50 – The Killers – Hot Fuss
49 – Kasabian – Kasabian
48 – Deerhunter – Microcastle
47 – Bat For Lashes – Fur and Gold
46 – Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
45 – MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
44 – Portishead – Third
43 – Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
42 – Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
41 – Santigold – Santigold
40 – Late Of The Pier – Fantasy Black Channel
39 – Sigur Rós – Takk…
38 – Efterklang – Parades
37 – Liars – Drum’s Not Dead
36 – The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan
35 – Hot Chip – The Warning
34 – Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
33 – Benga – Diary Of An Afro Warrior
32 – Feist – The Reminder
31 – Broadcast – Tender Buttons
30 – Battles – Mirrored
29 – Klaxons – Myths Of The Near Future
28 – Tunng – Mother’s Daughter And Other Songs
27 – The Libertines – The Libertines
26 – Kanye West – The College Dropout
25 – Apparat – Walls
24 – Burial – Burial
23 – Gallows – Orchestra Of Wolves
22 – Caribou – The Milk Of Human Kindness
21 – Broken Social Scene – Broken Social Scene
20 – Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
19 – Soulwax – Nite Versions
18 – The Bug – London Zoo
17 – Brian Wilson – SMiLE
16 – Isolée – We Are Monster
15 – My Morning Jacket – Z
14 – Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
13 – Joanna Newsom – Ys
12 – Modeselektor – Hello Mom!
11 – Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
10 – Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
9 – J Dilla – Donuts
8 – Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
7 – M.I.A. – Arular
6 – LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem
5 – The Knife – Silent Shout
4 – TV On The Radio – Return To Cookie Mountain
3 – Kings Of Leon – Because Of The Times
2 – Radiohead – In Rainbows
1 – Arcade Fire – Funeral
So here’s the thing about lists like these. You’re never going to appease everyone, so it would be really easy for me to sit here and say, “Well, what about Spoon?” “What about The National?” “How can you put Joanna Newsome anywhere near this list, let alone 13?” But it’s kind of a futile effort. I can say that I can agree that Arcade Fire has the biggest argument for #1. After that, we’re arguing semantics.
It is nice to see a little bit of everything on this list. Lists like this are usually just a hodgepodge of rock bands, forgetting all of the good hip hop, electronica, what have ya.
So yeah, look and enjoy. Disagree all you want. It’s not your list.
Today’s song comes from a “Michael Cera approved” (or so I’ve heard) band called Bishop Allen. Check out Dimmer. Maybe dance a bit to it while you’re at it.
I woke up this morning intending on uploading today’s song before going to work, but lo and behold, there was no internet, so you’re getting a Nate-sized edition today.
The phrase, “It takes some work to get into it,” is thrown around by me a lot. I tend to use it when I don’t know your level of tolerance for stuff that’s not musical at first listen, or at least a bit complicated. My radar for what’s normal and what’s not for a “Regular Joe” is practically non-existent.
It’s like how I don’t like those new cereals with the dried strawberries in them, but apparently every one else does – otherwise how do you account for there being about fifty new ways to add dried strawberries to cereal showing up each week?
Where am I going with this? Well, you’re going to have to work for today’s song. I stumbled on a new album from a new band called Swan Lake. Swan Lake is a super group of sorts, made up of Dan Bejar (of Destroyer and The New Pornographers), Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown), and Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes).
Basically, these three are leaders in what is known as “Thespian Rock.” It essentially means, “Sit back in your beret and soul patch and enjoy the show.” It’s not for everyone, but if it’s something you dig and wouldn’t have heard it elsewhere, then I guess you’re welcome. Check out Paper Lace
Nothing special to post right now. I’ll try and write an actual post tonight. Just wanted to mention that Spoon’s featured poster is the one from their First Ave show that I happen to have hanging in my basement. You can get back to work now.
I’m a blue period Picasso stuck on a wall,
In the middle of a hall in Barcelona.
Trying to figure out how to get down,
Cause this solitude is bringing me down.
The paintings around me, they don’t understand me,
I’m a bit too early, I’m seen as development,
Curing adolescence.
- Peter Bjorn and John
The above lyrics are from a strange song off of the Peter Bjorn and John album that I’m really enjoying. The song, not the album. Who knows, if PB&J stick around long enough, Living Thing could be their Pinkerton, but I’m not entirely sure if that’s possible.
I thought I’d mention a couple of albums coming out in May that I’m excited for.
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. First of all, awesome title. Phoenix is a lot like Metric in my eyes. I bought their second album and enjoyed it, but then ignored the subsequent album, which was supposed to be pretty good. Their single Lisztomania, has been playing on the radio for a couple of weeks now, even though the album doesn’t drop until May 25th.
White Rabbits – It’s Frightening. White Rabbits were one of my favorite bands from 2007 and I’m excited to see that they have a new album coming out on May 19th. Produced by Britt Daniel of Spoon to boot! I heard a song off of this album driving home yesterday and totally had it pegged as a different band, so we’ll have to see how this album sounds.
I did succumb to pressure and picked up Lisztomania from Amazon MP3s, so that’s today’s song. I’m a bit low on web page worthy music now. I need to take some time out this weekend to browse emusic.
I’m still on the fence for going to Lollapalooza this summer. It would be sad if I didn’t go, but perhaps I’m getting too old for an entire weekend of music? I sure hope not.
Today’s song comes from Gomez. I’m a bit disappointed with their new album, A New Tide. There’s some good stuff on it, but I think that most of is just a little too subtle, so it has a hard time holding my interest. Check out Little Pieces.
Gimme sympathy.
After all of this is gone,
Who would you rather be,
The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?
Seriously, you’re gonna make mistakes,
You’re young.
Come on baby play me something like,
Here comes the sun.
- Metric
Bonus Friday post! Conversation between Erin and me on Tuesday morning.
Erin: Hey, I need more upbeat music, but you have too much music and I can’t find anything upbeat that I like.
Nick: You could listen to the new Metric album I’m downloading right now. It was supposed to come out last week, but apparently somebody messed up and the actual release date was today.
<Nick starts playing the first track>
Erin: This doesn’t sound upbeat.
Nick: This is totally upbeat.
Metric: I tremble.
Erin: What was that?
Nick: Upbeat lyrics, that’s what.
Metric: They’re gonna eat me alive.
Erin: Yeah, this isn’t upbeat at all.
Nick: Give it a chance.
Metric: If I stumble, they’re gonna eat me alive.
Erin: Find me something else.
Nick: Fine…
Metric:Can you hear my heart beating like a hammer…?
Rock the cradle of love,
I rocked the cradle of love,
Yes the cradle of love,
Dont rock easily its true.
- Billy Idol
Since Erin and I got our tickets in the mail yesterday, I guess it’s finally time for me to talk about this year’s Rock the Garden event at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Last year’s event included up and comer Bon Iver, local “cult” heroes Cloud Cult, everyone’s favorite super group The New Pornographers, and wordsmith with a violin Andrew Bird.
Due mainly to how much Bon Iver has blown up, this year’s lineup seems a bit smaller, but is still solid. It features local up and comers Solid Gold, “Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel” group Yeasayer, tex-mex country players Calexico, and epic storytellers The Decemberists.
It would appear that hosts The Current and The Walker Art Center have decided that rotating the stage to face the hill is a good idea, which I would disagree with. Why? Because it’s not just a good idea, it’s a great idea. Last year, the stage was facing east with an open back, forcing everyone involved to stare directly into the setting sun.
Here’s what I can tell you about the acts performing this year:
Solid Gold – Prior to seeing them show up consistantly on Erin’s XM radio, I would hear Get Over It every other afternoon on my ride home. Although not the largest band, I think their danceable music and local energy will start the day off well.
Yeasayer – I’m mixed about Yeasayer mostly because while their album was well-recommended, it stayed on my emusic save for later list (where albums go to die) for a long time before eventually being dropped. They’re a good setup band for Calexico.
Calexico – This band will play really well to the sitting in the grass on the hill crowd that will have assembled. That’s not to say that you can’t dance or jump up and down to Calexico. Well, maybe jumping up and down would be a little bit too much excitement, but they’re a very professional group who know how to put on a fun show.
The Decemberist - The main reason I didn’t hesitate to buy tickets to this show. I can’t remember the last time that they were in Minneapolis, so it’s kind of obvious that I’ve never seen them play. As much as I like their newest album, The Hazards of Love, I’d like to see them play more from their older catalog.
I thought I’d play the only Yeasayer song that I own. It was on the excellent compilation from early this year called Dark Was The Night. Check out Tightrope.
When you break free,
The powers that be,
Will fail to discover,
The lies we believe.
- Other Lives
Sorry readers. I’m going through a lot of big changes at the moment, so ignoring the ol’ blog makes sense. I’ll see about writing up something later this week. Until then, check out a couple of links that I’ve found.
I used to do a thing here where I would name indie songs in commercials. I’ve kind of backed off of that for a while and probably won’t continue it much more often. However, if you did like it, emusic has a short article about songs on tv shows you may have recently heard. I don’t watch any of the shows on the list, but it’s fun to see The Unicorns make it into a commercial. Weird music, them Unicorns.
Black Kids and Mates of State played a show last night in Minneapolis. They also had an article about them in the Star Tribune on Sunday. Unfortunately, it’s a print-only story, so I can’t get you a link. Two interesting things I learned. Mates of State being the husband/wife duo that they are, tour with their two kids (4 and 6 month, if I remember correctly). Secondly, Jason Hammel (Mates of State vocalist/drummer) went to high school right down the road from me in Stewartville (pronounced Sturtville by the locals).
So yeah, you get one link and a story. What, you want more? Fine, here’s a picture of the Easter Bunny.
Have a great day, kids!!!
Today’s song comes from Other Lives, a band from Oklahoma who is receiving “hey, they sound like early Radiohead” buzz. You know, prior to all of the “doot doot beep beep buzz” Radiohead. Check out Speed Tape.
And it hurts as hard as a blow to the head,
Or a smash to the skull or a knee to your chest.
Sweet dreams, sweet cheeks,
Oh tomorrow, oh tomorrow.
As a heads up, the above lyrics will eventually come into play a large part in what would be considered the event of Saturday night.
Did I say something on Friday about talking about Rock the Garden first thing this week? I’ll have to check. Nope, I said I’d talk about it tomorrow, which was way off. I’ll get around to posting about it sometime. Things are currently kind of busy, so even though there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on, I’m just going to have to get to it later.
Erin, Katie, Kevin, and I went up to the Fine Line Music Cafe on Saturday to see Los Campesinos! The night started out well, with me purchasing a t-shirt from lead singer Garreth Campesinos! Did I mention that all of the members of Los Campesinos! have changed their last name to ‘Campesinos!’? I’m not sure if that was legally or not. What it apparently is, though, is twee. I’m still working on an actual definition for ‘twee’ although I’d like to start using it in a professional manner.
The show started with a band named Sky Larkin, a guitar/bass/drums trio from Leeds. They put on a pretty decent show. Musically, they were fairly tight, but without being able to hear recordings of any of their songs, I’m not sure how well it will translate to an album. That being said, I’m really looking forward to picking up their new album next week.
Los Campesinos! took the stage to great applause and proceeded to do what they know how to do. I thought that the stage looked a bit small for seven people, and it was definitely a tight fit, so they did what any good band would do and branched out into the crowd. Ok, so that didn’t happen until their last song and encore song.
Sidebar: There was a kid standing in front of me doing a much better journalism impression than I was. He was writing down set lists and taking video and pictures which I was jumping, screaming, and singing.
Prior to the start of the concert, we had wandered onto the floor in front of the stage to figure out what this circle hanging from the ceiling might be – answer: karaoke screen. We ended up about center stage for most of the show, which turned out to be a great place to be when Garreth decided it was time to sing into the crowd as he walked right past us. Everyone made an aisle and let him walk up and down it while singing.
This is where the above lyrics come into play. That phrase is repeated a lot during the end of Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks and so while he was singing, he decided to act it out a bit, grabbing one guy’s head and lightly punching Kevin in the head. I say lightly, but I hear Kevin was still complaining/bragging about it on Monday.
For the encore, they played Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats with both guitarists joining the fray in the crowd. I ended up right next to Neil Campesinos! and was close enough that he almost wanged me in the head with his guitar. It was at this point that I realized my cell phone was horrible for taking pictures. Maybe I’ll upload the only semi-fuzzy one if I get the chance. A good time was had by all.
Wow, that’s a lot of words. I’ve played too many Los Campesinos songs on this web page as of late, so you’re going to hear a song off of the new Peter Bjorn and John album. Check out It Don’t Move Me.
I dont know what they want from me,
Its like the more money we come across,
The more problems we see.
- Notorious B.I.G.
For those of you in the Minneapolis area and unaware, Rock The Garden tickets went on sale yesterday for MPR and Walker Art Center members. This year’s artists include Solid Gold, Yeasayer, Calexico, and The Decemberists. I don’t want this post to get too long, so I’ll just talk about it tomorrow.
The New York Times had a short article this week about the rise of ticket scalpers and how internet ticket sales are putting actual concert goers at a disadvantage. I rarely go to any shows that are going to be full, let alone sell out, so I rarely run into ticket scalpers. I’ve really only dealt with ticket scalpers a couple of times in my life, and that was for assorted sporting events, not concerts.
Personally, I think that ticketmaster should be considered a scalper. Sure, they provide you with tickets to a concert, but with the ridiculous amount of “convenience charges” that don’t end up anywhere near the band or the venue, they’re essentially acting as a scalper. Now, if you deal with an actual ticket scalper, you’re now paying two “convenience charges” (or six convenience charges if you want to separate the individual charges that ticketmaster has added).
I’ve gone about two years now without having to deal with ticketmaster, thanks to the efforts of some great friends in the twin cities. Things didn’t work out this time, so I’m paying 62% over face value to go see Los Campesinos! at the fine line on Saturday. I just get annoyed that this 62% isn’t going to support the music. Oh well, supporting ticketmaster once every two years isn’t so bad, is it? I think I’ll stop writing about it now.
It’s been a quantity over quality week for music. This week’s new albums include an EP from Death Cab for Cutie (B+), Peter Bjorn and John’s “official follow-up” to Writer’s Block (C+), a new one from Gomez (B), and a highly anticipated release from Yeah Yeah Yeahs (unranked as of yet).
I’m probably most impressed by the Death Cab EP, followed by my two listens to the first half of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I’ll have a better feel for the album later. I know that B’s and C’s aren’t bad, but I’m a “you get an A for effort” kind of guy.
Sidebar – I wonder if there’s a guy out there saying, “Hey, shouldn’t that be E for effort? I’m confused.”
I would say that PB&J and Gomez may end up falling through the cracks, especially with a new album from Metric on Tuesday that I really enjoyed on spinner two weeks ago.
Today’s song comes from the Death Cab EP. Check out My Mirror Speaks.
Have a great day, kids!!!
The New York Times had a short article this week