the magnetic fields – distortion (2008)

The Magnetic Fields
Distortion
[Nonesuch/Jan 15]

Horrible cover art aside (yes, that album cover is actually real), Stephin Merritt’s latest thematic undertaking is drenched in reverb — brilliantly accentuating Shirley Simms’ sugary vocals, which in turn act as delicious adversaries to Merritt’s deep, miserablist delivery.
High point: I’ll Dream Alone
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
RIYL: Witty lyricisms, The [...]

the best albums of 2007 (yes, there are 75 albums on this list, omg); part III

PART III (#25-#1)
OMG.

2007 has been the greatest year of new music in my lifetime. When I began writing this, I had over 140 albums to whittle down into some sort of cohesive, OCD-styled best-of list. I chose 75 because that is where the cutoff appears to be (the albums I absolutely love vs. the albums [...]

the best albums of 2007; part II

PART II (#50-#26)

050
Band of Horses
Cease to Begin
[Sub Pop/Oct 9]

Seattle band’s sophomore album is submerged in a gloomy Americana abyss of reverb and My Morning Jacket-styled wailing that do nothing to alleviate the dismal desolation depicted on its cover.
High point: Is There A Ghost
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

049
Panda Bear
Person Pitch
[Paw Tracks/Mar 20]

Animal Collective member’s [...]

the best albums of 2007; part I

PART I (#75-#51)

On the fringe: Dropkick Murphys – The Meanest of Times; Emma Pollock – Watch the Fireworks; We All Have Hooks For Hands – The Pretender; Besnard Lakes – Are the Dark Horse; Dungen – Tio Bitar; Track A Tiger – We Moved Like Ghosts; Tomahawk – Anonymous; Battles – Mirrored; No Age [...]

a place to bury everyone

a place to bury strangers is taking nyc by storm with their brand of nu-gaze
a place to bury strangers’ self-titled debut is a brilliant update of the pre-shoegaze wall-of-sound pioneered by the jesus and mary chain and my bloody valentine in the mid-80s. dubbed “nyc’s loudest band”, frontman oliver ackerman and his bandmates’ first lp [...]

more 2007 goodness

• ariel pink’s haunted graffiti – underground
the latest opus of lo-fi insanity from cult hero ariel pink is another strange, hallucinatory journey through a collage of twisting melodies, noisy interims and brilliant songwriting that combine together to form a surprisingly coherent, cohesive whole on par with the year’s best records.
ariel pink’s haunted graffiti – ghost [...]

bjm; a harrowing goodbye?

a decent version of the brian jonestown massacre’s new masterpiece, my bloody underground, appears to have surfaced online a couple of weeks ago, (it is a bit different than the preview available from the band’s website this summer). and holy omfg is all i can say about this record. this is by far the saddest, [...]

holy omg i have arisen from the dead let’s talk about music

whoa dudes, i ttly apologize about being horrible at writing this blog. here is a bunch of writings on a bunch of albums. awesome, right?
• jim ward – quiet ep
sparta’s front man has a solo ep out. called, simply, quiet, it is more or less what you would expect of a solo effort from a [...]

les savy fav ftw

basically les savy fav’s new album
let’s stay friends is completely undeniably amazing. holy omfg i cannot even describe how awesome this album is. maybe i can, for example: i have listened to it over 20 times in the past 2 days. does that indicate anything to you ? because srsly omfg, dear les savy [...]

bears one of teh greatest new bands for surez

i went to go see bears here in phoenix tonite, and WTF THEY WERE DONE PLAYING by the time i got there :’( i was so ttly sad it was horrible. i wanted to die, i wanted to slit my wrists (remember: it’s down the river not across the stream), i wanted to kill, i [...]