Before we begin, do you know who this is in the photo above? No? Why, it’s Marjorie Merriweather Post, the founder of General Foods, Inc. Though she enjoyed a lavish lifestyle and socialite existence, the cereal magnate also subscribed to the Rockefeller school of philanthropic thought and donated tons of money to various causes, eventually getting an outdoor concert pavilion in Maryland named after her and, ergo, an album I’m getting ready to pop on the ghetto blaster.
So anyway, you know the drill. When I grip a new and anticipated jam hive, I like to review it in “real time”… that is to say, I fuckin’ listen to that shizz and liveblog my thoughts on it, only revising for grammatical errors and editorial clarity. Today, Animal Collective’s forthcoming Merriweather Post Pavilion gets said treatment. It comes out on Domino on January 20th in digital format, January 6th on analog (vinyl). Unfortunately, you get no preview for yourself, as I got Web Sheriffed on Christmas. Christmas!
I’ll try to keep this objective. However, I’ve been a huge Animal Collective fan since I first heard “Slippi” from Here Comes the Indian roughly… I dunno, five years ago or so. Hence, I have rather strong feelings toward this music, lots of nostalgia, and high expectations. This does, however, usually make for a better write-up. My prediction – Strawberry Jam seemed to act as a bridge between Animal Collective’s weirdo rippin’ and the newer pop movements showcased in their recent live performances and, of course, Panda Bear’s solo outing. I expect Merriweather to be AC’s most accessible release yet, for better or worse. Continue reading ‘Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion Review (In Real Time)’
Oh good, glad to see you like my illustration. Yeah, I had some downtime and wasn’t feelin’ too creative or too much in my graphic design game as far as doing something special for The Decibel Tolls year-end list. So Lana and I started talking, and it came to us that it would be hysterical to do a collage with people like Bradford Cox eating that Ezra Comma dude from Frankenstein Weekday or whoever, and Franz Ferdinand… stuff like that. I didn’t have time to add Lil’ Wayne. And then I had to make, like, the fuckin’ universe as the backdrop. That’s how we roll here at the Decibel Tolls – no fun, tasteful graphic to designate this article as the accumulative best-of list. Nope, just crude images of artists I like with their heads detached eating shitty bands. I’m additionally thrilled that I was able to describe the image even further despite the fact that it’s already annotated. I rule.
I put some serious thought into this list, and did a bunch of narrowin’ down. There were other jam hives I was rather infatuated with this year, such as releases from Magik Markers, Burning Star Core, and Vivian Girls. But I wanted to do just the standard top ten this time around. No reason to not do things standard every now and again… Continue reading ‘The Decibel Tolls Best Albums of 2008′
I was really stoked on czechin’ the new Lindsey Buckingham joint the other night, as L-Train and I are both huge Fleetwood Mac fans. And after listening, we were very sad about it. Now that Lindsey isn’t scoring blow and beating up his girlfriends, his tunes are slowly waning in smooth rock quality. I don’t even remember what it sounds like now, my mind has repressed that shit really fast. My brain’s fast like fast actin’ Tenactin.
So I was in a very bad way before pumping proper on the new Magik Markers jam hive. It’s a recently dropped, limited release, comically titled EP called Gucci Rapidshare Download, part of Three Lobed Recordings’ Oscillations III series (with artwork by my friend Robert Beatty). Within two minutes, I had endorphins kickin’ in, the spunk came back, and I was in such a good mood, I was ready to rake some of my neighbors’ leaves as a random act of kindness. Continue reading ‘Feelin’ Groovy with Magik Markers’
Mayhaps you’ve noticed that my mailing address listed on the About page has a big ol’ strikethrough across each line. Or mayhaps you’ve noticed that all the Local Action links have completely changed. Astute observers may ascertain that, indeed, Mr. and Mrs. Kenny Bloggins are movin’ on up… or out, or your preferred adverb. We’ve left the Windy City for the River City. Continue reading ‘Update Your Books, Por Favor’
Alright, as promised, here’s the full set from My Bloody Valentine’s Aragon performance on Sept. 27. Continue reading ‘My Bloody Valentine in Chicago – Full Concert Recording’
