Friday, November 28, 2008

Biggest Disappointments of 2008



I'll keep this short by saying I was looking forward to a few albums at the beginning of the year and I was let down. I will also mention that you just barely missed this list, Beck. I knew that doing an album with Danger Mouse wasn't going to be a great idea in the first place, so there you go.

Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life



This album wasn't terrible by any means, but it was disappointing because of just how great Hidden World was. I guess I can't expect every album to live up to those standards, but the concept for The Chemistry of Common Life was just as good, if not better than that for Hidden World. Fucked Up is one of the best live hardcore bands I've seen, and I've seen more than my fair share. The songs off of this album sounded good live, but something about the album just didn't seem right.

Man Man - Rabbit Habits



Another instance of, "How could you do better than the last one?" In this case, it was Man Man's second album, Six Demon Bag. This album felt like you were falling down on your face over and over, whereas listening to Six Demon Bag was like listening to the soundtrack for an imaginary Tom Waits pirate-themed cartoon, which was awesome.

Love is All - A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night



I don't know much about the What's Your Rupture? scene. I know that they put out Love is All records and they've put out a Fucked Up 12" and that's about it. From what I gather, all this retro 60s-cum-no wave stuff all sort of sounds the same nowadays and that's what was most disappointing about this Love is All album. I loved the high energy stuff from the last album and the slower stuff was mediocre. This whole album seems to be full of slower, more "vintage" sounding cuts.

Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping



Kevin Barnes keeps getting crazier and putting out worse music, but his Outback Steakhouse money keeps him costumed and happy, so I guess that's alright. I guess if I wrote and toured on The Gay Parade, I'd be a little nutty too.

Crystal Castles



I guess I'm just disappointed that a band like this exists.

PS. image via the wonderful toothpaste for dinner.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Best of 2008: Late Adds, Honorable Mentions and EPs



Generally, my year end list is usually pretty huge and I have to divide it up into categories. This year, I've decided to add a bunch of albums to my favorites list that don't fit under the conventional "Best of" tag. You can check out songs from each album/EP listed below here.


The first set is albums that I discovered and enjoyed this year, but came out in the last calendar year (so called "Late Adds"). As usual, I've attached the albums that I could find on the internet (generally via Google). These albums come in no particular order and are as follows:

Teenage Cool Kids - Queer Salutations
This is one of 2007's best kept secrets. Teenage Cool Kids are from Denton, TX and have found a way into my heart. This album is a perfect example of what guitar pop should be. None of the songs are too complex, they're familiar in content, but original in sound and the band plays tons of house parties, which is completely awesome.

Underground Railroad to Candyland - Bird Roughs
I feel like I've told this story a million times before, but it applies here. Growing up around punks in the South Bay made me never want to listen to the Misfits. All the young punks were assholes and I thought the Misfits were dumb. Once I grew up, I realized I could appreciate them too and it made me feel better because I felt like I understood them at a more mature level. Whatever. Anyways, F.Y.P was a band in exactly the same predicament. Stupid South Bay punks loved them, so I had to hate them. Little did I know that Todd C. was one of the best pop-punk songwriters out there. F.Y.P was first, then came Toys That Kill and now there's URTC, which is probably the most party of the three bands. Even in his old age, Todd C. can still bring it.

Bomb the Music Industry! - Get Warmer
First of all, Jeff Rosenstock releases all of his albums for free. That is awesome. Secondly, he's still doing third wave ska proud. Third, his songwriting is brilliant, hook filled and the production is great. Fourth, it's free. Dude did a weird 8-bit version of Tom Waits' "Anywhere I Lay My Head" and didn't crap all over it like ScarJo did. He took the show on the road on the Asian Man Tour and sang "Holland, 1945" with Sean from Andrew Jackson Jihad like every night on tour. He's got a weird, ragged sense of humor and melody and really stretches out on this album, venturing into a bunch of genres; one of the best songs is "Unlimited Breadsticks, Soup and Salad Days," a sort of ragtime, Dixieland, weird, perfect song. Really, I got the album when it came out last year, but it took a while to grow on me. If I were to redo my list, this would probably be in the top 10.

Andrew Jackson Jihad - People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People In the World
Honest, fun, wonderful dudes singing some of the most beautiful songs around. I can't believe I didn't have this album last year. I don't know why I didn't. This wouldn't have even made the list; it would have been on a separate list altogether it is so good. Yeah, you've heard a bunch of the songs on the original EPs, but the idea of AJJ putting this out on Asian Man alone is too good to be true. You have to admit that all of a sudden, Asian Man Records is one of the best labels out there.

Lemuria - Get Better
This is another reason why Asian Man is god among Punk labels. Lemuria is a band from middle of nowhere Buffalo, New York and they sound like the 90s in a great way. People say things like, "They sound like the Breeders if they had been punk" or "They sound like Discount," but I'll do you one better. If Jawbreaker had a girl singer, they would have been Lemuria. This album doesn't quite fit that description as well as The First Collection does, but think of this as their Dear You, where there's some great pop stuff and a lot of introspective moments you didn't see coming. And plus, they're just a weird band.

Rivers Cuomo - Alone I/II
These two albums sort of don't count as anything in my mind, but they've earned a spot on my Late Add/Honorable Mention list respectively just because of what they are. Cuomo decided he wanted to put out a bunch of his weirder moments on record and somehow arm wrestled Geffen Records into doing it, even though dude's into wearing hair nets and train conductor outfits now. (By the way, one of my favorite musical moments of 2008 was the "how's this for arts and crafts?" bit from "Troublemaker" Similarly good was Rivers' "normal" outfit from the video, dressing up as Tom Delonge for Halloween or something).


Honorable Mentions:

The Postmarks - By The Numbers
I feel like I owe the Postmarks a place of honor on my 2008 list just for their eponymous 2007 debut album, which became one of my favorite albums from last year. Their wonderful mix of chanson and samba is straight from the heart of MIAMI, FL. Since when was there a good band from Miami? Seriously. Can you name one? Gloria Estefan's band doesn't really count. Anyways, the Postmarks album from this year is actually a compilation of songs they did for eMusic. They did one cover a month for the year, with each song corresponding in number to the month it was released. They did a few predictable covers (Bowie's "Five Years" for May and Nancy Sinatra's "You Only Live Twice" for February) but there were a few wonderfully surprising picks as well (Ride's "OX4", "7-11" by the Ramones and "Nine Million Rainy Days" by The Jesus and Mary Chain). Basically, you can't go wrong if you're musically strong and doing songs that people already like.

The Ergs! - Hindsight is 20/20, My Friend
The Ergs! are breaking up and this was a perfect way to say goodbye. They're going to put out a few more 7"s before they go, which further proves that they were one of the most productive pop-punk bands out there. Mitch Clem wrote a funny joke about their 2007 album that goes something like this: the first guy says "Yeah, Upstairs/Downstairs (The Ergs! last full length) wasn't as good as The Ergs! best album." The second guy says something like, "Which one was that? Milo Goes to College?" Hindsight is 20/20, My Friend is actually a singles collection that contains something like 33 songs from the last seven years. They've only really put out the two albums, but they've also released something like 8 EPs and a bunch more 7"s. Good God, they will be missed.

The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
Here's another New Jersey punk band that broke into my list this year. I had heard about The Gaslight Anthem through my love of all things Bouncing Souls. I knew that these guys were a Souls favorite to open up home shows, so they had to be pretty good. Little did I know that they retooled the whole sound this year when they put out The '59 Sound. The first time I heard the title track, I was thinking, "Wait, isn't this supposed to be a pop-punk band?" but then I remembered that they were from Jersey, and Springsteen>Lifetime, so it was going to sound like The River. The best part is that the album got a super positive review on Pitchfork recently; the reason this is great is because some of The Gaslight Anthem's stuff has a harsher Tiger Army vibe than early 80s Springsteen. I really hope that the folks over there at the new Pfork home office in Williamsburg dig Tiger Army super hard.

Gentleman Jesse and his Men - s/t
This album opened my eyes to a whole underground of Atlanta pop bands that pal around with dudes like the Black Lips, but aren't in it for Vice Magazine's publicity or to be blogger darlings like Brad Cox. This band is way more into trying to rip Jonathan Richman's early style, along with other great garage pop from the early 70s, and they wear it well.

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Cardinology
This album didn't end up on the year end Top 20 because it wasn't that good, but by Ryan Adams standards, this is an amazing album. It's super concise and focused. None of the songs are really throwaways and dude hasn't written a song like "Go Easy" in a while. It's great and I welcome Adams back into the fold. I can't wait for his next seven albums. I just wish that he would record that Willie Nelson album without Willie or release another solo album.

TV on the Radio - Dear Science
COMMAGATE 2K8. Much ado about stupid punctuation and non-issues surrounded this album, when the music really mattered. I'm always impressed by what TVOTR puts out and this is no exception. I think to myself, this band keeps getting bigger and they keep getting worse, but somehow they still manage to impress me. I thought their late night appearances this last cycle were terrible, playing one of the worst songs of the year "Dancing Choose," but I still love it. As Jeff mentioned in his best of post, the production is super slick. Sitek really stepped up his game after doing the ScarJo album, also probably because TVOTR is big enough to have a larger production budget. Anyways, the real reason I love this album is the fact that it is a PERFECTLY coherent album. The individual songs taken out of the context of the album sound TERRIBLE, but when put together, they are a force to be reckoned with.

She & Him - Volume One
It's weird to think that this album actually exists. It's good, but man I burned out on it fast. Actually, it makes me want the next M. Ward album that much more, even though I'm setting myself up for disappointment.


Best EPs of 2008:

...and You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - Festival Thyme
Here's the moment all you Texans have been waiting for: Trail of Dead getting weird again! The last few albums were weird, but in a very calculated way. This is a return to form for Conrad Keeley and company, playing the insane "Isaac Brock is normal compared to us" card. Just look at the badly CGIed pirate cover for this EP. It's like some Final Fantasy VII stuff, which means it's awesome. As a Trail of Dead fan, you can trust me when I say that the music is not disappointing.

The Raveonettes - Beauty Dies/Sometimes They Drop By
What a weird band that I totally love. Seeing them live over the summer pretty much iced them as one of my favorite bands of all time. Yeah, they totally rip on the Jesus and Mary Chain and all those other bands, but they're so good at it. These two EPs came out within weeks of one another and are both pretty stellar. The song on the muxtape was used in a super indie Gap ad campaign that asked a bunch of bands to write songs based on colors. Dntel did a song called "Red" and the Raveonettes contribution waded in very familiar territory ("Black/White"). Might be one of their best songs.

Final Fantasy - Plays to Please/Spectrum, 14th Century
Also a weird dude that makes great music. His album was supposed to come out this year and blow everyone away, but instead, Pallett decided to deliver two ultra weird concept EPs that blew me away. The first is a tribute EP to a Toronto band called Deep Dark United. The songs are all super gay and sort of scary strange, but stunning as usual. It proves that once Stephen Merritt dies, his seat will still be super warm. The second EP is actually the better of the two and consists of weird "simulated" field recordings Pallett did with members of Beirut. All the animal noises were supposedly just all the people whistling and stuff, which makes it that much more awesome, but what really kills it is the song "Blue Imelda." The EP is about a magical land called Spectrum and the song is about some such nonsense, but it is one of the best songs this year, hands down. It's like the "Postcards from Italy" of 2008.

Andrew Jackson Jihad - Only God Can Judge Me
Like I've said before, Sean and Ben sing some of the most honest songs about life I've ever heard. There is not a mediocre song on this whole EP and you should buy everything you can from them the next time they roll through town because their stuff actually goes out of print FAST.

Ted Leo/Pharmacists - Rapid Response
Now, I thought two of the four songs on this EP were pretty bad and they were the two Leo originals. He did two awesome crust punk covers and put the songs on the internet in a matter of hours with album art and everything. Basically, this EP is just a testament to just how important Ted Leo is to punk rock. He could crap out a brick and release it and his music would still be a statement.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

MUXTAPE #24: up late working



MUXTAPE

So here we are again, in the office way too late, working away. Not able to sleep and not even wanting to yet. The night isn't over, but I need something to get me past what my day had been: soul crushing nothingness. Really? No. But come on. It's almost 2AM, what do you expect. I haven't really had a night's sleep in a few months. Thank god I had a nap today so I was coherent enough to write this entry.

This tape is for everyone up late for no apparent reason or the insomniac, working away. This is for all of you, even if it isn't the middle of the night. If you need something to get you going, here it is.

1. Ryan Adams - "Chin Up, Cheer Up (48 Hours)"
If 48 Hours had been released as an album, it would have easily been Ryan Adams' most successful solo album. It was optimistic, succinct and had this gem holding down the middle section. The album was recorded in two days (thus the name) and is one of the most stunning statements Adams ever made. Don't get discouraged! Ryan Adams is singing you a song about being happy! When does that ever happen?

2. Limbeck - "To Hell With Having Fun (Let Me Go Home)"
If you ever feel like you're being left out, you're not. You should do whatever you want to! Have fun doing your business, not what someone else tells you to do. I don't get as much sleep as I should, but let's get wild anyways! The Limbeck boys have always been one of the most important bands when it came to "live life, have fun, get wild" music and this song proves it.

3. The Format - "Inches and Falling (Dog Problems)"
This was such a perfect note to go out on. The Format knew they'd never make an album this perfect, even if Van Dyke Parks wrote all their songs from there on. This is one of the most perfect pop songs of the year 2007.

4. Old 97s - "Timebomb (Too Far to Care)"
Seeing Rhett Miller sing this song completely made my night this past weekend. I knew that I liked the song, but hearing just how rebellious and youthful it was up close made it that much more real. Jennifer can attest to the fact that I was impressed just by seeing how big my grin was while Rhett was playing this.

5. Camera Obscura - "Let's Get Out of This Country (Let's Get Out of This Country)"
Strange change of pace? Not quite. This muxtape is all about fun loving pop in any form that speaks to our sense of adventure, wonder and excitement. Just think about these lines when you listen to it: "We'll pick berries and recline/let's hit the road, dear friend of mine/wave goodbye to our thankless jobs/we'll drive for miles, maybe never turn off/we'll find a cathedral city/you can be handsome, I'll be pretty."

6. Wilco - "Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway (Summerteeth)"
Over the past few years, I've come to the conclusion that Summerteeth was Wilco's real masterpiece. No, it wasn't as experimental as YHF or any later output, but it was headed in that direction with a perfect sunny pop disposition. The keyboard sounds on the album were perfection and songs like this prove just how much of a genius Tweedy is. Yeah, he can write poetry to music, but damn if he didn't just write a great pop song too.

7. Jason Anderson - "We Will Bend, We Will Break, Etc. (On The Street)"
This song is probably my favorite Jason Anderson song right now, if only for the lines "Every different town I'm in/I wanna get an apartment/start six bands/fly awesome kites/ride awesome bikes/I just feel so at home." The song is really about wanting to be everywhere at once; loving the road, but missing everything important at home. Sometimes, we make choices, but every single time, we get better and we will grow.

8. Oasis - "Rock 'n' Roll Star (Definitely Maybe)"
This could possibly be the most perfect song of all time. This was the world's introduction to Oasis, in that it was the first song on their first album. How perfect a statement is that? Proclaiming their genius right off the bat, taking hold of everything that's theirs without asking. Sometimes, we need that feeling too, so here it is. Once you air guitar the solo, you'll feel like a fucking champ too.

9. Third Eye Blind - "Graduate (s/t)"
Yeah, you can!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Jeff's End of 2008 List




Today, we have a very special guest list from the one and only Big Jeff Enzor of Big Death and The Rolltop Loys. I'm excited to post all of these, so keep 'em coming!


1. Department Of Eagles - In Ear Park
I feel connected to Mr. Rossen in a strange way. It's like we share the same musical makeup and he understands how to make every note beautiful to my ears. This album is nearly flawless.

2. Bonnie "Prince" Blilly - Lay Down In The Light
Call me naive, but I feel like this in Oldham's musical masterpiece. It may not be as artistic or emotional as his other great works, but I feel like this album just has everything a great record should; highs, lows, depth, pizazz, and pristine production.

3. She & Him - Volume 1
I don't know why I had such high hopes for this album. I guess I just thought it would make for an interesting story if it actually turned out to be good, and it most certainly has. The best part about this is how it seems like the two of them were making the album completely for thier own enjoyment.

4. Titus Andronicus - The Airing Of Grievances
This is everthing rock music should be. Loud, energetic, catchy and with just enough anger to give it some weight without becoming bloated. This band is one like an idea that seems so simple and perfect, and you wish you had thought of it first.

5. TV On The Radio - Dear Science
When I first heard "Dancing Choose" I figured it was about time to stop caring about this band. Then I was bored one day and decided to give the album a shot and was blown away too many times by their craft to ignore it. This is one of those rare instinces where the slicker the band's production got, the better.

6. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Good pop, plain and simple.

7. Thao and the Get Down Stay Down - We Brave Bee Stings And All
It's basically the other batch of songs written for Cat Power's "You Are Free" and this isn't a bad thing. Indie pop by a girl that just barely slides under the cuteness threshold.

8. Stephen Malkmus & Jicks - Real Emotional Trash
Malkmus finally found a good mix of jamming and songwriting, and Janet Wiess is a perfect addition to the Jicks.

9. Foot Foot - Trumpet
They really should be a lot bigger than they are. Wonderful songwrting that isn't dressed up in bells and whistles and gimmicks just won't cut it, I guess.

10. Jason Andeson - The Hopeful And The Unafraid
Even though it is flawed the album has enough boombast and sincerity to make you love life for its 40 minutes.

Honerable Mentions:
The Mae Shi - Hlllyh
Grouper - Draggin A Dead Dear Up A Hill
Parenthetical Girls - Entanglements
Shugo Tokumaru - Exit
Algernon Cadawaller - Some Kind Of Cadawaller
Lil Mama - Voice Of The Young People
Pattern Is Movement - All Together

Dissapointments:
Of Montreal - Skeletal Lampings
High Places - High Places
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea

Thursday, November 20, 2008

MUXTAPE #19: fuck the fest, here's the rest



MUXTAPE

Since this is the year of pop-punk, I decided to make myself a "The Fest!" themed tape (tape #16, to be posted about later). I loved it so much that it almost made me jealous of the kids who live in Gainesville and get to go to The Fest! every year, but then I remembered that they live in Gainesville. In response to this, I created another tape with a theme in mind: kids that get to go to The Fest! suck. Basically, it was supposed to be a compilation of bands I would want to play my version of The Fest! Here we go! By the way, this is going to seem like a lazy muxtape post, but there are just so many great videos for these bands these days.

1. The Ergs! - "Books About Miles Davis (Hindsight is 20/20, My Friends)"
Too bad they're breaking up. How could you not like this?

2. Good Luck - "How To Live Here (Into Lake Griffy)"
Another case of "how could you not like this (courtesy of ifyoumakeit.com again).

3. Algernon Cadwallader - "Some Kind of Cadwallader (Some Kind of Cadwallader)"
One of my favorite new bands this year. They sound like Chicago in 1997 in the best way. This just looks like fun. There actually was a video for this song on ifyoumakeit, but I just thought that the quality of this video was far superior.

4. Lemuria - "Dog (Get Better)"
Yet another wonderful ifyoumakeit video here.

5. Vivian Girls - "Wild Eyes (s/t)"
Something about this video creeps me out a lot, but they are one of the best new bands.

6. Teenage Cool Kids - "Queer Salutations (Queer Salutations)"
Something about this band just makes me want to be friends with them. They're from Denton, TX. I feel like there's another band from Denton that I really like, but I can't remember who it was. Anyways, here's a very professional looking video.

7. Underground Railroad to Candyland - "Over and O'er (Bird Roughs)"
Torres said it best. Todd C. is basically what will happen to Mike Saks in 20 or 25 years. This album was a 2007 album and it is the reason I am going to have a separate list for 2007 albums I discovered in 2008. URTC is one of the most fun bands out there. Come see them tomorrow at the Smell!

8. Off With Their Heads - "I Am You (From the Bottom)"
Punk rock Dicky Barrett?

9. Fucked Up - "Vivian Girls (Hidden World)"
They got banned from playing MTV once, but they kept coming back. Pretty great.

I AM A POSTING MACHINE

Just a little something amusing that I found on the youtube.



weeeeeeird.

The density of life



I've been thinking a lot about Mitch Clem lately. It's strange how much a webcomic can influence your life.

I have been a Blake Schwarzenbach fan for five or six years now, finding out about Jawbreaker and Jets to Brazil simultaneously. Ever since then, he's become this mythological figure, a Jeff Mangum type who doesn't really make music anymore, when everyone around him knows that he really wants to, but might never eclipse the glory that he once had. There will never be another In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, but Mangum will continue to tour with the traveling Elephant Six gypsies, only showing up at certain dates in cities like Milwaukee and the fourth tier stop in Texas. I used to put Kevin Shields on this list, but God knows that he wants to be big again (or for the first time, really).

Schwarzenbach had the chance to be big, getting signed to Geffen in the mid 90s by Rob Cavallo, who was the young producer/A&R guy that discovered the pop potential of the East Bay 924 Gilman scene, specifically Green Day. Jawbreaker was to be the seriously literary college kid foil to Green Day's stoner high school rebellion. Blake wrote about some seriously fucked up moments at the age of 24. In 1995, Jawbreaker released Dear You on Geffen Records (ed: What a year for Geffen... not getting Songs From the Black Hole and Dear You?!) and it flopped massively, despite being one of the era's best punk albums (it was like this and Hello Bastards). After this, Blake started the even more unfriendly Jets to Brazil and wrote simple songs about the harsh reality of being alone and unsuccessful. Of course, being a Morrissey fan, this had some appeal for me, but for most Jawbreaker fans, this did not really resonate and many had written Schwarzenbach off as washed up.

Fast forward to late October 2008. The news from the Jawbreaker camp has been minimal up to this point, but a bulletin from the Jawbreaker myspace account pops up, announcing progress on the forthcoming Jawbreaker documentary. Adam Pfahler, drummer for Jawbreaker, sends out the occasional news and wrote previously that Jawbreaker got back together one night to play some music, just for fun. Many fans got excited, thinking they'd get to see Jawbreaker play some sort of show, but the rest of us knew Blake better than that. Those of us who really listen to his albums know that he wouldn't put himself in that position again. The October 2008 bulletin contains a short message from the man himself with a short note about a new band that he's playing in. The next thing you know, there are pictures on Brooklyn based punk blogs of Blake playing house shows in a new band with Aaron Cometbus from Crimpshrine, opening up for The Underground Railroad to Candyland. The world stops turning. Everyone seems to be asking the same question... "Is it as good as it seems?" and the next thing you know, videos start popping up on the Youtube, and of course, we come to find out that we have something else to be excited about.

I hope that I will get the chance to see Blake's new band, not only because I've never seen him live, but simply because I must.



re: Songs From the Black Hole



While writing a paper late last night, I completed a satisfactory version of Songs From the Black Hole. As I previously posted, there are a few pieces missing, but most of them are inconsequential set dressing/narrative type pieces that would have only been the proverbial "cherry on top" of this already amazing album. The tracklist has changed since last night, but not significantly. Anyways, here it is (explanation to follow):

1. Blast Off! (Alone I)
2. Who You Callin' Bitch? (Alone I)
3. You Won't Get With Me Tonight (Gimme Skelter)
4. Oh Jonas (Alone II)
5. Please Remember (Alone II)
6. Come To My Pod (Alone II)
7. Why Bother? (Pinkerton)
8. Oh No, This is Not For Me (leaked demo)
9. Tired of Sex (Pinkerton)
10. Superfriend (Alone I)
11. The Love I'm Searching For (Excellent Stocking Stuffer)
12. Dude, We're Finally Landing (Alone I)
13. Getchoo (Pinkerton)
14. I Just Threw Out The Love Of My Dreams (The Good Life EP)
15. No Other One (Pinkerton)
16. Waiting on You (The Good Life EP)
17. Devotion (El Scorcho UK CDS)
18. Longtime Sunshine (Alone I)


As I mentioned before, this version more closely resembles Tracklist One; the glaring exceptions here are the Pinkerton songs included ("Why Bother?" and "Waiting on You" were both to be included at some point, however don't appear on either tracklist) and the Rentals demo. The placement of "Why Bother?" seemed fairly obvious if you imagine it as part of Jonas' regret of going back to Maria's pod. "Waiting on You" also seemed somewhat obvious, taking on the regretful tone of the end of the album. It is a natural bridge between "No Other One" and "Devotion" and is the "Holiday" of SFTBH.

The really tough placement came with the Rentals demo. If you asked any other Weezer fan, this song has no place on the album, but since I'm way into Weezer's mythology and am an amateur conspiracy theorist, I believe this is at least one of the early Rentals songs that belongs on SFTBH. I think there are a few more that could have fit in somewhere, but that's for another day.

Everything written after this is purely opinion and I haven't decided whether I'm serious about everything or not, but here it is anyways. It's well known that Matt Sharp didn't really receive as much attention as Rivers did in terms of songwriting for Weezer; in fact, he wasn't credited as a writer on the Blue Album or on Pinkerton and sued the band for cutting him out of the credits for songs like "Undone (The Sweater Song)", "El Scorcho" and "The Good Life." The suit was settled out of court, with the band paying Sharp. The way I've always imagined it was that Sharp was a foil to Rivers, always playing the opposite end of the spectrum, whether it be writing hooks when Rivers wouldn't focus or making things weird when Rivers was trying too hard.

It seems to me that Sharp was excited by the idea of SFTBH because it seemed like more of a collaborative process; he would even have singing parts on the album that weren't backup parts. It seemed as though he began writing songs that would fit somewhere in the narrative arc, but wasn't told exactly what his part was going to be (he was set to play Dondo, one of the two stooges on the spaceship). He wrote songs like "The Love I'm Searching For" and "Waiting" around the time when SFTBH was being written, along with songs like "California" and "So Soon." When Sharp decided to record Return of the Rentals, it seemed like it was Matt's way of saying goodbye to Rivers; he took the Hadens and a bunch of really good pop songs (and was probably trying to take Pat Wilson too) and released ROTR in 1995. When asked in a chat room a few years ago what happened to SFTBH, Rivers answered "ROTR." Many people believe that Rivers didn't want his songs on SFTBH to sound too much like Sharp's ROTR, but I believe that a lot of SFTBH was Sharp and his releasing the Rentals' first album sent everything off the rails.

Anyways, I believe that this is a satisfactory version of Songs From the Black Hole and I hope you enjoy it.

Songs From the Black Hole dilemma



So, I've pretty much recreated the ultimate version of Songs From the Black Hole, combining tracklists one and two, but I'm not sure it's quite complete. I focused more on tracklist one, even though we all know that Rivers intended on releasing a version more closely related to tracklist two. Also, I know I'm missing "Superfriend (reprise)", "She's Had a Girl", "Now I Finally See", "What is This I Find?" and the one I'm most curious about, "Longtime Sunshine (special coda mix)", but the dilemma here isn't about those songs. It's about the two Rentals songs that most certainly belong with the Songs From the Black Hole. You know they're totally a part of the collection and they were the songs that Matt wrote before leaving Weezer for good, but where do they fit? Is the point that they're not supposed to fit cleanly or at all?

Anyways, my version of SFTBH might or might not be available for your listening pleasure on my website, depending on how I feel after writing about what Immanuel Kant would have thought of it, but here's the tracklist in the meantime:

1. Blast Off!
2. Who You Callin' Bitch?
3. You Won't Get With Me Tonight
4. Oh Jonas
5. Come to my Pod
6. Why Bother?
7. Oh No, This is Not For Me
8. Tired of Sex
9. Superfriend
10. Dude, We're Finally Landing
11. Getchoo
12. I Just Threw Out The Love Of My Dreams
13. No Other One
14. Please Remember
15. Waiting on You
16. Devotion
17. Longtime Sunshine

Rentals Songs?
1. The Love I'm Searching For (Excellent Stocking Stuffer version)
2. Please Let That Be You (the ROTR version is closest in lyrical content/sound to SFTBH)


*EDIT
Here is my final version of Songs From the Black Hole:
MUXTAPE'D
The tracklist is slightly different and only contains one Rentals song, but it makes the most sense to me after reviewing the mythology.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Jennifer's End of 2008 List



Editor's Note: I will be posting the year end lists (as well as muxtapes) for anyone who so chooses, so let me know. This will be a mandatory assignment for some of you (expect emails soon with instructions).

In the spirit of the season, here's Jennifer's year end list. GET STOKED!


hello blog world.
let me start this off by saying I have no idea why chris asked me to contribute to his blog.
i don't read or post on the radiohead message board. i only read two blogs: gravitas kills and swan fungus. i tried to have my own blog once, but it was hard. what was i supposed to write about? i thought i would have things to say, but then it hit me: i don't know anything about anything. so, yeah.. i bet you're really excited to read my list now. have fun!

1. aretha franklin- rare and unreleased recordings from the golden reign of the queen of soul, 1966-1973

chris said this doesn't count... but it was released this year and it was my most listened to thing of 2008, so i had to make it #1.

2. Lilys- Everything Wrong Is Imaginary

chris said this doesn't count either, because this came out in 2006... but it was my favorite album of 2006, 2007, and 2008. it's also my favorite record of 2009. what? yeah, i went there.

3. The Starlite Desperation- Take it Personally



4. Mary J Blige- Growing Pains

sorry chris! this didnt come out in 2008 either. it came out december 2007, which is basically 2008... just watch the video. i love you MJB!



5. Spiritualized- Songs in A & E

6. Primal Scream - Beautiful Future

(ed: the best part about this album being here is how it got here. I found a link very early on, thinking it had leaked, however it was one of the fakes that Atlantic put out, meaning that all the songs were there, but they were the wrong length... why, you ask? Because it was 30-45 seconds from each song looped. Imagine how much she would have liked the album if she'd actually heard the real one!)



7. AU- Verbs

8. T Bone Burnett- tooth of crime

9. Lil Mama- Voice of the Young People

10. Bonnie Prince Billy- Lie Down in the Light

11. vivian girls- vivian girls

Really Quickly...



The links for previous muxtapes have been updated, so if you want to find an old mux, just click the muxtapes tag at the bottom of the post and it will take you to all the muxtape entries thus far.

MUXTAPE #1 UPDATED

MUXTAPE #2 UPDATED

MUXTAPE #3 UPDATED

Friday, November 14, 2008

muxtape updates: #4



MUXTAPE

So, if you haven't gotten the news yet, all current muxtapes are currently available on chrisyamashiro.com, so check it out.

I previously posted that this was muxtape #4, however in reality, it was #3 and this is muxtape #9, but let's not get into that just yet. Eventually, I'd like to have a section on my website devoted to muxtape naming conventions, but I don't think anyone would read that (even you, Jennifer).

Anyhow, this muxtape is a longstanding favorite around these parts and it is called "College Town, 1997." This is not because it is filled with hits from 1997's CMJ top singles list or anything, but it is how I imagine college dorms sounded in 1997, somewhere on the east coast.

1. Jets to Brazil - "Sea Anemone (Orange Rhyming Dictionary)"
I'm totally excited for Schwarzenbach's new band and his master's degree in English, as well as the Jawbreaker doc that's coming out. Apparently, it's crazy professional because it's being made by the guys that did the Minutemen documentary. I was expecting something super punk, but I also forget that Jawbreaker was supposed to be the East Bay's next superstars or something back in 1995. Like much of Blake's music, this song seemed so sad, but it seemed to also be a little bit about Jawbreaker not making it big.

2. Heatmiser - "Plainclothes Man (Mic City Sons)"
Is that some Elliott Smith b-side? Well, apparently he did play this song live quite a bit, but it was from Heatmiser's final album, which many regard as their best. I think people like it just because Elliott's songs sound like his solo stuff, rather than the "alternative rock" of the first few albums, but that's just a stab in the dark.

3. Pavement - "Shady Lane (Brighten the Corners)"
For a long time, I never thought of Pavement as a band outside of Crooked Rain or Slanted and Enchanted, but once I heard this song, I fell in love with the rest of their discog and became a Malkmus believer. The bit about Geddy Lee and the false endings are plain genius. The only thing better than Pavement singles were their videos, for example, the Spike Jonze video for this song.

4. Grandaddy - "El Caminos in the West (Sumday)"
Yeah, this came out way after 1997 and doesn't even sound that much like 1997, Jeff, but I still dig it and sort of wish it had been out around then. I think that if Jason Lytle hadn't been a pro skateboarder in 1997 and was writing these songs, Grandaddy would have been as big as The Flaming Lips were at this point. Yeah. I said it. Seriously.

5. Yo La Tengo - "Sugarcube (I Can Feel The Heart Beating As One)"
What a wonderful song. Also has a wonderful 90s video. Also, this video is great because it really doesn't focus on the song at all, cutting in and out of the audio, finding that the narrative structure was more important. This was supposed to be their "big, coming out" single that broke them into some sort of mainstream consciousness, but I think the video was their attempt to be a non-MTV MTV band. They had the amusing parody video, but the song was chopped and fit for the video, which changed everything. Too bad this came about as 120 Minutes was either dying or dead (and before MTV2).

6. Steve Burns - "Mighty Little Man (Songs for Dustmites)"
Yeah, it's Steve from Blue's Clues and the talented heroin addict from The Flaming Lips! This song also takes liberty with the time period, but I felt like The Flaming Lips in 1997 didn't quite fit this tape. It was after Transmissions from the Satellite Heart and before The Soft Bulletin, so it really doesn't matter to me.

7. Weezer - "You Gave Your Love To Me Softly (Angus OST)"
Yeah, I included the non-demo version, Jeff. I prefer audio files that aren't decayed to hell by Limewire and Karl's hard drive bursting into flames. This b-side from Pinkerton was on the Angus soundtrack. What a wonderful little song to put into a movie. I just wish that I would have seen them play this song as Goat Punishment or something.

8. The Rentals - "Barcelona (Seven More Minutes)"
I never bothered to listen to Seven More Minutes, thinking that Matt Sharp couldn't have written more than a few good songs without Rivers as his foil, but once I learned of Maya Rudolph's involvement in this album, I knew I had to listen. I can't even tell which songs she sings on, and it doesn't matter. The demos for this song are called "California" and are totally different. Some Weezer scholars argue that "California" is the better version, because it reflects more of Rivers' songwriting that Matt lifted once he left Weezer, but I love this version because it really sounds like what the Rentals should sound like (and provided a blueprint for Korg/Moog-emo bands in the future).

9. The Dismemberment Plan - "Gyroscope (Emergency & I)"
I remember downloading this song when I was 14 or 15, reading about The D Plan on the Weezer message board or something. I just knew that they were one of those bands that most Weezer fans respected, so I wanted to get to know something about them. I was just getting into Sunny Day Real Estate and Mineral and thought the Dismemberment Plan must sound something like one of those bands, just because of all the Weezer fans being way into it. What I didn't know is that The Dismemberment Plan was way more influenced by that which surrounded them (Washington DC and Dischord Records) than any other "emo" band at the time. They were somewhat cut off from the Midwest, being from DC, so they sounded a little different (like SDRE, who sounded sort of like Seattle). After I downloaded this, I downloaded all the Dismemberment Plan I could find. Travis Morrisson has a wonderful sense of humor that you don't find every day in "indie rock."

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Liveblogging TC5 Premiere



I decided to forego livetweeting the show. I figured the few people that follow me would appreciate not being bombarded with tons of tweets along the lines of "LOL@" or "SRSLYWTF".

6:57p - Reliving the TC4 finale. Richard looks so sad and I was totally sad for him. I hear both of his restaurants closed down and now he's "consulting," whatever that really means. I guess that gives him more time with his adorable baby.

7:02p - GENE RULES ALREADY. Too bad he's not going to win. Jeff is too pretty; he'll get far, but he can't win.

7:05p - UP THE BEARS.

7:07p - Great elimination quickfire. PEEL THE APPLES.

7:09p - blood. gross. Immunity? Man.

7:12p - I better see some great apple dishes. Also, Radhika might have been a bad choice for fantasy league.

7:18p - God, some of the cheftestants this season are annoying. Also, I love the alpaca commercials.

7:20p - GREAT. The loser is OUT.

7:22p - Oh no! The cat from Boulder doesn't know where Brighton Beach is!

7:23p - GAY ALLIANCE FTW.

7:25p - Fabio/Stefan... bromance or rivalry? Prediction: they will both be in the finale.

7:27p - Who will be out? I hope Carla gets far. I totally dig it.

7:31p - I also dig the dyke. I don't dig Carla describing everything as 'yummy' or Ariane.

7:33p - Gene v. Alex. This will be a tough one. Some of the other matchups are going to be too easy.

7:36p - Asian? We're all the same.

7:38p - Molecular gastronomy is so last year!

7:40p - I predict that if Fabio wins one of the first two elimination challenges, he will win TC5.

7:47p - BEAR AGAIN (fail), Stefan wins. Also, Spike just gave out Andrew's phone number on the TC twitter.

7:51p - My picks are pretty much shot, except for Stefan (FABIO=FAIL). Patrick is done.

7:55p - GENE WINS. BY ACCIDENT.

7:56p - I love it already.

8:00p - Richard is gone soon. So is Ariane and Melissa. Eusebio will get halfway, but that will be it.

8:03p - Eugene will get far unless his inexperience gets the best of him. Also, I have a feeling that Ariane's going home.

8:15p - it's over. Babyface is gone. Duh.

TONIGHT, WE DINE IN HELL



Everyone should get stoked on fantasy leagues for completely irrelevant reality shows. Should I livetweet this ep?

Thursday, November 6, 2008

MAD WEBSITE UPDATES

there is a SECRET that is not so secret. it contains the following:







i will update with tracklistings and such soon.

Monday, November 3, 2008