Where'd We Go?

Hey small contingent of still faithful readers. Sorry we've been a little dead lately, this is the point of the school year where everything gets really busy. I have a huge new music review post that I plan to have up either today or tomorrow, so stay tuned. We'll be returning even better than ever, I promise.
P.S. If you're trying to stream the Radio Cure tonight, our computer is down, so our stream isn't working. Hopefully we'll be back soon!

Kanye + Daft Punk = Speechless

Kanye West finally got on stage with Daft Punk to do "Stronger" at the Grammys. If you haven't seen this video, watch it right now.

Thao and the Get Down Stay Down

At the tender age of 23, Thao Nguyen has a clear shot to indie-rock stardom. With the loose pop sensibility of Feist and the voice of Cat Power and/or Beth Orton, not to mention the help of producer Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens), Nguyen and her band The Get Down Stay Down have crafted the first enjoyable pop album of 2008. Unlike her aforementioned counterparts, Nguyen still seems to have the youth to roll down a hill on a summer’s day, which shows in her music. Listening to “Bag of Hammers,” I kind of forgot it was grey and miserable and couldn’t wait for spring to come. The standout track on the album however is “Feet Asleep,” where the band builds from a steady beat to a “1234”-esque climax. Bright things are on the future for this band, so catching them now will only make you cooler later.

Vampire Weekend

When I first saw the music video for Vampire Weekend's first single "Mansard Roof," I was paid little attention to the music and more to the preppy look of the band members, with their popped collars and boat shoes, sailing around on a yacht. On second viewing, I heard the catchy song from the group of recent Columbia grads. The songs on their self titled debut all follow the same trend: simple, hip, and catchy as hell. The group owes a lot to African rock music and Paul Simon's "Graceland" album, as it blends whispy guitar lines with the steady drumming characteristic of West African pop. Aside from the afore mentioned "Mansard Roof," there is the bouncy "A-Punk" which is guaranteed to make you bop along as you listen. The track "Oxford Comma"(not FCC clean) however is my favorite. Lead singer Ezra Koenig's lyrics about someone else's' perceived superiority fits perfectly with the band's preppy East Coast attitude, yet it's not something that you particulary mind when lost in the steady rhythm of the song. Vampire Weekend gained a quick and rabid following online after a CD-R demo of theirs hit the blogosphere. With this will come the inevitable backlash that hit other blog bands such as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Cold War Kids, and Tapes n Tapes. But for now, Vampire Weekend can rest on the easy knowing they have a satisfying album on the books.

Jukebox

Just a few years ago, Chan Marshall a.k.a. Cat Power was in a bad place. Instead of being treated to the haunted voice of the singer they heard on the albums, fans at Cat Power concerts got an already drunk, disheveled Marshall that could hardly stand up. In 2006, she returned with The Greatest, a soulful album that saw Marshall sober and at her peak. Jukebox, her latest effort finds Marshall not covering, but reinterperating the songs that matter most to her yet again (she did it first on 2000's The Covers Record) Listening to her covers of Sinatra's "New York" and Hank Williams' "Ramblin' Man" (here "Ramblin' (Wo)Man), you'll forget that someone else made them famous. Marshall's recovery from addiction is best seen in her uplifting cover of Bob Dylan's "I Believe in You." Though Dylan wrote it about his new found faith in God, Marshall sings it as a song of redemption and recovery. After just my first listen, I knew this album was great, but after a second, I can without hesitation say Jukebox is the first great album of 2008.

The Radio Cure's Top Tracks of 2007

Here's the shakedown:

10. Andrew Bird - Heretics
All the way back in February, we got Andrew Bird's Armchair Apocrypha at the station and I couldn't have been more pleased. From first listen, this song grabbed me and didn't let go. It's reminiscent of older Bird track "Sovay", but with a more driving pulse. With Bird's terrific lyricism and the steady drumming of Martin Dosh, the soaring violin only helps to keep this song in your head for days.

9. Feist - 1234
Now I know this was Apple's biggest song of the year, but before that, it was the most catchy for me. Awesome music video aside, you can't help but tap your feet "1234." Feist showed her knack for catchy tunes with "Mushaboom," but I think this definitely outshines her other pop songs.

8. Band of Horses - Cigarettes Wedding Bands
This song is epic. There's really no other way to describe it. The song starts with a bang and doesn't let up. Even the verses sound restless, just waiting to blow. It also features one of my favorite lines of 2007: "If my body goes then to hell with my soul"

7. The National - Apartment Story
Though there were an awful lot of tracks to choose from on "Boxer," this one remained my favorite. Maybe it's the theme of locking yourself in your apartment on a cold winter's day or the driving drum line that keeps you bopping along, this song stayed on repeat for a better part of the year for me.

6. Wilco - Impossible Germany
I first heard this track at Lollapalooza 2006 and it stopped me dead in my tracks. Unlike the distorted, depressing songs of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot or the rock jams of A Ghost is Born, "Impossible Germany" is a slow, beautiful, laid back track filled with interwoven guitar lines and a terrific solo by Nels Cline. Favorite Line: "This is what love is for, to be out of place"

5. Spoon - You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
If "1234" was the catchiest song of 2007, this was a close second. I easily identify this as my summer anthem for this year. Regardless of the lyrics, the song just sounds like people having hot fun in the summertime. Even this winter, it warms me up a bit inside.

4. Okkervil River - A Girl in Port
Will Sheff is easily one of my favorite songwriters, and this song totally blew me away. Even four months after buying The Stage Names, I still hear this song like it was brand new. I'm a sucker for a good slide guitar line, but that's not even the best of it. The narrative weaves through this sad story, but bursts open in the end to reveal a beautiful horn section. It's a hard for me to put in to words this cathartic feeling, so listen to this track if you haven't already.

3. Radiohead - Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
I heard this song during the band's epic Bonnaroo set back in 2006, but the album version is absolutely stellar. Back in October, I wrote, "This is not only my favorite track on the album, but also the most layered. With dueling guitar lines over Phil Selway's steady drumming and under Yorke's echoing voice, this song builds to a crescendo of escapism before rolling to a halt. This song parallels some of the best total songwriting of the last 20 years, with each member of the band distinctly heard." I'd say all of that holds true many more listens later. Favorite Line: "Everybody leaves if they get the chance, and this is my chance"

2. Arcade Fire - Keep the Car Running
Did Bruce Springsteen join the Arcade Fire? The answer is probably no, but the best band in Canada definitely channels the Boss on this amazingly good track. One day while walking to class, I had this song on the iPod and was literally slapping my leg to the beat. This song very easily will get into you head and stay there forever. So much energy is packed into the recorded version, you can't even think live there will be more, but let me assure you there is. I almost put this at #1, but I just couldn't put anything there but...

1. LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends
I read a review from a guy at Rolling Stone who said that when he thought about 2007, he would think about this song. I also had our tech guy at the radio station tell me that they should play the song to prisoners at Guantanamo to drive them crazy. Either way, the pulsing beautiful song has entered the prestigious list of my favorite songs of all time. With the repetitive piano line and James Murphy's lyrics about getting old, "All My Friends" became the one song I played to people when they asked me what music I was into. Both times I saw the band live this year, it was the best song to dance to, despite other danceable tracks like "Daft Punk is Playing in My House" or "North American Scum." Also worth checking out are the John Cale and Franz Ferdinand covers. Favorite Line: "I wouldn't trade one stupid decision for another five years of life."


There you have it. I'll hopefully have my favorite albums up by the end of the day...

Some Albums You May Enjoy That Were First Made Available Through Capitalism in the Year 2007 (In alphabetical order of course)

So while everyone else is doing a top ten list some where, I thought that I would do something a bit different. I decided that I would try and find some albums that are amazing, and should be in those top ten lists, but just didn't get all that attention. So without further ado here's the list:

Elvis Perkins – Ash Wednesday
What can I say about this album? I remember first listening to the opening track "While You Were Sleeping" and just being completely entrapped in the music. I now wake up everyday to "While You Were Sleeping" and it always provides a great start to the day. The album has a great flow of ups and downs throughout, and is perfect for any mood. I would definitely recommend this album to anyone who likes fuzz-folk, although this is more on the folk side then the fuzz. One sad fact about this album is that it was written after both of Perkins' parents died. His father died of AIDS when Perkins was young, and his mother died in one of the September 11th planes. This definitely shows up on the album, but it's more of a sad overtone then a sad direction that the album takes on. This is album definitely is one of my favorites of the year, and it's a debut album to boot.

The Rakes – Ten New Messages
I can't remember where I heard this, but I remember hearing someone call The Rakes "the real Arctic Monkeys." Well this is their second album, and it's a good one. As the title suggests, it's ten new tracks in that post-punk/art-rock British style that The Rakes are good at. With a nice consistent sound throughout the whole album, it flows really well all the way from "The World Was a Mess But His Hair Was Perfect" to "Leave The City And Come Home." Really a decent album. And when you have a track called "When Tom Cruise Cries" how can you go wrong?

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings – 100 Days, 100 Nights
I found this album at the recommendation of KWUR's GM, and what an album it is. The record sounds like it's vintage, but it only came out this year. A great album, with a great sound that Sharon Jones says she's been doing for years now. I was just thinking, this album would make New Years Eve soundtrack; because what better way of welcoming in the new year then with some new music that sounds a little bit old.

Tullycraft – Every Scene Needs A Center

What more could you want from an album? With themes like punks, and goths and Dracula, UFOs all crushed up, put into a big old blender and then doused in pure essence of happiness, I don't know what could go wrong. It's not often that you find such an enjoyable 7+ min. pop song, but Tullycraft did it with Dracula Screams of Tiger Style (Parts One and Two). This is one of the only albums this year that I've listened to twice in a row. One of the happiest bands I know of, yes even happier then I'm From Barcelona, Tullycraft is also one of the funniest. The review at KWUR says something along the lines of "Great music, and witty lyrics that Pitchfork writers wish they could have written." Reason enough to go and listen to Every Scene Needs A Center right away.

White Flight – White Flight

I could rehash what I said, or I could point you to a few posts below.