"What Are You Doing New Years Eve?" and a Glaring Omission

After compiling my 12 Best Albums of 2011, I realized, about 8 hours after posting it, that I left off one album that was incredible and necessary... essential even! That album is Nine Types of Light by TV On The Radio. It's truly excellent from beginning to end and harkens a charming and potent return to form for the experimental, shoegaze outfit. You should list to that too. And if I missed anything else, I'm truly sorry. It's tough to throw together a comprehensive list without neglecting some of the excellence that is all around all the time.

But, with that wrong righted, "What Are You Doing New Years Eve?"




And for the Scrubs fans out there... a fun little version of a Christmas classic.

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30 Great Tracks from 2011 - Part One: In which Doris gets her oats

In 2011, we saw a lot of chaos unfold around us. The economy continues to stumble. Occupy surged, slowed and soldiered on. And a several great (and unequivocally not-great) people died. But, for all the shit-storm action in 2011, it also brought us some truly incredible music, yet again. And a lot of that music slipped past/under the collective popular radar. We saw old stalwarts continue making great stuff. Great returns by Sloan, TV On The Radio, The Decemberists, Raphael Saadiq, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, St. Vincent and so many more, made the year, as crazy as it was, a tolerable one. Also, I turned 30. So, in admittedly vain and somewhat hackneyed honor of the beginning of my 31st year on this little ol' planet Earth, here's a list of 30 great tracks from 2011. This post is Part One: In which Doris gets her oats. (And if you don't get that reference, please seek out a little song called "I Dig A Pony" by the Beatles.) Because, we're referential as hell around these parts. You know, it's literary.

The tracks on this list are in no particular order. There are tons of music mags and blogs that rank them based on quality, but really, the listening experience is so subjective (based on mood, repetition, likes and dislikes) that it's difficult (if not impossible) to properly assign an arbitrary, or even critically determined, number to each one. Instead, here's the first 15. If you're savvy, and I know you are, you can check out the whole list by hitting up my Best of 2011 GLMedia playlist on Spotify. Of course, if you've got a bit of Christmas/holiday spirit left in you, you can also stop listening after the end of this list and wait until the next post (coming oh, so soon) to finish it out.

But, before we get to the other tracks, I have an honorable mention. This track, and its creator were not active in 2011. The Popovers were active between 2004 and 2009, a joint, exceptional pop band comprising Tim LaFollette and Catie Braly. They never played live, but they did create some memorable, incredible songs over those 5 years, including my honorable mention track, a cover of Snuzz's "The Worst In You," one of 12 perfect tracks from their compilation album Make It So! Sadly, Tim was suffering from ALS over the last few years, and this year he succumbed to his illness. It was tragic not merely because of the loss of life, but because LaFollette was such a talented song-writer and a brilliant lyricist. The loss of potential is terrible. With a heavy heart, I give 2011's honorable mention to The Popovers' "The Worst In You," a song you won't find on Spotify, but one that I hope you will listen to.

Now, the list.

1. Sloan "Follow the Leader" from The Double Cross - Sloan has been active for 20 years, and they just continue to write amazing power-pop. This song opens the playlist with vigor, and some appropriate "leadership."

2. TV On The Radio "Will Do" from Nine Types of Light - One of the best albums of the year, TV On The Radio returned triumphantly. And this sweet, romping, twinkling, experimental and instantly catchy track highlights just how great they can be. And that's VERY great.

3. Raphael Saadiq "Go To Hell" from Stone Rollin' - Saadiq, formerly of Tony! Toni! Toné!, gave us one of the year's best soul, funk and 50s-60s genre rock albums. And with "Go To Hell" you get a song with beautiful horns, true lyrics, and complex instrumentation. It's beautiful.

4. Okkervil River "Wake And Be Fine" from I Am Very Far - Will Sheff and the boys of Okkervil River provided one of my favorite shows of the year, despite an ankle injury that made my experience hellish. And this track has all the pop sensibility and energy of their best, with the maturity only a veteran band can possess.

5. The Decemberists "I 4 U & U 4 Me" from Long Live The King - This track, a home demo from the band's post The King Is Dead EP, is just about as purely folk-tastic and sweet as anything they released on the full record. It's a great love song, and a brilliant piece of Americana Redux.

6. Cut Copy "Hanging Onto Every Heartbeat" from Zonoscope - While their 2011 release wasn't as perfect as 2008's In Ghost Colours, it still produced a large handful of mellow, dance-rock wonder. This is one of those, and believe me, I had a hard time choosing only one.

7. PJ Harvey "Bitter Branches" from Let England Shake - England's post-punk, fuzz-rock, experimental darling PJ Harvey returned with an epic album. "Bitter Branches" is perfect mix of her old-style clatter blended with some palatable song structure. It's raucous, driving and enjoyable.

8. Radiohead "Morning Mr. Magpie" from The King of Limbs - Well, it's Radiohead. The album is still better than many remember. It's not an instant classic, but it has a lot of quality and a lot of character. And this song is one of the best they gave us this year; chaotic, jumbled and satisfying.

9. The Decemberists "Down By The Water" from The King Is Dead - Yeah, I know, two songs by Colin Meloy and Co. I'm a fan. I won't apologize. This one is so fun, rousing and delightful that it had to make the list, even if that makes me seem a little biased. Long live the Decemberists! (I bet no one used that doozy of a pun-continuation all year.)

10. Big K.R.I.T. "Sookie Now" from Return to 4EVA/R4 The Prequel - Big K.R.I.T. is doing some of the best rhyming around right now and this anthemic, party-starter, leaves you full of energy and ready to rock the faces of every crowd you meet. Beat that Bon Jovi.

11. Starfucker "Mystery Cloud" from Reptilians - This is just a beautiful, dream-space dance tune. Starfucker is instantly catchy. And the climbing pseudo-8-bit strings and measures are infectious. It's a good disease of the ears.

12. The Antlers "I Don't Want Love" from Burst Apart - I mean, tell me this isn't amazing. The opening line "You want to come up the stairs, I wanna push you back down," is a perfect bit of a-romantic hyperbole. (I hope.) Just beautiful.

13. Maritime "Paraphernalia" from Human Hearts - While it might not even be the best song they've written (still a tie between "Twins" and "People, The Vehicles" from We, The Vehicles) this perfectly captures their style and really calls to that great album. Beautiful lyrics and jangling guitars.

14. Peter, Bjorn & John "Second Chance" from Gimme Some - After "Young Folks" PB&J were kinda pigeonholed. Then they released Living Things and fans jumped ship because of the sonic darkness, but Gimme Some brought back the pop and the glee. It's not as folksy, but "Second Chance" is great and hey, listen to that cowbell!

15. Fucked Up "The Other Shoe" from David Comes To Life - Fucked Up's concept album about heartbreak and starting over was a huge surprise for me, simply because it's so complex and ornate, pulling away from punk toward a more theatrical design. This song is a perfect example, with great harmony and a powerful, addictive riff.

Alright, that's Part the First. Dig into the list on Spotify. Or use Share My Playlist at this here link: http://bit.ly/vV9axP

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theendisthebeginning - Tropics

Blending some Genesis-era Peter Gabriel style affectations with a kind of dreamy, but poignant drone, theendisthebeginning, headed by Clint Kaminska, Joseph Nichy, Robert Armando Flores, Ryan Hone, and Matt Kjorvestad, creates music that is both stadium minded and coffee-shop applicable. That's not to say this is like early Coldplay. Instead, theendisthebeginning merges the grungy '90s guitar fuzz of a Gen X "I don't give a shit" culture with the '70s and '80s electronica that was all about possibility and a future of sure technological advance that would force our humanity into stark contrast with our robotic overlords. With Tropics, the band's newest EP, there's are hints here and there that say the whole album could shift into a Filter/early-Radiohead/The Cure sort of guitar-laden sad-guy, philosopher rock, but as a whole the album resists even that contrived and convoluted kind of genre assignment.

In ways, theendisthebeginning is as dreamy as Pink Floyd and as earthbound as Blur. They have taken the best aspects of the '90s, stirred in a presumably-proprietary blend of herbs and spices, and created a sonic stew. The tracks comprising Tropics are sturdy, thick and dense with production and sound, but at the same time, they are spare, deep and constantly satisfying. There's not really any filler here, even as some songs aren't as strong as others. Instead, there are hushed, rattling drum and cymbal lines. There are delicate, ornate guitar accents. And on a track like "Blueswallow" there are distinct hints of TV on the Radio and always, always, by virtue of the vocals, there's a Peter Gabriel vibe. That is NEVER a bad thing.

You must, repeat MUST listen to the title track "Tropics." And then there are the equally, but more conventionally virtuous "Massive" and the sad, but sturdy "Blueswallow." "Weapons" is the most machine-gun-rocking, with a continuous, driving, pounding guitar backing and lush, simple riffs and fills. But the jaunty and bright "Concreep," in a different key than the other songs on the album, really shines through some thoroughly poetic lyrics and some delightful '90s-ish song structure. With this track, you feel a little bit of Steve Winwood mixed with Ben Folds and the complex instrumentation and jagged-aspects of some Wolf Parade.

Listen to the EP here, via theendisthebeginning's bandcamp page. Then, umm, drop the LESS than $4 on the 5 tracks. It's worth it and you're more than likely going to have all of these tracks stuck in your head in no time... especially "Tropics."

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Bon Iver - Bon Iver

Justin Vernon has come a long way in three years. That's not to imply there was anything unsatisfying about For Emma, Forever Ago. That album is undeniably mighty. And now, in contrast to Bon Iver, that first album feels like the solemn, sweet build toward something massive. The acoustic calm before the electric storm. Though I'm reluctant to call Bon Iver some kind of electric breakthrough. It's not. It's a reasonable progression. It's poppy and powerful. Loaded with grinding, thumping energy. There are moments when it feels as if a folk guitarist and a small brass band have crashed into a busy dance club. But never, NEVER! to disastrous effect. The truth is, and if you've already heard this dozens of times over the 2 months that the album was floating around the internet due to leakage stay with me, Bon Iver is phenomenal. Every ambitious rock element Justin Vernon plays with is exceptionally done. Every soft note of lament or ballad is perfect. The lyrics are heart-plucking, tear-jerking and foot-tapping, and at times all three at once. This is as lush an album as I've listened to all year. And it's Bon Iver, a band whose name pronunciation has caused some controversy on the It's A Thing! podcast, so ultimately, this is built to satisfy.

"Perth" is your holy-shit-really!? moment to start the album. It's a track so powerful, big and energized that it's nearly unexpected. I want to take a little aside real quick... Justin Vernon is a busy man. In the three years since For Emma..., he has created an EP with Bon Iver, collaborated with Kanye West on My Beautiful Dark Twisted etc., churned out an exceptional album with Volcano Choir called Unmap, and recorded a full album with GAYNGS. During all of that, he also composed this album. This beautiful fucking wonderful album that makes you cry and jump and sing and cry a little more. If I had a nickel for each time Justin Vernon has done something prolific, I'd be heavy enough for the mob to kill me without the cement shoes. Anyway, "Perth" is just so incredibly epic. And when it ends, the album tapers down into a gentle plucking guitar that reloads our hearts and ears for a more delicate "Minnesota, WI." Some of the greatest beauty comes in the form of the haunting "Holocene," a sad song about reminiscing and learning to see beyond the past. The gorgeous call "I can see for miles, miles, miles" bring a tear to my eye just as it holds a cache of golden catchiness. It's a song that demonstrates so greatly how much Justin Vernon know about quality song writing. The careful rattling snare and fluttering horns mixed into the background just seem to fall like fresh snow. It doesn't matter that it's June, nearly July. It's a mood and an emotion and a world unto its own.

"Towers" is wonderful too! Another gentle track that gives way to the casual waltz of "Michicant" where bike bells and echoing, smooth drums fill in the back beat. The build and the growth in this short track is nothing short of admirable. "Hinnom, TX" has that '80s era synth warble and demonstrates again the vocal range Vernon possesses. His throatier, non-falsetto, feels almost like a TV On The Radio track. And you may even pick up a tiny bit of Sufjan Stevens in the arrangement. Going back, it's just amazing what Justin Vernon can come up with. From every cover he has put his own mark upon, including the Bonnie Raitt medley from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, to his Feist cover, he is always learning from every song he hears. That's not to say he lacks his own style. Not at all. Instead, he's like a musical super sponge. It's as if his technique changes so constantly and so perfectly with each new bit of information. And while every band grows over time, Vernon and Bon Iver seem to grow more broadly, sprawling as much as they reach skyward. "Wash." is a soft track that starts with subtle, repetitive piano and starts pulling in multiple directions, adding strings and loops and warbling electronic touches. If you don't listen closely you can miss some of these stylistic touches. But you will listen closely because it's worth it.

"Calgary" is especially interesting for the reasons I've just mentioned. It begins like a calm day and builds almost slowly enough that you'd never notice until it's nearly a power pop track and then it cools and disappears. So fucking beautiful. Really. The penultimate track "Lisbon, OH" is a brief rest, a calm before the final cry that is "Beth / Rest." And "Beth / Rest" feels a bit like Don Henley's "The End of the Innocence." That's a compliment. And really it's nothing like it, but there's something in the chord progression. And the synthy echo of the piano. Regardless, you could not ask for a better closing track. Or for that matter, a better album.

I'd love to have had the complete album streaming here, but since it just came out, and experienced the leakage issues early this year, it's not fully available anywhere. So instead, check out the links above and the video below, a remix of "Skinny Love" that will light your lamp.

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TV On The Radio - Nine Types of Light

Nine Types of Light is synth-heavy and poppier than previous TV On The Radio albums like 2008's Dear Science. Rather than wholly embracing horns the bulk of tracks as they have in the past, this new foray takes hold of wailing background keys and holds tighter to the concept of indie rock. This is no longer shoegaze music. TV On The Radio is a rock band, attacking your senses with guitars and at points with '80s style beats. This is an epic record if ever there was one, but the band is still careful to toss in thoughtful, lamenting tunes too. Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone still split the vocals as evenly as ever, but they have definitely turned toward more full singing and away from vocal bombastic acrobatics. This is never more evident than on "Killer Crane," a track that builds so sweetly and honestly on piano and string percussion. In a lot of ways, Nine Types of Light feels like the "organic" TV On The Radio album, despite the presence of expected and valuable production.

For this boy, TV On The Radio was something of a revelation. Music never felt quite this way before I heard them. In that way they share common holds with Radiohead, another band who truly altered the musical landscape permanently and irrevocably. When TV On The Radio chooses to get funky they do it better than just about anybody. When they want to throw together a thoughtful and complex bout of math rock, they create an equation so elaborate that Einstein would've shit his phonograph. And now, as they venture toward something more direct, pure and sweet, they generate emotion as if they started the whole idea of love and fear and discontent from scratch. On "Will Do" we hear an echoing, cavernous '80s track that parrots so many love songs, but does so with enough electronic adornment that it would never sound like something we have already heard. The lyric "Anytime will do/ What choice of words will bring me back to you?" is simple and haunting. The kind of thought we've all had, summed perfected and sung sadly.

With the grungier "New Cannonball Blues" we are treated to a phenomenal combination of harmonized vocals that is both guttural and natural, protesting distemper as easily as the song embraces it. There are vague notes of John Lennon's protest songs like "Working Class Hero" here, summing all the frustrations into a ball and spewing them in a great purge. And finally, the horns appear in full-form too, calling back to previous albums. The aptly named "Repetition" utilizes a rolling electronic track to back another track of gain, loss, excess and trying and trying and trying again. This is a hook-laden track on an album that lives by hooks and quality song writing. The experimentation is lighter than previous art rock iterations of TV On The Radio, but they still know how to keep a listener guessing, offering several songs, like "Repetition" that seem to build to one thing or another and then quickly change direction. "Forgotten" is sweet and sad. "Caffeinated Consciousness" is percussive and funky, barking at you in a sort of Clash-like punk/funk way that tapers back into sweeter philosophical crooning. But, for me, some of the greatest sincerity comes from the opening track "Second Song" where chunky guitars come in to back a poetic group of lyrics about life, drudgery, music, light and seeing the world in a new way.

TV On The Radio never left, so this isn't a comeback. This is a band that continues to grow from album to album, altering the landscape and their legacy for the better each time. If we were all 12 and there was an awesome roller coaster that your friends told you that you must ride to fully experience life, this is the sonic equivalent for 2011. Get your hands on this album. Find a way. And until then you can preview it, maybe listening to it twice view Rhapsody on their free stream...

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Maximum Balloon

David Andrew Sitek's first solo project Maximum Balloon is stacked to the brim with incredible guests from throughout the indie music scene. For those who don't know, Sitek daylights as a guitarist (et. various) in TV on the Radio, and has also had a hand in the production of many of the great albums of the last few years including those of his band (TVotR), all 4 albums by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars and Scarlett Johansson. As for the guests: Karen O, of Yeah Yeah Yeahs appears, as do TVotR band mates Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone. The album also features Little Dragon, Theophilus London, Katrina Ford, Aku, Holly Miranda, and Ambrosia Parsley (David Byrne even makes an appearance on the memorable "Apartment Wrestling"). With all these guests, you'd think there would be potential concern that this album would become more of a compilation than a unique sounding record. Thankfully, that concern is washed away quickly. Even with a couple of songs like those featuring Sitek's band mates that sound strongly like TV on the Radio lost hits, Maximum Balloon is driven by a funky beat and strong combination of electronics, thoughtful melodies and (at times) '80s nostalgic bass lines.

Largely, the album is a sort of dance rock, indie opus for Sitek. The production and arrangements are impeccable, and the pacing is brilliant. The album never fails to bring an enjoyable tune, and only occasionally do a riff or mix sound that "too similar" way that strikes many bands. The excellent "Groove Me" opens the album and starts the funky set off with a strong first step. Katrina Ford's vocals on the '80s flavored "Young Love" are powerful and thick and syrupy, guiding an incredible track (backed by popping brass). "Absence of Light" is one of the TVotR tracks that could easily have been a missing hit, and that's nothing but a compliment. Anyone in love with/ familiar with TVotR will recognize Tunde's vocals immediately and be further driven to happiness by the grinding and powerful fuzz that coats the track. Little Dragon's contribution on "If You Return" is another case of beautiful female vocals carrying a song, not that the band is anything but stellar on the track, but Yukimi Nagano's vox are phenomenal. Kyp Malone of TVotR is another easily recognized voice for fans who appears on the fifth track "Shakedown." The song grinds out another dancing, but notably downbeat melody that vibes well as funky guitar work fills the space around Malone's vocal acrobatics.

And now we've made it to Karen O. Her work on "Communion" recalls many of the slower, but still driving tracks from last year's It's Blitz! and adds some very Sitek-unique aspects. It becomes both a haunting track and a steely, city anthem. It blends well into the album as a whole, too, even if Karen O's voice calls for indie-rock neck-craning (or is it ear-craning?). Aku comes aboard for "Tiger," a song with a chorus/chanting backing vocals that is close to my heart due to a variety of inside jokes with great friends. The song falls into refrains of "Meow, meow, meow" repeating, just quietly enough not to distract, but audibly enough to show a playful face. "The Lesson" is another, and perhaps the most, thoughtful and haunting track on the album featuring Holly Miranda on vocals. And "Apartment Wrestling," which I mentioned before is co-written by and features vocals by the immortal and incredible David Byrne. This track comes off as a true Talking Heads-style, Byrne-esque work, loaded with quick lyrics belted at high volume in a disjointed inflection. It's a treat and also a song that falls so well into the nostalgic format that it just feels like home (assuming of course home had anything to do with Talking Heads, which mine did). The closer is a droning, slow, fuzzy, tide-crashing-to-the-beach style song that lives with a minimum of instrumental adornment called "Pink Bricks." It features Ambrosia Parsley and is fueled by her voice. It closes the album on a peaceful, if solemn note. And does so beautifully.

Maximum Balloon is as much Sitek's project as that of his co-writers, but his stamp is evident and welcome on each and every song. The album blends its guests and its "star" perfectly, making it easily of the most enjoyable discs of the year. Not checking it out, I'll say, should be considered a Federal offense. Is it too late to add that to state ballots for November? It is? Okay, well, then do yourself (and your loved ones) a favor and check this out.

Score: 9.5/10

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A beginning and a year-end.

Despite the pervading rumor of its demise the album remained strong in 2008. They stand tall in the face of digitization like Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. We loved them once, and now they're knife-wielding and crazy, hiding in the bushes in our front yards. The album will never die, and not because it is impervious to the new digital age, but because there is a love there that transcends individual tracks. Shoot them down with hook-laden pop singles and radio hits, but watch them rise up again, horror movie style to remind us how great it is to hear a set of songs that paints a picture, sets a mood, and makes us think.

To light Gas Lantern for the first time, I'm running down my Top 5 albums of 2008. I've ranked these in order of awesomeness (the most objective property by which to rank music in any list). Put the kids to bed, grab some popcorn, and put on your reading goggles because here they come:

number 5: She & Him; Volume One

Playful and experimentally folksy, the debut by Zooey Deschanel with M. Ward opens with a candy-coated sentimentality and sustains emotional depth covering classic topics of love and loss. The collaboration hits the necessary pop notes, but doesn't drag them out into a series of belligerent hooks. The album sounds like Loretta Lynn and feels like swimming in a pool of cotton candy. You won't throw up a Care Bear from its sweetness as timely covers and ballads sync the album together so that it sums up an almost collective consciousness experience of love. Deschanel and Ward rearrange "You Really Got a Hold On Me" into an ethereal mist that both grabs and blurs the simple chord progression. They succeed by taking the over-driven poppiness away and letting the solemn lyrics show like a spotlight in a dense fog. Closing on a mournful, solidly voiced version of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," She & Him impress without seeming to try.

My Favorite Track: "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?"


number 4: The Magnetic Fields; Distortion

A growling infusion of distortion typifies another excellent themed album by The Magnetic Fields. Breaking away only slightly from the usual classical instrumentation (running guitar, cello, piano and organ, along with Daniel Handler's accordion through the pedals) Stephin Merritt and company hit all the right notes to entertain lyrically and intrigue musically. My love of The Magnetic Fields may have pushed this album into the Top 5 for more than simple virtue, but Distortion remains a cohesive, witty and sparse rock archive. Biting, but funny tracks like "California Girls" and "Too Drunk To Dream" play to the best aspects of Shirley Simms' and Merritt's vox, respectively. "Zombie Boy" plays with love, voodoo and points to the intellectual side of the band.

My favorite Track: "Too Drunk To Dream"


number 3: Fleet Foxes; Fleet Foxes


Fleet Foxes self-titled album (which has topped many year-end lists as the best of 2008) is symphonic and heavy with warm, steely guitar strings, but even has the harmonic sensibility of The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds layered in. It starts with a sunrise, literally, and each carefully selected note calls back to great bands like Crosby, Stills & Nash and Pink Floyd. Nothing on the album, from arrangement, to vocals, to harmony, to individual notes seems accidental. This album is well-planned and built to be heard from top to bottom. Songwriter Robin Pecknold offers 11 songs without contrivance. In that way, each transition feels fleet, not weighted down even when the words or the chord progression grants a song heaviness. Fleet Foxes embrace folk, indie rock, and to a great extent, a renaissance air. "White Winter Hymnal" darkens the tone almost immediately... and carries toward "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" where Pecknold attaches a haunting refrain (I don't know what I have done/I'm turning myself into a demon). And even for that darkness, "Quiet Houses" provides redemption to the story with lyrics like 'Lay me down, lay me down.../Don't give in, don't give in..." Each song compliments the last. This is a truly great album. If you haven't heard it yet, get up from the computer (or order it online if you must) and give it a listen.

My Favorite Track: "He Doesn't Know Why "


number 2: MGMT; Oracular Spectacular

I'll admit, right here, right now that this album is front-loaded. It's top-heavy like a pornstar, but what it lacks in the final 3 or 4 tracks, it more than makes up for with grittiness, and the kind of brilliance you can only get from the duo of Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden and their realist-sensibility driven synthpop. The opening track, "Time to Pretend," admits and reiterates the sometimes dismal hope of fame through artistic creation in an internet world. The fame of old no longer exists, so your best hope is to live it up while you have the chance. Occasionally, the lyrics are nonsensical, almost seeming encoded in a language for which we've long lost the cypher. The arrangements are emotional, not obvious, but motivating. These songs make you want to listen. A folksy turn in "Weekend Wars," a disco one in "Electric Feel," and a misty design on "Kids" make this one of the most fun, and re-listenable albums of the last year. Technically, it was released digitally at year's end 2007, but it's good enough to mention again this year.

My Favorite Track: "Weekend Wars"


number 1: TV On The Radio; Dear Science

My love for this album, which is young for 2008- just released in late September- has won the hearts of many music reviewers and publications. It has the number 1 nod from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and Spin among others. The best aspect of Dear Science is how it demonstrates the growth of TVotR as a band. Not only showing expansion of their trademark post-punk, indie, shoegaze sound, but also in their production. Songs remain sparse and unadorned as necessary, and Dear Science shows a confidence that precludes any faults of big label overworking. The lyrics maintain the playfulness of early albums, and don't compromise. My favorite track, "Halfway Home" bounds from giddy anticipation to regret to the hope you can only get when you're finally turning into your neighborhood after a long travel abroad. Dear Science really feels like home from the beginning. TV on the Radio does not seek to alienate, but they don't seek to please either. It's like playing games of imagination as a child. Every word and note feels right, feels almost accidental and definitely unforced. And it's a pleasure to listen to over and over again.

My Favorite Track (as stated above): "Halfway Home"

With the end of the year fast approaching, I invite you to come back in 2009 for more reviews of music, video and written words. Happy holidays.

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