Man Man « thefmly – those who were strangers had turned into friends

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fmly on darren mabee

“I’m about the same size as the actress/comedienne Monique to give you an idea. Our personalities are different, but our size is the same.”

If there’s anything that we love at a show it’s a good time with Jersey’s son, Darren Mabee. Known for his appearances at every Man Man show in and around the city, Mabee grew to iconic fame within the ‘independent music community’ about a year ago with his Tim Harrington (Les Savy Fav) sex appeal and very lighthearted Americana band, We Are The Seahorses, who are responsible for such cult hits as “Cancerface” and “Pedro and the Hulkster.” King Khan and the Shrines just played the Music Hall of Williamsburg and fans of the band were reportedly graced by a “naked fat bearded guy onstage wearing nothing but a cape” which was followed by, “He’s actually wearing a leopard speedo thong, but appeared nude bc the fat rolled over the speedo! He has girls lathering him w baby oil also.”

There’s a classic video of Mabee from a Man Man show, kissing and grabbing at Jonah Ray’s package. Highly recommended you watch, located after the jump. Darren Mabee, you’re the man! You make your favorite bands play better shows in New York than anywhere else in the world and I salute thee. Not just anyone can transcend the performer/audience relationship to place focus on the appreciator as a performer, big ups.

Man Man – Hurly/Burly
Les Savy Fav – Who Rocks The Party
Dan Deacon – Shit Slowly Applied On Cock Parts

Continue reading ‘fmly on darren mabee’

88BoaDrummers Revealed!


So L.A.’s event is not quite as balls out as N.Y.’s but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to have a good time! No offense to those drumming next Friday, I’m volunteering, but nothing trumps Animal Collective, TV On The Radio, XXXChange and the rest of the Williamsburg crew. I’ll show you both lineups to put our scenes in perspective. Don’t forget, the night of it all is 8/8/08, the music begins at 8:08, goes for 88minutes and the 88 drummers will be led by The Boredoms as well as Hisham Bharoocha of Soft Circle. Be there or be bored.

L.A.:

Hisham A. Bharoocha (Soft Circle)
Zach Hill (Hella)
Butchy Fuego (Pit Er Pat)
Kid Millions (Oneida)
Dave Nuss (No-Neck Blues Band / Under Satan’s Sun)
Christopher Powell (Icy Demons / Man Man)
Aaron Moore (Volcano the Bear)
Warren Huegel (Tussle)
Dustin Donaldson (Freelance Session, I Am Spoonbender, Link Wray, Thought Industry)
Derek James (Entrance)
Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse, All Smiles, Black Heart Procession)
Tim Soete (The Fucking Champs)
Michael Tapper (We Are Scientists)
Adam Pfahler (Jawbreaker)
Claude Collins-Stracensky
Sara Lund (Unwound)
Matthew Hartman (Sic Alps)
Chris Moore (Negative Approach)
Abby Ball
Ryan Huber
Geoff Soule (FUCK, Tara Jane O’neil)
John Dwyer (Thee Oh Sees)
Shahin Motia (Oneida / Ex Models / Knyfe Hyts)
Alexis Garapulos (Arp / Expanding Headband)
Katelyn Hall (Mika Miko)
David Janik (Company)
Michael Henrickson (Smegma / Jackie-O-Motherfucker)
Tom Recchion
Michael Bulington
Trent Moorman (Like a Kite/The Saturday Knights)
Brian Dwyer
Damon Eliza Palermo (Mi Ami)
Michael Catano
Vice Cooler (xbxrx / Hawnay Troof)
Andy Connors (ex-A Minor Forest / Lumen)
Weasel Walter (xbxrx)
Adam Baz (Evangelista, Ohioan, Nightwonds)
Dave Aron (Koi Pond)
Pete Vogl (Koi Pond)
Robin Easton
Alianna Kalaba (We Ragazzi)
Gregory Rogove (Priestbird)
Jonathan Holland (Tussle)
Brendan Fowler (BARR / Car Clutch)
Adam Autry
Anthony Petrovic (Ezeetiger / The Drums)
Rob Barber (High Places)
Dan Rowan
Grace Lee (Foot Village)
Jason Adam Baker (Necking)
Andrew Neuhues
Sandra Vu (Midnight Movies)
Than Luu (Black Gold / M. Ward / Adam Franklin)
Jaiko Suzuki (Electro Putas)
Brian Miller (Foot Villlage)
Ryan Pritts (Paik / Bolmongani)
Gabie Strong
Jessica Espeleta
Patty Schemel (Hole, Juliette Lewis, Pink)
Roy Tatum (Wives)
London May (Samhain / Dag Nasty)
Wendy Shuey
Paul Quattrone (!!!, Modey Lemon, Midnite Snake)
Josh Taylor (Foot Village / Friends Forever)
Sarah Anderson (Lucky Dragons)
James Jolliff (Brother Reade)
Brian Girgus (lowercase / Track Star)
Yoshi Nakamoto (The Aislers Set)
Nora Brank
Chris Hathwell (Moving Units)
Kevin Stuart (Crystal Antlers)
Damian Edwards (Crystal Antlers)
Bianca Sparta (Erase Errata)
Michael La Franchi (Giant Drag / Let’s Go Sailing)
Taylor Richardson (Sunburned Hand of the Man)
Kevin Haskins (Bauhaus)
Diva Dompe (Black Black)
Tennessee Thomas (The Like)
Erin Garcia (Brother Reade)
Steven McCarty (Dead Meadow)
Joachim Cooder
Mike Sord Gard (M. Sord)
Aaron Sperske (Beachwood Sparks)
Sara Diaz
Wendy Farina
Greg Fox (Pink Mountain / Family of Love)

N.Y.:

Ryan Sawyer (Tall Firs / Stars Like Fleas / Thurston Moore / Eye Contact / Lone Wolf and Cub)
Chris Brokaw (Come/ ffffflashlights/ Thurston Moore’s New Wave Bandits)
Will Shmee (Knox Dad)
Suzanne Rogaleski (Lone Wolf and Cub / Badmittons)
Alex Holden (Big Numbers)
Brian Mcleod (Modest Mouse / Lights / Love as Laughter)
Torbitt Schwartz (Chin Chin / Reverend Vince Anderson)
Jaleel Bunton (TV on the Radio / Reverend Vince Anderson)
Brian Tamborello (Psychic Ills)
Jim Siegel (Ning Nong Radio)
Greg Anderson (Oakley Hall / Windsor for the Derby)
Dreiky Caprice (Crash Worship)
Matt Heyner (Malkuth / No-Neck Blues Band)
Joseph Stickney (Bear In Heaven / Rhys Chatham / Paul Duncan)
Matt Sweeney (Chavez / Zwan / Neil Diamond)
Samara Lubelski (Hall of Fame / Thurston Moore’s New Wave Bandits)
Pete Nolan (Magik Markers / Spectre Folk)
Abby Portner (Rings / Hex Message)
Tom Peyton (Fakers / KGB)
John Moloney (Sunburned Hand of the Man)
Andrya Ambro (Talk Normal)
David Sparks
Spencer Herbst (Matta Llama)
Timothy Monaghan (J.A.C.K.)
Andrew Barker (Gold Sparkle Band)
Joseph Noll (My Best Fiend)
Dave Witte (Municipal Waste)
Nick Lesley (Necking / Gunung Sari)
Jim Sykes (Parts and Labor)
Michael Evans (God Is My Co-Pilot)
Dong-Ping Wong (Necking)
Spencer Sweeney
Nondor Nevai (Aborted Christ Child)
Jonathan Lockie (Sightings)
Dave Bergander (Celebration)
Jules Scott Key (Metric / Bang Lime)
Yuval Lion (Pink Noise)
Ronnie Seward (Whooping Crane)
Corinne Jones (Effi Briest)
Adam Lee (Let’s Go Bowling)
Nancy Garcia (Monotract / Thurston Moore)
Ben McConnell (Phosphorescent)
Pascal Spengemann (Hex Message)
Speck Brown (Orphan)
Laura Rogers (The Rogers Sisters)
Rupert Clervaux (Sian Alice Group)
Kyle Warren (Dinowalrus)
Adam Marnie (The Mess of New Mexico)
Alex Epton (Spank Rock / XXXchange)
Otto Hauser (Espers / Bert Jansch / Vashti Bunyan)
Nick DeCarmine (Slow Dynamte)
Frank Haines (Blanko and Noiry)
Brian Deran
Marcus Burrowes (Rockersnyc)
Avi Cohen (Soiled Mattress and the Springs / Silk Flowers
Emmy Miller (Xtreme Violence / The Peppermints)
Ryan Tozzi
Oran Canfield (Child Abuse)
Erik Rappin (A.R.E. Weapons)
Matt McCauley (A.R.E. Weapons)
Brian McPeck (A.R.E. Weapons)
Brian Weitz (Animal Collective)
Kyle Simon (Baby Talk)
Danny Tunick (Arnold Dreyblatt / Fakers)
Leah Moskowitz (Bloody for Me)
Joe Wong (Parts and Labor)
Nathan Corbin (Excepter)
Hamish Kilgour (Clean and the Great Unwashed / Samara Lubelski)
Linnea Vedder Shults (LIGHTS)
Lacy Lancaster (Durty Nanas)
Kathleen Cholewka (Les Sans Culottes / Discovery)
Noah Lennox (Panda Bear / Animal Collective)
James Buonantuono (Other Passengers / Ruby Glass)
Sadie Laska (I.U.D. / Extreme Violence)
Keith Connolly (No-Neck Blues Band)
Jason Mills
James Corrigan (ON?OFF / Wool, Rivers)
Miles Levy (Malcolm Mooney / No Doctors)
Tommy Rouse (Entrance)
Eric Cohen (Caroliner Rainbow)
Christopher Weingarten (ex-Parts and Labor)
Tim Evans (Bogan Dust
Ian Vanek (Japanther)
Chris Millstein (Jah Division)
Nick Ray (Golden Triangle)
Travis Chance (Usurp Synapse)
Michael Colin (Aa)

Favorite Albums of ‘08 (so far)


Chris over at Gorilla vs Bear really knows how to get a blog party started; in the mid-year he’s asked many of his friends what they’re favorite album of ‘08 is, it’s no surprise how many responded. Here are just several, you can read the rest and download mentioned MP3’s right here.

Edward Droste, Grizzly Bear:

that’s a no brainer for me! beach house, devotion. I’ve listened to this album since I got it in the fall non stop until now. They rapidly climbed my most played tracks on iTunes to overtake many of my favorite songs. This is the type of music that just grows and ages with each listen in the best way possible. I never tire of it and I’m sure that 10 years down the road I’ll appreciate it as much as I do now.

Bradford Cox, Atlas Sound/Deerhunter:

my album of the year so far would be Animal Collective’s Water Curses EP. I think its really enigmatic. “Cobwebs” might be my favorite thing I’ve heard in the past 5 years. The last song sounds great in your bedroom in the late afternoon with the windows open. The most important band of our generation and I mean that with all sincerity.

Noah Lennox, Panda Bear/Animal Collective:

my favorite album this year (so far) is the erykah badu one called new amerykah: part 1 (4th world war). animal collective was in mississippi in january or so and wed watch a lot of vh1 soul when we werent working on something and for a stretch of a couple of days erykah was always on. sometimes it was a video but one time i saw kind of a performance where she was doing a bunch of new songs and i really liked them and i liked the way she performed them a lot. wed see the honey video all the time and i really liked that and im really psyched that its just an added bonus track on the album. all the songs go together well but theyre also all kind of different. theres something strange that i cant quite put my finger on but all the songs go down easy if you know what i mean. the music feels very personal and real and i like that.

XXXChange, Spank Rock/Fully Fitted:

i dunno if this is super obvious or what but I’ve been super into what i’ve heard of the Lykke Li stuff. the albums not on itunes yet where i get most of my music but i found this one: “I’m Good. I’m Gone” floating around on the internet somewhere. soooooooo good. love the quality of the recording/production too! you can actually hear the room!
also on the subject of girls with cool accents:
http://www.myspace.com/mysoko
her whole thing feels a little twee but her cover of the teenagers “love no” is awesome.

Annie Clark, St. Vincent:

Man Man’s Rabbit Habbits. man, man man own psychosexual dirtdance this album. I love this band…I saw them at coachella and they had b boy painted drums. So cool in my book.

Diplo:

santogold, black lips, jon dahlback, carter 3 (not really), al green – lay it down

Bethany, Pocahaunted:

Vivian Girls, self titled. The songs are so fucking catchy that literally after I listen to them, I am singing them for days. And my dad once told me that you know a song is a hit if it gets stuck in your head. The song “Tell the World” is like the best thing I’ve heard since the Ronettes “I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine.” I think they’re amazing women, making really fun music. and their harmonies, oh god their harmonies.

i guess as far as 2007 goes–”graduate” by kanye west. kind of fucking amazing. i guess you could count this, because literally i JUST heard this album in it’s entirety like a week ago. that song “flashing lights” is fucking perfect. AND “champion” samples Steely Dan, so dude…seriously.

and then–gotta shout out to my favorite man of all time, my dream husband–the boss. I think that “Magic” is what you’d expect from Bruce at this age, but I still loved it. “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” is about to be the anthem of my summer. This album is no “Greetings from Asbury Park,” but it does the trick, and I’m really proud of my man…

Josh Block, White Denim:

I really love the new Spiritualized record a lot, but it hasn’t had enough time to sink in for me to call it my most listened to record this year. With that in mind, The George Jones Box SetShe Thinks I Still Care” that came out in November of 07 (practically 08 for me) has been in heavy rotation in the player right next to Robert Wyatt’s “Comicopera” that came out one month before it. Both records are just my speed.

Evan Mast, RATATAT:

my favorite so far is easily springwater’s self titled. its an early 70s instrumental album made by a guy named phil cordell in his home studio. loads of guitar layers and beautiful melodies. apparently one of the tracks was a top 5 hit in the UK. somebody recommended this to me saying that it sounded like the 70s version of ratatat – and i have to admit, there’s actually a pretty strong resemblance in some ways. its amazing that i’m only discovering this record now.

Jared Van Fleet, Voxtrot/Sparrow House:

there is an album i’ve been listening to a lot this year, but i guess it’s not new for most people… townes van zandt’s our mother the mountain. for me, van zandt’s songs, performances, and production all reach their apex at the same time with this record. the result is a sound that is at once dark and hopeful, orchestrated and minimal, bitter and sweet. of the lesser-known tracks, check out “second lover’s song”. also, thanks to whoever accidentally left this in my car a few months ago.

Pablo Díaz-Reixa, El Guincho:

my favorite album so far from 2008 is Escuela de Zebras by Joe Crepúsculo. It is a guy from Barcelona who writes amazing lyrics and sings in a very particular way over really good backing tracks made of synths, keyboards, rythm machines and sometimes, guitars. It’s brilliant. From old stuff I’ve been enjoying Totó La Momposina a lot, the first 2 MC Solaar records and listening back again and again to Cinema Transcendental by Caetano Veloso. I saw Animal Collective play last weekend at Primavera Sound and their new songs are SO GOOD. They sounded so perfect and how they sync the lights with the sound, the best. Not also the new songs, but the way they played old stuff that was really clever and inspiring too. The Dirty Projectors were really good too. Beautiful guitar sounds. Also I’ve been listening a lot to a Mad Decent cumbia podcast, some pretty awesome tunes in it. And The Ruby Suns record too, can’t wait to see them play live cause I missed them at SXSW. I don’t know, that is all I can remember from last weeks.

As I stated in the beginning of this post, you can head over to Gorilla vs Bear to read more from Bodies of Water and Love Is All as well as download MP3’s that the artists have mentioned.

Favorite Albums of ‘08 (so far)


Chris over at Gorilla vs Bear really knows how to get a blog party started; in the mid-year he’s asked many of his friends what they’re favorite album of ‘08 is, it’s no surprise how many responded. Here are just several, you can read the rest and download mentioned MP3’s right here.

Edward Droste, Grizzly Bear:

that’s a no brainer for me! beach house, devotion. I’ve listened to this album since I got it in the fall non stop until now. They rapidly climbed my most played tracks on iTunes to overtake many of my favorite songs. This is the type of music that just grows and ages with each listen in the best way possible. I never tire of it and I’m sure that 10 years down the road I’ll appreciate it as much as I do now.

Bradford Cox, Atlas Sound/Deerhunter:

my album of the year so far would be Animal Collective’s Water Curses EP. I think its really enigmatic. “Cobwebs” might be my favorite thing I’ve heard in the past 5 years. The last song sounds great in your bedroom in the late afternoon with the windows open. The most important band of our generation and I mean that with all sincerity.

Noah Lennox, Panda Bear/Animal Collective:

my favorite album this year (so far) is the erykah badu one called new amerykah: part 1 (4th world war). animal collective was in mississippi in january or so and wed watch a lot of vh1 soul when we werent working on something and for a stretch of a couple of days erykah was always on. sometimes it was a video but one time i saw kind of a performance where she was doing a bunch of new songs and i really liked them and i liked the way she performed them a lot. wed see the honey video all the time and i really liked that and im really psyched that its just an added bonus track on the album. all the songs go together well but theyre also all kind of different. theres something strange that i cant quite put my finger on but all the songs go down easy if you know what i mean. the music feels very personal and real and i like that.

XXXChange, Spank Rock/Fully Fitted:

i dunno if this is super obvious or what but I’ve been super into what i’ve heard of the Lykke Li stuff. the albums not on itunes yet where i get most of my music but i found this one: “I’m Good. I’m Gone” floating around on the internet somewhere. soooooooo good. love the quality of the recording/production too! you can actually hear the room!
also on the subject of girls with cool accents:
http://www.myspace.com/mysoko
her whole thing feels a little twee but her cover of the teenagers “love no” is awesome.

Annie Clark, St. Vincent:

Man Man’s Rabbit Habbits. man, man man own psychosexual dirtdance this album. I love this band…I saw them at coachella and they had b boy painted drums. So cool in my book.

Diplo:

santogold, black lips, jon dahlback, carter 3 (not really), al green – lay it down

Bethany, Pocahaunted:

Vivian Girls, self titled. The songs are so fucking catchy that literally after I listen to them, I am singing them for days. And my dad once told me that you know a song is a hit if it gets stuck in your head. The song “Tell the World” is like the best thing I’ve heard since the Ronettes “I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine.” I think they’re amazing women, making really fun music. and their harmonies, oh god their harmonies.

i guess as far as 2007 goes–”graduate” by kanye west. kind of fucking amazing. i guess you could count this, because literally i JUST heard this album in it’s entirety like a week ago. that song “flashing lights” is fucking perfect. AND “champion” samples Steely Dan, so dude…seriously.

and then–gotta shout out to my favorite man of all time, my dream husband–the boss. I think that “Magic” is what you’d expect from Bruce at this age, but I still loved it. “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” is about to be the anthem of my summer. This album is no “Greetings from Asbury Park,” but it does the trick, and I’m really proud of my man…

Josh Block, White Denim:

I really love the new Spiritualized record a lot, but it hasn’t had enough time to sink in for me to call it my most listened to record this year. With that in mind, The George Jones Box SetShe Thinks I Still Care” that came out in November of 07 (practically 08 for me) has been in heavy rotation in the player right next to Robert Wyatt’s “Comicopera” that came out one month before it. Both records are just my speed.

Evan Mast, RATATAT:

my favorite so far is easily springwater’s self titled. its an early 70s instrumental album made by a guy named phil cordell in his home studio. loads of guitar layers and beautiful melodies. apparently one of the tracks was a top 5 hit in the UK. somebody recommended this to me saying that it sounded like the 70s version of ratatat – and i have to admit, there’s actually a pretty strong resemblance in some ways. its amazing that i’m only discovering this record now.

Jared Van Fleet, Voxtrot/Sparrow House:

there is an album i’ve been listening to a lot this year, but i guess it’s not new for most people… townes van zandt’s our mother the mountain. for me, van zandt’s songs, performances, and production all reach their apex at the same time with this record. the result is a sound that is at once dark and hopeful, orchestrated and minimal, bitter and sweet. of the lesser-known tracks, check out “second lover’s song”. also, thanks to whoever accidentally left this in my car a few months ago.

Pablo Díaz-Reixa, El Guincho:

my favorite album so far from 2008 is Escuela de Zebras by Joe Crepúsculo. It is a guy from Barcelona who writes amazing lyrics and sings in a very particular way over really good backing tracks made of synths, keyboards, rythm machines and sometimes, guitars. It’s brilliant. From old stuff I’ve been enjoying Totó La Momposina a lot, the first 2 MC Solaar records and listening back again and again to Cinema Transcendental by Caetano Veloso. I saw Animal Collective play last weekend at Primavera Sound and their new songs are SO GOOD. They sounded so perfect and how they sync the lights with the sound, the best. Not also the new songs, but the way they played old stuff that was really clever and inspiring too. The Dirty Projectors were really good too. Beautiful guitar sounds. Also I’ve been listening a lot to a Mad Decent cumbia podcast, some pretty awesome tunes in it. And The Ruby Suns record too, can’t wait to see them play live cause I missed them at SXSW. I don’t know, that is all I can remember from last weeks.

As I stated in the beginning of this post, you can head over to Gorilla vs Bear to read more from Bodies of Water and Love Is All as well as download MP3’s that the artists have mentioned.

Favorite Albums of ‘08 (so far)


Chris over at Gorilla vs Bear really knows how to get a blog party started; in the mid-year he’s asked many of his friends what they’re favorite album of ‘08 is, it’s no surprise how many responded. Here are just several, you can read the rest and download mentioned MP3’s right here.

Edward Droste, Grizzly Bear:

that’s a no brainer for me! beach house, devotion. I’ve listened to this album since I got it in the fall non stop until now. They rapidly climbed my most played tracks on iTunes to overtake many of my favorite songs. This is the type of music that just grows and ages with each listen in the best way possible. I never tire of it and I’m sure that 10 years down the road I’ll appreciate it as much as I do now.

Bradford Cox, Atlas Sound/Deerhunter:

my album of the year so far would be Animal Collective’s Water Curses EP. I think its really enigmatic. “Cobwebs” might be my favorite thing I’ve heard in the past 5 years. The last song sounds great in your bedroom in the late afternoon with the windows open. The most important band of our generation and I mean that with all sincerity.

Noah Lennox, Panda Bear/Animal Collective:

my favorite album this year (so far) is the erykah badu one called new amerykah: part 1 (4th world war). animal collective was in mississippi in january or so and wed watch a lot of vh1 soul when we werent working on something and for a stretch of a couple of days erykah was always on. sometimes it was a video but one time i saw kind of a performance where she was doing a bunch of new songs and i really liked them and i liked the way she performed them a lot. wed see the honey video all the time and i really liked that and im really psyched that its just an added bonus track on the album. all the songs go together well but theyre also all kind of different. theres something strange that i cant quite put my finger on but all the songs go down easy if you know what i mean. the music feels very personal and real and i like that.

XXXChange, Spank Rock/Fully Fitted:

i dunno if this is super obvious or what but I’ve been super into what i’ve heard of the Lykke Li stuff. the albums not on itunes yet where i get most of my music but i found this one: “I’m Good. I’m Gone” floating around on the internet somewhere. soooooooo good. love the quality of the recording/production too! you can actually hear the room!
also on the subject of girls with cool accents:
http://www.myspace.com/mysoko
her whole thing feels a little twee but her cover of the teenagers “love no” is awesome.

Annie Clark, St. Vincent:

Man Man’s Rabbit Habbits. man, man man own psychosexual dirtdance this album. I love this band…I saw them at coachella and they had b boy painted drums. So cool in my book.

Diplo:

santogold, black lips, jon dahlback, carter 3 (not really), al green – lay it down

Bethany, Pocahaunted:

Vivian Girls, self titled. The songs are so fucking catchy that literally after I listen to them, I am singing them for days. And my dad once told me that you know a song is a hit if it gets stuck in your head. The song “Tell the World” is like the best thing I’ve heard since the Ronettes “I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine.” I think they’re amazing women, making really fun music. and their harmonies, oh god their harmonies.

i guess as far as 2007 goes–”graduate” by kanye west. kind of fucking amazing. i guess you could count this, because literally i JUST heard this album in it’s entirety like a week ago. that song “flashing lights” is fucking perfect. AND “champion” samples Steely Dan, so dude…seriously.

and then–gotta shout out to my favorite man of all time, my dream husband–the boss. I think that “Magic” is what you’d expect from Bruce at this age, but I still loved it. “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” is about to be the anthem of my summer. This album is no “Greetings from Asbury Park,” but it does the trick, and I’m really proud of my man…

Josh Block, White Denim:

I really love the new Spiritualized record a lot, but it hasn’t had enough time to sink in for me to call it my most listened to record this year. With that in mind, The George Jones Box SetShe Thinks I Still Care” that came out in November of 07 (practically 08 for me) has been in heavy rotation in the player right next to Robert Wyatt’s “Comicopera” that came out one month before it. Both records are just my speed.

Evan Mast, RATATAT:

my favorite so far is easily springwater’s self titled. its an early 70s instrumental album made by a guy named phil cordell in his home studio. loads of guitar layers and beautiful melodies. apparently one of the tracks was a top 5 hit in the UK. somebody recommended this to me saying that it sounded like the 70s version of ratatat – and i have to admit, there’s actually a pretty strong resemblance in some ways. its amazing that i’m only discovering this record now.

Jared Van Fleet, Voxtrot/Sparrow House:

there is an album i’ve been listening to a lot this year, but i guess it’s not new for most people… townes van zandt’s our mother the mountain. for me, van zandt’s songs, performances, and production all reach their apex at the same time with this record. the result is a sound that is at once dark and hopeful, orchestrated and minimal, bitter and sweet. of the lesser-known tracks, check out “second lover’s song”. also, thanks to whoever accidentally left this in my car a few months ago.

Pablo Díaz-Reixa, El Guincho:

my favorite album so far from 2008 is Escuela de Zebras by Joe Crepúsculo. It is a guy from Barcelona who writes amazing lyrics and sings in a very particular way over really good backing tracks made of synths, keyboards, rythm machines and sometimes, guitars. It’s brilliant. From old stuff I’ve been enjoying Totó La Momposina a lot, the first 2 MC Solaar records and listening back again and again to Cinema Transcendental by Caetano Veloso. I saw Animal Collective play last weekend at Primavera Sound and their new songs are SO GOOD. They sounded so perfect and how they sync the lights with the sound, the best. Not also the new songs, but the way they played old stuff that was really clever and inspiring too. The Dirty Projectors were really good too. Beautiful guitar sounds. Also I’ve been listening a lot to a Mad Decent cumbia podcast, some pretty awesome tunes in it. And The Ruby Suns record too, can’t wait to see them play live cause I missed them at SXSW. I don’t know, that is all I can remember from last weeks.

As I stated in the beginning of this post, you can head over to Gorilla vs Bear to read more from Bodies of Water and Love Is All as well as download MP3’s that the artists have mentioned.

Favorite Albums of ‘08 (so far)


Chris over at Gorilla vs Bear really knows how to get a blog party started; in the mid-year he’s asked many of his friends what they’re favorite album of ‘08 is, it’s no surprise how many responded. Here are just several, you can read the rest and download mentioned MP3’s right here.

Edward Droste, Grizzly Bear:

that’s a no brainer for me! beach house, devotion. I’ve listened to this album since I got it in the fall non stop until now. They rapidly climbed my most played tracks on iTunes to overtake many of my favorite songs. This is the type of music that just grows and ages with each listen in the best way possible. I never tire of it and I’m sure that 10 years down the road I’ll appreciate it as much as I do now.

Bradford Cox, Atlas Sound/Deerhunter:

my album of the year so far would be Animal Collective’s Water Curses EP. I think its really enigmatic. “Cobwebs” might be my favorite thing I’ve heard in the past 5 years. The last song sounds great in your bedroom in the late afternoon with the windows open. The most important band of our generation and I mean that with all sincerity.

Noah Lennox, Panda Bear/Animal Collective:

my favorite album this year (so far) is the erykah badu one called new amerykah: part 1 (4th world war). animal collective was in mississippi in january or so and wed watch a lot of vh1 soul when we werent working on something and for a stretch of a couple of days erykah was always on. sometimes it was a video but one time i saw kind of a performance where she was doing a bunch of new songs and i really liked them and i liked the way she performed them a lot. wed see the honey video all the time and i really liked that and im really psyched that its just an added bonus track on the album. all the songs go together well but theyre also all kind of different. theres something strange that i cant quite put my finger on but all the songs go down easy if you know what i mean. the music feels very personal and real and i like that.

XXXChange, Spank Rock/Fully Fitted:

i dunno if this is super obvious or what but I’ve been super into what i’ve heard of the Lykke Li stuff. the albums not on itunes yet where i get most of my music but i found this one: “I’m Good. I’m Gone” floating around on the internet somewhere. soooooooo good. love the quality of the recording/production too! you can actually hear the room!
also on the subject of girls with cool accents:
http://www.myspace.com/mysoko
her whole thing feels a little twee but her cover of the teenagers “love no” is awesome.

Annie Clark, St. Vincent:

Man Man’s Rabbit Habbits. man, man man own psychosexual dirtdance this album. I love this band…I saw them at coachella and they had b boy painted drums. So cool in my book.

Diplo:

santogold, black lips, jon dahlback, carter 3 (not really), al green – lay it down

Bethany, Pocahaunted:

Vivian Girls, self titled. The songs are so fucking catchy that literally after I listen to them, I am singing them for days. And my dad once told me that you know a song is a hit if it gets stuck in your head. The song “Tell the World” is like the best thing I’ve heard since the Ronettes “I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine.” I think they’re amazing women, making really fun music. and their harmonies, oh god their harmonies.

i guess as far as 2007 goes–”graduate” by kanye west. kind of fucking amazing. i guess you could count this, because literally i JUST heard this album in it’s entirety like a week ago. that song “flashing lights” is fucking perfect. AND “champion” samples Steely Dan, so dude…seriously.

and then–gotta shout out to my favorite man of all time, my dream husband–the boss. I think that “Magic” is what you’d expect from Bruce at this age, but I still loved it. “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” is about to be the anthem of my summer. This album is no “Greetings from Asbury Park,” but it does the trick, and I’m really proud of my man…

Josh Block, White Denim:

I really love the new Spiritualized record a lot, but it hasn’t had enough time to sink in for me to call it my most listened to record this year. With that in mind, The George Jones Box SetShe Thinks I Still Care” that came out in November of 07 (practically 08 for me) has been in heavy rotation in the player right next to Robert Wyatt’s “Comicopera” that came out one month before it. Both records are just my speed.

Evan Mast, RATATAT:

my favorite so far is easily springwater’s self titled. its an early 70s instrumental album made by a guy named phil cordell in his home studio. loads of guitar layers and beautiful melodies. apparently one of the tracks was a top 5 hit in the UK. somebody recommended this to me saying that it sounded like the 70s version of ratatat – and i have to admit, there’s actually a pretty strong resemblance in some ways. its amazing that i’m only discovering this record now.

Jared Van Fleet, Voxtrot/Sparrow House:

there is an album i’ve been listening to a lot this year, but i guess it’s not new for most people… townes van zandt’s our mother the mountain. for me, van zandt’s songs, performances, and production all reach their apex at the same time with this record. the result is a sound that is at once dark and hopeful, orchestrated and minimal, bitter and sweet. of the lesser-known tracks, check out “second lover’s song”. also, thanks to whoever accidentally left this in my car a few months ago.

Pablo Díaz-Reixa, El Guincho:

my favorite album so far from 2008 is Escuela de Zebras by Joe Crepúsculo. It is a guy from Barcelona who writes amazing lyrics and sings in a very particular way over really good backing tracks made of synths, keyboards, rythm machines and sometimes, guitars. It’s brilliant. From old stuff I’ve been enjoying Totó La Momposina a lot, the first 2 MC Solaar records and listening back again and again to Cinema Transcendental by Caetano Veloso. I saw Animal Collective play last weekend at Primavera Sound and their new songs are SO GOOD. They sounded so perfect and how they sync the lights with the sound, the best. Not also the new songs, but the way they played old stuff that was really clever and inspiring too. The Dirty Projectors were really good too. Beautiful guitar sounds. Also I’ve been listening a lot to a Mad Decent cumbia podcast, some pretty awesome tunes in it. And The Ruby Suns record too, can’t wait to see them play live cause I missed them at SXSW. I don’t know, that is all I can remember from last weeks.

As I stated in the beginning of this post, you can head over to Gorilla vs Bear to read more from Bodies of Water and Love Is All as well as download MP3’s that the artists have mentioned.

Austin City Limits


Between Austin City Limits and SXSW, I don’t know how Austin finds time to just chill and actually LISTEN to all of this music.

What’s Good NYC?


Man Man’s new album Rabbit Hats is out today, you can stream the entire album over at Spinner or go buy it at your local record shop. Man Man will be playing Coachella in 16 days.

Well as the weather begins to turn into Spring, the indie bands are crawling out of their caves and returning to the city for free shows! Tonight, if you’re in NY, make sure to head on over the the Virgin Megastore in Union Square to check out Tapes ‘N Tapes at 7pm. Speaking of Tapes ‘N Tapes, do you remember the Indie Marketing Guru? I remember seeing Tapes ‘N Tapes at Coachella last year, it was a great set, even Cory Kennedy showed up.

What’s Good NYC?


Man Man’s new album Rabbit Hats is out today, you can stream the entire album over at Spinner or go buy it at your local record shop. Man Man will be playing Coachella in 16 days.

Well as the weather begins to turn into Spring, the indie bands are crawling out of their caves and returning to the city for free shows! Tonight, if you’re in NY, make sure to head on over the the Virgin Megastore in Union Square to check out Tapes ‘N Tapes at 7pm. Speaking of Tapes ‘N Tapes, do you remember the Indie Marketing Guru? I remember seeing Tapes ‘N Tapes at Coachella last year, it was a great set, even Cory Kennedy showed up.

What’s Good NYC?


Man Man’s new album Rabbit Hats is out today, you can stream the entire album over at Spinner or go buy it at your local record shop. Man Man will be playing Coachella in 16 days.

Well as the weather begins to turn into Spring, the indie bands are crawling out of their caves and returning to the city for free shows! Tonight, if you’re in NY, make sure to head on over the the Virgin Megastore in Union Square to check out Tapes ‘N Tapes at 7pm. Speaking of Tapes ‘N Tapes, do you remember the Indie Marketing Guru? I remember seeing Tapes ‘N Tapes at Coachella last year, it was a great set, even Cory Kennedy showed up.

What’s Good NYC?


Man Man’s new album Rabbit Hats is out today, you can stream the entire album over at Spinner or go buy it at your local record shop. Man Man will be playing Coachella in 16 days.

Well as the weather begins to turn into Spring, the indie bands are crawling out of their caves and returning to the city for free shows! Tonight, if you’re in NY, make sure to head on over the the Virgin Megastore in Union Square to check out Tapes ‘N Tapes at 7pm. Speaking of Tapes ‘N Tapes, do you remember the Indie Marketing Guru? I remember seeing Tapes ‘N Tapes at Coachella last year, it was a great set, even Cory Kennedy showed up.