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December 22, 2006
Quarterly Report: Fourth Quarter of 2006 Podcast
Thanks to a plucky mutt, and an unexpected wi-fi connection in the Oregon suburbs, the 'cast is here!
Unlike some other blogs that have been itching to put the year to bed for months now, we're still sifting through the best tracks right up until the bitter end. As it turns out, the final quarter of the year was home to some of its very best material. Thus, it deserves a bit of our patented microfocus before we switch to backwards looking, sweeping generalization mode (which will be next week).
For now, let's bask in the Fall for a few more seconds, pretending that the year isn't headed for its imminent demise.
Album of the Quarter : the Long Blondes - Someone to Drive You Home
Runners up: the Blow - Paper Television, Swan Lake - Beast Moans
"Merry Swankster Fourth Quarter Podcast"
Tracklisting :
01: the Blow - "True Affection" (from the Paper Television album)
I was originally going to put this sparse, almost funky stunner second, but that unstoppable, “Bum, Bum, click, Bum, Bum, Click” just sort of destroyed anything it was supposed to segue in from, so first it is.
02: Under Byen - "Palads " (from the Samme Stof Som Stof album)
The Danish art rockers vamp over slinky Bjork-esque future pop here, before the bottom end drops out and a gorgeous stream of whispered sweet nothings takes over.
03: Swan Lake - "Are You Swimming in Her Pools?" (from the Beast Moans album)
There’s alot to appreciate among the cluttered wreckage of Beast Moans, but the entries where Krug mainly goes it alone, waxing vague and philosophical over a bare bones strum, are the only ones I can really bring myself to love. Congrats, Spence, you’re the sole artist to make all four quarters, one way or another.
04: the Long Blondes - "You Could Have Both" (from the Someone to Drive You Home album)
I don’t know what else to even say about the Long Blondes at this point, given how exhaustive our obsession has been all year. But, I guess the best complement I can offer is that I’m still not tired of the old singles, and this new material is on another level still.
05: Art Brut- "Nag Nag Nag Nag" (from the Nag Nag Nag Nag EP)
If the UK rock scene was a John Hughes movie, Eddie Argos would be the perfect match for Kate Jackson, unnoticed in plain sight. They share interests like referencing Cabaret Voltaire, being unhealthily obsessed with music, and pathologically disturbed by getting older. Plus he’s not going to leave her for some other girl like all those jerks she dates. They should perform a duet about everyone else’s stupidity and realize they're in love. Sadly, in the real world, I think that mustache is going to be a real obstacle.
06: Jarvis Cocker - "Black Magic" (from the Jarvis album)
In which Jarvis Cocker goes to a karaoke bar, gets drunk for a few hours, cues up “Crimson & Clover”, realizes the speed is off and he can’t read the words without his specs, makes up some quasi inspirational lyrics off the top of his head, and goes home with four waitresses half his age.
07: Beach House - "Apple Orchard" (from the Beach House album)
The finest moment of an entire album's worth of gorgeous sighing over days gone by.
08: Of Montreal - "Eagle Shaped Mirror" (from the Daytrotter.com session)
The as of yet unreleased new Of Montreal album has been dominating my stereo for months now, so its again a relief when Daytrotter gives us an excuse to actually reflect some of our current listening habits while they are still current. To be ultra specific here, this reminds me of the Bowie demo tracks they used to stick on the old RYKO disc re-issues. Just something thrilling about hearing such weirdo, pristine pop songs in a setting that lets you know there’s a real guy behind it, after all.
09: Born Ruffians - "the Knife" (Live @ KEXP, Grizzly Bear cover)
I know this will be considered blogsphemy by most, but I actually prefer this to Grizzly Bear's original. That one is hushed and beautiful, sure, but this brings the song back to its harmonic sixties roots, sounding like a Northwestern garage band making the prom circuit. I can smell the pomade and picture the matching two tone suits.
10: Malajube - "Montreal 40 C" (from the Trompe L'Oeil album)
Bouncy Quebeckers keep it real en Francais, and refuse to let something so simple as an attention span stop them from having a good time.
11: Prinzhorn Dance School - "Eat, Sleep" (b-side to the "You are the Space Invader" single)
New DFA Records kids could never be mistaken for a dance band, but their are certain elements here that make the signing less than baffling. The minimalism most of all. Just a few repeated phrases, some beats, some strum. Oh, and the late lapse into lyrical German probably didn't hurt.
12: Subtle (f/ Dan Boeckner) - "Middleclass Haunt" (b-side to "the Mercury Craze" single )
So I guess the non-Krug Wolf Parader hasn't been completely idle after all. Here he lends his gravel, "old before his time" voice, and world weary guitar strum to the spastic weirdness of non traditiojnal rap collective, Subtle. There’s not enough of anything you would call “hip-hop” to be a truly cross genre piece, but its bizarre enough to sound new, and familiar enough to get you through the listens it’ll take to figure out what’s actually going on.
13: Casiotone for the Painfully Alone- "Graceland" (from the Graceland EP)
At the end of last year, at their first New York City show, the Islands covered this Paul Simon classic in a completely earnest and faithful manner, sort of an affirmation that "no, that whole African Pop thing we’ve been talking about was NOT a joke." This is better. It doesn’t take an ironic tact either, smartly, because the lyrics still shine through as Simon's strength. The real key is Casiotone substituting a dark stutter where the sunny shuffle would normally be, and highlighting what a sad song this actually is.
14: Fujiya & Miyagi - "Ankle Injuries" (from the Transparent Things album)
Uses the trappings of krautrock, but with a much lighter touch, making it more lullaby than drone.
15: LCD Soundsystem - "2:58 to 10:00" (from 45:33 "Original Run")
The only times I'm gonna run is for a subway, or away from a cougar, so the utilitarian worth of James Murphy's Nike project is beyond me. A prime 7 minute slab of ZE Records space disco doesn't need a distinct purpose though.
16: Klaxons - "Atlantis to Interzone" (from the Xan Valleys EP)
We all know that "new rave" is profoundly NOT a genre, but the aid raid sirens, and female siren calls of this one make the description semi-understandable for one-time use. The best part is that the dance throwback is only a head fake, completely overshadowed when the punks slam through the club door and start barking at the kids rubbing Vapo-rub on each other.
17: Matt & Kim - "Yea Yeah" (from the Matt & Kim album)
Amateurism saved by non-stop enthusiasm. Charming to the point of undeniability.
18: Love is All - "Kiss Kiss Kiss" (bonus track from the Nine Times That Same Song re-release, Yoko Ono cover)
Proving that even skronking Yoko Ono no wave can sound like a hell of alot of fun coming from Josephine Olaussson’s excitable throat.
19: Animal Collective - "People" (from the People EP)
From Australia comes this Feels outtake, which is rather warm and inviting despite having not a single intelligible lyric, and very few structural changes over a lollygagging six minutes. Here's hoping that 2007 produces many more moments this likeable in spite of their oddity.
So that's it for the first year of Merry Swankster podcasts. As all the evil (but very stylish) music pirates out there know, the first quarter of '07 is going to be a doozy, so the next one may well surpass even the towering heights of this installment.
For now, we'll leave you to digest...
Posted by Jeff Klingman at December 22, 2006 10:50 PM
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