The following is a post for a recurring NYC-based Nordic dance party. Our first night will be Wednesday, March 24 at K&M in Williamsburg.
Ø (slashedo) is a recurring Nordic-themed dance party in NYC featuring the best music and remixes by Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish and Icelandic bands, artists and DJs. We only guarantee two things: 1) Only songs featuring a person from the Nordic region (Treaty of Kalmar What What!!) 2) You will get at least one song featuring Karin Dreijer Andersson because she is the truth.
Why Nordic? Because we’re purists here at Slashedo, and while some consider Finland and Iceland part of Scandinavia, purists do not.
So what’s the impetus? Well, we think some of the best music today comes from our friends from the Northeast, and there did not seem to be a night in the city paying tribute. DC is luckier than us.
While we’re still working on the playlist, we wanted to let you in on some of the tracks you are likely to hear if you join us next Wednesday. RSVP here (not mandatory!)
The first round of voting for this region begins today and will be open until Friday, March 19. Be sure to check back to this sight, because the remaining regions will open up for voting later on today.
Directions: Click on the album name to listen to that album. Select “Blog Polls” to vote on that match-up.
After giving ourselves a couple of months to re-asses the previous decade’s worth of music, we at the new and improved Merry Swankster dot com are finally throwing our collective hat into the ring of retrospective. Over the next few weeks, all of you will help us determine the best album of the first ten years of the twenty-first century using a handsome tournament bracket. By this point, we assume that you’ve had the opportunity to listen to most, if not all, of the music listed in this tournament, so we’ll presently keep our analysis to a minimum.
The rankings and match-ups are done in a similar style as the actual NCAA selection committee, meaning we pick the most recognizable names regardless of actual performance we collaboratively hashed out what we believed to be the albums that most accurately represent the previous decade’s best work. Combining the varied tastes of our writers provided a roster of albums that span genres and commercial success without sacrificing the under-the-radar and off-the-reservation perspectives you’ve come to expect from Merry Swankster.
Starting next week, you’ll be able to vote on each round of the tournament. Below are the complete seeded regions; in an attempt to be as inclusive as possible, we purposefully capped the albums at one per artist (with two exceptions). You can also download a printable PDF of the whole bracket: Albums of the 00s Bracket
DJ Shadow Region: (1) Radiohead, Kid A; (2) The Avalanches, Since I Left You; (3) Sigur Ros, Agaetis Byrjun; (4) Jay-Z, The Blueprint; (5) Panda Bear, Person Pitch; (6) Of Montreal, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?; (7) Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca; (8) Deltron 3030, Deltron 3030; (9) Wolf Parade, Apologies to the Queen Mary; (10) The Mountain Goats, All Hail West Texas; (11) Portishead, Third; (12) Madvillain, Madvillainy; (13) Cat Power, You Are Free; (14) Titus Andronicus, The Airing of Grievances; (15) The Shins, Chutes Too Narrow; (16) The Unicorns, Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?
Nirvana Region: (1) LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver; (2) Arcade Fire, Funeral; (3) M.I.A., Kala; (4) Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot; (5) The Knife, Silent Shout; (6) Ghostface Killah, Supreme Clientele; (7) The National, Boxer; (8) Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fever to Tell; (9) The Rapture, Echoes; (10) Brian Wilson, Smile; (11) The Clipse, Hell Hath No Fury; (12) …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Source Tags & Codes; (13) The Thermals, The Body, the Blood, the Machine; (14) Low, Things We Lost in the Fire; (15) LCD Soundsystem, LCD Soundsystem; (16) Sonic Youth, Sonic Nurse
Neutral Milk Hotel Region: (1) Outkast, Stankonia; (2) Daft Punk, Discovery; (3) The Strokes, Is This It; (4) Animal Collective, Merryweather Post Pavilion; (5) Interpol, Turn On the Bright Lights; (6) The Fiery Furnaces, Blueberry Boat; (7) Sufjan Stevens, Come On Feel the Illinoise; (8) The Walkmen, Bows & Arrows; (9) The Decemberists, Her Majesty the Decemberists; (10) Sunset Rubdown, Shut Up, I Am Dreaming; (11) Belle & Sebastian, The Life Pursuit; (12) Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand; (13) The Long Blondes, Someone to Drive You Home; (14) The Liars, They Threw Us in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top; (15) Mastodon, Leviathan; (16) Bloc Party, Silent Alarm
Pavement Region: (1) The White Stripes, White Blood Cells; (2) Kanye West, The College Dropout; (3) Modest Mouse, The Moon and Antarctica; (4) Spoon, Kill the Moonlight; (5) Broken Social Scene, You Forgot it in People; (6) TV on the Radio, Dear Science,; (7) Sleater-Kinney, The Woods; (8) Okkervil River, Black Sheep Boy; (9) Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend; (10) The Microphones, The Glow Pt. 2; (11) Fugazi, The Argument; (12) Deerhunter, Cryptograms; (13) The New Pornographers, Electric Version; (14) Radiohead, In Rainbows; (15) Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven; (16) Annie, Anniemal
Jay Z visited the White House this week and got some face time with the Jigga in chief:
During the final moments of his performance at Verizon Center Wednesday night, Jay-Zcasually dropped a gigantic boast: “I just came from the White House.”
White House officials were button-lipped about the visit Wednesday, but confirmed on Thursday morning that, yes, Jay-Z did indeed visit 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. An official said the rapper toured the White House on Wednesday and had a quick, unscheduled visit with President Obama. The POTUS did not attend the concert.
Not confirmed yet, but Phish is likely to play two huge Telluride shows this summer on August 9 & 10 following Telluride’s annual Bluegrass Festival. To call Telluride beautiful is an understatement. It’s like Earth porn. This should be interesting.
The band would play for 9,000 people, said Craig Ferguson, the organizer of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. He’s working with Phish’s promoter, AEG Live, on bringing the band here.
If 9,000 people show up, that would make the Phish concert one of the biggest events of the summer, up there with Bluegrass and Blues and Brews.
CCAASE members voted unanimously to put the concert on the calendar, and raised few serious objections.
“There’s clearly an economic benefit to having them come,” said board member Dawn Ibis.
Representatives from the Telluride Jazz Celebration attended. The Phish shows are on a Monday and Tuesday directly following the Jazz festival’s weekend. (via)
Bracket Fever! First Round Voting: Pavement Region
Posted by Randall MontyWelcome to the Pavement Region of the Bracket. The other three regions are still open for voting.
Directions: Click on the album’s title to listen to that album. Select “Blog Poll” to vote on that match-up.
And be sure to check back next weekend for the second round of voting!
Game 1: #1 White Blood Cells by the White Stripes vs. #16 Anniemal by Annie
Blog Polls
Game 2: #8 Black Sheep Boy by Okkervil River vs. #9 Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend
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Blog Polls
Game 3: #5 You Forgot it in People by Broken Social Scene vs. #12 Cryptograms by Deerhunter
Blog Polls
Game 4: #4 Kill the Moonlight by Spoon vs. #13 Electric Version by the New Pornographers
Blog Polls
Game 5: #6 Dear Science by TV on the Radio vs. #11 The Argument by Fugazi
Blog Polls
Game 6: #3 The Moon & Antarctica by Modest Mouse vs. #14 In Rainbows by Radiohead
Blog Polls
Game 7: #7 The Woods by Sleater-Kinney vs. #11 The Glow Pt. 2 by the Microphones
Blog Polls
Game 8: #2 The College Dropout by Kanye West vs. #15 Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Blog Polls
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