sonic laundry

3/20/2006

2006-03-20T18:54:00.000-05:00

so here are the best records ever made as of today:
(in no order)
va: history of our world pt 1 (1995)
disco inferno: the last dance ep/second language ep (1993/1994)
lindstrøm: i feel space 7" (2005)
luomo: vocalcity (2000)
scritti politti: cupid and psyche '85 (1985)
....

History of Our World pt 1

2005-03-11T23:53:00.000-05:00

This has been filling my evenings with aboslute unadulterated joy for months now. Do I even like rock music anymore? It's been a while.

2005 - Up and comers

2005-01-09T13:34:00.000-05:00

Music I'm looking forward to in 2005:
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm (debut album)
I've had this for a few weeks now thanks to the magic of peer to peer file sharing, and it's already a pretty sure bet for my top 5 come year end. The first post-punk revival album to sound vital and important to me (I just can't see myself listening to Interpol and Franz Ferdinand in 5 years), it is just damn good pop music. The production is alot crisper and popier sounding than their 2004 singles and it really gives these tracks life.

M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us (follow up the 2003 album Dead Cities, Red Seas, & Lost Ghosts)
Interesting to see where this band goes after the My Bloody Valentine via cheap synths sound of their excellent debut. My bet is they'll go all prog on us, and that isn't neccisarily a bad thing.

MIA - Arular (debut album)
Neneh Cherry for the 00's? Pretty much I guess. But I can't see this album being anything other than white hot. Galang, Sunshowers, and Fire Fire just blew me away in 2004, and the stuff on the Diplo mix sounds great. MIA's gonna be huge in 2005.

Destroyer and Frog Eyes (collaboration album)
The Frog Eyes/Destroyer concert was the best show I saw in 2004. Dan Bejar and Frog Eyes play Your Blues tracks with guitars and drums instead of synths. Thank fucking gosh. This album will be great.

Johnny Boy/Art Brut/Love Is All
Is indie finally coming out of it's slump? It's been boring for years but singles from these three up-starts in 2004 made it very interesting indeed. All have full lengths coming up this year and hopefully they all deliver on their promise.

The Clientele (follow up to the 2003 album The Violet Hour)
My favourite band still in existence is putting out a new record! Interesting to see if they drift even further away from the sixties toward paler hues. I hope so. I think The Violet Hour may be one of my Top 10 favourite albums.....ever.

New Rekkids from:
Justus Kohncke, LCD Soundsystem, DAFT PUNK!!!, Saint Etienne, SCOTT WALKER!!!, Boards of Canada, Mu, Outkast....

Should be a good year. Here's hoping Annie blows up with Heartbeat in February.

Favourites of 2004

2004-12-29T17:59:00.000-05:00

Albums:
1 The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free
2 Junior Boys - Last Exit
3 MIA/Diplo - Piracy Funds Terrorism Vol 1
4 Destroyer - Your Blues
5 The Concretes - The Concretes

Singles:
1 Annie - Heartbeat
2 The Concretes - Chico (Avalanches Wernham Hogg Mix)
3 MIA - Galang
4 Bloc Party - Banquet
5 Alan Braxe and Fred Falke - Rubicon (radio edit)

Various - DFA Compilation #2

2004-11-07T18:36:00.000-05:00

Just got through my first listen of the new compilation from the DFA label. A very generous 3 discs and 30 tracks when compared to the 8 tracks of compilation #1. Never been a huge fan of the label until now. This record is fantastic. The labels sound has expanded from just dance-punk, branching out into disco, electro, and post-punky sounds. This thing is really solid all the way through, including versions of LCD Soundsystems "Yeah" single and a great new track from the Rapture. But it's the opening track (from a band called Black Leotard Front, whom I've never heard of) that could compete for song of the year. It's a fifteen minute (!) disco/funk track that's half silky smooth, half funkadelic nightmare, all the while keeping it's tongue firmly in cheek ("I was leaving the office. I took off my dress. I put on my overcoat. To surprise you in the flesh. ") Hot track.

NY Times article on "Rockism"

2004-10-31T14:03:00.000-05:00

Great article! Perfectly exemplifies my frustrations with most music critics and other music fans in general.

http://ilx.p3r.net/thread.php?msgid=5194564

Destroyer - This Night

2004-10-20T21:57:00.000-04:00

This album is a fucking mess.

Annie - Anniemal

2004-09-28T13:12:00.000-04:00

track by track....

1 Intro 5/5
The synths slowly build up to some kind of monkey orgy and then abruptly cut out before the climax.... "Shhhhh, let's start the record"
2 Chewing Gum 5/5
Sweet sweet sweet. Great intro to the Annie persona (it's pretty much a duet with herself). She sounds sexy, coy and cute as hell here. Great breakdown near the end "I don't want to settle down, I just want to chew gum!"
3 Always To Late 2/5
One of the weaker tracks appears early on the record. Despite adding a dark side to Annie's sound, "Always To Late" never really gets off the ground. It's enjoyable nevertheless
4 Me Plus One 5/5
This one sounds like an update of Orange Juice's lone charting single "Rip It Up" (scoring big points with me). Catchy as hell, with nods to countless 80s touchstones (check out the spoken 2nd verse, and the "Difficult" spell out.) "Feeling good on Top of the Pops"? One can only hope....
5 Heartbeat 5/5
The highest of the highs here. This track just might be my favourite single this year (Me Plus One is close behind.) At the same time uplifting and mournful, Annie's subtle vocal nuances tug at your heart. The whole track is one long glorious climax. Fantastic.
6 Helpless For Love 3/5
A decent, if unremarkable filler track. The chrous "oooooohhhh"s lift this one from a 2 to a 3.
7 Anniemal 3/5
In theory I should love this track. The hooks are there, it has a great bass line, and a really cool extended synth outro. Somehow it falls flat for me. Again, it's still enjoyable. I may come around on it with time.
8 No Easy Love 4/5
Hello early ninties. I like this track more than I probably should. This one sounds like Soul II Soul type urban dance. Plus that sample takes me back to my childhood somehow (though I can't quite place it) Annie's vocals again here are perfect. Reflective and sad. Lovely.
9 Happy Without You 2/5
Probably the low point of the album. All attitude and swagger but nothing that grabs me.
10 Greatest Hit 5/5
The quality shoots right back up with this stomper. This track would sound great during a night out. Big bass line, and a groovy synth squiggle. Intoxicating.
11 Come Together 4/5
A pastiche of early ninties indie-dance (a la Saint Etienne) and the disco (not disco) stylings of Aurthur Russel. A little too sparse sounding for a 5 but it is a definite highlight.
12 My Best Friend 4/5
So sad. Annie lost her soulmate shortly before heading to the studio to record Anniemal and "My Best Friend" is her farewell. Ending the record with the line "There's always someone out there" leaves a bittersweet taste of hope.

Anniemal is half dizzying highs, half enjoyable filler, but that's enough to make it one of this years best records. Certainly my favourite pop record since Kylie's "Fever" Hopefully the charts embace Annie with the same open arms.

Why am I doing this?

2004-09-20T01:22:00.000-04:00

A place on the web for me to write words like "awesome" and "incredible" under pictures of the records I love (at that particular moment.) What's the point? There isn't one except to satisfy my music geek urge to tell anyone who will listen (there's an off chance someone will "stumble" on to the site right?) what songs I like and why they should like them too. Or at least check 'em out. Tell me what you think of it? What's your favourite track? Oh, you don't know the titles? You haven't listened to the whole thing yet.......