The Loop : Wrapping up 2004 - 2006

The Loop : Wrapping up 2004 - 2006

So another month has come and gone and we're now six years into our journey into ten years of great albums. This has been an eye opening challenge for me, forcing me to learn how to articulate music in more ways than "dance party" and "awesome". I feel like I got to more albums than last month, however no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get to all of them. At the end of this, I'll post some of the bands that just didn't make it before December, either by lack of things to say or just plain time, but who I highly recommend.

I chose the picture of The Blaze 1260AM studios because it became clear to me just how much of this time period was influenced by working in college radio at ASU. As I mentioned in my Band of Horses feature, the idea of college radio was fairly new to me starting out, having only listened to our alternative/modern rock stations. Going back through these albums and realizing that so many bands start there brings the title of this blog, "Seven Watt Media" into perspective. We only had seven watts to power our station and it's often joked that you can't drive to the next block and still hear it. But the music still had a home there and the DJs spoke with as much passion as I've ever heard music spoken of to this day. None of the logistics of reaching a mass audience mattered because we were championing these artists in every other way possible, on air and offline. It's a drive I try and still have today and hope to never take for granted.

This era also introduced a lot more Arizona local bands, as they were a huge part of my life during my time at ASU (and to this day) It's exciting to have found them as organically as I found some of my favorite national records, weaving themselves into a consciousness of just plain GOOD music.

I'm excited that it is now December and to dive into the last period : 2007 - 2009 and ultimately my top 10 albums of 2009. Ready, set, go.

But first a re-cap of albums we just didn't have time for (but still love! immensely!)

Augustana - All the Stars and Boulevards:
"Sunday Best"

Augustana - New Music - More Music Videos

As Tall As Lions - S/T
"I'm Kicking Myself"


Ben Lee - Awake is the New Asleep
"Into the Dark"


Cartel - Chroma
"Luckie St"


The Decemberists - Picaresque
"The Engine Driver"


Get Back Loretta - Over the Wall
"Gotta Believe"


Goodbye Tomorrow - Tied By Miles
"Time Restrains"


Great Lake Swimmers - Bodies and Minds
"Various Stages"


Peachcake - Chain Letter EP
"Stop Acting Like You Know More About the Internet Cafe Than Me"


De Capulet - Ourglass EP
"The Paradigm"



And what we DID cover in 2004-2006 (and 35 handy links!):

• The Loop : Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
• The Loop : Garden State Soundtrack
• The Loop : Ryan Adams and The Cardinals - Cold Ros...
• The Loop : Ed Harcourt - Strangers
• The Loop : Gratitude - S/T
• The Loop : Skybox - Arco Iris
• The Loop : Hellogoodbye - Hellogoodbye EP
• The Loop : Green Day - American Idiot
• The Loop : Band of Horses - Everything All the Tim...
• The Loop : Nada Surf - The Weight is a Gift
• The Loop : The Academy Is . . . - Almost Here
• The Loop : Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake It's Morni...
• The Loop : The Loveblisters - EP
• The Loop : Matt Pond PA - Winter Songs EP
• The Loop : Rogue Wave - Descended Like Vultures
• The Loop : Mew - The Zookeeper's Boy EP
• The Loop : The Snake The Cross The Crown - Mander ...
• The Loop : Joshua Radin - We Were Here
• The Loop : The Fray - How to Save a Life
• The Loop : Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
• The Loop : Zachary James Dodds - Words, Cranes & M...
• The Loop : DeYarmond Edison - Silent Signs
• The Loop : Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther...
• The Loop : Reubens Accomplice - The Bull, The Ball...
• The Loop : Jack's Mannequin - Everything in Transi...
• The Loop : Various Artists - Not One Light Red : A...
• The Loop : Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - Th...
• The Loop : Rocky Votolato - Makers
• The Loop : Denison Witmer - Are You a Dreamer?
• The Loop : Say Anything - ...Is A Real Boy
• The Loop : Matt Nathanson - At the Point (Live)
• The Loop : The Long Winters - Ultimatum EP
• The Loop : Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Shake the...
• The Loop : Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the ...
• The Loop: Jimmy Eat World - Futures

Hello December.

The Loop : Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

Sufjan Stevens - Illionis (2005)

To be honest, this record is so expansive and exhausting, I was at a complete loss for words. I don't feel like I could wrap it up any better than Pitchfork did in the closing for their review in 2005. It may seem like a cop out, but this record is best experienced, not talked about.

"At seventy-four minutes, Illinois is an exercise in patience; considering how long it takes to dog paddle through all the gooey orchestration, chugging through Stevens' meticulous arrangements and parsing out the melodies, Illinois is a bit of a commitment. Its 21 tracks consist of a handful of transitional snippets (many arresting in their own right), and plenty of good stuff ("The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulder", in particular) is buried way in the back, rewarding those who persevere, and in both theory and execution, Illinois is huge, a staggering collection of impeccably arranged American tribute songs." - Pitchfork Media

The Loop : Garden State Soundtrack

Garden State Soundtrack (2004)

I bet you saw this one coming.

As cliche as it is to include this record on this list, that's because it is the ultimate cliche. However, I guess it's a matter of perspective on if that's a bad thing or not.

Most of us know the story of this movie : indie film does good, soundtrack hand picked by director becomes legendary in indie rock, selling into gold record status and making us wonder if The Shins would in fact "totally change (our) live(s)."

Well, as a matter of fact, they did.

It had been a long time since a soundtrack had really stuck in the hearts and minds of most people, and for some reason, according to Braff, it sort of happened on accident. Most of these songs were simply a soundtrack to his current life, most of which really had very little to do with the film itself. But as I read recently, it just seems weird that any of these songs were apart to begin with. By just being a fan, Braff successfully created the ultimate emo mixtape.

There was not one 2004 Winter Break get-together that didn't include a showing or suggestion of watching Garden State, and I truly feel like it had much to do with the music. So much so, that I saw it a whopping THREE times in the theatres, my first time, the second time to hear the music again with the movie and the third to convince a friend that the music was THAT good. Every Facebook profile listed each band in their "favorite bands" section (as if they owned an extensive catalog of Remy Zero?) and The Shins (as well as the other artists featured) were catapulted from indie obscurity to life-changers. The lo-fi collection of music shifted from dreamy to epic and back again, much like the course of the movie. To this day, soundtrack marketing meetings are probably scrambling to have the "Garden State plan". But the best part being that there really wasn't a plan at all. Just really great music . . . finally.

There is absolutely no denying the power this film and this soundtrack had to us 18-20 somethings who encountered it. Period.

The Loop : Ryan Adams and The Cardinals - Cold Roses

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Cold Roses (2005)

Confession : Ryan Adams is one of those artists I totally missed the boat on.

A few years ago, I was seeing my friend Matthew play at Modified Arts (under his moniker "Poem" www.myspace.com/poemmusic) Matthew has one of those truly captivating personalities with a touch of self destruction. His live shows feel very much in the vein of Bright Eyes or Elliott Smith, where the beauty and the tragedy intertwine between songs about loving your neighbor and the ever present frailties of life. It's a very human experience. During this set, he went into a Ryan Adams cover song. Every once in a while, if I don't know the band or it's a cover and I hear a song that I like, I'll take the lyrics and text them to myself so I'll look them up later. This also happened with another one of my favorite Matthews, Matthew Reveles, when he covered an Old 97's song "Designs on You". I jotted down a few of the lines : "There's somethin' in the way she easies my mind . . . I leave Carolina every night in my dreams . . . When, when will you come back home. . . " I text my brother and it turns out that the latter is the title of the song and it's from his album Cold Roses, which he assures me is a great place to start with Ryan, so I did.

I was obviously aware of Ryan Adams. He had made his dent and quickly become a poster child in the "alt-country" world. I think through the course of time and music and how music is consumed, we don't have the same kind of icons that my parents would have had in Bob Dylan or Elvis. We have huge superstars, but because of how much we now know about these superstars through the internet, TV and what consumers need to put these artists in their hearts and minds, the mysterious quality of Bob Dylan doesn't seem to exist anymore. It feels though that this scene took Ryan Adams' candid personalitity matched with his clearly dark undertones and championed him as their modern day hero. That's certainly not to say that Ryan has gained fame on image alone, because the music has set a tone for so many alt-country crooners after him, but it's probably why so many have stuck with him through his many incarnations. We could make him our mystery.

However, the best part about Cold Roses is that it feels like his MOST candid work, all while being a collaborative effort with his on again off again band The Cardinals. I'd imagine being put on a pedastol either sat TOO well for Ryan or not well at all, as it goes with some of music's tragic eccentrics. However, I feel that lyrically he was more captivating and musically expanded, perhaps by his own means or by the insight of The Cardinals on this record. The idea of "cold" is painted throughout the tracks, and maybe it's just the album cover, but the feeling of blue is present the entire time. It is still very much about Ryan despite it being a "band", and it shows why people took ownership of him from day one.

This record is beautiful and tragic and I think makes Ryan as human as he's ever been, despite him possibly wanting to fade into the ensemble. I feel like so many of my beautifully tragic friends take musical cues from him which is why Matthew covering him was so fitting. It's human for Ryan and it's human for everyone who could finally take something from it for themselves, too.

The Loop : Ed Harcourt - Strangers

Ed Harcourt - Strangers (2005)

In 2006, I was fortunate to attend the South by Southwest Music Festival and Conference in Austin, TX. This week-long rock and roll summer camp is legendary, especially for those of us who lived in the Southwest, since it was a mere 16 hour drive from Arizona. However, bands and industry folk from across the world make the trek there every March, with over 1,000 performances in various venues across Downtown Austin. It's a taste-making, hand-shaking explosion of music and my trips there in 2006 and 2008 are two of the best weeks of my life. Period. To this day, I'm still stalking their website to find out how I can get a job working to plan such an incredible event (seriously! hire me!)

In 2006, however, I had a badge to attend the actual conference portion as well as the shows at night. The conference exists in a series of "panels" throughout the daytime (while most are sleeping off their hangovers or attending day parties) I geeked out completely about getting to attend these panels, taking quick courses in Artist Management, packaging, PR, new media and trends as well as really fun interviews with folks like Neil Young (the keynote that year) and Morrissey. These panels boasted experts in the respective cateories, record execs, some celebrities, some dudes who just knew a lot, etc. During the week I ended up going to a panel called "Breaking British Buzz Bands", since I knew very little about international marketing of music, however it had apparently fallen apart as far as speakers over the course of the week. When you walked into most of the panels, they'd have white name cards for each speaker, and with this having obviously changed speakers, there were a few names hand written on the cards. I look over them and see "E. Harcourt" on the left. I do a quick doubletake, since it is a British panel and the Ed Harcourt I had come to love through the album Strangers was in fact British. I anxiously waited and low and behold it was him who had stepped in.

Ed was not a rockstar by any means, but I was a really big fan of his record and excited to hear what he had to say. A lot of it sounded like moon language, considering I had no concept of what Radio 1 meant back then. I tried to come up with a really cool question to ask Ed, because I'm creepy, and ended up taking to him afterwards with some question about college radio (since we played his album and I had no other point of reference) It was silly and I was 19, but hey, it was a fun surprise. Later that night, I was waiting in line at Emo's when he walked by, looked over at me and said "Oh, hey!" and I said "Hey!" back. From that point on, I boasted that Ed and I were on "Hey" level. I am a nerd.

This story really has very little to do with the album, other than I loved it so much that I geeked out at something so informal. I found his songs through college radio and picked up the record soon after. He gained a little commercial success with the song "Strangers" featured on a few TV shows and heard occasionally when I was out shopping (really) His sound was very much in the vein of Badly Drawn Boy and hosted a large array of instrumentation centered around his piano playing. It's dreamy and poppy yet intricate and deliberate. He was certainly an authority on buzzing in Britain, because he was, however nothing really ever clicked for him in the US. With it's incredible pop sensibilities, timeless instrumentation and powerful vocals, it really should have been a bigger record all around.

So there's that. And here's his music. Enjoy.

Strangers: Who's Next? Exclusive Performance @ Yahoo! Video

The Loop : Gratitude - S/T

Gratitude - S/T (2005)

No man has mastered the art of the side-project like Jonah Mantranga. I already revisited his Onelinedrawing record, Visitor, but by nature of this man's musical ADD and my love for all things Jonah, he's made his way onto this list yet again.

While I mentioned Onelinedrawing caught my eye as a singer/songwriter on a hard rock show, Jonah has been known to rock in the past. His band New End Original boasts one of my favorite rock songs, "Lukewarm" and his band Far cause a huge stirr (at least in NYC) when they reformed this month to play a few shows here. People have stayed invested in him not only because of his good nature, but because his track record boasts some pretty great records with his many monikers and collaborators.

There was no question then that I'd pick up this record when it was announced and it's safe to say that this is my favorite of all the Mantranga projects. It was a side of Jonah I hadn't really seen, still "rocking", but with some incredible hooks and mainstream potential. So much so that they were picked up by Atlantic and this record released in 2005. As far as I know, it came out fairly quietly. The first single, "Drive Away" was a clear-cut smash with likely a lack of focus on the side of radio. It was a strange time for music in general, neither here no there with a direction for modern rock. I'm afraid that's where this band fell into for a lot of people, met with mostly indifference.

However, part of what I loved about this record was that I felt Jonah opened up more than I had ever seen him do. He was always very candid with his Onelinedrawing stuff, mostly in the lyrics but also divuldging a lot of detail in on-stage banter at shows. However, while the lyrics were not as personal (at least from what i can tell), his live performance was amazing. He took ownership of every song and exploded all over the stage. I only got a chance to see them play twice, once at Old Brickhouse in Downtown Phoenix and again at The Clubhouse, shortly before they broke up (there were only about 20 people there, nice job, Phoenix) Unfortuantely it was a sign of things to come.

I dont think I ever found out the full reason for them disbanding, but what I do know is that whatever synergy Jonah found with this project apart from his other endeavors just plain worked. Songs like "Sadie", "Last" and "This is the Part" were clear hits if the band had time to be developed, and the willingless to develop themselves. I'm sad their time was so short but thankful that they have this record to show for it.

Dude, there were hardly any videos of this band. The official video for "Drive Away" is quite good if you wanna look it up, but label big wigs won't let me get the embed code (as it goes)

The Loop : Skybox - Arco Iris

Skybox - Arco Iris (2006)

So I feel like I've already talked a lot about working in college radio and previously about the funny circumstances in which I first really met Skybox, but it's still kind of a funny story so I'll give you the cliffs notes version.

1) Booked local band Skybox for a show in 2005
2) Loved Skybox
3) Booked Skybox for very first episode "The Basement" in 2006 to promote their upcoming CD release.
4) Told Skybox to get to the studio at 7:30PM for the 8:00PM show.
5) Get a call at 7:30AM that morning because they were standing outside the studio.
6) D'oh!
7) Band goes home and sleeps, comes back at night and we all have a good chuckle.

8) Band's performance had me so floored about having live music on the air that I eventually had a live performance every week for the next 2 1/2 years.

As you can see, this band left a dent in my life (in a good way of course) So much so that their CD release show the Friday after they came to The Blaze has gone down as one of my all-time favorite shows ever. They had a sound that was so unique and definitely not in the tone of what was happening in Tempe at the time. We were all sort of weary after the post pop/punk explosion and still existing in the jangle pop shadow of The Format and Gin Blossoms, so the direction was in our hands. Skybox's sound is best compared to that of Jellyfish or the new record from Fun. ; a sort of campy, flashy, poppy, almost musical-esque sound, very well produced and vibrant.

While the album didn't play out like a "musical" per say in being a cohesive story (at least I don't think so?) the band carefully crafted their CD release to paint the picture of each song with props, costumes, people dressed as disco dancers during "Disco Duck" and a young Sean Brennan from (then) Ember Coast wielding a sword during "The Lass The Bitch and The Butcher". There were people passing out cupcakes in the audience and a giant explosion of confetti near the end. I had just gotten a new camera and grabbed a quick shot of the show that I think sums it up pretty perfectly.














Skybox explodes with every ounce of joy you should find in music. The songs are expertly crafted and the hooks are incredibly smart. It truly takes you on a journey, deliberate or not, and the attention to detail in everything from the lyrics to sound bites between songs to their over the top release show is proof of the kind of care the band takes in every aspect of their music.

They have since moved out of Phoenix and to Chicago, changed their lineup and are working on their upcoming release which (says Wikipedia) is due out in early 2010. The first song they released, "In A Dream" is an absolute smash, in every sense of the word, although quite different from the tone of Arco Iris (but still completely awesome. seriously, I'm so ampd on this song). I have no doubt in my mind that with the kind of savvy that they possess in everything they've fone so far, they can stretch those boundaries and make a huge impact. Just wait.

Fun! Found a cool video from the CD release show, even though the beginning's kind of cut off. Such a great experience.


And because people need to hear this song, "In a Dream":

The Loop : Hellogoodbye - Hellogoodbye EP

Hellogoodbye - Hellogoodbye EP (2004)

I spent a lot of time in college attending Peachcake shows, a local "electronica" band that I had become friends and worked with a la college radio, etc. They were unapologetically carefree and fun, which drew aesthetic comparisons to the ska scene I had grown up in in high school.

Stefan often spoke of some friends he had in California called Hellogoodbye (which I immediate got confused with local group Goodbye Tomorrow, as did a lot of AZ people) At one point when I was booking a show they were also playing on, he mentioned that this band would come out and play for $150, just to cover gas and expenses. He said that they were pretty big and would sell out the venue, but we didn't really have money so I turned it down (and kick myself every day). They toured with Peachcake early on and I eventually got a hold of their first eponoymous EP.

In the same way that I regret not booking them, I regret not getting into them sooner. This is easily one of the most solidly crafted pop records I've ever heard. While many bands in this genre fall into silly and unlistenable, this was clearly a band with an incredible musical ear. As it were, this 22 minute record was recorded almost entirely by the lead singer Forrest, which made it even cooler. I was immediately grabbed by "Dear Jaime", but "Bonnie Taylor Shakedown" proved to be the astronomical jam with me and my friends, often coming up on shuffle and at the radio station. It seemed so good yet almost effortless, in the same way that they were efforlessly clever and effortlessly fun to see live. They were just an overall solid band.

However, I have no qualms in saying that their full length follow up was nothing short of underwhelming. There were obviously the "hit" songs, but fell short as a cohesive album. It was fairly disappointing and I'm sure had to do with many factors, but I think across the board the fans didn't respond well and shut down. Here was a band that didn't take themselves too seriously and made some incredible music on the EP, but it almost feels like they took themselves too seriously on the LP. However, a few months ago they released the short EP "When We First Met", with the undeniable smash song, "When We First Met". It's taken them in a less synthy, more Vampire Weekend-ey direction and it sounds incredible. I think they've finally found their happy medium. and I'm super anxious to hear what they have next.

The smash jam


And just because I love this new song so much and want people to hear it.

The Loop : Green Day - American Idiot

Green Day - American Idiot (2004)

Say what you want about Green Day, but here is what I have to say.

Green Day came to town on the American Idiot Tour during my sophomore year of college, over a year after the album had come out. After hearing that Jimmy Eat World would be opening, it was my mission to get into this very expensive arena show. I had batted back and forth on if I was willing to pay for it, but by the time I made my decision, it was sold out. I can't remember the last time I got so worked up about seeing a show, but something told me I HAD to be there. I pulled as many favors as I could but no one had a ticket to spare.

At the time I was doing promotions for The Blaze and one Saturday morning, ESPN decided to be on campus to broadcast one of our football games. Everyone was fairly worked up about it, so much so that they started the pre-game tailgate around 7AM in Lot 59. Since this would be on national television and since I had no shame, myself and my sports-fanatic promo staffer met at 5AM, taped our Blaze banner to two large poles and brought it to the crowd to hopefully be caught on camera. We sat out there for several hours, again, starting at 5AM. As far as I know we weren't on TV, but we damn well tried.

We went back to the station and had a quick promo booth that lead into the afternoon as people walked to the stadium, and we were probably zombies by the end of it. We packed everything up and I fully anticipated an epic naptime to follow. I'm on my way home and I get a text from our music director Matt, who I shared an office with and my overwhelming need for these Green Day tickets, who said he heard that The Edge 103.9 was giving away tickets to the show at some Verizon store in Chandler. Sweaty and exhausted, I didn't even think twice and drove down there.

I get there and there are several people in line to try to win. I was shocked. They did it in several rounds, with three people in each round answering trivia questions on Green Day. I knew a lot about the band because of my brother, who often quizzed me as kids about the various bands he raised me on, but not nearly what these people knew. I threw my name into the hat and was told I'd be up in few rounds. I quickly ran to my car and grabbed a pen and my phone and called my brother and asked, "dude, tell me everything you know about Green Day." He spewed out a huge list of fun facts, some I knew but many I didn't, and I studied up between rounds. When it came to my round, I nailed the most correct questions and won the tickets. SCORE! The folks then told me that myself and the other ticket winners could compete for "soundcheck passes" the night of the show, so I stuck around and went up against some pretty diehard fans.

This fire round was the staff telling a fact about one of the members of the band and we had to guess which one they were talking about (ie-which member started their own record label, etc) With three people up and three band members, one of us was bound to be right. I did however remember getting my questions right by just knowing the answer at first. It came down to the last question and myself and another girl were tied with most answers right. The last question was "which member of Green Day worked at his college radio station?" The irony in that was amazing but I didn't know the answer, but I just took a guess and said "Tre Cool?" and was right. I lost my mind and called my brother, telling him the 2nd ticket was his. All things considered : it being last minute, quick cramming and exhaustion, this was a huge feat. It's also one of the few times I accidentally cussed in front of my dad when i called to tell him the story (I was just so excited!)

The night of the show we got there around 3:30 and met up with about 20 other people to watch the soundcheck from the stands in a huge arena. Billie Joe walks out and says "hey there, this sound alright?!" and we nervously "WOOOOOOO!" It was completely surreal. Sadly we didn't get to meet the band and only got pre-signed autographed pictures, but we did get to go to a room backstage where there was a ton of free food and m&ms and got a goodie bag with a free t-shirt and Verizon promotional materials. Fun! The concert itself was amazing, two hours and some pretty ridiculous seats. Jimmy Eat World was amazing too, although limited to a half hour set. All and all it's one of my favorite memories of all time.

Oddly enough, just a few months ago, I saw MySpace was running a contest to see Green Day at Webster Hall, a 600 or so capacity venue in NYC. I casually entered my name and won, making that two Green Day shows I've seen for free. They played "In the Library", my favorite song, and played just like how I imagined they would have when they first started, an intimacy I was too young to get to experience after their blow out hit Dookie. I doubt I'll be able to see them in any other way again.

The amazing part about the American Idiot Tour experience was getting to see it with my brother. As was a theme in our first month of revisiting records, so much of my influence came from him and I was thrilled to get to share that time with him. I'll often say that I wasn't really raised on music like a lot of my die-hard friends were. I didn't start on Pink Floyd, I started on Green Day, and I'll never ever forget that. My only regret is that I wasn't born early enough to see their rise. Despite all the glitz and hype they exist in today, they were a band I could champion early on, no matter what level. The music was just that good. And despite how a lot of people feel about this record, it was a fairly ingenious effort. The "rock opera" had been done, but not like this. It told an amazing story and proved that Green Day can get away with anything and do it well. The songs were really strong (although sometimes, also long) and even the 'hits' that emerged were great reflections of the band's progress and sustainability.

This band has been around longer than most current college students have been alive. What has your band done?



Also, this is pretty amazing. Green Day playing my favorite song circa 1990. Thanks, internet!

The Loop : Band of Horses - Everything All the Time

Band of Horses - Everything All the Time (2006)

It's become abundantly clear during this month of recollection that much of my music was influenced by the fact that I worked in college radio for four years. The concept of college radio was something relatively foreign to me at the time I started working there, but something I still hold dear as a catalyst not only for broadening my musical horizons, but setting the path of my career. While our station held several formalities sacred, we were just a bunch of music nerds who were lucky enough to have access to some really rad music before anyone else. After working at the labels, I realize that this is often deliberate, as it should be.

One such band was Band of Horses. The funny thing though, is that I was hooked on this band before even hearing a full song. We had ads that we ran every few songs or quick sweepers between songs, sometimes purchased but a lot of times promoting our on air programming. Our music department started putting together new sweepers of records that were added, with quick snippets of the songs. One of those sweepers featured Band of Horses, and the quick yet powerful chorus of "Wicked Gil" ("shut of to all, i'm yoooooooouuuurrrrrsssss") I kept making a mental note to check them out but kept forgetting, as I tend to do. A lot of people mentioned how much they liked even just that small clip, yet I don't know that the song was ever officially added (although I might be wrong)

Finally during one of my many trips to Hoodlums, I saw this record sitting on the top of the shelves and bought it. Not soon enough! Band of Horses is the kind of band that teeters the fine line of being credited with "like, totally changing music" and constantly being compared to their indie counterparts (ie-The Shins, My Morning Jacket, etc) Being on Sub Pop is the best and worst thing they could have done, because while they fit perfectly within that world, they also fell in the shadow as hipsters became more and more saturated with knock offs.

But you know what? This is a great record, no matter how you want to categorize it. They didn't break molds, but they did make a solid set of songs, which clearly reaches it's pinnacle with the exceptional track "The Funeral". Some of my favorite tracks however are the stripped down ones like "I Go to the Barn Because I Like The", and "St. Augustine". I think that's where they dig their feet firmly into the ground of being talented songwriters, in their purest form.

The next album shifted the band slightly as they lost one of the priciple songwriters to starting his own group Grand Archives (which I highly suggest as well) This challenge proved to be met by Cease to Begin, with familiar vocals but a clearly more "rocking" tone. It was obvious where some of the influence had come from Mat in the first record, but how the group bounced back as a strong set of performers to make an even stronger record.

Needless to say, most of us are feeling the pinch for a new Band of Horses record which has been rumored to be in the works and new songs performed live, but no official date yet. I don't know about the rest of you, but this is a band that I am fully anticipating an amazing showing from, because they've proven it from day one with Everything All the Time.

I'd love to throw in a "deeper cut", but damn, you can't deny this song. I was also going to put the official video, but this live one is incredible. Please tour soon!

The Loop : Nada Surf - The Weight is a Gift

Nada Surf - The Weight is a Gift (2005)

This band falls into the category of, "Wow, you really blew that one, Ashley."

As mentioned in my Rogue Wave post, I wrote a piece on them when I wrote for the ASU paper. It was to advance their show with Nada Surf and the woman at Sub Pop offered me a spot on the list if I wanted to go. AND I DIDN'T. I can't remember my reasoning, probably something awesome like having to see the same local band for the 50th time down at Modified, but needless to say I regret it to this day and have now seen Nada Surf upwards of 8 times in about 2 years to make up for it.

Even that lack of judgment doesn't compare to the fact that I went as long as I did without listening to them, despite how long they had been around. I obviously knew the "Popular" song and many of my favorite bands cited this one as an influence, so I'm not sure where it didn't connect. I'm not even sure when it did, actually. I think I remember seeing/hearing Travis Bryant from Alive in Wild Paint mention it and for some reason I finally woke up and bought it around Winter-time 2008. I took it with me on a trip to El Paso with my family for my Grandfather's birthday and remember how awesome a song like "Concrete Bed" sounded as we left at 4AM across a bare New Mexico.

The lyrics are what really carry this album moreso than any of their other work. Nada Surf are the kings of the great one-liners and have the ability to make a story as mundane as taking out the trash and there being fruit flies circling around into a huge crowd hit is amazing. They can also play it simple and get a huge response with just "Awww fuck it, I'm gonna have a party!". However one of my favorite song lyrics of all time comes from this album and the song, "Do It Again", one which provides the namesake of the entire record. It goes : "When I accelerate I remember why it's good to be alive. Maybe this weight was a gift, like I had to see what I could lift." I know that line has meant a lot to other people as well.

The thing that gets me most about Nada Surf is that I tend to associate them with various boys I've dated. It's strange, considering for the most part their songs are overtly love-y (except, well, "Always Love" and "Inside of Love") but they seem to just be around when these boys pop up. The album Let Go didn't make the cut for our purposes, but was a memorable time riding with one aforementioned boy in the car and him getting all worked up with "DUUUDE, you say you love Nada Surf but you haven't heard the record they made that could have been one of the best pop records of all time?!?!" (ironically, that's the album that features the song "Blonde on Blonde" which is the album Jack Black's character freaks out about in a similar way in High Fidelity) For the record, listen to "Blizzard of '77" on that record. It might be one of the best songs of all time. . . . It also served as a soundtrack to one of my biggest relationship regrets, by way of a boy that I started getting into during SXSW of that year (as I was chasing Nada Surf around the festival, to no avail) and who I never should have let go (it all comes full circle, yeah?) I still think of him whenever I hear this record (emo). It's important to make music your own in that way, so it becomes human.

All in all, this is a band I've been able to share with a lot of friends, from my haphazard fan friends to my elitist hipster friends, they all love Nada Surf. I'm so glad I didn't go any longer without them in my life.

I haven't really been posting acoustic videos of the "rock" bands I feature, but it works for this band, and this song.

The Loop : The Academy Is . . . - Almost Here

The Academy Is . . . - Almost Here (2005)

Unlike most of the albums I've been revisiting, this is one of the few where I honestly can't remember how I found it. It's very likely that it found it's way into The Blaze offices or something, but my discovering this record is fairly unremarkable comparatively to something like Clarity for me.

What I do know? I really like this album. It seems this record happened as I started to drift away from the world of pop/punk, a genre I had championed early on in high school with bands like New Found Glory and Saves the Day. From this point on there are only a handful of "pop/punk" I can admit to liking, mostly having to do with my job or the band being friends from AZ (we LOVE pop punk there) Even this Summer at Warped Tour, it became clear that it wasn't the scene that changed, I just got old. There were the same skater kids and neon advertisements, just a little more texting and guy-liner. Perspective changes when you're an adult, I guess.

The nice thing about this record is that I felt I could still champion it in the same way 15 year old Ashley would have. I remember taking a friend home and making him listen to "Attention" because I couldn't stop listening to it. I'd throw it on at The Blaze every once in a while and made many efforts to see them live (still haven't yet though) The songs were catchy yet cynical, a nice segue from the happy-go-lucky of some of my earlier pop/punk band crushes to some of the self-deprecating emo/folk I'd get into later. Neither extreme describes me in one way or another, but it's nice to have a little of both sometimes.

As unremarkable as my finding them was, my review of them is also unremarkable. But that's okay sometimes. There's no reason to dissect a record that's just plain good, right? Right. Let's get over our pretensions and just enjoy it. That's what made that genre fun for a lot of us, and something I have to remind myself to do once in a while.

The Loop : Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake It's Morning

Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake It's Morning (2005)

I don't consider myself an audiophile by any means. I know enough to cringe a bit when a live performance is poorly mixed and when a song is un-mastered. But I'm also perfectly content with listening to my "free with purchase" iPod earbuds on the train or my shotty computer speakers. Not to mention I put up with some pretty bad sound at 90% of the venues in Phoenix.

The other night, however, I had decided I was going to revisit I'm Wide Awake It's Morning during my commute. I put on my earbuds as normal but something didn't feel right. I wanted more. I immediately knew that I should wait to listen until I got home and could put on my giant noise-canceling, world-canceling Skull Candy headphones. I shut down my computer and all the lights and let it sink in. And THAT felt right.

The ironic part about that is that of the two records Conor Oberst put out that day, this was the quiet record, and arguably one of his quietest to date. He released Digital Ash in a Digital Urn alongside this one, which got overall "meh" reviews but still gets a few spins at one of the hundreds of one-syllable hipster dance nights around the country (ie-Shake! Glam! ...to bad ironic is three syllables...) However this album not only kept the theme of Bright Eyes as we knew him, but was sort of the end of Bright Eyes as we knew him. He eventually ventured off into americana oblivion, crowding himself with so many guest players that you almost forgot he was out of his mind. ALMOST.

That's where this record kicks in. It starts with his trademark spoken-word intro, this one being decidedly the creepiest, something about a woman and a man and a plan crash and her birthday. He then, very casually, starts into the first track. Dude's nuts! This album feels much less of a nervous breakdown than his previous records, showing the change not only with his music but within him. The songs themselves are fairly subdued and beautiful at times, bringing in legends such as Emmylou Harris to layer over him. Lyrically it's as strong as he's ever been, with lines like "when you love something, give it away".

The thing I love most about this record, now being an Arizona transplant in New York, is the fact that this album takes place while Conor lived in New York, drawing reference to "some actors West side loft" and "so i couldn't come meet you in Brooklyn last night." It draws parallels to songs of Ryan Adams and Bob Dylan, providing the romantic illusion of New York City to the 00's generation of kids from the midwest.

Moving forward, Bright Eyes became nearly unrecognizable, sans Oberts signature voice quiver. This record may have been as perfect as he'd ever be, a short but powerful sister album that overpowered even the heavy electronica album in overall solid songwriting. His new stuff is too polished and this is a reminder that he can be allowed to be simple and vulnerable and twice as powerful without all the dazzle.

As he said himself in this albums closing track "Road to Joy":
"I could have been a famous singer if I had someone else's voice. But failure's always sounded better, so let's fuck it up boys, make some noise!"

The Loop : The Loveblisters - EP

The Loveblisters - EP (2005?)

Midway through my Freshman year I started working for a weekly independent newspaper called Cellar Door. It served as an alternative to our school sanctioned/funded paper with a talented staff of writers and survived being in print for a good amount of time in a pre-blog world. I signed on to be Promotions Director and was tasked with booking the launch party / concert for the paper.

I had a hand in one big show in high school and booking a Blaze event earlier in the fall, but this was going to be my first big undertaking. We locked down a few bands right away, a few friends of friends in Iji, Holidae and Morning's Fate. We also nabbed a band called Skybox that a lot of people had been talking about. I called a favor to my friend Stefan to get his band Peachcake on board, but we still needed one more band as it was "6 Bands for 5 bucks on 420" (I swear the date wasn't on purpose, just convienent for adversiting) I tried to lock a few down as the headliner but wasn't getting much luck (including an offer from Hellogoodbye to come in for $175 bucks . . . *sigh*).

I then heard from one of the editors about a band that was interested called The Loveblisters. I had only barely started digging into local music and I wasn't familiar, but trusted my editor and gave a call to Rob one night to ask if they wanted to play. Rob and I chatted for a while, from what I can remember having something to do with Mitch Hedberg (since I think he had just died?) We locked down the date and the band played amazingly (albeit slightly late due to a gummy-bears-stuck-to-the-floor debacle a la Peachcake . . . I still love you boys, sorry for making you scrape it all up) EVERYONE was talking about how great this band was afterwards and through the course of the radio station, etc, I managed to snag a copy of their EP.

It seems like for all the years following, people continued to talk about this band. There was something so sharp about them in a sea of fuzzy demos from other local bands. They were clearly musicians musicians, with an incredible pop sensibility. I realize that term is overused, but if I could choose one band with the best "pop sensibility", it would be this one. They so effortlessly crafted some amazing music, and set the tone for so many bands that would follow them. I was lucky enough to have them join my radio show not once, but TWICE and they played at my "End of The Basement / Sounds from the Basement compilation release show, which in turn became the last show I'd book in Arizona.

Aside from all that mushiness, they were able to put out three great records before their time ended last April. While Silver White Sunlight and The Nowhere West are incrdible records, I'll never forget how excited I felt to hear "She is 90 (Proof)" or "Upon the Fire" come on the speakers at the radio station. "Soundtrack for Summer" became a favorite for my brother and I to play during our radio show that summer and "Until You're Mine" is one of my all-time favorite songs (so much so that when they played it on-air I audibly gasped and went "YESSSSSSSS!" on the air. On air geekout. Nice) They set the bar for so much of my further local music listening, and bands in general. It just didn't get much better than The Loveblisters.

While I'm sad they're no longer together, I'm happy for the fact that they were truly happy playing their music when they did. Their "pop sensiblity" probably had much to do with just how in tune they were in music in general, which is something that can't be faked. There's a good band and a great band, and this was a GREAT band.

Sooo despite my big speech about the EP, this song is actually on Silver White Sunlight. However, if you watch it, you'll see why I had to post this one. It's brilliant. (and filmed at The Blaze!)

The Loop : Matt Pond PA - Winter Songs EP

Matt Pond PA - Winter Songs EP (2005)

I have a confession : I got into Neutral Milk Hotel because of Matt Pond's cover of "In an Aeroplane Over the Sea" on this EP.

Hipster panel, I expect your call shortly.

When I first started working at The Blaze 1260, I felt I was "too busy" to be an actual DJ, so instead went straight for promotions. However, as it turns out, I still really liked music and talked about music a lot with our music director Albert. I was fascinated by the amount of music that would come across his desk. So fascinated in fact, that he invited myself and a few other people to come in and dig through his stash, take a handful and come back with opinions on if we should play it and leave a little sticky label on it with a description, recommended tracks and which tracks cursed (you're welcome FCC) Now that group of music-minded individuals is known as COTMA (Congregation of Taste Making Aficianados) and even have their own blog! (cotma.blogspot.com) At that point, I think we went simply by "Team Awesome".

I tore through my first round of music and went to Albert for more. He handed me a stackful and as I recall, he said something along the lines of "yeah, these are a little weird". I hardly recognized any of it, but accepted the challenge. I took my new stack in my book back and headed towards the MU. I remember sitting in the Schouler study (ya know, that room with the fireplace by Cereality) and putting on the Winter Songs EP. It immediately struck me with it's muted tones and the first track "Snow Day". Being a girl who had only lived in the desert, it strangely launched me into whatever perception it is I had of Winter. I hadn't really seen much of snow (or at least spent a good amount of time with it) but the romantic strumming felt like the holidays.

So much so, that he even took more polished, upbeat songs and added his signature static over them, including Neil Young's "Winterlong" and "Holiday Road" by Lindsey Buckingham and "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" by Richard and Linda Thompson. Oddly enough, the only original tunes by Matt were the three instrumental tracks "Snow Day", "Fall Two" and "Winter One". It gave me the wrong impression at first, which lead me to be unaware of his large catalog of work, including another one of my favorite records (and one who nearly made this cut) Emblems.

It wasn't until I really processed his cover of "In the Aeroplane over the Sea", that I was able to process this record. I started to listen to that song obsessively and upon googling the lyrics, found out that that TOO was a cover of one of indie rocks most beloved recluses. Matt does the song complete justice however, turning some of the more abrasive tones of the original track into beautiful instrumentation without changing much of the structure. It's finding the beauty in a messy song that finds the beauty in everything. It's quite beautiful.

At any rate, as Winter is now upon us, this record sets a nice soundtrack and paints a picture of the season, even for those of us who still don't quite understand it.

This is all I could find with any of the songs. Sorry it's slightly lame.

The Loop : Rogue Wave - Descended Like Vultures

Rogue Wave - Descended Like Vultures (2005)

In going through this journey of re-discovery, I've found myself sometimes getting writers block when trying to describe one of my favorite albums. As much as I'd like to say "yeah dude, it's just awesome, man!", I know that readers need me to be a little more articulate when it comes to describing music, and for my own selfish reasons, I want to look back and remember what it is that made me geek out about certain bands so much.

During college, I worked for The State Press, ASU's newspaper, doing weekly CD reviews that would coincide with The Blaze 1260AM's Top 10 spinning albums. The practice started to become daunting though, especially when I didn't know much about the artist. Daunting sounds like a bad word, but between the deadlines and 500 word limits, I often times would resort to calling something a "dance party" or "ambient" and calling it a day. This is probably why I changed to marketing instead of wanting to write for Rolling Stone. Sometimes, I just really like the music, that's all.

For Rogue Wave however, I was able to dig a little deeper thanks to my editors interest in the group. They were coming through town with Nada Surf, and she asked that I do an interview with them in advance of the show. I had only done a handful of feature stories and was excited since I had recently gotten the record and saw it as a "featured pick" by Stinkweeds owner Kimber Lanning in her store. I got in touch with Sub Pop and did my internet research on the band, calling them during the afternoon one day while they were on tour. Zach was running a fever but still sat down to talk with me, where we discussed the formation of the band (which happened sort of on accident), what it's like to work with a record label after self-releasing the last record and their relentless touring. After we were finished and the story published, I felt invested into this band and their record, so much so that I tracked them down that Spring at SXSW, seeing an awesome acoustic performance despite not getting into their 21+ showcase. I've seen them play twice since then and since their newest record came out.

I wish my long, drawn-out story about wanting to articulate music better translated into a really great and articulate review of this record, but I'm afraid I might fall short. However, rest assured that this record is just plain GREAT. It threw me for a loop as something I truly hadn't heard before but unfortunately fell into the shadow of their other whispery, dreamy label-mates, Band of Horses. Their journey from full rocking to acoustic jamming to drawing parallels to Simon and Garfunkel, involves the listener in coasting along with them through this record by way of Zach's controlled vocals amidst fluctuations of rocking and less rocking. This is the first record that Zach allowed collaborations with the full band (Out of the Shadow was written and performed entirely by him) which I think elevates the music. It is a far more polished record than his first, showing that he took direction from different minds across the board. Despite it's ambient (ha!) characteristics, it's the pop hooks that really make the record what it is instead of falling into a dreamy puddle of noise.

I like to think my lack of articulation on a record like this stems not from a lackluster performance, but from the fact that an album like this is SO good, no words can really do it justice.

The Loop : Mew - The Zookeeper's Boy EP

Mew - The Zookeeper's Boy EP (2006)

After being hired as the Sony College Rep for Phoenix, I was sent home with a goodie bag of all of the artists the department had been working recently. I had a ton of music to choose from, however ended up going to the Mew EP first, for one specific reason.

When I interviewed, they asked me a bunch of questions, obviously about the job and my knowledge of Phoenix music. But because it is such a fan-based position, they of course asked me my favorite band. When I answered "Jimmy Eat World", my future boss said, "oh, that's cool, except they suck." Obviously, most people would be offended by something like that, however I felt refreshed that I was in the company of people who gave honest opinions on music and cared enough about music to give those honest opinions. However, I also defended JEW to the death, and it's still a joke to this day between he and I. How awesome to have constructive conversation about music!

In pulling together this package, that boss specifically held up this EP and said "dude, you HAVE to listen to this. It's probably my favorite record of the year." This of course struck me as high praise from such an opinionated music guy and I was dying to hear something that he deemed totally awesome. I took it home and put it on my iPod, making it the soundtrack to my morning commute from downtown but really not letting it sink it right away. I don't remember when it was, but I remember walking in the morning and hearing "Am I Wry? No" on my shuffle and having a "holy cow, this song is so awesome!" epiphany, as happens a lot with me and bands that take a few listens to get into. I immediately put on the full EP and played it on repeat for several weeks after. The songs were quirky and progressive, yet poppy and catchy in a way. I was nothing short of obsessed.

I loved being able to champion this band, telling several of my friends about them and even pulling out my iPod and forcing them to listen. They were the coolest of cool bands, hosting an insane amount of instrumentation and a dreamy lead singer. I saw them play that summer at McCarren Pool in Brooklyn and was completely blown away by their drummer. Since then, I've only seen them play one other time, just a few months ago, and it was an all-encompassing experience. So much noise and so much going on on stage, I felt tired after it because I was so invested. That's a great feeling.

They released the full length And the Glass Handed Kites soon after and No More Stories . . . in 2009. Their critical acclaim is unmatched, coming from all the super hip Jimmy Eat World bashing bloggers and writers :) They continue to exist on this level of cool because they deserve it and have made some really intricate and involved music.

Far and away my favorite Mew song, and only featured on this EP:

The Loop : The Snake The Cross The Crown - Mander Salis

The Snake The Cross The Crown - Mander Salis (2004)

I hate the times when I have to force myself to be actively interested in music. It's something that has been so ingrained in me for so long, yet I sometimes have to distance myself as my work and my hobby overlap each other and sometimes get to be overwhelming. Lately, I've been thinking that I have very few social skills outside of music.

Because of some of these times, I sometimes end up at shows and go through the motions of seeing a live band. The walk-on, the performance, the "hey nyc!" banter and expected encore. I've started to grow accustomed to showing up only for the band I'm there to see, which has probably locked me out of several really great bands that I didn't have the patience to stay and watch.

However, The Snake The Cross The Crown ended up being a band that I thankfully came to the show with an open mind and ended up loving right away. I went to see Manchester Orchestra in the summer of 2007 at The Old Brickhouse in downtown Phoenix (what a great venue, parking sucked though) They were opening for mewithoutyou and I wasn't sure when they'd go on, so I got there kind of early. I ran into a friend of mine, affectionately known as EmoChris, who told me I should TOTALLY pay close attention to this first band, because a lot of people had been talking about them.

I was blown away by the first note. They had an aura of timeliness to them, something I find in bands like The Decemberists and Mumford and Sons. They seem to tell stories that aren't necessarily specific to the 2000's and use language that suggests that the singer is singing vicariously through characters that exist in other time periods. They played a short set and ended with a song that I LOVED and made me want the CD right away. I immediately made my way to the merch table and talked a bit to I think the drummer (?), trying to buy the album that had that song (which turned out to be the song "On the Threshold of Eternity", which is now one of my all-time favorite songs) He convinced me to buy not only Mander Salis which had the song, but also their newest record Cotton Teeth. And hey, I got a free t-shirt for doing so! Win!

I spent a lot of time with those records together, taking a while to get them on my iPod and jamming them in the car. At that point I had started buying a lot of digital albums, so buying a physical album, especially at a show, felt really special. I took them with me on a road trip to California and they ended up on repeat for most of our trip because neither of us remembered to bring OTHER cds. Still, music is sometimes best experienced that way.

In fairness, I listened to them almost as a compilation of songs rather than two different album, but for the sake of space and time in this blog series, I pulled out Mander Salis, although as a comprehensive album, I like Cotton Teeth slightly better. I saw them play on my trip to New York City that summer, abandoning the headliner (whose album will end up in this series as well, d'oh!) because I loved their performance so much. This band was one of the most underrated bands I can remember and was a casualty of what I've started to find is a very lackluster record label. They sign amazing bands, but don't quite know how to market them, it's unfortunate and probably had much to do with this road-weary band's decision to fall off the map for a while. At this point, the band suggests that they are "too far apart" to continue touring, but doesn't cancel out the idea of coming together for an album soon. They recently released "On a Carousel of Sound We Go Round and Round", a full length documentary on the band which features several b-sides and looks stunning just from the trailer. (just purchased it tonight, actually)

I feel as though this is a band that I screamed and screamed about but no one listened. I know they're appreciated in pockets around the country, but it kills me that they don't get the recognition they deserve for some incredible music.

Trailer for "On A Carousel of Sound We Go Round and Round". It's sort of long, but embodies the band pretty accurately. Gives me chills.


And because I love this song, "On the Threshold of Eternity"

The Loop : Joshua Radin - We Were Here

Joshua Radin - We Were Here (2006)

Singer/songwriters are tough. It seems like everyone ends up writing music, some of which are never intended to be widely listened to. They're often mis-represented and pigeon-holed into being "folk" or "emo". And as we learned with Denison Witmer, it's hard to grab attention when your tone is simply quieter.

Then there's Joshua Radin. I got this CD in a big stack of "welcome to the team" CDs I took home after landing a job as a college marketing rep for Sony. I gravitated more towards the Say Anything and Cartel's of my pile, however circled back to Joshua out of sheer curiosity. I hadn't started working as a rep yet and was unfamiliar with his back story. I simply fell in love with his quite, whispery voice and muted guitar tones, something I had grown to love from artists like Elliott Smith. It was very lyrically driven, with likes like "I could have lost myself in rough blue waters in your eyes" and ended with a steallar cover of "Only You". This is one of the few artists I recall describing to friends as "man, where has he been all my life?"

After a while I started to do more research and found out that he had only begun playing a few years back. He happened to be friends with Zach Braff (in fact, makes a cameo in Garden State in the "party" scene at the beginning) and had been all over as far as licensing. He was primed to take the same route as The Fray or The Shins in being used in licensing and breaking through in the hearts and minds of his listeners. However, this association proved to be the best and worst thing that could have happened to Joshua. There seemed to be a vast misconception of what kind of music he might create from Garden State-burned-out consumers. He was a good looking Hollywood type guy but didn't play the type of music that appealed to the Jack Johnson loving frat boy. Once that Garden State culture moved into the mainstream, people wanted so badly for him to speak to their realities and when it required a more careful listen, they weren't willing to take the time. It reflects an overall shift in attention span for most music listeners and Joshua was left floating in a dedicated cult following.

That's not to say that he wasn't successful, because he absolutely was. One of the Scrubs licensing placements spiked his single downloads in a big way and he was chosen by Ellen and Portia Del Rossi to perform at their wedding, simply because they were fans. Also, Ryan Adams played guitar on a new version of "You've Got Growin' Up to Do", which is pretty awesome. He proved to write great pop songs as well as haunting guitar ballads that challenged the listener in taking that careful listen. Maybe it was never meant for the masses in the same context as some of those Garden State bands, but an album like this has the ability to speak to a lot of people in whatever way it chooses. Even quietly.

The Loop : The Fray - How to Save a Life

The Fray - How to Save a Life (2005)

When I worked as Director of Promotions for The Blaze 1260AM, my secondary title should have been "Director of Stickers and Posters and Stuff". I had developed relationships with College Marketing reps from Universal, WEA and Sony (which I would later take the job of) and got my hands on some really cool give aways to drive traffic to our promo tables and help promote their artists on campus. My office would often explode with promo items, many of which I wouldn't be surprised to find buried under the seats of my car or tucked into drawers in my old office. It's only fitting now that I help run one of these college marketing programs, and find stickers everywhere I look. It makes me feel at home.

After one of the Sony BMG drop offs, I was digging through and organizing for one of our events and saw a small sticker with four head shots and the words "Welcome to The Fray". I had never heard of this band before (as were a lot of the artists I got, since college marketing deals heavily in artist development) I looked on the back and read that they had toured with Weezer and Ben Folds, which gave me an idea even though I didn't have the music. For several weeks, I'd drop these on the promo tables and people would ask me who this band was and I'd say "Hmm, yeah, they toured with Weezer!" People would shurg and drop them in their goodie bags, perhaps circling back later.

A year later, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who didn't know who The Fray were. After gaining momentum with "Over my Head (Cable Car)", they exploded into the national consciousness with "How to Save a Life" being featured on the show, Grey's Anatomy. You couldn't walk into a mall anywhere in America and not hear it over the course of an hour. It was a phenomenon. I ended up working that summer as an intern at Epic Records, and hearing the rest of the album tracks being played over the speakers in our hallways, eventually (finally) grabbing my own copy.

I nearly apologized for this being on this list, but I absolutely don't have to. When you really dig into the tracks, you find some incredible musicianship. There are very few bands that can grab and pull emotions the way this band does, which is why "How to Save a Life" spoke well into the hearts and minds of the people watching it be the soundtrack to their favorite show. Songs like "Vienna", "Hundred" and "Trust Me" carry those same beautiful piano tones to create a seamless record. Every song ignites a memory for me, as it probably does with a lot of people. They became the soundtrack to a lot of people's stories.

What isn't always talked about is how this band hit the pavement for over a year until the album exploded with "How to Save a Life". They toured tirelessly and watched their album keep a steady path while they worked. The Grey's Anatomy placement was huge, and set the bar high for any band hoping to find their break through licensing vs commerical radio. Despite all of the bands who have tried to follow in their footsteps of licensing, The Fray will always be the band referenced of breaking through this progressive new tastemaker.

However, it was the band's dedication that truly gained them success, and they've become one of my favorite artist development stories. It was development in every sense of the word, including sticking with them for a while until it clicked. So much so that I got to work on the album later on as a college rep and on their new album in 2009. I proudly keep my platinum plaque for this record in my bedroom as a reminder of that fact, and that good things can happen to good people who make good music.

The Loop : Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm (2005)

I was incredibly fortunate to have my favorite record store, Hoodlums Music, on ASU campus during my time there. My brother talked about it a lot while I was still in high school, and I was so totally stoked about what was in store for my college experience if THAT was my first indicator. I spent an insane amount of time there, not only as a fan but for work, and to this day look forward to visiting (their new location) and hanging with the Hoods. I doubt I will ever find a record store anywhere that I love as much.

One of my many hours was spent one afternoon while browsing the listening stations between classes. I was standing at the ones in the back by the office, picking up a few things here and there as I listened. A tall boy comes up next to me and starts listening at his own booth. He then leans over and points to the Bloc Party record. "This one is really good." he said. I take off my headphones, surprised and excited that he'd just offer his opinion like that. I had never heard of this band, but he goes on to tell me about them and how it's one of his favorite records of the year so far. I'm so happy to be geeking out about music with a random stranger and suggest that he pick up Ben Lee's Awake is the New Asleep. We end up talking for a few minutes and make our way to the register with our purchases. It turns out that he had come to play at some of my Open Mic Nights that I had done with The Blaze and recognized me. I get nervous and awkward as I do with any good-looking boy who knows music and suggest we become Facebook friends. A few minutes later, a friend of mine walks in and up to mysterious Bloc Party boy, as they were there to meet for a blind date. HA! Figures. We DID become Facebok friends and kept in touch here and there at shows, but for the most part I didn't hear much from him again. (We're still Facebook friends so if you see this, Hi Paul!)

"Garden State"-type moment aside, his suggestion was dead on and I LOVED the record from the first time listening to it. I had started to like a few similar bands like The Futureheads and Art Brut, sort of spazzy-poppy-British-fuzzy-rock. We played it a lot on my college radio station and I managed to get to review their show at Marquee a few months later for The State Press. The music was fast-paced and his accent thick and commanding. Songs like "Blue Light" and "This Modern Love" brought it down a notch, but a song like "Helicopter" kicks into full speed (and contains one of my favorite intros to a song EVER.) The record scored them HUGE critical acclaim, so much so that I had to beg my way into their show on New York the summer I interned. They put on an exceptional show, although their next stop in Phoenix was not so stellar. It feels like they ran out of steam, with their next records being, for lack of a better description, underwhelming.

I think the big reason I love this record was because someone else loved it so much that they had to tell me about it. The Wikipedia page goes into detail about the lyrical content and influences, and the many great reviews they got across the board. But you know what? I'll take an afternoon at my favorite record store and a new friend sharing his new favorite band over any self-important Pitchfork review any day.