Wow, Okay, Let's Take This Easy Now...

Hey, so it's been a long time... I apologize.

I will be updating this more often starting... Now. I promise. At least for the next month or so, I'll be putting an album up every few days.

I'm going to open up this list with my top albums of 2009! I'll be putting (most) of these up! Woo!

15. Analog Moog - Endless Air
14. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
13. The Avett Brothers - I And Love And You
12. Brand New - Daisy
11. Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra - Take Off!
10. Double Dagger - More
9. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
8. Bomb The Music Industry! - Scrambles
7. Andrew Jackson Jihad - Can't Maintain
6. Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen
5. Pianos Become The Teeth - Old Pride
4. St. Vincent - Actor
3. Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything To Nothing
2. Future Of The Left - Travels With Myself And Another
1. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns





And we will kick off this newfound inspiration to blog with my #4 album, St. Vincent's Actor (2009)!


Annie Clark (featured on the album cover), the guitarist, lyricist, composer, and sweet-voiced mad scientist behind St. Vincent, had me so intrigued when I first listened to her new album, Actor. It was a mixture of beautiful woodwinds fluttering, haunting lyrics with dark, dark (dark) overtones, and ugly, gnarly guitar solos. Badass, right? I really recommend checking out this album: she has toured with Sufjan Stevens and was once a member of The Polyphonic Spree.

Her album was first composed on garageband (extra credit from me!), then redone using real people. Basically, it's indie pop mixed with old Disney songs making up a sprawling beautiful lake, but underneath, in the murky depths, there lie guitars that have been awoken and they swell up and out like monsters before falling back into their cold, muddy lakebeds.

Okay, sorry. Here, just listen, okay?



Pretty awesome, right?

Recommended Tracks: Actor Out Of Work, Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood, Marrow
Genres: Indie
Link: http://www.mediafire.com(SLASH)?rmzjzzqxzvw

Tuesday Guest Post: Sufjan Stevens (Washington Irving'd/Irving Washington'd)

Sufjan Stevens - Come On! Feel The Illinoise! (2006)


So I asked my friend Donald to write a review for Sufjan Stevens - Come On! Feel The Illinoise! Unfortunately, what I got was a three page essay about the album. Because I don't have the time or the patience to go through and edit such a triumphant and beautiful review, I've come up with a solution. In spirit of Yossarian, I will only give you the adjectives. The full review will soon be available on his own website here.

So, without further ado, here are the adjectives that Donald saw fit to describe Sufjan Stevens' (in my opinion) best cd:

Dazzling, awe-inspiring, smooth, mercurial, crowning, ambitious, critical, pseudo-Christian folk, legitimate, Salinger-esque, powerful, historical, cultural, small, fascinating, quirky, calm, effervescent, subdued, young, serene, quasi-chronological, beautiful, monument to grandeur and glory, lamentful (this one isn't a word, Donald), brooding, triumphant, faint, upbeat, syncopated, blossoming, poetic, personal, haunting, harrowing, graphic, serial killing, hidden, unsuspected, intimate, urban, local, thematic, fertile, magnificent, good, great, minimalistic, strumming, plucking, soft, passionate, haunted, soul-bearing, heartfelt, subdued, ethereal, prevailing, touching, Christian, religious, Christ-like, hard-edged, surreal, otherworldly, introspective, chilling, razor sharp, atmospheric, chilling, religious, haunting, jazzy, Brubeckian, dreamlike, storied, expressionistic, mystically repetitive, percussive, calamitous, HE PLAYS NEARLY EVERY INSTRUMENT USED ON THE ALBUM, seemingly oversaturated, brilliance.


I generally agree with each of those words. This album is absolutely beautiful and it is THE ALBUM that got me into indie rock; the way it melds history and modern culture is absolutely brilliant and the way the album sounds is perfect. This album was the crossover point for me between punk and whatever I am today, and it is definitely in my top 10 favorite albums of all time. If you'd like to read the full review, it is/will be up at http://www.wjgroundruledouble.weebly.com and I highly suggest reading the full thing. Thank you very much, Donald! I hope you don't mind my butchery. I thought it was funny...

Genres: Indie, Folk, Rock, Pop
Recommended Songs: Chicago, John Wayne Gacy Jr., They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From The Dead!! Ahhhh!
Link: http://www.mediafire.com(SLASH)download.php?jnunzzmmnvw