Here is my list of what I consider to the be the “best” releases I’ve heard this year, full albums and EP’s, local and not, self-released or with a label. Regular readers probably won’t find too much surprising but there are a few that we may have not featured very much, probably because I just didn’t have too much to add to the already existing narrative. Most notable among that list is my number one choice From Emma, Forever Ago, by Bon Iver, AKA Justin Vernon. Each listen of this debut LP proffers a new detail to my ear and generates a renewed catharsis within my soul.
Before I start opining any further and get out of control (we’re saving that for next week’s official Northwest-themed lists), here are my favorites from the past year…
Josh’s Top 25 Releases of 2008
1. Bon Iver - From Emma, Forever Ago |myspace|
2. Dead Confederate - Wrecking Ball |myspace|
3. The Moondoggies - Don’t Be A Stranger |myspace|
4. J Tillman - Vacilando Territory Blues (Digital Release Only) |myspace|
5. The Whigs - Mission Control |myspace|
6. The Dutchess and the Duke - She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke |myspace|
7. Wild Orchid Children - S/T EP |myspace|
8. Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground - S/T LP |myspace|
9. Starfucker - S/T LP |myspace|
10. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours |myspace|
11. The Notwist - Devil, You + Me |myspace|
12. Noah and the Whale - Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down |myspace|
13. Land of Talk - Some Are Lakes |myspace|
14. Fleet Foxes - S/T LP |myspace|
15. The Dodos - Visiter |myspace|
16 See Me River - Time Machine |myspace|
17. Jake One - White Van Music |myspace|
18. Whore Moans - Hello From the Radio Wasteland |myspace|
19. The Pica Beats - Bring Back the Claws … |myspace|
20. Thee Emergency - SOLID |myspace|
21. Lightspeed Champion - Falling Off the Lavender Bridge |myspace|
22. The Saturday Knights - Mingle |myspace|
23. Army Navy - S/T LP |myspace|
24. Horse Feathers - House with No Home |myspace|
25. Crystal Stilts - Alight of Night |myspace |
The album I listened to the most that was actually from last year but didn’t discover until this year…
You’ll notice TV on the Radio, Of Montreal, Portishead, and Deerhunter aren’t in there. Nor Lil Wayne. I’m sorry (but not that sorry) to say I’ve listened to all of these records and they just didn’t do it for me. Dear, Science is certainly an innovative record, but I didn’t connect enough to warrant the repeated listens of those listed above. Vampire Weekend’s record is another that fits that profile, a well realized album that unfortunately for me is without any lasting impact. And I’ve diligently searched for the quality in the Deerhunter album that has everyone shouting, but I’m just completely missing it.
Today you can buy the MP3 album of Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago from Amazon for 5 bucks. After my ringing endorsement, and at that price, you have no good reason not to go get it.
Lately when I’ve been going out to photograph bands, I’ve been in search of a picture that more than just document’s the event. I’ve been trying to capture a moment, a movement, a facial expression that conveys the intensity of the set to a casual viewer. Good photo’s of drummers are typically hard to get, often due to their placement out of the light, behind a kit on the back of the stage, but with this picture of Whigs drummer Julian Dorio from Bumbershoot earlier this year, I really made an effort to catch the dynamic energy and strength that he brings table. This one is all about the hair.
According to the Easy Street Blog the Kooks are still planning on playing their set tonight at Showbox SODO, but had to cancel their in-store appearance due to illness. A couple of Kooks may show up to sign some records and meet fans though.The Whigs are still on though at 6pm at Easy Street Queen Anne.
Julian Dorian of the Whigs at Bumbershoot ::: Photo by Josh
During late August, just prior to their appearance at Bumbershoot and in anticipation of their upcoming three month tour supporting the Kings of Leon as well as the Kooks, Julian Dorian, drummer for Athens, Georgia three-piece the Whigs was excited to get on the road again. “We like it,” he says of touring without hesitation while over the phone with me from his hometown. “It’s normal to us.”
Dorian’s not exaggerating one bit when he says three months is normal. A look at their calendar for the last few years has found the band on average about three months on the road at a time, a couple of times a year. In the struggle to retain any notion of continuity he confesses, “we eat in waffle house more than you might imagine.”
In 2006 the Whigs were called out as the best unsigned band in America after Rolling Stone’s David Fricke got a whiff of their DIY debut full-length Give ‘Em All A Big Fat Lip. Dorian himself was named as Esquire’s drummer of the year in 2007. Eventually the band signed to ATO Records and released their second full-length Mission Control in January of this year, a record I personally think outdoes their first and stands as one of the year’s best albums overall. Ever since then, the momentum has been palpable.
The week of the album’s release they visited the Late Show with David Letterman. “That day was so surreal, so bizarre, and awesome!” Dorian remembers. “And then it’s over. In a flash. Even right now talking to you it’s odd saying it happened. You spend your whole life not being on that show…” It was just the first of numerous late night appearances and the kind of jump start to a just released album most bands can only dream of. The summer of 2008 found them at most of the major music festivals in the country, among them our own Bumbershoot and Sasquatch Music festivals.
Now following a spat of dates riding the coattails of southern rock royalty Kings of Leon, Tuesday at the Showbox SODO finds the Whigs playing the second leg of their tour opening for rapscallion heartthrobs the Kooks. Earlier in the evening at 6pm apparently both bands will be singing some songs acoustic at Easy Street Records on lower Queen Anne. Both sets will be very worth catching.
You’ve seen a few of my recommendations with a few more coming, but here’s what my honest to god Bumbershoot Schedule is going to look like.
Start Your Bumbershoot with the New Faces::: photo by Josh
SATURDAY AUGUST 30
Sad to say it, but I’m a little under-whelmed by Saturday’s schedule. Still, a few of my must catch acts are playing early on Saturday–so I’ll be there from the very start.
12:30 -1:30 : NEW FACES @ the EMP Sky Church
1:00 - 2:15 : NEKO CASE @ Mainstage (i.e. Memorial Stadium)
3:30 - 4:30 : THE VALLEY @ EMP Sky Church
4:00 - 5:00 : THAO with THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN @ The Broad Street Stage for me the really interesting stuff ends there, so I’ll probably spend sometime walking aroundthe always amazing, tempting, and ultimately bank-breaking FLATSTOCK 7:30 - 8:45 : MAN MAN @ the Broad Street Stage
9:15 - 10:45 : BECK @ The Mainstage
End your Sunday w/ Thee Emergency ::: photo by abbey
SUNDAY AUGUST 31st
For me, this is Bumbershoot’s most exciting day line-up wise and it has almost nothing to do with the Headliners or “big acts” (minus the Black Keys, who I am so so excited to see I can hardly contain myself).
12:00 - 1:00 : STAR ANNA @ the Mural Amphitheater (i’m skipping out early to catch) 12:30 - 1:30 : THE LONELY H @ EMP Sky Church
2:30 - 3:30 : THE SHACKELTONS @ the Broad Street stage
5:00 - 6:00 : RAVENS & CHIMES @ EMP Sky Church
6:00 - 7:00 : THE WHIGS @ the Broad Street stage
7:45 - 8:45 : THE BLACK KEYS @ The Mainstage
9:30 - 10:30 : THEE EMERGENCY @ EMP Sky Church
* since the Sky Church will doubtlessly be full for Thee Emergency. If you don’t make it in, wander over to The Broad Street Stage and catch TAPES’N'TAPES
End your Bumbershoot with Black Eyes & Neckties ::: photo by josh
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 1st
Holy fuck, how is already September? How is it already the end of Bumbershoot?!? At least the festival ends with a bang this year, while half of the city will be trying to see Death Cab for Cutie at the Mainstage–I am going to blissed out as Black Eyes & Neckties turn the EMP Sky Church into a gothic masterpiece of theatre and screams.
12:00 - 1:00 : VINCE MIRA & THE ROY KAY TRIO @ Mural Amphitheater
at this point my day could go two very different routes: 2:30 - 3:30 : MONOTONIX @ Exhibition Hall
4:15 - 5:15 : DAN DEACON @ Exhibition Hall
OR 3:00 - 4:00 : SHANE TUTMARC & THE TRAVELING MERCIES @ EMP Sky Church
4:30 - 5:30 : THE MALDIVES @ EMP Sky Church
6:00 - 7:00 : FERAL CHILDREN @ EMP Sky Church
6:45 - 7:45 : ARTHUR & YU @ Mural Amphitheater
9:00 - 10:00 : BLACK EYES & NECKTIES @ EMP Sky Church
Saturday’s weather certainly provided for an uncertain day, but thankfully mother nature held off her fury until the R.E.M. set was in full swing (it had drizzled on and off all day). We started off the day with two pretty damn good sets from Dead Confederate and the Whigs, whom both hail from Athens, Georgia (as does R.E.M.).
The National had some troubles leaving Canada from their stop on the joint R.E.M. and Modest Mouse Tour, so weren’t able to make their 4:20 set time. Fleet Foxes volunteered to play the 4:20 mainstage slot, their second time on the mainstage that day, and to my heart’s delight they played “Oliver James,” which was missing from their first set, for the largest crowd of their lives.
David Bazan brought an electric along for his set, and I think it’s safe to say I won’t ever get tired of this guy. The National, who were slotted in after the last act on the smallest stage (Grand Archives), played at 7:45 to a crowded field as swollen clouds hovered above. The dark light of impending showers off in the distance seemed almost too perfect a setting for their brooding setlist. Those who stayed around instead of high-tailing it to catch the last bit of Modest Mouse, missed a 1-song encore. With the steady rain, we were happy to head back to camp mid-R.E.M.
The best set of the day for me was the second Fleet Foxes set on the mainstage. I’m now officially and unabashedly a fan. The National came in a close second.
The Whigs are hitting it big time in 2008, and I’m pretty sure there’s not to many festival bands (at least at this festival) better for dancing in the afternoon sun than this one. I thought their album was a pretty good one and I can honestly say I don’t know if there is a pick-me-up album that I have listened to more in 2008 than Mission Control. It’s fitting that these gents should be playing the day fellow Athens, Georgia powerhouse REM is headlining the mainstage. So that the rock can thrive let us hope the wind is kind to them this weekend and gives Sasquatch a year of reprieve. I will promise to pray each day if you will.
The Whigs play the Wookie! Stage on Saturday May 25 at 2:35pm. Dead Confederate is going to be at the same stage just prior, and you should be there for that one too. They owned our SXSW party.
I think it’s safe to say that right now The Whigs early 2008 release Mission Control has virtually owned my iPod in the month I’ve had it. Dubbed by Rolling Stone in 2006 as one of that year’s “10 Artists to Watch”, this is these Georgia gentlemen’s second album out on ATO Records, and it’s a consistently catchy album all the way through. Led by Parker Gispert’s crisp confident singing style, this trio succeeds by milking every ounce of sound from each instrument and never letting up on the accelerator. With huge distorted rhythmic strums accompanied by Julian Dorio’s measured yet explosive drumming, the album itself seems to exude a contagious energy from the speakers as it plays.
I’m particularly fond of the two opening tracks “Like A Vibration” and “Production City,” and later on “Need Need You,” if for no other reason than the relentless riffage and sheer pace. Part of why I was so disappointed when seeing the Whigs at Stubb’s at SXSW this year was hearing these songs and being unable to pick out the subtle rhythmic dynamics that make them so great on the album (I blame the sound man). Other notable favorites include “Right Hand on My Heart” which recalls the BoDeans and of course the final track, the title track, “Mission Control” which seems to start out with a lost Doves intro and continues in the vein for the entire song.
It’s still not entirely clear, to even me, why I like this album so much. Their sound isn’t startlingly unique and I’m not sure I can go so far as to I can compliment them for exemplary musicianship, yet with Mission Control the Whigs seem to have captured and understood the fundamentals of rock, groove and speed in ways few bands grasp. As a three piece, each element of the sound is so much more important to the identity of entire song, and while this is especially true of the Whigs, in Mission Control each instrument still manages to forge an identity, often making it hard to discern who’s in the lead during any given song.
The Whigs will be at the Sasquatch Music Festival at the George, for day 1, Saturday May 24. I highly suggest you make a point of seeing them. Hopefully the sound will be better than at SXSW. Starting in early May they will be on tour with Barsuk Records’ What Made Milwaukee Famous, who are promoting their new release What Doesn’t Kill Us. If you aren’t making it to Sasquatch, those tour dates are below the fold.
As you can see by the bizarre mix of music below, March was a weird month for me. Luckily there were lots of great new releases to get lost with…
Black Eyes & Neckties - Apparition!
Land of Talk - Applause Cheer Boo Hiss
Dead Confederate - Dead Confederate EP
Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground
The Whigs - Mission Control
Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant EP
Thee Emergency - SOLID Wild Orchid Children
The Racounters - Consolers of the Lonely
The Kinks
Built to Spill - Keep it like a Secret Black Sabbath - War Pigs
The Antiques - Nicknames & Natives
Shy in Sunshine - “Storms” and “Rawk”
Eric Howk’s Latest Mi-Fi Myspace Song, currently “The Move”
Phew! I just finished putting up the very last of my photos from SXSW today. I ended up with 20 sets of photos from the festival and I hope you get a chance to come over and check them out!
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