Radiohead: The Collection

Music as a hobby can sometimes get exhausting. It takes time and patience and money to seek out old/new artists, intentionally listen to them, figure out if I like them or not, and why that is… The list of ever increasing bands to listen to although it eventually brings me much joy, can often be daunting. This happened with Radiohead. I somehow missed the Radiohead boat in the 90’s and early 2000’s, and waited until about 2009 to drift among their large wakes. All my music savvy friends tried to get me there beforehand, but I didn’t really have the time to listen to all their albums, sift through their weird shit (that I like now) and find the songs that would produce enough emotional attachment to gateway me into an addiction.

So for those of you who find Radiohead’s discography intimidating, allow me to offer some guidance as to where to get started… You’re going to want to break in through their classics… Fake Plastic Trees, Creep, Karma Police, High and Dry, and then Paranoid Android will start getting you a bit deeper… after falling in love with these ones, go ahead and listen to their album In Rainbows from beginning to end, fall asleep to it, drive to it. And then proceed to become obsessed with Kid A, Ok Computer, and The Bends (probably in that order). From there continue through their other albums, and b-side tracks as you like, decide upon your personal favorites, and argue about how they’re the best band in the world at parties. I know this wasn’t much of a review, but the band achieves greatness like no other band in the last few decades… they seamlessly stretch themselves across genres and styles while bearing painful and beautiful truth… it’s undeniable… you’ll be hard-pressed to find a modern artist they haven’t influenced, or inspired. So go ahead, dive in.

Pomplamoose: Youtube Videosongs

You know when it’s 2am, and you see your friend has posted a youtube video on your facebook wall, and so you watch it, and then it’s extraordinarily interesting, and you want more of it, so you click on all the related videos, and then it’s 4am, and you have to wake up in a few hours, and you hate yourself a little bit, but enjoyed the time you spent none-the-less? That is exactly what happened with indie duo Pomplamoose (Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn) and their “VideoSongs” a new medium defined by Conte with 2 rules:
1. What you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice).
2. If you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds).
Although their music is available as mp3’s and the like, I highly recommend watching their videos. It is unbelievably fascinating watching how they break down the complexity of a recording, and achieve all the effects with just the two of them. Also, the music is fantastic. Dawn’s voice brings you back 60 years with a goose-bump producing vibrato, while Conte’s passion and enjoyment of what he does is purely displayed. I’m officially hooked.
Listen to: If You Think You Need Some Lovin, Be Still, and a cover of your choice
pomplamoose website
pomplamoose video song: If You Think You Need Some Lovin

Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago & Blood Bank EP

So I may overdo it every few months: go on a Bon Iver binge, and then have to stay away for a few weeks, because I couldn’t say no to my own repetition addiction, but I always come back, always. Although now accompanied by two other band members, Justin Vernon started Bon Iver (derived from the French term “bon hiver” meaning good winter) and recorded everything for the first album “For Emma, Forever Ago” on his own. His voice may be off-putting the first time it is heard, but once the taste is acquired it's not easily lost. The lyrics are honest and painful, but delivered in a way to purge the pain. The albums were his own brutal self-therapy. His stories are not only told through the acute lyrics but through the layered guitar sequences, carefully chosen hammer-ons, triplets, and repetitive melodic structures. If I were to soundtrack the last year-or-so of my life, Bon Iver would play a huge part.
Listen to: Skinny Love, Blood Bank (But really, just listen to all of them)
http://www.boniver.org/

Arcade Fire: Funeral & Neon Bible

Arcade Fire is in my top 5 favorite bands, and their song “Neon Bible” is my most listened-to itunes song. The band makes chaos sound ridiculously good in a way I believe only geniuses can. Initially roped in by 7 kettles (neighborhood #4) off Funeral, I kept listening because of the band’s incorporation of obscure noises and house-hold sounds, classic instruments and odd ones (the kind I’ve only seen played wrongly in elementary school music classes). Strategic builds and the involvement of the string family gives each song a unique, epic quality. Lyrics range from nonsensical to lofty to full narratives through song, giving each track its own importance and original place, consistently providing albums that don’t just blur together with everything sounding the same.

I believe The Beatles with the song “Hello, Goodbye” were the first modern band (classical masterpieces did it all the time) to veer off into an entirely new melody at the end of a track, almost as if starting a new song. With about a minute left, they break down and fade the melody, and then build it back up into something with a different beat, in a different key, and a different structure while obviously remaining the same song. The Arcade Fire “Hello-Goodbye” some of their songs just as seamlessly, like no-one since The Beatles.
Listen to: Unn Annee Sans Lumiere, Wake up (Off Funeral), and Neon Bible, Keep the Car Running (Off Neon Bible)
http://www.arcadefire.com/

Angus and Julia Stone: A Book Like This

The lyrics and music videos make me want Angus to be my boyfriend, and Julia to be my best friend… The duo is straightforward and blunt in a way that isn’t annoying, or overdone. Their refreshingly original voices complement each other and their knowledge of the laws of simplicity… flawlessly producing deep understanding from their listeners-on, with unmasked tales of lyrical honesty.
Listen to: Mango Tree, Paper Aeroplane
http://www.angusandjuliastone.com/