Blogcast: March-June Highlights

This blog, which has gone untouched for a solid year now, was originally conceived as an alternate chunk of cyberspace with which I could ramble about music and movies and media stuff without really having to filter myself. I've been considering a revamp for the past couple months, toying with the idea of bringing it back up to speed and possibly incorporating blatherings about life and all of those mundane things, but in the end I decided to keep it much the way it is. I will be updating it much more regularly, but I have decided -- for others' sake as well as my own -- to keep it mostly (if not entirely) media-related. I'm sort of a geek when it comes to music, movies, and literature, so I doubt I'll run out of things to talk about in any case.

This is not a hipster blog. I'm not a hipster. I'm not cool enough (or, more importantly, I am not of a mistaken belief that I'm cool enough). I'm not all about chasing leaks all over the internet, being the first person to hear or see anything, or thinking myself oh-so-awesome for drooling over stuff only three people have ever heard of. I'm just a guy who is interested in obsessively and covetously consuming stuff, old and new, that I am passionate about. This makes me a geek. This is a geek blog. Adjust all expectations accordingly.

Anyway, the resurrection of this blog begins tonight. In keeping with personal tradition, I've decided to begin this resurrection with something I used to do many moons ago but fell out of the habit of doing: a Blogcast.

Basically, the way this Blogcast thing works is analogous to being handed free samples at the grocery store. The songs, complete and usually ripped straight to .mp3 format from my own private CD collection, are designed to give a taste of some of the best stuff I've been listening to. It's both a way for me to show off the best of something I'm really passionate about, and for the rest of you to get some free stuff that you might like. It's win/win all the way. (Acquiring the files is simple. I've uploaded them all to SendSpace, where they will stay for two weeks. Simply follow the links provided and nab 'em from the SendSpace server.)

The Theme: No Blogcast is complete without a theme. This one, as referenced in the title, is a showcase for standout songs that have been released within the last few months. These aren't necessarily the absolute best songs to have come out, but they're all very good ones that I felt like sharing. As always, I've provided some brief commentary to go along with 'em.

Anyone who samples these and is really intrigued by the sound of one or more of them, just get in touch with me and we'll see what we can do about hooking you up with some more. I have the technology.

Onward!

The Blogcast:
Cut/Copy, "So Haunted" (4:27)
Genres: Dance/electronica, indie-rock
If you are among the underprivileged who have not heard or heard of Cut/Copy and their miraculous new album In Ghost Colours, click that link right now. Download the song. Do not come back and read the rest of this 'til it's done. It is, in the most basic terms, 50 minutes of near-perfect electronic dance-pop. Not only is it my #1 album of 2008, but it also fits snugly up there with the finer albums of the entire decade. "So Haunted" may or may not be the best of the best (I have about five songs vying for that title), but it does do in four and a half minutes what some bands have never been able to: make a perfect marriage between pulsing noise-rock and light-as-a-feather electronic dance. What starts as a noisy, distortion-heavy pounder ends as one of the prettiest synth-pop songs you're likely to hear during this or any other year. It's really quite something.

The Dodos, "Red and Purple" (4:40)
Genres: Indie-rock, experimental
The Dodos have done it. I don't know how, but they've somehow managed to make an entire album of interesting and original music using little more than acoustic guitars and drums. Though there are many highlights, my personal favorite track is the jovial "Red and Purple," which bounces along on unconventional rhythms and unabashed catchiness for four and a half minutes before finding just about the perfect note to end on. Despite being released in March, it's a summer song if I've ever heard one: sunny, energetic, and utterly satisfying.

Frightened Rabbit, "The Modern Leper" (3:48)
Genres: Indie-rock, emo that doesn't suck
It's like I said when I put the song on my MySpace profile: if this doesn't end up being in my ten favorite songs of 2008, there are some fucking amazing songs left for me to hear. This song (and this band) literally blew at me out of nowhere, blindsiding me with unexpected brilliance. The intensity of this song is a force to be reckoned with. It begins as a fairly subdued acoustic piece and ends with violent crashing and passionate howling less than four minutes later (so, yeah, maximum volume required). Together with its breathtaking lyrics (which are all too relatable) and soaring chorus, "The Modern Leper" is at once a statement that demands attention, and a powerful, powerful piece of music.

The Gutter Twins, "God's Children" (4:57)
Genre: Alternative rock
It's no coincidence that a lot of the songs on the Gutter Twins' debut (well, it's the first album Dulli and Lanegan have made together) reference God and the Rapture, because they've made what sounds like it could be a soundtrack to Judgment Day. It's all dark, heavy, midtempo mood music, but with just the right amount of melody and pathos to make it into something truly grand. Lanegan and Dulli were both at their most successful during the early 90s as the frontmen for Screaming Trees and Afghan Whigs, respectively, and their style as the Gutter Twins is ripe with early 90s alt-rock influence. It's hypnotic and mesmerizing, but it also kicks serious ass. If Judgment Day does sound like this, I'll be the one standing off to the side, mouth gaping, trying impossibly to take in all the apocalyptic beauty.

M83, "Couleurs" (8:34)
Genres: Electronica, synth-pop
Summer. Nighttime. City. Tall buildings. Bright lights in the darkness. Driving. Windows down. Hair blown. A light smell of rain. These are just a few things that occur to me while listening to M83's synth-drenched "Couleurs," an awesome slice of atmospheric electronica from French artist M83. The track just feels inherently urban and nocturnal, like a night owl doing the drugs and hitting the clubs before burning out at sunrise. It's a standout on an album of mostly lighter, poppier 80s-style fare (all of which is very good, however); it's also one of 2008's great electronic cuts.

Neon Neon, "I Told Her on Alderaan" (3:43)
Genres: Synth-pop, 80s New-Wave revival
It's to Gruff Rhys' credit that "I Told Her on Alderaan," right down to its Star Wars reference, could easily be mistaken for a long-lost early 80s gem. All the pieces seem to fall into place: the guitar-synth interplay, the drum machines, the production, and especially the attitude. It does that guilty-pleasure genre proud, too. It's one of the catchiest pieces of pure pop the indie world has seen this year, addictively replayable and good enough to make you wish that even more people would cruise their De Loreans back to the 80s and try resurrecting, as the band itself refers to it, this stainless style.

Wolf Parade, "California Dreamer" (6:03)
Genres: Indie-rock, experimental
Far and away the standout track from Wolf Parade's (somewhat disappointing) sophomore album At Mount Zoomer. "California Dreamer" -- an exhilarating track that owes more than its title to The Doors' classic "L.A. Woman" -- finds Spencer Krug still in Sunset Rubdown mode, with results more atmospheric and experimental than the majority of his other Wolf Parade contributions (I'd say this is more "Dinner Bells" or "Fancy Claps" than anything else). His lyrics are as evocative as ever, the melody is haunting and irresistible, and the whole thing goes a long way to reaffirming why Krug is one of the finest songwriters working today.

The end. Until next time, which will be much, much sooner than last time. Guaranteed. Even if I'm the only person who ends up giving a shit about this blog, I will keep it up because it satisfies me.

See what I mean? Geek.