When I first moved to Portland three years ago I was eager to seek out the best and most promising musicians that were defining the scene I had heard so much about. I remember so clearly two bands sticking out as shoe-ins for success. Bands that were giving me exactly what I wanted, bands that were making me smile and giving me chills at the same time. One of those bands was the fledgling Starfucker and the other was Typhoon. These days Starfucker (now Pyramiddd) signs commercial deals with IBM and Target like their signin’ autographs. Typhoon has yet to reach these heights but with the upcoming release of Hunger and Thirst it seems as though extraordinary things are on the way for this band.

Over the past few years Typhoon embodied a persona quite contrary to what their moniker suggests. They were illusive, playing the odd show here and there and releasing quiet tracks that only their friends knew about. Hardly a downpour, hardly dangerous.

Enter Hunger and Thirst. Recorded over the last few months in Portland by Paul Laxer, this heavenly collection of choral ballads will be released in May on the band’s new record label, the winsome, spectacular, Tender Loving Empire.

Like the first drops of an oncoming tempest, Hunger and Thirst opens with the plunks of differently pitched hollow percussives. These elements form into slow puddles of bass-heavy guitar and eventually burst into a thunderstorm of triumphant horns and angelic vocals in the background. The record continues on in constant undulation. The high points are epic choral explosions and the lows are monologues backed by guitar with heaps of delay. As usual, all of the new Typhoon tunes are soaked in passion. This record is impossible to take lightly as it will rest heavy on the strongest of hearts. Good work guys, nice to hear from you, and good luck.

Typhoon – Starting Over

Download audio file (Starting Over.mp3)

Typhoon – Affliction (off of 2009′s Friends and Friends of Friends TLE ’09

Download audio file (Affliction 1.mp3)

faggots

We’ve witnessed the demise of tangible media, namely the compact disc, in exchange for digital versions of the audio we love. Following the CD closely down the tubes went the entire mainstream music industry as it was once known.

dosen't this look weird now?

Because the mainstream had become polluted and failing, casual listeners turned their attention toward the underground. This enabled independent artists to become noticed by larger audiences and prosper. With the internet on their side independent artists were defining the large-scale musical trends of the later quarter of the decade.

Everyone was making music, everyone was experimenting, and everyone else was listening. When music becomes as ubiquitous as it had by the end of the 2000′s it gets difficult to single out the true gems of an entire decade past. The flawed mainstream had skipped over nearly all of the true genius musicians of the last 10 years, unlike during the 60′s and 70′s where the artists in the limelight deserved the respect they got.

geniuses

This was a substantial decade for music, even if the world doesn’t quite know it yet. I think we can all agree that we’ve seen a paradigm shift in popular music as we know it and the years to come are only sounding better and better. The following are the 10 most decade-defining records, in order of release.

Relationship of Command – At The Drive-In [September 2000]

You Forgot It In People – Broken Social Scene [October 2002]

The Ugly Organ – Cursive [March 2003]

De-Loused in The Comatorium – The Mars Volta [June 2003]

Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone? – The Unicorns [November 2003]

Satanic Panic in the Attic – of Montreal [April 2004]

Come On Feel The Illinoise! – Sufan Stevens [July 2005]

Strawberry Jam – Strawberry Jam [September 2007]

In Rainbows – Radiohead [October 2007]

Sea Lion – The Ruby Suns [January 2008]

Don’t forget to check out Michelle’s equally outstanding best of the decade list!

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.

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

Download audio file (03 Vittoria.mp3)

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

Download audio file (02 Two Weeks.mp3)
Download audio file (03 All We Ask.mp3)

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

Download audio file (Bombay Beach.mp3)

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

Download audio file (the mint chicks – 04 – don’t sell your brains out)
Download audio file (baby.mp3)
Download audio file (the mint chicks – 01 – red white or blue.mp3)
Download audio file (the mint chicks – 02 – 2010.mp3)

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.

Download audio file (04 I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (ft. Angel Deradoorian).mp3)

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

Download audio file (04 Disco Dry Mouth.mp3)
Download audio file (05 The Mockery.mp3)

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

Download audio file (01 Cannibal Resource.mp3)
Download audio file (08 Remade Horizon.mp3)

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

Download audio file (01Build Voice.mp3)
Download audio file (04Snookered.mp3)

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.

Download audio file (05 Daily Routine.mp3)
Download audio file (11 Brothersport.mp3)

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

Download audio file (05NEWS.mp3)
Download audio file (04HATARI.mp3)

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.)

Download audio file (06 Golden Phone.mp3)
Download audio file (09 Just In Case.mp3)
Download audio file (10 Calculator.mp3)

Whoever gave me this album, own up. You deserve some credit. François Virot’s Yes or No must’ve been sitting in my “to be listened to” queue for the last 4 months at least, before one of his infectious tracks forced it’s way into random play, and then into my consciousness. I have no doubt that this record was awarded to me in a huge music swap at some point in time and never given proper attention. Well today, I’m here to declare, that this stuff is mesmerizing.

Mr. Virot is a french songwriter who has the vocal inflection of Avey Tare circa Pullhair Rubeye, only if Avey had a good voice and could actually carry a tune. Virot’s instrument of choice is acoustic guitar often backed by hand claps, snaps, vocal ticks and other forms of bodily percussion. Other than that it’s his enchanting wail that leaps all over the melodic spectrum grabbing listeners perched on all levels of any given auditory wavelength. His songs are sweet but abrasive, catchy but foreign (not just cause he’s french). Try him.

After doing a bit of research into the world of François Virot I came across a lovely, startling coincidence. On his myspace he has a direct link to the page of amazing french 8-bit-synth-garage-pop band Clara Clara. This grabbed my attention because Clara Clara had a track represented on this year’s Friends and Friends of Friends compilation, organized by me and put out by Portland’s Tender Loving Empire. The song rules. Clara Clara rules. So it turns out that Mr. Virot plays drums in Clara Clara and is sibling to one of the other members. Fancy that. Virot’s rule. Clara Clara will also appear on a split with Kickball due out next spring on TLE.

François Virot – Cascade Kisses
Download audio file (04 Cascade Kisses.mp3)

François Virot – Say Fiesta
Download audio file (05 Say Fiesta.mp3)

Clara Clara – Dolphins
Download audio file (Dolphins.mp3)

If I could actually successfully kick myself and do any decent amount of damage, lord knows I would be doing so right now. I’m mostly angry that my dumb ass only got around to giving the Mint Chicks a good listen until NOW. NOW that I’m living in their country of origin, New Zealand, and NOW that I’ve conveniently terminated my resisdence in the city that they’ve since relocated to, Portland, Oregon. We did the ol’ switcheroo, the Mint Chicks and I did. I remember so clearly reading about them in the local weeklies and thinking that the descriptions of their tunes were right in line with something I’d enjoy. They’ve been playing low-key off they radar shows in Portland ever since they moved there a few years ago. The story goes that they left New Zealand after a quick rise to near super-stardom for a more un-noticed, out-of-the-spotlight lifestyle. It’s true, they are a big deal here. Their videos get played on the local music television stations and everyone knows who they are. They’re even returning sometime this year to headline some huge national music festivals. This elusive phantom band has grabbed my attention for more reasons than I just listed, and they are as follows:

The Mint Chicks’ new record, Screens, fucking rules. It’s like a blow-pop you dropped in the dirt. Screens is a pop record, specifically, it’s bubblegum pop but it has a just the right amount of contemporary modernization to push it past the its-all-been-done realm. The vocals are often fuzzed out in a lo-fi styling and electronically chopped to pieces. There are gritty synths and tinny drums speckling the record like shiny pieces of gravel and hair stuck to said lollypop. This record is fun and easy to listen to, but it engages and forces you to listen deeper and see what actually going on. When I first got it I seriously listened to it six, yes, six times in a row.

The Mint Chicks – Red, White, or Blue
Download audio file (the mint chicks – 01 – red white or blue.mp3)

The Mint Chicks – 2010
Download audio file (the mint chicks – 02 – 2010.mp3)

The Mint Chicks – Don’t Sell Your Brains Out, Baby
Download audio file (the mint chicks – 04 – don’t sell your brains out)
Download audio file (baby.mp3)

Another reason that I have a boner for the Mint Chicks right now is that they do though provoking excellent experiments with new tunes. Recently, they released a new song, but the only way to hear the song was to go to a web site they’d set up with four separate videos embeded within it. Each video contains a separate part of the song, and when played simultaneously they come together to formulate the new song. It’s an absolutely brilliant way to engage your audience a in the fibers of your art (though not the first time, see The Flaming Lips’ Zaireeka). I love it and I would love to see many, many more experience-based musical endeavors be celebrated and proliferated throughout the mainstream. Cheers, Mint Chicks.

Watch the four video song thing here.

I’ve been meaning to write about this album for a while now. Recommended to me last summer by FWS4 it immediately presented itself as a glimmer of genius. Three descriptors come to mind when speaking of Apes and Androids’ Blood Moon; over-the-top. This record is perhaps the only existing example of glam-psyche-rock trip-hop pop. Lead by heavy bass synths and layered falsetto vocals, Blood Moon sounds like the record aliens from the 70′s would listen to while they construct a city on their newly conquered planet. Most of the songs are danceable but you’re not gonna feel too good about yourself whilst dancing… you might feel a little underdressed. The whole record has a lovely element of theatrics, from the overt vocal delivery to the robot/spaceship take-off and landing sounds introducing and leading the record out. Give this one a go for some fresh, blindsiding, nonsensical awesomeness.

Apes and Androids – Hot Kathy
Download audio file (05-apes_and_androids-hot_kathy.mp3)

Apes and Androids – Make Forever Last Forever
Download audio file (02-apes_and_androids-make_forever_last_forever.mp3)

Apes and Androids – Golden Prize
Download audio file (03-apes_and_androids-golden_prize.mp3)

At first listen, it was easy for me to brush off Family, the newest release from Le Loup, as another choral, reverb-soaked, vocal-driven indie-mush record, ready to go up on the shelf with Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes, My Morning Jacket, and Co. But, much like the latter recording artists, over time the true beauty underneath the way-too-commonly-used production style, shined through. I’m obviously not here to celebrate Family as a work of pure genius but it certainly deserves a bit of praise and definitely a good listen. Le Loup has done a wonderful job layering soft, jubilant melodies over more and more layers of polyrhythms. A friendly banjo guides listeners into many of the arrangements, reminding us that we don’t HAVE to cry if we don’t want to. And, yes, the vocals are drenched in puddles or reverb, but these cathedralesque hymnals won’t drown you; these are the positive kind of hymns. Give Family a try and I bet it’ll probably stay off the shelf for the majority of the winter. Also, go see Le Loup when they come to your town cause chances are they’ll be playing with Nurses.

Le Loup – Grow
Download audio file (03-le_loup-grow.mp3)

Le Loup – Saddle Mountains
Download audio file (01-le_loup-saddle_mountains.mp3)

Le Loup – Sherpa
(takes a sec to get going but shows another side of the record entirely)
Download audio file (09-le_loup-sherpa.mp3)

Dates:

10.08.09 – Princeton, NJ – Terrace Club
10.09.09 – Baltimore, MD – The Ottobar ^
10.10.09 – Philadelphia, PA – Kungfu Necktie ^
10.11.09 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge ^
10.13.09 – Cambridge, MA – TT the Bear’s ^
10.14.09 – Montreal, QC – Il Motore ^
10.15.09 – Toronto, ON – The Drake Hotel ^
10.16.09 – Chicago, IL – Schubas ^
10.17.09 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry ^
10.18.09 – Omaha, NE – Slowdown Jr. ^
10.19.09 – Denver, CO – Hi Dive ^
10.20.09 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court ^
10.22.09 – Vancouver, BC – The Biltmore Cabaret ^
10.23.09 – Seattle, WA – Chop Suey ^
10.25.09 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge ^
10.27.09 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill ^
10.28.09 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo ^
10.29.09 – Costa Mesa, CA – Detroit Bar ^
10.30.09 – San Diego, CA – Casbah ^
10.31.09 – Tucson, AZ – Plush ^
11.02.09 – Austin, TX – The Mohawk ^
11.03.09 – Dallas, TX – Cavern Ale House ^
11.05.09 – Atlanta, GA – Lenny’s Bar ^
11.06.09 – Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506 ^
11.07.09 – Washington, DC – Black Cat ^

^ – w/ Nurses

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?

Micachu and the Shapes – Just in Case
Download audio file (09 Just In Case.mp3)

Micachu and the Shapes – Golden Phone
Download audio file (06 Golden Phone.mp3)

Micachu and the Shapes – Calculator
Download audio file (10 Calculator.mp3)

I’ve only had a chance to click into this album a few times but each visit has been a pinch more rewarding than the last. Mr. Stevens never ceases to amaze me. His compositions are insanely original and engaging. I think he’s incapable of putting out a half-ass album. The BQE, an homage to the New York City subway line, is no exception. Carefully arranged into movements, the BQE takes listeners to all corners of the musical spectrum. At some points you feel like you’re listening to one of Sousa’s marches and then before you’ve got the count down you’re listening to electro-glitchcore in a basement. It’s for this reason particularly that I can see why many may be turned off by Sufjan Stevens’ most recent work, but it is also for this reason that I am attracted to it. I like music that is unpredictable, spastic; it jars you, throws you off, makes you THINK. Who wants to know when the chorus is gonna drop anyhow?

Sufjan Stevens – Introductory Fanfare For The Hooper Heroes
Download audio file (02 – Introductory Fanfare For The Hooper Heroes.mp3)

Sufjan Stevens – Movement III: Linear Tableau With Intersecting Surprise
Download audio file (06 – Movement III- Linear Tableau With Intersecting Surprise.mp3)

HEALTH is one of those bands that has been around for some time and never clicked for me. Until now. This is also one of those records, I’m sure, that all of their older fans will condemn because people like me can finally connect with it. It’s loud, dense, and chaotic but still sweet. The angelic vocals over the gritty chopped synth and pounding cacophony of drums allows for the perfect contrast in each song. I can get down with what they’re doing here. I recommend this record for those of you who have dipped your toes into the, “they-can’t-be-serious” waters that is noise music and turned back, confused and embarrassed. This puddle, this time, is warm. Try again.

Plus, they’re doing this awesome contest alongside the release of Get Color involving wacky prizes and golden tickets. Yes’m, YOU could be the proud winner of a copy of the new record signed with the band members blood, or if you’re really lucky, you might get a lock of their hair sent in the mail. Read more here

HEALTH – In Heat

Download audio file (01 In Heat.mp3)

HEALTH – Before Tigers

Download audio file (05 Before Tigers.mp3)