20050730
Nicolai Dunger | Soul RushWhat a voice this fellow has, sort of like Van Morrison reincarnate. Nicolai was discovered in the mid-nineties by a producer while playing his guitar and singing on a balcony in his hometown Piteå in the north of Sweden. He has since put out nine records, and we have the Soul Rush on Rhapsody. This album won a Swedish Grammy Award for Male Artist Album of the Year. The songs have grown on me, there is a timeless quality to them...tales of love, pain, happiness and melancholy, please give this record a few spins. Thanks to my man Brad Price in Chicago for turning me on to Nicolai. - TK
20050727
Herbaliser | Take LondonDo yo'self a favor and check out the new Herbaliser album, Take London. It features the return of the amazing and incredible Ms. Jean Grae who totally rocks my world. Dope, fresh beats galore. Enjoy!
20050726
MF DooM | Metal Fingers Pres: Special HerbsOne of the most prolific artists in hip-hop, MF DOOM (aka King Geedora, Viktor Vaughn, etc.) strikes again with another collection of spastically funky instrumental freak-outs. The super villain's beat making prowess continues to evolve as he concocts dizzying audio tinctures out of ultra-obscure loops and dusty, stutter-step drums. Sick beats from an indie-rap icon. - B.Winning
20050717
Col. Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains The Big Eyeball In The Sky
In this installment of the crazy Colonel Claypool's career, he teams with superfreak Buckethead, megafreak Bernie Worrell and Primusfreak Brain to create a jam supergroup and an album full of tight grooves and shreddy sixteenth notes. The Big Eyeball in the Sky ended up as eleven vastly different tracks, ranging from tight, four minute jam-pop political barbs ("Ignorance is Bliss") to one-take loose bass-laden instrumental jams ("Elephant Ghost"). Enjoy the freak show, but listen for the underlying message. - TK
20050713
Petra Haden does The Who Sell OutWhose idea was this? How did it come to be? Why does it work? Well, you can thank Mike Watt, who gave Petra an 8-track cassette with the original album on one of the tracks, and left the other seven empty for Petra to not only cover the album herself, but do it a cappella. So Haden does actually sing the entire album by herself, with herself, and of herself. And yes, she even covers the little jingles in between the songs. It's great, if you love the original, it's an appropriate tribute to the mods and their Armenia city in the sky. Best harmonies are on "I Can See For Miles". - TK
20050710
Foo Fighters | Live at RoswellAn exclusive, explosive live set from the Foo Fighters' anniversary celebration gig that RealNetworks sponsored down at the "home of the original alien" in Roswell, New Mexico. Recorded in an airplane hangar, the sound is surprisingly good as the band powers through several of the tracks on In Your Honor. The especially rugged, 10-minute version of "Stacked Actors" is the blistering highlight. - Pru
20050706
Stratosphere Boogie: The Flaming Guitars Of Speedy West and Jimmy BryantThis pedal steel and guitar duo's telepathic take on rockabilly-heavy Western swing is high-speed, unpredictable and weird in a way only music from the 1950s can be. The structures are traditional enough, but at some point during every song, pedal steel god Speedy West goes off into some stratospheric freak-out, turning expected notions of country music on their ear. - M.M.
TV on the Radio
My Morning Jacket
Delta Spirit
Islands
Big Light
Bon Iver
Fleet Foxes
Dr. Dog
Great Northern
Pela
Bishop Allen
Spoon
Andrew Bird
Wilco
Band of Horses
Two Gallants
Great Lake Swimmers
The Avett Brothers
Cloud Cult
Kings of Leon
Band of Horses
The Slip
Cold War Kids
Rotary Downs
Margot & The Nuclear So and So's * The Dust of Retreat
Built to Spill
Brett Dennen
The Whigs
My Morning Jacket
The Format
Two Gallants
The Raconteurs
Dirty on Purpose
Ratatat
Beneveto-Russo Duo
My Morning Jacket
Apollo Sunshine
Andrew Bird
Fiona Apple
Dr. Dog
White Stripes
Spoon
Benevento-Russo Duo
Dungen
Stephen Malkmus
The Mars Volta
The Magic Numbers
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Sufjan Stevens
My Morning Jacket
Best enjoyed in the 54 minutes before sunrise, Summer in Abbadon has equal parts soft breath and raucous screaming, layered guitars and vocals that somehow equal something larger and gorgeous. This is a magical record, one of the best of 2004, and I believe Pinback's best effort to date. "AFK" will make you think twice, it's elusive and thoughtful. What a great record.
It's a flawless album, LP has the mark of a great album - no matter my mood, I can pop it in and listen to it straight through, start to finish. LP was my number one record of 2004. "Stay Where You Are" and give it a spin, also "Stay Tuned" for we hope there is more to come from Ambulance LTD.
You're only making this list if your album is stellar from start to finish. The 2003 release of Penturbia somehow eluded me until two years later, but I'll never forget it again. I love my canoe, and you too. It's one big world and one small me. When will I come to terms that the only constant thing in life is change? Every song, so good. Hear it.
See where genre-defying innovators The Slip started it all. This is the very sophisticated debut album created by three teenagers from Providence, R.I. Gecko features classic instrumentals "Munf," "Yellow Medicine," "Cumulus," and "Spice Groove," as well as lyrical favorites "Alsoa" and "The Weight of Solomon."
The first Ben Folds Five album is a masterpiece. This is a top ten record of all time for me. BF5 features the classics "Underground," "Best Imitation of Myself," "My Philosophy" and "Alice Childress" - honestly, every song has it's own merits, I never get sick of this piano pop record.
The final Pavement album is in my mind, their best. Before yoiu S&E purists bash me, go back and listen to the record. TT is a masterpiece, the songwriting is poetic and disturbing, but you'll never know until you dig deep. This is a lesson in how relationships end, some are pleasant and others are painful. If you are not grabbed by the pop beauty of "Speak, See Remember" or "Major Leagues" then dig deeper and read into "Bilie" or "Folk Jam" - just don't 'waste your precious breath explaining that you are worthwhile.'
The second BHTM album was recorded on a two track in basements in the midwest and the raw, underproduced sound has helped it stand the test of time. Even after fifteen years of years of regular listens, this record continues to shine brightly like "city burning like a dream" or like the light from a tower in the distance, just "broadcasting it's resistance through the rain and through the night. Listen, and you will believe that "yes indeed, there is a paradise...and a band is playing there."