Seven Watt Media

Songs for Jenni and Tyler

2011-02-15T22:20:00.000-08:00

Check out my post on Mulititracking (A Mix Excahnge) and this will make more sense. But in short - here are some songs for my friend Jenni's upcoming wedding.

The Adicts - "I Am Yours"

Adam Panic - "Peach"

Neutral Milk Hotel - "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea"

Alcoholiday - "Honey in Your Tea"

The All American Rejects - "Your Star"

Amos Lee - "Arms of a Woman"

Annuals - "Sore"

Apollo Sunshine - "Eyes"

The Aquabats - "Red Sweater"

ARMS - "Eyeball"

As Tall as Lions - "Love Love Love (Love Love)"

The Ataris - "I.O.U. One Galaxy"

Audrye Sessions - "Relentless"

Austin Gibbs - "Complete"

Augustana - "Meet You There"

The Avett Brothers - "January Wedding"

Badly Drawn Boy - "The Shining"

Band of Horses - "Marry Song"

Band of Horses - "No One's Gonna Love You"

The Beatles - "In My Life"

Ben Folds - "The Luckiest"

Ben Folds - "You to Thank"

The Cure - "In Between Days"

Ben Folds Five - "Magic"

Ben Kweller - "Until I Die"

Ben Kweller - "Thirteen"

Ben Lee - "Love Me Like the World is Ending"

Ben Lee - "Into the Dark"

Bloc Party - "This Modern Love"

Bloc Party - "Blue Light"

Bob Dylan - "Stuck in the Middle With You"

Bon Iver - "RE: Stacks"

Bowerbirds - "Beneath Your Tree"

Boy Least Likely To - "I'm Glad I Hitched My Apple Wagon to Your Star"

Brand New - "Soco Amaretto Lime"

Brandi Carlile - "If There Was No You"

Mostly Bears - "Leda Atomica"

Bright Eyes - "First Day of My Life

Bright Eyes - "The Calendar Hung Itself"

Built to Spill - "Car"

The Candles - "Life Will Shine"

Cast Spells - "Letters"

Citizen Cope - "Every Waking Moment"

City and Colour - "The Girl"

Coldplay - "Shiver"

Copeland - "Brightest"

Cory Chisel - "It Won't Be Long"

Counting Crows - "Accidentally in Love"

Coyote Shivers - "Sugar High"

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - "God Only Knows"

Dashboard Confessional - "As Lovers Go"

Dave Matthews Band - "Crash"

Dear and the Headlights - "I Just Do"

Dear and the Headlights - "Parallel Lines"

Death Cab For Cutie - "I Will Follow You Into the Dark"

The Decemberists - "The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)"

The Decemberists - "O Valencia!"

Deer Tick - "Ashamed"

Denison Witmer - "Miles"

Devendra Banhart - "The Body Breaks"

The Early November - "Hair"

Ed Harcourt - "Black Dress"

Edwin McCain - "I'll Be"

Elliott Smith - "Between the Bars"

Elliott Smith - "Say Yes"

Evan Brightly - "Light, All Light"

Ferraby Lionheart - "Under the Texas Sky"

The Format - "On Your Porch"

The Format - "Inches and Failing"

The Format - "Janet"

The Fray - "Where the Story Ends"

The Fray - "Look After You"

Fun. - "Barlights"

Gin Blossoms - "Follow You Down"

Gin Blossoms - "Til I Hear it From You"

The Frames - "Falling Slowly"

Good Old War - "We've Come a Long Way"

Green Day - "At the Library"

Head Automatica - "Beating Heart Baby"

Helio Sequence - "Hallelujah"

The Hippos - "The Sand"

Howie Day - "Weightless"

Iain Archer - "You Make Me Forget Myself"

Ian Axel - "This is the New Year"

Incubus - "I Miss You"

Incubus - "Stellar"

Iron and Wine - "Such Great Heights"

Jack's Mannequin - "MFEO: Made for Each Other"

Jason Mraz - "You and I Both"

Jason Mraz - "Lucky"

Jimmy Eat World - "For Me This is Heaven"

Josh Ritter - "Change of Time"

Joshua Radin - "Lovely Tonight"

Joshua Radin - "Sky"

Joshua Radin - "I'd Rather Be With You"

Kate Miller-Heidke - "Our Song"

The Kooks - "She Moves in Her Own Way"

Landon Pigg - "Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop"

Lenka - "We Will Not Grow Old"

Sam Means - "Yeah Yeah"

The Long Winters - "Cinnamon"

The Long Winers - "Delicate Hands"

The Loveblisters - "Newborn Stars"

The Loveblisters - "Until You're Mine"

Mae - "Anything"

Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos - "Will You Love Me Forever?"

Mat Kearney - "Nothing Left to Lose"

Matt Costa - "Sweet Rose"

Matt Nathanson - "Laid"

Matt Nathanson - "To the Beat of Our Noisy Hearts"

Matt Nathanson - "Wedding Dress"

Matt Pryor - "Only"

Miniature Tigers - "Cannibal Queen"

Modest Mouse - "Gravity Rides Everything"

Mumford and Sons - "White Blank Page"

MXPX - "Do Your Feet Hurt"

Nada Surf - "Always Love"

Nada Surf - "Here Goes Something"

The New Frontiers - "This is My Home"

Newton Faulker - "Dream Catch Me"

Nickel Creek - "When You Come Back Down"

Oasis - "Wonderwall"

Oasis - "She's Electric"

Oh Land - "White Nights"

Okkervil River - "Savannah Smiles"

Old 97's - "Designs on You"

Onelinedrawing - "Smile"

Paramore - "The Only Exception"

Passion Pit - "Let Your Love Grow Tall"

Peter Bjorn and John - "Objects of My Affection"

Ra Ra Riot - "Can You Tell"

The Raintree - "Pairs"

Reel Big Fish - "Alternative Baby"

Remy Zero - "Fair"

Right Away Great Captain - "Night Marry You"

The Rocket Summer - "Skies So Blue"

The Rocket Summer - "So Much Love"

Rogue Wave - "Publish My Love"

Rogue Wave - "Eyes"

Ron Pope - "A Drop in the Ocean"

Ron Pope - "You're the Reason I Come Home"

Ry Cuming - "Always Remember Me"

Ryan Adams - "Two"

Sara Bareilles - "Many the Miles"'

Sara Bareilles - "One Sweet Love"

The Script - "This = Love"

The Script - "Science and Faith"

Skybox - "Gravity Can't Keep Us Down"

Something Corporate - "She Paints Me Blue"

Stephen Malkmus - "Together"

The Summer Set - "Passenger Seat"

Taylor Swift - "Enchanted"

The Temper Trap - "Sweet Disposition"

The Thermals - "A Stare Like Yours"

Tim Booth - "Fall in Love"

Vedera - "Greater Than"

The Via Maris - "Shining Through Our Clothes"

Walk the Moon - "Anna Sun"

The Weakerthans - "My Favourite Chords"

Weezer - "If You're Wondering if I Want You To"

Weezer - "Only In Dreams"

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Maps"

The Rocket Summer - "Cross My Heart"

Top 50 Songs of 2010

2010-12-12T18:16:00.000-08:00

I already posted my Top Albums of 2010 on my other blog, Multitracking (A Mix Exchange), but as with any good year of music, it's impossible to only showcase the best 10. While I'm more confident than I've ever been in my choices, I also feel like I have a staggering number of other GREAT albums that didn't make the cut, for one reason or another. Many of these albums I like top to bottom, but don't get geeked out about the way I do the ones on my top 10. Some of these songs are the ONLY ones I like on the record. I suppose which is which is best left a mystery.

I was going to control the number/order of these, but they're really in no particular order except the first one. I suggest digging as deep as you'd like into all of them. I added handy links to videos and such to make it even easier to jam.

Although the list is somewhat daunting, I suppose the fact that I felt this many were good enough to post is a sign that good music does indeed still exist.

1) Isaac Russell - "Lighthouse" [from Isaac Russell EP]

http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/paste_station?station_track=track_21289_3670&mode=normal

2) Tobie Milford - "Tiny Eucatastrophes" [from Alyosha]
http://www.vimeo.com/5645436

3) A Lull - "Weapons for War"[from Weapons For War/Spread it All Round EP]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgxnWHQAkYM

4) Kinch - "Sunken Treasure" [from This is Flying Blanket Vol 2]

5) MGMT- "Congratulations" [from Congratulations]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB7IAXrCkO8

6) Rocky Votolato- "Lucky Clover Coin" [from True Devotion]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5UUcW1K3Ac

7) Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs - "For the Summer" [from God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm_XebMavGk

8) Surfer Blood - "Floating Vibes" [from Astro Coast]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_RBxVpM_AI

9) Mark Ronson and the Business Intl f/MNDR - "Bang Bang Bang" [from Record Collection]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM6TCGltfHM

10) Brian Lopez - "I Pray For Rain" [from El Rojo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X42irhmc_ko

11) S. Carey - "In the Dirt" [from All We Grow]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBOzTOUcxGw

12) Ted Leo and the Pharmacists- "The Mighty Sparrow" [from The Brutalist Bricks]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSiDyYT7aIk

13) Coheed and Cambria- "Guns of Summer" [from Year of the Black Rainbow]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YBJ7QDhhQk

14) Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos "Will You Love Me Forever" [from Buzzard]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VTwXjOkchw

15) Brandon Boyd "Runaway Train" [from The Wild Trapeze]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BctN5Tt47zw

16) Raining and Ok "Safety Net" [from Living Like a Ghost]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RvtaGh6vrw

17) Midlake - "Acts of Man" [from The Courage of Others]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb0mcSRtzkI

18) Back Ted-N-Ted - "The War is Over" [from The Mirror]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G971u9aZrM

19) Erick ARC Elliott - "Plane" [from Noir]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFldVS_gN4E

20) Snake! Snake! Snakes! - "City At Night" [from Snake Snake Snakes EP]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex_V8_kSB3c

21) Oh Land - "White Nights" [from Oh Land]

http://www.vimeo.com/12935868

22) Mt. Desolation "Departure" [from Mt. Desolation]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3arzVatUDw

23) Nada Surf "Love and Anger"(Kate Bush Cover) [from If I Had Hi Fi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7UZXiigiH4

24) Motion City Soundtrack - "Her Words Destroyed My Planet" [from My Dinosaur Life]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC_HwM5nSYU

25) New Politics "Yeah Yeah Yeah"

http://vimeo.com/14257058

26) Skybox "Trout" [from Morning After Cuts]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InsytZRLGFQ

and

"In a Dream" [from Morning After Cuts]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSqY_En0daY

27) Rogue Wave - "Solitary Gun" [from Permalight]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYdiUeeSGUU

28) Josh Ritter "Change of Time" [from So Runs the World Away]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjpo0ySgpdE&feature=related

29) Weezer f/Sara Bareilles - "If You're Wonder if I Want You To" [from Weezer Raditude (Special for Record Store Day 2010)]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqNvkNhyY0E

30) Young Man - "Five" [from Boy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5T_8gxOtkM

31) Two Door Cinema Club - "Do You Want it All?" [from Tourist History]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ta-kwVFyKE

32) Vampire Weekend - "White Sky" [from Contra]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQOd-9VQIUA

33) Dinosaur Feathers - "Teenage Whore" [from Fantasy Memorial]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gaNVVq_oM4

34) Kings of Leon- "The End" [from Come Around Sundown]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gqtif_AFBvc

35) Arcade Fire - "Empty Room" [from The Suburbs]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdYyYFymH-Y

36) Jukebox the Ghost - "Empire" [from Everything Under the Sun]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDZVkI8ouG8

37) 2AM Club - "Flashing Room" [from What Did You Think Was Going to Happen]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT7O_-NR4KA

38) Gospel Claws - "Walk Me Down" [from C-L-A-W-S]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xRyLw-PGKk

39) Miniature Tigers - "Dark Tower" [from Fortress]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SQb95ULaAo

40) Young the Giant - "Cough Syrup" [from Young the Giant]

http://vimeo.com/11606791

41) Austin Gibbs - "I Like The Ones" [from 1986]

http://www.vimeo.com/13985725

42) The Maine - "Inside of You" [from Black and White]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1RltuCpYoE

43) Black Dub - "Surely" [from Black Dub]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZeHFwIazW0

44) Ra Ra Riot - "Boy" [from The Orchard]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKkxXaeAhzY

45) Taylor Swift - "Back to December" [from Speak Now]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juFTc3gDkKA

46) Horse Feathers - "Starving Robins" [from Thistled Spring]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZWYwdtmztQ

47) Kopecky Family Band - "God and Me" [from The Disaster]

http://www.youtube.com/user/kopeckyfamilyband#p/u/18/QEEATfepXMw

48) Band of Horses - "Evening Kitchen" [from Infinite Arms]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiOmh5PzsSs

49) Stephen Steinbrink - "Wet Cloud" [from It's Not Just Kissing]

http://gilgongorecords.com/sounds/wetcloud.mp3

50) Ry Cuming - "Always Remember Me" - [from Ry Cuming]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQSU5nn76hM

A 90's Mix for Peter the Intern

2010-12-08T22:41:00.001-08:00

Today I was talking with my intern about the music that "raised us". Now, I'm not that old, but he was born in 1990 and therefore missed out on a lot of sweet jams while he was busy learning to walk, read and speak. I mentioned how I used to hide the Alanis Morrissette album from my Mom and he gave me a blank look. DUDE DIDN'T KNOW ALANIS! Additionally, he was only three years old when the Bayside High School Senior Class of '93 graduated. The next few generations of interns are just going to get younger, and frankly, I'm worried about kids who lived in a world without first-run Saved by the Bell.

Therefore, as a goodbye gift for his hard semester of work, I decided to make him a 90's mix. Again, I wasn't that old and not as aware as someone in high school or college, but you know what? I watched a lot of rom-coms growing up and these were always in the background, so I'm well versed in the hits. I threw in some punk and Pavement for good measure, as well as a few other hidden gems. Some of my Twitter buddies were interested in what the final compilation would be, so here it is. . . (in no real order, yet)

1) Alanis Morrissette - "Head Over Feet"

2) Bic Runga - "Sway"

3) Dave Matthews Band - "Crash Into Me"

4) Edwin McCain - "I'll Be"

5) Gin Blossoms - "Til' I Hear It From You"

6) Counting Crows - "A Long December"

7) Foo Fighters - "Everlong"

8) Goo Goo Dolls - "Broadway"

9) Green Day - "She"

10) Pavement - "Stereo"

11) Nirvana - "Drain You"

12) Sister Hazel - "All For You"

13) The Wallflowers - "One Headlight"

14) Elliott Smith - "Miss Misery"

15) Deep Blue Something- "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

16) Ben Folds Five - "Kate"

17) The Cranberries - "Linger"

18) The Juliana Theory - "Into the Dark"

19) Weezer - "The Good Life"

20) The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "Someday I Suppose"

21) MXPX - "Chick Magnet"

22) The Verve - "Bittersweet Symphony"

23) The Refreshments - "Banditos"

24) NOFX - "Linoleum"

25) Tal Bachman - "She's So High"

26) The New Radicals - "You Get What You Give"

27) Save Ferris - "The World is New"

28) Jeff Buckley - "Grace"

29) Jane's Addiction - "Jane Says"

30) Coyote Shivers - "Sugar High"

The Mix Tape Challenge : #1 "A" to #287 "Another Love Story"

2010-08-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

I'm about four days into "The Mixtape Challenge", and still sort of unclear as to how exactly I'm going to document it. However, here are a few things I do know:

1) Holy cow, I have a lot of songs: Obviously I knew the number was upwards of about 9,000, but I guess I thought I consumed more songs on average than I actually do. I've had my iPod on during my morning and evening commutes, as well as at work most of the day, but I'm only about to break 300. This might take a while.

2) I'm not always conscious of what I'm listening to: Although I'm not consuming like I thought, I must listen to enough music on a regular basis that it's often just background noise. As I mentioned before, I work in an office that encourages listening to music, and most of my jobs, all the way down to when I was a hostess or cashier, involved music playing at all times. I'm able to function easily with all four of my department/office mates playing music and listening to my own. But between phone calls, getting into a project, etc, I'll have passed 20 songs and not known what they were.

3) I have some really bad music: I'm still very much an "album" person, so most of the time if I like one song, I'll grab the entire album. But sometimes, someone really does just write ONE good song, and I came across a few of those. I'm sorry Nick Cave, but "Abbatoir Blues" starts off great, but is unlistenable after.

4) I have a short attention span: Which is why this project came to be in the first place. This almost came to a halt at the start when I realized that "A" by Cartel, my very first song, was 9:45 seconds long. And then one sleepy morning I just didn't feel like rocking to "All Downhill from Here" by New Found Glory or some afternoons needed something more upbeat than "Alone Apart" by The Swell Season". But I stuck through most of it, regardless of my mood.

So there's that. In the interest of time, if I'm more conscious of the music, I'll give a lot of these songs the "3/4 rule", and if it's something I don't really dig, I might skip over it after a long enough point. At least then, I gave it somewhat of a shot. Again, I'm not sure how to articulate this process, but for now I'm going to go through some of the songs and what came up as I heard them again.

"A" by Cartel - "Another Love Story" by Jeffrie's Fan Club

I have five different versions of Elliott Smith's "Angeles". What's funny is I got to thinking that he's one of my only Top 10 artists that I have never and will never see live, yet that's never bothered me until now.

I have sooo many songs that begin with "All". I thought it would never end.

I really looked forward to when I hit "Alternative Baby" by Reel Big Fish. What a great song.

I got really into the band Centro-matic in high school, but despite their expensive discography, I could never find their older albums at my local record stores. It wasn't until I went to LA and browsed the Ameoba Records candy shop that I found at least three of their records, including Distance and Climb. The funny thing is, I never really got into the rest of them, although hearing "Actuator's Great" makes me want to revisit.

Drew Danburry is the MAN, and "Accidentally" is a great song.

For a lot of the songs, the Daytrotter.com version comes before the album version, and it's really cool to hear them back to back. They are still one of my favorite out-of-the-box music developments in years.

I probably should have been in college in the 90's, because I LOVED when Goo Goo Dolls "Acoustic #3" popped up.

Further Seems Forever "How to Start a Fire" was such a great record.

I felt the need to apologize when Dashboard Confessional came up, even though no one said anything.

The Hippos still have one of my favorite covers ever with "Always Something There to Remind Me"

Mostly Bears' live version of "Airports" breathes an entirely different life into the song than the album version. I suggest starting with their live album "Team of Spirits" and then circling back to the records.

I had to skip over "American Idiot" by Green Day because there's a good chance I heard it in a grocery store or salon recently anyway. That song is STILL everywhere.

I unapologetically listening to ALL 8:34 of "American Pie" at my desk.

I have an old demo of Dear and the Headlights that I still have named "Andrea" (because I didn't have any of the tracklisting back then and they say 'Andrea's in the room kickin her shoes off). I know it's "Daysleeper", but I will always use the original file name I made up.

While I skipped some of my duplicate songs (ie-if I had a live version and album), I listened to ALL three versions of Matt Nathanson's "Angel".

I skipped the bootleg I had of Annuals at Bowery Ballroom from '08 because the quality just isn't that good. I should probably just delete it. (still an awesome band though! just bad recording)

Lucky song #222 is "Analog Boy" by RX Bandits, and it still rules.

Band of Annuals is a nearly perfect band. "Amy's Great Escape" from their first record is excellent.

"Ambling Alp" is STILL the only Yeasayer song I like.

In a time where a lot of bands are getting back together (Something Corporate, No Doubt) hearing Jeffrie's Fan Club say "Only because we're never gonna play this again" from their Last Show at The Glasshouse was really sad, knowing they never did.

Apparently I have just as many songs that start with "Another", which is where I pick up again tomorrow. Til then . . .

The Mix Tape Challenge

2010-08-10T21:38:00.000-07:00

One time, when I was in college, I was walking across campus to go home when I ran into my good friend Adam Pah skating to class. I almost always had my iPod and headphones on me, as did he, and we exchanged conversation about what we were "rocking". (I literally say it that way, I'm kind of embarrassing) He mentioned that he was trying out a challenge to listen to his iPod on shuffle and NOT skip over anything, and challenged me to do the same. I took my iPod and put it in my purse, getting through about half the parking lot before a song I didn't really like came on and I skipped right over it.

I think about this encounter a lot as I go through my day to day. I live in New York and since 99.9% of my commutes involve public transit, I ALWAYS have my iPod on me. I'm also fortunate to work in an office that encourages music-listening at our desks, often inciting a hilarious "speaker war" between our respective offices. I am constantly around music, only recently replacing my morning music shuffle routine with watching the morning news.

The funny thing is, despite how much music I constantly consume, I still find myself skipping songs over and over and over, even if it's a song I know I love. I've ended up with about 9,500 songs total, which according to my iTunes is about 25 days worth of music. I can't even imagine how many songs are buried deep within my library. There are probably records I don't even remember buying and since I upgraded to the 160gb, I loaded on records I hadn't had room for but were still on my hard drive. It's sometimes overwhelming.

Today I was listening at work and shuffling through, laughing to myself that it would be funny if I finally reached the end of ALL of the songs. And then I remembered Adam, and our conversation, and I was suddenly inspired.

What if I listened to every song on my iPod uninterrupted?

I realize this is twice as daunting as my "The Loop" series (where I wrote about my top records of the last decade - about 150 or so) I am going to make myself listen to each song - the entire song - no matter what it is. However, I'm not necessarily going to put a time limit on it, which should make thing a little easier/rational. I initially thought I'd just hit shuffle and go, but I know my iPod will restart itself if I plug in to add a new record, etc. The only real way to do this is to go through my songs in alphabetical order - that way I can jot down where I start and stop. I know I'll be adding new music during this process (it's amazing how you can "accidentally" end up with about 6 or 7 new albums thank to Amazon.com's $5 deals) and taking breaks to listen to full records, which will probably be necessary. However, this is more about revisiting songs that I had forgotten about. This means every embarrassing ska song, live bootleg, half-demo and emo ballad that exists in my catalog. I had them for a reason at some point, and I want to remember why.

So there you have it. I'm not sure what form this will take quite yet, most likely checking in periodically, talking about songs from one stopping point to another, digging up videos/streams/memories/etc.

I issue this challenged to YOU as well, if you're up to it. I'm honestly sort of nervous about it even now that I've fleshed it out, but I'm excited to see what I discover.

First up : "A" by Cartel

Ready. Set. Go.

How the Notes All Bend: What Laura Says and Annuals @ The Empty Bottle [VIDEOS]

2010-05-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

I took an impulsive trip to Chicago last weekend, not only to visit some great friends out there, but to catch a tour that I just so happen to be out of town for next month in NYC. This tour features two of my favorite bands, including a band from Arizona that I have been championing for years, What Laura Says as well as the never-fail-amazing-live-set band Annuals.

What Laura Says released their debut full-length, Thinks and Feels on Terpsikhore, a label run by members of Annuals after meeting each other by playing together in Phoenix. They are set to release their latest album, Bloomcheek on June 8th and are touring with Annuals across the country as we speak. The buzz for this band is tangible, and the record itself speaks volumes to their talent, capturing the energy of their much-talked-about live performance and connecting the dots in an outstanding way.

As for Annuals, there was one point in my life where I remember saying that if I could only see one band live the rest of my life, it would be them, and gosh darnit, that's still holds pretty true. They seem to have a new show every time, and as you'll see in the "intro" video, they've added even more live elements on top of what's going on musically on stage. I was fortunate to catch my favorite song, "Brother", which you'll see below. Unforunately the venue was pretty dark, but the sound turned out really well and I think you get the idea :)

It's shows like this where I step band and think how fortunate I am to do what I do, as a fan or otherwise. I am supremely geeked out for the music What Laura Says is about to unleash on the world and for the example that Annuals has set for live bands everywhere. It just plain feels good.

What Laura Says "On the Fence" (new song!)

What Laura Says "On the Fence" @ The Empty Bottle from Seven Watt Media on Vimeo.

What Laura Says "July 23" (extended version)

What Laura Says "July 23" @ The Empty Bottle from Seven Watt Media on Vimeo.

Annuals "Hot Night Hounds" Drum Intro (amazing!)

Annuals "Hot Night Hounds" Intro @ The Empty Bottle from Seven Watt Media on Vimeo.

Annuals "Brother" (my favorite song of theirs)

Annuals "Brother" @ The Empty Bottle from Seven Watt Media on Vimeo.

How the Notes All Bend : Miniature Tigers "Bull Fighter Jacket" 4/21/10 [VIDEO]

2010-04-22T19:04:00.000-07:00

It's no mystery that I'm a huge cheerleader for Arizona music, despite having moved from the state nearly two years ago (really?) It became such a big part of me and I get beyond geeked out to see some of my favorite people continue to find success in music, because they make GREAT music. Miniature Tigers is a prime example.

The funny part is, I actually hadn't met them or seen them live until AFTER I moved to New York. For one reason or another I had missed when they played in AZ, although I used to play some of their songs on my radio show. Regardless, I'm happy to have jumped on the bandwagon when I did, because it's been such an amazing ride to watch. They have been on tour the majority of the two years I've known them, with everyone from Ben Folds (seriously), Say Anything, Fun., Dear and the Headlights, etc. This was one of the first times I was able to see them play a full headlining set, on the tail end of their tour with The Morning Benders. Charlie has joined our ranks as an AZ transplant living in New York, so it's fun to see them as well received here as they were when I saw them in Phoenix around Christmas.

At any rate, they're well on their way to serious buzz band status. Their new album "Fortress" will drop this Summer, and believe you me, there are some SERIOUS jams to look forward to. I was able to catch one on film below, the song "Bull Fighter Jacket". Keep your eyes on these tigers.

Miniature Tigers "Bull Fighter Jacket" 4/21/10 from Seven Watt Media on Vimeo.

How the Notes All Bend : Erick ARC Elliott "Plane" 4/15/10

2010-04-17T19:10:00.000-07:00

I've spent much of my two years in New York City trying to figure out what the "local scene" here is. I read a quote from the boys of MGMT once that talked about the "Brooklyn" sound that said, "My least favorite part is that is doesn't exist. My favorite part is the myth of it."

That's when I find a "local" artist, it's all the more refreshing, and Erick ARC Elliott is one of them. He's 100% New York, not just a "Brooklyn" artist whose from Ohio or something like that. He's pounding the streets just like any other artist in any other town and it's nice to be reminded of art in a city so overrun by industry.

Check out his performance of "Plane" this week at Cameo Gallery. It was pretty dark in there and I haven't quite mastered the sound on my camera, but it's a really excellent song. Check out the official video here: http://vimeo.com/10213875

Yes, it's supposed to be dark at the beginning. It's art, yo!

Erick ARC Elliott "Planes" 4/15/10 from Seven Watt Media on Vimeo.

How the Notes All Bend : Monotonix @ Brooklyn Bowl 4/14/10

2010-04-17T17:50:00.000-07:00

I go to A LOT of live shows. I've joked around that I have very few social skills outside of music, but it's kind of true. I live in a candy store of live music and find myself out seeing music up to 6 times a week. I've finally gotten a hang of NYC shows, coming from a much smaller touring market (Phoenix)

However, despite how many dozens of times I've seen certain bands, there are a handful that I can honestly say put on a different show every time I see them, and Monotonix is one of them. I honestly spent a good amount of time thinking how to tee this video up, but honestly, you just need to watch it to fully understand. Pretty good video considering I spent most of the show dodging drinks being thrown. Also : band members.

Monotonix @ Brooklyn Bowl 4/14/10 from Seven Watt Media on Vimeo.

How the Notes All Bend : Midlake "Acts of Man" 4/7/10

2010-04-08T19:03:00.001-07:00

Last night I caught Midlake's first night at Bowery Ballroom (oddly enough night #2 sold out long before this show did) It's been a very long time since Midlake has done a proper tour, not to mention bring the follow up to their critically acclaimed record, The Trials of Van Occupanther. Not only was the crowd last night restless because of the several-year lull from the band, but it seems they were restless in general, perhaps a result of an 85 degree day in a city that has been abused by winter. Unfortunately it meant A LOT of talking from the room, as you'll hear in the video below.

The band put on a great set, but I'm the first to admit that I'm not totally sold on The Courage of Others. While Van Occupanther had such dramatic shifts throughout the record, it feels like Courage is just linear. Fortunately, when it comes to playing live, the band managed to pull all the dynamics into the performance, pulling in some serious jam moments that I didn't remember from the last time I saw them. Lined up across the front of the stage, they had harmonizing flute duets and, as my friend admired in amazement, a guy with a recorder (Almost as cool as a melodica . . . ALMOST)

It's an on going fight for (as my friend Chad from The Via Maris coined) "quietXcore" to pull in the attention of a short-attention-spanned crowd, especially in a period of music where everyone seems to need to be sold on a song or an album immediately. It's clearly something this band has gotten used to, because they didn't let any of the static over their show deter them from playing a great one. Hopefully someday the tides will turn and the active listener will prevail.

I shot this from the very very back of the venue, resting my arm on the wall in order to keep it somewhat stable. The noisy crowd sort of takes over but you can dull them out if you listen closely to the band (which is the theme of this post, yeah? Metaphors-n-stuff)

Midlake "Acts of Man" 4/7/10 from Seven Watt Media on Vimeo.

How the Notes All Bend : The Temper Trap "Science of Fear" 4/5/10

2010-04-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

I caught the second New York-area show for Australia-based band The Temper Trap. They've followed a natural progression as far as NYC shows are concerned, selling out Mercury Lounge last year, shuffling through a literal marathon of shows during the CMJ Music Festival and now selling out two shows in their own right after the US release of their album Conditions. The song "Sweet Disposition" has been the soundtrack a lot of our American subconsciousness, and the soundtrack to their steady rise to notoriety. The show itself proved that they are hardly under the radar anymore, with a seriously impressive light show and some avid fans from a usually "too-cool-and-mostly-indifferent" Brooklyn crowd. I finally got a good view for their last song, "Science of Fear", capturing yet another from-the-balcony video. The sound is a little bass-ier than I was hoping, not sure if it's the fact that I have to compress the file down (tech nerds? advice?) I was less zoom-crazy which I think looks nice, plus the sweet light show made it awesome. The best part? Hearing my friend Alex talk responding to the band's rhetorical "Thanks for having us" and also commenting on the mysterious guy-in-a-suit who seemed to be their roadie/towel manager. Seriously, who was that guy?

The Temper Trap - "Science of Fear" 4/5/10 from Seven Watt Media on Vimeo.

How the Notes All Bend : Manchester Orchestra - "Now That You're Home" 4/2/10

2010-04-04T22:32:00.000-07:00

So I'm starting a new blog series (or section, or whatever you wanna call it) I recently purchased a fairly good digital camera with HD video recording and I thought maybe this is a cool next step in how to experience music differently yet again. I'm calling it "How the Notes All Bend", because that line (from Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea") is the single best way of describing something as seemingly intangible as music as a verb. In a lot of ways, that's the purpose I feel live music serves, which is why I'm such a junkie.

At any rate, here's my first shot. Not sure if I'll do any fancy intros or how this "series" will take shape, but enjoy the video below. It's not HD because I didn't have the paitience, but maybe down the line I'll suck it up for better quality. This is Manchester Orchestra performing their song "Now That You're Home" from their first album at Irving Plaza on 4/2/10:

Manchester Orchestra "Now That You're Home" 4/2/10 from Seven Watt Media on Vimeo.

Listography : List the Places You've Seen Live Music

2010-03-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

This is just off the top of my head (really). My very first show I went to was at Phoenix First Baptist Church and the last show I went to was tonight at Joe's Pub. It's insane to see this all in one big list. I feel aged.

1) The Nile Theatre - Mesa, AZ
2) Bash on Ash - Tempe, AZ
3) Modified Arts - Phoenix, AZ
4) The Trunkspace - Phoenix, AZ
5) Phix - Phoenix, AZ
6) Chyro Arts - Scottsdale, AZ
7) Venue of Scottsdale - Scottsdale, AZ
8) Marquee Theatre - Tempe, AZ
9) The Clubhouse - Tempe, AZ
10) The Real Bar - Tempe, AZ
11) The Sets - Tempe, AZ
12) Nita's Hideaway - Tempe, AZ
13) Yucca Tap Room - Tempe, AZ
14) The Loft - Tempe, AZ
15) Peace Tree House - Tempe, AZ
16) Four White Walls - Phoenix, AZ
17) Paper Heart Gallery - Phoenix, AZ
18) Orpheum Theatre - Phoenix, AZ
19) Dodge Theatre - Phoenix, AZ
20) Celebrity Theatre - Phoenix, AZ
21) Jobing.Com Arena - Phoenix, AZ
22) US Airways Center - Phoenix, AZ
23) The Old Brickhouse Grill - Phoenix, AZ
24) Minder Binders - Tempe, AZ
25) Neckbeards - Tempe, AZ
26) Arizona State University (all over!) - Tempe, AZ
27) Mesa Arts Center - Mesa, AZ
28) Women's Club of Mesa - Mesa, AZ
29) Mesa Amphitheatre - Mesa, AZ
30) Cricket Pavillion - Phoenix, AZ
31) Peoria Sports Complex - Peoria, AZ
32) Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
33) Webster Hall - New York, NY
34) Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY
35) Mercury Lounge - New York, NY
36) Joe's Pub - New York, NY
37) Le Poisson Rogue - New York, NY
38) Cameo Gallery - Brookyn, NY
39) Knitting Factory - New York, NY
40) Glasslands - Brooklyn, NY
41) Matchless - Brooklyn, NY
42) Terminal 5 - New York, NY
43) Madison Square Garden - New York, NY
44) The Bell House - Brooklyn, NY
45) Grammercy Theatre - New York, NY
46) Highline Ballroom - New York, NY
47) Irving Plaza - New York, NY
48) The Wellmont Theatre - Montclair, NJ
49) Hammerstein Ballroom - New York, NY
50) Nokia Theatre Times Square - New York, NY
51) Beacon Theatre - New York, NY
52) Jones Beach Theatre - Long Island, NY
53) Nassau Memorial - Uniondale, NY
54) Stubbs - Austin, TX
55) Emos - Austin, TX
56) Austin Music Hall - Austin, TX
57) La Zona Rosa - Austin, TX
58) The Parish - Austin, TX
59) Red Eyed Fly - Austin, TX
60) Maggie Mae's - Austin, TX
61) Schuba's - Chicago, IL
62) Union Park - Chicago, IL
63) El Rey - Los Angeles, CA
64) The Mayan Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
65) Staples Center - Los Angeles, CA
66) Electric Factory - Philadelphia, PA
67) Central Park Summerstage - New York, NY
68) Coney Island - Brooklyn, NY
69) Cake Shop - New York, NY
70) The Living Room - New York, NY

... more to come!

Listography : List Your Guilty Pleasures

2010-02-28T19:58:00.000-08:00

1) Party in the U.S.A. - Miley Cyrus
2) The entire Ke$ha album
3) On the Way Down - Ryan Cabrera
(Once upon a time, when my brother and I hosted our weekly radio show called "Team Awesome", I went out of town one week and left him my iPod. He then played a game of "let's find the most embarrassing thing on Ashley's iPod and this was it. I retaliated by taking his freshly washed underwear and throwing it all over his car in front of the house. Win.)
4) Tomorrow, Fire Burning and Face Drop - Sean Kingston
5) Most pop punk (specifically, as of late, The Maine)
6) For You I Will - Teddy Geiger
7) Jason Mraz
8) Ska music
9) No Air - Chris Brown / Jordin Sparks
10) I'm With You - Avril Lavinge
11) Single Ladies and Halo - Beyonce
12) Sick Cycle Carousel - Lifehouse
13) I'll Be - Edwin McCain
14) Paramore
15) Imma Be - Black Eyed Peas
16) Taylor Swift
17) Coldplay (sometimes, the old records, and that's not just a line)
18) 3 - Britney Spears
19) The All American Rejects
20) Dashboard Confessional

Listography : My Music "Bucket List"

2010-02-21T15:59:00.000-08:00

This category isn't a part of the "Listography : Your Life in (Play)Lists" book, but I've been thinking a lot about this recently. Basically, I grew up on music and spent the better part of eight or so years "working" music in some capacity. I'm constantly thinking, talking, writing, working, listening to and watching music and I've had a hard time finding hobbies or social skills outside of it (not that I'm complaining).

At any rate, as a fan or as a music businessladyperson, there are certain things that I've been fortunate enough to experience but other things that I still want to do in order to fully understand the entire process. I'm not getting any younger, unlike the average age of a lot of us working in music, so before I get to old to rock or stop liking music (whichever comes first), here are the things I'd like to do:

1) Go out on tour for two weeks.
-This could be in any capacity: tour managing, merch girl, shooting content, etc. I just want to know how it feels day to day and do some traveling.

2) Take a class on ProTools.
-I have a very basic understanding from working in college radio, but certainly fudged some of it.

3) Sit in during a band's writing process.
- I'm still so fascinated by the way a song is written since I can't write myself.

4) Learn to play the guitar.

5) Go out for a week on Warped Tour.
-Preferrably not through Arizona or anywhere where its 115 degrees in July.

6) Go to the following festivals:

Sasquatch
Bonaroo
Coachella
Glastonbury
Lollapalooza
Newport Folk Festival
Soundwave

7) Speak on a SXSW panel
- Y'know, about . . . uh . . . something?

8) Convince SXSW to hire me.
-Seriously though, WHO GETS TO WORK ON THIS FESTIVAL?!

8) Be a part of a band's entire recording process.
-From pre production to mastering and everything in between. Not sure what I'd contribute, maybe just being there to watch.

9) Write a treatment for a music video.

10) Start another live music radio show
-Or podcast, or video blog, whatever.

11) Finish reading "All You Need to Know about the Music Business"
-Before another new version comes out, which I'm sure will be soon.

12) Take a class on Entertainment law.

13) Learn to Swing Dance.

14) Work in some capacity during a band's appearance on a late night talk show.

15) Dance on stage with a big group during one of my favorite bands' sets.

16) Sing with a band on stage.

17) Work at a record store.
-Even if only for a little while. I never got to growing up, even though I tried.

18) Go to a music award show.

19) Sequence a movie or TV show soundtrack.
-In the romantic way of just picking songs that sound awesome and of course the paperwork.

20) Have one of my favorite artists perform at my wedding.
-Right now I've narrowed down my wedding song to either "Re:Stacks" by Bon Iver or "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds. Both are welcome to come party.

Listography : List a Song That Reminds You of Each Boyfriend You've Had

2010-02-14T20:14:00.000-08:00

The trick is that I won't tell you which song is for who. :) Sorry boys. Some of the boys have multiple songs and many reference the crushes, the not-quite-boyfriends and dead-ends that we're all familiar with. . .

1) The Brilliant Dance - Dashboard Confessional
2) Blizzard of '77 - Nada Surf
3) Carry You - Jimmy Eat World
4) Don't Get Spin Spin - Skybox
5) Satellite - Dave Matthews Band
6) Photobooth - Death Cab for Cutie
7) Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley
8) Time Restrains - Goodbyetomorrow
9) No Sensitivity - Jimmy Eat World
10) Anyone Else But You - The Moldy Peaches
11) I Am Yours - The Adicts
12) Skies So Blue - The Rocket Summer
13) Galaxy 500 - Reverend Horton Heat
14) Midwestern Dirt - Dear and the Headlights
15) Suspended - Matt Nathanson
16) Janet - The Format
17) Suspended in Gaffa - Ra Ra Riot
18) Suicide Medicine - Rocky Votolato
19) The Engine Driver - The Decemberists
20) Romeo and Juliet - Dire Straits

Listography: List the First Albums You Ever Owned

2010-01-30T17:44:00.000-08:00

Clearly, once upon a time, I used to listen to female singers and Christian ska music. I only really accounted for records I remember listening to in middle school or earlier. Many of these records were likely purchased by my brother (and stolen over time) or through the Columbia Record Club way back when. I think I still owe them $13 or something, but now they employ me, so we're even?

1) The Cranberries - "No Need to Argue"

2) No Doubt - "Tragic Kingdom"

3) Alanis Morrisette - "Jagged Little Pill"

4) Five Iron Frenzy - "Upbeats and Beatdowns"

5) The O.C. Supertones - "Supertones Strike Back"

6) The Insyderz - "Motor City Ska"

7) Reel Big Fish - "Turn the Radio Off"

8) MXPX - "Life in General"

9) The Cardigans - "First Band on the Moon"

10) Clueless - OST

11) The Hippos - "Heads are Gonna Roll"

12) Noggon Toboggan - "Snapcase"

13) The Ataris - "Blue Skies, Broken Hearts . . . Next 12 Exits"

14) Celine Dion (shut it) - "Falling Into You"

15) Mariah Carey (shut it again) - "Butterfly"

16) TLC - "CrazySexyCool"

17) Ace of Base - "The Bridge"

18) Green Day - "Dookie"

19) Nirvana - "Nevermind"

20) The W's - "Fourth from the Last"

Listography : List Your Favorite Cover Songs

2010-01-23T11:31:00.000-08:00

1) Matt Pond PA - "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" (by Neutral Milk Hotel)

2) Ra Ra Riot - "Suspended in Gaffa" (by Kate Bush)
3) Jimmy Eat World - "Half Right" (by Heatmiser)
4) Matt Nathanson - "Romeo and Juliet"(by Dire Straits)
5) New Found Glory - "Glory of Love" (by Bryan Adams)
6) Jeff Buckley - "Hallelujah" (by Leonard Cohen)
7) The Format - "This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us" (by Sparks)
8) Band of Annuals - "Echo" (By David Williams)
9) Ben Folds - "In Between Days" (by The Cure)
10) Five Iron Frenzy - "Sweet Talkin' Woman" (by Electric Light Orchestra)
11) Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" (by Paul Simon)
12) The Fray - "Heartless" (by Kanye West)
13) Go Big Casino - "I'm Leaving" (by Reubens Accomplice)
14) The Hippos - "Always Something There to Remind Me" (by Naked Eyes)
15) Iron and Wine - "Such Great Heights" (by The Postal Service)
16) Joshua Radin - "Only You" (by Yazoo)
17) Lenka - "Gravity Rides Everythig" (by Modest Mouse)
18) Ryan Adams "Wonderwall" (by Oasis)
19) Ted Leo "Since U Been Gone / Maps" (by Kelly Clarkson / Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
20) Ben Folds "Bitches Aint Shit" (by Dr. Dre)

Listography : List Your Favorite Live Albums

2010-01-19T20:13:00.001-08:00

[For you live music fans, I highly suggest NPR's All Songs Considered Live Concert Podcast. They are amazingly up to date and include the Tiny Desk Concert videos. I listen to them constantly at work]

1) At the Point - Matt Nathanson
2) Clarity Live from The Marquee - Jimmy Eat World
3) Proof that the Youth are Revolting - Five Iron Frenzy
4) Last Show at The Glasshouse - Jefferies Fan Club
5) Unplugged in New York - Nirvana
6) iTunes Live @ London Festival '09 - Mumford and Sons
7) Live Warehouse EP - Band of Annuals
8) Live at the Electric Factory - The Fray
9) The Daytrotter EP - Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos
10) Cabin Ghosts - Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons

Listography : List Advice You Follow from Song Lyrics

2010-01-12T18:40:00.000-08:00

Listography : List Advice You Follow from Song Lyrics

"This is what she says gets her through it: If I don't let myself be happy now then when? If not now, when?"
- Jimmy Eat World "For Me This is Heaven"
"Do you believe in something beautiful? Then get up and be it!"
- Ted Leo and the Pharmacists "Me and Mia"
"I wait in 4/4 time and count yellow highway lines that you're relying on to lead you home."
- The Weakerthans "Left and Leaving"
"You can own the stage, but the lights and glare will not make you real."
- Margot and the Nuclear So and So's "A Light on a Hill"
"Sees the ocean fall and rise. Counts the waves the somehow didn't hit her."
-Elliott Smith "Baby Britian"
"Signing up for that second semester cause you won't marry me without the degree. Once I fix things up right you won't be so embarrassed of me. I'll never make it now but at least looking in the mirror won't feel like lying."
-Dear and the Headlights "Grace"
"Dancing out on 7th street. Dancing through the underground. Dancing little marionette, are you happy now?"
- Ryan Adams "When the Stars Go Blue"
"C'mon c'mon, spin a little faster. C'mon c'mon, the world will follow after."
- Counting Crows "Accidentally in Love"
"There's still some living left when you prime comes and goes."
- Jimmy Eat World "Big Casino"
"Please don't put your life in the hands of a rock n roll band, they'll throw it all away"
- Oasis "Don't Look Back in Anger"
"I'm trying to find truths in words and rhymes and notes and all the things I wish I wrote."
- The Format "I'm Ready I Am"
"And I do need the wind across my pale face. And I do need the fern to unfurl in the spring. And I do need the grass to sway, yes I do need to know my place."
- Bowerbirds "Northern Lights"
"I sat and stared at the sky, I knew I'd find myself there again. I wondered how else to cope with the air. And I know, I won't feel it again if I just played along. "Stupid games are for stupid people" and they end just like a song."
- New Found Glory "2s and 3s"
"To find someone you love, you gotta be someone you love."
- Nada Surf "Concrete Bed"
"I always wanna feel like part of this was mine."
- Jimmy Eat World "A Praise Chorus"
"Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls that brought me here. And in a wide sea of eyes I see one pair that I recognize."
- Ben Folds "The Luckiest"
"What a curious life we have found here tonight, there is music that sounds from the streets. There are lights in the clouds and there's ghosts all around, hear their voice as it's rolling and ringing through me, soft and sweet, how the notes all bend and reach above the trees."
- Neutral Milk Hotel "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea"
"Head under water and you tell me to breathe easy for a while. The breathing gets harder, even I know that. Made room for me it's too soon to see if I'm happy in your hands. I'm unusually hard to hold onto."
- Sara Bareilles "Love Song"
"Don't test the ones you love, it will only tear us down. If you want to feel alive, then learn to love your ground."
-Mumford and Sons "Sister"
"When I accellerate, I remember why it's good to be alive. Maybe this weight was a gift, like I had to see what I could lift."
- Nada Surf "Do it Again"

New Blog Series! : Listography

2010-01-12T18:13:00.000-08:00

So it's been a while since "The Loop" series ended and I posted my top 10 albums and top 25 songs of 2009. I spent a lot of time over vacation thinking of what to do with this blog. Let's face it, EVERYONE HAS A BLOG. If I were to make this a "music news" site, it'd probably just be news recycled from other (better) music blogs. Not to mention that I work a regular 9 to 5(ish) job so my news would be lagging since I'm supposed to be working during those hours (ha).

I really liked having a "series" as part of this blog with the decade retrospective, so I think I'll try it again, but with a different theme. For Christmas, my coworker Todd gave me a book called "Music Listography : Your Life in (Play) Lists", which is basically a journal with pages of themes for several different "mixtapes", not to mention some really cool artwork. I really like the idea of it, very much a challenge in this iPod shuffle world of ours.

When I was in high school, up until about halfway through Senior year, I had a walkman and made mixtapes with various themes, one that I specifically remember being the "emo" mix. Some of my favorite gifts were tapes that friends made for me. There was such a personal element to all of these tapes, not only because you're hand choosing each song, but because you have to record it in real time, listen to every song in full and carefully piece it together. I loved how invested you could get into it, even moreso than a mix CD or shuffle on iTunes. I have been thinking about this for a while, but after seeing a friend's top 100 songs of the decade list, and extra free time thanks to a slow Winter concert season, I was inspired to get this going.

So here's the plan : I'm going to spend this the next few months (through the end of February) and go through some of the pages of this book and make my lists here on the not-so-personal internet. Feel free to comment on the songs or make your own list, I'm curious what everyone else feels fits these categories. I won't go through the WHOLE book, but a few fun pages. If you like it, you should buy the book and do it yourself. Books will probably last longer than the internet, anyway.

This won't be everyday (or multiple times a day) like "The Loop" was, so hopefully by being a little less daunting, I can have a little more fun with it. We've got nothing but time to explore old tunes. And maybe by March, I'll have figured out what to do with this blog. Or at least a new series.

Enjoy!
-Smashley

The Loop : Top 25 Songs of 2009

2009-12-19T21:22:00.000-08:00

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

10) "Introducing Palace Players" - Mew

9) "Walking the Dog" - Fun.

8) "Olso Novelist" - Grand Archives

7) "First Train Home" - Imogen Heap

6) "Brackett, WI" - Bon Iver

5) "Heartbeat" - Nneka

4) "Listomania"- Phoenix

3) "A World Apart" - Vedera

2) "A Whole Lot Better" - Brendan Benson

1) "Sweet Disposition" - The Temper Trap"

The Loop : Top 10 Albums of 2009

2009-12-19T18:10:00.000-08:00

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.

"Bright Future"

Til 2010. . .

The Loop : Next Exit - 3 Miles (An End to the Last 10 Years)

2009-12-17T19:59:00.000-08:00

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!)

Try Me Bicycle - Voicings (2008)
Recommended Track - "Two Stern Feet"
So I can't find even ONE video of Try Me Bicycle to embed, but there is one available at www.thetraintracks.org and here is a link to a cool NPR piece that was done on them.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90141010

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 :) )

The Loop : The Via Maris - The Wilderness Underneath

2009-12-14T21:15:00.000-08:00

The Via Maris - The Wilderness Underneath (2007)

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 Via Maris | MySpace Music Videos

The Loop : The Morning Kennedy Was Shot - Pictures of Things Worth Looking At

2009-12-13T19:05:00.000-08:00

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:

The Loop : Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

2009-12-13T18:07:00.001-08:00

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (2008)

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.

The Loop : The New Frontiers - Mending

2009-12-11T20:33:00.000-08:00

The New Frontiers - Mending (2008)

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.

The Loop : Source Victoria - The Fast Escape

2009-12-10T20:09:00.000-08:00

Source Victoria - The Fast Escape (2007)

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.

The Loop : Cassino - Sounds of Salvation

2009-12-10T19:46:00.000-08:00

Cassino - Sounds of Salvation (2007)

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:

The Loop : Nada Surf - Lucky

2009-12-10T18:47:00.000-08:00

Nada Surf - Lucky (2008)

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)

The Loop : Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

2009-12-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (2007)

No but seriously, Modest Mouse has some of the best song/album titles in rock and roll. Period.

I was working as a Sony college rep when this record came out. It was a HUGE priority for us, one that spanned over several months, and rightfully so. Like I said in regards to Radiohead, it just doesn't get much cooler than Modest Mouse. We were running a photo contest where fans could enter in pictures depicting the album titles (ie- Fly in a Jar, perhaps an actual fly in a jar) A poster needed to be made so they asked us to send in examples that would go on the poster. I was tasked with taking the "Dashboard" picture. I tried WAY too hard to be artistic with this, so one night, I got in my car and put on the record and drove down the 202 freeway to be inspired. I started snapping pictures of myself driving at different angles (which yes, I realize is probably illegal) eventually ending up in the parking lot of a Home Depot somewhere in Mesa, trying to take pictures. Eventually, the photo that was chosen was just one of me with my head on the dashboard in my apartment parking lot, which we found a copy of in the college department a few days ago.

The moral of this story is not only was it completely awesome to work a band like Modest Mouse, but in all the grandness that I tried to express in my "artistic driving down the highway" pictures, just a simple, straightforward head on a dashboard pic was needed. I think that goes for Modest Mouse too. This was far and away their most attainable record, one that came with an intense amount of pressure after their surprise runaway hit with "Float On" on their previous record. The nice thing about Modest Mouse though is that they really didn't seem to let it get to them. This is a band that's been there, done that, and still done whatever the hell they want. In that, they built a solid collection of songs with this record, tight and catchy, jammy when needed to but without some of the experimental stuff that fans had come to know with records like Moon and Antarctica. In fact, it was the best parts of Moon and Antarctica, cleaned up with a side of Johnny Marr.

While Dashboard had modest (ha!) success, it was deeper tracks like "Missed the Boat", "Little Motel" and "Parting of the Sensory" that really stuck out. The band just seemed more in touch with themselves but also with the expectations, finding a nice balence in between. I'm proud to have my face on a poster representing a record like this.

Watch this ENTIRE video. Try not to get choked up.

The Loop : Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line

2009-12-08T20:37:00.000-08:00

Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line (2008)

Another one in the category of "dude, Ashley, wake up and listen!!!"

I first heard about this band right after I finished my internship at Epic. One of the marketing assistants managed the band and was in fact a former college rep, so after friending him on Facebook, he invited me to the Facebook group (remember those?) and I accepted. I had a lot of friends who were 'managers' and assumed that his band was just like some of the pop punk bands I saw filter through Phoenix with 'managers', usually someone related to them who updated the MySpace.

I didn't really do any investigating past that, until I got a message during the Summer of 2007 in my Facebook inbox to all the Ra Ra Riot group members asking if anyone had seen their drummer. They had played a show in Rhode Island and were at a party when he went missing. There were several other messages that followed asking for information, until the message came that he had been found dead just a few days later. It was absolutely gut wrenching to watch in real time and I truly felt heartbroken for them.

After the dust settled, they announced being signed to Barsuk Records, one of my favorite and most trusted labels. But even then, I got distracted and didn't follow up to hear what this band was about. It wasn't until I moved to New York and the name came up multiple times in conversation (namely from my roommate who is friends with aforementioned mananger, and manager himself [who, in going back to the term 'manager' actually does a legitimately awesome job, obviously. Hi Josh, I'm going to assume you're reading this :)] ) I finally got a copy of the record, but in my habit if totally failing, it only sat on my work computer and not on the iPod, where I spend most of my time.

However, amdist the shuffle of my much smaller work library, their songs would come up and I'd stop what I was doing to see what it was. I'd have it on in the background and slip in and out of consciousness as I worked. It got to the point where I'd be on the train and want to hear it, so I'd get all worked up until I could get to the office and listen to it. It slowly crept it's way into my life until FINALLY, I took it home and spent time with it on the subway, at home, etc.

It is NOTHING like I thought it would be, my first assumption being that it was a punk rock band (sorry, but there's riot in the name and I was a ska kid) Instead it's a beautifully orchestrated and dreamy mix of songs that could almost be the score to a movie. The string players are the ultimate rock stars, living out probably every dream of every high school orchestra member who "just want(s) to rock out, man!" Many of the songs were written by their drummer John Pike and performed in his memory. It really does carry as if you're in the middle of a dream.

This is a record that I am SO upset I missed out on, because I've listened to it SO many times that it could easily make my Top 10 of 2009 . . . except it came out last year, when I wasn't paying attention. In fact, a big inspiration for "The Loop" series was that I got to include and geek out about The Rhumb Line. This really is an incedible record that I often say "just keeps getting better with each listen" (which honestly, I don't remember about a lot of records . . . or any) Seriously. Try it. Over and over.

I just got chills when I heard the string parts at the beginning of this video. See what I mean? It just gets BETTER.

The Loop : Radiohead - In Rainbows

2009-12-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007)

[Below is a paper I wrote for my Media and Pop Culture class shortly after the album was released digitally. Obviously, this is an incredible album musically (15 step is the jaaaam) but obviously, it's conception and distribution is what makes it infamous. I was lucky enough to work on the physical release of this record on New Years Day. I mean really, does it get any cooler than Radiohead?! I decided to throw in this essay because a defining characteristic of this era for me is that I started to look at music much differently because I was into the "business" of it at this point. I'm not going to say that I had all of it right and in re-reading this, the things I know now certainly come into perspective. However, no story was more fascinating to me as a music business geek than this one.]

Somewhere, Over "In Rainbows". . .
Will Radiohead Change the Way We Buy Music?
by Ashley Harris

“Hello everyone. Well, the new album is finished, and it's coming out in 10 days. We've called it ‘In Rainbows’. Love from us all.”

In the early morning of October 1, 2007, that message appeared on the Radiohead.com website, one that had been watched religiously by fans of the band who had been waiting to hear when, the follow up to 2003’s Hail to the Thief, would finally be released. The band had toured in the summer of 2006 throughout the UK and United States, and seemed primed to release the record following the buzz that was created after the tour stint. It was widely known that Radiohead’s contract with EMI/Capitol Records had expired in 2004 after 13 years and six albums, so it was unclear who would be releasing the album and when. However, all speculation was answered when Radiohead took a step that has fans, artists and the music industry taking a moment to assess how much music is really worth, and how much a record label is necessary to sell it.

Ten days later, visitors to the band’s official website were directed to register to buy the In Rainbows album. They were then prompted to choose between the digital download or the “discbox”, which included special features as well as a digital download, the physical product being sent out in late 2007. Those who chose only the digital download were sent to the merchandise store check out, where an empty form asked users to enter their own price for the CD. No price was wrong, even if you entered zero. If fans had any doubts on if this was “too good to be true”, clicking the question mark next to the form shows a message that simply says “It’s Up to You”. From there they received a simple .zip file of MP3 tracks, a technology organized by the band themselves in order to make the process as efficient as possible. With traffic reaching millions within the first two days alone, it became clear that this was not a method that would happen quietly.

Immediately, the music industry was buzzing about what this might mean for the conventional wisdom that had run the major record labels for years. The move posed two major questions: not only how much they should be asking people to pay for an album, but also how long is necessary for a band to release it? Typically after an album wraps, it takes months of brainstorming and executing marketing plans, formulating marketing materials and coordinating press, distribution details and follow up efforts such as a subsequent tour in order to encompass everything needed to support the record. All Radiohead had to do was post one news bulletin (and, to be fair, a few press releases) about the album and despite the previous years the fans were waiting for the record, the release was only a short time after the album wrapped. Because it was self distributed, this saved what would have been hundreds of thousands of dollars for Capitol Records in previous years and yet still generated more buzz and press than ever before. While official numbers have been and probably will never be released, it’s been said that the traffic has been consistently in the millions. This prompted other artists such as Oasis and Jamiroquai to speak out on considering a similar approach to releasing their records. This is due largely in part by the seemingly quick tailspin of the record industry as physical product succumbs to digital abundance.

“By identifying that many people are stealing music and downloading leaked albums anyway, it's refreshing to see a band sort of "own" that concept, instead of trying to run from it,” said Albert Ching, multimedia editor for the East Valley Tribune in Phoenix, “many bands are already streaming their whole albums online - this is just the next, logical step. With the CD quickly dying out, people realize that ownership isn't as important as getting to hear the music.” While more people are listening to music than ever before, the music industry has seen a steady decline in physical sales of product, such as compact discs and vinyl records. This has sent the staff at the major and indie labels scrambling to stay one step ahead of everything happening. Efforts such as the “Ringle”, a physical single that includes a free ringtone and other digital features such as desktop wallpaper, have been enacted by Sony BMG. Digital download cards are used for singles and partnerships with subscription websites such as Rhapsody and digital marketplaces like iTunes have been forged and carefully monitored. Is the record industry really to blame for what has happened to the compact disc in the last decade? While the argument of the RIAA’s actions against illegal downloaders is another issue in and of itself, where has this disconnect happened between the audience and the artists? However, there must be consideration of the fact that despite trying to stay ahead, this industry has changed dramatically over the past few decades and wouldn’t the same kind of confusion happen with any industry forced to adapt so often in such a short amount of time? Imagine being in the vinyl distribution department of a record label when someone first brought in CDs. When new technologies and millions of dollars spent on previous schools of thought, its no wonder things fall through the cracks as the foundation is shifting.

Artists like Radiohead have taken into consideration this approach and possibly acting similarly. However, if this truly does change how records are distributed, what does that mean for the developing artist? What needs to be noted is just how long Radiohead had been on Capitol Records, under the old school thoughts of mass and grassroots marketing that made them who they are. While they had a good five years of do-it-yourself music making and touring, the majority of what made Radiohead successful was while they were under the major label umbrella. Giant sold out tours, while a testament to their success, were orchestrated by those in the offices at Capitol. Their biggest single, “Creep”, released in the early 90’s, had huge MTV and radio play, two other massive entities. Does this mean that any band coming out of their garage can distribute to the same kind of numbers as Radiohead without the same kind of solid base to jump off? Some bands are willing to consider it as an option. “People, especially artists, need to be apt and open minded to being progressive, and part of that is discovering and utilizing new business concepts and models to garner success,” says Stefan Pruett, lead singer of Side-Cho Records artist Peachcake, “This is coupled with having something genuine, real, true, earnest, and full of substance to offer.” Other artists who have equal amounts of fame as Radiohead, such as Arizona’s Jimmy Eat World, question otherwise. “Here you have these rock and roll dudes and I’ve met a lot of people in bands and they’re not always all there,” said Jim Adkins, lead singer, “A lot of times they’re probably not the best people to be creating some sort of business model.”

The answer to the question of no record label vs. major record label support may lie in companies like Netwerrk Records. The Canadian based record label and music management company hosts one of the most progressive models in the industry. While many artists opt for just the management side of the company, several who decide to operate on the label side do so by creating their own imprint label. This means that while they are officially distributed through Nettwerk (under the parent distribution of Sony BMG), they have control over many aspects of their own label, including marketing, packaging and touring. This is all under the supervision of Nettwerk through small “committees” dedicated to each artist. There will be one person in charge of one aspect of the artist career such as publicity, online marketing, etc. alongside their management (which may or may not be under Nettwerk.) This allows the artist to gain more revenue for their music and merchandise while still having the guidance of industry professionals. This model encouraged Nettwerk artists such as The Format to release their 2006 album, “Dog Problems” digitally without retribution nearly a month before street date, after the album had been leaked online. Artists like Josh Rouse have been able to bring in other artists to the label more easily than in the major label setting, and even host them under their own labels while still having Nettwerk support. This is a “meeting in the middle” approach to how to distribute both physically and digitally, while still letting the artist have control of their careers. It creates a sense of still relying on the industry but by working in a partnership rather than a dictatorship.

All in all, it is too early to see the lasting consequences of what Radiohead did with In Rainbows. No more than a few weeks out of the release were their management in the offices of “the big four” labels, eventually signing with ATO Records, under Sony BMG distribution. They’ve claimed that it was their intention all along as far as the discbox, but this also opens them up to the opportunities of major label marketing and promotion. Throughout music’s history, major labels have been attributed to creating some of the biggest acts of their time, and sometimes squandering the careers of other artists through poor representation. Indie labels have flourished or failed, with some like Fueled by Ramen selling parallel to that of any major label artist, and some longstanding institutions like Lookout! Records (original home of Green Day) folding under new technologies. Radiohead’s legacy of pioneering will now be not only musically, but in business as well. Unfortunately it seems like the music has been lost a little in all the shuffle of the way it was distributed, but in the end it’s the music that has made the listeners fanatical about what Radiohead is doing in every aspect of their careers. If anything, when you go to the Radiohead website and stare at the empty pricing box, it forces you to think how much an album is worth to you, how much the music means to you and what you’re willing to pay to support it.

This video has a staggering 8 million views. It says everything.

The Loop : French Quarter - S/T

2009-12-06T19:23:00.000-08:00

French Quarter - S/T (2008)

In my time working with AZ local music, I started to see a trend in how the scene was segregated by genre and the groups that existed, played with each other the most and had similar sounds/band members. I spent a lot of time researching bands for my radio show, so much so that I began having fun nicknames for most of them. (please don't be offended friends, this are meant in the most endearing way possible) A few examples being :

Jangle Pop Mafia - The Format, El Oso Negro, Reubens Accomplice, Limbeck (honorary)

Screamo Mafia - Greeley Estates, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, The Cover Up

West Valley Mafia - A Change of Pace, It's Like Love, Micah Bentley

The Hippy Folk / Dance Party Mafia - What Laura Says, Black Carl, Kinch, Loveblisters, Matthew Reveles

Jailbait Mafia - The Summer Set, The Maine, This Century, Raining and OK

Arts District Mafia - Any Ryan Avery group (Father's Day, The Best Friends, Hi My Name is Ryan, Locking Your Car Doors) Andrew Jackson Jihad, Iji, Uggamugga, Porches, French Quarter.

The latter was the most fascinating of all, and the first artist I really discovered was French Quarter. French Quarter consists of primarily one guy, Stephen Steinbrink (who now simply goes by his own name) singing quiet, lo-fi folk music with just enough production shine. The defining characteristic of the arts district mafia, moreso than any of the other groups, was their pure DIY culture. They centered mostly around a venue in Downtown Phoenix called The Trunkspace, a one room, narrow and oddly shaped room that doubled as a coffee bar and had the architectural character that drew people to the "historic" Downtown neighborhoods ("historic" is sort of relative for Arizona, a state that was the 48th state in the union and less than 100 years old at that.) Many of the shows were no more than 10 dollars, bands shared equipment and groups of kids could be found huddled in circles in the parking lot or peeking into the windows. It is one of the defiant few "all ages" venues that exist downtown, standing tall as even Modified Arts shifts angles. Some of the bands were fantastic and some were terrible and noisy, but it was the passion and comradore that brought people back every show to see bands, side projects, side side projects and jam sessions. It was very much a culture of "hey, I'll give you a CD in exchange for a hug" and thrived on the support of the bands.

French Quarter had many of these DIY characteristics. He is signed to a local label (called Gilgongo Records) that has a staggering amount of releases in various types of packaging, many of which are attributed to Steinbrink. He has nearly 30 different projects listed on his MySpace from art magazines to tshirts to caps to music pressed on cassette, CD and vinyl as well as a host of split 7"'s with other "Arts District" bands, including Andrew Jackson Jihad. It drawls parallels to artists like Daniel Johnston, with less schizophrenia, of course. He has supported himself on nationwide tours, playing house parties and venues across the country, bringing along some of the Arts District bands or just playing with friends he's made along the way. One of the writers for State Press Magazine at ASU took a break from school for a semester and toured with Stephen, which was printed in the magazine, which I looked forward to. It was the romance of touring and exploring the country on music without all the BS that some other local bands have found themselves stuck to.

This record features many of the songs I would play on my show (back in the day when you could download music from MySpace, sorry Stephen. I swear I bought the record later.) including dreamy, buzzy songs like "Stay" and "In June". His lyrics are sincere and poingnant, and despite several collaborators listed on his site (as is the nature of the Arts District Mafia), it is clearly Steinbrink's. They don't point to anything inparticular, some about love but not necessarily. He's kept a sort of mystery in that sense, and in a Mafia of several "joke" bands, French Quarter is far from a joke. It's almost effortlessly brilliant, proving him as the stand-out performer in a sea of "loud" bands, with a simple guitar, smart hooks and distinctive voice.

It almost seems unfair to lump some of these bands together, because so many of them have their own sound and identity, however I think specifically with the Arts District Mafia, someone like Steinbrink was able to be fostered in this community and clearly takes cues from the culture that was created there.

The Loop : Band of Annuals - Let Me Live

2009-12-03T18:46:00.000-08:00

Band of Annuals - Let Me Live (2007)

Band of Annuals have been a longtime victim of coincidence. Not only has there always been confusion between them and Raleigh band Annuals, but the minute Band of Horses exploded, with just as many beards, the Utah group was challenged with setting themselves apart.

But that's never been a problem. They host an incredible set of musicians, taking cues from their desert home to capture the "lonely desert jangle" I've heard describe the Southwest. I had a very vague understanding of Utah before, even having been so close in AZ, only to the point where I knew it was the Mormon "headquarters" and assumed everyone from there was Mormon as well. This band shattered all my misconceptions, existing as a portrait of small town musicians with deep deep rooted history, even though most of them aren't much older than me. Their first full length, Let Me Live already made it on my top 10 list of 2007 (#2, respectively), where I summed it up like this :

"I can't get over how well matched this entire band is. From seamless instrumentals to the two best male/female vocals I've ever heard, they have a sound that is simply uncategorize-able. A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll, and one of the few bands that still gives me chills."

And I still mean it to this day. Their Americana style has lent itself to playing with all genres of bands, like Limbeck and Daniel Johnston. They've existed in this very "hip" sector of music, while taking the tone of so many blues/folk musicians before them, drawing familiar, timeless references to whiskey, heartache and transition. They have spent most of their time on the road, digging through Arizona several times (which is how I first heard them, opening for The Via Maris) and making it to the East Coast not once but TWICE before an exploding van kept them stuck in Salt Lake City for a while. They were nothing short of ambassadors of the road, making it a point to meet and hear the stories of everyone they met along the way. Seeing them perform live and come in and out of my respective cities as is real as a band can get, and I know several people who make it a point to rally behind them because of their good spirit.

There is something timeless about this band and about this record. It definitely doesn't fall into the "quiet music" category, but at it's quietest moment is when you feel their synergy as a band the most ; with impeccable harmonies as as much pan as any man can convey in his voice and lyrics. It feels like this band is too talented for everywhere they play and for falling into the shadows of the aforementioned "Band of" and "Annuals" bands. They recently released an EP and are still playing in and around Utah, I just hope that the world-weariness that is set into his voice isn't reflective of this band's future. Music needs a band like this to keep touring and to be discovered in the most organic of ways, because they are the most organic of bands.

The Loop : Right Away Great Captain - The Eventually Home

2009-12-01T20:49:00.000-08:00

Right Away Great Captain - The Eventually Home (2008)

As was made clear by the super-long review I did of Manchester Orchestra's first record, I quickly got really into that band. Chances are I geeked out via Facebook or MySpace like I tend to do and it caught the eye of a friend who mentioned that Andy had a side project called Right Away Great Captain. I knew I had seen the name float around in the course of my learning about Manchester, but I hadn't really thought twice. She pointed me in the direction of his first record, The Bitter End, which quickly sparked equal amounts geek-outs.

The project actually consists of 'concept' records, as described by Wikipedia as being "a concept record focusing on a 1600's sailor at sea for 3 years, each song being a journal entry to his family at home or his captain." I didn't know the theme for a while, and just assumed that Andy's world-weary lyrics in Manchester also carried over to this album, which pinned him as way older than his age. Even though I know now that it's a story, the lyrics still speak louder than most other 21 year olds are able to say.

While The Bitter End got me into the project, it was The Eventually Home that proved it's genius. As it were, it took me a long time to get the record. I had heard through various internet sources that it would be coming out, but forgot to follow up. Then, when it did, I forgot to remember to look for it. It happens to me a lot, actually, where I sit down to browse iTunes or go to a record store knowing there was something I meant to buy, then getting distracted by other albums or whatever. As it were, I didn't end up getting the record until early 2009 when my mood lent to the tunes and it finally clicked.

This record continues the story, but musically steps up to an entirely different level. I hate to even use the term "side-project", because Andy feeds as much passion into this as he does his full-time Manchester Orchestra gig. And even if he doesn't, it certainly sounds like it, even while telling someone else's story. It's a stripped down, guitar and piano heavy record, layered with dreamy vocals and harmonies from a familiar voice. The songs become less conversational and more hook driven, making the flow of the "story" even easier to digest, even if you aren't aware of it. According to Wikipedia, this album "conveys the journey of a 16th century sailor who has been betrayed by his wife who has committed adultery with his own brother. In this second part of the planned trilogy, the sailor returns home in the song Memories From A Shore."

Needless to say, I'm anxious to see where the third record leads. My only complaint being that this HAS taken a backseat (obviously) to his Manchester touring duties, because I'd LOVE to see this performed live. Unless of course, it's something that simply needs to exist in the story. Buy both records, start from the top, thank me later.

The Loop : Manchester Orchestra - I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child

2009-12-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

Manchester Orchestra - I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child (2007)

[So this was first released in 2006 and then re-released after their major label deal in 2007. Since I didn't realize this, and absolutely HAVE to include this album, I'm considering the re-release. Not sure which one I actually bought.]

I went to SXSW in 2006, trying to gather ideas for my college radio station, being supremely bummed out every time I walked to a show to find it was 21+ (I was 19 . . . what a bust!) I spent my days in the panels and my nights getting to as many shows as possible and I was very fortunate to have a badge and be able to bounce around as long as my feet would keep up with me. Usually it wasn't an issue just walking into a show, but as I arrived to see Belle and Sebastian, I saw a huge line outside of Stubb's. Cool, whatever, I'll wait.

SXSW is very much like rock and roll summer camp. You go from place to place and everyone talks to everyone, because we're all there for the same reason. As I was waiting in line, I start talking to a young bearded guy with the general SXSW small talk ("So, what do you do?/ where are you from? /did you see Morrissey's sweet pomp in person? Me too!") I mention that I'm with college radio from Arizona and he mentions his name is Andy and he's in a band from Atlanta called Manchester Orchestra. He invites me to their Paste magazine showcase the next afternoon, and I graciously accept. However, the next day I was torn between that, a Rogue Wave Day Stage showcase and one of the many dorky panels I wanted to attend, so I ended up not going. (shame on me, Midlake and Josh Ritter both played. Man, I suck sometimes) Turns out, he had the wrong kind of badge and couldn't get into the concert, so I didn't see him after that.

A year later, I was browsing through (*surprise!*) Paste magazine and see a little write-up on the band, and I recognize the name and that familiar beard. "Hey, I met that guy! Cool!". I get all amp'd up and head to our campus record store to find some new tunes and low and behold there is their debut release "Like a Virgin Losing a Child" on the listening post. Finding the coincidence funny, I take a listen to a few tracks and buy it. Later that night, I'm looking through the local concert calendar (can you tell I'm a nerd?) and I see that Brand New is FINALLY playing a smaller venue in Phoenix, which I had been holding out for. I go to grab my credit card and I see that their direct support is . . . Manchester Orchestra. This is all in the course of just one day, and all too coincidental.

That night I post on my LiveJournal (geez, how many hipster cliches can I squeeze in here?) and write a bit about how I'm excited for the show, and how funny it is that Manchester Orchestra keeps popping up, and how much I liked the album I just bought. The next morning I see I got a comment that says

"Hey, I remember meeting you! Let's stand in line together at Brand New. - andy"

Talk about a small (internet) world. Making the world even smaller, I chased them around to see them live a couple times, worked this record as a college rep in Arizona and am now working the band's newest record in the Sony college department. And to this day, Andy STILL remembers the story. It's fun to see four years of a band's growth, starting from practically the beginning.

However, by listening to this record, you'd have no idea that they were a) a relatively new band b) super young dudes. The best part about this record is the timing. I often say my one biggest regret is that I can't quite comprehend how music is written, from scratch to what's eventually put down. I understand good music, and stuff I like, but am fascinated by the songwriting process. This band is one of the most fascinating, with an incredible pop sense amongst loud to quiet times. It's one of those records where I find a new thing I hear every time I listen. Lyrically it is haunting, especially knowing how young they are. You can practically peel the layers off of Andy, but never really scrape the meanings of these songs. This is someone who has channeled his world-weary into some really smart songs.

Not to spoil any surprises here, but this isn't the first time you'll hear about this band on this list. Needless to say, they've only gotten better.

Ha! Here's an awesome video of Manchester Orchestra playing at Stubb's in Austin, the same venue where we met in line. Looks like he finally got in :)

The Loop : Wrapping up 2004 - 2006

2009-11-30T22:13:00.000-08:00

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!):

Hello December.

The Loop : Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

2009-11-30T21:51:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-29T19:16:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-29T17:35:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-28T23:24:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-28T22:52:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-28T21:52:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-27T23:10:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-27T22:24:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-27T21:42:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-25T20:33:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-25T19:58:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-24T19:44:00.003-08:00

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

2009-11-23T20:56:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-23T20:12:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-21T23:01:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-21T22:32:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-21T21:53:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-18T22:30:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-18T21:56:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-18T21:27:00.000-08:00

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.

The Loop : Zachary James Dodds - Words, Cranes & Marks

2009-11-13T19:47:00.001-08:00

Zachary James Dodds - Words, Cranes & Marks (2005)

I met Zach Dodds in December of 2006. It was finals week, and as was the torturous nature of French class, I had a Friday evening final to take of the very last exam of the fourth and final semester ASU required. (by the way, to this day I only know approximately four words, counting up to 100 and how to ask where the bathroom is and tell people I'm going to the movies)

I was totally anxious the entire time because that night was also "The Winter Formal" at The Sets, one of many creative ideas thought up by local promoter Psyko Steve. I was all dressed up for my final, getting funny looks while explaining to my friends there that I had to finish because I had to go to a rock show. I wanted to get there early to catch Alcholiday, my newest band buddies who put on an amazing show. After tearing through the exam, I made my way to The Sets and found myself there . . . early. WIN! No one I knew was there yet and at the time I was still on the OTHER side of the 21 and over rope (sad!) so I wandered around a bit. I ended up sitting down near Stiletto Formal's merch table (because I was dumb and opted t0 wear heels) when a guy walks up to me and says, "Hey, I see you around a lot at ASU right? You're at a lot of the music things?" (which happened a lot to me, by the way. It sounds egotistical, but it's true. I was told I had recognizable hair) He introduced himself as Zach Dodds, and we ended up talking a bit, realizing that we had a lot of mutual friends from Saguaro High School and such. At that point, a photographer from The Arizona Republic comes up and asks us to take a picture together. Since we had only met a few minutes earlier, it was sort of strange, but we smiled and took one, albeit far apart. A couple days later, a friend who worked at the Tribune sent me a message to the effect of "hey, you're famous!" and pointed me to the picture online:

This is not the original one, since we both didn't know each other, we each cropped each other out to use for our social networking. I could have pieced it back together, but its kind of funnier this way.

A few weeks later, I started working with this guy named Chad on his project called The Via Maris. We were discussing his album and live show and he mentioned that he usually has a few friends who play with him, including a guitarist named Zachary James Dodds. I laughed because of the way he and I had met and Chad encouraged me to listen to his music. I checked out his MySpace and played a few songs on my radio show. He ended up playing with Chad, occaisionally opening up with his own material. I remember paying him $5 for a copy of his latest EP Words Cranes and Marks and his very first CD that he released in high school called Wind For Sails. We quickly became good friends, sharing Chipotle adventures and music movie marathons. We ended up having a ton of the same friends, as it happens in Arizona and I became a huge fan of his music.

Aside from that long story, this short EP speaks more volumes than so many artists' full LPs. I read once that Zach "sounds too world-weary for his age", and with some of the imagry he draws and sophisticated language made it very clear that he was not just some young singer/songwriter. His musical sensibilities are unmatched, having graduated well above some of his whiny emo peers even in his high school record and creating a rich and amazingly produced folk record. His voice is rich and deep, which I think creates an inviting tone for the entire EP. He is working on a new set of music under a different name, but I'm sure his character will create the same tone, no matter what genre.

My story of meeting Zach is probably not unlike how a lot of people ended up meeting him, because it is his nature to be kind and friendly to people. This translates into his music perfectly, which is likely why it catches your attention right off the bat. He is a person who is so happy in life, no matter what he's doing, and finds the good in everything. There is no way that that couldn't be reflected through his music, which is articulate and unconditionally happy. Not only did we have a lot of mutual friends, but he has a lot of friends in general just from being perceptive and open to everyone. I can honestly say without a doubt that there is not one person who can say they don't like Zach Dodds.

Not only is he now one of my greatest friends, but I am proud to share his music with everyone, about someone who has made an impact on my life in my two favorite ways : friendship and exceptional music.

As it turns out, there aren't any videos of Zach perfoming any of the songs from this EP, but coincidentally this is my favorite song of his called "My New Friends" from a later EP (that is now out of print, but streamable on MySpace)

The Loop : DeYarmond Edison - Silent Signs

2009-11-12T18:18:00.000-08:00

DeYarmond Edison - Silent Signs (2005)

It's been a rainy day in New York, after several days of unseasonably warm weather. As Winter is well upon us, it seemed only logical that I b-line to some Bon Iver on my iPod this morning. However, in thinking about it, I felt that was almost TOO emo, even for me, so I opted for another less "three months of isolation" kind of album, Justin Vernon's first band, DeYarmond Edison.

I'd say in the year and a half or so that I worked at Epic, about 80% of my music came from my officemate Rob. We'd often have speaker battles, his winning against my tiny computer speakers. We had been obsessed with Bon Iver after the buzz grew around his album For Emma, Forever Ago. We knew the circumstances of that album : dude breaks up with girlfriend AND band, and then gets really sick and runs away to Wisconsin to write this unbelivable album. However, it never really occured to either of us to check out the band he had broken up with. Finally, after doing some Wikipedia research we found out that they were called DeYarmond Edison and hey! their album was on iTunes.

I picked it up soon after and I'll go out on a limb and say it : I almost like it better than Bon Iver. Please, Pitchfork, let me explain. It's very clear in listening to Silent Signs the kind of tone that Justin would eventually take with Bon Iver. Obviously there were more components here, namely more ego with three other band members, but there is a distinct sound that I don't think could exist with him at the helm. That being said, for those of you familiar with Bon Iver, Justin actually sings in a lower register. A MUCH lower register. He is fairly well known now for his dreamy falsetto that became characteristic of Bon Iver, but here he sings in a husky, warm folk tone.

Along with the vocals, this is just an overall smart record. The melodies are infectious and the sound, as with Vernon's vocals, is warm and inviting. This record seems to carry another theme of winter, with lyrics like "I warm my cold November hands under your thighs to stop my shivers." It's remarkably intune with nature and has a very distictive North Carolina sound, which is ironic since all of the members were Wisconsin transplants in NC. Songs like "Heroin(e)", "Bones" and "Heart for Hire" so so brilliantly written, it's a wonder that the band broke up.

As of now, though, they are still friends, with the remaining members starting their own group called Megafaun, who I accidentally saw open for Bowerbirds in July (and whose members sometimes play in Bowerbirds. Oh North Carolina, you all are precious) who is equally good. They went on Bon Iver for this last run of dates where they played a cover song together. Bon Iver announced an indefinite hiatus from touring and secretly (or not so secretly) I sort of hope that maybe creatively this group can meet in the middle and produce another really great record like this one. In my bearded dreams . . .

Sadly, this band existed before it was cool to YouTube, so this was all I could find. It's either this or a bunch of dudes in dorms covering them, so this will have to do. Two amazing tunes.

The Loop : Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther

2009-11-10T21:58:00.000-08:00

Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther (2006)

Tonight on my way home, I stopped by Duane Reade and ran into my friend and former boss Jason. We both live in the ultra-hip area of Williamsburg, so we walked together and took the multi-train trek to the L train to cut across home. As good music nerds do, we discussed work and recent records purchased and I mentioned how crazy it was that there are already "Best of" lists coming out for 2009. Granted this is the season of the box set and there are very few new releases left, but still, it feels early.

I already have a few records in mind and asked him what he thought his were. It occured to me halfway through saying that that this was the guy who inspired me to even make a "best of " list, after many years of letting records fall into oblivion, only to reappear chronologically through this countdown. Jason sends out a comprehensive "best of" list before we all go on Christmas break each year, but it was the very first one I got after coming on board as a college rep that made a huge impression. In 2006, his top choice was a band called Midlake.

Obviously, because I'm dumb, it took me several months to circle back on this band, even after being impressed by Jason's glowing review. This is a hardcore music guy and this was his favorite of the whole year. Why didn't I buy it sooner? At some point I came across the song "Young Bride", which starts with a haunting string part and soft melodies that Fleet Foxes only WISH they had gotten to first. The entire record plays out similarly, in a sonically eloquent and lush manner. I haven't gone so far as to research if they're telling a story, but it mind-trips you to some sort of forest with language similar to that of The Decemberists, that feels ancient and narrative. Seeing this band live was totally amazing, with most of the instrumentation accounted for at one of my favorite Phoenix venues, Rhythm Room.

We've all been waiting paitiently for the new record, which has finally been slated for early 2010. I'd imagine it was a task trying to follow up with a record like The Trials Of . . . , but I'm fully confident that their next record will end up on my "Best of" 2010 pretty easily.

This is an alternate version of "Bandits" with a beautiful piano intro. Amazing.

The Loop : Reubens Accomplice - The Bull, The Balloon and The Family

2009-11-08T20:06:00.000-08:00

Reubens Accomplice - The Bull, The Balloon and the Family (2004)

I first heard about this Arizona band through my friend Stefan who plays in another local band called Peachcake. We had just met a few months prior and he told me about a show he was playing as part of Reubens Accomplice's tour kick off on New Years day in 2005. I went with a few friends and stayed until the end since Peachcake closed out the show. (oddly enough, the show featured two future band-friends, The Loveblisters and Source Victoria) I remember that night so vividly for some reason, espeically Reubens set. I knew very little about them except maybe a song or two that came on the "local" rotation at The Blaze. I remember being fairly captivated by the band, especially finding the line, "She said 'Take a drink of my Sprite so you can think of me all night'", fairly charming.

I picked up the record at the radio station (and I don't think I ever returned it . . . oops. . . I'll drop by $12 next time I'm in town) and it fell seamlessly with the other local music I was into, namely The Format. Come to find out, they were buddies, all part of this jangle pop mafia (as I liked to call them) that included them, Format, El Oso Negro, Jimmy Eat World and Limbeck from California. It was a serious desert-folk-pop-rock bromance. They only seemed to play every 6 months or so, usually at Modified Arts and usually with one of the aforementioned bros. I went to see them at Stinkweed's once for their annual post-Thanksgiving sale (at the old Tempe location) and was introduced to some of my favorite bands like Asleep in the Sea and Sweetbleeders. They mark the start of my head-first dive into local music because honestly, how much more Arizona could you get?

The funny thing about it is that despite being release on a local label (Western Tread) and produced by Jim Adkins (of Jimmy Eat World), The Bull The Balloon and The Family seems to grapple with themes of leaving the desert and the idea of home. Like any good Arizona band, they name-drop the city a few times ("so we could hang out in Houston or Phoenix") or the all-the-more telling line of, "this town is bringing me down, yeah, this town, I can't hang around in Arizona. . . " It's a love/hate relationship I think many of us from Phoenix have. We all love the city and the music community there, but as The Weakerthans put it, we go "back to the streets I know will never take me anywhere but here." It isn't fair to say that you can't be successful in Phoenix, and I see so many friends happy and thriving there. But for certain people, especially those in bands, there's a glass ceiling that only few have shattered, Jimmy Eat World being one of them. However, read any given interview and they are mentioning AZ. They love being from there. I think Reubens does, but finds the frustration in a suburban desert where the rest of the world feels (and is) six hours away.

However for me, hearing this record now that I live in the world's most compacted city makes me instantly homesick. I feel that desert and I taste the dirt and I can see a horizon that I don't get to see very often in the city. It may not have been their intention, but Reubens paints a nice picture for me to run away to each time I listen.

The Loop : Jack's Mannequin - Everything in Transit

2009-11-08T18:50:00.000-08:00

Jack's Mannequin - Everything in Transit (2005)

Today was unseasonably warm in New York City, hitting a high of 66 degrees in the middle of November. The streets of Brooklyn were exploding with people excited to see the sun. I kept hearing the line from a Jack's Mannequin b-side in my head that goes, ". . . And it's hard to ignore that it feels like summer all the time." I decided to take my lunch outside to the patio and revisit my ultimate Summer album, Everything in Transit.

I hadn't really been a fan of much of Andrew's stuff in Something Corporate, only visiting a few songs here or there. I first heard about his "side project" from my friend Allie, who went to see him play a solo show at the old Neckbeard's in Tempe. The name would slip in and out of my consciousness here and there after the album was released but I didn't think to much about it. This was at the same time that I shared an office with the music director at The Blaze and sometimes got to take the CDs that wouldn't be played on our ultra-indie radio station. He dropped the album on my desk and asked if I wanted it, so I went ahead and took it because I was curious. I ended up becoming obsessed with it, even spending a 6 hour drive to Los Angeles with Allie listening to the record over and over, taking pictures in a spot that looked like the album cover and writing "Fuck yeah, we can live like this!" in the sand in Venice Beach. You can't get more infinite than this record.

The name Everything in Transit is ideal for this record because it deals with such transient themes. It is very centered on the West coast and to this day, even while listening on my porch in Brooklyn, I felt like I was in Venice. It isn't just references to Hollywood and the beach, but the chaos that is being young and never really having a home. I don't think any of us are ever sure where our past ends and our home begins and for myself and most of my friends in their early to mid twenties, we're in the inbetween of those things. I remember listening to the b-side "The Lights and Buzz" while packing to move back to Arizona after interning in NYC. The song starts with "I'm coming home from my hardest year and I'm making plans not to make plans while I'm here. This life has been no holiday, a complicated situation, I'm fine with all my memories, still I could use vacation." That has become such a poignant line for me in many of my travels as each year I reach different goals that were even harder to reach than the one before. I couldn't have planned any of this if I tried.

It is as perfect a pop record as anything I had heard, interspersed with sound bites of sirens, conversations and with almost every song ending with the faint creaking of the seat of the piano. I know I've said more than once about albums on this list that they are albums you have to listen to in the exact order they came in or else it just doesn't sound right. However, this is the ULTIMATE album for that, because it literally tells a story. We all know the back story of Andrew McMahon, having just finished this record and being diagnosed with leukemia the same day. I feel though that the story of this record has less to do with HIM for me and more to do with this character he was talking about before all of that went down. However with that being known, it is an emotionally exhausting record in imagining this charcter, plus the circumstances of Andrew's illness, plus sometimes taking these lyrics and applying them to your own life. There are very few records I feel have that power and even today, I found myself tearing up while feeling homesick yet enjoying the beautiful weather. Much like the idea of home, these characters exist in this vaccum of spontinaety before the real world begins.

Everything from the happy-go-lucky "La La Lie" to the 8 minute opus of "MFEO : You Can Breathe Now" is necessary in telling this story and keeping the dynamic of chaos tugging you in either direction while you listen. While there were some good songs on the follow up record The Glass Passenger, McMahon set the bar with this record as it teeters between his pop punk carefee days and his post cancer settled down and married ways.

The Loop : Various Artists - Not One Light Red : A Desert Extended

2009-11-07T16:26:00.000-08:00

Various Artists - Not One Light Red : A Desert Extended (2004?)

I started working at The Blaze 1260AM my freshman year after getting an e-mail to all the new journalism students about a "general interest" meeting the 2nd week of school. The directors all spoke about their departments, and despite coming in there wanting to DJ, I realized I was also generally interested in promotions. I volunteered myself to the promotions department and met up with the director and a few others on a Saturday afternoon to be part of a tailgate near Lot 59 and the stadium for a football game. We met at the station early on and packed up all of our promo items : stickers, posters and sampler CDs, mostly. I was fascinated by the fact that labels would just give out boxes of CDs to us and got REALLY excited when Jackie said it was cool if I took a local music compilation called "Not One Light Red : A Desert Extended" out of several boxes they gave us, namely because it featured The Format (and their very first recording) I remember feeling instantly cool and going home to listen to something I had gotten while "working", and fascinated still that "working" can involve music and local bands.

I listened to this record non-stop the next few months, however in adding them to my iPod, it didn't pop up the band names, just "various artists". Several years later, until today, I didn't really even realize who all was on it, even though I had listened to it so many times before. The local label that made this compilation, Sunset Alliance, had previously put together another compilation called "Not One Light Red : A Modified Document", which featured live performances from the downtown art space, including a track from Jim Adkins' side project, Go Big Casino. For this, they decided to integrate music from across the country and the world between tracks from local bands like Before Braille, Reuben's Accomplice, Fine China, The Go Reflex and Fivespeed, all bands that I would become incredibly familiar with later on while hosting a local music radio show.

The non-AZ bands included groups like Cursive (whoa!), Recover, The Good Life and even a Swedish guy named Kristofer Astrom and Hidden Truck (by far my favorite song on this compilation). Like so many of the records I heard that first year of college, this became burned in my brain with flashes of my new life and in this case, the start of my new life working in music. It felt so cool to be so plugged into what music in AZ was doing, and up until today I really didn't even have a grasp of just how much something like this meant and how people were doing this long before any of us threw our hat into the ring and tried to do something similar. I love that they worked in bands that weren't from AZ, perhaps nudging some of the AZ bands out of our desert bubble and into a national consciousness.

The lineup is seriously awesome, even if some of these names aren't as familiar six years later. I was able to order this and the A Modified Document record at Stinkweed's online, so do some digging or just check out each of the individual bands.

01 The Go Reflex (first ever release) - From Boxtop to Boxtop
02 Cursive - Great Decay
03 Seven Storey - Time to Go
04 The Real Diego - Safe Sound
05 Recover - Betting All I Have
06 Kristopher Astrom & Hidden Truck - All Lovers Hell (Confined)
07 Mock Orange - Song D'Lux
08 Bluetip -Newport
09 Fine China - Give Us Treble
10 The Format - The First Single
11 Grey Am - Phoenix on Fire (Re-Unionized)
12 Fivespeed - In the AM
13 The Good Life - Thin Walls Between Us
14 Fireside - Thing on a Spring
15 Before Braille - Not Tonight Not Ever
16 J.Rawls - Splendid
17 Bluebird - Some Days
18 The Revolution Smile - Gift
19 Chris Mills - Waitin on a Superman
20 Reubens Accomplice - Don't Forget the Promise

I absolutely love this song and happy it's on YouTube. I recall having it on repeat for several days once: