thus spake drake: destroyer

Showing posts with label destroyer. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Top 50+ Albums of 2011: Featuring Destroyer, Girls, tUnE-yArds, M83, Bon Iver

Top 10 includes Destroyer, Girls, tUnE-yArds, M83, Bon Iver, James Blake, PJ Harvey, St Vincent, Shabazz Palaces, Real Estate

If 2010 was 1993 all over again, 2011 seemed to ignore this trend (and all the corresponding 20 year anniversary reissues), instead reaching back a decade prior. Releases from Destroyer and M83 mined that decade to make great albums, while several bands of that era (Gang of Four, Wire, The Feelies) returned with new releases. Another minor trend we noticed here was artists absolutely obliterating the tired "sophomore slump" myth, with Girls, tUnE-yArds, Bon Iver, Real Estate, Fleet Foxes, Male Bonding and Smith Westerns all having strong follow ups to their hyped debuts.

2011 also marks the second year in a row where anyone of my top 5 could have nabbed the top spot, but Destroyer's Kaputt edges out the aforementioned sophomore releases from Girls, tUnE-yArds and Bon Iver along with a career defining release from M83.

As a side note, I've had this Top 50+ Album list done for weeks now, but it's been a real bear to get formatted and find time to write. And since I want to get it out before the year ends, some of the writing is TBD (look for more in the coming days). But the albums are the meat of the matter, right? Here's the list. Hate it, debate it, relate it, whatever -- in the end, I'm just another jackass with a blog and a list.

Playlist: Top 50+ Albums of 2011

1. Destroyer - Kaputt
Stream / Purchase [mp3]
Every once in awhile, an album comes along that makes you rethink your past listening habits -- a re-evaluation of what is kitsch and what is genuine art. The smooth 80s sax solo, for instance, has long been filed in the 'bad idea' folder (and I'm a sax player!), but in the hands of Dan Bejar, it's a revelation. Much like listening to Steely Dan back in the day, you feel like your hearing something much greater than the smoother-than-smooth parts making up the song. Kaputt does that and more. I didn't know what in the Hell was going with it when I first heard it a year ago, but it quickly became the 'go to' listen for nearly all of 2011.

(Review, January 25, 2011)

2. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Stream / Purchase [mp3
Frontman Christopher Owens was raised in a cult, and with every stellar release, he's unwittingly creating his own. Father, Son, Holy Ghost not only beats the sophomore slump, it's miles beyond and not looking back. The nods to 70s rock abound, with all the modern touches you can't do without -- like Elliott Smith fronting Pink Floyd, with even a nod to Deep Purple ("Die") thrown in for good measure. Required listening.

(Review, September 13, 2011)

3. tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
Stream / Purchase [mp3]
Another impressive sophomore long player, w h o k i l l is a brilliant anti-pop pop masterpiece that mixes R&B, folk, jazz, afro hop and funk for an addictive concoction. And Merrill Garbus does it mostly herself, even live, sampling drums, guitar and all her vocal calisthenics. One of the few truly great odd albums that is enhanced tenfold in a live setting.

(Review, April 19, 2011)

4. M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
Stream / Purchase [mp3]
Anthony Gonzalez continues to mine his childhood for nuggets of nostalgia, and his fifth release ups the ante to a double album. Hurry Up We're Dreaming mixes up the best parts of his previous releases and throws in some Peter Gabriel-like vocal squalls in case you didn't get the 80s decade reference in the music.

(Review, October 18, 2011)

5. Bon Iver - Bon IverStream / Purchase [mp3]

Bon Iver's gotten a lot of love during this year-end list season, and with good reason. With his eponymous sophomore release, he's injected his gorgeous sound with some of the adventure of the side projects he's dallied in (Gayngs, Volcanic Choir), making the songs on Bon Iver reach for, well... more. I didn't find myself returning to this album as much as the other top four, so that's why it's here, but there's a greatness here that provides ample reason for it's near consensus "album of the year" tag that you'll find elsewhere.

(Review, June 21, 2011)

6. James Blake - James Blake
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

(Review, February 8, 2011)

7. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

(Review, February 15, 2011)

8. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

(Review, September 13, 2011)

9. Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

(Review June 28, 2011)

10. Real Estate - Days
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

(Review, October 18, 2011)

11. Atlas Sound - Parallax
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

(Review November 8, 2011)

12. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

(Review May 3, 2011)

13. Black Lips - Arabia Mountain
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

(Review June 7, 2011)

14. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

15. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

(Live recap, July 27, 2011)

16. Cut Copy - Zonoscope
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

(Review, February 8, 2011)

17. Male Bonding - Endless Now
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

(Review, August 31, 2011)

18. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

(Review, February 22, 2011)

19. Youth Lagoon - The Year of Hibernation
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

20. Wild Flag - Wild Flag
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

(Review, September 13, 2011)

21. Fucked Up - David Comes to Life
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

(Review, June 7, 2011)

22. Yuck - Yuck
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

23. Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

(Review, January 18, 2011)

24. Ty Segall - Goodbye Bread
Purchase [mp3]

(Review, June 21, 2011)

25. Thee Oh Sees - Carrion Crawler / The Dream
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

(Review, August 11, 2011)

26. Wilco - The Whole Love (Review September 27, 2011)
27. The Antlers - Burst Apart (Review, May 10, 2011)
28. Tom Waits - Bad as Me (Review October 2, 2011)
29. Beirut - The Riptide (Review October 2, 2011)
30. Mastodon - The Hunter (Review September 27, 2011)
31. Drake - Take Care (October 15, 2011)
32. Cults - Cults (Review June 7, 2011)
33. Dawes - Nothing Is Wrong
34. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong (Review March 29, 2011)
35. Panda Bear - Tomboy (Music on TV preview, )
36. White Denim - D (Ear on TV preview for July 11, 2011)
37. Battles - Gloss Drop
38. Toro y Moi - Underneath The Pine
39. Elbow - Let's Build a Rocket, Boys! (review March 8, 2011)
40. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
41. Campfire OK - Strange Like We Are (Review February 1, 2011)
42. Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - Mirror Traffic (Review August 23, 2011)
43. Thurston Moore - Demolished Thought (Review May 24, 2011)
44. Wire - Red Barked Tree (review January 11, 2011)
45. Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
46. Wye Oak - Civilian
47. Washed Out - Within Without (Review July 12, 2011)
48. Eleanor Friedberger - Last Summer (Review July 12, 2011)
49. Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes (Review March 1, 2011)
50. Das Racist - Relax (Live recap + photos)
John Maus - We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
Dum Dum Girls - Only In Dreams
Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'
Okkervil River - I Am Very Far (Review May 10, 2011)
Boston Spaceships - Let it Beard (Review August 2, 2011)
Peter Bjorn and John - Gimme Some (Review March 29, 2011)
Thao & Mirah - Thao & Mirah
Handsome Furs - Sound Kapital (Review June 28, 2011)
Cass McCombs - Wit's End (Review April 26, 2011)
Charles Bradley - No Time for Dreaming (Live Bumpershoot recap with photos -- September 20, 2011)
Shelby Earl - Burn the Boats (Live recap with photos from Doe Bay Fest -- April 26, 2011)
Times New Viking - Dancer Equired (Review August 25, 2011)
Megafaun - Megafaun (Review September 20, 2011)
Richmond Fontaine - The High Country (Review September 20, 2011)

Would you believe this is the 16th Top Albums of the Year list that I've done? Here's links to the lists still out there on the web: Top 50+ Albums from 2010, Top 50 Albums from 2009, Top 50 Albums from 2008, Top 100 Albums from 2007, Top 100+ from 2006, Top 50 from 2005, Top 10 from 2004

Monday, February 21, 2011

Music on TV - Week of 02.21.11: Destroyer

Dan Bejar and Destroyer to be on Fallon Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Merge Records is already having a great 2011, thanks largely to Arcade Fire's Grammy hardware pull, but also because of new releases from Destroyer and the label debut for The Mountain Goats, both bands of which make appearances this week.

Dan Bejar has assembled an 8-piece version of Destroyer to tour in support of the effervescent Kaputt which starts on St. Patrick's Day in the place of the band's birth, Vancouver B.C. (at the Crocodile here in Seattle, the next day, March 18, 2011). Before then, this edition of Bejar's Destroyer will give us a preview Tuesday night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Besides Merge acts Destroyer and The Mountain Goats (on Letterman Wednesday), the week is also highlighted by appearances from Greg Dulli's Twilight Singers (on Kimmel Wednesday), Bright Eyes (on Letterman Thursday) and The Strokes on Saturday Night Live.

Picks for the week
Monday, February 21
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Pitbull (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Adele
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Screaming Females (REPEAT)
TBS: Conan: Chromeo
Tuesday, February 22
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Cake
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Destroyer
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Menomena
PBS: Independent Lens: William S. Burroughs -- A Man Within: Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Laurie Anderson, Sonic Youth, William S. Burroughs
Wednesday, February 23
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Twilight Singers
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: The Mountain Goats
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Liza Minelli
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Lucero
TBS: Conan: G. Love
Thursday, February 24
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Adele
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Bright Eyes
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Broken Bells
SYNDICATION: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Adele
Friday, February 25
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Janelle Monae
PBS: Tavis Smiley: Kem
Saturday, February 26
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show: Hurts
NBC: Saturday Night Live: The Strokes
PBS: Austin City Limits: Aimee Mann, Iron and Wine (REPEAT)

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Now Downloading: New Releases 01.25.11

While last week was the first bonafide release day of the year, this week marks the first mother lode drop of 2011, including what many are already designating the album of the year in Destroyer's Kaputt. Besides that, there's Gang of Four's first album of new material in 16 years along with the latest from Iron & Wine, Deerhoof, Lila Ices, John Vanderslice, Sic Alps, Fujiya & Miyagi, Wanda Jackson, Thank You, Ben + Vesper, Say Hi, Delicate Steve, Phil Manley, Apex Manor, Cloud Nothings [pauses for breath], a nice Light in the Attic compilation for Vagrants and a yawn-worthy cash grab attempt from Cold War Kids (see my Kings of Leon-ized preview from earlier in the week).

Playlist: New Releases 01.25.11

Destroyer - Kaputt
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Without warning, the first dip into Dan Bejar's tenth album as Destroyer can be shocking. The associations saddled to the 80s sound that Bejar employs for his latest poem soundtrack are mostly bad hair, bright suits and cocaine. But after a couple listens, with help from the soulful vocals of Vancouver native Sibel Thrasher, an effects-laden trumpet and Bejar's signature couplet tossing, the uneasy feeling becomes something something quite transcendent.

Bejar lists Roxy Music's Avalon and the arrangements of (Canadian born) jazz pianist Gil Evans as his influences for the music of Kaputt (a title borrowed from an Italian novel he confesses to have never read), and the tousled-hair troubadour even recorded the vocals while lying down on a sofa to further relax the setting. Besides Avalon and Evans, Kaputt had me searching my library for recordings from Style Council, Talk Talk and especially the Thomas Dolby produced tracks from Prefab Sprout (Steve McQueen aka Two Wheels Good). The album ranks with Streethawk: A Seduction as Bejar's magnum opus. As usual, no matter your association with the music, the lyrics are the real show, and Bejar obliges with several lines that help encompass the album and act as an aide for lazy reviewers (guilty!).

"I write poetry for myself." and "I sent a message in a bottle to the press.
It said, 'Don't be ashamed or disgusted with yourselves'... I've thumbed through the books on your shelves." (from "Blue Eyes")

"Winter, spring, summer, and fall, animals crawl towards death's embrace." (from "Song for America")

"Wasting your days chasing some girls, alright/ Chasing cocaine through the backrooms of the world all night." and "Sounds, Smash Hits, Melody Maker, NME, all sound like a dream to me." (from "Kaputt")

Download: "Chinatown" [mp3]

Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

I previewed Kiss Each Other Clean a couple weeks back, but since then I've gotten to be quite cozy with the latest from Sam Beam, aka Iron & Wine, and perhaps it deserved some more virtual space. Besides being a continuation of the reinvention I&W took on with 2007's The Shepherd’s Dog, KEOC shows Beam more at ease with the new tricks at his disposal with a bigger budgeted studio. More than just adding bass and drums, Beam is building a mosaic of sound to back his songs. Horns are even brought in to punch up some songs, but unlike Bejar's use, they never seem to jive 100% with the concoction that Beam is trying to mix. It's an intoxicating collection of songs, though, that rank with his best releases.

Free AOL Album Stream
Download: "Tree from the River" [mp3]

Deerhoof - Deerhoof Vs Evil
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

It's eventually going to sound silly to say, but with every Deerhoof release, you come to expect the unexpected. And that's saying a lot for a band that released an album a year from 1999-2008 that they can change it up and yet, somehow you can always tell it's them within a few seconds of hearing them. It's been nearly three years since their last, which has apparently allowed the band time to condense their output into the most focused, melodic and yet still weirdest collection of songs they've released yet. And, as is often the case with Deerhoof, the joyous wild abandonment means if you listen closely, you can actually hear the band grinning through the speakers. Aside from the horrible album cover, the only thing that keeps Deerhoof vs Evil from being one of their best is that the album is missing a song or two that isn't continually tearing itself apart in the name of idiosyncrasy, because the prog-pop balance that Deerhoof dances on feels like it's a losing battle for the 'pop.'

Free AOL Album Stream
Download: "The Merry Barracks" [mp3]

Gang of Four - Content
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

With album titles like Entertainment!, Mall, Shrinkwrapped and now Content, it's hardly news to anyone that Gang of Four has always been taken with the concept of consumerism. Hearing the great "Damaged Goods" backing an ad for Microsoft's Kinnect understandably threw fans for a loop, but it all feels part of this same fascination. Go4's first album of new material in 16 years continues the trend, and Jon King and guitarist Andy Gill are still bitter about all the bands that have cashed in on Entertainment!'s blueprint. The first half of Content is a triumphant return, the best they've sounded since 1981's Solid Gold, but then the album kind of falls apart after that, never quite realizing the opening's promise. It's a solid enough return, though, that I hope King & Gill can keep the band together. Even without original members Hugo Burnham and David Allen, the new rhythm section (Tom McNeice and Mark Heaney) do well to make us forget the legendary talents.

Free Album Stream

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Now Downloading: New Releases 04.20.10

This week is again a bit thin, but there's some gold to be found in reissues, with Merge Records releasing early recordings from Dan Bejar's Destroyer, including the 2001 classic Streethawk: A Seduction. Elsewhere, there's new releases from Caribou, Plants & Animals, The Apples in Stereo, Roky Erickson with Okkervil River, The Radio Dept., Kate Nash, Aqualung, Rufus Wainwright, The Pipettes, Cypress Hill, Trans Am, Willie Nelson, and a greatest hits comp from Doves.

Playlist: New Releases 04.20.10

Caribou - Swim
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Dan Snaith's music, first as Manitoba and now as Caribou, has always been adventurous, ranging just about as far as you can go within the electronic genre. With 2007's Andorra, Snaith put it all together, garnering critical acclaim, and Swim does well to build upon that feat. Helped by Four Tet's Kieran Hebden, Junior Boys' Jeremy Greenspan, and Born Ruffians' Luke Lalonde, Swim is a bit darker, and after a few listens, even more addictive. Highlights are the incredibly accessible opener "Odessa," "Kali," and "Found Out."

Download: "Odessa" [mp3]
Free Album Streams from Merge Records

Destroyer - City of Daughters / Thief / Streethawk: A Seduction
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

This week Merge Records is reissuing the Vancouver trilogy from Dan Bejar's Destroyer, three albums released from 1998 to 2001 that take Bejar from a lo-fi Bowie fan to the Destroyer that we know and love to this day. Streethawk: A Seduction is a recognized classic, and still sounds great to this day, but if you're a fan of that album (and if not, why??), the other essential if for no other reason in that they show the progression that Bejar makes as an artist. And even if you already own them, the remastering done for these reissues makes them that much better (Thief, for one, was originally in Mono). Highlights? From City of Daughters you have "No Cease Fires," from Thief there's "Destroyers the Temple" and Streethawk is 100% highlight (but pressed, "Sublimation Hour" is the obvious choice).

I still find myself going back to this Bejaromatic, Destroyer lyric generator.

Free Album Streams from Merge Records

More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
Plants & Animals - La La Land
The Apples in the Stereo - Travellers in Space and Time / Free AOL album stream
Roky Erickson with Okkervil River - True Love Cast Out All Evil / Free AOL album stream
The Radio Dept. - Clinging to a Scheme
Aqualung - Magnetic North
Kate Nash - My Best Friend is You
Rufus Wainwright - All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu
The Pipettes - Stop the Music
Cypress Hill - Rise-Up
Gotan Project - Tango 3.0 / "Tar and Pine" [mp3]
Doves - The Places Between: The Best of Doves / Free AOL album stream
Trans Am - Thing
Taylor Hawkins & the Coattail Riders - Red Light Fever
Willie Nelson - Country Music / Free AOL album stream
Night Driving In Small Towns - Serial Killer / "Come & Tell Me" [mp3] / "Barstool" [mp3]
Glee Cast - Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna / Free AOL album stream
Shelby Lynne - Tears, Lies, and Alibis / Free AOL album stream

REISSUES
Destroyer - City of Daughters
Destroyer - Thief
Destroyer - Streethawk: A Seduction

tags: music, album review, destroyer,, caribou, indie rock, new releases, rhapsody

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Now Downloading: New Releases 03.18.08

Last week was a good one to skip, but my vacation has me terribly behind in everything related to media consumption. This traditionally good week for releases (post SXSW) got an added boost when Gnarls Barkley unexpectedly pushed the release of their latest to this week (digitally). Similarly, look for The Raconteurs to push their latest up to next week. What's all the rush about? Leaks, my friend. Folks are more likely to steal it if it's the only option -- at least having the real product out there gives the impatient a more just option. Also this week is the latest from Dan Bejar's Destroyer, Be Your Own Pet, The Dodos, She & Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward,) and Adam Green, striking the coal while it's hot (thank you Juno).

Playlist: New Releases 03.18.08

Album: Destroyer - Trouble In Dreams

The common expectation with each new Destroyer release is the promises a quick left-turn from whatever preceded it. Perhaps that's why Trouble in Dreams, Dan Bejar's eighth long player under the moniker Destroyer, is initially kind of disappointing. It sounds like the perfect extension of his last, Destroyer's Rubies, and that's mostly due to the fact that, for the first time, he's kept the same band around for two straight releases. But where Rubies walked an exhilerating tightrope, Trouble feels more polished, in part, I imagine, because Destroyer sounds like a real band now. The songs are still mostly there, so maybe it's just that with following a stellar release like Rubies there's bound to be a let down - especially if it's cut from the same cloth, as Trouble sounds. The lyrical couplets still abound, though, and I'm still excited as hell to see him perform in the upcoming Sasquatch festival, so I'll stop with the kvetching and say forget about what I said and just buy the sucker.

Free album stream from AOL
"Foam Hands" [mp3]

Album: Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple

The release that has reviewers scrambling this week. Bumped up three weeks from it's scheduled April drop, The Odd Couple is Gnarls Barkley as a fully realized duo, instead of the curiosity that the experiment St Elsewhere seemed like. I imagine a lot of folks will be disappointed initially, as there's no "Crazy" to be found, but a second lightning in a bottle is both unrealistic and unnecessary when talking about the strength of an album. Where St Elsewhere was paranoid, The Odd Couple fully realizes the perils (hey, they're not actually crazy) and is finding ways to deal with the aftermath. Tracks like "Who's Gonna Save My Soul" ("How will my story ever be told now?") "Going On" ("But I’m going on, And I’m prepared to go it alone") and "Open Book" feel almost post-apocalyptic in their nature. As a result of all this, the mood is more somber, more dense and less likely to pull anyone to the dance floor. But the album works better as a whole entity, and that's what draws in this listener.

Album: She & Him - Volume One

She is Zooey Deschanel, everyone's favorite undervalued 'actress that could' who showed off her dreamy voice in the movie Elf. Him, presumably, is M. Ward, the indie folk force from Portland. Aside from a couple covers, Deschanel writes the songs, and thus gets the objective pronoun, while Ward's subjective status presumably means he received the songs and did worked his magic. Deschanel's songwriting is right in Ward's wheelhouse, tin pan alley as sung by Loretta Lynn or Patsy Cline, and the combo works wonders for what the title suggests is the first in a series. There are some lows, granted, but as a first attempt, it's a pretty strong indication that this could be the beginning of a great partnership.

Free album stream from AOL

Album: Adam Green - Sixes & Sevens

Fresh on the heels of that Juno phenomenon, Adam Green reminds us that there more to The Moldy Peaches than just Kimya Dawson. Green has been trying to perfect his crooning voice, becoming more like Jens Lekman in delivery every day. Unfortunately, he pales in comparison, and while there are a few highlights ("Tropical Island" is a Jonathan Richmond-like toe-tapper - "Morning After Midnight" even name drops the Modern Lovers - in case we missed the connection,) there's just too many (20 songs) to dredge through. Not bad, but perhaps Kimya can recommend an editor.

Free album stream from AOL

Great releases missing from Rhapsody, but still have free AOL Album Streams:
Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
Lyrics Born - Everywhere at Once
The B-52's - Funplex

More on the radar this week
The Dodos - Visiter / Free album stream from AOL
Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward
Joseph Arthur - Could We Survive
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Sera Cahoone - Only As The Day Is Long
Yael Naïm - Yael Naïm / Free album stream from AOL
Devotchka - A Mad And Faithful Telling / Free album stream from AOL
Tall Firs - Too Old To Die Young
Witch - Paralyzed
The A.K.A.s (Are Everywhere) - Everybody Make Some Noise!
The Teenagers - Reality Check
Switches - Lay Down The Law
Groove Armada - Soundboy Rock / Free album stream from AOL
Shirley Bassey - Get The Party Started
Daniel Lanois - Here Is What Is
The Matches - A Band In Hope / Free album stream from AOL
The Hush Sound - Goodbye Blues
The Chapin Sisters - The Chapin Sisters
John Zorn - The Dreamers
Neon Neon - Stainless Style
Birds of Avalon - The Outer Upper Inner EP
Helvetia - The Acrobats
PlayRadioPlay! - Texas
Virginia Coalition - Home This Year
Music From the Motion Picture '21'
Heroes - Original Soundtrack
Reissues
Mission of Burma - Signals, Calls and Marches [Remastered]
Mission of Burma - The Horrible Truth About Burma [Remastered]

tags: music, album review, destroyer, gnarls barkley, she and him, adam green, m ward, indie rock, new releases, rhapsody

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

A Frog-Eyed Pornographer's Rubdown

Canadian artists are such affable folks... the indie rock scene from up North reads like a parade of collaborations. The New Pornographers, Broken Social Scene, Stars, The Dears, Apostle of Hustle, and whatever band Spencer Krug is playing in.

The latest has Krug (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown) with longtime friend Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes) and Dan Bejar (Destroyer,) in the supergroup Swan Lake. While touring Europe to promote Destroyer's 2004 album Your Blues, Bejar employed Mercer and Krug as his backing band, which gave them the idea for what they first just simply called "The Songwriters Project."

Album: Beast Moans - Swan Lake

Beast Moans is an interesting amalgamation of the the contributors' other works. The twisting herky-jerky of Frog Eyes, with some attention to pop structure ala Wolf Parade, and the grand...scratch that... the bombast of Destroyer... it really is an incredible sum of it's parts. "The Freedom" is the killer Destroyer number, "All Fires" is Krug's latest scribed gem ala Wolf Parade, and while "City Calls" starts out all Frog Eyes, it ends up weaving it's way through it's creators idioms and ending up as something all itself.

Speaking of creators, Krug has been one busy dude, playing and singing on a lot of great albums in the past couple years. Wolf Parade, Swan Lake, Sunset Rubdown, Frog Eyes, and even a guest appearance on Islands excellent debut Return to the Sea makes for a nice playlist.

Playlist: Spencer Krug gets around

Previously:
As the wealthy American Underground wept (Destroyer's Rubies)

tags: playlist, music, dan bejar, destroyer, spencer krug, wolf parade, frog eyes, sunset rubdown, islands, canada, indie rock, new pornographers