marks gained affection amongst all the zillions of drummers to check out during the hectic week of music. Understandably so from this clip of their performance at Pianos. You can keep up with all of their happenings and even check out their top tracks from 2008 on their blog. Most impressive of all on their touring roster is their upcoming direct support to Justice on New Years Eve. Hopefully we will be hearing much more about these merrimakers and seeing some local tour dates sometime soon since if there was ONE thing 2008 lacked it was enough music to dance to!
Hey Champ-Cold Dust Girl.mp3
Hey Champ-Early Sensation.mp3
Yeasayer-Sunrise(Hey Champ Re~mix).mp3

Oh, well I know you soak your feathers baby upon the ghosts along my trail

One of my favorite things about a guitar is in the right hands it can be used to make sounds so trickling sweet and innocent that they can transport you to a completely different state of mind, even when you are stuck in the middle of a city where fresh air and wind are stifled and stolen by a moving mass of strangers daily. Sometimes you can tune all of that out and remember wide open spaces and the most native and natural of all human experiences such as a the first time you were trapped in a rainstorm or that first walk you took away from your first love. Such innocent snapshots of memories might be so sacred that you never share them and instead tuck them under the layers of your skin and clothing for safe keeping. Tallest Man On Earth is set to make New York audiences' blood flow thicker and faster this week with three upcoming shows opening for the mellifluous Bon Iver. Admitting to being exhausted and jet-lagged from his voyage from Sweden Kristian Matsson aka Tallest Man On Earth stalked about the Mercury Lounge stage ambling and side stepping but never once taking his eyes off of the prize...which could be you, my dear reader. He is steady in his delivery and calm in his study and has the ability to completely captivate everyone who is willing to listen. Unlike Bon Iver when Kirstian strums a sad song you still feel light at heart due to his fragile presence and joyful energy. He seemed as though he was without a care in world as his audience sweat in the closely packed and dimly lit venue, hoping to hear more stories from this man of Nordic land. The comparisons to Dylan are of course kept in the back of one's mind but it is because of the similarity of grace and adept ability that flows so naturally from his fingertips and lips. Ending the set with a two song encore that included a bleeding and broody version of a White Stripes song, Death Letter I was left as happy as can be and eager for Thursday nights' show. For those of you heading out to see Bon Iver and Tallest Man at the Town Hall and Williamsburg Music Hall shows later on this week, don't get there a second late. You will kick yourself later.
*Tallest Man On Earth in Australia singing my favorite of all his songs, Where Do My Bluebird Fly

The Tallest Man on Earth: Where Do My Bluebird Fly from shoottheplayer on Vimeo.
Tallest Man on Earth-Pistol Dreams.mp3
Tallest Man On Earth-I Won't Be Found.mp3
The Tallest Man On Earth-Over The Hills.mp3
*Bon Iver Tags/Tallest Man On Earth Tags/White Stripes Tags

East Village Stroll

Yesterday I discovered a New York band that is so blisteringly unique and solid I was blown away and couldn't stop talking about them last night. I Led 3 Lives is comprised of three fiercely talented and greedily crafty musicians who have already comfortably established themselves in the trenches of the New York music scene. Ilhan Ersahin on keys and saxophone, Jochen Rueckert on drums and Juini Booth on bass together combine their individual creative backgrounds and leave their audience stunned with sounds ranging from psychedelic breakdowns to house beats and chirps and clicks that would make even the stingiest of Battles fans proud to be at one of their live sets. For more information on the band and a download of their song, House of Ahmet head over to the KEXP blog, for they are the being featured as the song of the day! I also highly recommend taking time to listen to all of the songs they have offered up on their myspace page, East Village Stroll is my own personal favorite. Their album, Peace Now was released via Nublu Records so go check it out now!

Be aware my darling, these things i say i mean...

Whereas last year it was quite easy for me to ramble off my list of top albums of the year 2008 has found me saying which songs I enjoy rather than whole records. This is not the case when it comes to School of Seven Bells who turned out one of the most intricately composed and enchantingly woven compilations. I believe that there are certain movements one must make in life, steps you are absolutely destined to tread in order to create something new or find yourself some place completely different. Such is the scenario for Benjamin Curtis, formerly of Secret Machines. In 2004 the Deheza sisters: Alejandra and Claudia (both formerly of On!Air!Liberty!) and Curtis were opening acts for Interpol and met backstage in between the performances. Their band name was taken from a mythical South American Pickpocket Academy that might have existed during the 80's that sparked Alejandra's imagination while she was watching a PBS special. It took three years but by early 2007, School of Seven Bells was born and signed with Ghostly International for their debut release, Alphinisms which came out this October. The threesome just recently finished touring with M83 and are performing at the Mercury Lounge next Monday. Yeaaahh! If you are curious about what they might sound like live you can check out their in studio session at KEXP here.

And because I do have a favorite song when it comes to them I fondly invite you to download Half Asleep first,

Sometimes I go whole days
listening bored, half sleep
I won't say anything
that's worth a thing to me
One day, suddenly, time
took a turn that once felt so brief
I blinked to see polite ghosts fading quickly

What begins as an unguarded
train of thoughts slowly can become
an addiction to the slumber
of disconnection and the resonance
of memory that no longer has a shape
but keeps you numb through
the hours tills gone is another day

Be aware, my darling
these things I say I mean
are just traces of something
I long to feel again
I see our time expand
in the air almost forcibly,
spreading thinner till it dissolves completely


School of Seven Bells-Half Asleep.jpg
School of Seven Bells-Wired for Light.mp3
School of Seven Bells-Song for the Magpie.mp3

Excited about upcoming Animal Collective tour dates and album?!

Need something to listen to and hold you over until Merriweather Post Pavillion comes out and you can hop about at their upcoming shows in January? I have two bands that you might want to check out and have probably already heard of. Lemonade and El Guincho have been touring consistantly throughout these late weeks of 2008 and even performing together in select cities. Lemonade hail from San Francisco and El Guincho are from Barcelona. Both bands have the ability to transport you mentally to warmer locations and days and have me longing for a mini-break from New York for a bit...just a little bit.
El Guincho-Kalise Video

*This is SOOooooo one of those videos you would expect to see on a large wall in some dive bar in Williamsburg, you know the types---which doesn't keep me from loving it as much as i do.
Lemonade-Blissout.mp3
Lemonade-Sunchips.mp3
**************El Guincho On TOur************
January:
30~Oxford Arts Factory, Sydney, Australia
31-Laneway Festival~Brisbane, Australia
February:
1-Laneway Festival~Melbourne, Australia
5-The Corner~Melbourne, Australia
6-Laneway Festival~Perth, Australia
7 Laneway Festival~Adelaide, Australia
8-Laneway Festival~Sydney, Australia
El Guincho-Antillas.mp3
El Guincho-Palmitos Park.mp3
El Guincho-Kalise.mp3

I cursed these legs I walked on

In Ear Park is the perfect record for that transition that happens to light during the colder months where in late October it goes from being strands of thick, golden warmth into strained weak translucent lemon light by the early December. Maybe it was my time that I spent in Southern France or my love of the Impressionists but I have always had a fond affection for the evaporating element of light and adore late afternoon winter light the best above all else. Sitting tucked into my bed and reading by my window Department of Eagles was the perfect companion. The band formed back in 2001 thanks to New York University where Daniel Rossen (who went onto join Grizzly Bear) met Fred Nicolaus. The two roomed together, discussing and sharing music theory and preferences leading to them making a sample CD that they originally planned to only distribute amongst friends. These early tracks ended up being released via California-based independent record label, Isota Records under the name, Whitney on The Moon UK. To avoid a possible encounter with a San Francisco band the two changed their band name to Department of Eagels. The album In Ear Park was named after a park in Los Angeles where Rossen used to go with his father, who recently passed away. In January the band commences a mini-tour including an upcoming date at Bowery Ballroom on Monday, January 19th. Ticket are already on sale.
**************DEPARTMENT OF EAGELS TOUR DATES****************
Jan 15-Schuba’s Tavern-Chicago, Illinois
Jan 16-Wexner Center for the Arts-Columbus, Ohio
Jan 17-Johnny Brenda’s-Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 18-The Brattle Theatre-Cambridge, Massachusetts
Jan 19-The Bowery Ballroom-New York, New York
Department of Eagels-In Ear Park.mp3
Department of Eagels-Teenagers.mp3
Grizzly Bear Tags

Dent May and His Magnificent Ukulele

Happy moment of the day so far was stumbling across Dent May and His Magnificent Ukulele whose quote on his page is, "My dog has fleas, just like Lou Reed" which made me laugh out loud which is always a good/healthy exercise during the work day. Hailing from Taylor, Mississippi he has sweet, innocent and catchy tunes that were immediately enjoyable. Kind of like Beirut but without all the added instrumental filler. (Don't get me wrong, I LOVEEE Beirut, but this is much more broken down). An added layer of fun was his cover of Tegan and Sara's When You Were Mine. It is so good you might have to play it twice...or four times. He has a new album coming out on February 3rd via Paw Tracks (ahem, Animal Collective). Hopefully this means we will be hearing more out of Mississippi soon!
Dent May and His Magnificent Ukelele-When You Were Mine.mp3
Dent May and His Magnificent Ukulele-Meet Me In The Garden.mp3

A study in bars and scales

I came across this while perusing the New York Times today. I LOVE their ridiculously over the top pie charts, bar graphs, line graphs and interpretations and breakdowns of pretentious Indie Music sets. These diagrams of recent
Hot Chip and Passion Pit shows are deliciously fun.

*New York Times dissecting the Hot Chip performance at Terminal 5 Song by Song

*Passion Pit at Pianos...check it out.
Passion Pit-Better Things.mp3
*Hot Chip Tags/Passion Pit Tags

James Murphy---you make me happy.

*This is the cutest thing i have seen in a LONG TIME

*And everyone needs a little bit of Weezer every once in a while. Especially when it comes with flipping penguins in the background and Animal on the drums.