new pacific uv video

Ghosts and Vodka - Precious Blood (2001)

Tonight i've gone back and listened to a band called Ghosts and Vodka for quite awhile. They only really released a full set of songs and an EP, ex-members of Cap'n Jazz and Joan of Arc, etc. I've had their stuff since it was recommended by a friend some years ago on our trip out to record our own album, but i mention it here because they rarely get talked about. If you are into mathy, angular, guitar driven rock (almost with a 90s flavor), i believe you'd enjoy Ghosts and Vodka. On first listen, the intricate lines will wash over you with an overwhelming feeling of complication. A lot of it goes unnoticed for the first few listens, simply because so many notes and rhythms go by so fast. I love listening to Ghosts and Vodka (now defunct) when i need to get my up-tempo, skate video worthy, righteous-chicago instrumental on. Fully recommended. For lovers of Pele, Don Caballero, and the Promise Ring.

Review sites will always suck

Everytime i come back to this page i think to myself, "what can i say about what i'm listening to that lends any importance to an album that is likely already being reviewed by a thousand other embarrassingly amateur weblogs and music critic's websites?"
Nothing.
So unless i find myself with a lot more time on my hands, i'm not going to give number ratings and pretend to know more about an album than the artists that make them. I don't consider myself qualified. I'll keep this informal, which will let me write more. I hate to be so wishy washy, but i think i tried to do something that i really just can't bring myself to do. I was fooling.

I visited The Silent Ballet today (once linked on this blog, now removed) and saw 3 things off the bat:
They gave Mogwai's new album a 6.5. They gave Talkdemonic's new disc a 2.5 (what?!- is that even professional?). They gave my friend Jason's disc a 6. And it's not that they aren't entitled to their opinions. They are. It's just that, all of their reviews are by different writers, all varying in skill level, all varying in editing taste, all with very DIFFERENT opinions. What thousands of people are receiving in the form of a number score is just one pimple-faced college radio dj or aspiring "music journalist"s passing opinion. There is no cohesiveness. If i was the editor of that magazine, i'd never let anyone give a score as low as a 2.5, especially to such a great, creative, talented band like Talkdemonic. There seems to be no filter. Just a bunch of kids sitting in basements enjoying all the free promo cds in return for writing a shitty piece of paragraph once a month. I hate that website now, and i hate postrockxchange, for the same reason. They devour, not devote time to, music. Though they do pick good music to review, their reviews of them suck.
It's as many new bands as you can learn, as obscure as you can get. Microwave fishsticks. Instant gratification. Why pay homage to a band like Mogwai- to whom you owe the whole reason your stupid website was started- when you can shuffle right on by to find the next "new" thrilling group. Somebody to impress your friends with by obscurity.

Spiritualized/David Foster Wallace

I am going to see Spiritualized tonight at Berbati's. A band that has influenced pretty much everybody i know that makes music, i'm hoping this will be a special night.

EDIT: while getting ready to leave for the show tonight i learned that David Foster Wallace has apparently committed suicide. though i'm not very familiar with his works, many of my friends going tonight are literary people, and a wave of shock is happening on the way to the show. wallace had been depressed and medicated for the last 20 years "and just couldn't take it anymore", his dad said.
many spiritualized songs revolve around medication, drugs, depression, and salvation from it.
tonight is going to be a lot more somber as we reflect on how real those things are.

Zidane

Tonight i went to see Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait.
I've been waiting a long time to see this movie as i've had the soundtrack for almost a year (scored by Mogwai). It never seemed to have gained US distribution.
I was able to see it as a part of the still ongoing T:BA Festival here in Portland.
It was very special, though cumbersome at times do to its intense focus on Zinedine Zidane's every movement, which, of course, weren't always completely compelling, as the 17 35mm cameras captured his waiting, walking, talking, sweating, looking around, spitting. Every detail.
The idea and aspect here is unique, beautiful, and was at times quite moving. Mogwai's score helped.
I went to the movie thinking it would be a study on movement, on Zidane's motions as a profoundly chiseled, trained, and talented athlete. I was surprised to find that most of the movie utilized sound- the sounds around him in the crowd, the warm, startling thump of the soccer ball being kicked, and also Zidane's own voice. His inner voice played a big part too, as it was juxtaposed via text from interview material ontop of Mogwai's minor key compositions. You felt as if you were hearing his thoughts on the field from deep within his consciousness.

All in all, a film i won't forget.

bedside table goals

This is the first personal post i'll have made in a great long while. I considered starting a new blog but maybe that's too easy, maybe i should finish something i've started anyway. But this post won't be about music at all. A lot has changed in my life since Jesse's review of Portishead's 3rd, my moving back to Portland being one of the biggest.
So, for myself mainly, here are some goals i wrote down at my bedside table for while in pdx this time:

1) meet people. go to ilan's, asher's, etc.
2) watch better movies (miranda july, wholphin)
3) read before bed
4) go running (3x a week minimum)
5) bike to work
6) work
7) eat less and better (no artificial foods, no food after 8pm)
8) be picky
9) write a new album (electronic, strings, drums)
10) put tv away, no more halo except on mike's
11) get patio built
12) seek out installations and film screenings

Portishead- Third (2008)

When I heard they were reuniting, I did everything I could to implement upon myself a ninja-style media blackout pertaining to all-things Portishead. I avoided every mere mention of the band, every piece of news, and every live cut orbiting the blogosphere for the last 6 months. In fact, in the two weeks following the release of Third, I must have made three trips to purchase this record, only to leave empty-handed every time. I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t risk the potential for a band so intrinsically linked to my musical upbringing (not to mention a band I absolutely adore) to somehow fail artistically upon their reunion. It turns out that my hesitation was unjustified.

While Beth Gibbons’ vocal oeuvre has been noted to stand as a bit one-dimensional at times, Third sees her exploring new melodic and lyrical territory, all the while maintaining her ability to dig her nails into the ventricles of your heart. The album opens with “Silence,” a jungle meets break-beat offering that quells any expectations for what one thought the Third should/would sound like. This track, along with “Plastic” and “Hunter,“ inhabits a more jigsaw-like territory than any songs contributing to the velvety-flow of their first two albums; its elements cobbled-together in a jaggedly abrupt, but never distracting manner.

To contrast against the rip and paste aesthetic of the previously mentioned tracks, most of the remainder of the record’s songs are unbending and repetitive (but not at all in a negative way). Songs like “Nylon Smile” become intoxicating and hypnotic, nesting themselves into the dusty and unused corner of your conscious; a part you weren’t quite sure was there but are happy to discover, much in the same manner as Syd Barrett’s solo work (though, by a very different approach). “We Carry On,” with its proto-industrial rhythm fits this mold (it’s like Stereolab with teeth), as does “Machine Gun,” which is more creepy and paranoid (and adventurous) than anything the band has ever released. The song’s conclusion melts away into the territory of a lost Vangelis track, and would feel at home among Blade Runner’s end-credits. It should be noted, however, that the song-title and staccato-snare framework of “Machine Gun” were used on Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys 28 years prior to the release of Third (Portishead should’ve done their homework and named it something different, I guess).

Third’s standout tracks are “Small,” a gothic chamber-opera bookended by a synth-driven darkwave meltdown, and “The Rip,” which is perhaps the best song the band has ever written (unique and fragile, the song inches towards its conclusion of a claustrophobic heartbeat’s pulse and the whir of a lover’s blood coursing just beyond the boundary of their breast). It is undeniably beautiful, expectedly melancholy, and wholly addictive, which leaves the question: if Portishead had this kind of material in them all along, why have they been hiding?

Rating: 8.5
by Jesse Robert W.

New Iceberg Writers

I'm happy to welcome a couple of new review writers on board our little floating glacier here. I figured getting some friends in on the reviews would be a lot more fun than dancing around on my own pedestal forever. This way the range of genres, bands, and tastes covered will expand and everyone benefits! So see above to check out Amy Mika's first review for Destroyer's Trouble In Dreams.
More updates by more fabulous mystery writers on the way.

Rating System!

I've decided to enter the world of the ultra elite by implementing a rating system for the records i'll be talking about on this site. I want to clarify that by no means am i a professional music critic. But as a person who's watched his own bands' albums get criticized, rated, sometimes praised, sometimes degraded, i've decided to have some fun of my own.
And you'll probably be getting reviews more from an artist's perspective (more sympathetic, but less objective, obviously), rather than those you'd read in your average "website that shall not be named" -style review blog.
You can check out the meanings behind the number scores to the left, and i'll be amending older posts with corresponding ratings, so you can get a feel for them already.
Really, ratings are completely arbitrary, but i think people secretly love them. One thing you won't get here ever is me bashing a band just because i have a personal vendetta against them. I think all art made in earnest is worth respect, and i've saved the 5.4 and belows just for fun, or maybe for a day when i'm just in a really bad mood.
Should be an interesting experiment. Who knows? Maybe someday this blog will even have a little good influence...

Reasons That Music Fans Listen

A couple of days ago, i found myself engaged in a conversation with someone i was sitting next to in a doctor's office. He was a music fan and we naturally fell onto the topic. We discussed Bob Dylan, local music, the lack of venue space or support for kentucky artists, and the conversation was all going pretty good- until i made a comment about how much i hate the Rolling Stones (which was partly tongue in cheek, though mostly true).
This opened up a bag of theories on why "old stand bys"- proven bands who have stood the test of time (like the Rolling Stones, maybe, or the Beach Boys, Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, U2, etc.) might or might not be a person's preferred listening over slews of newer, sometimes more "experimental" bands (unproven ones with maybe not enough albums to yet justify their often trend-fueled popularity).
This guy explained to me that as much as he wanted to, he couldn't listen to "new" bands like Modest Mouse or the Shins as much as his friends were, and his theory was this:
There are so many thousands of bands now and such easy access to music with the internet that you can fill a harddrive with 100s of GBs of stuff that will take you months and even years even listen to, let alone let sink in. But in 10 years, will you still care about half those bands? Since people's tastes tend to change, he was saying its a better bet to just enjoy the music you know is good, and not waste too much effort on a band that will just come and go.

I thought this was a pretty good point in a way, and also agreed that for a lot of people, being a music fan is a lot like being a collector- it becomes obsessive to the point that people download 20 albums a day, but the listening is only half as important as the "owning". A lot of the stuff probably doesn't get listened to ( or at least listened to WELL).

I thought for a minute and then tried to explain why i find myself constantly chasing after new music. My explanation was this: I listen to a lot of music, and most of it is new (especially lately). A lot of it is experimental or "out there" to a person who doesn't often go beyond Aerosmith or The Red Hot Chili Peppers. And a lot of it is crap.
There is a ton of new crap out there. There is also a ton of wonderful new stuff. The extra effort here is concentrated on having to constantly filter through the crap to get to the good stuff. But what i find, for me, is that all the extra work involved in "discovering" new music: that is filtering through the bad, discerning quality vs mediocrity for yourself, and swimming through an ever growing digital sea of totally "unproven" internet releases or challenging musical ideas- is that every few years i will find a gem, a real one- something that will completely change my view on what music is. Something that makes you say, "I never knew music could even BE like this". And it changes your musical perspective, as well as your LIFE from that point on. And this, to me is worth the trouble.

So, there's where i stand on listening to "modern" music. Of course, not everybody has the time or even finances (though i'd say the internet cancels this excuse nowadays) to wade through thousands of releases a year, and that's really understandable. I think you have to be a pretty big music geek to think like this.
On the other hand, there are artists out there who take years to create, refine, and execute their craft, hoping it will bring something new and wonderful to the world. Is it not too wrong to expect that a person takes five minutes to listen to a song outside of their usual, safe, circles and give some attention to those who might not have the funds or influence to get supermodels to dance on cars in their videos? Where would progression be without people trying out new things?
When Stravinsky debuted his "Rite of Spring", there were riots breaking out in the audience, who opposed it almost entirely. We now consider this work a timeless classic. It's easy to see how great it is in retrospect. My point is that if we aren't paying attention, we might be missing some great things going on in our own lifetime. Without being open minded, we might miss something that will ultimately enrich us (somehow the Pharisees and Jesus come to mind).

Like Nietzsche said, "Without music life would be a mistake."

Current (heavy) listening:

Band Ane: Anish Music (Danish Electronica)
Matmos: Supreme Balloon (Electronic, Baltimore)
Kashiwa Daisuke: Program Music I (Electronic/Neo-Classical, Japan)
Disinterested: Behind Us (Ambient/Post-Rock, Seattle)
Murcof: Cosmos (Minimal Electronic, Mexico)
Gavin Bryars/Philip Jeck/Alter Ego: The Sinking of the Titanic (Ambient/Classical/Experimental, UK)
M83: Saturdays = Youth (Electronic, France)

All are highly recommended!

Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago (2007)

It's not that i think Bon Iver needs another piece of press ontop of the already heaping piles of hype surrounding his album- it's that this is a music blog about what i'm currently listening to, and i'm currently finding For Emma, Forever Ago to be incredible. I like folk music, but it's not my favorite genre. Therefore, i guessed that the album would be good- but probably only astonishing for the truest indie folk lovers out there. I like Bonnie Prince Billy, but i've got to be in the mooooood, you know? After my first listen through last night, my expectations were beyond exceeded.
For Emma, Forever Ago was self released in 2007, having been recorded in an isolated cabin during winter by singer Justin Vernon. Pitchfork hyped it, it got a ton of buzz, and Jagjaguwar recently rereleased it, bringing it to the forefront of a much wider audience. It's been praised and praised and praised and I believe it's worthy of it.
First off, the songs are fantastic. Each one is well written, and sung with an incredibly definitive voice- one that is not just charming, either, but skillful and beautiful. These songs would hold up on stage with just a single vocal and acoustic guitar. But what really sealed things for me are all the nuances found on the album that give it its character. Echoing, otherwordly vocals doubled and tripled at times give it a ghostly feel. Little taps, slaps, and scratches of hands strumming, shoes tapping, or chairs scraping a wooden floor give it an close up, personal feel. And even moments of glitchy digital processing find their way sliced between passages of otherwise organic guitar progressions. A couple of pitch bent computerized vocal snippets even pop up in "The Wolves", defying the album's own stark rootsiness.
Ontop of all of that, there is a genuine soulfulness on the disc- the voice of a person having recently dealt with the breakup of his previous band, living in isolation, and searching his own humanness. The sadness is there, but overlaid with so much beauty it's hard not to smile for the joy in struggle.
Since listening to it for the first time last night, i've heard it through almost four more times. This doesn't happen often for me, and is an indication that For Emma might possibly make its way onto my top list of future classics.

Rating: 8.6

iLIKETRAiNS- Progress Reform (2006)

I've recently introduced myself to a band out of Leeds with the unabashedly pretentious title iLIKETRAiNS. And you need to get past the band name right now...Done? Okay, onwards then! I'm glad you are still with me, because the band is WORTH IT.
Let me explain how i feel, because i can't say i know a lot about these most morose fellas, other than that their music is exceptional.
iLIKETRAiNS' tunes are built around their singer and his stories, which recount the tragedies of historical figures- like Captian Scott's 1911 ill-fated expidition to the South Pole, or chess champ Bobby Fischer's descent into madness and reclusion, for just a couple examples. You'll quickly get the tone of it all after a listen through: stories retold are tragic and dark, but recounted with a role-play type feel, so as audience you will feel you are listening to first hand accounts. The music serves as a vehicle in a theatre of the fantastic, the macabre, the emotional. The lyrics are, for the most part, historically accurate, and serve as something to immerse yourself in, something much deeper than the run of the mill girl/angst/art/travel/girl stuff found in most indie rock.
This singer's exceptional backing is almost as good as he himself: post rock guitar tones, experimental song structures, and crescendos that won't let you down- including full choir sections done to the most hauntingly beautiful effect.
I say take one part Morrissey, one part Interpol, and mix in a little Tim Burton if he was a musician. There you have iLIKETRAiNS. But the whole reason i chose to write about this band is that you won't find another like them. I've held off listening to their newest release, Elegies to Lessons Learnt, until i could fully process their first release of length. Now that i have, i'll be purchasing the rest of their catalog faster than you can say "guillotine".
LISTEN to iLIKETRAiNS

Rating: 7.8

William Basinski: Disintegration Loops I (2002)

I've had a bit of a rough day. Life sometimes just seems so unrelenting, so merciless. I've been feeling stressed to find purpose in my day to day lately due to my laptop being in an unusable condition for writing new music. And i'm still getting over a poor review for my band from a source that i thought was sure to be enthusiastic about it. This has left me to face the more mundane components that make up my life: a job that is routine and unrewarding, few friends in a new city, and financial worries and woes. The stuff we all go through, the stuff noone likes. Tonight, though, i put on William Basinski's Disintegration Loops, and my disposition was immediately leveled.
I had heard about the Disintegration Loops for a few years, but never came across a copy, maybe due to its lack of record store accessibility. Thanks to Emusic, i now own volume 1 for the price of a mere 2 download credits (that's almost an hour and a half of music!), and have finally gotten to hear it for myself. Basinski is a composer, sound artist, and video artist and has dabbled in tape loops for years, following in the minimalist school of Brian Eno or Arvo Part. The recording was born when a digital transfer of loops failed and Basinski's tape loops eventually degraded or "disintegrated". What we have today is the result of that recording- a distant and sad, echoing loop that slowly evolves into its own death over time. According to Basinski, these looped recordings were played for friends on his rooftop in New York the day of September 11, while filming the also slow demise of the World Trade Centers as their smoke billowed into the sky. I can't imagine how sad and powerful that had to have been, the elegaic music becoming mourner as humanity was baffled by humanity. The actual music here is beautiful, and part of its charm in being distant, reverbed-out, and murky is that it got that way naturally, at least in part. It is a somber yet uplifting reminder of the frailty of our human existences as time goes on. After spending the last couple hours with this disc in such a meditative mood, i feel like the state of my life is just fine, and that i'm part of a much greater world in which we all struggle. But we struggle together, and that's what's beautiful.

Rating: 9.0

Best of 2007: My top 25

Alright, it's mid March and everybody's probably already seen enough Best Of 07 lists to solidify their opinions on the universal "bests". Truthfully, i've been working so long on digesting the albums i missed of last year that every time i've sat down to make up my list it seems i'm discovering another band and changing my mind again. For what i thought was a really slow year for music, there turned out to be a surprising amount of memorable albums. I tried to do it in 20, but just couldn't. Here are my top 25, in no particular order:


Battles - Mirrored
Autistici - Volume Objects
Burial - Untrue.
Kiln - Dusker
Morgan Packard - Airships Fill the Sky
Klimek - Dedications
Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline
Apparat - walls
Múm - Go, Go Smear the Poison Ivy
Do Make Say Think - You, You're a History In Rust
Helios - Ayres
Growing -Vision Swim
Northern - Drawn
Holler, Wild Rose! - Our Little Hymnal
Sawako - Madaromi
M.I.A. - Kala
the Octopus Project - Hello, Avalanche
Troubles - Sen'taur
Giuseppe Ielasi - August (possibly best album cover)
Grails - Buring Off Impurities
Kammerflimmer Kollektief - Jinx
World's End Girlfriend - Hurtbreak Wonderland
the Besnard Lakes - the Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse
Epic45 - May Your Heart Be the Map
Logh - North

top 20. of all time. for me.

a lot of people ask me what kind of music i listen to and i always just say "rock" because i guess most of it has drums and guitars and is in moderate tempo 4/4 time. it doesn't swing, and it's not exactly "classical" either. to me that's a general explanation. as i've been writing in this blog and more and more of it becomes just a venue to share my love of music and what music i love, i thought i'd give it a foundation here by representing the "music i listen to" with 20 of my all time favorite albums. (and since my "delete" key keeps falling off, this will mean there's no going back...)

there are other albums out there that probably warrant more importance for innovation or historical reasons, but this list is based on albums that a) have had a profound influence on me, b) are masterpieces in their entirety (not just a few great songs, but all great as well as cohesive as a whole, and c) ones that i keep going back to over the years simply for the love of them. i guess which means they have a lot of replay value. which is maybe the most important because i remember at least a few of these not striking me as totally great right off the bat. but they are. it just took time to know them.
i've never made a list of my top music because maybe i'm afraid it comes out seeming pretentious or obsessive (well obsessive might be true)- but what's the love of music for if you can't share it with others? and i'm sure that everyone else has a top 20 of their own worth checking out, and i'd love to. well, here's mine. it wasn't easy.

(in no particular order):


Do Make Say Think- Goodbye Enemy Airship the Landlord is Dead (2000)

I walked into a record store in Seattle and jokingly asked a clerk what the best record in the store was, cause i was driving to California that very day and needed some new music to listen to on the way. He handed me this record. I put it on later. And then i was mad at him. Because at first listen, it unimpressed me.
Do Make Say Think's sound, especially back then- was so deceptively minimal that it took many listens to begin to pick up on the subtleties that make up their genius. Two drummers, a horn section, jazz blended with raunchy and atmospheric guitar rock. And tricks with tapes and loops i still don't even understand completely. The result is beautiful. I have this record memorized. Note for note, tone for tone. And i drool when it comes on. One of the best recommendations from a record store guy ever. And one of the best records to let grow on you.


Mogwai- Rock Action (2001)

Probably my favorite record ever. And, ironically, another one that didn't have me from the get go at all. If you know me, you probably know that i think Mogwai is the best living band on the planet. But what they are known for is their face melting live shows- not the stuff that's on this record. What's wonderful about it to me, though, is the production here. This is the record Mogwai spent the most time on and it shows. As far as sonic textures, drums sounds, guitar tones and crispness of quality, i think this is the best record i've ever heard. I constantly go back to it for inspiration while i'm doing any of my own recording projects. Plus, it's just really ungodly beautiful. I'm glad somebody talked Mogwai into foregoing their seemingly punk rock DIY approach to recording for a year because this album captures my favorite band ever so beautifully.


Sigur ros- Ágætis Byrjun (2001)

If you are alive, you've probably heard of Sigur Ros by now. But back in 2000 when i first heard this record, not a lot of people had. Some of the most gorgeous music ever recorded by a "rock" band, that's for sure. This record, along with Mogwai's "Rock Action", were both part of a summer that very much changed my perspective on what music could be. A lot of arty bands make great noise, but very few bands have great artistic taste AND virtuosic musical skill. I suggest you check out Heima, which is the first full lenght movie coming out about this incredible band. I can't wait to see it.

Godspeed You Black Emperor!- F# A# (Infinity) (1998)

Godspeed is one of the most innovative bands ever and this is their creepiest, awesomest, and most album-like album. It's packed full of ideas and there isn't any "filler music", as some would argue GYBE! is guilty of on longer projects. I'll never forget the night i took this home, put on a pair of headphones, and laid out on my bed for an hour completely entranced in a world that's so chilling and beautiful.

Pedro the Lion- Control (2002)

Another album i love for its perfect tones. Perfect drum sounds, perfect guitar tones. It baffles me to know how a band figures this stuff out. David Bazan has had some great moments and some lame ones, but i still think this is one of the most underrated indie rock albums in the last few years. The whole thing tells a story from start to finish about a failing marriage and is tragic. Ridiculously despairing and, at times, also tongue in cheek. Bazan's melodies are simple but faultless and his lyrics are brilliant. It's the saddest album i love to sing along to.

Sunny Day Real Estate- How it Feels to be Something On (1998)

Best indie rock ever. Don't know how they ever got labeled "emo" (???). Creative songwriting, a one of a kind singer, and it just really rocks- in an eclectic sort of way. Sooooo many drives from Seattle down to California and back with this one. Have never tired of it, even after a decade. Up in my top 5.

Grails- the Red Light (2004)

One of the best examples of Post Rock actually progressing in its form. Grails, it's obvious, has their own reasons and their own rules for making instrumental music. I heard a a couple tracks on a mix tape from a friend and was enamored, only to find out that they were from Portland, which is where i was already living at the time. Grails are like that- mysteriously absent in presence in the U.S. but with a large european following, or ...something. I suspect that's already changing now that they were discovered and signed by Temporary Residence Ltd.. Anyway, they will always be my hometown heroes. Incredibly beautiful rock music by guys who never write the same song twice, which is refreshing for this genre. Their style blends hymn-like and old religious aesthetics with an organic drum kit driven rock.

M83- Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts (2003)

Take everything you learned from the 80s about what synthesizers are supposed to do, and what analog electronics are supposed to sound like, and throw it out the window.
Okay, now let's pretend we are all really robots with mechanical parts for bodies, but with hearts so full of love and meaning and beauty that all those feelings cannot help but come bursting out of our iron chests with the force of 1,000 Moog synthesizers all piled on the back of a jet propelled semi truck and careening straight up Mt. Everest. We are the most cultured robots the world has ever known, and we are tearing apart all our own clockwork bodies until nothing is left but the blinding radiance of our souls inside.
Mmmm. Or something like that. Listen to M83.

The Album Leaf- One Day I'll Be On Time (2001)

This album isn't perfect, but it makes it into my top 20 because of how many times i've listened to the songs on it that are great. "Vermillion" is one of my favorite electronic songs ever. I saw this band open for Sigur Ros back in 2001-ish, and liked them almost as much for their simplicity and their precision with which they presented such uniquely written "pieces". The Album Leaf is mainly the work of Jimmy LaValle, who is a classically trained rocker. I'm in the same boat and therefore often find myself comparing and aspiring under his accomplishments. I love The Album Leaf not for any mind blowing reason- because they aren't mindblowing- but because they are attainable and yet what Jimmy accomplishes is always great.

From Monument to Masses- The Impossible Leap in One Hundred Simple Steps (2003)

I realized what power this music had one morning when i just about burst into tears at work in my headphones because of the tragic beauty of the first track, which is full of samples from media reports or radio shows from the morning of September 11. The music is aggressive and fight-worthy, but in a way that is intelligent. Arrangements by this three piece are incredible. The rhythm section alone is one of the most creative and best out there, in my humble opinion. I had the pleasure of helping book some of these guys' shows a couple years ago, and was impressed by just how humble, honest, and nice they all are for such accomplished activists, artists, and musicians. Props to San Francisco. A hugely underrated band.



Aphex Twin- Drukqs (2001)

A gift for Christmas from a good friend of mine years ago and i've kept this double disc album as a prized possession since. If i need to explain that the man behind Aphex Twin is a genius, then you don't listen to electronic music. He has influenced more electronic artists than anyone, and is just as prolific to match. It was discovered he had something like over 1000 recorded songs made by himself in his bedroom before he even had a career. Aphex Twin will go down in history as being a great composer, regardless.
This album, though, is maybe his most psychotic and intense. It is painfully intricate. And at time just downright insane.
Funny that interspersed throughout are more "classical" style pieces performed on piano or dulcimer, and that the tastefulness of this somehow works, fitting right between some of his most raging and neurotic drum and bass pieces ever. On some days i prefer some of his older, more melodic albums, but this one takes the cake as a masterpiece, i think.



Jeremy Enigk- Return of the Frog Queen (1996)

After Sunny Day Real Estate broke up for one of the first of many times back in 1995, Jeremy Enigk released this album "solo". In the wake of rumors that it was his conversion to Christianity which led to SDRE's demise, one would think he'd do something to solidify his reputation by defending himself- or maybe preach his stance on his newfound religion. Return of the Frog Queen is nothing like what anybody expected. Its lyrics are completely enigmatic, the music gentle and whimsical, and the form completely previously unexplored by a band like Sunny Day. It's a folk gem, with eccentric songs about fantasy worlds accompanied by a full orchestra. In doing this, i think Enigk was doing what anybody with a genuine found faith in a good God should do: using his sphere of influence not to convert or to preach, but to attract lovers of amazing art. (Which comes from God in the first place, doesn't it?)


The Smiths- Best...1 (1982-1987)

The Smiths are one of my favorite bands ever. I don't really know how much needs to be said here. It's the only "best of" album that i'd ever include on a top 20 list, but i include it because it was my introduction to them (which came unfortunately late in my life) and i listened to this like i would any other album- from start to finish- memorizing every word and line. It's my absolute favorite to sing along to in the car. For artistic merit, i probably should have chosen a single studio album by Mr. Morrissey and Mr. Marr, but their output was all so unbelievably good that a best of could be for me the only answer. One of few bands that really deserve "best of" records. There are way too many that don't.

A Northern Chorus- Bitter Hands Resign (2005)

I just can't think of another dreampop band with better vocals, arrangements, and performance out of those around today. I'll admit, this was yet another that grew on me more over time than right away. But the more i've listened, the better their arrangements have sunk in and the more brilliantly plotted i realize they are. I had the priviledge of also booking a tour for these dudes (and dudette). It was a pleasure. They have had no American distribution for years until recently, and deserve a much wider audience. I love this album to death.

Gillian Welch- Time (The Revelator)(2001)

I was stuck in traffic on the fremont bridge in seattle. I was flipping through radio channels and heard something that piqued my interest so i stopped. By the end of the song my jaw had dropped and i had tears in my eyes. I waited through 3 more songs in hope that the dj would read back who the artists in his set were. He did. I thought for sure i had stumbled on some unknown, authentic backwoods country singer that had broken my heart for her purity (both of voice and in lyrics). It took me a couple more months to remember the name while in a record store- it was there i realized Gillian Welch was a best selling Grammy Award winner, not the unknown small town gem i thought she had been. That's what happens when you don't listen to music outside of a few usual genres very often. But i was lucky to be turned on to Gillian Welch by myself, not because of a Grammy. I was clueless as to who she was, and she had me convinced that her bluegrass was as real as it got. The best part is that she deserves all the attention she's gotten. The song i listened to that day was "everything is free", and is a very favorite of mine. The rest of the album is just about perfect too.



Brian Eno- Music For Airports (1978)

This is one of those historic albums that might belong on a more official "top 20 important albums" list, but it is included here also because it is one that i just adore listening to, pure and simple. I listen to a lot of ambient music, and it is amazing that this album, released in 1978, has just as much effect and beauty as any other record that has since spawned because of it. I owe a lot to Brian Eno, and so does pretty much every progressive band in the last 3 decades. The music is calming yet mesmerizing, memorable. And each piece achieves its "ambience" using different instrumentation, which i love.

Pacific UV- s/t (2003)

Some people know that i was in this band for awhile and have spent time writing and recording material for the newest full length LP which is due out this year, but i think what people may not realize is how big a fan of Pacific UV's first record i am, and that i believe it deserves attention regardless of my grateful affiliation with them. I can say this humbly because i had nothing to do with the making of the band's first record, which was recorded by an entirely different lineup aside from Clay Jordan, one of its two founders. I got ahold of this record from a friend who encouraged me to check it out. At the time i was so steeped in post rock and neo classical music forms that i had almost but left vocals, verses, and choruses behind. Pacific UV changed that for me. I cannot remember a time i heard a record that was vocals-oriented that married ambient, noise, and experimental sonic textures so well to it. This is the record that turned me on to Shoegaze music and allowed me to begin exploring backwards into the territory of the MBV family- something which i had begun way too late in my musical journey. I still listen to this record all the time and love it, singing along to it as if it were by any other of my favorite groups. Sometimes i even forget that i have been so lucky to have worked with such amazing artists.



Rachels- Systems/Layers (2003)

One of the few great bands that have come from Kentucky, but an incredible one at that. Rachel's has the right idea, and embodies just about everything i think classical music has been headed towards for some time. They may not write symphonies, but get as intelligent as any "rock-marketed" band you will ever hear, in their compositions, performance, and presentation of their music. And they blend found sounds, ambient atmospheres, and a movie-like quality into it all. Though i don't know a ton about Rachel's' personnel, it's plainly obvious that at least some or all of the band have studied music in an academic setting. And usually, people that do take their music elsewhere, writing sonatas on cheesified MIDI software programs, hoping to land a film score or settling to have their pieces performed by local high school orchestras. I adore Rachel's because they are not "above" indie rock, but instead bring a refinement to it that should be a shining example to the rest of us. The music is string and piano oriented, but is not afraid to employ a fat sounding drum kit over the top of what would otherwise be classical chamber music. And it is all so beautiful. I picked this album because it seems so cohesive, like a night of wandering in and out of strange and beautiful dreams.



Mogwai- Mogwai Young Team (1997)

What can i say? This is the one, the record that made my jaw drop and my heart explode one day- and ultimately changed my view of modern music altogether. This album goes from blissful, heartwarming beauty to thunderous stabs that could give a weaker heart some deadly palpitations.
It took seeing Mogwai live to solidify their position as the best band on the planet for me. And a lot of people don't know just how amazing they are just based on their recordings. This record is an example of what they can do, but not indicitave of what they are capable of. People also forget that Mogwai was doing the thing they do in the early 90s, much earlier than the thousands of attention grabbing "post rock" bands today, who have had access to much easier ways to record, and better technology to do it with. Do yourself a favor and listen to this record, then go see Mogwai live. It absolutely changed my life.

game fuel

halo 3 came out today. this picture pretty much sums up all my feelings here.

A Place To Bury Strangers

A Place to Bury Strangers - S/T
(2007, Killer Pimp)

a place to bury strangers is just rad. really freaking rad. upbeat, shoegaze, noiserock, darkwave. all elements written excellently. the singer of this band designs guitar pedals for a lot of other more famous bands. so he knows something about tones and noises. i picture him shrouded behind a curtain infront of a football field's worth of effects boxes with a malicious grin on his face. this record is really good, and very catchy. it has a nostalgia to it, with warm reverb and vocals that sound like they never made it out of 1989. i can't say it's incredibly original, especially with a track that starts out almost a note for note, tone for tone rip off of My Bloody Valentine's "Only Shallow". All its elements are borrowed, but borrowed from things so almost forgotten that it sounds very fresh to me, and reenergized by a definite seriousness here. i just want to know where in brooklyn this group finds a rehearsal space where they could possibly be this LOUD.

M83

M83- "Digital Shades, Vol. 1" (Mute, 2007)

a slow evening without anybody to hang out with except for my dog. so i gave her a bath, wrapped her in towels, squeezed her warm clean furry body in a bear hug, and listened to this. my first thoughts were that it didn't sound as qualified as other M83 releases, and couldn't possibly be an official studio album. i was right- it's really not- but in the end the difference was wonderful. m83 has been a favorite of mine for years, but i've sort of left them out of the player for awhile since their face melting 2005 release, "Before the Dawn Heals Us" (which is brilliant). i didn't anticipate them going anywhere BIGGER than they had achieved with Tony Gonzales' production on that record. it sounded immense and dramatic, amazing but also more guitar driven than ever before. m83's brilliance is in their invention of lush synthesized atmospheres- ones that sound like guitars but aren't. the title of this new record gives away its aim. it's a collection of more ambient pieces, assembled into a sort of compliation, the first of more, perhaps. in any case, it's warm, fuzzy, and totally eno (meaning Brian, not an "emo" with a typo). very simple, but inviting enough that i listened to it twice through tonight. it'll be on my regular rotation for my low key evenings for now.