Sasquatch 2012 - Day 4: Tenacious D, Beck, Feist

Jack Black emotes with Tenacious D at the main stage, Sasquatch 2012.

Ok, this has been up for a couple of days, but I've been busy working a new gig, so DEAL! Tenacious D, Beck, Feist, The Joy Formidable, Shabazz Palaces, Damien Jurado... it was an eventful day and night.

As usual, word & photos over at the Bumpershine. Do it.

Previously: Sasquatch 2012 Day 3 / Day 2 / Day 1

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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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


(Review, February 8, 2011)

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


(Review, February 15, 2011)

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


(Review, September 13, 2011)

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


(Review June 28, 2011)

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


(Review, October 18, 2011)

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

(Review November 8, 2011)

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

(Review May 3, 2011)

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

(Review June 7, 2011)

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

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

(Live recap, July 27, 2011)

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

(Review, February 8, 2011)

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

(Review, August 31, 2011)

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

(Review, February 22, 2011)

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

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

(Review, September 13, 2011)

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

(Review, June 7, 2011)

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22. Yuck - Yuck
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

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

(Review, January 18, 2011)

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24. Ty Segall - Goodbye Bread
Purchase [mp3]

(Review, June 21, 2011)

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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

Bumbershoot 2011 - Day 1 (Part 2): Shabazz Palaces, Pickwick

Minus the Bear playing Fisher Green stage @ Bumbershoot, Sept. 3, 2011

The second part of Bumbershoot's Day 1 is up and ready for your perusal over at Bumpershine.

Shabbaz Palaces, Pickwick, Little Dragon, Trombone Shorty, Vetiver and more. Go.

Now Downloading: New Releases 06.28.11

Summer is supposedly here, but you'd never know it here in Seattle. It's been a typical June-uary here, with overcast skies and breezy temps requiring extra layers of clothing. It's the sort of weather that drives folks indoors, indirectly creating music scenes. The latest few years of bad weather in the Pacific NW might be responsible for the latest run of decent-to-great music coming out of the 2-0-6, and Sub Pop is on the front line to pluck the flora springing through cracks in the gray, gray pavement. This week, Sub Pop debuts their first real hip-hop offering, Shabazz Palaces, an album threatening to finally break the 2-0-6 nation wide. Further up north, and also on Sub Pop, is the now post-Wolf Parade act from Dan Boeckner, Handsome Furs, with his wife Alexei Perry. Other new releases of note this week come from Gillian Welch, Jolie Holland, Mighty Clouds, SBTRKT, Patrick Wolf, Gomez, a surprising great release from Beyoncé and an indie rock tribute to Buddy Holly.

Playlist: New Releases 06.28.11

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Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Ishmael Butler's rise as Butterfly in Diggable Planets was a source of pride for Seattle hip-hop acts and fans. That Diggable was a NY-based act was only a technicality, like with another former Garfield High School student before him, Jimi Hendrix, Butler was entrenched in the 2-0-6. Unfortunately, after Diggable Planets went out of favor, Butler's return with the funk/rap act Cherrywine failed to connect, making Butler seem like potential fodder for the VH1 'where are they now' pile.

It's no wonder then that Shabazz Palaces had such a secretive beginning, with Butler taking the mysterious name Palaceer Lazaro, and burying his lyrical experiments under layers of psychedelic sounds and murky beats on their first couple EPs. There were no photos or interviews, just packed performances in clubs usually reserved for Seattle's indie rock brethren. There was something there, though, in those EPs that got perceptive listener's attention, and with their full length debut on Sub Pop, Black Up, a bit of the mystery has been lifted. "Clear some space out/ So we can space out," implores Butler during "Recollections of the Wraith" and the album does just that, letting Butler work his lyrical magic around an impressive array of experimental samples and beats. Hip-hop purists are bound to call this "Rap for rockists who hate rap," but it's an undeniable treat for any real fan of music.

Free AOL Album Stream
Download: "An echo from the hosts that profess infinitum" [mp3]
Download: "Swerve... the reeping of all that is worthwhile (Noir not withstanding)" [mp3]

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Handsome Furs - Sound Kapital
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

With Warf Wolf Parade now on indefinite hiatus, Dan Boeckner's side project Handsome Furs (with wife Alexei Perry) is now simply the project. As such, it's not surprising that Sound Kapital -- their third long player -- is easily their most accessible album thus far. Written entirely on keyboards, Boeckner's compositions sound a bit like an alternative reality where The Clash's Joe Strummer decided to go the synth route (and lost his British accent, of course). I say Strummer, because Boeckner repeatedly borrows the Clash frontman's "Straight to Hell" phrasing style throughout the release (see the excellent opener "When I Get Back" along with "Serve the People," specifically). Boeckner didn't leave the guitars completely behind, thankfully, as it's no coincidence that the album highlights feature guitars (the driving "Damage" and "Repudiated"). Wolf Parade fans will think Sound Kapital plays it a little too safe, and their right, but as a transition record, there's a lot to like here going forward now that the band has Boeckner's full focus.

Free AOL Album Stream
Download: "What About Us?" [mp3]
Download: "Repatriated" [mp3]

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More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
Gillian Welch - The Harrow & the Harvest
Beyoncé - 4 / Free AOL Album Stream
Jolie Holland - Pint of Blood / Free AOL Album Stream
Mighty Clouds - Twist Again
SBTRKT - SBTRKT
Patrick Wolf - Lupercalia
Gomez - Whatever's On Your Mind / Free AOL Album Stream / "Options" [mp3]
Marianne Faithfull - Horses & High Heels / Free AOL Album Stream
The Fruit Tree Foundation - Fomo / "I Forgot the Fall" [mp3]
Rave On Buddy Holly / Free AOL Album Stream
Thievery Corporation - Culture of Fear / Free AOL Album Stream

tags: music, album review, handsome furs, shabazz palaces, indie rock, new releases