Archive for the ‘Spoon’ Category
Playlist for the Superbowl and UFC 81
This weekend marks an awesome weekend in sports, so I’m basically dropping my books and enjoying the fact that I’m a sports fan. Not that many people are talking about UFC 81 but I think it marks a pretty important as former Div I wrestling and WWE champion (who cares about this really) Brock Lesnar takes on former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir. I’m interested in this match because the amount of hype around this fight is large and has been promoted past two more established heavyweights Tim Sylvia (I hate him) vs Antonio Nogeuira. Who knows what we’ll get from Brock but if you’re rooting for or against him it should garner tons of interest.
I don’t talk much about sports these days but the Superbowl is always fun to watch. I’m a Patriots hater so this season has been tough to stomach. The Patriots are going after the illustrious 18-0 season, already surpassing everyone’s expectation that they would’ve had one loss this year. They do have a great team all around but my favorite teams are the Chargers, Colts and Bills so you have to understand why I hate the Pats. I really hope the Giants win but the Patriots are on a different level then the Packers (the upset didn’t surprise me).
Without any further rambling and talk they you may or may not care about here’s my playlist dedicated to this fun weekend:
1. The Underdog by Spoon
2. Perfect by The Smashing Pumpkins
3. I Am History by The Bell
4. The Shadow by White Williams (dedicated to Eli Manning who will be out of the shadow of Peyton if he can pull this off)
5. Ready For The Floor by Hot Chip (Lesnar vs Mir will likely be on the ground with a wrestler vs a BJJ guy)
6. Lucky by Radiohead (who will get lucky this weekend?)
7. The Comeback by The Shout Out Louds (can Frank Mir comeback from his motorcycle accident?)
8. Different Names For The Same Thing By Death Cab For Cutie (dedicated to Brock Lesnar’s butchering of Mir’s name, apparently he thinks it’s like Murr instead of Meer)
9. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (all the talk is about who’s better, faster, stronger in Football and in MMA and I just want to enjoy the action and stop all the talk)
10. You Talk Too Much by Run D.M.C. (media kind of annoys me revolving around the super bowl)
11. The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance by Vampire Weekend (I’m going to be having a vampire weekend so I just wanted to include them
)
Allan’s Top Songs of 07 #50-26
I actually quite enjoyed picking out the top songs of 2007. There were many tracks from albums I loved and other singles that stood out in a lackluster album. Most of these tracks I have posted before (I’ll link to the post if you wish to dig hard enough to download them) and are mainly bands I am familiar with. Generally, I blogged about the band if they appeared in the top 50. There are some tracks I haven’t posted yet so you’ll be able to download them here (I think it looks bad if I have every mp3 listed available for download). I linked to the post where the other mp3s are available.
I did hate uploading tracks though and the linking stuff (takes forever). I also had to re-upload some tracks after annoying my friend Jack with bandwidth usage. Look out for the rest tomorrow.
50. A Girl in Port by Okkervil River
49. Shirin by Jens Lekman (link)
48. I Know I’ll See You by A Place To Bury Strangers (link)
47. For Science Fiction by Maritime (link)
46. Freak Out by Liars (link)
45. Phantom by Justice (link)
44. Sleep Deprivation by Simian Mobile Disco
43. Take Me To the Ballroom by the Moonbabies
42. Tthhee Ppaarrttyy by Justice (link)
41. Myriad Harbour by The New Pornographers (link)
40. Objects of My Affection by Peter, Bjorn and John
39. Blue Headlights by The Shout Out Louds (link)
38. No I in Threesome by Interpol
37. My Moon, My Man by Feist
36. Kookaburra by John Vanderslice
35. Paper Birds by Siberian (link)
34. Make A Plan To Love Me by the Bright Eyes
33. Philadelphia Grand Jury by the Fiery Furnaces
32. I Believe by Simian Mobile Disco
31. You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb by Spoon
30. I’m Not Going to Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You by the Black Kids
29. You Can’t Hold the Hand of the Rock and Roll Man by Okkervil River
28. Airship by Siberian (link)
27. Turn On Me by The Shins (link)
26. White Winter Hymnal by the Fleet Foxes (link)
Allan’s Top Albums of ‘07 :#20-#11
Exams are upcoming and I am going to have to delay regular posting until December 17th! So hopefully the blog can stay afloat with traffic and hopefully the other guys pick up the slack with posts. Anyway my selection on my top albums of this year go with what I would term as “my style” so if you look back it won’t be based on the original score I gave at the time (some albums have that lasting effect after a few months). Anyway check out the bottom half of my top 20 of 2007 feel free to criticize!
Click->>> For Top Albums of ‘07: #10-1<-----------
#20 Feist – The Reminder
Original Rating: 5/5
This album was on rotation for about two weeks then I just totally forgot about it. I personally didn’t like “The Reminder” as much as her previous effort “Let It Die”. Feist has seen some mainstream success with that iPod commercial but I still love her.
I Feel It All by Feist
#19 BSS Presents Kevin Drew – Spirit If…
Original Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Was this effort a little bit like Broken Social Scene and didn’t really distinguish Kevin Drew as a solo artist? Sure but who cares?! Still a great album and if it’s being compared to BSS you know it’s good. This album usually doesn’t come to mind when thinking of the top albums of 2007 but after going back to it…I have to agree with myself…lol
Gang Bang Suicide by Kevin Drew
#18. Justice – Cross (too lazy to find the cross image)
Original Score: 4.75 out of 5
This album just makes me want to dance. Annoying at times but overall something different than what I would normally listen to. I almost didn’t even bother to try to check out Justice but I’m glad I gave it a chance.
Let There Be Light by Justice
#17 Simian Mobile Disco – Attack Decay Sustain Release
Original Score: Forgot (Should be 4.75 out of 5)
Simian Mobile Disco are basically tied in my book when it comes to the score. The tie-breaker may be that I like SMD a little more as it suits what I look in a electronic bands. To think this liking to SMD started with that Hustler video with girls making out. This album makes me want to dance or go on drugs. Either way I feel like I’d be having a good time putting on this record.
Sleep Deprivation by Simian Mobile Disco
#16 Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Original Score: 4.5 out of 5
To be perfectly honest I barely gave this album ANY time before and after reviewing it. One thing for sure though, it didn’t need any effort to begin liking. It probably doesn’t get any higher on this list for being rather simple and I’d agree that artistically it probably doesn’t have the same quality as those ahead of it. To me anyway this album has one of the better first halves of an album then any other album of 2007. The second half was decent but it’s hard to match up to Don’t Make Me A Target, You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb and Rhthm and Soul.
You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb by Spoon
#15 The National – Boxer
Original Score: 4 out of 5
It felt like forever when I originally tried to listen to “Boxer” and had such a tough time and I finally reviewed it after struggling with it for a few months. “Boxer” is definitely a grower and you will have to give a LOT of time I would say before it creeps up on you and reels you in. If you asked me when I did the review the only two songs I liked were “Mistaken For Strangers” and “Start A War” you can probably add most of the album now. If it was the perfect album it wouldn’t be called a “grower” and it takes my 15 spot.
Apartment Story by The National
#14 Josh Ritter – Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
Original Rating: 4.25 out of 5
This album was easy to like from the beginning. I seem to have an affinity for folk songs that I never knew I had and despite I find this album rather “simplistic” compared to the other albums on here, it’s overall just great music and something that had more playing time then The National and Spoon and thus the higher ranking.
To The Dogs or Whoever by Josh Ritter
#13 Arctic Monkeys -Favourite Worst Nightmare
Original Rating: 4.5 out of 5
This is another one that I barely recall giving a lot of effort in listening and critiquing (you could probably tell with the sub-par review). I go back to this album once in awhile but I find myself intrigued more by their previous effort “Whatever People Say I am…”. Very solid everywhere and produced one of my favorite songs of the year “Fluorescent Adolescent”.
Fluorescent Adolescent by The Arctic Monkeys
#12 Moonbabies – Moonbabies At the Ballroom
Original Rating: 5 out of 5
I remember listening to this album for a good month straight earlier this year. I sure do love “dream pop”. The Moonbabies probably won’t be on many other lists this year but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check out their album. I just haven’t seen a ton of exposure but from top to bottom this album had me singing along. I actually haven’t seen one entirely bad review for this album…but who knows why? If you have similar tastes as I do then you will like this album.
Take Me To The Ballroom by The Moonbabies
Cocobelle by The Moonbabies
#11 The Shins – Wincing The Night Away
Original Rating: 4.5 out of 5
The Shins were already one of my favorite bands before they released Wincing The Night Away. I was a fan of indie rock but I didn’t pursue it like I do now. I’m scared to read my review in March because it is so long ago and I arguably was not the same blogger as I am now. Anyway is this album as good as their previous works? No but this album is solid top to bottom and I’m not complaining. This album I believe really appeases already Shins fans without going “too” mainstream and they have become a very popular band now. I’m having trouble picking a song right now that would be called my favorite…too many to choose from. I feel kind of “iffy” putting this just outside my top 10 (it was originally but Okkervil River booted them out).
Turn On Me by The Shins
Red Rabbits by The Shins
Look Out for #10-#1 either tomorrow or Thursday
Halloween Mix!

Today is Halloween and I’m looking for an excuse to make a list of songs simply because they are fun to do! Here’s a Halloween indie (for the most part) mash-upthat I created off my media library so sorry if I’m missing a lot of great tracks. Most of these are titled based but enjoy anyway.
1.Perfect Disguise by Modest Mouse
2.Mistaken For Strangers by The National
3.Is There A Ghost? by Band of Horses
4.The Ghost of You Lingers by Spoon
5.Werewolf by Cat Power
6.What Wolves Would Do by Les Savy Fav
7.They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!!They Have Come Back From The Dead!! Ahhhhh! by Sufjan Stevens
8.It’s a Curse by Wolf Parade
9.Crooked Teeth by Death Cab For Cutie
10.The Old Hag Is Sleeping by The Fiery Furnaces
11.Monster Hospital by Metric
12.The Chills by Peter Bjorn and John
Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Review

Spoon’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga was released on July 10 to great critical acclaim. I knew nothing about Spoon but due to the acclaim, I decided that I would try and listen to them. They are a band out of Austin, Texas.
This album is very easy to listen to right from the start with the song “Don’t Make Me A Target” and eventually all the way through. This album wasn’t one of those “addictive” albums where I will listen to hours and end and the band ends up becoming one of my favorites. However, this album due to it’s easy eventually becomes very catchy and ends up being very good in the end.
This album I can’t rate as a 5 out of 5 for me but due to being great it gets a 4.5 out of 5 from me.
Here is a song that I instantly liked from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga:


