Recommended Song of the Day

12/11/08: Race In, by Battles

I found Battles randomly on my iPod today. Listened to all of Mirrored in a single sitting. It feels really good; like real music does. (Especially "Race In") I'm so disappointed in any friend of mine who knew about Battles and never TOLD ME about them. Shame on you.

Tracy :)

NY, NY

The Last 25 Albums I listened to

My Album Ratings

When I started this blog in November I made a goal to listen to albums. I think I've been too into my iPod lately and needed to get back to hearing albums and bands the way they are intended to be heard - in a full-length, non-shuffle format. I made up a rating system to keep track of them, with ##### being the best. I've decided to share my list to-date for a few reasons:

1. Hopefully you'll find good music
2. Hopefully you'll give me new good music
3. Hopefully since I'm sharing such intimacies with you, our bond will grow stronger

First sorted by rating, then chronologically because if you're an analytical freak like me you might enjoy seeing my sequence of discovery.

Enjoy!

Tracy :)


By Rating

#.5
Sigur Rós - Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust

##
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
The Hold Steady - Stay Positive

##.5
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
Lucinda Williams - Little Honey

###.5
She & Him - Volume One
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

####
Dr. Dog - Fate
I'm From Barcelona - Who Killed Harry Houdini?

####.5
Battles - Race In
Foals - Antidots
Greg Wood - Vibrating Glass
Of Montreal - The Sunlandic Twins
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Tapes 'N Tapes - Walk it Off

#####
The Blow - Paper Television
Calvin Harris - I Created Disco
Emiliana Torrini - Me and Armini
The Faint - Fasciinatiion
The Faint - Wet From Birth
Langhorne Slim - Langhorne Slim
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Moving Units - Dangerous Dreams
Mugison - Mugiboogie
Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping


Total List Chronologically

1. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago ##.5
2. Dr. Dog - Fate ####
3. The Faint - Fasciinatiion #####
4. The Faint - Wet From Birth #####
5. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes ##
6. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals ##.5
7. Greg Wood - Vibrating Glass ####.5
8. I'm From Barcelona - Who Killed Harry Houdini? ####
9. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular #####
10. Moving Units - Dangerous Dreams #####
11. Sigur Rós - Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust #.5
12. She & Him - Volume One ###.5
13. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend ###.5
14. Calvin Harris - I Created Disco #####
15. Of Montreal - The Sunlandic Twins ####.5
16. The Blow - Paper Television #####
17. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga ####.5
18. Langhorne Slim - Langhorne Slim #####
19. Battles - Race In ####.5
20. Emiliana Torrini - Me and Armini #####
21. Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping #####
22. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive ##
23. Foals - Antidots ####.5
24. Tapes 'N Tapes - Walk it Off ####.5
25. Mugison - Mugiboogie ######

Exciting to Know My Gold Mask is from Chicago

Chicago

If Emiliana Torrini wrote lyrics to a Battles song, it might sound like Circle Mass, by My Gold Mask. With its very driven and large sound, this song will quickly rack up play counts on my iPod, especially because it's FREE HERE.

Give it a listen, and then (if you're not heading to Subterranean to see Verona Red) maybe head over to The Hideout to hear it live on Saturday, January 9.

Recommended Song of the Day and oh-so-much-more.

1/9/09: Mugiboogie, by Mugison

Ok people. My song of the day is by Mugison, and his album Mugiboogie is fucking phenomenal. Would I lie to you?

He is such an amazingly talented individual that if I ever execute my backup life plan, which is to travel the world reproducing with insanely smart and talented people to create a mini-herd of smarter and more talented versions of myself (muwahahahaha) – IF I ever execute my plan, Mugison would be my baby daddy. He is a versatile, boundary-less, unpredictable, master of sound. I was, at SEVERAL points throughout the album, shocked. The change of direction from song to song is equivalent to listening to a whole different artist; I actually found myself double checking that it was indeed Mugison still playing.

Please, for the love of good music, listen to this man and appreciate what he’s brought into this world. This blog’s purpose is to spread good music. This is me, spreading.

Oh, and he's from Iceland! wtf?

Enjoy!

Tracy :)

PS I was going to include my favorite songs off the album, but I refuse as I sincerely endorse listening to the whole album through.

PPS If you knew about Mugison and didn’t share him with me, please just unfacebook friend me. Jerk. If you know about him and don’t appreciate the wonderfulness that is Mugiboogie, why do you even read this blog? Seriously, the market researcher in me wants to know, why do you read this blog?


BECAUSE I am not a writer, I feel I haven’t done this album justice. I’m including reviews from others for your reference.

"Mugison has often been stamped as the Icelandic Beck,
but on his fourth album, he edges onto John Lennon's turf."
|Spin Magazine|Stacy Anderson|


"If you dumped blues, power pop, psych rock and heavy metal
into a transmogrifying machine, the machine would rumble mysteriously,
then spit out a brightly colored block of a hitherto unimagined polymer
known as Mugison."
|Paste Magazine|Brian Howe|


"..... is undeniably original, sometimes hard to listen to,
but always interesting. Mugison's interpretation of rock 'n' roll
lands somewhere between Ryan Adams and the Pixies,
with extended instrumental interludes that highlight his singularity as an artist."
|Prefix Magazine|Mike Burr|


"This, his third album, is steeped in a rich brew of drink, love, women and religion.
Opener 'Mugiboogie' sounds like a statement of intent,
slinging together beefy Hammond organ chords with stomping beats
that are part glam rock and part Battles."
|Art Rocker|Gareth Mytton|


"an iniorating, electric listen...
landing a devastating punch with this unclassifiable new record.
Worth so much more than a fleeting investigation."
|Clash Music|