chris chew

2012 music that got me all excited! (kind of in rank order):

Swing Lo Magellan - Dirty Projectors
As an entire album, possibly my favorite of the year. Listen to “Unto Caesar”

Darlene / Gas On F - White Denim
It’s just a digital single, but has to be included because “Darlene” has constantly been playing in my head since it came out. Plus the cover art is awesome.

Be The Void - Dr. Dog
Maybe the most energetic/live-sounding Dr. Dog album, which was their goal I think. Listen to “That Old Black Hole” 

Wild Race EP - Dr. Dog
“Be The Void” didn’t make the cut for the full-length, but I’m so glad they released it.

Delta Spirit - Delta Spirit
More “indie” sounding than they’re previous stuff; it took me a little to accept that, but it is an incredible and easy to move to album. Listen to “Empty House” (live!)

The Carpenter - The Avett Brothers
Beautiful writing, but “Paul Newman vs. the Demons” is still kinda the bad apple for me. They also could’ve done without some of the drums and heavy production. Listen to “A Father’s First Spring” (live/acoustic!)

Blunderbuss - Jack White
Really awesome, but a little overrated at the same time, at least I think so, but maybe I just miss Meg. Listen to “Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy”

O’ Be Joyful - Shovels & Rope
Great country voices! Listen to “Shank Hill St.” 

“Very excited to announce that our new EP, Wild Race, will be available digitally on Tuesday, October 2.”

(via we-all-belong)

Finally got The Carpenter! after vinyl copies had been backordered for the longest time everywhere I went.

I may have to sand over “Paul Newman vs. The Demons” though…
While I commend them for being adventurous and putting a song on the record that strays from their typical sound, I condemn them for making it a terrible, post-grungey, generic rock song.

The Carpenter!!!

Not sure if I should pick one up today or wait for the show next week.

Also I’m realizing that I already spent a lot, and am planning to spend a lot more, on music this month. Which is good…..but not for my sense of responsibility.

Day 05 - Your favorite album and why.

Emotionalism has been an addiction lately. There’s so much…emotion..put into every song, and every song has been stuck in my head at some point. I’ve listened to that and I and Love and You the most.

[30 Days of The Avett Brothers]

Emotionalism has pretty much been the soundtrack to my finals week, and it’s been making it so much less stressful. Because it’s incredible. Which I knew already, but it’s been addicting these past few weeks. Someone buy me this shit on wax please.

Every time “The Ballad Of Love And Hate” comes on, I’m like “this song is so cheesy.” And then I give it a few seconds and I’m like “I LOVE this beautiful fucking songgg!!”

BE THE VOID!!!

There she is!! On a grimy lookin’ green!

I’m kind of surprised I didn’t get a signed copy cause I pre-ordered it so fast right when it showed up on the site (they signed the first 500), but I guess that means they’ve grown way past cult-following status, which is great for them, and that people are still willing to pay for physical music.

Of course, I’m just ecstatic that I’ve got some new Dr. Dog tunes! Can’t wait till the Boston show in March!!

Delta Spirit’s self-titled album out March 13, 2011! Also, tour dates are up, and they’re playing at Paradise Rock Club March 27!!!

When it came to lyrical content, Vasquez and Winrich stuck to what they knew. “We’re not hearkening back to anything in the lyrics,” Vasquez says. “We’re writing about situations that are mostly personal. I think the topic of love has affected us the most.”
…
Several (though not all) of Vasquez’s songs tend to make their points through the perspective of others, a style favored by some of his favorite songwriters, including Tom Waits and Nick Cave. On “Empty House,” he takes on the persona of a construction worker who is seeing the Dharma in his work. “This guy is mixing concrete and suddenly notices the tiny glinting specks in it,” Vasquez explains. “He begins to wonder ‘What got me here? Where am I headed’ and relating that little speck to his life.” “Tellin’ The Mind” is about Colton Harris Moore, the teenager known as the Barefoot Bandit who became an internet sensation after committing several burglaries, and stealing and crashing a plane. “I loved him,” Vasquez says. “I thought he deserved an anthem.” “Tear It Up” was originally inspired by the events in Egypt during the Arab spring, but morphed into a more universal song about what can happen with people get together with a common goal. Vasquez’s most personal song is “Yamaha,” which he wrote for his wife when she grew upset about his being away on tour for long stretches of time. “I felt like shit but I couldn’t do anything. A guy’s first instinct is to fix it, but you can’t when you’re three time zones away, so I wrote this song for her.”

[source]

Matt Vasquez seems like quite the romantic.