It’s that time of year again, oh friendy friends! Time for my favorite music of the year blog! For those who haven’t slogged through these before, allow me to get these perfunctories out of the way:
All music on this list is NEW music that was released in calendar year 2016.
A mix CD of songs from my list can be easily obtained by messaging me and asking. Those on my “mailing list” will receive one without asking.
I am not saying this was the “best” music of 2016. I used to say that but people got their undies in a bunch. I’m just saying it’s my “favorite”.
And before I proceed with this year’s list, I’d like to address what was probably my biggest disappointment of my music listening life: this year’s Band of Horses release. When I heard of the album, and learned it’s title, and saw the artwork and read the tracklist, I was perhaps the most excited I’d been for a new release since the height of my Pearl Jam fandom. I fully anticipated making it the number one album on my list this year. Instead, it does not even appear. The reviews were very mixed–some were ecstatic whereas others reacted quite like I did, and many were very neutral. So obviously it can be heard many ways. I personally, after listening about ten time during it’s first month of release, may never listen to it again.
I’d also be remiss if I did not mention Prophets of Rage, a supergroup combination of Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy, and Cypress Hill. Again, many detested it and many loved it; I loved it and thought it was beyond the bee’s knees. However, for the most part, it was not new music, and it does not make the list, but it formed a very important part of 2016 for me. In addition, Neil Young+Promise of the Real released a live album, Earth, that felt as fresh and vibrant as a new studio album and I listened to that thing like crazy, but again: not really new. Now: my list!
15. Explosions in the Sky, “The Wilderness”
14. Ray LaMontagne, “Ouroboros”
13. Public Enemy, “Man Plans God Laughs”
12. Kiefer Sutherland, “Down in a Hole”
11. DJ Shadow, “The Mountain Will Fall”
10. A Tribe Called Quest, “We Got It From Here…Thank You 4 Your Service”
The Tribe’s triumphant return was well worth the wait, with lyrics poignantly reflecting the temper of the times and thankfully light on misogyny. And the beats are dope.
9. M83, “Junk”
M83’s new album is a kind of throwback space funk jam-off, like a ride in a technicolor elevator, with purple felt walls. Impossible to dislike.
8. Warpaint, “Heads Up”
Warpaint have now built upon the dark, groovy introspection they created in their first two albums with more intricate jams and a subtle pop sensibility; their musical landscape is now a universe all their own.
7. Mexico City, “When the Day Goes Dark”
This powerful Australian band hadn’t released any new music for six years. Their return was worth waiting for, as they morphed from terrific bar band into a piledriver of country and blues rock. A potential classic.
6. Jim James, “Eternally Even”
The mastermind behind My Morning Jacket didn’t connect with me on his first solo album a few years back, but this year’s “Eternally Even” tickles my Jacket bone.
5. Paul Simon, “Stranger to Stranger”
Simon is never bad. But as he ages, I seem to keep thinking he is getting better and better; his lyrics become more adventurous (from The Werewolf: “The fact is, most obits are mixed reviews./ Life is a lottery, a lotta people lose./ And the winners, the grinners, with money-colored eyes/ they eat all the nuggets, and they order extra fries./ But the werewolf is coming.”), his music more modern, playful, daring. “Stranger to Stranger” is a delight from start to finish, but especially for those familiar with his full body of work; his evolution is a bewildering achievement.
4. Emily Wells, “Promise”
Wells is an astonishing talent, and “Promise” proves she’s an artist worthy of canonization. Eschewing her previous catchy violin hooks and hip hop undertones, here she digs deep–the level of introspection at times becomes hard to watch. But ultimately, while not an album of happy, singalong songs, “Promise” proves instead to be a key addition to any music library concerned with–frankly–the meaning of life.
3. Radiohead, “A Moon Shaped Pool”
What’s still to be said about Radiohead? They are as good as everyone says, as is this album. Including a studio version of “True Love Waits” (re-worked for piano) nearly broke me in half.
2. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, “Skeleton Tree”
Cave’s son died tragically while the band was recording the album, and it can be heard in every sound. It’s a quiet, low-tempo, mostly spoken-word collection of songs, and it is not for the faint of heart. It is brave, and it is terrifying, but it does not wallow.
1. Bon Iver, “22, A Million”
I haven’t said much about this album online, as I grew into it slowly, and it came out shortly after a few albums I’d been talking about at length, so I figured I’d stop clogging up everybody’s feed with my music stuff. But as I kept listening, and listening, and listening, it became clear this album was not going to go away. It is an album of absolutely confounding elements–it incorporates so many genres, styles, and influences, it’s amazing it is coherent. And it sometimes approaches unlistenable, as vocalist Justin Vernon simply sings through a synthesizer without any music for long lengths of time. But ultimately it’s not about being catchy, or easy, or even “artsy”. The album is a true experience, and one that is deeply felt.
Back in the old days of the Notes, I used to write a lot more about music, movies, and books, and I would every so often post updated lists of my absolute favorites of things. Not due to any pressing interest from the public, of course–mostly just because it’s fun for me, and also because having such a blog post can be quite handy during discussions online; I can just link someone to the entry to aid in a discussion of favorites.
Of course this is not to be confused with my annual “Favorite Music” list, where I detail my favorite music released in the previous calendar year; these lists detail my current all-time favorites, which are (like yours, of course) constantly changing.
Looking back at my entries, it appears as though I haven’t done a big posting of lists since 2012, so I’ll make this one fairly comprehensive. All of these lists have changed since 2012–some very little, some quite dramatically:
My top ten favorite poets
10. Jane Kenyon
9. Robert Creeley
8. William Carlos Williams
7. Sylvia Plath
6. Billy Collins
5. Denise Levertov
4. E.E. Cummings
3. Philip Levine
2. John Updike
1. Philip Larkin
My top 10 favorite film directors
10. Federico Fellini
9. Sidney Lumet
8. Alejandro Inarritu
7. Christopher Nolan
6. Paul Thomas Anderson
5. Alfonso Cuaron
4. Stanley Kubrick
3. Werner Herzog
2. Alfred Hitchcock
1. Terrence Malick
My top ten bands
10. This Will Destroy You
9. My Morning Jacket
8. Godspeed You! Black Emperor
7. Radiohead
6. Seven Mary Three
5. Hey Rosetta!
4. The National
3. Band of Horses
2. Modest Mouse
1. Arcade Fire
My top ten music solo artists
10. Tracy Chapman
9. Ray LaMontagne
8. Father John Misty
7. Leonard Cohen
6. Jim James
5. Nina Simone
4. Willis Earl Beal
3. Emily Wells
2. Paul Simon
1. Neil Young
My top ten favorite (non-documentary) movies
10. Citizen Kane
9. Night of the Hunter
8. Fitzcarraldo
7. Magnolia
6. The Trouble with Harry
5. Children of Men
4. Where the Wild Things Are
3. The Thin Red Line
2. I’m Still Here
1. The Tree of Life
My ten favorite novelists
10. Malcolm Lowry
9. John Steinbeck
8. Isaac Asimov
7. Ernest Hemingway
6. Oscar Wilde
5. Kurt Vonnegut
4. Mark Twain
3. David Mitchell
2. Don DeLillo
1. Dave Eggers
My top twenty favorite books (any genre, fiction or nonfiction)
20. “A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole
19. “Slade House” by David Mitchell
18. “The Terror” by Dan Simmons
17. “You Shall Know Our Velocity” by Dave Eggers
16. “Point Omega” by Don DeLillo
15. “Cloud Atlas” by David Mitchell
14. “Fallen Founder” by Nancy Isenberg
13. “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde
12. “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding
11. “Under the Volcano” by Malcolm Lowry
10. “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” by Dave Eggers
9. “The Sun Also Rises” by Ernest Hemingway
8. “Cat’s Cradle” by Kurt Vonnegut
7. “Dubliners” by James Joyce
6. “Letters From the Earth” by Mark Twain
5. “White Noise” by Don DeLillo
4. “Endurance” by Alfred Lansing
3. “Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever?” by Dave Eggers
2. “Into the Wild” by John Krakauer
1. “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck
My top twenty favorite albums
20. “Funeral” by Arcade Fire
19. “Nobody Knows” by Willis Earl Beal
18. “High Violet” by The National
17. “The Battle of Los Angeles” by Rage Against the Machine
16. “Swamp Ophelia” by Indigo Girls
15. “Mirrorball” by Neil Young
14. “Dis/Location” by Seven Mary Three
13. “Abbey Road” by The Beatles
12. “Graceland” by Paul Simon
11. “Bitches Brew” by Miles Davis
10. “‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!” by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
9. “Kid A” by Radiohead
8. “Strangers to Ourselves” by Modest Mouse
7. “This Will Destroy You” by This Will Destroy You
6. “Time Out” by the Dave Brubeck Quartet
5. “Secret Samadhi” by LIVE
4. “Infinite Arms” by Band of Horses
3. “The Suburbs” by Arcade Fire
2. “RockCrown” by Seven Mary Three
1. “Into Your Lungs (and Around in Your Heart and On Through Your Blood)” by Hey Rosetta!
My top five composers
5. Philip Glass
4. Cliff Martinez
3. Hans Zimmer
2. Felix Mendelssohn
1. Carl Nielsen
My top ten painters
10. Edgar Degas
9. George Bellows
8. Mark Rothko
7. Johannes Vermeer
6. Mary Cassatt
5. Maurice Prendergast
4. Thomas Eakins
3. Henri Rousseau
2. Andrew Wyeth
1. John Sloan
Like many people, I have many favorite bands that come into and out of prominence over time. I’m not shy about blasting my opinions about these bands online, so many of you are probably at least slightly tuned into my current obsessions. There are some bands that have what I would call themes; they don’t just write songs, but their entire body of work represents a specific worldview or thought process; others bands just sort of write songs. I like plenty of both kinds of bands. For instance, I love My Morning Jacket, and while I could say quite a bit about their musical themes, I’d be hard pressed to make a statement about what the whole of their songs say about a specific worldview.
My favorite band, Hey Rosetta!, has a very distinct worldview that is expressed in nearly every song: they believe in the lifting-up of humanity–of rising above our base and dreadful selves into a state of grace, be it secular or otherwise. I believe in this worldview and embrace it. I’m an unashamed atheist and I don’t think this concept is anathema to atheism; joy, redemption, and existential victory are just as (if not more) possible secularly as they are with religion. As such, the content of the songs of Hey Rosetta! speak to me greatly.
However, there is a flip side, and that side is Modest Mouse. Modest Mouse also has a worldview, and I believe in theirs, too, despite how different it is from Hey Rosetta!’s. Modest Mouse’s worldview is that the world is a painful, pointless collection of atoms; we spring into existence and consciousness by accident and then after a short time, we stop existing. Their music explores what it’s like to be trying to make sense of the damned mess during the brief period that your carbon gains awareness. I find this worldview to be unassailably true; however, when coupled with Hey Rosetta’s philosophy, it meshes into my own cohesive idea of the world: we’ve sprung from nothing and we end up as nothing, but it can be beautiful and inspiring while you’re here.
Modest Mouse (which nowadays really just means Isaac Brock, the main lyricist and songwriter) have just released an album that I think could not possibly better encapsulate their theme. The album, Strangers to Ourselves, digs deep into not just the whole “everything is pointless” concept but examines more closely American problems like urban sprawl, screen addiction, gun control, anhedonia, climate change; the things that serve to separate us from our experiences, rob us of our individuality, and kill us early–in a universe where there are no second chances. The music on the album is completely immersive: huge, sweeping, danceable yet dirty, like Death come to visit for a playdate, or like a syphilitic disco ball.
But the real accomplishment here are the words. Isaac Brock has always written wholly unique lyrics; only a man with such a sideways twist on conventional rock lyrics could successfully tackle the topics he has (I hesitate to say he is the best current rock lyricist; I don’t know who is but their name probably rhymes with Gibbard). But on Strangers to Ourselves, Brock’s goal has finally become crystalline, his thesis fully formed. This album is his doctoral dissertation. And like any great work of art, it is so bold and cunning that the flashes of brilliance are accompanied by other moments that seem daft or even silly. This is the nature of a rock and roll record that aims, ultimately, to tell us big truths about the entire universe. Here now, a selection of some of my favorite (or more interesting) lyrics from Modest Mouse’s Strangers to Ourselves:
“Well the Earth doesn’t care, and we hardly even matter–we’re just a bit more piss to push out its full bladder. And as our bodies break down into all their rocky little bits, piled up under mountains of dirt and silt: still the world, it don’t give a shit!”
“How lucky we are, that we are so easy to forget.”
“Well fear makes us really, really run around.”
“Pack up again, head to the next place, where we’ll make the same mistakes. Burn it up or just chop it down; this one’s done, so where to now?”
“The world’s an inventor and we’re the dirtiest thing it’s thought about, and we really don’t mind.”
“This rock of ours is just some big mistake and we will never know just where we go or where we have came from. These veins of mine are now some sort of fuse and when they light up and my mind blows up my heart is amused. So this heart of mine is just some sort of map that doesn’t care at all or worry about where the hell you’re at, but you’re right there.”
“We don’t belong here, we were just born here.”
“We get dressed as ghosts with sheets taken from the bed, inside our socks we hide Traveler’s Checks, we are tourists of the dead. So let’s pack up, let’s go!”
“Pack a lunch, wander ’round, toss the map on the ground, it is inaccurate anyway. We’ve been getting away (we’ve been getting away), we are strangers to ourselves. We sneak out, drip-by-drip, through papercuts on our hands. Day by day, nothing’s quite the same, we are tourists in our own heads.”
“These Western concerns: hold my place in line while I take your turn.”
“We all led the charge, till we ran aground in our party barge, and every little gift was just one more part of their grift. Oh yeah we know it. The best news that we got was just some dumb hokum we’d all bought. Let’s go reckless feeling great, we’re the sexist of all primates, let’s let loose with our charms, shake our ass and wave our arms, all going apeshit!”
100. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by Deep Blue Something
99. “Jack & Diane” by John Mellencamp
98. “Hotel California” by The Eagles
97. “American Pie” by Don McLean
96. “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” by Michael Jackson
95. “Nuthin’ but a G Thang” by Dr. Dre
94. “Bushwick Blues” by Delta Spirit
93. “For the Workforce, Drowning” by Thursday
92. “Fish Heads” by Barnes and Barnes
91. “Shimmer” by Fuel
90. “Rubber Biscuit” by the Blues Brothers
89. “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals
88. “Asleep at the Wheel” by Working For a Nuclear-Free City
87. “There’s an Arc” by Hey Rosetta!
86. “Steam Engine” by My Morning Jacket
85. “Scenario” by A Tribe Called Quest
84. “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane
83. “Fits” by Stone Gossard
82. “Spring Flight to the Land of Fire” by The Cape May 81. “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” by The Postal Service
80. “Sober” by Tool
79. “Dream is Collapsing” by Hans Zimmer
78. “Why Don’t We Do it in the Road?” by The Beatles
77. “In This Light and on This Evening” by Editors
76. “Lemonworld” by The National
75. “Twin Peaks Theme” by Angelo Badalamente
74. “A Comet Appears” by The Sins
73. “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” by The Decemberists
72. “Pepper” by Butthole Surfers
71. “Life Wasted” by Pearl Jam
70. “Jetstream” by Doves
69. “Trieste” by Gifts From Enola
68. “Oh My God” by Kaiser Chiefs
67. “The Righteous Path” by Drive-By Truckers
66. “Innocence” by The Airborne Toxic Event
65. “There, There” by Radiohead
64. “Ants Marching” by Dave Matthews Band
63. “Symphony 1: In the Barrel of a Gun” by Emily Wells
62. “The Best of What’s Around” by Dave Matthews Band
61. “Old Man” by Neil Young
60. “Cumbersome” by Seven Mary Three
59. “Knocked Up” by Kings of Leon
58. “Machine Head” by Bush
57. “Peaches” by Presidents of the United States of America
56. “Gimme Shelter” by The Rolling Stones
55. “Fell on Black Days” by Soundgarden
54. “The New Year” by Death Cab for Cutie
53. “Call Me Al” by Paul Simon
52. “Real Muthaphuckin’ Gs” by Eazy E
51.. “Evening Kitchen” by Band of Horses
50. “Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand” by Primitive Radio Gods
49. “Top Drawer” by Man Man
48. “Locomotive Breath” by Jethro Tull
47. “We Used to Vacation” by Cold War Kids
46. “Easy Money” by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
45. “Two-fifty” by Chris Walla
44. “I’ve Got a Feeling” by The Beatles
43. “Another Pilot” by Hey Rosetta!
42. “Revelate” by The Frames
41. “Wise Up” by Aimee Mann
40. “Sample in a Jar” by Phish
39. “Spitting Venom” by Modest Mouse
38. “Sometimes I Rhyme Slow” by Nice & Smooth
37. “I Shall Be Released” by The Band
36. “When I Fall” by Barenaked Ladies
35. “East Hastings” by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
34. “Terrible Love” by The National
33. “Jolene” by Dolly Parton
32. “Sometime Around Midnight” by The Airborne Toxic Event
31. “This Train Revised” by Indigo Girls
30. “Mad World” by Gary Jules
29. “White Winter Hymnal” by Fleet Foxes
28. “Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads
27. “Growing Old is Getting Old” by Silversun Pickups
26. “Brian and Robert” by Phish
25. “Is There a Ghost?” by Band of Horses
24. “Be Safe” by The Cribs
23. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Judy Garland, Hugh Martin, and Ralph Blane
22. “Ashes in the Fall” by Rage Against the Machine
21. “We Laugh Indoors” by Death Cab For Cutie
…and my 20th favorite song of all-time is:
“Dondante” by My Morning Jacket
My Morning Jacket are an impossible band to pin down: they write some straight-forward country songs, some songs that are eerily close to being Seventies standards, some hard rockers, and then what I think of in my head as “loneliness space fusion”, although I’m sure music people might have a more appropriate name for it. “Dondante” falls into this latter category.
Starting out at a low, creeping, spacey drawl, the song builds musically into an explosive yawp of yawning sadness. It might not sound inviting, but I’ll admit to thinking it is the sound of a decent portion of my inner life—and I suspect the inner lives of many.
The lyrics are like many of frontman Jim James’ lyrics: mysterious, almost nonsense masterful setpieces that leave the listener to provide the context of a specific story which nonetheless appears to be universal. There are very few words to “Dondante” (the meaning of the title we are also left to guess at). James is telling a story of someone he used to know. They seem to be dead, he seems to have warned them about something, he seems to have made his peace with it. But elements of the story are left unresolved. As a listener who has had his share of massively depressing departures, I can’t help but place my own experiences onto James’ specific dread nightmare. Here are all the lyrics to “Dondante”:
In a dream I saw you walkin’,
like a kid, alive and talkin’,
that was you.
In the classroom you were teachin’,
on the streets you were policin’,
that was you.
To the ones that I know most
I will tell them of your ghost
like a thing that never, ever was.
And all that ever mattered
will some day turn back to batter
like a joke.
Behind thin walls you hid your feelings.
Takes four legs to make a ceiling,
like a thing.
In a dream I saw you walkin’
with your friends, alive and talkin’.
That was you.
Well I saw it in your movement,
even though you never knew it.
Well, I knew how sweet it could be
if you’d never left these streets.
You had me worried—
so worried—
that this would last.
But now I’m learning—
learning—
that this will pass.
OK, it’s Seth again. Below is the studio version of “Dondante”. Below that is one of the many, many live versions out there. If you at all like the studio version, try the live version, it really cannot be stressed enough how much of a difference the live version of this particular song makes. It’s like the difference of viewing something in two dimensions and suddenly seeing it in three dimensions. Yes, the live version I’ve included is 15 minutes long, but it will rip your fucking heart out.
The concert last night was AMAZING. Partly because it featured two bands that I’m pretty much at the apex of liking right now, and it’s been a long time since my concert-going career was so in tune with what I’m currently digging (which is why you may have noticed a significantly higher rate of commentary about this concert on social media than I normally indulge in), and partly because I really have slowed my concert going frequency in the past year, so now when I do go to a concert, the experience is starting to have some of that oomph that it had in the beginning, oh-so-many years ago.
The Band of Horses show destroyed me emotionally, while the My Morning Jacket show ripped my face off, in the good way. I won’t bother you with specifics, but it was wholly satisfying. Although, one specific: I finally got a “Steam Engine” from My Morning Jacket, after seeing them 7 times now. “Steam Engine” is my white whale with this band. I’ve just thought up that term for this purpose, but it’s perfect. I seem to have a “white whale”” with just about every band I see frequently. My sister and I shared one with LIVE (it was “White, Discussion”) and we finally got it on their farewell tour. With Pearl Jam it was “Hard to Imagine”, which at one point seemed unthinkable I’d ever hear…and by the end of the 2008 tour, I was actually annoyed when they kept opening with it! haha. Anyway. Aside from those two, I think I have yet to see any of my other “white whales”. Oh, and of course, I got “Steam Engine” last night, and I definitely fucking cried.
Of my opener/ closer predictions, I got one out of four correct (“The Funeral” to close BoH’s set)…which was by far the easiest guess, but was no gimme! I got one from each band’s wishlist that I had made. Not too shabby.
The inside of the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, before the crowd arrived. I had a seat in the balcony.
Band of Horses during “Infinite Arms”.
Band of Horses setlist
1. For Annabelle
2. NW Apartment
3. Knock Knock
4. No One’s Gonna Love You More Than I Do
5. Detlef Schrempf
6. Infinite Arms
7. The Great Salt Lake
8. Cigarettes, Wedding Bands
9. Older
10. Ode to LRC
11. The First Song
12. Laredo
13. The General Specific
14. Is There a Ghost?
15. The Funeral
My Morning Jacket during “It Makes No Difference”
My Morning Jacket setlist
1. X-Mas Curtain <—this is an incredibly abnormal opener
2. First Light
3. Outta My System
4. Holdin’ On To Black Metal
5. Tyrone (Erykah Badu cover)
6. Mahgeetah
7. Into The Woods
8. Evelyn Is Not Real
9. Gideon
10. Rocket Man (Elton John cover)
11. The Bear
12. Strangulation
13. It Beats 4 U
14. Steam Engine
15. Victory Dance
16. Circuital
17. Touch Me I’m Going To Scream pt. 2
18. Touch Me I’m Going To Scream pt. 1
19. Highly Suspicious
20. Wordless Chorus
21. Run Thru
22. Smokin’ From Shootin’
Encore One:
1. Wonderful (The Way I Feel) [with Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses]
2. I’m Amazed
3. It Makes No Difference (The Band cover)
Encore 2:
1. Off The Record
2. One Big Holiday
In case you’re even mildly interested, I recorded MMJ coming onto stage and the first few minutes of “Xmas Curtain” (which has some incredibly interesting lyrics)…for me, one of the most interesting things to see from shows I wasn’t at is how the bands start the performance…the entrance music, the first few chords, the audience response…and MMJ never disappoint in this regard. (notice the red and green lights for “Xmas Curtain”, which, as far as I can tell, may or may not be about having sex with a prostitute on Christmas). This also gives you a good idea of how far away I was :(
The dual concert of two of my favorite bands, Band of Horses and My Morning Jacket, is in two days, and even though I have exactly zero friends who are fans of both these bands (I know a few people who *kinda like* each one but no superfans), I have to get a few things out into the public sphere here. I’ve been following both band’s setlists on this tour (here are Band of Horses’ and here are My Morning Jacket’s), and both bands are mixing up their setlists more than any band I’ve ever seen short of Pearl Jam, and I dare say that if they had PJ’s depth of catalogue, it would be even more extensive than Pearl Jam. Band of Horses (BoH) and My Morning Jacket (MMJ) are mixing up their openers and closers a lot more than Pearl Jam ever has.
So, although my so-called friend Kyle once mercilessly mocked me in a blog entry of his for making entries like this, I feel compelled to put my wish list for both bands here, as well as my predictions for what will open and close each band’s sets. Even though none of you are fans, if I am right or I get my wishlists, at least I can point back to this and say I did it! And if I don’t, nobody will care, so it’s really win-win for me.
Band of Horses
Opener prediction: Am I a Good Man
Closer prediction: The Funeral
Top 3 wishlist:
–Evening Kitchen
–Compliments
–No One’s Gonna Love You More Than I Do
My Morning Jacket
–Opener prediction: War Begun
–Closer prediction: Steam Engine
Top 3 wishlist:
–O is the One that is Real
–Steam Engine (anywhere in the setlist will do)
–It’s About Twilight Now
And here is a sweet video of MMJ playing “Dancefloors” at Red Rocks a little over a week ago:
As I was laboriously and tediously uploading yet another pretentious video to YouTube this morning, I thought for the first time in a long time to take stock of how many folks have viewed my large and eclectic library of uploads. Turns out, there’s not many surprises. Most of my videos don’t get seen more than the few dozen times they get clicked on when I initially post and “advertise” them on social media. But a select few have gained some traction and are being seen by strangers on at least a semi-regular basis. Now, most of these “successful” videos are music-related and of interest to only the target audience. And it’s pretty easy to get views this way. Some of them I knew would be of use to a fan base, because I made them because I personally noticed their absence on YouTube. But a few of these were genuine surprises. Here they are, in ascending order:
1. “Two-Fifty” by Chris Walla
Views: 1,021
By far my favorite song by the lead guitarist of Death Cab for Cutie’s solo work, I slapped this little video together when I noticed almost none of his solo songs were on YouTube. If you dig it (or are curious about my photograph selection) sit tight…it just might be making an appearance soon on my 100 Songs list.
2. “Black Friday in Erie”
Views: 1,178
This was one of the two larger surprises for me. But history has taught me one thing: videos with the word “Black Friday” and a specific town in them are recipes for getting hits from searches.
3. “Knot Comes Loose” by My Morning Jacket
Views: 1,316
I knew exactly what I was doing when I chose this song to record at this concert. You may have guessed that I am the type of man who watches A LOT of video of his favorite bands performing live. So I just happened to know that there was ZERO video of My Morning Jacket playing “Knot Comes Loose”, as far as I knew, anywhere on the internet. That is because it is a very rare live song. So when I recognized the first few chords, I started taping. And this is still the only video of it to have surfaced, although the sound quality is regrettably sub-par (most amateur recording devices don’t like being so close to enormous speakers), I anticipate this one to keep gaining a few hundred views a month for the foreseeable future, as any YouTube search for the song live results in my video being the top return.
4. “A Walk Across the McBride Viaduct”
Views: 1,561
This was BY FAR my biggest surprise. I had watched the view count for awhile after originally posting it (following this blog entry…and I’ll now offer an unspecified prize for anyone who can identify what movie the quote in the song I use comes from…NO GOOGLING, we’re on the honor system here, folks), as I was aware there was no other video online of the viaduct post-closure, and it being such a hot-button topic in this city, I thought some folks might be looking for some video. But in the weeks following it’s posting, it hovered at about 20 views, and I never looked again, until now. Now mind you, in the YouTube universe, all these numbers are TINY, but 1.500 is a lot bigger than 20. The viaduct pops up as headline news about once every three months, so I imagine searches for it come in spurts.
5. “St. Peter’s Cathedral” by Death Cab For Cutie
Views: 2,667
This one was a no-brainer. I posted it shortly after their newest album came out. There were already plenty of posted versions of the studio track, but none had scrolling lyrics like mine does. As per usual, I didn’t post this to try to get views or win some sort of popularity contest, it’s just the video I wanted and nobody had made it yet. Videos like this are not any sort of “artistic endeavor”, you can slap one together in 20 minutes (I do try to make the lyric scrolling pace with the music and be visually appealing without being obnoxious, which is more than I can say for lots of the practitioners of the form.) This one’s view count will keep climbing, pretty much forever.
6. “Black Friday ’09, Wal-Mart, 5am”
Views: 6,348
I knew this one was huge, because I watched it take off in the few days after I first posted it. I got about 2,000 hits that week, and gets about 2,000 hits every year now, the week or two following Black Friday. It’s certainly not because of how awesome the video is, it’s just because a YouTube search for “Black Friday Carlisle” turns this up in the top 3 or 4 results. And while Carlisle, PA is not metropolis, I imagine lots of people, following the big day, do searches for their specific area. A YouTube search for “Black Friday Carlisle Wal Mart” returns my video as the #1 result. My buddy Burke makes a nice appearance here.
Just an epic, heart-on-sleeve barn-burner from the most interesting band active today. C’mon, do me and yourself a favor and watch the whole thing. You won’t regret it:
Yep, it’s that time of year again: time for my self-important yet entirely meaningless year-end lists. This year will feature three lists: music, movies, and a miscellany list like this one from last year. We start out with the music list.
Boy-howdy, this was a crowded year of music for me! I would estimate that well over 50% of musical artists that I am passionate about had a release of some kind this year. At one point, it actually just seemed like too much. I wasn’t able to give my full attention to some albums, as they were coming too fast for me to keep up with. (one casualty of this may have been the new Cold War Kids album, which I did not like, but it was sandwiched between a lot of other releases. This year marks the first CWK album to not make my list. Also, The Decemberists released TWO albums this year and I found them both snooze-ville). There even, unfortunately, remain some releases I’d love to hear but I just don’t have the time or attention span to squeeze them in (new albums from Deer Tick, Tegan and Sara, Arctic Monkeys, and a live Sigur Ros release are among the 2011 recordings that will have to wait until 2012 in the Seth household). So it is with all this in consideration that I admit to being such a pansy when making this list, I absolutely had to expand my rankings from the 15 slots of last year, to 20 slots this year. That’s right; not only could I not narrow it down to 10, I couldn’t even narrow it down to 15. Give me a break. I don’t get paid for this.
Also new this year, I have included “post rock” bands in my listing. (for a description of the genre, click the link) In years past I have left them off my list, as the style only appeals to a small group of people, but the genre has become such a large part of my listening life, I could not in good faith leave them off my lists any longer. There were two new albums from two of the heaviest hitters in the genre this year, and they’re both fantastic examples of the post rock game (at number 6 and 13 on my list).
As always, a mix disc chronicling my list will be sent out automatically to folks on my “mailing list”. It will only feature songs from the top 15 on the list, however, due to the inherent limitations of the compact disc. (if you’re on my mailing list, you know you are. Although I typically don’t send the mix discs to my parents, who are otherwise on the mailing list. So, Mom and Dad, if you want one of these, let me know!) If you are not on the mailing list and would like on it, just let me know via whatever method you and I usually use to communicate. But if you want in on the mix disc, let me know ASAP, I’ll be mailing them out soon.
Also, bear in mind (to prevent silly mean-spirited arguments that would prove you know nothing about art) this list is meant to represent my favorite music of the year, not my notion of “the best” music of the year. You cannot argue with what was my “favorite”. And so, without further ado, my top 20 musical releases of calendar year 2011:
20. Radiohead, The King of Limbs
19. St. Vincent, Strange Mercy
18. Iron & Wine, Kiss Each Other Clean
17. Wavves, Life Sux
16. Drive-By Truckers, Go-Go Boots
15. Florence + The Machine, Ceremonials I was slow to the party with this band, but I’m now firmly on Team Florence. The lead single, “What the Water Gave Me”, will make you happy to be alive.
14. Young the Giant, Young the Giant One of the best debut albums I’ve ever heard. I can’t wait to see where these guys go as they get their artistic feet under them.
13. Mogwai, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will Mogwai has always been further down my list of Post Rock bands than they are for most; I tend to find them too flippant in a genre that is typically super-serious. But this album blew my socks off; it is harder and more in-your-face than most Post Rock, while maintaining the necessary pretentious artiness that makes my hat fly off.
12. Indigo Girls, Beauty Queen Sister I continue to have no idea why the world at large insists Indigo Girls are only for sappy women or butch lesbians. If perfectly-crafted, heartfelt songs about the most intense mysteries of the human condition (with amazing harmony!) are for butch lesbians, then schedule my appointment with a surgeon. This album proves the ladies can and will keep making compelling music for much longer than most songwriters are able to.
11. The Trews, Hope & Ruin The bar-rock Canadians from my 2009 list make a triumphant return! This album falls short of the majestic magnificence of 2009’s No Time for Later, but contains at least two songs that made me get out of my seat the first time I heard them (“People of the Deer” is a straight-up Earth-scorcher).
10. Real Estate, Days
This Jersey quartet is often accused of being a tad “sleepy” or intentionally understated, but ever since I saw them open for Deerhunter last winter, I’ve been a convert to their introspective, trance-like style of shoegaze rock. Here is the outro to “Wonder Years”, off their superb album from this year, Days:
9. TV on the Radio, Nine Types of Light Certainly the most anticipated art rock release of the year, following their spectacular 2008 album Dear Science, many people were afraid we’d never get another TVoTR album after they announced a “hiatus” in 2009. Then, in early 2011, they announced Nine Types of Light, and almost immediately thereafter, bassist Gerard Smith was diagnosed with lung cancer and promptly died. Needless to say, the touring and promotion for the album was all quite bittersweet; but in the end, the album is a huge testament to this band’s power: soaring, soulful and at times, relentlessly rocking.
8. Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues
Nothing brings me closer to full-on hipster status than my affinity for Fleet Foxes. As my tastes evolve from ultra-modern, hyper rock to a more toned-down, Americana fusion, no band epitomizes my own evolution better than this band. Stopping short of “country” but straying far from “rock”, the Foxes make me see and smell the Appalachian mountains of back home with every note. A friend of mine once gave as his reason for disliking Fleet Foxes as “it’s like church songs for hipsters”, and I thought to myself that sounded like exactly why I do like them. And it doesn’t hurt that on Helplessness Blues, frontman Robin Pecknold seems to have been singing from inside my own skull. “So now I am older than my mother and father when they had their daughter…what does that say about me?”
7. The Airborne Toxic Event, All at Once
Just watch this from start to finish and tell me it didn’t change your life:
6. Explosions in the Sky, Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
The other “post rock” band on my list, they could also arguably be called the most commercially successful (they did the theme song for the TV show “Friday Night Lights”, which is one thousand times more mainstream exposure than any other post rock band). Happily, with their first new album since their profile increased, they did not make simpler, more straight-forward songs for “the masses”. Take Care, Take Care, Take Care is probably their most challenging album to date, while maintaining the heightened level of spiritual raw emotion that has always made them impossible to ignore. The ten minute album closer, “Let Me Back In”, although wordless, is a dirge-like cry of sadness for a lost love, reaching a level of thematic complexity that is new for a band that occasionally relies on bombast. And if this CD doesn’t win the Grammy for album packaging, there is a serious problem (yes, they give Grammys for that…just not on television).
5. Wilco, The Whole Love
I’m a relatively new convert to Wilco. Despite them being constantly talked about in the same breath as a lot of bands I adored, I resisted them because of the label “alt-country”, but it turns out, in the last few years, that label started sounding attractive to me. So I started trying them out (and it turns out that “alt-country” is totally meaningless, anyway). Then this year’s The Whole Love came out, and I was totally blown away. Few albums—of any genre—contain so many varying styles of music and so much depth of feeling and subtextual meaning. Check this performance on Letterman from this year, of the album’s lead track, “The Art of Almost”:
4. Paul Simon, So Beautiful or So What
Paul Simon has always been one of those songwriters who I knew I loved, but I always stopped short of being an active fan (buying albums, listing him among my favorites, etc). But when one of his songs came on, I was always rapt. (honestly, I like his solo work about 100 times more than his stuff with Garfunkle). But this year, as he released an new album, he did a promotional blitz that managed to work perfectly on me. First, there was this extraordinary appearance on Jimmy Fallon, followed by appearances playing songs from his new album on just about every talk show I tuned into for a week or two. And I just fell totally in love with these songs. Musically they are low-key but extremely inventive, and like most Simon songs, they really shine lyrically. They aren’t the straight-forward, heart-on-sleeve urgent missives that he wrote in his most productive years, but rather, these songs are complex, surprising, bold lyrical poetry that could just as easily be studied in a textbook as played on Jimmy Fallon. I know that’s not necessarily a ringing endorsement for a lot of people—too much thinking, perhaps—but it seems like magic to me. Plenty of songwriters at this stage in Simon’s career are just falling back on old formulas (if they’re making new music at all), but Simon is challenging himself and his audience. “Rewrite” examines the regrets one might have with old age, but through the lens of an artist who can craft how the world views them. It seems like a song Bob Dylan would write if he stopped worrying so much about writing like Bob Dylan. Album-closer and title song “So Beautiful or So What” poses some of the most complicated questions associated with making art—is something art just because it’s beautiful? Or conversely, does beauty DISQUALIFY something from being art? And how important is it if art is good, if the artist is enjoying creating it?
3. My Morning Jacket, Circuital MMJ continues to be the most mystifying, chameleon-esque, dynamic band out there today. Are they space funk? Jazz fusion? Heavy metal? Even they don’t know. To be an MMJ fan is to be a fan of rock in general as well as this band’s unusual mystique. Circuital easily ranks as my second favorite MMJ album (It Still Moves remains firmly in first). Here is a video from the show I attended on this year’s tour. I was front row, directly in front of Jim (the singer)…the song is “You Wanna Freak Out”, from Circuital:
2. Death Cab For Cutie, Codes and Keys
On first listen, I was afraid Codes and Keys was the album where DCFC had started sucking. Nothing caught my attention, and the lyrics sounded suspiciously like Ben Gibbard had given in to writing songs specifically to sound “Gibbard-y” (although it is a testament to his songwriting prowess that nobody familiar with his songwriting would fault me for making it an adjective). But then, a few months after it came out, it clicked. And then I remembered that is how every Death Cab for Cutie album has always been for me. They simply do not pop out at you and declare their presence immediately. It may sound dramatic, but I’m gonna say it like this anyway: Death Cab songs contain universes, and sometimes these multi-layered, subtle, textured universes reveal themselves slowly, bit-by-bit, and sometimes, over the course of years. (every year I find myself re-amazed in new ways by their album Plans. I suspect DCFC fans will know what I mean when I say I just now *got* the song “Summer Skin”). If there is a criticism to be leveled at the band, it is that these encodings (ha! see how that applies to this album’s title?) and hidden universes can often obscure a listener’s personal attachment to a song. I love the DCFC classic “Amputations” because I finally see how it’s looping, counter-acting guitar structure helps to inform the subject matter of lovers who consistently return to a poison relationship that is never going to work. But I don’t love it, necessarily, because it’s important to me.
But once Codes and Keys clicked for me, it did become important to me. Still around are the intricate, hidden gems of musical structure and lyrical content so slick it disguises itself as ordinary, but under that veneer are some of the most prescient, precious conceptual leaps in modern rock and roll. Frontman Ben Gibbard surely knows that each word he writes will be picked over and analyzed by finger-wagging hipsters (on whom he relies for paychecks), yet he’s not scared to write an essentially atheist screed in “St. Paul’s Cathedral”: “When our hearts stop ticking/ this is the end/ there’s nothing past this.” I was actually one of the first to put this song up on YouTube. You can see my little video here. I also found myself delightedly surprised, upon returning to the album after initially dismissing it, to find that the title track had a nearly-hidden crescendo at the end, in a little bit of musical trickery it somehow hid itself rather cleverly at first. Now, when I listen to “Codes and Keys” (the song) I am physically and emotionally moved to a point of near-ridiculousness by the final 2 minutes. Anyone who is trying to get into DCFC, or is skeptical but interested, all I can suggest is that you give it some time to sink in. No other band will more richly reward a patient listener.
1. Hey Rosetta!, Seeds
It should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever read my blog that my favoritest band in the world of all time and forever would get the #1 spot this year. I’ve written nearly ad infinitum about this band, so I won’t waste time going back over why I adore them so much. If you’re new to my blog, scroll up to the tag cloud on the right and click on the Hey Rosetta! tag, which will take you to a plethora of gushing fanboy raves about them. Seeds, their third album, for me ranks squarely as their second best album, but it would take, as far as I can calculate, a literal act of God for any artist to top their previous album, Into Your Lungs (and Around in Your Heart and on Through Your Blood). As far as follow-ups go, Seeds delivers, with enough emotional peaks, insane tempo changes, and heartfelt epiphanies to last two more years, when hopefully the world will have it’s fourth Hey Rosetta! album.
There are many high-points on Seeds, both emotionally and musically, and somehow, nestled in there and almost hidden is the gem “Yer Fall”, which admittedly is not the standout on the album, but after seeing them live in support of this album five times, I can confidently tell you this slow-builder is certainly the live centerpiece (even though it doesn’t get played every show). I’ve posted a video of it below, and if you watch just one of the videos on this page, I implore you to make it this one. Please stick with it to the end; after multiple tempo changes, the song builds to an emotional climax that, even now as I was searching for the best video to post of it, makes me weep. It ends on a stark note, as most of the band sings with Tim, the lead singer, “My love is dead. I buried it.” This video doesn’t even do justice to what I saw on the road this year. In the small clubs, each member of the band loudly sings the final lines into any microphone they can find; the result was an incredible cacophony of intense raw emotion:
Pictures, video, and setlist from My Morning Jacket show, 8/10/11 in Pittsburgh
Jim James and Neko Case duetting "Islands in the Stream"
The following videos are all from the same show, but only the first, “Knot Comes Loose”, was taken by me (the sound sucks.) The others were taken by people with better cameras and shittier crowd positions. :)
Picture of the setlist taken from the band’s Facebook page:
Setlist:
1. Victory Dance
2. Circuital
3. Off the Record
4. I’m Amazed
5. Gideon
6. You Wanna Freak Out
7. Knot Comes Loose
8. Slow, Slow Tune
9. Evelyn Is Not Real
10. Honest Man
11. Dondante
12. Movin’ Away
13. Smokin’ From Shootin’
14. Run Thru (end only)
15. First Light
16. Touch Me (I’m Going to Scream) part 2
17. Mahgeetah
Encore:
1. Wordless Chorus
2. Islands in the Stream (w/ Neko Case)
3. Holding Onto Black Metal
4. One Big Holiday
Some of you may remember, about a year ago I made a list of my 100 favorite bands in order (that post is here). Well, here’s a list of my 100 favorite albums! This list follows (roughly) the same rules and principles as the bands list. To re-cap those principles:
1. This is a list of my favorites. It is not meant to be a definitive “best” list, hence there are no right or wrong entries and you can’t exactly argue with the list, though disagreements are encouraged.
2. How I made my choices: I pretended I was on a desert island with all 100 discs, then imagined I could only have 99. Which would I get rid of? And so on, down the line. This method creates interesing and unexpected results.
3. Unlike the bands post, the albums list is not limited to only bands. However, I did not allow live albums, compilations, or other such anomalies.
4. Much like the bands list, it is clear to me that this list must be in a constant state of flux; this is far from my “permanent” list of favorite albums. I can’t encourage you enough to do this yourself periodically, it really does reveal sea changes and trends in your own personal tastes. Without further ado, here is the list:
100. Rage Against the Machine, Evil Empire 99. Woodpigeon, Treasury Library Canada 98. Do Make Say Think, You, You’re a History in Rust 97. Death Cab for Cutie, We’ve Got the Facts and We’re Voting Yes 96. Nirvana, Nevermind 95. Drive-By Truckers, The Big To-Do 94. Working For a Nuclear-Free City, Businessmen & Ghosts 93. Radiohead, In Rainbows 92. Seven Mary Three, day&nightdriving 91. Cold War Kids, Loyalty to Loyalty 90. Phish, Farmhouse 89. Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here 88. Kings of Leon, Because of the Times 87. The Decemberists, Picaresque 86. The Ghost is Dancing, The Darkest Spark 85. Pearl Jam, Binaural 84. Seven Mary Three, The Economy of Sound 83. My Morning Jacket, It Still Moves 82. Barenaked Ladies, Gordon 81. Pearl Jam, Yield 80. The Frames, Fitzcarraldo 79. Death Cab for Cutie, Something About Airplanes 78. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Nocturama 77. Radiohead, OK Computer 76. The Presidents of the United States of America, The Presidents of the United States of America 75. Neil Young, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere 74. Pearl Jam, Riot Act 73. Explosions in the Sky, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone 72. Modest Mouse, Good News For People Who Love Bad News 71. Tracy Chapman, Tracy Chapman 70. Nirvana, In Utero 69. The Cribs, Ignore the Ignorant 68. Sven Gali, Inwire 67. Fire on Fire, The Orchard 66. The National, High Violet 65. The Pixies, Surfer Rosa 64. Mogwai, Come On Die Young 63. Emily Wells, Dirty 62. Pelican, The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw 61. Radiohead, Hail to the Thief 60. Phish, Billy Breathes 59. Mooney Suzuki, Have Mercy 58. TV on the Radio, Dear Science 57. The Arcade Fire, Neon Bible 56. We Are Scientists, Brain Thrust Mastery 55. LIVE, Mental Jewelry 54. Primitive Radio Gods, Rocket 53. Indigo Girls, Swamp Ophelia 52. Godspeed You, Black Emperor!, F#A# 51. The Beatles, Revolver 50. Hey Rosetta!, Plan Your Escape 49. Seven Mary Three, Orange Ave. 48. Pearl Jam, Pearl Jam (The Avocado Album) 47. Grinderman, Grinderman 46. My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges 45. Editors, In This Light and on This Evening 44. Bush, Sixteen Stone 43. The Postal Service, Give Up 42. The Cape May, Glass Mountain Roads 41. Pearl Jam, Ten 40. Rage Against the Machine, Rage Against the Machine 39. Dave Matthews Band, Under the Table and Dreaming 38. Yeasayer, Odd Blood 37. Eddie Vedder, Into the Wild Soundtrack
36. Pink Floyd, Meddle 35. Stars, In Our Bedroom After the war 34. Stone Temple Pilots, Purple 33. Death Cab for Cutie, Narrow Stairs 32. The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club 31. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Lyre of Orpheus 30. Silversun Pickups, Carnavas 29. Neil Young, Mirrorball 28. Kings of Leon, Only by the Night 27. The National, The Boxer 26. Chris Walla, Field Manual 25. Pearl Jam, Vitalogy 24. The Cribs, Men’s Needs, Women’s Need’s, Whatever 23. Cold War Kids, Robbers & Cowards 22. My Morning Jacket, Z 21. Phish, Rift 20. Pink Floyd, The Wall 19. Explosions in the Sky, The Earth is Not a Cold, Dead Place 18. Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank 17. Death Cab for Cutie, Transatlanticism 16. The Airborne Toxic Event, The Airborne Toxic Event 15. LIVE, Throwing Copper 14. Seven Mary Three, American Standard 13. Radiohead, Kid A 12. The Decemberists, The Crane Wife 11. Godspeed You, Black Emperor!, Raise Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennae to Heaven 10. The Arcade Fire, Funeral 9. The Beatles, Abbey Road 8. Pearl Jam, Vs. 7. LIVE, Secret Samadhi 6. Death Cab for Cutie, Plans 5. Explosions in the Sky, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever 4. The Beatles, The Beatles (The White Album)
3. Pearl Jam, No Code 2. Seven Mary Three, RockCrown 1. Hey Rosetta!, Into Your Lungs (and Around in Your Heart and on Through Your Blood)
So, let me stop you before you post the comment…no, I do NOT have “too much time on my hands”! This is just what I decided to do with the time on my hands!
OK, with that out of the way…yes, you are not reading that wrong. I have in fact ranked my one hundred favorite bands in descending order. You may ask…why, and how?
Well, I’ve just always been curious how my favorite bands would rank if I spent the time to do it. I mean, I pretty much knew what 1,2 and 3 would be, but after that, it was a bit hazy. So I figured I’d devise a way to rank the top 50. I brainstormed my favorite bands randomly, and when I counted the brainstorm results, there were seventy-some, so I figured I’d shoot for the stars and go for the top hundred.
I also figured I needed a way to narrow down who I could use. The only criteria was they had to be bands, not just musical artists. No solo artists or R&B groups. This meant I could use Neil Young and Crazy Horse, but not Neil Young.
This is the method I used for ranking them: I thought about a desert island situation, and then I thought, If I could only take one album from these bands, which band do I choose? I didn’t spend any time pondering WHICH album it would be, just…which band would I want an album from? Then after a band was chosen, I crossed them off and asked myself the desert island question again, but now had to choose from the remaining bands. When thinking about Neil Young and Crazy Horse (or, say, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) I only allowed myself to consider the work of the collaboration. So, I could have Everyone Knows This is Nowhere, but not After the Gold Rush.
Now, I am open to the fact that I may have missed something and may have to revise this list, so please, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts, but remember, this is not a best list, but a favorite list, so you can’t really argue with the list, but I am actually afraid I forgot something, so please point out anything that seems amiss. (But for the record, I did NOT forget: Tool, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Led Zeppelin, or The White Stripes—I just don’t like them all that much. And post-rock fans: I didn’t forget A Silver Mt. Zion, Surface of Eceyon, or Mono. Just not my favorites).
I hear you….why should you care? Well, you shouldn’t care about mine, necessarily, but may I suggest you do something like this yourself? It’s more interesting than you may think. You can discern changes in yourself by analyzing your list. For instance, 15 years ago, Dave Matthews Band would have been in my top 5. Now, they’re 41. What would they have been 8 years ago? 25? So they’re on a slow slide. Does this have something to say about changes in me beyond simple musical taste? I’m not sure, but it’s fun to think about. And some bands will pop into and out of my life quickly, as I’m constantly on the prowl for new music. It’s intriguing to look at this list and wonder which bands will soon not make this list, and which bands that are currently in the 80s or 90s will be in the top 20 next year. It’s certainly not a concrete list, I’m sure it is in constant flux.
Oh, and here’s a fun thing: you’ll see it appears to be a list of 101 bands. That’s because one of them is a fake band name, made up by me, right now. If you are the first to identify which of them is the fake, I’ll send you a prize!! And it will be a real prize, not some mix disc I made or something. Good luck!
I’ve also linked to a few bands here or there, to some interesting or awesome song, video, or website, if you ever find yourself terribly bored with extra time on your hands.
Without further ado, the list:
101. MGMT
100. I’m From Barcelona
99. Oppenheimer
98. Invert
97. Constantines
96. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
95. Mother Mother
94. Hollerado
93. We vs. Death
92. Interpol
91. I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness
90. Thursday
89. Stone Temple Pilots
88. Mooney Suzuki
87. Razorlight
86. The Great Depression
85. The Two Koreas
84. The Mercury Project
83. Tea Leaf Green
82. This Will Destroy You
81. Iron & Wine
80. Band of Horses
79. The Stills
78. Jefferson Airplane
77. Monsterpants
76. The Walkmen
75. Drive-By Truckers
74. Black Mountain
73. Pelican
72. Animal Collective
71. dd/mm/yyyy
70. Cage the Elephant
69. We are Scientists
68. TV on the Radio
67. Tegan and Sara
66. Yeasayer
65. Editors
64. The National
63. Islands
62. Library Voices
61. Caribou
60. Stars
59. Grizzly Bear
58. The Presidents of the United States of America
57. Fuel
56. Low
55. The Talking Heads
54. The Hold Steady
53. Kaiser Chiefs
52. Mogwai
51. Arctic Monkeys
50. Bush
49. Franz Ferdinand
48. Do Make Say Think
47. Jets Overhead
46. The Ghost is Dancing
45. Architecture in Helsinki
44. Fire on Fire
43. The Emily Wells Trio
42. Creedence Clearwater Revival
41. Dave Matthews Band
40. The Shins
39. Deerhunter
38. Primitive Radio Gods
37. Barenaked Ladies
36. Nirvana
35. Sven Gali
34. The Trews
33. The Cribs
32. Doves
31. The Cape May
30. Man Man
29. Indigo Girls
28. Sigur Ros
27. Neil Young and Crazy Horse
26. The Violent Femmes
25. Grinderman
24. Rage Against the Machine
23. The Postal Service
22. Fleet Foxes
21. Kings of Leon
20. The Frames
19. Cold War Kids
18. Silversun Pickups
17. The Airborne Toxic Event
16. Modest Mouse
15. Hey Rosetta!
14. The Decemberists
13. My Morning Jacket
12. Phish
11. Pink Floyd
10. Godspeed You Black Emperor!
9. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
8. Radiohead
7. The Arcade Fire
6. Explosions in the Sky
5. LIVE
4. Death Cab For Cutie
3. The Beatles
2. Seven Mary Three
1. Pearl Jam
See this needle? See my hand? Drop, drop, droppin’
it down, oh-so-gently!
–“Spin the Black Circle”, Pearl Jam
I don’t think I’ll ever buy an iPod (but don’t quote me on that). I have been a stickler for practical media (read: physical) ever since this fascination with ghost media (read: intangible) began over a decade ago. I have stood hard and fast by the Compact Disc, wagged judgemental fingers at illegal movie downloaders, and I even still have my VCR (albeit in my closet). There are enough people in the world on my side, vocally complaining about how important it is to have something after you buy something; how integral to the experience it is to own an actual physical product. And, for many years, I was echoing their sentiment, especially when it came to music: I like to read the liner notes, I like to look at the artwork, I like the heft of a full book of CDs, etc etc. But now I’m changing my tune…but just a little.
Over the years, whenever I would give this speil to an iPod-wearing, Zune-toting, MP3-adoring hipster, there was always a little thing in the back of my mind, a counter-argument I always hoped nobody would make (and nobody ever had) and that argument is this:
Well, I guess it’s not just about the music for you, is it then, if you want all these products?
If any of those ear-budded hipsters had had the presence of mind to say that to me, I’d have been dumbfounded as to how to respond, because of course it’s all about the music! Only…how could it be just about the music, if I needed non-music physical bodies to complete my enjoyment?
Then, about six months ago, I hopped onto this micro-trend of buying a record player. There’s a small but powerful contingent of anti-iPodists out there who are intentionally regressing in medium, and it’s a powerful enough movement that we’re now at a place where just about every new musical release of any importance is getting released in vinyl, though you’ve got to drive far (unless you’re in a city or really cool place) or order from Amazon if you want the vinyl. What I thought might be a lark has changed the way I’m thinking about not only music, but all art. And, folks, it’s quite a transcendental capitalism.
My truly beautiful, marble red, vinyl-only release of Modest Mouse's "History Sticks to Your Feet"
Pull it out, a paper sleeve…
Oh, my joy…only you deserve conceit!
—“Spin the Black Circle”, Pearl Jam
The first time I pulled the new Death Cab For Cutie album, Narrow Stairs, out of it’s paper sleeve, while looking at the sprawling, cubist, wordless bi-fold art in the center of the case, I knew right then and there that it wasn’t–and had never been–all about the music. Maybe it is just about the music for you, and for the millions of iPodists out there, but it isn’t for me. But it’s not as simple as needing a neat, pretty, and new product of some kind–that’s just a bi-product. No, it’s about needing an experience, a ritual, a visual, olfactory, and tactile representation of the music I’ve come to love–the music which has come to define me and say so much about the person I have quite carefully become. No ghost in the machine of an iPod can say more than the notes and words in the intangible wisp in the buds. No, I need artwork and smell and feel: proof that this music exists.
And now, six months into being a vinyl guy, I’m beginning to think that CDs aren’t good enough either (or that they’re too good.)
With vinyl, you rarely get liner notes, or much of any recognition from the artist at all. What you get, typically, are one or two big pictures of some kind, or a thematic artwork. The cerebral heavy-lifting that came with some CDs is erased, and replaced with an immediate, often striking, visual statement of the music you are about to hear. It’s much more guttural, and exactly what I needed in this content-saturated media blitz of a culture.
My vinyl copy of My Morning Jacket's album "Z" beside my CD copy of Deerhunter's "Microcastles" (because I couldn't find my CD copy of "Z")
The same vinyl and CD opened up. Which one would you rather own for the rest of your life?
Aside from the artwork, and plain cool size, of vinyl, there’s another element that really changes the way I listen to music, and that is the anti-portability of vinyl. With first cassette tapes (and the Walkman), then CDs and now digital music, listening to your favorite songs has become more and more portable, to the point that listening to music is now practically more convenient when you’re on the move. You do it while you’re doing other things. You do it when you’re distracted, when you’re going to or coming from work, when you’re exercising, when you run the vaccuum. The soul-searching, the connecting with the artist, the stationary, elemental, prosaic human face of music is disappearing; and I don’t say this because I’m old, or unhip, or resistant to change. This has got to be a true thing.
You’re so warm…oh, the ritual,
when I lay down your crooked arm!
–“Spin the Black Circle”, Pearl Jam
Vinyl practically forces you to be doing nothing but listening to music. Sure, you can clean your house, or read a book, but you’d better also pay some attention to the music, because you’ve got to get up and flip the record after a few songs. You sure as shit can’t do your workout when you’re listening to vinyl, because you’ll skip that record like crazy and scratch it. And, as I have found, if you get a nice rare vinyl, you can even turn it into a social event. Music lovers will actually come to your house to listen to it, and we can have a social event over a record. Think about that.
I don’t even give a shit about the supposedly amazing sound quality of vinyl. I’m no audiophile; I couldn’t pick out a FLAC file from an MP3 in a lineup; I just need to hear the chords and words. Besides, I still have crappy speakers.
M83’s new album is a kind of throwback space funk jam-off, like a ride in a technicolor elevator, with purple felt walls. Impossible to dislike.
was worth waiting for, as they morphed from terrific bar band into a piledriver of country and blues rock. A potential classic.
reviews./ Life is a lottery, a lotta people lose./ And the winners, the grinners, with money-colored eyes/ they eat all the nuggets, and they order extra fries./ But the werewolf is coming.”), his music more modern, playful, daring. “Stranger to Stranger” is a delight from start to finish, but especially for those familiar with his full body of work; his evolution is a bewildering achievement.
Notes From the Fire 
