Video of the Day: Water Curses by Animal Collective

In case we weren't all obsessed with this song enough.



-Jocelyn

Raise Your Hand if You Love Animal Collective

That's what I thought. Check this out.

They've got a (most likely) kick-ass EP coming out on May 6th. I find it hard to contain myself.

-Jocelyn

Lyrics of the Day: Unsolved Mysteries by Animal Collective

"Oh, look at me,"
That sweet boy's plea
His mother cried
"My child's tied his laces!"
Why must we move on
From such happy lawns
Into nostalgia's palms
And feed on the traces?

So you hop to the dance
Or embarrass the parents
Who should I please?
I go to sleep worrying.

Their blood in the dark
Will attract the sharks
Who are not violent
We've all got hungry bellies.

But where are the skin and bones?

So you look at me with your one eye
When you look at me with your blue eye
So you look at me with the inner eye

And all was tame
And all was daggers anyway
Stop crying like a child

And all was greying
And all was aging anyway
Stop growing in the wild

But I feel like i'm lost in those

When you look at me with your green eyes
When you look at me with your black eyes
When you look at me with your dead eyes

And I can't understand when holding her hand
So womanly, I have to go kiss her.
And what a surprise to look in those eyes
To find suddenly, he is Jack the Ripper.
Too suddenly, he was Jack the Ripper.
There he goes.

Stop crying like a child
She stopped crying like a child
Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper

We Love Love!

In honour of Valentines Day, the best holiday ever, I have compiled a selection of lovely love songs that you and your love will totally love.

Love, Jocelyn

A Christmas Present for You

In celebration of the birth of our Lord (AKA the Christian Church declaring the birth of Jesus on a day that coincided with the pagan festival of midwinter in order to take it over), I am gifting you, my precious readers, a "mixtape" filled with songs that make me very happy and thus will make you happy as well.

The list is as follows:
1. Comfy in Nautica by Panda Bear (my favourite song at the moment).
2. Lover by Devendra Banhart (listen to the lyrics. They're HILARIOUS).
3. Idle Songs by Frog Eyes (possibly the only song by Frog Eyes that's particularly good. Whatever).
4. The Ice Storm by The Go! Team (I can't describe to you how much I love this song).
5. Grounds for Divorce by Wolf Parade (a favourite of mine for some years now).
6. Unsolved Mysteries by Animal Collective (off their amazing new album that I've already talked up lots).
7. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk (duh. Best song ever).
8. Up on Your Leopard, Upon the End of Your Feral Days by Sunset Rubdown (Spencer Krug + Me = babies).
9. Galang by M.I.A. (hahahahaha).
10. Plasticities by Andrew Bird (there's no bad mood this song can't fix).

So, there you are, my loves. I suppose this is not really a real update, but you can expect a few in the coming week and a bit as I will be on vacation from my real job and thus will have lots of time for my fake job.

Happy Christmas!

(I mean that in the most secular way possible)

-Jocelyn

The Best and Worst of 2007

As 2007 grinds to a close, it's time to look back and reflect on the wonderful things/crimes against music that were committed this year. So, without further delay, the rundown is as follows:

Best Myspace Find:
Obviously, this award goes to The Last Dinosaur, who friended me on Myspace and quickly became my new favourite unsigned band from Cambridge. These lovely boys have amazing chemistry and impressive songwriting skills. I expect wonderful things from them in the future. Download there song "Home" here.

Worst Myspace Find:
The title of Worst Myspace Find goes to the most annoying band of all time, Science Ninja Team. I actually didn't make it through all four of their songs on Myspace, because they were so bad I was considering flushing my computer down the toilet. I can't even imagine why these guys think what they are doing is a good idea. It's not. Science Ninja Team, for the sake of the world, please stop.

Most Exciting Albums:
5. Kala - M.I.A.

I was surfing the two for $10 bin at HMV when this album came on and I ended up staying in the store just to hear the whole thing. I have been a mild fan of M.I.A. since "Galang" but her new album is really something to talk about. It's refreshing to see someone who is both commercially successful and really good. Keep it up, M.I.A.

4. Alive - Daft Punk

Oh man oh man oh man. I have not heard this entire album yet (come on, Mum! Christmas Present!!!), but what I have heard is enough to make me vomit happiness all over the place. It's pretty messy.

3. Person Pitch - Panda Bear

For those of you who do not know (that includes you, Panda Bear), Panda Bear and I are in love. I'm sure his wife and child will be upset to learn this, but hey, you can't stand in the way of soul mates. It's just not done. Anyway, Person Pitch is amazing. "Comfy in Nautica" is actually possibly the best song I've ever heard, outseating "We Tigers" by Animal Collective. Clearly I only like one kind of music.

2. Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon - Devendra Banhart

I bought Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon on a whim, and three songs in I was (no kidding) jumping up and down and screaming to my roommate that this album was "sooooooo good." It got panned by Pitchfork and was completely missing from their "Top 50 Albums of 2007" list, but they suck and I rule. This album is great. Seriously.

1. Strawberry Jam - Animal Collective

Strawberry Jam is by far Animal Collective's best album yet, which is saying a lot. It's super short, but makes up for it by not having one second of filler. Also, it features my boyfriend, Panda Bear, which is a major plus. I have yet to get tired of listening to this album over and over again. If I didn't have to listen to other music for research purposes, I'm not sure I would. It's just that awesome. Excellent Work, Animal Collective. I can't wait to see what you come up with in 2008.

Most Disappointing Albums:
(It speaks highly of 2007 that I could only come up with four.)
4. Night Falls Over Kortedala - Jens Lekman

Night Falls Over Kortedala is one of those albums that EVERYBODY talks about. Naturally, I assumed that they were talking about it for a reason, like maybe it was good. Not so. Sure, Jens Lekman is original, and his lyrics really are phenomenal. But I really do think he sounds like a bad lounge singer. I guess some people consider that a good thing. Those people are wrong.

3. New Magnetic Wonder - The Apples in Stereo

The Apples in Stereo had FIVE YEARS to come up with some good music and they blew it. Enough said.

2. Places Like This - Architecture in Helsinki

"Heart It Races" spent a whopping three weeks as my favourite song. Those three weeks ended when I went out and bought Places Like This only to discover the rest of the album was crap. Now I'm super pissed at Architecture in Helsinki and can't even listen to "Heart It Races" without hearing "Money You Wasted."

1. Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? - Of Montreal

Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?... Of Montreal was my favourite band until I heard this album and now I barely think about them. From what I've read, this ultra-poppy meaningless garbage with dark, miserable lyrics is the new direction they're going in now, so I doubt I'll be thinking about them much in the future. I don't think there could have been a worse follow-up to The Sunlandic Twins. Seriously, there is one good song ("Suffer for Fashion"). Pitchfork put this album at number five on their "Top Albums of 2007" list, right above Strawberry Jam. I'm not sure how anyone can rank Of Montreal's worst album above Animal Collective's best, but whatever. As I said before, Pitchfork sucks. So does Hissing Fauna.

Best Music Video:
"Heart It Races" by Architecture in Helsinki (misleading! Don't buy the album!)


Worst Music Video:
"Peacebone" by Animal Collective (misleading! Do buy the album!)


Best News:
Ike Turner dies. What an asshole. Have fun in Hell (I picture some Dante-style poetic justice with him getting the shit beaten out of him by Tina Turner. You go girl!).

Worst News:
The Blood Brothers break up. I talk about this in like every other update, that's how upset I am. It's only because I could have seen them this summer and I DIDN'T GO! I never dreamed I would NEVER have another chance. Tragic. Totally.

So that's it for now, I think. Here's to 2008!

-Jocelyn

album review: strawberry jam by animal collective

once upon a time (the summer of 2006) my friend will robinson, who was already responsible for introducing me to of montreal, made me a mix cd. this mix cd was the best mix cd in the world, featuring such bands as wolf parade, devotchka, built to spill, tilly and the wall, the blood brothers, and various other bands i now adore (actually, we can pretty much give will credit for the crazy music lover i am today). the best song on this wonderful mix, however, was a little ditty called "we tigers" by animal collective.

from this point on, i was hooked. i downloaded every animal collective song i could get my hands on, bought their album feels and played it almost constantly (much to the dismay of my roommate at the time), and checked their concert listings pretty much daily to see when and if they would get their asses to vancouver. there was actually a point where i was trying to convince my parents to fly me back to chicago to see them there. strangely, they didn't go for it.



i finally got a chance to see them this fall, which was phenomenal, but that's not what i'm here to talk about. i'm here to talk about strawberry jam, which is probably their best album ever, and i DON'T use that term lightly.

animal collective (avey tare, panda bear, geologist, and deakin) started out as one of those bands that existed, i suspect, for their own amusement. their music, while good, was difficult to listen to at best. by the time they made it to feels they had discovered a little thing i like to call melody, which worked out well for them. then, in september 2007, they released strawberry jam, which is so melodic it's almost poppy (you know, for animal collective). they've managed to create an album that is easy to listen to and nothing short of delightful without losing any of their character or weirdness. it's quite an achievement.



normally when discussing an album, i would pick a couple of tracks that i thought were really better than the rest. this time, i can't do it. "for reverend green" is my favourite, but really the entire album is so good that there's really no point in me choosing tracks for you. you should choose them for yourself.

after seeing them live, i remember despairing that there weren't more bands like animal collective in the world. that, actually was what sent me on the music discovery track i've been on recently. i haven't found any bands like animal collective, but i have found great music, and perhaps it's better that way. nobody i know is like these guys and if they were, it wouldn't be as good.

animal collective, keep up the good work. and panda bear, please marry me.

that is all.

-jocelyn

a new update

sometimes i wonder if music hasn't died.

of course that's overly dramatic and probably not the case, but if you think about it we're kind of in a rut. i mean certainly there is phenomenal music out there (devendra banhart, animal collective, joanna newsom...) but none of it seems to have the spark that the older music did.



take yes, for example. the first time i heard "close to the edge" it did nothing short of MOVE me. perhaps it's cliche but that's how i felt. and LED ZEPPELIN for chrissake. gods of rock. the greatest rock band of all time. even if there are bands with more talent, with better songs, whatever... they were the GREATEST. they haven't made music in years (apart from the recent reunion tour) but people still talk about them as though they're relevant. do you know why? it's because they were great. it's because every single fucking song that they put out into the world was a singular work of art, to say nothing of the albums. i can think of four albums right now that i would call their best. THAT, my friends, is saying something.



granted, i feel similarly about devendra banhart's "smokey rolls down thunder canyon," which came out in september. but that is a rarity. albums these days (to say nothing of songs) just seem to lack the intensity and the art that went in to the music of the sixties and seventies. they're either too all over the place (the one fault of smokey) or too themey (of montreal's "the sunlandic twins", everything by beck...). or worse, they're chock-full of filler ("tears of the valedictorian" by frog eyes, "feels" by animal collective...). three good songs does not an album make!



it seems, my friends, that albums as an art form may well be lost. there's no journey anymore (like the journey one takes while listening to sgt. pepper). a couple of illegal downloads (we're all guilty. not legally though, just figuratively) and suddenly nobody gives a shit about the record as a goddamn concept. raise your hand if FILLER SONGS are a good part of the reason you STARTED downloading in the first place? that's what i thought.

a true fan of music will buy a record, regardless of its availability online, not because they want the songs, but because they want the record as a whole. if anything, we've become more discerning about what we'll pay for, and i'm not sure we should be punished by being peddled a bunch of mediocre albums by mediocre bands. you want to make money, record companies? make some damn records! give us something worth listening to and i guarantee we'll buy it (or your money back).

and another thing, i'm sure i'm not the only person left who misses the 15 minute song (no, i'm not talking about let's not shit ourselves (to love and to be loved) by bright eyes, because while that song IS proof that conor oberst is the only man who understands me, it is proof of little else). i'm talking about the recording of dazed and confused from led zeppelin's incredible three disc live album "how the west was won." i'm talking about and you and i by yes, which is one of the greatest songs ever written. these songs are works of art. they're not pretentious, they're not overwhelming. they just are. beautifully and inexplicably. and they absolutely touch at the core of every single person who really listens to them.



that, my friends, is music.

-jocelyn