Album Quick Hits (The Antlers, Swan Lake and Handsome Furs)

I have to admit that my blogging has been a bit lazy of late but that does not mean that my appetite for new music has been subdued. Currently here are some quality releases that I would whole heartedly recommend in this almost 5 months into 2009. EDIT: Mp3's are up now.

The Antlers - Hospice

The Antlers are new to me but this album is so hauntingly beautiful and bitter sweet that I just cannot get enough of it. My initial impressions of the album were that it had quality tracks in "Kettering", "Two" and "Bear" but that as an album on the whole it was lacking. However, these initial impressions were quelled this weekend when I gave the entire album a more careful listen and could not have been more wrong as it is beautiful in its entirety. The honesty and emotion conveyed in Hospice can only be described as 'real' (sorry but I'm not going to the thesaurus here). At the present, Hospice is my front runner for album of the year but I beat Mr. Krug has something to say about that this summer. -(9/10)

The Antlers - "Kettering"
The Antlers - "Two"

Swan Lake - Enemy Mine

Speaking of Mr. Krug, he has teamed up with indie greats Dan Bejar and Carey Mercer for another installment of Swan Lake or as I will refer to them as the Band That Doesn't Tour (imagne this with announcer voice, tons of reverb and echoes). In all seriousness though I was not expecting much out of this album as I had never embraced Swan Lake's Beast Moans. Don't get me wrong as I believe Beast Moans had moments of brilliance but for the most part I could not get into Mercer's offerings. Well Mr. Mercer slapped me in the face with awesomeness in Enemy Mine as "Spanish Gold 2044" and "Warlock Psychologist" have blown me away. I still need to give Beast Moans a few more spins as maybe a fresh perspective will change my mind. In other news, Spencer Krug is brilliant here too... -(8.5/10)

Swan Lake - "Spanish Gold 2044"
Swan Lake - "Paper Lace"

Handsome Furs - Face Control

A familiar band around The Ego Handsome Furs were honored with having one of My Favorite Albums of 2007 and their latest offering Face Control does not change up their winning formula much from Plague Park. There are awesome songs such as "All We Want Baby is Everything", "Thy Will Be Done" and "Radio Kaliningrad" but on the whole the album just doesn't grab me like Plague Park did. Maybe some more time with the album will change my opinion but after such great offerings by Dan Boeckner in Wolf Parade's At Mount Zoomer I felt kind of disappointed with Face Control's inability to carry that momentum. I really think that Boeckner's music would be better served with a real drummer and not a drum machine... -(7/10)

Handsome Furs - "All We Want Baby Is Everything"
Handsome Furs - "Radio Kaliningrad"

Handsome Furs 2009 North American Tour Dates

I SEE DALLAS, TX!!!

03-12 Ottowa, Ontario - Mavericks
03-13 Toronto, Ontario - Horseshoe Tavern
03-14 Champaign, IL - Blind Pig
03-15 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
03-16 St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway
03-17 Columbia, MO - Mojo's
03-20 Austin, TX - Club Deville (SXSW)
03-21 Dallas, TX - The Loft
03-23 Lawrence, KS - Jackpot Saloon
03-25 Fargo, ND - Aquarium (Dempsey's Upstairs)
03-26 Minneapolis, MN - 7th St. Entry
03-27 Ames, IA - Maintenance Shop
03-28 Iowa City, IA - The Mill
03-30 Newport, KY - Southgate House
04-01 Rochester, NY - Bug Jar
04-02 Syracuse, NY - Spark Art Space

Handsome Furs' New Album Info - Face Control

I have been out of town for a week and I am just catching up with things. It looks like some cool releases are on the horizon including news of a new release from the duo of Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry which are better known as Handsome Furs. The new album titled Face Control will be released by Sub Pop on February 3, 2009. Handsome Furs' initial release Plague Park was a sound first offering that held the 6th spot in my Favorite Albums of 2007 list. I am really excited about the release of Face Control as Dan Boeckner has really matured as a song writer with his offerings on Wolf Parade's At Mount Zoomer. Keep an eye out for this album but meanwhile a taste of what to come can be found here.

Face Control - Track Listing:

1. Legal Tender
2. Evangeline
3. Talking Hotel Arbat Blues
4. (Passport Kontrol)
5. All We Want, Baby, Is Everything
6. I'm Confused
7. (White City)
8. Nyet Spasiba
9. Officer of Hearts
10. (It's Not Me, It's You)
11. Thy Will Be Done
12. Radio Kaliningrad

My 10 Favorite Albums of 2007.

Wow, what a great year in music! I would say that my top 3 albums could be a #1 album in any given year, but the strength of releases this year has these great albums crowded at the top. Random Spirit Lover is easily my favorite album of the year, however, In Rainbows and Boxer might as well be tied at #2 as they are both that good. I wish I had more time to listen to all the well received albums released this year, but I can only critique the one's that found their way to me this year. Without futher ado...

1. Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover

Random Spirit Lover (RSL) is the single best album I have heard in the past five years and maybe even in this decade. This album is so complex and quirky but in all of the right ways. The first several listens of RSL can be rough but it has some innate quality that makes one continually come back to it. The payoff is a musical adventure in which each song blends into the next like a true album should. Granted the songs themselves are amazing but it is the cohesiveness of the recordings as a continuous work that make this album so amazing. In my eyes Spencer Krug has become the writer of this generation and I can't wait to see what he has up his sleeve next.

Best Songs - "The Mending of the Gown", "The Taming of the Hands that Came Back to Life", "Winged/Wicked Things

2. Radiohead - In Rainbows

In Rainbows was released with a myriad of attention for the way in which Radiohead marketed and sold this album, but shouldn't we be focusing on the album itself? Let's forget the hype and what we find is arguably Radiohead's best album to date. In Rainbows finds a band that is finally comfortable in its own skin. The songs here do not sound forced or experimental as some of their past releases have come off as. Instead, In Rainbows finds a Radiohead producing an effortless and natural sound all being the culmination of their past works. If this album was released in any other year it could easily be my number one album, but 2007 was just too damn good.

Best Songs - "All I Need", "Bodysnatchers", "Reckoner"

3. The National - Boxer

The National have a crafted an album that is truly a classic. Boxer is an album that will age like a fine wine and be one that will hold relevance 10 years into the future. The songs have an understated beauty that reveals itself in each listen. I have seen numerous references to Boxer as a "grower" and while this sentiment is true there is still plenty of immediacy to this album as well. Buy it, enjoy it, period.

Best Songs - "Fake Empire", "Mistaken for Strangers", "Apartment Story"

4. Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew - Spirit If...

Broken Social Scene (BSL) references are inescapable but necessary as Kevin Drew is the chief songwriter for that outfit and it is with Kevin Drew's Spirit If... one can recognize his importance to the band's success. Kevin Drew is nothing other than a extremely solid songwriter and to discount this record because he released it under the Broken Social Scene moniker is missing the point entirely. Kevin Drew's songwriting will always be inseparable from the Broken Social Scene sound because of his major role in shaping that sound, and while Broken Social Scene members contributed to this album the majority of its sound is Kevin Drew steering the ship to its ultimate destination. This album smells and tastes like BSL but with a quality of its own. Mmmmm, yummy.

Best Songs - "Safety Bricks", "Lucky Ones", Frightening Lives", "Backed Out on the..."

5. Menomena - Friend and Foe

Friend and Foe is an album that seems so schizophrenic but somehow manages to hold everything together. This dichotomy of sound weaves between intense, driving, and beautiful and its many personalities are what makes this album so interesting. Inventive and creative all while finding itself accessible Friend and Foe is an album that I can see myself coming back to in the future and only appreciating more with time.

Best Songs - "The Pelican", "Wet and Rusting", "My My"

6. Handsome Furs - Plague Park

Handsome Furs is no more than Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade), Alexei Perry, a guitar, and a drum machine. Now this statement may lack the inclusion of synthesizers, but I want to reflect the simplicity of the approach taken in Plague Park. Boeckner has stated that the album was "to be as sparse and repetitive as possible" and while this repetition is achieved in sorts the album is not sterile by any means. Plague Park takes a bit of Wolf Parade and a little bit of New Order and lets everyone know that Wolf Parade is not a one man show.

Best Songs - "What We Had", "Dead + Rural", "Handsome Furs Hate This City"

7. Okkervill River - The Stage Names

The Stage Names is a songwriter's album in that Okkervill River has no gimmicks but just great songs. The songs are naked and raw and reflect the mature songwriting that one would expect of Will Sheff. The Stage Names is not trying to slap you in the face, but is that stray dog that gently finds a place in your heart and makes a home.

Best Songs - "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe", "Plus Ones", "John Allyn Smith Sails", "Girl In Port"

8. Panda Bear - Person Pitch

The best way I can describe Person Pitch is if someone locked Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys in a room for days with only a knowledge of electronic based music/sampling and a month's supply of acid. The product is something that seems so recognizable but so new all at the same time. The only negative to this album is that it is not one that will find its way into your CD player on a daily basis. Person Pitch is a mood album and by this I mean you have to be in a certain mood to want to listen to it, but when you find that mood, it is well worth it.

Best Songs - "Bros", "Comfy in Nautica", "Im Not"

9. The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse

The two opening songs "Disaster" and "For Agent 13" are an extremely powerful opening to a great album, however, the album unfortunately cannot maintain the pace set by these great songs. Don't let this distress you though as the remainder of the album is good, but suffers from its own creation of high expectations.

Best Songs - "For Agent 13", "Disaster", "Because Tonight"

10. Stars - In Our Bedroom After the War

I am going to borrow from my review of this album as I took a lot of time in figuring out how I exactly wanted to describe this album so here it goes... Stars have always achieved a charming quality through the interaction of the voices of Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan and In Our Bedroom After the War continues this relationship without being 'rinse and repeat'. The duet of Campbell and Millan sing the gambit from feuding lovers to pop perfectionists and we are all the better for it in joining in for the ride.

Best Songs - "The Night starts Here", "Window Bird", "Take Me to the Riot"