musicleech » Passion Pit http://musicleech.com Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:38:39 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 My Top Albums 2009 http://musicleech.com/2010/01/17/my-top-albums-2009/ http://musicleech.com/2010/01/17/my-top-albums-2009/#comments Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:40:41 +0000 Rad Parker http://musicleech.com/?p=3141 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> I realize I am putting this out really late. I always put this off until winter break, thinking I'll have tons of time to listen to the albums, but always underestimate how much I actually need to listen to. But honestly, that isn't a bad thing. I think we are living in a time where there is a lot more new and interesting stuff coming out than ever before. Last year, I probably listened to about 75 albums for my top albums article. Some of them only half way through (because I could tell they wouldn't make the cut) and some in excess of 20 times. I don't feel like doing the math on that, but it takes an incredible amount of time. This year I stepped my game up and literally wrote down every album that made it on at least a few top lists from around the music blog, newspaper, magazine community, including the big wigs: pitchfork, sterogum, prefix, spin, etc.

I think most top lists aren't really substantial if they don't talk about what makes albums 'top albums'. I want to let you know what helped me decide. Basically, I listened to albums all the way through and gave each song a rating (1-5). A 3 being a song that is good, but nothing special. A 4 being a song that is something special, but you can get tired of it. 5s are songs that never get old and never get skipped. I once heard someone say that if you could only keep 1000 songs from your library, they would be all of the 4s and 5s.  Then I check out what each album averages, giving extra points for originality, interesting overall themes, track cohesion, genre mixing, or basically anything that makes it more of an album than a bunch of songs.

Now, once I have a list of albums that are generally agreed upon to be good by the blog community, I go through and weed out bands with sounds that I know I won't find appealing. Albums that are automatically omitted include basically anyone who doesn't make their own music or write their own lyrics, anything considered pop punk, alternative metal, or anything termed just rock or pop, because frankly, I'm not interested. Does that make me seem like a music snob? Kinda. Do I try to be unbiased when the headphones are on? You bet.

This year I at least tried out about 100 albums. If you have any comments, questions, or albums you think should have been considered, drop me a line below.

1. Phoenix -

Wolfgang

Amadeus

Phoenix

Phoenix - "1901"

2. Grizzly

Bear -

Veckatimest

Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks"

3. The

xx -

xx

The xx - "Crystalised"

4. Animal Collective -

Merriweather

Post

Pavilion

Animal Collective - "Summertime Clothes"

5. Real

Estate -

Real

Estate

Real Estate - "Beach Comber"


6. The

Flaming

Lips -

Embryonic

The Flaming Lips - "Watching the Planets"

7. Girls -

Album

Girls - "Laura"

8. The Smith Westerns -

The

Smith

Westerns

The Smith Westerns - "Tonight"

9. Neon

Indian -

Psychic

Chasms

Neon Indian - "Deadbeat Summer"

10. Cymbals Eat Guitars -

Why There

Are

Mountains

Cymbals Eat Guitars - "And the Hazy Sea"

2009 Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):

Mos Def - The Ecstatic
Passion Pit – Manners
Drummer - Feel Good Together
Atlas Sound – Logos
The Antlers – Hospice
Blakroc – Blakroc
Woods - Songs of Shame
10 ft. Ganja Plant - Bushrock
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue
The Strange Boys – The Strange Boys and Girls Club
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II
Miike Snow - Miike Snow
Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon: The End of Day
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

EP, Mixtape, Compilation, and other non-album Mentions:
Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP
Kid Cudi - Dat Kid From Cleveland Mixtape
Drake - So Far Gone Mixtape
Wale - Back to the Feature Mixtape
Toro Y Moi - My Touch EP
The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches - The Dark Side of the Moon (Cover Album)
Various Artists - Dark Was the Night Compilation
Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind EP
Modest Mouse - No Ones First and Your Next EP
Washed Out – Life of Leisure EP
Deerhunter - Rainwater Casette Exchange EP
Various Artists – Underwater Peoples Summertime Showcase 2009

For comparison's sake, here is my list from 2008:

  1. deerhunter - microcastle
  2. little joy - little joy
  3. plants and animals - parc avenue
  4. mgmt - oracular spectacular
  5. los campesinos! - hold on now, youngster
  6. vampire weekend - vampire weekend
  7. the dodos - visiter
  8. bon iver - for emma, forever ago
  9. the sea and cake - car alarm
  10. starfucker - starfucker

2008 honorable mentions (in no particular order):

lil' wayne - tha carter III
white denim - white denim
atlas sound - let the blind lead those who can see but cannot feel
the ruby suns - sea lion
women - women
beach house - devotion
q-tip - renaissance
albert hammond, jr. - ¿como te llama?
dr dog - fate
girl talk - feed the animals
hot chip - made in the dark
french kicks - swimming
passion pit - chunk of change ep
cut copy - in ghost colours
black keys - attack & release



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]]> http://musicleech.com/2010/01/17/my-top-albums-2009/feed/ 3 Watch and Download: Passion Pit – “Eyes as Candles” http://musicleech.com/2009/07/17/watch-and-download-passion-pit-eyes-as-candles/ http://musicleech.com/2009/07/17/watch-and-download-passion-pit-eyes-as-candles/#comments Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:29:44 +0000 Rad Parker http://musicleech.com/?p=2033 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Here is the brand new music video and download for the second single from Passion Pit's debut LP, Manners, entitled "Eyes as Candles": Passion Pit - Eyes as Candles

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]]> http://musicleech.com/2009/07/17/watch-and-download-passion-pit-eyes-as-candles/feed/ 0 Passion Pit: “The Reeling” (Calvin Harris Remix) http://musicleech.com/2009/05/13/passion-pit-the-reeling-calvin-harris-remix/ http://musicleech.com/2009/05/13/passion-pit-the-reeling-calvin-harris-remix/#comments Thu, 14 May 2009 02:11:54 +0000 Mark Jackson http://musicleech.com/?p=1833 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> passion_pit_-_the_reeling

Manners isn't even out yet and we already have a sweet remix for one of the biggest songs on the record, "The Reeling", courtesy of Calvin Harris. It's about equally as "dancy" as the original, but it adds/removes several instruments to make it a new animal. If you like the original it's well worth the download. You can hear the original at this post, but as might as well watch the video Rad posted a few days ago.

Download: Passion Pit: "The Reeling" (Calvin Harris Remix)

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]]> http://musicleech.com/2009/05/13/passion-pit-the-reeling-calvin-harris-remix/feed/ 0 New Videos: Passion Pit and Starfucker http://musicleech.com/2009/05/07/new-videos-passion-pit-and-starfucker/ http://musicleech.com/2009/05/07/new-videos-passion-pit-and-starfucker/#comments Thu, 07 May 2009 17:18:59 +0000 Rad Parker http://musicleech.com/?p=1818 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> passion-pit-and-starfuckerFirst up, Passion Pit's "The Reeling" off of their upcoming debut LP, Manners. It will be released on May18. We have heard the album already and much like in "The Reeling", Manners seems to be more produced and less charming than the Chunk of Change EP that first caught our attention. The video seems a little too similar to the Yeah Yeah Yeah's new music video for "Zero"...strange.

Second is Starfucker's new video for "Medicine" off of their second LP, Jupiter, which was just released on Tuesday. Although, their self-titled first album had a lot more depth in the tracks, their are a few good jams on Jupiter. "Medicine" is definitely one of those jams, especially if you ignore the super-redundant chorus. "Medicine" is a good example of how Starfucker's newer music is more accessible by the masses, which I believe will expand their fanbase rather quickly. Look out for these guys to be on your television screen sometime in the near future.

Passion Pit - The Reeling

Starfucker - Medicine

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]]> http://musicleech.com/2009/05/07/new-videos-passion-pit-and-starfucker/feed/ 0 New Music: Grizzly Bear ft. Beach House, Passion Pit, Peter Bjorn and John, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Dept. of Eagles, Doves http://musicleech.com/2009/03/26/new-music-grizzly-bear-ft-beach-house-passion-pit-peter-bjorn-and-john-cymbals-eat-guitars-dept-of-eagles-doves/ http://musicleech.com/2009/03/26/new-music-grizzly-bear-ft-beach-house-passion-pit-peter-bjorn-and-john-cymbals-eat-guitars-dept-of-eagles-doves/#comments Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:29:56 +0000 Mark Jackson http://musicleech.com/?p=1631 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Synthesizer Shaikh: A one-man band that sounds kinda like Yeasayer on "The Rise". He tags it "some mix between electronic, psychedelic, and post-rock." He started making music in college on his computer with Ableton Live, and spent two years making/mastering his first full-length album, SamIAm. And he's not charging a penny for it. Get it here.

"The Rise"

"Colbert" I watch the Report a decent bit, but must have missed the episode where he announced a remix contest. This one is on the album as well.

synthesizer_shaikh_samiam_cover_lores

Passion Pit - "The Reeling" (mp3)

Michael Angelakos released the buzzed-about electro-pop Chunk of Change EP by himself under the Passion Pit moniker last September. For the band's first LP Manners (out in May)he assembled a full band, and on this song you can definitely tell: it's got more going on than any of the songs on Chunk.

passion_pit_chunk_of_change_frenchkiss

Cymbals Eat Guitars: Their debut album earned Best New Music from Pitchfork and although I've only heard the songs on their MySpace, but I trust the rest is good.

why-there-are-mountains-cymbals-eat-guitars-album-cover

Grizzly Bear play "Two Weeks", one of the best tracks off their amazing leaked album Veckatimest, for the first time in a live setting. Victoria Legrand of Beach House contributes to the chorus on the record, and guess what, she was right there with them at SXSW:

Grizzly Bear and Department Of Eagles have band member overlap, and if you like one, you're sure to like the other. Here is the Dept.'s new video for "No One Does It Like You" (mp3) off their recent album In Ear Park:

English alt-rock band Doves have a new album coming out entitled Kingdom Of Rust. Here are a few tracks from it:
"Compulsion"
"Jetstream"
"Kingdom Of Rust"

kingdom_of_rust

Peter, Bjorn, and John's new album Living Thing doesn't come out till 3/31, but you can stream it now at their MySpace page. You probably know them from their hit singles "Young Folks" and "Amsterdam".

pbj-living-thing

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]]> http://musicleech.com/2009/03/26/new-music-grizzly-bear-ft-beach-house-passion-pit-peter-bjorn-and-john-cymbals-eat-guitars-dept-of-eagles-doves/feed/ 0 Sasquatch > Bonnaroo? http://musicleech.com/2009/02/24/sasquatch-or-bonnaroo/ http://musicleech.com/2009/02/24/sasquatch-or-bonnaroo/#comments Wed, 25 Feb 2009 03:59:56 +0000 Mark Jackson http://musicleech.com/?p=1437 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> sasquatch-lineup09-pic_210x

I can guarantee one thing: Sasquatch will not pull a Langerado.

A handful of big names overlap with Bonnaroo, but that's not a bad thing considering how far apart they are from each other: Sasquatch is in Washington state and Bonnaroo (lineup) is in Tennessee. Both still have more artists to add, but already it seems like both are upgraded from last year. I don't think Bonnaroo can be called a jam band festival anymore, but it's a wee bit more chill than its intensely indie counterpart. West Coast, start rounding up the troops.

Sasquatch! 2009 lineup
Jane's Addiction (feat. all four original members)
Kings of Leon
Nine Inch Nails
Ben Harper & Relentless7
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Erykah Badu
The Decemberists
Fleet Foxes
TV On The Radio
Animal Collective
Silversun Pickups
Bon Iver
Santigold
Of Montreal
Explosions In The Sky
Devotchka
Peter Bjorn & John
Gogol Bordello
M. Ward
The Avett Brothers
Doves
Calexico
Grizzly Bear
M83
Girl Talk
The Gaslight Anthem
The Walkmen
Chromeo (dj set)
Deadmau5
Mugison
Sun Kil Moon
Airborne Toxic Event
Blitzen Trapper
Shearwater
BLK JKS
The Wrens
Tobacco
Monotonix
King Khan & The Shrines
St. Vincent
Passion Pit
John Vanderslice
Bishop Allen
Blind Pilot
AA Bondy
Black Moth Super Rainbow
The Knux
Ra Ra Riot
The Dodos
Beach House
Arthur & Yu
The Submarines
Owl City
Viva Voce
James Pants
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band
The Builders & The Butchers
The Dutchess & The Duke
Natalie Portman's Shaved Head
Dent May & His Magnificent Ukelele
Fences
School of Seven Bells
Death Vessel
Horse Feathers
Hockey
Point Juncture, WA
The Pica Beats
Loch Lomond
Vince Mira
Comedians:
Zach Galifiankas
Demetri Martin
Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job
Todd Barry
Jon Benjamin
God's Pottery
People's Republic of Komedy

Bands playing at both festivals:
Nine Inch Nails
of Montreal
Animal Collective
Santogold (now Santigold)
TV on the Radio
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Bon Iver
Grizzly Bear
Girl Talk
Ben Harper & Relentless7

Tickets for Sasquatch! go on sale this Saturday (2/28) at 10am at for $154.40/$56.50 (three-day pass/single-day pass) if you buy them over the weekend. Once Monday hits prices will be bumped up to $199.50/$66.50. Buy them here.

Oh, and this could be the last Nine Inch Nails tour ever, so take your pick: Sasquatch or Bonnaroo?

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