2008 December Archive at Love is Elusive.

Archive for December, 2008

Unappreciated Post-Rock Albums of 2008

Published on December 26, 2008 in Music and Post-Rock. 6 Comments

2008 was quite the year for music. And who could have scripted a better conclusion to the year that was in music than with the latest Animal Collective effort, Merriweather Post Pavillion, seeping onto the internets on Christmas Day. While I’m sure that most of us are slowly and pleasurably digesting this new album, there are a lot of albums from 2008 that went unnoticed. While I can’t possibly cover all of them, I will try my best to give credit where credit is due. MP3s from the albums can be found at the post’s conclusion.

UpCDownC… — Embers (2008)

Embers, the sophomore effort from Kent’s UpCDownC, is one of the year’s finest post-rock albums. In a year clouded with deserving praise for bands like This Will Destroy You’s S/T debut and Russian Circles’ Station, UpCDownC managed to discover a happy medium which I believe will cater to fans of both aforementioned established post-rock bands. The main flaw of Embers is that at times it feels a bit bipolar. The album ranges from beautifully constructed guitar melodies to heavy brutal riffs. Though I feel that this album is at its’ best in those songs saturated with pleasing melodic guitars, there is certainly something for everyone in this effort.

Unwed Sailor — Little Wars (2008)

Although this is a stretch, I figured I’d put this one down here for good measure. While Unwed Sailor is a well known band in the post-rock scene, I feel their music should be more popular than it actually is, which blows my mind. Little Wars, Unwed Sailor’s latest effort is more rock-based than anything they have done before (or at least anything since The Faithful Anchor). This album is the best translation of their live set onto CD to date. Look for History, their next effort, to be released sometime in ‘09.

Moonlit Sailor — A Footprint of Feelings (2008)

Moving from Unwed Sailors to Moonlit Sailors (ugh, cheesy as hell, I know). This is one of the year’s most beautiful albums. The debut album from a Swedish Post-Rock band out of Malmo is solid gold. Absolutely stunning guitar melodies leads to a more commercial-poppy Explosions in the Sky-esque sound. I can’t really say enough good things about this album, so please check out the opening track at the bottom of this post.

Akira Kosemura — Tiny Musical

To say this album is a work of art is an understatement. One of my favorites of the year is this third effort from Japan’s Akira Kosemura. Utilizing simplistic acoustic guitar, piano, and organic beats, Kosemura is able to craft a innocent and genuine modern day masterpiece in the instrumental realm. Seriously, I can not say enough good things about this album. Buy it and listen to it again and again. Pure brilliance.

You.May.Die.In.The.Desert — Bears in the Yukon

Of course, I had to end with a local favorite. You.May.Die.In.The.Desert’s Bears in the Yukon is an album which does justice to their live sets. This album rightfully conveys the energy and passion of the band on stage. Taking the theory used by Mogwai of applying layers upon layers of distortion, YMDITD takes this and applies it to the realm of delay. The aural pleasure of hearing the distressing ring of delay throughout an entire song has become the established trademark of this Seattle Post-Rock trio. While delay does indeed cloud the album, the band does not lose sight of constructing well-crafted songs ranging from ambient drones, to math rock riffs, and screeching feedback. One of this year’s most enjoyable post-rock experiences. Also check out their Harmonic Motions split with Gifts from Enola. Specifically the track The Sound of Titans — in my opinion their best work to date.

Akira Kosemura — Overture (Tiny Musical, 2008)
Akira Kosemura — Departure (Tiny Musical, 2008)
Moonlit Sailor — A Footprint of Feelings (A Footprint of Feelings, 2008)
Unwed Sailor — The Garden (Little Wars, 2008)
UpCDownC… — Cascades (Embers, 2008)
UpCDownC… — Our Flowers (Embers, 2008)
You.May.Die.In.The.Desert — Bears in the Yukon (Bears in the Yukon, 2008)

Edit

I realize I forgot to mention the awesomeness of Lymbyc Systym. They recently stopped by the daytrotter studios and recorded a session. You can find that here.

Also, check out their Field Study Split EP, which was released late this year with This Will Destroy You. Quality stuff.

Times New Viking Audio Interview

Published on December 24, 2008 in Interviews, Music and Seattle. 2 Comments

A few weeks ago Times New Viking and Deerhunter played for a sold-out all-ages crowd at one of Seattle’s premier music venues, Neumos. I was lucky enough to organize an interview with Adam (drums & vocals), Beth (keyboard & vocals), and Jared (epic guitar) of TNV.

Times New Viking hails from Columbus, OH: An area which appears to have quite a buzzing Punk/Garage scene. Although Times New Viking has been synonymous with the College/Indie Music talk this year (mostly due to their spot on the Matador Label Roster), this interview deals with the band’s origins, evolution, and purpose in the greater garage punk scene.

I was fortunate enough to have a punk connoisseur conducting the interview. Jeremy of the exquisite Rainydawg show The World is a Drag is the host of this interview.

For this interview, the band insisted on getting drinks. Because Seattle is ever-so strict on their drinking policies (and because I am under twenty-one years of age), the band and Jeremy had to surreptitiously sneak me into the bar.

Note: The bar atmosphere is the source for all the background noise. I’d be happy to translate the audio to a text format, though I feel it is not necessary for this interview. In fact, I love the background noise given the context of the interview. A lo-fi punk band doing a pretty roughly recorded and mastered interview in some shitty bar in Seattle. What could be better? The interview is attached below.

Times New Viking Interview in Seattle.

Photos from the show.

Born Ruffians (Luke LaLonde) In-Studio Performance October 13, 2008

Published on December 16, 2008 in Music, RainyDawg Radio, Seattle and in-studio. 2 Comments

Releasing without a doubt one of the best Indie Pop records of the year, The Born Ruffians have had a wonderous year in music. Red, Yellow, and Blue is a very enjoyable and fun album to listen to. Although it did not make my year end list (Which I could be posting in the near future) there was a prolonged period where I was convinced it would.

Luke LaLonde, the lead vocalist of the Toronto outfit, The Born Ruffians, was gracious enough to stop by our studio and perform a unique and original set. When LaLonde set up, he said how he wanted to perform some of his lesser known material in addition to some of the Ruffians’ stuff. This lesser known material can be found under the moniker Skeleton Me.

The end result is LaLonde playing the Ruffians’ song, I Need a Life, off of Red Yellow & Blue, and merging it seamlessly into a Skeleton Me track. This is a unique listen unlike anything expected by a member of the Born Ruffians. Utilizing loops and heavy reverb, LaLonde branches out of his designated Indie Pop categorization into something yet to be explored by the Ruffians. Hopefully a future release by the band will be somewhat influenced by this.

Born Ruffians (Luke LaLonde) Performance on Rainydawg Radio — I Need a Life & Skeleton Me

Nurses In-Studio Performance (October 13, 2008)

Published on December 16, 2008 in Music, RainyDawg Radio, Seattle and in-studio. 3 Comments

Thank goodness the autumn quarter has come to a close. I finally have a good amount of time to make up for all the overdue material I have yet to post. I’m sorry reading this blog can be frustrating at times, due to the sporadic updates, but I’m so very glad to have your continued support.

Back in Mid-October we had a full tour’s worth of bands stop by the studio. On October 12, 2008, Rainydawg Radio was fortunate enough to host Warren and Nic of Plants and Animals for an interview over the airwaves. The next day, we hosted Young Rival, Nurses, and the Born Ruffians. Young Rival’s session can be found here.

Onto Nurses. Nurses are a group out of Portland, OR who utilize vocal harmonies which have come to be expected with bands in the “Indie” scene today (see: Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear, etc.) However, Nurses use of blending aged classic instruments such as a Fender Rhodes with a Roland SP-505 give them a sound that few bands in music today can achieve. A sound which is both contradictorily familiar yet refreshing.

Yet, for the in-studio session they chose to do a stripped down set. It’s interesting to see the difference in their full fledged produced music (which you can find over at ye olde myspace) versus this in-studio. Be sure to grab the full version, with the interview, to hear an intriguing conversation about the Mayan calender, post-apocolyptica, and the most effective way to kill zombies.

Nurses — Full Interview and Session on Rainydawg Radio
Nurses — Lita Live on Rainydawg Radio
Nurses — Technicolor Live on Rainydawg Radio
Nurses — Unititled Live on Rainydawg Radio

Bronze Fawn In-Studio Performance (October, 11, 2008)

Published on December 16, 2008 in Music, Post-Rock, RainyDawg Radio, Seattle and in-studio. 2 Comments

Way back at the beginning of Autumn Quarter at Rainydawg Radio, one of Seattle’s very own Post-Rock trio, Bronze Fawn, were kind enough to join me for an in-studio in the wee hours of the morning. Given that this was the first in-studio of the year, there were a number of expected technical difficulties along the way. I hesitated to post these MP3s for a while, as they do not reflect the quality of this Seattle band; however, I figure any exposure is better than no exposure. Please, blame me for the shitty mix and audio levels.

Bronze Fawn are a quality act and group of really great guys. They headline the Cumulus Festival Day Three at the Vera Project on January 25, 2009. You.May.Die.In.The.Desert as well as The Friendly Skies will also be playing that show. If you don’t go, and you’re in the Seattle area, I can say without a doubt that you hate music. Without further ado, here are the In-Studio mp3s.

Bronze Fawn — Megalodon

Bronze Fawn — Not Too Tropical

Live Sets from Rainydawg Radio’s Local Showcase (November 20, 2008)

Published on December 3, 2008 in Music, RainyDawg Radio and Seattle. 1 Comment

I really suck at this whole “blogging” thing. I’ve been back and forth between the coasts, traveling backwards and forwards in time. I just got back to Seattle last night. Expect an influx of posts after I survive my college finals. For now, here’s live rips from Rainydawg Radio’s Local Showcase. The audio quality is pretty much impeccable, despite a few peaks in some sets. Props to Benny for setting this all up.

Alaskas