Regret

So a year has passed since my last compiling of a year-end list, the first one I had officially done for anything (which got butchered by my editor and isn't even worth reading anyway), and I sure have some heavy regrets about those decisions. My list went something like this

7. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
6. Kanye West - Graduation
5. Justice - †
4. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
3. M.I.A. - Kala
2. Radiohead - In Rainbows
1. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver

In an act of revision, I'd like to cut M.I.A. and Justice from that list, for they both fell into my "unlistenable due to overplay" category ("Paper Planes," "D.A.N.C.E.," and for that matter Kanye's "Stronger"). In those stale albums' absence, I'd like to add Nightfall Over Kortedala by Jens Lekman and Alegranza by El Guincho (and I think there's another I can't think of at the moment..), as well as bumping up Person Pitch a few notches.






James Pants

T.G.

Holler at Thanksgiving. It wouldn't be the end of the year without it, as it wouldn't be the end of the year without year-end lists. I'll have an official year-end list, something like a "Top 8 of '08" or something printed towards the end of the semester, which I will share, but here's some ideas kickin around for now, no ranks or any of that definitive garbage.

Albums:

Lil' Wayne - Tha Carter III
Dodos - Visiter
Deerhunter/Atlas Sound - Microcastle/Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst/Gentleman's Pact EP
Vivian Girls - Vivian Girls
Excepter - Debt Dept.
Women - Women
Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
Air France - No Way Down EP
Ruby Suns - Sea Lion
Wale - The Mixtape About Nothing
White Denim - Workout Holiday/Exposion

Unless I have forgotten something major (or minor, I guess), then 8 of those will get written up in the year-end issue. It seems like I'd be selling myself short to simply do that, so here's my favorite live stuff from this year (even though there's more to come a.k.a. David Byrne, Parts & Labor, Teeth Mountain, hopefully more):

Deerhunter/Vivian Girls - 11/10 Paradise Rock Club
Radiohead/Animal Collective/Metric/Chromeo - 8/9 All Points West
Dodos/Tall Firs - 4/10 SMOG @ Bard College
Jamie Lidell - 6/7 Paradise Rock Club
Fleet Foxes - 3/30 The Grind @ Clark University
Felice Brothers - 9/7 Club Helsinki
Saul Williams - 4/12 Iron Horse Music Hall
Of Montreal - 10/10 Roseland Ballroom
Gnarls Barkley/Hercules & Love Affair - 8/6 Wilbur Theatre
Dan Deacon/Future Islands/Eric Hnatow - 5/1 Pearl Street Clubroom
A Place to Bury Strangers/Holy Fuck - 3/21 Middle East Upstairs
Thurston Moore - 9/17 Pearl Street Clubroom
Fucked Up/Vivian Girls - 10/12 Great Scott
M83 - 11/16 Pearl Street Clubroom
Caribou/Fuck Buttons - 3/25 Iron Horse Music Hall

I believe I'm probably forgetting more, but I must get on with the passing on turkey and mass-eating of side dishes. More lists, etc to come this week/end.

Weird Fishes/Arpeggi

Weird new Radiohead video for this/last (October 10 2007?/January 01 2008?) year's In Rainbows jam "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi." In a miraculous turn of events it's directed by the same guy (Tobias Stretch) that directed one of my favorite recent videos, Efterklang's "Illuminant." Weird stop motion puppet creepfests.

Radiohead - Weird Fishes - by Tobias Stretch

Weird Fishes/Arpeggi


Illuminant

No Age

No Age played Clark University's The Grind last night with Soft Circle and Silk Flowers. The show was pretty great in general despite the lack of crowd enthusiasm and long lag between sets.

Silk Flowers went on first, immediately recalling Joy Division's Ian Curtis' deep monotone, which (after talking to the singer, Avi) turned out to be a vocal effect, I'm pretty sure. The rest of the sound was summoned from electronic devices, keyboards, a drum pad, and two other drums. Though they skimped on actual instruments, Silk Flowers crafted some dark wasteland textures juxtaposed with a-ha synth-pop tendencies and chaotic, jumbled sample patterns to create something captivating. Avi (decked out in self-embroidered Mickey Mouse shirt) rocked back and forth with the mic or with his two drumsticks, seeming to keep more of the beat while the other two members, Peter and Ethan, wrapped sound around it, filling the room with sound.

Their 7" is rad as well, featuring three tracks, one of which I distinctly remember hearing them play ("Chance of Showers").

Soft Circle was next after a long break, I'm talking like 30 minutes. He was one man, placed behind a drum set with many gadgets strewn about his feet, samplers and pedals and the like. He was almost a one-man Caribou, looping sampled riffs and voice (rocking the fly no-hands-necessary mouthpiece) over each other before diving into a cataclysm of meaty drum rhythms. These kept attention for the most part, but some simply went on for too long and eventually the audience got the point, becoming bored of the same formula over and over again, no matter what sort of physical feat it was pounding away while keeping a beat and matching up with the samples.

No Age was straight killer, better than when I caught them at the Middle East over the summer. Randy Randall shredded straight up. He gets loud, as the amp size should have forewarned, too loud to hear his or drummer Dean Spunt's vocals (they've awful singing voices anyway, as far as I've gathered). No Age is the kind of band that makes you want to be in a band. It's just two normal guys on stage (or off, as Randall eventually meandered out into the meek crowd) playing loud, catchy music without frills or games. They played some new songs as well as all the songs that they should have: "Teen Creeps," "Boy Void," "Eraser," "Brain Burner," and ended with "Everybody's Down" by request. My advice: See these guys in a metropolitan area before they start playing bigger venues, preferably in a tight, hot space with some drunkards who wanna move.


Silk Flowers


Silk Flowers


7"


Soft Circle


Randy, No Age


Feedback


Randy


Randy on the floor


Dean Allen Spunt, No Age


Setlist

Chinese Democracy

So Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy finally officially comes out today, only at Best Buy. I've only heard the title track, streaming all over the internet...



...but the whole record's probably not going to be any better than WARSYNIUM. Berkshire County Power Metal.





Photos from the Masonic Temple, South Street in Pittsfield, MA