Wednesday, December 16, 2009

WHITE SKY

you can listen to the song that has defined my life since i first heard it on vampire weekend's myspace.

i would like to also point out that today, december 17 2009, is my two year anniversary with this band. two years ago today i downloaded cape cod kwassa kwassa and that radiohead cover whilst sitting at my dad's computer doing work for my job. this is the best present i could imagine on our anniversary, thanks guys

SORRY

about my lack of updates. i have really been posting nothing and i apologize to the five people who read this blog. i'm going to make it up to you now, though.
on a whim the other day i decided to download the complete beirut discography. zach condon is a truly impressive songwriter. his work really has to be heard to be believed. and he's so young, which is stunning and really inspiring.



I MEAN, LISTEN TO THAT GOD DAMN VOICE.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

2009 IN LISTS

gonna keep some of my classic lists from LAST YEAR and spice it up a bit with some new ones too. but! NO REPEATS!

TOP 4 TIMES I SAW VAMPIRE WEEKEND IN 2009
1. all points west, 7.31
2. columbia university, 4.18
3. some random studio in midtown manhattan, 7.22
4. new york times building, 1.12

TOP 5 HOTTIES I SPENT THE MAJORITY OF CONCERTS STARING AT IN 2009
1. CHRIS BEAR, drums, grizzly bear
2. HAMILTON LEITHAUSER, singing, the walkmen
3. ALEX SCALLY, guitar, beach house
4. LUKE TEMPLE, singing / guitar, here we go magic
5. ROBIN PECKNOLD, singing / guitar, fleet foxes

TOP 3 "MAINSTREAM" SONGS I REALLY UNDENIABLY LOVED IN 2009
1. lady gaga's "bad romance"
2. lady gaga's "poker face"
3. lady gaga's "paparazzi"

TOP 3 SONGS IN WITH SOME VOCALS IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE
1. very best + ezra koenig "warm heart of africa" (not sure what language this is)
2. maluca "el tigeraso" (spanish)
3. fool's gold "surprise hotel" (hebrew)

TOP 5 HOT ACCENTS OF 2009
1. thomas mars, phoenix
2. everyone else in phoenix (when talking in interviews)
3. orlando weeks, the maccabees
4. sam eastgate, late of the pier
5. romy madley croft and oliver sim, the xx

TOP 5 BEST COVERS OF 2009
1. white hinterland "my love" (justin timberlake)
2. local natives "warning sign" (talking heads)
3. skeleton me "fireworks" (animal collective)
4. solange "stillness is the move" (dirty projectors)
5. britt daniel + white rabbits "instant karma" (john lennon)

BEST MUSTACHES OF 2009
the men of LOCAL NATIVES
namely singer and guitarist taylor rice (in nike shirt)

TOP 5 MOST AWESOME / RIDICULOUS LYRICS OF 2009
1. "when i saw you at the discotheque... send my vibe out to you" --- discovery, so insane
2. "i know the horizon is flat and motionless like the ekg of a dying woman" --- dirty projectors, temecula sunrise
3. "duel it duel it duel it jugulate duel it duel it" --- phoenix, lisztomania
4. "i just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls" --- animal collective, my girls
5. "in december drinking horchata i'd look psychotic in a balaclava" --- vampire weekend, horchata

TOP 5 SEXIEST JAMZ OF 2009
1. dirty projectors, stillness is the move
2. discovery, so insane
3. very best + MIA, rain dance
4. late of the pier, heartbeat
5. warpaint, krimson

BEST USE OF AN IPHONE IN 2009
THIS

TOP 5 RIDICULOUS / DUMB THINGS I DID FOR MUSIC IN 2009
1. stand outside a window in 40 degree weather to see white rabbits at a 21+ bar
2. wait for 2+ hours while katy perry cleaned her shit out of the studio at mtv unplugged so i could see vampire weekend tape mtv unplugged
3. stand in the mud/rain for 3+ hours to see fleet foxes, national, vampire weekend, yeah yeah yeahs, jay-z
4. arrive almost four hours early to williamsburg so i could get into grizzly bear
5. sleep on my friend's floor at smith college so that i could stay for the entirety of the walkmen's set at pearl street

TOP 5 THINGS I AM REALLY EXCITED FOR IN 2010
1. CONTRA
2. TRANSFERENCE
3. NEW YEASAYER! NEW ARCADE FIRE! NEW NATIONAL? NEW WALKMEN? NEW ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI?
4. seeing white rabbits inside a building
5. warpaint's full-length

TOP 5 BANDS THAT I EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM IN 2010
1. local natives
2. warpaint
3. sleigh bells
4. cloud nothings
5. two states

LOCAL NATIVES

arcade fire + vampire weekend = local natives, and they are going to be huge in 2010. just you watch.



these dudes have oft-anthemic killer jamz and a transfixing amazing insane live show. i don't want to live in a universe where that does not spell SUCCESS.

proof:

SUN HANDS --- LOCAL NATIVES

WATCH IT LIVE for more proof

Monday, December 7, 2009

CLOUD NOTHINGS

i am ashamed to admit that i looked up this band because of how cute they appeared in the brooklynvegan photo set that introduced me to their existence.

look at their bassist. you will understand


anyway, it turns out that they're really good. don't you love how that works out sometimes!

CAN'T STAY AWAKE --- CLOUD NOTHINGS

Saturday, December 5, 2009

FAVORITE CONCERTS OF 2009

i only did six last year, but i've seen sixty-seven bands so far this year (not counting the five bands i saw multiple times) and i felt like ten shows had to be represented. let's count backwards, shall we...

first, some props to beach house, hatcham social, here we go magic, andrew bird, and japandroids for putting on excellent shows this year that didn't make the cut.

10. WARPAINT 10.16 @ PEARL STREET NIGHTCLUB
having only heard elephants i expected good but not great and then there were three beautiful girls on this tiny stage who proceeded to make some of the most haunting, powerful, and gorgeous music i'd heard all year - well played, ladies.

9. DIRTY PROJECTORS 7.19 @ WILLIAMSBURG WATERFRONT
the sun set behind their heads: i see that my silhouette is golden, yeah; dancing, sunlight - dave and amber and angel and brian broke out some tracks from rise above and new attitude, "gimme i need some more don't ask what for."

8. RA RA RIOT 4.4 @ WEBSTER HALL
what i said then: "no one in this cavernous room stands still, and everything jitters electrically." this band deliver, constantly, without fail.

7. YEASAYER 8.13 @ A PIER ON THE LOWER WEST SIDE
ambling alp before we knew what it was, tightrope, sunrise, 2080 - all well and good, but what still sticks with me is wait for the wintertime, this intense sensual onslaught.

6, 5, 4.
FLEET FOXES,
THE NATIONAL,
VAMPIRE WEEKEND,
at ALL POINTS DAMP 2009
fleet foxes played, the gathering clouds eerily visible, an extraordinary and otherworldly cold breeze coming out of nowhere, and at the end of their set as if by magic it began to rain; the national came on and it started to pour and matt berninger sang with his eyes closed standing very still until mr. november when he came down with us and the crowd wrapped him up in open wet arms; vampire weekend came on and it was raining so hard they had to stop using half the cameras and toward the end of oxford comma one of the cameramen on stage snuck up behind ezra's back and the picture on the screen was that plaid shirt and that huge crowd and new york city behind us and this black black terrible beautiful sky. i knew vampire weekend could bring in the rain, and bring it they did - but the national and fleet foxes surprised me.

3. THE WALKMEN 9.20 @ PEARL STREET NIGHTCLUB
a foot off the floor on a low stage in a dark room hamilton leithauser screamed a song about someone named angela the way he yells everything, that fantastic and breathtaking and incredible yell, from somewhere i can't see in a skinny tall blonde guy, and the drums and the drums and the drums and the reverb on the guitar and the horns. the walkmen know what they are doing.

2. FOOL'S GOLD 11.21 @ PEARL STREET NIGHTCLUB
jamming out a song of seven minutes in length into possibly fifteen ecstatic sweaty minutes of dancing with three afro-pop guitars and saxophone and countless means of percussion and melismatic hebrew vocals - does this sound like the most amazing fifteen minutes of your life, or does this sound like the most amazing fifteen minutes of your life.

1. GRIZZLY BEAR 5.29 @ TOWN HALL
this is summed up by a text i sent to my father while i was walking down the stairs out to the street with nicole afterwards. "gb just blew my mind off my face"


still coming: favorite songs, what i'm looking forward to in 2010, and a LIST SUMMARY of 2009 :)

Thursday, December 3, 2009

FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2009

i just made my top five list for pitchfork's reader's poll and figured i'd do it RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW for you guys!

runners up:
passion pit, manners
phoenix, wolfgang amadeus phoenix
various, dark was the night
it's frightening, white rabbits

#5 FOOL'S GOLD, FOOL'S GOLD

NADINE

#4 DIRTY PROJECTORS, BITTE ORCA

REMADE HORIZON (LIVE FOR WXPN)

#3 LATE OF THE PIER, FANTASY BLACK CHANNEL

SPACE AND THE WOODS

#2 DISCOVERY, LP

SO INSANE

#1 GRIZZLY BEAR, VECKATIMEST

CHEERLEADER


this top 5 is not very diverse in terms of place --- three bands from brooklyn, one from LA, one from britain. i think it is very diverse in terms of sound (and even moreso when we consider the runners-up!) starting off with fool's gold, a very world-beat album, to dave longstreth's deconstructed talking headsy/pop opus, to synthed out british eighties revivalist new wave, to an electronic pop album by two guys who helm orchestral indie bands, to VECK, FUCKING VECK, far and away the greatest thing i heard this year, total pure gorgeous quasi-pastoral dizzy orchestrations. beautiful.
but seriously, all these albums are so different and so great and real standouts in their respective fields. each one is worth your time!
this was a great year and i'm looking forward to 2010 more than anything.
i'm going to do favorite songs, concerts, and things i'm looking forward to next year. i'm in the middle of writing little blurbs and stories about every song, i'm excited for you to read them!