Top 90.3 Albums of 2008

KEXP is counting down their top 90.3 albums of 2008 from 10 AM to 6 PM today. You can listen here or watch the list here.

EDIT: Fleet Foxes took the top spot.

Awesome Chart

Thanks to Metal Sucks

Fleet Foxes on TV

Fleet Foxes performed "English House" on Conan on Tuesday. Fleet Foxes also have the 2nd best song of the year according to Pitchfork.



Here are they are performing "Blue Ridge Mountains" on Letterman in August.

Hell's Belles - Spokane, WA (12/12/2008)

Seattle's Hell's Belles and Spokane's Lucid played a rockin' Friday night show in Spokane. The show was a Toys for Tots benefit.

Lucid


Hell's Belles


Flickr, Last.fm

Setlist

1. Rock n' Roll Ain't Noise Pollution
2. Back in Black
3. Get It Hot
4. Hells Bells
5. Thunderstruck
6. Bad Boy Boogie
7. Walk All Over You
8. Night Prowler
9. Riff Raff
10. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
11. You Shook Me All Night Long
12. Beating Around the Bush
13. For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)
14. Highway to Hell
15. If You Want Blood, You Got It

Track 1o - from Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Track 6, 9 - from Let There Be Rock
Tracks 3, 7, 8, 12, 14, 15 - from Highway to Hell
Tracks 1, 2, 4, 11 - from Back in Black
Track 13 - from For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)
Track 5 - from The Razors Edge

Still Lost

Coldplay is under fire from all sides. This time Joe Satriani has filed an official lawsuit claiming that Coldplay's song "Viva La Vida" rips off his 2004 song "If I Could Fly".

Blitzen Trapper Christmas Song

I don't normally like Christmas songs, but I do like them when they are free and by Blitzen Trapper. Amazon is giving away "Christmas Is Coming Soon" off of the recently released Christmas Compilation I'll Stay 'Til After Christmas for a limited time. The album has some Christmas tracks from other NW bands like Au and Arthur & Yu. Merry Christams!

The Dandy Warhols - Mis Amigos Remix

Vinyl Spotlight: The Decemberists - Always the Bridesmaid Single Series

Vol. 1: Valerie Plame
Vol. 2: Days of Elaine
Vol. 3: Record Year for Rainfall

12" singles released in monthly installments. Limited edition on colored vinyl. Composed of songs the band thought would not fit on their new album. You can still purchase the set from Jealous Butcher or from the Decemberists' Shop.

The Decemberists' New Album Is a Rock Opera

Rock & Roll Daily calls Hazards of Love "the Decemberists' full-on classic-rock move." Colin Meloy says "Everyone's going to call it a rock opera."

read more | digg story

2008's Best Music

Thanksgiving is also the time of the end of the year list. Largehearted Boy has page full of end of the year lists if anyone has the time to scour through them. Stereogum has started the voting on their annual Gummy Awards. My votes for top albums? These shouldn't be a surprise.

1) Blitzen Trapper - Furr (Review)
2) Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
3) The Black Angels - Directions To See A Ghost (Review)

Blitzen Trapper on Conan

Blitzen Trapper brought the title track of their September Sub Pop release Furr to Conan last night. Eric has been posting lyrics to "Furr" and "Black River Killer" in chunks at his Myspace blog. My earlier guess at the "Black River Killer" lyrics was partially incorrect.

GWAR - Spokane, WA (11/15/2008)

GWAR brought their brutal stage show to the Knitting Factory in Spokane on the Electile Dysfunction tour. There were gallons of fake blood and many celebrity decapitations. Toxic Holocaust and Kingdom of Sorrow were the openers.

Toxic Holocaust

Kingdom of Sorrow


GWAR

The Aftermath


Flickr, Last.fm

Setlist

1. Battle Lust
2. The Salamanizer
3. Go To Hell!
4. Bring Back the Bomb
5. Bonesnapper (The Faces of the Slain)
6. Murderer's Muse
7. Crack in the Egg
8. A Short History of the End of the World (Part VII(The Final Chapter(abbr.)))
9. Crush Kill Destroy
10. Ham on the Bone
11. Krosstika
12. War Is All We Know
13. JCSS
14. Destructo Song
15. U Ain't Shit
16. Rock & Roll Never Felt So Good
17. Eighth Lock
18. Slaughterama
19. Sick of You

Tracks 2, 18, 19 - from Scumdogs of the Universe
Track 15 - from Hell-O
Tracks 7, 10, 16 - from America Must Be Destroyed
Track 9 - from RagNaRok
Tracks 4, 5, 11 from War Party
Tracks 3, 6, 12, 17 - from Beyond Hell
Track 8 - from We Kill Everything
Track 1 - from Violence Has Arrived
Tracks 13, 14 - ?

The Thermals Sign With Kill Rock Stars

The Thermals have officially signed with Olympia-born Kill Rock Stars to release their aforementioned album Now We Can See. In an interview with Pitchfork, Hutch Harris also revealed the release date for the album and its first single. The first single will be released on March 10th. The album will be released April 7th.

RIP Mitch Mitchell

Mitch Mitchell, drummer for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, was found dead today at the Benson Hotel in Portland, OR. He had just finished touring with the "Experience Hendrix" tribute tour. He was just in Spokane a couple of weeks ago for the tour.

Happy Birthday Neil

Neil Young is 63 today. To celebrate here is a video of him performing "No Hidden Path" last October when I saw him in Spokane.

Boxset Mayhem

2 huge boxsets have recently gone on sale.

Mastodon Boxset

*3 Studio Albums (Remission, Leviathan, Blood Mountain)
*1 EP (Lifesblood)
*1 Compilation (Call of the Mastodon)
*1 Previously Unreleased Concert (Relapse Contamination Festival 2003)
*3 Cover Songs
*1 Slipmat
*1 Sticker Pack
/11oo copies

Price: $225 + Shipping


Nada Surf Boxset 1994-2008

*5 Studio Albums (High/Low, The Proximity Effect, Let Go, The Weight Is a Gift, Lucky)
*1 7" Single (The Plan/Telescope)
*1 24-Page Full-Color Booklet
/1000 copies

Price: $100 + Shipping

Mastodon boxset seems a little expensive. Their website claims that there are "9 LP's in the set", which obviously means 9 discs not albums. That is $25 per disc. The Nada Surf boxset is a little more affordable and probably worth picking up if you are really into the band.

Review: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - The Effects Of 333

Another band has thrown off the shackles of corporate oppression. Sorry for that melodramatic moment, but the Black Rebel Motorcyle Club has decided to follow the lead of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails and release their new album digitally on their very own label.

Like Nine Inch Nails before them, the BRMC chose to make their digital album entirely instrumental. There are only 10 tracks however as opposed to the 32 you get with the NIN release.

The album begins with three very similar tracks. They consist of nothing more than pulsing noise. It's intriguing yet becomes tedious. Just when you start to wonder whether you just paid $6 for an album of noise, the fourth track grabs you with some spacey guitar rock that you would expect from BRMC. This is the instumental prog rock I was looking for... but then it's gone again.

This is the story of the album. Uninteresting noise followed by brief respites of ambient guitar rock. The only problem being that there are more noise tracks than guitar tracks. Hey, if you can get into the noise more power to you, but to me it comes across as lazy. I appreciate the effort and price point, but I expect more for my $6. Nine Inch Nails gave us 32 instrumental tracks for $5 that were definitely more inspired. Maybe, I don't understand what the BRMC was going for. When you download the album, you recieve a link to charity that the BRMC supports. If you donate to them, you get a remixed track plus a way to decode the words in The Effects of 333. Maybe there is more below the surface. Either way, it is always refreshing to see artists try new things and find new ways to bring music to the masses. You can purchase the album from the BRMC website.

Highs: "And With This Comes", "A Twisted Side"
Lows: "The Effects of 333", "We're Not Welcome Alone"

Rating: 4.9

More Decemberists Singles

You can hear the A-side, "Raincoat Song", from the third single from the Always the Bridesmaid series now. The single is out Dec. 2nd.



They played the A-side to the second single, "Days of Elaine", on Conan the night before the election. Colin is sporting a very nice Obama pin. That one should be coming in the mail anytime now (crosses fingers). The whole series consists of three 45 RPM 12" singles released one month apart on colored vinyl. You can still order all three singles at Decemberists Shop. I am really looking forward to a full length release (Volume one tracks at the bottom of that post).

Vinyl Spotlight: The Mountain Goats - Satanic Messiah

The Mountain Goats - Satanic Messiah

Previously reviewed album available in a physical medium as a double 7" vinyl only on The Mountain Goats fall tour. It is out of a pressing of 666. A few copies were previously available at 3 Beads of Sweat, but no longer.

Review: The Mountain Goats - Satanic Messiah

Don't let the album title scare you. The Mountain Goats are not some Norwegian death metal band. The Mountain Goats are a folk rock band led by singer/songwriter John Darnielle. I had not heard much about the band before hearing this album.

Satanic Messiah is a series of four low-key piano rock songs. John will throw in an acoustic guitar here or there, but these are very simple songs for the most part. The music is simply a vehicle for John's great songwriting. He can tell simple stories or intense narratives, but both are delivered in his own quirky style.

The album starts off with a strummed acoustic guitar and single piano notes. John then draws you in with his unique staccato delivery. It's just different enough not to be boring and leaves you wanting more. Then the next song starts and you do get more, but it's more of exactly the same sadly. It starts with a simple, strummed guitar this time backed with a simple synth line. It's not bad, but it doesn't grab you like before.

These songs are not bad. They are all quite pleasant actually. It's just that they sound like the continuation of the same song and when John's songwriting isn't grabbing your attention, it can get boring. On the last song, "Gojam Province 1968", John's songwriting takes over and finishes the album with anthemic lyrics that draw you in.

The best part about the album is that you can get it for free or with a small donation here in MP3, FLAC, AAC, or AIFF (apparently the domain name satanicmessiah.com wasn't already taken).

Highs: "Sarcofago Live", "Gojam Province 1968"
Lows: "Wizard Buys a Hat"

Mp3: Album (.Zip)

Rating: 6.8

The Black Angels - Spokane, WA (10/26/2008)

The Black Angels were force to be reckoned with on their first ever concert in Spokane. They brought their psychedelic sound to the surprisingly spacious Big Dipper. The played a healthy dose of songs from their newest album Directions to See a Ghost. They even had copies of the 3 x LP for sale. It is part of a limited pressing that has been sold out on Light in the Attic records for some time.

There set included some 13th Floor Elevators covers. Makes sense since they will be opening for Elevators frontman Roky Erickson beginning in Seattle on Oct. 28th and for four shows following.

Flickr, Last.fm

Setlist

1. Mission District
2. Sniper at the Gates of Heaven
3. Black Grease
4. Empire
5. Better Off Alone
6. Haunting at 1300
7. Science Killer
8. Young Men Dead
9. Bad Vibrations
10. Splash 1
11. You in Color
12. You on the Run
13. Snake in the Grass
14. Rollercoaster

Tracks 1, 7, 11, 12, 13 - from Directions to See a Ghost
Tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 - from Passover
Track 6 - Unreleased; previously played at WOXY lounge session
Tracks 10, 14 - 13th Floor Elevators covers from The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor
Elevators
Track 9 - ?

Lost!!!

I noticed a striking similarity between two songs from completely different bands. Take a listen to Coldplay's "Lost!"

.

Now take a listen to this song by... Blue Oyster Cult



I'm not saying Coldplay stole their song, but I am saying they have a very similar style. Coldplay has been accused of stealing songs before.



Either way, Coldplay has the Prospekt's March EP out in November. Which includes a remix of "Lost!" with Jay-Z called "Lost+". The song "Glass of Water" from the EP was performed for the first time recently in Antwerp. The live performance includes a guest spot by Albert Hammond Jr. of The Strokes.

The Art Of The Scream

So this is what it's come to? Screaming is an artform now. Apparently, there are two schools of thought in modern metal music; inhale versus exhale screaming. I can't for the life of me understand what has become of "metal" music. There is an article over at Metal Inquisition (Yes, a link from a blog to a blog) with a number of youtube videos illustrating what inhale screaming is. It sounds like a bad parody to me.

For me, metal music has always been about one thing: The Riff. Unless you're Rob Halford, you're vocals should just stay out of the way. I can't count the number times I've listened to a new death-grind-doom-funeral or whatever metal band that is supposed to be the new thing, when the "singer" comes in growls out his personal poetry book in an incomprehensible cacophony. It doesn't help that whoever is mixing these albums feels the need to jack up the snare, bass drum, and vocal levels so that the guitar and bass become an annoying buzz.

Here are some songs that might be cool if they were instrumental:

Top 903 Albums Of All Time

KEXP Seattle is counting down it's top 903 albums of all time right now. The albums were chosen by listeners via online submission. The albums lean toward the indie side because of the listener base, but we'll see how it pans out. The list is due to finish up on Friday at the end of their pledge drive.

My submissions included:

Neil Young - Live Rust
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
Band of Gypsys - Band of Gypsys
The Velvet Underground - Velvet Underground & Nico
Metallica - Kill 'Em All
Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables
Modest Mouse - This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About

Live Rust already came in at #513 and Dead Kennedys came in at #415.

You can keep tabs on the list here.

Vinyl Spotlight: Man Man - Little Torments

Man Man - Little Torments

New "EP" (It's only two songs) from Obey Your Brain. Out now.

More Blitzen Trapper

If you want more Blitzen Trapper, Daytrotter has some live Mp3's from when Blitzen Trapper three seperate times. Session three has a live version of my favorite song of the year "Furr" and the Neil Young-like "Not Your Lover" off the album Furr. Here's the links.

Blitzen Trapper - Session One
Blitzen Trapper - Encore
Blitzen Trapper - Session Three
Blitzen Trapper - Session Four

EDIT: added session four (7/14)

Review: Blitzen Trapper - Furr

I got this record in the mail yesterday from Sub Pop (a whole one day before the release!). I was already familiar with the record since the album was streaming from the band's Myspace (It isn't any longer, but you can stream it from AOL). I only recently got into Blitzen Trapper. I was familiar with their 2007 release Wild Mountain Nation. Since becoming addicted to the first single "Furr", I have seen them live twice and fell in love with their live show. Furr is their first release for the Seattle institution Sub Pop.

Blitzen Trapper's music is hard to describe. They draw comparisons to alternative country acts like Wilco and Drive-By Truckers, but they are not afraid to change styles track to track and sometimes in the middle of tracks. They inject a healthy dose of country twang into many tracks on this album. "Stolen Shoes & a Rifle" could be considered a straight forward country song by anyone from Nashville, and a good one at that. "Not You Lover" could be an outtake from After The Gold Rush.

Blitzen Trapper is at their best on this album when their influences aren't as easily discernable. "Saturday Nite" is a funky ditty with lyrics about "shakin' it on a saturday nite". Electric keyboard breaks and classical guitar interludes emphasize the point. "God & Suicide" has a driving piano beat backed up by a Ray Manzarek style keyboard line.

As much as Blitzen Trapper is great at writing powerful head-bobbing songs, the high points of this albumare when they slow it down. These are where vocalist Eric Earley's lyrics shine through. The first single "Furr" tells the story of boy turning into a wolf and back again with the help of folky guitars and a harmonica. This is my song of the year right now. The lyrics on "Black River Killer" could have been stolen straight out of Johnny Cash's diary.

"It was just a little while past the sunset strip, they found the girl's body in an old bent pit. Her mouth was sewn shout, but her eyes were still wide, gazing through the fog to the other side.

They booked me on in and threw me deep in jail, with no bail, sitting silent on a rusty pail, just gazing at the marks on the opposite wall, remembering the music of my lover's call."

Drew Laughery and Marty Marquis's keyboards are the driving force behind every song. They take the chorus of "Black River Killer" and make it their own. The lyrics on this album can change from catchy and fun to haunting song to song.

Highs: "Furr", "Black River Killer", "God & Suicide", "Saturday Nite"
Lows: "Fire & Fast Bullets", "Lady on the Water"

Mp3: "Furr"

Rating: 8.6