NPR Best Songs/Albums of 2009 So Far

NPR, or national public radio for anyone who needs to learn their acronyms, recently released their top 30 songs and albums of this year. Personally, I love just about everything on these lists and I also have something new to listen to besides Matt Nathanson. Due to the lack of CD of the Week last week there will be two posts; one on Friday as a replacement and the regular Saturday night post.

Top 10 Songs

1. "My Girls" Animal Collective
2. "Two Weeks" Grizzly Bear
3. "Blood Bank" Bon Iver
4. "The Rake's Song" The Decemberists
5. "Lisztomania" Phoenix
6. "Zero" Yeah Yeah Yeahs
7. "This Tornado Loves You" Neko Case
8. "Sleepyhead" Passion Pit
9. "Laughing With" Regina Spektor
10. "The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid" The Decemberists

Also mentioned were: "Help, I'm Alive" Metric (20), "Daniel" Bat For Lashes (13), and "Heads Will Roll" Yeah Yeah Yeahs (17)

Top 10 Albums

1. Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective
2. The Hazards of Love by The Decemberists
3. Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear
4. Middle Cyclone by Neko Case
5. Wilco (The Album) by Wilco
6. Noble Beast by Andrew Bird
7. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix
8. It's Blitz! by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
9. Dark Was The Night by Various Artists
10. Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors

Also mentioned: Far by Regina Spektor (11), Fantasies by Metric (17), and March of the Zapotec by Beirut (28)

source

The Roots

So if you're into hip-hop or rap, you shoulda heard of The Roots. These guys stack paper like John Travolta, and they kill on the mic. I swear most all of there stuff is freestyle, and it makes sense, which is unusual with freestyling. Not only that, but from all I've heard, they don't have a single song bout beating the crap outta someone or poppin a piece on some gansta or whatnot. Sure they have lyrics challenging or dissing other rappers, but nothing excesivley violent.
These guys are like Ghostface Killah with KRS 1 mixed in. Their unique beats are emfisized by their fast and thrilling lyrics. I can't emfisize their awesomeness enough. This is their song "Don't Feel Right" from the cd Game Theory, check it.


If you like that, check this link (I can't post it on here but whatever) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avqImhVwObo&feature=channel

Adam Yauch (MCA of the Beastie Boys) Has Cancer

The only reason I'm not on suicide watch right now is because it is "... something that’s very treatable and in most cases it’s, um, they’re able to completely get rid of it." They've canceled future shows and the release of Hot Sauce Committee Part 1 has also been pushed back. I for one wish him well with the surgery and a speedy recovery. Yauch's video announcement is below.



Source

New Beastie Boys

Too Many Rappers ft. Nas from Hot Sauce Committee Part 1 which comes out Sept 15 and will probably the only album I'm willing to go out and physically buy this year. From this I'm saying it's gonna be worth it.

Cd of The Week 2: Mr.Beast

Hello fair ladies and all you handsome men. How has the week been? Yah me too, anyways it is Cd of the week time. This week, Mogwai has made this exclusive list of ever popular bands. Specifically the Cd Mr.Beast. This electronic/instrumental band has made many great Cds, but this one is by far the best (in my opinion)

Most instrumental bands usually have that ambient "oh I didn't realize I put this on" feel to it, but not these guys. They know how to combine great riffs and beats to create a ambient but noticeable tone to it.

The song featured in todays blog is Friend of the night. Like I said it contains the elements of a good instrumental without sounds blase. so enjoy, and good night.

CD of the Week: 11:11

As you may (should) know, I am in love with Regina Spektor, so what better artist to start off my CD of the week series off with. 11:11 is the first album she put out and it's part of a two way tie between Songs as my favorite album of hers.
11:11 is an album with many different dynamics involved; with feel good songs like Flyin', about a girl who learns how to fly (albeit after her teacher comes on to her, gets rejected and throws her out of a window) then to deviously fun songs like Mary Ann, which is about a woman named Mary Ann who "preferred her meat to be freshly butchered".
The music is slow and bluesy with upright bass, like in songs like Wasteland, then upbeat in piano melodies such as Sunshine. Regina's brilliantly eccentric voice gives the songs feeling and is beautifully showcased in the a capella song, I Want to Sing, an ode to a lover.
The lyrics are often like small narratives telling stories of a gossiped about scandal (Love Affair) or the story of a single mother trying to figure out her life (Braille)
My favorite song on this album and one of my top 5 favorite Spektor songs is Back of a Truck.
Her passion in this song is so completely haunting, making the story she tells that much more powerful. The lyrics tell a story that is not completely clear at times, though it's probably meant to be left to the individual's interpretation.
I suggest going out and buying this album, immediately. It's now out of print but you can definitely find it on iTunes or Amazon MP3. I leave you with a video for Back of a Truck.

Late Night Youtube Raid

More covers! Fleet Foxes! Enjoy!
(the first one caused a minor nerdgasm, because that's how I roll)

Late Night Youtube Raid

I love Britney Spears, really I do. And I don't care what type of sh*t I get for that but...
Yael Naim does it soooo much better. SOOO MUCH BETTER.

Cd of the Week 1: The Crane Wife

Hello and good day everyone. I figured that would start a tradition that every Saturday I would chose a C.D. and make everyone who reads this listen to it. The first C.D. I've chosen is The Crane Wife by the Decemberists.
This is a very folky c.d. The vocals have a bristish nasally feel to it, but it works well in the songs they play. Though I have to say Colin Meloy (the singer/acoustic guitarist) can't change the sound or pitch of his voice at all which bothers me greatly. Also there is no subtlety in the music whatsoever. All the metaphors and similes are so obvious that it leaves very little left to the imagination. I realize that folk music rarely has a hidden meaning, but in the songs that are supposed to have those hidden meanings, The Decemberists paint the message in neon paint and shout it out to the world. But if you like music where the lyrics explain everything to you. this is the perfect C.D. for you.
The songs are almost all stories of love and tragedy and the such. The riffs are really addictive and get stuck in your head. But they are calming and easy to remember so you won't go insane. I should point out that this is the best "I feel sad and lonely and I want music to help me really cry" C.D.
My favorite song off of this C.D. is Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then). Laura Veirs guest stars and it is really up beat compared to the rest of this C.D. I think the harmonious duet really enforces the lost love aspect of the song.
So I suggest you check it out. The following video is the title track, The Crane Wife 1 & 2.

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (w/ Steve Martin and Paul Simon

Its things like this that enable me to stay up until 1:30 am. Steve Martin is such an amazing banjo player. I mean, he makes it possible for me to really, really enjoy banjo and actually appreciate it. And of course Paul Simon is a genius, no actual need to say that. Both of them are such funny guys too, I love it.

Here's a video of Steve Martin and Tony Trischka performing on Ellen



Buy his album on iTunes: The Crow: New Songs for the Five String Banjo

Hello Interweb!

Hello everyone, as previously mentioned by esteemed colleague, I go my the name Mr. Quin or Harley Quin. I chose the name from a series of Agatha Christie stories featuring a man of that name. I am classmates with Mary Ann.
I am a musician (piano, clarinet, guitar) and currently enroll in music theory classes at a local college. I plan on being a musicologist, or a concert performer.
As far as music tastes go, I prefer music that is not mainstream. That does not mean I hate all mainstream music, I just don't enjoy most of it. My favorite artists are:

• Chris Botti (Jazz trumpet player, played one of my favorite versions of My Funny Valentine)
• Gomez (British Rock group, saw them live, great show, cute singers, this is one of my favorite songs by them)
• Wolf Parade (personally, they had the best cd of 2005, Apologies to the Queen Mary, this a song from that c.d. )
• Laura Veirs and The Saltbreakers (a geologist rocker, what do yah know? Solid vocals and great lyrics. The only thing is that I wish they wouldn't have so many mellow songs. This is from their c.d. "Saltbreakers")
• Limbeck ( country-style-rock, they're fun to listen to if you're in "Lets Just Dance" mood. This is a great song by them )

I like to think I have a wide range of musical taste. I enjoy everything from punk and metal to jazz and opera. So if you want to fallow this blog, expect to get an entire spectrum of the music world.
On a side note, if you do email us, please put who you are adressing in the subject. Thanks again!

An Introduction Post

I'm Mary Ann, which is not my given name but a pseudonym that I go by as of like, right now.
Between the two of us running this blog, I am the girl. "Mr. Quin" just happens to be more of a woman.
As for music, I like a lot of different things. Indie Rock is my favorite though. I have a girl crush and it goes by the name of Regina Spektor. She is adorable and talented and I would totally cuddle with that, as opposed to hitting it which sounds too harsh, idk. I am currently a student but not quite of the college variety and when I do get to that point (in 3 years) I'll probably be majoring in Journalism with a minor in Psychology. I have two cats and no matter how annoying they get, I'll always love them. If you want to know more about what kind of music I'm into you can visit my last fm page at last.fm/user/recycledrevenge. Thanks for reading or whatever ♥