sometimes in the fall

http://sometimesinthefall.wordpress.com/ WE MOVED

2007-04-16T16:56:00.000-07:00

yes we've moved, it may be just to try on something a little new for size, or it may be for good, but for now on, dismiss this URL, and replace any bookmarks with this adress: http://sometimesinthefall.wordpress.com.

soo yeah, go there now! and check it out! sorry for any convenience now or in the near future.

thanksgiving

2007-04-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

Fav Fav Albums out of 100 Part IV (41-20)

2007-04-13T10:25:00.000-07:00

Wow. Sprang Break, I've been too busy, and I apologize, let's get back to business though...

partfour.

40. Girl Talk- Night Ripper
This album was ultimately the brain child of Gregg Gillis, and he’s got a pretty collective brain if you ask me (just check out the lists of songs he uses for each! song on NightRipper). This easily became one of my top albums of last year, most easily stated, because of its addictiveness, each song pulls in emotions previously held about one of the many songs that the actual track on the disc holds snippets from. Each song has at the least 2 snippets that catch your attention and make you get into the song. And after more than a few listens, you realize this album isn’t only fun, but remarkable and unforgettable, and probably one of the most impressive works you’ll hear to date.

mp3: Girl Talk- Warm It Up (Favorite mash: Annie and Fergie, "Feel My Hearthumps")
mp3: Girl Talk- That's My DJ (Favorite mash: Right when it's about to go into "Blinded By the Light")
mp3: Girl Talk- Once Again (Favorite mash: Ying Yang Twins and the Verve, "Bittersweet Whisper Song")
mp3: Girl Talk- Summer Smoke (Favorite mash: "It's Magic" and "Gold Digger")

Buy here.

39. The Strokes- Room On Fire
What I believe to be the band from Manhattan’s greatest album to date. This effort is flawless in the way that every song is what you want it to be: Full of energy, scratchy vocals, pretty and neat guitar and drum medlies, and that alternative sound that gives these guys the name that when people hear it, automatically hear that new era rock and roll. There are so many memorable songs on this disc it’s not even funny, if I want to just sample the glorious ”What Ever Happened”, I find myself getting myself caught in a labyrinth of this album, and it consumes me, making me take pit stops at every track, making me bask in everything coming from the stereo speakers, getting me lost in a world of rock bliss.

mp3: The Strokes- What Ever Happened
mp3: The Strokes- The Way It Is
mp3: The Strokes- The End Has No End

Buy here.

38. Sufjan Stevens- Michigan
The voice of Sir Sufjan Stevens simply makes me tremble. And it is broadcasted beautifully over one concentrated genre for this state. Sufjan focuses on simple folk music (with bells of course) while traveling through Michigan, and he captures this sound perfectly. He cements his voice and his style, making it easy to understand that the talent present is overflowing, and calling for attention, because it deserves it. This album contains some of my favorite acoustic songs I have ever had the pleasure to listen to, and it produces the great overall effect a Sufjan album will always produce. Complete sound, and a more than solid consistency with songs, the excellence is almost spread out to cover every track on the disc, even though it doesn’t need to be, because each track holds its own personality, it’s own special little catch, Mr. Stevens does that for you. He creates so many little experiences that build up and build up to make one giant phenomena of a record. This thing is bursting with talent and entertainment and joy, and is just a fine example of excellent modern music.

mp3: Sufjan Stevens- Flint (For the Unemployed and Underpaid)
mp3: Sufjan Stevens- Romulus
mp3: Oh Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!)

Buy here.

37. Josh Rouse- 1972
This album…was another road trip album, and it was a fun one. I seriously thought that Josh Rouse was just obsessed with the year 1972 when I first heard the noises and lyrics coming from my headphones, he sang with such emotion and belief. He was positive and funky and happy and cool and made songs that were kind on the ears. The album divides into different experiences and stories of Rouse’s mother (or is it?), fake relationships (he was born that year, and babies can’t have complicated relationships, but yet again they are probably modern relationships with a twist called the past…Touché, Mr. Rouse), and the vibrations of love. Now that I think about it, It’s pretty much an album of disco and lovemaking with the sounds of alternative singer/songwriter guiding these bizarrely random themes. A quality listen nonetheless.

mp3: Josh Rouse- Sunshine (Come On Lady)
mp3: Josh Rouse- Rise

Buy here.

36. The Beatles- Abbey Road
I still don’t understand the whole paulisdead thing, but also, I am not as cool or talented as the Beatles…not for millions of miles. Anyway, that whole shazz made this album cover one of the most famous of all time. But that isn’t even the focus of thought right now, just a little side note, this album is remarkable, and is the Beatles album that has taken hold of me the most. So much energy is laid out on every turn of the album, that crisp Beatles sound just echoing throughout your head, you lay dazed and dreaming after a few listens, you lay mesmerized and changed after a few more. You are a huge fan after one listen. The Beatles almost perfect everything on this album, and manage to spark a conspiracy theory in making one of the most flawless and needed rock albums of all time.

mp3: The Beatles- Octopus Garden
mp3: The Beatles- Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End (p.s. stupendous)

Buy here

35. Harry and the Potters- The Power of Love
Like I said earlier about the first Harry and the Potters album, this stuff is creative and hot. And I’m not trying to diss the Hogwarts squad, but their stuff in the early stages sounded kinda rough and not of good quality, it didn’t make the music not good, it just made it not as good as it could be, and that is why I was so joyful to hear of this masterpiece. It was a great idea, with great music, and now WITH GREAT QUALITY, and more experience. In this album the band is finally molding into final shape, and that is the shape in where I begin anticipate any single release by the group, and I begin hovering over any recent news snippets of new albums/compilations/soundtracks/remix albums/ect.. From this point on it doesn’t get normal, this band is on radar and is at a place with this album that they are becoming killer at what they do, and perfecting their style and building their individual sound. Awesome.

mp3: Harry and the Potters- (Not Gonna Put On) The Monkey Suit
mp3: Harry and the Potters- Smootchy Smootchy, Pukey Pukey
mp3: Harry and the Potters- The Phoenix Song
mp3: Harry and the Potters- Felix Felicis

Buy here.

34. Stars- Set Yourself on Fire
This is just a good album. I mean there is a lot more to say, but that needs to be known. This is a wicked good album. The voice of Torquil Campbell is the first angelic quality tagged to this band that I will bring up. His voice sounds so sophisticated and heartfelt, filled with stories of broken hearts and relentless love, all the while staying cool and understanding that is was for the better. Second is the vocals that guide by Amy Millan. She adds a certain evenness to every song, playing each track out like a captivating duet. Overall this album will rock your socks off, it unleashes track after track of good song, each containing their own special flow, making this one of my favorite albums.

mp3: Stars- Your Ex-Lover Is Dead
mp3: Stars- One More Night
mp3: Stars- Set Yourself On Fire

Buy here.

33. Modest Mouse- We were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Modest Mouse does not fail when putting out a disc of songs they’ve made. They just do not. And in this case, they do more than just not fail, they excel quite tremendously. On first listen, I wanted to take time, listen to each song one by one over and over again. I successfully did this with about 5, then I just needed more, because the 5 I listened to were unbelievable. I enjoyed listening to ”Fire It Up” so much on repeat that I listened to that one for about 4 days straight, listening to that one only. ”Spitting Venom” was like a symphony of indie rock, just parading through different twists and turns and kicking ass as doing this wonderfully. My favorite Modest Mouse release because It captures all the bands’ elements at the perfect moments, and presents the listener with just a buffet of unbelievable muzak.

mp3: Modest Mouse- Fly Trapped In a Jar
mp3: Modest Mouse- We've Got Everything

Buy here.

32. R.E.M.- The Reckoning
This was one of the only albums from the 80s that my parents actually welcomed (into our record player in the living room of my old house). This album collected everything that was R.E.M., bottled it up, and poured it into not only my ears, but my heart and my memory, indulging me with a landmark band of alternative music. Their laid back alternative flow was just so endearing and personal. Personally, this album just struck a good nerve for me, it related to me then, and to this day, the youth of the band, the optimistic look into the future that echoed through every track. Also, the album cover may be one of my favorite of all time, and although that is not an aspect I have spoken of much to this point, it is definitely an important one, it is one that drives the listener to listening to the artist’s disc, and it is one that should summarize the disc’s mentality.

mp3: R.E.M.- Harborcoat

Buy here.

31. Elliott Smith- Either/Or
O Boy. Getting to the Elliott. This is an artist who I have been very into for the past 2 years. I find almost everything he does near flawless, and he is dead, so that makes everything just so much more precious. Either/Or is an excellent Elliott Smith album. It captures the edge of Elliott’s side of darkness and paranoia, but also shows his side of certainty. The sound Elliott captures is different from anything else, it controls the imagery of a personal favorite day dream of mine, the woods (cabins, lakes, being secluded from everything that is decided, all that good stuff), and it is conveyed wonderfully in this album, almost powerfully. Elliott steps up to the plate with this album with knowing exactly what he wants to accomplish, and does that, with flying colors.

mp3: Elliott Smith- Between the Bars
mp3: Elliott Smith- Speed Trials
mp3: Elliott Smith- The Ballad of Big Nothing

Buy here.

30. Big Star- #1 Record
This album is most likely the most influential individual album on indie muzak today…in my opinion. Big Star just put together the hooks that people didn’t expect to hear, the hooks that people weren’t hearing at the time, and strangely enough, people accepted these songs, and oh yeah it was damn good noise too. The name of this album almost literally (if it were completely literal it would be my number 1 record on this list), this album carries a tracklist full of classic songs that will bring you back to times you had experienced or spark dreams of experiences that will be had. BS just captures this sound that is so remarkable and so unique that you almost know within one listen that this is a record that could change someone’s life, a record that is needed in the world of music.

mp3: Big Star- Thirteen
mp3: Big Star- Watching the Sunrise

Buy here.

29. Of Montreal- Sunlandic Twins
Basically every Of Montreal album is excellent and great and spectacular and makes you dance, but the edge that Sundlandic Twins has lies in the power of one song, and basically the way that song reflects onto the rest of the album. That song is ”The Parties Crashing Us”. It makes you jump out and instantly become mesmerized by every element of it, and this brings in the attraction that paves the way for appreciation and attention to the outright perfection of the album. I was kind of lying before, it is not only one song that separates this from other OM albums (just in this very moment I realized that ”Requiem for O.M.M.” means Requiem for Of Montreal Member…stellar), this whole album stands out. Power, energy, catchiest damn tunes I’ve heard in a while (all of OM’s are, but I mean, this is just…Oh my, oh my).

mp3: Of Montreal- Requiem for O.M.M.
mp3: Of Montreal- The Parties Crashing Us

Buy here.

28. Death Cab for Cutie- Transatlanticism
I’m kind of sad that this is the only DcfC album I have included in the list, but all the others were swimming at the edge. Anyways, this is a wowee zowee album, not in the Pavement way, but in the way that you say, “Wowee zowee! That album was good, who is this band? Can I rock with them? All the time?” But basically, yeah, something along those lines. Not that comedic though, this album is heart wrenching. It sings of heart break and despair and love and friendship and questions the world and questions everything else in the world while staying to the roots of them being the most quintessential indie band in business right now. Each track is memorable and power filled with sounds that just make you bob your head and make it impossible not to ask who the artist singing the song is. Basically, this band sounds good, and the best through this album- the most experienced, mature, and well put together.

mp3: Death Cab for Cutie- Passenger Seat
mp3: Death Cab for Cutie- Tiny Vessels
mp3: Death Cab for Cutie- Expo '86

Buy here.

27. Cloud Cult- Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus
I seriously want to yell this band’s name at the top of a mountain with this album playing as the soundtrack so people can understand how talented and (excuse my language, but it’s needed) fuckin’ kickass this album is. The drum beats almost smash you in your face while listening, and each songs go to places where you would completely not expect, but after comprehending the indescribable change, your glad it went there, real glad. And as you continue listening to this album from start to finish, you begin actually hoping that it’ll get worse, because you’re scared of how good each song is, it seems impossible, but this troupe from Minnesota do it. They really outdo any expectations with this as well, which is just so refreshing, they could’ve went with less tracks and done a mediocre album to put them on the map, but they took the risk, went deep and long, with risky movements, and I believe this paid off. For they have made a timeless and epic album of alternative indie rock and roll, all of those.

mp3: Cloud Cult- Lucky Today
mp3: Cloud Cult- Washed Your Car
mp3: Cloud Cult- Living on the Outside of Your Skin

Buy here.

26. Arcade Fire- Funeral
This is where it all began. With Arcade Fire, our generation is witnessing first hand account a band that will make history as being one of the best. This is their debut. A straight up masterpiece, and nothing less than that. Its pretty obvious why this album succeeds in being widely accepted and enthusiastically welcome, the risky lyrics that stick deep beneath the surface of things, the eerie mumbles of Win Butler, the shouts that accompany in the background, the feeling their sound evokes, this remarkable sensation from knowing exactly what is happening while listening, and being blown away by that feeling. With this being their debut album, they show unforeseen potential, and on the album they show signs of no improvement needed, they could simply make albums like this their entire career and be listed as one of the greatest bands to walk the face of the earth (or beneath).

mp3: Arcade Fire- Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
mp3: Arcade Fire- Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
mp3: Arcade Fire- Wake Up

Buy here.

25. The Grateful Dead- Anthem of the Sun
Since childhood, I have been practically force fed Grateful Dead from my father, and in most cases I will thoroughly enjoy the stuff, but that enjoyment will never really stick and develop into love or need. Key word in that sentence was really, because Anthem of The Sun did stick. I’m not sure what made it stick. IT could be the immaturity that results in what sounds like a very fun time in the recording studio, a very free time, and a very magical and experimental time. That is what the Grateful Dead was about, having fun with trying different things and making an extraordinary final project. Anthem of the Sun captures all the regular Grateful Dead qualities (songs like ”That’s It For the Other One) while mixing it up and just jamming and having great loads of fun (songs like ”Alligator”). I mean even if you are not a big Grateful Dead fan, this album is still surprisingly fun to listen to.

mp3: The Grateful Dead- That's It For the Other One
mp3: The Grateful Dead- Born Cross-Eyed

Buy here.

24. Built to Spill- There's Nothing Wrong With Love
This is purely a great indie rock album of the 90s. I was told about this album from a friend (Courtesy of the Gold Soundz) and I have yet to pay him back rightfully because of how unbelievable this album is. This is just solid indie rock, flawless indie rock. Each song goes over my expectations and surprises me, pleasantly surprises me. From start to finish you just want to listen to this album, you don’t have to really pay attention to much because it’s all right in front of you, laid out simply with all attractive qualities accessible and smack right in your face. BTS over the years has developed into one of the best indie rock bands ever, and were a pioneer for the genre, this album bottles this up better than any other of theirs (even though ”Velvet Waltz” is my favorite Built to Spill song and on my top 10 of all time).

mp3: Built to Spill- In the Morning
mp3: Built to Spill- Car
mp3: Built to Spill- Twin Falls

Buy here.

23. Sebadoh- III
Sebadoh got it so right. So right. They jumped into this whole scene, planted a seed for their own type of lo-fi plant, and that plant grew and gave birth to other seeds that created a whole new species of plants. Enough with the metaphor, this album kicks tail. From the song featured in the creepy last scene of Kids, to the just plain old brilliant ”Violet Execution”, this album flows, and there is so much to the album, so many songs that you can just sit back and relax too, but also to think about. Just listening to the emotion that drains from each effort on this album, the listener can’t help but be amazed. The quiet shiver of Barlow’s voice over the scratchy recording creates this warm and fuzzy feeling when you listen, it gives you the goose bumps because you feel like everything’s happening right there with you, everything is about you, everything is surrounding you, and everything is clear. An excellent album, calling it a classic would be granted an understatement.

mp3: Sebadoh- Violet Execution
mp3: Sebadoh- Spoiled

Buy here.

22. Kings of Leon- Aha Shake Heartbreak
Never have I seen more spunk from a group of Southern rockers, and it mashes with their homeland traits beautifully! The KOL create a very special thing here, a disc that you can tap your feet too, sit confused for hours over the mumbling of Caleb’s vocals, dance to, think to, dream to, all in one effort. Aha Shake Heartbreak really excels in the way that it is a new style of good listen, a new way to enjoy the music, and that is rarely seen these days. If you want to best explempify the experience that is received when listening to this album, take ”Kings of the Rodeo”, from beginning to end it explodes with a pop sensation and clever catchy rhythms. That is how this album is, catchy, addicting, southern, popish, hard rocking, and at times very intellectual (although you don’t expect it). Just a great sounding record in every track and in the soul that screams out for attention.

mp3: Kings of Leon- King of the Rodeo
mp3: Kings of Leon- Day Old blues
mp3: Kings of Leon- Taper Jean Girl

Buy here.

21. The Clash- London Calling
This is my prime example of an album that is just so unbelievable as a whole (Wait, make that second to most prime example, most prime example is sitting high and mighty in the number 1 spot). This album flows with themes and punk rock pioneering that blows any contemporary attempting this feat out of the water. The sound is so unique that you cannot help to love it, also, the band, being as cool as they were, contributes greatly to the enjoyment. The Clash is a band you can love, with music that backs that feeling. London Calling captures that essence the best, it catches them at their peak, just rocking and rolling through any other bands at the time. Also The Clash were part of that whole Brit Punk thing, which made it even more appealing. But the most appealing of this band has to be the sound. Impeccable punk rock, some new thinkers, and bam, there you have it.

mp3: The Clash- Train in Vain

Buy here.

Ok. One more to go. Fun fun for everyone. Always with love...BK

It's in the woods

2007-04-05T20:36:00.000-07:00

Finally. Twin Peaks :The Second Season is finally coming out to DVD Box Set, and I hate to say it but, it took whoever was in charge of this escapade long enough. Twin Peaks is easily one of my favorite TV shows of all time along with the brilliant Six Feet Under and the addictive The O.C.. But TP brings a different quality to the table other than addictiveness and intelligence (which it definitley does, I mean who didn't want to know who killed Laura Palmer?), it brings something that diggs deep in the psyche and claws through the outer layers of your brain to hit the stems of imagination and wonder, wonder of what goes on beyond everything. What goes on in the woods?. The Second Season reveals the secret of the murderer (I will never tell, you just have to watch for yourself), and bottles up that sense of mystery and curiousity along with the question of what lies beneath, and almost multiplies it, exploding the bottle and sending this vibe all through out the experience of watching that season, so much that you cannot ignore it. Anyway I'm rambling, you can buy it on the link above labeled: DVD Box Set, and you will enjoy it (But you need season 1 and the pilot to fully succeed in that effort!). Always with love...BK

mp3: Angelo Badalamenti- Twin Peaks Theme Song

God that was strange to see you again.

2007-04-04T15:35:00.000-07:00

Nostalgia sometimes has a cure, in the form of remix albums. This is certainly the case for Stars' remarkable release Set Yourself On Fire that has been remixed and flipped around to make Do You Trust Your Friends?, and has made quite possibly my favorite remix album of 2006 or 2007 (so far). From the opening chords of Final Fantasy's rendition of "Your Ex-Lover is Dead" you will realize that this thing does justice for it's original (Let me slightly trail off and explain how great of an album Set Yourself On Fire was. It was such a solid and flawless release from a great group and it captures everything and anything one would ever need in a beautiful instance and delivers it to the listener in a form of wonderful and sweet brevity). The (remix) album flows like the shadow of the original, abiding to the guidelines of that should-be-respected masterpiece, but also throws in necessary twitches and changes that add to the creativity and leaves the listener with something new of something that was originally their favorite. You can't go wrong with listening to this if you like good music (Just my opinion, I guess that's fine if you don't like the hush and mystical sounds of Stars), I mean, Arts & Crafts basically hands this thing to you on a golden platter with the bands remixing glorious music (Apostle of Hustle, Junior Boys, The Dears, The Stills, Russian Futurists). But anyway, I thought this was a more than interesting little listen, and a definite buy. Always with love...BK

mp3: Stars- Your Ex-Lover Is Dead (Final Fantasy Remix) (p.s. the piano melody may be one of the most beautiful things I have heard in ages, it sings hope and distress at the same time, simply astonishing, I'm speechless by the ways of Owen Pallett)
mp3: Stars- Set Yourself On Fire (Montag Remix)
mp3: Stars- Sleep Tonight (Junior Boys Remix)

Buy that pile of hot fuss right here.

Le Printemps De Bourges/ The Forms

2007-04-03T08:56:00.000-07:00

Le Printemps de Bourges is a music festival held in France, celbrating it's 31st anniversary, and it is loaded with some talent. Some of the lineup includes bands such as Peter, Bjorn, and John, Feist, Lady Sov, Akron/Family, The Rakes, Joanna Newsom, Loney, Dear, Benjy Ferree, Cold War Kids, Maximo Park, Bloc Party, and my personal favorite, Phoenix. Ha, so yeah, that's pretty attractive if you ask me, and I wish I lived in/near France (kind of) at a time like this. The venues seem stellar and it sounds like a rocking good time, if you have the oppurtunity, I definitley reccomend checking this little diddy out.

mp3: Phoenix- Long Distance Call (25 Hours a Day Remix)
mp3: Akron/Family- No Space In This Realm
mp3: Bloc Party- Song for Clay (Dissapear Here)
mp3: Feist- The Park

This band is called The Forms, a find on the 2007 SXSW Showcasing Artists, and I literally owe my life to those files. These guys hail from Brooklyn like many great alternative bands these days, and have something really special to their sound, something I still can't completely put my finger on. They come out each song immediatley getting to the point of catching your attention. Their guitar riffs are like none I have ever head, and the vocals sound like echoes...in a good way. They have finished a new album but have not put anything out about it except for one song titled "Alpha" on their MySpace, and by the sound of that one song, it should be as good as their 2003 release Icarus. I'm saying it right now, this band has and enormous ammount of potential and should definitley be watched because you'll be really upset if you miss the wave. Always with Love...BK

mp3: The Forms- Sunday from 2003's Icarus
mp3: The Forms- Blackmetal from 2003's Icarus

Loop

2007-04-02T19:02:00.000-07:00

Intellectual party. I felt a little like talking, and using music to aid how I'm feeling. This is all becoming overwhelming, everything is taking over me. I feel like I'm losing control of my actions and my mind, I feel everything draining out of me. Soon I will disappear all together, against my will, and be somewhere new, sometime. There is a new era forming into existence, an era of emptiness. Do not be scared of the future, relate to it, I'm not sure what is happening to all of us, but it's either something beautiful or something horrible, listen to the mp3 as you read this over and over. Discover phenomena.

mp3: Bright Eyes- Clairaudients (Kill Or Be Killed)

First off would have to be my search for the right place for me for the next four years. I look West, and "There's a feeling I get when I look to the West..." and I look East, to the familiarity of life, to comfort and ease.

mp3: Nick Butcher- Minutes Overlap

Colorado College vs. Bennington College. I have seesawed through the pluses and minuses of both schools, and I cannot conclude a stable result. This is a big decision I feel, I'm entering a new stage of my life that can be determined by myself, and I have never had a decision with that impact yet in my life. Of course shallow factors still appear in the mix, parties, girls, fun & games during the nighttime, just about anything that my fever leans toward. But the other factors are the ones I have shuffled in and out of. So basically im dancing in this zone of confusion trying to find clarity in a proper decision. If anyone has any extra knowledge/experiences from either of these wonderful places, please leave those words in the comments so they can aid in my decision somewhat.

mp3: Big Star- Way Out West
mp3: The Zincs- Head East, Kaspar

Next on the list is discussing this world of relationships. What happens with two people that can make them so in love with each other or so hateful towards each other? What's the connection that occurs there? that works for both extremes? I certainly don't know away, I don't know why people do things to hurt other people...

"I pulled the trigger just to watch them run away,"

Or why people go to the pinnacle to make people feel something for them when there is nothing to be felt. I don't know. Yet again we all really don't know anything, everything is pretty much assumption.. But there is the feeling from finding someone that is atleast seemingly compatable, and I believe that's what everything is for. The feeling that everything is working, and that piece of the puzzle is well in place, and is making it easier to put together the whole thing. It's either that or the company from this person you cannot be without.

"I maintain, then, that while all the gods are happy, Love- if I may say so without giving offence- is the happiest of them all, for he is the most beautiful and the best."

Relationships are cool I guess, stress and all, they bring happiness, they bring confusion, and they bring work to make the first one work, but most importantly they bring hurt. And I guess after all is said and done the real question is: Is that happiness worth all of that?. That statement is neither optimistic nor pessimistic, it is objective.

mp3: Rogue Wave- All You Need is Love (Beatles Cover)
mp3: The National- Green Gloves
mp3: Okkervil River- Love to a Monster

And of course there is regret. And never knowing what could have happened, and sorrow for misunderstanding between two. Because sometimes saying sorry isn't enough, and that line is never crossed, and things are lost.

mp3: Built to Spill- Velvet Waltz

The reason this is called Loop, is for how many times these questions are asked, I'm not the only one, I do not know anything pretty much, I'm just another turn on the loop function.

Fav Fav Albums Out of 100 Part III (60-41)

2007-04-01T20:58:00.001-07:00

Lord Lord, let's keep on exploding.
partthree. (by the way, why do I keep starting these album posts with albums colored in swamp green?)

60. Modest Mouse- Good News for People Who Love Bad News
Modest Mouse sounds really good most of the time (Understatement). Yes yes yes this album came out when I was just being blinded by the indie light and had not yet seen the likes of the youthful age of MM, so this was pretty much my first experience of them (Before there was Moon and Antartica, before there was the lonesome crowded West, there was the good news for those people who love bad news, for me at least), and I’m glad this was my first experience. This was really the band becoming more mainstream, therefore their message was more clear, and their unique sound was distinguished easily and by means of making you fall in love with that new sound. Kick-A album with Kick-A songs. I pick this over some of that old stuff because it’s simply a more familiar project to the band I first met, I really do like the old stuff, a lot, but I love good news.

mp3: Modest Mouse- The World At Large
mp3: Modest Mouse- Black Cadillacs
mp3: Modest Mouse- The View

Buy here

59. Original Soundtrack to the Motion Picture Magnolia
ONLY SOUNDTRACK ON HERE (although others would qualify, Eternal Sunshine, Garden State, Twin Peaks, Rules of Attraction, Cabin Fever, Kids, Marie Antoinette, I could go on and on). I could have put others, but this is here for a reason! Yes, Magnolia does happen to be my favorite film ever created, and yes that helps contribute a lot, but that’s not it. The soundtrack is simply filled with great music, I mean where can you go wrong when you have Jon Brion composing, Aimee Mann rocking original songs, and Supertramp? A great collection that fits perfectly and contributes to the charm of a great great film.

mp3: Aimee Mann- Save Me
mp3: Aimee Mann- Wise Up
mp3: Jon Brion- So Now Then
mp3: Supertramp- Goodbye Stranger

Buy here.

58. Loney, Dear- Loney, Noir
This is one that came out this year. 2007. You’ll be seeing a few more from this year, and this one has the right to be at this point in the charts. Such a sexy album. Emil Svanängen rocks my socks off with his voice that sounds as if he were singing lullabies to children. His soft vocals and careful craft of his instruments comes together for this unique sound that is just so cute and amazing that you can’t help but daydream with it as a soundtrack. I literally can’t get enough of this band, and this album has about as much climax in every song as the scene in Star Wars Episode 2: The Empire Strikes Back, when Luke is told by Vader that Vader is in fact his father. I’m trailing off now. Please (listen) and thank you. --- p.s. long live Sweden for producing a chunk of indie awesomeness…all the time.

mp3: Loney, Dear- And I Won't Cause Anything at All
mp3: Loney, Dear- Saturday Waits

Buy here.

57. The Beatles- The Beatles (White Album)
Oh the Beatles, once again this should be at the top of my list, but I have not yet reached those depths, those depths that will show me the greatness that I can faintly hear and understand and those depths that everyone talks about, I’m getting there, I mean it made it this far. This album is excellent, some of my favorite individual Beatles tracks were born on this album, and continue to live long lives. It’s a funny thing, how the Beatles still are revolutionary today. Songs I hear that were made in the late 60’s reflect on what new styles of great bands are being heard today. Oh wait what’s that called again? Oh yes, influence. But Beatles influence is different than any other influence, because I believe in another 20 years, areas that the Beatles had already covered will be at the head of the scene.

mp3: The Beatles- Blackbird
mp3: The Beatles- While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Buy here.

56. mc DJ- Illin'Noise! The Sufjan Stevens Remix Album
This thing was kept very quiet, and was really hard to locate, but once I did, the work was all worth it. Truly an excellent, and my favorite remix (one artist remix) album I’ve ever heard. MC DJ spices up and flips around and kicks over and picks up again the Sufjan songs to recreate them in so many different ways that broadcast the pleasure of the original while adding a unique twist to captivate whoever is lucky enough to be listening. Who could ever think that ”A Prarie Fire Wanders About” could be made into a high school fight song? I certainly couldn’t. Also, you may recognize mc DJ from Derrick Comedy as Jerry who pooped his pants (hilarious, this guy is seriously multi-talented)

mp3: MC DJ- jacksontown
mp3: MC DJ- casmir

Or download the thang right here and check out Glover's (mc DJ's) blog here at Childish Gambino.

55. Cake- Comfort Eagle
Cake is their own type of band, this is a master album. John McCrea voices out songs like preaching to a point. And with melodic ties and balance, each track comes out like a neatly wrapped gift resulted from the holidays. The scene that this album creates is epic, and the words paint a picture. There’s not much more I can say about this album... besides that it rocks? Each song is like a powerful punch to the face, and although it’s not too personal to me, it still needs to be up here because these songs come together to make something that should be a greatest hits album. Cake is their own band, and listening to these will be like listening to a completely new style of music.

mp3: Cake- Shadow Stabbing (p.s. originally recorded for McCrea's old band John McCrea and the Roughhousers who played around in the 80s... Cake in the 80s sounds great)
mp3: Cake- Short Skirt/Long Jacket

Buy here.

54. Belle and Sebastian- Dear Catastrophe Waitress
Scotland should be proud. Because wowee zowee this thing is great, this thing, this band, this album, this feeling when listening to songs about letters being written to a certain Mets baseball star. They most definitely mix it up, having light fluffy harmonies with soft male and soft female voices guiding it through an open field, because in all the songs familiarity and clarity are screaming in presence. A sensational pop album from a sensational group. By far their greatest work because it captures everything from how good the song sounds through my big old headphones to the point the song is trying to make. Wait? Like I said before? Clear. Remarkable and Classic, would be two one word descriptions of this album.

mp3: Belle and Sebastian- If She Wants Me
mp3: Belle and Sebastian- Piazza, New York Catcher
mp3: Belle and Sebastian- Wrapped in Books

Buy here.

53. Pedro the Lion- Achilles Heel
This is like, my first middle school album that I still am more than satisfied with still being attracted to. Pedro the Lion is a killer group and each song on Achilles Heel is just doused with heart and beauty. David Bazan’s dark and calm voice presents a country folk alternative feel that sticks with you and is branded in your memory after that pleasant experience of listening. Each song has the same kind of sound, but Pedro finds a way to create individuality somehow, they don’t use different instruments because they don’t need to. The creativity that comes from this album makes the outcome majestic, because when you have creativity spliced with a stable alternative song, you’ll get one hell of a result, aka. Achilles Heel

mp3: Pedro the Lion- Bands with Managers
mp3: Pedro the Lion- A Simple Plan

Buy here.

52. Phantom Planet- The Guest
I love this album, Phantom Planet is just so cool, because anything they do I adore, and the reason that is true is because of this album. This was my first experience of Phantom Planet, having not heard Phantom Planet is Missing, and their pop sound attacked me and held on like a leech. I mean, you can’t fight it, it’s a fact: ”California is an unbelievable song, and in my opinion one of the best made, and the whole album is like that! I cannot express how much some of these songs mean to me except by repeatedly announcing how songs like ”Anthem” of ”Lonely Day” were built me by excessive nighttime listening sessions, and I think mp3s work a lot better at expressing this feeling.

mp3: Phantom Planet- Anthem
mp3: Phantom Planet- Wishing Well

Buy here.

51. Speechwriters LLC- Clones
This band is so under the radar it’s not even funny, and it makes me kinda mad too, because this much talent shouldn’t be hidden from the world. Speechwriters is a band of their own style, and they promote this style perfectly on this album. Although it’s only 5 songs, the case is definitely quality and not quantity. Each song is flawless acoustic guitar with lyrical movements that mirror one of that in the rapping/rhyming scheme, this element simply just adds to the band’s touch and unique style. And basically every where you want the song to go, it goes, satisfying your every need while taking a good listen. I love the style of this group, and I love their final product.

mp3: Speechwriters LLC- Hitchhiker's Guide
mp3: Speechwriters LLC- Beach Song

Buy here.

50. Guster- Keep It Together
Wow. Flawless record, another one that was really hammered into my memory through a roadtrip with nothing but a heavy CD player, some headphones, and this work of art. Each track as amazing as the one before, building up to an anthem with glimpses of The Wizard of Oz. Truly a spectacular feat was reached by Guster when releasing this album. Each song is radiant and exciting and perfect in its own way, and any song could be the one that speaks most to anyone, it could all easily vary because every song is packed with so much emotion and fun. It is literally hard listening to a song on this album, because once your finished with that bliss, you need to hear another, then another, until you’ve gone through the entire album while sitting in the parking lot, 23 minutes late.

mp3: Guster- Come Downstairs and Say Hello
mp3: Guster- Homecoming King
mp3: Guster- Diane
mp3: Guster- Ramona

Buy here.

49. Nick Drake- Pink Moon
I still don’t know the story of Nick Drake. Who he was, what time he was, when he died, for why he died. I never dove into that pool of questioning to a deeper understanding of this mysterious legend (I would do so with Elliott Smith), I don’t know why I never did, I just didn’t. All I did was sit back and listen to his folk music. Soft and tranquil, seemingly effortless and impossible to hate, these songs nourished their listeners with imagery of beauty, and this was courtesy of Mr. Drake. Pink Moon captures this sales pitch from Drake wonderfully and shows the magic that this individual can make the best out of anything else he has masterfully put together. Possibly one of the best acoustic albums of all time. Need I say more?

mp3: Nick Drake- Which Will
mp3: Nick Drake- Pink Moon

Buy here.

48. Final Fantasy- He Poos Clouds
Owen Pallet is a Lord in my books. He names his album He Poos Clouds and in all honesty this makes it very hard to determine what kind of album it will be. But immediately, right off the bat, the album identifies itself as something new and different. A breath of fresh air, and a sign for hope. And, given the songs are about Dungeons and Dragons, they still pose a striking feature that really connects with the listener. The lyrics are silly at times but mean well. The violin is impeccable along with all the other instruments. And this guy has some clever clever hooks in the melody that the listener never sees coming. An artist that definitley needs to be watched, for he will be great.

mp3: Final Fantasy- ->
mp3: Final Fantasy- Song Song Song
mp3: Final Fantasy- Many Lives 49 MP

Buy here.

47. The Magnetic Fields- i
The Magnetic Fields are simply amazing. They rarely show any signs of disappointment (rarely to never), and they just pump out song after song after song of this music you just want to listen to. On i, Merritt has the listener follow the chimes of bells and the hollow echo of his deep voice to reach the area of satisfaction with this album. Here, with a concept album, everything is played out in terms of (cough cough) i, or me (or you, or Stephin Merritt). That openness and familiarity that is created with that concept is so breathtaking to me because it creates a world of comfort with what your listening to, and when you are comfortable with enjoying something, love for that thing is built quite easily.

mp3: The Magnetic Fields- I Wish I Had An Evil Twin
mp3: The Magnetic Fields- I Looked All Over Town (p.s. like just listening to this makes me amazed at how good this music is, how good music can be in general)

Buy here.

46. Feist- Let It Die
Leslie Feist is a very pretty girl with a very pretty voice. I’m pretty sure she’s about every indie kids Wonder Woman because she captivated the lot of them with Let It Die. And just like them, my heart was stolen as well (as of now Kate Walsh is also stealing pieces of my heart). This album is just so…so…what’s the word? Good. Everything is in perfect arrangement, and intricately placed in are little jabs of electro or foreign or lounge or funk or disco sounds. All this with good music and her beautiful voice, just come together something that is so revolutionary and fun that it’ll keep you locked in your room for days dancing with yourself and singing along with a much more attractive voice than your own.

mp3: Feist- Let it Die
mp3: Feist- Gatekeeper
mp3: Feist- Secret Heart

Buy here.

45. Stephen Malkmus- Stephen Malkmus
So my friend had this gold mine just sitting on his computer, and as I was searching through his iTunes one night to see if I could find any gems, I found about 12. I am seriously blown away by this effort. This self-titled album explores the depths to some of the strangest things (My favorite subject being the song that tells of a certain Captain James Hook) in a new found style by Malkmus, although the listener misses the hardcore Pavement sound, he/she cannot help but adopt this new style and fall in love with it on the spot. Each song pretty much rules your mind and your ears, so be prepared for this thing if you haven’t had a sample. By far Malkmus’s best solo album to date.

mp3: Stephen Malkmus- Church on White (p.s. the rip Malkmus provides on this song is one of my favorite solos of all time)
mp3: Stephen Malkmus- Jo Jo's Jacket
mp3: Stephen Malkmus- Pink India

Buy here.

44. Bush- Sixteen Stone
Bush rocked the 90s, and my brother’s stereo in the 90s. It was about the only alternative noise I heard from there (Besides R.E.M.), and boy I’m glad I did. This album is classic, and unforgettable in the way that it just kicks you to the floor and leaves you there to help yourself up. And might I add ”Machinehead” is most likely my top pump-up song, it gets the adrenaline going, just like all sixteen stones. It saddens me that I don’t see Bush around so much anymore, the name may be one of my favorite band names ever, and their sound was all their own, untouchable. And seeing that performance of ”Gylcerine” in the rain made me sit on my knees in awe and say, “wow, Bush is pretty damn badass.”

mp3: Bush- Machinehead

Buy here.

43. Bob Dylan- Highway 61 Revisited
I have to put this here. It should be higher I guess, but nonetheless this needs to be talked about. My parents were predominantly dead heads and Dylan fans, Dylan was the exception in their tie-dye blinded world. And basically every Dylan record that now sits in their record collection (which is immense and very impressive) was played with a crackle trailing it on the record player as I grew up. This album astonishes me, because it feels like it defines an entire era, which is hard for one album to do. The lyrics are amazing and so deep and open that you could get lost inside them, searching for a proper meaning that relates to you. The folk sound is clearly so good that it will serve to countless successful acts in the future. Pretty darn good album.

mp3: Bob Dylan- Queen Jane Approximately
mp3: Bob Dylan- Like a Rolling Stone

Buy here.

42. Thomas Dybdahl- Science
This album has been controlling my mindset for the past 2 weeks, and I am obsessed with it. Such a delicate sound on an impeccable album, every song has its own thing that makes you fall deep into it. It’s almost like a dream when listening to Science you forget everything around you and focus on the sounds coming from your speakers, headphones, ect., and you focus on what the song is bringing out from you, you focus solely on that. This album has had an immediate effect on me since first listen, Dybdahl’s soft voice seems to be a suffice answer to any question I have ever had. Please listen to this album, I beg of you, for the sake of what music should stand for these days.

mp3: Thomas Dybdahl- No One Would Ever Know
mp3: Thomas Dybdahl- Everybody Knows

Buy here.

41. Winter Vacation- The Netherlands, 1980
Winter Vacation is a band that I found on a little record label called Asaurus Records that continues to impress me with each release, but Winter Vacation was just plain old awesome. Winter Vacation is like sitting in a cabin at night as snow slowly falls, or standing in a parking at night lot as snow slowly falls, basically sitting somewhere, calm and happy as snow falls, or as whatever you love happens (mine being slow snow fall at night). But this album is one guy, working all the instruments, and making exquisite sounds. Sounds that evoke such feelings like I described, and what makes it even better is the fact that it’s so lo-fi and so natural. A great release from someone who needs more credit.

mp3: Winter Vacation- Balloon Township
mp3: Winter Vacation- Upstate Estate (p.s. **SITF highly recommended song)

Buy here.

kiss it part three, your'e outta here. stay tuned.

"We all slide down the surface of things,".

Movie Madness! (well not so much...)

2007-03-31T14:00:00.000-07:00

I just felt like a movie post. It's cool right? I mean movies mean more to me than music, yet I haven't even written a true post about where I am right now with them and what I'm looking forward to seeing. So let's start it off, with anitcipation...

Here is a list of films I am very jazzed up about seeing in the near future.

Where the Wild Things Are by Spike Jonze
Yes! An adaptation of one of my favorite children bedtime stories. Paul Dano will play Alex which makes it all the more worth while, with appearances from some other fine actors. I'm really quite excited to see what Jonze does with this, I love the branching out that seems to be becoming more and more apparent in the independent film bracket.
Scavenger Hunt by Eli Roth
Now I'm not too sure about the legitamacy on this puppy, but Gosh darn do I want to see it. I did heavy research on the "true events" that it is going to be based off of, and wow. These kids did some crazy things, I even got a peek at the Scavenger hunt list they used one year, kids are messed up, and getting messier, and I am (or was) hoping that this will be the Kids of this decade.
There Will Be Blood by Paul Thomas Anderson
This film is the most anticipated of any coming out ever for myself. The screenshot samples that have been on p.t.'s unofficial site, cigarettes and red vines. I have the book that it is adapting just lying on my shelf (Oil! by Upton Sinclair), because I had a change of heart when i realized that I wanted to experience this film head on, I didn't want any form of a spolier for this already epic film.

mp3: Aimee Mann- Cigarettes & Red Vines (p.s. something for p.t.a. and f.a. to dance too)

Wristcutters: A Love Story by Goran Dukic
This is very interesting. Purgatory for the suicidal? and love blossoms? According to the title. This is very interesting. Tom Waits also stars.

mp3: Tom Waits- November

The Darjeeling Limited and The Fantastic Mr. Fox both by Wes Anderson
New Wes Anderson movie (wide angled shots, excellent ensemble cast, beautiful scenery, clever dialogue, cool themes, pretty music), Wes Anderson doing animation (? I don't know I've never seen this before).

So that's that for what I need to see. I just finished watching Science of Sleep, and of course Gondry made masterful tricks out of ordinary things to make the film into a realm where it was hard to distinguish between the real life and the dream, and I believe it was meant for that way. But that's about the only serious movie I've seen lately. Still wanna see Zodiac, and witnessed the very very very funny Blades of Glory last night (Will Ferrell never fails), supremely funny movie and reccomended for a good time with friends. I'm out on the night now. It's Saturday. Always with love...BK

Cassadaga Nights: The Ballads of Conor Oberst

2007-03-30T22:05:00.000-07:00

O boy! For some reason it has been a sad week. I mean I know why it has been sad for me, but you don't. It has been a sad week and we'll just leave it at that. I'll find something personal to put here. But there is some sort of happiness that always shows up late to the party in a stage of not-feeling-so-hot about things, and that happiness is Bright Eyes' new release: Cassadaga. Oh yeah and by the way there is so much info on this thing, courtesy of that titan site that rhymes with mikipedia.

So upon first listens, this album seems captivating. I mean it. I'm seriously losing it for this year in music, it keeps getting better and better, extravagant album after extravagant album. For Cassadaga, Oberst approaches and becomes so much closer to one of his influences, the big Bob (Dylan). Oberst flows so smoothly in the folk sound, mashing harmonicas and pedal steel, taking a dip back to his electronic roots found on Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. Everything really sounds so complete and beautiful on this album. I'm quite speechless and I'm not even into it that much yet. I think that's strange. Because usually it takes me a while to get into it, basically im very excited to see what happens, what evolves between me and Cassadaga or the rocks beneath the water. I want to post almost every song, because there is simply so much depth to each that I haven't covered yet, and I don't want to leave one out that in time soon I will decipher for relevance on my own point of view and opinion and perspective. But I will, so believe me this is just me trying to show you the variety and wonderful perplextion this album brings through some songs that differ but show the potential of this album as a whole. Always with love...BK

mp3: Bright Eyes- Hot Knives
mp3: Bright Eyes- Classic Cars (p.s. love the hook at the point of the song when the lyrics go like "The best classic singers die in the back of classic cars," or "she said I kissed her different, that all the men her age were mean,")
mp3: Bright Eyes- Lime Tree

my.were.they. + MGMT

2007-03-28T20:16:00.001-07:00

my were they is like Interpol, a lot like Interpol, with a dash of Hot IQ's, get the picture now? No? Ok, math equation time. my were they= (Interpol) - (the experience and sophomoric qualities) + (more clever guitar rythyms x very noticeable potential). Still don't get the picture? I give up. Just listen to some mp3's of them. I've listened to this little album a couple of times now and I can see a band forming here, I mean like a band that will be in the Hot Indie Rock section of iTunes (Wait what? No. I don't look at that or anything? What?). But seriously, these guys are from Chicago (a place where a lot of great people go un noticed), and have this new album coming out, I seriously think you should be on the look out for, it's called 'after they threw me in the river and before i drowned' (I love that album name). Read about the new album and the band here, and check out the band's webpage here. Have a good one, world. I'll see you sometime with something. Always with love...BK

mp3: my were they- afterglow
mp3: my were they- velocity

p.s. my friend showed me how this kickass band MGMT (they are electronic and funky and great, show a great resemblence to SITF favorite Brothers Past, check them out here) has gotten signed to Columbia Records and is adding what I believe will be a great album to the endless list of them so far for 2007. Here's a song from their ep Time to Pretend. And check out some demos from the new album coming soon (Ornacular Spectacular) on their MySpace. Enjoy this one hitter.

mp3: MGMT- Time to Pretend

new kids in town

2007-03-26T20:01:00.001-07:00

I really really really do have to up my number of posts, I've been slacking off I will admit, and I will also state that I will do my best to keep 'em coming. Otherwise, great music has been coming out lately, like GREAT music, and I'm sitting back and just enjoying the full of it, I haven't been able to catch some movies I really want to see, like Zodiac looks incredible, and at the top of my list of things to see that are out in theaters. The others I want to see include Dead Silence, because it's from the guy who wrote the first Saw, and you gotta admit that that fact sparks some curiosity, and The Hills Have Eyes 2, simply because the first one was so unbelievably unneccesary that it was funny, and this one is said to be worse. I'm also in the midst of a nother Bret Easton Ellis book (Finished Rules of Attraction and Glamorama, both fantastic and absolute favorites after first read), Less Than Zero, it's so far great, like everything else this guy writes, and it really just draggs the reader in with the descriptions, the intricate outlook of the teenager, the clever and hip characters, the lurking in the background of something that goes much deeper than just an old Elvis Costello poster. But that's what I've Been up to lately, so I'll leave you with some new new mp3s from some new ready-to-rock-and-take-over-the-scene rockers that have been tasting pretty tastey. Always with love...BK
(Pictured on the Right: Thomas Dybdahl, the Norwegian man of the hour, in my opinion it will be many hours, many many hours. Check out Science here)

mp3: Ted Leo & the Pharmasists- La Costa Brava
mp3: The Rakes- Cold
mp3: Coconut Records- The West Coast
mp3: The National- Fake Empire
mp3: Thomas Dybdahl- Dice
mp3: Donovan- Hurdy Gurdy Man(not new, just badass as hell on the trailer for Zodiac)
mp3: Rosie Thomas- Much Farther To Go feat. Sufjan Stevens
mp3: Tokyo Police Club- Box

Fav Fav Albums Out of 100 Part II (80-61)

2007-03-26T17:29:00.000-07:00

I apologize, I haven't been free this week, but I'll try to pick up the pace. Can't promise anything though...
parttwo

80. Fruit Bats- Mouthfuls
Listen to the beginning strumming in "Seaweed". Come on listen to it, I dare you to listen to that picking that begins a perfect track and to not enjoy the rest of that material. Fruit Bats really amazed me with this CD, it's something I really wasn't expecting, but they have this sound...this sound that feels like their recording in a cabin during a winter snowstorm, and it seems that the band was so happy to be trapped there and so comfortable together, because the sound they create is just spirtual. When you listen to the other tracks the consistency of the album is plain old scary. I love the genre, the folkish feel it presents. They even throw in some happening beats once in a while, my kind of sexy.

mp3: Fruit Bats- Seaweed (p.s. favorite lyric: "if I broke my jaw for you, I'd find a bloody tooth and rip it out...")
mp3: Fruit Bats- When U Love Somebody

Buy here.

79. The Beatles- Revolver
I wish I loved the Beatles as much as I should, I'm sure I would, they are really spreading througout me, but not so big as of now, but still pretty big, big enough for me to understand how great of an album this is. Not only are the tracks on this album amazing, but they are still hip and fab today. This is the first album on my list for the Beatles because I don't know why, truth be told this listing is not very arbitrary, these are my favorite albums, and some stuff is where it should be, but some isn't, and should be higher, but I simply just put them there because I can't discern between some albums. So just keep that in mind. This album is revolutionary to say the least. Pitch perfect, I mean, it's the friggin Beatles. "Eleanor Rigby" is an obvious favorite, but "Taxman" will sneak up on ya.

mp3: The Beatles- Eleanor Rigby
mp3: The Beatles- Taxman

Buy here.

78. Harry and the Potters- Harry and the Potters
"A three headed dog! A three headed dog! Oh my God! A Three Headed Dog!". Yes, I too had no idea what the f**k was going on when I first heard Harry and the Potters, but hey, they're wizards. I mean come on, this is just such a good idea, making a concept band? I mean concept albums...lame, and so five minutes ago. This is the first Harry and the Potters album I'll feature on my favs, but not the last. On their debut they are a littttttle sloppy, but still, the talent and creativity can't be missed. I just love this idea so much, and this isn't even their best album! But it still made it to 78! The album though, yes the album is...I can't describe it: fun, catchy, silly, messy, rocking, kickass, full frontal nudity. Stay bad ass Harry, stay bad ass...

mp3: Harry and the Potters- Wizards Chess
mp3: Harry and the Potters- The Fourth Twiwizard Champion
mp3: Harry and the Potters- Ginny Weasley

Buy here.

77. Broken Social Scene- You Forgot it in People
In the beginning minute of "Stars and Sons", I believe the listener witnesses the pinnacle of indie rock. This album, this whole album just nails that point home, the point that BSS is one of the best indie rock bands making music out there, and that their perfection of messy music calls for immediate attention. All the band mates in this CD are noticeable, contributing bits to create masterpieces that make one large masterpiece that is You Forgot it in People. So much build up, so many melodies that will leave you hooked for days, and about every track on this thing has the high potential of being never forgotten.

mp3: Broken Social Scene- Stars and Sons
mp3: Broken Social Scene- KC Accidental
mp3: Broken Social Scene- Cause=Time (p.s. drums = drop dead gorgeous)

Buy here.

76. The Mountain Goats- The Sunset Tree
The first song I heard off this album was "Love Love Love" and it was a good thing I heard it, Darnielle's voice echoes through the open space of a determined and sure love. I can't say that's what the whole album is, I mean one song is about climbing into a car where a lion sleeps in the front seat and trying to grab hold of his tooth and hold on like your a rodeo cowboy holding onto a bull. But that's what's great about The Sunset Tree, every track just explodes with individuality and creativity. I wish I could post this whole album because I cannot even choose the tracks that I want you all to hear. So that's why you should buy it!!

mp3: The Mountain Goats- Love Love Love
mp3: The Mountain Goats- Dance Music
mp3: The Mountain Goats- Lion's Teeth

Buy here.

75. The Southland- Influence of Geography
Another SXSW Showcasing artist find. "Shadow" was the tune I believe. I instantly saw the blueprint of what this song made me feel. Driving up to the cabin in Michigan at dusk on a calm summer setting, the air just beginning to get crisp and cold. Listening to Influence of Geography after that showed high potential consistency with a different sound for each track and I was like..."Damn this song is good. This album is better than good." I like to think of this album with chizzled features if it was a model, because everything seems to be so well crafted and meant, no accidental genius here, it's all backed by harmonic melodies and doing whatever the hell they want.

mp3: The Southland- Shadows (p.s. ** this is a SITF's highly reccomended track **)
mp3: The Southland- Creatures

Buy here.

74. The Killers- Hot Fuss
First things first, Hot Fuss is just such a cool name for an album, from just such a cool band. The Killers hopped onto the scene with this one, and almost any one of these tracks could've had the fame of "Mr. Brightside," or "All The Things That I've Done.". And that's saying something considering the iTunes stats for those two puppies. This album is the definition of pretty (ricky) indie rock. Flowers provides the masculent and laid back cool voice while catchy chords jump out to the listener who just wants to dance along and bobb his head along to what he wishes was the soundtrack to his life. We all wish that though. Don't we?

mp3: The Killers- On Top
mp3: The Killers- Change Your Mind
mp3: The Killers- Believe Me Natalie

Buy here.

73. Architecture in Helsinki- In Case We Die
You can't use a 5 as an s in it's while singing it "It is 5", but AIH does, and you don't question that. These guys are a great band from Australia who create an album of many many instruments and lots of repeat button pressing. Cameron Bird puts together a disc that pretty much has anything the listener desires, and his voice shadows the endless amount of sounds like a ghosts, but in a friendly way, like a friendly ghost.

mp3: Architecture in Helsinki- Nevereverdid
mp3: Architecture in Helsinki- Wishbone
mp3: Architecture in Helsinki- The Cemetary(p.s **SITF's fav of the album**)

Buy here.

72. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin- Broom
SSLYBY has to be the coolest acronym I have ever seen. And this album is pretty good too. More than pretty good, a near flawless debut for a young band that's filled with ambition and bundles of talent. These guys are becoming one of my favorite groups out there... I mean they already got the unique and unforgettable band name down and they got drums that make me shake my money maker and that lo-fi garageband sound for a voice of Philip Dickey that is capable of any good sound and flowing piano medolies that bring the songs to life... so they have a pretty good start.

mp3: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin- House Fire
mp3: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin- Gwyneth

Buy here.

71. Jimmy Eat World- Bleed American
This was another keepsake from a trip. It was one going up north to the cabin in Michigan. Now I have a lot of drives up to Michigan, and a lot of albums are replayed throughout this traditional journey, but for some reason, Bleed American stuck out. It turned out that it was not some mysterious reason for why I always remembered this trip's album, it turns out that the answer for why these sounds stuck out is completely evident through out the music of this album. Each song is powerful and filled with effort. Also, each track has its own vibe, and this vibe sticks with you, until your done with listening to the album (which won't happen after 1 listen to each song), because then you get the vibe of the album.

mp3: Jimmy Eat World- Sweetness
mp3: Jimmy Eat World- Hear You Me

Buy here.

70. Okkervil River- Black Sheep Boy
When I first heard about this album, this group, I was looking at them negatively, plainly because many people were saying this was the album of the 2005, and not Sufjan's Illinois. But my attitude was changed completely when I turned up the volume on "For Real". Not just that track, but the whole album blew me away. Sheff's lyrics are the best being written today, and his trailing voice with the chords that make Okkervil River just fits in a way I can't describe. And when heavy rock is mixed in with all these components, the result is something that you have to stop and listen to.

mp3: Okkervil River- No Key No Plan
mp3: Okkervil River- For Real

Buy here.

69. Clipse- Hell Hath No Fury
Clipse man, they throw it down. Just by the book great hip hop/rap. The phenomenal beats that come along with having N.E.R.D. by your side just floor you while your caught up in a truly excellent rap album. But as for Clipse, they can't do wrong. I was into their early stuff a lot, but not top 100 style...Then Hell Hath came out and I couldn't keep myself away from my headphones, I even was able to memorize some of the lyrics and try to whine along with Malice and Pusha-T's flawless flow. You can't hate these guys, you can't even dislike them.

mp3: Clipse- Ride Around Shinin'
mp3: Clipse- Wamp Wamp (What It Do?) feat. Slim Thug

Buy here

68. Modern Skirts- Catalogue of Generous Men
That's right, another example of how SXSW Showcasing Artist samples can rule your world. The vocals from Jay Gulley alone hooked me, but the music hooked me for life, and yes I can already tell at this tender age that it has. Generous Men is an unbelievable alternative project. They've got a sound all their own, calm and structured alternative with soothing noises that put you in a place you dream to be. For me, "Pasadena" just paves the way for a created setting of driving out to California in the dry hot summer, windows all the way down, that song blasting, and looking towards the future while admitting the you have to forget the past sometimes. This whole album trains your imagination, and is an excellent accomplishment for music.

mp3: Modern Skirts- City Lights
mp3: Modern Skirts- Pasadena (p.s. ** SITF's fav of the album **)

Buy here.

67. New Radicals- Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too
Hey, maybe you've been brainwashed too? These guys made a more than quality album here and they're hot single had to be sucked into the MTV chain and endlessly raped with air-time until people thought that it was all NR had to offer. I listened to this CD while going down to Miami/Orlando, and you know when you listen to an album for a trip it's tattooed in yr mind along with vague images from the trip? Well that's what happened with me and this album, and I have loved it ever since, don't be fooled by the word on the street about these guys (which hasn't been since like 2000), just give them a listen and see for yourself.

mp3: New Radicals- You Get What You Give
mp3: New Radicals- I Don't Wanna Die Anymore

Buy here.

66. Wolf Parade- Apologies to the Queen Mary
I remember this was the first indie band that I heard hype from in a major music source (Rolling Stone, MTV, the works). It was predicted that this album would make Wolf Parade one of the hot artists of 2006. And although the hype didn't really follow through, making Wolf Parade a popular group among MTV kids, this album certainly deserved the talk. Apologies is almost like a greatest hits album because of how good each song is, and it's a sound unlike any other, which kinda makes you think that these guys have been around for ages, but they haven't, they simply got together and made a group (and made many other groups in a short period of time later, Swan Lake, Sunset Rubdown) and made a classic and quality indie rock album. I'll find something personal to put here.

mp3: Wolf Parade- Shine a Light
mp3: Wolf Parade- I'll Believe In Anything (p.s. kickass video you should check out here, beautiful direction by Matt Moroz, you can notice the greenish hues and the storyline is brilliant, best music video I've seen in a while)
mp3: Wolf Parade- Grounds for Divorce

Buy here.

65. Jens Lekman- Oh You're So Silent Jens
What's Jens Lekman's obessision with the 1985 indie flick Mask? What's Jens Lekman's deep voice doing in the same circle of those beautiful light melodies? Why are you so silent Jens? All are questions that need answers, but who cares, there's only one important Q + A: Why listen to this disc?- Because this is a damn addictive album. Each song flows beautifully with delicate arrangements and the deep bellow of Lekman's voice accompanies. Each song is different and fun and unforgettable, and every song is excellent...every song.

mp3: Jens Lekman- Maple Leaves
mp3: Jens Lekman- I Saw Her In the Anti-War Demonstration

Buy here.

64. Justin Timberlake- FutureSex/LoveSounds
Mmhmm, that's right, it's up at 64, and for good reasons, this record makes. me. want. to. dance. It's plain and simple, JT mixes pop with dance with funk with hip-hop and produces a product so imaginative for such a major debut. This creative project features tracks all over the place that could be number one hits, and I mean come on, a number one hit is number one for a reason, even if it gets overplayed and it doesn't sound appealing after all the spins it takes. Basically what I'm trying to put out is that this here is a pop gem, and is filled with songs that you WON'T hate.

mp3: Justin Timberlake- My Love feat. T.I.
mp3: Justin Timberlake- Summer Love/Set the Mood Prelude

Buy here.

63. Pavement- Wowee Zowee- Sordid Sentinels Edition
I guess the Sordid Sentinels Edition? It's basically the same thing with more, but this is focused on the album Wowee Zowee, because it is a work of art from a wonderful (can't do wrong in my book) band. First off look at the cover art, just look at it...awesome. Second off the music! My god the music! Malkmus has so much energy and he conveys this so much in Zowee, belting out gibberish in the middle of "AT & T" may be one of my favorite moments in Pavement history. The fact of the matter, is that this is Pavement, kicking ass once again, but for me the songs just are more to my liking. It's hard to put Pavement albums in order because they're all great, but in the end it comes down to individual opinons.

mp3: Pavement- Rattled by the Rush
mp3: Pavement- At & T

Buy here.

62. Yellowcard- Ocean Avenue
This is a very personal album to me (although they all are, I don't know why I'm singleing this one out. Maybe because of my nostalgia for my early early youth at this point in my life), and it is because of every songs relation to me. Every one of these songs on Ocean Avenue effected me in my middle school age, and that carried through. Every song makes me need to hear it, and makes me sing along to every line about a lost relationship or a flourishing relationship. It may be somewhat trite, but I tend to think that there is something more to the girl on the cover, you can barely make out the shape of her face and the look of her features, but she's still hidden from the viewer, not everything can be made out.

mp3: Yellowcard- 1 Year 6 Months Ago
mp3: Yellowcard- Only One

Buy here.

61. M83- Before the Dawn Heals Us
French electric craziness is the calling for M83 (a.k.a. Anthony Gonzalez), because they hit the nail on the head with this one. The sounds of this album echo through your mind to make you think of something greater (kind of like the galaxy this band is named after, or what's beyond it), even make you anticipate your future a little bit. Basically the sound this band makes is life-altering, there, I said it, and I stand by it. And in Before the Dawn Heals Us, they master this trick of hypnotizing their listeners into a state of existentialism. Oh yeah, and the songs are pretty catchy too.

mp3: M83- I Guess I'm Floating (p.s. Hey! wait a minute!)
mp3: M83- Teen Angst

Buy here.

Okay, 2/5 of these fun fun fun and long long long posts are done! So now I shall get my rest and begin 3/5, and remember, they just keep getting better..."And we'll slide down the surface of things,"...Always with love...BK

New Sufjan Joni Mitchell Cover and VOXTROT!!!

2007-03-17T08:51:00.000-07:00

Any Sufjan song is worth going through hoops to get, this one is no different, but it wasn't too hard to come across, the song? Sufjan's cover of "Free Man in Paris" on the new Joni Mitchell tribute album, properly named: A Tribute to Joni Mitchell. I really enjoy the song, though I basically love anything Sufjan puts out there, so have a look for yourself.

mp3: Sufjan Stevens- A Free Man Paris

Also I just got a copy of the soon-to-be-coming s/t Voxtrot album, and I'm pretty sure after this first listen that it's going to be like every other Voxtrot I've heard: At first I'm iffy and not too confident that the song is good, but I do notice the potential. Then after a few listens, I can't get the song out of my head. So I am pretty sure that's what is going to happen with this whole album, because I even am picking up some clever riffs on first listen, and I'm actually really into some of the songs on the first listen, which is a good sign. So here are some of the tracks that caught my attention immediately. Always with love...BK

mp3's have been removed. But be on the look out for this disc. It's really growing on me.

Fav Fav Albums Out of 100 Part I (100-81)

2007-03-13T16:35:00.000-07:00

Slowly and slowly things are piling back up, only to be knocked right back down., that's how I feel with my uploads. I got them all back up, but who knows for how long, all I know is I'll do everything in my power to keep them available. BUT glad that debacle is over with so I can dive fresh into this...

This is just my point of view on things, it's fine if you disagree, I'd actually be surprised if anyone agreed to my particular choosing of things, but I feel like a big fun bond can form with these next few posts, and we'll be all close and cool afterwards. But keep in mind, some of these will be E.P.s or even Soundtracks to movies. So to quote Jon Brion , "Here we go...".

100. The Little Ones- Sing Song EP
This thing came out of no where, I'm still highly anticipating their full album debut but I haven't heard anything about it. I think I came across this little diddy on iTunes called "High on the Hill" and literally the words that came out of my mouth were: "Oo daddy like," and I regret saying that a hundred percent (not the song, the song well deserved that praise, just the fact that I said 'daddy like' to myself). But anyway after that it was like a domino effect, I would get another song of the E.P. and be astonished, and get another one, and get another one, until poof, I had all 6 stacked up. A great little listen if you have the time, and a great album will be the product of these guys in time, I'm that confident.

mp3: The Little Ones- High on a Hill
mp3: The Little Ones- Oh MJ!

Buy here.

99. Nine Days- The Madding Crowd
Yeah that's right, Nine f***ing Days. I don't care what anyone says, this was like one of my favorite albums when I was pimping the middle school days. Both John Hampson and Brian Desveaux's voices kick ass throughout the whole album producing such a crisp and beautiful pop alternative sound that it's scary. I'm sure people are just gonna disregard this but I'm telling you, Nine Days made a quality album here, and I love it, and I'll stand by it to the end of the world. From Absolutley (Story of a Girl) to the corny tribute to Bob Dylan, I love it, and I'm sharing this love. And for those closet Nine Days fans, new album coming out this year, and I am beyond pumped.

mp3: Nine Days- Absolutely (Story of a Girl)
mp3: Nine Days- So Far Away
mp3: Nine Days- Bob Dylan
mp3: Nine Days- Revolve

Buy here.

98. Phantom Planet- Negatives
Phantom Planet has always found a way to make me need them. This disc is part one of b-sides and rarities during the self-titled album era, which is the last we've heard from them, and is filled with gems reaching up to 19 tracks.Negatives provides so much for me, basically it reassures me that Phantom Planet is not turning on it's old sound of happy alternative, but also, being released shortly after their self-titled and latest album, it shows that the band is also experimenting with new sounds. It's the best of both worlds, a band sticking to its orginal sound, but exploring other sounds that they kick ass at as well! All in all this album really hits me hard, definitley my top B-sides and rarities album, because any of these songs couldv'e been put on a regular record and been spun non-stop.

mp3: Phantom Planet- Infatuation
mp3: Phantom Planet- Do the Panic!
mp3: Phantom Planet- Get Into It

Buy it on iTunes, or check it out here.

97. Bell X1- Music in Mouth
ok OK, so what if I first heard these guys on the O.C., if you got a problem with that then your lying because you know the O.C. has been a great outlet for music for the past 3 years. But after hearing the great song from the O.C. (In Every Sunflower) the rest of the album unraveled on me and took me by the hand through a labyrinth of Irish Alternative bliss. Strong vocals (considering the fact that their old frontman and singer from their old band Juniper, left them, oh and his name was Damien Rice) and chords, very diverse songs throughout the entire album (each genre as entertaining and clever as the next), basically, this album kicks it, and it's very cool and hip, and the lyrics to some of these songs make me belt them out along with the song, it's all that provocative.

mp3: Bell X1- I'll See Your Heart and Raise You Mine
mp3: Bell X1- In Every Sunflower
mp3: Bell X1- Next to Me (*Sometimes in the Fall's personal fav. of the album*)

Buy here.

96. Rilo Kiley- More Adventurous
To put it in terms short and simple, I wish Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett began recording together again. This album is the best representation of that wish. Whenever bandmates branch out to different projects or go solo from a great revolutionary band, those projects always tend to be missing something that your expecting to hear before listening to it, and it is disappointing, don't get me wrong, I love the Elected, but on Sun Sun Sun I seem to miss those once-in-a-while pop explosions like "Portions for Foxes" on this grandiose disc.This is also just an album that I look at saying "Oo I love that song, and that one, and that one, and that one."

mp3: Rilo Kiley- Portions for Foxes
mp3: Rilo Kiley- It Just Is
mp3: Rilo Kiley- More Adventurous

Buy here.
--p.s. my wish has been answered with Fourth, said to come out later this year.

95. KanYe West- Late Registration
This is a great hip-hop album, KanYe is literally redefining and rejuvenating the rap scene, he has two albums, and both are lush and unique in each and every track. Late Registration is my favored of the two, because it steps up on so many levels, and it is a bit pretentious, and it has the right to be, with Jon Brion producing the album is much more mature than College Droupout. KanYe has the best lyrics out in rap right now (with Eminem being assumed retired, but that just means he'll have another album in 3 years), and the best beats you haven't already heard. Very innovative and time-consuming album, because you can't help but listen to some tracks twice.

mp3: KanYe West feat. Adam Levine- Heard Em' Say
mp3: KanYe West- Addiction
mp3: KanYe West feat. Consequence and Cam'Ron- Gone

Buy here.

94. The Dears- No Cities Left
This album is very very very cool, it's like an orchestra of modern alternative style music. With haunting/pretty vocals from Murray Lightburn, the band is really different, and fun to listen to. No Cities Left was the first sign of this. There is just such a beauty to this album, completely noticable in the opening notes of "We Can Have It", you can feel something connecting with your inner self, or at least I can, and I assume it does that to everyone. The song picks up real fast after a very emotional verse and is just flawless. Pretty much, No Cities Left is the same way.

mp3: The Dears- We Can Have It
mp3: The Dears- Warm and Sunny Days
mp3: The Dears- Never Destroy Us

Buy here.

93. Pavement- Terror Twilight
First Pavement album is up to the plate. This was the first I heard of the band, and the cover-art was fantastic, like an electro-magnetic Toto, so I was immediatley impressed and curious, and this album would be the start of a fantastic listening relationship with what I believe to be, tied as the best band of the 90's (with Sebadoh). Terror Twilight holds gems of songs like all Pavement albums do, and is the most up-to-date project of the group, so it is the most relative. Although "...Carrot Rope" is awesome, and the most known of the album, there is so much more behind the album. Practically every song has its own charm and catch, making the CD such a pleasant listen. Do not think that this album lacks something because it is this high up, and because other Pavement albums are coming, it is a damn good album.

mp3: Pavement- Major Leagues
mp3: Pavement- Spit on a Stranger

Buy here.

92. Chad VanGaalen- Infiniheart
Canadian native, although it is absolutely mindblowing for how many talented acts have been coming out of our northern neighbor lately, Chad VanGaalen recorded what is rumored to be hundreds of original songs in his ever-so famous bedroom studio in Calgary. And with his selections from these songs he made a CD, and Sub Pop liked the CD and cut it down a bit and sent it out to us, who also liked the CD, I personally loved it. He captures that lo-fi sound so well, because well... it is lo-fi, but behind the lo-fi is amazing music, music definitley worth a listen, or in my case, about 30.

mp3: Chad VanGaalen- Clinically Dead
mp3: Chad VanGaalen- Traffic

Buy here.

91. Pavement- Brighten the Corners
Second Pavement Album. It brighten's my corners. This was actually the most recent of all the Pavement albums I have been told about, and they have yet to disappoint me. "Shady Lane/J vs. S", "Stereo", and so many more come together to create another unforgettable Pavement album. I also love this stage in Malkmus's career vocal-wise, because he just loses it at some points, and it contributes to the crazyness and excellence that is Pavement.

mp3: Pavement- Shady Lane/J vs. S
mp3: Pavement- Stereo
mp3: Pavement- Date w/ IKEA

Buy here.

90. Ben Folds- Rockin' the Suburbs
Here's one of those instances where someone goes solo from a group that I love (in this case: Ben Folds Five, kinda obvious), but with this album, it isn't quite a bad thing. I mean, it makes me said that I won't be able to hear the Ben Folds Five sound again, but this album produces a sound that I also have learned to love and long for. By far the best of Ben Folds solo work as of now, as every track is a great performance of musical talent, and tearing vocals.

mp3: Ben Folds- Fred Jones pt. 2
mp3: Ben Folds- Not the Same
mp3: Ben Folds- The Ascent of Stan

Buy here.

89. Pinback- Summer in Abaddon
Rob Crow and company has made some fabulous records through the years under the Pinback name, but this is by far the most catchy, mainstream, consistent, and complete by the band. Pinback holds a sound that is untouchable by any other musical group out there, and on Summer In Abaddon captures that sound in its perfect essence. Track after track a song takes control of you and makes you hum along until you're beginning to hum the next song. Great modern indie album, style of its own, and strong consistency, that's my story.

mp3: Pinback- AFK
mp3: Pinback- Syracuse

Buy here.

88. Ben Folds Five- Whatever & Ever Amen
The difference with this album and other Ben Folds Five releases, is that this presents more of an emphasis on the emotional and slow-paced songs (That of the likes of "Brick" and "Evaporated"), but that emphasis is productive, because when I listen to these songs, I focus in on the music, the lyrics, everything, I just pay attention more, and I become affective. Don't forget though, this album also pumps out shouting and dancing anthems that have you jeering along, shouting "Ba ba da, ba ba da, ba ba da, bop'im ba da", so the balance that comes from these two original genres familiar to Ben Folds Five fans is quite astonishing. The result is a masterful disc that defines what is, Ben Folds Five.

mp3: Ben Folds Five- Brick
mp3: Ben Folds Five(p.s. I love when Ben Folds whispers "see" after singing out the words "it evaporated")

Buy here.

87. Phantom Planet- Phantom Planet
When I got this album about 3 Decembers ago, I was expecting The Guest pt. 2, and when I heard something completely different, I must admit, I was initially upset. I searched through the tracks to find just one song that slightly resembled "The Anthem" or "California", but I got nothing that came even close. But after many listens, the anger turned into appreciation for the new sound, and that new-found appreciation soon turned into need and praise. This album introduced me to a sound that I was more than OK with Phantom Planet rocking to.

mp3: Phantom Planet- The Happy Ending
mp3: Phantom Planet- Knowitall
mp3: Phantom Planet- By the Bed

Buy here.

86. Yellowcard- One for the Kids
Back to the middle school days with this pick. There will always be a place in my heart for this little album from a bunch of kids from Jacksonville who thought they were from the beach cities of So Cal. I love this album because it introduced me to the genre, at that point in my life, that I would be obsessed with (until seeing the trailer for Garden State with Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" and Frou Frou's "Let Go") up to Freshman year in highschool. This is a great pop punk album though, the essential vocals are shouted by Ryan Key, and the catch is the electric violin that compliments the whole thing very nicely. This band (and Relient K) was my middle school band.

mp3: Yellowcard- Sureshot
mp3: Yellowcard- Big Apple Heartbreak

Buy here.

85. The Strokes- Is This It
This album is like nothing else. This album doesn't miss a beat. This album is a great debut. This album is Is This It by The Strokes. Such a great first-showing for the band, it seems like they left the gates completely ready to showcase their soon-to-be embraced qualities. "Wow"ing guitar riffs, beats mixed with the drum smashing, and Julian Casablancas moaning voice that goes along perfectly with everything else. Another great characteristic about this album, is just how damn likeable each song is. "Hard to Explain", "Last Nite", "Someday", it's re-donkeya-lous. All and all excellent album, has to be on this list because I just can't not have it on here.

mp3: The Strokes- Hard to Explain
mp3: The Strokes- Soma (p.s. Love the lo-fi recording style of this version. Yeah huh it's hardcore)

Buy here.

84. Broken Social Scene- Broken Social Scene
When you're hearing lyrics like "Why are you always fucking ghosts?", and your still loving that song to the fullest, then you have to realize that there'e is magic in the air. BSS brings that magic to every song with it's orgy-of-band-members experimental yelling rock, and they kick ass doing it. They also help other bands kick ass with their rocking good record label, Arts & Crafts (Bands include The Dears, Stars, Feist, The Most Serene Republic, and the newly added Phoenix). Broken Social Scene is a great album because it's BSS showing their maturity and experience in music, and it just has powerful lengthy track after poweful lengthy track, each unique and individual in its own not-so-little way.

mp3: Broken Social Scene- Windsurfing Nation
mp3: Broken Social Scene- 7/4 (Shorelines)
mp3: Broken Social Scene- Handjobs for the Holidays

Buy here.

83. Band of Horses- Everything All the Time
I first heard of these guys back during the listening to the gigantic torrent file of the 2006 SXSW Showcasing artists (here they are, 2006, 2006 extras, 2007). Everything All the Time, for me, puts my in an imaginary realm where intellectuals live in a southern boomtown, wearing trucker hats and flannel vests, but they all seem to have Symposium memorized, and they are perfectly contempt with living that lifestyle. I don't know why I picture that... It could be the swamp-like album cover mixed with the hint of southern rock dribbled into the songs. But one fact remains solid, Ben Bridwell's haunting vocal chords over the background of an alternative orchestra made an album that planted two songs that could have both been candidates for the best song of 2006.

mp3: Band of Horses- The First Song
mp3: Band of Horses- The Great Salt Lake
mp3: Band of Horses- The Funeral

Buy here.

82. My Morning Jacket- It Still Moves
MMJ has some of the best energy in music today. I saw these guys at the Roseland in NYC back in November and they rocked the house. They opened up with my personal favorite on this CD (it is because of how awesome it was as the opener), "One Big Holiday". That riff will send shivers down your spine, and when you hear "Waaking Up feeeling, good and limberr" you know your in the moment. Jim James has a one-of-a-kind voice, and he broadcasts that with It Still Moves, a quintessential southern jam rock album that is near flawless.

mp3: My Morning Jacket- One Big Holiday
mp3: My Morning Jacket- Mahgeetah

Buy here.

81. Ben Folds Five- Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five is one of my favorite debut CDs of any artist. In this album, the group shows all the potential that they will not fail to accomplish in the future. This album basically paves the way for a new group who is different then all the other guitar playing groups at the time, and who are damn good at writing songs. Each song complex in its own way with clever lyrics and sharp twists and turns that make you enjoy the ride. Ben Folds Five is a great memento of how dominating of a band Ben Folds Five would become, and it's not only an indicator, it is also a contributor.

mp3: Ben Folds Five- Best Imitation of Myself
mp3: Ben Folds Five- Alice Childress (p.s. awesome part of the song is where Folds sings about getting knocked out cold, just the sound of everything is breathtaking)
mp3: Ben Folds Five- Philosophy

Buy here.

Well that post was a lot harder than I thought, but I will not cease with my top 100 albums. It may be a little while to the next 20, but they'll be on here don't you worry. Always with love...BK

2007 Music Completely Kicking My Ass

2007-03-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

So I thought I would just bring up how awesome this year of music is so far. High expectations were set at the end of 06 and they have been met, with more and more and more breathtaking releases to come (Radiohead, Postal Service, just to name a couple). From Arcade Fire's Neon Bible to Modest Mouse's We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank to the brilliant new album by the The Rakes, Ten New Messages, I would have to say through and through this year is kicking some serious tale so far, and it's only March!! Of course some of these albums have not hit shelves yet, but ya know it's a pretty damn good showing for, let's say maybe the first third of the year. I'm gonna leave you with a bunch of new tracks because I gotta get working on what I see as, the top 100 albums I have heard. So it could be a couple days till that next post. Always with love...BK

mp3: Modest Mouse- Fire it Up
mp3: The Rakes- The World Was a Mess But His Hair Was Perfect
mp3: Feist- 1 2 3 4
mp3: Klaxons- Golden Skans
mp3: Wilco- Either Way
mp3: Kings of Leon- True Love Way
mp3: Arcade Fire- The Well and the Lighthouse

Buy Albums: We Were Dead..., Ten New Messages, The Reminder, Myths of the Near Future, Sky Blue Sky, Because of the Times, Neon Bible.

300

2007-03-09T21:39:00.000-08:00

So I had the devine pleasure of seeing Frank Miller's/Zack Snyder's "300" in one MASSIVE ASS movie theatre (it's new and it's in the Rockaway Mall in Morris County New Jersey, and like, my God, this thing was ridiculous, it was like an orgy of Hollister, teenage predators, heavily buttered popcorn, and about the biggest movie posters and screens I have ever seen) tonight and I think it's only appropriate for me to give my review.

The film was visually stunning, and it should've been with all that crap they did in effects to this thing, from the behind-the-scenes thing I saw on HBO it looked as if the only real thing in the film was the actors (which I think sadly is true), but the make up piled on a film is not what makes it what it is, the actual film does, and this film fit my standards beautifully. Although fake, the shots were gorgeous, and set a definitive tone that flowed and made me much more comfortable and familiar with the story. There were also some very cool speed-up and slow-down techniques during the fighting, mixed with darkness and lightness experiments and high contrast, this baby pumped out some unforgettable images. I would have to say my favorite would have been the pushing of the Persians off the cliff (which can be seen on some of the movie's posters and in the trailers, I believe). Plotwise, man this film is something you want to watch to get your blood pumping. This thing was fun fun fun to watch, from start to beginning, mucho excitement, and badass fighting scenes, these Spartans were some crazy f***ing people (sorry to resort to use that word but it fits there so well). All in all the film did its job: It entertained the heck out of me, it made perfect sense and was actually a very interesting plotline, the character development was far greater than I expected, the cinematography ruled my ass, and it was as epic and radical as the trailer made it out to be. "300": 8/10.

* * * * *

Now also I realized I gotta give a shout out out out out out to my boys who are pretty talented musicians, their style isn't really my bag, but they rock it and they have some real potential in that genre. Their band is called Otis (which I strongly fought against), and they sound a bit like that whole jam band scene, mainly like Umphrey's Mcgee. But seriously, these guys can jam, I've seen it many a times, they've been actually blowing my mind with some of their newer stuff but they've been just too damn lazy to record that shit to mp3 and hit me up with it, but like all high school bands, it's not really their NUMBER 1 priority, and it's all a little scattered, but they are making some heavy progress and if they could continue I think they would be a real contender for that world.

There's Bruno (Far Left) who beats the drums, Jimmy (Middle Left) who can basically shred the shit, Craig (Middle Right) who pumps the bass, and John (Far Right), who does lead vocals and rhythm, but there seriously off the hook (they now use this renevated barn for their studio, and they have some hi-tech equipment stuff, like I'm not lying these guys are on their way). But enough of me talking about them, here are some mp3's for you to see for yourself, it's their old stuff, and I'm definitley gonna post the new stuff if they ever help me out there, but until then, enjoy these. Always with love...BK

mp3: Bump
mp3: Soundtrack

Music for Tourists/Rules of Attraction

2007-03-08T07:52:00.001-08:00

Chris Garneau, a NYC native, straight outta Absolutely Kosher, hit one out of the park.'Music for Tourists' is such a delicate and mind numbing experience. The sense of the album traps your emotions in a dark mansion for an hour as rain dribbles down the outside of the mirroring windows, causing nothing but self-reflection.

The album begins very strong, with a wonderfully composed "Castle Time", first and foremost laying out a warning call for the impact that is to come, and it only gets better, from "Relief", to the "I wish I were smaller, a little creepy crawler," of "Black & Blue", to the "Black & Blues" of "Halloween", 'Tourists" continuously brings emotion through calm waves of pretty noises. Garneau captures the essence I believe he was chasing for perfectly through this album, and I very much enjoyed my many listens to it, and to tell the truth will enjoy many more listens. I wish I could mention every other track on the album because they are all completely worth it, but then I would just be babbling on and praising this piece of art over and over and over. So here are some of the tracks that I put on repeat many times, hope they will provoke you to purchase this album because Garneau definitley deserves it.

mp3: Black & Blue
mp3: Not Nice
mp3: Halloween
mp3: We Don't Try

p.s. This album has also reached a place closer to my heart, my top 5 album list of 2007 so far, this list will continue to change, and I will keep you posted with new additions or drops, and by the eve of big 08, I'll drop a top 50 or something killer like that. Word.

MY TOP 5 SO FAR (of 2007)
1. Arcade Fire- Neon Bible
2. Modest Mouse- We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
3. The Rakes- Ten New Messages
4. Chris Garneau- Music for Tourists
5. Loney, Dear- Loney Noir

Now, second on my agenda is something I've been meaning to talk about to people, for a LONG time. Please take my word on this, Bret Easton Ellis is a brilliant writer and you should read and read all of his work. I finally gathered up the nerve to embark on this quest after many signs. 1: I had always loved the movie American Psycho, always loved the writing to it, and had heard that it was adapted from some awesome modern novelist, but I never really paid attention to it that much. 2: I was applying to a certain College in where a certain author of American Psycho and another book-turned-movie I had heard about, Rules of Attraction had attended, and this certainly caught my attention. 3: I had become curious after hearing how this other book-turned-movie by this certain author was set in a certain fictional rendition of a certain College this certain author attended, and that I was very interested in, so I decided to rent the flick and see what it was like. 4: Enough with the f'ing certains, I watched the movie and loved it, it was the best film I had seen in a long time, very different, very creative, very smart, and most importantly, very fun to watch. So from that point on the signs formed into some sort of necessity, the necessity to read this man's work, simply because I felt an electric urge to. So anywayyyy I gave this little number called Amazon a much awaited visit and ordered myself the works, all of Ellis's work. I developed an order (Saving Psycho for last because I heard it was the best, although reading Glamorama now, it seems it can't be true.) for the books I would read, Rules of Attraction coming first, and being the first finished, trust me you'll be updated. So what you must understand is that now I am in a strictly Easton Ellis-only reading cycle, the only books I will talk about for the next few month will be Ellis, and Ellis only. Okay, getting that out of the way, here goes what I've been leading up to say.

Rules of Attraction is an astounding piece of literature. From end to end I read it intensely, and I finished it quite quickly, because it was quite short, but that actually wasn't a good thing at all, because upon finishing it I found myself missing the characters and the stories each would narrate as their days at Camden would flow (I would later discover of Ellis's trait of re-using characters, and yeah that was AWESOME news). The 3 main characters would be the bulk of the narration, which would be some way of organizing the novel into chapters or whatever. These characters were Sean Bateman, a rich drug-dealing pot-smoking emotional vampire who was simply just looking for something to hold onto, but realized he couldn't really hold onto anything in the end, or in that case, nobody could, Lauren Hynde, a beautiful student who seeks the right love as much as she seeks the right major, but the right love has already been determined, and already been diminished in her eyes, and Sean is quote-on-quote, in love with her, and Paul Denton, a homosexual smart-guy who thrives for any sign in his life to give him inspiration, or a miraculous relationship that will somewhat balance out his hollow emotions, but in the end he too realizes that the ending of love/the desire of love is inevitable. These characters' stories intertwine, and even guest narrations are given every once and a while, one by Sean Bateman's French roomate, ironically written all in...French, one by the big star of American Psycho and Sean's brother, Patrick Bateman, and one by the bigger star of Glamorama and Lauren's desired love, Victor Johnson (Ward). The novel progresses through different situations, and certain he-says she-says differences in two people's recollections of previous happenings, but in the end the same conclusion is reached by all 3 protagonists, romance is dead. As depressing as that sounds, the book is both comical and insightful, and is definitley a must-read in my book. But I'm rambling again, so I'll leave you with my favorite track from the movie's soundtrack, and my favorite song by any of the artists mentioned throughout the book. Always with love...BK

mp3: The Cure- Six Different Ways
mp3: My Bloody Valentine- Soon

For Bret Easton Ellis's official page, click here.

the great sxsw post!

2007-03-07T16:01:00.000-08:00

This file literally raped my hardrive and took about ten days filled with scattered hours on my computer to download, but it finally finished, and I think that I have given an all-around quality listen to the tracks I think are worth it. I didn't know what to think going into the jouney that is known as "listening to all 739 sample mp3s from the SXSW showcasing artists," or what I was looking for/expecting from last year. With such amazing discoveries, such as Loney, Dear, Dirty on Purpose, Dappled Cities Fly, The Southland, Band of Horses, The Annuals, Maritime, The Modern Skirts (Seriously the list goes on and on and on and on), I guess I was having high hopes. And I definitley cannot say as of now if these songs will effect me the more I listen to them because I have no where near the understanding and experience I have with the batch from last year. But here are some of the songs I thought really stood out, and I'm hoping some of these artists can do some hardcore rocking and move up the mainstream. Always with love...BK

mp3: Kate Walsh- Your Song
I was seriously blown away by this song, Kate's cute vocals and strumming just make this listen so irresistable, and yeah it's slowly climbing up on playcount because it's that addictive.

mp3: Hot Club de Paris- Sometimesitsbetternottostickbitsofeachotherineachotherforeachother
Didn't know what was going on with the title of this but these guys really can rock out. They have a great sound and a new album you can get here, definitley a *recommended* listen.

mp3: The Forms- Stravinsky
Love this song. In the beginning they give you a tint of Modest Mouse and Havergal, but eventually they bust into their own style. It sucks the song's only like 1:52. Well those are my top 3 songs from the file as of NOW. But here are some others that were definitley up there.

mp3: Ox- Miss Idaho
mp3: The Wombats
mp3: Raising the Fawn- Gwendolyn
mp3: Dan Mangan- Journal of a Narcoleptic
mp3: Paul Duncan- Red Eagle
mp3: AA Sound System- Laissez Faire
mp3: Findlay Brown- Come Home
mp3: Death Ships- Story Never Gets Old
mp3: Skye- Love Show
mp3: The Carribean- The Go From Tactical
mp3: Electrico- Love in the New Wave
mp3: Thomas Dybdahl- A Lovestory