27. The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow

The inspiration for this post (the last one until mid-August...vacation time!) came from my five year old son watching one of his favorite shows, Yo Gabba Gabba! Floating through the house to my sensitive eardrums from midway through this 2009 episode of space-pop meets life-lesson-via-robots kids show was a performance by The Shins (singing "It's Okay, Try Again"). Catchy little song...got me thinking about the band and its current state of hiatus. Debuting as The Shins in 2001 (it was actually a deviation from frontman James Mercer's band Flake Music), they gained praise and popularity immediately. The band's following continued to grow throughout the decade (including a big boost when Natalie Portman's character Sam touted the band to Zach Braff in the 2004 movie Garden State. She plays "New Slang" from their debut Oh, Inverted World and assures him "You gotta hear this one song. It'll change your life...I swear."). They released three wonderfully different albums, and then, James Mercer, in a chest-thumping, alpha-male, let's-not-forget-whose-band-this-is move fired half of the band. I don't know...I guess I can't speak for him, but he then went on to form Broken Bells with Danger Mouse, and announced replacements for the sacked Shins members, keyboardist/guitarist Marty Crandall and drummer Jesse Sandoval.

All this leads me to the old adage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". It seemed to apply in the case of The Shins. On the heels of a highly successful debut album (2001's Oh, Inverted World) the expectations for the band were extremely high...in the eyes of fans and critics alike. Oh, Inverted World was universally and uniformly enjoyed and this was a band primed for the all too common sophomore slump. That, however, was not to be. The second album, Chutes Too Narrow (2003) traveled down a different avenue than did the debut. The Shins exchanged the hazy, lo-fi, hushed-reverb sounds of Oh, Inverted World for a more guitar rich, crisp complexity. On Chutes... Mercer's voice takes center-stage (whereas the beautiful harmonies, at times, seemed to amalgamate with the other instruments on the previous recording). And it's a voice worth listening to...a smooth falsetto, yet filled with nervous tension. He has an incredible vocal range and makes the most of it in these forty minutes...especially on the first track, "Kissing The Lipless", where he takes your ears to another place in the line "You told us of your new life there". 

Another standout track is the first single "So Says I", a hard-rocking pop tune that picks up where Oh, Inverted World left off. "Mine's Not A High Horse", "Saint Simon", and two slower songs "Young Pilgrims" and "Pink Bullets" are also favorites of mine. The strangest of these, "Saint Simon" is magnificent. It transitions seemlessly from unequivocal pop hooks to melancholic choral sections (complete with strings) and coalesces into an aural masterpiece.

Apparently, The Shins are back. The new lineup is slated to play a few festivals this year. I'm hoping they can pick right up where they crashed, but having to replace Crandall and Sandoval is a big blow. For all of Mercer's talents, he's not much of a stage presence. All of the crowd interactions were orchestrated by Marty Crandall at center stage while James Mercer planted himself off to the side (which I always thought was odd). Here's a video of The Shins performing "So Says I" on Letterman followed by a great live performance of "Kissing The Lipless" in Sydney, Australia. Much like The Shins, I'll be taking a break from the blog as we're heading to the Netherlands for a bit. Unlike The Shins, there will be no firings or lineup changes in my household.

23. Beat Happening: Crashing Through (Box Set)

The secret to the success of Beat Happening comes from the notion, "I could do that...that could be me." You may not think Beat Happening is the best band reviewed on Marc, Turn That Down! On your first listen to their early material, the music is crude and childish...it might even be somewhat irritating. There is no bass, and the guitars can't seem to string three chords together. Once in a while, the drums will keep the beat as you would expect, but that moment will be fleeting. And the vocals?...If you're not put off by the utter lack of musicality of Beat Happening, then Calvin Johnson's baritone-from-the-deepest-depths-of-the-earth voice will surely do the trick. So, how, based on the information I've just presented, could they have even lasted long enough for an album...nevermind released a definitive retrospective box set, Crashing Through, that has become the best music-money I've ever spent? This little band from Olympia, Washington has become legendary, and it's simply because it sounds like any of us could do it.

Beat Happening thumbed their noses at the record industry early on. Calvin Johnson started his own label called K Records in order to issue music by lesser-known bands that no major company would have otherwise released. That attitude eventually carried over to the music of Beat Happening. They didn't play for critical success or to expand the boundaries of music. They played because it was fun.

Beat Happening (1985)

The box set begins in 1985 with their self-titled debut. On Beat Happening we hear the band (Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis, and Bret Lunsford) in its infancy. They rarely had instruments and usually borrowed from bands they were playing with that night. This album is raw, and without the knowledge of what they had accomplished in their career might be a complete turn-off for most. Its child-like innocence is most evident in the lyrics of "Fourteen"..."You see, to me, the best part of sex is walking home, holding hands, after swimming in the lake/To Me, the best part of love is when you say you'll be my friend."

I first heard "Fourteen" when searching for Screaming Trees music (Calvin Johnson is linked with many NW artists). I thought...sure, it wasn't very good, but wondered what the rest of their catalog sounded like. I actually enjoyed Calvin's voice the first time I heard it. I knew it was not meant for the Grammy stage, and took it in stride. Calvin and Heather each contribute vocally, and I tend to gravitate toward CJ's songs. As such, "Our Secret", "I Love You", "Fourteen", and "Bad Seeds" are the strongest tracks from this early release...while Heather's "Foggy Eyes" may be the musical shining moment from this album. Beat Happening, though not their finest album, is seminal twee pop.

Jamboree (1988)

The second album from the set is 1988's Jamboree, which is said to be one of Kurt Cobain's favorites. Despite the upbeat title, Jamboree is decidedly darker than the debut...evident right off the bat on "Bewitched". The songs are stronger, the musicianship tighter, and this album is decidedly more Calvin Johnson than the first group effort. The highlight of Jamboree is the indie rock's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" (everyone's covered it) and that's "Indian Summer". Recently done by Death Cab's Benjamin Gibbard for the soundtrack of the Kurt Cobain movie About A Son, "Indian Summer" is probably Beat Happening's best known song. Other highlights are "Hangman", Cat Walk", and "Midnight A Go-Go". Props also go to "The This Many Boyfriends Club" because I'm not sure what to think of that one...making me love it all the more.

Black Candy (1989)

If Jamboree is dark, 1989's Black Candy is a moonless midnight. Seemingly designed for a B-grade teen horror movie, songs like "Pajama Party In A Haunted Hive", "Gravedigger Blues", "Bonfire", and the title track dot the landscape of this third effort. However, it's not without its shiny moments. Like "Indian Summer", "Cast A Shadow" is another well known Beat Happening song (most famously covered by Yo La Tengo). It is a pure pop treat glittering amongst the ominous themes of its album mates. All in all, Black Candy is not the best of the collection. This batch of songs seem less, somehow, than those of Jamboree, but if you're listening to Beat Happening you're past the point of differentiating between good and bad music. You're listening for the fun of it, and Black Candy certainly provides the fun. 

Dreamy (1991)

The good times continue on the fourth album, Dreamy (1991). Dreamy is more of a return to form than a continuation of Black Candy. It is still aggressively dark like its predecessor, but the songs are stronger (similar to Jamboree) and there is more of a balance between maturity and naivete. "Me Untamed" shows right away how far their instrument playing has come and any aspiring musician would want to take a crack at the rollicking "Hot Chocolate Boy". Heather's songs ("Left Behind", "Collide" and "Fortune Cookie Prize") are memorable and lovable. The darkness rears its head as well. In the lament "I've Lost You" Calvin begs for acceptance with the line "Who's gonna love me the way that I am?", only to find acceptance and more in the sexy and underrated "Nancy Sin".  The album closes with two strong tracks...the epic "Revolution Come And Gone" and the often-covered "Red Head Walking" (most recently by R.E.M., as an Accelerate B-side in 2008). Considered by many to be their best work, Dreamy is filled with gems.

You Turn Me On (1992)

Unlike many bands, Beat Happening arguably got better with each release. With that in mind, 1992's You Turn Me On is their tremendous swan song. The band bucked many trends found on previous recordings. The biggest change is that they all but abandoned the three-minute song. A third of these tracks are over six minutes long, and it's obvious there's some heavier production at work here.

At this time, you might listen to their debut once again to appreciate the level of maturity they've hit on You Turn Me On. You'd have no idea they could've reached this point. "Tiger Trap" begins this album with jangly guitars and a calm, charming tone. It's followed by Heather's "Noise" sung with a certain delicate quality we haven't heard before. The beautifully entrancing "Godsend" (also sung by Heather) is, perhaps, my favorite Beat Happening song. The repetitive nature of this ten minute song notwithstanding, I could hear it for ten more minutes and it wouldn't get old. Of course, they let a little dark in as well. "Pinebox Derby" and "You Turn Me On" each deal with death in that fun Calvin Johnson way. "Hey Day" is also a strong song. I believe this song is a glimpse of where the band was headed had they been interested in continuing on. The fact that they quit making records just after Nirvana's Nevermind and the explosion of Pacific Northwest bands when they could've easily hitched themselves onto that wagon reminds you they did it their way...they were not looking for fame or financial success.

Music To Climb The Apple Tree By (2003)

The last album in the box set is a collection of singles and rarities titled Music To Climb The Apple Tree By (there's also a disc of a short 3-song set which includes videos of live performances). This fifteen song compilation includes two later releases, "Angel Gone" and "Zombie Limbo Time" as well as songs from an EP they recorded with Screaming Trees, and original versions of several previously released songs. Overall, like so many other compilation collections, it does lack the cohesion that brings the narrative together. You would be ill-advised to make this your only Beat Happening possession. Use it only as a springboard to get to know a band important enough to be acknowledged and appreciated.

Love 'em or hate 'em (some houses are divided) Beat Happening played music for the fun of it. The child-like innocence of the lyrics and lack of technical prowess with musical instruments should be endearing if you believe that's why music should be played...for fun. The secret to their success may be the notion that any of us could do it, but I guarantee none of us could do it like Beat Happening.

If you've read through this entire post, I salute you. You've invested a lot of your time. I'll leave you with but one video..."Indian Summer".

22. Viva Voce: Get Yr Blood Sucked Out

I am excited to be writing about a fantastic band...Portland's own Viva Voce. Viva Voce trace their beginnings to Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1998, but relocated to Portland in 2001. Choosing an album to review for you was difficult because I cannot definitively say one is better than another, but their sinister sounding fourth album, 2006's Get Yr Blood Sucked Out (an allusion to the evils of the record industry), is when I first heard them. It's also their debut for Barsuk Records.

Viva Voce, in 2006, consisted of the husband and wife team of Kevin and Anita Robinson (they have since added two members). For this record, they played every instrument save trumpets on one song and an extra piano on another. Yes, we are talking about another guitar/drum combo from the same time period as The White Stripes, The Black Keys, and Deadboy & the Elephantmen, but, to be sure, there are different influences at work here. Get Yr Blood Sucked Out is lush, sultry, and complex, and is miles away from the garage rock sound of their aforementioned contemporaries.

The album begins with "Believer", a tense-chant of a song that sets an eerie tone. Sebastian says it sounds "like monsters marching". Kevin and Anita lay out incantations as a cool, calm two-voice harmony (they've shared vocals throughout their career)..."I'm a believer now/I'm a believer now/And there's nothing that I can do/To keep me safe from you". And as if she absolutely could not wait, Anita begins shredding her first of many guitar solos about forty-five seconds in. On "When Planets Collide" we get a taste of a song structure similar to "Alive With Pleasure" from their third album The Heat Can Melt Your Brain. The shifting movements of "When Planets Collide" create the feel of a mini-opus.

Kevin finally takes lead vocals on "From The Devil Himself", the album's main attention grabber (and my favorite track). Once again, Anita's guitar screams at the top of its lungs while Kevin sings in his powder-coated, Victor DeLorenzo voice (of Violent Femmes fame). I guess I also have a thing for hand claps. Other standout tracks include the marathon "So Many Miles", the piano-laden "We Do Not F**k Around", the pretty pop of "Faster Than A Dead Horse", the surprising catchiness in the wispy-soft 60s sound of "Special Thing"(again, love the sweet hand claps), and the weary "Never Be Like Yesterday", where the mood of the song matches its content...an all night fight between two halves of a concrete random couple. I don't know if this song is written from experience, but the Robinsons were certainly on the same page for this album.

This Tuesday (6/21) marks the release of their sixth album The Future Will Destroy You. They'll be performing a free show at 6:00 at Music Millennium on E. Burnside in Portland. I'll be there. Maybe you can get out for the night too.

Here are two videos from Get Yr Blood Sucked Out. The first is the official video for "From The Devil Himself". The second is a performance of "Believer" from Easy Street Records in 2006. Perhaps I'm amazed because I can barely sing and breathe at the same time, but watching Kevin play drums with one hand (notice the stick twirls), play harmonica with the other (including solos), and singing to boot just boggles my mind. You also get to see Anita looking cute in her typical cowgirl-esque outfit while melting your face off with her guitar work. It's not quite what you expect.

19. Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Their 2006 debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, became the U.K.'s fastest selling debut album...moving 360,000 copies in its first week. To put that in perspective, it sold more on its very first day than the rest of the Top 20 albums combined. But what's amazing about Arctic Monkeys and their debut is that there was no huge record label promoting the release. The band signed with indie label, Domino, just six months prior to releasing their first album. It was the fans and the internet fan-based sites that had been spreading the word for the previous two years. How good does the music have to be to virtually change the way new bands are promoted and marketed?

Arctic Monkeys began playing gigs in 2003. The band then recorded 17 demos and burned them onto CDs that were given away at their shows. From there, word spread and files were shared via fan-based internet sites. Arctic Monkeys didn't mind that because they were giving the songs away for free as it was and admitted to having no idea how to get their songs online themselves. This DIY method of marketing brought hoards of hungry fans to their shows who already knew the songs. There were crowd-wide sing-alongs, and they hadn't even released an album.

Released in America in early 2006, Whatever People Say I Am... is a concept album of sorts. Each first person narrative deals with nightclubbing in Northern England...the fights, the girls, and the romance. Lead Monkey, Alex Turner, though just a baby (as you'll see in the videos below) demonstrates incredible songwriting skills. "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" (the album's first single) contains funky grooves tied to a machine gun clip set by drummer Matt Helders. Turner is keen to rhyme whatever and whenever he can, but his cadence and content flow smoothly through the narration without sounding forced ("I bet that you look good on the dancefloor/I don't know if you're looking for romance, or.../I don't know what you're looking for"). Most of the album continues the pace of "...Dancefloor" but two of the slower songs, "Mardy Bum" and "Riot Van", already show the lyrical and musical maturity exhibited on later albums Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007) and Humbug (2009).

Other strong tracks include the second single "When The Sun Goes Down", the meanderingly titled "You Probably Couldn't See For The Lights But You Were Staring Right At Me" and "Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secure", and the song NME placed at number 10 on it's list of 100 greatest tracks of the decade, "A Certain Romance".

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not is one of my favorite albums of all time. Alex Turner is a master of observation and tells his stories like someone way beyond his experience. The sounds are infectious and the album contains not one skippable moment.  Here is a great video of "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" (which came in at number 28 on the same NME list). The second video is my favorite track from the album, "From The Ritz To The Rubble", as performed on the BBC show Later with Jools Holland. Finally, a live performance of "A Certain Romance" at Pinkpop 2007.

15. Kings Of Leon: Aha Shake Heartbreak

Bear with me...

I recently watched the movie "Black Swan" (starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, and Vincent Cassel) and loved that it had something for everybody. Here's how I see it...even if you didn't like the movie, you had to admit that it had it all. There was murder, sex, psychotic characters, human-to-animal transformation, club music, girl-girl "Bring It On"-type competition, and dancing...ballet en pointe. It was a psychological thriller centered around an 1877 Russian ballet! Wow! Girl or guy...if you couldn't find something in there that you liked, then there is no pleasing you.

Trace the evolution of Kings Of Leon and we find they too have something for everyone (not sure about the human-to-animal transformation though). There's the upbeat Southern rock and blues influenced albums from the early years (2003's Youth and Young Manhood and 2004's Aha Shake Heartbreak) when they were recently freed from the restrictions of their religious upbringings. There's the polished arena-rock sound of 2008's Only by the Night and 2010's Come Around Sundown. And right in the middle we have Because of the Times from 2007, which has a little bit of both. I'll take the risk and stereotype the early years as targeting and achieving more of a male audience ("Black Swan"). The later albums were apparently designed to attract the ladies ("White Swan").

KOL's second album, Aha Shake Heartbreak, is a strong record. It's raw...raunchy blues, seeming countrified at times. Caleb Followill's unique vocals beg the question "Is he drunk, or did he just wake up?" It doesn't matter...you're probably one or the other when the desire to hear this album hits you. This album builds upon the southern-rock sounds of their debut. The band had no idea how to play their instruments in 2003...literally. Aha Shake Heartbreak is simple, musically, but it's still amazing how far they came in such a short time for this release. Prepare for most every song to rock your socks off in a seventies style...especially "Slow Night, So Long", "King Of The Rodeo", "Pistol Of Fire", "The Bucket", "Razz", and "Four Kicks". Much of their lyrics center around partying, fighting, sex, and insecurity...unleashing all of their pent up frustration and angst. This album comes from their hearts and loins, and the listener can feel this record as legitimate...it's not an effect.

Naturally, KOL was much more of a hit across the pond than here at home. It wasn't until KOL released their softer, more polished sound that they achieved commercial success here in America. I'm hoping, as many early fans of KOL probably are, that someday we'll experience a return to the early days of fire and debauchery. Until then, we have Aha Shake Heartbreak making the case that rock and roll is the voice of youth and desire...not classical training and effects. For Aha Shake Heartbreak, KOL's rock and roll is all "Black Swan" and no "White Swan". Here's the video to "Four Kicks" to emphasize that point.

13. Menomena: Friend And Foe

Click to enlarge and see
Craig Thompson's intricate details

Sometimes, you know what you're getting into, but, usually, you happen upon music by chance...a CD playing in the background, or a song on the radio from a band you've never heard. And then sometimes, you have tickets for a show and decide to actually make it there in time for the opening act. Catching a band live on stage is a much more potent lure for me, and for this next post, I've decided to share an album from a band that most will not know...a band that I happened upon by chance.

My wife and I had tickets to see Bloc Party at Portland's Roseland Theater in 2009. Seeing the opening band is part of the whole night's experience and we made it there in time to see local band, Menomena, perform most of their set. We had no idea who they were and didn't even know their name upon arriving. However, we were quickly smitten as the trio constantly swapped vocal duties and played a variety of instruments throughout the show...from saxophones and a foot synthesizer to a laptop and glockenspiel (as well as your basics...guitar, drums, and keyboards). By the end of the night, we agreed that Bloc Party was great, but the opening act had upstaged the headliner. We had found a new toy for our ears.

2007's Friend And Foe is officially listed as Menomena's third studio album. However, their second, called Under An Hour, is a three track instrumental (at about 17 minutes per track) that comes across as more of a concoction of a side project rather than a connection between 2003's debut, I Am The Fun Blame Monster! (an anagram for "The First Menomena Album"...and being rereleased next week with nine bonus tracks) and Friend And Foe. So this is, for all intents and purposes, their second release in the normal-length-songs category.

You'll notice beautiful tempo changes right away on the roller coaster ride of "Muscle'n Flo". It begins with crashing drums that leave you as quick as they come, only to hit you soon again with a vengeance. "The Pelican" follows with a relentless pounding that might sound harsh but somehow turns into a sing-along just a few plays later. Other great songs include "Wet And Rusting", "Weird", and "Rotten Hell". The second half of the album is anchored by "Boyscout'n" which sounds like it could've come from Elvis Costello's strange masterpiece, The Juliet Letters, and "Evil Bee" which provides the album with its most memorable lyrics..."Oh to be a machine...Ohhh to be wanted...to be useful..." repeated over several different musical arrangements throughout. It all works wonderfully!

Also worth mentioning is the packaging for Friend And Foe...it's amazing. Created and illustrated by Craig Thompson, it contains die-cuts, decoder rings, and hidden messages (most of which I've not found). In 2007, it was rightfully nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package.

Again, Menomena are from Portland, but have developed a great following across the country, and they are extremely accessible. Here's a fun video of them performing "Weird" in a Brooklyn home for the Plum TV show Juan's Basement. Enjoy, and thanks for reading.

8. R.E.M.: Accelerate

I was so proud to be an R.E.M. fan when Accelerate was released in 2008. Is this album their best? Not at all...and by a pretty good distance. It's just that, even though the band steered clear of pinning a label on the sound of Accelerate, the hype about R.E.M.'s return to their old sound surfaced prior to its release. And so, the wait was on...was it true? Would R.E.M.'s new album be a departure from their recent, rather underwhelming work? I was skeptical, because U2 had released How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb a few years earlier under the guise that it was a rock album ("It's taken us twenty years...but this is our first rock album" -Bono, from the DVD documentary U2 and 3 Songs). U2 are one of my favorite bands, and my goal is to keep things positive in my posts, but it was false advertising. Atomic Bomb was not a rock album. I count about two and a half songs worth of "rock," thank you very much. So, based on R.E.M.'s previous three albums, Up (1998), Reveal (2001), and Around the Sun (2004), and the disappointment of believing U2's earlier hype, I was preparing for más decepción.

The band, themselves, were not happy with their previous record, Around the Sun, going so far as to admit that "if [they made] another bad record, it's over." However, R.E.M. had delivered the goods when Accelerate hit the record stores! Right out of the gate, "Living Well is the Best Revenge" reminds R.E.M. fans of what once was (circa 1986-1987). "Man-Sized Wreath" and the album's first single, "Supernatural Superserious", would fit perfectly amongst the songs of Green from 1988. "Hollow Man" follows with verses reminiscent of Out of Time (1991) or Automatic for the People (1992) and a chorus that takes the listener back even further. The album lags a bit after the first four songs (though the songs "Accelerate", "Until the Day is Done", and "Horse to Water" should also be given a round of applause), but Accelerate, the album, satisfied me, a big R.E.M. fan who'd felt something was missing after drummer, Bill Berry, left the band in 1997.

I'm a fan of several bands who have been plugging away for twenty to thirty years (U2 and The Cure spring to mind). Naturally, people grow, band-members change, dynamics change, goals change, and, inevitably, the music changes. Because I'm one who's steeped in nostalgia, I often hold onto that original sound...the sound that drew me in years and years ago...and I'm sometimes (more often than not) disappointed with new music from experienced artists. R.E.M.'s Accelerate is an album that did not disappoint. They tried hard to rock...to get back to the sounds that earned them a huge devoted fan base, and I feel they really succeeded. Now, hopefully the recently released Collapse Into Now can grow on me. Here's "Living Well is the Best Revenge" live from Austin City Limits.

4. The White Stripes: Elephant

"This album is dedicated to, and is for, and about the death of the sweetheart." These words, taken directly from the liner notes of 2003's Elephant, the fourth disc from The White Stripes, represent the basis of their loose concept album.  The idea being that we now live "in a disgusting world of opportunistic, lottery ticket holders caring about nothing that is long term..." Somewhat true, yes? This album, however, bucks that trend and should be treasured for years to come.

I remember hearing "Seven Nation Army" for the first time. Like much of America I had no experience with the first three White Stripes albums other than the great "Fell In Love With A Girl" from 2001's White Blood Cells. I enjoyed that song immediately, but the Lego-animated video by Michael Gondry is what made me stand up and take notice.  (Click on the song title to watch it...it's incredible.) I put "Fell In Love..." on a mixed CD for Chelo who was living in Arizona at the time and was receiving CD's from me in the mail every other week. This one had twenty-something songs with the word "Girl" in the title. Anyway, I was excited to hear more from The White Stripes and the release of Elephant was right around the corner. I don't listen to the radio or watch MTV (not that they play music anymore anyway), so I hadn't heard anything prior to opening the package. Popping that disc in the stereo and hearing those first seven notes...let's just say "Seven Nation Army" could never be confused with any other song. And it's just the start of one of the most amazing albums of all time. 

The album reached number six in America (though it debuted at #1 in the UK...why do they always seem to know something we don't?). Rolling Stone slotted it at number 390 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time...gravely underrated! They did say it was the fifth best album of the decade and pegged "Seven Nation Army" as the sixth* best song of the decade. However, Elephant, an album created by two musicians (Jack White being one of the greatest guitarists of all time), using no computers in the writing, recording, mixing, or mastering is downright nasty. It's thick, and fuzzy, and pissed-off, and stunning, and is worthy of a spot in any discussion of the best albums ever. Here's the video to "Seven Nation Army" to get you through the day.

*Is there any word in the English language more difficult to say than "sixths"...as in two-sixths? Try pronouncing that word correctly...nope...try it again, but say it slowly this time.

2. The Strokes: Is This It

I was all set to talk about the new disc from The Strokes, Angles, which came out in March this year.  I had been eagerly awaiting its arrival as this band hadn't recorded an album since 2006's First Impressions of Earth. Listening to Angles, though, reminded me of how incredibly amazing their 2001 debut, Is This It, really is. Angles will have to wait until a later post as Is This It takes center stage today.

Bands such as Kings Of Leon, Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, The Libertines, and Arctic Monkeys might not have existed and been successful if The Strokes had not reinvigorated the idea that rock n' roll is supposed to be a blasty-blast.  Is This It was at or near the top of every major poll naming the best albums of 2001. It's also been tabbed as one of the greatest albums of all time by both Rolling Stone and NME...in all, way too many accolades to name.

The album starts off slow and with a super bass line in the title track and then "The Modern Age" picks up the pace and lets us hear how The Velvet Underground (an obvious influence) might sound today. The Strokes are one band that allows you to hear their influences, yet reminds you every second how original they are. "Barely Legal" is the first of many Strokes songs that sways you with a rollicking, sing-song chorus. Another stand out track follows in "Someday"...a fun story and another great chorus: "Oh my ex says I'm lacking in depth/I will do my best/You say you wanna stay by my side/Darling your head's not right...".

"Hard To Explain" was the album's first single and must have been a big hit in The Killers' households as they tried their best to recreate this sound on their 2004 debut album, Hot Fuss. "Last Nite" was another one of the original singles and "Take It Or Leave It" closes the album with a bang...Julian Casablancas chanting the title with frenzied spirit. The worst part about this whole experience is that it only lasts about 36 minutes.

Please listen to this album and tell me how much you enjoyed it.  I can't imagine anyone being disappointed...Have you ever been misled by this blog before? I've included the video for "Someday" for your listening/viewing pleasure.

1. Death Cab for Cutie: Plans

Death Cab for Cutie's fifth album, from 2005, has a special place in our home. I forget when we became fans of DCfC, but it wasn't long after the release of this disc. The eleven songs on Plans flow together beautifully, and we immediately followed this purchase with the purchase of a box set from Barsuk Records including each of their previous eight discs and ep's...we were captured.

On February 20, 2006, our son, Sebastian Bex, was born. We went to the hospital around 5:30 in the morning and he was born at 10:40 PM.  In planning this day, we knew music would play an important role. Many, during this stressful/wonderful time, might choose the sounds of a rain forest...or some relaxing, new age, ethereal pan flute for hours...something that would just fade into the background.  Well I say this...always: What's the sense of broadcasting music if the goal is to not hear it? We played Plans over and over and over again that day. I kept offering to put something new on, but the truth is both Chelo and I enjoyed this disc, in its entirety, every single time it repeated.

The standout tracks on this disc include "Crooked Teeth" (which really stands out as the only typical, upbeat pop song), "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" (which received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance in 2007), and Sebastian's absolute favorite song, "Soul Meets Body". Perhaps it's because he heard it 27 times on the day he was born, but to this day he asks me to sing it to him each and every night...and, I gotta say, I'm no Benjamin Gibbard, but I do a pretty good job. One of Sebastian's favorite moments came in June of 2008 when we took him to McMenamins Edgefield to see Death Cab for Cutie...on an expansive lawn with a blanket and picnic basket in tow. Ask him now and he'll say it was the ice cream and french fries, but it was memorable nonetheless. I've added the original video of "Soul Meets Body" for you to enjoy.