Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

It's always around this time of year that I start to closely look at my albums and songs for the current year and I try to place them in some kind of arbitrary ranking. And without trying to make it seem as if I only make lists for the publications I write for, I've always been a fan of lists. I feel it's a fun way to learn more about music and it's especially great to read and share lists amongst people you respect and like. Either way, in trying to get all of my favorite music of 2010 and immersing myself in it, I went back to one of top albums of 2009, Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest, to find what is it that makes an album great and very importantly, long-lasting.

The entire album has a gripping pull to it, all of the band members deliver timely and fitting touches when needed. Their ear for melody is one thing but to be able to harmonize four different voices with various moods, themes and keys is something else. I always loved how everything opened with "Southern Point," and how it was just Daniel Rossen's voice and that glorious guitar line. It sets the mood for the album's colorful sounds and it starkly marks a new sound from where they were before, 2006's haunted Yellow House. Here is a cool video for a recording they did of the song:


Seeing them up close for last year's ACL was a surreal experience. Looking back, they were one of the 'buzz' bands last year and they played a gifted set in the middle of the day, around a fierce rainstorm. Anyone who knows me closely knows that I consider this band to be one of the best. (After Radiohead made In Rainbows, they were looking for awesome bands to open for them, they chose Grizzly Bear and Liars. And before that, when I got to see Radiohead in Berkeley, they had The Black Keys and Deerhoof opening for them. I saw the latter - apparently Radiohead know their stuff.) Regardless, long before Veckatimest, they premiered "Two Weeks" and "While You Wait for the Others" on late-night talk shows, a year before the album came out. It left a strong set of great expectations and surely, they didn't disappoint. The sound that Rossen gets out of that guitar is undeniably mesmerizing, everything about it still moves me. Here is the official video for "While You Wait for the Others" - Bryan

The Deathly Hallows and Nick Cave

I finally got to see the new Harry Potter movie. I say finally because I hadn’t seen a movie in the theatres since…I wanna say Up but not sure…a very long time. But these movies/books are definitely high on my list of current favorites. I still remember reading through all the books in hopes to latch onto this immense band-wagon by the time the fifth movie came out in 2007. Back then I was a substitute teacher and I would pour into these books every day at work and got through all of them, finally, in the winter of 2007. I ended up watching that movie alone in the dollar theatres back then and hell, I still loved it, but fortunately, I was able to watch the new one in a packed theatre with good friends yesterday and as another good friend told me earlier, it was simply magical.

Besides that ridiculous rant (and really bad run-on at the end there, yikes. HOVA would say “that shit is…fucking ridiculous!”), the point of this post was that in the movie, they usually only use classical scoring. However in the new movie, there is a scene written specifically for the film that features Hermione and Harry dancing to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ “O Children.” I was stunned that they would feature some kind of rock music with lyrics but even more surprised that it was this gorgeous song. It’s off their 2004 double-album, Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus, and it happens to fall under the category of one their better albums to date. There’s swooning adoration (“Babe, You Turn Me On”) and still, shining rolls (“Supernaturally”) all over.

Cave is a master songwriter that is capable of soaring highs – in my opinion, all of his music has always been downright spectacular. This particular song is on the second disc and it closes everything with a beautiful closure. There’s a memorable piano line that’s, Cave’s battered voice and the background singers are a fitting touch; the director of the Harry Potter film probably said it best, “It has that capacity to lift you up and break your heart at the same time.”

Hmm, a lot of music is that way when you think about it; especially the bitterly good stuff – the stuff that hits you that much harder than the rest. Then again, the same could be said about women. – Bryan

Bon Iver – Blood Bank EP

I’ve been wanting to write about this EP for quite some time now. It’s lame for me to say that with the Kanye album flying hot! Some said Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon was cashing in after For Emma, Forever Ago with a quaint, short four-song EP that was more about its use of auto-tune than anything else. I’m not sure but to me at least, it was a chillingly new sound to get lost in while dreaming of snow. The music all over the EP is softly strung – the title track creeping in with a chugging stomp of voices – and it’s truly an embracing grip of mesmerizing music.

This is “Babys,” the penultimate song that has the menacing piano line that clanks away at the sides of the walls. Vernon’s voice is solemnly sweet as he bluntly sings about the feeling when it’s right to make a baby. I have no idea what that feeling is like, I’m guessing it must be awesome but in the meantime, there is brightly layered music to listen to as we think about it. (Sorry about the accompanying video, but the song is what matters)


I’m not sure, either, how much Kanye West was inspired by this EP, to make his auto-tune smash 808s and Heartbreak but surely it meant something to him as he decided to essentially use all of “Woods” to set up and support “Lost in the World.” Vernon’s song is drenched with auto-tune and built around layers of vocals that travel in a round. Like a choir of fantastic tones, here are the song’s sole words:

'I'm up in the woods
I'm down on my mind

I'm building a still
To slow down the time'

Looks like Vernon was still dreaming about the cabin where he lived in while writing For Emma, Forever Ago. Fortunately, there was someone mainstream enough to get him some much, more, deserved attention because even just as “a quaint, short four-song EP that was more about its use of auto-tune than anything else,” it’s pretty bad-ass. – Bryan

Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

I was talking about nostalgia earlier and I was also talking about fall/winter music that just happens to sound better during the coldness. The fall/winter combination of 2007 was a downright dreadful one for me and there was a constant struggle within myself to try and find some kind of music to find solace in. So much of what I had loved had been, suddenly, mired with broken thoughts that there was nowhere else to turn but towards new music. As Bon Iver, Justin Vernon’s debut For Emma, Forever Ago was that kind of new sound I was looking for. It came during a time where everything seemed darker than dark and it fittingly captures the coldness of the physical weather as well. One of the best singer-songwriter albums of the past five years or so (check out what this lowly writer poorly wrote about back in 2008) , it’s been on rotation for me with the cold weather taking over.

Dear, I remember listening to “Flume” for the first time and having nothing but tears pour down my face. As unnecessarily honest as that may be, it wasn’t so much me at the time but maybe, the gripping pull of the music that moved me to those extremes. The lovely chug of the guitar and Vernon’s soothing falsetto were instant memories and all the atmospherics – the shrilling spindle, backing vocals and the open spaces – would make for a mesmerizing beginning. Before all the black peals away to reveal some kind of white, the music tears away coming back to Vernon singing, “Only love is all maroon, gluey feathers on a flume…sky is womb and she’s the moon.” It’s such an endearing sound – a warm and calming one – and at times, moving.


What really moved be about “Creature Fear” was the way it just cascaded from such a quiet territory to something downright soaring. As somber and solemn as a lot of the music sounds, here were some gushing sounds to relish in. The opening sounds are slowly ominous, before Vernon’s frail voice shows up, “I was full by your count, I was lost but your fool.” It solidified its diversity to me then and I’d really love to know what I thought about it back then – I probably ruined some of the music with foolish decisions – but now, it’s simply gorgeous music. Now if only I could just learn how to play the guitar so I could sing, “I was teased by your blouse, spit out by your mouth” too. – Bryan

Kanye West - Monster

If anyone’s gonna embrace the Kanye West theme of our blog lately, it’s me. The crazy thing with all of the guests on the album is – again – how seamless West makes everything work. The song Nick mentions, “Lost in the World,” is an unbelievable song that serves strangely awesome as the next to the last song. Crazy is that the last song is one called “Who Will Survive in America,” which I am still researching in order to be able to write about it better. But needless to say, it’s a less-than-2-minute song that leaves everything, almost, well unanswered.

But speaking of Bon Iver, he’s on “Monster” as well – which is my current favorite off My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I mean, I didn’t even like Nikki Minaj before but her verse on this song simply kills, alone. Sure there is Rick Ross, West’s awesome verses, too, and hip-hop royalty with Jay-Z but Minaj destroys everything in her path with a ridiculous display of game. She sounds fiercely in-your-face and like The National sung, she’ll eat your brains, too. Here is a version with the lyrics to read along with, more on this album (another cover up top) to come for sure. – Bryan

Kanye West is "Lost In The World"

So I had heard about the "Runaway" video a few weeks ago as well, and like Bryan I hadn't had a chance to see...till now that is. And let me tell you, regardless of whether you're a Kanye fan or not, anyone can take some sort of appreciation from this short film. From the cinematography, scenery, and to obviously the music, the aesthetic he creates here is amazing! Based around the story of the Phoenix myth, or better know to many as the Firebird, Kanye creates a lengthy exploration of love and acceptance (something I think we can all agree that Kanye struggles with). I won't get into the video too much, I think you just gotta watch for yourself. But I will say Miss Selita Ebanks of Victoria's Secret fame stole my heart in this video. She is absolutely gorgeous and I think does an amazing job portraying such a frail and beautiful character. There's a lot going on in this film, almost to much to talk about with out sounding like I'm writing a term paper for a film studies class, but I think its obvious Kanye took this process very seriously.

The one song I found myself addicted to after watching the film was the closer. Entitled "Lost In The World" it is featured as the closer on the album as well and features indie darlings Bon Iver. It's a beautiful song that starts out with some intense autotune very reminiscent of Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek". The beat finally drops with the heavy tribal drums we heard on 808's. The vibe is very upbeat and almost danceable, however the accompaniment of Bon Iver keeps the track undeniably melancholy. Check it out below and I'll be waiting anxiously to hear the Album in its entirety very soon ;) Enjoi -Nick

Kanye West – Runaway

I recently got Kanye West’s newest, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and it’s been on constant rotation. Personally, it’s pretty spectacular but to me, I’ve enjoyed everything West has ever put out so I am terribly slanted. But the facts remain that it’s unlike his previous album, 808s & Heartbreak, and a complete return to form to his hip-hop grandiosity that he displayed on his first three albums. The album is sprawling with various styles and well, twisted fantasies (up top is one of the many different covers), and all are outstanding.

Dreary-eyed and coughing with a sore throat, I saw the official video for “Runaway” on TV last night and was blown away. Supposedly there is a 35-minute official video, too, and I don’t include either here; instead, here is the explicit version because it’s definitely better. On the album the song is 9-minutes long and it stretches out into a massive mix of auto tune and walls of sound. In all honesty, it’s a pretty special album but I might just be wrong as well. I’ll talk more in detail about it later, maybe. – Bryan

The Blues Post

I was talking to someone the other day about my personal musical taste and it got me thinking. Why is it I love what I love so much and where did it all start? During the conversation I realized that the very first genre of music I got into on my own was The Blues. Early on I can remember investing my meager allowance on Blues cassettes from Sam Goody. One that sticks out in my mind that was on constant rewind on a particular yellow Sony Walkman everyone seemed to have back in the day was Eric Clapton's "Unplugged". Why an 8 year old Mexican kid became infatuated with the blues is still kinda unknown to me, but it definitely shaped my musical taste from that point on. From the Blues I naturally gained interest in Jazz music and more popular forms of "Black" music like R&B and hip-hop. My youthful exploration into rap and hip-hop turned me onto the "sample based" culture of the time. I started reading linear notes of rap artist to figure out what amazing soul singer unknown to me that was being sampled. From there I was introduced to the funky and soulful hooks of Soul and Funk music. Till this day I attribute my love for all these musical genres and everything they have to offer because first and foremost fell for the Blues. Here are a few classics I'll always love and some new stuff, which is proof that the Blues ain't dead and never will be, because people will always have the blues and will always need to express them musically.
The Classics
From what was touted as the Black Woodstock, Albert King, a blues legend plays at "Wattstax" a concert at the LA Coliseum in the summer of 1972 that brought together some of the biggest names in Black popular music. "I'll Play the Blues for You" (I love his intro, he speaks to exactly what I just expressed earlier, saying, "This is for all the Blues lovers and to those that ain't hip to the Blues. We gonna learn them to you, or rather teach them, cause we'll be around for a while".


A little taste of what little Nico was jamming to on his Walkman back in '93. (A white man from England who knows how to play some mean blues guitar, a testament to the power of the Blues)


The New School
The undisputed kings of the Blues for this generation in my book, The Black Keys have been doing it with class and doing it for some time now. Amazing Lyrics and blues licks that rate up there with the best. (I love how this little studio session shows the inceprion of an amazing track,,, and lyrics like, "I wish loneliness would leave me, but I think it's here to stay" really help to love this song.


Crystal Antlers, a band I have had the amazing opportunity to meet on a few occasions as well as have play in a friends basement, these dudes, and chick from Long Beach California know how to rock! A great example of how the Blues ideal has married post punk sensibilities and transformed into an exciting hybrid that holds to a bluesy standard that I hope will never leave music, actually I know it won't.

So the next time your lover leaves you and you feel the Blues a coming on, don't get worried there will be a plethora of music to drown your sorrows in, All Thanks to the Blues.
-Nick

Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me (Disc One)

I’ve posted about Joanna Newsom before, twice actually. Starters and bias out of the way, I think she’s an absolutely beautiful woman and I always love being reminded to listen to her music. Whether it’s just another excuse to drool all over her gorgeously unique voice and then, in turn, to be able to look for some images to drool of…well, she’s pretty bad-ass right?

I was recently reminded of her when reading a thread on a forum I post on. Basically, the gist of the thread was to put up some kind of mix tape – called Frankenstein’s mix tape – and in it, you could be a master DJ of some sort and come up with an album of songs off your favorite albums of the year. The point being that although they could be diverse, the songs needed to be placed at their original track order at least. Here is the one I came up with for fun’s sake:

1.Dance Yrself Clean – LCD Soundsystem
2. Love Cry – Four Tet
3. XXXO – M.I.A.
4. Locked Inside – Janelle Monáe
5. Gone Baby, Don't Be Long – Erykah Badu
6. I Saw the Light – Spoon
7. Empire Ants – Gorillaz
8. Djohariah – Sufjan Stevens
9. I Want to Be Well – Sufjan Stevens
10. The Undoing – Interpol
11. Animals – Bonobo
12. I’m Not the One – The Black Keys
13. Half-State – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
14. Sprawl I (Flatland) – Arcade Fire
15. Back Up Plan – Big Boi

So anyway, I noticed that a lot of people had the same Joanna Newsom song on their mixes, the fourth song off her triple disc of an album, Have One On Me. If you ever get a chance to see the photos she took for each LP of the vinyl edition, WOW. The first disc is probably my least favorite of all the discs only because of how slow moving the songs are. But “Good Intentions Paving Company” is beyond remarkable, in my opinion. Her voice cracks as she sings but with the piano’s rolling melody and the percussion’s timely touches, the sheer chug of the song is what really gets me moving. The words are especially stirring, “Like I’m in a fist fight with a fog, baby” and to end everything, “When I only want for you to pull over and hold me, ‘til I can’t remember my own name.” I almost feel tired trying to describe it because I would hope that people would click on the video and just listen to the 7-minute song. Not because I’m lazy or it’s not worth it but there’s not really anything adequate enough to say about Ms. Newsom that DOESN’T over-hype it but for whatever it is, she’s a tremendous artist and this song showcases all of her strengths: creative songwriting, her singular voice and her impeccable musicianship. – Bryan

The Death of Superman

I tried writing this post once before. I was ready for it, but for some reason something wasn't right, and so I left. Maybe the timing was off.

Awhile back, way before I started reading Chuck Palahniuk, I came across something that sent chills running down my spine. It was a work by Ernest Hemingway, a flash fiction piece he wrote to settle a bet with some drinking buddies. It went like this -

For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn.

They wanted a novel in six words. I imagine they got more than they waged for.

I also read that in his senility, he took his life with a shotgun blow to the head. I don't think I've been the same since.

It's terribly numbing to hear things like this for me. You read about these people who do what you dream about, and then hear how they erase themselves, perhaps not even knowing the scope of their influence. Not knowing how important they were.

And maybe there's good reason behind each story. Depression, addiction, heartache. Maybe. Maybe at that point, when they had to decide whether this was all worth it or not, the thing everyone else saw and what they saw didn't line up. Maybe the timing was off.

I wonder if they regret it.

Right at the point you realize there's no going back, there has to be a split second of lucidity. In that moment, the depressed can feel and the brokenhearted are whole.

There's got to be something like that going on in those milliseconds before death.

Maybe not.

Maybe there's just violent jerking or useless flinching or empty gasping before the dead silence. Before the walls are painted with shame and secret and bits of skull and brains. I'm sure there would be regret if they saw what we saw.

I wonder if that's why we've never heard from Superman, though. He's probably seen what it means to be special. To be adored. It means nothing really. Because Cobain was a modern day poet, but in the end we couldn't save him. And similes never hit as close as Plaith's, but not even our medication could keep her from her demise.

Maybe that's why Superman has never shown.

Or maybe he has, but he's gone just the same.

For the seconds he was here, he made their lives better. He showed them what love is... shared with them the things they crave - good music, good reads, prime time things - but he couldn't stay, because the love was too uneven. The love he gave wasn't in line with the love they gave. And when he had to make a decision about whether all this was worth it or not, he did. And in the milliseconds of lucidity, when the heartbreak turned to love and the weight of the world never seemed so light, he knew what he did was done.

I'm sure he regrets what he did. But he had no choice. The timing was off.

My Morning Jacket - Z

Did anyone else see the horse race today? I like watching the major horse races and the talk with everyone was how the mighty Zenyatta would do. Long story short, she was undefeated (19-0) heading into the race today, where she looked to end her career a perfect 20-0; she’s also a female horse and she’s named after The Police’s Zenyattá Mondata. Pretty impressive right? She hung around the back of the pack for most of the race before roaring after the last turn to come in a close but futile, second place. It was something beautiful to see, really. Here was this gorgeous horse, who had never lost and on the last race, she gave it everything she had to be beat by some dude. I was rooting for her too, sure, but with such an awesome name, I thought of an album Z, by My Morning Jacket. So maybe my tastes are far too generic but come on, this is still, very good music right?

I’ve always loved the middle section probably the most. There’s the giddy energy of “What a Wonderful Man” and by the time the driving guitar chug of “Off the Record” comes on, it’s pretty awesome. I remember back in 2005, this all sounding so fresh and new for me and it’s still relatively original. I mean, I don’t think that you could find many other voices that truly resemble Jim James' soaring vocals and the band is able to diversify from sound to sound, style to style, with such skill that it all seems entirely easy. And so “Off the Record” is perfect in showcasing just how all-encompassing the sounds on here are. I remember reading Rolling Stone and the headline was something to the effect of “My Morning Jacket: The American Radiohead.” Z was their breakthrough and arguably, their highest point and so naturally, word was huge around this band and album.


One of the first capturing moments with me and Z was when I realized how impressive the bookends were. “Wordless Chorus” is seemingly perfection in opening any album and “Dondante” is this nostalgic, reflective, almost ghostly ending. Music should always maintain some kind of importance to you, solely – without any kind of interference or inconvenience because of some kind of other force. So while Z was deeply rooted in past memories, it’s amazingly fresh and real for me now. At first “Dondante” is slowly maneuvering around James’ words with a menacing guitar line. The band is patiently foreboding with their massive progression and once the explosion hits, it’s downright stunning. “You had me worried! So worried, that this would last. But now I’m learning, learning that this will pass.” – Bryan

Caribou - Swim

So I haven’t written in a while, sorry for those that happen to read this blog. I’m gonna try to get back into music – at least consciously – because I realize I am very behind on everything. It’s hard to be organized and it’s even harder to follow through on whatever tasks you set out for yourself; I am really learning that now. Still, whatever, I’m not gonna draw this out…so music…

I think I was at The Terror (Oct. 29) and I heard one of the DJs sample or really, just play “Odessa” and it instantly reminded me that I needed to get back to this album, quick. Caribou came to El Paso a couple years back when he released Andorra and he was pretty tremendous. And Swim is arguably, a bit better than his previous album and still, I hadn’t given it enough listens. So anyway, “Odessa” is the awesome opener (also featured in FIFA 11’s bad-ass soundtrack!) that is easily becoming one of 2010’s most beloved songs. The menacing melody is downright infectious and the song’s seamless flow through various instrumentation and beats is really, masterful. It’s a popular pick, sure; but it’s probably popular for at least a few good reasons, right?


“Leave House” has this certain kind of nervy synth that’s always underlining the music – I swear that when I heard the chorus the first time I though it was Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos – the bass is sublime and I love how it just grows and grows until it manifests into a huge wall of sound. I also think it has something to do with the layering and the rhythmic patterns at the front, that share a lot of LCD Soundsystem’s same tendencines; however, once you hear the vocals and the bubbling keyboards, it’s definitely Caribou. There’s some kind of 80s-influence in his music, too; it’s one of the many ‘other’ great songs off this album. – Bryan

Smile

I used to have a theory of how people found other people... of how lovers met. I used to think we're walking puzzle pieces, just wandering around, experiencing life, waiting, or not waiting, for the right person to come and complete us...to "fit" perfectly with us, like we're one piece of the puzzle and them the other. I used to think like that.

But it wasn't all right.

There were people out there who didn't make it all right. I have this one friend; he's a sex god, a bonified pussy pleaser, not to mention he's got a smile and charm that could melt any girl's heart; and he's got substance. He's every girl's missing puzzle piece, or that's how it seems, at least. And it's people like him that throw me off.

So I had to revise my theory. Maybe we're all walking puzzle pieces, but some of us are universal pieces. Maybe some of us walk around with grooves and pegs that are constantly changing, and any piece we encounter could be the one we "fit" into. Maybe that's how it is... but it doesn't really matter.

And that's the point, because really perception is everything. A piece of shit to one girl is a superman to another, and maybe they're both right in the eye's of superman; but what doesn't matter is what the other thinks. You could envision your fitting piece, and you could find your piece, but if you're piece doesn't see what you see, then there is no finished puzzle. Walking this entire Earth a million times over and encountering your soul-mate mate each time won't make them yours.

Even if the pieces do somehow align, there will always be something lodged between them. Insecurities, past relationships, trivial issues, fetishes...always something.

But there's one thing to remember, no matter what the outcome of the story...never lose hope. It's the one thing we have against the odds, because the odds are against you. Just look into a mirror and try to see what everyone else sees. You'll see your reflection, if you're lucky. But with a little hope you'll smile at the possibility that someone might see you for more than you think you're worth. And with a little hope, you'll see yourself standing there smiling...knowing you're not gonna throw it all away.

If you don't smile, remember... you're not alone.