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Best of 2008: Mix 1 of 2
Wouldn't you know it? The years end earlier and earlier as the decade nears an end of its own...at this rate we'll all be dead by 2093. Delightful, huh? Regardless, we're basically calling it now. 2008 is done on December 8 (Happy New Year, jerks!), and to commemorate all the indie such a calendar year encompasses we're giving you our annual Best-of mix, divided into two easily digestible, undeniably enjoyable segments. Here's Part One, eh. Digest. Enjoy.
A General Reaction: November 2008 Mix
Welcome to our final regular season mix of 2008. Next month we will compile our Top 30 tracks of the year, so try and hold onto your pants as you anticipate what exactly could end up here. But, that is next month. Let us focus on what is going down here, in the month of November, in the year 2008. This one truly is a monster. Please settle in nicely. Don't be alarmed. Don't be afraid. It's only a mix, in podcast form. True to the numbers and exploring new territory, your time is now.
Polipopdysfunctionality: October 2008 Mix
October is a month for change, or is that next month? Fall! Horses. Laughter. That new sweater you bought on clearance. Politics. Yams toasted warmly in a bed of crisp, dry leaves. And...songs! We have 14 news ones for you this month and it's all free, of course. We were honestly beginning to think a band such as Dillinger Four would never end up in our podcast. Or that artists called Fall Horsie do actually exist. Or that even October would get here. You're here now and now is the time to listen.
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Best of 2008: Mix 1 of 2
Wouldn't you know it? The years end earlier and earlier as the decade nears an end of its own...at this rate we'll all be dead by 2093. Delightful, huh? Regardless, we're basically calling it now. 2008 is done on December 8 (Happy New Year, jerks!), and to commemorate all the indie such a calendar year encompasses we're giving you our annual Best-of mix, divided into two easily digestible, undeniably enjoyable segments. Here's Part One, eh. Digest. Enjoy.
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Mix MP3
 Off With Their Heads - "I Am You" - From the Bottom [No Idea]
Unlikely drunk rock. What the hell happened to Off With Their Heads?
A) Life really cannot be this bad.
B) Not everyone drinks.
C) Everyone should drink.
D) Life really is this bad.
E) Ryan Young still hasn't answered all the questions.
F) And the list goes on and on and on...and on.
Off With Their Heads' website
 Subtle - "Unlikely Rock Shock" - ExitingARM [Lex]
And the list goes on and on because it's only started. Because if it didn't, you'd miss your chance to look back at this fleeting odyssey which never seems to strive for stasis and is all the better for it. If this year taught us anything it's that you don't fuck with Dose, people. He's got art rock to make.
Subtle's website
 Of Montreal - "An Eluardian Instance" - Skeletal Lamping [Polyvinyl]
Speaking of refusal to stay put, holy freaking crap, would ya get a load of this guy? How many Of Montreal tracks do we have in our best of 2008 mix? Three? Four? Six? ... One?! Yeah, one. And it's a doozy.
Of Montreal's website
 Department of Eagles - "No One Does It Like You" - In Ear Park [4AD]
And now, for no good reason, the soundtrack to an expedition bent on smuggling imaginary elephants from where the wild things are; to probably floating in some kind of bluish black, and suspecting the bleak permanence of things beyond comprehension. Oh, wait, there is a good reason: This song is freaking art.
Department of Eagles' website
 Frightened Rabbit - "The Twist" - Midnight Organ Fight [Fatcat]
Frightened Rabbit have reinvented everything you thought you knew about the twist on "The Twist" by simply asking for human heat. They are insecure, timid, and startled in their ways, yet confident and approachable in their delivery. A conundrum or a catch 22? Neither. We'll just call it brilliant and move on.
Frightened Rabbit's website
 Ladyhawk - "S.T.H.D." - Shots [Jagjaguwar]
FYI: This is the messiest, loudest, most convincing Ladyhawk song you may ever hear. Leave it to Ladyhawk to tell you to "stick to your poetry."
Ladyhawk's website
 War on Drugs - "Taking the Farm" - Wagonweel Blues [Secretly Canadian]
It's been said in secret that because it's there, someone had to do the walk of life. Why not the War on Drugs? Because they'll weird it all up? Because if your friends didn't jump off a bridge would you not jump, too? Here's the thing, jerk: No one didn't not jump. And this track does just fine. Well done, War on Drugs, you showed 'em all.
The War on Drugs' website
 Constantines - "Trans Canada" - Kensington Heights [Arts & Crafts]
You need to get your ominous, big-rock sound from somewhere - that's a certainty. And no one provides a more substantial, ominous, big-rock sound than the Constantines.
Constantines' website
 The Lord Dog Bird - "The Gift of Song in the Lion's Den" - The Lord Dog Bird [Jagjaguwar]
Here, in the middle ground, we find the superb closer that sounds like a perfect opener. We'd call it an appropriate precursor the Wilderness album that would follow in '08, but such a claim would make us clearly idiots and ambiguity is more our thing. Maybe.
 Sigur Ros - "Gobbledigook" - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust [XL]
We're pretty sure if you combined "Gobbledigook" with "Taking the Farm" you'd have an Animal Collective track on your hands. And, if you'll notice, that's the last thing we want out of 2008. (Which is why we have the Constantines to keep them separated? Hmmmm...no. But they did a fine job, anyway). 2009, on the other hand, gets started early. Let the freak out commence.
Sigur Ros' website
 Doomtree - "Flex" - False Hopes [Doomtree]
We don't even know anything about rap...how can we express our distain for the decline in rap? We can't. We shouldn't even try. That's why we've enlisted Doomtree to explain the situation. Er, they can't either? Nonsense. Just listen to 'em ... Just listen. You hear that? Yeah. Sounds good, right? Yeah.
Doomtree's website
 Skeletons - "Stepper (aka Work)" - Money [Tomlab]
Hey, it's everyone's favorite schizophrenic pop-noisish outfit with the Godspeed complex! And they sure do deliver from time to time - maybe no time greater than "Stepper". If the work week actually sounded like this, we'd all have a lot less to complain about.
Skeletons website
 Dodos - "Winter" - Visiter [French Kiss]
It's all about rhythm, blues, and timing. Dodos have it all, especially on "Winter," arguably the best track from their heavily praised Visiter. And it's perfect for this time of year. You can thank the Dodos later.
Dodos' website
 High Places - "From Stardust to Sentience" - High Places [Thrill Jockey]
Relax. It's only your temporal lobes imploding. You probably don't need them, anyway. At least you wouldn't if you could convince your prefrontal cortex to do the same. Can you do that, maybe? For us? Boy, kid, your head sure looks funny.
High Places' website
 David Karsten Daniels - "That Knot Unties?" - Fear of Flying [Fatcat]
Take offs and landings seem very uneasy for David Karsten Daniels. Very uneasy. Like queasy almost. It's as if the flight attendants are going through their spiel about the seat belts and all that bullshit and DKD is just sitting in coach class row 13 praying for the flight to be okay. Then all of a sudden he stops praying, breaks out his Telecaster and writes "That Knot Unties?". He writes it without pause; it just flows out of him and everyone on the flight stares at him in complete bewilderment as he repeats the melody over and over and over and over. At this point the aircraft has reached cruising altitude and all the old people and kids under two years old are fast asleep. And a pause comes across everyone and DKD just sits there smiling, knowing deep down that the flight will be okay. Everything will be okay. That's what this song does. It does it well.
David Karsten Daniels' website
-30-
written on 2008/12/08 by -30- |
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