Instead of trying to do this all at the end of the year, I figure it would be easier to just make smaller posts with clips as the music is actually coming out.

That being said, the new Phoenix album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, is out this week (physically), but I have been enjoying the digital release for the last couple of weeks (it has been out on itunes since May 12). Phoenix is a french band that hails from the same part of France (Versailles) that produced the likes of Air and Daft Punk. While there are shades of electronic-dance in what Phoenix does, I would say the similarities to Air and Daft Punk do not go much further than geographic coincidence (although I will say that the French always do a great job of looking cool).

At the core of it all, Phoenix is really just clean-cut pop-rock group (think Vampire Weekend if they did not care as much). On Wolfgang, the band's fourth full-length, Phoenix continues to churn out danceable, effervescent (occasionally synth - in a good way) rock numbers. Vocalist, Thomas Mars, has an effortless swagger in his delivery that leads me to believe he owns several leather jackets and only wears them over tight v-neck t-shirts. With some of the catchiest/most fun songs to come out so far this year, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix may be 2009's first big summer album (and its only May). Check out the infectious, "1901" below.

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Clearly, I have neglected the blog in 2008. I (personally) had only two posts in 2008, and one of them was about Hunter S. Thompson. If anyone was reading this thing before, they certainly cannot be anymore. I won't apologize or make promises I cannot keep for 2009, but I can at least offer up my top albums of 2008 (in case someone is dying for some relatively new music). I have not done my usual thing of painstakingly writing each individual review, so I apologize for the lack of written content. Instead I have offered up a few sentences about each album, and then embedded a youtube clip of a track from the album. Maybe by having the clip right there (and having less self-indulgent writing), it will be more likely that someone will check out something new. Let me know what you think.

10. Department of Eagles - In Ear Park
Side project of Grizzly Bear's Daniel Rossen. Sounds like a more structured (and certainly more personal) rendition of the haunting psych-folk that has gained Grizzly Bear so much praise over the past few years. Always feel like this could be the soundtrack to an indie film made today about midwestern suburbia in 1987.

Track: "No One Does It Like You"



9. Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
First Silver Jews album in three years. Wry flea market poetry on top of Nashville inspired honky tonk. Not the best Silver Jews album, but there is no such thing as a bad Jews album.

Track: "Suffering Jukebox"



8. Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak
Broken-down version of the traditionally over the top Kanye West, translates into the most consistent release of West's undeniably impressive career. Thematically, Kanye is as depressed as he has ever been (or probably will be) on 808s, and the result is the humanization of one of pop music's loudest mouths. The minimal, electronic pallete and tales of misfortune result in one of the most surprising releases of 2008.

Track: "Street Lights"



7. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes/Sun Giant EP
The Sun Giant EP proceeded their s/t full-length debut, but everyone seems to group them together (probably because they are both so good). Soaring vocals over Appalaichan folk (rock). The music trods along, sounding from another time and place. The harmonies would make Brian Wilson jealous. Seems like every review of this I read mentions "pastoral rock", but I am not sure what that is. Album is epic.

Track: "Your Protector"



6. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
A band known for its unorthodox mix of junk rock and electronic (think if Radiohead formed in Brooklyn in 2001 - and was just overall grittier), Dear Science finds TV on the Radio exploring their pop/dance tendencies. The result is David Sitek and company cutting through the density of TV on the Radio records past, and the most straightforward TVOTR release to date.

Track: "Crying"



5. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
This album came out in January of 2008 and seemed to pass with me seamlessly through each season. Its African pop tendencies were a breath of fresh air as the winter thawed right into spring. Its east coast affluence made me feel like less of outcast as I was off to the College of William & Mary a few times this past summer. Once fall rolled around I was wearing boat shoes, had a purple gingham checked shirt on and was scoffing at people getting bent out of shape regarding comma usage.

Track: "A-Punk"



4. The Dutchess and the Duke - She's the Dutchess, He's the Duke
Sounds like the great rock artists/bands of the late 60's doing their best folk rock stuff. Think the Rolling Stones doing Beggar's Banquet. Sometimes I hear Dylan. Sometimes I hear Cohen. On "Mary", I hear both of them. If you like the darker stuff that came out of the late 60's (which you should) you will like this (you will).

Track: "Out of Time" - (Live Version)



3. The Gaslight Anthem - The 59' Sound

See my full review one post down or at this link (http://tuesdaysonthephone.blogspot.com/2009/04/gaslight-anthem-59-sound.html).

Track: "The 59' Sound"



2. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
If you are reading this, it probably means you talk to me somewhat regularly. That being said, I have probably already raved to you about the Hold Steady. Best live band in America makes another album of fist pumping, throat clearing, rock and roll music. Of course, you can (and will want to) sing along to the whole thing. Just let me know when, and I can bring the beers.

Track: "Constructive Summer"



1. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

I am not kidding when I say I have listened to this album over 100 times (I have the itunes "play count" to prove it). That should be enough of an endorsement. If this album doesn't move you, then you are dead. Check out my full review three posts down or direct at this link(http://tuesdaysonthephone.blogspot.com/2008/06/bon-iver-for-emma-forever-ago.html).

Track: "Skinny Love"

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If forced to categorize their sound, most would classify the Gaslight Anthem as a punk rock band. This is probably a fair assessment. After all, they did share a bill this past fall with Rise Against and Alkaline Trio. Make no mistake though, The Gaslight Anthem span beyond the stereotypical teenage-centric crowds of pop-punk's reach. With a foundation that is based more in the working-class grit of east coast rock and roll, than in the saccharine sheen of the MTV pop-punk circuit, The Gaslight Anthem sound like a punk rock band playing classic rock songs. The end result plays to my most elementary desires.

With the Gaslight Anthem hailing from New Jersey, it would be ridiculous not to mention the influence that Bruce Springsteen has on The '59 Sound. Lead singer Brian Fallon reportedly cut his teeth only a few blocks from E Street, and this is apparent from his first growl on album opener, "Great Expectations", to his last wail on closer, "The Backseat". The comparisons don't stop at the vocal stylings though. Lyrically, Fallon makes no mistake of his allegiances to the Boss, romanticizing about some of Mr. Springsteen's favorite topics: garages, girls, and growing up. In fact, the similarities move to direct Born in the U.S.A. references on tracks like "High Lonesome" (which pulls lyrics directly from "I'm on Fire") and "Meet Me by the River's Edge" (which name-checks both "No Surrender" and "Bobby Jean" within its first ten seconds). The flagrancy of the borrowing somehow makes it less of a sin though, and ultimately contributes to The '59 Sound's cohesion.

The real heroes here though are the hooks, and there are a lot of them. For better or worse, every chorus on The '59 Sound will get stuck in your head. They are melodramatic ("Everybody leaves, so why wouldn't you?"), they are covered in schmaltz ("Did they play your favorite song, one last time?"), they are over the top ("We're gonna wash these sins away, or else we won't come back again"), which is basically three ways of saying that they are fucking great to sing along to ("Maybe I should call me an ambulance").

Plain and simple, The '59 Sound is an album full of unforgettable melodies and hooks, which are laced with nostalgia. With their hybrid version of punk and classic rock, the Gaslight Anthem manages to create a standout summer album in a year (2008) full of them. Musically, it may not be complex. Thematically, it may not be groundbreaking. The '59 Sound will make you sing and dance though. That is what we came to do, right?

Jameson

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"The first time I heard "Kid A" I went 'OK, I have no fucking idea what kind of music this is but it's moving me. It sounds like a revelation.' That's what the new Oasis stuff sounds like. They have entered into some strange uncanny spiritual crazy door and have just lost themselves completely to it and it is marvelous."

-Ryan Adams

Ryan Adams couldn’t have said it better. Dig Out Your Soul is a revelation of an album coming from a band which has no business make such an album. It’s the kind of album that impresses at first, but grips and takes a hold after a few listens; the kind of album which remains in your CD player for months, only to be replaced by live versions of the same songs, only to be replaced by the album once again. It should never have really been possible, either, considering this is Oasis we’re talking about. Despite some of the shit that Oasis have produced over the years (though it is often lovable and enjoyable shit) there is a reason allmusic.com, a relatively respectable music review site, gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars, not to mention all of the other extremely high marks given to the album by media (other than pitchforkmedia.com, which for some reason refuses to give any band which has released more than two albums anything higher than a 4.9, calling every album thereafter ‘stale, derivative, boring, nonsense, etc.’).

For some reason it seems that at a certain point in any long-lasting band’s career things start to become a bit stale. The fresh take on music with which they originally captured your heart begins to feel dated, worn, and unexciting as they are unable to take the steps necessary to keep themselves and their music stirring and original. It takes a truly talented band to evolve and stay even somewhat relevant.

It is a difficult thing for any devoted fan to stomach: the band they have followed for years, the band they have talked up to friends, the band they have sweated buckets for at a concert now can’t make an album which is in any way interesting or good. Not every band falls into this trap, though. The Beatles and Radiohead, obviously, are perfect examples, bringing in new sounds with every album and allowing their song-craft to truly grow and become something which transcends the usual band/listener relationship of “this sounds good to me”, making it “this touches me”.

Oasis are a band who have struggled in recent years; treading water with Be Here Now, Standing on the Shoulder of Giants and Heathen Chemistry. Though each pushed the band in slightly new directions, giving at least a bit of hope for them to begin to grow and become a band which was still important and relevant, each album was unable to truly propel the band into a new phase. After Heathen Chemistry, an album which is extremely good and which contains several masterful tracks, it seemed impossible to believe that Oasis could ever truly move themselves in a new or fresh direction. Then came Don't Believe the Truth, an obvious step in the right direction, showcasing a stripped-down sound which had more in common with the crunch of The Who than the clean, Penny Lane-ish pop and rock which was the trademark of What's the Story, Morning Glory. Don't Believe the Truth, however, was weighted down by attempts to recapture the old magic with obvious singles placed between solid album tracks, resulting in an uneven flow throughout what was actually a very strong album. It failed, though, to truly put the band in a new position, though it certainly laid the groundwork. Actually realizing the potential seen in Don't Believe the Truth was another thing altogether, though, and after three years and several uneven leaked demos (which, it turns out, were Don't Believe the Truth throwaways) Oasis finally made their return to music.

Dig Out Your Soul, released on October 3^rd, completely changes everything. Just when hope had run out that Oasis would ever be relevant again, they release an album not so different from Howl from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: a stripped-down, blues inspired affair which re-energizes both themselves and their fan base. However, whereas BRMC took a folksy, quiet approach to their album, Oasis have stolen the heavy blues of Muddy Waters and injected it with crunching riffs and an immediateness which grips the ear from the very start and refuses to let go until the last, fading chords are strummed.

It is pointless to attempt to describe Oasis, a band most remembered by Americans as the creators of Brit-Rock anthems “Wonderwall”, “Don’t Look Back in Anger”, and “Champagne Supernova”, to any casual American because most Americans see Oasis as a one or two hit wonder and are only vaguely acquainted with their catalogue. It’s a shame really; there is a reason that Oasis continually scores on an even playing field as The Beatles in popularity and importance polls in the UK.

Still, though, even the most fervent fan has to admit that the last few efforts from Oasis have been disappointing, although steadily improving. It was always impossible to recreate either Definitely Maybe or What’s the Story, Morning Glory, but Oasis were spinning their tires, much like Bono and company continue to do with their latest derivative labors.

On Dig Out Your Soul Oasis have changed the game. They are a better band musician-wise than ever before; writing in the studio and approaching things in a collective, organic way (Andy Bell didn’t even play a note on his songwriting contribution to the album) and it is obvious. Dig Out Your Soul is a heavy, immediate album which takes the listener on a blistering trail from the heavy bass and stomp of album opener “Bag It Up” to the droning ends of “Soldier On”. This is not the usual, stadium anthem rock which has defined Oasis’ highs and lows since their inception, it is straightforward rock n’ roll with a 60s British blues verve. This is The Who joining forces with Led Zeppelin and deciding to play “Helter Skelter” with overdriven guitars until they blow their speakers.

Oasis still manage to tone it down on occasion and deliver a spiritual experience through song, however. Liam’s “I’m Outta Time” is a touching exercise in a Lennon-esque ballad which could easily have become a recycled attempt at creating a Beatles epic. Liam’s direct vocal delivery and its unique structure (no second verse?) allow it to transcend attempts by bands like Jet to capture the freshness and beauty of a Lennon-McCartney composition.

This is an album which is difficult to ingest in one take: a labyrinth of interwoven strands of influence and sounds, but never an album which drags on or is inaccessible. Even the honky-tonk and “Bron-Y-Aur-Stomp” drums of “(Get Off Your) High Horse Lady” melts in perfectly with the hard nose pub-rock which the Manc boys tear through on each track.

Of course, no great album can be a truly great album without a once-in-a-lifetime song. Noel’s “Falling Down” is just such a track, though it is an injustice that the extended version is not included on the album. “Falling Down” is among the greatest songs Noel has ever written, rivaling both “Wonderwall” and “The Masterplan”, despite the fact that it is a completely different kind of beast. A rhythmic drum and bass section provides the bed with which Noel lays his strongest vocal performance ever, allowing an intensity to build which is quite rare. “Falling Down” is quite simply a masterpiece and Dig Out Your Soul, despite a throw away track like “Aint Got Nothin’”, can be called the same.

-Luke Barnard

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Question: Why would anyone sequester themselves for four winter months in a Wisconsin cabin?

To many, the thought may be entertaining for a long-weekend, but four months? I would imagine most of us would be itching for internet access and "in-network" cell phone service by Sunday. Longing for our connection to the rest of world. Justin Vernon did just that though; locking himself away for an entire winter to write and record the songs that would ultimately become For Emma, Forever Ago.

The aforementioned album is Vernon's first under the Bon Iver tag, and feels as bare (both musically and emotionally) as the recording conditions would suggest. On the surface, For Emma is textbook singer-songwriter/heart on your sleeve fare (i.e. songs of heartbreak, recorded with little more than a rusty acoustic guitar). The album carries something intangible though. An underlying sense of integrity. This sentiment that the songs are natural in their foundation, rooted in the most organic form of emotion. It is this unspoken element that sets Emma apart from the ever-growing group of coffeehouse troubadours, roaming from city to city with a guitar strapped to their back, and a notebook under their arms.

Thematically, Emma is somber, but ultimately hopeful. It is almost as if Vernon purged his heart of the myriad emotions that would accompany a breakup, and then laid them all out on tape to rid them from his system. The album is littered with open-ended questions and remarks, presumably directed at lovers past (collectively represented by Emma), but also to himself: "Would you really rush out for me now?", "Now all your love is wasted, then who the hell was I?", "Go find another lover...to string along", "Who will love you? Who will fight? Who will fall far behind?" The minimalist arrangements allow for these soul searchers to burn into the songs, searing the record with equal parts self-doubt and personal inventory. However, in just a little under 40 minutes, as the album fades to silence, we are left with a moment of clarity. An understanding that what we went through is over, but was not in vain ("This is not the sound of a new man, or a crispy realization. It's the sound of the unlocking and the lift away. Your love will be safe with me").

You never get the feeling that Vernon is patiently awaiting his former love(s) to return. Rather, just hoping to sort life out, and ultimately get back to square one. Make himself whole again. Re-hashing the past not to dwell on what was lost, but more so to absolve himself of the weight of that loss. This allows Vernon to archive the good days off into a deep corner, and move on with something to show for it besides the scrapes and scars of a failed relationship.

This is perhaps what allows For Emma, Forever Ago to be a quintessential break-up album. It recognizes the faults of lost love, but also looks to preserve what made it so great in the first place. In the end, it is a convoluted life lesson, but a lesson nonetheless. Emma (or rather Vernon) teaches us that, by losing everything, we are forced to find the only true constant in our lives: ourselves.

Answer: To get it all back.

- Jameson

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I recently finished reading Hunter S. Thompson's take on the search for the American Dream, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream. When I first ended reading Fear and Loathing, I have to admit I was somewhat underwhelmed. However, the more it settles in, I think Fear and Loathing may actually be a stroke of genius. Thompson's tales of drug-hazed debauchery in America's most immoral city, Las Vegas, first came off to me as a chance for Gonzo journalism's forefather to show us just how many drugs he was capable of dabbling in without killing himself. I believe this hasty conclusion may have been taking the work a little too literally though.

It was not until flipping through the book today for my favorite passage (see below), that I noted the following quote (attributed to 18th century essayist, Dr. Samuel Johnson) as a preface to part one of the book: "He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man." This quote changed my whole outlook on the book (or at least caused something to click with me). This idea that Thompson's (semi-autobiographical) characters were partaking in this fiendish behavior to escape the realities of their miserable lives had (somehow) alluded me. In fact, it all seems so obvious, this concept of "solace in excess", that I am somewhat embarrassed to think I missed this all along. Either way, I think this quick (albeit bizarre) read is worth your time, and may be just sick enough to be totally brilliant. See my favorite passage below:

"Strange memories on this nervous night in Las Vegas. Five years later? Six? It seems like a lifetime, or at least a Main Era—the kind of peak that never comes again. San Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run . . . but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant. . . .

History is hard to know, because of all the hired bullshit, but even without being sure of “history” it seems entirely reasonable to think that every now and then the energy of a whole generation comes to a head in a long fine flash, for reasons that nobody really understands at the time—and which never explain, in retrospect, what actually happened.

My central memory of that time seems to hang on one or five or maybe forty nights—or very early mornings—when I left the Fillmore half-crazy and, instead of going home, aimed the big 650 Lightning across the Bay Bridge at a hundred miles an hour wearing L.L. Bean shorts and a Butte Sheepherder's jacket . . . booming through the Treasure Island tunnel at the lights of Oakland and Berkeley and Richmond, not quite sure which turn-off to take when I got to the other end (always stalling at the toll-gate, too twisted to find neutral while I fumbled for change) . . . but being absolutely certain that no matter which way I went I would come to a place where people were just as high and wild as I was: No doubt at all about that. . . .

There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda . . . You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .

And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .

So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."

- Hunter S. Thompson

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Although they can be categorized in the same vein as fellow indie-rockers and sub-pop label mates Rogue Wave, Helio Sequence dial up a bit more of the dreamy on Keep your Eyes Ahead, juxtaposing stuttering, dance-hall drumbeats with space-rock guitars and enough reverb-soaked vocals to make Kevin Shields or Andy Bell (of Ride, not Pulp) proud.

The work really stands out when The Helio Sequence are driving themselves full throttle forward in such songs as the ridiculously catchy “Can’t Say No”, album opener “Lately”, and “Keep Your Eyes Ahead”. “Shed Your Love” and “Broken Afternoon” showcase the alt-country side of the band and give the album some introspection as well as periods of tenderness which help to illuminate the highs of the more up-tempo songs.

“Hallelujah”, one of the catchiest songs to come out of 2008 thus far, is what really makes the album a winner, though. Its electronically pulsating bass, backbeats, and perfectly layered vocal harmonies catapult the album into new heights and firmly drop Keep Your Eyes Ahead on the shortlist of the year’s best albums.

8/10

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