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December 30, 2005
Kobold [updated]
Long-delayed, I know, but here's part 3 of the mix. This is surely the most up-beat portion, with a bulk of the momentum coming from those first few songs (I especially enjoy the Test Icicles->Think About Life transition, there's just no chance to catch your breath, plus the White Rose Movement->Mt. Eerie is actually kind of smooth) and stretching out to the end, to the echo-clap race of Panda Bear's 'Comfy in Nautica'.
27 Sunset Rubdown - Snake's Got A Leg pt. 1 (Snake's Got A Leg) [BUY]
28 Test Icicles - Circle Square Triangle (For Screening Purposes Only) [BUY]
29 Think About Life - Paul Cries (demos) [INFO]
30 Kiss Me Deadly - Dance 1 (Misty Medley) [BUY]
31 The Sun - Must Be You (Blame It On The Youth) [BUY]
32 White Rose Movement - Love Is A Number (Love Is A Number 7") [BUY]
33 Mt. Eerie - I Hold Nothing (No Flashlight) [BUY]
34 Wooden Wand - Sundrum Ladies (Harem of the Sundrum & The Witness Figg) [BUY]
35 Racecar - Out Tonight** (10 Songs) [INFO]
36 Cadence Weapon - Black Hand (Cadence Weapon Is The Black Hand) [BUY]
37 Feathers - Grandmother Constellation Fade Away (Tour Paint) [INFO]
38 Raccoo-oo-oon - Call Out Your Friends (Raccoo-oo-oon Is Night People) [INFO]
39 Panda Bear - Comfy In Nautica (I'm Not/Comfy In Nautica single) [BUY]
27 Sunset Rubdown - Snake's Got A Leg pt.1
(archives) Few other songs this year have held such sway over me: it's one of those 'songs that are bigger than songs' (to borrow a wonderful concept and phrase from Yancey at Get Up Stand Up), i.e. that the story contained within 'Snake's Got A Leg pt.1' is almost too expansive and detailed to be contained within the song itself- the Prometheus allusion (when Spencer talks about feeding the crows), the 'cool in the shade of the woodshed', being 'chased by a hundred snakes in the morning'- all of these pieces of song are so compelling that it almost feels like they should be spun-off into their own songs. This song (and this album) is essential. Go listen to one of the new tracks from the forthcoming EP over at Global Symphonic's snazzy new Myspace page.
28 Test Icicles - Circle Square Triangle
I love the Blood Brothers relentlessly, so when a band exists that is described in shorthand as being a British, dancier, sloppier version of that band, then I am obviously going to be interested. 'Circle Square Triangle', despite beginning almost the same way the Strokes' 'Modern Age' does, is classic, if only for the way the song moves, as the guitars sound like they're painting the small walls that the drums erect, as Sam Merrann stands and spits petulance/angst throughout.
29 Think About Life - Paul Cries
(archives) The first thing about this song that I loved was the fact that the intro sounds like a distorted Simon that's lost its zeal for randomness. The live drums + Casio beats = pure gold, and Martin (?) sounds so perfectly sad and serious when he sings "please wait/wait for me". Unbeatable(!!). Cannot wait to hear their album.
30 Kiss Me Deadly - Dance 1
(archives) 'Dance 1', which also appears on their new full-length, is a slinky, late-night, taboo makeout session. Emily Elizabeth's voice is sexy in that breathy, sort of petulant-sounding way (the v. best way), and she coos, squeals, and begs her way through this track (also, she says "making out like a thief", which is just too cute). The guitars here are all over the place- aggressive, subdued, clean- however, the prettiest parts are the little delayed-note eddies they create, which remind me a lot of the undertow pull of the guitar phrases in Disco Inferno's 'Arc in Round'. The beginning of this song though, with tough little metallic beats, spindly guitar, and handclaps, is terribly addictive.
31 The Sun - Must Be You
(archives) It starts off with a bass pulse and a flowery, circular riff. A second, buzzsawesque guitar gives the track a nice sandpaper-to-marble contrast (which is the same sort of dynamic that lead singer Chris Burney uses with his vocal delivery, traversing the spectrum of calm to unhinged within a few verses). 'Must Be You' seems to explore the theme of ex-girlfriend as supra-Eeyoric cloud of doom, which taints some experiences (good weather) and makes others less imposing (seeing the angel of death- really, this is all in the song, I'm not kidding) due to the depth of previous tragedy. Although some of the lyrics are a little awkward ("I stopped to think about the bad times that I've had/with a smile on my face/warm with the birth of the sad"), the track is redeemed by Burney's unreserved passion at the end, when he sings, "You forgot your dagger when you left/six inches deep/buried in my chest/and if you've come back to pull it out/to look at the blood/well I'll slap your hand away/at least I loved you". Short explanation: sounds like the Replacements' 'Can't Hardly Wait', which I love, so by transitive property, I love 'Must Be You'.
32 White Rose Movement - Love Is A Number
I could write about this for months and not top the succinct and entertaining description that XXJFG gave this originally: "A bit of a Joy Division bass line, tasty keyboards and soaring vocals reminiscent of Dex Dexter or if you got really bad taste Classix Nouveaux even...all played with tight exuberance that leaves an impression of Magazine having cheered up a bit. While White Rose Movement are a little band we will love them, but as is often the time honored English tradition when they reach the mainstream we will moan on about how there first ep was the best and there not the same at big gigs etc... build em up, knock em down. For now we are loving it and should cherish this moment when they are special and just yours."
33 Mt. Eerie - I Hold Nothing
"In all of Phil Elv(e)rum's recorded work to date, there is an overwhelming emphasis on introspection and brute phenomenology. Take for instance, these lines from the song "You'll Be in the Air" from The Glow, Part 2 which recreate the first-person feeling of flying: "But if you just moved your arms then you could tell / That you are in the air / You'd feel the yawning gulf grow wider / And you'd feel the dwindling fuel for your lungs / So your breaths would slow". Considering the force with which these minutiae are conveyed it's almost like Elv(e)rum has uncovered some kind of phenomenological lingua franca with which to express each and every experiential nuance. For another example, take the simple phrase "the awful feeling of electric heat" from the same album's opener. It's so compellingly evocative that it borders on hypnotic suggestion. You don't just know what he's talking about it, you almost literally feel it." ---this is from Matt's amazing essay on the Microphones/Mt. Eerie discography, which you can read the rest of right here.
34 Wooden Wand - Sundrum Ladies
(archives) 'Sundrum Ladies' is just jaw-droppingly pretty. Think Folkways records, think sitting in a green summer field full of Queen Anne's Lace, think a temperate sunset with a playful breeze. There is nothing complicated about this song, technically- but James Jackson Toth creates a thick and enveloping narrative atmosphere, with just his voice, a simple acoustic pattern, and a sinister (sneaky) violin. My favorite part of this song is the way Toth says, "Okay" right before starting each verse, as if he's trying to explain a particularly salient part of the story to an inattentive audience. "Quick modulations in a crystalline sky/quiet recollections and the wine/putting new ideas into your spine", nice words indeed.
35 Racecar - Out Tonight
(archives) [note: I'm not sure, but I think Racecar have called it quits- their website's gone, they haven't played any shows in the past 5 or so months, and there's been no response to emails. Would be a shame if that's true] It's like going over a waterfall in a barrel- 'Out Tonight' starts off as a leisurely, delicate thing: guitars chiming and commiserating over the "stale cigarette breath", the "hands made with Teflon". Then it starts to pick up a little- static hissing small whirlpools of turbulence that flank the chorus, "you and me/ we'll go out tonight", and suddenly the song switches gears entirely, and it's a freefall through wild torrents of bass, drums, yelling, and foamy siren-sounds. And, subsequently, a return to the calmness of the first part of the track. 'Out Tonight' reminds me of Ted Leo's 'Timorous Me' (one of his best songs ever, by far), just in the way it delivers such a joyful blast of melody and energy in the middle of the song- and like Ted Leo, Racecar know enough to exercise some restraint and leave it at that (just once), which just makes you want to play the song over and over again (not a bad indulgence, really). Plus, for whatever reason (and also like 'Timorous Me'), this song makes me think of a huge party, like a wedding reception or something similar, where everyone's smiling and dancing and happy either in their own right or in reflection of the atmosphere.
36 Cadence Weapon - Black Hand
(archives) Anyway, 'Black Hand' breaks out of the gate with some quick sirens, then there's a small break (the beats are intense, sounding like deep, live drums), and Rollie flows over top of an insanely addictive acoustic guitar (or what sounds like one- the vibrations sound like the E(bass) string ringing out) run, and his voice fluctuates between an aggressive, aloof tone and something that's more just like the confidence of someone stating the facts. One of my favorite lines in 'Black Hand' is "hand black like the Moors/and I ran to the back with seven years and four scores", which is tied with, "I get my point across like an atheist archer", whew, so good. And I mean how can you not love a song that references the Anti-Franz Ferdinand? (go buy Breaking Kayfabe!)
37 Feathers - Grandmother Constellation Fade Away
(archives) 'Grandmother Constellation Fade Away into the Earth' is pretty representative of Feathers' sound, as much as any one song can be really. They're extremely versatile (obviously, with almost 10 members playing like 5 different instruments each), turning on a dime from Incredible String Band cooing to Amon Duul-esque headfucking jams in the space of a minute or two. 'Grandmother Constellation...' definitely reminds me a little bit of the more explicitly melodic songs of Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice (or esp. of the Wooden Wand solo album), in that it's got that same wide open feel to it, running down hills, rolling around in the dirt, yelling out for friends to come play. Some good news for those of you who don't have record players: the band just recently announced on their website that a CD version of their debut LP will be released in the spring, on Devendra Banhart and Andy Cabic's Gnomonsong label.
38 Raccoo-oo-oon - Call Out Your Friends
(archives) I feel like Raccoo-oo-oon are going to have a hard time escaping the Animal Collective comparison (and on this track, it's all too easy to hear the similarities to 'Here Comes the Indian'-era A.C., or, even moreso, "Hollinndagain"-era A.C.), but really, they're doing something quite different from Avey Tare and co. This song alone shares traits with Hella, Boredoms/Vooredoms, Excepter- and the rest of the "Is Night People" tape (which is sold out) has the same kind of sprawling, decaying energy that made Black Eyes so exciting. Short review: Fauves running loose and panting, get hold of drums, wreak havoc.
39 Panda Bear - Comfy In Nautica
(archives) Speaking of Animal Collective: 'Comfy In Nautica' is Panda Bear's attempt to record the equivalent of Disco Inferno (circa "Technicolour") covering the Beach Boys' 'Our Prayer/Gee'; no but really Noah and his samplers lay down the confetti-ridden joy-march of the year on this one. "You try to remember always/always to have a good time", Noah's vocals are huge and airy, he is confident that this song will make you happy (and it will). It's almost ridiculous that both Noah and Dave can toss off gorgeous songs like this and 'Judy Biworker' in their solo work and still write like, what, 20 or so classic songs per album session for Animal Collective without breaking a sweat...
Posted by Kevin at December 30, 2005 12:10 AM