Dan Craig - Alchemy

Official | Buy | 

Somehow a simple christmas carol led me to discover Dan Craig, a Denver man with a band that is currently making a big impression on me. It's his song "Enough" that really caught my full attention, and from there my productivity went way downhill as I was constantly being swept up in his evocative and emotional lyrics. His songs are well rounded with a nice full sound, part of which comes from the string and piano arrangements that float in and out of his songs. His music really sucked me in and at times reminds me of Josh Ritter (especially "In The Company of Friends") so of course that was enough to keep me listening. Enjoy this one and be sure to check out his other songs on his website.

Dan Craig - Alchemy

My Favorite Albums of 2010

According to itunes I acquired 3,062 songs or 8.7 days or 208.4 hours worth of music in 2010. I've spent the past month meticulously combing through it all trying to figure out just what I liked the best from this year but in the end I decided to use two specific rules for making my list:

1. I had to have paid for the album

2. It had to have a high play rate

Based on these rules I arrived at a list of 17 that were clearly at the top. Putting it in order was the hard part. I hate odd numbers but the reason for 17 is that there was a large drop off in number of times an album was played after number 17, so I'm just going with it. There were plenty of albums that I bought but were forgotten after a month or quite a few that I only have 4 or 5 songs from, so they got ruled out (like Kanye West, The National, and Kanye West). The top ten are all albums that I can listen to start to finish without ever wanting to skip songs which is why there are no listening recommendations, just listen to them all. Here it goes...

17. CEO - White Magic [Buy]

I know this is a really awkward number but it's my list and I can do what I want. I felt I really needed to include this because when I think back to the summer all I hear is chill wave/electronic music all the time and this was the one I listened to the most. Certainly when you look at this album as a whole it has the most to offer and is one of the most cohesive albums that we heard off the chillwave market this summer. It is filled with sunshiny optimism, I couldn't get enough of it during the summer months and I'm pretty excited to have remembered it during the winter months too.

Recommendations: Come with me, White Magic, All Around, Love and Do What You Will

[Buy]

16. Various Artists - Twistable Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein

Yes, this is a children's album, technically. But I loved it. Andrew Bird's "The Twistable Turnable Man Returns" was one of my most played and favorite songs of the year. There is a lot of twang to it but with Dr. Dog, My Morning Jacket, and Black Francis it has a modern spin.

Recommendations: The Twistable Turnable Man Returns, The Unicorn, Queen of the Silver Dollar

15. Basia Bulat - Heart of My Own [Buy]

She played one of my favorite concerts of the year. Her songs are truly beautiful and uplifting from the lyrics to the composition. This album is like the sun coming out after a dreary rainstorm. I will always remember her saying, "I'm going to softly folk rock you all." And that's what this album is.

Recommendations: Go On, Run, Gold Rush, Heart of My Own, If Only You

14. Sarah Jaffe - Suburban Nature [Buy]

This 14 song is one big dark rumination, with at least half of the songs being the kind you want to play on repeat for hours. A lot of her songs build you up to crashing cresendos and compelling choruses that stick with you for days.
Recommendations: Clementine, Summer Begs, Better Than Nothing, Perfect Plan

13. Frontier Ruckus - Deadmalls and Nightfalls [Buy]

I really enjoyed this album and even though I liked their previous album better, this one got played a lot especially on those grey days when it was hard to get out of bed. Every song is a poem put to gentle guitars and occasionally aided by the saw, banjo, and trumpets. After an especially long weekend I went to their show, only to have 10 other people show up and now "The Upper Room" always reminds me of sitting on the cavernous room's wooden floor and being completely overwhelmed with emotions.

Recommendations: Nerves of the Nightmind, The Upper Room, Silverfishes

12. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs [Buy]

I love listening to this album in the car and the drums at the end of "Suburban War" still gives me chills. There are a few songs I skip but there were plenty of other songs to choose from that were flawless. This was one of my most played albums this year.

Recommendations: Suburban War, We Used to Wait, Sprawl II

11. Tame Impala - Innerspeaker [Buy]

There was nothing else that came out this year that was even remotely like this psychedelic rock album. If you ever thought this music died with the sixties, Tame Impala is single handedly giving it a new life in 2010. In fact, just the other week I got pulled over for speeding because I got too distracted while listening to this album. It definitely takes you to another place.

Recommendations: Solitude is Bliss, Lucidity, Runway Houses City Clouds

10. Glasser - Ring [Buy]

Those voices, the percussion, the everything, even down to the little clicks and yelps...they've always left me speechless. So much in fact that I have four posts on Glasser that are still in drafts because I could never verbalize anything about this band. I always wanted to say this album is unsymetrical but that statement was too hard to justify. This album blew me away from start to finish.

9. Menomena [Buy]

This album is a little bit schizophrenic but that is what keeps me listening over and over. If any album ever deserved to be described as "interesting" this is one of them. It makes you an active listener because you can't just zone out listening to this one.

8. Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks [Buy]

A friend once described this as being "too indie" for their listening pleasure. But I think that's why I like it so much. It reminds me of the stuff I loved back when I had time to fully and wholeheartedly love bands. Nothing makes me feel better than jumping around and stomping my foot while belting out the words to "The Loneliness & The Scream", and I really do scream it, just to prove I exist.

7. Josh Ritter - So Runs the World Away [Buy]

Full disclosure: I am a long time and huge fan of Josh Ritter. I've seen him in concert more times than I can count and more than I've seen anyone else. I was really excited for this new album and it didn't disappoint. It is one that grew on me day by day and then month by month, it is probably still growing on me seeing as how every time I listen I find something new to love. It is one of the most accessible albums on this list and I love that this is someone who is going to stand out for years to come.

6. Sharon Van Etten - Epic [Buy]
All I can say is it shreds my soul to pieces, little tiny pieces.

5. Fitz & The Tantrums - Breakin' the Chains of Love [Buy]
I love the story behind the formation of this band almost as much as the album itself. I love hearing this bittersweet soul-funk album that seems to say "let's get back together, oh wait, you did me wrong I don't want you anymore" but with a bajillion times more eloquence and with dancey sing-along tunes sans guitar. This is a great trend in music, reviving the sound of motown, and more people need to hop on this soul train.

4. Future Islands - In Evening Air [Buy]
No other voice stood out for me quite the way frontman Samuel Herring's did this year. I always find it hard to believe that it was all recorded in a Baltimore living room because dear god is this an amazing album with a lot of depth to it.

3. First Aid Kit - The Big Black & The Blue [Buy]

How did I not see this on any Best Of List? They may be young, but their music is incredible. I listened to it for months straight. When I saw them live, I got misty eyed, ok actually I cried twice (there were some other factors too but their music was a catalyst). I thought I had overplayed them throughout the summer but when I recently went back to this album, I found I could never tire of it. It is one of the rare album's that I know every single word to.

2. Dan Mangan - Nice, Nice, Very Nice [Buy]
I'm a bit surprised this made it up to the top too, but it belongs here, of that I am sure. I really thought he was going to win the Polaris Prize this year but he won plenty of other awards anyway. I wish I could offer some concrete description of this album but I'm blinded by love.

1. Head and the Heart - Head and the Heart [Buy]
I must have said it a hundred times now but this is easily my number one album. It got the most plays this year by a long shot and I'm still not tired of it. It's rough around the edges, like you might expect from a debut album, but it also has a lot of warmth and feeling that you can soak right up as you are stomping your foot and singing along.

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Albums that weren't released in 2010 but still listened to obsessively in 2010:
Hey Marseilles - To Travels and Trunks (2008) [amazon $9]
Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More (2009 this is debatable) [amazon $5]
Anna Ternheim - Leaving on a Mayday (2009) [amazon $9.50]
Lost in the Trees - All alone in an empty house (re-released by Anti in 2010, originally released by Trekky in 2008) [amazon $5]
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (2009) [amazon $5]
Robert Francis - Before Nightfall (2009) [amazon $9]
Coeur De Pirate (2008) [amazon]

Jason Spooner - Seed in the Ground

Official | Buy

This is the kind of music I listen to on trains. During the kind of train rides where my face is nearly pressed against the plexi-glass staring out at leafless trees and the sad vision of run down houses that flash before my eyes, it is that desolate eastern landscape that makes me want to pack up and drive west at least four days out of the week. Anyway, this song is perfect for those train rides. "Breathing, on that window/put me on a fast train underground/living, lost in limbo/ worried about the times I'm not around." While it is a song that is about a relationship that fails to bloom, it's not neccesarily the lyrics that get my attention. Sometimes it is that longing harmonica that make me think of sitting on the caboose of a boxcar (harmonicas always sound like they are coming from that place and the player of said harmonica is always wearing overalls in these fantasies) or not wanting to let someone down, is what gets my attention and makes me dive for my ipod before the song changes so I can see who is singing it.

Seed in the Ground

You can also get a free download of his HERE. It is a great cover of Dylan's "Girl from the North Counrty" with Dar Williams. Definitely worth a listen

Matt Pond PA - Snow Day

I went to bed when there was about five inches on the ground and woke up to find 16 more had accumulated over night, and it's still snowing. I know people outside of the New York/Boston target zone don't want to hear about our snowpocolypse (which is also being tagged as #SnowLoko and #SNOMG) but it does come with a good song.

Matt Pond PA was one of the first artists that I became obsessed with nearly 8 years ago, and at the time it seemed nobody else had heard of him, so I went around telling all my friends about him and got them hooked too. Now a lot of people dismiss his music as too vanilla but I think he still has something going on and I will always buy his albums. And I think I will always blindly love his songs. Plus this song is just perfect for today.

Matt Pond PA - Snow Day

If you are lucky enough to take the day off and play in the snow, enjoy it. The snow is what makes the rest of the cold winter worth it. Who can complain about a snow day?While I'm not busy sledding or shoveling, I'll be sitting by the fire listening to music and drinking some beer.

Merry Christmas from David Sedaris

No music from me today, I think we have all had our share of holiday music for now. But I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and if that's not your thing have a wonderful weekend and perhaps some vacation time. Something I have always enjoyed reading during the holidays is David Sedaris's  Holidays on Ice. Sedaris is one of my favorite satirical writers and if you don't already know him, you should. His stories are hysterical and something you can reread multiple times. However listening to him read his own stories is rather wonderful too, something about his voice and his tone of voice takes the stories to the next level.  He has quite a few holiday themed stories and one of my favorites is "6 to 8 black Men" a story of the Dutch interpretation of Santa Claus. This is from his live performance at Carnegie Hall. Enjoy it, and Merry Christmas to all.




David Sedaris- Six to Eight Black Men

The Resurrectionists - Cordelia [Listen Local]

I'd like to introduce you to The Resurrectionists, who I came across when I was looking up concerts at The Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. They had a month long residency there in November and I was lucky enough to catch their last show of that residency. It was one of those concerts that I left wondering why I didn't see them the past three weeks, it would have been worth it. The song they played at their concert from their soon to be released album, "Chainsaw Heart" was enough to keep me wanting more. But if you're in Boston you can catch their next show at grand re-opening of The Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain on January 7th. It's slated to be my first concert of 2011 and I couldn't be more excited.

The Resurrectionists have been a part of the Boston americana-roots/rock scene for four years now. They bring to the table a lively amalgam of blusey, rock, and foot stomping tunes that sound best turned up loud. My favorite song of theirs, "Cordelia",  sounds like it was born in the Louisiana bayou. I can't help but sing along with the theatrical background vocals as he sings Cordelia over and over. I feel like their song "Jesus Loves You", could be an easy and seamless substitution for HBO's True Blood theme song. It has that same dark atmosphere, partially due to that unique steel guitar sound. With lyrics  like "Heard you started boozin' at 3pm/Heard you lost your religion like REM/Heard you got that guitar and formed a rock 'n' roll band/Let loose three weighty bar chords, sang of your inner pain" You'll be putting their songs on repeat and stomping your foot along in no time.

Cordelia

Oh, Starling - Noel EP

It was just last week that I told you christmas carols are one of the most painful forms of music, and a few weeks before I presented you with the anti-holiday cheer mixtape.  I'm already tiring of the indie christmas carols I've posted, there are only so many times I can listen to the multiple versions of "Fairytale of New York" before the novelty of singing "you're a bum / you're a punk / you're an old slut on junk" in a...err.."traditional" christmas song wears off. But then I got this in my inbox, and I might have changed my mind a little bit. Oh Starling, is musicians and husband/wife duo Dan Craig (not James Bond) and Jessica Sonner from Denver.

With a distinct lack of jingling bells in their music, the Noel EP features original arrangements of holiday classics with a sound that might even garner a few listens from staunch anti-christmas song people. There is quite a bit of talent and effort behind these songs and is very clearly not the usual lame attempt at covering christmas carols, they are thoughtful compositions backed by their mellifluous voices. It might even take you a while to figure out which songs they are working with because they do such a good job at making them drastically different from the traditional songs we all love to hate. The EP consist of the following songs and you can get "Hark" for free and instantly (just requires an email).
                                        

1.  Come (Oh Come All Ye Faithful)

2.  Noel (The First Noel)

3.  Bethlehem (Oh Little Town of Bethlehem)

4.  Emmanuel (Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel)

5.  Hark (Hark the Harald Angels Sing)

Be sure to check it out. I especially like "Come" and "Emmanuel". When soundcloud is working again I'll give you some samples. 

Kori Pop - Northern Belle

Official | Buy

This is the song that wraps me up like a blanket and gives me whispers of hope that things can change. It is unbelievably simple and Kori Pop's voice is one of those that somehow penetrates my heart and lingers like a mist in my head for a few days at a time. Her words cloud my thoughts at the most unlikely times, rushing to the forefront when I least expect to recall a song. I've been sitting on this one for a few days  two months now. I was going through my drafts and saw that I never posted this song. Kori Pop is exactly what you want out of a pop artists, she has a wonderful voice, her lyrics are thoughtful, and her songs are fun to listen to. While this song is on the sadder side, the rest of her stuff is a little more upbeat.

Kori Pop - Northern Belle

Luckily for us she also has a four song Holiday CD available for free on bandcamp. Definitely check it out if holiday songs are your thing. The lyrics for her original christmas song are enough to make anyone smile. Just remember more love goes into handmade gifts. 

December's Free Music

Apparently the holidays make musicians and record labels want to share lots of music and by share I mean give it away for free. Here are some of the places I've been going to for the goodies.

Joe Purdy - Download his 12th album, This American, for free. A long time favorite singer/songwriter of mine, I really think you should check this one out. http://joepurdy.com/

Highways

Barton Carroll - Get his 2009 album, Together You and I, for free. He has a really unique voice and tells great stories through his folk-ish songs, that feel like they are from some forgotten era in the past. "Do You Want to Get Out of Here?", "Monday Night" and "Poor Boy Can't Dance" are ones you absolutely have to add to your music collection. "Poor Boy Can't Dance" is a story about crushing on a bridesmaid and using some liquid courage to get on the dance floor (and there is a clarinet). How can you not like that?

Poor Boy Can't Dance

InSound - December mixtape just the cost of an email address for an awesome mixtape with Braids, Mynabirds, Deerhoof, Tennis and lots more. Go get it, you won't regret it. 

The Line of Best Fit - Ho! Ho! Ho! Canada Deux I can't get enough of this indie christmas mixtape of 30 songs. This is the most refreshing compilation of holiday themed songs I have seen in a long time. Absolutely loving it. 

Nat Jay - Green Trees, Red Hearts

Paper Lions - Jingle Bells

The Gertrudes - Wind from the South

Official | Label | Myspace | BUY

With this overload of songs popping up on end of year lists, I thought I was going to be overwhelmed with songs and busy sorting through everything. But instead, I have attached myself to this band and fallen madly and deeply in love with The Gertrudes, especially their song "Wind From The South". It is the perfect song for when the cold sets in, it gets your blood pumping, makes you want to clap and stomp along, and makes you with a warm wind would blow your way too.

If you think that picture over there looks like a lot of people, that's because it is. This 12, yes 12(!), person band puts their mass to use by playing the widest arrangement of instruments I've seen in a while. Their sound is full and large, without being clumsy or messy. It comes together surprisingly smooth and when they all sing in unison you can tell just how in sync they all are. They also know how to rock a squeezebox, so of course I was instantly attracted to their sound. Not to mention they also play a theremin, which is pretty awesome. It is also an instrument that Neon Indian plays, but of course The Gertrudes actually make music with theirs. (too harsh?)
You have to listen to this song. It will probably be in my top 20 of the year. Be sure to watch the video below too, its a great alternate version to their recorded one, plus you get to see the many faces and instruments that make up the band.

The Gertrudes - Wind from the South

THE GERTRUDES - Wind From The South from Mitch Fillion (southernsouls.ca) on Vimeo.