Best of Decade

Holy shit, 2002 was a grand year for music...

Beatles Box Set - Stereo or Mono?

OK - I am asking for one of these for Xmas. Which one should I get? From what I have read, I am leaning towards mono, but it seems to be a mixed bag (generally, pre-Revolver is best in mono, post is better in stereo). What to do? Mono seems to be the more unique and limited offering, but I have been raised a stereo guy. Please help...

End of the Decade

Ok, so I set in my head a deadline for compiling my list of favorite albums from the past decade, and that date was over a month ago. Knowing my slavish devotion to a certain site, the cutoff needed to be before their list began that following Monday morning. Starting with my 5* songs, I sifted through and took note of albums that felt crammed with them. Then, for the first time since I joined the world of the mp3 in 2k4, I started listening to albums. Oh, Rapture! (though ultimately, their efforts fell short of my best of).

As the idea formed, I would have ranked 1-200, or at least a top 100 and done a write up about my choices to be published here. The best laid plans and all that, I wound up with pretty solid rankings of 1-20 and worked to cap off the top 100 by eliminating a couple dozen solid contenders. The fallout of my search left me just short of 200 and the attempt to round out my list was probably my fatal error.

Naturally I could not stick to my guns and avoid the pitchfork countdown while finishing the project. But recent discussions with other contributors here have led me to think that my list need not be consigned to the dustbin. The goal now will be to revive my top 100 list for completion to include at least some sort of writeup, although probably not for all 100. I will stick to the list that I pared down as of 9/27.

More to follow, or that's the plan anyway...

Another Great Show Missed

The marquee has been taunting me about this for over a week now. Of course it wouldn't be Summer in Chicago if I didn't already have tickets for this. In an effort to possibly stake some ground on a show or two for this Fall, here are a few that look interesting.

Sep 19 Fri Circulatory System at the Chopin Theater. New album dropping that week as well.

Sep 25 Fri ...Trail of Dead at Logan Square Auditorium. Source Tags and Codes is good enough that one song alone would make it worth the trip.

Oct 17 Sat Dethklok Mastodon Converge High on Fire at the Aragon. My facebook invite drew more derision than support but I still plan on going.

Oct 26 Mon Atlas Sound with Broadcast at Bottom Lounge. Nice double bill if you can hack the Monday night show.

Oct 29 Thurs The Very Best at Bottom Lounge. A band I missed at Pitchfork this summer and a venue on my list.

Nov 27-28 Fri - Sat The Jesus Lizard at Metro. The holiday weekend might make it tricky, but these shows will blow the doors off.

That's 7 dates in the next 3 months, probably couldn't do them all but three or four sounds reasonable. Other ideas welcome, Phoenix at Aragon on 9-23 comes to mind as well, but I can't be arsed to post the link for that.

Yo La Tengo?

oh, evan

in all the excitement of seeing the lemonheads, i missed something that became completely obvious the next day. i should have been building the set-list on my nano. instead i was scribbling with a pencil and sheet of paper, running to a wall to write on a flat surface. this is what i came up with beginning with the song that brought us in from refreshments on the rain drizzled patio.

down about it
hospital
its a shame about ray
buddy
(it's all true?) - car button cloth
big gay heart
hannah & gabi
great big no
confetti
favorite tee
style
if i could talk i'd tell you
into your arms
the turnpike down
outdoor type

and then he played solo electric for a medley of about 5 songs? "frank mills" was in there, a song i had no clue he would play. other than that, i can only recall the song he cut the shortest, "in the grass all wine colored" of which he played a verse and a chorus. i want to say that there was another song from evan's 2003 solo effort, Baby I'm Bored.

did the band come back at the end of the set or just for the encore "rudderless"?

i would not be surprised if i am missing a song off of lovey, but feel certain that there was nothing off 2007's The Lemonheads.

Burn-It Ten Picts

a game

B is for Built To Spill
I is for Iesus Lizard
eN is for Encore
G is for galapagos giant Tortoise
yO is for Yo La Tengo

rules?
stakes?
who is even going?

Burn It X Top 20 Albums [plus ties]

Rank Artist Album
1 Deerhunter... Microcastle/Weird Era
2 Fleet Foxes... Fleet Foxes
3 Vampire Weekend... Vampire Weekend
4 Cut Copy... In Ghost Colours
5 M83... Saturdays=Youth
6 Portishead... Third
7 Frightened Rabbit... The Midnight Organ Flight
8 TV on the Radio... Dear Science,
9 effed Up... The Chemistry of Common Life
10 Why?... Alopecia
11 Sigur Ros... Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
12 Kanye West... 808's & Heartbreak
13 The Walkmen... You and Me
14 Deerhoof... Offend Maggie
15 Los Campesinos... Hold On Now
16 Culture Reject... Culture Reject
17 Dodos... Visiter
18 Bug... London Zoo
18 Lil Wayne... Tha Carter III
18 Fleet Foxes... Sun Giant EP
18 Beach House... Devotion

Loren's Top 20 Albums of 2008

cut (copy) and pasted from facebook - reviews written primarily for the "never-heard-befores"

1. Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
If you like to dance, work out or be hooked on one album that you can’t stop playing over and over again - this album is for you. Front to back. Cut Copy Paste, Paste, Paste…

2. Culture Reject – Culture Reject
This album was hardly reviewed and did not receive the attention it deserved. A one man show for the most part here. #3 Museums, might be the perfect song.

3. Beach House – Devotion
Sleepy, hypnotizing, buttery, mesmerizing, smooth, lovely, beautiful, etc. Doesn’t get much better than #3, Gila.

4. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
Hugely over-hyped early in the year but still a great pop record. Had it not been so overexposed, might have been my #1.

5. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (LP)/Sun Giant (EP)
I was late to arrive with these guys. Unique echoing harmonies abound. Hooked for good after an impressive live performance on SNL. #2, White Winter Hymnal, on the LP is a sing-along, head-bobbing repeater.

6. Hercules and Love Affair – Hercules and Love Affair
I’m a sucker for good electronic/dance/disco – and this qualifies. Fairly eclectic mix with a good dose of bass driven 70’s disco with some horns here and there. #8, This Is My Love is a good place to start.

7. Kanye West – 808s & Heartbreak
What can you say about Kanye? He’s hurting. Right. This collection almost makes me believe him. This one took about 3 listens to hit me – but then I was done. #4, Amazing, is a slow driving groove – probably the most “hip-hop” track on the album. This is primarily ballads here folks so set you expectation accordingly. Set them to...heartbreak..

8. Hot Chip – Made in the Dark
What’d I say about dance music?…oh, yeah, I love it. #6, Touch Too Much will make your butt get up and shake involuntarily. This has a bit of everything though. Several changes of pace.

9. Deerhunter – Microcastle/ Wired Era Cont
Last year’s Cryptograms was my #5 of 2007 and the overall BurnIt #1. Between Atlas Sound and these 2 full lengths, Bradford Cox has been a very busy man. I guess he would qualify as prolific. #2, Agoraphobia, on Microcastle, is the circling, lazy, hypnotic ear-candy.

10. Why? – Alopecia
White-guy-speak-rap-singer-pop-hip-hop-rock-song-structure-lyrically-unusual-type-stuff . #4 The Hollows is a good sample…I think.

11. Atlas Sound – Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
See number 9 above. #11, Bite Marks – psychedelic man..

12.M83 - Saturdays=Youth
A huge departure (in my book) from the bombastic electronic onslaught of previous releases, which I love, so this one took me a while to come around. This is much more scaled back, softer, more of a mood album. #2, Kim and Jessie, although not representative of the whole album, is pure electro-pop, sung at a whisper.

13. Shearwater – Rook
This one hit me late one night sitting at home with the headphones on. I’d had it for several months before it found that sweet spot in my brain. His voice is a bit theatrical so be warned but the songs are beautiful. Check #7, I Was A Cloud, and be serenaded off to a land of …clouds…I guess.

14. Portishead – Third
Another highly anticipated release for a band I’ve been a fan of since ‘Dummy’ way back when (’97 maybe? I don’t feel like looking it up). Portishead own trip-hop. This album can be a bit anxiety inducing and down right spooky at times – it’s only scary because it’s unfamiliar. Soon you will see (hear) the beauty. #6, We Carry On, is scarrryyyy good.

15. Quiet Village – Silent Movie
Primarily an instrumental. Good background music. Sounds like the soundtrack to 70’s era Blaxploitation films in many cases. Lot’s of sampling.

16. Hayden – In Field Town
Singer songwriter easy listening. #1, In Field Town, the title track is a bouncy soft pop song accessible to anyone.

17. Air France – No Way Down
Poppy-electronic/dance stuff. More good background music. # 9 Beach Party – is exactly that – complete with bongos and stuff.

18. Pete And The Pirates – Little Death
The first 6 tracks on this album are pure pop/rock gems. Falls off a bit after that but not completely. Running out of steam here folks….

19. Department of Eagles – In Ear Park
These are the guys from Grizzly Bear so if you like Grizzly Bear you’ll probably like this. Psychedelic.

20. School of Seven Bells – Alpinisms
Drums, big sound, electronic blast, female harmonies. Catchy stuff.

Just missed: The Walkmen – You & Me, TV on the Radio – Dear Science, Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight

Thanks for reading. Comments and criticisms welcomed!

sets

A quorum was declared at Perez before the Bulls game last night when Oley walked in; quickly the discussion became dominated with plans for BIX. With varying levels of success we have in the past assigned blocks of time for control over the selection of songs. The consensus last night, was that we should try this again and as the night grew long other factors started to force some conditions on the blocks.

If memory serves, we should need about 5 hours to assemble the compilation, ideally this would begin about 4:30p. Selections during that time will be based on the final ranking (lists due on 2/6 at Noon) which will be available in hard copy at the big show as soon as I get there, and posted here (watch this space!) shortly thereafter.

Beyond that, I like the idea of completing the comp and moving on to hear some stuff from a smart playlist that would start:

• date added is in the range Jan 1 2008 to December 31 2008
• year is before 2008
• rating is * * * * *
  

And to give everyone a fair shake at getting a slot the the program should be about 45 minutes in length. So, somehow I need to skinny my list down from over 250 down to 9 or 10 tracks.

New applicants for these sessions will be considered based on their response to the following: List your top five albums released in 1979. Applications will be accepted until 6pm CST Sunday January 25th.

To continue the '79 theme, there will be a special 80 min set to kick the party off of Burn It approved excellence, plan to arrive on time. Sign up for sets in the comments; first come, first served. If you'd prefer a certain spot in the order you feel free to claim whatever floats your boat. Although, I have a feeling that Rock Band competitions will have something to say about who's runnin with the big dogs and who should've stayed on the porch.

Non-Pitchfork Reviewed Album

So as you may know I am a huge fan of the album Culture Reject. I am posting this to hedge against any potential controversy come BIX night. The album was scantly reviewed - with Pitchfork being the most notable ommission. Question is, does it's(my) inclusion fall within our guidelines for a 2008 release since the 'fork gave it no mind? It was releases way back in April so I doubt they're going to get around to it now. Thoughts...

some historical perspective

in recent discussions about my top 20 i've made no secret of my feelings of ambivalence about this year's offerings. to be sure, i've listened to plenty of good music but I wonder how much of could consider great. i was looking for some perspective and referred back to my file from 2k4, hoping that the distance of four years would reveal some clues. i found that and more.

the thing is, that year we didn't really do a top 20. everyone was given 100 points to allocate and there were a bunch of rules (hmm, trying to think where those might have come from...) regarding the maximum points that could be assigned to an album and how many albums had to receive at least one point, I cannot remember the exact strictures, but the idea wasn't one that stuck, even though clancy would probably approve of revisiting as he said that 10 albums seemed a bit much. in true chicago tradition, he should sell the rights to ranking of 10 albums to an interested party. those things are fucking valuable.

anywho, in 2k4 I ended up with 2 albums to which i only assigned 2 points, and I think that both of them are better than pretty much everything from this year. the albums in question are Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse and Morrissey - You Are the Quarry. there certainly is no guitar based album that sounds as good to me as Sonic Nurse and Morrissey's bag of vocal hooks in that album stand up against any pop/rock formatted stuff from this year. right now i have added both albums to the "party shuffle" playlist that runs almost continually in the front room (now wireless!). midway through sonic nurse and so far so great.

burn it artwork and t-shirts

Given the auspicious nature of this edition (best Ten since Pearl Jam?) we are going to reprise the use of artwork and will be ordering t-shirts for those interested. please use the comment section to indicate interest including the size(s) and quantity.