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17 Dec 2010 02:07

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Music: Pitchfork fulfills obvious Kanye West “best album of 2010” overture

  • But, somehow, West managed to transcend the preposterous talk show appearances, the too-good-to-be-true Twitter account, the live breakdowns, the Horus chain, the free-MP3 stunt(ing), the press blitz, the breakups, the make-ups, the dick pics, the furniture pornography, the Rosewood movement, the NO NEGATIVE BLOG VIEWING, the living paintings, the short film, and the rest of the lot. Through all that noise, we obsessed first and most deeply over the eye of the storm: the album.
  • Pitchfork writer Sean Fennessey • Revealing what’s been a straight-up given for the last month – Kanye West has Pitchfork’s top album of 2010. Considering it got a 10.0 from the site, it would have been a shocker if it wasn’t really. Past Kanye, perhaps the biggest surprise of the top twenty is Janelle Monae’s relatively low number twelve showing. The question is, who would’ve let her in the top ten? From Titus Andronicus to LCD Soundsystem to Deerhunter, the top ten overall is pretty solid, complete with James Blake’s numerous EP releases this year. Actually, we have a thought – Vampire Weekend’s “Contra” doesn’t belong there, thanks to this ad. Put Janelle Monae in its spot and give a girl with some awesome ideas her due, Pitchfork. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 6 Comments • Permalink

03 Sep 2010 20:18

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Music: Deerhunter’s new video, “Helicopter,” totally effing brings it

  • In front of a backbeat that we can best describe as “underwater reggae,” Deerhunter’s new song, “Helicopter,” doesn’t blaze like the band’s most well-known hits (“Strange Lights,” “Never Stops,” “Nothing Ever Happened”), but if nothing else seems to suggest that the band might have yet another artistic breakthrough in them. It’s them and Animal Collective at the top of the indie game, and based on this, they deserve it.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 May 2010 16:19

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Music: These budding Deerhunter fans are more talented than we are

  • As some of you may know, one of of favorite bands is Bradford Cox’s Deerhunter, one of the more ambitious, experimental acts out there. And these kids above, well, just nailed their most well-known song. We’re not talking like knowing three chords. No. We’re talking the bass part on the intro that hooks you in. We’re talking the distortion. We’re talking the dueling guitar solos at the end of the song. It’s the kind of performance that makes music fans like us realize exactly how mediocre we actually are. Yeah, we’re pretty mediocre.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Dec 2009 17:14

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Music: Near the end: Our Saturday Mixtape decade roundup hits 2008

  • 1. “What’s gonna happen to you?” As we noted in last week’s mixtape, Plants and Animals was going to be a part of our 2008 list, too. And “Bye Bye Bye” may only be the second best song with that title, it’s certainly a  close second.
  • 2. Cut Copy’s attempt to synthesize New Order into something fresh and new worked surprisingly well for 2008. The record, “In Ghost Colours,” got a little beat heavy, but when they mixed the beats with pure pop, like on “Feel The Love,” it worked better than good.
  • 3. It’s funny how different you feel about an album after a year. A year ago, we felt like Titus Andronicus’ “The Airing of Grievances” was a great album, sure, but not one of the best of the year. But we kept finding ourselves coming back to it – repeatedly. Ragged but by no means dull, these Jerseyites bring passion to every chord they touch, especially on “Titus Andronicus” (the song).
  • 4. Fellow Jerseyites The Gaslight Anthem also brought pathos with them on “The 59 Sound,” but they brought it with a little more punk and a lot more Bruce. The Killers’ attempts at Bruceisms were misguided, but they also paved the way for Gaslight’s success, so we’ll give them a break.
  • 5. We were really torn about putting Atlas Sound over Deerhunter in this spot. Ultimately, Deerhunter won. It’s because Bradford Cox’s full band has amazing singles even if their full records don’t hold together as well as his side project. At least that’s our take on the world of Bradford Cox. Anyway, “Nothing Ever Happened” is simply sick.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Oct 2009 12:20

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Music: Our Saturday Mixtape: Atlas Sound and Ben Gibbard cohabitate

  • 1. Bradford Cox is really one of a kind. The Deerhunter lead singer, who moonlights as Atlas Sound, really does a great job synthesizing really interesting ideas into his stew. Especially if, as in the case of “Walkabout,” that idea is Noah Lennox (Panda Bear) of Animal Collective. It’s a very Panda Bearish-sound, but built on of of those simple-but-awesome Deerhunter song structures.
    2. We admit to having an affinity for this broken twee sound, which Pens does a pretty good job of replicating on “I Sing Just For You.” It doesn’t really hold up over a whole album, but it’s nice in single-bite form.
    3. Sufjan Stevens went from recording really awesome albums about states to doing his best impression of the compositions from Final Fantasy VI (or Final Fantasy III if you’re a luddite who doesn’t know the series’ Japanese history). That description doesn’t give “The BQE” much credit – really, it’s great – but we hope he gets back to the 50 States Project soon.
    4. Ben Gibbard doesn’t have to do this. He’s already incredibly famous, and Death Cab For Cutie’s an interesting enough outlet that he doesn’t need another Postal Service-style offshoot to keep busy. But we appreciate his album of Jack Kerouac-inspired songs he did with Jay Farrar – it’s very much in the “Mermaid Avenue” mold. In a good way.
    5. It’s good to see our old friends Kings of Convenience showing up with a new album. We thought they were gone for good. A lot of people argue they need to expand their sound, but we think it’s perfect as-is, especially on “Me in You.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Sep 2009 11:11

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Music: Two things we really like, together: Deerhunter and John Norris

  • Noisevox has been submitting stuff about their interviews for a little while now, and we haven’t really found the right one that fit with the site. But we admit it – we’re big Deerhunter fans (we also would like to big-up Atlas Sound too), and the interview itself is really intriguing. John Norris reportedly got laid off from MTV last year, so it’s great to see him doing what he does best elsewhere. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 May 2009 11:01

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Music: This week’s Saturday Mixtape is so bleeding-edge it hurts

  • 1. School of Seven Bells, featuring one former member of The Secret Machines, feels culled out of 1991 on “My Cabal” – particularly with its drum machine beat and the sweet vocal harmonies.

    1. We love how much Crocodiles sounds like vintage Jesus and Mary Chain. It’s like they borrowed all the old gear used to record “Head On” and decided to go all JAMC for “I Wanna Kill.”

    3. It’s always interesting to listen to a new song by Deerhunter, easily the biggest band on this mixtape. Because you never know what you’ll get. Pop, noise, haze, dust, brood? They’re all possible. “Rainwater Cassette Exchange” is all haze, closer in feel to Bradford Cox’s work with solo project Atlas Sound.

    4. What the heck is a Nick Drake acolyte doing on Ninja Tune, a label known for its DJs and electronic musicians? We don’t know, but we know that Fink’s “Sort of Revolution” is a calm killer – coming off like a more soulful Mark Kozelek.

    5. Japandroids, much like Wavves and No Age and all those other noisy acts, manages to hide some pretty killer hooks under all those layers of distortion. “The Boys Are Leaving Town” will be stuck in your head. Trust us.

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

28 Apr 2009 21:44

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Music: This is like an indie kid’s dream tour … almost

  • one Dan Deacon: King of Wham City, Baltimore hipster freak, Casiotone supergenius, holding the Raymond Scott baton for a new generation of hipsters. Awesome.
  • two Deerhunter: Atlanta’s shoegazing innovators, creators of our favorite album of last year, complete with iconoclast lead singer Bradford Cox. Also pretty awesome.
  • three No Age: Pretty much the band responsible for bringing noise back to the forefront of indie rock. Leaders of the scene at L.A.’s Smell hipster dwelling. Overrated.
  • four The format: Round robin. All three bands set up at once. One band plays a song. The audience moves. Another band plays. The audience moves again. And so on. AWESOME! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Jan 2009 14:05

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Music: What was the top album of 2008?

  • By the numbers … … Metacritic says African duo Amadou & Mariam’s Welcome to Mali is the top-rated album of the year. They scored a worldwide popular-consciousness coup in 2006 after recording that year’s World Cup song, “Celebrate the Day.”
  • The critics, though … … have definitely taken a liking to Fleet Foxes’ self-titled debut, with that album topping a number of year-end lists. TV on The Radio, Portishead and Bon Iver are right behind, though. Our favorite? Deerhunter’s Microcastle. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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