Real Estate – Real Estate

A truly beautiful album, with soft guitar music and soft singing that nonetheless has a wonderful feel to it and somehow never feels boring.  Strange for such an even album, where many songs use the same guitar themes.  I love it more and more as time goes on.

Jim O'Rourke – The Visitor

One album, one amazing 40 minute track.  There's no singing, just the gentlest, subtlest guitar.  Then, as it wears on, Jim slowly draws you in with sweet little compositional tricks and weaves in other instruments.  This could soothe you while you have a deep conversation with someone, or you could listen to every note and feel its richness.  I doubt I'll ever get sick of this album.

Here's just a little sample, the only one I could find… actually not a bad pick, this is where it really starts to pick up:

Beach House – Teen Dream

On the surface, this is easy to compare to Real Estate.  Swoony/hazy guitars, gentle singing, an even-gentle feeling.  I would say that Beach House is more feminine, and the production is much more dense.  Real Estate feels stripped down, where Beach House is a thicker, more layered sound.

Toro y Moi – Causers of This

A sweet mix of gentle beats, Animal Collective-like singing, electronic sounds, and little hip-hop flourishes.

Julianna Warwick – Florine

Lay in a huge church with light streaming in the stained glass windows.  Take a deep breath and close your eyes.  Take a bong hit (this is a very accepting church).  Now put on Florine.  I think that for twenty-four minutes you'll feel like you made the right decision.

Owen Pallett – Heartland

I've never heard an Owen Pallet album before, but I really am enjoying it. I listen to about 5-10 new albums a week, often in the background. So, when one really jumps out at me after only a couple of listens I know it must be special.

I had heard it once and knew it was a "pretty album" so I put it on in the background as my girl and I lounged in bed. About midway through, I started thinking, oh wow… this album is something!

It is indeed a pretty album, and almost suitable for lazing around in bed with. (Like Real Estate, which I'm going to review next) but Owen doesn't just let his lovely singing and orchestration just meander along. He likes some catharsis;  he lets his songs swell into big, beautiful affairs that just fill you up.  Swells of wind instruments, string instruments and some impressive percussion all swirl up around his vocal themes, which sounds maybe as much like a Beach Boy than anything else. What's awesome though, is how he also mixes traditional orchestral instruments with more experimental electronic music sounds.

I always heard about but not heard Owen's other musical project: Final Fantasy, which he had to drop for obvious licensing issues, once he started to get big, but I fully intend to go back and listen now.  I also found out he wrote some of the arrangements for Arcade Fire, The Pet Shop Boys, and Beirut's The Flying Club Cup, which I also found totally inspiring.  (In fact, if you've never seen this Take-Away shows video of one of their songs, it's very worth taking the time to watch.)

This album might challenge you a little if you like mostly muzak, and might seem too poncy if you like tougher music.  But, for me, I don't even know what a single song is truly about yet and I love it.

I picked three songs in sequence that represent the part of the album that first thrilled me. See what you think:

Two doses of the band Liars today. I don't even know what to call them, but I guess you could call them kind of smooth, experimental post-punk or something like that. If you have to.

They just came out with a new album and I love the song and the video (it's a wittle scawwy, if you're sqweamish):

Which reminded me that although I never really got totally into their highly acclaimed last album, there was a song from it I ended up just loving:

First of all, thanks to everyone who gave "Songs That Make the Most of Few Words" suggestions. I might do a reprisal post because there were some great suggestions (I wish I'd thought of Spider!!!)

When I played The Love Language, for my friend Seth, the first thing he said was a rueful, "Oh yeah, a lot of bands are doing this lo-fi thing.  The production is just awful!"  Indeed, just about every review mentions the productions so, yeah, it sounds like they recorded it at the bottom of a well.

I hung my head a little though… in my mind I was like, "can't you tell they're giving it their all?!"

Later I read reviews of the self-titled album that said things like

cycles through a wide range of indie-rock, country, and early-pop styles, all delivered with shouty charm and in-the-red verve, roughly approximating a sock-hop-era Arcade Fire (pitchfork)

and

I listen to the Love Language because they write music I wish I’d written. I often picture myself playing these songs for some awkwardly shy, yet strikingly beautiful French girl on a jetty in Quebec, romantically duping her with my plagiarized sentiments. Dishonest, yet undeniably feasible.

and I feel like someone did actually get it.  I don't listen to this album in heavy rotation, but ultimately I can't stop listening to it.  Bad recording and all.

Arctic Monkeys – 505

I'm going back to 505
If it's a 7 hour flight or a 45 minute drive
In my imagination you're waiting lying on your side
With your hands between your thighs

Stop and wait a sec
Oh when you look at me like that my darling
What did you expect
I probably still adore you with your hands around my neck
Or I did last time I checked

Not shy of a spark
A knife twists at the thought that I should fall short of the mark
Frightened by the bite though its no harsher than the bark
Middle of adventure, such a perfect place to start

But I crumble completely when you cry
It seems like once again you've had to greet me with goodbye
I'm always just about to go and spoil a surprise,
Take my hands off of your eyes too soon,

Born Ruffians – Little Garçon

I don't care just where you go, as long as it's with me
and I don't mind just what you do, as long as it's with me too

Well I get told to never get old
But the way it unfolds
I'm a little garçon in my head
With a little fille that's stuck in bed

Oh, okay, yeah, that's where you go
Oh, come and dance with me

Bon Iver – Woods

I'm up in the woods, I'm down on my mind, I'm building a still, to slow down the time.

Air France – Collapsing at your Doorstep

It's sort of like a dream, isn't it?  No, it's better.

Midlake – The Courage of Others

This wasn't very well reviewed.  Most people seem to think it's a little too even and consistent to the point of boring.  Most people like the earlier "Trials of Van Occupanther" a lot better.  I really like that album too, but several listens puts me at odds with other people who aren't as impressed.

To me, this album shows how close Folk music and Heavy Metal really are.  At first listen it sounds like a droning, slightly dark folk album.  But as time goes on it seems like the construction and content are really more like heavy metal.  And if you LIKE the tone, then you get a whole solid album of it.  For me, I find this album great to work to, and hear little gems of lyrics, mellowly passionate singing, and some great guitar work pop out every once in a while.

Florence and the Machine – Lungs

You might not have heard of this album, but it hit #1 on the UK charts, which shocked me a little.  My girl said she thought a lot of the songs sounded "so Lilith Fair" which I can't disagree with.

At her best though, she is a passionate singer with amazing orchestral + rock and roll backing.  There's at least 6 songs on this album you really should hear.  Cosmic Love is a grandiose, sweeping statement.  Kiss With a Fist is a hot little number (and probably one of the Lilith Fair-ey ones) and I couldn't stop listening to Girl With One Eye for almost the whole month.

Ben Frost – By The Throat

Besides the totally wicked album cover, this somewhat dark, mostly ambient album is about as listenable as something from this genre can be.  With its musical drones, gentle piano and wolf noises you'll find it almost fades into the background, creating a soundtrack for dark angels to lounge on couches of thorns.  I found it works extremely well for playing video games.  I would tend to forget that I was playing the album and almost think it was a natural part of the game.

Roger Miller

An Informercial (Time/Life) I saw in Rockford got me obsessed with Roger Miller.  King of the Road is just so fucking beautiful.

Micachu still thrills me.

My mom keeps me into country music, but we don't like the same kind, exactly.  I bought this amazing album for her… I wonder if she'll get into it.

Did you know Bob Dylan curated an amazing XM radio show for 3 years?  Bob Dylan is a better-than-average DJ.

And last, but not least, Four Tet can get you laid.

Now you know, and knowing is (contrary to popular belief) 28.62% of the battle.

The Dodos, being incredibly modern, just posted their new album online in its entirety (just to listen to, not to download yet).

They put out one album as Dodo Bird, and then a second album as The Dodos, called Visiter, which I love love love love love love love.  Visiter.  Is amazing.  It's an amazing sweet cacaphony of banging, clanging, thumping and strumming that is cathartic and inspirational all at the same time.

All the passion of Visiter seems to be produced right out of Time To Die, though.  We'll see, maybe I'll fall in love with it.  Meric Long sure is a good songwriter.

Something in me needs metal. The seed was planted at 16 when my friend Aaron inexpertly rocked the Metallica "Four Horsemen" riff in his basement, forever melding my young energy to the driving force of its dorky power.

This is the kind of orchestral, explosive metal that makes me want to listen to it over and over and over.

Just take a deep breath and let it wash over you.  Who cares what it's about?  The album is a concept album about like, Rasputin and astral travel and gnarly stuff like that, like metal should be.   

But… wait.  There's more to it than that.  Is that some strange rockabilly lick?  Is he teasing us with some kind of LA hair metal shit?  Why does he sound so much like Ozzy?  Is it wrong to let Heavy Metal caress you?

If you don't find yourself saying "whoa" at sometime in this 13 minutes then pack it in.  You have no metal in you.

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How to Cook a Wolf is the trendy Upper Queen Anne restaurant I wanted to hate, but I have failed.  Turns out that not only does it have a sexy decor that packs the place until late, but they really know how to serve a good, human meal that leaves me feeling nourished and excited.

I went in once about a month ago for drinks (it's very close to my house).  Queen Anne is a kind of fancy neighborhood, but not the kind of place where a trendy restaurant would normally go.  It's a bit of a credit to the 'hood that you can even get a drink at 11pm.  They made us some kind of crazy pear margarita and, even though we were already full from dinner, we got some olives, just because the place looked so cool.  

The olives were Castlevetrano… a rich, meaty bright-green kind that my girlfriend loves.  They seriously are some of the best, and we vowed to make it back.

A month or so later, we did.  We got the Octopus Salad, the Baked Polenta, and the Spaghetti.  Japansese food has honestly soured me to octopus, but this was thick slices tossed with some kind of crisp bean (Controne) and parsely.  It was meaty and nourishing and… we ate it with the gusto it was clearly designed for.  The polenta was a super moist, milky polenta.  Two rounds of it, baked crisp on the outside and sitting in a kind of rich, cheesy soup.  My girl and I don't use serving plates, we just scoop out of the serving dish and it felt totally natural here.  The spaghetti was simple and hearty with a huge pile of cheese on top.  It was tossed with anchovy, garlic and chili.  When we were done, the last few noodles were swimming in olive oil, which, although good, was a little much and discouraged us from eating every last noodle.

When I was there, I saw that they serve dinner every night until midnight.  In my neighborhood, there's nothing else I know of that serves dinner after 10, and I don't have a car.  So last night, after I was done with everything else I needed to do… I got a great idea.  Why not grab my book and walk up to Wolf?

It was such a good idea.  I got there just as the last of the dinner rush had cleared out, and I had the nearly full attention of the bartender.  I didn't get far into my book.  He picked my courses, poured me "half glasses" of wine to pair with everything, and generally made me feel like a king.  I had the Escolar Crudo, the Treviso Salad, and the Meatballs.  God knows what the wines were.  Escolar is a really buttery fish I've had several times before as sushi.  Here, though, they served it with an avacado puree and a little chopped grapefruit on top!

This is what you want to see in a restaurant like this.  They're going to take chances, and more often than not, it's going to work.  The salad was Traviso (something like radiccio) tossed with wine-soaked golden raisins.  The meatballs were just a hot metal oven dish of four hearty meatballs cooked in sauce.

Look, I've been to plenty of fancy restaurants.  I've been to plenty of trendy restaurants.  How to Cook a Wolf is a place that sits me down and feeds me, goddamnit.  That's what I like.