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July 13, 2007
Quarterly Report: 2nd Quarter of 2007 Podcast
The first quarter of 2007 boasted a string of great records that the subsequent three month span really couldn't follow. You'll note that half of the inclusions in this mix are drawn from singles or EPs. Not that the distinction made for a worse blend, mind you. The music in consideration was too bountiful for everything to fit in a neat little CD-R size package. Battles' brawny "Atlas," Los Campensinos giddy "You! Me! Dancing!," and Of Montreal's harrowing "No Conclusion" were axed due to their bulky length in a pool of notabe bulk (along with standard mix chemistry considerations). Stuff from the National's Boxer was excluded because that album's nobility is due to the sum of its parts. The Clientele's "Bookshop Casanova" eliminated because the boring album around it made it seem cooler than it was.
We're left with a schizophrenic little mutant beast to tide us over until the onset of Fall, where currently ineligible releases from Animal Collective, Liars, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sunset Rubdown, Fiery Furnaces, and more will likely dominate.
Enjoy.
Album of the Quarter : Electrelane - No Shouts, No Calls
Runners up: Frog Eyes - Tears of the Valedictorian, Handsome Furs - Plague Park
the Merry Swankster Podcast - Second Quarter, 2007
Tracklisting :
01: Vampire Weekend - "Oxford Comma" (from Vampire Weekend EP)
Hilariously appropriate that a blog smash should start with a declaration of indifference toward punctuation. This song sounds so preppy that it almost makes you want to pierce your ear with a safety pin, but damn if it isn't a perfectly breezy spring time pop hit.
02: Electrelane - "To the East" (from No Shouts, No Calls)
Speaking of spring time pop hits, this one should go down as an all time great. Despite the continually escalating energy level, the song maintains a fragile intimacy that makes all the difference.
03: These New Puritans - "Navigate, Navigate" (single)
I went back and forth about whether or not I should subject the 'cast loving masses to the Southend, UK teens' quantum leap of a 12 minute second single. But you've already committed to an uninterrupted rock block, right, so why not? "Navigate, Navigate" is frequently muddled but continually engaging. It doesn't go the ten movements crammed into one giant run time route of many mammoth songs, favoring gradual permutations. A slightly pretentious, yet staggeringly constructed song for a bunch of newbies. Weirdly, this is a modified version of an even longer composition commissioned for a Dior Homme fashion show. Feel free to strut around with a shitty look on your face.
04: the Muggabears - "Dead Kid Kicks" (from Night Choreography EP)
On the off chance that you hate art and found your mind wandering during the TNP marathon, the opening lick of "Dead Kid Kicks" should snap you back to attention. The 'bears just sound mean here, antisocially threatening, "when I give the word just leave me alone." The former Neon Lights stars are actually quite nice, but on this character evidence alone there isn't a jury in New York that wouldn't convict.
05: Dinosaur Jr. - "Almost Ready" (from Beyond)
The Dinosaur Jr. comeback record is strange for not being strange at all. It's almost suspicious. If some enterprising investigative reporter carbon dated the tapes to reveal that Lou Barlow had been hiding them out of spite for 20 years, waiting to be re-admitted to the band, I think everyone would consider that a pretty reasonable explanation.
06: Handsome Furs - "Sing! Captain" (from Plague Park)
Dan Boeckner makes his play to escape the shadow of Krug, and does quite well, thanks. More fractured and synth oriented than you'd have thought. Of course the next Sunset Rubdown disc could destroy the world, but we'll let Danny have his moment in the (radio's hot) sun.
07: Dan Deacon - "the Crystal Cat" (from the Spiderman of the Rings)
Until the squealing cartoon voices kick in, this track seems to be working in the fat man with phat beats template of J. Murphy. But then it becomes something much more abrasive. Dan Deacon is crafty in his construction though, knocking the energy down a touch in advance of the loony eruptions, so that the listener finds himself anticipating the most annoying parts, which is a neat trick.
08: Sissy Wish - "Float" (from Beauties Never Die)
I'll cop to the fact that the Norwegian release of this pop delicacy came at the end of quarter one. Some lag time is to be expected when Scandi songs have practically zero Stateside press, and there was no way I was going to exclude this entirely.
09: LCD Soundsystem - "Starry Eyes" (b-side, All My Friends single)
I feel like taking an editor's pen to an LCD song is some sort of music nerd sacrilege, but since the original version was obviously a Frankenstein monster collision between two distinct songs (and I've got no room for that drum solo) I felt a little better about it. This is band member Nancy Whang's turn to shine, playing it deadpan like Tina in the Tom Tom Club, while laser beams bounce off the mirrored room around her.
10: Justice - "D.A.N.C.E." (single)
I could have waited for the next quarter to reflect the July release of the French duo's † album, but another three months is probably the point where the undeniable song will have finally reached 100% saturation and we'll have to put it in deep freeze for a year just to be able to listen to it again. So the single release sneaks in. Even though we hear it seeping from every corner of Hipsterville, USA this earnest defense of Michael Jackson, in the style of golden age Michael Jackson, still sounds just about perfect.
11: Ssion - "Clown" (from Fool's Gold)
The videos from Fool's Gold make Ssion seem even more bizarre than they already are, but this is a pretty classic sounding 80's pop song. The fact that the singer is a mustachioed deviant and not a big haired lady only makes for a difference of perception.
12: Franz Ferdinand - "All My Friends" (LCD Soundsystem cover, b-side All My Friends single )
Franz Ferdinand became sort of a snob's punching bag at some point, though I think their act has more legs than a one noter like Interpol, and they certainly outclass almost all of the similar bands that sprung up in their wake. Here they bring out the New Order undertones of the original before signing off distinctively, keeping it from being a pure imitation. I realize that two b-sides from the same single is overkill, but this is good stuff.
13: Prinzhorn Dance School - "Up! Up! Up!" (single)
As a band, PDS are practically anorexic. Just when you think they can't strip down the sound any further, they're calling themselves "cows" and inventing more ways to cut weight. The end result is a little disturbing, but fun and exciting more so.
14: Deerhunter - "Fluorescent Grey" (from Fluorescent Grey EP)
The reaction to Bradford Cox's recent blog homage to Dennis Cooper shows that people weren't listening very closely to his lyrics. I mean this song is basically about the Cooperian themes of death and homo-eroticism, no? Maybe that got lost in the gorgeous, mysterious sonics, but it was upfront all along.
15: Frog Eyes - "Bushels" (from Tears of the Valedictorian)
I've murdered enough pixels already describing Carey Mercer's career highpoint, so I'll keep it short here. It's utterly brilliant.
16: Ola Podrida - "Photo Booth" (from Ola Podrida)
After the exhausting maelstrom of "Bushels" anything more than tranquil might be too much. This outro has a perfect comfort level, like a summer night that achieves a magical Goldilocks temperature where you can leave your coat at home and not waste a worry on sweating through.
Note: It was brought up during the last go round, that our little endeavor was not a technical podcast due to the fact that we're not hooked up with a subscription service. Since this is only a four times a year feature of the site we've been a bit lax about setting that up, it's true. While this is a podcast in the looser sense that we're providing our version of a college radio type broadcast, primarily designed to be listened to on the headphones of a portable mp3 player device, the nitpickers are technically correct. So if you feel the need to throw up some air quotes when you tell everybody how awesome it is, we'll try not roll our eyes.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at July 13, 2007 05:09 PM
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Comments
Did Ola Podria commission the same photographer for their liner notes as Interpol?
Don't want to show my hand too much here, but this quarter's list in one track short, but in spite of the absence, great job, J.
Posted by: Randall Monty at July 14, 2007 12:59 PM
Interpol ganked it, check here:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/43615-album-art-cop-interpol-vs-ola-podrida
And let me guess, you were missing the National? That's probably the last one I cut, as I really wanted to get TNP in there, because I think it's really interesting, and that bastard's a space hog...
Posted by: Jeff K at July 14, 2007 02:36 PM
