Like everyone else, I'm waiting the hours out for the year to end.  I'm in Las Vegas right now and am enjoying wintertime in the desert.  I headed out to the Montelago Resort and Casino which is roughly halfway over the direction the Hoover Dam is located.  It was a nice, sunny evening for taking photos.

Well, with that out of the way, I thought I'd share my last hit of music for 2007.  One of my favorite married duos, Kevin and Anita Robinson, a.k.a. Viva Voce just re-released their first two albums in a double CD package under their own Amore/Phonics label.  You're getting great bang for your buck checking out the re-release of Lovers, Lead The Way and The Heat Can Melt Your Brain.  This double release can tide fans over for a while before a new album gets to stores hopefully sometime in 2008.  If you've heard both records before, there's incentive to still pick this one up for new liner notes as well as additional tracks that include demos, a remix by Tunng, a live track and a session from KEXP.  Today's selected track is one off the KEXP sessions.

Wrecking Ball (live) - Viva Voce


Viva Voce at the Seattle Bumbershoot Festival 2007

Hope you all have a safe New Year's celebration this evening.  If I could recover from all the reverie, I'll try and post something.  Either way, I hope you're having fun.

There are quite a few things I'm waiting for as the next year arrives. 

New music from:
The Cure
CSS
Sandwich
Portishead (for real this time)
Angulo
Taken By Cars
Kate Nash
Cat Power
The Helio Sequence
Death Cab For Cutie
The Kills
These New Puritans

...and I haven't really perused through the second or third quarters of the year, so stay tuned.


Films:
Iron Man
Batman-The Dark Knight
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
Be Kind, Rewind
Run, Fat Boy, Run
Harold and Kumar 2
Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull
Pineapple Express

Since we're all itching for new CSS, we may have to remedy that with their cover of Grizzly Bear's Knife off the Friend EP.

Knife - CSS


CSS at Neumos, 6/7/07

Everyone and their mom has weighed in on the year in music with regard to albums of the year.  I really hate how nitpicky some bastards can get regarding what the best records of the year are.  I enjoy how these guys go about ripping records to up cred points even if they know in the back of their minds that the long-players and EPs they're championing won't be listened to by their very ears around this time next year.  What the hell happened to simply enjoying music by the song/album's own merit?  That's why I listed favorite on the title block instead of best.  It's somewhat of a disclaimer to say that it may suck for someone out there, but it sure doesn't for me.  Releases by LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire would've made it to my list but it's unfair to put them in here because I only recently discovered these gems.  I also didn't list Amy Winehouse's and Lily Allen's albums because I actually considered their output coming out in 2006, even if they never hit the US until '07.  I also set my cutoff for my favorites list in the second week of November.  Anything after that will be taken into consideration next year.  Urbandub's latest seems to be a shoo-in already.  Enough with the preliminary brouhaha...here we go.



10. Nil Recurring - Porcupine Tree
I enjoyed seeing PT on the Fear of A Blank Planet tour when they made a stop in town.  I wish I could say the same though for the album.  It just seemed off to me in some respect.  It's also possible that I never really gave it that much time to listen.  Anyway, they say that brevity is the soul of wit.  This EP which is a set of outtakes and tracks that ended up getting scavenged for FOABP is more digestible to me.  It also helps that more participation from my favorite drummer right now, Gavin Harrison was evident.




9. Cease To Begin - Band of Horses
This record was a slow burn for me.  I didn't really get to enjoy these songs until I got to see the band live recently.  Fantastic production work and orchestration makes this record one of the winners for 2007.




8.  Year Zero - Nine Inch Nails
I thought I'd given up on Trent Reznor after the release of With Teeth.  That album seemed to be too compressed on the production end of things.  It also had way too much guitar for my taste.  This record was accompanied with viral marketing that was really ambitous involving cryptic messages, USB sticks left at venue bathrooms,  and even talk of a color-changing CD.  None of these gimmicks would matter if the music wasn't at the same level as the viral hype.  This time around, Trent delivers in spades.  The accompanying Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D with tracks from Year Zero reimagined by the likes of Saul Williams, Ladytron, and New Order only adds to the goodness of the album.




7.  Red Album - Baroness
I never thought there would be a metal album worth listening to this year.  At the suggestion of a poster at another messageboard, I was encouraged to try this album out.  I'm glad I heeded that advice because this record has it all--kinetic drumming, vintage sounding distorted guitars, and gruff vocals with lyrics open to interpretation.  It's like the audio equivalent of a David Lynch movie.  It's so abstract and fist-bangingly crazy at the same time.




6.  Tanginamo Andaming Nagugutom Sa Mundo, Fashionista Ka Pa Rin - Radioactive Sago Project
This album is light years away from whatever is going on in the Filipino music scene right now.  This group continues to combine elements of jazz, funk, metal, spoken word poetry, and smatterings of many other genres.  With a new guitarist in tow, the band really drove the music forward to more chaotic and aurally satisfying moments.  These are one of those albums that I would still listen to 20 years from now because of how mindbendingly good it is on all fronts.




5.  Icky Thump - The White Stripes
I was really up for seeing these guys on tour this fall but plans fell through.  Meg ended up having a bout of exhaustion and it didn't help that a fake sex tape circulated around the net as well.  It's all well and good.  I can wait for the right time to see them out on the road.  For the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy the relentless fret-mangling that Jack masterfully performs on this record.  The time will come when I'll get to see the give it a go onstage.  I'll just have to wait.




4.  Under The Blacklight - Rilo Kiley
I've got a personal attachment to this album.  It got me through some tough times that I went through this year.  That's only one reason for me to like it.  I also admire how this group decided to take more risks by playing with idioms outside their comfort zone.  Elements of FM-radio pop, electronic, and old-school hip hop crept into Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett's songwriting at it's most evident this time around.  This discovery has also raised the ire of some longtime fans who'd like to keep the band from evolving, wishing they wouldn't stray from their Execution of All Things or Takeoffs And Landings eras.  I like reading how they get bent out of shape just because this isn't their band any longer.  Like these guys owe these so-called fans anything to begin with.




3. 23 - Blonde Redhead
There's a certain mystique about this band that makes them sensually attractive to the ears.  I didn't know that hearing Elephant Woman off Misery Is A Butterfly and En Particulier off the Melodie Citronique EP was just the start of my adventure with the music this trio makes.  This time around, I was on the train for the ride, and boy was this an adventure into some of the most winsome dreampop that I've heard in ages.  Kazu Makino's haunting vocals seem to sear any listener as it is accompanied by those Portishead-like rhythms by the Pace brothers plodding along--fantastic!




2.  In Rainbows - Radiohead
Radiohead shocked the world when they decided they'd control all the information regarding the release of their new record, In Rainbows.  They made listening to a record an event--something that's sorely lacking in the age of P2P sharing, blogs, and record companies that continue to struggle with how to remain relevant in the 21st century.  I haven't listened to a Radiohead album this frequently since OK Computer.  I'm glad that they've managed to find a good balance between their electronic music flirtations and their guitar-based workouts.

Breaking news...look at what just arrived in the mail today:



And for #1...




1.  New Wave - Against Me!
I never thought an album of this magnitude would speak to me in the summer of this year.  All the seething anger I have with the system...the helplessness...the desire for change has all been encapsulated in this body of work barely 40 minutes long.  Seeing them twice this year only served to enhance the listening experience for me.  This is protest music without the glitz and fanfare that Green Day did on American Idiot.  The lyrics on this album seem to speak more to me than what those dudes from Gilman Street did.  Like the Rilo Kiley fans,  the die-hard purists not different from the Taliban or right-wing Christian fundamentalists cried "sellout" when the group shifted to a major label and had their album produced by uber boardman Butch Vig.  Again, the destiny of the band is in their own hands.  If they happen to lose some fans in the process, so be it.  I've come to peace with movements such as this when Metallica decided to shed the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal off their set of influences.  I've moved on as they did, yet I can always fondly remember those days of old by occasionally listening to Master of Puppets or any of the classic stuff.  I suggest that the fans who stuck by AM! this long and aren't really feeling this one step back and just remember the band for what they were through their older records.


Below is a zip file with all the artists listed above.  The playlist counts down from 10 to 1, so make sure to load that playlist file to enjoy the music a-la Casey Kasem.

Track list:

Up The Cuts - Against Me!
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi - Radiohead
Dr Strangeluv - Blonde Redhead
Close Call - Rilo Kiley
You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told) - The White Stripes
Bisikleta - Radioactive Sago Project
The Birthing - Baroness
God Given - NIN
No One's Gonna Love You - Band Of Horses
Normal - Porcupine Tree

Zip file download over here!

Ugh...

It's afternoon and I didn't have much to drink the night before.  I still do have a humdinger of a hangover nonetheless.  Too much of the festivities, I guess.

Anyway, wouldn't you want to continue having the swirly chorus-pedal enhanced sensation in your head to help you with the comedown?  Well you don't have to look far enough to listen to Asobi Sexsu do their rendition of Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight).

Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight) - Asobi Sexsu



Bonus:  How about some Frosty The Snowman by dreampop faves The Cocteau Twins?

Frosty The Snowman - The Cocteau Twins

The five-piece that's called Angulo has been busy as of late. They recently were participants in the World Battle Of The Bands to represent The Philippines on the international stage. This didn't come to be for the guys--a minor setback. The group is soon ready to release their debut album called Blur The White Lines. Their brand of emo reminds me more of the older second wave from the 90's than anything whiny that's been coming out today. Lots of sonic references to Pave The Rocket, Mineral, and even Jimmy Eat World seem to creep into their compositions. It's a winner for me if your band keeps away from the uniform of overused high register vocals, tight pants/shirts, and that dumb haircut with the bangs.

The Best Mistake - Angulo



PS: I'd like to greet everyone a Merry Christmas out there. Break out the eggnog and champagne. It's time to celebrate! I'll see if I can make it through tonight to post on Christmas day.

I never thought I'd say this, but here it is: I actually like Arcade Fire's Neon Bible. I wish I could say I enjoyed their debut the way David Bowie found it fascinating. The recent LCD Soundsystem tourmate changed the production up this time around. Win Butler's vocals don't sound as David Byrne-esque (maybe I'm just overprotective of The Talking Heads), which was one sticking point for why I didn't really warm up to Funeral. Anyway, they're now good in my book. This time around, the band I don't seem to "get" is Animal Collective. Maybe they'll do something just as good as these Canadians to call a reversal on my judgement.  It can happen again.

Here's my favorite track off the Neon Bible. No Cars Go has this propulsive bassline that anchors the whole song together nothing unlike what you'd hear on a Joy Division or Interpol record. The orchestration is so cinematic in scope. It has to be the string and horn sections that create it's epic nature.  It ebbs, it flows, it breathes.  Music has never sounded like a living being the way this record and this song in particular did.

No Cars Go - Arcade Fire

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you may find another site I'd highly recommend that also weighs in on music both from The Philippines and in the international scenes.  Pulse has a great network of writers and photographers that cover so many music performers around the islands, whether they're recording, touring, or just messing about.  They also offer incisive reviews of the latest records whether it's by Filipino '77 punk enthusiasts Hilera or international blog favorites The Arctic Monkeys.  They also have a messageboard and interesting interviews with artists who are keeping the rock going in various locations in the country.  Do yourself a favor and check out their joint.

When I noticed that LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver was making it to many a year-end lists, I thought I'd finally open my mind to what's going on.  His song from the last album Daft Punk Is Playing At My House seemed too gimmicky for me to take James' work seriously.  I now see why this was such a winner to many.  Those arrangements seem familiar to anyone who listens to either electronic music or indie rock.  He mixes both genres rather seamlessly.  One thing on SOS that I can't still dig though is the last track to the collection: New York, I Love You but You're Bringing Me Down.  Maybe it's just me, but the piano-ballad thing seemed so out-of place with everything else going on in the record.

Listening to Watch The Tapes, I first swore I thought that this was a Pedicab song.  Maybe Raymund and his bunch should actually do a cover.

Watch The Tapes - LCD Soundsystem

This was a great year for shows. Most of the performers I've checked out was a first time experience. Bands like Jesu, CSS, Against Me!, Paramore, and The Police (a dream come true, but unfortunately were out-rocked by their younger counterparts) brought on rock music the way it's supposed to be played. Some bands I've returned to see because I knew I was expecting stellar performances. These included Blonde Redhead, The New Pornographers, and Rilo Kiley. Here's the rundown with some clips off the respective gigs.

CSS, Neumos 6/7/07


Blonde Redhead, Showbox 4/21/07


Against Me!, Capitol Hill Block Party 7/28/07


Rilo Kiley, Showbox 9/8/07
Note: this was my second RK show ever, but this was the first time that they really blew me away performance-wise.



Paramore, Endfest 9/22/07




Addendum:

How could I forget that I also saw Morrissey for the first time this year at The Paramount?  How could I forget that this was also one of the most explosive shows I've ever seen?  How?  Was it just because I went to quite a bunch of concerts this year that it got lost in the shuffle?  I'm I losing my memory?  What did I have for breakfast this morning?  I even got the man himself to wish me well for the day as I was trying to dump an extra ticket to a fan at the venue gates!  It was one of my most memorable concertgoing experiences.

One of the city's most legendary music venues closed their doors last Sunday. The Crocodile Cafe was one of the clubs that helped put Seattle in the rock music map.  There have been news pieces that followed it's recent troubles from both The Seattle Weekly and The Stranger.  It wasn't too shocking for me to find out that this happened.  I just didn't think that it would happen this soon.

I've seen quite a lot of great shows there in the past.  Some of those shows have been written about in this blog.  Here are some great memories from one of my favorite haunts that I could recall:

Snow Patrol performing in Seattle for the first time and being thankful to the locals for being some of the first fans to make Final Straw a breakout album in the US.

Seeing both Stellastarr* before releasing their debut record and The Killers performing way before their careers really took off.  I think The Killers were opening for Franz Ferdinand too (who weren't household names in the US at the time either).

The weird performance art that accompanied the music of British Sea Power.  There was lots of foliage involved.  Their drummer also went around the venue banging his portable tom.

Celebrating my 30th birthday by seeing +/- and Versus.  This was one of the best birthdays I celebrated.  I've been a Versus fan for so many years prior to seeing them for the first time that evening.

Headbanging at that size venue to bask in the awesome prog of Porcupine Tree during the first leg of the Deadwing tour.

Pete Yorn's sweaty and short set at his vanity record label's showcase.

My favorite Croc incident was standing behind Pete Doherty on the beer line at The Croc's bar after The Libertines played their set, touring for Up The Bracket.  I big-upped the guy for a great job onstage.  This was clearly before he dated supermodels and thought he was better than the rest of the band.

Don't Look Back Into The Sun - The Libertines

I had so many other memories like seeing Rogue Wave, The Lashes, Longwave, and many other groups play there for the first time.  This was when they had great bookers putting shows together for the place.  I didn't even realize that I stopped going there for over a couple of years.  Competition from Neumos and The Showbox seemed to grab my wallet's attention for live acts slowly but surely.

I'm really gutted that this had to happen and only because the venue was poorly managed.  I hope the condo developers don't get their grubby hands on that place and that it will continue to be a live venue for people to chill out to.  If this isn't the case, I'd really like to thank The Croc for all the great times either alone or with friends to see a show, the great brew, and even the great staff for making it worthwhile to visit the place.  You will be missed.