Quick! 11th hour year end recs

[Mr MidFi]

Just noticed, but we sure are throwing up lot of "W" releases in this thread. Washed Out, We Are Constantines, Wild Flag, Wooden Shjips, Wilco, Wild Beasts, Steve Wilson, Wailin' Jennys, Widowspeak...did I miss any?

Wye Oak.

[Jim Clark]

Here's yet another "W" Wye Oak - Civilian. I"m really, really digging this record a lot. A Baltimore indie band on the Merge label that has a fairly straight forward indie sound but doing it very well. Indie fans should at the very least go to amazon and listen to the clips. I seriously doubt you'd be disappointed.

And Davey, I listen to M83 when I'm driving, when I'm working out, when I'm eating dinner, and I even put it on before I turn in for the night: ) I pretty much play it all the time.

[Jim Clark]

Wye Oak.

You beat me by a couple of minutes : )

That album is a lot of fun and to be honest, I kind of figured you might like it. It reminds me a bit of the band Now It's Overhead.
jc

[Mr MidFi]

You beat me by a couple of minutes : )

That album is a lot of fun and to be honest, I kind of figured you might like it. It reminds me a bit of the band Now It's Overhead.
jc

It's actually still on my "to get" list. But I have the title track, and it's good enough to make the first draft of my YEC.

I did see them play a short set in August that started off poorly because of equipment issues. The poor gal was really rattled, but she battled back, settled down and closed the set solidly.

[Davey]

Just downloaded the new one from Hypatia Lake called Ouroboros yesterday at their bandcamp site (name your price and format; I picked flac, of course - Ouroboros | Hypatia Lake) and it's some good old heavy psych stoner rock. They used to be tagged as My Bloody Sabbath for mixing shoegaze and heavy stoner sounds, and they did it pretty well. I like the previous one from a few years ago called Angels and Demons, Space and Time. They dropped some of the shoegazer layering on this one, and really embraced their new power trio format. Sounds like more of a mix of Sabbath and Jethro Tull on this one. But then toward the end, on one of my favorites, "Only the Queen (can speak to the nine-eyed rose of infinity)", they totally link the two sounds in one of the heaviest shoegazer walls of noise ever (just uploaded to song of the day). Which then sequences perfectly into "Prophecy II", and then "The End is the Beginning of the End (Ouroboros)", which brings in some of the underlying Pink Floyd and Hendrix influences to close it out in a pretty dramatic fashion. Another pretty fun record for the 11th hour - and speaking of record, they do have it out on orange swirl 180gm vinyl at their site (with glow in the dark silkscreened cover and all the psychedelic trimmings ).

Introducing… Hypatia Lake « The Soda Shop

[Jim Clark]

It's actually still on my "to get" list. But I have the title track, and it's good enough to make the first draft of my YEC.

I did see them play a short set in August that started off poorly because of equipment issues. The poor gal was really rattled, but she battled back, settled down and closed the set solidly.

There are several on there that I'd be quite happy having on my YEC so I bequeath Civilian to you.

[3LB]

I'm really digging that new Elbow, Build A Rocket Boys. It's not nearly as strong as Seldom Seen Kid IMO, but has some real growers on it.

I heard some stuff off of it but my first impression was that's its ponderous. The one track I hear on the Sirrus isn't helping their cause.

Surprisingly, I really like Iron and Wine's, Kiss Each Other Clean.

I have it and like it, though I liked The Shepard's Dog better

I'm really looking forward to the new Arena release, Seventh Degree of Separation, but I can't recommend it since I haven't heard it yet...The new Dream Theater, A Dramatic Turn of Events is very good although a little samey. But worth owning if you're a fan (I can't remember whether you're a fan).

I've been done with DT since Octavarium, and Arena since Pepper's Ghost

Mars Hollow's, World In Front of Me is a decent listen. Although not the be-all and end-all that a certain Alaskan Stalker-chick would lead you to believe.

There's a reason she's single I'm sure. She do get OCD about the things she likes. I liked Marshollow's first one, though it didn't make any year end list.

World In Front Of Me sounds like leftovers from that first session. Not bad, just nothing to gush over. The person to which you refer isn't alone when it comes to sycophantic behavior. I even started avoiding Marshollow threads because of the nauseating leg-riders there. I like Kerry; he's a genuine music fan. He's not like other people who pop in just to shill something (like the GlassHammer and Izz dudes). He's a daily participant, like Phideaux, like Chalkpie (Frogg Cafe) and Battema (Ephemeral Sun) and a few other struggling musicians over there at PE who've actually put out some great stuff (although Phideaux's new one is kind of a retread). I heard parts of the first album a few years ago when Kerry wasn't all too sure of it and me and a few others encouraged him to go forward. But man, some of those PE'ers just piss their pants for prog.

[ForeverAutumn]

I heard some stuff off of it but my first impression was that's its ponderous. The one track I hear on the Sirrus isn't helping their cause.
...
I have it and like it, though I liked The Shepard's Dog better
...
I've been done with DT since Octavarium, and Arena since Pepper's Ghost

Yeah, well fuck you then! Don't ask for my help next time.

(I keed)

There's a reason she's single I'm sure.

You don't know the half of it. I actually had to unfriend her on Facebook because she was so unstable I didn't want anything to do with her.

Chalkpie (Frogg Cafe)

I didn't know that Chalkpie was in Frogg Cafe. Interesting.

[Mike]

Hey FA, here's my personal recommendation for you. I seem to remember you like Ray Lamontagne check out James Vincent McMorrow and his album Early in the Morning , an Irish singer songwriter with the kind of world weary washed out voice I like

James Vincent McMorrow - If I had a Boat - YouTube

Cheers
Mike

[3LB]

Yeah, well fuck you then! Don't ask for my help next time.

yeah, what an ingrate I am! Now that I reread my post...

You don't know the half of it. I actually had to unfriend her on Facebook because she was so unstable I didn't want anything to do with her.

Oh lord, Facebook... I have an account that use to stay in touch with family, but what a Pandora's Box that is. I got some cringe inducing relatives I'd love to unfriend if I dared. I'm sure she's entertaining to read (from a distance). I love when people are trainwrecks on FB, as long as I'm not in their photo album. :-D

[ForeverAutumn]

Hey FA, here's my personal recommendation for you. I seem to remember you like Ray Lamontagne check out James Vincent McMorrow and his album Early in the Morning , an Irish singer songwriter with the kind of world weary washed out voice I like

James Vincent McMorrow - If I had a Boat - YouTube

Cheers
Mike

Hey Mike! Great to hear from you. I miss you around these parts. I can always count on you for great recommendations. You are personally responsible for a big chunk of my CD collection.

You were right again. This is a nice tune. And as a fan of both animation and Hemingway I loved the video that it was set to. I'll definately check out some more tunes by this guy. Thanks!

It would be nice to see you around here more often. I hope that everything's well for you.

[kexodusc]

I'm really looking forward to the new Arena release, Seventh Degree of Separation, but I can't recommend it since I haven't heard it yet.

Wow, that's good news. Really liked their last few releases.

[3LB]

Hey Barry, I got a hold of that new Karmakanic - great rec!

After hearing a track or two of this, and after reading reviews both complimentary and not-so, I couldn't help myself, I had to try it. I've found past Karmakanic albums to be too TFK-ish. That shouldn't be a bad thing, except that I find that where TFK related side projects are concerned, that the apple never falls far from the tree and they're rarely equal to TFK's best efforts. Kinda like TFK leftovers. But I was so intrigued by the two tracks I heard, coupled by your rec, I picked up only my second Karmakanic album (the first one was Wheel Of Life).

It seems they decided to break their upper-atmosphere orbit of planet TFK, and venture out to a greater orbit. This album smacks of, 'if it sounds good, play it'. Think of it as Sweden's answer to It Bites or Kino. Other than the opening track, this album eschews overt TFKisms and progma in general for good old fashioned hooks and songcraft. This is overtly catchy music, with less emphasis on time signature and tempo changes. Not suggesting its unfamiliar or not proggy, cuz it is, just saying that this effort isn't slave any aesthetic or any one influence. No meandering, not maudlin and maybe the most memorable choruses you'll hear this year, outside of contemporary music.

Thanks again. Winner.

[Davey]

The year end magazine lists have started ... below is Uncut followed by the Paste blog .. as usual some odd choices near the top of each, and a ton of stuff I've never heard of, and some major omissions from my view (seems that the group of Paste critics completely ignored PJ Harvey), but I'm much more in tune with Uncut. Love that Josh T. Pearson pick. Still, my top ten wouldn't have much overlap with either list. Kind of odd to see Bon Iver at the top of the Paste list, I think he's even up for a Grammy. A sleepy record to be sure, seems to get a lot of both love and hate, which surprises me. Think I like his first one a lot more, but honestly haven't played the latest enough to really know it.

50. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
49. Arbouretum – The Gathering
48. Cornershop Featuring Bubbley Kaur – Cornershop And The Double-O Groove Of
47. The Caretaker – An Empty Bliss Beyond This World
46. Iceage – New Brigade
45. Mikal Cronin – Mikal Cronin
44. tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l
43. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
42. Jenny Hval – Viscera
41. Raphael Saadiq – Stone Rollin’
40. Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow
39. Dawes – Nothing Is Wrong
38. His Golden Messenger – From Country Hai East Cotton
37. Little Dragon – Ritual Union
36. Jonny – Jonny
35. My Morning Jacket – Circuital
34. Fatoumata Diawara – Fatou
33. Low – C’Mon
32. Gil Scott Heron & Jamie XX – We’re New Here
31. Destroyer – Kaputt
30. Tim Hecker – Ravedeath, 1972
29. Paul Simon – So Beautiful Or So What
28. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Diamond Mine
27. Björk – Biophilia
26. The Decemberists – The King Is Dead
25. Bill Callahan – Apocalypse
24. Real Estate – Days
23. Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts
22. Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact
21. James Blake – James Blake
20. Ry Cooder – Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down
19. Drive-By Truckers – Go-Go Boots
18. Tinariwen – Tassili
17. Feist – Metals
16. Jonathan Wilson – Gentle Spirit
15. Wilco – The Whole Love
14. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
13. Tom Waits – Bad As Me
12. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
11. Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know
10. The War On Drugs – Slave Ambient
09. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
08. Wild Beasts – Smother
07. Radiohead – The King Of Limbs
06. The Horrors – Skying
05. Josh T. Pearson – Last Of The Country Gentlemen
04. White Denim – D
03. Metronomy – The English Riviera
02. Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest
01. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake


50. Frank Turner – England Keep My Bones
49. Mates of State – Mountaintops
48. Drake – Take Care
47. Real Estate – Days
46. Holy Ghost! – Holy Ghost!
45. Those Darlins – Screws Get Loose
44. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
43. The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar
42. Wild Flag – Wild Flag
41. James Blake – James Blake
40. Portugal. The Man – In The Mountain, In The Cloud
39. Gillian Welch – The Harrow and the Harvest
38. Over the Rhine – The Long Surrender
37. The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient
36. Mister Heavenly – Out Of Love
35. Childish Gambino – Camp
34. Seryn – This Is Where We Are
33. The Head and the Heart – The Head and the Heart
32. Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire
31. Telekinesis – 12 Desperate Straight Lines
30. Tom Waits – Bad As Me
29. Feist – Metals
28. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
27. Black Lips – Arabia Mountain
26. The Low Anthem – Smart Flesh
25. The Antlers – Burst Apart
24. TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light
23. The Belle Brigade – The Belle Brigade
22. The Black Keys – El Camino
21. Charles Bradley – No Time For Dreaming
20. Beirut – The Rip Tide
19. Cults – Cults
18. Wye Oak – Civilian
17. The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow
16. Yuck – Yuck
15. Deer Tick – Divine Providence
14. Adele – 21
13. Radiohead – The King of Limbs
13 (tie). Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost
12. Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean
11. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
10. The Decemberists – The King Is Dead
09. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
08. Dawes – Nothing Is Wrong
07. Wilco – The Whole Love
06. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – It’s A Corporate World
05. Middle Brother – Middle Brother
04. tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l
03. My Morning Jacket – Circuital
02. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
01. Bon Iver – Bon Iver

[Jim Clark]

It's always nice to see a little validation that you're not the only one that thinks really highly of a record. Between the two lists, 4 of my current top ten are represented.

Or maybe I'm just becoming too predictable and mainstream for my own good. Thanks for posting the lists!

jc

[3LB]

I have the last Mystery CD but not the new one, with Benoit David on vocals. I like that a lot. Haven't heard the new one yet. The new Yes is good by recent Yes standards, but not very inventive given the potential talent in that group. Someone ought to slap them. Can't they just do one more grand masterpiece before they wrap it up?

Given that Downes and Horn was the source for most of the material, I'd say no, there are no unwritten masterpieces whereas Yes is concerned. I like Fly From Here. It does have a certain 1980 flair to it (this and another song are leftovers from Drama). I love the production. The songs are good, just not great. It was a short album by modern standards. I find that funny considering that Howe, Squier and White were supposedly chomping at the bit to record an album for several years and it was Anderson keeping them from doing so, allegedly... then it was Anderson wanting them to go on hiatus from touring while he recovered from a severe asthma attack. He got sick and they replaced him. Sounds sad, but its nice to hear a decent quality effort under the Yes brand (by way of Horn/Downes), w/o Anderson's cod-religious new age pap. I could do without Squier's Alan Parsonesque adult contemporary ballad, and Howe's Hour Of Need is way better in its Japanese release, though it too is somewhat a patch work. I like it better than the last three or four Yes releases, which isn't exactly a high bar. You'll love it when you're 60.

[audiobill]

Ryan Bingham and The Dead Horses - Junky Star

Ralph Stanley - A Mother's Prayer

Fountains of Wayne - Sky Full of Holes

[Rae]

audiobill hi

a ton of stuff I've never heard of

I'm kind of surprised at how much of this stuff I have heard of... I don't feel like I'm that in touch with the state of "indie rock", but I have at least a passing familiarity with 80% of the artists listed.

50. Frank Turner – England Keep My Bones
35. Childish Gambino – Camp

Uhh

~Rae

[jonnyhambone]

felt this way about the Grammy nominations a bit...Bon Iver, Civil Wars, couple good Kanye nods, Radiohead, Decemberists, Wilco...many I haven't heard of, at all, but there's a pretty good turn-out of indie-represented artists too...more than usual I thinks...

[Rae]

Whoa, I just noticed that the Fountains of Wayne record cover that audiobill posted above uses a Lori Nix image. That's pretty cool.

~Rae

[nobody]

I'm gonna toss out one more suggestion that should have some pretty broad appeal....


J. Mascis: Several Shades of Why

First official solo release by the head of Dinosaur Jr. Really nice laid-back, mostly acoustic stuff. Somber yet hopeful. Catchy but not poppy. A bunch of guests all over this one, including Kurt Vile, Sophie Trudeau (A Silver Mount Zion), Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene), Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses), Pall Jenkins (Black Heart Procession), Matt Valentine (The Golden Road), and Suzanne Thorpe (Wounded Knees). But none of them at all overwhelm the record and they are mostly quite unobtrusive. I keep liking this one more the more I listen to it.

[Mike]

Most people could put a top 10 or 20 albums of the year together, but 50 best albums of the year there’s bound to be a few clunkers in there. I like to think I keep in touch with new music as much as the next music freak but a fair number of those had me.

Good to see some of my faves getting some recognition like War on Drugs, Kurt Vile, Wye Oak, Civil Wars, Dawes, and Metronomy although as much as I like Metronomy I wouldn’t rate it so highly.

For me I would drop some of those clunkers and add Black Joe Lewis, Jamie Woon, Lanterns on the Lake, James Vincent McMorrow, Zola Jesus. And why no Stephen Malkmus surely a crime, he’s got just as much to say as other established names like Paul Simon, Bjork, Kate Bush or Tom Waites.

Cheers
Mike

[audiobill]

Yeah, Rae. It's a pretty cool image. I love Lori's work - she certainly takes photography to another level. The photo on FOW's new one is entitled "library". Her "accidentally kansas" grouping is equally fascinating.

Whoa, I just noticed that the Fountains of Wayne record cover that audiobill posted above uses a Lori Nix image. That's pretty cool.

~Rae

[3LB]

How is that FoW? The last time I bought a FoW CD (Welcome Interstate Managers) was just before the goofiest song on the album became a big hit (Stacy's Mom). I heard bits and pieces of their next one (Traffic & Weather), but they just never clicked. I should like them more than I do, weird that I don't. Kinda like the bands Bare Naked Ladies, Vetiver or Guster, consistent, competent, maybe even great at what they do, but hard for me to stay engaged for an entire album (I do still have songs from WIM on MP3 rotation).

[audiobill]

Hey 3LB - What I really enjoy about all of the FOW albums is their lyrics and playfulness. Their sound is infectious for me upon several listens.
Their latest, is quite good. (I'm still getting into it) Some of my favourite tracks are "Action Hero", "Summer Place", and "Radio Bar". To give you a taste of some of the lyrics:

FROM "THE SUMMMER PLACE"
She's been afraid of the Cuisinart
Since 1977
Now when she opens up the house
Well, she won't set foot in the kitchen
At fifteen
Shoplifting
Was the only game she liked to play
At forty
She's so bored she
Thinks about it then decides to pay
And still she can't help feeling
Those good old days don't seem so far away

AND FROM "ACTION HERO"
He's an action hero
And he should be fighting crime
Leaping between the buildings
And racing against time
He's an action hero
He's an action hero
In his mind

He drops by Mount Sinai
Where they're running through some tests
And they've taped things to his chest
And they're all doing their best
To make him feel at ease

The doctor says it's really just
An educated guess
I suggest you get some rest
Try to cut back on the stress
Cause I don't like what I see

But the action hero
Swears he feels just fine
He's got to finish saving
The world for all mankind
He's an action hero
He's an action hero
And he's racing against time

Of course, the music is quite fine, too!

How is that FoW?