Miracle Fortress "Five Roses"

Last year everybody made a really big stink about that Panda Bear album. It was pretty poppy and kinda weird and it was made by one of the guys in Animal-Collective, who are the official "band-that-everybody-likes-for-no-explicable-reason."

But everybody was so busy jumping on that bandwagon (pun!) that no one bothered to mention that the Panda Bear album has exactly TWO (okay, maybe THREE) actual living/breathing/pleasurable-to-listen-to songs on it. The rest of it consists of a guy hitting a drum while turning some knobs and hooting and hollering into a toilet paper tube. Don't, get me wrong, I love a toilet paper tube hollering session as much as the next guy, but is this really ALBUM OF THE YEAR stuff?

That's where Miracle Fortress comes in. Miracle Fortress is the Beach Boys to Panda Bear's...um...less good Beach Boys. I suppose it's really more of a yin/yang thing. Panda Bear is the wild, unshaven artist and Miracle Fortress is still unshaven but at least he combed his hair and buttoned his shirt.

Five Roses was one of my favorite records of 2007 and I really can't think of a better new-ish album to be listening to when it's sunny out.

Oh, and if you live in the Seattle-area and watch television, you probably hear the song "Maybe Lately" about 20 times a day because it's in an advertisement for the Clean Forest and Rivers Initiative or something similarly Northwest-y.

Download the album here

Wall-E

Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E
Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E Wall-E!!!!

Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!!Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!! Wall-E! Wall-E!! Wall-E!!!

It was awesome! And there was a new Peter Gabriel song at the end!

New Genre Alert: French-Vanity-Dub

Well, okay, maybe there's only one French-Vanity-Dub album, but it's a doozy. In 1979, probably wacked out of his mind on a little more than just fame, Serge Gainsbourg hopped a plane to Jamaica to make a reggae album.

He enlisted the services of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, probably the greatest reggae rhythm section of all time, and the I-Threes, Bob Marley's female back-up trio. Gainsbourg thoroughly offended right-wingers by snarling and moaning his way through his country's national anthem, with the non-French-speaking I-Threes piping an offhand "Aux armes--et cetera" at the chorus.

The whole affair sounds pretty much as confounding as you'd imagine it. It's reggae, but with Serge piping his slightly unnerving, nicotine stained croak on top. I, personally, find the entire record kinda hard to listen to in one sitting. But one track at a time it's a perfect audio nightmare.

Download the song "Aux armes et caetera" here

The Kinks > The Beatles > The Rolling Stones

The Kinks are, quite simply, the greatest band ever to walk the face of the Earth. They could make "Powerman" the National Anthem and somehow this band would still be under appreciated.

It's tough to say exactly why The Kinks aren't given the same kind of massive respect that seems to be reserved solely for The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. By my count, The Kinks wrote just as many genre-defining anthems as either of those bands. Sure, they weren't as attractive as The Beatles, or as delightfully sleazy at The Rolling Stones (but they were, generally, more attractive than the Stones and sleazier than the Beatles. Although, it would arguably be harder to NOT be sleazier than the Beatles).

My infinity for The Kinks might stem from my overwhelming, unwavering and unabashed love for The Beatles. From about 6th through 10th grade I listened virtually exclusively to The Beatles. I think the only other music I took in at the time came from Seattle's only oldies station (unless you count KIXI, which I don't) the sadly re-formatted 97.3 KBSG. And at a certain point things that once seemed shocking and innovative, just seem, well, dull.

The Kinks touched on subjects that other bands of the time seemed to just gloss over. Without being overly preachy or heavy-handed, they crafted touching odes to an England that had never fully rebuilt itself after World War II. They had plenty of songs that went "yeah, yeah, I love you, yeah." But they also had songs like "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" and "Get Back In Line" which touched on deeper topics like personal isolation and the startling number of British people who were facing the day to day embarrassment of being "on the dole."

This is a two CD "best of"-ish collection. The first disc handles the generally poppier material and has all the singles that you are likely to know. And the second disc highlights the obscure gems and odd music-hall pieces.

Here's some tracklistings and download links:
Disc #1
1. You Really Got Me
2. Everybody's Gonna Be Happy
3. Tired Of Waiting For You
4. Who'll Be The Next In Line
5. Well Respected Man
6. Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
7. You're Looking Fine
8. Sunny Afternoon
9. Party Line
10. Dead End Street
11. David Watts
12. Love Me Till The Sun Shines
13. Waterloo Sunset
14. The Village Green Preservation Society
15. Do You Remember Walter
16. Picture Book
17. Animal Farm
18. Victoria
19. Drivin'
20. Lola
21. Powerman
22. 20th Century Man
23. Muswell Hillbilly
24 Celluloid Heroes

Download here

Disc #2
1. Just Can’t Go to Sleep (Mono)
2. Stop Your Sobbin’ (Mono)
3. Nothin' In The World Can Stop Me From Worryin' 'bout That Girl
4. Don't Ever Change
5. The World Keeps Going Round
6. I'm On An Island
7. Holiday In Waikiki
8. Too Much On My Mind
9. Fancy
10. I'm Not Like Everybody Else
11. A House In The Country
12. This Is Where I Belong
13. Lazy Old Sun
14. Death Of A Clown
15. Autumn Almanac
16. Starstruck
17. People Take Pictures Of Each Other
18. Johnny Thunder
19. Days
20. She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina
21. Get Back In Line
22. Strangers
23. This Time Tomorrow
24. Apeman
25. Skin & Bone
26. Alcohol
27. Sitting In My Hotel

Download here

(Note: Unfortunately the only way I could get iTunes to export these playlists was in .XML format. So...just load the MP3s into your iTunes like normal...then...choose FILE and then IMPORT from the top drop down in iTunes...and then...choose the .XML file. That should plop the playlist into your iTunes. If you don't have iTunes...um...good luck...)