Don't Forget To Dance

“Floating Vibes” - Surfer Blood (from Astro Coast)

Recently, I’ve grown a bit frustrated with 2010, at least musically speaking.  I keep coming across glowing reviews of new albums, but each time I try them out myself I find myself either wondering what the fuss (see: Spoon’s Transference) or just not getting it (see: Owen Pallett’s Heartland,  These New Puritans’ Hidden, and several other things that aren’t immediately coming to mind).

However, Surfer Blood I like.  Surfer Blood I get.  Surfer Blood, I see what the fuss.

Surfer Blood is also a group of young Floridians who make fun, guitar-based rock music.   The songs on Astro Coast don’t have full orchestras, they would never be described as “challenging,” and there isn’t even the smallest trace of pretension.  It’s classic indie guitar rock a la Pavement and Built to Spill, and it’s appealing as hell.  I didn’t realize how much I missed unpolished male rock until people stopped making it, but these boys are bringing it back in spades.  Oh, la.

“from africa to malaga” - jj (from jj n° 2 )

2010 may have already provided several notable new releases, but before delving into any of those I first feel the need to post on something I overlooked from 2009 - jj’s jj n° 2 . Honestly, I know very little about this band other than that they’re from Sweden and have made some curious choices regarding marketing their album.  Truth?  I’d read much about jj from a variety of reliable and trustworthy sources - and all things positive - but the combination of their annoying album name (jj n° 2 ?  Seriously?) and the giant cannabis leaf blasted across the album’s cover led me to pass them on by.

I now freely and publicly admit my mistake.  My husband (who, thankfully, is less judgmental than me), has recently been playing this album on repeat, and imagine my shock when I heard that this beautiful, ambient sound was made by the very same band I had long since dismissed.  jj’s sound is world music meets trip-hop meets blissfully lovely electro-pop, and it would be a shame to ignore them on the basis of a pot leaf.  It’s surprisingly sophisticated fare, fantastically chill and incredibly easy on the ears.  So, give ‘er a listen.

(Bonus?  jj is set to tour with xx this March.  Because, well, of course they are.)

Introducing The Mad Iranians! - Change My Ways

Quick to be named 2010’s hottest new act, The Mad Iranians have released their much anticipated first single of what is probably the most talked about EP release since Radiohead’s In Rainbows. Inspired by perfection, the band is truly a product of DFTD and includes members: Matt Gross (guitar, backup vocals), Joe Nisanov (Banjo, backup vocals), Victoria Abrami (lead celestial vocals), and Shawn “The Hammer” Mulder (ukulele).

Check in regularly on their homepage www.themadiranians.com for status updates on their self-hyped EP. It should be coming out sometime in the next while.

Washed Out - New Theory

Washed Out is a one-man synth-dreamy-pop-home-brewed-whatever-the-f*ck-you-want-to-call-it entity.  Straight out of Georgia, Ernest Greene’s Life Of Leisure album calms the nerves and may even put you to sleep with a smile on your face. The only other thing I can think of that can put me to sleep with a smile on my face…

…is a krispy kreme donut, you pervs.

and a happy birthday to you, bowie.

**edit:

…and Mr. Gross.

Good freaking riddance to 2009.

Happy New Year to my fellow DFTD-ers and readers out there. I wish you much luck and happiness in the coming year.

Because this WILL be a better year. Right? RIGHT?

(Harlem Shakes - “Strictly Game”)

DFTD’s Favorite Albums of 2009: Fanfarlo, Reservoir

Earlier this year, both allenskyy and I, separately and without consultation, posted different songs off Fanfarlo’s debut album Reservoir (1,2). Well, actually, I just spaced that month and missed a bunch of posts, allenskyy’s Fanfarlo post included. So when I discovered this awesome Bowie-trumpeted album, I thought, heck, this should make a great DFTD post. Little did i know it already had.

And it does again, because with this post I am solidifying Fanfarlo, Reservoir’s place among Don’t Forget to Dance’s Favorite Albums of 2009. It’s just what the doctor ordered for that too-long gap between Arcade Fire and Beirut albums.

Strap on your New Years hats and red suspenders cuz there’s only one more day to go in 2009 and there’s no way better to start the celebration than dancing along to Fanfarlo’s “The Walls Are Coming Down”.

The ships the ships are coming in,
The great ideas are wearing thin,
There is nothing left to do.

DFTD’s Favorite Albums of 2009: Coconut Records’ Davy

While you might remember 2009 as the year of Gaga, celebrity deaths, and the Jersey Shore, you may not want to forget Jason Shwartzman. He single handedly released Coconut Records’ sophomore album, got married, and starred in his very own film noir detective comedy.

In contrast to Nighttiming, Davy has a more polished sound, but a folkier feel. Examples of this can be found in tracks such as Microphone, Wires, and Any Fun, all of which have now topped my most listened to tunes of 2009. And without further ado, I give you Any Fun.

DFTD’s Favorite Albums of 2009: The White Rabbits’ It’s Frightening

Regardless of how you feel about what’s become of the music industry during the 2000’s, it’s clear that the Internet has forever changed the way music is discovered, marketed and obtained. And although it’s a phenomena that’s as old as the industry, The Curse of the Sophomore Album is one that is able to thrive in this brave new world of MySpace, Rapidshare, and YouTube where new bands are discovered and beloved as quickly as they are dismissed and forgotten.

Fortunately (and perhaps rather miraculously), The White Rabbits have managed to defy the odds with It’s Frightening, a sophomore effort that’s not only better, but also more commercially successful and critically acclaimed than their debut. (Of course, it never hurts when Spoon’s Britt Daniel signs on to produce.)

With It’s Frightening, The White Rabbits have (with considerable help from Daniel) tightened up and focused their sound - wisely leaving behind their former world music influences to focus instead on creating kick-ass rock music. The pulsing and infectious “Percussion Gun” is one of the strongest opening songs of any album to come out this year, and it paves the way for the pounding pianos and dueling drums that are the core of the album’s sound.

And although Daniel’s influences are quite obvious, especially during “They Done Wrong/We Done Wrong” and “The Salesman (Tramp Life)” which easily could have been Spoon songs, the sound here still manages to be authentic and all their own. It’s Frightening is a thumping, slightly spooky and wholly raucous good time that’ll leave you pounding your feet while you pick up any available tool to use as a drumstick.

DFTD’s Top Albums of 2009: The XX - XX

I knew nothing about this London based band until a friend of mine in NYC gave me the heads up a few weeks back. The first spin had me somewhat interested. The 2nd and 3rd, I was hooked. As a debut album, this is surprisingly refreshing and tightly knit. So well put together that I still find it hard to believe it’s their debut. We’re talking about four 20-year olds pretty much straight out of puberty, people. You remember puberty? Yah, I wasn’t exactly on my way to making a badass album either. Sigh.

As with Veckatamist, I’m having a difficult time placing it in a genre to help you understand how this album plays out. I read that most of the songs were put together in, more or less, a garage at late hours of the night… contributing to the “sleek, whispery nature of the album…” a description that can be used to describe the track “Night Time” that comes along with this post.

Sadly, the best I can do in describing this first release of tracks is to say its awesomeness seems effortless. This is the kind of music you want to stumble upon in a quiet, hidden gem of a lounge in the heart of a crowded city. With a bottle of whiskey and maybe a joint or two.

Of tobacco. Obvi.