The Top 10 Records of 2009

December 26th, 2009 | Music Reviews | Comments Off

2009 was a substantial year for me. I directed my second music video. I learned how to play the ukulele. I moved from Portland to New Zealand. I designed the album art for 3 records. I’m extremely happy to be alive.

The year in music was a good one as well. It never seems to be that substantial as the records are being released one at a time but in retrospect, the albums I’ll remember are great ones. Here’s a list of my favorites from the year past.

Honorable Mention:
Charles Spearin – The Happiness Project

The Happiness Project could not have earned a more appropriate title this year than Honorable Mention. The experimental efforts on this record were certainly respectable, commendable, honorable, and certainly worth mentioning. Charles Spearin recorded interviews he conducted with members of his everyday schema on the topic of happiness and took select spoken word clips to put to music. The goal was to extract and celebrate the inherent melody that we all speak with on a daily basis. Very cool concept, flawless execution. Applause. Read more

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#10. Veckatimest – Grizzly Bear

The anticipation for this record was so intense that it almost didn’t even matter what Grizzly Bear did with it, just so long as they made me feel like I was the receptor of a pop-sermon again. And they did. Beautiful songs, sparkly production. This record is great, but I do still question it’s staying power. Read more

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#9. The Fortunes – Inside Voices

Dear Everyone, track down this record. It’s the first full-length from Portland’s languid alt-sprawlers, Inside Voices. It’s simply marvelous. The tunes are minimal and slow, but thorough and strong. This record is meant to be listened to whilst driving across the mid-western United States in your pick-up looking at oil derricks imagining them as dinosaurs… at least that’s what I do. Most importantly, this is a debut that makes me eager for the follow up. Pay attention. Read more

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#8. Screens – Mint Chicks

MINT CHICKS! Lo-fi pop-rock is still awesome. This record immediately captivated me and still continues to. Some of these tunes are so fuzzed-out I can’t tell if there are a million layers of music to pick through or if it’s feed-back. Way to blur the lines dudes. Read more

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#7. LP – Discovery

Uhhh, have you HEARD this record? This is like future dance-pop if it were made 2 years ago. I’m talkin beautiful streams of vocal harmonies chopped up and scattered atop laptop-synth beats. These guys sing like angels pining for love in the club. Initially this was a guilty pleasure for me, but now it’s just a straight up pleasure. I wanna make a record like this.

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#6. Grimace – Jeffrey Jerusalem

Why isn’t Jeffery Jerusalem famous? This guy’s production habits are unhealthy. He meticulously tweaks EVERY measure of EVERY beat making it impossible, but enjoyable, to notice every blip or sample he’s layered into these masterpieces. Jaw-dropping at times, Mr. Jerusalem has the glitch of Aphex Twin and the soul of Diana Ross. Read more

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#5. Bitte Orca – Dirty Projectors

Ear butter. Does anyone else love the title to this record as much as I do? Not to mention the cover.. and the songs are good too. Actually they’re mind-bendingly incredible, original and yet somehow as familiar as your mother’s lullabies. Truly pushing music in the direction it needs to be going. All members deliver dumps of strange, creative and appropriate vocals over some of the coolest guitar work in rock and roll. Read more

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#4. Bromst – Dan Deacon

Bromst gave me a lobotomy. I feel like I lost part of my old brain, a piece of reality, and gained some kind of new blissful insight into the existence of everything; a 12th sense. Dan Deacon is a wizard. This record entirely changed my perception of what electronic music could be. So dense, so methodical. Schizophrenic. Brilliant. Read more

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#3. Merriweather Post Pavillion – Animal Collective

I respect the hell out of Animal Collective. They appear to effortlessly chuck out new material almost in jest, as if they’re just testing us, seeing if we will swallow what new material they’ve haphazardly conjured. They push our limits as listeners and in turn are stretching what experimental music in the mainstream can get away with. In the grand scheme of Animal Collective’s oeuvre Merriweather is their pop record, easy on the ears, but still even when what they’re brewing is meant to be easy to swallow, it’s still completely new and completely different than anything that’s been done.. and in turn inspires everyone. When was the last time a new prog band released a record that wasn’t described as “Animal Collective meets ____________”? Exactly.

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#2. Bird Brains – Tune Yards

Merrill Garbus, a.k.a. Tune-Yards, may be my single biggest reason to play ukulele. I want to be her. She took that instrument, otherwise forgotten, and played they most whack sounding, dissonant freak-pop into her four-track backed by the home-made clink-clank of pots and pans. She touches on reggaeton, trip-hop, soul, rock, and tribal nonsense all while belting at the top of her lungs til her eyeballs are about to fall out of her head. She’s incredible. This record defines a high point in the year and a milestone in my life. Read more

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#1. Jewellery – Micachu and the Shapes

It’s when bands like Micachu and the Shapes come along that I regain my confidence in the future of music as a whole. At times, it appears to me that bands taking a crack at experimentalism are bombarded by the tidal wave of nonsense being generated by other bands elsewhere having an experimental month and, in turn, it becomes difficult to sort out what new ideas are rubbish and who is actually on to something. Micachu is like the old lady who spends her afternoons sorting through heaps of trash for the gems she chooses to take home, polish and put on her mantle. Aptly named Jewellery is a magnificent mash of dirty beats, clanky guitars with a perfect dusting of sprite synths and sweet vocals. The drums on this record honestly sound like a rusty collection of pots and pans whilst the guitar, almost inaudible at times, sounds like a homemade shoebox banjo with fishing-line strings. I suppose what I’m getting at here is that Micachu has successfully taken a step that many of us have been trying to take for the last 2 years; Jewellery delivers insightful new song structures but still has an addictive pop charm, has an appropriate electronic element but still sounds like it was made in someone’s basement. Way to go Micachu, now what do we do after everyone copies you? (from a previous post.)

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Meet The Royal Four

December 25th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 5 Comments

The collaboration is finally finished. One of my best friends, Will Schneider, and I have been collaborating across the world for the last four months to put together this all-ukulele Beatles cover album for your listening pleasure. Have a listen to the samples below and if you like what you hear, head over to the offical website for the full album experience.

If I Fell – Royal (Me)
Please Please Me – FWS4 (Will)

‘A PDXmas’ Holiday Compilation Complete

December 19th, 2009 | Art News | 0 Comments

I recently recorded a version of the holiday classicWinter Wonderland for a Portland Christmas compilation organized by my friend Paul Laxer. You can listen to all the tracks and download the album for free here.

NZ Update – On The Road Again

December 19th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 0 Comments

It’s been a while since the last update of my New Zealand status, I know. This is mainly due to the fact that I’ve been sedentary for some time, specifically the last 2 months. I’ve been living in Wellington, the nation’s capital, holding down a job at a bar, serving locals their beverages of choice. Well, I tired of that so I quit. Wellington was great to me but it’s time to move on. And plus, my very good friends Liz and Patrick are visiting me from Oregon so I’ve since been on a little holiday within a holiday. Here’s a tiny recap:

After they arrived in Auckland I scooped up my guests and together we shot down the length of New Zealand’s North Island making stops at select points along the way. Above is Mt. Ngauruhoe, a key feature on the Tongariro Crossing.

Here’s is a dead bird in a beautiful pose. Photographed by Liz at Ruapuke, a beach outside of Raglan.

This is the view from a stop along a gravel road north of Palmerston North where we decided to spend the night. The only thing nicer than ending the day with this scene was waking up to the same one.

That night we played around with long camera exposures and writing with Liz’s LED headlamp. Beautiful stars that night. Here’s my ‘Royal’.

After racing down the length of the North Island we jumped a ferry and landed safely on the South Island. This is my first visit to what’s said to be New Zealand’s better half. Above is Liz having a successful run at driving on the wrong side of the road with Patrick in shotgun. I have to admit it’s a luxury to be driven around in the back seat of such a fine automobile.

We made a bolt to Abel Tasman National Park to get in some more beach time and do a bit of the world renowned track within. This is Patrick standing next to a tree on a rock. My words don’t quite do justice, do they..?

And for the finale, a lovely shot of me and my BRAND NEW BIKE, Buddy. I built Buddy at a free bike collective in Wellington. He and Gerty are getting along just fine, so far.

That’s all for now. I hope everyone is well and getting ready to enjoy their respective holidays.

And here’s what I’ve been listening to:

Stardeath and White Dwarfs – New Heat

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Neon Indian – Deadbeat Summer

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Chairy Arms Artwork Finished!

December 11th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments

I’ve just finished the artwork for The Chairy Arms upcoming release, Amber Street Lights. Keep yer eyes peeled for the actual, tangible release coming this winter.

The Chairy Arms Myspace