Category Archives: reviews

2009, albums, music, news, reviews

Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

June 5, 2009 quartertonality Leave a comment

Dirty Projectors probably have the most easily identifiable and unique sound in Indie Rock today. Dave Longstreth is the man behind the band, which now includes Angel Deradoorian, Amber Coffman and Brian McComber as principal members. Stylistically they are glitchy, jittery, cut-up and put back together rhythmically with very intricately ornamented vocal lines (as well as guitar lines, I suppose). The vocal harmonies are very tight, and I would imagine quite challenging to sing. Often it seems as though notes are picked out of nowhere. That glitchy, jittery rhythm also seems as though it is speeding up and slowing down with so much use of borrowed meter and complex tuplet structures, which is a trait rarely used at all by other bands (I actually can’t think of any that have ever done anything similar) but Dirty Projectors put to use in each of their recordings. It is almost as if Longstreth is stopping and starting time at will. There are very complex and lengthy patterns at work in his songs.

When I was in college I was part of a group for new music called Ethos. As president of the group I was responsible for scheduling guest composers and lectures to come to campus. In 2008 we had as a guest a fantastic composer named Missy Mazzoli. While driving her down to our campus in the middle of nowhere we got to talking about music. She asked me if I had ever heard of Dirty Projectors, to which I responded with something like “I have heard of them, but I don’t know any of their stuff”. This was true, and is also my stock answer when I don’t want to admit that I am completely ignorant of something. She mentioned that she is friends with the lead singer/songwriter, that they had met while studying at Yale. She said that I may like them but warned me that they were “really strange, but beautiful”. She didn’t have to say anything more. I already knew that I wanted to get to know them and be a fan.

I had the opportunity to catch them a few months later at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago (July 2008) and I was so impressed by their performance that I ran to the record tent to see what I could find and immediately bought “Rise Above” which is a “re-imagining” of the Black Flag album “Damaged” but given the Dirty Projectors treatment and apparently done from memory (Longstreth hadn’t heard the album in a long time, but managed to remember almost all the lyrics. The album is fantastic). I made a note to remember them and try to check out all of their stuff. They were the highlight of the Festial last year for me.

NPR began streaming their latest album “Bitte Orca” this week and I immediately sat down to check it out. All of the characteristic sounds of the band are in place, the jittery rhythms, frantic guitar playing and close harmonies. There is, also, the extra added bonus of catchy hooks (which I have been a fan of lately). I think the use of catchy hooks works even more for bands as unique as Dirty Projectors because it is something that is almost unexpected and they are made all the more beautiful by the unconventional structures that happen around them.

Starting off the album “Cannibal Resource” with its ethereal sounding guitar and bass interruptions the energy slowly kicks in throughout the first verse but we aren’t really off the ground until the chorus kicks in. The vocal arrangement of the opening guitar riff is a great touch and the clean guitar that comes in between the verses evokes the spectre of Frank Zappa. There is a transcendent emotion conveyed throughout this album, more so than on their previous efforts. The opening guitar line that comes back throughout is quite effective in moving the listening along. This characteristic is not just of the first track, it continues throughout the album. I think that this is what sets it apart from their earlier work. This album seems more cohesive in its construction of songs and song forms. Each track builds upon the previous. “Temecula Sunrise” will get stuck in your head and it will stay there. The wandering, overlapping guitar lines with the wavering backbeat that all comes together at exactly the right time. It’s absolutely perfect. This is as close to pop perfection as Dirty Projectors will ever be. They are still at quite a safe distance, remaining distinctive but familiar. There are even guitar “solos” on a few tracks.

“The Bride” definitely reminds me of Led Zeppelin’s “III” with the octave portamento (which really drives the song home) on what I believe sounds like a guitar in some tuning with a lot of open 5ths in it. From there the album moves right along to “Stillness is the Move” which is quite the shift in gears. The tune has the most straightforward beat and guitar parts (which sound as though they may be looped) placed behind R & B type vocal acrobatics courtesy of the female singers, with a laid back bridge that divides the song right in two. Layering comes in later in the song. Strings enter over top to sort of smear the painting as it were. Also note the bassline in this one. Punchy, pointed and downright funky.

The remainder of the album plays out much in the same way that it began. Great acoustic guitar work, string arrangements, memorable lines, a ballad? (“Two Doves”), and the constant juxtaposition of strange and expected. “Useful Chamber” fits well as a counterpart to “Stillness is the Move” with it’s looped drums (probably a drum machine) and synth sounds. At over 6 minutes though the song has many places that it can go, and before it ends we are hit with the crush of distortion and frenetics upon Longstreth’s repeated utterings of the album title.

Without belaboring it for too much longer I will conclude by saying that this album has a great shape to it. The album is put together very well as a whole, and each of the songs are interesting little pieces of the puzzle. Closing track “Fluorescent Half-Dome” is an absolutely beautiful track, and a perfect album closer.

Dirty Projectors have made a great contribution here to what is turning out to be a solid year for new music.

(Check their Myspace for more, and don’t forget about NPR streaming it for free this week)

Bitte Orca is set for official release on June 9, 2009.

2009, live, music, reviews, Uncategorized

The Burning Hell at Lee's Palace, Toronto (May 28, 2009)

June 4, 2009 quartertonality Leave a comment

The Burning Hell are Canadian Indie Rock’s best kept secret. Mathias Kom and his clan of musicians (over 10 at last count) from Peterborough, Ontario have been creating quirky, dark and self-depricating pop tunes for a few years now. I was first introduced to them in February 2008 through their album “Happy Birthday” which has several memorable tunes on it, including “Grave Situation, Pt. 1” about a woman that comes back from the dead to take revenge on her cheating lover.

The band, on that album features Kom on very low vocals and ukulele with the assistance of cello, drums, glockenspiel, trumpet, omnichord, keyboards, guitar and bass and a perfectly placed lap steel among other things that I may be forgetting. I listened to that album so much that I think I have memorized just about every line on every instrument and all the lyrics. I almost don’t need the recording anymore, as I can just recall it in my memory. That being said I was quite thrilled when I was in Toronto this past March and found their new release “Baby” without even looking for it. Apparently it had been put on the shelf a day or so before it was to be officially released. Most likely I was one of the first people to hear the new album, which is probably odd being that not too many Canadians have heard them and I’m an American. That is beside the point. I think that everyone should hear this band.

“Baby” is a bit of a departure from the very dark sounding “Happy Birthday”, but I welcome the change. The songs are brighter and more upbeat with more ensemble work (and more chords!). Mathias writes and sings in a style that is vibrant, with lyrics that take unexpected, and often funny, or at the very least ironic, turns. “The Berlin Conference” is about exactly that, while “Grave Situation, Pt. 3” and “The Things that People Make, Pt. 2” pick up where the other songs left off. It seems that Mathias likes to develop upon previous ideas. This doesn’t mean that the songs remain sounding like their counterparts from years past, rather the new style permeates and the songs receive an updated treatment.

I was, obviously, very familiar with their work by the time I saw them at Lee’s Palace. Lee’s is a great room, with the potential for a rather large audience. The stage is large and up very high, separating the band from the audience by hoisting them up above our heads. There isa large space in front of the stage, and probably not a bad spot in the house. I have had the opportunity to see only one other show at Lee’s (The Bicycles “Oh No, It’s Love” CD release) and that was amazing and memorable, so coming back was great. This show was kind of strange in that The Burning Hell were, to me anyway, the headliners. That wasn’t really the case though. The show was actually a CD release for Polaris Prize nominated band Dog Day, and there were 2 opening bands that went on before them. The Burning Hell took the stage at midnight, AFTER Dog Day had finished their set.

I did buy Dog Day’s first album on the Itunes store and I have listened to it a few times, but I didn’t feel as though it was really that memorable. I prefer the work the singer did with Burdocks, and I listen to them more regularly. Dog Day’s set was not very exciting at all, and could not hold our interest (I was there with my girlfriend), so we decided to go outside for a walk for a bit after about 3 songs. When we went outside we ran into Mathias who was nervously standing outside waiting to load in. We had a brief introduction and said that we were looking forward to their set.

When they began Lee’s was rather….not full. I was disappointed. How could a band that writes such amazing and smart tunes not be filling places like this on a regular basis? After starting their set with a few new tunes, including “Baby” opening “Old World” they returned to more familiar territory, to me, with songs from “Happy Birthday” including “Everything You Believe is a Lie” and “Grave Situation, Pt. 1”. The set was full of energy, with a very excitable keyboard/glock player on stage right, a trumpet player that looks like he came off the set of “Braveheart” and a great guitarist and bassist in the back. There were a lot of people packed onto that stage.

Mathias’ singing alternated somewhere between preacher and conversation as he rattled off his lyrics of broken meter and too-many words per phrase. He rally takes authority up there on stage. It’s obviously great fun to be on stage and he is not afraid to let it show, even if he is dressed very proper in his sport coat. It’s all about juxtaposition. Here is a man of average build, dressed nicely in a sport coat, playing a ukulele, and singing in a low, serious baritone about things like dinosaurs, love (“It’s like a trailer park….”) and upbeat tunes about the world coming to an end. All of which are full of catchy hooks and wonderfully tight harmonies and rhythm section.

The show was wonderful and the end came with a nice surprise. The Burning Hell will be playing at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto on June 18 with King Khan and Barbecue Show. I will definitely be there, and hopefully more of Toronto will be represented in the crowd. There is one thing that I hope doesn’t happen again at the show at the Horseshoe: the very strange guy that skulked around the area in front of the stage and scared everyone. He make several strange gestures at my girlfriend and I, searched around for half-empty beer bottles to drink from and then smashed them on the ground when he discovered they were empty, harassed a girl toward the front of the stage (and then took beer bottles directly off the stage) and lit up a smoke in the middle of the crowd. I needed to retreat to the side of the stage for fear of my girlfriend or myself getting stabbed by him. It was rather disconcerting that nobody at Lee’s saw him and stopped him or was out there to do anything about it. It took away from the great music that was happening on the stage. I won’t say that this ruined the show, by any means, but I was nervous through a lot of it. Good thing I will have the chance to see them again soon.

Here are the videos I took at this concert. “Grave Situation, Pt. 1” featuring the very excitable glock player I mentioned earlier, and the grand finale that starts with Phil Collins’ classic “In the Air Tonight” and concludes with “The Things that People Make, Pt. 1”. Please enjoy.

2009, albums, music, news, reviews

Sonic Youth – The Eternal

June 3, 2009 quartertonality Leave a comment

Sonic Youth has been my favorite band since I first heard Dirty in the summer of 1993. I was immediately attracted to what I thought was a very much “anything goes” mentality. The music was (and remains, to a certain extent) brash, noisy, and full of surprises. From one release to the next they may completely change their sound or they may remain writing in the same manner for several albums in a row.

For several years, after “Experimental, Jet Set, Trash and No Star” and “Washing Machine” I lost track of my beloved Sonic Youth. I had purchased “A Thousand Leaves” and never really connected with it. They went on to release “New York City Ghosts and Flowers” and I felt further separated from my beloved Sonic Youth. Thankfully for my birthday one year my brother bought me a copy of “Murray Street” and I got my band back again. Gone were the ultra-hip completely high-brow concepts that I could not grasp at all, and Sonic Youth was back to doing what they do best.

“Murray Street”, “Sonic Nurse” and “Rather Ripped” were truly a return to form. But this was a leaner Sonic Youth. They were stripped down somewhat of some of the long form experiments. It became clear that Thurston, Lee, Kim and Steve wanted to get back to writing quick, punk influenced jams that were still rich in catchy melodies but still contained a balance with noisy, improvisational stretches that many of their early releases were full of. Sonic Youth has reached a balance. After well over a dozen releases they were still evolving and developing into a band that is quite capable of rocking while still holding fast to their core Downtown New York City experimental values.

“The Eternal”, which will be released officially on June 9, is quite a diverse offering. Twelve tracks, across 2 albums (Sonic Youth should always be listened to on vinyl, in my humble opinion. As much as possible anyway). The hooks are a little more jagged here than they were on their last release “Rather Ripped”. The melodies are a little less pretty, but the songs are a bit more straightforward, and edgy. They sound younger on this album, more revolutionary, more punk than arty. There are still a couple of songs on this album that stretch beyond the 6 minute mark (3 to be exact, one of which is over 9 minutes).

They don’t tend towards noise as much as they would on “Evol” or “Sister” (or even parts of “Daydream Nation” like the song “Eric’s Trip”). Instead the longer songs have large sections that are loud, and noisy, but not so much in the realm of getting lost in distortion as they are contemplating sounds through repetition or focusing on a repeated gesture. Dare I say that elements of shoegaze are present at this stage in the game. Songs like “Anti-Orgasm” feature a duet of Thurston and Kim, with a super angry palm-muted crunch. The song then spins out of control into an extended quiet jam that is, like I mentioned before, more contemplative than just noise for the sake of noise. Though, there is never anything wrong with noise for the sake of noise.The Thurston/Kim collaboration continues on tracks “Leaky Lifeboat (for Gregory Corso)”.

Sonic Youths The Eternal will be released on Matador Records on June 9 — Sonic Youth's "The Eternal" will be released on Matador Records on June 9

“Antenna” begins with a very straight ahead verse but builds up to a very ethereal, and damn catch chorus. Well, it is not so much a chorus as it is just a hook with Thurston singing “Far away” in his falsetto with an echoed guitar doubling him while the rest of the band seems to disappear into the background. It’s one of those magical moments that can only they seem to be able to achieve. Maybe it is because there is only one chord that is hammered on for about a minute before anything else in the song changes, and when that change finally comes it feels like you are being simultaneously lifted off of the ground while a 10 ton weight is being lifted from your shoulders.

Throughout the album there is a higher degree of continuity between songs. The style of each of the 3 songwriters (Lee, Kim and Thurston) seem to have congealed significantly more over the past few years than on previous releases. All around this is a solid effort, and it continues along in the way the band conducts their business as producing “poppy-er” albums (as much as Sonic Youth can produce anything even remotely “poppy”) for the label they work for (currently Matador, formerly DGC) and leaving their most experimental indulgences for release on their own SYR label. I think that they have managed to find an outlet for all of the things that they want to say, do and explore through each of these avenues. This, of course, does not even mention all of the collaborations they each go off and do, as well as other art that they each produce, Kim as a clothing designer, Thurston has written books, and worked with several other artists around the world including Merzbow, Wolf Eyes and Yoko Ono.

I truly hope that Sonic Youth continues to create well into the next 10 or 20 years. They have already influenced countless others, and are one of the only bands that I can think of that actually have something intelligent and different to say. There is no other group quite like Sonic Youth. This album is another one for the collection. Reviewing Sonic Youth albums just seems like an exercise in futility. There are pretty much just maniacal fans, like me, that are going to buy the album anyway and love it. Perhaps we will love it more than another of their albums, perhaps less, but we are still going to buy it. I don’t think that Sonic Youth is going to get a rush of new fans running out to get this album, but maybe I will be proven wrong. They already have at least one legendary album to their credit, and although I don’t think this will be another one of them, if they keep up with this trajectory, another one is not far off.

2009, live, music, reviews

Longwave – Mohawk Place (May 8, 2009)

June 2, 2009 quartertonality Leave a comment

I haven’t had the chance to see Longwave at all in the past 5 years or so. I used to look forward to seeing them at least one time per semester. Those were the good old days, when they were signed to RCA and they toured a lot, and I think they had some money, but RCA never promoted them so they played smallish shows, similar to the ones that they do today, at least around these parts.

Times have certainly changed for these guys. They are no longer on RCA, and the lineup has been consistently changing since the drummer and bass player left before recording started on their 3rd full-length release (the 2nd for RCA) “There’s a Fire”. “There’s a Fire” was a departure for Longwave, who had worked with Dave Fridmann on their first major label release “The Strangest Things” which was decidedly epic, and grand, garnering them compliments from the music press around the world. It is always good to keep changing from album to album, but I feel as though “There’s a Fire” was quite a leap of faith on Longwave’s part. They were still searching for their fan base, leeching off of fans of The Strokes and other like minded NYC indie bands. “There’s a Fire” did away with the soaring echoplex effects and the Radiohead type grandiosity in favor of a very clean sound that was, in a way, stripped down. There was also the use of a recurring motive throughout (I believe lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Steve Schiltz referred to it as the “sea monster”) that apparently not too many picked up on.

More lineup changes followed after the tour for “There’s a Fire” came to an end and it was a while before work on their new album would begin, though it was hinted at on their Youtube page for about a year before the actual release. When the release date came you’d better believe that I preordered it and waited by my mailbox until it came.

The latest release “Secrets are Sinister” puts Longwave back on top, doing what they do best: catchy melodies, sweeping guitars that overtake everything in their path, interesting new guitar sounds and great rhythmic intensity stemming from drum parts that are slightly less conventional than your average 4-on-the-floor rock beats. Add to this a harder edge than before. It seems as though Steve and Company are trying harder than ever before to put themselves out there, by pure force. This album is louder than any of their other efforts, yet quieter and more contemplative in spots. Everything is amplified and stretched from one extreme to the other. Also Steve’s voice seems a little bit strained, but out front and open for everyone to notice. There is a new found honesty in his singing that was missing or covered up by extraneous effects on previous albums. It’s a great effort, regardless of what Pitchfork says (and I wouldn’t listen to a thing they say because they still can’t spell Steve’s last name correctly).

Left to Right: Jason Molina, Shannon Ferguson, Steve Schiltz, Morgan King

This show at the Mohawk Place, in Buffalo, New York was a make-up show for one that they had to cancel in December. I don’t blame them for canceling in December, as they were on their way to a show on their hometurf of New York City, which is much more important for them, or anyone, than Buffalo. It was great to see them in May though. The weather was beautiful and it happened to be on the last day of classes for me, which means that I could proudly say to Steve when I saw him that I had just earned my Masters degree (2 of them). He was so proud of this that after the show he introduced me to people that were asking for his autograph by stating, “This is Adam, I gave him his first guitar lessons and he just finished his Masters degree in Guitar Performance.” Needless to say, Steve and I have known each other for several years, and yes, he did give me some of my first guitar lessons back in 1998.

The venue is total shit. It’s a crappy biker-ish type of maybe blues bar in not-quite downtown Buffalo. Downtown Buffalo is not an exciting city. There isn’t much of a music scene. Anyone that tells you there is, quite frankly, is full of shit. All that exists in Buffalo are the usual mixture of uninspired bar-bands and hard-core/metal bands that will never amount to anything outside of Buffalo. This particular evening was quite lousy. There was hardly any crowd. The people at the bar were complaining about the noise before Longwave took the stage (there was some instrumental post-rock band that never mentioned what their name was on prior to Longwave).

When they did finally take the stage there was a total of about 50 people in the place, maybe a few more. I have been there to see Longwave on several ocassions. I remember the place being quite a bit more packed, but unfortunately they have been away from Buffalo for quite a long time. This doesn’t depress me as I know for a fact when they play Chicago and NYC they play in much larger venues to much more appreciative audiences. The set was tight. It featured mostly songs off of “Secrets are Sinister” and “The Strangest Things” with a few brand new ones tossed in there. I was able to make a few requests before they started, and they played all of them for me except for “Fall on Every Whim” because guitarist Shannon was not at the show because he was back at home with his newborn baby. Keith was filling Shannons shoes for the evening and he did an admirable job, and even gained some fans in the audience that began to chant his name at one point after Steve introduced him.

The new rhythm section is great and I truly hope that it doesn’t change anymore after this tour. The bassist has his own style and sound that works really well with the guitars and adds another layer of contrapuntal complexity to the songs that comes across very well in a live setting.

I will always enjoy seeing Longwave play. I have never seen them play a bad show and I have been seeing them as regularly as I can since about 1999 after their self-produced LunaSea records release “Endsongs” came out. It has been great to watch them grow and change and make music that I truly like regardless of whether or not I have been friends with them for several years. Longwave is the best band that you haven’t heard.

Here are my videos from this show. Please enjoy.

2008, DRAM, music, reviews, thoughts

DRAM playlist from June

August 23, 2008 quartertonality Leave a comment

I realized that I only mentioned that I wrote a playlist/blogpost for DRAM (the Directory of Recorded American Music) but I never posted it here. I remembered this when I was asked by them to do another one in October or November. So while I go over there and rifle through all of their recordings trying to figure out what my theme is going to be I have copied and pasted my playlist from June for you to enjoy.

If you do not have the ability to play these files on the DRAM site (i.e. you are not a student/faculty member at a school that has access) then please let me know. You should still check out their news section, where they keep all the playlists. It is very informative, and there is always something new happening there, as they are pretty much still getting started. They could use the traffic! Support new music!

1.) Charles Ives – “Three Quarter-tone Pieces: III. Chorale” From – The Unknown Ives, Vol. 2 – NWR80618

This first selection may be familiar to many listeners. I believe that music has the power to change lives, and this piece, in particular, remains very close to me, as it led me to pursue the study of new music, and cemented my interest in new American music in particular. During my second semester as an undergraduate student at SUNY Fredonia, Continuum, a new music ensemble performed. The final pieces on the program were the 3 Quartertone pieces for 2 pianos by Charles Ives. I sat in awe in the concert hall, hearing sounds that I had never heard before. I still remember that concert every time I listen to this work. Throughout this piece, Ives repeatedly hints at the tune “America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee)” but never quite brings the quote to fruition, thwarting the completion of the familiar melody with cascading jazz-like melodic lines interspersed with more cerebral, “serious” music.

2.) Easley Blackwood – “Suite for Guitar in 15-note Equal Tuning, Op. 33: IV. Gigue (Vivo) From – Blackwood: Microtonal Compositions – CDR018

As a guitarist with a strong interest in new music, this piece struck me as particularly intriguing. Blackwood utilizes a new tuning system, but within the form of a Baroque suite, complete with its familiar rhythms and harmonic motion. The resulting work might sound a bit curious, but it remains easily comprehensible, as the swirling arpeggiated passages and steady, strong bass motion make the alternate tuning scheme less foreign to an ear accustomed to standard 12 note, equal temperament tuning. This juxtaposition works quite well, expanding a familiar form with the introduction of a new tuning.

3.) Annie Gosfield – “Marked by a Hat” From – EGP: Extreme Guitar Project MO157

Gosfield offers a different take on composing for guitar than Blackwood. She creates a microtonal tuning for Marco Capelli’s 10-stringed “Extreme Guitar” that centers on the pitches E, D, and C, and the quarter tones that surround them. One can hear this tuning spelled out at around 1:43, and at times, it might sound as though the guitar has been specially prepared, though it has not. The unorthodox sounds are actually due to the fact that Gosfield wrote the piece solely for open strings. This choice, combined with Capelli’s unique tremolos and picking techniques gives the instrument an altogether different sound, as though it has been prepared. Evocations of Eastern instruments abound, which makes the unorthodox tuning seem entirely appropriate to the ear. While the many different effects comprise different sections in the composition, there is always a strong dance-like rhythmic sense. This recording is featured on Mode Record’s album, “EGP: Extreme Guitar Project” which features several different composers and as many approaches to composing for the guitar.

4.) Harry Partch – “San Francisco II” From – Enclosure Two: Harry Partch IN401

Somewhere in between folk music, Americana, and classical music lies Harry Partch. Far ahead of his time and with extremely idiosyncratic demands, it is a wonder that he was able to get as much of his music recorded and performed as he did. For that matter, it is a wonder how Partch conceived of his music at all. His experiments in alternate tuning systems and his fascination with Greek mythology led him to invent many new instruments necessary for performing a panoply of works unlike any other composer before or after him. This work utilizes three guitars played with some type of slide, a flute that enters and quickly bends its pitch, and a cello that is playing a perpetual glissando that may create a very uneasy feeling in the listener. Throughout the work, Partch displays his strong ability as a dramatic large-scale composer by marking off sections of extreme drama with a fantastic interplay of instruments.

5.) Larry Polansky – “Movement for Andrea Smith (My Funny Valentine for Just String Quartet) From – Larry Polansky – Simple Harmonic Motion ART1011

The differences between equal temperament and just intonation can seem slight to modern ears, but this piece makes good use of bringing out the “grind” in the altered tuning. Mr. Polansky utilizes the string quartet in an interesting way here too. Never do the instruments separate as much as one would typically think of in a “string quartet.” Instead, here the four instruments function more as one, creating an amorphous and otherworldly ambient sound sculpture that encapsulates the sonic landscape of the just intonation system, creating a remarkable, solid, unified tone.

6.) Ben Johnston – “Sonata for Microtonal Piano: Movement II” From – Sound Forms for Piano NWR80203

Like the Ives piece earlier in this playlist, though with only one piano, here Johnston explores microtones on a piano. Unlike the Ives piece, however, this work is in the 12-tone idiom. This second movement in particular is violent in dynamics and rhythm, with the 12 tone compositional technique adding a degree of dissonance to the already harsh sound of the piano. Live performance of this piece is about as rare as they come, so this recording is truly a gem and a gift. Note the reoccurrence of the Ives quote. It appears in the second movement as well as across the entirety of the work. Also effective is the use of extended techniques (i.e. direct play on the strings) that bring out the full array of sounds possible on the instrument, at times evoking the sound of a Japanese Koto. Again, as in the Gosfield, we hear the parallel drawn between altered tunings and Eastern music.

7.) Ezra Sims – “Concert Piece: Excited” From – Microtonal Music of Ezra Sims CR643

Here we hear the use of microtones in a full ensemble with a computer used to help with the tuning of various chords, as opposed to the solo microtonal works featured earlier in this playlist. The winds, which make up the majority of the ensemble, are responsible for most of the colorful pitches throughout this work, the microtones from that section of the orchestra heard most clearly. This is the final, fast, movement of Sims’ larger work and I find it simultaneously the most daring use of microtones and the most understated way of incorporating them. It’s daring as it uses an entire orchestra, which is no small feat, yet it remains understated, because this work is not about these “other,” microtonal pitches. Sims simply employs microtones as part of his vocabulary, but not the focus.

8.) Carter Scholz – “Lattice” From – Carter Scholz – 8 Pieces FP009

This work for electronics is quite different from the others in the list. Similar in effect to the Polansky quartet, this piece has the effect of layers working together to form a single “wall of sound.” The microtones blend in with the total fabric of the work, sometimes causing dissonance and beating against the other layers of sound, and sometimes resulting in a swelled effect pulsating through an ambient space. The resulting timbres feature resonance without any attack preceding it, like the peal of bells, until the lowest octave makes its appearance. In this manner, “Lattice” grows in every dimension throughout its duration, expanding sonically until the end.

9.) Dean Drummond – “Before the Last Laugh” From – Newband Partch and Drummond IN561

It might seem that microtonal composers start almost completely from scratch, casting off anything and everything of their predecessors, right down to the instruments and notes used to create their works. However, here is a prime example to the contrary. One could say that Drummond picks up where Harry Partch left off, further expanding Harry Partch’s original ideas. Here, Drummond actually utilizes some of Partch’s unique, original instruments, but he has also taken the time to create his own instruments to suit his personal compositional needs. The resultant piece is a combination of alien sounds paired with the familiar. Specifically, Drummond relies heavily on strange percussion and instruments with heavy attacks, while having a flute play much of the prime material. The orchestration in this work is quite colorful and shows off his new instruments well.

10.) Gloria Coates – “Fragment from Leonardo’s Notebooks, “Fonte di Rimini” From – Gloria Coates NWR80599

The grand drama of this orchestral work begins with sustained string harmonics that quickly grow to a forceful dynamic, the strings consistently demanding the listener’s attention through their incredibly slow and controlled glissandi. The effect created is that of “passing microtones.” It is hard to tell where one pitch ends and another begins, and each infinite pitch seems to be held for so long that one gets disoriented attempting to steady himself on a tonal center. The programmatic insinuations in this piece are endless, bringing to mind bombs dropping or planes cutting across the sky. One may also note that the vocals towards the end of the work, mimicking the string’s glissandi.

2008, music, personal, reviews, thoughts

Monthly Muxtape Madness Vol. 1

August 14, 2008 quartertonality 2 Comments

So I decided that I am going to lend my time to yet another page on teh interwebs. Muxtape.com allows users to create a mix tape of up to 12 songs. Who doesn’t remember creating mixes for your friends and family to listen to? I definitely created tons when I was a kid.

Now it is popular with the hipster set as not only a form of nostalgia (hipsters love nostalgia, seeing as how they never want to grow up) but as a way to show everyone how eclectic, strange and indie their taste in music is. That being said, I’m going to start making my own mix and update it, change the tracks periodically (hopefully monthly or so). I’ll blog up little descriptions of each track here and give you a link to the tape. Big surprise, it is http://quartertonality.muxtape.com. Just click on the track you want to start with (

Here is Volume 1:

“Wake Me When It’s Over” is off of Longwave’s 2nd full length album and is quite a change from their first, though it definitely extrapolates off of the influences that they clearly feel strongly about (Television, U2, Radiohead, The Strokes etc…) This is the opening track off of that album and I thought it would make a good opening track here. This song kind of feels like a sunrise anyway, with orange light bouncing off of dust as it flies through the air. Lots of delayed effect on the guitars and atmospherics. Great song

“Get a Shot of the Refrigerator” is typical Stereolab. Sometimes instrumental, sometimes not. Sometimes the lyrics are in French, sometimes English, sometimes both. This is a truly unique band with a very devoted, indie “insider” following. Somewhere between rock and dance music lies Stereolab with their groovy jams and tight ensemble work. “The groop”, as their fans call them are unlike anything you have heard before.

“Love and Death” is off of The Stills’ first album. This Canadian band made quite a splash with their first album, only to completely lose me with their second. This album feels nostalgic to me for some reason. It is great in all the right spots. This song has not only a great chorus but a great verse as well. The whole thing fits together very well. I like the interplay and counterpoint between both of the guitars and the way the verses really work towards the choruses to create a seamless texture, similar to the Longwave but a little more overproduced.

“Range Life” is off of the now defunct California outfit Pavement’s absolutely amazing album entitled “Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain” and features a very loose ensemble with barely tuned guitars creating a song that feels like it is in slow motion. Lead singer Stephen Malkmus’s voice is shaky and somewhere between falsetto and full voiced belting, but it seems like he is trying to keep it quiet. Sarcastic lyrics with a lazy delivery and all genius.

“First Day” is off of Sunderland England’s own The Futureheads first blistering album full of jangly, angular punk songs. The guitars are all over the place in this one darting in and out of the way of each other with the entire gang joining in to sing the chorus. The band builds up faster and faster until it seems like they are going to completely fall apart, the trick is that is when they are at their best, right before everything falls apart.

“My Mathematical Mind” is from Austin, Texas’ own Spoon’s album “Gimme Fiction”. Though that album did not quite do it for me as much as their most recent effort (“Ga ga ga ga ga” from 2007) it still has a few decent tracks on it. This is one of them. The lyrics are almost too brainy and self-absorbed, but they never quite cross the line. The bouncy, hemiola inflected piano line helps give the opening a good swing and the throbbing, present bass propels the song forward while the guitar struggles for air just below Britt Daniel’s soaring vocal.

“Stereo Sanctity” is from Sonic Youth’s album Sister. The group experiments with altered tunings, noise and chaos as part of its aesthetic flawlessly combining the ideals of the post-punk crowd and the downtown music composition scene of Eliot Sharp, Glen Branca and free jazzers like Sun Ra. This song has always been one of my favorites of theirs, very energetic, very noisy. Just plain great.

“Freak Out” by Liars, originally from Australia, then moved to NYC and now based out of Berlin Liars have experimented with each of their albums. This is off of their most recent offering simply called “Liars” which features a whole series of really tight rock songs that are similar in vane to early Sonic Youth, but a little more percussion driven. This album combines elements of all their past efforts and shows them finally focusing in and going out on one clear path. This song brings forward the jangle of a reverb soaked, out of tune guitar and the chant-like approach to singing.

“Your Hand in Mine” by Explosions in the Sky is one of the only examples of music in a rock band format that is truly orchestral in scope. This band, again from Texas, creates grand sonic soundscapes on each of their albums that are usually full of lengthy, developmental structures. This song is one of the most beautiful rock songs I have ever heard. Simple, in E major, utilizing the open strings on the guitar to create a truly moving sound. You can tell that each line was painstakingly put together. The structure of this song is almost mathematical and it is even divided into sections, but they work so well together it is scary.

“Goodbye Ukulele” by Peterborough, Ontario’s The Burning Hell is depressing, yes. It is also a great way to close an album. Singer Matthias Kom bids adieu to each of the instruments in the band one by one and they disappear until he is completely alone with his ukulele. This is one of the only really slow songs that I have ever really liked this much.

I hope I haven’t rambled on too long. I hope you enjoy this mix.

2008, live, music, reviews

Pitchfork Music Festival Day 3

August 10, 2008 quartertonality Leave a comment

This is finally it, the end of the festival that I wait all year to go to. Day three didn’t have nearly as many acts that I was excited about performing, which made it the perfect opportunity to check out the record tent and the Flatstock poster fair. I purchased the official pitchfork poster, by Chicago’s own print artist Jay Ryan. I purchased the new Dirty Projectors album from the Permanent Records booth (they are a record store near my brothers apartment.

The weather for Day 3 was much better, not too hot but the sun did give me a pretty rad sunburn that I was able to showoff for days. It eventually turned into a beautiful farmers tan, which I am still sporting to this day. Anyway, these are the acts I took in on day 3, reviewed in the same, direct to the point, sans bullshit style that I reviewed day 2:

Times New Viking: Rock. Good, I remember liking them at the time, but I don’t remember them now.

Dirty Projectors: Crazy harmonies, edgy singing, complex songs and guitar parts. Very cerebral. Loved it, my favorite from the weekend. I stood in awe watching them much the same way I stood in awe 2 years ago watching Liars perform.

Boris: Pure metal, loud aggressive and fun. Too bad they had to cut their set short because, apparently, they could not get the power that they required. “Not enough electric power” they said after the drummer jumped into the crowd, crowd-surfed and then they left the stage after about 30 minutes.

HEALTH: Good electronic set. Way better than Fuck Buttons, that’s for sure.

The Apples in Stereo: Great, poppy, retro-tastic set. I really like their songs and their live performance was tight.

King Khan and His Shrines: Zappa + Sun Ra + James Brown = awesome. We were in time to hear the end of his set, which included an army of people on stage, horns, keys, guitars, drums, backup singers etc. and King Khan performed a gospel song about cunnilingus. He was very detailed.

Les Savy Fav: The most out of control set of the entire weekend. The lead singer walked through the audience, climbed atop everything on stage, had a camera with him so that we could see his point of view. Their set was great, entertaining and energetic. Said lead singer was seen running around the park all day, and the day before was giving out $2 haircuts to anyone that happened to pass by.

M. Ward: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzz……..

Spiritualized: Tight set. Great guitar work, though I felt that the singer wasn’t really making an effort to connect with the audience. The rhythm section and backing singers were fantastic though.

Dinosaur Jr.: I find Dinosaur Jr. really kind of droll. What I did like was the fact that J. Mascis was surrounded by Marshall stacks while he played, and hearing that song that I knew was great, the one with the dudes playing golf around NYC, riding their golf carts all around the city, yeah that one.

I was standing by the other stage Jockying for position for the Spoon set.Spoon: I’m glad that I get to see these guys again. The last time I saw them was at the 2006 Pitchfork Festival, which followed the release of their album “Gimme Fiction” which I am not a big fan of. I thought it was funny that back then the only song of theirs that I knew was “Small Stakes” and now I know all their stuff. They opened their set this year with the song “Small Stakes” and I laughed to myself. Their set was really good and they played a lot of my favorite songs and I was really looking forward to them, the lame thing was the audience.

The audience up front during the Spoon set just stood their, seemingly dazed for their entire set. It was infuriating to me. I was jumping up and down, singing along and really getting into it, but after a time I felt awkward and self-conscious and I stopped and just stood and watched like the rest of them. Attention: concert goers….it’s loud, it’s outside, it’s a rock concert, get animated, move around! Get into the music! Don’t just stand there!

All in all it was a great festival, as usual. I always have a good time at the Pitchfork Music Festival. As before I have included some videos below from that day. I didn’t take too many, my camera has been giving me problems, the battery won’t last long enough to take tons of video anymore.

2008, live, music, reviews, thoughts, Uncategorized

Rush in Toronto (July 9, 2008 Molson Ampitheater)

July 12, 2008 quartertonality 2 Comments

Nothing can beat a good arena rock show. It is a totally different experience than seeing a concert at a small venue put on by an act that is only known by a relative few. Not better, not worse, different.

Rush has always been able to play large venues. Their first live album, that came out after their 4th studio effort (the legendary “2112”) was recorded in Massey Hall, which was probably the last time that they played a venue so small. This was the third time that I have seen Rush live, my first time being in 1997 on their “Test for Echo” tour, which I was lucky enough to end up in the front row (don’t ask me how that happened) and then I saw them last year on the “Snakes and Arrows” tour at the same venue, only in the very cheap seats, on the 4th of July. What better way to celebrate American Independence than with 3 Canadians? Those shows and this one had almost the exact same venue: a large, outdoor ampitheater with the partially covered, bowl shaped seating arrangement, pretty common. The view from the lawn seats at the Molson in Toronto is much better than the one I saw them at the first 2 times.

As usual with Geddy Lee and Co. there is no opening band. The show is nearly 3 hours of just Rush, which is enough to satisfy their rabid fans. This being a hometown show for them I was particularly excited about seeing them. It appeared that the band was having a good time too, as this was the most animated I’ve seen them. There usually isn’t too much in-between song banter, but there was a touch this time as Geddy gave us a taste of his “true Canadian accent” with the requisite “eh?” and “give’r” and what have you.

The set contained a pretty good retrospective of their entire career. From memory they played (though not in this order):

Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta, YYZ, The Trees, the first two parts of 2112, Digital Man, Beneath the Wheels (awesome!), Where’s my Thing?, The Larger Bowl, Armor and Sword, One Little Victory, Workin’ them Angels, Ghost of a Chance, Dreamline, Witch Hunt, Limelight (I do remember this was the opener), The Spirit of Radio, and a bunch of others.

I am familiar, musically, with all of their material, but the names of some of the newer songs I don’t know. I know that they played a lot more newer material, but they did make it a point to play the classics. My friend and I discussed after the show how Rush is in a unique position from other current rock bands. They have managed to be active for 30 years and still are able to go on tour and not be viewed as “dinosaurs” or a museum type act like so many other bands that started at the same time as them. Styx is currently, as far as I’m concerned, a joke and a retrospective tribute band of themselves, as is Journey, Boston, Yes, Jethro Tull and countless others.

Rush is an arena rock band. That is what they do. They have been able to do it without selling their souls, or being overly or stereotypically “commercial”. Instead of letting the term “commercial” define them they choose, so it seems, to define the term for themselves. Throughout all their albums their sounds has evolved, significantly. They started by sounding like a bar band, developed into a prog-art rock band with songs that took up entire sides of albums, then they began creating 5 minute rock tunes that were extremely memorable in their own style. In the 80’s they delved into icy waters by taking a turn towards the realms of adult contemporary music, but then ushered themselves into the 90’s by becoming heavier, and still keeping their edgy sound they left off with 15 years prior. Throughout all this their fans remained with them, and in concert all of these songs can be played back to back seamlessly. They have always been true to themselves and I believe that that is truly shown in their music. There is a reason why they are a long lasting act as well as a top-selling act.

Unfortunately cameras were not allowed in the venue and although I had mine with me I did not remove it from my pocket from fear of it being taken away by a security guard. The videos that I present below are from the July 4, 2007 concert from Darien Lake (near Buffalo) New York.

“What about the voice of Geddy Lee? How did it get so high? I wonder if he speaks like an ordinary guy…”

2008, albums, live, music, reviews

Sloan – Buffalo, New York June 21, 2008

June 26, 2008 quartertonality Leave a comment

There is always plenty of free music in Buffalo during the summer. They have their famous “Thursday at the Square” concerts which are a hot spot from people from all over, not just Buffalo, to come downtown, get wasted out of their minds while enjoying some free music. There seems to be new festivals popping up all the time in Buffalo and the surrounding areas. Sure, it’s a great thing. I like being outside and I like music, especially if it is free.

The first time I saw Sloan was at one of these fests, so it only seemed fitting that I continue the tradition. This show was part of North Tonawanda’s (suburb of Buffalo) apparently annual Gateway Park Concert Series. Sloan always plays things like this here in Buffalo, which I think kind of cheapens them a little bit, but it certainly opens them up to more people than would come and see them at a club south of the 49th parallel. I just get really territorial about bands that I love, they have never played a bad show that I have seen (except for their Grey Cup pre-game show which was not so good, redeeming quality in that I met my girlfriend there. They got lucky that time). The show this time around Parallel Play album cover was part of the beginning of their tour for their 9th studio release, “Parallel Play”.

The album is getting a good amount of reviews, and opinion on it is pretty polarized. I, personally, love the album and listen to it often, and that is all that matters to me. The show was interesting, to say the least. All of my complaints with it don’t have anything to do with Sloan, but rather the organizers of it. The website says that the show starts at 5:30 and there was no mention of an opening act. I figured that there would be one, which is no big deal. One opener and then Sloan takes the stage around maybe 7:30, or 8 pm at the latest. It’s a festival type thing and on a weekend and there were no other bands being promoted. It turned out that at 5:30 the first boring local band of 3 (THREE!) for the evening began. In between each of these bands was “giveaways” and stupid radio guy promotion type banter. Sloan did not take the stage until 9 pm, which meant that I had been standing outside waiting for 3 and a half hours before the band that I came to see even took the stage, at which point the skies began to look rather grey.

Sloan played a great set, going through material from the new album as well as tried and true material from their past albums. The show was solid, featuring songs by each of the members. The disappointing fact was that, after all the standing and waiting the weather began to turn not long after they took the stage, and sure enough, just past the halfway point in their set, the skies opened up and it started pouring. Bassist Chris Murphy informed us that they would be going on and everyone was pleased, though the rain proceeded to get worse and after a little over an hour they left the stage.

They returned briefly for a hurried 3 song encore and then the show was over. I can not complain about their performance, it seemed that they were all pretty “on” that night, and had a pretty good mix, which is unusual for outdoor shows. I always love seeing Sloan, and I enjoy their music a great deal, I will certainly go out of my way to see them again. I would much rather see them in Toronto anyway.

I did take quite a bit of video at the show, but I have been quite slow in getting them up to my youtube page. I will do a quick post when I finally do up them. For now, here is a picture of the crowd at the show, taken by touring keyboardist Gregory MacDonald.

The crowd at the Gateway Park show

2007, albums, music, reviews, Uncategorized

Top albums of 2007

January 28, 2008 quartertonality Leave a comment

Well, here it is. I tried, throughout the course of the past few months, to review as many of the albums that I have heard this year that I could. This has been quite a year for new music, a year that caught me by surprise. I did not realize all of the great albums that came out until about mid November. Many of the albums that I heard I did not get until several months after they were released. These are the ones that got the most spins, and for good reason. Here they are in order, well reverse order, to heighten the suspense.

I had to go with 15 because I really couldn’t narrow it down any further. If there is a problem, please write your congressman.

15.) Animal Collective -“Strawberry Jam”
This band out of Baltimore turned out a great electronic, rock, noise album this year in “Strawberry Jam”. The hooks are just as catchy and the vocals are at times soaring and hopeful and at others thoughtful or just plain surreal. It’s always interesting to see how a band operates outside of the “rock” idiom, and the Collective definitely make things interesting. It is unclear as to the instrumentation in each of the songs. Sound manipulation plays a more important role than that of a “drum part” a “guitar part” and verse-chorus-verse structure. Working in the experimental genre can be a tricky balancing act but the Animal Collective do it well. Just the right amount of reaching out and trying new things and straight up classic “good songwriting”.

14.) Marnie Stern – “In Advance of the Broken Arm”

For me this album came out of nowhere. Kirstie was shooting her for Venus and told me about this crazy two-hand tapping technique that Marnie used. My brother said it was like Maps and Atlases and I can see the connection with her densely contrapuntal and layered guitar sound and vocals that are alternately screamed and sung Marnie’s sound is quite unlike anything else that I have ever heard before. Her lyrics speak of self-confidence and metaphysics and everything in between. The album, however, does seem to weaken a bit towards the end and I think that is going to be quite a challenge to follow up an album like this with a set of songs that are equally intense and interesting without beating the style to death. The use of Hella’s Zach Hill on drums is the perfect choice, as his all out assault on the drums is the perfect match for Stern’s continuously moving and perfectly articulated guitar textures.

13.) Battles – “Mirrored”
The clean and precise production on this album speaks of its straddling the line between prog-rock and jazz-fusion. Like Interpol, or Marnie Stern for that matter, the guitars of Battles create a very layered and contrapuntal sound that creates as much forward motion as to propel the listener through a 10 minute track without getting bored. Many of the tunes on this album don’t rely specifically on the talents of one member in particular but as the band truly working as a single unit. The track “Tonto” is a perfect example of this with it’s slow and controlled build up and the perfectly engineered dénouement that closes the track with a gradual slowing of the tempo until everything dies away the way that the track began. There is attention paid to the form of each piece on this album, as well as the form of the album as a whole, with opening and closing tracks working together to form perfect bookends. The album is quite demanding on the listener though, by the end I usually feel rather worn down. This is not quite mindless background music, it is pretty heady and well thought out music that may only appeal on certain levels to true music dorks.

12.) Liars – “Liars”
The follow up to the sparse, hallucinogenic inspired tomes of “Drums Not Dead”, “Liars” finds these Australian crazies synthesizing all that they have accomplished to date. Tracks like “Freak Out” still feature out of tune guitars, but with a funky bass groove that would remind fans of early work such as “Mr. You’re on Fire Mr.”. Elements from their more far out and experimental albums is still present in some tracks like “Sailing to Byzantium” and “The Dumb in the Rain” but for the most part, from what I can tell, this is just an album of great songs. There is no hint of a super-intellectual story-telling going on in this album, which is great. This album was the perfect decision for Liars to follow up an early-Sonic Youth-esque stage in their careers, get back on track with some really catchy, yet characteristic songs and probably continue to frighten audiences around the world with their astounding live performances. If you ever have the opportunity to catch this band live I would suggest it highly.

11.) Caribou – “Andorra”
Simply put the songs on this album are great. I know that that is a cop-out, as, well, it is obvious that I find the songs great on this album, why else would I put it on my year end best-of list? But I find it to stand out particularly from this years other contenders partly because of it’s seeming stance to bring back the Motown production sound, mixed with a little bit of Phil Spector. The reverb used on this album, along with the sleighbells (particularly the ones heard on the opening track) make it sound like a forward thinking relic of an album. I can’t imagine that there was too much state of the art equipment used in the making of this album, though I could be very wrong. I just really like the authentic sound of this album. One could imagine that this would eventually happen with Caribou, as there are strands of this sound in development in “The Milk Of Human Kindness” though this album benefits from tighter songwriting and less tinkering in an instrumental abyss than past work. This album is a great step forward and according to people I know that have seen Caribous live since this album came out he is definitely an act worth catching.

10.) The Bad Plus – “Prog”
Cracking my Top 10 is an album closer to the stylings of jazz than anything else. The performance ability of each of the three guys in The Bad Plus is absolutely amazing. They are all masters in their own right, working closely together as composers and performers. This album of covers (yes, it is that good, that I would even consider an album of mostly cover songs shows how great this album actually is) with a few original compositions mixed in for good measure is quite amazing. Covers of David Bowie, Rush and Tears for Fears mix seamlessly with original compositions. The covers are each treated to their own very unique process, parts are added and solos are taken to a whole new level of virtuosity. Though this album clearly stands squarely in the jazz idiom there is a rock sensibility that touches upon each song on the album. The precision, attention to detail and high standard for excellent performance stems from three well-trained jazz musicians but the reckless energy of rock stands behind everything.

9.) Thurston Moore – “Trees Outside the Academy”
The latest solo release from Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore is, obviously, quite similar in style to many of the songs that he recently penned for SY’s “Rather Ripped” but there is a more simple style at work when he is without his cohorts. Thurstons strips down the guitars a lot, and the result is a much more clear and relaxed album. The addition of violin is a nice touch, and actually is the element that truly sets the songs quite a far distance apart from anything Sonic Youth has done. This album also shows that Thurston has evolved quite a bit from the “Psychic Hearts” days, the songs here are more focused and calm, but his punk energy still shines through. He’s getting older but he’s always going to be the coolest guy on the planet.

8.) Field Music – “Tones of Town”
Much like The Futureheads Field Music has a densely layered and contrapuntal sound that sounds like the next generation of 70’s prog rock. Obviously heavily influenced by Yes and other bands of that era these Brits manage to pack quite a lot of excitement and energy into a very diverse album of very catch tunes. This album, for me, was a late entry in my year end lineup and if I was given more time with it I’m sure it would be much higher up on my list. Each song is great in its own way, and it sounds wonderful too, great production quality. I haven’t had the opportunity to listen to their first album, as I didn’t know that they existed prior to November but I am definitely going to make it a point to look into this band further.

7.) Cuff the Duke – “Sidelines of the City”
I truly think that Cuff the Duke can do no wrong. They are quickly becoming one of my favorite bands. Every song that I have heard from them is great. They jump comfortably from genre to genre and sound great and confident no matter what they are doing. The lead singer has a unique, very instantly recognizable voice. The instruments change up a bit from time to time. This time out the opening track adds a single violin playing in a folk style, country inflicted (as many of their songs are) and truly sounding like an American folk-tune. This is an album that I never skip a track on, and I have listened to this album many many times in the past few months. I am already looking forward to their next effort. Unfortunately they aren’t too popular in the U.S. and seeing them any time soon would probably be a dream. To me seeing Cuff the Duke would be a legendary, unforgettable event, though to many Canadians I’m sure that it is just commonplace. Check out this band! You will not be disappointed.

6.) The Good, The Bad and The Queen – “The Good, The Bad and The Queen”
An incredibly dark album about war, times of frustration, uncertainty and suffering. This is a great album, if it all is kind of the same sound over and over again. Each of the songs put you in a place that is dark with a sense of foreboding doom. I have never heard an album that sounds like this before and I am almost positive that this super group of sorts will not be putting out another album, or if they do it will not be anytime soon. I am quite jealous of Damon Albarn’s ability to crank out music all over the place with several different projects going at once it seems. Each of the tracks on this album feel monumental, noteworthy and legendary I would place it higher, but like I said, each of the songs sort of sound a bit the same, thankfully they are all excellent.

5 .) Menomena – “Friend and Foe”
Menomena is a great group of musicians, in case you didn’t know. Three guys, all great songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, sharing singing and songwriting duties. They are just as tight live as they are on record. Each of the guys has a distinctive songwriting voice and several instruments are used to create a lush sound. Tracks range from the tragic to the imploring, light and gentle to dark and unnerving. Whenever a band chooses to operate in this manner it can be just what is needed to propel an album through to the end, a distinct amount of variety. Their sound is distinct, to say the least, yet they don’t stray too far from tried and true forms and catchy hooks. What it really comes down to is that these guys are fantastic songwriters and great instrumentalists. This is another album that has been in heavy rotation on my itunes for months and months, and will continue in this manner for a long time to come I’m sure.

4.) Joel Plaskett Emergency – “Ashtray Rock”
Another album from a fantastic songwriter and amazing guitarist. I don’t even care if he rips off Jimmy Page left and right, it’s fun and it sounds great and he does it well and that’s all I care about. Have you heard Jimmy Page lately, he sounds like shit, but I digress. Joel can write a song about anything, I’m convinced, after seeing him live twice and watching him rewrite lyrics on the spot. He has strung this album into a series of songs that tell a rather simple story, not sure if it’s a true story or not but that is nearly beside the point. The album is so well thought out and well put together and every song is catchy as hell and great (yes even Fashionable People, I happen to love that song). Plaskett blasts through each song with a mind boggling array of guitar sounds and at the same time jumping from inspiration to inspiration making the album truly sound like a recollection from his childhood. This album is also proof that if an album is made by someone that truly has fun while playing music the album will be fun to listen to and in general great, it’s contagious. I could go on for days about how great this album is and how much I love Joel, but I won’t, if you haven’t heard this album, go now and listen.

3.) Interpol – “Our Love to Admire”
New York City neo-shoegaze turned gloomy math-rock band Interpol just keep getting better. Does it matter that it takes them 3 years to create an album? They hardly toured for the better part of 2 years, didn’t do any interviews, were not on TV and when they emerge Carlos D. has a creepy mustache and the guys have put together a truly mindblowing album of thoughtful and complex tunes with cryptic lyrics. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I listened to this album when it first came out. The album itself got into my bones like a virus, slowly working it’s way out from “The Heinrich Maneuver” and eventually spreading to the rest of the album. I couldn’t get enough and soon I was hooked, listening to it everywhere and several times a day. I would say more things about the album in detail, but I think I already did a pretty good job of that here.

2.) Radiohead – “In Rainbows”
Well if I had any indie cred I am apparently about to shoot it out the window. I don’t know why hating Radiohead seems to be the cool, hipster thing to do these days, but you can not deny that these Brits can write an absolutely phenomenal album, without a doubt. I, no exaggeration, listened to this album 10 times a day for at least 2 weeks immediately following its release. Not a bad second, no complaints, nothing that I could possibly imagine changing. The gentle lulling of “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” featuring a great, closely voiced double guitar line is my favorite of the album. The closing track “Videotape” is reminiscent of other Radiohead closing tracks. This is a truly great album, it is an important album and if you are not listening to it because you think they are too popular or you want to be different and it seems that everyone loves Radiohead, well, pull your head out of your fucking ass, swallow your pride and listen to this album. It will blow your mind. It is legendary. No joke. Next.

1.) Spoon – “Ga ga ga ga ga”
The best album of the year happens to have the worst title of any album, ever. Whatever. I have already talked about this album here. This is a great improvement from their last album “Gimme Fiction” a truly overblown, overdone near piece of garbage. “Ga ga ga ga ga” is stripped down, intelligent and great from cover to cover. Nothing truly mindblowing here, just great rock tunes that position Spoon, I feel, much in the same place that Sonic Youth was upon the release of Daydream Nation. Spoon has become the indie band that any other smart indie band wants to be like. They have a large following, are writing great songs, have been at it a while and became the talk of the town after this album was released. I am hoping that the electricity that I felt when they were playing Saturday Night Live was not imagined. I want to believe that not only did they play perfectly but that they connected with the home audience and got some more, well deserved fans. This album sounds fantastic and I am still obsessed with it, and that will last a long long time I’m sure. I am probably the only one that has this at the top of their list, but as Brit says “you got no fear of the underdog, that’s why you will not survive”.

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Better than Pitchfork.