The Catbirdseat http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/ en 2008-02-01T23:17:57-05:00 Remember to update your damn feed http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/archives/000840.shtml Are you still reading this? You shouldn't be. This feed is dead. Update your feed link at once: http://www.catbirdseat.org/feed That is all. Carry on. ryan 2008-02-01T23:17:57-05:00 Update Your Catbirdseat.Org Feed RIGHT NOW http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/archives/000839.shtml update your Catbirdseat.Org Feed to:
http://www.catbirdseat.org/feed
This feed you're using right now? It's dead-- this is the last post.]]> ryan 2008-01-21T14:35:58-05:00 2007 Idolator Pop Critics Poll Results Now Live http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/archives/000838.shtml The 2007 Idolator Pop Critics Poll Results are now live.


(...and feature artwork by me.)]]> ryan 2008-01-15T15:55:48-05:00 New SSLYBY, Stream Magnetic Fields, Subpop Signs Fleet Foxes http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/archives/000837.shtml John Robert Cardwell
Fresh from its Stereogum premiere, the first mp3 from Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin's Pershing:

::: SSLYBY - Glue Girls :::


The guys sent me the pretty-much-finalized mixes of Pershing a few weeks ago, and they sounded great. Whereas Broom was lovely, languid record, this new one captures more of the pepped-up energy of SSLYBY's live shows, and with a newly-present sunny West Coast pop vibe, to boot. There are some great new songs I'd never heard before, plus new arrangements of some old favorites (besides Glue Girls, there are new versions of Boring Fountain, Modern Mystery, You Could Write A Book...) -- and girls in bedrooms across the land are going to be swooning on repeat to John Robert's ballad, "Some Constellation."

Matt offered up a good review of the new Magnetic Fields, Distortion, (8.0) yesterday. I, too, am definitely liking what I'm hearing from this one; you can stream the whole album over at the Mag Fields Myspace; go check it out for yourself.

Subpop's latest signees are Seattle's Fleet Foxes, who have a very pleasant Band Of Horses-y sort of sound. I smell a blog-hit...

::: Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal :::
]]> ryan 2008-01-15T09:48:52-05:00 Pre Premature Evaluation: Destroyer - Trouble In Dreams http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/archives/000836.shtml Pre Premature Evaluation: Destroyer - Trouble In Dreams

Destroyer Trouble In Dreams
I haven't even listened to it yet, but if I know me like I know me, I think I can go ahead and say with some certainty that this is one of my favorite records of 2008.]]> ryan 2008-01-14T18:29:18-05:00 A Tale of Two Twees (Antarctica Takes It!, The Wrong Trousers) http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/archives/000835.shtml Antarctica Takes It!, who you may remember from this June '06 post, have a newly remastered edition of their album The Penguin League now available on London's How Does It Feel To Be Loved? label.

::: Antarctica Takes It! - Circuits :::

...and the Wrong Trousers, who you may remember from this Youtube video, have completed their first full-length, One and Counting..., and it's available now at CD Baby. You can stream samples via CDBaby, but they're cropped, so you're probably actually better off listening to the tracks on Myspace.]]> ryan 2008-01-10T11:20:04-05:00 Kelley Stoltz, Vampire Weekend, Xiu Xiu, Times New Viking, Yahoo Music's Ian Rogers On Yngwie Malmsteen, 001 Collective http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/archives/000834.shtml Kelley Stoltz record, Circular Sounds:

::: Kelley Stoltz - Your Reverie :::

Go make fun of this new Vampire Weekend video ("A-Punk") in front of your friends, then go home and secretly, self-loathingly, rock out to your pirated download of their full-length like you always do.

Stream the new Xiu Xiu album in its entirety, assuming that bug-ridden, fucked-up Myspace player doesn't konk out. Or just download the first track:

::: Xiu Xiu - I Do What I Want, When I Want :::

I'm digging that Times New Viking stuff more and more every day.

::: Times New Viking - Drop Out :::

Their new one on Matador, Rip It Off, is out in just a few weeks.

Very interesting Techcrunch summary of a "future of music" presentation recently given by Yahoo Music's Ian Rogers (though I can't decide if I should award him points or deduct them, when he says "Yngwie Malmsteen = Quality").

The 001 Collective, a new and totally free music distro- er, uh, "music blog / BitTorrent index / record label / authentic freak folk / new twee / 8 bit scene." 3.5 Gigs of artists who are giving it away. [via FMU]]]> ryan 2008-01-08T11:17:49-05:00 Norbum http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/archives/000833.shtml revolutionizing music:

"I'm sick of people saying "oh, [the Radiohead In Rainbows strategy] will only work for Radiohead, it's not the new model for the industry." Those people need to stop look [sic] for the silver bullet, stop looking at what Radiohead is doing *specifically* ... the muse they are following *will* work for others, even if the execution is different."

"The right way will not be as concrete as the old way. It will be a framework which can be applied by any artist, producing infinite variety. A variant of such a system already exists, but has not been applied to music yet... I will soon apply the framework to music and if I am correct, it will mean more money AND better art."

Is his NORBUM thing actually just a portmanteau of "NORmative alBUM" or something along those lines?

Jakob, call me, I'll be able to tell you in 2 seconds whether or not your idea is gonna work. ]]> ryan 2008-01-07T11:50:46-05:00 Destroyer - Trouble In Dreams Cover Art http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/archives/000832.shtml So that you can have a nice picture on your iPod when Destroyer's Foam Hands comes on, here's the Trouble In Dreams cover art icon.






]]> ryan 2008-01-04T10:56:58-05:00 New Mountain Goats - Sax Rohmer #1 http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/archives/000831.shtml
The first MP3 from the upcoming Mountain Goats record has been turned loose:

::: The Mountain Goats - Sax Rohmer #1 :::

Heretic Pride is out 2/19 on 4AD.]]> ryan 2008-01-03T13:26:06-05:00 Catbird Behanced http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/archives/000830.shtml just did a really nice feature on Catbird Records; swing by and check it out.

(and please note, we'll be discontinuing the CBR Holiday Specials at the end of this week.)]]> ryan 2008-01-02T15:04:28-05:00 John Darnielle on Manishevitz http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/archives/000828.shtml "Someday, some guy on a forum somewhere is going to announce that he's been listening the the Manishevitz catalog and that it's surprisingly solid, and the other guys on the forum will investigate and concur with that guy's conclusions. This inevitable event will be well-deserved." John Darnielle on Manishevitz, their new album, East To East, and banging one's head against a wall. ]]> ryan 2007-12-28T10:04:47-05:00 New Magnetic Fields MP3, Nonesuch Digital Store, Sparks, No Kids, Jay Reatard http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/archives/000827.shtml Said the Gramophone has a new track from the Magnetic Fields' Distortion disc posted. Get over there soon to check it out, my gut tells me Nonesuch will not be keen on allowing that post to stay.

Speaking of Nonesuch, they just unveiled their new online store, wherein an online purchase of an album nets you both the CD and an instant 320k MP3 download. It's a great method, I think, and is essentially the same system I have set up for Catbird Records, it's just we don't charge $15.98. I give Nonesuch major props for this, though. I keep a big list of labels and my guesses as to their odds of surviving the next year; Nonesuch's odds just went up.

I've totally forgotten to mention this insane bit of news: Sparks are performing all 20 of their albums over the course of 20 nights, capped off by the world premiere of their as-yet-untitled 21st album on the 21st night.

Not to be confused with the Black Kids, Vancouver's No Kids is made up mostly by members of that band P:ANO, and have a record, Come Into My House due on Tomlab in February.

::: No Kids - For Halloween :::

On a TOTALLY DIFFERENT note, Matador has signed Jay Reatard for six limited edition singles in 2008. Gerard says:
Manufactured quantities of each single will diminish with each successive release. We’ve not figured out the exact scheme yet, but given our commitment to the customer-always-being-angry, rest assured the numbers will be lower than you'd like.

For those not nearly hung up on the collector skum scenery, all 6 7"'s will be compiled for a subsequent CD and LP release.

::: Jay Reatard - My Shadow :::
]]> ryan 2007-12-19T10:25:13-05:00 On Best of 2007 (Not Mine: Everybody Else's) http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/archives/000826.shtml "Best Of" List Season begins to wind down, I thought I'd do a quick, obviously-not-scientific-at-all assessment, and see what kinda findings I could come up with re: my Music-Blogger "Best Of 2007" List Cheat-Sheet.

(Method: Each item on a list that also appears on the Cheat-Sheet = 1 pt.)

Scores:

1. Average Blogger Score: 3/10
Turns out everyone is actually 70% more unique, beautiful and snowflake-like than previously thought.

2. Amazon, Baltimore City Paper, The Guardian, LA Times, Maxim, Metacritic, Mojo, NME, Other Music, Q, Time, and Uncut: 4/10-5/10
Makes sense that most outlets would hit about 50%, considering the Cheat Sheet left off "mainstream" acts (Springsteen/Kanye/Winehouse, etc.). Most popular with this group: (1) Radiohead - In Rainbows, (2) LCD SS - SoS / MIA - Kala

3. Filter, The Onion, Stylus, Drowned In Sound, Paste: 7/10-8/10
Most popular with this group: (1) Radiohead - In Rainbows/LCD SS - SoS/The National - Boxer/MIA - Kala

4. Stereogum Readers: 10/10 (100%)
OK- next year, I'm calling the Cheat Sheet "The Stereogum Readers 'Best Of' Cheat Sheet"

I think Pitchfork's list is supposed to be posted this week; here's my prediction: 12/18 Update: It's posted.

Actual Pitchfork List:
1. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
2. LCD Soundsystem - SoS
3. MIA - Kala
4. Radiohead - In Rainbows
5. Of Montreal
6. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
7. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
8. Battles - Mirrored
9. The Field - From Here We Go Sublime
10. Burial
My Prediction:
1. LCD Soundsystem - SoS
2. Deerhunter - Cryptograms
3. Battles - Mirrored
4. MIA - Kala
5. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
6. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
7. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
8. The Field - From Here We Go Sublime
9. The National - Boxer
10. Radiohead - In Rainbows

I give the Pitchfork List a 7.2.]]> ryan 2007-12-17T09:01:20-05:00 Pangs of Nostalgia http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/archives/000825.shtml Worst Album Covers post today made me realize just how much I miss the old biting, acid Pitchfork. The one that didn't give a 6.8 to everything / didn't do a ZOMG news release every time Dan Deacon misplaced a sock. ]]> ryan 2007-12-13T11:33:51-05:00