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Marathonproxys 2: More School-chums

Monday, December 31, 2007

Two more lists from two more school-chums (Travis even has a blog).

While I’m at it, some more year-endness I’ve been saving and waiting to share with you, dear reader.

Amy at Shake Your Fist: Songs and EPs/Singles from one of my favorite writers in the anywhere-sphere. Also good: lists at Culture Bully, who commissioned some of these “mash-ups,” and Nerd Litter, who typed up some inscrutable prose to match each selection (also: his albums). The top ten at Visa for Violet is good too (Red Krayola!), as is Skatterbrain’s , which might be my favorite blog ever (the list has been up for a while, but the jams are still free). You already know about/have digested Sean’s wonderful collection, but if you want to go back again, it’s here.

Tom Ewing counts down the year in Freaky Trigger. Especially recommended are the posts on “Vincent” and “Maggie May” and “Oliver’s Army.” Also especially recommended, for those unaware: the whole site, everyday, and Tom’s recurring Pitchfork column (this is as close to a link as I can get, ‘cos P4k’s search function is garbage-ass-garbage). Also: Tom talks about Pitchfork’s top 10.

Nate Patrin is one of my favorite current P4K writers. Here’s his list and self-evaluative verbiage, which echoes the path I (myself) have taken.

Mike Treffehn and Michael Reid (30-21) (20-16) (15-11) (10-1): Two swell, smart and I’m assuming still smartly-dressed guys I’ve known since I met them matriculating at the school for smart kids.

Okay, on to the school dudes. Right after New Year (happy!), one more proxy list, and then back to our regularly-scheduled programming (posts by your boring host every other week or so).

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Travis Vogan

Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam I prefer this to Panda Bear’s record and I decided to put only one of them on the list. Wilson-esque harmonies, with loops, screams, and references to The Smiths. Put Morrissey and Brian Wilson in bed and I’m an automatic fan (and willing cameraman, if you know what I mean…)

Bill Callahan – Woke on a Whaleheart Not his best album, but I still wound up listening to this quite a bit over the year. “From the Rivers to the Oceans” and “Honeymoon Child” have become standards in my mental canon of gothic folk. The dark world Callahan paints always contains that shred of hope. These more sullen cuts are balanced by “Diamond Dancer,” which harkens Bowie and Byrne.

Caribou – Andorra Peach of an album from a peach of an artist. Were I forced to pick a number 1 of the year, this would be it. It’s easy breezy but still gives you something to sink your teeths into. A blessed union of neo-psycehdelia and well-crafted pop compositions.

Dinosaur Jr – Beyond Is J Mascis’ hair not enough to include this album on any list? And Murph, you look like hell. Somehow, Lou “maladjusted/masturbate/smokeout/masturbate” Barlow still looks great, though. Goes to show that heavy doses of depression treated with pot and self-touchy-touch is good for the soul. Truth be told, this album isn’t amazing; but it is better than the vast majority of comeback attempts.

Dirty Projectors – Rise Above I didn’t even see these guys when they came to town, but I have since dug the plug out of this joint. The voice, the concept, the loose adaptation, and memories of the less cartoonish Rollins season my affection for this one.

Earth – Hibernaculum No list is complete without some drone. Very consistent group of cuts and revisions of some older Earth through their revitalized, Hex style. This, along with Hex, has a more spatial, horizontal feel than their previously, pent-up, cagey drone-downs.

R. Kelly – Double Up / Trapped in the Closet chaps. 13-22 “It’s like Jurassic Park and I’m your sexasaurus.” Fucking Sexasaurus, man! And the perverse fantasy continues with Sylvester, Twan, and company (including my new personal favorite, P…P…P…P…Pimp Lucius….you can do it!). A double-whammy from the undisputed king of the whammy.

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – 100 Days, 100 Nights Nothing you can’t get here from just looking a couple decades back, but her retro-soul vibe works for me. I like the gawdy dresses, the hairdo, and the posturing. This might be the most solid album on the list, which either means she kills it or all the songs sound the same.

The Sea and Cake – Everybody Prekop and the dudes don’t really do anything different on this album, but they seem to have mastered their sound. Wonderfully consistent and able to be listened to attentively or enjoyed while ignoring. Good music you can also ignore is terribly underrated and a new criterion by which my faves are ordered.

Wilco – Sky Blue Sky Don’t hate. I have vowed not to pay over $30 dollars to see a show—or the value of thirty dollars now and in relation to later times’ inflation—so I will probably never see another Wilco show unless it’s at a festival or something…or unless they get all washed up and start playing fairs. But I still think these guys are one of the best live rock bands going. I’m sort of in love with Tweedy and am developing a strong crush on Nels as well. He looks like a just-hatched baby bird, shaking and waiting for the worm/puke.

Most overrated album:

A Place to Bury Strangers – s/t This doesn’t mean I didn’t cream my breeches a little bit when I first heard it, that I won’t listen to other stuff they release, and that I won’t come see them play. They do the new-new wave thing very well, but it’s not that new I suppose.

Best newly-discovered old album of the year:

Suicide – The Second Album You want instant cred? In a casual, “I could be doing something much cooler but don’t have the energy so you will have to do” voice, tell some faux-hipster you’ve been listening to a lot of Suicide lately. Pause and say, Oh, haven’t heard of them? They’re sort of like electro-pre-post-punk-wave-no-new-core. Proceed to flip your scarf over your shoulder and make someone else feel stupid. Very empowering. But on the real, this is some good shit that I had only heard indirectly before this year.

Second best newly-discovered old album of the year:

Syl Johnson – Chicago Twinight Soul How the fuck did I live 26 years without Syl? No goddamned idea. The tracks “Dresses Too Shot,” “I Feel an Urge,” and “Is It Because I’m Black?” make me wonder why this guy doesn’t have a postage stamp. Get on it; at least a four center or something.

Album I really didn’t want to like but did:

Iron & Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog Sam Beam is the most unassumingly obnoxious rocker around. I just want to rip out his beard and then cry with him.

Best propaganda jam we are forced to watch every time we go to the movies:

3 Doors Down – “Citizen Soldier” Iraq, the American Revolution, Normandy. Love it or leave it. Sign up to get blown up at the popcorn counter. Along with the Bollywood Fandango commercial, this song and video ensure that I will at least partially enjoy whatever shitty movie I am about to see.

Best Videos:

Snoop Dogg – “Sensual Seduction / Sexual Eruption” / 2girls1cup / Youtube reactions to 2girls1 cup
These two really complement each other. First, watch Snoop dry hump the keytar whilst hissing in the voice-box-tubey-thing. The only way you can get this song out of your head is by watching 2 ladies each shit and puke. Then you can watch people watching it and puking. Then you can puke. It’s ain’t music, but it’s strangely musical.

Top Six Songs:

Caribou “Melody Day”
Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter “Eisenhower Moon”
R. Kelly “I’m a Flirt” and “The Zoo”
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings “Tell Me”
Snoop Dogg “Sexual Eruption”
Wilco “Impossible Germany”

Albums that should have been on my top ten last year but were not:

Justin Timberlake – Futuresex/Lovesounds
I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness – Fear Is On Our Side
Beach House – s/t

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Jon Hertzberg

Dennis Wilson – Pacific Ocean Blue No, unfortunately the legal issues that have held this record back for years have not yet been resolved. And, no, I did not pay upwards of $120 for the out-of-print CD. I caved and downloaded the album for a negligible fee (bootlegs of Wilson’s unfinished Bamboo album are also floating around). Unavailable since a CD reissue in the early 90s, Dennis Wilson’s lone solo album, a prime slice of ’70s California rock, remains sadly obscure and under-appreciated. Wilson himself was dismissive of Pacific, but this shouldn’t deter potential listeners as the album offers many pleasures, not the least of which are Wilson’s weathered, heartfelt vocals, effectively spare arrangements, poignant and haunting lyrics, and even a few cameos from brother Carl. A tragic figure to be sure, the troubled, hard-living Wilson was able to keep it together long enough to produce a (for now) lost classic. Someone said that if ever Criterion took up album reissues, this would be a prime candidate, and I couldn’t agree more. With an upcoming reissue of Two-Lane Blacktop (spine #414, for those counting), the timing would have been perfect to pair Pacific with Wilson’s only foray into feature films. Until then, Pacific Ocean Blue will continue to fetch collectors prices online and at record shows.

Ennio Morricone – Giu la Testa (Cinevox) Just in time for the stateside DVD premiere of Sergio Leone’s Giu la Testa aka Duck, You Sucker aka A Fistful of Dynamite aka Once Upon A Time…The Revolution comes Cinevox’s expanded, 35th anniversary edition of the soundtrack. Released domestically as an LP by United Artists in 1971 under the title Duck, You Sucker, there have been countless Italian reissues on vinyl and CD. However, this new edition is sourced from recently discovered original master tapes and boasts improved sound and a second disc with a generous 15 additional tracks. Just as the Leone film remains relatively unknown and under-appreciated, the soundtrack is something of an undiscovered gem. Morricone’s score is alternately whimsical and mournful, replete with a sumptuous main theme as haunting and memorable as anything from the great composer’s oeuvre. Rest assured, Testa is full of the whistling, soaring vocals, sinister guitar, atonal sounds, and lush strings so much a part of the other Leone/Morricone collaborations from A Fistful of Dollars to Once Upon A Time in America.

Ennio Morricone – Diabolik (bootleg) Morricone’s rollicking soundtrack to Mario Bava’s masterful 1967 comic book film Diabolik aka Danger, this was unfortunately never officially released on any format. The original master tapes long lost, the music on this bootleg was most likely ripped from a laserdisc or DVD. There are some SFX present in the mix, but it doesn’t detract from the music, which features jarring guitar, wah-wah effects, and ghostly female vocals. The sexy and groovy main theme, “Deep Down” appears in two flavors on the album, English and Italian, both sung by Christy. Needless to say, the latter is superior.

Harold Faltermeyer – Lost Tracks from Beverly Hills Cop Originally released as B-sides for a couple of the bigger hits from the original soundtrack (think Patti LaBelle and Pointer Sisters), the tracks “The Discovery” and “Shootout” (the only score tracks besides the ubiquitous “Axel F” to see any sort of official release) have recently re-surfaced online. Former Moroder arranger Faltermeyer is at the top of his craft at this point, bringing in layer upon layer of electo-synth goodness. I’m still waiting for Alan Parker, Paul Schrader, Brian DePalma, or some other enterprising filmmaker to commission Moroder and/or Faltermeyer for his/her next opus. To think, Universal wanted to rescore Scarface with gangsta rap.

St. Vincent – Marry Me (Beggars Banquet) As assured a debut as one is likely to hear this year or any other. Previously providing guitar support for Sufjan Stevens and Polyphonic Spree, Annie Clark is in full creative control here, supplying (according to the liner notes), “voices, guitars, bass, piano, organ, Moog, synthesizers, clavieta, xylophone, vibraphone, dulcimer, drum programming, triangle, percussion.” Clark’s unpredictable song structures and vocals move from whimsical and wry to stirring and emotional, with enough offbeat flourishes to push this far above a standard collection of confessional ballads. There have been inevitable comparisons to the likes of Bjork (based, perhaps, on similar cover art?), Feist, Cat Power, Kate Bush, and Joanna Newsom, which, if nothing else, will bring more listeners around.
Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam I can’t say much more than has already been said, but I did enjoy this record even more than the previous albums I had some familiarity with (Sung Tongs, Feels). The sonic palette is as thick and experimental as ever, but I didn’t find myself turning the volume down when in the presence of others, as I’ve felt the need to in the past.

Blonde Redhead – 23 Discounted in some quarters for being too much a step in the pop direction, I can’t say this dampened my enjoyment of the record. Kazu Makino’s hauntingly beautiful vocals continue to draw me in.

Calvin Harris – I Created Disco This guy has gotten bashed in some places and maybe he really is a doofus, but I found myself laughing at this record (in a good way). It probably helped that I was not aware of, and had not read up on, the hype Mr. Harris has already generated in the UK, prior to listening to this album.

!!! - Myth Takes I’ve been hooked on these transplanted Sacramentites (and their lamentably defunct sister band Out Hud) since I saw them open for Ari Up at Brownies in late 2000. Needless to say, they were much more impressive than Ms. Up (though her dreads were nothing to scoff at). The Village Voice blurb had me when they compared them to Konk and Liquid Liquid and I feel that !!! continue to carry the post-punk/ no-wave/disco mantle more impressively than any of the other usual suspects (Rapture, Interpol, LCD et al.). The extended jams are still ubiquitous, but remain tight enough to not veer into “jam band” territory. Also, the beginning of “All My Heroes are Weirdos” !!! took me back to Fear of Music/Remain in Light-era Talking Heads. Vocalist Nic Offer seems to have laid off the (often hilarious) Bush-bashing, but Myth Takes is no worse for this omission. Not just a great party record, it represents another leap forward for one of the better bands to come along in the last several years.

Kevin Drew – Spirit If… Didn’t hear much difference from a proper Broken Social Scene record. This will not probably not convert the unconverted, but it whets the appetite for the next full-blown BSS outing.

Roisin Murphy – Overpowered I just saw where Ms. Murphy appears on one of the Grey’s Anatomy soundtracks, so I’ve clearly come to her pretty late (I was not an aficionado of Moloko or her Matthew Herbert-helmed record). I did find myself continually putting this eminently hummable, consistently groove-inducing record on repeat.

The Sea and Cake – Everybody Hadn’t listened into these Chicago post-rock vets in awhile, but found this to be a very capable and “pleasant” pop record, which is good enough for me.

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings – 100 Days, 100 Nights Sharon Jones continues what she started on Naturally, creating another record that sounds like it was recorded in the 60s and subsequently lost for 40+ years. The Dap-Kings continue to prove themselves to be one of the most professional and under-appreciated band around, evidenced by their largely unremarked upon contribution to Back to Black.

LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver I enjoy their records as much as everyone else seems to (save for Death From Above 1979), but I must say I enjoyed the chanted vocals a la Heaven 17 (on “Sound of Silver”) when the Sheffield lads were doing it the first time (same goes for the Bowie/Eno-esque vocals on “Us v Them”). In spite of my minor gripes, I’ve still gone back to SIlver repeatedly over the last several months.

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