Category Archives: Music

Forest Fire

Posted on February 27, 2009 | 2 comments

tfff

Forest Fire‘s album, Survival, was pieced together over 8 months by members from 2 states on opposite sides of the country (New York and Oregon).  Their label, Catbird Records, describes their music as “homegrown hymns for those with no religion”. At its surface, Forest Fire is raw, noisy folk-rock, but a number of the tracks have deeper layers of clashing horns reminiscent of Neutral Milk Hotel. I’m particularly fond of their darker lyrics that sound more like internal dialog, such as “I only wanna seem good in front of the right people… why can’t I kill someone I hate” and “I don’t like what I’ve become”. The French indie music site, La Blogotheque, named Survival their number one album of 2008. With our love of stinky cheese and Forest Fire, The French and I are bound to be fast friends.

Survival

http://www.mediafire.com/?dnvnzywjddc

Slow Motion

http://www.mediafire.com/?wyyz3h0nj1k

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The Builders and the Butchers

Posted on February 19, 2009 | Leave a comment

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Apparently I have something for bands that form in Alaska and move to Portland. My friend Bri recommended The Builders and the Butchers to me probably three times before I took the time to listen. Since then, theirs has become my most listened to album. I’ve not yet seen them live but have heard that their shows are ridiculously fun. Not only does lead singer Ryan Sollee have wonderful stage presence, but the band has been known to pass out washboards and tambourines to the crowd. During their cd release show in 2007, they led the audience out of the venue and onto the street where the entire crowd sang Find Me in the Air. I can’t wait for them to put out another album of wonderful depression era sounding songs.

You can catch them March 1st, but you’ll have to drive to Boise.

Spanish Death Song

http://www.mediafire.com/?fqe1dymjbzg

Red Hands

http://www.mediafire.com/?nmuinw3mn21

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Top Albums of 2008

Posted on February 15, 2009 | 4 comments

Because I didn’t have this blog at the end of last year, I thought I’d post a list of my favorite albums of 2008. I would probably rearrange the order and swap some out with other albums now, but I’ll post them as I did at the end of December.

#20 Port O’Brien – All We Could Do Was Sing

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Port O'Brien

#19 Titus Andronicus – The Airing of Grievances

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Titus Andronicus

#18 Amadou & Mariam – Welcome to Mali

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Amadou & Mariam

#17 Gang Gang Dance – Saint Dymphna

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Gang Gang Dance

#16 Deerhunter – Microcastle/Weird Era Cont.

Deerhunter

Deerhunter

#15 The Muslims – The Muslims

(Recently changed their name to The Soft Pack)

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The Muslims

#14 High Places – High Places

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High Places

#13 This Will Destroy You – This Will Destroy You

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This Will Destroy You

#12 Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes

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Fleet Foxes

#11 DJ Rupture – Uproot

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DJ Rupture

#10 Marnie Stern – This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That is That

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Marnie Stern

#9 The Dodos – Visiter

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Dodos - Visiter


#8 Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer

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Wolf Parade

#7 Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

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Bon Iver

#6 Crystal Stilts – Crystal Stilts

Crystal Stilts

Crystal Stilts

#5 Portishead – Third

Portishead

Portishead

#4 The Foals – Antidotes

The Foals

The Foals

#3 Alaska in Winter – Holiday

Alaska in Winter

Alaska in Winter

#2 Fuck Buttons – Street Horrrsing

Fuck Buttons

Fuck Buttons

#1 Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles

Crystal Castles

Crystal Castles

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Portugal. The Man

Posted on February 13, 2009 | 1 comment

I’m not going to pretend that I have any musical expertise or even that my taste is all that great. But! I do love to search for new music and share it.

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The members of Portugal. The Man hail from the Northwest, but I would have never guessed it. It’s difficult for me to place them in a genre. But I can say that whether a particular song is steeped in classic rock or jazz, it is always soulful. Plus, they get points from me for speaking out on their site against that impostor, Sarah Palin, back in September.

According to their myspace page, you can catch them in Salt Lake on March 11th @ The Urban Lounge.

And I

http://www.mediafire.com/?ltjzmnnyj2t

Out and In and In and Out

http://www.mediafire.com/?wjczywnu5xn

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