Back in 2009 when tMiM was a fledgling site trying to find its way in the blogosphere I found myself smitten with Loney Dear’s release titled Dear John. This was the band’s 6th album but their first on Polyvinyl Records. The deeper pockets and marketing of Polyvinyl paid off because it ended up being the first time that many listeners heard of this Swedish group.

Two years later and we’re now staring album #7 directly in the face. October 6th is the official release date for Hall Music so add one more onto your most anticipated releases for the second half of 2011.

Loney Dear – “My Heart”

Tracklist
01. Name
02. My Heart
03. Blues
04. Calm Down
05. Maria, Is That You
06. D Major
07. Largo
08. Young Hearts
09. Durmoll
10. I Dreamed About You
11. What Have I Become?

Come on, if a movie was that bad, any lay person would have avoided it. It’s nothing we’re longing to erase from our memories. We figured out not to go — because you, the movie reviewer, took the hit. That’s your problem.

So I don’t need a decade-end list of the very worst crap that you saw and I didn’t see. I’d rather make a list of the worst movies that you, the movie reviewer, gulled me into seeing. What did you say was good that I wasted my time and money on?

Strangely enough I disagree with all but one of the films on her short list, and some of the wingnuts in her comments gallery will only take it downhill from there. But it begs a new discussion for music reviews: which LPs (or MP3s, or concert tickets) did over-zealous journalists sucker you into buying? You already know my list, I’ve been waving that banner all year long. Let’s hear yours.

PS: I’m right there with her, film score notwithstanding, on Little Miss Sunshine. Ack!

Dear John was the first album I heard this year that made it onto this potential list. It also opened a great year for Sweden and all the amazing acts that are calling it home. Emil Svanangen turns a bit more to his darker and depressed side on this album in comparison to 2007′s Loney Noir with lines like “all the times I make it worse with all the devils in my head” and “Tell me I’m good enough, that I could change”. Even with these lyrics the album is welcoming with it’s atmospheric textures.

09. The Mars Volta – Octahedron

When Octahedron was released I sat at my desk and stared at Rhapsody for about twenty minutes before I pushed play. There was potential for this album to go either way. After hearing the first single I must say that I was a bit frightened but in the end Octahedron turned into one of my favorite Mars Volta albums just due to the fact they pulled in the reigns a little bit. There is still the psychedelic instrumentation but at the same time everything sounds well thought out and not completely chaotic as they have been known to do in the past.

08. A.C. Newman – Get Guilty

Taking a break from his primary group, The New Pornographers, Carl Newman found in him the ability to separate himself and write songs that are distinctly all his . Neko Case definitely gets more of the public eye as a side project from the band but in a more fair world Newman would have found himself on far more top ten lists this year.

07. Other Lives – S/T

This goes down as one of the most beautiful and well written albums I’ve heard all year. The tone never really rises above a whisper but the layering of instruments is orchestrated perfectly to comprise an album that from beginning to end won’t let you down. Occasionally it can fall into the background and be forgotten but it also reels you back in to demand your full attention.

06. Beirut – March of The Zapotec & Realpeople Holland

Technically this is a maxi EP but since all the songs are written by Condon I consider it to be a Beirut album just with a side A and a side B. Side A features a mixture of many different countries from Mexican funeral processions, Eastern European/Balkan influences to early 20′s jazz. While side B dabbles in the electronic arrangements a la Postal Service. Between The Flying Cup Club and this years release Zach Condon will have to go down as one of the most under appreciated and brilliant artist that we have today.

05. Mastodon – Crack The Skye

Every top ten list needs a surprise entrant and this year it’s Mastodon. I haven’t enjoyed a metal album in a very long time but one thing that I can’t deny is that I love a talented band with great harmonizing. Stepping aside from the scream riddled songs of Blood Mountain we learn in Crack The Skye that each has a great ability to sing and harmonize with one another

04. BLK JKS – After Robots

I kept hearing about BLK JKS over and over again but for some reason I continually blew them off without even the slightest listen. I’m glad that I finally came to my sense and gave the album a spin and then another spin. The album is rich with culture and the group let’s their South African roots show through. It’s nice to hear a true afro-pop group that doesn’t wear Polo’s.

03. Fanfarlo – Reservoir

I initially picked up this album for $1 when they put it on sale around the fourth of July and since then it has been a staple of mine from day to day. The privilege to see them live last month also helped catapult Reservoir to the #3 slot. The multiple layers that each song is built on only prove the true talent of this bands multi-instrumental skills.

02. Brendan Benson – My Old Familiar Friend

It’s a shame that it took the success of the Racontuers to give Brendan Benson the boost that he needed into a spotlight that is well deserved. Benson is an extremely talented musician with the ability to write and perform songs from all different genres without making it seem awkward or forced.

01. Silversun Pickups – Swoon

An album hasn’t transfixed me the way that Swoon has in a long time. I nearly wore out my copy keeping it on constant replay. Each song comes in around five minutes and not a single minute is one that I would want to omit. The gruff and often strained voice of Brian Aubert is a welcome relief from all the pitch perfect singers that we are told is the way singing should be.

Below are my contenders for album of the year and at this point they are in no particular order. This gives record labels enough time to start buying my influence.

Taking a break from the New Pornographers, Carl Newman, released his long over due  follow up to 2004′s The Slow Wonder. It’s been difficult separating AC Newman from the New Pornographers as Newman takes lead vocals in both acts. So if you’re a fan of one you will more than likely be a fan of the other.

It is a bit of a faux pas to put Barcelona’s Absolutes on the top ten list for 2009 seeing as it is a re-release from 2007 but this is my list so my rules. My only concern with this band is that they are going to turn into the next Fray and end up on all the tween drama shows. Then I’ll have to stop listening and say that they are too main stream for me in order to keep my indie snobbery and that will be a sad day.

I don’t say this very often but Other Lives S/T album is just beautiful music. Definitely not road trip music but it is the perfect soundtrack to a lazy Sunday afternoon. You can watch an intimate live performance over at Hear Ya Sessions.

Mastodon’s Crack The Skye is my surprise album of the year. I am not fond of their previous releases but on their latest release they seemed to have brought the crunch down a little in order to make some great prog-metal.

It’s no secret to anyone that knows me that I am smitten by Silversun Pickup’s Swoon. It has been on continuous play in my car for the past few months and there is no sign of wearing out it’s welcome any time soon.

Loney, Dears’ Dear John was the first album to make the list this year which really ends up putting it at a disadvantage as I have been listening to it the longest so the excitement might wear off by the end of the year.

And we still have some great releases expected through the end of the year from The Dead Weather, Imogen Heap, Muse, Arctic Monkeys and Mew just to name a few.

Assignment: listen to The Cave by Mumford & Sons. Assessment: harmless strum-strum music with a raspy-voiced singer and a good producer.

Assignment: listen to Don’t Haunt This Place by The Rural Alberta Advantage. Assessment: Terrible band name. Nice drum beat. Casio? Cello? Alt-Indie Meets Medium-Fi 101 vocal harmonies. I can’t see myself loving or hating anything this ensemble puts out.

Assignment: listen to Violent by Loney, Dear. Assessment: any friend of Arvo Pärt is a Friend of Blog. Bonus points for the whole One Man Show thing. As far as “Violent” goes, it’s certainly the biggest song on this playlist, and the most likely one I’ll hear again. It sounds like music that European audiences probably hear while pumping gas at the self-serve.

Assignment: listen to Laughing With by Regina Spektor. Assessment: Tori Amos wannabe. Cute voice, and I don’t mean that in a good way. Saying this about the red-headed temptress on tMiM sort of feels like making derogatory remarks about the Virgin Mary while visiting the Cathedral of Notre Dame, but what can I say? My wife will never speak to me again.

What else you got!?

Have it be noted that I have decided to take this homework as a single track review and not a band review. Therefore I will be listening to the track assigned and nothing else from the same artist to compare against. So I hope you gave me each artists best track to review.

1. “Fervor and Frailty” – A Palace in Persia: Since this band was posted on yesterday, naturally I watch the video attached to the  post before I headed over to their Myspace page. This order of operation could easily have tainted the entire project for me as the video is of such poor quality I couldn’t turn it off fast enough. But alas, I have taken the challenge to give A Palace in Persia another chance to woo me and “Fervor and Frailty” has done that. I have listened to this track a few times through, at 10 minutes a piece that’s quite a commitment from me, and here’s what I have determined. The initial organ intro held me in it’s palm as I awaited the blast of chaotic guitar and drums that are so typical of an intro of that sort but it never came, instead going in the complete opposite direction. It was at this point that I thought the song was wrapping up and I looked to find that I still had 7 more minutes to go and started wondering what Fred has gotten me into. As the song progressed into “Screamo” (yes, I hate that phrase just as much as you do) I began to fade but was dragged back in by the lead vocalists ability and range. While this track could have had a few of the intermission segments removed, over all I can’t help but put a comparison on “Fervor and Frailty” to a decent Mars Volta song. It changes directions frequently and kept my interest for the entire 10 minutes.

“Teach Me Alchemy” – Darlings’ Cabinet of Sundry Horror: Sit back in your chair, close your eyes and imagine with me for a minute what a band would sound like if they claimed friendships with the following people: Charles Manson, Friedrich Nietzsche and Jim Jones. Stir all that up in a big black caldron, add a pinch of creepy carnival and abandonded warehouse. Now you have a glimpse of what Darling’s Cabinet of Sundry Horror sounds like. In short, not my bag.

“Banjo Bird” – guitarrorism: I am trying to keep an open mind about this one and look beyond the lo-fi, improvisational sound that’s being emitted from my speakers and find the root of this musician’s purpose/goal/inspiration. After listening to “Banjo Bird” a few times as well as reading his own explanation of his sound:

…member of a deconstructed artificial multiple personality, an omnifunctional gahlistic* superartist. Free to stop, whenever wants to.
…
The goal is the no goal. This is a challenge for all our me’s. And it’s not. This is now. This is gone, while reading it. While listening to it. This is not to stay. I am not to stay. We are not. I am them, we, all, change.

*gahlism is a new form of art and way of lifestyle initiated by mr. Klee.
It is about serious senseless trifle.

Apparently the goal is bad grammar.

I only have one thing to say. He’s trying way too hard to be edgy and is looking more foolish then genuine about his gahlistic lifestyle and music. We could go into an endless argument about the definition of music and the difference between music and noise but I won’t here. The point is that guitarrorism isn’t looking to make music at all, he’s looking for an output and audience for his philosophy – which opens a whole new can of worms all together.

“True Love Waits” (Radiohead cover) – Fire in The Sun: This is the easiest and at the same time the hardest review. Radiohead has to be up near the top of the most often covered bands and at the same time has a lead singer with some of the greatest ability. So covering a Radiohead song is risky business for sure. As a precurser I have to admit that I did go and listen to the original for a comparison, if that’s cheating so be it. That being said, Fire in The Sun puts out one of the best Radiohead covers I have heard, thankfully skipping the obvious and over done “Creep”, “Fake Plastic Trees” or “Karma Police” cover, and opting for a rarity. The other amazing part about this cover is the sound quality considering the webcam use. The balance between the vocals and the guitar are fantastic, with neither mistakenly taking the spotlight. Me likey.

Return assignment:

The Cave by Mumford & Sons

Don’t Haunt This Place by The Rural Alberta Advantage

Violent by Loney, Dear

This one had to be done

Laughing With by Regina Spektor

Here are just a few of my top singles of the year for your appreciation.

Loney, Dear – Violent

White Rabbits – Percussion Gun

Blitzen Trapper – Furr

Crystal Antlers – Andrew

Great Lake Swimmers – Pulling on a Line

This Scandinavian country has become, for the indie world, what Seattle was to the grunge world in the 90′s; there are so many great bands coming out of there right now that it would be impossible to give due justice in this small blog post, but I will try. I am going to skip over the obvious choices of The Knife, Peter Bjorn & John and I have already raved about Loney Dear in other posts. So let’s take a look at some other lesser know bands that you will be hearing more about in the near future.

First, Jose Gonzalez. Yes, he is from Sweden and this is not a miss post from Tobias’ earlier MySpace Mining post. I wouldn’t say that Gonzalez is unknown, just not as known as he should be. You may recognize his song “Heartbeats” from the Sony Bravia commercial. Armed with just his slightly effects laden voice and an acoustic guitar Gonzalez pushes out some of the most effortless sounding beautiful music that you can imagine. With obvious classical guitar training Gonzalez has turned the solo singer/songwriter genre on it’s ear.

Without being told who it was, one couldn’t be blamed for mistaking teen sister duo First Aid Kit as Brandi Carlile. Both churn out acoustic folk with strong female voices. FAK is years ahead of themselves in every aspect of songwriting which I can only attribute to the  bond between sisters.

Technically from Norway, Pony The Pirate call to mind the likes of Arcade Fire with their fast paced indie pop. This eight piece band was recently named Årets Urørt 2009 by Norwegian Radio which apparently is some kind of big battle of the bands for Norway’s largest radio station but I can’t be for sure since I don’t read Norwegian.

With bands like these coming out of it, it’s not surprise that Sweden has one of the highest life expectancies. If I lived there I would want to stay alive as long as possible to hear what was next too.

]]> http://themuseinmusic.com/2009/02/24/world-tour-sweden/feed/ 0 http://themuseinmusic.com/2009/02/16/enough-with-the-vinyls-already/ http://themuseinmusic.com/2009/02/16/enough-with-the-vinyls-already/#comments Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:35:29 +0000 Patrick http://themuseinmusic.wordpress.com/?p=754 I wasn’t a child of the vinyl age but I was a child to parents of the vinyl age (I think that makes me a child of the vinyl age twice removed or something). I was raised listening to Abba, The Bee Gee’s and Franky Valley and the Four Seasons on vinyl so I can appreciate them and their unique sound. When bands start asking for effects on their album to make them sound like a vinyl you know there’s something important there. You never hear of a band saying that their next hit single is going to sound like an 8-track.

That being said, enough with the vinyl only releases already! I don’t own a record player, I have never owned a record player and I don’t even think my parents own a record player anymore. Therefore,  to release an album in only vinyl puts me between a rock and a hard place. I want to buy the album but I don’t have a record player. I could download it but I am a child of the CD era and really enjoy having the liner notes. What’s a boy to do?

I would consider myself to be a bit of a music junky, even more so since I started writing on this blog. I have,  admittedly,  preordered an album from the record label and when it didn’t arrive by the release date I went out and bought the album again just to receive the originally ordered album a couple of days later leaving me with two CD’s of the same album. That doesn’t mean that I want to buy an album on vinyl and then turn around and buy it again digitally every time an artist wants to release a 7″. And, I don’t want to have to buy a record player and the software to convert an album to mp3 or CD just so I can put it on my iPod.

Phew, I feel better.

This is the reason for my tirade.