Wanna know how to stop that fearsome Vampire Weekend hype epidemic?

A nice, heavy dose of We Got It 4 Cheap Vol. 3 ought to do the trick.  The freshly leaked Clipse/Re-Up Gang mixtape is just the thing for the winter doldrums and ubiquitous, milquetoasty argyle rock.  And while I’m fiending for a new torrent of The Wire #58, coke rap is a decent substitute for that need too, the comparisons having become so obvious that even the Clipse themselves are in on the game.  ”Roc Boys” and “Rainy Dayz” are predictably good, but what they do with Pharrell’s instrumentals from “Show You How to Hustle” is by far my favorite.  The simple, slinky organ sustain and Questlove drumming reminiscent of his Chappelle’s Show skit with John Mayer are by far the smoothest backing on the tape, and the rhymes don’t disappoint, far outdoing Pharrell’s weak originals.  “If all I talk about is coke, let that tell you somethin’ … Fuck bein’ broke with dreams full of nothin’, My niggas cope and slave over ovens. Welcome to the big league, bitches leave they husbands.”   

Re-Up Gang - Show You How to Hustle

PS : The Wire Season 2?  Underrated, for sure.

PPS : I actually do indulge a listen to the infamous Blue CD-R every now and then.

So maybe it’s an accident that I happen to read SJF’s piece on the Balkanization of the music industry on the same day that Choire Sicha claimed that, “Every gay in America (okay, in coastal America) is flapping his hands today over the New! Magnetic Fields! Album! that is apparently out tomorrow.”  Not that the latter necessarily confirms the former, but the idea that we can categorize albums by their sexual orientation, that there are more or less gay (Sleater-Kinney? Junior Senior?) and straight albums, strikes me as startling, intruiging, and a little dangerous.

As for the album itself, Distortion is certainly well worth picking up, whatever your attitudes towards sex.  Though Stephin Merritt’s songwriting rarely rises to 69 Love Songs levels, what’s lacking in the conceptual department is made up for by the shaggy production and fuzzy aesthetic that lend the record its title.  “Three Way” and “California Girls” in particular are fun, led by memorable guitar lines and catchy choruses.  Mostly the music sounds far away, like the band playing a basement party where spilled drinks and sweaty bodies layer together with the reverb and haze.  Maybe Choire is on to something after all.

Magnetic Fields - Three Way

Distortion is streaming at the Magnetic Fields’ MySpace.  Buy it at Amazon.

At the beginning of the year I set out on a project of sorts, “predicting” my favorite records of 2007 before any of them had officially been released.  Albums were listed and ranked and highly anticipated, with the intent of looking back by the year’s end and seeing just what had become of my original outlook on things.  I paused in July to take stock at the halfway point, and although many of the records I was so looking forward to had yet to be released, I had also encountered several surprises along the way.  Most suprising of all, though, was an unexpected string of personal crises that blindsided me late in the year, prompting an extended blog absence of more than a month.  I couldn’t bring myself to write about anything, much less music, but I did listen a lot more, and listen better.  I’m back now, or for the moment at least, and here are my favorite records of 2007:

Of Montreal - Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse 
Of Montreal - The Past is a Grotesque Animal

As a relatively new convert I feel bad for die-hard Of Montreal fans.   Your favorite band releases an album that is in every way - stylistically, conceptually, totally - a departure from its original sound and it’s hailed as their greatest achievement.  This is not the sweet little pop of Gay Parade.  It’s a concept album of sorts, sure, but one that comes from a considerably darker place, one that understandably alienates.  I can tell you that Hissing Fauna is about Kevin Barnes’ depression, about the unraveling of his marriage and wanting to “tear the fucking house apart,” but until you hear him confess it, until you get to where you start thinking about doing it yourself, you haven’t felt the full catharsis yet.

Jens Lekman - The Opposite of Hallelujah

Night Falls Over Kortedala is the album that hasn’t left my stereo, my car, or my computer for the last few months, and has inspired a similar run through Jens Lekman’s brief back catalogue.  Though it has to contend with Person Pitch for the year’s best use of samples, what makes Kortedala so uniquely beguiling is the melancholy wit and wisdom of the crooning Swede at the center of it all.  Jens has a natural knack for telling good stories, and an obvious affection for the people and places who inhabit them.  This is a record full of joy and silliness and small, bittersweet pleasures.

Caribou - Melody Day 

Dan Snaith’s best effort since he started going by the name Caribou, Andorra saw him turning what once seemed like mere barrages of percussion and swirls of sound into actual melodies and songs, and better yet, into a full-fledged album.  In a year where the best pop music was tinged with psychadelia and ’60s revivalism, Caribou was no exception - he just did it better than most. 

The National - Fake Empire 
The National - Mistaken for Strangers

Since its release in May, Boxer has had one of its songs in constant rotation in my head.  At first it was “Fake Empire” and “Mistaken for Strangers.”  Lately it’s been “Apartment Story.”  Somehow Matt Beringer as lyricist and the National as a band have tapped into a personal zeitgeist, making their latest album a sort of soundtrack for my life in the last seven months.  Built around the core of Bryan Devendorf’s taut, anxious percussion, Boxer details the deadening procession of days spent in an endless routine.  Wake, work, eat, sleep - “the unmagnificent lives of adults.”

Beirut - Nantes 
Beirut - A Sunday Smile

Where the Lon Gisland EP finally saw Beirut grow into a full band, The Flying Club Cup allowed Zach Condon to stretch his new sound out over a full album, and with even more impressive results - a thrilling little French vacation, a pop dalliance in Nantes, a melancholy morning in Paris.  Condon’s charm and endearing croon make the tourist pastiche work, make it fun, even.  Owen Pallet’s evocative string arrangements and the deep warble of the brass lend it added grace.  Much more than an adolescent’s indulgent field trip, The Flying Club Cup is a Gallic triumph. 

Radiohead - Nude 
Radiohead - All I Need

There’s a lot to praise about Radiohead’s long awaited seventh album, from the intruiging release strategy and rare communal listening experience to the way the music itself still managed to defy and exceed our expectations.  What most impressed me about In Rainbows, though, is the way the band incorporate so many disparate genre elements into their core sound, making for a record that is at times one of the best dub, best soul, and best glitch-pop albums of the year. 

Bon Iver - For Emma 
Bon Iver - Skinny Love

It seems like every fall a lo-fi, bedroom pop album comes out that ends up standing in as the musical equivalent of leaves turning colors, falling from branches, and getting covered in snow.  Last year it was Benoit Pioulard’s Précis, and this year it’s undeniably Bon Iver.  In fact, tagging For Emma as the annual best bedroom album might be unfairly dismissive of its poignancy.  Justin Vernon’s pleading, emotive falsetto elevates it beyond simple folk status to something remarkable and deeply affecting.  This is the kind of album that makes blogging about music worthwhile, redeeming all the self-promotion, mass e-mails, and commodification by bringing us something genuine and rewarding that we wouldn’t likely have known about otherwise.  Bon Iver is not one for embellishments or grandeur, so when the horns come in on “For Emma” and when, on “Skinny Love” he draws so much meaning from the repeated “my my my,” it kills me every time.

Okkervil River - Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe
Okkervil River - Plus Ones

The first thing everyone wants to notice about The Stage Names, and Okkervil River as a band for that matter, is how talented a songwriter Will Sheff has become.  It’s true, on songs like “Our Life is Not a Movie” and “Plus Ones” (the many pop allusions of which I tracked here) that he does have a remarkable knack for wordplay, and more than a little showing off, too.  But it’s Sheff’s constantly maturing voice that gives those songs their emotional heft, the growl that puts the tension in the former and the bitterness that lends such acidity to the latter.  Stage Names, ostensibly about the life of the performing artists - musicians, actors, poets - is also the year’s best album about failure, doubt, and disappointment, and carrying on in spite of it.

Panda Bear - Bros 
Panda Bear - Comfy in Nautica

What else to say about this album, except that Panda Bear just gets everything right?  Person Pitch is warm and happy and indelibly personal, and yet at the same time has all the makings of a truly classic pop record.  It’s an album I cherish deeply and still manage to respect in an objective sense, both for the obvious craft with which it was made as well as for the incredible end results.  One of the year’s earliest releases, and one that I kept returning to again and again.

Spoon - Black Like Me 

When it came out in July, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga was the great album with the funny title, the one that made me realize that Spoon just might be my favorite band.  Then it became the album I never stopped listening to, the album that talked about how it felt to need someone to take care of me tonight.  Confessions like that are important to a band like this, stripped down to minimalism and given to playing things tight.  “Black Like Me” is one of my favorite songs of the year, charging forward on piano and percussion, begging and pleading, until it suddenly stops just short of the crescendo, just short of perfect.  And that’s how my favorite album of the year ends.

Here are my 25 favorite songs of 2007.  The album list should be up tomorrow.

Spoon - Black Like Me 

Okkervil River - Plus Ones

Jens Lekman - A Postcard For Nina

Bat For Lashes - What’s A Girl To Do

Radiohead - Jigsaw Falling Into Place

Caribou - Melody Day

The New Pornographers - Myriad Harbour

Jay Z - Roc Boys

LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great

Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

Dr. Dog - Heart it Races (Architecture in Helsinki cover)

Bon Iver - Skinny Love

Pharoah Monche - Desire

Coconut Records - West Coast

Feist - I Feel It All

The Broken West - On The Bubble

M.I.A. feat. Bun B & Rich Boy - Paper Planes Remix

Blonde Redhead - 23

The National - Mistaken For Strangers

Animal Collective - Fireworks

Panda Bear - Comfy in Nautica

Ola Podrida - Cindy

Basia Bulat - I Was A Daughter

Menomena - Wet and Rusting

St Vincent - Bang Bang

Music Video of the Year:  Battles - Atlas

Honorable Mention:  Bat For Lashes - What’s a Girl To Do, José González - Down The Line, Justice - D.A.N.C.E.
 

Best EP of the Year:  Grizzly Bear - Friend   Buy It

By far the best band of ‘07 not to release an LP, Grizzly Bear found time away from their relentless touring schedule to put out the year’s best EP in Friend.  Aside from piecing together some terrific covers, CSS’ version of “Knife” in particular, the album offers some of the most haunting and uniquely memorable tracks in the Grizzly oeuvre.  The choir version of “Alligator” is as epic an opener as I remember hearing all year, but the real gem is Dan Rossen’s gentle, EP-closing cover of “Deep Blue Sea.”  At ten tracks, Friend is kind of like the actor who gets nominated for a ‘Best Supporting’ Oscar even though the perfomance was more of a leading role.  Still, it’s undeniably the best EP of 2007.

Dan Rossen (Grizzly Bear) - Deep Blue Sea

Honorable Mention:  Vampire Weekend - Blue CDR,  Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Is Is, Black Kids - Wizard of Ahhs

Best B-Side of the Year:  Animal Collective - “Safer”

In July I called 2007 ‘the Year of the B-Side’ because a remarkable number of quality songs had thus far been relegated to non-album status.  “Safer” is by far the best example.  Too long to make it onto Strawberry Jam, the almost ten-minute track is like a world unto itself. 

Animal Collective - Safer 

Favorite Concert of the Year:  Fun Fun Fun Fest

Here’s what I said about Fun Fun Fest last month:

It’s the festival for those of us who don’t really like festivals - intimate, relaxed, almost communal.  And, I’d argue, a lot closer to what an Austin fest ought to feel like.  Mostly, though, the two-day event lived up to its billing just by being a hell of a lot of fun.

Honorable Mention: The National & St Vincent, Spoon & The New Pornographers

Favorite Remix of the Year:  Grizzly Bear - Knife (Girl Talk remix)

My favorite remix of 2007 brings back three of the best artists of 2006 and two of its best songs, Grizzly Bear’s “Knife” and “Wamp Wamp” by the Clipse.  I had actually forgotten about this track, which came out back in January, until it absolutely killed during Girl Talk’s memorable Fun Fun Fun Fest set. 

Grizzly Bear - Knife (Girl Talk remix)

Sunset Rubdown - Daytrotter Session

More like ‘An Intimate Evening with Jens Lekman.’  The crooning Swede left his backing band at home when he played Dallas’ Granada Theater last night, going for an approach that was more ‘Storytellers’ than his usual baroque pop escapades.  Still, Jens was as charming and entertaining as we’d been led to believe, particularly his mid-song banter, amusing anecdotes, and clever asides, all of which were just as witty as his lovelorn lyrics.  Mostly it was just Jens and his guitar, occasionally aided by his own looped vocals and, on Kortedala highlights “I Don’t Love You” and “Hallelujah,” by samples culled from an iPod.  Lekman also augmented his own material with a pair of covers, the chorus-less version of “You Can Call Me Al” that everyone’s been talking about, and Arthur Russell’s “A Little Lost,” which he previously performed on a Take Away Show. 

Jens Lekman @ The Granada Theater, Dallas 11/13/07 
Julie / Sipping on the Sweet Nectar / A Postcard to Nina / You Are the Light / Black Cab / The Cold Swedish Winter / Shirin / I’m Leaving You Because I Don’t Love You / The Opposite of Hallelujah / A Sweet Summer’s Night on Hammer Hill / Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo / You Can Call Me Al (Paul Simon cover) / Pocketful of Money / A Little Lost (Arthur Russell cover) / Tram #7 to Heaven

Jens Lekman - The Opposite of Hallelujah 
Jens Lekman - Black Cab

Also, thanks to Pitchfork for pointing me to Jens’ recent peformance on Minnesota Public Radio’s The Current, from whence come the following mp3s:

Jens Lekman - Shirin (Live on The Current) 
Jens Lekman - It Was a Strange Time in My Life (Live on The Current)

Jens Lekman brings his Swedish indie pop extravaganza to Dallas’ Granada Theater tomorrow night.  Night Falls on Kortedala has been one of my unexpected albums of the year, one that, charming as it is, ended up sneaking up on me.  My brother had been singing Jens’ praise since at least 2005’s Oh You’re So Silent Jens, but not until very recently did I fully appreciate his pop mastery.  Suffice it to say we’ve both been eagerly anticipating this show.  Jens brings a full backing band (plus DJ) with him to fill out his sample-based sound, all of them female and all dressed in white from head to toe.  Still, the crooning Swede is the undisputed star of the show, especially when he endearingly covers Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al.”

Jens’ charm isn’t solely based on his stage presence and songs - he obviously enjoys playing to an audience, so much so that he’s followed many of his recent shows with impromptu performances afterwords.  YouTube is littered with Take Away Show style videos of Jens playing whatever space he and the crowd can find:  a Swedish parking lot, a Williamsburg roof, someone’s Chicago apartment.  Here’s to hoping there’s someone awesome enough in Dallas to let us borrow their backyard.

Jens Lekman - The Opposite of Hallelujah 
Jens Lekman - You Can Call Me Al (live Paul Simon cover)

As it goes with the rest of the indie world, it appears this is Dan Bejar week on Blogs are for Dogs.  From his tour with the New Pornographers to his headline-making performance with Final Fantasy and Cadence Weapon, dude’s been everywhere but the View, and I’m pretty sure Barbara Walters is scrambling to book him.  Anyway, Bejar’s new collaboration with his lady friend Sydney Vermont is the latest project to get his Midas touch.  Hello, Blue Roses, as they’ve named themselves, have been making music together for over a year, but are now finally getting around to putting together their eponymous debut record.  The first single is called “Shadow Falls” and it’s good in a surprisingly warmhearted way.  Though his work with the New Pornos is often considerably lighter fare, Destroyer is the last band you’d hear described as cheery.  But Hello, Blue Roses are a nice surpise, their two voices wrapped in a blanket of pleasant organ and synth.  My shadow falls for you.

Hello, Blue Roses - Shadow Falls

Hello Blue Roses comes out January 22 on Locust.  They also have a split 7″ with Bejar buddies Frog Eyes that’s due in December. 

Tom Breihan’s American Gangster review at Pitchfork is a must read.  If you haven’t yet checked out Jay’s return to form you’re missing out on one of the best hip-hop records of the year.

When Jay taped his episode of “VH1 Storytellers” in Brooklyn last month, he kept comparing tracks from the album to moments from The Godfather and Scarface. American Gangster isn’t really about Jay’s own memories, and it’s certainly not about Frank Lucas. Instead, it’s an album about Jay’s mythic legacy, his place in a pantheon of larger-than-life outlaws.

Also, note that Cat Power added a bonus disc to her collection of Jukebox covers, including what promises to be an intersting cover of the Hot Boys’ “I Feel.” 

Fun Fun Fun Fest was pretty much perfect.  The weather was great, the crowd was just the right size, and the performances were memorable.  Fun³ will never be ACL, but that’s exactly why we need it.  It’s the festival for those of us who don’t really like festivals - intimate, relaxed, almost communal.  And, I’d argue, a lot closer to what an Austin fest ought to feel like.  Mostly, though, the two-day event lived up to its billing just by being a hell of a lot of fun.

Though they occupied the smallest of the three stages, Fun Fest’s hip-hop and dance acts were by far my favorites.  Busdriver and Cadence Weapon both impressed with their stunning flows and Car Stereo (Wars), Girl Talk, and Diplo all had the crowds going nuts.  Girl Talk was particularly memorable; the stage didn’t break and security didn’t intervene (too much), so we turned things into a wet, writhing mass of party people.

Read on for a full review with more Fun Fun Fun Fest pictures & video.

Fun Fun Fun Fest Day 1

We started out the afternoon with Brothers & Sisters and Emma Pollock on the middle stage.  Though her pretty sounding pop offered a welcome introduction to Waterloo Park, I’d seen Emma in Dallas the night before and so headed off to the smaller third stage to catch the end of Canada’s Small Sins and the beginning of MGMT.  A self-proclaimed “buzz band from Brooklyn,” MGMT indured some early sound problems to turn out a solid, if not overwhelming set.  In fact, overcoming sound issues was a theme of Day 1, with Final Fantasy becoming visibly annoyed before eventually putting together one of the day’s more memorable sets.  His cover of “An Actor’s Revenge” with Cadence Weapon and Dan Bejar himself was what festivals are all about, three decidedly disparate acts coming together for one serendipitous moment.  Whoever cooked-up the Final Fantasy/Cadence Weapon tour and collaboration is a hero in my book.  Here’s the mp3 and video from Fun³:

Final Fantasy, Cadence Weapon, and Dan Bejar - An Actor’s Revenge

Evangelicals, White Denim, and Okkervil River also put on great afternoon sets.  Okkervil hit all their Stage Names highlights, including “Plus Ones” and a great version of “John Allen Smyth Sails” that had the crowd really getting into the Sloop John B sing-along at the end.  Older songs like “For Real” and “Westfall” sounded great live, as usual, the band hitting on familiar territory both sonically and geographically as they prepared to head out on a full European tour.

Okkervil River @ Fun Fun Fun Fest | photo credit

Of Montreal followed as the sun went down, drawing the day’s first genuinely big crowd at the middle stage and rewarding the audience with a terrific performance.  Their costumes didn’t dissapoint either, ranging from full-on tiger mask to feathery wings, to an eventually shirtless Kevin Barnes.  The band opened with a pulsing “So Begins our Alabee” and didn’t look back.  They also got around to doing their new cover du jour, Prince’s “Purple Rain,” some video of which is here.  It was my first Of Montreal live experience - consider me among the converted.

Of Montreal @ Fun Fun Fun Fest | photo credit

Meanwhile, Cadence Weapon and Busdriver both killed it on the smaller third stage.  Cadence got the crowd started with some enthusiastic call and response, and in no time his energy and obvious talent had them enthralled.  Me too - guy’s so good you almost forget that he’s Canadian and nerdy and used to write for Pitchfork.  DJ Weez-L was pretty great, too.  Busdriver has done his share lately to distance himself from the too-easy nerd rap label, but you can still understand pretty easily why his set followed Cadence Weapon.  The main attraction, though, is his amazing technical flow and command of the stage.  All told, both dudes put on an awesome show.

I didn’t catch much of the New Pornographers, having also seen them the night before in Dallas, but what I did hear was pretty terrific.  My brother watched the whole set and was similarly impressed.  Also, Kurt Dahle bummed a cigarette of off him.  Me, I was too busy enjoying Busdriver and generall getting excited about Girl Talk’s Day 1 closing set.  Gregg rushed the stage with an intensity we all mirrored, kicking off an hour plus of dancing, singing along, and general mayhem.  Beer was shared and poured on each other’s heads.  At one point I noticed that I was dancing next to Evangelicals lead singer Josh Jones; a moment later he was stage diving and surfing across the crowd.  It was that kind of show, spontaneous, bordering on chaos - almost shut down by security before they thought better of it.  I’m glad they let Girl Talk go on, let us stay on stage.  I also briefly noticed Owen Pallett dancing in another bit of cross-genre partying.  Whatever you think of his music and of the sheer spectacle of it all, the Fun Fun Fun Fest wouldn’t have lived up to its name without Gregg Gillis.

Fun Fun Fun Fest Day 2

Cave Singers were finishing up their afternoon set when we arrived at Waterloo for Day 2.  Though I wish I’d heard more of their songs, what I did catch of the band seemed like their backporch folk really stretched out in a live setting, sounding big and bolder than on Invitation Songs.  Celebration was up next, one of the day’s earlier groups that I was really excited to hear.  Modern Tribe has been one of the more pleasant surprises of the year and one that I was curious to hear translated live, without the influence of producer Dave Sitek.  The band were equal parts soulful and tribal, the thundering rhythm of the drums serving as the basis for the swirling organ and Katrina Ford’s impassioned vocals.  Note to festival organizers everwhere - Celebration are the band you’re looking for.

Celebration @ Fun Fun Fun Fest | photo credit

Mates of State and Ted Leo had to be one of the odder one-two punches of the Fest, the former soft and poppy and the latter much louder.  The Mates were cute, as usual, especially an obviously pregnant Kori Gardner.  Ted Leo and the Pharmacists followed up with their trademark punk eclecticism.  Leo was good, but I have to admit that his newer material does little for me, so I eventually headed over to the third stage to check out MC Chris.  I was curious to take in my first nerdcore live show, and there’s really none better than MC Chris, who isn’t afraid to dive headfirst into silly theatrics in order to entertain the audience.  And entertain he did, getting some call and response going and amassing a pretty sizable crowd.

Battles and Cat Power closed out the festival’s middle stage.  Here’s what Side One: Track One had to say about watching Battles for the first time:

Holy Shit!  Why have I not been adoring this band?  I must of thought that they were someone else because the electronic-enthused instrumental show that they put on knocked the wind out of me and was highly unexpected.  I’ll definitely have to do some more research on the group so that I can see exactly what I’ve been missing out on.

Cat Power fought the sound problems that seemed to plague some of the weekend’s other bands, but unlike the rest of the acts she didn’t quite persevere, bothered as she was by a blown eardrum.  Chan has notoriously bad stage fright, and while it sometimes actually makes her a more spontaneous, more real performer, this was not really one of those nights.  Still, her commitment to continue to play, and the Delta Blues’ seasoned backing made for a good set of covers, including a few from her upcoming Jukebox album.

Cat Power @ Fun Fun Fun Fest | photo credit

Diplo and Blaqstarr had the same success in packing the stage as Car Stereo (Wars) did earlier in the day, albeit with less dancing pirates.  It wasn’t quite as explosive as the Girl Talk set from the night before, but Diplo’s performance lasted almost twice as long.  For more on Diplo, including his Beauty Bar afterparty, check out the coverage at Gorilla vs Bear.

Diplo @ Fun Fun Fun Fest | photo credit

Fun Fun Fun Fest was a great time, and one that I hope comes back even stronger next year.  Thanks to Transmission for putting on an excellent event, and remember: bigger doesn’t always mean better.  Let’s keep this thing mid-size and laid back and generally awesome. 

Check out more Fun³ coverage at Austinist.