The Rock Blogger

Sun Kil Moon. April. 2008. 5 stars.

In a perfect world, Sun Kil Moon’s Mark Kozelek would be just as well known as Neil Young and Eddie Vedder, capturing the imagination of the rock world with his chilling baritone voice and remarkably descriptive songwriting. Until that happens, Kozelek will remain an unsung icon of the indie universe, as he produces heartbreakingly beautiful folk-rock masterpieces like April, an early contender for album of the year. With Sun Kil Moon, Kozelek has lived up to and extended the legacy he built for himself with the shoegaze/rock band Red House Painters in the 90s, further developing the slow, brooding sound that once made them so endearing.

In April, Kozelek remains in a deeply reflective mood, drawing the listener into his dark pools of memory, vividly illustrating scenes of dusty city streets, night skies and small towns where love had once blossomed. While I won’t go into too much detail here about the lyrics, as my descriptions can’t possibly capture the alluring spirit that hides within them, but I can tell you that they are indeed moving and will be sure to stir romantic visions of long lost muses, moments and longings.

The pleasant sounds that wrap around these tales are slow and soothing, with gentle acoustic guitar work moving most of these songs into haunted personal spaces. The structures themselves may seem simple from the first listen, fitting within comfortable folk conventions, but they slowly unfurl into dynamic and rollicking jams complete with warm electric riffs and entrancing rhythms. On tracks like “Moorestown”, you can hear more elaborate elements being introduced, like strings and accompanying vocals, fleshing out the cathartic drives within the songwriting. The result is immediately effective, luring you into the band’s perfectly nostalgic and stoned daze.

While individual songs feature little variation between guitar patterns and pacing, they serve as a calm backdrop for Kolezek’s stirring vocals. While they remain deep and sad, almost droning on like another instrument, they rise up at just the right moments to showcase the man’s undeniable passion for his craft and lyrical content. You feel as if his entire life is here, encased within these 11 tracks.

While some may take issue with the extended length of these songs, as several of them stretch over 7 minutes, I believe these moments require the time to carefully reveal themselves, fully immersing you into Kolezek’s melancholic state. Its actually quite amazing to hear just how effortlessly these songs become full fledged epics, without delving in exaggerated progressions or symphonic excess. Aspiring songwriters should take note of Sun Kil Moon’s balance of restraint and release as they push their meditative sound to surprising heights with brevity.

While I could get personal here and explain how April stirs my emotions, and try to describe the distant images it carefully sears into my brain, I feel embellishing here will only distract you from forming your own impressions as you hear Kolezek’s graceful narratives. If you are searching for an album to connect with, to explore over time and to dream to, April is as honest and comforting as they come.

“Modern World” from Apologies to the Queen Mary. 2005

Wolf Parade’s long awaited follow up to 2005’s acclaimed Apologies to the Queen Mary , will be arriving June 17 courtesy of Sub Pop records. There is no definite title for the new album yet, but early rumors suggested it would be named Kissing the Beehive . Maybe the band got cold feet after Pitchfork made fun of that title, I’m not sure, but we’ll know soon enough.

The tracklist:
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Plants and Animals. Parc Avenue. 2008. 4 stars.

Yet another musical gift from the indie oasis that is Montreal, Plants and Animals bring bombast and warm vibes to their epic debut. While the arrangements on Parc Avenue’s tracks are lush, classically inspired and eclectic, they avoid the tragedy and harrowing drama found in their contemporaries The Dears and The Arcade Fire, producing a masterpiece that is laid back, adventurous and drunkenly optimistic.

From the stunning, hard hitting piano on the opener “Bye Bye Bye” you can tell that Plants and Animals are no strangers to ambition, leading the listener into an extensive pop jam complete with a chanting backing chorus and lyrical themes dealing with change and restless anticipation. The impressive introduction sets the stage for the album’s summery wanderings, including the energized longing on “Good Friend”, the hippy shimmying on “Faerie Dance”, the psychedelic soloing on “Feedback in the Field”, the communal shouting on “Mercy”, to the stirring string arrangements lining “Keep it Real”.

Parc Avenue is an incredibly fluid and consistent album that successfully incorporates elements from classic rock, jazz and even world music to produce songs of great emotive clarity and enticing originality. In short, Parc Avenue is an instant indie-pop classic that is sure to generate much deserved hype in the surging Montreal scene and beyond.

This is “The Official Ironman Rally Song” from Under the Bushes Under the Stars, the 7th Guided By Voices record I now own.

This is easily one of the better GBV releases, featuring some of the more focused and memorable efforts from their extensive discography. Also check out these other GBV Videos

Teenage FBI Live

I am a Scientist

One of my favorite tracks from Band of Horses‘ 2007’s Cease to Begin. I’ve had this in my head all bloody weekend, so I’m going to try and play it myself (I also found tabs for “Is there A Ghost”). Does anybody out there know what LRC stands for anyways? It would be cool to know what this beautiful song is actually about.

Vampire Weekend. Vampire Weekend 2008. 3.5 stars.

New York City’s Vampire Weekend are riding a wave of critical praise and industry hype, having secured acclaim across many popular music blogs and a Letterman appearance, its no surprise that they have sleeper hit on their hands. So what is everyone getting riled up about? It probably has to do with the relaxed vibe and afro-beat rhythms sported by their self-titled debut, bringing some summery warmth to an otherwise dull and dreary time of year.

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Band of Horses Cease to Begin 2007. 4 Stars.

Over the holidays, I went online looking for bands I had overlooked in the past year and I came across Band of Horses, an indie rock outfit from South Carolina who have been breaking some pretty big waves over the past few years. Their sound is a delicate mixture of dream pop and folk rock traditions, creating both sprawling and inspiring anthems and intimate, laid back dirges, capturing the same drifter spirit found in My Morning Jacket and Okkervil River.

Cease to Begin opens with the stellar “Is there a Ghost” that manages to both haunt and enthrall with the use of a meager three verses. “Ode to LRC” and “Detlef Schrempf” are two of the other standouts from the disc’s first half, clearly demonstrating Ben Bridwell’s polished falsetto. The second half of the album is mostly comprised of comfortable and familiar sounding folk rock passages complete with lap steel guitar arrangements. As a whole, Cease to Begin is a wistful listening experience. While the album is rather short, clocking in at around 35 minutes, it shows just how refined and focused Band of Horses are in crafting their work.

The video for “Is There a Ghost”

Last Tuesday, Pitchfork released their Top 50 Albums of 2007, naming Panda Bear’s psychedelic Person Pitch as the album of the year. While I thought the album was warm, trippy and evoked fond memories of stoned summers past, I honestly thought several other bands were more likely to take the top spot, like The National (#17), LCD Soundsystem (#2) or The Arcade Fire (#27???). Here is the full list:

50 Tinariwen - Aman Iman: Water Is Life
49 Dizzee Rascal - Maths + English
48 Robert Wyatt - Comicopera
47 Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals
46 Marissa Nadler - Songs III: Bird on the Water
45 Ricardo Villalobos - Fabric 36
44 Les Savy Fav - Let’s Stay Friends
43 Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline
42 Ghostface Killah - The Big Doe Rehab
41 Life Without Buildings - Live at the Annandale Hotel
40 Beirut - The Flying Club Cup / Lon Gisland EP
39 The White Stripes - Icky Thump
38 Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams
37 Grizzly Bear - Friend EP
36 Iron and Wine - The Shepherd’s Dog
35 Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil
34 James Blackshaw - The Cloud Of Unknowing
33 King Khan & the Shrines - What Is?!
32 Sally Shapiro - Disco Romance
31 Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
30 Caribou - Andorra
29 Bon Iver, For Emma - Forever Ago
28 Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
27 Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
26 Various Artists - After Dark
25 The Tough Alliance - A New Chance / New Waves EP
24 Dan Deacon - Spiderman Of The Rings
23 Studio - Yearbook 1
22 Okkervil River - The Stage Names
21 Dirty Projectors - Rise Above
20 Liars - Liars
19 Feist - The Reminder
18 Kanye West - Graduation
17 The National - Boxer
16 Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3
15 Justice - †
14 Deerhunter - Cryptograms / Fluorescent Grey EP
13 Jay-Z - American Gangster
12 No Age - Weirdo Rippers
11 Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
10 Burial - Untrue
09 The Field - From Here We Go Sublime
08 Battles - Mirrored
07 Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
06 Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
05 of Montreal Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
04 Radiohead - In Rainbows
03 M.I.A. - Kala
02 LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
01 Panda Bear - Person Pitch

On their list of The Best 100 Tracks of 2007, Pitchfork Media honored LCD Soundsystem’s terrific “All my Friends” from their LP Sound of Silver which was #16 on my 50 Best Albums of 2007 list. The award seemed fair, as the song does brilliantly capture singer James Murphy’s growing pains with its evocative song-writing, jittery piano lines, inspired chorus, and top-notch production. What do you think is the best song of 2007? Some of my nominees would be “Squalor Victoria” by The National, “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations” by The Arcade Fire and “Suddenly its a Folk Song” by The Future of the Left”. Here is LCD: