Don't Forget To Dance

“‘81” - Joanna Newsom (from Have One On Me)

I liken Joanna Newsom to anchovies: for some people they are the best part of the Caesar salad, but for other people they render the entire thing inedible. I like anchovies. I also really, really like Joanna Newsom.

I guess it’s not really surprising that Newsom’s back catalog has left listeners pretty firmly divided. Y’s in particular had plenty of moments for haters to roll their eyes over, what with the harp, her penchant for arcane language, and Newsom’s often screechy and squeaky voice carrying listeners through epic, 17+ minute long songs. But I loved Ys, unabashedly and unapologetically, so I suppose it’s not much of surprise that I also love Newsom’s newest release - the massive, sometimes unwieldy triple album, Have One On Me. However, Newsom’s newest release is enough of a departure from her previous work that I bet she can win over some folks who had previously considered her annoying and ridiculous.

On Have One On Me Newsom’s voice is more controlled, her songs are more streamlined, her harp is more of an accessory than a musical focus, and the result is an album that will please traditional Newsom fans while making her more palatable for a wider audience. The musical likeness that keeps popping up in reviews is Joni Mitchell, so if you’re looking for a point of comparison then that’s a pretty apt one.

Have One On Me has been met with fairly unanimous critical acclaim, and I believe all the praise is absolutely deserved. The album is massive, a bit all over the place, and fairly pretentious, but it’s also brave, lavish, and uniquely beautiful. I had a hard time picking a song for this post - “Soft as Chalk”, “Good Intentions Paving Company”, “Esme” and “On a Good Day” are also personal favorites, but I settled on “‘81” because the audio file was too large for all those other songs and Tumblr wouldn’t let me post any of them.  (Ain’t technology grand?)

But as a bonus, I’m also posting Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold covering “On a Good Day” because it’s absurdly lovely. A duet please?

“Lover” by Devendra Banhart

Valentine’s hugs, kisses, and extra strong martinis from your friends at Don’t Forget to Dance.

(Image via franticmeerkat)

“Something Someone Jr.” by The Growlers (from Are You In or Out?)

The Growlers take bits and pieces from everything that was ever cool about the 1950s music scene - surf rock, rockabilly, psychedelic rock, blues - and douse it all with a heavy dose of reverb, organs, echoing vocals and shuffling beats.  I hadn’t heard of these guys prior to catching them open for Dr. Dog at The Pike Room in Pontiac, MI, but I’m glad they’re on my radar now.  My husband pointed out (and, I suppose, rightfully so) that there isn’t a tremendous amount of diversity in their catalog, but I’m not sure how much I care about that.  They make fun, throwback party music that I can listen to all day long.  That and their firm commitment to wearing funny hats on stage makes them aces in my book.

“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.)

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.

“Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel” - Belle and Sebastian

Merry Christmas from Don’t Forget to Dance!

~XOXO

DFTD’s Favorite Albums of 2009: Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros’ Up From Below

For those of you who’ve ever wondered what you’d get if you threw Woody Guthrie, June and Johnny Cash, The Arcade Fire, George Harrison, the soundtrack to Jesus Christ Superstar, and a copy of Ken Kesey’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test into a blender and hit puree, the answer is Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.  (Yum!)

This 10-piece psychedelic folk-pop ensemble has, with Up From Below, created a 60s throwback album that’s so joyful it practically bleeds rainbows and craps sunshine.  And while it’s true that my favorite songs on this album are of the celebratory, sunshine-crapping variety, Up From Below is hardly a one-note album.  True, songs like “Jangling”, “Home” and “40 Day Dream” frolic and jangle, but there’s darker moments, too.  ”Carries On” is a slow-building anthem, “Black Water” is a crooning ballad, and “Desert Song” is a gothic, psychedelic number that’s more Charles Manson’s 1960s than The Beatles’.

And although I haven’t yet had a chance to see this band live, I hear that’s when they’re at their best.  Rolling Stone Magazine calls their live show a “shamanistic tent revival”, and judging from the video below that sounds about right. Even though I’m certain it would positively reek of patchouli (and I hate that shit),  I would totally put a flower in my hair, grab my tambourine, and go see this band live.  Looks like a trip:

DFTD’S Favorite Albums of 2009: Lungs by Florence + the Machine

Between Fanfarlo, Friendly Fires, The Big Pink, and The xx, 2009 has been a particularly good year for new British indie rock bands.  Several of these have the special distinction of making some of Don’t Forget to Dance’s favorite albums of the year, but a particular favorite of mine is Florence + the Machine’s Lungs.

With Lungs, front woman Florence Welch borrows heavily from influences Annie Lennox, Kate Bush and Grace Slick, while still managing to avoid sounding derivative.  And although her influences are clear, her sound is a little hard to classify.  It’s vox, pop, gothic, rock and roll and neo-soul all wrapped up together and sung with a voice that is - as the Brits would say - bloody epic. The songs on this album are powerful, defiant, and incredibly fun - so much so that it was a nearly impossible task for me to pick just one for this post.

Hence, I cheated.  ”Cosmic Love” (above) is a fiercely gorgeous epic ballad, and “Girl With One Eye” (video below) is a deliciously malicious little Vaudeville-esque number.  Together, they give you a pretty good idea of the awesomeness that is Florence + the Machine.