The first 3 months of 2008 have shown some great CD releases. Here are just some of the CDs that have been released so far this year. Let me know if there are any that I missed!

January
Magnetic Fields - Distortion
Cat Power - Jukebox
Liam Finn - I'll Be Lightning
Bodies of Waer - Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink
Matt Costa - Unfamiliar Faces
Evangelicals - The Evening Descends
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
The Whigs - Mission Control
The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Ida - Lovers Prayers
Loius XIV - Slick Dogs and Ponies
Chris Walla - Field Manuel
Xiu Xiu - Women as Lovers

February
Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
Jack Johnson - Sleep Through The Static
Kelley Stoltz - Circular Sounds
Air Traffic - Fractured Life
Basia Bulat - Oh, My Darling
Jason Collett - Here's To Being Here
Nada Surf - Lucky
Say Hi - The Wishes and the Glitch
School of Language - Sea From Shore
Sons & Daughters - This Gift
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
The Rumble Strips - Girls and Weather
American Music Club - The Golden Age
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Mike Doughty - Golden Delicious
Grand Archives - The Grand Archives
The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride
No Kids - Come Into My House
Throw Me The Statue - Moonbeams
Andrew Bird - Soldier On
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
Missy Higgins - On A Clear Night

March
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash
Born Ruffians - Red, Yellow & Blue
Ladyhawk - Shots
Ruby Suns - Sea Lion
What Made Milwaukee Famous - What Doesn't Kill Us
Greg Laswell - How The Day Sounds
Destroyer - Trouble In Dreams
DeVotchKa - A Mad and Faithful Telling
The Kills - Midnight Boom
She & Him - Volume One
The Bravery - The Sun and the Moon: Complete
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
The Hush Sound - Goodbye Blues
The Matches - A Band In Hope
We Are Scientists - Brain Thrust Mastery
Lykke Li - Little Bit EP

Aural Cleansings fashionably late to the 2007 party

With the coming of age comes a bit of a delayed reaction to many things. I know that I am a little bit slower now when I run, I have sluggish reflexes when it comes to sports and I buy into the “next big thing” a little bit more hesitantly. The decision needs to be made by me to find out how good something actually is and if it is really all that it is hyped up to be. I can say that for two female releases of 2007, they do live up to the hype (although one was EXTREMELY more hyped than the other). These albums were Feists’ “The Reminder” and Jesca Hoops’ “Kismet.”

Feist was on every top 10 listing of 2007 that I came across but I could not figure out why. I did enjoy her IPOD commercial featuring the “1234” video but it wasn’t the best song I have ever heard. I can say that this album is one of the best start to finish albums that I have heard in my recent memory. There is a wide plethora of musical variation displayed on the album ranging from acoustic songs (So Sorry), heartfelt lyrics (Honey Honey) and lots of diverse instruments and guests (A little known fact is that the “1234” video features many of the artists that Feist has collaborated with in the past).

Feists’ voice is very unique in that it is not overpowering nor is it quiet. It holds a lot of emotion but not to the point where you want to slap her being too pouty or too excited about something. She has found that equilibrium that many female artists can not seem to find and has a wonderful sound. Her voice is just another instrument in a spectrum of sound. A nice example of her voice’s ability to work in cohesion with instruments is the final song on the disc “How My Heart Behaves.” It is an exquisite duet and an exquisite ending to an superb sophomore release.

A bit on the opposite end of the hype spectrum is Jesca Hoop. I saw her open for one of my favorite bands this past year at the Double Door. She had a very eccentric performance but it left me wanting more so I finally bit the bullet and picked up “Kismet.” I can say that the release had the exact opposite effect that Feist’s did. It was not very accessible initially but I kept listening because I was intrigued by her arrangements, key changes (most of her songs seem to be written in a minor key) and interesting time signatures that sometimes would alter mid-way through her songs.

As I said, this disc is not very listener friendly for the first 10 to 15 listens but there were a few songs that stood out after just one or two listens (Summertime, Dreams in the Hollow, Intelligentactile 101). Hoops’ voice is bit more whispery and softer than Feist but it also has a sarcastic overtone to it. In other words, it is right up alley.

“Kismet” has many stand out songs on it but as an album, I wouldn’t say it was as strong as “The Reminder.” I do think that as a song writer, Hoop should be listed along with the top song writers today just after this release. I believe that Sufjan Stevens could learn a thing or two from her arrangements even.

Please don’t hold it against me for not acknowledging these fine efforts until now. They deserve a second look, if you can spare one.

Aural Cleansing and the concert review

So those two readers out there that do read my blog entries were probably wondering to themselves, “ I wonder where Kramer’s review of that Pela show he promised us?” Well wonder no longer you crazy twosome of loyal readers, here is my take on Pela’s 2/29 show at Schubas. I was impressed that Pela did sell out the venue, which presented promise in my book.

Even though I was forced to go to this show on my own, with my wife bailing out on me at the last second, Kyle was wonderful enough to come and use my extra ticket for most of Pela’s set. He did miss the amazing opening act of Liam Finn though. Liam Finn is the son of revered songwriter and singer Neil Finn of CROWDED HOUSE fame. He hails from New Zealand and he performs with a woman (of which, I didn’t catch her name) who compliments his vocals nicely. I was really excited about seeing him because he recently had been receiving a lot of buzz and the night before, on 2/28, he had performed on Letterman. I was not disappointed. His set-list and lyric writing were a bit eccentric but his music performance was a wonder to witness. He managed to play multiple instruments on just about every song, looping some melodies on his guitar using various pedals and then busting out a crazy drum beat and solos on the drum kit. All the while, his compatriot would be adding in some other percussion and vocals on top of what was already happening. For two people, it was remarkable to witness and it was also lovely to my ears.

As much as I was excited about Finn, the real reason I was at Schubas was to see if Pela could be as good live as they were on their recording. In contrast to Finn’s set of eccentric indie rock, Pela’s set consisted of straight rock songs, presented charismatically. The lead singer was sweating crazily by the end of the first song and the entire band was enjoying themselves quickly and consistently throughout the night. They played a lot of material off of their future 2008 release but still played all of their big “hits” off of their 2007 debut. The crowd was definitely there to see Pela and were singing, clapping and swaying to all of the songs along with the band. I have to say that the band lived up to my lofty expectations and I think that their new material will possibly exceed them. They seem to be taking a step forward in their music aptitude tests and I have high hopes that disc #2 will be solid.

SXSW is a challenge of prioritizing - Every hour brings new choices of where to be and who to see. Take a peek at my initial schedules and see the tough choices I had to deal with and you can also see where I ended up seeing something that I hadn't even put on my schedule. Bold indicates the concerts to which I went.

Continue reading "SXSW initial schedules"

South By Southwest 2008 has come and gone, and with it over 50 great bands under my belt. (I think my dad got double that! Oh well, what can you do? Last year (which I was too lazy to blog about) was my first SXSW, and a totally overwhelming experience - I didn't know what I was getting myself into. This year I had it way more under control. I was on top of the day show schedules thanks to austinshowlist.com and donewaiting.com. I made schedules for each day with hourly breakdowns and left multiple things per hour on the schedule to allow for last minute decisions based on venue capacity and location. I was on top of that shit.

Last year was a great year though, and had way more bands that I saw that were HUGE for me to see. I had been waiting to see bands like Simple Kid and Bic Runga for a long time, and had been wanting to see new favorite artist Chris Garneau. This year didn't provide any bands that came near the level of must-see as those bands. However, this year was overall a better year, with a higher percentage of bands that I really loved (last year had a lot of stinkers). Below you'll see my rating system as well as a comprehensive list of the shows I saw at SXSW 2008 after the break!

Ratings:
+1 = I hated it. I would do anything in my power to avoid having to endure this again
+2 = I adamantly didn't like this. I would be disappointed if this band were opening for a band that I wanted to see.
+3 = I was pretty neutral about this band. If I must see them again it wouldn't bother me, but it wouldn't tip the scales in a positive way either. I won't be looking the band up when I get home Also known as the "my mind is wandering" rating
+4 = I enjoy this band. I will check them out online, and if they were opening for another +4 or +5 that would be exciting.
+5 = I loved it. I will be buying their CDs and going to see them live again.

Continue reading "SXSW 2008 Recap"