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Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy
www.pianofire.wordpress.com

After 7 albums spanning over 16 years in the industry Built To Spill seemed done for, for a time, suffering serious writer’s block among some gem’s in “Strange” and “Goin’ Against Your Mind”. There Is No Enemy comes as one of their final refreshments in the long marathon Built To Spill have endured. The band’s signature, solid and undeniably bottomless sound is splattered across the record, though now at the level we grew up with.

Doug Martsch’s clever wordplay consistently turns lyrical convention in alternative direction from the norm, especially in the awesome indie rocker “Hindsight” with “Morning comes in freight ships while you’re sleeping, That into idea’s was no surprise“. These multi-layered tracks that contrast they’re complexity into simplistic sing-along pop melodies that resemble the reason Band Of Horses and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart exist at all.

Tracks like “Oh Yeah” and the more satisfying “Nowhere Lullaby” produce Built To Spill’s time of down play, while “Good Ol’ Boredom” plays up, and more so the hardcore screams over multiple whaling guitar riffs in “Pat” for “Pat we know you fucked up, But we don’t care you fucked up, Everybody’s fucked up“. If Editors thought In This Light And On This Evening could raise and attack the idea of religion, Martsch raises the bar that much more, singing, “And if God does exist I’m sure he’ll forgive me for doubting, For he’d see how unlikely he made himself seem“.

As this decade comes to an even sooner close, the artists who have experienced both sides of the millenium are running the best legs of their lengthy career (think The Flaming Lips, New Order [is Bad Lieutenant really that different?], yeah okay, and David Grohl and his epic list). Though Built To Spill haven’t re-invented themselves as much as they’ve finally used their strengths and tweaked them into predictable genius.

I recently joined Rhapsody, mostly because I can't keep up with all the releases I want to listen to. So, here is the running list of 2009 albums that I have listened to via Rhapsody. The scrobbling method is a bit archaic, but it seems to be working. Lord knows I can't listen to music and not have it recorded here!

Beak> - Beak> 7.5/10
Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy 6/10
2562 - Unbalance 9/10
Lawrence English - A Colour For Autumn 8/10
Rameses III - I Could Not Love You More 7.5/10
Au Revior Simone - Still Night, Still Light 7.5/10
Tegan and Sara - Sainthood 5/10
The Bird and the Bee - Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future 6/10
Wildbirds & Peacedrums - The Snake 8.5/10
Rick Wade - Presents Harmonie Park 6/10 (good, but not my thing)
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
Peter Broderick - 4 Track Songs

size of covers: 100 = 100x100px, max size is 160

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farrasiname's top albums (7 days)
1. Gordon Lightfoot - Rhino Hi-Five: Gordon Lightfoot (5) 2. Bill Evans - The Complete Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Recordings (4) 3. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away (4) 4. The Shins - So Says I (2) 5. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (1) 6. The Flaming Lips - The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (Music From The Movie And More...) (1) 7. Avril Lavigne - The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (Music from the movie and more...) (1) 8. Kenny Clarke & His 52nd Street Boys - Bebop, Vol. 1 (1) 9. Velvet Crush - Teenage Symphonies To God (1) 10. The Apples in Stereo - Oh Santa! New & Used Christmas Classics from Yep Roc (1) 11. Charlie Parker All-Stars with Miles Davis - Bebop, Vol. 1 (1) 12. The Little Ones - Sing Song (1) 13. Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Spanish Dance Troupe (1) 14. Guided by Voices - Suitcase 3: Up We Go Now (1) 15. The Bebop Boys - Bebop, Vol. 1 (1) 16. Woody Herman & His Second Herd - Bebop, Vol. 1 (1) 17. Annuals - Be He Me (1) 18. Dexter Gorden And Gray Wardell - Bebop, Vol. 1 (1) 19. Built to Spill - You in Reverse (1) 20. Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra - Bebop, Vol. 1 (1)

You guys. It's friday. I'm gonna spend all day in my office listening to the Mountain Goats and playing Desktop Tower Defense. And then tonight: sex party.

OK. That last part isn't true. Tonight is probably going to be "get drunk, play "Left 4 Dead 2," swear at the TV. But maybe I'll feel myself up whilst drunk. That's SORT of a sex party. Right?

Latest show:

Things that Are Square 11-19-09

(*) = New release

(*) Yo La Tengo - More Stars Than There Are in Heaven - Popular Songs

(*) Built to Spill - Done - There Is No Enemy
Sigur Rós - Von - Heim

(*) Tom Waits - Goin' Out West - Glitter and Doom Live
The Mummies - Stronger Than Dirt - Never Been Caught
Thee Oh Sees - Quadrospazzed - The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending the Night In
(*) The King Khan & BBQ Show - Lonely Boy - Invisible Girl

Ghost Mice - Critical Hit - Andrew Jackson Jihad/Ghost Mice Split
Beat Happening - Nancy Sin - Dreamy/Nancy Sin 7"
(*) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - 103 - Higher Than the Stars
(*) Pants Yell! - Cold Hands - Received Pronunciation

(*) Fool's Gold - Ha Dvash - Fool's Gold
High Places - The Storm - High Places
The Endless Bummer - Itacan of Lakota - Modern American Calypsos for Voice and Computer
Nose Bleed Island - When We Won the War - More Tales From the Blood Island

*********************Intern Neha takes over******************************

Jay Reatard - Man of Steel - Watch Me Fall
Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing! - Hold On Now, Youngster...
Lotus Plaza - Red Oak Way - The Floodlight Collective
Midnight Juggernauts - Into the Galaxy - Dystopia

Dirty Projectors - Cannibal Resource - Bitte Orca
Friendly Fires - Jump in the Pool - Friendly Fires
Dressy Bessy - Small - Electrified
The Big Pink - At War WIth the Sun - A Brief History of Love

The Antlers - Thirteen - Hospice
Jack Peñate- Be the One - Everything is New

The Lucksmiths - A Sobering Thought (Just When One Was Needed) - First Frost

The end! Feel free to tune in Things that Are Square every Thursday 6-8pm PST on KUCI 88.9FM in Irvine, CA, and worldwide on the internet at KUCI.ORG, the radio presets of iTunes, and etc etc etc.

Next week being Thanksgiving, I'll be out of town, but I'm sure some capable sub is being found.

<3,
Kyle

1 The Microphones 1,383
2 Animal Collective 1,332
3 Radiohead 1,322
4 Neil Young 1,009
5 Thanksgiving 902
6 Mount Eerie 817
7 Do Make Say Think 812
8 Boards of Canada 742
9 Elliott Smith 722
10 The Books 698
11 The Beatles 669
12 Tom Waits 656
13 Cat Stevens 628
14 Built to Spill 623
15 WHY? 553
16 Joanna Newsom 531
17 of Montreal 509
18 Aphex Twin 479
19 Pavement 448
20 Caribou 434
21 Adrian Orange & Her Band 410
22 Talk Talk 404
23 The American Analog Set 391
24 The Velvet Underground 387
25 Guided by Voices 385
26 Modest Mouse 377
27 Mississippi John Hurt 376
28 The Olivia Tremor Control 363
28 The Fun Years 363
30 Björk 362
30 Polmo Polpo 362
32 Songs: Ohia 357
33 Grizzly Bear 355
34 Miles Davis 353
35 Brian Eno 343
35 Nick Drake 343
37 Frank Zappa 333
38 Jeremy Enigk 331
39 Sunny Day Real Estate 325
40 Bonnie 'Prince' Billy 323
40 Pixies 323
42 Leonard Cohen 322
42 Sonic Youth 322
44 Broken Social Scene 321
45 José González 321
46 Tortoise 319
47 Wilco 317
48 Grateful Dead 314
48 Silver Jews 314
50 The Tallest Man on Earth 310

I'm bored...

First, make a list of your top-20 artists overall. Then, for each of these artists, add the 7 most similar artists to your list. Delete any duplicates, count up the number of entries on your list and this will give you some idea of how eclectic your listening habits are. A score of 7 represents an extremely unvaried musical taste while a 140 represents an extremely varied one.

1 - The Birthday Massacre
2 - Tegan and Sara
3 - Paramore
4 - Thrushes
5 - Emilie Autumn
6 - Jack Off Jill
7 - The White Stripes
8 - Silversun Pickups
9 - The Raveonettes
10 - Pavement
11 - The Dead Weather
12 - Alizée
13 - Nine Inch Nails
14 - Tool
15 - Protest the Hero
16 - Sonic Youth
17 - Otep
18 - Le Tigre
19 - Black Moth Super Rainbow
20 - Scarling.

---

1) The Birthday Massacre
- Helalyn Flowers
- I:Scintilla
-Ayria
- Angelspit
- Dope Stars Inc.
(5)

2) Tegan and Sara
- Tegan Quin
- An Horse
- Rachael Cantu
- Uh Huh Her
- Northern State
- The Cliks
- Tender Forever
(7)

3) Paramore
- Hey Monday
- VersaEmerge
- Boys Like Girls
- Automatic Loveletter
- Flyleaf
- All Time Low
- Fake Number
(7)

4) Thrushes
- Air Formation
- Airiel
- Highspire
- Rumskib
- Tears Run Rings
- Skywave
- The Daysleepers
(7)

5) Emilie Autumn
- Hannah Fury
- Rasputina
(2)

6) Jack Off Jill
- My Ruin
- QueenAdreena
- Daisy Chainsaw
- Switchblade Symphony
(4)

7) The White Stripes
- The Raconteurs
- Jack White
- The Black Keys
- The Greenhornes
- The Kills
- The Hives
(6)

8) Silversun Pickups
- Autolux
- The Airborne Toxic Event
- Death Cab for Cutie
- Cage the Elephant
- Mew
- Metric
- Band of Horses
(7)

9) The Raveonettes
- The Jesus and Mary Chain
- Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
- The Duke Spirit
- Psyched Up Janis
- A Place to Bury Strangers
- The Warlocks
(6)

10) Pavement
- Stephen Malkmus
- Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
- Silver Jews
- Built to Spill
- Sebadoh
- Guided by Voices
- Preston School of Industry
(7)

11) The Dead Weather
- The Horrors
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- Dan Auerbach
- Kasabian
(4)

12) Alizée
- Mylène Farmer
- Lorie
- Najoua Belyzel
- Jenifer
- Natasha St-Pier
- In-Grid
- Zazie
(7)

13) Nine Inch Nails
- Modwheelmood
- Trent Reznor
- Marilyn Manson
- Tweaker
- Black Light Burns
- Halo33
- Puscifer
(7)

14) Tool
- A Perfect Circle
- Peach
- Rishloo
- ASHES dIVIDE
- Riverside
- Porcupine Tree
(6)

15) Protest the Hero
- The Human Abstract
- Between the Buried and Me
- SikTh
- The Fall of Troy
- The Dillinger Escape Plan
- The Number Twelve Looks Like You
- August Burns Red
(7)

16) Sonic Youth
- Thurston Moore
- Ciccone Youth
- Lee Ranaldo
- Free Kitten
- My Bloody Valentine
- Dinosaur Jr.
- Yo La Tengo
(7)

17) Otep
- Kittie
- Eths
- Exilia
- The Agonist
- Mudvayne
- Straight Line Stitch
(6)

18) Le Tigre
- Bikini Kill
- Sleater-Kinney
- Bratmobile
- Julie Ruin
- Peaches
- Lesbians on Ecstasy
- The Gossip
(7)

19) Black Moth Super Rainbow
- Tobacco
- The Octopus Project & Black Moth Super Rainbow
- The Octopus Project
- Black Moth Super Rainbow + The Octopus Project
- satanstompingcaterpillars
- Animal Collective
- Panda Bear
(7)

20) Scarling.
- theSTART
- Die So Fluid
(2)

118/140

2009 was an interesting year in music. Not the best, not the worst, not really anywhere in between but someplace random that I can't pinpoint. There were some incredible highs and some really fucking low lows. I know it's not the end of 2009 yet, but I don't honestly give a shit about anything else coming out this year and I want to get my list out there early so I can laugh and imagine that everybody else copied me. Ha! Without further ado, here's my favorites and least favorites of the year (also notice how I said "my favorites." this denotes opinion!)

Favorite albums of the year:

10. Thrice - Beggars



The wonderful, challenging evolution of Thrice continues with their sixth studio album. Off the heels of the four part experimental Alchemy Index project, many wondered where Thrice would go next. Sadly many got the opportunity to answer that question early as the disc leaked months in advance. Beggars is one of Thrice's most complete works to date. From heavy hitters ("All the World is Mad", "At the Last") to subtle and moving slower paced songs ("Circles, Wood & Wire"), the album showcases a band comfortable with itself. The album closer "Beggars" may be one of the band's greatest songs, weaving elements of folk and rock punctuated by the poignant repeated line "If there's one thing I know in this life, we are beggars all." And this used to be a hardcore punk band! Hard to believe.

9. Super Furry Animals - Dark Days/Light Years



As you can maybe tell by the cover art, this album is a trip and a half. The Super Furries have always flirted with psychedelic elements, but this album perhaps trumps it all. From the opening groove of "Crazy Naked Girls" to the bounce of "Inaugural Trams" to the bizarre but delightful "The Very Best of Neil Diamond", the Furries cram as many fuzzy riffs and strange sonic textures into their songs as possible.

8. Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP



Yeah, it's an EP on the heels of one of the most "warmly" (haha) received folk albums in the past few years. Yes, it's only four songs long. Yes, one song features autotuned vocals repeating the same line over and over (albeit heavily layered and harmonized). But for fuck's sake this is fucking Bon Iver and the man is a genius. His voice is in top form here, sucking the listener into his world of isolation and cold. "Blood Bank" and "Babys" are two of Vernon's most wonderful works, and the aforementioned "Woods" manages to make autotune a good thing. (hard!) This man makes me want to isolate myself in a cabin somewhere far away in the dead of winter. Heck, this man makes me appreciate winter, and that is worth something.

7. Imogen Heap - Ellipse



Let's get this out of the way: Imogen Heap is my favorite female vocalist, bar none. Her work with Frou Frou was brilliant, and her solo work has been top notch as well. So naturally I was eagerly anticipating this one. The good news: her voice is still fucking great. It has the ability to turn mediocre songs musically into masterpieces. Ellipse is more of the same Imogen sound, very cinematic in feel, each piece dripping with urgency and a weighty tone. "Wait it Out" and "Swoon" are two of the album's centerpieces, detailing love and loss. My only gripes are the two song handicap of "Earth" and "Little Bird", which admittedly aren't very good and nearly ruin the flow of the album. But her voice! The atmosphere! I'm in love.

6. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic



What could the Flaming Lips possibly do next?! At War With the Mystics was a disappointment! The band is through! Washed up! Not quite. The Lips quieted many of their detractors with this one, a double album that came out of left field (outer space). A psychedelic clusterfuck of distortion, riffage, pop, and classic Lipisms make this one their best in years. Individual songs hardly matter on this album, it's that damn cohesive. It's a movement.

5. Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy



Indie rock's guitar god's make yet another memorable album. There's plenty of guitar noodling here to be had, but not too much to make fans of more direct rock shy away. Martsch's shredding and wailing are easily his best of the decade, and the band sounds more inspired than they have in a while. The two song tandem of "Things Fall Apart" and "Tomorrow" is one of the best one two punch album closers this year.

4. Brand New - Daisy



Let's get this out of the way: this is no Devil and God, and it's my opinion that Brand New will never, ever top that record. With that, Daisy is a wonderful follow-up, the sound of a band that truly doesn't give a shit, and the perfect way to weed out all of the fake fans that wish they'd write another Your Favorite Weapon or Deja Entendu. Jesse Lacey shrieks and hollers like a madman, and the distortion heavy guitars and feedback conjur Modest Mouse but angrier. They slow it down sometimes too, but it's the fast, angry, pissed as all hell off songs here that really win the day. Clearly influenced by Nirvana, this record is dirty, contemplative, cynical, and beautiful.

3. Mew - No More Stories...



Yeah I'm way too fucking lazy to type out that entire album name. But it's that same laziness that makes it so wonderful to listen to this album. It's a chill, dreamy, harmony laden sound scape that is wonderful with headphones on and eyes closed. Highly experimental and challenging, this album takes pop and warps it. "Cartoons and Macreme Wounds" swells and then drops, "Introducing Palace Players" dashes in some prog, and "Sometimes Life Isn't Easy" inspires. It's beautiful, it's varied, it's relaxing.

2. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion



Holy hype machine! Animal Collective received a shit ton of praise with the release of this, and seemingly put a stranglehold on the top spot of this list. I sure as hell didn't think any album would top this one when it was released in January. I turned out to be wrong, but hey. MPP is the culmination of everything Animal Collective has worked to in their career. Gone is the strange and often annoying noise rock from their earlier albums, replaced with tight song structures coupled with chilling vocals and creative electronics. I could honestly throw out a ton more bullshit terms and phrases but suffice to say I fucking love this album. Call it their "pop" album, it's certainly their most accessible: "My Girls" grooves like a train and "Summertime Clothes" conjurs images of yes, summer. Oh finally, not mindless summer music! Thank you Animal Collective! What will you do next?!

1. Grizzly Bear -Veckatimest



For 3/4s of this year, MPP was my album of the year. No question. Sure, I was struck by Grizzly Bear and their evolution from a low-fi one man band to mesmerizing full band folk-indie-pop-harmony-fuck-yeah awesome. Veckatimest was a lock at number two. I did some more listening. And by gum I realized something. Without hyperbole, this album just may be the most beauteous thing I have ever heard. The harmonies! The melodies! The ambience! The atmosphere! The vocals! The guitar! The band hones everything they introduced on Yellow House into a blend of pure rad. Every fucking song on this album is a thing of wonder. It flows together so well that it's almost like a dream to listen to. More accessible than even the most accessible of MPP's tracks, this album has slingshot Grizzly Bear into the public eye. Accessible, yet challenging. I can dig.

My favorite songs of the year:

10. Super Furry Animals - The Very Best Of Neil Diamond
9. Built to Spill - Life's a Dream
8. Bon Iver - Babys
7. Mew - Cartoons and Macreme Wounds
6. Brand New - Bought A Bride
5. Radiohead - These Are My Twisted Words
Um yes more new Radiohead please.
4. Animal Collective - My Girls
I don't mean to make it seem like I care about material things but I really enjoy this song and would marry it.
3. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks
Vocally hypnotizing and musically dreamy.
2. Animal Collective - In the Flowers
Yes, this was my top track for a long time. Yes, Grizzly Bear once again trumps it. Taking nothing away from this track, it's one of the best album openers in a long time. 2:31 is where the magic happens.
1. Grizzly Bear - Ready, Able
The most beautiful track on a beautiful record. Sucks you in during the first half and then unleashes a chorus that'll make you sad, blissful, contemplative, and daring all rolled into one. It now also has a really trippy music video.


AND NOW TIME FOR THE BAD!


Disappointments of the year:

Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3



Yo Jay what's with this shit? Blueprint 3 being released on the same day as the original Blueprint is almost a sin because of what garbage it is. The guy who was once king of rap now sounds bored as all hell, basically phoning in an album and enlisting a lot of guest stars to mask it. After all these months I am still questioning the integrity of having a song declaring the "Death of Autotune" but having the VERY NEXT SONG ON THE ALBUM featuring both Rihanna and Kanye West. NOPE! Maybe next time Jay?

Muse - The Resistance




HEY GUYS MATT BELLAMY HATES THE GOVERNMENT AND DOESN'T CARE WHO KNOWS. He hates them so much that he will stop at nothing, compromising creativity to write over and over about the same exact thing in most of his songs to get his one sentence point across. Might as well add some overblown compositions and bogus synths in there while he's at it. Did I mention: UNITED STATES OF.................................EURA-SIA! SIA! SIA!

Weezer - Raditude



Well Weezer your career is already in the toilet so might as well make it worse. Another phoned in album with phoned in lyrics and bored sounding vocals. "Can't Stop Partying" featuring Lil' Wayne is quite possibly one of the worst songs I've ever heard. I can't figure out who sounds worse, Wayne or Cuomo!



AND WE END WITH A HEALTHY RANT!

Guest vocalists have been really shitty of late and have been dominating the music scene with their nonsense. Everybody knows that guest vocalists are great when done right (TV on the Radio feat. David Bowie for "Province", Kanye feat. Jay-Z for "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" jump to mind) but lately it seems like pop music stars are just getting random fools to guest in their songs to attract mindless fans. This is especially prevalent with rappers. Sorry Drake, Akon, (insert mindless rapper here) but I don't give a shit how many Kanyes or Jay-Zs you throw in your songs, they're still drivel. Sorry Keri Hilson, but get as many songs with Kanye and Lil Wayne as you like but your music is still the same trite brainless radio ready pop with an "edge" (HAHA). Is it bad that I now expect the worse when the radio announcer tacks on the "featuring"?

Mostly for my reference, here a bunch of 2009 releases that I've been really digging. I'll likely use this list as a basis for my best of 2009 albums, which will be written in December, just in case there are any late bloomers yet to hit the shelves/internets/whatever.

Mastodon - Crack the Skye
Baroness - Blue Record
Russian Circles - Geneva
Pelican - What We All Come to Need
Thao with The Get Down Stay Down - Know Better Learn Faster
The Appleseed Cast - Sagarmatha
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind
Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
Kylesa - Static Tensions
Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy
The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love
Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect
Isis - Wavering Radiant
The Black Dahlia Murder - Deflorate
Saxon Shore - It Doesn't Matter
Scale The Summit - Carving Desert Canyons
Skeletonwitch - Breathing the Fire
Born of Osiris - A Higher Place
The Hylozoists - L'île de Sept Villes