The Animal Show » Dave

Top 10 Songs of 2009

Edward — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:27:39 +0000

It’s time to refocus, kids. Yes, we’re all excited that it’s finally 2010 and Lost will be returning soon and that maybe the Apple tablet will be released and hovercrafts, etc. But the Show is not done looking back. No, in vintage .org form, we have returned to the task at hand much later than promised. I would make another promise to continue to post regularly, but I don’t make promises I can’t keep (New Year’s Resolution 20-10, y’all). Today we bring you our 10 favorite songs of 09, and tomorrow you’ll get our favorite mashups. It was one smash-banger of a year, and I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say I miss the hell out of it. Oasis, you may be gone, but you will never be forgotten. You and I are gonna live forever, Noel. Team Noel forever. Liam can go straight to h-e-double-hell.

Oh, and here are the songs we liked:

#10: Drake – “Best I Ever Had”

The best thing about the year-end lists, in my opinion, is that it often gives us a chance to talk about guilty pleasures we would otherwise be too embarrassed to share. By my count, there are 3 such songs on this list; I’m writing about 2 of them. Drake has it all, ladies and gentlemen: the blessing of Lil’ Wayne and Kanye, the sort of street cred attainable only by appearing as a regular character on Degrassi: The Next Generation, and a voice that could make angels shit their pants (do angels wear pants?). “Best I Ever Had” is derivative, it’s repetitive, and it will stay with you, so that whenever anyone does anything you appreciate you find yourself saying (depending on whether you favor the radio-friendly version, or, like this foul-mouthed writer, the real version), “you da fuckin’ best” in your best Drizzy voice. It’s a hot jam, and leads me to believe that the R. Kelly signature only-somewhat-subtly-sexual-song approach to music may actually be the apex of musical composition. -Edward

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Drake – Best I Ever Had (YSI)

#9: Grizzly Bear – “While You Wait for the Others”

There are many reasons why a song is the most popular song off of the album, and many times, they are not the same reasons why a song is the best song off of the album. But, in the case of “While You Wait For The Others,” these reasons do seem to be in concert. I’ll explain. Veckatimest is a very good album. What keeps it from greatness is an inability to put together all of their skills—good orchestration, dynamic contrast, catchy melody—in the same song on a consistent basis. Incidentally, these are the same reasons that many songs get radio play, because put together, these traits form a sweeping melody with emotion to carry it along. “While You Wait For The Others” is one of the few places where Grizzly Bear gets it all together, and it sounds great. It makes it the best song off of a good album, radio worthy, and shoo in for top ten tracks of the year. -Dave

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Grizzly Bear – While You Wait for the Others (YSI)

#8: Edward Sharpe and Magnetic Zeros – “Home”

Look at them in that picture. They’re so happy! All that energy and excitement you see in that picture, I feel in this song. The driving backbeat under whistling and trumpets give the feeling of trekking over previously unchartered territory, but Edward Sharpe and the gang are willing to take you along for the ride. You’re in the wagon, and they tell you a story with folksy honesty, evident from the girl/boy interplay to the less-is-more philosophy in the simple chorus of, “Home/Let me go home/Home is wherever I’m with you.” You tap your feet, hum along, sing along, and before you know it, you’re smiling. “Home” is a prescription dose of happy pills shot right through your ear canals into your brain, and while you’re smiling, you’re thinking that there’s nothing wrong with that. -Dave

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Edward Sharpe and Magnetic Zeros – Home (YSI)

#7: The Black Eyed Peas – “I Gotta Feelin’”

This song is completely retarded! But you knew that already; negative reviews, serious and comedic, abound for this track. Its inclusion in this list is thanks to the uncanny way that it touches any listener with the same reassuring and convincing message: tonight IS going to be a good night. Just watch the Oprah season opener again with any individual middle-aged or better — they’ve seen it already — and observe them boogie modestly to the inescapable beat. While you’re at it, notice that the Peas lack talent as live performers, but immediately forgive them because they gave the world a song that delivers unfailingly the message that it is now time to party. -Icebergxc

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Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feelin’ (YSI)

#6: Girls – “Lust For Life”

Late in 2009, Edward sent me a message that was like “hey have you heard of Girls you tend to like things that people desribe as ‘jangly’ so you might like this.” I was like “well yeah I’ve heard of Girls they’re all over Pitchfork’s best new everything list how could I not have heard of Girls numbnuts?” But the problem was, while I had heard of Girls I had not heard Girls. And so I went and got myself a copy of The Animal Show’s 8th favorite album of the year, ‘Album’. I listened to it. And the first thing I said to Edward after hearing the album in it’s entirety was ‘man, I wish they had just released a 7″ EP of Girls/Laura.” And that’s because every track after “Lust For Life” is totally forgettable due to “Lust For Life”’s greatness. You hear it, and its catchy jangling guitars rip apart any want or will to hear anything else. You must hear the bizarre croon of Christopher Owens over and over again as he sings about the harsh reality that clashes with our most desirable dreams. You must feel the beams of sun hit your face again and again as you travel about in San Franciso’s Mission District. And right as the repetitive garage-surf riffs start to get slightly annoying, the song jumps off the pool deck and into an aquatic sounding, finger-picked soft outro. Simply sublime. -Marquis Meowmers

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Girls – Lust for Life (YSI)

#5: Miley Cyrus – “Party in the USA”

Could every person who has never lost their voice singing to this at a party please raise their hand? If you’re raising your hand, congratulations, you probably look like a moron. I hope nobody’s watching. The nice thing about “Party in the USA” was that it was a guilty pleasure you didn’t have to hide. Everyone loved this song. Everyone loves this song. Everyone will continue to love this song. Oldies stations will devote entire hour-long blocks to this song in 2020, and we’ll still be sad when the hour’s up. This song reminded us that it’s cool to love our country. We stood and saluted Wal-Mart, KFC, and liposuction, and the tears rolled silently down our cheeks. We danced pantsless around a fire of Dixie Chicks albums, and we were glad. We tea-partied, surged, and gave shout-outs to God in our tweets. We stuck our thumbs in our belt-loops and hootenanied like there was no tomorrow. It was a damn good year, and it’s all thanks to Miley. (Oh, and also the poor nameless male-pattern-baldness sap stuck somewhere in a 1960’s office building who wrote the song under the flickering hum of a flourescent light.) We salute y’all. -Edward

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Miley Cyrus – Party in the USA (YSI)

#4: Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”

As a New Yorker, Jigga’s unendingly epic ode to the greatest city in the world was an integral part of my year. Getting to blast, “Shit, I made the Yankee hat more famous than the Yankees can/ You should know I bleed blue but I ain’t a crip though” as I popped bottles to celebrate the Yankees was a fantastic gift. Who cares if it was played at Game 2, the ticker-tape parade, every other NYC event, and on every radio station in the country 237 times too many. Does that detract from how incredible it is? No way. This track has too many extraordinary rhymes to be ignored, from “Mommy took a bus trip and now she got her bust out/ Everybody ride her, just like a bus route” all the way to “MDMA got you feeling like a champion/The city never sleeps better slip you a Ambien.” Not to mention how Alicia Keys belts the inspired chorus, and Stephen Colbert’s rap debut for “Empire State of Mind Part 2″. All in all, this song will forever be associated with ’09 and its ass-kicking greatness. – DFJacobs

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Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind (YSI)

#3: Kid Cudi featuring Kanye West and Common – “Make Her Say”

Every facet of the hella hot “Make Her Say” screams best rap song of the year. The beat, like the song itself, is catchy and imaginative, improving upon everyone’s favorite Lady, the Gagski. Cudi’s supporting cast is top notch with Kanyeezy and Common spitting sweltering hot verses. And while both are impressive, Kanye’s submission is possibly his best since he signed up late for college. “I’ve got seniority with the sorority/ so that explains why I love college/ getting brains in the library ‘cause I love knowledge” and “fuck the bus, the Benz is parked like Rosa(osa)” explode out of his mouth and into your ear like one of Weezy’s hand guns (too soon?). “Make Her Say” was indubitably one of the more iconic and quintessential 2009 songs, and is more than worthy of its place near the top this list. – DFJacobs

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Kid Cudi ft. Kanye West & Common – Make Her Say (YSI)

#2: Phoenix – “1901″

Tainted as it was late in the year by its appearance in a Cadillac commercial, 1901 shines as an anthem. When it first dropped, many were predicting that it would be one of the big songs of the summer. However, by avoiding a seasonal meteoric rise, it has settled into a hot slow burn that will keep it fresh for a long time to come, despite its dangling above death by advertisement. – Icebergxc

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Phoenix – 1901 (YSI)

#1: Animal Collective – “My Girls”

Are you shocked? If you don’t like this song it’s probably because, “hey it’s pretty good but it just got overplayed” which is my own pretentious diatribe about brilliant songs that get too popular, and thus are not cool to like anymore (’Paper Planes’, I’m sorry). So, yeah, Animal Collective isn’t making ‘Sung Tongs’ anymore. Bummer. And everyone (and I mean everyone) likes them now. Bummer. But you have to face the truth at some point: bands that are THIS good will almost certainly get mainstream exposure sooner or later. In the animal kingdom that is popular music, bands can either evolve or die. Part of evolving is exposure. And, yup, Animal Collective evolved. But what they haven’t evolved into is shitty husk of their former greatness, crapping out the same mediocre money maker after the other. Instead, Animal Collective has evolved into an unstoppable pop machine capable of ruling the earth with an iron fist of infectious rhythms, catchy hooks, and brilliant song composition.

The first time I heard ‘My Girls’ was when it was inexplicably leaked on various blogs and music forums in the waning weeks of 2008. Having spent a solid month or two checking the internet twice a day for MPP leaks (and getting Rick Roll’d not once, but twice in the process), I finally got a hit around December 14th. I found a stream of ‘My Girls’ on a message board, and naturally, I listened to it. And then I listened to it again. And again. The first time had access to ‘My Girls’, I listened to it so many times that I was 20 minutes late to my first class. And then, in between classes, I listened to it two more times. Why? BECAUSE IT WAS THAT FUCKING GOOD. I wrote about it in my personal blog. I claimed that ‘My Girls’ would be the best song of 2009. And here we are. The best song of 2009.

I shouldn’t have to describe this song to you. You’ve heard it. You’ve rated it a ‘5′ on your iTunes, favorited it on you Last.FM, and clicked the ‘heart’ button next to it on HypeMachine. It was on every mixtape you gave to your crush, you heard it 5 times a day on your college radio station, and it got played at least thrice at every party you went to. It’s just that kind of song. The infectious bass brings together the layers of electronic melody in an amalgamation of ‘experimental sub-cultural capital’ and ‘pop accessibility’. In other words, this song has something for everyone: the synth nerd, the lyrics freak, the girl who ‘just wants to dance’, the guy who is trying to get with her, and all those people who have “everything” listed under the ‘music’ section of the Facebook ‘About Me’ page. And it’s because they all love this fucking song, regardless of whether or not it’s for the same reason you love it. So go ahead, scoff a little bit and then give it another listen. You and I both know it wont be your last. -Marquis Meowmers

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Animal Collective – My Girls (YSI)

BEST ALBUMS OF 2009 — #10-6

Edward — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:20:33 +0000

The trek towards our favorite album of 2009 continues, as today we give you numbers 10 down to 6, available after the jump.

Here we go:

**#10 – Circle of Fifths – Milkman**

The two greatest mashup albums to date were released this year. While this is excellent news for mashup addicts and college-aged partiers alike, it’s quite unfortunate for Circle of Fifths. Because Milkman’s sophomore release arrived in the same tragic year (think Billy Mays and Tiger’s career) as Ethan Ward a.k.a E-603’s Torn Up, the Show has designated Circle of Fifths second best. Milkman is truly a master of his craft, and he creates some of the most seamless and technically sound mashups ever made. The album is perfect for those diagnosed with “musical ADD,” filled with eclectic, “Prius-shaking” tracks galore. The standout of the cd is definitely “Rap Music is Beneath Me,” featuring an unbelievable mash of “Still D.R.E.” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” that WILL bring tears. – DFJacobs

Milkman – Rap Music is Beneath Me (YSI)

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#9: Hospice – The Antlers

The first time I listened to this album, I was struck by how pleasing it all sounded, and yet, no single song separated itself from the rest. I figured that eventually this feeling would fade, and the continuous fabric of the album would turn into patches woven together. Even to this day, though, this has not come true. Sure, I have songs that I like on the album more than others (the song “Bear” comes to mind), but I can’t sit down and listen to one song on Hospice without letting the rest play out. As the title suggests, the album lyrically tracks the care of a terminally ill patient, and as the content would suggest, the narrative goes from care, to love, to death, to the deep contemplative haunting that only death can provide. It provides it all at once, with impressive subtlety.

But it doesn’t limit itself to its own lyrical constraints. I found out for myself one day when I was at the South Orange, NJ train station on Halloween, waiting for a train to take me into New York. The day was gray, and all were sullen faced except for one woman in her mid-twenties on a cell phone who possessed a voice so sharp MacBeth may have effectively used it to stab Duncan. Eventually, more people eventually filed in—groups of college age girls dressed in slutty maid costumes giggling in noisy clusters, even happier looking couples waiting with weekend suitcases. Everybody there, from the sullen, to the content, to me, at the train station waiting to be transported somewhere else. I watched this entire scene form before my eyes, and Hospice provided me with the perfect soundtrack to such dynamic discord. It chronicles not only death, but a clarion clear message of displacement—a struggle to hold on indicative of today. Its sounds echo through those train station walls as support for all of those in transit somewhere or towards something. These days, isn’t that everybody? – Dave

The Antlers – Bear (YSI)

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#8: Album – Girls

The new Girls cd was so wild that it was rumored to have been produced by Joe Francis (I apologize for making a “Girls Gone Wild” joke, but this was too easy). Indie critics and fans alike have “gone wild” for the aspiring lo-fi group who made bursting onto the Indie scene quite easy for themselves by making a truly great record. The standout for me, was the “Costelloesque” vocals of Christopher Owens. I was able to convince almost every prehistoric (over 35) family member that Girls was really a new Costello-helmed project. And really, that’s a huge compliment. I love Elvis (Costello), and Girls really took the sound so much farther than simply Costelloesque, creating a fun and promising debut. – DFJacobs

Girls – Lust For Life (YSI)

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#7 Ray Guns Are Not Only Just the Future - The Bird and the Bee

It’s a clunky name, and it’s not even true: ray guns don’t exist—yet. I voted this album as the best album of the year. It is not. Not even by a long shot. But I think that The Animal Show’s scoring methods nicely balanced out my folly, and this album landed in the seventh place, where it more or less belongs. This is me, cheating the system (and grammar rules). In any case, this album is definitively good, in my opinion. My only regret is not doing this for Hospice instead. In a year where I feel as though music tried way too hard without commensurate reward, I found Ray Gun’s sound really quite pleasing, and I would much rather listen to it than, say, Merriweather Post Pavilion (and I realize this discredits my opinion and all future opinions I offer in life). Listening to it is like transporting yourself into the opening credits of a Sean Connery-era James Bond film, and you never have to put yourself out too far to gain this experience. While some pieces of the album have their more melodramatic moments that are worth listening to, it’s really at its strongest when you don’t necessarily think while listening. Songs like “Diamond Dave” and “Love Letter to Japan” are great fun, and the title track “Ray Gun” has an electro-lounge cool that’s not necessarily innovative, but it’s extremely well done. - Dave

The Bird & The Bee – Ray Gun (YSI)

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#6 Torn Up – E-603

It would not surprise me if, at some point in the future, I were to look back on 2009 as the year in which I last had any interest in long-form compositional sampling. There are certainly serious restrictions on the genre — namely, that there is an alarmingly finite number of good acappella tracks, and one can only hear a mashed up version of “Jump Around” so many times. However, the biggest nail in The Coffin Gillis Built may be this monsterpiece of an album, which nailed the rollercoaster ride every good mashup cd should be. Others may point to Feed the Animals as mashup’s finest hour, but I’ll hold tight to Torn Up. No mashup artist has E-603’s fine-tuned command of pairing up emotional peaks, and every ounce of tension and release possible in a song is present in Torn Up. While Something For Everyone perfectly played to the typical mashup elation of “hey, I know both these songs! And they work surprisingly well together!,” Torn Up creates a new rhythm and drama for the genre, teasing samples in and out and making the climaxes that much more example. From top to bottom, the album weaves magnificently through genres and years, all while maintaining the professional sheen and personal grace we’ve come to expect from E-603. It’s hard to imagine the genre getting taken much further. – Edward

E-603 – Lights Out (YSI)

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CHECK OUT THE STUNNING CONCLUSION TO OUR LIST HERE

BEST ALBUMS OF 2009 — #15-11

Edward — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:29:15 +0000

Well, folks, that time of year is upon us yet again. The Animal Show returns from its examtime hibernation to bring you our favorite albums of 2009, giving you a handy guide for using all the iTunes, Amazon, and local independent record shop gift certificates you got for that holiday you just celebrated.

This is how this is going to go down: today, we’re counting down from #15 to #11. Tune in at this time tomorrow for numbers #10 to #6. Then, on the day after that, we’ll hit you up with #5-#1, and then finish out the week with our favorite songs and mashups of the year.

Unlike last year, this year’s list had input from all of the writers (even that asshole icebergxc, who cast votes for one album and 20 mashups). We split up the blurbs between writers, so that whoever was most excited about the albums at hand ended up writing about them. Make the jump to see the first five

#15: Tarot Sport – Fuck Buttons

Fuck Buttons won over my heart in 2008 with Street Horrsing by booming with an electro beat while humming with a brutal harsh noise that commanded you to turn your speakers to 12 or 13 or whatever was higher than your highest setting. Well executed and masterfully mixed, the record was unique in that the only critique I could launch at it was that it was too expansive, lacking the cohesiveness of a more mature album.

2009’s Tarot Sport accentuates the British duo’s spectacular ability to clash beautiful melodies with crushingly heavy drone and noise, while adding the sense of cohesiveness that their 2008 debut lacked. My favorite moment of the album comes two songs in: after establishing a sense of energy on the first two tracks, the album slows a bit, opening up into a deep groove on ‘The Lisbon Maru’, which builds upon itself in both layers of sound and intensity, until it explodes into a gooey and dreamy mess of high pitched screeches, low drones, and the continually marching melody. Be careful with this album, it’s easy to put it on only to realize that 58 minutes have slipped away from while you floated along with this masterpiece. – Marquis Meowmers IV

Fuck Buttons – The Lisbon Maru (YSI)

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#14: Up From Below – Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

Edward Sharpe & rhe Magnetic Zeros blew up the only way a band playing a jangly brand of alt-country influenced pop could: by genuinely professing their emotions with simple vocal hooks and extremely catchy melodies. On From Below’s opening track, lead-vocalist Alex Ebert professes, “I’ve been sleeping for 60 days / nobody better pinch me / bitch I swear / I’ll go crazy,” a seemingly goofy line, with such honesty in his voice that it’s impossible to not feel an emotional connection with him (assuming that you have a. the capacity to feel and b. that you have experienced [or wish to experience] the kind of love he is describing). Of course, it helps that his female vocalist and frequent duet partner Jade Castrinos is his current love interest, making their chemistry on songs like ‘Carries On’ and epic closer ‘Om Nashi Me’ simply sublime to hear. The album’s peak is the mind-blowingly catchy ‘Home’, a track on which Jade and Alex trade expressions of love for one another with such authenticity that it is nearly impossible to not feel the hairs on your neck stand on-end as you recall the last time you entangled your limbs with those of a significant other’s. This album is an ode to true love, and one of the most honest portrayals of an emotion that is notoriously difficult to express. – Marquis Meowmers IV

Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros – Home (YSI)

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#13: Dragonslayer – Sunset Rubdown

If I were to describe this album in one word, it’d be “epic.” If you were to give me multiple words, I’d say, “Almost every song is like Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Jungleland’ in proportion and ambition.” I’ll come back to the one word again. “Epic.” – Dave

Sunset Rubdown – Silver Moons (YSI)

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#12: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

I can’t necessarily speak for their hearts, but their sound is pure. And by pure, I mean pure The Cure-type alt-rock. They almost sound late 80’s-mid 90’s to me. Add some Cranberries to The Cure. I don’t mean that to discount what they’ve accomplished here on their debut album. This is an awesome album that’s great to listen to, and they’ve even managed to pull off the coming-of-age love story thing without seeming cliché. They are lyrically clever on tracks like “Young Adult Friction.” The sound is catchy and untiring, as there are many layers here, yet they all lie flat and seem distinct. My main complaint with the album is that, unlike a debut album like Why There Are Mountains by Cymbals Eat Guitars, the diversity of the sound just isn’t there. It feels like they picked one thing and stuck with it. But why am I complaining? What they stuck with is pretty damn good. – Dave

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Young Adult Friction (YSI)

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#11: When I See the Sun Always Shines on TV – Nadja

When I See the Sun Always Shines on TV is, indeed, Nadja’s attempt at a compilation of covers, an endeavor which often ends tragically for most artists. The album opens with a reinterpretation of dream-pop’s most iconic moment: the 1-2-3-4 count off on the snares before Kevin Shields and co. launch into the opening track of Loveless, ‘Only Shallow’. Nadja slows this to half-time, and reduces the dreamy nature of MBV’s layered guitars, replacing them with a simplistic heavy drone, which literally crushes the listener with an immense weight. This isn’t to suggest that the album is aggressive; on the contrary the only song which sounds remotely threatening is the Slayer cover (which is to be expected, it’s motherfucking Slayer). The album is simply heavy, using low tunings and tons of distortion (but never hitting the point of gratuity) to create a unique reading of each song’s source material. And, of course, the sources are unique. Acoustic numbers like Codeine’s ‘Pea’ and Elliott Smith’s ‘Needle in The Hay’ get elegantly loud drone metal treatments, while faster or upbeat numbers like the aforementioned cover of Slayer’s ‘Dead Skin Mask’ and A-Ha’s ‘The Sun Always Shines on TV’ are slowed down and reduced to slow and heavy melodies. The fantastic thing about Nadja’s sound on this album is that the Canadian duo refuses to remain rooted in drone or stoner or dream metal, adding in elements of shoegaze (‘Only Shallow’), grunge (‘The Sun Always Shines on TV’), death metal (‘Dead Skin Mask’), and straight rock (‘Needle in The Hay’) making each song sound unique while never losing a sense of cohesiveness. Having sampled some of Nadja’s other work, I can safely say that When I See The Sun Always Shines on TV is both their most accessible and accomplished album, and possibly one of my favorite albums of the decade. - Marquis Meowmers IV
Nadja – Only Shallow (My Bloody Valentine) (YSI)

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No for real, Happy Christmaholiday season.

Dave — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 16:35:40 +0000

NOT like this.

In a little while, we’ll be posting our year end lists. That will be our true present to you, our readers. Promise. But for now, we’re stuck in the true holiday season, full of great cheer, excepting for the mostly loathsome genre of Christmas music. Thankfully, there are a few songs that are decent. Some of them are new, some old, and none of them from the last post qualify. Try these out for sound today.

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It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas – Bing Crosby (YSI)

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Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town – Bruce Springsteen (YSI)

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Christmas Time Is Here – Vince Guaraldi Trio (YSI)

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Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas – Cast of Sesame Street (YSI)

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River – Joni Mitchell (YSI)

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In The Bleak Midwinter – Chanticleer (YSI)

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The Christmas Song – Nat King Cole (YSI)

At least it goes to charity?

Dave — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:15:51 +0000

Not FROM the heart. That's even worse.

Bob Dylan says that all the proceeds to this album go to charity, specifically, solving world hunger. Well, as my dad said, “They all say that, and yet there’s still world hunger.” Right on, dad. But while Dylan is out “doing good” with this album, he doesn’t mention the true reason this album is worth the price of admission: you can drop fifteen dollars into UNICEF and receive the satisfaction derived from doing good, OR you can drop your fifteen dollars into purchasing Christmas in the Heart and gain endless hours of entertainment, for what Bob Dylan never mentions is that, in this case, charity and hilarity come hand in hand. And Christmas in the Heart provides hilarity in huge dollops.

You pop the album on, and you hear the quintessential sounds of Christmas music: slick sounding production, smooth choral harmonies, sleigh bells. Indeed, it sounds like a throwback to the better days when Bing Crosby or Nat King Cole dominated Christmas. Then, the voice comes, and while I understand that some defend Dylan’s voice these days, saying that he chugs along admirably after all these years, those that say his voice is good are lying. Those that say his voice suits Christmas have consumed the Kool-Aid.

What saves the album, ultimately, is Dylan’s confidence in his song, though it is a VERY misguided confidence. He sings with such conviction, regardless of whether he sings the proper melody, or proper lyrics. In “Here Comes Santa Claus,” he opens right up with pronouncing the word “lane” with an emphasis I’ve never heard on the word, and likely never will hear again. Dylan doesn’t do anything egregiously wrong on “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” and it’s clear he knows the song, but his voice in juxtaposition to angels makes me chuckle. Hearing him strain to sing, “angelic” makes the song. He sounds like he’s that guy that crashes a party and forces himself into every photo (melody) in “The First Noel”–and that party is the church choir party. Finally, I’m convinced he DOES NOT KNOW the true words or melody to “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” In a way, it feels like grandpa scratching to relive his childhood Christmas memories–an idyllic early studio soundtrack plays over a scene of hot drinks enjoyed by a warm fireplace–but only if grandpa has a penchant for going somewhere, forgetting where he was going, becoming very confused, but rolling with it anyway.

In the end, this Christmas, if you want to get in the spirit, you may be best served listening to something else. But if you want something to laugh about for years to come, regardless of the season, pop on Christmas in the Heart. Oh yeah, the proceeds go to charity…

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Here Comes Santa Claus – Bob Dylan (YSI)

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Hark the Herald Angels Sing – Bob Dylan (YSI)

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Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Bob Dylan (YSI)

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The First Noel – Bob Dylan (YSI)

Getting the Spinanes.

Dave — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:15:45 +0000

Alien Bob Dole and Bill Clinton don't know what it means to spinane towards freedom.

We’ve all been busy of late, I’m sure, and that means a lack of posts. These day are the college student’s most difficult: the final days of fall term. Especially in colder climates, the challenges are numerous. Living is hard when the temperature makes only brief spikes above the freezing point, and the labors of work become all the more laborious. It’s a good thing I’m not a college student, and I’ve spent the past week or so in much warmer, slightly more sunny California, doing nothing but enjoying life.

Now that I’m back in the northeast though, and there’s nothing like the cold and my high school home make me think of the past. Like the album “Arches and Aisles” by (the) Spinanes. I found it one day when I was in my local library, not having ever looked around in their CD collection before. Organization was an afterthought to their configuration of albums, so naturally, I proceeded to judge the albums not by the artist, but by the album art–hues of green and vague designs of flowers. I guess I was in that kind of mood that day. That’s how I started my relationship with “Arches and Aisles,” and it’s one of the (increasingly few) lasting relationships I have from high school.

If it weren’t for the sound of the album, though, I probably wouldn’t be talking about it now. The opening track, “Kid in Candy,” is a pretty catchy number with pretty tricked out percussion for the mid to late nineties. The lead singer, Rebecca Gates, fits the kinda breezy-voiced female vocalist that I took to those days, and I continue to find myself drawn to. Her voice seems to have a smooth reverb attached to it, but it’s probably the way her voice naturally sounds (which could be disconcerting when talking to her in person). The instrumentals are sparse in mid-nineties tradition, but the instruments seem well thought, and are carefully placed to create maximum effect. Overall, there’s a good amount of cool that comes from the album.

It does have a few duds in the middle of the album, and it does lose a considerable amount of energy towards the end. But the song, “Heisman Stance” is a good song, and it’s the high point of the album in a fairly unique way. It’s a song that eternally questions, and strips down the instrumentals to a series of calls and responses. Really, it embodies all the concepts presented in the previous songs in the most essential way possible. It doesn’t mean that it’s a song that I’d listen to again and again, as it’s slow and seems to resist the hookiness present in the early part of the album, but I definitely appreciate it.

Put all together, it’s an album that sounds like it knows what it wants to be, even in it’s seemingly indecisive pop/anti-pop attitudes. It just seems like everything is there as it should be, whether bouncy or melancholy, hooky or meandering. There will be moments like now in the future–the times when I am slightly uncomfortably cold, yearning for even a college final to grab onto, and I know I’ll search for this album and listen to it. Overall, it’s not something that I’d consider musically great; it’s just too inconsistent. I think ultimately, though, the greatness, and the reason why I come back to this album so frequently has nothing to do with music or consistency. It has to do with attitude, and “Arches and Aisles,” though eternally cool, has it in abundance.

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Kid in Candy – Spinanes (YSI)

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Greetings from the Sugar Lick - Spinanes (YSI)

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Love, The Lazee – Spinanes (YSI)

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Heisman Stance – Spinanes (YSI)

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A Long Way

Dave — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:55:34 +0000

It really hurts me that they're friends.

So, of the greatest surprises of this year is the fact that the soundtrack for the movie “New Moon” is actually a solid piece of work. With tracks from Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, The Killers and more, it is the vampire’s siren song to lure unknowing hipsters and steal away their souls for all of eternity. It really does have some good tracks, but being as I’ve only previewed the tracks on the Amazon mp3 store, my soul remains in good repair.

Really though, this soundtrack is just the latest in the line of attempts by the Twilight series and its offspring to sully the reputations of people with otherwise good taste. Take, for example, the story of Bobby Long. Not only does he share the name of the titular character in a movie that is remembered for little else than an ample dose of Scarlett Johannson’s side-boob, he’s also a singer-songwriter that has scratched his way to stardom through London’s open-mic circuit. Unfortunately, sometime in those dark years, he met and befriended everybody’s favorite vampire, Robert Pattinson, and helped him write his song on the previous Twilight movie’s soundtrack.

But not all is lost! Bobby Long is now starting to come out with more of his own music, and his latest EP, Dirty Pond Songs seems to be a pretty good time from the brief snippets of a listen I’ve had of it. Unfortunately, for now it’s only available at his live shows. Here’s an earlier version of a track from it that’s been holding me over in the meanwhile.

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Bobby Long – Dead and Done (YSI)

Driving me crazy!

Dave — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:30:22 +0000

Yeah, I thought of this, too. But not this.

For the past few months, I’ve approached few things with such a singular purpose as the cause I am about to present. I bring it to you perhaps for this reason: though I’ve put so much effort into it, I’ve come up empty, and I’ve reached the end of the road as far as my options.

Some months ago, I was at a friend’s house watching TV. It was a commercial break and I very rarely expect good things from commercial breaks. I glanced down to my laptop, deciding to try to publish another one of my hastily-written and published pieces for The Animal Show, when I hear music. Sweet cello sounds, undoubtedly copped from a Yo-Yo Ma recording of Bach’s Cello Suites (and indeed, upon looking it up, it seems to be from Yo-Yo Ma’s interpretation) came drifting from still-yelping television. Both my friend and I look up to find none other than Hugh Laurie in his Emmy-nominated role as Dr. Gregory House. He’s on the phone, delivering lines of snarky wittitude. This much I expected, and there was something soothing about hearing sarcasm over Bach. But after the line, the music stops–then suddenly, it turns into many cellos, many instruments, transforming the piece into something you’d have tea over to something you’d play as you siege Helm’s Deep. In slow motion. Epic. See for yourself below.

I’ve probably overrated the piece, but it’s what obsession is wont to do. It’s this piece that I’ve been trying to locate for the better part of three months since seeing that House preview. I can’t find it, and judging by the fact that comments on that YouTube clip dried up about a month ago, I don’t think anyone else can either. Anyone out there wanna help a brotha out?

In the mean time, I’m left with the plain old Bach Cello Suites. Which is, by the way, not a bad thing at all.

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Bach: Cello Suite #1 In G Major, BWV 1007 – 1. Prelude – Pierre Fournier (YSI)

And music to take over Poland (or Helm’s Deep) to:

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Wagner: Ride of the Valkyries – Leonard Bernstein (YSI)

And music to encourage peace and prosperity in your new world:

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Dvorak: Symphony #9 In E Minor, Op. 95, B 178, “From The New World” – 2. Largo – Rafael Kubelik: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (YSI)

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Support Local Radio!

Dave — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:04:10 +0000

Or at least my local radio station.

So as much as we’d like to be your only source for musical discovery, and though we’re proud to have, as a staff, the undisputed best music taste on the internet, I’ll have to admit: there are other places you can go for your music. The ‘machine is a pretty good source of things, but I’d like to be on it more than I’d like to use it. Usually, I lean on poor Edward here for new music discovery. Sometimes, I turn on the radio.

Now, most of radio is junk. Pretty unadulterated junk. It’s good if you want to blast The Fray (who wouldn’t?), but not so good if you want to listen to the Noisettes or even Vampire Weekend. For that, I turn to my local 88.5, WXPN. They’re funded in part by the University of Pennsylvania, but local businesses also pitch in, and they have membership drives every so often. All in all, they operate much like an NPR station: no commercials, mostly good stuff, occasionally annoying membership drives. They mostly focus on indie/eclectic sounds, so no mashups, but you’ve got the Show for that, right?

They also support “The World Cafe,” a radio and concert series hosted by David Dye. Through this concert series, they’ve brought several notables like Andrew Bird, Phoenix, Avett Brothers, Grizzly Bear, and a few more to local venues, and several of them, like Andrew Bird, have held free lunch concerts at the radio station that anyone can attend. All in all, it’s a great source for free music, and a great asset to the city of Philly. It’s why I’ve decided to become a member recently, and for my pains, they sent me the latest compilation of recordings from these lunch time concerts.

If you’d like to listen to them online for free, you can do so at http://www.xpn.org. Their stream will open right into the mp3 app of your choice, and you can listen away! If you wanna hear some of the tracks from the World Cafe, they are below.

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Crying – TV on the Radio (World Cafe Live) (YSI)

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Daniel- Bat for Lashes (World Cafe Live) (YSI)

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Just Like Heaven – The Cure (World Cafe Live) (YSI)

Live, on air, it’s The Animal Show show (Now with a playlist!)

These Streets.

Dave — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:15:26 +0000

Nighttime on the streets of Philadelphia.

So, I’ve had some tough times these past few weeks that have prevented me from really posting. Really not tough times–more mitigating circumstances. The hard drive in my computer started to shit the bed, so I was two weeks without great access to my music, which really put a damper on things. Local area baseball also recently came of note, then, much to the dismay of me and everybody around me, just as quickly went out of note. Now, my hard drive is starting to shit the bed again, which means lots of messy cleanup, and probably another two weeks without great access to my music. Goodbye, for another two weeks. Perhaps this is why my mood is slightly down.

It could also be because I’m listening to “The Streets of Philadelphia” on repeat. I was up in New York last weekend to watch my teams (Phillies, Eagles) beat their teams (Yankees, Giants). Somewhere in the process of watching that become only partially true, someone clued me in to the brilliance of Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” (which of course the Show covered blog years ago). It’s like a modern, rap update of “New York, New York!” It is what foxy bingo online and other computer games are to old-school things like Scrabble and a deck of cards. Revolutionary. Exciting.Returning to Philadelphia, I set out on a quest to try to find a song that matched its spirit in anyway.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, nothing. We’ve got something that blares at almost every event here in Philadelphia in Elton John’s “Philadelphia Freedom,” but honestly, that song was irritating twenty years ago, and much more so today. Also dated: “Motown Philly” by Boyz II Men. Sorry, it’s true. What else do we have? A semi-good re-dub of “Empire State of Mind” called “Ill State of Mind?” It’s not bad, but it’s lyrics are not nearly as timeless. In fact, they’re irrelevant now, having called for the Phillies to repeat their bid for the World Series. Also, the video is balls to watch. Willy Nelson’s “Philadelphia Lawyer?” Not exactly flattering. G. Love & The Special Sauce (remember them?) came out with a song called “I-76″ that’s actually really a pretty solid song, but it focuses on basketball, which has been dead to the average Philadelphian for the last decade. So that leaves “Streets of Philadelphia,” whose sound is always relevant, and whose lyrics are always depressing–but not more so than the fact that this song best represents Philadelphia at this juncture in time. And that leaves me. Where I am. Eventually I’ll snap out of it. Or move…

For Philadelphia, there’s hope for the next year, and another parade. But, more pressingly in my mind, there’s another year to come out with something as kick-assingly Philadelphia as “Empire State of Mind” is kick-assingly New York. But in the spirit of area-based pessimism, I won’t get my hopes up.