The Best Album of 2006, If You're Me

The year's half over, and as with all these type of "events," it's time to get reflective: I'd like to discuss an oh-six album which has impressed me consistently (I would say "held up well," but it's only been a few months).




Josh Ritter's The Animal Years is a funny little album, which, I suppose, stems from Josh Ritter being a funny man. Ever-grinning, youthful and entirely too gracious for a rock star, he composes engaging, folky songs with enough nuance and wonder to keep them from becoming even remotely cliched singer-songwriter saminess. In a way, Ritter is an idol to me, though not in the traditional rock n roll sense - I am interested in the man and his music on a much more personal level. I identify with him in what feels like an entirely unique, circumstantial way, which is more than anything a reflection of where I'm at in my life.

Beyond (and because of) enjoying his music, I've read a number of interviews with Ritter, and it's safe to say he's remarkably genuine in person and on record. His ideas and approach I find incredibly interesting and similar to my own; expressing doubt and compassion and love with a heart that's at once generous, warm and honest. As I said before, he's sweet: this is gracious music. Now, I know that kind of thing isn't for everyone, and that's why I feel strange recommending this as the best album of the year so far - it seems so suited to me that I can hardly regard it any other way. I mean, it sounds fantastic, and Brian Deck's done a beautiful job exposing and embellishing Ritter's self-described "weirdness" in his music, which is nothing but endearing. But I've gotten such a complete experience from the record that this doesn't even begin to do it justice, and to try to do that would be silly anyway. I'll just end by saying that I regard this as a very special album, one that I'd like to share though I understand if it doesn't hit you the same way it did (and still does) me. Please give it a try though, stream it in its entirety and pick it up, go to a show if you like it. And I hope you do.

Josh Ritter - Here At The Right Time [mp3]

Read what I had to say earlier about some Animal Years songs here, here, and here.

Visit Ritter online and buy the album here.

Summer Draft

I can't possibly keep this up, not at the moment. Real Life has kept me busy for days and days, for which I am ultimately grateful, though in a perfect world I'd be keeping up appearances around here as well. There are things I'll hear or see, and think, "Oh, I'll mention that in a post tonight!" though when tonight rolls around, I'd really rather sleep. And honestly, when I'm lucky enough to be back in Santa Barbara, quite a few things take precedence over the Internet (you'd better believe that when I return to the loveliness that is Davis in the Summer, I'll be more inclined to sit at the computer and type something up). Anyway, enough of that, I appreciate you visiting.

My sister and I made a mix: Summer Jamz 2K6 (Two-Kay-Six). It's like tradition, and, I must say, this is the best one yet. Why? Mostly because it's got the new Paris Hilton joint.

Summer Jamz 2K6 (Two-Kay-Six)

01. The Elected - Not Going Home [mp3]
02. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy (DJ Tripp Bass211 Mix)
03. Paris Hilton - Stars Are Blind
04. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion
05. Regina Spektor - Fidelity [mp3]
06. Mates of State - Fraud in the '80s [mp3]
07. Taking Back Sunday - MakeDamnSure [mp3]
08. Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland - Promiscuous
09. The Futureheads - Skip to the End (Digitalism Remix) [mp3]
10. Phoenix - Long Distance Call [mp3]
11. Blood Brothers - Under Pressure
12. Ladyhawk - The Dugout [mp3]
13. Brakes - Ring a Ding Ding
14. Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken [mp3]
15. Vitalic - My Friend Dario
16. Spoon - Monkey Feelings
17. Thao Nguyen - Feet Asleep [mp3]
18. Lily Allen - LDN [mp3]
19. The Walkmen - Louisiana [mp3]

Screw sequencing - you don't need it when you're dealing with the Hit List.

***

I wept for Dallas. Marquis Daniels, I love you.

See you sometime.

LOS ANGELES

Five music-related events have occurred recently, of varying degrees of importance but all wonderful. Let's do this in order.




First, my sister introduced me to a serious summer jam. Yeah, I'm late, but whatever. Remember how I liked Lily Allen's "LDN"? This is a little more typical, but so terrific it deserves summer jam status: Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous." I haven't even heard the entire song, as I've only been exposed through TRL's ever-shortening attention span, but that's all it's taken to fall in love. Furtado and Timbaland exchange lines and verses, the positively sick production working, rubbing up to a chorus that's all sweet release. And, finally, Steve Nash gets the recognition he deserves: namedropped in the summer's sexiest single.

Second, I saw the Mountain Goats. Back to that in a second - I need to mention the opening act, Berlin native Barbara Morgenstern. Genuinely and refreshingly happy to be in LA, she shared her electronics with the audience, who sadly weren't ones for dancing, despite the prevalence of some very dance-able beats. The title track from her latest long-player, The Grass is Always Greener, seemed to capture the room, the entirety of the air and space, with the rare sense of stature and importance that pierce and fill you, the same way lumps start in your throat for no clear reason, or the way you're proud of something you don't understand.

Barbara Morgenstern - The Grass is Always Greener [mp3]

After joining Morgenstern for a song, the Goats geared up for their set, and despite Darnielle having a cold, played on a damn fine set. I realized, sitting in the balcony, watching him intently, how much differently I regard him than I do most rock frontmen. This wasn't a show as much as it was a sharing, something intensely personal and beautiful and outright special, and I felt lucky. They played songs I wanted to hear ("Your Belgian Things," "The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out Of Denton," oh, God, yes), and they played songs we hadn't heard before. Let me tell you: this new album, Get Lonely, is going to slay. Not in the rocking sense, but in the break-you-down-to-nothing sense - even more than the last two albums, which are by all means absolute slayers. These songs were quiet and he sang , and the lyrics hit square and hard from the outset, and I've never wanted to cry so badly. Fortunately, incredibly, eMusic's made available some sort of Pitchfork Festival promo EP, featuring one of the night's best, a new song called "Woke Up New," one which doesn't need me to explain or describe anything to you. It's pure heartbreaker.

The Mountain Goats - Woke Up New [mp3]

Third, I went to Amoeba, as planned, and picked up some sweet stuffs. The JagJag powerhouse duo of Wilderness and Ladyhawk, The National's Cherry Tree EP (finally!), (((GRRRLS))), and Boris' Pink. The last two are what I'm most excited about, having heard a particularly fantastic song from each and noting more. I'll let you know how it goes, here's the track off (((GRRRLS))) tune that I love so much:

Parenthetical Girls - Love Connection [mp3]

I first heard it at Catbirdseat, apparently they've got a Part II now. But this is just how I like it, weird and glorious and not ashamed, not in the least.

Fourth, and for the fourth time, I saw the Walkmen. And just as I had hoped, the new songs slayed (this time in the rock n roll sense). Everything - Ham's bulging vein, the levels, the drum solo in "Tenleytown," the ragtag horn section in "Louisiana" - it all came together in a set that kept its momentum beautifully, and left me wanting more. The Walkmen are a lot more punk than we ever gave them credit for, with more sneer and energy and sheer badass-ness than any group I've ever seen. They just happen to be able to play far more interesting music than the bands who seem to focus exclusively on these things.

The Walkmen - Tenleytown [mp3]

The openers, Simon-something (not entirely accurate) and Mazarin were good and kind of uninteresting, respectively. The former played songs not unlike the Walkmen, though they clearly knew how to wield their influences smartly and never sounded derivative. Unfortunately, for all the times I was told their name, it never came in clear. Simon-something. Mazarin had the energy and the melodies, but sounded too much like an Indie Rock Band. I don't mean to be a jerk, as I can't pick out anything particularly wrong with the band, but really, nothing stood out, and worse, everything blended. Beards, guitars, noisy pop: name that group - sorry.

Fifth, my Regina Spektor album came, and it's been spinning nonstop since. Taking away from my time alotted for the albums I just bought - it's that good. Also, I TiVo-ed her performance on Conan and, boy, is she cute. Cute, cute, cute, and I'm in love. Oh, and she played "Fidelity," the third song in my special summer jams series, and did a marvelous job, earning high praise from the host himself.

Regina Spektor - Fidelity [mp3]

Visit Barbara Morgenstern online, and buy The Grass is Always Greener here.

Visit The Mountain Goats online, and buy things here. Check out that free EP here!

Visit Parenthetical Girls, and buy what I bought here.

Visit The Walkmen online, and buy their latest here.

Visit Regina Spektor online, and buy the special edition of Begin To Hope here! With a bonus EP!

Pictures from the shows: they will, maybe, come later (this is what happens when I rely entirely on other people's cameras).

***

Marathonpacks' guest talks about the Mountain Goats better than I talk about the Mountain Goats.

Some Notes

I'm leaving way, way too early tomorrow for La Ciudad de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles, where I'll stop by Amoeba and spend all my money before hitting up LACMA (I believe hitting up is the correct term) and seeing a couple shows. Wednesday: The Mountain Goats. Thursday: The Walkmen.

Maybe you've noticed that I haven't really mentioned the Walkmen's latest, A Hundred Miles Off. I really don't know what to say. For the most part, I agreed with the Pitchfork review, which is disappointing in that the album is only "good" and also that I haven't been moved to form an opinion on it. I'm hoping that their show will change my mind, or rather make up my mind. It certainly couldn't hurt - their performances are always fantastic.

The Walkmen - Louisiana [mp3]

Like the Pfork review said, this song is the highlight of A Hundred Miles Off. It's got just the right amount of strain in Hamilton's voice, hitting intense highs on "I got my hands tied!," easily the closest this album comes to Bows + Arrows' highlights. (Okay, I'll admit I'm using "The Rat" as the measuring stick, which isn't quite fair. But really, this comes close.) And the music - it's an afternoon drunk, seriously sunstroked horns and percussion, fitting perfectly. "Louisiana"'s the albums' first track, and unfortunately what follows doesn't come together in quite the same way. "Lost In Boston" gets close, think of it as the "Little House of Savages" to "Louisiana"'s "The Rat." Get it?

Visit the Walkmen online, and buy A Hundred Miles Off here.

***

Marathonpacks(2) blogs the HUGELY DISAPPOINTING Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Shaq makes his only two FTs that matter, and Dirk's first miss from the line seals their fate. Ugh.

I keep going back to Loki, the Scottish rapper Sean's shared at Said the Gramophone. I miss the place. Oh, and the song's good too.

The Foundry Field Recordings' Prompts/Miscues is out now, it's been growing on me and my sister seems to have stolen it. It's that good, folks.

See you Friday!

Sweet

The Extra Glenns - Memories [mp3]

John Darnielle is a lounge singer! John Darnielle is a lounge singer! But he doesn't do it right, because when he's supposed to sleaze out the lines about seeing "your naked body," it comes out far too sweet. The air around the piano isn't thick with smoke: it's empty, like a stare or a dream's nether-space, because none of this is real. Well, not entirely, because how much of our memories exist without any of the investments of our minds' wants, the comfortable blur around the edges - really just mental editing? It's just as telling and sweet, though, to hear this swirling slow-dance recalled through Darnielle's gracious, humorous filter lens.

Visit the Extra Glenns online, and buy Martial Arts Weekend here.

Thao Nguyen - Moped [mp3]

Let's see how many more times I use the word sweet. I think this song qualifies as a "ditty," because it's short, and light, and sweet. I want to pull up to Ms. Nguyen's house on a scooter, up on the driveway where her mom will glare at me, and I won't care because this is true love, I think.

Visit Thao Nguyen online, and buy Like The Linen here.

***

Regina Spektor's Begin To Hope is out! Stream it here, or just go buy it!

Saw Junebug last night, and really liked it.

For Adam

Live - Lightning Crashes [mp3]

Driving to the field yesterday, I hit a certain speed and was instantly transported, or teleported, or whatever, to 1994. Live's "Lightning Crashes" came on the radio, spare strums slowly filling, thickening, a hung head rising to sing of angels' eyes. A song so wonderfully earnest and overwrought and Alternative Rock that can only exist in an endless mid-nineties continuum. Listening to it swell and swirl to its tortured-heart end, I realized that this wasn't quite nostalgia: I'm not particularly fond of Live, or much of Alternative Rock, or even 1994 (that I can remember). It's just that this song at once typefies and transcends all those things, and listening now I can hear in it so much more than I ever gave it credit for: the sincerity, the patience, and the very rock n roll sense of the Power of Rock n Roll that it sends forth. Things I hear in the Bloc Partys and Sufjans and Hold Steadys that I wouldn't think to associate with a band like Live - which tells me I maybe haven't given 1994 enough credit (or maybe I'm crazy).

Visit Live online, and buy Throwing Copper here (from $1.00 - I guess I'm crazy).

***

You Ain't No Picasso has some special M. Ward!

Baseball

Good game, good game!

(Tino and I played baseball today. Our team, Team Treetop, won! I bet you can't guess which one is me. Okay, but for reals, I bet you can't guess which one is Tino. -Brian)

Where is Brian + Arrows?

I'm keeping teriffically busy lately, having just returned from a trip to Davis with my (academic) future planned and a real job waiting for me when I move up for good. As much as I'd like to be writing here, it's not always convenient - so I'd like to say thanks for sticking around. Discussing music is my favorite thing to do, really really, and Bows + Arrows is by far the most rewarding project I've undertaken. So, athankyou.

I suspect the Mountain Goats kick I've been on will peak on Wednesday, when I see them live. Do you remember the first time you heard John Darnielle's voice? Did you laugh? I think I might have laughed. But then, I suspect, the nasal whine lost its novelty and I maybe shifted in my seat, now really hearing him sing, and probably soon after I was moved. This man should be a more celebrated vocalist, for despite being unconventional and at times trying, Darnielle's voice is a finely nuanced mechanism. When matched with his masterful lyricism, its sprightly, feverish-hysterical yelp and yawl become electricity: striking, buzzing, powerful.

Lately, I've been spinning the Babylon Springs EP, my favorite song being "Alibi," for its undeniable catchiness, classic and simple, nothing more than a gleam in wide eyes. His voice, too, the brilliant, instantaneous magic he strikes up at the end of each verse, an audible exclamation point capping repeated phrases ("Nobody saw me come in, nobody saw me come in!"). Just lovely.

The Mountain Goats - Alibi [mp3]

Visit The Mountain Goats online, and buy the Babylon Springs EP here.

***

Did you get Mojave 3 doing Dylan at Chromewaves? A treat!

Did you see that I've added *sixeyes, Goodhodgkins, Lost in your Inbox, and Cacophony and Coffee to the blogroll? All good people, check them out.

About Today

Samson

A couple things from today:

There is a new Ladyhawk album. I looked and looked and looked, but couldn't find it here. I wrote about "The Dugout" what seems like forever ago, and since then it's become one of the finest tracks I've heard all year. My sister likes it too, in case you find my taste suspect.

There is a new Regina Spektor video, for "Samson." It's one of the best tracks on Begin To Hope, out next Tuesday. Je t'aime Regina Spektor, in the wonderful way that makes you want to say it in French.

Regina Spektor - Samson [mov]

Visit Regina Spektor online, and buy Begin To Hope here.

There is a new Mojave 3 album, called Puzzles Like You. Actually, that will be out June 20 (thanks Chromewaves). Out of Tune was one of the first albums I bought in my beginning-to-like-alt-country phase, it never wowed but pleased me enough. From what I've heard, this new one is pretty good - see "Big Star Baby."

Mojave 3 - Big Star Baby [mp3]

I can think of a million clichéd movie scenes this could soundtrack, and I love it. It sounds far away and nearby at once, a true pedal-steel dream.

Visit Mojave 3 online, and buy Puzzles Like You here.

***

Mike from the revered Take Your Medicine has created Nothing But Green Lights, it looks quite promising.

Tips

Low Lustre - Dancing Blind [mp3]

Let me preface this with an admission: I don't know what to make of A Hundred Miles Off. It's like a drunk, by turns funny and gripping, and sometimes no more than an abrasive mess. It's to my delight, then that in Low Lustre's "Dancing Blind" I can hear the best parts of the pre-Hundred Miles Walkmen: "The Rat"'s straight-line drive, Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone's atmosphere and soar, and a haunted, broken organ. They pull it off brilliantly, too, displaying the effort required to hold such a music together. It's not fair to hold this band, or song, up to such exacting standards, but I say this because they reach them, and I'm impressed.

Low Lustre - Under City Lights [mp3]

This song fits in with an alterna-rock resurgence I've been sensing lately (I believe I mentioned the muscular JagJag bands before), and which I enjoy millions of times more than the original mid-'90s onslaught. It's the music's uncomplicated pull, visceral and unmistakably rock, and the pretty/ugly that I'm drawn to, and "Under City Lights"'s glorious mid-tempo strain exemplifies this.

Visit Low Lustre online, and buy their EP here (six bucks, just do it).

***

McSweeney's recommends that you pull out an old album, and listen to it straight through. And so do I.

I love Dirk!

Heteronyms, vol. III

Band of Horses - Monsters [mp3]

It took me a while (have I already said this?), but I came around to Band of Horses. Everything All The Time is a gloriously realized, cohesively crystalline record, the kind I can enjoy start-to-finish. I like best how it sits somewhere between the indoors and outside, the cyclical melodies (no doubt a relic of Carissa's Wierd) suggesting bedroom walls, while spacious strumming and reverb à la My Morning Jacket translate to stretches of field. In this way, it's comforting without being restrictive, exploring at its own slow, steady pace, "Monsters" sounding typically warm, organic and stately.

Scared of Chaka - Monsters [mp3]

Potential is an over-used word, one that I'm wary of implementing or believing. Scared of Chaka, I think, was one of the few bands whose potential I could hear, I could believe. It was only really realized on the fantastic "All My Friends Are Ghosts," a minute and a half of ecstasy, but elsewhere it made itself known: the gentle melody (they would later become Shins, after all) handled wrongly, the build and the sweet, organ-tinged outro. They were a pop band stuck in a New Mexico garage with old punk records - yes, I think that's what it was.

Visit Band of Horses online, and buy Everything All The Time here.

Visit Scared of Chaka online, and buy Tired of You here.

Past Heteronyms.

R.O.T.C

Photo: http://www.jmu.edu/rotc/info.htm

The Reserve Officers Training Corps, or ROTC is a part of American schooling that has a long tradition of military training, that, apparently "plays an important role in the national defense framework of our nation". Now, I don't know about that, the only tradition I knew about the program was making fun of the classes participants every single day at school, all dressed up in fatigues or whatever, and it was funny because then they just got harassed some more by their drill sargents with the buzz-cuts. Comedy it was for us regular guys. Well I'm not here writing about that portion of ROTC, I feel like I'd have to be on the receiving end of it before I could write anything about it; I'd like to write a little bit about ROTC itself.
It all started back in "1819 when a former superintendent at West Point established the American Literary, Scientific, and Military Academy, which later became Norwich University." Soon after this, military instruction spread to many other colleges.

I am already bored of the topic, go here: http://www.catalogs.umn.edu/ug/rotc/rotcinfo.html to read more. I basically stole every factual word from there.

R.O.T.K.

Tino, take it down. Take it all down. I'm back.

A momentous and scrambling couple of weeks it's been, as I've traveled and returned and packed and moved back to California, for good. I can't tell you how much I'll miss, am already missing, Edinburgh. It's always nice when you can confirm one of those old, seemingly hyperbolic sayings, in this case study abroad being the best thing I've ever done. I mean, isn't that sweet?

It was also nice to get in some "real world" ("non-blog") time, as it turns out a lot happens when I'm not even really thinking of music, or staying on the ball, or computers, or even archery. Which isn't to say that I didn't miss this, because I did. Although I largely abstained from any new music, I thoroughly enjoyed soundtracking this last half-month (but it seems like so much more!) with the most awesome, appropriate music. Of course, I'll have to share it with you.

I suppose this starts with the trip to Europe. Brussels, our first stop, was a strange, intriguing city. It came off initially as suffering from a complete identity crisis - French? Dutch? Both? Both. The more we explored, though, the more we warmed to it, until we decided we wanted more time. More discovery, more waffles, more beer, more amusing nightclubs and more Brussels Jazz Marathon. The city offerred a surprising amount to do (although, to be fair, our expectations were based entirely on speculation), and all the activity was wonderfully jovial, good-spirited. Healthy, like. Being in Belgium also afforded me the unique chance to play some special songs, in this case the Mounain Goats' unstoppable duo of "Letter from Belgium" and "Your Belgian Things," which I first listened to solely for the enjoyment of coincidence. But then began my Mountain Goats kick (still running strong), and I started to listen to We Shall All Be Healed in a new light.

I guess I need to explain some things, quickly. I am a big Mountain Goats fan. Of course, that is not a challenge, and I know some of you are Big Mountain Goats Fans. You win. But I enjoy the entirety of Darnielle's catalog, and by all accounts, I'm still learning. What may make you question me, though, is my preference of his latest albums. I was introduced to the band in a way that led me to believe they were gimmicky: all acoustic, lo-fi to the end, unbelievably prolific. The literacy and the heartbreak and the humor, that came later. But I began to really listen at the time Tallahassee came out, and that album particularly moved me. Over the course of the next two albums, I became hooked, and tended to listen to them over his back catalog. We Shall All Be Healed, though, never revealed itself to me, until now. Before, it was a hit-or-miss album, with songs I loved and songs I couldn't stand. Now, after having really give it a chance, it shines. Even the song that annoyed the hell out of me, "The Young Thousands," doesn't seem so bad. It makes sense now, somehow, that the album stands between Tallahassee and The Sunset Tree, in every sense, and it's when I stopped listening for one or the other that I could appreciate it on its own terms.

The Mountain Goats - Letter From Belgium [mp3]

The Mountain Goats - Your Belgian Things [mp3]

Next was Amsterdam. Not exactly my kind of place, but, my God, it's got some singularly gorgeous parts. And tacky parts, that are by turns fun, funny, and sad. We were only there for a night and a day, and I didn't really have time to listen to anything other than the reggae in the hostel. Is it possible that something can be so shamelessly clichéd, that it's actually fine? As if this birthed the cliché, and in some sense that makes it okay. Anyway, like you, and every other person on the planet Earth, I like Bob Marley. And because it's an established fact that we all own Legend, here's a different take:

Johnny Cash with Joe Strummer - Redemption Song [mp3]

Off to Paris now, where we'll see all we can in our three days, and despite this many stones remain unturned. I was delighted, though, with what we did manage, and saw that the city was just as special as it's made out to be. And the baguettes! Oh, the baguettes. And what did I listen to? The National, of course, because they're big in France, although I must admit that the music I heard when I was there was nothing like the National, but something more like OMD's "How Bizarre." How bizarre.

The National - Lit Up (Parisian Party Version) [mp3]

Finally, we went to Angers, a city west of Paris, where I met a friend and we stayed, relaxing, for four days. The sun made its debut and there was much lounging, I even worked up a little burn! And it perfectly matched the song "Provence" by Pet Politics. "Sunny days with picnics in the park . . . The river and the open fields and the smell in the streets from the boulangeries, yeah," it's all there, all true. Oh, and there was a music festival going on, and all those godless Angerite kids came out at night to rock out to some of the worst music I've ever heard. The final act one night? Rapping puppets. I mean, that sounds funny and perhaps cool, right? But when there's a big stage and big lights and it's late and electric, a big box with puppet hands coming out the top is an absolute clunker. To be fair, I couldn't get enough to drink that night.

Pet Politics - Provence [mp3]

And back to Scotland in time to be kicked out of my flat and say the hardest good-bye I've ever had to. Had to: it's such a merciless phrase. What it felt like:

The Mountain Goats - Going To Scotland [mp3]

"We watched the sun go down on Scotland/ And I watched the moon come up over you . . . I took your hips in my hands and I threw you down/ To the new-found rich brown deep wet ground/ had a vision of you burning on my mind," and so it went, just like that. A heartbreaker if there ever was one.

Planes and planes later, I'm home to my first home, the original home. And yeah, I'm pretty happy.

Visit the Mountain Goats online, and buy their albums here. I just got my Moops Music order of the Babylon Springs EP and a couple 7" singles. I'm excited! Also, I'm seeing them in a week or two, for the first time.

Visit Johnny Cash online, and buy Unearthed here.

Visit the National online, and buy all kindsa bonus goodies on iTunes!

Visit Pet Politics online (the In My Head EP is sold out, but new stuff seems to be on the way).

***

I like this Stylus feature on the Mountain Goats.

I'm adding things to the blogroll soon, as soon as Tino fixes my template. And all the stuff I've been sent: I'm on it. Sorry it's taken so long.