poetry in commotion...

2007 listmania

Everyone loves end of year lists.  A numerical ranking of what's best and worst, to argue with friends over a drink (or five), and to see where your favourites ended up on all the seminal lists.  As usual, this blog is no exception to the listmania that sweeps publications at this time of year.  As a disclaimer, these are my top 5 favourites, as opposed to what I thought was actually top 5 above everything else and telling you your band/author/director sucks.

Anyway, I heartily recommend checking these out in your free time.

2007 Top 10 Songs 

10) Architecture in Helsink - Heart It Races

Heart It Races embodies everything great about Architecture in Helsinki - the myriad of instruments, synth poppy party sound and pure energy.

9) Blonde Redhead - 23

Like listening to a col breeze on a summer's day, the evanescent quality of this song makes it such a joy to listen to

8) Modest Mouse - Dashboard

My love of all things Modest Mouse aside, this is one seriously cool song, a melding of rock and el carnivale with its horns, banjos and synthesizers sets it apart from most indie rock.

7) M.I.A - Paper Planes

You've all heard this song I'm sure.  Even I heard it on Triple J quite a few times and I barely listen to the radio.  It's catchy, it's great, even if I still don't really know what it's all about, asides from its obvious criminal subject matter

6) Feist - 1 2 3 4

Sure, it's overused on certain commercials to sell certain music players, but it's overused because it's so damn good.

5) Beirut - Nantes

Harbringers of new folk, this song cements what I already knew - I love songs with a billion instruments.  A Balkanesque orchestra of horns, violins, cello, ukuleles, mandolins, glockenspiels, drums, tambourines, congas, organs, pianos, clarinets and accordions backing the deep voice of Condon, it's brilliant.

4) Arcade Fire - (Antichrist Television Blues)

It's typical Arcade Fire - dark, urgent, building to some rousing crescendo as if rushing to some apocalyptic destiny, pulling you along for the ride, the music swelling until it suddenly stops, leaving you surprised, confused, and wondering what the hell happened.  An analogy?

3) Rogue Wave - Lake Michigan

Evoking images of driving long roads on hot summer days with a friend or loved one, its a little Island in the Sun, paired with Eyes-like vocals with a little pissed off attitude (well, as much as an indie band can do anyway - like Scrappy Doo in a fight).

2) Bon Iver - Skinny Love

From the debut album For Emma, Forever Ago, this song, album and artist has won over a myriad of fans. It' s sparse acoustic, Iron & Wine style, just the singer and his guitar.  It's a little bittersweet, filled with a sense of isolation, loneliness, and lost love, trailing off in the night like a spurned lover. Must listen 

1) LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great / All My Friends

I'm cheating and choosing both because they're both quite similar, if slightly different in subject matter. Both start out slow, a repetitive sound setting the mood before Murphy's vocals launch the song.

"Someone Great" is deliberately vague, a song about loss, but he doesn't say who.  Instead, he just sounds tired, wearily wondering why "..the coffee isn't even bitter, because, what's the difference?"

 "All My Friends" contains the same weariness, with a slightly bitter tinge.  It's about growing up, hitting 30 or 40, and realising that the better years of your life are gone, and that your friends are the most important thing in your life.  "Where are your friends tonight?" he sings over and over, drumming into you the question we should all ask ourselves - where are our friends tonight?

I'm not going to bother with albums this year as singles seem to be more palatable for the time poor individual, but this year has been an incredible year for music.  An embarassment of riches if you will - releases by all the 'big' indie bands as well as more mainstream artists and a huge line up of bands that came to Perth. This year I saw my top 3 favourite bands (MM, Shins and Wilco) among other stellar bands that I never in a million years thought would come to isolated Perth, to which I owe a debt of gratitude to the growth of indie music and the mining boom (even if that means I can't afford my own house, or move out by myself). It has been a ridiculously good year for music.

Anyway, albums you should probably check out (and I guess constitute some top 5 list if you prefer, in no particular order):

Beirut - Flying Club Cup

Broken Social Scene presents Kevin Drew - Spirit If...

BSS are BFFs <3. Needless to say BSS members had a good year, with Feist, Kevin Drew and Emily Haines having all found success solo (to various degrees)

Iron & Wine - The Sheperd's Dog

Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

posted by jaseypoo! @ 7:49 PM 0 comments

Christmas Traditions

I'm sure most of you have your Christmas traditions.  My family has none, a by product of an upbringing where Christmas isn't such a huge deal.  Maybe that's why I love Christmas so much - wistfully looking at your traditions of big family lunches, days at the beach, bon bons and paper hats.  I want that. I have my own Christmas traditions, but it's a solitary affair.

For me, Christmas Eve is about a glass of fine brandy and Vince Guaraldi Trio's seminal Christmas classic A Charlie Brown Christmas Soundtrack, a collection of 11 songs of upbeat jazz, choiral singing and a few christmas covers that evoke the feeling of peace, love, family and friendship that to me is the true essence of Christmas.

posted by jaseypoo! @ 7:54 PM 0 comments

in the name of amor

I'm already in - where are you? she texted me.  I stood outside in the line outside Tiger Lils and looked ahead at the long line in front of me.  The line wasn't moving.

Fuck it . I  surreptitiously scanned around for any bouncers, and with a quick hike, climbed over the balcony and snuck into Tiger Lils.

I couldn't wait to see her again.

posted by jaseypoo! @ 1:35 AM 0 comments

something pretty cool

http://www.last.fm/user/jasehoon/

Its a web based program that tracks what you've been listening via your media player of choice.  It's synced to my itunes which tracks my ipod play as well.  I think.  Expect it to be haphazardly updated as I only charge my ipod every 3 or so days.  I've had it for about a couple months? It may be skewed because I've been putting together an xmas mix cd, and I've turned it off relatively frequently because it pops up at the worst times it seems like. Pretty interesting to see what people have been listening to.  You can even stream the songs I've been listening to (assuming its available on last.fm)!

Should you want to.  Which most of you probably don't.

P.S Daft Punk was OFF THE CHAIN.  Best concert ever, Dan are you JEALOUS??

posted by jaseypoo! @ 7:47 PM 0 comments

Christmas is RUINED

People magazine says that Jessica Alba is pregnant, and NOT with my baby

WHAT.

posted by jaseypoo! @ 7:49 PM 0 comments

i love the smell of commerce in the morning

I paid the paltry entrance fee and wandered into Canning Vale markets, which bustled with the noise of commerce in the morning.  It is capitalism at its finest - a group of people out to make a quick buck and another group of people out to find a bargain.  And like all successful trades, after quick haggling, each person walks away convinced they came out better off.  I imagined things hadn't changed much since markets first came into existence thousands of years before.  The same, shifty merchants, crappy cheap wares and the atmosphere of opportunism that is the hallmark of all successful markets.  It's also humanity at its most refreshingly honest - where greed is good and self interest is paramount.

SANTA SHOPS HERE a sign exclaimed in bold letters.  I hadn't realised Santa was such a fan of footy cards and rock and roll posters. "Hey man, nice sunnies", the erstwhile favoured merchant of St Nick said to me.  He was a sunburned wrinkled man on the wrong side of 50 with a brightly coloured bandanna and a faded denim vest, and had noticed my interest in his wares. "Thanks," I replied, waiting for the inevitable pitch. "You like the footy?" he enquired hopefully, his hand slighly twitching in the direction of the cards. "Sometimes".  He looked a little crestfallen. I threw him a bone.  "What sort of posters do you have?". He brightened a little.  "All the great bands mate, Metallica, Nirvana, The Ramones, you name it".  I gave him a shit eating grin as I asked him about Modest Mouse.  "Modest what?" he asked me. "American South West alt rock? Good News for People Who Love Bad News? Doesn't sound familiar?".  I hadn't expected him to. He showed me his poster collection, an exhibition of all the great rock and roll bands from the 70's to early 90's, with the curious and hilarious exception of one featuring Eminem and 50 Cent.  I momentarily flirted with the idea of getting a The Clash poster, but decided against it.  By then the vendor had found better luck with another guy purchasing a Magpies framed premiership photo.

Would I go again? Definitely. I had been there to get my PS2 modded, but something about the market attracted me.  Maybe that was what it was that brought those other people there too - the lure of a bargain, the thrill of haggling a price down, the chance to find something unique and rare, nuggets of gold amid the muck and mud of the cheap goods that surrounded it. Maybe it was the people there, the mingling of poor and rich, tired looking moms and snotty children rubbing shoulders with young couples and enterprising teenagers. Either way, as I walked out I noted the things to check out the next time I was there.  Perhaps next sunday?

posted by jaseypoo! @ 9:30 PM 3 comments