Top of the Blogs – September 17th, 2008
Each week (or whenever we have time) we take a listen to some of the top songs from elbows, review them and then give our selection of alternative tracks that we believe should be getting more recognition.
The Kooks “Kids” (MGMT Cover)
Pretty mediocre cover. It’s interesting to hear this song on just an acoustic guitar, lets you know that it works without all the spacey stylings of MGMT, but when it comes to covers, this could be anyone… the artist of the day at Potbelly, or local coffee shop guitar palyer.
Justice “Planisphere” (part 1)
Justice “Planisphere” (part 2)
Justice “Planisphere” (part 3)
Justice “Planisphere” (final)
The Justice 4 part set from the Dior Homme Summer 2009 Fashion Show.The entire set comes in under 20 minutes, so it’s not a long listen, perfect for when you are at work trying to drone out everyone else and get something done. Part 1 begins with some airy spaceyness and then a great robotic bass riff comes in to start it all out. Butter Team has an interesting post on how this might match up with Interstella 555… but Justice is like Daft Punks crazy younger brother, so really anything they does can be somewhat similar.
Jenny Lewis “Acid Tongue”
Mmmmm…. this is some good Jenny Lewis, she almost sounds like Loretta Lynn on this track in some parts, only more folky than country. The backing vocals in the chorus add just enough to this simple song.
Deerhoof “Offend Maggie”
Never been a Deerhoof fan, it’s all been a little much for me to take in and I can’t say I have given it much of a chance. This song, I could be wrong, is more accessible than anything I have heard from them before and might be a good place to jump in before going back to listen to the older stuff.
Chad Van Gaalen “Willow Tree”
I listened to this entire album last weekend and am really loving it. I think it is an improvement upon his last, which had some good songs on it but didn’t hold up throughout. The first single, the haunting “She’s Going To Kill You”, set the hype and now this gentler song shows the overall tone of the album. His voice has this strange quality to it that I can’t touch on, but it sticks in your head, comes close to piercing your ears when he gets loud but still has a good aftertaste.
Bloc Party “Talons”
What happened to Bloc Party. How could a band that puts out Silent Alarm have so much of a downfall in the span of two albums. Everything they do now might as well just be one person in a studio tweaking knobs. The lyrics and production are completely over-the-top and synthetic. This song is a little more bearable than the other album songs from Intimacy, but they’ve lost it imo.
Annuals “Confessor”
We posted about this song earlier this month and people seem to be enjoying it. I am skeptical of the Annuals because their first album had a couple good songs on it as well, but I never go back to listen and, if they hadn’t put out a new album, I would have completely forgotten about them. judging by the two songs so far it’s worth a chance (album cover is niiice as well and I love to judge a book by its cover only to be disappointed later).
Some songs that we think deserve some more attention:
Smal Sur “Ohhhhh pt 1″
Bob (Small Sur) had a little concert at his house this past weekend. We were catching the tail end of a hurricane. The raindrops hitting the windows created the perfect atmosphere for the beautiful music this guy creates. It’s a lullaby, it’s therapy, it makes you remember to move a little bit slower.
The Music Tapes “Majesty”
This album has such a great organic quality to it, which is to be expected from Elephant 6 and Neutral Milk Hotel member Julian Koster who has always given us a sound that is different but still something you know.. it’s like the traditional song stripped down, fed some amphetamines and thrown into a forest with just a guitar and a pellet gun for shooting squirrels.
Kings of Leon “Closer”
I almost didn’t put this on here because I will probably be sick of it in a week, but although this album is cheesy arena rock, although it has bad lyrics like “I’m a dancing machine”, although the Kings of Leon have completely changed from their first couple albums, despite all the bad reviews this album is getting, it somehow keeps sticking with me. I listen to it and cringe at a lot of parts, so I can’t really place my finger on what it is that keeps me coming back… it could be the hope that the Kings still have something going for them, or maybe I’ve just been working too hard and need some good mindless rock music. Either way, the first three or four songs of the album are all worth a listen.
High Places “From Stardust to Science”
It’s too dreamy to pass up, one of those “cute” songs that makes you zone out at your desk while your co-worker is trying to talk to you, it’s weird enough for you to be listening to something “experimental” but has enough of a melody so maybe your pop-loving girlfriend will like it when you try to play it in the car.
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Tags: Uncategorized , top of the blogs
The Kings Of Leon: Did Steve Winwood start a side project with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah? These guys are about as exciting as a limp, hairy dick in a 70’s porno. Boo!
on September 18th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
agreed the new Kings of Leon and Bloc Party LPs are the Medillin of their respective careers
on September 20th, 2008 at 1:21 pm