ahh summer….hope yours is great. sorry you haven’t seen me in awhile. what little time I would spend here writing about songs I love is now spent playing songs I love on the radio. My show is called ANODYNE, its on KBOO here in Portland, and you can hear it Monday mornings from 3 to 5:30am. That’s right I said AM. I cater to old-skool hipster insomniacs now.
as long as i’m typing, here are my fave albums of the year so far:
yeah yeah yeahs - it’s blitz
robyn hitchcock & the venus 3 - goodnight oslo
a.c. newman - get guilty
art brut - art brut vs. satan
bat for lashes - two suns
neko case - middle cyclone
and i’ve also been listening to alot of telepathe, viva voce, handsome furs, and julian cope.
i hear there’s a new shaky hands record coming out this fall!
and i am eagerly awaiting the three explode into colors 7″ singles that should be out in the next couple of weeks. first one august 4 on m’lady records.
According to an article that appeared today at billboard.com, Robyn Hitchcock will be a featured guest on The Decemberists‘ forthcoming Hazards Of Love album.
What this means is that The Decemberists are now at critical mass. Their next album (the one after HOL) must feature The Smiths (and that means all four original members — none of this Mike Love-is-The-Beach-Boys shit) or they will tank.
Also, Prince must be featured on an iTunes-only bonus track, and he needs to say at least one swear word in it. Or something naughty.
So high…..the bar….unnnnngggghhhh.
p.s. This probably shatters my dreams of that Colin Meloy Sings Robyn Hitchcock EP, unless RH himself sings backups on it or something…
Here, then, is my list of favorite albums of 2008. I’ll say right off the bat that I only listened to about 80-90 releases this year, whereas in the few years before that I was at the 120+ mark. Out of those 80-90 that I listened to (and by LISTEN, I mean LISTEN FROM START TO FINISH SEVERAL TIMES), here are the ones that caught my ear and became a part of my year:
11. Sons & Daughters - This Gift
10. The Breeders - Mountain Battles
09. R.E.M. - Accelerate
08. Rachel Taylor Brown - Half Hours With The Lower Creatures
07. TV On The Radio - Dear Science
06. Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers
05. Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
04. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
03. Kaki King - Dreaming Of Revenge
02. Cat Power - Jukebox
It’s very different from The Decemberists’ 2006 major-label debut, The Crane Wife: Producer Tucker Martine is piecing together 16 or so segments into a continuous, hour-long narrative suite that riffs on folk-song archetypes.
And here’s one more, this one about the overall sound of the album:
Musically, Hazards of Love is The Decemberists’ full-on classic-rock move, with Meloy and guitarist Chris Funk’s pretty Zep-style fingerpicking punctuated by crushing stoner-metal lurches. They’re joined by guest vocalists including Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark, who sings the knockout “Margaret in the Taiga,” and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden.
Thanks to Rolling Stone for the article.
If you’re still jonesing for more info on the upcoming D’s disc, here’s last month’s Paste article, where Colin pegs the album’s sound as “mossy and evil”. Hey wasn’t that the name of a Robyn Hitchcock album?
According to the Paste article, The Hazards Of Love is due “sometime in April”.
There’s been alot of talk this past year about “MF Doom Is Dead”, about fake Dooms taking the stage, and about Doomposter. When you like an artist that wears a mask, you’ve got to be prepared for an avalanche of fiction and misdirection. My plan is to watch this video and wait him out. “Doomposter” supposedly drops this year. Come back, Doom.
As mayor of mixmeamolotov.com, I’m declaring that today is officially Bernstein Day! Go out and celebrate: take the day off from work and go do something you’ve never done before. Ride your bike to a neighboring state, make a movie, write a song, do some fingerpainting, learn to play backgammon. And don’t fear the haters along the way, because deep down inside everyone loves to boo.
And European fans, get your boos and heckles ready. And stick some new batteries in your recording equipment. Dan Bern is headed your way:
20 Sep — La Casa Encendida — Madrid, Spain
22 Sep — Costello Club — Madrid, Spain
28 Sep — Roepaen — Ottersum, Holland
30 Sep — In The Woods — Lage Vuursche
02 Oct — Kroller-Muller Museum — Otterloo
03 Oct — WVHEDW — Amsterdam
04 Oct — Take Root Festival — Groningen
07 Oct — Q-Bus — Leiden
11 Oct — Cultureel Centrum — Meise
And finally, I have some music to help you celebrate the first annual Bernstein Day! These are some favorite tracks from shows I’ve been listening to lately. I hope you enjoy them!
Dan Bern - Asterisk Nation (live): don’t say BOO, say KBOO! Dan played this song live on radio program “The Dharma Wheel” on 16 Nov 2006 and was captured by me from KBOO’s audio stream. Dan played at the Doug Fir Lounge later that night. Some clips from that show can be found on YouTube.
Dan Bern - 2014 (live): recorded 28 Nov 2008 at The Crepe Place in Santa Cruz, California. This show is also available from the Live Music Archive.
Dan Bern - Royal Jelly (partial) (live): from a show at 12 Galaxies in San Francisco, CA on 16 Apr 2008. Dan Bern covers a classic Dewey Cox song. I think this counts as a rarity!
Dan Bern - Luke The Drifter (live): recorded 16 Apr 2008 at the 12 Galaxies club in San Francisco, CA. I think this song is quickly becoming a fan favorite. I put it right up there with “Blue Highway” in my list of favorite recent songs.
Okay, everybody go do everything! See you later…..
