January 22, 2010

November Album Reviews

Absolutely Love & Adore:

Sons of Anarchy: Shelter EP - Yup, another EP from my favorite TV show. Katey Sagal covers "Ruby Tuesday" in a beautiful, heartbreaking rendition. The other songs are good too but that's the one I can't stop listening to.

Matt Hires "Take Us to the Start" - YAY I have been waiting for this album since the first time I heard "Honey, Let Me Sing You a Song" (which yay is also on here). He's definitely someone you would expect me to like, a singer/songwriter-y dude with sort of acoustic, mostly cheery songs. What my cousin calls "WB Music" (i.e., something that would have been used in the background on Dawson's Creek or Everwood). That doesn't bother me at all. Other fave song: "A Perfect Day" (LOVE!)

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Mary" Patty Griffin - so so so beautiful.
  
• "Fly Me Away" Annie Little - a freebie from Amazon but I still like it!
  
• "Sumatra" Katie Herzig - the second song of hers to become a serious repeat play for me. I should probably check out her albums at this point.
  

Other Albums I Liked:

• Shwayze "Let It Beat" - I have no idea why I dig these weird Shwayze albums so much. But you know what? I DO. And that's all there is to it. They make me wanna dance.
  

Not really for me / but maybe for you!: Nada!!

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

Mos Def "The Ecstatic" - I dug this dude's acting in both "16 Blocks" and "Be Kind, Rewind," and then Rolling Stone gave this album a really enthusiastic review...but I've barely listened to it yet. Hey! November was a TOUGH month school-wise.

Company of Thieves "Ordinary Riches" - another victim of my inability to listen to music at the end of last semester when I was writing, writing, writing for weeks (my semester was very back-end-heavy in terms of assignments). Cant' remember what made me buy it, but I don't think I've made it through twice yet. I will say, the lead female really sounds like Rachael Yamagata. And you know, someday I'll find time to listen and check it out more!!

Posted by Duff at 08:09 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

October Album Reviews

Hold on, you're not even going to believe this. Are you sitting down? I DIDN'T BUY ANY RECORDS IN OCTOBER. I know, right? It's like the world ended and no one told us. I didn't even realize it until about a week ago when I went to print out all the monthly playlists I was behind on. Going back to school is making me WEIRD.

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September Album Reviews

Absolutely Love & Adore:

The Avett Brothers "I and Love and You" - I'm sure I have mentioned these guys enough times now that you are not surprised to see them. This album just continues their greatness and they're getting a much wider release and YAY for them. I can't really even pick a favorite song or two because everytime I listen I either a) love them all or b) completely change my mind on which one is best!

Sons of Anarchy: North Country EP - Yes, that's right, my favorite show of the year is also releasing little EP soundtracks. And they're awesome. This one has "John the Revelator" from Curtis Stigers, the song from the season 1 finale, which is so great. And the "Forever Young" cover by Audra Mae is just lovely.

Glee - The Music, Vol. 1 - I had bought a lot of these as singles as they were released, so I just finished up the album with what I hadn't already bought. This show is, for the most part, a LOT of fun and so are the covers. I have this random, not well thought out at all, theory that covers are ALMOST ALWAYS good because it's so hard to ruin a good song. Whereas movie remakes, there are just SO many places those can go wrong. And some of these are not just good or decent covers...some of these are GREAT! Faves: "Bust Your Windows" "Take a Bow" "Push It"

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Hazy" Rosi Golan and William Fitzsimmons - so pretty!
  
• "Single Ladies" (cover) Pampelmoose - you can find it on myspace or somewheres
  

Other Albums I Liked:

• Kid Cudi "Man on the Moon - The End of Day" - Remember back when Kanye was just getting big and dressed like a schoolboy in sweater vests all the time and referred to himself as "Carlton" (from Fresh Prince of LA)? Kid Cudi seems to have taken that personality over for him now that Kanye's gone all glam. Fave: I really love the song they're both on here "Make Her Say" (with Common also).

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

J. Tillman "Year in the Kingdom" - a solo album from a Fleet Fox. Some of this is really pretty - I really like "Earthly Bodies" and "Year in the Kingdom" but I can't listen to it as a whole album: too overall "on the same note" / too slow and methodical. Needs to shake it up once in a while to keep me going, I just end up fast forwarding... Sorry. :(

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

Sea Wolf "White Water, White Bloom" - I really like this band, I just haven't given this album much more than a cursory listen. I KNOW. I got it after school started though and listening since then has been very inconsistent. What I've listened to sounds pretty but I know their old stuff a lot better.

Posted by Duff at 07:55 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

January 12, 2010

First Impression: OK Go "Of the Blue Colour of the Sky"

They must've been listening to a lot of Prince before they wrote/recorded this. Sexy/funky.

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August Album Reviews

I realize I am ridiculously behind but for some inexplicable reason I am determined to catch Snip up to speed rather than just skipping ahead. And hey look, another month where I barely bought any tunes! WEIRD!

Absolutely Love & Adore:

Damien Rice "Live at Fingerprints: Warts and All" - This dude really needs to put out an album of fresh material (he talks on here about how he thought he might never finish another record...Nooooooooooo). But these are nice arrangements and I could (do) listen to his previous stuff all the time. I just want MORE. ;)

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" She & Him - from the 500 Days of Summer sdtrk
  
• "Shining Down" Lupe Fiasco & Matthew Santos - LOVE!!
  
• "Run This Town" Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye
  

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

Horehound "Dead Weather" - I am a fan of almost everything Jack White does, and I bet this band is awesome live, but I just can't get into this album.

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

I downloaded the free Nylon Magazine August mix...but I've never listened to it. Whoops.

Posted by Duff at 01:05 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

October 18, 2009

July Album Reviews

I was about one thing, and one thing just about only, in July tune-wise: EMPTY ORCHESTRA!!

Absolutely Love & Adore:

Empty Orchestra "Here Lies Empty Orchestra" - My friend Pam's band swung through Chicago in July and it was honestly the highlight of my summer! I would have gone to support her at the show regardless of how they sounded: so SUPER BONUS for me when it turned out they're great!! Totally rockin'. I saw a reviewer call them "Americana" and I guess I can go along with that. It's that space between pop, rock and country: where there's some twang and some beats and some great guitar playing and woah Stephen's vocals are great!! I mean really, I can't see why you wouldn't love this album unless you're a total musical noob. Faves: "Always Already" (I can hear Pammie in the background!); "Words and Music" (oh the intro to this song slays me); "It Gets Better".

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Closer Than You Think" Evertyhing Absent or Distorted
  
• "Beneath Your Tree" Bowerbirds
  
• "Earthly Bodies" J. Tillman - A Fleet Fox on his own. Nice.
  
• "El Paso" Jason Anderson
  
• "Sellout" (Live) Ryan Auffenberg (LOVE!)
  

Other Albums I Liked:

• Empty Orchestra "Get Well Soon" - Six earlier (? I think) songs. Fave song "Civil War".
  

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June Album Reviews

Another month where I only bought two albums!! Kudos to me on not spending money but dang I'm sure there's lots of awesome stuff out there I missed this year!!

Absolutely Love & Adore:

Pete Yorn "Back & Fourth" - Wow, I am just completely gaga for this album. Completely. Definitely my most-listened tunes for the second half of the year. It's the usual melancholy swell of emotion from Yorn, soft and gentle and sad and rambling on. Which just makes it even odder that his concerts are so "all at the same volume level, arena anthem rock" sounding. Faves include "Dont' Wanna Cry" and "Social Development Dance" but honestly I love this entire album front to back.

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Swim Until You Can't See Land" Frightened Rabbit - really the only thing I regret about canceling my trip to Monolith is not getting to see these guys.
  
• "H.O.T.T. (Half of the Time)" Wheat
  

Other Albums I Liked:

• Dent May & His Magnificent Ukelele "The Good Feeling Music of Dent May and His Magnificent Ukelele" - Totally goofy. Kinda reminds me of Matt Costa. Unusual instrumentation, styles all over the map.
  

Posted by Duff at 10:39 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

May Album Reviews

I know - who cares at this point. I just need to get myself up to date here.

Absolutely Love & Adore:

Telekinesis (self-titled) - Poppy and Fun. Fave tunes are "Rust", "Coast of Carolina" and "I Saw Lightning" .

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Tear You Apart" She Wants Revenge (by far my favorite song of the month! and maybe the summer!)
  
• "How Your Heart Is Wired" Bell X1
  
• "Hypermode" A Shoreline Dream
  
• "The Last of the Melting Snow" The Leisure Society
  
• "We'll See the Sun" Houses
  
• "More Time" Needtobreathe
  
• "Crazy Bitch" Buckcherry
  
• "Magic Show" Electric Owls
  
• "Percussion Gun" White Rabbits
  

Other Albums I Liked but Frankly Have Barely Listened to AT ALL:
I don't know what was up with me in May, over the summer, or really this year, but all the below albums are 1) by artists I like and 2) decent albums and 3) I have barely listened to them at all. WTF? I guess it just wasn't the right time for me with them.

• Eminem "Relapse" - Especially love "Bagpipes from Baghdad" "Deja Vu" and "Careful What You Wish For". "We Made You" has a total Dick Tracy feel. And I'm pretty sure that is (actor) Dominic West on the "Dr. West" skit (I hate the skits on rap albums. My most unfavorite thing about them!).
  
• Green Day "21st Century Breakdown" - Not the tour de force their last album was but still really good. Fave songs are "Last of the American Girls" and bonus track "A Quick One While He's Away".
  
• Phoenix "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" - oh so cheeky that title. I usually listen to this one straight through (the few times I have actually listened to it!); it's so (consistently) upbeat and fun. But I guess "1901" and "Lasso" do stand out to me.
  
• Red House Painters "Songs for a Blue Guitar" - an oldie I bought after my friend Craig tweeted about it a zillion times in one week.
  

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June 29, 2009

Favorite Song of This Monday Morning

Pete Yorn "Social Development Dance" (from his new album "Back & Fourth" that I really, really like)

And when we kissed it was electric
A chemist made us for each other...

There’s something missing in us
We long to make it whole
Though it never feels like it
I know you have it all
I know you have it all...

I heard you were staying up north with a friend
And that your hair was falling out
I tried to find out what had happened to you
I googled you in quotes, got no results
I never learned how you had died
But I knew how you had lived...

Posted by Duff at 10:51 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under " " of the XXX., Album, Listenin', Lyrics, Recommending, Tunes

May 15, 2009

April Album Reviews

The sad, sad trend of me buying very little new music....sadly continues. I have been reading a LOT this year. But that's no excuse!

Absolutely Love & Adore:

Great Lake Swimmers "Lost Channels" - Le sigh. Everything GLS does is just daaaammmmn beautiful. I'd advise you not to start listening to this album. BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER WANT TO STOP. This one might even be just a *teensy* bit more upbeat than their norm. (I love their melancholy.) Fave songs are "Stealing Tomorrow" "Still" and "It's Too Late".

Gomez "A New Tide" - Somehow I was clueless that these guys had a new album coming out (thank you, Becky, for letting me know!). LOVE it. Just love it. I actually think a lot of it is QUITE different than their last (also beloved) album "How We Operate." (But I'm sure the Internets will tell me I'm wrong on that!) Fave songs "Engine" ("there's gotta be an easier way...to find redemption...") "Lost Track" and "Bone Tired".

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Lights Off" The Dears" (swoooon)
  
• "Boom Boom Pow" Black Eyed Peas
  
• "Right Round" (cover? half cover?) Flo Rida
  
• "Runaway" Yeah Yeah Yeahs (should I buy this album? I can't decide!)
  

Other Albums I Liked:

• Nada!
  

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

Nada!

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

Nada!

Posted by Duff at 10:45 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

May 14, 2009

March Album Reviews

Annnnd the weirdness continues. I bought very little music, went to no shows (WHAT?!) and while I liked most of what I bought in March, only really fell for one album. WHAT IS HAPPENING. Is 2009 a non-music year for me? WHAT? DO NOT WANT.

Absolutely Love & Adore:

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (self-titled) - Dude's really growing on me. I liked his first solo album well enough. I LOVED him in concert. And I could listen to this album over and over. The first two songs are my faves "Seven-Mile Island" and "Sunstroke" but really it's full-album-recommendation worthy.

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Wave and Water" Gordon Gano and the Ryan Brothers (yes, that's the Violent Femmes' Gordon Gano)
  
• "Afterglow" Kate York
  
• "Airport Surroundings" Lonely, Dear (swoon)
  
• "Miracles" Jeremy Messersmith
  
• "High Cost of Living" Jamey Johnson (sometimes I really fall for the twangy country songs)
  
• "Sweet Dream" Greg Laswell (swoon x2)
  
• "Make You Feel My Love" (cover) Adele
  
• "There's Hope for You" William Elliott Whitmore (swoon x3)
  

(A great percentage of this month's singles are from Paste Sampler 51. I have not searched out as many singles as I normally would. Something is wrong with me!)

Other Albums I Liked:

• Boy Least Likely To "The Law of the Playground" - Poppy and fun with their usual blend of good musicianship and goofy lyrics. I love these guys and seriously, you should buy tickets if they play your town. You may even hear them cover "Faith"! (So good!) Fave song right now is "Stringing Up Conkers". Also loving "When Life Gives Me Lemons, I Make Lemonade".
  
• U2 "No Line on the Horizon" - A month or two from now, this will probably have moved up into the "adore" category because I do find myself listening to it more and more. It's nothing shiny and new; it's back to old-school, Joshua Tree style, U2. Nothing wrong with that, if you ask me. Really love "Moment of Surrender" "White as Snow" and "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight".
  
• Okkervil River "The Stand Ins" - I had avoided buying this one when it came out (last year?) as I go through periods where Will Sheff is just too....raw? earnest? for me. (Can't put my finger on it.) But I kept hearing singles from this and wondering why I didn't have it so I finally came around. If you are an Okkervil fan, I can't see you not liking this.
  

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

Nada!

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

Belle & Sebastian "The BBC Sessions" - Not sure what brought on this purchase, just wandering aimlessly through Reckless I guess! I really haven't listened to B&S in years.

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April 08, 2009

February Album Reviews

It seems quite weird that I didn't buy much more music in February than I did in January...considering I am usually no holds barred with the February spending. Well, SOMEONE's got to buy me birthday presents.

Absolutely Love & Adore:

Joshua Radin "Simple Times" - Joshua Radin music is all kinds of sad swoooooony sounds. An old single of his ("Winter") was a staple on every mix I made for ages. And his cover of Yaz "Only You"? Sigh. Sooo nice. This album is equally enjoyable. I mean if you like the sorry sadness of it all. Fave songs: "Brand New Day" "We Are Okay" "Vegetable Car"

Messiah J & The Expert "From the Word Go" - Bought on spec in Dublin for no reason other than I knew I'd never heard of the group. Hip-hop rap combo sounds. LOVE IT! Sassy and fun. Fave songs: "Turn the Magic On" "Geography" "Amnesia Comes Easily"

Mick Flannery "White Lies" - Oh now. Another speculative Dublin purchase. Le sigh. This album is beautiful, head to toe. Last time I looked iTunes only had his older stuff. You should harass them to get this one. The only issue I wonder about for this guy is whether he can make it big when Damien Rice is already out there. Definitely playing to the same "market" and "Wish You Well" for example sounds a lot like Rice. This is in constant rotation chez Duff. Fave song I canNOT stop listening to: "Wait Here"

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "My Life Would Suck Without You" Kelly Clarkson - may be the funnest pop song out there right now.
  
• "Crack a Bottle" Eminem - oh yeah, shady's back.
  
• "Been a Long Time" Gary Jules & The Group Rules (feat. Jim Bianco) - sometimes old TV leads you to old tunes.
  

Other Albums I Liked:

• Cut Off Your Hands "You & I" - Fun! Love the lyrics of "Happy As Can Be" and the sounds of "oh Girl" and "Let's Get Out of Here". I was really busy listening to sad mopey stuff (see "adore" category ha ha) so I really haven't listened to this one THAT much.
  

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

Halfset "Another Way of Being There" - Another Dublin purchase. Nothing bad about these tunes; I'm just not that into the mostly instrumental. (I prefer lyrics.) But if you're into this stuff (think Explosions in the Sky), then you might enjoy it.

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion: Nada!

Posted by Duff at 07:55 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

March 26, 2009

January Album Reviews

Generally January can be quite problematic; I often throw down a shitload of dough for tunes on other people's year-end lists and then either never manage to even listen to some of them or decide I hate them. This year, I somehow held back and bought only FOUR albums in January. FOUR. (OK, 4.5 since there was an EP also.) That's crazy times. (I only bought two in December but that was year-end. That's sooo different.)

Absolutely Love & Adore:

MGMT "Oracular Spectacular" Only on a million year-end lists. Where has this album been all my life? I'm pretty sure I resisted buying this all of 2008 because I misinterpreted the reviews I read and thought it was some Techno stuff that I wouldn't like (you know, like JUSTICE from the year before). OMG I was so wrong. Love it like a crazy lady. Not sure I'd be up for seeing them in concert (M. describes it as "two dudes leaning over synthesizers and never moving") but it is totally living room dance inducing. Fave songs: "Weekend Wars" "Kids" "The Handshake" and my favorite 80s rock soundin tune "Pieces of What"

Why? "Alopecia" Can't remember where I read about this one, dang. Do you call this rap? (not really. but it's closer to rap than to singing.) hiphop? (has beats. but not the R&B hints of hiphop.) It ain't pop or rock. (it ain't.) It's one of those things that just falls between genres but it's damn good. Fave songs: "Fatalist Palmistry" "Exegesis" (where I love the background so much) and the nasty but so good "Good Friday"

Bon Iver "Blood Bank" EP At this point, you know how I feel about Bon Iver. The feeling continues.

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Only You" Assembly (Yaz cover) One of my top-five all-time favorite songs.
  
• "Paparazzi" Lady GaGa I can't tell the difference between her and Gwen Stefani. But I do dig this song.

Other Albums I Liked:

• Ra Ra Riot "The Rhumb Line" Bought due to its presence on Becky's list. Absolutely love "Dying Is Fine". Other standouts are "Winter '05" and "Each Year".
  
• The Walkmen "You & Me" Also bought due to its presence on Becky's list. (The girl's got good taste.) My favorite song is "Red Moon" with its funerealness.

Not really for me / but maybe for you!: Nada!

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion: Nada!

Posted by Duff at 09:35 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

February 06, 2009

December Album Reviews

I bought only two albums in December and a few random singles. Say wha? Definitely the least amount of $$ spent on music all year.

Absolutely Love & Adore:

Frightened Rabbit "The Midnight Organ Fight" - I think this album is outstanding but I don't have that much more to say about it than when I mentioned it the first time. I listened to it over and over in December. The Vores described it as sounding like Counting Crows. OK, I'll give them that. I would describe it as... let's say a combination of Counting Crows with Snow Patrol (from their first album before they got soooo super cheesy and overdramatic in EVERY SONG) but with slightly better music, better lyrics, and better accents. "Backwards Walk" is definitely my favorite song but I'm not sure there's a single one I don't like. ("The Twist" may be my #2 fave. I know you wanted to know that.)

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Halo" Beyonce - You could not possibly be prepared for the crazy amount of love I have for this song so I'll just leave it at that.
  
• "Shattered Glass" Britney Spears - Yes. I KNOW!
  
• "Someone Else's Life" Joshua Radin - Swoon.
  
• "Duet" Rachael Yamagata (with Ray LaMontagne, I believe, although he was not credited on iTunes when I bought it)
  
• "Forever Young" (cover) Audra Mae & Forest Rangers - both the accompanied and the acapella versions are soooo pretty (this was featured on Sons of Anarchy. FYI.)
  

Other Albums I Liked:

• The Sea and Cake "Car Alarm" - I bought this just to get a little familiar with their tunes since I was going to see them on New Year's Eve and had never listened to them before (I know!). It's pleasant enough and I like it but it's really (really) tame compared to their live show. Dear Sea and Cake fans, do they have an album that better represents what they sound like live? Lemme know, yo.
  

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

Nada!

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

Nada!

Posted by Duff at 12:26 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

January 20, 2009

November Album Reviews

Absolutely Love & Adore:

Jem "Down to Earth" - There's a lot to like here, even though this doesn't sound like your typical Jem album. Actually sounds more like a set of remixes, and the dance-y backgrounds are a great backdrop for her voice. Love "Crazy", "Keep on Walking", "I Always New", "Forever and a Day". And "It's Amazing" has gone on every mix I've made over the past several months.

Matt White "Best Days" - I tried not to love this album. And then it became all I listened to for days on end. Ah well. Particularly love "Moment of Weakness" and "Paradise".

Ryan Adams & the Cardinals "Cardinology" - Doesn't sound much like a Ryan Adams album to me but I really like it nonetheless. I love the folky swoons of "Natural Ghost", such a romantic feel. And "Fix It" is another fave. (I could do without "Magick" however.)

Vancougar "Canadian Tuxedo" - I wish I could remember what made me check this out. I think it was a post on either Monitor Mix or the Three Imaginary Girls blog but I can't seem to find it. They're punk sassy girls (think the Go-Gos, before the industry prettied them up, and if they had already been musicians when they started), but every once in a while they throw in a total '60s girlgroup vibe (listen to "Obvious"). Great album.

The Killers "Day & Age" - I never bought their second album so I hadn't listened to these guys in a loooong time. I love the emphaticness here. It's rocking. It's all big and dramatic and overarching and it just sweeps me right along with it. Faves are "Spaceman" "This Is Your Life" and I love! the chorus on "The World We Live In".

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Raise Today" Peasant (old but on constant rotation)
  
• "Colors" Kira Willey (damn you iPod commercials)
  
• "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" Beyonce (all carrieoke's fault)
  
• "Glamorous" Fergie (ditto)
  
• "Cathedrals" (cover) Joan Osborne (can't go wrong covering this song)
  
• "Home in the Woods" Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons (from a paste sampler)
  

Other Albums I Liked:

• Pink "Funhouse" - I lovelovelove all the fast(er) songs on this album. "So What" and "Sober" as one & two are great. Some of the slow ones I get bored by though. (Hence the Like not Love.)
  
• Kanye West "808s & Heartbreak" - Dear Kanye, you really crack my shit up. There is so much "woe is me" in some of these lyrics and I'm sure this is not the reaction you were looking for but it is damn funny to hear. "My friend showed me pictures of his kids and all I could show him was pictures of my cribs / he said his daughter got a brand new report card and all I got was a brand new sports car." Yeah, times are tough for single Kanye. Gold records are NOTHING. Who cares about that. OK, Goofus! Get back to me when you're my age and single, dude. Not that there is a chance in hell of that happening. Faves: "Heartless" and "Robocop".
  
• The Knux "Remind Me in 3 Days..." - Weirdly I really have not bought very much rap this year. This album is a lot of fun with sassy smart lyrics and great beats. There was one song I had to delete from iTunes however. Just toooooo much pussy or hos or bitches or something, I can't remember exactly what but I really couldn't stand to listen to it. On the other hand, faves: "Cappuccino" ("fresh cappucino with a mocha twist"), "Roxxanne", "Daddy's Little Girl", "Playboys" and "The True." Lots of fun.
  
• The Gaslight Anthem "The '59 Sound" - If Bruce Springsteen was the lead singer for the Hold Steady but Craig Finn wrote his lyrics and sometimes Tom Petty helped with the harmonies. That's my description of this band. Pretty rockin'.
  
• The Go-Betweens "16 Lovers Lane" - Really old. (1988?) Pretty sure I bought this based on this Monitor Mix post. I really like this, but I can really hear the years between then and now. It fits perfectly into my "Colleging It Out" playlist with The Smiths, The Replacements, The Cure, New Order, Cocteau Twins... "Dive for Your Memory" really brings old, old Mick Jagger (back when he could actually SING, right?!?) to mind as well.
  
• The Weakerthans "Left and Leaving" - Bought due to this Fuel/Friends post. I like the snide feel of "Everything Must Go", the rock of "Watermark" and the Shins/Death Cab feel of "This Is a Fire Door Never Leave Open". But my favorite track is "Left and Leaving."
  
• Winter's Fall "Winter's Fall" - Much more Southern/country-esque than I was expecting after reading about it on some indie/alternative site. Think Jason Isbell or My Morning Jacket's latest. Love "Blame" and "On Wisdom". But really need to listen to it more, it was the last album I bought in November and it hasn't gotten the attention it deserves.
  

Mixed Feelings

• Travis "Ode to J. Smith" - This is the album that's the most like their live show (which is awesome) but somehow that makes it not work very well as an album? I was bummed to see all the bad reviews and more bummed to find they weren't far off. I like a couple songs ("Sarah" and "Last Words") but overall this is not the Travis that I love. Their other albums are so much more melodic and lyrical. And yes, they turn them into total rocking out songs in concert, but somehow starting from a more lively place did not make them write better songs. It kinda bums me out frankly. But I have liked it more in the past week than on the first few listens. So there's that.
  

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

The Kin "Rise and Fall" - Too arena rock/cheeseball for me. Although I dig "Together" (until the chorus) and "See" and "Romeo" aren't bad either. There are some (need I even say scary) religious lyrics on here though ("Abraham") and you know how that makes me run for the hills.

Chad Van Gaalen "Soft Airplane" - I like some individual songs here ("TMNT Mask" and "Bare Feet on Wet Griptape" the chorus of which sounds like old Rolling Stones to me) but overall I find this album so stylistically scattered that I can't figure out if I'm listening to an album or shuffle when it comes on. (And I really don't like "Frozen Energon" at all. Ick.) Sometimes falsetto, sometimes not, arrangements all over the place. I've seen mentions of this album lots of places but I just can't find my way into it.

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

Brendan Canning "Something for All of Us" - My general impression of this is a good one. But I really haven't listened to it more than once or twice so far. The title track is nice, dark and dirty (like Joseph Arthur).

Posted by Duff at 06:45 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

January 06, 2009

Upcoming Albums to Buy in 2009

Jan 20: Bon Iver "Blood Bank" (EP)
Jan 27: Franz Ferdinand "Tonight"
Feb 3: Ben Kweller "Changing Horses"
Feb 3: Nous Non Plus "Menagerie"
Feb 17: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (self-titled)
Mar 3: U2 "No Line on the Horizon" (we'll see if I actually buy this)
Mar 3: The Boy Least Likely To "The Law of the Playground"
Mar 24: The Decemberists "Hazards of Love"
Mar 31: Great Lake Swimmers "Lost Channels" (or just "Channels" acc. to some sites)

Posted by Duff at 07:52 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Lists, Remember, Tunes

December 23, 2008

Best Album I Wasn't Listening to Until Now

So back in June, I started listening to this song "Backwards Walk" by Frightened Rabbit that was on a Paste sampler. By August, I had become officially obsessed with it; thus its presence on my Dragon*Con mix.

Yet somehow I kept forgetting to check out anything else by this band. WTF is wrong with me? Then a week or two ago, I start, as is my usual December pasttime, reading through all the year-end lists so nicely compiled by Large-Hearted Boy. And I start seeing Frightened Rabbit everywhere... And I look at my iPod and wonder "Do I have anything by them? Why Yes. OH? THIS IS THEIR SONG!?!" And then they popped up on Heather's (Fuel/Friends) year-end list and I knew I had to get my lazy butt in gear.

Frightened Rabbit "The Midnight Organ Fight" = best album of 2008 that I didn't listen to until December. And I totally regret that. But at least I'm listening to it now. It's damn good.

Posted by Duff at 08:39 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

December 18, 2008

Dear Matt White,

When I first got your album, I have to admit, I found it kinda cheesy. Not in a bad way. Just in a "Oh, those are some cheeesy pop songs, dude" way. Do you believe in love at first sight? I think you do! But wow, these songs really grow on a girl. Don't get me wrong. The cheese factor is still there. But now it's a cheesy in a "damn that song really makes me grin" and "awwww" kind of way.

This weekend it was ALL I wanted to listen to. Particularly "Moment of Weakness". Good on ya!

Smooches, Duff.

p.s. Also? it's surprisingly danceable. I've got a whole hallway slip-n-slide routine going to it. Even the somewhat sad "I'll Be There" has a good background beat.

Posted by Duff at 02:45 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Letters, Listenin', Tunes

November 24, 2008

October Album Reviews

Not a big month for buying music. Odd.

Absolutely Love & Adore:

Keane "Perfect Symmetry" - Wow I LOVE this album. Did not expect to. Almost didn't buy it! It's a new sound for them, not as sad, and not as poppy...a bit more "anthem rock" than they used to be. You can picture these songs just filling up stadiums. Like old Snow Patrol, before they got super cheesy. Fave songs: "The Lovers Are Losing"; "Better Than This" (totally reminds me of Roxy Music "More Than This"); "Pretend that You're Alone"; "Time to Go".

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" (covering Fleet Foxes) First Aid Kit - Swoon.
  
• "I Shall Be Released" (cover) Wilco & Fleet Foxes
  
• "Breathe" Calhoun
  
• "Honey Let Me Sing You a Song" Matt Hires
  
• "Hymn 101" Joe Pug
  

Other Albums I Liked:

• Joseph Arthur & The Lonely Astronauts "Temporary People" - So in addition to a gajillion (five?) EPs he put out ths year, there's also this full on album. The difference, to my ear, is the EPs are a little darker, a little more digitally dirty, a little more lonely. This is a good listen.
  
• Ray LaMontagne "Gossip in the Grain" - As with Keane's new album (above), LaMontagne has really expanded his ideas here. Lots of upbeat, jazzy stuff. The beginning of "You Are the Best Thing" is awesome, just marches right out and grabs you. Sure, there are still some sad, slow ones. But it's the new, happier songs I really enjoy on this album.
  
• First Aid Kit "Drunken Trees" - So I ordered this after hearing their brilliant cover of Fleet Foxes (see list above). It's allright. Their own stuff isn't as powerful, there's no shimmery acapello moments here. But not bad. They've got some room to grow.
  

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

Nada.

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

Nada!

Posted by Duff at 10:20 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

November 15, 2008

Good Mood Song of the Weekend

It's amazing, it's amazing.
All that you can do.
It's amazing, makes my heart sing,
Now it's up to you.
...
And I know, 'cause I've been there before
Knocking down the doors
Won't take no for an answer
And you'll see, 'cause if it's meant to be
Nothing can compare to deserving your dreams
It's amazing, it's amazing
All that you can do
It's amazing, makes my heart sing
Now it's up to you...

--Jem "It's Amazing" (from new album Down to Earth*)

Is it just something about the word "amaze"?? Because My Morning Jacket "I'm Amazed" is also an awesome song. (And then there's Jem's cover of what I believe is a Paul McCartney song "Maybe I'm Amazed." Also: Awesome.)

*In addition to this song in particular, I really like this entire album. Although musically a lot of it sounds more like a remix album. Not her normal backdrop. But good. Nice contrast with the vocals.

Posted by Duff at 10:12 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under " " of the XXX., Album, Listenin', Lyrics, Tunes

November 07, 2008

September Album Reviews

I didn't buy much. But most of what I bought, I really really liked.

Absolutely Love & Adore:

Shwayze (self-titled) - Ridiculous lyrics. Total b-o-u-n-c-e BOUNCE. Super fun. Perfect end of summer music.

The Billionaires "Really Real for Forever" - Also bouncy! Yay! "Are you still sad? Let's go out and get fucked up!!" Mixed male/female vocals (you know how I love that! Or you should). Really addictive.

The Wave Pictures "Instant Coffee Baby" - Wow, you get a serious Violent Femmes flashback as this album begins ("Add It Up", "Blister in the Sun" era-Femmes...). That fades a little as it goes on but theirs is definitely a throwback sound. Great to listen to right after The Billionaires, I've had these two on back to back for weeks. Michelle talks more about them over here.

Mumford & Sons "Chess Club Release" - Not actually an album, per se, but you can download them all together. Part of the new English Folk thing going on now. Very distinctive lead voice. Very unusual instrumentation. Very awesome live. Great lyrics. I really can't wait for them to release more stuff!

Everlast "Love, War, and the Ghost of Whitey Ford" - LOVE his deep deep voice. Love the "Folsom Prison Blues" cover. Love love love.

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Mad World" Michael Andrews (been watchin' old CSIs again)
  
• "All That Remains" Bear McCreary (BStarG) and Raya Yarbrough
  
• "Alphabutt" Kimya Dawson
  
• "I Need Love" Sam Phillips (old but I've been listening to it constantly!)
  
• "Sex on Fire" Kings of Leon
  
• "It's Alright" Okkervil River (I wasn't planning on getting their new one but I may have to)
  
• "Sad Eyes" Josh Rouse
  
• "The Places We Lived" Backyard Tire Fire
  
• "Write On" Damien Jurado
  

Other Albums I Liked:

• Looks like it was all either LOVE or EH this month and nothing (in)between.
  

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson "Rattlin' Bones" - I really really dig both these singers on their solo "sorta country, but sorta more folky acoustic pop" albums. [And I really like their live shows as well.] But this combined album just slides too far into country for me and I kinda cringe when it comes up on shuffle. However, I do really like the song "Wildflower" and on those days when I'm in the mood for twang I may find myself listening to this more than I expect. But not right now.

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

Nada!

Posted by Duff at 01:25 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

October 30, 2008

August Album Reviews

Why do I even do these if I do them three months later, you may ask yourself. Merely to cement things in my own (increasingly addled) mind would be my answer.

Absolutely Love & Adore:

The New Frontiers "Mending" - Pretty sure I bought this after hearing a single on Fuel/Friends. Wow, this album is oddly heartbreaking. "Mirrors" sends me pretty close to crying every time I hear it [hold up *ahem*, is this a God song? I am just listening a little more closely to the lyrics and getting that icky religion shiver up my spine]. "The Day You Fell Apart" has a total Travis feel. But my favorite song is "Strangers".

Carla Bruni "Comme si de rien n'etait" - So lovely. I guess she's gotten some flack in France for being a cheesy pop singer but this whole thing is pure sultriness to me. And my favorite song is definitely the (in)famous "Tu es me came" ("you are my drug"). I loved her previous album en francais as well, although not so much the one en anglais.

Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip "Angles" - Yay yay yay. YAY! The funnest rap out there. "Letter from God to Man", "Beat that My Heart Skipped" and "Thou Shalt Always Kill" are all kinda obvious to have as favorites, but that's the way it is sometimes.

Joseph Arthur "Foreign Girls" - His whateverth EP of the year (fourth?). I particularly love "Lovely Cost" which has a Bowiesqueness.

Paddy Casey "Addicted to Company (Part 1) - I can't remember if it was MG or MF that sent me this but thank you to whichever because it's kinda great. (Maybe too folk-y for some a yous though.) "City" is my fave, particularly for its great opening.

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• Jump Little Children "Cathedrals" - old and kinda cheesy but I'm lovin it lately.
  
• "Bang On" the Breeders - YUPPERDO
  
• "To The Bone" Mugison
  
• "Let Me Go On" Seabird
  
• "Chicago" Lucy Wainwright Roche (LOVE this)
  
• "Long Division" Slow Runner
  
• "It's You" Pictures and Sound
  

Other Albums I Liked:

• Dr. Dog "Fate" - I really really like some songs on this album ("The Rabbit, the Bat & the Reindeer", "The Dearly Departed", "Uncovering the Old") but there are a few that I have to forward quickly past ("The Ark", "The Beach"). So it's a bit uneven to me (bad) but in general they're a bit Beatles-esque (good).
  
• The Ting Tings "We Started Nothing" - as with Dr. Dog, I like this, but not totally. It's a bit uneven stylistically. Maybe they haven't quite found "their sound" yet. Some of it's rappish, some sing-songy ("Traffic Light"). When these songs come up on shuffle, I can't always place them.
  
• Newton Faulkner "Hand Built by Robots" - Also sent to me by MG or MF (dang I am losing my mind). Somewhat folky. Really really like "Uncomfortably Slow" and "Dbdbdb". Sometimes a Jason Mraz vibe ("Feels like Home", "People Should Smile More" "U.F.O.") which may be why I'm not totally into it (I loved Mraz' early stuff but then I saw him do some weird "come on give me attention!" stuff live and I kinda went off him).
  

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:
The Black Keys "Attack and Release" - I like these guys live a LOT. And the album's fine...But I don't find I listen to it much.

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

Nada!! [OK actually a couple mixes I was sent have only gotten a tiny bit o' listenin' time.]

Posted by Duff at 11:54 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

October 27, 2008

Favorite Album of Today

"Love, War and the Ghost of Whitey Ford" Everlast

I've loved his gravelly thick voice for a long time and if you've never heard his cover of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart"...then you probably didn't get a mix from me during that two-year period when I put it on every mix because I just couldn't stop listening to it. He also does the theme song to Saving Grace (love the song way more than the show!).

I guess they probably file him under rap/hip-hop? But he's not really a rapper. Some of the lyrics are a bit rough and tumble...if you're feeling a little murderous, they certainly keep you hyped up and may push you over the edge into actual violence, ha ha ha (I'M KIDDING). But that's only some of the songs. And there's his lovely bass singing over a kind of rollicking rambling background that is sometimes hip-hop-ish in its beats, but sometimes almost country.

Posted by Duff at 01:23 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under " " of the XXX., Album, Listenin', Tunes

August 24, 2008

July Album Reviews

Weird month. Loved a LOT. Liked one album I would have been willing to bet money I wouldn't like and didn't like one I would have assumed I'd be more interested in listening to. Weird.

Absolutely Love & Adore:

My Morning Jacket "Evil Urges" - Not just my favorite album in August, but my #1 album of the year so far. It's sexy and funky and sassy and smooth. Love it! Favorite song is "I'm Amazed" folowed by "Librarian" (great lyrics) and "Smokin' from Shootin" (love the chorus). Only one song I tend to fast forward past and that's "Remnants".

Earlimart "Hymn and Her" - So pretty. Really cool boy/girl interactions, harmonies, lyrics. Faves: "For the Birds", "Time for Yourself" (great rhythm), "Town Where You Belong."

Cut Copy "In Ghost Colors" - Dance, dance, baby. I read a great quote somewhere (dang, lost the link) describing them as a "non ironic Joy Division." They also remind me of earli(er) Madonna ("Lights & Music" particularly). Really fun. Favorite songs are "So Haunted", "Out There on the Ice" and the opener "Feel the Love" to which I always yell "YES!!" when it comes on.

Drive-By Truckers "The Dirty South" - OK, I KNOW, I am only four years late to the party on this one. Bygones! I first listened to Jason Isbell last summer, went to see him this spring, and decided I needed to backtrack and find out what Drive-By Truckers were all about. It was recommended I start here. Yay! Love it. Very much an album of Southern rock storytelling. Gritty tales of (often) misfortune. Favorites are "The Day John Henry Died", "The Sands of Iwo Jima", "Puttin' People on the Moon" and "Puttin' People on the Moon".

Beck "Modern Guilt" - Love it. Really great. His albums are all such individuals, it's hard to compare, but "Sea Change" is probably its closest comparison among his previous albums. That said, I actually find this signficantly less melancholy than that one. Faves are "Gamma Ray" and "Walls".

Nana Grizol "Love It Love It" - I think of these dudes as a slightly happier, slightly poppier, and less "harsh" on the guitars version of Okkervil River. But I am likely the only person on the planet who describes them (or any band) that way. Love the horn arrangements. Love "Circles 'Round the Moon" (yay!) and "Voice Echo Down The Halls..." Only song I skip is (oddly) the last one. Woot. Lots of fun.

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Photograph" Eagle Seagull
  
• "On My Mind" Romantica
  
• "Wreck" The Bittersweets
  
• "Murder in the City" The Avett Brothers
  
• "Give Em Hell" Hearts of Palm (love the lyrics)
  
• "She Does" Locksley
  
• "Black Ghost/Black Girl" Starling Electric (90s feel)
  
• Mother & Child Reunion" (cover!) The Morning Benders (LOVELOVELOVE)
  
• "Word Up" Willis
  

Other Albums I Liked:

• Mason Jennings "In the Ever" - Love "Fighter Girl." Love "Your New Man". Also "Soldier Boy". But find it a bit uneven as a whole. Don't like "Memphis, Tennessee". Don't dig the semi religious/Jenny Lewis-type overtones at times.
  
• Ryan Auffenberg "Marigolds" - Been singing along to "Alright, Okay" all summer long. Really love "Undercover". Also "Deep Water" is nice. Not polished throughout, seems to still be working things out. Has a Ryan Adams/Rhett Miller vibe at times (yes those are two very different people. Work it out.).
  
• Coldplay "Viva la Vida" - If the world stops turning, I'll have to take the blame, as it, you and I should all be in shock that I actually like this album. I've told you before [more than once] I'm not a Coldplay fan. You don't want to get me started on Chris Martin and masking tape on his fingers. But someone sent me this album and damn if I don't quite enjoy most of it. Hate the song "42" (HATE) but really like "Lost" and even the two radio releases "Viva la Vida" and "Strawberry Swing". Also like "Yes" but mostly because it doesn't sound at all like Coldplay, ha ha ha.
  

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

The Hold Steady "Stay Positive" - Loved their first album, liked their second, didn't care for the third. Now this one is OK but I just don't find myself making much time for it. Have kinda lost my moment with this band. Have seen them live quite a few times. Always a really entertaining show. But generally I find myself less excited than in the past. This album: unusual instrumentation for them, some crazy harpsichord-sounding action. Tends to have more "singing" than they've done in the past (particularly "Lord, I'm Discouraged") / less just Craig Finn ranting. But tunes like "One for the Cutters" just make me ask "how many times in one song can you say 'townie'?" (Turns out a lot.) However, if you are a big HS fan, I think this is a solid album that's exploring some new ground.

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

None! :)

Posted by Duff at 04:29 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

August 22, 2008

June Album Reviews

Absolutely Love & Adore:

Fleet Foxes (self titled) - Layered haunting harmonies. Voices ringing out like bells. An updated CSNY with less twang, more melancholy. Particularly love "He Doesn't Know Why", "Oliver James" and "Your Protector". But you may want to start with "White Winter Hymnal" which is probably their biggest hit so far. LOVE!

Sea Wolf "Get to the River Before It Runs Too Low" (EP) - This came out before their full album you may remember me raving about, but I didn't get the EP until I saw them live. I already had two songs off it, but I'm so glad I got it because "Sea Monuments" is just lovely. Yay Sea Wolf!

Joseph Arthur "Vagabond Skies" (EP) - Third of the four EPs he's putting out this year. Plus a full album due September 30! Happy for me because I just can't get enough of this dude's music. My favorite off this EP is the first song "Slow Me Down", but really I like the WHOLE THING. :)

The Fratellis "Here We Stand" - These guys are just pure infectious fun, I don't know see how it would possible to not enjoy their music. They just make me want to stand up and dance!! Michelle doesn't like this album as much as their first, but it pushes all the right buttons for me. My faves are "Baby Doll" and "Shameless" which gives me a total John Lennon vibe.

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Landlocked Blues" (live from Pantages Theater) Conor Oberst
  
• "Backwards Walk" Frightened Rabbit
  
• "Josephine St" I Love Math
  
• "My Only Offer" Mates of State
  
• "When I Get to the Border" She & Him
  
• "No One Else Like You" Joey Ryan
  
• "Hologram" Katie Herzig (awesome lyrics!)
  
• "You, Me & The Bourgeoisie" The Submarines (from this album)
  
• "Bang My Drum" Danielia Cotton
  
• "Beyond the Pale" Scott Kempner (total old school feel)
  
• "Saint C3cili4" Sunlight in Architecture
  
• "Alright, Okay" Ryan Auffenberg
  
• "The Ground That We Stand On" Hawksley Workman

Other Albums I Liked:

• Lil Wayne "The Carter III" - Most hyped rap album of the year? It's got some of the same issues all rap albums have (sooo many songs, soooo many guests), but there's a lot more singing, R&B style harmonies, etc., than on other comparable albums. I love "Mrs. Officer", also "Mr. Carter" and "Comfortable."
  
• The Audreys "When the Flood Comes" - I randomly bought an album by the Audreys when Mariko and I went to Oz (2006?) based on the cool photo on the cover. Fortunately turned out I really really liked it! I don't like this album as much, it's a bit less inviting. But it's just as pretty... Like. Certainly. But don't love.
  
• Port O'Brien "All We Could Do Was Sing" - You know when you rush off and buy a full album based on the strength of one awesome song? And then you get the album and it's just not what you expected because that awesome song is not really the real style of what they do? And then you do like the album but you never get into it THAT much? Yeah, this is that album. That song? "I Woke Up Today" (brilliant!). Other songs I also enjoy are "Stuck on a Boat" and "Fisherman's Son".
  

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

Shearwater "Rook" - So I thought I would love this. It's somewhat in the vein of Sea Wolf or Fleet Foxes, that layered choral-feelin' music people are doing these days, somewhere between folk and pop. The difference really here is the vocals which are quite...hmmmm. I guess I'd say a bit "operatic", along the lines of Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Buckley. Which is fine, just not my favorite style. But the real reason I have a rough time with this album is it's just soooo sooooo sad. (Yo, I get my sadness on the inside, ha ha ha. But really.) I really like "Leviathan, Bound" (pretty! chiming!), "Century Eyes" (more upbeat) and "The Hunter's Star (pretty!), but honesty listening to this just makes me get all quiet and lonely and curl up in a corner and bang my head against the wall. So I'm kinda avoiding it actually.

Jakob Dylan "Seeing Things" - Another album that while lyrically/musically has things to recommend it....but it makes me so sad I just can't listen to it. Super slow and dirge-like and I don't think that's his strength as a musician. I am a bigger fan of the Wallflowers than most people I know, but I don't love this. And the lyrics to "Will It Grow", I'm sorry, are just over the top.

James Hunter "The Hard Way" - I really liked his previous album. I actually really like think this is a good album too...but turns out I don't have much interest in listening to it. As with Duffy that I talked about last month, this just isn't a style of music I often find myself reaching for.

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

None! :)

Posted by Duff at 08:40 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

August 12, 2008

Current Favorite Album: My Morning Jacket "Evil Urges"

Wow, this album is just great. I wasn't going to buy it, given my lukewarm (or less than) feelings for "Z", but Mariko sent it to me anyway and dang, girl, if this isn't the ONLY thing I want to listen to right now.

Some of it is crazy funkalicious and totally Prince-worthy (or perhaps Michael Jackson when he was good). Other bits are more sexy soul Marvin Gaye jumping in. And there's even some Southern Rock influence ("I'm Amazed"). It's jazzy and funky and I'd have to say downright spirited. Love it. LOVE IT.

And if you haven't bought yourself a copy of Jim James covering "Goin' to Acapulco" off the I'm Not There soundtrack, I'd highly recommend that as well. Him crooning that onstage at the bizarro funeral; his voice just blew me away.

Posted by Duff at 05:22 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

August 06, 2008

May Album Reviews

Absolutely Love & Adore:

The Kills "Midnight Boom" So I just kept reading about this band everywhere (like here or maybe here) and I kept thinking "I've GOT to check them out." Yeah, well FINALLY my lazy ass did and I'm pretty damn happy about it. Love the beats, love the lyrics, love the energy. They put on a great set at Lollapalooza but I'd love to see them in some smokey dirty hole in the wall where the sound is so loud I fear for the longevity of my eardrums. Wait, did I say "smokey"? Get with 2008, girl, there's no smoking in bars anymore...

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Graveyard Girl" M83
  
• "Be With Me" Foy Vance
  
• "Late Last Night" Robby Hecht
  
• "The Hardest Thing" Patrick Park
  
• "Measure of the Same" Birds of Avalon
  
• "Circles 'Round the Moon" Nana Grizol
  
• "Take a Bow" Rihanna
  
• "February 5th, 2008" Telekinesis!
  
• "Coast of Carolina" Telekinesis!
  
• "Good Things" Sounder
  
• "U and Me" Trina
  
• "The Last Thing on Your Mind" Lights
  

Other Albums I Liked:

• The Long Blondes "Couples" - Feels very "college" to me as it alternately reminds me of Berlin and Blondie. Can't get enough of "Guilt", "Too Clever by Half" and "I'm Going to Hell". Lots of fun. And their live show is definitely worth it.
  
• Saving Jane "SuperGirl" - Not really sure what impulse made me buy this. Have to be in the right mood for it. But when you are, it's perfect angry girl music. And "Better Day" has a total Sixpence None the Richer vibe, if that's your thing.
  
• Death Cab for Cutie "Narrow Stairs" - Nothing on this album quite blows me away the way "Marching Bands of Manhattan" did on the last one...but I think it's a solid follow-up and the more I listen, the more I seem to like it. I am not into the long jam sessions, however, so I actually prefer the radio edit of "I Will Possess Your Heart".
  
• Bob Mould "District Line" - There was definitely a period of time when Mould had really fallen off my radar. But then there was a great single out ("Circles") [doh, in apparently 2005] and then I went to hear him at Old Town and I find myself back on the Mould bandwagon. Maybe not that exciting, but always solidly rockin.
  

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

Nelo (self titled) - No idea where this one came from, did I hear a single from it somewhere? Who knows. I like the song "Walkin' Around" but otherwise it's all way too Dave Matthews for me.

Duffy "Rockferry" - I can see why people like this non-boozed-out-of-her-gourd Amy Winehouse-type, part of the "British birds do R&B" crowd. She's got a very distinctive voice. But it's just not a style of music I often get the urge to listen to. I don't mind when these songs come up on shuffle, but I don't go lookin' for them either.

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

Seems like a kinda slow month for buying music (did I just not spend money that month? Or did I spend a lot of it just on other things?), doesn't seem to be anything I didn't at least listen to a few times.

Posted by Duff at 09:55 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

July 07, 2008

Albums: Sometimes you're UP and sometimes DOWN

Upbeat music that is making me happy:

The Kills "Midnight Boom" - I don't know if you can call this punk (in this day and age) but it certainly has punk sensibilities to my mind. Digital and dirty and demanding. Lots of beats. While there is humor in some of the lyrics, this isn't a fun and games album, they're kickin' it. I love the male/female back and forth vocals (as you should know I do already, from say this or this or this). I want you to be crazy because you're boring baby when you're straight.

The Fratellis "Here We Stand" - Yay! These guys are so much fun! I loved their last album and loved their crazy high-energy but super (ridiculously) early in the day set at Lollapalooza (they so brought it ) and this album is a solid continuation of them doing their thing. Woot! Dear world's biggest Beatles fan Ms. Shrinking Smartgrrrl, I think you would like this.

Low-key music that was making me too sad to listen to it:

Shearwater "Rook" - Along the lines of Fleet Foxes or Sea Wolf, musically, (or a combination of them with Band of Horses), but somehow the mood and the tones were just so, so, so sad, I actually had to fast forward past it...Only to arrive at:

Jakob Dylan "Seeing Things" - I tend to like The Wallflowers more than most critics, maybe because they're just sort of "straight up" rock with no pop or alternative pretensions and also because I do not spend all my time comparing children to their parents (Boh-Ring!), but this album was just bringing me down, man. Sad and slow, with very melancholy lyrics. Not the sensibility of The Wallflowers at all, which is fine, it is a solo album afterall; but it felt almost dirge-like. I had to say goodbye for the day and fast forward past it as well! Maybe when I am in a different mood, I will try again.

Posted by Duff at 08:19 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

Album: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin "Pershing"

So when I wrote my April album reviews (in June, of course,when everyone was writing reviews of albums they bought in April, ha ha ha ha), I had only listened to this album once, maybe not even all the way through.

Um, hello, what was I thinking? It's upbeat and lots of fun and some of it's really pretty and it turns out for a slow-ass not really running when she's "running" runner like me, it's the perfect running music! Not so insistently rhythmic that you find yourself running to its beat, but peppy enough to keep you going.

I *love* especially "Heers" which reminds me of what Josh Rouse sounds like live (but not what he sounds like on his albums, which are much, let's say, calmer).

I'm 90% sure I bought this based on a review on Andrew Taylor Recommends although I am far too lazy to go looking for it right now. I don't know the dude but I am totally into his "random posts about everything" type of site and I will mention that he recently reviewed some Cinnamon Buns icecream that I am dying to try, and he has also done some Mt. Dew taste tests and you know how I feel about the Dew. Don't you? Do you know how JenG. feels about the Dew? Or AmandaJean? Oh, the Dew.

Posted by Duff at 08:13 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

June 18, 2008

April Album Reviews

Absolutely Love & Adore:

The Raconteurs "Consolers of the Lonely" - Another rocking album from a great band. Can Jack White write a bad song or produce a bad album? Not so far! "Old Enough" and "Top Yourself" are my faves. If you get the chance to see them live, I highly recommend it.

Joe Purdy "You Can Tell Georgia" - There's nothing unexpected here, but it's all good: lovely lyrics, pretty arrangements, melancholy but not super sad. I mean, except for "Ode to a Sad Clown". "Can't Get It Right Today" is also great, even if it is on a commercial.

Meg Hutchinson "Come Up Full" - This album has been on repeat since I bought it, at least once a day, I swear. Can't get enough. Listen to "Ready" "Home" and "Come Up Full", then come tell me how you love it.

Joseph Arthur "Crazy Rain" (EP) - Digital, dark, dirty, scratchy. Magnificent.

Joseph Arthur "Could We Survive" (EP) - Very different than Crazy Rain. Choral, thick, harmonic. Insistent.

Fleet Foxes "Sun Giant" (EP) - Gorgeous. Layered. I might actually love this EP more than the full album. CSNY harmonies, but without that country/folk twinge. I've heard it called freak folk (?) but somehow I missed out on ever knowing about that genre. Whatevah! I'd call it "Alternapop" myself, ha ha ha ha. (If you like Sea Wolf or even Shearwater, I think you'd like this too.)

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Buildings & Mountains" The Republic Tigers
  
• "She Loves Everybody" Chester French
  
• "Roadway Hymn" La Rocca
  
• "Dust" Augustana
  
• "Everywhere" (Paul Devro blend...) Fleetwood Mac
  
• "Tick of Time" The Kooks
  
• "Heart of Mine" Peter Salett (old! from a fave flick: "Keeping the Faith")
  
• "Fighter Girl" Mason Jennings
  
• "New Soul" (Yael Naim cover) Tristan Prettyman
  
• "Rise" Will Dailey
  

Other Albums I Liked:

• The Magic Numbers "Undecided" (EP) - Always love their harmonies.
  
• Duke Special "Songs from the Deep Forest" - Very theatrical and dramatic. Seems like it should be the soundtrack to something. Unusual.
  
• Jason Anderson "The Hopeful and the Unafraid" - Has a very Springsteen/Jesse Malin vibe to it. My faves are the last two "The Post Office" and "The Half of It" that are really, really reminding me of someone else but I just can't put my finger on it. Morrissey? maybe? Listen and tell me who you hear, it's on the tip of my tongue...
  
• Girlyman "Remember Who I Am" and "Something Different Now" (Live) - I'm really into the live album, it really captures their energy.
  
• The Submarines "Honeysuckle Weeks" - Boy/girl vocals. Poppy, electronic. Kinda '80s feelin.
  
• She & Him "Volume One" - This one really grows on you if you give it a chance. Has some very fun, rollicking songs ("This Is Not a Test") and I'm really into Zoey's voice. LOVE the Beatles cover.
  
• The Weepies "Hideaway" - Aw, so sweet and melodic. As with Joe Purdy, you know beforehand what you're getting. But if it's what you like, you'll be happy.
  
• Madonna "Hard Candy" - I know it's cool to harsh on Madonna these days. I guess I'm just not that cool!!! I really like the upbeat dancy rhythms on this album. And the lyrics? Are SUCH a great contrast to the music. It kinda sounds like a breakup album, and you know I'm in a permanent state of breakup. "Miles Away", "She's Not Me" and "Incredible" are my faves. Despite what you may have heard, the JT songs are actually not the best ones, to me!
  

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

Colin Meloy Sings Live! - I love a lot of these songs in their Decemberists arrangements. But I'm just not into it here. All very "one note": every song sung with exact same level of intensity, same volume on both vocals and guitar, same earnestness. No ups/downs/louds/softs. Kinda boring. (These same songs on Decemberists albums? Not boring at all!)

Counting Crows "Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings" - I like some of the (faster) songs. But it's a bit much and the second half really drags. On the other hand, it's their best stuff in years. And I like the live versions I heard on Fuel/Friends a few months before this came out (a lot better).

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin "Pershing" - I like it the few times I've had it on..but I've barely listened to it. Too much else going on. It's on my to-do list. ;)

Posted by Duff at 11:20 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

June 05, 2008

March Album Reviews

So turns out I didn't buy that much music in March. Not only did I not buy much (some of what's below was gifted to me), but I didn't listen much either... Maybe that 9-day trip to Japan had something to do with it? (And, no, before you ask, I still haven't listened to much of the music I bought there [mostly rap], I've been too busy reorganizing music while home to listen to new stuff [and didn't put those on the Pod/iTunes yet].)

Absolutely Love & Adore:

Jesse Malin "Glitter in the Gutter" - One of those (increasingly rare) albums that just WORKS all the way through. Really love it. I actually like it so much, I couldn't even narrow down a favorite song for ya. Today it may have been "Happy Ever After" but other days it's been "Black Haired Girl" and sometimes "NY Nights" and other times... Uh huh. It's that good.

Gnarls Barkley "The Odd Couple" - The more I listen to it, the more I like it. It's not getting the press or the play their first one did, but I think it's just as good. A little darker, but still delish. Cee-Lo just has such a great voice, I think that boy could sing anything and make it beautiful. Favorite song: definitely "Going On".

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Rat Within the Grain" Damien Rice
  
• "Wonderwall" Noel Gallagher, singing the Ryan Adams' arrangement of Noel's song
  
• "Hideaway" The Weepies
  
• "Buckets of Rain" (my favorite all-time Dylan song) covered by Redbird (Peter Mulvey)
  
• "The Silence Between Us" Bob Mould
  
• "Changing Your Mind" Bob Schneider
  
• "Don't You Worry" Jim Noir
  
• "I Woke Up Today" Port O'Brien
  
• "Vision in Red" Thao Nguyen

Other Albums I Liked:

• Hot Chip "Coming on Strong" (and) "Made in the Dark" - I kept reading about this band everywhere and wondering if I should be listening and CCB took pity on my lazy ass and sent me both of these. The former (CoS) is not what I was (for some unknown reason) expecting. Instead it's melodic, kinda jazzy with some background fuzz, sweet and smooth. The second (MitD) is more what I had in my mind: disco-y electronic, rhythmic. Fun! :)
  
• Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks "Real Emotional Trash" - I never listened to Pavement back in the day; got turned on to them last summer thanks to Rob Sheffield's lovely book so I'm new to the Malkmus fan club. On the rough, edgy side of rock. The first four songs don't really pull me in but then we hit "Baltimore" and "Gardenia" and I'm a total goner... I could listen to those two (and the songs that follow) over and over!
  

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss "Raising Sand" - Hmmm. You know, people kept occasionally playing me singles off this album and I thought "hey, maybe it IS as good as people are saying." But apparently I only like it in singles because I almost fell asleep the three times I tried to get through the album as a whole. Pretty. But boring. Maybe I will like them better in person? We'll find out in a few weeks...

Foo Fighters "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace" - I was a big big Foo fan...a long time ago. (Their live show was one of my faves of my NY years.) And although it seems odd to say about music, sometimes I just grow out of a certain band or sound. When I put this on, I think "oh yeah, sounds exactly like some Foo stuff I was listening to 10 years ago." (Loved their first two albums. Loved.) So while this album is perfectly fine and good and enjoyable enough (and could easily be in the above category instead of here), I just don't find myself listening to it. I've kinda moved on.

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

Just the stuff I bought in Japan. :)

Posted by Duff at 10:20 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

May 15, 2008

February Album Reviews

Absolutely Love & Adore:

Missy Higgins "On a Clear Night" - Such an awesome husky voice. (JenG., a huskier Meg Nathanson? I hope you are listening to this album! You would love it!) Uncomplicated arrangements, quietly emotional. Particularly lovin' "Angela".

Nada Surf "Lucky" - Lovelovelove "See These Bones". And "Ice on the Wing". And... Yeah. The whole album kicks ass.

Bon Iver "For Emma, Forever Ago" - If you aren't already sick of hearing me talk about Bon Iver, then you must be here for the first time. This album takes my breath away, shreds my heart into tiny little pieces, and leaves me wanting more.

The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir - So Much Frakkin Fun. Various vocalists. Different styles to many of the songs. "I Never Thought I Could Feel This Way for a Boy" is their breakout but I love "Then and Not a Moment Before" and "Aspidistra" just as much.

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

• "Forever Song" Josh Pyke
  
• "Gravedigger" Willie Nelson
  
• "Sing Along" Virginia Coalition
  
• "Goodnight" Zox
  
• "Grounds for Divorce" Elbow
  

Other Albums I Liked:

• Clare Bowditch & the Feeding Set "The Moon Looked On" - Not sure why I had to email Australia to get someone to send me this album. She SHOULD be hitting it much bigger than she is.
  
• The Magnetic Fields "Distortion" - Loud and buzzy and layered. Some really great lyrics on this album.
  
• Mike Doughty "Golden Delicious" - Big fan of this album. ("I wrote about a song about your car"! Yay!) Subtract a few songs from it (another version of "27 Jennifers". Really?) and add the one that's missing and I'd be all over it. ;) Still, do like a lot of it.
  
• The Raveonettes "Lust Lust Lust" - Makes a good pair with the Magnetic Fields. Thick and dark and pulsing.
  
• Coastal Chill 08 - Random (primarily Aussie) singles. Sweet.
  

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

Huh. Looks like I didn't buy any albums I didn't like in February. Woot, score one for me!

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

• The Mountain Goats "Heretic Pride" - Bought it toward the end of the month, just haven't really wound up listening to it.
  

A lot of the songs mentioned here wound up on this mix.

Posted by Duff at 04:00 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

May 14, 2008

Album: Jesse Malin "Glitter in the Gutter"

I've mentioned this album a few times (here, here, and the single here) but in case you weren't paying attention...

Great lyrics, insistent rhythms. Sometimes plaintive, sometimes demanding. A little Springsteen feelin' (he even sings on a track). A little Eagles soundin' (particularly the chorus of "Aftermath": "Standing on the corner, watching people walk on...") and he definitely has a little Southern Rock twinge to him (listen to his pronunciation when he sings "From the desert to this love-stained town, I still find comfort in the underground..." in "NY Nights"). He's a bit more rockin' than the average dude on my "melancholy boys" playlist...sometimes a bit more mad. ;)

Two to three months later (March purchase) and it's still in pretty constant rotation. It'll take something seriously magical to knock this out of my 2008 Top 10.

Posted by Duff at 09:35 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

May 02, 2008

Lyrics of the Afternoon

Not only does it have an awesome beeboppy '60s feelin' to it, but also there are a LOT of good lines in The Magnetic Fields "Too Drunk to Dream" (from Distortion, a pretty kickin' album that sonically certainly lives up to its name) but here are three of my faves:

I've got to get too drunk to dream because I only dream of you.

I've got to get too pissed to miss you or I'll never get to sleep.

I've got to get too fried to cry or I'll be crying all night long.

Mmmm, making me thirsty.

Posted by Duff at 02:19 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under " " of the XXX., Album, Listenin', Lyrics, Tunes

May 01, 2008

Favorite Album of the Day:

The Submarines "Honeysuckle Weeks"

You know I'm a sucker for boy/girl trade-off/combined vocals.

And awesome lyrics: Love is a swimming pool with no bottom / We've got to hold on, the water is risin'...

And boppy silly rhythms. La la la la la.

Yay!

Posted by Duff at 10:59 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under " " of the XXX., Album, Listenin', Tunes

April 30, 2008

Is Joe Purdy the new Ryan Adams?

Is it my imagination or does he put out three albums a year, minimum?

Anyhoooooo, if you've seen the latest KIA commercials, you've heard his latest single "Can't Get It Right Today" off his new(est) album "You Can Tell Georgia", much of which I am enjoying. It's not a new direction or anything, but it doesn't need to be.

Dude sings pretty. What else do you need to know? :)

and p.s. he made me his friend on Facebook out of the blue (I mean, I hadn't friended him or anything because, you know, I'm not all that stalker-y as I might sometimes seem). I expect soon we will be meeting for coffee, exchanging CDs, and staying up late watching BSG together. Oh wait, that's not how "friend"ing on Facebook works, is it. Dang.

Posted by Duff at 10:31 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

April 29, 2008

The last Madonna fan on earth?

Boy, people are really harshing on Madonna these days. That article actually made me kinda sad. She's not my very favorite artist...but there's lots of songs of hers I have liked in the past and I do believe we need people that push mainstream culture's boundaries, even if they are the fakiest of the fake when they're doing it, whether they do it as "brands" or "media monsters" or whatever.

I'm listening to her new album Hard Candy for the first time...and I'm finding lots of things to like. Maybe not LOVE. Maybe not OH MY GOD BEST ALBUM EVER. But there's lyrics I'm likin', and beats, and random melody lines, and I have always liked her admittedly not-the-world's-best-ever voice.

Plus I prefer pretty much all my music with lyrics and that includes dance music, which is really what this is.

Posted by Duff at 05:48 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

April 24, 2008

January Album Reviews

Absolutely Love & Adore:

Matt Costa "Unfamiliar Faces" - Quirky (his videos crack me up!) and fun. Melodic and rhythmic (which seems...obvious, but they're not always both there!) and goofy and sweet. Really can't stop listening to it. Particularly "Mr. Pitiful" and "Miss Magnolia", both of which make me bounce around like a goofball.

Liam Finn "I'll Be Lightning" - A month ago, I liked this but I didn't love it. All I could think about was his dad. But then it kept coming up on shuffle and I kept thinking "Wow, I love his voice" and then I started listening to the album again, and then again, and... Yeah, I'm pretty much loving it. I love the chorus of "Second Chance" and "Energy Spent" is a lot of fun. I do think it runs out of gas a little, the last three songs just kinda of shuffle off for me. But it's a 14-song album which is crazy in the first place!

Ben Gibbard and Andrew Kenny "Home, Vol. 5" - I'm so late to the party on this one, but I really love these songs. Lowkey but lush in their own way.

Tracy Johnson "Dreams in Cold Weather" - Fun, girlie pop. Sassy, emotionally edgie lyrics. Perhaps Alanis-reminiscent to some. (Makes me think of Merrill Bainbridge, myself.) Lovin' it!

Random Singles:

• "Brown" and "Anemones" Half Acre Day
  
• "In a Little While" (live, San Jose Arena, 4/20/01) U2 (old, yes. beautiful, yes.)
  
• "Gimme Some Truth" (cover) Rogue Wave
  
• "Number One" Miss Fairchild
  
• "Thing About Trouble" Doug Burr (sounds like Ryan Adams)
  
• "If It's the Beaches" Avett Brothers (SWOOON)
  
• "You Cross My Path" The Charlatans (UK)
  
• "The Faraway Sound of Cars" Reichenback Falls
  

Other Albums I Liked:

• Reichenback Falls "Ravens & Chimes" - Michelle, are you listening to this? I think you'd like it. A little Polyphonic Spree-feelin'. And some of it is so strongly Arcade Fire-reminiscent that they fool my ear (particularly "This Is Where We Are", "Saint Jude in the Village Voice" and "General Lafayette! You Are Not Alone!").
  
• Cat Power "Jukebox" - I like this a lot...but not as much as I like her originals. I love a well-timed cover, but I get a little bored when they're the entire album. Don't you?
  
• moe "Sticks and Stones" - Straight up rock'n'roll. Feels (and sometimes sounds) like old Rolling Stones, with a touch of the Southern/gothic rock thrown in. "Darkness" is awesome and I love the rhymin of "Cathedral."
  
• Chris Bell "I Am the Cosmos" - Very old but new to me.
  
• Kathryn Williams "Relations" - Soft and folky. Pretty. Not sure I'll ever listen to it that much though.
  
• Rilo Kiley "Under the Blacklight" - I'd purposely avoided this one (long story, or maybe not so long). But it's quite nice, some good songs.
  

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

M.I.A. "Kala" - I just don't get it. Didn't get into it at Lollapalooza, don't get into it at home with the album either. I may not be worldly enough. :)

Patrick Wolf "The Magic Position" - I really like the first two songs. But the rest just doesn't grab me.

Okkervil River "Golden Opportunities (mixtape)" - Download available on their site. I like their albums a lot (both "Black Sheep Boy" and "The Stage Names") but this is (more) rough and ragged and I just don't really find myself listening to it. Not representative of this band, to my mind.

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

• Lucinda Black Bear " 'Capo My Heart' and Other Bear Songs" - just can't seem to get around to this one. Soon?
  
• Good Shoes "Think Before You Speak" - Listened once. Thought it was punky! And fun! But haven't managed to listen again.
  

Posted by Duff at 03:30 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

April 03, 2008

First Impression: Gnarls Barkley "The Odd Couple"

A little darker, sometimes lonelier. Still my favorite blend of disco vibe and hip hop beats out there. Not as upbeat as the last album but a few songs that still make me start boppin' my shoulders and jumpin' around at my desk. Fave song so far: "Going On" (bounce, bounce, bounce go my hips).

Posted by Duff at 08:36 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

April 02, 2008

First Impression: The Raconteurs "Consolers of the Lonely"

There's a real Freddie Mercury/Queen vibe going on. In a good way. And not in the "glam" way of, say, My Chemical Romance (although there's nothing bad about that). In a "rock" way.

Posted by Duff at 08:03 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

March 18, 2008

December Album Reviews

Absolutely Love & Adore:

Sea Wolf "Leaves in the River" - So awesome. Love the lyrics, and the mood, and the harmonies. Just lovelovelove.

Bat for Lashes "Fur and Gold" - Eccentric and layered. Worried it'd be too Tori Amos for me but the music behind the voice (almost Berlin-like or Cocteau Twins. lordie this brings me back in time) is so much more enjoyable (to me) that the comparison falls away fast (phew).

The Avett Brothers "Emotionalism" - A little bit country, a little bit folk rocky. Lots of enthusiasm and fun.

Lupe Fiasco "The Cool" - This kid is a blast. Love how he's mixing in lots of sung vocals as well.

Random Singles:

• "Skinny Love" Bon Iver (break my heart much, would ya)
  
• "In the Sun" Donna De Lory (cover of Joseph Arthur, so many people have covered this now, it's almost unbelievable)
  
• "Work That" Mary J. Blige
  
• "Just Fine" Mary J. Blige
  
• "Apologize" OneRepublic & Timbaland (LOVELOVELOVE)
  
• "Raining in Baltimore" Brandi Carlile (cover of Counting Crows)
  
• "Thou Shalt Always Kill" Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip (so much fun!)
  
• "Paperweight" Joshua Radin & Schuyler Fisk
  
• "Endless Shovel" Rogue Wave

Other Albums I Liked:

• Augie March "Moo, You Bloody Choir" - Aussie rock.
  
• Brother Ali "The Undisputed Truth" - Really enjoy...to a point. It's a LONG album and I start to forget who I'm listening to...
  
• The Foxboro Hot Tubs "Stop Drop and Roll" - Whether or not this is actually Green Day, I think it's a LOT of fun.
  
• Simple Kid "2" - sounds like a combination of Beck and Elliott Smith.
  
• Nick Light "The World Forgetting by the World Forgot" - kinda Matt Nathanson-y. Not sure he's made himself distinctive enough to really break out. I'll be interested to see.
  
• UGK "Underground Kingz" - I'm not sure I've ever made it all the way through (what's up with rap albums having like 38.5 songs?), but I like it in select doses.
  
• Juno soundtrack - Love (LOVE!) a lot of this but can't listen to it in one go, gets monotonous. Taken in doses, however, the sweetness and the romance bring you right back to the mood of the movie, which is AWESOME.
  
• Hard-Fi "Stars of CCTV" - Really liked their new one (first to me); just catching up on the back catalog.
  
• The White Stripes "Conquest" EP - Sort of a "protest against the press" album to me, if you dig into the lyrics. Just as good as their recent album, just shorter!
  
• Jay-Z "American Gangster" - I don't buy ALL his albums but I think this one is a solid "entire album" listen. Love all the movie references and the tough guy talk.

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

Radiohead "In Rainbows" - I stopped being a Radiohead fan such a long time ago (sorry, I'm just not THAT COOL); you should be surprised I even gave this a chance. I do find this album "LISTENABLE" and honestly that's a compliment given what I thought of the previous couple. And there are a couple songs I actually LIKE ("House of Cards" would be one), but I don't enjoy enough of it and I often "fast forward" when random songs from it come on up shuffle. It's just not really my thing.

Siobhan Donaghy "Revolution in Me" - I bought this hoping to get a pop diva fix. It's got some nice songs, but I don't find myself looking for it on the Pod.

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can't legitimately offer an opinion:

• Mavis Staples "We'll Never Turn Back" (loved the samples I listened to on iTunes but just haven't gotten around to it)
  
• Dyme Dec "Space Music" (although I have listened to the one song "Let It Be" a bunch, which features speeded-up Beatles and is AWESOME!! I've told you about it before.)

Posted by Duff at 09:35 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

February 28, 2008

Album: Home EP, Vol 5 Ben Gibbard and Andrew Kenny

Always behind the times as I am, I picked up this 2003 release at Green Apple on my trip to San Fran last month. Not only had I never heard of this album, I didn't know Andrew Kenny (or his band American Analog) or the Home series itself (which offers other interesting pairings such as Bright Eyes/Britt Daniel).

So pleased I bought this. Lovely quiet little songs. Subtle and sweet. Here's a longer review if you need one.

Gibbard's Death Cab band mate has a solo album out (out now, currently, not four years ago -- in case you're wondering) and it's getting good reviews everywhere I look. But so far I really haven't been tempted -- it's Gibbard's voice that really makes Death Cab for me; and you get a nice dose of it here on these four solos.

Posted by Duff at 11:57 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

October 11, 2007

Have I mentioned

just loveloveLOVING the new Band of Horses album?

Oh, Yes, I have. I do. Yes.

Posted by Duff at 10:07 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

October 10, 2007

First Impression: Band of Horses "Cease to Begin"

It's really great. I loved their first album but this definitely takes things up a few notches. Melodic and intense. Some songs are what I imagine Explosions in the Sky would sound like if they added a vocal track. A couple songs remind me of Pink Floyd, I admit sheepishly (not my fault! I did date Pink Floyd's Biggest Fan!). And there's one song with Eagles-esque harmonies ("Peaceful Easy Feelin'" type harmonies is what I'm sayin').

Totally love it.

Although it seems kinda short. I want more!

Posted by Duff at 09:42 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

September 26, 2007

Album: Eddie Vedder "Into the Wild"

I really hadn't listened to Pearl Jam much in recent history, but then I started reading I Am Fuel, You Are Friends, and Heather is an unabashed PJ fan...and then they played Lollapalooza...

This album is the soundtrack to the movie. And I swear when I listen to it..this is going to sound crazy!... I can FEEL Alaska. I can feel wide open horizons... I can feel solitude, and silent (echoing?) forests... Expansive. Lonely. Calm. I don't know what it is -- Vedder's voice, the background music, the lyrics -- but it is creating very vivid pictures in my mind...

It's a mystery to me...
You think you have to want more than you need
Until you have it all, you won't be free.

Posted by Duff at 11:46 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

September 13, 2007

Album: Kanye West "Graduation"

I really like this, I think there are some quality songs I will be listening to for a while... BUT. But.

Ou est the joy, Kanye? The thing I really, really loved about his previous albums was the FUN. The sense that he was smiling the entire time he was rapping. When I saw him in concert, I thought "damn this kid is HAPPY." I mean, maybe not as crazily silly-ily happy as, say, Lupe Fiasco, but still. There was a real joie de vivre about the whole thing.

On this record, even on the songs with positive, peppy lyrics, I feel like he's got this "I am very purposeful" look on his face. A "hey, this is serious, I'm not joking around" tone. Like he's just not having as much fun. :( I know he feels like he's got something to prove; there's the "who will sell more" battle with 50, and the reviews that all say "he gives his best stuff away! his albums aren't as good as the stuff he does for other people!" ... but maybe he needs to not care about that, you know.

I still like it, I'm still listening. But I don't LOVE it the way I did the previous two.

Posted by Duff at 09:01 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

September 12, 2007

First Impression of the new Rogue Wave!

Rogue Wave: "Asleep at Heaven's Gate".

Um hello = LOVE IT. Listened straight through twice so far. Can't even be bothered to try the other albums I bought last night, because this sooooo pleasing. Oui, ça me plaît beaucoup. Love it.

Posted by Duff at 09:28 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

September 11, 2007

In Concert: Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals

What an amazing show. Blew me away. Can't really put it into words. Ben Harper's amazing voice, and his truly remarkable guitar skills, and his completely awe-striking mastery of so many musical styles... His band is polished and professional but can still rip it up. There were loud rocking moments, and rollicking funky moments, and Marvin Gaye sexy moments, and quiet heartbreakingly beautiful moments. They're promoting their new album "Lifeline" (with possibly the most lovely title song of any album in recent history) and I think it may be their best one yet. Highly recommended, both the album and the show.

Posted by Duff at 09:27 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Live!!, Recommending, Tunes

August 29, 2007

Wow, Earlimart is bewitching me.

I'm listening to the new Earlimart "Mentor Tormentor" while I am trying to catch up on book reviews tonight, and this album is completely entrancing me. It's so lilting and melodic and calm yet building. The vocals are lovely. Wow. What a pretty album!

I've mentioned their previous album ("Treble & Tremble") to lots of people and just gotten a blank stare. I listened to that one quite a bit, but I don't remember there being as many male/female trade-offs in the vocals. There's a folksy, country twinge to this band, but they're less rhythmic than most country, and the harmonies feel thicker/stronger (and more pop) than most folk.

Now I wish I would have bought tickets to see them (tomorrow at Schuba's) but I know I really don't have the energy anyway (and I knew looking at my calendar, I wouldn't, which is why I didn't buy them when they went on sale a few months ago). Eh bien...next time.

For now, I will turn off the lights and listen to this loveliness and dream myself into another world...

Posted by Duff at 08:45 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

July 31, 2007

The Magic Numbers ...SOUND LIKE... The Muppets ??

OK, call me crazy, but I SWEAR there is a sample of "The Rainbow Connection" in the middle of "Boy" from The Magic Numbers' new album "Those the Brokes".

Why else would I find myself humming "the lovers, the dreamers, and me" ? Seriously, give it a listen, I SWEAR it's there.

As to the rest of the album: Thumbs up! It's still the bouncy relentless POP of their earlier album (you really can't call this anything other than "pop"!), but there's some touches that are a little blue-sier, a little funk-ier, a little more sass-a-fras. They make such pretty harmonies, there just aren't that many people out there that can do it better than this.

Posted by Duff at 01:03 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under ...Sounds Like..., Album, Listenin', Tunes

Current Favorite Band: The National.

I am so in love with this band right now, I can barely talk about it without getting choked up!

Stay out super late tonight
Picking apples, making pies
Put a little something in our lemonade
And take it with us...

The fact that I had never listened to them before Boxer, their AWESOME current album, just goes to show that no matter how much music you listen to, and how many magazines & blogs you read, and how much you think you are paying attention, there is always something GREAT that slips past your radar.

As the summer went by, I kept picking up random mentions of them everywhere (as i mention here) and then Paul mentioned them as well, and I got home, listened to maybe three of the iTunes 35-second samples, and I was ALL IN. Just like that.

The lead singer's voice is soooo deep and melodius and just downright BEWITCHING. You don't even want to hear anyone else sing after that, all other voices sound so thin. The music is thick and densely layered (you know I'm not a fan of the sparse). Great lyrics. Great mood. Wow. I'm bowled over!

I had a secret meeting in the basement of my brain.

I am going to see them live in NovemberSeptember! [Doh!] and I CANNOT WAIT!!

Highly Recommended: "Boxer"
Also recommended: earlier album "Alligator"
Although a lot of the reviews are calling the new one a departure, I felt it was more of a logical progression.

You might need me more than you think you will.

Posted by Duff at 10:30 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

July 11, 2007

Album: The White Stripes "Icky Thump"

So in the past, I have always thought "naw, I don't think so" when a new White Stripes album comes out. Then a few weeks after its release, I start hearing it everywhere and loving it. Then I finally buy it and it becomes completely indispensable to my listening ears. So this time, I bought it right away. Good idea -- 'cause I love it! I mean I LOVE it EXCEPT I HATE "St Andrew (blah blah)". That song just grates on my ears and in fact I believe I will DELETE it from iTunes altogether when I get home tonight so it never accidentally starts playing! Hate. Love. It's always a fine line!

Actually I love this album so much that I think I may finally have found my new AC/DC. You know, that one band in a genre you never ever listen to but you just love that one band so much you listen to it constantly? Because THIS album to me is not rock. It's HARD rock. Metal, almost. I mean, seriously...it rocks. It's loud and sassy and all BEAT and GUITAR and hello is it not hard rock to you?

As close to listening to Headbanger's ball as I will ever be, EXCEPT of course AC/DC "Back in Black" which I did in high school (and still do) listen to full-on over and over. Hello if you went to high school when I did, you young folk, there is no way you didn't know all the words to at least three songs on this album, whether you liked it or not. And it's certainly the only hard rock I was interested in then. (And OK, during high school, I was willing to make out to Whitesnake, but I wouldn't listen to it otherwise.)

So there's two recommendations for you: White Stripes "Icky Thump" = THUMBS UP. AC/DC "Back in Black" = in my all-time Top 10, no question. (Whitesnake = only during heavy petting.)

Posted by Duff at 11:12 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

July 10, 2007

Maria Taylor: New to me. New to you?

So you may or may not remember me liking the Maria Taylor song that's on the Paste #30 sampler. I bought her latest album "Lynn Teeter Flower" shortly after that. It's a little quirky / songs are very stylistically different from each other / you just don't know what to expect and it feels a bit off kilter, like she hasn't found HER sound yet. But I am quite enjoying it and can't quite compare it to anyone else. How refreshing!

And I am also quite enjoying her 10 Things list (linked to today by Largehearted Boy). I am soooo with her on #6 and #3 (except for the fine arts high school bit. hello there were 40 people in my graduating class, that supports one shitty high school and certainly not a fine arts high school in addition or instead).

Posted by Duff at 10:41 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

June 22, 2007

Album: Electrelane "No Shouts, No Calls"

These girls just plain rocked out when they opened for Arcade Fire. But I don't think this album represents them very well. It's a bit sedated. (Buy tickets to one of their shows instead!!)

"After the Call" and "Between the Wolf and the Dog" sound the most like they sounded live. "Cut and Run" has great lyrics.

Posted by Duff at 11:00 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

Album: Shane Nicholson "Faith & Science"

If you were a boy singer, would you be insulted if I told you your album was super super pretty? I mean it in a good way!

I saw Nicholson open for Kasey Chambers last year(?or the year before?) and really liked him. He's often compared to Crowded House/Neil Finn. I really didn't hear the similarities that much on the previous album, but on this one there are indeed a few songs that I have to stop and think "Wait, who am I listening to?"

If you need music to ROCK you, this might be too soft for you. But if you generally don't like the quiet boys, it's more upbeat than that (i.e., not as melancholy as, say, Damien Rice).

Fave songs: "All the Time in the World," "Always Be on Your Side," "Watch Her Go" and "Exit Wounds."

Posted by Duff at 10:19 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

May 22, 2007

Finally Giving In to Elvis Perkins

After receiving multiple recommendations of Elvis Perkins "Ash Wednesday" and somehow never being convinced by the 35 second previews on iTunes, I was finally in just the right mood for it and now I just can't stop listening. It may be elegiac in some of its lyrics and imagery, but it's not a downer: the overall feeling is one of hope. It's got a real twangy folky feel to it, lots of acoustic guitar strumming with crooning vocals on top.

Next to the new Travis, which I canNOT stop listening to over and over and over again, it's probably my most played music in May.

Posted by Duff at 09:53 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

May 10, 2007

Bonus!

If you buy the new Travis album "The Boy with No Name" (and why the fuck wouldn't you? that should really say "WHEN" you buy the new Travis album), you should know that if you buy it on iTunes: you get two bonus tracks! And I am LOVING one of them so I'd say booyah, go for it. More on this totally awesome I am lovinlovinlovin it album later.

Posted by Duff at 07:17 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

March 08, 2007

So Beautiful It Hurts.

Great Lake Swimmers went and released a new album without telling me, can you believe the nerve? Good thing I was dicking around in iTunes trying to find a place to throw money. (Weirdly the release date is reportedly March 27 but since I bought it on iTunes several days ago and it's playing on my iPod RIGHT NOW that is obviously wrong.)

Ongiara is beautiful. Just fucking beautiful.

Posted by Duff at 09:35 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

March 06, 2007

Tonight's Soundtrack

Hefty doses of "Neon Bible" the awesome new album from the Arcade Fire. Molly, you're right, I LOVELOVELOVE "Intervention" (damn, an organ entry gets me every time!), I also love "Windowsill", love the lyrics of "Ocean of Noise" and oooo "The Well and the Lighthouse" I like that one too. The only track I'm feelin' iffy about is "Antichrist Television Blues" which sounds a lot like Bruce Springsteen to moi.

I'm alternately listening to Neon Bible's 11-songs with a one-song breather in the middle: "Communist Love Song" by Soltero (MP3 linked here), which is making me happy and breaking my heart at the same time (and ain't that just the trademark of truly great songs). It starts out slow, but ends up all in a rush...

If you would stick up for me
In the face of great adversity,
Know that I would do the same,
Know we are the same.

If you would stick up for me,
Speak kindly and poetically,
You can be my personal
Ambassador to the world.

And if you're ever less than certain,
I will be your Iron Curtain.
I will be your Berlin Wall,
And I will never fall.

Posted by Duff at 06:50 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Lyrics, Recommending, Tunes

February 27, 2007

Lyric of the Day

I was living in the past, but somehow you brought me back,
And I haven't felt like this since before Frankie said "Relax"...

This is, bien sur, from "Don't Write Me Off" on the "Music & Lyrics" soundtrack. A movie I quite liked; a soundtrack I quite LOVE.

Posted by Duff at 11:42 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under " " of the XXX., Album, Listenin', Lyrics, Tunes

February 16, 2007

EP: She's Spanish, I'm American.

You may remember me telling you how awesome Josh Rouse is in concert... His albums tend to be very, very mellow and somewhat same-sounding throughout. But in concert, he's got a lot more than that going on. When I last saw him, he did one song with a girl who traveled over from Spain to perform with him (he's living there these days, I believe). Now they've gotten together and put out a four-song EP.

It's much more like his live show than his solo albums. It's not super hyper, but it's got some bounce to it. It's quite melodic and definitely has a little Spanish feel. Thumbs up. (Plus hello it's only four songs. It's not a hefty investment to try out!)

Posted by Duff at 10:31 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

February 09, 2007

First Impression of the New Fall Out Boy!

LOVE IT!! Totally sing-alongable. Definitely a little dash of Queen (or My Chemical Romance, hahahaha) thrown into the previous mix of punk/rock/anthem/boy tunes. So far, haven't heard a song I haven't liked.

Posted by Duff at 09:37 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

January 25, 2007

2006 Leftovers.

So you may remember me offering up a list of "albums other people had in their top 10s that made me wonder..." as part of my overall 2006 music report. As you SHOULD have expected, I went out shortly afterward and bought all of them, except one that I haven't been able to track down either on iTunes or in physical stores (Hello, Camera Obscura, do you really need to be that obscure?). Here's how I feel about them at this point.

Really REALLY Like:
Ghostface Killah "Fischscale" - great fucking album. GREAT.
James Hunter "People Gonna Talk" - jazzy. awesome. cannot believe it's a skinny white dude singing. close your eyes and you'll be thinking it's Solomon Burke.
Jim Noir "Tower of Love" - Beatlesque goofy love lyrics, Beatlesque sounds. Happy!
The Rapture "Pieces of the People We Love" - I kept reading about this one and forgetting to buy it. Idiot! They're this year's (2006's) Franz Ferdinand/etc. (hello Michelle, that's a note to you [not you, Michele G.!]. I know you get mad when people don't tell you about albums you would like!)

Like (Perhaps a Lot) But Not Top 10ers:
The Mountain Goats "Get Lonely" - this is really quirky and sometimes very quiet & one-man-bandish. But it grows on me more and more.
Josh Ritter "Animal Years" - I don't think it's QUITE that amazing. But I like it. Solid songwriting and musicianship, interesting lyrics.
Neko Case "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" - I really enjoy this album, but I don't find myself wanting to listen to it over and over. Best in separate doses. Don't think she's quite as compelling as, say, Cat Power or Rosanne Cash, two people who albums DID make my list (see link above).
Lily Allen "Alright, Still" - This is a super fun album. She's the British PINK!!! But I don't listen to it that often...because sadly I am an old lady now and its subject matter is a little juvenile. Good lord, did I just say this is too young for me? Oh sad day.

Like Well Enough:
Destroyer "Destroyer's Rubies", Dresden Dolls "Yes, Virginia" and Silversun Pickups "Carnavas" - These albums are all very redolent of Smashing Pumpkins to me and all have similar sounds to my ears. Dresden Dolls is a little Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs with the girl punk feel. Destroyer I liked, but don't get an urge to listen to. Silversun Pickups I like the best of the three, but is so Pumpkin-ish that it doesn't have a standout/recognizable on its own sound to me. So they're all fine, but I only put Silversun Pickups on the Pod and I probably won't be listening to these much.

Didn't Like:
TI "King" - just not the kind of rap I like, I guess (it's not Ghostface Killah, that's for sure). only two songs I outright enjoyed.
Grizzly Bear "Yellow House" - I will try to give this one more listen JUST IN CASE. But first impression was "Eh? No thanks."

Haven't Listened to Yet:
Birdman & L'il Wayne "Like Father, Like Son"
Lupe Fiasco "Food & Liquor"

Have Not Yet Found ANYWHERE:
Camera Obscura "Let's Get Out of This Country" - no idea where I found the single which I bought ages ago, but haven't been able to find this album on iTunes (only their previous one which I already have) nor at Tower, nor at Virgin...

Posted by Duff at 10:55 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

January 24, 2007

New Tunes.

Albums I'm Buying:
Jan 23: Shins "Wincing the Night Away" (Bought!)
Jan 30: Youth Group "Casino Twilight Dogs"
Jan 30: Josh Rouse "She's Spanish, I'm American"
Feb 6: Fallout Boy "Infinity on High"
Mar 6: Arcade Fire "Neon Bible"

Albums I Might Buy But Haven't Decided:
Jan 30: Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah "Some Loud Thunder"
Feb 20: Explosions in the Sky "All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone" (they do a LOT of the instrumental music that's been on Friday Night Lights)

Albums I'm Pretty Unlikely to Buy, I Think:
Jan 23: Of Montreal "Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer "

Albums I Won't Buy, But You Might:
Feb 6: Bloc Party

Song I Bought Last Night that Was Written on the Same Slip of Paper:
"Please Don't Pass Me By" by Jack Harlan. Oh so pretty!

Posted by Duff at 09:29 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Lists, Tunes

First Impression: Shins "Wincing the Night Away"

Like it. LIKE it.

Edgier / less positive and bouncy than their previous outings. More of a downer (more what I like, really). Not until about "Red Rabbits" (song 6) does it start to bounce...and then only momentarily. Don't get me wrong: I love the Shins, bouncy or not. The general feel of this one is less that way.

p.s. and "Girl Sailor" ...SOUNDS LIKE... the Smiths (and Morrissey)! Bonus!

Posted by Duff at 08:33 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under ...Sounds Like..., Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

December 07, 2006

CD Stocking Stuffer: I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness.

I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness - 5-song eponymous EP. Bonus points for great band name.

They put out a full album in March, but this is a good way to try them out. Price is right! :)

I saw them recommended for people who like Bloc Party - so you've got to wonder why I bought it (I found Bloc Party fun at first, but monotonous after a few listens). Think it's a bit quieter/darker/more sensitive than BP. Try it.

Posted by Duff at 08:12 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

November 16, 2006

Album: Damien Rice "9"

Beautiful. Really heartbreakingly mindblowingly beautiful. Quiet, and loud, and whispers, and shouts, and loves, and hates, and fears, and dreams. Beautiful.

Lyric of the Day: Waking up without you is like drinking from an empty cup...

Posted by Duff at 07:51 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under " " of the XXX., Album, Listenin', Lyrics, Tunes

November 15, 2006

Album: Damien Jurado "And Now That I'm in Your Shadow"

Very much in the Damien Rice/James Blunt/etc. arena. But all slow, all sad, all depressing.

The album gets to be a bit of a drag if you listen to it all in one go. In the same way that other albums (say, Kaiser Chiefs) can be a little too "one note" on the upside, this album is a little too much on the downside. Whereas say Damien Rice or James Blunt do have some songs that are at least at different tempos, if not in slightly better moods.

That said, I loveloveloveLOVE the first two songs: "Hoquiam" and "Denton, TX". I have listened to the two of them back to back approximately 57 times in the past two days. Sad, so sad. But so pretty!

Posted by Duff at 09:58 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

Album: My Chemical Romance "The Black Parade"

Sometimes things don't live up to the hype. But sometimes they do, and in this case, even better than.

Everyone's talking about Queen and glam-rock, but there are so many other influences obvious here as well. 90s anthem rock (Boston/REO), with a dose of punk thrown in, and several songs that bring Smashing Pumpkins to mind. It's loud and sassy and upbeat and fun. And the hidden track has a real Morrissey/Smiths feel to it.

Balme, you will love this. And Michelle, I think you would as well.

Posted by Duff at 09:53 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

November 05, 2006

Paolo Nutini, wherever did you get that voice?

Recommended by my good friend Evan, paparazzo extraordinaire and music lover, I recently got this EP off iTunes.

• "Jenny, Don't Be Hasty" - Old-Stones type of sassy. Gravely edge to his voice here. Has an old time rock/blues swing to it.
  
• "Last Request" - Big thick vocals. This skinny scottish boy is not what you picture when you listen to this song with your eyes closed. And you don't picture a 19 year old either! Bittersweet melancholy, begging for just one last time...
  
• "These Streets" - Folky/pop acoustic background, with an almost Reggae-like rhythm to the vocals.
  
• "New Shoes" - Rockabilly. A zippa-de-do-dah, chase the blues away tune.
  

Recommended by moi aussi.

Posted by Duff at 06:55 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

Album: Jet "Shine On"

There are moments that are way, way, way too Oasis-like and anthem-stereotypic.

But then there are songs like 'Eleanor" with its Beatles-esque sweetness and light and the harmonies on "All You Have to Do" especially that slow descending "Ah...ah." And I forget all about the Oasis crap that was bugging me earlier.

Posted by Duff at 05:37 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

October 26, 2006

Sometimes I feel Guilty.

I really like Badly Drawn Boy, a couple of his albums have done serious rotation time on my stereo. But after a halfhearted attempt at listening to the new album at Reckless the other day, and reading lots of mediocre reviews like this one, I just can't commit. But I feel guilty. What if it's really good? Or better than people say? What if I miss the boat on an album by someone I used to like? Should I get it just in case? Yes, these are things I think about. My mind = ALWAYS able to waste time! This explains why I own some CDs I don't listen to. As do we all, I assume.

Posted by Duff at 10:35 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

A Look Back at Beck.

The major albums. Approximate dates. Random thoughts.

• 1994 Mellow Gold - never bought this album. Love "Loser". Have no clue about the rest of it!

• 1996 Odelay - Fun, Jazzy, Hyper, Goofy.

• 1998 Mutations - Melancholy and melodic. Lovely lyrics.

• 1999 Midnight Vultures - Sexsexsex. Techno.

• 2002 Sea Change - Sad. Heartbreak. Orchestral. Thick.

• 2005 Guero - My least favorite. Rock. Punk. About as "metal" as Beck gets.

• 2006 The Information - Pop. Ramblin' Rhythms. Little bit of everything. Some Stones moments.

When happy, I prefer Odelay and The Information or listening to "Loser" over and over again on repeat.

When I wanna dance, I prefer Midnight Vultures mixed with Odelay, The Information, and maybe a little bit of Guero thrown in.

When sensing possibility or just plain horny, I prefer Midnight Vultures.

When sad, quiet, contemplative or lonely, I prefer Mutations and Sea Change.

Y'all know which of those I most often am.

Posted by Duff at 09:01 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

October 01, 2006

Album: Scissor Sisters "Ta-Dah"

Fun. Hyper happy hoopla. As enervating as their previous effort. Part Elton John, part Bee Gees, part '70s dancehall mirror ball. If that floats your boat, this is for you. (Balme: you will LOVE this album.)

No ups vs. downs: it's all ups.

Posted by Duff at 12:30 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

September 29, 2006

Album: Pete Yorn "Nightcrawler"

Fickle girl, changes mind.

A couple days ago I told someone not to buy this album (and buy Joseph Arthur's new one instead). Now I'm not sure.

I like the first 3-4 songs. And I love "Splendid Isolation" (song 9) which has a real Traveling Wilbury's feel to it, oddly enough.

I'm still in consideration on this one.

Posted by Duff at 10:10 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

September 26, 2006

Album: Joseph Arthur "Nuclear Daydream"

Have listened to this at least 25 times in the past two days. I guess I like it! Fits right into my Melancholy Boys for Mondays playlist. Introspective. "The days when I would die for you are now gone..." Has a very 60's Stones sound on the chorus of "When I Was Running Out of Time".

Only song I can't really listen to is "Don't Tell Your Eyes" with the "Jesus loves you more than you know" repetition in the chorus. I once got yelled at for recommending Joseph Arthur: "why'd you tell me to buy this bible music?" Yes, the chorus of "In the Sun" repeats "may God's love be with you" and one album is called "Redemption's Son" and has some biblical imagery...but until the yelling, I hadn't really noticed. I've been assured by someone that they know someone who knows him (or someone who knows someone who knows him) and he's not a bible banger....but the topic does keep rearin' its head.

Not as blatantly as with Jenny Lewis, but it's still always there in the back of my mind.

Betsy, if you're reading, I'd say buy this instead of the new Pete Yorn. It's much more satisfying.

Posted by Duff at 01:48 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

September 18, 2006

Album: Barenaked Ladies "Barenaked Ladies Are Me"

Sweet (mostly). Melodic. Very singalong-able. Occasionally quirky but not overwhelmingly so. Solid. Enjoyable.

If you're a BNL fan already, well worth it. If if you are NOT a BNL fan, man, you are NO FUN, is what I have to say to you.

Posted by Duff at 06:49 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

August 25, 2006

Am I in a bad mood I don't know about?

Or is this latest Snow Patrol album just really, really fucking sad? I just calmly decided to listen to it a little while ago and now I'm almost in tears over the lyrics and the melancholy moody music... Not recommended for the suicidal among you.

It's a good album. It's just a bit of a downer.

Posted by Duff at 11:56 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

June 23, 2006

Last Night's iTunes Buying Frenzy.

If you're a Keane fan - their new album is very, very, VERY listen-worthy. It is distinctively them, but it is them good.

If you're a Nelly Furtado fan - her new album is very confusing to me. But note that sell-out is not my choice of word, as others are saying.

If you're a Gomez fan - then you know more than I do as this is my first Gomez purchase. A purchase that I am quite enjoying. And by quite enjoying I mean I almost can't breathe during a couple of the songs.

So two thumbs way way up and one thumb that can't figure out which way is up and which way is down. But more on that one later.

Posted by Duff at 11:31 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

May 30, 2006

This girl definitely just wants to have fun.

My top summer CDs right now are 1) Gnarls Barkley, 2) Daniel Powter and 3) Pink.

They are not the deepest most soul searching albums around (Powter seems to be getting slammed in reviews. Hello there is nothing wrong with just being FUN!!!! stupid idiots) but they are making me happy, bouncy and almost unable to keep from at least twitching if not outright dancing.

I can go elsewhere for life lessons; this is SUMMER, yo.

Posted by Duff at 03:47 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

May 25, 2006

New music for the plane.

The latest albums (with my quickie impressions from one or two listens) from: Snow Patrol (like it but very much just "regular" rock, no innovations from 1st record); Pearl Jam (rocking OUT); Fiona Apple (jazzy); Dixie Chicks (haven't sampled yet); and Paste Sampler 22 (not yet).

Posted by Duff at 09:43 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

May 10, 2006

DangerMouse Does It Again

The mixmastered Grey Album was magnificent. Much better than the Black Album (Jay-Z). (Altho, of course, not QUITE as good as the White Album (do I need to tell you whose album the White Album is? If so, this may not be the blog for you...).)

I am in the midst of my first listen to the latest DangerMouse work: Gnarls Barkley "St Elsewhere"...and I love it. So much fun!!

Posted by Duff at 10:47 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

April 30, 2006

Fickle girl changes her mind.

After listening to the KEXP podcast of the Editors at SXSW, I completely changed my fickle little mind and decided to buy the album. I haven't paid that much close attention to the lyrics YET, but after a few superficial listens, it is definitely exactly the kind of bitter, angry, plodding, yet mellow, kind of music I wanted to be listening to right now. It's turgid...in a good way. Sweet.

Posted by Duff at 03:22 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

April 25, 2006

There's a little country girl hidden somewhere in my heart.

And thus I am LOVING this pseudo-country album I bought in Australia:

The Audreys "Between Last Night and Us."

I bought it purely for its cool cover with no idea what kind of music it contained or whether I would like it.

Damn damn damn do I ever.

Posted by Duff at 09:26 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

April 12, 2006

The Herd: "An Elephant Never Forgets"

I am listening to Aussie Hip Hop right now and QUITE enjoying myself.

Posted by Duff at 06:52 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

March 17, 2006

Go Buy This Album: Daniel Powter.

How is it that I had to just be messing around in iTunes to find out about this. I LOVE IT. It is making me very very very happy right now. Or the happiest I can be right now given the underlying I'm not happy.

Super fun, bouncy. BUY IT.

That is my advice for you this Friday, the 17th of March. That is all.

Posted by Duff at 12:11 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

February 21, 2006

Just My Style.

Rosanne Cash "Black Cadillac." Turgid and moody, thickly layered, questioning. Love it.

Posted by Duff at 07:13 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

February 09, 2006

Girlie Tunes.

Normally I am all about the melancholy boys. But yesterday I got the new Beth Orton "Comfort of Strangers" and the finally-released-in-the-states KT Tunstall "Eye to the Telescope." Add those to Cat Power and Jenny Lewis and it's a very girlie month here in February, that it is.

Posted by Duff at 02:47 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

February 07, 2006

Not Your Normal Duff Reaction

So one of my co-workers has me listening to KEXP. And while perusing their DJ's Best of 2005 lists, one album kept popping up over and over: Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings "Naturally". I'm diggin' it.

Posted by Duff at 11:45 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes

January 06, 2006

Mixin' It Up.

50-Cent + Queen = Q-Unit.

Give it a listen. It's Q-Brilliant.

(Via Josh Spear.)

Posted by Duff at 03:07 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Tunes