Jan

26

The Battle of Land and Sea

Filed Under Album Picks | 9 Comments

I have been quite sick for the last few days, like where I have had a faucet for a nose and I have just wanted to rip my head off and roll it down the street! It has also been raining here for the last few days as well and that has been a real treat. Also, Puma my kitty love also seemed to be sick yesterday and I almost freaked out, she just seemed not herself like she couldn’t get comfortable and that is always hard to watch. But this morning she seems back to her perky self all bright eyed and bushy tailed. I breathe a sigh of relief…

And I do have new music for everyone!

So the last couple of days with the rain and sickness around here I have been enjoying the sounds of Portland Oregon’s own Sarah O’Shura who is the voice and soul behind The Battle of Land Sea. She creates whimsical psychedelic indie-folk where she takes you on a journey through misty lands of lush beauty and it is all quite enchanting indeed. Two of my favorite tracks:

mp3:  Saltwater Queen

mp3:  The Beautiful Ones

The Battle of Land and Sea on myspace

Self-Titled Album 2008 (notenuf Records)

Available HERE and HERE

Jan

15

There Will Be Awesome

Filed Under Album Picks, Film Box | 8 Comments

There Will Be Blood: imdb / trailer

As some of you know, this ranked high in my top ten list for 2007, so I suppose it’s no surprise that I loved it. Even if I hadn’t written that list there really is no surprise because this film was crafted by, perhaps, my favorite working film maker: Paul Thomas Anderson. I know him well, I’ve watched all his films many times, listened to all of his commentary, seen all of his music videos. We’re practically on a first name basis.

I know PTA loved, absolutely loved, making this film. In many ways it’s the film he’s always wanted to make, building up to this moment bit by bit, while reinventing himself along the way. He could have easily sauntered on along his career of making Boogie Nights 2 through 5 and probably been quite successful at that, but no that’s not the way this cocaine-addled (only hearsay mind you) mind works! PTA was shaped by the elders in his life, firstly by his father and the world surrounding him, and of course by classic films of every era, along with personal relations with two of the greatest film makers who recently passed away. This boy was born to make the films he makes and tell them the way he wants to tell them. Some people are turned off by this… sometimes he’s just a little too melodramatic, over the top, long-winded, or all of the above. But for me, he is perfect. Twenty minutes without dialogue? I’m in!

As I was watching this film, the unsettling fear that pervades it got in the way of my enjoyment. It wasn’t until later after reflecting upon it, being haunted by it and seeing almost every frame of film together as a whole, did I truly understand how much I really loved it. That, I think, is the mark of a very good or even great film. One that will be remembered. Daniel Day Lewis’ portrayal of Mr. Plainview is awe inspiring. He’s a man for which his insanity is only quenched by destroying all others in an attempt to be the best. The best at what? The best of everything apparently. There are scenes of terror, poignancy, ruthlessness. Everything seems so awesome in scope that even when just two people sit down to talk it’s as if the world has stopped moving. I mustn’t forget everyone else around Lewis’ Plainview, for his life changed as much as theirs as he steamrolled them sometimes to death.

I dislike everything about Mr. Plainview, except the way he speaks, he’s not the type of bad guy you root for. So I ask for those that disliked the ending, how would he, or could he, do anything different?

Rachel here, for a little side note about the soundtrack, There Will Be Blood. An album composed by Radiohead’s own guitarist, Jonny Greenwood, who accompanied the dark bizarre vibe of the film with a soundtrack composed of mostly strings with the occasional delicate piano. The soundtrack really completes the film and brings it all together wonderfully, I believe.My favorite track from the album…

mp3: Prospector Arrives

Jonny Greenwood

There Will Be Blood 2007 (Nonesuch)

Jan

1

Favorite Records of 2007

Filed Under Album Picks, Music Mix Up, The Lists | 25 Comments

So it is the end of 2007 and what a year it has been in the music world, so many great albums. The following list is a compilation of albums which I felt stood out the most in 2007. This year I really tried to concentrate on records in which I felt were filled with great songs all the way through from the first song to the last song. A list of music that varies containing everything from French chanson to R&B soul. I have really enjoyed writing for you all this year, it has been a rough transition into Word Press and I am still trying to find my bearings and I appreciate the constant support I receive from my readers; tis what keeps me going. Thank you to all and I look forward to sharing a new year of music in 2008 with you. Happy New Year!

1. Beirut, The Flying Club Cup

mp3: Nantes (Original Post)

2. Explosions In The Sky, All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone

mp3: Welcome Ghosts (Original Post)

3. Radiohead, In Rainbows

mp3: All I Need (Original Post)

4. Caribou, Andorra

mp3: Melody Day (Original Post)

5. Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha

mp3: Sythian Empire (Original Post)

6. The Cinematic Orchestra, Ma Fleur

mp3: To Build A Home – Feat. Patrick Watson (Original Post)

7. Shannon Wright, Let In The Light

mp3: In The Morning (Original Post)

8. Sharon Jones & The Dapkings, 100 Days, 100 Nights

mp3: Let Them Knock (Original Post)

9. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible

mp3: My Body Is a Cage (Original Post)

10. Pela, Anytown Graffiti

mp3: Waiting On The Stairs (Original Post)

Dec

12

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

Filed Under Album Picks | 8 Comments

Oh my, oh my Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings have more soul in one of their little pinky fingers then I do in my entire body. But listening to their new album 100 Days, 100 Nights certainly makes me want to get on my knees and thank the sweet lord for blessing me with the music of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings.

Their new album is filled with some of the greatest R&B Soul I have heard in a long time, not since Ray Charles and the entire album is that good. Timeless.

mp3: 100 Days, 100 Nights

mp3: Something’s Changed

100 Days, 100 Nights 2007 (Daptone Records)

Album available HERE and HERE

Dec

6

Band Of Horses In Commercials?

Filed Under Album Picks, Music Mix Up | 22 Comments


WTF? I don’t know how I feel about companies corrupting the music I listen to! I am sorry. Call me a snob! Call me possessive! I just find it a little unsettling to hear music like The Funereal by the Band Of Horses playing in a commercial advertising a Ford Edge “Crossover” vehicle…What the fuck does “crossover” mean anyway?! It still looks like a gas guzzling SUV to me. Sorry I am not ranting to offend anyone here…I am just saying I don’t really get it. Couldn’t they use an Angels & Airwaves song? I know, I know, I am sorry but I was bound to offend someone tonight. I guess I am feisty from working on a paper all day.

And I just want to add I am not the only one who has some anger about this subject, check it.

Speaking of the Band Of Horses their new album, Cease To Begin I can’t say I am all that impressed with. I mean I was anticipating it’s release but I just can’t seem to get that excited about the album. I was bummed to say the least but there are a couple of diamonds in the rough so to speak, so I thought I would share my favs.

mp3: Is There A Ghost

mp3: No One’s Gonna Love You

Band Of Horses on myspace

Cease To Begin 2007 (Sub Pop)

Album available HERE and HERE

Nov

15

The Sleeping Years

Filed Under Album Picks | 3 Comments

The Sleeping Years is the solo project of Dale Grundle. A singer songwriter from Coleraine in Northern Ireland. The Sleeping Years have released three 5 track EP’s: You and Me Against The World, Setting fire to sleepy towns and Clocks and Clones all released this year. Gentle melodies and hushed vocals fill these EP’s and I love every second of it.

In other news it has been hot and dry here, yuck! And my keyboard seems to be working fine now, of course after I order new keyboard. Is that not just the way of things? Cheers!

Hope you enjoy the music of The Sleeping Years!

mp3:  Clocks and Clones

mp3:  Untroubled

Clocks and Clones EP 2007

Available HERE and HERE 

The Sleeping Years on myspace

Nov

6

Mercy Arms, Kept Low EP

Filed Under Album Picks | 5 Comments

Mercy Arms is a four member band that hail from Australia their debut EP was just released in September and I am just really liking their sound. A little rough but they are still a very young band and I look forward to hearing more from them indeed.

In other news? I don’t really have any besides the fact that I am bored as hell at work and I despertaely need to find another job. I just can’t seem to find a job that makes me happy nor have I been able to find a place where I can thrive. This job pays well but I am not doing anything creative and I am not gaining any real experience for the field I want to work in, the only plus side of this job is that it pays well but even that doesn’t seem to get me out of bed in the morning. So once again I am back to the drawing board while I am working at this job…Good times right? Well at least I have good music. :-)

mp3:  Kept Low

mp3:  Ending To Begin

Mercy Arms 0n myspace

Kept Low 2007  (Levity)

EP available HERE and HERE

Oct

29

It’s All About Vinyl

Filed Under Album Picks | 10 Comments

Vinyl has been reborn so to speak and it is a beautiful thing. Check out this article at Wired:

Vinyl May Be Final Nail in CD’s Coffin

By Eliot Van Buskirk

As counterintuitive as it may seem in this age of iPods and digital downloads, vinyl — the favorite physical format of indie music collectors and audiophiles — is poised to re-enter the mainstream, or at least become a major tributary.

Talk to almost anyone in the music business’ vital indie and DJ scenes and you’ll encounter a uniformly optimistic picture of the vinyl market.

“I’m hearing from labels and distributors that vinyl is way up,” said Ian Connelly, client relations manager of independent distributor alliance IODA, in an e-mail interview. “And not just the boutique, limited-edition colored vinyl that Jesu/Isis-style fans are hot for right now.”

Pressing plants are ramping up production, but where is the demand coming from? Why do so many people still love vinyl, even though its bulky, analog nature is anathema to everything music is supposed to be these days? Records, the vinyl evangelists will tell you, provide more of a connection between fans and artists. And many of today’s music fans buy 180-gram vinyl LPs for home listening and MP3s for their portable devices.

“For many of us, and certainly for many of our artists, the vinyl is the true version of the release,” said Matador’s Patrick Amory. “The size and presence of the artwork, the division into sides, the better sound quality, above all the involvement and work the listener has to put in, all make it the format of choice for people who really care about music.”

Because these music fans also listen using portable players and computers, Matador and other labels include coupons in record packaging that can be used to download MP3 versions of the songs. Amory called the coupon program “hugely popular.”

Portability is no longer any reason to stick with CDs, and neither is audio quality. Although vinyl purists are ripe for parody, they’re right about one thing: Records can sound better than CDs.

Although CDs have a wider dynamic range, mastering houses are often encouraged to compress the audio on CDs to make it as loud as possible: It’s the so-called loudness war. Since the audio on vinyl can’t be compressed to such extremes, records generally offer a more nuanced sound.

Another reason for vinyl’s sonic superiority is that no matter how high a sampling rate is, it can never contain all of the data present in an analog groove, Nyquist’s theorem to the contrary.

“The digital world will never get there,” said Chris Ashworth, owner of United Record Pressing, the country’s largest record pressing plant.

Golden-eared audiophiles have long testified to vinyl’s warmer, richer sound. And now demand for vinyl is on the rise. Pressing plants that were already at capacity are staying there, while others are cranking out more records than they did last year in order to keep pace with demand.

Don MacInnis, owner of Record Technology in Camarillo, California, predicts production will be up 25 percent over last year by the end of 2007. And he’s not talking about small runs of dance music for DJs, but the whole gamut of music: “new albums, reissues, majors and indies … jazz, blues, classical, pop and a lot of (classic) rock.”

Turntables are hot again as well. Insound, an online music retailer that recently began selling USB turntables alongside vinyl, can’t keep them in stock, according to the company’s director, Patrick McNamara.

And on Oct. 17, Amazon.com launched a vinyl-only section stocked with a growing collection of titles and several models of record players.

Big labels still aren’t buying the vinyl comeback, but it wouldn’t be the first time the industry failed to identify a new trend in the music biz.

“Our numbers, at least, don’t really point to a resurgence,” said Jonathan Lamy, the Recording Industry Association of America’s director of communications. Likewise, Nielsen SoundScan, which registered a slight increase in vinyl sales last year, nonetheless showed a 43 percent decrease between 2000 and 2006.

But when it comes to vinyl, these organizations don’t really know what they’re talking about. The RIAA’s numbers are misleading because its member labels are only now beginning to react to the growing demand for vinyl. As for SoundScan, its numbers don’t include many of the small indie and dance shops where records are sold. More importantly, neither organization tracks used records sold at stores or on eBay — arguably the central clearinghouse for vinyl worldwide.

Vinyl’s popularity has been underreported before.

“The Consumer Electronics Association said that only 100,000 turntables were sold in 2004. Numark alone sold more than that to pro DJs that year,” said Chris Roman, product manager for Numark.

And the vinyl-MP3 tag team might just hasten the long-predicted death of the CD.

San Francisco indie band The Society of Rockets, for example, plans to release its next album strictly on vinyl and as MP3 files.

“Having just gone through the process of mastering our new album for digital and for vinyl, I can say it is completely amazing how different they really sound,” said lead singer and guitarist Joshua Babcock in an e-mail interview. “The way the vinyl is so much better and warmer and more interesting to listen to is a wonder.”

– – –

Eliot Van Buskirk has covered digital music since 1998, after seeing the world’s first MP3 player sitting on a colleague’s desk. He plays bass and rides a bicycle.

Oct

26

Thoughts In Rainbows

Filed Under Album Picks | 4 Comments

Now that the dust has settled a bit on In Rainbows lets discuss…I will start off saying that Radiohead is not perfect in my mind, Pablo Honey is a great debut but I don’t listen to it regularly and Hail To Thief is really not one of my favorites by any means. So don’t get me wrong I am not going to sit here and stroke Radiohead’s dick or anything…Alright maybe a little…

When I got home from work on that Wed. I downloaded In Rainbows immediately, as I had to wait all day to hear it because I was late to work in the morning and was unable to download it before I left. I couldn’t wait to hear the album…And then I listened to it over and over again and took little breaks in between and then listened to it over and over some more.  Because Radiohead is one of those bands where you have to give their music a little time, it is not love as soon as you hear it. Their music grows on you and sometimes it takes weeks and at times even years I think. For example when I first heard Kid A I hated it (I know can you believe it?) but then I gave it another chance years later and it has become one of my favorite albums of all time.

I was intrigued to say the least when I first listened to In Rainbows…The first two tracks are funky rhythmic gems and then the album slows down in pace a bit, sucks you into it’s world and personally for me I am lost by the time All I Need comes into play…

Now what have Radiohead done differently from that of Hail To Thief? In one word In Rainbows is unpredictable it is a funky jazz infused alternative rock album that only Radiohead could make. It doesn’t sound mainstream like Hail To Thief did, in fact I think In Rainbows leans in the direction of Kid A, but it is just not as ground breaking. But it is beautiful and unique and there isn’t a song on the album I don’t like…I continue to listen to it over and over all the way through from 1 to 10. It makes me fucking happy, puts a big smile on my face and I can’t wait till the box set comes out in December and I can’t wait to see them sometime in 2008.

2 of my favorite tracks off the album…

mp3:  All I Need

mp3:  Reckoner

In Rainbows 2007

Album only available HERE

P.S. My Playtagger tags are not working and I don’t know why so please be patient. The songs are still there though just click the link to play in your music player or right click the link to save. Thank you!

Oct

9

Sunset Rubdown Bless Me

Filed Under Album Picks | 9 Comments

Sunset Rubdown just released their newest album, Random Spirit Lover. Good old Sunset Rubdown are beginning to become a staple in my music collection. Winged/Wicked Things is probably my favorite song on the album it is filled with so much passion and force I just love it, tis quite powerful indeed.

Speaking of force, the force hasn’t been with me as I return my defective iPod. Sending it as we speak back to Apple, where they will then in turn refund the money, where I then will purchase it in store so to avoid any shipping issues in the future just in case I happen to get another defective pod. Weeeee! I will keep you posted, I am sure you will be hearing it if I do indeed happen to get another rotten Apple.

mp3:   Winged/Wicked Things

Random Spirit Lover 2007 (JagJaguwar)

Album available HERE and HERE

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