Seven albums in, Transference has made me fall in love with Spoon all over again. Spoon was an undeniable name in indie rock when I came on to the scene. I did my usual thing and picked up everything I could find. It was surprising me to me listening to the changes that the band went through over almost two decades of making music together. Kill the Moonlight (2002) and Gimmie Fiction (2005), two of my favorites, were both accessible enough to be fun to listen to by people who might have otherwise sloughed them off, and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007) hit it hard with an even stronger pop-influenced sound that was consistently a bite of musical goodness. I tend to gravitate to the mid-career albums. Spoon is funny, artsy, weird, experimental, yet surprisingly cohesive. Transference is such a very simple album at its core, made extremely smart by the interest that Britt Daniel can add to 3 simple chords. The sound comes out harsh sometimes, chunky at others, yet often smooth and homogeneous in ways that make me want to jam out and sing along. It’s this blend that makes me love Spoon, and makes me love this album.
I get the feeling that Spoon decided to take a bit of a stand on this album, making Transference less ready-made and more like the heart and soul of their days as true independent musicians. It’s risky, but it worked. The albums is full of gems.
For the first time, I’m actually committing to a music festival. I feel a little bit guilty that I’ve lived this close to The Gorge my entire life and have never seen a live show there. I’ve come very close many times, but have never quite made it. For those of you that don’t know, The Gorge is an amazing outdoor ampitheater surrounded by breathtaking views of the Columbia River. It’s well hailed as one of the most scenic concert locations in the world. Feast your eyes:
A few friends and I have finally made the plunge and purchased tickets for Sasquatch! 2010. The lineup is absolutely out of this world. I’m so excited I can barely contain myself! Here is the list of bands released via press release:
My Morning Jacket
Massive Attack
Pavement
Ween
Vampire Weekend
MGMT
Band of Horses
The National
LCD Soundsystem
Tegan & Sara
Broken Social Scene
Passion Pit
Deadmau5
She & Him
Public Enemy
Nada Surf
The New Pornographers
The Hold Steady
The xx
Dirty Projectors
OK Go
Drive By Truckers
Kid Cudi
The Long Winters
Minus the Bear
The Mountain Goats
Quasi
Camera Obscura
Fruit Bats
Brother Ali
Midlake
Dr. Dog
Caribou
Simian Mobile Disco
City & Colour
No Age
The Temper Trap
Vetiver
Miike Snow
Portugal. The Man
Telekinesis
Mayer Hawthorne
Why?
Girls
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Wale
The Lonely Forest
Japandroids
Boys Noize
Yacht
Freelance Whales
Laura Marling
Patrick Watson
Past Lives
Cymbals Eat Guitars
The Low Anthem
The Very Best
Phantogram
Neon Indian
Nurses
The Tallest Man on Earth
Fresh Espresso
Mumford & Sons
Jets Overhead
tUnE-YarDs
Shabazz Palaces
Fool’s Gold
Morning Teleportation
Z-Trip
Dam-Funk
Hudson Mohawke
The Middle East
Local Natives
Avi Buffalo
Booka Shade
A-Trak
Yes Giantess
Craig Robinson
Rob Riggle
Garfunkel & Oates
Luke Burbank
If any of you are going to be there please let me know. I’m certainly a big fan of “the more the merrier” when it comes to concert buddies!
I’m back, personal crisis averted, friends. At the beginning of 2010 I became very frustrated with this blog and there were a few very specific things that contributed.
First of all, I am not impressed with the change of hands that happened with Lala. Apple’s attempt to move to a more “cloud-based” streaming music service lead to their acquisition of my favorite, coveted music streaming system back in the first part of December. This meant that the songs that I had added to my collection for $0.10 each were no longer playable by all of you lovelies. I could still play them as many times as I wanted, but that’s as far as it extended. I really appreciated the ability to stream music that I was listening to directly to the people I wanted to hear it. Alas, as the old adage goes… All good things must come to an end. I’m still searching for the perfect replacement, but realized that there’s no reason for me to completely abandon doing what I like to do while I look for something better.
Secondly, I have a very strong desire to actually write. My posts about music are about fun and the subject matter is my favorite thing, but they’re not exactly revealing, insightful, or thought-provoking. I can be a great storyteller and would be thrilled to tell some of my stories to the world… true or not. This isn’t the place for that. I have been spending a long time thinking about what the repercussions would be if I actually wanted to tell some of my personal stories, and have realized that I would have to do it in a different venue. I haven’t committed to it, nor have I decided what level of anonymity I would have to maintain. If any of you have any thoughts on the matter, please feel free to share. I’m interested to hear what kind of experiences others have had sharing their stories in such an open forum.
Lastly, I’m just leaf in the wind of the blog-o-sphere. That bothered me. I actually wanted to matter. During my two month hiatus I realized that I actually missed being able to post what I want when I want. It became apparent that I didn’t actually care if anyone read it or not… those that did may get one tiny nugget of enjoyment out of it, and that’s good enough for me. I’m not going to feel guilty if I don’t post for a few days, and I’m not going to throw something together without thought. This is MY place.
There are a few things you can expect from the future. I will have more guest bloggers. I will have more album and concert reviews. I will throw in my favorite songs, interesting news stories, or just generalized opinions on things. I will also try to include some more cultural and geeky musings. I’m excited! I hope you are, too.
This is my attempt at musical Christmas cheer. I don’t like Christmas music. It’s become, after years of gritting my teeth through it, a deep contempt for anything even remotely Chrsitmas-y. I’m going to totally contradict that today and share Julian Casablanca (of the White Stripes), Jimmy Fallon, and Horatio Sanz in a remake of the old (well, not that old) SNL skit song, “I Wish It Was Christmas Today.” They performed live on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on 12/21. I’ve been hearing the Julian Casablanca version on SiriusXMU for a few weeks and, maybe it’s because of my love of Saturday Night Live, but, um… I kinda like it. HUSH YOU!
Happy Holidays, friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful time. It seems a bit strange, but we’re already on the heels of 2010. I had a great time in 2009, and there’s no doubt that it was full of a lot of changes.
Most of the music I listened to had some kind of emotional value to me, and I only partly bought in to some of this year’s “buzz” bands. I felt a bit distant this year. I came to find things on my own terms. As you know, if there’s one thing I’m never lacking, it’s definitely opinions, so here are my 40 favorite songs of the year (and not really in any particular order… truly I just wrote them down as I thought of them, which may actually say something about the order, but don’t read too much in to it):
Phoenix – 1901
Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks
Bat For Lashes – Daniel
Other Lives – Paper Cities
The Big Pink – Dominoes
Phoenix – Lizstomania
YACHT – Psychic City
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart – Young Adult Friction
Doves – Kingdom of Rust
Say Hi – Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh
Karen O and the Kids – Worried Shoes
Sea Wolf – Wicked Blood
The Books & Jose Gonzalez – Cello Song
Feist & Ben Gibbard – Train Song
Handsome Furs – I’m Confused
Loney, Dear – Airport Surroundings
School of Seven Bells – Half Asleep
Faunts – Feel.Love.Thinking.Of
Au Revoir Simone – Shadows
Islands – No You Don’t
Chairlift – Bruises
Viva Voce – Octavio
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros – Home
Mew – Introducing Palace Players
The Antlers – Two
Yeasayer – Ambling Alp
The National – So Far Around the Bend
The xx – Islands
Andrew Bird – Oh No
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll
Memory Tapes – Bicycle
The Decemberists – The Rake’s Song
Dan Deacon – Snookered
Atlas Sound – Walkabout
The Twilight Sad – I Became a Prostitute
Lykki Li – Possibility
Papercuts – Future Primitive
Sunset Rubdown – Idiot Heart
St. Vincent – The Strangers
Fever Ray – If I Had a Heart
My five favorite albums of the year:
Dark Was the Night: A Red Hot Compilation
The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
The Antlers – Hospice
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
My favorite TV show of the year was, hands down, Glee. I fell head over heels for this show.
My favorite movie was Inglourious Basterds. I suppose that illustrates what kind of a girl I am. Hah!
Here’s looking to 2010! I hope everyone has a wonderful year!
The world here in Missoula is covered with a thick, dampening layer of snow. Plodding my way to the car this morning wearing sixteen layers and my trusty Uggs, I knew “White Winter Hymnal” could be the only real Song of the Day today. The song itself creates such beautiful imagery. Good morning, winter.
My first listen of this song really impressed upon me how very Wonderland-esque the whole imagery is. Sure enough, doing the dishes a few weeks ago I heard it on in a commercial, and I have to admit… It is just PERFECT in Syfy’s “Alice” trailer. I like Karen O and I’ve always sort of enjoyed the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but I really dig this song. It lifts my spirits. It probably doesn’t hurt that I think it sounds a bit like Shiny Toy Guns, which holds the reigning spot for the most amazing concert experience I’ve ever had. There are a ton of great remixes on “Heads Will Roll” already. The original is found on their 2009 release, It’s Blitz! Enjoy!
I’d like to show a little UK love today. I didn’t realize this was on Zombieland (which was pretty hilarious by the by) until about 5 minutes ago, but it’s my favorite from the Doves 2009 album, also titled Kingdom of Rust. I have a quiet fascination with all things steampunk, and just thinking of a Kingdom of Rust brings up a really dark, macabre sort of landscape in my imagination. The lyrics aren’t much more specific, so I make up my own meanings. I love songs that allow me to do that.
Seven albums in, Transference has made me fall in love with Spoon all over again. Spoon was an undeniable name in indie rock when I came on to the scene. I did my usual thing and picked up everything I could find. It was surprising me to me listening to the changes that the band went through over almost two decades of making music together. Kill the Moonlight (2002) and Gimmie Fiction (2005), two of my favorites, were both accessible enough to be fun to listen to by people who might have otherwise sloughed them off, and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007) hit it hard with an even stronger pop-influenced sound that was consistently a bite of musical goodness. I tend to gravitate to the mid-career albums. Spoon is funny, artsy, weird, experimental, yet surprisingly cohesive. Transference is such a very simple album at its core, made extremely smart by the interest that Britt Daniel can add to 3 simple chords. The sound comes out harsh sometimes, chunky at others, yet often smooth and homogeneous in ways that make me want to jam out and sing along. It’s this blend that makes me love Spoon, and makes me love this album.
