And part two! This is my first time doing a "top songs" list, but there were so many GREAT songs on records that just barely didn't make the cut for my top 10, and it felt a shame not to recognize them. Unlike the huge geek out on my Top 10 albums list, I'm going to simply post videos for the songs because clearly, this music speaks for itself. This is really in no particular order, except of course #1 (serious jam of the year, dudes) Enjoy!
(Sorry about the crazy fonts in the middle. can't figure out why the HTML and I are fighting and I'm too tired to fix it. Just jam out.)
25) "Animal" - Miike Snow
24) "Be There" - Howie Day
23) "Where You'll Find Me" - Audrye Sessions
22) "California Zephyr" - Ben Gibbard and Jay Farrar
21) "Little Secrets" - Passion Pit
20) "Charlie Darwin" - The Low Anthem
19) "Autumn Beds" - Modest Mouse
18) "Heartbreak Warfare" - John Mayer
17) "In a Dream" - Skybox
16) "Hallelujah" - The Helio Sequence
15) "11th Dimension" - Julian Casablancas
14) "24-25" - Kings of Convenience
13) "Island IS" - Volcano Choir
12) "Skinny Fingers" - A Lull
11) "Head Full of Doubt Road Full of Promise" - The Avett Brothers
And here we are, at the end of another year of music. Out of respect of finishing "The Loop" series, I've held off posting my Top 10 Albums and Top 25 Songs of 2009, although keeping a running list on two post-its at my desk at work. Now that I've shotgunned through the last era of "The Loop" and am a few hours away from going on a two week vacation, it's time to geek out all over your internet with the best music to come out in 2009.
I will of course go into detail as to why I picked each album, but since I know we're in the information era, I'll also include a "music for dummies" 140 character or less explanation as to why you should immediately go out and buy this music. Think of it like Twitter. For rocking.
So without further ado . . .
Smashley's Top 10 Albums of 2009
10.) Sam Means - The Sinking of Santa Isabel 140 characters or less : Former instrumentalist for The Format creates a 26-track opus of dreamy pop rock, six of which (finally) feature him on vocals. Top Track : "Believe" Oddly enough, unlike past years, this is the only Arizona artist to make my list this year. Many people know Sam Means as the bearded side of The Format duo, and who was clearly the Wizard behind so many of The Format's expertly crafted pop songs. After The Format declared hiatus, Sam kept a pretty low profile, settling down in Arizona but (as it turns out) continuing to write music. In April 2009, he released the song "Yeah Yeah" on the "Phoenix : We Love It" Compilation that was released by Stinkweeds Records in AZ as part of Record Store Day. It was a selling point of the entire compilation, seeing as there hadn't been much Format music out in a while as it was, much less anything that featured Means on vocals. I found myself skipping back to that song a lot, a controlled, dreamy jangle song that features some excellent lyrics like "Came along and you turned me on with a little bit of love and a little bit of yeah yeah." It took a simliar tone to some of The Format's slower tracks such as "On Your Porch", "Snails" and "At the Wake", but with a tremendously optimistc tone. Come to find out a few months later, "Yeah Yeah" was part of a larger piece of work that Sam had created, a soundtrack to an indie film called "The Sinking of Santa Isabel". The majority of the record includes short instrumental tracks with six full length tracks with Sam at the mic. It features members some of the bands that were part of the "jangle pop mafia"in AZ, such as Reubens Accomplice and Limbeck. Much like the record itself, it came out kind of quietly, getting a pick up on Spin.com and buzz with Format fans. It doesn't seem like anything that needs to be "blown up", but definitely a record to be heard. The short tracks are nice for those mornings when you need to be eased into the day and is propelled by the original tracks that finally showcase Means as an exceptional songwriter (as if we didn't already know).
I haven't done very much research on the film itself, but I really should.
9.) Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything to Nothing 140 characters or less: Andy Hull and co. spill their guts all over this album in an incredibly powerful, nothing short of epic collection of rock masterpieces. Top Track: "Pride" Easily one of the most critically acclaimed, yet underrated albums of the year. Manchester Orchestra has eased themselves into mainstream consciousness by being besties with Brand New and coming out with I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child in 2007. They quickly became the kind of band you were excited to know, but that no one really knew about it. The songs on Virgin were excellent : raw, angsty, not sloppy but caluclated, with moments that make you worry that you're not supposed to be seeing so far into someone's psyche. The songs were great, but where there were loose ends in Virgin, their follow-up record tightened them up in a display of unmatched craftsmenship. There are still some dark tones to several of the songs, but it's clear with songs like "Shake it Out" and "The Only One" that this band is primed to go where Kings of Leon has finally conquored : into your little sister's mixtape. This is meant of course in the nicest way possible, meaning that this record is disarmingly attainable, yet secretly just as calculated as anything they've ever written. Andy's ability to pull you til your teetering on comforatble is exceptional, however I found myself relating to so much more lyrically and musically on this record. For me, this is no longer a band I want to keep to myself, nor should the rest of their fans. There is no reason that this shouldn't be one of the biggest rock bands around and I'm excited for when the rest of the country realizes it too.
"The River" .
8.) The Fray - The Fray 140 characters or less : No seriously, this is a really awesome record, despite (or thanks to) the ties to a certain ABC dram-com. Top Track:"How the Story Ends" There's a reason this band has done as well as they have : because the music is just plain GOOD. And for this record, the music is GREAT. This band seeped into all of our consciousness during 2006 with the runaway singles of "How to Save a Life" and "Over My Head". Almost every interview with the band included a "soooo, do you feel a lot of pressure with this being your sophomore album?!" and the answer was always, "yes, but we're really proud of this record." And they should be. This is a multi-hit, multi-layered collection of songs that come together without any hit of nervousness towards the "sophomore" stigma. There are very few bands that truly make their way into the hearts and minds of the listner, and I am hard pressed to find any song on this record that doesn't make me recall a memory, even if it's just something I experenced while listening to the song. On a more personal level, having worked at their record label, I was with this record from day one when they turned it in, investing so much into each song, each photo, each "sooo, do you feel a lot of pressure?" interview. Unfortunately for a lot of people involved in music, working so closely to a record makes your view of it skewed, either not knowing if it's really impacting or by some sort of bad situation that turns you off of the band. But for this band, I never ever had that. Sure, there were busy times and the day-to-day dealings, but from that first day and til this day, I am incredibly proud to have been part of it. These are really great songwriters who have the distiction of truly having a story in a sea of radio rock. For every band that tries to make it with licensing, The Fray did it first. And in a BIG way. And there is absolutely no denying that they are not some one-hit-wonder, but instead a band that people have adopted into their lives, including mine. "Say When"
7.) Desert Noises - Desert Noises 140 characters or less : Proving once again that the "lonely desert jangle" of the Southwest is very much ingrained into it's local musicians. Top Track : "Kelton" These days, it's hard for me to truly find a record organically and be "surprised" by it. The organic nature of music is quickly dissolving, with every blog telling you what to listen to and Top 10 lists like this propelling bands in a buzz-driven-oh-that-was-so-last-year kind of way. I might be jaded by the NYC bubble, where bands can sell out 8,000 tickets over three nights here, but play to a 600 person room out West. Things originate here, and for a reason. That being said, Desert Noises is a band that happened sort of accidentally for me. A few years ago I met a guy named Drew Danburry, a man with an exceptional beard who everyone seems to know since he's spent a good part of the last few years on tour. He's known largely as being from Utah, definitely a sleeper state amoungst what's happening in Arizona, the OC or even Las Vegas when it comes to music. There is an ongoning mysterious allure to that state for me, likely because of it's heavy religious demographic and tight knit (or so it seems) local scene. Drew sent a message about a video he had directed for Desert Noises for "New Man" off their latest EP. I was luckily in a "consuming music" sort of mood, so I ended up buying their EP on iTunes after a few listens to the song through the video. This band is on the same label as Joshua James and Isaac Russell, an impressive roster indeed. Their tone is somewhat hard to describe, because I'm so quick to putting them in the vein of a lot of the folk-influenced southwest bands. While it's clearly there, there is a tone that is slightly different that I can't put my finger on. It's mysterious and dark, less "jangle" and more ambient. Unfortunately they seem sort of stagnant right now, playing only in Utah and not releasing anything full length soon as far as I can tell. But the beauty of this new blog driven buzz driven era, although having found this band "organically", they're able to be found on the internet and exposed to a lot more people. As well they should be.
"New Man"
6) Brandi Carlile - Give Up the Ghost 140 charcters or less : Finally proving me wrong that girls can't rock through outstanding songwriting and an unmistakably powerful voice. Top Track : "That Year" Many who know me well and have heard my ramblings on music are very much aware that I don't listen to a lot of female singers. I've never quite figured out why that is. It could be that I grew up with an older brother and existed in a punk rock scene for a very long time. The emo/punk scene of the early 2000's was described as a "boys club" and it very much was. I saw no problem in turning the "she" to "he" when trying to make the songs apply to my life and never sought out any female artists to look up to in that way. It's funny since : a) I'm a woman in the music industry and b) I used to sing that I never find myself gravitating towards female vocalists, with a few exceptions like Rosie Thomas, Sara Bareilles and Nicole Atkins. That being said, this is the very first time a female artist has made it on my list. This is one that I've known for a while, having worked her last record and only really knowing "The Story", like most people who heard it on the car commercials. We started working Give Up the Ghost and I heard it several times in my coworker's officies, finding myself singing along to more than one song. It had a familiar twang that I had grown fond of by living in the southwest, but with a mainstream attainability that sometimes gets lost, especially with female artists. Brandi commands this record with what seems like effortless and seamless pop-driven folk/rock/blues songs. They are beautiful and powerful, yet contained, in every single song. Through my many listens, I'd often say that a record doesn't get more perfect than this, and it's true, no matter what gender. For me, this album will change how I look at female artists moving forward, and I'm grateful for it.
"Dreams"
5) Fanfarlo - Resevoir 140 characters or less : British band, while drawing several comparisons, commands itself with tightly written songs in the sometimes sloppy chamber pop genre Top Track: "I Am a Pilot" This record came on and off and back on my list a few times during this process. Buying this record kind of happened uneventfully, happening on it during an iTunes shopping spree and remembering good things that people had said about them. They sat quietly on my iPod for a while, coming up on shuffle here and there. I started revisiting the record around CMJ this year. Although unable to see them live because of work, I found myself putting on the record in the early morning, before the chaos of 75 college students and a marathon of meetings and concerts began. It had a peacefullness to it, although sprinkled with an intense amount of instrumentation. I think my biggest "turn off" as far as adding them to this list, is that they are so easily compared : Arcade Fire meets Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos meets the Lead Singer of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. I love all of those bands, but I was so anxious for something "new" that I discarded this record as being one of the most oustanding of the year. What I came to realize, after dozens and dozens of listens and seeing them live last night, is that while they have the characteristics of all those bands, they do it BETTER. Often times in the "chamber pop" genre, it gets so messy with the instruments and egos that you end up in this, although beautiful, jam session. That's not true for a lot of the music, but it feels like there isn't as much consistancy, or a need to say "dude, 3:30 is enough" However with Fanfarlo, they keep themselves contained enough to keep you interested in the beauty of a lot of what they've written. The songs become catchier that way and it burns into your brain like it did for me. There is no question now that this record should be on here, I just hope that this band finds their identity over the next few months in order to command the "chamber pop" scene like they should.
"Harold T. Wilkins"
4) Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons - Death Won't Send a Letter 140 characters or less:Midwest crooner with husky vocals and Americana sensibilities creates exceptional pop melodies with help from pop genius Brendan Benson Top Track: "Tennessee" This was a "where have you been all my life" kind of find when I realized that I had known about him for at least a year before I actually took a listen. Way to blow it, Ashley. Regardless, I was lucky enough to be there for this album's release, which has been on constant repeat up until this afternoon while blasting it doing work. Cory released an EP a little while before this called "Cabin Ghosts", which I didn't know was live until someone told me. His vocals are flawless and he has an effortless sensibility to him that is not easy for a lot of artists to achieve. While being sectioned into the "singer/songwriter/folk/blues/rock" genre, I just read part of his Wikipedia bio that I think speaks pretty well to the music : "Cory Chisel first connected with the power of song – and the spellbinding possibilities of live performance – through the music he heard in church. The gospel’s rich vernacular of loss and redemption also informed his innate poetic sense and lyrical range. “For most of my life,” he says, “my dad was a Baptist minister, so I learned a lot about being a showman, and I learned a lot about music. Many of the hymns from church still are the most beautiful songs I know. I'm thankful for growing up where stories and the pursuit of happiness were on everybody's mind. I think I’m still trying to achieve the same euphoria I felt at a very young age, when I would be completely taken over by these rhythms and these sounds and these stories.”" There is a timeless character to the music, with heavy organ driven tunes and vocabulary not often found in love songs. Several of the tracks were produced by Brendan Benson, who has an incredible sense of melody and I think really brought out a softer side of Cory. He's as commanding on this record as he is live, although still handsome and mysterious in that timeless sort of way. But with any luck, he'll make his way into the spotlight soon. "Born Again"
3) Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More 140 characters or less : Charming British and multi-instrumentalists expand the folk genre in a timeless manner of elegant yet powerful rocking. Top Track : "Dust Bowl Dance" I owe much of my favorite music to my former Epic officemate Rob. With his speakers being much more powerful than my computer speakers, he'd often blast some of the best music, including last years "Best of 2008" #1 spot holder, Bon Iver. In this case, however, not only can I thank Rob for introducing me to this band, but for going to England just in time for their CD release and letting all of us who had been converted to this band get a listen to one of my most anticipated full lengths (which I will buy next year, promise!). I had a few different EPs, some studio, one live as well as spent hours watching live footage on YouTube to find new songs. While this record is only available in the UK (in the US for a March release) there is no way that I could leave it out on that technicality since it has been spinning over and over. While this band has characteristics of other bands I like, they seem to have this incredible unique quality that has one over even some of my friends who I never thought would be into a band like this. They have a powerful presence, even with only four members and usually only powered by a kick-drum. Their is an aura of honesty with them, through their lyrics, the music and their stage demeanor that I think resonates with a lot of people. They're incredibly strong musicians who exist in this timeless and ageless place where they seem untouched by other artists. You feel every note and whatever pain was happening while writing them, as well as the tremendous joy the obviously have in playing this music. In their quietest moments or their loudest, they have a synergy that will make them incredibly successful, although hard to define. Regardless, I can't wait til the rest of the US hears this and can geek out with me. "Winter Winds"
2) Freelance Whales - Weathervanes 140 characters or less : Brooklyn art kids surprise everyone with a beautifully written pop record and finally help put a face to the "new york music scene" (other than MGMT) Top Track: "Hannah" One of the biggest challenges of coming from Arizona to NYC is the fact that I can't seem to find the Brooklyn or New York local scene. I've met musicians and seen "New York" bands, but none of them seem to identify with New York the same way that Arizona bands do. There is a serious lack of synergy, even with a tremendous amount of resources for these bands, namely the fact that the music industry exists largely here or LA. However, a band like Freelance Whales, although having come from different parts of the tri-state area, seems the most "Brooklyn" I've heard so far. Many of the photos you'll find of them feature them playing on the subway, or on a street corner on Bedford Ave, or at Pianos. They truly paid their dues in the local scene, with shows that aren't as easy to come by. They have enjoyed a quick rise to notority, most recently coming off a tour with Fanfarlo and signing a deal with French Kiss. This has much to do with the fact that the record is just plain GOOD. I heard that the lead singer wrote it after a series of dreams and put it together on this record. It feels young because he is young, and the band themselves have only been together just shy of a year. However, the music itself is sophisticated and excellent, with the "young" quality being more of a charming naivity that we all remember from being that age. It feels honest and candid, without ego or any sort of reservations. But this isn't your little brothers demo tape, it's beautifully crafted, well produced and features some insane hooks and ambient instrumentation. It's something that I feel can exist in the Warped Tour world as well as the Coachella world, and hopefully the band can find that identity through touring and exploring the way that older bands have become jaded in doing. It seems to me, like the record, that they just wanna play.
"Generator^2nd Floor"
1) Bowerbirds - Upper Air 140 characters or less : While this is no surprise to anyone who knows me well, this band came as a complete and welcome surprise after seeing them live in April. Top Track : Northern Lights I realize this comes as very little surprise to anyone who knows me personally and/or followed my many (many) "omg this band is so good" tweets/facebook statuses/miscellaneous updates since finding this band in April. I talked previously abou the lack of an organic experience in music and how so much of taste is influenced by other people, but I can say that this band is my own and I've been happy to champion them since discovering them and through the release of Upper Air. As a matter of fact, I found them completely on accident. I was out to dinner with a friend who mentioned that she was going to a show at Mercury Lounge to see a friend play from North Carolina. At the time I was generally burnt out on shows and didn't really feel like going, but a few minutes later, I got a text from another friend asking if I wanted to come out and see this band play at Mercury Lounge. FATE. I made my way over there, interested in hearing some new tunes. I get to the door and it's sold out (bust!) but I wasn't super concerned since I didn't know who the band was anyway. I called my friend who was inside to come outside and chat since I hadn't seen him in a while. While outside talking to my friends, the door guy walks over and says "hey, we have a few tickets now, do you want to buy?" DOUBLE FATE. Since I wanted to hang longer and enjoy live music, I went in. As you can tell by the fact that they're #1 on this list, the band blew me away. I seem to have listed a lot of bands I describe as "timeless" on this years list, and this band embodies that completely. They literally live off the grid in North Carolina and draw no blatent parallels to anything relevant in my life, but somehow the lyrics and the music still make sense to this city girl. They draw allusions through stripped down music to the desert and the sea and the earth and I think that draws a sense of calm in my very hectic life. I think that speaks wholly to just how much music can reach to different kinds of people. They command what has been described as "quietcore", rewarding a careful listener with some pretty incredible music, and taking ownership of a band like this. I sat on iTunes at Midnight the night Upper Air came out just so I could have it for work the next day, which I haven't done in a very long time. The later part of 2009 was spent obsessing just as much over the music itself and seeing them live and up to this very moment, celebrating this modest band's tremendous achievment in music. When I saw them in July, opening band Megafaun mentioned how excited they were to play with them because "we only wish we could make music like Bowerbirds'" Few bands will be so lucky.
The Loop : Next Exit - 3 Miles (An End to the Last 10 Years)
So here we are. I spent the last couple of nights sitting with some of the last few records on my 2007-2009 list, but when it came to writing about them, I was totally stuck. A big part of the reason why I started this series was to better articulate music, when ironically as I've reached the end, I have nothing left to say. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I've kept Top 10 lists the last few years and have talked about many of these records there. That's not to say that any of this was in vain though. It's been a remarkably challenging task, one I'm proud to have kept up with as best I could for the last three months. But as the holidays draw near and the need to post my Top 10 of the year lingers, I think it's time to wrap things up with "The Loop" series. I hope you've enjoyed hearing about bands you may love and some you may haven't heard of. I hope you got to revisit a few old records and a few old memories. This served not only the purpose of music but also to figure out the major milestones in my life and exactly what served as the soundtrack. Afterall, I wouldn't be in the business I'm in if these albums/songs/bands weren't in my heart and mind through everything in my life. I couldn't be more grateful.
I'm not sure what this means for this blog. I'll be posting my Top 10 Albums and Top Songs of 2009 on Saturday, but after that, I'm not totally sure. I may try to integrate music news, but everyone does that. I'm spending a few weeks home on the West coast so maybe I'll find inspiration there. Or I could just listen to music for the sake of listening to music, which is I guess what got me here in the first place.
Without further ado, here are the records that absolutely made the cut for this era, but that my mind is too exhausted to try and articulate. I assure you that every single one of these records holds a special place in my heart and has their own stories. It hurts not to talk about some of them, but I trust for many of them, the music simply speaks for itself. Enjoy.
Dear and the Headlights - Small Steps Heavy Hooves (2007) Recommended Track : "Midwestern Dirt" Video Track : "Sweet Talk"(please note spiky haired blond in the back. Yup, that's me.)
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (2008) Recommended Track: "Re: Stacks" Video Track: "For Emma"
AA Bondy - American Hearts (2008) Recommended Track : "Black Rain, Black Rain" Video Track : "Black Rain, Black Rain"
Once Soundtrack (2007) Recommended Track : "All the Way Down" Video Track : "Falling Slowly"
City and Colour- Bring Me Your Love (2008) Recommended Track : "Confessions" Video Track : "Sleeping Sickness" (check out the cool interactive official video here: www.cityandcolour.ca/sleepingsickness/)
Annuals - Be He Me (2007) Recommended Track - "Brother" (and "Ease My Mind" off the Frelen Mas EP) Video Track: "Brother"
The Maine - Stay Up, Get Down EP(2007) Recommended Track - "Daisy" Video Track : "The Town's Been Talkin' "
Alive in Wild Paint - Ceilings (2008) Recommended Track - "Crystal Selves" Video Track : "Ceilings"
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular(2008) Recommended Track - "Kids" Video Track - "Time to Pretend" (wearing capes!)
Sara Bareilles - Little Voice(2007) Recommended Track - "Between the Lines" Video Track - "Gravity"
Miniature Tigers - Tell it to the Volcano(2008) Recommended Track - "Last Night's Fake Blood" Video Track - "Cannibal Queen"
Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild Original Soundtrack (2007) Recommended Track - "Hard Sun" Video Track - "Guaranteed"
Matthew Reveles - We'll Meet Halfway (2008) Recommended Track - "Mile of Defeat" Video Track : "The New One For Reals"
What Laura Says - Thinks and Feels (2008) Recommended Track - "Done What's Right" (and the hidden track following) Video Track : "Wish I Could Fly" (Good Morning Arizona styyyyle :) )
This was one of the records that I thought I'd save til the very end, but the other day, it just sounded good to listen to. So I did.
In circling back through a lot of Arizona local bands in this era, I keep mentioning the little nicknames I had for their various genres and sub-genres. However, I was reminded about one of the most important, what is affectionately known as the "Quietcore Mafia". And no band embodies that more to me than The Via Maris.
It was a freezing cold night (for whatever that was to me back then) and my brother and I had made our way down to the Phix in Downtown Phoenix. We were going to see What Laura Says Thinks and Feels, who we had come to know through the radio station and grown a strong liking to, including my brother filming one of their songs at the Trunkspace a few weeks earlier. I had been really sick the first night I saw them play, so I was dying to see them again in December (...and see them easily a couple dozen other times since) The Phix wasn't my favorite venue, but was a nice big space that was incredibly hot in the summer and incredibly hot in the Winter. We were sitting over by the Laura merch table trying to keep warm when I heard one of the bands start. It was one quick strum and a male/female harmony singing "The skies are white, the lands are low. . . oh ooo oh oh oh . . . come breathe this air tonight." I remember my brother and I looking at each other and immediately standing up to see what sounded so great.
We listened intently for the next few songs, deciding that we thought he said the band went was "The VMR's". After they were finished, we ran outside to see the set times and found out that they actually went by "The Via Maris". We met the lead singer (and who I found out later was the mastermind of the whole thing) Chad afterwards and I nervously mentioned I worked in college radio and got a copy of his EP. We played it on the way home and were unbelivabely floored by what we heard. I immediately went to my Facebook and MySpace and gushed about it, saying something along the lines of "I haven't been this excited about music in a very long time." and it was true.
And for the next few months, I spent my time gushing about The Via Maris. I ended up working with Chad on a manager/consultant/promotion level, doing mostly booking and marketing, trying to tap into online resources and into the Tempe area since he had mostly only played Downtown. It was an interesting glimpse into the part of music I wish I understood more, listening to the record to suggest sequencing, album artwork, etc. Planning the CD release show and a marathon of shows leading up to that (some good, some not so good) That time has become one of my greatest prides yet greatest regrets in life. I learned so much, but it kills me that I didn't know what I know now in order to really get Chad where he needed to be. I did the best I could for being 20 years old, but more people needed to hear this music and I stretched as many resources as I could. Thankfully, for all of us, the music itself carried so much of what marketing and management couldn't do : It was simply beautiful. He has since put out a follow up record and disbanded "The Via Maris" as it existed, switching to a new project called "Chimney Sweep", as creative folks do sometimes. I think Via Maris existed in a time and a place for Chad, and I'm excited to see what comes next.
In several of our conversations about music/business and in several of his interviews, we discussed how to get people to listen to "quiet music". I had been into the emo singer/songwriters before, but something about The Via Maris was different. It wasn't quiet in the sense that it lacked instrumentation. Far from it. It was quiet in that it reigned in all of those insturments, and kept a soothing, even tone across the whole record. It takes an intense amount of skill to even out all of those elements, yet make them powerful enough that the listner, upon giving it a "careful listen", is able to pick out its many layers and deliberate beauty. This record is the kind that rewards the listener each time it's listened to, not only in the music but lyrically as well.
It's hard to listen to this record and not think of all the business that we went through over those few months. It's an unfortunate reality of my position even to this day, where I pull out strengths and good hooks and ways to leverage the image. But you know, the music is great, and that's all that matters. All that matters are the nights I spent driving back and forth to my parent's house during that winter break listening to the EP on repeat over and over and over and just how infinite I felt listening to "Wide Open World". The minute I don't feel that anymore is the minute I quit working in music. I still feel it, though.
I couldn't find video of any of the songs on this record, but I did find my favorite song, "The Better Year" off the follow up album, The Bicentennial. This video is pretty poignant in the quiet music playing over a talking crowd. Fight on, quietcore. The Better Year 6/21/08
The Morning Kennedy Was Shot - Pictures of Things Worth Looking At(2007) (*couldn't find the album cover big enough, so here's a lovely photo of them by Miss Janet Zhou www.janetzhou.com)
As I've mentioned many times previously, a good portion of my Sundays in college were spent either with local bands or searching online for music from AZ local bands for my show The Basement. I heard hundreds of songs from several dozen (if not hundreds) of Arizona bands, but it's safe to say that The Morning Kennedy Was Shot was one of my all-time favorites.
It wasn't always that way though (let me explain) I knew about some of it's members from their time in the band Not Quite Bernadette, who my high school booked on a show I helped promote my junior year. Their demo kept turning up in my CD pile after I somehow got it from one of the members at Skateland in Chandler during one of the RockNRollerskate days. I really do miss those days, where at any given show you'd go home with 5 or 6 jewel cases and discs with handwritten titles or photocopied inserts. Even to the point that I was doing The Basement, I got irritated if a band just told me to listen to their MySpace. No homie, do some legwork.
That band eventually broke up and they came back together with other members as The Morning Kennedy Was Shot. Their name came up A LOT as I started to become friends with the Dear and the Headlights boys. They would bring them up alongside the band Kirsh is a Monster, and the DATH boys even brought me hand scribbled demos of both bands from their van when they came to play in the studio. I kept getting the bands mixed up for some reason, somehow always thinking one was the other. Kirsh was not nearly as polished, in fact unsettlingly sloppy, therefore I assumed Morning Kennedy was the same way.
And man, was I wrong. A few months later, the drummer Wayne reached out about their EP release for Pictures of Things Worth Looking At. I remember booking February 28th really far in advance for their March 3rd release party at Modified. Again, all I had were the demos, so I wasn't sure what to expect. They came in and immediately the space felt different. This was a band whose music and overall "vibe" created a sense of warmth, and I remember thinking something awesome was about to happen. We played a few album tracks, one of which "The Rooster" jumped out immediately, and the band played a few songs standing in a row in the conference room. To the end of the show, that was one of the best performances I've had.
This was a clearly concentrated effort of songs, although short. They tended to get lumped into a more "jam" genre, however it was clear that, weither they wanted to or not, had an incredible pop knack. "Nice Moves" could have been a huge smash song had they had the resources of say a Passion Pit or Yeasayer, a song that when I made it my ringtone, had several friends asking what it was. The ambiance parallels that of Morning View era Incubus "maybe because they both have songs about floating on rivers) showing that this band had insane mainstream potential. Their live show was pretty great, with four intense personalities commanding the stage.
However, all the potential in the world only works if you're creatively on the same page, and eventually the band dissolved into other projects, such as Coats and Villa. It frustrates me that Phoenix could only offer so much for a band like this, who created what I feel was one of the best albums of that year. However, in going back to the demo CD exchange of the Skateland days, the resources are getting there to get bands farther, maybe MKWS was just that much too early for the trend of music going now, that has propelled bands whose albums are clearly trumped by a record like this.
Since I talk so much about these performances at The Blaze, here's theirs! I was sporting a pretty sweet hat.
And the full band version, which I think captures their personalities perfectly:
There are a few albums, for one reason or another, that I just set out to hate. Not necessarily all the time outwardly, but mostly when it comes up over and over in conversation, I tiptoe around the fact that "well, I dunno, I don't get it, really."
This is one such album. Very often when it comes to these albums I hate, I usually only listen to part of a song and pass judgment then. This album was in every corner of the internet and followed me most of the summer in some capacity or another (like that time I was asked if I wanted an extra ticket to see them, but I opted out. Way to go, Ashley) I heard a few people I respected here and there mention how much they loved the album so I went ahead and bought it, but then it sat on my iTunes forever, barely coming up on shuffle, let alone being purposely put on.
It wasn't until one of my coworkers called me one day and said "dude, have you seen the Fleet Foxes La Blogotheque session?" At that point, I didn't know what La Blogotheque was (but now I'm obsessed. Video below) so I said no. He told me "dude, just fast forward to 3:30, I don't really like this band, but it's really awesome." I watched through the video once, skipping through their acapella version of "Sun Giant" and to 3:30ish.
The band piles into a big empty cement room in Paris, with singer Robin staring around, seemingly oblivious to the room full of cameras and people. The band stands in a circle in the middle and starts the song, where Robin clearly turns back on and into the music. The cameras slowly makes it's way to Robin and to the other members of the band. After the "I love you, oh brother of mine" the band chimes in with a very circular string of instrumentation. Around the time he sings "in the quivering forest, "the cameras start circling around the band in this incredibly powerful way. It puts faces to the many instruments involved in the song, but wraps together everything seamlessly just like it is on the record.
And at that point, I totally got it.
I sat with the record A LOT after that, trying not to exhaust myself with how much would be going on in any given song. There are few bands that incite that feeling for me, who has a more limited knowledge of how a song is pieced together. They feel as concentrated as Robin looked when walking into that cement room, with a synergy that is so necessary to pull off such intricate music night after night. The tone was something that felt very signature Sub Pop (although not recorded with them), sort of washed down but bright and airy, yet clearly well produced. Robin's voice is effortless (as seen in the video) almost disarmingly so. They, like other bands such as The Decemberists and Band of Annuals, feel completely timeless. Songs like "White Winter Hymnal" are mind-numbingly brilliant, so much so that it makes me sad that most bands can't write to that same caliber.
Anytime I mentioned this band to anyone moving forward, I showed them this video. Obviously, there is no better way to end this. I put videos on all these posts, but you HAVE to watch this, starting at 3:30. Thank me later.
You can read every blog, magazine and hear the ramblings of every hipster in the world, but sometimes, no matter how much music you have, NOTHING sounds good and you want something new.
This happens to me a lot. I find music sometimes here and there, and a lot of times I invest an entire night into digging through iTunes, finding like artists. And sometimes, through the power of social networking, I get REALLY ambitious and survey my friends via Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. One particular time, a friend of mine from California recommended a band called The New Frontiers. Their name had been thrown around here and there but I hadn't followed up much, so I went to iTunes and bought Mending after hearing a few songs I dug.
This was right around the end of my last semester of college, and this album slipped into my consciousness right around the time that I was getting ready to leave Arizona and move to NYC. I had it on pretty heavily that last week before I moved, not only because I had become addicted to the music, but addicted to the lyrics.
This record is the kind of record that exists in your best of times and worst of times. It teeters back and forth on the idea of home, family, coming to the realization of existence, etc. I pulls heavily on emotions, no matter what they are for you at the time, which is something I think a lot of bands lack. I can only listen to ska music when I'm happy. I can only listen to Dashboard when I'm sad. But with this record, I found comfort in the loneliest of times here in NYC, or the best times. With lyrics such as . . .
"How can you live far away? This is my home and it's easier to see from far away." "Life is what it makes of you, so don't be afraid to walk alone." "This is the house where you were born, these rooms seem smaller than before" "When you want to run away form here I know you can't escape from all of your fears. I've made my peace with the world and all that it brings, holding my own." "In the morning, I'll be gone. . . "
These all made sense no matter what mood I was in, and I think a lot of that had to do with the music itself. It was catchy yet dark toned, but had the optimistic twang of their Texas influence. They existed so much in my transition from AZ to NYC, that I saw them right before I moved at The One Place and then again a few weeks later at Pianos. And, by way of this music, they existed in those capacities on two totally different levels. In AZ, I saw them with a good hundred or so kids. In NYC, I was one of 6 people who stayed til midnight to watch them. It was heartbreaking. You can tell the back and forth of this record's optimism had much to do with the back and forth of their careers.
Ultimately, this band ended up breaking up shortly after, playing their last show in Dallas in January of '09. It's an unfair reality of this business, in watching bands come and go and creatively or personally go elsewhere. It kills me to think of the little pockets of music I may have missed out on because they've fallen off the map or I was too busy to notice. I'm just thankful this record exists in this moment in time, no matter what.
I encourage you to watch this entire thing. Even at the show with a room of only 6 people, I remember this song being unbelievably consuming and powerful. I think that says a lot about them as musicians.
I think I was looking forward to this era (2007-2009) not only because it's the freshest in my memory, but because a good portion of my favorite records came from Arizona local bands, who I devoted a good part of my life to during those years. This particular band has been coming up quite a bit lately, mostly when I hear of them playing shows, one of which was last night with Jimmy Eat World. Since I was a big nostalgic mess because that show was happening in Phoenix without me, and I'm a mere 10 days shy of flying to the desert, I figured there was no better time than now to revisit this record.
This is one of the bands that "almost got away". I first heard about them when Jim Adkins from Jimmy Eat World came on The Blaze to do a guest DJ spot and played the band's song "Opportunistic", which he helped produce/mix. This band kind of ran in that circle, (of which I nicknamed the "Jangle Pop Mafia" or "Western Tread Mafia") consisting of JEW, Reubens Accomplice, The Format, etc. so their name seemed to come up a lot as it is. I remember penciling it into my head and then later downloading "Burn the Pianos" off of their MySpace (cuz you could in those days . . . sorry boys! I'll give you $12 next week)
A few years later, a gal named Sarah, who did another local music show before mine, mentioned Source Victoria was interested in coming on The Blaze, per conversations with her since she books shows in Phoenix. She didn't do as much of the interview stuff and I really liked the "Burn the Pianos" song, so I hooked up with them and had them on my show. Every week I had a live band perform and it was sort of hit or miss with the sound. There are so many oddly mixed sessions due to bad mics, bad board mixing, etc, although there were more good than band, in my defense. This one however felt FLAWLESS, probably mostly because of the band's incredible musicianship. This wasn't a band that played live as often as a group like What Laura Says, but had the chops of a group with 1,000 shows under their belt. I remember feeling absolutely floored by their performance and ended up using "The Welcoming" as part of my Sounds from the Basement compilation. It's one of those "DUH, where has this band been all my life?" moments, where I realized they were there all along.
Aside from all that, this truly is an incredible record. In researching a bit, I found an article that is partially titled "Phoenix band Source Victoria's brew of distress and pleasure . . . " which I think speaks to this album pretty well. It's much darker than anticipated and is almost disarmingly beautiful amidst heavy chords and lead singer Brendan Murphy's husky vocals. It plays out with the weight of a thousand life experiences, with instrumenation coming in just as full and exhausting (in a good way) It's a pretty big departure from the rest of the Jangle Pop Mafia as well as the folk/country leanings of a lot of Arizona bands.
The big thing about this band is their huge mainstream potential. This is one of the few bands that when I play them on my speakers at work, I almost always have one person ask me "hey, what are you listening to?" Since we're around music all day and hear music all day, for something to stick out like that is a good sign. The minute I heard "Until We Crack", I knew it was a smash, and was played quite frequently on my little radio show. Songs like "Miss Spiritual Tramp of 1948" are geniusly crafted with some insane hooks while many of the songs drift off into a heavy instrumental jam. They are currently recording another full length, the songs of which I've heard sound much more like "Until We Crack" in the catchy sense. Overall this band feels like one that is entirely focused while writing and recording and likely exhaust themsevles with how much of themselves is needed to pull off this sort of optomistic melancholy.
My only sadness about this band is that they play pretty exclusively in Phoenix due to family, jobs, etc. I actually put on a show when I was back in AZ last October just so I could book them and hear them live (among others) It's the only way that I've been able to hear the new music and I'm pretty much dying to hear what's next from them.
As of now, the band has this record up for download on their site for free. Just click on "take the fast escape" and a zip file will open up. No excuses then, friends. I've made this REALLY easy. http://www.sourcevictoria.net/
The only live performances ones were either really bad quality or of new songs, so sorry for the one dimensional video. I do like that the beginning card says "Just Listen". Good point, sir. No need for fancy language here, the music speaks for itself.
One of the many perks of my job as a Sony College Rep was that once a year, all of us college reps got together and spent a week in NYC, meeting with people from the company and seeing shows together. To this day, some of my closest friends were college reps with me. We are the only people who know this exact experience and it was always hard to explain to my friends. We were a dynamic bunch and had so much in common from the first time we met each other, even though 99 percent of our year was spent in our respective cities.
That being said, we all kept in touch on social networking sites sharing various inside jokes and noticing how on the Sunday night before a report was due on Monday, we all seemed to be online :) This was a great way to share our lives even far apart, and they'd often get my bombardment of events that were radio station or local music related and I got to see theirs. The Dallas rep, Jenni, sent a message to all of us about her boyfriend's band who was self-releasing their record, Sounds of Salvation. The band was called Cassino and they were familiar to me already because I listened to their former band Northstar in high school (thanks to a mix CD from my friend Sterling) I hadn't seen them play or anything but really enjoyed the song. Jenni sent out a few more notes about it when it came out, and I purchsed the record on SnoCap.
The song that really caught me was "Tin Man's Throne", with it's heavy guitar strumming and lyrics like "I need you here so I can move my bones" and a beautifully dreamy "and carry on the end . . . " sandwiched in there. It is very much in the vein of what I had become familiar with in Arizona, sort of a dusty, folk/country/americana rock band with jangly breakdowns and piercing, deliberate insturmentation. The lead singer's voice has always been very distinct, and carries nicely over this change of tone from his Mae-like emo punk band. It just simply felt like they grew up (as most tend to do)
I've been fortunate enough to be exposed to music like this, be it through my work or just in passing. Happy to share this with you like Jenni shared it with me. Enjoy.
And speaking of, Jenni makes an appearance in this video! It's really lovely, although all instrumental
And something that's not all instrumental, so you can hear his recognizable voice:
We already discussed how I totally messed up and got into Nada Surf WAY after I had had every opportunity to fall in love with them. I sort of worked through the albums all jumbled, starting with The Weight is a Gift and then getting to Let Go. But my biggest "really Ashley?!" moment with this band happened with their most recent record, Lucky.
Funny enough, I actually bought this album the exact day it came out. I was making my "rounds" for Sony, visiting various Phoenix record shops, putting up/dropping off posters for our priority artists. Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting to Stinkweeds in Phoenix because there was a TON of construction going on around the lightrail and to get there on any given afternoon took at least a full hour, if not more. However, this particular day I had some extra time and the traffic was working with me, so I was able to drop by and say hello. I was putting out some flyers on the counter when I saw Lucky sitting in a bin near the register. Without really even thinking, I grabbed a copy, set it down and bought it. Those days, I was getting more into digital buying but I was so anxious to have this in my hands. I got it, opened it, looked it over, got geeked out. I didn't have a CD player in my car, only a plug for my iPod, so I stuck in my "swag bag" with other assorted flyers, posters, stickets etc and went on my way.
Fast forward to October 2008. I had recently moved to New York, but found an long weekend with cheap flights in order to go home and see Arizona after about six months gone. I left AZ in kind of a mess. I was hired for my job on a Wednesday, graduated on a Thursday and moved to NY the next Friday. I packed up my apartment in a hurry and brought three big bags of clothes and necessary belongings with me back east. This trip served a dual purpose of hanging and bringing another shift of belongings back with me, namely my winter clothing (whatever that meant in AZ) My dad pointed out a few things I had left in my car that I may want, and so I started digging. I get to one of my old swag bags (seriously, I had SO many) and start seeing if there's anything interesting. Low and behold, at the bottom was my Nada Surf cd. I remember trying to remember to bring it inside with me for the few days after buying it but I kept forgetting it. I thought I had cleaned out my bags but apparently this was stuck in a pocket somewhere. I had never even listened to it! REALLY ASHLEY?!?! This still doesn't make sense to me, but what DOES make sense is that I have the attention span of a goldfish, so it's possible.
I got really excited, especially because that weekend I was using my mom's car which ONLY had a CD player. I didn't bring many CDs with me so I put it on and had it on circulation for my multiple drives to Tempe and back. One of the nights I was particularly out of it and just had it on as background. I started singing along aimlessly, realizing I knew every single word. I got to the song "Ice on the Wing" and rolled down my windows as I slipped back into consciousness, belting it like I hadn't been able to do on the subway the last 6 months. It's amazing how theraputic it was. Then and there, I knew that was going to be my top album of the year. It was PERFECT.
Well, as it were, Bon Iver squeeked by for #1, with Lucky at a close #2. This band has such an incredible ear for great pop music, and kept up up their amazing lyrics. And to think, I almost missed it! Rock and roll fail #1920381. Sorry Nada Surf, won't happen again. This is the JAM (also, the single)
