Yeasayer - Live at Ancienne Belgique (2010)

Holy shit this is so good. If you haven't hopped on the Yeasayer bandwagon yet, stop fucking around and get on it. Seriously. Not only are they one of the most interesting bands of the last few years in terms of experimenting with sound, they're also one of the most listenable (I know that word "experimenting" can be a huge turn-off for ears, but trust me- totally accessible).

The sound quality of this show is pretty amazing and the fans are respectful and attentive as well. 

Here's some live Yeasayer- check out some of the re-worked versions of the songs from both All Hour Cymbals and Odd Blood.

Yeasayer - Live at Ancienne Belgique (2010; self-released)

Jens Lekman - Oh You're So Silent Jens (2005)

Jens Lekman is the best thing to come out of Sweden since cheap, easy-to-assemble mode furniture. That's a pretty assured statement, considering the influx of talent coming from over there recently. But I'm able to say that with confidence because Jens channels the musical spirit of two of my favorite singers with souls full of melancholy; Morrissey & Stephen Merritt. You could call him the Swedish version of either one of those guys and you wouldn't be far off; even when Lekman's music is sunny and cheerful his lyrics are dark and rife with black humor.

Lekman got his records put out in the US by Secretly Canadian Records by writing them letters; he was on their mailing list and regularly ordered albums from them directly. He just happened to send some of his music on a CD-R one day, and ends up with a record deal. That's one of those stories that restores my faith in the record industry (it would take a tiny label from Bloomington, IN to do that for me; I wish you big major labels would pay attention to a business model like this).

Anyway; one of my favorite records of the decade- it's a compilation of all his 7" records, tour-only CD-R's and early singles.

Jens Lekman - Oh You're So Silent Jens (2005; Secretly Canadian Records)
-link opens to YouTube playlist-

NME C86 - A Rough Trade Records Compilation (1986)

C86-style pop music has been making a bit of a resurgence as of late, all thanks to bands like The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and The Raveonettes. Which is a good thing- because at some point fans of those bands will have to stumble upon this gem, (once) a cassette that I picked up at House Of Music (Manoa Shopping Center, Havertown, PA) sometime in the late '80s and (now) a digital file somewhere in the recesses of my hard drive. I wonder what the original tape would be worth if I still had it? (I just did an eBay search, couldn't find this actual cassette but some of its contemporaries; going for anywhere from $1.50 to $8.00; which sadly, isn't as much as I thought...)

Anyway, if you're a fan of fuzzed out and jangly twee indie pop, here's where it started- the following bands owe as much a debt to both The Jesus & Mary Chain and The Smiths for their impetus as the two bands I mentioned above owe to the entire movement in general...

1. Primal Scream - Velocity Girl
2. The Mighty Lemon Drops - Happy Head
3. The Soup Dragons - Pleasantly Surprised
4. The Wolfhounds - Feeling So Strange Again
5. The Bodines - Therese
6. Mighty Mighty - Law
7. Stump - Buffalo
8. Bogshed - Run to the Temple
9. A Witness - Sharpened Sticks
10. The Pastels - Breaking Lines
11. Age of Chance - From Now On, This Will Be Your God
12. The Shop Assistants - It's Up to You
13. Close Lobsters - Firestation Towers
14. Miaow - Sport Most Royal
15. Half Man Half Biscuit - I Hate Nerys Hughes (From The Heart)
16. The Servants - Transparent
17. The Mackenzies - Big Jim (There's no pubs in Heaven)
18. Big Flame - New Way (Quick Wash And Brush Up With Liberation Theology)
19. Fuzzbox - Console Me
20. McCarthy - Celestial City
11. The Shrubs - Bullfighter's Bones
22. The Wedding Present - This Boy Can Wait

Various Artists - NME C86 (1986; NME Magazine/Rough Trade Records)
-link opens to YouTube video-

Butterglory - Crumble (1994)

Some wonderful indie pop from early '90s boy-girl duo Butterglory, hailing from Lawrence, Kansas by way of Merge Records. 

Sounds like a cross between Pavement and Archers of Loaf. 

Enjoy!

Butterglory - Crumble (1994; Merge Records)

Kings Of Convenience - Riot On An Empty Street (2004)

When I'm in a foul mood, this is one of the albums I put on. It has that certain something that creates just the right amount of perspective shift until I'm right sized again. 

Kings Of Convenience craft soft and folky melodies, courtesy the Norwegian duo of Eirik Glambek Bøe and Erlend Øye. 

Leslie Feist also appears on two tracks; this is really a pretty record, one of my favorite pop albums of the decade...

Kings Of Convenience - Riot On An Empty Street (2004; Astralwerks Records)

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Worn Copy (2003)

Ariel Pink and his Haunted Graffiti project take accessible melodies and render them inaccessible under layers of broken keyboards, human beatboxing and four-track tape hiss; he's the lo-fi psych pop disciple of home-recording pioneer R. Stevie Moore. Pink's influences are as far reaching as The Beatles to Zappa to Roxy Music to cheesy '80s synth music and on and on...

Give this one a try if you're the type that likes to make bedroom recordings on the ol' Tascam 4-track.

Ariel Pink - Worn Copy (2003; Rhystop Records)

Death Cab For Cutie - We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes (2000)

I'm kind of embarrassed by Death Cab For Cutie these days. Having to defend their early work up against the awful pap they've been putting out the last few years has grown tiresome; I say give this record a listen and decide for yourself.

But hey, maybe you like the radio-friendly hits they're churning out, maybe you've put them on a mixtape for some chick your were trying to get with, I don't know...

I'll take their first five records (everything up to and including 2003's Transatlanticism) and make pretend they broke up before they had a chance to make Narrow Stairs. Sorry.

Death Cab For Cutie - We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes (2000; Barsuk Records)

The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? (2003)

Recipe for making an amazing pop album: add one part broken drum machines, one part toy keyboards, one part concept record about death, one part heavy LSD consumption, mix together in a studio where some/all of the equipment is falling apart/completely fucked-up/useless, fold in some fuzzy guitars, swirl, liberally add some catchy-ass hooks, swirl some more, add a little anti-hipster douchebag-ism, and pour evenly out of your speakers.

This record is what the Flaming Lips would sound like if they had no money (or ProTools. Or massive egos. Or that stupid fucking bubble Wayne Coyne lives inside of.) This record sounds as if it’s about to become a humongous fucking mess every song but manages to not only completely keep it together, it’s as coherent a mesh of 13 songs anywhere on this best-of list.

It’s fun, it’s pop, it’s accessible and inclusive- it takes absolutely all the seriousness and pomp out of “indie elitism”.

The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? (2003; Alien8 Recordings)