Posts Tagged ‘Vivian Girls’
M. Ward at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
For many, Matt Ward is best known as one half of She & Him, the indie-folk duo Zooey Deschanel (the Ward’s other half in the band) foisted into the limelight last March. But to those who know better, M. Ward is the Fahey-following, finger-plucking guitar hero whose jaw-dropping performance Saturday night silenced the sold-out crowd at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue.
Music 2008: Indie Rock Rediscovers The Joys Of Tape Hiss
In a good way, indie rock got smaller in 2008.
D.C. rediscovered its love for vinyl (the story of the year is the resurgence of the mom-and-pop record store). A neighborhood—Mount Pleasant—stood up against anti-live-music NIMBYs. Even a local band or two seemed to surprise all of us (Deleted Scenes).
There’s a new underground, a real underground, working overtime in a group house in the District, and Iowa City, and every place in between. This new underground doesn’t have much of an Internet presence (no standard wiki page, packages sold via checks-in-the-mail). This underground has started releasing hand-made tapes (again). Its fuzzy folky CD-Rs were this year’s mix tapes.
Some of the year’s best music couldn’t be labeled. Some of the year’s best music couldn’t be found on Pitchfork. I wish I could have digested all of it. I wish I could have given a deeper listen to Wet Hair, Children’s Hospital, Kria Brekkan, Ducktails, Mark McGuire, and so on. But here’s my favorite indie releases of the year so far:
1. Ruby Suns: Sea Lion (Sub Pop)
In a year where everyone copied a bit from the New Zealand sound all over again—kiwi pop was almost as big as afropop as a selling point this year—the Ruby Suns are one of the few who didn’t fall for either the tribute to Paul Simon (Vampire Weekend) or plunder the Flying Nun catalog. Leader Ryan McPhun, a Californian who has made New Zealand his home for years, combines Afropop congas, ‘80s dance beats, and even a tribute to the Mojave Desert (now, well, a tribute to Mojave, some new Microsoft thing). It’s what Neutral Milk Hotel would sound like now. I wrote about the band’s live show at the Black Cat a while ago and filmed a bit of its performance.
Listen to “Tane Mahuta”
2. The Woods: Some Shame [Tour-Only Cassette]
Here is a band that scores zero mentions on Metacritic, has gotten no reviews on Pitchfork. They release cassettes, CD-Rs and limited runs of vinyl. They put so much stuff out, they seem like an empire. They are a band for message boards and word-of-mouth. None of this means anything except that these Brooklyn DIY tapeheads aspire to real-not-virtual audiences, not hegemony or to be heard on a Gossip Girls episode. The Woods produce music that actually feels personal, and maybe even truly free sounding. Listening to Some Shame is like what it felt like to discover Weed Forestin’: woozy psych, bursts of noise, secret knowledge. It’s a feel-good weirdness you decode only when you can’t sleep. (For me, that’s a lot of the time.)
Listen to “Military Madness”
3. Yoro Sidibe: Yoro Sidibe (Yaala Yaala)
A Towson professor, Jack Carneal, finds himself mesmerized by the plunky, preachy sounds of ancient Malian hunters music. So he seeks out the master. What he brings back is trance music, story songs for the dance floor whether centuries ago or right now. You’ll want to crank this up. I wrote about the record for the Post.
Listen to “Track 3″
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Music 2008: Red Onion Goes To 11
Josh Harkavy, owner of the record/book store Red Onion, e-mailed me this: his favorite, or some of his favorite records of the year.
Josh explains: “This is by no means a top 11 list, just 11 albums I listened to a lot in 2008.
Let me know if you need more info or anything. I hope you don’t mind that I went to 11.”
We don’t mind at all.
Irma Thomas: Irma Thomas Sings (Mississippi Records)
While it’s tough to choose one favorite Mississippi Records release, this is probably the one I play the most, especially in the store. It seems that whenever this album starts up, somebody ends up buying it.
Cotton Jones Basket Ride: The River Strumming (St. Ives Records)
This is truly my favorite discovery of the year. 300 pressed and I am so happy that I own one. Funky, folky psych from Maryland. More people need to hear this album.
Eddy Current Suppression Ring: Primary Colours (Goner Records)
I know the lead singer kinda sounds just like Mark E. Smith from the Fall, but that’s ok.
