Best of '09

It's a little late, but I made a little "Best of '09" list, and a mix to go with it (in case you want to try one or two of these out). To be honest, I wasn't on top of new music like I would have liked to have been this year. We made a record and I got married; so I'm positive that there is a bunch of great stuff that I never gave a chance this year -- if you think there is something missing from this list, there probably is. Anyway, enjoy!

"14 from '09"
1. M. Ward - Hold Time
2. Passion Pit - Manners
3. The-Dream - Love Vs. Money
4. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
5. mewithoutYou - it's all crazy! it's all false! it's all a dream! it's alright
6. Japandroids - Post-Nothing
7. Relient K - Forget And Not Slow Down
8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
9. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - s/t
10. Manchester Orchestra - Everything To Nothing
11. The Antlers - Hospice
12. Mando Diao - Give Me Fire
13. Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane
14. The Temper Trap - Conditions

Here is a link to the mix: https://www.yousendit.com/download/VGljblFOR0ZtUUVLSkE9PQ

Blessings,
Dan

Theresa.

This song has not left my consciousness (present or sub-) for the last few months. I find myself singing it much more often than I have found myself actually LISTENING to it. It is catchy, beautiful, and soulful, and was recorded in her KITCHEN! Pretty cool stuff. Enjoy, and buy the album on iTunes if you love it!

Theresa Andersson - "Birds Fly Away"

Dan

p.s. this is a re-post; I found this song on my favorite blog, Said the Gramophone.

things are well

we are writing and touring and mostly writing. this is the main reason i don't write on here much (at all). sorry about that. but i can tell you: this album will not disappoint, i guess unless you are really easily disappointed. but even then, i doubt it.

=)

-Dan

first time for everything.

ADMISSION: I am late to the Sigur Ros party. But here is a track from their new album, which has been called their "poppiest." Of course, each reviewer says, it's not as if Sigur Ros is a POP BAND. But you understand what they mean when you listen. There are a number of standout tracks, and here is just one of them...

Sigur Ros - Góðan Daginn

Here is where i might write out some of the lyrics, but this would be futile, unless you speak Icelandic. I don't.

Dan

apologies.

sorry to have been lacking on here. i really do love writing this thing, but we are writing the next album these days, and that process takes about 90% of my total available energy, especially of the writing/reading/listening variety.
dan

The Meteorite is the Source of the Light.

Joanna Newsom - "Emily"

This is what a Ballet would sound like if it were a song. A Ballet performed entirely on wires by trapeze artist dancers, on ten different wires, wearing pink, green, sky blue, their colors swirling together, and the backdrop for the performance changing every 2 minutes to day, then night, then day, then night. The first time you watch, you don't understand a whole lot; its colors are almost confusing and the organization is unclear. But you come back the next night and the next night and spend all your savings to come back every night and see this crazy colored mess, and each night you get a little more of the structure and the genius behind the pandemonium.

Give yourself some time; it's 12 minutes long, and worth your full attention.

Anyhow - I sat by your side, by the water
You taught me the names of the stars overhead that I wrote down in my ledger
Though all I knew of the rote universe were those pleiades loosed in december
I promised you I‘d set them to verse so I'd always remember

That the meteorite is a source of the light
And the meteor's just what we see
And the meteoroid is a stone that's devoid of the fire that propelled it to thee

And the meteorite's just what causes the light
And the meteor's how it's perceived
And the meteoroid's a bone thrown from the void that lies quiet in offering to thee -- buy on iTunes

-Dan

This will be sparse.

We have started writing as a band now for the next album, meaning that I am entering a very busy period. As a result, posts here will be less frequent, and for that I apologize. So here is a quick one before we head off to practice...

Sixteen Horsepower - "Brimstone Rock"

This is an old(ish), haunting country-indie gem. I was introduced to these guys in college by my roommate, a 30-year old fellow philosophy major, who at least once, although I think twice, was arrested for vandalism/drunkenness, and yet is one of the sweetest people I know.

One specific story is worth telling: in our town of San Luis Obispo, someone thought it artistic to have various artists make their own colorful versions of a 4-foot plaster fish, each of which was installed throughout the downtown area. Many of these were hideous, and in general we all kept wondering, "Why fish?" One night, my roommate and a cohort drunkenly removed one of these fish from the cement, and carried it halfway across downtown, abandoning it outside a bar. They were quickly (and easily) caught, and I remember him having to go to court, but I don't think he did any jail time...

Don't you dare, boy / Think my Lord hath done forgotten, no... -- buy on iTunes

-Dan