Beach House "Norway"

Though we haven't heard from Beach House in over a year, Victoria Legrand has most definitely been on a hot streak as Beach House have been touring over the past year with different acts (including both Grizzly Bear and Dirty Projectors) and receiving rave reviews. Legrand also collaborated with Grizzly Bear to create the track "Slow Life" that was used on the movie New Moon. Now as Beach House prepares to release their latest LP, Teen Dream on January 26th, they have released "Norway", the lead track from the new album.

"Norway" definitely brings a heavier, hotter taste to Beach House's sound. The synthy, percussive intro does not prepare the listener for the grandiose sound of the melodic, repetitive guitar battling a chorus of whimsy background vocals as Legrand's haunting voice sings of 'Norway' in an almost yearning manner. As the verses come in, the bending guitar chords almost lull you to sleep along with Legrand's vocals until the powerful chorus comes back in. Throughout the song, a steady drum machine (a key Beach House element) is still very present but a bit faster than we are used to from Beach House's normal sound.

Not enough can be said about Victoria Legrand's wondrous voice. Legrand has drawn many comparisons to Nico and for good reasons. For me though, Legrand's voice goes back a 70's pop vibe. It's a Stevie Nicks area for sure and that's a good thing. I have never noticed this in any Beach House song prior to "Norway". A definite change in Beach House's sound is apparent and it could push them to a new level.

Norway - Beach House

New Animal Collective "Graze"

Animal Collective have had quite the year, releasing one of the year's best albums (perhaps 'the' best) in Merriweather Post Pavillion, touring endlessly, making their network television debut and now with their new upcoming Fall Be Kind EP due out digitally next Tuesday, November 23rd and physically December 15th, AnCo have basically had a chokehold on the beginning and end of 2009.

"Graze" is kind of two songs in one. It starts out as a mellow, diffuse vocal showcase. It is the first song on the EP. The cover for the EP is shown above.

Fall Be Kind tracklist:
1. Graze
2. What Would I Want? Sky
3. Bleed
4. On A Highway
5. I Think I Can

The Bulleted List, November 9

Dream Jobs (updated)

• plumber
• roadie for Blitzen Trapper
• UPS Man
• zookeeper
• wizard
• Clark (of Lewis and Clark fame)
• the cool teacher
• polar bear trainer/jockey
  

Fall - A Time of Color

"My Music" Defines Me.

Hi all. So this is a topic that I have really wanted to write about for some time now and I have finally found the motivation to make a blog post about it.

For as long as I can remember, my music has defined a part of who I am. My music is different than music a lot of people listen to and that's fine. A lot of people back in high school (even junior high) used to tell me that I listened to weird music. Sometimes it kind of bothered me because I didn't have very many people to share my music with and sometimes I liked that no one really knew the music that I listened to on a regular basis very well. In high school and even these days I know that I am so passionate about the music I love to listen to, that sometimes I force it onto people to listen/try and enjoy my music because they are really nice are close to me and just want to make me happy. But sometimes I know people really need that push into different types of music at a certain point in their life, some times just because they are curious, because they don't really know what they like, because what they like sucks and they kind of just realize it, and sometimes it's just that someone shows you something and you are like "wow, this is really cool, what else do you have like this/that I would like." As much as I love talking about music with people who like the same type of music as me, I have a great amount of respect for someone who tells me that they don't like something when they sincerely don't like it. I enjoy talking to these people just as much. It's what makes things interesting. If you don't like my music, then you probably don't read this blog (very much/at all). For whatever reason it is, maybe because I share very similar tastes/interest in music as a couple of my fellow 31st & Chi writers (Pistol Pete and Lightweight), this blog has become somewhat centered around this 'type' of music, which if had to be labeled would more than likely be referred to as "Indie". Now not of all our posts are about Indie music and I really love the posts that aren't. They keep this blog fresh and make it fun to read for people who aren't necessarily interested in the music.

I don't care what kind of music you listen to. You shouldn't have to care about what kind of music I (or anyone else for that matter) listens to. Listen to music that you like. If you are like me, then to a certain extent, your music defines a part of who you are. I don't like people who pose a (musical) image upon themselves because they think it makes them look cool or want to fit in or really just don't have any original style/tastes in music/anything. This goes for a lot of things, not necessarily just music. Just be yourself, don't be a fuckin' poser. No one likes posers.

For those of you who do like the music I post and are interested, I have another seasonal (not really) mixtape for you. Songs that I like that have accumulated over the last few months till this point. Some songs are older than the others. Right-click to save.

Heart Skipped A Beat - The xx

Shelia - Atlas Sound

I'm Not (Live @ ATP 9/11/09) - Panda Bear

Hellhole Ratrace - Girls

Horchata - Vampire Weekend

Bye Bye Bayou - LCD Soundsystem

Swim Until You Can't See Land - Frightened Rabbit

Two Fair Weeks [Grizzly Bear (Fred Falke Remix) Vs. Lily Allen] - Marc Johnce

Baby - Devendra Banhart

Mrs Cold - Kings Of Convenience

Chillin (Top UK Billin Remix) - Wale (ft. Lady GaGa)

"And maybe if i really tried with all of my heart
then I could make a brand new start in love with you"
-christopher owens

Lust For Life - Girls

Family Picture

So lately we have been talking about where we are going to live next year after we move out our current domiciles in the frat cave. We have checked out a few different places that would be suitable for us to transform into a suitable 'bro lair' where we will partake in all our fave bro-tivities like listening to vinyl, crushing bronsons, and all sit on the couch with our laptops. When we looked forward to this glorious future in our palatial new digs, we made a list of things we would need to make this oasis a paradise, things like three TVs, five couches, a Magic Bullet, and dart board. But, most important, we decided, would be a 'family picture' of the six of us to hang over the fireplace or display prominently elsewhere. Its funny because we're not really a family, but what kind of picture would we want? Something formal or maybe we would want to look like our favorite independent/alternative rock n' roll groups. Below are some of our many options.

In this picture we are just a bunch of bros sitting on a couch in our everyday garments and we are thinking we don't even want to take this picture. One of us is drunk.

Here we are sitting on a couch again, but we are way more enthused about it this time. One of us is sitting kind of girlie and one of us is showing that he 'loves these bros' by giving one of us a smooch on the cheek. This would be a good one to have because it would let people know that we are 'a little crazy' and don't mind being around each other and we might even walk around nude from time to time.
In this picture, we are sitting on the ground. This demonstrates that we are laid back and easy going guys who don't mind just lounging around and 'chilling' with each other. Also, two of us have turned into girls. Look how wacky we are in this picture. When people see this, they will know we are wild and crazy guys who like to throw elaborate, multi-leveled, circus themed parties. This also shows our dedication to each other by how crazy we were willing to look for this portrait. This one will probably not be a photograph, but like an oil painting on some black velvet or something cool like that.

This is a classic 'bros out walking around' picture. Its like we were looking for a place to eat or just coming home from a 'wild night' at the bar and someone stopped to snap our picture of us wearing our winter wear. This picture could be taken by the pedestrian bridge that goes to Iowa so people would think we do outdoorsy things together like go for walks and play touch football in the park when we really don't.
This picture makes me miss Deakin. Wish he would move in with us.We will probably end up going with the classic pastiche of 'dudes with mustaches'. People will think we all went to the Office Depot regional conference together and slammed drinks in the Embassy Suites lobby bar if we hang this up. It will make us appear 'old for our age' and will be a source of humor because we are not really salesmen.