Brooklyn

10 Reasons Why I Wish I Was Still Living in Brooklyn:
1. Dirty Projectors
2. Vampire Weekend
3. Grizzly Bear
4. Akron/Family
5. MGMT
6. Yeasayer
7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
8. St. Vincent
9. Animal Collective
10. Floyd Bar

Party & Bullshit

So it's been a good long while since I've written here. Thanks to Miss Robertson, I decided to reopen my desire to ramble on and on about the most important thing on earth to me: Music. So, here's what I got for today. Cheers.

Here are the things I'm looking forward to more than anything else:
Jan 23 - Perpetual Groove @ The Bronze Peacock
Gov't Mule show soon
Feb 23 - Akron/Family plays at a small venue on my street. Holy shit.

Here's an album review to keep myself fresh
Band: Animal Collective
Album: Fall Be Kind [EP]
Label: Domino

Animal Collective has done it again. I have never been more excited for an LP to come out than I am for their next work. Consider this a little self-conscious appetizer to your lobster tail and orgasm entree.

The EP starts off with "Graze," which is a very light, self-aware track about the creative process. It's in 2 parts, essentially, and you almost get the feel that Avey Tare, Panda Bear and Geologist are all in a room just musing over how great they are. The greatest thing is that these guys don't take themselves too seriously. The track bends into kind of a circus fare for a little bit with a catchy hook to keep things down to earth. Individually, these artists are in orbit, but together, through a system of Animal Collective checks and balances, they are able to stay grounded in what they and everyone else want to hear: something different, appealing, creative and fun.

After the loopy fun of "Graze," things drop down for a few beats to ambient sound - as if their creative warm-up calisthenics are complete and it's time to bring the main dish. The ambience leads into the 2nd track, "What Would I Want? Sky" - the meat and potatoes of this EP. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this is maybe top 2 or 3 best tracks ever recorded by Animal Collective, in my opinion. Honestly, the best thing for you to do if you are interested is not read my convoluted words on the subject, but to go check it out. There are no good videos of this song as far as I can tell, but please please do yourself a favor and go to their myspace and listen. Here's the link: http://www.myspace.com/animalcollective

*I was planning on rambling about new music you should be listening to at this point, but it's Friday and I'm in the party mood, so instead, I'm just going to post a few Friday night pump-up videos that make me happy, and I hope they do the same for all of you.

Halfway Through October

Wow, lots to talk about. Let's start with concerts.

Since my last post, I have seen the following acts live:

Umphrey's McGee
Carolyn Wonderland
Heartless Bastards
The Dodos w/The Ruby Suns
Sunny Day Real Estate w/The Jealous Sound
Dear & the Headlights w/Kinch


Carolyn Wonderland 09/25/09 @ Dan Electro's

First of all, Dan Electro's kicks ass. It was my first time going, and I can't wait to go back. There's plenty of room outside to take a break, and a nice intimate setting inside with a full bar and free treats for all. The people attending the show ranged from college-aged to maybe-too-old-to-be-out-so-late. Nice, eclectic group. There were tons of good-looking girls (surprisingly), but I only danced with one EXTREMELY forceful old woman who I finally had to ask to please let go of me (not surprisingly). The old lady creeper put a slight damper on my mood, which made me leave a little early.

The show itself was great. Carolyn is an incredible musician. I saw her play a mean guitar, lap steel, and also trumpet and whistling. I mention whistling bc she has perfect pitch/tune, which is pretty impressive. She played a mixture of old and new bluesy/rock songs and really kept the energy going. She looked a little rough, and her band seemed pretty wasted the entire time, but they managed. Go check her out if you can.

Heartless Bastards @ HoB (Bronze Peacock Room) 10/01/09

The smaller, cozier, more intimate setting of the Bronze Peacock Room really made this to be a good show. I didn't even know this room adjacent to Pete's and HoB existed, so it was a nice surprise. There is a full bar, plenty of space, a good layout, good acoustics, and not too pretentious layout. Due to the lighting scheme and intimate setting, for a while I really felt like I was just in an open room with the band. This place has a killer terrace, too. It's designed like I imagine a wealthy Indian villa terrace would look like. It's open to a good downtown view, and there are huge couches and drawings of Buddha. It's not quite an open balcony, so you feel like you are in a VIP room. Pretty sick.

The show was fantastic. I have been wanting to see Heartless Bastards for quite some time after missing them at ACL 08. As you may have noticed, I have a newfound affinity for frontwomen. Erica Wennerstorm is one rockin chick. She had so much energy, but seemed so nice and normal. She didn't have that bullshit attitude most female rock n rollers do. She seemed like she could be the rocker cousin of Gillian Welch. The band would play these raw rock tunes that seemed kinda garagey at first, but transformed into straight rock jams. Erica's voice punched through and went over the top of the raw instrumentation. It's hard to describe what makes this band unique, but the best I can do is say that they have a real, raw feel to well-written/well-performed rock jams.

The Dodos w/The Ruby Suns @ Mangos 10/03/09

Mangos is a pretty cool spot. It was a little crowded and a little hot, but it had the feel of an old Mexican restaurant or something. It's nice to mix it up and be uncomfortable at a show sometimes. It was a rainy night and I walked to the show from Gray and Bagby in Midtown. I showed up pretty wet and got kissed on the neck by a homeless man who I gave $5 to (PRIOR to the neck kiss). Um, mixed feelings about that event...

Anyway, The Ruby Suns were okay. The sound in Mangos may not have done them justice. Plus, I was more interested in getting dry and getting some drinks in me at the time. They seemed interesting enough, and I had some words with one of the dudes afterward, who seemed like a cool enough guy.

The Dodos were fantastic. They played a relatively short set bc they had to drive to Austin right after for ACL duties. The lead guy, Meric Long, played a beat up f-holed acoustic/electric in mostly open tunings. He had it hooked into what sounded like lo-fi pre-amp speakers or just moderate fuzz effects. It sounded like cheap fuzz, but my God he played the hell out of it. There was also a vibraphone/glockenspiel player and a drummer. The Dodos are one of my newfound favorite bands. They play kind of psychedelic folk jams, but Meric is just an amazing lyricist. They tauted some impressive renditions of some of their best songs. I enjoyed every minute of it. I walked out with their newest LP, Time to Die, which I carried back to Midtown with me in the rain and to the bars. It was an excellent night, and I highly highly highly recommend The Dodos to anyone that likes good music.

*I'll get the rest of the live reviews up shortly.

St. Vincent

Band: St. Vincent

Album: Actor (2009)

Label: 4ad

This post may be quite bias, because I'm pretty sure I'm in love with Annie Clark. How many female musicians do you know that have an angelic voice, but can shred a guitar straight nasty? There's not many. Not only is she gorgeous and supercool, but most importantly incredibly talented. Annie is the former guitar player for the Polyphonic Spree, road guitar player for Sufjan Stevens, and the delightfully eclectic front-woman for St. Vincent.

Annie created most of the music on her newest album Actor in her Brooklyn apartment by watching mainly Criterion Collection and Disney films on mute and scoring them through headphones and Garageband software. Later, she went back and made sense of everything and added lyrics before hitting the studio. Each song is a different scene, more or less, from films that range everywhere from Disney classics to darker, violent films (Badlands, Pierrot le Fou, The Wizard of Oz, Stardust Memories, Sleeping Beauty - to name a few). In her own words, she wanted to make something that was "whimsical, yet disgusting" and credits the woodwind section of her music to the whimsy and her guitar as the "digusting beast." Over both beauty and the beast is her very entrancing vocals. Somehow, this three-headed monster emerged with delightful elegance and eerie beauty.

Here are some videos to let her speak for herself:

Here's what I can't stop listening to as of late:

Artist: Phosphorescent
Title: "Wolves"
Album: Pride (2007)
Label: Dead Oceans


This is one of the most simple and beautiful tracks I have ever heard. Matthew Houck's one-man indie/folk band, Phosphorescent, really has a lot to offer. I find myself unable to move when this song comes on. It completely overpowers me with its cries for help that gently resonate through my speakers. I'm paralyzed by his honest, wavering words sung softly as if he's just moved past fear, anger and sadness, and reverted into childhood thought. He's not whining, he's not bitching and moaning or working something out, he's just awestruck by the power of his ailments; whether it be addiction, depression, social anxiety, etc.

This song makes me remember being a child and being away from my parents - as if a safety net had disappeared and I was discovering everything for the first time. It's becoming overwhelmed with everything that's outside your comfort zone. I felt like these are the thoughts of a child gazing out the window and fearing what's beyond the front door, while at the same time wanting to, but not knowing how to embark beyond his boundaries. There's a struggle that's getting exponentially worse each day, and he can't escape. It's like he's already been taken over by it long ago and is at a point where he's almost admiring it. There's a scene in the film "Aguirre: The Wrath of God" where a conquistador who has been slowly losing his mind aboard a raft floating down an Amazon gets harpooned with a spear by natives from the shore. His only reaction (loosely translated from German) is, "Hmm, I thought it would hurt more" before he falls into the river to his death. It's that separation from your own being that comes after being overtaken by something that allows you to take an inward glance at your ailments, anxieties, and madness. Kind of reminds me of the chorus. The "wolves" that are keeping him inside the house, that won't let him out, that are getting bigger and worse everyday, that he needs his mother to comfort him over he's describing as "beautiful."

All labels and attempted explanations aside, this is a hauntingly beautiful and heartfelt track. It evokes so much with so little. The album is definitely worth a few listens, and is slowly becoming one of my most played records in the collection.

Years Ago, I Was An Angry Young Man

So, here's a blog. I shall ruminate on this throughout the work day to occupy my downtime. Hopefully I'll say some cool shit every once and again. Maybe post a few good pics/vids. Maybe even blow your minds a little. Or maybe I'll just drone on and on. Who knows. Any way you look at it, it's a blog. Cheers.