Converting you heathens one sinner at a time.

The Antlers - "Two"

2009-08-20T11:41:00.001-07:00

Mixtape - Jumpstart

2009-08-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

The Walkmen - "On The Water"

2009-08-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (2009)

2009-03-27T06:38:00.000-07:00

The follow up to 2006's Yellow House will not disappoint. If that album sounded like it was recorded in an old house on Cape Cod (some of it was), this album sounds like it might have been recorded in a ballroom or opera house. Dripping with harmonized vocals and enough reverb to mimic the acoustics of the Grand Canyon, tracks like "Two Weeks" and "While We Wait for the Others" left me wondering why I have been so god damn negligent about posting this here. Expect more music shortly.

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Pitchfork Top 50 Albums of 2008 & Honorable Mentions

2008-12-29T10:42:00.000-08:00

Well my friends. It has been a lot of fun ramming my music down your pagan throats for the better part of three months. I thought perhaps you guys would appreciate 60 or so albums to add to your respective collections. Most of these are in .rar format so I will include the links to both WinRAR for PCs and unRAR for Macs so that you can all partake. Look at the bottom of the page for those links. I spoil you guys, I really do.

50: Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
49: Crystal Stilts - Alight of Night
48: High Places - High Places
47: The Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Grave
46: Beach House - Devotion
45: Lykke Li - Youth Novels
44: Marnie Stern - This Is It...
43: Shearwater - Rook
42: Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Lie Down in the Light
41: David Byrne and Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
40: The Very Best - Esau Mwamwaya & Radioclit are the Very Best
39: Times New Viking - Rip It Off
38: The Bug - London Zoo
37: Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
36: Wale - The Mixtape About Nothing
35: Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
34: Arthur Russell - Love Is Overtaking Me
33: Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight
32: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
31: Fennesz - Black Sea
30: Los Campesinos! - Hold on Now, Youngster...
29: The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
28: Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
27: Max Tundra - Parallax Error Beheads You
26: Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel

25: Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances
24: Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
23: Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
22: Santogold - Santogold
21: Kanye West - 808's and Heartbreak
20: Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
19: The Walkmen - You & Me
18: The Mae Shi - HLLLYH
17: Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life
16: Vivian Girls - Vivian Girls
15: Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
14: Air France - No Way Down
13: Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
12: Lindstrøm - Where You Go I Go Too
11: Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
10: DJ/rupture - Uproot
09: Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair
08: M83 - Saturdays=Youth
07: Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
06: TV on the Radio - Dear Science
05: Deerhunter - Microcastle / Weird Era Cont.
04: Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
03: No Age - Nouns
02: Portishead - Third
01: Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant EP/Fleet Foxes

Abe Vigoda - Skeleton
Calexico - Carried to Dust
Department of Eagles - In Ear Park
The Dodos - Visiter
The Dutchess and the Duke - She's the Dutchess, He's the Duke
Harvey Milk - Life...The Best Game in Town
Hauschka - Ferndorf
Philip Jeck - Sand
Nico Muhly - Mothertongue
Nomo - Ghost Rock
Osborne - Osborne
Quiet Village - Silent Movie
Jay Reatard - Matador Singles '08
Santogold/Diplo - Top Ranking
Snowman - The Horse, the Rat and the Swan
Sun Kil Moon - April
Torche - Meanderthal
Ricardo Villalobos - Vasco EP
WHY? - Alopecia
Women - Women

UnRarX (Mac)

WinRAR (PC)

N.B. WinRAR will claim it's a trial copy but as long as you're just using it to unarchive files it should work indefinitely.

Best Wishes Jesus

2008-12-25T11:05:00.000-08:00

Jamie Lidell - Jim (2008)

2008-12-25T10:03:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday dear Jesus.....

Jamie Lidell - Jim

Bon Iver - Blood Bank (2009)

2008-12-20T22:31:00.000-08:00

Fresh off creating one of my favorite albums of 2007/2008 (depending on which release date you want to use), Bon Iver/Bon Evair/Good Winter is releasing this 4 track EP 1/19/09. Of course, since you've got nothing better to do, you're going to give it a try after you're done listening to every word I have to say on it...The title track is easily the best, displaying the typical hushed, moody vocals of Justin Vernon delivered in a falsetto, combined with his regretful narrative lyrics. I imagine we'll see quite a few positive reviews of this abbreviated work and with the exception of the final track which seems to have been done with a vocoder and little else, it appears Blood Bank has hit the ground running after the success of For Emma, Forever Ago. If any of you heathens has yet to download that album I suggest you do so and listen to that before this as it is a good starting point. Without further stalling...

Bon Iver - Blood Bank (2009)

Department of Eagles - In Ear Park (2008)

2008-12-20T21:57:00.000-08:00

As insane as it sounds, I may enjoy this Grizzly Bear side-project more than I do the band that spawned them. Though certainly not on par with Grizzly Bear's Yellow House from 2006, this album is full of quality ideas evident in the R&Besque "No One Does It Like You" or the shuffling "Teenagers". "Around the Bay" is replete with a guitar line that could have been the work of Joey Santiago from the Pixies so I am of course a real sucker for that. The second half of the album falls short of the first 4-5 tracks but still it is well worth a download if only for those tracks themselves.

Department of Eagles - In Ear Park

Mixwit - "Turkey Stuffing"

2008-12-05T08:51:00.000-08:00

Mixwit - "My Head Feels Like It's Underwater"

2008-12-05T08:45:00.001-08:00

Hercules & Love Affair - S/T (2008)

2008-12-03T07:46:00.000-08:00

Evoking 70's and 80's dance, this album owes as much to Antony Hegarty's (Antony and the Johnsons) pipes as it does to the funk bass lines. Part of the throwback retro movement outfits such as Eli Reed, and Jamie "Call me Jim" Lidell, H&LA has a sound with few current parallels. There are tracks that are not dripping with funk such as "Time Will" and "Iris" though you're all going to be so gleefully clapping your hands at the rest of the album you may very well miss them. This album will be on just about every "Top Album of 2008" list that you will see, including mine. Now download this album and dance around your room like an idiot. Thanks.

Hercules & Love Affair - S/T

Mixwit - "Red Improvisation"

2008-11-17T11:17:00.000-08:00

Ray Lamontagne - Gossip in the Grain (2008)

2008-11-17T10:58:00.000-08:00

Who says that Wilton, ME does not have an incredible music scene? You could probably check it out if you can find it on a map, though that is altogether unlikely so why don't you just go ahead and click on the link below and check out this recent release. I won't suggest this will change your life, but Ray The Mountain is certainly a developing talent whose best work most likely is before him.

Ray Lamontagne - Gossip in the Grain

Sun Kil Moon - April (2008)

2008-11-10T08:22:00.000-08:00

Sun Kil Moon's follow up the 2003's "Ghosts of the Highway", and the disaster that was the Modest Mouse cover album "Tiny Cities", April is full of the forelorn, sentimental lyrics you would expect from Mark Kozelek. Pitchfork media weighs in on this album here.

Sun Kil Moon - April

Recommended Tracks: Moorestown, Unlit Hallways

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (2008)

2008-11-08T15:17:00.000-08:00

Easily one of the most hyped groups over the last year, it's easy to see why Vampire Weekend's sound is characterized as afro-pop with the sunny feel to many of the songs. I was very skeptical of this record but must confess that after a couple listens I was completely sold on it. There simply are not many comparable bands that come to mind. Hope you guys enjoy this.

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

Thao Nguyen & The Get Down Stay Down - We Brave Bee Stings and All (2008)

2008-11-08T14:51:00.000-08:00

This album was brought to my attention by my friend, Andy. It's a solid indie pop album from yet another Portland, OR based group. Pitchforkmedia reviews this album here.

Correction: According to a co-worker this band is actually SF,CA based.

Thao Nguyen and the Get Down Stay Down - We Brave Bee Stings and All

Mixwit - "The Strange Powers of the Magnetic Fields"

2008-10-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Mixwit - "Daytrader Retirement Plan"

2008-10-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

Half-Man/Half-Cloth

2008-10-10T09:06:00.001-07:00

The liberals are coming fr yr Bibles, yr Guns, and yr DICKSHUNAIRY

Ryan Bingham - Mescalito (2007)

2008-10-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

I found this album on a Bosnian music forum (yeah..). The sandpapery voice is somewhat surprising coming from a guy who is 25 and getting dangerously close to the punchline that is 26. Somewhere between despondent Americana and alt-country rock, this album feels very authentic and has gone more or less unnoticed. You can't help but wonder how many nights sleeping in the bed of a pickup truck it took to create this album. Enjoy kids.

Ryan Bingham - Mescalito

Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer (2008)

2008-10-07T13:27:00.001-07:00

Most of my friends were more partial to the first Wolf Parade album (Apologies to the Queen Mary). That album was released a couple years back and partly produced by Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse. This album to me seemed much more accessible though I can't seem to find many people who agree with me on it. Album is about 9 tracks long and I found at least 5-6 of them to be pretty good. Overall, not a bad sophomore effort. Here is a review and sample.

Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer

Mixwit "Death in the Afternoon"

2008-10-07T12:33:00.002-07:00

Sorry to be lazy for a week guys, more posts coming.

Man Man - Rabbit Habits (2008)

2008-09-30T11:47:00.000-07:00

I admit I am not sure how most people will react to this album. The songs that I don't care for are pretty terrible in my opinion but the ones that seem good to me seem great (Poor Jackie, Whalebones, Rabbit Habits, Top Drawer). The songs on a whole are quite disorganized though still replete with a homeless swagger. Think Henry Chinaski on a relatively good day, pushing a shopping cart, pushing a shopping cart...

Man Man - Rabbit Habits

The Strugglers - The Latest Rights (2008)

2008-09-25T07:14:00.000-07:00

This album seemed to come out of nowhere and I have been listening to it pretty consistently since it leaked. I imagine most of the people I know have probably been drunk with me and been subjected to this album already, but I thought perhaps a newcomer to this web-based exercise in literary futility might enjoy it. The burdens of adulthood, freedom of youth, love, sex, death....Can I get an amen brothers and sisters?

The Strugglers - The Latest Rights

Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid (2008)

2008-09-23T10:53:00.000-07:00

Everybody I have given this album to seems to dig it so I thought I'd drop it on you all. It's pretty accessible and got a favorable review from pitchfork here. Overall just an enjoyable record that is quite steady throughout.

Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid

Mixwit

2008-09-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

TV on the Radio - Dear Science (2008)

2008-09-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

Due out September 23....unless you're my friend, in which case it is due out right now...

TV on the Radio - Dear Science

Alaska in Winter - Dance Party in the Balkans (2008)

2008-09-14T18:28:00.000-07:00

Though undoubtedly garnering some of their fame through the appearance of Zach Condin (Beirut) on their album, Alaska in Winter has more going for it. What they have is a very interesting sound that most of us would be hard-pressed to categorize. Indie Electronica? Hell if I know. There are moments on this album where you can hear Condin's influence on the record ("Close Your Eyes - We Are Blind"), but mostly it seems to lie right below the surface and makes itself felt underneath the icy, atmospheric keyboards and vocals. You get the same Balkan brass and gypsy strings from a Beirut record, now they're just being played by someone who just took a handful Ambien. This band will be cast a Condin side-project but it is difficult to know for sure what we have with Alaska in Winter until we have a larger sample size (read: more albums). At any rate, take this frozen album in on a quiet afternoon or evening and I am confident you will be pleased.

Alaska in Winter - Dance Party in the Balkans (2008)

Deer Tick - War Elephant (2007)

2008-09-12T11:46:00.000-07:00

Another favorite of mine, this album was introduced to me by one of my best friends from Portland, Erek. Though pretty much panned by pitchforkmedia (here), I am not sure I agree with the idea that the songwriter's age precludes him from writing the lyrics sincerely. There are certainly more pretentious singer-songwriters/wealthy narcissists out there who have dated Winona Ryder are there not?

Deer Tick - War Elephant

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (2008)

2008-09-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

This is easily one of my favorite albums of 2008. I was fortunate enough to catch them live in DC at the Rock N' Roll Hotel and the show was very impressive. The only real problems were that the acoustics were not conducive to their sound, and the fact that someone was loudly inquiring as to where they could purchase marijuana repeatedly during some of the quieter moments. Fuck them for building a moment I guess. The falsetto voice will throw some people for a loop but given a listen or two this album grows on you very quickly. Easily a top 10 of 2008 in my not so humble opinion.

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

26

2008-09-12T10:43:00.001-07:00

26 isn't old...if yr ghey.