Last fall I had the privilege of seeing Animal Collective at DC's 9:30 Club, a show that featured several live renditions off the group's forthcoming Merriweather Post Pavilion (due out on January 20th). I figure there will be a slew of posts on this album so I thought I would post a live track off from the DC show (thank you NPR's All Songs Considered).

For anyone who hasn't seen the album cover yet...you are probably very distracted right now.

Animal Collective: 'Brother Sport' (Live at the 9:30 Club in 2007)
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I really, really like the new Sea and Cake record. That was unexpected.

The Sea and Cake, "Window Sills"
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The sound of Sam Prekop's voice will likely always remind me of driving the roads of Chapel Hill and Chatham County, North Carolina about ten years ago. His voice is one of the constants that make a Sea and Cake record on of the world's most reliable comforts, even when they aren't at their peak form.

Because of that at least, I got the record last Tuesday when it was released. But it was out of the blue that it surpassed my expectations as another nice record and vaulted up into the "repeated listenings" level. A big part of it is that the band has finally found that perfect point that they were constantly searching for between the rigidity of rhthymic loops and the natural, excited feel of live drums. Highly recommended.

British hiphop can be the most enjoyable of oxymoron. Roots Manuva's Slime & Reason fits my stereotype.

_>
Magic Hat is an overrated beer.
I think my family tree got fucked over in the Bronze Age.
I can't wait for this election to be over.
Cupcakes are the modern day equivalent of eating the Fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eve. Join the boycott. These hip modern 'Cupcakeries' are a direct attack on Betty Crocker America...and thus an attack on freedom and decency.

Roots Manuva: 'A Man's Talk' (2008)
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Have a great one.

People smile and tell me I'm the lucky one, and we've just begun,
Think I'm gonna have a son.
He will be like she and me, as free as a dove, conceived in love,
Sun is gonna shine above.

Chorus:
And even though we ain't got money, I'm so in love with ya honey,
And everything will bring a chain of love.
And in the morning when I rise, you bring a tear of joy to my eyes,
And tell me everything is gonna be alright.

Seems as though a month ago I beta chi, never got high,
Oh, I was a sorry guy.
And now a smile, a face, a girl that shares my name,
Now I'm through with the game, this boy will never be the same.

(To chorus:)
Pisces, Virgo rising is a very good sign, strong and kind,
And the little boy is mine.
Now I see a family where there once was none, now we've just begun,
Yeah, we're gonna fly to the sun.

(To chorus:)

Love the girl who holds the world in a paper cup, drink it up,
Love her and she'll bring you luck.
And if you find she helps your mind, buddy, take her home,
Don't you live alone, try to earn what lovers own.

(To chorus:)

Watching the new It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia...I have seen whats going on five commercials for eHarmony.com. Apparently people who watch FX/television past 10 pm are lonely lovers.

Just got a hold of the debut self titled album by Canadian (by virtue of Alberta) band Women. Very low-fi, Pavement/Velvet Underground inspired indie rock. Their melodies have an Of Montreal vibe...very short tracks in the vein of Guided by Voices. I just finished my first spin through the disk, but a good friend recommended it so I will most likely be digging deeper...this post is a pretty blind one, here is a sample. Women...I don't know a single one who would like this album. That probably means I should head over to eHarmony.

Women: 'Black Rice' (2008)
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In less than a week, I'll be turning 37. That's a pretty good number of music-listening years under my belt, and more than enough time for tunes from my past to be revisited and reevaluated. Which is what this is all about.

These aren't the guilty pleasures of my past, but those bands that I turned to in the years when I first started looking for more challenging stuff. This is the stuff that gave me the catchiness that I've always looked for in music, but stretched it beyond what was obvious. Those years in high school were spent listening by myself (which I now regret. I should have looked for company) to stuff that initially struck me as weird and annoying, but I still stuck with out of want for something deeper.

First stop on the nostalgia trip: Love and Rockets' 1986 album Express, one of the albums from my high school years that I loved, but for some reason never replaced on CD. It's pretty safe to say that I haven't heard this album in over fifteen years.

I can't say I remember where I picked up my cassette copy of Express or what article or video or Week In Rock influenced the purchase, but I remember when I was listening to it: my family's annual summer vacation trip to from Texas to North Carolina in the minivan to visit my family, and then two weeks at the beach...with no TV. It was pretty much just me, my cassettes and my headphones.

"Kundalini Express"
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It's not too much of a surprise that this was the song that hooked me on the album. It has a conventional start, with traded vocals and a simple singsong chorus that combine into a tasty catchiness. It's a good priming for when the song's convention starts melting into an acid wash. The psychedelic turn of the song sounds logical and clear, in spite of both the disorienting guitar and blissed out lyrics that take the trip from the train to tabs ("You are disintegrating into everything around").

In retrospect: A little bit hamfisted, both in the childlike part one and the "alright, we get it" psychedelic turn, but it's still a pretty damn catchy song. It's been fun to listen to again.

"Yin And Yang (The Flowerpot Man)"
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It's a ridiculous title, but the song sounds as glorious today as it did to my vacationing ears in the summer of '87. The incessant snare and acoustic guitar gave it the kind of kick that my teenage ears needed to stay interested, and there was the incredible catch and thrill of the chorus to be the sugar that it took to take a meandering song and make it a favorite of a kid still learning to love the stuff outside of the wimpy pop and country of my classmates.

In retrospect: I think I may love this song even more now than I did then.

RJD2 has never gotten the entire credit he probably deserves...my theory for this? Some curse against every ounce of culture that originates in Columbus, Ohio? RJD2 may have been Oregon born, but he got his musical start in Columbus, and it wasn't until he left the midwest for NYC that he got big. Anyways, chip-on-my-shoulder aside, he has had a pretty diverse career...starting as a hip hop beatsmith, morphing into a DJ Shadow-esque solo man, then with last year's release of The Third Hand, taking a stab at original songs with personal vocals. Very interesting album, I can't wait to see where he takes it next.

RJD2: 'Sweet Piece' (2007)
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I am no expert on Bowie's massive discography, but when I first heard his 1977 release Low, I was blown away. It is a very early instance of electronic ambient music, thanks to Brian Eno who should be credited with the album's brilliance as much as Bowie. The first few tracks are classic glam rock, but you can hear a mood being created in the background that slowly seeps to the surface. Side B is like traveling through that scetchy tunnel in Willy Wonka and the Chocloate Factory...its clearly Eno's half.

My brother made a good comparison by calling Low Bowie's OK Computer...textbook style, several singles, but it carries a very holistic and serious mood. I know that is a reverse analogy (one was recorded exactly 20 years later) but it seems right. Either way I am interested in areseven's thoughts (maybe over a beer?).

David Bowie: 'Sound and Vision' (1977)
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I hope it doesn't shatter your image of me as a rock and roll heavyweight when I admit that I look forward to chill Sunday mornings, going through my music library to find the sound that's just right for the quiet, testing the ingredients: relaxed but energetic, something that has enough grit to wake you up but not so many volume spikes that you feel jolted into the quietest day of the week. Ultimately what you want is something that isn't just right as you read the paper, but makes you put the paper down, look out the window and wonder if there's anything better than just listening to some great music.

Menahan Street Band, "Home Again!" (2008)

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preview the record (out Oct 14th)

The Menahan Street Band is something of a Daptone supergroup, bringing in musicians from the Dap Kings (of "Sharon Jones and the" fame) and Antibalas, but in a way, it's distilling the standard Daptone Sound. It's still immediately recognizable as a song from the 60's that was created in the current year, but it just somehow seems almost even more pure, simplified and visceral. There's something to the sound that brings an immediate sense of satisfaction.

Oh, I can't put my finger on it. It's a lovely song and I can't wait for the record to come out. Make the Road By Walking will be released on October 14th.