8 posts tagged “the cure”

I originally posted this to Facebook, but not everyone sees my Facebook. Also, as an added bonus, on Vox you can listen to songs from some of the albums I picked by going to my library:

http://dingle.vox.com/library/audio/

Anyway, this was not easy. Generally, I buy an album for two reasons:

a) I love the artist
b) I love a song (or a few) I've heard

There were a lot of artists who I love deeply that didn't make the Top 20 this year. The albums were good, but there were a surprising number of fantastic albums from bands I had never heard of before this year. Also, some of my lesser favourite bands put out solid albums this year. So Death Cab For Cutie, Nine Inch Nails, The Cure, Beck, Counting Crows, Conor Oberst, Hayden, Mercury Rev: try harder next time.

Then I had to decide my criteria. A greatest hits will never be included, because that's cheating... they're usually all the best bits of a band's career crammed into one and that's often hard to compete against. I was also unsure about letting the Au Revoir Simone album in as it's remixes, and the Flight Of The Conchords CD because it's a TV show soundtrack essentially. However, both were great little discs - and the Au Revoir Simone album opened me up to The Teenagers and James Yiull.

So this is my Top 20 Albums Of 2008 Assuming Nothing Else Comes Out That's As Good Between Now And Christmas. I do not apologise for any of them, but I do think you should buy them all at your earliest convenience.

1. Elephant Shell by Tokyo Police Club
From the second I heard 'Nursery, Academy' in the basement of a nearby Borders, I was hooked. Even if the Last.fm software is total arse and couldn't manage to scrobble every time I played this album, it spent a lot of time on rotation on my iPhone. 'Tessellate' is the sort of song I would dance to, if I could dance, and wasn't permanently embarrassed by myself.

2. The Hollow Of Morning by Gemma Hayes
The album came out in October, and has gotten a lot of plays since. It soundtracked both directions of a transatlantic flight and lots of journeys to work. That Gemma still isn't huge after three excellent albums is a huge disappointment, especially when this album stretches her sound to include more interesting arrangements, like the almost electro opening to 'At Constant Speed' - a song that somehow builds up to a Prince-esque synth riff. She's certainly my favourite female artist right now.

3. Oceans Will Rise by The Stills
While other members of the extended Broken Social Scene family came out to play this year (Brendan Canning, The Dears, Jason Collett), The Stills had them all beat with an album that straddled their first two while still veering off in its own direction - from the stately 'Everything I Build' to the hypnotic, driving 'Snakecharming The Masses'.

4. Volume One by She & Him
It's one thing for any band to produce an album that so perfectly captures the spirit of the past without being a tacky parody, but the fact it was a quirky young actress and a well-regarded but obscure indie troubadour made it seem even more out of left field. Zooey Deschanel's voice, as you may expect from brief singing bits in films like Elf and The Assassination Of Jesse James, is the star of the show - on both her own songs, such as the fantastic 'This Is Not A Test', to covers including 'I Should've Known Better' by The Beatles.

5. Turning Down Water For Air by James Yiull
Somehow performing the miraculous task of melding acoustic indie singer-songwriter material to thumping dance beats and fascinating electronic arrangements without it all going horribly wrong, this CD is the total meeting point of everything I am listening to at the moment, with some utterly gorgeous songs like 'This Sweet Love' - which does a lot with a very simple acoustic guitar motif and drum beat.

6. Field Manual by Chris Walla
His day job, Death Cab For Cutie, also put out an album, but it was Walla's solo CD that really got my love this year. 'Our Plans, Collapsing' is the highlight of the album, but it was great to hear how he sounds when he's not twiddling the knobs or plucking the strings on someone else's songs.

7. Some Racing, Some Stopping by Headlights
It took a while to sink its claws in, 'Market Girl' aside, but it slowly melted my heart... and I also managed to get some great remixes of some of the songs on an ultra-limited edition remix disc they put out, so there's now more of the songs to love. 'Cherry Tulips' is the sound of a beautiful daydream.

8. Reverse Migration by Au Revoir Simone
The remixes on this album are by and large among the best remixes I've heard. The robotic voice singing the chorus on 'Stars', the crazy campfire romp of one of two new versions of 'The Lucky One' (the other was provided by James Yiull and was so gorgeous, I bought his album), the fun electroclash-ish tweaking of 'Fallen Snow'... it's a great disc, and certainly worth inclusion here.

9. Devotion by Beach House
One of the most haunting and relaxing albums on this list, Devotion is the perfect soundtrack to cold winter evenings by the fire, breezy summer nights watching the sun set, and everything in between. It's an utterly bewitching album, with the sparse instruments drenched in so much reverb it sounds more like the memories of songs than songs themselves.

10. Hideaway by The Weepies
This was one of many albums that came out of nowhere but then spent a lot of time in my MP3 playing devices. Vocal duties are split between both members of this husband and wife duo. Steve Tannen sounds like Elliott Smith (without the penchant for stabbing himself in the gizzard) while Deb Talan has a very quirky, clearly Joni Mitchell-inspired delivery. Slightly folky, very catchy, with one song ('Antarctica') that you'd swear was a Fleetwood Mac out-take. A lovely album, and a great respite from some of my mopier choices.

11. In Ear Park by Department Of Eagles
It's hard to pin down everything I hear when I listen to Department Of Eagles. There's Nick Drake, later period Beatles, Tom Waits, Sufjan Stevens, Arcade Fire (at least, the odd yelp that reminds me of Win Butler) and a ton more. It's a wonderful, eclectic, vintage-sounding album. 'Waves Of Rye', 'Phantom Other' and 'Floating On The Lehigh' are all contenders for my song of the year, too.

12. Keeper’s by Deastro
Deastro is basically just this kid in Michigan who is fucking insanely productive. As well as Deastro, he has at least three other projects that I know of, all putting out fantastic synth-based pop that sounds like a less polished splice of The Killers and Death Cab For Cutie. There are also some bizarre instrumental pieces to break things up. It's certain to put a spring in your step.

13. Lucky by Nada Surf
Don't get me wrong, my love for the Surf isn't waning; and this is still a great record (it grows on me more with every listen), but it's not their best. Still, it was great enough to make my top twenty, thanks in no small part to catchy, hummable songs such as 'I Like What You Say' and darker, more political tracks like 'The Fox'. And let me tell you, if you can get through 'Weightless' and not get your sappy gland well and truly done over, you are an impenetrable fortress.

14. Starfucker by Starfucker
This was recommended to me by Leslie (hi Leslie!). Sometimes I am so swamped at work, I can't listen to music at all, but for some reason I gave this one a chance and I'm very happy I did. It's insanely catchy indie with a liberal helping of synths. 'Pop Song' in particular delivers on its name with a nice, fat chorus and a runaway keyboard solo that makes me all giddy.

15. Saturdays = Youth by M83
It looks like France didn't get the memo that the '80s are over and there will be no more John Hughes movies starring a young Molly Ringwald. Really, that is exactly what every song on this album will make you think of... it's extremely retro, but like She & Him, it's an authentic tribute rather than a piss-take.

16. Chinese Democracy by Guns N’ Roses
My first ever CD was Use Your Illusion II. My second ever CD was Use Your Illusion I. I have been waiting for this album since I got those two. I don't care that it's basically an Axl Rose side project with Guns N' Roses being little more than an appropriated brand name, it's still a surprisingly decent collection of songs with some fantastic guitar work from Buckethead. 'Better' would be awesome no matter what the name on the box said.

17. Keep Telling Myself It’s Alright by Ashes Divide
This is the only CD put out by a bald dude called Billy who basically plays everything bar the drums on his CDs that I have been able to endorse for several years. The Billy is Howerdel, formerly of A Perfect Circle, and this really does sound like his former band without Maynard and, strangely, less upbeat... and considering how mopey APC could get, that's saying something.

18. Crystal Castles by Crystal Castles
They sound like a brain aneurysm run through the sound chip of a Commodore 64. In case you're confused, in this case, that's actually a positive comment, as I loved the Commodore 64, and I love electroclash and electronica with the odd manipulated, screamy vocal and obscure song titles.

19. Accelerate by REM
While it could be argued that the album (and its Automatic For The People-through-New Adventures In Hi-Fi-esque sound) was an intentional, calculated response to previous album Around The Sun bombing, that familiarity makes the songs on this album very easy to swallow. There was no growth period with me. And when we saw them live, there wasn't that jolt between old and new that you get at a lot of gigs (with the awkward crowd vs. band stand-off).

20. Flight Of The Conchords by Flight Of The Conchords
While this collection of parodies of everyone from Prince to the Pet Shop Boys will have you giggling, thanks in no small part to lyrics that talk about hermaphrodites, David Bowie's nipples and try desperately to make the routine, mundane sex life of a married couple sound like Barry White fodder, it's so well put together that you spend a lot of time just appreciating the songs. Yes, really. 'Ladies Of The World' (with serious lyrics) would provide the backing music to lots of late afternoon quickies.

It's a scary good year.

Here is everything Jess and I have acquired between us (obviously, I did most of the acquiring as Jess hates democracy).

- ¿Como Te Llama? by Albert Hammond, Jr.
- Agony & Irony by Alkaline Trio
- Magic Monsters by April March & Steve Hanft
- Keep Telling Myself It's Alright by Ashes Divide
- Reverse Migration by Au Revoir Simone***
- Devotion by Beach House
- Modern Guilt by Beck
- Blackblack by Blackblack**
- Intimacy by Bloc Party**
- Something For All Of Us... by Brendan Canning**
- Wilderness by Brett Anderson*
- You Cross My Path by The Charlatans
- Field Manual by Chris Walla
- Conor Oberst by Conor Oberst*
- Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings by Counting Crows
- Crystal Castles by Crystal Castles
- Donkey by CSS
- 4:13 Dream by The Cure***
- Keeper's by Deastro
- Narrow Stairs by Death Cab For Cutie
- In Ear Park by Department Of Eagles***
- SooL by Ellen Allien
- Flight Of The Conchords by Flight Of The Conchords
- Shade Side Sunny Side by For Against
- The Midnight Organ Fight by Frightened Rabbit
- The Hollow Of Morning by Gemma Hayes**
- Chinese Democracy by Guns N' Roses***
- In Field & Town by Hayden
- Some Racing, Some Stopping by Headlights
- Turning Down Water For Air by James Yuill***
- Here's To Being Here by Jason Collett
- The Jealous Girlfriends by The Jealous Girlfriends
- Acid Tongue by Jenny Lewis**
- The Silver City by Jeremy Messersmith**
- Boo! Human by Joan Of Arc
- Youth Novels by Lykke Li**
- Saturdays = Youth by M83
- I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too by Martha Wainwright
- Snowflake Midnight by Mercury Rev**
- Strange Attractor by Mercury Rev**
- Lucky by Nada Surf
- Ghosts I-IV by Nine Inch Nails
- The Slip by Nine Inch Nails
- Skeletal Lamping by Of Montreal***
- Mercy by Ours
- Third by Portishead
- Accelerate by REM
- Volume One by She & Him
- Starf**ker by Starf**ker***
- Oceans Will Rise by The Stills**
- Walk It Off by Tapes N' Tapes
- Reality Check by The Teenagers***
- Elephant Shell by Tokyo Police Club
- Forth by The Verve***
- Hideaway by The Weepies
- At Mount Zoomer by Wolf Parade

List originally compiled in June.

* August update.
** October update.
*** November update.

The Cure sing “It’s Friday I’m in Love.” What are you “in” on this particular fall Friday?

A slightly grumpy mood.

I stole this from Wendy, who stole it from Cliff.

Put your iPod/Zune/iRiver/Creative thingy on random and write the first line of each of the first twenty-five songs it plays, then see how relevant those lyrics are to your life. No skipping songs that make you look uncool, or manually selecting songs you like.

1. 'Ice Box' by Nada Surf
"Stay until you're sure that I'm asleep, warm and safe and very still."

This is very insightful. Every night, Jess waits till I'm asleep then goes and plays Wii Sports till the early hours of morning. That's why she's tired.

2. 'Love Affair' by Kylie Minogue
"Here in the moment I belong, in a waking dream."

Today, I am very sleepy and not concentrating as it's Thanksgiving and the office is so dead.

3. 'Steps Into Miles' by Hayden
"Your legs walk through the tide like a smile, turn every step into miles."

All the girls at work are wearing jeans, and they're all shorter than me, so this can't be about ogling legs; and we're nowhere near water. Am I thinking too literally?

4. 'Nothing And Everything' by Smashing Pumpkins
"Hiding behind my hair today, my eyes dance with fire."

I don't even own a hair, let alone many hairs that would necessitate an entire face hide.

5. 'One More Time' by The Cure
"I'd love to touch the sky tonight, I'd love to touch the sky."

I'd love to watch Sky Plus tonight, but alas.

6. 'A Man/Me/Then Jim' by Rilo Kiley
"I had one friend in high school, recently he hung himself with string."

I've not heard of any school friends committing suicide, but people I went to school have been adding me on Facebook recently. Hmm.

7. 'New Lace Sleeves' by Elvis Costello
"Bad lovers face to face in the morning, shy apologies and polite regrets."

Jess and I usually sleep butt to butt... although, we call each other butthead and buttface, so maybe it's a subtle nod.

8. 'Animal' by Pearl Jam
"One, two, three, four, five against one, five, five, against one."

Those sound like good odds. Put me down for $20.

9. 'Unison' by Bjork
"One hand allows the other, so much and me."

Thanks for clearing that up, Bjork. No really.

10. 'Goodnight Sweet Night' by Jason Falkner
"Nobody told me this, I could have just asked how you were, how you were."

Jason Falkner is a walking self-help guide. How ARE you, person reading this?

11. 'Darts' by System Of A Down
"May I please remain in this space, for darts screech by my desires?"

Watching darts or playing darts? Watching darts is more fun because you get to laugh at big fat guys.

12. 'Briefcase Full Of Guts' by Dethklok
"Punch your card 'cause your working day has started and you're pushing hard for employee of the month."

We don't have an employee of the month scheme yet. But I do work hard when I'm awake.

13. 'Once In A Lifetime' by Talking Heads
"And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack, and you may find yourself in another part of the world, and you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile."

I'm in another part of the world! Hurrah!

14. 'Sulk' by Radiohead
"You bite through the big wall, the big wall bites back, you sit there and sulk, you sit there and bawl."

If I tried eating wall, I probably would cry.

15. 'Trunk' by Kings Of Leon
"Well I got what she wants, ah her nose, a tied knot."

If by she you mean the generic woman, then yes, I have money. That's all women want isn't it? That or Mel Gibson reading their minds.

16. 'The Queen Is Dead (Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty)' by The Smiths
"Take me back to dear old Blighty, put me on the train for London town!"

I might be thinking this when winter really kicks in here in Chicago, but right now all I miss about Blighty are people.

17. 'Monkey & Bear' by Joanna Newsom
"Down in the green hay where monkey and bear usually lay, they woke from a stable boy's cry."

I've got nothing.

18. 'Accidents' by The Prize Fighter Inferno
"Oh, come now father dear and turn this blood to choice."

Again, um... yeah?

19. 'Twisted' by Sleeper
"She's seen one and it looks funny, it made her cry said boo to her."

This must be about genitals. Jess is scared of my genitals?

20. 'What You're Doing' by The Beatles
"Look what you're doing, I'm feeling blue and lonely."

Today I am not feeling blue, but it is pretty lonely as everyone left for lunch.

21. 'White Collar Boy' by Belle & Sebastian
"You're a white collar boy and you gave in to the law."

The collar I am wearing is blue with thin white stripes in it. I always give in to the law.

22. 'Walking Higher' by Heather Nova
"I carry you with me like a ghost inside."

This must be about my parasitic twin, Desmond.

23. 'Time After Time Etc' by REM
"Ask the girl of the hour by the water tower's watch, if your friends took a fall, are you obligated to follow?"

I always stick up for my friends, even if they're someone else's HUSband.

24. 'Imaginary Love' by Rufus Wainwright
"Every kind of love, at least my kind of love, must be an imaginary love to start with."

This is true. When I started crushing on Jess, I wished she felt the same.

25. 'Regret' by New Order
"Maybe I've forgotten the name and the address of everyone I've ever known, it's nothing I regret."

I am the most forgetful person in the world. Except Ricci. And my mum.

Today was the second morning I woke up without Jess. It doesn't feel right, but it's only going to be a brief and temporary sensation so I can handle it. At least she's having a good time in Hawaii - yesterday, she tried surfing, which makes her far braver than me.

So far, I haven't been very rock n' roll. On Thursday night, I went out drinking with some folks from work - Leslie, Bryan, Kristian, Eric and Jason Y. The most outlandish it got was me drinking a $9 beer called Delirium Tremens (as in "the DTs" - latin for trembling delirium). I got home at a reasonable time, and made myself veggie chicken burgers without burning the place down.

Last night, I ordered in pizza and spent the night watching stand-up comedy on Comedy Central and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace on [adult swim]. It's nice seeing weird British TV make the leap over the ocean almost completely intact (apart from minor bleeping - this country is so puritanical about rude words on TV). I also cleaned the cat box, tidied up a little and tried to get my Ozone working with Leopard, but it doesn't like it till new drivers are released. Boo. So much for recording this weekend.

Tonight, I'm meeting people from work for some alcohol and a midnight showing of cult classic Donnie Darko. Of course, I own it on DVD and can watch it whenever I want, but it'll be good to have a night out. I think it'll be myself, Jason S (I blogged about him before - he writes for Chicago paper Redeye) and his boyfriend, Leslie, Eric, Erin, Brandon B, Brandon H and his fiancée, Laura and Guy, a freelancer who worked for us recently. Of course, you don't know any of these people, but it's a good little crew.

In the time it's taken me to write this, I've listened to an awful lot of The Cure. Time for something a little perkier methinks.

What's the best music documentary or concert film you've seen?

- 1991: The Year Punk Broke
- The Cure: Trilogy
- This Is Spinal Tap

I liked no more than 1/3 of their first album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. It didn't help that I refused to buy into the hype and excessive praise the band were receiving - I certainly didn't think the lyrics were anywhere near as good as they were made out to be, I guess people thought they were more real because he says "in't", "owt" and "mardy".

A co-worker ripped the new album, Favourite Worst Nightmare, for me to listen to so I could work out whether it was worth buying. I may not have enjoyed all of the first album, but the songs I did like were fantastic - 'Riot Van' and 'A Certain Romance' especially suggested the band are capable of great things.

Finally putting the album on my iPod, I listened on my way home from work yesterday. The first four songs didn't really grab me all that much, they seemed like more of the same but not quite as catchy. Around five songs in, though, things pick up: 'Fluorescent Adolescent' is a catchy, Elvis Costello-esque meloncholy pop number with some great vocal melodies in the outro.

The album continues on this new-found surge of brilliance. 'Do Me A Favour' opens with a tribal rhythm and features some gorgeous, evocative guitar - all twangy reverb. The remaining songs, even at their most danceable, give little glimpses of a subdued, darker vibe. It's there beneath the spiky guitar assault of  'If You Were There, Beware', the beat driven lament 'Old Yellow Bricks', the shimmering '505' and the oddly syrup-free ballad 'Only Ones Who Know'.

For me, the worst part about this album is that there are a list of references all on the tip of my tongue but I can't get them out because they've made them all their own. There's elements of Joy Division, Echo & The Bunnymen, early The Cure and all those other great post-punk bands from the early '80s. It also evokes the cinematography of movies like Hal Hartley's Unbelievable Truth.

So yes, while the first four songs are listenable, the other eight would make an amazing album on their own.

What's your musical horoscope?  (Put your player on shuffle and write down the first 10 songs that come up.)
Inspired by Stephanie.  

Well right now, I'm listening to solo material by The Dears' guitarist, Patrick Krief. I'll fire up iTunes. I'm on Jess' computer so there's not as much music on here, but at least I know it's all good music. <3

1. 'Heartache' by A Girl Called Eddy
2. 'Lonely In Your Nightmare' by Duran... Duran
3. 'Mouths Of Babes' by Smashing Pumpkins
4. 'All My Hammocks Are Dying' by Chin Up Chin Up
5. 'Closedown' by The Cure
6. 'It's Over' by Beta Band
7. 'Vicar In A Tutu' by The Smiths
8. 'August In Bethany' by The Juliana Theory
9. 'A Control Group' by Mates Of State
10. 'The Authority Song' by Jimmy Eat World

Yeah, make of that what you will. Mystic Meg's stumped.