Don't Forget To Dance

Yeasayer - Ambling Alp

Yeasayer. Experimental. Brooklyn-based band. Sophomore album. Odd Blood. Official release in February 2010. Dig this, hard.

Bonus: Live version of “Tightrope” which isn’t found on either of their albums.

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.

Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks

DFTD’S Favorite Albums of 2009: Veckatamist by Grizzly Bear

When I think of grizzly bears, I think of the movie Grizzly Man which follows the story of a man with a video camera and a love for bears.

That man eventually gets eaten at the end of the film.

Grizzly Bear, the band, has nothing to do with this movie. They do, however, have something to do with DFTD’s best albums of 2009… and that something is Veckamatist. And not unlike the carnivorous bear that ate the man, Veckamatist will devour your f*cking soul while you lay there completely helpless and in awe at the incredible power contained within this beast of an album.

Ok, I overdid it there. But there were some albums in 2009 that had decent tracks, some with great songs… but this album? This f*cking album? This is a goldmine of fresh motherf*cking BALLADS, man. Completely worthy of the hype its received. On top of that, it messes with your mind as you hopelessly attempt to place it in a genre… which is why after reading the last few paragraphs you still have no idea what you’re supposed to expect from this album. So give it a spin.

Phantogram - Mouthful Of Diamonds



INTERGALACTIC PLANETARY, PLANETARY INTERGA…. oh wait. Wrong song. BUT KINDA LIKE THAT. This duo is not from New York, New York, but from New York. They’ll be in Brooklyn’s union Hall on Sept 11th.

<3

Foreign Born - Early Warnings Here’s something for the summer. These guys are from L.A., so they’re not foreign born, but they are Foreign Born. Enjoy.

Crocodiles - I Wanna Kill Pschedlic-ish. I’m posting this before trying out any other song on their “Summer of Hate” album because I kinda liked it.

Delay Trees - “About Brothers”

This is a song about brothers. It comes off the debut album, Soft Construction, by Delay Trees. They are Finnish, obviously. Recommended for Sunday morning. Allen

Home Video - “Every Love That Ever Was”

Long story short - 2 guys meet in a High School art class. One into classical music, the other into 90’s music. They talk about music. They share the music they’re into with each other. They make a couple albums of music together. Then they offer their newest album, ‘It Will Be Ok’ for free on their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/homevideo

And no, that’s not Thom Yorke singing.