Oh this is awesome. I feel like a fifth grader, because even though she has amazing credentials, I'm also excited to have a girl contribute. Pop a bottle of fine Korbel!
I know he's old, but my friend goes to church with Tom Hanks, and she confirmed to my surprise that he is, in fact, a jerk.
Then I saw Angels and Demons and realized she was right.
It is interesting to note that in four days, charities raised more than four times the dollar amount for Haiti than the victims of the 2004 Tsunami. The amount of money donated to Haiti in that period of time is also more compared to the money raised for victims of Hurricane Katrina. So, perhaps, the viral philanthropy of texting and Facebook is beneficial. Either way, let us not forget Haiti as time goes by.
Well, whether or not you like the cover, the gestalt is that a talented musician who has created legitimate music over the past forty years has covered a current, amazing artist. It's kind of an act of appreciation, and I think whether or not Gabriel did it justice is less important than the fact that he actually covered it. Instead of, you know, a Taylor Swift song.
Oh I liked your example, I just wanted to make a crack at Urban Outfitters, because in my opinion it is the antitheses of the DIY, thrifting counter culture whatever movement they're trying to copy. I think that's why everyone gets uppity when the lemmings that like typical top 40 music start listening to albums like Contra, because eventually it seems like the commercialism waters down and bastardizes what was once unique and thoughtful art form.
I waitress at one of those corporate, lame restaurants (think Office Space) and for the most part the music they play is so terrible I think I might be in purgatory, but they also play MGMT, Cat Power, Phoenix and today I heard Sufjan Stevens. It just doesn't happen often enough to make up for that "Steal My Sunshine" late 90s bullshit.
Listening to My Girls sounds like the only way to shop, but I think the kids are shopping at Urban Outfitters these days, which is also interesting because I think they might play AC as part of their "hip, unique, funky" manufactured vibe.
Your ironic generalization about the generic hipster notwithstanding, if liking the National and being excited about this album makes me a hipster, I'm happy to be one; these guys are talented as hell.
All my dreams of seeing Conan live while I still live in LA have been crushed. I'll take a few shots for him... but he'll go on to greater things. Who wants that kind of talent on a network that values the waning comedic masturbatory ramblings of Jay Leno?
I knew this generation was doomed when I saw a YouTube video of children dancing to the "Superman That Ho" song. I mean, the worst thing I was exposed to as a child was Bowie's tights bulge in Labyrinth, and I to be honest I turned out a little unsavory like many born in the 80's.
I actually like this album...it makes it seem like June in January, like a summer record. I rolled my eyes when I heard the autotune, I thought it sounded T-Pain ish even before I read this post.
I don't know much about this band...but the usual intelligent Stereo Gum comments seem to be inundated with grammatically haphazard rants that I suspect are posted by tween fanboys. Maybe if there are no more posts(Google alerts), this atrocious plagiarism of the Postal Service will go away.
HAH! Look at how seriously the Camus groupie takes an independent music website post. What an existential dilemma. Excuse me while I brush up on Philosophy 101 to gain further insight into the irony of this situation.
Your haphazard use of the term "noise" was the whole point of my comment. I did not intend to "bash" any person that dislikes advancing forms of sound. Those that scratch their heads at MPP will be in the same musical purgatory as those who questioned Revolver, Kid A and Dylan's electric movement. I guess a diplomatic way to put it is, for every old man that shakes his fist at these damn kid's "noise", there will be thousands of belated accolades affirming the aforementioned "noise" as truly influential and revolutionary art.
The great thing about the digital revolution/internet is that these kind of lists are no longer static. I hate to sound all touchy-feely, but all these comments aggregate into a fluid list. Never before have I been so empowered in finding and promoting amazing music, and it usually has nothing to do with whatever music critic's idea of what is good. 2009 has been the best year in music, for me, because of the amazing bands, and you guys talking about them on this blog.
It bothers me that people erroneously refer to Animal Collective/MPP as "overrated." Clearly, the great majority of intelligent listeners, perspicacious critics and the many music aesthetes who comment on this site find the album to be the pinnacle of what was a great year in music. Therefore, it does not follow that Merriweather Post Pavilion is overrated, rather the numerous acknowledgments of the album's acclaim are directly proportional to caliber of the music.
Instead of attempting to reduce the well-documented merit an amazing work of art with logical fallacies, simply state that you do not care for the album. Then accept your down votes as penance for having insipid taste in music.
After I wipe these tears from my eyes I will douse my my sorrows in some sweet two buck chuck (and pretend it's not business as usual for a Friday). The last time I felt so bittersweet was when the Get Up Kids broke up. Nice work guys!
I'm sure he set himself up for artistic confinement by ever hinting that he would do all 50 states. It's a daunting task, and if the music doesn't come from the creative energy inside the artist, but rather as a fulfillment of some some sort of verbal contract, I can imagine that would be quite stifling. If his heart is not in it, then end result would be 48 albums of pure musical fodder.
Maybe he should pull a Justin Vernon and hide in a cabin for a few months.
I'm glad I never gave this, as one commenter cleverly put it, Fowl Shitty, a listen.
Are the Postal Service going to come out with any new material any time soon?
I think there are some really awesome comments on this thread....the truth is...these lists make music lovers discuss what is important to us in the past ten years.
To be honest, I've learned more about music from posts on these threads than I ever scouring record stores and probing friends for their latest playlist.
I love reading about everyone's favorite albums from the past ten years. Even if the opinions differ from mine, it think it's really cool to see what other people have fallen in love with. I admit I've started listening to a few bands because of some random comments from Stereogum. I've found out so much about music from this blog, and from the comments, and I think we should all consider that and welcome dialog.
Screen writing can take a few years, it is possible that he was working on this script when everyone was crapping their pants over Arcade Fire and it was still hip to like them.
I never thought I'd say this, but it looks like I will own something relating to the Twilight franchise after all. The quality of the music makes up for any misgivings I had about it appearing in a movie marketed to tweens and the like.
What about Iron & Wine? I never see Sam Beam on any of these lists and I wonder why....for the past few years, Creek Drank the Cradle and Woman King have been in my regular rotation, but no one ever talks about these albums...
2569 Most Anticipated Albums Of 20102569 Most Anticipated Albums Of 2010