Happy New Year!

New albums coming out in 2009:
January
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (January 13th)
M83 – Saturdays = Youth (January 13th)
Andrew Bird – Noble Beast (January 20th)
Bon Iver – Blood Bank EP (January 20th)
Titus Andronicus – Airing of Grievances (January 20th)
The Bird and the Bee – Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future (January 27th)
Franz Ferdinand – Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (January 27th)

February
Chris Cornell – Scream (February 3rd)
The Fray – The Fray (February 3rd)
Von Bondies – Love, Hate, and The There’s You (Febraury 3rd)
Ben Lee - The Rebirth of Venus (Febraury 10th)
The Feeling – Join With Us (Febraury 18th)
Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3 (sometime in February)

March
Starsailor – All the Plans (March 2nd)
The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love (March 24th)
PJ Harvey and John Parish – A Woman a Man Walked By (March 30th)

April
Dave Matthews Band – (Title TBA)
Doves – (Title TBA)

Sometime in 2009
The Wrens – (Title TBA) Fall 2009

Wilco – (Title TBA) Spring 2009

(+44) – (Title TBA)
Basement Jaxx – (Title TBA)
Blur – (Title TBA)
The Gossip – (Title TBA)
Metric - (Title TBA)
The National – (Title TBA)
New Pornographers – (Title TBA)
OK Go - (Title TBA)
Pearl Jam – (Title TBA)
The Postal Service – (Title TBA)
Sonic Youth – (Title TBA)
Stars – (Title TBA)
The Strokes – (Title TBA)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – (Title TBA)

Muse – (Title TBA) late 2009 or early 2010
Tegan and Sara – (Title TBA) late 2009 or early 2010

So enjoy tonight, have fun, and get ready for great year in music!

Breaking Artist: Dead Man's Bones

I came across this video a couple of days ago, but had been too lazy to post it (what with skiing and merriment and all). It's a video of Dead Man's Bones, a group fronted by Ryan Gosling.

This is a video of their song "In the Room Where You Sleep."


I haven't quite made up my mind whether or not I like it. It sounds like it is pretty good, I mean I like the piano and the melody, plus there are the cute kids singing in the background, and Ryan Golsing's dreamy and all, but there's something about the song. Maybe it's the recording quality (or maybe that's just Gosling's voice in general) but something sounds off about it. Either way, it's Ryan Gosling, so they'll get plenty of publicity.

I would love to hear it actually recorded.....

Playlist: Great Albums of 2008

Since it's the end of the year, most places are starting their Top (insert number here) songs/albums/music videos/whatever of the year. Now personally I don't feel that I can do that, I mean I certainly haven't listened to enough music to feel that my rankings could justify all of the great music that has come out this year. But I must say, I trust Rolling Stone enough, and they came out with the Top 50 Albums of 2008 list last week. Give it a read to learn more about each album.

I highly recommend all of the albums, but below are some of my favorites from this year with one of my favorite songs from each album. (The numbers are their rankings from Rolling Stone).

1 | TV On the Radio: Dear Science
TV On the Radio - Halfway Home removed by zshare

6 | Santogold: Santogold
Santogold - Les Artistes removed by zshare

8 | Beck: Modern Guilt
Beck - Gamma Ray removed by zshare

10 | Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend - Walcott

11 | Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes - He Doesn't Know Why

15 | The Black Keys: Attack & Release
The Black Keys - Strange Times

20 | Kings of Leon: Only by the Night
Kings of Leon - Use Somebody removed by zshare

29 | Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago
Bon Iver - Re: Stacks

38 | Ra Ra Riot: The Rhumb Line
Ra Ra Riot - Can You Tell

49 | Hot Chip: Made in the Dark
Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor

Breaking Artist: Whitley

Whitley is an Australian born folk musician. His album, The Submarine, is just starting to break through to a larger audience. Whitley has the sound that will mellow in your subconscious. He seamlessly blends acoustic sounds with electronic overtones creating songs with hushed, whimsical tales of love and loss. It is an album that will follow you around even when you are not listening to it. Whitley’s vocal range and style is at most understated, and The Submarine is a feel good album that I have come to love.

It was hard to pick a favorite, but try this....
Whitley - More Than Life

Playlist: Study Break!

So despite all of the snow attacking the Northeast I actually got home :D

And what do I realize? Why that I never actually put the mp3s up for the past week. So here is a gift to all of you. Enjoy!

M.O.P. - Ante Up

Stars - Bitches in Tokyo

Otis Redding - Try a Little Tenderness

Softlightes - Heart Made of Sound

Thursday's Study Break

Softlightes - "Heart Made of Sound"


Don't worry, come tomorrow when all of my finals are done and I'm home there will be real posts once again!

Wednesday's Study Break

This is a very good tune - my mother used to sing this - this is Otis. I love Otis!

CD Review: Adele and Boogie

Here we go again! 1988 is the new album from Mick Boogie (one of the guys who did ¡Viva la Hova!, the amazing mix of Coldplay's music with Jay-Z's lyrics.

The album was just made available for download today, and I've got to say, you need to go download this off of Mick Boogie's site. It's a nice mix of Adele's vocals and beats that Boogie describes as "the hip-hop sensibilities of the late 1980s, considered by many as hip-hop's golden age."

Mick Boogie was the Executive Producer of 1988, but he did have help from his "co-starring" producers 6th Sense, The Kickdrums, Garbs Infinite, Remot, and nVMe, as well as guest vocalists Big Pooh of Little Brother and Naledge of Kidz In The Hall.

The albums pretty good, but what bugs me is that:
1) They didn't use Adele's "Hometown Glory!" That's one of my favorite songs on the entire CD and they didn't use it! Out of the 12 tracks on 19, they only used 9 of the songs to make 1988
2) The opening song of the CD is a mix of Adele's "Chasing Pavements" and an explanation of how Boogie thought of/went about creating 1988. "Chasing Pavements" is probably another one of my favorite tracks off of Adele's album, but because of her amazing voice, which they completely overlook on the track.

All right, ignore my complaining. They did really nice remixes of "Tired," "First Love," and "Melt My Heart to Stone." Go download it now!

Tuesday's Study Break

It's a long video, but the story that goes through the video makes it totally worth it. Plus it's a good break from studying...

Stars - Bitches in Tokyo

P.S. - I'm moving to Berlin

Monday's Study Break

Take a break from the craziness and just laugh and smile!

"Ante Up" - Bert and Ernie M.O.P. (aka Mash Out Posse)

The next time you're at a hip hop show and the MC tells you to "Bounce! Bounce!" think about how much better Bert and Ernie are at it.

Playlist: And all that jazz....

So as I assumed, I'm up to my eyeballs studying for finals. Luckily for all of you (and me, for that matter), one of those is my history of jazz final...

So here you go, a sampling of some songs that keep getting stuck in my head.
Miles Davis - Blue in Green
Benny Goodman - Sing Sing Sing (With a Swing)
Charlie Parker - Salt Peanuts

I Love "Team Love!"

Team Love is a New York City-based independent record label founded by Conor Oberst and Nate Krenkel in 2003. On December 8th, the label opened The Team Love Library - just by opening an account (all you need is your email) you can download things for free. There's a different (but good) selection every month.

"The library will be open to the public 24/7, and as we have an endless abundance of MP3s, anything you take from the library is yours to keep," The Team Love team announced via their website.

So what are you still doing here? Go to their website!

British and Trendy!

"Meantime" isn't a new song by any means (it's from their self titled debut album which came out in 2004), but hey, I love The Futureheads. That and this song's been stuck in my head for a while, and I'd never seen the music video before.


I'll admit it - I'm a sucker for the fun colors. And I want those phones (not to mention those guitars)!

Playlist: \ˌka-lə-ˈfor-nyə\ #2

So I clearly forgot some essentials. My last post was a quick shot before heading off to the airport. I went into my iTunes and typed "California" into the search box, clearly forgetting things like...

HollywoodJosh Rouse - Hollywood
And the infamous 101 right by Pacific Coast Highway
Albert Hammond, Jr. - Back to the 101
And (although my example isn't exactly a happy song) the Golden Gate bridge
Cold War Kids - Golden Gate Jumpers
So I guess as the week goes on (and my finals get closer) you'll have to listen to something more related to that. Toodles!

Playlist: \ˌka-lə-ˈfor-nyə\

I'll be in California till late Monday night, so no posting till Tuesday at some point. But instead of leaving you hanging, I'll leave you all with some of my favorite California influenced songs.

Jack's Mannequin - Miss California
Semisonic - California
Augustana - California's Burning

And yes, I intentionally (even though I listen to them) left out the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Phantom Planet (aka Californication and the OC theme song)...

Breaking Artist: Boo and Boo Too

Boo and Boo Too are a band from Kansas, but their album music makes me feel like I’m already in a small NYC club – it’s better seeing a band live because that’s when everyone is full of the energy and the rawness that comes from the experience – and that’s what Boo and Boo Too somehow captures on their recordings . With powerful drumming mixed with the perfect fuzz filled rift, it’s hard to not get into their music.

Here's my favorite track off their album No Tempo. Enjoy!
Boo and Boo Too - I Know Nothing's All Right

Tokyo Police Club Announces New Tour Dates

Tokyo Police Club have announced a U.S. tour for early next year. The band will receive alternating support from Harlem Shakes, Born Ruffians, and Ra Ra Riot.

02/24/09 - Providence, RI - Lupo's - Support: Harlem Shakes
02/25/09 - New York, NY - Webster Hall - Support: Born Ruffians
02/26/09 - Washington, DC - Black Cat - Support: Born Ruffians
02/28/09 - Pittsburgh, PA / TBD - Mr. Smalls - Support: Harlem Shakes
03/01/09 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop - Support: Harlem Shakes
03/02/09 - Columbus, OH - The Basement - Support: Harlem Shakes
03/03/09 - Cincinnati, OH - Mad Hatter - Support: Harlem Shakes
03/05/09 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl - Support: Harlem Shakes
03/06/09 - Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder - Support: Harlem Shakes
03/07/09 - Orlando, FL - The Social - Support: Harlem Shakes
03/10/09 - New Orleans, LA - The Parish @ House of Blues - Support: Ra Ra Riot
03/11/09 - Houston, TX - Walters on Washington - Support: Ra Ra Riot
03/12/09 - McAllen, TX - Cine El Ray - Support: Ra Ra Riot
03/13/09 - San Antonio, TX - White Rabbit - Support: Ra Ra Riot
03/14/09 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre - Support: Ra Ra Riot
03/16/09 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown - Support: Ra Ra Riot
03/18/09 - Chicago, IL - The Metro - Support: Born Ruffians
03/19/09 - Pontiac, MI - Crofoot - Support: Born Ruffians

Tokyo Police Club - Nature of the Experiment
Harlem Shakes - Sickos
Born Ruffians - Hummingbird
Ra Ra Riot - Dying is Fine

I wish they were coming closer to where I am....

Redo

I wish I found this for my Thanksgiving post...



So...uh...Happy Thanksgiving...again...