My Records of the Summer

Tomorrow I leave for my second year of college. I'm taking a two-day train across the country to Chicago, and most likely will be without internet access. In my final hours at home for the summer, I'm going to write a bit about the albums I spun the most this summer. As with most of the lists I do, they don't represent what I think are the "best" albums, just the ones I personally favored the most.


Ratatat - LP3

Ever since their first album (which I loved immediately), it's taken a while for their newest material to grow on me. There have been a lot of times where I just wanted some instrumental to fill in the silence, and that's given me a lot of time to absorb this album, and I've come to find a place for this album just as I have for their other two. "Mirando" always packs a twittering punch, and "Dura" got a lot of spins as well. From the sound of the album and the song titles, this somehow has tinges of Spanish and Eastern influences, which is experimentation enough on the great electronic formula Ratatat have for me. I remember a lot of critics wondering if the "gimmick" of their first album could spawn others, and I really admire their ability to keep finding new ways to make electronic instrumentals interesting.



Girl Talk - Feed the Animals

I was really not impressed when I saw Girl Talk perform at Northwestern in the winter, so this album really came out of left field for me. I didn't pay anything for it, as Gregg Gillis offered it up for free (you can kind of see why, considering all the songs he samples freely and with complete reckless abandon). For some reason this album rang differently to me. Where on other albums I'd feel frustrated by how fast the samples were burned up to move through a song, I felt that they lingered just long enough to capture our attention, and then moved onto something else at the right time. I danced many times to this entire record at parties and in the car over the course of the summer, and I was really taken aback at how much I like what he did on this record. I love being able to laugh at what he's sampling (the moment "Steal My Sunshine" comes on for 10 seconds is the best shout out on the entire CD to me, though "In A Big Country" is a close second). I had so much fun listening to this album in the past couple months; it'll always be linked to anything I remember from this summer, and that's the best praise I can give it.



The Hold Steady - Stay Positive

I remembering reading about The Hold Steady for the first time the summer before my senior year of high school when a RollingStone writer called them the best band of the decade. Since I'd never heard of them I picked up their debut and have been hooked ever since. Boys and Girls in America is a really hard album to top, but Stay Positive is another in a line of very consistent, very strong records for the band. They deserve all the critical praise they get, and while there's no song here to match my favorite from the last "Hot Soft Light" there are some great barn burners. "Constructive Summer" was an early song of the summer favorite for me, and "Sequestered in Memphis" was played many a time as I drove the highways with my windows down. I really dig the earthy feel of the album art and how it fits the Americana storytelling of the record. I just really like seeing a good band put out something deserving of their name.



Black Kids - Partie Traumatic

I never did get around to commenting on the ridiculousness surrounding the debut album of the much-buzzed about Jacksonville, FL band, so I guess now comes my compressed and delayed reaction. Pitchfork gave their debut EP an 8.4, and then inexplicably gave their full-length debut a non-review of 3.3 just nine short months later. I've seen a lot of internet reviewers trying to build and break down hype with their writing alone, but this case got out of hand quickly. The review smelled terribly of Pitchfork drumming up an audience for itself rather than making good on its intended purpose of reviewing and reacting to music in a helpful and informative fashion. It was more in tune with this Onion article than any well-written review they've ever posted.

Buzz and backlash aside, they did release four tracks from their debut EP re-recorded along with only six other tracks, but I still really like the album. I think the best four tracks close out the record, beginning with their awesome single "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You" and continuing through "Love Me Already", "I Want To Be Your Limosine", and "Look At Me (When I Rock Wichoo)." It's some nice dance-rock, and if people could focus on the music instead of the cloud of internet whining trying to grab at people's attention, everyone could see the strong record underneath it all.



Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst

A song that overstays its welcome and lasts too long for its own good is painfully bad. Conversely, a fantastic song that ends too soon is a masterful achievement. Clocking in at just 1:12, "NYC - Gone,Gone" was my favorite song of the summer, and ever since first hearing songs from the record I've been absolutely hooked on it. Aside from the fifty second interlude that is "Valley Mistico (Ruben's Song)", there is not a single weak song on this record. Somehow Oberst found himself using his own name and freeing himself of his longtime producer down in Mexico. From the opening notes of "Cape Canaveral" to the closing of "Milk Thistle" I was stunned. I've liked a lot from his past three records, but this album rang out a "return to form" vibe, and never gave it up. "Eagle On a Pole" is a standout, as are "Danny Callahan" and "Moab." Like I said, it's hard to pick a bad song from the bunch, and it's one of those rare albums that I can listen straight through without skipping a single track.



Bloc Party - Intimacy

It's taken a couple weeks, but just like I thought, the new Bloc Party album is already growing on me. I spin "Halo" a couple times a day, and "Trojan Horse", first single "Mercury" and "Biko" get frequent plays as well. I didn't like the places Bloc Party was growing towards, but now I've accepted the direction and enjoy the sounds. There's less angular, typical guitar work here and much more of Okereke's ideas at play here, but the other members do fill in the bits in fantastic ways. The bells in "Signs" shimmer nicely, and there are still a few walls to be broken down in "One Month Off." They do sound a bit like they didn't their ideas air out to a public reaction before settling on a final draft, but it's still a really enjoyable record, especially for a rabid Bloc Party fan like myself.


There you have it, my records of the summer. Hopefully some of the big profile fall releases will prove to be worth their salt, and maybe this year I'll actually get around to posting a list of my favorite records of the entire year.

The Dying Summer: Best Albums

Summer officially ended on September first, so as Labor Day Weekend bids adieu to the warm season, I thought I'd put up a list of my top records released over the course of this summer, ranked in no particular order. Some may come as a surprise, and a few actually surprised me with how long they stayed stuck in my head and stereo these past few months. There are a few samples of the records, but they are all great, so go out and buy one for future enjoyment.


Under the Blacklight - Rilo Kiley

Okay, so I've now gone back and listened to Rilo Kiley's earlier albums, and I think I'm starting to understand why longtime fans are pretty upset over the departure this record is from their previous sound. That being said, I still think its a half hour masterwork of pop music. I can't skip a song, even the fan hated lead single "Moneymaker". The last couple songs are pitch perfect, as is my favorite track, "Breakin' Up"


Once Original Soundtrack

Every summer I used to attend a big music festival in the Bay Area and make a great personal discovery in the form of a band I'd never heard of before the concert. This year, for the first time in many years, I was unable to go, so I had to turn elsewhere to get my summer fix. Then Once came along, the indie film sensation, accompanied by its soundtrack, a collection of collaborations between the film's two stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. I love every single track, just like I pretty much adore every scene in the movie in some way. "When Your Mind's Made Up" and "Fallen From the Sky" come from the studio scene in the movie, which was far and away my favorite in the whole film.


Interpol - Our Love to Admire

When I was in 8th grade, I saw a festival the day before I graduated middle school. Interpol was on the bill, but I had never heard of them. After their half hour set, I was breathing heavily from having endured pounding sound waves to my chest because Carlos D's bass was turned up so loud and hammered out of the speakers at the crowd; in other words, I was hooked. While their debut Turn on the Bright Lights remains my favorite album, I still like this album, their 3rd release. I'll have another post up in the future about my exact gripes with the album, but they boil down to a lack of Carlos D and drummer Fogarino on the tracks. Even still, "No I in Threesome", "My Chemistry", and lead single "The Heinrich Maneuver" are standouts enough to keep this album on constant rotation for me.


Is Is EP - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

The first time I saw YYY's live was like a religious experience for me. Karen O was going nuts onstage, Zinner was freaking out on guitar, and the crowd was going wild. I just love the band, and especially their second album. I've been a fan since their EPs a couple years back, but Show Your Bones really got me listening heavily. This EP, much like reviewers have been saying since its release, sounds a bit like a combination of SYB and their debut Fever To Tell, which is more of a compliment than a criticism in my mind. It has the catchy melodies and riffs like SYB and a dash of the raw energy on FTT, and it was over much too quickly for my tastes. Yes, it's an EP instead of a full length record, but as far as summer releases go, this one is a winner.


Riot! - Paramore

Normally, I would only indulge in this kind of music as a guilty pleasure. I got started listening to Paramore after becoming a fan of Be Your Own Pet, sort of a raunchier, dirtier version of this band. They've got somewhat of the same dynamic, passionate, outgoing female lead singer, but something on this record struck a chord with me and I've been listening to it over and over throughout the summer. I don't know why, but it just works for me when it's pumping through my stero while driving through the heat or just chilling out around the house. By the time a year-end list rolls around, I doubt whether this record will make the cut in my mind in terms of "best quality music," but in terms of summer entertainment value, Riot! acts like a kick-ass summer blockbuster flick, and seriously rocks out.


Samples:

Rilo Kiley - Give a Little Love
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Rockers to Swallow
Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova - If You Want Me (Once Soundtrack)