Deer Tick on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. What?

Hey everyone,

So if you remember, a few months ago we had the pleasure of having Deer Tick at WRPI. They played three acoustic songs and I got to interview them afterward. Since then, they've been named one of the top bands of SXSW by Rolling Stone magazine and, as of this past week, have been featured on NBC Nightly News and interviewed by none other than Brian Williams.

Check out the interview here. John McCauley from Deer Tick talks about their recent rise in popularity and their upcoming album Born on Flag Day, while Brian Williams asks them when they'll know that they've hit it big. It's awkwardly hilarious and definitely worth viewing (it's about three and a half minutes long).

Brian Williams has a music blog too, apparently. Dude loves indie rock.

Gold Sounds: Introducing...Dead Man's Bones

When it comes to celebrities-turned-musicians, there aren't many worth your time or hard drive space (unless you like really terrible rap ala Shaq or unoriginal modern rock like Phantom Planet). Hoping to change this trend is Dead Man's Bones. Dead Man's Bones, a band formed by Ryan Gosling and friend Zach Shields, play eerie folk music with a penchant for the dramatic: think a creepier Defiance, Ohio or Arcade Fire. Gosling's voice is haunting and from the sound of the songs floating around the internet so far, he and Shields have some major songwriting chops.

Here's the video for "Name in Stone" performed live, backed by two Los Angeles area choirs (choirs always increase musical drama, right?):



Yes, that is Ryan Gosling on guitar and vocals. Yes, he is that good. Keep a lookout for Dead Man's Bones' debut album, which should be coming out within the next few months.

Listen to "In the Room Where You Sleep" on the band's myspace

Gold Sounds: Top Ten Albums of 2008

Tim of Gold Sounds here, presenting the top ten albums of the year. 2008 saw an influx of many new artists, a fact that is reflected by this list, more than half of which consists of debut albums from these new artists.

10) French Miami - s/t

The musical climate of the past few years has been absolutely littered with dance-oriented rock/electronic bands, most of which are mediocre at best. French Miami's debut album could be best described as dance rock, but they manage to separate themselves from their dance rock contemporaries by injecting some interesting qualities into their music - the constant time changes of "God Damn Best" and the technical, Minus the Bear-esque guitar work of "Science Fiction" are good examples of this. However, this is still a very listener-friendly album with shouting vocals and fun songs that will get stuck in your head for days ("Lil' Rabbits," "All on Fire"), and this combination of complexity and exuberance results in one of 2008's most pleasant surprises.

Listen: French Miami

9) Lykke Li - Youth Novels

Swedish songstress Lykke Li begins her debut album with the entrancing "Melodies & Desires," where she sings, "Love is the harmony/Desire is the key/Love is a symphony/Now play it with me." This statement sets the tone for the rest of the album, where Li explores the feelings and complications of love, from noting, "I'm a little bit in love with you/If only you're a little bit in love with me," to later teasing, "I'll let you think that I'm yours when I'm not." Maybe she's just being cruel, but more likely she's just trying to wrap her head around love, and who hasn't ever been confused by that feeling? Besides, who could hate that cooing voice (especially enticing in "This Trumpet in My Head") and those melodies, ranging from cute ("Let it Fall") to driving and aggressive ("Breaking it Up")? From lyrical content to musical arrangements, Youth Novels delivers and is yet another impressive new artist debut.

Listen: Lykke Li

8) Monroe Mustang - Monroe Mustang, the Imaginary Band, Regretfully Declines

If this were a 'Top Ten Relaxing Albums of 2008" list, this album would be king. Several years in the making, slowcore (e.g. Low, early Death Cab, The New Year) artist Monroe Mustang has released the perfect Sunday morning album, calm, lazy and contemplative. That's not to say the album can't be enjoyed during other times: Little moments like the piano outro/intro of "Found Out"/"R.O.W." and the sudden dynamic shift of "Consequence" keep the listener intrigued and provide more incentive to continue listening. As a result, the album is rewarding as well as relaxing.

Listen: Monroe Mustang

7) Tobacco - Fucked Up Friends

2008 was a banner year for the anticon. collective, with Tobacco's (member of Black Moth Super Rainbow) solo debut among one of their best releases. One of 2008's most ridiculous albums, Tobacco creates music that can best be described as the aural equivalent of getting drunk; it's a woozy and somewhat sloppy instrumental hybrid of electronica and hip-hop. As a result, listening to it might elicit drunken dancing behavior despite your sober state during the day, and any album that causes one to lose their inhibitions about dancing so quickly no matter their level of intoxication can't be bad. With the seriousness most artists display toward their work these days, it's refreshing to see an artist just having fun with their music and whose main goal is making people dance and grin uncontrollably.

Listen: Tobacco

6) Miniature Tigers -Tell it to the Volcano

The debut album from Miniature Tigers proudly displays the band's affinity for traditional pop/rock. Singing about the highs and lows of relationships with a sense of humor, the band mixes poppy melodies reminiscent of bands past (The Beach Boys) and present (Fourth of July, The Flaming Lips) with relatable lyrical content about college and twenty-something life ("I don't want to move too fast/I don't want to scare you off/I don't want to move too slow/Someone's gonna snatch you up", "Tell me how you feel about me/Do you like or like like me", and "Washing off last night's fake blood/From an even faker cut" are prime examples). Despite the obvious poppy influences and familiar lyrical content, the melodies remain original and the lyrics (especially in relation to their song title metaphors) are clever enough to warrant multiple listens.

Listen: Miniature Tigers

5) Jessica Lea Mayfield - With Blasphemy So Heartfelt

19 year old Jessica Lea Mayfield first gained national exposure when she provided vocals on the Black Keys' newest album, and her debut has that band's bluesy feel. Though the album lacks some of the Keys' finer musical moments (excepting the guitar in "I Can't Lie to You, Love") it more than makes up for it with Mayfield's incredible, haunting voice. Her singing lends every song, most of which deal with feelings of love, a certain mystical quality that 99% of female singers could only hope to duplicate. When you hear her sing, "Is this it baby, are you out of my life?" on "Is This Love?," you feel as though she's either singing directly to you or on behalf of one of your personal lost loves. Also, the endearing lyrical content, such as "If you want, you can call/I will stay awake for you" and referring to a man's shallow love interests as "girlies" would only turn up on an album from someone so young, another way of separating Mayfield from her contemporaries. A truly unique album from a truly unique singer.

Listen: Jessica Lea Mayfield

4) Los Campesinos! - Hold on Now, Youngster

Welsh septet Los Campesinos! released two albums in 2008, both of which were gloriously loud and unrestrained. However, it's their debut full-length, Hold On Now, Youngster, that proves to be superior. Full of poppy singalongs such as opener "Death to Los Campesinos!," one can't help but shake their feet to the rhythm of these twelve songs. It's these melodies along with the band's clever, relatable lyrics (especially to those privy to the current technological age, which most likely includes you if you're reading this) and unabashed enthusiasm so seemingly rare in music these days that keep listeners coming back for more.

Listen: Los Campesinos!

3) We Versus the Shark -Dirty Versions

Simply put, this album (We Versus the Shark's second) slays. From the opening sonic onslaught of "Hello Blood," where both guitars seem to be racing to an unknown finish line, to the ever-changing structure of "Practical Animals," each song possesses razor-sharp guitar parts and a punishing rhythm section. However, there's more charm to the album than the raw, powerful musicianship. The varying lyrical content (from war and the economy in "I am the President of the World" to a friend's foray into the wild world of werewolves in "Keep it Wolf") keeps things interesting on multiple fronts, and like the album title (make no mistake, these songs are gloriously dirty), some song titles manage to accurately depict its contents. For example, "Mountaineering" slowly builds to a very epic climax, making the listener feel as though they are participating in the titular hobby. This is the rock album of 2008.

Listen: We Versus the Shark

2) Why? - Alopecia

Despite the plentiful amazing releases of anticon. in 2008, none were as compelling as Why?'s third full-length, Alopecia. The album is lyrically puzzling, including the absurd refrain of opener "The Vowels pt. 2" ("Cheeri-a, cheeri-e, cheeri-i, cherri-o, cherri-u"? What?) and really all the lyrics in general (it's impossible not to laugh or balk at some of the lines in "Good Friday"). The album is musically puzzling as well, a goofy mix of hip-hop and indie rock with Yoni Wolf's slightly nasally vocals at the foreground. However, the strange lyrics and music work together exceptionally well, especially in "By Torpedo or Crohn's," where Yoni laments puking behind Whole Foods, and "Fatalist Palmistry," the closest thing the album has to an instantly accessible song (and also lyrically the album's best, with clever lines like "I know a psychic who reads her own palms and her findings are personal"). The most interesting thing about the album, however, is its many moods and feelings; from the utter depression of "Song of the Sad Assassin" and the frustration of "The Fall of Mr. Fifths" to the hopeful unrequited love of "Simeon's Dilemma," the album's fourteen songs all have a different, unique feel. This will be an album put on repeat for years to come.

Listen: Why?

1) Pattern Is Movement - All Together

Chalk this one up to consistency. All ten songs are not only good, but standouts; "Right Away" was chosen as the first single, but any other song would have served just as well. Each track consists of several repeated movements (staying true to the band's moniker), with the impressive musical talents of the band's two members creating a full, lush, orchestrated sound. Simple lyrical declarations such as, "How I just love the sound of your voice," accompany these complex arrangements; musically precise like Pinback but with a bizarre mixture of almost opera-style singing and pop that mostly sounds like it was created in a dark dungeon, the album isn't instantly welcoming. However, after a couple listens, an appreciation for these unique musical stylings, from the wistful, longing atmostphere of "Peach Trees" to the bounding, enthused feel of "Jenny Ono," develops. In addition to this, unlike the other albums of 2008 (which are all to some degree hit-or-miss), this album is consistently great and inventive, features often prominent when discussing great albums, All Together being part of that class.

Listen: Pattern Is Movement

Honorable mention:
Talkdemonic - Eyes at Half Mast
The Walkmen - You and Me
Alias - Resurgam
Pegasuses-XL - The Antiphon
Appomattox - AO
We Versus the Shark - Murmurmur (the pure rock of Dirty Versions in the form of cover songs. Download it for free from Quote Unquote Records.)

Some anticipated albums of 2009:
So Many Dynamos - The Loud Wars (recorded with Chris Walla way back in July 2007 and finally getting released on April 7th by Vagrant Records. This will be one of the year's best albums; look for them to get the same sort of exposure the Hold Steady got upon releasing their first album on Vagrant)

Bomb the Music Industry! - Scrambles (finished recording, no info on a release date but it probably won't be too long now. Looking forward to see how the full band setup introduced on Get Warmer is developed)

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (comes out next month. Always curious about whatever Animal Collective comes up with)

Charles Spearin - The Happiness Project (comes out in February. Do Make Say Think/Broken Social Scene member creates an album in hopes to answer the question: What is happiness? Listen to a song and learn more here)

Gold Sounds: Show alert (Dec. 4th)!

Hey, Capital District! Can't think of anything exciting to do tomorrow night? Well, why not head over to Valentine's in Albany and see Ra Ra Riot, So Many Dynamos (always excellent live), and Princeton at 8pm? These three up-and-coming bands are guaranteed to provide energetic live sets, and this lineup is one of the best that's passed through the Albany area in awhile. Here's a taste of what to expect:


Ra Ra Riot "Ghost Under Rocks" music video:



So Many Dynamos "The Novelty of Haunting" live:



Further listening: Ra Ra Riot, So Many Dynamos, Princeton

Hope to see you there!

Gold Sounds at CMJ: Part 3

Wednesday night, Hello Sir Records Showcase @ Bowery Poetry Club: The illustrious Hello Sir Records organized quite the show Wednesday night, featuring some Hello Sir mainstays and some up-and-coming artists. The best performances are once again preceded by an asterisk.

Child Bite: Probably the only mediocre band of the night, Child Bite has all the elements of what could be an interesting band: sloppy and dirty instrumentally and unpolished vocally. Dirtiness is a quality that works in some music (see: We Versus the Shark), but for Child Bite it did little to enhance their sound. Here's hoping they manage to cultivate a sound that works for them in the future.

*Pegasuses-XL: Being a very strange band, I had no idea what to expect from Pegasuses-XL. However, they put on a strong live performance full of unreserved enthusiasm. The set consisted of dual drumming at one point, beatboxing and rapping at another, and instrumental mayhem everywhere else. Most of the members swapped instruments a few times during the show, further displaying their obvious musical propensity. Recent full length The Antiphon highlight "The Big Haunt" made a strong showing, and the band also played some new songs from an upcoming new release.



We Versus the Shark: Gold Sounds favorite We Versus the Shark performed next, and played a few songs from Dirty Versions as well as their recent Radiohead cover and "I Am a Fantastic Battle" from the EP of Bees EP. The band's performance wasn't bad by any stretch, but after seeing them perform several times before, something seemed to be missing. Temporary guitarist Neil Callaghan possesses the chops of recently resigned guitarist Samantha Paulsen, but the chemistry the band had live in the past wasn't as strong this time around. Not that that's Neil's fault; that sort of chemistry is hard to come by, and is only established after a long time of playing as a unit. Hopefully WVTS will grow out of these growing pains and continue their streak of solid releases.



*The Bronzed Chorus: Two-man post-rock that sounds just as full as other like-minded bands with more members. Drummer Brennan O'Brien simultaneously drummed and played keyboard at times and guitarist Adam Joyce made his guitar swell and envelope the room. They created a warm atmosphere the crowd basked in and ingrained themselves into the minds of many an audience member, as seen by the influx of people at their merch table right after they played. The Bronzed Chorus is clearly a band to watch out for in the future.



*So Many Dynamos: For the second night in a row, So Many Dynamos put on the best performance of the night. Again playing a mix of songs old and new, the band played just as tight as the previous night and got the significantly larger crowd dancing. New songs such as "New Bones" and "The Novelty of Haunting" present a new, almost creepy dimension of the band, both with its eerie instrumentals and dark lyrics ("I think your demons need some exercise", "I'll cut the wires that run through your cranium," etc.) that is sure to get them out of the shadow cast upon them by The Dismemberment Plan. Their new album, the Chris Walla-produced The Loud Wars, comes out in February and will definitely be an album to watch out for next year. Even sooner than that, the band will be playing Valentine's in Albany on December 4th with Ra Ra Riot, a show that should not be missed.



I left the show before Ho-Ag went on because it was late. Lame, I know. More to come soon!

Gold Sounds at CMJ: Part 2

Wednesday afternoon, Terrorbird Party @ Cake Shop: The next afternoon, Cake Shop played host to many frequently covered, blogged about, up-and-coming artists (again, the best performances have an asterisk preceding them).

*Starfucker: Now here's an example of a band I had heard absolutely nothing from before I saw them live and loved after seeing them live. Their songs ranged from more traditional sounding rock songs to short keyboard/electronic freakouts, and this wide variety kept me guessing throughout their whole set. Along with the music, it looked like the band were having a lot of fun playing, especially their singer (though I wasn't close enough to take any good pictures). Good songs + enthusiastic performance = one of the best shows of the week.

Shugo Tokumaru: Japanese singer/songwriter Shugo Tokumaru recently released his new album, "Exit," here in the states. The album is a pleasant, slightly melancholic affair, something one might listen to while trying to relax or sleep. In short, his music is beautiful. However, most of the songs Shugo Tokumaru and his band played fell flat in this live setting. Perhaps with other like-minded musicians it would have been enjoyable, but the music was too quiet and reserved compared to that of the other artists playing that day and I mostly found myself patiently waiting for the next act to come on.


Faunts: This Canadian foursome only had time to play four songs, which ranged from standard mid-tempo chilled-out rock numbers to more drawn out, largely instrumental songs (sort of a mix of jam band stuff and post-rock). The music, while not very original, was pretty good and the band's live antics kept the crowd interested.

*Tobacco: Tobacco, member of Black Moth Super Rainbow, was up next and turned in a short set of his spazzy brand of electronica. He got most of the audience grooving, providing woozy beats accompanied by a very, very strange video. While it was revealed that the video also contained the majority of the performance's audio, this realization didn't take away anything from his performance; it just proved how great his music is and how enjoyable his live performance was. His new album, Fucked Up Friends, is out now.

Women: Up next was Women, a recent Jagjaguwar signing and a group that's pretty hard to categorize except as perhaps loud and dirty rock. Their songs sounded much different live than on record, but they were still very good. The band had a certain cocky swagger not often seen in such young artists, and indeed the group seemed very comfortable on the stage. Also, if you look hard enough, you can see Marnie Stern watching them in the back.



Takka Takka: Honestly, this just didn't click for me. I watched and listened to the band's set and can't remember a single aspect of it less than a week later. Maybe I missed something, or maybe they just weren't that good. Another product of the hype machine? Possibly.

Marnie Stern: Finally, the woman most of the crowd were waiting for stepped up to the microphone with her band. A lot has been made of Marnie Stern's impressive guitar skills, but the thing that struck me most about her live performance was how shrill and high-pitched her vocals were. She made innocent jokes in between songs in her normal, Alvin and the Chipmunks-esque voice, and then would go into a song and scream like a banshee. The sonic assault experienced as a result of the shredding guitar and vocals was very, very intense, and made for a good show. Just make sure to bring earplugs if you ever see her live.

Gold Sounds at CMJ: Part 1

So CMJ was this past week, and it was an absolute blast. While seeing 30 live performances, I made sure to write about and take pictures of the various artists I saw throughout the week. With hundreds of bands performing across tons of venues, there were sure to be some surprises and some duds, and indeed there were. With that said, here's the first part of my CMJ coverage, with the best performances preceded by an asterisk.

Tuesday night, The Annex and Don Pedro's: I started my night at The Annex, located in the Lower East Side (the majority of venues in NYC seem to be there). Out of all the venues I went to, I would have to say that this was, by far, the worst. The sound was totally out of whack for all two performances I saw and the audience space was very, very cramped.

Chairlift @ The Annex: Chairlift is a three-piece Brooklyn-based band who play indie pop/rock consisting of synth/guitar/drums. Yes, another one of those. Unfortunately, this band did not have any memorable songs at all; they were all similar in tempo and sound. Their stage presence was pretty static and between songs they only asked for the sound to be fixed. Basically, they took themselves way too seriously and that took all the fun out of their show.

Violens @ The Annex: Violens were one of the bands I really wanted to see at CMJ this year. They've yet to release a full-length, but the songs they have released so far sound great. They sound like The Doors, but with more pleasant vocal harmonies (see: "Violent Sensation Descends"). However, the band suffered a lot of problems during their set, included the aforementioned sound problems and a blown-out amp halfway through their set. As a result, their songs sounded much different than intended and I ended up not enjoying their set at all either. Unlike Chairlift, however, they took the sound woes more in stride and at least tried to make the best of it.

*So Many Dynamos @ Don Pedro's: This show was actually not a CMJ show, but I knew it was going on near where I was staying in Brooklyn and since I got to the Bowery Ballroom for Friendly Fires and Lykke Li way too late, I decided to stop by Don Pedro's on my way back home to check them out. I'm sure glad I did, because Don Pedro's was a much better venue than The Annex and So Many Dynamos put on one of the best shows of the week. Playing half old and half new songs, the dance-rock band were tight the whole way through and even incorporated some interesting transitions; the whole band yelling the lyrics to the outro of "In Every Direction" after the song ended and then going straight into "Progress" was my favorite moment of the show. More on So Many Dynamos to come in future CMJ coverage.

Songs to Hear: We Versus the Shark cover Radiohead

We Versus the Shark

VERSUS

Radiohead

If you've followed my posts on this blog, you probably know how much I like We Versus the Shark. One reason I like them is due to their current prolific nature; not only have they released the excellent full length Dirty Versions this year, but they've also been releasing a new cover song every month, which will eventually make up a full album called Murmurmur, for free on mp3-based donation label Quote Unquote Records. So far they've provided unique takes of songs by well-known artists past and present, such as Tom Waits, Deerhoof and Television, and this month they cover the grandaddy of them all, the one band that's almost forbidden to be covered: Radiohead. Not just settling with any old Radiohead song, We Versus the Shark takes on Kid A centerpiece "Idioteque".

Amazingly (or not so amazingly, considering how skilled We Versus the Shark are as musicians), the band's cover is immensely enjoyable, displaying few, if any, of the qualities that made Radiohead's song so great while still creating a song just as good, if not better than, the original version. This is the way covers should be, a total reworking of a song as opposed to a song that adheres strictly to the original band's template. We Versus the Shark changes Idioteque from a somber dance song to an even more depressing-sounding rock opus, with a slow-stomping chorus, verses that just get louder and louder, and a haunting outro. It's unquestionably one of the best covers I've heard, and you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not checking it out.

Listen to We Versus the Shark's cover of "Idioteque", as well as all their other covers, for free here.

A Friendly Reminder from Gold Sounds

Girl Talk - Feed the Animals

As of Thursday, mash-up specialist Girl Talk's newest album is available for download on his label's (Illegal Arts) website. Word has it that it picks up right where his previous album, the excellent Night Ripper, leaves off. I just started listening to the album like 30 seconds ago and already have encountered a 'holy shit, awesome' moment.

The download works much like how Radiohead's newest album worked. Choose to donate as much as you want and you obtain a download of the album (including nothing, if you're feeling stingy). The quality of the content depends on how much you donate; the benefits of donating more are listed in the download link.

If for some reason you aren't sure whether or not to download Feed the Animals for free, it's streaming in full on Girl Talk's myspace. Personal favorites so far include "Play Your Part (Pt. 1)," "Set it Off," and "Let Me See You."

You'll surely be hearing more and more about Girl Talk and this album in the next few months, including on this blog. Enjoy the album.

Gold Sounds presents Music to Get Excited About: We Versus the Shark

Hello, listeners of WRPI's fine indie programming! What follows is the first of hopefully more posts about new, exciting and original current music. The first volume of this series explains the appeal of one of contemporary music's most thrilling bands, We Versus the Shark.



So as a college student, I spend a lot of time on my computer listening to music. A copious amount of new music gets released every single week, so much in fact that it can become overwhelming to keep up with it all. Often times it becomes pretty easy to just play some old favorites (in my case, usually Pavement or Archers of Loaf) instead of sifting through the large amount of strikingly similar bands. Popular music among the indie crowd today includes a countless number of overhyped slow folk/70s revival dream pop artists such as Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver and Grand Archives (who started out promising but ended up kinda bland) and dance rock bands such as 90% of all up-and-coming artists in England (seriously, it's kind of ridiculous) trying to be the next Hot Chip or LCD Soundsystem. This can become frustrating to the average music listener, trying to differentiate seemingly hundreds of bands from the same genre. Why bother with music when it lacks originality, right?

Please do not fret, fellow music aficionados! I am here to tell you that not all hope is lost. There are still some bands creating unique styles of music, playing unique stuff that you've most likely never heard before. One band that exemplifies these qualities is Athens, GA four piece We Versus the Shark, and 2008 is shaping up to be their breakthrough year.

I first heard of this band through their 2005 debut album "Ruin Everything!," which is incredibly consistent throughout and is one of my personal favorite albums. It's hard to describe the music played on the album, but I'll do my best: chaotic yet controlled and tight. The musical chops of all four members are obvious throughout the release, from the technical and aggressive guitar work of Luke Fields and Samantha Paulsen to the tight rhythm section of bassist Jeff Tobias and drummer Scott Smith. Each song on the album goes through, at the least, several hooks which tend to vary in time signature. It's music to dance to (anyone who has seen me listen to it could attest to this) but mainly it's music to drop your jaw to. The precision and beauty in the madness is a wonder to behold, and the fact that all ten songs on the album are so engrossing makes it all the better. The band ended a two year silence in recorded material last year with the release of the EP of Bees EP (which listeners of my show may have heard from time to time), featuring four more songs in a similar vein to and just as excellent as the ten tracks that make up Ruin Everything!

Furthermore, the band kills it live. I had the pleasure of seeing We Versus the Shark in Boston and Albany last year, and was blown away both times. Both times, they failed to play any songs from Ruin Everything! and I was still left unable to competently describe the experience. From seeing them live, one can easily tell that this band just loves playing music and are thrilled to do so for an audience. All four members play off each other, which makes the band seem like a fluid, well-oiled machine. Basically, everything just seems so natural. Perhaps this is why Ruin Everything! and their soon-to-be-released full length, Dirty Versions, were both recorded live; a band this comfortable, this fluid and this good should just record an album by doing what they do best, that being playing music together as a unit and not separately.

Since I just mentioned their new album, let's talk about that now. I've been looking forward to We Versus the Shark's next full length since hearing Ruin Everything! a couple years ago, and the moment has finally arrived! Dirty Versions, the official follow up, will be released this April, and two new songs ("Hello Blood" and "I Am a Caffienated Corpse") are currently streaming on their myspace. There are several reasons for my excitement about the new album, one being that the music has a very sludgey, dirty (hence the name) feel that differs greatly from Ruin Everything! and another being that yes, these new songs sound so different from Ruin Everything! and are still amazing. One thing that always impresses me in a band is their ability to change their formula from album to album and still end up sounding great (which is why I love bands like Pavement and Modest Mouse). Clearly, We Versus the Shark possesses this quality, yet another reason why this is one exciting band to watch.

One new album not enough for you? We Versus the Shark has seen fit to release another album's worth of material throughout the course of 2008. The album, titled Murmurmur, will eventually consist of 12 songs, with one song released at the beginning of each month of the year. Bands covered so far have been very diverse, from January's choice of "Right Away" by Pattern Is Movement, February's choice of "Greatest Gift" by 80s noise rock band Scratch Acid, and March's choice of "Dirt in the Ground" by the one and only Tom Waits. Clearly, the band's influences run a pretty expansive gamut, which is indicative of their already established musical diversity. It will be exciting to see what else the band will come up with in the future, which is more than I can say for a good amount of bands playing music today. The songs from Murmurmur are free to download from donation-based Quote Unquote Records.

Next, here is a video of the song "Party Animal" (track 11 of the upcoming Dirty Versions) at CMJ 2007. This video showcases the previously mentioned qualities of their live show, as seen from the impromptu dancing at the 2:50 mark and the guitar/drums interplay starting at the 5:40 mark:



Finally, I'd be remiss not to mention other bands related to We Versus the Shark and their label, Hello Sir Records. So Many Dynamos, coming off of 2006's excellent album Flashlights (released by Hello Sir on vinyl), have finished recording their next full length, which should be released later this year. Judging by live performances of the new stuff, it will be just as good as, if not better than, Flashlights (anyone seeing the band at RPI's Ground Zero last fall can attest to this). I could write another story about these guys (maybe I will someday!). Another band to watch out for is Cinemechanica, fellow city and labelmates to We Versus the Shark. The follow-up to their guitar-heavy debut The Martial Arts should be out either later this year (the band states on their website that they were writing in January) or next year.

In conclusion, yes, music is still exciting.

Listen: We Versus the Shark "Slide" from Ruin Everything! mp3

A Celebration of Sorts (brought to you by Gold Sounds)

So apparently tomorrow is the 10 year anniversary of Neutral Milk Hotel's album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, which is undoubtedly one of the best records that's been released since, like, I was born. I know some of you who read this blog like the album. Also, apparently Stephen Colbert likes it, which is kind of amazing: http://www.lindsayism.com/2008/02/stephen-colbert.html

For the readers of this blog who haven't listened to this album, you should! I highly suggest listening to it as a whole, but since most people will not go out and buy albums from bands they've never listened to before, I've found an mp3 for you (see: next paragraph!). It's kind of strange at first listen, what with Jeff Mangum's singing style as well as slightly unconventional instrument choices (not so unconventional now with the advent of Beirut and other such bands, but yeah), but it's definitely an album you'll learn to love (a lot of songs are simple acoustic numbers, which is a pretty good jumping-off point for someone getting into the band). I had never listened to it until my first semester at college, and once I started I couldn't stop. Now, it personally reminds me of college growing pains, and I think most people who like the album are able to associate it with a certain time of their life (or maybe a person?).

Anyway, if you're curious, this is an mp3 of my favorite song from the album, Two-Headed Boy, which doesn't have the strange instrumentation that I just described (I am misleading!), but does feature Jeff's impassioned singing over acoustic guitar.

In addition to everything, Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned (an Albany-area folk rock band) are covering the whole album on February 22nd at Valentine's in Albany, presumably to celebrate the anniversary. I wish I could go, but I'm sort of in a different continent right now. You should go if you can though; Sgt. Dunbar is already a very good local band (I've played them on my show a few times), so hearing them cover Aeroplane should be a great experience!

Speaking of anniversaries, I'm pretty sure Downward Is Heavenward by Hum hit the 10 year mark last month. Another amazing album (also, alliteration-worthy), but for different reasons. It's definitely a lost 90s rock classic. Hum got huge with "Stars" from their prior album You'd Prefer an Astronaut, but none of their other singles seemed to make an impression on mainstream rock radio (even other singles from You'd Prefer an Astronaut, including one of my favorite Hum songs "I'd Like Your Hair Long"), including the ones from Downward Is Heavenward. After being released, the album sold very poorly for an album released on a major label (less than 100,000 albums sold). Soon after, they were dropped by their label and the band got into a scary accident on the road. Things like this take their toll, and the band had their final show on New Year's Eve 2000.

It's a shame that Downward Is Heavenward wasn't promoted better by its label, because it too is an amazing album. However, it's nothing like Aeroplane. They both have totally different strengths. I'll describe it in terms of high school: Neutral Milk Hotel is the artsy kid who sort of keeps to his or herself, writing in a notebook outside in the shade, while Hum is the geeky kid who stays after Chemistry class in order to titrate sodium hydroxide with various strong acids. Unlike Aeroplane's sensitive subject matter and (most of the time) frailty, Downward Is Heavenward possesses huge walls of sound, with more guitar feedback than you've ever thought possible. There are some similarities to early Smashing Pumpkins (e.g. "Cherub Rock") and Failure, but I find it hard to really compare Hum and this album to another band, because they do so many different things with guitars (compare "Ms. Lazarus" with "Green to Me" and you'll see what I mean) while sounding consistently great. The rhythm section hits hard and is also top notch, but it's all about the guitar on this album.

Also, upon performing a simple (as opposed to complicated?!) Google search I found a website that has mp3s of all ten songs on the album! Please listen to them if you have never listened to Hum before, they won't disappoint (some of these mp3s have small sound breaks, as a warning).

I'm sure if you're reading this blog, you probably know at least one of these bands, but I figured kudos were due for the both of them. If you don't know one (or both) of them, now's a good chance to get acquainted and hopefully begin what will be a lifelong friendship.

Gold Sounds: Top Ten Albums of 2007

The following is a list of what are, in my opinion, the top ten albums of the past year.

Disclaimer: While I definitely did my best to rank these on their individual merits, this is more of a personal list than anything else, so the amount I listened to and enjoyed these albums counted for a lot. Also, this is my first foray into the music reviewing world, so do not make too much fun of me.

FINALLY, here's my top ten of 2007:

10) St. Vincent - Marry Me

St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark), member of The Polyphonic Spree, released her solo debut this summer. This one snuck up on me and I ended up liking it way more than I anticipated. Songs like "Now, Now" and "The Apocalypse Song" have very unique instrumentation, and the whole album has a quirky sense of humor, exhibited in "Jesus Saves, I Spend." I especially like how she spends the whole album worrying and names the last song "What Me Worry?"

Stream: Myspace

9) Dirty Projectors - Rise Above

I wasn't going to include this album here at first, but it recently occured to me that "Rise Above" is one of the most beautiful songs of 2007. The album's conceptually innovative (a 'reimaging' of Damaged by Black Flag), and while Dirty Projectors have never been known for making streamlined pop songs, Dave Longstreth succeeds in making his strange music fairly accessible. The syrupy backing vocals certainly help as well, especially noticeable and pleasant in "Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie."

Stream: Myspace

8) Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Spoon, who already had a large audience, really came on strong in 2007. "The Underdog," arguably Spoon's catchiest song ever, was all over the radio during the summer, giving these guys some sweet publicity. Those going on to listen to the rest of the album found some more catchy melodies in "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" and "Don't You Evah" as well as the band at their most haunting ("The Ghost of You Lingers," "Eddie's Ragga"). Though the songs vary, each song is distinctly a Spoon song, which is definitely impressive. Not many bands can write such different sounding songs in one album and still create a great, cohesive album.

Stream: Myspace

7) Do Make Say Think - You, You're a History in Rust

Another strong release from these guys. The album features Do Make Say Think's loudest, most explosive song to date ("The Universe!") as well as some of their prettiest guitar work ("A Tender History in Rust"). Yes, a couple songs have vocals, but you know what? Those sound great too, serving as just another instrument rather than being the main focus of those songs. Though post-rock has become pretty saturated in the past few years, Do Make Say Think is one band who should never be overlooked, and they proved it yet again with this album.

Also, as far as post-rock goes, it's much better than the new Explosions in the Sky album.

Stream: Myspace

6) Los Campesinos! - Sticking Fingers into Sockets

Yeah, it's a 16 minute EP, but it's also probably the happiest, catchiest, danciest (I never knew 'danciest' was a word, awesome) 16 minutes of music released this year. They discuss the romantic implications of a mix tape (while clapping), tell you to avoid reading Jane Eyre, and cover Pavement. What's not to love? Look for a full-length from these guys and girls early next year.

Stream: Myspace

5) Okkervil River - The Stage Names

While I'm not too familiar with Okkervil River's back catalog (I just found out about them this past year), the first thing that struck me about this album was how much less of a downer it was compared to its predecessor, "Black Sheep Boy." That album also lulled at times, while this one does not. The first three tracks of the album introduce a less mellow Okkervil River to the masses, and it's no surprise that these songs are some of the best the band's ever made (especially "Unless It's Kicks," which begs the listener to shout along). The middle of the album displays the more mellow Okkervil River, but with songs like "A Girl in Port," this isn't a bad thing either. The album ends with "John Allyn Smith Sails," which reaches a fist-raising conclusion and implores us to "live and love." With songs like these, I will gladly comply (that was corny).

Stream: Myspace

4) Bomb the Music Industry! - Get Warmer

Bomb the Music Industry! has released four albums in a span of two years, each of which deserve your recognition (and if you're a fan of fast punk/ska with crazy time signatures and strong lyrics, there's no reason why you shouldn't download all their albums right now). Get Warmer is the first BTMI! release featuring a full band (the other three mainly feature Jeff Rosenstock providing all instrumentation), and while the album is a little less frantic as a result, Jeff's skill as a songwriter has also become more apparent. Songs like "493 Ruth" offer some of his strongest melodies ever (plus, this is ska, and most of these songs have some sweet horn parts). If anything, listen to "I Don't Love You Anymore," which is the best breakup song of the year.

Stream: Myspace
Download: Official website

3) LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver

LCD Soundsystem is another band that came on strong in 2007, and with good reason. Sound of Silver is a large improvement from their overly long, eponymous album. Sound of Silver keeps it simple: these are songs to dance to and savor, and every second of the album (perhaps with the exception of "New York I Love You," which, while not bad, seems misplaced with the other songs) accomplishes this goal. "Someone Great" and "All My Friends" encapsulate this the most, possessing some strong beats as well as some strong lyrics.

Stream: Myspace

2) Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew - Spirit If...

Arguments against the album include it being very dense and very trying, but I definitely disagree, and would go so far as to rank it ahead of anything else Broken Social Scene's ever done. This is definitely an album that needs to be listened to multiple times to achieve full enjoyment, but there are some songs that can be enjoyed immediately, such as "Lucky Ones," which is probably my favorite song of the year. The definition of epic, the song features driving verses and a soaring chorus, with guitar work from Spiral Stairs of Pavement fame. Though the rest of the album isn't quite like this, it's a good jumping off point for someone just starting to listen, and many other great songs can be found in the album upon further listening. I personally love feeling rewarded by listening to albums, and nowhere is this more true than here.

Stream: Myspace

1) Fourth of July - Fourth of July on the Plains

My most played album of 2007 and my favorite of 2007 as well. A simple, straightforward indie pop/rock album about a guy dealing with conflicting feelings in regards to his girlfriend being abroad in France. The album really succeeds thanks to its simplicity: the band writes twelve extremely catchy songs that are hard to ignore, and every song offers relatable lyrics. I was hooked at first listen and hope that you will be too.

Listen: Fourth of July "In Debt" mp3