Archive for the ‘Beach House’ Category
AWmusic’s Top Songs of 2008 pt3: #26-50
Onto the top 50! These lists take long to do. To finish my list today or tomorrow hmmm. Again 10 word description limit.Previously:
Part 1 #76-100
Part 2 #51-75
Next in the series:
Part 4: #1-25
#26 Teen Creeps by No Age (myspace/live)
I’m feeling regretful of not including Nouns in my list.
#27 Eraser by No Age (video/live)
Can be #26 (tied), both are equally good.
#28 Feel The Love by Cut Copy (myspace/live)
“All the girls I’ve known are crying” Conceited but catchy.
#29 Bare Feet On Wet Grip Tape by Chad VanGaalen (myspace)
Soft Airplane’s most accessible song.
#30 God? By The Dodos (myspace)
“Oh God, where’d you go?” Agnosticism at its finest?
#31 Ottoman by Vampire Weekend (myspace)
At least we got this song from a shitty movie.
#32 Beat (Health, Life and Fire) by Thao Nguyen With The Get Down Stay Down (myspace/live)
Upon listening to this track, I’ve become a big fan.
#33 Heart of Chambers by Beach House (myspace/video)
My favorite song off Devotion.
#34 Dying Is Fine by Ra Ra Riot (myspace/video-ep version)
Sounds emo without reference to this poem.
#35 Hitten by Those Dancing Days (myspace/video)
All girl indie pop bands ftw.
#36 Let’s All Sleep Together by Team Genius (myspace)
Orgies ftw. (All girl orgies ftw?)
#37 For Emma by Bon Iver (myspace/live)
This song is simple but captures the atmosphere of loneliness.
#38 The Modern Leper by Frightened Rabbit (myspace/live)
“You must be a masochist, to love a modern leper”
#39 Rabid Bits of Time by Chad Van Gaalen
Beautifully sung.
#40 Winter ’05 by Ra Ra Riot
This song makes Winter depressing. Sad in general.
#41 Agoraphobia by Deerhunter (myspace)
“Cover me, comfort me” is stuck in my head.
#42 Skeleton Man by The Evangelicals (myspace/live)
“When someone loves you very much, you’re fucked”
#43 Why Do You You Let Me Stay Here? By She and Him (myspace/video)
Fuck you Ben Gibbard!…oh I meant congrats.
#44 Move by Cansei De Ser Sexy (myspace/video)
Another catchy CSS track.
#45 Another World by Antony and The Johnsons (myspace/video)
Antony apparently doesn’t think much of us. Still beautiful though.
#46 Uncalibrated by Bridges and Powerlines (myspace/video)
This song puts the power into powerpop.
#47 Shut Up And Let Me Go by The Ting Tings (myspace/video)
The Ting Tings are a guilty pleasure.
#48 Poison Dart by The Bug ft. Warrior Queen (myspace/video)
My introduction to The Bug. I was amazed.
#49 My Year in Lists by Los Campesinos (myspace/video)
“Send me stationery to make me horny” Mail-sex ftw?
#50 I Hate Dell by Oldfolks Home (myspace)
Dell pissed off the wrong guy.
AWmusic’s Top Songs of 2008 pt 2: #51-75
I forgot to mention that these top songs are still very personal opinions despite trying to take as many suggestions of the rest of the writers. I’m not sure how people will respond to the list, numbering isn’t quite as important as inclusion. I like taking suggestions as there will be millions of tracks I likely missed. As is the goal with this list, 10-limit descriptions included.
Previously:
#76-100
Next in the series:
Part 3: #26-50
Part 4: #1-25
Numbers #51-75:
#51 Creator by Santogold w/ Switch and Freq Nasty (myspace/video -unofficial was canceled?)
The intro is risky, brave and wildly effective.
#52 Crystal Stilts by Crystal Stilts (myspace)
A song should be good if it’s your band name.
#53 I Wish I Could Keep You by Little Pictures (myspace/live)
This song makes me wish I was a kid again.
#54 In The Kitchen by The Pomegranates (myspace/live -poor visual quality)
A song I want to play on the guitar.
#55 Never Miss A Beat by Kaiser Chiefs (homepage/video)
The kids on the street, are scary! Shiiet.
#56 Death To The Los Campesinos! By Los Campesinos! (myspace/video)
“I’ll be control-alt-deleting your face with no reservation”.
#57 Marry Me Annie by Matthew and The Arrogant Sea (myspace)
Hey Annie, I’m serious, MATAS is a great band.
#58 Whiite Fantaseee by Slim Twig (myspace)
How about an Asian fantaseee?
#59 Dance Dance Dance by Lykke Li (myspace/live with Bon Iver)
Lykke Li’s hips lie and she’s shy. I’m in love.
#60 Galaxy Of The Lost by Lightspeed Champion (myspace/video)
Emmy The Great makes this song gold. Weird video.
#61 Skinny Love by Bon Iver
Bon Iver should try BBW. Morbidly Obese Love anyone?
#62 Good Time by Brazilian Girls (myspace/video)
I just want to have a good time too.
#63 Can’t Shake It by Kate Miller-Heidke (myspace/video)
I can’t dance either though this song is danceable…
#64 New Soul by Yael Naim(homepage)
I’m a new ipod product with a new catchy song.
#65 Boneless by The Notwist (homepage)
Great song off a slightly disappointing album.
#66 Shadow Falls by Hello, Blue Roses (myspace/live)
Awesome duet, too bad they were bashed by Pitchfork.
#67 Get Better by Mates of State (myspace/video)
“Forget your politics for awhile”. 2008 was a tough year.
#68 Xavia by The Submarines (myspace)
The Submarines don’t let me down in this song.
#69 Home Sweet Home by Those Dancing Days (myspace/video)
A perfect holiday song.
#70 Not Your Savior by Peasant (myspace)
Peasant keeps it honest, leave him alone.
#71 Call It A Ritual by Wolf Parade (myspace)
I enjoy Spencer Krug’s metaphorical writing.
#72 Black Rice by Women (myspace/live)
Best Song that ends in a whimper.
#73 The Rip by Portishead (homepage/video)
Just beautiful.
#74 That’s Not My Name by The Tings Tings (myspace/video)
Wait..what is her name again?
#75 Gila by Beach House (myspace/live)
Giiiiiiiiillllllllllllllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Victoria Day Playlist
Kevin messaged me a little earlier today about him not being to do a post, obviously I had nothing ready so let’s just do a playlist for a holiday that I forget the purpose of. I know it’s to celebrate Queen Victoria’s birthday but what did she do? At this point while reading through a bit of her wikipedia entry…I gave up due to boredom. I figure I can get away with doing a playlist despite having limited knowledge.
1. Queens Will Play by Black Mountain
2. Queen of The Nile by Dragged by Horses
3. Squalor Victoria by The National
4. A King and A Queen By Okkervil River
5. Some Things Last A Long Time by Beach House (long reign as Queen)
6. Fast Blood by Frightened Rabbit (first known carrier of hemophilia in the royal family)
7. Monarch by Feist
8. Song of The Sad Assassin by Why? (numerous assassination attempts)
Beach House – Devotion Review
I first heard about Beach House on mp3 aggregator Elbo.ws when I saw the track “Gila” as a highly blogged about track. I listened to it and it was alright but I quickly moved along. Devotion was then released on February 26 and received some pretty good reviews. I was still hesitant in checking the album out. I ended up reading a post on my friend’s blog about the album here (even though she doesn’t want to be linked). She compared it to Sunset Rubdown’s Random Spirit Lover – a comparison I must disagree with but the main thing is that I love dream pop and probably needed to give the record a try.
On my first listen of Devotion, it cured my insomnia when I was bored at 3am…really living up to the “dream” pop genre as those damn records are perfect to sleep to. The only problem I have is that I totally slept in for a class thanks to this album.
This album is more of the softer side of pop. I guess based on structure it’s pop but it takes more elements of soul and jazz. Victoria Legrand’s voice sounds like Cat Power at times. Vocally it’s superb and you can just melt when the sound of Victoria’s soothing vocals. It’s a little bit tough to get into some songs. I’ve come to like most now on my 10-15th or so listen but I still tend to stick to known territory and I’ve picked favorites on this album. Some songs on this album have been neglected, partially due to some (not that much) songs sounding repetitive with it’s soft style then it ends up forgettable.
The only thing that I may have against this album, is that it’s not lyrically engaging. Gila is a decent track (very well sung) but lyrically it’s well…shit. There’s really no need to figure out song meanings as it’s quite clear. I don’t take that much into lyrical complexity but it does increase my enjoyment in trying to unlock a code/have an ulterior interpretation.
I like the album overall, very good/solid. I don’t love it though.
4 out of 5.
Here’s my two favorite tracks from the album:
D.A.R.L.I.N.G. by Beach House (I hate typing out the title)
Heart of Chambers by Beach House
Buy this at Insound/CDUniverse/Amazon
