I know I posted Wilco on Conan yesterday, but today they released an official video starring Popeye and related friends. Good to see Olive Oyl still getting work.
What a great, interesting year for music consumption. Spotify gave me the ability to discover tons of new music and keep up with the current scene, while iTunes Match allowed me to rediscover music that was collecting dust on my disconnected external hard drive.
My favorite albums of 2011 are filled with the usual suspects that I’ve come to love over the years (Wilco, The Decemberists), but this year, more than ever, are a bunch of bands that are completely new to me. Here’s a list, complete with MP3s, streams, videos, and whatever relevant links I could put together.
Bonus: Spotify playlist featuring all of the albums plus a few others that didn’t make the top 10 cut.
Thurston Moore’s most recent solo album is the one that I found myself returning to again and again throughout the year. It’s not the novelty of Thurston using acoustic instruments or playing solo, he’s done it before and always does it well. Instead, I think I have to give credit to Beck for helping produce an album that is warm, lush, enormous and small all at the same time. If Sonic Youth isn’t your thing, that’s okay (you ahole), you still owe it to yourself to give this album a listen.
The December Rule: The Black Keys’ new album might have made this list, but it came out to recently for me to give it a proper place. You may see it in my 2012 favorites, though.
CD101(@102.5)’s Brian Phillips and Watershed’s Colin Gawel have teamed up for “Reelin’ & Rockin’” at the Gateway Film Center. Basically, the third Wednesday of every month Gawel and Phillips will screen a classic rock ‘n roll documentary on the big screen. (The bar opens at 6 and the movie starts at 7.) It’s Gawel’s hope that the series turns into a “nerdy music gathering once a month with beer but no live music.”
Last month was Gimme Shelter, and Wednesday’s film is I am Trying to Break Your Heart, which documented the making of Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and all the problems the band had with its label, who, in the end (spoiler alert), ended up paying for the album twice.
Gawel also penned an essay at his site called “When Wilco stopped being a band and became a brand,” which is more of a tribute to and defense of Jay Bennett (the now deceased ex-Wilco member who’s a major part of the doc). It’s well-written and worth your time.
Check the Facebook page for more Reelin’ & Rockin’ info and to RSVP. Tickets are 5$ and all proceeds go to CD101 for the Kids.
Chicago’s rock ‘n’ roll shape-shifters Wilco have formed their own label, dBpm Records, whose releases will be distributed and marketed by eclectic Silver Lake independent Anti- Records. A full announcement is expected soon.
“This is an idea we’ve discussed for years,” Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy said via his publicist. “We really like doing things ourselves, so having our own label feels pretty natural to me. And, to be working with Anti- — a label that was started by a punk rock guy to sell his own records — seems like a perfect fit for us.” (full story)
Photos by Ed Luna
Though I was very much anticipating this show, it turned out I really had no idea what I was in store for. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a set of only piano music, but Rachel Grimes (of Rachel’s) effortlessly filled the Wexner Center‘s performance space with composed, emotional, divine music. Between donewaiting, Benco and events that I accidentally end up attending, I find myself seeing more live music than ever these days. Though more often than not they are bands I enjoy hearing in my free time, I can’t help but secretly wish for the sets to pass quickly when I’m in attendance. This may be due to my busybody nature, but in the case of Saturday night, I was dreading the end of the show. Grimes proved to be a truly exquisite composer and performer live and translated a sense of calmness very well from music to audience. On Fillmore (percussionist Glenn Kotche of Wilco and bassist Darin Gray) took the stage shortly thereafter in a storm of whistles, bird calls and pre-recorded bells. The noises from all sorts of devices (from plastic children’s toys to a vibrating head massager) began most songs before erupting into a brilliant sound of various tools of percussion and the double bass. Gray and Kotche stood out as quite the characters, but in an appreciative way. Only a couple of songs in, they invited the audience to join them on stage and that’s where most stayed through the remainder of the performance. Kotche also praised the Wex for being one of his favorite places in the world to play.
