Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust by Sigur Rós

Sigur Rós
Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
2008
Post Rock
EMI

1. Gobbledigook
2. Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur ("Within Me A Lunatic Sings")
3. Góðan Daginn ("Good Day")
4. Við Spilum Endalaust ("We Play Endlessly")
5. Festival
6. Með Suð Í Eyrum ("A Buzz In Our Ears")
7. Ára Bátur ("Row Boat")
8. Illgresi ("Weeds")
9. Fljótavík
10. Straumnes
11. All Alright
(Also included is a 400x400 album cover .jpeg)

At light speed
Inside a heart explodes, an airplane crash
Down on the earth sings
I make a wish and close my eyes
Yes do that, a silly dance
All is forgotten in very little time and yet begins
Open eyes
Oh no

"Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur" English Translation

I love Sigur Rós. I do not love that every time I blog about Sigur Rós, I have to copy+paste a thousand Icelandic words back and forth from Wikipedia.

They said it couldn't be done. Well, they didn't expect it done. A band as moody and greyscale and atmospheric as Sigur Rós, releasing an incredibly organic sounding summer record? Ridiculous. But last summer, the band released Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust, which not only seems like an incredibly natural progression in the band's catalog, but also contains some of the happiest music of the year. And they did an excellent job.

Happiest music of the year might be an understatement. I dare you to sit still during "Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur" or "Festival." The first five tracks of Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust really bring to mind an icelandic version of Animal Collective. The backbone of the songs are acoustic guitars, as opposed to Jónsi's signature reverb soaked bowing on an electric guitar. Also, many of the songs feature a standard tenor vocal range, unlike the band's frequent use of falsetto in the past. It's so incredibly different, yet it still feels like Sigur Rós.

My only complaint with the record is the pacing of the last half of the album. After the insane buildup and release that is the coda of "Festival," every song after that gets gradually slower and calmer, until finally the band has reached it's all time softest intensity for the closer, "All Alright." All of the songs are great. Don't get me wrong. But I think that because they were put in this order, the listener slowly becomes disinterested as the record closes out. Especially because of the extreme amound of energy behind the first five tracks. However, give the B-side of Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust a chance. It's the same quality as the A-side, it just takes an extreme detour in mood.

This is the definition of a summer album, and I've waited to post it until now for a reason. Listen to this outside, driving or running or working, on a humid summer afternoon or evening. Completely perfect accompaniment.

Click here to download part 1 (65.16 MB)
Click here to download part 2 (54.5 MB)

Buy it!
CD / Vinyl / Digital Copy

Alive 2007 by Daft Punk

Daft Punk
Alive 2007
2007
House
Virgin

1. Robot Rock/Oh Yeah
2. Touch It/Technologic
3. Television Rules The Nation/Crescendolls
4. Too Long/Steam Machine
5. Around The World/Harder Better Faster Stronger
6. Burnin'/Too Long
7. Face To Face/Short Circuit
8. One More Time/Aerodynamic
9. Aerodynamic Beats/Forget About The World
10. Prime Time Of Your Life/The Brainwasher/Rollin' And Scratchin'/Alive
11. Da Funk/Daftendirekt
12. Superheroes/Human After All/Rock'n Roll
13. Human After All/Together/One More Time (Reprise)/Music Sounds Better With You (Encore)
(Also included is a 500x500 album cover .jpeg)

RroooOoooooOOooOoobBoOoOootTttttttTtTTtTtt
HhHuUuuuuuUUUuUuuuuuMmAMMaaaAaAAaaaaaaaANnnnnnnNNannn

"Robot Rock/Oh Yeah"

This is the first and probably the last album that I will ever say this about: Alive 2007's only flaw is that it is so good, that every time I listen to it, I can't help being sad that I wasn't actually there. When an album is so good that being good becomes it's only flaw...I'd say you have one incredible album on your hands. This is the best house/electronic/dance/techno/whateveryoucallit album you will ever hear in your entire life. And I am aware that them's fightin' words.

What is Alive 2007? It's a live recording of Daft Punk playing at the Bercy arena in Paris on June 14th, 2007. What makes it so special? Here's a rundown of what Daft Punk's live show: it's almost every song that the group has ever released, sampled and played on top of each other in one singular, stream-of-consciousness mash-up song. To top it off, (no pun intended) Daft Punk is putting together this music as it happens at the point of a gigantic glass pyramid. Inside the pyramid are hundreds upon hundred of lights and screens, which are being controlled along with the music to create a light show for your dancing enjoyment.

Obviously this is audio and you can't see the light show, but the music is plenty visual. It's also incredibly well produced for a live album, and you really should do it some justice by listening on a pair of good headphones with high bass response. Sorry I can't describe the music in more detail, but I think it really speaks for itself. You will be blown away. If you aren't familiar with any of Daft Punk's music, then this is a great place to start. If you already know most of their catalog, then you'll be pleasantly suprised at the vast amount of songs and samples included in this show.

Click here to download part 1 (89.48 MB)
Click here to download part 2 (90.77 MB)

I own the standard edition of Alive 2007 that you can pick up off of any record store shelf today. However, at the time of release, it was also offered in a Deluxe Edition that included a huge photo book, a heavy duty booklike CD-case, and a bonus disc, containing the Finale from this show. The Deluxe Edition is no longer being made, or I would have a copy. But thankfully, one of my good friends got it as soon as it came out, and so he has given me a copy of the Finale. Ususally I don't upload anything to the blog unless I have paid for it and have a physical copy myself, but this is an exception because I really don't feel like the album is complete without it. The Finale is the best track, and it definitely deserves to be heard by everyone who downloads Alive 2007.

Alive 2007 also contains the only profanity ever uttered by a Daft Punk recording, and I quote: "fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it." In that order and that many times.

Buy it!
CD / Digital Copy

blink-182 by blink-182

blink-182
blink-182
2003
Pop Punk
Geffen

1. Feeling This
2. Obvious
3. I Miss You
4. Violence
5. Stockholm Syndrome
6. Down
7. The Fallen Interlude
8. Go
9. Asthenia
10. Always
11. Easy Target
12. All Of This
13. Here's Your Letter
14. I'm Lost Without You
(Also included is a 492x500 album cover .jpeg)

Like violence, you have me
Forever and after
Like violence, you kill me
Forever and after

"Violence"

I've had a hard time convincing people that blink-182's final and self titled album is actually legit. Most people can't look past the boner jokes all over the band's first four albums, and most notably the megahit Enema Of The State. However, it's very clear to me that the band found on this release, blink-182, is a much more matured group of guys, both mentally and musically. This is one of my favorite albums of all time, and I think it's not too much short of being a perfect record.

How has the band changed exactly? Lots of ways. For one, the lyrics are actually good. It's no Shakespeare, but these songs are the most personal that blink-182 has ever written. "Here's Your Letter" is a song about communication and how people are incapable of being able to explain what they truly feel to someone. Would you find those lyrics on Take Off Your Pants And Jacket? I'll give you one guess.

Also, the production quality is incredible. Listen to this album on a good set of headphones. The guitars are huge, Travis Barker's already machine-gun drumming is even more pounding, and all of the vocals are crystal clear and sparkling. It almost has a psychedelic feel very often, with lots of pretty sounding swirling layers and effects. Huge props to the late Jerry Finn for putting this together so well.

My favorite part of the album is that it just sounds powerful. The first time the chorus blasts through the mix in "Obvious," everything gets turned to 11. This album is incredibly dynamic. And apart from getting your blood pumping with heavy beats, blink-182 really figured out how to affect their listener emotionally using only music with their self titled finale. Listen to the beautiful guitar sounds after the intro of "Asthenia" or the dissonant bells at the beginning of "I'm Lost Without You" and tell me that it didn't tug your heartsrings just a little bit.

GIVE THIS A SHOT. The album blink-182 might as well have been done by a completely different band.

Click here to download part 1 (51.98 MB)
Click here to download part 2 (52.38 MB)

A couple f-bombs still made it onto this album, despite the major changes that blink-182 has gone through.

Buy it!
CD

Madvillainy by MF DOOM

MF DOOM
Madvillainy
2004
Hip Hop
Stones Throw

1. The Illest Villains
2. Accordion
3. Meat Grinder
4. Bistro
5. Raid
6. America's Most Blunted
7. Sickfit
8. Rainbows
9. Curls
10. Do Not Fire!
11. Money Folder
12. Shadows Of Tomorrow
13. Operation Lifesaver A.K.A. Mint Test
14. Figaro
15. Hardcore Hustle
16. Strange Ways
17. Fancy Clown
18. Eye
19. Supervillain Theme
20. All Caps
21. Rhinestone Cowboy
(Also included is a 455x455 album cover .jpeg)

Who rock the house like rock and roll
Got more soul than a sock with a hole
Set the stage with a goal
Or have the game locked in a cage getting shocked with a pole
Overthrow it like throwing over a biscuit
A lot of bitches think he overly showmanistic
Let go his dick if that’s the case
Rats want to waste
There’s more cats to chase
Dogs, we got to light new powers
Woke up broke, spit shit, few hours
Sheesh, been unleashed since the Greek club
Have the fans saying please make me a dove
Well, since you asked kindly
Where you been behind the mask you cant find me
Ya blind, in the wine zone leave ya mind blown
When he shine with the nine
He’s a rhinestone…cowboy

"Rhinestone Cowboy"

Derek Dumile goes by many different names. For example: Viktor Vaughn, King Geedorah, Metal Fingers, Supervillain, Madvillain, and Danger Doom. However, his most famous and encompassing emcee alias is Metal Face Doom, or MF DOOM. ("Use all caps when you spell the man's name") So that's how I tag the "artist" section of Madvillainy. On this record, MF DOOM teams up with producer Madlib, under the alias "Madvillain," to put together an album themed around old-school superheroes and supervillains. Most of the beats have a retro feel to them, as if they were playing from a phonograph or a mechanical television.

For a long time, MF DOOM was my favorite emcee, and while that spot is currently occupied by Louis Logic (or Louis Dorley), Madvillainy is still one of my favorite hip hop records, and it's something that I put on a lot when I'm stressed out or just want to relax to a nice beat. MF DOOM has a very calm voice, (wonder why? see: "America's Most Blunted") and Madlib's beats are smooth and tight on every track. Most of the music behind the raps is very jazz and swing oriented. It's not exactly something The Roots would put out or anything, but to a less extent.

One of my only criticisms of Madvilainy is that there are too many short or instrumental songs. Despite the whopping 23 tracks on the record, it's only a little over 45 minutes, and few of the songs are over 2 minutes. 4 are instrumental, and many of the rest have no room to breathe in the short time they're allotted. Could have been majorly improved, in my opinion.

Adjectives to describe Madvillainy: calm, cool, collected, random, retro, smooth, fresh, quick, clever, mysterious, intoxicated, witty, and thick. Check it out, it's one of the best hip hop albums to come out in the last 10 years.

Click here to download part 1 (55.6 MB)
Click here to downoad part 2 (43. 58 MB)

Not as profane as your average rap album, but it still was awarded a Parental Advisory logo.

Buy it!
CD / Digital Copy