#17 on the 2011 Musical Bacon Calendar

An Argument with Myself by Jens Lekman

There seem to be quite a slew of EPs that were released this year in lieu of proper full-length albums. Is this a trend? Or maybe a dry spell? Either way, if it means the artists I enjoy listening to are putting out more rather than less music overall, then I’m quite happy with it. And when its in the case of the artist that is here at #18, I’ll take anything I can get.

Jens Lekman hasn’t released an album of any sort in four years (the stellar Night Falls Over Kortedala was released in 2007). And while An Argument with Myself only has five songs, it’s solid through and through. Lekman’s song style is very similar to Belle & Sebastian — story-based narratives that typically paint a picture of sadness through black comedy. And the songs are sing-songy as a typical Belle song as well.

Jens is from Sweden, but rarely does his barritone voice reveal the truth. He has a great grasp of humor on stage, so much so that the last time I saw him perform, he actually had a stand up comedian open up for him. But the songs really do speak for themselves. With titles like “An Arugment With Myself” and “So This Guy At My Office,” they’re just begging you to hit play.

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18. The Whole Love by Wilco
19. My Goodness by My Goodness
20. My Head is an Animal by Of Monsters and Men
21. Gloss Drop by Battles
22. Showroom of Compassion by CAKE
23. A New Kind of House EP by Typhoon
24. EP by Grouplove
25. Fan Chosen Covers (Best of) by Eef Barzelay
26. TKOL RMX 1234567 by Radiohead
27. Organ Music Not Virbraphone Like I’d Hoped by Moonface
28. Heavy Boots & Underwoods by Ben Fisher
29. The Rip Tide by Beirut
30. Collapse Into Now by R.E.M.
31. I Am Very Far by Okkervil River

What the hell is the Musical Bacon Calendar?

#18 on the 2011 Musical Bacon Calendar

The Whole Love by Wilco

It’s always surprising when a band that you’ve written off as “only for the superfans” is able to come back into your everyday playlist with something new. I can think of very few instances when this has occurred (R.E.M. and Underworld come to mind). And now I can add Wilco to that list, with their fantastic album The Whole Love, released back in September.

This album grabbed me right from the start, with the 7+ minute “Art of Almost.” (until I’m given permission by the creator to host the above video, which is of “Art of Almost,” please go directly to Richie Wireman’s Vimeo page to see this amazing video and hear this amazing song). I was disappointed at first that the rest of the album wasn’t as experimental as this first song, but after a few listens it was clear that the experimentation was just more subtle than the heavy-handed first song. If you stopped listening to Wilco pre-Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, then you should skip song one. If you liked pre-YHF Wilco, LOVED YHF and the next couple albums, then you’ll get hooked like I did. If you like later Wilco, then you’ve already bought this album and don’t need me to tell you to buy it.

Wilco were the final band to play at Sasquatch! this past May, and this was my first opportunity to see them live. They did not disappoint:

…as the final band to perform at Sasquatch! 2011, the 2+ hour set from the band more than made up for any earlier transgressions. The band was in fine form, and even though a small portion of the crowd stuck around through the end of the set, they proceeded to give those remaining a rousing performance. Playing songs ranging from across their 15-year collection, the band stretched nearly every song to it’s long-form capacity, throwing in amazing guitar solos and jams throughout the set. “Via Chicago” was a highlight for me, with it’s crazy crashing sounds repeated violently throughout the song, while lightning crashed in the distance behind the stage.

You know what to do now.

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19. My Goodness by My Goodness
20. My Head is an Animal by Of Monsters and Men
21. Gloss Drop by Battles
22. Showroom of Compassion by CAKE
23. A New Kind of House EP by Typhoon
24. EP by Grouplove
25. Fan Chosen Covers (Best of) by Eef Barzelay
26. TKOL RMX 1234567 by Radiohead
27. Organ Music Not Virbraphone Like I’d Hoped by Moonface
28. Heavy Boots & Underwoods by Ben Fisher
29. The Rip Tide by Beirut
30. Collapse Into Now by R.E.M.
31. I Am Very Far by Okkervil River

What the hell is the Musical Bacon Calendar?

#19 on the 2011 Musical Bacon Calendar

My Goodness by My Goodness

Two-musician bands — one on drums, one on guitar — seem to be quite the popular arrangement of late. White Stripes (god rest their souls), The Black Keys, and Wye Oak all fit that mode, along with My Goodness, who come in at #19 on the Musical Bacon Calendar.

From Seattle, this duo really packs a punch. You’d be hard pressed to find a 4+ person band that rocks as hard as Joel Schneider and Ethan Jacobsen. The band has been playing all over Seattle for at least the past year, and I was able to catch them twice this year, once at the Capitol Hill Block Party, and then again headlining their own show at Neumos back in early November:

Red LED lights beating down, smoke machine choking the air with a thick fog, and the bass drum turned up to the point of making your nipples stand on end all combined for some of the most powerful rock duo work I’ve not witnessed since seeing the White Stripes oh so many years ago.

But while their debut album is very good, and a great investment of your $10, it was the new stuff they played that had me truly impressed:

It’s always a great sign when a band can play multiple never-before performed new songs and have the crowd continue their frenzied-pace banging and bouncing as if they’ve heard those songs all their lives…The two songs they chose to play at the end of the set were entirely new, and the most powerful songs of the night. Joel Schneider’s guitar seemed to get even louder, his dancing and jarring movements around stage got more pronounced, and Ethan Jacobsen’s bass drum became — implausibly — even more ear splitting. It was phenomenal.

So run out and buy My Goodness, and then set aside another $10 for when the band’s next release comes out in 2012. It will be worth it.

(I feel compelled to say that you will not see the phenomenal new Black Keys album El Camino appear in this year’s list, as it came out December 2, which disqualifies it from the 2011 list.)

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20. My Head is an Animal by Of Monsters and Men
21. Gloss Drop by Battles
22. Showroom of Compassion by CAKE
23. A New Kind of House EP by Typhoon
24. EP by Grouplove
25. Fan Chosen Covers (Best of) by Eef Barzelay
26. TKOL RMX 1234567 by Radiohead
27. Organ Music Not Virbraphone Like I’d Hoped by Moonface
28. Heavy Boots & Underwoods by Ben Fisher
29. The Rip Tide by Beirut
30. Collapse Into Now by R.E.M.
31. I Am Very Far by Okkervil River

What the hell is the Musical Bacon Calendar?

#20 on the 2011 Musical Bacon Calendar

My Head is an Animal by Of Monsters and Men

We’re breaking into the top 20 of the year with what will probably be a source of frustration for many of you. The #20 album on the Musical Bacon Calendar isn’t available in the States. Yet. Even without an album readily available for purchase, Of Monsters and Men is receiving plenty of hype. And while they’ve released their album in their native Iceland, it won’t come out over here until “early 2012” via Universal.

The 6-person group, with dual lead male / femal vocals, most reminds me of what I’d wished Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros had sounded like. If you shared my feeling that the strength of ESMZ’s single “Home,” which is a great song that reached mass oversaturation, was the complete opposite of the rest of their album Up From Below, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised by My Head is an Animal. (The two bands don’t have any members in common, just a common sound.) Of Monsters and Men have produced a great folk/rock album.

The band was definitely the highlight of KEXP’s coverage of the Iceland Airwaves festival back in October. You should take the time to watch the videos taken during their in-studio performance there. Then you’ll see why they’re worth the hype. I’ll be sure to let you know when the album comes out in your neighborhood in 2012. (According to the band’s Twitter account, they have an EP called “Into the Woods” coming out on December 20, just in time for the cozy winter months.)

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21. Gloss Drop by Battles
22. Showroom of Compassion by CAKE
23. A New Kind of House EP by Typhoon
24. EP by Grouplove
25. Fan Chosen Covers (Best of) by Eef Barzelay
26. TKOL RMX 1234567 by Radiohead
27. Organ Music Not Virbraphone Like I’d Hoped by Moonface
28. Heavy Boots & Underwoods by Ben Fisher
29. The Rip Tide by Beirut
30. Collapse Into Now by R.E.M.
31. I Am Very Far by Okkervil River

What the hell is the Musical Bacon Calendar?

#21 on the 2011 Musical Bacon Calendar

Gloss Drop by Battles

Bands often change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, and sometimes they become something so different it’s hard to recognize the similarity. With the stark differences between their debut album, Mirrored, and this year’s Gloss Drop, Battles fits into the “something so different” camp. I wrote about their changes when I had the pleasure of seeing them play at this past summer’s Capitol Hill Block Party:

Between their first and second albums, Battles lost the only member of the band — Tyondai Braxton — who had the gall to use a mic in addition to the rest of his sound-making machinery. So with their second album, “Gloss Drop,” the band employed a number of guest singers, including Gary Numan, Kazu Makino from Blonde Redhead, and Japanese artist/vocalist Yamantaka Eye. Of course, these singers aren’t touring with the three remaining core members of the band, so, to make up for this shortcoming, the band filmed the vocalists singing their various parts, and then broadcast those videos during the performance. It’s an interesting effect that would have been made oh-so-much better if they’d filmed the singers from head-to-toe, life size, giving the illusion they were actually on stage.

But even with the larger-than-life videos of the singers, the effect was interesting once the band started to mix and play with the recorded sounds. We watched in amazement as the videos jumped from syllable to syllable, creating new words out of words not actually spoken, such as “Watch Battles,” repeated over and over again.

The band stuck to mostly to tracks from the new album, of which “Ice Cream,” featuring the voice of Matias Aguayo (who has his own fledgling solo career gaining speed), was the highlight. The band did play “Atlas,” the one underground hit the band has from their debut album. Instead of the expected vocals, sung by the now-missing Broxton, the band employed what sounded like the Von Trapp family to sing the vocals. It still got us all bouncing, but it just wasn’t the same.

The one thing that is the same in Battles is John Stanier’s drumming. The former Helmet drummer, now 43, is still one of the most amazing drummers you’ll ever see. With his trademark double-high cymbal and complicated beats, he alone drives the band forward and is more than enough reason to continue to invest time in the band. I suggest you do so now.

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22. Showroom of Compassion by CAKE
23. A New Kind of House EP by Typhoon
24. EP by Grouplove
25. Fan Chosen Covers (Best of) by Eef Barzelay
26. TKOL RMX 1234567 by Radiohead
27. Organ Music Not Virbraphone Like I’d Hoped by Moonface
28. Heavy Boots & Underwoods by Ben Fisher
29. The Rip Tide by Beirut
30. Collapse Into Now by R.E.M.
31. I Am Very Far by Okkervil River

What the hell is the Musical Bacon Calendar?

#22 on the 2011 Musical Bacon Calendar

Showroom of Compassion by Cake

Remember CAKE? You probably liked them once upon a time, perhaps because of the song “Short Skirt, Long Jacket.” You definitely remember “The Distance,” and it’s chorus “He’s going the distance. He’s going for speed. He’s all alone (ALL ALONE!) in his time of need.” But did you know that they’re still going strong?

CAKE completed their contract with the B-sides and Rarities collection they released in 2007, and Showroom of Compassion is their first independent release. Amazingly, although the band has only released 6 albums (with original material) in their 18-year history, Showroom debuted at #1 in the U.S., so some of you out there are still listening.

I love CAKE. Yes, they have a shtick. But it’s a good one. A lone trumpet, the deep monotone vocals of John McCrae, the persistent vibraslap. CAKE is a distinctly American band. And Showroom is a continuation of all of that Americana. If you haven’t heard it yet, click on the link at the top of this entry and buy it immediately.

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23. A New Kind of House EP by Typhoon
24. EP by Grouplove
25. Fan Chosen Covers (Best of) by Eef Barzelay
26. TKOL RMX 1234567 by Radiohead
27. Organ Music Not Virbraphone Like I’d Hoped by Moonface
28. Heavy Boots & Underwoods by Ben Fisher
29. The Rip Tide by Beirut
30. Collapse Into Now by R.E.M.
31. I Am Very Far by Okkervil River

What the hell is the Musical Bacon Calendar?

#23 on the 2011 Musical Bacon Calendar

A New Kind of House EP by Typhoon

I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it again: if a band has horns, strings, or any kind of orchestration, the chances that I’ll like said band go up considerably. So the fact that I love Portland-based Typhoon shouldn’t come as a surprise. Violins, cellos, trumpets, and other horns are a routine occurrence and a prevalent part of the band’s outsized live presence. It’s not unusual for the band to have 12 people performing on stage at once.

It baffles me how a band that tours with more than ten people can afford to keep on playing, let alone feed themselves. But I applaud those that can make it work, because the rich, full sound they create on stage is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. Especially on the smaller stages that indie bands are forced to play, given their audience.

Typhoon play what’s best called “Americana,” or possibly “Roots Rock,” or “Folk Rock,” along the same lines as Seattle’s Head and the Heart or Campfire OK. Catchy tunes, with choruses about things soon being better than they currently are. Kinda like if Annie were a singer/songwriter rather than an orphan in a red dress. Typhoon have been around for more than 6 years, but I’ve only heard the music they’ve put out in the past couple years. If I’d discovered last year’s full length, Hunger and Thirst, before the end of 2010, it would have certainly ended up on the 2010 Musical Bacon Calendar. But I can’t hear everything. Mistakes happen.

While A New Kind of House is only an EP, the five songs found on the album are quite rewarding. The video above is for “The Honest Truth”, which the band also performed on Letterman back in August. You can also hear parts of “Claws Pt. 1” in a “making of” video. And there are even a couple songs from last year’s full-length that made it into video form, “CPR/Claws Pt. 2” and the song that hooked me in the first place, “Starting Over (Bad Habits)”.

Even after six years, Typhoon are only getting started. I don’t think enough people know of them that should, and it’s only a matter of time before that audience finds them. There’s absolutely no reason this band shouldn’t be seeing the same sort of explosive success the Head and the Heart or Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros have accomplished. Just you watch.

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24. EP by Grouplove
25. Fan Chosen Covers (Best of) by Eef Barzelay
26. TKOL RMX 1234567 by Radiohead
27. Organ Music Not Virbraphone Like I’d Hoped by Moonface
28. Heavy Boots & Underwoods by Ben Fisher
29. The Rip Tide by Beirut
30. Collapse Into Now by R.E.M.
31. I Am Very Far by Okkervil River

What the hell is the Musical Bacon Calendar?

#24 on the 2011 Musical Bacon Calendar

EP by Grouplove

Allow me to tell you the story of a band that obviously had some talent, put together a fantastic EP, and quickly proceded to explode in indie-rock popularity (if that’s what it can be called). It just so happens that that band has an absolutely horrible name, Grouplove, and unfortunately, only fleeting talent (as judged by me, who has no talent), as proven by their less-than-stellar full-length release later in the year.

So this is an interesting diversion in the usual drivel I spout out here on the calendar. I’m promoting a fantastic EP, but not the full-length that followed. I expected huge things from Grouplove (name aside), but those expectations fell flat. I anxiously awaited the release of their full-length after falling in love with the EP back in January. But when Never Trust A Happy Song finally hit the record store shelves, I just couldn’t bear it. Not exactly sure what happened, but I think it’s pretty rare for a band to not exist prior to this year and manage to come out with a great first record then suffer from the sophomore slump within the span of 9 months.

They did just recently perform on Letterman, so somebody must still be liking them out there. They just aren’t for me. But for the span of a few months, Grouplove’s EP was held high in my playlist. And I guess it still is, because here we are at #24 in the Calendar.

If you like Modest Mouse, Built To Spill, and the like, then you’ll like this EP as much as I did. Back in June I got to see the band at the relatively small Tractor Tavern, and it was a great show. They played a rousing set, and even the new stuff impressed me then:

They played all six songs from last year’s EP, as well as a handful of new songs that will be released on their forthcoming full-length in September. The small Monday-night crowd ate it up, bouncing off the walls to old and new songs alike. The evening came to a rocous conclusion with “Colours,” which has seen modest rotation on KEXP over the past couple months. I was pleased to hear the new songs stand up to the strength of the anthems on the EP. If the rest of the album is built on the songs we heard on Monday, it will certainly end up on a lot of end-of-year lists.

Yup.

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25. Fan Chosen Covers (Best of) by Eef Barzelay
26. TKOL RMX 1234567 by Radiohead
27. Organ Music Not Virbraphone Like I’d Hoped by Moonface
28. Heavy Boots & Underwoods by Ben Fisher
29. The Rip Tide by Beirut
30. Collapse Into Now by R.E.M.
31. I Am Very Far by Okkervil River

What the hell is the Musical Bacon Calendar?

#25 on the 2011 Musical Bacon Calendar

Fan Chosen Covers (Best of) by Eef Barzelay

There are some voices out there that really just do it for me. Robin Pecknold. John Roderick. Thom Yorke. They could sing the Maxwell House song and I’d quickly open my wallet and buy the special collector’s edition deluxe 45 (“With unreleased b-side ‘Dr. Pepper song!’”).

Until late last year, I hadn’t realized that Eef Barzelay was also in that camp. Eef is the brains and voice behind indie alt.country/rock band Clem Snide. He performed Journey’s “Faithfully” as part of the Onion A.V. Club’s “Undercover” series. Solo. On a ukelele. And I practically melted.

That single song inspired Eef to launch a Kickstarter campaign, funding (4 times over) the recording and pressing of a 6-song Journey cover album. For a pledge of $150+ to the campaign, Eef vowed to learn, record, and send to you a cover of any song of your choosing. 38 people shelled out the dough, resulting in 38 covers of songs, all performed by Eef in his fantastic, down-tempo twang.

And that is how we’ve arrived here. Today’s album is a collection of 15 of those 38 songs, made available for a “Name your price” download (ie: FREE) by Eef on his Bandcamp page. On it you’ll find the Eurythmics, Dylan, the Bee Gees, even Nine Inch Nails. Some of it is definitely tongue-in-cheek, some of it just puts a smile on your face as you sing along, but all of it is worth a free download. How can you say no?

Best of all, he covers one of the best songs ever ever written: Neutral Milk Hotel’s “In The Aeroplane Over the Sea.” If you thought the song hit all the right emotions in the original recording, give Eef’s version a listen. But make sure you’ve got a tissue nearby.

(I’d like to extend a hat tip to one of my favorite music blogs for pointing me to this album back in September. I’ve always liked Clem Snide, and finding this album made my year. Thanks Heather!)

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26. TKOL RMX 1234567 by Radiohead
27. Organ Music Not Virbraphone Like I’d Hoped by Moonface
28. Heavy Boots & Underwoods by Ben Fisher
29. The Rip Tide by Beirut
30. Collapse Into Now by R.E.M.
31. I Am Very Far by Okkervil River

What the hell is the Musical Bacon Calendar?

#26 on the 2011 Musical Bacon Calendar

TKOL RMX 1234567 by Radiohead

OK, this is a weird one.¹ I had a different album in at #26 not 5 minutes ago, but after having listened to that album one more time, I decided I couldn’t possibly recommend it to anyone. Love is fleeting. So I was left reaching into the bin of throwaways for something else to go here. Enter a mostly OK remix album of Radiohead’s least-popular album ever.

TKOL RMX 1234567 is a collection of remixes by other artists and music producers of the songs found on The King of Limbs, Radiohead’s album from earlier this year. One or two of the remixed songs from the 19-song two-disc album actually sound better than the original to my ears, and would have been a perfectly fine addition or replacement of the song on the full Radiohead album.

Notable names like Caribou, Four Tet, Modeselektor and SBTRKT all take a crack at creating something new from the original Radiohead tapes. The “Bloom” remix by Blawan (No. 6 on disc 2) is the most interesting song on the album, with its almost backward-masked, Fever Ray-like bassline.

But you don’t need me to explain this album to you. By now you’ve figured out whether you like Radiohead or not — this isn’t a Radiohead album, really. Well, then, by now you’ve figured out whether you like electronic dance music or not. And this is most certainly that. So, if you like Radiohead, do check it out. If you like dance music, definitely check it out. Beyond that, I don’t know what to tell you.

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27. Organ Music Not Virbraphone Like I’d Hoped by Moonface
28. Heavy Boots & Underwoods by Ben Fisher
29. The Rip Tide by Beirut
30. Collapse Into Now by R.E.M.
31. I Am Very Far by Okkervil River

What the hell is the Musical Bacon Calendar?

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1. Yeah, that video is very very odd. It‘s not even meant to be a music video, I don’t think. It just happens to be a video of shots of Glasgow, put to a couple songs from the album. Unfortunately there aren’t any videos made by Radiohead for this album. But this Glasgow video is strangely appropriate, don’t you think? ↩

#27 on the 2011 Musical Bacon Calendar

Organ Music Not Virbraphone Like I’d Hoped by Moonface

Spencer Krug is not for everyone. The prolific musician is the key component to many bands you may have heard of, such as Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, and Swan Lake. But as the “weird one” in these bands, a lot of people are put off by his voice, his lyrics, his style. Thankfully, his distinctive persona is exactly perfect for me.

Lately, Krug has been concentrating on his solo work, under the name Moonface. Relying almost entirely on electronic drums, marimba/marimba-like synth, and Krug’s voice, Moonface has more in common with Keyboard Cat than he does with the indie rock world. The first Moonface release was Dreamland EP: Marimba & Shit Drums, a 20-minute EP with only one song, released in 2010. Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped is a 5-song album that builds on what was started in the EP, this time with the addition of the organ (but not a vibraphone, obviously). It has Krug’s distinctive voice built on top of repetitive, droning electronic melodies, each one building to a crescendo of noise that make the album an adventure in listening.

I had the pleasure of seeing Krug perform as Moonface earlier this year at an underattended show at the Crocodile. As I wrote of Organ Music:

Moonface is a bit of an under-the-radar project for Krug,¹ as noted by the sparse crowd that gathered at the Crocodile Saturday night for his show. Either the new album isn’t achieving the level of acceptance that Krug’s other projects have, or — my preferred assumption — it just hasn’t yet reached his core audience.

Well, I’d like to ammend that statement now by saying that, just maybe, the album has reached his core audience, but his core audience just isn’t as big as I expected it to be. And that’s perfectly fine. I’ll happily attend small shows at small venues with small crowds. Feels like he’s sitting in my living room, playing exactly what I want to hear.

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28. Heavy Boots & Underwoods by Ben Fisher
29. The Rip Tide by Beirut
30. Collapse Into Now by R.E.M.
31. I Am Very Far by Okkervil River

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1. The video above is a fan-created video for the song “Fast Peter.” To my knowledge, not a single artist-approved video has been released for any Moonface song. ↩

#28 on the 2011 Musical Bacon Calendar

Heavy Boots & Underwoods by Ben Fisher

Seattle is a great town for music, but you probably already knew that. #28 on the list is the perfect example of this, because I first heard Ben Fisher busking on a sunny Sunday afternoon at the weekly Ballard Farmers Market. Just him and his guitar, standing on the sidewalk, playing songs that he wrote, collecting tips and selling copies of his self-recorded debut, Heavy Boots & Underwoods.

The farmers market is great for busking, and consequently there’s always something fun to hear and see there. But, up until hearing Ben, I had never been swayed enough to purchase anyone’s CD right there on the spot. I struck up a conversation with him after having heard him play a couple songs, and found out that he had just recorded a KEXP in-studio session, was about to do a residency at the Columbia City Theater, and had recently completed recording his CD, which he had funded through a recent successful Kickstarter campaign. My $10 quickly leapt out of my wallet.

I brought the CD home, and couldn’t stop listening to it. Ben has a folk music style similar to The Tallest Man on Earth (who appeared on last year’s Calendar), who in turn is quite a bit like Bob Dylan. And while his music is quite a bit like theirs, Ben’s voice is very much not like either of those performers. Deep and resonant, with a slight twang that I can’t quite place, Ben’s voice seems ripe to sing about drinking problems and broken-down trucks. He also sings a lot about the Northwest, and Ballard, in such a way as to make them feel like they’re your neighborhood, whether you live here or not.

Ben is working very hard to make a name for himself. Seems like I hear his name mentioned at least once a week in the various local blogs I read. Keep an eye on him, as you’ll undoubtedly be hearing his name in more nationally-recognized locations soon enough.

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29. The Rip Tide by Beirut
30. Collapse Into Now by R.E.M.
31. I Am Very Far by Okkervil River

#29 on the 2011 Musical Bacon Calendar

The Rip Tide by Beirut

Zach Condon, former child prodigy and current indie rock band leader, is in his prime. After his band Beirut debuted five years ago with the phenomenal album Gulag Orkestar, they’ve continued to crank out warm, multi-instrumental, world-music influenced folk music year after year. Beirut appeared at No. 9 on 2009’s Musical Advent Calendar¹, where I said:

It’s safe to say Beirut is quite unlike any other current band I listen to. I hear hints of other bands (Neutral Milk Hotel, DeVotchKa), but they are only the tiniest of glimmers. And it’s precisely that sound, unlike anyone else, that I believe will make them appealing to a wide audience.

And it’s still true. Condon’s voice is sing-songy, with lots of virbrato, a somewhat less-classically trained Morrissey. And he plays the trumpet, ukelele, guitar and keyboards equally well — I don’t throw the word “prodigy” around lightly. And backed by a rotating crew of fine musicians that amply follow along to Condon’s musical whims, this band has plenty going for it.

But I’m sure that description isn’t inspiring anyone to go online and purchase every album Beirut has released. And while The Rip Tide isn’t their absolute best, it has an uncanny ability to capture my mood quite well. All I’ve done with this review is prove how difficult it is to write about this band and make them sound appealing. So I’ll have to leave you with this: trust me. Think about all those times in the past where I’ve not led you astray. Now’s the time when I cash in on that good will and just tell you to listen to the damn thing. You can thank me later.²

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30. Collapse Into Now by R.E.M.
31. I Am Very Far by Okkervil River

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1. The “advent” became “bacon” in 2010, for a number of reasons you can read about here. ↩

2. This video, however, named after Condon’s home town of Santa Fe, is not really something I can vouch for. It’s funny, but trying a bit too hard. ↩

#30 on the 2011 Musical Bacon Calendar

Collapse Into Now by R.E.M.

This year saw the end of one of rock’s greatest bands. When R.E.M. first came together in 1980, indie rock was yet to be a “thing.” Along the same lines as more recent bands like Death Cab for Cutie or the Decemberists, R.E.M. started in rather lo-fi beginnings, and slowly transformed into the grandiose, stadium-draw rock legends they are today.

Or rather, were yesterday. Because R.E.M. is no more. They announced their breakup back in September, six months after the release of their final studio album, Collapse Into Now. Every new album from R.E.M. hints at albums past, which is part of the reason their new stuff never seems to hold up as well as Document or Life’s Rich Pageant. Why would the remake sound as good as the original? But I love newer R.E.M. every bit as much as older R.E.M. So much so that I hold their 1996 album New Adventures in Hi-Fi up as the quintessential R.E.M. album. (If you haven’t yet heard it, stop reading and do so, NOW.)

It’s too early to tell how Collapse Into Now will stand within the R.E.M. catalog. But when comparing it to other, non-R.E.M. albums from the past year, it’s definitely one of the best. You can hear most of the songs from the album via YouTube, where the band has posted a music video for 10 of the 12 songs. But I recommend picking up the album. Too much of music listening today is about the single, that one song. But enjoying a full album is an experience that no one should go without, and this album is a perfect place to start.

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31. I Am Very Far by Okkervil River

Introducing the 2011 edition of the Musical Bacon Calendar. Every year, December 1 seems to come out of nowhere, leaving me scrambling to put together my list for the year. And every year, as I look over the year’s albums that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, I’m surprised by the wealth of albums to choose from. The answers to questions that you may have of me (such as “How do you have so much time to discover 31 albums, let alone listen extensively to with enjoyment, over the span of the past year?”) elude me every bit as much as they do you. But enjoy, I have, and now I must share.

2011 has been a great year for music. Happily, the definition of what good music can be continues to evolve, and while I don’t pretend to listen to every new album that came out in 2011 — far, far from it — I do listen to quite a bit. There may be a number of albums out there that you see mentioned on other Top XX albums of the year lists, but I am only one person, and the Musical Bacon Calendar is purely my own opinion. I do listen to and tolerate a number of musical genres, but you’ll not find many — if any — country, pop, or hip hop albums in this list, so it may feel incomplete at times. But I hold firm of the belief that every album on this list is great in its own way, and I do recommend every single one of them.

So, without further adieu:

#31 on the 2011 Musical Bacon Calendar

I Am Very Far by Okkervil River

It would take a lot for Okkervil River to match their former glory. The indie rock band’s 2005 and 2007 albums (Black Sheep Boy and The Stage Names respectively) were fantastic albums from start to finish. Story-based song structures, with a repeated chorus somewhat difficult to come by, make the Okkervil River of old a wonder to listen to but difficult to sing along to.

I Am Very Far, which came out in May of this year, takes the band in a new direction. Unlike their previous works, this album does not tell multiple sides of one 45 minute story. This is a collection of great songs, each with just a touch of ground previously covered. I don’t find “Wake and Be Fine,” above, to be the best representation of this album, but the video is damn fine. Download the album to hear what’s even better than this.

If you’re new to Okkervil River, this album may be your best entry into the band. And if you’re an old fan, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the direction the band is moving in (especially if The Stand Ins, their album from 2009, didn’t do it for you). Either way, it’s a great album, and a good start to this year’s list. More tomorrow!

#1 on the 2010 Musical Bacon Calendar

High Violet by The National

If you’ve talked music with me at all since May 30, 2010, then you most likely predicted what would be #1 on the Musical Bacon Calendar. While I had listened to High Violet a bit before heading into Sasquatch!, I hadn’t expected much from The National’s performance that fateful day in May. Here’s what I wrote up for Click & Dagger after the fact:

The National’s recorded music, powerful in its own right — with most songs building from a quiet, understated point to a frenzied climax, doesn’t seem like it would translate to the big stage. But I’m so happy to report that I was 100% wrong. The band puts everything into their set. Matt Berninger’s baritone vocals just melt across the crowd when he’s singing quietly. But as each song builds, he becomes a powerful force that commands attention. Brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner, swapping guitars back and forth throughout the set as only brothers could, add a little bit of a necessary damper to Berninger’s onstage antics. And the National’s second set of brothers, Scott and Bryan Devendorf, on bass and drums, respectively provide the undertone and the excitement to the set. With Padma Newsome on violin and keyboards, the band performed one amazing song after another.

Watching Berninger on stage really brought things to life. He throws mic stands; he bounces around the stage; he pounds his fist into his open palm over and over again, to the point that you wonder if the man suffers from a slight form of Asperger’s. But each and every song was powerful. You could feel the energy emanating from the stage. And when Berninger took to the crowd, during “Abel,” from their Beggar’s Banquet debut Alligator, he provided me with one of those once-in-a-lifetime festival experiences. He waded through the crowd, singing at the top of his lungs, spreading his overflowing energy from one person to the next. And he walked right next to me, holding his mic to his mouth with one hand and the cord for the mic up over the crowd with his other, singing the song’s “chorus” — the shouted line “My mind’s not right” repeated over and over and over again — right next to me. That’s some powerful stuff.

So powerful, in fact, that nothing has been able to match it since. I could have even given Berninger a hug, but I managed to restrain myself, shouting right along with him — to the point where I lost my voice. It was a religious experience, in the purest since of the word.

I saw The National play again later in the year, headlining their own show at Marymoor Park, and while that show was really, really, good, it still wasn’t better than the Sasquatch! set. And the tone of High Violet changed for me from that day forward. Every time I heard it — probably once every three or four days for the rest of the year — I relieved that feeling of Berninger, not 2 feet from me, shouting “My Mind’s Not Right” to me and 15,000 other people.

That feeling, and this album (along with the rest of The National’s albums), will be burned into my brain for the rest of my life. But while you won’t be able to have the same emotional connection to this album that I do, High Violet is still worthy of #1. It’s a hard-rocking, make-you-move kinda album that just carries you through the entire record. There are some slow moments, but they’re necessary to keep you moving through to the next rocking song. Pick up this album, and live with it for the next year. You won’t be sorry.

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2. The Winter of Mixed Drinks by Frightened Rabbit
3. The Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens
4. Odd Blood by Yeasayer
5. Mines by Menomena
6. Contra by Vampire Weekend
7. Go by Jónsi
8. The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
9. Gorilla Manor by the Local Natives
10. The Head and the Heart by the Head and the Heart
11. Special Affections by Diamond Rings
12. Treats by Sleigh Bells
13. Write About Love by Belle & Sebastian
14. Wild Smile by Suckers
15. Learning by Perfume Genius
16. Forgiveness Rock Record by Broken Social Scene
17. Expo 86 by Wolf Parade
18. One Life Stand by Hot Chip
19. Big Echo by The Morning Benders
20. Here’s To Taking It Easy by Phosphorescent
21. This is Happening by LCD Soundsystem
22. The Mistress by Yellow Ostrich
23. Halcyon Digest by Deerhunter
24. Been Listening by Johnny Flynn
25. The Wild Hunt by The Tallest Man on Earth
26. Lisbon by The Walkmen
27. Scratch My Back by Peter Gabriel
28. All Day by Girl Talk
29. A Storm – A Tree – My Mother’s Head by Bobby Bare Jr.
30. 03 to TEN by Knathan Ryan
31. In This Light On This Evening by Editors

#2 on the 2010 Musical Bacon Calendar

The Winter of Mixed Drinks by Frightened Rabbit

After a large number of somewhat out there — but nonetheless great — albums across the 2010 Musical Bacon Calendar, we now come to a great, straightforward indie-rock album. You may not be familiar with Frightened Rabbit, and if that’s the case, do what you need to to ge acquainted. With ballads, guitar picking folk ditties, and hard rocking anthems, there is something in The Winter of Mixed Drinks for every rock & roll fan. Editor, lead writer, and all-around owner of the site I do my “professional” writing for, Chris Burlingame at Another Rainy Saturday, summed the album up quite well by saying, “The newer album succeeds at finding a fuller, more complex sound that includes adding string and horn arrangements to their mix. Polished, maybe, but the sound is richer and I think for the better.”

I had the immense pleasure of seeing Frightened Rabbit play at Showbox at the Market earlier this year, and I reviewed their performance thusly:

Scott comes across as one of the most sincere people I’ve ever had the pleasure to hear sing. He and the other four guys in his band have “nicest blokes you’d ever meet” tattooed all over them. I want to bring them to my grandma’s house, where I imagine they would introduce themselves and then volunteer to shut all of her storm windows for the pending winter. Scott’s brother Grant plays drums and sings backup. The band is filled out with three more guitars (and the occasional vocals, bass, additional percussion, or keyboards) played by Billy Kennedy, Andy Monaghan and Gordon Skene.

Frightened Rabbit have three full length albums to pull from, but with the exception of one song, “Be Less Rude,” from their debut album, Sing the Greys, they stuck to songs from their more recent, more successful albums. They managed to play nearly everything I could hope for: ten songs from 2007’s The Midnight Organ Fight, and seven from this year’s The Winter of Mixed Drinks. The one glaring hole in the setlist was “Skip The Youth,” my favorite song from the new album.

“Skip the Youth” is still my favorite song on the album, but there’s not a bad one in the bunch. The rather sweet video above is for probably the second-best song on the album, “The Loneliness & The Scream.”

While the band is still unheard of by mainstream U.S. standards, I feel they’re on the verge of breaking into the mainstream. This album, while it’s been out for most of the year, could be the one that pushes them over the hump. True, it’s proving more and more easy to hear new music online, but reaching the ears of the masses is inversely more difficult. I’m not entirely sure it’s even possible without a major label’s help. But, fingers crossed, these five guys from Glasgow won’t be hidden away on countdowns like mine in the near future.

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3. The Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens
4. Odd Blood by Yeasayer
5. Mines by Menomena
6. Contra by Vampire Weekend
7. Go by Jónsi
8. The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
9. Gorilla Manor by the Local Natives
10. The Head and the Heart by the Head and the Heart
11. Special Affections by Diamond Rings
12. Treats by Sleigh Bells
13. Write About Love by Belle & Sebastian
14. Wild Smile by Suckers
15. Learning by Perfume Genius
16. Forgiveness Rock Record by Broken Social Scene
17. Expo 86 by Wolf Parade
18. One Life Stand by Hot Chip
19. Big Echo by The Morning Benders
20. Here’s To Taking It Easy by Phosphorescent
21. This is Happening by LCD Soundsystem
22. The Mistress by Yellow Ostrich
23. Halcyon Digest by Deerhunter
24. Been Listening by Johnny Flynn
25. The Wild Hunt by The Tallest Man on Earth
26. Lisbon by The Walkmen
27. Scratch My Back by Peter Gabriel
28. All Day by Girl Talk
29. A Storm – A Tree – My Mother’s Head by Bobby Bare Jr.
30. 03 to TEN by Knathan Ryan
31. In This Light On This Evening by Editors

#3 on the 2010 Musical Bacon Calendar

The Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens

On Dec. 1, when I started the 2010 Musical Bacon Calendar, Sufjan Stevens was not on it. The Age of Adz1 had been out for barely a month and a half (released Oct. 12), and it simply hadn’t been on my radar. Sufjan hadn’t released any new song-based full-length records since 2005’s phenomenal Illinois, and what he had released since that time were b-sides, scores, and other somewhat uninteresting stuff. I didn’t expect much from his new album, so I hadn’t sought it out yet, even though I’d known it was released.

Thanks to one friend of mine, who knew I was doing the countdown and had a pretty good grasp of my musical tastes based on past years’ calendars, who proclaimed, “You simply cannot complete the advent calendar without having first listened to this album.” Boy was he right. I picked up The Age of Adz on his insistance. And from that very first listen, I knew I had an album that would make the countdown. Since the countdown had already begun, I had to cut #30 or #29 from the list to make room for the late addition. And from that day forward, The Age of Adz slowly climbed the charts. First at #27, then up to #10, then to #3, where it finally hit a point that it couldn’t surpass.

I predict listening to this album well into the future. It’s much more interesting — née fascinating — than Illinois or anything that followed. And I rank Illinois quite high, falling in my Top 10 Albums of the Oughts list somewhere between #10 and #35. I also predict this album to get more and more airplay throughout 2011. It just hasn’t yet been given its due, even though it debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200.

Missing the Sufjan Stevens show at the Paramount earlier this year will go down as a big mistake on my part. According to another friend who talked highly of this album, the show Sufjan put on in Portland immediately following his performance here in Seattle was “the best show [he’s] seen in the past five years.” Based on hearing this album, damn. If I had seen that show, I’m guessing this album would have been #1.

The Age of Adz is much more experimental than anything Sufjan has produced previously. It begs listening multiple times, with headphones, as there are so many electronic layers of sound going in and around the melodies, it’s impossible to get everything on the first pass. There’s only one sore spot on the entire album, and it comes about 10 minutes into the epic, 25+ minute “Impossible Soul” at the end of the album. Sufjan plays around with a lot of new things on this album, but autotune should not have been one of them.

So, thank you Ryan, and thank you, Pete. Without you two feeding me music from time to time, I might very well miss some of the best stuff around. Now, if you could create a time machine to help me go back and see the Sufjan show at the Paramount this year, you would be miracle workers. (Don’t put it past me to waste a great opportunity like a time machine by simply going back and seeing a great concert.)

Stay tuned for numbers 2 and 1! I know you simply can’t wait

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4. Odd Blood by Yeasayer
5. Mines by Menomena
6. Contra by Vampire Weekend
7. Go by Jónsi
8. The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
9. Gorilla Manor by the Local Natives
10. The Head and the Heart by the Head and the Heart
11. Special Affections by Diamond Rings
12. Treats by Sleigh Bells
13. Write About Love by Belle & Sebastian
14. Wild Smile by Suckers
15. Learning by Perfume Genius
16. Forgiveness Rock Record by Broken Social Scene
17. Expo 86 by Wolf Parade
18. One Life Stand by Hot Chip
19. Big Echo by The Morning Benders
20. Here’s To Taking It Easy by Phosphorescent
21. This is Happening by LCD Soundsystem
22. The Mistress by Yellow Ostrich
23. Halcyon Digest by Deerhunter
24. Been Listening by Johnny Flynn
25. The Wild Hunt by The Tallest Man on Earth
26. Lisbon by The Walkmen
27. Scratch My Back by Peter Gabriel
28. All Day by Girl Talk
29. A Storm – A Tree – My Mother’s Head by Bobby Bare Jr.
30. 03 to TEN by Knathan Ryan
31. In This Light On This Evening by Editors

1. Pronounced “The Age of Odds”, and I’ll be damned if that italic z doesn’t look fantastic here. ↩

#4 on the 2010 Musical Bacon Calendar

Odd Blood by Yeasayer

There are only nine bands on the 2010 Musical Bacon Calendar that I didn’t see live this year. Four of them are in the top 10, and Yeasayer is one of them. But it wasn’t supposed to be this way: as I mentioned at #12, I had to leave the sold-out Sleigh Bells / Yeasayer show at Neumos early because of a medical emergency at home. I think it’s probably the only show I’ve ever left early that wasn’t my choice, and it could have been the highest-ranking show of the year (excepting Sasquatch!).

But even without having seen them live, Odd Blood, the second release from this Brooklyn band, sees regularly play at home. Like Contra, it’s been out for nearly the entire year (released Feb. 8), and has been in heavy rotation ever since.

It’s an interesting album. The first song, not even a song really but more like an intro to a horror movie, with heavily distorted Pink Floyd-esque vocals, doesn’t sound like it belongs at all. I’d love to know why they decided to put that “song” on the album at all, let alone first up. (According to Wikipedia they put it there because it was meant to be a major departure from the last song on their debut album, All Hour Cymbals. It feels to me it was meant to deter people from giving the album a cursory listen and then buying it, but I can’t for the life of me figure out why you’d want to deter anyone from buying your album.)

The strength of the album can be demonstrated by the difference in length between the Wikipedia page for the album, which is over five times longer than the entry for the band itself. Hit play on the video above, but don’t let the ridiculousness that ensues deter you from purchasing the album. This is a great record that would fit right in where Duran Duran left off back in the 80s. Which, strangely, isn’t a bad thing.

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5. Mines by Menomena
6. Contra by Vampire Weekend
7. Go by Jónsi
8. The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
9. Gorilla Manor by the Local Natives
10. The Head and the Heart by the Head and the Heart
11. Special Affections by Diamond Rings
12. Treats by Sleigh Bells
13. Write About Love by Belle & Sebastian
14. Wild Smile by Suckers
15. Learning by Perfume Genius
16. Forgiveness Rock Record by Broken Social Scene
17. Expo 86 by Wolf Parade
18. One Life Stand by Hot Chip
19. Big Echo by The Morning Benders
20. Here’s To Taking It Easy by Phosphorescent
21. This is Happening by LCD Soundsystem
22. The Mistress by Yellow Ostrich
23. Halcyon Digest by Deerhunter
24. Been Listening by Johnny Flynn
25. The Wild Hunt by The Tallest Man on Earth
26. Lisbon by The Walkmen
27. Scratch My Back by Peter Gabriel
28. All Day by Girl Talk
29. A Storm – A Tree – My Mother’s Head by Bobby Bare Jr.
30. 03 to TEN by Knathan Ryan
31. In This Light On This Evening by Editors

#5 on the 2010 Musical Bacon Calendar

Mines by Menomena

What can I say — I’m a sucker for horns and strings. And Menomena regularly employs a bass saxaphone to fill out the low end of their songs. And that’s really just the tip of the iceberg of the talent of the three main guys in the band. Any one of the three could sing lead on a song at any given time. And if they aren’t singing lead, they’re singing backup, all the while playing their myriad of instruments.

The song structures found on the wonderful Mines are quite unique. Their last full-length, 2007’s Friend and Foe, was also a fantastic album, but thankfully with the new record the band has grown away from the sound they share with bands like TV on the Radio.

Every song on Mines is insanely great. However, I’ve just spent three hours shoveling 18” of snow out of the driveway of the house I’m staying at here in Boston, and just cannot think or move my fingers any more. Just buy the damn album already.

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6. Contra by Vampire Weekend
7. Go by Jónsi
8. The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
9. Gorilla Manor by the Local Natives
10. The Head and the Heart by the Head and the Heart
11. Special Affections by Diamond Rings
12. Treats by Sleigh Bells
13. Write About Love by Belle & Sebastian
14. Wild Smile by Suckers
15. Learning by Perfume Genius
16. Forgiveness Rock Record by Broken Social Scene
17. Expo 86 by Wolf Parade
18. One Life Stand by Hot Chip
19. Big Echo by The Morning Benders
20. Here’s To Taking It Easy by Phosphorescent
21. This is Happening by LCD Soundsystem
22. The Mistress by Yellow Ostrich
23. Halcyon Digest by Deerhunter
24. Been Listening by Johnny Flynn
25. The Wild Hunt by The Tallest Man on Earth
26. Lisbon by The Walkmen
27. Scratch My Back by Peter Gabriel
28. All Day by Girl Talk
29. A Storm – A Tree – My Mother’s Head by Bobby Bare Jr.
30. 03 to TEN by Knathan Ryan
31. In This Light On This Evening by Editors