Fractionals

A beloved holiday tradition

2009-12-20T18:30:00.003-05:00

About once a year Singles Jukebox head honcho and personal hero of mine William B. Swygart (the B may stand for "bloody") rouses himself from his work enough to liveblog something. This time it's the UK Xmas top 40 and if you know anything about pop music you know why that's exciting... and if like me you loved and miss dearly Will's UK chart roundups for Stylus you know why this particular take on it is even more exciting. The preamble is here; he's got the whole thing up, so get your ass over there!

"That was brutal, man."

2009-12-19T00:49:00.002-05:00

I don't care who you are, you pretty much have to read this interview with David Simon, creator of The Wire. But if you've never seen the show before or you're not done it, stop at the end of page 4. And then go watch the show.

Kinetakt

2009-12-18T10:30:00.000-05:00

The last couple of days sees a few things I've written going up; a review of the new record by Radian at Resident Advisor, and my show review of the amazing Andrew W.K./Calder Quartet concert at PopMatters.

drone love honesty sound

2009-12-16T18:51:00.002-05:00

Silber, one of my favourite small labels, is having a pretty badass sale right now. You can get the ten records they put out from 1995-2002 that are still in print for $35 ($60 if you're not in the US), or any ten records from a pretty impressive list for $65 ($90 internationally). If you are considering the latter at all, I can especially recommend Aarktica's No Solace in Sleep, Small Life Form's One (reviewing it for Stylus back in the day was my first exposure to Silber), the two Twelve albums (Twelve = Chris Olley from Six By Seven's sort of krautrock band), and especially Alan Sparhawk's Solo Guitar. While you're there, you may also notice they've put up some more free EPs and the like to download.

It continues pt. 3

2009-12-16T13:27:00.002-05:00

I didn't write any of the blurbs, but Resident Advisor's best of 2009 albums list is up. It is, of course, fantastic (although I didn't vote for #1 and wish #17 was higher).

I hate my husband, I hate my children

2009-12-16T01:18:00.000-05:00

Feel good hits of the 16th of December, 2009:

Xiu Xiu - Suha
Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton - Detective Daughter
Tamas Wells - I'm Sorry That the Kitchen Is on Fire
Aberdeen City - In Combat
Spacemen 3 - Come Down Easy
Metric - Help I'm Alive
Deftones - Hole in the Earth
The Horrors - Mirror's Image
Neil Young - Out on the Weekend
The Beatles - For No One

It continues pt. 2

2009-12-15T18:08:00.002-05:00

Today sees my album blurb for PopMatters' best of 2009 list, for (of course) the Mountain Goats, coming in at a respectable 18. More importantly, it also sees my review at Blurt of an album I didn't even hear until after voting at PM, Doveman's fucking incredible tour de force The Conformist. I've been doing this music critic thing for a minute or two, and as hopefully some of you have noticed I don't give out a lot of 10/10s, A+s, what have you. Doveman I gave a 10/10. Please find some way to hear this record; it'll be #1 in my Pazz & Jop poll for sure.

Well I'll be

2009-12-15T02:15:00.001-05:00

Nick Southall (I'll say it again, the guy who's fault it probably is that I'm a music critic) has a blog again. Well the bastard could have told me. Go read his year end stuff, it's good - even when he's wrong.

Multitasking

2009-12-09T11:46:00.002-05:00

Today sees both my review of the new Ola Podrida at Blurt and the Mountains quasi-live album at PopMatters.

It continues

2009-12-08T22:46:00.002-05:00

If you're not following the Singles Jukebox year end extravaganza, you are missing out on my favourite year-end thing 2009 is going to have. I happened to have been assigned the first two groups of round one, so both of my groups have been posted. And as annoyed I am that Dirty Projectors made it (that song is ass), I'm livid that my fellow writers are largely deaf to the glory of "Delirious." I guess it's up to my Pazz & Jop ballot to try and redress the issue...

I'll come forward laughing everytime

2009-12-08T02:11:00.001-05:00

Feel good hits of the 7th of December, 2009:

Blue Rodeo - Underground
The Divine Comedy - Love What You Do
Wheat - Don't I Hold You?*
Friendly Fires - Jump in the Pool
Doveman - The Best Thing
The Verve - Sonnet
Trentemoller ft. Ane Trolle - Moan
Belle & Sebastian - The Boy With the Arab Strap
The Band - The Weight
Ellie Goulding - Under the Sheets

*(the re-recorded version, of course)

Hype

2009-12-07T13:52:00.003-05:00

Simon Reynolds' Guardian essay on the decade's music is a very worthwhile piece of writing. But let's be honest, if not for the fact that he's mentioned the upcoming (one-off) Stylus reunion, which he's contributing to, I might not have blogged it. Note too that Ian Cohen, who wrote the Pitchfork Arcade Fire blurb Reynolds writes about, is a Stylus alum.

It begins

2009-12-07T09:32:00.002-05:00

The first end-of-2009 piece that I'm involved in is up; PopMatters has its best singles of the year list posted today and you can find me at number 27.

A localized, blood-filled dilation

2009-12-05T12:59:00.002-05:00

It is now bitterly ironic to me that I posted this and this recently. They were (and are) sincere, but my mom just called and told me that Steve had an aneurysm yesterday. Steve and Shirley were both good friends of my stepfather (he'd known Steve for at least 30 years) and I've known them for years. An aneurysm is an uniquely horrifying way to go and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but if anyone I know didn't deserve to go that way it was Steve. One of the loveliest guys I've ever met. And now I'll never see him again.

I want to write more, but as my mom said to me, there are no words. People I care about need to stop dying.

Grow up, go outside

2009-12-04T09:53:00.003-05:00

The online response I've seen to the Singles Jukebox's blurb on Animal Collective's "My Girls" has been infuriatingly dumb. I don't normally care about this sort of thing enough to write about it, but I continually live in hope that people will get over the idea that differences in taste necessarily mean antagonism, and I'm continually disappointed.

That said, as I told some friends, if I read one more comment accusing us of some ridiculous bad faith/disingeneousness, or equating different tastes with being 'out of touch,' I'm going to stab the internet.

A silent storm

2009-12-03T23:53:00.000-05:00

I know ambient dub isn't exactly everyone's kettle of fish, but I really hope at least some of you check out this Variant album (that I reviewed for PopMatters). It really is a gorgeous piece of work.

I’m quietly confident

2009-12-02T17:02:00.001-05:00

Feel good hits of the 2nd of December, 2009:

An Horse – Camp Out
Jack Peñate – Body Down
U2 – Lemon
Dragonette – Take It Like a Man
Mull Historical Society – Animal Cannabus
My Bloody Valentine – Drive It All Over Me
Two Lone Swordsmen - Rattlesnake Daddy
The Mountain Goats - Color in Your Cheeks
The Shortwave Set – No Social
Digitalism - Pogo

Sometimes I realize

2009-12-02T00:06:00.001-05:00

My head is about the explode from how late it is and how much I have left to do before sleep (getting up for work sucks and I can't believe most of humanity does it, so there), but here's a review of the quite excellent new Engineers album.

"The Rosa Klebb of letters"

2009-12-01T00:39:00.001-05:00

The next time someone asks me why I don't like Ayn Rand, really, all I have to do is point them here.

I love it

2009-12-01T00:05:00.001-05:00

I actually think this goes fairly well with that twitter link I posted below.

Am I Demon?

2009-11-30T20:05:00.000-05:00

I've got a short review of Aarktica's new and excellent In Sea up today at PopMatters.

A mixed blessing

2009-11-30T19:20:00.002-05:00

I love love love the Onion's AV Club website, so getting linked there (scroll down to "Death and Destruction") is a nice surprise, even if it's 'just' their Chicago branch. Two things made me kind of wince, though:

1. Dude, if you're going to mention Evan Chakroff's name with regards to the original review, why make it sound as if the Stylus Hivemind wrote the On Second Thought and not, oh, I don't know, me? ("Stylus would go on to revise his claims"? Seriously?)
2. "Baby P-fork"? Not only is that woefully wrong and misleading, but around these parts it'd get you a ~~punch in the mouth~~ stern talking to.

Killshot

2009-11-26T17:03:00.003-05:00

My review of the new album by Ben Frost is up today at Resident Advisor.

Sometimes he bears a striking resemblance to T. Rex

2009-11-25T11:04:00.001-05:00

I don't know how I'd missed the fact that Andrew WK has a Twitter, but it's a form uniquely suited to the man; as long as he's posting stuff like this, I'll be reading.

Never you mind, death professor

2009-11-23T15:43:00.001-05:00

Feel good hits of the 23rd of November, 2009:

TV on the Radio - DLZ
Pavement - In the Mouth a Desert
The Beatles - A Day in the Life
Future of the Left - Arming Eritrea
Tammi Terrell - All I Do Is Think About You
Fever Ray - I'm Not Done
Radiohead - House of Cards
Phantom/Ghost - Perfect Lovers (Unperfect Love Mix)
Captain - Broke
The Dodos - Undeclared