« Santogold w/Mates of State, live @ Gothic Theatre, Denver 10.01.2008 | Main | Retrohump: The Podcast Had You Covered »

October 08, 2008

Quarterly Report: Third Quarter of 2008 Podcast

During this quarter I was actually pretty bored and disaffected about the material rolling out to record stores in the sections of our fine country that actually still possess a bit of disposable income. Our blessed regular readers might note that I mentioned it from time to time. I've perked up a bit about the quality of 2008: A Year in Music since then, but mainly due to albums that won't officially bow until Q4. So what's a date specific compiler to do? Go further down the rabbit hole, it seems. This 'cast is dominated by 7" singles, digital only downloads, and other rarities that likely won't be accounted for come list season, and really it's a lot more interesting for the legwork. I'll let you decide yourselves, but it's one of the favorite entries in this series I've done in the going on 3 (!) years of its existence. If you've got an hour you'd like to soundtrack, I encourage you to give it a listen.

Album of the Quarter : TV on the Radio - Dear Science,
Runners up: High Places - High Places, Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill, Passion Pit - Chunk of Change

"Merry Swankster Third Quarter Podcast 2008"

Tracklisting :

01: Blank Dogs - "Setting Fire to Your House" (7 " single)

When it comes to concrete knowledge known about them, Blank Dogs are a blank slate. Supposedly the work of a lone Brooklynite, the project keeps churning out 7" singles across a range of low end labels. "Setting Fire to Your House" on a Dutch imprint called 4:2:2 is the best thing I've heard from them. It starts with a great, romantic Cure-ish guitar lead/bassline/floating synth combo, and ratchets up the fuzz from there. Vocally, it's sort of like a gothic Ariel Pink, if he gave a shit, or was an arsonist.

02: Medio Mutante - "Uberbeast" (from Inestable EP)

Medio Mutante are not widely unknown as well, and the cold keyboard minimalism of their vinyl Inestable EP probably won't change that too much. But the tones here are a bit richer, more cosmically advanced, and even playful in turns, making it their disc's high point. That Brooklyn native Mariana's Spanish language vocals are merely dispassionate and not completely disdainful helps the relative "warmth."

03: Memory Cassette - "50mph" (From The Hiss We Missed EP)

My beloved enigma, Memory Cassette's smoothest bit of (say it with me) lo-fi disco enchants with CGI vocals and a breezy chug. Driving from Philly to Alpha Centauri via the interstate? This should probably begin, end, and pepper the guts of your mix.

04: Starfucker - "Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second" (from Starfucker)

Portland is about as insular and self-reinforcing a hipster enclave as Brooklyn, so it's easy to see how the name "Starfucker" could have made it out of a gestation period still seeming like a good idea. This rose-tinted, bouncy pop song is tough to hate on, moniker aside.

05: Sic Alps - "United" (7" tour single, Throbbing Gristle cover)

I might be fudging the release date for eligibility here, as the San Fran band's tour I think started late in quarter 2. There was probably a lag time before it filtered out to record stores and online sellers, though. (Rationalization: successful) I couldn't leave it off though, as it still amazes me that they were able to recast an abrasive industrial fuck you as a winning Nuggets era stop-start garage rocker.

06: Jay Reatard - "Fluorescent Grey" (7" single, Deerhunter cover)

The real surprise here is not that Jay can ably handle Cox's song and play up its obsessive dementia, but that he so deftly inverts its quiet-loud structure, coming close to eclipsing the original.

07: A Sunny Day in Glasgow - "(cult of) The Cemetery Flowers" (7" single)

B. Daniels and co. are currently holed up in a New Jersey dance studio, recording the follow up to last year's Scribble Mural Comic Journal. This slaved over single, from the stylish new Geographic North label, gives hint that the band's lovely formlessness might take sharper shape.

08: High Places - "From Stardust to Sentience" (from High Places)

The line on Rob and Mary's early singles was that they embodied a childlike optimism. I wouldn't go so far as to call this gorgeous track "grown up," but it's definitely more collegiate navel-gazing than elementary school wonder. Also, it sounds like those great first two Mum albums, only with less of an otherworldly Icelandic accent.

09: Grouper - "Heavy Water / I'd Rather Be Sleeping" (from Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill)

Liz Harris' main vocal melody here is too lovely to be confined by her sleepy strumming. The song itself is curiously hypnotic, never really developing past it's early slow and echoed start and then over before you've even had the chance to exhale.

10: Fight Bite - "Swissex Lover" (from Emerald Eyes)

This miniature beauty sounds like the song playing inside a snow globe as the flakes fall on a couple begins their final dance, still frozen in love, forever.

11: The Ruby Suns - "Palmitos Park" (El Guincho cover, b-side to their Palmitos Park single)

We begin to thaw the mix slightly here, taking it to the Southern Hemisphere. The actual point of origin is New Zealand, though you'd be forgiven if that wasn't your first guess. El Guincho's tropical blog hit is slowed down and demystified with English lyrics, to pretty great effect.

12: Stereolab - "Cellulose Sunshine" (from Chemical Chords)

One of the last alt-titans, at this late date, own their aesthetic so completely, that a dash of 60s pop chart psychedelica and graceful string arrangements just fold in effortlessly, immediately disappearing in an innate Stereolab-ness. Which is not to say that its not pretty as fuck. It totally is.

14: Empire of the Sun - "Walking on a Dream" (advance single, Walking on a Dream)

This album from Aussie Luke Jackson technically just came out in October, but for all intensive purposes, this bit of smooth 80s radio pop was treated as an advance single whether it was physically pressed to single vinyl, and it'll be treated as such. This slickly produced video serves as exhibit A. The sort of fully formed track that will likely propel the album to a minor hit once an American release is secured.

13: Annie - "I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me" (advance single from Don't Stop)

Annie's comeback single is actually slower, more mellow, than the modern production might have you believe. It's pretty firmly midtempo by stompy current pop standards. But its got a decent little narrative to it, so lyrical details absorbed don't feel strictly like empty calories. She's cute, that Annie, I get the aforementioned girlfriend's apprehension.

15: Passion Pit - "Sleepyhead" (from Chunk of Change EP)

Kanye West day-glo crunk and 00s Quebec vocals together, for possibly the first time outside of the Hype Machine most blogged tracks list. Predictably, well-blogged.

16: YACHT - "the Summer Song" (12" single)

I've been soft in my support for Jana's YACHT work in the past, but this proper electro banner flat out earned him his new DFA roster spot, and stands admirably among their remarkable slate of singles this decade.

17: Ssion - "Credit in the Straight World" (Young Marble Giants cover posted online)

There's been enough from me about this today already, but I will point out that it further exalts the songwriting ability of YMG. This tune has thrived a a skittish post-punk classic, a dirty grunge rocker, and now as a sleek cabaret disco floor-filler.

18: Salem - "Dirt" (from Yes I Smoke Crack EP)

I've listened to this song dozens of times recently, and I still don't know quite what to make of it. It's super, super goth, but with a lilting melody and an addictive neon synth line embedded deep within. It's like the Ghost of Gothmas Future.

19: TV on the Radio - "Shout Me Out" (from Dear Science,)

TVOTR has little competition amid its jagged contemporaries when it comes to captivating lyrical poetry. Dear Science continues this exploitation successfully with a dark methodology, but none more anthemically bright and tonally fresh than this. M. Swankster

20: Handsome Furs - "Thy Will Be Done" (live on University of Minnesota's Radio K)

We end with a newbie from Dan Boeckner and wife. The opening line, "White lines on a kitchen table/white lines knocked down one by one..." explains how itchy and nervous the subsequent guitar squall sounds. One of the duo's better tracks, marching sweaty into the Autumn cool.

--

These last three months will likely be stronger for album tracks than this, though that doesn't necessarily guarantee a better conglomerate. We shall see...

Posted by Jeff Klingman at October 8, 2008 12:30 AM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.merryswankster.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/1822

Comments

Post a comment