Out the Other

Favorite Songs of '08 - #5-#1

Okay... this is it, with almost seven hours to spare:

#5.  MGMT - "Kids"

I saw MGMT at the same showcase where I saw Florence and the Machine - they were actually the reason we were there, because my sis and the friend we were with were both big fans.  Me? I was underwhelmed.  Hadn't really listened to Oracular Spectacular at that point, it was the end of a loooong and drunken day, and I just really wasn't feeling it.  Plus, I'm not even sure they played "Kids" that night.  But it didn't take too much longer for me to give the album a good listen and fall head over heels for this song - because it worked damn well on the workout mix, because it was excellent to blast in the car, and because the beginning made the perfect ringtone (sigh, until my phone was stolen). It's one of those songs that's so familiar and fun that it makes me feel a little giddy when it starts.

#4.  Elbow - "Grounds For Divorce"

I've been obsessed with this one since the Anticipation Mix at the beginning of the year - and while the rest of the album doesn't have this kind of sound, all of The Seldom-Seen Kid is wonderful.  But this song... there are almost too many awesome parts over the course of its three minutes and thirty nine seconds to describe. I've been listening to it almost all year, and I could still listen to it for multiple hours on repeat.

#3.  Friendly Fires - "On Board"

A pretty awesome thing happened just a few weeks ago that rarely happens - I got SUPER excited when I heard this song in a commercial.  Usually when hear a song I love in a commercial (particularly a commercial that is airing constantly, like the Wii Fit commercial just before Christmas), I immediately become a bit wary, since overexposure usually equals death to musical love.  But no, because I don't think anything could possibly make me get sick of "On Board" - I've been obsessively listening to it since January, after all, and it still hasn't gotten old.  Nice choice, Wii.  In fact, I might have to make this one my next ringtone.

#2.  The Features - "Lions"

The last two songs in this countdown were both tough decisions, because they came from albums that I loved in their entirety, which means it was hard to choose one track to list, and also because I love both songs so much they kept flip-flopping in the #1 and #2 slots.  The Features ended up in spot #2 though, because though their album, Some Kind of Salvation, was absolutely my favorite of 2008, and though I was obsessed with this song, it didn't really have as much of as emotional oomph as the song I'm about to talk about.  Hands down though it wins "best song to run to," "best song to sing loudly in the car" and "best song to sing loudly anywhere" for 2008.  I may not always love it as much as I love it right now, but it definitely captures the way I felt for a huge chunk of 2008.

#1.  Frightened Rabbit - "The Modern Leper"

Since Some Kind of Salvation is nabbing the #1 spot this year, The Midnight Organ Fight is a close, close #2, and most of that reason is because of this song.  In fact, Frightened Rabbit was probably my favorite band of 2008 - I mean, I fell in love with this song, then I fell in love with their second album, then I fell in love with the band at SXSW, then I saw them here in Nashville and was blown away (and given gifts of hard-won stuffed animals from the band), which means I fell wherever you fall when you're already three times in love.  This song has a kind of magic, gives me a kind of feeling, that I don't even want to try to explain here because it makes me nervous the magic will disappear.  It's the kind of song that if you were here with me, in this room right now, I would just put my finger to my lips and say "Shh. Listen to this."

Favorite Songs of '08 - #10-#6

Okay, on to the final 10 songs, since the clock is ticking down to the end of the year here.  If you missed Monday's show, go ahead and listen to the archive - you can hear me ramble on about all ten of these and the reasons why I love them.  But I'll recap a little here as well, first with #10-#6:

#10.  The Felice Brothers - "Radio Song"

The Felice Brothers were one of my best "discoveries" of 2008 - their self-titled album is definitely one of my favorites this year, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing both of their shows here in Nashville.  The first time I went to see them, this was actually one of my least favorite songs on the record - I thought it was a little too sing-songy and boring.  But after hearing them play it live, it hands-down became my favorite (funny how that happens, right?).  Now every time I hear this, it conjures up that warm and happy what-an-awesome-show feeling, which means I listen to it a ton.

#9.  Florence and the Machine - "Kiss With a Fist"

Chicks in the top 10!  As I mentioned on the show Monday, I caught Florence and the Machine at SXSW and was very "meh" about the whole thing - I'm pretty sure she sang acapella and then jumped into a fountain at the end of the set (the showcase was in a weird little mexican restaurant's indoor patio thing).  She CERTAINLY didn't play this song - because I'm damn sure I would have fallen in love with her right then, instead of a few months later.  This tune is a badass little rocker, and I've played it on the show a ridiculous number of times this year.

#8.  Walter Meego - "Girls"

Another gem from the workout mix - this one is the warm-up track I've been hitting the elliptical to for at least the last six months.  A bunch of the tunes on the new Walter Meego record are just as catchy, but this one ended up being the right bpm for my workout mix (don't laugh, it's all very scientific and nerdy) so it ended up being the one I heard multiple times a week.  Still love love love it.

#7.  Lykke Li - "Dance Dance Dance"

When I wrote up Youth Novels for 30 Days, 30 Albums (big giant FAIL right there), I went on and on about how "Dance Dance Dance" could easily anchor an ad campaign, and I'm a little shocked that it isn't all over some commercial by now (or is it? I don't think I watched anything but ABC family all December - don't laugh).  But, I'm still glad it hasn't gotten played to death, because it's a wonderful song to put on whenever I'm slightly bummed out, or grumpy, or just in need of a reviving shot of sugar. Lykke Li's little voice, a bit of sax action, one of the catchiest melodies of the year - this one is going to be in rotation for years to come.

#6.  The Non-Commissioned Officers - "Sweet Eleanor"

Including this song in the countdown feels a bit like cheating, because technically it wasn't released, and the band isn't even around anymore.  Created for the soundtrack of the film Make Out With Violence, and played by a band created to raise money for the production of the film, "Sweet Eleanor" is just too good not to include, no matter the murky state of the soundtrack's non-release (rumor has it it'll be out next year though - as soon as I know, you'll know).  This is another song that gets stuck in my head constantly, and I can't wait to hear the finalized version that will make it onto an eventual release.

Tonight on Out the Other - favorite 10 songs of 2008!

Okay, before I finish the countdown here on the blog, I'm going to be playing my top 10 songs of 2008 on tonight's show, which I think is an appropriate way to wrap up the year.  I'll also be taking a look at your New Year's Eve musical options (and giving my picks) in addition to the regular week's concert calendar and all the regular goodness you can find on Out the Other.

Tune in at 8!

I'll post my final favorite songs of 2008 tomorrow, along with my favorite albums (I didn't really do a great job keeping track of shows this year, but I might take a swing at favorite shows too).

Favorite Songs of '08 - #15-#11

#15.  The Helio Sequence - "Keep Your Eyes Ahead"

I'm a little surprised by how high this song landed as well, but it really is exceptional (I'm trying to vary my adjectives here a little, but I think you might have to resign yourself to the fact that this list will be filled with "awesome," "amazing," and the only other five or six words in my descriptive vocabulary).  Plus, this song permanently comes with a personal memory attached - this year's drive to Austin for SXSW.  Somehow, my sis and I got absurdly lost in Arkansas and ended up going two hours out of our way, or something similarly unfortunate.  To get back on track, we had to drive down a wooded stretch of empty road, eyes peeled and unblinking, looking for the spooky glow of deer eyes on either side of the road.  This song was playing as we navigated our way to indie rock heaven (the figurative one - it was the literal one we were trying to avoid).

#14.  Album - "Stab You"

I dug this song out of the SXSW mp3 offerings back in March, and rapidly became super intrigued by this Mexican "eclectic electronic rock quartet," particularly when I heard that the majority of their releases are available for free download.  I never did catch them at the festival, and I never did love the rest of their music as much as I love this tune, but I'm still fairly obsessive when it comes to this song.  Nine months ago I called it "a delicious bit of shimmying electronic-tinged awesomeness" and that still holds true.  This song is superb.

#13.  Cake Bake Betty - "Eleanor"

Mr. Eades over at Yewknee first introduced me to this song back in July when he guest-DJed an episode of Out the Other.  I remember liking it at the time, but that was nothing compared to the level of love that crept up over the next few months - by the time December rolled around and I started thinking about favorite songs, this one was an instant contender.  If you're an OTO fan, you probably know about my generally lukewarm feelings about female vocalists, but I lovelovelove Cake Bake Betty's voice and every second of this song.  Once the percussion and the background vocals kick in, it's like being swept away down a river.  And I mean that in the loveliest way possible.

#12.  Delta Spirit - "Children"

As my sister pointed out on our road trip home last Christmas, while listening to my 2007 favorite songs countdown, I really do have a thing for epic songs.  2008's list is a little lighter on those types of tunes, but "Children" absolutely falls into that category.  I was fortunate enough to hear this song live several times this year, and it's almost impossible to describe how transcendent it feels to hear this song in person, to feel the bass drum thrumming through the floorboards.  The recorded version captures some of that energy, emotion and intensity, but I don't think it would sound 5% as wonderful to me had I never heard it live.

#11.  Vampire Weekend - "Oxford Comma"

Oh, Vampire Weekend.  For some reason I feel like I might get shit for including this on the edge of my top 10, but I'm not even sure why - except that it seems like at some point early this year, it became super uncool to love Vampire Weekend.  But I love their self-titled album, still, nearly twelve months later, and their SXSW performance was one of the live music highlights of my year.  And this song - simple, catchy, fun to sing in the car, timeless-sounding, about a bit of punctuation that annoys me a little (although I refer to it as a Harvard comma) - is a song that I'm postive I'll still love ten years down the road.  It makes me happy, and that's all you can really ask of a good song.

Favorite Songs of '08 - #20-#16

#20.  French Kicks - "Love in the Ruins"

This is where my rules start to get me - it was nearly impossible to choose one song off of the new French Kicks album, Swimming, to be included in this countdown.  But if I had to pick one favorite, I guess it has to be "Love in the Ruins," because I love the bass line and the chorus momentarily hypnotizes me every single time. It also does a fantastic job capturing the whole aquatic, underwater sound that's so prevalent throughout Swimming. I feel like a lot of people overlooked this album this year, but it really is lovely.

#19.  The Wombats - "Kill the Director"

I wrote about this song earlier this year, and described it as "bouncy and catchy and vaguely ridiculous - filled with the kind of punchy chorus and cheerful background "oooh-ooohs" that make you want to pogo around a crowded dance floor." At the time I was whining a bit because I had just-missed The Wombats at SXSW '07, and would have loved to hear this song live - fortunately I DID hear it live at SXSW '08, and because I attended the party they were playing specifically to see them, I experienced one of my best moments of 2008 as a result.  Thanks Wombats, you rock!

#18.  Does It Offend You, Yeah? - "Let's Make Out"

Speaking of vaguely ridiculous songs, I feel almost embarassed including "Let's Make Out" in my top 20 this year... but wait - no, I don't feel embarassed at all.  Because this song kicks ass, and is so much fun, and has gotten me through many an unmotivated workous, and even though I had a beer poured into my eye at the Does It Offend You Yeah show in Nashville earlier this year (most painful moment of 2008?), I still love the band and this tune.  It puts the ridiculous in RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME.

#17.  Dr. Dog - "Uncovering the Old"

Here's another song that climbed the ranks unexpectedly. Yes, I love love Dr. Dog's new album, Fate, but this was another case where I thought I loved several of the songs on the album equally, and with the love distributed thusly, I figured nothing would be loved enough to be pushed up to the level of the countdown.  Wrong, because "Uncovering the Old" is brilliant on like twelve different levels, and seems to never get old, and it's one of those songs that just makes me smile no matter what, every time I listen to it. I don't know if it's the quick-lyriced group singing, or the shimmery violins, or the way it's like a musical train or what.  I just love it from top to bottom.

#16.  Hotpipes - "Brain and a Vegetable"

Oh, Hotpipes.  It's hard to come up with something new to say when I feel like I've been going on and on and on and on about this band (one of my local favorites, if you've been living under a rock or just started reading this blog) for ages.  Each song on Future Bolt took a turn as my favorite, but I think I've finally (probably just temporarily) settled on "Brain and a Vegetable."  It seems to capture many of the things that make me love this band so very, very much.

Favorite Songs of '08 - #25-21

#25.  And the Relatives - "Animals"

Kicking off this year's countdown is And the Relatives, who over the course of the last year, year and a half have absolutely become one of my favorite Nashville bands.  This is off of their new EP Animals, which is one of my favorite local releases (and favorite releases, period) this year.

#24.  Little Joy - "No One's Better Sake"

Little Joy was a pleasant surprise toward the end of this year, and I think the only reason this song doesn't rank higher on the countdown is because it was a recent discovery.  They blew me away at Exit/In last month, and I wish the second half of 2008 had presented more albums that were as captivating, charming and repeatable as theirs.  This song is shuffly, relaxed and completely contagious - it spends time stuck in my head even when I haven't listened to the album in a few days.

#23.  J. Tillman - "Vessels"

Another recent addition to the list, but I fell so head-over-heels in love with this song that it had to be included in my favorites of the year.  "Vessels" is the perfect vehicle for Tillman's voice - it's an empty, dusty room, and the melody is like a helium balloon inflated inside my ribcage. By the time he reaches the harmonized "ooh"s, my heart feels like it's tucked behind the strings of his guitar.

#22.  Jensen Sportag - "2x2"

A few of the songs that made this year's countdown were staples at the gym this year - particularly Jensen Sportag's "2x2."  2008 marked me finally falling in love with the local DJ/experimental/electronic/etc duo - and while their style is remarkably hard to describe, their songs are so ridiculously amazing that it doesn't matter, all you have to do is listen to them.  This song was a warm-upish tune on my most recent workout mix, and I think I've listened to it 8 bajillion times this year.

#21. The Whigs - "Production City"

When I make my end-of-the-year-favorites list, it starts with me dumping a bunch of mp3s into a folder, and then playing those mp3s in any random order as I start to decide if I like them more or less than the song I just played a minute ago.  It's a lengthy process but I love the results - a playlist that proceeds with increasing awesomeness until it finally culminates with my favorite song of the year.  Anyway, I tossed this Whigs track into the mix, not really thinking it would make the cut, but then I was surprised as it continued to rise in the ranks with every lap through the revised list. I have a feeling it's going to be one of those songs that pops up on shuffle in a few years and I'll immediately have the same response I have now when I hear it - "Oh yeah I almost forgot - this song is awesome!"

Out the Other's Favorite songs of 2008

Okay, I've scoured albums, playlists, miscellaneous mp3 folders, workout mixes, regular mixes, my iTunes, my iPod and even my external hard drive - and now I think I'm ready to bring you my favorite songs of 2008.  While this was a year that saw my commitment to the blog waxing and waning and my interest in the newest of the new occasionally doing the same, I still consumed a TON of new music this year, and loved some of it as wholeheartedly as I've ever loved music before. 

My rules for creating this list are pretty simple.  Only one song per artist can appear on the list (which is awfully tough when I love whole albums, but you know, I had to draw the line somewhere).  I had to at least briefly be at least mildly obsessed with each song, in a stick-it-on-repeat-for-an-hour or make-it-my-ringtone kinda way. The list generally counts down to my absolute favorite, but the specific ranking is calculated using a completely subjective formula taking into account how long ago I initially fell in love with the song, how I feel about it now, how often I still listen to it, specific memories tied to the song, and other entirely indescribable reasons for putting it before or after another song.

Honestly, I've been shuffling the order for almost two weeks, and I could continue to do that but this list would never get posted.  Rest assured I love each and every one of these songs.

Concert calendar - updated!

Just hit the concert calendar with a LONG overdue update - so check it out!  A few shows I recommend you note on your calendar:

• Monday, December 29 - Drew's B-Day Yacht Rock 8 off 8th at Mercy Lounge with And the Relatives, Kindercastle and more
• Wednesday, December 31 - The Basement's NYE Blowout with How I Became the Bomb, And the Relatives and The Privates
• Saturday, January 3 - Luke's B-Day Bash at the Basement with The Features, Hotpipes and more
• Friday, January 9 - Holly House Showcase at the Basement with And the Relatives, Eureka Gold, Shoot the Mountain and more
• Saturday, January 17 - All We Seabees, Ghostfinger and Shoot the Mountain at Exit/In
• Friday, January 23 - Hotpipes, Prabir and the Substitutes and Lylas at the 5 Spot
• Saturday, February 14 - Dr. Dog and Drug Rug at Mercy Lounge
• Wednesday, March 4 - Ben Kweller and the Watson Twins at Mercy Lounge
• Friday, March 6 - Blitzen Trapper and Alela Diane at Mercy Lounge
• Friday, March 13 - King Khan and the Shrines at Exit/In
• Satruday, March 14 - Ryan Adams and the Cardinals at the Nashville War Memorial

? Days, 30 Albums - The Three Suns - A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas

A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas, by The Three Suns, is a new addition to my holiday music collection, and it's been my Christmas soundtrack for the past few weeks.  Honestly, I think I could listen to it for a week straight without getting bored - I'm going on five times already today. And the copy on the back of the album? More brilliant than anything I could write about this record, and it's not just amazing because it was written in 1959 (well, maybe that's part of the reason):

Is there one person you like? Not just like, but really like? Is he a pretty swingin' guy? A pal who gets a kick out of things? A kid who spends a lot of time learning that life, after all, is for fun? This album is for those people. It's a gone album, gang, with the kind of melodic surprises we've come to expect from The Three Suns.

The Suns have remained the same over the years. But, as on other of their recent hits, they've added instruments. They've got some novel ones here: chimes, bells, an oboe and two tubas.

The result of this lineup is a collection of melodic Christmas songs with a real crazy rhythm. The beat is Cha-Cha, Merengue and Rock 'n' Roll, all wrapped up in one. These are not carols, mind you, just songs. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer hangs out here, and so does Alvin, star of The Chipmunk Song. Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town in this album, going through a Winter Wonderland to the tune of Jingle Bells as he takes his Sleigh Ride—all to the fun arrangements of Charles Albertine.

If, after listening to these, you think you've heard everything, hold still a minute as the Suns and their helpers bring a weird, exotic sound to White Christmas and such other lovely tunes as Skaters Waltz and The Christmas Song.

Santa Claus has been pushing his staff at the North Pole hard all year with only one thing in mind: fun. If you want to lend him a helping hand, give this album to someone you really like this Christmas. If he's spirited, if he's swingin', if he's a ding-dong dandy guy, he'll love it.

ART WHITMAN

See what I mean?

"Russian Sleigh Song"
"Jingle Bells"
"Winter Wonderland"

30 Days, 30 Albums - Josh Rouse - Home

I got hooked on Tumblr back in October - not that I needed another outlet on the internet in addition to my two blogs, myspace, facebook and all of that - but the cool thing about Tumblr is that it can be whatever you want it to be, and mine is like an online scrapbook of everything I come across that I think is amazing. Other people use theirs for similar reasons, which is why it's fun to follow other tumblrs, and last week I stumbled across the one that Ryan Adams writes - yes, that Ryan Adams. He's rather well-known for his online ramblings, and this page is no exception - it's full of pictures (of him, of his apartment, of his favorite coffee shop, of random stuff he has) and musical bits (I haven't been paying much attention to that stuff - I just haven't had the time yet) and written things (about being alone on Thanksgiving, and Parker Posey, and other stuff). Basically, he posted so constantly that he overwhelmed my dashboard, so I had to unfollow him and subscribe instead, via my regular ol' blogreader.

Anywho, the whole reason for this ramble is that the loveliest thing that has happened since I started paying attention to Ryan Adams' tumblr is that yesterday he wrote this:

morning foggy. let's pack together...

what shall we listen to? we heard Josh Rouse “Home” a few minutes a go. what a wonderful record.

lemme look.

hang on.

Josh Rouse. Home. I haven't listened to that one in a while.

Josh Rouse and I go way back - not as far back as, say, me and Toad the Wet Sprocket, but I did fall in love with his voice back when I was in college, early on, pre-indie-rock-mode and in the midst of my singer-songwriter-loving phase.  And once you spend a certain amount of time with a voice, that voice starts to feel like home to you.  Josh Rouse has been in that category for quite a few years now.

Home was released in 2000, and it's one of those records it's easy to forget about - it doesn't really have any of my favorite Josh Rouse songs, and I was never crazy for the single-ish "Directions," although I love it more now than I used to.  But overall, Home is an excellent example of how... excellent Josh Rouse is.  Even though his more recent albums haven't felt as transcendent, I will always check out his new material, I will always revist his records, and I will always, always love his voice.

"Parts and Accessories"
"Little Know It All"