This is really beautiful. It’s a new song from Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear.

Sorry that we never made an end of year list or anything. Larissa and I had a pretty busy but really fun break and the list kinda fell through because of that. Who cares anyway cuz we’re looking forward to some awesome releases in 2012. Looking forwards is more fun.

George

First let’s talk about SBTRKT. I recently missed out on an opportunity to see him live here in Chicago because I flew to Philly that weekend to see family. Several of my friends went to see SBTRKT and of those who weren’t kicked out (ha ha!) they said it kicked all kinds of ass. I’m mad jealous. But anyway here’s a live studio recording made for the BBC of SBTRKT’s “Hold On”, a song which is well in contention for bets song of the year.

hold on (live at maida vale for bbc 1xtra) by sbtrkt

Next is James Blake. I’ve had the opportunity now to have seen him twice in Chicago. Both times blew my mind to say the least. Here’s a performance of his song “CMYK” from this summer at Pitchfork fest where I saw him the first time. I’m was to the right of the stage if you wanna look for my head It’s incredible how full of  a sound he gets with just three guys on stage. The band’s coordination also is incredible as, if you can notice, the guitarist and drummer trade off triggering the song’s characteristic vocal samples.

On this chilly and windy day in Chicago I feel like sharing. Gonjasufi’s 2010 album, A Sufi and a Killer was released back in March but for some reason it took me this long to get into it. On the playlist I’ve included two tracks. The first, titled “Sheep”, is an example of the really dreamy 60s pop production that is featured on some of the songs while the second, “Ancestors” is an example of the FlyLo production featured on many of the tracks on this album. But more significantly, “Ancestors” features Gonjasufi’s incredibly soulful vocals. His voice is like detached from my normal perception of what vocals should sound like. And the production in general swarms around your head flies on a hot day (but it’s chilly and windy in Chicago…) WHATEVER.

Okay I gave in; “Kowboyz&Indians” is actually better than the two songs I put on the playlist so I’m putting this youtube embed here for prominence and just in case none of y’all check the playlist (because I have this creeping suspicious none of you check it but I just put google analytics on the player so now I can check fo sho).

PS Even though this post is hardly timely, I decided to post it because this album has the potential to show up on some end of year lists, including ours and this is an important thing to think about yo.

Some metal band playing at Reckless Records. Note the 7-Eleven across the street where I got a Slurpee.

Yesterday was Record Store Day and in honor of it I biked to Reckless Records, a cool record shop in the loop, to check out the scene. I was surprised to see a live metal band playing in the tiny store. It was great fun but I didn’t end up buying anything. Anyway, two new Record Store Day releases that stuck out to me as prominent were a 12″ from Beach House and a new new new new song from Blur! Wow, how many years has it been? Anyway, here’s what I have to say about the releases: the Blur song is excellent and it almost seems like a part of a bigger picture and I would die to get a Blur release this year. Graham Coxon’s guitar throughout, and especially at the end, reminds me of why I care.

The Beach House track, meh… It sounds like a Teen Dream outtake, which it probably is but if you haven’t had enough Beach House then go for it but I wouldn’t have spent money on the footlong (12″ release) if had been able to find it in any of the record stores I went to yesterday. I went to two by the way. The second one was this cute store closer to campus that I walked into on my way to dinner at Ribs n’ Bibs. Dinner at Ribs n’ Bibs was great though. I had a “Bronco Burger” with fries and slaw for three dollars. What a steal!

Beach House – The Arrangementbysubpop

Oh, by the way, download the Blur song here and you can listen to a high quality version on our player.

Thom Yorke has ever wanted to do was make dance music.

If you’ve listened to The Eraser though, you’d hardly ever guess this was the case but if you look closely, Thom has left us some subtle clues. Most obviously, a lot of his stage presence is centered around his awkward squirmish dancing (perhaps his inability to dance normally stems from his inability to make traditional dance music/or vice versa). However on Sunday when I saw Atoms For Peace, Thom’s solo band, play at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, I thought to myself, “by George, he’s done it!” What I meant is that Thom finally was playing really groovy dance tunes he had been going for since his college days as a DJ. The live band he assembled perfectly transformed The Eraser into an album of dance music. The entire floor was dancing more erratically and consistently than I’ve ever seen at a Radiohead concert. Even Thom’s onstage dancing was a bit more like normal. It was a powerful performance.

The Full Band at the Aragon playing Black Swan

Flea, Thom’s bassist, was an even more incredible dancer than Thom and commanded the focus on stage almost as much as Thom did. I think at one point they were trying to out-dance each other. Flea not only made the concert more visually appealing (a beautiful light show really fit the mood of the performance) but I think he is the reason that the songs turned out so well. His bass playing was infectiously sick and without him I doubt the concert would have been half as good. The bass line on “Black Swan” was especially milky and made me wanna go “Oh YEAH!!!!!”

The main part of the concert was them playing straight through The Eraser and without a doubt, every song sounded far better live than recorded with the exception of “Analyze”, which just sounded muddy and confusing live.

Thom Yorke playing "Airbag" on his acoustic. Note the Lighters.

The band played a seven song encore with the first half of it being Thom solo. Highlights from the second act were Thom playing “Like Spinning Plates” (a sublime performance) and “Airbag” which surprisingly sounded like a Neil Young tune and had people waving their lighters at the end.

It was a fast paced, visually pleasing, and very, very danceable concert. The crowd was fun and I’d give a lot to be able to go back to it. Wow.

Anyway…

Flying Lotus' Cosmogramma

Lastly, I want to say something about Thom Yorke’s opening act, Flying Lotus. This guy is like the next DJ Shadow. His beats is ILL and he’s not bringing it next level, he’s making a whole new level for himself. He’s already got the production credits, the incredible mastery of splicing, looping, and layering, and most importantly, he’s got Thom Yorke behind him. I can’t believe that after that entire concert, the only piece of audio I can offer you guys is a leak from FlyLo’s next album. I mean it’s the best new song I’ve heard all year but I stood there at the concert thinking I was recording the entire concert binaurally (which would have been a trip to listen to) but alas the recording sounds like robotic vomit as a result of super hard clipping. But don’t be sad, cuz this track kicks serious ass; it’s sure to make your head spin.

LISTEN

EDIT:
I found these videos of “Black Swan” and “Harrowdown Hill” from the concert I saw. Good example of Flea’s awesome playing and personality on stage. The quality of the audio is not such that you can really tell how incredible the bass playing was but at least it’s better than what I came out with.

Reckless Records

On Monday I found myself in Wicker Park, a cute hip part of Chicago. There I found “Reckless Records,” an old Chicago record store and upon entering it I felt this warm happiness I hadn’t felt since I last entered the now out of business “City Light Records” from back home. I immediately raided the discount CD rack where I found countless favorites of mine as well as some albums I’d been meaning to pick up. I walked away from the store with 3 of the latter having only spent 7 dollars. That’s pretty good considering one of the discs I picked up was The Smashing Pumpkin’s double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.

So, now I’d like to share with you a selection from each of the records I picked up.

Nico - Chelsea Girl

Click Here to play the selected tracks.

First from Nico’s Chelsea Girl I’m giving you “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams.” It’s a beautiful song with a string/flute arrangement that is to die for. With the recent activity of female singers such as Joanna Newsom and Charlotte Gainsbourg I thought Nico would be relevant.

Second is “Cupid De Locke” from The Smashing Pumpkin’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. It doesn’t really represent the Pumpkin’s sound at the time (though it was varied) but I love it for being very ahead of its time and straight up pretty. It’s almost reminiscent of something from Merriweather Post Pavilion, no? Regardless, take one from the kings of alternative.

Lastly is “Bandit” from Neil Young’s concept album Greendale. Although I believe Neil Young is having a hard a time writing a song as awesome as his old classics, I still think his music is relevant because he’s experimenting with formats and forms for his music. He’s an innovator and that is something I really respect. Listen to the song closely because this song, along with the album as a whole is really good at connecting with the listener –the way Young’s voice and his words just tear at you. It’s very pretty.

Anyway, enough of that. Go out and support your local record store, if you are still fortunate enough to have one. Where else you gonna get such kickass deals and such knowledgeable service?