Skinny Genes’ recent post about the Strokes’ demos prompted me to write about another one of my favorite bands, Hockey, and the songs that didn’t make it to their album. The Portland-based indie-pop outfit has been around since the early-2000s but only ascended to popularity in 2009 with the official (albeit delayed) release of their debut and thus far only album Mind Chaos. Mind Chaos has since been one of my favorite albums; it’s one of those albums that I continually go back to. They’ve got this Bob-Dylan-meets-The-Strokes vibe mixed with their own funk. They’re overall talented musicians. Supposedly they’ve been in the studio recording what will be one of my most anticipated albums ever. Meanwhile the album and the following songs will have to tide me over. “Bullfight” and “Reading to an Elephant” were both released on a mixed tape in 2005, separately from Mind Chaos so they were pretty easy to miss. These songs are pretty different from anything you’d find on the album but they’re super catchy in their own ways. “Mercenary Days” was released in an early version of Mind Chaos but not with the official album, though I don’t know why. It’s great and the lyrics are awesome.

Bullfight
Reading to an Elephant
Mercenary Days

This version of “Work” was recorded live at Wendyhouse and I much prefer it to the album recording (which is still great); this has a little added umph.

Work-live at Wendyhouse

For a while I refused to listen to any sort of remix of a Hockey song. It was blasphemous to me. I don’t think you should mess with something that’s nearly perfect on its own. However this RAC remix (sort of) changed my mind. It’s the only remix that I think can even touch the original track, probably because RAC doesn’t try to remaster a song, he just embellishes it a bit in such a way to compliment the song instead of destroying it. It’s still probably the only remix of a Hockey song I can appreciate though….

Too Fake (RAC Remix)

The Tarot Classics EP is the first formal compilation Florida-based indie rokkers Surfer Blood have released since their debut album Astro Coast. Four tracks long, each sun drenched song sounds like it could fit right in with their debut with its hollowed guitar riffs and crisp melodies. It’s the same sunburnt melancholy indie that I kept on repeat two summers ago. The lyrics are a tad jaded, probably wrought from the past year on the road. Yet they strike a tactful balance between achingly morose and stoically confident. It’s a promising indication of where they’re headed. I’m looking forward to their followup LP.

Tracklist

1. I’m Not Ready
2. Miranda
3. Voyager Reprise
4. Drinking Problem

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Catholic Pagans

Jeg snakker ikke norsk, og heller ikke du. Hvis du kan lese dette har du sannsynligvis brukt en oversetter. That’s Norwegian for “if you didn’t chuckle a little at this band’s name you are more mature than I am.” Just kidding. But really, I love when a band has a good sense of humor and humor just so happens to be at the core of Kakkmaddafakka’s music. They’re the kind of band you want to be friends with. They released their debut “Hest” last February and have gained a bit of attention for their funky music and energized live performances. Their sound is derived from a number of influences but its general appeal is carefree indie pop/indie rock. This is feel-good music. They’re not taking things too seriously (clearly, I can’t say their name out loud without laughing). Pick up the album and put on your dancing shoes cause this is the kind of stuff you’ll wanna wiggle to.

Tracklist

1. Restless
2. Your Girl
3. Self-Esteem
4. Make the First Move
5. Is She
6. Touching
7. Heidelberg
8. Gangsta
9. Dro So

2011 has been a memorable year to say the least. These are exciting times in the music realm (if you can forget that Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj exist for a moment). It seems more than ever that as far as music is concerned, anything goes. This year saw the release of some amazing follow-up albums. Albums like Starfucker’s Reptilians (which happens to be my #1 album of the year), The Black Keys’ El Camino, Portugal. The Man’s In the Mountain In the Cloud and Arctic Monkeys’ Suck It and See quickly nudged their ways into my “favorite albums of all time” list. I obsessed over indie-rock newbies Cults and Yuck and the Vaccines. On the more experimental side of town, dream-pop outfits like Porcelain Raft and Purity Ring dominated by their own right. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of the likes in 2012. Anywho, I have compiled my most played indie/rock/indie-rock jamz from the past year. Check ’em out.

Top Indie/Alternative Tracks of 2011

15. Junk of the Heart (Happy) by The Kooks
14. Shook Down by Yuck
13. Take Me Over by Cut Copy
12. Gangsta by tUnE-yArDs
11. Machu Picchu by The Strokes
10. Got It All (This Can’t Be Living Now) by Portugal. The Man
9. Honey Bunny by Girls
8. I Can’t Feel It by Ty Segall
7. Sister by The Black Keys
6. All Die Young by Smith Westerns
5. Stuck On the Puzzle by Alex Turner
4. Never Heal Myself by Cults
3. Green Aisles by Real Estate
2. Suck It and See by Arctic Monkeys
1. Death as a Fetish by Starfucker (feat. Mattress)

I’ve never been the biggest advocate of Liverpool trio The Wombats. If you’d asked me a week ago what I thought of them I would have laughed and said the only song worth knowing was “Let’s Dance to Joy Division” (which happens to be a jam and a half) but anything else was a waste of time. I downloaded their followup LP This Modern Glitch the other day on a boredom-induced whim and I’m glad I did.

At a first listen, the album is a lot of the same danceable, rough-edge Brit pop/rock as their debut. Though it’s cleaner. Less obnoxious. More modern (as though the album title wasn’t a dead give away). They’ve added sugar coated layers of 1980’s synth and high tempo’d guitar riffs. Ironically this oft over the top ’80s vibe proves to be its modern glitch. Suffice it to say, there’s still something about their music that makes them more a guilty pleasure than anything else after your first few runs through of this album.

With a five-year gap between albums, you’d expect considerable maturity in the lyrics; this is not immediately noticeable in this album, which in a rather heart-on-the-sleeve manner grapples with the pangs and debauched pleasures of the life of the modern 20-something. In “1996” they reminisce on the long lost teenage days of carelessness. At times (i.e. “Tokyo” and “Jump Into the Fog”) they mockingly shirk the responsibility of maturity. The lyrics are almost too honest. Frontman Matthew Murphy declares, “I’ve made mistakes I admit that freely/It’s just that life tastes sweeter when it’s wrapped in debauchery.” The albums ultimate hook (and possibly saving grace because it allows you to see the band through a different lens) is its first single “Anti-D” in which Murphy discusses his ongoing struggle with chemical depression. The album from this point on becomes a lifeline. The self-deprecating wit of the other songs gains new perspective and the album in general doesn’t seem so one dimensional.

Despite the gloomy undertones, the album is dressed in warm flourishes that make it utterly, almost confusingly enjoyable, like a shock of energy through your system. Murphy sings “The lasers fill our minds with empty plans/I never knew I was techno fan.” The album is far from flawless, but it doesn’t aim for perfection and that’s made clear through some of the darker aspects of it. But it does succeed on several grounds. It did enough to change my mind about them, I’ll admit. I guess I never knew I was a Wombats fan.

Tracklist

1. Our Perfect Disease
2. Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)
3. Jump Into the Fog
4. Anti-D
5. Last Night I Dreamt…
6. Techno Fan
7. 1996
8. Walking Disasters
9. Girls/Fast Cars
10. Schumacher the Champagne
11. Valentine

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Techno Fan (Acoustic Glitch)
Anti-D (Acoustic Glitch)
Tokyo (’96 Bulls Remix)
Let’s Dance to Joy Division

12FV

With the emergence and booming success of the likes of RAC and Starslinger, Indie remixes are becoming increasingly popular on the music scene. These most likely aren’t the kind of remixes you’ll hear at a party or at a rave. Typically, they’re the instances of a musician or a band adding their own colors and flair to another artist’s work. They usually don’t meddle with the song to the point where it’s something completely different. RAC for instance, has a knack for taking an already original and hooky track and embellishing it without disemboweling it. A lot of times I think these reworked songs are better than the original. Plus it’s always cool to see how one artist envisions another’s song.

From the recesses of my iTunes I bring you another compilation of these remixes. Some of the following are rather old, others are more recent. Some are obvious remixes, others could be mistaken for an original if you weren’t already familiar with the song. What they have in common though is undeniable catchiness. Enjoy yo’self.

Indie Remixes Playlist, Part ii

^click to download

1. 1996 (Lenno Remix) by The Wombats
2. Wait and See (Flight Facilities Remix) by Holy Ghost!
3. Take Me Over (Flight Facilities Remix) by Cut Copy
4. Going Nowhere (Digitalism Remix) by Cut Copy
5. Too Dramatic (The Morning Benders Remix) by Ra Ra Riot
6. Antillas (Architecture In Helsinki Remix) by El Guincho
7. Life On The Nickel (Mansions On The Moon Remix) by Foster the People
8. You’re A Animal (Fishing Remix) by Jonathan Boulet
9. Ready For The World (Star Slinger Remix) by How To Dress Well
10. I Follow Rivers (the Oos & Ahhs Remix) by Lykke Li
11. Everything To Me (Adventure Club Dubstep Remix) by Lips
12. Something Good Can Work (RAC Remix) by Two Door Cinema Club

AA Bondy’s most recent release Believers is a pulsing compilation of gentle melodies and husky-voiced Americana. Deeply and genuinely contemplative, it’s achingly lovely. Bondy is effective in that he never asks for an audience; each song is a solitary ode. In it’s own subtle, completely understated way, it’s probably one of the most beautiful releases of this year.

Tracklist

1. The Heart Is Willing
2. Down In the Fire (Lost Sea)
3. Skull & Bones
4. 123 Dupuy Street
5. Surfer King
6. Hiway/Fevers
7. Drmz
8. The Twist
9. Rte. 28/Believers
10. Scenes from a Circus

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I Can See the Pines Are Dancing