Aural Cleansings take on 1/8/08’s releases of merit

There were a few new releases on Tuesday that were worth mentioning. I unfortunately have been able to procure 1 of the 3 that came out but the other two deserve mention at least.

1. SIA “Some People Have Real Problems”
I have read some reviews of this album already that have given a lot of merit to Sia’s voice. I have only listened to snippets on her website and on ITUNES. I will say that she does have a unique sound and I am interested to hear her full tunage to make a better assessment of the mad skills that are obviously present. http://www.siamusic.net/

2. Medeski, Martin and Wood “Let’s Go Everywhere”
This is the cd that I really want to hear the most because it is targeted towards kids. MMW are probably the tightest jazz trio I have ever witnessed in concert or recorded (and you really need to check out there quad stuff with John Scofield for it “Rocks the Party”). As are most things that MMW releases, it has received glittering recognition. I have to admit I haven’t heard much of their latest experimental stuff but since this is for kids, I can pretty much guarantee it is going to much more accessible. http://www.mmw.net/

3. Various Artists “Juno Soundtrack”
This is the one cd that I have heard and I have to say that it has not disappointed me. I saw the movie about 3 weeks ago and I thought while I was watching it, “This soundtrack makes me feel like I did when I first saw that ‘Tonight, Tonight’ music video. All warm and full inside.” This cd is a bit schmaltzy and a lot poppy but it also is one of the best soundtracks I have heard in a long time. Some people have said that it might rival the “Garden State” soundtrack (I disagree. Garden State had many individual songs but I didn’t feel it flowed very well. Juno has individual songs and flows, song to song, moment to moment) in regards to sales and popularity. The songs that make me the happiest are those by Kimya Dawson, Belle and Sebastian and the opener by Barry Louis Polistar. I highly recommend this for your pop infusion for the day. http://www.rhino.com/Juno/

Arctic Monkeys “Favourite Worst Nightmare”
An Aural Cleansing with Kramer

The 2nd Arctic Monkeys disc provides more of the same hard-driving, clever indie from some of the best rockers currently producing music. I have to admit I was a late arrival to the Arctic Monkey’s band wagon. I had read multiple reviews of their initial effort before I finally gave it a listen. Even after I listened to their first album a couple of times, I still did not understand what all of the fuss was about.

However, the A. Monkeys are a “grower” band. One of those bands that require 10-15 listens to their discs before you start to appreciate what the kids are doing. Then you realize that the majority of groups are NOT able to do what they are doing.

Alex Turner’s lead vocals fit their sound so perfectly and his Yorkshire accent adds an entirely individual sound. His voice and slang add a whole new element to the music.

There are a number of standout tunes on the album namely the fifth track, FLOURESCENT ADOLESCENT. This song has very catchy melody and guitar riff that even after one listen; you find yourself repeating the song a 2nd and 3rd time to enjoy it some more.

Other stand-outs on the album consist of: THIS HOUSE IS A CIRCUS (note the clever tempo changes), BALACLAVA (any song that adds clavinets, I’m a sucker for), D IS FOR DANGEROUS (just hard rock in its finest, most raw form) and 505 (Arctic Monkeys, like the Shins, always end their albums with a very high quality track).

Overall, “Favourite Worst Nightmare” is a definite progression of the Arctic Monkey sound. The group has made some major steps in terms of song structure, arrangements, tempo changes and you can hear it. I enjoy their first effort a little more still but that is most likely just because I have listened to it more. I believe that in time that “Nightmare” will take its place since it has grown on me already.

As Kyle stated in his top albums column previously, this year really was a rather unimpressive year for music. I would reiterate his words in that 2006 had many stand out albums that really hit home lyrically, musically and were flawless fits for their time. [Kyle's note: I didn't necessarily think it was an unimpressive year for music, I just didn't have a lot of CDs that I heard and fell in complete love with. However, I think it was a great year for songs]

With that being said, 2007 still had some very good music and my top 5 artists made some enormous steps forward. Especially in regards to musical prowess and much broader sound than their previous albums featured.

Since I hate doing “top 10” lists, I am going to do a top 5 list with a few honorable mentions and an “outstanding debut artist.” Feel free to completely mock and/or disagree with any and all of my selections. These are just what my ears have enjoyed the most this year.

5. Arcade Fire-Neon Bible

The Arcade Fire continue to be that one band that I yearn to hear live (I can never wake up early enough to get tickets but that goes along with the fact that I’m getting too old). I loved FUNERAL but Win Butler’s lead vocals would grate on me after a while. I have to say that Win polished up his pipes nicely in the off-season and his voice was twice as good on their sophomore release. I was happy that the album lived up to the hype.

4. Iron & Wine-The Shepherd’s Dog

This falls into the “major step forward” category. Sam Beam, the brainchild behind Iron and Wine, has been spending a lot of time with another band called Calexico (even touring with them and recording an EP). Their influence can definitely be heard on Beam’s new disc. The sound has moved from just a stripped down guitar-folk vibe to a full-fledged band. This was probably the biggest surprise in my top 5 because I had anticipated an average offering on Iron and Wine’s 3rd full length.

3. The Shins-Wincing the Night Away

The love the Shins and the Shins sound. Many people believe that they have become too commercial now. I believe they are an Indie staple and their sound continues to develop slowly, but surely. The stand out songs on this album are “Sleeping Lessons” with its awesome explosion and build-up and “Red Rabbits.” As with previous Shins albums, the songs flow seamlessly into each other so it is a nice album to pop in and listen in its entirety.

2. Bloc Party-Weekend in the City

My buddy gave me a copy of this cd and Travis’ The Boy With No Name at the same time. Initially, I listened to the Travis album a lot more than Bloc Party’s sophomore release based primarily on vocals (see Arcade Fire; Kele Okereke, Bloc Party’s lead singer, also has a very “distinctive” sound to his voice). I was able to see both bands perform their albums live this past summer. Prior to attending the Bloc Party show, I revisited the album and realized that the band had matured a lot from Silent Alarm. Kele’s sexuality and his race, amongst other things, are addressed in the lyrics of this album. Because the material is more mature, it took me a little longer to recognize and absorb the complexities and layering on the songs. After I saw them live, this album was consistently in my rotation. If you have written it off, I highly recommend giving it another listen or six.

1. Radiohead-In Rainbows

Enough has been said about Radiohead’s innovative release of In Rainbows. However, there really hasn’t been much focus on the album itself. I have been a huge fan of Radiohead since The Bends and I still argue with people about it being my favorite Radiohead album. In Rainbows is the best “musical” album from Radiohead since OK Computer. It takes multiple listens but there some very beautiful melodies underneath the layers of samples. This album, along with the Shins’, is one that I can put in and listen all the way through without skipping a track. The standouts are “15 Step”, “Nude” and “Weird Fishes.” To top it all off, they are streaming a live show of them performing the album in its entirety on NYE (and I believe that Al Gore’s CURRENT TV is rebroadcasting as well). I can’t think of a better way to ring in 2008.

Honorable Mentions

Travis-The Boy With No Name
Spoon-GaGaGaGa
Norah Jones-Not Too Late
Air-Pocket Symphony
Sigur Ros-Heim/Hvarf

Debut Artist of 2007

Pela-Anytown Graffiti

My wife was asking me the other day why I love Pela’s album so much. I tried to explain it to her but I really couldn’t vocalize it or put it into words. I think the reason why I love them so much is that popular music now is so repetitive, bland and mediocre. Pela take it up a notch. Their sound is tight, their lyrics are insightful and I heard they put on a good show (I will let you know for sure when I see them in February). Bands like Pela give me hope that there is still a level of music that I can identify with and not cringe when I hear them. As sad as that may sound, it give me hope and that is why they are my debut artist of 2007.

Your parents probably reminded you to clean behind your ears, but what about inside of them? Kramer is going to be helping out with that in his new column, An Aural Cleansing with Kramer. Kramer is the most dedicated (read: only) reader of this here little blog, and he was more than a little disappointed that 2007 didn't offer much reading material. He has offered to help with that situation, by becoming a regular columnist. I was a big fan of Kramer's previous blogging efforts, and he is a welcome addition to the team! Maybe now there won't be so many blank pages greeting visitors to the site.

Thanks Kramer!

A lot of bands release special tracks on the internet for the holidays. Here's a list of the tracks that I think you should check out while they are up.
If you have any other additions, please let me know!

Chris Garneau - Almost Christmas

Brandi Carlile - The Heartache Can Wait

Belle & Sebastian - Are You Coming Over For Christmas?

Rachael Yamagata - River (Joni Mitchell cover)

Regina Spektor - my dear acquaintance (a happy new year) - available on iTunes

1. The Frames - 12/31/07 - Vicar St., Dublin

This show eked its way into the number one spot in the last minutes of 2007 - and in fact a good majority of the concert occurred in 2008. What a way to ring in the New Year though! You could tell that the band was really enjoying the concert and could have played on indefinitely, and since they were playing their home turf, everyone seemed to know every song. They pulled out a lot of rare songs and a good number over covers too (New Partner, Skylarkin, The Dancer, Where Is My Mind, Suspicious Minds, and Fairytale of New York). I'll be honest, I teared up a little during the last song of 2007 - "People All Get Ready." What a great sentiment to enter the New Year on, and a great end to a great year of shows from Glen. I went to see the Once preview here in Chicago where Glen and Marketa performed a couple of songs afterwards. Ever since then, the Swell Season and the Frames have really blown up. The instantly sold out Old School show this year was the first sign that Once was a phenomena that was going to change the lives of some of my favorite musicians, which was proven at the brilliant and quickly sold out Thanksgiving shows at the Vic. The Frames show at the Hideout Block Party proved that the Once buzz wasn't contained to just the Swell Season, as a ton of people around me were heard to say that they had started listening to the Frames after seeing Once was released.

2. Mika - 06/11/07 - Metro, Chicago

This show was my favorite show of the year throughout 2007. I really thought it would end up being my #1, and it would have had I not seen one of my favorite bands, playing in their home city of Dublin on New Years Eve. I am actually not the biggest fan of the Mika CD. It is a lot of fun - and I had heard and fallen in love with the track "Billy Brown" long before the CD release. However, as great as it is, it is super sugary and for me can just be taken in small doses. However, when experienced live, the CD was transformed. The whole show was a high energy dance fest of happiness and joy. Shirtless Mika writhed on stage, banging drums, jumping, and basically creating a furvor in the mixed audience of future fag hags that didn't realize that Mika is 99% assuredly gay and the current fags denying the 1% chance that he might be straight (since he hasn't yet confirmed his sexual orientation). The whole concert progressed to it's near orgiastic climax that included constumed dancers, bubble machines and confetti cannons. This is what I was hoping the Scissor Sisters concert at the Riv would have been.


3. Travis - 07/21/07 - The Vic, Chicago

I have been a fan of Travis for a long time and have never been able to see them live throughout the years for various reasons. They were probably my number one band to see on my list, and their show didn't let me down. I went into the concert with 5 full length CDs that I thoroughly loved under my belt and was thrilled to finally get to hear them live. If I wasn't excited enough, the band burst into the venue, weaving through the crowd in boxing outfits to the Rocky Theme. They were on spot through the whole show, sounding great, and I even had one of those moments where I feel like I connected with the band, as Fran stared up in my direction and smiled as I sang along to the opening track "Selfish Jean" from the new album. The set list was wonderful - they really couldn't go wrong considering I love nearly all of their tracks. The only bad thing was the fact that they had only a very limited time and too many songs! I would have liked to hear more from 12 memories, a darker and more moody album which I really dig and only had one song represented from (Love Will Come Through) but I can't begrudge them for being in a happy, upbeat place. That's just where they put me by the end of this show.

4. Lollapalooza - 08/03/07-08/05/07

I wouldn't say that Lollapalooza 07 was the best Lollapalooza, but it had some of the best individual performances of any Lolla I've been to. High at the top of the list is Swedish band "I'm From Barcelona" whose music I was vaguely aware of...I loved the track "We're from Barcelona." Their Lolla showing totally blew my mind though. The stage was packed by their 29 band members, who danced, clapped and sang their way through a glorious set. They got the crowd more involved than any one else the whole week and at the end even jumped off the stage and ran through the crowd taking pictures with peoples cameras. They would be the result if you could take the Polyphonic Spree, The Flaming Lips and Anathallo, mush them all together, and squeeze out any of the things you might not like about those bands.

The festival also had mind blowing performances and light shows from Muse and Daft Punk, as well as great showings from Spoon and LCD Soundsystem, which I took the opportunity to watch from backstage. Doing this I got a taste of what it must be like looking out and playing for tens of thousands of people.

5. Jeremy Messersmith - 07/26/07 - The Loft

Jeremy Messersmith played the second annual Loft Concert at my apartment, with Billy Gill opening, and was a beautiful follow up to last year's Ryan Auffenberg/Keith Varon show. I'd been in love with Jeremy's music for awhile, and was my first choice for the next performer at the Loft, so I was really pleased that he agreed to play. He converted a room full of people into instant fans with his jokes about my underwear clad neighbor who could be seen out the window and spot on performances of some of my favorites, such as "Great Times" and "Beautiful Children."

6. SXSW - 03/14/07-03/18/07 - Austin Texas

This was my first ever South By Southwest and I have to say, it was perhaps the most high stress, anxiety filled week ever. I went into it not really fully appreciating how overwhelming of an experience it is - nothing at all like Lollapalooza. Whereas at Lollapalooza you might have one or two conflicting shows that you want to see, at SXSW it is 20 or 30. Juggling all of the information - who you want to see, where they are playing in relation to when someone else you want to see is playing, and are these people playing like 30 free day concerts where you could see them - I went a little short circuit at first. It turned out to be a great experience, and I got to see some wonderful performances from bands I had never seen before. At the top of this list were two bands I've been fans of for awhile but haven't visited the US since I have been a fan (at least anywhere near me.) The first of these was Cork Ireland's Simple Kid, who was the first performance of the week I saw, at a little bar with a modest crowd. He played songs from his albums One and Two, and had some great fun little computer projections that went along perfectly with the music. The second was a very pregnant Bic Runga, in from Newzeland, who performed the last big day of the festival, in a hotel lounge on a top floor overlooking Austin with the sun setting below. These two performances would have been worth the price of admission for me alone, even without great showings from some other groups I had never seen before (The Faint, Peter, Bjorn and John, Chris Garneau) and some old favorites (Tilly and the Wall, the Headlights, Aqualung) and many more.

7. Tomorrow Never Knows - 01/10/07 -01/14/07

Schuba's inaugural Tomorrow Never Knows festival included a great lineup. Of course, I was thrilled to see my #1 band of 2006, Margot & the Nuclear So & Sos, headlining one of the nights. In the end, though, a couple of other bands surprised me and even outshone them. Headlights, formed from members of the Champaign-Urbana band Absinthe Blind (who I didn't care for) blew me away opening for the French Kicks. It is worth mentioning, this is the first outing I had with my friend Kevin, who would later accompany me to Dublin and treat me to the #1 concert on my list for New Years Eve! Dr. Dog, a band that I was supposed to see play with the Spinto Band and the Lovely Feathers but had to cancel, was worth the wait and then some... they had a raw energy that fit in well with those two bands (which are two of my favorite.) Finally, the 30 member Chicago circus punk marching band, Mucca Pazza, was probably my favorite show of the festival - it was kind of like if you put a marching band in a dance club. I don't know if I felt part of a musical community any more than at this show.

8. Arcade Fire - 05/18/07 - 05/20/07 - Chicago Theater

I went to the 18th and the 20th, but missed out on the 19th. The Chicago Theater was quite a change from the Riviera Theater or Lollapalooza. Despite the cushy seats and fancy surroundings, the Arcade Fire controlled the crowd and dominated the stage. The organ, the video screens, and a perfect combination of old and new songs made these shows epic. My money was on the 18th for favorite performance.

9. Stars -11/02/07 - The Vic

So, Magnet was supposed to open for this show and didn't show up. I was really looking forward to seeing him, as I have been a fan for years and haven't had the opportunity. (Same with Martha Wainwright not showing for the Swell Season gigs). On top of that, there was a weird energy on stage, with band members kicking around monitors and mics, and arguing about what songs they were going to play/refusing to play songs that each other wanted. Despite all of this, the music was pitch perfect, the new songs sounded amazing and the old favorites were all great too. Even the songs I didn't love on their new album were enjoyable live.

10. Nada Surf 10/19/07 & 10/20/07 - Schubas

It had been over a year since I had seen my Nada Surf boys, and it was perfect to see them on Schubas small stage with it's new sound system. They played a couple of great sets (although sadly missed some of my favorites - Neither Heaven nor Space, Your Legs Grow). Regardless, they did test out some of the new songs, which quickly raised their CD to one of my most anticipated albums of 2008.

Honorable Mention:

Chris Garneau - 08/24/07 - Feast of Fools Podcast
Sadly, every time that I saw Chris this year was in unfavorable circumstances: His SXSW concert was drowned out by a loud band next door, his Old Town show was fantastic, but very short, his show at the Iron Post was totally out of place and the Queerfest venue had awful acoustics. I still loved every second of every show. But nothing beats getting to hear his songs up close and personal as I co-hosted an interview of Chris on the Feast of Fools Podcast.

The Decemberists 07/18/07 - Millennium Park

Maybe not the best Decemberists show of the year. Maybe it was ridiculously overcrowded and from our vantage point we couldn't see the band. It doesn't get much better than lying on the grass with friends, listening to the Decemberists sea chanties as dark clouds billow in and the sky crackles with thunder and lightning overhead.

Pitchfork 07/13/07 - 07/15/07

I didn't get a chance to enjoy the Pitchfork performances as much as I'd have liked, but I did make sure to take time for the Menomena/Junior Boys back to back shows which alone get Pitchfork an honorable mention.

Josh Ritter/Stephen Kellogg - 02/11/07 - Park West

Josh Ritter had a couple of great performances this year, but this one wins, for me, because of the amazing duet cover of Dean Martin's "Little Ole Wine Drinker Me" from Ritter and Kellogg. This gets my award for favorite song performance of 2007 and the whole show can be heard here. (the October Park West show is a close second and can be found here.)

Avett Brothers - 06/30/07 - HOB
This was one of the most fun shows of the year, mainly because it was packed with 16 of my friends - many of whom were there independent of one another. I wasn't extremely familiar with the Avett Brothers going in, but there were many songs that I couldn't get out of my head afterwards, especially the great "When I Drink"