Terrible news. I’m sure there will be more news to follow. The Godfather of Soul dead at 73. This is awful.
James Brown | It’s a New Day
Category Archives: general
Favorite song of 2006
By about August, I had begun formulating year-end lists in my head. I was mentally shuffling songs and albums up and down and back and forth when it finally hit me earlier this month: Who cares? The overwhelming volume of year-end lists (Largehearted Boy is keeping track: A-M and N-Z) has watered down the process, although I still kept tabs on lists from bloggers and writers I especially admire (Chromewaves, Gorilla vs. Bear, Marathonpacks, Bows + Arrows, for starters).
There is nothing wrong with lists (I made two last year). At best they are tangible reminders of a year that was; at worst they are masturbatory exercises of self-importance. They do open up the author to all sorts of criticism (“What? No, TV on the Radio?!?”), although that’s half the fun, I suppose.
For me, the difference between, say, my 13th and sixth favorite albums is probably negligible and hard to quantify. So instead, I’ve whittled it down to one song and one album that moved me or commanded a majority of my attention.
Favorite song of 2006:
Elvis Perkins, While You Were Sleeping
(From Ash Wednesday, self-released in 2006 and due out on XL in February 2007.)
In the newspaper business (of which I’m a part), you’re taught that the lead to a story is vital – it will determine if someone continues to read a story. It’s a good analogy for records, though, in the case of While You Were Sleeping, track No. 1 on Ash Wednesday, I kept doubling back to listen on repeat.
No doubt, the rest of the album is golden. But While You Were Sleeping is something else: insightful, pretty, sad, plaintive. From the first note, when an acoustic guitar gently dives into what NPR calls “midnight ruminations of an insomniac,” the song slowly builds layer upon layer of instrumentation – acoustic guitar gives way to bass gives way to drum beat gives way to horns.
But Perkins’ writing – the imagery – carries the song. He’s singing to someone long asleep, a winding narrative of what is passing this person by in the stillness of slumber: “While you were sleeping, the time changed / all of your things were rearranged.” It’s a simple yet sort of eerie idea: that the world, time, people don’t stop just because you do.
Favorite line:
“While you were sleeping the money died /
machines were harmless /
and the Earth sighed.”
Elvis Perkins | While You Were Sleeping
I also really liked these:
Band of Horses, The Great Salt Lake.
Josh Ritter, Girl in the War.
The Walkmen, All Hands and the Cook.
The Long Winters, Hindsight.
The Roots (feat. Peedi Peedi and Bunny Sigler), Long Time.
Related:
Favorite songs of 2005.
Favorite albums of 2005.
Youth Group: Sorry
In my many trips to record stores last year, my wife kept telling me to look for Youth Group for her. Youth Group this, Youth Group that. Skeleton Jar. Blah blah. Eventually we got our hands on a copy, and, as it turns out, I was pretty happy Annie kept after me about it.
It wasn’t so much that Skeleton Jar was all that awe-inspiring, but it seemed the promise for something better was looming. And the Aussies may have found it on Casino Twilight Dogs, due out Jan. 23 on Epitaph/Anti. The label is working extra hard on this one, too; I’ve gotten two promo copies. Their persistence is worth it. Casino Twilight Dogs is just really … pleasant. I’m not even sure I’ve ever used that word to describe a record. The melodies are sneaky – not so catchy right off the bat but they linger and reel you in until they’ve won you over.
On Sorry, like most of the group’s tunes, the guitars are big and sweeping and enhanced by an attractive string arrangement. We shan’t forget the cover of Alphaville’s Forever Young. And, oh, singer Toby Martin uses the word “infinitesimally” in the song Catching & Killing. That’s gotta count for something, right?
Youth Group | Sorry
Money Mark: Pick Up the Pieces
Money Mark is probably better known as the keyboardist for the Beastie Boys, though he does have an extensive discography, combining both solo and collaborative efforts. Pick Up the Pieces is the first single off his upcoming LP Brand New By Tomorrow, on Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records (but don’t hold that against him … OK, that was a snobby thing to say). It’s touted as a break-up album, but if the rest of the songs carry the breezy, jazz-style instrumentation that’s on Pick Up the Pieces, then it may be hard to identify it as a somber affair. Let’s just say you won’t be moved to tears by any of the lyrics here: “You got me pickin’ up all my pieces / put ’em back in my pocket in case I need them.” Still, the interplay between the piano and bass carries the day. And that’s enough for me.
Money Mark | Pick Up the Pieces
ADMINISTRATIVE: Posting in the next couple of days likely will be coming from someone other than me (insert cheers here). We are headed for Chicago for the weekend, and for the first time I’m not looking forward to it. It’s for a funeral of a close family friend. Nevertheless, someone will prevent mold from building up around here while I am away.
Monsieur Leroc: I’m Not Young But I Need the Money
I blindly stumbled upon Monsieur Leroc because he’s part of the Cornerstone Recording Arts Society collective, also home to AWOL One, the Shape Shifters and $martyr (all of whom have been featured at some point here). I’m Not Young But I Need the Money (love the title) is the third release for Leroc, who’s from Germany. His funk-happy sound-collage style ensures that Beck, Cut Chemist and/or Jamie Lidell will be referenced as comparisons in practically every review and bio. Nevertheless, Leroc is the type of artist I feel I’ve gravitated toward more and more, especially this past year: a one-man show who finds comfort and something just right about being a little unorthodox (see also, the Gray Kid and Baby Dayliner). Some of the scattershot composition feels disjointed at first. Without the benefit of liner notes (got it at eMusic), I can’t be sure of what’s been sampled or what’s been played live. Still, the cut-and-paste arrangements are strangely compelling: part funk, part hip-hop, part lounge. Cooley McCoolsen, the lead track, is a perfect example of how Leroc somehow makes all these elements very agreeable.
Monsieur Leroc | Cooley McCoolsen
Help J. Robbins, Janet Morgan and their child
Idolator posted about this yesterday and it’s worth repeating anywhere someone may read it: The 2-year-old son of J. Robbins (Channels and ex-Jawbox and ex-Burning Airlines) and Janet Morgan (also in Channels) was born with a genetic motor neuron disease called Type 1 SMA, or Spinal Muscular Atrophy. According to the SMA Foundation Web site, SMA is the leading genetic killer of babies and toddlers. Their son, Callum, will never walk and will be bound to a wheelchair for life.
DeSoto Records details the disease and the uphill battle Robbins and Morgan face, especially in a family in which the sole income comes from Robbins’ job as a producer/engineer for indie bands.
DeSoto has set up a PayPal account to which you can donate at the same page detailing this ordeal.
I went on a bit about J. Robbins and Channels here and have been a fan his various projects (especially Burning Airlines) and always admired his production work on other bands, including DeSoto’s The Life and Times and Maritime.
I hope you’ll think about donating. The only J. Robbins-related material I have (other than CDs) worth auctioning off is a Jawbox 7″ with Jackpot Plus! and Motorist. If anyone has any other ideas, I’m all ears. I’d love to make a sizable donation on behalf of this blog and music fans.
Here’s a few mp3s to inspire some generosity.
Jawbox | Cooling Card
(From For Your Own Special Sweetheart.)
Burning Airlines | The Escape Engine
(From the freaking great Mission: Control!)
The Coup/Mr. Lif bus crash
Thanks to Soul Sides for pointing this out. The Coup and Mr. Lif, on tour together, were involved in a near-fatal bus crash outside of San Diego. The bus flipped over and burst into flames.
Boots Riley of the Coup is asking fans for help in the form of donations on the group’s MySpace page. I’m trying to put together a possible auction of some goodies to help the effort. More on that soon.
Do yourself a favor and check out some tracks, purchase their albums and help them get back on their feet.
The Coup | My Favorite Mutiny
(From Pick a Bigger Weapon.)
Mr. Lif | Mo’ Mega mixtape (mixed by DJ Big Wiz, also in the crash)
(Buy Mo’ Mega.)
awesome guest blogger post
Hi, I’m Chris from gorilla vs. bear. So, Kevin is up in Flagstaff for some reason, probably becoming one with nature or whatever those hippies do up there. So I guess I can stop playing with my Wii (get it? ha.) long enough to take over So Much Silence and post some songs that hopefully you guys won’t hate too much. 
Kevin asked that I post a photo of men in a bathtub, so here’s Menomena
2007 is almost here, and here are a couple tracks from ’07 releases that, based on these first singles, might be worth seeking out. The Menomena record, out on Barsuk on January 23, 2007, is one of my most anticipated releases of next year, and this single reinforces that. It’ll be the band’s first release on Barsuk.
Menomena Wet and Rusting mp3
**************************
This band the Ponys, however, I knew nothing about. They are Matador Records‘ newest signees, and will release Turn the Lights Out on March 20, 2007. Here’s the infectious first single: The Ponys Double Vision mp3 Edit: Matador doesn’t allow deep-linking. Go here to get the mp3 from their site.
Bossa N’ Roses
I can’t decide if this is going to be one of the lamest things I’ll ever have posted or, possibly, one of the more unique. (Based solely on the cover, I might be inclined to go with the former. Her fingers … they’re smoking! Guns! And there’s roses in the background. Guns and roses!)
Music Broker’s previous “Bossa N” series – Bossa N’ Stones and Bossa N’ Marley – apparently were huge in Europe. I suppose if you can’t stomach Axl in his original form, this is a little easier to digest. I was actually just out at a bar with co-workers over the weekend, and Paradise City came on. I think I’ve heard that song enough for a lifetime – and then some – so I suppose some creative interpretation of the Guns N’ Roses catalog isn’t a bad thing. I sort of feel numb anymore when old GNR songs (circa Appetite for Destruction) come on: They aren’t good, they aren’t bad. They just exist.
This version of November Rain is calm and loungy and not nearly as epic as the original (oh, how I love that video, though). This is good for background, atmosphere-type music. Probably also a good conversation piece among friends. I’m not going to argue whether it’s actually good or not. As the athletes like to say these days, “It is what it is.”
Gheto Blaster Ltd. | November Rain (B&H Version)
Stereogum has two more tracks: Welcome to the Jungle and Paradise City.
Editors: Remixed EP
What better way to extend the life of an album than to release a remix album (or, in this instance, an EP). Come on, everyone’s doing it (Bloc Party, Architecture in Helsinki, Of Montreal and so on).
Editors, on the heels of the U.S. release of The Back Room earlier this year, join the fray with an EP of four mixes, including a Munich remix by Ghislain Poirier (he of the excellent Dirt Off Your Shoulders remix). It’s available at the iTunes music store.
Pitchfork recently supplied a fifth mix that didn’t make the EP: All Sparks (Phones Remix). The indie kids will sweat through their ironic T-shirts dancing to this one.
Editors | All Sparks (Phones Remix) (via Pitchfork)