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December 22, 2005
Quitandinha
I forgot to say this before, and it seems like something that should have been addressed at the outset: my favorite songs of '05 aren't presented in any order. So, for example, Mahjongg's "Hot Lava" is not my 14th favorite song of the year (although it's up there). Of course there are tracks that stand out (Kelley Polar's "Here in the Night", Page France's "Chariot", Sunset Rubdown's "Snake's Got A Leg pt. 1"), but I'm way too disorganized/busy to make any kind of hierarchy. Anyway. If this portion of the mix has any kind of theme, it's "Songs Discovered Through Other mp3blogs", as at least 5 of these tracks were featured (and written about very well) at places like Said the Gramophone, 20 Jazz Funk Greats, Goldkixx, and Get Up Stand Up.
14 Mahjongg - Hot Lava (Raydoncong 2005) [BUY]
15 The Double - Idiocy (Loose in the Air) [BUY]
16 Vitalic - Polkamatic (Ok Cowboy) [BUY]
17 Fanny Pack - Not This (See You Next Tuesday) [BUY]
18 The Cay - Untitled (demos) [INFO, read the sidebar]
19 Akron/Family - Dylan pt.2 (Angels of Light & Akron/Family split EP) [BUY]
20 Broken Social Scene - Major Label Debut [Fast] (EP To Be You & Me) [BUY]
21 Jane - Berserker (Berserker) [BUY]
22 Wolf Parade - Fancy Claps (Apologies to the Queen Mary) [BUY]
23 PAS/CAL - Dear Sir (Citizen's Army Uniform demos) [INFO]
24 New Pornographers - Jackie, Dressed in Cobras (Twin Cinema) [BUY]
25 Spoon - The Beast And Dragon, Adored (Gimme Fiction) [BUY]
26 Wind-Up Bird - Brainbowsstereo (live) [INFO]
MMV Molars Mix pt.2 (zip file)
14 Mahjongg - Hot Lava
(archives) Everything about this track, save maybe the vocals, is rendered in wide strokes of bright hues and outlined by a heavy black border. What makes this song for me are the points of intersection, between the percussion, guitars, and bass (or the spaces in between, full of anticipation). Also, that chorus? "This is not far from over/there's mud in our blood"- is it just me or is Mahjongg making a Harry Potter reference? (probably just me)
15 The Double - Idiocy
(archives) "Palm Fronds" was one of my very favorite albums of 2004, due in no small part to David Greenhill's excellent lyrics ('Blanket on the Beach' is still as heartbreaking as ever). "Loose in the Air" didn't quite measure up to the delicate abrasiveness of "Palm Fronds", but this song (which is probably the most accessible the band's ever produced) has stuck with me: the phrases ("little diggers take on all believers", "keep coming back to play/on the carpets laid out and stained/your stories run ragged and frayed"), that light background piano, the jumping-jack keyboards, the clouds of noise drifting through are all just unshakable.
16 Vitalic - Polkamatic
(archives) What I said before sounds about right: 'Polkamatic' is the best of artificial colors and flavors-'blue' raspberry, bright green watermelon, purple grape, orange mango. It sounds a lot like how you'd feel if you consumed a full gross of Lik-M-Aids on a sunny day out at the pool (notice the differing tempos in the keyboard progressions- fast, then slow, then fast again- never with any warning, just like a crazy sugar-high).
17 Fannypack - Not This
"See You Next Tuesday" was easy to overdose on, in retrospect. Playground chants + musique concrete lite production + sweet voices = pretty much irresistible. But this song (which closes the album) is different. Belinda sings about addictions (her own, or someone else's), attendant struggles, and closes 'Not This' with a bleak judgment: "it's not in the magazines/and it's not even in my dreams/the things that I need/ain't in the VIP/don't know what it is/it's definitely not this", prodded and cuddled simultaneously by sharp, sweeping, brittle strings.
18 The Cay - Untitled
(what Jordan wrote about his own song) The Cay is a trio (I think): Jordan Himelfarb (from StG), Christine Maki, and someone else whose name I do not know- and this song is gorgeous, gentle, and bright in a way that makes me want to listen to it for days on end. Which I (just about) did this past June- that line, "I just want to smile/close your eyes/I just want to sleep for a while/til the morning comes and we must rise/for a while", and the sunny warp and weft of the guitars so strongly evoke that sweet feeling of lying in bed late into the morning, next to someone you care deeply about, and willfully disregarding any sort of external obligations or distractions (basically anything outside the domain of the bed). Cannot wait to hear more from this (wonderful) band.
19 Akron/Family - Dylan pt.2
The beginning (and end) of 'Dylan pt.2' moves like a weak tin toy spider (legs racked with rust). Accept that, because it's true. Okay. But from 1:58 (a simple bass blurt) until about the 4 minute mark, this song is a roar, a multi-voiced wail, a sound that pushes out the air in your lungs and just about cracks your sternum. I love 'Dylan pt.2' because it is so furtively urgent.
20 Broken Social Scene - Major Label Debut [Fast]
This song will, on occasion, favorably and forcibly alter my brain chemistry. It's *extremely* difficult to maintain any kind of anger, disappointment, malaise, shade of angst, etc. when listening to 'Major Label Debut'. I don't think I can say anything that would really do this justice.
21 Jane - Berserker
(archives) What I said before: The first minute or so of 'Berserker' is vinyl-esque clicks and pops, coupled with some Cocteau-Twins-at-the-wrong-speed percussion. That changes quickly though, when Mou brings in a soft drone and what sounds like a bushel of tinsel to accompany Noah's formless vocals. There are short and ethereal jet engine sounds occuring intermittently. I feel like this song is what it would sound like to listen (over a walkie-talkie) to someone singing to themselves over top of very pleasant television static. The production on 'Berserker' is so deep and dense that there are dozens of fleeting ribbony drones that slip quickly back into the mix before you can really get a handle on what's happening (i.e. make sure you listen to this at a high volume, or on headphones).
22 Wolf Parade - Fancy Claps
(archives) One of the technically newest songs that Wolf Parade have released, 'Fancy Claps' is a song that will never lose it's luster, if only (and not only) for Spencer's amazing lyrics, about which I said this:...it's the emphasis he places on body parts (either synecdochically or as body parts qua body parts): the mouth and heart in 'You Are a Runner...', the eyes, bones, blood and voice in 'I'll Believe in Anything', and the feet and hair in 'Fancy Claps'. I like especially when Krug imagines himself as a sort of Lilliputian, tiny enough to be stowed easily in the tresses of someone's hair, small enough to crawl down someone's throat to gently graffiti their heart's wall.
23 PAS/CAL - Dear Sir
(archives) From last month, read how I fumble with words in trying to talk about music and art history: PAS/CAL, taking a left turn from the viciously delightful 'The Summer Is Almost Here', have grafted some gorgeous pop vocals from Casimer Pascal onto a framework of leaden drums and dusty bass (the band has created a backing track here that's very early Liars-esque, esp. in the reverb-craquelure guitar tone), and wow it works better than anyone could have guessed. For whatever reason, one of the first things that popped into my head when I heard this song was Duchamp's "The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even", maybe it's the disconnect between Casimer's calm, airy vocals, and the almost utilitarian seriousness of the music (listen to it: it's all-business)- but it reminds me of the disarmingly pretty way "Bride Stripped..." expresses the dynamic between the bride (gas cloud) and her interested parties (mobiles, lampshades, hangers, inscrutable pipes) via basic media that amount to construction materials, dirt, and automotive supplies.
24 New Pornographers - Jackie, Dressed in Cobras
'Jackie, Dressed In Cobras'. First of all it's a sequel song, expectations were high, and they were met (exceeded, really). The song is full of wild, fantastic images (the title phrase, "orchids hanging from the reverend's door", "vampires drawn across the ballroom floor") and has more zing (yes) to it, musically, than most other whole albums. However this was by far the hardest track to place in the mix (that sprint-start intro makes it sort of impervious to any kind of smooth transition).
25 Spoon - The Beast And Dragon, Adored
At this point, I think that anything that Britt Daniel and Jim Eno do together ends up sounding just about perfect. They really can't help it. I probably could have picked any song from "Gimme Fiction", but that line about "when you don't feel it/it shows/they tear out your soul/but when you believe/they call it rock and roll" really hits home for some reason.
26 Wind-Up Bird - Brainbowsstereo
(archives) From before: This is something new from Joseph Grimm. Phased in such a way so that his voice seems to be rotating very quickly around the more central drone, it gives the track the feel of a zoetrope- you only get a few quick glances at the deeper, heart-hollowed center of it...Wind-Up Bird concentrates everything in a small space, loop upon loop, into a very involuted shape. Ridiculously pretty.
Posted by Kevin at December 22, 2005 12:12 AM