20061230
Rotary Downs | Chained to the ChariotHere I come in a crumblin' Chrysler. What a great album, from start to finish. I've been hearing about Rotary Downs for years, first from Zack and more recently from J who simply said "Pavement meets Beck. Listen." So I figured they were good, but this album is way beyond good, it's great. I've liked it since I first heard it, it made my top albums of 2006, and I just listened to it five times in a row again because three different songs jumped out at me and I started to listen more to the lyrics and wonder what it would be like to live in Louisiana under "False Protection". Guess when you're living in a sunken city, you got to fight to keep from tumblin' under. Or maybe you should just drop everything and "Sing Like the Sun." I could go on, reminisce about NOLA, the big parades, pretty in the broken sunken city, all the marching bands are polished 'til they glow. Bow down, this is holy ground! Please stop shredding the truth and listen to this album three times straight through, Rotary Downs is intelligent rock music. - TK
Also featured in the IODA Promonet:
Download "Old Museum" (mp3)
from Chained to the Chariot by Rotary Downs (reapandsow, 2006)
Buy at RealPlayer Music Store- Stream fromRhapsody
20061201
Brett Dennen | So Much MoreI could not believe how captivating Brett Dennen was when I saw him at the Independent the other night. I mean, the kid has the look of an overgrown Cabbage Patch Kid and sings about love lost and our pathetic government, yet there were 70% screaming girls in the audience. How is that? I think it's because his words are tender and sincere, and his voice is unique. The first track that hits you immediately is the first song, "Ain't No Reason" but as you dig deeper, songs like "I Asked When" are deep with meaning and songs like "One Who Loves You The Most" are loving and sweet, but both styles are well-written. By performing them with Dan "Chops" Lebo and Steve "Best Stash in the Game" Adams, that obviously took them up to another level. As the songs continue to grow on me, there are timeless classics on this record. The So Much More album is making it into my top 15 of the year, when you feel it, you'll know. - TK
"Music fills the space between the guillotines and the prophecies."
tags: JBRhapsody, playlist, Brett Dennen, Rhapsody, folk, ALO, rhaplink
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."