Best albums for first half of 2008

In no particular order, a brief rundown at what's pulled at our heartstrings so far this year. Please click on the artist's name to buy these albums. We repeat: Buy! Buy! Buy!

the Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride: Superchunk's Jon Wurster is a welcome addition to the band.
San Bernadino.mp3


Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight: Driving, earnest songs that belie the band's meek moniker.
Keep Yourself Warm.mp3


Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago: These delicate little songs have gently led me through many dark places this year.
Skinny Love.mp3


Islands - Arm's Way: Epic from start to finish. The strings are incredible!
Creeper.mp3


The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely: An extremely cohesive album. A sweltering album that, in my opinion, surpasses the bands debut.
Salute Your Solution.mp3


Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs: A shift in sound for the band. I've heard a lot of bad things about this album, but I'm really enjoying it.
I Will Posses Your Heart.m4a


Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours: Dance, Dance, Dance like you're at an 80's prom, except with way hipper music!
Unforgettable Season.mp3


Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea: David Berman's wit and rasp at its best.
Candy Jail.m4a


She & Him - Volume 1: The pinnacle of adorableness, plus M. Ward's immaculate, sepia-tinged production.
Black Hole.m4a


Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster...: Britain's cheekiest youngsters rock...with glockenspiel of course.
This Is How You Spell, "HAHAHA, We Destroyed the Hopes and Dreams of a Generation of Faux-Romantics".m4a


Vampire Weekend: Unironic pure joy, with a summertime-lounge-y feel.
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.mp3


Flight of the Conchords: Silliness without sappiness, spanning different genres.
Mutha'uckas.m4a


Sigur Rós - Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust: Faux-languaged Icelandic group pulls together a sharp, fun, poppy record.
Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur.mp3

I don't want to wake up knowing I don't have a future.

File this one under "best album of 2007 that I didn't hear until 2008".
It all began a month ago when a friend sent me an mp3 of "Impossible" and exclaimed "if your life had a theme song, this would be it!" That immediately peaked my interest, or at the very least made me morbidly curious considering the amount of stress and angst I was encountering at the time. Luckily the Swedes did not disappoint. They soundtracked my mopiness with brilliant dreamy indie pop- the kind that sparkles and cracks and floats on and on and on. Our Ill Wills overflows with looping, cyclical melodies that at once go everywhere and nowhere, the kind of melodies that both reinforce and assuage our daily melancholia. And I love it for that. You should too.

Impossible - Shout Out Louds
I don't want to feel like I don't have a future

Tonight I Have to Leave It - Shout Out Louds

Why does this even exist?

Um I guess sometimes stuffed bears just want to make love in this club? I guess Usher just has that effect on whimsical childrens' characters? THIS IS SOOO WRONG:

i am armed with the past, and the will, and a brick

So, I've found my favourite album of the year. Sure, there year is only just half done. But unless Rufus Wainwright and John Darnielle colaberate on an album feauring Sufjan Stevens, I have found my album of the year. Wanna know what it is?

Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight

This album has everything I love in an album. A lead singer with a unique voice. (Kind of like a scottish Connor Oberst with actual vocal skills). Literate lyrics. Emoness but not too much emoness. Clever guitar work. Driving beats. Oh man oh man oh man.

The songs, every damn one, are amazing. They soar and dip and soar even higher. It's mostly just guitar and drums, but these songs are more complex and rich than anything other bassless bands could hope for. And the lyrics pales in comparison to the music. And then the music pales next to the lyrics. And then his voice does something extra Scottish-y and it all pales next to that.

I am just crazy in love with this album. I want everyone to hear it and share the joy. I want to dial random numbers in the phone book and shout 'omg! listen!' and hold the receiver up to the speakers. And I bet they wouldn't hang up, they'd stay on the line for the full 48.2 minutes it took the album to play through.

The Modern Leper
And you are not ill
And I'm not dead.
Doesn't that make us the perfect pair?

Keep Yourself Warm
It takes more than fucking someone
you don't know to keep warm.

BUY

Happy 4th of July

To all you fellow Americans out there, a tributory mix!

Elliott Smith - Independence Day.mp3

Elliott Smith - Bottle Up and Explode!.mp3

John Philip Sousa - Stars and Stripes Forever.mp3

Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A..mp3

the Mountain Goats - We Were Patriots.m4a

Animal Collective - Fireworks.mp3

Elvis Costello - Indoor Fireworks.mp3

Simon & Garfunkel - America.mp3

Cat Power - American Flag.mp3

John Linnell - Songs of the 50 States.mp3

Sufjan Stevens - The 50 States Song (live).mp3

Sufjan Stevens - The Star Spangled Banner (live).mp3

and speaking of holidays...
Sufjan Stevens - Christmas in July.mp3

Seven Swoons

I can't let this go by without a mention. Today is Sufjan's 33rd birthday. I quote our dear friend and reader Katie:

Happy birthday to our favorite indie boyfriend! He's lost all his baby feathers and become the full-grown, manly swan I always knew he'd become.

Sufjan Sevens - Happy Birthday.mp3

TV on the Radio @ Town Ballroom, Buffalo NY, 6/30/08

I have to admit: I bought Return to Cookie Mountain in 2006, and, despite the wide critical acclaim, it never grabbed me. So it was with initial ambivalence and hesitation I went to last's night's show, at Jess' urging that "they're really fun live!"



And they were. I'm a convert. In comparison, the album stuff falls flat. While there was plenty of dancing (good!) and moshing (bad!), the set consistently delivered a soul-fueled prog rock performance. With heady head-bangers interspersed with slow jamz, the Buffalo debut of this great group was fraught with high spirits and deep emotion.



I mean, c'mon, I know that you also totally want a T-shirt with a giant rosary on it and instructions on how to use it (well, all us lapsed Catholics, anyway.)



And really, experimental rock doesn't even scratch the surface: Guitar + wind chimes + cymbals + clapping + whistling = WIN





And, there was secret-sharing! Because I positively can't keep this a secret (nor could I expect the other few hundred folks there) TVotR announced they just finished a NEW ALBUM!!!!! I am hoping/thinking it will be out this fall/winter. He said "it sucks though!" which I highly doubt, if it has any of the energy that was expressed last night. But they did debut one of the new songs:



So, it is with some remorse I am not offering up any downloads, as I only have album cuts and it just seems trite in comparison. The good news is that there were many recorders out there, so I recommend poking around Hype Machine and YouTube for clips in the next few days as they surface: you'll be amply rewarded with goodness.

Don't Go to Florida, Dear

I'm going to Florida early tomorrow for sad family reasons. On that note, download this song:
Florida, Dear - One Happy Island

Liz Phair @ Hiro Ballroom, NY 6/25/08

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

In the heart of America

Well I've made the move and am not yet totally settled but wanted to offer up a weakly related but fun song nonetheless, about trying to find my way in this new city.

Bob Marley - Buffalo Soldier.mp3

Spoon covers The Smiths - Swooooon

Thanks to You Ain't No Picasso for unearthing this cover. The thought of Spoon covering The Smiths makes me wet myself. But then I actually listened to it. Yep, my suspicions were confirmed - it's sexy! But then again so is every word Britt Daniels utters.

Panic - Spoon (The Smiths cover)

Oh I'm in a lull...

Here's the really gorgeous video for Andrew Bird's Daytrotter version of "Lull" featuring Dianogah

Lull - Andrew Bird featuring Dianogah (Daytrotter version)

Please Feed the Animals

You've probably already downloaded the new Girl Talk album Feed the Animals. If you haven't you should, since it's "pay what you want" (my favorite words in the music industry!). Technically you can be a total cheap-ass and download it for free (not that we're advocating that, but just saying). Anyways after listening to it about 4 times today (mainly while bopping like a lunatic behind a desk at work) I think this is my favorite track. "Here's The Thing" samples 96 Tears, Come on Ride the Train, Since You've Been Gone and Jesse's Girl amongst a mish-mosh of hip hop and electro-beats. And it works!

Here's the Thing - Girl Talk

Mix to my 17 year-old self

Six years ago the number of albums I owned barely cracked the double digits. However, those few precious CDs were totally ingrained in me. In light of a few recent events I've been thinking a lot about who I was, who I've become and how a handful of songs were responsible for getting me there. Enjoy these tunes in my moment of solipsism:

Green Eyes - Coldplay
Long before their misguided attempts at becoming the Biggest Band in the World(TM), they were MY band. To this day, I will even brush aside hipster impulses and defend, rather then condemn, the almost unbearable earnestness that sustained my senior year of high school. Besides when you're seventeen this kind of shit, the cliche black and white binaries in the lyricism, the kindergarten rhyme schemes, sounds utterly profound, ok? Especially when it comes from a dreamy Brit. YOUR dreamy Brit to be exact.

There There - Radiohead
Hail to the Thief was the first Radiohead album I ever bought. I was at that age where I wanted to cultivate that elusive thing known as "taste" and I'm pretty sure Radiohead were one of those bands I was "supposed" to like. I know, I know, that's a dumb reason for buying any album, but hey it's turns out I actually liked it. So there.

Girl You Have No Faith in Medicine - The White Stripes
This was also the year I was prescribed some hardcore anti-depressants. Um they didn't exactly work. I'm glad Jack White realized this.

Lost Cause - Beck
Sea Change is a break-up album. When I was 17, I considered break-ups a luxury. Because break-ups imply that you were at one point um, with someone. I would have killed for one. And thus I was jealous of Beck.

Untitled 4 - Sigur Ros
Ok, so this song barely makes the cut. I got () for my 18th birthday. It was the ONLY thing I asked for. I read about in USA Today (of all unhip places!) and thought "Whoa a band that sings in a made up language and names their albums after punctuation. I must have it!" Also I worked at nursing home and dealt with death on a near daily basis and I would listen to this song on my lunch breaks when in need of an calming, ethereal respite. That would usually be often.

Going to Buffalo

So I'm going through a major life change that will impact Volume Knob very slightly, and that is I'm moving from Olympia, WA to Buffalo, NY this week. This means our "base of operations," mailing address and such things will change. As soon as I get a new mail box address, you'll see it on the side bar.

This also means that we will sadly no longer be on three different oceans (tear!) but um... hey, how 'bout that Niagara Falls? Also, I might be a bit sketchy in posting as all my worldly belongings are going to have to fit into a single suitcase as I uproot from the home of K records to the Church of Ani land of Righteous Babe records.

the Mountain Goats - Going to Buffalo.mp3

the Mountain Goats - Leaving Home.mp3

Tori Amos - She's Leaving Home (live Beatles cover).mp3

Magnolia Electric Co. - Leave the City.mp3

The Weakerthans - Left and Leaving.mp3

Chantal Kreviazuk - Leavin' on a Jet Plane.mp3

Nellie McKay - Suitcase Song.mp3

Hank Williams - Move It On Over.mp3

Sufjan Stevens - Niagara Falls.mp3

Leonard Cohen - Hey That's No Way to Say Goodbye.mp3

Bright Eyes - Devil Town (Daniel Johnston cover).mp3
I was livin' in a devil town, didn't know it was a devil town
Oh Lord, it really gets me down, about this devil town

Ah, that cello...

This is a song to listen to while you're walking along the side of the road. The early afternoon sun is warm and softly yellow, and the long grasss brushes the fingertips of your outstretched hand. You're not looking for a ride, not really, but you probably wouldn't say no if one came along.

When I First Came To This Country : Crooked Still

It's the frickin' weekend, baby!

Woohoo R. Kelly! Not Guilty!

Let's celebrate with the GREATEST mash-up of all time:

If I Could Rock (It Would Feel Like This) - Jens Lekman Vs. R. Kelly (ABX)

Happy Birthday June!

Let's all wish a very happy birthday to blogger June! (Technically her birthday was yesterday, June 10th, but while I was in the middle of posting this I very suddenly lost power. Silly thunderstorms!)

(We'd like to say) Happy Birthday Just For You - Donny Hue and the Colors

Instrumentals

Because sometimes there are just no words.

Tori Amos - Over It (B's Over the Pool mix).mp3 from the "Y Kant Tori Mix" Bootleg.
A soft, dreamy, ethereal a cappella which might be considered an early mash-up, if they weren't both Tori songs and didn't result in quite such a perfect blend. I listen to this much more than either of the two original songs the create it.
"The Pool" is originally found on the Winter EP and "Over It" is part of an instrumental piano suite found on the God single.

Estradasphere - Six Hands.mp3 from Palace Of Mirrors
All their songs are instrumental, and it's a good thing: The degree of brash, cacophonous complexity would only be burdened by the presence of any lyrics. This short punch of a song screams "CIRCUS!" with its calliope-like staccato piano that surely must only be played with six hands.

Sufjan Stevens - Redford (For Yia-Yia & Pappou).mp3 from Michigan
Yia-Yia & Pappou are code named for Dear Abby and her sister, Ann Landers, both Michigan natives as well. Deliberate and cerebral, this instrumental pause of heavenly vocalizations backing hesitant piano in an otherwise richly poetic album, serves as a moment of silence for reflection.

Mason Williams - Classical Gas.mp3 from The Mason Williams Phonograph Record
A favorite of mine since I was a kid. Hard to believe this song is 40 years old! His most well-known and one of his best pieces, this guitar-based classic builds to full orchestral blast in barely over three minutes.

Neutral Milk Hotel - Untitled.mp3 from In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Not sure if I love it or hate it when there's a fucking amazing album with a single instrumental track in the middle of it. Bagpipes, and roaring trombone are the signatures in this admittedly very odd song.

Islands - Tsuxiit.mp3 from Return To The Sea
Very similar to the above: the single instrumental track dividing (uniting?) the halves of a 11-star (our of four stars) album. Featuring gongs, piano, fluttery synthesizer and of course strings, this Instrumental Intermission cleanses the palate in a cheery way.

Sunn O))) & Boris - N.L.T..mp3 from Altar
NOT a relaxing piece, and definitely not for grandma. If you've never heard Sunn O))), it's like drinking two bottles of Robitussin, then putting a Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath vinyl on at 20 RPM, adjust the 100khz up to max, and putting the speakers on the floor.

Jeff Buckley - Peace Offering.mp3 from ??????
Sorry for the (lack-of) sound quality on this one; it's an ultra-rare/random/unreleased/b-side/whatever from back in the day. To give you a Jeff Buckley song without his gorgeous vocals seems like a crime, but this only showcases what talented songwriter and guitarist he was.
What? You don't own Grace? SHAME ON YOU. BUY IT.

Two Gallants - Instrumental Song.mp3 from Live at The Independent
This punchy rock piece holds more than a bit of southern flavor as it boldly twings and jangles through the night, driven by relentless drums and a walking baseline, occasionally pausing and delivering what can only seem like a musical punch line.
Buy their Self-Titled Album.

Aphex Twin - Avril 14th.mp3 from Drukqs
One of my favorite instrumental pieces of all time. This short, soft piano piece plucks along gently and makes good use of the residual instrument sounds, as if caught wandering and daydreaming.

Django Reinhardt - Limehouse Blues.mp3 from The Complete Django Reinhardt and Quintet of the Hot Club of France, Swing-HMV Sessions 1936-1948
If you've never heard Django play, then you've missed out on one of the greatest guitarists of our--or our parents' or grandparents'--time. His light, cheery strums bounce along jazz beats with incomprehensible complexity for such a feather-touch sound. Paired here with violin reminiscent of Andrew Bird's early works, this is a happy piece to lift any mood.

Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson & Sigur Rós - Pictures & Memory.mp3 from Angels of the Universe OST
Hot Icelandic-on-Icelandic action! Here the two artists team up for the floaty, gorgeous soundtrack to the 2004 documentary of aerial scenes of Iceland. The rich violin is backed by Sigur Rós' classic dreamy soundscape.

Philip Glass - Metamorphosis One.mp3 from Solo Piano
Think: Gershwin Plays Gershwin. The only other song that could be considered a "classical" selection here (I could have all-too-easily done an all-classical mix!) but is probably the best example of the all-explaining joke:

Knock, Knock.
Who's there?
Knock, Knock.
Who's there?
Knock, Knock.
Who's there?
Knock, Knock.
Who's there?

Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass

NEW Radiohead song!

Two days ago Radiohead premiered this gem of a song in Dublin. "Super Collider" is a shiver-inducing piano ballad, which further solidifies their reign as biggest band on the planet. As if you really needed more proof:

Super Collider - Radiohead

Sail On

A much-needed vacation was in order, so this weekend my husband (yeah, sorry fellas!) is taking me on a cruise up to Victoria, British Columbia for the weekend. Here's some songs to share that set the mood:

The Beatles - Day Tripper.mp3
Jukebox the Ghost - Victoria.mp3
The National - Squalor Victoria.mp3
Danielson - Cast It the Setting Sail.mp3
Half-handed Cloud - Sailing the Veil-Boat.mp3

Top 6 songs of the moment

Guy Blackman & Jens Lekman - A Dark & Quiet Place.mp3 from Adult Baby
The most homoerotic song ever! Regardless of your gender or orientation, it'll make you want to take your pants off. Slow, sultry and tinkly... whimsical and yet serious all at once with gorgeous male-on-male vocal harmonies.

Van She - Kelly (Cut Copy mix).mp3 from the Kelly 12"
Like the first time I heard Cut Copy, I heard this Van She song and was convinced it was straight from 1985. The chorus, the synthesizers, the sound effects... This 7+ minute remix is just icing on the retro cake.

Damien Rice - Woman Like a Man.mp3 from B-Sides
Dark, hot, brooding, sweaty and powerful (and that's only the guitar!), this is a song for those of us who like it rough. For the heady feminists out there it produces a cultural conundrum: it is a degrading command or an observational compliment? Throw in some cello and ethereal female harmonies, and you will only say YES.

Islands - I Feel Evil (Creeping In).m4a from Arm's Way
I should have just uploaded the entire Islands album, because, really, that's almost all I've been listening to lately. Also, will someone PLEASE PLEASE get on the anticipated/inevitable Creeper remix or mash-up?? For reals, people. It's screaming for it.

Cold War Kids - Saint John.mp3 from Robbers & Cowards
I'd listened a bit to CWK some time ago but never really "got into" them until recently, with a revival of their true greatness courtesy of the recent Sasquatch festival. This song is a bit odd and off-tempo for them, like a jangly olde-tyme revival preacher. The schizophrenic cymbals and determined bass offset the choir-like vocals calling out for mercy from death row.

Flight of the Conchords - Bret You've Got It Goin' On.mp3
There's no reason or excuse for this, save for the fact that it's brilliantly written. It makes me want to be a guy so I can sing it to other guys. All I can do instead is Jam out with my...Clam out? (ooof, sorry for that one.)

The Very Most

One band might just be single-handedly responsible for making Boise, Idaho the new indie-pop mecca. The Very Most are really that good, or at the very least good enough to make location best known for potatoes slightly known for jangly, catchy-as-hell melodies. Really, just listen to these guys. You too will think "Idaho, really??"

The Very Most - Good Fight Fighting.mp3
The Very Most - Sod Off.mp3
The Very Most - Spilt, Spilt Milk.mp3

Their new album Congratulations Forever is out now.

The worst (album) covers

Here at VK, usually when we talk about covers, we're referring to a song played by a band that was originally done by another band. However, I don't think that actual albums covers--that is, the "artwork" on the face of the album--get credit where they are due.

Oftentimes, a great piece of art not only draws the eye, but enhances the vibe and message as the musical component of the album. At its best, the work can be as sublime, moving, beautiful or curious as the songs it's packaging.

HOWEVER! Bad album artwork can really backfire. The Sun-Sentinel has put together a gallery of the worst album covers of all time. You can even upload atrocities you've seen, and vote for the worst.

Most, like this, are simply an overbearing punch of retro SO ugly, even Threadless wouldn't pick it up for kitsch value (ouch!):

Others are "merely" an affront to the basic aesthetic sense of those who have better than 20/400 vision, but are an all-out insult to those with even a modicum of graphic design preference:


Others... there is simply no excuse, and nothing to say:


WOW. Well. On that note, let's take this "covers" term and deliver some random cover songs for you as well.

• Andrew Bird - Oh Sister (Bob Dylan Cover).mp3
  
• Cold War Kids - Electioneering (Radiohead cover).mp3
  
• Beirut - Hallelujah (live Leonard Cohen cover).mp3
  
• Arcade Fire - Born on a Train (Magnetic Fields cover).mp3
  
• Editors - Feel Good, Inc. (Gorillaz cover).mp3
  
• The Society Of Poor Academics - Woke Up New (Mountain Goats cover).mp3
  

Computerization: the custom songs!!!

Computerization = Derek, and for $9 weency bucks he will custom-make you a song all about you, and throw in a copy of his full-length album to boot!!! Tip-toeing into this musical adventure, I decided to give this a try!!! I filled out the little form on his site. Delivered as promised, I received a fantastic song all about me, custom-tailored with subjects and sounds!!! And, to my delight, in 5/4 time!!! Check it out:

Computerization - June is Totally Awesome.mp3

A sample of the (obviously very important and completely true) lyrics:

If I had to murder all my friends
to talk to June for just a second,
no debate, I wouldn't hesitate,
they'd be dead in a mere instant.

And I know that others feel the same,
no point in trying to resist it.
June's so smart, she could take us all to Mars,
but since she's not, it's probably not very cool there.

Clearly the best part of Summer is in June.
We get to say her name every day.
Don't pretend you think it isn't true,
or else everybody will hate you.

If I could deliver the world peace,
of course I'd ask for June's opinion.
What she says is obviously correct.
I feel stupid for even mentioning it.

See/hear all this and more at Computerization's excitable, minimalist, web-2.0 Web site, where you can request your own custom song!!! I recommend you all do this!!!

The Magic

There is nothing better then being pleasantly surprised by an opening band. More often then not, I find myself standing there, arms crossed, only half-listening, impatiently tapping my foor in anticipation of, you know, the headlining band I actually paid to see. But this wasn't the case last Saturday when I saw a little Canadian band called The Magic open for Islands.

I was first struck by their appearance. The lead singer had this black velvety blazer and a faux-pompador-like hairdo. Classy guy, and it turned out he had a voice to match. Essentially, The Magic make soulful, orchestral synth-pop. They've got a bit of a herky-jerky Talking Heads vibe. There's this confident twitch about them -like if a person with Tourette's could play instruments, but have complete control over over when twitch when they play their instruments -and were also really into new wave. They also vaguely reminded me of OMD in terms of melodramatic vocals. Oh and just as they launched into "Deep Water" my friend and I were almost positive they were going to play a Blondie cover, but instead they surprised us with a spazzy, seven minute jam. While they only have a five song self-titled EP out now, I'm incredibly curious what these guys have in store for the future.

Also they appear to be un-google-able because I can't seem to find a Web site for them anywhere. Otherwise I'd totally link you guys up to their awesomeness. But I swear they exist.

EDIT - They apparently do have a Web site! Link here.

No Sound - The Magic
Never Lock the Door - The Magic

Love Needs Us

A while ago, and I do mean a while, a year easy, I was driving somewhere with my boyfriend. Where we were going wasn’t important, probably just to the movies or something, but no, what is important to this story is what was on the radio. We rarely listen to the radio, on account of my compulsive mix tape making behaviour, but on this sunny day we were.

And in Australia, or at least my tiny part of it, if you don’t want to listen to rubbish all the time, you have to listen to Triple J, which is only rubbish part of the time. They were interviewing some guy from some band who had just won a competition. Triple J is always holding competitions to find the next big thing, how many next big things can there be out there? So I wasn’t really listening at first. But the guy’s voice drew me in. Even a year later I can remember the passion and excitement in his voice. He described his band, which seemed to be him and a five-piece all-girl choir, to the DJ. He didn’t seem to think there was anything odd about a band consisting of him and a five-piece all-girl choir. The DJ went on to describe the sound of the band as Pink Floyd meets Polyphonic Spree. I was intrigued! But I live in a very hilly area. Like, big hills all over the place. And when you live in a hilly place what you’ll find is at the top of the hill you’ll have radio reception, and at the bottom, well, you don’t. Just as the DJ was about to name the band and go a song the radio cut out!

But I was not foiled. It took a while, but endless searching of the complicated Triple J Web site gave me a band name. Cuthbert and the Night Walkers. Some internet snooping let me know that they didn’t have an album out, but I did manage to get my hands on two demos: "Red Frogs" and "Sparky." I was impressed. They did indeed sound like Pink Floyd mixed with Polyphonic Spree. The tracks were of dubious sound quality, but I loved the choir sound mixed with a classically Australian rock sound. Anyone who received a mix CD from me during this time probably got one of those two songs on it.

But, there is a lot of new music out there to be discovered, and I eventually forgot about Cuthbert and the Night Walkers. Until yesterday. I was looking for a Silver Jews CD and a cute little album cover caught my eye. It looked like a picture book cover or something. Closer inspection revealed it to be a full length Cuthbert and the Night Walkers album! Oh, how pleased I was! I put it on as soon as I got home. The songs were a lot more polished than the two demos, and some of the darkness had been lost. But a lot more was gained. The cleaner sound allowed the choir to really shine, and there was not a dud amongst the 10 songs I’d not heard before. Although, the version of Sparky to appear on the album was without lyrics. The subdued, kind of creepy piano instrumental it had become was very cool, (very cool) but I’d always liked the ambiguously sinister little story the song told.

All in all, a very cool album. Check them out!

Cuthbert and the Night Walkers - Sparky (demo with lyrics).mp3
Cuthbert and the Night Walkers - Sparky (lyricless album version).mp3
Cuthbert and the Night Walkers - University.mp3
Cuthbert and the Night Walkers - Maggie's Health.mp3

Buy Love Needs Us

Song(s) of the Magpie

Why are songs about magpies so damn beautiful? I say this because there are not one, not two, but three songs currently on my hard drive about the bird.

"Song of the Magpie" by Sea Wolf is by far the most stunning. Swelling strings, and an epic refrain of "I forgive you" make for one heavily emotional, yet never maudlin song.

Sea Wolf - Song of the Magpie.mp3

Oh, and here are the other two songs in case you were wondering:

the Mountain Goats - Magpie.mp3
Patrick Wolf - Magpie.mp3

Islands @ Webster Hall, NYC 5/24/08

In case you couldn't already tell, we really love the new Islands album around here. It's all in the strings, I swear. And seeing their two violinists go at it live in an all-out, rapid fire duel just solidified how truly epic the band's newfound sound really is. Holy crap, those guys handle their bows with a vigor and passion reserved for lovers.
Naturally the new material translated fantastic live, especially the 11 minute epic "Vertigo". But old faves like "Rough Gem" were also a blast. And hey, not one, but two encores.


Islands - Kids Don't Know Shit.m4a

The Complete Sufjan Stevens

So you finally broke down and bought Enjoy Your Rabbit--and actually really liked it!--finally completing your collection of albums, and now you're wondering, what's left? After scouring Hype Machine for some nummies like "The 50 States Song" and the EPIC "Majesty Snowbird," you might begin to wonder what else you can get your feverish paws on.

Fear no more, for we have blazed this trail for you. In the past few months we've made a couple other posts of pure, non-album-y, Sufjan-y goodness. Perhaps it all seems a bit heavy-handed of late, to try and fill the void we're left during his period of becoming a Jeff Mangum-esque recluse much-deserved rest between projects. Perhaps it's sheer selfish indulgence. But more than that, it feels like a call of duty, to leave these beacons of amazingness in the vast black ocean that is the internets. Come, come to the light and indulge this weekend.

Michigan B-sides:

• Sufjan Stevens - Wolverine.mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens - Niagara Falls.mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens - Marching Band.mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens - Pickerel Lake.mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens - Presidents & Magistrates.mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens - Vito’s Ordination Song (Acoustic Version).mp3
  

Other rarities:

• Sufjan Stevens - He Woke Me Up Again (banjo solo).mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens - In the Words of the Governor.mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens - Casimir Pulaski demo.mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens - Adlai Stevenson (Sound The Hare Heard version).mp3
  

Collaborations:

• Daniel Smith & Sufjan Stevens - Worried Shoes (Daniel Johnston cover).mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens & David Byrne - Saginaw, Michigan (live at Bookeaters benefit).mp3
  
• Rosie Thomas & Sufjan Stevens - Say Hello.mp3
  

By the way, have you seen the video for Say Hello? The soft, sweet song is paired with a mission-impossible-style assassination action sequence in a subway, where Sufjan throws punches, gets in a knife fight and hurls a grenade. No, really.

Mash-ups:

• Two Faced John McCartney - Zombies Walk!! (Sufjan Stevens vs Kanye West).mp3
  
• Aggro1 - The Made-Over Peninsula (Sufjan Stevens vs Christina Aguilera).mp3
  

(Non-Christmasy) Covers BY Sufjan:

• Sufjan Stevens - Free Man in Paris (Joni Mitchell cover).mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens - Ring Them Bells (Bob Dylan cover).mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens - What Goes On (Beatles cover).mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens - The One I Love (Live R.E.M. cover @ SXSW '04).mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens - Amazing Grace.mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens - Lakes of Canada (Innocence Mission cover).mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens - She Is (Tim Buckley cover).mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens - Variation On 'Commemorative Transfiguration & Communion At Magruder Park' (John Fahey cover).mp3
  

Covers OF Sufjan:

• Indie Blockapella - Come On! Feel The Illinoise!: The World's Columbian Exposition / Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream (Sufjan Stevens cover).mp3
  
• Indie Blockapella - Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Step-Mother! (Sufjan Stevens cover).mp3
  
• David Crowder Band - O God Where Are You Now (In Pickerel Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?) (Sufjan Stevens cover).m4a
  
• Brad Mehldau - Holland (Live Sufjan Stevens cover in München, Deutschland).mp3
  

Oh, and if you're unfamiliar with Brad Mehldau, he's an amazing modern jazz pianist who does some incredible extended covers of contemporary music, along with his own brilliant creations.

Can't Get Enough VK? or Facebook?

Oh, XKCD!

Or perhaps you're missing VK posts because Facebook sucks up all your time. Believe me, we know. So we just created a Facebook group for Volume Knob:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18981644244

Join, or just stalk it. And while we're at it, here's a completely unrelated song that I've been listening to a lot lately:

Feist - Lover's Spit (Broken Social Scene cover/B-side).mp3

The Mountain Goats - Brooklyn Masonic Temple 5/16/08

We write about the Mountain Goats a lot on this blog, but Saturday's show at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple was no ordinary show. The set list was littered with obscurities, that even the most devout fan NEVER could have fathomed hearing live. A few requests were taken from the tMG forums (our "Going to Buffalo" pick sadly went unnoticed), but even despite the litany of suggestions, no one could have predicted the evening's set.

A solo John Darnielle opened with "Trans-Jordanian Blues." Let me reiterate that: TRANS-JORDIAN-MOTHER-EFFING-BLUES. This is a song that was only released on a limited edition 3" in Japan almost a decade ago. There are only 100 copies. If you listen to the live bootleg, you can almost hear my jaw hitting the floor. Unbelievable.

NYC Taper has the entire show up for download. Also all the proceeds benefited AIDS research. That's pretty damn neat too.

the Mountain Goats - Trans-Jordanian Blues (live at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple).mp3

Narrow Stairs: A tough climb

I'm honestly surprised at the number of reviews so suddenly flung out into the blogosphere about Narrow Stairs. Honestly, it's a hard album to get into. It starts with an 8-minute, mostly instrumental song as only the second song in. Having the longest song up front is bold. Perhaps not so bold for your average Rush fan, but for established fans of the already much-belov'd indie group, this can come as a shocker.

It does not scream "Death Cab" the minute you throw it on, unlike "Title Track," the killer opener to "We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes." It's certainly no "Transatlanticism," nor "Plans"--though it does have strong elements of both. It does not grab you immediately. It takes several thorough listens to penetrate. But once you get there, it's well worth it.

Gems like "Your New Twin-Sized Bed" are the aural accompaniment to "We Looked Like Giants" and "Summer Skin;" they appear to be cut from a similar cloth. While "Pity and Fear" uses novel percussion--and ends with an abrupt, ragged cut-off--it leaves a minor, haunting emptiness often found echoing behind Gibbard's ever-nasal croons.

This 25-minute behind-the-scenes/making-of is a nice inside to what's really going on, philosophically, behind the ever-evolving group:


Death Cab for Cutie - Cath....m4a
Death Cab for Cutie - Your New Twin-Sized Bed.m4a

Stay in Arm's Way

This new Islands album is sooooo good. Unlike the previous album of clanging percussion, brash vocals and potent lyrics, this new magnum opus is more instrumental. It's very rich, more polished, and with the joyful return of bass clarinet, we hear smooth strings and epic, orchestral layers. It takes a few listens to get through the meaning of the less-transparent lyrics, but so worth it. The final track is 11+ minutes of pure Awesome of Homeric proportions.

Islands - Vertigo (If It's a Crime).m4a

Arm's Way comes out next week, but you can should pre-order it now.

Move Every Muscle, Make Every Sound

Much like The Apples in Stereo or The New Pornographers, De Novo Dahls' latest album "Move Every Muscle, Make Every Sound" is so such a sugar rush, it's time signature might as well be C6 H12 O6.

De Novo Dahl - Heartbreaker.m4a
De Novo Dahl - Shout.m4a

Happy Mother's Day

Send her a card, or hey, better yet, make her a mix of all things maternal:

• Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Happy Mother's Day.m4a
  
• Neutral Milk Hotel - Mother (live with Chris Knox).mp3
  
• Beulah - Your Mother Loves You Son.m4a
  
• Voxtrot - Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives.mp3
  
• Jeff Buckley - Mama You've Been On My Mind (Bob Dylan cover).mp3
  
• The Decemberists - My Mother Was A Famous Trapeze Artist.mp3
  
• The Knife - We Share Our Mother's Health.mp3
  
• Elliott Smith - Wouldn't Mama Be Proud?.mp3
  
• Kanye West - Hey Mama.mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens - Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Stepmother!.mp3
  
• Willie Nelson - Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys.mp3
  
• The Beatles - Your Mother Should Know.mp3
  
• Paul Simon - Mother and Child Reunion.mp3
  
• Tori Amos - Mother.mp3
  
• John Lee Hooker - Mama, You Got A Daughter.mp3
  
• Neil Halstead - Two Stones In My Pocket.mp3
  

(Your mother's arms will keep you safe, however you may be)

L.E.S.D.A.N.C.E.

This mash-up was only a matter of time. Some very clever person (OK, Alfredo Lapuz, who goes by the remixer name Immuzikation) spliced up two very catchy acronym-ridden songs--Justice's rightfully ubiquitous "D.A.N.C.E." and Santogold's soon-to-be ubiquitous "L.E.S. Artistes"--et voilà! you get the all-caps-happy L.E.S.D.A.N.C.E.

Santogold vs. Justice - L.E.S.D.A.N.C.E. (Immuzikation remix).mp3

Food Will Win The War

Perhaps I'm just a sucker for rock bands with violins, but I repeatedly found myself thinking "hmmm, these guys are pretty good" upon catching a set by Food Will Win The War last Saturday at a Brooklyn house party. Now, considering how many bands--the good, the bad, the insufferably hip--play Williamsburg or thereabouts each and every weekend, I was more than pleasantly impressed to catch one of better (and not pretentious!) ones.

At certain times, they kind of reminded me of a mellower version of The National, but then those punchy violin parts would kick imbuing the music with a folksy vigor. But I think it was "Amassed Complications" that really did it for me. It's straight-up relationship melancholy, with deceptively catchy opening chords. Check out the songs below and stream more (including the phenomenal "Dark Mono 3") on their MySpace page.

Food Will Win The War - Amassed Complications.mp3
But I don't think she can take that chance, there's been a lot of complications that've been amassed through this romance. And I don't think we can take that chance.

Food Will Win The War - Traveling.mp3

Sound the Alarm!

We get a respectable/occasionally overwhelming amount of post in the VK mail box, as this came to us. Mayday Radio's, The Subtle Divide came to me on a particularly harried week and went into the "to listen to" pile, but something about it nagged at me, and I pulled it out for a listen. And then listened again, and again.

With an impressive amount of spit and shine for a debut, this rapidly maturing rock-pop with underlying classical training comes through in a bold way. U2-esque riffs and surprising lyrics offer a lush rock punch. Fill 'er up on sweet and savory:

Mayday Radio - Innocence Breakdown.mp3
Mayday Radio - Ultraviolet.mp3

I'm still not as happy as I would have been with you.

You know how I sometimes do that thing where I post whatever song is stuck in my head regardless of timeliness or relevancy, well this is one of those posts. It's a quick song, but a catchy one. The Happy Birthdays kind of sound like Camera Obscura, but with a little extra kick. Seriously catchy.

The Happy Birthdays - I'm Still Not As Happy... .mp3

I'm still not as happy as I would have been with you

You oughta be proud that I'm getting good marks.

Sad Kermit (by far the most emo of all the muppets) covers Elliott Smith's "Needle in the Hay" and re-enacts the scene it soundtracked in The Royal Tenenbaums. Offbeat, yet reverent and bizarrely affecting.