the musicologists

We've Moved...

2009-02-01T10:07:00.000-08:00

We are now at http://themusicologists.com/

It's been a nice run, but we needed a new look, more functionality, etc. Thanks to Spencer Perry for the concept and site design.

Sayonara, blogspot.

Click this link or cut and paste the above one into your browser.

Much Respect to Fleet Foxes...

2009-01-29T19:21:00.000-08:00

I just pulled this post off of Fleet Foxes' MySpace blog- it pretty much sums up our mission statement, too...

Labels

Hullo!

So, I went to the (truly insane and heart-swelling) Dept of Eagles show at Neumo's tonight (sang along and bought a Tee) and a couple people said something about hearing we signed to Virgin Records and they are reissuing a "special edition" of the CD LP. This is false. I think a Seattle Weekly blog post started this fire, which I will now extinguish, with this statement - "Fleet Foxes will never, ever, under no circumstances, from now until the world chokes on gas fumes, sign to a major label. This includes all subsidiaries or permutations thereunder. Till we die."

I just don't see the point. Most major labels seem anti-music. We've pursued no such deal with Virgin (or been pursued to my knowledge, I think it was just a bit of news they reported) and would be idiots to be unhappy with our fam of label folks. It is true though that all copies of the CD LP will now include a free copy of the EP (like it is currently with the vinyl), but that's not a "special limited edition," it'll be that way in perpetuity, no extra cost or packaging change.

That's all! Also I cut all my hair off.
Robin

NEXT MORNING POST SCRIPT: Just to clarify a bit. I wrote the above just to clear up a rumor - if nobody was saying we'd signed to a major, I wouldn't write anything about major labels, we'd just continue on with life as normal - I don't mean to color the music with HellaPunkAsFuck type ideological stuff. It's true that Warner has a 49% interest in Sub Pop, and that Bella Union is distributed by Universal in the UK. Distribution seems to me a pretty mechanical business arrangement ("Put our records on your truck, we will give you some money for gas, thanks"), and that deal only went down when the independent distributor in the UK went bankrupt putting all these indie labels in jeopardy. Neither label has any obligation to nor reports in any way to the shareholders of those large corporations and thus their business decisions aren't nearly as cynical. Every independent label interested in surviving has some innocuous business arrangement with a larger entity - in my opinion that doesn't change the spirit of small organizations or dilute the good intentions of independent labels. As a band I guess we try to make choices based on what we feel comfortable with, not what could bring us the most success, and I feel very comfortable calling Bella Union and Sub Pop independent labels, just as we feel comfortable when we say no to using music in advertising (though we did let World Wildlife Fund use White Winter Hymnal for an ad in Australia, because WWF is kewl).

My perspective is that if we make choices we feel good about intrinsically, it all comes out in the wash, and you'll all know what kind of band we are or are not, for better or worse! As a kid / teen, I'd get bent out of shape when my favorite bands did things that seemed motivated more by money than by art or seemed to not be honoring the core group of listeners that got them to where they were. But I'd be even more stoked on a band when they did well on their own terms. So, every time someone says something like "half a million bucks to appear at the Republican National Convention playing Mykonos BUT you have to say "McCain, Yo!" instead of "Mykonos" and work in something about drill baby drill" I think back to my young self and if he'd be into that. And then say no.

Sorry to get into all this stuff.

Best of January...

2009-01-27T19:33:00.000-08:00

So yeah- before you get a chance to send a comment or an e-mail my way, let me interject with the standard "no, we didn't forget it..."; just in case you're wondering where the new album reviews are. They're here, they're just encapsulized. Bear with us as we're trying to prepare for the big switch over to our all-new website (New and improved! With a legitimate domain name! No more blogspot!) which launches all over your internets on Sunday, February 1st.

Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (Domino Records, released 1/27/09)
Sexy in a nerdy sort of way because on the one hand you have Alex Kapranos' Scottish pub-rock-croon over familiar yet odd, angular post-punk guitar chords and then on the other hand there are all these seemingly out-of-place 8-bit beeps and blips that show up (like the ones used in various old-school video games; the track Live Alone sounds like one of the radio stations you can choose to blast in your Ferrari Testarossa in that Sega game OutRun, circa 1986) which should work as the requisite antithesis for trying to get laid. The excursions of the newly discovered synthesizer are abound as Franz explore dub and electronica; but also keeping the old formula they're known for: groovy sing-along dancefloor bangers. Since this is FF's "night" album, most of the album is an up-tempo affair with hand-claps, drummy freak-outs, stomp-alongs; it shuffles and stutters, stops and starts and eventually drives the point home. Getting weird with the extended acid-house instrumental during the last four minutes of the re-worked Lucid Dreams, the stripped-down acoustic bareness of Katherine Kiss Me, and Ulysses; cribbing its style from the deep space dub echo chamber. There's also the classic formula revisited on tracks that sound exactly as Franz should; Turn It On and What She Came For. I'm recommending this album- if you're already a fan of Franz Ferdinand you might be slightly disappointed, if you're new to the boys from Glasgow- it'll be exciting.

Live Alone - Franz Ferdinand

Katherine Kiss Me - Franz Ferdinand

Andrew Bird - Noble Beast (Fat Possum Records; released 1/20/09)
Andrew Bird is a big fan of life; both in an intra-personal aspect and on a molecular level. Continuing on a concept from his three previous records of breaking the biological constraints of life down to its basest parts- the album is again rife with the imagery of elemental vocabulary like calcium mines, radiolarians (some type of protozoic life form that produces intricate skeletal systems), sea anenomes, etc.- it's as if you need your old bio textbook to read his lyric sheets. I'm going to go ahead and start calling him Dr. Bird, he's probably the most cerebral songwriter around these days; and I can't quite call his music "pop", being that he's a classically trained violinist his music veers closer towards a baroque sentiment- imagine pop music of the late 1700s set to brainiac post-Ph.D lyricism. But the musicianship coupled with the uber-intelligentsia slant makes for repeated interested listens; highlights include Oh No, Masterswarm, Not A Robot, But A Ghost, and the hands-down best piece of music on the entire record appears after the 2:15 mark of Anonanimal- it's actually one of the nicest breakdowns in a song I've heard in a while. But then again, Dr. Bird can write some really fine melodies; so it's completely expected.

Anonanimal - Andrew Bird

Masterswarm - Andrew Bird

More albums I missed from 2008 that I've been rocking heavily this past month:

Deerhoof - Offend Maggie (Kill Rock Stars Records; released October 7th, 2008)
You know, I'm half on the fence with Deerhoof, half-off; I loved Reveille and The Runners Four (but not at first), sort of panned Friend Opportunity and was stand-offish about their latest. Eventually I grew to like all these albums after forgetting about them and revisiting them sometime later- it's like I can't get into it right away, it takes a bunch of listens before I get hooked in. I listened to Offend Maggie a few times back in October and let it sit on the shelf until about two weeks ago; now I get it- it's got bigger guitars, less freaky, more restrained. Each album is less a continuation of the last than a re-invention towards something slightly different, but still essentially Deerhoof-esque.

Offend Maggie - Deerhoof

Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista (Fonal Records; released July 22nd, 2008)
This record would've made my top five, easily- that is if I actually listened to it before I made my flawed and (now) out-dated list, actually there's about 6 or 7 albums I would've slipped in my top twenty that I didn;t get a chance to hear until after the new year, but alas; no need complaining when there's such sweetly ethereal music like Paavoharju out there. Ambient dream folk electronica from the far reaches of Finland; I have to say this is as fine a record I've heard in the last decade; there's nothing to compare it to because there's nothing else that I've heard that sounds even remotely like this.

Uskallan - Paavoharju

The Bug - London Zoo (Ninja Tune Records; released July 7th, 2008)
I've somewhat maligned the entire genre of dubstep, however this is not only listenable, it's ridiculously enjoyable. It's closer to "darkwave" dancehall, if such a thing exists (probably not) but it's way better than any other dubstep I've heard. No wonder this ended up in so many top ten lists at the end of last year- it's a great record.

Judgement ft.Ricky Ranking - The Bug

Heavy Anticipation for February:
Nathan Williams' Wavves project has a follow up LP entitled Wavvves due out February 3rd from De Stijl Records, listen to So Bored.

So Bored - Wavves

Dark Was The Night Compilation, due out February 17th from 4AD Records; here's The Decemberists' offering:

Sleepless - The Decemberists

Morrissey's Years Of Refusal, due out February 17th from Attack/Lost Highway Records

No-One Can Hold A Candle To You - Morrissey

Abe Vigoda's Reviver EP, due out Feb. 17th from Post Present Medium Records; here's a taste:

Dont Lie - Abe Vigoda

Zach Condon has releases scheduled on Feb. 17th from two separate projects: his well-known day job Beirut with the March Of The Zapotec EP and his electronic side-project Realpeople's Holland EP

The Akara - Beirut

No Dice - Beirut

Black Lips' new record, 200 Million Thousand; out Feb. 24th from Vice Records; have a listen:

Starting Over - Black Lips

See you later...

Animal Collective's My Girls...

2009-01-22T18:21:00.001-08:00

Music Video! w00t

Dirty Projectors + David Byrne...

2009-01-20T07:30:00.000-08:00

Dirty Projectors & David Byrne - Knotty Pine (from upcoming "Dark Was The Night" Compilation; 4AD Records, February 17th)

Knotty Pine - Dirty Projectors + David Byrne

Bon Iver's Blood Bank EP...

2009-01-19T09:44:00.000-08:00

Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP (Jagjaguwar Records; released January 20th, 2009)
Wisconsin-born and French-named Bon Iver is back with a much less whispered affair, I think Justin Vernon has really found his voice and has gained a ton of confidence, rounding out his sound by adding more instrumentation on this four song affair. I don't know if I need to make any apologies for my exclusion of Mr. Vernon's For Emma, Forever Ago album off of last year's top 20 list; I'll re-iterate again that (to me) it's an '07 release- so that's where it ended up. I played that record a lot over the ultra-cold trip back east that winter and something clicked in me; that's exactly what that album was trying to convey- warmth. Recorded in a remote cabin in the Wisconsin woods the previous winter, it's no wonder it has that feel to it.

Blood Bank is a step past that- it definitely has a more intense warmth to it, like a refined and steady glow or a toastiness like you've been in from the cold for a while; cup of hot chocolate, wool socks up by the hearth- that's what it feels like to me. The title track was a throwaway from the last album, and I can see why it didn't work. Where the majority of those tracks were just Vernon with falsetto-whispered vocals/guitars/foot stomps/hurdy gurdys/cold winter winds/ethereal magic, this song is much sparser and stripped down, it doesn't need to blow into its cupped hands for warmth; it already emanates heat from within.

And there's no chorus or bridge- it's just a progression over and over as Bon Iver relates a story of donating blood, where sustenance can be gathered afterwards in the form of juice boxes, cookies and a make-out session in the parking lot. That'd certainly do it for me... Beach Baby has a lovely little pedal steel guitar line towards the back of the track; again- "beach" denotes warmth, etc. Clearly this is foretelling of Bon Iver's direction with his new material, obviously he's going to do a "summer" album. After Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion, this may just be the year of the "summer jam"...

Babys is a piano-laced track that builds towards a bridge section, then barrels on to a crescendo of a release- it's basically a two-note cycle over and over with double-tracked vocals and a heartily strummed acoustic guitar into a flaccid coda. The final track, Woods gets on the auto-tune bandwagon; but strangely; it works- a lot like that Imogen Heap track (Hide And Seek) from a few years ago, endearing instead of annoying.

So there's your pre-cursor to Bon Iver's much anticipated second full-length album, I'm thinking it'll get great reviews again, so let this serve as one of the first...

Wisconsin, iTunes bonus track from For Emma, Forever Ago:

Wisconsin - Bon Iver

WAVVES vs NODZZZ...

2009-01-16T22:47:00.000-08:00

Wavves - Wavves (Woodsist Records; released September 30th, 2008)

Nodzzz - Nodzzz (What's Your Rupture? Records; released November 18th, 2008)

Disclaimer: The numbers within the parentheses are indeed footnotes; I went kinda crazy with them.

The author is asking you if you can remember back to the beginning of this century when every garage-rock revival band that broke through was appointed that overwrought tag "the next big thing"? So whatever happened to The Mooney Suzuki?(1) Oh, they're out there somewhere, as are The Detroit Cobras and The Hives (both put out albums in '07, which is like a million fucking years ago in internet time) and Division Of Laura Lee (I got one of their albums on a whim years ago; I wish they were dead).(2) But Hot Snakes and The Libertines; who were actually listenable have sadly come and gone, and the vastly over-rated Kings Of Leon(3) still get to make records. Of course The White Stripes and The Strokes are still alive and richer than ever, but my tastes have bent away from them as they've outgrown their grittier sounding stuff and moved towards a more polished aesthetic. Plus, where do you draw the line between garage rock and garage punk? Where do Black Lips and Jay Reatard fall in here? Vivian Girls?

And oh yeah, I fucking hate Times New Viking(4).

Anyway, I digress- I try to steer clear of genre-specific shit anyway, it's better when it has a slash in it somewhere, like lo-fi/noise pop/garage punk.(5)

Enter Wavves; San Diego native Nathan Williams' bedroom recorded freak-fuzz project that references both goth and darkwave; re-writing the above triple-monikered genre's accepted influences and altering them as he sees fit. He's a one man band who draws from such far-ranging acts as The Beach Boys and Portland's Wipers, so think of him as a sort of sand-covered gutter punk, but only in sound. It's an absolute sonic mess that works for me, like an aurally-inspired toothache that I don't mind having; I'll get it taken care of whenever my health insurance kicks in...(6)

Stand-out tracks include Wavves, Side Yr On, Beach Goth and Teenage Super Party. Follow-up LP comes out February 3rd on Fat Possum Records and is ingeniously titled Wavvves (three V's this time...).

	Wavves - Wavves

	Found at skreemr.com

	Wavves - Side Yr On

	Found at skreemr.com

Heading up to Nor-Cal to the city of San Mateo(7) (situated between San Francisco and Palo Alto) we have (another) lo-fi/noise/garage act calling themselves Nodzzz. Not to be outdone in the consonant war, they also have consecutive consonants. Nodzzz, interestingly enough, would not be able to play their own name in a game of Scrabble. But these three endearingly nerdy dudes make really catchy, fun, four-tracked Tascam MKII garage-pop, ten songs in less than sixteen minutes, total fucking radness. Imagine Weezer having only like 30 bucks and one guitar to record their debut album- it's that sticky, it'll stick to your ears like used condoms stick to the insides of a drunken sorority girl's jeans.(8)

Is She There?, In The City (Contact High), Losing My Accent and I Can't Wait are the key tracks here.

	Nodzzz - Is She There

	Found at skreemr.com

	Nodzzz - In the City (Contact High)

	Found at skreemr.com

Footnotes:
(1) - How can you name your band after the first two singers of Can and still totally suck? I was in either Sam Goody or F.Y.E. about 8 years ago and they had those "listening booth" thingys where you can put headphones on and listen to it- anyway, The Mooney Suzuki fucking suck, mostly because of their name, it's like fucking blashphemy to a music geek. I was expecting some super-funky krautrock-type shit and it was this shitty guitar jerk-off of a mess. I was on a ton of drugs back then, too- I'm really surprised I didn't like it.
(2) - These guys were on Epitath and my room-mate at the time was into all their bands and always bought their sampler records and all that shit, we even had a Division Of Laura Lee sticker on our coffee table. If I ever meet a chick name Laura Lee, I'm going to spit in her face.
(3) - Some dude a little while ago tried to tell me that Kings Of Leon was the best band I've never heard of. I had to correct his obvious error (I've heard everything) with "they are the worst band I wish I've never heard of the most".
(4) - You can try to be lo-fi on purpose to hide the fact that you can't play or sing.
(5) - Worst genre combination ever: UK garage/grime/dub-step. And anyone who knows me knows how much I love dub reggae; I used to drunkenly request it to folkish singer-songwriter types at open mic sets. However; dub-step is a freaking abomination. I wish that fad would hurry up and pass- thanks a lot, Pitchfork.
(6) - I have health insurance, I'm just afraid of dentists.
(7) - I hear they have a good skatepark there!
(8) - I don't even know what this means.

The Decemberists' The Rake's Song...

2009-01-15T22:25:00.000-08:00

There's a new Decemberists' track from the forthcoming Hazards Of Love album, called The Rake's Song .

Click the link and check it out. First thoughts: it's a heavy and proggy deep-ass groove.

Oh, and "wow"....

Tiny Echoes...

2009-01-15T19:11:00.000-08:00

Tiny Echoes – Dereliction (self-released; May 28^th, 2008)

Here’s an e-mail I got back in May and didn’t read until three weeks ago:

Hi Jimmy,
Not sure if you even take music submissions from unsigned folk, but I thought I'd fire a link your way anyway. I've just finished an album which I have uploaded here. If you get a chance sometime, I'd really appreciate it if you could give it a listen and let me know what you think. It's not long, just over half an hour. Sort of folk-rock, I suppose. I don't really like bios, so I don't have one. But I'm from N. Ireland, I'm twenty, and everything is bedroom-recorded.
Thanks!!!

First off, I’m a douche for not seeing this e-mail like seven months ago. Secondly- he’s released an EP since this album, so I’m going to review that too, just to make up for how shitty of a person I can be.

So I followed the download link and I’m listening to it and I’m completely blown away; seriously- you made this in your bedroom? This is an amazing record. You’re only twenty years old? You’ve got more talent now than all the bands on the Billboard Top whatever list. I see your influences all over this album; you’ve properly channeled each and every one without misappropriating them. I’m wishing I had the last seven months to cozy up to this; it’d definitely be on my Top 20 list.

Let’s see now, Northern Ireland… my ancestral homeland, my extended family still lives there, my parents go every few years, when I was a kid my dad used to tell me about the I.R.A. and The Troubles and the hunger strikes and Bloody Sunday. So using that to set the scene; I guess growing up in a once war-torn area has got to have some sort of effect on the collective psyche of the land, right?

And there are traces of that devastation in your music- however subtle your delivery is, the impression you make is laid right down the middle of me like a tire mark, I feel like I’ve been thrown under the wheel of a car driven by its' ghost- slow-moving, haunting and fragile yet densely layered with these phenomenal orchestral string sections- from start to back it’s an album as an actual event; a fully realized and accomplished record that plays end-to-end.

The album begins with the atmospheric No History; just a repeated arpeggio on an ancient sounding guitar, I think I can hear it fret-out a few times- which is why I’ve always had a special fondness in my heart for this type of lo-fi bedroom recording. The stellar Oceans Of Ash is stark and jagged; a distorted buzz-saw guitar inserted into the mix at just the perfect level cuts a serrated path into my ears, any louder and it may have affected the overall tone of the song, rendering it grunge-worthy. But it serves as a foil to contradict the soft acoustics; like a wall of sound that’s completely unobtrusive as a backdrop, segueing back into a far-away sounding freak-out jam that, again, fits perfectly.

Everywhere At Once has the finest lyrical couplets on the record: "I disconnect the telephone, there's no one else I wanna hear speak / 'cause I remember how you told me once that talk was so cheap / it hurts to say it but I feel like I should explain / that I'd run home on broken legs just to speak to you again... all those lonely nights when the stars are too far to see / it's like you're everywhere at once, all around me..."

Then there's Where Did The Night Go?, another excellent track; a slow-moving torch song that sounds like a neglected carousel wheel begging to be oiled. Sparse and booming drums move the song along, although they appear muddy in the mix - which works exactly as it's supposed to for the song to develop, and again there's the distorted buzz-saw guitar towards the end- I can't get over how well it sounds when it really shouldn't. The album's production, whatever was used- I'm thinking a Tascam 8-track (?) is absolutely perfect; capturing the vibe with precision.

A Forgotten Lie is the next track, and again; another solid attempt at harnessing the ambiance- both sweet and creepy. There are ghosts as well as angels in your music, Stephen. And Their Voices is the easiest song to pigeon-hole into a genre, it's a somber as well as emotive alt-country ditty. Double-tracked vocals, hand drummed percussion, subtle synth-strings and an acoustic guitar is all that’s needed here to convey the point.

The album’s coup de grace would be the finale, Into Oblivion. All I can say is wow. I love when an album leaves on a high-point, leaving the listener begging for more- with its faintly layered orchestrations, the finely woven loud-soft-loud/verse-chorus-bridge interplay and that distorted wall of sound re-appearing once again, it’s a skillful display of both songwriting and production I’ve heard on a self-recorded album since ______. (I promised myself I would write this review without making any comparisons, so listen for yourself and you draw your own conclusions…)

I'm noticing that I've used a lot of adjectives in this review; so I'll try to sum it up with this glowing recommendation- if you like melancholic, heart-felt, lo-fi acoustic folk-rock, this is a pretty awesome example of how it should be done.

Desolation EP (self-released; November 28^th, 2008)

This EP acts as a four-song component piece, released shortly after the completion the Dereliction album, and it’s a much more polished and refined offering. The maturation of Tiny Echoes’ sound offers promise, although he hints on his blog that he’s going to go in a different direction (white-boy rap? Hopefully he’s joking- stick to what works, please!)

The third track (and centerpiece to the EP); Hospital Bed, is another song that employs Tiny Echoes' "wall of sound" technique, building to a huge crescendo at around the five-minute mark and holding you there for almost a solid minute until he brings you down into a beautiful bells-and-string break and then lifting you back into the crashing waves of drums and strings and guitars- it's a seven-and-a-half minute jam that held my attention throughout, imploring repeated listens.

I wish I discovered these records earlier, and to think that they were waiting for me in my inbox- I used to brag that I never checked my e-mail. Yeah, those days are over...

To hear his music and download his albums for free, go to

Tiny Echoes' MySpace

Will Oldham Strikes Again...

2009-01-14T22:59:00.000-08:00

...another Bonnie "Prince" Billy album; Beware, due out March 17th from Drag City Records. Here's a brand new song (You Can't Hurt Me Now), live and in-studio with WNYC's Soundcheck program. Will always gives a great interview- so understated and eloquent, for such a giant talent he's really a pretty accessible and down-to-earth guy. He waxes poetic on his alter-ego, his acting career and the flattery of having his music covered by the likes of Johnny Cash as well as traditional Scottish folk singers. He also sticks around to give a fantastic rendition of The Brute Choir from 1995's Viva Last Blues under his old moniker Palace Music.

The Musicologists' Want YOU!

2009-01-14T20:58:00.001-08:00

We're looking for some new blood- new writers that is.

Did you ever read an album review and say, "Man, I can do this, piece of cake."?

Ever heard a band and think, "How come these guys aren't huge, like Arcade Fire huge?"

Do you spend hours on YouTube watching music videos wondering if the world knows how awesome __________ (insert your favorite band here) is?

Well, now's your chance. We're looking for 5-7 new writers, so we can become a daily blog with a staff of ten to twelve people posting randomly everyday (even multiple times a day!). Independent music, unsigned bands, anything operating under the radar or to the left of the mainstream is (obviously) what we're looking for.

Then you can brag that "I totally broke that band" when they get huge.

Send inquiries and a short (300 word) writing sample to: the.musicologist@gmail.com

Thanks!

Morrissey's I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris...

2009-01-13T22:29:00.000-08:00

Hopefully this one can stay up for a bit...
Morrissey - I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris

Dear Stephen;
I love you to death- but man are you starting to look your age...
Sincerely,
Jimmy Mac

Noise Pop '09...

2009-01-11T11:40:00.000-08:00

Here's your schedule: NOISE POP 2009

"...I better see you there." says John Darnielle.

Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion...

2009-01-05T23:27:00.000-08:00

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino Records; vinyl release 1/6/09, digital & CD release 1/20/09)
First off, let me say that I've been to the actual Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland several times, and I don't really feel the need to name any of the bands I've seen there (Phish- twice!, Keller Williams, Yonder Mountain String Band, Bela Fleck, Del McCoury, etc.) because it will expose my former hippie leanings (jam bands and bluegrass music? Really, man...). I can only guess that Animal Collective has been to a few of these shows, too- after all the Collective is from nearby Baltimore, has a "crunchy" following and an "experimental" sound to their music.

Plus, it's the pre-eminent concert venue in the greater Baltimore/DC area. So to name your newest and most accessible release after the big wooden-facaded outdoor amphitheater set in the woods right next to a shopping mall- and there you have (in a reductive way) what this record is all about- a nature scene juxtaposed by a capitalist retail utopia.

I should also take a minute to explain something else that's been bothering me about doing this review- I've rather maligned this band in the past, discovering them when Sung Tongs came out and immediately dismissing it as "annoying crap" (I may have used a different adjective; the point being that I completely missed the "point") wondering shit like "who the fuck uses a slamming door as a drum sample? and "is that a kid laughing his ass off on nitrous balloons?" and the same for Feels ("this whole damn record sounds slightly out of tune" or "the two live songs from the bonus disc are from Haverford College? It figures those nerds get this music..."), etc. So then I was argued into checking out Strawberry Jam, which I did reluctantly and (gasp) actually quite liked. I should blame Panda Bear; I liked his Person Pitch but didn't go ape-shit over it like the rest of the world, it's a very fine record for a Collective-solo. So in short; I'm on board now, which is usually the case with me after repeated exposure to any stimulus. The stimuli being a somewhat discordant undertone but still retaining a melodic delicacy to the mix, yeah I can dig it. And it has a smile-inducing quality to it, that's nice. And if last year was any indicator that I'd be okay with listening to a lot of stuff I've previously shied away from (Xiu Xiu, Butthole Surfers, Dirty Projectors, Big Black, Deerhoof, Steve Reich, Boredoms, Sonic Youth, Van Dyke Parks, Japanther, Battles, Liars, the list can go on endlessly), then 2009 is getting off to a wild start. After all, it's only music- it can't hurt me, right?

Let's get into the album now- envision The Flaming Lips having an orgy with The Shins on really strong microdot while channeling Brian Eno and Robert Fripp's tape-loop manipulations, all the while conjuring up a seance with Brian Wilson's Pet Sounds harmonies; that's a pretty close idea to what Animal Collective's been up to lately. And the artwork is pretty rad; stare at it long enough and you'll get the sensation of movement. Maybe you can still see it with your eyes closed. Maybe, you can get yourself into that "tunnel" and really trip out. Who out there knows what I'm talking about? Indubitably the Collective's Avey Tare (Dave Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) and Geologist (Brian Weitz) have been inside that lysergically-induced mind warp and this record will probably serve as some sort of spirit guide for a new generation of chemically experimental kids, much like Dark Side Of The Moon or Wish You Were Here was thirty-plus years ago.

Oh, yeah- the music... The album's intro track, In The Flowers, starts out with a shimmery glissando giving way to this churning liquid bubbling underneath until the pounding kicks in; lyrically it's an ode to going on the road, being away from family for stretches at a time. Which is also a possible omen; I can see this album being so successful that AC will probably be on the road most of the year in support of this record- now that the reviews are pouring in, the critical acclaim can be a bit overwhelming. If they take the ball and run with it, here's my crystal ball prediction: headliners at Bonnaroo/Coachella/name your festival.

I'm just saying is all...

But I can say without any reservation that my favorite track on the album is My Girls, an early front-runner for song of the year. It's got this pumping booty bass sound with hand claps and the most infectious refrain about Panda Bear's sublime life in Portugal with wife and daughter: "I don't mean to seem like I care about material things- like a social status, I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls". Try and not nod your head to this jam. Oh, and the vocal harmonies are way beyond anything they've ever done. Here's a live version of the song; I dare not post the album version for fear of the Web Sherrif's reprisals.

	Animal Collective - My Girls (Live)

	Found at skreemr.com

Panda evokes a James Mercer-esque vocal stylization (to justify my Shins comparison) to another highlight of the album on Daily Routine. This is truly a "life with family" album- it's got that domesticated feel in a lot of the song's lyrics. And to justify another comparison; Bluish has The Beach Boys' patented harmonizations imprinted all over its chorus, no doubt Avey's love song for his wife.

Taste has the most self-aware lyrics on the album, posing the question; "When we share our points of view you get a glimpse of me / I get a glimpse of you and I don't really care / If I don't change your ways", and I'm paraphrasing here: "Am I really all the things that are outside of me? Am I real?" Existensial crisis? Or a shot at the critics, possibly. This critic at least has changed his mind on this band, there are so many beautiful messages that are much less obtuse than in previous AC records. Plus, the lyrics are higher in the mix.

The bassline to No More Runnin is so low and snarky; growling under the mix at such a sub-sonic level, and at the top of the register the pitch shifting of the vocals adds that little bit of creepiness- the overall feel of the album is upbeat and happy so it acts as a perfect foil before the stunning finale Brother Sport, Panda's eulogy to his recently passed father. Imploring his brother Matt to "open up your throat / let them go" and then helping him process the loss through the development of his creative side: "You're halfway to fully grown / You've got a real good shot / You've got so much inside / Let it come right out". Again; live version of the track:

	Brother Sport - Animal Collective

	Found at skreemr.com

I've probably said this in at least five album reviews over the past two years, and I'll say it again- fearless self-exploration makes for great art; and whatever you want to label Animal Collective's music as, whether it be psych folk, experimental pop, noise/art rock, neo-psychedelia, etc., has reached its pinnacle here on Merriweather Post Pavillion. Being able to take so many different influences, bend genres and synthesize it down to your own unique sound is damn near impossible to do these days- I'm one of those people who's been known to remark, "It's really all been done; Band X is just ripping off Band Y so they can get into Band Z's demographics, etc." Any number of "music geek" statements I've been known to make can be applied at any time to any number of bands, yadda yadda on and on ad infinitum...

...but being able to change someone's mind through music, that's the biggest victory any band can claim over a listener's ears.

Thank you Animal Collective.

The Lost Albums Of 2008 (Part IV)...

2009-01-04T10:14:00.000-08:00

More albums! And since I used to let you listen to songs, I'm going to do that again- witness the return of the SkreemR mini Media Player...

Department Of Eagles - In Ear Park (4AD Records; released October 7th)

Early last year I was introduced to Van Dyke Parks' 1968 landmark album Song Cycle- it's only now I can see his influence all over the world of music, and Grizzly Bear's Daniel Rossen is no exception. His side project with college buddy Fred Nicolaus is equal parts Song Cycle, Revolver-era Beatles and the music he makes in his "day job" band (with help from fellow Grizzlies, it's hard not to say this is a proper release from them). In Ear Park is one of those albums that play well in the early morn over a cup of coffee and the newspaper with the dog curled up at your feet. And the track Teenagers is one of the year's better songs, a churning and rollicking little carnival of sound in a three-minute package.

	Department Of Eagles - Teenagers

	Found at skreemr.com

The Kills - Midnight Boom (Domino Records; released March 10th)

Equal parts infectious sugar-coated pop and shoegazey down tempo with just a smattering of angry punk rantings and post-teen wasteland paranoia, The Kills made a pretty nice little record right here. Short songs, hook-laden and heavy on the reverb, the "boom" on Midnight Boom may refer to the bottom line as this album has low end bass a-plenty.

	The Kills - Cheap And Cheerful

	Found at skreemr.com

Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful We Are Doomed (Arts & Crafts Records; released November 25th)
Nevermind the fact that this record comes out only eight months after their debut album, two full-lengths in a year is an exhaustive output for anyone, even thought the average age of this band is somewhere around 22. I think the vim and vigor of life is still interesting to these youngsters, so just give them a few years to get jaded with the industry and life in general. Actually, let's hope not- I love Los Campesinos! pop-timism, and their absolute unwavering from the path of fun and energetic tongue-in-cheek wisdom. They're completely jaded by life (Welsh people are disaffected by nature, as is any culture forcefully colonized by the Brits), but you wouldn't be able to tell from the amount of fun they're having.

	Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed

	Found at skreemr.com

Nomo - Ghost Rock (Ubiquity Records; released June 17th)

Afro-beat made some serious in-roads this past year, especially in The Musicologists' landscape (West African-influenced Vampire Weekend's self-titled debut and similarly influenced Dave Longstreth's Dirty Projectors haven't made their respective ways out of my playlists this year) so it's no wonder that these nine Michigan/Chicago-based musicians caught my attention. Jazz-based polyrhythmic danceable African pop music; just a look at some the instruments used on this album is enough to twist up the most cunning linguists' tongue.

	Nomo - Brainwave

	Found at skreemr.com

Russian Circles - Station (Suicide Squeeze Records; released May 6th)

Instrumental progressive-metal post-math rock(?) from Chicago's Russian Circles' second full-length album. I don't know what to call this since their influences are so far reaching; you can hear bits of King Crimson and Megadeth on here, as well as the swooping indie rock of Explosions In The Sky and the math equations of Don Caballero. I was introduced to this band a few years ago, seeing them open for Minus The Bear; I think their cover of Yes' Roundabout got me hooked. Sprawling and epicly bombastic jams, this is as heavy and densely layered as a production effort I've heard all year- their live sound is captured well on Station.

	Russian Circles - Harper Lewis

	Found at skreemr.com

School Of Seven Bells - Alpinisms (Ghostly International Records; released October 28th)
Atmospheric and ethereal electronica, produced by ex-Secret Machine Benjamin Curtis with vocalizations from breathy-voiced twin sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza- an album imprinted with the half-awake imagery of sunless winter light, lofty tales of lucid dreamings and sub-atomic interstellar planetary space travel...

	School of Seven Bells - Connjur

	Found at skreemr.com

...that's it for my faves of 2008.

New album reviews coming this week!

The Lost Albums Of 2008 (Part III)...

2009-01-03T21:28:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm still recommending albums for you from the past year:

Damien Jurado - Caught In The Trees (Secretly Canadian Records; released September 9th)
A slightly more hi-fi feel this time around for Seattle's Mr. Jurado, but still just a man and his guitar pouring his heart out- apologetic and somber in its folk-ballad overtones, the music is rife with the imagery of unrequited love and heart-ache without being sappy or corny. Strings make an appearance on more songs; (as do live drums) something Damien has eschewed in the past to give his music a lo-fi bedroom sonic resonancy. Excellent production notwithstanding, this is a lovely little slice of Americana.

Jay Reatard - Matador Singles '08 (Matador Records; released October 7th)
A few weeks ago the guy at my local record shop told me about Jay and that I should've already been listening to him. Sweet! I love record shop employees, they're just like snarky little critics that have that rare combination of "know everything about music" and "nothing about tact". Kind of like Jay and his Blogspot page. So he may be a dick but he can write some mean pop songs; I don't really know what to call it (garage pop with a punk edge?) but these thirteen songs are delightful and fun. Highlights of the singles compilation: a cover of Deerhunter's Fluorescent Grey and I'm Watching You.

The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride (4AD Records; released February 19th)

I'm getting lazy, so-
Full album review here!

The National - The Virginia EP (Brassland Records; released May 20th)

The past twelve months must've been a progressively exhaustive year for The National, constant touring, playing tag with their shadows and at the current moment heading back into the studio for a follow-up to The Musicologists' 2007 Album Of The Year, Boxer. But any way you slice it, this band has been working their asses off the past few years so if all they can muster is a few unreleased tracks, some b-sides, a few live tracks and a cover here or there, let it be.

Sigur Ros - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust (XL Recordings; released June 24th)
Iceland's second favorite celebrities come back with a more accessible and folkier effort on (translated): With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly; and I hope they do forever. However, the songs are a little on the shorter side (for these guys) with only two tracks up around the nine-minute mark. Lead singer Jonsi trades in his patented falsetto for lush string arrangements and blaring horn phrases, it's a much more earthy feel for Sigur Ros in 2008. It works to some degree, but what I really want to hear is a twelve minute space-rock anthem with an e-bow for that added ambiance. And if you have to ask who Iceland's favorite celebrity is, you shouldn't be reading this blog.

...and this probably would've made my Top 20 if my thumb wasn't securely (shoved up my ass) in my ear most of the year:

Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual (We Are Free Records; released June 17th)
Holy crap is this a fun ass record; if it's this fun to listen to it must have been twice as fun to play on- you can actually hear lead singer (screamer) Molly Siegel smiling as she's assaulting the microphone. I don't know if that's true, can you actually hear a smile or am I projecting my happiness on this band? Pure noise freak-out with a sprinkling of surf rock in there and vocally, think Corin Tucker's warbly vibrato crossed with Yoko Ono's crazy-crazy. Again, not an actual term but this shit is just so rad and fun that you'll forget that there aren't any actual lyrics, it's just made up sounds and yelps that act as another instrument. So much fucking fun I want to poke my ears out yesterday and never listen to anything ever again that's not this album.

The Lost Albums Of 2008 (Part II)...

2008-12-30T12:11:00.000-08:00

The Decemberists - Always The Bridesmaid: Volumes I, II & III (Capitol Records; released Oct. 4th, Nov. 4th and Dec. 2nd)
Probably my favorite band over the last decade- since this wasn't a proper album (or even an EP) it deserves some kind of special handling. Upon the first listen I think I said something like "ugh, thank god these songs aren't going to be on the next album..." but upon repeated listens, it's actually quite nice. These are intended to be stand-alone tracks, each one a nice little story about Colin Meloy's assorted fictional characters (and real people with fictional storylines: see Valerie Plame). An homage to New England, Portland's propensity for precipitation (Record Year For Rainfall was one of the year's better songs), a song about some chick named Elaine, etc. These were recorded during sessions for the upcoming Hazards Of Love album, (to be released March 24th) the record I'm the most psyched for next year.

Ladytron - Velocifero (Nettwerk Records; released June 2nd)

I used to really love Ladytron. Part of me still does; Light & Magic and The Witching Hour are rad electro-pop records with that patented minor-key darkness and that dead-panned, glazed-over eyes Euro-trash delivery. I love that about these ladies (and dudes, but they assume a minor role). So out of respect I still love Ladytron but they're not reinventing the wheel with their newest, Velocifero. If I can assert myself (again) through my biggest knock on most albums this year it's that they're sticking to their "formula", and that's a part of their appeal- they make dance music, it's for dancing, it's Euro-trashy; and it's completely derivative of their prior body of work. Which isn't a bad thing, it's just an electronic thing. The up-side (and my favorite thing about this bad) is Mira Aroyo's two songs in Bulgarian; that shit is just plain sexy...

Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III (Cash Money Records, June 10th)

I was resistant of this album until I saw the all-star contributions on tracks featuring Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes and Juelz Santana with production credited to the likes of Kanye West, Swizz Beatz and David Banner; I had to check out Tha Carter III- or should I say Grammy-nominated approaching triple platinum Tha Carter III? The best album cover of the year, hands down. Lollipop and Got Money are sick cuts, A Milli is infectious, and Jay-Z's verse on Mr. Carter is another highlight, but there's also some weak songs that detract from the overall awesomeness of this record- sixteen tracks is about four too many. I'm not a fan of R&B crooner Robin Thicke either, leave that shit for the expanded/exclusive bonus track album sold at BestBuy or Target.

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular (Columbia Records; released January 22nd)
I was wrestling with this record from the outset- I didn't want to like it but god-damn, it's really catchy. The hooks are all over this album; it's one of those "nod to the past but futuristic in feel" jams somewhere between David Bowie's glam phase and Michael Jackson's pre-Thriller phase. No wonder the Brits were all over this; this was NME's #1 record of 2008. Also, since it was released digital-only in 2007, I figured it didn't qualify for an '08 release, just like I did with Bon Iver's record. Anyway, Electric Feel was one of the best songs of the year, along with The Youth, Time To Pretend & Kids. A fine "pure pop" record.

...and under no circumstances should you listen to the following:

DragonForce - Ultra Beatdown (Roadrunner Records; released August 26th)
Take any Bruce Dickinson-era Iron Maiden record, speed it up to 45 rpm and throw Yngwie Malmsteen's how-many-notes-can-I-stick-into-this-solo lightning fast technical delivery and you have DragonForce, that annoying band featured on GuitarHero. I read a review saying this was "the metal album of the year" and downloaded it promptly. There are no words to describe how utterly disappointed I was; this isn't metal- this is shit. Pure, unadulterated shit. I thought these guys were a tongue-in-cheek send up of metal music, kind of like a spoof of bands like W.A.S.P. (a la The Darkness or SpinalTap), but sadly, these ass-clowns are dead serious. I'm sticking to Dethklok for laughs, this record was both tragic AND ludicrous, an all-time low rating for The Musicologist. A monkey pissing in its own mouth would be too good a review for this crap...

More on the way...

New Morrissey!

2008-12-30T11:48:00.000-08:00

The Lost Albums Of 2008 (Part I)...

2008-12-29T09:15:00.000-08:00

I'm starting out a bit on the defensive today, but a good defense trumps a good offense any day of the week. So, let me reiterate something- I'm just one person; there's no way I can get to every record released over the past 12 months. In order to do so, I'd have to quit my job and do this eight-plus hours a day. But then bills wouldn't get paid and XBOX 360s wouldn't get bought, and the economy would suffer that much more without my hard-earned paycheck getting thrown back into the mix and we can't have that now...

...but I can still listen to music from the past year and let you know about some stuff that I either glossed over, didn't listen to enough/didn't give it a fair shake or just plain dismissed. So here's the "other" best/worst stuff from '08, just in case you were wondering where it was on this half-assed blog of a web-page called The Musicologists.

Just outside of the "Honorable Mention" section, here's a few I liked...

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (SubPop Records; released June 3rd)

This is a pretty good record; I've seen several websites have this as their #1 album of the year, but I couldn't get it into my Top 20 for several reasons- the main one being that the lead singer Robin Pecknold sounds too much like Jim James of My Morning Jacket. That's not so much a dis as a complement- it's just that I was expecting something completely new and groundbreaking from a band receiving so much critical praise. It's an homage of sorts to the sixties (read: The Byrds meet AM pop radio) and I was hoping for something a bit future-leaning. However the gorgeous harmonies and folkloric feel are spot-on. It makes for nice background ambience, but with my short attention span it's just too laid-back to grab and hold me. I will most assuredly concede that White Winter Hymnal is an excellent song and deserves high praise, but the rest of the album serves as a supporting act for the single.

Women - Women (Jagjaguwar Records; released October 7th)

I wish I had more time with this one because it's been gaining steady plays on my hi-fi device in the last few weeks. It's Canadian (always a plus for you hosers, eh?), lo-fi without sounding like crap, and at times dissonant and freaky with some noise experimentation feedback-type passages, seamless segues between tracks, tape loops, basically a lot of the things I love about music is made up of non-musical elements (in a Brian Eno way) and Women reminded me of that. In direct opposition to Fleet Foxes' above review, this album reinterprets the past without being labeled a "rip-off"; it's a nod to the olden days with a firm handshake for the upcoming. Check out the songs Black Rice and Shaking Hands- they're gloriously post-post-punk. So very post.

Calexico - Carried To Dust (Quarterstick Records; released September 9th)
I've always wanted to review an album as George Costanza's angry dad, Frank: "You want Latin rhythms, you want Americana? You got 'em!!!" Then the Maestro and Kramer would come over and we'd take our pants off and play billiards. Anyway, Calexico's been using the same formula for almost every album now, and half the time it works, and sadly; the other half of the time it's boring. Don't get me wrong; I love appearances from Sam Beam (Iron & Wine for you non-music nerds) pedal-steel guitars and horn sections, whispered lyrics and blues-based southwestern folk with sparkling, expensive sounding production, but it's no different than previous albums Garden Ruin or the excellent Feast Of Wire. I guess when you've pigeon-holed yourself into a genre, you ain't getting out any time soon. Albums like this make it easy to have a rating system: 5 out of 10, or 50% for you math majors.

El Perro Del Mar - From The Valley To The Stars (Licking Fingers Records; released April 22nd)
Sarah Assbring bills herself as El Perro Del Mar, she's a sort of lo-fi, twee indie-pop version of Karen Carpenter, with a little more soul and a slight Swedish accent. What she brings in this offering is the same melancholia heard on her debut, a nicely under-produced product wrapped in rolling basslines with sparse horn blasts and barely-there drums, a lounge-y piano feel throughout. I'm also thinking since the Swedes start learning English at a young age, they're taught to use our language in a more economical way- Assbring squeezes more out of her limited verbiage than most native-speakers, getting right to the point and sticking it in your head with her catchy melodies and angelic voice.

...and one I didn't...

Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs (Atlantic Records; released May 13th)
The further I go back into this bands' catalog, the better they get. Unfortunately for me, I didn't discover Death Cab until 2003's Transatlanticism; but by this time their best work was behind them. Granted, that was a pretty good album, I think every mix tape I made for a girl back then had a different track from that record. When Plans came out in '05 I'll admit that it was on my top ten- but looking back now I think it's (on the plus side) full of catchy melodies but (on the minus) filled with way too much overwrought prose and forced emotion. Go back to Something About Airplanes and We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes- those albums are phenomenal pop gems in their own right and don't sound the least bit phony. That's one of the joys of being on a small independent label, you can say whatever you want and don't have to pander to the masses. My biggest knock on this album is for all the hype it received- it hit #1 on the Billboard chart (in Canada too) and it's not even their sixth best album. Okay, I know the whole point of being a musician is to have your music heard by as many people as possible, but at what cost? Alienating your original fanbase by pumping out mainstream crap spells dollars in the bank, so bravo for you Mr. Ben Gibbard.

As for the album: Cath... is a great song- I believe it's a leftover from The Photo Album (did I read that somewhere?) and I really like Your New Twin Sized Bed- again, sounds like something from Transatlanticism. Long Division sounds like We Laugh Indoors, etc., etc., ad infinitum.

And that's Narrow Stairs in a nutshell- everything on here (that's any good) is totally ripped off from, uh... themselves. Which is a good way to introduce all your new fans and friends at MTV to your back catalog- by playing it on your newest record, with all new lyrics!

I can also guarantee that (since this record was so successful) there will never be another Postal Service album.

Ever.

Stay tuned- I'm off all week so you just may get a blog every day...

Fresh From The National's Blog...

2008-12-26T09:36:00.000-08:00

The National's Dessner brothers, (Aaron & Bryce) have produced a charity record called Dark Was The Night for the Red Hot Organization available worldwide February 17th on 4AD Records. All profits from the sale of this record will go to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The album features 32 exclusive tracks and will be released as a double CD and on triple vinyl (Ooooh, deluxe package with gate-fold? We can only hope...)

Additionally, they wrote and recorded a new song for the record called So Far Around The Bend. Aaron and Bryce also collaborate on the record with Bon Iver (The Musicologist's #18 album of 2007) and Antony Hegarty (of Antony & The Johnsons / Hercules & Love Affair) respectively.

Please help support this very important cause by spreading the word and picking up the album in February 2009.

The full artist list:
Andrew Bird
Antony & Bryce Dessner
Arcade Fire
Beach House
Beirut
Blonde Redhead & Devastations
Bon Iver
Bon Iver & Aaron Dessner
The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues
The Decemberists
Dirty Projectors & David Byrne
Kevin Drew
Feist & Ben Gibbard
Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear & Feist
Iron & Wine
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Kronos Quartet
Stuart Murdoch
My Brightest Diamond
My Morning Jacket
The National
The New Pornographers
Conor Oberst & Gillian Welch
Riceboy Sleeps
Dave Sitek (TV On The Radio)
Spoon
Sufjan Stevens
Yeasayer
Yo La Tengo

That's the all-star jammy-jam of the century (nine years in so far, but it'll be hard to beat what with the impending apocalypse and all...)

New Album News...

2008-12-24T23:00:00.000-08:00

Crystal Antlers just announced that their full-length LP was just finished and will be available April 7th, 2009.

Get hype, fellas- get hype!

Come Visit Us...

2008-12-23T07:39:00.000-08:00

...over at our new MySpace profile.

Stay Tuned for an all-new blog tomorrow!

Top 20 Albums Of 2008 (Part II)

2008-12-19T19:12:00.001-08:00

These all seemed like such no-brainers to me that this list basically wrote itself. My album of the year was pretty much decided by May, everything else was bound to be consolation after the fact. It was that simple for me these last twelve months- when you hear your album, it's over; the list starts from the top and fills itself in on down.

So without further ado, the final ten albums of The Musicologist's Top 20 of 2008:

10. Boris - Smile (March 7th; Southern Lord Records)

Remember that fuzz pedal you were looking for a few years ago that the maker discontinued? Boris has it, in fact- they have all of them. Boris is a rock band, that's indisputable, so all the genres they seem to be grouped into can be thrown out; they just fucking rock. They sound here like an updated version of the Smashing Pumpkins' magnum opus Siamese Dream but with much sharper fangs. There's maximum riffage and searing solos over pounding drums without being in danger of making themselves cliche. Southern Lord Records co-founder Stephen O'Malley, who is also half of the drone-metal duo Sunn 0))) makes an appearance over the song's untitled finale, helping to drone-out towards a bombastic finale. If it's any consolation, this is the Japanese language album of the year. Key Tracks: My Neighbor Satan, Statement, Buzz-In, Laser Beam

9. Beach House - Devotion (February 26th; Carpark Records)

Musical gems are sometimes like diamonds in the rough, so don't be put off by Baltimore duo Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand's shoegazer-esque textures; this is as fine an album as any other "pop" record this year. It's been filtered down to a swampy ambience, giving it an overall dream-like feel, but one I don't want to be waken from any time soon. This album made it easy to wind down the day putting me in the frame of mind to just relax. Key Tracks: Gila, Wedding Bell, D.A.R.L.I.N.G., Heart Of Chambers

8. Why? - Alopecia (March 11th; anticon. Records)

Oakland's Yoni Wolf made a bonafide hip-pop masterpiece this year with the genre-bending Alopecia (a rare disease that causes the afflicted to lose all their hair- eyebrows, and, uh yeah- down there too...) It's basically a therapist's nightmare set to music- some lyrics are downright cringe-worthy: "sucking dick for drink tickets at the free bar at my cousin's bat mitzvah / cutting the punch line and it ain't no joke / devoid of all hope circus mirrors and pot smoke / picking fights on dyke night with shirlies and lokes and snatching purses..." (from Good Friday); existential crises a-plenty: "my dad wore this face in old photographs..." (from A Sky For Shoeing Horses Under) and just plain creepy: "stalker's my whole style and if i get caught i'll deny deny deny..." (from Simeon's Dilemma). As Wolf exorcises his demons for the whole world to witness, the resulting bedlam makes for sensational art. Key Tracks: A Sky For Shoeing Horses Under, Fatalist Palmistry, These Few Presidents, Good Friday

7. Abe Vigoda - Skeleton (July 8th; Post Present Medium Records)

Pleasant surprise of the year- I've never heard of this band but I know they're a huge part of the LA-based collective The Smell, that's probably how they got my attention. But they've managed to hold on to it, however; with a fascinating record that delves into the psyche of what it's like to grow up a disaffected teen in the cultural wasteland that is Southern California. I had to check out a lyric sheet to figure out what it is that's being sung; the vocals are so low in the mix they're basically another instrument. Common images throughout the album show up as themes that I'd certainly associate with SoCal: dead cities, burning, familial obligations, hope, blood/bleeding, the record has a basic feeling of general decay. The churning and seamless anthems sound like a rollicking rock carnival with some of the finest drumming laid to 2-inch tape (or ProTools) of the whole year; explosive and expressive with a mild hint of sloppiness. Key Tracks: Dead City/Waste Wilderness, Skeleton, Cranes, Hyacinth Grrls

6. Deerhunter - Microcastle / Weird Era Cont. (October 28th; Kranky Records)

Microcastle would be the obvious direction that Deerhunter's sound was headed after the Fluorescent Grey EP; I can hear how those four songs act as a natural bridge over the gap from Cryptograms to here. And Weird Era Cont. sort of works as a stop-gap between the afforementioned EP and Microscastle, even though it's been packaged as a complimentary piece (I like how it works as a pre-cursor to the album instead of an after-thought or "extra" release). Either way, two albums put out simultaneously was a risky move- but it ends up paying huge dividends as the Atlanta quintet's conceptual continuity remains undisturbed. All the hub-bub surrounding the release of these records (accidentally leaked by lead singer Bradford Cox, through his blogspot, much like this one!) completely makes up for any "bad vibes" Cox said he felt he was putting out by telling people not to steal his music, lambasting his fans but later retracting his outburst, offering an apology and putting out thirteen extra tracks and calling it Weird Era Cont. for no additional cost. What a rad guy. Anyway, back to the actual music- Deerhunter's sonic architecture is par excellence, earning them much-deserved comparisons to such a vast array of their influences like Velvet Underground, My Bloody Valentine, The Beach Boys, Electrelane- hell, throws those bands in a blender and set to puree and pour out today's pre-eminent autuers in the self-created genre of ambient garage, Deerhunter. Key Tracks: (from Microcastle) Nothing Ever Happened, Saved By Old Times, Agoraphobia, Never Stops, Little Kids. (from Weird Era Cont.) Vox Humana, Operation, Vox Celeste, Focus Group, Backspace Century

5. Crystal Antlers - EP (September 2nd; Touch & Go Records)

The first time I heard this album I gave it a resounding "fuck yeah" after it was over, then I lamented the fact that it's only 24 minutes long. Of what you might be asking? Pure soulful-punk energy. This is the album you want to have on your iPod when you're dropping in at the skatepark, into raw and gnarly, shitty concrete. But Crystal Antlers' EP is like the momentum that carries you over that rough terrain and blasts you out of the quarter past all the rad-dads with their gay grommet kids pushing mongo and kick-turning on the banks. This is the finest EP I've heard all year, too bad it's so short. Or too good it's so short; I'm patiently waiting for the full-length record in early '09. Key Tracks: A Thousand Eyes, Owl, Vexation, fuck- it's a six song EP, everything's fucking good.

4. Girl Talk - Feed The Animals (June 19th; Illegal Art Records)

As if anything can be said about Gregg Gillis' mash-ups that he can't say himself with his sequencers and laptops? Really now, every album this guy puts out is a fucking masterpiece- an ADHD symphony running me back to my youth and into the present, then back, then forward, then... you get the picture. If you've ever wanted to hear Queen over the Beastie Boys with a Phil Collins' drum break into a Busta Rhymes verse over The Police into a... yeah. Artists that don't fit into any "true" genre create their own, and if "mash-up" is too restrictive (which I believe it is), I'd offer this: cut-and-paste experimental glitch-core. Key Tracks: I'd suggest getting it in both formats, the one cut into tracks and the one that's just a 53-minute un-interupted single track, either way, just put it on and hit "play", fool.

3. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Lie Down In The Light (May 20th; Drag City Records)

Will Oldham. Seriously, I was just going to print those two words for the review because it's that simple: Will Oldham, man. There's really nothing left for him to do, he's pretty much the greatest and if he retired tomorrow his legacy would be beyond untouchable. He's god. He could piss into my ears and I'd say it was the best concert ever. This was the best "Americana" record this year, whatever that means. He likens his approach to "Appalachian post-punk solipsism". Key Tracks: it's a Bonnie "Prince" Billy album- you start at track one and you play it all the way through. Or put it on shuffle. But "You Want That Picture" is quite beautiful though, isn't it?

2. TV On The Radio - Dear Science (September 23rd; Interscope Records)

Dear Science is the only album making the list that's been released on a major label- on Jimmy Iovine's Interscope. I gotta hand it to the man, even though I don't like him because he's part of the corporate music structure, he knows talent when he hears it. As if this band can get any better- I named Return To Cookie Mountain #3 back in my '06 year-end list, (they did) but regretfully I can't give them the top spot this year (and you'll see why in a minute). This is as strong an outing for any band that keeps getting more and more attention from mainstream America, and with all its anger, imagery, sexiness, sparkling production values and critical acclaim, I hope TV On The Radio becomes huge because it's time people started listening to good music. I was watching VH1's Best Videos of 2008 countdown this morning and I swear to god, everything sounds the same- it's a cluster-fuck of watered-down, Starbucks adult contemporary bullshit- everyone wants to sound like those wankers Coldplay. I hope people hear Dear Science and it makes them want to start a band, an original one that doesn't sound like anyone else. Like this band has managed to do over the course of their career. Thank you, TV On The Radio! Key Tracks: Crying, DLZ, Dancing Choose, Halfway Home, Golden Age

The Musicologist's 2008 Album Of The Year...

No Age - Nouns (May 6th, SubPop Records)

How do you explain to someone that you just felt the ground beneath you move- I'm not talking about an earthquake here, I'm talking about an honest, soul-shaking experience; musically speaking of course. No Age's Nouns begs to be listened to through headphones- it asks the listener "Ready?" and hurls you into a wall at the speed of light, at which point you've completely de-materialized into nothing and pass through said wall as sub-atomic particles, free to move about the universe as you please. A sonic exploration is an under-statement; this album is so densely layered and meant to be played at near "just blew out my sub-woofer" levels that you may just blow them speakers, or the record just may cause you to kick them in. In terms of number of listens, it wasn't even close- I probably listened to this about three times as much as all other albums combined this year, and own it in every format AND got the 7" for Teen Creeps (The Musicologist's 2008 Song Of The Year). My favorite band of the last seven months- I am so fucking jazzed on these guys right now it's not even funny. The Little Band That Could Do No Wrong In '08. Key Tracks: the entire album. Period.

Later for now...

Top 20 Albums Of 2008 (Part I)

2008-12-18T22:50:00.000-08:00

Let's talk about album reviews for a minute- what exactly is a review? I've come to find that it's less about the actual music than it is a confessional of sorts about the writer themselves. It's an inkblot, a human Rorschach test- I think what you're getting when you read an album review is a look into the psyche of the author; what you like about an album are the things you'll likely relate to and the things you hate are more or less the things you find icky about yourself.

So, the things that make me slightly uncomfortable are the sort of thing I've been attracted to lately- gravitating towards the "weird" side of music in hopes of uncovering some truths about myself as a person. Ever meet me? Yeah, I'm a fucking weirdo. If there's a general "theme" of this year in my world of music, it's that I got into some strange.

There's a whole slew of bands I've really been getting into lately, Dirty Projectors are one, Liars are another, and there's about ten bands of the twenty on the following list(s). The bands that kind of make you squirm a bit, bands that test your conventional wisdom around things like rhythm, texture, atmosphere, lyrical symbolism, etc. Maybe music has the ability to make you question yourself and doubt the world around you, challenging you to wonder: "Huh, can they do that? Can I do that?"

Music should operate outside of "normal" anyway. I'm pretty sure that's the whole point of rock and roll.

The Musicologist's Top 20 Albums of 2008 (Part I; albums #20 - #11)

20. Blacklisted - Heavier Than Heaven Lonelier Than God (April 1st; Deathwish Inc. Records)
Music as violence? The heaviest album I've heard all year, actually- the heaviest I've heard since Pantera's Vulgar Display Of Power. This band makes Mastodon look like little pussies, and makes Metallica look like complete homos. This record makes me want to go out and break shit, start fires, pillage, plunder and cause general disorder. Then I remember that I'm a pre-school teacher (and a complete pussy) and I'd never even so much as hit another human being. But I can throw this album on and let it punch me in the jugular; 11 songs clocking in at nineteen-and-a-half minutes. The lyrical content is both honest and emotional, wearing your heart on your sleeve doesn't always mean acoustic balladry- hardcore music is definitely alive and well. Plus, these guys are from Philly (which I've been reading has overtaken NYC as America's HC capital these days...) Key Tracks: Memory Layne, Stations, Always

19. Man Man - Rabbit Habits (April 8th; Anti Records)

Yes, I am unfairly biased towards bands from Philly. Having written for a local music mag some years ago whilst that was still my hometown I was given the opportunity to discover a lot of really good bands. Man Man is one of these bands- a gypsy-cabaret-indie rock act unlike no other band in music today. At times this album is obtuse and creepy; at others heartfelt and sincere. Hilarious poetic couplets like: "You think you’re so slick / I seen her lipstick across your dillznick" (from The Ballad Of Butter Beans) and scathing send-ups on religion: "There ain’t no god here as far as I can see / your god of hope and light never did nothing straight by me" (from Poor Jackie). There's some real fine instrumentation over the wild, jazzy drumming and eastern European-inflected waltzes. Think Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart meet Tom Waits in a psychedelic brothel in a post-war Bulgaria. Key Tracks: Top Drawer, Mister Jung Stuffed, Doo Right

18. Atlas Sound - Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel (February 19th; Kranky Records)

Atlas Sound has the whole psych-shoegaze-dream-chamber pop thing down- a seamless collection of stark songs heavy on the bass with arpeggiated guitar lines, all over top of subtle and distorted washes of multi-tracked guitars with organs floating about somewhere in the mix. Lead singer Bradford Cox's vocals get a delay treatment, as they appear within the register at different intervals; it's as if Lee Perry's Black Ark dub sessions were being called upon in a seance. Notes on the stellar production vaules: heavy on the reverb, transparent, layered, atmospheric- making it both creepy and solemn but so beautiful. Here's the full review from last February. Key Tracks: Cold As Ice, Quarantined, River Card, Recent Bedroom

17. Mount Eerie with Julie Doiron and Fred Squire - Lost Wisdom (October 7th; P.W. Elverum & Sun Records)

Phil Elverum has evolved from a lo-fi genius (as The Microphones) into his current musical vision, Mount Eerie (a slightly better-fi version of his ideas). Nothing's really changed- gone is the fuzzy quality of his former "band", here he's bought better microphones (no pun intended) to record this album, but it still has that bedroom-folky feel to it. I can imagine all three musicians literally sitting around the mic pouring their respective souls into this recording, you can hear his knee knock into the back of his acoustic guitar; anyone who's ever passed a guitar around a room will know that sound- you can also hear them taking their seats before numbers; it's really that homey. Key Tracks: Voice In Headphones, With My Hands Out, Who?

16. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (January 29th; XL Recordings)

This album went gold- mainstream America sat up and took notice thanks to the unstoppable MTV-hype machine. I was calling it the first great album of the year but I think my love and support waned over the course of '08; that, and a ton of greater stuff's come out since. Here's what I said back in February: There are an infinite number of bands that sound like other bands yet still have enough originality to distance themselves from their heroes; that's the mark of a good band. Reinterpreting the past without straight-up ripping it off, Vampire Weekend's self-titled full-length debut sounds as if it's been culled from a myriad of influences. Extracting their musical direction from Peter Gabriel's early solo catalog, King Sunny Ade's Nigerian juju polyrhythms, Paul Simon's Graceland, not to mention English post-punk (I hear some of The Police and The Cure in here as well as the decidedly un-English post-punk Talking Heads), this foursome from New York City couldn't have made a finer album, it's actually the first great record of 2008. Click here for the full review. Key Tracks: Oxford Comma, Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, I Stand Corrected, The Kids Don't Stand A Chance

15. Hot Chip - Made In The Dark (February 5th; Astralwerks Records)

Expanding their style further in both directions that they've been known for (dance-punk and lover's rock balladeering); interchanging the two as they please. Stylistically, Hot Chip are masters of getting the most layers of sound out of the least amount of instrumentation by recording live, rather than multi-tracking and over-dubbing the shit out of their music; they go on the fly and work it out later on the mix board. I'd love to see more bands producing their own records, who better knows your sound than you? Hot Chip's core of Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard have been able to mature their sound without cheesing it up, as many artists tend to do as they rise. But critical acclaim doesn't always mean "cool", as part of the Chip's allure is their geeky love for ancient Moog synths, laptop-based looping software and old-school video game sounds. Playing Taylor's tender croon against Goddard's droll delivery marks Hot Chip's mastery of soulful electronica, and they can pretty much stand alone at the top of that genre. Full review can be found here. Key Tracks: Wrestlers, Shake A Fist, Ready For The Floor, One Pure Thought

14. Xiu Xiu - Women As Lovers (January 29th; Kill Rock Stars Records)

Oakland (via San Jose) gets some love here with the experimental/art-rock band Xiu Xiu's strange and lovely album Women As Lovers- it's one of those albums I was referring to in the intro paragraph; an album that made me embrace my un-comfortable side and let go of some baggage I've been carrying around with me for just about ever. I listened to this album a lot right after its release, it got me through some fucked-up shit I was going through. Then I realized- guess what? We all go through some fucked-up shit, and there's people out there making music with that same fucked-up baggage dragging them down. And we all can have a listen and decide what good it's doing for us, carrying that junk around. Or we can choose to let it go. This album represents a catharsis; it's a bit more accessible (lyrically it's less obtuse, more human) than their prior releases. Key Tracks: F.T.W., Under Pressure (ft. Michael Gira), I Do What I Want When I Want, You Are Pregnant You Are Dead

13. High Places - 03/07 - 09/07 (July 22nd; Thrill Jockey Records)

Mary Pearson's soothing voice and Rob Barber's pared-down production techniques garner High Places' earlier stuff (this is basically a compilation album of songs recorded between March of 2007 and Sept. '07, as the title suggests) pretty high marks from this avid listener; I favored this album in the first few hours of the day, usually biking to/taking the train to work. It's an awakening of sorts, the record has a definite sunrise-y feel to it as it gently prods me into the day, coming on gradually like a cup of tea rather than a jolt received from coffee. It's that nice; if you don't enjoy it upon your first listen try it again- the album gets better as it goes on, it's more-or-less "bottom loaded", or if you're a vinyl collector, side 2 is where it's really at. Key Tracks: Jump In (For Gilkey Elementary School), Shared Islands, Freaked Flight, Canary

12. Fucked Up - The Chemistry Of Common Life (October 7th; Matador Records)
Is Matador the biggest independent label in the world? They should be, but I think it's SubPop. Maybe it's Merge? Does it matter, Matador signed Fucked Up to a deal and put out this album- it's an experimental hardcore album. What does that mean, exactly? Well, it's hard, fast, loud and heavy. And it has synths, flutes, bongos and pianos on it. Confused? I was- until I heard their debut full-length Hidden World. So not only are they the best experimental hardcore band in the world, they're the only one. The Chemistry Of Common Life is a lesson in restrained violence- just when you think it's going for the coup de grace, they pull back and hit you with a Skynyd-esque classic rock solo or a synth breakdown. They're called Fucked Up for a reason, they fuck you right up. I hope this band gets insanely huge so radio stations and TV outlets take notice and have to say their name on air, that'd be awesome. Sebastien Grainger of now-defunct Death From Above 1979 and Vivian Girls provide guest vocal work on a few songs. Key Tracks: Son The Father, No Epiphany, Twice Born, Looking For God

11. The Dodos - Visiter (March 18th; Frenchkiss Records)

I got to this album late- when I found out they were from the Bay Area (San Francisco), I became more intrigued and gave it a listen. It's become the other "early-morning" album in my repetoire over the last two months, and I was kicking myself because it had been out about six months by then. Stubborn me. It's got everything a guitar playing geek like me loves about the instrument: alternate tunings, challenging picking patterns, it's like an acoustic nerd's wet dream. The accompanying instrumentation gives it a sparse, barely-there feel and the percussion seems sometimes as if it's being made with whatever's lying around the studio. Singer Meric Long's voice sounds vaguely like Zach Condon of Beirut, while Logan Kroeber's amazing polyrhythmic drumming gives this album such a dynamic feel- I swear after this many listens it still sounds different every time. Key Tracks: Park Song, Red And Purple, Walking, Eyelids

There's tonight's installment- hopefully I can get the Top 10 out to you this same time tomorrow, but I need a break from writing. You can probably guess what they are already. It'd be interesting to see if you could, but I won't hold my breath...

The 2008 Honorable Mentions...

2008-12-17T22:13:00.000-08:00

To the following bands: oooh, so close, you guys just missed it!

As I've been narrowing down my final Top 20 list of '08, any of these records really could've been the 20th, and I'll give some insight as to why they just barely missed the mark. I mean, last year I did a Top 50, and looking back, that's both pretentious as hell and just plain retarded. Is there really any difference between #29 and #30? Probably not. What about #51? And as I mentioned in a previous blog, where would those un-reviewed and un-listened to albums fall in the list? I can say that Les Savy Fav's Let's Stay Friends would've been in my Top 10, that album fucking rules. But I probably didn't listen to it until the end of January, so boo hoo to any 2007 list.

What I'm saying is, any list done by one person is going to be flawed to the point where I'd be outraging other music geeks in the process. Where was ______? What about ______? Look, I can't listen to everything, although I'm going to try.

And for the record, I'm not counting Bon Iver as an '08 release. I got that album in '07, he self-released it without a label, so it's an '07 release. Don't bitch at me because it's not here, go back through the archives and find it on the 2007 list. Remember, I will probably find out about most music before you do...

So anyway, here's the list (un-numbered, of course) of 2008's Honorable Mentions:

Immortal Technique - The 3rd World (June 24th; Viper Records)
Mainstream hip-hop is dead to me. I tried to like the Lil' Wayne album, but there were just too many filler songs on there wedged between three real stand-outs. But Immortal Technique threw down a killer album, all full of vitriol and steam (would you expect anything less from an avowed Socialist?). It's everything I used to love about hip-hop; angry and political rhymes spit with furious vengeance over original beats. It's just now you have to go deep underground, beneath the radar to find the "real" shit. Key Tracks: Mistakes and Reverse Pimpology

She & Him - Volume 1 (March 18th; Merge Records)
Zooey Deschanel, the crazy girlfriend from Weeds (and I guess now she's a millionaire thanks to Jim Carrey) and M Ward (no introduction necessary, and no period after the M) put together one of the best pure pop albums of '08- covering the likes of Smokey Robinson (You Really Got A Hold On Me), The Beatles (I Should Have Known Better) and the traditional "Swing Low Sweet Chariot". This is the one album on my list that your mom probably would like... Key Tracks: Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? and Sentimental Heart

Vivian Girls - Vivian Girls (October; In The Red Records)
Murky reverberations, under-produced, echoed vocals; it's a shoegazey brand of punk-rock from an all-female power trio. The bass lines are sublime as they are simplistic, sometimes all you need is a driving bottom end and you've made a good album.
Key Tracks: I Believe In Nothing, Tell The World, Where Do You Run To

Bloc Party - Intimacy (October 25th; Vice Records)
I've gone so back and forth on this band- Silent Alarm was an immediate success, the first time I listened to that album I had to listen to it again and again, I can swear I didn't listen to anything else for about a month. Their second album, A Weekend In The City, was a total "creeper" album- I dismissed it at first then later retracted my statement upon further listens. Intimacy, their third offering, is somewhere in between- it almost seems as if they went backwards and recaptured some magic from Silent Alarm, mixed it with equal parts A Weekend In The City and this was the resulting bastard child record. It begs repeated listens, it's so dense and layered I swear I keep hearing new stuff jumping out at me even now. Key Tracks: Flux, Mercury, Talons, Biko, and One Month Off

High Places - High Places (September 23rd; Thrill Jockey Records)
I can tell you now without reservation (spoiler alert!) that the "other" High Places album (3/07-9/07) is definitely on the Top 20 list. This self-titled album was really good also, but lacked the immediacy and urgency the prior release had; this was well-planned, well-constructed, and thought out- a "proper" album. And sometimes we don't want that, we want rushed, hurried, half-assed bedroom stuff. Key Tracks: The Tree With The Lights In It and From Stardust To Sentience

Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster... (April 1st; Arts & Crafts Records)
Billing themselves as "Britain's Second-most Punk Rock Band" (behind who I can't begin to imagine, so yes; I get the "joke"...) the leaders of the international twee-core movement came through with a stellar debut after releasing a six song EP in '07 (which was even better). Probably the funnest thing to come out of Wales since Tom Jones, with all their damn exclamation points and over-long song titles. I mean really long, like Sufjan Stevens long. Key Tracks: You! Me! Dancing! and Death To Los Campesinos! (those are actually pretty short...)

The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust (February 19th; Vice Records)
I offered a half-assed review of this record back in March, click here to read it. I could've just cut and pasted it in, but self-referential hot-linking is kind of rad.

The Hold Steady - Stay Positive (July 15th; Vagrant Records)
I am a fervent supporter of America's only "classic" rock band thirty years after they would've been undoubtedly the world's biggest arena act. Coming to 2008 with a more grown-up approach, bringing back all the characters from previous albums as they too have grown up. The skate-rats, the girl who OD'd at that concert, all the mythical faceless teens and twenty-somethings who were all over 2006's Boys And Girls In America. Key Tracks: Sequestered In Memphis, Constructive Summer and Lord, I'm Discouraged.

Ratatat - LP3 (July 8th; XL Recordings)
Another "creeper" album; I kind of panned it when I first heard it but it's come on strong as of late, probably because I read to instrumental music so it was the background noise to many lunch breaks spent turning pages over Denis Johnson, Kurt Vonnegut and Haruki Murakami's works. Video game soundtrack-influenced electro-trip-pop is the new trip-hop, a genre I've been lamenting the demise of since Portishead decided they didn't want to do that anymore. Key Tracks: Brulee and Mirando

The Sword - Gods Of The Earth (April 1st; Kemado Records)
Progressive Metal thunder from Austin, Texas' The Sword was the soundtrack to many a skate sesh this past year, an album that would've made the Top 20 if not for a late-comer that replaced it (stay tuned for tomorrow's blog where you'll find that out...). Again, here is the link to the review of Gods Of The Earth. Hot-links a' plenty, yo!

So that'll about do it for the "good" records of 2008, as if the twenty next albums can be considered "better" or dare I say "great"? It's all relative (to what I don't know, I really should do best-of lists in like March of the following year because I know I'm going to find some shit in the next three months that'll blow me away and I'll be kicking myself for now knowing about it three months ago...)

So check back tomorrow around this same time and I'll have albums 11 through 20 for you, as if you really care...