I always like to wait until after the new year to try and put together a 'best of' list of the top songs that I enjoyed in the past 365 days. Here's last year's top 20 21 that worked their way into my head, and stayed there. MP3: 21 Camera Obscura ...
The end of the year is upon us, and that can mean only one thing for a fledgling music review website: it's obligatory list posting time! Surely, with so many lists of fine-tuned nuance and suspiciously similar taste floating about the internet these days, we would be remiss to pass on an opportunity to hop on the band-ranking bandwagon. What's that I hear you say - ranking artists stinks of rockist elitism? Well, what can we say, we like making lists. It gives us something to talk about. Of course, with so much new music so readily available for easy, [...]
[review 2006: the best of the year] For a while there, at the beginning of the year, it looked like everyone had forgotten how to have fun. It seemed like every album I picked up would feel oddly restrained, composed—a bit sterile, to be blunt. This was a bad sign: every year, music critics take one of two stances when looking back on the Year In Music: either it's "this was the worst year for music ever," or "I know it looks like the worst year for music ever, but..." Things came to a head [...]
and now, i give you my best of '06. 10. bishop allen - every EP (especially april ) ok, so technically bishop allen didn?t release an LP this year, but using a sufjan-like technique, they have released an EP for every month. the april and july EPs were particular favorites of mine. every month i?ve found myself itching to hear the new material and i can honestly say i have yet to be disappointed. bishop allen - [...]
The Essex Green - " Don't Know Why (You Stay) " I'll say it - I don't really like Cannibal Sea . Maybe I didn't give the album a fair chance to grow on me, but I did give it two full listens earlier this year and was left feeling pretty "eh" about the record. That's why I think it's weird that I am so head-over-heels silly-in-love with "Don't Know Why (You Stay)." Usually when I'm crazy about a song I at least like part of [...]
This is the best I?ve heard in 2006, a good but not great year fer rock ?n? roll. Of course, I only have two ears so there?s only so much I can listen to. I?d love to hear others opine on the subject. Or even share a track or two. Look for Part 2 tomorrow. From The Longest Meow: [MP3] Bobby Bare Jr. ? ?The Heart Bionic? From The Life Pursuit: [MP3] Belle & Sebastian ? ?The Blues Are Still Blue? From Back to Higher Ground: [...]
Last night was ridiculous. I set an all-time record for procrastination while studying for my Music History final. It's the time of year when everyone posts year end lists , and I frantically try and catch up on all the "year's best" music that I had no idea even existed. Well, I'd say a good three or so hours passed by the time I got myself away from the computer and actually studied. But I finally did get some solid studying in, and know about 10 new bands as well. So, with no post [...]
Here's where I try to say something about the songs I really liked in 2006. I could talk about skill and technical virtuosity, artistic ambition, ideological good intentions, recording quality, even originality (that obsolete concept). But basically, the list below is made up of songs that meant something to me -- for lots of reasons, often personal ones. Most aren't there simply because they're beautiful or thrilling (though they often are), but because they seized a mood the first (or third or tenth) time I heard them, tied red ribbons around my fingers for the people and places and events [...]
Eğer "under appreciated artists" isimli bir bölümümüz olsaydı, The Essex Green post'u o bölümün kraliçesi olurdu. (Kraliçe, evet, bilerek dişi bir kelime kullandım. Bazı gruplar dişi. Bazıları erkek. Bazıları da kesinlikle gay. Bu konuda zaten anlaşıyoruzdur.) The Essex Green Brooklyn, NY'dan bir grup. Son hallerinde 2 erkek ve 1 kadından oluşuyorlar. Gitar keyboard flüt ağırlıklı bir müzikeri var. Bazen kadın bazen erkek vokalli şarkılarını hepsi birlikte yazıyorlarmış. Ayrıca Ladybug Transistor ile kardeş gruplar, ortak elemanları var bikaç tane. 2006 yılında [...]
In 1997 the then-youngish label of Kindercore Records, operating out of Athens, GA, put out a compilation called Christmas in Stereo. It featured some hip bands like The Olivia Tremor Control and The Mendoza Line , and some more obscure ones, just getting started, like... Summer Hymns and of Montreal . It was a top seller and apparently a lot of fun to compile, so two years later, as the label started to gather more fans and started to put together a rather brilliant lineup, they put out a sequel to [...]
Well, December is here. Time to drag the Christmas songs down from the attic. [MP3] Apples in Stereo – “Holiday Mood” [MP3] The Boys – “Run Rudolph Run” [MP3] Dance Hall Crashers – “I Did It for the Toys” [MP3] Dr. Elmo – “Grandma’s Killer Fruitcake” [MP3] Dressy Bessy – “All the Right Reasons” [MP3] The Essex Green – “Deck the Halls” [MP3] Fountains of Wayne – “I Want an Alien for [...]
More new music to share with you, but first some ranting about the increasing commercialization of music. I've gotten used to hearing the classic rock tunes I grew up with on television commercials. I tolerated the Vertigo/itunes tie-in, and was even amused by the Dylan/Victoria's Secret plug. As I type this it's Black Sabbath and the Nissan Titan. But this latest thing with John Mellencamp and
Not since hearing the Magnetic Fields used to peddle dogfood have I been caught this off guard by a commercial soundtrack. One of Nissan's new commercials features that familiar driving, plinking bass and piano line from the Essex Green song "Snakes in the Grass." MP3: The Essex Green - Snakes in ...
I bought a couch today! And I'm thinking of buying an electric piano tomorrow, I've played for ages but never actually owned one. It's second hand, but about one third the normal price. Yeah, I think I will. I have to say, though I heard almost nothing ever from them before, The Essex Green are pretty damn good live. I especially liked the way the drummer's wife watched the show over the internet. And we watched her! She smoked and had a [...]
It's official. The creme stand in Montpelier is closing for the season. Sunday is the last day. For me, that signals the end of the summer. Going down there after dinner with the kids is a fun trip during the summer. I know we can always go Ben & Jerry's in town but it isn't the same. The creme stand has that old time throwback feel to it and since it's so popular, you always run into somebody you know. That never happens at Ben & Jerry's for [...]
As you will no doubt be reminded dozens of times today, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans exactly one year ago. In memory of the event, today's MP3 is "New Orleans," from The Essex Green 's self-titled EP, and brought to you with the blessing of the band. When the EP was released in 1999, The Essex Green was a slightly larger group: joining Christopher Ziter, Jeffrey Baron, and Sasha Bell were Michael Barrett and Timothy Barnes. The lineup was almost interchangeable with the countrified sister band The Sixth Great Lake [...]
I'm way behind in posting my weekly Sirius radio playlists. The last one I posted was Week 8 . Here's the playlist from Week 11 (8/15/2006). On this show I played all music that came out on Merge Records , and all music that happens to be available in MP3 format... 1) Superchunk - Becoming a Speck 2) And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - Mistakes and Regrets 3) Pipe - Chula 4) Dinosaur Jr. - Forget the [...]
Well, we made it through the first week. It's about time for my first mix, don't you think? This mix is for my friends that are reading this. A lot of this stuff has been around for awhile, but most of it is new to you. Right click on the song titles to save. Click on the artist name for more information. Enjoy! Art Brut - Good Weekend Maritime - Tearing Up The Oxygen Peter, Bjorn [...]
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