Albums

1. Middle Cyclone – Neko Case
   A certain “5 Star” album for me. It’s so comfortingly perfect to my ear. Neko Case’s voice is itself enough to fall in love with. But here she’s crafted a wonderful album around that voice. Lyrically, it manages to be both personal and about nature. When she sings about a tornado or a wild animal, they aren’t simply metaphors. They are quite literally songs about forces of nature and wild creatures. That they also allude to more personal themes only illustrates Case’s remarkable craftsmanship.
2. The Hazards of Love – The Decemberists
   A wonderfully enjoyable proggy folk opera by Meloy and company. Shara Worden’s guest appearance is a real highlight both on the album and in live performances.
3. Oh My God, Charlie Darwin – The Low Anthem
   On the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his On the Origin of Species, this trio delivers a strong album that ponders the implications of “survival of the fittest.”
4. Elvis Perkins in Dearland – Elvis Perkins in Dearland
   A devastating yet hopeful album that evokes Neutral Milk Hotel, Buddy Holly, and New Orleans’ second lines.
5. Embryonic – The Flaming Lips
   I think this one is only going to get better with time. After hearing some of these songs at the upcoming NYE Freakout, this album may very well creep up higher on this list.
6. Noble Beast – Andrew Bird
   As if guitar, violin, voice, and whistling weren’t enough for a multi-instrumentalist, Bird manages to make language itself a musical instrument.
7. I and Love and You – The Avett Brothers
   This sneaks its way onto the list partly based on the strength of The Avett’s 2007 album Emotionalism which I discovered this year. If that album had been released this year, it very well might be at the top of this list.
8. It’s Blitz! – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
   Bravo, Karen O. Bravo.
9. Songs in the Night – Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers
   Hailing from Shawnee, OK, Samantha Crain delivers a very strong follow-up to the excellent 2007 The Confiscation EP.
10. Veckatimest – Grizzly Bear
    A beautiful album. I don’t love it. But I do expect it will grow on me over time.

Honorable Mention: Actor – St. Vincent, Horehound – The Dead Weather, Merriweather Post Pavilion – Animal Collective, Dark Was the Night – Various Artists

Songs

1. “The Rake Song” – The Decemberists
2. “Charlie Darwin” – The Low Anthem
3. “Doomsday” – Elvis Perkins in Dearland
4. “I and Love and You” – The Avett Brothers
5. (tie) “Oh My God”/”I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” – Ida Maria
6. “Home” – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes
7. “Watching the Planets” – The Flaming Lips
8. “Songs in the Night” – Samantha Crain
9. “My Girls” – Animal Collective
10. (tie) “Zero”/”I Can Be a Frog”/”All is Love” – Karen O / The Flaming Lips feat. Karen O / Karen O & the Kids

As it turns out, listening to Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is quite a lovely way to begin a Monday morning. 

Today got off to a rough start - I woke up, cranky and groggy, after a miserable night’s sleep (a somewhat overzealous Sunday afternoon workout left me with aching muscles that kept me tossing and turning all night). Add to that, the despair-inducing thought of yet another five-day stretch of 8:00 – 5:00 toil.

But at some point during the last thirty minutes, my mood shifted and I now find myself in much cheerier spirits.  Well done, Wilco – well done.

Two-Headed Blog was extremely saddened by the news of Michael Jackson’s untimely death. It’s as if a little piece of our childhood died yesterday.

What is your favorite Michael Jackson song?

Yesterday, I learned that Fleet Foxes make for a damn good stress reliever. Today, I’m figuring out that there is no better way to get through a Friday afternoon than by revisiting my old White Stripes collection (in chronological order, of course).

First up, their self-titled debut album. So many fun, rock-the-fuck-out songs I’d long forgotten about: “The Big Three Killed My Baby,” “Astro,” “Screwdriver.” Don’t forget the cover of Dylan’s “One More Cup of Coffee,” and the sexy, soupy slide guitar on “I Fought Piranhas.”

Next up: De Stijil, with one of my enduring Stripes favorites, their cover of Son House’s “Death Letter.” “You’re Pretty Good Looking for a Girl” always makes me smile. And how could I have forgotten what a sexy, sexy song “Little Bird” is? I’m clearly a sucker for some raunchy slide guitar.

Listening to these albums makes me smile – not only because of how enjoyable I still find the music, and what a great mood I’m now in – but because of the memories that accompany them. I’m transported back to the early 2000s, when Dwight and I were renting an apartment up near Quail Springs Mall, and our only pet was our cat. I remember the summer evenings spent on our little balcony, surrounded by our pots and pots of flowers and herbs.

I remember my last job (which I was less than crazy about), working in the Capitol Hill area of S.W. 25th (an area I was crazy about). I remember the friends I had back then, and how we used to walk over to the corner grocery store on our breaks to buy Homies, which we all collected obsessively.

I remember going to see The Strokes and Tenacious D at the Bricktown Events Center, and I remember discovering the old Green Door on N. Western. (I still miss that place.)

I remember our Great North American Road Trip of 2002, with stops in Toronto, Syracuse, New York City, Boston, Niagara Falls and Detroit (Dwight and I were such rabid White Stripes fans that we actually went to the south side of Detroit to check out the Hotel Yorba – it was a frightening experience, what with all the crackheads and prostitutes out front). Anyway, these first two White Stripes albums served as the soundtrack to that entire trip. I can’t listen to them without remembering the time we somehow found ourselves lost in the middle of an Illinois cornfield, and the drunken night we spent wandering around the streets of Toronto.

Shit – I’m drowning in nostalgia, and I still haven’t even made it to White Blood Cells and Elephant yet.

Update (later that afternoon):

Just finished White Blood Cells.

Since this was the White Stripes’ breakout album, we’ve moved into “hits” territory: “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground,” “Fell in Love with a Girl,” “We’re Going to Be Friends,” and of course, my personal favorite from this album – “Hotel Yorba.” And let’s not forget the great, Michel Gondry-directed videos from this album. The video for “Fell in Love with a Girl” = best use of Legos ever.

I will award five nerd points to anyone who can tell me which movie the following “The Union Forever” lyrics are borrowed from (it’s not exactly an obscure movie, either):

There is a man
A certain man
And for the poor you may be sure
That he’ll do all he can.
Who is this one?
Who’s favorite son?
Just by his action has the traction
Magnets on the run.
Who likes to smoke
Enjoys a joke
And wouldn’t get a bit upset
If he were really broke.
With wealth and fame
He’s still the same
I’ll bet you five you’re not alive
If you don’t know his name.

I’m having far too much fun this afternoon.

…Fleet Foxes are absolutely perfect to listen to when you’re having a really crappy day and are really, really stressed out. This album is the only thing that’s lowered my blood pressure all day long.