A Present For You...

It's Christmas time kiddos, and I'm feeling jolly. Here's a ditty by Sleigh Bells (never heard of them? neither has 98.7% of the American populous), entitled "Crown on the Ground." They haven't yet released an EP proper, only a few songs, and this was the one that initially drew me to look more into them (i.e. frantically search for free downloads). It's an audible paradox, as the singers daintily high-pitched vocals battle it out with thrashy instrumentals for your ears' attention. Enjoy!

Sleigh Bells-'Crown on the Ground'

Merry ChristmaHannuKwanzaaka! And to all you atheists, fuck off. There is a reason we started celebrating the holidays, let's not lose sight of that in all the "Black Friday-give me more presents-oh there's an angel on the tree and I'm so offended because I'm a little bitch and it's all about my needs and feelings" nonsense.

Suck it, 2009! Bring on the 10's!

Julian Casablancas: Lern 2 Spel

It's been a while, dear readers, so sorry for my prolonged absence. I had the perfect review of Phrazes for the Young about a month ago...now all I've got is the abridged version. All in all, it's a good album, though too short for my tastes (but if you buy it on iTunes, you get 3 additional bonus tracks). I can't help but feeling that Julian poured all of his creativity and effort into "11th Dimension," and when that was done, he just dumped out the other eight songs. No euphemisms here, I literally mean dumped, as in, on the toilet. "Glass" is commendable, and "Left and Right in the Dark" has the uber-cool and increasingly-used tactic of fading out to fool you before ripping a loud chord right at the end. It's nice, it fits, whatever. I wasn't blown away, but I will definitely listen for more Julian and/or Strokes in the future.

Onward, ho! In no particular order, here's some of the best music I've heard in 2009:

Hospice, The Antlers (Easily the most beautiful and heartbreaking album of the year :*-|)

March of the Zapotec/Holland EP, by Beirut/RealPeople (Zach Condon's electronic side-project, much loved by yours truly)

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, by Phoenix (Such a fun album, and hellagood live. Oh geez, did I just say 'hellagood'? I need some indie detox, STAT)

Veckatimest, by Grizzly Bear (Very chill and quirky)

I And Love And You, by The Avett Brothers (I also happen to be a sucker for good folk-rock, and this is excellent folk-rock. Check out "Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promises")

Up From Below, by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (Hippie music at its finest...)

Life on Earth, by Tiny Vipers (I believe that good lyrical quality makes an album memorable, which is the case here.)



Again, in no particular order, here are artists that I expect great things from in 2010:

Beach House
Vampire Weekend
Local Natives
Girls
Yeasayer
.
.
.
more to come surely!


Going back to Yeasayer, can I just say that I'm "crazy-screaming-throw-my-panties-on-the-stage" excited about their new sound?!? Their last effort was okay, but I felt it was music you listened to fall asleep. "Ambling Alp" has me pumped! I hope Odd Blood has this type of enthusiasm all around. And props to them on the song's surreal and super weird music video. If ever you don't want MTV exploiting your art to the mindless masses, be sure to include a group of naked men and women running around the mountainous desert. 60% of the time, it works all the time, yes? Success!