Top Ten Shows of 2008

Unlike albums which are consistent listen after listen, live shows are consistently changing and nothing is ever the same twice. These were the best shows I saw all year based on my personal experiences. For some these shows may have been better or worse, but these were the ones that stuck out for me.

1. Radiohead - Night One of All Points West - August - New York City
My best friends and I indulged ourselves as we watched my favorite band with the Statue of Liberty and the New York City skyline glowing behind us. Less than two hours later I said goodbye to my teenage years.

2. Bon Iver - St. Giles In the Fields Church - June - London
During the last week of my semester in England, in an ancient church, at sunset.

3. My Bloody Valentine - Roseland Ballroom - September - New York City
First non-festival U.S. performance in about 16 years.

4. m83 - Webster Hall - November - New York City
Sonic layers at their best.

5. Grizzly Bear - Night One of All Points West - August - New York City
Perfect blend of old goodies and new ones to come.

6. TV on the Radio - Brooklyn Masonic Temple - October - New York City
Killer horns with electric funk and their last hometown show of the year.

7. Battles - London Astoria - May - London
One of the tightest shows, rhythmically, I have ever seen.

8. Fleet Foxes - Webster Hall - October - New York City
White Winter Hymnal into Ragged Wood with Mykonos snuck in at the end.

9. Broken Social Scene - Siren Festival - July - New York City
Before the show I said if they play "7/4 (Shoreline)" it'll make my day. It did.

10. Vampire Weekend - London Astoria - January - London
Two weeks before their debut LP dropped.

Top Ten Albums of 2008

Thins got busy in December including school, work, finals, seeing Neil Young, Wilco, and CSS and then the holidays and of course the start of 2009. So in order to kick this year off I'm listing my top 10 albums of 2008.

1. Portishead | Third
Portishead made one of the most daring moves of the year. They could either: return and reclaim their greatness with just replaying all of their old classics or they could attempt to put out their first album in over a decade and hope it matched the brilliance of their previous records. They took the chance and killed all odds. This album touched upon all the greatness that Portishead had left on over a decade ago and went even further. They touched everything from trip-hop on “The Rip” to industrial on “Machine Gun” and finally folkie on “Deep Water”. They took tremendous risks and never looked back, but then again how could you with a voice like that.

2. Fleet Foxes | Fleet Foxes
From the opening harmonies it was hard to deny that this was going to be one of my most listened to records of the year. Everything on it just seemed to flow together so well. The voices are pristine, the rhythms are simple, and the lyrics are touching. It’s folk rock with a southern tinge at it’s finest.

3. TV on the Radio | Dear Science
For the follow up to my favorite album of 2006, TV on the Radio left nothing to chance. Dear Science is everything I love about this band. It’s chopping, crunchy, funky, dissonant and smooth all at the same time. It’s all over the place, but in a concentrated way. They challenge you to listen closely at all they do and they pay the closest attention to detail so why doesn’t the listener?

4. No Age | Nouns
5. Deerhunter | Microcastle
6. M83 | Saturdays = Youth
7. Sigur Rós | Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
8. Beach House | Devotion
9. Vampire Weekend | Vampire Weekend
10. Santogold | Santogold

Fucking Hipsters

courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan

Vampire Weekend Covers The Plastic Bertrand

1. Vampire Weekend have been one of the biggest buzz bands of the year. I was lucky enough to catch them at a small venue in London this past January before they started playing much bigger places such as Terminal 5 here in NYC.

2. Back in the 80s there was an amazing French new wave band known as the Plastic Bertrand. They were pretty underground in the states, but from what I remember I think they were somewhat successful in their native France.

What do these things have in common? Well the other night in Paris VW payed homage to the new wave greats and covered their biggest single "Ca Plane Pour Moi" (a song some might remember from the movie European Vacation). Plastic Bertrand were great and I would love to see them live (reunion?) and it's so awesome to see someone pay tribute. If you're not familiar with their work I highly recommend the following: Ca Plane Pour Moi, Major Tom, Stop Ou Encore, and Asterix est La.

No One Womanizes Like You

The Hood Internet has done some great mash-ups this year and you can download all their stuff from their site for free, but this new one might be my favorite.

ABX - No One Womanizes Like You

VOTE!!!

This Modern Love

Bloc Party's "Silent Alarm" was one of my favorite albums in 2005 and they certainly had the potential to become one of my favorite bands of the decade. Their debut showcased loud guitar riffs, dance breakdowns, assaulting percussion, and seemed to be taking indie rock in a great new direction. However after a bleak sophomore release and a dismal third effort these guys have faded off my radar and instead of a great new direction they inadvertently ushered in a bad British dance craze full of bands like the Klaxons and the Kooks. Their debut can still get things going for me and I enjoy a few tracks from their second one every now and then, but that is about it. Luckily I was fortunate enough to catch them in the summer of 2006 in Boston before "A Weekend in the City" came out so I got to hear all the good stuff. Recently La Blogotheque caught these guys off guard in an alley in Paris and got a great acoustic performance of one of my favorite songs from "Silent Alarm."


Bloc Party, 'This Modern Love' - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Still love that one...

Time Takes a Cigarette.

My show reviews of Fleet Foxes and TV on the Radio have been posted on Stories In High Fidelity (hopefully more to follow) so there has been a lack of updates recently. I'm working on some new projects, both writing and photos, so hopefully I'll have more to say in the near future. In the mean time keep it scene in the city.

Jeff Mangum Returns!

The Elephant Six Holiday Surprise show made its way to Pittsburgh last night and marked a historic event in indie music. The show's finale was Jeff Mangum playing Neutral Milk Hotel's "Engine" in the middle of the room accompanied by Julian Koster. This was the first time in ten years that Mangum has played a NMH song in public. Can we please have that reunion tour now?

Fleet Foxes played Webster Hall

Fleet Foxes have been getting a lot of buzz as of late due to the success of their self titled debut LP and great live shows and last night helped fuel the fire. The tremendous harmonies that these guys create translated from the studio to the stage with great perfection, even for the acoustic impaired Webster Hall. Along with great tunes, these guys are also just plain funny and had great interaction with the audience, which is lost among most performers. Before even launching into their first song, they shared some witty banter with the audience about how Webster Hall sounded more like a CW show then a venue. However when they finally kicked into music mode their voices melted the audience. I think these guys could blow away a crowd if they just did everything acapella and last night's show gave us more of that treat. Their voices and song writing ability are clearly their strong points, yet as soon as they jammed into "White Winter Hymnal" and "Ragged Wood" they showed that they clearly were just a great band and have the whole package. These songs are really where they shine and are able to put forth their best work. It just seems so cohesive and right when the melodies, harmonies, and lyrics just blend together. As their main set ended with "Mykonos" off the Sun Giant EP they broke down the ending into great vocal parts and really just set the mood for the entire evening and proved that despite their growing popularity these guys need to stick to small intimate venues where the audience can really be fully engulfed by what these guys are doing; something lost by bigger auditoriums.


new song

set list:
Sun Giant/Sun Rises
Drops in the River
English House
White Winter Hymnal
Ragged Wood
Your Protector
Crayon Angels (Judee Sill Cover)
Oliver James
Quiet Houses
He Doesn't Know Why
Mykonos
Katie Cruel (Traditional) - unplugged!
Tiger Mountain Peasant Song
Silver City - new song!
Blue Ridge Mountains