Top 60 Albums of the Decade

Copycat or not, might as well take my stab at the top albums of the decade. I figure the listeners like me (who don't buy into the lo-fi, rap, or psych electro music that Pitchfork tries to cram down our throat) need a voice. Here it is. Enjoy and feel free to leave comments or your top album list. I tried to limit the same artists to two albums.


60. The RAA - Hometowns

59. Dan Bern - Breathe

58. The Cave Singers - Welcome Joy

57. Kings of Leon - Youth and Youth Manhood

56. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife

55. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

54. Interpol - Antics

53. The Go Team - Thunder Lightning Strike

52. Cold War Kids - Robbers and Cowards

51. Death Cab For Cutie - Plans

50. Dan Bern - New American Language

49. The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema

48. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive

47. Trampled By Turtles - Trouble

46. The Strokes - Is This It?

45. Air - Talkie Walkie

44. Spoon - Gimme Fiction

43. Ryan Adams - Gold

42. Wilco - The Album

41. The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism

40. Sigur Ros - ( )

39. Richard Buckner - The Hill

38. Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak

37. Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway

36. The Strokes - Room On Fire

35. Wolf Parade - Apologies to Queen Mary

34. The Mountain Goats - Sunset Tree

33. Conor Oberst - S/T

32. Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies

31. John Vanderslice - Cellar Door

30. Explosions in the Sky - The Earth is Not a Cold Dark Place

29. Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism

28. Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister

27. Modest Mouse - Moon and Antarctica

26. Vampire Weekend - S/T

25. Belle and Sebastian - The Boy with the Arab Strap

24. The Felice Brothers - Tonight at the Arizona

23. Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight

22. Deer Tick - Born on Flag Day

21. My Morning Jacket - Z

20. The Thermals - The Body, The Blood, The Machine

19. Fleet Foxes - S/T

18. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News

17. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

16. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow

15. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

14. The National - Boxer

13. My Morning Jacket - At Dawn

12. Drive By Truckers - Dirty South

11. The Postal Service - Give Up

10. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

9. Band of Horses - Everything All the Time

8. Bright Eyes - Lifted...

7. The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America

6. Deer Tick - War Elephant

5. The Felice Brothers - Adventures of the Felice Brothers Vol. 1

4. Arcade Fire - Funeral

3. Sigur Ros -- Agaetis Byrjun

2. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - S/T

1. The National - Alligator

Streaming Ben and Jay

NPR is streaming Ben Gibbard and Jay Farrar's new album, One Fast Move Or I'm Gone: Music From Kerouac's Big Sur due out October 20th.

New Felice Brothers Mixtape/newish CD

Check it out. BUY HERE FOR 10 bucks.

1. Forever Green
2. Ahab
3. White Limo
4. Let Me Come Home
5. The Captain’s Wife
6. Indian Massacre
7. Old Song
8. Marie
9. Marlboro Man

New Music Tuesday

The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to Come

Lucero - 1372 Overton Park

Built to Spill - There is No Enemy

Noah and the Whale - First Day of Spring

The Clientele - Bonfires on the Heath

Air - Love 2

Califone - All My Friends Are Funeral Singers

New Releases

New Avett Brothers and new Langhorne Slim out this week.

Also, new albums from the Swell Season and Zero 7.

Releases and Live Shows Updated

Upcoming Releases and Live Shows Updated on sidebar.

Strange Collaboration: Farrar, Gibbard

Death Volt

From Rolling Stone:

Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and Son Volt frontman Jay Farrar have teamed up for a set of original music inspired by Jack Kerouac’s novel Big Sur. The music will be featured in an upcoming documentary about the cult author entitled One Fast Move Or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur. Gibbard and Farrar, who began working on music for the project in 2007, used Kerouac’s own Big Sur prose for the song’s lyrics.

Both the documentary and its soundtrack, featuring 12 new songs from Gibbard and Farrar, will be released on October 20th, the 40th anniversary of Kerouac’s death. The doc will also feature appearances from both Gibbard and Farrar, as well as rock poet laureate and “living god” Tom Waits, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith and playwright Sam Shepard. One Fast Move Or I’m Gone will be released as a stand-alone album, a CD/DVD combo featuring the doc or a special edition with the CD/DVD, a 40-page book and a copy of Kerouac’s Big Sur.

As Rock Daily previously reported, Gibbard is a well-known follower of Kerouac’s works: On 2008’s Narrow Stairs, the track “Bixby Canyon Bridge” is filled with references to the Beat Generation author — Gibbard actually composed songs for the album while staying in the cabin Kerouac wrote about in Big Sur — and both We Have The Facts and We’re Voting Yes’s “Title Track” and “Lowell, MA” feature lyrics penned in the style of Kerouac (Lowell, Massachussets was Kerouac’s hometown.)

Check out the soundtrack’s track list below:

One Fast Move Or I’m Gone
1. “California Zephyr”
2. “Low Life Kingdom”
3. “Willamine”
4. “All In One”
5. “Breathe Our Iodine”
6. “These Roads Don’t Move”
7. “Big Sur”
8. “One Fast Move Or I’m Gone”
9. “Final Horrors”
10. “Sea Engines”
11. “The Void”
12. “San Francisco”

(Not So) Monthly Playlist/Mixtape

1. Wilco - I'll Fight
2. The Cave Singers - Hen of the Woods
3. Sigur Ros - Olsen olsen
4. Mott the Hoople - Henry and the H-Bomb
5. Uncle Tupelo - Effigy
6. The Low Anthem - The Horizon is a Beltway
7. Son Volt - No Turning Back
8. Deer Tick - Smith Hill
9. Kudzu Kings - Amsterdam
10. Modest Mouse - Satellite Skin
11. Yim Yames - Love You To
12. Bob Dylan - Mississippi
13. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks

DEER TICK and SON VOLT PLAYING AT LYRIC IN OXFORD, MS (not on same date)

One of my favorite acts Deer Tick is playing at the Lyric in Oxford, MS on Wednesday October 14, 2009. I am fired up!!!


Son Volt is playing Son Volt on Saturday November 7, 2009 (Northern Arizona Game) at 8:00 PM

The Cave Singers - Welcome Joy

I recently got The Cave Singers - Welcome Joy off of emusic, and I am truly impressed. They sound a bit like Ryan Adams or David Gray, but a touch more rough around the edges sound like Langhorne Slim or Lucero. Alt-Country fans should enjoy. The instrumentation contains catchy guitar riffs licks, yet it maintains simplicity and a crispy sound.



Hail from: Seattle, WA
Websites: Myspace; Bandsite
Sounds Like: Ryan Adams, David Gray, Langhorne Slim
Shows Coming Up:
Sep 23 2009 8:00P
Hi- Tone cafe Memphis, Tennessee
Sep 24 2009 8:00P
The Bottletree Birmingham, Alabama

Oxford Music Updates

Thank you sir may I have another.

Drive By Truckers at the Lyric Friday, October 23 (Ole Miss v. Arkansas) weekend.

The Felice Brothers at Proud Larry's Saturday, September 19 (Ole Miss v. SE Louisiana weekend)

New Releases and Amazon Deals

New Releases this past week:

Modest Mouse - EP No One's First and You're Next


















Simone Felice's The Duke and The King release Nothing Gold Can Stay (on emusic)















Throw Me the Statue releases Creaturesque. (on emusic) (3.99 on Amazon MP3)



















Fruit Bats - The Ruminant Band



















Jim James or his moniker Yim Yames' EP Tribute To (George Harrison)



















Yacht - See Mystery Lights (on emusic)






















Amazon 50 for $5.00 including Phoenix's new one, Sunset Rubdown's new one, Simon and Garfunkle, Radiohead, David Bowie, and Dirty Projectors, etc.

Deer Tick Mp3's (Dead Flowers, et al.)

Deer Tick - Dead Flowers from LaundroMatinee on Vimeo.

Great Stuff

Oh, and Download the whole session on mp3 and also watch here.

Deer Tick - Houston, TX
Deer Tick - These Old Shoes
Deer Tick - The Dance Of Love
Deer Tick - Dirty Dishes
Deer Tick - Dead Flowers (Rolling Stones cover)

Upcoming Releases

October 6 The Clientele - Bonfires on the Heath

October 6 Air - Love 2

September 29 Swell Season - Strict Joy

September 25 Wrinkle Neck Mules - Let the Lead Fly

September 25 Monsters of Folk - S/T

September 8 Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johanson - The Breakup

September 8 Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs

August 25 Arctic Monkeys - Humbug

August 18 Destroyer - Bay of Pigs (EP) Vinyl Only

August 11 Patrick Wolf - The Bachelor

August 4 Modest Mouse - No One First and You're Next (EP)

August 4 Yim Yames - Tribute EP

Amazon MP3 Daily Deal

7/28 Daily Deal: the Dodos' Time to Die, available exclusively @amazonmp3 a week early. Today's price: $2.99. http://bit.ly/AMP3

Avett Brothers on Daytrotter

The Avett Brothers do a session on Daytrotter and play a new song off of the upcoming I and You and Love. Also, an unreleased, one off of Four Thieves, and one off Emotionalism.

Laundry Room
Lover Like You
More of You
Paranoia in B Major

Download the session free and legal at link above.


Also, The Thermals stopped by with:

I Let It Go
I Can't Let Go
You Dissolve

All you have to do is sign up your email and he sends like one email a week. Then, you will have access to a ton of free and legal tunes by great bands like the ones above and Deer Tick, Dent May, Blitzen Trapper, Fleet Foxes, Felice Brothers, The Hold Steady, etc. Check out this amazing resource.

Latest Listens

There has not been a real plethora of new tunes lately. However, I will impart my opinions on what has been released.

Wilco - The Album
I am a huge fan of Wilco's latest release. I must say I was not expecting much after Sky Blue Sky. However, it exceeded my expectations. "One Wing" and "I'll Fight" have been battling for my top song spot on the album. I do love the "Can't Stand It"-esque "Wilco the Song." I would highly recommend checking it out.

Passion Pit - Manners
Although I am not a huge fan of the electro pop fad, this album is better than the average Pitchfork-approved. "Moth's Wings" and "Little Secrets" are the highlights.

Deer Tick - Born On Flag Day
One of my favorite bands Deer Tick delivers again on their sophomore album. I am still debating on whether it is as good as War Elephant. It is certainly worth a place in your collection. Opener "Easy" is a scruffy ole number that sets the tone for Deer Tick's rough around the edges sound. It will no doubt have you singing "You Don't Know..." "Hell on Earth" is another top track. Great album.

White Rabbits - It's Frightening
I have given these guys another chance, and I am just not that impressed. I mean it is decent, but nothing special. Their music is so monotonous to me. I get bored so quickly. If you are questioning them after hearing the samples, do not buy it.

Pitchfork Music Festival Streaming

Pitchfork Music Festival is streaming over at Pitchfork. Schedule for today is:

SUNDAY JULY 19
1:00 The Mae Shi
1:45 Frightened Rabbit
2:30 Blitzen Trapper
3:20 Pharoahe Monch
4:15 The Thermals
5:15 The Walkmen
6:15 M83
7:25 Grizzly Bear
8:40 The Flaming Lips

New Conor Oberst, M. Ward, Jim James Track

Monsters of Folk: Conor Oberst, M. Ward, and Jim James new band has its first track available for stream/download. Go Here.

News Bytes

Stream new Modest Mouse song: "History Sticks to Your Feet"

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's Alec Ounsworth is going solo and putting out a record Mo Beauty on October 20 on Anti- Records. The album was recorded in NOLA with a bunch of funky folks like George Porter, etc.

The Strokes' Julian Casablancas also debuts his solo project called The Phrazes for the Young LP.


Stream the whole Dodo's new album, Thanks to Grit Music for the heads up.


Wilco and Feist on Letterman: