Friday, July 15, 2011

Brandon Clementi vs Destroyer



Well friends, this was a lot of fun. Thanks for reading! To finish things off, here are my four picks for Destroyer, a personal favorite.

My love for Dan Bejar goes back to my discovery of the New Pornographers, who were perhaps 'my first indie band' (I was 15 and my uncle played them while driving my cousin and I home from seeing Phantom Planet at Summerfest). There is something about his songs that set him far apart from all other songwriters in my mind. The guy is so nonchalant!

When he came to the High Noon this spring, the inevitable happened: his setlist was comprised mostly of songs from Kaputt, with only 4 songs representing the rest of his infinitely listenable catalog. While the same case is likely to be true for Destroyer's Pitchfork set, I still can't wait to see him again. I would pay good money to see a 3 hour Destroyer show or a multi-night engagement. Until then, I'll just have to embrace the Sax.

1. Blue Flower/Blue Flame


2. Rubies


3. Notorious Lightning


*Notorious Lightning is one of my favorite songs of all time. Easily Top 20, perhaps Top 10.

4. Bay of Pigs

Christian Widder vs Superchunk



Having never listened to Superchunk before, I can't wait to post this list so I can see what they sound like. Once again, Christian Widder delivers the goods!

1. Hyper Enough


2. Crossed Wires


3. Learned to Surf


4. Detroit Has A Skyline


Honorable Mention: Slack Motherfucker

TJ Matzen vs The Dismemberment Plan



I only met TJ Matzen this week, but since he is both a blogger and a big Dismemberment Plan fan I knew I had to ask him to cover the famed indie rock band. TJ writes for the fresh Playground Misnomer, a site well worth perusing. Check it!

"I was introduced to Dismemberment Plan in 2007 with their fourth album, Changes. Immediately I was struck by their untampered sound and immediately I’d wished I’d been of college-age in the late 90’s so I wouldn’t have missed the chance to see them tour. They were up in my top 3 no-longer-touring acts that I was most distressed I’d never see, along with Jeff Buckley and DFA1979.

1. “Superpowers” – Changes


"What I didn’t realize then was that Changes really was appropriately named, as it was entirely different from their first three albums. D-Plan’s stuff was weird. It was unlike anything I’d ever heard. And it was good. I was impressed with how Travis Morrison could be so skilled with the inflections in his voice without having what some people might say is a good voice. He and guitarist Jason Caddell were super talented at using dissonance at just the right moments..

2. “Academy Award” – The Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified



"I think I purchased Emergency & I third out of the four albums, and it quickly became one of my favorite albums of all-time. Morrison takes on the role of clinically-depressed comedian, which I think many of us have felt like at times. It’s an album so relatable and so perfectly summative of early-20s life. I get frustrated with Pitchfork a lot, but their 10.0 of the reissue of this album felt like a slice of justice.

3. “What Do You Want Me to Say?” – Emergency & I



"Last year, I heard D-Plan was reuniting for a tour and immediately made up my mind that one way or another I was going to get to a show. I found out days after they sold out that they were playing two shows in Chicago. I immediately took to eBay and bought tickets from some schmuck who clearly knew the value of the show and jumped on as many tickets as he could. I didn’t care that I was funding some idiot, I was going to see one of my favorite bands of all-time. Their shows are unsurprisingly energetic and personal, like their songs. Without fail, every show they play “The Ice of Boston” where everyone gets to run on stage. I asked the security guard at the beginning of the encore if that was the plan and let him know that the second he gave me the nod I’d be tearing up there. Notice the loser in the striped jacket next to Travis… Also, at the beginning the band berates this annoying girl that was yelling out the name of a song and sings a portion of Biz Markie’s 'Just a Friend'"

4. “The Ice of Boston” – The Dismemberment Plan is Terrified

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Gabriel Herrera vs Odd Future



I kicked off this summer with a road trip to Detroit (my first time there) to see Odd Future with some friends. I keep bragging about how the conversations on the way was almost unbelievably nerdy (sorry guys, it's a compliment) about blogging, the cooking dance, hip hop production, etc. Leave it to this guy, then, perhaps the king of pop culture analysis among my friends, to choose OFWGKTA for this project. Gabe writes for Post Library when he's not tumbling.


1. Tyler, The Creator - French


2. Domo Genesis - Rolling Papers (feat. Wolf Haley)


3. Tyler, The Creator - She (feat. Frank Ocean)


4. Frank Ocean - We All Try


Honorable Mention: Mellowhype - Gun Sounds

Will Leemkuil vs Guided By Voices



WHY IS GUIDED BY VOICES NOT HEADLINING????!?!?!?!

This is seriously wack. Wiggedy Wack. The best alternative band of the 90s (yes, better than Pavement) has so many songs I had no problem allowing a fifth submission for this list. For GBV I contacted Will Leemkuil, the mastermind behind Stairfuck and Stairfuck Record Reviews.


1. Game of Pricks


2. Ester's Day


3. Weed King


4. Echos Myron


5. Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory

Kevbro vs Deerhunter



"Hey Kevbro. I want you to choose any band playing Pitchfork this year, any band.."
"Brandon. By any band, you clearly mean Deerhunter"

There was a period of time (weeks? Months?) where Kevbro played Halcyon Digest at least once a day. Really, weeks. This doesn't include the times Kevbro played the album on his turntable. That is all I've got to say about that.

1. Nothing Ever Happened


2. Hazel St.


3. Revival


4. Helicopter

Caroline Wilson vs Yuck




Wow, I am getting really lazy with formatting photos. I just have so many of these to get up here, which is awesome! This post is courtesy of my friend Caroline. Big ups to her for answering all of the questions I can think to ask about textiles and denim care.

I was very happy to hear she was covering Yuck because I don't know their album too well. When Emily Roehl and I saw them at SXSW playing with James Blake and Smith Westerns we were standing by one of the guys from Consequence of Sound, which I should note is probably the closest I have ever been to quality internet journalism taking place (or quality tweets).

"Yuck is a new band but I see a lot of potential in them. I don't read a lot of music blogs so I don't really know what people and/or critics are saying about them, but I dig it."

1. Georgia


"My favorite off their self-titled/first/only album. This song just sticks with me and sometimes I find myself humming it without realizing. And there's a mix of male/female vocals which I hope they continue with in the future."

2. The Wall


"I have to mention this song. It's great. Love the shoegaze-y/garage-y stuff going on here."

3. Suck


"Because 'Suck' rhymes with 'Yuck'. 'Wait up, wait for me, I've had enough of being young and free.'"

4. Get Away


"The first song on their album and one of the best. I like the way it's kind of messy.

"I know I chose Yuck to talk about but I am still deciding if I want to see How to Dress Well or Yuck. I'm not sure if I can make it to both with my stress fracture and the big festival grounds. I change my mind everyday! I'll have to see what mood I'm in."

Todd Olson vs Battles



While it doesn't take being a drummer to get into Battles, it certainly helps. Todd is great because he introduced me to Reddit. He also worked in Yellowstone last year, which is pretty cool. Since I can't make a post about Battles without linking to their terrific video for "Ice Cream", here's that link.

1. Tras


2. Atlas


3. TIJ


4. SZ2

Dylan Hill vs James Blake


Dylan and James Blake are similar because they both have charming British accents. While Dylan is not working in catering or skateboarding at the park, he can be found hanging out at his blog Dylan Hill Talks About Stuff For Some Reason. It is truly one of the best blogs I have ever followed, really, bookmark that and read it!!

1. Unluck


2. CMYK


3. Sparing the Horses


4. Tell Me Are You With Me

Danielle Bade vs Zola Jesus



I am quite partial to Danielle. The longstanding rumors of our relationship are, in fact, true. You read it first here on A Stare Like Yours on Blogspot Com! She is the Zola Jesus expert among my friends (they shared a class a few semesters ago, coincidentally) so I was happy to have her pick 4 songs for this project.

1. Sink the Dynasty


2. Clay Bodies


3. Sea Talk


4. Manifest Destiny


Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Adam Raimond vs DJ Shadow



I was looking forward to seeing what Adam had to say about DJ Shadow. In addition to one of them being a big fan of the other, both are tall white guys with facial hair so I consider them to be kindred spirits of some sort. I imagine Shadow will be playing a lot of his classics (though he has been moving in a different direction ever since endtroducing/preemptive strike), but we'll see what ends up happening. Safe to say his set will be awesome either way.

Adam provides commentary:

"I'm just going to pick songs from The Outsider to fuck around... nah not really"

1. Midnight In A Perfect World


"One of them is definitely Midnight In A Perfect World"

2. What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 2)



"Then it's kinda a tough one. I wanna put on either In/Flux or What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 2), but not both because each are over like 13 mins"

3. Mashin' On the Motorway


"Then next I'll go with Mashin' On the Motorway b/c it's a good idgaf song. Then can I cheat on this last one?"

4. Boogie Down Productions vs. David Bowie - Jack of Spades vs. Let's Dance


"It was mixed by him. So- Reppin' the obvious, the really obscure, the under-appreciated, and then a good unexpected one."

Christian Widder vs The Radio Dept


Christian is fantastic because he goes to a lot of concerts in other cities and gives me rides all the time. In addition to helping me save on travel costs, he recently shaved his beard and cut his hair, which was pretty wild.

1. Heaven's On Fire


"Silly question but: when The Radio Dept plays Heaven's on Fire, will they use a prerecorded version of the Thurston Moore sample, or will Thurston Moore actually get up and recite the quote?"-Dylan Hill

2. Never Follow Suit


3. Pulling Our Weight


4. The Worst Taste In Music



Nick Pjevach vs TV On The Radio


Nick has some great Facebook profile pictures. He also likes TV on the Radio, and is awesome for providing reasons for his picks!

1. Wolf Like Me


What they will always be known for.

2. Ambulance


"Dum dum dum dun dum dum" (agreed!)

3. I Was A Lover


This video!

4. Lover's Day


"A song about sex that is explicit without making you feel dirty, now with woodwinds! (Or maybe I am the only person to like this song. If so, see "Will Do," because that will actually be performed live.)"

John Ash vs Deerhunter



John Ash is a true Dudebro. He was the first to chose 4 songs (last week at Pizza Di Roma). Let's hear it for John Ash!

1. Nothing Ever Happened


2. Hazel St


3. Cryptograms


4. Desire Lines

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

catching up - pitchfork 2011


Sometimes I get bogged down in doing listening homework before fests. Lollapalooza is always the worst (or the best) for this--there are so many potential future favorites that I don't recognize when the lineup's announced.

Pitchfork has been rolling out stellar lineups for a few years now. While no day of this year's fest touches the near-perfection of Sunday 2010, this year's lineup is full of my favorites. Recently, though, as conversations turn to the fest it becomes apparent that some of the bands I don't know too well (Superchunk, Neko Case) are some of the sets my friends are looking forward to the most. The opposite was also often true, but instead of just finding more about my friends' favorites one-on-one I thought it'd be fun to compile a list and post it here.

I've asked a few of my friends to pick a favorite band of theirs playing the festival. The challenge was for them to showcase the group using only 4 songs chosen to entice a stranger to the band. I've been really pleased with the responses I got--overall this has been a lot of fun to put together! I'll be rolling out posts until the fest starts. If you'd like to choose the 4 songs that best highlight a band's catalog, just send me your submissions and I'll put them up!

Edit: I've got 10 of these posts up now. Check them out!