We are at the midpoint of the year 2008, so I thought I'd post my favorite albums of the year thus far. I am providing links to artists' Myspace pages so you can listen to songs, and then links to the cheapest way to buy each album, either on vinyl or digitally.
1. Mates of State- Re-Arrange Us. (Buy vinyl. or Buy digital.) Nothing really comes close to this album this year for me. It is rare that a band I am so familiar with exceeds my expectations by leaps and bounds. A very fun summer pop-rock album.
2. Thrice- The Alchemy Index vols. III & IV: Earth & Air. (Buy digital. Vinyl is coming soon in the form of a 4 x 10".) Not as good as the first two volumes, but a great concept and very original. Air is the least successful of the four volumes, it is all over the place. But Earth is a terrific acoustic/organic EP.
3. Nada Surf- Lucky. (Buy vinyl. or Buy digital.) Took some growing on me, but another great album from these guys. I am super-excited about their vinyl box set coming out soon.
4. Colour Revolt- Plunder, Beg & Curse. (Buy vinyl. or Buy digital.) This, their first LP was long awaited, and it does not disappoint. A little more mellow than I expected, but it has great guitar work and dynamics.
5. Coldplay- Viva La Vida. (Buy vinyl. or Buy digital.) You've read about it everywhere, I really like it. I find it to be a completely new direction for the band, which is good because another album like X&Y would have been bad news.
6. R.E.M.- Accelerate. (Buy vinyl. or Buy digital.)The first good album R.E.M. has put out in a decade. A drastic and welcome change from their last album, the band attempted to recapture their energy from the 80's. Sounds like a cross between the 80's stuff and 'Monster.'
7. Thao- We Brave Bee Stings and All. (Buy digital.) One of my random, lucky emusic finds. A great upbeat folk album with very unique vocals.
8. The Weepies- Hideaway. (Buy digital.) I love this folk husband-wife group, but this is not their best work. Nice songs lyrically and vocally, but they all blend together.
9. Headlights- Some Racing, Some Stopping. (Buy vinyl. or Buy digital.) I greatly prefer their first LP, but I do really like this after seeing all the songs performed live.
10. Death Cab for Cutie- Narrow Stairs. (Buy vinyl. or Buy digital.) Very disappointing. I am only mentioning it because of how much I love the band. 'Plans' was a step backward, and they tried to right the ship and failed. I LOVE "I Will Possess Your Heart", but there are only 3 other songs on the album that do anything for me. Probably the first time in history that a single is my favorite song on an album.
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Best of 2008 (half-way there)
20080621
Mates of State: Five Years Later
(First picture here I took in Paris in August 2003, the rest of the shots at the show a couple nights ago. Click on the pictures to see dozens more from the shows at my Flickr site.)
My wife and I saw Mates of State play Wednesday night at Mr. Small's Theater in Pittsburgh, PA. The show was spectacular, it reinforced how much I truly love the band Mates of State. Their new album, "Re-Arrange Us", which was released last month, is my early pick for album of the year. Even if it doesn't end up being the number one album of 2008, it is definitely the album of the summer. It is fun, catchy, poppy- the perfect album to listen to while driving around in the summer months.
Headlights opened the show, a band I have always enjoyed, but never really gotten that into. They released an album this year, "Some Racing, Some Stopping", that has gotten excellent reviews. It was actually a disappointment to me, I greatly prefer their first full-length, "Kill Them With Kindness." Headlights is a great live band, they enjoy themselves on stage and give great energy to their music. Seeing the songs performed in concert gave me a much greater appreciation for them.
I became a Mates of State fan in the summer of 2002 while living in Orlando. A friend referred their second album, "Our Constant Concern", to me, I had never heard anything like it. I mainly listen to guitar-driven rock, I had never heard a rock/pop band driven by an organ. I was then able to see Mates of State in Paris on my August 2003 Europe trip. Five years has passed since that show, and a lot has changed in my life and with Mates of State, so I thought I would do a comparison.
The Venue:
2003: Paris, France. Some small bar/restaurant. I want to say it was called "The American Club." Reminded me of a Chili's and I can remember eating an amazing burger.
2008: Mr. Small's Theater in Pittsburgh, PA. (Actually in Millvale.) Visiting relatives in PA, our first visit to the club. It is an old church that has been turned into a recording studio, skate park and concert hall.
Attendance:
2003: 20 to 30 people there to see the band probably. I am fairly certain I knew Mates of State's music better than anyone there, and I could have been the only other American in the audience.
2008: 200 to 300 people. Mates of State has grown in popularity tremendously over the last 5 years. Most everyone there was also singing along.
The discography:
2003: At the time of the show, Mates of State had two albums: "My Solo Project" (2000) and "Our Constant Concern" (2002). I bought "My Solo Project" at the show in Paris.
2008: Mates of State has just released their 5th LP, "Re-Arrange Us." Their 3rd album, "Team Boo" was released in Fall of 2003, and their 4th, "Bring it Back" was released in 2006.
The band:
2003: Mates of State is the married couple Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel. Until a few months ago, they had never played a show with more than two people on state. Kori plays organ and keyboards, Jason plays drums.
2008: Their current tour is their first with extra band members. They have two guys, the members of Judgment Day, playing a variety of instruments: violin, cello, guitar, trombone, percussion, etc. It adds a completely new dimension to their sound, new songs and old. Half the show was with the extra members, half the show was just Jason and Kori. They would typically alternate two songs with, two songs without. Kori also plays electric piano now, switching back and forth between the organ. Their new album is the first to feature piano on every song. On the final song of the night, "The Re-Arranger", all five members of Headlights also joined the Mates on stage.
Family:
2003: Jason and Kori were married. I was very single.
2008: Jason and Kori have two daughters, I now have a wife and a son. These are the biggest five year differences! Mates of State has a very popular baby blog: Band on the Diaper Run.
I don't remember the exact order of the setlist, but I remember the songs, I think. The opened with "Now" from the new album and ended their 2-song encore with "The Re-Arranger." Here is the full list of songs:
From "Re-Arrange Us" (2008):
Get Better
Now
My Only Offer
The Re-Arranger
Jigsaw
Blue and Gold Print
You are Free
From "Bring it Back (2006):
Think Long
Fraud in the 80's
Like U Crazy
Beautiful Dreamer
For the Actor
From the "All Day" EP (2004):
Goods
From "Team Boo" (2003):
Ha Ha
Fluke
From "Our Constant Concern" (2002):
10 Years Later
From "My Solo Project: (2000):
Proofs
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20080516
LA to NYC: Road trip mix
Last year I came up with the idea of making CDs for the graduating seniors at the school I teach at. This year for the CD I decided I would try the road trip idea again, since they are all dispersing from Rome, GA to schools all over the country (if not world).
LA to NYC
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Starflyer 59- Ghosts of the Future
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Originally uploaded by noseblanket
Another reason to buy vinyl.
I didn't take these pictures, but I have the set, and it is gorgeous. Last year, Burnt Toast Vinyl offered up a pre-order to get a set of 10 7-inches by Starflyer 59, "Ghosts of the Future." It was fairly expensive, $59.59, but I had just gotten a raise, and sounded like a good investment.
As of last week, the set is complete. 10 records, 20 songs, 10 different colors of vinyl, one wooden box, record-covers that create a puzzle, and autographed liner notes. It is far and away the coolest presentation out of all of the music I own.
Click on this picture to see a lot more of the set.
20080421
New Mates of State song
Mates of State just premiered the first song on their new record, called "Get Better." Not only is the song shockingly different for the band, it is outstanding. You can hear the song and watch the hysterical video on their Myspace page. The new album, "Re-Arrange Us", will be released May 20 on Barsuk Records.
Here are the song titles:
- "Get Better"
- "Now"
- "My Only Offer"
- "The Re-Arranger"
- "Jigsaw"
- "Blue and Gold Print"
- "Help Help"
- "You Are Free"
- "Great Dane"
- "Lullaby Haze"
20080415
The Alchemy Index
I have been waiting for this day for a LONG time. Thrice's entire Alchemy Index is available for purchse. Fire & Water released last October, Air & Earth released TODAY. Four discs, four styles, 24 songs. One of the most unique music releases I have ever heard. The project exceeded all of the expecations I had for it.
Cheapest place to buy the albums digitally is HERE.
Cheapest place to buy the physical CDs is HERE.
A 4 x 10 inch vinyl set, which will come in a hard-back book, is in the works.
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Explosions in the Sky
explosions in the sky
Originally uploaded by jaredswafford
I didn't take this picture, but it is from the Explosions in the Sky concert last night that I attened in Atlanta at the Variety Playhouse. The show was excellent. With the exception of the symphony or something like that, this was the first instrumental concert I have ever been to. For those of you unfamiliar with Explosions in the Sky, they did the soundtrack for the movie 'Friday Night Lights.' They actually sound a lot like their name. The dynamics were awesome, all four of the guys were really passionate and intense.
In case you were wondering, the image in the header of my blog is the artwork for Explosions in the Sky most recent record. You can buy it here.
Explosions in the Sky is in a genre of music called post-rock, which I have recently been getting more into. My brother has liked post-rock for years, and forever has been telling me about Godspeed you Black Emperor! and Mogwai. I have been listening to tons of Mogwai recently, as you can see in my Last.fm playlist to the right of this page. Generally vocals and lyrics are my favorite part of music, so listening to music without those things has been different.
The opening artist was Lichens, a solo guy playing ambient music. He played one "song" that lasted 20 minutes. I have listened to a little ambient music, but never seen it performed live. Very strange but enjoyable.
Matt Slocum of Sixpence None the Richer has a great current interview here. He talks a lot about the reformation of the band and what their goals are. Sixpence recently played a concert in Nashville that was broadcast live on Lightning 100 and streamed live online. Many people recorded it (including myself), and you can find download links on this message board.
The second part of Thrice's Alchemy Index releases tomorrow- buy it!
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Sixpence None The Richer @ Smokin' Music, SXSW, Austin, TX, 3/13/08
Sixpence None The Richer @ Smokin' Music, SXSW, Austin, TX, 3/13/08
Originally uploaded by iamdonte
Sixpence None the Richer played their first two shows in 5 years last week, you can find information about the shows here and here. I wish I could have been there! So far there still is no official information about the band now that they are back together, but there is a lot of information that can be found out by following those links and using Google blog search.
Apparently they have a new EP to be released in June and a full-length Christmas album releasing at the end of the year.
