Blind Pilot :: I Buried a Bone

look me in the gut
I've got fear for my own name
I'd dig it up for you
if you'd do the same

Better (Four Months) Late Than Never...

These are my ten favorite albums of 2011, in descending order.


10. Timber Timbre :: Creep On Creepin' On

09. Real Estate :: Days

08. SBTRKT :: SBTRKT

07. M83 :: Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

06. Destroyer :: Kaputt

05. Fleet Foxes :: Helplessness Blues

04. Future Islands :: On The Water

03. The Antlers :: Burst Apart

02. Youth Lagoon :: The Year of Hibernation

01. Bon Iver :: Bon Iver

Let's Get It On (Marvin Gaye cover)

This is a mostly shitty one-off I did to check how well my iPhone's camera could do audio, but just for funsies here it is.

Don't Think Twice It's All Right (Bob Dylan cover)

I've been practicing lately exclusively in D-A-D-F#-D-D tuning; the idea is that by restricting myself to an unfamiliar tuning, I will be forced to change my own perspective and find new ways of voicing chords and moving melodies around the neck. On this particular video, I have a capo on the second fret--making this the key of E--mainly to make that Richie Havens thumb wrap fingering of the F#7 on that second fret a little easier on myself. Anyway, there're admittedly a lot of mistakes in this video, but it is what it is and you get the idea blah blah blah...

Thom Yorke's DJ set at the TKOL RMX 1234567 release party:

I have infinite, forever love for Thom Yorke. Just look at that little wild man beast out.

My 9/11 Anthem...

Stevie Wonder doing "Blowin' in the Wind" at the age of 16.



I love this, despite this version's omission of the third verse lines, my favorites: "how many deaths will it take 'til God knows / that too many people have died?"

Pray for peace, everyone. One love.

Outlier's JP on Australia's Got Talent :: Down Under

As a rule, I avoid music-based reality competition type shows; I often feel like their audiences don't have too much of an idea of what "good" music actually is, and oftentimes the winners seem chosen more on physical appearance than talent. That said, it's pretty much impossible to deny the awesomeness of this guy's performance right here. Makes me want to ditch my RC-2 for an RC-50 and get my ass to practicing.

Sesame Street does the Beasties

Well, this is just excellent.

Sesame Street breaks it down from Wonderful Creative on Vimeo.

I know, I know...

Another "sorry I haven't been keeping up with the blog" post.

It's not that I haven't had anything to say, it's just that I haven't had the time to say it. I know that my hearty presence on all of my other social networks would lead one to wonder why I couldn't just, y'know, update my blog with the same frequency I update facebook and/or tweet, but I submit that those social networks are much more easily accessible via my iPhone's awesome pocket computer-ness than any real blogging platform worth fucking with. Also, I insist upon having a real, physical keyboard attached to my real, old-timey desktop PC and a quiet room in order to do any kind of thinking worth blogging. Sadly, I am rarely home often enough to do that, so...

Speaking of "other social networks," I've joined the herd and got into both Google+ and Spotify. (I'm awwpeaches on both, naturally.) The former, I'm not so sure about just yet--too few early adopters to be useful right now--but the latter...WOW. I've been on such a music bender since Spotify came into my life, which is ridiculous because my life was pretty much already a music bender without it. I guess Spotify is my newest, most amazingly persuasive pusher is what I'm saying.

But anyway and anyhow: I do feel bad for neglecting this here blog, my oldest creative presence on the web. I'm going to be doing a lot more posts about music in the near future, and I'm even considering resurrecting my Saturday Mix Series posts, with downloadable ZIPs of the awesome playlists I make, which I used to do on here way back in 2007/2008--that's right, Spotify! I'm an O.G. playlist-sharer.

I do have plenty more things to say about non-music topics as well, and I hereby promise I'll do better at giving them the time they deserve to be said properly.

Seacrest out.

Future Islands :: Beach Foam

This is my favorite song ever right now.

2010, in Review

10. Josh Ritter :: So Runs The World Away


I once, between 2006's The Animal Years and this year's offering, reflexively resisted Josh Ritter's music because of an ex-girlfriend who was/is really into him. I'm over that now; Ritter's craft is just too strong to ignore. On this, his third proper LP, Josh proves, once again, why he's considered amongst the greatest living songwriters today. I really can't say much more than that.


09. Big Boi :: Sir Lucious Left Foot, The Son of Chico Dusty


With a list of collaborators that reads like an all-star lineup (George Clinton, Janelle Monáe, Gucci Mane, T.I., Jamie Foxx, B.o.B., Bun B, etc.), and three years in the making, this--not Kanye West's--is the best rap album of 2010.



08. Vampire Weekend :: Contra


To quote myself, from January 17th, 2010: "By adding certain electronic elements--namely, pre-programmed loop sampling and, shit, even autotuned vocals!--to the instantly familiar blend of hipster-approved, globalized influences...honed on their first album, Vampire Weekend emerges with a second album much more engaging and interesting a listen than the first. It's only 17 days into the new year, but I am certain this album is gonna be on everyone's best-of 2010 lists come December. Unlike Vampire Weekend's 2008 album, however, this one will also be on mine."


07. Wild Nothing :: Gemini


This is what it sounds like to take mushrooms with an old friend who's in town from Korea on July 4th and stay out on the lake with your brother and some more great friends and everyone in their underwear until the sun rises. At least, that's what it sounds like to me...


06. Arcade Fire :: The Suburbs


Have you fucking listened to "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"?!?! It's a god-damned perfect song, and a totally unexpected and brave one, coming from this band.

05. How To Dress Well :: Love Remains


Best sexy time music of the year.


04. The Besnard Lakes :: The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night


Dreamy, cinematic, guitar-driven, honest-to-God rock with a heart. From Albatross: "Those days are now long gone / Wish I had your picture / Never been able to be true / So I wanted, I wanted / I wanted to help you / I wanted to..."


03. The Tallest Man On Earth :: The Wild Hunt


Called this one back in April.


02. Titus Andronicus :: The Monitor


In a year when the cast of The Jersey Shore commands higher levels of our pop culture's collective attention than do most politicians, Titus Andronicus drops this Walt Whitman-quoting, Civil War-referencing reminder that, no matter what Snooki and her crew would have you believe, New Jersey is still the home of Bruce fucking Springsteen and the ever-present, suburban uncertainty of purpose born out of such constant, close proximity to--yet philosophical distance from--the big city.


01. Beach House :: Teen Dream


First off, the production on Teen Dream is just about spot-on perfect; the album marks a quantum leap forward for the duo from Baltimore whose self-titled debut made my #13 spot in 2006. Still present are the moody, ghostly atmospherics and heady, slow-burn rhythms that became Beach House's instant trademark, but gone now for the most part is the monotonous haze that encumbered and dragged down the mood of the group's first two records. What we're left with is a new, significantly more intimate version of Victoria Legrand's voice, pushed so much farther to the front of the mix, we wonder how in the hell they ever thought to drench it in so much reverb before now. In years to come, this album will mark the point in time when a new and important band had truly, finally arrived.


Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order)

Caribou :: Swim
Charlotte Gainsbourg :: IRM
Crystal Castles :: Crystal Castles
Erykah Badu :: New Amerykah Part 2 (Return of the Ankh)
Four Tet :: There Is Love In You
Gayngs :: Relayted
Holly Miranda :: The Magician’s Private Library
Janelle Monáe :: The ArchAndroid
Mumford & Sons :: Sigh No More
Phantogram :: Eyelid Movies
Pill Wonder :: Jungle/Surf
Plants And Animals :: La La Land
The Radio Dept :: Clinging to a Scheme
Sufjan Stevens :: The Age of Adz
Twin Shadow :: Forget


...but wait, there's more!



Above is a youtube playlist I made with one song from each of my top 10 albums of the year, in order:

01. Josh Ritter :: Lark
02. Big Boi :: Shutterbug
03. Vampire Weekend :: White Sky
04. Wild Nothing :: Chinatown
05. Arcade Fire :: Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
06. How To Dress Well :: Ready for the World
07. The Besnard Lakes :: Glass Printer
08. The Tallest Man on Earth :: Love Is All
09. Titus Andronicus :: Richard II
10. Beach House :: Walk in the Park

inudge? you nudge. we all nudge!

Kayla just showed me this really cool website called inudge.net where you can create your own electronic music with the help of their simple, flash-based interface. Check it this simple little loop I just made, and head over their way to try making your own!

Belle & Sebastian :: Sleep the Clock Around

This Belle & Sebastian song has been stuck in my head for weeks, but I'd been totally blanking on its title and album up until this morning, when a quick click-through of the B & S discography solved my dilemma: it's "Sleep the Clock Around" from 1998's The Boy With the Arab Strap, and it's one of my favorite songs ever. I already told it I was sorry I forgot about it for a while. It's forgiven me.

Bright Eyes :: Light Pollution (live, 2005)

Listening to records in his basement:
Old folk songs about the government
'It's love of money, not the market,'
He said these fuckers push on you
'And freedom yells, it don't cry
Whatever sells will decide
But there's no hell when you die
So don't look so worried...'

The Power of Music

Hooray for human beings! Go music!

Radiohead :: Motion Picture Soundtrack

One of the all time greatest sad panda songs, ladies and gents:



Red wine and sleeping pills,
Help me get back to your arms.
Cheap sex and sad films,
Help me get where I belong.

I think you're crazy, maybe.
I think you're crazy, maybe.

Stop sending letters,
Letters always get burned.
It's not like the movies,
They fed us on little white lies.

I think you're crazy,
Maybe. I think you're crazy,
Maybe I will see you in the next life...

Forgotten Records of the Early Aughts

Having lately spent a great deal of friend time with various 20-somethings of a slightly younger age than my own--I'm a young 27, thank you very much--I've realized that several records seminal to my own musical and artistic development during my college years are sadly facing neglect at the hands of kids just 2-4 years my juniors. I mean, really...it's somewhat disconcerting to me when my mention of, say, Wilco's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot"--arguably THE. BEST. RECORD. OF. THE. DECADE.--is met with the blank stares of those who should know much better. So, having said that, I intend to use the rest of this post as a means of spreading knowledge. In no particular order, here are, off the top of my head, a handful of somewhat obscure records released during 2002-2005, otherwise known as my early college period. While the albums may be "obscure," all that should mean is that I don't think that even most "artsy" kids these days have heard them, let alone the normals. All of these albums had profound impacts on my life, and it is my hope that maybe some of them will have similar effects on yours. Included with one sentence descriptions and album art will be links to places on the internet where you can download the music.*

2003 :: British Sea Power - The Decline of British Sea Power(Mediafire)




Literate, poetic lyrics propped up by upbeat Brit-pop instrumentation with healthy hints of psychedelia and punk.

Favorite tracks: "Apologies to Insect Life", "Something Wicked", "Carrion", "Blackout", "Lately".



2005 :: Black Mountain - Black Mountain(Mediafire)



Throwback, retro-stylized post-psychedelic freak-out proto-jam-metal with huuuuuge balls.

Favorite tracks: "Don't Run Our Hearts Around", "Druganaut", "Set Us Free", "Faulty Times"



2004 :: Thee More Shallows - More Deep Cuts(Mediafire)



Reeeaaaally awesome weed music; if you can get past the weirdness, this is an all-time great sleeper record.

Favorite tracks: "Post-Present", "Freshman Thesis", "Int", "Ave Grave", "2 AM"



2004 :: Comets On Fire - Blue Cathedral(Mediafire)



What it would sound like if you went camping with a band of magical, musical wood elves with unlimited food, mushrooms and weed, and just jammed out until you lost your mind.

Favorite tracks: "The Bee and the Cracking Egg", "The Antlers of the Midnight Sun", "Brotherhood of the Harvest"

[Special note: just listen to the fucking backwards reverb on the lead guitar on "Brotherhood of the Harvest"!!!]



2005 :: Mice Parade - Bem Vinda Vontade(Megaupload)



More a "mood" record than a "songs" record; this is just the epitome of chill, all layered fingerstyle guitars, hushed vocals, and brushed cymbals.



2004 :: Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter - Oh, My Girl(Mediafire)



Mournful, lyrical Indie-Americana/Country/Folk, with vocals along the lines of Lucinda Williams or Gillian Welch, and lyrics featuring the word fuckery on track one.

Favorite tracks: "Oh, My Girl", "You Are Not Gotten Here", "Tell the Boys"



2003 :: Calexico - Feast of Wire(Mediafire)



This record I actually consider to be one of the best and most thorough of the decade because the sheer range of its North American musical styles and influences--traditional Country, Americana, Blues, Acid Jazz, Mariachi, Rock, and even Morricone-esque Western stuff--keeps you listening, at full attention, to all 19 amazing tracks.

Favorite tracks: "Sunken Waltz", "Black Heart", "Woven Birds", "Corona", "Fallin' Rain"



*Please note, none of the D/L links are my personal creation. All were found through simple google searches.

True Story...

I actually did do this to an old girlfriend. I loved her, too...just couldn't get past her dubious taste in music. Bummer.



On the bright side, 27 "likes" in 5 minutes of posting counts as...you guessed it, an internet win.

Emily Elbert :: Who's Loving You?

2:03 - 2:30 = Goosebump-inducing perfection, especially her crack on the lyric "becaaaaaauuuse" @ 2:16.

Ted Garber :: The Giving Tree

To blatantly name-drop a bit, I just got off the phone with Ted Garber regarding some dates he'll be playing this summer for us at Lakeside Inn. The phone call reminded me that, though I've meant to do so, I haven't yet blog-mentioned Ted's awesome new album, American Rail, which came out earlier this year. So I'm doing so now. You can buy American Rail here on iTunes annnnnd here on emusic.

AND come see Ted Garber, live at Lakeside Inn in Reston on Saturday, June 5th from 9:00 pm - 1:00 am. As always, no cover charge.