The Friday Thing: On Call by Kings of Leon

On this music/concert channel I thoroughly suggest/watch a lot, they've been playing a lot of Kings of Leon performances. I had assumed that after hearing Only By The Night, which I really rejected, that I wouldn't like any of their stuff at all. However, I was exposed to "The Bucket" and knew I had to give 'em another listen. So now, I have become a huge fan of their album "Because of the Times". I chose this performance because "On Call" is such a good song and that bassline will get jammed in your head to a point of no return. You'll love it.


On Call

ODDSAC: Animal Collective Movie Trailer

Animal Collective have been working on a movie (or visual album) called ODDSAC and the the trailer was released today. If your in the New York or Chicago area, go here to buy tickets for screenings.


It's gonna be great!

Follow ODDSAC's twitter if you want constant updates

CONTRA-Vampire Weekend

Contra-
Vampire Weekend
Label-XL Recordings
Status-Out as of 2010
2nd Studio Album
Rating-4 feathers

From the start of their career, Vampire Weekend were one of the few bands that were nearly unconditionally critically acclaimed. Hoisted so high on the indie pedestal, when it came time for them to make a second album, many thought that there was no way they could pull it off again. Well, they have. With a significantly mellower sound, and slightly more synthesizer in place of guitars, Vampire Weekend are back with their sophomore album “Contra”.

The carefree “Horchata” starts off the album with their signature bubbly synthesizer and vocals. It’s an inspiring and powerful beginning that will leave you singing “Here comes the feeling you’d forgotten” long after it’s over. “Holiday” offers you the same immensely catchy and bouncy synthesizers that you’ve come to love about Vampire Weekend, except with much more force and massive sing-along ability. There are very few things to really despise about this album, especially after hearing the last few songs. However, there’s usually something, and that something is “California English”. It’s like the “One (Blake’s Got a New Face)” of Contra, except the violently annoying part is the irritating use of auto-tune. It makes it almost unlistenable. The only redeeming part of it is the clever lyrics, except you’d never know that unless you were reading the booklet; the auto-tune obscures them that badly. “Taxi Cab” conveys the exact opposite of what the last song did. It’s like a sadder, and significantly more somber “I Stand Corrected”. Both the slight but effective cello and the non-falsetto singing makes it that much more moving. “Run” is nicely upbeat, and provides you with endless hooks. The fuzzy drums and fanfare punctuated by the new synth creates a bittersweet yet very bright symphony of sound. “Cousins” is all over the place, but in a good way. It’s completely manic and never ceases in force, and it’s amazing that they kept the frantic sound so tight. Then you have “Giving Up the Gun” which is the perfect example of their maturity as a band. They combine a reflective attitude with a grandiose mix of synthesizers and glittery sound effects that swell to build their most epic and encouraging song so far. With songs like that on this album, “I Think UR a Contra” is a pretty disappointing ending. I don’t like what Ezra does with his vocals and the dreamlike echoe-y instrumentation in the background makes it just way too fantastical for me. Also, the grand piano really doesn’t sound right. At the end, when it sounds like the instruments are breaking down, that’s when it finally gets interesting.

As a whole, Vampire Weekend have created a pretty good answer to their debut. It’s a very mellow collection of songs all of which embrace rawer synthesizers and a fuller sound. However, they did completely rid of their minimalist and baroque pop sound in exchange for a sometimes annoying electronica sounding one. Yet, I applaud them for building on their sound and for still sounding as fresh as they did two years ago. I have no doubt that future albums will continue on the same bubbly and brightly paved path.

"It's easy to write a song that just takes down easy targets--there were songs like that on the first album, though some people misinterpreted them. It's more of a challenge to write a song that's about compassion toward people that you disagree with or people that represent something you think is rephrehensible."-Ezra Koenig

Video for Cousins

Recommendations: Horchata, Holiday, Run, Giving Up the Gun
Vampire Weekend's Official Website
NOTE: YAY! I wrote a review. Start thinking of this as a more regular thing again. Next up is Spoon. In regards to the album, I really didn't like White Sky. I know it was a song they've played for a really long time, but I'm just not convinced on it's greatness. I hope you enjoy!

The Friday Thing: Written in Reverse by Spoon

As with my Dodos post, you know I don't typically watch late shows. However, on Tuesday, Spoon released their 7th album Transference, so I was very pleased to be able to hear the album and then watch them perform one the songs that same day (or night). For this, they performed the slightly crazed "Written in Reverse", and they did it quite well if I must say. I'd suggest watching it, and I hope you enjoy!


Written in Reverse

New releases set for 2010!

NME.com have put out a list of what they think are the most important albums to be released this year.

Here are a few very important ones:

• Miles Kane, Rascal/Last Shadow Puppet/Little Flame, is releasing yet another album, and this time it's a solo album produced by Gruff Rhys! Link...
• The Coral, after the leave of Bill Ryder-Jones, are going to put out a 5 album! Link...
• Radiohead are going back into the studio and are working on an apparently "very different" album. Link...
• Arcade Fire are finally saying that their 3rd long overdue release will be out later this year! Link...
• Interpol say that their 4th album will be released later this year also, and apparently it'll sound like Turn on the Bright Lights! Link...
• MGMT are releasing "Congratulations" in the spring sometime and have stated they will not release singles. Link...

For the full list go here: NME's 50 albums you need to hear in 2010

Transference Out Today!

Transference by Spoon was released today if you weren't already in the know. Spoon are great so go out and buy it!
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The Friday Thing: Fables by The Dodos

Last Friday (or Saturday, technically) The Dodos made their first American television appearance on David Letterman performing "Fables" from their not-so-new-now Time To Die. I thought it was a pretty good performance, the vocals were a little funny, but the drums were way awesome as usual (just look at the tambourine foot). It's a good song, and I'm very happy I got to see their debut. Enjoy!


Fables

New Video for Resistance by Muse

Muse have just released the video for "Resistance", their third single from their new-ish The Resistance. In actuality, it's just a live video with the actual recording over it, similar to their "In Your World" and "Butterflies and Hurricanes" videos. They really out do themselves with the grandiosity of their live show, and I'm happy they made a "simple" video after the wreck that that was "Undisclosed Desires"'s video. I hope you enjoy!



If you're not from the states, click this link and click "Rest of the World": Muse premiere Resistance

BTW: Please vote on my poll if you haven't already!

Contra and Heartland Out Today!

If you didn't know, Contra by Vampire Weekend and Heartland by Owen Pallett (formally referred to as Final Fantasy) were released today. Go out and support your bands!

New Video for Brother Sport by Animal Collective

So, I'm very happy about this. Animal Collective have released a video for their 3rd single, Brother Sport, from their latest "Merriweather Post Pavilion". For those who read, I personally thought that Brother Sport was the best song of 2009: it's really excellent. However, I don't really like the video. The video for My Girls and Summertime Clothes were really well done, but this takes on a style more like In the Flowers. Enjoy!



Btw: I'm putting up a poll to ask those who read what they'd like to see more of in 2010, and also, Friday Things resume next Friday.

LINES OF ORATION PRESENTS: The Top 21 Music Videos of the 2000's

To kick off the New Year, I bring to you what I think are the 20 best music videos of the aughts. Look out for part three of the countdown. Enjoy!

21. Girl by Beck-This is pretty poor of me to put this in after the fact, but it deserves a mention. Beck is just cool, he really is. This video demonstrates that. It's clever, and I think you should watch it.


20. You Only Live Once by The Strokes-I love how they are all in white when the disgusting "sewage" comes pouring in, but I thoroughly enjoy how Julian Casablancas's hopping around never ceases.


19. I'll Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab For Cutie-It's a nice, and slightly sad song, but I like how the hole symbolizes the songs meaning.


18. Summer Song by Yacht-You don't have to see it to know your already crazy about it.


17. Such Great Heights by The Postal Service-I'm not entirely sure what is happening in the video, but I think it fits with the electronic-ness so well.


16. The Hardest Button to Button by The White Stripes-The general smoothness of the stop motion is really good, but it has to be the sheer amount of equipment they used.


15. Here it Goes Again by OK GO


14. My Girls by Animal Collective-Them only having lips and the fact that they soon begin to melt shows that Animal Collective are very weird without being stupidly outrageous. Also, the fact that they seem so into it makes the song that much more enjoyable.


13. Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games) by of Montreal-of Montreal would take an already cutesy song and make such a seemingly more adorable yet so morbid video out it.


12. Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim-Who knew Christopher Walken could dance so well?


11. Australia by The Shins-The concept of freeing helpless balloons by releasing them back to the atmosphere is adorable. This video is both comical and creative, and isn't the image of all the balloons at the end beautiful?


10. Evil by Interpol-Norman the puppet is the creepiest and coolest puppet, and the dancing is just too creepy for words. I think what did it for me was the fact that Norman fits Paul Bank's vocals eerily well.


9. D.A.N.C.E. by Justice-I'm not a fan of Justice. At all. However, this video is really great. The constant redesigning t-shirts are way cool, and the concept is purely unique. Do you not want some of those shirts?


8. 1901 by Phoenix-Not only was this one of the best songs of the year, it was definitely one of the best videos of the decade. Most of the videos here aren't too fancy, and this one really isn't. The projector idea fit the song insanely well and it's so wonderfully original.


7. A Million Ways by OK GO-You have to love OK GO. Before they were jumping around on treadmills, they were dancing in back yards. To the video that started it all.


6. A-Punk by Vampire Weekend-The endless thought of "How'd they get the lip-synch like that?" will never leave my mind.


5. Window in the Skies by U2-A lot of bands do music videos that compile footage of the band with a live performance or take random videos that "go" with the song. U2, however, took clips of performances by everyone from The Smiths to The Clash to Arcade Fire, and synched it up perfectly to the music. It's a walk through music history, and that, with the perfect lip-synch, is enough reason to love it.


4. Another John Doe by Thenewno2-You may not like Beatles's children's bands, but if you ever had any reason not to love Thenewno2, this video will far overshadow those thoughts. Directed by the bands own Oli Hecks, it's not just any stop motion. I mean, have you ever seen one that's this smooth?


3. Easy/Lucky/Free by Bright Eyes-This is the prime example of the simpler, the better. All he does throughout the video is write down some of the lyrics on a pane of glass. What's so genius is that he thought to do it, and it the product came out so well. It's simple, effective, and gets the songs message across without getting too serious.


2. Obstacle 1 by Interpol-No matter how many actors you hire or how facny the effects you use are, it will always be difficult to beat a band simply just performing the song. This is one of those videos. Interpol all look so cool and a song like "Obstacle 1" just shouldn't be messed up with an overdone video. The slight effects really add to the classic feel and I feel it just adds to the subtle brilliance that is "Obstacle 1".


1. Fluorescent Adolescent by Arctic Monkeys-Simply the best music video of the decade. When you first heard "Fluorescent Adolescent", you surely didn't think of homicidal clowns or a torn friendship, but once you saw the video, you cannot think of anything else. Jamie Cook himself has said "[it's] probably one of the best videos in the last, like, 10 years", and in my mind, it is the best.