POP THAT ROCKS

this is getting really fucking old

2010-02-09T14:57:00.001-05:00

see you on the other side. again. for good this time hopefully:

http://popthatrocks.wordpress.com/

hopefully with an actualy domain name to follow.

joanna newsom watch: kingfisher

2010-02-09T12:15:00.001-05:00

drag city's countdown to the new joanna newsom record continues this week with another new track streaming on their website.

this one, called "kingfisher" is a lush, 9-minute opus in in the vein of 2006's ys. feb. 23 just feels farther and farther away with each new track, doesn't it?

here is the full have one on me tracklisting (thanks gvb!):

Easy 6:04
Have One On Me 11:02
’81 3:52
Good Intentions Paving Company 7:02
No Provenance 6:25
Baby Birch 9:30
On A Good Day 1:49
You and Me, Bess 7:13
In California 8:42
Jackrabbits 4:23
Go Long 8:03
Occident 5:31
Soft As Chalk 6:29
Esme 7:56
Autumn 8:02
Ribbon Bows 6:11
Kingfisher 9:11
Does Not Suffice 6:45

now find me

2010-02-09T12:00:00.001-05:00

sure. you can already grab this amazing song in demo form. or you could get the finished version from pitchfork or stereogum or gorillavsbear.

or you could go straight to the source.

headphone bliss for the price of an email

physical single for "hide me" comes out on april 26, the golden filter's debut album voluspa a week later.

new xx video: VCR (matthew dear remix)

2010-02-06T00:45:00.001-05:00

when did it become cool to start releasing official video for remixes of songs? someone remind me because this is the second xx-related remix to get one in the past year...

here come the quakes

2010-02-06T00:45:00.000-05:00

flying lotus releases his highly anticipated follow-up to 2008's los angeles on may 5. it's called cosmogramma and comes enhanced with extra thom yorke.

warp has just made an excellent new non-album track called "quakes" available for free download here. if this is the material he left out, imagine what the actual album sounds like...

all of my old friends aren't so friendly

2010-02-04T12:30:00.000-05:00

new video for "laughing with a mouth of blood," my favorite track of my 9th favorite album of 2009, st. vincent's actor. funny stuff, highlighted by guest appearances from SNL's fred armisen and sleater-kinney's carrie brownstein. oh carrie, how i miss thee!

St. Vincent - "Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood"

st. vincent | MySpace Music Videos

have one on joanna newsom

2010-02-03T16:55:00.002-05:00

drag city just can't help teasing the hell out of joanna newsom fans these days. first we get new track '81,' than some archetypically busy cover art for her new album. now, best of all, they're previewing another new track called "good intentions paving company," seven minutes of piano-driven awesome that already rank among some of newsom's best work.

you can hear it streaming at drag city's website above but since their site has a tendency to crash at inconvenient times, you can also check out the track over at we listen for you where's its being offered for download for the time being.

either way, it's essential listening. the rest of have one on me comes out on feb 23.

so close, yet so far away...

all of the fire

2010-02-03T14:00:00.002-05:00

i've really taken a shine lately to the output from terrible records, the up-and-coming indie label started by grizzly bear's chris taylor. i'm all about the upcoming debut ep from class actress (out next week) and i'm also starting to really dig this stuff from taylor's fellow brooklynites acrylics. taylor produced the duo's debut EP all of the fire, which has a warm, fleetwood mac by way of camera obscura feel that sounds just about as good as you think (read: very).

the EP is available on 10" vinyl here and you can preview the title track off of it below. you can also check out the nicely nostalgic music video for "molly's vertigo," a non-fire bonus track.

all of the fire

marchin' in

2010-02-02T23:15:00.000-05:00

Lo-Fi-Fnk Marchin In from Mattias Erik Johansson on Vimeo

i don't know how i missed that lo-fi-fnk were from sweden. kind of goes a long way to explaining their awesomeness though. anyway, they just released a new single and here is the video for it. sonic goodness naturally ensues

tonight is going to be the night

2010-02-02T13:45:00.000-05:00

high hopes for high places if this new track from their forthcoming sophomore album is any indication. has a very languid danceability that works for their sound.

on giving up (via thrill jockey)

high places vs. mankind is out apr. 6.

first impressions: hot chip - one life stand

2010-02-02T11:00:00.001-05:00

*this first impression comes courtesy of the band in question, who are currently streaming the album in its entirety on their myspace.

on their breakthrough sophomore album the warning, hot chip became defined by two signature singles: the ferocious, party-starting "fuck you" to naysayers that was "over and over" and the tender disco ballad "and i was a boy from school." both singles are stellar in their own way, and i'm willing to bet no hot chip fan likes the two equally. the band tried to cater to fans of the former on 2008's made in the dark, which gave us the similarly mischievous "shake a fist" and "ready for the floor" among others. however, these numbers seemed to exist in direct dichotomy to softer moments like the title track and the sinead-baiting "in the privacy of our love." the different numbers were quite good individually but failed to really gel into a solid whole like the warning's songs did. perhaps as a result of that, alexis, joe and the gang swing the other way with one life stand, which will certainly appeal more to fans of their "school" days. yes, they seem to really want to give us laid back this time around. however, it now comes at the cost of the floor-filling pop numbers of their last two efforts.

more notes after the jump...

couple of things upon initial listens:

the album kicks off with the best opening track of hot chip's career. "thieves in the knight" packs a propulsive punch with synth and guitar lines that reminds me more than a little of moroder-era sparks. meanwhile, the wistful lyrics successfully convey the tone of the whole album in one fell swoop ("happiness is what we all want")
the band makes good use of strings on this album, lending "hand me down your love" and "i feel better" a certain epic melancholy that i really enjoy
speaking of "i feel better," easy pick for the next single, and arguably a better choice than the title track was, managing to ape "la isla bonita" and incorporate auto-tune to surprisingly awesome effect.
these guys still can't seem to successfully sequence an album. whereas made in the dark faded softly into the night with a cluster of momentum killing slow-dances, this one stashes the same kind of cluster right in the middle of the album, immediately halting the excellent pace of the first half. it also places an unfair stigma on the soulful "alley cats" which would have become an easy album highlight with more careful placement.
"we have love" is a wacky jam that would have been right at home on the last album but feels a little out of place here.
i actually don't mind "keep quiet" as a lot of people seem to. have to get their prince jones in there somewhere, and its a fitting nod to their early work.

being a "boy from school" fan myself, i tend to instantly lean towards this outing more than dark. that could easily change but while nothing stands out as loudly and clearly this time, the whole sounds like more than the sum of its parts. nevertheless, i still feel like hot chip have yet to really make the warning-worthy masterpiece that their frequent moments of brilliance since then seem to hint at. while still incredibly enjoyable, one has to wonder four albums in if they'll ever get there again.

chapterhouse reunion!

2010-01-29T12:00:00.001-05:00

full story over at xlr8r. no dates yet though (c'mon philly!) am i the only one really excited for this? i was a total shoegazer back in the day. now i just need my curve reunion...

phoenix x memory tapes

2010-01-29T11:30:00.000-05:00

meant to get this up yesterday but forgot. dayve hawk is at it again! apparently this remix will feature on a new 1901 ep (because, you know, phoenix haven't had nearly enough exposure in the past year) that will also include a remix by animal collective. i'm inclined to say whoa on that one, but given their subpar yeah yeah yeahs remix last year, i think i'll refrain for now.

anyway, the memory tapes version is solid as usual and makes me reinvested in the song.

get it here via memory tapes's blog.

first impressions: the knife - tomorrow, in a year

2010-01-28T15:30:00.006-05:00

*gratitude for this first impression review can be attributed to the dreijer siblings themselves, who are streaming their latest opus over at the knife website RIGHT NOW!

whoooo boy, and i remember a time when silent shout was a tough sell for a lot of people. even for the knife, this is about as far from kansas as one can get. to be fair, one can't evaluate tomorrow, in a year in the same context as previous knife efforts, it being the soundtrack to an opera and all. in that respect, i feel like i'll never get the full picture of this music without the accompanying visual aspect. nevertheless, i'm finding it to be an alternately fascinating and frustrating listen that earns my immediate admiration but may take longer to earn my love.

couple of things that struck me right off the bat after the jump...

ok, here we go:

it's better to know going in that the knife's only noticeable vocal contribution here (though it could be karin on the bonus version of "annie's box" as well) is the track everyone already knows, the epic "colouring of pigeons," and it's near the end of the album. additionally, "pigeons" is the first and one of the only songs to actually sound knifey on first listen. unsurprisingly, it remains a highlight.
a good portion of the electronics on the first half of the record recall early fennesz. not a bad thing, but definitely unexpected.
the eight and a half minute "intermission" of ambient nature sounds undoubtedly works thematically given the darwin inspiration but feels like an overlong palette cleanser. guess you have to see the performance to appreciate it.
"seeds" would fit in quite nicely on the new four tet album.
the other album highlight, "the height of summer," is a dead ringer for "heartbeats." could be a bone to fans, i guess?
having a hard time discerning where mt. sims and planningtorock are chiming in throughout this. exactly how significant were their contributions?
for it being an opera, there's a lot less actual singing than i was expecting. again, i'm curious to know how this translates live.

these are about all of the thoughts i can muster as the moment. needless to say, after the the recent accessibility of fever ray, this is less a case of the pendulum swinging the other way than in a completely different room. i'm committed to spending more time with this record as i think it merits it and will reward repeat listens as all previous knife work has. still, i feel that i'm missing something without the full theatrical experience to accompany it. here's hoping the production crosses the pond sometime soon.

tomorrow, in a year is out digitally next week and physically on march 1.

lali puna remembers

2010-01-26T16:45:00.001-05:00

lali puna is finally releasing a follow-up to 2004's faking the books on morr music. it's called our inventions and will feature yellow magic orchestra's yukihiro takahashi.

i kind of forgot how much i was into these guys (six years is a long time to be away) until i listened to new track "remember." it's synthy, slinky, and altogether groovy.

hear it now:

remember

look for the rest of the album on april 6.

pop that y-rocks 1.26.2010

2010-01-26T14:15:00.005-05:00

my weekly internet radio program, the circuit, airs tonight at 10pm est and again saturday from 9-11pm est on yrock on xpn. this week's show features new music from four tet, toro y moi, high places, caribou and more. if you know or have a band that you think is circuit-worthy, hit me up via email or soundcloud.

playlist and swag are as follows...

four tet - angel echoes
the xx - VCR (matthew dear remix)
neon indian - deadbeat summer (afghan raiders remix)
atlas sound - shelia (CRACKS remix)
memoryhouse - to the lighthouse (millionyoung remix)
the antlers - two (buffetlibre remix)
toro y moi - low shoulder
CFCF - invitation to love
lindstrøm & christabelle - keep it up
arthur russell - wax the van
high places - on giving up
tanlines - real life (memory tapes remix)(get it here)
phoenix - fences (delphic remix)
lemonade - bliss out (gold panda remix)
ellie goulding - under the sheets (pariah remix)(get it here)
joy orbison - wet look
bullion - time for us all to love
st. vincent - marry me (ETHEREA remix)
phaseone - love test (frank heat VIP)
the knife - colouring of pigeons (dAi refix)
caribou - odessa (get it here)
chromatics - night drive
joy division - decades
golden ages - everything will be alright (get it here)

cool find of the day: golden ages

2010-01-26T10:30:00.003-05:00

came across this group on various blogs yesterday evening. they're a philly group called golden ages and they have echoes of latter day animal collective, m83 and dan deacon. in other words, an electro-enthusiast's wet dream.

they apparently self-released an EP earlier in the year through their myspace. it doesn't appear to be available anymore, but they have a full length called tradition on the way in the spring courtesy of deerhaus records.

deerhaus is kindly sharing a few tracks off the album. here is my favorites so far.

everything will be alright

they're so future.

whoami???

2010-01-25T12:15:00.001-05:00

ok, everyone and their mother has already chimed in with their guesses on who this could possibly be.

i'm hearing everyone from the knife to M.I.A. to gaga to goldfrapp to aguilera. i was leaning toward goldfrapp myself until i heard their actual new single "rocket," which is too "i love the '80s" to be connected to anything this weirdly cool.

anyone have any guesses? it sounds like a bit like a cleaner oOoOO to me but i'm almost hoping it's someone completely new and different.

either way, i'm intrigued. more clues to be found here.

take a swim

2010-01-25T12:00:00.003-05:00

dan snaith is releasing his first caribou album since 2007's immaculate andorra on april 20 via merge records. it's called swim and is supposedly "dance music that sounds like it's made out of water," which given the rather relentless rain that's befallen these parts lately is kind of funny if entirely coincidental.

snaith is offering the first track off of the album via his website. it's called "odessa" and it's sick.

give it a listen for the cost of an email here.

actually, my name's marina

2010-01-22T16:00:00.002-05:00

marina and the diamonds has been on my blog to-do list for quite some time now. of all of the female blog-pop acts to emerge over the past year or so (florence and the machine, ellie goulding, etc.), she is actually the one i have highest hopes for in terms of commercial success. could be her voice. could be her looks. i don't know. call it a feeling.

her debut album the family jewels comes out feb. 15 and is preceded by single "hollywood" on february 1. the single is already racking up the club remixes and i figured it was time to have another "clash of the remixes" feature on some of the best. let's dig in...

first up, we have the video for the original for reference:

jaunty and uplifting in spite of the slightly cynical lyrics. a swell starter for the album.

but like marina's past work (see also the wonderful "mowgli's road"), it sparkles even brighter in club-ready form. i don't know what it is about artists and producers that are able to transform her songs into such bangers but i'm not about to start complaining now.

first up is a remix by UK electro-poppers fenech-soler. inverting the verse and chorus over bombastic dance beat, they completely reinvent the track as a fiery floor-filling rager that demands to be blasted at eleven.

oh. my. god. doesn't quite cover it.

you can hear that over at neon gold records.

up next is the juan maclean's version of the track. it's competent but feels rather pedestrian and predictable marina's voice feels too big for the dfa-by-numbers backing track and begs to bust out into something a lot more propulsive and energetic.

this one can be found here courtesy of electronic rumors.

and finally, we've got the most recent take on the song by marina's fellow neon gold upstarts, the mysterious monarchy. it doesn't announce itself as strongly as the fenech-soler version but it has a perfectly lovely disco glide that evokes memories of some of fred falke's better work from the past year. i can't say it yet, but i'm fairly positive that this one will emerge as my favorite of the bunch with more time.

but what do i know? grab this one over at discodust and decide for yourself which of the three is your personal favorite. feel free to let me know in the comments.

and for the sake of symmetry, here's a video for marina's acoustic version of the regional. quite nice, it is:

first impressions: four tet - there is love in you

2010-01-22T15:10:00.003-05:00

* this first impression comes courtesy of mr. keiran hebeden himself, who is streaming his gorgeous new album in full at his own website.

we're roughly five years removed from the release of hebeden's last album of new four tet material. such a long hibernation may have been wise if not necessary to distance himself from those pesky "folktronica" labels that kept following him around no matter which musical direction he opted to take after 2001's pause. fortunately, the moment of pause is long over and the future of four tet is here. there is love in you is a sublime slice of ethereal dance-floor bliss...

notes upon first listen:

"angel echoes" is probably one of the most beautiful things i've heard in recent memory. deceptively repetitive, its looping vocal clips and synth shards keep layering over each other little by little as the song progresses to a positively hypnotic crescendo.
i still think i slightly prefer joy orbison's take* on "love cry." won't hold that against the original though.
i swear "circling" is a dead ringer for "one for you" by the knife, only with harps in place of xylophones
speaking of the knife, the vocals that crop up in "sing" sound a lot like karin's
"plastic people" is a nice reminder that kieran pre-dates axel "the field" wilner by a good few years.
"she just likes to fight" is the obligatory throwback song, and it's still one of his best.

well played, mr. hebeden, well played. there is love in you comes out this tuesday via domino. there are also a few four tet live dates on the horizon, but alas, none in philly.

*and here, so you can hear what i mean:

open your eyes

2010-01-21T16:45:00.002-05:00

oh gvb, whatever would i do without you???

one of my favorite discoveries of the past twelves months, the mysterious golden filter are finally releasing their full-length debut on april 26. no clue what a voluspa is, but i want it!

check their website for a brief snippet of new and improved mastered version of the first single "hide me" (out april 19) at their website, or just check it below...

excuse me while i gay out.

cool find of the day: any decent music

2010-01-21T15:45:00.001-05:00

i found this cool website called any decent music while pretending to work this afternoon. basically, it's metacritic without all the fluff about film and tv and books and video games.

it compiles reviews of an album from all over the web and calculates the average rating of each. what makes it better is that it allows you to customize your charts based on genre of music, including subgenres like dubstep and synthpop (what? no chillwave yet?). you can also filter by how recentness of release and publication. bonus points to tallying scores from quality, non meta-assimilated websites like the quietus.

even better, it features daily recommendations and rotating playlists courtesy of mixpod, an idea i plan on incorporating into my own site very soon (thanks guys!)

check it out. the site's still fairly newish, having only been active for around 14 months. how else could you explain their top rated albums ever being basseyou kouyate and the new these new puritans. they can't possibly be that good. can they???

first impressions: beach house - teen dream

2010-01-21T12:15:00.002-05:00

* this first impression was brought to you by the ever-reliable NPR who are currently streaming the album in its entirety as they're often prone to do.

am i the only one reminded of merriweather post pavilion by the album cover? considering that this is coming out roughly a year after that album to similar buzz and fanfare, i don't think that's a coincidence. cover aside though, i'm actually reminded more of grizzly bear (no wonder ed droste is a fan). like their recent output, this album doesn't find beach house reinvented so much as fully blossomed. everything everyone loves about them is still there, just deepened, matured, perfected. i'm usually not big for on-the-nose album titles, but in this case i'll gladly make an exception. this teen dream is every bit as sweet an swoon-worthy as its title makes it sound. it's also far more resonant and intangibly devastating than many such dreams can be.

couple more notes upon first listen (the first of many):

though an exquisite teaser for what was to come, the haunting and propulsive "norway" isn't even one of the best tracks here. you can't even appreciate its own full grandeur until you hear it in sequence with the rest.
speaking of sequencing, flawless. the whole flow of the album has a warm, enveloping quality.
"used to be" is still here. still awesome. "zebra" is amazing in studio form as well.
"lover of mine" is almost, kind of danceable. makes me wonder why more people haven't tried to exploit that in remixes. probably better if they didn't.
is it too early to call "10 mile stereo" my favorite song of the year? "the heart is a stone/it's a stone that we throw" = best opening lyric EVER. and don't get me started on the way the whole song takes off and soars away without ever coming down at the chorus. chills.
i used to draw comparisons from victoria legrand to nico. i'm also actually starting to hear a lot of her styling in the vocals of elin from jj. anyone else?

i dare not spoil anymore. in a word: essential.

have a listen to the whole thing at the link above, and buy the album in any form necessary when it's out on jan. 26. it apparently comes with a DVD of videos shot for each song, many of which have been previewed this week already at gvb.

beach house are also going out on tour in the spring. anyone else going?

memory tapes' first ever live show

2010-01-19T13:45:00.000-05:00

dayve hawk made his live debut as memory tapes over the weekend in manchester. yeah i talk about this guy a lot but it's not hard to understand why after checking out this video.

why he wouldn't make make his live debut locally is beyond my comprehension but he's promised a philly date next month so all is right with the world.

thanks to my friend john for pointing to this video over at philebrity.

a few random notes regarding coachella 2010

2010-01-19T11:15:00.000-05:00

the organizers seem like they were really concerned with opening and closing the weekend with a bang, not so much with day two.
speaking of day two, girls and beach house feel awfully low on the roster for the buzz they've been generating lately.
john waters hitting the festival circuit? nice.
karin, what are you doing to me? i had finally made peace with missing my chance to see you in new york and now you're coming out of retirement as fever ray already?
why does thom yorke now have question marks as part of his solo moniker? is it some kind of built-in disclaimer that he may cancel at the last minute?
jay-z and lcd may be the best one-two punch in recent festival memory
they better have something at least as impressive as this line-up for all points west later in the year. seriously, they owe us BAD.

feeling without touching

2010-01-18T12:15:00.001-05:00

good news and great news from the italians do it better camp this week.

good news: their first release of 2010 is on the way with the 12" for "feeling without touching" by glass candy, featuring 26 minutes of new material. so sweet.

great news: it is confirmed via the italians blog that after two years off, chromatics are back to work on a new record! it's being called "their darkest work yet" and may be ready in time for an autumn release. AWESOME.

as a bonus, chromatics are finally releasing their amazing 2007 lp night drive on vinyl this summer. 'bout damn time.

the next italians do it better label sampler (aka the sequel to after dark) is also nearing completion. it will feature exclusive new tracks from the aforementioned chromatics and glass candy as well mirage, farah, and current PTR fave desire. am i dreaming here?

much to look forward to in the new year already. here's something to whet everyone's italo appetites for now...

new jj jams

2010-01-15T11:45:00.002-05:00

sincerely yours was kind enough to offer two fresh new gems from the increasingly prolific (and no less amazing for it) jj, at least one of which, the haunting "let go," will be featured on the forthcoming follow-up to my fifth favorite album of 2009, jj n° 2. the logically titled jj n° 3 will be out march 9 on yours and secretly canadian.

from yours:

"OK, jj went to malaga to have some fun, get some sun and 2 albums done. it was back in the fall of 2008 when they had both lost their virginity to insanity and were looking for moments of clarity. a plane to spain felt like a reasonable opportunity.
so with money in the bank, nobody to thank, it started with a drank.
and a couple of hours later the on the 29th of september they had felt the first breeze coming in from africa, sweet winds of melodies pure and true."

what they said. get the tracks here.

also here's the artwork for n° 3. i kind of miss the blood-splattered pot leaf already.

jj are also making their US live debut soon, with appearances at sxsw and a tour with the xx. sweetness.

nitetime rainbows

2010-01-15T11:30:00.002-05:00

a sunny day in glasgow are still riding pretty on the wave of their beautiful 2009 release ashes grammar, which remains one of my favorite records in recent months.

the next single from the album will be "nitetime rainbows." i personally would have gone for "passionate introverts" but i like the former's blissful ambience just fine.

the EP will be out on march 2 via mis ojos discos and feature three new songs left off of grammar, as well as remixes from various label mates. should be fun.

another thing to note is that the band is really good live. for proof, catch them at one of the tour dates listed on their myspace, where you can also preview "rainbows" for yourself.

theres space for ol dat i see

2010-01-13T09:30:00.004-05:00

the paper planes have ascended to the cosmos from the looks of things.

courtesy of ms. arulpragasam's twitter.

UPDATE: turns out my description wasn't so far off. the new track is called "space odyssey" and will be included on M.I.A.'s new album later this year. it's supposedly a protest song meant to serve as a continuation of her big "fuck you" to the new york times. awes.

pop that y-rocks 1.12.2010

2010-01-12T17:15:00.001-05:00

though my blogging may have grown sporadic, one thing that has remained constant has been my weekly radio show, the circuit, on y-rock on xpn. after spending the final weeks of 2009 recapping the best of the decade in alternative and electronica, i'm back in full swing with new music from the knife, memory tapes, tanlines, surfer blood and much, much more!

read on for this week's playlist can tune-in online tonight from ten to midnight, or saturday from nine to eleven pm for the replay.

the very best - julia (joe goddard of hot chip remix)
active child - voice of an old friend (summer camp bedford falls remix)
washed out - belong
small black - despicable dogs (washed out remix)
cut copy - nobody lost, nobody found
memoryhouse - to the lighthouse
toro y moi - blessa
lindstrøm and christabelle - lovesick
the silent league - yours truly, 2095 (memory tapes version)
solid gold - matter of time (tanlines remix)
le tigre - deceptacon (dfa remix)
nite jewel - want you back
four tet - love cry (joy orbison remix)
animal collective - summertime clothes (dam-funk remix)
the avalanches - live at dominoes
miracles club - a new love
desire - dans mes reves
nosaj thing - light#2
OoOOo - nosummr4u
surfer blood - swim (alpaca remix by allen blickle of baroness)
white hinterland - icarus
the knife - colouring of pigeons
bullion - say goodbye to what
vampire weekend - diplomat's son

and because last week's playlist came out pretty awesome, here's that too:

lindstrøm and christabelle - looking for what (sally shapiro remix)
memory tapes - bicycle (what kind of breeze do you blow? e-mix)
la roux - fascination
monarchy - the phoenix alive
joanna newsom - bridges & balloons (pocket mix)
the longcut - repeated (toro y moi remix)
fleet foxes - white winter hymnal (the twelves remix)
jessica 6 - fun girl
hot chip - one life stand
the golden filter - the hardest button to button
lemonade - big weekend (delorean remix)
the xx - space bass (jamie xx's remix of the xx)
avner - bed for mig (kjj edit)
charlotte gainsbourg - heaven can wait (nosaj thing remix)
neon indian - mind, drips (mirror image remix)
bear in heaven - lovesick teenager
pixies - where is my mind? (bassnectar remix)
these new puritans - we want war (ghost hunter remix)
cfcf - half-dreaming
desire - if i can't hold you
kate bush - running up that hill (datassette remix)
joy orbison - hyph mngo

welcome back stylus! sort of...

2010-01-12T14:45:00.001-05:00

throughout college, one of, if not my absolute, favorite online music sites was the late, great stylus magazine. i didn't always agree with their reviews or music tastes, but i did always respect and appreciate them for their variety and honesty. i discovered many of my current favorite albums and artists through them. their genuine wealth of journalistic craft and integrity made it all the the sadder when they shuttered at the end of 2007, coming off of what was arguably the best year for music of the last ten.

as i started reading and weighing the various best-of-the-decade lists back in the summer when they were cropping up, i often thought to myself how much i missed stylus and how awesome their list would be had they made one. wouldn't you know? several contributors to that site felt the same way, and decided to do something about it.

again, i don't necessarily agree with all of the decisions made here, but of all of the major lists i've read, this one is pretty damn good, and probably my favorite of the bunch. as always, their inclusions are varied and true to the spirit of stylus, including not only many of my own top 25, but also several albums that just missed it, namely peak efforts by cut copy, sleater-kinney and missy elliott off the top of my head.

head on over to the stylus decade (certainly a better, more appropriate name for the last ten years than the 'oughties) to check out the full lists of top songs and albums of the decade, each 100 long, as well as several very well-written retrospective essays on various issues of relevance.

for a brief, shining moment, my favorite website lives again.

no escape from memory tapes

2010-01-12T09:15:00.002-05:00

you know dayve, if you spent less time remixing other people's stuff and more time prepping your live performances, you wouldn't have to cancel dates like your one at the barbary this past sunday that didn't happen. not that i'm bitter...

that said, your remixes remain undeniably slick and awesome, with this most recent redo of the silent league's "your's truly, 2095" cover being no exception, arguably trumping the league's last chillwave makeover by neon indian over the summer.

grab it over at p4k and get a jig going, then grab another new memory tapes remix (this one of gucci mane) over at his blog, along with every other remix he's done. just don't count on tour dates yet.

UPDATE: new memory tapes dates have been announced in the states, with a new stop in philly taking place on feb. 19. venue TBD.

Lisztomania: 2009 Edition

2010-01-08T15:30:00.007-05:00

let's face it. 2009 was a wash for me on this blog. i kept trying to start up fresh, only to take on new projects and responsibilties at both my radio station and another music website that i'm trying to help back to health. then there was the whole starting a new relationship/having a life thing that kept getting in the way. all of it added up to less time to be spent on here, and will doubtless continue to.

that said, i still love my blog and miss coming on regularly to rant and rave about stuff i like/dislike in music and pop culture so i'm going to start coming on here on a semi-regular but much more leisurely pace. for reals this time. before letting those good times roll though, i wanted to wrap up what ended up being an exceptional year (not to mention a pretty rad decade) for music. rather than go into those pretentious, long-winded spiels that i've done in the past (those will return in due time), i'm just cutting my losses and dumping all of my major lists for the year below at once. i figure all of these albums are great enough that a few good listens each could explain it better than i would.

i tried to play fair and base my inclusions and rankings on both what i listened to the most and what i see myself continuing to listen to more of in the future.

click below to see what made the cut and let me know what i left out in the comments.

my favorite albums of 2009

20. fuck buttons - tarot sport
19. raekwon - only built 4 cuban linx part 2
18. bat for lashes - two suns
17. antlers - hospice
16. japandroids - post-nothing
15. dirty projectors - bitte orca
14. atlas sound - logos
13. a sunny day in glasgow - ashes grammar
12. washed out - life of leisure ep/high times
11. phoenix - wolfgang amadeus phoenix

my favorite songs of 2009

animal collective - my girls
washed out - feel it all around
jj - ecstasy
dirty projectors - stillness is the move
atlas sound - walkabout (feat. noah lennox)
the xx - crystalised
VEGA - no reasons
phoenix - lisztomania
memory tapes - plain material
girls - lust for life
st. vincent - laughing with a mouth of blood
fever ray - now's the only time i know
grizzly bear - ready, able
cold cave - love comes close
bat for lashes - daniel
the big pink - velvet
neon indian - mind, drips
the golden filter - solid gold
major lazer - keep it goin' louder
toro y moi - blessa
animal collective - what would i want? sky
a sunny day in glasgow - passionate introverts (dinosaurs)
washed out - you'll see it
HEALTH - die slow
fuck buttons - surf solar
yeah yeah yeahs - zero
annie - songs remind me of you
delorean - deli
desire - if i can't hold you
passion pit - moth's wings
atlas sound - quick canal (feat. laetitia sadier)
pictureplane - goth star
museum of bellas artes - who do you love?
raekwon - house of flying daggers (feat. inspectah deck, ghostface, and method man)
SALEM - frost
bear in heaven - lovesick teenager
girls - summertime
japandroids - i quit girls
antlers - two
neko case - this tornado loves you

my favorite remixes of 2009

florence and the machine - you've got the love (the xx remix)
animal collective - daily routine (phaseone remix)
fever ray - seven (the twelves remix)
au revoir simone - another likely story (aeroplane remix)
small black - despicable dogs (washed out remix)

my favorite albums from the rest of the decade

radiohead - kid a
the arcade fire - funeral
lcd soundsystem - sound of silver
panda bear - person pitch
the knife - silent shout
sigur rós - Ágætis Byrjun
sufjan stevens - illinoise
m.i.a. - kala
outkast - stankonia
the avalanches - since i left you
daft punk - discovery
interpol - turn on the bright lights
white stripes - white blood cells
animal collective - sung tongs
joanna newsom - ys
spoon - kill the moonlight
wilco - yankee hotel foxtrot
jay-z - the blueprint
burial - untrue
modest mouse - the moon & antarctica
the strokes - is this it?
the streets - original pirate material
deerhunter - microcastle
hot chip - the warning
broken social scene - you forgot it in people

happy 2010 all.

what the frak is a horchata?

2009-10-05T15:30:00.003-04:00

really, vampire weekend? is this where we're at in our relationship? i mean you had a fun album last year and you managed to turn a lot of umbrella into smiles at all points wet this summer (too soon?) but now i'm expected to take valuable time out of my work day to sit by my computer and stare at some nebulous countdown for a tiny crumb from your new album? really???

ah, who am i kidding, the track's embedded after the jump. new album contra is out jan. 12. sounds like more of the same but "funner," i guess...

phoenix = this year's cut copy?

2009-10-05T15:15:00.003-04:00

it may not be besting animal collective or grizzly bear on end of year lists come december, but damn if wolfgang amadeus phoenix still hasn't proven to be one of the more prolific releases of '09. like the aforementioned cut copy's excellent in ghost colours released one year prior, it's a sweetly seductive summer record for all seasons that has inspired remix after remix after remix, none of which have managed to fuck up the source material. yet.

phoenix is currently prepping a full album of nothing but remixes of their songs (shades of sally shapiro's remix romances). it's seeing a digital release on oct. 13 but they've been offering fans a steady stream of teasers via their blog, most being different takes on fabled next single "fences" (good choice btw). the takes by friendly fires and soft pack (which may as well just be a cover) are well and good, but my personal favorite of the bunch so far is animal collective's lovely spin on album instrumental "love like a sunset," which they've even enhanced with their own vocals.

check it out and find out your own favorites right now.

pop that y-rocks 9.22.09

2009-09-22T18:00:00.000-04:00

my weekly circuit program airs tonight from 10-midnight and again saturday at the same time. this week, i'm rocking new music from the golden filter, the pains of being pure at heart, a place to bury strangers and more.

this wasn't the playlist i originally set out to run with this week. I actually did a complete overhaul of the first hour upon discovering newer stuff this week. overall, i'm happy with the changes and think everything flows a lot better than it did last week.

full playlist lies beyond...

the golden filter - thunderbird
hercules & love affair - i can't wait
the pains of being pure at heart - higher than the stars (saint etienne visits lord spank remix)
phoenix - fences (friendly fires remix)
lake heartbeat - mystery (ydre rymden dansskola remix)
the rapture - house of jealous lovers
toro y moi - left alone at night (pink skull remix)
ghosthustler - only me to trust
a place to bury strangers - in your heart (cereal spiller remix)
gang gang dance - bebey (dj/rupture and matt shadetek remix)
the very best - rain dance (feat. m.i.a.)
memory tapes - bicycle (horrors cosmic dub)
the xx - basic space (pariah remix)
animal collective vs. the beach boys - i'm waiting for my banshee
a sunny day in glasgow - passionate introverts
caribou - hendrix with ko
maps - i dream of crystal
the big pink - too young to love (delorean remix)
desire - under your spell
basement jaxx - feelings gone (feat. sam sparro)
the field - the more that i do (foals remix)

if you have any requests or recommendations for next week's playlist, don't be shy. shoot me an email or leave one in the comments below...

scoring life with the golden filter

2009-09-22T17:00:00.001-04:00

another random daily activity, another oddly appropriate soundtrack, this time courtesy of two tracks, old and new, from one of my favorite up and coming blog artists of 2009, the golden filter...

my love affair with this group actually began not with their first single, the epic song-of-the-year contender "solid gold," but with a remix of one of my favorite singles of 2008, cut copy's "far away." the winning disco glide they gave to that track prompted me to check out their own stuff (or what little of it i could find) and from there, i was hooked.

with nary a roller rink in sight where i live, i often find myself shuffling to solid gold while doing the next best thing: walking. i walk to work. i walk home. i walk aimlessly throughout the city, and every time "solid gold" comes on my ipod, my walk hastens into a catwalk-worthy strut, regardless of who's watching. the simple yet insistent beats (both programmed and live), the razor-sharp synth jabs, even singer penelope's languily lilting vocals inspire blissfully linear momentum.

this past weekend, i found myself walking up the avenue of the arts to wxpn in the evening to do some prep work for my radio show (more details on that later) and guess what came on the shuffle? as the song reached its percolating crescendo, something almost magical happened. the lights that dress and caress the upper windows of the buildings on the block of broad street between walnut and locust street began to blink, changing colors in nearly perfect synch with the song's twinkling final chorus like some large-scale, metropolitan mirrorball. i kept waiting for the passers-by on the street to form a soul train.

needless to say, this fanciful occurrence re-piqued my interest in the filter (who've been more or less radio silent throughout the summer) going into the new week. i came into work to do my daily morning blog scroll and came across the most gloriously timed news, they have a new single coming out in november on dummy! it's called "thunderbird" and the label was oh so kind enough to release the track (along with a pretty sick dub version) this week for free download.

they recommended playing the track "somewhere very high just before dawn breaks, somewhere very cold and very bright, or at night anywhere the northern nights can be expected." i couldn't wait to find anywhere like that so i listened to it while walking through the city, just as the sun was setting. daybreak, twilight, this song is all about the sun. the percolating bass in the verse was personified by the dull glimmers of light bouncing off of the building surrounding me. and as the soaring chorus took flight, i passed the buildings and the sun literally blossumed out from behind, bathing and blinding me while penelope's donna summer wail (i dare you not to think of "i feel love" when hearing this) simply went higher and higher until it seemed to be swallowed into its own light. the feeling i was left with was downright ethereal.

i've re-listened to the track at least ten more times in the twenty four hour span since then. no such moment of equal euphoria has happened again yet. but i doubt that will stop me from trying at least another ten times by tomorrow.

get the song here and see if you have your own revelation.

clash of the remixes: au revoir simone

2009-09-17T15:30:00.004-04:00

i'm trying out a new recurring post where i take two remixes of a song and stack them against each other to see which is better. let's see how it goes.

as big a fan as i am of this year's still night, still light, i'm a firm believer that au revoir simone are a group best enjoyed in remixed form. in fact, i think they'd be even more enjoyable if they just said fuck it and became a full blown dance act. look no further than their stellar turn on friendly fires' "paris" for evidence of that.

clearly i'm not the only one who thinks this as they've got as many djs and artists lining up to discofy their catalogue as any dfa artist these days (and when's the last time the rapture had a whole album's worth of remixes released?). for this post, it's two remixes of a particular track off of their lastest that have piqued my interest. tracks and assessments after the jump...

already one of the dancier songs in their catalogue (and hence of my faves by them), "another likely story" has already spawned two different re-interpretations within a week of each other.

just last week, neon indian (aka VEGA aka alan palomo) applied his dreamy electro aesthetic to the song with a slinkier beat and some deliciously dated synth sounds straight out of an '80s action movie.

now today comes an 8-bit take on the track courtesy of aeroplane (still waiting on a full length from you guys, btw), with even punchier percussion and a few tropical flourishes that blossum into a lushly layered crescendo that practially drops a mirror ball over your head as you listen.

my pick is the latter of the two when push comes to shove but as always, i'm looking to spark some civil debate so have a listen to both at the links below and leave your thoughts in the comments. also, feel free to comment on other artists you'd like to see in this feature should i continue with it.

another likely story:

neon indian's version

aeroplane's version (thanks discobelle!)

back in the swing of things

2009-09-16T12:30:00.002-04:00

i promised a fuller re-launch this month and technically i'm sticking to that promise. i'm still ironing out some different ideas for what and how to post to make pop that rocks really... well, pop. but in the meantime, you may have noticed that i've posted a little poll for all to see. with summer fading fast from minds and weather, i thought it fitting to reminisce on which songs released during it really summed up or brightened our off seasons. take a look at the options and vote for your favorite. if you select "other," please state your choice in the comments below. enjoy.

in other news...

my radio show has moved to a new night! from now on, pop that rocks is taking over the circuit on y-rock on xpn. i'll be specializing in alternative dance, remixes, mash-ups, and a little of my good ole' fashioned bloggy goodness for consistency's sake. it will air from ten to midnight every tuesday night and re-air at the same time every saturday night. this week's show featured new music from fever ray, HEALTH, memory tapes, and more.

check out the full playlist after the jump...

passion pit - the reeling (calvin harris remix)
fever ray - seven (martyn's seventh mix)
delorean - deli
junior boys - work
la roux - bulletproof (fred falke remix)
washed out - you'll see it
VEGA - no reasons
deastro - kurgan wave number one
pictureplane - gang signs
the xx - shelter (them jeans drum edit)
major lazer - keep it goin' louder (tommie sunshine 12" mix)
YACHT - we have all we ever wanted
au revoir simone - another likely story (neon indian remix)
bloc party - letter to my sun (twins remix)
HEALTH - before tigers (CFCF remix)
cut copy - sands of time
sally shapiro - miracle (bogdan irkuk remix)
max tundra - parallax error beheads you
memory tapes - stop talking
telefon tel aviv - stay away from being maybe
the big pink - velvet (gang gang dance remix)
the notwist - boneless (panda bear remix)

my girls and boys

2009-08-28T16:45:00.003-04:00

well this is just... neat. victoria bergstram's new album as taken by trees, east of eden, is due out in just over a week on rough trade records. it was produced by dan lissvik of studio fame and it's all kinds of gorgeous from what i've heard, something akin to lykke li backed by an acoustic tough alliance.

a flamenco-flavored track called "watch the waves" is already floating around the interwebs, and a lot of buzz is building for a song featuring noah "panda bear" lennox called "anna." this greedy bastard just has to have his name somewhere on every awesome album this year doesn't he?

as if his contribution to that song wasn't enough, bergstram is perhaps setting a record for quickest cover turnaround in history and including a beautifully buoyant cover of animal collective's "my girls" on the record. lennox and avey tare rather carelessly left out the boys in their plea for four walls and adobe slabs so bergstram is making sure they get their due, and i for one am totally with her on this.

hear her out after the jump...

now how long before the inevitable mash-up???

first impressions: the big pink - a brief history of love

2009-08-28T16:30:00.001-04:00

* this first impression was made possible by the band themselves, who streamed the album for free on their website a few weeks ago.

i meant to get this up earlier in the week but what are you going to do? the album isn't out yet so this still counts as a first impression. full review after the jump...

the uk press has been building this duo up for months as "the band to watch." you know. them and basically everyone else with a british birth certificate to release a single within the last year. but all cynicism aside, there is good reason to pay attention to these guys. robbie furze has played guitar for alec empire and milo cordell fostered the likes of the klaxons and the teenagers among others as founder of merok records.

each member of the big pink brings their respective experience to the table on their debut, a brief history of love, and for the most part, it pays off splendidly. one can assume that cordell's work with his label is at least partially responsible for the commanding sense of melody and pop savvy that permeates the record, while furze's work with empire seems responsible for the harsh electronic undercurrents on several of the songs, not to mention the explosive intensity of their choruses.

"too young to love," an early teaser single that resurfaces here in slightly more polished form, is arguably the most textbook consolidation of these strengths. over stuttering programmed drums and squalling feedback, the song plays like one long extended chorus, tailor-made for maximum volume at shows. the other buzz track (and still the pink's best achievement to date) "velvet" employs all of the same elements in an almost completely different way. the drum loops are more languid, and the guitar squalor more restrained and used to punctuate the gorgeously swooning vocals. one couldn't be blamed for recalling early verve on initial listens, but i don't remember ashcroft ever sounding this sincere or unassuming.

most of the other songs heed to either one side of the pink spectrum or the other, never quite matching these previous heights but still coming pretty damn close at best and deserving admiration for trying at worst. opener "crystal visions" is what stone roses' second coming could and should have sounded like. "dominos" compresses "velvet's" throb into a radio-ready nugget with a delightully dumb sentiment at its core ("these girls fall like dominoooooes!"). the title track and closing "count backwards from ten" scale back the industrial touches, opting instead for hazy, spaceman 3 territory, and provide most welcome changes of pace, particularly the former with its anonymous, hope sandoval-esque vocal accompaniment (anyone else hear the album and know who she is yet? please tell me).

equal parts brit-pop, m83, and my bloody valentine, it's no surprise that the big pink have found and made a home at 4ad. there's an oddly nostalgic quality to this record that fits their aesthetic and history perfectly while also offering glimpses at what till hopefully be a long and fulfilling career for one of the year's more promising upstarts.

a brief history of love is out on 9/8. here is the video for the aforementioned "dominoes." rad stuff it is.

my guilty pleasure and no one else's?

2009-08-28T15:30:00.005-04:00

oh sally. i don't know what happened. most people don't seem to be as in love with you the second time around. it's like now that they know you actually are a real person (albeit with a fake name), you've lost your allure.

well fear not, sally. we still love you here at pop that rocks. my guilty pleasure may not pack quite the same dramatic oomph that disco romance did (this is all relative, people), but it still brings nothing but smiles to my face and has proven the perfect complimentary summer pop album to its predecessor's wintry grandeur.

i had the opportunity to say lots more nice things about it and its strengths for mwdwn magazine this past week. find a link to my review and a free track after the jump...

album review: my guilty pleasure

sally said this album was supposed to "make you fall in love with the person sitting next to you on the bus." i don't take public transportation so i can't vouch for that, but i can say that this album bangs in its own adorably winsome way. it may even have some potential pop singles on it hands: the tensnake-tinged "moonlight dance" and freestyling "save your love" come immediately to mind.

but like romance, one of its highlights is a cover, this time of nicolas makelberge's "dying in africa." his alternately morbid and melancholy lyric is spliced over rainfall synths and a house-styled beat evocative of underworld. never has third world stryfe sounded so beautiful.

listen for yourself, courtesy of paper bag, and then get the album. it's out now.

dying in africa

and sorry about the lack of posts this week. still trying to get all of my ducks in a row for the big relaunch next month. stay tuned...

pop that y-rocks 8.22.09

2009-08-24T12:15:00.000-04:00

my most recent online radio show aired this past saturday on y-rock on xpn from 1-3. it featured new music from radiohead, the antlers, pictureplane, the xx, and more. full playlist rundown and random observations after the jump...

radiohead - these are my twisted words
phoenix - girlfriend
st. vincent - laughing with a mouth of blood
the pains of being pure at heart - ramona
lansing-dreiden - metal on a gun
throw me the statue - ancestors
xtc - senses working overtime
grizzly bear - two weeks
deastro - shield whip
japandroids - wet hair
health - die slow
delorean - moonsoon
discovery - orange shirt
the antlers - sylvia
jj - me & dean
pictureplane - goth star
the knife - heartbeats
the big pink - velvet
spoon - got nuffin
white denim - regina holding hands
a sunny day in glasgow - ashes grammar - ashes maths
atlas sound - walkabout (feat. noah lennox)
passion pit - the reeling
washed out - you'll see it
yacht - summer song
the xx - basic space
the streets - fit but you know it
simian mobile disco - audacity of huge (feat. chris keating)
basement jaxx - raindrops

listenership seemed to be up a great deal this week, with a lot of my song selections getting positive feedback.

this may be my last "regular" playlist for a while. with roughly ten shows to do for the rest of the year, i've decided to shift my focus from showcasing the new to reflecting on the old for a bit. each of this year's remaining shows will be dedicated to one year in music this decade, beginning with 2000 and working my way up.

I will be welcoming interaction with readers and listeners during this time, taking requests and recommendations and hopefully shining some light on music you may have missed the first time around. with each shift, i will blog my playlist and progress, posting the occasional mp3 and noting songs and transitions that move me in one way or another as i incorporate them into what will become my definite ipod playlist for the decade, to be unveiled on decemeber 31st, 2009.

so stay tuned. hopefully we'll all learn something over the next few months and have some fun doing it. it all kicks off this saturday, august 29 at 1pm.

cheers.

hey annie

2009-08-19T16:15:00.001-04:00

annie's looooooong delayed sophomore album don't stop is finally coming out in november on smalltown supersound.

i have to admit that i wasn't quite as enamoured with the leaked version that surfaced last year as i was with anniemal, but i'm guessing annie wasn't either. she's played around with the sequencing and deleted and added several tracks.

the bad news: no more "sweet" or "i know ur girlfriend hates me" and we still get the wtf-inducing "breakfast song."

the good news: we also still get "bad times" and the gliding, glistening "songs remind me of you," that latter of which is available on itunes as a promo right now and rings truer then any of madonna's latter-day dancefloor confessions.

follow the jump to access it...

every song i hear reminds me of you

the rest of the album is out november 17 (knock on wood) and still features some nifty contributions from richard x, timo kaukolampi and alex kapranos from franz ferdinand.

here's the revised tracklist:

hey annie
my love is better
bad times
don't stop
i don't like your band
songs remind me of you
marie cherie
take you home
the breakfast song
loco
when the night
heaven and hell

i don't know about the new tracks, but the new album cover alone makes me like this version better.

these are my twisted words

2009-08-17T12:45:00.005-04:00

so there's this kind of awesome new song by a band called radiohead. maybe you've heard of them? it leaked last week to much fanfare and speculation but now the band has made it officially available for download with the following statement:

"So here's a new song, called 'These Are My Twisted Words.' We've been recording for a while, and this was one of the first we finished. We're pretty proud of it. There's other stuff in various states of completion, but this is one we've been practicing, and which we'll probably play at this summer's concerts. Hope you like it."

it's no wall of ice, but it will do.

these are my twisted words

annnnnnd it begins...

2009-08-14T22:30:00.008-04:00

well we all knew this was coming. the double-ohs are winding down and it's time for everyone to start lecturing everyone else about all of the things that mattered and or 'made an impact' over the last ten years. in this neck of the blogosphere, that translates into telling everyone what you think were the best albums of the decade. drawing first blood on this front is popular indie blog (and frequent source of new music for yours truly) gorillavsbear. let's see how they did...

first off, props for beating pitchfork to the punch. being pitchfork and all, they've been hyping up their own multi-week, multi-list restrospective of the '00s to a ridiculous degree. gvb just dropped theirs today, unannounced and unassuming, like any good blog should. they offer their opinion to those interested without making anyone feel obligated to read it. right on.

next, they are referring to this list as their "favorite albums of the '00s," not the best. it's refreshing to see a blog acknowledge that the opinions on it are simply that, and don't presume to dictate what everyone else should think.

in a rather bold move, they only dropped a list of 20 albums. 20 albums over the span of ten years, with no explanation for any selected. again, i like this because it welcomes readers to make up their own minds about the selections. after all, no amount of words can tell you what actually listening to an album from beginning to end will say about an its quality or relevance.

i've made it this far without actually diving into the music itself. as a whole, for a list of 20 albums, i'd have to say they did the decade pretty proud. i'm not saying i agree with all of their selections (white denim feels a little early to tell and i'd have gone with original pirate material over a grand don't come for free) or sequencing (the knife - way too low), but i think they do a good job of nailing the diversity of music that these ten years have had to offer. i'm glad to see burial getting the recognition he deserves (take that, mercury prize!) and it's also nice that someone remembered animal collective actually did release records prior to merriweather post pavilion, even if it did take listening to that one to make this blogger appreciate all of the other ones.

you can check out the full list over at their blog (it comes with a foreward from carrrrrrrrles, y'all) or just keep scrolling. it already appears to be sparking some civil but heated debate in their comment section.

it would appear to be officially on now. betterpropaganda already has a list up, 100 albums strong. the fork's drawing their line in the sand on monday with 500 songs and 200 albums. who's next? i suppose i best get working on my own list. not sure how i was going to go about making or presenting it. i'm tempted to avoid ranking altogether and just go chronologically, maybe breaking out my fave songs from each decade on my radio show.

we'll see. suggestions are always welcome.

01 panda bear - person pitch (2007)
02 the strokes - is this it (2001)
03 ghostface killah - supreme clientele (2000)
04 outkast - stankonia (2000)
05 radiohead - kid A (2000)
06 j dilla - donuts (2006)
07 sufjan stevens - michigan (2003)
08 burial - untrue (2007)
09 joanna newsom - the milk-eyed mender (2004)
10 m.i.a. + diplo - piracy funds terrorism vol. I (2004)
11 sigur ros - Ágætis Byrjun (2000) this was the european release date. not sure if that should count
12 the arcade fire - funeral (2004)
13 white denim - fits (2009)
14 animal collective - feels (2005)
15 the streets - a grand don't come for free (2004)
16 grizzly bear - veckatimest (2009)
17 clipse - hell hath no fury (2006)
18 beach house - devotion (2008)
19 madvillain - madvillainy (2004)
20 the knife - silent shout (2006)

*on an unrelated note, i've opted to refrain from posting on the weekends for the time being, unless something really exciting comes up. check back sometime monday for new updates. cheers.

a new artist a day - power pirate

2009-08-14T15:25:00.004-04:00

our next new artist is actually a three-piece band out of washington d.c. who call themselves power pirate. formed in 2007, they consist of emily pakulski (guitar/vocals), annika monari (drums) and michael garate (keyboards), and they're a diy group in every sense of the term, designing their own website (very nice), taking their own publicity photos and recording their music in homemade booths made out of mattresses (resourceful!).

speaking of their music, it's a perky yet pummeling mash-up of the heavy guitar melodrama of muse and the squiggly synths of bis. these may sound like strange bedfellows at first but the resulting cocktail is quite fun. it certainly doesn't hurt that the group has a commanding vocalist is pakulski, whose soaring sneer isn't too far removed that of the sounds' maja ivarsson.

their music may not be for everyone, but it has certainly resulted in much involutary head-bobbing at my desk at work. imagine what it could trigger when exploding out of speakers at a club. according to local d.c. press, they positively shred live.

not bad for a group whose members aren't even old enough to drink yet.

check out a couple embedded tunes below. my pick is the techno-tinged "infecting us."

stars:

3 - Stars by powerpirate

infecting us:

5 - Infecting Us by powerpirate

free deastro!

2009-08-13T20:30:00.001-04:00

i know i'm trying to stay away from heavily reported stuff, but i can't help it when an artist's shit is this great.

moondagger, the recent debut album from deastro (aka 22 year old randolph chabot) is definitely one of the sleeper hits of the summer for me. the album is bursting with ambition and melody and its intersecting, interlocking electronics and rhythms remind me of early m83. and don't even get me started on the conceptual, rpg-recalling lyrics.

as if this album wasn't incentive enough already to love him, chabot has crafted a brand new, 9 song ep that he's offering for free via his band blog.

the awesomely titled orange swimmer red summer ep offers a sloppier, sunnier take on its album predecessor. it still shimmers and shines like chabot's earlier work, but also has a more organic feel and with it a touch more urgency. in this blogger's opinion, it's just as essential as its older sibling, and will definitely share the glory on my end of year list come december.

don't believe me? grab it at the link below and listen for yourself right now. seriously. "red summer" alone should be enough to sell you.

orange swimmer red summer

scoring life with antlers

2009-08-13T19:30:00.003-04:00

another new thing i'm trying on here is a recurring column that from here on in, unless someone comes up with something better, will be called "scoring life." for each entry, i will take a newish album at random, listen to it during one of my myriad day to day tasks - some exciting, many mundane - and report back on what i think.

this serves two purposes: one to review music from a unique perspective as i find it interesting how listening to certain songs or artists can color what one is doing at the time and vice versa. two to offer brief, random glimpses into my ever so illusive personal life. aren't i subversive?

we begin here with a look into the new album by the antlers, hospice...

first, some background. i acquired this album just last week. i had casually previewed a couple of tracks ("bears" even found its way onto a recent party playlist at my apartment) but had yet to give the whole the full attention that it required and deserved.

today at work, i was entering the third day of what can safely be called a lull. yes, i have a "real job" beyond this blog and it has its fair share of slow spells, typically at the start of each month. anyway, towards the end of the day, i was selected to undertake the uber-exciting task of scanning imagery and emailing it to myself to sort into folders for future design use. that's right. my work had finally slowed to doing a receptionist's job. this isn't to say i dislike what i do. far from it, actually. but that didn't make the task at hand any less mind-numbing or repetitive. knowing i'd be standing in front of a copier for the remainder of the afternoon, i thought it would be the perfect time to find something to listen to in-depth. guess which album was at the top of my queue?

and so i listened. the first thing i noticed was how the droning ambience of the opening songs, combined with how many of the individual tracks seemed to bleed directly into one another, perfectly matched both the lethargic pace at which the time and task were moving and the way my mind would slip into cruise control as i moved from scanning one image to the next, often losing track of where i was entirely.

this may sound like a bad thing, but things took on a very zen-like quality for me, and when the noise picked up and horns burst to life in songs like the subtly anthemic "sylvia," i even cracked a smile and started to enjoy myself, swaying out of rhythm in front of the copier like an oblivious guy trying to entice an indifferent girl at the prom. by the time the aforementioned (and fantastic) "bears" came tumbling into my ears with it's twinkling verses and rollicking chorus, i could have swayed and scanned for an eternity, even as the lyrics echoed the uneasy feeling that said eternity was a very real possibility:

"and all the while, i'll know we're fucked and not getting unfucked soon."

but eternity never came, or rather it did. whichever. as i neared the end of my pile of crudely colored illustrations, the album followed in kind with sobering comedowns, the hauntingly patient "shiva" and the downbeat, eight-minute epic "wake," the latter of which almost had me convinced i was back floating in space with spiritualized.

the lyric and melody of "bears" resurfaced, this time in acoustic form delivered in a formidable falsetto by head antler peter silberman, for hospice's appropriately titled "epilogue," just as i reached the final folder in the plastic crate. fucked no more.

i hate to say it, but pitchfork is right. with hospice, one can in fact lose the "sense of boundary" between one's self and the world around him or her. there's a simultaneous sense of solitude and togetherness, emptiness and bounty in these songs. would i have gotten this from the album under any other circumstances? possibly. hell, hopefully. but i doubt i would have felt such a personal connection to it.

from the antlers themselves, happy listening!

bears

a new artist a day - nathan q

2009-08-13T17:15:00.005-04:00

i promised one new artist a day and i'm sticking to it. my goal with this feature is to provide exposure to artists who don't necessarily get it elsewhere as well as will myself and others to try out new things. should be fun hopefully.

to kick things off, i present a producer/dj from germany by the name of nathan q.

a self-described "making the world a better place kind of guy," nathan currently studies the human intellect (funny, i thought such a thing to be a myth) and also makes some pretty slick dance beats, baring shades of dubstep, trance, drum & bass, and house.

the effect is fairly bangin' if you will, and i'd mostly certainly hit the floor if this came on at a club. you know, if i ever actually went to a club.

have a listen to a couple sample tracks here and then check out the dude's pretty awesomely designed website. i'm partial to "big house" myself. he's also got a few mixes made for your pleasure.

happy listening!

big house:

Nathan Q - Big House by NathanQ

sodom featuring mcfly:

Nathan Q - feat. Mcfly - Sodom by NathanQ

woodhands got nothing to worry about

2009-08-12T16:30:00.003-04:00

i have to admit. i'm a little bit surprised that there haven't been a lot of high profile remixes of this peter bjorn & john song. sure living thing won't exactly be topping my list at the end of the year, but 'nothing to worry about' qualifies as a hit for them right? come to think of it, were there that many remixes for 'young folks?'

anyway, current paper bag records golden boys woodhands have given it the old college try. they extend the track a bit and pad it out with some menacing synth squiggles and a chilling vocodered voice that seems to stalk the D.A.N.C.E children's choir from the original. there's some interesting marching band percussion towards the end of it as well. i think i like this. i think you may too. have a listen courtesy of paper bag after the jump.

nothing to worry about (woodhands remix)

woodhands are wrapping up a mini us tour this week and then play the monolith festival next month.

see:

08/12 - indianapolis, in @ radio radio
08/14 - brooklyn, ny @ Littlefield
08/15 - new York, ny @ tribeca grand (gbh party)
09/12 - morrison, co @ monolith festival @ red rocks

yet another new beginning...

2009-08-12T01:00:00.006-04:00

and here we are again. back were it all began. and ended. twice.

i struggle even now to rationalize why this blog has been not only frustratingly sporadic, but nomadic, bouncing to and from numerous host services with barely a post a week on average to keep it current. could be that this summer, like so many before it, has all but swallowed me whole? maybe. could it be that i simply have nothing interesting to say? i certainly hope not.

above all other possible excuses, i choose to believe that pop that rocks has suffered from a lack of focus, resulting in my lack of interest. for a brief time (okay, a month or three), i've been finding myself dissatisfied with where i've been taking things. i've spent a good deal of the last couple of weeks trying to think of how (if?) i want to continue with things on here. until now, i spent so much time catering to what i thought the average reader wanted to see or hear that i neglected what i wanted to say. why i originally began this little adventure in the first place...

music.

i began this blog because of my love for music and how it permeates and brightens my daily life. i began this blog because i wanted to share that love with other like-minded individuals who constantly waste way too much time at work researching and downloading new bands and emptying their bank accounts on records and concerts. it is for that love and that purpose that i am determined to continue with this blog, to make it better and more inviting than others if not exactly the most popular. with that in mind, here are some key decisions i've made with the parallel if not exactly new direction i plan to take pop that rocks.

obviously, i've returned to my original home of blogger to continue with this adventure. we've had our differences in the past but i always felt that wordpress and i were never a good fit. its somewhat more rigid publishing parameters often made me feel as if i was leasing a space rather than owning it.
rather than constantly focusing on news in the music world that you're no doubt already finding elsewhere at least an hour or two before i do, i've elected to start focusing again on what i feel i do best - reviews. you will see more in-depth opinions of the albums and songs that i come to love and despise, and hopefully those opinions will lead you to discover and try new things, which leads to my next point...
new music. i feel like my focus has slanted too far towards established artists, or at least artists that people are already hearing. i still plan to talk about many of those artists here, but i feel i owe it to myself and my future readership to broaden my horizons. i plan on holding myself to a minimum one post a day dedicated to a new artist. my soundcloud drop box is still active and functional, as is the pop that rocks email address. if you're an artist looking for some kind of exposure, send your stuff my way. if you're just a fan of something or someone new that you've happened upon, spill. i'm a little backlogged in my mailbox at the moment, but i am making progress and i promise that your stuff will get listened to and written about in some form or another.
i still like to do the occasional feature post, something a little extra and unique to this blog. my first impression reviews will still be in play, and i have a few other ideas rolling around in my head for other recurring columns that i think people might enjoy reading. if you have any ideas yourself for what would make a cool column on here, don't hesitate to bring it my way. in fact, this leads into my final and maybe most important decision...
i'm taking pop that rocks public, baby! well, not exactly, but i am inviting other friends and music fans on board to contribute basically whatever they want, be it reviews, mp3s, or any other awesome idea. above all else, enjoying music should be a social activity, and i hope this decision will emphasize that point.

and there you have it. will this new incarnation of a fledgling music blog last any longer than the versions that came before it? who knows. all i can do is dive back in, try hard and hope for the best. i have a good feeling about things this time though and hopefully that feeling will become contagious to all who read this. i know that's not that many people, but that can always change, right?

sorry to make this so long. i'm still going through mail and brainstorming with friends on what and how to post here. but my goal is for the quantity of posts to gradually move back up through the rest of this month and then launch in earnest in september. hope you can hold out until then. if you've held out to the end of this post, it shouldn't be too hard :)