Top 10 albums of 2010

1. The National - High Violet
2. Robyn - Body Talk
3. Foals - Total Life Forever
4. LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening
5. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
6. Broken Bells - Broken Bells
7. Caribou - Odessa
8. Four Tet - There is Love in You
9. Frightened Rabbit - Winter of Mixed Drinks
10. Local Natives - Gorilla Manor

Honorable Mentions:
Wild Nothing - Gemini
Toro Y Moi - Causers of This

More random thoughts

There is a Jack Johnson concert tonight in Vancouver. Just saw a mobile upload from someone who is there. Looks like a tonne of lamestreamers are there. Can't get excited about Jack Johnson's music. He's pretty much been releasing the same yet somehow progressively worse album for the last 8 years. Trying to appeal to the masses I guess. No better way to do that than to release the same commercially successful album over and over. G-Love and Special Sauce are opening up yet again. These guys are pretty much making a career on riding Jack's coattails.

Boring.

Random Thoughts

Haven't blogged in ages. Its been difficult with the (music) man shuttting down my shit. Thinking about turning this into a personal blog or just quitting altogether. Might consider changing my writing style [via Hipster Runoff]. Pretty sure it won't matter as I doubt anyone is actually reading this.

Googled someone this evening that appalled/overwhelmed/motivated me. Not sure what to think about it. Will remain annonymous.

After a lackluster summer of music, it seems to be concert season again in Vancouver. In the last couple of weeks I saw The National, Tegan & Sara, Arcade Fire. Ditching the Broken Social Scene tickets. Looking forward to Foals. Looking forward to Halloween. Think I will give the people what they want and dress up like Dexter.

Dan Mangan - Next Big Thing

I first got my taste of Dan Mangan's music a few years ago. I had just returned from a year abroad in Australia and Mangan was playing at a local dive bar with other local singer/songwriter types. The pub was filled with a familiar university crowd. You got the feeling that those who were present were there to support friends or friends of friends. I tagged along with my brother. He was familiar with Dan Mangan the musician as well as Dan Mangan the individual from their time together at UBC.

Fast forward to 2009 and Dan Mangan releases his sophomore record. The album entitled Nice, Nice, Very Nice receives much deserved attention on Vancouver's newly established indie rock radio station. Growing up on the west side of Vancouver and attending the local university, Dan has always had a strong cult following in Vancouver. His song writing strikes a chord in the local watering holes and neighbourhoods of the city.

On "Tina's Glorious Comeback" Mangan sings of playing at the Railway Club in Vancouver, a hotspot for up-and-coming local artists while the meandering "The Indie Queens are Waiting" Dan asks "Are we cool now?" in somewhat of a self-deprecating muse about his place in our city's often pretentious indie music scene.

But those feelings of modesty are proving to be somewhat unwarranted. Recently, Mangan was shortlisted for Canada's coveted Polaris Music Prize. A list which includes Arts & Crafts label-mates Broken Social Scene as well as other indie heavyweights such as Tegan & Sara, Caribou and Owen Pallett.

A proud Vancouverite and the sole Westerner on the Ontario-based Arts & Crafts, Mangan most recently entertained the city on the shores of English Bay as part of this year's Shorefest, a free concert series coinciding with the Celebration of Light and featuring some of Canada's hottest acts and emerging Vancouver artists. While near to the stage it was standing room only, those on the beach who had come for the fireworks, wondering what the buzz was all about, quickly turned around to take in the performance. Mangan’s well-received set ended in his now trade-mark fashion - by inviting friends and fellow musicians onto the stage to participate in the sing-along crowd-pleaser “Robots.”

At the age of 27 Mangan is already somewhat of a performance veteran. He sold out Vancouver’s Vogue theatre back in June and has recently returned from touring Canada, Australia and the UK including a stop in England at this year's famed Glastonbury festival. He is currently embarked on a tour of the U.S. in support of album Nice, Nice, Very Nice which was released stateside August 10th 2010. For more information, check out http://www.danmanganmusic.com/

Dan Mangan - Robots

MiMOSA

I could use one of these at the moment....

More from the Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire have released two new tracks from their upcoming album The Suburbs. UK single "We Used To Wait" and North American single ‘Ready to Start’ made their surprise debuts yesterday. Upon repeated listens, these two tracks are a little bit more what we might expect from the Arcade Fire. "Ready to Start" is a murkier bass driven track whereas "We Used to Wait" has a bit more of a forward driven pop feel to it. Listening to these tracks puts previously released tracks, "Month or May" and "The Suburbs" into a bit more context and makes them immediately more enjoyable.

Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait


Arcade Fire - Ready to Start

On Melancholy Hill

Stuck on Repeat

Not sure how I have come to like Japandroids so much, especially since I have never been into the loud fuzzy angsty guitar rock. Perhaps its because they are two local guys who came together on the campus of UVic or perhaps it because their fuzzy guitar rock comes packaged with infectious riffs and nostalgic lyrics. "Younger Us" is the Japandroids second offering from their 7" series.

For the first time since 2007's Wincing the Night Away, The Shins are out with new music, albeit a one off cover track. "Goodbye Girl" sounds Shinsy enough and would fit seemlessly alongside the rest of their catalogue. With its pop-choppy guitar riff and its nostalgic lyrics, its a perfect sounding song for summer.

Japandroids - Younger Us


The Shins - Goodbye Girl

Smooth Sounding Summer Mix

Felix Cartal - Summer Mixtape 2010

The Ghost Inside

New Arcade Fire

The Arcade Fire made available two new tracks this week that have been all over the blogosphere and will be regurgitated here. The new tracks are from the forthcoming album The Suburbs to be released on August 3, 2010. The first track, title track "The Suburbs" has a bit of a poppy guitar and piano riff while track "Month of May" has a bit more of a punk rock feel to it. Neither are what one might expect from the Arcade Fire. Should be interesting to hear what direction the new album will take.

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs


Arcade Fire - Month of May

The National

I haven't been blogging a lot recently since the man keeps unpublishing my posts due to copyright infringement or whatever. Not cool. Anyways, I have been listening to the new The National album on repeat since it came out. This is their fifth full-length album, but my first time experiencing them. Not sure where they have been this whole time. High Violet is easily the best album of 2010 thus far.

Sun Run

I mixed this for last year's Sun Run and had a personal best. I stashed it away for a while forgetting how good it had turned out. I've rediscovered it and am going to run to it again this year and see if I can duplicate last year's success.

Sun Run Mix 2009

Deepsky - Talk Like a Stranger (Markus Schulz Remix)
Kamaya Painters - Summerbreeze
Rui Da Silva - Touch Me
Jes - Imagination (Tiesto Remix)
Fonzerelli - Moonlight Party
Randy Katana - In Silence (Reset)
Max Linen - Flashback
Duncan Sheik - On A High (Gabriel & Dresden's Love From Humboldt Remix)
Gabriel & Dresden - Tracking Treasure Down (Club Mix)

Mix Time 50:16
Run Time 41:47

Omni-bear

Minus the Bear recently released their fourth full-length album OMNI. Full disclosure, I'd been waiting patiently for this one. The transition between OMNI and their last album 'Planet of Ice' induces all forms of fire and ice analogies that I'll spare you, but it's true that MTB have picked up the pace considerably. OMNI, produced by Joe Chiccarelli (The Shins - Wincing the Night Away), displays the bands infinite ability to remain unbored with their instrumental choices....cue Omnichord.

Jake Snider continues the lyrical imagery, which is probably my favorite component to MTB. What girl wouldn't want 'Secret Country' written about her?

The album has flickers and hints of inspiration from across the musical board....70's funk guitar riffs (ala Shaft), why not? Animal Backwards comes outta nowhere like an impromptu mid-album dance party. It packs an especially booty shaking punch as it comes from Minus the Bear, a band you wouldn't typically associate with that kinda bass.

You can stream the new album here but it's certainly worth the purchase.

I'm an especial sucker for the guitar line on Hold Me Down

Kettering

New stuff, and stuff I like

The music world continues to please us with plenty of new tracks to explore. Interpol are out with a new album later this year. 'Lights', taken from sessions for their fourth album, is available from the band's official site. According to the band, the song will be the first of several to be released in the next few months and when complete, we should expect the new record to have a more "orchestra feel."

I have really been digging Japandroids a lot recently. Japandroids are a two-piece band from Vancouver, who got their start at the University of Victoria in 2006. Their 2009 debut Post Nothing was one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year and the band has continues to please us with the release of the first in a series of 7" singles. I am not typically into loud guitar, but as a two-piece Japandroids are able to achieve rock riffs that don't come off as over-bearing, but rather as hooky and infectious.

Tunng is a folktronica (for lack of a better term) band from England. To date they have released four albums, the most recent of which is 2010's ...And Then We Saw Land. Land is probably the most accessible of the bands releases as they have steered away from the the impromptu electronic asides. "Hustle" is the lead track and first single from the new album and best exemplifies what Tunng are all about - smoothe melodies and hooky guitar riffs.


Interpol - Lights


Japandroids - Art Czars


Tunng - Hustle

Tenderoni

Bloc Party front man Kele Okereke will make his solo-debut June 21 when he releases The Boxer. Its expected that this album will have a heavy electroic influence ala the eccentric Bloc Party track "Flux". Our first taste from the new album was made available earlier this week. The track entitled "Tenderoni" has a heavy electronic surge reminiscent of something that I can't place my finger on. If the track title sounds somewhat familiar it should. Teneroni is also that name of a track by 80's inspired Canadian dance duo Chromeo who incidently also have an new album on its way this summer. Oh and incase you were wondering as I was:

Tenderoni - a slang terminology used to describe one's younger male or female love interest or someone too young to talk to or become involved with, Pretty Young Thing or P.Y.T.

Kele - Tenderoni


Chromeo - Tenderoni


Chromeo - Night by Night

Leaks

Its been a fun week for internet music geeks as several forthcoming spring albums have made their premature release on the web.

I had been eagerly anticipating the new Foals album since I got my first taste of lead track "Spanish Sahara". Foals have migrated away from their manic math-rock choppiness that was indicative of their 2008 debut Antidotes and instead have adopted a dancier poppier vibe. Total Life Forever is certainly a more mature sounding record with more harmonies and drawn out grooves. Definitely will have this one on heavy rotation over the summer.

Crystal Castles moved up the official release of their sophomore album to coincide with its leak earlier this week on the web. On their new self-titled album (their debut was also self-titled) Crystal Castles continue their unique brand of static and scream but with a decidedly more subdued approach than previous efforts (listen for the Sigur Ros sample). At the typical pop-length of four minutes, Crystal Castles waste no time forcing their Atari-inspired dance impulses right in your face, but do so with a more sophisticated approach.

The new Broken Social Scene also made a premature appearance to internet music fans this week. Lead track "World Sick" is a great album opener and leads to two more strong tracks that get the listener primed for a hooky rock album. However after this the album falls somewhat flat. As Hear You Now reported earlier, Forgiveness Rock Record was recorded with a relatively slim six core members but would feature "guest" appearances from the typical cast of collaborators. While Emily Hanes and Amy Milan each get lead duty on one track each, Feist is relegated to backing vocals on one of Drew's many all-too similarly sounding tracks and Jason Collett is absent, guitar-riff or otherwise, from the album completely.

Broken Social Scene has always been a bit of an enigma for me. They have some absolutely phenomenal songs and some absolutely awful ones. I suppose that’s what you get when you have an ever-changing cast of members. Tracks like "Sweetest Kill" would sound terrific on any summer mix tape, however, the album as a whole sounds a bit too much like a BSS Present Kevin Drew Sophomore album than a true full BSS-ensembled effort. Its kind of funny that they name the album what they did. Almost as if they are apologizing for not giving us something better, especially after waiting for over five years.

Band of Horses are also out prematurely with new album Infinite Arms. Upon first listen the album seems a little more emotive and melodic than 2007's disappointing Cease to Begin. This album certainly has its slower numbers but not of the coma-inducing variety that seemingly made up the majority of their previous release. The biggest redeeming quality of the band has always been Ben Bridwell's voice. Infinite Arms has got that easy-going lazy summer feel to it, but it will be interesting to see if this one sticks with so many other great sounding albums for it to compete with.

Foals - Spanish Sahara


Crystal Castles - Celistica


Broken Social Scene - World Sick


Band of Horses - Compliments

Compliments from Band of Horses on Vimeo.

Friday Thoughts and Music

I have been listening to the new MGMT album a few times over the last couple of weeks. Not sure what to think just yet. In Congratulations, MGMT have veered wildly away from the bar-ready pop numbers that highlighted their debut and instead have produced an interospective art-rock album, more suitable for listening to on quiet spring afternoons. I still hear a lot of people tell me that they like MGMT. Do they really, or do they just like 'Kids' and 'Electric Feel' from that one time they heard them when they were out at the bar?

In totally unrelated news, I am really digging 'Harmonix' by Surfer Blood. So much so that I can't get past it and give the rest of the album a proper listen. It kind of reminds me of Arcade Fire`s 'Neighborhood #2 (Laika)' which reminds me that Arcade Fire are releasing a new album soon, which makes me happy.

MGMT - Congratulations Edit: Link Removed
Surfer Blood - Harmonix  Edit: Link Removed
Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #2 (Laika)  Edit: Link Removed

Music for a Saturday Night

Neon Indian - Sleep Paralysist


Lady Gaga - Telephone (Passion Pit Remix)


Tegan and Sara - Alligator (Kevin St. Croix Remix)

What's with Ben Gibbard?

Is Ben Gibbard on drugs? I just watched a concert of Death Cab for Cutie on TV and it reminded me of Pemberton Festival two years ago, when Death Cab came on to the stage and my brother and I looked at each other and wondered who the skinny-looking guy on the left was. Turns out it was newer skinnier version of Ben Gibbard. What's more is during the conert I watched today, Ben was definately tapping his foot double time to the beat during their encore of "Transatlanticism", like he was hearing a beat that wasn't there. "Is he on speed?" we asked each other. We used to joke that we wanted to be close enough to the stage to poke Ben in his chubby belly and how he looks just like Colin Meloy. Now we joke that he looks like he's on drugs and looks like younger, nerdier version of Neil Young.

One Night in May

One upcoming night in May presents itself with a bit of a predicament. Its been some time since I have purchased tickets to any live shows and wouldn't you have it, two very likeable artist will play on the same night in Vancouver.

Shout Out Louds are an indie-pop band from Sweden. Earlier this year, they released their third album entitled Work. While not as strong as their sophomore release, Shout Out Louds fall back on hooky riffs and symphonic harmonies. Extremely pleasant to listen to, their live show would certainly be one to go and chill out at and leave feeling warm and nostalgic on a late spring evening.

On the contrary, experimental electronic duo, Fuck Buttons, will be swinging through town that very same night. It's been some time since I have seen a live electronic performance. Fuck Buttons are a synthy euphoric emotional jouney. One can only imagine what their live performance might sounds like.

Sounds like I will have a decision to make.

Shout Out Louds - Please Please Please


Fuck Buttons - The Lisbon Maru

A Friday Mixtape

A reflection for the week that was.

Dead Man's Bones - Pa Pa Power


Japandroids - Wet Hair


Gorillaz - Rhinestone Eyes

Plastic Beach

The new Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach was released March 9. The badass video for the track "Stylo" was made available today. The semi-animated video features a car-chase with none other than the original badass himself Bruce Willis.

Forthcoming

Wow 2010. So much good music already, so much more to look forward to. 2010 is easily becoming the year of indie music. Here is a select list of artists coming out with new albums in Q2.

Broken Socail Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record (May 4th)

As reported here, Broken Social Scene return with a relatively slim core-five members. A revolving door however it would seem, this listener has learned that Feist, Emily Haines, Jason Collett and Amy Millan will all make appearances on the album. "World Sick" is
the first preview we have of the new album.

01 World Sick
02 Chase Scene
03 Texico Bitches
04 Forced to Love
05 All to All
06 Art House Director
07 Highway Slipper Jam
08 Ungrateful Little Father
09 Meet Me in the Basement
10 Sentimental X’s
11 Sweetest Kill
12 Romance to the Grave
13 Water in Hell
14 Me and My Hand

Broken Social Scene - World Sick Edit: Link removed


Foals - Total Life Forever (May 10th)

An early favourite for album of the year based solely on the strength of first single "Spanish Sahara" Foals return in 2010 with Total Life Forever. A complete 180 from their math-rock mania that was 2008's Antidotes, "Spanish Sahara" is a slow burner with a progressive build that borrows heavily from electronic influence.

Foals - Spanish Sahara  Edit: Link removed

Band or Horses - Infinite Arms (May 18th)

Americana folk rock band, Band of Horses release their third album Infinate Arms. Co-founded in 2004 by Mat Brooke and frontman Ben Bridwell, the group has seen a continuous turn-over in group members in their relatively short lifespan. After 2006's triumphant Everything All the Time, song collaborator Mat Brooke left the group and the remaining members reloacted to South Carolina. 2007's Cease to Begin surely has its highlights but was missing the punch that found their debut album so listenable.

2010's Infinite Arms was written and recorded by 2009's touring band and based on their July performance in Vancouver, one might find this album a little too heavy on the twang.


Wintersleep - New Inheritors (May 18th)

East-coast Canadian rockers, Wintersleep return with their fourth studio album. Building momentum with each successive release, the hibernating quintent hope to build on 2007's break through single "Weighty Ghost." No sneak preivews from the new disc have been leaked as of yet, however, lead singer Paul Murphy teams up with his brother and lends his grating yet very listenable voice to side project Postdata.

Postdata - In Chemicals  Edit: Link removed


Nada Surf - If I had a hi-fi (June 8th)

Perhaps one of the most unexpected projects of the year, Nada Surf are set to release an album of covers. The album will be made available to concert goers commencing March 25 and then will be released physically to mass consumption on June 8th. I am digging cool faux-retro album cover.

01 Electrocution – Bill Fox
02 Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode
03 Love Goes On – The Go-Betweens
04 Janine - Arthur Russell
05 You Were So Warm – Dwight Twilley
06 Love and Anger – Kate Bush
07 The Agony of Laffitte – Spoon
08 Bye Bye Beaute – Coralie Clement
09 Question – Moody Blues
10 Bright Side – Soft Pack
11 Evolution – Mercromina
12 I Remembered What I Was Going to Say – The Silly Pillows

Nada Surf - Electrocution (Bill Fox).  Edit: Link removed


Stars - The Five Ghosts (June 22)

The Montreal-based group will release its fifth album, The Five Ghosts, on June 22 on their own Soft Revolution Records. Ghosts was produced by Tom McFall, who also worked on the band’s 2005 album Set Yourself On Fire.

01 Dead Hearts
02 Wasted Daylight
03 I Died So I Could Haunt You
04 Fixed
05 We Don't Want Your Body
06 He Dreams He's Awake
07 Never Been Good With Change
08 The Passenger
09 The Last Song Ever Written
10 How Much More
11 Winter Bones

Waving Flag

The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics closed today. The next big world event will be the 2010 World Cup of Soccer to be held this summer in South Africa.

World Sick

Broken Social Scene have made available the first track from their upcoming album release. Forgiveness Rock Record  will be available May 4, 2010 on Arts & Crafts.

The group recorded the album with a relatively lean six core-members.  No Feist?  No Emily Haines? No Amy Millan? No K-Os? The first track entitled "World Sick" is available for the cost of an email. Kevin Drew takes lead vocals on this track which is not unexpected. This listener is hoping that with this core six, that Brendan Canning gets the frontman nod for his share of tracks as in my humble opinion, his BSS Presents album was far superior than Drew's.

Broken Social Scene - World Sick


Broken Social Scene presents Brendan Canning - Hit the Wall

The Olympics

Pretty much missed the jumping off point on this, but its the Olympics here in Vancouver. Fuck Buttons have the aptly named unofficial Olympic anthem that has been repeating on my ipod all week.

Fuck Buttons - Olympians

Cultural Olympiad

The 2010 Vancouver Olympics officially get under way this Friday February 12. While the average Vancouver citizen is unlikely to be able to afford any event tickets, the corporate big wigs at VANOC have done a decent job of organizing free events for the average person to enjoy.

Here are some of the highlights from the free concerts happening in and around Vancouver duing the games.

Fri Feb 12th - Bedouin Soundclash - 10:00 @ Ontario Pavillion
Sat Feb 13th - Jet's Overhead - 8:00 @ Holland Park
Sat Feb 13th - Daniel Wesley - 10:00 @ Holland Park
Sat Feb 13th - Hey Ocean - 8:00 @ Ozone
Sat Feb 13th - Bedouin Soundclash - 9:30 @ Ozone
Sat Feb 13th - Wilco - 10:00 @ Livecity Yaletown
Sun Feb 14th - Mother Mother - 8:00 @ Livecity Yaletown
Sun Feb 14th - Daniel Wesley - 9:30 @ Livecity Yaletown
Mon Feb 15th - Sloan - 10:30 @ Atlantic Canada House
Mon Feb 15th - Jet's Overhead - 9:30 @ Livecity Downtown
Mon Feb 15th - Matisyahu - 9:30 @ Livecity Yaletown
Tue Feb 16th - Alexisonfire - 9:30 @ Livecity Yaletown
Tue Feb 16th - Buck 65 - 9:30 @ Livecity Downtown
Wed Feb 17th - Hawksley Workman - 9:30 @ Ozone
Wed Feb 17th - Hot Hot Heat - 9:00 @ Holland Park
Thur Feb 18th - Our Lady Peace - 9:45 @ Ozone
Fri Feb 19th - Deadmau5 - 9:30 @ Livecity Yaletown
Fri Feb 19th - Dan Mangan - 8:00 @ Holland Park
Fri Feb 19th - Sam Roberts - 9:00 @ Holland Park
Sat Feb 20th - Sam Roberts - 9:30 @ Livecity Yaletown
Sat Feb 20th - Mother Mother - 10:00 @ Holland Park
Sat Feb 20th - Hey Ocean - 8:30 @ Holland Park
Sun Feb 21st - The Odds - 7:30 @ Holland Park
Sun Feb 21st - 54-40 - 9:00 @ Holland Park
Tue Feb 23rd - Constantines - 8:00@ Livecity Yaletown
Tue Feb 23rd - Wintersleep - 9:30 @ Livecity Yaletown
Wed Feb 24th - Wintersleep - 10:30 @ Atlantic Canada House
Wed Feb 24th - Damian "Jr.Gong" Marley - 9:30 @ Livecity Yaletown
Thur Feb 25th - Wintersleep - 9:30 @ Ozone
Fri Feb 26th - Tokyo Police Club - 9:45 @ Ozone
Sat Feb 27th - Matt Mays - 6:30 @ Livecity Yaletown
Sat Feb 27th - Matt Mays - 10:30 @ Atlantic Canada House
Sat Feb 27th - Wide Mouth Mason - 9:30 @ Holland Park
Sat Feb 27th - Tokyo Police Club - 9:00 @ Holland Park
Sat Feb 27th - Wintersleep - 10:00 @ Holland Park

Livecity Yaletown:
David Lam Park, Vancouver

Livecity Downtown:
Cambie St between Dunsmuir St and W Georgia St, Vancouver

Holland Park:
13428 Old Yale Rd., Surrey

Ozone:
Minoru Park, Richmond

Ontario Pavillion:
Concord Place, False Creek, Vancouver

Atlantic Canada House:
Granville Island

Wintersleep - Dead Letter and the Infinite Yes


Mother Mother - Wrecking Ball


Constantines - Love and Fear

One Life Stand

The new Hot Chip album entitled One Life Stand is out today. They are embarking on a North American tour commencing April 16th. No Vancouver date announced yet.

Hot Chip - Alley Cats

Four Tet

Electronic music can be terrible. It can be loud, obnoxious and tacky. Fortunately electronic music can be fantastic. It can tell a story, convey an emotion or just make you want to move. Four Tet's new album is an example of the latter. Released on January 26th, 2010, There is Love in You is already being labeled as album of the year by some listeners. I espcially like the glitchy track "Sing."

Four Tet - Sing

The House Of Supreme Mathematics

Good news music fans. On January 25th, Oxford, England's Foals announced that they have recently finished recording their sophomore album. As of yet, no release date has been announced for the disc entitled The House Of Supreme Mathematics. Another one to get excited for. 2010 is already shaping up to be a good year in music.

Foals - Big Big Love (Fig. 2)

The Trapeze Swinger

I was able to catch a performatnce of Iron & Wine at Austin City Limits the other night on public television. Sam Beam was performing with a full band with no less than six members. Song arrangements sounded somewhat different than those on record, however, they still sounded great. I would love to see Iron & Wine perform live in a sit down venue to really appreciate the nuances and intricacies of his sound.

Incidently that same night, In Good Company was on the tele as well. The best thing about that movie, other than Scarlett Johansson of course, would be the soundtrack, which features three songs by Iron & Wine. The highlight from both the Austin City Limits concert and the In Good Company Soundtrack is easily "The Trapeze Swinger."

Iron & Wine - The Trapeze Swinger (live)


Iron & Wine - The Trapeze Swinger

Embryonic

Widely acclaimed for their elaborate live performances which feature constumes, confetti canons, puppets and frontman Wayne Coyne traversing through the crowd in a giant bubble, the Flaming Lips have come to be known as a band that every self-respecting concert-goer must see before they die. A staple at summer music festivals, The Lips have gained more notoriety and fanfare in recent years for their wacky stage antics than for their studio offerings.

In 2009, the 23 year indie rock veterans released their 12th full-length studio album. The disc entitled Embryonic is described as "a wonderfully weird parade of sonic delights: an arresting consummation of the Lips' two-and-a-half decade career." (1)Take album opener "Convinced of the Hex" for example. This track was concieved during an full band jam session early in the writing/recoring process.

While Embryonic sounds and feels like a Lips' record, several other artists also made contributions to the disc. German mathematician Dr. Thorsten Wörmann contributed to the track "Gemini Syringes", synthpop band MGMT contributed to the song "Worm Mountain", and Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) contributed to the songs "I Can Be a Frog" and "Watching the Planets" which were recorded by Wayne Coyne over the phone.

Certainly not an album to overlooked, The Flaming Lips provide one of the greatest highlights from 2009.

The Flaming Lips - Convinced of the Hex


The Flaming Lips feat. Karen O. - I Can Be A Frog


The Flaming Lips feat. Karen O. - Watching the Planets


Bonus Tip: Check out the "Watching the Planets" video (Warning - NSFW)!

Fuck Buttons

As every year comes to a close, music critics and music elitist alike take the opportunity to compile their inevitable "Best of" lists. It is an opportunity, at least for this listener, to review such lists and pick up on albums and artists that might have been missed the first time around.

Take for instance Fuck Buttons. An artist easily overlooked with a moniker too similar to other recently hyped bands to warrant any real distinction. 2009 was fucked - Fuck Buttons, Fucked Up, Holy Fuck. Fuck was to 2009 as Crystal was to 2008 - Crystal Castles, Crystals Stilts, Crystal Antlers, etc. I mean, who can really keep track?

Fuck Buttons are an experimental duo from London, England. Their critically acclaimed second album Tarot Sport was released in October 2009. Tarot Sport is a cerebral journey of swelling anthematic electronica. Lead track, "Surf Solar", slowly yet defiantly pushes through the fuzz to hit the listener right between the ears and leave them wanting more. And Tarot Sport certainly delivers as its seven tracks spread over an ambitious 58:35. Album closer "Flight of the Feathered Serpent" brings the journey back down to earth with its settling melody layered over top of a triumphant drum beat.


Fuck Buttons - Surf Solar


Fuck Buttons - Flight of the Feathered Serpent