Tonight is a big day for music here in Brooklyn, and even though I haven’t had great internet access over the past couple weeks I still need to let you know what is going on!
Death By Audio has a killer show happening with two of my favorite up and coming acts. First is Swimsuit, a new band that features the one and only Fred Thomas and friends, making sweet surf pop. Their debut cassette was pressed in an edition of 100 copies and sold out within a month! This tape featured this blissful track called evaporation where one of the ladies in the band added some vocals to what has been so far just excellent instrumental surf rock:
Opening this show will be Philly’s own Pet Milk playing their fourth live show ever, and their first in NYC! Pet Milk’s demo has been on at least a couple times a week since I first heard it, and “Cherry Outline” is probably one of my favorite songs of the year. These guys are quenching my thirst for twee in the best possible way. I can’t wait to see them in the flesh I’m sure it will be stupendous!
Although these were previously posted here they are again:
Right around the corner from Death By Audio is Glasslands where New Jersey’s finest will be there in the flesh. Not only will Mathew Mondanile, better known as DUCKTAILS, be there, but another one of my favorites…the one and only Julian Lynch! Along side these two headliners will be Bathetic/ Mexican Summer veterans’ Campfires, another one of my personal favorites Big Troubles, and the up and coming Brooklyn group La Big Vic….all of which is being presented by Microphone Memory Emotion!
No matter which side of South 2nd and Kent Ave you end up on you are in for a treat, and if you get there early you can probably jump back and forth between both shows (if you pay for both!). I’ll see you there. Cheers,
I normally don’t write about two shows happening on the same night, but I love so many of these bands I had too…both shows will be amazing. The heat broke so both of these venues should be pretty comfortable tonight. No more 90 degree heat!
Last year I did a list of twenty five albums, and I began to think that the rank ordering no longer meant anything once I hit a certain number. This year I thought I was going to do a top ten with a not so short list of other albums, but then I decided that would be the same thing as a top twenty five.
I feel like I settled in the middle. I was able to narrow 2009 down to fifteen albums, and no short list. These are my favorites. If you haven’t heard them check out the mp3, and if you like it buy the album…you won’t be disappointed. Cheers.
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The Great Pumpkin’s favorite albums of 2009.
15.) Screaming Females- Power Move
Hearing this record for the first time was like the first time I heard Dinosaur Jr. Power Move was released by Don Geovanni Records.
13.) Alex Bleeker and the Freaks- Alex Bleeker and the Freaks
Classic Rock for my generation. This record gets more powerful with each listen. Released via the wonderful Underwater Peoples Records. Their cover of “Animal Tracks” is just as good as the original.
Sonny and the Sunsets made the perfect warm weather pop album that it transcends seasons. I find that even on a morning as cold as today Tomorrow is Alright can make me feel warm inside. Sonny is part of the Endless Nest Collective, and if you know what is good for you should have your eye on the nest…so many great records came out of this group in 2009. Tomorrow is Alright was released by Soft Abuse Records.
This is an album of psychedelic dance jams and not necessarily the dance music you would hear in a club, but more what you want to chill out with at the end of the night. This record was released by Human Ear Music / Gloriette Records.
9.) Julie Doiron- I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day
While she is known for her sad songs this album shows her lighter side, and that is something that I really enjoy…and she can totally wail on that guitar too. Released by Jagjaguwar Records.
As far as I’m concerned these two should have been a double album. I have a hard time thinking about them separately. Ducktails in a sense gave birth to Real Estate, and possibly this whole thing chillwave thing. Ducktails came out via Not Not Fun and Lanscapes via Olde English Spelling Bee.
This man is a constant inspiration to me. This record is just one of three albums that he made this year that I fell in love with. Released by K Records.
The first full length form this Sacramento band, and it was pretty much perfect. The LP was released by Weird Forest and CD by Woodsist (who will be repressing the LP).
4.) TOM: WFMU’s the Best Show’s Tribute to Paul McCartney’s RAM (various artists)
The Best Show put together the best tribute album ever. If you are unfamiliar with RAM it is the only album I have ever heard of by Paul McCartney refered to as dirty (and that is a very good thing). Released as a DJ Premium for donating to WFMU… Sad that it was so exclusive. The moral of this story is…DONATE TO WFMU!
I haven’t really listened to Danielson over the past couple albums, but this cover makes me want to rethink that…one of my favorite tracks from this album, and one of the best covers I have heard in a long time.
Oh and if you don’t already have it…buy Paul McCartney’s Ramhere (or used on LP here).
3.) Mount Eerie- Wind’s Poem
I am a long time fan of Phil Elverum, and on this album he took me to a place I never imagined I’d go. Dark and beautiful…seeing it performed live gave me the best halloween I’ve had in years.
After this record I will be on the look out for anything Julian Lynch ever releases. Orange You Glad has moved me. Released on Olde English Spelling Bee.
more on Julian Lynch (mp3s, video, pictures, reviews, more) can be found here.
1.) So Cow- So Cow
By far the record I listened to most this past year. The pop catches you, but the guitar and lyrics keep you. I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to Tic Tac Totally Records. If you didn’t catch So Cow when they were in the states last year their 2010 American Tour starts in less than two week! Tour dates can be found here.
more on So Cow (reviews, posters, mp3s, pictures)can be found here.
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Thanks for reading my best of lists. I’m pretty sure this is the end of it…my goal was to get it up by February 1st, but I ended up one day late…I’m ok with that.
You can find more of mine, and some of my special guests, best of lists here.
There is still something to be said about releasing a great single, and I’m not just talking about the A side…
The Great Pumpkin favorite 7″s of 2009
10.) Slumberland‘s Searching for the Now Vol. 5 (Liechtenstein split 7″ w/ The Faintest Ideas)
Liechtenstein might be the show that I’m most disappointed that I missed this year, and this 7″ would have made my top ten for “This Must Be Heaven” alone.
One of many great 7″s released by Captured Tracks in 2009, and the combination of Dum Dum Girls and Blank Dogs. I can’t say that I liked the 12″ as much as the 7″, but I’m hoping this wasn’t their peak…a great 45.
Released by Skulltones in an extremely limited quantity (375 copies, and 25 test presses). Almost a proper EP at five songs. One of many releases by KV that I loved this year. Thanks to Permanent for saving me a copy.
buy Real Estate’s self titled LP here (includes almost all of these songs).
3.) Young Governor- “Virginia Creeper// I’m A Mess”
Plastic Idol Records put out this great 45 of punk pop by Ben Cook of Fucked Up. I don’t know why, but I seem to like everything Cook is involved with except for Fucked Up…at least he has enough projects to keep me busy.
Julian Lynch and Ducktails are two of my favorite discoveries of 2009, and I can thank Underwater Peoples for this. Oh yeah, and Julian has to be one of the nicest dudes ever.
1.) Sic Alps- “L Mansion// Super Lungs My Supergirl”
Another beautiful 7″ put out by Slumberland. I have to say that I’ve seen Sic Alps, and when I did they were not a band I cared for, but after reading about this 7″ I picked it up and was totally blown away. I can’t wait to hear what comes out of this band in the future…this is one fucking great 45.
2/10/10- sorry I just fixed the link to this song. it was another sic alps track until now.
Thanks for reading…I’m getting behind on these best of posts, and they are a little intimidating to do, but I’m going to keep with it…two more…EPs and LPs. Bare with me while I deal with this last graduate application and the crazy awfulness that is my job…but more is to come. thanks again.
This week is CMJ, and while most people are going to things every hour of the day I’m being very selective (shows aren’t conducive to studying)… but one of those things that I will be attending is happening tonight!
If you don’t know Group Tightener yet…you probably soon will…they are about to release the first Best Coast 7″. Best Coast is the lo-fi pop act of Bethany Cosentino, and has been drawing a lot of attention lately. Cosentino was formerly a member of Pocahaunted, and has now moved on to make music that is a little more condusive for the laying in the sun. While I personally have been moving away from the fuzziness something about Best Coast draws me back.
On top of Best Coast playing I have heard a lot about Highlife (and the one single that has been released is pretty awesome….see below…features Sleepy Doug Shaw of White Magic) as well… and if these two weren’t enough… Alex Bleeker, Fluffy Lumbersand Ducktails will also be performing… and if you have been following the Great Pumpkin this year you know how big of a fan of Ducktails I am. Group Tightener and Todd P have put together a line up that can’t be beat.
If you are still on the fence about the show hopefully this will help convince you:
If you are looking for something to do before the Group Tightener showcase…you should check out Alphabar NYC…it’s a drinking club that meets every other Wednesday. Tomorrow is Alphabar’s first time in Brooklyn, and I is for Iona. Drink specials start at 8pm. Click on the links for more info, and join the facebook group.
Hope to see you there…this should be a great Wednesday!
Who knew that a walk to Permanent Records on Saturday would produce such lush soundscapes? I sure didn’t…all I knew was that my copy of Karl Blau’s Zebra had come in…but sitting there on the wall was one of the newest things to come out of the Olde English Spelling Bee…Julian Lynch‘s Orange you Glad.
I had heard two tracks off the eight song LP, and knew that was enough to peak my interest enough to grab the LP. And as always with OESB the record probably had less than a thousand copies pressed. This record was released back in August, but this was the first I have seen it in the shops.
Julian Lynch is an interesting character…he has worked for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, and is strongly influenced by world music siting Indian and South Asian music specifically. Lynch also employs a wide array of instruments including harmonium, tabla, and is known for his use of circular breathing techniques on the clarinet.
While Lynch’s influences and musical talents lends itself easily to pop music these days Lynch has successfully created a beautiful album that focuses more on lush tones, and and harmonies rather than traditional pop structure. A great way to look at Orange You Glad is in relation to Lynch’s friend and musical cohort Matt Mondanile of Ducktails. Where Ducktails, at least for me, makes music for warm weather…Lynch has created it’s counter part…a mostly instrumental album that is perfect for cooler weather and the winter to come. When there are vocals they tend to lend themselves to the song structure almost more so than to the words themselves. Lynch toys with this realm of noise music that is experimental and at the same extremely engaging to the listener…even those who might typically be averse to something that even dabbles in the realm of noise. The Eastern influences are felt throughout the album, and when they are the main focus (like on “Mercury” and the epic ten minute “The Flood”) provide a warming feeling that I haven’t felt yet this year…maybe bringing to mind places with climates of much kinder weather. It is also hard to deny that Lynch is an excellent guitarist giving the album a bit of a psychedic twist, and this is obvious in “Venom.”
Purchase Orange You Glad from Julian Lynch here, or if you have other musical needs at insound here.
Do yourself a favor and pick this one up…it is already making this cold fall a little bit better for me.
Julian Lynch will be preforming tonight via live broadcast at Chocolate Bobka’s Showcase at Monkey Town. The line up for the show is nothing less than stellar:
Please note Ducktails will not be playing this show, but Mountain Man will.
Julian Lynch also has a show at the Project Lodge in Madison, WI with the Dirty Beaches (Projectors oops…sorry about that one) on November 25th.
Tonight there are several amazing shows, but I’m really looking forward to seeing Woods and Ducktails play at a place like the Bell House (not to mention Dungen! get tickets here!). If you happen to have a ticket stub from Animal Collective in Prospect Park the word is you get $5 off admission.
This is one of those shows where I’m hoping to pick up a couple records that I have been meaning to get for quite a while.
I hope most of you reading this are familiar with Underwater Peoples by now…they were the first ones to bring us a record by Real Estate, and this is their second piece of vinyl. Just as the Real Estate 7″ came with a CD of the tracks…this release also has a bonus, but this time it is a DVD of Richard Law’s portrait art. Underwater Peeps were nice enough to post two of the tracks from the 7″ in video from (which I assume are coming from the DVD!):
Ducktails- “Parasailing”
although Julian Lynch isn’t playing tonight…his tracks on this record are rad.
Julian Lynch- “Garden 2″
Buy this Ducktails/Julian Lynch split 7″/DVD combo from Underwater Peoples here!
On top this wonderful Ducktails’ 7″ Matt Mondanile is on a role with his second LP this year…this one is out on Olde English Spelling Bee!
Record #2
The new Ducktails LP is titled Landscapes. I haven’t heard the LP, but this song happens to be on it:
Ducktails- “Landrunner”
I always forget how crazy that video is until I re-watch it, and the song is awesome…so if that is any indication of what to expect we should all be snagging this LP as well. I really can’t get enough of this surfy psychedelica, and it seems to be what Ducktails does best. Olde English Spelling Bee seems to do pretty limited releases so this one might not be around too long.
On the topic of limited re-leases Woods has out a 4 song “bootleg” out.
Record #3
This record is titled Acoustic Family Creeps (Play Live In the Woods), which I’ve come to think is a collaboration between Woodsist and Captured Tracks (not sure?).
This record isn’t very common on the internets…but you can get it at Woods shows and Academy Annex in Brooklyn, or try Florida is Dying (or email Captured Tracks or Woodsist?). It seems to be going for about $12-$15 for the four songs, but people seem to be raving about it (which is expected these days…Woods have been putting out great records one after another).
This last one will be a game time decision for me, but the Ducktails records should be coming back to my house for sure.
Recently Ray Concepcion put together this compilation video of Woods playing at the Whitney. It’s a pretty rad video, and is making me really excited for the show tonight (thanks to ChocolateBobka for the tip on this one):
Ahhh now all I have to do is wait a couple more hours. Hope to see you there, and if you are make sure to grab some vinyl…records should be plentiful.
If you aren’t going to this show tonight, you should think about hitting up the Underwater Peoples monster Late Summer Showcase at Market Hotelfeaturing Real Estate, Air Waves, Ducktails, and Beach Fossils, Family Portrait, Pill Wonder, Andrew Cedermark, Dana Jewell, Liam the Younger, Fluffy Lumbers, Alex Bleeker & the Freaks, Frat Dad, Big Troubles, and DJ Etienne. More to come on this as it gets a little closer…meaning next week.
End Notes:
Although I will not be buying these records via mail order they are definitly This Week In Mail Order worthy!
North Side Fest(NSF) pretty much made Williamsburg and Greenpoint explode this past weekend. If I hadn’t already been aware of all of the happenings I would be asking questions like “Why the fuck is there a large group of people standing at Meserole and Banker wondering how the hell of get back to Bedford?” But instead I was giving these people directions.
My NSF experience started by picking up a badge next to MHOW, and taking in the Heineken lounge (for bands, press, badge holders, ect) where gift bags and what not were being given away. It wasn’t really the type of place I would like to lounge, but then again if I didn’t live in Greenpoint I probably would have found it to be a nice little stop during my days of music. And there was free beer.
After that I headed over to The Cameo to catch Ducktails and Julianna Barwick. The Cameo is in the back of the Loving Cup Cafe…it is one of these random NYC spaces where it feels like you are walking into a secret club because you have to walk all the way though the cafe, past the bathrooms, and into a large room with a very high ceiling. The room was black, cold, and had a crazy piece of art hanging above the stage.
Ducktails was as good as I thought he would be, and played for roughly 40 minutes. A nice set of tropical noise to start the weekend. While watching Matt Mondanile I realized that he basically plays in the same manner as many harsh noise acts I have seen…lots of pedals, electronics, etc. Really pretty amazing. I’m just glad that it was Ducktails rather than someone like Sickness (I have to be in the mood for that). Also confirmed that the LP is not totally sold out yet, because he had them for sale.
It was actually a really great experience to see him play in such a cold room since his music gives me warm feelings inside. Sensory overload.
Julianna Barwick followed Ducktails, and while being enjoyable I think that her music is something that I prefer to listen to on recording. We stayed for half the set then headed to our next show.
Next up was Marnie Stern and Magic Markers…I’m not going to recap this, because I already did…if you want to know how this turned out click here for my post from last week. Not fun…that about sums it up.
This was a slow start to the festival. Only catching two bands on the first day…it picked up though. Day 2 recap to come soon.
A while back I wrote about Ducktails‘ self titled release on Not Not Fun records, and since then it has arrived at my house. Not Not Funs’ mail order department is full of great people, who often fill you packages with fun surprises. Along with my Ducktails LP I got another CD that the label released, and a big wad of string. I didn’t have much use for the string, but the kitty destroyed it with in minutes…it was lots of fun for her.
This Ducktails record has been the perfect soundtrack to these warm spring and summer afternoons giving me a mini tropical psychedelic vacation with every listen. It is really amazing the places that Matt Mondanile can take you with his music. If you haven’t checked out Ducktails’ new LP I highly recommend it:
This Thursday marks the beginning of North Side Festival, and what better way to kick it off than seeing Ducktails play at the The Cameo Gallery. The Cameo Gallery is the new music venue in Williamsburg located in the back of the Loving Cup Cafe.
Julianna Barwickwill be playing directly after Ducktails, and I have been hearing great things about her from McG.
I am pretty unfamiliar with Barwick’s work, but while clicking a little bit I came across her extremely (edit) not-so-recent Day Trotter Session, and I have to say on my initial listens I am pretty impressed:
Listen to more of Julianna Barwick’s Day Trotter Session here. (Buy her other releases here.)
Barwick has a beautiful voice, and if these tracks are any indication of her live show I expect it to be very enjoyable. Her vein of spacey atmospheric pop seems to be right up my alley, and should be a perfect follow up to Ducktails.
This North Side Festival Showcase is this Thursday June 11th (currated by Men&Women):
the white lodge is a photography collaboration between klk and myself. We specialize in analog photography using both 35mm and medium format film. Please check out our flickr.
i occasionally post mp3s and videos on this blog for the sole purpose of promoting artists that I believe deserve attention. all songs are for sampling purposes only, if you like it there will be a link to buy music from the artist (or tour dates...go see them!). if by chance I post an mp3 or video with audio that you own, and you would like me to take it down please let me know. you can reach me at:
(tom at gprecs.com)
in this instance i am very sorry.
