Dinosaur Feathers - “Beatcha”
I remember getting these guys’ first record when I was music director at WQAQ and was less than impressed with it; they clearly had a knack for quirky songwriting, but I found that the lack of strong percussion led to most of the songs sounding muddy. A few months ago, I saw them open for Los Campesinos! in Brooklyn and, thank god, they finally had a real drummer! It’s getting rare that I show up early enough to catch the opening band’s entire set, and even rarer that I love every song they played, but goddamn, after that night, Dinosaur Feathers had me.
Their newest effort, “Whistle Tips,” came out yesterday, and it’s fucking awesome. It’s crazy how much their sound evolved just by adding a drummer, but the solid percussion really lets the vocals cut loose and soar all over this track, particularly in the chorus. I could talk about the songwriting here, but really, the vocal harmonies alone are worth the ticket price. Dinosaur Feathers really love to cram three-part harmonies over just about everything, and thank god they can pull it off spectacularly.
And, if you’re in the Brooklyn area, check out their album release show at Glasslands this Saturday!
(Source: Spotify)
The Shins - “Simple Song”
As if I didn’t need to love this song anymore, James Mercer goes ahead and drops one of the best music videos I’ve ever seen. I still feel a little funny about this band’s huge member shakeups but have been undeniably obsessed with them in the past months and I couldn’t be more excited to hear this new record. I’ve always liked them better with more studio polish, and this song is nothing short of triumphant with an absolutely killer verse hook and one of the biggest sounds the Shins have produced yet.
“Port of Morrow” comes out on March 16th and will surely feature another hit single or two, a few throwaway “experimental” tracks, and an acoustic closer. Can’t wait!
I should probably post my favorite records of 2011
It’s weird, I liked a lot of records this year, but couldn’t bring it to quantify most of them into a list that compares them to each other. There were a few extreme standouts, but by and large 2011 was kind of a wash of records for me. This isn’t me complaning; I’m only justifying my own laziness and indecision, so fuck you.
12. Morning Teleportation - “Expanding Anyway”
11. Mister Heavenly - “Out of Love”
10. TV on the Radio - “Nine Types of Light”
9. The Front Bottoms - “Grip n Tie/Slow Dance to Soft Rock”
8. The Stepkids - “The Stepkids”
7. The Antlers - “Burst Apart”
6. Yuck - “Yuck”
5. Real Estate - “Days”
4. Man Man - “Life Fantastic”
3. WU LYF - “Go Tell Fire to the Mountain”
2. White Denim - “D”
1. Destroyer - “Kaputt”
Honorable mentions:
Laura Stevenson & the Cans - “Sit Resist”
Los Campesinos! - “Hello Sadness”
Wild Flag - “Wild Flag”
All Get Out - “The Season”
Cymbals Eat Guitars - “Lenses Alien”
Portugal. the Man - “In the Mountain, In the Cloud”
Black Lips - “Arabia Mountain”
Tune-Yards - “Whokill”
Colin Stetson - “New History Warfare Vol. 2”
Cloud Nothings - “Cloud Nothings”
The Go! Team - “Rolling Blackouts”
The Young Maths - “Errorrs”
Thrice - “Major/Minor”
Tuneyards - “Whokill”
James Blake - “James Blake”
Fucked Up - “David Comes to Life”
EPs:
Circle Takes the Square - “Decompositions: Volume 1”
Damopes - “Crooked Mothhouse”
King Krule - “King Krule”
Surfer Blood - “Tarot Classics”
Dom - “Family of Love”
My schedule for posting my albums of the year
Some point in the next two weeks - A list of 25-30 albums I really liked this year in a pretty arbitrary list except for the top 10 or so that I might put some effort into.
At the same time - A list of 5-10 EPs I liked depending on how many I can remember I liked. Again, this order will be pretty arbitrary except maybe the top 3.
Pitchfork got you all spoiled! This shit doesn’t need to be stretched out over days!
The Front Bottoms - “Rhode Island”
“She says, ‘You gotta promise not to break,
no matter how far you are bent.’
She says I gotta shift my position
and try to get comfortable again.”
My favorite songs of 2011: St. Vincent - “Dilettante”
I like St. Vincent, but my biggest problem with her albums is that sometimes it can take some digging to find the best tracks. “Dilettante” is the ninth track on her latest, Strange Mercy, and to be honest I probably would never have found it if it wasn’t so highly recommended in the Needle Drop’s review. I love the pulsing drum beat and general minimalism of the track, punctuated by wonderfully ugly guitars and Annie Clark’s ethereal-as-always vocals. An underrated gem on a record with some tracks that are getting way more buzz, check it out!
My favorite songs of 2011: The Antlers - “Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out”
I didn’t think the band that wrote Hospice could do anything but send me into depression, but this year’s outstanding Burst Apart was wonderful proof that these Brooklyn boys weren’t all about moping. I love how moody this track is, how quiet it starts, and how loud it becomes. Pete Silberman’s voice is creepy, anguished, and angry all at the same time, and by the end of the track he’s fighting with his band to be heard over the swirling wall of distortion.
My other favorite thing about this album/track is its predecessor on the album, the equally captivating (though in a totally different way) “Rolled Together.” In fact, my biggest complaint about the record is that on the LP these tracks are the division between the sides.
My favorite songs of 2011: WU LYF - “L Y F”
FUCK, I love this goddamned band. My favorite new band of the year, for sure. I don’t usually like it when bands try to pull off the whole “we’re a band but we’re a cult” thing, but WU LYF is just mysterious enough to make it work. From the organ intro, I had no idea what I was getting into, but I love me a huge chorus. As soon as Ellery Roberts belted out “LOVE YOU FOREVER” like he was trying to exorcise some fucked up demon, I knew this band was something else. I can’t recommend this entire record enough and picking a favorite song was tough, but the opening track’s what did it for me and maybe it’ll do it for you too. They’re a band that makes me want to jump and scream and hit things and just not give a fuck, and who doesn’t love that?
