Panush's Best 26 of 2011

Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart

I've been seeing lots of Best Of lists lately and of course I don't like them as much as I like my music, so I figured why don't I make one myself. There are 26 for absolutely no good reason. It's my list so I get to do what I want.

In alphabetical order:

Adele - 21 - Unless you've been living under a rock, you're already familiar, but this remix is something you may not have heard.

Ben Ottewell - Shapes & Shadows - Gomez lead singer's solo debut. Solid stuff.

*Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart - Rock like it's the 70s. - Hair Song

Brett Dennen - Loverboy - LA's red-headed wunderkind. Sydney is an absolute sing-a-long, pop hit.

Das Racist - Relax - Too-smart for school post-modern hip-hop. They went to Wesleyan, duh.

David Guetta - Nothing But the Beat - If you must dance, dance to this.

*Earl Greyhound - Suspicious Package - Power trios rule. Shotgun - wait for it to build, then bang your head.

Feist - Metals - Not her best, but solid.

*Fitz and the Tantrums - Pickin' Up the Pieces - You've heard them even if you haven't heard of them.

Friendly Fires - Pala - for those that like Passion Pit or Foster the People,  Live Those Days Tonight

Gomez - Whatever's On Your Mind - My favorite band, so you must have Options.

Holy Ghost! - Various singles and remixes: Some Children, Static on the Wire (RAC Remix), Hold On, Do It Again

Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know - Until Beth Orton returns from maternity leave, I'll listen to Sophia

Nikka Costa - Pro*Whoa! - Chase The Thrill should be in a Bond movie.

Paul Simon - So Beautiful or So What - Still great. Faves: The Afterlife and the title track.

*Pendulum - Immersion - My favorite drum and bass band - words I never though I would utter. Try: Witchcraft (Chuckie Remix), Watercolour, The Island, Crush.

*Sleigh Bells - Treats - If White Stripes were into samples. Crown on the Ground, Infinity Guitars, Rill Rill

Stereo MC's - Emperor's Nightingale -  Yes, they are the same band that did Connected. Check out Tales, 2Cando, Waves

Tally Hall - Good & Evil - Geeky melodic, harmonizing from Michigan. You and Me, Out in the Twilight, You

Theophilus London - Timez Are Weird These Days - The future of hip-hop is in good hands. All Around the World, Last Name London, One Last Time.

Tub Ring - Secret Handshakes - If you like Mike Patton (Faith No More), Primus, Mr. Bungle, funk-rock etc., this is it. Optimistic, Stop This (NOW!), Feed the Rapture

Tune-Yards - Whokill - See my older post.

TV On the Radio - Nine Types of Light - Wasn't a big fan when they first broke on the scene, but since I found Dave Sitek's side project, Maximum Balloon, absolutely delightful, I guess I appreciate this album for its similiarities. Love Caffeinated Consciousness, New Cannonball Blues, Repetition, and Second Song.

White Denim - D - Album of the Year and Best New Artist. See my older post.

YACHT - Shangri-La - Nothing measures up to their amazing Psychic City, but title track Shangri-La and Utopia/Dystopia are nice.

Ximena Sariñana - Ximena Sariñana - Mexican pop star. Too damn cute. Different and Lies We Live In (what do you know, also produced and written by none other than TVOTR's Dave Sitek).

* = album technically released in 2010, but since I listened to it in 2011, there ya go

Illinois is a band from Pennsylvania... go figure

I should have posted about Illinois sooner, but I might not have even been blogging when I first started listening to them. Their latest album, Lemonade Stand, is good, but not as good as their earlier albums. This lack of polish might be because it's culled from demos in their catalog rather than brand new material. The tracks I like on Lemonade Stand are: Shoot the Moon, Ecco Bella, Metropolis, Mountain, and Posture.

Illinois is a bit folky, a bit discordant, a bit stompy, a bit country, a bit electronic, but almost always catchy and melodic. They remind me most of Folk Implosion or any other Lou Barlow stuff, but also bring to mind Beck's folkier work.

It's pretty difficult to find their music online, but this is probably one of their best tracks. You can also get a few free tracks from the band's website below.



http://www.illinoistheband.com/

Battles - Ice Cream

This is a great video from the latest Battles record, Gloss Drop. It's weird prog-rock, but it's catchy and the video works incredibly well with the music. The rest of the Battles album is interesting and decent, but not as good as this track, nor as good as their first album, Mirrors. If you really like the video, check out the director's video for the El Guincho track, Bombay (there's an uncensored version out there somewhere). Same same, but different.



I know I'm late on this, but going through some (good) life changes in the last few months has left me with a bit less time to devote to navel-gazing pursuits like this one. I also am getting addled in my advanced years. I think I may have posted this video to Facebook before, but since it's not on the blog, well... it is now.

tUnE-YarDs - w h o k i l l

I think I posted about tUnE-YarDs previously and she (basically it's one woman) released a new album a couple months ago. She is amazing and unique and if you value innovative music that doesn't just sound like everything else out there, you have to check the album out and you HAVE to watch the 2nd video below to see how she does this live. It's unbelievable that she can do so much with so little.

Bizness is primal and pretty at the same time. This is music with soul.




You Yes You is so catchy it's ridiculous. She writes music that dives right in your brain.



Gangsta rocks and rolls with bravado.


You must listen.

White Denim - Fashionable Rock

 Combine amazing dueling guitar licks with psychedelia, a bassist that looks 15, and a prog-rock influenced drummer and you have White Denim. Out of Austin, TX, they've been wowing audiences locally and at South by Southwest for a few years. I like their old stuff, but with the welcome addition of a second guitarist their newest release, D, is one of the best rock albums, song for song, I've heard in some time.

Also, they put on a great live show. Saw them at the Rock and Roll Hotel with a bunch of hipsters who wouldn't move because they were too cool, but I was rocking out because I'm way too old to care about being hip.

Honestly, I can't even pick my favorites b/c they're all filled with great hooks. Though there's some nice variety over the course of the album, their sound is pretty consistent, so if you don't like one song, you probably won't like the rest. I'd recommend listening to the whole album a few times through. It will invade your headspace.

You can see how good they are live in this video for, It's Him. The guitar lick around 1:15 in reminds me of St. Stephen by the Grateful Dead in such a good way.

Enjoy.

Bag Raiders Video Shows Some Hot Monkey Love

I'm rededicating myself to posting more often. I've got three months of stuff to post about, so I'll try to make it short and sweet in the interest of getting more stuff up here more often. I know it will somewhat be ignored, but once in a while someone stumbles on the blog and they like it.

Bag Raiders are fun and have two songs I like a lot. They're Passion Pit-esque. Full of synths and a good dance beat with high pitched man vocals. The video for Sunlight features a chimp gone bad, which is always a bonus.



I also like Not Over. This video features a time traveling caveman.

Rolling in the Deep

Adele's new album, 21, is pretty damn good. Right after it came out, John Legend covered Rolling in the Deep, but then it was quickly remixed, and it's just off the hook. All three versions are great, but the remix version... mwah... perfecto.

Parlor Mob - Can't Keep No Good Band Down

Parlor Mob rocks like it never went out of style. This is 70s arena rock filtered through the grunge of the early 90s. Their songs feature dueling acoustic guitars, scratchy blues-influenced hooks, and power vocals. Clearly there's a Led Zeppelin thing going on, but they also remind me of Blind Melon (remember the bee girl from the No Rain video?) and they have a little bit of a Queens of the Stone Age sound as well. These three tracks will definitely have you singing along in your highest registers.

Can't Keep No Good Boy Down - YouTube won't let me embed the video, but here's the link.

Everything You're Breathing For


When I Was An Orphan - Live from the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ

Pinback - Sweet Rock

Pinback isn't new, but you may not have heard about them, so I'm posting to illuminate you. Pinback makes a melodic brand of rock. It's a distinctive sound that soothes and provokes at the same time. The band they most evoke for me is Lou Barlow (of Sebadoh)'s group, The Folk Implosion (and the New Folk Implosion). If you like these tunes, also check out Pinback singer/guitarist Rob Crow's solo stuff, in particular Living Well.

Simian Mobile Disco, Cee-Lo, and Telephoned

Dance and funk numbers from last month's playlist.

Telephoned is an awesome combo of DJ Sammy Bananas and vocalist/party maven Maggie Horn. They remake and rework common pop tracks that stand on their own as dancefloor anthems.

Their eponymous EP could be played as a mixtape at your next party, but I particularly enjoy Rockin That Thing and Dancin' On Me. Though they are technically remixes, they might as well be completely different songs. I'd almost rather call them homages. Whatever you call, them they will make you want to move!





My next recommendation is a smooth, funky dance track. It's a fun tune, and it's free! Dance impresarios Simian Mobile Disco team up with diva Beth Ditto, of Gossip fame, for this one.

Simian Mobile Disco - Cruel Intentions (feat. Beth Ditto) (Heartbreak's Slow Action Remix)

Finally, everyone loves and is familiar with Cee-Lo's 100% pure hit, Fuck You, but the 2nd best song off the album is Love Gun. Check it out.

Mark Ronson - God of Awesome

For his latest album, Record Collection, London Superproducer Mark Ronson goes for a more 80s synth-pop feel. No matter that he's made his reputation on funk and soul hip-hop numbers, whatever he does works. Apparently, Ronson wanted to be so authentic to the 80s sound that he went out and procured the actual synths that Duran Duran used. Even the album cover (above) has an 80s theme, deftly mixing the themes of 80s album artwork together.

Bang Bang Bang is eminently danceable and features one of the all-time great MCs, Q-Tip the Abstract. The Bike Song is good fun and Someone To Love Me features Boy George. Though the original for Someone To Love Me is good, the remixes are even better.

Omelet

Even though I've made omelets before, I actually read the recipe this time. Also, after buying some frozen spinach at the store today, I figured I could put it to use.

I used 4 eggs and some soy milk and a little salt and pepper. I popped the toast in, but then kind of forgot that the spinach was still frozen. Following the recipe, I put about 2 tbsp of butter in the pan and heated it up. Threw the eggs in and started pulling the sides in to let the liquid eggs get to the edge so they could cook. Eventually, that became pretty hard. Then I remembered about the spinach and threw a handful in the microwave for 30 seconds. Then the toast popped. Too many things happening!

Threw some cheese on there and the spinach, then folded over one side and another. Amazingly, it wasn't burnt. Slid the thing off and put some more cheese on top. Buttered the toast, threw a little salsa on and voilà.

Considering my cooking goals are so minimal as to not really be goals, this was quick, easy, relatively healthy (butter and salt), and yummy. I am now full. And I forgot to take any pictures. Next time.

I spy with my little ear

Someone who writes for 30 Rock is laughing their ass off. On Season 4, Episode 14, Future Husband, Liz Lemon is in the waiting room at the dentist's office and calls her mystery man. He calls her back and her phone starts ringing. Can anyone guess the song from the 4 second sample? I did. It's Fuck the Pain Away by Peaches. Oh Lemon. Great song.

Maximum Balloon Provides Maximum Awesomeness

Dave Sitek is a guitarist and producer originally from New York, now based in Beverly Hills. He's probably best known as a member of TV On The Radio. but in my opinion, his first solo album under the name Maximum Balloon is his best work so far. To me, it's much more accessible and fun than TVOTR, but you know, that's just me.

Each song is a collaboration with similarly minded artists such as Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, David Byrne, and two other members of TVOTR, Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe. Pretty much almost all of the collaborators seem to have some connection to Sitek's previous work producing or playing.

My favorites are Apartment Wrestling with David Byrne, Groove Me featuring Theophilus London, and Tiger featuring Aku Orraca-Tetteh, but the whole album is pretty solid. My favorite part of the Groove Me video is the fact that London is wearing a Smith College hat the entire time. I wonder if he went there?

Gram Rabbit - Party in the Desert

Gram Rabbit - They rock. They dance. They glam. They electro. They clash. They country. They sexy. They have a thing for bunnies and cults. They from Joshua Tree in the deserts of California, and there's something weird and beautiful about them. Their sound is luscious and somehow manages to be fun and sinister at the same time.

I would say they remind me most of Madonna, Lady Gaga, and the Ting-Tings, but way more strange than any of those. In that sense, they're more like Electric Six. Their latest album, Miracles and Metaphors, continues their awesomeness. Here's my favorite track on that album, Candy Flip, and below are some other great tracks from their catalog.



The Rest of Us Sleep and In My Book off of RadioAngel & the RobotBeat


Bloody Bunnies off of Cultivation


Cowboy-Up off of Music to Start a Cult To


Her Secret Power off of The Desert Sound EP - Listen to it here.

Restless Blogger

Restless People is a band from Brooklyn (where else) that has a fun, tropical, electronic sound. They sound like a cross between Passion Pit, Vampire Weekend, and Yeasayer. If you like those groups, you'll probably think these guys are the bee's knees also.

Check out the single, Days of Our Lives, and you'll know what I mean.




Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't say that there's a lot of folks saying Restless People pretty much ripped off this song, Two Months Off, from a much more established British band called Underworld. They are pretty similar, but I would say the Restless People song is more interesting. And the other songs on their new album are strong and (hopefully) not ripped off.

Me Make Pasta

My friend Maureen has an amazing blog on real vegetarian cooking at The Vegetarian Salmon, and she keeps pestering me to cook more, so even though I suck at the cooking, the motivating to cook, and the blogging about the cooking, I'm (sort of) really trying to do better.

Last week I bought some awesome olives from the olive bar at Gigante and bought a yellow squash with the intention of doing some sort of pasta thing. There's this pasta that's probably been in my cabinet since I moved in in 2002, but it doesn't go bad, right? Well I never got around to it, and the squash got squishy. So that didn't work, but this week, I again got my intentions up and bought another squash and some fresh garlic.

I'll start backwards. The dish was OK the night I made it, but I had leftovers today and it was really good. All the flavors had soaked together in the pasta and it was pretty darn tasty. I guess that's a semi-success. Here's what it looked like.

Here's what I did.

I cut up the squash while heating some olive oil and a pressed garlic clove in a small pan. Then I set the water boiling. As the oil heated, I cut up the squash. Then I threw it in and started pitting and cutting the olives. I sauteed the squash for a while. I just tasted it until it seemed good and cooked. I think there may be some more cook-ish way of telling, but this seemed to work. I heated up some leftover TJ's Arrabiata sauce as the pasta went in the boiling water. Eventually I added everything together in a plastic bowl (Maureen says this is bad, but I'm not sure why), added some fresh Parmesan and my signature garlic bread

(Take a pre-sliced, frozen multi-grain baguette and throw some butter, oregano, basil, garlic, and garlic salt on it and bake until it looks good.)

I know I used the wrong pasta, and apparently the wrong bowl, but this wasn't bad. I put together food I liked, it was pretty easy, quick, and it sort of worked.

Madcon - Soul Hop

Madcon is a hip-hop group with a huge dose of soul production. If the Roots went all out with the funk soul music, you'd pretty much have Madcon. There are keys, horns, and soulful choruses. Beggin' is an immediate hit that you may have already heard. The question is will these guys be the next Black Eyed Peas, the next Outkast, or more tragically, the next Pharcyde?

I also like Wholehearted, Liar, and Shine.



Admittedly, this video is not so great with the respecting of the women, but what can I say, I like the song.

Sia - We Are Born

Sia is my favorite. She's adorable. She can sing like an angel. She's quirky. She has great visual style (check out that album cover). She writes fun, pop music with an undertone of earnest emotion. You will love her.

I pretty much like all of the tracks on her new album, but here are my favorites:

Clap Your Hands is a pure pop gem without being saccharine sweet.



You've Changed is a hot dance track. Remixes already abound. The ones with Detroit DJ Lauren Flax are particularly good. (I like the original remix, but I couldn't find a link for it.)

The Fight is an anthem, perfect for singing along, pumping your fist, and jumping around.

Stop Trying is a throwback to 80s pop, a la Katrina and the Waves or Tears for Fears.

Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy.

Fatboy Slim, David Byrne, and a Thousand Great Female Vocalists

I'll grant you the concept of a musical album about the biography of Imelda Marcos, wife of 80s Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos, sounds odd. I'll grant you that the pairing of Talking Heads front man and musical carnivore David Byrne with DJ and dance impressario Fatboy Slim might also seem icongruous. However, throw in a cast of a dozen of the most talented female vocalists around and the darn thing really works. I don't like every track, but it's interesting, funky, fun, music. Each song clearly melds at least three great musical minds. In each one, you can hear the influence of the singer: the Sharon Jones track is classic funk; the Santigold track sounds like nouveau dance-pop; the Kate Pierson track is quirky rock; the Nellie McKay track weaves a laid-back folky beat; and on and on.

My favorites are:

Dancing Together featuring Sharon Jones of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
Men Will Do Anything featuring the great British soul singer, Alice Russell
The Whole Man featuring Kate Pierson of the B-52s
Never So Big featuring Sia
Please Don't featuring Santigold
American Troglodyte (one of the only songs on which Byrne sings)
How Are You? featuring Nellie McKay
Eleven Days featuring Cyndi Lauper
Don't You Agree featuring Róisín Murphy

The album also features Florence (of the Machine), Tori Amos, St. Vincent, Martha Wainwright, Camille, and Natalie Merchant.