Friday, December 30, 2011
2011
Albums:
#9 The King of Limbs - Radiohead
This was my, and I expect many others, most anticipated album of the year. New Radiohead? That's the stuff that dreams are made of. And while this album is certainly not Kid A, Ok Computer, or In Rainbows, it's still as viable and gorgeous as a couple seasoned veterans can be. Containing some of Radiohead's most optimistic and dreamy works, some tracks are decent experiments ("Bloom"), some are great ("Lotus Flower"), and a couple are extraordinary ("Separator"). While I'm sad to see Radiohead's inevitable fate to become the elder craftsmen as opposed to the innovators, this album is one glorious transition, and can proudly stand among the bands life changing, music shifting, world creating works.
#8 Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes
The Fleet Foxes are giving us all exactly what we want to hear, and that is more of their gorgeous harmonies, fantastic lyrics, and wonderful arrangements on their anything but a slump sophomore release. With some absolutely knockout tracks such as "Grown Ocean" and the title track, this album reminds me of a much simpler time, even though I'm not sure I've ever actually experienced the simpler time it makes me think of. It brings me to a top of a mountain, breathing in the freshest air possible, and holds me up with the wind. And lets me believe that I could be a "functioning cog in some great machinery serving something beyond me".. Now that's a folk album.
#7 Tomboy - Panda Bear
Another hugely anticipated record for me, following one of my all time favorite, and deeply loved albums "Person Pitch", initially, this record was a let down for me. After many listens, I can more deeply appreciate it for what it is. No, it's not Person Pitch, and it was never trying to be. A much darker and more subtle record then the one that preceded it, it contains some of Panda Bear's most moving songs ever written ("Last Night at the Jetty"), while also evoking a mood that while still sunny and happy, contains a glimpse of darkness. While Person Pitch was idealistic, loving, and like a warm blanket, Tomboy is a realistic, stern, reflection of life. Panda Bear still has much music in him, I know, and while he may never achieve the beauty of Person Pitch again, it's great to know he still has music like this in his mind. I can certainly live with that.
#6 Strange Mercy - St. Vincent
St. Vincent has been around for a little bit, and has made a couple albums, and while all of them have been good, she finally hit the perfect mark with this one. I've been wishing that St. Vincent would finally come around and hit her perfect stride for a while, and for that to finally happen made me truly ecstatic. On standout tracks like "Cruel" and "Surgeon", we can finally see Annie shine the way she was always supposed to, and makes us look forward with immeasurable confidence for her next move. Because of Strange Mercy, I can say that I am very excited for the next St. Vincent album.
#5 James Blake - James Blake
I don't know about my list! I don't know about my, list anymore! All that I know is, I'm loving, loving, loving, loving... might as well love James. If anybody listened to his assortment of EPs that were released last year, the music on this album would have been the last thing we expected. While his EPs were pure post-dubstep insanity, this album drifts much closer to a singer/songwriter album then anybody could have predicted. But the great thing about James Blake, is that he can actually sing and write songs, so there is certainly nothing wrong with what happened. James Blake is most certainly one of the most promising artists to come around in a long time, and it's only fitting that his studio debut is stunning.
#4 Kaputt - Destoyer
On paper, the idea behind Kaputt sounds extremely awful. Smooth Jazz mixed with Electronic and Indie Pop? But somehow, the band who is more famous for contributing members to The New Pornographers then as an actual unit, pulled it off. And they pulled it off with immense style, creating a record that ebbs and flows perfectly. The standout tracks "A Suicide Demo for Kara Walker" and the title track prove by themselves that this concept works, and works extremely well. Destroyer has been around for quite a while, but it sounds like they finally found their niche. I just never thought that they would sound this good at something so strange.
#3 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost - Girls
Wow, I love this record. I always love it when a back to basics, pure rock and roll band comes around and proves that rock and roll, in its purest form, is still as viable and exciting as it was in 1955. But beyond that, to get a perfect idea of what this record sounds like, imagine The Beach Boys, Black Sabbath, Lovin' Spoonful, and My Bloody Valentine all had a child. Not getting how on earth they did that? Me neither, but that's what it sounds like. The vast types of rock and roll this record covers is alarming. "Honey Bunny" and "Magic" are the most pop sounding and instantly accessible, but "Love is Like a River" and "Forgiveness" could be the standouts, with their emotional complexity and arrangement. Girls have given me back an excitement for rock and roll that I haven't felt for a while, and I'm so excited for their next release. But this one, certainly, is good enough for now. Man, I love this record.
#2 Bon Iver - Bon Iver
If you would have told me that Bon Iver would have made a masterpiece following For Emma, Forever Ago, I honestly probably would have laughed. For Emma, Forever Ago, is an incredible album, without a doubt, but it's aura is surrounding it's legend much more than the acutal innovative quality of the music. However, Bon Iver shocked us all when we first heard "Calgary", and showed us his new choral, gorgeous arrangements of sound. And all I wanted was to hear more. Sure enough, when this album came out, and I heard "Perth", then "Holocene", and finally "Beth/Rest", I was convinced. Bon Iver is much more than just a guy who recorded an album in the woods. He's a musician, capable of writing and arranging complex music that can still intimately touch your soul. And this album sure touched mine.
#1 Hurry Up, We're Dreaming - M83
Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is a double album. This can mean a lot of different things to a lot of people. Where The White Album and Exile on Main Street were incredible, we need not look much farther than at Sandinista! to find where that concept was taken to excess. Before Gonzalez released this album, he was comparing to the the likes of The White Album and Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Hefty comparisons, to be sure, and I, like many others, didn't believe a word of it. We scoffed. But then I bought this record, closed my eyes, and listened. And let it take me through the looking glass. Fittingly, this record takes you through a dream. Through cities, countries, forests, and among the stars. And once you wake up, you're still trying to grasp the exact beauty you just experienced. I still am. I, like so many others, love it when an artist does not shy away from going big, and succeeds on every level. But more than that, the reason that this album is the best album of the year, is because years from now, this will still be the 2011 album that I'll be trying to understand and emulate. Maybe I'll never fully get it. But that won't stop me from letting it paint those dreams in my head.
Songs:
#10 Rolling in the Deep - Adele
#9 Super Bass - Nicki Minaj
#8 - Someone Like You - Adele
#7 Countdown - Beyonce
#6 Grown Ocean - Fleet Foxes
#5 Kaputt - Destroyer
#4 Last Night at the Jetty - Panda Bear
#3 Holocene - Bon Iver
#2 Midnight City - M83
#1 Separator - Radiohead
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
I Know you love me, for all the reasons everyone hates me
:)
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Update, Update, Update!
Good morning all you lovely rays of sunshine, it's time for an update on what Passing Faces has been doing to bring good stuff 'bout.
First off, we have done some gigs this summer (significantly less then we hoped) that took us all the way up to the Ogden area for the 4th of July, down to Pleasant Grove to participate in an attempt to break the world record for the longest ongoing concert with multiple bands (the key word here is attempt, unfortunately they didn't make it. They will try again though.) and, in Spanish Fork, we participated in the '11th Annual Booth Bros. Battle of the Bands.' Here we had a blast playing Charlotte Phrase, My Cartoon Wall, Tuesday, and Spoon. The judges were generally happy with our performance, but we didn't place, yet the night was not a total loss! After the battle we talked with one of the other bands there (Monster Under the Bed) and they really liked our stuff. We exchanged contact information, so hopefully next time either of us have a concert, you should expect to see the other one there, if scheduling works out, haha.
Well, I think that is all the concrete information that I am allowed to give you now (If I say any more McKay will beat me.). Now it is time for us to part ways. Stay fresh, stay hip, and always, Bring Good Stuff 'bout.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Disposable Dixie Cup Drinking
Anyway, some tracks I've been listening to
People Get Ready - The Impressions
You Send Me - Sam Cooke from Portrait of a Legend
Georgia on My Mind - Ray Charles
Ignition (Remix) - R. Kelly from The R in R&B Collection
I Say a Little Prayer - Dionne Warwick
Walk On By - Dionne Warwick
Bye Bye Love - The Everly Brothers
Love Me Tender - Elvis Presley
Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley
In the Ghetto - Elvis Presley
The Book of Love - The Magnetic Fields
Louie, Louie - The Kingsmen
Deja Vu - Beyonce (feat. Jay-Z) from B'Day
Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliot from Miss E.. So Addictive
Jesus Walks - Kanye West from The College Dropout (which may or may not be the greatest rap song I've ever heard)
:)
Friday, July 22, 2011
snap crackle pop old rice krispies commercial
This may be the greatest commercial of all time. Why don't we have commercials like this anymore?
Friday, July 1, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Still as Starlight Reflected in Fountains
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqYsPUjJW64
Endless Summer - Fennesz from Endless Summer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGcPwGqPHO0
Grown Ocean - Fleet Foxes from Helplessness Blues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewkhr8dM86M
Montezuma - Fleet Foxes from Helplessness Blues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdN2bfov9JQ&feature=related
Night Falls - Booka Shade from Movements
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThRdMVK2PuY
Calgary - Bon Iver from Bon Iver
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbJy1zeoDn4
Lindesfarne II - James Blake from James Blake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nETHMx_5x58
North American Scum - LCD Soundsystem from Sound of Silver
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmm14g4cAFc
Y.G.H. - Ricardo Villalobos from Alcachofa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFDCy38qlQk
Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel from Peter Gabriel (Car)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fF8wU4Nl9Y
Dance Reaction - Metro Area from Metro Area
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpspmD5-GTM
Separator - Radiohead from King of Limbs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIui7QAhe5g
Lalibela - Caribou from Swim
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-hQxYCKNQQ
:)
p.s. I'm adding the YouTube links so hopefully it's easier for y'all to go check out some great music. :)
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Dream Pop Daze
Take Me To the Other Side - Spacemen 3 from The Perfect Perscription
Market - Luomo from Vocal City
Take Care - Beach House from Teen Dream
I Only Said - My Bloody Valentine from Loveless
Ponytail - Panda Bear from Person Pitch
Last Night at the Jetty - Panda Bear from Tomboy
Archangel - Burial from Untrue
The Boy With the Thorn In His Side - The Smiths from The Queen is Dead
Stereo Sanctity - Sonic Youth from Sister
Tempted - Squeeze from East Side Story
O, Dana - Big Star from Third Sister/Lovers
Cut Dead - The Jesus & Mary Chain from Psychocandy
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
My Cartoon Wall
And by Masses, I mean you.
It's still a work in progress, and this is mos def (ask yourself, where am I going? How am I doing?) just a scratch recording. But it's definitely good enough for your opinions, so please, give them!
http://www.box.net/shared/jq7g4ubtde
:)
Sunday, May 8, 2011
This Is the Definition of My Life, Laying in Bed in the Sunlight
Songs:
1: Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks
2: Gold Soundz - Pavement
3: Teen Age Riot - Sonic Youth
4: A Day in the Life - The Beatles
5: All My Friends - LCD Soundsystem
6: Over the Hills and Far Away - Led Zeppelin
7: Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead
8: No Surprises - Radiohead
9: "Heroes" - David Bowie
10: My Girls - Animal Collective
11: Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen
12: Jesus etc. - Wilco
13: Bros - Panda Bear
14: Europe Endless - Kraftwerk
15: Happy - The Rolling Stones
16: I Can Change - LCD Soundsystem
17: Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
18: Stralafur - Sigur Ros
19: The Modern Age - The Strokes
20: Dry the Rain - The Beta Band
21.Dead End Street - The Kinks
22. Summertime Clothes - Animal Collective
23. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart - Wilco
24. Good Girl/Carrots - Panda Bear
25. Hallelujah - Jeff Buckely
26. Common People - Pulp
27. Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones
28. Shine a Light - The Rolling Stones
29. Death of a Clown - The Kinks
30. Let Down - Radiohead
All right. Now, the next list is in no order. It's the only way this was at all possible. Whew. Okay.
Albums
Ok Computer - Radiohead
Kid A - Radiohead
The Bends - Radiohead
In Rainbows - Radiohead
Revolver - The Beatles
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles
Low - David Bowie
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society - The Kinks
Something Else By The Kinks - The Kinks
Person Pitch - Panda Bear
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
Loveless - My Bloody Valentine
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain - Pavement
London Calling - The Clash
Exile on Main Street - The Rolling Stones
The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground
Their Greatest Hits - The Eagles
Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin
In The Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
This is Happening - LCD Soundsystem
Selected Ambient Works 85 -92 - Aphex Twin
Murmur - R.E.M.
Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth
Rain Dogs - Tom Waits
Kill the Moonlight - Spoon
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
Pink Moon - Nick Drake
MTV Unplugged in New York - Nirvana
Remain in Light - Talking Heads
The Blueprint - Jay Z
The Low End Theory - A Tribe Called Quest
Reckoning - R.E.M
White Blood Cells - The White Stripes
The Who Sell Out - The Who
Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin
Rumors - Fleetwood Mac
Merriweather Post Pavilion - Animal Collective
Funeral - Arcade Fire
Artists:
1: The Kinks
2: Radiohead
3: The Beatles
4: David Bowie
5: The Rolling Stones
6: Led Zeppelin
7: The Velvet Underground
8: Pavement
9: Animal Collective/Panda Bear
10: The Who
And that's the end. :)
*This is trademarked by Toby.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
2010
#3 Halcyon Digest, Deerhunter
Deerhunter has been around for a while, but it wasn't until this little beauty that they created something amazing. Microcastle was good, and while it was experimental enough to warrant conversation, it was not consistent enough to warrant ridiculous praise. All that has changed with Halcyon Digest, as the whole thing shimmers with amazing atmosphere and melody, and hence why Halcyon Digest, as of yet, is the best thing they've ever done. And why everybody is giving it ridiculous amounts of praise, because it's a band fulfilling their amazing potential.
Earthquake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijurnaMqLxg
#2 My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West
I do not like Kanye West. I'm just going to come out and say it up front just to avoid any confusion. I think he's a prideful, supremacist, arrogant and extremely rude guy. Hence why there was a blatant absence of any sort of nod on my 00's list (albeit he probably deserved one, Late Registration is one of the better rap albums). But I cannot deny that this is not just one of the best rap albums ever made, but it could quite possibly be THE best rap album ever made. This isn't your typical hip/hop album, consisting of near rhymes, repeats of the same line over and over again, Dr. Dre esque beats, and obnoxious references to their fake gangster life or how rich and amazing they are. This is something else entirely. Kanye took rap and made it operatic. Consider this the Night at the Opera of hip/hop. Or maybe even the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. With flat out jaw dropping tracks like "Monster" (with Nicki Minaj blowing away the competition with her verse, and the competition is Jay Z), "Runaway", and perhaps the greatest rap song of all time, "Power". And how in the world he produces something like this is beyond me. Is Kanye a jerk? Yes. But is he a freaking genius? Oh yes.
Monster: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXy-6wV5cOQ
#1 This is Happening, LCD Soundsystem
And at the polar opposite end of the spectrum of Kanye West, sits one of my all time favorite lyricists and musicians, James Murphy. Here's a humble, down to earth, extremely talented guy who wouldn't tell you that, guy who's just out to make amazing music. Well, he succeeds incredibly with This is Happening. I believe this to be LCD Soundsystem's magnum opus. Their masterpiece. Of their three albums, the self-titled debut was the worst, although extremely promising, with great songs like "Daft Punk is Playing at my House" and "Losing My Edge". Sound of Silver, which was an amazing improvement from their debut, was an amazing album in it's own right, including the song "All My Friends", which, as you all know, I praise and will continue to praise as one of the greatest songs of all time, and simply the best anybody had to offer of the last ten years. But after that comes This is Happening, which is hands down Murphy's most emotional album, and in turn, best. He promised after Sound of Silver that he was putting together the best one yet, and he certainly delivered. And it's so sad to think that this is probably going to be the last LCD Soundsystem album ever. But what a way to end huh? I couldn't have asked for anything more than the very best album of the year.
All I Want: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLPeQ9U_f-0
Songs:
#5 Slow Motion - Panda Bear (so excited for next album)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn7pQMXQ0-8
#4 White Sky - Vampire Weekend (#4 best album of the year, in case you were curious)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhdqfX44zUM
#3 Runaway - Kanye West
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRzHib-2E28
#2 Power - Kanye West
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=354DRrfhUhI
#1 I Can Change - LCD Soundsystem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW8FKkVnqng
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
The Yorke Swan
Sunday, March 13, 2011
00's Redux
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTnBc_-QCXk&feature=fvwrel)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlxH9-TYseY)