Highly Anticipated Fall Albums

I'm so far behind on the albums I've listened to and would like to review, I will likely never catch up--so, sorry about that. But there have been three albums released in the last month that I was really looking forward to, and even though I haven't really absorbed any of them yet, here are some quick early impressions...

The Dodos - Time To Die
So far this album falls squarely in between the previous two Dodos albums in terms of how much I like it. It's not quite as catchy as Beware of the Maniacs, but it's definitely more accessible than last year's somewhat disappointing Visiter. The third album is often a death knell for bands, but I think The Dodos still have some life in them. "Fables", the song in the following video, is pretty representative.


Thao (with the Get Down Stay Down) - Know Better Learn Faster
Of the three albums I'm writing about here, this is the one living up to my expectations the least. That may be because I had the highest expectations for it since Thao's last album, We Brave Bee Stings And All, was my favorite album last year. Where that album was kind of light, silly, and sexy, this album is often dark, dirty, and sexy. It was a big shift in tone (other than the sexy part), and I guess I was a bit jarred. It might grow on me, but I'm pretty sure it won't crack my top 10 or 20 of the year. Still, "Cool Yourself"'s a pretty good song (though not particularly representative of the rest of the album):


Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy
Of these three albums, this is the one that surpassed my expectations. It's not that I don't expect a lot from Built to Spill--Doug Martsch and co. are hands down one of my favorite bands. But they've made a lot of albums, and there are some misses along with the hits. Since I really enjoyed their last album, 2006's You in Reverse, I didn't want to get my hopes up too much. I needn't have worried. I would say There Is No Enemy is on par with Keep It Like a Secret in terms of how much I like it, though they are both very different albums. This album is a little more bitter than usual, but the clever lyrics and massive guitar are still there. Whenever I really need to have my ears barraged by guitar, I know Built to Spill is there for me.

The video below is fan-made, but it's the only way I could get this song on here. "Things Fall Apart" is long, kinda depressing, and has some NSFW lyrics...but it's also pretty awesome.

EJP's Top Irregular Albums of 2008

I had a post like this last year, so I figured I better get the ball rolling with this post. Actually, I'm not going to be quite as ambitious this year with the end-of-year lists. I leave for Germany in a week and have metric buttloads of stuff to do before then. I'll be condensing things a bit this year, and no way will there be a top 30 like last year. Sorry...as it is, I'm up way past my bedtime tonight.

Best 2006 album that wasn't purchased until 2008: The Dodos - Beware of the Maniacs
I already raved about this album extensively much earlier this year, so I won't really go into any details here. The Dodos got some good press in 2008 with the release of Visiter, their followup to this album, but I have to say I think BofM is the better album. It's more of a fun album, in any case, and it's still getting a lot of play time with me.

Best Reissue 2008: Andrew Bird - Music of Hair
This one wins by default because I think it's the only reissue I purchased this year. No, that's not true...I got something by Mission of Burma and hated it. It's no secret that I'm totally crushing on Andrew Bird's music, so this pick should not come as a surprise to anyone who reads this blog. That said, Music of Hair is not for everyone. In Bird's own words, "It is sort of a relic from the time before I got my conceptual shit together.” That sounds about right. The styles of the songs are spotty and the singing (what little of it there is) is fairly weak. There's little if any of the trademark whistling--the album is all about the violin. Lucky for me I enjoy the violin in nearly any style, so I found the album a great listen. I haven't had it for very long, so I can't really say I have a favorite track. I'd say it's a nice album to have playing in the background while preparing a Sunday dinner.

Best EP of 2008: Ben Kweller - How Ya Lookin' Southbound? Comein...
I also didn't get many EPs this year, but I'm glad I picked this one up. Generally when a rock artist "goes country", the result is pretty disappointing. But Kweller pulled this one off with aplomb. I genuinely liked every track on this EP, and I would go so far as to say that "Things I Like To Do" and "Sawdust Man" are two of BK's better songs as of late. This EP definitely whet my appetite for the upcoming LP. I'd say it was a must-have for any Ben Kweller fan, and even a should-give-a-listen to nonfans, though it's not really representative of his previous work.

Best Soundtrack of 2008: ???
I think the only soundtrack I bought this entire year was Juno's, which technically came out in 2007. I suppose that it'll have to count, but if anyone has any other recommendations, let me know. Not that the Juno soundtrack was bad, but I'd rather heap praise upon Kimya Dawson for...

Best Children's Album of 2008: Kimya Dawson and Friends - Alphabutt
This is a new category for me, and it's actually pretty competitive. My son listens to plenty of my music, but he's also got a growing collection of kids' albums, all carefully selected by me (which means no Rafi). Alphabutt won this one hands down. It has very, very little educational value, and let's face it, Kimya Dawson can't sing worth shite. But guess what? Kids don't care. These songs are fun and delightfully immature. There are several songs about farting, and I'm totally down with that. Farts are funny. My son might not appreciate this album much now, but he will. This'll be the CD we can only play when mommy's not home, because she loathes it. This is not to say die Frau isn't fun, but unlike me, she is usually unable to regress her sense of humor back to age 7. Oh well, more fun for the boys...

We Have a Visiter

At the risk of practically shoving this band down everyone's throats, I highly encourage you to check out The Dodos if you haven't done so already. I just listened to their new album, Visiter, and it was as great as I expected. Since I've already raved about this band at length in an earlier post, I won't get too wordy. Though to some extent the novelty has worn off (considering the number of times I've listened to their earlier album over the last few months), it just all comes down to this being my new favorite band. Hell, even Pitchfork gave this album an 8.5, so for once the Pitchforkers and I agree.

There are a few more instruments tossed in here than there were on Beware of the Maniacs, and there's 5 songs that actually break the 6 minute mark, but they don't feel like long songs. The insane drumming and strumming makes even the longest songs whiz by. This video of the album's stand out track, "Fools", should give you a taste of what you're in for here.

Album Verdict: Like visiting and exciting foreign country for the second time, and realizing that the place is only getting better with every visit.

Food for Your Ear Holes

Poor Evelyn Is Not Real wants to hear some good music (according to the most recent post on his blog). As you wish, my friend.

I'm going to try not to rave about this album too much, but it did fall into the rare category of albums that I liked from beginning to end on the very first listen. The group is The Dodos, the album is Beware of the Maniacs. And it is good. Very good.

What's that you say? A drummer and a guitarist? It's been done. The White Stripes have done it. The Black Keys have done it. All to acclaim. But this is different. If I could turn off the guitar tracks and just listen to the percussion, it would still be good, even great. This is heart pounding drumming, not just bang bang on the snare drum. The guitar, though not as unique as the drumming, is still excellent.

And to top it all off, the song writing is top notch. The song "Neighbors" easily describes my neighbors, and though songs called "Horny Hippies" and "Nerds" may sound like novelty items, I assure you they're perfectly legit. But start off with "Trades & Tariffs", which you can hear on the group's MySpace page. If you don't like this song--if it doesn't leave you wanting to hear more--then by all means, go back to your Britney Spears album. No, please don't. Just listen to this album. You can thank me later.

Oh, and this is actually a 2006 album that I just discovered recently. They're coming out with a new album in a few months and I'll be the first in line for it.