captains dead

as i was coming up with my favorite songs of 08 i noticed an interesting trend. that trend being that most of my favorite songs were not necessarily on my favorite records. so, i decided to compile a list of my favorite songs that weren’t on my top album list. out of the 12 here, only about 4 would have been omitted by including tracks found on my favorite records.

two of the albums, in particular were real close to getting into the top ten. first one being, horse feathers’ house with no home which is a lovely collection of americana, that fans of great lake swimmers, iron and wine, bon iver, etc would really dig. the other being why?’s alopecia which, while a great record, i can only listen if i am in the right mood. it gets a little long in the tooth, when completely sober, but damn if it aint a great drinkin record…

these are in no particular order. although if i had to pick, it would be between the bottom three. you may axe yourself, “a milli?” really? yeah, i fuckin love that song… it be bangin and sounds so sweet comin out of the elantra’s boomin system.

taking the farm off wagonwheel blues

the war on drugs myspace

spiders, snakes off a cove

a weather site

un dia off un dia

 juana molina site

goner off wrecking ball

dead confederate site

boston wrangler off loose in the joints

the dirty truckers myspace

furr off furr

blitzen trapper site

national talk like a pirate day off (OH) ohio

lambchop site

fatalist palmistry off alopecia

why? mypsace

curs in the weeds off with house with no home

horse feathers myspace

methamphetamine off tennessee pusher

old crow medicine show site

frankie’s gun off self titled

the felice bros site

a milli off the carter III

lil wayne myspace

so, i am currently trying to come up with my top ten of the 08, and i am finding records that i may have not paid enough attention to. namely, a weather’s cove, cause its quite a lovely little record that, at this point, am trying desperately to find a worthy spot for. did i ever mention that i hate top ten lists? actually, i love em, but they are a bitch to put together. at this point, and actually for the last 9 months, i know what my favorite record of the year is and i think i am just going to do a number one write up and have the remainders be in no particular order. anywho, enough with my mini-dilemma’s here are a few tracks from cove.

spiders, snakes - definitely one of my favorite tracks of the year, and i love the bedhead reference…

screw up your courage

oh my stars

good to know

A Weather - “It’s Good To Know” from Team Love on Vimeo.

top of the whatever to ya! our friends from across the pond, the peeps of the line of best fit, recently released their mix tape for july onto the internets. this month features the likes of the constantines, j tilman, fleet foxes, damien juardo, bowerbirds, and a few others.

i am going to give you a brief glimpse into how i work when listening to an artist/record for the first time and i am sure some of you may have the same kind of approach. firstly, if the music doesnt grab me within the first 20 seconds, it gets turned off. secondly, if the vocals dont do much for me over the course of the first song or two, again see ya. thirdly, i actually pay attention to the lyrics and for subtleties that i am sure i missed the first time around. maybe its just me, but i live for subtleties and other little shit like awesomely placed organ fills, uncovering the well hidden hook, etc. its kinda like where’s waldo set to music. anyone else go through such a process?

speaking of subtle/subtleties, portland, oregon’s a weather’s cove is quite the little record and rife with pieces of auditory goodness that lie beneath the surface just waiting to be discovered. cove is much like an elliot smith record if he hadn’t been fighting so many demons, or ocean beach era red house painters if kozelek weren’t so boring or maybe even a low record that had a bit more passion.

spiders snakes - check out this track - definitely one of my favorite of the year.

one more night stand

oh my stars

screw up your courage

a weather site

if you havent checked out the felice bros do yrself a favor and give “frankie’s gun” and/or “wonderful life” a whirl. “frankie’s gun” could be one of the best dylan/the band songs that they never wrote and is probably my favorite of the year.

frankie’s gun

wonderful life

the felice brothers myspace